#and certain people didn't wanna sign contracts

[merryloumas]

.

[ryker-writes]

damn that leech sibling post really made me wanna make them sad, so can i request a scenario where reader starts ghosting them? basically just dodging them and their attempts at conversation, and one day the leech twins hear reader trash talking them. perfectly okay if you can’t!

I'm actually glad I get to do another part to the Leech twins one. This branches off from the original post

For those who didn't see the original leech twins sibling angst, you can find it here

Request rules and Masterlists

Leech Twins as siblings (Broken relationship: No forgiveness ending)

the two of them were spending an awful lot of time around you today and insisting on doing whatever you wanted to do

there wasn't any teasing or insults either

it was very...suspicious

you knew of Azul's magic with making contract and how clever they were at luring people in

so you were a little concerned that they wanted you to sign a contract

deciding not to dance around it you asked

"Are you guys trying to get me to sign a contract or something?"

Floyd was very blunt with his response

"Eh? What would we even need from you? You already work for Azul"

Jade was more polite

"We simply wanted to spend some time with you is all."

he smiled, but it wasn't his menacing one

it was a more genuine smile

they genuinely wanted to spend more time with you

but it was far too late for that

after years and years of being cast aside by the entire family and being called the boring little sibling by everyone was already enough

but then they had you working yourself nearly to the point of passing out every other day, all while they continued to make fun of you

and after all of that, they wanted to try and spend time with you now?

you're too tired to deal with this

to deal with them

you just can't anymore

so, without a word, you just turned and walked away from them

from then on, you did everything you could to avoid them

for about a week after that, Jade made consistent efforts to try and talk to you

he would often try to create conversation during your shifts at the lounge

usually it was about orders or certain customers

each time, you never responded or even looked at him, and continued working

but he was persistent and kept trying every chance he got

it's because of his persistence, everything that happened, and their presence at all that you decided to quit your job with the lounge

no longer would you see them on a daily basis

that's what you hoped

not to long after that you noticed Floyd "coincidentally" passing you in the halls or needing something from your classroom

and of course, he had to try and talk to you while you were there

you made a point to leave the room or pass right by him whenever you saw him

as soon as you left you could hear him grumble and sigh behind you

you were beyond exhausted of them at this point

each day they tried to talk to you seemed to chip away at your nerves

it didn't take long for you to finally express how over it you were

they finally gave up after hearing you talk to one of your classmates

the classmate mentioned wanted help with some of the tougher homework from class

they thought you were still associated with the twins and the lounge, so they came to you asking if your brothers or Azul would be able to help since they seemed smart

at that, you laughed

"Smart? I wouldn't call them that. If they've convinced you that they're smart, then they've managed to manipulate you just like they do everyone else. Those two can't even tell when someone doesn't want anything to do with them. They're pests that don't go away."

sure it may have seemed mean from an outsiders perspective

but they heard it, and they got the point

after growing up being the outsider, constantly ignored in the family, and deemed the boring sibling, they got a little taste of what you went through

but of course, they would never be able to feel the full extent of pain you went through because of them

they completely stopped trying to talk to you after that and finally, you could be away from them

there wouldn't be any chance of them hurting you again now

[oniriver]

FYI! Spoilers later on, (depends on what you consider spoilers tbh, but I wanna be safe). None for orv really, more so sctir considering that's the medium where I will specifically dive into a certain character's actions. I'd say the spoilers go until roughly the end of the Japanese Dungeon arc. Along with some mentions of Crescent Moon.

So there are a lot of parallels to be drawn between orv characters and sctir characters. I mean, despite having different stories, the backstories and personalities of some characters are similar between the two universes. You can talk about Kim Dokja and Han Yoojin's self-sacrificial natures, the fact that Yoo Joonghyuk and Sung Hyunjae have both had their existences worn out by a more powerful existence, etc. Now while those are definitely interesting parallels, I could probably go on hour-long rants about them, they are surprisingly not the parallels that have plagued my mind for months. The parallel that I constantly think of (unfortunately) is one between Uriel and Jellyfish. It's honestly a bit of a weird comparison, I am aware of that. However, I have come up with a ridiculous amount of justification for it in my head. (Whether the justification is good or not is, uh, certainly debatable).

So with that, please hear me out:

I want to start by saying I won't try to argue about Uriel and Jellyfish's similarities in terms of morals. I think, morally, they are very different characters. Uriel has a strong sense of justice, she is known as the Demon-like Judge of Fire after all, while Jellyfish, suffice to say, has very few morals if any at all.

Despite all of that, I will argue their similarities in terms of being an obsessed fan. Anyone who reads orv can see Uriel's love for Kim Dokja and how much she admires him, (to the point where a huge portion of the fandom looks at her and goes "just like me fr"). The real argument would come in the form of whether Jellyfish is a fan of Han Yoojin. This, in my opinion, is less glaringly obvious when presented in Jellyfish compared to Uriel.

Now, why do I think Jellyfish is a fan of Yoojin? While I could bring up her obsession with him, that isn't really concrete evidence in my opinion. One could say Diarma was partially obsessed with Yoojin, (constantly trying to catch and or kill him), however, Diarma was certainly not a fan of him. I feel that the reason behind Jellyfish's obsession with Yoojin is important and what she is willing to sacrifice to get him.

Let's start with their initial meeting. I don't really have much to say about it other than it was the start of her interest in him. Although in fairness, anyone would find him interesting considering he is an F rank constantly surrounded by S ranks.

The next meeting is the one in Sung Hyunjae's house, where Jellyfish attempts to coerce Han Yoojin into signing a contract with her. The thing is, this barely benefits her. At the time Jellyfish didn't know Yoojin was connected with the immoral people, she thought Sung Hyunjae was. So if she made a contract with him, it wouldn't matter to the immoral people (from her pov at least). Furthermore, Han Yoojin is an F rank. Not a born S rank, not even a regular S rank, an F rank. Other than his qualities as a caregiver, nothing (skill-wise) really sets him apart from others of his rank (again, specifically from Jellyfish's pov). Her job as a Filial Duty Addict is to recruit powerful people and, as much as I love him, Han Yoojin's rank does not reflect that. Yet despite that, she still takes an immense interest in him. So much so that she bends over backward, willing to accommodate ten people of his choice, some of which don't have to be S ranks, just to get him to sign her contract.

Later, in the Japanese dungeon, when Jellyfish has the chance to leverage Han Yoohyun's safety (considering Earth was about to collapse until Gyeol/Changling intervened), she no longer offers the choice of picking ten people to save. Instead, she only promises to save Han Yoohyun, because Yoojin wouldn't be willing to leave Earth without him. I think it's important to note that despite Han Yoojin knowing multiple powerful people who are special even among S ranks, Jellyfish only cared about a deal with Yoojin. She ignored Sung Hyunjae whose power was fostered by Crescent Moon. She ignored Bak Yerim who, despite not being born an S rank, was special through her water manipulation. She ignored Moon Hyun and Noah despite them also having interesting attributes (Moon Hyuna constantly going against born S ranks and Noah being an A rank who turned S rank through the Filial Duty Addicts intervention). She ignored Peace who, despite being a monster, was incredibly intelligent and loyal to one he perceived as his caregiver. Even Han Yoohyun, who Jellyfish offered to bring, was only offered a chance at survival because of Han Yoojin and not his nature as a born S rank or the fact that he constantly fights said nature. In the end, despite the fact that you could argue everyone in the dungeon was unique in some way, all she cared about was Han Yoojin. I simply find that noteworthy and I feel it reflects her thoughts on him.

So in my opinion Jellyfish is a crazed fan who is willing to collapse a world or two just to get Han Yoojin's autograph. And while Uriel is certainly more normal, (though she has her moments occasionally), I think their obsession with the main character is at least slightly similar.

Thank you for reading my nonsense <3

[alanshee-keeper-of-realms]

He's a Loser baby, but I Want him to be My Loser, Baby

Tw: Attempted end of life,

Synopsis: After Angel tries to end himself, Husk decides to finally do something...even if that means his loyalty is on the line,

A/N: so I have a theory Husk is going to free Angel, this plays out the Theory,

.

Husk would never forget hearing Charlie scream, which was saying a lot seeing as they were in Hell number one, but knowing it's someone you care for, he and the several occupants of the hotel had been relaxing a relatively calm day. Angel hadn't come down, but he had had a rough night, the former overlord had been wanting to keep a closer eye on the Spider Demon since he was happier, and not in the masking type of way

Husk had seen the signs of being suicidal before, the relaxed nature as they knew that they'd not have to worry soon,

He would blame himself for the rest of his existence for not stopping Angel before he went to his room,

Charlie had offered to go check on him worried something was wrong, (oh was it) Husk literally flying up the steps with Vaggie as Charlie knelt over Angel who was on the floor, one of the angelic blades they had just used on the ground beside him

And the blood, oh sweet lord it was everywhere, but his ears perked up, he heard straggled breathing and produced a mirror holding it in front of the others face he saw it fog and realized the other was still alive,

"Charlie I need you to get him on the bed Vaggie you bandage him, he's just unconscious."

The anger and fury he felt, he knew who this was the marks that littered the others form besides the damage Angel had done, that he'd hidden this was so much worse, he felt something snap,

Marching out of the room he was already formulating a plan, the biggest thing hinged on getting a certain radio demon on board, Alastor made him jolt as he appeared, he hated when the other did so,

"You wish to request something my dear Husker?" He purred, eyebrow raised

"Yeah, I want to challenge Valentino for Angel's contract, but I have ta ask you first. All soulsI get, go to you. Angie, though I want to offer im his freedom if I can"

His smile deepened, and Husk could see the glee in the others' eyes. However, of course, he'd be happy about this

"Gambling for another soul quite entertaining however if you manage to pull this off I think in the case of him rejecting his freedom it would be much more entertaining for me, for you to keep his soul,"

The overlords eyes widened, Alastor would allow that?

"Hopefully you did not fail in your quest Husker,"

The demon disappeared but the former Overlord knew he had permission and with a new fire in his heart he marched out of the hotel in down to the studio

Marching inside he yelled out

"I wanna talk to this asshole Valentino!" Making several gasp but others looked instantly interested

"Your the kitty who plays barkeep," Velvette appeared with a snort,"Whatcha want with Val he's bein a cry baby, Angel fuckin shirked his work,"

"He didn't shirk it he tried ending it!" Husk growled, making the other workers again gasp even Velvette seemed a bit surprised before a nonchalant look replaced it, as the door slammed open revealing a pissed off Valentino

"You you're one of those Hotel people tell Angel to get his fluffy little ass back to work" he snarled getting up in the others face husk shoved the other back

"Angel is currently comatose because he tried ending his life, Valentino which is why I'm fucking here. I want his contract" More gasps came from everybody around them

The Moth Overlord raised an eyebrow slowly slinking around the other, before laughing

"Do you really think I would give up my best workers' contract?

"One Round of Poker All or Nothing, if I lose I work as your mole if you lose I get his contract and soul," he knew he had to play up the other's ego to get him to agree to lure him," think about it Valentino you would have someone actually competent to listen in"

Husk new Alastor would know, but he was counting on that if worst came to worst,

And like he planned his words made the other Overlord pause and think,

" interesting proposition, Fine one game. With Angel not being able to work I'm going to have to struggle to fill in the rest of the schedule anyway you can be assured he will be punished thoroughly for it," he snarled as a table was drug over

Holding a hand out both of their abilities flaring as they shook hands and the deal was set

It was a difficult match purely luck whoever God Favored right now would be shown, Valentino laid down his cards smirking it was a four of a kind, a nice decent hand but Husk started laughing as he laid down a royal flush taking down the other overlord, he had won he didn't believe he still had it after he had lost to Alastor but here he was standing victorious once more showing his luck was still on his side,

"Oh shit," he heard Velvette mutter, a smirk on her face, a hand covering her mouth

Valentino for once looked stunned and for a moment Husk saw himself perhaps the biggest loss in his life, but the moth was forced to produce the contract and hand it over, he shrugged however immediately trying to play it off

" oh well I'll find some new bitch to be my star, and not like anybody will want his leftovers,"

Husk felt rage at the other's words, but with Angie's contract in his hand, he just focused on that the sheer euphoria he had done it, he could feel the others soul and he could not believe how warm it was despite everything the other had been through, it was almost loving and caring, he raced back to the hotel and saw Alastor standing on the balcony leaned on it

"Good show Husker, Angel Dust is awake he awoke when he felt something shift in his very soul." The other purred, with that smug grin the former overlord hated

He only nodded and headed for the other's room, Charlie caught him halfway there

Husk allister said you were going to do something-"

He pulled out the contract and she gasped" I bet it all,"

He let out a small noise as the princess of Hell embraced him tightly, hearing her murmur

"Thank you Husk," nothing more needed to be said he understood what she was saying

"Of course Princess,"

Before she let go and watched as he headed for the bedroom carefully opening the door he saw angel on his side curled up

"Come to stare at the failure?" Came from him,"can't even kill myself properly, now Valentinos gonna-"

" he's going to do nothing Angie, Please look at me,"he interrupted not wanting to use the contract to force the other that would go against what he was trying to do

After a few moments the other slowly turned over his eyes were red and it broke husk see the other so hurt bandages wrapped around him bags under his eyes slowly the other approached and tenderly wiped the tears away,

" how can you promise me he can't do anything he has my soul-"

" Angel he doesn't have it anymore" fear entered the other Demon's eyes and husk sighed and pulled it out that made Angel sit up wincing but the absolute shock written on his face

"Husk... how did you?"

" I saw you on the floor angel and I couldn't take one more minute of seeing you hurt, I blame myself partially for what happened I knew you were suicidal because I've seen it before but I didn't say anything. So I challenged Valentino to a poker game where I would be the mole they were looking for if he won and if I won I got your soul in contract as you can see my luck is still with me,"

Tears entered Angel's eyes, and Husk knew the realization was hitting him that all the years of abuse were behind him because Angie knew Husk would never treat him the same,

" I will free you, but only if that's what you want truly-"

A finger was placed to his lips to silence him, Angel was shaking his head,

" I have been underneath a overlord for as long as I can remember I honestly don't know what I would do but I do know it would be self-destructive I don't know how to behave without well someone to help guide me. If you're willing to take on this loser, I wouldn't mind having you as my Overlord, especially in comparison to that piece of shit,"

Holding up the contract, Angel felt the collar appear, but it disintegrated. To his surprise, the contract also disintegrating however, Husk gently took one of his hands, a ring appearing glowing bright orange it lit up the room, and Angel gasped before it faded and disappeared

" Guess we're both losers under the same umbrella, huh?" The spider demon smirked

Husk smiled placing a kiss to the others hand making the other grin,

"And baby that's fine by me,"

[aphrodite1288]

Since EXO-L Japan has said that Kyungsoo’s contract with SM has ended but he will continue to participate with EXO, wouldn’t that mean his participation with EXO is by “honor code” or more like SNSD’s situation and not an actual “group contract” situation like SuJu? 🤔

Before it was told by SM that he will be doing Group projects under SM with the members tied by group contract as he himself confirmed he will be still active as an Exo member. This is usually what SM does with their artists who want to leave but still want to remain active in their band. Because you CAN'T still work in a company you resigned from with no legal contract to protect you and for you to get your profits. But apparently they've done an exception with ksoo , it's not the case with other SM artists who left and still promoting in their band. I'm reading now Koreans are saying Ksoo didn't sign a group contract like the one the members signed, but he may have signed an exclusive Group Contract to promote with Exo in Exo group activities but SM won't be controlling him, he's not obliged like the other members!! Because entering a company let alone working in it in massive group projects, is not possible unless you have a certain type of Contract tied up with them, just like how idols from different companies collaborate and work together, they sign special contracts , so there must be some special exclusive contract SM needs to sign with His company SOOSOO for him to still take part in Exo's schedules and comebacks, but what's the status and title and conditions of this contract? still yet to be confirmed.

There are many people blabbering left and right now, I don't wanna spread baseless rumors I will share with you the exact details about his situation when I get the correct Legitimate info.

So just like I said before, don't expect him to be in EVERY schedule of Exo, it would be optional for him.

Anyway Freedom for Ksoo Yeeehaaaaw!! 🎉🥳🎊💃��💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

All Of Me {Part 13 of 13}

Pairing: Robby Keene X Reader

Chapter word count: 1.9 K

Summary: Being the new girl in the Valley wasn't as bad as you expected, and you were finding your place when the dynamite you were living into exploded. You were kicked out of your house by your stepfather with nothing but a backpack with a few pieces of clothing. There was nowhere to go, and you were preparing yourself to spend the night in the streets when a guy finds you. After being invited to crash at his place, you didn't know the war you were walking into. A war you became determined to end.

<- Previous part (12)

{Cobra Kai Masterlist}

How It Ends

It's a hot day, but there's a chill on your spine. This is it. This is the day it all ends.

You won't be competing, much to the disappointment of Sensei Kreese and Silver, but you're the backstage, among Cobra Kai. They're a perfect mix of happy and angry, ready to win. You do your best to keep up with them, smiling and throwing some insults around to the other dojos. You always make sure the Senseis will hear it, and assures them over and over again that you'll be one of the best next year.

Maybe you will, but not under the guidance of Kreese and Silver. But you don't wanna think about that now. Today is the last day of this stupid war.

“Hey, babe,” Robby calls, and you leave the others, following him to one of the school's empty halls. Robby is getting ready, the gi still open as he holds the belt in one hand. “I think you should go. Kreese came to ask me if you're feeling alright. I think he's reading through you.”

Oh... “That's not it. Mmm...” This is Hawk's fault. Before you had the amazing idea of getting your wrist broken, he came up with an idea of his own. One that he made sure would reach the Senseis' ears and skip Robby's. “Before I went to Tori for the-” You show him the cast. “-Hawk kinda wanted to help and he made up this story...”

“...What story?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.

“That, well... That I could be pregnant. And I think Kreese bought it like the dumbass he is.”

Robby's eyes go wide, and then he chuckles, and then realization takes over his face. “That's why Kreese has been saying that I can't be like my father, and getting you a health care plan... And other odd topics...”

“We both have a health plan now, thanks to LaRusso.” Working at the car dealership is great, but you had to make up a huge excuse for the Senseis. They think it's some plan to screw them up from the inside. And the speed to which they fell for that lie only tells you more about their personalities. They gave you a place to stay, and expect you to stay by their side no matter what, and do what they say, no questions asked.

They don't do good things for the sake of being good, they give expecting to get something in return.

“Well, at least they don't suspect anything.”

“They don't.” You whisper back with a smile.

“But you should go watch the fights with the audience. Power will swift by the end of the Tournament, and I want you at a certain distance when that happens.”

“If they try to break the deal they signed, they'll both end up in jail.”

“Oh, that's for sure.” Sensei Silver comes out of nowhere, and you feel yourself getting cold from head to toe. How much did he hear? You were both speaking so low... “They thought they were setting us up with that contract, but they'll lose. We have double the number of students they, and our training shows no mercy, just so you, my young warriors, will have no mercy left in you for the enemy.” Silver comes to stand next to you, a hand on your shoulder. “You look pale, (Y/N). Why don't you go and sit down with the rest of the people? Once we win, you're free to join us, of course.”

Kreese told Silver. But you don't mind. “Sure.” You mutter, giving him a half-smile before, spetting closer to Robby. “This ends today. Go and beat some asses.”

“I'll make sure to throw some punches for you.” Then he leans down and kisses you, making sure to caress your belly in a way Silver could see. That makes you want to laugh, but you hold it back.

You wondered with who you should sit, not to raise any suspicions. But it doesn't matter, not anymore, so you join Moon, who welcomes you with a bright smile. “Ready to see it ending for good?” She asks, because of course Hawk told her everything.

“So ready,” You reply, and you settle down.

Twenty minutes later, it begins.

The Tournament went back to the traditional competition. Robby told you it had some major changes last year, but because of the scandal, the changes were postponed until next year. So this time, you have the classic competition, with the dojos facing each other one after the other.

Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do, and Eagle Fang soon take the lead, and halfway through the competition, only two other dojos have students still in the play, the Alpha Elite, and Sato's Dojo. But after a small pause, both those dojos fell.

Thing is, Cobra Kai is far above the others.

They have twice the number of both dojos combined, and you can see how Silver and Kreese are happy. They know they'll win...

And so do you. It doesn't matter how good Miyagi-Do or Eagle Fang is, the math is clear. Cobra Kai will win.

And by the beginning of the evening, Robby is in the last fight against Hawk. Again, because you know the two of them faced each other before. And you can feel the tension, the bad blood. They're not... Very fond of each other. They'd get themselves killed if it wasn't for the women in their lives. You and Moon had to pull them apart many times.

Neither of them wants to lose, that's obvious. “That's way too much testosterone...” Moon mutters, and you nod. “Wanna place a bet?”

Giggling, you turn to her and shake her hand. “Twenty bucks on my super-hot boyfriend.” You say just as Hawk makes the second point.

“Now it'll get ugly.” She mutters, holding your hand in the cutest, girliest way. “Next point settles it.”

“Next point settles it.” You repeat, watching as the two guys fight. Robby takes a second to find you in the crowd, giving you a wink and a smile that makes your cheeks start burning. The next thing you know, Robby hits Hawk real good and gets the third winning point. You can't help but jump, yelling his name, feeling butterflies when he looks at you again.

But then, it's all clouded by the big announcement. The one you have been waiting for so long.

And what you predicted just happened.

The trophies are brought, and then, it's settled. “Ladies and gentlemen, once again, Cobra Kai is the winner of the All-Valley Karate Tournament.” And the audience goes crazy, yelling, clapping, and throwing their hands up.

One of the men with a microphone comes and gives the trophy to Robby. It doesn't take much until Kreese and Silver approach him, all smiles, touching the trophy as Robby holds it above his head.

But that's when it happens, you're still frozen in place, trying to get a glimpse of Robby, the senseis, and Lawrence and LaRusso too, among the sea of people, as they walk to the middle of the crowd.

What gets you moving is the sudden, aggressive voices. The people spread out, and you see Silver and Johnny facing each other, ready to fight. Pushing people aside, you quickly get to the center of the action, standing next to Robby.

“Don't play games with me, boy.” Silver tells Johnny, yells at him. “We won. Again.” He smiles. “You and the Miyagi-Do are out of the game. For good.”

“No.” LaRusso comes from somewhere, with the same layer that was there when they signed the papers. “If Cobra Kai wins the All-Valley Tournament this year, its management and ownership passes back to Johnny LaRusso.”

“It is written on the third page.” The layer says, stepping forward with his copy in hand. “Both of you also agreed on the complete cessation of aggression against any student of the Cobra Kai, now under Johnny Lawrence's ownership, Miyagi-Do, or Eagle Fang.” That makes both Senseis stop. Silver looks at Kreese, whose eyes are as wide as a blind man trying to see again. “If you break the contract, we can move against you. And you won't win.”

“I don't–” Silver barks, looking at Kreese. “You're an idiot. Do you sign this? You made me sign this?” Both men are about to start fighting when a bunch of policemen comes forth, holding them and taking them away.

“The-the Tournament of this year is over.” Someone says in the microphone. “Please, I ask you all to leave.” The man has to raise his voice a little, above the crowd and the protests of the former Senseis.

You're only brought out of your state when you feel Robby's touch. “(Y/N).” He says, moving to stand before you. “I know you're in shock, but I kinda need to ask you something.”

Shaking your head slightly, you run a hand through your hair, taking a deep breath. “What is it? What happened?” You mutter, looking around, searching for whatever trouble could be coming your way.

“Would you marry me?” He says, and you... You freeze, looking up at him as he takes your hand in his.

“What... I don't...” The words echo in your mind, but you're positive you heard it all wrong. “I don't get it...”

Robby smiles, his entire face lighting up. “I have a speech prepared but it's way too loud for you to hear it. So I'll cut it short for now.”And when he gets down on one knee, you know you heard it right. “I know we're young, and people will look at us like we're crazy teenagers making a mistake... But I want you in my life. It's the only thing I'm sure about... (Y/N), would you marry me?”

The answer is stuck in your throat, as the tears roll down. As people around start to realize what's happening, the voices die down. You're nodding when cameras start to focus on the both of you, but you don't mind.

“Yes...” It comes out after some seconds of shock, and Robby gets up suddenly, wrapping his arms around you and lifting you.

Your friends start to cheer, and happiness overcomes you in every sense, to the point you're so in a bliss that everything around you looks like a dream. The best dream you could ever have.

•••

Cobra Kai was back to Johnny, and sadly, that meant some of the students, Kreese's or Silver's creatures, left. But that's fine because more students are joining the dojo after it won the Tournament again. So many, different classes had to be created with different teaching methods.

Johnny put Robby to teach some classes in the evening, for the newest students, while you teach the kids and take classes with the advanced class.

The days pass by slowly, with you finally enjoying the perspective of a life without school in it. Both you and Robby are doing amazing at the car dealership, learning and putting that into action pretty fast.

By the end of the summer, you got married at the beach in a small ceremony. A heavy cloud brought a cold rain by the beginning of the evening, but you and Robby danced in the rain and mixed rainwater with the ocean.

Everyone was there, your new, loving, and crazy family. With these people by your side, you know there will be no obstacles in life you won't be able to overcome. So, when the party is over and you're going back home, you have the most amazing sensation.

Life is starting now, a life you'll love living, with people you'll love sharing it with. You wouldn't change anything about it.

@eddiemunsonsbattoo @craftytrashprincess

[mistlekissy]

i got a tiktok about harry suggesting the hiatus and zayn's call her daddy podcast where he mentions that certain people didn't wanna sign another contract etc etc and people are in the comments acting surprised like they didn't know this?? that harry was the first one to suggest the hiatus and wanted the band to end i thought this was common knowledge but i would die to be a fly on the wall when the hiatus convo went down

those ppl are def fake fans slash joined when aiw dropped lmao idr if we talked about that???? but zayn is fucking out of his MIND for saying that's the reason he left, mans trying to rewrite history SOOOOO bad. u left MID TOUR bro and didn't even tell anyone bffr u fucking left bc u got caught cheating once again and then u just called it quits all together lmao also always sooooo hilarious to me when he does one (1) thing and everyone's like "omg this is gonna be his year, he's gonna tour, he's coming back" yada yada and then he just dips again, like this is lich rally his brand

[lynxiepancakes]

spoilers ahead for s3 the bear!

okay i just woke up from the biggest nap after having the priviledge of watching the bear right as it came out thanks to a watchparty of carmysyd fans (we had so much fun they were all amazing) so i need to rant about this because i'm uPSET

i'm sure many fans will make significant, meaningful analysis over this season but i just wanna give my take on it because

guys

that shit was so bland it basically got me out of my hyperfixation-

i wanna start with the good though. because tina and nat's episode were amazing, majestic, heartbreaking, and will be the only ones i'll rewatch when it will come out in italian by august. they did such a complex, interesting, meaningful work with these women-

only to fUCKING YEET IT AWAY when it comes to Syd, which was the best woman on the screen the other two seasons.

i'm so T I R E D of women, ESPECIALLY BLACK WOMEN, having to be everyone's therapist and shoulder and rock (specifically with carmy, richie, and cicero, but also with marcus and others) without having the possibility to rely on someone else. syd was fucking babysitting/gentleparenting carmy and richie at a certain point and it gets eXHAUSTING

she was so good because she never hesitated to reinforce her boundaries, to call out men even in higher positions than hers, she didn't have this much of people pleasing tendencies and tbh as an afab people pleaser im tired of seeing that shit on screen, she was a breath of fresh air

ofc im not even talking about the sydcarmy moments because they gave us less than they ever gave us in s1 and s2 even when in s2 there was a whole romantic plot that didn't involve sydney, and yet even though she was the fucking lead in this season she got less fucking screen time than the faks? are we being forreal?

also storer wtf was going on with all the faks screentime. literally they went from being silly cute to straight up annoying dipshits that get in the way of everyone and nobody cals them out on anything as if they were kids in kindergarten my god

and the finale. it was so inconclusive, so underwhelming. like it didnt even lead to carmyclaire or syd leaving or her signing the contract it didnt feel like a finale AT ALL

and carmy was soooo self centered the entire season without any change/fix up/breaking point. he didn't even really fight with syd cos she let him do whatever he wants. they didnt even ever used the sorry sign. it's like they stripped away the emotional vulnerability of their relarionship to give all the screentime to the faks lol

i mean i do still hope in carmysyd endgame but if it doesnt happen i hope next season lucas fucks the shit outta sydney and poaches her cause she deserves better than being everyone's mom

i will prpbably change my mind about certain things when analysis will come out because im still processing everything but i cant believe i got three hours of sleep for such an underwhelming season. so so bland. im so upset.

[khiphop-discussions]

OK here's the Allkpop version (NOTE that I HATE using them as a source but its the best we have at the moment as far as translations):

Disclaimer: LOTS of speculations and opinions on my part incoming:

So it seems like Meenoi WAS aware of the shoot BUT her concerns about them signing for her with the "fake seal" (described by them as an "electronic signature") and not seeing the contract are valid. The AOMG people have pretty much admitted (and posted the proof) that she did not see the contract.

I feel like maybe Meenoi probably just forgot about this whole thing cause she had other things on her plate and probably just replied flippantly. I've done this where I agree to a certain time to meet up but I was sleeping or otherwise not paying much attention for some reason so I agree to it and then forget. Then when someone reminds me I'm like "I AGREED TO WHAT?!?!" which A) that is my fault so if she did that I can't truly excuse it B) I've never done that for MULTIPLE messages. Usually just ONE message or portion of a phone converation. So her doing it across a whole text thread is kinda a bigger issue that she needs to pay more attention

OR it could also be that she'll humor a conversation about a job BUT she won't actually consider it legit until after the official buisness (contract and all of that) are all formalized. Personally, I can kinda understand that because in business, nothing is really real until you have it "in writing" (aka the contracts). A LOT of people get screwed over by not having stuff "in wiriting" cause people can really legally just lie and say whatever. As an artist this far in her career, Meenoi has probably had that happened before. I've heard a lot of artists and people in entertainment talk about this exact thing. They'll be verbally told they got roles at an audition, just to get ghosted when they follow up or sent an e-mail later saying "Oh actually we decided to go with someone else/different direction." So I get it but if that's the case, then she needed to be more forthcoming with this in her statement. the statement where she "didn't know" isn't really the full story and it's why it could make her look bad. If it was the above explanation (ie, her flippantly replying) then she should have just left this portion out of her complaints completely because (again as someone who has done this before but luckily not when $150,000 is on the line) it's HER fault.

Also, as far as the fake seal, even though it is the way AOMG does things and it's technically legal in Korea*, I agree with Meenoi. This part ISN'T her fault. Don't electronically sign for me until after I have seen the contract because I wanna know what I'm agreeing to. It seems like that's actually the reason she cancelled. "Without modifications to the ad conditions, I can't do the shoot tomorrow" is what Meenoi said for not attending.

It was put out that she did not cancel the shoot until 2 hours prior to the shoot but it is really clear that she gave notice the day before the shoot.

Why was the contract signed before she saw it? *I missed this part but I went back and read. It turns out that the third party signing is only legal AFTER the artist has seen the content of the contract ("However, they must explain the contents and schedule of the contract in advance.") which definitely makes more sense than the 3rd party being able to sign all willy nilly.

I wonder if they had already signed the contract before Meenoi even asked to be shown it? Because the Saturday was the 27th. That Sunday was the 28th. The Monday she saw the contract and the signature had to be the 29th. So where did they get time to sign the contract if they can't access this stuff on the weekends? Either earlier in the day on Monday, which if that's the case, why didn't they tell her the contents and send everything over prior to signing? Or maybe before the day she asked. However, they didn't send it for whatever reason until she finally asked. They probably usually send the info about contracts earlier and then it hit her on Saturday like "oh shoot. What about that one shoot? Did they ever send a contract about that shoot or was it all just bullshit?"

I hope this is just general miscommunication

Yikes this meenoi mess just got worse

I heard that she's leaving AOMG (or trying to) since she doesn't trust them. Also, that the reps thought she was at risk being alone and so they contacted her family member. But that's as much as I heard cause I haven't seen the translation of her big post.

I'll look around and see if I can find more info.

EDIT: Here's a source that ISN'T Allkpop but honestly, it looks like Allkpop has the most articles on the subject: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1165150-inside-singer-meenois-muddy-fight-with-label-over-contract

[angellesword]

YOUR EYES TELL | JJK (02)

➭ You live in a world where people see in black and white. The solution to finally see the colors? It’s simple. You need to meet your soulmate and look at him in the eyes, but what if the person bound to you is already contented with the monochromatic world? What if…Jeongguk, your soulmate, is already in love with someone else?

Alternatively;

“A future without you is a world without color.”

Genre: soulmate au, e2l, unrequited love, heavy angst, fluff, lawyer au.

Pairing: Artist!Jungkook x Lawyer!Reader

Word Count: 2.7k

SERIES: CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 3

"Please, Joon. I just need to know if he's okay..."

Namjoon scratched the back of his head while looking at Red. The latter was practically begging him to spill things he's been forbidden to utter. He was sure he's just seconds away from telling her what she wanted to know, but then he's abruptly reminded of how heartbroken Jungkook was.

"Don't tell her I'm here," tears painted Jungkook's cheeks. "I don't want to see her. Not now." Or ever...

"He's not here, Red. I'm sorry," Namjoon sighed, trying to close the front door of his small apartment; regrettably, Red stopped him before the door shut in her sad face."I know he doesn't want to see me." She said with a shaky voice—causing Namjoon to purse his lips into a thin line.

"Right." He couldn't help but say. She deserved the snarky remark for hurting Jungkook beyond repair.

"But I'm worried about him. H-He was...so mad when he left."

'Who wouldn't?' Namjoon wanted to say, yet he kept his lips glued together. He needed to remind himself that although she hurt Jungkook, Red was still his friend.

"I'm sure he'll be fine wherever he is." Namjoon's caught Red's eyes. "Jungkook is strong, you know."

"I know." She looked at her feet; this caused the man inside the house to also look down. Namjoon was so busy shooing Red away that he didn't notice a big box on the ground. Judging by the looks of it, he deduced that this box belonged to Jungkook. The tower of sketchpads and other art materials was already a giveaway.

"Can you give this to him, though? I'm not sure when I'll get to see him again, and I know he can't live without this stuff, so..." Red picked up the box. "Please, Joonie..." She added when the older boy didn't say anything.

"Fine."

In the end, Namjoon gave in. He didn't have a choice. This was the only way to make her leave; however, he instantly regretted his decision when he spotted Jungkook sitting on the couch."What did she say?" Jungkook inquired eagerly; his eyes flew on the box that's juggling in Namjoon's arms. Jungkook saw his friend trip over a non-existent stone.

Namjoon was really clumsy.

"She wants me to give this to you." The older boy handed the box to Jungkook in exchange for his precious daughter.

"Ji-eun..." Namjoon cooed, bopping the nose of his three-year-old child. Ji-eun chuckled; her little finger was poking her father's deep dimple.

"Appa!" Ji-eun's eyes twinkled. She missed being in her father's embrace even though it hadn't been long since Namjoon left her with Jungkook.

Ji-eun couldn't help it. Jungkook used to be the fun uncle, but all he did now was cry and snort. Admittedly, she's getting tired of wiping his tears every second.

She wondered who made uncle Jungkook cry.

"Huh." Jungkook huffed as he examined what was inside the box. Namjoon was right. It's full of the younger boy's stuff.

"Is she really so eager to kick me out of the house that she personally brought my things here!?"Jungkook was seeing red. Profanities left his lips as acid dripped down his stomach. He's so mad at his ex.

"Language, Jeon," Namjoon warned, turning away from Jungkook. He couldn't let Ji-eun listen to the younger boy's dirty mouth. "Besides, you're the one who left."

Jungkook didn't know how to respond to that, mainly because Namjoon was correct. He was the one who left in the middle of the fight. In his defense, he was hurt. What Red was saying was too much for him—it was painful, the kind of pain he knew would forever haunt him.

"I love him, Kook."

Red's confession echoed in Jungkook's mind again. Red told him she loved her soulmate. Jungkook didn't want to believe her because how? How could she fall in love with another man just by looking at him in the eyes?

"We've been seeing each other for months now."

His question had been answered. Red was a cheater, and it's the last straw for Jungkook. He couldn't take it anymore, so he stood up.

"I hate you, bitch!"

The pain that crossed Red's face indicated that Jungkook had gone too far. He didn't mean it, but he's hurt, and this was the only way he could hurt her back.

Before Red could say anything, Jungkook was already out of the door.

It's two am in the morning. Jungkook was certain that the only awake person that he could bother right now was none other than Namjoon, his brother-in-law.

Thankfully, Namjoon's apartment was just a few blocks away from Red's home.

"Kook?" Namjoon squinted his eyes after opening the door. He's been awake for straight twenty-seven hours to the point that he couldn't tell if Jungkook was really in front of him or if he's just hallucinating.

"Hyung..." Jungkook broke into tears upon seeing his only family.

Namjoon let the crying boy inside his house.

"I ran out of tea..." This was Namjoon's excuse when he handed Jungkook Ji-eun's milk. Namjoon didn't even have time to buy his groceries since his daughter occupied most of his time.

Fortunately, it looked like Jungkook didn't give two fucks as he was already halfway finished drinking the warm milk.

It's been exactly fifteen minutes since the younger boy came knocking on Namjoon's humble abode. Jungkook had stopped crying, though he still looked a little shaken.

"Red found her soulmate..." Jungkook spoke right before Namjoon could ask what happened. Suddenly, the older boy found himself biting his bottom lip. He didn't want to pry about Jungkook's life, but then he's reminded of the wish of Hye-Jin, his late wife.

"Take care of my brother, Joon..."

"D-Do you wanna talk about it?" Namjoon asked before he changed his mind. This was the only thing he could do for Hye-Jin.

"What's there to talk about?" Jungkook hissed even though he's the one who started telling Namjoon things. The latter kept his head low. In times like this, he wasn't sure what to say.

It's not like he's better than Red. Namjoon also broke up with the woman he was dating right after meeting Hye-Jin. The only difference was that Namjoon's ex perfectly understood the situation. She knew that they weren't destined to be together.

"She cheated on me. She said she's in love with her soulmate." The bitter taste in Jungkook's mouth was still there. It only strengthened as soon as the word 'soulmate' left his lips. Jungkook continued pouring his heart out to Namjoon despite saying he didn't want to talk about it.

"She's going to regret leaving me. No one can love her the way I do!" Jungkook swore, but Namjoon's almost 100% sure he's wrong.

Seeing colors were different. It felt like everything was perfect. Namjoon couldn't deny that one of the many reasons he fell in love with Hye-Jin was because she helped him see the wonderful hues.

It's like the more he fell in love with her, the brighter the colors became. Even now that she's dead, Namjoon could still see colors. Granted that it kind of faded, it's still the best thing Namjoon was proud to experience.

The rule of the world was simple. As long as your soulmate was in love with you, the colors would always be visible in your very eyes. It would only become less bright if your soulmate died. However, the case of a one-sided love was different. People wouldn't be able to see colors if their soulmates didn't give them their hearts.

Some said that there were cases wherein people went blind when their soulmates started to hate them. Namjoon and Jungkook didn't know if it was true or just a myth. After all, they hadn't encountered people who apparently 'went' blind because of the mentioned reason."I'm telling you, hyung. She'll come to see me soon."

Jungkook was right. Two weeks after their fight, Red showed up. Unfortunately, it's not to beg her ex to come back. She only returned a box full of his stuff, a clear sign that she's officially kicking him out of their shared apartment.

"How can she do this to me? It's my house too!" Said Jungkook nine days after Red's appearance in front of Namjoon's apartment, it finally dawned to him that his ex was no longer a part of his life.

It's really over.

Jungkook realized this while staring dumbly at his ruined sketchpads. Ji-eun accidentally spilled a glass of water on her uncle's drawing.

The mixture of pain, anger, and frustration caused Jungkook to scream. He couldn't possibly be mad at a three-year-old kid; that's why he just directed his negative emotions to the fact that Red practically kicked him out of their home—his home.

He was aware that Red's name was written in the lease contract, but Jungkook paid this year's rental fee. He's broke at the moment. This being the case, Jungkook swallowed his pride to come to live with his brother-in-law. The thing was, it's getting hard for him to stay there. Namjoon had only one room, so Jungkook slept on the couch—wait, this wasn't about right. Jungkook didn't even get to sleep. Ji-eun's cries wouldn't allow him to do so. Aside from this, the little kid had also ruined her uncle's drawings countless times now.

"Seriously, Kook. You need to move out of your brother-in-law's house." Taehyung pouted his lips.

Jungkook couldn't decide if he could take his friend's advice seriously, at least not when Taehyung's tongue was basically down Jimin's throat.

"I can't afford to lease a new place." Jungkook scrunched his nose, eyes still focused on the disgusting public display of affection in front of him. "I only have forty dollars in my bank account."

"Oh, you poor thing." Jimin slightly pushed his boyfriend's chest to dodge his kisses and to be able to look at Jungkook.

Jungkook snorted. He didn't want to be babied, especially not by Park Jimin, who he met just a few months back.

Park Jimin was Taehyung's real soulmate. It was still weird seeing them together. All his life, Jungkook believed that Taehyung, his childhood best friend, was a straight man. Taehyung dated a lot of women before; he also seemed to enjoy being with them.

This was one of the reasons why Jungkook hated the idea of a soulmate. It was a complete bull. It was unfair to let fate decide who you'll end up with. Jungkook witnessed Taehyung's struggle after meeting Jimin. He was happy that he could finally see colors and that it didn't take him long to like Jimin, but Taehyung was so confused.

Like Jungkook, Taehyung also thought he was straight, but then his world suddenly turned upside down. Before he knew it, Taehyung was crying. He was too overwhelmed with what was happening, and Jungkook hated it. The latter didn't care about genders; he supported those who didn't identify themselves as heterosexual. Jungkook hated that people had to limit what they thought their gender was just because of the concept of soulmate. Again, it was not fair.

"But I can help you..." Jimin added as he took a bite of his frozen yogurt. They were currently inside of an ice cream shop. Jungkook had to get out of Namjoon's home since it was getting hard to look at his ruined works. He called his best friend to help him destress. Jungkook just had to let his frustrations out. Luckily, Taehyung and Jimin were more than happy to treat their younger friend some frozen yogurts. Jungkook ordered three of the said dessert.

"No, Jimin." Taehyung said as if he'd read his boyfriend's mind. "Jungkookie isn't going to suck your dick for money."

"Aw." Jimin's lips protruded into a sulky pout, making Jungkook roll his eyes. Sometimes he couldn't believe the couple's relationship. Jungkook knew that Jimin was only joking, but Jungkook thought he couldn't let the love of his life think about someone else's body. He was pretty possessive.

"We can call Yoongi-hyung, though. I think he's in the mood for some dicks—"

"Guys!" Jungkook groaned, cutting them off. His eyes were widening too. "Can we stop talking about dicks for five seconds? I have a serious problem here."

"Oh, right!" Jimin's eyes lit up. He also cleared his throat—an action that made Jungkook sigh in relief; at least he's getting serious now. "You need to find a roommate, Kook. Lucky for you, I have a friend who's looking for a housemate. I think she could cut you off some slack."

The younger boy's scoff was almost instant. "Cut me off some slack?" He narrowed his eyes at Jimin. "I don't want to owe anything to anyone. You know that."

Jimin shrugged his shoulders, taking another bite of his frozen yogurt. "It's not like that. You'll actually be the one doing her a favor. She's in dire need of a roommate, Kook. She wouldn't mind if you couldn't pay rent right now, as long as you're willing to keep the house clean and look after her cat. You can do that, right?"

Of course, Jungkook could. He was an artist; he spent most of his time inside his home, silently drawing whatever came into his mind.

"Huh." Jungkook was still skeptical. "Can't she just hire a maid?"

"Wish it was that easy. She's a mess. Not even her maids can tolerate her shit. Besides, her cat is a total bitch. She scratches anyone that's not her owner."

"I'm not sure..." Jungkook scowled. He wasn't sure if he could live with a stranger. Jungkook was a shy boy; it actually took him a long time to even say 'hello' to Jimin.

"Just think about it, Jungkook..." Jimin smiled warmly at the younger boy. "I swear she's a decent person. Yes, she's messy, but aside from that, she's fine. She doesn't pry on anyone's life; she's quiet, just like you, and oh! She likes banana milk too! I swear, Kook. You'll like her!"

For some reason, Jungkook's heart skipped a beat. He knew Jimin was kind, he's the type of person who always talked about the good qualities of a certain someone, but this was the first time he spoke about someone with such passion.

Jimin continued to talk about you, his lovely best friend. If you could hear him right now, you were sure you'd end up crying. Jimin was indeed the best friend you could ask. He's fiercely loyal.

"It's true, Kook. You'll love her." Taehyung talked about you with the same intensity. He had met you, and he instantly fell in love with you. You were smart and witty.

The couple continued sharing things they loved about you. Jungkook swore he's not easy to convince. The only acceptable reason why he's standing in front of your apartment was that Taehyung and his boyfriend knew the magic of words. They had done an excellent job convincing him.

Jungkook let out an exasperated breath when you still didn't answer the door after his ninth attempt to knock. Truthfully, he was getting pissed off.

Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.

Just as when he was about to leave, the door suddenly opened with so much force. Jungkook was startled.

"I'm sorry, I was in the shower. I swear I heard you the first time you knocked, but I was panicking, so I slipped down the floor, and I..." You ran your hand through your wet hair, eyes widening when you saw your fingers covered in soap suds.

"Oh, my God!" You were panicking again. This time, you finally looked at Jungkook to see his reaction.

You were rambling about how this whole situation was so embarrassing, but Jungkook wasn't listening anymore. How could he focus on anything when his heart was beating this fast? Jungkook was pissed before he met your eyes, right now; the irritation he felt was rapidly boiling down to panic when he realized what was happening.

Colors.

Jungkook was used to seeing black and white, so imagine his confusion when the colors suddenly became visible in his eyes.

Nothing made sense to him, but one thing's for sure.

Jungkook had found his soulmate.

[twoghostslarrie]

I'm confused because Liam said he wanted the band to stop because it would have killed him if they kept going. The only person who had a bit of a hard time adjusting at the time was Louis and he said so himself.

I agree with the thing about Zayn leaving, and it clearly hurt Louis too but it is what it is and every one is all good now.

We'll never know the inner workings of what happened. We can have theories sure, but Zayn said in the Call her Daddy podcast that "certain people didn't wanna sign certain contracts" and he wanted to selfishly be the first to leave. How true is this, no one knows. There is speculation that it was Harry who didn't wanna sign the contracts, maybe because he saw what the band was doing to each of the members personally.

My thought

Does anyone else think what One Direction did to their fans was completely fucked UP? Let me explaine

Zayn leaves the band- which was completely selfish on his part. It wasn't selfish that he wanted to leave and wasn't happy, it was selfish the way he did it and he even said so himself. There was a way to do it more smoothly and not in the middle of the tour where people have paid to see him. He could have had an open discussion and let the band know that he wanted to leave. Honestly if I remember correctly, he left because fans caught him cheating on Perrie in public. After that picture came out of him holding hands with another girl, they broke him their engagement and he left the band. Anyone else remember this?

"Hiatus" - This wasn't a Hiatus. This was legit a breakup/ They lied to fans saying they were going to come back and had people waiting for years and years and years. For what? Why can't you just be honest and say you don't want to be in a band anymore and you broke up? Personally, I would rather have the truth and be hurt then be lied too and be even more hurt in the end.

Poor Liam. He loved the boys and always wanted the reunion, but certain people knew they were never coming back (AKA Harry Styles, Niall Horan) why couldn't they just be honest with him? I bet it would have helped him get closure.

I really believe that Liam and Louis were the only ones who wanted to come back and that is why their bond was so strong.

I don't think these boys were ever true friends. Liam even said in an interview once that it got Awkard after the band went on hiatus. I wonder why

[tim-stonker]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, mentioned Georgie Barker/Melanie King Characters: Jonathan Sims, Martin Blackwood, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Elias Bouchard, Melanie King, Alice "Daisy" Tonner, mentioned Basira Hussain, im sorry queen it was a 5+1 and u were number 6 Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, more like AU elias isnt a bitch, 5 Times, Mutual Pining, implied Nonbinar Jonathan Sims, he's gnc, Getting Together, Comfort No Hurt, bc we need that, Just Pals Being Soft, dimples as a plot point Summary:

5 times people didn't see jon's smile plus the 1 time someone did

i wrote some gay shit about jon smiling and it became this. whole thing is under the cut, check it out on ao3 if u wanna !

-5

Jonathan Sims was an unexpected candidate for the position of Archivist, following Gertrude Robinson’s rather abrupt retirement (Elias still wasn’t sure if she was actually telling the truth when she said she wanted to spend more time travelling with her grandson. He didn’t even know if she actually had a grandson.) When word got out that there was an opening for head archivist, it surprised both Elias and Jon’s manager when he put his application into the pool. While Jon wasn’t the highest position in Research, he wasn’t at the lowest tier either, and everyone knew that being Head Archivist was much like being the mayor of a ghost town. Sure, you had a fancy title, but not much else. The Archives were in the basement, they were cold and dusty, and typically, if a budget needed to be cut, it was the Archives that took the brunt of the slashes. But, Jon was organized, faked his confidence well enough, was willing to put in the work, and, if Elias was being honest with himself, there wasn’t exactly a queue out the door to take over the vacancy that Gertrude left. 

The interview went well enough, though Jon was clearly filled with nervous excitement. He kept reaching up to tuck his hair behind his ear - it was too short to stay in place, but much too long to not be a bother. His voice almost echoed in Elias’ office, strong and precise, even when he struggled with some questions that Elias asked about his strengths and weaknesses. Elias appreciated the way that Jon carried himself, the slight aura of grandeur and pride that he seemed to give off, contrasting starkly with his awkward attempts at being personable. 

Though Elias told Jon that he’ll be in touch within a few days to inform him whether or not he’ll be transferred to the Archives, he’s already certain that there’s no better candidate, and, if nothing else, he loathes having new hires from outside the Institute. He can overlook a few missing qualifications if it means he can cut down on the number of interviews he has to conduct. 

Elias waited a few more days, finished up more interviews, and found his suspicions were correct. Jon - despite the roughness around his edges, and his lack of a library sciences degree (an aspect that makes Rosie raise her eyebrows at Elias when he mentions it) - is the best fit for the archives that Elias has. He calls Jon into his office again, watching as Jon delicately maneuvers into the chair on the other side of Elias’s desk, fingers picking at the sleeves of his cardigan.

“I’m happy to tell you, Jonathan, that after much consideration, that you have been promoted to Head Archivist. Your transfer from the Research department will be put through promptly, and - unless you have any objections - you can begin your new role as soon as next Monday. Congratulations.”

As Elias spoke, he watched as Jon’s eyes widened, eyebrows raise, as the tension melted out of his shoulders. The corners of his lips seemed to flicker, wanting to curl upwards, but not quite able to.

“I, oh, wow. Thank you, Elias. I, uh, I’m really excited to be working in the Archives.” Jon stammered out. His voice had less of the confident bravado that it had during his interview, and while that would usually make Elias reconsider his choice, the fact that all of Jon’s nervous ticks seemed to have disappeared sated his concern.  

Elias nodded, hummed, and launched into the less fun aspect of promotion, namely discussion of new contracts, pay raises, the fact that Jon would be able to ask some of his co-workers to become his assistants, but any vacancies will be filled at Elias’s discretion. Jon nodded along and asked the appropriate questions at the right time.

Perhaps he’s just bad at expressing emotions, Elias thought, though the thought is both fleeting and insignificant. It gets pushed out of the way, quickly, and is discarded, not to be thought again. 

When the meeting was over, Elias stood up to show Jon to the door. Just before Jon left, Elias stuck his hand out, and once again said, “Congratulations, Jon.”

Jon looked startled for a second, before reaching out and giving Elias a hearty handshake.

“Thank you, Elias, really,” Jon replied. While saying that, the corner of his mouth twitched once again, and for a moment, Jon’s face began to break out into a smile. Eyes excited and bright, before he schooled his expression back into one of vaguely happy neutrality. 

Elias released Jon’s hand, and when his office was once again empty of everyone except himself, he briefly wondered why anyone cares enough about smiling to prevent themselves from doing it.

Like most intrapersonal thoughts, though, Elias waved it away, going back to his own work, just glad that he didn’t have to get Rosie to put up any more job listings on Linkedin. 

-4

Tim was surprised when Jon approached him with the job offer. Sure, he and Jon had worked together for a few years and Jon frequently complimented Tim on his work and whenever Jon actually showed up to work get-togethers, he seemed to awkwardly stick to Tim’s side like glue until the event was done. But Jon always declined Tim’s invites to non-work social gatherings, and sometimes it was hard to tell if the snark in Jon’s voice came from malice or…. Something else. 

Tim had chalked all that up to awkwardness or to Jon’s work ethic, but for some reason, he never thought that Jon actually considered Tim to be a friend, even though he did tentatively think of Jon as one. So it was rather shocking when Jon marched up to him, a small stack of papers in his hands at the end of the workday, and announced, 

“I’ve been promoted to Head Archivist.”

“Oh, well, congrats, Jon,” Tim said, smiling. He clapped Jon on the shoulder. “Yeah, I heard you put your application in.” Tim didn’t mention that he heard because some of their co-workers were making jokes about hoping to see the last of Jon, with his insane work ethic and snappish remarks. 

Jon nodded. “I’m also allowed to pick my own assistants since many of Gertrude’s have quit or been reassigned since her absence.”

“That’s cool.”

“I was wondering if you would like to join me in the Archives, Tim.”

“Oh,” Tim said, eyes widening. Jon looked straight at him, unflinching, though his hands were curled into tight balls at his sides. This was certainly unexpected. 

“I think we work well together. You do really good work, and while I’m not exactly sure what… extra work transferring to the archives will entail, I’m that your presence will be beneficial.” Finally, Jon broke Tim’s gaze. “Also, I… quite enjoy your company.”

“Wow, well, thank you, Jon,” Tim managed to stammer out. He looked at Jon’s now sheepish expression and how his cheeks had taken on a slightly red tinge from the honesty. “Uh, can I… think about it? For a few days? It’s just… kind of a big change.”

“Oh, of course, Tim,” Jon nodded earnestly, passing Tim the stack of papers, which Tim now saw as a would-be employment contract, with different sections highlighted, presumably the parts that Jon thought Tim would find important. Jon made like he was about to turn to leave before he paused and said, “Also I. I won’t be offended if you decide to stay put.”

“Oh, I know,” Tim said, even though he wasn’t sure why he knew. Jon nodded again.

“Well, see you tomorrow.” And with that and a brief wave, Jon walked away, leaving Tim to stare at the employment papers and to think about what to do. And Tim did consider it. He had a pretty good thing going on in the Research department. He was well-liked, and many of his managers said that he could probably get promoted to a higher position with a better salary in a few years, and though the entry position of archival assistant was better paying than his current gig, Tim knew he was never going to get promoted from that role. 

Tim had friends in Research, but he also had friends in artifacts, and finance, and HR. The more he thought about it, it wasn’t like his work-social life would end if he went to the basement. And, as much as his co-workers liked to poke fun at Jon, Tim did genuinely enjoy his company. He liked his wit, and snark, and the way he tried to play off his awkwardness and usually failed. And despite his somewhat clumsy attempts at socializing, anytime Tim talked about his life outside of work, Jon listened, made jokes, and was friendly. 

Jon was also quite easy on the eyes, in his own strange way. 

Tim found it wasn’t really much of a hard decision after all. So when he walked into work the next day and tossed the signed contract on Jon’s desk, all he said was, “It better not be as dusty as everyone says it is.” 

Before walking off to his own desk to finish up his own projects, for a moment he thought he saw Jon duck his head to smile. But when he looked back, Jon was just holding the contract, and though his eyes were happy, his face was straight. 

-3

Sasha enjoyed her work as an archival assistant, despite all the dust, and Jon’s moodiness, and the strange errands that the statements sent everyone on. It was an unorthodox job, cleaning up the decades of bizarre filing that Gertrude left, hunting down follow-ups from people who were clearly drunk, sick, or delirious at the time that these ‘occurrences’, well, occurred. 

She certainly enjoyed her co-workers, basement dwellers that they were. While archives and research had many employees and had been on floors where different departments mingled, the four of them - Tim, Sasha, Martin, and Jon - were stuck down in the cool basement, surrounded by files, and books, and old foundation. While she had been on amicable terms with Tim before, the forced proximity brought them much closer, and she was happy to meet and befriend Martin. Pretty quickly the three of them began to go out for drinks after work, plan dinners, and movie nights, and get-togethers on weekends. They sometimes invited Jon, but the answer was also unanimously no.

Still, despite Jon’s rebuffs at having a social life, Sasha always felt like her relationship with him was… different than the others. While Tim and Jon had prior acquaintanceship, Sasha only briefly knew Jon in research; and Jon was either oblivious or blatantly ignoring Martin’s crush on him, rebuffing his attempts of flirting and courtship with harsh words and mumbled, unfocused ‘thank yous’ when Martin brought him tea. 

It surprised her how highly Jon thought of her, and how well they got on. 

“Here’s that statement you were after,” Sasha said, after knocking on Jon’s office door. Jon turned in his chair to face her, hand outreached to take the folder when she got close enough.

“Thank you, Sasha,” Jon said, as he grasped the folder. Sasha nodded and was about to let go when she glanced down and saw Jon’s hand.

“Is that nail polish?” She asked suddenly, voice coming out more accusatory than she intended. Jon snatched the folder away from her, curling his fingers into his palms as soon as the paper hit the desk surface. He still wore his face of neutrality, but his jaw was tense. Sasha was surprised at how defensive, and how quickly, Jon reacted to the question, but immediately saw she needed to remedy it. She quickly added, “It looks nice.”

As soon as the compliment was said, Jon seemed to relax a bit. His jaw unclenched and slowly he unfurled his fingers. His nails were a simple black, though it was a messy job and they were already chipping. 

“Oh, thank you.” He said softly.

“Did you do them yourself?” Sasha asked, even though she couldn’t imagine Jon asking for help to do his nails.

“Yes, er. As a child, I always wanted to paint my nails but I couldn’t, so.” He held up his hands, wiggling his fingers. “They’re not very good, are they?”

Sasha shrugged. “Pretty good for a first time, though. Next time you’ll want to push your cuticles back first, and you should probably get a varnish too. It’ll stop them from chipping so much.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you, Sasha,” Jon said, clearly not expecting advice. Sasha gave one last nod, and a, “No problem.” before leaving Jon’s office. 

After that - or maybe Sasha just noticed it more afterwards - Jon seemed to come to work ‘prettied up’ more often. He seemed to listen to her nail advice, and while he often sported plain, black nails - sans chipping, thanks to the nice clear coat he put on - a few times he came into work with blue, or red, or green nails. While Martin and Tim always complimented them, if they noticed, Jon began going up to Sasha to show her every fresh set. Often it would be a week or two between appearances; Jon seemed to just let the previous coat chip off completely before repainting them, approaching Sasha with his hands curled in a way so that he could view his own nails before showing them off to her. Sasha always made sure that she seemed excited to see them, even if they weren’t always that good. The way that Jon seemed to loosen after every compliment, the way his face would soften just a tad made it worth it. 

Soon it became their little routine, even as Jon’s habits changed. While it started with nails, soon Jon would awkwardly approach her to show off the fancy braid he just learned how to do with his growing hair. Often, they were messy and uneven, large strands falling out of the cheap hair ties, but Sasha would say it was nice, before offering to fix it for him. Jon always declined, disappearing into his office and coming out later, braid abandoned and hair in its usual neat bun, but Sasha always offered. For a while, Jon had taken to looking at the clothes Sasha came to work in, awkwardly complimenting her on whatever coat or blouse or shoes she had worn. It took Sasha a few times to realize what he was saying - or at least thinking. 

“I like your skirt,” Jon mumbled one day, as he and Sasha walked into the archives. “It’s very pretty.”

Sasha hummed, looking down at it. It wasn’t anything fantastic, just a black a-line skirt with a vaguely plaid pattern, long enough to be work-appropriate without annoying her. She mostly wore it because the growing pile of dirty laundry in her flat left her few other options. 

“Thank you, Jon,” she replied, before pursing her lips. “You know, I think you would look quite nice in a skirt.”

A bold move, Sasha knew, but after Jon sputtered for a moment, he managed to choke out, “You… you do?”

“Oh, yes. You got nice, slender legs, and if one a little longer it would just add to the frumpy librarian look quite nicely.” Sasha laughed a little, unable to resist the urge to tease a little. Jon gave a polite chuckle and nodded. 

They repeated this process a few more times, over a few weeks. Jon would give Sasha a sincere, if not a bit bumbling compliment on her wardrobe or appearance (often for items Sasha did not care for that much) and after thanking him, she would flip it around and say, “I think this lipgloss colour would suit you better than me” or " a blouse like this would make your collarbones look good” or even being as bold as saying “You should get a dress like it, then we can match.” 

Jon would brush the comments off with a laugh or a denial, but Sasha could see the wheels in his head-turning, the way he would occasionally look at whatever pair of pants he was wearing that day and frown. 

Eventually, Sasha’s hard and not-so-subtle work paid off when she saw Jon shuffle into the archives, not in his usual attire of plain cardigan and button-up, tucked into a pair of boring pants, but with a new look: a cardigan and plain button-up tucked into a shockingly boring skirt. It suited him, though; the long grey fabric skimming his ankles, the way it would flow behind and the way his feet would kick it in front. Jon’s fingers seemed to be absent-mindedly twisting themselves into the fabric, as he made his way towards his office.

Sasha was right; Jon did rock the frumpy librarian look.

“Good morning, Jon,” Sasha greeted, cheerfully. Jon looked up.

“Morning, Sasha.”

“New wardrobe?” She asked, nodding at his outfit. Jon seemed to falter a little, standing still, waiting for her assessment. “I like it! Really suits you.”

And while that was a bit of a lie - Sasha found it to be a bit boring, and she would never have even considered buying herself, though it did quite Jon wonderfully - Sasha couldn’t bring herself to feel the least bit bad, when she heard Jon mutter a soft, “Thank you,” before hurrying to his office. For a split second, Sasha would have sworn that his lips were pulled into a smile, thought for a moment she saw a flash of his teeth, but he was opening and closing his office door before she could confirm.

-2

Despite all her grumbling, thrown insults, and jabs, Melanie didn’t actually dislike Jon. Well, no, she did dislike him, immensely. He’s smug, and rude, and has a know-it-all attitude, and he absolutely did not take her show seriously. But, behind all of that, he respected her abilities and her competence, if not the way that she uses it. She thought of it like she wouldn’t want anything to hurt Jon unless it was her giving him a good slap around the head. 

Still, when she ended up hanging around the Archives more - and shockingly, no one, not even Jon, tried to stop her - after her show fell apart and took most of her professional network with it, she’s surprised how much common ground she shares with Jon. At first, they needed someone else in the room with them, to grease the wheels of conversation - either Sasha siding with Melanie every once in a while, or a well-timed joke from Tim, or Martin’s placating tone - but every time they found themselves able to stand each other without any assistance, even starting their own conversation. Without her show, with its staged dramatics and clickbait titles to feed Jon’s antagonisms, they find that they have similar opinions and histories with the supernatural. 

“Most statements and stories are completely false,” Jon had repeated many times. But soon he began to add, “But the ones that are real are… deeply concerning, and hard to come by.”

More than a few times Jon had caught Melanie digging through filing cabinets, looking for a statement with a shred of truth in it, anything to follow up or make a story out of. After the third time that Jon threw open the door to the filing room and nearly gave himself a heart attack when the light illuminated Melanie’s hunch over figure, reading through a pile of folders that she most certainly was not going to put away properly, Jon sighed and asked, “Why don’t I just give you some statements that seem real.”

Melanie looked up from the file in her hand that she was about to discard. “You’d do that? Isn’t that against ‘policy’ or something.”

Jon rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it’s no more breaking rules than allowing you in here in the first place.” He eyed the pile of statements on the floor, the open drawer with crumbled papers shoved in. “Besides, I’m tired of having to spend an entire day refiling after you pop in.”

And so, Jon started keeping track of statements he believes. First on sticky notes, then on looseleaf paper, and eventually in a notebook so that Melanie can keep track as she goes along, Jon wrote down the name and case number of what he believes are credible cases, and Melanie dug them out of their dusty tombs. Even if she didn’t put them away - which she rarely did, can’t go making Jon’s life too easy, she thought with a grin - it was clear that he appreciated knowing exactly where they came from. She still browsed around, skimming through statements that Jon doesn’t believe, but she puts those ones back where she finds them if they weren't worth her time. 

Their strange friendship continued like that for a few months. They steered clear of personal topics, even, no, especially,  as Melanie began going on dates with Georgie. Occasionally, a personal detail would slip in; Jon mentioned that he hates denim skirts after telling Melanie about a statement that, for some reason, explicitly mentions them (“And what makes you an expert on what women should wear?” Melanie asked, annoyance clear in her. 

Jon furrowed his eyebrows. “What? No, I’m talking about me. I hate wearing denim skirts.”

“Oh,” Melanie says, the wind coming out of her sails. “Uh, me too.”). At one point Melanie mentioned that she loves artificial blue raspberry, which made Jon scrunch his nose in disgust. Before they knew it, Melanie and Jon knew about the other’s thoughts on movies, books, fashion, the weather, politics, animals, food, and whether or not Rosie is dating that one woman from HR.

It was a slow and gradual shift, one that caught both of them off guard. But neither was anxious to prevent it and really, Melanie was kind of interested to see where it would go. It’s with that thought in mind, seeing how this will go, that she throws a folder onto Jon’s desk. He hadn’t looked up when she knocked and entered without waiting, but with the manila folder obscuring whatever paperwork he was doing, he sighs and lifts his head. 

“Yes, Melanie?”

“This statement was misfiled,” Melanie said, glee and gloating oozing out of her voice. She cackled when she saw Jon scowl, arms crossing automatically. He glanced down at the casefile.

“It most certainly was not,” Jon huffed, picking it up. He doesn’t even mention how it wasn’t a file he gave her, so keen to prove her wrong. “It was filed by year, 2006, subsection ‘non-human creature’, subsection ‘false’ and-”

“Exactly,” Melanie interrupted. “It’s not fake.”

“What do you mean it’s not fake.” Jon narrowed his eyes. “It’s about a bloody sea monster!”

“A sea monster which is described in another statement from 1984,” Melanie threw another folder onto his desk, which Jon hadn’t noticed in her hand in his haste to disagree, “And, one that causes damage similar to this accident report,” Melanie unlocked her phone and shoved it into Jon’s face. His eyes crossed and squinted as he tried to read the news article on the screen. “Which, by the way, all occur in the same region of the Barents Sea.”

Jon lifted his eyes from the phone screen, still slightly glaring at Melanie. He looked away after a second, raising a hand to scratch the side of his face.

“Well, then, I guess we will have to look into it some more,” his voice was different than what Melanie was used to. Behind the movement of his hand, Melanie thought she saw some falses of teeth and saw a slight twinkle in his eye. He quickly dropped his face, expression and voice back to normal, “But, this is not permission for you to go back to rummaging through my files!”

Melanie grinned wolfishly, putting a hand on her hip. The gentle voice and expression were already leaving her mind. “Like I ever needed your permission, Jon.”

-1

It was almost surprising how well Daisy got on with Jon. She supposed it was because they were both a bit quieter than the people around them, got a bit more drained from human interaction than others, a bit more like old souls. Only, Daisy was more of an ‘old soul’ because the thought of all the therapy she had to go through years ago still made her tired and because she was literally about fifteen years older than everyone else in the Archives. 

“Why is it that your joints hurt more than mine even though you’re a baby?” Daisy asked, after finding Jon laying on the floor of his office, hair and dress fanned out on the floor. When she had questioned his state, he just mumbled, “m’back hurts.”

Calling him a baby made him grumble more. “I’m not a baby, I am a grown man-”

“More like an old man.” Daisy joked, sitting down cross-legged by his head. “Seriously, you’re too young to be aching this much.”

Jon shrugged, shirt rustling against the carpet. “I’ve always ached. I guess having a desk job just made it worse.”

Daisy nodded. She couldn’t really relate; all her old aches hadn’t been physical, and before the archives all her jobs involved in a lot of moving - whether it was fast food as a teenager, or retail as a young adult, and then the police. 

“You should go to a chiropractor, get a massage.” She suggested.

“Chiropractor and masseuse are two different professions.”

“Piss off, you know what I’m saying.” Jon rolled his eyes and squirmed a bit on the floor. 

“I don’t like the thought of someone… massaging me.”

“It feels really good,” Daisy replies, thinking back to the few massages she had gotten in her life. “And chiropractors don’t really massage, they just snap your joints back into place and then give you weird exercises to do.”

Jon shrugged again and didn’t say anything. Daisy wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t have anything to say, or if his previous movement made something along his spine twinge. After a minute of silence, with Jon’s face occasionally morphing from boredom to discomfort, Daisy got an idea. 

“Stand up,” she said, getting to her feet herself. Jon looked up, startled.

“Why?”

“Just do it,” Daisy stuck her hand out for Jon to take. With a little effort, Jon sat up, groaning a little, before taking her stand to stand. As soon as he was upright, Daisy reached down to hold Jon from under his armpits.

“Uh, Daisy, what are you doing?” Jon asked, arms sticking straight out, stiff, as Daisy brought his body closer to her.

“I’m going to reset your back,” Daisy said, as Jon’s face squished against her shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ve done this a few times, it usually helps.”

Jon mumbled something, before yelping when Daisy stood closer to her full height and he was lifted a few inches off the ground. Jon’s arms instinctually went around Daisy’s shoulders, even though she was fully supporting his weight. 

“Okay, you gotta relax your body, untense your muscles- Jon that is the opposite of untensing. There you go, okay, you’re going to hear a crack,” She said, before squeezing Jon into her body, forearms pressed across different parts of his back. There was a loud crack as she felt Jon tighten his arms around her and give a little yell into her shoulder. 

She loosened her grip, but still held him close for a second, just in case. She felt his mouth move against her shirt, and at first, she thought he was mumbling something, but then the movement ceased for a few seconds. Another small movement, and then no motion once again. Finally, she lowered Jon to the floor and released him. He stood, and quickly went to smoothing out his shirt.

“How’d that feel?” Daisy asks, noticing how he wasn’t automatically going back to lie on the ground. Jon stilled for a second, before saying,

“It feels a lot better. Thank you, Daisy.”

+1

Martin knew he wasn’t subtle, at least not when it came to Jon. He knew practically anyone who came down to the Archives could tell he had a crush, knew that his attempts to coddle, and talk to, and make Jon proud were just about as sly as painting a banner that said: “I WANT TO DATE JONATHAN SIMS.”

He almost couldn’t help it. Sure, he had gotten a bit better at not letting Jon treat him like a doormat over the years - sometimes Jon even seemed pleasantly surprised when Martin told him off for being mean - but there was still an undeniable urge to be gentle with him, to treat him kindly, to make him smile. 

Not that anyone had any recollection of Jon smiling - hell, Tim even made a few jokes that Jon was probably in a terrible accident as a smile and ‘broke his smile muscles, but left his annoying muscles intact’. It wasn’t very funny, but Martin and Sasha still laughed. 

Still, in some masochistic kind of way, Martin enjoyed this prolonged courtship. And even though his friends were sure that nothing was advancing, that Martin was still being a pining fool (which wasn’t an inaccurate description) and Jon was still being an unrequiting idiot, Martin was sure that he was making progress. Jon and he were having more… moments. More times where they would make eye contact and Jon’s face would soften, more conversations where Jon would ramble off-topic, at ease and relaxed, before remembering himself and Martin and roping him back into the conversation. There would be times where Martin would pass Jon a cup of tea, mug angled so that Jon could easily grab the handle, and yet Jon would take the mug in such a way that their fingers would brush. Sometimes they even lingered there, the heat of ceramic burning his hand, almost unnoticeable in comparison to the heat of his face as Jon glanced at him through his eyelashes, saying, “Thank you, Martin.”

Maybe it was just because no one else was privy to these moments, or maybe Martin really was just a yearning fool, desperately grasping at anything that suggested Jon returned his affection, but no one else seemed to understand these moments or take them seriously. 

“Your crush is getting out of control,” Tim said one day, after watching Martin bring Jon tea in a mug covered in hearts. “Like, legally speaking, I think it’s too much.”

Martin rolled his eyes. Jon had stared at the mug for a few seconds before taking it, and even though it was still piping hot, much too warm to comfortably drink, he took a sip as soon as it was in his grasp. “This is lovely, Martin. Thank you.”

“Leave it alone, Tim, it’s fine,” Martin replied, going back to sit at his desk. 

“No, it is getting a bit ridiculous,” Sasha agreed. “I mean, how long have you been after him? Like, I love Jon, trust me, but he’s either oblivious or ignoring your, uh, flirting attempts.”

“He’s not ignoring them.”

“So he’s just oblivious?”

“I don’t think so.” Sasha and Tim looked at him strangely. He sighed. “Look, things are fine, okay? It’s fine, just let me… do my thing.”

“Fine, we will ‘let you do your thing’ but, for the record, you probably could have gotten with at least three people in the time that you’ve been lusting after Jon,” Tim said, earning a laugh from Sasha. 

But it was fine, whatever he and Jon had. It was certainly more than what he had been getting before, and even though he wanted more - chest aching at the sight of a frazzled or tired Jon, feeling the need to brush his hair out of his face, to press tender kisses to his eyelids, the near unbearably desire to just hold him, and care for him - Martin wasn’t unhappy. And somehow he knew Jon wasn’t either. 

Sometimes Jon even sought Martin out, intentionally leaving his stuffy office only to walk over to Martin's desk and chat with him for a few minutes before returning. Often he would have to return a minute later, muttering about leaving a pen or a pencil or a hair tie. (One time, as Jon turned around to leave, Martin saw the pen on the edge of his desk, and said, “You left your pen.”

Jon had turned around, looking almost disappointed. “Oh. Yes, thank you, Martin.”

He collected his pen and returned to his office. Martin didn’t see him until he said goodbye for the night. The next time he saw Jon dropping something at his desk, he didn’t mention it.)

When Jon actually remembered to eat lunch now, he would only come out to eat if Martin hadn’t eaten already, as he had taken to sitting either across or directly next to him during meal times. If Jon was sitting next to him - usually because Melanie or Basira were sitting across the shifty breakroom table - Martin could feel Jon gently, almost shyly, pressing his knee against Martin’s leg. Jon’s face was always blank, but if Martin made any move to shift away, Jon’s head would snap towards him until contact was either completely broken or restored. 

Of course, there wasn’t an easy way to explain this to anyone else. How could Martin have possibly hoped to quantify glances, and touches, and the new intonations when Jon said ‘Martin’, the name now completely different than what Jon used to call him, despite no letters changing. How to explain it when no one else seemed to notice the magnitude of these changes if they noticed the changes at all?

So Martin rolled his eyes and made jokes with the others as they teased and prodded him about his ‘crush that was going nowhere on the boss’, and hoped, like so many times before, that Jon couldn’t hear them through his office door.

As pathetic as it sounded, Martin was prepared to play the long game, to continue this dance he and Jon had begun as long as it took, to tolerate the unbearable loneliness that crept up on him at home so long as he got to see Jon at work, to keep bringing him tea every day until, well, until something happened, or until one of them left the archives. Martin had made peace with that fact, though he loathed to admit it, even to himself. 

And then, Jon asked for his help one day. 

“Can you stay late with me this evening? I need some assistance looking into a statement.” Jon had been formal, professional when he asked. 

“Of course,” Martin said, if not because any time spent with Jon was a good time (usually, not even Martin was in deep enough to enjoy some of Jon’s moods), then because he did take his job seriously. “Anything you need.”

“I can stay behind too if you need extra help,” Basira offered, turning to look at Jon.

Jon nodded at her. “Thank you for offering, but I’ll only be needing Martin.”

And he has to admit, hearing that did bring warmth to his face and to his chest.

The help that Jon needed was minimal. Some of it was just reaching a file of a self that was too high since the stepladder that he used to use had broken, and Martin knew that Jon had too much pride to ask for help reaching something when everyone was in. Otherwise, all he needed assistance with was looking over a few files to see if a name popped up in all of them. All in all, it only took about half an hour, including the time it took to re-sort the files and put the relevant ones on Jon’s desk. 

As Martin was preparing to leave, Jon approached him one more time, also clad in his winter coat and bulky scarf tucked under his chin. He stood in front of Martin, looking intently. Martin waited for, well, something. Jon took a deep breath.

“Would- Are you- Do,” Jon scowled at himself, took another breath and reached up to tug his scarf lower again so that more of his face was visible. “Martin, would you like to go out to eat with me?”

“Yeah, of course,” Martin replied, cheeks reddening slightly. Jon paused for a moment.

“I mean this as a date.”

Martin looked at Jon, bundled in his winter wear, hair slightly tangled, fumbling over asking Martin out!

“I knew that’s what you meant,” Martin said with a smile. He looked down at Jon’s hands, clenched tightly into themselves. He reached a hand out and carefully brushed a finger along the knuckles of on. “Of course, I would like to go on a date with you.”

And when he looked up, he saw Jon smiling, and it felt like seeing the stars for the first time. Jon always said he looked much older than he was, which Martin was inclined to agree, but when he smiled, he looked more his age. The tiredness and stress that plagued his expressions disappeared under the glow of his grin, eyes crinkled, and. Dimples. 

Jon had dimples, nestled in between his smile lines, a secret that Martin knew he was now the only one in the Institute besides Jon who knew they existed. 

“You have dimples,” Martin said, a smile creeping onto his own face. “They’re cute.”

Jon sputtered a, “No they’re not!” and Martin could see he was trying to return his face to its usually impassive expression, but it seemed that every time he got close, his grin would break through. Eventually, Jon tugged his scarf up to cover his mouth, but Martin still saw his eyes crinkled, somehow still felt Jon smiling through the layers.

“They’re cute,” Martin repeated, wanting to pull Jon’s scarf down again. This want was different than what he usually felt, a desire not tinged with sadness or loss. Maybe it was presumptuous, but Martin knew that this urge would be met. Maybe not now, but soon. 

And Martin thought about Jon’s smile, even when he asked, voice muffled behind the layers of wool, where Martin wanted to go to eat, and would Martin like to walk, transit or take a cab there, and, and and.

Martin thought about Jon’s smile, knowing he was one of the few people to see it, knowing that he would get to see it again

[noona-la-la-la]

I got a secret to confess... last year I found out I've got hpv, I was really surprised about it because I only had been with 3 guys in a period of two years, always using protection, I felt totally disappointed with myself like It was my fault for fucking or something even when I didn't hook up with many guys or anything. The doc told me It is possible to contract hpv even while using a condom so I haven't had sex for the last 9 months because I'm afraid to spread it to another person +

+ I feel as I will never be able to enjoy sex with another person again, I never had a boyfriend but if I had I would be so afraid of telling him that I have hpv and afraid of passing it to him even while using a condom you know? I have had plenty of opportunities to have sex in these past 9 months but I just can’t :( I feel so frustrated about it, I wanna have sex, I don’t want to just get myself off.. There are girls who fuck everyone without a condom and don’t contract anything, why meeeee?

Before we get started, I’m going to make a public service announcement to everyone reading this:

GET YOURSELF VACCINATED FOR HPV!!! BOYS AND GIRLS! MEN AND WOMEN!  FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET THE FREAKING VACCINE!!!

The vaccine does not prevent all types of HPV, but it does protect against the two strains that are most likely to cause cancer.  While the vaccine is most effective if you get it before you become sexually active, you do not need to be a virgin to benefit from the vaccine! EVERYBODY! JUST GET THE VACCINE!!!! ASK YOUR DOCTOR IF YOU ARE A CANDIDATE FOR IT TODAY! (it generally isn’t used for people over the age of 26 years – not sure why exactly.)

So… on to the rest of what I want to say.

HPV is incredibly common – if you have sex, you will very likely come in contact with HPV.  Period.  As you now know, HPV is transmitted through skin to skin contact, so using a condom will prevent some contact but not all contact and won’t guarantee your protection against infection.  There is no accurate way to test men for HPV – so your male lovers could have it, show no signs, and have no way to know they have it.  Even in women, the only accurate way to know you have it is after irregularities show up in your pap smear (pre-cancerous cells) or you end up with genital warts.  You might not show signs of HPV for years after contracting it, so if you’ve had sexual contact with more than one person in your life, it’s impossible to know which one gave you HPV.  

I was reading today that there was a study done where they followed a group of women who were in long term monogamous relationships with men.  These women had only had sex with one partner in their entire lives, although the men may have had other sexual partners before becoming monogamous with this particular woman.  At the end of 3 years… 50% of the women showed signs of having contracted HPV.  So imagine if you have had a few sexual partners in your life – you are almost certain to get HPV at some point.  Those girls who are fucking all kinds of guys without condoms that you think never get sexually transmitted infections?  I promise you, they all certainly have contracted HPV at some point.

There are over 100 strains of HPV.  A few can cause cancer, although not everyone who becomes infected with that strain will get cancer.  Other strains can cause genital warts.  Sometimes you might not have any signs at all that you have HPV.  There is no way to cure someone of HPV, however, if you have a healthy immune system, your body will likely be able to kill off the HPV on it’s own.  But that could take months or, in some cases, even years.  So that means, you can get it, recover from it and then be immune to that particular strain – but there are so many strains,  you are likely to come in contact with a different kind with a different lover.

So what is the right thing to do when you have been diagnosed as having HPV and you would still like to have a sex life?  I don’t really know.  I don’t think anyone has a clear answer for that.  We’re talking about an infection so prevalent that almost everyone who is sexually active will come in contact with it, there are no reliable tests for your partners to take, no cures (although you will likely be able to recover from it on your own), condoms won’t prevent it, and has multiple strains with multiple possible effects on the body - many of which also cause no negative effects and others that can be more serious.  A bunch of people reading this have it right now and don’t even know it.

The CDC website indicated that 25% of all sexually active people have a case of HPV right now.  That’s just right now.  Considering it can come and go, that means a LOT more people who will have it at some point in their sexual lives.  So don’t think you can’t ever have sex again, you just need to learn as much as you can so you can make sensible decisions that you will be comfortable with.

Here’s an article about HPV and Relationships.

Here the web pages for more info on HPV from the Centers for Disease Control.

Planned Parenthood - easy to read information on HPV, signs, prevention, etc.

This is what I mean when I say that having sex always (and I mean ALWAYS) has some risk attached to it. I don’t want people freaking out over that fact – because the reality is there is some risk involved in everything we do. The only thing we can do is take all reasonable precautions, educate ourselves thoroughly, and then try to go about living our lives. 

[mistlekissy]

okay i read the transcript of zayn's call her daddy podcast episode he didn't really say too much that stood out to me and we kinda already knew but he mentioned meeting harry while auditioning for x factor so that was funny bc i feel like he and harry have the most beef but he's the only one he mentioned by name. Also said that he left the band because he could tell it was coming to an end and that certain people- most likely harry- didn't wanna sign contracts and were doing other things and so he just wanted to leave first and wanted to be the first one to put out music and also said that they were sick of each other by the end/ there was tension but we knew that already. She mentioned the yolanda incident but didn't necessarily ask what happened and he was just like i just don't really say things publicly or whatever so.

bless u 🙏🏽

[louisdebut]

So like, using your logic on why you hate H: they're both free, but H was intelligent enough to choose a good team, and Louis wasn't? I really don't get this hate based on things you don't even know... You don't think H&L are an item, so why it's everything H fault? Last I heard he wasn't L PR team. And you know what is funny? Yesterday you were all about "H blacklisted 1D evil!", and guess what? He didn't, it was the first thing he talked about. It must be sad hating on people just for notes 🤗

wtf i had written so much and my page refreshed but ok… here we go again”

“H was intelligent enough to choose a good team” first off, you have to admit harry always had a big advantage over the other boys since day 1 with all the label pushing him as frontman (mostly because they thought he had a pretty face let’s be honest here). louis and niall literally didn’t sing during the xfactor. do you realize how certain his team has to be that he will be huge?? they are investing in him for three years, with no signed contract until last year basically! as i see it, none of the other boys could’ve had this. they weren’t the ones who sang half of the albums even if their voice wasn’t the best. they weren’t the ones the media was always up the ass. they weren’t the ones who got the name bigger just by dating taylor swift. they weren’t the ones people were always saying should go solo and it’s the only one that matters in the band. which team would wanna invest years in advance when they don’t know if they’ll benefit from it? and also, maybe the other boys wanted to stay loyal to the band lmao maybe they didn’t have big plans to go solo as soon as they could??? louis literally said we were the ones that gave him the confidence to do it, so i imagine he wasn’t plotting a world domination three years ago… also i think we have very different concepts of what a good team is. a good team is supposed to tear harry apart from the band in every way possible? to sell him as above the band? to allow trashing of the other members just to put harry in a good light?? to have been giving him advice for years as to how to make himself look like a “star” and to get away from the boyband image? this is the team he chose, the one he treats as “family”. his team can be really good and efficient in terms of promo, and cunning in terms of image (i will not say good because his image could be a looot better tbh), but they’re still trash. he’s always been put on a pedestal by his team/1d label/the media/the public and the fans (mostly larries) would always say “poor harry! he’s not free! he doesn’t want this! he loves the band! he doesn’t wanna be seen as a womanizer! he doesn’t wanna be put above the others! ot3 vs harry! blah blah blah” but he literally embraces it. this is his image, i don’t care if you dont like it or not, it’s what made him and it’s nothing but benefitial to him.

and wtf don’t i know?? i know just as much as you lmao i can assume things the same way you can. i don’t think everything is harry’s fault, obviously i’m always saying how much i hate louis’ team, but louis would be way better off without this harry-praising and insistence to put the others down for it. do people talk down the other members when talking about niall’s music? liam’s? no. not even zayn’s promo had this blatant trashing of the other members. louis’ would be way better off if this harry pedestal never existed. so how can you tell me harry has nothing to do with louis’ bad image if whenever they talk about harry something like “questionable edm music” comes up??? aaand i’m not just mad at harry because of louis’ situation lmao that’s more recent. i started being mad because of the putting himself above the band thing.

i didn’t see what was said in his interview, what i saw on my dash was that he talked about both babies??? wow inspiring. and now in billboard’s site ((VOTE FOR LOUIS HE’S LOSING BY A LOT http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7752511/one-direction-members-debut-solo-singles-poll-vote?utm_source=twitter__))  i’m seeing he said none of the boys heard his song lmao how cool! friendship goals!!!! but like i said before, his team is ingenious, harry won’t do anything that will make him look bad, and not talking about 1d would do that, so it’s literally nothing more than his obligation, and it would’ve been fucking weird if he didn’t, so at least he didn’t do that. come here when he doesn’t swerve questions about the future of 1d. it doesn’t matter what he said, he can’t erase the past and how he always put himself before the band.

and louis literally isn’t free… he’s the only one still with syco!! why?? i have no ideia, i just know he’s probably not happy with it, otherwise his bff wouldn’t be out here shading them at every opportunity he has… i have my theories but i wont get into it now. 

and wtf makes you think i don’t like him for notes?? lmao  i’ve always said what i thought and i don’t even get that many notes, i didn’t get any before, this is literally the only place i can vent, it’s not my fault more people are relating to it lmao bye

[disease-danger-darkness-silence]

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/07/salvation-army-busted-discriminating-transgender-people/

As recently as last year they were still at it.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4422938/amp

https://thinkprogress.org/why-you-should-still-be-skeptical-of-the-salvation-army-de7c096b5758/

As recently as 2013 they were advocating against homosexuality. And they have ALWAYS been political. They lyin' to you, boo.

https://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/our-community/faith-in-life/christian-ethics/TSA-not-apolitical

Hell, their own NZ peeps specifically state that they're not apolitical. They don't do endorsements, but they actively state that they seek to influence politics, repeatedly, all over the world. And then they post a thing stating they don't do that.

And if you want some personal experience, the Salvation Army is responsible for our power getting shut off when I was 12 in the dead of winter. They're the reason my younger sister didn't have a Christmas the year I came out (in 2000. Not long ago enough for them to whitewash, cuz they can't count on us gays dying anymore). They're responsible for my parents being homeless while my mom was pregnant with me. And we're white and my parents were married.

That wasn't one branch. That was three separate branches in three separate states.

That said, even if you wanna bury your head in the sand (FYI, I donate to lots of charities that help poor people, and even help run a drive for supplies for homeless people - one shitty charity going under will not lead to the end of charity. In fact, in the Reno area, the Salvation Army is the LEAST helpful charity to go to if you're poor), what about their shitty practice of not paying married women and instead issuing their paycheck to their husband (assuming the husband works for SA as well)? (What it is is that the married man makes 40 percent more than a single man does and the wife works for free. It's literally a contract the married couple signs.) Or the fact that they use tax loopholes to make sure their higher-ups don't have to pay property taxes on their own homes (these people are loaded, btw). Or the fact that they pay female pastors 2/3 what they pay male pastors? Or the fact that they've been busted MULTIPLE times throughout their history for refusing to pay people minimum wage? Or that they'll make donations to places that are desperate for funds but only if those places do certain things that are considered discrimination by wider society? That they often FORCE you to attend a service before they'll even put you on the list for services? (The reason my parents were homeless while pregnant with me is because my dad missed a service... To go work. And they stopped helping them.)

Look, I don't side with Wil Wheaton on a lot of politics, but you're using your unique personal experience to attempt to erase widespread facts. You know, the thing we leftists try so hard to NOT do because the Right does it constantly.

I acknowledge that the SA has helped you immensely. I have provided proof, and there is additional ample proof out there as well, that your experience, while valid, is not the norm for this organization.

Just because one of Wil Wheaton's friends is a douchebag doesn't invalidate the facts.

Could you please shut up about the Salvation Army? I'm get you hate poor people, but please don't reblog misinformation that will hurt funds to hungry families and in-need children. They are LGBT inclusive and do not, as a policy, employ bigots. Please check yourself.

I … hate … poor … people.

Okay. Clearly, you know what you’re talking about.