#and I'll say that over amd over again because sometimes people don't and then things happen so let people know you love them

[klara-rosa]

today I went to therapy with a conpletely blank mind, there' just nothing at the moment that I want or need to dissect, nothing I want to hate about myself, nothing to self-loathe over. I just want to exist right now. I don't want to be back in this mindset that I need to dissect my character and everything that's ever happened to me to figure out what's wrong with me so I can fix it and become "normal". I don't want to go back to believing that my character, my soul, as it is, is something that's wrong or that I need to change it in order for me to like myself or for others to like me. I already have everything within me, that makes me a good person. I have always been a good person. There is nothing to fix. I don't need to change and become an extrovert or a people person or a party goer. I am allowed to be quiet and introverted and sensitive and soft and calm and warm. I don't have to say yes to things I don't like or want to do. I don't have to beat myself up over getting overstimulated. Sometimes I'll have a temper tantrum, okay? I am allowed to be and do all that.

So therapy has been feeling a little more like a chore again because obviously you go there to talk through things and gain clarity. But I just...I already have it. Right now. I may feel different again, maybe soon. Maybe soon I'll be super depressed again and need all the therapy I can get. But right now I just want to be me and stay in my lane and accept things as they are and not hate myself.

And my therapist felt that and I told her that and she came up with something today that I really loved! Since we had previously talked about maybe using writing as an outlet and I told her I struggle with that because I always feel like...what I write needs to make sense. It needs to lead me to figuring out stuff that's bothering me at that moment. And so she was like, what if we just try writing haikus? You say a topic and we just write. So she wrote one and I did and then we read them to each other. And it was so fun??? And the words came so easily?? Amd so we wrote another one? And it wasn't awkward? Like we sat in silence and wrote our haikus and it felt really peaceful? And I wasn't tense and I didn't mind reading it to her and her complementing my poem?? Because I actually liked it, too???? I liked what I wrote and it was easy and it flowed and there was no pressure???

So, I've decided I'm gonna try incorporating that into my daily routine. I thought, maybe I could get myself a really nice notebook and at the end of each day, look back at that day and choose a sort of topic or just a word that comes to mind and then write a haiku about that? And no one has to read it and it doesn't have to be good but I can just do it for myself and be creative and use my brain a little bit.

I really, really like that idea.

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of "If the idea of dropping an ace or aro spectrum label is scary or feels wrong to you, that’s usually a sign you’re either using the right label or you’re not ready to change labels." Many people are scared to drop labels even when that would benefit them. I was terrified when I realized I wasn't 100% straight and probably demi, and it was even worse when I came to the conclusion that I'm aroace. But I did it anyways, because even though it felt 1/?

uncomfortable, I knew my behaviours and feelings aligned with being aroace and I'm happy I did that and stopped pushing myself to be in relationships even if it took a lot of courage. My friend is bisexual, but for a long time she thought she was a lesbian. Again, she was scared to switch labels because she thought she'd lose her community, and she ignored her attraction to men for YEARS because it didn't feel "right". Finally she sort of got over the fear, and now she regrets not pursuing 2/? Men more, because some amazing guys just passed her by. (She still has a community amd is doing great btw). We talked and both agreed it's better to do what aligns with your actions and instincts and not overthink it because then you're denying yourself the ability to be yourself. I really don't like this advice, people are afraid of change, even small changes, but change can be a wonderful thing sometimes. 3/3

Just some clarification for the above post, this isn't about labels in general, but very specifically about ace and aro labels that are defined by an absence, and because of that very often leads to feeling insecure and feeling like you're using the wrong label when you aren't. I've gotten a lot of asks on this blog from people who's experiences are very much in line with ace/aro spectrum identities but who are terrified of losing those labels because of that insecurity. This post is specifically for that group. Even then it does still say 'usually' so I am making sure to acknowledge this still isn't the case for all aces and aros who feel this way, and 'if it feels wrong', so not just scary on its own.

That said, I do understand where you're coming from, changing labels even for the right reasons can be scary but that doesn't make it the wrong choice, and it wasn't my intention to say or imply otherwise. Because these posts are short they're often generalized and sometijmes lack explication and nuance (also I am human and sometimes make posts that could be phrased better). In general I appreciate it when people add to the post itself so people looking at it and through the notes can see them, especially if there's added nuance they feel should be included or are concerned about people getting the wrong message. And if you want to add your concerns to the post, I won't be bothered by that.

All the best!

[siyasantlani111]

Detachment ~

As I promised I'll write about detachment so, first of all I'm so grateful that I have a platform to write about this topic and explain to it y'all . Guys detachment literally saved my life i say it again detachment literally saved me. So why do I always write about detachment in my blogs and why do I think it's so important to be detached? I'll share all of this with you right here as well as I'll let you guys know how I practice detachment and my life experiences.

How do we practice detachment?

First things first, for example you want something in life it could be anything, now sometimes we just get crazy over this thing we want and put it on the pedestal, if we want something we quickly want it, we are extremely impatient and we just want it right now, now the thing is you have to let it go, you have to be vulnerable, you have to believe in god or universe that you will receive it after putting the right amount of hardwork. Now the way I practice detachment is by simply believing and having so much trust in universe and god that he will deliver me what I want and i don't have to think too much about it, yes I do have to think about working really hard to recieve it but after i put in my effort thats it, that's it, then my work is done. Or maybe sometimes I'm like channeling from a limiting belief and think, “what if I never have it?. ” Then I just simply believe something way better will be dileverd, maybe right now I can't see how better it can get, its ok i know god has better for me. Thats how I practice detachment.

After i started practicing detachment i can say I feel less stressed. Yes I have days amd weeks and I'm constantly attached I'm impatient too, but that's just a bad day or week not a bad life.

Guys another way of staying detached is by putting so much compassion and efforts into your goals that you just know, that you will recieve what you desire. Always put effort.

2) Learn how to love yourself

when you see a celebrity you like and you are like omg they are so beautiful, do you say that about yourself? You send paragraphs about how much you love someone but do you write paragraphs about yourself? You gift people so much do you ever do it for yourself? You constantly just people please and let people step all over you, do you ever think about yourself? . When you listen to music, read books or watch a movie why do you imagine yourself with a partner? Why can't you just imagine your self having a lot of fun alone?

Guys we need to learn how to love ourselves.

I'm going to be very honest if you guys don't love yourself you won't be able to embrace your authentic self or your flaws. Yes loving yourself is hard but so is not loving yourself. What os authenticity? Being your authentic self doesn't only include the good parts, it includes your flaws too, and in oder to be your authentic self you would have to love certain parts of your self which yiu may not like.

3) start seeing things as a protection

Now one of the best ways to stay detached from something is to start seeing things as a protection.

For example: you asked god to give you something and you didn't recieve it.

Now instead of thinking “god never answers my prayers ” or “things don't workout the way I want them to” why can't we preceive it as god is protecting me frome something, and thats why I didn't recieve it and I'm okay with it, because I know god wants the best for me.

4) The reason we attach ourselves to so many situations is because we have attachment issues.

Why do we keep on constantly attaching our self worth based on silly little things or situations? Why do we think that If I get this particular grade then only I'm worthy of being loved or when i weigh this much I'll be loved.

Let me break it upto you guys, it never works out this way. Been there done that.

Now if your grades are really dropping or you're really unhealthy physically then yes you have to change it.

But you know some people they just don't recognise themselves and are in constant unimaginary battles with themselves and the world. And because of that they constantly attach themselves to numbers and situations, and they think they 'll find happiness only when they have what they want. But again when they have it they don't feel that happy and they don't feel that good, because there's a void in them which they're missing, there's something inside them which they're to full fill through materialistic things, they're trying to escape something.

You know when did I realise this thing

? When I was watching Liz and then everything started making sense.

I'll tell you guys why. My entire life I have been telling myself I'll finally be happy if I loose that weight. And before I started to workout, I was like even if I look like the bare minimum or normal person I'll be so happy in life. Or I would compare myself and be like if I looked better than her I would be happy. This never happened, because here I'm writing this right now whilst I lost so much weight, however I still don't feel happy somedays and sometimes I just hate my body.

It's because I attached myself to materialistic things when I needed to fill something and face something inside of me.

5) stop forcing connections with people

Connections aren't meant to be forced because they're connections. A forced connection is not a connection.

Do you guys know how desperate it is to constantly be the person who's always forcing people to connect with them, or have some sort of relationship with them. Now I'm not saying don't be friends with people, I'm saying for example you like someone as a friend go directly tell them that instead of beating about the bush, because it will never workout if you are desperate.

I used to force connections like crazy okay, let me break it upto you it doesn't work out at all, the only that happens is you feel drained, feel like your side is one sided and that's just really tiring.

“ you don't chase you attract”

Start realising as much as you chase something it is going to run away from you okay. I literally have been around people who would literally force connections like crazy, like so crazy and once I started realising that forced connections are just draining I started stop being influenced by them.

I was reading a book in which there was this badass character oh and the amount of “I don't give any fuck” energy she radiates is so authentic and confident. She was literally a loner and she didn't like peopling a lot and she couldn't give any fucks about it . And she was literally like okay with her “loner” thing and she wasn't desparate okay. She did have her little friend group but even there shw wasn't desparate or anything. Btw her name is Teal Van Doren.

You guys don't realise how peaceful it is to just not be desperate. Why are we so desparate in relationship? Like “omg I'm not gonna find another person”, or “omg I have to be friends with him/her or else I would be alone at school”

6) start realising life is literally like a movie

So for example you are watching a movie and you know who are the main characters who's the female and male lead, so even whilst watching the movie you just know that these main leads are just gonna be together, regardless of them being enemies or regardless of them being neighbours or anything. Similarly our lives are like that god is binge watching our lives he knows whats going to happen next, he knows whats meant for you will simply come find you. No other way around , you know there are so many people who were literally like rock bottom their entire childhood, or they were literally like literally like not having a very good childhood and some how they're now big celebraties or well known. You know why this happens? Because no matter what happens life figures itself out.

7) Work so hard that you simply believe that you're going to have it.

You know guys when I mentioned it before I meant it, I know this girl and she's extremely hard working and I have known her for quite a while now she's legit like extremely hard working, you know once she told me she wants good grades and I was like yeah thats great! And you know since then every single day I see her studying really hard , one day you know it was her birthday and like she called me and was like was asking me a doubt and I was like telling her and you know form the background voice it can be said that she was literally telling her family to wait for 5 minutes because she's studying and will cut the cake after 5 minutes . And you know that is the fucking spitit! Like genuinely this girl is one of the most hardworking people I have had in my life and you know she'd be tired at night and whatever and would atill finish her worm and then go to bed, thats the thing which always made me looked upto her , and you know when I asked her that doesn't she get tored she said yes she does, but she enjoys doing it too, she loves improving her qork efficiency. And one day I asked her “bro you work really so hard but aren't you scared it won't work out?” and she said “ thats not gonna happen” and I looked her and asked her what does that even mean? Because i was so confused, she says again “you really think it won't workout? Whats your hardwork lacking which makes you think that way?” and my perceptive changed from that day, because this girl hard so much shine and spark for what she wanted she couldn't just believe that it won't work out and yeah guys this girl really succeeded like crazy crazy!

6) If its for you, it will find you.

Sometimes we don't get what we want even if we let it go. Sometimes we let go things because we expect that things will ne received. However let's land bak to reality, its not for you. Its harsh but it is what it is.

7) Don't let your ego come in the middle of your goals.

If your truly want something then no matter how many times people don't like your product, or how many times you get rejected, you won't let it make you feel demotivated, you know why? “Because 100 people can call me wrong and reject my product, however god is with me ad I don't care.” I'll keep going and going and going, is the mindset not “omg I failed”

Because honestly are you even confident in your craft if a smal little hurdle came in the way and it started shaking up your entire confidence. That's what our ego does, when we go through failure it says “ you can't win” “you always loose” tell it to shutup and then you keep going and going and going again and again and again. It's you against your own ego.

So guys I think I'm going to end my blog here I loveyou guys so much, thankyou for reading, it feels such an honour to shae my thoughts with y'all❤️❤️❤️.

[shieldagentnatasharomanoff]

💕 💕 💕

(I can't do these without talking about you guys... I'm on vacation and Nat is seriously missing reading from her magic family)

@strxngemxgick

I adore your version of Stephen so much. You're the first and maybe only person I've met that puts consequences into viewing hundreds of thousands of realities and coming back from it.

He's a combination of the most fun comic and MCU Strange and added your own spin of brokenness.

You write incredibly well. Sometimes I'm a little intimidated, but I have so many soft feelings for Stephen and Natasha. They've both been through so much and now they find a bit of comfort in each other and I love this in every thread we have and Nat is definitley crushing hard and so am I ^^

@cherryfinolahobbes

Nat has found a sister in Cherry and a teacher and loyal mentor in Wong. I love how plainly honest your writing is. You don't shun angst or a conflict and when one arises with the muses, the mun takes incredible care to make you feel comfortable while you write through it. I don't think it's a secret how much I adore you and our little family we found on tumblr.

Cherry is the sweetest character and she just cares so much. I love reading about all of your headcanons from years ago just as much as I love your fanfictions and amazing art. Wong and Cherry are OTP material and oh boy I fell down the shipping rabbit hole with them and I think so did Nat. She's def team Chong... or Werry? Let's not start with the ship names... Point is. They are lovely and I love them and you!!!

@supremestrangeness

I don't think I have to say how much Natasha loves her depressed eldritch trash wizard. Strange is her confidant and she definitley does not want to do this without him.

You're one of the kindest and most supportive people I've met and am so glad I have the privilage to call you my friend.

Stephen is so wonderfully thought out and every time I think I got the character or your writing figured out you throw me yet another, surprising, curveball and I live for that.

We need all the monster cuddles between actual plot and funny shenanigans and angst. I have a whole list of things we talked about writing and I hope we get to write them all and even if there isn't always a lot of brain space for replies I love that we get to casually chat or string along fun ideas for these two.

Strange has definitley stolen Nat's heart and I love and appreciate him and you tremendously.

[halftheway]

can i say smth here. and i want to preface by establishing im not trying to start discourse i'm just having complicated thoughts n trying to rubber duck my way thru them. i'll stick it under a readmore just in case but i would like ppl's opinions as long as they are respectful

but i think alongside the phenomena of 'quarantine queers' (ppl who discovered they were queer during lockdown/the still ongoing pandemic) there is something similar going on with autism. i've seen a lot of folks on social media joking about 'probably having autism' but not wanting to unpack that, and i'm far from the person who's gonna police how ppl talk about themselves, but it rubs me the wrong way. to see so many people making jokes about autism and so many posts memifying it online + those posts going viral has made me feel so Weird because i've spent years talking about being autistic irl amd online and it's only ever made people uncomfortable. the way autism is talked about online vs irl is So different and idk. it's been bugging me. sometimes i'll have friends talk abt their habits/traits and when i gently suggest it could be because they're autistic, they always cringe and deny it. over and over it's treated like an Insult when i point out possible autistic signifiers which just Sucks because everyone i say that to knows i'm autistic. in the few cases where people start to accept they might be autistic, it kind of transitions into the 'quarantine queer' phenomena where they start making Being Autistic a whole Thing (and in one case, trying to mansplain stimming to me. this is not a joke). and again, i don't want to police the way anyone behaves or deals with their own lives it just Bothers Me. i know we're not supposed to talk about it being hard because that just adds fuel to the fire of people that want to cure or dismiss us but it has been so hard to be autistic. it's made my life a living hell and to see people who just want to reduce it to Laying On The Floor Time or Being A Little Socially Awkward is. frustrating to say the least. i think part of the issue i take with it is that like with being openly queer for most of my teenage years until now, since i found out i was autistic i've talked about it a lot and have always been met with people being uncomfortable at best. i went through hell for so long and i'm really glad other people might not have to, but it's frustrating to see this almost turned into a meme.

i don't think i have a big overarching point here just wanted to vent a little<3

[jaehyunsuh]

nct ot21 reaction to: being dared to kiss their crush on 'truth or dare'

part 1: nct  127

nct dream|wayv

REQUESTS ARE: OPEN

please go to the ask box to send your requests or questions♡ you can interact as much as you want !

summary: you have been friends for quite some time now, you aren't besties but for sure you have a nice friendship and connection. You hang out to eat and stuff with the same group of friends, sometimes just the two of you talk and have good conversations.

nct dream and wayv part coming soon!

taeil

he is really serious when he gets into someone, he studies every move making sure this person is worth their time and love. Since he met you, he enjoyed your company and the were you expressed yourself without hesitation with the other members. He might not interact a lot with you but for sure has a huge crush going on.  

nct 127 are doing a little celebration since they ended their tour successfully. You accept the invitation and spend the rest of the week thinking about. Taeil doesn't you like him because he doesn't even talks to you, but even though of that you miss him a lot and you are expecting to see him after such a long time.

you enter the dorm, haechan and jaehyun greet you smiling while grabbing the food you brought as a gift, they thank you and tell you to go to the living room so you can join the game. You look everywhere trying to find taeil, as soon as you saw him you go right to kun who is sitting close to him, you greet them both and sit. The game was going well and friendly, suddenly the bottle stops in front of taeil. "Our older brother! Truth or dare." Mark asks playful. "Dare!" Taeil says firm. "Well i sense a connection happening in here. I dare you to kiss y/n." Mark says while teasing his oldest member. Taeil opens his eyes wide and you feel your whole body shaking.

he positions in front you and gives a shy smile he slowly gets closer to you and touches your lips. The kiss felt like never before, it was full of love and sweetness. He grabs your hands as he kisses you and touch the softly. You slowly separate and stare at each others eyes. "I've wanted to do this for a long time." He says with a big smile. You feel shocked since he almost never spoke to you but you are really happy. "This tour just made me miss you and want you even more. I hope we can try to have something." He says with a flirty smile while grabbing your hand. "I've liked you for the longest time too, of course i want something to happen."  You say excited and smiling at him.

johnny

johnny seems like a really nice and friendly guy, but he can also be really teasing and flirty. He has been texting you and inviting you to hang out but something always comes and you just went to eat some tacos and chatted, you didn't do anything after that but that made you become a little be closer and be even more into each other.

johnny and you have been staring at each other from across the room and smirking since the 'truth or dare' game began. Johnny texted you last night to see if you were going to the party and then again this afternoon, that made you even more excited and motivated to go to the party because you might be giving a next step.

"mmm johnny suh, you are the first one." Yuta says while smiling. "so... truth or dare?". Johnny smiles confidently while he stares right into you and then looks at yuta. "dare." He says calmly while you swear to god everyone could hear your heart beating. "okay, so you aren't nervous about anything? i see" yuta says while looking at everyone in the room, he looks at you an smile. "well i heard you are really good friends with y/n so i don't think there's nothing wrong if you give her a little kiss, just for the game, you know?". Yuta says while smirking. "yes, it's okay." Johnny says really confident while smiling really big.

you feel your palms sweating and your heart beating even faster, you don't even get up from your seat because johnny is already going to your spot. He looks at you right in the eyes and places your hair behind your ear, without any hesitation or warning he leans closer to you, grabs your cheek and caress it with his thumb and then your lips touch really softly. He begins to kiss your lips and it felt like heaven, he was so soft, caring and full of love. you stay like that for a few seconds until you slowly separate.

johnny stares at you amd smiles giving you a little peck on the cheek to make you go even crazier about him, at this point you were just all over the moon because of him. Everyone in the rooms looks at you both proud while you get all red. "let me take to a nice place tomorrow, i'll pick you up at 6" he tells you while winking. "i'll love that" you say while gasping and smiling big.

taeyong

taeyong is someone who doesn't falls easily for a girl, she has to be smart, kind and have similar interests at him. If she can't establish a joyful conversation with him that is a lost for him. As soon as he met you he knew there was something special, you would always be so focused in what he was talking about, making interesting questions and paying attention to every detail. He was mesmerized by that but he was still insecure to come closer to you.

you friend is throwing a party and you decide to go since you don't have anything else to do. You arrive and you are surprised because there's more people than expected, when you walk deeper into the apartment you see taeyong in the corner talking and laughing to taeil. You approach to them and say hi. He felt flustered by how beautiful you looked and surprised because he didn't knew you were coming. He wanted to talk to you more but one of your friends grab the three of you and leads you to the living room.

in there you see them play truth or dare and you decide not to join just like taeyong but everyone was screaming at you both and you ended up playing. It was like 20 mins since the game started and everything was going nice, then the bottle stops at taeyong. He starts smiling shyly. "I'm not letting choose, you are going dare." Yuta says teasing him. Taeyong rolls his eyes and nods in agreement. "Please, kiss y/n, that's your dare or even a gift? You can thank me later." Yuta says smiling and patting his arm. Taeyong gives him dead eyes and sits in front of you. He stares at your eyes, grabs your face with both of his hand. You are shooked but also happy with his action. It was a short but really nice kiss, you wished it could last forever.

he ends the kiss and stares right into your eyes. "You know, I've liked you since the first time i saw you but i was scared to tell you. I hope you feel the same as me." He says giving a gentle smile. "Of course i feel the same dummie, you are amazing." You tell him caressing his hair softly. He smiles and even dares to give you one more peck on the lips.  

yuta

i feel like yuta has a really pure heart and when he likes someone in a romantic way on the inside he is always gonna be thinking about them. On the outside he might seem a little bit cold and serious but that's just a side of him. When he met you, you thought he didn't like you, he didn't talk that much to you, was always staring at you and would throw some sarcastic comments. Instead of not paying attention to him his whole vibe would make you be even more attracted to him.

johnny texted you telling you to come over to celebrate taeyong's birthday. You confirm you attendance, quickly get ready and head to the party. Winwin opens the door for you and greets you with a big smile. You head to the backyard were you see the members and some of their friends sitting on the floor. "Hi, what are you playing?" You ask. "Hi y/n, we are playing 'truth and dare' come and join us." Johnny tells you. You look around uninterested while you search for yuta, you find his spot and go seat next to him. He greets you with a big smile and you smile back.

as soon as you are finished sitting doyoung asks yuta "truth or dare." He asks with a smile. "Since I'm a risky guy I'll go dare again." Yuta says confident and smirks. "Okay risky guy, i dare you to kiss y/n." Doyoung says with a playful smile making everyone laugh. Yuta stares at him with an evil smile pressing his tongue on his cheek. He looks at you and instantly grabs your face with both his hands. He didn't eve hesitate to slide his tongue inside you, the kiss was getting really heated and you could feel how your cheeks were about to explode. You push him a little bit in sign to end the kiss. "Do you want to go on a drive? When can finish this in my car." He whispers into your ear. You nod your head in agreement and lead to the door.

doyoung

doyoung seems like he would gain interest in a girl after a long time meeting here, she has to be really smart, interesting, with a nice personality and good attitude. he met y/, a few months ago, even tho they haven't talked that much he is really into her, always listening to what she has to say and even having conversation just the two of them.   

nct members invited you to at party at one of their friends house, you were hesitating if you should go or not since you were kinda sick, but you haven't seen them in some time so you decide to attend. You enter the party and yuta is waiting for you at the door, since you told him to wait for you because you are shy. He introduced you to his friends and you started to feel comfortable.

you look for doyoung everywhere but he is nowhere to be seen. One of the handsome guys at the party comes at you and tell you to join the 'truth and dare game', he seemed nice and also everyone was playing so you agree. You sit next to the cute guy and talk to him, he is really nice and says a lot of things that make you laugh. They start playing and when you look up doyoung was sitting in front of you staring right at you but as soon as you look at him he looks away. 

the game continues and you are immersed in your thoughts thinking if he was upset about the guy next to you, while your head is in space you hear 'truth or dare' once again. You look up to see who is it this time, and it was doyoung. "Uhm... let me think. You have been really quiet, i think you should a dare." Johnny says with his hand on his chin. "I-i- okay i will go with dare." Doyoung says trying to seem confident. "Great! That's what i wanted." Johnny says excited. "Let me see... i think y/n didn't came today." Johnny says while looking carefully around the room. "Oh! There she is, our dear y/n. Doyoung, i dare you to kiss here." Johnny tells doyoung with a big smile. 

Doyoung stares at him but them goes right into your spot. "Excuse me, could you please move? "He says annoyed to the cute guy next to you. The guy moves and doyoung sits closer to you, he touches your cheek softly and grabs your face. He starts kissing you deeply and full of passion, you grab the collar of his shirt trying to make the kiss deeper. You still kissing without noticing the rest of the people in the room. "Hey let's go outside so i can talk to you better." Doyoung says in between kisses. You nod and separate from him. "Well nice to see you all, bye." He says grabbing your hand guiding you to the door. You are at the house garden and he gets really close to your face and holds your hand. "I saw you with that guy earlier and i was upset that i didn't saw you first to make you laugh, but I'm glad we clarified that I'm really into you." He says with a flirty smile leading to give you a peck on the lips. 

jaehyun

i'm telling you, this boy is fierce and doesn't try to hide his interest in you from the first day that he met you, he always throwing some hints here and there to see your reaction and you have been responding some of those😌

you have been laughing and enjoying the whole thing until the bottle points to jaehyun, who now can only choose 'dare'. Everyone stares are at you while smirking and whispering into each others.

"well let me think what could i dare you to." ten says while laughing and pretending to think. "since i'm your friend i want to do this a gift." he says and everyone is expecting while you are panicking on the inside. "i dare you to kiss y/n." He finally says. you felt how your face was red but you can't deny you were also excited because the tension between you two is insane and it's something that you wanted lowkey highkey to happen.

jaehyun and you both go to the center of the circle, as always he is looking pretty confident and you feel like his eyes could see through your soul. He leans forward while grabbing your face and you felt like you stopped breathing. He didn't even began easy, this was a whole makeout session. he slide his tongue inside of you kissing you slowly, hungrily and romantic. You respond later grabbing his neck and playing with his hair, letting him do whatever he wants. You could feel all the tension there the was between you two disappearing.

for all of those seconds you forgot about everyone else in the room so you slightly push jaehyun away in a sign of telling him to stop, he gets it and the kiss ends. you both stare at each other flustered. "wow, just wow." jaehyun says while smiling confidently. "oh my god, next time just eat each other faces, you didn't even care we were here." Ten claims with a disgusted yet satisfied face.

you both go back to you seats and everyone teases jaehyun and you. he comes closer to your seat and whispers "it's okay, we can continue this later" he smirks. You raise your eyebrows and nod, you knew you wanted to repeat this over and over and over again.

winwin

he is the type of guy who tends to seem shy and that holds back but in reality, when he is around a circle of people that he feels comfortable with his confidence increases a lot, and that's how you started liking him and being into him so much.

winwin and you have been friends for a while, he is always really talkative, friendly and a little flirty i should say, he says the right things in the right moments.

you arrive at mark's birthday party, you were nervous because this was the first time winwin and you were going to see each other in "bigger" social situation, by mow you've had a nice thing going between you two but you still weren't you sure what was happening. As soon as you enter the apartment you say hi to all of your friends and try not look to obvious while searching for him between all the people. You finally see him and when you are about to approach to were he is sitting you see he is happily talking with a girl, they laugh and become kinda touchy while chatting, you try to hide your disappointment and continue to talk to your friends.

you aren't feeling well and the night seems to last a lifetime and just in that terrible moment someone shouts "hey, gather up, we are playing truth or dare." you don't eve think about moving from your spot but then "get up, let' play." Mark says smiling. "mark, i don't feel like playing, sorry." You said looking down. "hey, i know you are upset because of winwin and that girl but you will be okay, come on it's gonna be fun." You grab his hand finally agreeing to play.

you are sitting on the floor with everyone else and when you look up winwin is sitting in front of you, you don't see the girl anywhere what makes you smile on the inside (lol ??). He stares at you and smiles, you smile back. suddenly mark sits besides mark and whispers something in his ear, mark smiles and high fives him, then he goes to other members, you have no idea what is happening but it makes you nervous.

the night is going really well, everyone laughs and enjoys but you try not to look at winwin all the time even tho he hasn't took his eyes of you in the whole night, you still kinda upset so you don't pay attention. The bottle starts spinning again and points at winwin. "oh my god." mark says really hyped, not even a second later. "truth or-." mark says. "chill, it's my turn to ask, i know what i'm doing." jaehyun says while smirking. "winwin, truth or dare." He asks to the beautiful chinese boy staring right into him. "dare." Winwin says without any hesitation while smiling at his friends.

"okay, that's an easy one." jaehyun says taking a look around the room. "i dare you to kiss your good friend y/n". jaehyun claims while smiling. Winwin doesn't even answer and he is already walking at your spot, without noticing he is in front of you staring at your eyes. Everything was going so fast that you didn't eve knew how to act, you palms were sweating and your heart was beating fast. He takes your hair off your face, grabs your jaw between his fingers and gives a little peck. Hhen it takes you by surprise that he starts kissing you slowly, even sliding his tongue inside of you. You feel like heaven. He decides to end the kiss and stares right into your eyes. "do you really think i was going to be with anyone at this party if it wasn't you? i even made the guys dare me to kiss you so you could finally see that I've been dying for you." He says smiling. "let's go, i want to take you somewhere right now" he says while he grabs your hand and you get out of tte party.

jungwoo

jungwoo is a really sweet guy, even tho he is the cutest boy ever, he doesn't fall easily for someone. When he feels attracted to a girl he gets to know her first, sees if they have things in common and most important if she is a nice person.

you were invented to have dinner at nct's dorm which you accepted since you have been there a lot of times before. You were excited because you haven't seen jungwoo since 2 weeks ago and you haven't talked properly because of his schedule. 

you enter the room and jaehyun receives you with a big smile inviting you to come in. You go to the living room where all the members are gathering, you say hi to all of them including jungwoo, he smiles bright and big when he sees you. You start talking and having a great time, you finally finish your food. "It's too early yet, maybe we should play a game... what about 'truth or dare'" he says excited. All the members look at him confused. "Are we teenagers." Doyoung says annoyed. "Come oooon, it's fun. We haven't played in a long time." Yuta says whining. All the members agree and you start to play.   

the whole game is getting really fun, the members are really fun and entertaining so you laugh during the whole game. Finally the bottle stops at jungwoo. "Truth or dare." Jaehyun asks smiling at jungwoo. "Oooh, dare!." Jungwoo says smiling. Since all the members were giving fun dares he wanted to have fun too, but his dare wasn't going to be like that. "I dare you to kiss y/n. She is your friend, come on, she is really nice." Jaehyun says playfully. Jungwoo looks at you with wide eyes. He gasps and removes the hair from your face, he grabs your cheek and starts kissing you softly. His lips were like cottom candy. You felt his hands sweat and it made him seem like the cutest boy ever. He finish the kiss and separates from you. "Wow, that was a lot." He tells you nervously with a cute smile. "It's okay, i liked it." You say smiling. "I liked too. Uhm do you want to get out here so i can talk to you?" He says shy. You agree and grab your jacket and bag while following jungwoo.

mark

mark is a really friendly and nice guy, since you met him you've felt like you could trust him a lot. He is really open and chill but even tho of that, the fact that you like him so much makes you put a barrier between you two.

you got invited to a little party/meeting between your friends, mark talked about it last week when you hang out with nct members and he seemed pretty excited so you decided that you were definitely going. you enter the place and dream members welcome you, they take you to the living room where mark was sitting. "h-hi, you came earlier than me, that's impressive". you say nervously. "oh hi is good to see you here, i thoug-" mark says but get interrupted. "hey you two come seat, we are gonna play 'truth or dare'." Johnny says smiling and grabbing you both by the arms.

"oh, i'm not really a fan of this game." Mark says while sitting next to you. "it's okay, it's just a game." You tell him trying to calm him down since he looked kinda annoyed. He smiles at you and you smile back. 15 mins pass and mark and you haven't a word to each other, you just smile shyly at each other when you found out you are laughing at the same stuff and that's all, it makes you a little frustrated that you both become so nervous around each other but you are also glad you are next to him so you don't feel so uncomfortable.

the bottle spins and it stops pointing to mark, he starts laughing kinda nervously. "truth or dare." taeyong ask right away. "oh my god mark there is no way I'm letting you choose truth." Johnny says making everyone laugh. Mark laughs and says "okay, okay, i pick dare." Mark says nervously. "mmm mark lee... what could i dare you too?" Taeyong says smirking and looking at johnny. "Oh i know, how dumb of me, i dare you to kiss our cute friend whose siting next to you, y/n!"

you open your wide in panic but also trying not t make mark uncomfortable, mark looks shooked and starts smiling, not looking so nervous which surprises and makes u think, you didn't even blink and mark was already kissing you. You still have your eyes open but as soon as you become conscious about what is happiness you kiss him back pulling your hands over his shoulders, you can feel his smile through the kiss which makes you really happy.

"well, i guess i don't hate this game so much anymore." Mark says smiling and flustered. "yeah, i told you it wss gonna be... good." You say while you still shooked. " i wanted to tell you that i thought you weren't even coming and that made me upset, but as soon as i saw you i became really happy." He says smiling. "so can we now stop being weird around each other and go to a proper date." He says confident. "yes, i would love that." You claim.

haechan

haechan seems to be really extrovert, talkative and open, but on the inside when he likes someone he approaches carefully until he feels like the other person is comfortable with him and think about him as a friend.

nct are celebrating their 5th year of debut and decided to do a little party to celebrate it, inviting the rest of nct members and their closets friends. Renjun texted you two days ago inviting you and telling you that haechan really wanted you to go and is excited to see you but was shy about it. You smile while reading the message and accept the invitation.

you arrive to the party and find mark in the entrance, you congratulate him and he didn't even lets you talk and grabs your hand leading you to the circle of people sitting on the floor, you try to ask what are they doing but you sit anyways. "Look, here is haechan, talk to him while we start the game." Mark says excited while standing and leaving you in the spot right next to haechan. 

you feel how your whole face becomes red while you try not look at the boy next to you. "Oh, hi y/n i was waiting for you." He says smiling. "Well, no i wasn't waiting for you, i thought you weren't coming because it was late, so i was waiting but no because i was waiting for you specifically." He says now in panic and nervous. You laugh at his adorable expression. "I understand, don't worry i was gonna come anyway." You say to him smiling. "Yes, what matters is that you are here now." He says with heart eyes giving a warm smile. You both stop looking at each other since you are flustered and blushing so keep smiling trying not to look at the other.

you discover that the game you are playing is 'truth or dare' what makes you a little bit nervous but you try to keep calm, as long as they don't make you do anything weird you are okay. The bottle spins one more time and stops in front of haechan, he acts excited and playful for his members. "Haechanie, truth or dare?" Jungwoo asks. "Come on, pick dare of not it's no gonna be entertaining." Jaemin says pouting playfully. "Okay, i know you want me to entertain you all because I'm the best of the party." He says confident making everyone laugh. "I pick dare." Jaemin smiles satisfied.

"I dare you to-" jungwoo says but gets interrupted. "Wait, wait, wait, i'll do it. You own me one lee donghyuck." Taeil says with a playful evil smile. "I dare you to kiss y/n." He finally says. Haechan is sitting next to you so he immediately looks at you, you nod your head in sign of agreement. "Okay, here i go." Haechan says in a calm voice. He softly grabs your face with both of his hands, he starts kissing you slowly, you close your eyes and continue the kiss. Haechan lips felt so soft and safe, you felt like you were eating the sweetest candy. It might last seconds but you felt like it was forever. He slowly separates for you while giving you a warm smile, you smile at him back. The game continues. "Hey, i really enjoyed it. I was wondering if you wanted to play games with me tomorrow." He whispers to your hear. You feel like blushing. "Yes, i would love too." You say while looking at him. "Okay! So it's a date then." He tells you playfully making you laugh.

[valiantlyjollynightmare]

@completelyseriouscontent @mira-kyria @galahadwilder @sariahsue @bee-leaving @words-to-accomplish-something ok ok so hear me out

I don't know when i'll get to writing this but maybe i will cause this has oneshot potential (aka 20-30k but like. Oneshot) so maybe i will

But until i'm done with the projects i have that really really need to be written asap ( :,) ) (i didn't forget about the 50 kisses idea either, promise!!! I'm just a mess and also very slow) imma give you more of the outline i'd potentially go with. Going from where i left off in the tags

Okokokok so

:readmore:

That's how Nino finds out. Alya finds out around then too because really, she can hear only so much about how sweet the prince is before she smells that something's up. And it.s important that she finds out. Because she works at the national newspaper (or the capital's. An important newspaper, anyways. In the capital. Where we're assuming this takes place)

And she's best friends with Marinette who initially went for a royal seamstress position but was "too young and inexperienced" according to Madame Mendeleev, the one who was in charge with assigning jobs or whatever. But. Tikki. The head-seamstress. Actually looked over what Marinette had to offer (her pwn clothes, made with the modest materials she could afford and which weren't impressove enough, of course) and was like, stay around here and I'll find a way to get you in and in the meantime take you under my secret wing so you get the "experience" you need (aka working with fancy stuff)

And that's why Marinette gets the handmaid position. Because when her shift is over she gets to go to Tikki and work on stuff with the scraps (and sometimes not scraps, because Tikki becomes quite fond of her) so she can create the kind of clothes fotting for a royal that would be able to land her the position.

Tikki is the third person that finds out about her crush on the prince. Because guess what. That day Adrien gets back his cat he tries to go and actually thank Marinette but he has princely stuff to do and can't until late. So he tries to find Marinette which seems like an impossible feat - until he sees her rushing down a corridor and tries to follow her and sees her going to Tikki. He knows she doesn't work there so he decides to just wait around until she comes back out but the time passes and yes, it's late, bht there still are people around and when he hears steps, he decidea he doesn't want to attract attention upon why he's there and have people whisk him away again so he just says fuck it and opens the door and finds the 2 of them already inspecting a.... some clothing. Fancy. Made for the prince. By Tikki. With Tikki explaining Marinette something about the material amd the way she worked with it and stuff. And of course they're shocked and doing the proper courtesies (idk the word, you get it) and tikki's like

"How can I gelp you, your highness"

But Adrien sees Marinette and his brain is all like, oh. Pretty. Really pretty. And now he actually needs to talk. So still kind of looking at her instead of at tikki, and he doesn't want the bring up the cat because he wants to still have a cat after this conversation and he doesn't know whether he can trust Tikki.

So he,s like "i ripped something and i was wondering whether you could mend it"

"We can just make you something new, my prince"

"It's something i really like."

"Gave you brought it with you?" She tries, because she hopes he won't ask anything about Marinette because what she's doing is kind of against the rules but his eyes go constantly back to marinette because he.s crushing so hard on her and she's flustered and thus even prettier.

And of course he hasn't brought it with him. His hands are empty.

And so he needs now to go bring something that's ripped and because he tries to be fast and catch marinette still there, he gets the first thing he can and the letter oppener on his desk and riiiiiiiiip shirt because that thing can't be mended as he'll soon find out.

And it was for nothing too. Marinette was out by the time he went back. But again, he's an idiot in love.

"Who was that? Does she work here too?"

"She's training to be a sestress. She was here to ask me something."

He tries to play nonchalant. "She's a handmaid, isn't she? I think I've seen her before."

But. He.s red in the face and tikki also saw the way he couldn.t take his eyes off her. She smells something. And she adores marinette.

So she tells him that yes, that's marinette (he finally has a name for her!!!) And sings her all the praise in the world.

Adrien starts ripping up a lot of clothes very suddenly. Just to catch a glimpse of her.

He can only destroy so many clothes. He starts being interested in having a lot of clothes out of a sudden. Everything just to be as often as possible there. Except now he has to stay through a lot of fittings that very much do not include marinette. Except tikki figures him out, as i said and starts gets the courage to be like, "i don't have time when we usually do the fittings, could you come later?"

And look at that everyone was happy!

When he comes marinette is late for some work related reason and he brightens instantly when she enters.

"Would you let my apprentice test what i taught her about measurments, your highness?"

He can say yes only so fast.

Marinette doesn.t need any practice but she.s so flustered to be so close to him that she forgets everything she knows and tikki was suddenly ver busy in a corner further away.

"Thank you for helping me with the cat," adrien whispers when he sees his chance. And Marinette feels she wouldn.t be able to speak properly so she just smiles and gives a shy nod and tries to remember how to take measurments.

It becomes a thing. They can.t even talk properly, but adrien still tries.

"Have you worked here for long? How is your apprenticeship going? What do you like to make most?"(she says blazers, because she knows he's always wesring a blazer. He starts living blazers. He orders a lot more blazers and gets the hope she'll make one for him and looks at all his new blazers and wonders of she helped make any of them)

Plagg is the fourth person who finds out. And well, all the other guards who buzz around the training ground.

But really, can you blame him?

It's a beautiful beautiful morning and Adrien is excelling in his training. Then a pretty little maid passes by, and takes a second to look at him. It's nothing special, it happens every day a pretty guard - or the pretty prince - is training there.

Except apparently she is something special, becauae Adrien notices her and proceeds to fall on his face. He rushes to lift his head and there's a tiny little scratch on his jaw and the maid comes running, rushing to med his higness's terrible wound. He's not even bleeding anymore when the maid finally gets to him and Plagg can see on his face the internal struggle between playing macho and playing that little scratch as the worst wound he's ever gotten just so she can stay longer.

They're both beyond red in the face and Plagg is truly loving it. (Marinette is also dying. She's known for so long that the prince trains there but it was hard to muster the courage to go look. She's heard all the other maids gossiping, she's heard he sometimes even takes his shirt off! She didn't get to see that, but she got to help the prince!)

Plagg manages to keep silent while the whole thing is happening but then he takes Adrien inaide, puts an arm around his neck and starts teasing him with all he's got. He's so flustered, Plagg laughs for 10 minutes and only stops because he starts to choke on air with how much he's laughing.

(Marinette is beyond embarassed and decides to never come again but then she meets Adrien for another fitting and with his pride wounded and his hopes up, "you should come by again. I didn't get the chance to prove I'm quite a fughter in fact")

(She gets to see him with his shirt off the very next day)

(In the corner of his eye, Adrien notices her by a column, almost hidden in the shade. He shows off as much as he can and she lingers, and lingers, and the more she lingers the better he feels. When he does take off his shirt, he can't help a quick glance. She may be far, but she's definitely flustered. And he's positively exalted)

Enter Chloe. Adrien hates to love her. She's a bitch but she's his friend and she's not a bitch to him.

He never really knew how much of a bitch she was. It was more of an abstract thing, really. He just knee she was infiniteky better than she used to be as a child--he'd seen her as a child and he likes to think he helped get it into her head that there needed to be a change in her behavious. But he'd still heard her complain about the maids and her father and her mother and the city and she still was fascinating in a way. She got to experience things!

But then she comes visit and it suddenly becomes a lot more real that some things haven't changed because it's not just any maid he's never seen and known that she's complaining about. It's Marinette.

They happen to pass by her in a corridor. She courtsies and then raises her head to him. Adrien's eyes meet hers and he can't help a smitten smile. Subtle but he hopes she understands.

And she responds.

"She was watching you!" Chloe says, the moment she's slightly out of reach and hopefully can't hear. "I saw her! Her eyes followed you! I tell you, she's actively trying to be around you!"

He doesn't even realise it's supposed to be a critique at first.

"She really was, wan't she?" he asks, head turning so maybe he can catch another glimpse of her but the corridor is empty. He tries not to let it sadden him.

"She's not even subtle! I saw her! It's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! I will have her fired!"

He gets whiplash.

"What? Why?!"

"It's rude! It's beyond rude! How dare she?! She shouldn.t even lift her head from the ground! And I've seen her this week around! She was at your training ground-"

"The training ground is free for all to walk by. You were there!"

"I can be there. I am almost royality! All those peasants should not dare look at you. You should stop encouraging them. She especially needs to be put in place. I will take care that she's fired!"

He sobers up instantly.

"You're not touching a hair of that girl, Chloe." He sees her indignant expression so he grabs her hand and stops her in place giving her the most intense look he can muster. "Chloe, i don't think you understand. That servant. Stays. Here. "

It takes him more days. But she understands in the end.

He tries not to admit more to her than it's necessary, but some things maybe slip. And some things maybe don't need to be told out loud anyway.

Those few days she either avoids him or doesn't let him breathe at all. And when she stops bitching about Marinette, she does neither. Somehow, she stays quiet.

It's ab almost eerie kind of quietness, he's almost scare dof what she'll say next. What she'll do next.

She calls for Marinette next.

Specifically. He doesn't know how she found it out but she rings the bell and asks that a handmaiden called Marinette Dupain-Cheng is sent to her with tea and cookies.

Dupain-Cheng. Adrien hadn't even known her family name.

Heis head snaps up from where he's hunched down at his desk, but he doesn't get a chance to say anything before the other servant is out the door and the command is already on its way to be fulfilled.

"What are you doing, Chloe?"

"Stepping on my own pride. You're going to go outside and you'll leave me here to have a talk with miss servant."

"I am not getting out of this room."

She takes a second to consider him and turns around to the seating section of the room with a huff. She sits down on the sofa, puts leg over leg and crosses her arms. Her nose is stuck up in the air. "Suit yourself."

What follows is the most awkward half an hour Adrien has ever had to sit through.

Marinette, sweet and graceful, enters the room and courtesies as low as she can, even though she's holding the platter with everything Chloe had asked for.

He follows her with her eyes, he sees Chloe following her with her eyes, he sees her hands trembling as she pours the tea and sets the table for a midday snack.

"Take a seat, Miss Dupain-Cheng."

She freezes. Adrien freezes.

She tries to stutter out an excuse and Adrien glares at Chloe with all the ice he's capable of finding in himself. He wants to protect Marinette, he wants to put himself in front of her and shield her of Chloe's icy eyes, but Chloe's eyes don't look icy. Chloe's eyes look considering and patient.

"You're both ridiculous, you seem interesting, and Adrikins is boring. I want an entertaining conversation and I was hoping you would help."

"I don't know if I'm allowed to, Miss," she tries again, but Chloe dissmisses it with a wave of her hand.

"Adriking will take care that no one picks on you, am I wrong, Adrikins?"

"Of course not," he makes himself say, more on edge than he's ever been in training or otherwise. "Take this moment to relax a bit, I'm sure you don't get enough of that."

So he, too, takes a seat and braces himself. But Chloe is surprisingly civil. And Marinette isbetter than anything he'd ever hoped.

He knows what Chloe's doing, he sees it, he knows!

She's testing Marinette. And Marinette is brilliant. She knows her manners, she knows of most of the musicians and artists Chloe mentions, and most importantly, it seems, Marinette knows fashion.

It's truly the subjects that gets both her to loosen up and Chloe to truly warm up. A little bit. But a noticeable bit.

Adrien makes it look like he's distracted with his cat most of the conversation, but really, he's drinking in all of her words.

When it's getting too late for Marinette to feel comfortable with relaxing even a bit anymore, she excuses herself and leaves. Adrien leads her to the door like the smitten polite gentleman she is, but the moment she is out, completly ignoring the feeling of his face burning, he turns to Chloe with the smuggest smirk he can muster.

She rolls her eyes, sits up, and fans herself with her diaphanous fan.

"Your father's counselors have been wracking their brain for a way to gain the people's approval, haven't they?"

"Yes but they have decided to be more transparent about the decision making process. Spread news around the country with all the details the people might want to be aware of."

Some things in her mind click together. "Oh. That explains why mommy's been angry these past few days." And with a sigh, "I guess I need to say goodbye to the autumn trip Germany."

Adrien rolls his eyes and goes back to his corner of the room and his papers. "You'll still have your Venice trip in February, don't cry too long."

"I won't cry at all, do you know how long it took Sabrina to do my make up?"

She doesn't wait for an answer. Instead, she starts heading towards the door and doesn't even turn her head as she finishes what she had wanted to say, "I have the cherry they can put on top. I'm off to find Nathalie."

And she's out the door before Adrien can even process all the questions he has. He tries to sit still but it takes him all five seconds to come to the conclusion he simply cannot. He speeds off and fortunately enough the sound of his rushed steps makes chloe stop before she's too far.

"I need you to promise no maid in this castle -- especially Marinette -- won't suffer any kind of consequences because of what you have in mind or because of you generally. At all, Chloe. I'm serious. I'm more serious than I've ever been in my life."

Her expression is closed off but she does understand that he means it, and her nod seals the deal.

"I promise no one will suffer because of this."

And that's it. He can't help but worry, still. Chloe only tells him he'll see soon enough, Nathalie still dismisses him like he's 10, not 20. He doesn't even get the chance to see his father, let alone ask him.

But it's ok. He gets to learn in less than a week.

From the newspaper, because his family just lives to communicate with him.

He catches Nathalie that very morning and makes her listen to him whether she wants to or not

"Since when do we offer prople the chance to be royality for a day?"

"Miss Burgeois came up with the idea. It could help heighten the trust in the royal family."

"The reforms you've been planning would help highten the trust in us."

"Yes, but those take time. People need to see qe are doing things now. And Miss Burgeois had a surprisingly simple idea. We take the people and show them personally."

He raises an eyebrow but there.s already a plan taking shape in his mind and he needs details.

"And how do we choose these people?" The paper only announced the contest. One winner for now. Maybe more later. But the details were to be announced st a later date.

"We haven't decided yet, but Miss Burgeois has offered to help choose herself. We were thinking about putting togetger a team."

"I want in."

So he gets in. Because he's the prince and sometimes he does like the privilege thay comes with it.

Marinette doesn't even apply.

On the last application can still be submitted he checks each application himself and none of the names are the ones he wants to see. None of the papers stacked messily om his desk have her name, none.

Chloe peruses them too, and when she's done with all of them as well she looks at him. Blinks. And waits.

Adrien hasn't even bothered to actually read the applications, he doesn't care why all those people want to be royality for a day, he doesn't care what the want to see and what they think it's fhe reform with the highest priority. He doesn't csre who thinks what, he only cares that the one name that was supposed to win is not there at all and he can.t have it.

He is the prince.

He stands up and goes to Tikki with barely an "I'll be back" directed to Chloe.

Tikki, unsurprisngly, isn't alone in soite of the late hour.

Surprisingly, she's not with Marinette.

He freezes for a second in the door but after a quick courtesy he never managed to convince Tikki to let go of, the twi ladies in front of him are still the ones who get over the initial surprise first.

Tikki gestures for him to come in and rushes to turn the key in the door that closes behind him.

"Has she applied yet?" she asks, and he doesn't need to ask who she means, because he knows.

"I hoped i'd find her here. She hasn't! Why hasn't she applied?!"

The second lady is watching him with a calculated expression behind elegant spctacles, but her lips quirk up in an incredulous smile.

"You want her to win."

He squints, looks at Tikki, looks at the visitor.

"Depends who's asking."

"The one person that can make it so it doesn't even matter that she hasn't applied."

"You work at the paper," he realizes, and suddenly the world is rose-tinted again.

"Miss Cesaire was just showing me Marinette's application, in fact. We were trying to come up with a way to give it to you," Tikki explains, takinh her place back at Alya's side and showing him a simple envelope that contains all his hope in a slip of paper.

"Why did you wait for so long?! Why hasn't Marinette applied herself?! I've been waiting to see her name since all this started!"

The two women look at one another with expressions Adrien can't quite read.

"Marinette hasn't applied at all. We've been trying to convince her but she's been adamant she doesn't want to because she doesn't know enough."

It's the first real crack in his hopes. He doesn't know what to make of that.

"I told her you would surely want her to apply, but she doesn't believe. She thinks she can't possibly do anything with the brief position," Tikki continues. "I kept telling her she doesn't need to be schooled in politics to observe whether things are being run well or not from the inside. And she doesn't even want to consider the possibility that this contest might give her a chance to talk to you properly."

Miss Cesaire huffs. "Marinette is too insecure for her own good. When she talks to me about my articles, she knows all my points as well as me and then some. She knows what to look for, she knows what to ask, and judging by the fact you're here, you don't even csre about that."

Her eyes are slightly squinted, as if she's trying to gauge his emotions, his thoughts, his deepest feelings, and questions, and hopes. He serves them all to her on a silver platter and hopes it's enough to gain her full trust and chance to talk to Marinette.

And he imagines the smitten smile he can't help does wonders to his case.

"No, but I love that she cares. I want her to win. I've been planning for her to win ever since Chloe came up with the idea."

The two share a look again, and with a proper smile, Miss Cesaires hands him the envelope.

"I made her write it and she said she sent it, but I found it in her room today."

He takes it and runs. And three days later when the winner is announced and their responses to the royal questionnaire that got them the award are published in the morning paper, Adrien beams with pride at the responses as if he'd written them himself. He doesn't know if there had been better responses, but he doesnt't care. Hers are truly award-winning as they are.

In the paper, the winner is asked to present herslef at the palace as soon as possible.

Maribette is already there, he just needs to find her. He just doesn't expect her to find him herself.

But there she is, with the expression he least expects to see - glassy eyes, and deep frown, and lip bitten and raw.

"There's been a mistake," she insists, eyes glancing constantly around them to make sure they're alone in the deserted corridor.

"I didn't apply, my friend rigged the contest, I'm sorry, I swear I didn't want this to happen."

She panicked and he doesn't know how to calm her down. He doesn't even understand.

"I didn.t want to steal this place, i'm sorry, you highness."

"Marinette...?" he starts, elation mixed with panic -- hers, his, he doesn't even know. The worst kind of confusion. "What are you takking about? Your friend said you wrote this yourself."

"I did, but I never sent this!" She says, as if that proves she's guilty of the capital crime she seems so afraid of.

"She gave it to me. You still won. This is still your application, and you still won, and I wanted you to win! I'm happy, i'm elated! You are the one person I hoped most would win!"

It doesn't click for her. She watches him as if he's talking in another language.

"What...?" She manages, voice so very small.

"I've been meaning to ask you something for a while, because you're amazing and I can't stop thinking about you, and this might be the only real chance."

She watches him with doe-like eyes and his confidence stutters.

"Would you give me a chance? Will you let me treat you like the princess you are today?"

She blushes deep and quickly but nods a stuttery nod and Adrien feels like all ten thousand butterflies in his stomach took flight in that exact second.

"But it's just for a day," she says, as if it matters, as if it isn't the least important thing in the world in that moment.

He catches her hands in his and squeezes.

"But it's the one day everyone is on their toes for us to make a mistake. And do you know what wouldn.t be a mistake?"

She shakes her head and Adrien finally gives voice to the plan he'd been overthinkong together with Chloe and Plagg for a week straight.

"Showing the people royality is so close to them, the prince can even find his soulmate in a servant."

Medieval AU where Marinette is like a handmaiden or something and Adrien is a Prince, she's desperately in love with him but has never told him because it's not legal for them to marry and he doesn't see her like that anyway, she's just a handmaiden right?

Anyway there's a yearly contest where someone gets to be "royalty for a day" and this year Marinette wins

And Prince Adrien is immediately like "you know, according to the rules of the contest, you are now a princess for the next 24 hours, so I can in fact legally marry you as long as we do it today" and then produces an engagement ring which is how Marinette finds out that a) he actually is in love with her and has just never said anything and b) he rigged the contest for this exact outcome