#57 and drop dead gorgeous

[wrongspacetime]

Marlene Dietrich as Tanya TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) | dir. Orson Welles

[dangermousie]

2024 list - cdrama edition

Yes, it's cdrama world so even though December is halfway though, they may drop 10 more dramas I will check out between now and 2025. But if I wait, this will never get done and it can always be updated, so here we go. This has been one of the best cdrama years for me!

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2024; if I watched it but it was made in a different year, it’s not on the list. As always, very subjective.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

61 My Divine Emissary - it’s actually a pretty good drama year when the worst cdrama I’ve checked out this year is merely utterly shrill and brain dead but not horrifyingly offensive to good taste.

60 Are You the One - no you are not. There are objectively worse dramas I've ranked higher but this is here because I am annoyed at the waste of Zhang Wanyi and this drama's popularity and douban rating. I am a petty bitch.

59 Fight for Love - they had wonderful actors and a great premise and utterly wasted it. There might someday be a good drama about a female general torn between a royal and an enemy general but this ain’t it.

58 Peacock in Wonderland - I am a few decades too old for this brain dead fest but I am glad Zhou Jun Wei is not canceled at least.

57 Her Fantastic Adventures - honestly, this, MDE and Revenger are all the same type of subgenre - they aren’t offensive they are just as empty as air. This also suffers from casting an utter dud as ML and a charisma boat as SML. Why?

56 Lady Revenger Returns from the Fire - the main thing I remember from this is that Miles Wei must have stolen the wig maker’s parking spot. That wig is the one that should have gone into the fire.

55 Fox Matchmaker: The Red Moon Pact - it’s so pretty, so full of gorgeous costumes and actors and I enjoyed the first few eps, but ultimately it was like watching colorful paint dry. It was so dull, I couldn’t even hate watch it, and that is more damning than anything.

54 Your Trap/Imprisoned Love - the plot of this mini made no sense but the softcore vibes of sanitized 1990s cinemax were on point!

53 The Unexpected Marriage - cutesy dumb period romcom. Could be worse, not that this is much of a praise.

52 Love’s Rebellion - so twee, so precious, so full of cutesy awful CGI and actors who aren’t bothering. I am not sure why Zhang Linghe and Jing Tian are in this mess that looks like rainbow vomited on a xianxia set.

51 My Wife’s Double Life - her life may be double but her brain is only half.

50 Jade’s Fateful Love - I lost some braincells trying this one, but (a) it’s gorgeous and (b) no transmigration say you? Multiple transmigration in first ep alone! Good for you, makers!

49 Follow My Heart - how do you have Luo Yunxi, Song Yi and Cheng Lei and waste them so utterly? First few eps were nice and then it’s like exercise in how much you can tolerate before you call it quits.

48 The Story of Pearl Girl - almost made me dislike ZLS and LYN and that's a feat. Dull and stupid and pointless from beginning to end.

47 Brocade Odyssey - more like Snooze Novella.

46 Melody of Golden Age - see write up for FMH because it fits here. This is bland with a side of bland.

45 The Legend of Taotie - an unequivocally bad drama but the look is such a nostalgia trip and I had fun.

44 Sword and Fairy 4 - it’s kinda a mess but I loved the actors and some of the plots and you can do worse.

43 Dawn Amidst Hidden Clouds - I enjoy watching Chang Huasen as a ML but the rest is eminently forgettable.

42 Blossoms in Adversity - dumb as a set of particularly dumb bricks and ML I don’t think could act if his life depended on it, but it was strangely addictive and I watched it often before better dramas. It’s just a genuinely good time somehow!

41 Judge Dee - it’s not you it’s me in action. It’s smart and gorgeous and well acted, I just don’t do procedurals.

40 The Substitute Princess’ Love - it’s like some of those trashy web novels I enjoy. It was clearly cut, its budget was equivalent to loose change found in the pockets of makers of Fox Spirit Matchmaker, but it was a surprisingly fun watch, though I enjoyed the first half better than the second. Also as a drama old, it was a fun blast from the past seeing Dylan Kuo (if you have never watched the old twdrama The Outsiders, what are you even doing with your life?)

39 Rise from the Ashes - a wacky as hell mini where reborn FL wreaks revenge with help of her fake uncle as they carry on as some sort of Borgia/Phillip II of Spain fame hybrid. If you don’t need to use your brain, you could have a worse time.

38 The Legend of Heroes - it suffered from me seeing other versions of this tale before that I liked more and not loving how dark looking it is but that cast is A+ and Wang Hongyi was a revelation as Yang Kang.

37 Beauty Strategy - a mini of what a few years ago would have been a proper angsty drama of palace scheming enemies while lovers, powerless emperor etc etc. Honestly, I loved it.

36 Lovesickness - this year’s gender-reversed Ancient Love Song, not as artistic or good but still a good time about a woman traveling back in time and falling for a powerful but doomed duke.

35 Fragments of Kylin - demon slayer falls for a demon; this one came out of nowhere and didn’t have much of a budget but is surprisingly lovely.

34 Love of Nirvana - the good parts are vvvvv good and points for making the emperor the villain, but it almost never emotionally grabbed me, and a lot of time was spent on narratives I had no interest in.

33 Enslaved by Love - the only reason it’s not the most fucked up drama on this list is because Shadow Sect, Palace Shadows and Burning Flames exist. The ML is toxic enough to be banned by the Geneva convention but FL does get some of her own back and also if you ever wanted to see blindness-curing sex, boy do I have a drama for you!

32 The Princess Royal/The Grand Princess - I am in the minority of finding this drama very mid. The acting was fine (except for former eunuch dude), the writing was fine, but I never really got invested alas. I don’t even know why. I think it’s just not my type of narrative; there was no intensity.

31 Secrets of the Shadow Sect - head of sect lady and her very very subby bodyguard. What’s not to love?

30 Palace Shadows: Between Two Princes - ML pretends to be his own twin, bdsm and sluttiness ensues. I cannot even explain how wild this drama is but the acting is on point and way way fun!

29 Dashing Youth - I had no expectations of this drama (was either indifferent to or disliked everyone in the cast, wuxia and wuxia-adjacent is rarely my genre, the number of characters is huge) but I loved how under its bright colors, it eventually gets very dark (it’s quite old school that way) and somehow I am invested in everyone in the huge cast. This being a prequel to The Blood of Youth makes us know the fates of many of the characters and this adds the air of tragic inevitability to it all.)

28 The Last Immortal - a surprisingly sweet and touching xianxia that works largely because Zhao Lusi and Wang Anyu are so so so so solid separately and together.

27 Burning Flames - the most gonzo drama on this list. I love it for committing to insanity as it should (if you pick insane source material, commit.) Humans taking on the worst Gods since Olympus, fur and chains, sentient crystal FL, ML who goes from Crown Prince to mine slave to rebel leader, bare chests and fur, demon elves, a villain that leaches color from the world - this drama has everything and I loved its unhinged glory.

26 Lost You Forever 2 - it would have been higher except it fell apart in the last third so badly I am still wondering how the makers could misunderstand their own characters and their own narratives so badly. The first season was a masterpiece. This is a hot mess.

25 Fateful Love - this was released after years in the dungeon and feels old school in the best way. It's what reading one of those OP FL web novels feels like, and the OTP is shockingly competent and adult. I loved that.

24 Love Game In Eastern Fantasy - excellent start, mid middle, and a terrible last third but I cannot have truly hard feelings since before it fell off, it really was fun.

23 Love in a Dream - it's a mini that has the most gorgeous cinematography I've seen all year except for Fangs of Fortune and Eternal Brotherhood. I loved the vibes and the story (though of course it suffered from mini running time constraints) and its feeling of tragic love and lost time.

22 Different Princess - a ridiculous amount of fun and ship about an author falling through to her own novel and falling for the villain.

21 Kill Me Love Me - the story is a mess and a half but the OTP gave me some incredible incredible scenes, and Wu Jinyan, Liu Xueyi and Baron Chen are gorgeous and acting their hearts out, plus the whump mmmm.

20 Meet You at the Blossom - this is a Thai/Taiwan/China coproduction so I am including it. It's my list! An uncensored BL adaptation with delicious dysfunction, sunshine x murder boy, angst, shippiness, groveling and wigs that are surprisingly decent for the budget!

19 Sword and Fairy 6 - I love this tale; the young OTP (a whale weapon and a clone of her trigger? More wholesome than you think) who are so ride or die for each other, the other amazing characters (sect leader who has to live as a man and her “twin” who is an ancient trapped spirit, a wolf demon, etc…) It’s just genuinely good and proof that targeted to younger audience doesn’t have to be bad.

18 In Blossom - sure, we all know JJY can’t act, but the narrative was so fun and the visuals were so gorgeous and Liu Xueyi so gorgeous and magnetic in his first proper Male Lead role, it was all worth it. I liked the first half when they were still cautious of each other more than the second but this is just a good time!

17 Snowy Night Timeless Love - a classic, tragic, romantic wuxia the way "they don't make it any more" only they did. Just lovely.

16 The Rise of Ning - such a pleasant, easy slice of period life with a side of revenge and fakecest (but only a teeny side.) Secondary characters are not particularly engaging and the plot suffers from being limited to 40 eps, but the main OTP is so enjoyable and Ren Min and Zhang Wanyi are doing such nuanced, lovely job that I can't even complain.

15 Hard to Find - my second favorite mini on the list, this is an aesthetic feast. The doomed couple from enemy kingdoms, the vengeance, the twists - if ever a mini deserved to be a proper drama, this would be it. But alas, if it was they’d probably not let it.

14 The Double - unhinged web novel vibe done so perfectly in the inimitable Yu Zheng style. The leads were so good even the amazing villains didn’t truly steal the show. Like with a lot of cdramas, it lost a lot of steam in second half for me, but still a great watch.

13 Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2 - I never like procedurals. Somehow both seasons of this show are the sole exception. It is so gorgeous, so impeccably acted, with such great characters. I cannot wait for s3.

12 Love in the Desert - a mini drama in story but with a proper budget and run time, this is such gorgeous sensual fun with a great main OTP, a truly incredible secondary OTP and some beautiful visuals.

11 Fortune Writer - the best mini this year and better than most “proper” cdramas (Douban raters agree), this tale of villains in love fighting the narrative has a lot to say about writing cliches and writing conventions. I love how clever it is and how it actually made me care for the characters.

10 Tender Light - except for that ending, this was in the running for my favorite 2024 cdrama. The writers’ lack of ability to commit and carry through pushed it lower but otherwise it’s a genuine masterpiece. The acting, the chemistry, the looping narrative, what it has to say about abuse and complicity of society and blazing your own moral path is something else.

9 Derailment - who knew a little quasi scifi modern would be this high but this one is amazing. If you watch one modern this year, make it this one. Our FL is a rich girl a little in the future who somehow wakes up in a different timeline a few years back in the body of that universe’s version of her (who is poor and has been missing) and her one connection is a young man who was in love with that universe’s version of her. I don’t want to say more so as not to spoil because the twists are twisty but this is EVERYTHING and also addresses transmigration, what it means to love, what is ethical etc etc. And that OTP!

8 Will Love in Spring - this is a year of miracles because I don't just have one modern among my favorites, I have a bunch. This is a gorgeous story about love and healing and awkward, scarred emotionally and physically people feeling if their odd angles and prickly flaws actually fit and working towards a future with fits and starts and it's just so chemistry driven, so tender, so gorgeous.

7 Snowfall - a fever dream of a vampire narrative set in an alternate universe of the Republican era, it’s gorgeous, passionate, hella queer and just like watching the most amazing fanfic come to life.

6 Heroes - a complete masterpiece about three men about to be on the scrapheap of history in the Qing Dynasty about to fall (a constable devoted to obsolete norms, who spent his whole life studying for the imperial exam which got canceled, the world’s best swordsman in the era of guns, and a former imperial guard who emerges from prison into a different world) whose stories intersect as they search for treasure and the women and other people in their lives. This is smart, impeccably acted, filmed in a stunning way, bleak and funny at once and - I don’t use the term masterpiece often but I will use it here.

4 (tie) Blossom - a romantic fever dream, with gorgeous damaged destined lovers. The director is the person who made A Familiar Stranger and Butterflied Lover into amazingness on a short run time and no budget, so when he actually has a proper run time and a budget - oh boy - it's romantic and beautiful and intense, a drama as opera.

4 (tie) The Legend of Shen Li - I am often indifferent to xianxia that suffers from too much CGI, hella immaturity and not enough stakes. Shen Li is everything. It’s gorgeously filmed, it’s adult, it gives the story time to breathe and centers it on characters and relationships. And the OTP is everything you can ever dream of - it reunites Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin, totally healing those Princess Agents wounds - their chemistry is still utter fire but the narrative supports them every step of the way.

3 Eternal Brotherhood - if JoL2/FoF did not come out this year, this would be my favorite cdrama of the year. It’s clearly a passion project with a small budget but this complex and grim tale of three rather different sworn brothers in a world at war is gorgeous, smart, well acted, dark and inspiring at once. There are shots that take my breath away, the love stories are amazing, the pace is perfect, and ohhh our complex mainsssssss.

1 (tie) Joy of Life 2 - (almost) nothing can beat this masterpiece. The first season was perfect and somehow the second is even more perfect. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s heartbreaking, the cast is still impeccable and Zhang Ruoyun still gives a completely jawdropping performance as the focus of all the madness Fan Xian. If you watch only one cdrama this year, make it this one; well, this and Fangs of Fortune.

1 (tie) Fangs of Fortune - this is an emotional and visual feast, with such incredible characters, interesting explorations of fantasy and mortality and morality and what makes life worth living. It made awful actors good and mid actors amazing (and amazing ones extra amazing.) It is also the most stunning drama I've ever watched as well as throwing me back into what it's like to be immersed into an amazing fantasy book as a kid and the characters and the relationships and the themes sing to me. A miracle.

FAVORITE DRAMA

Fangs of Fortune - I have rarely seen a drama that speaks to me so personally, but it is also narratively perfect, emotionally devastating, with impeccable acting, complex characters and visuals that are beyond stunning.

Joy of Life 2 - there is not one second I forwarded, not one unnecessary scene, not one weak link character. It’s a smart, fierce masterpiece.

Eternal Brotherhood is a runner up - it came out of nowhere and owned my whole heart. It’s the sole other cdrama this year where I did not ff a second.

WORST DRAMA

My Divine Emissary may have been the lowest ranked drama on my list but honestly, a drama with a tiny budget and a bunch of nobodies does not deserve to be listed as the Worst. What does? Fox Spirit Matchmaker - a huge budget, fancy stars etc etc and yet it's a completely and utterly unwatchable mess. To make something this thoroughly dull is a genuine feat. I cannot think of a drama that insults its viewer more not just this year but any recent year.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Fan Xian (Zhang Ruoyun), Joy of Life 2 - how could it ever be anyone but smart, irreverent, fierce, broken, idealistic, funny Fan Xian. The man who fights against the horrors of the universe, who remains human while being so larger than life. This character is everything.

Or Zhu Yun (Hou Minghao), an ancient, irreverent, vivid, borken demon who wants to die even as he might finally find a reason to live in Fangs of Fortune.

Runner up: Zhou Luo (Zhang Xincheng), Tender Light - idealistic loner who refuses to compromise his principles even as it would be easier to, even as it destroys his life, ZXC has always been a solid actor but here he is beyond.

Alternatively, Zichuan Xiu (Yang Xuwen), Eternal Brotherhood - only way to describe Xiu is “trauma sunshine.” He’s funny, he’s irrevocably fucked up, he is magnetic and intense and he fights for his hopeless ideals and he breaks and he keeps going.

or Xing Zhi (Lin Gengxin), the lonely ancient god in Shen Li discovering the pleasure of life for the first time in aeons.

or Zhuo Yichen (Fangs of Fortune) - a traumatized idealist who goes through so much hell but retains his heart and his core of steel even as he grows up about complexities of the world and the human heart.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Shen Li (Zhao Liying), The Legend of Shen Li - so fierce, so certain, so alive. She is a goddess but ZLY made her feel so real.

Runner up: Nan Ya (Tong Yao), Tender Light - an abuse victim who keeps trying to find a way out, she’s strong and damaged and complex and honestly, one of the best performances this year.

Alternatively, Jiang Xiao Yuan (Liu Haocun), Derailment - she makes a character that in other hands would be boring or trite, someone I want to reach through to the screen and protect and love.

Or Mi Lan (Ouyang Nana), Snowfall - a tiny, suicidal, abused, seemingly helpless blind girl who decides she needs to protect a deadly ancient vampire as her reason for living and she is unstoppable, fierce and a force of nature in her goal.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

99% of the denizens of the town in Tender Light - selfish every day denizens monstrous because of their very everydayness - they watch abuse and choose to blame the victim and gossip and enjoy the view. I hated them all.

BEST BAD GUY

Li Lun (Fangs of Fortune) - with his glorious mane, equally glorious eventual redemption, and incredibly dramatic attitude to a bad breakup, that was a feast.

The Emperor (Joy of Life 2) - a magnetic monster, smartest and the most ruthless character in any scene - Chen Dao Ming gives an insane performance.

Wang Jia Luo (Heroes) - a revolutionary for conservatism, a young man with brains and ideals who gets destroyed by them, who out-Javerts Javert, his descent into villainy and inability to live in the modern complex world, is one of the most compelling and tragic arcs of the drama.

Shen Yurong (The Double) - both repellent and somehow sympathetic, it takes skill to make me feel for a man who tried to bury his wife alive in ep 1. The performance of the whole drama for me.

City Lord (Eternal Brotherhood) - an utterly vile toad of a man, with nothing truly human and yet hiding it under weak and caring facade. I need him taken out.

"HAROLD, THEY ARE LESBIANS" AWARD

Wen Xiao x Pei Sijing, Fangs of Fortune - Duh.

"HOW DID CENSORS NAP THROUGH THIS" AWARD

Vamp Daddy and Loser Li in Snowfall and the entirety of Fangs of Fortune.

MALE LEAD MOST LIKELY TO BE BROUGHT HOME TO MOTHER

No, thank you! The few modern ones she'd not approve of (a mortician with issues? A teenager? A man who had his memories rearranged?) and the period ones are no go since few moms would be keen on wild-eyed, bloodied sons in law however hot and long haired they may be.

FAVORITE SHIP

Dou Zhao x Song Mo, Blossom - one of the most perfectly in sync couples out there, smart, competent, different kinds of damaged, get each other before they love or even trust each other. Your OTP could never. Unless your OTP is them.

Fan Xian x Lin Wan'er, Joy of Life 2 - she is his peace and his haven and the place his busy mind can rest, he is her safety and happiness and ability to live and not exist. They are everything to me.

Shen Li x Xing Zhi, The Legend of Shen Li - the chemistry, the yearning, the slow inevitable collapse into admittance, the way he protects the world and she protects him, the way they dance around each other, her being the aggressor, his surrender to forbidden emotion, their utter mutual belief in each other’s competence. They are everything to me.

Whatever the throuple (with sides?) thing was going on in Fangs of Fortune - I've raved enough about it elsewhere but that was insane in its intensity and gorgeousness and emotion and narrative arcs.

Runner up: the OTP in Derailment - those two went through some mind and soul breaking stuff and made it out.

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Hands down Ruo Wen x Ge Xinwei, Love in the Desert. An amoral, magnetic bandit leader and a princess gone wild on spring break stole the drama utterly. His unhinged energy was so matched by her sfl but with an appropriate target fixation. They made me swoon, laugh and cry.

Amusingly enough, Fu Xin Bo is the male actor in two - the crossdressing sect leader x wolf demon OTP in Sword and Fairy 6, and First Prince x Eldest Princess in Joy of Life 2. What can I say, man knows how to pick them. Those OTPs are both utterly adorable!

If we are talking about an OTP where it’s not that it’s not the main but it’s not a ship-centric drama so they don’t get much time, then we have Si Yilin x Ka Dan, Eternal Brotherhood - they are both such desperately good people in a mad world, tender with each other despite surrounding cruelty and Shen Zhiheng x Mi Lan, Snowfall - a vampire age gap romance done well, the ancient gentleman vampire and the tiny fierce blind girl who decides to protect him.

And of course Qing Geng x Fei, Fangs of Fortune - Ai Mi and Zuo Ye breaking my heart yet AGAIN.

NOTP

The couple in Fox Spirit Matchmaker - such pretty people, and so bland and boring and pointless together. It was kinda amazing.

HOTTEST SCENE

Ka Dan and Si Yilin (Eternal Brotherhood), the primmest, properest OTP of them all, consummate their love without any marriage, but with plenty of golden light.

FAVORITE SCENE

God, so many good scenes this year so far - Fan Xian watching the death of the old censor and the aftermath, in JoL2; his confrontation with Wan'er after she finds out about the truth behind her brother’s death, the scene where he poisons Second Prince, his scene with the registrar. Xiu giving up his future to protect the surrendered soldiers only to come back and find Di Lin executed them all in EB, the scene in Ning’s bedroom when he tells her how he really feels because she can’t hear, the very end of that season and Di Lin striding into the light, Ka Dan and SYL’s letters to each other. XZ literally defying heaven’s lightning and all their longing in Shen Li. The last scene of LYN and his girl in Heroes, the way Heroes always intercuts the golden past of the guard and princess and the dreary present (especially when we see her bicycle spin out of control back when and her husband lose it in the present and this time there is nobody to catch her), the big reveal in Derailment and the hairwashing scene, Mi Lan touching Vamp Daddy’s face as their thing in Snowfall, and the cage stuff, the aborted sex scene in Will Love in Spring, so many scenes in Fangs of Fortune but especially the aftermath on the stairs between ZYC and ZYZ post the latter's loss of control, the final sacrifice,Li Lun x ZYC x ZYZ battle against the bad guy, the whole plague demon storyline, ZYC becoming a demon, ZYZ having to slap himself to nerve himself to walk to his death, everything. And we haven't gotten to it yet, but the scene in all Blossom previews where Song Mo falls to his knees in front of Dou Zhao from a dead run is imprinted in me.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Shen Zhiheng (Gao Weiguang), Snowfall - Vamp Daddy made me hormonal in a way I haven’t felt for a cdrama lead since the heady days of Darren Wang in The Wolf. Those outfits, that hair, that height, that restraint, that lack of restraint. THE CHAINS

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Liu Duan Duan as Second Prince in Joy of Life 2 - what a performance! Unhinged, magnetic, pitiable, terrifying and always mesmerizing. The Second Prince is Fan Xian’s foil and a worthy one. LDD is always a great actor, and with a role that actually gives him something to sink his teeth into - wow!

Runner up - Baron Chen in Kill Me Love Me. It's the year of unhinged royal princes, I guess.

BEST COSTUMES AND WIGS

Fangs of Fortune - the whole design is exquisite!

MOST EXTRA OUTFIT

Burning Flames - this drama was a feat of extraness and that meant costumes but even among those, costumes worn by Peter Ho's human king and Jeremy Tsui's psychotic god stood out.

FAVORITE SECONDARY ML

Wu Shan, Blossom - this man is a literal sunshine angel.

MOST BLATANT INNUENDO MOMENT

The Double - As our FL fondles her wet flower petals in the bath, our ML wields and swings his giant sword shirtless in the rain. That was eye popping.

FAVORITE 2024 CDRAMA SONG

This Chen Xueran song from Eternal Brotherhood:

MVP OF THE YEAR

Liu Xueyi (In Blossom, Kill Me Love Me) - this is the year LXY finally achieved leading man status and he was spectacular in both of his outings - so very different in both but equally magnetic in either even if the dramas themselves had flaws. I have a new fave!

ACTING SURPRISE

Ouyang Nana - Li Muge performs miracles. He made Yang Chaoye be good in Heroes (2022) and now Nana, who was always as wooden as a post, is a revelation as blind abused girl who becomes a vampire in Snowfall.

Hou Minghao - I've always found HMH a stunningly beautiful man and a thoroughly bland actor. But he was surprisingly solid in Dashing Youth and utterly blew me away in Fangs of Fortune. Like jaw on the floor level blown away.

Wang Hongyi - found him bland as paint in LYF (both seasons) but his Yang Kang in Condor Heroes blew me away and then he repeated that feat as a very different character in a very different drama (Snowy Night.) Consider me a new fan.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Joy of Life 2 of course - I need to see the looming confrontation between Fan Xian and the emperor, though not sure how that will pass censorship.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

FF button has cured me of finding contenders for this category, but perhaps cutting out a lot of terrible acting and lack of stage presence of “not yet a eunuch” dude in The Princess Royal, would have improved it.

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

Lost You Forever 2 - there were other issues with it, but all the cuts couldn’t have helped with coherency.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Same as last year - the emperor cannot be irredeemable. WTF, China, you are a communist country! Though they are nibbling at the edges this year. Also fake feminism - I am all for girl power but not when it's ridiculously anachronistic for the period with no explanation at all. And finally NO MORE TRADE DRAMAS PLS PLS PLS

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Men (and women) knowingly fighting for a doomed cause because otherwise they’d cease to be who they are. Or if we are being shallow all the beautiful men in chains.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Lost Your Forever 2 - the first season was my favorite drama of 2023 but LYF2 just fell apart so so so badly, it was almost fascinating. It totally eviscerated the characters and the meanings of the story.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

So many of top dramas on my list are not dramas that were on my radar at all before airing - Heroes, Eternal Brotherhood, Fangs of Fortune, Will Love in Spring and Snowfall were not anything I anticipated, let alone I realized how much I’d love them. Same for Derailment and Tender Light. This has been a year of surprises.

2024 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

I have honestly watched everything I wanted.

BEST NON-2024 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2024

Lighter and Princess, hands down. I rarely even enjoy moderns and this one made it into my Top 5 cdrama of all time. This is how you make a love story. This is literally perfect. PERFECT.

Runner up: Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty - I, a procedural and mystery hater (especially when there is close to no romance) somehow fell like a ton of bricks for this gorgeous, smart, impeccably acted show.

MOST ANTICIPATED

A Dream Within a Dream looks like Fortune Writer with proper length and budget, Legend of the Female General looks epic and I love the novel, Divine Tree with Deng Wei is all my fave tropes, Veil of Shadows is peak Guo Jingming, and so many more.

[sentientcloudofmusk]

Thanks for the interactions :)

57, 66, and 83 seem like good questions

57: YES AND CONSTANLY

66: weirdest was probably the silicon copy of my own meat, trippy

83: one of the ladies on my old street was drop dead gorgeous but I knew she wasnt looking for anything so i didnt bother her, gorgeous Milf tho, brought her a pie once :>

[thousandfourhundreddays]

57. “Stay here tonight” with mase please ❤️

Stay here tonight

A/n hey anon!! Thank you for your request, writing this really got me out of my writers block, it’s very short and sweet but I hope you enjoy❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

Requests are open!!

Your eyes moved to check the time, something you felt you hadn’t done for hours. Your suspicions were confirmed when you saw that it had been hours since you made it back to Masons house, but what you didn’t expect to see was that it was almost one o’clock in the morning. Looking back towards Mason, you saw his heavy eyes looking back at you, a tired, yet content smile on his lips, a smile that hadn’t left his lips all night and something that hadn’t gone unnoticed by you.

You and Mason had been seeing each other for a month or two now. Having met through mutual friends, he’d instantly captivated you, with his humor, his bright eyes and his drop dead gorgeous smile, something that you loved to remind him of, just to see him blush.

But you’d been cautious to let him in. Your ex having broken your heart one too many times to be repaired, or so you’d thought. But Mason had been more than happy to wait for you, another thing that had you so enamored by him, and slowly but surely, your walls were breaking down. And now you found yourself top and tailing with him on his sofa, hours and hours lost to deep conversations together.

“I should get going” You spoke reluctantly as you tried to fight the yawn that threatened to slip past your lips, and you couldn’t stop the corner of your lips pulling into a smirk as you saw him frown.

A few seconds of silence passed as he moved his hand to your ankle, his fingers tracing small circles against your skin as he deliberated his next words silently.

“Stay here tonight” he suggested, his voice shy and barely a whisper,

You studied him as you considered his offer, bottom lip pulled between your teeth nervously. And as you sat there, on his sofa, you couldn’t help but give in to him. You didn’t believe in ‘perfect’ but in that moment, you were convinced that’s what he was; you’d truly fallen head over heels for the boy sat in front of you and he was all you could ever want.

“Ok” you whispered with a grin, seeing his eyes light up even brighter than you ever thought possible.

“Yeah?” Mason affirmed with a smile,

“Take me to bed, Mase”

[imaeraser]

Playing With Foxfire Kin’emon x Reader (Modern AU) Ch 1

TW: power imbalance, cheating, and age gap

(2.1k words)

Kin’emon x reader x slight Sanji

Summary: You have a summer internship at the Kozuki company, and have to stay at Kin’emon’s home. You try to limit your attraction to the married man, but the flame of passion burns bright. And playing with fire can only lead to one thing— getting burnt.

AN: I originally did this for myself and my sister as a joke— since there is little to no fan fiction for Kin’emon— but decided to post it. Hopefully you enjoy and cringe at some parts.

I fumbled my way through the airport. The musk of others smudged onto my shoulders while I bumped down the path as if I were in a pinball machine. The sound of the wheels of my suitcase grounding me on Earth before all of my thoughts flew away.

   I raised my hand to shade my eyes as I stepped out into the open, while my foot jutted back from the force of the wind. I squinted down the road, but there was not an awaiting person in sight.

   I sighed, and sat down on a sun-warmed bench near a smoking man. As I grabbed the side rest, the tacky feeling of day-old gum made my arm jump in revulsion.

   “Ew, that’s so nasty,” I shook my arm as if the action would make the gum magically disappear, and then reluctantly started to pull it off with two fingers.

   “Here let me help you,” another set of arms entered my vision. The stranger pulled out a handkerchief and scraped any residue off of my arm jacket.

   “Thank you so much, you’re a lifesaver,” I turned to him, and stopped mid-thought.

   His eye was staring at me intently, but I could only appear to focus on his swirly eyebrow— his singular swirly eyebrow.

   “I think being a life saver is a bit of an over-statement, but I’ll take it.” He paused and tilted his head, yet the hair that covered one of his eyes did not budge. “Is there something wrong?”

   I paused, “No, it’s nothing. I’m just a bit air-headed sometimes.” I flushed as I rubbed the back on my neck.

   “Well, I think air-heads are cute,” he held out his hand, “Sanji.”

   “Y/N,” I said as I replied with a handshake.

   Once we retracted our arms he leaned over to his side, and proceeded to fill the atmosphere with the rottenly-sweet scent of tobacco. After a large puff, he released a light cloud into the air. The smoke got thinner and lighter as it floated up and died in the sky.

   “What brings you here Y/N?” Sanji held out an unused cigarette and raised an eyebrow.

   “I have an internship this summer,” I said as I shook my head and pushed the offering away.

   “Let me guess...” he paused, “ Kozuki?”

   “Yep,” I nodded. I threw another glance at the street, and the emptiness made my foot begin to tap the floor. “I think there was a guy that was supposed to pick me up.” I looked down at my phone- 4:57- a few more hours and I would no longer feel safe walking the streets alone.

   “If you want, I can drive you. Just give me the address and we’ll be on our way,” Sanji offered a handsome smile.

   My eyes quickly darted to his figure. He was tall and slender, but most of his form was hidden under a finely made suit. He shifted in his seat awaiting my answer, and the movement drew my attention to his abnormally built leg muscles. His demeanor was goofy, but I had only known him for a span of a few minutes.

   As much as I wanted to say yes, there were far too many episodes of true-crime documentaries watched for me to allow this stranger to drive me home.

   “No, I should be okay. I think I’ll wait a bit longer, and if he doesn’t show up I’ll call an Uber or something,” I said as I watched him lean back onto his seat.

   “Well, I’ll wait until you’re out of here safely. I can’t leave a lovely lady like yourself all alone,” Sanji smirked as he crossed his ankles.

   “Are you implying that I am incapable of handling myself?” I raised an eyebrow in  playful contention. He raised his hands as if to calm my rage.

   “Of course not, but it’s better to be safe than sorry,” he said, as I leaned back into the bench.

   Time quickly passed, and before either of us knew it we were watching the sky’s rolling clouds pull back and reveal an assortment of summer-time colors. The falling sun lit up Sanji’s flaxseed hair—spinning each strand into a gold thread. Perhaps it was a mistake to decline his proposal.

   “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I said, glancing back at my phone.

   “I’m meant to be wherever you are, mademoiselle,” he placed a hand on his chest.

   I picked at my nails, and rolled a strand of my hair between my fingers, “Stop joking, you could do way better than me.” He gently clasped my hands.

   “You’re selling yourself short. From the time I have spent with you I can tell that you really are gorgeous,” he looked me dead in the eye. The intensity and suddenness of his icy-blue gaze made me look away.

   “I’ll take the compliment,” I said, before turning my eyes to the side. To my surprise I saw a man holding a sign with my name on it. “It’s about time,” I shook my head as I looked back over to Sanji. “Thanks for keeping me company, but the dude finally showed up. I have to get going.” I stood up, my knees clicking from being immobile for too long.

   After waving goodbye, I dragged my suitcase across the concrete to greet the man. The closer I walked to him, the taller his looming figure became. As we both stopped our pace, my eyes widened in distaste as I looked at him.

   His top-knot bobbed as he tilted his head, which provided a stark contrast to his worn out graphic tee that was half-way tucked into a pair of cargo shorts. He took a step towards me as he outstretched his hand, and I heard a resounding wooden thunk. My eyes trailed down to reveal a set of wooden clogs and knee-high socks.

   “I am deeply sorry for being late, I was just a bit busy.” He rubbed his neck with his other hand, which revealed a raspberry colored hickey. I bit the inside of my cheek, as I looked to the side in disbelief— trying not to stare at anything in particular. “Oh, you must be looking at my car. It is an antique—”

   “Y/N,” I hurriedly shook his hand. “I believe I am to stay at your house during the entirety of my internship at Kozuki?”

   His heavily lined eyes blinked a few times before he opened his mouth, “You are correct. I am Kin’emon. My wife and I will be hosting you for the few months you are to be staying.” There was a glint of light that flashed as he moved his hand—which was seen with a golden band around his ring finger.

   “Thank you very much for generously allowing me to stay in your home,” we began to walk to his car. “Oh I forgot, the email asked the interns to check the id of the person who is picking us up.” I paused before placing my hand on the sleek metal of the door handle.

   “Yes, thank you for reminding me,” he slipped his black leather wallet out of his pocket and fished for his id. Once he retrieved the card, he placed his driver’s license into my hand.

   I pulled out my phone, to look at the email telling us about our host. After comparing the information, I handed Kin’emon his drivers license back. “Okay, let’s go.” I said as I slid onto the creme colored leather of the backseat.

   My fist supported my head as I watched the scenery meld together through the window. The sky quickly turned darker. My breath formed a little patch of condensation— due to the late hour and dropping temperatures.

   The car ride was quiet, with the exception of some traditional Japanese instrumentals. But before either of us would try and fill the silence with awkward questioning, we arrived at his house.

   I stepped out of the car, and heard the sound of the trunk opening as well as plastic wheels hitting the ground. While handing me my suitcase handle, his calloused hands brushed against mine. I whispered a quiet, thank you, before following him up to his home.

   He opened the frosted glass door, which revealed a quaint home who’s floor was covered in what I perceived as bamboo mats. We both entered the house, and the scent of fried bread crumbs as well as curry swirled around us. I caught myself nearly drooling down my chin.

   The sound of pots, pans, and utensils cluttering stopped as a woman in an apron stepped out of the kitchen. “Welcome home dear,” she said before turning to me. “You must be the intern. My name is O-tsuru, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.” She dusted her flour covered hands on her jeans before offering me a handshake.

   I gave a soft smile as I shook her hand, “I’m Y/N, it’s lovely to meet you as well.” O-tsuru gently grabbed Kin’emon’s hand and led him to the kitchen.

   “Food is almost finished, we would be delighted if you decided to eat with us,” her voice echoed from the kitchen.

   I looked down at my half eaten sandwich from the airport Subway. The bread was chewy like a warm kneaded eraser, and the vegetables had an almost plastic sheen to them. “I would love to eat whatever smells that delicious,” I peeled off my shoes and set them near the door.

   O-tsuru’s head popped out from the kitchen, “Just sit for a bit, and we’ll be out with food in a second.” Following her instructions, I pushed the floor sitting chair out so I could sit on my knees.

   There were no legs to the chair, but seeing as the table was so close to the ground it did not present a problem. My eyes scanned the area of the house that was visible. There were sliding doors and paintings with Japanese characters drawn in sumi ink. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see something reflect the light of the overhead fan.

   I turned to my side and saw two katana’s on display, both identical in looks. Black lacquered wood, with the image of fire painted down the middle. It looked too gaudy for it to be used as a weapon. As I glanced over the other decorations in the house, I decided to place the swords in the same category.

   “Today we are going to be eating Tonkatsu Curry,” O-tusru said, as she clattered plates about to organize the table. I reached out to help her, but she swatted my hands away playfully. “You’re our guest, I can’t put you to work so soon,” she chuckled. I placed my hands back onto my lap, and waited.

   Soon enough Kin’emon brought out the food, and the scent of curry wafted over  from the pot. There was a plate set down that was full of pork chops covered in fried bread crumbs. O-tsuru set down a glass bowl full of lettuce— you could see droplets of water on the leaves.

   “So we have some Tonkatsu here, but if you can’t eat that we also have nato,” O-tsuru sat across from me.

   “What’s nato?” I looked at my bowl of rice, and sniffed it.  

   “It’s fermented beans,” Kin’emon took his seat next to his wife. “And if you’re allergic to anything here just let us know, I’m sure we can find something in the kitchen that suits your needs.”

   As we dug in, the flavors exploded in my mouth creating a lovely blend. The dinner was mostly quiet, with the exception of some basic questions to fill up the time.

   “I’ll let Kin’emon show you to your room. I have to wash some dishes,” O-tsuru grabbed a few plates as she stood up.

   While the sound of water and the clanging of dishes ensued, Kin’emon stood up, and walked over to my luggage. The slight crispy nosies of the mats under my feet amused me.

   “So...are the floor mats made out of bamboo?” I said.

   “They are made out of rice straw, they’re called Tatami mats,” he walked down the hallway, and placed his hand on the door, and cracked it open slightly. “This is where your room is, you can call either of us if you need anything.”

   I watched his silhouette as he turned around to meet back with his wife. Although he dressed like a patchwork dad and samurai, it looked as if he could still be a model for Calvin Klein. As he walked away, his muscles rippled under his skin. His arms were also well defined, but as my eye caught his ring I stopped

[haddonfieldproject]

<<PREVIOUS⏺<<CONTENTS>>

1.3.6. SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1st

Warren County, Illinois

There was a knock at her bedroom door.

Leighton lifted her head and puffed the blond hair out of her eyes with her mouth, taking a glance at her Hello Kitty alarm clock. ‪8:57‬.

Fuck Diego, I told you to text me. She thought as she cleared her throat.

“Come in.”

Mya walked in the room.

And as if it wasn't weird enough for Mya to be walking in the room---seriously, she wasn't even on Leighton's radar of people who would be walking into her bedroom at that moment---it was even more weird that Mya appeared to be dressed like some sort of leopard. Even the remains of some face paint was smeared all over her round brown cheeks and streaking down her neck.

“Mya?” Leighton croaked as she turned over in her bed, “What are you doing here? Who even let you in?”

Mya plopped down on the end of Leighton's bed. “Your mom did. What are you still doing in bed?”

“My mom is awake?” Leighton lay on her back and looked at the ceiling.

“Yeah, she's up and watching the news like everyone else. Seriously she starts drinking really early. Not even ten and she's got her a bottle of wine.”

Leighton sat back up on her elbows and frowned, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Why aren't you watching the news?” Mya asked, “I heard about it on the radio. I was on my way home but I didn't want to go home just yet. I don't want to hear any shit from my mom and with what went on last night, I'm sure I'll hear my fair share.”

Leighton shook her head with exasperation, “What?”

“Girl..haven't you seen all the trucks parked outside? Turn on the news! Where's your remote for this TV”.

Leighton pointed to her vanity and swung her legs off the bed, sitting up. “It's over there, knock yourself out I guess.”

Mya padded across the room and scooped up the remote. Leighton yawned and trudged out of the room toward the bathroom. A few minutes later she found Mya at the end of her bed glued to the television.

Leighton sat at her vanity and began to brush her perfect hair on her perfect head. What she saw on the television in the mirror's reflection made her stop. She turned around.

Mya had switched to the local news. An aerial shot showed Haddonfield's hospital in flames. A banner at the bottom of the screen read: HALLOWEEN HORROR IN SMALL TOWN. The news anchor's voice was droning: “So far twenty people are confirmed dead by Warren County Sheriff's office but when pressed if this twenty persons all came from the hospital or from other unconfirmed incidents we were told by our contact within the police department that they, and I quote, 'could not comment at this time'. Someone who may have answers we need however is Channel 7 reporter Holly West who has been covering ‪this night‬ of terror for this small Illinois town all night, she is down there live outside the hospital, Holly are you there?”

Leighton's mouth gaped open in a state of shock and amazement. She slowly put the brush down on the vanity and sat down on the bed next to Mya slowly.

🎃

Valentina Sequera sat on the shabby futon inside the trailer, cellphone in her hands, eyes glued on the old fashioned square television. She pushed her curly black hair, going gray in some places, out of her face, and watched as the news switched from the aerial shot of the burning hospital, to the pretty, albeit tired looking blonde news anchor on the ground.

Channel 7 Reporter Holly West stood in the parking lot of the hospital, the smoking building in the background. Beside her was an Hispanic woman that looked very familiar to Valentina.

I think we go to the same church, she thought.

“Holly West here, live from outside the scene at Haddonfield County-General Medical Center. I'm here with Rosalita, she was inside the hospital having just given birth to her new baby boy...first of all, are you and your baby okay?”

“Yes, yes,” Rosalita answered in an accent not as thick as Valentina's. “Thankfully to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and all the Saints me and my new baby boy Rogelio are doing just fine.”

“Glad to hear that,” Holly replied smiling, “Now you were inside the hospital. Can you tell us what you experienced?”

“Yes ma'am,” the woman replied respectably, “my son was born ‪around 11:30‬ and we were resting in our room around 2, close to ‪2:30‬ when I hear a gunshot.”

“A gunshot!?” Holly looked surprisingly at the camera and then back at Rosalita, “We haven't heard reports yet of a gunshot, are you sure it was a gunshot?”

“Si..uh..yes ma'am,” the woman smiled knowingly, “mi husband...my ex-husband that is...he used to shoot guns...so I know the gun sound...and I would have to say it was definitely shotgun.”

Holly West's eyebrows did not fall, “Well you heard it here first ladies and gentlemen, shots fired at the hospital. Then what happened?”

Valentina couldn't pay attention. She picked up her phone, scrolled down into the contacts to the very common pet name hispanic mothers give their sons: MI GORDO and then hit CALL.

Straight to voicemail.

“Hola, dis' Diego, leave a message por favor... dejame un mensaje...”

She cut him off and dropped the phone in her lap. Her legs shook nervously.

Diego and his stupid Spanglish, she thought to herself in Spanish. She glanced at the clock on the wall. The bright green iguana mounted to the disc decorated in cacti and hues of southwest teals, purples, and pinks had his tail on the one and his head close to the nine indicating it was ‪9:05‬.

No need to worry really, she thought, it hasn't been that long. He may still be at the shop. He may have went to a friend's house. Her mind thought of the names of any of Diego's friends. Quinn...was that one? She asked herself. She glanced back at the TV, Rosalita was talking.

“Then Sherriff Brackett came in and took me and my baby to hide in a closet...”

Holly West cut her off, “A closet?”

“Yes,” Rosalita smiled nervously, she was searching for the right words in English, “like for medical supply and stuff.”

Holly West smiled and nodded, “Oh ok, a big supply closet.”

“Si..uh..yes. And then he go look to for help.”

“And then he went to go look for help?”

“Si...yes.”

“And did you see Sheriff Brackett again?” Holly asked.

“No.”

“What time was this?”

“Not long after we got in room, maybe 2...2:30.”

Valentina could only think of one more thing to do. She picked up the large white old fashioned cordless landline phone that lay on the couch beside her. Quickly, she scrolled through the history on the small digital display screen, found the number she wanted, and hit the CALL BACK button.

🔪

Leighton and Mya had moved to the living room. Leighton sat on the small sofa, wrapped in a quilt. The temperature outside had dropped considerably over the night. For the first time in several months the air conditioning was off and the house had a drafty damp feel. The world was gray and misty outside of the large regal windows of the mayoral mansion's living room.

Mya sat on the floor in front of the sofa next to the large glass coffee table. She had swiped Leighton's disposable make-up removal wipes from the bathroom, and now had a nice pile of gold and black stained wipes on the surface of the glass, right next to a large cup of orange juice.

Leigh Ann Roderick-Dodge, Leighton's mother and the wife of Haddonfield's unhonorable mayor, lay on the opposite, but matching sofa. Her head at one end, her feet on the other. She was beautiful, a former model in her twenties, she still looked gorgeous even with no make-up and her blonde hair tossed up in a messy bun at the top of her head. She was still dressed in a robe, and indeed, she held a large goblet of chardonnay in one hand and the television remote in the other. At the moment, all were fixated on Holly West's interview with Rosalita from the hospital.

“Did you notice when the power went out?” Holly asked.

“Si..there was big lightning strike and then...boom. No lights.” Rosalita made hand motions to illustrate the lightning.

“So you think the lightning knocked out the power?”

Rosalita nodded exhuberantly, “Definitely.”

“About what time was this?”

“We were there..about two hours...4 maybe..4:30.”

Leighton's phone went off. She looked at the screen: DIEGO HOME. She smirked to herself and hit the green button.

“What's up fucker? Thought you'd be sleeping.” She answered.

Mya laughed. Her mother glared at her. “Leighton Michelle!” She hissed, and took a sip of wine.

There was a pause on the other end and then she heard a woman's voice, in a thick hispanic accent say, “Um...yes..this Leighton? This is Diego's mom...Valentina.”

Leighton sat up on the couch and put her hand to her mouth to suppress a gasp. “Oh Miss Sequira, I'm so sorry, I thought you were Diego.”

“Is okay,” Valentina said, “So he not with you. You know where he is?”
Leighton frowned. Why would Diego not be home. “No ma'am, I haven't seen him since he went into work yesterday.”

“He no tell you where he is?” Valentina struggled to say.

“No ma'am,” Leighton said, pushing her hair out of her face.

“Si..ok...thank you.”

Leighton clicked the red button and looked at the television. The banner at the bottom of the screen that moments ago had read: TERROR IN HADDONFIELD...now read: EYEWITNESS: SHOTS FIRED AT HOSPITAL.

Diego should have been home and in bed by now, she thought. And he said he was going to text me. She looked at her messages. No texts.

He probably went drinking with that guy Quinn from work.

She looked back at the TV. She read a part of the ticker at the very bottom of the screen: ...ITNESS REPORTS POWER WENT OUT AT HOSPITAL AFTER LIGHTNING STRI...

The storm, her mind exploded. He probably didn't go home after work because of the storm. He probably spent the night in the break-room. He had done it before, a few times, mostly when business got slow and he and Quinn had gotten drunk. She thought about calling Diego's mother back to set her mind at ease. She would have definitely called his work first, she thought. At least I hope.

Leighton picked up her phone and scrolled down into her contacts where it said DIEGO SUPERFUEL and hit the green button again.

She got a three chord tone. “I'm sorry but the number you are trying to reach is not in service.”

“Ok that's weird,” she said to herself as she ended the call.

“What?” Mya asked, eyes still on the screen which was now dominated once more by overhead shots of the burning hospital.

“Nothing,” she said to herself. But now she was beginning to worry.

🎃

Valentina had indeed tried the work phone number first and had gotten the same operator message. She got up from the couch and went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of lemonade from the fridge. The news reporter droned on from the television after her.

“If you are just joining us, we now have a witness account from inside the hospital stating that they heard shots fired before the power went out and before the explosion. I believe we now have to consider the possibility that some act of terrorism may have occurred in Haddonfield last night. We are going to replay that interview with a young mother who was in the hospital celebrating the birth of her new baby boy---”

Valentina sat down, took a sip of the lemonade and picked up the cordless phone once again. She dialed her son's cellphone number.

“Hola, dis' Diego, leave...”

She threw the phone down on the cushion next to her in disgust

NEXT>>

[viceroy-transporter]

50 yr old farm girl drives an equally sweet ’57 Chevy 

If you want to see a truly badass American woman, look no further than Jennifer “Farm Girl” Saucier.

This drop dead gorgeous 50 year old farm girl loves guns, cars, exercise, and working on the family farm. She’s no stranger to a hard day’s work and a long night of play.

When she’s not shooting, farming, fishing, or driving classic cars, Farm Girl is making YouTube videos on her channel Banshee Moon to the tune of $100,000 a year.

That’s one hell of a monetized hobby !!!

She and her husband run a small farm in North Carolina, but started sharing their home videos around 2012. Since then the Banshee Moon channel has exploded in popularity with dozens of videos earning millions of views.

[fallingfor-fics]

What We Were-Chapter 8: Notice me

A Beth and Rio fanfiction, Wattpad: fallingforfics

not my gif

chapter 7

Warnings: none

Rios POV

I woke up on the couch with a pounding headache. I slowly sat up hearing my back and neck pop from the stiffness. I looked over and saw the empty bottle of bourbon and sighed knowing that couldn't have been a good sign. I grabbed my phone turning it on but to my surprise it was dead which was weird. I plugged it in and got up to go make myself some breakfast.

After I ate I went to go check to see if my phone had turned back on and almost shit myself at the reply I saw from Beth. That's when I remembered what I had done last night. "FUCK" I yelled and unlocked my phone to see the drunken text I had sent. I soothed myself by saying it could have been worse I could have told her that it meant something. But instead I had just said it was fun which was true and we should do it again which was also true and probably inevitable. I didn't know whether or not to reply I didn't wanna seem to eager even though I kinda was. ~Our bar. 6pm. No I can't say it like that it sounds to straightforward ~meet me at our bar tonight at 6:00? I mean that sounded good right maybe not the question mark

~Meet me at our bar tonight at 6 I sighed and sent it then put the phone down and went to shower

Beth POV

I woke to an empty bed as usual and saw the clock 8:57 I sighed and got up relieved that dean had said he would take the kids to school on fridays to give me a break.

I looked over to my phone and checked my messages

Rio ~Meet me at our bar tonight at 6

I didn't know what to say I mean what did he want? Did he just need me to do a favor? Or was he firing me? Or killing me? Or fucking me? There were so many possibilities. All I knew was that I couldn't because Dean had said he was going to take me out tonight.

{how urgent? Dean and I have plans Typing....typing... then gone I waited anxiously sitting on the edge of my bed and biting my lip.

~just need to chat real quick

{ok I'll figure it out

I sighed and went to text Dean {hey can we eat at that one bar instead of the Thai place for our date tonight <yeah sure

Wow some response that was I mean after all he is screwing his secretary the least he could do it put some effort in the text

The day flew by as I got a lot of errands done buying groceries, picking up the kids, and dropping them off at their grandmas, updating my calendar, actual book club. I started to get ready for Dean and my date. I decided on a rust colored casual yet simple dress (here) and as usual a plunging neckline and some black heels.

I then curled my hair and put on a medium length necklace that if you followed it you would have to stare at the ladies. I don't know why I kept planning what I was wearing to impress some bad boy. I put on some makeup and earrings and just then heard Dean come home and call out to see if I was ready. I walked downstairs confidently and when we locked eyes all I got was a lame "you look nice" I just smiled a sad smile and we left.

Rio POV

I sat at the bar in my usually attire sipping my drink every once in a while glancing at the door waiting for her to enter. I saw the door open and her start to walk in and it was as if it was slow motion she looked so gorgeous as she glides in and then everything was ruined when he followed behind her. I quickly turned back around so she wouldn't see how red my face probably was. I took another big swig of my drink and ordered another and took a sip looking over my shoulder and making eye contact with her.

Beth POV

I walked in and  glanced around and saw him sitting at the bar ordering a drink waiting, hoping he would turn around a notice me before we went and sat down at a booth. And thank heavens he glanced over his shoulder and we made eye contact. I smiled a small smile. This was going to be a long night.

[yoongailrecs]

Min Yoongi Fic Recs Masterlist

Note: If some links aren’t working, please feel free to send me a message! I’ll be adding more fics every weekend. Thanks and enjoy!

@bangtan-dreamland​

One Shots

Rain - angst, a little fluff

“Yoongi spends too much time at the studio, leaving you to wake alone in your house all too often. But it’s okay. After all, it’s all too easy to notice the hints lying around- and the ring sitting hidden in the drawer the biggest clue of all.”

@chillingtae​

One Shots

Baby Maker - fluff, smut

“Your husband is mildly surprised at your request when he arrives home from work, but it doesn’t take you long to convince him that a baby is just what you both need.”

@cinnaminsvga​

One Shots

A Boy Like You - fluff

“for whenever you are feeling low, always remember that there is a boy you know who would lift the sky for you.

{or alternatively: Min Yoongi loves you, though he never says it. He’s always been a firm believer in that actions speak louder than any words ever could.}”

Churro Chumps - fluff, humor/crack

“Hey Y/N. If I’m 130 pounds and I eat 1.3 pounds of churros, does that make me 1% churro?” -Min Yoongi, 2017

{or alternatively: two idiots with their two functioning brain cells try to make a Christmas miracle}”

Neighborly Etiquette - fluff, slight angst

“Based on this prompt [x]. You and your boyfriend live across from Yoongi’s apartment, much to his chagrin. Your laughter and dancing and bed creaking were seriously annoying him, until it stops. Then, Yoongi finds himself knocking on your door. And no, he’s definitely not there to comfort you. No way.”

@dinoyoongi​

One Shots

Home for Christmas - fluff, angst

“Accompanying Yoongi to Big Hit’s fancy holiday party, you take advantage of the open bar and spiked cider to help rid you of your homesickness. Who would have thought that your tolerance for bourbon was so low?”

@dovechim​​

One Shots

Tsundere - angst, smut

“according to the rumours, min yoongi is a bad apple- doesn’t take grades seriously, drinks as if he has two livers, a certified bad boy™. when you get paired up with him for a project, you’d never expect that someone like him would have a thing or two to teach you about life itself- and how it should be lived.”

Series

The Singularity Theory 01 | 02 | 03 - angst, fluff, smut

“in your last year of undergrad, you find out what a gloryhole is at the expense of your final year thesis. it’s a classic example of a psychology experiment that went way, way wrong.

but how were you to know that a certain min yoongi would be sticking his dick into your life?”

@floralseokjin​

One Shots

;first and last and always - angst, fluff

“You and Yoongi broke up two months ago. It was mutual, you’re positive, but there’s one teeny tiny issue… You never told your parents, and now they’ve invited you back home for Christmas. Both of you. You can’t say no, but you also can’t bear to go alone, so you do the only thing you can think of, plead with Yoongi to come with you and pretend like everything’s okay…”

drabbles

Hold Me Tight - angst

“the end of a relationship comes slowly but suddenly”

@gossamie​

One Shots

the things i said when i loved you. - fluff, angst, and a li’l humor

“listen to the past two years of your relationship with yoongi, as told in a series of voicemails.”

twelve minutes in tokyo. - angst, slight fluff

“Yoongi wakes up only to relive the same twelve minutes that ended in tragedy over again. He is quick to realize that this is the universe’s cruel way— or divine intervention— of deciding the fate of his relationship.”

@ggukieslovin​

Drabble Requests

01 - fluff

“Hii! I'll fill your box 😂😂 So... making out with Yoongi and you're doing crazy with his marvelous tongue and he can't keep his hands off your bubble bum. Have fun ❤.”

@hiimbo​

One Shots

siren - smut

“you’re willing to do anything to get out of having your license revoked after officer min catches you speeding for the third time this month.”

@hobidreams

Series

The Early Shift 01 | 02 | 03 - smut, angst, fluff

“your coworker yoongi is always infuriatingly late. except the one time he’s much too early.”

drabbles

@httpjeon​

One Shots

Show - smut

“yoongi decides to show the boys how he makes his girl cum with his mouth alone”

the cockpile: love birds - smut, fluff

“being an adventurous couple has led you down a strange path of amateur pornography with your boyfriend Min Yoongi. you’re dubbed the Love Birds.”

@inkofyoongi​

One Shots

Blow - smut, fluff

“Yoongi loves you, even if he’s never said it… but gestures sometimes speak louder than words.”

@itsamejin​

Series

Goodbye 01 - angst

“Yoongi watched silently as you exited the car and out of his life, but he can’t help but feel a sense of panic at the thought of you leaving him for good.”

Leave Me 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 - angst

“He’s cheating and you’re aware. You just don’t know what to do about it.”

@jamaisjoons​

One Shots

tongue tech - smut

“Yoongi turns you on with that tongue technology”

@jiminssizzles​

One Shots

autumn leaves - angst, fluff

“the one where you and Yoongi are lighting fall-scented candles.”

first things first. - fluff, slight angst and crack

“Both Yoongi and Namjoon deserve you, but you can only pick one. What do you do when your bestfriend, Taehyung, put the matter in his own hands, leaving you with no choice but to just trust fate?”

if the world was ending - fluff, slight angst and crack

“The soulmate system works on your side of the world, only it activates after you turn 20 years old.”

Series

Track 2: Afterglow - angst, fluff, smut and a little crack

Part of the Taylor Swift Mixtape Series

“Gail just went to the BTS fanmeet with her bestfriend, Eunice, to see Namjoon. She did not expect that her boyfriend from Omegle will see her there – and that Omegle boyfriend is Min Yoongi.”

Sparks Fly - fluff, slight angst

“It’s Gail’s birthday in a few hours… What do you do, Yoongi?“

@jimlingss​

One Shots

Primae Noctis - smut

“Marrying Jungkook is your greatest fortune, but before you can leave the land forever, you owe one last favour towards Lord Min. As the lord of the land, he has the right to deflower you and you will happily allow him to do so.”

Series

She’s Testosterone 01 | 02 | 03.1 | 03.2 - fluff, crack, smut

“Drop dead gorgeous, cute and sassy - you adore your best friend. But is there more beneath the surface? Who exactly is Min Yoonji?”

The Truth Between Us 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07  - fluff, angst, drama

co-written by @gukyi​

“a book deal should be the most exciting time of your life, but there seems to be a constant and omnipresent damper on your mood in the form of a certain min yoongi, who you would just cut out from your life, if he weren’t your editor. but then, the world shifts beneath your feet, and you begin to wonder if maybe you’ve always been looking at life from the wrong angle.”

@joonary​

One Shots

the way to your heart - fluff, humor

“when your office christmas party’s secret santa gives you absolutely no context on what kind of gift he wants, you have no choice but to get to know him better.”

@joonbird​

Series

Wildest Moments 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 - fluff, angst, smut

“Min Yoongi is forbidden territory. And although you both know better, the two of you just can’t seem to stay apart.”

@katobobato​

One Shots

Teach Me - fluff

“In which you use learning a language as an excuse to tell Yoongi how much you love him.”

@knamjooned​

One Shots

Time Skip - fluff, angst, thriller

“34D 14H 46M 57S. 55S. 40S. The soulclock seemed to be skipping numbers, counting down much faster than the other’s soulclocks were. As it began to skip minutes, Yoongi realized he needed to find you before time ran out.”

@minnpd

One Shots

Dancing With The Devil - smut

“At first, Yoongi was just another handsome face with a charming mouth, stroking your ego while you laughed at his terrible jokes and topped off his drink twice as much as you charged him for. It was fun to flirt with the customers, an exhilarating game of cat and mouse that never went beyond the doors of the club. Until Yoongi.”

@out-of-jams​

One Shots

A Toast - smut, fluff

“Who cared that you had a whole wedding reception waiting for your arrival? Besides, did they really expect any less when your groom had shown up to the altar with newly dyed black hair and an undercut?”

Series

Cheers If You Agree 01 | 02 | 03 - fluff

“If it weren’t for the fact that he didn’t know who you were or even how to get into contact with you, Yoongi wouldn’t be posting all over Weverse for anyone to see. Not that he thought anyone would be smart enough to put the pieces of the puzzle together with how many people responded to his posts anyway.

Except you. He hoped you could.”

@personasintro​

One Shots

Next Door - smut, fluff

“Your neighbor doesn’t respect your complaints about him being loud, but you don’t let it slide so easily.”

Stay High - smut, fluff, angst

“You’ve to stay high to keep your ex out of your mind when he comes back into your life.”

@ppersonna​

One Shots

make me - smut, fluff

“an ordinary sleepover with your best friend turns into anything but ordinary, thanks to your ridiculously loud neighbors above you.”

the landlord - smut, fluff

“your air conditioner breaks right at the height of a recordbreaking heat wave.  good thing your hot landlord, yoongi, knows how to attend to any needs you may have.”

@scriptaed​

One Shots

behind closed doors - angst

“after falling for your already taken best friend, min yoongi, your confession results in a less than surprising fall out. three years later, you find yourself at your own wedding, except whom the last millisecond of each one of your heartbeats is beating for isn’t the groom; it’s him.”

it isn’t love. - heavy angst, fluff

“it all happened too fast. first, he held you in his arms in the couch of your living room, and next, he had packed all of his belongings and left you to an abandoned apartment without warning. now, he’s known as suga of bts and the only way you can cross paths with the renowned star once again is to win a date with his bandmate, kim namjoon.”

tell me that you love me. - angst

“sometimes letting go is the hardest thing to do - a cruel lesson that comes crashing on the both of you when the unexpected occurs: a mutual fall out of love.”

@searchingtae​

One Shots

Morning Star - angst

“When Yoongi fell from heaven, he never once regretted the reasons leading up to his fall. What he does regret was bringing you into this.”

@softlyjiminie​

One Shots

nine months from now - smut, angst, fluff

“this was not supposed to happen. this was never in the plan. a sudden, unexpected turn of events leads you into a world of baby bottles and baby grows, it just so happens that the cause of this mess is your boss…min yoongi.”

@sugalarity​

Drabble Requests

01 - angst, fluff

“i'm not sure if you do requests, but can you please do a yoongi drabble that is a soulmate!au? something with shooky shooky keeps on playing in yn's head on repeat and yoongi is kinda annoyed because he hears it too. but for a twist, make it angst. 😂”

@thestorytellerofkpop​

One Shots

In My Head - angst

“Yoongi is slowly distancing himself away from you, and you can’t help but fall victim to the insecurities in your mind as you can’t help but ask: why?”

@yeontanismypresident​​

Series

I’m Done 01 | 02 | 03 - fluff, angst,

no summary

@yoonia​

One Shots

Undo - angst, smut

“You were his soulmate, that part he knew well. Until one day he didn’t want you anymore. He couldn’t, when all he could see from you was light and all he felt within himself was darkness. Your love has gone cold as he retreated from you, burying himself deep in the dark. But what happened when Yoongi had to watch you start over with somebody else, when Yoongi let his selfishness gain control on him of you.”

drabbles

Series/Drabble Request

Reflections 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 - angst

“Yoongi + “How could I ever forget about you" + Angst | for anon”

@yoongi-sugaglider​

Series

Forget Me Not 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 - angst, fluff

“Yoongi + “How could I ever forget about you" + Angst | for anon”

[breakable-girls-and-boys]

Crooked Smile Ch 2

~It makes it somewhat less appealing to be feeling like you're stealing someone else's broken heart~

Holly woke up with a splitting headache. Everything hurt, and she felt like she might be sick. Hobbling her way to the bathroom, she bent over the sink and groaned. She didn’t remember drinking that much at the bar. And then, suddenly, she recalled grabbing a bottle from her cabinet the moment she got home and chugging as much as she could before Rachel ripped it away from her. Holly splashed cold water on her face, dried it with a towel, and then made her way to the kitchen, where the scent of bacon flooded her nostrils.

“Oh good, I was worried you might’ve drank yourself to death,” Rachel commented as she flipped an egg in the skillet.

“I wish I was dead,” Holly mumbled, flopping into a chair at the table.

“Well, maybe this will help.” Rachel set a plate of fried eggs, bacon, and toast with jam in front of her. The smell of the greasy food made her stomach rumble, and Holly quickly dove in, fork first.

Rachel made up her own plate and sat down across from Holly.

“So, when do you go back to work?”

“Tomorrow,” Holly spoke through a mouth full of egg.

“You are so gorgeous when you talk with your mouth full,” Rachel said sarcastically.

Holly took a big bite of her toast and smiled openly. “I know.”

Both women chortled at Holly’s antics. They finished their breakfast in silence, and when they were done, Rachel stood and began to clean up.

“You don’t have to do that.” Holly’s voice was muffled by her arms as she laid her head on the table.

“Well I’m not about to let the dishes sit here and attract all manner of creatures,” Rachel retorted.

“Rachel, I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, I’d say you should start with a shower, cuz you got alcohol coming out of your pores,” Rachel teased gently.

“I mean about work. About Gail.”

“Oooh,” Rachel said in understanding as she dried her hands. Hanging up the towel, she turned to face Holly and rested her arms on the table. “You go to work. You do what you always do and just… keep going. It’s gonna suck, that’s for sure. But, I know you. And I know you can make it through this.” Rachel smiled at her friend, even though Holly still had her head buried in her arms.

“Plus, aren’t you like the boss now? Wasn’t that part of the deal? You come back and they give you a promotion? So you can hand off cases you don’t want, right?”

Holly finally looked up.

“Yeah. I suppose so,” Holly said as she attempted to rub the sleep from her eyes. “Ok, I’m gonna go shower. If I’m not done in 30, I’ve died and I need to you begin planning my funeral.”

The sound of Rachel’s chuckles followed Holly as she trudged her way upstairs.

————

“So,” Oliver said, plopping himself down on Gail’s desk. “Holly’s back.”

“Yep,” Gail said, popping the ‘p’.

“Traci told me.” Oliver began fiddling with his fingers. “How ya doin’, darlin’?”

“I’m fine,” Gail said flatly, leaning back in her chair.

Oliver looked her over. He could see right through that icy exterior. She wasn’t fine, but he knew that if Gail Peck didn’t want to talk about it, she wouldn’t.

“Well good, because there’s a homicide over on Euclid. I need you to go over there with Anderson.” Oliver patted Gail on the back before walking away.

There were already multiple squad cars on the scene and the area had been taped off by the time Gail and Frankie pulled up. Both women got out of the car and made their way into the house. They stepped carefully over the blood splattered on the floor and around the broken glass in the entry way and walked to the kitchen. Chloe and Nick turned around at the detectives’ entrance.

“The victim is Richard Donaldson, 57 years old. Shot once in the abdomen. He lived alone,” Nick informed them. “Looks like a possible robbery gone bad. It appears that some items are missing and his wallet was picked clean.”

“Ok, let’s get someone to get a trace out on his credit cards in case the suspect is stupid enough to use them,” Frankie began, “And I want that wallet dusted for prints.”

“Murder weapon?” Gail asked.

“We’re still searching the house, but we haven’t found it yet,” Chloe answered.

“Canvass the neighbors, see if anyone saw something,” Gail ordered.

————

Holly was only about halfway into the autopsy when Gail Peck and a detective she did not know entered her lab.

“So whaddya got for us, doc?” the detective asked.

Holly flashed a tentative smile at Gail before directing her attention to the other woman.

“Well, he died of exsanguination from a single gun shot wound to the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. The bullet pierced the spleen, causing the massive hemorrhage,” Holly said as she pointed to the open cadaver on her table.

The detective stared blankly at Holly, before asking, “What?”

Holly chuckled softly, her mouth forming a lopsided smile.

“He bled out from a single GSW to the stomach,” Holly explained.

“Well, why didn’t you just say that?”

“She did, Frankie,” Gail said. “You’re just an idiot.”

Frankie brushed off the comment and rested her hands on the exam table.

“Did you recover the bullet?” Frankie asked.

“Hands off the table, please. And yes,” Holly said, reaching for a small plastic container and offering it to the detective.

Frankie took the proffered evidence and held it up to the light. A small caliber bullet tumbled around inside the container.

“Thanks,” Frankie said, nodding in Holly’s direction.

Frankie started for the door but stopped short when she realized Gail had not followed her.

Gail stood where she was, watching Holly as she continued to examine the cadaver. Holly could feel Gail’s eyes on her, but attempted to go about her business as if no one else was there. The tension in the room was palpable and Frankie looked back and forth between the two women.

“So, uh, have… how have you been settling in?” Gail asked tentatively, staring down at her clasped hands.

The question startled Holly. She immediately stopped what she was doing and looked up at the woman standing across the table, staring for a beat.

“Uh, good. It’s been good,” Holly mused. “It’s kind of different being in charge, but I’m enjoying it so far.”

“Good, that’s good,” Gail said.

“What about you?” Holly asked. “You’re a detective now?”

“Yeah, just this past year.”

“Hey, Shaw needs us back at the precinct, like now,” Frankie interrupted, no longer willing to suffer the awkward exchange unfolding before her.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Ok,” Gail mumbled as she backed towards the doorway Frankie was standing in.

“I’ll let you know if I find anything else,” Holly offered.

“Thank you,” Gail said, avoiding her eyes.

“It was nice to see you, Gail,” Holly said, looking wistfully at the departing detective. “And nice to meet you, Detective…uh…”

“Anderson, Frankie Anderson.”

Holly flashed a small, lopsided smile at the detectives as they left her lab. When the women had rounded the corner, Holly put her head in her hands. She took a deep, steadying breath, shook her head to clear it, and got back to the work at hand.

————

“What the hell was that?” Frankie demanded as she and Gail exited the morgue.

“What was what?”

“That painfully awkward, tension-filled excuse for a conversation you just had with the mortician?”

“She’s a forensic pathologist,” Gail said as she climbed into the driver’s seat of the car.

“So does this nerd have a name?” Frankie asked, buckling herself into the passenger seat.

Gail threw the car into drive and peeled out of the parking lot. Her eyes didn’t leave the road as she spoke.

“Her name is Holly Stewart.”

“Well she is fucking hot,” Frankie mused appreciatively.

“She’s not a piece of meat, Frankie,” Gail snapped, her knuckles turned white as her grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“Is she like your side piece, or something?”

“What?” Gail asked incredulously. She hit the brakes a little too roughly and the car came to a rather abrupt stop at the stop sign. Gail turned to look at her partner.

“You’re awfully defensive, so I just assumed it’s because you’re tapping that,” Frankie said, shrugging her shoulders.

“I am not! I-I, where would you- what do you- I-” Gail took a steadying breath and continued on down the road. “She and I… we, uh, we dated a couple years ago.”

“And?”

“And what? That’s it.”

“That is not all, you liar,” Frankie said. “You would not be this riled up over someone you dated ‘a couple years ago’.”

Gail’s jaw clenched and she tightened her grip on the wheel, but she continued to stare straight ahead. After about a minute or two, Gail broke the silence.

“She left me,” Gail whispered so soft Frankie almost didn’t catch it. But Gail continued, and Frankie knew it was best to just let her get it all out. “She took a job in San Francisco. You know she asked me to come with her?” Gail glanced at Frankie, Frankie shook her head ‘no’. Gail continued, “We had just gotten back together after I was an idiot, and things were great. And then she dropped that on me. And I couldn’t tell her not to go, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. But I couldn’t just leave my life here. And on top of that, I was trying to adopt Sofie, and, well you know how that panned out.” Gail’s sentence trailed off.

“Did you guys try long distance?” Frankie asked softly, scared of startling Gail into silence.

“Frankie, I’m not even good at regular, close-distance relationships.”

“True, very true.” Frankie nodded in understanding.

The rest of the drive back to the 15th precinct was spent in silence.

————

Gail set her bag down by the front door of the apartment. The smell of garlic and onions filled her nose. She removed her jacket and hanged it on the coat rack before making her way to the kitchen. Sarah was standing at the counter, chopping some vegetables. She walked up quietly behind her fiancée and wrapped her arms around Sarah’s waist, pulling the woman gently back into herself. Gail tenderly trailed kisses down Sarah’s cheek and neck. Sarah stopped what she was doing and raised a hand up to cup Gail’s face.

“Hi,” she giggled.

“Mmm, something smells good,” Gail said.

“I’m making pasta.”

Gail pulled away from Sarah and grabbed the spoon from the pan on the stove. She scooped out a noodle and some sauce and quickly blew on it and shoved it in her mouth before Sarah could protest.

“Gail!” She exclaimed, smacking her gently on the arm with a potholder. “Get out of my kitchen!” She continued to swing at Gail.

Gail giggled as she defended herself from the onslaught with the potholder. She was able to catch Sarah’s arms and pin her against the counter, both women laughing as she did so. Gail caught her fiancée’s lips in a tender kiss. She released Sarah’s arms and moved her own hands to Sarah’s waist. Slowly, she moved her hands up and under Sarah’s shirt, caressing the soft skin at her hips. Sarah swatted her hands away gently.

“Go get settled. I’ll call you when dinner is ready,” Sarah said, ending her sentence with a quick kiss.

Gail shrugged out of her button up shirt and sighed in relief as she removed the cage of her bra and slipped her well-worn academy shirt over her head. She shimmied out of her slacks and slipped on her sweatpants. Then she made her way back out to the kitchen to set the table.

————

“So how was work today?” Sarah asked around a bite of pasta.

“Uh, it was ok,” Gail said. “Frankie and I are working a new case.” “Oh?”

“Yeah, it’s early and we don’t have much evidence to go on just yet.” Gail took a large bite of her dinner.

“Is everything ok?” Sarah asked, looking up at the woman sitting across the table from her.

Gail stopped chewing and looked up at her fiancée.

“What?”

“Is everything ok? It’s just, you’ve been kind of… off, the past few days. Did something happen at work?”

Gail searched the eyes of the woman sitting in front of her. All she found was love and concern staring back at her.

“I’m fine,” Gail said. Sarah shot her a look of disbelief. “Really, I am. It’s just been a little stressful lately with the new rookies and what not.” She was only half lying, the rookies this year have been awful.

They rounded out their night watching a movie on the couch. Gail hadn’t paid much attention, but made an effort to laugh when Sarah did. Her mind was too preoccupied with rerunning the interaction between Holly and herself in the lab today.

When she had finished brushing her teeth and turned out the lights, Gail crawled into bed next to Sarah. She turned and snuggled into Gail’s chest.

“Goodnight, baby,” she whispered. “I love you.”

Gail exhaled slowly before whispering,”I love you too.”

[shadowglens]

51 - 69 + delaney!

51. have they ever shot a gun before?

of course. the first time she ever used one was when she was thirteen and she escaped the xbd factory - she’d managed to surprise one of the camera crew enough that she knocked them out cold with a stray pipe, and courage bolstered she’d taken the pistol from their hip and slipped out of the factory and into the humid air of night city. she definitely left a trail of bodies. she never leaves home without one now.

52. have they ever been axe throwing?

no, but her aim in general is pretty good so she’d probably be ok at it! she’s definitely used an axe once or twice when doing jobs against scav’s and doesn’t mind them.

53. what is something that they want but can’t have?

freedom from the choke hold of night city? peace and quiet? her best friend back from the dead? a second chance at having a normal childhood? there are so many things left in her past that del quietly wishes she could hold again.

54. do they know how to fish?

definitely not. i don’t think she’s ever seen a fishing rod.

55. what is something they always wanted to do but were too scared?

fall in love, stand on the top of the tallest skyscraper in night city, leave the city limits.

56. do they own their own baby pictures?

no. her mum might have a few tucked away, but del hasn’t seen her in since she was like fifteen and doesn’t really want to anyway (only half true). she was a gorgeous baby though.

57. what makes them standout among others?

her pink hair and bubbly, energetic personality, mostly. she’s very loud and bright, especially in a crowd, and definitely likes to stand out, to be the center of attention. 

58. do they like to show off?

oh definitely! she can be very smug when she wants to be. 

59. what is their favourite song?

anything loud and poppy with a strong beat and a lively atmosphere. she loves us cracks! she’ll go for most music honestly, although she definitely prefers pop much to johnny’s absolute horror.

60. what would be their dream vehicle?

a motorbike, definitely. jackie’s arch is gorgeous and so meaningful for delaney, and she adores riding it, but part of her wants to have her own bike that’s not leaden with her past grief and pain from his loss. i don’t know anything about bikes but delaney definitely has a bit of a thing for them.

61. what is their favourite book?

she’s not much for reading, honestly. she can read, but after she finished high school she never really picked up any more books. jackie tried to get her into pleasure reading while they lived together for a bit, and while she didn’t mind it, she’d much rather stick to magazines than actual books.

62. who, in their opinion, makes the best food?

mama welles, hands down. or that one dingy diner down the street from her apartment that she frequents far too much. 

63. are they approachable?

if she wants to be. around friends or allies she comes off as very friendly and easygoing, but that can quickly change if you’re a threat to her and her loved ones. she can shift between the two at almost the drop of a hat, and it’s honestly a little unsettling how easily she can become very intimidating.

64. did they ever change their appearance?

one of the first things she did once she was taken in be padre was dye her hair, and ever since that first rush of freedom, of having full control over her body and appearance, she’s never turned back. she often changes her hair style but settled on the pink a few years ago, but tattoos are always being added. she’s also experimented with various piercings, although found she mostly likes wearing them in her ears. she likes the autonomy to choose how she looks.

65. what makes them smile?

her friends, bad jokes, good food, the rush of riding a motorbike without a helmet, kicking ass, a job well done, being a smartass, good music. she tries to be a positive influence in her own life, trauma be damned, and prefers her smiling self than any other.

66. do they like glowsticks?

yes! one of the only good memories she has of her mother was when she bought her a pack of glowsticks for her sixth birthday and made delaney a crown and bracelets out of them. 

67. what is something that is simple, but always makes them smile?

see 65! 

68. are they a day or night person?

she’s turned into a night person by default of her job keeping her out late at night often, but she actually prefers the daytime. she likes the warmth and light of it, although she will admit that parties and clubs are better at night. 

69. are they allergic to anything?

not that she’s found. her immune system is pretty good, all things considered. 

[sapphoslibrary]

That Would Be Enough

(huge thank you to @confunded-gryffindor for reading this through and soothing my anxieties) Look around, look around

At how lucky we are

To be alive right now...

It had been four months, and James and Sirius were going to be back any minute. They’d been on an Order mission in Ireland since January, and Lily had barely slept the whole time. It had been torture, waiting for the Patronus she got every morning at three o’clock sharp, signalizing that her husband and his brother were alive and back at their flat.

Lily was frantically trying to finish dinner before the boys arrived. They’d undoubtedly be hungry, having only two small meals every day for four months.

She couldn’t keep her eyes off her clock though, waiting for eight p.m. to come. Time seemed to move ten times slower than usual, and eventually, Lily gave up on cooking all together, cleaning the burnt steaks with a wave of her wand and opting to lie down on the couch for ten minutes while she waited.

Lily’s neck felt unbelievably hot, and she threw her hair into a messy bun, held together by a pen she’d found on the floor

The clocked ticked slower than ever as it came to 7:55. Everything was going in slow motion, from her breathing to the sitcom on their television. This was horrible.

7:57 came even slower. Lily was starting to think there was a problem with her clock.

It felt like an eternity before 7:58 arrived.

She could’ve sworn it was another hour before 7:59 came.

Lily watched the thinnest hand, as it slowly moved around the black and white clock just above her bookshelf. Watching it will only make it come slower, a tiny voice in the back of her head supplied, and she knew that, but she simply couldn’t make herself look away from the clock that was going to tell her that her husband was alive, in just thirty seconds.

Twenty.

Ten.

Three.

Pop!

The sound Lily had been waiting for all day. Two small pops of Apparition were all it took to put her back on her feet, racing toward the front door. She heard the familiar, much missed bark that was Sirius’s laugh, and the adorable snort that belonged to James as one of them told a seemingly hilarious joke. Lily took a breath, hoping and praying that they were still the same as they were when they left Headquarters at the end of January.

She laid her hand on the doorknob, waiting for one of them to knock, wanting to give the pair a moment to relax on the porch. She could hear them talking in hushed whispers until, finally, there were six knocks on the door in a pattern Lily recognized. It was James’s knock, the exact same as it always had been before. Lily took a second to compose herself before twisting the knob, pulling the door open slowly.

Before the door was even fully open, Lily was engulfed in, quite possibly, the tightest hug she’d ever experienced, and she was hugging James back, and the four longest months of her life were officially over. Her husband was no longer away and risking his life like the brave man he was and always will be. He was home, all in one piece.

A long kiss followed that hug, and when they parted briefly to breathe, Lily saw Sirius turned away, looking at the violets and lilies as though he’d never seen them before. Lily embraced James again. “I missed you, darling,” she muttered into his shoulder.

“Missed you more.” James pulled his head back so they could press their foreheads together, and Lily closed her eyes lightly, relishing the feeling of James’s breath on her face.”You’re beautiful, Lils. God, you’re so beautiful.”

Lily smirked, opening her eyes to meet James’s gorgeous, soft hazel ones. “I forgot how cute you are.”

“How could you forget?” James asked quietly, and this only made Lily’s smirk grow into a bright smile.

“Don’t know.” Lily kissed James again, this time softly, and James slid his hands into Lily’s. When they finally broke apart, Lily took a minute to look James up and down. He was thinner, definitely, but she only found a few bruises and scrapes on his body.

“Merlin, are you okay?” Lily asked, her voice soft and gentle as she squeezed James’s hands.

“‘Course I am,” James whispered, before pecking his wife on the cheek and pulling away slowly, making sure she agreed to him moving before doing so. They regarded each other fondly for a moment, until Lily caught Sirius’s eye.

“How are the flowers looking?” She teased, and Sirius smirked at her, a dead flower between his fingers.

“You really need to water your violets, Red.” Sirius held one petal between his thumb and index finger, and it was crushed with the tiniest movement.

Lily shook her head, walking towards Sirius. “Shut up, you twat,” she said fondly, and before Sirius had a chance to respond she had wrapped her arms around him tightly, hugging him in much the same way she did James. Sirius hugged her back, resting his chin on her head.

“How’s Scarlet been treating you?” Sirius asked when Lily pulled away. Lily laughed, but it quickly turned into an exasperated sigh when she registered what Sirius had called the baby.

“For Merlin’s sake, Padfoot. It’s a boy.” Lily caught James’s eye and he smirked at her, stepping over to join them. He placed his hands gently on Lily’s stomach.

“Have some respect for Harry, Pads. He gets offended,” James joked, and Lily playfully hit his shoulder. James feigned pain for a moment before moving his hand into Lily’s.

“Yes, you should be ashamed of yourself.” Lily smiled as she squeezed James’s hand, relishing the feeling of his warm hand in hers for the first time in months.

“I’m sorry, Scarlet. I hope you can find it in you to forgive me.” Sirius sighed, curtsying and looking down at Lily’s baby bump. Lily laughed again, and good lord, it was the most beautiful sound James had ever heard, because she was happy and he was happy and they were happy.

“God, Sirius, go back to Ireland,” Lily teased, earning a bright smile from Sirius.

“Not quite yet, Red. You’re stuck with me for another few months,” Sirius informed her, placing his hands on his hips.

“Damn,” Lily breathed, then after a moment, “we should get inside, Harry and I are practically freezing.” Lily emphasised each letter of her son’s name, to make sure Sirius heard it. Sirius checked his watch.

“I should head home.” He finished crumpling the flower. “I have a Moony waiting for me.”

“Why don’t you stay for dinner? It’ll be quick,” Lily offered, but Sirius declined it with a small shake of his head.

“Nah, Remus will have a heart attack if I’m gone any longer,” he shrugged, absentmindedly crumpling another dead flower. “I’ll come by soon, though. Promise.”

“Fine,” Lily sighed. She flicked her wand toward the screen door, unlocking it. “Be careful getting home.”

“Will do,” Sirius assured, turning to the door. He opened it, but turned back to face the flowers. “Aguamenti,” he muttered, his wand aimed at the soil underneath. “Keep these alive, will you?” And with that, he was gone.

Lily turned to James, taking both of his hands in hers once more. She kissed him softly. “Let’s get inside, love. I wasn’t kidding about us freezing.” James nodded his agreement, and they turned to get into the familiar cottage.

It looked exactly the same as it had when he left, except today it was much more welcoming. The table was set with a white table cloth and three plates, and a quick wave of Lily’s wand changed the three to two. She gave James a moment to look around the house, smiling when he smiled, watching his eyes light up. Lily squeezed her husband’s hand, and he let her lead him to the table.

“Hungry?” Lily asked softly, pulling James out of his thoughts. He shook his head.

“No - wait, yes, I am. Very,” James replied, and Lily smiled to herself as she dropped the food she’d spent all day on onto his plate. Both his and Sirius’s favorite meal; spaghetti, lots of oregano. And although she found their addition to the classic Italian platter quite disgusting, Lily couldn’t help but eat it.

They’d gone through most of dinner in silence, until James finally broke it. “Dumbledore wants us to go back in two months.”

I knew you’d fight until the war was won…

Lily’s face fell, and her hand automatically went to her stomach. “Oh, darling…”

“I understand if you don’t want me to go,” James said, cutting her off quickly.

“No, no, of course I want you to go, it’s just…” Lily took a moment to hunt for words.

But you deserve a chance to meet your son…

“Just, such a huge risk, love… and…”

Look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now…

“You’d miss it. And you can’t… I can’t let you miss the birth of your son.” Lily’s voice was tight, because she wanted him to go. She wanted to let her brave, hero of a husband do his job, because that was what he loved to do. But she loved him too much to let him risk never meeting his son. To risk her son never meeting his father.

“I know, I know. Fuck, come here…” James pulled his wife into his arms, letting her bury her face in his chest, letting her get her tears out. All of her emotions were coming out at once; happiness, relief, and all of the loneliness she’d been subject to for the last four months. He kissed her hair, her beautiful, fiery hair that he fell in love with when he was eleven.

“I’ll never leave your side again, if that’s what makes you happy.”

And that would be enough…

[kpopisthereasonihavenolife]

Enrollment

BTS

Park Jimin/Reader [F]

Genre: Demon AU, Drabble

Words: 1.6k

Angst - 12: “Who did this? Who hurt you?” Fluff - 13: “God, you’re so beautiful.” 

You’ve been told for as long as you can remember if you hang a foot off the bed at night, or keep your closet door open, a demon would appear and take you away.  Where to was an answer you were never given. Though, no one prepared you for the demon who fell through a portal in your ceiling into your bed at 3 AM.  

You were still up, binge-watching the latest hit show until balls-ass o’clock against better judgment.  With class in the morning and the clock just hitting 2:57 AM, you starred at the bright numbers in your dark room.  You were one of the lucky students who managed a single dorm without having to bunk with someone else. On the 4th floor of the 7-floor building, all the way at the end of the hall by the stairwell was your small dorm. 

It was like magic.  Maybe it was magic.  At the exact moment the clock flicked to 3 AM, it went haywire.  Blaring its alarm that wasn’t suppose to go off until 7, you shrieked.  Slapping the snooze or flipping off the alarm did work to silence it.  Soon, you jolted out of your bed, abandoning your tablet with your show to unplug it.  Finally, it was silent, but not for long.  

Soon, a flash of what was lightning circled your ceiling before something fell and hit your bed.  Scared out of your wits by now, you ran and scrambled for your light switch.  The lightning disappeared as quickly as it appeared as you flipped on the light.  There was a man on your bed. 

“What the fuck?!”  You shrilled as the man lay unmoving on his back on your bed.  You stuck your head out a bit.  His face wasn’t visible from where his head was on your pillows. “Hello?”  You spoke with a crack in your voice.  The sound of your show drowned in the background as you slowly stepped around your bed to look at the man. 

He was gorgeous.  Dark hair with light highlights scattered along his fringe.  Skin a golden tan, shining and smooth like the finest paint.  Dressed in a torn, holey white shirt and dark pants, his feet were bare as his toes past the end of your bed. His jawline was sharp and his small body seemed toned even fully clothed.  You looked him over when his eyes suddenly shot open.  

“Augh whAT THE FUCK!”  You screamed as you flew back onto your ass on the floor as he threw himself upwards looking around. He looked around, a brow quirked down in confusion before he saw you, a human on the floor.  Then he screamed. 

“What the hell?!”  He shot up to stand on your bed, banging his head on the low ceiling.  He winced as he rubbed his head then looked back to you.  A human, young looking, dressed in shorts and flannel that hug off your shoulder.  “A human?  Where the hell am I?”  He questioned.  

Instead of giving him an answer, you gasped as you stood up, yanked a pillow off your bed and swung it at him.  “Get your nasty feet off my bed!”  You shrieked as you wailed on him, somehow hitting his head and flinging him sideways off the bed to tumble to the floor.  You gasped as you dropped the pillow and panicked as you grabbed your head.  “Oh god, I just knocked something into the wall!  What if I just killed a man?!” 

As you panicked to yourself, scrambled around the room, you soon hopped over him and opened your bedroom door, running into the hall to grab a first aid kit from the bathroom, only to come back to the guy sat up and rubbing his jaw.  You sighed in relief as you dropped to your knees next to him. 

“That was rude, even for a human,” he hissed at you.  

“Oh god, did I give you head trauma? You’re acting like your not human.”  

“I’m not a human,” you blinked at him and his dead serious expression.  His hand dropped from his jaw as his eyes blacked out and small fangs pushed at his lips and horns pushed out his forehead.  His fingernails sharpened into claws as he cocked his head.  “I’m a demon.” 

That demon, named Jimin, decided that night that as compensation he would be rooming with you until he decided otherwise.  With a fit from you and a steel will from him, he ended up winning.  It’s been 4 months now since he dropped into your life.  He was apparently kicked out of his demon homeland which he swore up and down wasn’t Hell.  

It was odd having a demon around, to say the least.  When you talked about your sudden roommate your friends, of course, wanted to meet them.  When they met Jimin with his white smile and happy personality, people called him an angle.  You offered an eyeroll with each compliment. Though, it was all true. 

Jimin was a sweetheart.  At first, he was cold, strict even.  But one day, he just changed.  It was like he saw you weren’t a bad person or something, but he started smiling and helping you around the dorm.  

On the weekends when you weren’t engulfed in college, he would drag you out of making sure you stayed in the living room with him instead of your room.  He had been booking it on the pull out sofa, as he denied your offers of getting him a real bed.  

It was a Friday afternoon, and he sat jittery in the living room waiting for you.  Normally you would be home by 3 if you didn’t have any evening lectures.  As far as he knew, you didn’t. So, why weren’t you back when it was half past 5?  It was a quarter til when you opened the dorm door with a sign.  A sign that Jimin heard with his spiked hearing and had him jumping up to greet you at the door while you heeled off your shoes. 

He gasped when he watched your pull off your jacket and saw a bruise on your arm and shoulder.  It wasn’t hard to see how when Jimin came around and word of how you were rooming with a hot guy word got out and girls got a wee bit jealous.  

Unnecessarily so.  

“Y/n?” He questioned as you looked at him and smiled.  

“Hey, sorry I’m late.  I got food though.  It’s cold, but we can heat it up.”  You brushed by him, ignoring the elephant in the room that is your bruises he so noticeably took a negative interest in. He trotted after you as you soon pushed the food into the microwave. 

Jimin stepped up behind you, throwing his arms over your shoulders to hang his hands in front of your chest. He didn’t deny the fact that he warmed up to you and started to care for you.  He wanted to take care of you and keep you safe, so the bruise on your shoulder he pushed his lips on worried and angered him. 

“Who did this to you?  Who hurt you?  Was it a group of girls again?” You sighed, obviously not wanting to talk about it.  “Please tell me.  Just once, you’ve never talked to me about this before.  I just want to know.”  That was a bit of a lie.  He wanted to know so maybe he could put a stop to it.  

“Jimin, it’s fine.  Don’t worry about it.”  You tried brushing off the issue once again. He sighed as he rested his chin on your shoulder as the microwave beeped, timer running out. 

It was a week later when Jimin walked into our room when you were sleeping.  You still hadn’t cracked to his questions, so he took the initiative. Kneeling at your bedside, he put his hand on your shoulder and started peering into your memories.  Seeing a group of 3 girls push you around and throwing books at you, he got angry.  Watching the scene from the past as he took his hand off you, seeing enough.  He leaned over your bed and kissed your forehead.  

“Let’s fix this.” The next morning, Jimin wasn’t in the dorm.  Thining he stepped out, you shrugged as you got ready and left for classes.  It was lunch when your friend Lisa ran to your side.  

“Y/n! Why didn’t you tell us!”  She whined as you looked at her confused, chopstick hanging out of your mouth. 

“Tell you what?” 

“That Jimin enrolled, duh!”  You gasped, just as shocked as her.  

“I didn’t know! What?!” You jumped when someone slung their arms over your shoulder and move to slid beside you on the bench you sat on.  “Jimin?!”  He laughed at your shock as you nearly dropped your chopstick completely. 

“Why the shock? I can go to school too.”  He smirked.  You leaned in closer to him. 

“But you’re a demon!”  You whispered at him.  He rolled his eyes, kissing your cheek.  

“Demon’s need education too.  Don’t be so simple-minded.” The rest of the day, he was basically your shadow.  You were standing at your locker, swapping books when out of the corner of his eyes down the hall he saw the group of girls who turned you into a victim a week ago. He scowled as you noticed and looked down the hall following his eyes. 

You gasped, hiding in your locker as they got closer.  Jimin looked around, the hall was scarce, not many students.  He grabbed your shoulder, pulling you out of your locker, slamming it shut and pinning you against them.  You gasped as he leaned closer to you, nose brushing yours.  The girls halted, watching the scene from afar with open mouths and whispers voices.

“Jimin?” 

“God, you’re so beautiful,” he breathed before he kissed you. 

[alcalavicci]

Jill: “I didn't put any Spoiler Space, or Warning, because I'm not going to be giving away anything in my review of this movie [Long Day’s Journey Into Night] (I already nitpicked in the TV Guide review, anyway).

“I bought this film after I became a Dean Stockwell fan. I was very happy to own a tape of Dean's early work (1962). This may very well be the first movie I saw of Dean's early adult career (I think I saw this film before I saw Compulsion). Dean didn't disappoint me. For one thing, he is drop dead gorgeous in this movie. And he acts his little ol' heart out. Great wonderful monologues in this film. It's fun to just sit back and listen to the well-written dialogue (I'll see if I can find my transcripts of some of the scenes, here in the Archives).

“As for the movie itself, I felt it was overly long and a bit too stagey; I find it best to view this film in short doses, rather than try to watch it all in one sitting. Yet some of the scenes are so great, that I have to stop and rewind them and view them all over again. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the sum of the parts does not equal the parts themselves.

“But Dean can certainly be proud of having participated in a work of this nature. And this was not filmed during the best part of his life. He was going through a divorce, he seems to have been drinking heavily, and he will soon be dropping out of the Hollywood scene for most of the Sixties, though always appearing in low-budget TV shows that aren't even in the same league as Long Day's Journey Into Night.

“I feel that Long Day's Journey was Dean's last hurrah of the second phase of his acting career. Yes, that's a confusing statement. But it just seems that Dean had very high hopes and integrity when he reappeared in Hollywood back in 1957, at the beginning of his 'adult' phase......but after Long Day's Journey he gave up. Perhaps intentionally, perhaps not. I wonder if his divorce had something to do with it?

“The following year (1963) he will be appearing in a TV show called "The Greatest Show on Earth" with Dennis Hopper, whom he had met in New York back in '57. He will be attending parties at Hopper's home where Andy Warhol is the guest of honor (For a great pic of Dean in the Sixties, check out the photo of him taken by Hopper himself, found in our Files). He will be living in Haight-Ashbury, and hangin' with the likes of Ginsberg and Neal Cassady. He will show up in London. He will make a foreign film called Rapture. He will make a hippie film called Psych-Out. He will live in Topanga Canyon and write a screenplay called 'After the Gold Rush.' And he will purposefully burn the Best Actor Scrolls he received from the Cannes Film Festival.

“Long Day's Journey was the end of the beginning of his 'second' acting phase; and the beginning of phase three.”

[tales-of-a-literary-sapphic]

Vampires, Scones, and Ball Invitations ✉

It is 5:57 p.m., a Friday afternoon, and snow is falling heavily outside the stained-glass window of the castle. Baz anxiously paces about the large hallway, running a hand through his already disheveled hair, and wondering whether he did the most logical thing and ask Simon Snow, the “chosen one” (and his sworn enemy), to come with him to the Winter Solstice Ball tonight.

It happened 3 days ago. He just finished playing football out in the field, and his arms were aching, and his legs felt like lead. Since he’s a vampire, he doesn’t really sweat, but he badly needed a warm shower to soothe his sore muscles. When he entered their shared room, Simon was sitting in his bed, eating sour cherry scones, with a towel loosely slung around his neck. His tousled hair was damp, and he smelled like smoke, masked faintly by the apple-scented soap he always uses. He glanced up at Baz as the latter made his way to his closet drawer and grabbed fresh clothes.

Baz could feel him burning holes in the back of his head with his eyes. Ignoring him, the dark-haired boy quickly stepped in the shower, locked the door and stayed there for almost half an hour, lost in his own thoughts.

Throwing on white shirt and sweatpants, he got out of the bathroom only to find Simon still eating scones (seriously, what is with this boy and his addiction with scones?) and immensely absorbed in a huge leather-bound book with the title ‘The History of Watford’ engraved on the cover.

‘What a dork,’ he thought, rolling his eyes. He went to his side of the room, neatly arranged the covers of his bed and plopped himself in the soft mattress.

“I didn’t know you could read.”

Simon took his eyes off the book he was reading and shot daggers at him. “Fuck off.”

Baz smirked and was adjusting the pillow under his head when he noticed a card with fancy handwriting sitting on his bedside table. He snatched it and frowned at the piece of paper. “What’s this?”, he demanded.

“What? Can’t you read?” It was Simon’s turn to mock him now.

He tried to think of a nasty comeback but came up with none. He pretended he didn’t hear anything instead.

The scowl on Baz’s face deepened as he scanned the contents of the letter. An invitation to the annual Winter Solstice Ball, which was to be held 3 days from now. It was suggested to bring a dance with you, however, it was not eminently required. Oh, great. Just what he needed.

“Are you going?” He turned to see Simon observing him rather curiously. He was tempted to tell him to shut up and mind his own business but decided against it.

“I don’t know.”, he honestly confessed. “You?”, Baz blurted out before he could stop himself.

“Well, Penny’s not coming. She said she have to study for an exam in Greek and Political Science. Why, I have no idea. She’s already at the top of the class. She can ace the test even without reviewing on the subject,” Simon explained while flicking the pages of his book.

Baz silently agreed with him. Penelope Bunce, he has got to admit, is the only person in their year who could beat him at almost anything academically. That girl is a walking encyclopedia.

“What about your girlfriend, Wellbelove? Isn’t she going to the dance with you?” He tried to keep the jealousy out of his voice. He wasn’t even sure why it is there in the first place.

Simon went suddenly still, and was quiet for a moment. “No.” was all he said.

“Snow..”

He swore to himself that it was just a casual slip of the tongue, that he hadn’t really meant to say it until the words suddenly just escaped from his lips. The moment he realized his mistake, it was already too late. He didn’t know whose face looked more stupefied.

“You want me.. to go to the ball with you?”, Simon repeated, raising his eyebrows, not even bothering to hide the astonishment in his expression.

‘Shit. Shit. Shit.’

“Uhh, yeah. That’s what I said. Are you deaf?”, he chuckled, keeping his voice as cool as possible.

“Why?”

‘Yeah, why Baz? Why the hell would you ask him that? Are you out of your mind!?’ someone whispered inside Baz’s head.

“You look like you could use some company.”

He mentally face palmed himself. ‘Nice one, Basil. Way to go,’ he thought sarcastically.

Simon tilted his head and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Baz’s direction, as if to say “what are you up to this time?” He was probably already thinking of Baz’s ulterior motive behind the invitation, which, in retrospect, involves embarrassing Simon, getting Simon in trouble or simply, getting rid of Simon for good. It was a good thing vampires don’t blush, but Baz could feel his face burning and he considered hurling himself to the nearest cliff when the golden-haired boy’s response caught him by surprise.

“Sure, why not?”, he smiled in that perfect smile of his that always makes Baz’s heart wants to do a back flip.

Stunned, Baz found himself nodding his head like he was being controlled by an unknown force that he couldn’t fight back.

“Th-that’s great.”, he managed to say, trying absolutely hard to make his features indifferent and far from relieved. He couldn’t let Simon know the elation he was feeling as of that moment. The butterflies inside his stomach were having a dance party.

Even as of now, walking through the corridor alone by himself heading to their room, Baz still can’t believe that this is actually happening. He is pretty sure that his mind is playing tricks on him. If this is a dream, he prays to the gods that he might never wake up from it.

‘Only a few more doors away,’ he tells himself. He’s been thoroughly anxious for the past hour, and more as the minutes pass by. He tucks his hands, which are freezing, inside his pocket. He’s wearing a midnight blue velvet tuxedo, single-breasted with peak lapels, and with a black buttoned white shirt underneath. He found a classic blue tie to match with it, with the help of his Aunt Fiona. She was the one who put together his outfit and consoled him that he looks drop dead gorgeous (no pun intended) and that his date to the ball will surely be impressed.

He debated telling her the true identity of who his actual ‘date’ is. He doubted that she will be smiling after that.

He arrives at the corridor where their room is and reaches for the door handle. Pausing for a second, he takes a deep breath before twisting the knob and giving it a slight push. The sight before him makes his heart stop (which is quite untrue since it doesn’t really beat anymore) and the rest of the world fade into oblivion.

Simon Snow looks stunning in a burgundy suit.

[chaos-storm]

I posted 11,000 times in 2021

349 posts created (3%)

10651 posts reblogged (97%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 30.5 posts.

I added 504 tags in 2021

#gold - 97 posts

#life - 93 posts

#art ref - 83 posts

#me - 65 posts

#deltarune spoilers - 57 posts

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#negative - 22 posts

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#bg3 - 15 posts

#baldurs gate 3 - 13 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#i keep tagging all deltarune posts as deltarune spoilers and i'm gonna do that for like one and a half more weeks unless someone spesificall

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Just saw a post where someone wrote that one of the things we know about Kris in Deltarune is that they have a good heart...

Excuse me???

This is the kid who slashes their mother's tires for fun

28 notes • Posted 2021-10-11 11:28:05 GMT

#4

THIS HAD ME HOWLING

32 notes • Posted 2021-06-09 16:08:10 GMT

#3

Why does everyone simp over Fuckhands McMichael, but no one simps over Hellen?? She's just as cool!

39 notes • Posted 2021-06-25 19:01:00 GMT

#2

My dash did a thing

121 notes • Posted 2021-06-28 18:46:36 GMT

#1

My partner towered over me looking god-damn drop dead gorgeous and all my idiot brain could think to say was “Damn I’m feeling like a real Clark from Connecticut right now”

2109 notes • Posted 2021-09-19 21:46:56 GMT

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