#4pm where i am posting this but yes good morning

[samposillies]

[kamsspice]

Long post

10 Minutes - a bokuaka ficlet written by me, cross posted on ao3.

It amazes Akaashi how easily a good day can be undone in ten minutes.

He had been in his element this morning; he rose before the sun, attended a few meetings online and even had breakfast before it broke noon. Sipping his cup of tea, he had scanned him small flat and decided it was about time to stop living in piles of clothes and crack on with the pending chores. Yes, he would sweep his floor (the dust bunnies certainly weren’t paying his rent) and finally put away his laundry. And later that evening, he could call Bokuto, maybe even while he cooked dinner and perhaps live in his fantasy of them being a working couple.

It was a good plan. Solid, even.

At 12PM, Akaashi had been so pleased with himself that at 21, a final year literature student, he is finally feeling like a functional adult. He was so pleased that he felt compelled to call his mom. It was an urge. On the days he bothered to check his phone, a message of sorts would be waiting for him. A sweet Just thinking of you or hope you’re well. Of course he would always reply, because despite everything, she’s his mother.

The trill of the phone had rang in Akaashi’s ears. He was smiling as he waited, eyes cast not on the mountain of clothes on his bed but out the window on the cool grey skies of the city. His mother answered, with her sweet voice. They were on the phone for sixty minutes and the first fifty of them went smoothly. “Oh, I heard that part of Tokyo is lovely this time of year.” “Yes, Mom, I am eating well, no you don’t need to send me food.” She spoke to him in earnest as any mother would and Akaashi was receptive of it all.

Then, the last ten minutes happened.

He shouldn’t have brought up Bokuto. Part of him knew not to but another, younger part of him hoped that she wouldn’t care. Because for all of his best friend’s achievements and successes, she does not like the nature of the feelings Akaashi holds for him.

Those ten minutes go as he should have known it would. She’d rant about how wrong it is, how it’s a choice he’s making, how she doesn’t understand him. He’s tried explaining it rationally, but he’s seven years into this specific conversation topic that it feels like a waste of time. So he listens to how she fails to understand him.

Ten minutes of those walls Akaashi tried to tear down being built up again by her, brick by brick with each word she utters. But maybe he’s being irrational. Perhaps he didn’t explain it well enough.

But how long must he feel like he’s being tried for something that isn’t a crime?

She told him she doesn’t understand him. He tells her he needs to get on with his house chores. She tells him “I love you, dear” and he tells her goodbye. Akaashi knows she loves him and he knows he loves her too. Yet, when she meets him with her unwillingness to listen, a disgusting unease churns in his stomach. Why is it so difficult?

Now, it’s 1PM. They just ended their call, and Akaashi knows he has chores to do. But the mountain of clothes suddenly feel too large and the floors seem too wide and he no longer has an appetite. He sits by his cluttered desk. Akaashi’s chest and head are suddenly too heavy to lift. With elbows dug into the litter of paper, he lays his face in his palms and heaves deeply.

Now, it’s 4PM. The winter bids the sun an early goodbye all the while, the last ten minutes of their phone conversation played back on a loop in Akaashi’s head. He tries to analyse his words, tries to understand where he went wrong. The only conclusion he draws is that he was wrong to try and share his joy with her. That realisation weighs his head and heart heavier.

He wonders, as the night inches closer, if he had any siblings, would they be the same? Is there anyone in his family he could feel safe being himself to? If this is how is mother is, he can’t be so sure of his other relatives. He wonders why he feels so paralysed by something that isn’t a surprise to him and why his disappointment feels as fresh as it does seven years ago. Akaashi lives alone and the apartment now feels colder and quieter.

Akaashi could wonder until night turns day why she thinks the way she does but that would be putting more effort than she ever would for him. He could write a PhD thesis about his feelings for another man and defend it in front of her, but why should he? Surely it’s enough that he feels happy.

Well, he doesn’t feel happy now and the responsible party for that isn’t Bokuto.

Akaashi glances at the digital clock partly buried in paperwork on his desk. 16:28. He then turns his head to his bed and the mountain of clothes hasn’t disappeared.

“For fuck’s sake,” he mutters under his breath. Deciding that moping wouldn’t be conducive of a productive day, he stands up. The heaviness follows, but he does what he set out to do even if it’s slower than he’d like.

Akaashi sweeps the floor, puts away his laundry and organises the mess of clothes, but stops short when he walks up to his cooker. His appetite has not reappeared. Those ten minutes drained him more than he anticipated. He had looked forward to calling Bokuto as he cooked, but now as he thinks of hearing Bokuto’s boisterous voice on the other end of the line, Akaashi cannot help but also think of those ten minutes. And he does not want to sound passive to Bokuto nor does he want to lie about how his shitty day has been.

It’s 6PM. Well, not everything works out how you wish, Akaashi resigns. He spares one more look at his cooker, bidding goodbye to his night of fantasy, before charting a direct course to his bed.

Then, his doorbell buzzes. He wonders who the hell could have the nerve to ring his door at this time of night, considers staying in bed but no, the ringing is incessant and now Akaashi is royally peeved.

He mutters all sorts of unpleasantries on the trip to the door, cursing up, down, left and right in his head.

“Hello?” Akaashi politely says into the receiver.

“Hey, hey, hey!” says a boisterous voice back.

Akaashi doesn’t waste a second to buzz in, open his apartment door, jog out of his flat and launch his head over the shared landing bannister to find Bokuto charging up the stairs, bag slung on his shoulder and a bright smile on his face. Akaashi’s heart melts at the sight.

Once back in his apartment, words spill out of Akaashi’s mouth like a fountain. How the hell? When the hell? Why--

“I really needed to see you, is all,” Bokuto says. He dumps his bag on the floor flops onto Akaashi’s sofa, leaving Akaashi alone standing in his disbelief. “And I knew you didn’t have much on this Friday so thought, fuck it, let’s have a sleepover.”

“Bokuto-san, you ought to call people before inviting yourself over for a weekend. What if soemthing last minute came up?” Akaashi chides, though he doesn’t mean it.

“Nothing did, did it?” Bokuto points a finger and quirks his bushy brows, smug pride painted on his face. “Besides, it didn’t sound like you were getting out much. I told you, you should live with other people Akaashi. I know you’re an only child and all, but it’s not all that bad. You won’t go crazy from hearing your own voice all the time.”

Akaashi chuckles, taking a seat on the arm of the sofa by Bokuto’s feet. “I’m used to it.”

“Oh, man, when I first moved in to my own place, it was rough. My sisters didn’t think I could last a month but I barely lasted a week!” Bokuto launches into his anecdote about his first week in his first apartment. How he had to learn actually understand his tenancy agreement, how to use a washing machine and more importantly how to cook. Akaashi chimes in, reminding Bokuto about how it was pretty embarrassing that a grown man like him didn’t know how to meal prep.

“And yet,” Bokuto says, “you still cook for me.”

“For why? I don’t know.”

“Speaking of which.” Bokuto rises, springing over to the fridge. He opens it wide with a smile on his face which soon fades when he sees how bare the fridge is. No food, just nearly out of date broccoli, a few eggs and a half-eaten courgette. “It’s embarrassing that a grown man doesn’t know how to meal prep, huh, Akaashi?” He shoots Akaashi another smug, teasing glare and Akaashi flips him off.

“I wanted to cook today but I got swamped with other stuff,” Akaashi says easily because it’s the truth. He doesn’t say how he wanted to call Bokuto.

“No problem,” says Bokuto, “we can just make something now!”

Bokuto gathers the left over ingredients and starts work. Akaashi watches him and that unease that had been stirring in his gut eases away bit by bit. He marvels at how easy it is to love Bokuto. He doesn’t have to carefully construct his sentences. Everything is straightforward.

And Akaashi wonders again, if being around this man makes him feel this at ease, what is wrong about it? Can loving his own mother be this straightforward? Is everyone’s relationship with their parents equally as taut as it is loose. Is the road to the fact of yes, I love her with all my heart as convoluted for him as it is for everyone else? And if it is, why is it him that must walk that path? Why must he go through all the peaks and troughs to arrive at that conclusion?

Dinner is soon made and because he’s feeling bold, Akaashi gives them permission to eat on his bed. He warns Bokuto to not get used to it lest he forget the last time they did this (the oil stains still won’t come off his mattress). Bokuto fills the silent air with his voice. The flat doesn’t feel as small as it did.

Akaashi breathes out deeply. Bokuto’s attention turns away from the food and to him, golden eyes curious and silently asking.

“I’m good,” Akaashi answers. “I’m just really happy to see you.”

[joeys-piano]

Writeblr Positivity Tag

Opened tagged by @hallwriteblr. Mostly doing this because I see it pop up often when I snoop writeblr like the morning newspaper. And thought it would be fun. Thus, open tag. Anyone who wants to do this can do this. And, you know what?, just feel good about yourself and what you do. Because writing's hard and you're doing it. And that says something

---

1. What motivates you to write?

Boredom. I wake up at around 6:10 every morning. I bounce between Tumblr and Reddit for two hours, and occasionally check my cats in Neko Atsume. At around 8:20ish am, I take 15 steps to my office to start work. I log in, VPN, avert my eyes when I open my email, do time tracking through post-it notes so I can update my timesheet as I work. I do process calls. I spend most days in an Excel sheet, Word document, or staring at my email calendar. I occasionally see "big money" in samples I pick for testing, but the novelty of it is starting to wear off and it just looks like numbers at the end of the day while I looking at PDFs that are either clean or are so archaic looking I'm starting to wonder what I'm doing. At some point, I have lunch. Multiple times, I check on my Neko Atsume cats. And scroll Tumblr. And depending on whether I can slack open review work to another day, I just spend a few hours typing stories on my phone or watching YouTube. Then I log off at 4pm or later (depending). I eat dinner. I watch the news with my brother. I shower at around 6pm, chill in bed, bounce between Tumblr and Reddit. Might do some writing. And go to sleep at 10pm ish. That's pretty much 80% of my week, week after week. I do the same thing enough times that I could autopilot. And when my real life is boring to most, that's when it's easier to get into the creative spirit and just write. Because little else is scratching that part of my brain, so I induce boredom in my real life when I'm working on a project. And when I'm done writing that project (like done done), I incorporate fun into my real life again. And that's what motivates me. Currently as I type this, I'm in the cycle of getting myself bored again and feel like I'm at the mental state to resume writing again tomorrow. Which is :3

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

I just adore this opening from a fic I wrote a month ago. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I remembering revising this while at a hotel and just proclaiming it out loud in the evening dark because it was so fun to read. Some days he’s a memory. Some days he’s a dream. Some days he’s just a joke. Some days he ought to bleed. Some days he’s a coward. Some days he’s a problem. But Nicolas loves him. It isn’t less than how he loves when he’s a mess. Because it’s more, if anything. He loves him: bolts and all. And adores him, ardently. Wants him — for the trouble. That at some point he doesn’t give a fuck where the metal work doesn’t end.

3. Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

The only times I work with OCs is when I just want a background character for something, so I just make one on the spot. Which isn't often, so I can only name on two hands the number of OCs I've really worked with. I think folks who've seen this blog since 2017 might be familiar with this character. He's this old guy, Fukumori Jae, that I made for a mafia project from who knows when. One, I like his name. Two, he's old. I have an easier time writing for older folks than I do for teens or young adults. Three, he's kind of funny. Four, he's a mob boss but doesn't look like it because he looks like an old touristy man on a trip to Europe. So the dissonance is fun. I worked with him for a very short time, but I had fond memories writing for him.

4. What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

Revisions.

5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

The consensus from the internet is that I write pretty. You might not understand it. You probably shouldn't read it while tired or about to go to sleep. But you remember it for being pretty, and that's the general consensus so far. But on a serious note, I like that I experiment with my stories and have kept pushing at what makes a story a story and have done some weird things and techniques from other mediums that you don't normally see in written works. It keeps me engaged, it keeps me from boredom (very important). And occasionally, someone reads something they never experienced before in written words and that's really cool.

6. What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

Speaking as an outsider who regularly frequents the halls, I'm endeared that most blogs I've seen are supportive of each other and that people are making friends and have a safe space to just talk about stories.

7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

My phone. Since last summer, it's been my secret weapon to getting my shit together. Yes, I write slower on my phone. Yes, writing on the phone is not the most optimal or ergonomic thing or whatever. Yes, it's not easy to do research on your phone. Yes, it's not easy to have multiple tabs up for whatever. But when did any of that matter for my writing process? Because writing on my phone lets me be creative and just goof off when I've been sitting in front of computer all day at work. It lets me lie down, and cuddle, while writing. My back feels a lot better. I don't get as much nerve damage, or as often a nerve damage, when I write on my phone compared to sitting at the desk. Also, just my general work flow meshes well with writing on the phone. I don't keep copious amounts of tabs open when I write, so I'm not missing anything. I don't write to music, so I'm not missing that. It's just easier to focus in on the writing when it's just the writing filling up my entire screen. I can also write on the go and I'm not bound to things like having a laptop charger and needing to carry extra bags while on the move. It just works for me to be creative on the phone. Granted, it's easier to setup certain templates on my laptop. But after you make those templates, everything is set up from there to continue with the phone work flow strictly.

8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

My favorite worldbuilding technique is what-if. There are no rules, there are no boundaries. Just ask yourself "What if..." and let the story take off from there. It's how somewhere in my vault, there is a detailed medical sci-fi (because I've never seen medicine been the focus of a sci-fi, so I made something I've always wanted to see) that was heavily inspired by a what-if. And it just spiraled from there. It's likely the closest thing I have to being used in a original project one day, so I keep it under lock and key until I feel like toeing sci-fi again. Eventually.

9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Give yourself one thing to look forward to writing in that writing session. Doesn't matter what it is. Just one thing -- at least one thing. Writing is already hard, so why not make it enjoyable for yourself in some way? You don't need to suffer to create art, despite how hard it can be. You're allowed to have fun and to include something that lets you have fun in your writing. Doesn't matter what it is.

10. Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

They know who they are. But if they one day have amnesia and have forgotten and I'm dead and they stumble upon this post and I'm still dead and they think they know me from something, here are those people: @feu-eau (you've seen my writing change during the past 6 years and we've been friends for that long, too. you are my biggest enabler to just have fun with it); @voxofthevoid (writing senior, just a chill bro I look up to, out here writing things I've always wanted to write or will not write at this current point in my life and will admire from unhinged proximity); and perhaps this is slightly unorthodox, but @lucycamui if you ever see this (you were a big fic writer I admired back in the day and while reading your siren ficlets from the very beginning, you inspired me to experiment with my writing and to keep challenging how stories are told; you're one of the reasons why I motivated myself so hard and worked so hard to improve my writing style and be the writer I want to be); @bowties-are-cool3000 (I might not read for the fandom you write or for the ships you write, but I've read what you've written and I enjoy it as much as I enjoy our yearly tradition of sending emails to each other on Christmas and occasionally crossing paths with random posts that got us thinking of each other); and I think that's everyone I wanted to mention.

[rhonddaandallaneuro]

The long haul

With five days with no land Rhondda had little faith in my patience but I have proven her incorrect. Haha. Well so far that is.

First day we got to experience the “ crossing of the equator” which while a good laugh I just feel sorry for the poor bastards trying to get the chocolate, flower and tomato sauce out of their hair.

If you want to get a deck chair in the shade, a priority for us, you have to have claimed a chair by 7am at the latest. This is accomplished when I do my 5am top deck walk allowing us to sit in shade all day.

Keeping up my steps is a challenge but so far so good. As today is Friday we are not drinking until 4pm, keeping in line with our normal Friday nights. A few of the people we have befriended started very early so I guess we will be meeting newer friends this evening. Haha

The food on the ship is okay as long as you stay away from the beef. The drinks are relatively cheap (package) while the coffee is very strong and served in worlds smallest cups. Life is good and Rhondda is getting to catch up on her reading.

Day two and three at sea saw us with light curfews on outside decks

from dusk until dawn with all outside areas locked down and curtains pulled shut. This apparently is a safety measure due to threat of pirates as we sail along the Somalia coast line. Laughed at first until you saw the armed guards patrolling the upper decks. These guys had massive weapons so I guess a lot more serious then we had imagined.

The entertainment has been good with the cruise ship dancers amazing. A Brazilian couple have to be the best we have ever seen. They just seem to fly. Not so keen on the sand drawing lady. Yes a skill but not entertainment worth being on the cruise ship but each to their own.

All in all though this has been a great time out for us both with lots of nanny naps mixed with learning to play Monopoly with cards. Hard to understand at first but once you learn the rules it is a huge laugh with lots of strategies involved. Given I am only person who has won two games straight I am claiming to be world champion. Hahaha so far there are only eight players on board we are aware of.

Finally we landed at Jeddah but we had elected not to leave the ship as getting a visa just simply to hard. The city from the ship looks quite modern but with Ramadan taking place nothing was open from dawn to dusk with most tourist attractions closed. Saved our money big time.

Back on board another day at sea saw us join a lot of Aussies in the Irish bar where an African musician played “pub with no beer” which excited everyone to where the bar quickly became choked with dancing and laughter. One of our fellow travellers, Kylie (youngest at 48 on tour) led the way and this was one of the best nights we have had. Old style pub music with everyone letting their hair down.

The next morning was a different story with massive winds making it impossible for the ship to dock so those who were intending to do the “valley of the kings” tour forced to miss out. This was a 14 hour tour so a lot of unhappy people.

Currently as I write this we are sitting downstairs just chilling out. Hopefully we will post this story in our next port of call.

[causenessus]

HI LOVELY!! good morning afternoon or evening to you! how’s your day been!! i hope you’ve eaten AND REMEMBER TO EAT DURING UR LONG SHIFTS OR I WILL APPEAR ON UR SCREEN !!! (lovingly) the way i gasped when i read your response because i was just like… YOU DIDNT EAT? :( i was so distraught but i hope whatever u had for dinner was good, but still !! always remember to eat and take care of yourself or the ghost of me will scold u (lovingly again) (nothing but love for you always)

today i had banh xeo for breakfast (tbh at this point i feel like you can guess what nationality i am LMAO) but OMG YOU LIKE VIET FOOD?? WE ARE SO SOULMATES !! TWIN FLAME !! AND OMG THATS SO CUTE I HAVE A VOICE IM HHHH that’s so cute i feel so very honoured but omg yesterday while i was like doing whatever right i had a realization that im literally like mystic messenger right now with the “make sure you eat!!” “how are you!!” like IM LITERALLY A CHARACTER IN MYSTIC MESSENGER RIGHT NOW THATS CRAZY (id be so embarrassed if you didn’t know what mystic messenger is but also would not blame you) ALSO YES WE CAN YAP TOGETHER I LOVE YAPPING BUT IM DEFINITELY YAPPING TOO MUCH LIKE I WANNA REPLY TO EVERYTHING YOU SAID SO IM LIKE HHH YAP YAP YAP me and ness are literally yapper and yapper like im trying to hold back but im here like omg among us??? omg whack dreams??? i wanna know what dreams??? omg school?? i’m school soon too!!

but but one more thing omg i’m so sorry LOL BUT I FEEL LIKE WE’RE IN THE SAME TIMEZONE?? BECAUSE EVERYTIME YOU MENTION THE TIME IN YOUR POSTS i check my time and im like huh.. silly… coincidence, but it’s 4pm for me rn !!maybe im crazy maybe im not but omg when it gets to school you can 100% rant about it because i will 100% do it too HAHA school has me like like genuinely tweaking like one small thing and im like OH MY GOD YOU WILL NOTTTT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TODAY

omg sorry i need to wrap this up but yes try again is amazing don’t doubt yourself and u can always yap to me whenever whenever like i’ll literally make a burner account and dm you instead so we can yap without having to flood your blog or if you don’t mind i don’t mind but mango anon loves you very much and mango anon would want ness to take care of herself forever and always and HAVE A GOOD DAY !!! xoxoxo

AAAAA OMG I AM HERE LIKE 11 HOURS LATER <33 DO NOT WORRY I AM EATING AS WE SPEAK BEFORE MY LONG SHIFT tbh i felt like so nauseous about eating anything though today idk why (i have like two suspicions lmao i def know why) but since i'm working i was like "then i'll just pick something up on the way there!!" so i went to my groccery store to get a sandwhich BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY </333 so i'm having a blazing dragon poke bowl instead??? and it's okay 😔 like i don't know how i feel yet about groccery store sushi and stuff but i've had it before!! it's just a bunch of spicy imitation crab, cucumber, carrots, and rice and i'm mainly just there for the rice. AND OMG i walked around the store bc i was trying to see if they had liquid death (caffeinated tea i think. i don't like it but i really need caffeine today </3) and they didn't have any and i decided to go back to like their little food section to get bao (you can probably guess my ethnicity too 😭) and i almost got hit bc this man WHIPPED around when i tried to pass him like i literally ducked i was so scared he was about to hit me and that man was STILL not aware of me. ANYWAY SORRY RANDOM STORY YOU AND ME AND VIET FOOD!!! TWIN FLAMES!!

ALSO OMG MYSTIC MESSENGER 😭 BRO I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT 707 LIKE TWO DAYS AGO WHEN THAT WHOLE ANON APOCALYPSE HAPPENED I WAS LIKE "i'm going to go 707 on these people and find out where they live and haunt them /hj" PLEASE I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THEIR LITTLE "remember to eat" messages and everything but it's so cute <33 and YES we will yap together!! i went in to school today although it starts tomorrow to switch up my schedule and going there was HORRIBLE i saw so many disgusting people :/// BUT i have a pretty good schedule now so it has it's pros and cons!!! i just give people dirty looks and accidentally saw "ew" aloud all the time :))) AND IK THAT SOUNDS MEAN BUT LIKE YK HOW PEOPLE ARE and the people that live in my state are all rich privileged kids and it never changes 😭 i see them everywhere AND THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME AND ACT THE SAME AND ARE GROSS

and LMAO A BURNER ACCOUNT I WOULD TOTALLY TAKE IT THOUGH!!! i'd love to talk to you whenever please please please feel free to make one and dm whenever you'd like!! <3 I LOVE SEEING YOUR ASKS THOUGH I LITERALLY WILL BE HAPPY EITHER WAY AS LONG AS I GET TO TALK TO YOU <3 I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY TODAY ANON!!

[twinklecheeks]

Friends With Benefits (Jeff Wittek Imagine) Part 11

Summary: Jeff and Y/N have been hooking up for a while. The whole vlog squad assumes they’re dating and Y/N does too but Jeff doesn’t like labels. He eventually starts to express interest in Natalie.

Note: Planning on making this a multiple part series, depending on how good it does.  You’re 21 & Latina in this (maybe) series. Also, I’d like to apologize for the typos, if there is any. I’m just illiterate lmao.  

Side note: Sorry it took me over a week to post this! I just started my last semester of college and I also have a part time job, so I’ve been super tired. I’ll try to be more consistent.

Warnings! Pregnancy, Smut 

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 , Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10,

Word Count: 2k

Christmas Eve 12/24/2019

Y/n: *Wakes up and stares at Jeff peacefully sleeping*

Jeff: *moans*

Y/n: *looks down and notices Jeff has a boner* Hmmm *gently rubs the swollen tip of Jeff’s cock*

Jeff: *thrusts into y/n’s hand*

Y/n: *Smirks and quietly gets out of bed to lock the door* *Pulls Jeff’s boxer’s down and sees his cock slap against his abs* *Softly licks the base of his Jeff’s cock all the way to the tip and sucks the head*

Jeff: *moans* mmm fuck.

Y/n: *You use the entirety of your palms and fingers with just how big and long he is. You hum greedily as you do this*

Jeff: *wakes up and smirks* I guess it’s a very Merry Christmas to me.

Y/n: I can suck on your cock all day daddy *winks*

Jeff: *groaning at how fast you’re going* F-fuck baby the way you’re moaning. You’re gonna kill me *bucks his hips*

Y/n: Shhh, I don't want them to know I’m sucking your cock ;) *continues to deepthroat feeling him twitch*

Jeff: Oh my fucking god baby yesss. Fuck me, fuck me, over and over. I swear I’d be fucking you every nigh- JESUS FUCK *cums inside her mouth*

Y/n: *swallows and sucks his cock clean* That was a great way to start Christmas.

Jeff: *laughs* Me cumming in you?

Y/n: *smirks* Mhmmm, I love it when you’re in me ;)

Jeff: What time is it?

Y/n: It’s 7:42am. I think your mom is already up cooking.

Jeff: Well if you want to see the Christmas parade at 11 w/ Jonah’s family, round 2 in the shower has to be a quickie.

Y/n: *looks down at his cock* You’re still hard? You just came a bunch in my mouth.

Jeff: I’m always hard for you babe *winks*

*After the Christmas Parade*

Suzie: I loved the parade! New York is so pretty during Christmas.

Vardon: Christmas is also more fun w/ snow.

Jonah: Guys it was fucking freezing outside.

Y/n: It was only 38 degrees.

Jeff’s mom: Oh good you guys are back. Marie (Jonah’s mom) and I are almost done with the food.

Jeff: Ma you’ve been cooking since like 6am. Have you had a break?

Jeff’s mom: We also did some last minute shopping/ gift wrapping. Everybody gets to open one present today and the rest tomorrow.

Y/n: You guys open presents tomorrow?

Jeff’s dad: Yeah, doesn’t everybody?

Y/n: Well in the Hispanic/ Latinx community, we call today Hispanic Christmas. So we open our presents today and then we spend the 25th stuffing our faces in left overs. We open on the 24th cause we’re too impatient and yes, we know Jesus was born on the 25th.

Jeff: Maybe we can do that w/ the girls next year.

Jeff’s mom: *tears up* Oh god you’re going to have daughter’s next year.

Jeff: Maaaa don’t cry again.

Y/n: Oh we are definitely doing hispanic christmas. If my sister comes over, she’d want to open the presents like a week before. She’s the most impatient. One year, she opened presents at like 3-4pm.

Jeff’s mom: I’m such a cry baby. Now help me set up the table!

*everybody helps set the plates and food*

Jeff’s dad: does anybody want to start the prayer?

Jeff: I’ll do it.

Karyn: Really? The last time you did it was Easter 2005 and you couldn’t stop laughing.

Jeff’s mom: Karyn.

*everybody holds hands*

Jeff: oh Heavenly Father, thank you for all that you’ve brought us. I know that Christmas is about you but I’d like to say thanks. Thank you for keeping everybody here in good health because I don’t know where I’d be w/ out them. I’m grateful for the supportive family and friends you have given me and most importantly, y/n. I know we were very rocky until recently but you brought her into my life for a reason. She was changing me into a better person and I was too stubborn to accept it. Now she’s going to be the mother of my 2 amazing daughters. Those babies already have me wrapped around their fingers and they’re not even here yet. I can’t wait for the day y/n and I get married and have however many babies you give us but don’t make it twins each time cause that’s gonna make my hair gray fast

Jeff’s mom: Jeffrey-

Jeff: okay I’m just kidding… kind of but you know what I mean. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and the rest of my family. Amen.

Everybody: Amen

Jeff’s dad: Hun are you crying?

Y/n: *sniffles her nose* NO. Maybe…. I wouldn't have thought Jeff was religious.

Karyn: Only during Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

Jeff’s Dad: Karyn stop teasing your brother. Now that the prayer is over with, let’s eat!

Jeff’s mom: Marie and I spent all morning cooking. Also, since this is y/n’s first Christmas w/ us, I wanted to bring some of the food she eats during the holidays.

Y/n: What food?

Jeff’s mom: *shows the Pernil* (pernil is pork shoulder)

Y/n: NO YOU DIDN’T *tastes the food* AND IT TASTES JUST LIKE OUT MY DAD MAKES IT. How did you make it?!

Jeff: She asked me a couple of days ago what you eat during the holidays and I found your sister on instagram. I got the recipe from her.

Jeff’s mom: I saw that it was a Puerto Rican dish so I asked one of my friends who knows how to make it to show me the steps.

Y/n: Oooo imma try not to cry again but THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Jonah: Can we eat now

After Dinner

Y/n: I ate so much, I think I’m having triplets. But thank you once again. I was pretty nervous to come here because I didn’t know how y’all would react to me.

Karyn: Just know that when we get mad, it’s at Jeff cause he’s always the one that somehow messes up.

Jeff: What time is it?

Suzie: It’s 7pm. Should we watch Christmas movies and then open presents before bed?

Vardon: Let’s watch the Grinch

Jonah: *ignores Vardon* Any other suggestions? Please. ANY OTHER.

Karyn: Y/n what do you watch for Christmas.

Y/n: Well, my personal favorite is Jingle all the Way but the Christmas Line up in my family is usually Home Alone 2, A Diva’s Christmas Carol, A Very Brady Christmas, the I Love Lucy Christmas episode and other’s I can’t remember.

Jeff: I mean, we are in New York. Home Alone 2?

Everybody: Sure.

*After watching Christmas movies*

Jeff’s mom: It’s 9:45pm. I think we should be opening our one present before we go to bed.

Jeff: Youngest to oldest! So my niece goes first, then Vardon, Y/n, Suzie, Jonah, etc.

*Jeff’s nieces and Vardon opens their gifts*

Vardon: No way. Jeff got me airpods! Thank you *Hugs Jeff*

Jeff: You’re welcome. Now time for y/n to open her gift from me.

Y/n: Oooo okay. *opens gift and sees two little gold bracelets* what are these for?

Jeff: I always see babies w/ the small little charm bracelet. You mentioned your sister and you never got that from your parents but your older brother did. I wanted to do that for our girls even though they're not here yet. So once we pick out the names, we’ll get the charms.

Y/n: *sniffles* Dammit why do you keep making me cry.

Jeff: Cause I don’t want you to ever forget how much I love you.

Jonah: Can we move on from this sappy shit so I can open my gift.

Everybody: JONAH.

*After everybody opens their presents*

Y/n: Thank you so much for accepting me on such short notice.

Jeff’s mom: Hun we’re family now. You’ll always be a part of us. Same for the Antonyans. We know how much Jeff misses having us around since he’s been living in LA and y’all have been a family to him.

Jonah’s mom: I love Jeff like he my own son. He help us so much.

Jeff’s Dad: Y’all just have to make sure to visit us often. Get’s kind of lonely here w/ Karyn living in Kentucky, Jeff living in LA. I mean Steven lives in the city w/ his kids but we miss having all of you together here.

Jeff: I’m starting to think that having girls runs in the family. Karyn has a daughter, Steven has twin girls and now I’m gonna have twin girls.

Jeff’s mom: I mean you never know if the nurse made a mistake. They thought your brother was a girl for half my pregnancy. Then they did the last ultrasound a week before I gave birth to him and they said he was a boy.

Y/n: Oh god I don’t even want to think about that. I’m already stressed out about the babies possibly being deaf now I gotta be worried if the nurse misgendered them….

Karyn: The babies are gonna be deaf?

Y/n: Hmm?

Jeff’s dad: You just said there’s a possibility the twins will be born deaf.

Y/n: Fuck. I did say that, didn't I… Jeff, you wanna help me out here?

Jeff: Ummm. Damn we weren’t planning on telling anybody this for a couple of weeks. We got a call a couple of days ago after we did some genetic testing and the doctor said the babies have a high chance of being born hard of hearing/ deaf.

Karyn: My doctors told me the same thing. Luckily my daughter turned out fine

Steven: I wasn’t a carrier for the gene…

Jeff’s mom: We’ll love those babies no matter what. If we have to learn sign language for them, then we’d do it. I’ll fly out to LA once it gets close to the due date to help out.

Jeff: Thanks ma. Means a lot.

Y/n: Thank you so much. I don’t know if my own parents would forgive me by then to be there for the birth.

Jeff’s mom: Anytime sweetheart. My god look at the time, It’s 10:15, we have to go to bed before Santa comes.

Jonah: Haha, but santa isn-

Jeff: Jonah you better better not finish that sentence cause my nieces are here and I don’t wanna see the magic ruined for them.

Jonah: What I was saying was, isn't Santa a little late?… He should’ve been here by now…

Going to bed

Y/n: I am so stuffed. Christmas turned out a lot better than I thought.

Jeff: See, you had nothing to be afraid about. Also, good job on keeping the deaf thing a secret haha.

Y/n: Hey! It’s been on my mind since we found out. WAIT. Jonah and Suzie.

Jeff: What about them?

Y/n: they were there…. What if they tell everybody else.

Jeff: Suzie would never… Jonah on the other hand… I have little faith in him.

Y/n: I’m afraid to check my phone.

Jeff: Same. I haven't looked at it all day. On the count of 3…

Y/n: One….

Jeff: Two.

Y/n & Jeff: Three. *looks at phones*

Y/n’s phone: 82 text messages & 24 missed calls

Jeff’s phone: 77 text messages & 21 missed calls

Vlog Squad GC

David: Was what Jonah said true?

Natalie: Is it serious?

Jason: Y’all I’m so sorry

Zane: There has to be a way to fix it. My babies will be okay right?

Erin: I’ll postpone my wedding until the babies are okay

Carly: Oh no Carly and Erin jr :(

Corinna: The babies are gonna be deaf?

Mariah: Is it confirmed?

Heath: Have y’all seen other doctors?

Matt: Guys they’re busy. I don’t think we should be spamming them on Christmas.

Toddy: We’ll stop one they answer us!

David: I’ll put in whatever money you need for surgeries or anything.

Jason: Guys stop. They’ll tell us everything once they’re ready.

(end of conversation)

Jeff: I’m gonna kill Jonah.

Y/n: Oh hun, so will I…

The next chapter might take a bit because I’m still thinking what will be in it. You guys can give be suggestions and I can give you credit for it!

Comment if you want to be on the taglist!

Taglist: @elvlogsquad​ @siemprestan​ @zavidzobrik​ @galxydefender​ @iminlovewithenchilidadas​ @ilsolee​ @ranprivate @one-sweet-gubler  @sunwardsss @shamalamashams @michellemxndes

[sockpansy]

Accidents happen

Rudony ( tony x rudolph)

@rudolph-sackville-bagg. I finally posted it

Nights with tony were lively.

Rudolph loved the feel of the warmth his hand had when they flew over the tops of trees and over ponds. He loved seeing him cheer in excitement as he did a loop. He enjoyed the way his voice would change on the calm nights they sat under the moonlight on the rooftop, Tony reading a few books from the castle library. Rudolph loved how being with Tony, in any way, always felt alive.

Nights with Rudolph were adventurous.

Tony would jump in delight when Rudolph offered his hand for a flight from his window at sunset. He loved the way he would tease him reminding him to close his mouth before he caught a bug. He loved holded his hand as they walked beside the river, jumping in and splashing each other until they were soaked. No matter how small it may be, there was always an adventure with Rudolph.

It was no wonder the boys had fallen in love with each other. If only they both knew it.

Tony walked up a small hill on the way back to the castle, Rudolph flying after him. 

" I never knew turtles could bite so hard." Tony laughed as he turned to face Rudolph, walking backwards, 

" I told you it was called a snapping turtle. You're lucky it only got the stick you poked it with and not your finger."  Rudolph only laughed at the recent memory.

" I'm a vampire, I'm sure a small bite wouldn't have caused that much damage." 

" Well i still think vampires need their fingers,"

Tony smiled and shook his head, he started to turn back around to continue the walk up the hill. Rudolph flew over him and appeared in front of him upside down. He went to say something when Tony had turned his head forward to face him.

Tony had been stepping up and forward, not knowing how close he was to the boy until his warm lips met his cold ones.

In all his 300 and 13 years, Rudolph had never felt a moment so long and so short all at once. He faintly thought "warm and soft" before he flew backwards at realizing what happened.

Tony on the other hand, had jumped back almost a second later blushing. He touched his lips with one hand, and even though it was brisk, he could still feel how cold and chapped Rudolph's lips felt against his.

Both boys stared at the other, neither being able to come up with an excuse or reason or even a word.

Tony managed to find one first.

" i didn't know you were so close...that um..wasn't...on purpose." But he really wished it had been. He wanted to kiss him again already.

Rudolph had turned right side up and had the back of his hand to his lips, trying to hold the feeling of the kiss there. He nodded as he observed Tony, looking for any sign he might have been ok with it, but quickly dismissing all the obvious signs as just nervousness or surprise or tony being...Tony.

" Ah yes. I'll be a bit more careful next time." He completely planned to not do that.

The boys stayed there another minute quietly. Rudolph cleared his throat first.

" The sun will be coming up soon. Uh...how about I fly us home?"

_________

 The flight there was silent, even as they both had the same thing screaming inside their heads.

Rudolph dropped Tony at the front door. Said a quick good day and flew to his window. Tony waved as he left and headed inside to have breakfast with his family.

As Tony zoned out eating cereal, Rudolph was having trouble sleeping. He kept touching his lips and imagining what it would feel like to feel them again. If he even could feel them again. 

After agonizing over it for far to long into the day, he gave into the only thing he knew to do. 

He went to Anna and Gregory for advice.

______________

" it is 11 am in the morning. The sun is glaring down outside those curtains...and you wake me up. Drag me all the way out of my room..for this. " Gregory crossed his arms as he stared at his little brother. He brushed lips for half a second and now he can't even face a mere mortal?

Anna, on the other hand? She was also upset at being woken up but she was not happy about what happened either. 

" It's not fair that you got to kiss Tony first!" 

" that is not the problem here! I don't even know what to do and it wasn't a kiss on purpose!" 

Anna huffed crossing her arms " well if it had been me i wouldn't have let it end so quickly." 

Rudolph held his head in his hands " why did i think going to you two would be any good advice." 

Gregory yawned " let's hurry up so I can get back to sleep. I had been having a nice little daydream before you rudely interrupted." 

Rudolph let himself float as he tried to think " I mean..it..it wasn't even on purpose..we just gotta little close is all...but i don't even know how to face him!" 

Anna chimed in" upside down apparently," Gregory nudged her and she let out a puff of air, then floated up to Rudolph. 

" this is really bothering you that much?" Rudolph nods

" yes anna...i don't quite know what to do...and i don't want to avoid him...and i want to kiss him again but i'm not even sure he would be ok with that. Let alone like to be romantic." 

Anna tapped her foot in the air, making no sound, but she sighed defeated.

" if he says no, then i get him. No take backs!" 

Rudolph turned to face her better, " what do you mean?"

" I mean tonight when he wakes up, ask him to go flying, and talk about the kiss. Ask to do it again. But if he says no or if you don't do it. He is mine." Rudolph didn't quite know what to say to that,or where to start either. Luckily- or unluckily- she went past him and into the hall, heading to her room.

Gregory yawned " she has a point rudolph. You won't know until you ask him. I'm sure it will all turn out fine." And he followed Anna out so he coule grt bsck to sleep. This wasn't his problem. This left Rudolph to deal with the advice he did not want and a deal he didn't agree to or ask for. 

_______

Waiting for Tony to wake up was misery. To keep Tony from sleeping all day. His parents set his bedtime from 4pm to 11 pm and he could stay up the rest of the night and day. Sadly this also meant a few hours of the night were spent without Tony, and tonight those hours ticked by like years.

Finally. At 11pm on the dot. Rudolph flew into Tony's room from the open window. 

Tony hadn't been able to get much sleep himself, and had gotten the same advice from his parents as Rudolph had from his siblings. But in a much less challenging way, although that didn't make it any easier. 

He sat up when Rudolph came in and yawned. 

" goodnight Rudy." He waved a bit nervously. Rudolph took a quick breath and did his best to act as normal as vampirely possible as he held out his hand.

" ready for your wakeup call?"

 Tony couldn't help the grin that spread over his face as he took Rudolph's hand and they flew into the night.

______

It wasn't long before the two were sat on top of the tower rudolph had left Tony on once before, neither filling the open with words quite yet. 

" hey about yesterday-" 

" about the kiss-" 

They said at the same time. Then Quickly went quiet, waiting for the other to finish. Stars. They are so awkward.

Rudolph remembered anna' s decree over Tony, even if tony wasn't a prize to be won ( unless rudolph won, that doesn't count), he didn't like the idea of her stealing him away. 

" Tony, i apologize if this comes out...rash." He started. He kept talking, hoping that if he didn't stop he wouldn't back out," but yesterday, I admit I didn't plan to be so close for that to happen. That is to say i didn't plan it but i- i may have - perhaps it was-" he stumbled over his words.

Tony took over quickly,``I haven't kissed someone before!" 

Rudolph fell quiet " huh?"

The mortal continued, rubbing the back of his head as he did to get some nerves out,``I um..mean that..since i havent kissed anyone before that would have been my first kiss. But um..i was..wanting a proper kiss. " 

Rudolph felt his heart sink, he didn't mean to accidentally take his first kiss! 

" I apologize Tony, I didn't mean to take that from you." 

Tony was wearing the same red his hoodie had on his face by this point, " i'm not saying that it was..bad..i..am saying." He took a small breath and took one of rudolph's hands.

" kiss me again?"

Rudolph stared at Tony for a bit. Unsure what to say or even do. Did this mean that Tony liked him? Or did he just want a proper kiss and it happened to be Rudolph who kissed him on accident, so he was asking him to do it proper this time?

Tony bit his lip and looked away quickly 

" im sorry, that was...a selfish request...i was um..just hoping maybe you...wanted to kiss me too." 

Rudolph had to say something. Anything. Something at all!

"Your lips are very warm." 

Not that!

" -and i'd like to kiss you again!" 

That's better!

Tony blushed as he faced him and nodded, holding one hand and putting the other gently behind his neck. Tony pulled Rudolph into a soft kiss.

Rudolph had been right. Tony's kiss was very soft and warm. He could stay like this for hours if he would let him. 

Rudolph put his free hand on Tony' s cheek. Pulling him closer, and he swears he could taste strawberries on him.

It only lasted a few seconds, before both boys pulled back from the kiss, still holding onto each other. Tony laughed a little bit.

" so um..does this mean you like me?" 

Rudolph looked offended, " you mean i can kiss you and you think I would only just like you? Tony, I love you." 

Ok, Rudolph did not plan to say that tonight.

Tony did not expect to hear that tonight either.

 

But Tony just kissed him again quickly, and mumbled against his lips the same words he just heard. 

________

When Anna heard the news in the morning, she was sure to remind Rudolph she would grab Tony if he let him go, and Gregory just gave him a pat on the back as a congratulations, but no one was surprised they had gotten together. Just glad they finally did. 

[romioneficfest]

Voting will start shortly

Good Evening/Afternoon/Morning to all our readers.

Now that all of the stories have been posted along with a Recap of all of them, it’s time for the brass tacks - the voting.

A link will be going up at 6pm GMT tomorrow - but this is the advance notice on the information and what will be happening.

TL;DR - I have asked others on the ethics on how I have the sorting to proceed - with no influence on popularity or who wrote what story. Randomizer.Org is the program sorting the stories based on publishing order and will go into 3 brackets for round one. I will publish the sorting order 2 hours before the poll opens. I will show @abradystrix​ the results before publishing them.

Instructions are in the voting form.

Methodology and Pedagogy

I had my hubs check my idea (since he’s a math whiz) and validation from @abradystrix​ who was more than glad to verify that there is no talons on any of the scales at the starting gate.

A Read-more for a dry and boring explanation on how it will proceed.

39 stories were submitted this year for publication. They are given a number (1-39) based on their publishing order (which was based on submission order) and Randomizer.Org will be in charge of sorting them into 3 brackets.

For ease of reading, the numbers will be sorted for order for those who need or wish to reflect back on which story is which. I will use the order that Randomizer.Org uses on which story goes where bracket-wise. So for those authors who have more than one entry in a bracket, I do apologize but that is in response to the negative feedback last year when I tried to keep it balanced and fair. 

An example will be this:

For Round 1, you, the voter, will pick up to 8 stories (out of 13) for advancing to the next round. I realize that it boils down to personal taste and what is good for one is not so amazing for someone else. You are not obligated to vote for 8 entries. You can vote for 1 and go from there. I’m not paying attention and won’t know who did it. The only data I get is when the vote was submitted.

I do not care who voted for what. I do not want to know who voted for which story.

I do not and will not be collecting email addresses but once a vote is in, you will not be able to change your vote after the submit button was pressed.

Any ballot that more than 8 Yes votes in any section will be tossed. I realize that voting for your personal top 8 is unfair to some and I get it. Every single one submitted I enjoyed. These are subjective and based on who enjoys what. 

Voting will open at 6pm GMT Tuesday and Run through Friday 6pm GMT. This is to give the voters time to re-read any stories that they are unsure about and gives me time (because Thursday is busy AF for me in RL!)

I will not be assessing how the voting is going while the poll is open. I only look at it when I close the poll and start looking at the results.

Once the voting is closed, I will publish a link so those who are interested in seeing how the vote processing happens will be able to virtually look over my shoulder and watch me work. I am a full advocate in absolute transparency in this issue.

As soon as possible after the voting is closed, I will post the link for round 2 voting. That solely depends on how fast I can get the story names copy/pasted into the round 2 form and linked going forward. It will take a little longer to post the results into a post and do coding/formatting. But it will come as soon as possible.

The methodology and pedagogy for Round 2 will be published at 4pm GMT Thursday (on Queue) - like this one - so that the instructions are ready for voters ahead of time. 

[thejosh1980]

Live Alive...

So much to write, so little time...I'll try to keep it short and focused.

Life has changed a lot here in northern New South Wales recently, but first, lets talk about the music...

It's just over 5 weeks since I performed my first live show after a 13 month break. I was a little concerned I couldn't pull off a show in my usual fashion, however I think in the end, every one, including me, was satisfied.

It is true, it's just like riding a bike...

Once I stepped up on stage to do my job, which is to put on the best show I could, I felt comfortable. I really enjoyed the moment, and didn't feel nervous or anxiety.

I met the drummer only minutes before we jumped on stage, it reminded me of the first show with Eddy and the Backfires in mid 2008 in Bottrop. I met Eddy and then bam, on stage to play a show together... We continued to play together for another 5 years. Sometimes I watch the video (on youtube) and smile when I see Eddy's face light up from the get go, much like the singer 5 weeks ago. I was the right guy for the job, I knew what I was doing.

I've gotten used to that though, learning songs off a CD then playing without a band rehearsal, and usually it works well... One doesn't really learn the songs until they're played live anyhow, right? The groove and feeling is always little different once the energy of a live show kicks in.

I try to slip into the band's sound and style... Learning on the spot who to follow and figure out what's going to happen next. Sometimes that means I'm not fully concentrating on the crowd, and maybe even looking a little confused at the band, but it's the lead singer's job to work the crowd, my job is to support them in their work, and I can't do that if I'm trying to impress the girls in the front row instead of listening and watching the band.

There were quite a few restrictions in place in Australia in July, so festival attendee numbers were down. Only Queensland folks and a few New South Wales folks could join. Usually the much larger crowd is a mix from all over Australia. I did meet up with some old friends, and made a few new ones. Reminding me that not only do I love playing music, but I do enjoy the social aspect of being a musician, that is whenever my anxiety levels are manageable. It's also sweet that no matter how long I've been away, folks come and say hi, and we talk like no time has passed.

This show was meant to be the beginning of returning to regular live shows, the band are very interested in having me play with them in the future and gigs were (very) slowly coming in...

However, everything changed the next morning...

With the high of a fun show, I woke to my cousin offering me eggs and bacon for breaky, I said “hells yeah!”... I had decided I wanted to attend the festival that afternoon before driving home that evening, to catch up with more friends and see some of the bands I had only been hearing about while living in Europe.

The 10am news came on “South East Queensland Lockdown Begins at 4pm” ! Well there goes my plans for visiting the festival!! I had to freshen up, eat, pack up and head south and cross the border post haste. I didn't want to be stuck in QLD, or in traffic!

Some folks had tested positive near Brisbane, and the festival was in one of the areas of concern. The festival promoter had to cancel 1.5 days into a 3 day rockabilly weekender.

Once I crossed the border back into NSW I found out I had to isolate at home... Apparently they back dated the restrictions for returning residents.

Lucky us!

So, I had a week at home to isolate. I decided to get tested, it was a negative result. What else do you expect?

The situation at the time, wasn't too bad, but a pain in the butt. I had to isolate for a week or two, and then I'd be free in NSW to hang out.

Luckily our classes went online too... Another challenge to contend with... Online classes are a necessity these days, but it took a few weeks for me to get used to 'em... To settle into the new routine.

Anyhow, so there I am isolating at home... A week later, on Sunday evening, I am released from isolation as the QLD situation is under control and NSW ease their rules. Earlier than expected, winner winner chicken dinner!

But then... The very next day, Monday evening, the whole of NSW is thrown into lockdown because of Sydney's high case numbers and some regional cases coming to light.

It's 5 weeks after the show, and I have been in either home isolation or restrictions or code red type lockdowns (or whatever you want to call it) for 99.9% of the time...

Good times...

I'm not bagging the rules, I know they're there to help. It's OK, it is what it is... I can call friends and family, I can exercise and, I can play the guitar. What more could I ask for? - Probably a lot more, but I digress.

I have learnt to become adaptable... It's not uncommon for me to feel frustrated at change, but eventually I come around to it.

Now back to music...

The NSW lockdown does affect the band too, 2 band members live south of the border in NSW and 2 live north in QLD, which has few restrictions...

Can we even get together to play? Are shows being booked? If we play a show on either side of the border, do we have to self isolate afterwards? It's a bit like living in 2 seperate countries at the moment, each with its own rules.

Leading up to the show, I hadn't done any live streams, I hadn't worked on music production or songwriting, however I was looking forward to the show. I wasn't really thinking too much about about the future... I've been concentrating a lot on my studies (which is another blog for another day)...

A week after the show I was a little put off by the isolation and restrictions, however now I am starting to take small steps to get back into playing for myself. What I mean is, I have worked on some song production, song marketing, song writing and even looking into working with musicians to put my own band together!!

How cool is that? To me, that is very cool...

Now the small steps mean I have also been co-writing with a friend, starting to put more of my music online (like Bandcamp... coming soon!) and thinking how I can start over again... Cause that's what this is really about...

While I do have a band who hires me to play their music (which I enjoy and am grateful for, whenever we'll actually be able to play together) I really need to start on my own music career. That is a big step! So time to break it down into smaller steps...

When I first moved back home, I had a few offers to jam with old friends, and didn't take them up on it. I didn't feel like playing. Maybe it was a bit of depression, or something, but I just wasn't excited about it...There had been a lot happening in 2020, on top of leaving Europe and integrating back into Australian life, well, I guess it was a bit too much for me at the time.

In the past few weeks I've started contacting folks to get together, once the restrictions have eased, and I am really looking forward to swappin' riffs, ideas and jammin' with friends old and new!

It was a small thing, to say yes to that show in July... Really, it was just a word “yes”... but that decision has lit a fire... the spark is burning... and I don't quite know where it's going to take me, but even the pandemic blues hasn't gotten me down this month like it has done in the past...

Cause now I got something to work towards...

I wanna work with musicians, in person or online... I wanna write songs again... I wanna play a live show with others, their music or mine... I wanna release my solo album (eventually) and I wanna express myself as I once did with the 6 string in the past...

Are you comin' along for the ride??

Thanks for reading,

The Josh

[littlemsstark3000]

10, 42, or 46 for the kiss prompts, if you're able!! ironwidow ofc!!!

I am posting one first! The other two prompts to follow!

Full list of kissing prompts is HERE if you want to send in a request! Go ahead, because I with @queeenpersephone and @katebishopofearth will make a collection on AO3, too. 😊

*****

10. “A hello/good-bye kiss that is given without thinking - where neither person thinks twice about it.”

“If it’s not in that lane, try checking the imported goods section.”

Tony spotted Natasha in the dining area having her morning coffee. She looked fresh from showering, and there was no sign that she has just beaten herself in the gym earlier as part of her regular training while he was still dead asleep.

He approached his girlfriend after checking the empty coffeemaker and drank from her own mug instead. “Who you talking to?”

“Peter. He volunteered to buy the groceries,” she replied before taking her coffee from him and took a sip from it again.

“Where’s Steve?” He asked while fixing his tie; as it was usually the supersoldier doing the grocery shopping since he was also the resident cook.

“With Sam. It’s car maintenance day,” Natasha reminded him while she was still on the phone, probably on stand-by for what Peter might ask.

“Wanda?” he also checked. The young woman was Steve’s sidekick in the kitchen.

“Preparing the backyard with Vis.”

It was Thursday, and this day of the week meant either game night with booze or pizza night with movies for the Avengers. For this week though, they decided to do barbecue party instead. Clint and Thor confirmed that they would come over from their respective homes. Bruce was just in the labs. Rhodey was just a call away.

Tony reached for the mug again after grabbing a bagel on the other end of the table, and they ended up sharing what was left of the drink.

“Yes, Pete?” Natasha spoke again then paused. “Stick to my list. You know how OC Steve is.”

He smirked at that, remembering that one of the few times Captain America loses his composure is when his ingredients in the kitchen is incomplete or he is forced to use different brands from what he usually does. Rogers was a man of routine.

After finishing his bagel, Tony snatched a napkin from the dispenser to wipe his mouth before saying bye.

“I’m late for my meeting, Darling.” He planted chaste kisses on her lips then on the top pf her head as she was still sitting down. “See you later.”

“Wait -” she notified to the other line before turning towards him. “What time will you be back?”

He glanced at his wristwatch. “More or less in three hours.”

“Okay. We should be done by 4PM.”

“Alright.” Tony kissed her again, on the cheek this time. “Bye. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” She absent-mindedly responded as Peter continued to talk over the phone.

“Hey - no, I mean yeah, you can get some but not too much junk, Parker.”

Both him and Natasha were convinced that the only reason why Peter volunteers to shop for the team is so that he can squeeze in buying what he wants.

[crystalwillow]

Against All Odds, Part Two

Pairing: James Whitmore x Lillie Jones

Word Count: 2.4K

==================================

It was close to two week since James and Lillie had last seen each other and their date was fast approaching. Lillie was frustrated because James wouldn’t give any clues as to where he was Taking Lillie and wouldn’t even tell her what sort of outfit to wear. The only thing he would respond anytime she asked was “I’ve got it handled.” which frustrated her to no end. But finally the day rolled around and she was awoken by her doorbell ringing early in the morning. Luckily she was already up, so she raced to the door and opened it to be greeted by the mail man delivering her post along with a fancy looking box. Curious and having a feeling the box was from James, she thanked the mail man and hurriedly headed inside to her living room, tossing the letters aside and opening the box. Inside she gasped as she pulled out a beautiful silk blue gown, and peered inside to see some glittery white silver high heels and a note. 

Taking a deep breath she read the note aloud. “Hey Lillie. I hope you’re excited for our date. This is the outfit I’d like for you to wear tonight and accessories with those cute butterfly earrings and necklace you were wearing the other day in your video you posted. I look forward to seeing you later, enjoy your morning. James x”

Lillie delicately placed the heels and dress back in the box and ran to her room placing it on her bed for later, then hurried back to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast before getting ready and going for a run. Today was going to be a good day and nobody was going to bring her down. Not even snooty paparazzo who just wanted to make her look awful. She’s Lillie Rose Jones and she will take the day by storm. 

She ran two laps of her block before heading back inside and taking a well earned shower. She then ordered a light lunch to be delivered to her house whilst she caught up on the admin side of her work. Her accountant had recently fallen ill and Lillie had insisted that she took the time off to recover. It was a good job Lillie left school with an A* in math, because if she hadn’t she would be struggling right now. Just as she finished juggling the books, her phone rang and lit up with James’ name on the screen. 

“James, hey!”

“Hey stranger.”

“What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Just wanted to hear your voice.”

“Sappy.”

“Hey!”

The two laughed before Lillie let out a tired sigh and a yawn.

“Are you okay?” James asked. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just been going through my books. My accountant’s fallen ill and I don’t have anyone else who can do it. I guess I just forgot how tiring it is.” she chuckled as she yawned again.

“Are you going to be okay for our date?”

“I am. I was just about to go and take a 2 hour nap then get up and ready.”

“Lillie. It’s 2pm, our reservation is for 8pm.”

“Exactly. A 2 hour nap will take me to 4pm, 30 minutes to wake up and freshen up takes us to 4:30pm. 2 hours to get ready takes us to 6:30pm. And then, I’m just waiting on you.”

James chuckled. “I forgot how organized you are.”

“You forgot?! Oh you’ll pay for that!” Lillie laughed.

“Will I now?” James teased.

“You will. As punishment. I’m not turning up for our date!” Lillie huffed playfully down the phone as she took some milk from the fridge.

“Hey! That’s not fair! You can’t forfeit our date just because I forgot how organized you are!”

“Can too!” Lillie protested.

“You’d break my heart over my error?”

“Aw James, of course I wouldn’t. I’m just playing with you.”

“Well it wasn’t very fun.” James replied and Lillie giggled as she could hear the pout in his voice. 

“Oh stop pouting, you big baby.”

“What?! How-”

Lillie just laughed. The two shared a few more words before Lillie hung up and headed to her room for her nap. Before they knew it, the time for their date had come around and James found himself on Lillie’s doorstep taking a deep breath and fixing his suit before reaching out and ringing her doorbell which caused her to suddenly freak out from inside. She steadied her breath and put a smile on her face as she opened the door. James looked at her and his jaw dropped as he took in how stunning she looked. 

“Hey.” Lillie said nervously as she stepped forwards to give him a hug.

“H-hey. You look um… wow.” James blushed.

He marveled at her beauty for a while longer before taking her hand and walking back to the car with her holding onto his arm. 

“Where are we going?” Lillie asked as the door was closed behind them. 

“Now why would I tell you that and ruin the surprise Miss. Jones?”

“Because you like me just enough to do so.”

“I like you more than enough to do so. But, I have restraint. You’ll have to wait and see.”

“You’re seriously no fun when you’re like this James.” Lillie huffed as she crossed her arms.

“Oh come on. You can seriously look cute in a dress whilst pouting.”

“I’m doing it aren’t I?”

“Very well. Yes. But you won’t get me to crack. Can I offer you some alcohol-free champagne?” James asked, motioning to the center console. 

“You got alcohol-free champagne just for me?”

“Well I wouldn’t be a very good date if I tried to make you drink actual alcohol, knowing you’ve switched to non alcoholic drinks. Which by the way. The organizers at The Met Gala should have told you it was alcoholic alcohol you were drinking the other night.”

“It was?! Ugh. No wonder I overslept and woke up with a killer migraine.” Lillie complained as James handed her a glass.

The journey to where James had made their reservation passed by quicker than expected and soon, James was helping Lillie step out of the car and they walked into a lovely restaurant together hand in hand. 

“I hope tonight is to your liking.” James said nervously as the waiter walked away after handing them their menus to browse over.

“As long as you’re here. I’m sure it’ll be just fine.” Lillie smiled.

James smiled back and took a sip of his drink. 

“What are you getting as your starter?” Lillie asked.

“Hmm. I’m not sure.” 

“I think I’m going to go with the bruschetta.”

“Mmmm. I’ll take that too. What about the main course.”

“The pork belly, with apple purée and sprouting broccoli.”

“Good shout. I’m going to go with the smoked salmon and rice I think.”

“Nice.”

“Dessert?”

“Can we share it?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Then could I request the chocolate cake with a forest fruit coulis?” 

“You certainly can.” James smiled and they placed their menus on the table and James placed their order and they waited patiently for the food to come out.

They enjoyed their starter as it came and then waited excitedly for their main courses. 

“So tell me… What was life for the elusive James Whitmore before stardom?” 

James chuckled and took a sip of his wine. “Well. It was a regular life. I was at college, taking a major in agriculture and a minor in sociology. I was clueless, didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do with my life, started posting short video clips on my social media just for fun. Then I decided why not make longer videos? Eventually, I was picked up for modeling by Dior and haven’t looked back since.” He smiled and took another sip of wine, then looked at Lillie through curious, narrowed eyes. “What about you? What was life like for pre-famed Lillie Jones?”

Lillie chuckled and subtly avoided his gaze, saved by the waiter coming over with their main courses. 

“One pork belly and one smoked salmon?”

“Ah yes. The pork belly would be mine and the fish would be his.” Lillie told the waiter with a polite smile and she placed them in the correct places. 

“Enjoy.” she smiled with a slight curtsey before turning and heading over to another table.

“Thank you.” Lillie said after her before turning her attention back to her food on the table. 

“So?” James questioned as he cut into his fish.

“So…?” Lillie asked

“You still need to answer my question.” 

“Oh. Right. Of course. Um.. well you see, the thing is.. Before all this. I couldn’t afford to go to college so I was there on a scholarship. But there was this guy that I angered somehow. It must have been through winning a mock debate in a lecture one day because I didn’t interact with him outside of the class. Long story short, I never got my law degree because he pulled a series of pranks that always led back to me being the culprit and I got kicked from the college. My dream is to one day go back to college and gain my law degree and go on to be a lawyer as I’ve always wanted to be.”

James listened intently, furrowing his brow and clenching his jaw at the mention of some guy he didn’t even know, being a douche to Lillie for no valid reason. Lillie clocked it and felt butterflies form in the pit of her stomach before she took a deep breath and a bite of her pork belly. 

“So let me get this straight. You were put into a mock debate situation, I’m guessing to show what skills you already possessed and what could use work, and some douchebag idiot done everything he could to get you thrown out of the college because you won the debate?”

“Pretty much, and I was there on scholarship so I’m sure that didn’t help my case.” 

James scoffed and shook his head as he chewed another bite of his fish before his expression turned thoughtful. “I suppose in some ways I should thank him though.”

“How so?”

“Well… If he hadn't done that, we may never have met.”

“I guess there’s some truth to that.” Lillie nodded thoughtfully. 

They finished the rest of their meal and drinks in a bubbly atmosphere before they split the check and paid for everything. As they stepped outside, James offered Lillie his hand. 

“May I? I thought we could take a slow walk back to your place.”

Lillie smiled brightly as she placed her hand in James’ lightly. It was the first time she had been on a date like this with someone who acted like a decent human being. Her past experiences had been going to a club and ending up entangled with the person by the end of the night, waking up the next morning with deep regrets and breaking things off two months later. Granted this had only happened 5 or 6 times, but that didn’t mean the experience was any less horrific in value. As they walked side by side, Lillie smiled up at James who turned his head and smiled back at her just as softly. They took their time, taking in the full beauty of New York in the night time and the stars overhead, basking in each other’s presence and just simply being. There wasn’t a word that needed to be said, they just walked in a comfortable silence, hand in hand as they headed back towards Lillie’s place. At some point Lillie shivered, despite wearing a faux fur coat that she owned, which paired with the dress James got her perfectly. Noticing the slight shiver, James wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her closer to share his body heat with her and she nuzzled her head into his shoulder, eyes starting to feel heavy. Though she didn’t mind as they weren’t far from her house now. When they arrived there, they faced each other on the porch. 

“Did you want to come in for a nightcap before you leave?” Lillie asked hopefully.

“Do you want me to?” James questioned back with his brow slightly raised.

“Me wanting you to or not shouldn’t be what you base your decision on mister.” she giggled and playfully jabbed his side with her finger.

“Hey!” he laughed tiredly, stifling a yawn.

“You could always come in and stay the night in my guest room. It contains a bed dressed up in only the finest silk.”

James gave her a sly smile. “Just admit you don’t want my presence to leave yet already.” he teased. 

Lillie giggled. “So what if that holds some truth? Could you blame me?”

“Honestly? Not really. No.” James laughed richly. 

“So… are you coming in?” Lillie asked

“...yeah.” James smiled and Lillie unlocked the door, stepping inside with James following closely behind her and closing the door before joining her in the kitchen.

“What can I get you?” she asked, finding a couple of glasses and filling her own with water. 

“I think I’ll join you in having water. I found the wine a bit too….”

“Drying?” Lillie asked, finishing his sentence with a smile as she passed him a glass of water too.

“Exactly that.” James responded and took a long swig of his drink, sighing happily. 

The two stayed up for a little while longer before they started yawning uncontrollably. 

“Let me show you to your room.” Lillie smiled, stopping along the way to grab some fresh towels from the laundry cupboard along the way. She then stopped outside of a door, keying in a code to unlock it. 

“I have a coded door? Fancy.” James commented.

“Yeah, well I’m sure you’re aware of the time I got robbed whilst I was away at a New York Fashion Week last year.”

“Yeah… I’m sorry that happened to you, by the way.” 

“Thanks.”

James offered a comforting smile and followed her into the room. 

“There’s an en suite if you prefer to shower before bed, and if you need to leave the room at any point, the code is written down on a piece of paper in that top drawer there.” Lillie said, smiling. 

“Thank you. Oh and Lillie?” James said, gently grabbing her wrist

“Yeah.” replied spinning to face him.

“Goodnight.” he smiled. 

Lillie stepped in closer and kissed his cheek sweetly. “Goodnight James.” she smiled before heading out, closing the door behind. James sat on the bed and listened as her footsteps echoed down the hallway before they stopped and he heard a door open and close. 

========================================================================

A/N: I had currently only planned two parts for this AU. But, I’m wondering if you guys would be interested in me making it a multi-part AU or just adding one more part to round it off. I just want to give you all something that’s different and doesn’t contain Choices characters. Comment and let me know, or let me know in your reblogs (if you choose to reblog that is). 

[prettywordsyouleft]

Mistletoe Manor - Part 4

Summary: Christmas is the most important time of year for all those who live within Mistletoe Manor. From the staff to the Hawthorne family themselves, everyone works hard to ensure that the festive season is a success every year! We invite you to see if everyone can pull off another  magical Christmas at the manor this year.

Pairing: Park Seo Joon, Bang Yongguk, Brian Kang, Jung Daehyun, Jung Jaehyun, Lee Taeyong and OCs.

Genre: regency au / romance / christmas au

A/N: Becky ( @noona-clock​ ) and I wanted to create a magical Christmas for everyone and what  better way to do that than at Mistletoe Manor! Because of the nature of having several idols, we chose to work with OCs and we hope you love them as much as we do.

Mistletoe Manor will be posted daily at 10am NZST / 4pm EST daily.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

The requirements in the manor after the mishap at the Winter Festival meant a lot of the staff were now working two roles. For the sake of meeting the deadline, it made sense that this was happening and a lot of the villagers were also teaming up with the staff and Hawthorne family to make it work.

It was suddenly rather quiet in Mistletoe Manor, and this suited Taeyong just fine. He had been tasked to stay on with Percy, the butler, knowing between the two of them, the house would maintain its excellence in standing.

But that wasn’t without a little assistance from Taeyong himself.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

Looking up from the banister Taeyong was polishing, he noticed Anna standing there. He smirked, going back to the task at hand. “Is it in your repertoire to leave such streaks? The Hawthorne’s use these stairs on the daily. I would be utterly aghast if I were them to see such a mess.”

“Su-such a mess?!” Anna echoed, shoving him aside to inspect the railing. She then turned to him, pointedly. “You’re teasing me!”

“I’m afraid not, I have merely masked your errors. Don’t you have bedding to change?” Taeyong mentioned and Anna placed her hands on her hips, making it impossible for him to keep his humour to himself. He chuckled smugly. “Will taking purchase in your sides make those hands work any faster?”

“Might I remind you, Taeyong, of your own role within this house?”

He nodded, proudly. “I am at the service of the Hawthorne’s needs.”

“You’re a footman. Not a maid.”

“I’d hope not, could you imagine me prancing around here in your outfit? It would make a sight for sore eyes!”

“Just because Percy took you under his wing since you’re too afraid of hard work out at the marketplace-”

“Now, hold up just a second-”

“Does not mean you come up in here and boss me around!”

“When did I?” he retorted, throwing down the cloth onto the banister. “I was merely minding my own business until you stuck your nose-”

“My nose?! What is so wrong with my nose?!” Anna argued, her face now glowing hot as she shoved it closer to his. Taeyong tightened his tie in order to compose himself.

They were always like this. Many referred to them as the cat and mouse of this house, their bickering constantly heard down every hallway. Even the owners of the residence were humoured by the pair, though Taeyong found Anna to be the most intolerable woman in this county.

And having her stand this close to him made him entirely uncomfortable. Jarringly stepping back, he missed his footing, stumbling down a few stairs before landing on his bottom.

Anna giggled. “Yes, now that suits you just fine. The stumbling idiot. Back to my bedding, isn’t that right?”

“ANNA!”

Throughout the day, Taeyong continued to have endless mishaps whenever he crossed paths with the maid. Anna was just as frustrated with him, glaring at him as she dropped a stack of folded towels when he had come past her carrying out the dirty laundry. She had dusted the drapes right into his line of cleaning the windows and Taeyong had stepped in her pile of cinders she removed from the parlour’s hearth.

It was chaotic and yet, as he fell back upon his bed that evening, he couldn’t help but laugh.

It had been a good day.

When the next day arrived, he was tasked with helping Anna clean the grand dining hall. After the festival began, guests would soon arrive for Christmas at the manor and more meals would be held within this room. It would need to be spotless now so they could set up for the first large meal of the holidays.

“You do the left side and I’ll do the right,” Anna instructed and Taeyong blew out an air of annoyance, moving forward towards the centre of the room instead. “Are you not listening to me? As one of the head maids in this house, I should be respected!”

“Why should I show respect to someone who belittles me at any chance she gets?”

“You’re impossible!”

“At least you know my own sentiments towards you,” Taeyong agreed, clearing off the table so he could climb on top of it.

Anna gasped. “Get down from there right this instant! You do not put your feet on a table!”

“Pray tell, how do we clean the chandelier then?” he asked bitterly, and she gestured him down, slapping at his ankle until he hopped down.

And then she groaned. “You will not breathe a word of this to anyone else.”

“Word of what?”

“Crouch down so I can climb aboard your shoulders.”

“Surely standing on the table-”

“Not where the affluent sit! If they hadn’t taken the ladders to the site I would use them, now crouch down!”

“Do not blame me if I cannot hold your weight for long!”

“Perhaps you should do some more physical exercise to build up your strength then for I am not heavy.”

“Say that to someone who is not holding your entire weight upon his shoulders,” Taeyong griped and Anna sighed heavily before getting to work. For several minutes it was fine, Taeyong readjusting her when his position tired. She was almost done with one side when he began to struggle. “How much longer?”

“You can’t even handle five minutes?”

“It’s been longer than ten.”

“Even Percy could hold me longer than you.”

“Next time ask him to do so then.”

Anna glanced down at him. “Could you stand still, I’m trying to reach up to the highest part here!”

“Then hurry up and do it.”

Anna stretched further, her legs that were dangling around his waist, shifting with her lean. It threw their balance off and Taeyong doubled in half towards the table, managing to just get his hands behind her hand and back to brace her fall as he landed on top of her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Anna breathed, her eyes wide and searching his. Taeyong was stunned entirely, all his strength leaving him the longer he stared back.

And then it happened all too quickly, their lips meeting midway in a fevered kiss. It was unexpected and yet he groaned, taking more of her within his mouth until he grew breathless.

Once his lips fell away from hers, he snapped up straight, letting her fall out of his arms onto the table with a soft thud and put distance between them. “You kissed me!”

“I am certain it wasn’t just my lips working alone there, Taeyong,” she retorted, her tone too airy to be full of contempt as usual. He shot her a frazzled look, falling captive in her gaze again until the door suddenly opened.

Taeyong jolted so much that he stumbled to the ground. Percy looked at him and then smiled. “I forgot you would need this hook. It pulls down the chandeliers so you can clean them accordingly. Oh, are we quite alright in here? You both appear rather distressed. I do hope you are getting along for once.”

When the butler left the room, they scrambled to their feet, going in opposite directions to clean hastily.

On his way into the servants’ kitchen later that evening for a snack, he sighed heavily when he found Josephine sitting across from Maggie, the cook of the house. “Again, Joey?”

“My Lady, you mean!” she corrected and he rolled his eyes.

“If you come down here, then must I refer to you with any title?”

“I trust that you will not tell Mother on me for my visit,” the youngest Hawthorne requested and Taeyong merely shrugged. “Taeyong!”

“I might go to Lord Hawthorne instead.”

“You wouldn’t dare do such a wicked thing!”

“Don’t mind him, pet, he’s in a mood.”

“Whatever for?” Joey asked, looking at the man beside her. “Are you ill? Are you vexed by the happenings in the house right now?”

“Vexed, I like that word,” the cook exclaimed as she worked on the eggs she was scrambling.

“Don’t mind me, I’m processing.”

“You and Cassie are too alike. And you saw what happened there. She worked herself into a state. Tell me, as your friend I am here to assist you.”

“As a friend?” he echoed and Joey nodded adamantly. “You best not spread any gossip about this.”

“My lips are sealed!”

“Anna kissed me today,” he announced and then shook his head. “Or I did first. One of us or both of us…”

“You finally realised it?!”

Taeyong looked between Joey and the cook who was now laughing with glee. “Realised what?”

“You like each other! Goodness, is that all.”

“What, no, we despise each other! She drives me insane. What woman has the right to make me this wound up? The other day she purposely ruined my cleaning of the windows!”

“Uh-huh,” Joey murmured, still smiling to herself. “And yet you don’t seem repulsed by kissing her.”

“No… I don’t.” Taeyong groaned. “That’s why I am frustrated. I should, shouldn’t I?”

Joey shook her head. “Why, you like her so it should make your heart soar not shudder.”

“It’s about time too. I wonder who will win the wager set on this once it’s out in the open?”

“Did you choose a date too, Maggie? I sure had it pegged for after Christmas but with the rush maybe it’s brought them together.”

“You made a wager on us?!”

“Sometimes life is boring in this house,” Joey admitted with a giggle. She took his hand in hers and then patted it softly. “You really had no idea what your heart wanted, huh?”

“The bigger question is, what will you do now that you know?” Maggie asked and both women looked at him expectedly.

Taeyong sighed. “I … well, what should I do?”

After the advice of those in the kitchen, the following morning and the day of the Winter Festival, Taeyong had been tasked to finish off the dining hall before all staff could enjoy the evening off. He was anxious standing at the door to the room, and when Anna sped by without so much of a morning greeting, he questioned if Josephine’s advice had been proper.

Especially when Anna squealed from within the room.

“Look at this mess! There are petals all over the floor! We’ll be here cleaning all day long!” she exclaimed and turned as Taeyong came inside. “Did you do this on purpose?!”

“Yes -- I mean, no.”

“It is winter, where did this even come from?!”

“Well, I was permitted to take it from the indoor garden,” he mentioned softly, Anna’s brows now knitting together.

“You did this?” He nodded. “Why?”

“It’s supposed to be romantic.”

“It’s a mess on the floor, Taeyong! As a maid, I have to clean things like this up!” she complained and he nodded a little too much. Coming over to place the small bouquet he had been holding down on the table, he crouched to start scooping the petals up.

“Wait, you did this for me?” Anna asked as she picked up the flowers, and he glanced at her before straightening up again.

“After our kiss yesterday, I felt that there’s been a reason for our endless bickering.”

“What reason?”

He smiled; relieved to know she wasn’t aware of it either. “I believe I may have feelings for you.”

“For me?”

“Who else puts up with me as well as you?” he offered and she blinked a few times before smiling.

“You do have a point.”

“And whilst you’re the most intolerable woman I have ever met-”

“Hey!”

“I know you’ll be the only woman I ever want to meet.”

Anna eased, smiling shyly as she took in her flowers. “You did this too?”

“Is it too much?”

“No, it exactly what I expect from you. Messy yet charming. Come, we better clean up in here if we want to make it to the festival in time.”

_________________

Part 5

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[Christmas 2019 Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]

[k-pop-imagines]

Aurora || Chapter 2

> Aurora Masterlist <

Pairing: Park Seonghwa x OC

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: none

A/N: This is probably the longest chapter of anything I have ever written, wow. Seonghwa makes his first appearance in this chapter, that’s all I’m going to say.  I hope you enjoy! - Admin Soomi

° AUFREGUNG °

-> excitement, anxiety, commotion

When she woke up the next morning and took a look in the mirror, she could only sigh at her appearance. Her mother was only joking at dinner but after a night of restless sleep, the circles under Yeseul’s eyes seemed a lot more prominent than usual. She put on a light layer of casual makeup to hide the fatigue on her face. 

Her mother had already left for work and even though it was very early in the morning, she had left her a reassuring note, a lunch box, and a small plate of fresh pancakes on the kitchen table. She hadn’t eaten those in ages! Her father used to make them every Sunday but after moving to Seoul, eating pancakes became nothing more than a pleasant memory. Yeseul dug in and despite her stomach demonstrating a little because of her nervousness, she tried to enjoy her special breakfast as much as she could. They were different than the ones they ate in Germany, but she appreciated that her mother had taken the time to prepare them for her. 

After finishing her meal and once more making sure that she looked presentable, she went on her way to the agency. Lucky for her, the building was only a few subway stops away from her home so it took her about 20 minutes to reach her destination. The first thing she noticed, was the 7/11 on the ground floor next to the agency’s entrance. That would surely prove to be convenient.

Yeseul hesitated at the door that would lead her to KQ Entertainment. First, her excitement and anxiety were fairly well balanced, but within a few seconds, the latter doubled and overpowered her. This was her dream but all the doubts and worries she had managed to push away last night, came crashing down on her again. She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Before she could let her thoughts get the better of her, she pressed the doorbell. No turning back now. 

“Hello?” “Uhh, hello. I’m Hwang Yeseul and I have an appointment for 8 am.” God, why did that sound she was here to see a doctor? Stop overthinking, she quickly reprimanded herself. “Ah, yes! Come up please.” 

The door buzzed and she hesitantly entered the building. The stairway she found herself in was bright, mostly white and grey but a few potted plants made sure it didn’t look too sterile. She walked up to the 3rd floor where she was greeted by a man who introduced himself as Kang Haejun, the same person she had talked to on the phone last night. He was a head taller than her, a bit chubby and addressed her with a warm smile that reached his eyes. “Welcome, I’m glad to see you! Please follow me, the CEO is ready to talk to you.” 

Yeseul followed him through the office. She politely greeted a few people but didn’t have a lot of time to look around. The place wasn’t very big but she assumed they occupied more than this one floor as she hadn’t seen any practice rooms or studios yet. At the far end of a corridor, Mr. Kang knocked on a door and sent her inside after getting a short “Come in.” from the other side. 

She carefully entered what she realized to be the CEO’s office and closed the door behind her. 

A man behind the desk stood up and motioned for her to sit down. As soon as she took her seat opposite him, she suddenly felt very vulnerable. The CEO seemed like a friendly man but he was still the person who would be in charge of her future, whose hands she’d be putting her career in. 

“I’m Kim Gyuwook and as you’ve already heard, we want you to train under our agency. I’ve got the contract prepared but I’d like to discuss the conditions and rules with you beforehand. It’s also very important to me that I get to know my trainees a little before I allow them to start training. So, I have a few questions.” Yeseul nodded shyly and he continued. “Don’t be nervous, though, I won’t interrogate you.” 

He pulled out a piece of paper which she recognized to be the profile she had sent in with her application. 

“Your profile says you speak English, German, and Korean fluently.” “Yes. I grew up bilingual, my mother is Korean and my father German. I also started learning English at a very young age.” "Do you speak any other languages?” “I learned French in school but I don’t speak it too well anymore. I forgot everything except for the basics after graduating, to be honest.” 

The CEO let out a small laugh. “I feel like that’s a common theme for French learners somehow.” 

He took a few notes before going on.

“Are you working right now or studying at university?”

“I currently work part-time at a convenience store. I already talked to the owner and I can schedule my shifts in a way that they wouldn’t coincide with practice hours.” 

“That’s good. Now, why exactly do you want to become a trainee, or rather, an idol?”

She knew that question would be asked eventually and she had thought about how she would answer countless times before. “Back when I lived in Germany, I discovered K-Pop when I was going through kind of a rough patch. The music helped me become a happier person again and inspired me to become a singer. I want to stand on stage and give the same kind of encouragement and motivation to other people.” 

“I’m sure you’re aware that this won’t be easy. You might not actually debut anytime soon. In fact, there’s a chance you might never debut. It all depends on you and your determination.”

“I’m willing to go through it and take the risks if it means I get to do what I love and dream of.”

“Very well.” He gave her a satisfied smile and moved on. 

“It’s not a secret that all entertainment companies have a variety of rules for their trainees to follow and we are of course no exception. They are all mentioned in the contract but I would like to go over them with you so that there won’t be any misunderstandings.” Mr. Kim handed her a list of regulations and explained each of them thoroughly. 

Yeseul was allowed to have a cellphone but usage during classes and schedules was not permitted. She was also not allowed to post on social media from now on. 

Trainees were not allowed to date at all and artists had a dating ban until two years after their debut.

However, they didn’t care too much about keeping their male and female trainees apart, unlike other companies she heard of that wouldn’t even let them be in the same room together. “You know, how it works. If you forbid them, they will try to meet in secret all the more. There’s nothing wrong with making friends but if we do notice anyone getting too distracted though, we will take appropriate measures”, he explained. 

No smoking, drinking, or taking drugs. That one was fairly obvious. 

The part she was wondering about the most was the weight regulations. “There will be weekly weigh-ins. There is a weight range stated in your contract that you should stay in. We expect our trainees to be able to take care of appropriate calorie intake and healthy workout on their own. Unless you exceed that range or fall below it, we won’t be regulating your diet or putting you on a work-out routine.” 

She considered that a fair amount of freedom. 

Yeseul also had the choice to move into a dorm with some of the other female trainees but she decided not to as she didn’t live too far away from the company anyway. 

“Now, let’s talk about your training schedule. I don’t think I need to tell you that your vocals are great. There’s always room for improvement but you already have a good technique and stability.” Yeseul had taken singing lessons for a few years and actually felt fairly confident when it came to that. She dreaded what she knew was coming next, though. 

“However, your dancing is lacking.” She looked away in embarrassment. She had made sure to practice and learn a few basics before auditioning but she was well aware that she was definitely not very talented. 

“There’s potential, don’t worry. It’s nothing our dance teachers can’t fix. Some of our trainees started out way worse and managed to become decent dancers. You’ll just have to practice a lot more than others. Which is why you will also be taking more dance classes than singing classes to get you on one level with the others.” 

That made sense. “In addition to that, you will also be taking Japanese, acting, and modeling classes. Evaluations are once a week, every Saturday, and you will be recording demos in the studio every second week. Lessons in general start at 2pm every day as most of the trainees still go to school in the morning but you can practice on your own at every time of the day. Sundays are off.” 

He slid her a piece of paper with her schedule. Today, she would have vocal lessons at 2pm and dance lessons from 4pm to 8pm but as there were evaluations, she would only be watching and starting the real training on Monday.

“Be aware that if you don’t meet our expectations during evaluations or break any of the rules, the contract will be terminated.”

She voiced her understanding and after a few more questions from the CEO, he handed her the contract and showed her where to sign. She read through everything twice as he watched patiently, then signed, ready to start this new part of her life. 

It was almost 10am when Kim Gyuwook dismissed her from his office with a handshake and wished her good luck. She still had a few hours until vocal lessons were supposed to start so she contemplated going home and taking a nap when Kang Haejun walked up to her offered her a tour around the agency. She gratefully agreed. 

He showed her around the office first, introducing her to a few people she would regularly be working with personally. Everyone was busy but still found the time to give her at least a friendly smile or wave. Just like she expected, KQ Entertainment occupied multiple levels of the building. The 3rd consisted of the office and various meeting rooms. He then led her down to the 2nd floor where the practice rooms and studios were located. She couldn’t take a look inside any of the rooms yet as almost all of the trainees were busy practicing for the evaluations but she made a mental note on where she would find the rooms later. There was also a small kitchen and break rooms with sofas on both of the floors. While showing her around, Mr. Kang also answered any other questions she had. 

He told her that they were currently training a total of 7 trainees including her. They had about 12 male trainees but apparently, eight of them were already training separately as they would be debuting as a group sometime in the second half of the year. He also let her know that she was actually one of the oldest trainees, being born in August of 1998. It made her worry a little. She knew that most trainees started their training at a way younger age. She was 19 years old now, could that be considered too old already? Would it lower her chances of debuting? She decided not to worry too much. If she was too old they wouldn’t have accepted her in the first place.

After the tour, more detailed explanations and an extensive Q&A session it was almost 12pm. She felt a little bad for taking up Mr. Kang’s time but he reassured her that it was actually his job to introduce the new trainees to everything and make sure they felt comfortable. He also gave her his number and told her to contact her if she had any more questions or worries before returning to his office. 

It didn’t make sense for Yeseul to go home before practice anymore. She remembered the lunch box her mother had packed her but decided to save it for later as she didn’t really feel like eating because of her nervousness. Still, she should eat at least something small, so she decided to head down to the convenience store to get a snack, something to reward herself taking this important step and to maybe even calm her nerves a little. 

The young woman headed downstairs into the 7/11, where was greeted by a friendly, elderly man. She bowed with a smile before she started browsing. 

As she walked through the narrow aisle, looking for an appropriate snack to celebrate today’s events, a group of boys entered the store. “We should get some chips for later!” “Aren’t you on a diet?” “Hyung, don’t be like that! I’ll just work out extra hard next week.” 

She scanned the shelves and couldn’t help but quietly snicker at their bickering. She looked over at them for a second, counting three young men. Yeseul didn’t pay them too much attention, even though they were hard to ignore, and instead continued her search. Just as she was about to grab a chocolate bar, her eyes landed on the freezer. It was February, still cold outside, and she had just been told about the weight regulations. Was it really appropriate to buy ice cream now? Yes, it is, Yeseul decided. It was one of her comfort foods so she shrugged, opened the door of the freezer and reached up. Whoever had put her favorite ice cream on the highest shelf surely must hold a personal vendetta against her. She wasn’t tiny, only a few centimeters under average height but this was troublesome. Just as her fingertips brushed against the plastic packaging, a figure next to her reached out and handed the sweet treat to her. Yeseul’s face lit up in excitement and she quickly bowed to the kind stranger. “Thank you so much!” When she looked up, she was met with the shyly smiling face of a man around her age, part of the group who had caused the commotion. He seemed quieter than the other two though, who she could still hear arguing over which snacks to get. 

“It’s not a problem. Is Melona your favorite?” His was voice soothing and hinting curiosity even though he was nervously rubbing his neck. She nodded eagerly in response. “Yes! It’s the best thing to eat when you want to celebrate, even when it’s cold outside…” She mentally scolded herself for rambling. She couldn’t help it, the sudden inquiry surprised her. Not that she minded, he seemed friendly and wasn’t overbearing at all. Yeseul could see he was about to ask what exactly she was celebrating but his two friends interrupted him.

“Seonghwa-hyung, I will buy these chips now and you can’t stop me.” One of them said as he headed to the counter to pay. The other one motioned for your savior to come over as they were getting ready to head out. The stranger, apparently named Seonghwa, gave you an apologetic smile, you bowed and wished each other a good day before he left with his friends. 

Could it be that they were trainees as well? All three of them looked awfully handsome, they talked about dieting and working out, and went shopping right at this store. The fact that they were also dressed in sports clothes led her to make that assumption. At the same time, it could have just been a coincidence. At the latest, she’d find out if she ran into them at the agency. 

[kpopforthe-truefans20]

M.I.N.E ch.2

SUMMARY:Y/N was looking for a change in her life. so she moved to Korea with her best friends. She was a makeup artist and her friend, while taking all her makeup photos, put together a portfolio and sent it to Big Hit. Where Hoseok saw her and just had to make her his.

Will he make it happen?

A/N: I am so excited you guys. my last post actually did really well and I wasn't expecting to get any repost or the amount of likes that I got but I’m glad you guys are enjoying the chapter so far. Anyway here is chapter two. also please don’t forget to follow I will be posting a new chapter every Wednesday at 11am. enjoy.

"Hello nice to finally meet you, how are you?" 

As Mr.Bang is speaking to you in Korean you start getting nervous. After months of working on your Korean you can have a full conversation with someone however, your heavy American accent sometimes makes it hard for most people to properly understand you most of the time. Not to mention you and Cheyenne mostly speak english to each other most of the time. So taking a deep breath and hoping to god your American accent isn't too much to make the man recoil. You finally reach a hand out to shake his hand. 

"Hello Mr. Bang it's really nice to meet you and I am doing fine thank you for asking."

"Well from the profile you sent me I see you are a fairly good makeup artist and I would love for you to work for my company."

"Well thank you I have been working on my skills since I moved from America."

"Well I can tell you truly believe in your talents and I feel as though you will be a great fit to work with one of my groups here in the company. Please let me show you around."

Looking back at your friend who is giving you the most shit eating grin she can give she slowly walks behind you pushing you forward to keep up with Mr.Bang. 

Lost in your own thoughts as you are following this man through the building half listen to what he is saying to you, your mind starts to drift and you start wondering that maybe... just maybe this is the new start you were in fact looking for. Working with smaller models on sets has been a great job for you and has helped you improve your makeup skills in many ways it wasn't what you were really looking for. 

"Y/n? Are you listening?"

"Yes, I apologize my mind started to drift a little."

"Don't worry y/n I understand this is a big step up from where you had previously worked but I have come to the understanding that that is not what you were hoping for once you moved here. But I can assure you that you have talent as a makeup artist and I believe that you are worth  working with to make sure my idols go anywhere looking their best."

"Thank you sir."

"No need to thank me. But as I was saying earlier I would love for you to become part of the Big Hit family. So what do you say to the job offer?"

Looking over at your friend who has not yet left your side since the tour had begun she gave you a slight nod of the head as to say take the job. So looking back over to Mr. Bang and giving him a big warm smile you nod your head as in giving him a yes to the job position. 

"Well then y/n. I would love for you to begin next week. Until then I would love for you to start getting to know the boys of BTS a little more because they are the group I want you to be working with. So I want you to come by tomorrow morning so you can all meet each other and begin to get comfortable with one another. Yes?"

"Uhm yes I would love to, what time should I come back?"

"10am. See you tomorrow y/n and welcome to the company."

Finally back in the comfort of your own home you head straight to your room and just lay down and think about how to not mess up your first impression at your new job. 

"Y/n get up why are you laying down?"

"Because I wanna die in peace, it's not peaceful if you keep talking to me." 

"Come on we need to pick out an outfit for tomorrow. Let's go eat then go shopping."

"No"

"Ugh come on it's only 4pm we need to get going before the mall closes."

"Cheyenne, if I go will you leave me alone until tomorrow?"

"Maybe~"

"Fine. Let's go before I regret my decision."

Hoseok POV 

"HOSEOK HYUNG HELP ME!!"

Sitting in your room all you hear is jungkook suddenly yelling your name for help. Thinking to yourself about what he could have possibly done to one of the other members now. Sitting up as you hear him run into your room and slam the door behind him and locking the door slowly walking away from it.

"Jungkook?"

"Yes hyung?"

"What did you do?"

Looking up at you breathless from no doubt running through the dorm jungkook begins to explain what he did.

"Well lets just say Jimin is tired of my short jokes and wants to kill me."

Pinching the bridge of your nose you take a deep, contemplating breath to think about what you are going to say to him. 

"Jungkook go find somewhere else to hide because I don't need Jimin breaking down my door when I just want to lay down and sleep. I am tired from today's practice plus the new choreography. Right now I just want to lay down without any screaming or asking me to help fight off Jimin."

With a small sigh Jungkook nods in understanding because as of lately you have been working harder to make sure everything goes as planned for your next upcoming tour in 3 months. 

"Okay hyung sorry to bother you. Oh but before I go did you hear we are supposed to be getting a new makeup artist and we're supposed to meet her tomorrow."

"A new makeup artist? Why do we need a new one? What happened to the last one I just saw her two days ago."

"Nobody knows why we just know we're getting someone new. Hopefully she actually lasts longer than the last one." 

As Jungkook slowly opens the door to your room to leave making sure Jimin is out of sight he quickly closes your door and runs off down the hall. Laying back down from pure exhaustion you start to wonder what the new makeup artist might look like. Hoping she's at least pretty to look at unlike the last one you had worked with. Always flirting with you and trying to show as much skin as possible hoping you would find her even a little bit attractive. Unfortunately for her, you didn't. She had a nice body but she just wasn't the type to suit your taste very well. Slowly drifting off to sleep you start to get slightly excited to meet the new makeup artist.

[purplesurveys]

764

Is the last person you kissed and the next person you’ll kiss the same? Yes. Do you have a YouTube account? I do but I don’t post my own videos. I just made a channel so I can subscribe and be updated with my favorite channels, and also so that my homepage is already tailored to my interests when I open the website.

Have you ever liked someone older than you? No, we’re the same age.

Do you have a strong relationship with your parents? It’s neither strong nor weak. It’s just there. We don’t hate each other, but I wouldn’t go to them if I needed a good cry or talk either.

Do you know your best friend’s middle name? Yeah, both of them.

How late did you stay up last night? why? I think it was 1 in the morning. I’ve been trying to sleep earlier to address my headaches, but sometimes I’ll slip and still end up sleeping past midnight.

What woke you up today? A little bit ‘it’s hot in the mornings now,’ and a little bit ‘I woke up naturally.’

Have you done anything embarrassing today? No, but it’s only 10:28 AM so there’s a lot of time left for me to do this.

Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? There’s not one answer to this, I think. Some you can certainly learn from, some just feel like beating a dead horse.

Are you a bad influence? I try not to be.

Have you ever kissed someone that was high? Nope.

Are your parents divorced? No, they just celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary two weeks ago.

Have you ever been a gymnast or a cheerleader? Neither. We did both for PE in high school, but those were just required; I was never good in either.

Was it a boy or a girl to text you last? Girl.

What is the last thing you said out loud? My dog started barking at a door closing upstairs and a “who’s there?” usually riles him up, so I told him a bunch of who’s theres hahahahaha.

Can you whistle? Sure, I learned how to pretty early on.

What are you listening to? I can just hear the fan whirring from the living room and Petals for Armor faintly playing in the background.

Where are you going to be at 4pm tomorrow? I’ll either be taking a nap, doing another survey, or using Duolingo. At least those are the top 3 things I seem to be doing these days.

Are you ticklish? Yeah dude, everywhere.

Are you missing someone? I miss all my friends, the highways I used to drive on, the malls I used to go to, and my normal routine.

Who did you last text? My girlfriend.

What is on your bed right now? Couple of pillows, my blanket, and my sleeping mask.

Do you have any strange phobias? I used to be scared of watching commercials at night, but I grew out of it already. The strangest fear I have these days is probably sharp objects but even that’s not a weird enough phobia.

What do you want most right now? I just want everything to be back to fucking normal. Quarantine’s finally starting to get to me and I’m over being stuck at home with the same four people.

Is your facebook profile private? No, it’s not. I probably should set it to private now that I’ll have to look for future workplaces soon lol.

How many true friends do you have? Enough to feel secure.

Are you a morning person or a night person? These days I’m definitely turning into a morning person, but for the longest time I used to be most active at night.

What were you doing at 11:00 am today? Taking a break from this survey to play a game on my phone.

How is your heart lately? It’s aching to go out.

Do you wear the hood on your hoodie? I tend to put it on when I’m feeling angsty or sad. I like feeling covered when I feel most vulnerable.

Who were you last on the phone with? My girlfriend, last night.

[prorevenge]

Shop owner ends in hot water for being a crook

Cast: Me - yours truly, F - friend and coworker, B - boss, or bastard, you choose.

Some backstory (sorry for the long one, but there are things I need to make clear):

This happened 10 years ago. I was 18 and this was during the spring period of my junior year. I wanted to get money for a new mobile phone and a school trip to Austria, in order to practice on my German (my major was Math and German). My dad didn't want to give me the necessary 350 Euros for them, even though I was a 4.0 GPA student, calling me spoiled and selfish and asking me to get a job, just like all other normal teens at that time (actually none of my classmates were working, all were given the world by their parents for being in one of the most elite high schools in the city, but hey, you can't choose your family). So I got me a job at a local tobacco shop. It was right across my block of flats, so it was taking me 2 minutes to run from my flat to the shop, no big deal.

The owner of the shop (B) was a short man in his 40s, a man with good demeanor, or so I thought. He owned 4 other shops and needed workforce. We initially agreed for a payment of 15 Euros/day, I would work 4PM to 1AM, 4 days a week, including Saturdays and Sundays, so I would not miss on my schooling. He would pay me once every 2 weeks and even stated he would give me a raise after the first month.

The tobacco shop was selling not only tobacco products, but also alcohol, coffee, nuts, candy, chips, coke and its products etc. It allowed customers to get a cup of coffee which was freshly ground, as well as freshly squeezed orange or grapefruit juice.

So I started in the beginning of March. I was working with two other people, a 45-ish-year-old fat woman with a whining character, who would usually take the morning shifts from 6AM to 4PM and a 19-year-old beautiful girl (F). Also, I need to mention that, at that time, the store would share a toilet with a Courier service office, this is important for later.

There is one more thing I need to add - my country's labour codex states that employees must get a double payment during official holidays and also have at least 12 hours of rest between shifts. This is also important for later.

So initially I was doing fine - I did a couple of days of training, I learnt how to operate and clean the coffee machines, the juice machine, the cashier, the receipts (I needed to press Enter 3 times to enter the products in the system and take a receipt), this is important for later as well). It was quite easy, because I operated fast with money and calculations, and overall was quite trustworthy. I had some small incidents with minors who came asking for beer and cigarettes, but I would not sell the items to them, as it is illegal (my colleagues didn't care about that, but I was taught to uphold the law). Some of the frequent customers, who lived in the hood, would also initially be annoyed with me as well, because they were expecting from me to know the brand of cigarettes they smoke. Yes, there would be conversations like "two packs of my cigarettes - which brand? - Marlboro, you are supposed to know that - sorry, I only work here since recently - well, I come here every day, you should have remembered by now...". Eventually, this stopped, but I got the stink eye from some of them from time to time, because I am a sworn non-smoker, for me all cigarettes are poison, no matter the brand and the strength, and they didn't like that.

Overall, the job was not hard, and I had free Wi-Fi, so I would often bring my laptop to watch Youtube videos or listen to music online (at that time smartphones were expensive as hell and I had a regular mobile phone)

My first two fortnightly salaries were okay. I was supposed to get 120 Euros each, I got something like 110, but this was because I would get a random snack from the shop when I got hungry, and B would deduct all from my payment, which was okay. Also, B initially wanted me to add the tip to the cashier (the tip was the change (5, 10, 20 cents), which the customers would often not take and in the end it would add up to a few Euros), but we agreed for it to remain for me, as the other employees would also take it with them.

A month has passed. It was April, the days started to get warmer and B had permission to set a couple of coffee tables with chairs in front of the shop, so customers could drink their coffee and have a chat with a friend. I was instructed to take the tables and chairs back in the shop around 20:00, and a sign was posted on its front door.

So here started the problems.

After my first month I approached B for a raise, he said I was still a bit rusty and to wait at least 2 more weeks. He also gave me the contract to sign. I never got a copy, but, since this was my first job, I didn't know I needed one. I never got a raise as well, because I was "losing his customers". Bastard.

I had good relations with our colleagues at the courier office, but once I had a problem with them, because I took out the trash, but forgot to clean the juice machine. I threw the orange remains in the toilet, but one tiny piece of orange seemed to remain on the edge, so I was yelled by B and was fined 10 Euros.

There were two other times I was fined 10 Euros, for forgetting to turn the outside lights off and for forgetting to put the daily report in the shop log, but this was my fault. My second coworker would also report me for missing a trash bag or failing to put the items in the fridges in order, but she never took out the trash and never tidied up, so this actually went against her. I never had problems with F.

I had problems with some of the local customers, though. I live in a considerably poor neighbourhood and there are different types of scumbags who live there. There is this group of 10 people, in their late 40s and 50s, who are alcoholics and were sitting at the coffee tables until dark, as if this was the local pub. When I asked them to leave, because it went past 20:00 and I had to take the tables to the shop. I was yelled by them drunks and later by B as well, because I was "losing frequent customers for being rude and disrespectful to them", even though I almost ended up in a knife fight with one disgusting animal.

The cherry on the cake was the incident with an entitled mother, because she had sent her child to buy her beer and cigarettes and I refused to sell the items to him, because it is against the law. I then got a fine of 30 Euros by B and was pretty pissed.

In the last week of my work, in the beginning of June, B asked me to go and work in other shops, stating there was a sick employee and he needed me there. It was Friday, I ended up working from 15:00 to 22:00 in the local shop, then he took me to one of the other shops, where I worked from 23:00 to 08:00 on Saturday. Then he asked me to work from 23:00 to 11:00 on Sunday and wanted me to be at 16:00 in my local shop, but I refused, because I was exhausted. He threatened to not pay me extra, and we agreed to go to the shop at 19:00, after I got some sleep (I was supposed to get at least 12 hours between the shifts, as I mentioned above, but he didn't care).

After this exhausting time B wanted to change me to another shop, but I refused due to my schooling and also because I wanted to remain in the same shop. But he got some new workers and said I would not be working until the end of the week. Eventually I understood he had terminated my contract and also refused to pay me for the last 2 weeks, nearly 200 Euros in total with the extra shifts.

There are a few more things, which are important:

Some of my free days I spent with F. She was at work and I was in the shop with her, having a chat and being together, because she had some mild form of anxiety and didn't want to remain alone. During this time I noticed she used a different combination to enter the products in the system - enter, enter, 1, enter. I understood that this would enter the items in the system, but would not send the information to the receipt machine, and this would not get a receipt and thus the boss would not have to pay VAT for the items. I also understood later that he asked for everyone else to do it, everyone but me, because I wanted everything to be legal.

There was a new coworker, whom B liked and tried to seduce. He was overtly sexist and wanted to hire attractive girls, whom to pay more and to be more clingy towards them. I didn't like that at all. So the new coworker ended up being very crooked and actually stole around 400 Euros, which B blamed me for, and said he had camera recordings, but this was all bullshit.

So after all of this I was angry and wanted revenge. Initially I spoke to a friend, who advised me to report him to the local Labour Inspection office, which I did. It almost ended with a lawsuit and I was threatened by my boss this would cost me dearly, so I backed my claim, because I needed a clean legal certificate, because I was going to the Bulgarian Naval Academy in a year and didn't want to jeopardize my future. My dad got softer on me and paid for my phone and the trip, saying I earned them, because it wasn't my fault for why I didn't have the money, it was the moron of a boss.

Years have passed. I got discharged due to medical reasons and came back to my hometown. I got a new job and was living with my father, until I get better. The shop was still owned by this prick and he was going around town in a very expensive car, and I even saw him once to smoke Cohiba cigars, which usually go 15-20 Euros a piece. In the mean time he was still paying 15-20 Euros a day to the shop assistants, and I understood he was desperate for workforce.

So I decided to turn all of this against him. I knew some of the workers, as we grew up together, and they complained how much of a crook B was. I hated him for being so cheap on his employees and so large in personal spending. We started a rumour about how bad of a boss he was and to stay away from him. Word got out and he not only started losing assistants, but no one would want to ask him for a job.

One time police was nearby. Someone had broken one of the shop's large windows with a stone and stolen a large amount of cigarettes. The losses were for about a thousand euros, from what I understood. B also had to pay for a new window, and that would cost him more. Apparently, he had pissed off a lot of people.

I also suggested to some of his former employees, whom I knew vaguely, to file individual reports against B in the local Labour inspection office, like I did all those years ago. I explained they would definitely rattle his cage. A lot of reports went in, and I understood there was a major inspection of all shops. They could also use my information, but I asked them to take me off the case, I didn't want any recompense, only to watch him burn.

Eventually, B disappeared. What I understood, is that he ended up with a lot of problems, because he was charged with mistreatment of his personnel, violation of the Labour codex, felony tax evasion and a number of other charges.

So far I know that he is somewhere in the UK, while the business is handled by his brother and wife. His shops were cut in half due to the lack of workers, and I understood they were about to close another one as well. His business is not as successful as before, and I also understood it is frequently inspected.

Now, I know B didn't end up in jail, or at least I don't know about it. But I don't care. Sooner or later everyone gets what they deserve. I will not be the person to put him behind bars, but most of those people still greet me with smiles and give me updates on the case. They also thank me for giving them the idea of filing reports and using their rights. I guess I am the mastermind behind all of this, and, to be honest, I will be extremely happy, when he gets what he deserves from being a crook and a piece of trash. And the best part is - I don't have to do anything about it.

TLDR - I had a disgusting crook for a boss during my first job. He exploited me and other employees, I suggested to them to file reports against him, and he got into a lot of trouble for this.

(source) story by (/u/zerberos666)