#You may also have noticed I did not talk about the bracelet (only the rings)

[ceruark]

May I please ask for some crumbs of Sunday and Reader’s childhood from the entwine au 😔

Was it love at first sight! What sort of shenanigans did they get up to! At what point did Reader start to become wary of him!

Doesn’t have to be a fully fleshed out fic or anything. I just wanna know!!!

Oh I am so glad you all are eating up entwined au... please keep doing so. Please keep asking about prince Sunday (or the other hinted suitors...). It fuels me.

It's very much puppy love in the beginning; you and Sunday stealing shy glances of the other from across the ballroom, flushing bright red when one is caught by the other (there's no need to be so embarrassed— the other was staring first). As mentioned in the fic, Sunday makes the first move by stealing flowers from the table centerpieces and handing them to you in an attempt to woo them. It's fairly effective, considering that you two are seen together at every ball.

From there, it's typical child royalty shenanigans. You two sneak out of the ballroom and into the gardens, where you complain about their ever-growing list of responsibilities and frustrating lessons and tutors. You two could talk for hours, settling for climbing up a tree and settling against the branches while basking in the other's company.

Sometimes, you play pretend; it could be a number of things depending on if Robin or other royal children are around, but Sunday much prefers the games where he is the king of an empire with you ruling by his side. His little wings flutter erratically when you take your role very seriously and hook your arm around his, holding your head high. He thinks you'll look even lovelier when you're both older and ruling over Penacony together.

Speaking of playing pretend— one day, when it's just you, Sunday, and Robin in the gardens, Robin makes the seemingly harmless suggestion that she could oversee your and Sunday's wedding. Sunday gets so flustered at the situation, but you just laugh, agreeing that it would be fun.

It's a fine ceremony for a couple of eight year olds, and for being held by a seven year old. You weave blades of grass and dandelions together into bracelets to use in place of rings. Robin uses her hairpiece to fasten Sunday's handkerchief over your face as a makeshift veil. Sunday uses every fancy word he knows to proclaim his undying love for you. Cheek kisses are exchanged, and bracelets are slipped onto wrists. It's the wedding of the century.

It's the promise he's never forgotten, the one he refuses to let go.

When you two become teenagers, everything changes. Sunday has started his tutelage under Gopher Wood, and you notice it's taking a toll on him; he's far more serious now, offering tight, practiced smiles in place of the childish, side-splitting laughter he would partake in with you and his sister. He's far too tense, too mature, too stressed for someone your age.

But despite the change, his crush on you doesn't wane— no, it only seems to grow the more you pester him, the more you ask about his wellbeing and curse his tutors for putting so much pressure on him. It grows with each concerned hand on his shoulder, with each time you fuss over him.

You promised you would rule by each other's side one day. You had a ceremony sealing it. And here you are, fretting over how much sleep he's getting and how someone ought to put his tutors in their place for overworking him, for Aeons' sake.

So why do you giggle and flirt back with the other royals? Why do you entertain your mother's notions of arranging meetings with the children of other kingdoms? Why won't you tell her that you've already found someone?

Why won't you tell her that you're his?

It's a frustration he doesn't express outright, yet it's also one he can't hide. He practically clings to you at balls, a second shadow walking in your footsteps. Each time someone gets just a little too flirty with you, your arm is seized in a vice grip and Sunday is at your side, a too-polite smile present on his face and an unspoken warning glinting in his eyes. Your pursuer flees the second they see him.

After all, who would risk upsetting the prince of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world?

[leclerced]

https://www.tumblr.com/enchantecafe/735984662758014976/hi-whispers-oscar-fucking-carlos-little

THE WAY I SCREAMED AND BECAME THE PERSONIFICATION OF: 😀😳😧

no bc THIS is the ultimate trope for oscar and carlos beef OH MY GOD?

imagine instead of oscar flat out telling him little sainz left her ring at his place oscar menace piastri starts wearing it around his neck on chain (i live and die for this trope oh my god). and the other drivers who’ve become acquainted with little sainz from years of carlos bringing her to races are like… “hold on is that what i think it is around the baby rookie’s neck😦?” i wanna imagine lando and charles are like lowkey laughing about it because carlos looks like he could literally murder oscar (or hire someone to do it) meanwhile oscar is just smugly staring at him as little sainz dotes on him while wearing his racing number (it’d be funny if a dts episode was about their beef and lil sainz is just sitting there all pretty like “???”)

part of me likes toxic oscar, but also i love that man too much. so in my head they are actually very happy together… getting to piss of carlos is just a bonus

-🌷

ok i didnt mean to write all this sorry not sorry. ending is rushed bc i realized it was Long. checked word count and its just over 1.4k so im adding a read more 🫶🏻

he ends up falling for her even though he just wanted to fuck with carlos, it takes him months to get into her pants and he’s so focused on the destination he forgets about the journey get there. he doesn’t realize he’s falling for her bc he’s never been in love before, so he doesn’t recognize it.

maybe the ring is very obvious like its gold with three diamonds on the front, he goes out and buys a matching gold chain that morning and he suddenly feels guilty for using her to get to carlos so he buys her a tennis bracelet to replace the ring he slipped off her finger. she’s awake and pouting when he gets back and immediately asks why he left. he silently holds up the jewelry store bag as he crawls back into bed with her. she immediately notices her ring dangling from his neck and reaches out to grasp it. she doesn’t know why but seeing him wearing it around his neck makes her stomach flutter. then he’s pulling a velvet box out of the bag and opening it to reveal a much prettier bracelet. he still doesn’t say anything as he clasps it around her wrist, and then he kisses her wrist right over her pulse point and murmurs, “just wanted to treat you.”

everyone immediately notices her bracelet when she shows up to the paddock and makes her way to carlos’s garage. he notices her ring is gone and the shiny bracelet has replaced it on her wrist and he takes her hand and asks where the ring is and where the bracelet came from? she wiggles her fingers and says, “i guess i forgot to put it on this morning. bracelet is new.” he pushes it out of his mind, tries to ignore the fact that she’d had only forgotten it a single day since their mother gifted it to her. she’d had a panic attack the one time she almost did leave it at home, and they nearly missed their flight turning around to get it. if she had forgotten it this morning, why wasn’t she freaking out?

lando would see it dangling around oscar’s neck as soon as he arrives at the track and they greet each other. he remembers seeing it on her finger every race weekend when he was carlos’s teammate, so he clocks it instantly and pulls him aside. “you didn’t? there’s no way-“ and oscar immediately knows what he’s talking about and lifts it up to show it off like a trophy, “it was too small for my fingers.” and lando’s kind of jealous because he may or may not have tried asking her out once or twice. but that fades as soon as he realizes carlos is going to notice immediately too. he’s extremely protective over her because their dad was never always off racing and he’s a few years older than her, she’s like oscar’s age or a year younger maybe?? idk she’s just baby and carlos will protect her until he dies. he’s vetting every boyfriend; running background checks and hiring private investigators to find their ex girlfriends and interview them before they get his approval to date his little sister.

carlos noticed it hours later, when oscar, lando, and him are in a press conference together. lando keeps laughing out of nowhere and carlos keeps asking what he’s laughing at, which makes him laugh more. they almost make it to the end without him noticing it. oscar gets asked a question and he drops the pendant he’s been sucking on from between his lips. carlos had noticed the imprint of something under his shirt earlier and out of the corner of his eye saw him pull it out of his shirt and then put it in his mouth. immediately carlos recognizes it and knows exactly why his sister wasn’t wearing her ring when he saw her that morning. he thought it was weird when oscar suddenly put the pendant between his lips, but he realizes oscar had done it so he would see it. lando notices his shocked stare and bursts out laughing again. oscar’s smirking while answering the question about the upcoming race. carlos is holding himself back from pummeling oscar on camera, and as soon as they’re saying the conference is over, lando’s standing up and blocking him as he tries to launch himself at oscar.

everyone is so confused about what’s going on, but lando and oscar are laughing while carlos hurls threats and insults, and lando holds him back. unfortunately the cameras are still rolling and catch carlos saying oscar defiled his baby sister. somehow oscar gets out of the conference room and is whisked away by his team to ask him what is going on and what carlos is talking about? and he just can’t stop grinning because he got exactly the reaction he was looking for.

carlos finding his sister and dragging her away to his drivers room and asking her why? why him of all people. she knows anyone on the grid would bow down before her if she asked. so why did she fuck the one man he hates? and she’s like “oh my god don’t say fuck. it’s not like that.” and he asks, “what’s it like then? why do you think he did this? do you think it was anything more than a fuck to him?” and that makes her so sad, she starts tearing up and backing away from him because he’s never said anything like that to her before. she’s regretting everything and doubting everything oscar’s said to her the entire season, how perfect and kind he’s been, all the nights she laid in bed thinking about how maybe she could bring them together. her and lando could work together and make them get along. but all that is crushed hearing carlos’s words. he immediately regrets them of course, he still thinks they are true but wishes he never said them to her. he tries to grab her but she’s already out of his drivers room and when he follows her, she’s already gone.

he’d search until someone finally says they saw her leave with oscar and he’s even angrier because his words pushed her right into his arms, where he didn’t want her. he just texts his manager that he’s leaving and wonders what excuse oscar gave to get out of his media duties. he’s calling her the entire ride back to his hotel, and then he gets there and remembers that the mclaren drivers are in a different hotel and that’s definitely where they went. he has no clue where she is, probably for the first time ever. he goes to the hotel bar and has a drink as he spams her with calls until they stop going through. he calls lando but lando won’t tell him anything, apparently oscar and his sister swore him to secrecy when they left and she was sobbing and begged him not to tell her brother.

oscar wouldn’t know what to do when she shows up in his drivers room crying but he knows carlos has to be near and he doesn’t fancy getting his ass beat so he books it. lando covers for him after seeing the state she’s in. oscar’s got three sisters so he knows how to console a crying woman, he stops at a store and leaves her in the car to fetch chocolates and flowers and whatever else he sees that she might like before he takes her back to his hotel room. she cries for an hour before he finds out what’s wrong. she’s cried all her tears away and has gone through a box of tissues before she finally tells him what carlos said and how his words hurt her but it’s the thought that oscar would use her like that, make her fall for him just to get under carlos’s skin. she tells him that she knows he wouldn’t do that, that while he acts all cold and reserved with everyone else he’s completely different when they’re alone, and she know’s that’s the real him. then she’s cupping his cheeks and he’s thinking about how pretty she looks after crying, and she’s asking him to promise her he wasn’t lying to her like carlos said. and he actually feels something, he doesn’t know what the unfamiliar tug in his stomach is, guilt? pain? love? he tells himself it’s not the last one as he promises her that he wasn’t lying and wraps her up in his arms and tells her to go to bed, because he’s not going anywhere. the kiss he presses to the crown of her head makes her trust his words, no matter how untrue the first half is.

[phaelinverse]

XIKERS HEADCANONS...

...if they are your boyfriend. Hyung line part, part 2 for the maknae line is be link here (⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠)

Feel free to request anything I could write about XIKERS, I activate the 'ask me anything' box, so you may recommend me things to write on XIKERS in here!! (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

A/N :; I do not speak English as is not my main language. So I am sorry in advance about my bad grammar, I am doing my best to write as clear as I can.

Minjae

❞· I see him as a kind of jealous but sweet and caring person, like, when he sees a random guy approaching too close to you, he would side eye the guy and keep staring at him coldly to let him know that you're taken.

❞· He would eventually put his arm around your waist to keep you close to him. (⁠ ͝⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ͡⁠°⁠)

❞· At home, I think, in my opinion, he would spoil you a lot and eventually write songs talking about you and that you're the only to hear it.

❞· In the morning, Minjae is the one to wake up first for making you a very nice breakfast. ｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡

❞· Lastly, when he's in his workplace, he would text you a bit every 2~3 hours to know how are you and to let you know how is he.

Junmin

❞· For me, Junmin is the type of boyfriend that when your around him, he always have a big smile for you because he's so happy to spend time with you.

❞· In the morning, when he wakes up before you, he always give you some kisses while your still asleep and make a quick breakfast for you both before waking you up. (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)

❞· He's not particularly jealous when you spend time with other guy unless he notices that the guy start to be a bit too flirty and touchy with you.

❞· I can imagine him that he would just love you too much at the point he feels the need to talk about you to his members.

❞· Lastly, I would see Junmin to be the type of guy to make at least one gift per week to you to just show you that he cares about you. (⁠´⁠∩⁠｡⁠•⁠ ⁠ᵕ⁠ ⁠•⁠｡⁠∩⁠`⁠)

Sumin

❞· I think, Sumin would definitely give you gifts which are his drawing he made only for you.

❞· Also, he would always buy you clothes that would surely suit you, but matching outfits too because he will love that. (⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ

❞· He's not jealous tho but just kind of protective/possessive over you when you're dress in revealing outfit.

❞· He would definitely takes multiples pictures of you, whenever and wherever, even if you're sleeping and his not. ╮⁠(⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)⁠╭

❞· He always think about you when you're not besides him, he would miss you.

Jinsik

❞· Jinsik would be the type of boyfriend to be a bit silly and goofy around you. He would tease you a lot, like for example, poking your cheek nonstop.

❞· He would ask you for a date a lot. Jinsik would like to visit a lot of things by your side.(⁠￣⁠︶⁠￣⁠)

❞· At home, for some reason, he would suddenly start to admire you for no specific reason.

❞· Jinsik would definitely talk about you nonstop to his members at the point they would be annoyed to hear Jinsik yapping about you. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

❞· He would surely wait for you for going to sleep because he need cuddles from you to fall asleep.

Hyunwoo

❞· For me, Hyunwoo would be a shy but sweet and caring boyfriend. I can imagine him to have a specific day each month to give each other gifts.

❞· At work, like Minjae, he would text you to know how you are but not each few hours but during his lunch time. (⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)

❞· I imagine him to make a movie date at home with you. You both would watch a great movie while cuddling under a soft and warm blanket.

❞· Hyunwoo would love to takes selcas with you and post it on social media daily. He just wants people to know his taken and he's really happy with you and he's glad to have meet you. ♡⁠˖⁠꒰⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠⑅⁠꒱

❞· Lastly, I can imagine that you both have matching accessories like bracelets, rings, etc.

And done! I hope you have enjoyed this headcanons I did for them! At the moment I am writing this I didn't do the maknae line yet but when I'll post it, the maknae line version would be definitely post and linked here! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

[cerealforkart]

I made myself these little dress up dolls because everyone’s getting changed all the time, here’s the first batch, outfits pre-episode 13

Design notes under the cut

[part 2] [part 3]

Lincoln

* I would first of all like to thank Lincoln for being shaped like a model (long boy) and thus very easy to dress up

* I forgot that Link needed to tear off his sleeves to make Normal a diaper in lesson 14, so in lesson 11 he grabs a sweater when I assume he goes home between escaping the FBI and returning to school

* Lincoln is so comically tall the Teeny costume (which I just moved from Normal to Link and edited to match Link’s pose) only reaches his knees. It actually looked so stupid that I had to edit it to make the Teeny costume slightly longer in the legs

* Link has two roombas in his room, he’s a clean boy, he isn’t walking around Taylor’s house in his bare feet, he doesn’t trust like that, it’s sock time

Scary

* I actually originally planned for Scary to have more piercings, but I forgot to add them in lesson 1. Let’s just say her mom won’t let her go crazy on the piercings, from what we’ve heard in rad facts (wouldn’t let her get a tongue piercing or learn guitar) that sounds in character

* I wanted to do the Shit Garden logo on Scary’s shirt like one of those metal bands that only people who like metal can actually read, but I only have so much time and patience

* I want so badly to play with Scary’s hair more, but I haven’t really had the chance, I hope there will be more excuses to give her different styles in the future, I like the braided bun for fancy occasions a lot

* Big T-shirt and shorts are peak pyjamas, love it for her. Also, you don’t need to know how long I spent trying to come up with something for her shirt to say

Normal

* Don’t tell anyone but I kind of miss drawing Teeny’s big stupid head every day, it was easy comedy

* I did actually draw a Jimmy Buffet design on the shirt before scribbling over it, you can barely see if you look closely

* I don’t actually have anything to say about Normal’s dance outfit so I guess I’ll just take this opportunity to talk about my Normal design in general. He was the one it took me the longest to land on and I’m still unsure if I’m happy with him, I want his hair to be long enough to just sorta hang and be greasy, but not so long that it will get in his face too much and I still consistently fail on it

* Not much to say about his sleepover fit either. Froggy :)

Taylor

* I had originally planned for everyone to be wearing their bracelets on their left wrists but in episode 8 it’s mentioned that Taylor is wearing his on his right, at that point I think I had only drawn Taylor’s bracelet once so it was easier to just change his and let him be a special boy (also, they keep the bracelets on post-FBI because Taylor never really has an opportunity to take it off and the others wear theirs in solidarity)

*After Lesson 10, Taylor swaps out the crest of friendship from Digimon to wear his dad’s ring of swapping as a necklace, he tends to grab at it when his dad or the topic of betrayal comes up

* I hate Taylor for his dance fit. No longer my favourite son

* Not really a design note but I watched the Sailor Moon dub in three parts on youtube with my little sister huddled around our home computer after school, we’re real OGs

Hermie

* I finally decided to add the Joker makeup to my Hermie design, I found a powdery sorta brush to use for it so now he’s a true clown. Good for him I guess

* You may notice that I’ve tweaked my Hermie design and his colour scheme just a little bit. This is because white Hermie is dead and you know what? Good for him. I also made his hair a little wavier for Scam, you’ll start seeing the updated Hermie design (as if you can tell there’s a difference other than the very slight change in hairstyle) in lesson 16, because I drew the lesson 15 pages before episode 23 came out and I wasn’t going to go back and change them

* Stupid Joker tie. Hate it

* No sleepover fit for Hermie. Tragic. They need to have another sleepover and include him

[love-karens-style]

School of Style – Radiant in Red: 3 Fast Facts

(source: © pinterest.com)

“Bright colours will even excite and inspire your mood.” –Nikita Karizma

1. Strapless Sequins – Today ladies, I’d like to begin this edition, by talking about the model’s stunning sequins, if I may. In my view ladies, the sequins can be regarded as a ‘massive must’ for the upcoming party season. Not only that, but the strapless style shows off the model’s amazing arms, and satiny skin. In his book, The Science of Sexy: Dress to Fit Your Unique Figure With the Style System That Works for Every Shape and Size, Bradley Bayou, rather rightfully asks, “Why spend your money on something that doesn’t look great on you?” Ladies, one of the most important style secrets that I’ve had the privilege of learning, during my fashion work experience, is to “play-up” your favourite features. In this instance, the model’s arms are on show, and why not? She has probably worked hard training for her toned arms. Make the most of your admirable assets.

2. Marvellous Mani – In next place ladies, I wish to draw your appreciated attention, to the model’s neat and neutral nails. This was a suitable solution, in this instance, especially as the model’s outfit is a bold bright. In my opinion, the stylist probably did not want to draw attention away from the model’s dazzling dress. I think that it’s fair to say, that had the manicurist opted for a bright or darker colour, this may have resulted in a ‘competition’ between the model’s nails, and her divine dress. Nude nails ladies, from my personal perspective, look effortless and elegant. Though, based on my personal experience, nude nail polish tends to sometimes be ‘patchy’ (streaky), so sometimes it may be necessary to apply in thin even layers, and potentially, three layers, instead of the usual two layers, to create an even finish, if you are doing your own nail ‘shape and paint.’ I personally love nude or clear nail polish, for everyday, as lighter colours dry quicker than darker or bright colours. Perfect, if you’re not quite sure about a gel manicure, or if you are going for a lunchtime manicure. Former model turned businesswoman and writer, Victoria Nixon, is also a fabulous fan of nude nail polish, as in her book, Supermodels’ Beauty Secrets: Hot Tips for Style, Beauty and Fashion from The World’s Top Models, she makes a pertinent point, which is that “Nails simply need to look unnoticeable ��� clean, a decent shape… a coat of neutralish varnish.”

3. Crystal Collar – Ladies, the final observation that I’d like to share with you, is about the model’s stunning statement necklace. From my personal perspective, the necklace is both gorgeous and glamorous. Ladies, I’m also happy to report that the only other jewellery on the model, is a pair of drop earrings, to match the stones in her necklace. Without the matching stones ladies, I am not convinced that the model’s outfit would have looked particularly polished. Ladies, you may have also noticed, that the model also does not have plenty of other jewellery on. No bracelets, no rings. Why? Because as usual, “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” Coco Chanel.

Love, KF X                                                                                            

Happy to help: karensworldofstyle@live.co.uk or karens_style on X (Twitter)

This article was researched, written, edited, produced & published by Karen, on 29th October 2024

[braceletofteeth]

"His concept of art makes no sense." Yes, that's been boggling my mind forever. If there were always a transformative aspect to it or something (which I assumed to be the case because of his little arts and crafts table), it'd make sense. But... there isn't really? Hannibal's kills are pretty consistent (TV show, not sure about the books) with his lofty ideals of transformation, elevating things etc. whereas Moonjo keeps confusing me. (Another rewatch for analytic purposes is necessary, huh?)

This has been running through my head for days and still I'm not sure I can give you a good answer (it's not my first time talking about it, but I don't have a very steady opinion on the matter). I'll try to stick to reason as much as I can.

Let's start with what we know. Moonjo has said about what he does: "I break things up, put them together, and recreate".

Now, that could be him talking about his little craft work with jewelry (even though I think the more appropriate word, in this case, would be "take" instead of "break up", since the teeth are material to him, not remainders—he doesn't break the material, he acquires/collects it from a source). That could be it, but based on the final result of his "masterpiece", let's consider he values his work on people more.

Then, the transformative aspect, in this case, it’s not off the table. In his own way, he’s elevating gruesome acts, people’s nature, and murder, all to the level of art.

Since you mentioned Hannibal and is aware of his methods, I think is safe for me to make a brief comparison between them. Consider Hannibal’s tableaus first. The only people involved in the making of them are Hannibal and his victims (his material); then his art pieces are presented to the world, and the rest of the world’s role is of the audience. You may take it in with horror or awe, but the work is done; you’re not supposed to physically interact with his art, because you’re not part of it.

Moonjo’s art, on the other hand, is interactive. He’s an artist who inserts himself in the art he makes (beyond the part where he kills the victims; he dedicates a longer time to them). Other people may interact with it, too (although I would not recommend it). Everybody has partial free will and can make their own decisions, as long as they are in tune with the rules and the desired ending—if they are not, these people are taken (quite literally) out of the play.

I mainly refer to Moonjo’s art as “performances”, because it’s always a single-watch show, with no records to tell they actually happened but the teeth he collects (which I believe are some sort of souvenirs, little reminiscences Why does he put them in rings instead of just keeping them? Good question. I don’t really understand their purpose either.).

It begins with him finding someone to play the main role—usually of a person driven insane before they die (as I believe was the case of the previous people who lived at Eden), but, most recently, the role he tried to fit the foreign guy (the one who used to live in room 303 and had a very concerning diary) and Kihyuk into, but only Jongwoo performed with honors: of the man who had a killer confined under his skin, yet to be freed from his shell (I say “freed” but someone else could say “ripped out”, it depends on your interpretation. The point is Moonjo having a role in their becoming, since it seems important to him that he does, one way or another).

After he chooses this person, there is all the theatrics involving the other tenants at Eden, the manipulation of reality that makes people question what they know, what is right, who they can trust, why are other humans like this and, you know, what the hell in general. Let’s not forget that Moonjo is not only the self-inserted artist, but also the main audience of the show. He enjoys watching people getting confused, losing their cool, being confronted with truths about themselves and with the realities they are afraid of. He wants to know what they will do in the unusual situations he creates for them.

Normal life is so boring, isn’t it? Go to work, make money, look like a perfectly decent human being to appease others. What a (cruel, demanding, annoying) joke. Moonjo has to play the same boring role everyday, like everyone does to thrive in society. He's the neighbourhood's nice doctor outside. But not when he's at the residence. In his society, he chooses the roles, and people have to play by his rules if they want to survive. That’s what it means to be a god in this little paradise called Eden. It may not be a good place for the rest, but it’s perfect for him. The normal world is too dull and lacks flair. But not Eden (as a concept, not the building, of course). A place which came out of a dream, that you’d expect in a movie or in a dark painting, with distorted faces that give you nightmares.

The horror of it all—that’s the real art. Carefully shaped immorality. To him, the route that leads you to your death is as important as the the final act's execution. Perhaps, it is the process what he enjoys the most. Because there is a story behind it, a story he creates himself. You don’t “just die”.

So when Moonjo looks at Jongwoo and says they do something similar, it’s because they really do. They create their own world. Jongwoo’s is a fictional one, a safe environment where he can explore his thoughts and desires without anyone getting hurt (or judging him), and Moonjo’s little world may look more real at first, but it’s all his reflection. Eden, without him, without his vision, is just a place where people go to be tortured and die. Moonjo and his experimentation of human nature give meaning to it. He’s a man with a philosophy... an artistic, romanticized philosophy. He’s not doing it for anyone other than himself and his own appreciation.

He doesn’t care about recognition, or any kind of opinion about what he does, good or bad. Till Jongwoo, he was perfectly fine out of the radar and only sharing what was necessary with the other residents (they would not understand him, anyway).

There is a scene, in the last episode, where Jongwoo asks him “Why do you do this?” and Moonjo responds “There is no reason. That’s what people are made of. It’s your instinct to chew each other out when we’re with one another, then grow tired as we watch them suffer”, and I’m not sure if it was actually him and not Jongwoo’s subconscious self (the hallucination or the alter persona or the version of him that Jongwoo presented to the world in his story I have to worry about so many details because of the last episode Istg the ending only complicates everything), but considering the option he did say that at some point… It kinda matches the “I don’t want to hide myself and I’m tired of everyone's pretenses” mindset, doesn’t it? And there is also another scene (that I’m almost one hundred percent sure truly happened), in which he asks Jongwoo “You had fun when you killed everyone here, didn’t you?”, which supports the idea of him doing it for entertainment (and expecting Jongwoo to do the same). Observe that when he says “(…) then grow tired as we watch them suffer”, he makes use of the word then, which suggests that he is definitely not tired (bored) as he chews them out. On the contrary, he is having fun, as much as Jongwoo must have had when he took his place.

So there are these two motivations that (may) converge when it comes to his art: to create a romanticized, utopian reality, crafted by his hands; and a source of entertainment.

[haikyuu-simp-station]

Silver & Gold - K. Bokuto

WC: 1.3k (I shocked myself honestly-)

TW: none I believe, just pure fluff— and typos probably, Not proofread

DO NOT REPOST MY WORKS. REBLOGS AND LIKES ARE MUCH APPRECIATED!!

((a/n: I just had a lot of thoughts about rings lately and 😩😩 I imagine so many of the Haikyuu babes with rings and other kinds of jewelry, and well,, I landed on Bo cause I HAD TOO.

Also I have a thing for Omi-Omi that I’m trying to write out but college is taking up most of my time rn,, that’ll be my first true nsfw piece for Haikyuu,, anyway, ENJOY-))

You’ve heard that best friends usually have different colors when it came to jewelry. One prefers silver, the other gold. You never thought much of it, seeing as it was many just an observation that people posted on social media.

Silver adorned your own fingers. A few rings on either hand, some sentimental and others just for show. You started your collection years ago, enjoying the shimmer most pieces brought. Whether big with a jewel perfectly sitting on top of the ring, or a thin band coupled with another similar to it. Plain or not, it didn’t matter. The pieces complimented you, and had stayed that way since then.

To you, the collection itself amazed you, but your sweet, dual-color haired friend had one just like yours.

But instead, the metal reflected from his was a much warmer glow compared to yours.

It made him stand out, more than he usually did. It made certain things about him pop out, especially his eyes. The pleasing glow of his golden eyes enhanced the accessories that adorned his hands and neck. Or maybe it was the other way around, the gold on his hands and neck brightening his features.

The simple chain that laid around his neck was one of the pieces you adored seeing him wear. It was one you gave him a few years back for his birthday. His reaction was more than what you ever thought it would be. It only sealed the feeling you felt for the man.

Seeing Koutarou tear up that day had sent your heart into a frenzy, one that had occurred numerous times before. Not long after drying a few of his tears, he pulled you into him, wrapping his thick arms around you while whispering many uncharacteristically soft ‘Thank You’s to you.

You smiled fondly at the memory. And seeing him wear it everyday, it continues to make your heart flutter in your chest.

Of course, he gifted you some of you favorite rings and bracelets that now live in your collection and on your hands everyday

One of the many gifts that had made your last few months at Fukurodani the most memorable of all your time in school. It was a few months before graduation. Both of you were spending more and more time together, often talking about the future and where you may head.

You both decided to go out to spend some quality time together and enjoy the city that laid outside the large campus. Eventually, after walking around and looking through some of the small shops, you took a break and sat yourselves down in a nearby park.

Koutarou always talked about his future in volleyball, about how he’s been scouted by some major colleges and how he planned to go pro afterwards. His enthusiasm for his future career never ceased to make you feel the same.

You had your own plans and often thought over how far your relationship had come, only for you to have to go separate paths in your college and career pathways. It was hard to push away those thoughts at times, while other times, they remained and kept you up at night.

You continued to ramble on about your future and hopes from it, zoning out as you looked to the grassy area in front of you, seeing the many people passing through. You hadn’t even noticed what Koutarou was doing, hadn’t noticed his hands move to reach into his pocket to grab whatever was in it.

It was only when you felt his free hand on your forearm that you looked to him, pulling yourself out of your little trance. Your eyes then dropped to your hands.

You watched as he gently picked up your hand, and gently brought it up to his mouth. Your cheeks brightened as you felt his lips against your knuckles, your reaction causing him to chuckle before brought your hand closer to his other hand.

It was only then your eyes caught the silver band with shining stones lining it, a few rays of light reflected back onto you. Your eyes widened as you returned your gaze to his bright gold eyes.

You saw the absolute admiration and love he held for you, at that moment, you knew for sure that he wouldn’t drift away like you once feared. You should have known that seeing Koutarou’s personality.

Once he was stuck on something, he won’t stop until he’s reached the end of the task at hand. No matter how many times his emotions or other obstacles got in the way.

His lips parted ever so slightly before closing then again as he figured out what to say. He had it all there, but it was difficult to form in that moment. His head turned to the side, a few rays of light hit his skin, showing off the soft red glow that painted his cheeks.

“Look baby, I… It’s hard to put things into words at times,” he then sheepishly laughed, “Now being one of those times, obviously.”

“But I want you to know that I’ll always be there… even if we aren’t going to the same school after graduation, even if we’re on completely different career paths. I just…” he paused, his gaze finally returning to your curious eyes.

“I want you to have this, a reminder that I’ll be with you every step of the way, even if it’s not physically. And a reminder that you’re the only one for me… I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.”

His hand still remains on yours, gently rubbing over the ring that’s now around your finger.

‘Right where it belongs’, he thinks to himself.

“You’ve made me feel so happy and lucky to have found you… and at this point, I’m sure I’m THE luckiest man in the world.” His free hand then slowly trailed up your body, until it landed on your cheek, before he began caressing your cheek.

You hadn’t even noticed to tears that gently flowed down your cheek, dripping down to your lap. You let out a hitched breath as Koutarou wiped away your tears. He began to tear up slightly as well.

He then carefully tilted your head down and leaned in as he pressed a kiss to your forehead, eyes never leaving you.

“Forever and always, sweetheart…” he whispered as he retracted his free hand to meet your already covered hand. Taking his right away, he slipped his fingers in between yours.

The coolness of metal hit your hand as he held yours, causing a smile to form and widen as you examined his own band.

A bit thicker, but similar style. Equals to its mate.

Taking a moment for your heart to calm down, you took in a few breaths before trusting your voice not to crack,

“Forever and always.” You nearly whispered to him.

That moment in time was one you had and will always cherish. One that continues to make your heart flutter even years after your time at Fukurodani.

You had always made sure to wear it, always having your reminder that it’ll always be alright and that your sweet Koutarou was there for you.

It had been your favorite… but as times changed so did your life and its status.

There was only one that truly topped even the first biggest and most upheld promise in your life, one that replaced your symbol of love and sealed your future to nothing but happiness. A smile always present on your face when you take the time to gaze upon it.

The thick gold band that’s wrapped around his ring finger will always mean everything to you. Its mate wrapped around your finger. Thinner, with a lovely diamond sitting on top.

The one accessory that clashed with the rest of your collection. The one that started a fondness to similar bands of gold. One that started the mix in your collection. A symbol of loving your best friend. One that truly sealed the promise he made long ago. And finally, one that will be with you forever and always in your collection and proudly adorning your finger.

[crispycrimebrulee]

HI! Can i request chrollo with prompt 12? Thanksssss <3

Prompt #12: "I Miss You" "Don't Lie, I Know She's With You." [Angst!] [TW: Cheating] [Also Available on AO3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/31658609 ]

Absence Makes The Heart Grow...Fickle.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Indeed, a statement that every relationship comes to meet, a milestone, a test of faith across miles of land and oceans, for if your love can withstand distance, surely it can withstand time, turmoil, and anything else.

And yet…

You find yourself, staring out of a raindrop riddled window, the soft hush of rainfall on adding fuel to your thoughts, watching your worries become realities as a pattern emerged from his constant actions…

Or lack thereof.

Could you blame him, though? Chrollo Lucilfer, feared among thieves and civilians alike, ruthlessness without bounds when he’s set on getting what he wants, going to any distance, metaphorical or physical to obtain what he wants most. You couldn’t really fault him for his distance; his distance in miles, being thousands of miles away gallivanting with his spiders on yet another quest, continuously building his legacy. You couldn’t blame him for his emotional distance either. He was an intense man to reach, to truly reach and understand and get close to. It would take ages of hard work and commitment to get him to share even a fraction of a clue of his own troubles to you. Not to mention, he always had something on his mind, a new quest, a new artifact, a new theory from his books, a new gang to silence, debts to collect...oh was he a busy man. You couldn’t blame him for being so far away, so distant…

And yet…

In the past he’d always made time for you, always called and made sure you were safe and taken care of while he was away. You’d been his top priority, his ultimate treasure, all quests and roads lead back to you at the end of a day or the end of a month, it was always your heart he returned home to and you welcomed him time and time again, how could you not? Everything about him was captivating, you’d be a fool to not let him in and have all that you are, albeit slowly and carefully, weary of what he was capable of.

Not weary enough, it seems.

You’d let him in, opened your doors to him and allowed him to gaze at what you thought was everything he wanted. Sure, it was everything he wanted, more than that by far. But as thieves go, they take without bounds and leave the door ajar, only a little so that they may slip in and steal whatever is left whenever they please, and you can do nothing to stop them seeing as only a fool lets a thief in their home.

He’d taken valuables beyond obtainable prices.

Love, time, faith, gentle smiles and gentler words, secrets of hopes and dreams and fears, all of it. He’d taken all of it without remorse on the basis of ‘your love could never be replaced’ promising he would only and always come back to you…

And.

Yet.

You already knew his heart and his eyes had wandered, from missed calls to missed dates to missed events to ‘forgetting to tell you he’d returned home’, to hearing whispers from shop owners mentioning they’d seen him with Her, his hand resting on the slope of Her hip, his eyes resting on Her hands as She held gifts from places he’d been, places he knows you could only dream of visiting, gifts that were seldom for you. He’d already tested the waters with another, already given in to a special kind of temptation, a one sided selfish temptation. What had you meant to him? Were you only someone to play with, something to fill a gap in his desires, desire for a sense of stability? Had he only spent years with you to play house with a docile routine only to put you on the shelf when the gap had closed, a new one opening where you did not fit? Were you another object he had to have, something to join a collection of used dolls, a worn out plaything, a gemstone now frosted and without luster, something to be given away with lesser value?

Of course, you little fool. What else would he want with you?

Only souls with stars in their eyes and hope in their hearts think ruthlessness with no bounds have bounds in regards to another, and that they’ll be the special one, the one that gets spared and cherished. Do thieves cherish? Do thieves find things special beyond monetary value? What monetary value did you hold?

Not enough, not enough, not enough.

You could only think about what She’d done to coax him away, or what She hadn’t done at all. You thought about it as you would walk to the store, the park, the bank, and glimpses of Her would cross your eyes clear as day, the scent of Her perfume, the clatter of Her bracelets, the sound of Her shoes on the pavement going to wherever Chrollo was, wherever he wasn’t with you, the place he said he would always return to. And at first, it was merely suspicion, something you talked yourself out of on nights where he was home but away from you, nights where he failed to call, night where you’d caught glimpses of them out late at night as though you wouldn’t notice.

Ruthlessness without bounds.

Suspicion only lead to confirmation by others and by your own eyes, accidentally of course, when he would come home and find Her earrings in his pocket, love letters in his jacket no longer addressed to you, Her perfume lingering on his shirt and pressed to his skin, catching the notes of sandalwood and citrus as he dared to sleep beside you on nights he could not sleep beside Her.

You could blame him.

And you did.

Your caring, your desperation and sorrow and attempts to reach out to him while he was wrapped up in satin sheets with Her only added fuel to his ill willed fire. You simply stepped back, two can play at that game.

You stopped wearing the foreign gifts, stopped reading the dull love letters, stopped sending calls and messages to someone who clearly did not care to receive them or not. To lose power, leverage, the damage it does to know what the ruthlessness of an old lover can do.

Being so easily let go, like the treasures he sells, was too much for him it seemed.

So much so, that your phone rang, his name lighting up the screen. You looked at it, letting the ringing pass through you as you considered if you should leave him wondering and falling apart.

Wondering too long, the call fell, the abrupt end to the rings bringing you out of your thoughts as you went back to watching the rain fall.

No more than 5 minutes, it seemed, before the phone rang again, Chrollo seemingly desperate to reach you now, more so than he ever had.

Once, twice, three times your phone rang before you picked it up slowly, a somber hello drawn out from you.

“Y/N… I haven’t heard you in some time-”

“I know.” you cut him off, your voice soft but stern and unamused.

He was silent for a moment, the sound of rain on both ends prodding at your thoughts again.

“You’ve been well, I hope? I’ve sent some things over to you from my recent trip.”

“Mmm… I never got them.” you lied, of course, knowing the small packages remind untouched, sitting outside on your balcony getting soaked by the rain.

“I’m sure I sent them, y/n, a few things I know you’d enjoy.” he hummed as he seemed to be lacing his words with sweetness, too much for his own sake, really.

“I’ll look out for them.”

Although you knew you wouldn’t.

He sighed, a rare sign from him, the sound of him sitting down from wherever he is, making the audio crackle.

“I’ve been gone a while, y/n.”

“I know. I know more than anyone.”

“I haven’t called as much as you’d like me to, it’s my fault my love.”

“It is your fault, Chrollo.”

Silence.

“Y/n…”

“Chrollo.”

“I miss you.”

You tilted your head to the side, watching the raindrops race down the window as Chrollo lied his finest lie.

“Don’t lie, I know She’s with you.”

Although you couldn’t see him, you could sense the shift in the atmosphere, was the shift from losing his chance to reconcile? Losing his chance to explain? Or from being caught like a rat in a cage of his own making?

“Y/n there's-”

“Tell me, Chrollo...do you miss me when you run your fingers through Her hair?”

“...”

“Or when you kiss Her hand and walk Her home?”

Deathly silence from someone so brazen...

“Do you miss me when your lips brush against Her skin, do you think of me then?”

You didn’t give him a chance to answer as you ended the call, knowing the damage on both ends had been done. You wouldn’t answer his calls, late or early, for the next few days as you planned to find a new place to stay, somewhere he wouldn’t find for a little while. His gifts provided ample financial help when traded in pawn shops, allowing you to gather yourself quickly and vanish in the same fashion that he did.

Your doors were closed, now, less of a fool for a thief with no bounds.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it leaves the rest of you lonely.

[thatfanficstuff]

Her Three Kings- Chapter Eleven

A Volturi Kings x ofc story

Warnings: nope.

A/N: Only two more chapters until they meet! Just kidding. It’s here. I’m so excited.

The final goodbye was as horrible as Lily thought it would be. Knowing Carlisle would be traveling with her helped somewhat, but she was still heartbroken to be leaving the rest of her family. She stared out the window beside her while they drove to the airport and Carlisle reached over to clasp her hand in his. She squeezed his hand in thanks and kept hold of it until they reached the plane.

Their luggage and her belongings had all traveled ahead of them and were already loaded on the plane. The only thing she’d kept with her was the backpack that had once belonged to John. It held the things she didn’t trust to anyone else. Even her sword was stashed in the cargohold. Mainly because she was fairly certain they weren’t going to allow her to appear before her mates armed.

She took a seat near the window and dropped her bag into the seat across from her. Carlisle sat beside her. The guard sat further away giving them the semblance of privacy. Growing up with vampires, Lily was used to having none so it didn’t faze her much. When Lily wasn’t sleeping, her and Carlisle talked more about Volterra or played hangman and cards. Sometimes she just stared out the window and contemplated her future. She’d brought a book but after reading the same page three times and still not processing it, she gave up.

The closer they were to their destination, the antsier Liliana got. When they were about forty minutes out, Jane approached. “Excuse me, Mistress.”

Lily gave her a tight smile. She really hated being called Mistress but had been unable to get them to call her anything else. “Yes, Jane?”

“We will be landing soon should you wish to don more suitable attire,” the girl suggested.

Liliana blinked at her a couple of times before smiling. “Thank you, Jane. That is most kind of you.” Lily pulled a sheer cardigan the same color of green as her off the shoulder crop top from her bag. She slipped it on. “Much better.”

Jane stared at her for a long moment without saying anything.

Lily leaned toward Carlisle. “I think I broke her.”

“Is there not something else you would rather wear? We can arrange for you to change at the airport if your clothes are below.” Jane’s voice was as calm as ever but it was obvious she was trying not to say something biting to her new queen.

Contrary to what Jane may have thought, Liliana had taken great care with her appearance. She had dressed in a pair of lightweight khaki cargo pants and her off the shoulder olive green crop top. Her brown hiking boots were comfortable and went well so she’d worn those. Alice had done her hair in a messy updo and used one of her hair scarves as a wide hair band with some strands of hair pulled through to frame her face. She’d also done a light makeup. Lily had finished everything off with multiple bracelets and rings along with a metal choker and her necklace with the Cullen crest. She even had her nose ring in. She was quite pleased with the look if she were honest. And most importantly, she felt confident.

“One of the most important things my father taught me was to always begin as you mean to go on, Jane,” Lily said. “I would hate to give them the false impression that they are getting a proper lady.”

“Yes, that would be most horrible,” Jane responded in a completely flat voice.

Lily couldn’t help grinning. “We’re going to get along just fine, Janey.”

The guard turned on her heel to return to her brother’s side. Lily waited a couple of beats before she started laughing. She leaned against Carlisle and he began to chuckle as well. “Shhh,” he attempted to quiet her when he noticed that all four guards were watching them. That only made her laugh harder.

By the time they arrived at the castle, Lily’s stomach was churning though she did her best to hide it. Two weeks of texting and the occasional phone call did nothing to prepare her for actually meeting the three kings that were her soulmates. She took a breath as they stood before the massive doors. Felix and Demetri were waiting for her to signal that she was ready.

“Let me take your bag,” Alec said from beside her.

Lily frowned at him, reluctant to hand it over.

“I’ll take it straight to your room. You will be fine,” he assured with a soft smile.

She nodded once and handed the pack over. “Thank you, Alec.”

He bowed his head and raced away. She turned back to the doors. “It’s not like they don’t know I’m out here. Let’s do this.”

Felix’s lips twitched while Demetri outright grinned at her. His grin was infectious and Lily found herself smiling as well. He winked at her and opened the door. Lily stepped into the room, Carlisle trailing behind. Her heart raced as her gaze fell on the men sat on the thrones on the far side of the room. All three sat straighter as they watched her approach. Her gaze moved between them, unwilling to pick one to settle on. No picture could ever do them justice. She wanted to greet them, to say something, but she was too wrapped up just watching them. If she’d had any doubt that they were mates, it evaporated with the feeling of elation in her chest at finally being in their presence.

Marcus POV

She was stunning. Breathtaking. If he still needed to breathe that was. Carlisle had sent them pictures but they were nothing compared to the real thing. And it went far beyond her looks. It was the aura that seemed to surround her. She was confident. True. Theirs. Most importantly, his.

The only thing more beautiful than the woman in front of him was the vibrant, brilliant gold true mate bond connecting them to her. That it would be so strong upon their first meeting spoke volumes. She was truly perfect for them.

Caius POV

He ran his gaze over her from head to toe. She was pretty for a human, he supposed. But could she not even be bothered to dress herself appropriately for their meeting? Did she not care? His eyes moved from her to Carlisle behind her. Surely he’d taught her better. His gaze flicked back to his mate. His human mate. He barely managed to keep the snarl from his lips.

His eyes narrowed as he took a better look at her. Was that a nose ring? Caius couldn’t fathom how the fates thought this was the perfect woman for him. He couldn’t imagine anyone more wrong for him. For all of them.

Aro POV

Aro swallowed as he took in the stunning creature in front of him. Something about her made him want to take her hair down so he could run his fingers through it. He wanted to curl up with her while they read or just watched the world pass around them. He just wanted to be near her in whatever capacity she would allow it.

It was an unusual feeling for him. Normally his first thought was always about how someone could be of benefit to their coven. To him. But all he could think of was how much he wished he could take her in his arms right now. He could only think this would be the beginning of an amazing eternity with her.

Being the first to recover from her arrival, Aro stood and stepped forward to greet her. He grinned as he approached her. “Liliana, it is so lovely to finally meet you in person.” He held out his hands. “May I?”

Elation flooded through him when she shrugged and held out her hand. That she would trust him already meant—Aro frowned when he realized that he was only seeing a very small portion of her memories. He was seeing the moments that brought her to them but that was all. His brow furrowed. “What is this? I don’t understand.”

Lily POV

Aro looked so confused and upset that Lily felt a little bad for blocking him from her memories, but just a little. He had to earn it. She pulled her hand away from him, her chest aching slightly as she did so. “It’s my gift.”

His brow furrowed. “I’ve never seen a shield that allows only partial access and you seem to be controlling what I see.”

She shook her head. “I’m not a shield. I can block things. I really don’t know how else to put it. I simply put up a block between that which I wished you to see and that which I didn’t.”

Her mate’s eyes went wide. “Amazing, cara mia. I understand and do not take it personally though I do hope you allow me access to everything eventually.”

“Show them, Lily,” Carlisle said from behind her. He never pushed her to share her gift with people, but she understood this was different.

She took a breath and shifted her gaze to Marcus. He lifted a brow at having her attention. With a thought she put the block up on their bonds, though not all the way. She didn’t want to cut off the link with them. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Marcus said. Aro immediately moved to him to take his hand so he could see as well. Caius seemed disgruntled that he wasn’t in on the secret.

Moving her eyes to him, she dropped the block on the bonds and instead blocked her scent and the sound of her heartbeat. Every vampire in the room snapped their attention to her. It didn’t intimidate her. Her gift was odd. She knew that. As the only human in the room, they all knew the instant her blocks slid into place.

Lily blinked as Caius suddenly appeared in front of her. He was fast. She hadn’t even seen a blur. He ran a hand along her jaw as he studied her face. Grasping her chin lightly, he turned her head and sniffed along the length of her neck. Why was that so hot? When he finished, he took a step back. “Impossible.”

She shrugged and dropped all the blocks except the ones she kept in place all the time. Caius inhaled deeply as her scent came back, his eyes turning a deeper crimson as he did so. She smiled and gave a small nod. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Caius.”

“Little human,” he answered with a sneer.

She shook her head at him, but said nothing further. She wondered if it would do any good to remind him that he’d been human once upon a time. Or maybe he’d just take it as an insult.

When he didn’t get the response he was looking for, he looked past her to Carlisle. “And what is your purpose here, Cullen?”

“Excuse me, sir, but that is my emotional support vampire,” Lily said.

A snort of laughter carried to her and she glanced over to see Demetri with his hand over his mouth. Jane and Alec were both smirking as well. Caius however just stared at her without blinking. That was creepy. He was a little unsettling. But he was hot. God, what was wrong with her?

She dragged her eyes from him to look at Aro as he returned to stand in front of her. He smiled at her then reached past her toward Carlisle. He returned the gesture, revealing his gloved hands. A flash of hurt showed on Aro’s face and Liliana reached out and touched his wrist. “That was my doing. Sorry. I wanted you to get to know me the regular way. If it bothers you that much, it’s okay. I don’t mind.”

His gaze softened as he turned to her and took both her hands in his. “Whatever you wish, cara mia. I look forward to getting to know you in whatever way I can.”

She smiled and glanced to his left where Marcus still sat on his throne. His sharp eyes were taking in everything. When he noticed her watching, he smiled and held out a hand as he stood.

Returning his smile, she stepped past Aro and walked over to the quiet king. He met her at the bottom of the steps and took her hand in his. “It is so lovely to finally meet you in person, Liliana.” He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, keeping hold of it when he finished.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Marcus.” She looked at him for a moment, uncertain what to say. She just enjoyed being in his presence. Her gaze darted down then back up as she bit her lip. His crimson gaze met hers and he tilted his head slightly. “Could I have a hug?” she asked. Her voice was so quiet even some of the vampires in the room had trouble hearing.

He grinned and pulled her to him. Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his nose in her hair, taking in her scent. “You need never ask for affection from me, dolcezza. It will always be freely given.” The whispered words brought happiness with them and the arms she’d curled around him squeezed.

“Thank you, Marcus.” She still sounded so quiet, so shy. After releasing him from the embrace, she stepped back. She turned so she could run her gaze over her mates. “Is there somewhere I could freshen up? It was a long flight.”

“Of course,” Aro exclaimed at once, clapping his hands together. “We will show you to your rooms immediately.”

Lily blinked as the three kings led her and Carlisle from the room. She hadn’t expected them to show her personally. They took the stairs up a couple of floors and stopped at a room just off them. “Carlisle. This is your room. I know it’s not where you are used to staying, but we thought it best if you were easy for our mate to find,” Aro explained. “She has the rooms right above you.”

She made note of where the room was. It would be easy to remember.

“Thank you, Aro. I’m sure it will be fine.” He opened the door and turned back to Lily. “Text me if you need anything.”

She nodded and he disappeared into the room. She followed her mates up one level to the top of the stairs. They ended in an open area filled with plants and huge windows in the ceiling. There was also a collection of couches and chairs in the middle and a large television hung on the wall above the fireplace that sat to the side of the stairs. A long table sat to one side and was covered with books and papers. Wide eyes took everything in.

“This is our shared area,” Marcus explained.

“This is our floor. No one is allowed here without our express permission,” Caius said as he stepped past her. He stood a short distance away and crossed his arms over his chest.

Aro took her hand and led her toward the left. A large set of doors emblazoned with an A stood there. Further down there stood another set of doors, much smaller than the first. “Behind these large doors, is my office and private rooms. They are all connected. The smaller doors lead to my bedroom.”

Her face heated at the mention of the bedroom. Why did her body insist on acting like a hormonal teenager around them? So embarrassing.

Obviously seeing the color on her cheeks, Aro chuckled. He turned her so she faced back toward the common area. “Beside me are Caius’ rooms, across are Marcus’. Our initials are on the doors in case you forget.” Then he led her to the right, to the rooms that ran behind where the stairs were. “And these are yours.”

“We can do a full tour later, dolcezza. For now, let us show you the bedroom.” Marcus took her hand from Aro and led her over to the small doors that had been painted white. Instead of an initial, intricately carved lilies served as the handles on the doors. She ran her fingers over them and glanced up at Marcus. He gave her a soft smile in return.

She pulled open the door, understanding the heaviness when she saw how thick the wood was. As the beauty of the room was revealed, Lily gasped. She stepped inside and sank into the plush carpeting. The entire room was done in white, lilac and sky blue. The king sized bed was draped in netting with fairy lights wrapped around the top. Across from it, a TV was mounted on the wall. It was on an arm so it could be pulled out and watched from the bed or the small sitting area. A dresser stood beneath it.

The sitting area had a lilac rug with blue and white flowers. The couch and two chairs were white with lilac and blue pillows and throws. A wall of shelves stood beside it. While there were a few books and things on the shelves, they were mostly empty waiting for her to fill them. There were three doors leading off the room. She opened the first to show a massive closet that already held a selection of clothing.

“We took the liberty of providing a few things we thought you might like,” Aro said. “The door near the shelves leads into your other rooms.”

She turned to look at him and simply nodded, still in shock. Moving across the room to the remaining door, she opened it to find an amazing bathroom. There was a large shower with dual heads and a separate massive bathtub. She could live in there and be perfectly happy.

Once she took everything in, she looked at her mates. Aro and Marcus stood near the bed, hands clasped in front of them as they watched her. Caius leaned in the doorway trying to appear uninterested, but she could tell that he was just as anxious for her reaction as the other two.

“This is absolutely perfect. It’s beautiful. Thank you,” she told them, willing the tears she felt creeping up to disappear. She ran across the room and threw her arms around Aro. He sighed, his shoulders dropping as the tension left him. She buried her face in his neck and he returned the gesture. “You are very welcome, my mate.”

Releasing him, she turned to Marcus to hug him as well. “It is our pleasure to care for you.”

Last was Caius. Unlike with the other two, Lily couldn’t just pull him into a hug. She wasn’t sure he even liked her. As she stood in front of him, he stayed leaning against the doorframe. His arms were crossed over his chest again and he ran his gaze over her from top to bottom. “If I hug you, are you going to eat me?”

He hummed and the corner of his mouth kicked up into a smirk. “My brothers would be very unhappy with me were I to do so.”

“That was really a yes or no question,” Lily told him.

The blond let out a little growl and grabbed her arm to pull her forward. He gave her a one-armed hug and kissed her forehead. “I am glad you are happy, little human.”

[miraculermarinette]

Ok so I haven't actually watched miraculous in a while mainly because I dislike the show so I did the only reasonable thing and made a better version of it in my head!

Idk how many people ship tikki/plagg and idc. I always imagined kwamis being able to shapeshift into other forms as well such as: human form and animal.

1. E.G tikki as a human would be red-headed w freckles and black eyes and as an animal (in this case insect) it would be a ladybug. Same for plagg, he would have black hair and bright green cat eyes.

2. I imagine them as to having lives before the miracle box. Where kwamis would fight in wars and rule civilizations. Where plagg and tikki weren't the first kwamis of creation and destruction but rather they had predecessors who created them.

3. Become I am a weak and simple woman they obviously need to have an enemies to lovers story where - here two scenarios play out - scenario one: tikki is a spy for her kingdom and makes plagg (commander and king of the opposing kingdom's armies) trust her. Scenario two: Tikki is a commander and queen of kingdom A's armies and Plagg is commander and king of kingdom B's armies. And both kingdoms are at war with each other. Hope that made sense?

4. They get married obviously after lots of intense making out and knives to throats they become everyone's power couple.

5. And respective to the fact that they are the two most powerful miraculous they bring together the two kingdoms of kwamis and humans and everything goes great.

6. Except because there are humans involved everything goes sideways. Why? You may ask. Because it's humanity, everything goes sideways with humanity. So as a final resort Tikki creates the miracle box where she has a place for all the kwamis we see in the show I.E. her court/closest allies/bff's etc.

7. In this version, all miraculous jewellery present themselves as rings (shaped like chat noir's ring) or golden bracelets. Something inconspicuous and not noticeable.

8. Tikki and Plagg can only see each other in the miracle box because their miraculouses were never used at the same time that often until Marinette and Adrien so once every week they sneak out in their human forms ( they can fly obv I'm not a savage) to go see each other.

9. The reason they aren't in their human forms that much is because they can be seen on camera when they're in them and adults shadowing high school teens tends to get a LITLLE suspicious.

10. Marinette and Adrien are aware that they're kwamis are married and in love, unfortunately this only contributes to Adrien's obsessive need to get ladybug to love him because "tHeyRe SoULmaTes".

11. When the other guardian (Grandmaster Shu-Han? Please correct me if I said his name wrong) comes in. After the whole drama of him trying to take the miracle box he decides to be a better mentor than Fu and teaches the kids how to fight, adapt, deal with the trauma of seeing mass destruction every other day, and shield themselves against akumas. He even lets Marinette keep the miracle box as long as she's responsible with it. But when Mari realizes she can remotely summon the miraculous she gives it to him for safekeeping. (Obviously not like how Fu did bc she needs her memories, sorta like he's borrowing it for a while. Also Shu-Han totally has a soft spot for the kwamis).

12. At one point Shu-Han initiates a swapping of miraculous for one month. So Plagg stays with Marinette while Tikki stays with Adrien. For obvious reasons neither kwami can talk about their actual holders.

13. Also did I mention all their outfits are more or less the same? Everything black. Black pants, shirt, vests, coats/jackets, hoods, masks (two types of masks: domino ones around their eyes or if they want ones that cover their mouth but leave their eyes open). The main inspiration for this was Inej Ghafa from the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo and the Shadow and Bone show on Netflix.

14. After excessive training with Grandmaster Shu-Han marinette's weapons change to match her combat prowess. Her main weapons are knives and bow/arrows whereas Chat still uses his staff but it can also turn into a spear.

15. Lukanette or Marigami is cannon. Why? Because I said so.

So this was just a tiny snapshot of what mlb fanfiction would look like if I had the talent, energy and skill to write it. Your thoughts are always welcome! :)

!!! That was really nice! Although I don't ship kwamis, your idea for the fanfiction is really interesting.

You should write it, I am pretty sure it would be great 😉.

[vroomvroomkachowboi]

The Gift of Magi

smut, fluff, angst: fluff ig

pairing: draco malfoy x reader (fem)

word count: 1.8k (1897 specifically) 

summary: it’s valentine’s day soon, y/n decides to sell something to get draco a gift, since she’s poor, she sells a valuable item to buy him something,  and draco’s gift relates to the item she sold  (this is based off of that one christmas story “the gift of magi”, except its valentine’s day and draco is obviously not poor)

warning: i think curse words, and i barely proofread my one shots so, and math sort of   

a/n: i hope y’all know what story i’m talking about because then it would be embarrassing for me lmao. (if you’re confused just search up mickey’s once upon a christmas, you’ll probably recognize it) omg the amount of math i had to do for this one shot is ridiculous,  but i’m actually really proud of this, also he won’t be very draco-like 

Valentine’s Day would be a lot sooner than later. The day of love would be here in 2 days and Y/n still needed to buy a gift for Draco, her boyfriend. Unfortunately, she was just as poor as the Weasley family. She felt bad, Draco loved to spoil her even on regular days, since the Malfoy’s were filthy rich. She just wanted for their first Valentine’s day to be perfect, she almost couldn’t send him anything during winter break. He, however, sent her many gifts that she wasn’t expecting. She just knew Draco was going to spoil the shit out of her for Valentine’s Day.

Thankfully it was Saturday, and she could go into Hogsmeade, and fortunately for her, Draco had to stay at Hogswarts to study for an important test in potions class, which gave her some time to go and look for a gift. The first place she’d go is to Honeydukes, she’ll buy him his favorite candy first and see how much money she’ll have left over and find him a suitable and cheap present.

When she arrives at Hogsmeade, she runs into Honeydukes and begins collecting all his favorite candies, she paid for them and left, trying to find a store that sold a good enough gift for her boyfriend. From the corner of her eye, she saw it.

The perfect gift for Draco.

Her friend had told her about a new jewelry shop at was right by Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop. She walks over the window to get a closer look. On display, at the window, she stared at the ring. A silver snake ring. It had a real Victorian style, the snake would loop around his finger 3 times, each scale was defined from the tip of the tail, to it’s end of it’s face, and the snake had emerald eyes. It was truly meant for Draco.

Her heart dropped when she looked at the price. 150 galleons?! How would she afford the ring, she only had 20 galleons left, and she had to save it for a while, where would she get 130 galleons?

She began to fidget with her necklace. A habit she did when she was nervous. It was a gorgeous minimal gold necklace with a moon on it. She found it on the street when she was younger when she visited the muggle world as a trip. Draco loved it as much as she did.

Coincidentally she saw a sign at the window saying “We buy jewelry as well!”, the idea popped into her head at that moment.

She walked in and saw the beautiful jewelry around her, she never got to go into stores like these since she barely had any money, she became so distracted in the beautiful earrings on display, that she didn’t notice a middle-aged woman standing right next to her, not until the lady cleared her throat for her attention.

“Hello, young lady. How may I help you today? Looking for something in particular?” The lady spoke in her strong London accent. Y/n blushed in embarrassment. “Yes. I’m getting a present for my boyfriend. I saw the sign, and I want to sell this,” She said, unclasping her necklace, and handing it over to the lady. The lady put her glasses on, which made her eyes look twice as large, as she inspected Y/n’s necklace. With a wave of her wand, the lady tested for real gold in her necklace. The woman looked at her necklace for a good minute before looking back up at Y/n.

“It is real gold. I will give you 140 galleons for this.” The lady said. Y/n eyes widen. That was a lot of money! She didn’t even know that she had something so expensive hanging around her neck for so long. For a moment, Y/n thought about saying no, but she thought about how perfect the ring would be for Draco and said yes. The lady handed her 140, giving her in total, 160 galleons.

“Is that all I can do for you miss?” The lady asked. “Uh, I saw that snake ring in the window. I’d like to buy it please.” Y/n said to her. The lady opened up a cabinet on her side of the table. “Size?” She asks. Y/n tells her Draco’s ring size and pays her the 150 galleons. Leaving her with 10 galleons left over, she leaves Hogsmeade and goes back to Hogwarts to prepare Draco’s gifts.

Valentine’s Day finally arrived. Draco had his owl send Y/n a letter, telling her to meet him at Astronomy Tower after the end of classes. She waited all day to see her boyfriend, unfortunately, they didn’t have any classes together, but he did say hello in the morning, and they both pecked before telling each other “Happy Valentine’s Day”.

But finally, the end of the day came, and Draco and Y/n planned on eating their favorite foods and exchange gifts at the Astronomy Tower. She ran out her final class, and into her dorm. She wanted to get all dolled up for the date, she did her makeup and put on a cute and date-worthy outfit, since it was a date and Draco was always dressed up in one of his black suits. Finally, she put on an outfit she felt and looked good in and she knew Draco would also enjoy it too.

She went up the spiral staircase that led up to the tower, Draco was there, leaning on the railing, wearing his all black suits. She let her presence be known as she ran up the stairs, Draco saw his girlfriend’s head pop up and smiled.

Before they said anything, Y/n ran up to Draco, and threw her arms around his neck, embracing him in a bear hug, he returned it by wrapping his arms around her waist. One of his hands made it’s way up to pet her hair, “Hey love, happy Valentine’s Day.” He whispers. She let go of his a little to face him but connected her lips with his, which he immediately kissed her back, holding her face with one of his cold, large hands.

“Come sit, darling. I brought you’re favorite, y/f!” He says and lets go of her. He sits on the large blanket he brought, and she sat on the opposite end, with their foods sitting between them. They talked and laughed for a while, until he brought up the topic of gifts. “Can I go get my present for you, my love?” She nods. He gets up and grabs something from a dark corner. He pulled out a huge teddy bear, a box of all her favorite candies, and a bouquet of all her favorite flowers.

She knew it. Draco did go all out for her, she can’t say she surprised. “Awe thank you, Draco! Wow, you didn’t have to get me so much.” She says. “But I wanted to darling. I love to spoil you, the look on your face is all worth it. Plus I don’t mind, I have plenty of money.” He says back. She gets up and grabs Draco’s hands, kissing both of them. “Thank you, I couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend.”

She saw Draco’s heart melt right there, she kissed him before he said something cheesy. As always, Draco puts his skinny pale hand to her face when they were kissing, something she always loved. “I love you.” He says as he pulls back. “I love you too, Dray.” She says, smiling at him.

He looks down at her outfit, “I forgot to mention, that I liked your outfit love. You walked in, and I thought I saw an angel.” She laughed at his words. “Thanks, baby. But enough with the cheesy compliments.” They both laughed at her words. “I didn’t get you as much as you got me, I only got you 2 things.” She pulls out her purse, pulling out all the sweets she bought at the shop. His eyes lighten up. “Awe love, you got all my favorites in here!” He thanks her and puts the baggie of candy down on the blanket with the food.

His brows furrowed in confusion. “Uh, wait. I thought you said 2 gifts?” He questions. Pulling out the box containing the ring, she hands it to him. “I really hope you like it. I almost couldn’t get my hands on it. I saw it at Hogsmeade when you were studying for the potions test. I saw it at the window, and I thought, ‘that was made for Draco.’” She says, suddenly feeling nervous about Draco if liked the gift she got him.

Draco smiled as he pulls the ribbon, and opened the box. He gasped and looked at her, and back the ring. He grabs the ring and slipping onto his left ring finger. “Oh Merlin, Y/n. I love it! But it looks expensive, how much was it?” He questions, suddenly curious since he knew she was just as poor as Weaslebee.

“I sold my necklace for it. I didn’t even know my necklace cost 140 galleons! I wanted to make our first Valentine’s Day perfect...” As she rambled on about the necklace and ring, Draco’s smile dropped, and Y/n noticed it. “What’s wrong, Dray? I know you liked the necklace but I did it for you.” Draco didn’t say anything, only to pull out a white rectangular box from the inner pocket of his jacket.

He hands it to her, and she opened it skeptically. Now she knew why he was so upset. To match her necklace, Draco brought her gold star dangling earrings and gold charm bracelet with the planets. Y/n didn’t know whether to be happy or upset, she loved her gift, but now she felt dumb for using her necklace to buy his ring. “Shit, Draco. I don’t know what to say, I’m sorry.” She says, she couldn’t even look him in the eyes, just stared at the floor.

“Y/n, I understand you don’t have that much money, you don’t need to buy me expensive gifts for you to show your love to me. I already know you do, I would’ve been content with the sweets. I love the ring though, I was just really surprised.” He says and uses his hand to get her to look at him. Her eyes were watery, she was at the verge of tears. “I just wanted to make our Valentine’s day perfect. You spoil me so much, I just wanted to do it in return.”

He whispers a “It’s okay darling, come here.” And pulls her in for a hug. She returns it back, just wanting to feel his arms around her. “I was gonna gift you this,” She pulls back to pull out her wand and whispers, “Accio photograph.” In just a second or two, a framed photo landed in her hand. Draco grabbed it and look at it.

It was a photo of them two the first month they started dating, they made silly faces and laughed in the photo, Draco smiled at the memory. “Awe, darling, I love it!” He says, throwing his arms around her. She does the same and apologizes again. “Don’t you worry, my love. I’ll just buy it back, for you.” He whispers and pulls his head back a little to kiss Y/n. “I love you, happy Valentine’s Day darling.”

[saphirered]

Every Second Counts

A little Mollymauk x acrobat!reader that’s been floating around my head. I hope it turned out well. 

You’d been with the circus for a while. You’re part of the family. You are the prime example of agility over strength in appearance but that doesn’t take away from the fact you have muscle control some may ever only dream of. While you are less of a contortionist you’re still very flexible. You could say you’re more of an acrobat. Your circus family is also aware you have an affinity for being sticky-fingered. Your light and quick movement has helped you lighten the pockets of individuals many times before. You have the face of a talker. Attractive as your tongue is quick and you are not afraid to put that charm to good use. All these traits gained you the interest and undivided attention of Mollymauk Tealeaf. 

The man knows little shame and doesn’t hold back when he’s actually telling the truth. He was never shy to make his attraction to you clear but never put pressure on you or have expectations. If you liked him, then you did, and if not so be it. If you told him you liked him, great, if not, that’s fine. If you wanted him not to be affectionate towards you, hug you, sit close to you, pull you into his lap or sit down in yours, he won’t. Molly is aware there’s a difference between pushing the line and crossing a boundary. He’s respectful of those hard boundaries and won’t cross them. 

You’d catch Molly sitting in the audience section of the tent while you were rehearsing for the night when he wasn’t on duty for something. When he was, and Gustav would find him he’d be scolded and told to go back to work, many things to be done before the shows. You’d blow him a kiss when Gustav would threaten to get Yasha or Bo to drag him out, a threat the man would make good on and therefor Molly had to leave one way or another. He’d prefer to leave with his dignity somewhat intact. 

Whenever he could, he’d enlist you to go into town with him to attract an audience for the show. If you had other things to do priorly, they’d somehow already been done or someone else would be doing them by the time you were ready to do them. You had to compliment Mollymauk’s efforts just to spend more time with you. Trickery, bribery and other methods of persuasion were not out of the question to reach this goal. You had to compliment his efforts. 

You never minded any of these things as you enjoyed spending time with Molly. The only hindrance standing in your way had always been your responsibilities and him changing them so they would align, had to be a blessing. Whenever he was successful persuading Orna, one of the most difficult to persuade to switch with, he’d pick you up and spin you around proclaiming proudly he had done it again. 

Your relationship is very organic and in the moment. You’d say you’re in a relationship but neither of you would say you’re boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, partners, friends with benefits or anything alike. You’re you and he’s him. You care about each other, love each other, you spend time together, hug, cuddle and kiss. You’re affectionate, sleep in the same spaces, and sleep together. You do all the stuff couples would do but neither of you ever cared to define your relationship. You’re you and he’s him and that’s all that mattered. This arrangement works for both of you and neither of you feel the need to define or change it.

You’re practicing as the tent is being set up by the heavy lifters. Camp is already sorted so you found yourself with some free time you put to use to warm up a bit. Using one of the smaller tall poles secured you climb up onto the top. You stand on one leg the other parallel to the ground, jump and switch legs, one leg up straight into the air moving your body down until your palms touch the pole. You move your balancing leg up as well and shift the weight to your arms, kicking legs forward, backward and repeat one-handed. You switch to balancing on your lower arms and keep going through the motions to warm up. You hear a whistle. 

“While I’d hate to interrupt, Gustav says you’re with me, dear.” The familiar lavender tiefling smiles looking up at you. You sit down one leg over the other and smile back at him.

“Oh really? Gustav said so? How much did that cost you?” You say innocently. 

“Only three days of dishes and I washing Desmond’s costume after closing night.” Well, at least that wasn’t the worst. 

“Did Gustav tell you I’m free until tonight or did he forget to mention that.” Your smile changes into a grin as Mollymauk frowns.

“That bastard…” You hear him whisper under his breath at the realisation he got roped into cleaning duty for nothing. 

“Come on, let me make good on your deal.” You wrap your legs around the pole and lean backwards. Molly lifts his hands above his head high enough for you to grab them. You hold on and release the pole balancing solely on his hands as he takes a few steps back before you flip over and land on your feet on facing Molly. 

“Thank you. Shall we?” You kiss his cheek grabbing his arm and pulling him along towards the town. 

——————————————————————————

You’d been informed the town houses some dirty rich folks and it’s noticeable by the fine silks and flashy jewellery. Good reason to have increased the ticket price for the shows. Molly and you go around talking to groups and individuals alike, handing out flyers and persuading them to come see the show. You managed to get some excited folks to come see the show but for some more hardheaded individuals you had to throw your charm into the ring. A husky voice, fake interest, a touch of the arm and a bat of the eyelashes got you very far. 

One rather grumpy individual took a bit more to persuade and neither of you were willing to put in the effort after the good round you’d already had. But you did catch a flashy ruby ring and golden bracelet. With their attitude you found yourself justified to relieve them of these possessions during your pitch, for their own good of course. Only later the mention of that person’s name confirmed them to be an entitled asshole day and night, justifying your actions even more in your mind. Molly knew you took something on your little field trip but didn’t know what and you intended to keep it that way.

The night after the show Molly is cleaning dishes with the water from a nearby stream. You make your way over inspecting the stack of clean bowls, plates and cups.

“Came to see my good work?” He scrubs another bowl, checking it and putting it with the pile. 

“No. Desmond told me some of them want a second round after all so they need their dishes back. Mollymauk groans, takes the towel and throws it at you. You catch it before it hits you. 

“Rude! I’m just kidding, well half kidding. I managed to persuade them to leave the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow to spare you more dishes.” You take a bowl from the stacked clean dishes and begin drying it. Molly bumps his hip into yours. 

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re the real devil between the two of us.” Molly hands you the next dish stealing a kiss. 

“Oh shush. You know I’m a saint.” 

“A saint of thievery, deception and trickery.” He points an accusatory finger at you and you slap it away.

“But a saint no less.” You counter grabbing the pointing finger. Molly pulls you closer and kisses your hand giving you one of his trademark charming looks.

“Are you going to tell me what you took earlier today?” He leans in close placing one hand on your hip and swaying slightly in a dancing motion. You deliberate for a second before you hold his chin between your fingers until he’s millimetres away from your face.

“Back to the dishes Mollymauk.” The demeanour drops and you the victor of this little game between the two of you as you take a step back, pick up the cloth once more and continue drying the dishes. The accusatory finger returns and pokes your side.

“Hey, it was a team effort so I have a claim to fifty percent of what you got!” You innocently continue your job, or well, Molly’s job.

“Whatever you say, darling Mollymauk.” You grin as he flicks water at you. 

“You are infuriating.” He exclaims as you finish the dishes and return them to their place.

——————————————————————————

The next few days consisted of Mollymauk continuously bringing up ‘his share’ of the find but you played along innocently talking around in circles. You had plans and when they’re completed you’ll share them but for now, a secret they will remain. He had tried going through your things when unpacking some things for you, something not done secretly but you humoured him and let him try anyway. Coming to the conclusion it wasn’t among your things and definitely not on your person, or he’d definitely have known, he tried to interrogate you to see if you had given it to someone else to hold onto. Gustav, Yasha, Kylre, and even little Toya told him anything. The downside of your little family; they lie for their own if they have to and are experts at keeping their mouths shut. 

You’re going off into town to check on your project. Sneaking away was successful with the help of Yasha keeping Molly busy for the day to the point where he couldn’t get out of it. You’d make sure to pick her up some flowers on the way as a thanks. 

Next stop; the jeweller. You had melted down the gold and taken the ruby out of its setting but you didn’t have the tools to cast anything let alone make moulds so you had to outsource. Luckily the jeweller was more than happy to help you fashion what you wanted made for a generous price, one you were willing to pay to get what you want. Today you got to pick it up. It came out exactly how you had hoped it would. Paying and thanking the jeweller you picked up some flowers and gathered some from the road on your way back. 

Back at the camp you saw Yasha and Molly sitting together while he played with his cards. You approach them handing Yasha the bought bouquet and gathered one.

“Thank you for keeping him busy for a bit, Yasha.” 

“No problem. Thank you for the flowers. They’re very pretty.” She gets up, picks up her sword and goes off to see what else needs to be done leaving the two of you alone. 

“So I have to do dishes for 3 days and clean Desmond’s costume and you get away with a bouquet and some wildflowers? You sure you’re not the one with the devil’s tongue, love?” You give him a wink. 

“I’m off to practice. Can you behave and entertain yourself for the next hour or so?” 

“Of course I can but I make no promises that I will. Have fun.” You kiss his cheek walk backwards and give a little wave as you go towards the big tent to practice your set for the show. 

——————————————————————————

Warm up went well, your usual set too but the new one you’re working on is still a bit tricky to figure out. You don’t fall or anything and your moves are on point but it’s still lacking a sense of consistency and fluidity. You’d have to blame your thoughts being elsewhere. You try for the so-many-eth time you’ve lost count. Cartwheel flip centre stage, pointe landing, bow, aerial flip forward. Good. Entrance on point. Reach stage left, stage right, pirouette pointe spins, silk ropes lower, wrap arm, and up. 

You continue your routine, twisting and turning, dropping and climbing using the silk ropes, swinging around, performing intricate and impossible moves for eyes of the untrained individual. When you’re practically upside down in a split towards the end of your time you watch Mollymauk enter the tent and plop down. You continue your routine regardless making brief eye contact with him. He claps whenever you finish a set like the audience would. 

Final move you drop down from the top of the aerial silks but stop just before you hit the ground. You vault back up until your feet touch the ground and take a bow ending your set. Molly claps again and you’re about to climb up when he rushes over so you halt. 

“So have you decided yet? When I’ll get my share? I’ve been wanting to buy something but am short on coin. I could really use it.” He tries to persuade as you step up close to him. 

“Patience dear. When you’re ready I’ll give you your share.” You give him a light peck that he turns into a deeper kiss. Deciding to use this opportunity you stealthily begin wrapping the silk around his waist. You break the kiss and stroke his cheek. 

“I think I’m ready. Isn’t that worth something?” You laugh at his attempt. You know he isn’t really interested in the gold. His own curiosity is just getting the better of him and making him antsy so this whole thing is more of a game to him than anything else and he still thinks he can be the victor. Little does he know… At the minimum this could be considered a draw, at the most, your win. 

You begin taking steps backward away from him towards the stage entrance of the tent. He steps along with you. At least he does until the silks hold him back. You laugh as Molly looks confused for a second until he realises what you did. 

“Very funny love.” You reach into your pocket producing a couple of gold coins and hold them up in front of him just out of reach. 

“Are you, love? You seem to be a little tied up.” You tease watching him untangle himself. Once he does a comes for you reaching for the gold. You side step out of the way. 

“Try again.” 

“Missed me.” 

“Almost.”

“Oops.” 

You speak through giggles as tries again and again to get the coins but you’re much faster. Having run enough circles you climb up the rope just out of his reach hanging upside down, the coins just inches from his finger tips. 

“We have got to stop meeting like this Mr. Tealeaf. Imagine what people might think.” You gasp sticking out your tongue.

“You and I both know neither of us care what people might think. Now you’ve had your fun. I concede. You win. I admit my defeat.” You take the coins back and put them in the pouch and allow yourself to slide down and right way up again in a split between the two silks. You reach into a different pocket and hold your hands behind your back.

“I said I conceded didn’t I. Or would you prefer me to beg at your feet too?” He jokes as you take your sweet time. 

“You don’t sound opposed.” You blow him a kiss. 

“Never.” He stands close enough for you to lean a hand on his shoulder. 

“Close your eyes Molly. I have a surprise for you.” Molly closes his eyes but you see him peak so you flick his nose. This time he closes his eyes proper. You take out the trinket you had made from the bracelet and ring; a beaded gold chain with a rayed sun and ruby centre stone, and begin attaching it to the other jewellery around his horns. You give him a kiss to signal he can open his eyes. 

“What did you-“ You flick at the new addition to his collection. 

“A little gift. I thought you’d prefer it over the coin. Though if you need the coin you can borrow mine.” Molly inspects the sun and recognises the ruby cut. 

“You little-. Have I ever told you how much I love you?” He peppers you with kisses as you lower yourself out of your split and to the floor. 

“Many times but I don’t mind being reminded of it.” You give him a smug smile as he pulls you in a deep kiss. 

“I love you.”

“Love you too.”

When you pull apart Mollymauk places another kiss to the top of your head and you lean your head against his shoulder living in the moment. You stand in each other’s embrace for what feels like an eternity, yet still an eternity too short. Every second is as valuable as the next so you bathe in each moment you get. You’re you and he’s him and that’s all you’ll ever need. 

[mudhornchronicles]

maroon | din djarin

gif posted by sledposting 

pairing: din djarin x f!reader

warnings: all the fluff, soft!din but then i said sike... angst, mentions of death and violence, also mentions of... sexual encounters?

a/n: lowkey wanna make into a series, but idk if someone has done this. if so, i do apologize. 

masterlist

“You best learn how to weave, girl. A husband wouldn’t be caught dead wearing tattered clothing, let alone a Mandalorian riduur.”

“You must wear much more layered clothing. A Mandalorian riduur wants a respectable woman at his side.”

“Learn these recipes and maybe you’ll find yourself a Mandalorian riduur.”

You’ve grown tired of hearing this every day, but you sit back and simply nod. Mandalore may have not been your birth planet, but they took care of you after your father and brother both fell valiantly in battle. You were on your own after that. Your mother was not a Mandalorian, she was originally from Naboo. When your father was called back to Mandalore to assist in the ceremonial trials, your mother decided it was time she left. She said she was promised a tranquil life with the clan of four on Naboo, but the creed had to be followed. You have not heard from her since you were 7 years old.

Now as you’ve come to an age of maturity, you were being trained to… be a wife? 

You sat back and obeyed the elders wishes, but you knew that their rants were not true - not in the slightest. Your father never depended on your mother to do anything for him. Because of that, he taught you how to defend yourself and be independent. Although your father was devoted to The Way, he did not want you to swear the creed. Not because you were incapable, but because he did not want you to go through life with the restrictions that the creed entails. Even if you wanted to rebel against your loving father’s wishes, you were not able to be properly trained nor swear the creed at such a late age. So, you were content with being a member of the Mandalorian culture as a civilian.

You sat at a table that the elders reserved for the women who taught young ladies how to sew, heal, cook, and take care of the warriors in training. Whether it was a torn cape or a sparring injury, you were there to help. You always believed you didn’t need to be there as you already knew how to do it all, but the view made up for it. The table was set up on the outer boundaries of the sand pit they called a sparring arena. You got to see young Mandalorians train their bodies and minds by lessons taught by the elders. As many Mandalorians came and went, your eyes were always set on a specific foundling you met many years ago. You sympathized with that warrior when you first noticed his colored armor. You had a crafted bracelet in a similar color – a deep red, a maroon to be precise.

All Mandalorian armor was painted, but each general color had deeper meaning. For example, blue represented the reliability of the warrior, green represented duty, black represented justice, and grey or silver represented mourning.

Red represented the honoring of a parent or leader.

You watched as the two warriors, one in green armor and yours in the maroon, sparred while the other Mandalorians watched and rallied around their fighting brothers. After 10 minutes, the maroon pinned the green down and was declared the winner. The elders at your table clapped and you can’t help but smile and cheer along.

As the noise settles down, you ask to be excused from the table and wait for their approval. Once the oldest member examines your finished shawl, she excuses you for the day. You clean up your yarn and needles, place them and your newly knitted shawl in your basket, and thank them for the day’s lesson. You turn and notice the maroon armored figure standing with his brothers as a new pair of Mandalorians prepare for their turn at combat.

You walk over and stand next to him, basket in your left hand and proceed to place your right hand on his pauldron. He looks over at you and tilts his helmet as he acknowledges you. You mouth a simple hi and a small wave, not wanting to distract him from the scene in front of him.

“Hello, cyar’ika.”

You smile as he turns and holds your right hand in his left. “How was today’s lesson?”

You shrug, rolling your eyes and letting out a small laugh. “Oh you know, learning what I already know. The usual.”

He chuckles at your visible annoyance at the uniformed program you’re practically forced to attend. “Are you finished or are the elders letting you breathe?”

You just can’t help but always smile at every word that comes out of his mouth. “I’m very much finished for the day. Are you?”

“Yes, Paz and I were just asked to demonstrate a sparring technique. Would you like to go for a walk?”

You nod excitedly. He gives your hand a light squeeze and asks you to stay where you are. You watch him as he strides over to one of the elders watching over the training session to what you assume is asking for permission to leave. The elder simply nods and goes back to observing the trainees.

Your Mandalorian leads you to an escarpment not far from the main town – not far by speeder bike that is. You both called it our place. As far as you both knew, no one had known about the place. The ground is scattered with sand and cracks, but the pair are protected from unwanted visitors by an oddly bent acacia tree and nothing beats the view. The capital can be seen far out in the distance, seeming small and faded. You looked down from the cliff to the ground below. You took notice that the ground had small traces of grass while the trees began to dry and then to your luck, you spotted a strill dragging the corpse of a fanned rawl back to its pack. 

You step back from the edge and walk back to the tree. Your beloved unclips his cape and places it on the ground for you both to sit on – despite your countless protest about getting it dirty and tears. He proceeds to take a seat in the middle of his cape and places his hands on your waist. You take the hint and take a seat on his lap. He wraps his arms around your body and lay on him and he leans back on the thick trunk of the tree.

You quietly stay like this for what feels like hours, just holding onto each other. You two rarely get alone time anymore as his training has begun to be much more advanced. More advanced means longer training hours and longer training hours mean less time with you. Mandalore has nineteen hour days and the elders now have him train for six which means you barely get to talk to him and he barely gets to breathe. 

You change positions to lay on the ground with your head on his thighs. He starts to play with your hair, but suddenly lets the strand of hair go. He leans over to grab your hand. He begins to play with your fingers and places his palm straight onto yours just to feel how different his hands are from your own. He did always say he loved your hands – soft and caring.

He loves holding your hand. He loves caressing it. He loves playing with them. He loves how they look when in his.

When you’re in the safety of your home, he blindfolds you and  loves it when you play with his hair.

When you make love, he loves when you run your hands down his chest and on his biceps as he thrusts up into you. He loves when you grip his arms while you’re riding him and he brings you close to euphoria or when his body is over yours and your hands press down on his back to beg for him to go deeper.

He’s gone a long time without having gentle hands touch him. You were the first person he let touch his bare hands since his parents died. 

His helmet tilts over to you and you look up to him. He sits and stares at you and you unsuccessfully stifle a laugh. “What? Why are you staring at me?”

“Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, ner kar’ta.” He says quietly. So quietly you feel as if it wasn’t meant for your ears.

You situate yourself onto your knees and cradle the side of his helmet in one hand and hold his own hand in the other. “I love you too, Din. More than anything in the entire galaxy.”

You’ve been in a romantic relationship with Din for five years and you’ve heard those words a total of seven times. You savor every time he speaks them as it sounds like utter bliss to you.

“Ner kar’ta, I- I’d like to gift something to you, but I must know something first.”

“You can ask me anything, cyare.”

“I know I don’t tend to express my feelings and you may be thinking this is going to be a negative talk, but I promise it’s not.”

“I know it isn’t, my love. Even if it was, you’re not going anywhere.”

He chuckles at this and he nods. You know this is serious when his visor isn’t on your face.

“Mesh’la… Do you wa- Are you sure you…” he stops and clears his throat. “Cyare, do you plan on wanting to be stay? With me? I know we never talked about this, but I just thought it was time to bring it up.”

“Are you asking me if I want to stay by your side for the rest of my life, Din?”

He nods.

“Din, love, of course I want to be with you. We’ve only touched the surface. There’s so much left to do. You still haven’t given me a piece of your armor, we haven’t done a riduurok, and we haven’t raised warriors! You aren’t getting rid of me!” you joke.

He stays silent and you begin to think you may have gone too far. He opens one of his pouches on his belt. Your mind is saying he pulled out the blindfold he always carries for you to kiss you, but your heart wishes it’s something else.

Your heart wins.

He offers you a necklace. It consists of a maroon colored beskar ring clinging to a chain – his beskar. Before he can say anything, you jump on him and wrap your arms around him. He laughs and gives you a squeeze.

“I had a speech prepared, but I’d be very happy if I didn’t have to read it,” he sarcastically says. You can’t stop the tears running down your cheeks as you shake your head while you tell him he doesn’t have to. You know what he’s going to say and you know he’s going to stutter and shake. You know how much he loves you. You don’t need to hear him say it as his actions spoke volumes.

“I knew you didn’t lose your buckle to Paz! You rather lose me than your armor!”

“Don’t be dramatic. I’d rather lose my sponsorship then you.”

You playfully shove him. “Di’kut.” You grab your drink from your basket and take a swig from the cold liquid.

“Cyar’ika, w- would you like to marry me? Right now?”

You almost choke. You look at him with wide eyes. “What?”

“Is it too soon?”

You shake you head. “No, no it’s been five years. The elders probably think we’re crazy.” You both share a laugh. “But, if you’re ready Din, then yes. I’d love to marry you right now.”

He stands and helps you up. He grabs the chained ring and places it around your neck. You look down and the ring falls beautifully next to the other necklace you wear, a nexu signet - your father’s clan. You reach up and bring his head down to yours as you connect your foreheads together. As Mandalorian culture states, the warrior must begin the riduurok and every phrase must be said by each to be vowed.  

Din’s hands are shaking, you can feel them. He clears his voice, but it does little to stop it from cracking.

“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus d-dar’tome”

“Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar’tome”

“M-Mhi me’dinui an”

“Mhi me’dinui an”

“mhi ba’juri ver-“

You feel his forehead leave yours and you open your eyes. You follow his gaze and your heart sinks. Far out in the distance you see imperial ships slowly coming through the clouds. You see bright red light coming from the capital and you begin to panic. You know he has to go fight. As much as you don’t want him to, there’s no debate. 

You both run to collect everything. He stops to look at you.

“Ni ceta, ner kar’ta. I promise that I-“ you stop him and bring his forehead down again.

“It is your duty to Mandalore, Din. I know you’ll protect us and you’ll come back to me. Promise me you’ll fight with everything in you. I can’t lose you too.”

“I promise.”

With that you pack the speeder and ride back into town, although as the war begins, you wished you had just taken Din away and ran.

Blaster shot after blaster shot. Dead body after another. The cries of children and the screaming of mothers trying to find their babies.

You hear a Mandalorian usher women and children into life-ships, each with two Mandalorians escorts. You get rushed closer and closer to one when you catch Din in the corner of your eye.

You run to him as you hear your name being called out by the other women. Din sees you and tackles you down. He pins you against a wall yelling at you to get into a ship and go. You put your hands on each side of his helmet. Both of you are crying wishing this was only a nightmare. 

“Din, please promise me you’ll find me. Promise me you’ll make it out of here and come back to me. I can’t live without you. Please promise me.”

His visor is trained on you as you hold onto each other tighter than ever. “I promise I’ll find you and when I do, we’ll properly marry and I’ll take you far away from here so we can start our own clan. Ner kar’ta, I promise you this with my entire being.”

A promise sealed with a keldabe kiss. He runs with you towards a ship. You both ask escorts where the ship is going. No one knows. You try running out of the ship, but Din only pushes you back in. You hear him tell you how much he loves you before he jumps off the ship right when the ramp starts to move. You sob as the ramp closes until the view of your maroon-clad love is completely gone.

Little did you know that the war zone you had just witnessed was the fall of Mandalore and the last time you’d see the love of your life for many years to come.

update (1.1.21): Part two to Maroon has been posted - Saguine

 mando’a translations:

riduur = spouse, husband, wife, partner

cyar’ika = darling, sweetheart

Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum = I love you

ner kar’ta = my heart

mesh’la = beautiful

riduurok = love bond, specifically between spouses - marriage agreement

cyare = beloved

di’kut = idiot

Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar’tome, mhi me’dinui an, mhi ba’juri verde. = We are one whether we are together or apart, we will share everything and we will raise our children as warriors.

ni ceta = i’m sorry 

[of-faunsandyellowflowers]

Cernnunos (Kernunnos)

Note: This is my own experience with Cernunnos, and everyone’s might be different from mine! that is OK. He is a little bit different for everyone who works with him. If my experience is different from yours, please dont think this is me stating you are wrong. it is only from my experience that i can state my version of him. *Art By Ksenia Svincova*

Cernunnos, who also goes by Kernunnos, is a deity that originated from Gaul. Unfortunately there is not that much information when it comes to Cernunnos, due to the Gauls being killed off by the Romans. There is also little known about the other areas he was worshiped, but from what he has explicitly told me, he is known in other parts of Celtic worship. Cernunnos is incredibly old. Quite possibly one of the oldest dated deities I’ve researched. And he has also changed some over time, according to him.

Things he rules over/works with: Forests, trees (specifically oak), wild animals such as stags/elk, goats, deer, bulls, horses, ram horned snakes (snakes in general), boars, owls, hawks, ravens. He also is known for working with finances, underworld, death, transitioning into the afterlife, hunting and helping with the growth of plants, helping those who need grounding/healing, and balance of nature. (something must be taken in order for an exchange to happen. especially when it comes to healing. balance of nature)

Colors: Yellow, gold, greens (mostly forest shades), silver, and black

Aspects:  There is a parallel that he is also Herne the Hunter and the Green Man, but these are separate entities and protectors of the forest. He is also linked to Pan, a different aspect of him (I will most likely make a separate post for Pan because theres a lot to go into). He has shown me this aspect but I primarily work with the Cernunnos aspect. Due to the overtaking of Christianity in history, Cernunnos was cast out as ‘evil’ due to the depictions of him with horns/antlers and to him being a god of death/underworld. There are many other gods that Christians have claimed are Satan. None of these are Satan. (note: Satan/Lucifer is also not evil, Christians made him this way and that’s a topic for another day)

How He Presents Himself: Cernunnos has a few different forms that are presented to me personally, but it is a bit different for everyone. His main form is a very very tall faun, about 7-8 ft tall, with large stag antlers (with vines that wrap as well), long brown hair with braids, vines and moss wrapped around his arm, a snake twirled around his arm, loincloth and gold belt with a circular buckle that looks like a coin, and eyes that can change color.Sometimes he carries a gold torc, sometimes not. In other versions he is seen as a large white stag with antlers that i can best describe as like a chandelier. This presentation is what he shows during dreams/meditations for me. His Pan aspect is a large humanoid upright bull with a bull ring, loincloth, gold bracelets and extremely tall. He is also known for showing himself in a full human form, and one with long black robes and an elk skull as a face.

My experience working with him: Cernunnos has been with me throughout every life I’ve had. He is what I like to call my soul father. I am still learning more about him as I go! Cernunnos is very friendly but he can be very very stern. Working with him entails that you are ready to start doing self care, and growing to reach your highest self. He can be quite humorous when he likes you and quite chaotic when upset. Self care such as eating healthy (but not denying yourself a treat every now and again), staying grounded, connecting with animals, connecting with the earth, and respecting the life around us. He is incredibly stern when it comes to respect towards life. He understands that as humans, we eat meat, and use earthly resources to survive. Instead he asks that you honor the food that you are ingesting, and always give back to the earth to which it provides. As a god of the hunt, he finds the hunt rather fun, but only when the animal that is hunted is treated with respect during and after it is killed. Doing so would be that you use the animal in an honoring way, such as for food. He is appalled by trophy hunting and wishes people did not do this. When it comes to the earth, he asks that you pay respect when picking/clipping plants.  Ask before hand if it is okay followed by giving thanks to the earth for providing to you. He does NOT like when plants and trees are cut before their time. He is also known for helping with finances, energy healing (specifically animals) and a wide range of other doings. He loves to dance and is known to love folk music, Celtic music and music sung in Irish, French, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, etc. I have also noticed he tends to have a soft spot for those of us who have been emotionally/physically hurt, and those of us who have chronic issues and are in need of healing. (i may add onto this post if i realize i have forgotten anything)

Offerings: Venison (ethically sourced), cooked meats (ethically sourced), roses, sunflowers, lavender, wildflowers, sandalwood scent, juniper berries and bark, oak wood carvings, wood carvings, green or gold candles, pine scents, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, pelts (ethically sourced), feathers, bones (animal skulls, ethically sourced), forest moss, antlers, horns, pine cones, daggers, gold coins (older the better), poetry, art, Celtic music and most importantly: respecting the earth and the animals that are with us.

How to talk to him: Cernunnos is known for sending animals our way when he wants to reach out. This mostly being (for me at least) deer, elk, hawks, owls and ravens. To talk to him, please ward your room/area you are in first, making sure only he can be the one to come through. There are so many bad spirits out there who would love to impersonate a deity in order to latch on, and its best to protect yourself. You can communicate with him telepathically, or out loud. He does prefer to be outside, usually within a forest, but if this isn’t something you can do, that is fine! If you are unable to hear, use divination. Meditate often, not only to communicate, but to strengthen your gifts! 

[jaynerose]

Butterfly Necklaces

(A bit of supernatural/fae stuff going on, based on a weird dream and an abundance of butterfly necklaces. I’m not making that part up.) 

One Christmas, about five years back, I was gifted a butterfly necklace. The chain was thin and shone silver, a small butterfly pendant sparkled with small purple rhinestones. My grandmother got it because she thought my birthday was in February and amethyst is the birthstone for that month. I was born in January.

We weren’t close and she didn’t know many things about my life. The necklace was small, sweet, both things I had wanted to be but wasn’t. Still, she tried, and that was what mattered to me. This was the first butterfly necklace. 

The second butterfly necklace, was gifted to me by my mother. Bejewled, golden, with hot pink and glassy coating. It was ridiculously over the top in sparkles, and also ridiculously more me. This is my favorite of my collection.

A close friend gave me my third necklace in my collection. It was at this point I realized the strange trend in gifts. It was also beautiful, silver, but made by her own hands. 

Now, I never claimed butterflies to be my favorite, nor did I have a particularly large interest in jewelry. So, once I had at lease eight different butterfly necklaces, all gifted to me by people who had next to no contact with each other, I thought it a curiosity.

There wasn’t much I could do with this curiosity though. Not until I found out why. Not until I met him. 

My college held an art fair, a large portion of the students were artists (myself included). This was when I first met the man with silver eyes. 

The smell of fresh cut grass was a comfort added to the warmth of the summer sun. Crowds of people moved through the neat rows of art displays and small shops. As I passed a folding table filled with photographs, I came to a new exhibit. 

White wired displays held up the most beautiful pieces of jewelry. Shining in various metals, twisted and wonderful and fantastic. All were themed in nature, and many were themed in butterflies.  

The man who was behind the cash box flashed a grin at the customer he was talking to. As he was busy, I moved into the display area. My hand drifted to my mother’s butterfly necklace that I was wearing, and looking to see if there was a ring or bracelet that might match. If I was going to find one, it’d be here. Strangely, no prices were listed anywhere near the items. 

“Hello, see anything you like?”

“Oh, everything is beautiful.” I turned and saw the man who was previously helping the customer.

He offered a smile, “I appreciate you saying that, I created most of it myself.” 

His eyes drifted to my necklace. It was the kind of thing that was difficult to miss. “I could almost have mistaken that for one of my own, where’d you get it?”

“It was a gift. I’ve actually gotten a lot of butterfly necklaces over the years, it’s just a strange trend in the thought process of my family I guess.” I kept rambling, it was difficult not to, “Not that they are strange, well maybe a little, we’re mostly artists so that merits a bit of oddity, I think. I don’t usually speak this much at once.”

He laughed a bit, and when he did I noticed his eyes were a peculiar silver. “Don’t worry, I tend to have that effect on people. May I have your name?”

“My friends call me Jay.”

An emotion flashed across his face before I could identify it. “I see.” 

“Did, um, did you have prices listed anywhere? I didn’t see any.” 

He moved to the rings I had been looking at. “These are most likely what you’ll want.” He picked one up and surely enough the one he had chosen matched my necklace rather closely. “You’re an artist, correct? Then this will cost you a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Art for art. Equal value ideally.” 

I laughed, “The only thing I have on me right now is my sketchbook.” I was joking, clearly. This must be some kind of bit. 

“Let me see.” He held out his hand. 

I paused for a moment, maybe I should just leave? Apologize? He looked serious, though. What was the harm, I had a dozen sketchbooks at home, hoarded like dragon’s treasure. 

“Ok,” I dug through my backpack and grabbed a small sketchbook. “I just started using pastel pencils though, so don’t judge too harshly.” 

Wordlessly, he took it. And as his hand curled around it I noticed his nails were came to sharp, clean points. 

He flipped through the pages, his lack of expression making me nervous. I knew some of the pages were filled with nonsense. A doodle of a raccoon wielding a flamethrower, a crocodile crawling out of a cauldron. That was what sketchbooks were for though, practice and nonsense. 

He came to a page that broke his expressionless face with a laugh though. His silver eyes looked back up at me. “This is acceptable. A ring for your sketchbook. Do you accept the deal?”

At this point I kind of had to. “Yes. That sounds good.” 

“Excellent.” He turned quickly, dropping the ring into a white box and then into a bag before handing it to me. 

As I turned to leave he said something that stuck with me. 

“Perhaps those necklaces made their way to you for a reason.”

When I turned back to reply, his stall had vanished and so had he. In that place was a caricature artist, confused by my sudden staring. 

[ilooklikeaburntchickenugget]

Womanizer

A/N: I’m actually doing Chris Evans fan-fic on this account now. So here you guys go. Pairing: Ransom Drysdale x F!Reader Word count: 1,819 Warnings: Very, very lightly dark Ransom, if you even consider it dark. 

To Ransom, you were everything.

The two of you hadn't spoken more than a dozen words to each other, only having had a few interactions at these various events and galas the elite class had to attend. You would ignore him, mingling around everyone else. But most importantly, other men.

He eyed you like a vulture. He was discreet about it, making sure to memorize the patterns of when you would look around, clearly out of boredom, and diverting his eyes elsewhere or back to the meaningless conversations he participated in. He would swirl his vodka in his small cup, filled with ice in a race against time so it wouldn’t water down to distract himself from your figure that stood no more than 15 feet away from him.

He noticed exactly how your drinks went: you would start out with champagne, finishing it. You would move onto red wine, only drinking half. He knew it was out of sake for your sobriety. You were smart. Then you would move onto whisky. He saw you down one a few times, and smirked to himself. You could drink hard liquor, that said something about you as a woman.

You were nothing alike the girls he would bring home for a one night stand. No, he wanted to put a ring on you. He would buy other girls some Cartier bracelet or a Prada bag for their cheap endeavors with him, but since the day he first saw you he knew you were his.

He had spent an entire night looking you up on Google. Finding your occupation as an English professor at an Ivy League school, to your academic essays. And of course, he found your Pinterest board. Because he knew damn well every woman had a Pinterest board for their wedding.

He noticed what you had saved, multiple photos of huge diamond rings, emerald cut. Classy and glamorous, it fit you. The very next day he went out to Tiffany’s, and bought a ring just like it. He knew your ring size, just from eyeballing your sleek hand. He had bought meaningless rings for dozens of other women, he was a pro at this point.

And in his lower desk drawer in his personal office, sat the blue box that he one day hoped to drop on one knee and grant you with, an official bond between you two that as of right now, he could only dream of. But he would do everything in his power to make sure it happened.

He noticed how other men looked at you, sleazy eyed with the most disgusting intentions. Sure, he wanted to take you home. But he wanted to keep you there, with him. He wanted you to be his, and only his. Forever, and ever.

“Mr. Drysdale,” His thoughts drowned in wonderland were ripped from him, disrupted by one of the investors in his publishing company.

“Mr. Peterson.” He tightly smiled, holding out his free hand to shake with the other man. His insides were burning with a fire of annoyance at this man, having to put on a stupid, nice face for him. He wanted no more than to find you, and start a conversation with you. 

He continued to look over the older man’s shoulder, only for a few moments at a time, catching a few glances of your gorgeous smile, your elegant being. It was the only thing keeping him sane.

“I should probably introduce you to some of my colleagues, other investors.” Mr. Peterson mentioned, “Follow me, they’re right over here.” “Oh, there’s no need-” Ransom tried to reason, an attempt to get away the talkative man who was arguably a nobody compared to the various others who had invested more from their pocketbooks than he had in his entire bank account.

“No, I insist.” He waved Ransom on, to which the brunette tightly smiled again, and with great reluctance followed.

He guided his way through the crowds and groups of people talking, their expensive clothes and obnoxious laughs making Ransom more irritable by the second. He could feel his anger rise to a slow boil, his ability to contain himself slimming by the moment. Then he saw it.

He saw you, standing there in that form-shaping dress of an emerald green, with a kind smile on your face. You, too, were talking to these so-called investors. His temperature dropped immediately, an inaudible sigh escaping his lips as his once forced smile turned into a natural one. One by one he was introduced to the various men, dressed in stupidly expensive suits that didn’t even fit, until your name came around, “And Y/N Y/L/N.” Mr. Peterson smiled, “English professor at Cornell, and published author.” You smiled at him, holding out your hand to which he shook.

Oh, how soft your hands were. It was like a cloud, he felt your elegant fingers grasping in his, the various rings on your fingers felt cold against his warmed skin. “I believe we’ve met before, Mr. Drysdale.” You spoke up.

“I believe so, Ms. Y/L/N,” He smiled, “And please, Ransom is just fine.” You nodded in agreement.

The conversation began, investors talking about money and bets, traditional things, finally Ransom’s company came up. “You have a publishing company, correct, Mr. Drysdale?” Your boss, Mr. Hart spoke, to which he nodded.

“Yes, my grandfather’s publishing company, I inherited it.” He took a sip of his drink.

“It’s doing well, I see?” Another asked and he nodded.

“Very well, yes,” He replied.

“And you, too, are an author?” A third asked, the questions becoming annoying to him. He nodded.

“That was how I inherited the company,” He began, “I released my first book and it got some press, sold a few copies, Harlan saw that I could take over his company and gave it to me.” “What is this book called?” Mr. Peterson asked, his clueless mind elsewhere.

“A Wrath for One Another,” You spoke up, his head turning to you and eyes shooting open wide in shock, “It’s a phenomenal piece, truly.”

“Why thank you.” He smiled at you, his mind still in a state of complete shock over your knowledge of his work.

“Well, we may just have to include that in the curriculum,” Mr. Hart smirked, sliding his hand to the small of your back. You knew he was tipsy, he always tried to flirt with you, physically, when he was like this.

“Well,” You spoke up, “If you would have read my plan for the curriculum at the beginning of this last semester, you would have seen I included that very book in the plan.” Most of the men around you nearly choked on their drinks, Ransom chuckling under his breath with a smile at how easily you dominated the man and the entire conversation. “Now, if all of you will excuse me, I must excuse myself with Mr. Drysdale to talk with him further about his works.” You removed yourself from your boss’ grasp with grace, walking over to Ransom and glancing only once before walking past his frame, which was quite a lot larger than yours. He stopped for a moment, getting the memo before following you, yet still unsure about what to do.

The two of you found a nearly silent corner in one of the rooms of this mansion, gold rimmed with old furniture, only a few guests lingering about in quiet conversation. “So,” Ransom was the first to speak up, you leaning against the wall and taking a sip of your whisky, “You’ve read my book, huh?” “Of course I have,” You coyly smiled, “Anyone who is actually within the modern world of literature has.” He sighed very lightly.

“You’re right.” You nodded, a few seconds of silence lingering between the two of you.

“I apologize that I took you out of the conversation, I just had the feeling that you didn’t want to be there either.” “Am I really that easy to read?” He asked you with a slight smile. “Eh,” You smiled back, “A little.”

“Well,” He began, “You are quite the woman-” “If you’re trying to get me in bed my answer is a firm no.” You rolled your eyes knowing too much about the playboy, something he too knew.

“That was not necessarily the plan.” “Necessarily?” You asked, looking at him and squinting your eyes in confusion, “Then what, pray tell, was the plan?”

“Well, it was to ask you out to dinner, get to know you better, go on a few dates and see how things go.” He began.

“Hugh Drysdale taking a woman out on a date?” You scoffed, “Hilarious.” “I mean it.” He fought right back.

“I’m sure that’s what you tell all your girls.” “But I would never do that to a woman.” He began, looking you up and down, “I know you’re smart, smarter than me if we’re both being honest, but I also know you drive me insane whenever I see you at these completely pointless events.” “Oh?” You asked, this time downing your drink, “And how would I know you don’t say that to all your other girls?”

“Because I know you love dogs, you’ve had three of them in your lifetime. I know you love to cook, your favorite thing to make is homemade pasta carbonara, and I know your favorite author is Hemingway, specifically his short stories, something that tells me enough about you to know that you’re a smart minded woman who can think outside of the box but within reasonable perimeters.” He responded all in one breath, leaving you breathless. You stared up at him confused and dazed, like a deer in the headlights.

“How did you know all that?” You asked, turning to him, this time seriously, “Are you stalking me.” “Stalking is a strong word,” He stated, your face turning to more panic which he noticed, “Oh please, no, I’m not stalking you in any way. I just overhear your conversations, wanting to know more about you.” It wasn’t a complete lie. “So eavesdropping?” You reiterated with a sigh.

“If you would like to use that word, then I suppose.” You held the small glass cup loosely within your fingers as you rolled your eyes again.

“Fine.” You sighed out, “One date. That’s it. But, no touching unless I say so. I don’t want to hear you brag about yourself, it gets obnoxious to a point where I get waves of nausea,” He couldn’t help but scoff, “And no talking about work. I’m sick and tired of people thinking it’s my only personality trait.” “Deal.” He agreed with a nod.

“Now,” You sighed, taking his hand very lightly in yours, “Back to old men staring at my boobs.” He lightly chuckled with a smirk.

“You do have nice boobs,” He said, to which you whipped your head around and gave him a grimace, “Respectfully.”