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jawsandbones · 6 years ago

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Perfume

Written for @lynngo-art, for winning the giveaway hosted by @dapromptexchange.

Pairing: Zevran x M!Warden

Rating: T (some violence)

AO3 Link: Click here

A slight thing, a small thing, fragile and glass. He pushes at the bottle with the tip of his finger, watches it wobble slightly. A pretty enough bauble, he supposes, although he’s not quite sure it’s worth the price. Pushing it again and it threatens to tip, so he reaches out quickly, catches it in his hand. The liquid inside it sways, moves back and forth as he holds it in his palm. He’s sure it’s foolishness to even be considering it. Still – he looks over his shoulder to see Zevran leaning over the shop counter, elbow on the table and his chin in his hands, giving a gracious smile to the clerk. Rémi’s grip tightens on the bottle.

He moves along the shelves, and the floor creaks underneath his careful steps. He’s carefully looking at everything – the soaps, powders and potions – filling up the basket at seeming random. His ears twitch slightly, his full attention not entirely on what’s in front of him. More, it’s focused to what he isn’t looking at. The sound of Zevran’s voice, the laughter of the clerk, and Rémi tosses another bar of soap in. A quick glance over his shoulder, and she’s brushing hair behind her ears, cheeks flushed pink. Rémi resists the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he looks down at Brutus, sitting near him. The mabari notices the attention being paid to him, and his short tail begins to wag.

He thinks that perhaps Zevran will be too distracted to notice. He glances down into the basket, and turns the bottle of perfume with his finger. A ribbon around the stopper, liquid that swirls pink. Even if he does notice – why would he have to defend the purchase? The others buy things for themselves all the time. Alistair doesn’t have to explain his constant need for new socks, and so Rémi doesn’t need to explain his desire for this perfume. Even if he’s never bought perfume before. He shakes the thought from his head as he walks to the counter.

“Ah, my Warden. There you are,” Zevran smiles so widely, so warmly at the sight of him. His posture straightening, but still slightly leaning against the counter, he shuffles over to stand right next to him. “Marie was telling me about the most charming inn just down the street. The Dragon’s Rest. She is good friends with the owner and would be willing to give us a discount, should we mention who sent us.” He gives a quick wink in her direction, and she bites her bottom lip, her gaze flicking between him and the counter. She pulls things from the basket, writing them down as she goes. She’s startled slightly by Brutus resting his face on the counter, but smiles at the sight of him. All of Ferelden certainly does love their dogs.

“A warm bath would be to die for,” Zevran sighs. They’ve been long on the road. Sleeping in mud and tattered tents, trudging through brush and bog. Denerim is a welcome respite from it all. An inn does sound nice, and a bath even better.

“Thank you for letting us know,” Rémi tells her. He stresses the ‘us’. He isn’t sure if Zevran notices it, as he’s too busy watching Alistair fumble with a book in the corner. Pulling it from a shelf, and it slips from his grasp. Fluttering paper as it spins three times before Alistair finally catches it. He clutches it to his chest when he grabs hold of it, and whips his head around the store to see if anyone saw him. Zevran is beaming at him, and Leliana presses a hand against her temple. Rémi only gestures as best he can with a sharp flick of his head, to get him to put the book back. He does.

“If that’s all, it’ll be 3 gold and 2 copper, ser,” Marie says. Zevran is playing with one of the flowers in the vase on the counter, while Rémi reaches into his pouch. She’s placing all the items back into the basket, a flash of pink as she goes, and he puts the coin on the counter. She’s counting it up while Zevran carefully takes one of the flowers, turning it in his hands and hiding it behind his back as he stands up completely.

“Thank you,” Rémi says again as he takes the basket, gives her a polite nod. She returns it, before her attention returns to Zevran. He’s walking backwards beside Rémi, gives her a smile and a wave before turning around. Alistair and Brutus hurry after them, Leliana following behind. The door chimes as it closes behind them. Out in the street, Zevran stretches, arms in the air, and quickening his steps to catch up to Rémi.

“For you, Caro,” he says, presenting the flower to him with a flourish and half a bow. It’s a green daylily, one of his favorites, although he’s sure that Zevran doesn’t know it.

“It’s beautiful,” he says.

“I saw it, and I thought of you,” Zevran says. He wants to tell him that the petals remind him of his eyes, that delicate shade of green. That he noticed Rémi pays attention to lilies the most, whenever they’re around flowers, and that he knows he likes them best. Instead, he’s caught up in the soft way Rémi looks at the flower, looks at him.

“I don’t know how you can do that so easily Zevran,” Alistair says, calling out to them, catching their attention.

“Hmm? Do what so easily?” Zevran asks, raising his eyebrows slightly, and looking over at him. He walks a little slower to let Alistair catch up, and steps in time with him. Rémi softly sighs, abruptly reminded of it, and starts looking for a sign for the inn.

“That.” Pointing a thumb over his shoulder, back in the direction of the shop. “Flirt,” he says with a sigh, an outward flare of his hands. Zevran throws back his head and laughs, wraps an arm around Alistair and pats his back sympathetically.

“You were listening in? My friend, it is a learned skill, honed by time and experience. And I have a lot of experience.” Satisfaction in his voice, given with a wink. “I would be quite happy to teach you, hmm? We will have all the ladies, or men, falling at your feet in no time.” The shell of Alistair’s ears burn bright red.

“I’m pretty sure half of Denerim could hear the way you were going on. And I don’t think I want you teaching me anything, thank you very much,” he tells him. Renewed laughter at that, another pat at his back, and his hand falls back to his side.

“I think it’s sweet that you don’t know how to flirt,” Leliana says.

“Don’t say that. That only makes it worse,” Alistair says, a groan following his words.

“It is sweet! That way, when you do give a compliment and try to flirt, it will sound much more sincere than Zevran’s pot of honey,” she says.

“You wound me. You make it sound as though my honey is not sincere. I am always quite sincere. I mean everything I say. I say you are handsome, and you are. I say Leliana is beautiful, and she is. I say I enjoy walking behind my Warden because of the way his ass-”

“Thank! You! Very much!” Alistair says, cutting in. Leliana laughs brightly as Alistair puts hands on Zevran’s shoulders, and pushes him back to Rémi’s side. He’s still grinning and Rémi can’t help but chuckle. His joy is always infectious. He’s still turning the flower in his free hand, lifting it up slightly and away from Brutus after he feels a curious and cold nose press against his knuckles. He’s almost relieved when he sees the sign – a dragon curled up around a bed. True to her word, all it takes it a mention of Marie for the price to be knocked down.

At their door, Rémi passes over things between Leliana and Alistair. A bar of soap for each of them, that powder that she specifically requested. The rest for Zevran and himself. Brutus is already stretched out on the bed by the time he steps inside the room, right beside where Zevran lays. His feet on the ground, but his body splayed out, as though half a star. “Ah, if only we could have a bed every night. What I would give to never sleep on the ground again,” he sighs as Rémi places the basket on the table nearby, the flower on top of it all. All it takes is a glance and a gesture to get Brutus off the bed and curling up by the door.

Fingertips tap against his knees. Moving up his thighs, a palm planted in the mattress by Zevran’s head. Leaning over him, straddling him, and he smirks as he lets his hands rest on Rémi’s hips. “Hello Caro,” he says in a low voice. Leaning over, and strands of Rémi’s long hair escape the braid and wisp around Zevran’s face. He doesn’t seem to mind, hands travelling over his back, as Rémi plants the kiss. Long and deep, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. Hands on his face, cradling him tightly. He wants it to be enough. He wants to be enough.

Zevran’s looking for a way to keep him there, pulling at his robes, but Rémi abruptly moves away, stands instantly. “I should take advantage of the fact that we have a bath,” he says, watching as Zevran props himself up on elbows to watch him, “I feel filthy.”

“Should I join you?” he asks.

“Maybe next time,” he says, taking the basket with him as he slips into the bathroom. Opening the taps, he waits for the water to fill the bath. Putting the soap on the rack, the perfume on the counter. Standing in front of the mirror, Rémi undoes the braid and his robes drop to his feet. He twists a strand of his hair between his fingers as he looks at himself. Running his hands over the muscle that’s beginning to develop – one does not fight darkspawn constantly without some side effects.

Every part of him is rougher now, so far removed from his time spent in the Circle. There are barely any soft parts of him left. I would say I prefer a soft and shapely woman. He leans forward, runs a finger down his nose. Besides his hair, there’s no part of him that could be mistaken for a woman. I have a lot of experience. Zevran’s words, spoken in conversation, but words that Rémi can’t quite shake. Turning off the taps, he sinks into the water. Hair floats like tendrils all around him, and he reaches for the soap.

He nearly scrubs himself red, trying to wash away anything that might be unsatisfactory. Washing down to the very ends of his hair, soap on his face, under his arms. He dries himself easily, quickly, the magic heating underneath his skin. He takes the perfume from the basket. He’s not sure when he became so conscious of the way he looks. When he wanted to be better. A few drops on his wrists, at his neck. Enough for any to notice should they come near him. He only wants one to know. When he leaves the bathroom, he only has the towel wrapped around his waist.

“Ah. While you were bathing, Leliana came by with a letter. There’s a request from the Captain, of some urgency. A gang is gathering in an alley, and he believes they mean to make mischief. He is short on men and wonders if you might –” Rémi rubs the space between his brows.

“I guess I’d better get dressed,” he says.

“I’m sure any would be delighted to see you go to battle with only a towel. I would be delighted,” Zevran says.

They meet Leliana and Alistair at the door downstairs. His hair is braided again, his robes neat. His staff in his hands, sword sheathed on his belt, with Brutus and Zevran flanking him. They hurry their way through the streets, down winding narrow paths, under stone bridges. “Be ready,” Rémi tells the others as they draw nearer to their target. A gate, opened, is the only thing to cross. Zevran sees it too late.

“Caro –!” but Rémi is already walking across the threshold, the gate rolling down shut behind him. Leliana has an arrow tipped, pointed between the spaces of the gate. The bandits are emerging from behind crates and walls, one looking spectacularly pleased.

“You’re all alone now, Warden. You’ll pay for killing the others,” he says. Panic caught in his throat, Zevran dives towards the gate controls nearby. Locked. Dropping his daggers, he reaches for the lockpicks on his belt. Alistair is pacing as he watches, nearly ready to start trying to knock the metal gate down with his shield. Leliana lets the first arrow fly, catching one that stands behind the leader. A warning, but they’re still growing closer. Brutus is whining, digging at cobblestone, trying to find some way to his master.

Rémi takes a deep breath. Taking his staff in both hands, widening his stance. He draws at flame, marks a line around him. It doesn’t deter them. He is one. They are many. They charge with a shout, and not even Leliana can fire arrows fast enough to stop them. “Hurry up!” Alistair yells.

“Your shouting at me will not have me do this any faster!” Zevran yells back. He’s desperately trying to find the soft spots. To hear the lock click free. Instead, all he hears is the crack of Rémi casting lightning, the shouts of effort as he tries to keep them all back. Leliana, firing arrows, sending them expertly between the spaces of the gate, around Rémi. Zevran knows he can’t look away. He can’t look. Heart in his throat, fingers trembling, and he’s turning the pick.

“Augh!” At that, Zevran does look. His heart almost drops from his chest. Rémi is grimacing as his fingers wrap around the arrow embedded in the soft flesh of his shoulder. Sweat on his brow, both from the heat of the fire and the effort of casting so many spells. His heart caught in his throat, he’s stabbing at the lock, until finally – a click, and the lock rolls free, and Zevran pushes at the lever, the gate rolling upwards. Alistair charges forward with a wild cry, drawing their attention towards him.

The fire that had marked a separation between them slowly dies as Rémi steps back, lets the others handle it. Zevran picks up his daggers, moves instantly to his side. “Are you alright?” He asks. Jaw clenched tight, Rémi only nods, casts an errant ball of flame into the pack of bandits.

“Help the others,” he says. Zevran wants to disobey. He wants to stay by his side, force him away from the battle. Instead, he charges forward. Together, they make quick work of them. Their trap was effective, if crude. Zevran forces himself not to think of what might have happened if he hadn’t gotten the lock open. Leliana is reclaiming her arrows, while Alistair sheaths his sword. Rémi has his hand wrapped around the shaft of the arrow in him, and Zevran puts his hand on his chest.

“No. Don’t pull it out yet,” he says. “Can you heal it?”

“Maybe. I need some time before I can,” Rémi says. He looks exhausted. Trying to heal it now would only leave him dead on his feet. Zevran slips an arm around his waist, and he gratefully leans against him.

“I am going to take him back,” Zevran tells Alistair and Leliana. “You should let the Captain know that the job is complete.” Brutus walks beside them, his head hung low, a slow whine escaping him every once in a while.

Safe at the inn, Rémi sits on the bed. Zevran’s pulled a chair close, the kit resting on the seat. He’s kneeling before him, carefully cutting at the robes. Pressing a cloth against the wound, he wraps his hand around the arrow. “Are you ready?” Rémi closes his eyes and nods. A quick pull, barely felt. At first. The pain sears, and Rémi’s hands clench into fists. Zevran is pushing the cloth against it, trying to stop the bleeding.

Rémi diverts enough magic towards it to heal it enough for the cloth to be pulled away. Another, dipped in water, cleaning the wound. Then, needle and string, and Zevran leans close. His stitches are neat and tidy, close together and hands steady. His face so very near, so Rémi can’t help but look at him. His heart always beats quicker at the sight of him. There’s a smudge of dirt on his cheek, but that doesn’t hide exactly how handsome he is. He likes him for more than his looks, of course, but he knows those looks are dangerous.

“Why do you flirt with everyone?” the question bursts from him. Zevran raises his eyebrows as he ties the knot of the stitch, cuts the string carefully.

“You are asking me this now?” A pointed glance at the wound. Once Rémi had regained enough strength, he’d be able to heal it completely. For now, the stitches would have to do. It was a close call. There have been many close calls. For some reason, each one is worse than the last. Feeling as though it’s crushing his guts, churning his bones. It frightens him, Zevran realizes. How much he feels it.

“Please just answer the question,” Rémi says.

“I do not know. It is something I simply do.” Rémi shakes his head, unsatisfied with the answer.

“I think you do know. Tell me, please,” he says as he leans forward, brushes a hand against his cheek. Zevran looks up at him, eyes that study eyes, and a knot appears between his brows. He leans back, against his heels, and sighs. Hunching over, he rests his forehead against Rémi’s knee.

“I worry that perhaps, one day, you will realize you do not like me as much as you think,” he says.

“You don’t think I worry you’ll do the same?” he says as he threads fingers through Zevran’s hair. Zevran looks up at him, chin on his knee, and after a few quiet seconds, and suddenly surges forward. Wrapping arms around him, burying his face in the crook of his neck.

“You scare me half to death and now you tell me you worry I will leave you! This is too much for my heart in one day, Caro,” he says, hugging him tightly. “I flirt because I am – wait – are you wearing perfume?” Taking another deep breath, his nose pressed against his neck. Leaning back, looking at Rémi.

“I – I thought you might like me more if I smelled like –”

“A woman? You can do whatever you like, my Warden, but what I will always enjoy and prefer the most is you,” Zevran tells him. “If you wished it, you could have no shortage of suitors. But I will not let them near you.” A hand at his nape, pulling him close, and forehead pressed against forehead. “I, on the other hand, would be quite lonely without you. If you do not like the flirting, then I will stop, but you must promise to stay by my side.”

“I promise,” Rémi says as he leans forward, presses his lips against his.

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smutfornerds · 6 years ago

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The Dating Game // Team Flash x Reader

A/N: ahhh babes this was so fun!! this idea came straight from our Wells discord groupchat! The lovely @itsprongs has a sister fic series that you should 20000% go read to get further immersed into the wonderful world of Wells boys fighting for your love. Hope you all enjoy!! ps it’s ‘team flash’ because literally everyone is in this and I didn’t wanna spoil who wins!!!

Also no smut here! Just fluff and funnies!

—

A loud and obnoxious squawking jolted you from a deep slumber. Creaking your eyes open you found that you’d apparently left your window cracked when you fell asleep, and now a less than friendly crow was perched on the telephone poll outside to help you start your day. “Thanks for that..” you muttered sleepily, reluctantly sitting up to slide the pane fully closed. You stretched, a yawn engulfing your face while you heard your phone buzz on your headboard. Reaching up for it you saw three missed calls. A humorless laugh spilled from you and you flopped back onto your bed reading the names of all three iterations of a Mr. Harrison Wells. An hour ago, HR. He left a simple but blabbery voicemail asking how you were doing and if you were coming in today and if you could bring coffee. Twenty minutes later, a call and text from Harry. A short but sweet ‘Rise and shine, we need our seamstress.’ The idea that Barry or Cisco had ripped yet another hole in their suits made your fingers ache. Finally one last missed call from Sherloque, the little eyeglass emoji he’d placed beside his name making you roll your eyes in frustration.

These men were relentless. Every minute of your day at least one of them was begging for your attention, most days being two of them biting each other’s heads off while the third distracted you. It never ended, each day bringing new things for them to bicker about or new ways to try to win your affection. The week before, HR and Sherloque had gotten lost in arguing over who was a better romancer, and while they debated Harry led you off to his lab to where he’d made a Big Belly Burger picnic on the floor. He won that argument. The following day, the detective made you a sample tray of tea while giving you a much needed shoulder rub. To top it off, Friday night had ended with HR twirling you around the training room to flirtatious swing music and half a bottle of rosé in your veins. You were in system overload by the weekend and had holed up in your apartment for the entirety of it, keeping your phone on silent and catching up on housework and reading. It was helpful in clearing your mind of the ongoing battle but of course the tauntingly bright and early Monday morning would thrust you right back into their games, unbeknownst to you quite literally.

Not bothering to respond to any of them, you opted for texting Cisco that you’d be there in an hour. Being a hermit indoors for three days meant you needed a shower and a fresh face of makeup to hide your eye bags. Waiting until you got a ‘good to go!’ in response you hopped into the steaming water to ease the growing tensions about facing the Wells boys again. Each one held a special place in your heart, and when you were alone with them it made it so hard to keep your feelings for the others in check. Rinsing the suds from your hair you finally shut the water off and wrapped yourself in a towel to start getting ready. You’d showered faster than anticipated so you took the time to perfect your hair and outfit. The green sundress you wore let your white bra peak out slightly but the lace was a nice touch to your outfit so you didn’t mind it. Slipping your black sneakers on you reluctantly headed for Star Labs. The last thing you expected was the Cortex to be empty. It was 11 AM on a Monday, usually the entire team was packed into the room discussing one thing or another about one meta or another. Today though it was silent. A notecard was perched curiously on the keyboard at the main desk and you lifted it to read what was written. ‘Let the games begin! Meet us in the lounge.’ It wasn’t signed but you’d seen enough of his love notes to Iris to know that was Barry’s speedy chicken-scratch handwriting. Your eyes narrowed at it trying to decode his words but you sighed defeatedly as you headed downstairs.

Once you exited the elevator you could hear a murmur of voices float down the hallway. As your footsteps approached though they were shushed, rather violently, until you walked in and your mouth fell open. The entire team was gathered on the couches, sans the three lookalike lover boys of yours. Cisco and Ralph stood - in disastrously bright blue and yellow colored suits - on a newly made platform, three cubicle looking squared off areas beside them. Behind the group was a softly buzzing scoreboard, and you read over the words ‘contestant 1, contestant 2, contestant 3’ in a column along the side of it. Your eyes scanned the entire room never faltering from your stunned expression. Quickly Iris fell into a fit if giggling and Barry followed soon after, shushing her softly. “This is not happening..” you muttered and began to turn on your heel to run, but before you could even about-face, the speedster whirred you into the chair on the make-shift stage. In front of you all your friends’ faces shown how amused they were and you glared at all of them equally. “So this was a group effort I take it?” You hollered over to them and they collectively let out laughs and hums of pride. Their smugness caused your shoulders to slump back into the chair.

Beside you Ralph cleared his throat and Cisco posed obnoxiously stoic with his face fixed in a classic gameshow-host grin. The shorter male began their little show. “Welcome, Team Flash to the first, and hopefully only,” he paused and Ralph joined him now. “Wells Dating Game!” Your friends all erupted in clapping and yelling, making your face burn even redder. Finally breaking from their charismatic personas, the boys turned to you with wide smiles. “We’re sorry for the ambush, we just can’t deal with them fighting over you all the time anymore.” Ralph mused. “None of them are getting any work done!” Cisco rattles out, and finally you let out a nervous giggle and nodded. “So this was your idea?” You pointed an accusing look to him and he held his hands up defensively. “Don’t look at me, look at the elongated hopeless romantic.” He side eyed Ralph and your focus went to him. He stammered for a second before giving you as much of an innocent smile as he could pull. With another heavy sigh you held your face in your hands for a moment before taking a deep breath and facing everyone again. “So.. how is this even gonna work?” You asked sheepishly. The vindicated smiles and high fives that lingered through the group made you wonder if this is what they’d been doing all weekend long. (It totally was.)

“Each of the three objects vying for your affection will occupy those lil buddies,” Ralph pointed to your left at the secluded little areas they’d built. “And you won’t be able to tell who’s who.” He beamed proudly but you narrowed your eyes at the pair of pastel dressed bozos before you. “Okay, but... one of them has an accent, and the other two speak in completely different octaves.” Expecting defeated faces you were taken back by Cisco’s excited gesture to his right hand, a small remote in it. “Not a problem! Vocal distortion mics boomed up to them will erase all traces of dialect, tone and any other giveaways of which is which.” He stood proudly with his hands on his hips and you couldn’t help but laugh. “So thorough, I should’ve known.” You quipped and he simply nodded. “You really should’ve. Alright, all we have to do now is choose a voice for them to sound like. It’s preprogrammed with almost everyone here and some celebrities, so I guess take your pick?”

Cisco stepped forward to where you and all the Wells’ could see him and him them. He pointed to one of them as he clicked the remote for the devices. “Say something.” Your head glanced over to the wall next to you and for the first time you desperately wished you had Kara’s X-ray vision. “Hey hi hello.” The voice came out in a low and rumbling tone, you recognized it as Joe’s voice. From the couches Iris scrunched her nose and shook her head. “I don’t need to hear them say what they wanna do to her in my dad’s voice!” She cupped her hands and hollered, causing a general consensus of nods and a shudder from Barry. You chuckled and shook your head at Cisco. “Next.” You stated and he clicked the remote again, now pointing to a different one of the Wells and he spoke up. “Who is it this time?” The smooth and cunning voice rang out and everyone groaned. It’d been a while since you’d heard Leonard Snart’s chilly voice but it wasn’t doing it for you and you shook your head. “Makes me uncomfortable. Try someone that won’t make me feel awkward or intimidated?” Your words hit Cisco’s brain and he nodded enthusiastically knowing just who to switch it to. Finally pointing to the final of the three men he spoke up. “Have we decided then?” The soft and adorable tone of Caitlin’s voice drifting through the room and you nodded once. “Perfect! Not weird, not creepy, just sweet lil’ ol’ Caity cat.” You smiled over at her and she playfully blew you a kiss. “Alrighty then, ladies and gents we have a game to play!” Ralph hollered and the group erupted in cheers again and finally you laughed along with them, letting your nerves shake off with each huff.

Cisco stayed in his place in front of all of you. Ralph took a seat near you with a small switchboard in his hands. With a wide grin, the raven haired meta cleared his throat and fell back into his overzealous persona as he began. “Question number one! Contestants, if you could take our blushing beauty on a date anywhere in the multiverse, where would it be and why?” He paused and waggled his eyebrows gaining laughter from the group. “Contestant number one?” He pointed to the cubicle closest to you and you waited, Caitlin’s voice echoing the words to the air. “Preferably somewhere close to home. Can’t be too far when things.. progress.” The words made you giggle solely because of the voice saying them, but you still felt a hint of pink hit your cheeks knowing one of the Wells’ had truly said it. Cisco playfully fanned himself before continuing. “Contestant number two?” The next male cleared their throat trying to sound deeper but the vocal distortion device made that impossible. “Somewhere tropical. Hawaii maybe, or Barbados. Seduce her on the beach, make love to her in a beach house.” Again the words made your face tint but you couldn’t help but laugh. Caitlin sat in the audience stifling her own giggles hearing her own voice say such raunchy things about you. “So glad that’s not my dad’s voice..” Iris mumbled and the group all chucked slightly. “Alrighty, finally contestant three, where would you take the lady?” For a moment it was silent like he was thinking and finally he spoke up letting the woman’s voice lend him his words. “Wouldn’t really matter I’d just want her with me.” From the couches, Iris and Caitlin both loudly let out an “Aww!” You giggled at their antics but the words stuck with you. Cisco finally strolled over to you and held his hand out as if a microphone were in it, though it was very much empty. “Alright, which Wells gets the point this round?” It didn’t take long for you to give an answer. “Three.” You stated flatly and the group grinned, each one of them knowing who you’d chosen but you none the wiser. Cisco nodded and motioned to Ralph, who hit a single button before him and a slash shown on the board next to ‘contestant 3’.

“Moving on to question 2,” he cleared his throat and sighed. “This one’s not entirely appropriate. But it’s what needs to be asked.. contestants, how would you woo the lady during a night of passion?” Your eyes went wide and you felt your face glow like a neon light. “Oh, my god..” you mumbled and rubbed your temples softly. In the mock-audience, Iris and Barry ‘oooh’-ed playfully. Sighing you looked back to Cisco and motioned for him to get on with it. “Contestant three, we’ll start at your end this time.” He pointed to the end little stall with a grin, and whichever man cleared his throat coming out like a delicate squeal and you couldn’t fight the small burst of laughter as he started. “Take her hands in mine and lead her to bed, kiss every inch of her and tell her how gorgeous she is before.. making love to her.” The last few words were rushed out, and you didn’t know if it was due to nerves or being unnerved by hearing it in your best friend’s voice. Despite the tone it still made a lump form in your throat at the thought. Beside you Ralph cleared his own throat to remind him the voice did not fit the body. With a sharp nod you let Cisco continue. “Oookay.. Contestant two?” There was another pause as the man seated in the middle thought over his words. “Light copious amounts of candles, have slow sensual music playing. Maybe give her a less than innocent massage to lead into the night.” It was still strange to hear Caitlin’s voice but it was getting easier to ignore when you just focused on the words. Your heart fluttered a bit at the scene this man had painted. Cisco turned ever so slightly to face the Wells closest to you. “Finally contestant one?” This round you noticed Cisco didn’t repeat the question and you knew it was because it made his face flush from secondhand embarrassment. “Why would it matter? The moments lends itself to letting things happen without a need for a plan. So I would just live in that moment.” You could see Iris pout at the sentiment and bring a hand to her chest. You laughed softly at the action and just shook your head. All the answers had been good ones, but you could only have one winner each round and the choice made you nibble at your lower lip. “Which Wells wins this round?” Cisco repeated the alliterative phrase and you draw in a slow breath before answering. “Two. I’m a sucker for mood music.” Again your face flushed pink and Cisco chuckled at your response as Ralph clicked a point for ‘contestant 2’.

“Okay folks for the next round, we’re going to let our leading lady ask her own question!” Again Cisco walked over to you with his invisible microphone and you stared up at him sheepishly, giving a small shrug. Your mind was drawing a total blank on anything to ask, being put on the spot definitely didn’t help. Piping up from behind you, Ralph made a suggestion. “Ask if they’re all the same size.” You whipped around to him with your mouth gaping, and he just gave an unbothered expression. “What? Doppelgängers or not we were all thinking it.” You shook your head quickly at Cisco. “No, no no, that is not the question.” You stammered and heard one of the men to your left huff a laugh that sounded like a schoolgirl giggle with their warped voice. “Uhm.. I guess, why do you think I should I choose you?” You spoke just loud enough for them to hear and Cisco stepped back again to point to contestant three first in the end cubicle. “I want to do right by you and for you. You inspire me every day to be better than I have been.” You nodded with a soft smile, before the next man spoke up without even being prompted. “I for one don’t have to change for you to love me fully because I already fully know how to love you.” His words came out in a sweet sing song tone and you giggled at the high pitch. Finally Cisco shot a pointed finger the the square closest to you. “Because in the multiverse, so far you’re the only person that actually truly makes me happy.” Each one’s words struck you differently and you grimaced at your own answer knowing what it meant. “I gotta go with one.” Team Flash all gave their own dramatic gasps as the scoreboard tied up. “Ooooh it’s neck and neck and neck! This tie breaking round will round up the game!” Cisco jumped with genuine excitement but you felt a trillion tiny spiky butterflies erupting inside your stomach.

The male flipped his hair over both shoulders before sighing, eyes floating over all three men and landing on you. While he spoke he kept his eyes in you, each word coming out slowly. “Do you love her?” The question hung in the air and you felt as if you were going to pass out. That was not a conversation you hadn’t planned to have with any of them any time soon let alone in front of all your closest friends. Cisco didn’t ask for a specific contestant however, he just let it linger for a few seconds more. “All of you are going to answer at the same time. On the count of three.” Feeling your stomach do a backflip you covered your face and whined into your hands softly. “One..” This must be what dying feels like. Hot face. Clammy hands. Racing heart. “Two..” Matched with heavy breathing, and your feet impatiently tapping on the floor you gave a deep sigh before Cisco delivered the final, “Three.”

“No.”

“Absolutely.”

The words all overlapped each other but the one outlier stuck out like a sore thumb. Your head snapped up and you saw the shocked expressions on everyone else’s as they simply stared at the corner box. Cisco was absolutely beaming. “WITH THAY WE HAVE OUR WINNER FOLKS.” Your heart raced but you stayed planted firmly in your seat, your legs wouldn’t move. “Please remove your voicebox and greet your Misses.” Watching as Cisco motioned the ‘winning’ Wells out of his hiding place you listened as the footsteps clicked toward you until those beautiful blue eyes met you - from behind his two toned glasses. A rare bright and goofy smile was spread across Harry’s face and he had his hands shoved awkwardly in his pockets as he finally stepped towards you and you saw Sherloque poke out from the box beside you, HR shuffling off the stage from the middle cubby. Admittedly you were relieved; he was undoubtedly the smartest of the men and had the best wit about him. And he was always the one to put the most effort into keeping you happy without being over the top. Something had told you he was contestant 3 when he gave the answer about simply wanting you. Harry was a very simple man. And now, your simple man. Without saying a single word you hopped down in front of him and planted a kiss on his triumphant lips. His strong arms glided around your waist like they were meant to be there. Behind you your friends clapped and cheered, Caitlin comforting a sullen looking HR and Sherloque wandering off to bury his feelings in his tea. Once the group had all filed out Harry took your hands in his gently, rubbing the backs of your knuckles with his tough fingertips. “Come on..” he mumbled, beginning to tug you along the hallways. The way he’d answered the second question replayed in your mind and you happily followed close behind him, giving his hands a squeeze as you hurried him to his room just a bit faster.

#yall these gameshow fics are gonna kill me omg #harrison wells #the flash #harry wells #sherloque wells #hr wells #not smut;

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sakura-blossom28 · 6 years ago

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Blind Date

I was going to make this idea a bunch of different one-shots with Sakura but this idea turned into a longer story than I thought! Thank you to @denisa-diana for giving me the pairing idea! It’s a lot longer than I thought

AN: This is a modern day AU sorry if they seem out of character, this is my first time writing Itachi and I think I still have a lot of work to improve on him! Don’t own Naruto

The next time that Ino convinces her to try something new, she’ll have to decline. Sakura was currently pacing back and forth in her tiny apartment. If she kept this pace up she would have to buy a new carpet because she was wearing the fabric so thin. Most of the carpet was already worn thin from her weekly pacing sessions in front of her mirror, but this week’s dilemma was her worst yet.

Do I go or not? I still have time to cancel, fake being sick might work! Sakura thought to herself, but all she could imagine was Ino screaming her head off at her for making her look bad after “all the time and planning” she had to do for Sakura.

If Ino was going to be that bad, then her two best guy friends would be ten times worse. Ino was Sakura’s childhood best friend, but she met Naruto and Sasuke in freshman history class in college. Ever since then they could not be separated. With them always being around her dating was pretty much non-existent. Being single for 8 years was finally starting to get to her. When Ino first set this up Sakura debated whether to tell them or not. She decided on that if the date went well then she would, and if it didn’t they would be none the wiser. Keeping the boys out of her love life was just one of the reasons why she moved out of their shared apartment. (Even if it was just down the hall.)

Sighing to herself, Sakura took one last look in the mirror. It was a crisp October day so she wore a cream-colored sweater tucked into a fitted black skirt that came above her knee. To add to her look Sakura wore polka-dotted tights to change up her usual style and short heeled boots. (In case she needed to run away at any point.)

Checking her watch she had no more time to delay the inventable, Sakra grabbed a light jacket and her purse and locked her apartment to go on her date.

The drive to the restaurant for lunch was simple enough, no traffic or parking issues to stress him out. Things seemed to be looking up for him, but he couldn’t lie and say he did not feel a bit apprehensive about a blind date that his cousin set up for him. Sure he had been single for a while, but he needed to focus on work after his major break up. The company needed him to buckle down, plus it didn’t help that his cousin was made his assistant as per his mother’s request. He seemed to be the only member of the company who did not want to mix family and business.

Getting caught up in his own thoughts, the young man did not notice a strong gust of October wind barreling down the street towards him. One second his vision is clear, the next dust and debris from the leaves around him smacked him in the face. Being the calm and collected type of person, he simply brushed the leaves out of his face. It only took him two steps to realize that the leaves had knocked both of his contacts out of his eyes. This would be a problem.

The young man started to search for his spare pair of glasses but found that he did not have them on his person. Barely being able to see his phone that was centimeters away from his face he saw that he had no time to go back to his car to get them. For an Uchina was never late, even if he was blind.

Sakura hurried across the busy street caught up in her own thoughts again. Would Ino really set me up on a crappy blind date? What if it was the guy in her accounting department? The one with the crazy eyebrows?!

The guy was plenty nice enough but just too intense for Sakura’s taste. She had stopped by Ino’s job just to say hello one day and got caught up in a conversation with this man, Lee if she remembered right. Sakura could barely focus on what he was saying because all she could hear was Ino’s muffled snickers while she was standing behind Lee while he talked to Sakura. From then on Sakura would call Ino from outside the building if she wanted to see her.

Ino wouldn’t be that cruel, would she?

The young Uchiha was pleased to find that he had arrived first to the restaurant first. As the host brought him to a table in the back that was more secluded and quiet. He was thankful for this because he would be solely relying on his hearing for the entire date. The Uchiha just hoped that the woman his cousin found had a pleasant voice. He was filled with dread thinking about how obnoxious two of his coworkers could be, his cousin and a blonde woman in advertising, hoping that his date would be nothing like them, but he wouldn’t put it past Shisui to torment him like that. The young man perked up when he sensed the host and who he assumed to be his date arrive at the table. He stood with grace as his parents taught him, and put on a pleasant smile that he used in his business meetings. Even though he could only see blobs he did not expect to see pink.

He could only gather that this woman had pink hair to about her shoulders. Squinting slightly to clear his vision a little more, he found that the woman was on the shorter side, only barely reaching his shoulders if they stood side by side. Where in the world did his cousin find someone like her?

Extending his hand because his mother would surely be angry with him if he was anything less than a gentleman, he introduced himself simply to the woman in front of him. (Hoping that he was guessing the correct range to properly shake her hand.)

“Itachi.”

“Sakura.”

At that moment the two people standing there had the same exact thought, Why does that name sound so familiar?

Sakura could barely get her name out of her own mouth when it finally clicked that this gorgeous man was her date. Shaking the deja vu out of her mind she was left with the feeling of her heart in her throat. Sakura had never met a man before who was so attractive. His eyes were dark and had long black hair tied in a low pony-tail. Even though this man Itachi could have been stuck up Sakura never felt that he had an elitist attitude, he was very calm and sat back down much more gracefully than she ever could manage.

Curiosity was starting to win over her nerves. How would Ino ever let this man slip past her fingers, and especially letting Sakura go on a date with him? Before she could form a proper question, Itachi beat her to it.

“Before we start the typical questions, I would just like to know who do you know that brought us together?” At the sound of his deep and smooth voice, Sakura felt her heart start to clench. Even his voice is perfect?

“Well my best friend since we were young is named Ino, I’m not sure if you know her or not. She mentioned that she was working with someone else on this,” Sakura replied with a slight blush to her face, but it seemed to go unnoticed by Itachi.

“Oh, I am quite familiar with Ino,” Itachi said with a slight twitch to his lip, “She is in my advertising department in the company I work for.” If this woman found out exactly who he was this date might be over before it even started.

“You work for the Uchiha company? My two best friends from college work there as well! If it weren’t for Sasuke’s father the two of them would be in the mailroom, even if they had college degrees,” Sakura snickered to herself at the thought, “You seem pretty high up in the company being Ino’s boss, do you know Sasuke and Naruto?”

For the first time the first time in a long time, Itachi showed the look of shock on his face in front of a complete stranger.

When Itachi heard his little brother’s name and his brother’s childhood best friend’s names leave this woman’s lips he instantly knew who he was on a date with, and the two boys would not be happy with him.

Pink hair should have been a dead giveaway to who Sakura was. How could he not remember a name like that? How many people in the city had pink hair like hers?

This was the girl that Sasuke and Naruto could not shut up about all throughout their college years and on, but Itachi was so busy with the company that he never had the chance to meet her. Sasuke never bothered to bring her home in fear that their mother would try to play matchmaker. He heard many stories about her wild temper and inhuman strength, but also her devotion to her family and friends no matter the cost to her well being. Sasuke and Naruto could do a lot worse to have Sakura as a friend and she even seemed like a good influence on them.

“Itachi are you alright?”

The sound of her voice brought him back. Controlling his emotions and his spinning mind, Itachi attempted to remember the question that Sakura had asked him.

“Actually Sasuke is my younger brother and Naruto has been around since Sasuke was young,” Itachi finally said with a small smile at the mention of his brother. His smile only grew as he realized that Sakura finally made the connection. He wished that he could be able to see her face remembering that Naruto said she was very expressive.

Sensing that she needed a moment to collect her thoughts as well, Itachi pretended to read the menu in front of him, he just hoped that the restaurant was serving soup so that Sakura wouldn’t catch on to him not being able to see all that well. After “reading” the menu he could feel Sakura’s eyes on him.

“Do you want to get out of here? I’m not really seeing anything that I like here,” she asked with a playful tone in her voice. Not sure of where she was going with this Itachi nodded and stood up and waited to follow Sakura out of the restaurant.

After making up some excuse the two were standing on the sidewalk. Itachi was attempting to not feel completely blind, but Sakura was still intently looking at him. Not sure of what to do or say he just shifted his weight back and forth.

“Tell me something Itachi. Why aren’t you wearing your glasses?” Sakura finally asked with that playful tone again. Feeling a bit embarrassed about the whole situation he could feel the heat starting to creep up the back of his neck. Before he could give her a lame excuse Sakura looped her arm around his.

“Don’t worry I’m a doctor, not much can get past me. You haven’t made eye contact with me at all yet and I know your mother taught you better than that if I learned anything about your family from Sasuke,” Sakura teased, “If you point to the direction of your car we can get your glasses.”

As they started walking Itachi could not believe how much she knew already about his habits, it was a bit alarming if he really thought about it.

“You and Sasuke are so much alike I can’t believe it. He does this a lot with his own glasses, but you’re much calmer than Sasuke is. Probably just a maturity thing, but I doubt he could ever be mature with Naruto around.”

Itachi couldn’t help himself, he smiled. When was the last time someone outside of his family did that?

Sakura could not believe how relaxed she was around Itachi. She just kept talking and he just listened. They continued on their way to his car making small talk about his family with each step the tension was leaving Itachi’s form and that made Sakura happy. Soon he even started to open up a bit more to her. His voice was like velvet and she hoped that he would never stop talking.

Finally reaching his car, Itachi started looking for his glasses leaving Sakura to her thoughts.

She remembered all the times that Sasuke would talk about Itachi. Either he seemed jealous of the attention that Itachi got from their family, but then he would also admire him and praise him for being a good brother to him. Even Naruto would chime in on how cool he was. But they both agreed that for the last 3 years he had devoted himself to working himself to death and never did anything fun. Something must have happened to make him change his behavior so much, but Sakura would never ask it wasn’t her place.

When Itachi turned to her with his glasses on she blushed a bit and smiled widely at him. She always had a thing for guys in glasses. What she didn’t notice was the way that Itachi was looking at her.

For the first time in a long time, Itachi was feeling a slew of emotions. Sasuke did not mention how beautiful his friend was. Pink hair did seem odd on a doctor, but for Sakura, it just made so much sense. He could finally see that she put some curls in her hair and had a brilliant smile that made his stomach flip over and over again. But what really took his breath away was when she finally opened her eyes. Green eyes peered brightly at him. They were inquisitive, playful, and intelligent.

No one had made Itachi act so out of the ordinary. He was just thankful that this was their first time meeting and that no one else was around to call him out for acting differently. He felt all out of sorts already and he was pretty sure Sakura hadn’t shown her true self to him yet.

Without much thought, Itachi blurted out, “Would you like to get some dango with me?”

“I’d love to! It’s my favorite!” Sakura excitedly said and jumped right into his car as he held open the door for her. So maybe this dating stuff wasn’t as hard as he thought.

The couple sat in the dango shop talking for hours. They both learned how much in common they had with each other. Itachi and Sakura were both extremely intelligent and Sakura never realized how nice it was to have a conversation with a man and not have his eyes glaze over in boredom because he doesn’t understand what she’s talking about. Even though Itachi was a business major, he had a strong understanding of the medical field and they both enjoyed similar books and swapped different books to read.

The two sat quietly for a while caught up in their own thoughts. When was the last time Sakura took a break like this? Sure she hung out with her friends but it was only to go to an apartment and she always brought along new reading material her mentor gave to her. This was the first afternoon that Sakura was blowing off and it felt great! It was most likely due to her company but she could get used to being around Itachi more. Maybe Ino was right, maybe Sakura should live a little. This thought made her chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Itachi asked with a slight smile on his face. Sakura noticed that the other Uchiha also did not smile so much, but Itachi’s relaxing presence was much easier to deal with than Sasuke’s typical blank stares.

“I was just thinking about how I have to tell Ino that she’s right. She’s never going to let me live this down,” she chuckled again. “I normally only hang out with her or Naruto and Sasuke so a blind date, and any date really, is totally out of my comfort zone. But I’m really glad that we got to finally meet!”

Itachi was having similar thoughts thinking that he would have to thank Shisui. Normally all his cousin did was keep Itachi from doing his work, but deep down he knew his cousin was just trying to keep his spirits up all these years after his break up. Itachi never realized that he was pushing people away until it was too late. Being busy with work always seemed better than talking about his problems.

The only regret he really had was not checking up on Sasuke more. His younger brother was so important to him, but he never wanted him to see him hurt over something so trivial as a relationship so he kept his distance and never could figure out how to get back to normal. Everyone close to him always looked at him with pitying looks after the breakup that he couldn’t stand it anymore, hence him burying himself behind paperwork and moving up in his father’s company. Itachi could guarantee that his father made his cousin his assistant to keep an eye on him, but he was secretly glad for the company that his cousin gave him.

Turning his attention back to Sakura, Itachi had a hard time believing that she had a hard time dating. With her unique looks and warm personality, any guy would be after her. Itachi would just be thankful that he met her now and not while she was with someone else.

“Jeez is it already dark out? How long have we been sitting here?” Sakura asked with a laugh. Itachi looked up and noticed that the sun had started to set in warm colors of orange and pink. They really must have been sitting there for hours talking and both seemed to not notice the time slipping by.

“If you would like, I can drive you home,” Itachi said as he rose to his feet. Sakura happily agreed. The short drive to her apartment was filled with conversation about movies and music. Before they even realized it they were both standing in front of Sakura's apartment door, not even noticing that they climbed to the third floor while they were talking. They were so involved in their conversation they didn’t notice the two pairs of eyes that were watching them from down the hall...

“Itachi I had a really great time with you today,” Sakura started with a small blush creeping up on her face. This was the end of the date, did that mean they would kiss? She would be lying if she said she wasn’t imagining what it would be like to kiss Itachi the whole ride back to her apartment. He was so much taller than her she would have to stand on her toes just to kiss him properly.

Itachi’s mind was in a similar train of thought. It was only the first date, would a kiss be too much? Maybe on the second one… Wait he has to ask her on a second date first.

“I did too Sakura,” Itachi said showing her a hint of the first real smile he’s given the whole time they were together. “I would really like to see you again.”

Sakura’s blush grew a deeper shade of pink at the thought of a second date with him. “Yes, I would love to! Here let’s exchange numbers.” After that was done they both stood quietly looking at each other not sure of what was going to happen next.

Itachi decided that the next date he would kiss her, the whole time they were together they were just talking not even flirting really. Most of the other girls that Itachi had talked to always came on way too strong, but with Sakura it was different. Since she was already friend’s with Sasuke his last name really didn’t have any effect on her. She was successful on her own and never tried to get him to pay for anything, even though he wouldn’t let her pay today.

He took a step closer to her and the pink blush on her face turned to a deep red. Itachi didn’t think she could become any prettier but the look on her face was too much for him. He gave Sakura the trademark smirk that he was told drove women crazy and the way that she looked at him he could tell that it worked. Itachi leaned into to see whether Sakura would let him kiss her or not, but she didn’t push him away so he settled to kiss her on the corner of her lips. When he straightened out Itachi was still smirking when he saw the look of annoyance in her eyes. That must be the real Sakura peaking out and he was surprised to find that he couldn’t wait to get to know the real her.

“I’ll call you tomorrow then,” Itachi said with the slightest look of playfulness in his eyes. But before Sakura could say anything back there was a loud crash at the end of the hall.

What they saw spill out of the door was a familiar mess of blond and black hair. Out of the pile came the blond sprinting down the hallway towards the couple. The blond grabbed Sakura and pushed himself in the small space between her and Itachi.

“Stay away from Sakura!!!!” The deafening scream could be heard all the way down the street.

“Naruto can you please let go of me,” was all Sakura could squeak out with Naruto practically squishing her face into his chest to “protect her”.

“Sakura who the hell is this guy?” came the other voice farther down the hall. This was the most familiar voice to Itachi. He had no idea how his little brother would react to seeing him with one of his best friends.

Itachi slowly turned around and tried to give Sasuke the smile that he always used to give him while they were growing up.

“Hello brother,” was the only thing Itachi could manage, but the look on Sasuke’s face told him everything he needed to know, his little brother was not happy. What a way to end his blind date, his date in the arms of another man with his little brother giving him the family glare. Itachi just hoped that Sakura would still want to see him again...

Part II

#sakura haruno #itachi uchiha #itasaku #naruto #writing #modern au #sasuke uchiha #naruto uzumaki #ino yamanaka #shisui uchiha #fanfiction #fanfic #itasaku fanfic #sakura x itachi #itachi x sakura

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eponymous-rose · 6 years ago

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E25 (July 10, 2018)

First show in the new studio! Ashley wasn’t nervous until Sam started talking about how nervous he was. There’s a lot of nervousness. Now with Dani Cam!

Tonight’s guests are Ashley Johnson and Sam Riegel!

Announcements: TM is headed to San Diego Comic Con again this year! On Tuesday, July 24 (the Tuesday after their Saturday panel), the panel will be broadcast in TM’s usual time slot. Wyrmwood giveaways are back starting this week, but will be hosted in the Critical Role Twitch chat moving forward. New shirt in the store (featuring Nott and Jester’s detective agency!).

@critrolestats for this episode:

Yasha is practically tied with Fjord for highest average damage dealt per episode (35.875 for Yasha, 36.040 for Fjord).

Nott maintains her lead for the most natural ones (23). Sam points out that he’s using the same dice as last campaign and suspects the proximity to the baby may have been a curse on his luck. Ashley: “I feel like he couldn’t possibly be a curse on anyone.” Sam: “No, he’s a demon child. Have you held up a mirror to the child to see if it has a reflection? That’s all I’m saying.”

It’s been 34 days since the Mighty Nein met in Trostenwald. Ashley points out that it’s starting to be a substantial number of days for everyone to have been spending all their time together.

Kiri was with the Mighty Nein for 11 days.

Nott’s new crossbow is a +1 hand crossbow. If Sam rolls a 20, it magically resets and fires another bolt immediately. If Sam rolls a 1, it tries to do that, fails, and shoots Nott instead. Because it’s a magical weapon, it will deal magic damage even if non-magical bolts are fired from it. Sam’s holding out for a cupholder.

“Beau is-- I think more of Beau and Yasha’s relationship, whatever that turns out to be, I like exploring that in the game.” Yasha “got a kick out of” Beau playing up her injuries and didn’t mind carrying her around. “She’ll help a girl out.”

The official name for Nott’s flask is The Flask of Perpetual Booze.

Heroism for the sake of being nice is definitely new from Nott’s perspective---she and Caleb have mainly just been fighting for survival until now. Money is not what drives Yasha, so getting into a fight is more motivating for her than any sort of reward. She was very affected by getting the couple out of prison, and especially by what followed with Kiri. “She’s trying to not let things affect her, but they do.” She’s averse to getting emotional, because then people are likely to see the cracks; it’s easier for her not to engage, but Kiri leaving affected her more than she was ready for. (Part of it was bleedthrough from Ashley and Marisha trying not to lose their composure during that scene.)

Nott was surprised that the Schusters accepted a good deed from her even knowing she was a goblin. “It maybe changed her impression of how ready or willing people are out there to accept a little gobby into their world.” Traveling with the Nein for so long and having their respect has “definitely expanded her opinion of the world and the people who live in it.” She’s never had that experience before. “So far, mainly people throw rocks at her.”

Gif of the Week: the many faces of Sam-as-Burt-Reynolds.

Sam’s eyes were watering and stinging all night because of the fake mustache. “By the end of the night, I was struggling to keep my eyes open.”

Brian: “I have good news. The fly that was buzzing around everywhere and bugging us is dead. It’s in my drink.”

It was a big relief to everyone that Kiri made it through her time with the Nein alive and okay, but it was still really sad to give her up. “As Sam Riegel, I’m really sad to see the character go, but in the game I kept looking for a way to find her a safe place.” They both feel pretty good about leaving her with the Schuster family. Sam points out that they know where she is, so they can come back and visit. Brian gives Matt well-deserved kudos for how lovable Kiri was right from her first appearance.

Because of Ashley’s schedule, she knew Matt had to plan something for Yasha’s disappearance, but he hinted to her that something would happen at the end of the night and that she’d know what to do. “He makes it feel organic and part of the story. I like that it’s the three of us going together on this journey.” She didn’t know beforehand what was going to happen (and still doesn’t know more than we do) so it was a very exciting scene to play out.

Sam and Ashley realize anyone could have volunteered for that last watch---they’re so impressed with how Matt set that up as their choice, even knowing he might’ve had to scramble to get the right combinations of players ready to go.

Sam points out that they’re left with no obvious leader, there’s a lot of underconfidence with Caleb and Nott and a lot of overconfidence with the other two (”all misplaced”). No healer, one person with substantial magic, no tank. The clues basically consist of a bit of blood on the ground. “I don’t know how we’re going to find these people, and even if we found them, if the baddies were powerful enough to apprehend all three of them, I don’t know if we’d be strong enough to rescue them.”

Fanart of the Week: a gorgeous scene of Beau training.

Both Scanlan and Nott have “a visceral hate of goblinkind for different reasons.” Scanlan would kill one on sight. “Nott might ask them a few questions first, and then kill them.” She hasn’t come into contact with any goblins from outside her clan. “Maybe she’d have an open mind if she met a really cool goblin.”

“Yasha’s relationship with the Stormlord is still fairly new, so I think her connection with him and figuring out how to connect with him-- she’s still figuring that out, but I also think he probably knew she could take care of herself. She’s still figuring out what she’s supposed to do to reach in and connect with him.” It’s tied in with her backstory. “There’s a lot that she doesn’t understand about it.”

On Nott losing her detective partner: “They’re bad cop/bad cop. Without one of them, they’re just bad cop! How would that work?” Beau might be her first attempt at a new detective duo.

Ashley’s okay with the speed at which Yasha’s backstory is being revealed---in that basically none of her backstory has been revealed. “I would love to have revealed more while I was home, but her backstory is very sensitive and it’s not something she would be comfortable talking about.”

At one point, Sam was writing a pilot pitch for a CW-type show about “sexy minotaurs and centaurs in a high school.”

Stealing the gun wasn’t about messing with Taliesin; Sam has specific plans for the gun. “Let’s just say that Nott has a fascination with things and enjoys shiny things, but also enjoys chemical things, and it’s an interesting item to her and she has ideas of what she could try with it. It also helps that it bothers Taliesin. I’m not going to lie.”

The Stormlord is more of a protector figure than a distant, abstract figure to Yasha. “He definitely saved her from something. Before the Stormlord, she didn’t serve any gods. That was a foreign thing to her. I don’t think she knows what servitude means, yet, but she’s getting there.”

Nott felt like a protector and a keeper of Kiri. “Innocent little kid who needs to be protected and is also adorable!” She’s also very pleased to see Caleb coming out of his shell.

Ashley has confidence in the remaining four members of the Nein. “I think they’re going to be fine.” Sam: “Let’s be frank, Ashley’s been carrying us as a show for some time now, and losing her might sink the ship.”

There’s some speculation about why Matt keeps putting manacles into the narrative. Sam: “They might have some sort of a payoff later? Otherwise, he’s just kinky.”

Matt has said that he’ll figure out a way to bring Ashley in on Skype even if she’s the only one of the three available, but she also just wants let the narrative unfold naturally. They’ll see how it goes moving forward.

Unexpected Matt Key!

Talks Machina In The Dark:

Weirdest stuff found during the move? Sam found a bunch of rejected things he was going to paste to the side of his flask. “Some of them were clever. Some of them were not.” Brian: “Taliesin’s coffin that he sleeps in.” They all found a lot of dice lying around. Ashley’s Gil dice is still missing!

Sam does some squats. Brian: “Totally normal. It’s totally normal.”

Everyone’s really sad that Laura couldn’t be there for Jester’s goodbye with Kiri.

Yasha “100%” did not feel qualified to give Caleb advice. “Just anybody coming to her for advice about anything. Why are you asking me? What advice could I possibly give you?” Sam demands to know if she’s ever had a friend. “Yes, of course. She comes from a very rural area, and raised in a certain way that she was-- You gotta wait. It’ll make sense. There’s a lot of life that she hasn’t lived yet. She doesn’t have a lot of life experience.” She’s around Ashley’s age (or the equivalent for an aasimar).

Both Sam and Ashley think Kiri would be good as a rogue. Possibly a bard? Ashley: “Matt’ll come up with something great if we ever see her again.” Brian points out the potential for a kenku using mimicry for Vicious Mockery.

Votes go to Marisha’s Fjord voice over Taliesin’s Jester voice.

We delve into the disgusting depths of how gross Sam’s flask gets. “We need to get you a little brush.” “We do. I might get tetanus from this thing.”

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

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littleredroseonthevalley · 7 years ago

Text

Red Rose - Chapter 13

Prologue Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4 Ch. 5 Ch. 6 Ch. 7 Ch. 8 Ch. 9 Ch. 10 Ch. 11 Ch. 12 CH. 13 Ch. 14 Ch. 15 Ch. 16

Summary: The second day of the Presentation comes, and the girls are submitted to a culinary test. Riley and Olivia find some common ground. Charlotte hides witnesses in Greece.

Rating: M - Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with non-explicit suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, or coarse language.

Notes: Hello, everyone! Missed me much last week? I noticed that I’m now past the hundred followers, and I didn’t mentioned it because I didn’t know how without having to come up with a giveaway. Since I’m poor and overworked, I won’t be able to host one, perhaps when I’m 200 in...

BUT, I’d like to personally thank my hundreth follower, @mythup, and all other 99+ who have graced my tally.

The submissions for the taglist are open! Just hit me up and I’ll add y’all to it!

Athens, Greece, Fall 2015

Charlotte locked the door behind her. She, the two girls, a maid and her driver gathered on the narrow entry hall of the old house.

“This is where you’ll be staying for a while.” The young noblewoman told the two girls in Russian. “While it isn’t safe for you in Cordonia, think of this house as a haven. No-one aside from Ms. Flowers, you and I know of it, much less that you’re here. I expect for you to follow Ms. Flowers instructions to the letter and to dedicate yourselves to your studies. A tutor will be provided for you in the morning.”

“Of course, Ms. Charlotte.” Katya bowed appropriately. “We’re very thankful for your help.”

They moved to the living room, and the girls sat on the couch, backs aching from too many hours hidden inside a car trunk.

“Can we leave the house?” Katya asked.

“No.” Charlotte was blatant. “Not only we do not know whether your former boss has connections in Greece, you were smuggled into European territory. If a police officer asks for your papers, you’ll be deported back to Belarus. Better safe than sorry.

She pointed to the maid and continued: “The cook will make sure you’re fed and clothed, while the tutor will keep you busy starting tomorrow. There’s a small yard in the back, where you can sunbathe if you ever feel the need.”

Zarina looked over the window, restlessly. “When will we be able to go back?”

Charlotte pursed her lips. “I don’t know for sure. Soon enough. We’ll send for you as soon as it happens.”

“Ms. Charlotte?” Katya calls upon her attention.

“Yes?” The oldest respond, facing her.

She handed her a manila file. “The last time I’ve been to the brothel I stole this from the safe. I thought I could use it as leverage to escape, but it’s in Greek, and I have no clue what’s on it. I think it must be important. All the others were stored somewhere else.”

“I don’t speak Greek either, but I’ll take it to Riley. She should know what to do with those.”

Applewood, Neokastron, Cordonia, Fall 2015

Early in the morning, Riley sat on the dresser, finishing the last tints of her make-up for the day. It was exhausting to wake up early every day, just so Maxwell and Bertrand wouldn’t see her without it in the morning, but it was necessary.

Back in New York, she made sure to only have night employment, so her looks would be less recognizable, but Cordonia’s social season, contrary to expectations, played out mostly in the mornings.

She was reminded amusingly of Penelope’s complaints, “My advisors said I only needed to look pretty at the balls and flirt with the Prince, but it hasn’t been going that way at all”. It seemed them all were misled about the nature of the tests to become the next Queen of Cordonia.

While putting on the mascara, she received a message from Charlotte, saying Katya and Zarina were safe in Athens. Smiling, she deleted the message, as a security measure.

A knock followed it. “Rise and shine, little blossom!” It was Maxwell.

“Day two of the Feast.” Bertrand announced. “I hope you’re prepared to fight for your time with the Prince, Riley.”

“And all the apples! You’ve made an apple pie before, right? And you’re pretty good at planting apple trees?” Maxwell asked.

“I guess we’re all finding out today.” She opened the door for them to enter. “Good morning, Maxwell, Bertrand.”

“Good morning.” Bertrand said, gruffly. “We’re here to prepare you for today’s events.”

“Very well. What am I supposed to be doing?” She asked, sitting back at the dresser and crossing her legs. Before Bertrand could open his mouth, she interrupted. “No, wait, am I supposed to be dressed differently for some inane reason?”

He narrowed his eyes. “As a matter of fact, yes. The best dressed lady will be crowned the Apple Queen.”

“Which means?” She raised one of her inquisitive eyebrows at him.

“It’s a fun tradition!” Maxwell said. “The people vote on who will run the Apple Court.”

“Yes, you’d get extra publicity, the favor of the actual Queen and the power to boss people around for an hour.” Bertrand amended.

“Interesting.” She said, with a contemplative smile. “What do you have in mind?”

He threw her a dress bag. “Change. There’s no time to lose. Through a series of promises and threats, I was able to procure a historically accurate rendition of a Cordonian peasant’s best gown from the realm’s most prestigious stage production company, available on consignment.”

She shook her head at him. “I’ll write you a check.”

“Cash only.” He smiled wolfishly.

Riley grumbled and took the dress to the bathroom and changed. “How’s this?”

“It’s perfect!” Maxwell whistled.

“You can thank me later.” Bertrand said, arrogantly.

She opened her jewel box, took a stack of hundred Euro notes and threw them at the Duke. “Thank you, Your Grace. You honor me so.” She said, sarcastically.

Vienna, Austria, Fall 2015

“You summoned me, Your Honor?” The slightly-chubby man said, fearfully.

“Good evening, mister Brandl.” Karen greeted with a smile. “Please, come in.”

She was sat on a divan on the sides of a rich and tastefully decorated living room. The windows, with frames typical for townhouses such as that one, opened to the Danube canal just on the other side of the street.

The house was deathly silent, to the point the clacking of porcelain of Karen’s cup and saucer was deafening.

“Sit down.” She motioned to the divan next to hers, in a polite, if commanding, tone.

Brandl obeyed wordlessly.

She put down her chamomile tea on the coffee table in front of her and picked up a paper portfolio laying on that same table.

“This, mister Brandl,” She showed him the portfolio. “Is an invoice from one of my accountants.”

He gulped. “I hope everything is going well with your investments, ma’am.”

“Oh, they are. Exceptionally well, in fact. For every breath I take, I grow wealthier.” She said, dismissively. “Nothing new, but there was a development that concerned, if not pleasantly surprised, my accountant.”

“What was it, ma’am?” He asked, tentatively.

She opened the file and placed on her lap. “Yesternight, an auction was held at the London branch of Christie’s. A painting by miss Valois reached a very high sum. You see, miss Valois always arose fair prices for her works, but never have a painting by her reached one hundred thousand pounds, and yet, this particular work was sold by two hundred fifty pounds.

“I am sure you know I and my children own collectively the most extensive collection of miss Valois works, and if each of them reaches a fraction of that price at any given auction, we would be over thirteen million Euros wealthier.”

“And all that without lifting a single finger. Some would call you very fortunate, ma’am.” Brandl amended.

“Indeed they would, but what concerns me is why that particular painting sold for so much.” Karen pondered.

“The pound is at a bad exchange rate these times, ma’am, and the economic uncertainties favor us at the art market.” Brandl offered.

She hummed. “Yes, yes, all good points, mister Brandl. Yet, I am unconvinced.”

“Why so?” He stuttered.

“Call it a hunch.” She dismissed with a hand movement. “It was enough, however, for me to issue an inquiry. Can you guess what I have found out?”

He turned blank. “No, ma’am.”

“I assure you it will be most entertaining, but I digress. The seller was kept secret by Christie’s, and you know how protective they are of such information. However, I knew that particular piece, and I knew it had been gifted to a very kind, if simple, lady.

“Regrettably, that woman passed away a few years past, God bless her soul. That painting, then, fell to the hands of her children, whom, without the artistic sensibility nor the emotional attachment to the piece, found it to be a hideous heirloom.

“Imagine their joy when someone offered to purchase that ridiculous painting for a sum of 2.500 Euros. They sold it right away, of course. That person, opportunistic, was purchasing miss Valois paintings scattered through galleries at artificially low prices. They were, after all, works by a moderately unknown artist.

“After he collected a sizeable amount of works, he accidently let out a certain princely family was looking for purchase of miss Valois works, which explained the mysterious surge of demand for her paintings. He, then, offered one of his collected paintings, exactly that one he purchased from those naïve heirs, for auction, believing that would be the one least likely to be traced back to him.”

At every word uttered at a sickly, scary calm by Karen, Brandl shrunk further into the divan.

“You will ruin your back if you keep contorting it like that, mister Brandl.” She pointed out, thin as a knife. “Anything comes to mind with that tale?”

“No, ma’am.” He manages to let out.

“You see, mister Brandl, people look at me and they see just some bored wife of some inbred, aristocratic family that should have gone extinct a long time ago. However, both you and I know that this could not be further from the truth. I am a cruel and ruthless woman. And as such, I don’t leave debts undisputed. You lied to me, mister Brandl, and I do not take lies kindly.” She snapped her fingers.

Her head bodyguard appeared at the door, looking as menacing as always.

“Wh-what are you going to do?” He stuttered, jumping to his feet.

“Restitution, mister Brandl, restitution. You caused me great disservice, running your mouth like that, aside from cheating a poor family out of an opportunity. I will have the money you earned from your pathetic maneuver to its rightful owners, I will have the paintings you bought at my disposition, and you’ll have only the debts you contracted for purchasing them.”

“You cannot do this!” He shouted.

“I can, I want, I did.” Karen was taxactive. Then, turning to her employee: “Now, if you may, escort mister Brandl out, he is becoming an inconvenience.”

The man was forcibly taken out of the living room, and the silence reigned once more.

Applewood, Neokastron, Cordonia, Fall 2015

A short walk later, they arrive to the orchard, where the nobles were congregated for the festival.

“Now, Riley,” Maxwell said. “Are you ready to show off your baking skills?”

“No time like now.” She responded, determined.

Maxwell grinned. “Good, ‘cause you’re baking a pie for the Queen!”

“Today’s all about gaining the Queen’s favor. As we draw closer to the Theophany, she’ll be testing all the potential candidates.” Bertrand instructed. “Be careful what you say around her.”

“It’d also help if you won the pie-baking contest.” Maxwell said. “But you won’t be doing this alone! It’s a team event, so you can rely on the other ladies if you need to.”

Riley pursed her lips. “Now, that’s concerning. How can I trust some girl that never even came close to an oven in her life?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Some of them are absolutely amazing bakers!” Maxwell praised.

“I’ll pretend I don’t care how you know that and say it must be some other cutting-edge husband-catching technique.” Riley rolled her eyes. “Speaking of parents in desperation for noble in-laws, where’s Hana? She’d be a mighty asset for this, I’m sure she’d be able to do it blindfolded.”

“Dunno,” Maxwell shrugged. “But maybe you can get her on your team!”

“Okay, let’s do this!” Riley threw her nose to the air and joined the other girls.

“Make House Beaumont proud!” Bertrand commanded.

The two men walk off, leaving Riley with the other women. A minute later, Queen Regina join them.

“Greetings ladies.” She said. “I’m glad to see everyone here again. We will soon be dividing into two teams to partake in the apple pie baking contest. I’ve decided that Olivia will captain one team and Madeleine the other.” Of course she did. “Ladies, please select your teams.”

Again, with no surprise, Madeleine had the first pick. “I choose Lady Penelope.”

The black-haired woman walked cheerfully to Madeleine’s side. “We’ll bake poodle-shaped pie crumpets!”

“No.” Madeleine quickly shut Penelope down.

“Okay…” She retreated into submission.

“Lady Kiara.” Olivia selects, and the tanned-skin woman walks over to her side.

Also unsurprisingly, Hana and Riley were the last pick of the crop. The black-haired controlled an urge to roll her eyes, it was such a pathetic, puerile power play that even teenagers considered it childish.

“Look at the two strays!” Olivia laughed, wickedly. “Come on, Riley, I’ll adopt you. You’re not as mangy as Hana.”

“Oh, no, Olivia.” Riley linked her arms with Hana’s. “We’re a pair.”

“Two undesirables on one team? That’s just vile.” Olivia demeaned.

Riley shrugged. “I respectfully disagree.”

Madeleine resolved the dispute. “I don’t really care. You can have both of them.”

Hana and Riley smiled at each other and marched haughtily to Olivia’s side. As they walked towards the outdoor baking setup, the Queen approaches the black-haired.

“Lady Riley, I hope you’ll exceed expectations like last time.” She said, offhandedly.

“I wouldn’t worry, ma’am. Apple pie, after all, is America’s national dessert.” The younger woman smiled, with a side note of defiance.

Regina did not back down. “I imagine you’ve had some decent apple pies from your homeland. Though I expect that after today, you’ll be saying ‘as Cordonian as apple pie’.”

And with that, she left.

With the arrival of the girls, Olivia and Madeleine organize their teams.

“Riley, Hana, cut the apples.” The redhead commanded. “That should be a simple enough task that even you can handle.” And she walks away before either of them could utter a word.

Riley hugged Hana’s shoulders. “If mise-en-place is what we were given, it is on the mise-en-place we’re going to shine.”

With all the ladies positioned, Queen Regina addresses the crowd. “Let the bake-off begin!”

The ladies jump into a flurry of activity. Olivia slams a basket of apples in front of Riley and Hana.

“Get to work.” She ordered.

They quickly peel and slice the apples.

“Okay, done.” Riley dropped the knife. “The recipe says we should add two cups of sliced apples.”

“But we’re doubling the size of the pie, so we should add four cups.” Hana warned.

“Great, I’ll do the measuring.” She picked up the cup.

“I’ll start getting the spices together.” Hana said and left for the spice cupboard.

Riley takes the four cups of apples and set it aside for the cinnamon mix. “Hey, Olivia!” She called the redhead over.

With no response, she walked over where the Duchess was. When she came closer, the redhead hid two identical shakers behind her back.

“The apples are ready.” Riley informed.

“Uh… good.” Olivia dismissed.

The black-haired rolled her eyes. “Is this the best you can do, Olivia? Y’know, for all that I’ve heard from the Nevrakis, I expected a more seasoned conspirateuse.”

Olivia seems ready to bark, but then sights, checks around for eavesdroppers, and starts whispering: “I’m switching the salt and sugar labels for the other team. Now that you know, you can spare me your moralizing and leave. I don’t have much time.”

“I would, if I didn’t think Madeleine is probably thinking of ways to do the exact same thing.” Riley shrugged.

Olivia seemed shocked. “You want to help?”

“I want to slap that smug smile off Regina’s face.” Riley said.

“That I can agree to.” Olivia nodded. “How about you distract Penelope for me? She’s their guard dog.”

“On it.” Riley said and stealthily walked over to Penelope.

“Hey, Penelope.” She smiled sweetly. “How’s the pie baking?”

The other woman sighed. “Madeleine doesn’t trust me, so I’m ‘standing around and looking pretty’. But, you know, at least that means she thinks I’m pretty.”

“But you’re a noblewoman!” Riley argued. “How many centuries you could trace your lineage back again? Four?”

“Six.” She blushed, self-conscious.

“Six hundred years of high-birth.” Riley emphasizes. “Certainly you can bake a measly pie.”

“If only.” She lamented. “I’ve never even boiled water! Right now I wish I could just snuggle up with my poodle.”

“That I can understand.” The American used a low, emphatic tone of voice.

“Do you have poodles?” Penelope asks, excitedly. “They’re my favorite breed of dog. Did I tell you about the golden poodle statues around my family’s estate? We have one in the atrium, the gardens, the bathhouse…”

Before she could continue, though, a hand patted Riley’s shoulder. “Penelope, darling, excuse me for butting in, but this little sheep has wandered from the herd. I’ll be taking her back now.” Olivia came for her rescue.

“Of course.” She responded, cheerily. “Goodbye!”

Olivia leads Riley back to their team’s kitchen. “Not bad for a beginner.” If only the redhead knew. “But now I need you over by the oven.”

Riley walks over by a wood-fired oven. Hana waves and comes over. “The pie is almost ready to be baked. Want to help me decorate it before it goes in the oven?”

“Only if I can steal some batter.” Riley said, smiling.

“There is leftover filling.” Hana offered.

“Good enough. Let’s go.” She took the Asian’s arm and went over to the table.

Hana presented the pie to be baked. “I want to add a little flair to the pie, so it’ll bake with a pretty design. Though I’m not sure what the design should be. What do you think the Queen would like?”

The first two images that came through Riley’s head was a penis and a red rose. A penis was self-explanatory, but the rose, well, it was a finer print of cruel. Today, however, wasn’t the day for pettiness. She had a contest to win.

“We should add a Cordonian Royal Seal.” She decided, to stroke Regina’s ego. “It’s a pie fit for a Queen after all.”

“The seal is a bit complicated, but I love a challenge!” Hana said, excitedly.

Riley supposed she should volunteer to help, but decided against. Observing the Asian, she felt she had to comment: “You’re really good at this.”

“You sound so surprised.” Hana laughed.

“As I said to Maxwell earlier, I’m surprised you were taught this. It seems so… middle class, I guess.”

The Asian shrugged. “I never had to cook, and if my parents have their way, I never will. But it’s artistic, refined work.”

Before Riley could answer, Kiara appears from behind them and complains: “Hey! You’re not supposed to…” She takes a look into the work and stops on her tracks. “Whoa… Very nice.”

“You think the Queen will like it?” Hana asks.

Kiara smirked. “She’d be a fool not to.” And then takes the freshly-decorated pie and puts it in the oven.

As they waited for the pie to cook, Riley and Hana take a break. Some ice-cold water was served by the maids of the manor, and the girls had the opportunity to enjoy the late-Fall sunlight filtered through the apple trees.

“So, Hana,” Riley said. “As we were saying, if I was to guess, I’d say baking is yet another thing you’ve learned and don’t really like.”

“It was alright. At least I got to taste test all of my creations, including sneaking in some uncooked batter every now and then.” She smiled.

The black-haired snickered. “What would be the point otherwise?”

The timer went off. Riley put it carefully out of the oven and handles it to Olivia. The redhead snickers, smoothly takes the pie and presents it to Queen Regina, almost simultaneously to Madeleine presenting hers.

“Thank you both.” Regina said, ceremonially. “We’ll begin the judging with Madeleine’s pie.”

The woman looks carefully at the dessert, evaluating its presentation.

“This is very well done. Good work, Madeleine.” Regina appraised.

Riley contained a smirk. “Wait until you taste it.” She thought, meanly.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Madeleine bowed.

Regina then takes a knife, cuts out a piece and places it on a Portuguese ceramic dish. With silver cutlery, she carves the smallest of the pieces and puts into her mouth.

“Oh, my!” She quickly places her napkin to her mouth. “That’s a bit heavy on the salt.”

It was probably as salty as the Dead Sea, but Regina would eat the entire pie with a smile, just so she wouldn’t have to admit it.

“What?” Madeleine vociferate, surprised. And then her fists ever so clench, as she glowers at Penelope. Said young noblewoman shrunk, fearfully. “My apologies, Your Majesty.”

Knowing nothing she said could savage Madeleine, Regina began appraising Olivia, Riley, Kiara and Hana’s pie.

“The design is superb.” She commented. “Who did this?”

“I did, Your Majesty.” Hana said, overjoyed.

Her soft scowl dissipates, as it turned out it wasn’t the handiwork of Riley’s. “You’re exceptionally talented, Lady Hana.”

The young woman bowed her graces.

Regina followed the protocol for tasting once again the pie. She bites and tastes it at length. Finally, she declared: “The perfect amount of apples with exquisite flavoring.” The Queen dabs her moth with a napkin. “After weighting the strengths and weaknesses of each side, I declare Olivia’s team the winner.”

With a barely-noticeable smug smirk in her face, Riley celebrated the victory with her teammates. The girls from both sides of the competition applauded, signaling the end of the event.

“Ladies, if you’ll proceed across the ground for our next event.” Regina oriented, as the cleaning staff swarmed to unassemble the outdoor kitchen.

Riley was walking over the signaled area but felt a small nudge to her shoulder. She turned to see who was it, and it was the Queen. “Lady Riley,” She says. “May I have a word?”

“Of course, ma’am.” She assented, politely.

Regina leads her away from the ladies for a stroll through the apple orchard. When they were far enough for anyone to overhear them, Riley asked: “Pardon my rudeness, ma’am, but what is it that you wish to speak with me?”

“I wanted us to get to know one another better.” She said, with an inviting smile. Riley thought she’d feel more at ease with a sneer. “I’ve been impressed with how you’ve comported yourself so far. You’ve demonstrated grace and composure unlike most.”

“You flatter me, ma’am.” She thanked, gracefully, all in the while she braced herself for the slash.

“But a queen, no matter how graceful and composed, cannot be everywhere at once. You’ll need to appoint advisors and ambassadors to act in your stead.” She said, seriously. “Which is why I’d like to hear your opinion on some of those around you.”

Regina was baiting her, Riley was sure. She remembered Bertrand’s words about being diplomatic, and she was going to take them to heart. “Of course, ma’am. I’m happy to be of service.”

“Madeleine is one of your strongest competitors. What is your opinion of her?” Regina asked.

She forced a snicker away. Regina couldn’t help herself. “Madeleine’s an asset.” Riley answered. “She has the pedigree and the skills to thrive at court, and she uses it to her advantage. She has the potential to be a decisive ally. Or a difficult enemy.”

“Interesting assessment.” Regina considered her words. “Hana has been a competitor since the beginning, and you seem closer than the others. What do you see in her?”

Now that’s a low blow. She’s pulling her friends into her intrigue. “Hana is extraordinarily talented, ma’am. And very kind, as well, she’s helped me find my footing here when I didn’t know where to step.”

“She’s someone you’d like to keep in your inner circle, I assume.” She insinuated.

“Of course.” The black-haired smiled.

“I concur with your evaluation.” Regina said. “What you say about your friends can reveal more about you than about them. And Liam’s commoner friend, Drake?” Riley noticed she could barely dissimulate her contempt. “You’re by his side quite often despite him having very little to do with the competition.”

“Despite his sour disposition, ma’am, Drake’s very reliable. He’s exceedingly loyal, and I cannot help but understand why Prince Liam trusts him. So do I, as a matter of fact.”

“It’s good to surround yourself with people you can trust.” Regina said, somewhat demeaning. “A true queen must have a network of allies she can call upon. It’s clear you’ve been assessing how those around you may help you someday.”

“I try my best, ma’am.”

“You may return to the other suitors, Lady Riley. It’s time I announce the next event.” Regina dismissed.

“Of course, ma’am.” She said, with a smile. “And if I may say so, I quite enjoyed our conversation. If you ever wish to know about me, I’ll be happy to provide the information. You needn’t to corner my aunt for it.”

Regina blanched. “How do you know of it?”

“Aunt Isabel is hardly a simpleton, ma’am. She found most strange for a man with an accent to ask with such determination about her niece she hadn’t seen for so long.” Riley informed, smirking wickedly. “Excuse me.” She bowed and left a somewhat-gaping Regina behind.

At the edge of the orchard, the people of the village congregated once more.

Shortly after, Regina addressed all the girls, completely recomposed. “The festival we throw during the Presentation serves to remind us the growth vital to keeping our nation thriving. Now, as is tradition, we will honor one distinguished, best dressed lady as this year’s Apple Queen. This is a ceremonial position for the people to decide. Last year, it was our very own, Lady Madeleine.”

Riley’s eyes moved round ever so slightly, while Madeleine bowed. “I very much appreciated the honor.”

“As for this year, people of Applewood,” The Queen addressed. “Who do you wish to honor with this title?”

A strong, quasi-unanimous chant of Kókkini Prinkípissa took the crowd by strike. The French-bred ladies looked at one another, wondering about whom were the villagers referring to. Riley knew whom, and Regina’s face showed she did too.

Kókkini Prinkípissa. Red Princess.

“I think we have a clear winner.” Regina said, unable to keep her contempt away from her tone. “Lady Riley will be this year’s Apple Queen.”

“Woo!” Riley heard Maxwell celebrate on the distance. “Go, Riley! Party like it’s 1299! All hail the Apple Queen from the Big Apple!”

Regina rolled her eyes. “Lady Riley, please join me for your ‘Coronation’.”

Riley kneels in front of the actual Queen. She hands her an apple-shaped scepter. “I pronounce you Queen of the Apples. Long live the Apple Queen!”

“Thank you all for electing me to represent you as the Apple Queen.” Riley addressed the crowd in Greek, arousing cheers from the peasantry, usually kept at large from those events. “I’m happy to accept this esteemed position, and I will treat it with the utmost respect.”

“My Queen,” Regina said in a low baritone. “I will serve as your acting seneschal and guide you through the ceremony.”

Riley forced a smirk away. Regina must be loving this, she thought, meanly.

Regina continued: “Before we proceed, we must fill out the Apple Court. These are the courtiers who will parade behind you. Who will be your cup-bearer? This person should be a close confidant you would trust with your life.”

Her eyes fluttered through the crowd. To her right-hand side, in a discreet position behind Regina, stood Liam. It was aligned to the objectives of the afternoon, choosing him, but at the same time, such a choice would come across as aggressive, especially to Kiara and Penelope. Their new allegiance would suffer if she was too conspicuous.

Her eyes fluttered to the crowd. At the forefront, Hana smiled, supporting. Now there’s a trustworthy person, as much as she was valuable strategy-wise. Her counsel was to be taken into serious consideration, not to mention a position in that travesty of a Court would be exceedingly beneficial to her own interests, if nothing else to appease her overbearing parents. However, Hana was also the obvious choice, and that’s neither strategic nor interesting.

Her mind branched to the other girls, she could choose a random girl, but that would bode as mocking the ceremony, and as skeptical she was to the whole ordeal, there was something inherently wrong about picking Madeleine or Olivia. Riley wouldn’t put behind them craving a literal knife to her back halfway through the event.

A solution came from the far back, though. A wicked smile spread through Riley’s face.

“Drake. I pick Drake.” Riley announced.

He came, smiling, trying to fowl her plan to make him miserable. “You know the cup-bearer tastes drinks for poison, right?”

“Yet, this is an apple festival. We’ll be drinking nothing but apple martinis.” She smiled, sweetly.

He grumbled. “I am blessed to carry out your agenda, my queen.”

Drake takes his place at her right-hand side, between Riley and Regina, who was also so very glad to be behind the order of precedence of not one, but two commoners, as fanciful as it was.

The blonde woman takes out a goofy-looking fool’s cap. “My queen, if you’ll name your court jester.”

Madeleine or Olivia? Choices, choices, choices. Riley laughed at her own evil. The reality, however, was less amusing. If she chose either of the girls, it would be an act of open warfare, and she preferred to keep the façade of naïve outsider, if only to an untrained eye.

There was someone, however, who would appreciate the position. “I pick Maxwell.”

Said man pushed his way to the front. “Step aside, plebeians! Three-time jester MVP, coming through.”

“You’re not supposed to enjoy this.” Drake pointed out.

Maxwell, however, was undeterred. “I’m sensing jealousy.”

“Forget I said anything.” Drake aggravated.

The Beaumont spare plopped the jester cap on his head. The bells jingle as they fall down on his face.

“My queen,” Regina said to Riley. “With your court assembled, it is your right to issue an edict before your people.”

“My people,” Riley addressed the crowd, in Greek once more. “Love bind us together. Whether is love of country, love of citizen, love of self. These bonds hold us together. Our differences are insignificant compared to the power of love we share with one another.”

Regina cuts her speech short, summoning a horse and a carriage. “Magnanimous queen, show your generosity and share with us the products of your bountiful harvest!”

Riley got into the carriage and started handing delicately apples to every attendee with a blessing and a smile.

When the apples ran out, Regina led her to an area where Madeleine stood beside an apple seedling. “Your majesty, please honor your ancestor, the previous year’s Apple Queen, and plant a tree for the next generation.”

Madeleine curtsies. “My queen. Happy wishes for you.”

“Thank you, my ancestor.” Riley smiled, diplomatically.

“The labor of your forebears will help you build a better world.” She responded, in a tone of ceremonial neutrality. Lowering her voice, she whispers to Riley: “Not many get the pleasure of being addressed as ‘my queen’. Savor this moments. You may never hear the phrase again.”

“I thought we were beyond petty threats, Madeleine.” Riley smiled at her. “If you want to scare me so, you will have to do better.”

“As you wish, Lady Riley.” Madeleine responds, and step aside showing a hole in the ground for the sapling. “The ground is yours, my queen.”

Riley takes the seedling and place it into the hole and scoop the dirt in around it. She then turns to the crowd and addresses the masses: “The work we do today will benefit future generations. Our children deserve a better world then that we have it today.”

“Thank you, gracious Apple Queen.” Regina said. “As your final honor…” She motioned for Liam to approach.

He comes closer in a confident march, but averting, shyly, his eyes from her. “You are entitled to a kiss, my queen.”

She smiled sweetly at him. “I humbly accept your offer.”

He beamed. “As my queen desires.”

Prince Liam rises. He tenderly leans in and kisses Riley on the cheek.

With that, the festival wraps up and the cheering crowd disperses. Before Riley could walk very far, however, Maxwell comes after her, breaking through the crowd and waving over.

“There’s our glorious Apple Queen!” Maxwell greeted.

“Hey, lord jester.” Riley smiled back. “Thanks for your vote, I heard you cheering out there.”

He turned bashful. “Well, somebody had to do it. Anyways, that’s not why I’m here.”

“What do I owe the pleasure, then?” Riley asks.

“I might be able to get you some alone time today with Prince Liam!” He exclaimed, merrily. “I happen to know he’s in the manor’s conservatory right now waiting for some nobles. I could distract them long enough with offers to donate to their favorite causes.”

“Let’s do it, then!” Riley responded, excitedly.

“The conservatory’s on the other side of the estate grounds.” He pointed her. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

She kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Maxwell. You’re the best.”

He smirked. “Someone needs to think I’m the best to make up for Bertrand thinking I’m the worst.”

Applewood Conservatory, Neokastron, Cordonia, Fall 2015

Riley walked into the Victorian-style conservatory, and as soon she stepped into it, she was hit with a distinctive citric smell. She couldn’t pass on the irony, apples and oranges.

Liam, expecting company, perked at the sound of the door, bracing himself to an unamusing exchange. The prospect only furthered his joy when he saw who was waiting for him.

“Lady Riley, what a surprise.” He beamed. “And wearing a costume?”

She smiled, self-conscious. “Bertrand says it’s historically accurate.”

“Well, you look fantastic.” He praised.

“You’re too kind.” She says, and on another note, she continued. “I hope I’m not disturbing.”

“I am supposed to meet some of my mother’s friends to discuss the flowers, but I’m very excited to see you instead.” He grinned.

His mother’s friends. Lady Carmela’s friends. The significance did not go unnoticed by Riley.

She knew; however, it wasn’t the time to discuss such matters. Instead, she smirked and said: “Yes, I might have asked Maxwell to entertain them for a while.”

“How courteous of him to have complied.” Liam concurred, with a smirk of his own.

“You’ve been busier than usual lately.” Riley commented.

He sighed. “Yes. Since my father has announced his abdication at the Regatta, I’ve been suddenly overrun by nobles wanting to…” He struggled with the concept he was trying to convey.

“Congratulate you in such fortuitous occasion, all in the while securing their position in the new regime?” Riley offered, in an ironic tone.

“Yes, that’s about right. My ascension seemed like a distant event, but now it’s actually happening. In a matter of weeks, I’ll be King of Cordonia.” He sighed again. “I thought I had more time.”

“Oh, Liam.” She came closer to him and placed her hands on each of his arms. “I trust you are more than ready to take upon this responsibility. Besides, if everything goes as smoothly as they’re going, you’ll have me by your side every step of the way.”

That statement has a dimension Liam had no clue of, but still rung true.

He smiled bashfully. “You make me believe you. We are a good team.”

“The greatest.” She laughed softly.

“It’s just so strange to think that so many people would be counting on me, depending on me.” He confessed.

“Well, even if you were a random man on the streets, people would still count on you. If you were a doctor, many patients’ lives would be at your hands. If you were a lawyer, your clients’ liberties would be on you.” She augmented. “Even if you were a househusband, your family’s life would be dependent on you. Responsibility is a side product of societal life, yours just happen to be… unusual.

“Besides, I know you. You’re kind, responsible, and noble, frightening so. And, perhaps most importantly, you’re always thinking of others. I am sure the realm will thrive under you. Or do you think I’m that off-mark?”

He smiled in modesty. “You say you see me so clearly, but how about yourself?”

“What about me?” She wondered.

He sighed. “I know there’s much undecided, but let’s say you were my selection. You’re such a free spirit, Riley, and I love that about you. But there are expectations that come with being queen. Royal events, palatial life, children. Can you really see yourself by my side as your place?”

“I left home very young, Liam.” She breathed. “I left for college at seventeen, and I never really looked back. There didn’t seem to be my place, it never seemed to be a place to go back to. Nowhere did, really. But now I’m going on thirty, and I’ve seen lots of great things and others not-so-good, and the truth is that I’m tired.

“I want to build something, I want to have something to look at fondly, I want to have a reason to stay. It all begins with finding someone I want to be with, and I want to be with you. So, it doesn’t matter if we’re going to live at the Brigades or at a shack in Montana, or if you’re the King, a high school teacher or a homeless guy, I’m sticking with you.”

He hugged her. “This means a lot to me, Riley.”

“Well, I mean it.” She said, earnestly.

“Meeting you in New York was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.” He confessed. “You changed my life.”

She laughed. “I’m not even going to mention in how many ways my life changed because of you.”

“For better, I hope.”

“Certainly beats my old gig.” She laughed and kissed his cheek.

“Riley, whatever it happens, know that I am grateful for the time we spent together.” Liam said, feverishly. He pauses in front of a rose bush, picks one out and hands it to her. “I know you don’t like roses, but have you ever seen a Juliet?”

“Only at a public garden.” She said, while admiring the flower. “The five-million-dollar rose.”

He smirked. “It’s rumored that the man who created this breed spent five million dollars and fifteen years on it. It must have been a labor of love.”

“And yet, so less dramatic than a black tulip.” She smiled. “Thank you for giving it to me, my mother would love a picture of it.”

A rose. It seemed so ominous for Liam to seal his promise with a rose, just like hers to Charlotte is also sealed with a rose.

And, yet, it seemed so very appropriate. Sub rosa, she believed she had heard, no light shall ever shed over the secrets sworn by the rose.

Liam, sensing her discomfort, even if he was mistaken about its cause, decided to change subjects: “How did you find the Presentation?”

She smirked. “Lord, you people really love your apples! It was all fine and good, but I swear I could kill for a banana.”

“In the future, I’ll make sure you get a reprieve from all the apples.” He smiled back. His gaze lingered at the girl, and his smile fell only so slightly. “I don’t know how much longer Maxwell is going to be able to stall the nobles. He cannot entertain all of my appointments.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Have you even met Maxwell? He would at least try, if nothing else.”

Liam scoffed, good-naturedly, and wrapped the girl on his arms. She could smell his perfume, fougère, oakmoss and coumarin. His fingers delicately traced a line through her cheekbones, while the other hand, allotted on the back of her head, brought her face closer to his, finishing on a deep kiss.

As they break apart, Liam said, breathlessly: “We’d better stop, or I’ll never leave you.”

“I thought that was the point.” She raised a defiant eyebrow.

He captures her lips in another long, lingering kiss, then reluctantly pulls away, tucking a rebellious strand of black hair back into its rightful place behind her ear.

“Until next time.” He said goodbye.

She recomposes herself and leaves the conservatory in a haughty fashion. By the door of the manor, there waits Maxwell.

Before she could say anything, Maxwell jumped the mark. “I hope everything went well with Liam, but we’re switching gears for the next event.”

“Good afternoon to you too, Bertrand.” She looked pointedly at him.

“Sorry…” He smiled sheepishly. “It’s just that we’re kind of late, and we’re clearing the ground for the ‘fox hunt’ tomorrow morning.” He made air quotes.

“We are hunting now?” She admonished.

“No, not really. It’s more like a race that takes place at the Royal hunting grounds. Which means horseback riding through the woods!”

“Lord help me.” She aggravated.

Applewood, Neokastron, Cordonia, Fall 2015

The knock of the dress shoes to the polished wooden floor sounded like a thunderstorm over at the empty, silent hallway, for its feverish pace. From the windows, the light of the setting sun heats the late-autumnal waft running through the old building.

A knock to the grand, engraved door reflected the pace so-far, in a desperate plea for access. When the order was shouted, in mild irritancy, the man barreled into the bedroom.

“Your Majesties,” He bowed. “There is an emergency.”

“That much we’ve gathered, for how desperately you punched against that door.” Regina snapped.

“I am most sorry, ma’am.” He apologized and kept to himself by the entrance.

“Well, boy, now say what you have to say and don’t waste my time!” She berated.

“Regina, please.” The moaning voice of the King came from the bed. “Keep quiet. And you, secretary, come closer and tell me what brings you here.”

“Excuse me, sir, but I’ve brought the newspapers that will be published in the morning, and that is what they’ll be headlining.” He handed the man an issue.

His eyes popped. “Is this real? Is this the truth?”

“The Security Department is looking into it, but they said that, preliminarily, the newspapers have a very strong case.” He answered, regretful.

“Is there anything we can do?” He asked, grave.

“No, sir. It is too late.”

“There is nothing else but to brace ourselves, then.” The King said. “You are dismissed.”

He bowed and left.

“What is it, Constantine?” Regina asked.

The man said nothing but handed her the issue.

“What?!” She screamed. “That is outrageous!”

“It’s the truth, Regina, and you know it.” He bellowed. “Thank the Heavens they did not mention us.”

“Not they, her.” She snapped. “I told you that girl was problem. And yet, you did not listen to me.”

“I have it under control, woman.” He demeaned.

“You better have, you better have.” She said, and also left the room.

Red Rose - Masterlist

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Taglist: @boneandfur; @mfackenthal

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kassandra-lorelei · 7 years ago

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Okay I'm fully obsessed with CC and Niles making a new HAPPY life in London, I Need to Know how Niles (or CC but probably Niles right?) tells Fran. Does he tell her immediately? Does he wait, to CC's angst because why wouldn't he tell her is he having doubts why is he not spilling the beans like the hasfrau he is? Does Fran find out somehow like 3 months after they've moved in together and takes a revenge flight to London just to murder Niles for not telling her? I Must Know

Here we are, my dude! Hot off the press! :-)

@missbabcocks1

Two weeks. Nearly three, if she really thought about it. Yeah,it was nearly three – she could just about make out the date on the digitalclock on the nightstand.

They’d been together for all of that time (practicallyliving together, too, for all the time she’d spent in her own apartmentrecently!), and he still hadn’t said anything. He was on the phone with NannyFine every couple of days, sometimes more, and he hadn’t mentioned what wasgoing on between them once!

Was he afraid to? Was he having second thoughts? He couldn’thave been; it didn’t make any sense if he was. He was the most wonderful manshe’d ever been with, and he held nothing back in showing her how special shewas to him – he was affectionate, charming, fun, and a whole host of other things! Notto mention, he was easily the best she’d ever been to bed with. Living to serveothers had certainly honed his skills in that department!

So why the secrecy? That question had woken her early thatSaturday morning (rather than the usual sound of the London traffic starting toget bad), and she rolled over in bed to put her arm over him, holding him closeand pressing her cheek against his shoulder.

Even if she didn’t have the answer to her question, justholding him as she was felt soothing. She couldn’t believe they’d wasted somuch time in pretending to hate each other! Especially not when they could havebeen doing much more pleasant things…

She felt Niles start to stretch and yawn against her, andone of his hands reached back to help her hook her leg over his hip.

He nudged his head against hers, “Hm, you’re awake early…”

“How’d you know I wasn’t sleeping?” she asked in return, fingertipsbrushing the back of his palm, which was starting to rub her thigh.

He turned his eyes up towards her, a hint of a tired smirkon his face.

“No snoring shaking me out of the bed,” he answered, takinghis hand away from her leg and turning over so he was more on his back. “It’s adead giveaway.”

C.C. pretended to be put out by that, and she folded herarms some, “Sounds like someone doesn’t want a good morning kiss…!”

Niles slid his hand onto her hip and squeezed, “Will a potof coffee make up for it?”

She pretended to think about it, and got comfy underneaththe covers again, “Make it coffee and pancakes and you might have a deal.”

Niles chuckled, and got onto his elbows and knees so that hecould lean just inches from her face.

“Alright…” he said, puckering up. “But I’d like my paymentup-front please.”

Rolling her eyes, C.C. conceded him the kiss he was askingfor. She then watched him get up, throw on his dressing gown, and head out ofthe bedroom to make his way to the kitchen.

Within the hour, they were both enjoying hot coffee andpancakes from a tray, their pillows plumped up between the bed’s headboard andtheir backs.

“What were you doing awake so early, anyway?” Niles asked,taking a sip of his coffee. “Have a bad dream?”

C.C. frowned. She was getting better at talking about herfeelings, but it was still hard sometimes. Especially if she had nothing tofound her worries on.

“Not exactly,” she stabbed at her pancake, making a slice init with her fork but not attempting to cut it away to eat. “I just keptthinking about…well…”

“About what, love?”

He looked so concerned as he asked that, C.C. softened upinside. He really cared that much, didn’t he? He just wanted to make herproblem go away, if it was possible – there was no reason not to trust him withthis.

“You haven’t told the Sheffields about us,” she explained.

Niles looked at her blankly.

“No, not yet,” he said, cocking his head to one sideslightly. “Why?”

“I could ask you the same thing!” C.C. dropped her forkagainst her plate. “You’re usually such a yenta, I’d imagined you’d tell NannyFine right away!”

It was Niles’ turn to poke at his food, “Well, no – I wantedto wait a while.”

“What for?” she asked, probably sounding a little bit moredemanding than she needed or wanted to be.

He hesitated before answering, “I just…I wanted you to becomfortable with the idea of me telling them, before I did. I didn’t want you tothink I was making any kind of big plans about our relationship withoutdiscussing it with you.”

C.C. thought that over. That did make sense, and it touchedher again to know that he’d only been thinking of her. He was better than shedeserved, a lot of the time. But she was determined to make it up to him, andbe just as good to him in return.

“Oh…well, I suppose I do have to thank you for that,” shetook and gripped his hand, resting her head on his shoulder. “Knowing that theentire borough of Queens does not know my business is something of a relief.”

“I imagined it would be,” Niles said, kissing her hair andstroking her fingers with his thumb. “So, while we’re on the subject, did youwant to let the Sheffields know?”

“Well, they are still technically our closest friends. Theydo need to know eventually…” she thought aloud, before lifting her head upagain to smile at him. “Alright, let’s do it.”

“Okay,” he pecked her lips and started to smirk. “And whenwe’re done, we’ll call the Sheffields.”

C.C. swatted his arm playfully, “Oh, stop it!”

It took a few hours for it to be late enough to call. Giventhat New York was five hours behind London, it meant a lot of waiting around.So, to pass the time, they went to the restaurant for a while – Niles picked upa shift for someone who needed to leave early, and C.C. read through somecontracts for the next play her company was putting on. All the while, she wassupplied with small treats from a dessert cart that he kept rolling past with awink.

By the afternoon, they were back at Niles’ apartment,cuddled on the sofa, with the phone pressed to Niles’ ear as it rang all theway across the ocean.

But the wait was making C.C. anxious, “Why aren’t theypicking up?”

Niles rubbed her arm comfortingly, “It’s alright, sweetheart,just give them some time – their new butler isn’t as prompt as I was.”

She scoffed, and folded her arms, “At that rate we’ll die,leaving behind children and grandchildren, before he gets to the phone!”

It was a little while longer before the dial tone stopped,and she heard the buzz of someone’s voice at the other end of the line, whichstarted Niles back into action.

“Hello, Lawrence. It’s Niles,” he said. “Is either Mr or MrsSheffield at home?”

There was another small buzz.

“Thank you,” Niles smiled pleasantly, and took the phoneaway from his ear to tell her what was happening. “He’s going to fetch MrSheffield now.”

C.C. nodded, and after a couple of seconds, anotherdifferent-sounding buzz came from the phone.

“Hello, sir!” Niles greeted his former employer cheerfully.“How are things?”

He listened for a few minutes, occasionally nodding orinjecting the odd “Mm-hm” or “I see”. But eventually the talk came around inthe direction they were both hoping it would lead to, and Niles shot her asmile.

“With me? Well, things have been simply perfect here,” hesaid. “And, I, um…have someone here who might surprise you, who wants to sayhello…”

He passed the phone over, and C.C. didn’t waste time in speaking.

“Hello, Maxwell.”

In hindsight, she should have expected the shout of surprisethat followed.

“C.C.?!”

Wincing at the volume, she held the phone away from her earmomentarily, before returning to the conversation.

“Yes, Maxwell, it’s me,” she said. “Back from the dead, asit were.”

“Back from the…what on Earth are you doing in London?! InNiles’ apartment?!” Maxwell was so confused, and apparently so annoyed, that hecouldn’t help yelling. “You know what? Stick him back on, I need to have a wordor two with him about- Fran. Fran! Give me back the phone! Give it bac-”

The other producer’s voice trailed off, becoming faint, andit was replaced by a more nasal one.

“Miss Babcock!” Nanny Fine cried. “Why didn’t ya tell us yawent to London and that ya met up with Niles?! Didn’t ya want us to know? DidNiles not want us to know?! Y’know what, don’t go away, but put him back on – Igot a few words I wanna say to him!”

By some small miracle, the woman was silent after that,clearly waiting for Niles to answer.

C.C. held the phone out to him, “It’s for you.”

Niles hesitated, “Which one is it?”

“Probably whichever one is more irate at this current momentin time,” she replied, and pushed the phone into his hand. It sounded like there was another struggle for the mansion’s phone going on down the other end.

Sighing, Niles took the phone.

“Hello?” he asked, before settling in for what was probably goingto be a quite in-depth talk. “Yes, Mr Sheffield…No, no, I was not trying toleave anybody out of the loop…Yes, we were planning on telling you both…I don’tknow when…Whenever we both felt comfortable with it, most likely…Yes, we talkedabout it this morning, that’s why we phoned this afternoon…Alright. Well, ifyou think it’s best…I see. Very well, then. We’ll explain everything inperson…”

In person? Were the Sheffields coming to London? She hadn’theard any rumours about Maxwell Sheffield coming to the West End, so if theywere coming, it was purely for this!

She’d have to ask Niles, when the call was done with.

“Alright, I’ll let her know,” he said. “Thank you…Yes…Yes,we’ll see you then…Alright…Alright. Okay…Goodbye, Mrs Sheffield.”

C.C. looked quizzical, watching as he reached over to thenearest end table and put the phone down, “I thought you were talking toMaxwell?”

“I was, at first,” he replied, a little tiredly. “There wasanother small battle for the phone, so I ended up talking to both.”

“Okay,” she leaned into him, resting her head on hisshoulder. “So, I take it they’re coming over to give us the third degree?”

“As soon as they can get a flight out here. I agreed thatwe’d have dinner with them and straighten everything out face-to-face,” Nilesturned to look at her. “That is alright, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” suddenly thinking, she straightened upand leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, looking around the room. “But,we have a minimum of twelve hours before they get here ‘cause I doubt NannyFine’ll take anything other than the first available flight, so we should startstraightening this place up a little bit.”

Niles made a thoughtful noise, and almost mirrored herposition. He still looked slightly more relaxed about the whole thing.

“Maybe a little, but there’s no need to go overboard,” hesaid, starting to rub her back. “We can take them to the restaurant for themeal.”

“Skimping on the housework, huh?” C.C. chuckled, smirking athim. “Typical.”

Niles’ hand slowed on her back, trailing playfully up anddown her spine, “I might be skimping, or I might just be very much aware thatwe’ll probably mess the place up again before they get here.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, “Every single room?”

“Well, you did say we have a minimum of twelve hours,” hegave her a suggestive look, leaning over to brush his lips against her ear. “Wantto mess the place up a little bit so that we have something to clean up for ourguests?”

C.C. felt a low rumble of a laugh in her throat, “Alwayslooking for an excuse to get a little dirty, aren’t you, Hazel?”

“You know me so well,” Niles kissed the patch of skin justbehind her ear.

He knew it drove her crazy, but C.C. knew she had to focus.They had guests coming in less than twenty-four hours, and she wanted to be prepared.And a part of being prepared was making sure they had clean surroundings, whichwas something Niles should have known about.

Not that she was going to reject him outright…

She stroked one finger down his cheek, all the way to hischest, “I’ll tell you what; if we get this place looking nice for theSheffields, you can help me clean up some other areas in the shower, later…”

Niles immediately got to his feet, “Where did we leave thepolish and the duster?”

C.C. laughed and grinned, joining him by standing, “That’smore like it…!”

They set to work, cleaning up little pieces when and wherethey could as quickly as possible. It was going to be really nice to see theSheffields again, even if there was going to be a lot of explaining to do, andthey only had a short amount of time before the New York couple potentiallycame knocking down the door.

When they were done – and she’d decide when they were done –that shower was going to be more inviting than ever…

#holomoriarty #the nanny #niles the butler #cc babcock #otp: butler bitch #otp: always been bitter together

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musicgoonmail · 4 years ago

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Lovingkindness

In This Edition

In this week’s edition, I share lessons from my life on how God closes and opens doors, what’s new with my book reviews, and what I’ve been enjoying in entertainment. As always, I point you to all of the new free eBooks I’ve found around the web.

Is there something you want me to write about? You can always get in touch by replying to this email. Thanks for spending your weekend with me here!

God Closes and Opens Doors

Sunday Tapes

Giveaway: A Signed Copy of The Wisdom Pyramid

Book Reviews

More Than a Battle

Free eBooks for February

More Free eBooks for February

Extended Play

Lightning Links

Playlists

Coming Soon

Weekly Review

God Closes and Opens Doors

Jess and I have been working on something big, and while I can’t reveal much right now -- I want to share a story of how God seems to work in our life. It seems that with every closed door, we wait for a bit and it appears that God was preparing us as he opens another door.

One example from our life is how God closed the door for furthering my education, but he later opened a door in providing us a home. And we can see God’s hand in it because the timing, location, and occurrence of events could not have been coincidental. We see God’s providence in every situation and circumstance.

As Christians, I believe we have a Biblical warrant to say that this is true. Joseph’s story is one of suffering and being forgotten, but God later opened doors to save him, his family, and his people. The life of Christ is full of examples of God closing doors for others so that Jesus could open other doors to display his glory. Death was a closed door for Christ until he burst forth to redeem his people. And in the life of Paul we see God closing doors and opening others so the Gospel could be spread in jails, houses, churches, and nations.

To be sure, I’m not saying that you will find open doors immediately when things turn sour. And if you find yourself behind closed doors, I’m not saying that God will always open new ones for you. But what I do believe is that God works all things for the good of those who love him. And I’m here to tell you, when you find yourself in the middle of opened and closed doors, that he is right there with you.

Sunday Tapes

We sang Be Thou My Vision on Sunday, and my friend Angie was awesome leading music with me. Her vocals were soaring, and she displayed her skill and control even with the song at a such a quick tempo.

I also appreciate how she's open to try my arrangement ideas, like the a cappella first chorus and last verse. I'm always blessed and humbled to sing with her. We were both smiling at the end because my son Linus walked right up to the front next to the camera! You can watch the video on YouTube.

For more, you can find the rest of our set which included Sovereign Grace Music's "Turn Your Eyes," Keith Green's "O Lord You're Beautiful," and our original "God is the Strength of My Heart and My Portion Forever. Watch on YouTube.

Giveaway: A Signed Copy of The Wisdom Pyramid

SOLA Network published my review of Brett McCracken’s The Wisdom Pyramid and you can read it on their website. To celebrate the launch of the book, Brett put together a wisdom diet challenge for Lent. Many digital detox programs are mostly about how to rid yourself of screens for a period of time. His challenge is different in that it’s less about what not to do and more about what to do. Read about the Wisdom 40 Challenge on his website.

SOLA Network has a signed copy of the book by author Brett McCracken for a giveaway. In all honesty, there aren’t that many entries, so you have a good chance of getting this one. I would love for one of my newsletter readers to win. Enter on Instagram.

Book Reviews

This week I reviewed 3 books. In More Than a Battle, Joe Rigney shows us how to experience victory, freedom, and healing from lust. In Worshiping with the Reformers, Karin Maag takes us on a tour of what it was really like to go to church during the Reformation. In The Servant of the Lord and His Servant People, Matthew S. Harmon beautifully traces this biblical theme through the canon.

Book Review: More Than a Battle by Joe Rigney

Book Review: Worshiping with the Reformers by Karin Maag

Book Review: The Servant of the Lord and His Servant People by Matthew S. Harmon

More Than a Battle

With the news of more Christian leaders failing to kill their sexual sins, Joe Rigney’s More Than a Battle proved to be a timely read. Writing pointedly, Rigney says that pornography rewires the brain. He also says that explanations are not excuses, and that God can renew our minds, giving us hope.

Throughout the book, Rigney shows the devastation of sexual sin, but he is also ready to state the decided victories available to us in Christ. For more, read this longer excerpt from his book: How Porn Weaponizes the Body.

Free eBooks for February

I found two books by Spurgeon and two books by Murray this week for you to download for free on Kindle. Remember, you don’t need a physical Kindle to download and read these books. You can simply start with the free Kindle app. It’s a fantastic way to get focused on reading!

Tim Challies is hosting a giveaway for Cruciform Press. They are giving away four-book packages to five winners. Each winner will receive The Ten Commandments of Progressive Christianity by Michael J. Kruger, Galatians: Redeeming Grace and the Cross of Christ by Melissa McPhail and Lisa Menchinger, The Joy Project: An Introduction to Calvinism (with Study Guide) by Tony Reinke, and On Purpose: Living Life as It Was Intended by Jonny Ivey. I linked the titles to my reviews, and you can enter on Challies’ website.

Kindle: Lectures to My Students: Practical and Spiritual Guidance for Preachers (Volume 1), by C. H. Spurgeon

Kindle: Come Ye Children (Updated, Annotated): Obtaining Our Lord's Heart for Loving and Teaching Children, by C. H. Spurgeon

Kindle: The Ministry of Intercession (Updated and Annotated): A Plea for More Prayer (Murray Updated Classics Book 1), by Andrew Murray

Kindle: Humility (Updated, Annotated): The Beauty of Holiness (Murray Updated Classics Book 2)

More Free eBooks for February

Passion is the free eBook this month from The Good Book Company. Mike McKinley walks readers through Luke’s Gospel to show how Christ’s final day transforms not only their future but also their present.

I found several free Kindle titles by J. C. Ryle and listed them below. You don’t need a physical Kindle to download and read these books. You can simply start with the free Kindle app. It’s a fantastic way to get focused on reading.

The Good Book Company: Passion by Mike McKinley

Kindle: The Cross, by J. C. Ryle

Kindle: Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Matthew, by J. C. Ryle

Kindle: Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Mark, by J. C. Ryle

Kindle: Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke, by J. C. Ryle

Kindle: Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of John, by J. C. Ryle

Faithlife: Deep Church, by Jim Belcher

GLH Publishing: A. W. Tozer Daily Devotional

GLH Publishing: John Calvin’s Commentary on Hebrews

FTC Preaching Guide: Philippians

ERLC Light Magazine: Hidden in Plain Sight

DesiringGod: Designed for Joy: How the Gospel Impacts Men and Women, Identity and Practice

Kindle: Does God Control Everything? (Crucial Questions Series) by R. C. Sproul

D. A. Carson: For the Love of God: A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God’s Word, Vol. 1.

DesiringGod: Habits of Grace by David Mathis

9Marks Journal: Heaven: Rejoicing in Future Glory

Crossway: Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper

Kindle: Crucial Questions by R. C. Sproul (39 eBooks)

The Gospel Coalition: 9 Free eBooks by D. A. Carson

Extended Play

I’ve been thinking about WandaVision all week, and I can’t wait to watch the new episode this weekend. For Valentine’s Day, we plan to watch Robin Hood, Lady and the Tramp, and more episodes of Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings.

Two years ago, before we adopted our son, I wrote a poem about waiting for adoption. I wrote it for my wife, Jess, who shows me what it means to love and trust Christ. Read it again on my website.

Throwback: In Our Waiting: A Poem for My Wife on Valentine’s Day

Article: Meaningful Lives in a Purposeful World: How Providence Changes Everything, by Jon Bloom.

Podcast: Ask Pastor John: Has Porn Already Broken My Future Marriage?

TV: WandaVision

Book: Being the Bad Guys, by Stephen McAlpine

Song: Lovingkindness, by Keith & Kristyn Getty, Matt Papa, Matt Redman, and Matt Boswell

Lightning Links

These quick hits are exclusive to my newsletter readers. Some struck immediately before writing this newsletter. I don’t necessarily endorse the positions or lives of these authors. Some may contain sensitive language. I find them all extremely interesting.

The New York Times Magazine: “The Many Lives of Steven Yeun: What’s a typical immigrant story? In his new film, “Minari,” the “Walking Dead” star has his own to tell.”

Marvel: “WandaVision: Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez Break Down the TV Theme Songs.”

/Film: “20 Years of Disney California Adventure: Exploring How Disney’s Theme Park Misfire Came Back from the Dead.”

Playlists

MUSICGOON: 7 songs I enjoyed this week.

SVRGNLA: Jess and I love these songs.

ETJ: Music that inspires my band.

DIDD: A crowd-sourced worship playlist.

TGIF: SOLA Network friends and faves.

This is FCBC Walnut: The songs we sing at church.

Coming Soon

Next week I plan to publish reviews for at least 3 books. In Gospelbound, Collin Hansen and Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra share stories that teach us how to live with resolute hope in shaky times. In Being the Bad Guys, Stephen McAlpine shows you how to live for Jesus in a world that says you shouldn’t. And as a part of Lexham Press’ Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (EBTC) series, Joe M. Sprinkle’s commentary on Daniel is an excellent and epic entry.

My sermon to our Youth Group went well last week -- thank you for your prayers! If you recall, I also spoke with author Brett McCracken about his new book, The Wisdom Pyramid. SOLA Network plans to release a video of our conversation next week.

We’ll be celebrating Lunar New Year this weekend! In case you missed it, here are some previous editions of this newsletter that you can find in the archive:

All My Favorite Songs: I share what’s new with my book reviews, and what I’ve been enjoying in entertainment. I also share preaching and music ministry prayer requests for this weekend.

Rewrite the Stars: I discuss my recent IG LIVE interview with Russell Moore, share about overcoming the barriers to creating, what’s new with my book reviews, and what I’ve been enjoying in entertainment.

Concerning Hobbits: I reveal my special guest for an upcoming IG LIVE interview, what’s new with my book reviews, and what I’ve been enjoying in entertainment.

Weekly Review

Hobbit History: Let us first do what we must do. – J. R. R. Tolken

SOLA: God Among the Crowds / The Seductive Sin We Never Talk About / The Proverbs 31 Man

TGIF: DesiringGod: Has Porn Already Broken My Future Marriage? / 9Marks: The Church Should Sing for Heaven’s Sake (with Matthew Westerholm)

Book Review: More Than a Battle by Joe Rigney

Book Review: Worshiping with the Reformers by Karin Maag

Book Review: The Servant of the Lord and His Servant People by Matthew S. Harmon

Recommended Reading: ‘Whoever Is Ashamed of Me’: A Call to the Quietly Christian / Four Things Pastors Wish Their Churches Knew About Them Right Now / Your Spouse Should Complete You: What It Means to Become One / How Do I Talk to My Children About Sex?

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thefaeriereview · 4 years ago

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Blitz: The Wicked Cries Wolf

https://ift.tt/2GWYiPf

THE WICKED CRIES WOLF McKenna Grey Romantic Suspense / Thriller

In the shadow of Alaska’s Chugach Mountains, a darkness lurks and threatens a quiet coastal village in The Wicked Cries Wolf, the third book in the Kyndall Family Thriller series.

A woman desperate for solitude. A man with an enemy he can’t see. A dangerous game neither wants to play.

International bestselling author Meaghan Ryers has gained wealth, success, and fame . . . and all she wants is to be left alone. When her sister suggests she escape to someplace quiet where no one will find her, Meaghan picks a spot on the map and heads for Alaska.

Sheriff Donovan Kyndall of Stewart’s Crossing, Alaska, arrives at the scene of a car fire after receiving a mysterious call. He doesn’t expect a woman from out of town to be at the scene, begging him to believe someone was killed. As clues into the fire emerge, Donovan has to ask himself how she’s connected and how a caller knows details from his own tragic past.

As the truth is revealed, Donovan and Meaghan are entangled in a puzzle of lies, treachery, and clues they must decode if they are to survive.

“The Dragon’s Staircase is a mind boggling adventure that will keep you guessing until the last page." – Night Owl Reviews, Top Pick

"Holy smokes! This is one suspenseful, anxiety-ridden, skin-crawling tale of murder, mystery, and psychological creepiness. Looking for a hard-to-figure-out mystery with a side order of nail biting? Then look no further!" – InD'tale Magazine on The Dragon's Staircase

“McKenna Grey & Everly Archard, I loved this book! I was captured, terrorized, thrilled, and couldn’t put it down. I loved the first book in the Kyndall Family Thrillers, “The Dragon’s Staircase”, and this one ... well I read it in one day! I love all the Kyndall family characters and their love and protectiveness towards each other. Your mix of romance and thriller really is astounding! I cannot wait for book number three about Donovan Kyndall to come out.” —Kindle Reviewer on Shadow of the Forgotten

“I was literally at the edge of my seat. The suspense level is amazing.”

—Donna McBroom-Theriot, My Life, One Story at a Time

“I’m amazed at how smooth these two authors have combined their talents into one fabulous story." –Linda Thompson, Host of www.TheAuthorsShow.com

“THE DRAGON’S STAIRCASE by McKenna Grey and Everly Archard is romantic suspense full of thrills and spine-tingling moments. The twist at the end is as unexpected as it is disconcerting . . . the story keeps you guessing at every turn. This is a great start to a series that promises to be full of wonderful surprises."

— Readers’ Favorite

"LOVED! LOVED! LOVED Shadow of the Forgotten, written by McKenna Grey and Everly Archard. A suspenseful story that makes you feel excited or anxious about what is going to happen next. It starts with fast action and it keeps going on until the very end. You won’t be disappointed! These authors have nicely woven endearing characters into a wilderness background that adds a touch of mystery. It's gripping from the start to finish.” —Nicole Laverdure on Shadow of the Forgotten

“Beware, this new series is highly addictive! It’s suspenseful, mysterious, and riveting! You won’t want to miss it!" —Nicole Laverdure on “Blade of Death”

"A well written story and well developed characters . . . give the reader an exciting ride of investigation and the gentleness of a protective loving relationship."

—Lyn Ehley, Book Reviewer

Amazon → https://amzn.to/3a99S4d

B&N: https://bit.ly/2Dz3wzi

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wicked-cries-wolf-mckenna-grey/1137085944?ean=2940164339043

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-wicked-cries-wolf

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1515852075

All titles in this series can be read as stand-alone books.

“Blade of Death” – Short Story Prequel

The Dragon’s Staircase – Book One

Shadow of the Forgotten – Book Two

The Wicked Cries Wolf - Book Three

Prologue

Fire snaked into his lungs. Suffocating. Debilitating. He couldn’t breathe, his body immobile. He clawed at the air, at the coarse rope binding his feet, at everything his hands managed to reach. Why were his hands free?

Is this how someone feels when they burn?

Helios promised him there would be consequences. It had only been one more fire, one more kill. He had craved it more than he feared Helios’s warning.

One more mistake.

Smoke curled upward from the flames, dancing up the walls in a seductive swirl of lights and sound. The crackling of gunshots echoed somewhere beyond the steel door.

No chance of escape.

He didn’t deserve to die this way. His scream lodged deep in his lungs, so deep it burned his insides. A round of hacking coughs escaped his scorched lips. He desperately wanted water or a beer. Yes, when he got out of this—if he made it—he’d down a whole six-pack of Bud Light and thank whatever powers that be for his salvation.

I’ll be good. If you let me live, God, I’ll be good forever.

Did he hear his name coming back to him from the darkness beyond the flames? Yes, but from where, exactly?

Damian.

It’s only in my head. No. No, no, no!

He heard shouts, or was fear mocking him? He yanked at the ropes around his ankles and brought away flesh covered in his own blood. Why couldn’t he move?

The door pounded. No, someone pounded on the door. The blaze caressed the floor around him, moving closer with a lover’s passion, inch by inch. He heard the loud crash this time and was certain someone stood on the other side of the door. A gust of air whooshed into the room and the fire found new life. It tormented him, licked his skin. A scream escaped, louder now because of the burn. Two strong bodies in masks lifted him away from the center of the inferno. His eyes remained opened, even as the sensation of floating carried him away from the chamber. He’d promised to be good and he would be. No man or woman or creature walking the earth could claim to be so good as he from this moment on and into forever.

Darkness consumed his whispered thanks while a cacophony of sirens trumpeted his fall into oblivion.

McKenna Grey is the contemporary alter-ego of an award-winning, historical romance author. She writes romantic suspense, including the Kyndall Family series, and heartwarming, small-town romance to break up the murder and mayhem. She enjoys a quiet life in the northern Rocky Mountains.

Website: https://www.mckennagrey.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormckennagrey

McKenna Grey is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

Terms & Conditions:

By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.

One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

This giveaway ends midnight October 30.

Winner will be contacted via email on November 1.

Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

via Blogger https://ift.tt/3lC2iDQ

#Blogger #pumpupyourbook #book blitz #Mystery & Thrillers #Romance #Suspense #Thriller

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clarencenicholsonata · 4 years ago

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8 Must-Have Tips for Crafting the Perfect Instagram Caption

Around 80% of Instagrammers use the platform to decide whether to buy a product or service. The defining fact that attracts them all boils down to three things: Your Instagram images, branding, and caption. These three things are in the top ten most essential aspects of a successful Instagram brand.

Ask any social media marketer who's been creating content for years; sometimes, we still get hit a roadblock when crafting Instagram captions.

As much as Instagram is a visual social media platform, captions still play a key role in engagement, communication, and sales. And with 2,200 characters (including emoji's and 30 hashtags) you have a lot to say to your audience to grab their attention and beat the algorithm.

Which begs the question, "What do you write in your Instagram captions to win over followers?"

Read on for a list of tips, tools, and ways to craft your perfect Instagram caption.

1. Write Caption for Your Audience

Over 200 million Instagram users visit a business profile daily. How many of these users are your potential customers?

If you create content for your ideal target audience then you should do the same with your Instagram captions.

Trying to write captions that work for everyone won't get you far. Instead, write captions that will connect easily with your target audience to build your community.

Think of it like this; if you sell skincare products, your ideal audience loves skincare and cares about self-care, pampering, skin health, and skincare ingredients. For example, look at Hyper Skin Instagram caption.

Instagram Caption Example: Hyper Skin

When you're writing captions for your audience, ask yourself these questions:

Will my audience understand this reference?

Would my ideal customer say this

Are emojis appropriate to use here?

Do I need to add more context to this post?

Am I writing for myself or my audience?

2. Make Your Instagram Caption Easy to Read

Keep in mind that most people are prone to scrolling heavily through their feed. After your image has grabbed their attention, you have a limited amount of time to convince them to read your caption no matter how long or short it may be.

Ensure that you're not leaving them mystified. You should let your image do most of the talking; however, if there's a story behind it, let your caption easily and effortlessly tell it.

Instagram Caption Example: SapceX

It's important to get to the point when your writing Instagram captions, building up anticipation, especially if your caption is long, will only let your readers lose patience.

3. Use Instagram Captions to Share Your Brand Voice

Having a strong brand identity helps you to create content, boost sales, and it also helps you to find your brand voice when writing on Instagram.

What do I mean by "brand voice"?

Imagine your brand is a living person. Your brand voice would be an example of how this person would talk, reply, or connect with your ideal target audience.

Based on your target demographic, your brand voice should instantly connect with them. Without your brand voice guiding your Instagram captions, you won't be able to master Instagram captions.

For example, if you're a B2B brand, your brand voice should speak in B2B terms, jargon, and information. Likewise, if you're a B2C brand that connects with a young demographic when you write captions, it should seem like your ideal target audience wrote it themselves.

Equinox is a gym that prides itself on seeing exercise as a lifestyle. As such, their brand voice easily connects with their followers.

Instagram Caption Example: Equinox

Check out these 10 Amazing eCommerce Instagram Accounts and Examples We Learned From.

4. Write About What's Important First, Fun & Sales After

Instagram only allows the first 125 characters or fewer to show without the need to expand your caption.

Don't wait for people to reach the end of your caption to learn about why they should be giving you their attention. Humans have very short attention spans. According to a study by Microsoft, the average human being now has an attention span of eight seconds. This is a sharp decrease from the average attention span of 12 seconds in the year 2000.

Use the first line of your caption to hook readers into your caption when on their mobile phones. Don't waste time sharing important information or using FOMO to help them to click more. Once you've got them hooked, you can add all the other shiny and fancy jargon in your caption.

Instagram Caption Example: T Magazine

5. Use Call to Actions in Your Captions

Call to action are words that direct readers to complete an action. It can be as simple as saying "Shop Now" or "Click the link in the bio".

Why is it so important to add a call to action? If the buyer wants to shop, they'll know what to do right!

You would think! Remember, like any other social media platform, Instagram is still a tool for you to sell your products. Without CTA's followers will simply like and comment and then head off to the next piece of content to hold their attention. CTA's exist because we need to give customers directions to your marketing funnel or website.

Instagram Caption Example: Madewell

There is an art to mastering the perfect CTA, no matter how simple they seem. To help here are some proven CTA guides and tips to point you in the right direction:

42 Call To Action Examples You'll Want to Copy

7 CTA Mistakes Killing Your Conversion Rate

7 Call to Action Examples and Proven Conversion Boosts (with Infographic)

Ready to start creating Instagram ad campaigns?

Book a free call to learn how our team of marketing experts can help you to create high converting Instagram ad campaigns today.

6. Use Your Hashtags Wisely

Instagram thrives on hashtag culture. Be sure only to use hashtags that are relevant to your Instagram caption or image, or the algorithm will see it as spam.

Instagram also includes your hashtags along with your caption in their 2,200 character limit.

Don't try to jam-pack your sentences with inline hashtags. It will look too clunky and hard to read. Instead, use 2-3 hashtags in your caption and discreetly after your caption or in your comments.

Instagram Caption Example: Preview App

Here are 5 Effortless Tips to Create a Hashtag strategy for Social Media.

7. Write Captions that Ask for Engagement

Instagram rewards content that drives massive engagement. Use your Instagram captions to encourage your followers to comment, like, tag, and share with others. How?

By asking them to do it! It's just that simple.

If you were previously engaging with your followers, you could build on it. If not, you'll have to start from scratch and keep pushing engagement CTA's in your captions.

Instagram Caption Example: Google

8. Use Customer Reviews as Captions

Around 93% of consumers say online reviews impact their purchasing decisions. Using customer reviews comes with two benefits:

*It increases sales because followers can see and hear from real-life customers what they have to say about your product.

*It's an easy way to find caption ideas for your brand without having to rake your brain around saying something witty.

Instagram Caption Example: Nike

7 Types of Instagram Captions to Use

Not that we spoke about how to craft Instagram captions now, let's talk about the seven most common Instagram captions you can make your own.

1. Brand Story Caption

This type of caption is where you'll put your storytelling skills to use. You'll share your brand moments with your audience to build connections, solidify community, and increase brand awareness with your followers.

Instagram Caption Example: Converse

2. The Quote

Use famous quotes from influencers or people who inspire your brand as your next caption. Take a look at Tom Chamberlin's quote from his interview with The Rake below.

Instagram Caption Example: The Rake

3. The Informative Caption

Some readers love long captions, especially if they are informative and educate followers on topics that interest them. Nat Geo is known for its fabulous images and long caption sharing the story behind the lens.

Instagram Caption Example: Nat Geo Wild

Testimonial Captions

Once again, using customer testimonials as Instagram captions create a full-proof way to drive sales. When you use UGC (User-Generated Content) and the customer's review it proves that fans love your product.

Instagram Caption Example: Amika

The DIY or Instructional

Instructions and DIY Instagram captions have always been forgiven when it comes to long-form Instagram captions, why? People love them. They like to see the steps listed out for them to easily follow rather than moving from site to site to get this information.

Instagram Caption Example: Empress 1908 Gin

Contest or Giveaway Caption

If you’re hosting a giveaway or content, it’s always best to share the details in the captions to increase entries and engagement. For more on giveaways here’s a guide on The Complete Instagram Giveaway Rules Guide (With Examples)

Instagram Caption Example: Campion

Need help with your next Instagram contest?

Book a free call to learn how our team of contest experts can help you create high converting social media contest today.

The Minimalist Caption

This form of caption is usually a one-liner, whether it's a sentence, emoji, or hashtag. It's all about keeping it simple and doing it well.

Instagram Caption Example: H&M

Conclusion

Crafting the perfect Instagram caption comes with practice, like any other social media marketing skill. You should always be testing, editing, and reediting your captions.

Here's a quick recap of the eight tips for crafting your own perfect Instagram caption:

Write Caption for Your Audience

Make Your Instagram Caption Easy to Read

Use Instagram Captions to Share Your Brand Voice

Write About What's Important First, Fun & Sales After

Use Call to Actions in Your Captions

Use Your Hashtags Wisely

Write Captions that Ask for Engagement

Use Customer Reviews as Captions

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801 https://ift.tt/3mDKMQT via IFTTT

#IFTTT #RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801

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mystical-flute · 7 years ago

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Come Sail Away Ch. 9

"Look! Smoke!"

"Do you think that'll lead us to Joey and Yugi?"

"It's the only clue we've got, come on!"

The warehouse was already smoking by the time they ran up to it. Any good instinct would have told her to call for help and wait, but Yugi and Joey were in there, and she would never leave them in there when she knew she could fight.

"Hello Reika Mutou," one of the Rare Hunters said as he stopped in front of her."What an honor it is to meet you."

Reika stared at the man. It was Bandit Keith, right? The face and the bandanna were dead giveaways, but the voice... something was wrong with the voice.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"I'm the leader of the Rare Hunters. And I see you have something I'm after…" the unfocused eyes looked down at her wrist, where her bracelet lay. "Give me the bracelet."

"No."

A growl. "No matter. I can just come back for it later after you and your cousin have perished in the flames!"

Even as Reika braced herself, Bandit Keith's brute strength shoved her into the mass of smoke and fire, and Reika could hear the distinct sound of a door slamming behind him.

----

Seto Kaiba stormed through the hospital doors with Mokuba at his side and a scowl on his face. The message from Minako had been one of the last things he'd expected from her mouth, but at least she knew what constituted as an emergency.

"Mr. Kaiba, Mokuba!"

Solomon Mutou hurried over to them, looking pale, but still managed a small smile.

"Where is she?" Kaiba snapped. "What the hell happened?"

"She's in a room, they're waiting for test results. She was in a fire… so were Yugi and Joey. As I understand she and her friend went to look for them and got trapped themselves," Solomon said, exhaling shakily.

Mokuba stared. "What? Why were Yugi and Joey in a fire?"

Solomon shook his head as they made their way through the emergency department and into the more private rooms. "A duel gone horribly wrong. Thugs called Rare Hunters targeted them. Reika went to go find them and somehow the building caught fire."

"You think I'm the loser?! When was the last time you even talked to Serenity?! At least I did somethin' and went to Duelist Kingdom to get her money for the surgery! And today, I was helpin' a friend of mine and got trapped with him!" Wheeler's voice, somehow even louder than it usually was, shouted from one of the rooms. "You don't get to come in here playing concerned father now."

Kaiba chanced a glance over at Solomon, who had his fists clenched at his sides as they moved down another hallway.

Still…

"Wheeler's voice got even louder than usual," he muttered, looking at the man. If he wanted to talk, he would. If he didn't, he wouldn't.

Solomon paused and sighed. "Joey's father… I don't think I should say much without his permission, but he is not a good person as I'm sure you could figure out. He… struggles with alcohol and has never cared about Joey or his sister Serenity. I'm not even sure why he's here, truthfully."

A poor man's Gozaburo. Kaiba had suspected as much. As much as he detested Wheeler, there was an uncomfortable twinge of understanding in his gut.

"Reika's in room 204, Kaiba," Solomon said, breaking him from his thoughts.

Kaiba paused outside the door, brow furrowing slightly. "You're not coming in?"

"I figured you could use a private moment with her."

He blinked, trying not to show surprise, but nodded once in thanks as he reached into his pocket and gave Mokuba some money. "Go see if there's anything edible in the cafeteria. I'll let you know when to come back up." His gaze turned to Solomon, blue eyes narrowing slightly. "I trust I can keep him in your care and not have to worry?"

Mokuba grinned. "Of course you can Seto! C'mon Mr. Mutou!"

Kaiba wondered how it was so easy for his younger brother to be around people, before shaking his head and entering Reika's room. He found her on the bed with her fingers furiously typing away on her phone, with too many wires sticking out of her than he would ever be comfortable seeing. She looked relatively unharmed aside from a few small bandages on her face and arms, but it was her ankle, raised, that caused him the greatest concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked, dropping gracefully into a chair by her bed.

She looked up and put the phone on the table next to her, face breaking into a wide smile. "Seto! Hi! I'm just sore right now. I'm fine, I promise. They just wanted to make sure that I'm clear of smoke in my lungs before they discharged me."

He leaned over to her and pressed his lips against hers hard, the scent of ash and smoke still clinging to her skin alongside her perfume and the faintest hint of the sea that drove him insane. Her delicate fingers traced against his cheek and into his hair and it took all of his energy for him not to shiver.

They only broke apart when someone cleared their throat, and they jumped apart. Reika's face was red and Kaiba calmly fixed his hair as he turned to face the doctor.

"Well?" he snapped, standing to his full, imposing height when the doctor simply stood there, looking embarrassed at what they'd walked in on.

The doctor cleared her throat. "Your test results came back, Reika… they're normal. We'll start the discharge paperwork for both you and your cousin shortly."

Relief hit him, but his face remained stoic as he nodded. "Good. Do it quickly. I'm sure the Mutous are eager to get home."

The doctor let out a sort of squeak and quickly fled from the room as he turned back to his now very un-amused girlfriend.

Reika sighed, putting her phone into a small bag Kaiba could only assume Solomon had brought. "You didn't have to put it that way, you know. The staff here has been very kind to me."

He took a deep breath, cupping her cheek and dragging his thumb across her skin. "I don't like that you're here."

A black eyebrow quirked. "And you think I do? They told me I shouldn't put any weight on my foot for a week Seto."

He couldn't help but feel a small smirk of amusement grace his features. "A pity. Perhaps that will teach you not to do something that dangerous again."

She huffed, narrowing her eyes at him. "You have no room to talk Mr. 'I'm going to break into Pegasus' castle to save my little brother and then get my soul ripped from my body because I lost a duel.'"

There was still fear in her gaze and Kaiba winced at how she looked, before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I know. You're not the only one that still thinks of that day."

"Seto! Great news! We can give the cooks the night off!" Mokuba called suddenly, and Seto felt his stomach sink as his little brother burst into the room with Reika's family following behind. "Mr. Mutou invited us for dinner!"

Kaiba knew a trap when he saw one, and unfortunately, he saw no way out of this one as Reika gave the older man a nervous smile.

He'd play along and go to this dinner.

But that didn't mean he had to like it.

"We… appreciate your offer," he said smoothly, looking at Solomon and Kumi. "Thank you."

Before long, he found himself in the small living quarters of Kame Game, his girlfriend disappearing down a hallway to shower, leaving he and Mokuba alone with her family.

"Just make yourselves comfortable," Kumi said with one of those manufactured smiles that Kaiba had grown so used to identifying. "Do you want anything to drink?"

Though his throat was growing dry (Nerves? It couldn't be nerves), Kaiba shook his head. "I'm fine."

"So… Kaiba, those Duel Disks that you had sent to the shop look quite interesting. I assume you have something planned for the official unveiling?" Solomon said with a much more natural smile.

He sat straighter on the lumpy couch and cleared his throat. "Yes actually, but I can't say much. It will be announced tomorrow night and then you can start to sell them as I instructed in the letter. I believe that the duel disks, along with what I have planned with them, will be a huge hit."

"Yeah!" Mokuba chimed in. "It's going to be great!"

Kumi gave another tight smile, coming back into the room as she took a seat with a mug of tea and a glass of water for Mokuba as the scent of dinner began wafting into the room. "Yes… I'm sure it will be fun. And these duel disks are safe, right?"

"Of course, Mrs. Mutou," he said smoothly.

"Well, I can't wait to see it Kaiba!" Yugi suddenly piped up, and Kaiba was, for once, grateful to hear his voice.

Yugi's excitement he could deal with. The unrelenting stare from Kumi Mutou was starting to make him uncomfortable.

Not that he would ever admit it.

"Yes well… I hope that it is worthy of being on the arm of the King of Games," Seto replied, forcing himself to remain calm. There was still a burning anger inside of him that Yugi still had the title of King instead of him.

"I'm sure it will! That other one you had was so cool!" Yugi said with a winning smile. "And I can't wait for the official announcement tomorrow. It's been really hard keeping it from Joey and the others."

Kaiba, again, forced himself not to frown as the thought of Wheeler having one of his duel disks crept into his mind. "Of course it will. It's a Kaiba Corp product and a Kaiba Corp event. Which reminds me. I guess we can just give Yugi the invitation, Mokuba."

Mokuba nodded, pulling out Yugi's envelope and handing it to him. "Be down at the square at eight o'clock exactly!"

Yugi frowned in confusion as he tore open the envelope and pulled out the invitation inside. "A tournament? You guys are hosting another tournament?"

"Yes… Battle City. A battle of the best. One without any of that magical nonsense getting in our way. I'm hoping to erase Pegasus' cheating and lies with this," he said smoothly, looking at Kumi and Solomon as he spoke. He knew full well he and Mokuba weren't the only victims of what happened at Duelist Kingdom.

The smiles on Kumi and Solomon's faces were beginning to make his skin crawl, but he forced himself to relax against the lumpy couch as Mokuba (mercifully) took up the conversation.

-----

Admittedly, it hadn't been the smartest idea to go charging into a warehouse looking for her cousin and Joey. But considering she and Akio were both trained fighters, she would have thought that they would have been able to hold off whoever had kidnapped them. And they had… until Bandit Keith had somehow managed to set the building on fire.

Still… even though she had a sprained ankle and her entire body was aching, she was just relieved that everyone had gotten out okay.

Letting out a sigh, Reika ran a comb through her hair, listening closely for any signs of yelling from the other room where she'd left Seto with her family.

"I don't hear anything," she said softly. "That's good, right?"

"You do not trust them to get along while you're simply taking a shower?" Azila replied from the mirror.

Reika exhaled slowly and set the comb down, beginning to braid her hair. "I trust Yugi, grandpa and Seto to hold their tongues if they feel they need to. My aunt… not so much."

"I am certain all is fine, Reika."

"I hope so. Needless to say this is not how I thought today would go…" Reika said as she finished with her hair and looked in the mirror again with a sigh, grabbing her crutches. "Let's do this then."

"Well! You look better already!" Solomon remarked with a wide smile as she entered the living room. "Come sit down. Seto was just telling us about the new duel disk and tournament coming up."

Reika raised an eyebrow and looked over at him as she put her sprained ankle on an ottoman. "Oh?"

"Yes. I plan to reveal it to the public tomorrow. I'd like you to be there," Seto said.

She blinked, gesturing to her foot. "I'm not going to be able to, Seto. I can barely walk, let alone stand next to you at a podium."

"Who said you need use of your legs for this?" Seto asked with a small smirk.

As much as Reika usually liked the smirk on his face, she had to admit to a bit of anxiousness about seeing it now. What in the world was he planning?

Something completely over the top, she had to guess, judging from the helicopter she was currently seated in. Still, seeing the city from this angle was… beautiful. The lights twinkled like stars below them, and the people moving around looked like some kind of art. Way up here, it was startling to see just how small Domino exactly was, compared to vast ocean that lay just next to them.

"It's magical, Seto," she said with a smile. "I'm glad I agreed to come."

His grip tightened around her waist, the ghost of a smile on his face as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. "I'm glad you're enjoying it, but you haven't seen the best part."

"Hm?" she hummed, frowning as she noticed the helicopter descending toward the middle of the very crowded square. "Seto, what – "

"We're clear, Mr. Kaiba," Fuguta said, from the cockpit as Roland went over to the door and pulled it open, to Reika's alarm.

"Clear for wh – Seto!" Reika cried as Seto climbed down a rope staircase, dangling above the streets of Domino.

"Remember, duelists of Domino. Battle City begins in one week! You can register and pick up your duel disks from the game shops in town. Only the best of the best will be allowed to take part, so I hope you're all ready!"

She heard him laugh – and wow, he was getting good at the super villain laugh, she realized – before he was finally pulled back up into the helicopter with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Well, that was something," she replied with a raised eyebrow. "You sure you want to host a tournament even after everything that happened with Pegasus?"

"What better way to take the attention off Pegasus than by having a tournament of my own?" Seto asked with a shrug. "And this will be the easiest way to raise the stocks in Kaiba Corp. Roland, how's it all going?"

Roland, holding a laptop, grinned. "Stocks have already risen and we're trending on all the major news sites!"

Reika could only chuckle, looking out the window of the streets below, shaking her head in amusement. "This was what you came up with the night at the museum, isn't it?" she asked as she watched the citizens of Domino buzzing around in excitement. "Ishizu must have made a compelling argument for you to host one."

"Ishizu Ishtar had a decent suggestion and gave me a card to use during the tournament. Nothing more, nothing less. It had nothing to do with the tablet on the wall of the museum."

"I never once implied that it did." Although, given how defensive he was being about all of this, well, she couldn't help but wonder if a tiny part of him was thinking about the tablet. However, she could tell that the subject bothered him, so she wouldn't mention it now. "Still, I'm glad some good came out of that trip for you."

"Yes, I suppose so."

His arm came up to wrap around her, and she rested her head against his shoulder as the helicopter made its way back to Kaiba Corp headquarters.

Her cell phone buzzing broke through the peaceful silence that had filled the helicopter, and Reika sighed, pulling it out of her pocket with an annoyed look, but when she saw it was Kenji's number, she frowned and put the phone to her ear, carefully pulling away from Seto.

"Hello?"

"We have a problem."

"Really?" she said dryly, "I couldn't tell."

"Reika, seriously, now is not the time for your sarcasm. The boundary between the dimensions is beginning to weaken. There's a chance that people from the other dimension could start getting through... and people from our world could end up there."

Her head snapped up. "What?"

"Yes. I'm going to need all hands tracking the energies and locations of the crews we're watching. Akio will pick you up when you land at Kaiba Corp."

Reika's mind was reeling, but she swallowed a knot in her throat. "Okay. I'll see you soon. Bye."

"Everything okay?" Seto asked. "You seem concerned about something."

"Hm? Yeah – everything's fine. Akio and I just need to discuss some things, so I'm going to go to her place for the night," Reika replied with a soft smile, leaning to kiss his cheek as they landed on the roof of Kaiba Corp. "I'll see you soon."

It wasn't long before she was seated in front of one of the many computers in TAIDR headquarters, watching the strange rise and fall of the energy being generated in the fragile veil between the two worlds.

"Are you sure this has nothing to do with the Millennium Items?" she asked Kenji with a frown. "They give off weird energy sometimes, and with how many are in Domino…"

"I'm positive. Look at the waves on the screen. The energy of the Millennium Items is always a yellowish-gold color. This is… turquoise," Kenji replied, pointing at the two different wavelengths, which only had Reika frowning in concern.

"Hmm. I see that. What sort of power can do such a thing?" she murmured to herself, resting her chin against her palms as she stared up at the screen. "There's no way we can fully block this, can we? People are going to notice something odd happening around Domino if we can't contain this."

Kenji sighed. "No. There's been no way to contain it so far. We haven't even been able to pinpoint the location. It's not natural, but the readings are showing up as if it is."

Reika couldn't stop the shiver that ran through her, leaning back in her chair and rubbing at her arms with a frown. She didn't like this. She didn't like this at all.

How much could they take before everything that they had crafted so carefully fell to pieces?

#fanfiction #seto kaiba #kaiba x oc #yugi mutou #mokuba kaiba #solomon mutou #local billionaire can't handle a meet the guardian meeting: more at 11

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onychaos · 8 years ago

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New thoughts on Pangya Celebrity

So. Pangya Celebrity has their sub button and oh boy... OH BOY. Where to begin. I have said before things could happen or they may lose sight of their goal. Like I said before, Pangya Celebrity is running on a private server, so if you are new here, you can think of this as a fan project made with "love"

For my new viewers

Like with any fan projects that use Private servers to host games that got shut down, Money will be needed to keep said server or servers up and running. As an upcoming game dev, I can understand the need to have money to keep a project going and some extra money to pay bills...BUT There is earning money to keep a project up and running for all to enjoy and of course, there is being greedy bastards who want more money than needed. Which I feel this is the path they are on.

You can help pay for the server by 3 ways

Donating

Subscribing to their twitch stream

Giving them Twitch bits

I would say 4 ways but they don't have a big viewer base. The other way would be to watch an ad on stream, assume you don't have any adblocking add-ons when they play a add.

So, you might ask, "What is the problem?" So once they got the Sub button on twitch. things started to go downhill imo.

So the "Brains" Or lack of "GM_Leia" had the GREAT IDEA of raising the cost of cookies. Stupid name, again, If you are new, I will get you up to speed. Cookies are earned in the stream by watching Pangya Celebrity go live.

Cookies are earned for each min you stay in the stream. You earn 1 cookie, per min and that doesn't sound so bad till what the rewards look like before

This is before they got the sub button. It is not that bad of rewards. I think it is fair.

Then we get to the point where they got a sub button.

Again. The "brains" or the leader of the pack is "GM_Leia" She felt that people are earning too many points from each stream. And I would be fine with this change if they stream longer which would justify the change,

Think of cookies as a way for people who want points but can't donate or sub or give bits, Watching the stream is the next best thing but what GM_leia is doing, kinda feels like she is just fucking over the small guys.

And I know or feel that GM_Donmyth just goes along whatever GM_Leia does is pretty damn sad. I get that Leia is your boss DonMyth but there is a point you need to ask yourself, is this right? is this fair?

A lack of communication is an another problem, any change big or small should be told. Tell us the reason why you are changing this or that instead of keeping us in the dark When we have to ask GM_DonMyth. You can argue that we can always ask, but if you change anything and don't tell your players, that's bad.

I know I was talking how they don't stream long enough. So when they, you have to wait for them to set up the stream, play the intro/outro video then got to wait for 30 mins, more or less when talking to chat and then they do the event.

After the event, they will do a VIP where they make a room but end the stream there. I like to call this room, the "Pay to play" And this is where I really feel that DonMyth and Leia SHOULD NOT HAVE Partnership cause it's not getting put to good use.

If anything it gives off the vibe that if you pay / Donate, then you might get more out of Pangya Celebrity which turns me off and I hate that where some fan projects turn from giving to the people to just taking.

But sadly that really does not matter one bit, for the fact that Leia and DonMyth have people who I am sure, have people who donate for VIP or have people who would be happy to sub to their channel in a heartbeat.

Those who sub to their channel will get bonus treats

If you ever plan to do a Pangya giveaway, you would have a better chance of being happy than winning a giveaway, but hey, try anyway. You may win but I doubt it. subscribers or non-subscribers. Your luck is the same either way.

By extra Luck, I would assume they would be more likely to pick you as a subscriber if, that is true and I feel like it is. That is unfair and pure Bull Shit, but they're vague here about that, so I don't know but we may never know.

The only thing I can say that could justify being a Pangya Celebrity Subscriber is the in-game Content, but even that is questionable at times because again, I don't know the whole rules on Private servers and people using work around i.e (Donations and subscribers) to be members.

I find it iffy and shady. But oh well. As long as they have Donations, subscribers. They are going to keep doing what they are doing.

Funny, they were on the bottom but then people came in and helped the stream by watching and following and those donated really helped them out. Them being DonMyth and Leia.

But they are slowing fucking up.

Will they keep doing what they are doing?

Yes, So long as people donate or subscribe to their channel, Pangya Celebrity They don't have a reason to stop.

Are they greedy?

Yes, I feel they lost sight of their goal. Money can corrupt anyone with a weak mind. Assuming Leia had one, to begin with. I just feel that or know when money gets added into a project, most of the time money becomes the main goal. And it's sad.

These are opinions but oh well. My friends or My acquaintances will keep playing Pangya Celebrity and that is fine. They enjoy the game, more or less. But for me, this kinda puts the final nail in the coffin for me.

No matter who or what. When Money, fame, power, of any sort, gets added into the mix, it can ruin things or change things for the worse.

I like Pangya Celebrity, but I am not happy with the current Management as of late. If you read this post then I am sure you can see I am not fond of the changes.

I mean, I will still play Pangya Celebrity with friends or randoms or during a GM event but that's it. I still have fun playing the game, somewhat.

I guess to leave this post with a quote

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain"

Thanks for reading~

#PANGYA #pangya celebrity #Pangya private server #gm_leia #gm_don #golf game #my posts #onychaos

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fanfictionconnectionwordpress · 7 years ago

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Mystic Messenger Fanfiction | JuminxMC Good Ending Continued | Ch. 1 Mending Bridges

***Don’t forget to subscribe to the email list for access to R-Rated Scenes and my monthly newsletter. You can support my writing on patreon and get access to my VIP Discord Server or other goodies like early chapter releases and hidden scenes.

FFC-Reader Blossoms has won our Zen story giveaway and will be receiving a Zen Plastic Winking Emoji! Let's get Juju started! ~Let’s Connect! FFC***

The party had been a smashing hit. Jaehee was already certain that it had brought in the highest donation numbers in RFA history by at least twice that of the last party, and she had barely been through the first portion of the ballots from the auction. On the one hand, I was beyond excited that the party had gone so well, and on the other, I was so focused on playing with my engagement ring and looking up in awe at my now fiancé' to really be as effective of a host as I probably should have been. The rest of the night I was flustered and had difficulty answering some of the questions guests had for me every time Jumin slipped his arm around my shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

Somehow, it had all managed. Glam Choi and Sarah were officially going to be sued by the company, Jumin was free to marry me (even having proposed), and we could hold the party despite everything that almost tore it apart. V and Seven stepped out to have a talk, which was good, because Seven was really hurting and we didn't understand what about. As much as I wanted to wait to hear from him after their talk, Jumin was taking me to his dinner with his father.

Mr. Chairman stood as we entered the dining room. I was beyond awed. From what Jumin had told me on the way over, this was his childhood home. Everything about it was...huge. The architecture almost made me think of being in a museum with marble everywhere. Right now, though, I was supposed to be paying attention as I was formally introduced to my father-in-law to be. Jumin bent to murmur softly in my ear, his deep tones sending a small shiver down my spine even though it was a perfectly innocent comment. "Relax, my lady."

Jumin had to be nervous too though as we sat, I could tell by the way he kept fixing his cuff links. Mr. Chairman was the first to break the awkward dining silence after the initial greetings. "Did you have to humiliate me so publicly?" The way Jumin's dark grey eyes flickered towards me before he cleared his throat, his posture so perfect I almost felt like it was breaking my own back, I knew he didn't feel guilty about what he'd done, but he did want his father's approval, more than anything. "The way Glam Choi had gotten control over you, I knew it was the only way for you to see reason, and the only way that you would accept my fiancée'."

I tried not to bunch the skirt of my designer dress as Mr. Chairman looked over at me. It was obvious how much finding out the truth had hurt. Jumin had told me he was always sad after one of his break-ups, but Mr. Chairman almost looked broken. "And what makes her so different? I can see she's wearing a gown that you provided to her. There is no way that with the way she's struggling to hold her silverware properly she was born into the higher classes." That remark really stung, but I didn't falter, letting Jumin do the talking for me. Family was incredibly important to him, and mending this bridge with his father was something he needed to do.

"There is nothing that I have given her that she has asked for other than my love." Jumin's eyes fell on me again, causing my face to heat up slowly as he spoke. "MC has given me far more in her understanding and presence than I could ever give her in monetary goods, although she continues to attempt to refuse my gifts." Mr. Chairman pushed back from his chair and stood again, looking between the two of us for a few moments. "I suppose that I have been an ignorant fool for a very long time, that my son was so good at choosing a woman and I was so good at choosing all of the wrong ones."

His voice almost faltered, but he could carry on. "Jumin, my son, I am truly sorry for all of the pressure I put you under simply to please Glam. I turned you into an item to be married off as a business proposal and treated my company as though it was a toy rather than a collection of people whose lives depend on our company succeeding." It almost felt wrong for me to be in the room as Jumin's father nearly broke down. Jumin went to his father, and I was surprised to see them hug, but, he had always been close to his father and now that he was better at sharing his own emotions, it wasn't unbelievable that their bond would only grow stronger.

***

The limo was spacious; Driver Kim silent behind the separation glass as I sat next to the man I loved. His tones were soft and deep as he read to me from the book he'd been reading me to sleep with for the past several days before he closed it as the limo came to a stop in front of what had been my apartment before I was trapped in Rika's. "I wish that you could stay with me in my penthouse, but...the others are right. You deserve to go on dates and build our relationship the traditional way."

Jumin had that way of making even what might sound robotic to some completely melt my heart. "You don't need to worry. Once we're married, you can come home to me every day, and until then, I'm still in your heart." Lightly, I placed my hand on his chest only to have him take it away and brush his lips over the pads of my fingers. My heart jumped in my chest as he slowly opened those dark eyes, looking deep into my own. "I want to have you completely...but I know that I need to wait a little longer still. I love you, MC. I want to see you every single day. This is going to be very hard for me."

The almost dejected look I could see on his face now made my heart clench. "I'll miss you too." Dinners and waking up in the mornings next to him had been a dream, even though I had been somewhat trapped because of how much he needed me at the time, I still wouldn't have traded those moments for the world. Being apart after spending every minute of free time we had together was going to be difficult, but at least now we could start our relationship as an engaged couple the way they were supposed to happen. "Take me on a date soon."

Like this? Want more? Become a Patron. ~Let’s Connect! FFC

#jumin #mystic messenger #mystic messenger fanfiction #jumin han

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mymagicalstudy · 7 years ago

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OK! time to pick the winners from my giveaway thing!!!

I’ve chosen the stories I enjoyed reading the most, and will message those people privately. If you don't have messenger enabled, make sure you open it up.

I wish i could send you all things, but postage is expensive :’(

Got some awesome stories from everyone who entered, so i thought i’d post all the entries below the line.

@the-tarot-boii : “One night, after reading my book, La Santa Muerte by Tomas Prower, La Flaca herself spoke to me. I was doing an automatic writing (as instructed in the book), and she said something to the air of, “My child seeks wisdom”. I have a feeling she was speaking to me because, at the time, i was reading up on the Western Mystery Tradition and the Qabalah”

@sparklesbrightly : “It was Samhain about 5 years ago, and it was the autumn of my maiden years. Both myself and my current partner had just recently eloped. So much in our lives was uncertain, as if a volume had completed itself that summer, so many loose ends were waiting to be tied that evening. We were staying in a simply radiant Victorian bed and breakfast,and our plans were rather loose. We set about putting together costumes that suited our moods, and painting our faces for the occasion. We brought with us many tokens that represented those thing we meant to let go, among them were seven garnets in the shape of pomegranate seeds. We walked down the street without plan or direction, the fog growing thick, as we went along folks became scarce and avoided us when they were about. The silence was so deep and nearly as thick as the fog, strange to hear in a large city. We made our way to the center of a wooded park that we found, and made our ritual there. I have never felt so far beyond this realm as I did that night. We buried our tokens, and left that place. There were some swings where we sat for a while watching some lanterns float into the air from a nearby yard, more messages for the dead, from other people. When we returned to our room we slept hard, the morning broke with bright light broken into rainbows through the cut crystal windows, and I never felt so rejuvenated and free as I did that morning. It was a very lovely goodbye.”

@transboystrength : “One night this past winter some friends & I went out to a popular smoking spot at our college to participate in the cursing trump thing. The spot is called bamboo fortress, because its in the middle of a huge swath of bamboo & people built up a treehouse & fence there. I was leading the ceremony & had picked bamboo fortress bc bamboo is protective. four of us went, but we were half expecting more to join us. We got about halfway through the ceremony when we heard someone approaching. We didnt think anything of it, until we noticed that the footsteps had begun circling the fortress. It made a full, slow circumference until it left the way it came. We worked through the curse till the end, but we were all clearly pretty spooked. We walked back to the dorm in silence. I was only a freshman so I didnt know much of the local lore, but apparently wendigos are known to sometimes appear in the local woods, and two in our group had heard them calling while camping in the winter. Thank god we were as thoroughly protected & armed as we were else we may never have left bamboo except in body bags.”

@recolligio : “I lean hermetic, but have been striving to center my practice on the familiar base of my Christian upbringing, although my own perspective is of course a bit unorthodox.I had been seeking to do some elemental balancing work, but wasn’t sure where to start; so I turned to St. Raphael as associated with Air and healing.It turns out he’s also associated with “happy meetings,” and the first prayer to him I came across was in this light. It seemed warm and positive, so I made my introduction this way.And for weeks I couldn’t step out the door without having some kind of noteworthy and pleasant interaction. I ran into all kinds of neighbors, the dog made friends with people on almost every walk, and I had a handful of genuinely strange run-ins too - meetings with very useful or heartwarming outcomes that depended on schedules intersecting in unlikely ways. (e.g. running into a visitor from out of state during the 30s we happened to be in the same parking lot).It went from astonishing to charming to genuinely eerie before it started to taper off.I am very grateful though, for those opportunities. It reminded me how many there really are, on any ordinary day.”

@fluoritechild : “Withcraft has followed me all my life, even before I knew it. In my childhood my friend would bring me pendulums to play with, we would look up mantras to say to feel better, and make up spells for all sorts of things like getting boys to like us and getting good grades. It’s safe to say that I have always had a fascination with it, but there are two big milestones that I remember which set me off on the path I am currently on.The first was in middle school when my friends and I thought the locker rooms and the hallway outside it were haunted. We spent a week researching ouija boards and how to safely use them, and we made our own and put protective symbols on the back. We brought candles from home and borrowed a lighter from one of the cool kids who were already smoking, and during lunch we went down there and talked to the spirits who live there. We were right. It was haunted. The whole time there were banging on the door from the girl’s room. It was a great experience.The other milestone is when I got my first tarot deck. Two of my friends had already started to dive into the occult, and they brought me to an alternative convention where we spent the whole day attending lectures and buying readings from professionals. At the end of the day I passed by a stand that sold tarot and oracle cards. My friend explained the difference to me, and I decided to get a tarot deck. The choice was difficult, the seller had many to choose from, but eventually they showed me The Mystic Faerie Tarot. It was the last copy they had, and the moment I touched it I was filled with this overwhelming, warm energy. It was meant to be. To this day I always look for this feeling when choosing a new tarot deck. All my life my occult experiences have been the result of following someone else, until about a year ago when I decided to truly dive into it and research it on my own. It is a whole other world which has opened up to me, and the more I learn the more questions I have. I love this lifestyle that I am trying to make for myself, and I am never turning back.”

@notjustanyannie : “One time, I was at an overnight party at my friends house out in the country. They let me sleep in a guest bedroom. I awoke suddenly in the middle of the night, sure that someone was watching me. I rolled over and saw a boy, about 10 yo, standing beside the bed. He had brown hair and was wearing jeans with a flannel shirt. He was looking right at me, like he wanted to ask me something. I reached over and turned on the lamp, but he was no longer there. I eventually went back to sleep. When I woke up the next day, I told the host what I’d seen. His eyes got really big, and he told me to go tell his wife, G. As I started telling her, she got excited and started to describe the boy along with me, even down to the outfit. Then she told me that she had been seeing him in her dreams for the past two weeks. In her dreams, there were these 2 or 3 people or entities that were trying to take the boy somewhere. She got a really bad vibe from them. He did not want to go with them, and had asked her for help. She was having these intense physical and spiritual battles with these dream entities, and waking up with actual injuries. She and her husband both told stories of terrible battles that she finally awoke from, battered and exhausted. She was really concerned for the boy, and afraid of what might happen if she couldn’t help him get away. After we talked, I went home to rest. I napped for a couple of hours, to recover from the overnight party. Later that same day, my two housemates told me that strange things had started happening in our house that day. Little ‘poltergeist’ things, like items being moved around or doors opening and closing. Then, over the next few days, I also started seeing lots of little things, including cabinet doors opening and closing behind your back in the kitchen, things like that. Nothing scary to us, it never felt threatening in any way. A few days later, I was talking with my female housemate and I told her about seeing the ghost boy, and about G’s dreams. She asked if I thought that the boy might be related to our new 'ghost visitor?’ I decided to call G and see what she thought. When I contacted G, she said she had not seen the boy, nor had any dreams since I had been there. We decided the boy had somehow hitched a ride home with me. We all thought this was where the story ended, but many months later, I found out it had another chapter! We had to move not long after this, for completely unrelated reasons. While our landlord was showing the place, D & C, a couple I sorta knew (through other friends), came and looked at the place. They ended up moving in after we left. We never got a chance to talk to them before they moved in, and didn’t tell them about our ghost friend. Almost a year later, I was at another friends house and ran into D. I asked him how it was going, living at the house. His eyes got big, and he told me about their experiences in the house after we left. He told me that he and C had the same type of little things happen that we did, things getting moved around, doors opening & closing, nothing big. But they had another housemate, and he had terrible battles with a spirit presence or something. It apparently was really focusing on him, and making his life miserable. He was really struggling to keep it together, until finally he asked them to call in an exorcist! He felt like his life was in danger. They had an exorcist come out, and she did a house reading. She said that the room he was sleeping in (one we hadn’t used), had an open passageway to the really old pioneer cemetery just over the next hill, and spirits could easily pass through. She called it “a spirit superhighway”! She did a banishing and then a closing ceremony, and sealed off the portal. They (D & C) didn’t have any more problems there afterwards, but their housemate moved out anyway. So that’s how it ended, as far as I know… “

@newenglandyankee : “Reached enlightenment by age 19 from constant meditation through a journey into myself, there was a flushing sensation where the third eye is and white light. From there I unlocked new conscious levels, lucid dreaming and astral body, amongst other things.”

@dr-gene-ray: “I could talk about the manifestation of The Tower between hod and netzach & my enriching Enochian experiences but I feel those are too idiosyncratic and emotional to interest anyone but me. So other than the amazing personal growth, one of my coolest occult happenings is: I once (accidentally) caused a mans death. I don’t necessarily feel guilty but I do now see the importance of clearly defined boundaries while working the lemegeton hahah”

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