#Balloon Ideas Helium-Free Balloons

[balloonideas]

Exploring Unique Hot Air Balloon Shapes: Creative Ideas for Every Occasion

Hot air balloons captivate people worldwide with their vibrant colors and majestic floating presence. They’re a classic symbol of celebration, adventure, and creativity, but the traditional round shape is only the beginning. With the innovation of custom hot air balloon shapes and helium-free balloon ideas, there’s now an entire world of unique designs that can make a lasting impression for any occasion. This guide explores the diverse possibilities and benefits of hot air balloon shapes that go beyond the ordinary, perfect for events, brand promotions, or simply adding a memorable flair to special moments.

Why Choose Unique Hot Air Balloon Shapes?

While classic hot air balloons are undeniably beautiful, the introduction of customized shapes opens the door to unique expressions tailored to individual themes, brand identities, and event styles. Here’s what makes custom-shaped hot air balloons so compelling:

Memorable Visual Impact: A custom balloon shape grabs attention and creates a lasting memory for viewers.

Brand Recognition: Companies can create hot air balloons in the shape of their logos, mascots, or products, increasing visibility in a creative way.

Personalization for Special Occasions: Celebrations like weddings, anniversaries, and festivals can incorporate thematic shapes, adding a distinctive touch.

Helium-Free Options: Many custom hot air balloons use air instead of helium, offering cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternatives without sacrificing style.

Creative Hot Air Balloon Shapes to Consider

From giant shapes to detailed replicas, hot air balloon shapes can reflect nearly any idea. Here are some exciting possibilities:

1. Corporate Logos and Brand Symbols

Custom-shaped hot air balloons are an innovative way for businesses to showcase their logos and branding elements. Imagine a floating coffee cup for a café or a massive sneaker for a sportswear brand. Some popular corporate balloon shapes include:

Product Shapes: Replicate signature items like bottles, cups, or food products.

Mascots: Bring brand mascots to life in a giant, eye-catching form.

Emblems: Represent company logos or emblems with clean lines and brand colors.

2. Animals and Nature-Inspired Designs

Balloons inspired by nature and animals are perfect for family-friendly events, festivals, or any setting looking to evoke wonder. A few popular options include:

Animals: Elephants, dolphins, and even pandas make for endearing balloon shapes.

Nature Elements: Trees, clouds, and flowers add a whimsical feel to any event space.

Fantasy Creatures: Dragons and unicorns are popular choices, especially for fantasy-themed festivals and celebrations.

3. Character and Cartoon Balloons

Characters from movies, cartoons, or even well-loved icons can turn heads and create a strong emotional connection with viewers. Popular character balloons include:

Movie Characters: From superheroes to animated classics, these shapes are a hit at themed events and conventions.

Cartoon Icons: Beloved cartoon characters appeal to audiences of all ages.

Historical Figures: Celebratory events or parades can feature notable figures for educational and entertainment purposes.

Using Balloon Ideas’ Helium-Free Hot Air Balloons

One significant advancement in hot air balloon technology is the introduction of helium-free balloons. Balloon Ideas offers a range of designs that use regular air rather than helium, making them more sustainable and budget-friendly. These helium-free balloons:

Reduce Environmental Impact: Helium is a finite resource, and helium-free options help conserve it.

Provide Cost Savings: Helium can be costly for large balloons, so air-filled options lower expenses without compromising quality.

Offer Durability: Helium-free balloons can last longer, making them suitable for extended events or permanent displays.

With Balloon Ideas’ helium-free balloon shapes, there are no limits to the styles that can be achieved. It’s an ideal choice for businesses or event planners looking for versatile, impactful decor that aligns with environmental values.

Perfect Occasions for Unique Hot Air Balloon Shapes

Whether for personal celebrations or corporate events, custom hot air balloons are a memorable addition to any occasion. Here are some ideal uses:

1. Corporate Events and Product Launches

Custom balloons in the shape of a new product create a sense of anticipation and excitement at product launches. They’re also excellent for trade shows and conferences, where businesses need to stand out among competitors. Hot air balloon shapes that suit these events include:

New Product Shapes: Launch a new product with a balloon replica to enhance visibility.

Company Milestone Celebrations: For anniversaries or awards, custom balloons add an impressive celebratory element.

Grand Openings: Use brand-aligned balloons at a new store or location opening to attract local attention.

2. Weddings and Personal Celebrations

Balloons have become a trendy decor choice for weddings and milestone events. With custom shapes, the possibilities are endless for creating something personal and memorable. Popular choices include:

Initials or Names: Create hot air balloons shaped like the initials or names of the couple.

Heart Shapes: Heart-shaped balloons add a romantic touch to weddings or anniversaries.

Hobby-Themed Shapes: For example, a music-themed wedding might feature balloons shaped like guitars or musical notes.

3. Festivals and Parades

Festivals and parades are known for their colorful displays and joyous atmosphere, making them ideal for custom balloon shapes. Festival planners can choose from whimsical designs like animals, characters, or traditional cultural symbols. A few festival-friendly ideas include:

Cultural Symbols: Celebrate culture with shapes like traditional masks or iconic structures.

Seasonal Shapes: For autumn festivals, consider pumpkins or harvest-related designs.

Parade Floats: Hot air balloons in unique shapes make great float additions, enhancing visual appeal.

Planning Tips for a Hot Air Balloon Shape Display

Creating a memorable balloon display requires careful planning and attention to detail. Here are some tips for planning your custom hot air balloon event:

Choose the Right Size: Consider the space available and choose a balloon size that will make an impact without overwhelming the area.

Incorporate Lighting: For evening events, lighting inside the balloon can create a beautiful, glowing effect.

Plan for Weather: Outdoor balloon displays should account for weather conditions. Some balloons are designed to withstand various elements, but it’s always wise to plan for any adjustments if needed.

Use Supporting Structures: For helium-free balloons, ensure they have sturdy support structures to keep them securely in place.

Benefits of Choosing Hot Air Balloon Shapes for Brand Awareness

Custom hot air balloons don’t just elevate events; they also provide significant branding benefits. When a brand aligns itself with unique balloon shapes, it achieves several advantages:

Increased Visibility: A custom balloon grabs attention, especially in high-traffic areas.

Positive Brand Association: Fun, colorful balloon shapes create a positive experience, linking those emotions to the brand.

Shareable Content: In the age of social media, visually stunning displays encourage attendees to share photos, boosting brand reach.

Long-Lasting Impression: Uniquely shaped balloons leave a lasting impact, making them memorable marketing tools for businesses.

Helium-Free Options for Corporate Responsibility

In addition to aesthetic benefits, helium-free options align with corporate responsibility initiatives. For companies looking to highlight sustainability, helium-free hot air balloon shapes demonstrate a commitment to resource conservation. Choosing air-filled balloons allows brands to reduce their environmental footprint while still enjoying a spectacular display.

Conclusion

Exploring unique hot air balloon shapes is an exciting way to enhance any occasion, from private celebrations to corporate events. Custom shapes offer endless possibilities to express creativity, capture attention, and create a memorable experience for all attendees. With Balloon Ideas’ helium-free balloon options, event planners and businesses can choose designs that are sustainable, impactful, and cost-effective. Whether it's a wedding, festival, or product launch, hot air balloon shapes offer a visually stunning way to make any event unforgettable.

So, next time an event calls for something extraordinary, consider the possibilities with hot air balloon shapes to elevate the celebration and make a lasting impression.

[disneyprincemuke]

get this right * aa23

the thought of proposing to you is one that always comes easy to alex, but what he hadn’t expected is how difficult it is to execute it

pairings: alex albon x fem!reader

warnings: literally nOthing just a buNCH OF CUTE SHIT

notes: YALL i’ve been simping for this man for like weeks but in my head, he’s just such a sweetheart that i can’t imagine him in bad situations and nOW I FINALLY GOT IT

also… i’m really liking these multiple scenario fics… if you guys have any suggestions with stuff you want to see, please feel free to send them in here and this has been in my drafts since october oh my gooooood

(f1 masterlist)

“you’re telling me you already bought the ring?” max raises an eyebrow at alex, completely baffled at the story his friend has chosen to bestow upon them.

to the question, alex nods. his head snaps to george, who then asks, “and you’ve had it for almost a month?”

again, the thai nods. “and you have yet to propose?” lando says his piece, just as shocked as the rest of the table is.

alex can only nod, dropping his head in disappointment. in the middle of their circular table sat a red velvet box. inside it is the ring that alex had very carefully picked out with his sisters and mother.

yet the diamond ring sits comfortably in the box instead of your finger. and so does he amongst his friends while he faces the million dollar questions as to why he’s had the ring and has yet to propose to you.

“are you having second thoughts?” charles speaks up, tilting his head and biting his lips in curiosity.

if the answer were to be a ‘yes’, that would be worrisome. considering alex is one of the more romantic people they all know.

“no,” alex finally speak, putting a firm hand down on the table. he meets all of their eyes and feels the judgement. he sighs. “i’m not having second thoughts. i want to marry (y/n) just as much as i said before.”

george lifts his hands up and throws alex a questioning shrug. “so what’s holding you back then?”

“well…” alex chews on the inside of his cheek. he glances down at the box and scrunches up his nose, recounting the numerous times he has tried to get on one knee for you.

“i’m afraid it’s really not that simple.”

-> 20 days ago

alex glances at the door of your shared apartment then his eyes jump to the clock hanging just above your decorative plant. you should be home any minute.

the living room has been decorated beautifully with the help of his sisters. there is a singular heart helium balloon tied down to the bouquet of roses that sits on the kitchen island.

he’s even dressed up in his best suit to greet you a warm welcome home.

he sinks further into his couch, shaking his leg in anticipation. he runs his thumb over the velvet material of the box.

alex hadn’t been planning on proposing to you so soon, if he were to be honest. but he woke up that morning to empty half of the bed, with a note in your handwriting reminding him how much you love him and that breakfast is on the table.

his heart felt so full and he just knew today is the day.

so he got up and called his sisters up. they decorated the house together. with their help, he at least has the slightest idea of what to say to you.

it would be embarrassing if he was stuttering every 5 seconds thinking of what to say to you next.

it was 15 minutes later that he started to get worried about you. you usually get home from work around the same time whenever he’s in town — give or take about 5 minutes.

as if you’d read his mind, his phone lights up with a text notification from you.

my car died. can you pick me up please?

without another question, he is already typing a response to let you know that he will be on the way. he adds on the fact that he will call a tow truck for you after you send him your location.

when he gets there, he sighs in relief that you’re safe. he’d already known you were stuck in the parking lot of a mcdonald’s, but how can he really know when he’s rarely home?

you’re sitting on the trunk of your car, eating some ice cream with your phone propped up a box of nuggets. you’re fully occupied by a video you’ve put on to accompany yourself during the wait.

“my love, why didn’t you sit in the car where the seat’s more comfortable?” alex asks as he opens the car door.

you turn your head and open your mouth with an answer, but immediately close it when he comes into view. your eyes scan him up and down, slowly gulping the remaining ice cream in your mouth.

you point at him with the spoon of your mcflurry. “why are you dressed all fancy? you were gonna go out, love?”

alex freezes. he hadn’t even thought of changing out of his outfit before coming to get you. now he has to scrape his brain for an excuse to throw you off, without sabotaging the relationship whole.

it’s like a lightbulb goes off in his head. you’ll totally buy the excuse. “i was giving my clothes a test run,” he giggles sheepishly, but hesitantly from the daggers you were shooting at him. “wanted to see what fit and what didn’t.”

he can almost envision the gears turning in your head as you process his lie. he sighs again when you turn away to lock your phone.

he’s a very bad liar. for two people who have been together for as long as you’ve been, it’s very easy to spot all his telltales.

he tries his best not to lie to you. today is when he’s exerting every single ounce of his ability to do so.

“my car battery died. i saw a screw lose when i’d checked,” you explain, gently climbing off the back of your car. you waddle over to him, lips puckered up as he bends down to meet your lips. “i’m sorry to trouble you, love. i’m sure you were enjoying your fashion show.”

he chuckles, pulling you in for a quick hug. “anything for you, my love.” he walks over to where you are and opens the mcdonald’s paper bag. “oh, you bought us dinner?”

“you dinner,” you correct him. you lean slightly into him with a loud and frustrated huff with your arms hanging around him loosely. “i’ve had such a long day at work today. it could really be deemed as the worst day; i just want to go home and relax.”

alex scrambles in his mind, thinking of several ways he can deviate you from the house a little longer. he makes a mental note to text his sister to do a quick cleanup before you make your way home.

he simply refuses to propose to you when you’re in a bad mood. he doesn’t think your answer would change depending on how you currently feel, but it just doesn’t feel right.

alex hums, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you. “what do you say we go to our spot up in the hills and chill for a little bit?”

he watches you in anticipation. if you didn’t agree, he really wouldn’t know what to do at all. there are only so many excuses he can make. and there's only so much time before his sisters can get to the apartment and get cleaning.

“hm, okay." you lean into him and squeeze him in your hug. “anywhere with you is relaxing.”

-> 18 days ago

so alex shall try again in the planned department. he is once again in your shared apartment. there is a singular rose this time with dinner on the table. this time, decorated by himself.

he’s practised in the mirror. what he should say. everything he had planned out a few days ago is forgotten as the nerves are slightly different this time.

he doesn't get nervous often, but whenever it comes to you, it's inevitable that it bothers him. when it first happened, it was a confusing feeling that he spent days pondering what exactly it is.

when george smacked his head and told him, he looked down shyly at the ground and nodded.

he got the same feeling when he asked you to be his girlfriend and met your parents.

his chosen seat is a bar stool this time, and he plays some games on his phone to remain calm and collected. though still a little bit distracted.

his attention is split between the phone in his hands and the door. occasionally, the footsteps in the hallway make his heart stop as he looks up and waits for a lock to click. it's never the door he wants to open.

his game is briefly interrupted, his mother's picture flashing on the screen while his phone buzzes. it's not unusual that she's calling, but it is a bit of a shock since she knows he's planning to propose tonight.

he picks up the call, an explanation as to why he hasn't texted at the tip of his tongue.

“i’m sorry, sweetie,” his mother’s panicked voice comes through the phone. “can you please come over? it’s an emergency.”

that’s all he needed to hear before he was darting all over the apartment. he’s popped the balloon, as there was clearly no need for it tonight, the rose is hiding behind a bunch of folded shirts in his drawer and the velvet red box goes back into the deepest pit of his underwear drawer.

this time, he remembers to change out of his clothes. it’s slightly less put together than before, but it was still an effort.

“alex, love?” the sound of the door opening makes him perk up. your voice bounces through the apartment, followed by the pitter-patter of the cats’ nails against the hardwood floor. “are you home?”

he stumbles out of your bedroom, pulling up his sweatpants. “i need to go over to mum’s.”

you stop dead in your tracks, the door still held open and the key in your hands. clearly, you notice his panic in the way he’s barely even greeted you. you raise your eyebrows and step aside, leaving a gap for him to go through the door.

“i can drive you if you want,” you offer him, watching him jog towards the car keys.

he’s shaking, and it’s noticeable from the way he’s struggling to find his wallet. his wallet that is very clearly sitting above the shoerack in the entryway.

you grab it swiftly and say his name. it makes him stop briefly, turning to you as he held up the couch’s cushion, still in search of his wallet.

you lift up the leather item and then show him your car keys. you nudge your head towards the hallway. “come on, i’ll drive.”

-> 10 days ago

third time's the charm, right? right?

alex sits in his chair, hands fixing his collar, then his hair, picking at the menu, and then the lace table cover.

"hey, love," you say from behind him, bending down to press a kiss to his forehead. "i'm sorry i'm late. there was traffic in the parking lot at the office."

"don't worry about it. i just arrived not too long ago." alex gets up to his feet, pulling you in for a tight hug. he presses a chaste kiss to your lips before running over to pull your seat back for you.

you thank him with the squeeze of his arm while you take your seat. you grab the menu and get comfortable in your seat. "have you looked at the menu yet?"

"not yet, i was waiting for you."

he feels like a stalker watching you from across the table. his hand is in his jacket's pocket, rubbing circles over the velvety material once more. when exactly is the right time to ask you?

"how was work?" alex starts, taking the menu into his hands, looking at you shyly as he awaits your response.

"it's alright. nothing out of the ordinary from me," you mutter with a shrug, flashing him a small grin before returning your attention to the menu. "the pasta looks good, don't you think?"

"i saw their salmon dish online - that looked good," alex answers. but he's been on the same page of the menu for a hot minute, his eyes have read the same item so many times that he has its description memorised.

all he can think of is how to transition to popping the question.

"it does look delicious... do you want to share a dessert after too?" you inquire, looking up at him with a huge smile. "i really want the lava cake."

"with vanilla ice cream?"

"of course!"

and you make small talk with him. which almost makes him forget the ring that's in the pocket of his jacket. you talk and he thinks and thinks and tries to find the perfect time to pop the question to you.

until your smile drops and your head angles to the side slightly. your lips part as your eyes move from his, over to the door in pure shock.

"love, what's wrong?" alex follows your moving gaze.

and he also freezes in his seat. it's his ex-girlfriend. the same exact person that you'd mentioned you thought you could never live up to.

all because his mother had slipped up and asked about her over casual conversation over dinner, and because you had noticed that his sisters still kept in constant contact with her.

he watches you, from the corner of his eyes, sink into your seat and drop your head. you press your lips together and give him a small smile. "maybe let's cancel dessert? i'm not very hungry."

-> now

"do you get why it's a little complicated now?" alex groans, throwing his head back. "it's not like i haven't tried."

charles presses his lips together, nodding slightly as he tries to assess the situation for himself. he hasn't proposed to anybody in his life, so what advice does he have to give his friend? "maybe you're overthinking it?"

"yeah," george nods. "maybe you just have to... ask her. just ask her."

"you're aware i'm proposing to her. i'm not just asking some random girl to be my prom date to the dance," alex lays out his situation slowly, scanning his friends' faces carefully.

they're not serious about just asking you without a whole get-up, are they? he never would have asked them if he'd known how minuscule this issue was to them. it's never as simple as just asking you to marry him.

it's an important question.

"actually, i think twiddle dee and twiddle dum have got a point," max smiles, pointing at their two other friends now rolling their eyes. "if it all keeps blowing up in your face when you plan your proposal, maybe you just need to do it when you... get the feeling. you know?"

"no."

"just do it when you're so overwhelmed at the thought of spending the rest of your life with her," george shrugs, taking a sip from his drink. "would help the nerves, and it makes it more genuine."

alex shakes his head. "i don't know. that doesn't make the moment very special, now, does it?"

"just try it, and then let me know."

-> 5 days later

"love!" your excited voice fills the house, prompting alex to lift his head from the armrest of the couch.

he'd been home all day, claiming a rest day from the gym and other press commitments before he had to do it all over again this weekend for another race.

"yes, love?" alex smiles, opening his arms, watching you walk out of the kitchen and excitedly walk over to him. "what's got you so preppy?"

"love, i was outside coming home from work, and i saw the cutest little snail right outside the apartment building," you giggle, dropping your bag by the foot of the couch. you drop yourself into his arms, adjusting yourself to fit the small space that the couch provides you. "i took a picture, look!"

"you took a picture of a snail?"

"yes!" you nod. "its shell looked so beautiful. and i even moved it to the side so that nobody could step on it unknowingly. just so sad when that happens to them."

and then he knows. it hits him, then and there, while you were rambling on about how beautiful this snail's shell is, that this is the moment. this is the moment that max was talking about.

he props his head up with his hand, nodding as you zoom into the picture you'd taken.

"we should get married," alex blurts, unable to hold himself back. the ring is not even with him - it's somewhere in the back of his closet. but it doesn't even seem like a necessary accessory for him at the moment.

"what?" you tilt your head, slowly dropping your hand into your lap. you sit up and look down at him. "alex, what did you say?"

"i have the ring and everything. hold on." alex scrambles to get off his seat, but you shake your head and put a hand over his chest. you pull him back into the couch, maintaining his position next to you with a puzzled stare.

"did you just say what i thought you just said?"

"yes. and i've been trying to propose to you all month," alex sighs, "something always goes wrong: your car broke down, my mum called, then we saw my ex in the restaurant. i tried setting it up, and of course, i ask you when i don't have the ring with me."

he's flailing his arms in the air as he explains his troubles to you, ultimately throwing his hands towards the direction of your bedroom before he slumps his shoulders and looks at you. "i wanted it to be a picture-perfect moment. i wanted it to be everything you dreamt about growing up. remember?"

"so i heard you right? you're asking me to marry you?" you can barely hide the smile growing on your face, eyes tearing up as you grab his hands. "i don't care about the ring. you're asking me to marry you?"

"do you still want to? i couldn't even propose to you right."

"of course, i want to marry you," you giggle, throwing your arms around him. you pepper his cheek with kisses, alex hesitantly wrapping his arms around your waist as he leans back onto the couch. "i love you, alex. you just had to ask me the question. i don't care how, where or when you'd say it."

"obviously, i didn't know that until now," alex laughs. he buries his face into your hair, making a mental note to thank max next weekend for the helpful tip.

[junosmindpalace]

Hello there dear! I was so excited to hear that your requests were open again, your writing is truly gorgeous and perpetrates the characters so well! I understand if you’re busy and prefer to write about jjba as of late, but if it’s not too late would it be alright to request another Senku ishigami fic? He doesn’t get a lot of love anymore and I believe it to be such a wonderful series.. it would be amazing!

hi there anon! thank you so much for your kind words! because you didn’t specify a theme or plot, i wrote an idea of mine instead. i hope that's alright! 

Senku never fails to surprise his peers. He has a knack for amazing and even scaring people with his science projects. His enthusiasm was seemingly boundless, contagious even to those who weren’t as passionate about science as he was. Not many people could usually match his excitement, and a lot of the time he’d indulge in whatever new science fascination he discovered on his own.

Or so people thought.

It didn’t take long for people to learn your name and for it to become commonly associated with his. The two of you spent all your free time working away on projects, from chemistry to tech. You had been Senku’s friend ever since the two of you were young, and growing up together hasn’t changed the fact that Senku always sought you out first to share in his enthusiasm with. 

Senku never fails to surprise his peers, and today was no exception. The door to the science clubroom swung wide open and hit the wall with a loud thud, making the club members turn in surprise toward the door. Senku strode toward a nearby counter, setting down a small metal tank on top as he did so. 

As he walked over, one of the nearby club members turned to him in wonder. “Whoa, Senku. Whatcha got there?”

“Sulfur hexafluoride. A gas six times denser than air. In other words, you turn into Darth Vadar when you inhale it!” 

The club members all gasped in awe, eager to try out the gas themselves. Senku raised his hands up in mock surrender as they crowded around him and smirked. “Y/N’s bringing the balloons. Are they not here yet?” 

As soon as he asked, the door to the science clubroom slammed open yet again. 

“Right here!”

The crowd redirected its gaze toward you holding up a plastic pack of balloons in the air with a proud smile. They cheered as you made your way over, handing it over to Senku. 

He hands over the balloon for you to try first, and the room quiets as you inhale from it. A beat of silence, and then-

“Greetings.” 

Your unnaturally deep voice makes everyone in the room light up and laugh, taking the balloon from your hands to give the voice a try themselves. Soon enough, each member of the club is taking turns playing the part of an evil villain dropping a dramatic line. 

The two of you had already tried out the effects of the gas on your voices at Senku’s place only a day earlier. It was needed for one of your projects, and Senku, knowing you’d get a kick out of it, demonstrated the effects of the gas on his voice as you laughed over how creepy he sounded. You amused yourself with the gas from time to time as the two of you worked. You always kept a balloon in your hands, inhaling into it at the most random times, always making yourself giggle.  And today was no exception. 

As you laughed watching your clubmates entertain themselves with the gas, you skipped over to Senku and nudged him in the side. “So, does that mean helium’s next?”

It’s what he found so endearing about you, your endless curiosity and enthusiasm. He loved being able to share with you his deep love and fascination of science and have you return that same fascination with the exact same energy. He loves watching your face as you observe an experiment he’s done a million times in wonder, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever get sick of your eagerness to learn. 

Senku never fails to surprise his peers, and that includes you, too. And out of all the impressed looks he gets, he finds yours to be the one he's always most eager to see.

He grinned, ready to blow you away yet again. “Ten billion percent.” 

[aseaofyoongi]

we belong together | ch.1

min yoongi x reader (f)

genre: min twins au; angst; smut; arranged marriage themes; fake dating; enemies to lovers; slow burn

rating: mature audiences only (18+)

word count: 8,8 thousand words

summary: before college you and your bestfriend yoongi promised your parents if you were to come back home single you would begin dating to marry as a way to get them to back off your love lives. upon coming back however, although you’re both single, yoongi is in love with someone else and unwilling to let them go. unfortunately, you are left to carry out the hapless promise with yoongi’s twin brother and your sworn enemy min yoojin.

warnings: arranged marriage themes; slowburn; enemies to fake dating to eventual lovers;bickering; wet dreams, post college au; clitorial stimulation; fingering; denial/supression of feelings; sexual tension; brief mention of choi soobin of txt; secrets; chapter one set up like an intro; this is unedited so sorry for mistakes now.

posted: november 27, 2022 at 9:20pm

previous: teaser | next: part 2

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Confined.

That’s the feeling you’ve been consumed by for a sizable amount of your life. As if you were utterly trapped in a massive black hole just floating aimlessly amongst the grand ocean of loneliness and darkness; waiting to be chewed up and spit out with little to greet you on the other side.

Every little detail about your life has been promptly calculated since the moment you were a fetus in your mother’s womb. There was no event spared for you to decide on your own free will as your parents steered you down an avenue of accomplishments worthy of your families last name. While time and time again you wanted to snatch the wheel from their hands and swerve in your own direction there was something that stopped you every single time the thought even emerged in your head. You couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was or where it derived from but you shucked it up to cowardice and continued to comply in being the exemplary daughter they had molded you to be.

Actually, that was bullshit, ‘comply’ was a loose term. You felt it your obligation to obey their demands one after another because it wasn't your duty as their one and only daughter to not burden them with insignificant nuisances.

Still you’d imagine some management over your own life would be nice once in a while. As much as you craved the idea however it was unattainable. A mere figment of your wildest dreams.

Walking through the rotating doors and before you could get a single word out the boy sitting behind the front desk greeted you with a beaming smile. He was nothing short of adorable and you could practically see the bright splendor of vibrancy radiating right off his ambiance. He shone so bright he served as the luminescence for the entire room, “Jiminie, you are glowing.”

There was a gleam sparkling in his eyes at your emphatic display of affection. Jimin was special to you—he was a genuine friend. One you’d make entirely on your own without the need of your parents’ influence of persuasion.

“What can I say. I’m a different man than I was two days ago.” He dusted off the implied dust of the yoke of his black button up as a way to exhibit a hint of pride. Although you knew the reasoning for his puffed chest and radiant grin you decided on teasing him anyway.

“Hm. . I can’t recall anything happening in the past couple of days.” You rubbed your chin pretending to be hurdling around a million thoughts.

Which technically you were daily.. but not because of this and never because of Jimin.

“Seriously?” He pouted, looking a bit deflated like a balloon running low on helium and you couldn't stand to see the sad puppy dog eyes substituting his usual sparkle.

“Of course not. I could never forget my second favorite day of the year right behind my own birthday.” You pulled out a small white box tied in a navy blue ribbon. His favorite color. “Happy birthday, Jiminie.”

His gasped was louder than you expected and the patrons who loitered around the lobby immediately turned their lurking eyes in your direction but neither of you cared. “You really shouldn’t have.”

“Nonsense. Besides, what are friends for?”

“These look so expensive,” he whispered as the opened gift box sat opened on his petite palms displaying the present you had worked on for months. A small pair of sterling silver hoops with the letters ‘JM’ engraved in the inner top corner of the earring. “You didn’t have to.”

“You deserve way more than this, Jimin-ah Plus the big two-one should be celebrated appropriately. Are you doing anything special this weekend?”

“I was planning on going out with someone this weekend but I don’t know if they’ll have the time anymore,” he shrugged. “Apparently, something super secretive came up.”

“Well if the loser ditches. You know I’m always down to party.” You extended your hands to pinch at his roseate cheeks. They truly resembled the softness and intricate tint of strawberry mochi, “I can’t believe you're getting so old already.”

“Ouch,” he smacked your hand away. “You sound exactly like my mother.”

“Correction! I am like your mother. I’ve practically raised you for the past 3 years.”

“You’re only 4 years older than me.”

“It might as well be a ten year difference.” The younger chuckled at your dramatic antics which resulted in you eventually joining along.

“Today after work I have uni orientation but how about we meet up-”

“Back it up,” You interrupted, holding onto his hand tightly. “‘Uni’ as in University?”

“That’s right,” he beamed, “majoring in dance.”

Jimin’s enthusiasm was evident in the way his voice glossed over your tympanum with its delicate velvet vibration. His pitch was just a bit higher than usual and you’d immediately notice how his cheeks curved into an adoring smile—the way he talked about dance. That was the exact way you felt towards painting. The only difference between the two of you was he had a vacant street and a straightforward road ahead to follow. While you stood at the start line with a business degree you had no desire of obtaining in the first place and dozens of obstacles in your way. Thrown in your path by your very own mother and father.

You were happy for him—but you resented his freedom.

“I’m so happy for you. I hope I’m automatically invited to all of the showcases to come.”

“Without a doubt.”

You painted your softest on your cheeks. “Please let me know if you ever need help with anything for school. Promise me, Jiminie?”

“Promise.”

“Keep me updated on your birthday plans,” you walked towards the elevators pressing the first button before it lit up white but the doors remained closed. “I forgot to ask. Is he in yet?”

“I think so. I punched in about an hour ago but I haven’t seen him leave or anything.” Jimin’s demeanor shifted at the mention of your best friend. There were remnants of nervousness in his motions as he fidgeted around with one of the many silver bands hugging his fingers. A habit you’d notice he’d adopt when in distress but you didn’t question it, “I guess I’ll surprise him.”

He spoke almost in a whisper, “you can invite him if you want.”

“Yoongi?”

He nodded.

“I’ll let him know.”

The younger boy nodded but words failed to follow. He remained as quiet as a mouse. The usual richness of his chocolate eyes was dulled down and he never bothered to meet your eyes once as the elevator doors opened.

“See you later, Jiminie.” You stepped into the mirrored walls of the four by four elevator waving him off as the doors began to shut slowly—he waved back.

“See you later.”

The ride up to the 50th floor was shorter than you remembered but you supposed you were distracted by the dozens of thoughts colliding in your head. The main one sitting at the forefront was Jimin’s hostile — tense even — reaction at the mention of Yoongi’s name. To you it was no secret that between the two of them another world war could ensue as they agreed on very little and argued about a lot more but this time it just felt different and you couldn’t figure out why.

The elevator dinged indicating you’d made it to your destination. The digital numeric pad appeared to the left side of the elevator and you quickly punched in the code before the steel doors opened, granting you access to your bestfriends loft.

“Yoongi?” You called out, walking deeper into his home, past the foyer and down the hallway leading you to the living room area. His apartment was in utter disarray. There were shoes, pillows, blankets, clothes and countless objects scattered all over the floor. While a multitude of takeout containers were spread all over the coffee table still containing food that had to be at least a couple of days old. A simple whiff sent your nostrils into a frenzy as the putrid stench overtook the atmosphere. As a result, you pinched your nose to avoid anymore of the horrid smell invading your senses.

Walking past the leather L-shaped couch you set your things on the kitchen island and immediately the mountain of dishes accumulating in the sink.

This was so unlike him.

If there was one perpetual detail you’d become familiar with in all your years knowing Yoongi, it was his cleanliness. And the lack of organization around you only sent a troubling worry to course through you only imagining the worst of events to have unfolded. Your shaky hands reached into your bag for your phone, immediately pulling up his number from your contact list.

No answer. You dialed again—nothing.

Suddenly, your ears became alarmed by a soulful voice.. humming. The melodic vibrato was coming from the direction of Yoongi’s bedroom and even in the distance set out between you and him you could tell the person knew how to carry a tune. That definitely was not Yoongi.

For a second you feared you might be interrupting one of his rendezvous but Jimin hadn’t alerted you of anyone being over.

“Yoongi. .” You called out again a bit louder but you were not met with a response, just the continued rhythmic hum bouncing off the walls—it was soothing and silky and it made the hairs on the back of your neck stand straight. In the back of your mind you know you should feel uneasy but the saccharine voice was hypnotic, recognizable to your ears even and you were enthralled by his sweet song like a snake to a pied piper.

The vexatious ring of the elevator rang behind you followed by the click clacking of shoes against the marble floor.

“Yoongi?” Realistically, you knew you were an idiot for yelling out into the void but in your defense. . Fine, there was nothing to defend. It was downright fatuous on your part. Entirely hypocritical after having made fun of protagonists in horror movies for doing the exact same thing.

“Yes. .” His tone was puzzling and although your impromptu visit was definitely unannounced it wasn’t entirely out of the blue. Your name tasted of lemons against his rose tinted lips, “what are you doing here?”

You rounded the corner into the main foyer and there he was. His skin mimicked the pale tints of ivory. He raked his fingers through his auburn locs displaying the sudden panic in his cafe noir tinted eyes stripping them of their usual shine.

“I texted you last week,” you waved your phone in your hand. “I told you I would be coming to visit after being away for the past few weeks.”

“Right. .” he nodded, “right.”

He forgot.

He never forgets, yet he forgot.

“I just—” there were beads of sweat glistening his temples. “I expected you a little later on in the day is all.”

And now he lied.

Yoongi would never lie to you.

You swallowed the lump sitting in your throat. It was hard to stand before someone you’ve known most of your life and feel so unfamiliar with the version of them you used to know. “Time has never been an issue before. If you prefer I can leave and come back later.”

“No,” He plopped all the bags he’d been carrying down on the floor. Cleaning supplies? Understandable considering your surroundings. “Please stay. I’ve just been dealing with something.”

“Does it involve Jiminie?”

“Jimin?”

You nodded.

“Why? Did he mention anything?”

“Is there anything to account for?” You crossed your arms at your chest. Your attempt at looking a bit more serious. Hoping he’d spill whatever the fuck happened with Jimin which they both seemed to be hiding from you.

“No. .” he stuttered. Not very convincing.

“Are you asking or telling me, Min Yoongi?” your tone was rugged and if you were a rose your thorns would be piercing right through his flesh.

“Telling. .” His words were still sitting on a balance between an inquiry and a statement and Yoongi himself seemed to not be entirely sure which he believed the most, “I’m telling you.”

“Can you listen to yourself Yoongi?” You roared. “Are you really believing the words coming out of your own mouth right now?”

“You’re asking way too many fucking questions,” he scratched the back of his head. “My head cannot tolerate it right now please.”

“Bullshit.”

“No—not bullshit. You are really causing me a throbbing migraine.”

“No.” You hissed, “you did that to yourself.”

“Did you come over just to fight?”

“Not exactly. . but it seems that’s the route you’ve driven us down. So nice to have you back in town.” You walked back to fetch your bag from the kitchen, “by the way your house smells like shit.”

“Well that’s totally my bad.” His voice was bass almost reaching the deepest depths of the undiscovered sea. The sound in the utterance of his words rumbled behind you like an unexpected spark of thunder causing a nimbostratus cloud to near as the azure sky you were used to turned to a dark gray hue. You felt a gaping hole developing in your stomach—slowly swallowing your entire being. So you stood waiting to be sucked in and vanish into thin air.

It couldn’t be.

“Are you just gonna stand there like a fucking statue?” he snickered.

“I’m hoping you would actually disappear.”

“Ah, just as. . peculiar as I remember.”

Yoongi’s eyes inflated to the size of golf balls as he entered the kitchen. He either didn’t know his idiot brother was in town OR he didn’t expect you to find out his idiot brother was in town.

Either way, paired with the secrecy in whatever the fuck was going with Jimin; this was yet another thing he kept from you.

“Were you ever going to tell me that he was back in town?” you were fuming with rage and any more unfounded words would have you reaching a venomous pique you hadn’t reached with Yoongi in a long long time.

“I was going to,” he took a deep breath. “Perhaps, initially I thought I wouldn’t have to.”

“Which one is it?” you tapped at the marble floor with the toe box of your red bottoms. Your back still turned towards the unwanted intruder standing behind you.

“Actually. .” he began, “this is why I was expecting you a bit later in the day.”

“Go on.”

“I needed to propose something to you,” Another thunder blared but this time it was nearer. So close you felt its vibration through your body. “To the both of you.”

“Well. .” Yoojin whispered in your ear, closing the distance between the two of you. His words were lento in their pace and so mellow. You despised the way his euphonious voice was fucking sweet like honey and most of all you hated the way the continued to effect you after so many years, “I already know but we still have to fill you in.”

You turned around to push him away but instead your eyes gravitated towards his towel that was disposed of on the floor near the frame of the kitchen door. His bare physique was completely exposed to your eyes. He was as captivating as you remember and though Yoojin wasn’t chiseled by any means, he was much more captivating than any Greek god who had been marbled into a statue. Not to mention, those pieces of so called art didn’t have a third fucking leg for a dick. He brushed his long black locs back exposing the rich tone of his skin's golden hue. “Yoojin, you wanna stop eye fucking her and put your towel back on?” Yoongi hissed.

You shook your head forcing yourself back to reality. Calling on sane thoughts and drifting your thoughts away from Yoojin and the reminder of his beautiful and massive cock.

“But I like having it all out,” he snickered. “Especially if there’s an audience.”

Yoongi walked past the two of you and grabbed the towel before throwing it in Yoojin’s direction. Your eyes remained on his slender fingers as he wrapped the rectangular fabric low on his waist.

You hated yourself for feeling as if you were still in the palm of his hands even after he did what he did and even after being away for such a long time.

You hate him. He means nothing to you.

“So about that proposition. .”

“Right.” You pointed towards Yoojin, “how come the evil twin already knows but I don’t?”

“He’s been here for the past three days.”

“Three days?” you muttered through clenched teeth.

“Now before you get mad at me again,” Yoongi cleared his throat and Yoojin pranced around the room semi-naked reaching for the handle of the refrigerator. The towel hung low on his body and you despised admitting you were enchanted by him once again there was a part of you hoping it would accidentally slip off. Besides, your last good memory of Yoojin featured him being nude anyway. “I wasn’t here when he invaded my house. I was away.”

“But aren’t you glad I found my way back home?” he raved. His hands flailed in the air signaling his brother to proceed. But that wasn’t cause for your perturbation, it was the cynical smile plastered on Yoojin’s face.

“Go on.”

You raised an eyebrow in your bestfriends direction as he took a seat on the stool beside you. Seemingly consumed by his own thoughts and although his mouth opened more than once there were no actual words being spoken. And while you understood he might need a minute to communicate whatever it was he needed to say. You were slowly dissolving into a puddle of apprehension. Although, you didn't know the precise reason for being here in this position, you couldn’t shake off the anxiousness coursing through your body. Despite what you felt you opted to accompany him in silence deducing perhaps all he needed was a moment of peace. Perhaps, all he needed was you to be there even if it was just like this.

“Yoongi?” You snaked your hand under his intertwining your fingers together, “what is the proposition.”

Though you weren’t looking at him you could feel his eyes burning a hole on you from across the room.

“It’s less of a proposition.. more of a favor.”

“I’m all ears.”

“You promise not to fight with me?” he rested his head on your shoulder.

“I promise.” You held your breath as you levitated above the cerulean sea. It was calm, for now.

Seven words were all it took to leave you sitting speechless with no thoughts baring consciousness to even compose a single sentence. The ocean beneath you no longer lapped its miniscule waves whispering their timid tune, the surf was ravenous and his fucking words had you decending deeper and deeper into the roaring waters.

“I’m sorry, Yoongi. What exactly do you need me to do?”

“A decoy.”

“A decoy?” you inquired.

“A decoy.” Yoojin confirmed, “you do know what that is right?.”

You ignored him. Directing your attention to your best friend, “And you want me to. .”

“I want you to date Yoojin who will be pretending to be me.”

“Why?”

“While you were gone. .” his clammy hands held onto yours a bit tighter, “my parents in agreement with yours provided me with an ultimatum and it was birthed from that ridiculous promise you and I made to them like four years ago.”

“The promise?” your eyebrows scrunched up together shooting him a puzzled look.

He nodded. “The dating to marry promise.”

“That fucking promise?” You scoffed. “We made that to get him off our backs before college. They were setting us up with people we didn’t even know.”

“I’m so fucking glad I left.” Yoojin whispered.

Although, you wanted to be upset at his irreverent comment—he was right. He was always adamant in wanting to opt out of this manufactured lifestyle and actually had the courage to simply walk away but unlike him you and Yoongi were the cowards who you stuck around. Enduring every fucking obstacle your parents chucked your way with a graceful smile still plastered on your faces to satisfy their perfect child syndrome. The two of you were fucking masochistic.

“We didn’t actually mean it though,” you stammered. . your mind was in a haze, struggling to find your way to the surface as you continued to sink deeper under the blue blankets of the sea, “. .but that is not what you want, Yoongi. It is not what I want.”

“When have they spared us our feelings? Our privacy? I met someone you know.” He sounded so fragile as if his heart would break at any moment. Perhaps it already has.

One thing was certain, your heart was already shattered into dozens of tiny irreparable pieces. You had nothing to lose just the condemning perpetuation of a love-less marriage to an affluent tycoon. There wouldn’t be happiness but it’d be something you could endure. Yoongi on the other hand.

He couldn’t.

“And I’m guessing this is where the proposition comes in?”

“Yes, unfortunately. Upon coming back from my vacation Yoojin decided to sporadically visit. He was already at my house. And during that same time our parents phoned me telling me about their plans for us. For our future.. but I’ve met someone who doesn’t know about the wicked ways of our family and I cannot let him go.”

“And I really have to fake date this idiot?”

“I think you mean this handsome idiot,” He stood behind you on the stool placing his chin up on your other shoulder. The proximity between the two of you became miniscule the closer he pressed his chest against your back. You wanted to push him off you but your body betrayed you and it selfishly craved the heat radiating from his semi naked figure like an itch finally being scratched.

“No, that’s not at all what I meant,” you rolled your eyes.

“Don’t worry it won’t be for long.” Yoongi reassured you, “I won’t take forever. I promise.”

“Forever’s a long time.” A nippy shiver ran down your spine when his minty breath crashed against the nape of your neck as he chanted his tempestuous locution. The pool of arousal between your thighs seeped on to your panties. All you could think about was his carnal utter vocalizing his filthy desires to you as he fucks you agaisnt the island or maybe the counters or against every single piece of furniture in this apartment.

“This will never be synonymous to forever,” you scoffed hoping he wouldn’t notice the way your legs were pressed just so tightly onto one another.

“Do you thrive on being annoying?” Yoongi interrupted your sinful thoughts.

“No. But I know you enjoy cockblocking.” Yoojin winked at you.

“There is no cock to block.”

His thunderous laugh rumbled through the walls of the apartment as he exited the kitchen.

Your eyes followed after him, “can I just get back to you later? I need to think about this.”

Yoongi hummed, “I’ll be a text or call away.”

Arriving back at your apartment was a breath of fresh air—though, it was quiet and lonely on most nights. Having a space away from your parents house and their controlling nature was peaceful. Not to say they didn’t just barge in here sometimes but you’d figure dealing with them sometimes was better than dealing with them all the time.

You kicked your shoes off by the door and placed your purse and keys on the entryway table stationed near the front door.

Yoojin was back. You were boggled by the realization as it hit you once again. No matter how many times you repeated it in your head it sounded false—like your mind was playing a trick on you.

Except it wasn’t.

He was back.

And now you have to date him. . This felt like a wicked curse bestowed upon you by your worst enemy and you couldn’t imagine coming out of the whole ordeal sane and in one piece.

But you have to.

Except, the terms of this whole charade replayed in your head as Yoongi uttered them off to you.

‘You will be a couple. You have to kiss, hold hands, be affectionate and actually look like you mean it. Our parents will be watching the two of you two carefully and while you are you, Yoojin will be me.’

You knew Yoongi wasn’t doing it out of wickedness.. he was completely oblivious to what had happened between the two of you but it still felt so cruel.

So fucking cruel.

You plopped on the bed following an exasperated sigh staring up at the eggshell ceiling. A flood of memories coursed through your head—all of them having one common denominator: Min Yoojin.

If you were going to get into specifics your story with the Min twins began the first day of sixth grade when they began middle school as the new kids in town. Yoongi was placed in your class and the two of you shared nearly every class together. You’d remember the first day the teacher introduced him to the class. All of your classmates were indifferent to the boy standing in the front of the class; they were all distracted by their own doings. Some on their phones while others simply ignored the situation entirely as only a few pairs of eyes lifted up to catch a glance at him but your attention remained on him from the moment he walked in.

“Yoongi.” you repeated to yourself.

The soft curves of his timid smile were dulcet—painted in the pastel undertones of comfort and familiarity. You didn’t know him, not yet. . but it sure felt as if you did. In no time that feeling became a reality, as you got to know him real well, real quickly when the both of you connected instantly.

What you didn’t bargain for however was Yoongi’s mischievous twin brother—older by a whopping 2 minutes he’d often argued.

Min Yoojin.

The moment you laid eyes on him your world shifted. Though, he shared the same face as your best friend. He was just . . so goddamn different. While Yoongi kept his hair in a bowl cut his fringe covering nearly half of his face Yoojin kept his short with a middle part framing his petite face, golden skin and dark brown eyes. He used to dress in black while Yoongi’s wardrobe was colorful and bright. They were complete opposites. Yoojin was also an introvert, reserved and kept to himself all of time. Adding to the mysterious aura everyone wanted to crack. Yourself included but unlike the other you kept your distance.

You weren’t really sure why you did. You just knew you didn’t want anything to come between your friendship with Yoongi.

For a long amount of years you kept at the promise you made to yourself but the more time you spent around him (and between sneaky glances and scarce verbal encounters which you often re-lived bashfully under the safety of your bed sheets) the deeper your crush developed.

Your first mistake was developing feelings and the second was that moment of weakness you had succumbed to which led everything to crash and burn to ashes.

Your continuous mistake however was the way your heart continued to palpitate increasingly at the mention of his name—it was obvious in the way your body reacted to him, desiring his touch and attention even now.

There was a slight knock at the door. You weren’t exactly expecting anyone but figured it was Yoongi being anxious as usual to remind you once again of the details of the agreement made between the two of you. . And the other Min.

“Who’s there?” you really needed to stop that.

There was no response.

Looking through the peephole you eye was met with a head full of black locs that hovered right above his shoulders. He stood with his hands in his pants front pockets, swaying his body back and forth as he waited for you to answer.

“What do you want?” You yelled, door still closed.

“Just—” he sighed and you saw as he leaned against the doorframe, “please open.”

“I am not going to open until you tell me why you’re here.” Some might say you were being childish and perhaps you were but Yoojin was the last person you expected to come knocking at your door at 1 in the morning.

Yoojin landed a harder knock, “just open up already.”

“Aggression will get you nowhere.”

“Aggression?” He scoffed, it was your persistent hobby to push his buttons. After everything he had put you through, this could be your coping mechanism.

This time he repeatedly pounced on the door.

“You’re going to wake up my fucking neighbors.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Yours,” you opened the door slightly, revealing an agitated Yoojin. Immediately, a cunning smile across your face. “Hi.”

“Save it.” He pushed past you, his shoes were placed by yours at the entrance and he walked further into your apartment as if he was familiar with the place.

“If you haven’t noticed,” You shouted after him, “You haven’t been here after disappearing so you cannot just walk into my fucking house like you own the place.”

You found him sprawled out on your couch, seeing him this comfortable in your house really pinched at your nerves for some odd reason, you just wanted to throw something at him just to induce a bit more of irritation his way.

“First of all,” you pushed his feet of the couch, taking a seat on the opposite couch, as far away as possible, “these are new so get your fucking feet off.”

“They are the same fucking couches you had in your room back at your parents house.”

“Well, did you come over to analyze my fucking furniture, or did your little impromptu trip have a actual point?”

“I came over because…” he scratched the back of his neck, why was he nervous? “I missed you.”

You burst out in laughter, but his expression remained stern, “I’m sorry,” you continued, “It’s just you literally had years after years to miss me. Yet. . Now?” you snickered.

“You’re so fucking immature,” he hissed.

“And you’re a fucking loser knocking at my door begging to get some pussy.”

“I never asked for pussy and for the record I wouldn’t have to beg.”

“But you do agree that you’re a fucking loser right?”

He shrugged, “if I say yes will it get me some pussy points?”

“Fuck you, Yoojin.”

You stood ignoring his question and existence, walking in the direction of the kitchen as he followed behind.

Why did you even answer the door? There was a versatility in the feelings you possessed for Min Yoojin that drove you to an intersection. The same one you stood at this precise moment, stuck between two roads. One side was composed of all of the core memories you held onto like a photobook in the back of your mind. This avenue was the reason why your heart beat at the mention of his name. The other other option was a road of sorrow, heartbreak and melancholiness. And every single memory with Yoojin there, you wanted burned to ashes.. It was the reason why you wanted to rid yourself of such a nuisance promise once and for all.

He called you by your name, something you hadn’t heard since that day. It sounded so foreign to your ears but your body felt the complete opposite, there was a bolt of electricity coursing through you causing the hair follicles on your arms to stand straight.

Years later, still the same effect.

You were pathetic.

“Tell me you don’t miss me.” He whispered.

“Wow, that was really fucking cringy.”

Yoojin chuckled as he shook his head, “glad to see not much has changed.”

“I could say the same.”

He stood on the other side of the kitchen island while you leaned on the counter near the sink. It was summertime, the heat was off and your air conditioner was set on high, yet you could feel the beads of sweat forming at the palms of your hands.

“Was your prime objective to make a fucking fool out of yourself,” you crossed your arms at your chest, “did you achieve your goal for the day?”

“Actually, no,” Yoojin rounded the island and walked towards you, closing the distance you had been so desperate to maintain between the two of you, “I just wanted to make sure we were good after our meeting back at Yoongi’s place.”

“I told Yoongi I needed some time.”

“Is it because of me?”

It is. “No.”

“Then why wouldn’t you just agree?”

“Because unlike you I can’t just hide behind this fake relationship. I’m me.” Your tone is a bit more hurtful than you intended, “and I have to continuously lie to my parents for the long foreseeable future.”

He nodded, seemingly understanding where your frustrations stemmed from. Even though that wasn’t your frustration at all. Your parents controlled your life for as long as you could remember and dating fake ‘Yoongi’ who’s actually Yoojin was going to be the best form of secret rebellion you could come up with.

Your parents aren't fond of Yoojin. As his own parents aren’t fond of him. And that slight detail made things so much better.

“You’re right. I guess I never considered the route your life and Yoongi’s life took,” he stepped closer, “the fact that Yoongi even has to go through such lengths is. .” he sighed.

“It’s fucked,” you finished for him, “but that’s how life has been here, at home, for him and I.”

“Tell me. .” his eyes were just as star-filled as you remembered, so alluring, dark, “who were they planning to marry you off to?”

“Choi Soobin.”

“Ah,” the proximity between the two of you was slim and any sudden moves would have the two of you pressed against each other. An exciting thought, though you would never admit it out loud, not with Yoojin around. “He’s richer than the Min’s will ever be. How did you manage to slip away from that?”

“I almost didn’t,” you began, “Soobin is sweet, the sweetest person I’ve ever met actually. We went on so many dates and although we clicked instantly, it was more platonic than romantic. There was love but not like our parents were hoping for so we made plans to walk away from the whole thing.”

“And both parents agreed?”

You shook your head, “Of course not, but in trying to get out of that, Yoongi and I ended up in this. . Well you and I now.”

Once again a deep silence fell in the room.”

“Was that all you wanted to know about?” He nodded, “this could’ve been a text, Yoojin.”

“You never gave me your new number.”

“I know you well enough to assume you probably swiped it off Yoongi’s phone when he wasn’t looking.”

“Did.” He smiled brightly, his golden cheeks rose up like a loaf of bread right out of the oven.

That damned smile. It was so delicate, so bright, mesmerizing, so hard to forget. You knew because that same smile played in your dreams night after night. It was your artistic inspiration and the reason why you always secretly hoped to see Yoojin once more.

However, now that he was here, it was more complicated. You found yourself in a staggering debate ever since you laid eyes on him again. Your mind told you to send him off already, that you’ve entertained him long enough. While, the ocean between your thighs, begged for you to take him back to your room.

You must’ve been enthralled in your own thoughts because you hadn’t noticed when Yoojin closed that tiny gap between you, placing his hands on your waist.

“Yoojin,” you murmured.

“My name has always sounded so much better on your lips,” his hand abandoned the indent of your body and came up to your face, tracing your silk lips.

“Yoojin, please,” your voice was so weak, your eyes were shut so tight you could actually see stars.

“Yoojin please stop or Yoojin please don’t stop.” His hand retracted itself from your lips as he waited for you to answer.

“Yoojin please touch me already before I end up going crazy,” you blurred out.

“See, I knew you it,” his hands wasted no time finding themselves at the hem of your panties. If his intent was to tease, he was definitely working you up real nice and slow because even after what felt like five minutes of having him head south, you still waited for some sort of stimulation.

“When I said touch me, I meant now.”

“Patience.” He said in a hushed tone.

“I’m not a patient person and you know that.”

Yoojin smirked, finally dipping his hand into your underwear. His fingertips found themselves tracing shapes against your clit slowly as his lips landed on the nape of your neck. His mellifluous kisses felt sultry against your skin.

Still, he maintained a timid pace.

“More,” you breathed into his ear, you began moving your hips faster against his fingers.

“You really know what you want huh?”

You nodded, not a single stutter in the way you continued swaying at your own pace. Forward and backwards you moved—chasing your own high.

“Hm, you look so hot like this you know,” he hummed, “just as I remembered but. .” he removed his fingers from your body just as you were nearing your peak, “I want to make you cum on my own accord.”

Your labored breathing hindered a response to escape your lips but you were determined to have things your way.

You felt as two fingers sat at your entrance, pressing against you teasingly, the squelching sound chimed as a result of how drenched you were. He massaged your slickness lento, the recurrent circular motion he added to the bubbling anticipation rushing through you, as his digits began sinking further into your cunt.

“You’re so warm, doll.” He groaned.

Being a whimpering filled mess at the mercy of Yoojin’s fingers was not how you expected your night to roll out when you opened the door earlier that night. But an hour into his visit, here you were bearing his attack against your walls as his digits moved in and out of you slowly.

“Yoojin,” you whimpered, holding on to the edge of the kitchen counter—feeling the knot at the pit of your stomach tighten already .

“That’s it, doll,” His earthy tone was raw and tickled your inner ear, sending a frigid chill down your spine. “Cum for me.”

His pace hastened grazing the spot that drove you over the edge.

You could feel it.

Fuck.

You woke up in cold sweat, heavy breathing. Looking beside you on the bed, you expected a naked Yoojin to be lying next to you, instead you were alone.

It was a dream.

You sighed, slightly relieved that you had not fallen into his abysmal trap so easily.

It was only just a dream.

Thursday came around quicker than expected and being incognito for the last couple of days really served as a form of needed therapy. Providing you all the time needed to think things through—to make a decision on Yoongi’s proposition.

Though, your heart threw spears at Yoojin’s name, you knew Yoongi wouldn’t be asking for a favor if this magnitude unless he was desperate—plus you figured if you were in the same situation, and you found your better half, Yoongi would be one hundred percent willing to do the same for you.

‘How do you know he is the one?’

You asked Yoongi.

‘..Because I cannot picture my life without him.’

So your decision, although hard, came to you rather quickly.

‘I’ll do it. . . For you.’

‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.’

‘Will I meet him soon?’

‘Soon.’

You haven’t spoken with him for two days since that conversation took place over the phone with the passing of midnight clouds bearing as the only witness to the assertion of the deal concealed between the both of you.. and Yoojin.

Since then, you were in solitude for a couple more days to prepare yourself for life after the decision you’ve made—to link arms and walk side by side with the treacherous Min until Yoongi was ready to get things (not so) straight with his parents.

Tonight, however, your last spec of sanity disintegrated as your weekend isolation was cut short by your favorite front desk boy as he invited you to celebrate his birthday at club Fuego. Initially, Jimin had decided the two of you were desperate for a much needed night out without the presence of anyone else and you agreed but to your demise and slight surprise, Jimin knew of Yoongi and Yoojin. He knew about Yoojin being here on a secret mission with you and somehow at the expense of that the twins ended up on the invite list to the birthday celebrations as well.

You didn’t mind but a part of you wanted just one more day away from it all, from Yoojin mainly.

The journey in finding the perfect outfit was more exhausting than you would have liked to admit but an essential to having a good night out included looking your best. First, you tried on a knitted royal blue long sleeve dress, though the color was perfect the more you looked in the mirror the more you hated the way it looked for an odd reason; not really flattering at all. Next, came an all black ensemble consisting of a black crop top and black faux leather plants but it looked bland and not ‘night club worthy’ at all. You discarded that outfit in the ever growing mountain of clothes taking residence on top of your bed. Exhaustion washed over you as a result of your continuous outfit changes, and even then you still had no fucking clue on what to wear.

You needed to be out of the house in approximately, you looked at the digital clock on your nightstand, 30 minutes.

You needed something to make you feel confident; sexy; and unstoppable, something that would have Yoo—the city eating out the palm of your hands.

Suddenly the perfect outfit came to mind.

[9:30pm - You] Is this like a hip hop night club or an actual get dressed night club?

[9:31pm - JM] Please tell me you’re already dressed.

[9:32pm - You] I’m basically almost done.

You stared at your lace black undergarments in the mirror.

[9:32pm - You] How far are you though?

[9:33pm - JM] Not far at all. Hurry up!

He attached a picture of the entrance to your building.

Oh shit, you hurried to finished getting dressed.

“You look great ma’am. Have a great night,” The door man nodded in your direction holding the glass door open for you—you shot him a soft smile thanking him and wishing him a good night.

Yoongi’s car sat by the curb as your best friends and an unwanted demon waited for your arrival. Jimin rolled the passenger window down, “I was going to talk shit for making us wait here for like 20 minutes but you look way too fucking good bitch.”

“Thank you, thank you. Your compliments only feed my ego. I hope you’re aware,” You began posing on the sidewalk as Jimin began flashing pictures if you.

“That’s my best friend. She’s a real bad bitch,” he screamed out, calling on the attention of everyone around you. There was a tinge of bashfulness taking over you as the eyes of those settling on the sidewalk were set on you.

“Can you get in the fucking car already?” Yoongi said from behind the wheel.

“Fine.”

Not fine. Of course, you were stalling but only because you knew who would occupy the seat beside you for the 15 minute car ride ahead. And 15 minutes next to Yoojin would be like an eternity in hell. . But you could only stand outside your best friend's vehicle for so long without raising eyebrows or questions being formed about your hesitation to sit next to him.

While Yoongi knew of your mostly hate relationship with his brother. He didn’t know what caused it and you intended to keep that a secret for as long as you could. Before you could reach for the handle, the door was being opened for you from the inside and suddenly there you were, face to face with the man you’ve convinced yourself to be your least favorite Min. His eyes ogled you as you got in the car as strategically as you could without flashing anyone, of course, you settled for the black off the shoulder long sleeve corset dress with crystal trim or the shortest dress in your closet. His intense gaze remained on your figure as you took a seat beside him after slamming the door shut, but his eyes were so fucking hard to read, so dark they mimicked the expansive late night sky. Those were the eyes you thought you knew once upon a time but now they were estranged and knowing Yoojin presently; you figured he was probably mocking you and likely thinking of about a dozen snarky comments he’d make to make you feel like a fool and ruin your night but you wouldn’t let him win this time, or ever.

You had to be nice to him while your parents were around any other time was free territory.

The car ride remained silent aside from the low music being emitted from the radio, of course, they played the same generic crap that looped on continuously all day long so not even that could stop your thoughts from drifting to the man who sat just a couple feet away from you.

You wanted to say so much but instead you bottled it all up and stored it all away under lock and key in the deepest depths of your heart. Unwilling to give him the satisfaction of knowing just how much he occupied your thoughts on a daily basis.

Jimin cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable by the silence that has taken reign in the last 5 minutes of all of you being in the car together, “have any of you been to this club before?”

Yoongi shook his head, “I’ve been in New York for the last few years.”

New York. . Nice.

The three of them looked at you but you were stuck in your own thoughts as you swirled around the whirlwind gusts of the tornado wrecking havoc in your mind.

“What?”

“Have you gone to Fuego before?”

“No,” you answered. “This is my first time.”

Once again silence fell amongst the four and there was a wave of awkwardness washing over you as you remained hyper focused on looking out the window—enjoying the vibrancy of the city under the grace of the stars.

“Yoojin,” Jimin spoke once again, silence was not in his nature as he flourished in his true social flower nature, “How was New York?”

“Loud.” He was notorious for his one word fucking answer—another thing you despised about him.

“So I guess the city truly never sleeps.”.

“Unfortunately, but I have good memories as well so it wasn’t all negative.”

“Was there a lucky lady?”

“Ah—” you could feel his stare on you. Perhaps, he was trying to figure out what your body language displayed, but you ignored him and slaughtered those butterflies flapping their wings at the lining of your stomach. Your gaze was set intensely on whoever or whatever you could spot through the car window. You knew Yoojin was simply trying to structure the right words to cause a reaction out of you.

“There were a couple.”

A couple? You felt a jab land at your stomach vacuuming the air right out of your lungs in the process. You were hurt, and you were beaten but most of all you hated how much you felt for someone who wasn’t even yours. Someone who doesn’t deserve you.

The gates of Fuego were seemingly the pearly white gates to your safe haven; the only offset was the man still sitting right beside you. But it was within your full intentions to stay as far away from Yoojin as you could and by far, you meant far. . far. . far away.

Yoongi turned off the engine as he pulled into the parking spot—you were ready to jump out of the vehicle, ready to lose yourself in your last night of “singleness.”

The soft utterance of his vibrato voice rang through the tight space of the car, “We’ll catch up in a minute.” Yoojin was demanding, authoritative, and quite invasive. As much as you wanted to rebel against him your body was non compliant and you became enchanted by the spell he cast upon you.

Yoongi looked in your direction and you nodded, signaling that it was OK, “we’ll go ahead and make the entrance line. Don’t take too long.” He opened the door, “And no fighting or I’ll just call the cops on you two.”

You were both now alone in the car.

The air became stuffy, restricting your airway and you weren’t quite sure if it was due to all of the car doors and windows being shut tight or if it was due to the fact that you were alone with Yoojin for the first time in years.

“I know my arrival was unexpected. Especially, to you,” he spoke, scratching the back of his neck, “but I was hoping we could talk”

“There’s nothing to discuss,” you hissed.

“There’s plenty to discuss,”

“There was plenty to discuss before you left Yoojin,” you shrugged, “but that expired long ago.”

He shook his head, “I wasn’t aware things like this had an expiration date.”

“Everything has an expiration date.”

“If only I would’ve been made aware.”

You had not gotten the chance to see how truly captivating Yoojin looked tonight. The buiguilding charm he exuded was venomous and simply looking in his direction had you under his fangs.

“I don’t think knowing would have mattered much to you,” you narrowed your eyes in his direction, “being in New York with all those girls and all.”

“Are you jealous?” he snickered.

It was so fucking hot, your body felt overheated. You were sweating from every single inch of you body. w

“Don’t flatter yourself,” there was a scornful derivative in your intonation, “you were the last thing I thought about.”

“Face it, you missed me.”

Those words took you back to the wretched dream you had the other night, remembering the way he spoke softly into your ear, the way his lips serenaded your neck, the way his fingertips felt as soft as the fluffiest of clouds against your skin.

“I-I did not,” you stuttered.

“Admit it.”

“No, you know what I have to admit though,” you began deflecting, just mention something you hate about him, “I hate this fucking act you adopt. You’re a fucking asshole, stomping over me without much thought when others are around, but as soon as we’re alone you pretend to care.”

You recalled how he used to be, the Yoojin from before the storm. The Yoojin who understood you, showered you with care and love, the Yoojin who was communicative and expressive. The Yoojin your heart longed for in the loneliest of nights for the past five years.

“Listen,” his eyes were finally expressive, they were kinder, the dark tone in his pupils was comforting. There was solace behind them, they felt like a warm blanket but was the opposite of what you needed as the temperature continued to rise in the enclosed car, “I’m here now. I’m back.”

You wanted to believe him, but you knew it was bullshit.

“I don’t care Min. Tonight we’re celebrating Jimin. Tomorrow we begin our little charade which I hope you know I only agreed to for Yoongi.”

“For Yoongi?”

“For Yoongi.” You confirmed.

“So you don’t miss. . .” His words drifted off leaving his implications for you to interpret and you knew exactly what he meant.

You did, but there was no admitting it to Yoojin—a deep silence fell through and the only noise your ears picked up came from the quickened thumping of your heart clashing on the walls of your chest, it terrified you that he could possibly hear.

“There was nothing to miss.”

He huffed, “Alright.”

“I’m glad we got this conversation out of the way. See you inside,” you excited the car, slamming the door behind you.

-

-

-

author’s note: it took me longer than expected to write this (I deleted 3 different drafts 🙂) so hopefully this first chapter isn’t too bad, also this is unedited so hopefully everything makes sense.

thanks for reading. comments, likes, reblogs and messages are always appreciated. let me know what you think <3

[patheticbatman]

The 52nd Win A Commission Contest was the film Napoleon (1995)! I wrote it in prose form in conjunction with my drawings (lmk if you think I should add the songs), so if you’d like to see that, please

Once upon a time, there was a golden retriever puppy, who had big dreams, and no idea how to reach them.

His mother had named him Muffin, but one day, he heard humans speak a name – Napoleon! – And knew that had to be his true name. In his soul, he knew his heart beat to a tune that was both more warlike and wild. Often he had even heard the howls of wild dogs. Unfortunately, no one else saw it like that, and his mother insisted on calling him Muffin.

It didn’t help that he was afraid of water. He told himself that while every warrior had his trials, there was no need to be afraid of the humans’ pool; he was bred for swimming. Still, he hesitated.

One day, the small human had a birthday party. Cruelly, but without malice – for many young creatures are oft inconsiderate – the child decided to show off Napoleon's adorable qualities by placing him on a turtle pool floaty. The puppy panicked. Then, in an even worse turn of events, the humans forgot he was there, and soon he floated to the middle of the pool – the stuff of nightmares for both him and his mother.

Thankfully, the floaty eventually made its way to the steps of the pool, and Napoleon rescued himself – though not before a balloon fell on his head.

Irritated, he chewed and slobbered on the various objects the children left by the poolside to assuage his ego.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something new to investigate - a basket, tied to a bunch of helium balloons. He crawled in, much to the chagrin of his mother. She asked him to get out immediately, but embarrassed and overfocused on asserting his bravery, he did not heed her commands. And as she was tied to the dog house, she could do nothing to enforce them.

His wiggling and jiggling as he sniffed all over the basket – it smelled and tasted like a child with a lightly sticky hands had been messing with it – he did not notice that the basket had come untethered. Only when he had righted himself, did he notice that the basket - and thus himself – were in fact, flying.

His mother pleaded with him to jump out, but the balloons rose too fast, and he was soon too high up to tumble out safely. Both parent and puppy were terrified, and she tried to assure her son that he would stuck get in the trees, and to just sit tight.

But through some twisted miracle, he floated into the open sky.

Trying to calm his nerves as his mother’s frantic barking grew fainter and the world underneath grew smaller, he sang a song of adventure. A warrior, a true, wild dog, must of course be able to make the best of bad situations.

Soon he floated out of the suburbs, and into Sydney, seeing the incredibly tall skyscrapers from above for the first time.

And just when he was starting to float down, and his hopes rose – for maybe some human could take him home! – His basket got caught on the front spike of a monorail train.

Speeding through the city, he enjoyed the wind in his face and the rush of people in cars below. Unfortunately, the train came to a stop, and his basket came loose, and once again, he was free - floating right towards the harbor. Water!

Soon, he was over open water, and the weight of the situation settled heavily on his poor heart. A plane passed overhead, but did not hear his pleas for rescue.

But a lost galah named Birdo did. Screeching and curious, but also cautious for the puppy, he encouraged Napoleon to sit more securely and balanced in the basket. However, Birdo was still a bird, and he had a bird-brained idea. As the two floated over a beach, Birdo started popping the balloons in an attempt to gradually lower Napoleon to land.

Bemused, for Napoleon did not quite follow the plan, he watched as the first popped balloon fell to the side of the basket. However, by the second, the basket began to worryingly shudder its way to the ground - and Napoleon was not close. Still, Birdo persisted.

Unfortunately, the fourth popped balloon was one too many, and the basket hurtled to the ground.

Horrified, Birdo screamed for Napoleon to jump out as the basket impacted, and then began bouncing and rolling violently down the windswept cliff. When the basket finally reached the bottom, Birdo feared the worst, for he saw no sign of the puppy.

But it was empty! Napoleon was on a rock ledge. He ridiculed Birdo, and the galah was both irritated at Napoleon's ingratitude, and worried over the puppy’s fate in the wild.

Napoleon, ignoring both his and Birdo’s fears, decided to embrace his situation and go look for wild dogs. He climbed up a different cliff to overlook a vast rainforest. Birdo warned him that house pets don’t survive out in the wild and said he should head home. Hearing the call of a wild dog, Napoleon ignored Birdo’s warnings and descended into the forest.

It was soon dark, but Napoleon wasn’t worried, making his way through the slender moonlit trees. High above him, a tawny frogmouth caught his attention and warned that housepets either died or became something monstrous to survive. Napoleon once again ignored the advice, believing that the frogmouth was merely trying to frighten him.

—

Eventually, Napoleon decided it was time to sleep. He had gone a long way today, and would likely have further to go.

Napoleon ran across a spider and asked her for a good place to sleep. She instead fished for a compliment about her web. Napoleon pointed out a mistake, panicked because it stuck to his nose, ran through the web and ruined some more of it with his tail. The spider was quite displeased.

Unconcerned, the puppy ventured forth, until he came to a great tree, with a tunnel running between its roots. Napoleon sniffed it, hoping that it could be his bed for the night, but found it to be someone’s home. Calling out in the hope of finding someone willing to share for the night, Napoleon did not notice a feral black cat watching him from above.

"Is that a mouse I hear?" the cat said rhetorically, stalking forward. Napoleon entered the tree roots. "Can’t have a mouse in my house." Napoleon munched on something inside. "Furry mouse. Big yellow mouse."

Napoleon thought he heard something but quickly turned back to the food.

"Time to rid my house of the mouse!” the cat said, coming into view.

"Huh? What?" Napoleon said, his wide, dark eyes shining against his pale yellow face.

"The mouse." The cat growled – whether or not in reply to Napoleon, only she would ever know. Her intense, yellow eyes squinted menacingly, her body barely standing out from the dark of the night.

Napoleon laughed nervously, panting. "Good thing I’m not a mouse."

"You can’t fool me with that pitiful disguise!" She crept forward and hissed. "I’ll RIP it off you!"

Napoleon tried to run, but the ribbon the birthday child had wrapped around his neck got caught. The cat growled, and the puppy ripped free, leaving the ribbon behind. She ran after him, in that flat, close to the ground way cats do, far more familiar with the landscape than he was.

He hid, hoping that a lack of movement would protect him from the grimalkin.

Unfortunately, he had hidden right next to a boulder, which was perfect for her to creep up, plan her attack, and then pounce on the unsuspecting Napoleon.

He ran into the forest, the cat catching him occasionally, and even once bowling him over. She chased him onto a log, crossing a small, muddy pond.

He froze when he realized he was stuck over water, and the cat taunted him.

“Listen to me. I am not a mouse. You are a deeply disturbed animal." Napoleon foolishly appealed to her sense of reason.

“Shuddup!” She snarled. Napoleon whimpered. "My job is to destroy all vermin in this house. The mouse must die, now!" She started biting at his face, hoping to knock him into the water.

The tawny frogmouth, who had been observing, took pity on Napoleon, and flew down, knocking the cat into the water.

Only bubbles rose.

The frogmouth scolded Napoleon, but he did not care, and mocked the spot where the cat fell in. Remembering his manners, Napoleon thanked the bird.

"That cat won’t rest until you’re dead,” It said.

"That cat is fishbait by now." The puppy scoffed, and ran away.

The cat rose out of the mud and swore revenge, but by then, Napoleon was far out of earshot.

—

Snuggled at the base of a tree, the sun rose, and Napoleon heard his mother say, "Rise and shine, Muffin. It’s a beautiful morning. Time to get up, Muffin. Wake up."

“Mom? Mommy?” He woke up, expecting his mom to be there, but was dismayed to find himself alone.

Shaking his sadness off, Napoleon scampered through the verdant rainforest, and congratulated himself for surviving his first night away from home. He came upon a waterfall, and sat stymied. Out loud he wondered why he was so afraid of water.

A bunch of rainbow lorikeets started mimicking him. In between taunts, they told him that the wild dogs are on the other side.

Soon, Napoleon’s desire to meet them won over his fear. He found a flat spot to cross, and the lorikeets mocked his progress. But he made it!

He met a much nicer lorikeet who confirmed his intel and sympathized with him over the rudeness of the others … which gave Napoleon an adorably wicked idea.

Crossing back over - for he was slightly distant desensitized to his fear of water by then – he tricked them into calling themselves stupid, and went on his way.

Eventually, he arrived in a less dense forest, and overhearing a suspicious sound, went to investigate.

In the clearing, on a slanted tree, was a koala.

Napoleon tried to growl at the koala, but he was nonplussed. After a little more boasting from Napoleon, the koala climbed down, unconcerned with the puppy’s antics as he followed behind his odd waddle on the ground.

Napoleon tried to goad the koala into climbing up a tree and spotting the wild dogs – for once again, he heard them, but could not seem to find them. The koala turned it back on him, and kept the fact that he couldn’t see farther than a meter in front of himself, until he was away from Napoleon's reach.

The puppy stalked away, irritated. That was when Birdo found him again. Napoleon immediately jumped on the chance of having a lookout, but accidentally insulted the galah instead.

He apologized and then ignored Birdo‘s advice about going home, instead, asking for wilderness survival skills.

Unfortunately, when trying to open up to Birdo, to convince the galah of his mission, Napoleon let slip that the that they called him ‘Muffin’ at home, near a dastardly frog, and the same taunting lorikeets from before, looking for revenge. On the spot, they came up with the whole song about how he should go home. Napoleon tried to bite the frog, but it plopped onto his head. Birdo, being a good friend, kept knocking the lorikeets off their perch, but they kept flying back.

Tail held high, Napoleon walked away from the twittering animals, and found a log floating in the water. Unthinkingly, he walked on, and was surprised when it detached from the shore and floated into a bay. Despite his dismay, he resolved to sit tight, and let it take him to the other shore, where he was headed anyway. Less work!

Of course, it ended up dead in the water.

Birdo, impatient and dedicated to keeping this dog alive if he wasn’t going to go home and save himself, decided to toughen Napoleon up. He swooped down and knocked the puppy into the water, encouraging him to doggy paddle.

Napoleon was surprised to find that he was really good at it – perhaps forgetting that he was literally a golden retriever. He still needed a little instruction on how to get up the bank, but he made it.

—

The first lesson to become a wild dog, Birdo decided, was food. They had reached a rocky area, overlooking mountains. Birdo lead Napoleon to a rocky hill, covered in dry grass. A chorus of rabbits briefly scattered into sight before hiding behind other boulders and grass.

"Do you want me to eat these?" Napoleon said incredulously. All he had ever eaten was his mother’s milk, dog food, and dropped human food.

“You want to eat," Birdo said, with no small amount of vicious glee in his voice, "You’ve got to learn to KILL!"

Napoleon's incredulity did not lift. But somehow, he was convinced to try. He wandered over to where the bunnies were flitting about.

Sadly, they moved so rapidly, Napoleon had trouble focusing on just one to catch. They sang as they escaped, aware that they had the upper paw, but unwilling to show anything other than caution.

Birdo sang in opposition, calling upon Napoleon's bloodlust and hunger to drive the puppy to kill. Napoleon managed to get one alone, and it sat huddled, mostly frozen to its own detriment, as the puppy engaged in rough play with its tremorous body. But the rabbit managed to gather its wits, and after it jumped on top of a rock, Napoleon lost interest.

Birdo scolded Napoleon, but eventually gave up on the bloody venture once the puppy found lichen to eat. It did not stop his complaints.

They moved to drier, flatter land. The next lesson, according to Birdo, was learning to discern whether an animal was dangerous or not.

Napoleon approached a wombat, but as soon as it caught sight of him, it ran away, screaming, "A house pet!"

Next, he found some quokkas, former victims of the cat. They were more friendly, but still shaken from the encounter. One’s ears were quite torn.

Birdo was satisfied, so they traveled onto some snow-topped mountains. Napoleon, who loved using his nose, remarked that snow made smelling more difficult. That did not stop him from smelling something unusual.

Birdo was uninterested. He felt that it was time to learn the third lesson, about the weather. In fact … he felt a huge storm coming.

The snow that sat on the trees shivered and fell. A large rumbling came ever closer. Then Birdo realized his mistake. The rumbling wasn’t a storm. It was brumbies!

"Run!" the bird screamed, and flew away, landing in a far tree.

As the feral horses thundered by, the bird realized with great dismay that he could no longer see his friend. He called out, but if there was an answer, the galah could not hear it.

Once the herd passed, Birdo fluttered down and searched amongst the trampled snow, panic rising. But Napoleon merely had slipped into a snow burrow.

Napoleon yelled at Birdo, for he had at least smelled the horses. Birdo protested, and it only made Napoleon angrier, vowing not to trust Birdos ‘faulty’ advice again, and ran down the mountain. His nose caught something, so the puppy paused for a moment, looking over the land below. "I smell sweets!” – Napoleon followed his nose to a field of what he thought was tall grass. Birdo followed, and tried to warn him what happens to fields of dry sugarcane.

Being a dog, and one irritated at Birdo, Napoleon ignored the warnings and followed his nose instead.

Napoleon ran into a red-bellied black snake, and was nearly drawn into its eyes, but Birdo’s worried screeching pulled him out of it.

The cane around him got hotter and hotter as he pushed further in. Then he smelled smoke. And where there is smoke, there is fire. Terrified, Napoleon trampled through the burning cane, skirting around blazes and coughing, while Birdo guided the puppy out with his voice.

Stumbling out of the cane, the two reunited joyfully, and Napoleon apologized.

Of course, that was when the cat caught up with them. Bird and puppy hurried away, the cat following close behind.

Surprisingly, they stumbled upon Birdo’s flock, whom he had been searching for these last few days. Birdo joyfully flew among his kin, screeching.

This gave enough distraction that the cat, not wanting to miss an opportunity to rid her ‘house’ of vermin, crept up on a tree full of galahs.

Happy for his friend, Napoleon wandered a gulley lined with red dirt, making slight fun of the reunited family as he passed underneath. By chance, Napoleon turned his head and saw the cat creeping up behind some of Birdo‘s cousins.

Napoleon had to yell repeatedly that the cat was behind them, their excitable din nearly causing their own demise. But the galahs noticed the cat and flew away in time.

Birdo didn’t see it that way, and scolded him. He hadn’t seen the cat, and only saw what he thought was Napoleon scaring his family away. He quickly changed his tune when the cat crept up behind him.

Napoleon sauntered away as the cat lay defeated in the tree, looking for Birdo. They soon found each other near a highway. Birdo failed to land on a traffic sign, and Napoleon refrained from commenting beyond a genuine query about his health, as Birdo delicately climbed onto his chosen perch.

"Where does this road go?" Napoleon asked.

"It leads to the shore, where you landed." said Birdo. "It can be one of the most dangerous places out here!"

The puppy shrugged him off, saying, "I know all about roads!"

This was when a tractor trailer truck came into view. Napoleon wisely got to one side, but then noticed a dark colored frilled-neck lizard, laying flat on the road. Desperately, he barked at the lizard, believing it to be asleep. He wanted to go into the road, to nudge it away from the path of danger, but Birdo and some of Napoleon's housepet instincts held him back.

The truck roared by, covering the poor lizard from sight. To Napoleon and Birdo surprise, once the truck passed, they saw the lizard lay unharmed.

Napoleon went forward to make sure that the lizard was all right.

"GO! AWAY!" snarled the lizard, terribly offended at Napoleon's proximity and concern. "THIS IS MY SPACE!" The lizard leapt threateningly into Napoleon’s face. Friendliness made Napoleon a little slow on the uptake, so he didn’t really walk away until the lizard leapt.

"Never expect gratitude from a cold blooded creature. Hah!" Birdo said, landing on the road to walk away with Napoleon.

Soon, they encountered dry shrublands. In between dull green plants with thin leaves, the red earth lay cracked and uneven.

Birdo urged Napoleon to go home, reminding the puppy that his family surely missed him.

Napoleon's eyes shined wetly, but he couldn’t ignore the call of the wild dogs. It was his lifelong dream, after all.

The two debated for a while, but Napoleon held fast, claiming it was a dog thing, and Birdo wouldn’t understand, but that he was grateful for all of Birdo’s help so far. They came to the edge of the desert, and both felt in their hearts that it was time to go their separate ways.

As evening fell, they sang a bittersweet duet of parting, and bid each other goodbye, wishing to meet again. Birdo flew off to rejoin his family, and Napoleon continued on his quest to find the wild dogs.

—

Napoleon followed along a narrow footpath.

A small, spiky animal groaned as it came his way, as if each step hurt. An echidna! Napoleon went over to say hi, but it dismissed him stingily, anticipating jokes about its appearance, and wishing to keep its potential water to itself. Napoleon assured it that he would share any water he found, but that didn’t seem to matter to the echidna. Then he made a poorly-timed pun, and the creature clumsily rolled into a small pit in sheer irritation.

The echidna begin to dig, though its small paws made for slow going. Napoleon helped, and the puppy quickly uncovered some water, and drank first, much to the echidna’s chagrin, complaining about germs.

Napoleon set off again, and found himself in the desert. Red sand laid burning, wind blown into long waves of dune lines, stretching on for desiccated kilometers. The puppy scampered across, as the gait afforded him less time for each paw to touch the scorching ground. Nevertheless, it hurt.

Brown mountains rimmed the stretch of land, and Napoleon kept along until he found a solitary tree, providing precious shade. There he rested among the dead branches bleached white like bones, when he spotted an odd animal.

It stood – as much as a lizard can stand – upon a shrubby hill, and howled and barked in a heart-sinkingly silly voice.

"That’s what I left home for?" The lizard barked some more as Napoleon stared on in disbelief.

Disconcertingly, the thing started approaching Napoleon, making odd gulping noises with each step it took.

"Were the wild dogs I’ve been hearing… that?” Napoleon had to make sure. He ran to the creature and asked.

Pleased with the attention, the goofy looking beast – which he came to realize was a perentie lizard - let out a long, ridiculous howl, ending in a guffaw. Without prompting, the lizard demonstrated his poorly rendered repertoire, which included cow noises.

Napoleon ran away, heartbroken and disillusioned, the lizard’s haunting "Moo. Moo. Moo. Moo. MOO!" echoing in his ears as he climbed up the mountains.

"I am such an idiot. All this time, I’ve been chasing after a barking lizard. There’s no wild dogs anywhere. I’ve been running after something that doesn’t even exist." He whimpered. "Now I’ve got no home. No wild life. I don’t have my mother. I don’t have the instinct to make it out here. I’m a dumb house pet.” He cried for a moment. “Who doesn’t know a retriever from a reptile. I don’t deserve the name Napoleon. Not a crumb like me." Then, with a sob, "I’m just a Muffin after all."

He kept running, racing along ridges, until at last he fell down from exhaustion.

—

When he came to, small creatures - rodents, or marsupials, he wasn’t sure - were running around, hiding in rock cracks and burrows. A few noticed him, and presumed him dead or soon to be. A rain storm loomed ever closer, and promised to sweep all incautious creatures away.

Napoleon got moving. He knew better now than to ignore their warnings. Sure enough, fat drops soon splattered the ground, and currents began to form as the water overtook the earth.

Running into a crevasse, desperately hoping to find himself a cranny or nook to press himself into until the flood was over, Napoleon stumbled into a cave that stretched upwards, away from the coming water.

It was still dry, the red soil still untouched by water that would turn it into a bland tan. Napoleon climbed upward, sniffing excitedly. A safe spot! And then, at the very top, a pale movement. Two other puppies!

"Mother? Is that you?" a sweet voice called out.

"Hello?" Napoleon couldn’t believe his eyes.

"A stranger! Get out, or we’ll attack!" a rougher one said. He knocked his sister down to Napoleon in the guise of a pounce.

They were creamy tan, with ears that were still floppy like his, but looked like they were going to lift up soon, likely into sharp points.

Nancy, for that was the girl puppy’s name, decided Napoleon was fine, and after clearing up that she and Syd (the other puppy) weren’t lost, that this was their home, she tried to play with Napoleon.

But it was not meant to be. A wave rushed into the cave, and soon caught up to where Napoleon and Nancy were standing, washing them away. Syd, safe on a rock shelf, screamed as his sister was thrown about, yelping. Napoleon managed to pull himself to sit on a rock shelf, a larger and stronger swimmer.

Napoleon took charge once he saw that Nancy was still in the water. He instructed her to keep talking, and to hold on.

Nancy disappeared for a moment, the boys’ hearts leaping into their throats. But then she reappeared on a rock, the water still lapping at her feet, threatening to catch her again.

Napoleon could feel his heart racing - all his troubles with water had lead right to this moment. He swam to Nancy’s rock, barely keeping his head above the water as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

But he made it! Too scared to swim, Napoleon coaxed Nancy onto his back. Confidence and a need to save her strengthened his paddles, as he pretended to be a boat, to distract her from panicking. Both stayed above water. He had a little trouble getting her onto the ‘dock’ -the rock shelf where her brother stood - but they managed.

And just as quickly as the rain had come, it stopped. And there, standing at the cave mouth, limned by the tentative sun, was a figure.

"It’s a wild dog!" exclaimed Napoleon in wonder.

"Of course it is. It’s our mother!" exclaimed Syd.

She shook the rainwater off, and smiled at the puppies.

"I’ve been with the wild dogs all along!" Napoleon couldn’t believe it.

In a comforting voice, the mother dingo said, "Syd. Nancy. Are you all right?" she panted. "Who is this?"

Shock at his own luck and a sudden drop in adrenaline hit Napoleon like a hammer, and he fainted.

—

He woke up hours later, with Nancy licking his face. After shrugging her off, and spotting her mother, he got straight to the point.

"Can I stay here with you? I want to be a wild dog."

"But what about your mother?" ask the dingo, her kind eyes watching from above.

"I want to live here. In the wild!" The other puppies pleaded his case too.

The mother dingo answered the only way she could: "Of course he can."

"I’m a wild dog. At last!"

All the puppies began to tussle out of sheer happiness.

—

The days passed by. The two dingo puppies played ‘Napoleon’ with the vanishing puddles, taking turns being rescued.

Both Napoleon and the mother watched over their antics. At the beginning, he would sometimes sit out of their games to make sure he did not tumble the other two puppies - being bigger and older, he could hurt them. But as time went on, he grew disillusioned with playing. For the last few days, he had not played at all, and only laid next to the dingo mother.

His new life in the wild didn’t quite satisfy him anymore. The thrill of living with real wild dogs was amazing, of course, but something felt missing. Napoleon thought it was just because they hadn’t started the more bloodthirsty aspects of the life, like fighting and hunting. But the dingo mother knew better, and so as she cuddled with the retriever puppy while he took a big nap, she made a plan.

—

"Wake up, Napoleon. Today is the day." She nudged him awake and led him out of the cave. “Come on, it will just be the two of us." She trotted it across a field of flat rocks, covered in red clay, and baked in the sun. Being unfamiliar with the terrain, Napoleon struggled to keep up, but was buoyed by enthusiasm.

"Tell me child; why did you leave home?" she asked.

"I wanted to go where there were no rules."

"And what did you find?" They crossed onto a plane of white sand.

"Well, I found that there were a lot of rules, about living with other animals, and being on your own."

Now they were walking parallel with the shore, black shells littering the ground. "And what did you want to do out here?"

“I wanted to hunt my food, and kill it!"

"And did you enjoy that?" Her voice continued to be kind.

"No. I ate moss instead." He confessed.

"Anything else you wanted?"

"Well, yeah! I wanted to stay up late and have fun all the time!"

"And did you? Have fun, all the time?" The two laid down, front paws ahead, watching as the sun bowed down to darkness.

“No. Sometimes it was scary. Lots of times I was alone."

"Then why do you want to be out here?"

"I want to be a wild dog! So I can be really brave and fearless!"

"But you’ve been that, all along. You couldn’t have come this far without being fearless. And it was YOUR bravery that saved Syd and Nancy." She paused, and then said, "In your heart, you’ve been a wild dog all along, Napoleon."

Their shadows grew long. "I guess I have!"

"Is there something more you want?".

"Well, yes."

"Tell me."

"I want – " Napoleon paused, for a moment, unsure if he was willing to say it. "I want to go home. I miss my mom."

"What if I told you I had a friend who could take you back?"

"Really?!"

"Come along." The sun‘s last rays lit the two dogs as they went back to the cave one last time.

—

The next day, Napoleon was treated to what was possibly the most inane song in existence as he rode in a red kangaroo’s pouch. Repeatedly, Napoleon was smashed full in the face with tall, bristly bushes and narrowly evaded what should have been easily avoided obstacles, such as trees. He called for help several times, but to no avail, as the kangaroo crooned to her ‘possum’. He tried hiding his face, but it didn’t fit well in the pouch.

As soon as she stopped, Napoleon hurried out and into the forest, to get away from her insanity. Somehow, he ran into the same koala as before.

"Well, well, " the koala drawled.

"Oh no, not him again!" Groaned the puppy.

"If it isn’t my favorite dining companion, the wild dog himself."

"No! I’m Napoleon! Wild house pet! Conqueror of the outback, and the backyard!" Napoleon declared, sure of himself.

“I can run fearless across waterfalls!" he yelled as he did just that.

The lorikeets, who still didn’t have anything better to do, mimicked him. "Little birds suck!" Was all he said, tricking them into insulting themselves once again.

Soon he was back at the beach where he first arrived. "Now what do I do?" he said, clambering over the rocks and pebbles that lined the shore. He could see home! But how was he to get across? Then he spotted his basket, a little worse for the wear, but still floating, and felt triumphant. He went over to the tide pool where it rested, bobbing occasionally with eddies of the waves.

But instead of it being empty, as he had assumed, a New Zealand Adélie penguin popped his head out! It was nearly full grown, but was still small and round.

They argued a bit, but the puppy was able to assert ownership over the basket, and then they fell to talking. As Conan the penguin kept extolling his fierce nature and super–penguin abilities, Napoleon had to laugh; the little bird was exactly like him at the beginning of his journey!

Conan’s speech started to turn dangerous, so Napoleon decided to tell his own story, hoping to help the penguin avoid his own mistakes.

—

By the time he finished, an unconvinced Conan stood watch as Napoleon struggled to climb into the basket – the plan was that he would be carried out into the bay at high tide during midnight. But the penguins' bravado dissolved as soon as he saw his family.

"Pengy!” a raucous voice called out. Conan tried to hide, but as his mother just called out “Pengy!” again, he reluctantly turned to face them. Napoleon laughed at the silly name.

Terribly embarrassed, Conan waddled up a dune to escape, only to find his family already there.

Apologetic, Napoleon convinced the family that he could persuade Conan to go home. He felt bad for making fun of Conan’s name, but still thought it best to try and stop any so-called adventuring – even going so far as to continue to call him Pengy.

Napoleon climbed into the basket before Conan could, annoying the penguin.

"It’s my turn to howl! You’ve had your fun!" said the penguin, who then howled in a goofy manner. Conan began waddling up a hill, continuing to monologue about his future adventures.

There was a low rumble. At first, it sounded like a vicious wind blowing through trees, but it soon transformed into a noise Napoleon knew and dreaded. It came from the hilltop.

"That sounds… Could it be?" Napoleon tilted his head in hopeful confusion. "Hello, is somebody else up here?"

Rocks fell. Napoleon knew it had to be her. "She’s back!" he yelped, voice high with fear.

Lightning illuminated a black figure, stalking downhill. Unconcerned and unaware, Conan carelessly looked for the cat, peering down and making empty threats, as the predator gazed from above. Thunder rolled, and again, the cat growled.

Napoleon scrambled out and up the hill. He couldn’t let that dumb bird die!

"Time to rid my house of the mouse!" the cat announced.

Finally, seeing her, Conan, ignorant of his impending mortality at the claws of the creature above, suavely said, "All right. Come on! Let’s go, hunt down a few."

"But I’ve already found one! An unusual, black and white mouse."

Napoleon finally arrived. "Leave the penguin alone!"

"Well, if it isn’t the Muffin mouse!", she hissed. "The mouse dies!" She lashed out at him, claws outstretched.

Finally getting a clue, Conan waddled away. “Well. There is such a thing as too much adventure!"

“Just you and me, wacko!" Napoleon challenged.

"Seems unfair, nine lives against one," the cat quipped.

Within his head, Napoleon quickly came up with a plan to get her into the water, where the cat seemed much less of a threat. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" he called, while backing closer to the water.

Showing her absolute detachment from reality, she followed his call. As both walked across constantly wave–beaten slippery rocks, one hit her body, and she slipped off the rock, yelling.

"Bull’s-eye!" Napoleon yelled, then gasped as he saw the drenched cat hissing from behind another rock.

"You’ll pay for that!" she vowed.

"Okay, it’s payday!" Napoleon ran up a hill.

The cat shook herself and followed.

"Come on!" he taunted. "Come after me!" Napoleon slipped and loosened some rocks, sending them tumbling at the cat's face.

"No!" she wailed, unable to stop as the rocks underneath her paws became loose and pulled her now towards the edge. "Kill! No!" she hooked a paw on the ledge as more rocks tumbled down, persistent to the last.

"Running out of lives?" Napoleon said unsympathetically.

"I still have many more!" Her paw was slipping. "Come, let me slash you!"

“Happy landings!"

"Slash you with-" She shrieked, falling to the dark depths below.

Napoleon pulled himself to the peak, and looked down at the tumultuous water. "I knew that cat was on the edge." The waves raged on. "Look at that! Guess she used up her lives." Suddenly, he remembered Conan. "But what about that penguin? Hey Pengy, you down there?"

The cat watched the golden figure from behind, hate burning in her eyes. She hissed, and Napoleon sent a glance her way, but he must have not seen her, for she she was able to rush behind and headbutt him off the cliff.

She laughed at the puppy stuck on the ledge below. "That’s it! No more games."

"Games?!" exclaimed Napoleon incredulously.

The cat encouraged the puppy to jump to his blue death; the waves beat mercilessly upon the shore.

He refused and tried to appeal to their common background; after all, weren’t they both just lost house pets?

She hissed and crept her way down to him, telling him to shut up and boxing his ears. It was looking a bit dire.

“Hey, ‘fraidy cat!" called Conan from further down. No way was he going to let some cat hurt his friend!

This distracted the cat just enough for Napoleon to push her off the ledge and into the basket waiting below.

She laughed maniacally as the impact of her fall dislodged the basket from the rocks and pulled her out into the bay.

Conan jeered.

From the ledge, Napoleon heard a howl. Looking up, he saw the spirit of a wild dog; and just as soon as it appeared, it was gone.

"I really am a wild dog, " he murmured in awe. But his awe soon drained; forlornly he watched his way home disappear, yowling into the night.

—

Morning came.

Conan questioned Napoleon's plan to get home, but the puppy had no idea what to do. He was very distraught.

Then Conan spotted something, approaching them from the water. A green sea turtle, with something … on its back?

It was Birdo!

Puppy and galah reunited, Napoleon agreed that his friend was right all along, and Birdo brought good news. He had found Napoleon a way home!

As Napoleon stood on the turtle’s back, letting it take him back to Sydney, he bid his friends goodbye, reminding them to come visit soon.

—

Running, running, running, Napoleon made his way home. His tail wagged like a propeller as he saw a familiar yard.

"Mum! Mum! Mum! Mummy!"

His mother, who had just a moment before had been slumped mournfully, stepped out of her dog house and began a full body wag. “Muffin? Is that you?!" She couldn’t believe her ears.

"Mum! Mummy!"

She scanned the yard, but could not see her baby.

"Mum!"

“Well come here!" she said desperately. "Come here! Let me put my paws around you!"

His little head peeked over the patio wall. "Mum! It's me! I’m back! You wouldn’t believe where I’ve been!" He put his front paws on top of the wall.

She spun around, unable to contain herself, held back by the rope attached to the doghouse. "Come here! You didn’t get hurt, did you? What happened to you!?"

Maddeningly, he came no closer. "What happened? Everything happened to me!"

"Careful! You can’t get over that wall!”

"Are you kidding? Piece of cake!" He leapt down, and ran to his mother, nearly smashing into her face out of sheer exuberance.

They jumped and tumbled and kissed joyfully, relief and love filling their hearts. Mother refused to let son out of her grasp and finally, the world was right again.

"Muffin, I want you to promise me you’ll never run away like that again."

"I won’t. And I want you to promise me something."

His mother laughed. "Anything darling, anything."

"I want you to call me Napoleon."

"From now on, you’re my Napoleon."

—

Nobody noticed the cat peering over the wall. "Ah, not a mouse. A dog! Dog must die!"

Napoleon Explanation

So this was a story that took me a long, long time. It’s definitely my longest adaption of film, tv or podcasts yet - and I hope it stays that way! The adaption ended up a little dry, but I feel that I was able to describe the events effectively, and utilize the dialogue (the hardest part to adapt) sparingly but appropriately. At the beginning of my transcription, I tried to avoid any dialogue at all, but oh well. This covers the entire movie, a movie without any books or scripts to help me avoid typing.

Last summer, 2023, I had the job of Lost Parents. That basically meant I’m the person lost children are brought to if the security guards can’t find their parents right away. Eventually, a security guard brings the guardians, or the guardians come themselves, and pick up the kid(s). Which is all fine and dandy, especially since I don’t have kids for most of the shift. Kids have stayed with me for over two hours, but usually they’re gone within half an hour and I’m rarely brought any in the mornings. So I get projects like these done!

The movie is on youtube (see link), so over several days I slowly worked through it and wrote out all relevant details into a notebook (I find writing easier if I start in a notebook and type it into a document later - if I just start on a document I never finish. Plus I wasn’t really supposed to have my phone out, and switching between apps is annoying). Then I typed it up - often via voice-to-text, unless I was recording dialogue. For some reason, the program does not recognize quotation marks very often. Then I fixed it up and whalla! What you see above is what I wrote!

But I didn’t finish editing it until after that summer, because I was more interested in drawing the pictures. In fact, drawing the title picture was the first thing I did!

To be honest, I often drew the title pictures well before anything else. They were easy.

This title picture was in reference to the old VHS cover I used to have for this movie. It’s an Australian movie, so they speak English, but for some reason they released an American dub and released it over here. So I’ve loved this movie ever since I could remember. But the balloon scenes were iconic, so of course I had to include it. Especially since I decided this adaption would only have four pictures total. As I wanted to save my labor for my more original projects, and because this was a movie, it has less pictures.

The second picture is Napoleon getting chased by the cat. It used to scare me as a kid, so I always had a clear picture of it in my head. Plus, it serves to contrast Napoleon’s bravery in later scenes.

The third picture is Napoleon saving Nancy. I basically just wanted to draw all the puppies and Napoleon being brave. So we ended up with that part!

Last is Napoleon and Pengy/Conan looking up at the wild dog spirit. It’s the least accurate picture, but one I felt fit well. In the movie, Napoleon and Pengy look up to see a wild dog on top of a cliff who gets swept away by mist. But considering that they were still up on the high parts of the cliff at the end of the fight, the timing and location doesn’t quite make sense. And drawing *lineart* of mist is hard with my style, and requires more texture than fits in line with my most recent coloring book drawings. Way back at the beginning, I used to add details like shading, lines of hair and such, but that gets in the way of coloring, so I stopped. As such, I adapted it to fit my needs. Now Napoleon and Pengy/Conan are in the shot (I wanted to include both), and the wild dog spirit is in the clods and stars! I’m decided that the storm went away.

The Pengy vs. Conan thing was something of which I struggled when writing the last part. I support chosen names, especially when the old names totally don’t fit anymore. Hell, Napoleon insists on being Napoleon right to the end! But I decided since this was basically from his viewpoint, he would not call the penguin Conan, not even in his head. For the rest of the movie, after all, he calls the penguin Pengy. So while this choice does not reflect my preferences, I think it does reflect Napoleon’s.

Last thought: the setting of this story is genuinely fantasy. I think the creators wanted to go for a pan-Australian vibe; so many different ecosystems from across the continent are shown in the film. This means, of course, that Napoleon went to a fantasy kind of island across from the city though. There is nowhere in Australia where ALL of those environments are present. If he truly walked the entirety of Australia, a continent, he would have been a grown dog well before the end of the movie. But since he is still a puppy by the end, that just means he went to a fantasy Australia. Which is kind of cool.

Hope you enjoyed, and please check the movie out!

[zappernaut]

FLASHBANG first two elements done! Part of the reason I did these two so quickly is that fact that I kind of already had their designs planned out in my head.

For Hydrogen, since its the first element in the table along with the fact that it is also pretty incomplete, I decided to make it a child. He's pretty egotistical as children can be, he thinks he's on top of the world dir to not being in a set group and he can fly due to being the lightest. For his design I kind of wanted to make a sort of water theme due to H²O existing, and added the wings to showcase his flight and the fact that he's a energetic little feller.

Helium I had far more fun doing if I'm honest. I wanted to mush the idea of helium balloons and scuba diving together due to the fact that helium is in both. So now she's a scuba diver who makes balloon toys in her free time. Tried to make her scuba kit look like balloons as a nod to that. I'm thinking of making all the noble gases have masks of some sort. Or not, but i do want to keep a sense of unity between groups.

Anyhow the next two (or three, I have plans for Carbon and Oxygen so I may do the next three together and quickly)

[boldlyspeedydreamerreturns]

this is a very silly request but could you write a Helluva one shot about the characters decorating for a party only for Blitzo, Fizzaroli and Stolas to all get distracted by inhaling helium balloons and joking around together with squeaky helium voices?

feel free to add any other characters you want like Ozzie or Loona for example

Aww, this is silly, but yes, I can do it. 👍

At Asmodeus' palace, Blitz and Stolas are running around with Fizz trying to get everything set up quickly. Fizz smiles at the two.

"Thanks for helping me put together Ozzie's surprise birthday party. He always makes a fuss that he's too old to celebrate his birthday, but I love to spoil him."

*Stolas and Blitz both nod.*

"It was our pleasure, dear Fizzarolli. Asmodeus is a good friend, of course we were happy to assist."

"Yeah, plus you went all out on dinner. Who knew big Ozz had such a thing for comfort food?"

Fizz grabbed the helium tank and started blowing up more balloons. He then got an idea and chuckled to himself. He got Blitz's attention.

"Hey Blitz, remember this?"

He took a puff of the helium.

"Howdy boys and girls. It's time for the clown parade!"

Blitz burst out laughing. Fizz started marching in a circle, singing in the high pitched helium voice.

"Yes today, yes today, yes today is the clown parade. Grab your shoes, grab your nose, grab your friends and here we go~!"

The two couldn't stop laughing, falling over themselves as they almost couldn't breathe anymore. Stolas watched them curiously for a minute.

"Is this...a reference to something? I'm afraid I don't get the joke."

Blitz stopped laughing just enough to talk.

"Growing up in the circus, to drum up business my dad would make all of us walk around town in a "clown parade" it was so stupid. He would suck in a bunch of helium and sing that damn song."

He started laughing harder again, which made Stolas laugh too. Fizz took another hit of the helium.

"Blitzo, how many times do I have to tell you, don't throw too much confetti. That shit ain't cheap ya know!"

They all started laughing harder, not even noticing that Asmodeus had returned. He watched the trio amused. He looked around and saw the mostly finished party, as well as the fabulous dinner.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Fizz, Blitz, and Stolas all jumped when Ozzie spoke. Fizz grinned and jumped into his boyfriend's arms.

"Ozz, you're home early! Happy birthday, babe."

Asmodeus couldn't help a chuckle as Fizz still had the high voice. They kissed, then he smiled at Stolas and Blitz.

"Did you two help him with this silly plan?'

Stolas nodded happily while Blitz was still trying to compose himself from laughing so hard.

"Indeed we did. Fizzarolli asked us to assist in getting your party set up. Surprise! Happy birthday, Asmodeus."

Ozzie felt a swell in his heart. His boyfriend, and his two newest friends all coming together to give him a surprise like this.

"Thank you, Stolas. Now, let's eat before the food gets cold. I see some baked mac and cheese that's calling my name."

The four all sat down at the table, enjoying the small feast that was before them. Once dinner was finished Ozzie enjoyed opening his gifts and chatting with everyone. It was a nice evening. Nothing big or extravagant. Just a simple, fun time with people he cared for. A while later Stolas and Blitz both left, leaving Ozz and Fizz alone.

"This was perfect, froggie. Thank you. I love you so much."

Fizz nuzzled Ozzie and kissed him tenderly.

"The night's not over yet. You still have one more gift. But it's in the bedroom."

Asmodeus had a good idea of what this gift is. He took Fizz into his arms and started towards their room. The night was just beginning for them.

[kidsbirthdayballoondecorations]

Birthday Decoration Fun and Creative Ideas at Home

Birthdays mark joyous milestones, infusing our lives with happiness and delight. Whether it's a milestone like your child's 1st or 2nd birthday, or a celebration for a friend, family, or spouse member, birthday decorations play a crucial role in setting the mood for the party. Decorating your home with backdrops, garlands, latex party balloons, and more can turn any space into a festive and memorable environment. This article will explore various kids birthday decoration -DecorSpree ideas you can quickly implement at home, creating cherished moments for your loved ones.

1. Backdrop Extravaganza:

Consider a themed background featuring their favorite characters or interests if it's a kid's birthday. For a touch of elegance, opt for a floral or balloon backdrop.

2. Garland Galore:

Garlands are versatile and add a festive touch to any celebration. Make DIY garlands using paper, felt, or artificial flowers. You can drape them along walls and doorways or hang them above the dining table for a charming effect. Mixing and matching colors can create a cheerful and vibrant ambiance.

3. Latex Party Balloons:

Balloons are an indispensable part of any birthday celebration. Decorate your home with an array of latex party balloons in various colors and sizes. Use helium balloons to create floating displays, fill them with air, and arrange them creatively around the room. You can even write personalized messages on the balloons to make the birthday boy or girl feel extra special.

4. A Family Affair:

Involve the entire family in the decoration process. Let mom, dad, daughter, son, husband, wife, and friends come together to create a memorable birthday surprise. Engaging in this delightful bonding activity adds to the fun. It infuses the celebration with more profound meaning and heartfelt emotions.

5. Milestone Celebrations:

For a child's 1st birthday, opt for adorable decorations with soft colors. For a 2nd birthday, go for vibrant and bright decorations that reflect the child's growing personality.

6. Balloon Decoration at Home:

Balloons are the life of the party, and you can only have a few of them. Fill the living room, kid's room, or terrace with colorful balloons to create a festive atmosphere. You can use balloon bouquets, balloon arches, or even balloon centerpieces for the dining table.

7. Party All Night:

Add a touch of magic with LED balloons for a birthday celebration that goes into the night. These balloons have built-in lights that create a mesmerizing glow, perfect for an enchanting night party.

8. Celebrate with Friends:

Surprise your friend with a birthday bash they will remember. Arrange a surprise party at home with personalized decorations and their favorite treats. Balloon decoration near me services can help you plan and execute the perfect surprise.

9. Balloon Decoration Services in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Bangalore, Faridabad, Ghaziabad:

Suppose you need more time or need professional assistance. In that case, many balloon decoration services operate in major cities like Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Bangalore, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad. These services offer many options to suit your theme and preferences, making your birthday decoration hassle-free.

10. Terrace Delight:

For a unique celebration, take the party to the terrace. Decorate the outdoor space with balloons and garlands, and enjoy a birthday celebration under the open sky.

In conclusion, birthday decorations at home can be a delightful experience for everyone involved. Plan a fantastic birthday decoration, and create beautiful memories with your loved ones.

[random-conspiracy]

I carry my ideas around like a bunch of balloons 🎈🎈🎈

I start my day by taking all the balloons that floated to the ceiling overnight. Every balloon is a simple concept or idea. Simple things that I need to remember like (BRUSH YOUR TEETH) and (WATER YOUR PLANT) and (SEND THAT IMPORTANT TEXT).

Simple things :)

Now I have a lot of bright colored balloons in my left hand. I can handle them. Of course I can. I take another balloon (BUY A PAIR OF EARPHONES) because I need to remember that, I like to hear music. And crossing the street I take another one (CONVEYOR-BELT SUSHI) because it’s a great idea for a drawing. 

Every open tab is a balloon. Every sticky note is a balloon. Every end-date, every idea, every detail is a balloon. Everything I need to write in my arm or my hand is a bright balloon.

I need to remember, (I MUST REMEMBER). If I don’t see my ideas, they don’t exist. Now my hand is full of balloons. I can barely hold them all and even worse, I took some of them without realizing. (THAT LADY’S PURSE IS RED), (THERE ARE NO CLOUDS), (I FEEL HUNGRY).

Every time I need to take another one, I open my hand and two or three find their chance to escape.

No! NO! Have you ever felt the desperation of letting go of a balloon and not being able to reach it? You reach out for it, but you can't do more without risking losing the rest. And you see it slowly receding into the air. Farther and farther away from you, until it's so far away you can barely see it. Floating alone in the middle of the sky. Which one was that??? Was something important??? (SHIT I FORGET THAT). And you will never be able to remember. (I HOPE THEY WEREN’T SOMETHING IMPORTANT).

I check them all. (DID I SEND THAT TEXT?), (WHAT AM I DOING?), (KARKAT VANTAS, MY BELOVED. I SHOULD MAKE A DRAWING TOO), (ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN END DATE 04/03/2023), (LOOK , A BUTTERFLY), (BALLOONS = IDEAS. IDEA FOR A TEXT) no... I can’t remember anymore.

Oblivion is bad. Oblivion is bad. I must not forget! The ballons are up and totally gone. Gone!

My hands are full of balloons. I feel like an anxious clown. Suddendly, a rainbow of light shines on my face. Oh... so beautiful... Elevated by the helium of the balloons, my feet lift off the ground, my head is in the clouds. For a minute or three, I’m floating... Just like fliying... and then... sorry, what were you saying?

No. No. No. I must keep my feet inside the line. Focus. Focus. Focus. Focus... Focus... (FOCUS)... (FOCUS)...

At the end of the day, I carry a bunch of deflated ballons. Some of them exploted hours ago, some of them I set then free with relief once finished the task. And some of them are floating hundreds of miles away and I’ll never be able to remember what they meant. 

Inside my room, I open my hands and set them all wander on the ceiling. 

I feel lighter and relieved. 

And slightly empty, 

(LIKE A BALLOON?)

[4emfox]

The String

The first to die was Religion.

At birth I was given the string to a helium filled balloon. I was told this was the safest, best way to navigate life — above all the spiritual dangers of the world. And as an obedient kid, I listened.

Never, ever look down, they said. So, I held tight, didn’t let go. Floating ever higher. Er…maybe just holding ever tighter.

Eventually, my wrist became fatigued. My muscles and joints sore from how tightly I held on. But never, ever looking down. Never feeling safe enough to let go.

As I grew, the persistent ache started to make the thought of plunging to my spiritual death from however high I was seem more and more pleasing.

The same words played obsessively in my mind, “I’m loosening my grip…I’m starting to slip…I’m afraid I’ll shatter like glass!” Immediately my grip would tighten.

Every day.

I’m loosening my grip…I’m starting to slip…

I’m loosening my grip…I’m starting to slip…

I’m loosening my grip…I’m starting to slip…I’m afraid I’ll shatter like glass!”

Tighten.

Until one day….

I loosen my grip,

I start to slip,

Still afraid I’ll shatter like glass.

But I opened my hand, let go of the string and,

GASP!

It was just grass.

The second to die was my marriage.

Through tangled balloon strings, perceived values, and cultural expectations…when I let go of my string and felt the grass between my toes for the first time, a lot of other things — and people — became disentangled.

This was one of the harder parts. Letting go sounds easy…but letting go of something other people value scares them. They take it personally. All of a sudden, I was contagious to everyone who still held tightly to their string.

My marriage was built on the foundation of the string and the balloon. Once I let go, there was nothing else to hold onto.

The third to die were my values.

But my values were fucked. My values taught me that I was exceptionally special. Chosen. That *this string* was only for a few, select people. That floating above them made me better than them.

I didn’t drink coffee. I didn’t drink alcohol. I didn’t engage in sex outside of marriage. I didn’t get tattoos. I didn’t even watch R-rated movies. This made me pure (squee). Which made others who did these things not pure.

My *values* were judgmental by default.

When I let go of my spiritual string, the first value to disentangle from my spiritual web was the R-rated movie…in the form of The 40-Year-Old Virgin. As a 23 year old, it resonated. It was the first time I’d seen that many sexualized tits in a movie. I felt both free and horrified.

Next, I got a tattoo. In the 6th grade I drew a little flower on my hip and proclaimed I would one day get a tattoo. Those around me said I would feel Satan’s Power over me, or at least the lack of the presence of the Holy Ghost if I didn’t adhere to all the rules of The String. And I walked outta that tattoo shop feeling…like myself. Liberated. I tested the cultural norms I had been taught…and I won.

Then, I drank alcohol. But no one had given me any advice about how to drink responsibly — only not to drink at all. So I downed a whole bottle of White Beringer Zinfandel in about 20 mins because being drunk looked fun…

Being that drunk was not fun.

Once I popped the coffee-cherry (which is now incorporated into my morning ritual), I began to engage in extra-marital sex. The last value to fall.

At first the idea of being a “licked cupcake” or a “chewed piece of gum” dominated my mind. I was slutty. I was going against everything I was taught. After all, fornication is the Sin Next to Murder in Mormonism.

Eventually, the imprint from that part of the string had faded. Leaving me to be an almost-normal, coffee drinking, alcohol indulging, rated R movie watching, sexually empowered, full person. With values that serve me and the people around me, regardless of their lifestyle or choices.

But first, I had to die.

I was the fourth death.

I held onto my spiritual string for the better part of 23 years. So tightly that it left imprints that took time to fade. It was my entire identity. Everyone around me — family, friends, people I worked with — validated my beliefs with their own.

Who would I be without my string?

The burden of The String began to cloud my mind and make me sick. I was in despair — and could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. When I learned that there was nothing beneath me but grass, I felt a profound betrayal and sunk into a deep, desperate depression.

As a strong minded, relatively self-aware 23 year old — I no longer knew who I was. I was nothing. I was no one. I used to be exceptionally special. Chosen. And now I wasn’t.

The imprints from the string slowly faded, leaving a faint scar (in the form of anxiety and thinking errors). But when I died…when my worst fear came true and I let go of that string, my death was…gentle…

No fire and brimstone. No thunder and lightning supplemented by the boom of God’s voice damning me. No guilt.

The depression faded, and like the worn out analogy of the phoenix, I was reborn as myself from my own ashes. And I saw that I was exactly the same…but better.

[thebingetown]

A Simple Yet Luxurious Birthday Decorations at Home

Forget expensive venues! Birthdays are all about celebrating with loved ones, and an intimate gathering at home can be just as magical. Here's how to turn your humble abode into a festive haven for the next birthday bash. Pro-Tip: Planning is Your Party BFF

Before you dive headfirst into decor, a little planning goes a long way. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Themed or Not Themed? Is your bestie obsessed with superheroes? Plan a superhero bash! Going for a more sophisticated vibe? A masquerade ball might be perfect! A theme helps tie your decorations together for a cohesive look.

DIY or Delegate? Channel your inner artist and craft some decorations yourself, or enlist the help of your family and friends. Working together can be a fun way to bond!

Budgeting Basics: Don't break the bank! There are plenty of budget-friendly options to create a stunning ambiance.

Let's Get Decorating!

Now for the fun part: transforming your space! Here are some ideas to spark your creativity:

Banner Bonanza: Banners are a classic for a reason. They're versatile and can be customized with the birthday person's name, age, or even a funny message. Think beyond plain paper and consider fabric or giant balloon numbers for a touch of grandeur.

Balloon Extravaganza: Who doesn't love balloons? These whimsical decorations come in a plethora of colors and sizes. For a hassle-free approach, fill some with helium and let them float to the ceiling. Feeling fancy? Opt for balloons filled with confetti or glitter, or create a show-stopping archway for an impressive entrance.

Tableware Transformation: Don't underestimate the power of tableware! Match your plates, cutlery, and cups to your theme. Superhero party? Look for plates emblazoned with their favorite heroes!

Fun and Interactive Ideas for Your Guests

DIY Photo Booth: This is a guaranteed hit, especially with teens and adults. Create a backdrop using a sequin curtain, balloons, or streamers. Provide fun props like hats, glasses, and signs with quirky phrases to add a touch of silliness to their photos.

Floral Flair: Flowers add a touch of elegance and beauty to any celebration. Select blooms that resonate with the occasion. Roses symbolize love and passion, while lilies represent purity and new beginnings.

Themed Birthday Extravaganza!

Planning a themed party? We've got you covered! Here's a glimpse into a dazzling Bollywood bash:

Entrance Extravaganza: Welcome your guests with a grand archway adorned with marigold garlands, fabric drapes, and fairy lights. Don't forget the traditional diyas (oil lamps) for an extra touch of warmth, but remember to prioritize safety with proper placement.

Bollywood Backdrop: Channel your inner movie buff and use movie posters or cutouts of iconic actors for your backdrop. Incorporate lanterns, decorative elephants, and ornately patterned cushions to complete the ambiance.

It's All About the Experience!

While decor sets the mood, it's the experiences that truly make a birthday celebration unforgettable. Think about incorporating games, activities, or even a curated playlist tailored to the birthday person's taste. Luckily, there are event spaces such as The Binge Town as a beacon of light for those who are looking to create an unforgettable birthday celebration without having to dig into your savings.

Remember, the key to a successful celebration is to embrace creativity, personalize the experience, and most importantly, have fun! So, unleash your inner party planner and get ready to create a birthday bash that will be remembered for years to come!

[dp7941746]

TITLE: Creative and Budget-Friendly Baby Shower Decoration Ideas

Introduction: The leading rental solution provider, you can achieve stunning decorations without breaking the bank. From incorporating traditional elements like seemantham decoration to infusing divine grace with godh bharai decoration, these ideas are tailored to make your baby shower a truly unforgettable event. Preparing for the arrival of a new bundle of joy is a moment filled with excitement and anticipation, and what better way to celebrate than with a memorable baby shower? In this comprehensive guide, we unveil creative and budget-friendly baby shower decorations ideas that will elevate your celebration to new heights. With Take Rent Pe.

1. DIY Balloon Garland: Balloons are a classic and budget-friendly decoration option for any baby shower. Take your balloon decor to the next level by creating a stunning DIY balloon garland. Mix and match colors and sizes to complement your theme. Incorporate themed foil balloons or letters to personalize the garland.        With Take Rent Pe, you can rent helium tanks and balloon pumps to make the DIY process hassle-free. Elevate your baby shower decorations with a beautiful balloon garland that adds a touch of whimsy and elegance to the celebration. The DIY approach not only saves you money but also allows you to unleash your creativity and customize the garland to suit your preferences. 2. Themed Table Centerpieces: Transform your baby shower tables into works of art with themed table centerpieces. Assert your commitment to style by incorporating elements that reflect the theme of the celebration. From floral arrangements to baby-themed props, the possibilities are endless. Consider incorporating elements of seemantham decoration or godh bharai decoration to add a traditional touch to the centerpieces. Take Rent Pe offers a wide range of table decor items for rent, allowing you to create stunning centerpieces without exceeding your budget. Personalize each table with unique decorations that enhance the overall ambiance of the baby shower. Themed table centerpieces are a budget-friendly way to make a statement and impress your guests. 3. DIY Photo Booth: Take Rent Pe offers a variety of backdrop options for rent, ensuring you can create a photo booth that fits your budget and theme. Encourage guests to snap photos throughout the event and provide them with instant prints or a digital gallery to cherish the memories. A DIY photo booth is a budget-friendly way to add entertainment and excitement to your baby shower while creating lasting memories for everyone involved. Capture memories that will last a lifetime with a DIY photo booth at your baby shower. Assert your commitment to fun and creativity by setting up a designated photo booth area with a backdrop that complements your theme. Incorporate props like baby bottles, pacifiers, and onesies to add a playful touch to the photos. 4. Personalized Signage: Add a personalized touch to your baby shower decorations with customized signage. Assert your commitment to uniqueness by displaying signs featuring the baby's name, due date, or a special message. Incorporate elements of seemantham decoration or godh bharai decoration to infuse traditional charm into the signage. Take Rent Pe offers a range of signage options for rent, allowing you to create personalized decor without exceeding your budget. From chalkboard signs to acrylic boards, there are endless possibilities to customize signage for your baby shower. Personalized signage adds a special touch to the celebration and serves as a cherished keepsake for the parents-to-be. Planning a memorable baby shower doesn't have to break the bank. With these creative and budget-friendly decoration ideas, you can elevate your celebration without compromising on style or quality. From DIY balloon garlands to themed table centerpieces, there are plenty of options to suit every budget and theme. With Take Rent Pe, you can access a wide range of rental items to bring your vision to life without exceeding your budget. Assert your commitment to creativity, style, and tradition with these stunning baby shower decoration ideas. Cheers to a joyful and budget-friendly celebration that will create lasting memories for the parents-to-be and their loved ones!

[saskiamcc]

Mr Balloonhead Man - Post-Production (Sound)

After a few meetings with Alex about sound, I was confident that I gave him enough time to experiment with the soundscape. I came into SAS to visit him after the first draft and gave him a few notes about the montage scene - specifically that I thought it could be even more intense, which Duncan agreed with.

I casted Melissa Ainsworth, an MA acting student that I have worked with previously, as Sarah - Mr Balloonhead Man's boss. I organised a voiceover session with her at the screen academy and we were able to add her lines to the interior scene. On set, I had to read the lines (I was not a very good voice actor), so hearing Sarah's character come to life through Melissa made me really excited! Alex then added an effect which made it sound like she was on the other end of the phone, which really added to the scene, giving it more depth and character!!

Duncan and I had a few discussions about the score, with our first idea being the use of Bob Dylan's first album which was copyright free and available for public use. However after a few discussions, we found that Max's dad has a wonderful song which is called Helium Balloon and fits perfectly with our film. We contacted Tristan and he agreed that we could use the song!! The song adds to the heartwarming last scene and is also incredibly catchy, making it a really memorable and wonderful ending.

Alex did a fantastic job with the soundscape, creating a world which showed us the anxiety that Mr Balloonhead Man feels when he steps outside of the comfort of his own flat. My favourite little additions that Alex made are the squeaks when Mr Balloonhead Man moves :)

[zenasflower]

Flowers in Liverpool

Flowers in Liverpool can be found in many shops and venues. They can be used for decorations or as gifts. They also symbolize certain holidays.

Iris: These unique flowers are known for their ruffled petals and vibrant colors. They can add texture and beauty to bouquets and gardens. Irises are often associated with wisdom and intelligence.

Fishlocks Flowers

This store is the best Flower Delivery in Liverpool that delivers flowers for various occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, and weddings. Their customer service is excellent and they have a great selection of flowers that are sure to make your loved one smile. They also offer a wide range of gifts like champagne, chocolates, and teddies.

This flower shop is a top choice for weddings and offers bouquets in traditional and contemporary styles. They are also experts in designing bouquets for funerals and can even deliver nationwide. They accept most major credit and debit cards. Their prices are a little higher than average but their quality is top-notch. Their delivery service is quick and reliable. They can also deliver a bouquet the same day you order.

Suttons House of Flowers

Dovedale Florist lives up to its trading name by using flowers that evoke peace, gentleness, and faith. Its floral emblem is the Cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis), which is native to much of the UK and is especially resplendent in Sutton and the surrounding communities.

The company also offers gifts such as helium balloons and luxury hampers. It can deliver your order in Liverpool and across the country. Its delivery services are fast and efficient. Customers have praised their helpful and kind staff.

The company is a local independent florist that specializes in wedding flowers. Its bouquets are hand-crafted with care and attention to detail. Their team offers various arrangements for special occasions, including birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day. They also offer sympathy funeral flowers for those who have lost a loved one.

Lula Flower Shop

Located on Prescot Street, Lula Flower Shop is an artisanal haven that is a testament to Liverpool's floral artistry. From single roses for a romantic date to globes of tulips for a celebratory brunch, this florist has something for every occasion.

UK merchants often offer loyalty programs with discounts for their most valued buyers. These programs typically give buyers the ability to accumulate points or rewards for their purchases, which can be exchanged for additional benefits like free items or discounts on future purchases.

Some merchants also provide teachers with fabulous discounts on a wide selection

of different products and services. It's always a good idea to check the website or subscribe to the email newsletter of your favorite merchant to find out if they offer teacher discounts on a continuous basis or during specific promotions.

Dutch Flower Shop

Dutch Flower Shop is a flower shop located on Woolton Road Wavertree. It is an independent florist that specializes in weddings and funeral flowers and has been around for over 35 years. It is a family-run business and its customer service has received good reviews.

Its team has created floral arrangements for celebrities such as Coleen Rooney and Liverpool FC’s players. The staff also caters to events and weddings in the city.

The store also offers Floral Workshops to teach you how to make your own flower arrangement. The workshops are led by the store’s in-house florists who pack their sessions with insider tips gleaned from over 36 years in the industry. Their workshop offerings are suitable for people of all skill levels. The workshops have received good reviews.

Booker Flowers and Gifts

Booker Flowers and Gifts is an award-winning florist in Liverpool. They specialise in hand made arrangements using only top-grade flowers. They offer same day and three hour flower delivery in the local area, as well as UK and worldwide deliveries via Interflora. They are also rated best by ‘Three Best Rated’ and North West Regional Winner at the English Wedding Awards.

They are a flourishing floral boutique that offers wedding flowers in Liverpool, Merseyside, Cheshire and Runcorn. Their creative florists Gemma and her team will happily schedule a consultation with you to help craft your dream wedding arrangement. They can design everything from bespoke wedding bouquets and buttonholes to exquisite hairpieces and enchanting car decor.

They also make rose bouquets for Valentine’s Day. Their roses are arranged in a box that keeps the petals fresh for up to a year.

[decorator1]

Creative and Budget-Friendly Baby Shower Decoration Ideas - Take Rent Pe

Introduction: The leading rental solution provider, you can achieve stunning decorations without breaking the bank. From incorporating traditional elements like Seemantham decoration to infusing divine grace with godh bharai decoration, these ideas are tailored to make your baby shower a truly unforgettable event. Preparing for the arrival of a new bundle of joy is a moment filled with excitement and anticipation, and what better way to celebrate than with a memorable baby shower? In this comprehensive guide, we unveil creative and budget-friendly baby shower decorations ideas that will elevate your celebration to new heights. With Take Rent Pe. 1. DIY Balloon Garland: Balloons are a classic and budget-friendly decoration option for any baby shower. Take your balloon decor to the next level by creating a stunning DIY balloon garland. Mix and match colors and sizes to complement your theme. Incorporate themed foil balloons or letters to personalize the garland. With Take Rent Pe, you can rent helium tanks and balloon pumps to make the DIY process hassle-free. Elevate your baby shower decorations with a beautiful balloon garland that adds a touch of whimsy and elegance to the celebration. The DIY approach not only saves you money but also allows you to unleash your creativity and customize the garland to suit your preferences. 2. Themed Table Centerpieces: Transform your baby shower tables into works of art with themed table centerpieces. Assert your commitment to style by incorporating elements that reflect the theme of the celebration. From floral arrangements to baby-themed props, the possibilities are endless. Consider incorporating elements of seemantham decoration or godh bharai decoration to add a traditional touch to the centerpieces.

[memorableeventz]

Balloon Decorations for Party

Balloon decorations for party add a celebratory touch to any event. These versatile decorations are impactful, easy to make, and affordable.

If you’re throwing a graduation party for your son or daughter, these balloon polka dots are the perfect way to display yearbook superlatives. They also work well for a backyard BBQ or seasonal birthday party.

Helium Balloon Decoration

Balloons are a staple of party decorations. They're usually used to create arches, columns and centerpieces but can also be modeled into more ambitious balloon sculptures.

Fill an alcove with a bunch of coordinating colored balloons to create an eyecatching focal point. This would be perfect for a wedding reception, anniversary or graduation party.

Add a personal touch to any celebration by attaching photos to a bunch of balloons. This idea is perfect for a baby shower, birthday or graduation party.

Personalized Balloons

Personalized balloon decorations for party with names and phrases are the perfect way to add a special touch to any party. They’re a great option for children’s birthday parties, and they can also be used to celebrate an anniversary or holiday.

Using custom printed balloons is an easy and cost-effective way to make an event more memorable. Printed balloons can be used to reveal baby genders, jazz up anniversaries, spice up Valentine’s Day, and liven up NYE parties. You can even use inside jokes and memories to make the birthday boy or girl feel extra special. The best part is that there’s no minimum order!

Balloon Centerpieces

A balloon centerpiece is a great way to make your party table look more special. The key is to choose a design that suits the event theme or color scheme. You can also use a variety of balloon sizes and shapes to create visual appeal.

Create a hoop balloon wreath that matches your party colors to serve as an attention-grabbing centerpiece. Or, try a confetti balloon centerpiece to add a pop of color to your table.

Balloons are an affordable and versatile option for table decorations. Whether you're planning a themed birthday party or a summer celebration, these ideas for balloon centerpieces will brighten your party tables.

Balloon Chandelier

Whether it's for an engagement party, birthday or other celebration, a photo balloon decoration wall chandelier is sure to catch everyone's eye and spark memories. This DIY decoration is easy to do and so effective.

To make your own, you will need two large hoops and some short strings. Start by creating an 'x' with the two long strings across the top of the big hoop then suspend the smaller hoop from the 'x' using four shorter strings.

Next, stick your photos on the 5x7 card stock with double sided tape and attach curling ribbon to all of them. After the party, your guests can take the photos home with them.

Balloon Picture Frame

A balloon picture frame makes a show-stopping backdrop for guests' photos at birthday parties or other celebratory events. This unique balloon decoration idea is also a fun and easy DIY project that gives your event a custom look.

Bring out your inner artistic image with a free-standing sculptured balloon frame that can hold 3 1/2'' X 5'' photographs. This adorable graduation Best decoration Sydney idea works well for either high school or college grads and can be personalized with their year.

Ethereal balloon clouds are perfect for creating celestial themes at weddings, baby showers, or themed parties. Combine them with fairy lights or tulle fabric for an extra enchanting effect.

Balloon Car Surprise

If you’re looking for a fun and romantic way to surprise someone, stuff their car with balloons and lights. You can even add a custom message or photo for extra effect. This set includes one large pink bow, one proposal flag, three 12-inch wave balloons, five 10-inch silver balloons, red Valentine’s Day small crown, and 20 10-inch white balloons. The light-up feature requires a total of 11 AA batteries (excluded). All balloons ship flat and deflate. This is the best way to ensure safe delivery and a long lifespan of your decorations. It’s easy to blow them up with hot air and tape them to the ceiling before your party.