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littlemisslipbalm · 5 years ago

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“you get me” (famous!y/n x harry)

Famous!y/n x Harry Styles

First Harry fic so please be kind, but feedback is SUPER appreciated

Initially inspired by the picture of Harry leaving the Gucci store with 15 bags but barely has anything to do with that lol

Definitely thought of Ellen for the interview idk why tho - also I struggle with writing Harry’s dialogue because I really want to get it right, but hopefully the more practice I get, the better/more natural it will sound. ALSO i have like no music or music industry background lol. Somewhat proofread, but its 2:30 am so it could be shit

Fluff!

Warnings: maybe some angst over being famous per say, past loneliness

Word Count: 3.7k literally howwww, i’m going to do a pt. 2 though because it was kind of a long set up and feelingsssss

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Interviewer: Please, welcome our next guest, a woman who’s sure to have her name written up beside the music greats someday, Ms. Y/N L/N!

You can’t contain the grin that spreads to your face as you carry yourself out onto the stage and see the audience cheering for you. It was your third big interview since your first album had been released and you’d seen your fame skyrocket over night. This being the third one this week meant you’d gotten comfortable getting asked questions, but you also weren’t bored of it yet. It was exhilarating being the center of attention, especially for something that had been your life’s work up until this point. You always had to fight for whatever you got and the recognition you were starting to have was reassurance that you hadn’t been a fool to risk a safe and certain life for your dreams.

The interview begins as the rest had, a few pleasantries, how you were feeling, and then the introduction of the album. The host asked you what your inspiration was for some of the songs and the album name and cover. You loved to talk about the music, it was the whole reason you were there. The meaning, the sound, the name, it all meant so much to you and you talked about how music can be interpreted differently by everyone and even the shifts in someone’s mood can change a song’s meaning, but what it meant to you at the time of writing was always something specific. You practiced those answers in the mirror before the interviews because they were important to you and you didn’t want your words on your art to ever be misconstrued. The host then complimented your style and you were at the point where you thought your interview should be wrapping up when they asked you one more question, and it threw you for a loop.

Interviewer: So Y/N, we’ve been hearing some rumblings around, about you and another famous musician, Mr. Harry Styles. Anything going on there?

Your face heated up, you hadn’t been expecting a personal question about possible relationships. Nothing like this had been asked of you at your previous interviews. It’s about the music, the art, and who you were, it’s always about that and nothing more. To be honest, you were a bit annoyed the host had chosen to stray from those topics. You didn’t care for the celebrity side of being a famous musician, the lack of privacy, the prying eyes of media and the general public. They saw enough of you through your art, you bore your soul through music why did they want to peak into your heart as well?

Y/N: I don’t know if I’d rather be with Harry Styles or actually be Harry Styles. Like, he’s literally such an icon, I want to be able to walk out of a Gucci store after spending hours there with 15 bags full of my purchases and helpers to carry it all out c’mon… He’s also an amazing songwriter, musician, and performer, of course. Didn’t mean to sound superficial, but I’d also love to own even half of his closet.

You hadn’t really answered the question, but the audience laughed and the host obviously got the hint that you weren’t interested in fanning any flames of romance with Harry Styles or anyone else. For one, you didn’t even know the man, but you had always been a loving fan of his. You cited him as one of your role models when you were first starting to try and break into the music world. Second, if you did know him, that wouldn’t be an appropriate topic for your album press junket going on, even if it meant more publicity because of Harry’s big celebrity status. The host decided to qualify their original question with a final sentiment.

Interviewer: I totally feel the same way! I only ask because the outpouring of support you’ve received seems to be from similar groups who also follow Harry. Many have been comparing your sound to his solo career work.

Y/N: Ah...well that’s very kind of people to say. He’s definitely a big inspiration, his creativity and drive is incredible. I’d love to be as successful as him someday.

The interview ended. You and the host shook hands and you waved and sent kisses to the crowd before retreating backstage. You were exhausted, but happy. You hoped to avoid anymore stressful interview questions that didn’t truly revolve around music. Of course, life is never that simple.

One month later

You had done countless more interviews and talk shows as promo for your album and the buzz around it had continued to grow. Your fame continued to rise as well and that one question you had dodged at your third interview had come back around to bite you, naturally. Daily Mail’s dumb headline read: “Y/N can’t decide! Date Harry Styles or Steal His Closet?” The Sun was also running with your response and miscontruing it completely, something about how you were madly in love with Harry but jealous of his designer partnerships, you couldn’t even stomach reading the garbage. This was your worst nightmare. Not only was it taking away the focus from your album, but you were also sure this dumb gossip had reached the very set of ears that the gossip was allegedly also about.

You had signed with Columbia Records for your first album, the same record label as Harry Styles, so managers had been in contact with one another about the whole fiasco trying to get the actual truth - which was that the two of you didn’t even know each other and there were no problems whatsoever. Your manager also brought along the good news that Harry had actually listened to your album and loved it, “He said ‘Congratulations’ by the way, loved the sound. Said he’d heard you were very music focused and be open to do some mentoring on songwriting and vocal specifics, if you wanted. It’d have to be in private though, obviously.” She had added the last bit, but you understood why. To have the opportunity to discuss your music with one of your longtime role models, heroes even, was beyond anything you could have imagined coming from your album’s success. And it made the drama all the more palatable because now you at least got to talk to Harry like the media was so adamantly saying you were doing already.

You nodded quickly and agreed, while trying to keep your teenage fangirl excitement hidden below your mature now-famous musician facade. Like you said, Harry was your hero, he’d been your hero since you were in middle school and had Up All Night downloaded on your iPod touch, blasting it as loud as possible, sound hitting your poster-filled walls. You weren’t the same girl as you were then, obviously, you had grown up to be a strong, independent, and confident woman. But, you still smiled at the thought of your younger self with your baby face squealing in the nosebleeds at the Take Me Home Tour (where you swore Harry had looked straight at you) and her seeing you now, dressed in a sleek outfit setting up an appointment to meet with Harry to discuss your first album, a success.

The next Thursday evening

You took a deep breath, in through your nose and out through your pursed lips. You were anxious and excited at the exact same time. Your meeting with Harry was tonight, right now actually, and you hadn’t been able to think about much else since your manager had confirmed the meeting last week. She got you the details a couple of days ago, the location: his house in Malibu, the time: 5:45 P.M. You had brought along a copy of your album on vinyl because you thought it sounded best this way, second only to performing it live.

Choosing your outfit for tonight was probably the toughest decision you’d ever made, harder than choosing between an education and following your dreams, harder than choosing your favorite Beatles song. You didn’t want to worry so much, this wasn’t a date you kept reminding yourself, but everything you tried on earlier kept having something wrong with it, too dressy, too boring, too ‘not yourself’. You had settled for these blue high-waisted pants that you’d worn to your first ever podcast interview, a thin black long sleeve, and a brown leather coat that fell below your hips with vans sneakers, casual, simple, yet still true to you and your vibe.

You raised your free arm and formed a fist, hesitant to knock, as if you’d damage Harry’s seemingly perfect Malibu beachfront home by knocking too hard on the wooden front door. You waited a few moments and could here some shuffling behind the door, some incoherent words were seemingly said, but the walls muffled them before they could reach for ears. Soon enough, Harry Styles in the flesh was before you. He beamed down at you, huffing, slightly out of breath as if he had been clear across the house when you knocked. His strong figure towered above your far smaller stature. He was hanging onto the door since he had opened it only slightly. “Hello, Y/N?” he greeted and questioned simultaneously. “Hi,” you responded and extended the same hand that had just rapped against his now open door. He gripped it, ushering you into his home, “Come in, come in, it’s nice to meet you, don’t want you to catch a cold now do we?” He took note of your strong handshake and ring clad fingers.

He walked you into an area between the kitchen and a sitting area. The kitchen was open aside from a bar high top between the two rooms. You sat down at his prompting and made yourself comfortable. “I brought my record on vinyl, sounds best in my opinion, otherwise I’d recommend seeing it live,” you laughed as you handed the vinyl to him and took off your coat. “Technically, y’know, I could hear it live right now, if you were willin’ f’course,” Harry had responded over his shoulder as he placed the vinyl by his idle record player, “Anything to drink?” “Just water for me, please.” His accent was even stronger in person, especially since he had moved back to London and seldomly stayed in California, except for business and quick trips. As far as you knew, he had already been here on business for the week and was able to pencil you in.

You two settled in, with your waters, seated at the bar top beside each other, but swivelling the chairs to face one another more. Again, you were overwhelmed with the reality of the situation, sitting beside Harry Styles as professionals, peers even. He had heard your work and liked it enough to want to discuss it with you. It was a day you never thought would come to pass. He started off not by asking about the music right away, but about how you were doing with the whirlwind that stardom is. “How are you, Y/N? It’s been somewhat of a out of the frying pan into the fire kind of moment for you?” He stared at you intently, caring to hear your answer.

You couldn’t help but chuckle again and contain your smile, “Thank you for asking, Harry. Yeah, its been definitely stressful, but it’s everything I’ve ever wanted and more so the good is still outweighing any bad. Definitely, fucking exhausted though, dunno how many more interviews I can do before my jaw goes completely rigid from talking so much.” It’s Harry’s turn to laugh, his eyes shone with intrigue at what you said and how you said it. You were gorgeous, but it was how your hands helped you through what you were trying to say and the small laughs you tried to keep in while you amused yourself with your words that really made him want to hear you talk all night long.

He agreed about how the promo junket for an album can get tedious and tiresome, but also the absolute fulfillment you get from people loving the music you’ve made. The two of you chatted about surface level personal matters for a little more, but quickly moved to the music. “I took a listen a couple weeks after the album was released. I especially loved the last track. It reminded me so much of a song I never released, actually…” he trailed off.

Your final track had been a ballad, an homage to George Harrison with your use of guitar and sitar, but the lyrics were a story based off of a poem you had written one night in high school. It surrounded a girl never feeling quite good enough for the person she wanted to be with and how it happened everytime, everytime she was ready to giver herself to someone, they were always closed off. Of course it held some truth to your own life and feelings, but you wrote this girl as someone with a seemingly perfect life - when yours was obviously far from any semblance of perfection.

You wondered what Harry’s song would have sounded like, had it been about a seemingly perfect girl or a guy with a seemingly perfect life, always giving himself to the wrong person and getting destroyed by that very fact because he was impatient as the girl in your song had been. “Can I ask, how so? How’d it remind you of your own song, the words or the music?” “Oh, the story, I felt like that for a time in my life and I like to be vulnerable in my songs because it helps me process, but listening to it back has always been too painful. Could never release that or perform it, it’d wreck me.” You nodded, you completely got where he was coming from. You noticed his downcast eyes and his somber tone, you knew not to push it any further.

It was quiet and you decided it’d be okay to take his hand resting between the two of you. “Harry, I understand,” your sincerity spilled into the words, filling the quiet house, “It’s not easy. Feeling that way. Thinking you’re the only goddamn one and why the fuck does it always happen to you? I used to ask my ceiling ‘why me?’ every night of high school” you smiled then. “But you know how it is,” you rubbed your thumb over his large warm hand and he lifted his head, “it gets so much better - c’mon look at us now! It can get hard, too, all this, I’m sure. But our lives? They’re amazing!” He beamed as he had when he had first seen you at his door and when you’d first really spoke. He moved his hand from under your palm to weave your fingers with his, both of your hands with covered in rings and they clinked to fit together, finally resting perfectly fitted. He shook your two hands up and down, “God, you’re so right! That damn song, m’sorry always puts me in a mood,” he shakes his head, “not yours though, f’course, s’lovely, better than my sodding song” he finishes quickly.

After that, the mood lightened right back up. It filled you with such appreciation for Harry that he would trust you so much with such a personal detail since you two had just met. But maybe, he had trusted you because he had felt that same spark between you. It wasn’t necessarily a romantic spark, but it was obvious the two of you were kindred spirits. Besides your album, the two of you talked about everything. You loved the same bands, movies and books, you both loved to cook and had similar fashion taste, you even had the same person type - something you found out late into the night.

At the end of the Side B of your album, Harry switched to a Bill Evans record that had ‘Peace Piece’ on it. You loved that song. So did he. “So...planning to raid my closet?” Harry raised his brows from the record player and walked back to you. You almost sputtered the water in your mouth. Luckily, you got it down. “Pardon?” “All that bad press the two of us have been getting...I watched the interview that kind of ignited the tabloids. You’re obviously not used to those overstepping personal questions.” You nodded. “It’s fine, even if you’d completely shut it down, the tabloids probably would have picked it up still, they snap up anything and everything, true or not.” You softened at his reassurance. You hadn’t expected Harry to bring the interview up, but you were sure he wasn’t happy about it, he was so private, especially about his love life. “Thanks, I’m sorry I tried to laugh it off, kind of made it worse, didn’t I?” “No! Thought it was hilarious and I totally appreciated the sentiment. Little ol’me, an icon? And an amazing artist? All I gotta do is watch that clip and I’ve fed my narcissistic side for the week!” You giggled and replied slyly, “So does that mean I can raid your closet? As compensation, of course.” Harry threw his head back in an all consuming laughter, when he’d composed himself he looked in your eyes again and said, “You just...God, you get me.”

Harry had continued to put records on throughout the night, diligently flipping sides and asking for requests, he of course had an extensive collection. The two of you had moved onto his plush couch that looked out his french doors to the beautiful ocean view. Finally, your exhaustion caught up to you, mid-Harry describing his latest travel fiasco, you glanced up at the clock. You gasped. Harry stopped. “When did it get to be half 12?” you questioned almost incredulously, “I’ve gotta get home, Harry, but this has been truly amazing, more than I could have asked for, so thank you.” Your speech began to rush as you started to get up and gather your things, that had slowly scattered as you’d gotten more comfortable, jacket by the table, shoes around the back of the couch, your phone forgotten somewhere in the couch. You couldn’t believe you’d spent almost seven hours just talking with Harry Styles.

Harry quickly stood up from his relaxed positioned on the couch and asked if you were alright to drive this late. You scoffed, “Oh please, I’ve driven around at 3 am before, I just have to turn up the music and I can cruise.” He smiled, “This was great, Y/N, I know we didn’t really go super in depth into your writing process, but I’d love to write with you sometime or just hang out again f’course. Your seriously talented and obviously a wonderful person.” He didn’t include that he felt like he’d never met anyone like you, never met someone so perfectly matched to himself, in passions but also in work ethic and demeanor - compassionate yet confident. He felt like you got him perfectly and he got you. You had stopped your scramble to gather yourself and now you were both smiling at one another.

This had really been an unforgettable night, you couldn’t believe how well you two had meshed, like childhood friends reconnecting after years apart. “Can I give yeh a hug before you go?” Harry’s voice had grown raspier as the night had progressed. He had grown rather tired an hour ago, but had pushed through because they had been having so much fun and you hadn’t noticed his physical fading or the time, obviously. You stepped toward him and his large tattooed arms enveloped you into his body. His body truly dwarfed yours now as he held you to his chest. You both were warm and soft. He tucked his head on top of yours that rested on his chest. Your arms were loosely resting where his back met his waist because you would have had to strain to get them to encircle him. His arms rested around your small frame. “Love your jacket,” he mumbled into your hair. His rough voice was quiet, but the house was silent otherwise, Tusk Side C had finished around when you had noticed the time. The embrace lasted long, but it felt so amazing you had a hard time pulling yourself away, but you had to get back home.

“G’night Harry” you said softly at the threshold of his home. He had insisted on walking you to the front door at least, since you had declined his offer to walk you out to your car on the street. “G’night. Safe travels.”

You got in your car and headed to your apartment in the city. You didn’t bother digging for your phone so you turned on the radio and drove home singing whatever came on, including your own song at one point. The whole time you drove with a grin. Harry was the nicest person you’d ever met and you were confident that the two of you were friends now. As you pulled into your parking garage it dawned on you why you hadn’t connected your phone immediately when you got in your car. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” you put the car in park and rested your palms in the depressions of your eyesockets, over your closed eyelids, and rubbed hard. “Fuck!” It was far too late to drive back out to Malibu for your phone and you obviously couldn’t text Harry that you’d left your phone at his place, despite the two of you exchanging numbers during the night for future hang outs, so they didn’t have to be arranged through your managers, like playdates. Even if he found your phone between the cushions, he couldn’t drop it at your place in the morning because he didn’t know your address. This was a whole mess, you thought. You’d have to drive over in the morning and hope he was still there or email your manager from your computer. The former meant you got to see Harry sooner and likely your phone, too.

part 2

@berrynarrybanana

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #har #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fan fic #I DID IT #I sat down and wrote it #and it took forever #and I need to write a second part but I made something coherent #one direction fanfiction #not my gifs #my writing #I love you h #you get me #my writings

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sometimesrosy · 5 years ago

Note

What elements make B/E such an obvious romantic obstacle to B/C, narratively, etc?

A lot really. I mean, first, with that time jump, we needed to see that Bellamy had grown and moved on from the trauma of earth. Who better to show that transformation than the grounder who represented betrayal and brutality and murder and war to him? The one who betrayed him and almost killed his sister and held him captive. To forgive HER means he’s over the s3 bizness where he treated all grounders as the enemy who deserved death just for existing in some cases. We SAW him learn the lessons, but with the time jump and B/E he now INHABITS it. He’s grown from it.

There’s also the parallels between CL and B/E. first alliance, then betrayal, then kidnapping, then working together, then saving from sucide, then forgiveness, then love. I know some people consider CL to be endgame, but my theory here is based on CL being over, for important reasons within the narrative. So to parallel two relationships that are important and transformative, but not endgame, and to show the longer pace of B/E which shows that Bellamy was healthier than Clarke was, is a sign of character development.

Bellamy needed a relationship in order to move forward on the ship, so he wasn’t a wreck. He needed to be a whole person, who COULD live without Clarke, because the Bellarke relationship is a relationship of equals, and it’s NOT codependent. They don’t fill in the holes of the other person. They are not INCOMPLETE without each other, They needed to be shown as complete people on their own. So showing that he’d not been destroyed by her loss meant having him accept love, accept that he deserved love. Therefore, he needed a healthy relationship.

OKAY. This turned out to be A TOTAL EPIC post. And it’s too long so after the jump. STay tuned.

IT COULD NOT BE RAVEN. Wanna know why? Because Raven has her own journey. And she CAN NOT be second choice, because of her problems with finn and clarke in s1. Raven needs someone to be head over heels over her, if she’s going to have anyone. And if Bellamy had been in a relationship with Raven, CLARKE would always be standing between them. And with Clarke’s resurrection, Bellamy’s SOULMATE, Raven would be cast into second place, thus ruining Raven’s character arc, and putting Clarke into the SAME narrative of being the other woman, without any development. This would be a failure of storytelling, lacking growth and transformation which is NECESSARY for this story.

As long as Bellarke is endgame, Br/aven could NOT happen. If Bellarke is NOT endgame, Br/aven is actually the CLEAR AND OBVIOUS choice for Bellamy’s next relationship. They already love and respect and like each other. Raven is a major character. The audience loves and wants them both happy. If Bellarke were not endgame, then Br/aven would have been. If Bellarke were PLATONIC, for real? Then Br/aven should have been developing all this time. But since Bellarke is an endgame romance, Br/aven CAN NOT happen romantically.

THUS they needed a character to be his romance, to show him moving on, but it couldn’t be a character who was TOO essential that we would replace Bellarke with that ship, as would have happened with br/aven. Although it also needed to be a character who was tied to the major issues we’ve been dealing with, someone who maybe reminds him a little of Clarke even. Enter Echo. betrayals, ruthless, sneaky, beautiful, cheated in the conclave, almost killed his sister, does whatever she has to to save her people, loyal.

I’d also like to bring up Echo’s name. And I think her name DOES matter. At first I thought it was because she was an ECHO of CL and that betrayal for Bellamy. The myth of Echo, as the nymph who pined after Narcissus didn’t make sense to me, as Bellamy wasn’t a narcissist in love with his own reflection... UNTIL someone made the point that the classical concept of soulmates was one soul split into two bodies, so a person and their reflection COULD be a metaphor for this soulmate concept. Which made Bellamy in love with his reflection/soullmate Clarke, which now ENTIRELY fit the Echo and Narcissus myth. Echo is in love with Bellamy who is obsessed with his soulmate Clarke (who in s6 was ‘behind the glass’ like a mirror image! huh. Who was it that posted that theory!? that sounds like a confirmation to me.) Now again, Clarke and Bellamy are separated by this distance, and Echo goes in to find him? I hope Echo doesn’t fade away like her namesake did, but it’s possible. But Narcissus also dies at the river, in love with his reflection, becoming flowers, right? This actually fits my spec that Bellarke will “die” but in reality just be separated from their family and live out their lives in pastoral happily ever after. Anyway. The myth of Echo and Narcissus, means Echo is NOT the soulmate.

Also. JR said Clarke and Bellamy were soulmates. And fine, I don’t use commentary in my analysis... but I do if it fits, and this fits. They are SHOWN as being soulmates from season 4 AT LEAST. “you center her.” “you got it backwards.” for an example.

Okay, but now lets get to the narrative. What I told you before is more about storytelling and tropes and character development. Or HOW you tell a story. Now we’ll get to canon evidence. There’s still some storytelling in there. I’m gonna start with s5, because that’s when romantic b/e showed up.

This was the big sign to me of what was going on with Bellarke and B/E.

The first episode of s5 was almost ALL Clarke. We were focused on her survival in the wastes. We were given access to her feelings and thoughts and pov. We were given her monologue. Which was not a monologue.

It was a conversation, one way, with Bellamy. The voiceover of 5.01 was Clarke making her 2199 radio calls. Which is a romantic trope. They were, essentially like a diary, or love letters, or even a prayer, in a way. For that little bit of the story, in fact, huh. We could almost think of that whole episode as being Clarke’s tales of survival, told to Bellamy as a kind of epistolary tale. What we see IS what she said to Bellamy. Hmm. That’s interesting.

ANYWAY. My point was. The audience is put square inside Clarke’s head, and her head is “why haven’t you come home,” and talking to Bellamy and missing him.

THEN we get the scene where Clarke is talking to Madi about them, and missing them and then the camera pan up through the stars to Bellamy looking down on them, unknowingly, at the valley.

THIS IS THE MOST POETIC THE MOST ROMANTIC SHOT IN THE WHOLE SHOW. MAYBE IN EVERY SHOW EVER. It is a poem. She yearns for him, across time, beyond the stars, and he’s looking down on her, thinking she is dead, and the INFERENCE is that he’s yearning for her too, past death.

A love that literally lasts past death time and space. ULTIMATE EPIC LOVE STORY. And they are finally going to be reunited. AH, resolution for their separation and their love.

AND THEN... dun dun dunnnn, the plot thickens.

Out of nowhere, the reveal that Bellamy and Echo ARE LOVERS.

BAM! OBSTACLE. more, ROMANTIC obstacle.

Clarke’s yearning was romantic in nature. We don’t see inside Bellamy’s head, but making the obstacle to their reunion no longer tech, but instead an established romance, means that the narrative has set Bellarke on a romantic path. Because otherwise another romance would not be an obstacle. Heck, Echo is not against Clarke. Even when she was threatening her life she wasn’t really against Clarke. She gets her. As a leader and partner, she gets her. Echo is ONLY an obstacle if the goal is a romantic relationship between Clarke and Bellamy.

That it’s set up this way, as a shock, is part of the romantic narrative.

THIS is on purpose a slap in the face. Because the audience has been set up to want them to come home TO CLARKE, to want a Bellarke reunion and to FEEL that they belong together.

THEN when Echo is sure things will change between them, and Bellamy assures her that nothing will change between them on the ground, this is what’s known as DRAMATIC IRONY. The audience knows that Clarke is alive, they know that the bellarke bond is epic, they know that Clarke is yearning in a romantic way, they know that when Bellamy finds out that Clarke is alive EVERYTHING will change with his relationship with E.

But then, we get a misdirect, or rather, a plot obstacle to B/E. Octavia is not forgiving and she’s scarier than ever.

B/E is set up from the VERY BEGINNING as a romantic obstacle.

Then to prove it, we get

Clarke’s VERY shocked and jealous face when B/E reunites and kiss. That the camera focuses on HER, shows her watching them, and not on THEM means the main emotional weight of the scene is not the lovely reunion between loving partners, (thank god you’re ok i was so worried i’m so glad to see you again love love love,) but rather on clarke. (omg bellamy is kissing someone. bellamy is not mine. heartbreak, jealousy, shock!) See the focus is NOT on the established relationship, the B/E leg of the love triangle, but on CLARKE, the pining one, the one whose love is unrequited. The soulmate.

IF B/E were endgame, the focus would have been on the relief of the reunited lovers. But we’ve just spent like two episodes on the reunited (non-romantic apparently) soulmates, and the CANON relationship can’t even get an infocus shot?

A close up of someone’s face means the narrative wants us to feel their EMOTIONS. We got lots of those when Clarke and Bellamy reunited, when they hugged, when they struggled to regain their connection. But with the B/E reunion. Their faces were obscured, not shown, blurred.

Ok. And YES, Bellamy then moves on to focus on Echo and B/E, and saving her from Octavia, and that is to show that B/E is real. Because no obstacle that is not made real is going to be enough to really scare the audience into worrying that it could stop our heroes from their goal. IT HAS to be real. But even while Bellamy is proving to O that he loves Echo, the focus is NOT really on B/E, but on the Blakes relationship. And on Bellamy and Octavia. This is teaching us who they are now, after 6 years apart.

Then there’s a love scene between B/E, or half a love scene anyway. The beginning. It is cut off in the middle and cuts to CLARKE getting ready to leave.. Oddly, the music for the scene stays the same, which CONNECTS the two scenes. A LOVE SCENE cut with a LEAVING SCENE. An established romance confirmed, a pining soulmate leaving aka giving up. And in the next scene, we get this dynamic reinforced... however, there is a change. The romantic couple is confirmed again, while Clarke watches. HERE we are shown a closeup of her face, tears in her eyes, all about how she feels about their relationship, after the close up of their faces I think, and sadness and love yes. this is real. Then Clarke steps back, straighten her shoulders and accepts it. She won’t interfere. He’s not hers to love. HOWEVER, then Echo LEAVES. The established couple separates. And we turn to Clarke and Bellamy immediately he knew she was there somehow.

While B/E are split up, Bellarke are brought back together, although at this point they are non romantic, with each member choosing Echo for him. And we spend many episodes with them rediscovering their soulmate bond and getting closer and more intimate as they do so. While Echo has her OWN narrative and it has nothing to do with Bellamy or b/E.

This leads to Bellarke making pledges to each other, over her daughter, and he swears to take care of Madi when/if Clarke dies. Bellamy promises to parent his soulmates daughter while his canon girlfriend is off risking her life. They bond as, well, co parents. Making them a family unit, Mother, Father and Daughter, though no romantic or sexual relationship between the two?

Not so fast.

“Another traitor who you love.” Octavia lays out the issue. Bellamy loves Echo. Bellamy loves Clarke. She is comparing Echo and Clarke in his love. This is a ROMANTIC love comparison. She’s goading him. He doesn’t take the bait. Because he has a plan.

Bellamy sacrifices his sister for Clarke’s life. Poisoning her. His sister who has been established as the person who means more to him than anyone else in the world. When it was O or E? He chose O and let E go off on a suicide mission to win a place with wonkru. When it was O or C? He chose C and poisoned O. That is an equation. Bellamy loves these three women. C more than O. O more than E. C>O>E. When compared, Clarke wins over Echo. If Octavia made it clear that the love is romantic, then Bellamy made it clear that his love for Clarke is deeper than his love for Echo, even if he’s not ready to face that or deal with it.

AND THEN SHE LEAVES HIM TO THE PIT. He knew he’d betrayed Clarke, but it is confirmation to him that Clarke does not return his feelings. So, when that’s sorted out, he has a moment where he’s choosing between Clarke and Echo (the earth vs the sword, it’s a heavy handed bit of symbolism so we don’t miss it.) He chooses Echo. It’s the logical choice. Head over heart.

MEANWHILE, Echo and Clarke are having their own life or death convo. In which we find out that Bellamy loves Echo, Echo loves Bellamy, Clarke always cared for Bellamy but thinks him dead at her hand. NOT SO FAST. Bellamy is alive, “oh now you care?” AND THEN, revelation from the past FlameLxa tells her love is not a weakness, she was wrong to betray Clarke (canon love) and Clarke should not do the same thing (betray her love bellamy.) Remember also CL and B/E are paralleled. Remember also all the same players were at MW the original betrayal. L walked away, Echo walked away, Bellamy was under the ground, and Clarke stayed to get to him. it’s just interesting. So in the end, Clarke betrayed ELigius, spares Echo and sends her daughter (another love equation. Clarke canon loved Lxa, but she tells Madi she loves her SO much more than Lxa. Now she risks her greatest love Madi to war in order to save Bellamy. Here’s the equation. Clarke loves Bellamy>Madi>Lxa. We have two equations using actions to prove a primacy in love. Clarke love Bellamy more than all of her other great loves. Bellamy loves Clarke more than all of her great loves.

HOWEVER B/E comes back together to fight. As a couple. It is a couple reunion, but not as romantic as their first reunion, or their goodbye. THEN, they are fighting together and it isn’t romantic. And from there to the end of the season, the B/E romance disappears.

HOWEVER, Bellamy learns that Clarke cares for him so much that she called him every day for six years. That changes his perception of Clarke, and how Clarke feels for him, and when she urges him to come in, he says, broken, I can’t leave them behind. “Not again.” With the understanding that leaving HER behind was the trauma that he can’t do again.

So where did B/E go? It doesn’t matter. It’s literally not important to the narrative. Echo literally goes to sleep. B/E is frozen. What is important. Bellarke’s intimacies of saying goodbye to their families and their connection that is still there. And THEN them waking up TOGETHER and facing the loss of Monty, the revelations, the new world AND the commitment to be better, to be the good guys, together.

Known: B/E is a canon relationship. Clarke loves Bellamy and has been pining for him for six years. Bellamy loves Clarke but has moved on though he cannot ignore his feelings for her. Bellamy CHOSES Echo, but Echo keeps disappearing from his story while he focuses on Clarke and their relationship.

HOW do I know Echo is the romantic obstacle and Bellarke is the endgame rather than Clarke being the romantic obstacle and B/E being endgame?

Because the story focuses on the deepening relationship fo Bellarke, while his attachment to Echo stops it from moving forward. It focuses on the FEELINGS of Clarke about B/E, but not the feelings of Echo about Bellarke. It is never even presented. Her feelings are absent, when if her ship was endgame it would be about her feeligns at least partly. Now we do seem BELLAMY’S feelings, but his feelings which start out as about Echo vs Octavia, who hates Echo, shift and become Clarke vs Echo... evenn though Clarke does NOT hate Echo and accepts her just fine. So what is the conflict?

The conflict is that he can’t have competing feelings fo Clarke if he loves Echo. That means his feelings are ROMANTIC.

YES. He does choose Echo near the end of s5. This is because Clarke leaves him to die. Not because his feelings for her are not as strong (remember C>O>E) but because HER feelings seem to show she doesn’t care about him. UNTIL Madi spills the beans, and then he shifts back to Clarke a bit, even though his choice is STILL Echo.

Bellamy loves Clarke but thinks Clarke doesn’t love him so he chooses Echo.

Clarke thinks Bellamy loves Echo and not her, so she refuses to show him or admit to him that she loves him and she attempts to move on and keep him as her “platonic” soulmate.

Echo loves Bellamy and Bellamy loves Echo but Echo has no idea Bellamy also loves Clarke or that he is deciding between Clarke and herself. She has no say in this narrative. It’s not about her. It’s about Clarke and Bellamy. She thought the problem was Octavia. And while that’s a problem, it doesn’t affect Bellamy’s feelings for her.

Echo has done nothing to make him not love her. Their relationship has remained stable. The only change is that there is another love in the equation. That Clarke’s existence puts B/E into jeopardy means that the Bellarke love is AT LEAST as strong as the B/E love. Possibly more... the love equation says more, but we will get more proof of that in season 6.

When we actually see the love triangle thrown into comparison CONSTANTLY. S5 had Bellarke and B/E separated. We got very few shots of them all together, and when we do, it’s Clarke’s jealousy and dismay on display.

However in s6, right from the beginning, the shots have all three of them in view. With Echo between Bellarke or Clarke between B/E often. Oddly, we also see Echo supporting Clarke. Or not that oddly. They’re a lot alike. She’s not competitive with Clarke, though. Even though there IS a competition. She does’t know about it. We see Bellamy choosing B/E with Clarke on the outside in ep1, but by the time they get to Sanctum, we start to see Bellamy choosing Clarke, or Clarke AND Echo (come look at this echo) with his focus on Clarke not E. We see him REACHING OUT to Clarke. (commiserating about raising their adopted kids without school, then the radio calls conversation which she runs away from because she’s scared.) Even in the eclipse psychosis, he goes after Echo first, but then turns his attention to Clarke. Murphy gets in the way as he always does, but he ignores everyone else.

As time goes on, though, we get a NEW dynamic. He’s starting to argue with Echo. It’s over Octavia mostly, but Clarke and Bellamy use Octavia to speak about their feelings for one another, without admitting them, so is that happening here? He’s using the argument over Octavia to express his feelings of frustration and distance with Echo?

Look. I’ve been showing you the love triangle. It is a CANON love triangle, which means B/E is romantic and requited and Bellarke is romantic although it’s unrequited.

I need to show the love triangle in order for B/E to be A ROMANTIC OBSTACLE.

But just showing the love triangle means it could be B/E that is the endgame and Bellarke that is the love triangle.

How do we know this isn’t the story?

Well aside from the love equations. We see Bellarke get closer while we see B/E bickering constantly over tactics, over octavia, over feelings, in season 6a. Clarke talks to him about her regret over the pit. The making amends scene is actually pivotal in their relationship. In the C/B/E love triangle.

He accepts Clarke’s amends, and her claim that he is so important to her. He didn’t want to talk about it. But she is open and they are intimate. Cut to Clarke being PHYSICALLY intimate with Cillian, and Bellamy looking on with all sorts of emotions in his face. Sorrow, happiness, pining, regret, jealousy, acceptance, longing, who knows? And we IMMEDIATELY get Echo coming up, trying to talk to him about Octavia, and him turning ViCIOUS on her, blaming her for not being human, not being emotional, not being open (which clarke just was and is.) He’s STILL watching Clarke. B/E is falling apart, not because of anything that Echo did, but because of something that Clarke did, again. HER actions are the deciding factor, and HIS emotions are where the choice is coming in. Echo has no control over it. Her emotions don’t matter. Her actions don’t affect it. He is not a character who has agency over this storyline, over her own relationship. This scene leads to Clarke being betrayed at the same time that Bellamy apologizes to Echo and Echo, FINALLY, opens up to Bellamy about her past.

For the first time, Echo has agency in how her relationship goes, and Bellamy admits he’s a dick and commits to Echo. NOW. If this story were ABOUT B/E as endgame, this would be the point where their relationship rises to new heights and becomes stronger.

Instead. Clarke dies. And Bellamy’s attention and emotions go to CLARKE. Even when she’s dead dead, all he can think about is not having Clarke, how it’s not living, Echo comforts him but it goes nowhere. Instead, we see him grieving ALONE. Echo is willing to destroy everyone, but Bellamy chooses what Clarke would do, and keeps everyone safe.

Until he finds out Clarke is alive, and then all bets are off and it’s a race to bring her back, canon, “you only care about Clarke.”

Yeah.

True.

Another pivotal scene. Bellamy leaves Echo to take care of their people and goes with Josephine to save Clarke. Echo says “Go save Clarke,” which is a parallel to Clarke telling Echo to “go save him.” Echo let Bellamy go to Clarke the same way that Clarke let Echo go to Bellamy.

We’ve now switched who the primary relationship is. It’s Bellarke, not B/E. Echo and Clarke made the choice to let the other woman “have him.” They gave up their claim.

Everything we see with Bellamy and Josephine acts as if Bellarke is romantic and the true love in his life. An epic love compared to Josephine and Gabriel DOZENS of times. And Bellamy’s last ditch save her from death scene is GLARINGLY romantic in the way that all the best fairytales are romantic.

There was never anything to compare to this in the B/E story.

The next morning, Bellarke talk about leaving Echo and spacekru behind to save Clarke, and Bellamy still isn’t willing for her to risk her life to save them, although she insists, and they agree to do it for Monty. SO MUCH INTIMACY. And Octavia witnessed it.

Their goodbye is more romantic and more intimate than Bellamy’s reunion with Echo, even though she was STATED as at risk and being in danger. She almost died. And all she got was a hug, much like he’d hugged Harper after the fighting pit.

The hug when Bellarke is reunited, however, is cast in romantic buttery light, with emotional close ups of their faces, and a rather intimate discussion of feelings and pain, with a parallel to their OTHER hug outside Camp Jaha, which was one of the pivotal moments in their relationship.

This in contrast to the pat on the back he gave Echo before this, and how Echo, who is standing right there, disappears from the scene.

The final scene after this Bellarke intimacy, has B/E back together. ExCEPT there is NO initmacy. He’s the leader, she’s the soldier. No feelings. Just defense and tactics.

From the beginning of season 6 to the end, Bellarke and B/E have switched placed. on the non-romantic/romantic scale. Comfort and intimacy goes to Bellarke. Team work goes to B/E.

THE JOURNEY of the love triangle switches from the primary leg being B/E with a side order of Bellarke partnership, to Bellarke with a side order of B/E partnership.

Technically, because we’ve had no time to sort out all these emotional issues with B/E (although we kind of have with Bellarke) B/E is still the canon ship.

But that’s just a matter of dealing with the plot point. Because the NARRATIVE is now about romantic Bellarke, and all that’s left to deal with in regards to the B/E romantic obstacle is how it ends. (And for Echo’s side, she has been focusing on Ash, and her own independence. They have set her up to have a self empowered storyline, which means she does not need and should not have a king anymore. Bellamy is her king, even now. And she needs to be her own person. Which means B/E is doomed even without Bellarke.)

Thus I have shown why C/B/E is a love triangle. Why Bellamy needed a relationship ANY WAY. I take for granted that Clarke was in love with Bellamy and he was her fantasy boyfriend over the time jump. That Bellarke is romantic as is B/E, that the show has created a love equation for both of them. How the love triangle is shown in s6. How B/E fades while Bellarke grows, and that B/E is the romantic obstacle while Bellarke is the soulmate endgame.

I’m so tired now.

#the 100 #bellarke #b/e #love triangle #romantic obstacle #c/b/e #romantic development #romantic tropes

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ultimate-fangirl34 · 4 years ago

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Hello, Goodbye- a Steo fic

1655 words

(Sorry about the weird spacing)

Theo was nine when he first met Stiles. He'd just moved to Beacon Hills, anxious to be starting at a new school.

"You'll be fine," his parents had said as they ushered him out the door, out the car, up to the front gate.

Theo was not fine.

He'd never been popular. Asthmatic, scrawny, weak. He was terrible at sports, always last to be picked, always pushed to the back. He'd barely made friends at his previous school, years of scraping and bowing, finally earning himself a seat at the table. Any table. And now he had to start again.

Cursory introductions, assigned seatings, new books. And assigned to Scott McCall.

Theo wasn't stupid. Far from it- he liked to think he made up for his lack of physical prowess with his mind. Intelligent, sharp-witted, and more cunning than any nine year old had a right to be. He knew he'd been paired up with Scott because he was also asthmatic.

Despite his condition, Scott was very athletic. He was tall, lean. Theo could tell he was gonna grow up to be a heartbreaker. He was kind, too. He showed Theo round the school, introduced him to classmates, to teachers. To Stiles.

Stiles Stilinski. Scrawny, goofy, with a dark sense of humour that Theo could appreciate. And those eyes. Bright, fiery, rebellious. From the moment Theo laid eyes on Stiles, he felt a pull, like a magnet. It was the effect he had on people. Popular yet not popular. Known but not seen.

Ingratiating himself into Scott's friendship circle was easy. Scott liked people. He was so trusting, quick to smile, slow to anger. Steady. Polar opposites with his best friend. Stiles trusted very few people. Suspicious of everyone, quick to anger- to feel any emotion, really. They were suited for each other. And, Theo thought, suited for me.

Jealousy is an ugly emotion. Festering. And yet, so empowering. Theo felt only satisfaction at alienating Stiles from Scott. Splitting them up would leave them alone, hurting. And who be there to soothe their pain but Theo Raeken? Scott fell into his trap- sweet, gullible Scott. All that was left was for Stiles to do so too, who, if Theo was being perfectly honest with himself, was his preferred target.

But Theo had underestimated Stiles. For Stiles had seen right through his trap. Theo knew this the moment Stiles stepped into the classroom, eyes hard as steel, face set like stone. He looked at Theo only once, the rage in his eyes so intense Theo was sure he would combust on the spot.

It was weeks until Theo really saw him again. He was stood by Scott, head down, shoulders slumped in the first sign of defeat Theo had ever seen in the boy. Scott was smiling gently, one hand rested on Stiles' shoulder. In that moment, Theo knew he had lost. Somehow, despite everything, Stiles had still beaten him.

He had been so angry, so hurt. He'd run to the woods, face wet with snow and definitely not tears- Theo Raken does not cry- and screamed into the trees.

That night, Tara Raken froze to death in a river, leg broken, lips blue.

Theo moved away three days later, eyes alight with the promise that one day he would return. And then, he would win.

————————————————————

Theo returned to Beacon Hills nine years later. He'd started planning it ever since he'd left, young and foolish and ignorant. Nine years to refine his wit, sharpen his mind. Nine years to win back what he'd lost.

Nine years to win back Stiles Stilinski.

He was certain that it would work this time. He'd use the same tactics as last time, then go to Stiles instead. Stiles knew how to hold a grudge- there's no way he'd let Scott back easy.

Theo wasn't expecting Stiles to still hold a grudge against him.

"I remember Theo in the third grade!"

Theo wasn't expecting that sentence to make his heart flutter so. Making use of his extended heading to keep up with what was happening to his former friends. Stiles remembers him. Stiles remembers him.

But then there was Lydia. The moment that annoying, ginger haired bitch walked in-scene, Stiles' eyes filled with the most disgusting display of love Theo had ever seen. Even after all these years, Stiles was still in love with the wrong person. Not that he knew who the right person was, of course.

And then Stiles killed Donovan. Theo had to admit, he was kinda proud. His little Stiles was all grown up, had taken the final rite of passage. Stiles, of course, didn't see it as an achievement. He would need comfort, kindness. Not critique and scorn. Not for Scott to find out.

So Scott had to find out.

It was so easy to convince Scott of Stiles' anger. He wasn't exactly known for his calm and peaceful temper. And Scott wasn't exactly known for changing his views. He had a stick so far up his ass it was a wonder he could sit down. For all Scott preached tolerance and understanding, he sure was stagnant in his opinions.

And now Theo could step in. Words of comfort, of understanding. "Wouldn't my eyes be blue too?" And Stiles seemed so grateful. Especially since Theo had pulled him from the burning truck. He finally had what he'd always wanted. He finally had his Stiles.

Naturally, everything went wrong.

Stiles, being the kind, golden boy he is, naturally didn't like what Theo was doing with the Dread Doctors. And, being the best brothers they are, Stiles and Scott naturally made up. And, being the outsider, Theo naturally had to leave. Again.

What would it take for Stiles to see him as someone he can trust? Someone he can rely on? That Scott taking up his loyalty. That Lydia whore taking up his love. They were two very long, very sharp thorns in his side. Why couldn't Stiles see that everything he did, he did for him. Scott and Lydia, they didn't have his best interests at heart. Theo did. He would do whatever it took to show Stiles that.

But then Tara was there. She was dragging him down, down, down, and all he could think was "now I'll never have him".

————————————————————

"You remember Stiles?"

One of the most terrifying sentences Theo had ever heard. Of course he remembered Stiles. His fast mind, his fidgeting hands, his intelligent eyes. Why wouldn't he? Why didn't they?

Theo changed his mind. Being told that Stiles been erased from existence was the most terrifying this he'd heard. His sweet, clever boy was suffering. Was gone. That simply wouldn't do.

But of course, no one could keep Stiles away from his friends for long. He'd exploded back into existence, wielding that ridiculous baseball bat, and had saved his friends' lives. Yet again. Those monsters didn't stand a chance against him.

Running around that hospital with Liam was more fun that Theo expected. Fighting the hunters, like the games of hide-and-tag he used to play with Tara. And then he'd seen Stiles- beautiful, beautiful Stiles- stood beside Scott, almost glowing. Theo could swear his heart stopped. But, of course, he was stood next to Scott. So Theo did what he did best.

He disappeared.

————————————————————

Never did he believe that he'd be fighting alongside Scott. And against Gerard, no less. Theo had to hand it to him- the old hunter had the survival skills of, well, Theo.

It definitely seemed like an ending, with old foes and allies alike appearing out of the shadows. While the McCall Pack set off to fight the Anukite, Theo helped keep the hunter army at bay. Argent kept shooting him distrustful glances- as did the Sheriff, amusingly resembling his son for just a moment. Theo rolled his eyes. He wasn't gonna screw this up. Keeping his father safe would definitely put Theo in Stiles' good books.

And then it was over. A weight lifted from Theo's stomach as he watched Stiles bound towards his father. He shot Theo a grateful glance, a little nod, before turning back to that ginger Lydia hag. She caught his glare, a small smile playing her lips. Of course she could smirk and grin. She had Stiles. And, suddenly, she didn't, because she was pushing him away, towards- towards Theo.

Theo blinked, Lydia winked. She mouthed at him don't screw this up, and then she was gone. And Stiles was here. Stiles was here.

"Hi," Stiles seemed uncomfortable, but Theo didn't care. Stiles was here.

"I see you survived," stay calm, Theo, stay neutral.

"Yup. My, er, my dad said you did pretty good. Thanks for, y'know, for looking out for him." Theo had never seen him so flustered. His cheeks were tinged pink, eyes unable to stay still. Then they did it. His eyes dipped down, staring at Theo's lips, before raising to meet his eyes, then looking away quickly. And Theo finally understood.

"I remember Theo in third grade."

"Don't screw this up."

He glanced down at Stiles' lips, then back up to those dark eyes. Stiles had definitely noticed and yet, he didn't move away. If anything, he leaned in closed. Theo set his mind.

He wouldn't fail this time.

————————————————————

"Um, Lydia?"

"Hmm?"

"What the fuck is going on?"

Lydia smirked, following Peter's gaze. Theo and Stiles seemed to be devouring each other, lustful and needy. Lydia laughed.

"I always said I was attracted to the gay ones," she sighed. "First Jackson, now Stiles... I can't complain though. This just means I'm ready for another steamy romance."

"But..." Peter still seemed stunned. Lydia laughed, patting his back. A quick glance round the room showed that Scott had now noticed, as had the Sheriff, both wearing identical expressions of shock, mouth agape, eyes wide. She sighed, nudging shoulders with Peter.

"Everything is as it should be."

#stiles stilinski #theo raeken #teen wolf #tw #steo #slash #x #fanfic #fantiction #mieczyslaw #gay #meme #incorrect quotes #funny #steoday

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calliecat93 · 4 years ago

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Top 15 Star Trek TOS Episodes (Part One)

I debated on doing this until I did the second watchthrough/reviews... but heck with it. I don’t see it changing too terribly much after and I thought it would be fun. It’s been a fun ride with TOS and I didn’t expect to love it, but here we are. It ain’t a perfect show, but a good one with good characters, strong themes, and just the right amount of intrigue and silliness. I had a blast watching it, but let’s face it, some episodes are better than others. Some are goofy but enjoyable, some... well, they tried. Everyone’s got what they like and dislike, and these are the ones that I liked best. All is only my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. So to finally cap off this watchthrough before I start the second one and also plunge into TNG, here is the first half of my favorite TOS episodes~

#15. Bread and Circuses

I didn’t realize this until I saw someone else point it out... but this is essentially Star Trek’s version of The Hunger Games, only combined with Roman gladiators. We have our main trio get captured by the government whom have already caused another Starfleet captain to succumb and he sentenced his entire crew to death. Thus we have Kirkg ivent he option of either doing the same, or he can remain in defiance and risk Spock and McCoy’s lives. Either way, he loses. It’s a good episode, showing Kirk given one of the most sadistic choices that you can give him... and yet he doesn’t break. Oh he gets plenty of hardship. He makes the choice to keep the crew form beaming down, which morally is te best decision. After all, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Kirk, unlike Captain Merik, chooses to preserve his cew’s safety as a captain should. Whatever happens to him makes no difference... but because Spock and McCoy are with him, him making that chocie means that they suffer theconsequences as they are not only thrust into gladitorial combat for their lives, bt Kirk is forced to watch and can do nothing. He tries to when Bones is down, but restrained form doing so. But even then he doesn’t back down or even consider it. Merik may have thrown away his whole crew, but like Hell Kirk is going to and concerning the other two, he accepts execution after Spock breaks the rules to save Bones, emphasizing the point more. It;s a really god episode to show just how much Kirk truly follows that responsibility.

We also have some great Spock/McCoy content here as the episode does put their relationship int he spotlight a bit. Their relationship is the most interesting to me so this was a great one. They bicker pretty much all episode with even the other guy they got caught with asking if they’re enemies, which Kirk just replies that even those tow don’t know. But I think if there’s any doubt that they don’t care about each other, this one promptly shuts it up. Spock, despite knowing that he can’t, defends McCoy and saves his life. This leads tot he excellent scene int he cells where Spock is trying to figure a way out, despite fully well knowing that he can’t break through the bars. Logically it would be pointless to continue fruitless efforts, but he tries to anyways. When McCoy tries to thank him for saving him, with Spock both hiding behind his usual logical shell while still focusing on the futile escape effort. Thus we get McCoy confronting him about being afraid of living and not knowing how to handle even one warm feeling. It’s a really good scene performed excellently by Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley and is just a really good insight into their relationship. I’ll keep from going into any huge detail for if that review project makes it this far, but still an excellently performed scene, especially when it caps off with McCoy simply saying that he’s worried about Jim too, the one thing that the two CAN agree on without doubt.

This is at fifteen mainly because of a few small factors. I only know a few things about Roman history so anything about it went over my head and the ending also baffled me likely due to that. We also have it implied that Kirk did... it with a slave girl. Mind you the slave girl went to him and again it’s implied. But that still makes me feel... very uncomfortable once the girl did it under orders, and therefore not fully without consent. I’m gonna have to watch it again when I dot he more in-depth analysis, but... yeah. The ending also leaves without a real resolution to the planet, remaining as they are until they eventually fall just like the actual Rome did. I guess that was the intention, but... just kinda sucks that nothing truly got accomplished. Still from a character standpoint, it was a really good one for the Triumvirate and a great watch.

#14. For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

So for those who have been following me since I began this venture, you know that McCoy is my absolute favorite character. So when we got to a McCoy-centric episode, I was excited! And overall, it was a good one. Not one of the best, but perfectly fine. We have McCoy diagnosed with a terminal illness and given a year to live. When he and the other two transport onto a meteor-esque spaceship, they encounter the priestess Natira and her people headed for essentially a promised land witht he ship controleld by The Oracle. As Kirk and Spock try to learn more, McCoy is left with Natira who has grown smittenw ith hima dn wishes for him to remain as her mate. Sadly, I feel like this pisode wasted a lot of potential. Bones, the Chief Medical Officer who is always taking care of everyone else, is now the sick one and has only a eya rleft, if event hat. But the only real signs of this is he’s a little weaker than normal, which tbf it was just diagnoses so he may not have the most severe symptoms bu it also kidna makes the fact feel... less urgent. Using that time to set up himw ith Natira also felt wasted since we have the potential of a very emotional story where McCoy sis truggling with his lfie and the others have to come to terms that e’s going to die and likely struggle to find some way, any way to save him... and we spend it with a Girl of the Week who we’ll never see again and on a romance that while it is kinda sweet, ultimately leaves zero impact. It just feels like there was so much wasted potential and the emotional weight that you DO get... it feels less strong if you don’t know McCoy’s history. We know it now cause of supplementary material and such, butt he audiece of the 60’s certainly didn’t, hence why this is fourteen on the list.

That being said, the episode is still good. What makes up for the lack of impact about McCoy’s status and lack of history is DeForest Kelley. The man put his all into this episode (he did in every episode, but especially here when he gets ot be center stage), expressing McCoy’s sadness and loneliness as he talks to Natira perfectly. You can feel that loneliness, that longingness for what Natira’s offering him, that need to just have... some kind of happiness and intimacy that he was just never able to truly have, especially now. He just feels so... sad and vulnerable. Even though we’ve seen him interact romantically with women before, he comes off as so nervous and uncertain about what he’s doing. Like it’s been so long since he’s been intimate with anyone that he is at an utter loss on what to do with it. Natira essentially takes the lead and is even perfectly fine with caring for him in the limited time that he has left. There is someone willing to be with him and to love him for the first time in who knows how long and willing to continue to do so despite him dying... is it any shock that he chose to remain? And even then he did so in part to save Kirka and Spock from death when they got caught... and even then when he found out how to get the ship on it’s actual course and out oft he way of danger, he called them immediately for help. Yeah he almost got his brain fried for it which tbf he didn’t know would happen, but it still shows how selfless he really is, still placing others well-being before his own. As a good doctor would and should.

We also have Kirk and Spock’s reactions to the news. Kirk only knows because Chapel pretty much forced Bones to tell him and the man looks like a kicked puppy when told. He even tells Bones that he doesn’t have to go on the mission with them when normally he’s all gung-ho about dragging him along, only allowing it because this time Bones actually wants to go. Spock finds out after they all get zapped with Bones taking longer to wake up/being briefly unrsponsive, where Kirk admits it to him. Spock is noticibly concerned, emphasized when he holds onto McCoy’s arm for a good 30 seconds just to help the man sit up. McCoy can already tell that he knows before Kirk say it...a dn chooses to just let it be and get back to the matter at hand. Then there’s McCoy after he made his decision and faces the two for as far as he knew the final time. Kirk argues with him and is all but begging him to come back since otherwise he’s gonna die, which McCoy refuses since...well, he’s gonna either die from collision or being shot down, or he dies of xenopolycythemia. Either way he’s on borrowed time, so why not at least let him live it hacving a shot at happiness? Kirk is upset. Spock is as upset as a Vulcan will express. McCoy’s not happy about it, but firm in his decision... so firm it kinda makes the end where he does decide to go back kind of a juxtaposition, but I ain’t complaining either. The cure is also too convenient, but again not complaining. It doens’t seem like that much of an episode at first glance, but once you sit down and reallye xamine it even if you know nothign about McCoy’s backstory or peornsal life, it relaly leaves an impact. Again, a testemant to Kelley’ performance. As such even wit it’s issues and waste of potential, I adore it~!

#13. Obsession

I don’t see this one talked about much, but I found this one... well I hate to say the word but fascinating. What can I say? I’m a sucker for character studies, and BOY do we have a good one with Kirk here. In this episode we have a mysterious gas creature thing killing the crew and eventually get into The Enteprrise. Kirk reacts badly to it. Why? Well his crew dying of course, but the big reason is because he’s dealt with this creature before when he was a lieutenant where due to hesitaitng for a brief moment, mass casualties including his commanding officer were killed. So now with this creature’s pesence, Kirk is ont he hunt to take it down once and for all. But as the title indicates, he’s leaning towards becoming obsessed with it. We se Kirk acitng more angry and reckless than usual, especially when he continues to choose this over getting out of the space to diver some vaccines whent heya re desperately needed... yeah we’ll try to ignore how uncomfortable that is int he current times for now. The on of his former CO is also part of the Enterprise crew, and Kirk is spreading that obsession onto him, even punishing him for hesitating as he had when you’d expect him to be more sympathetic. It’s an episode that really unsettles you because Kirk isn’t acting like Kirk. Even in Consciousness of the King when dealing with the man who... you know, caused a genocide that Kirk was a victim of, he mostly held it together.

It’s these kinds of episodes that always fascinate me. What happens when we put this character into a situaitont hat completeley unnerves them? How would they react? How would it affect their usually rational actions? What would drive them to behave in such a way? How do those around them react? Kirk is very much dealing with a trauma and while eh is able to convince Spock and McCoy that e IS sound of mind and fit for duty, it doesn’t change that he’s allowing the trauma and guilt to morph into a dangeorus obsessiont hat is risking numerous lives. Not to mention afecting a young man who is in a similar position to him and also lost a loved one, yet the one that you’d expect to have Kirk’s sympahty is the one he’s treaitng harshly because of what he himself went through. Yes Kirk realizes it at the end and both corrects his mistakes and takes outt he monster, and it was good to see that he was able to pull himself back. But it was still just so interesitng to explore Kirk in this kind of position.

Spock and McCoy were also on point with both knowing that Jim isn’t acting right and ultimateley confornting him. The whole scene where McCoy gives Kirk essentially apsycological analysis, bringing Spock in once Kirk gets partiulalry heated, and them both laying down the line and holding firm until Kirk properly assures themt hat he is fit for duty was such a great scene. So was Spock actually seekign Bones as he knows that he can better understand Kirk’s emotional issues and him trying to comfort Garrovic was nice... it failed but he was stillt rying to do the right thing when Jim couldn’t. It’just one of those episodes that a character analyist like me eats up. As far as flaws go, notign comes to mind, but that might change on rewatch. I had just had others I liked better that placed it here, but it was very much an episode that got my attention.

#12. Operation: Annihilate

I still remember the suspense that this episode had me in. So we have the crew arrive at a colony that is uner attack by these parasites that are infecting thema nd leading them to painful deaths. Its already bad when Kirk finds his brother dead and his sister-in-law dies in utter agony, leaivng his young nephew’s fate uncertain. But it gets worse when Spockg ets infected and while he does his best, he’s having a difficult time managing the pain. It shows too in not only the scene where he pretty much goes balistic, but every scene after where he’s moslty under control, you can see the pain in his body lamnguage, tone, and eyes. Nimoy did an excelelnt job at keeping up that usual Spock demeanor, but converyign everything through body language alone. The team has to work to find a way to get rid of these parasites before it kills anyone else and exterminate them fromt he colony.

IMO, this was when iot felt like the writers realized what they had with the Triumvarite. At that point it was mainly abotu Kirka dn Spock and hwile Bones got it better than a few of the others, he still didn’t feel... quite there yet. I mean Kelley wans’t evne including int he opening credits until the next season. Here though we have all three with something major going on that’s important. Kirk is trying to figure out how to deal witht he situaiton which has cost him two fmaily members and may cost him his kid nephew. Spock is n pain due tot he parasite but still trying to perform his duties,e ven beaming down to get one of the parasites sicne as he’s already infected, he’s not at risk. McCoy is tryign to figure out how to get rid of the things and is the one having to keep both Spock and Peter alive. These all intersect together and the three just have this great chemistry. Their dynamic isvery mucht he thignt hat I loved most whenw atching the series, and this is when it felt like it clicked into place. The climax isalso heart-breaking. They figure out that bright lightcan kill the parasites, but McCoy is worried about what that intensity can do to Spock. He’s reluctant, but both Kirk and Spock push him to do it and while it’s successful in killing the parasite, it elaves Spock blind. Then Bones finds out that he didn’t need to turn it up that high and would have know had he just waited a few moments. While Spcok accepts it as a necessary loss, Kirk can barley hold back his fury... thoguh I DON’T like how the blame all get put on Boens when Kirk made him do it. Evenw hen Kirk tells Bones later that it wasn’t his fault, just by Bones’ face you can tell that he fully blmes himself.

That does bringmy big criticism though that lande dit at twelve. The ending is... nto good. I mean yay the succeed, but it felt like this was meant to be a two-parter, they couldn’t get the seocnd part, and had to make a hasty resolution to clear up the plot quickly. Not only is Peter’s face never mentioned or do we see Kirk’s reactionw hether good or bad, but Spock... is fine. He had a second eyelid that NEVER comes up again and he had just forgottena bout it. I now that TOS wans’t a serialized show but it not only felt like a waste of some potential story and character development for all three of our boys, but like haivng Spock blindd at all and sending McCoy down that guilt trip was utterly unecessary to begin with because it all happened int he last five minutes. I’mg lad that Spock was okay, and the end where Bones asks Kirk to not tell Spockw hat he said about him being the best First Offficer int he fleet, which Spock ehars and thanks him for half-enuinely, half-jokignly, again it feels like it was unecessary with how lat eit happened and how little impact it ultimateley had. Because of that, it landed here. But it’s still an enjoyable episode that again, felt like when the Triumvirate truly clicked into place and gave us even more good material after,

#11. The Naked Time

When I got to this episode, I had to remember how I quit as a teenager right before this and proceeded to yell ‘why didn’t you just go ONE more episode you idiot?!” to my past self. I really enjoyed this episode mainly for the concept. A virus that erases one inhibitions and self-control. Some of them are wa ky like Sulu with the fencing sword, which was also the most entertaining part of the episode. But it’s still interesting as we see these characters just give into whatever they’re desiring without any sort of thought and it erupts into chaos. It WAS a tad uncomfortable cause... you know, we’re watching a spreading virus that came about cause someone failed to follow proper safety guidelines while we’re living in a pandemic. But that’s not the episode’s fault.

It especially got interesting when Spock got it. This is the fourth episodes aired (I think it’s later in production order but I watched the order Netflix gave me) but even then we saw that Spock was a logical, very in-control character. We din’t know all the details anout him yet or that much about Vulcans, but we’d seen enough to get the general gist of the character. Then due to the cirus, those mental barriers begin to crumble rapidly. The scene where he is alone, trying to force himself to gain control of his emotions and ultimately failing as he breaks down... damn that was an excellent scene. Apparently it was thought of on the spot by Leonard Nimoy and he only had time for one take. Boy did he nail it. That was the moment I became invested in Spock as a character and in his and Kirk’s relationship as Kirk tries to snap him out of it, even risking getting infected himself because he needs Spock. I think that there are episodes that I enjoy more and the weird time travel ending made the ending really weird. Hence why this just barely missed the Top 10. But back when the show mainly gripped me for it’s science fiction concepts, this was a really good episode. It was the first one I went and watched twice before moving to the next one. I’m just so interested in the idea of losing your self-control and how you and others around you deal with it. Maybe it’s the analyst in me talking, but damn those mental concepts always get to me! A fun watch that was essentially the episode that convinced me that yes, this show is good and this time I wasn’t backing out.

#10. Mirror, Mirror

Top 10 now! Here we go! So.. mirror alternate reality. We’ve seen this a billion times in just about every media ever. IDK how common it was when Star Trek did it, but I always love this kind of concept snd seeing how a character would act if things had gone even slightly different. The Mirror Verse is admittedly a little too cartoonishly evil, but does come across as a fascist dictatorship, so I can’t really complain. Anyways, Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, and Uhura and up there and now have to figure out how to get home without anyone catching on that they’re not their counterparts. One thing I love is that it gives Scotty and Uhura some much needed focus and they are both awesome with Scotty being his usual miracle worker self and Uhura kicking ass as she gets info and outright threatens Sulu when he tries to come on to her. God I love that woman~

The Mirror Crew are essentially one-dimensional monsters with the exception or Mirror Spock. He’s still the logical being that we know him as, but much colder and ruthless as well. Yet he still is the closest to matching his usual self and has at least some level of decency compared to everyone else. It’s probably why Kirk was so convinced that he could cause a turn around at the end. He’s not good, but he’s still more good than anyone else on that ship. Yeah the guy who forcibly mind melded McCoy without consent (and how much we judge that I’ve seen varied but I consider it a horrible invasion of privacy that they shouldn’t have brushed off) is still FAR better than anyone else if that indicates how bad this universe is. Seeing his and Kirk’s interactions was super interesitng as clealry Mirror Spock caught on quickly that something was up, but chose to prolong it until near the end. It’s interesitng to observe. I also just love seeing our four heroes handling the situation. They all act effectivlynd manage to keep up the masqurade very well with only Spock and Marlena figuring it out. It’s one of the more diverse ensembles and I wish they had done more diverse dynamics than here, but it was great to see.

I think my only issues aside form McCoy’s potential trauma being glossed over (though I do love how he insisted on saving Mirror Spock and risk not making it home cause damn it, he’s a doctor no matter what) is how we don’t get to see the four’s mirror selves aside form once, where only Kirk gets a characterization as a cartoonishly violent brute. We hear a few things about them like Mirror McCoy’s sickbay essentially being a torture zone, but that’s it. I guess it was due to only having an hour, but I wish we had gotten to see how Spock’s end of things and how he interacts with them aside form Kirk, which that didn’t amount to much anyways. Ah well, fanon has covered both of these pretty extensively from what I can tell, so I shall settle on that. Still it was an enjoyable episode. I’ve seen better Evil Universe stories (nothing’s gonna beat the Justice Lords from Justice League for me tbf), but still a good one with a good ensemble, good character moments, and a unique threatening situation for our heroes to navigate through.

#9. Amok Time

AKA, the episode that more or less created the Slash Genre as we know it. But we’ll touch ont hat later. For now, one thing that I was really hoping for when I got to Season 2 was learning more about Vulcans and their culture. We knew a few things by then, like certain physiological differences between Vulcans and Humans and of course their logical philosophy. But S2 explored them and their culture more, and this was a big one. Spock is acting uncharacteristically agressive and refuses to explain why. Eventually he reveals that he is undergoign Pon Farr, aka going into heat. Unless he goes to Vulcan and does... ugh... mating and soon, he will die. IDK how they got away with this on a 60’s show, but I ain’t complaining. It does that exploration into Vulcans that I was hoping for. Hell we grt to finally see Vulcan... well a section of it but we still got to see it for the first time! It was interesitng to learn about Pon Farr and the rituals that go into it like how maitng works (weird that the logical Vulcan species has arranged marriages, but whatever) and seeing more Vulcans outside of Spock. It’s the kind of world building that does my heart good~

It had a lot of really good moments. Spock explaining everything to Kirk while trying to keep himself from killing him. Chekov being uttelry done with everything as they keephanging course to and from. Ulcan. Spock inviting not only Kirk to the ‘wedding’, but also McCoy, showing that despite their arguments he undoubtedly considers him a close friend. Hell McCoy imo is the true hero of the episode for being the one to catch that something was worng with Spock and his in-genius plan to fake Kirk’s death to keep his two idiot best friends from killing each other without pissing off any Vulcans. Seriosuly, the man needs all the appreciation in existence. And of course, we have the kal-if-fee where T’Pring (great antagonist BTW, will explore her when ai do an a tual review) forces Kirk against Spock. What ensued, while I fully believ eunintentional, forever generated a whole wave of slash and outright invented the term. While I’m not even close to as into Spirk as others, there is no denying how impactful the ship was to fandom culture and to the LGBT+ community. It is a legavy that I hold respect for since it really gave people like myself creativity and enpowerment for over 50 years, and is still generaitng works even now. That is something to respect.

As for it’s placement... the ending was a litle weird. It felt like they didn’t know how to have Spock cured without him either killing someone or doing hanky panky, so he just... gets over it agter thinking that he killed Kirk. It is a good moment, especially his reaction when he sees that Kirk is alive. That was a very justified emotional response that made me smile... and laugh when he tried to deny it haha. ButI find it hard ot buy that a biological funciton like that just... went away. But ah well. It was still an ejoyable episode with some great Vulcan content, McCoy being an underrated badass, and the moments that slash shippers will forever be grateful for. But speaking of slash...

#8. All Our Yesterdays

Sorry Amok Time, but THIS is the slashiest episode in the whole show. While I didn’t get into Spirk much, I got head over heels for Spones. IDK what it was but their dynamic has always been enjoyable and it just... really drew me in. Most of my favorite moments were between this two like the moment in Bread and Circuses and more I’ll go into later, This is essentially The Spones Episode despite what actually happens. Our heroes are to clear a planet that’s sun is about to go supernova, only to find it already gone. Kirk ends up going through a portal when he hears cries for help and when Spock and McCoy go agter him, they end up in an arctic-like area. They were all sent to different points of th eplanet’s past, Kirk in some old timey point and Spock and McCoy even earlier. Now they have to figure out how to get back and survive their situaitons. Kirk’s plot has nothing special tbh and with a few adjustments could have been written out entirely, hence why this is at 8. But Spock and McCoy? Ho boy, their scenes MAKE this episode.

Spock and McCoy try to survive the harsh conditions, the latter almost dying of severe frostbite. He outright tells Spock to abandon him with Spock being VERY adament that that’s not happening. They’re rescued by a woman named Zarabeth and Spock proceeds to spend most of the episode interacting with her while tending to McCoy. Which he gets VERY touchy feely with the latter. Like... a lot more than normal, which tvh the whole seaosm felt that way between those two if what I said about The World is Hollow... counts for anything. Now he DOES end up ‘falling’ for Zarabeth, but there’s a reason for that. Spock is regressing to how his ancestors acted at the time, which was like ‘barbarians’. When amcCoy starts to realize that something’s wrong, it leads to two very intense but really well done scenes with McCoy using logic against Spock to make him realize that he’s lost himself. And while Spock pretty much gave up greitng home due to all of this, McCoy refuses with or without him, even outright going back into the storm to find the portal because damn it, he wants his life back. Then when we find out that Spock and McCoy HAVE to go back together or not at all, it doesn’t take Spock even a second to decide to leave Zarabeth behind. It’s sad because Zarabeth will die a cold, lonely death and she cdoesn’t deserve that at all, so it’s bittersweet. But man next to the katra thing int he films, IDT it gets more symbolic than that.

Like I said, Kirk’s scenes in the past are the only real issue I have since aside form explaining a few things about he situation, feel like they’re just there so that Kirk can still be in the episode prominently. I had some problems with Spock’s OOC behavior, but that got an explanation and has some credibility with how Vulcans are psychically linked. Would explain why McCoy and Zarabeth never seemed to regress. But it was still a good episode with great Spock and McCoy scenes, we FINALLY git a snow environment after forever (and a time travel plot to boot), and a bittersweet but nice ending. Seriously when Spock and McCoy make it back safely and Kirk just touches them on their shoulders in relief is such a nice moment. God I love those three~! Season Three wasn’t a strong season but it still had it’s standouts, and this was very much one of them for me. But I AM biased cause Spones, so take that for what it’s worth!

And that’s enough for now. The last seven will be in another post. Thank you for reading everyone~!

Image Source: TrekCore TOS Gallery

#tos #callie reviews #star trek tos

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delicioussshame · 5 years ago

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Some very tropey BingQiu modern AU.

Here are the facts.

1. Shen Jiu had disappeared, taking with him more than his share of the family’s fortune, not that it was near enough to incommode them gravely.

2. One of their factories had burned to the ground.

3. While the police had found no trace of criminal activity, no one in the Shen family was stupid enough to think those two events unrelated.

4. Convinced that Shen Jiu would come back for revenge (revenge for what? Shen Yuan had no idea.), his parents had decided he needed a bodyguard.

5. They had chosen Luo Binghe.

6. Shen Yuan had a sugar baby now.

That last one was not how things were supposed to happen. Shen Yuan is certain that if his parents had thought for even a second that Luo Binghe could end up in Shen Yuan’s bed, they wouldn’t have hired him. Shen Yuan was sure they still dreamed of him marrying some pretty debutante to fuel the family fortune.

As far as Shen Yuan is concerned, they should have hired someone less ridiculously attractive to live with him twenty-four seven. What was Shen Yuan supposed to do, never look at his roommate? Just ignore the person that insisted on cooking him every meal from the moment he saw the shit Shen Yuan usually ate, despite it not being in his job description? The person who basically put his maid out of a job, who was always worried about his well-being, who made sure he didn’t go to bed too late and who seemed like he had no interest beside those things?

It was too much for Shen Yuan to resist. It was just sad, for this man to waste his life protecting Shen Yuan from a threat he didn’t believe would ever show himself. Whatever Shen Jiu’s problem was, it wasn’t with Shen Yuan.

So Shen Yuan tried to get Luo Binghe to open up about what he would have liked to do if he wasn’t stuck in Shen Yuan’s apartment, and after a lot of insistence, had ended up signing them both up to the kind of cooking lessons Shen Yuan had no chance of being able to follow, but it’s not like he could send his bodyguard by himself? He wouldn’t be able to do his job that way. He was sure Luo Binghe could handle it for them both. Shen Yuan would just boil water or something.

He bought crappy romance novels and put them by his crappy stallion novels, figuring Luo Binghe would have no reason to be embarrassed if Shen Yuan embarrassed himself just as much. Just to make the message clear, he also bought tickets for that terrible romantic comedy he knew Luo Binghe wanted to see from the way he actually listened to the trailer when it came up.

He took Luo Binghe to the kind of fancy restaurants his parents visited all the time by themselves, too afraid of Shen Yuan’s poor digestive system failing on him. Shen Yuan has been eating terribly for years; fine dining has nothing on it. It was just too much of a shame for Luo Binghe to be stuck inside with homebody Shen Yuan all the time.

Sometimes Luo Binghe took offense to something they ate and remade it but better, so it was a win for everyone, really.

Shen Yuan even went so far as to go on walks just to get Luo Binghe some fresh air.

Yes, in theory all those activities made Shen Yuan a more accessible target, but since Shen Yuan did not believe himself to be a target and Luo Binghe was apparently confident that he could take care of whatever would be coming for him, they just ignore it. Surely his parents would approve of Shen Yuan spending more time in the great outdoors.

So, in retrospect, maybe he should have seen it coming when Luo Binghe kissed him. Poor Binghe must have been so confused, to find himself be offered nice things when he was already being paid to spend time with him. Of course he thought Shen Yuan wanted something in return. And what else could someone like Binghe offer that he wasn’t already?

Because Shen Yuan could be very, very dumb, he only figured this after he let Luo Binghe fuck him. He didn’t have that much experience, okay? When someone that hot made a move on him, Shen Yuan’s only option was to be thankful and acquiesce enthusiastically. Only after had he realised that Luo Binghe might have felt forced.

He’d been fully planning on falling on his knees (no, not like that), apologise and offer to liberate Luo Binghe from his contract without penalty, but when Luo Binghe had woken up, having slept more than Shen Yuan had ever seen him do, and smiled at him gently before kissing him more tenderly than he’d ever been kissed, these thoughts were wiped right off Shen Yuan’s mind. Luo Binghe wouldn’t smile at him like that if he didn’t want was Shen Yuan was offering, right? With so little free time, dates and luxury must be a welcome respite. Sure, Shen Yuan wouldn’t be anyone’s first choice, but he’s been to a few society parties. Compared to some of the scions he had the displeasure of knowing, Shen Yuan was a bargain.

If it works, it works?

______________

Please.

He knows people sometimes see his (very handsome if he says so himself) face and physique and decide there can’t be much more behind them, but come on. A direct confrontation? Really? While Shen Yuan is taking a nap too? Does he think Luo Binghe is a complete idiot?

“Stand back, Luo Binghe, it’s just me.”

Luo Binghe bites back his growl with much difficulty. Shen Yuan hasn’t used his last name in months. “If Shen Jiu takes one step closer, I’ll shoot.”

Shen Jiu freezes. “What are you talking about? It’s me.”

This time, Luo Binghe doesn’t bother to hide his eye rolls as he aims his gun. “You couldn’t hope to be Shen Yuan even if you spent the rest of your very sad life trying. Now, for some reason Shen Yuan would prefer you remain alive, so you can go back from that door you just passed or I can shoot you and Shen Yuan can decide what to do with you if you survive.”

Luo Binghe sees the flimsy attempt at a disguise fall off at Shen Jiu stares at him with disdain. Nothing about this man reminds someone of Shen Yuan. Not his posture, not the way he speaks, not his shoes even if he made a barely passable guess at clothes Shen Yuan might wear. He doesn’t even smell right! Like Shen Yuan would wear cologne on a daily basis! It would be a travesty to hide his delicious smell behind artificial scents. “I see they finally managed to hire someone with a working brain. I suppose it’s my fault for getting complacent.”

Luo Binghe cocks his gun. “Last chance.” He really hopes he takes it too. If Shen Jiu dies, Shen Yuan won’t need a bodyguard anymore, and Luo Binghe doesn’t think he could handle leaving him.

Shen Jiu throws him a venomous glare but leaves without another word.

Good.

_____________

“Your brother stopped by.”

Shen Yuan freezes, and takes in the lack of general destruction around him. “What did he do?”

Luo Binghe shrugs. “Nothing. He left when I figured out I knew he wasn’t you.”

“Wait, he just waltzed in?”

“Yes.”

Shen Yuan sighs. “Can’t we tell my parents that? He’s not going to kill me like that. I bet he just wanted to talk. How was he?”

Luo Binghe had no desire to tell his clients that. What if they believe him and end his contract? The only reason he’s hoping his contract will end is because of marriage. Luo Binghe wouldn’t take money to protect his own spouse. He would love nothing more than stay by Shen Yuan’s side until the end. “He seemed fine. We didn’t talk much.”

Shen Yuan frowns. “I see.”

Luo Binghe doesn’t like it when Shen Yuan frowns. Lucky for them both, he has the solution to that. “Breakfast is ready. Eat.”

Shen Yuan predictably lights up at the spread. Luo Binghe lights up at Shen Yuan’s reaction. It’s very gratifying to see his hard work is appreciated. Before this job, Luo Binghe had mostly worked as protection detail for children at boarding schools or teenagers on foreign trips, too young to take care of themselves and at risk of kidnapping away from their influent parents. They weren’t the most thankful.

When he’d gotten the offer to mind a fully-grown adult, he’d been wary. Surely whoever could afford him could afford housemaids, chefs and normal security? He’d been even more wary at his prospective clients’ description of their son: too frail for general society, valuing his privacy too much to allow for permanent help in his apartment, rarely leaving his house. This Shen Yuan would be a nightmare to handle, and would probably fight him every step of the way.

He’d still agreed because his clients had been genuinely afraid for their son’s life. They obviously lived in terror of getting a phone call from the police.

Shen Yuan had been nothing like he’d expected.

Oh, he could be moody and difficult, but he’d let Luo Binghe enter his house and his spare bedroom without trouble. He’d offered to feed him, despite the allowance his parents were giving Luo Binghe for him to feed Shen Yuan, and to provide whatever he needed to distract himself. He’d been mostly unobtrusive, and Luo Binghe had tried to do the same.

Except Shen Yuan had been insistent that Luo Binghe should enjoy his time with him. Luo Binghe had first thought Shen Yuan was just polite, friendly, or a natural host, strange as that might seem. Luo Binghe had first not wanted to impose, but when he’d finally broken, he hadn’t regretted it. He’d enjoyed the night outs, and the time outside, and the decent-to-delicious food.

The cooking lessons had nailed the coffin. Shen Yuan had been so obviously out of his element there, struggling to follow lessons intended for professional chefs. Luo Binghe had figured the first one would be the only one, and had tried to gain everything he could from it.

Except it hadn’t been. Shen Yuan hadn’t enjoyed it anywhere near as much as Luo Binghe had, but he had kept going, and as long as Shen Yuan went, so would his bodyguard.

Luo Binghe hadn’t understood, until he had, but when he did, he had been impressed. Luo Binghe would have never thought someone as introverted as Shen Yuan could be so smooth, and yet he’d managed to take Luo Binghe on multiple dates without him realising it. Because things like taking cooking lessons or letting Luo Binghe teach him some basic self-defense weren’t done because Shen Yuan enjoyed it. He did it because Luo Binghe enjoyed it.

Luo Binghe had had clients hit on him before. He knows what he looks like. He always said no.

Shen Yuan never hit on him. He always stayed unfailingly polite, apparently content to see Luo Binghe content.

It’s that side of him, this desire to make Luo Binghe happy while refusing to impose on him, that had convinced Luo Binghe to give this ill-advised relationship a try.

He hadn’t regretted it. Shen Yuan had been as sweet as Luo Binghe had expected, visibly floored at the idea that his affections were returned and eager to keep it that way. The kitchen was fully renovated and restocked soon after, now full of every single utensils Luo Binghe might ever want.

Luo Binghe supposed this was the kind of gesture ridiculously rich people made, like getting him a new coat and cashmere sweaters because he shivered once.

Sometimes, he felt like telling Shen Yuan that he made more than enough money to buy himself whatever he wanted, but since buying him things made Shen Yuan happy, and Luo Binghe knew he could easily afford it, he kept his mouth shut. He would just surprise him with a very nice gift for his birthday, or a ring worthy of him when he would propose, whichever came first.

He couldn’t wait to find out.

#The Scum Villain Self Serving System #Scum Villain #BingQiu #bodyguard/sugar daddy AU

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kpoptrashibnida · 5 years ago

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Enough Pt. 6

A/N: Here it is finally! I hate the fact that it took me so long to update! It was a bit tricky to write without people snooping around. I am Mexican, so that means there is zero privacy in my home. Anyway, enough ranting. The other important characters have now been introduced in the story. It is going to get pretty interesting from now on. Well, I hope lol ;) Happy Reading!

The feeling in your chest the second you stepped out of the airplane was hard to describe. You felt nervous, excited, unsure, insecure, determined and hopeful. Your chest was humming with energy and it almost made you forget the pain you felt in your back from the long flight. After collecting your suitcase and going through customs, you stepped out into the arrivals area and looked around. You didn’t know what the person the company sent looked like, so you were hoping they’d have a sign.

After scanning the crowd for a few seconds, you noticed a young man holding a tablet that had your last name on it. You smiled as you made your way to him, making eye contact and having him return your smile.

“Hi, I’m Mark Lee, I’m with Friends Corp. It’s nice to finally meet you Miss.” He says professionally, making you smile at his adorable boyish charm.

“NIce to meet you Mark.” You say politely, following the young man through the airport.

“Let me help you with that,” He motioned towards your suitcase. You felt a little embarrassed at having him take your suitcase, but you decided to concede. “Is this all you have?” He asked, feeling a little puzzled at the lack of suitcases.

“I just have the one.” You shrugged and laughed at the way he widened his eyes in shock.

“Wow, well you travel light!” He said and laughed a bit, not expecting someone who moved across the world for a whole year to have just one suitcase.

“So, Mark, what do you do for Friends Corp?” You asked as you buckle your seat belt in the nice black SUV.

“I work with Graphic Design, I’m one of the junior associates.” He stated, making his way out of the airport parking lot.

“Oh! I thought the company would send a driver, not someone from graphic design.” You felt a little guilty that they sent a junior associate to be your errand boy.

“Normally, yes. But Mr. Seo and Mr. Jung want to meet you for lunch so they can introduce themselves. If you’re not too tired, that is.” Mark said, looking at you from the rear view mirror. He was instructed to take you to lunch if you were up for it, and if you were too tired, he could take you to your apartment.

“Oh! Well that’s fine! I am actually quite hungry. So who are Mr. Jung and Mr. Seo?” You questioned.

“Well Mr. Seo is the head of graphic design and Mr. Jung is the head of PR. Since you’re working closely with them, they want to meet you first to introduce themselves. Then Monday after work, they want to go to dinner with all departments working on the project.” Mark explained; you felt dizzy getting the information; you had just gotten to this country and there was an agenda already. You didn’t mind though, since being busy and keeping occupied was what you needed to forget everything you wanted to forget… Chanyeol being the main thing.

You pulled up at a fancy looking Italian restaurant and felt nervous all of a sudden. Taking a deep breath, you gave yourself a pep talk.

You can do this. It’s a fresh start. You’re good at your job and that’s why you’re here. Make a good first impression, YOU. GOT. THIS.

You followed Mark through the restaurant to a back room, you assumed they had rented a private area in order to have a quiet place to talk and discuss any work related things.

You were expecting Mr. Seo and Mr. Jung to be older men in their mid forties with a lot of experience- you were not expecting to find two men in their early to mid twenties that were extremely attractive.

Both of them stood up as you entered the room with Mark, bowing politely and pulling a chair out for you. You made eye contact with what you could only describe as the most beautiful man you had ever laid eyes on. Your breath hitched in your throat the longer the stare continued, making it feel like the earth was slowly spinning.

“So nice to finally meet you! We have been expecting you!” The other tall handsome man said, making you break the trance you were in.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr…” you trailed off, not sure if you missed his name or if he forgot to mention it,

“I’m Mr. Seo, but please call me Johnny. We are on the same team, so we can drop the formalities.” He said with a handsome smile, making you smile as well. You could tell the two of you were going to get along.

“I’m Mr. Jung, but you can call me-“

“His name is Jeff.” Johnny interrupted, making Mark hackle out a loud laugh while Mr. Jung just gave him a death glare.

“Please ignore him. My name is Jaehyun.” He said politely, his smile making the cutest dimples appear on his face, making you feel like you were dying a little.

You introduced yourself and everyone got settled, ready to order and get to know each other better.

“So how long have you all been working for Friends Corp?” You questioned as you ate some of the deliciously addicting garlic bread.

“I’ve been working for Friends Corp since they launched the texting app in 2011.” Jaehyun said, looking at you and smiling softly.

“Oh! For the Japanese launch?” You asked, surprised he’s been in the company for that long.

“Yes, that’s when I got recruited.” He said simply, moving his water out of the way so the waiter could place his food in front of him.

“How about you, Johnny?” You asked, looking away from Jaehyun, suddenly not being able to handle it.

“I was hired in the same year, I was hired to help design the Friends characters.” He said as he started to twirl his pasta on his fork.

“That’s pretty awesome! I love the Friends characters. And you Mark?” You asked, looking at the adorable young man that was happily eating his food.

“I got hired in 2017, I’m pretty new, but I’ve learned a lot working under Johnny’s direction.” He said as he looked over at his senior happily.

“It’s Mr. Seo for you.” Johnny joked, making everyone laugh.

They asked you questions about your work history with Friends Corp and your position as marketing director. You tried to avoid looking over at Jaehyun too much because his face made you unusually uncomfortable. At one point, your eyes met for a brief second but he sent you the most beautiful smile you had ever seen and it made your heart stop in your chest.

‘Stop it, you literally came here to escape a bad romance and now you want to jump head first to the first gorgeous man that crosses your path?’ You chided, annoyed at the fact that you had a very strong attraction towards Jaehyun.

After dinner, all three men decided that they were going to accompany you to your apartment. Mark had no choice, but Jaehyun and Johnny decided that they wanted to make sure you had everything that you needed and to make sure everything was working fine. Johnny decided to ride shot gun with Mark and Jaehyun sat in the back with you. To say that you were uncomfortable was an understatement. You had your body pressed up against the door of the SUV, as far away from Jaehyun as possible. He didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he didn’t acknowledge it because he had his legs spread out wide, his knee almost touching your leg. You were looking out the window, listening to the bantering conversation between the two men up front. You glanced sideways and made eye contact with the man that was currently making your heart pound. He gave you a small smile and you returned it, feeling your cheeks heat up. Was the heater on? It sure felt that way. Jaehyun looked forward and commented on the conversation between Mark and Johnny, giving you the opportunity to take a breather. You really hoped that you were almost at your apartment, the SUV feeling too small for whatever tension you were experiencing.

Once you were finally parked in front of your apartment building, you had all three men trying to be the ones to take your one suitcase upstairs. You couldn’t help but laugh at their behavior, three grown men fighting over a suitcase. They finally decided that since Mark was your driver for the day, he would be the one to take your suitcase up to your apartment. After the short elevator ride, you walked into your new home for a year, taking in the big open floor plan of an apartment that felt too big for one person.

“Wow! Your apartment is so nice!” Johnny exclaimed, walking around your modern and minimalist-styled apartment.

“Yeah! It makes my place look like a dump!” Mark whined cutely as he sat down on your black leather L-shaped couch.

“Hey come on man, get up, that’s rude.” Jaehyun chastised the younger man for his lack of manners.

Mark pouted cutely as he started to get up from the couch, embarrassed at being called out by his superior in front of other people.

“Oh it’s okay! I really don’t mind! You can sit Mark. Actually, you’re all welcome to sit, I’m being an extremely rude host.” You said sheepishly, realizing that the men were just standing around your living area.

“I mean, we sort of forced ourselves into your home.” Johnny joked as he sat down next to Mark on your couch, leaning back and making himself right at home.

“Do you guys want something to drink? I’m actually not sure what I have…. I’m probably going to have to go grocery shopping tomorrow…” You hoped you had at least what you needed for your first night in your new apartment.

“We are fine, no worries. We should actually stop being rude and let you rest. You must be tired from the flight and the time change. We will have other opportunities to get to know each other. Come on guys, let’s go.” Jaehyun said as he collected the other two men who seemed like they did not want to leave your couch.

“I appreciate the help, so no worries.” You smiled at them, actually happy that you met some of your coworkers.

“Here is my business card. It would be good to have each other’s information, in case you need anything before Monday. And for work as well.” Jaehyun said, handing you a business card and glancing over at Mark and Johnny.

“Oh right!” Both men said in unison, scrambling to their feet and handed you their business card. You gave them yours as well and walked them to the door, thanking them for their time and company.

Once you were alone, the reality of everything hit you. You were in a new country, new work place and new people. Sighing heavily, you took your suitcase to your room and you almost squealed excitedly when you saw how big your room was. You eyed the big King size bed in the middle of the room, the fatigue of the flight finally settling on your eyelids.

‘Shower first.’ You thought, rolling your suitcase over to your closet so you could unpack what little you brought with you. You had a massive walk-in closet that looked pathetically bare even after you arranged your clothes and shoes. At least it was a good excuse to do some shopping once you felt you were all settled with work. You brought enough professional attire to hold you out for at least your first week at work.

Stepping into the big walk in shower, you were excited to see you had a nice rainfall shower head. You let the warm water wash over your tired and sore muscles, stretching out your back to try and alleviate the tension you felt. You closed your eyes and let the steam around you take over your senses. You smiled a little as the memory of the three men you met invaded your mind. You were glad to have met them and see that they are very nice people and you would most likely work very well together. You tried to shake away the memory of Jahyun’s gorgeous smile and the way his dimples would appear if he smiled wide enough. You were here to focus on the job that Namjoon swore you were perfect for. You were not going to allow anything to distract you and lose your focus; you did not want to disappoint Namjoon.

Walking into your room in your pjs, you saw that you had a notification on your phone. Unlocking it you saw that it was from an unknown number; you opened up the message, confused as to who could have messaged you from an unregistered number.

Hey, it’s Jaehyun. I hope it’s not weird, but I just wanted you to know that if you need any help this weekend with anything, I can help you. I don’t have a car but an extra set of hands is always useful. Anyway, if you need any help with anything at all this weekend, don’t hesitate to ask me for help. Good night

You bit your lip excitedly as you read and re read his message. You knew he was just being friendly, but you could not help the way your heart thrummed excitedly in your chest. You knew you were entering a very dangerous area, but he seemed like such a nice and genuine guy, you wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

‘Not all guys are like Chanyeol’ You thought, looking at your phone intently. With a deep breath, you went into your contacts and looked up Chanyeol’s number. You opened up the information and hesitated over the button you wanted to press. You knew it was for the better and it was going to really help you forget him and everything he did to you. Exhaling the breath you didn’t know you were holding, you finally pressed the Block this Caller button. It was for the best, and it’s not like he was going to try and contact you anyway. With that feeling of finality in your chest, you plugged your phone and called it a night, the heaviness on your eyelids soon taking over.

***

Chanyeol did not know he was holding his breath the whole time he was waiting for the phone call that could potentially change his life. After finishing the song he was working on for a rookie artist, it seemed like the label he got signed with really liked Chanyeol’s sound. They asked him to send a demo of the songs he’s produced so they could listen to it.

He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but if all went well, he was most likely going to be a producer for a big company. Chanyeol decided that waiting around his apartment was not going to make the time go by any faster or settle his nerves, so he decided to walk to his favorite bakery for some breakfast.

After ordering and getting the cute barista’s number, he went to a table and waited for his food to be ready. He opened up Instagram and started to look through his feed, liking a few pictures here and there. The same cute barista brought his food over to his table and winked at him as she placed a free slice of pie on the table for him.

“On the house.” She said seductively, winking at Chanyeol as she walked back to her counter.

‘Free dessert and maybe something else if I’m really up for it.’ Chanyeol thought smugly as he ate his food.

His phone rang suddenly, startling him a bit. He looked at the number and his eyes widened when he saw the name pop up. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and he needed to take a deep breath to compose himself before he answered.

“Hello, this is Chanyeol.” He said in what he hoped was a calm and professional voice.

“Hello Mr. Park, this is Min Yoongi from ‘D-Day Records’. I am the head of the producer’s department. We listened to your demo, and I have got to say, we are extremely impressed with your talent and skill. We would love to have you on board with us as a new junior producer. What do you say?”

Chanyeol was sure he knew how to speak and breathe, but nothing was coming out. His heart was beating wildly and he could not believe he just got offered a job as a producer with one of the biggest entertainment companies ever.

Realizing he had not answered yet, he shook his head in order to think straight. “Yes, yes of course. It would be an honor.”

“Great. Come by tomorrow at 10AM so we can go over your contract, salary and any other details. It’s a pleasure to have you on board Mr. Park.” Yoongi said before hanging up.

Chanyeol just sat there, staring at his phone, still not being able to process the news he just got.

He quickly finished the last of his food and got up to make his way out of the bakery. He scrolled through his call log until he got to your phone number, pressing the call button excitedly. He did not know why, nor did he want to know, but when he thought of who to tell the exciting news to first, your face came to his mind. He furrowed his brows as the phone kept ringing and ringing, your voice mail not even picking up. He hung up and called again, confused as to why the same thing was happening. He hung up and decided to go to your place. He knew it was too early for you to be home, but he could not contain his excitement.

Arriving at your apartment building, he knocked a couple times and waited to see if he heard any noise. After a few minutes, he decided to try your padlock combination. You didn’t know this, but he had your pass code memorized. He never used it because there was no need, but it was useful on a day like today. He punched in your code and was met with the noise that let him know it was an incorrect password. He tried again and the same error sound occurred. He was confused, had you changed your pass code recently? You obvious would not have told him about it, but he was a little bummed that he could not get into your apartment. He looked at his watch and saw that if he went over to your job right now, he could catch you right before your lunch hour started. He could probably treat you to lunch to celebrate his new job.

Chanyeol got off the subway and tried not to run into anyone as he ran out of the subway station and towards the building you worked at. He felt excited and giddy at the thought of seeing you and telling you the exciting news. He walked in through the grand glass doors of the building and realized he had no idea which floor you worked at. He knew Friends Corp owned the whole building, so surely someone in reception would know where you worked.

“Hello, welcome to Friends Corp, how many I help you?” A young man whose ID badge said Jungkook greeted as Chanyeol approached the reception desk.

“Hey, I am looking for someone in the marketing department.” Chanyeol said, feeling a little uncomfortable at the fact that he just showed up unannounced at your job.

“Sure. Do you have an appointment?” Jungkook asked, typing something into the computer.

“No I don’t. Um she’s the head of marketing, I think.” Chanyeol said as he pulled up your contact on his phone to show the young man.

“Oh! Noona!” He said excitedly, which made Chanyeol lift an eyebrow questioningly. Noona?

“Are you guys close or something?” Chanyeol couldn’t help but ask, hating himself for it.

“Yeah you can say that…” The younger man trailed off, eyeing the taller man suspiciously. “Who are you?” He questioned.

Chanyeol huffed an irritated breath, who was this boy to question him. “I am… I am a friend, I guess.” Chanyeol said, unsure as to what to refer to himself as.

“Hmm, funny. Well, noona’s friend, she no longer works here.” He said with finality in his tone that did not sit well with Chanyeol. He was not done with this conversation and he was not going to be dismissed by some boy.

“Wait, she doesn’t work here anymore? Did she quit?” Chanyeol could not believe it, you really loved this job.

“No, she still works with Friends Corp, just not at this branch.” Jungkook said in a bored tone, not making eye contact with Chanyeol, typing away at his computer.

“Well where does she work?” Chanyeol pressed, really irritated at the man-child’s attitude. What was he so overprotective for? Were the two of you really that close?

“Sorry sir, I cannot tell you that information. But if you really are noona’s friend, I am sure she can tell you. Have a wonderful day and thank you for visiting Friends Corp.” Jungkook said in a fake customer service voice, smirking smugly at the taller man as he got up from his chair and walked away with an empty coffee mug in hand.

Chanyeol stood there, dumbfounded. He could not believe the attitude this boy had with him, and he could not process the fact that he did not know where you were. Why was he so worried? Why did he care so much? He took out his phone as he sat at a nearby park bench, calling your phone one more time. It kept ringing and ringing, no voicemail or anything. Where could you be? He looked up Suho’s phone number, calling his last hope of someone that knew of your whereabouts.

“Hey man, whats up?” Suho said as he answered the call.

“Where is she?” Chanyeol bit out, suddenly aggravated that no one bothered to tell him where you were.

“What are you talking about?” Suho feigned ignorance, but Chanyeol saw right through that.

“Don’t play games with me Suho, you know who I’m talking about. Where is she?” He said angrily, his temper flaring at his friend’s response.

Suho sighed heavily, knowing that his friend was not going to be happy with his answer. “I’m sorry Yeol, but I can’t tell you that.” He said, holding his breath in anticipation for his friend’s blow up.

“What the fuck do you mean you can’t tell me that? Why not?” He interrogated

“Look, she told Mina that she didn’t want her or I to tell you where she moved to. Mina wants us to respect her wishes. She said, and I quote, ‘it’s not like he cares anyway.’ So, sorry man, I have to stick with what my wife says.” Suho informed him, hoping he would understand.

Chanyeol’s gut twisted uncomfortably, not knowing why hearing those words cut him deep.

“Come on man, please help me out. Where is she?” Chanyeol pleaded, not knowing where the desperation was coming from.

“Look, if I tell you, you have to promise you will not do anything about it or tell anyone I told you.”

“I swear.” He promised, his heart thrumming in anticipation.

“She moved to the United States. But that’s all I can tell you. She is going to be gone for a year.” Suho said, really hoping Chanyeol was going to keep his promise.

Chanyeol felt his stomach drop, the news making feel winded. You left to the United States… the boy from your work said you transferred to a different branch.

“Okay, thanks man. I’ll see you around.” He said before hanging up.

He slumped his shoulders in defeat, not believing that you were gone. Could you have changed your number? Is that why you didn’t answer? Chanyeol knew that he had not always been the nicest or the most caring with you, but he also didn’t think he was super horrible either.

He got up and made his way to his apartment, the joy he had felt earlier now basically gone.

He needed to know where you lived, and he was not going to stop until he found out. Chanyeol knew he needed to sort out his feelings and identify what was going on with him. He had enough of running from his emotions, he was done.

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#chanyeol #jaehyun fluff #chanyeol x reader #jaehyun smut #chanyeol smut #jaehyun and you #chanyeol and you #jaehyun x you #exo #exo smut #exo angst #nct #nct127 #nct smut #nct127 smut #multi au #multi fandom

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365daysoftododeku · 6 years ago

Text

15th May 2019

Author: Mara

________________________________________________________________

Sunshine Smiles

Shouto’s father was an ass. Well, he wasn’t the worst, he had gotten better, but he still took Shouto’s phone and laptop every time he went up to his room. ‘It is a distraction’ his father would say. Shouto thought he was just being an ass and liked to annoy Shouto, mostly because he wasn’t able to properly operate his own phone.

Nonetheless, Shouto was a seventeen-year-old, stuck in his bedroom with nothing. Well, there were books, but he didn’t want books. He wanted to talk with Izuku, his best friends and his not-so-secret crush. Apparently, the crush was only a secret for Izuku, and a long time, for Shouto himself. He hadn’t realised he liked his friend romantically, he had just assumed it was perfectly normal to feel warm and safe around someone you trusted. Later on, he had realised he hadn’t the same feelings around Momo, who was also a dear friend of him. And he never had the desire to kiss her.

Shouto definitely had considered kissing Izuku sometimes. He looked really kissable, with his freckled nose and cheeks, his big, green eyes, a mop of curly hair and lips that never stopped moving. Thankfully not because Izuku was kissing someone, but because Izuku never stopped talking about whatever fascinating thing he just had read. Shouto loved listening to Izuku.

It didn’t matter that he had a crush on his best friend. After all, his best friend was dating someone else. Uraraka Ochako was a sweet girl and Shouto couldn’t hate her. She clearly adored Izuku, and Izuku clearly adored her. And even with his little knowledge concerning romance, he could see that the two of them were cute together.

Lying sprawled on his bed, Shouto was half-asleep when he noticed a bright light flickering on and off. Only his desk-light was on, and that thing was only burning lightly, casting a warm glow over the wooden desk. But nothing more.

Finally, his tired, moping brain caught up with what was happening and Shouto nearly toppled out of bed, rushing over to the window.

He could look straight at the window of the house opposite of his. The street was pretty narrow, but it was still hard to make out details. But it wasn’t hard to notice the mop of green curls, or the bright yellow pajama Izuku wore.

Shouto waved, and Izuku finally stopped flicking his light switch, leaving the light burning.

They’ve been doing this for years, even before they got attached to their phones and spent most of their time texting. Midoriya Izuku has been living opposite his house for as long as he could remember, and they have been friends for almost as long. It was hard not to befriend Izuku, with his sweet appearance and bright personality.

Izuku rolled his whiteboard over to the window. Today was whiteboard day, it seemed. Whatever was troubling Izuku, paper wasn’t enough to conceive the message.

While Izuku was scribbling something down, Shouto grabbed his own whiteboard and wheeled it over. One side was filled with junk, red yarn, pictures, newspaper articles. Shouto couldn’t even make sense of what he had tried to theorise, but he had been drunk on lack of sleep so probably it was something completely outlandish and ridiculous.

The side with the conspiracy stuff wouldn’t face the window, Shouto liked to keep that bit of dignity.

Looking at the Midoriya household, he saw Izuku doodling on the whiteboard. So he was done writing. ‘Math is killing me, h e l p’ it read.

Shouto picked up a marker, jotting down his response. ‘I finished it. What question?’

Izuku stopped his doodle, read Shouto’s message, and wiped out his own message. Izuku noted down one of the last questions, one Shouto had struggled with. He wasn’t surprised that Izuku also struggled with it, and this late at night you didn’t want to keep going on forever with one, stupid question.

Shouto started to note down the answer, after checking his own calculations. He was okay at math, but no way he could do it from the top of his head. He wasn’t a miracle worker.

Slowly, as expected, Izuku’s face started to light up with realisation. After making a few notes on an off-screen paper, Izuku erased his question and drew one big ‘thanks’ on it, surrounding it by doodles of flowers, stick figures and hearts.

He was really gay for this boy, there was no going back.

~*~

‘I’m bored,’ Shouto’s first message read, and Izuku tipped his head back in quiet laughter in response. His father had guests over, so Shouto had fled upstairs. Without his phone and laptop, of course, because he was planning on spending his entire evening searching the dark web like his father believed to think.

‘Me too tbh’ read Izuku’s paper. A second one followed. ‘U have time?’

‘Yes???’

Izuku looked like he giggled, but that could be wishful thinking.

It took Izuku some time to scribble down whatever thing he had cooked up. Usually, he used the whiteboard, but in his mid-term scramble, he had forgotten to buy new markers. No markers, no whiteboard.

‘Don’t laugh’ the first one read. The second one followed after a thumbs-up from Shouto. ‘What would be-’ and ‘-a nice date?’

Seconds passed and Shouto just blinked at the words. Izuku was asking him about ideas for a date. A date Izuku would take Uraraka on, most likely. He was asking Shouto of all people. The guy who was still single and painfully crushing on his best friend.

‘Not for me!’ a sign was added. Izuku’s face had grown red. ‘Kirishima’.

Oh, that was… better? Shouto didn’t know Kirishima all that well, aside from that it was their classmate, that he had started to dye his hair in their senior year and that he got along with basically everyone, including socially awkward Shouto and hot-tempered Bakugo.

Still, Shouto’s mind drew a blank. What was even a good idea for a date? Movies? Ice cream? Summer was getting close. But those were ideas that Izuku already knew, and if not, he probably wasn’t interested in them. Those would be the suggestions the internet would give you.

Shouto looked up to the heavens, begging whatever being that was up there to give him an idea. His eyes caught the sight of thousands of stars sprinkled across the vast darkness.

Not knowing what else to write, Shouto wrote down ‘stargazing’ and showed it to Izuku. Even from this distance, Shouto knew that Izuku’s eyes were twinkling like the stars above them.

~*~

It was pretty much an average night for Shouto. He had finished his homework, his father was insufferable so he had hidden upstairs, where the only company he had was Izuku. Thankfully, Izuku had finished his homework too and was willing to entertain Shouto by playing hanging-man with him. It was a silly game, but he loved it when Izuku came up with the most ridiculous words, creating small doodles around the vast surface of the whiteboard while Shouto guessed the letters.

After a couple of rounds, in which the score ended up being five for Izuku and one for Shouto—he sucked at this game—they moved on to just chatting.

Not in the mood of talking about school or his father, Shouto decided that their classmates were a safe subject. Uraraka had been sick for the entire week, which meant that Izuku most be worried out his mind. His girlfriend was sick. Shouto knew that he would panic if Izuku would be down with a fever—he had been there before.

So he scribbled ‘how is Uraraka doing?’ and patiently waited for Izuku’s reply, ignoring the painful stab in his heart.

Izuku looked confused, taking a long while to note down his reply. ‘She is okay???’ he noted down, erasing it and added the second part: ‘she told us, in the g-chat’.

Now it was Shouto’s turn to be confused. He knew that Uraraka had texted them that she was fine, but Izuku surely would have visited her!

‘You haven’t visited her’ he nodded down, adding ‘homework?’ as an afterthought.

‘No, Tsuyu did’ Izuku replied. ‘Why?’ followed after.

Shouto bit his lip, wondering if he should ask. Izuku had never told him that he was dating Uraraka, but it was blatantly obvious that they were a thing. He didn’t want to pry in Izuku’s private life, but he had no other explanation why he had assumed that. And he wasn’t going to lie to Izuku.

Shouto took his time by writing down his response, delaying the inevitable conclusion that yes, Izuku was dating Uraraka and Shouto didn’t have a chance.

Izuku stood frozen in shock. Not even bothering to wipe out his previous answer, he wrote down a big ‘no’ on the whiteboard.

Shouto felt relieved. He wasn’t even going to deny that. He in no way hated Uraraka, he even liked her, but he liked Izuku a lot more.

‘Why did you think that?’ Izuku asked. His handwriting was a hurried scribble, which was unlike Izuku who had eligible handwriting.

‘It looked like it’ Shouto answered in all honesty.

Izuku paused for a long time, apparently deep in thought. Eventually, he wrote a question on the whiteboard, not even bothered to confirm he had read Shouto’s answer.

‘Are you and Momo a thing?’ it read.

Oh. Oh. It looked like he was dating Momo. Maybe because they were close friends? But that was the exact same thing as Izuku and Uraraka. They were close friends, and immediately everyone, Shouto included, thought they were dating. And probably everyone thought he was dating Momo, which he definitely wasn’t. He was gay and had a ridiculous crush on Izuku.

He wrote down ‘no’ on the whiteboard. It was hard to see from across the street, but Shouto was quite sure that Izuku looked relieved. Or he was just projecting, which was quite possible because he was an absolute fool.

Wiping out the ‘no’, Shouto jotted down ‘sorry’, drawing several clumsy hearts. He wasn’t as artistic as Izuku, but he knew his best friend liked it if Shouto tried. Plus hearts were innocent, as Izuku threw them around all the time. It wasn’t like Shouto was pouring his heart out.

Izuku was glowing.

~*~

His father was out of town, so Shouto could have his stuff upstairs for once. Not that it withheld him from communicating with Izuku trough their usual means. It had a certain charm to it, and a nostalgic feeling. Something they wouldn’t be able to keep doing once they graduated high school and move on to college. In the back of his mind, Shouto had suggested multiple times if Izuku wanted to be his roommate. But this only had been a thought. He had been too big of a chicken to actually ask.

They had been playing a couple of rounds of tic-tac-toe, Izuku always winning or making them tie. Shouto hadn’t figured out the trick yet, despite Izuku’s insistence that there was indeed a trick to never lose in tic-tac-toe.

After Izuku’s twelfth victory, his neighbour wiped his board clean and started to jot down a message: ‘do you want to see the stars?’. Around the word ‘stars’ he had drawn small stars, the red marker popping against the black.

Despite being confused by Izuku’s request—they never had watched the stars before, he didn’t even know that Izuku liked watching the stars—Shouto answered with a hurried ‘yes’. Everything to get out of this warm home, even if he would be hit by the warm summer air. And, he would enjoy some time with Izuku that didn’t involve any of their friends.

He made sure he looked presentable and told his sister he was going out (to their neighbour, so no, he wasn’t going out partying). He left with only his phone, a house-key, and a lot of excitement.

Five minutes later, after greeting Izuku’s mum, declining the food and drinks she offered, he was laying down on the grass, Izuku only an arm-length away. The warm summer weather meant that it was cloudless, showing them a star-filled sky. It was breathtaking.

“I can’t believe we’re almost done with high school,” Izuku said in wonder.

Shouto grunted in agreement.

In the corner of his eyes he saw Izuku move. Curious, Shouto turned on his side. Izuku was staring at him, clearly nervous. But why?

“You still aren’t dating Momo, right?”

“I’m gay.”

Well, that was out of the bag.

Izuku stared at him with big doe-like eyes, “I thought you were bi.”

“Gay, really gay.”

“I’m bi,” Izuku confessed.

Shouto wasn’t really surprised. He had a suspicious, but never knew for sure. He tried to stop making assumptions after he was completely wrong about Izuku and Uraraka dating.

A piece of paper came out of nowhere. Shouto assumed it had been in one of Izuku’s short pockets, but he would never know for sure.

Izuku slowly unfolded the paper, hiding behind the red ink and the worn lines of paper that had been folded and unfolded many times. It took Shouto a few seconds to realise that the red ink formed words, but hard to make out what it was, with how close he was to the paper.

Moving his head back a bit, Shouto finally managed to read the words.

‘I love you’ was written with a red marker, hearts in all sizes drawn around it.

Shouto was almost sure he was dreaming. Almost, as he had dreamed of this before. Izuku confessing to him, but never like this. Never lie on the grass, bathing in the warm summer sun and trying to watch the stars.

“I’ve loved you for five years.”

Izuku grew rapidly red in the face, eyes growing wider by the second.

“Five years!”

Shouto nodded.

“You can’t just say that! Now I feel bad,” Izuku hid his face behind his hands. “I’ve been crushing on you for, maybe a year?”

He didn’t really care. No, that sounded insensitive. He did care, but his five-year-long crush was just ridiculous. One year seems much fairer than being thirteen and barely able to grasp the concept of love. What even is love, aside from the wild beating of your heart, and an overabundance of love for a specific person?

“Do you,” Izuku hesitated, before determinedly grabbing Shouto’s hand. Izuku’s hand was sweaty and slightly sticky, but Shouto hadn’t it in him to take his hand away. Izuku must be as nervous as him, if not even more. “Want to go out?”

Shouto swallowed nervously. “Like, on a date?”

Izuku nodded. “We could get ice-cream, or go to the cinema! And since we’re going to the same college, we’ll see each other a lot even away from home! Maybe my mum even wants to take you along on our holiday, she loves you to pieces!”

“She wouldn’t mind us dating?”

Izuku shook his head, his curls falling in his eyes. He didn’t seemed bothered with it, at all. “She would be overjoyed, she knew before me, probably.”

Shouto suddenly recalled his sister’s knowing gaze each time he talked about Izuku. And as he hadn’t told her about his long-lasting crush, she must have figured it out herself. She never told him that she knew, though she never had disapproved of it either, as she hadn’t ratted him out to their father.

“I think my sister knew.”

“I think everyone knew it before us.”

It was a bit embarrassing to realise that Momo knew, and that she had been hinting and pushing the whole time. Shouto only had seen it as supportiveness. Turned out she just knew more than him. But in the end, it didn’t matter all that much. Because now they were there, holding hands, smiling like fools in Izuku’s backyard. Maybe this wasn’t the most romantic moment one could dream off, but Shouto liked this plenty. At least this one was real.

________________________________________________________________

Would you like your work to be featured in the 365 Days of TodoDeku Project? Apply here! (≧∇≦)/

#Story #lavanderstarcatcher #TodoDeku #365DaysofTodoDeku #TodoDeku365 #365 Days of TodoDeku #tddk #Shouto Todoroki #Todoroki Shouto #Izuku Midoriya #Midoriya Izuku #Boku no Hero Academia #BNHA #My Hero Academia #MHA #Todoroki x Midoriya #Shouto x Izuku #TodoIzu

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raywritesthings · 6 years ago

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Dear Friend, 1/?

My Writing Fandom: Arrow Characters: Laurel Lance, Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, Joanna de la Vega Pairing: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen Summary: When Felicity decides to get serious about Ray, she knows it won’t be a good idea for Oliver to be hanging around. So she turns to the world of online dating to keep him distracted. Unknown to the both of them, over the summer Joanna had set Laurel up with an online dating account in the hopes that her friend could move on from past failed relationships. There’s only one way this can end. *Can also be read on my AO3*

Not for the first time, Felicity wondered what she was going to do about Oliver.

After what had seemed an age, he had finally asked her out and they were going to give things a shot — only for him to back out thanks to a bomb going off in the restaurant. Definitely not her usual fantasy ending.

She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t been hurt. He’d tried to tell her it wasn’t due to a lack of feelings on his part, but Felicity wasn’t really interested in what his excuse was. If he really loved her, he would want to be with her no matter what. She’d waited too long to settle for anything less.

And then things had changed.

Put off as she’d been by her new day job boss at first, Ray Palmer had quickly grown on her. Lifting her out of the secretarial pool had been a small mercy, for one thing. She would have rather stayed in her retail job than go back to that. And he was open with her about his past and the things he struggled with, more open than Oliver had been in three years. She felt like he saw her and as more than just a last resort.

Ray was...something. A something she sort of wanted to see what it might become. But that was never going to happen with Oliver and the specter of their nonstarter relationship hanging over her. She only had to look back two years to see how he’d single-handedly dismantled Laurel’s chances with Tommy to see where that would go.

Things would be best if Oliver’s attentions were directed elsewhere, that much was clear. But she doubted she could convince him to start a relationship with someone who didn’t even know his secrets if he wasn’t willing to date her and be the Arrow at the same time.

If she could just give him the illusion of pursuit to distract himself with, that might just be enough. He wasn’t any good at hanging onto relationships anyway, so it’d probably be more fun for him to not actually be in one, merely testing the waters of one — or perhaps several, if that was what it took.

Her chances of getting him to try speed-dating were slim to none, at least not in person. But there was a much more convenient alternative she thought far more likely.

“Technology saves the day again,” Felicity thought to herself. Now how to put this in a way he might actually be willing to consider.

She puzzled over that for the rest of the workday and on her drive to the Verdant. When she arrived, she found herself in luck; Oliver was the only one occupying the Cave. The salmon ladder, too. She was really lucky today.

As tended to happen, Felicity’s careful planning came out in a single blurt. “So, I was thinking about your problem.”

Oliver paused on the rung he was currently hanging from and looked down. “My problem?”

“Your dating problem.”

He grimaced and dropped down onto the mat. “Felicity—”

“I know, I’m the last person you want to talk to about this. But let us consider why we are in this situation in the first place.”

Oliver said nothing, but he wasn’t running away either. Not that he had anywhere to run when this was both his base and home. Felicity took this as a sign to continue.

“You don’t feel you can be close to another person while being the Arrow. But you would also like a relationship. So I thought of a way to achieve both of those things.” She reached over to the table where Oliver had placed his phone along with his water and wallet.

“What are you doing?” He was more puzzled than angry-sounding, and he made no move to stop her as she entered his password and went to the app store.

“I am downloading an online dating app and creating an account for you.”

“Online dating?” He echoed, incredulous. Oliver made a grab for the phone, but she pulled it in towards her chest, still typing away. Felicity knew he’d never force it out of her hands even though he could. “I don’t want that.”

“But you need it. You don’t stay single long, Oliver, and there is a long line of ex-girlfriends who can attest to that.”

He didn’t have an argument to deny that, and they both knew it.

Eventually he said, “I don’t think online dating is the best way for someone like me to date, Felicity. I have a reputation that would be hard for a stranger to see past.”

“That’s why it’s anonymous.”

“Anonymous?”

She nodded. “You get a username and a little bio description, and then you match with another person based off the answers you gave to various preference questions. Then after you have a certain number of conversations, you can choose to share your picture or name or whatever.”

“What if you don’t want to?”

“Then don’t,” she said with a shrug. She had to suppress a smile as well, as that was ultimately the goal here: keep Oliver busy with possible romances for as long as possible. She could never see him settling down with one, at any rate.

“So, your username. Any ideas?”

Oliver was silent. Still a reluctant participant, then.

“Hm. Well, what about…” Felicity snapped her fingers. “King of Survival. Get it? Cause surviving is kind of your thing, and the king part is a play on your name. Can’t really use Queen. That would definitely be giving off the wrong vibe,” Felicity said, her smile fading when he didn't laugh. Not that she would’ve expected it. She typed it in and hit the box for the next page. “Anyway, now there’s just the bio and answering some basic questions about preferences.”

She began typing out what she felt to be a fair and accurate description without getting into any incriminating detail. Oliver wandered over a little closer. He looked as though mentally he was starting and stopping several sentences.

“What sort of questions do they ask?”

“The basics. If you’re a neat freak or a slob, cats or dogs, favorite foods. You’re not big on sweets, right?”

“Actually, I — well, I don’t dislike them.”

Felicity looked up in surprise. She would never have guessed. “But you drink black coffee.”

“Sure, because it’s coffee. But I like, you know, ice cream. And Thea and I, every Christmas we used to — well, it doesn’t matter.”

Felicity was glad. She wasn’t particularly interested in Oliver’s Christmas traditions with his sister that had no doubt fallen by the wayside long ago. She held out the phone. “Maybe you should answer the questions.”

He took it and stared down at the screen. “There’s no chance you’re gonna let me just delete this thing, is there?”

“Nope.” Felicity reached out and touched his arm. “Just give it a try. For me?”

Oliver’s shoulders rose and fell with his sigh. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is,” she said scarcely before he’d finished. “Okay, so answer the questions, and then you should be all set up and start seeing other profiles.”

Oliver’s deep frown remained throughout as he hit the button for this or that answer. But John and then Roy soon entered the base, meaning she couldn’t really ask. Oliver was going to need privacy if she wanted him to actually try, and something told her John would say this wasn’t a good idea.

As the boys all left the Cave, however, she decided a little peek wouldn’t hurt. Just to make sure he’d finished setting up the profile. To her relief, he had, and slowly more and more matches were being brought up for him to look at.

“That’s one distracted Oliver and me in the clear,” Felicity muttered to herself, locking Oliver’s phone and setting it aside again.

So far so good.

—-

It wasn’t until the next morning that Oliver got around to looking at his phone again, much less the newly-added app. Part of him thought to just ignore it altogether, but the device had been periodically beeping with notifications. Probably as it found new supposed matches for him. This was ridiculous.

Oliver couldn’t even believe he’d agreed to this. What interest did he have in online dating? He wished he could be with Felicity, but it was just too much of a risk. Was this just her way of trying to prove a point to him? He already knew that the life he’d chosen could only be a solitary one.

But he supposed he owed it to her to give it a try. She’d gone ahead and put the app into his phone, anyway, so it was useless to argue whether or not it was happening. And it wasn’t as if he had anything else to do during the daytimes. Even he knew training for the entire day only to fight through most of the night was more of a detriment to his health in the long run than anything. And he’d promised Felicity.

Oliver opened the app and began scrolling down a list displaying accounts that had been selected according to his own preferences. They each had their own username and a short bio attached, and his eyes caught on one in particular.

JusticeIsAWoman

Career-driven. Closer to thirty than I’d like. Slow to get to know, but passionate about the people close to me. Really just looking for a friend.

That could work. At the least, it didn’t really sound like an actual relationship would result — which he didn’t want in the first place, but he didn’t want to hurt some anonymous person’s feelings over it.

He could tell Felicity he’d tried even if it didn’t work out. At the least it wouldn’t be lying.

And something about the bio’s frank tone intrigued him. It felt more authentic, like someone he wouldn’t mind talking to, even if it only lasted a few minutes. And there was no denying the irony of a vigilante pursuing justice.

Nothing ventured…

He hit the icon that opened up a message box and began to type.

—-

Work was not exactly going well today. She was still tired and a bit sore from her workouts at the gym, not that she was about to give those up. It was the only time she really felt alive anymore, not like at the office where she had to pretend everything was fine and that she hadn’t watched her sister’s body fall off a rooftop only a few short weeks ago.

It wasn’t that she hated her job. It just wasn’t enough anymore, not when the city was regularly on the verge of crisis the past few years and the justice system couldn’t even try keeping up. Sitting on the sidelines and watching Oliver and the others do something about it just grew more and more frustrating with each passing day.

It wasn’t as if she could have much of her own life anymore. She was lying to her father about Sara, lying to anyone not on Oliver’s team about the Arrow, and lying to herself about why she kept turning down various invites to go out or be set up with a friend of a colleague. Why not do something worthwhile with the time she wasn’t using?

A vaguely familiar sounding ping came from her purse. Laurel dug around in it for her phone and blinked at the screen. Then she groaned.

“Speak of the devil.”

There was a notification from the dating app Joanna had made her download this past summer. It had been a while since she’d heard anything from it; truthfully Laurel had been pretty sure she’d fended off the majority of any potential suitors, which she realized was not what her friend had wanted at all.

“You need to get back out there,” Joanna had said. “Seriously, Laurel, you have gone through so much, and I don’t want to see you give up on a single part of your life. And that includes relationships.”

“Joanna, I appreciate that, I really do.” Laurel had tried for a smile, not wanting to make her friend feel bad. “But it’s not that I’m not dating because I’m still hung up on some guy.” Not the guy Joanna had probably been thinking of, anyway. “I just really don’t have the time to date around.”

“Who does anymore? That is why all the young professionals have gotten into this nifty thing called online dating.”

She’d suppressed a groan. “I think you mean old people.”

“Yeah, on eHarmony, sure. But there’s sites for busybodies hitting their thirties just like you and me.”

“I’m not sure it’s going to look that great for the ADA to be online dating,” Laurel had said, thinking it an easy-out.

“Then we’ll set you up with one of those anonymous sites,” Joanna had decided. “It’s more for the practice than anything. Just to boost your confidence so you can start dating in the real world again.”

Grudgingly, she’d handed her phone over and let Joanna search for and download an app that met the right specifications.

“Now, you’re gonna need a username. Something kind of mysterious and sexy—”

“I’m not trying to be sexy,” she’d reminded her friend.

“--but still you,” Joanna had continued as though Laurel hadn’t spoken. She’d bitten her lip in a long few minutes of thought, and just when Laurel had begun to hope they’d been stymied before this could really begin, Joanna’s eyes had lit up. “Oh, this one’s perfect!”

Laurel had leaned over the table to watch her friend’s typing. “Justice is a woman?”

“And that woman is you. Come on, it fits.”

She’d coached Laurel through writing a little bio section that didn’t give away any real personal details and a brief questionnaire that was meant to determine her preferences. Laurel had insisted on making it clear she wasn’t really in the market for a relationship; just a friend would do.

“You realize most guys are gonna take that as code for a one-night stand, right?”

Joanna had been right, which had meant a couple solid weeks of slogging through various offers and blocking anyone who sent her an attachment on sight. With a little bit of tweaking, the messages had slowed to a trickle — though most of those were requests to join some pre-existing couple’s threesome since she’d honestly listed her openness towards talking to either men or women once Joanna hadn’t been watching.

But she’d forgotten all about it especially in the wake of Sara’s murder. Laurel unlocked her phone with the full intention to just delete the app, but her eyes caught sight of the message that had been sent.

KingOfSurvival: is the looking for a friend part of your bio for real?

Something about it gave her pause. It wasn’t exactly easy to tell over the internet, but the question seemed genuine. Although she wasn’t sure what to make of that username. The likelihood was that she was reading way too much into it, however, so with that in mind she typed out a terse reply.

JusticeIsAWoman: is that the setup for some kind of ‘change your mind with a dick pic’ maneuver

The reply was almost immediate.

KingOfSurvival: no

KingOfSurvival: I just meant I could use a friend myself. I’m not really on here to see anyone or hookup or anything with pictures

KingOfSurvival: do people really do that?

JusticeIsAWoman: you wouldn’t believe how often

She sat back in her chair, considering the turn this had taken. He wasn’t interested in dating her or sex, but he’d messaged her anyway. And in the middle of the workday. That didn’t exactly speak well for him, but maybe he was on his lunch break. Laurel hadn’t been planning to take one, but there wasn’t anything pressing on her desk at the moment.

JusticeIsAWoman: if you’re not interested in dating, what are you doing on a dating site?

KingOfSurvival: couldn’t I ask you the same?

“Touché,” Laurel muttered under her breath. He’d already sent a second message before she could begin typing.

KingOfSurvival: truth is a friend signed me up for this

JusticeIsAWoman: same thing happened to me

KingOfSurvival: that might say something about the company we both keep

JusticeIsAWoman: is that why you’re looking for new friends

There was a longer wait for his answer, and Laurel chewed her bottom lip, wondering if that remark had been a bit too biting.

KingOfSurvival: I laughed more than I should have at that

KingOfSurvival: but really, I guess my personal life is a little complicated and having someone else to talk to would be nice

Complicated personal life. Well, she doubted it could be as complicated as hers. And really, what was she doing chatting with some random stranger on the internet while her whole world kept getting knocked out from under her?

But having someone else to talk to would be nice. Someone who didn’t see her as all her past mistakes, or as just another fellow alcoholic. Wasn’t that the whole point to this anonymity?

JusticeIsAWoman: well, I don’t know how good I’ll be at it, but I can try to be that someone

JusticeIsAWoman: but there’s no way your personal life is more complicated than mine

KingOfSurvival: we’ll have to agree to disagree on that

KingOfSurvival: but if you need someone to talk to, too, then this might work out for both of us

JusticeIsAWoman: looks like it

She happened to glance at the time at the top of her screen and gave a guilty start

JusticeIsAWoman: but maybe later. Kind of need to get back to work

KingOfSurvival: oh, right. My bad

JusticeIsAWoman: are you unemployed or something?

KingOfSurvival: or something

JusticeIsAWoman: hm

KingOfSurvival: don’t you need to get going?

A short laugh escaped her at that, which surprised her. She actually couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed. Probably with Sara on the roof…

What was she doing? Laurel shook her head.

JusticeIsAWoman: fine, you get off easy for now

She set her phone aside face down and resisted the urge to check when it chirped again with her new anonymous friend’s reply. She’d save it for after work. That was the responsible thing to do.

Was it wrong to feel like she had something to look forward to now?

#lauriver #laurel x oliver #laurel lance #oliver queen #arrow #felicity smoak #joanna de la vega #green arrow #black canary #my writing

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squisherific · 6 years ago

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Shokugeki No Soma 276

Here we go again lmao

THAT COVER. I CANT. We have prince charming Asahi battling our hero Souma over princess Erina. Ahahahaha! Love it. ^-^

Within the story itself, we skipped ahead a few days to see that Asahi is indeed romancing Erina. ^^’ And Erina has no idea how to deal with this. She has NO experience with love. Even innocent hand holding in shoujo manga makes her blush, so of course she’s blushing in this situation. She’s being very persistently and blatantly pursued by a charming guy, and she doesn’t quite know what to do about it. And no, she’s not a damsel in distress. She has just been flung into a situation that’s outside her expertise, so her reactions are perfectly fitting with what we’ve seen previously about her character.

That being said, Erina hasn’t fallen for Asahi’s charms at all. That was the point of this chapter. Yeah, she’s having tea with him, and recognizes that his approach is a good one. But, as we see, it’s Souma she’s thinking about. Even Asahi picked up on that. I LOVED that panel where Erina was remembering Souma claiming Erina as his. That’s what stuck with her. ^__~

I also really liked seeing other polar star dorm members. I feel the chapters are always comfier when they are involved, and this was indeed a comfy chapter. I loled as they gossiped about the ways in which Souma ended up in the trash haha. And I love how Souma came to the conclusion that he just needs to get Erina to say his food is delicious in order to be able to challenge Asahi again. I don’t even think Asahi signed off on that condition. ^^’

But regardless, Souma is all decided, and he’s trying, to the point that he’s bringing Erina mountains of dishes at a time. It makes me wonder what exactly Erina even says in response to the food. Does she just turn him away outright since there’s so many, or does she actually taste them and give an opinion? Because we already know that she likes his food, even if sometimes she isn’t blown away by it. I guess this scenario is the latter, or they’d put some focus on it.

It’s also interesting that Souma did try and bring up his dad’s knife with Megumi but then decided against it. It must be a really important family topic for Souma. We never see Souma sharing about himself, or opening up about his feelings. So the question is will Megumi broach the subject again, or will the info come out in a different way? Either way, I’m certainly interested, because it might be the coveted mom discussion I’ve been longing for. *-*

We also got a slumber party between the girls, as they asked Erina about her love troubles. I loved that Erina was describing Souma as her ideal type of guy, without realizing it. I think her not realizing her feelings towards Souma are for two reasons:

1) As I said, she’s really inexperienced about love, as her convo with Alice in that special pool chapter illustrated. So, I doubt she’s really thinking about what her feelings for Souma are.

2) She’s still kind of biased against Souma. Even in this chapter, we see he does things that annoy her. So, those thoughts hinder her from truly considering what her feelings have grown into despite those issues lol.

However, Megumi did realize who Erina was subconsciously describing. Though, I feel like Megumi wouldn’t likely be someone who’d point it out to Erina. I think her realization was more for our benefit. Megumi is essentially this story’s narrator, so we get a lot of information through her observations. But that’s also why I think it’s more likely Erina will realize the truth on her own, and that discovery might be in the same vein as her finding out Souma was Jou’s son. Her mind (and heart?) will explode haha! The question is, what will bring about this discovery? Whatever it is, it’s coming up soon. As I said, that’s ultimately the point of this particular arc, and “love triangle.”

I also think it’s hilarious that Erina, the shoujo fan, was literally given her own shoujo plot within a shounen in order to help her realize her feelings LMAO.

I am a little worried, though, because as was said, Souma won’t get to challenge Asahi (and get his dad’s knife back) until Erina says his food is delicious. So… is that plot point finally going to be wrapped up in this arc? It feels really likely that it will. So, I do have a theory of how Erina will realize her feelings for Souma. It’ll probably be coupled with Erina tasting Souma’s food, and finally admitting it’s delicious, much to his delight, and Asahi’s exit from this love triangle. Because, he already can tell he’s fighting a losing battle in the case of Erina’s feelings IMO.

But yes, I appreciated this comfy chapter very much. It has been long overdue OMG.

And speaking of comfy chapters, another reason I can’t be mad at this arc, is that we are finally getting a break from the tournaments/constant food battles. I’ve wanted that for AGES ;_; One of my major gripes with this series has always been the lack of balance between character development/interaction chapters, and food battles. Yes, this is a battle manga, but even battle manga take breaks to explore the world of the series, have adventures, and just show the characters building relationships, whether friendships or otherwise. This series, however, rarely ever has chapters like that. It’s frustrating.

BUT NOW, AT LAST, we are headed into one of those comfier arcs!!! And yes, they are headed into exams as well, but they are exams ON THE BEACH LMAO. And anyone who has seen or read any anime/manga ever, knows this is likely the obligatory fan service arc of the series. Especially with the way they phrased it. It seems it will be full of more romantic hijinks ohoho! I hope it will also be reminiscent of the hell camp arc, because that did have a nice mixture of comfy times/food challenges.

Anyway, I’m still liking this arc. The romance aspect needed to be touched upon at some point. It was promised from the very beginning, and the author is finally delivering on that promise. Again, is this the ideal way I would have preferred a romance arc? No. There are still major issues with the plot. Like the seemingly forgotten midnight chefs aspect (though I’m sure it’ll pop up again eventually since Asahi is tied to it). Also, wasn’t Erina warned that this Saiba guy was probably already in the school? Shouldn’t she have put two and two together by now? ^^’ But, that being said, I’m not hating these developments. On the contrary, I’m genuinely enjoying reading it. And that’s all that really matters to me. ^^

#shokugeki no soma #sorina #soueri #erina nakiri #souma yukihira

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jinterlude · 6 years ago

Text

Fight for Me (Final Chapter)

↳Story Header © @softjeon (do not steal this header!)

➵ Pairing: Kim Seokjin x Female OC (feat. Kwon Ji Yong)

➵ Genre(s): Historic!AU, Medieval!AU ,Royalty!AU, Knight!AU, Romance, SMUT, Humor, & Angst

➵ Words: 5.8K

➵ Summary: Once upon a time, there was a not-so-traditional kingdom. In that kingdom, the royal family had the freedom of marrying whoever his or her royal highness deems worthy. Now, of course, having that special privilege came with some interesting challenges, but that doesn’t stop a certain head-strong princess from doing whatever her heart’s desire, especially when she has her heart set on marrying her personal bodyguard. Unfortunately, her beliefs might face some hardships when a certain king sets his eye on her. Will her bodyguard continue to fight for her or is it finally her turn?

※ Previously: ch.1 | ch.2 | ch.3 | ch.4 | ch.5 | ch.6

※ Next Time: The Sequel: Our Second Chance

Final Chapter: So, the Princess & Her Knight…

Previously

Seokjin heard Sumin’s sporadic breathing and pulled her into a loving embrace. He rested his chin on top of her head and uttered words of love and comfort.

“I do not want to marry that horrid King Ji Yong. I will not!” Sumin declared, alerting Seokjin.

Upon hearing his name, Seokjin’s body immediately tensed, and a sudden wave of fury engulfed his body. That evil king would not leave his princess alone, and Seokjin had grown tired of him.

“Sumin, what are you talking about?” Seokjin inquired, glancing down at her.

Sumin remained silent, unsure if she should finally tell him the truth.

After quickly debating, Sumin opened her mouth and said,

“It is King Ji Yong… he…”

Seokjin eyed Sumin eagerly, wanting to know what that devilish king had done to her. He rested a loving hand on her shoulder, while the other hand rubbed her arm gently.

Encouraging words left his lips in whispers as he patiently waited for her to start talking.

Sumin inhaled, then exhaled. She repeated the process until the horrible anxiety left her tummy.

With one last breath, she mustered enough courage and looked in her knight’s eyes.

“As I said earlier, it is King Ji Yong. He had been sending me rather concerning letters, and they were always accompanied with red rose…” Sumin trailed on, trying to find the right words to say next. The last thing she wanted was to trigger her lover.

Seokjin sighed deeply as his eyes slowly closed. He calmed his sporadic breathing while the anger slowly took control. No. Sumin did not deserve to be on the receiving end of his wrath. If anyone deserved the consequences of his fury, it was that stupid king that had yet to realize that Sumin was his.

“Do you have any of those letters? May I see them?” requested Seokjin, wanting to know the severity of these “love” letters.

Sumin nearly choked. A nervous smile graced her lips followed by a few forced chuckles. Boy…how was she going to tell him that she had her dear nurse burn them? Would he think she was hiding something from him? Wait…scratch that… she technically did hide something from him.

Damn it…

“Um… about that, my love… you see… I…um…” Sumin paused, fiddling with her engagement ring that hung nicely from the silver chain around her neck, “I may have had my…um… nurse burn them because I did not want to worry you, my beloved.” She finished, feeling a tiny weight lift off her shoulders. She no longer had to hide this terrible secret from him.

Seokjin nodded slowly; his facial expression was practically unreadable. Uh-oh. That was never a good sign with him.

Sumin’s lips trembled as if she was on the verge of tears. Correction, she was already crying. Her chest tightened as the thought of losing Seokjin frightened her to know end.

“I am so sorry for lying to you, Seokjin. I was honestly terrified of the thought of me marrying someone who is not you, and the more I dwell on that horrid idea, the more I fear that it will come true,” A choked like sob escaped her lips, “I will not marry that cold, calculating King Ji Yong. I do not love him, nor will I ever love him.” Sumin firmly declared as tears continued to cascade down her cheeks.

Seokjin’s eyes flickered from concern to this sense of pride. He instantly captured her lips, not caring if his cheeks became stained with her tears. His heart soared from hearing your declaration.

Slowly, he pulled away from his princess; a warm smile graced his lips as he did.

With nothing but pure love in his eyes, Seokjin stared at Sumin as his thumb gently caressed her cheek.

“It will be okay princess,” He began, placing a soft kiss on her forehead, “As long as you wear that ring around your neck, I am not going anywhere. You and I will wed, and that is final. Nothing and no one will get in the way of that. I promise you.” Seokjin declared as he gently lifted both of her hands and kissed her knuckles softly.

Sumin looked at up with shaky eyes. Her heart warmed after his hearing his promise, however, in the back of her mind, she knew that it was worthless.

“Do not make promises you cannot keep…” She whispered as she eyed the stone walkway with nothing but utter sadness.

A depressed sigh escaped his lips as Seokjin felt his heart break just a bit. Sumin lacked faith in them right now, and it deeply hurt him. At the same time, he understood why she felt that way. With a pending battle happening a lot sooner than they had hoped, anything could happen to him. Hell, he might not even come back alive. Just the mere thought of him lying on the cold ground—lifeless—terrified them both, especially Sumin. She could not bear the thought of living on a world where her one true love was no longer present.

She was already losing her father, and she would be damned if she lost her childhood sweetheart as well.

If she could, she would ride into battle herself and end the war. No need to send her beloved to the bloody warzone…

Out of the corner of his eye, Seokjin noticed a familiar, scheming gleam in his princess’s eyes. He knew that she’s toying with the idea of fighting in place of her father, but with his good conscious, Seokjin could not allow that.

Placing both his index and middle fingers under her chin, Seokjin titled her head slightly. Their eyes met. Love glazed over them as they remained still. Their hearts beat as one as the sounds of waves crashing entered their ears. The soft ocean breeze brushed past their bodies. Little by little the gap between their lips closed. Then, in just one kiss, they poured their entire love…admiration…longing that had been building since they were mere children.

Seokjin pulled Sumin closer, wanting nothing more to keep her close, as they continued to kiss. Sumin cupped Seokjin’s face as she feared that he would disappear if she didn’t keep a firm hold on him.

After what seemed like forever, the lovers pulled apart yet remained holding each other.

With a loving smile, Sumin asked,

“Could you accompany me back to my chambers, especially since we must part ways tomorrow at dawn.” A short yet soft scoff left his lips as Seokjin smiled warmly at his woman.

“You never have to ask me to stay the night since I will always say yes.” He replied, placing a sweet kiss on her cheek.

Sumin smiled brightly and intertwined their hands.

“Well, shall we go to sleep, my love?”

In a blink of an eye, the moon had faded behind the mountains, and the sun took its place high in the sky. Sounds of birds singing their mating tune entered Sumin’s room. Tiny streaks of sunlight penetrated her ivory laced curtains, creating beautiful shadow patterns on the cold floors, walls, and even her blankets.

A faint groan was heard as the tired princess turned over, hoping to cuddle with her dear knight some more. Her arm landed on a soft padding rather semi-hard flesh. Sumin pried one eye open and then the other immediately shot open. She quickly sat up and frantically searched for her Seokjin. Though, deep down, she knew that he had already left in the early hours of the morning.

Her eyes sadly trailed down as tiny tears formed. She wanted to bid a fond farewell and send him off with a sweet kiss. Maybe even had given him a token to remind him what and who he was fighting for.

Maybe it was for the best that he had left while she slumbered…

Out of the corner of her eye, she had noticed a faint blob of yellow. Sumin instantly turned towards the right, the side where Seokjin had slept peacefully since the day they had become lovers and saw a yellow rose on top of a letter.

A gentle smile slowly appeared on her face as she picked up the rose. She held the flower up to her nostrils and inhaled its sweet scent. It was just like her knight to remember that she had grown fond of yellow roses. A special fact that Ji Yong would never understand.

After taking in the flowers scent for a few more minutes, Sumin finally lowered the flower. She then picked up the note and unfolded it.

Her eyes widened. Her brows furrowed. She scanned the graciously written content and with each word, tears formed.

“My darling. My love. The keeper of my heart. The one and only princess for me. By the time you are reading this letter, I have already left for the battlefield with the support of our kingdom. I could not bear the thought of waking you up from your precious slumber and bidding you a fond farewell in person. It honestly took all of my strength to remove my arm from your precious waist. If I had the opportunity, I would gladly stay by your side and enjoy your smiles. Your laughter. How your eyes light up whenever you are around me… Unfortunately, the Holy Father had other plans for me… I have but one request of you, my darling Sumin… Please do not shed any tears for me. I will return from the battlefield victorious, and you and I will be wedded. Until then, every time you feel the wind fan your face, think of its as my love. I had asked the Gods of nature to receive my love and carry it to you. I love you so much.

Forever yours,

Seokjin.”

Tears streamed down her rosy cheeks the second she read the last line of Seokjin’s letter. He loved her so much that he didn’t want to wake her up. He wanted to remember her with no tear stains, so that’s how she was going to honor his wish.

No more tears shall be shed. Only her endless amount of love would remain to be shown.

She would put on a brave face and hold down the castle. That way, there would be a castle for her beloved to return to.

With a determined smile, Sumin practically jumped out of bed and called for a servant. She sat down in front of her mirror and picked up her sapphire encrusted hairbrush. She smoothed away her atrocious bed hair.

As she was brushing her hair, the servant rushed inside her chambers. He quickly bowed and asked what he was needed for.

“I am in dire need to send Seokjin a letter. Pray tell me, where would he be stationed at?” Sumin told the servant, asking where her knight is stationed on.

The servant’s eyes widened, but he soon composed himself.

“Sir Seokjin is currently at the mountain pass. Shall I fetch you a messenger?” He asked, ready to anything and everything to make the princess pleased with him.

Sumin shook her head as she stood up from her vanity mirror.

“I will go to my father’s study and write him a letter instead. I am sure my love would rather have a written reply rather than some man relaying it,” She bowed her head, “Thank you, though. You may go now.” She said, politely dismissing the castle worker.

The servant quickly muttered, “Yes, your highness.”, before exiting her chambers.

Sumin waited to hear the door shut before dashing towards her wardrobe. She swiftly picked a pastel blue dress with a diamond accent detail. The diamonds were shaped as snowflakes that decorated the outer white laced skirt.

She paired the dress with navy blue heels and went for the simpler sapphire and diamond crown. She placed the crown gently on top of her head as she walked out of her bedroom, ready to write the first of many letters for one true love…

Minutes had turned into hours, hours had turned into days and just like that, days had turned into weeks.

Those long weeks without seeing her knight had been the most excruciating for Princess Sumin. However, each time she received a letter from Seokjin, it made those lonely nights bearable—especially since they were always accompanied with a yellow rose.

Each time she smelled the sweet perfume of the rose, a warm smile graced her lips. Her heart warmed at the thought of feeling his love with each word he wrote in the letters.

God, how she missed him…

Currently reading yet another of Seokjin’s letter as she inhaled the hypnotic scent that the flower had to offer, Sumin’s thoughts had been interrupted when a castle worker stormed inside her room; his breath heavy and sporadic.

“Yes?” Sumin politely questioned the young man.

The worker quickly bowed his head in respect before speaking,

“Your highness. My deepest apologies for the intrusion, but I have come here to announce that King Ji Yong shall be arriving soon.”

With just one little announcement, Sumin’s world came crashing down. What…no…why was that horrid king coming to visit? He had no reason to come…unless…he had found out about her father’s worsening condition. No. There was no way because each castle worker had been sworn to secrecy. No one would dare to defy the royal family’s orders, so why had he come then?

Unless…

He had come for her hand in marriage—again. Could he not leave an engaged woman alone?

Few seconds went by and nothing, but the ocean breeze was heard. Then, with a dignified smile, Sumin turned around and thanked the worker for his message. She then dismissed him, telling him to carry on with his duties. The worker smiled politely, bowed his head, and exited the room.

“Alright, you annoying pest. Why are you in my kingdom?” Sumin muttered to herself as she walked to the one place she had been lingering around for the past few weeks.

Meanwhile, with King Ji Yong, his carriage had just pulled up at the entrance. He peeked through the curtains with a scheming smirk. His plan would officially commence. His plan of having the dear Princess Sumin standing with him at the altar.

“How dare that lowly, pathetic knight propose to my wife…” King Ji Yong thought bitterly as he roughly closed the curtains. He leaned back in his seat, rubbing his chin as he thought about the idea of marriage with Sumin. He would have her one way or another. At this rate, he could care less if she married him while sobbing. She would be his wife—the mother of his children…

Stepping out of the carriage, King Ji Yong quickly ordered his driver to go wait for him somewhere else. The driver nodded and took off with the carriage. King Ji Yong then began to walk towards the courtyard as he scanned the area for someone—anyone. Luckily, he managed to find someone and with an intimidating stare, he asked the poor worker where the princess was at. Out of fear, the worker quickly said that the princess was in her father’s study and pointed in the direction of the room.

King Ji Yong smirked in response and thanked the servant for his assistant.

“I am coming for you, my lovely princess…”

Now holed in her father’s study, Sumin dipped her quill in the ink jar and continued to write out intimate details to her love. She wrote how she longed for his touch. How she longed for his sweet kisses. In short, how she longed for him to be her side.

A smile of content formed on her lips as Sumin signed her name on the bottom of the parchment. She blew lightly on the ink, making sure it was dry before folding it up. As a little gift for her knight, she pressed her lips onto the parchment. She pulled away satisfied with the lip stain that displayed near her name. Seokjin would love that.

Just as she poured a bit of hot wax onto the letter, a light knock entered her ears. Her brows raised. Her chest heaved. Something in the pit of her stomach told her that it was the one person she absolutely did not want to see that stood on the other side of the door.

Sumin rolled her eyes before mustering a diplomatic smile and said, “Enter.”

Not even seconds later, King Ji Yong strolled in and closed the door behind him. Sumin raised her brow, finding his actions rather odd.

“King Ji Yong, to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence in my kingdom?” asked Sumin as she bowed her head in respect.

King Ji Yong smirked, drinking in her splendid appearance. Sumin would forever be his most prized possession.

“Oh, I thought I should pay you visit since I have desperately missed you.” He replied as he walked over to her and lifted her chin. He wanted their eyes to meet.

Sumin fought the urge to vomit right and there. She despised his touch on her precious skin. Her sacred body would forever be reserved for Seokjin only.

“Your majesty, I appreciate your sweet words but do refrain yourself from using them as I am now an engaged woman.” Sumin confessed; her eyes flickered with triumph.

However, that sudden announcement did not waiver the scheming king. If anything, it made him more determined to make sure that his plan succeeded.

King Ji Yong nodded his head slowly. He took one step, then another until the gap closed between them.

Sumin felt vulnerable. She felt like a prey being backed into a corner by its predator. Every time he took a step, she took a step back until she felt her back hit the edge of the desk. Her hands gripped the corners, ready to pick up anything that she could stab this man with. She could care less of the consequences right now. She was willing to kill this king if it meant not only her safety, but the entire kingdom’s as well—especially Seokjin’s. She would go to war for that man, and it seemed like she was about to.

“Oh yes… I have heard that your fiancé is fighting in your father’s place. You know…” He began clicking his tongue in a condescending manner, “It is quite a pity that he is battling enemies that I have paid quite a sum to rage war against your people…” He confessed, smirking evilly.

In that moment, Sumin felt as if someone knocked the air right out of here. Had she heard him, right? Had he truly stooped so low to have paid a hefty sum just to rage war on her kingdom?

“Y-you what…?” Sumin questioned, stumbling over her words.

King Ji Yong merely smirked in response, “You see, my dear princess,” He stood in front her, trapping her between him and the desk, “I am quite a jealous man, and the moment I have set my eyes on you, I knew you were the wife for me.” He declared with an evil smirk.

Sumin practically snarled at the man. Her eyes narrowed, almost becoming slits. She was officially done with this rude king.

“I will never be your wife, so as long as Seokjin continues to fight for his life and for my people.” She said, practically spitting in his face.

A soft scoff escaped his lips as King Ji Yong created a bit of space between them.

“Well, it would be quite hard to fight for your people if he is captured by the enemy and is currently waiting for his execution.” He confessed, taunting the fiery spirted princess.

Now, it felt like someone stabbed her in the heart.

“His what?” She said softly; her voice practically a whisper.

“You heard me…” King Jiyong remained smirking.

No.

He was safe. He had to be safe.

As if someone pulled the rug underneath her feet, Sumin collapsed onto the fall; her sobs became uncontrollable. Her heart pounded against her chase as it broke little by little.

King Ji Yong had to be lying. He was cruel, deceitful, and dishonorable. No. She refused to believe anything that came out his mouth.

“You’re lying. He had been sending me letter practically every single day. There is no possible way that he could have been captured by my father’s enemies. No. I refuse to believe your petty lies.” Sumin said as she tried her hardest to calm herself.

King Ji Yong clicked his tongue yet again and looked at the princess with “sympathetic” eyes.

“If only they were indeed lies,” He then gestured towards the desk, “Look at the date at your knight’s latest letter. I am almost certain that it had been weeks since he had sent that, correct?” He finished, hiding the calculating grin that threatened to form.

Sumin stared at him before scrambling up and fetching his letter. Her hands hurriedly grabbed the piece of parchment paper. Her eyes homed in on the date written in the top left corner.

Shit.

That stupid kind had been right. The day he wrote it and the day she had received it, it was indeed a few weeks later.

Nope.

This was not going to happen. She had meant what she said about going to war for Seokjin. It seemed like the time had come. Time to draw her father’s sword and fight for her man.

“Guards!!” She shouted.

“What are you doing, princess?” King Ji Yong inquired, raising his brow.

Sumin glared coldly at the man and ignored his question.

“Guards!” She yelled once more. Seconds later, two guards rushed inside the office and bowed their heads and respect.

“Yes, Princess Sumin.” They answered.

“Ready my horse and tell the nurse to prepare my riding outfit.” She ordered as the anger surged through her veins.

“Yes, Princess Sumin.” They replied before hurrying out of the office.

“Again, what are you doing, Princess Sumin?” King Ji Yong asked with a bored expression.

Sumin sighed loudly, completely fed up with the annoying man.

“If you must know, I plan to draw my father’s sword, ride into enemy lines, and fight for my knight. Now, if you kindly do not mind, I will take my leave.” She stated, announcing her plans.

King Ji Yong stared at her with an amused expression. He mentally counted down from ten, allowing her to finish her little dramatic act. Then, just as she reached the iron door handle, he spoke.

“I actually do not mind since anyone with ears can tell you that your idea is terrible.”

Sumin scoffed and turned around; her body now faced him. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him an impatient look, wanting him to continue with whatever he has to say.

“Your idea is rather horrid since there is no way those ruthless generals would ever listen to a mere princess…” He trailed on, pausing for effect, “But…”

“But?”

“But they would listen to a queen.” King Ji Yong finished with a devilish smirk.

Sumin’s eyes widened. Confusion painted on her face.

“Marry me, Princess Sumin and with a snap of my finger, the war will be over. Say yes to being my queen, and your precious Seokjin will return home unharmed.” King Ji Yong said, staring her down.

Sumin panted; she felt this unspeakable heavy burden crush her shoulders. Her heart raced as her palms became clammy. Tears began to fill the brim of her eyes. Too many thoughts flooded her mind. She questioned her morals but soon dismissed every single one of them. At the end of the day, she would do everything and anything to ensure the safety of her kingdom and the people that inhabited the land. Yes. She knew what must be done.

She met the cold King’s gaze and walked towards him. Taking one final deep breath, Sumin said,

“Okay…”

King Ji Yong’s brow perked up as an intrigued smirk appeared on his face. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer; the possessiveness in his stare was ever so visible.

“You made a wise decision,” He pressed his lips against her temple, “I promise that I will call of the war first thing tomorrow morning.” He whispered “sweetly” in her ear.

Sumin’s breath hitched as she forced a smile at her new fiancé.

“Please forgive me my love…” She thought sadly as Seokjin’s handsome face flashed once in her mind.

Few days later, in a camp zone filled with many tents, horses, and men practicing their swordsmanship, Seokjin studied the battle map once more. His body had little to no wounds, and he was safe. Unknown to Sumin, King Ji Yong had lied about Seokjin’s wellbeing. He was never captured by the enemy and awaited his execution. No. He spun the truth. In fact, it was actually the enemy general that was captured by Seokjin’s men and brought for trial. The enemy had been tried for treason against Sumin’s kingdom and was sentenced to death.

Too absorbed in the map’s details, Seokjin muttered different plans of attack to himself, wondering which route he should take. Suddenly, a loud wave of cheers was heard. His curiosity had gotten the best of him, and Seokjin walked out of his tent.

The moment he stepped outside, Seokjin instantly saw bright smiles and tears of joy spilled out of his men.

Now, he became even more confused.

Seokjin quickly grabbed one of his soldiers and demanded that he tell him what was going on.

“The war, sir. It is finished.” The solider announced with a bright smile.

Seokjin raised his brow, “What do you mean that the war is over?” He asked.

“One of the other enemy generals has offered his unconditional surrender. Then, eventually, the rest of them followed suit. The war is over, my lord.” The soldier happily explained before running over to his friends to celebrate some more.

Seokjin scoffed softly yet a smile of relief graced his face. The battle was over, and that meant that he was allowed to go home—to go back to Sumin.

Yet, something in the back of his mind would not leave him alone. While he was overjoyed with the battle being over, something told him that this war should not have ended easily. This bloody battle should not have ended in less than a month…

Then, realization struck him. This had the work of that evil King Ji Yong written all over it.

Seokjin dashed towards his horse and swiftly rushed back to the kingdom, silently praying that he was not too late. From where he had been stationed at, it would take him a little over two days to get back to Sumin’s kingdom, however, instead of allowing that to fill his heart with anxiety, he instead used it fuel his adrenaline—his determination—and increased the speed of his horse. He had to get back to his princess—his one true love…

Meanwhile, with Sumin, she stared blankly at her reflection; this emotionless wave washed over her eyes. She looked dead. She felt dead to be honest. Both on the inside and on the outside. She was about to marry someone she did not love nor; would she ever love.

She felt her hair being pulled in different directions. She watched her maids pin every curl into different spots until they were satisfied with how their princess looked. Her hair had been decorated with diamonds, that were shaped as flowers. Her crown rested nicely on top of her hand while her lacey veil shielded her face.

“P-princess… it is time to put on your dress.” Sumin heard one of her maids announce.

Sumin turned away from the mirror and forced a smile. While they were busy preparing her hair and makeup, Sumin had heard them sniffling and taking deeps breaths. Her maids, especially her nurse, hated seeing their beloved princess looking so dead. Their hearts ached for Sumin as they desperately wished that they could do something to stop this wedding. They always dreamt of helping their princess get ready for her wedding, but in their minds, the wedding was for her and Seokjin. Not her and King Ji Yong.

“Princess permit me to speak.” The nurse asked as she guided Sumin towards her dress.

Sumin hummed in response, allowing the nurse to speak her mind.

“It breaks my heart to see you this way. I pray to the Holy Father that he will put a stop to this ceremony. You do not deserve to marry such a despicable man.” The nurse said; her eyes dripped with concern.

Sumin’s lips trembled before she bit her bottom lip. She was doing a great job at not breaking down and sobbing. She was not going to start now. She had to remain strong for everyone dear in her life.

She smiles softly and places a warm hand on the nurse’s cheek.

“Everything will be okay…” She said softly, maintaining her smile.

The nurse sniffled. Tears filled the brims of her eyes.

Naturally, Sumin too began to tear up. However, she wiped them away before it could ruin her makeup. She then reminded herself that she was doing this for Seokjin’s safety. Once this was all over, Seokjin would be safe and back in the kingdom.

“He will forgive you, Sumin. He will…” She thought while she felt a few of the maids lace up the corset.

One of the maids then instructed that she stepped inside her wedding skirt. Sumin obediently followed their directions until her body had been completely covered by the ceremonial gown.

Sumin slowly turned around and faced the mirror. Her eyes observed her reflection. All this time, she had pictured herself in this dress for her marriage to Seokjin. A part of her wished that she had picked out a different dress for her marriage to King Ji Yong, but it was too late.

Time was something that was never on her side. What would make her wedding day any different?

The nurse and maids bowed their head in respect, not wanting Sumin to see them crying.

“Is the carriage ready? I am ready to embark on this journey to wifehood.” Sumin muttered, staring at the floor sadly.

The nurse nodded and escorted her out of the room.

Outside was King Ji Yong’s knights, ready to escort the princess to the church. King Ji Yong had ordered them to make sure that Sumin would not try any funny business or run, leaving him at the altar. He was only minutes away from having Sumin as his bride. Nothing and no one would stop him now…

After what seemed like forever, Seokjin had finally arrived back to the kingdom. He practically hopped off his horse and dashed inside the castle grounds. His eyes hurriedly scanned, hoping to find anyone who would know the whereabouts of the princess. He began to lose hope as nobody was seen in the courtyard.

Luckily, his eye homed in on a familiar face. Princess Sumin’s dear and beloved nurse.

“Nurse!” Seokjin hollered as he ran up to her.

The nurse’s eyes widened. A look of shocked washed over her face as she slowly became confused. What was Sumin’s knight doing here?

“Sir Seokjin?!” The nurse shouted back as she looked over the knight’s body, hoping to find any signs of being tortured. “You are alive and well? But? How is that possible?” She questioned.

Seokjin’s brows furrowed, “Of course, I am alive. Whatever that horrid King Ji Yong has said, it is nothing but lies. Now, tell me, where is Sumin? I must show her that I am alive and safe.” He demanded, panting.

The nurse stared at him with sympathetic eyes.

“I am sorry, Seokjin, but the princess is on her way to the church. She might be even already there.” She explained, fearing that all hope was lost.

However, Seokjin refused to admit defeat. He was ready to fight King Ji Yong if he had to.

He quickly uttered a “thanks” before rushing back to his horse and riding towards the church.

“Do not marry him, Sumin. Just hold on…” He anxiously thought.

With the church in his sight, Seokjin increased the speed of his horse. His heart raced with both anxiety and adrenaline as the church steps appeared in front of him. He then pulled on the reins and halted his horse’s steps.

Seokjin jumped off his horse and ran up the stairs. He pushed open the church doors and unfortunately, his heart shattered into a million of pieces. He froze in his place as his eyes widened. His fingers trembled as his breathing became sporadic.

There he stood, watching the love of his life kiss someone else. King Ji Yong had won. He had won his princess’s hand in marriage. That son of a bitch…

“I present you their royal majesties, King Ji Yong and his Queen Sumin.” The priest announced; though, he tried his best to sound happy. He saw Sumin’s body language, and it screamed at him to put a stop to the ceremony. Now, the priest would live with this guilt for the rest of his life.

Seokjin’s mind screamed at him to leave the church, but for some reason his feet refused to listen to him.

Suddenly, his eyes caught Sumin’s gaze. Due to being far away, Seokjin could not see the brokenness and despair in her eyes. To him, she was filled with joy. To her, she was depressed, defeated, and above all…she was surprised to see Seokjin alive and unharmed. Confusion filled her mind as her eyes switched from her knight to her now husband.

At that moment, she felt like an idiot. She angrily turned towards her husband but before she could demand him to tell her the truth, King Ji Yong roughly pulled her closer and whispered a bone chilling threat.

“If you do anything rash, I will have my men kill your knight where he stands. Now, do you really want bloodshed on our wedding day?”

Sumin fought back her tears, even though a few of them had already cascaded down her rosy cheeks. She shook her head, closing her eyes briefly.

King Ji Yong smiled and kissed her head sweetly.

“Good.” He said softly with a creepy grin.

Sumin opened her eyes and met Seokjin’s gaze one last time. With a sad smile, she mouthed,

“I love you.”

Seokjin forced a smile and mouthed, “I love you too…”

He flickered his gaze onto King Ji Yong, who was now smirking proudly, before turning his back towards the “happy” couple.

He opened the doors and walked away, leaving behind the cheers and lively applause…

And the princess and her knight lived unhappily ever after…

The End…

A/N: Yeah... now can you see why I couldn’t just leave Seokjin heartbroken like that? I kind of left it open regarding, Seokjin’s fate since I didn’t want to quite kill him off (especially, if I had a sequel in mind lol then his modern self wouldn’t even be alive lol). I always found it fun to leave certain character’s unknown fate up to the readers since it gives you an even closer bond to the story! If the sequel wasn’t happening, I want you to tell me your thoughts on what happened to Sir Kim Seokjin!

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this beloved story just as much as I did writing it! See you guys in the sequel!

Don’t forget to leave a like/reblog/comment/send in an ask on your thoughts! I love hearing them! :)

- Kim

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miscellaneous-oxy · 7 years ago

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rambling: wok of love, ep1-8

Here’s the thing. I have just finished watching the 8th episode for the second time, and I am so pleased and excited in terms of the plot development but totally distracted by Seo Poong’s sexiness – he looked so good, excessively good in that black shirt: I’m confused. So, I’m just going to ramble tonight. Yes, this is my excuse for being rather aggressive in this post. Please beware. This might be unsettling and even displeasing to some, but I just have to let it out for the peace of my mind. Before watching tonight’s episodes, and reading some of the reactions to them, I was planning on posting a follow-up to my SP analysis, but now it seems impossible for me to be as efficient and persuasive as I aim to be. I guess I need to set it aside for a bit till I’m calmer.

I had been a bit concerned about the delay in the development of love line between SP and SW because so many people seemed to have been shipping CS and SW already from the beginning – no, actually, they were doing it even before the drama started. I was also wondering why some people are so willing to dismiss all signs of SP’s characterisation and consequently choosing to believe that the OTP is (or should be) the CS-SW pair, as if SP did not deserve SW. (By the way, believe it or not, I myself is actually open on this matter. I don’t mind whichever or no character is chosen by SW in the end, as long as the character developments through the love lines are substantial and her final choice a valid one. Furthermore, to be honest, I must admit I would most likely find the SP-CS pairing at the end of the story more amusing.)

I’ve read online more than a couple of viewers complaining the non-likability of SP’s character, mainly because of his arrogance. Some of them don’t even forget to add that another actor would be likable in whatever kind of character he may be playing, however arrogant, implying that Junho could be the one to blame for making the character unlikable. (Absurd!) First of all, as it happens, and I’m sure everybody who has watched more than a couple of dramas or read a dozen stories is perfectly aware, that the leading character is often supposed to be arrogant at the beginning, for that gives him the necessary room for improvement. Second, and this is essentially my point that I have been discussing in my previous post, SP’s show of arrogance is otherwise a manifestation of his vulnerability: His arrogance is even given a premise for the viewers to be sympathetic towards him. He needs to be arrogant to keep on going with his life: Arrogance is his armour. It’s his way of dealing with his crushed identity. Indeed, it may be an immature course to take, but that’s the very reason he needs to grow up in the story. Having his self-esteem brutally impaired by SDH, he needed to find something he can hold on to. When he felt his whole being – his past, his present profession, and his future plan – totally denied, he had nothing left but what he can do – to cook delicious dishes. He needs to feel accepted in the world again, and the only place where he could get the recognition and appreciation that he needed had been The Finishing Touch. The vulnerability in his eyes is the key to understand this character. Once you see his weakness, it’s impossible not to root for him, if not love him yet. Those people who feel distant or indifferent to SP seem to be missing out on the details that show the depth of his emotions, quite possibly because they are so focused elsewhere. (And I know it’s quite easy to fall into that trap.)

Some more viewers persist that, while admitting SP would be the writer’s preferred choice for SW, they do not understand why SP was so suddenly interested in SW at the end of the 8th episode. This, to me, seems to show that there’s this really firm preconceived refusal to accept SP as a leading character. They are tenaciously ignoring the detailed portrayal of SP, and the lack of understanding in his character thereof leads to a further undermining of the significance of SP’s behaviours. What a spiral. I do realise that this may be the case of either the character is portrayed poorly –script-wise, direction-wise, or acting-wise, or, simply the viewers are blind to see the subtleties that are composing the character. Most viewers who claim SP’s sudden interest in SW to be incomprehensible also mention that SP’s character is difficult to sympathise with. Obviously, they are entitled to their own opinion and all, but that does not make them entitled to degrade other characters. It is really frustrating to see some viewers boasting their views as the only sensible ones, just because they have no idea that they may be blinded by their love for their bias or by some preconceived notions that have derived from that love. How can anyone miss all those signs that indicate SP is yet to learn that his feelings towards SDH might not have been true love but a sense of obligation that had been grown out of youthful infatuation and his mentor’s death? Of course, both young SP and SDH must have believed that they were in love, but they did not succeed in cultivating the true thing.

Furthermore, there were so many signs, from the first episode, that point SW as a trigger for SP’s character development and even as the answer to his quest (and questions; here, I’m thinking about George’s question mark in A Room with a View). Remember how SP was repeating every other things SW chatted away? SW was literally giving keys and answers to SP’s question: Is the love between SP and SDH true? SP’s interest in SW is already there, even though he tries to act indifferently. He notices SW in a crowded dining hall, remembers SW’s words and needs, feels compassion, and even identifies with her hunger and despair. It’s not sudden but a gradual process. He is certainly a bit slow to notice his own feelings; which is made a contrast with CS’s instant crush on SW, but that is the whole point of his story. SP is going to learn the deficiencies in his character and his life through his interactions with the new people around him. He will learn the true meaning of humility, friendship, and love. Therefore, the development in SP-SW love line is sure to make the story so much more profound and entertaining!

As much as I enjoy watching those charming scenes between CS and SW (and I really do, as I have been a fan of Jang Hyuk for ever so longer than I’ve been fangirling Junho; I have watched most of his dramas since Thank You, even including the cameos in webdramas solely for his sake), I still maintain that it is SP’s potential emotional journey that gives depth to the story, where CS’s comedy gives the necessary relief from the strain. That’s the supposed balance of the drama. It wouldn’t work or it’s not of the writer’s intention if the story focused too much on CS’s character development. It may be hard for some to accept it, but the writer seems to want Jang Hyuk to play the comic relief to some extent and he took the job. He admitted when he guested a radio programme that the writer had asked him to play the “entertainment.” He is doing a perfect job at that, and I can see people rooting for him, but the fact of the matter is, I don’t think we should expect much portrayal of his character development in this particular drama.

One last detail I’d like to defend has to do with how some people are trying to make the possible SP-SW love line sound like an old classic cliché and thus boring. On the other hand, they seem to believe a love story between a gangster and a chaebol daughter as something new and refreshing, but that’s where I can confidently say they are in the wrong. Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934), the first romantic comedy film to win an Oscar instantly comes to my mind, and a long list of films, dramas, novels and comic books follows. (I must say there are tons of romance novels and Japanese girls’ mangas, in particular, with a gangster – princess type pairing.) Of course, Clark Gable is not exactly a gangster in the film, but he sure looks like one – coincidentally, he even has a moustache and suspenders on in this film, and he does fit in the stereotypical pattern. I mean, it’s basically the classic Beauty and the Beast concept in the first place. But please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that the cliché settings and characters are boring. At the end of the day, what matters is how the characters themselves are idiosyncratically refreshing and how all the elements are executed in an enjoyable and satisfying way. Whether it is a fallen chef or a sweet gangster, any character can be a cliché and simultaneously not boring. The reason I believe they are not watching with clear eyes is how they say SP-SW is a cliché and CS-SW is not. This is the proof of their biased views.

OK, I think I’m calmed down now. Hope I can now focus on writing up something more convincing. Thank you for reading, if any of you have come thus far. I really appreciate it.

#wok of love #greasy melo #기름진멜로 #서풍 #이준호 #준호 #seo poong #junho #lee joon ho #katteni #ramblings #ep8 #love line

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wishyourgirlfriend · 7 years ago

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Growing

Jihyo x Reader, High School! AU

Some angst, some fluff, idk man

Word Count: 1958

Written by Admin LJ

(Author’s Note: Had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope you all like it! Proofreading was rough, it’s 2:20 AM and it’s so hard focusing on a computer screen when tired, so forgive me for any mistakes! Also, to any Pristin stans, Happy Roa Day :’) )

You and Jihyo had been practically inseparable since the very first day you met each other. When you moved just down the road from Jihyo and her family when you were little, her mother was kind enough to come over and introduce herself, and, upon seeing you, was overjoyed knowing that her daughter had someone around her age to play with that summer.

Your mother and Jihyo’s mother set up a playdate only a few days later, and that was the first time you ever met Jihyo- she was a small, shy girl, holding onto her mother for dear life during your first introduction, but with every playdate your parents set up, Jihyo opened up more and more. You saw early on that despite her initial timid behavior, she always wore a bright smile on her face that never failed to bring one to your own. She was quiet sometimes, yes, but she still had a big personality that clicked so well with yours.

From then on, you were always by Jihyo’s side. In and out of school, you were always seen together, holding hands as you crossed the street on the way home, racing down the block in an effort to see who was faster- it was all good fun, and anyone who ever crossed paths with the two of you knew your friendship would last a lifetime and then some.

You two had grown so close to each other in your early school years that you began to introduce Jihyo as your “girlfriend” when people would ask who she was. Of course, you were young and no one took it seriously, but folks let you have your fun, and giggled when you’d kiss Jihyo on the cheek like a “girlfriend” should. What they didn’t realize is that you really thought of Jihyo as your girlfriend, and she thought of you as hers.

As you grew older, you and Jihyo found different interests and fell in with different crowds, and of course, the “girlfriend” show was dropped over time, but not once did that change your relationship with her. You two were still the best of friends, leaving classmates wondering how, despite how different you were from each other, you two remained so close. The bond you had with Jihyo was unbreakable, and you always, always made time for each other, no matter what.

You were in the seventh grade when a mutual friend dared you to kiss Jihyo at her birthday party. It was typical preteen shenanigans, when birthday parties consisted on corny games and gossip about cute boys, and this was a part that came with it all. You were surprised, of course, because you were a girl and so was Jihyo, and you had only ever seen girls kissing boys. It was a new seed that was planted in your mind from that moment forward, despite your playful girlfriend antics when you were younger, and with a small rush of bravery, you pecked Jihyo on the lips quickly, your cheeks bright red out of embarrassment. Through the gasps of your friends, Jihyo just giggled, and it made you think that yeah, maybe kissing girls was okay after all.

After the whole kissing incident, you found yourself, if possible, even closer to Jihyo than you had ever been before. At that point, you felt connected to her in a new way, as you were each other’s first kiss (though, it was hardly a real kiss), and it opened up a whole new level of trust between you two.

In your freshman year, Jihyo had gotten her first serious boyfriend, and that’s when your friendship began to crumble a bit. Now that she had a boyfriend, she was obviously dedicating so much time to him, and, as most young people do, she had a problem managing her time between you and her boyfriend. You began to see Jihyo less and less, and although you did stay on good terms with her, your friendship wasn’t as strong as it used to be.

In the time that Jihyo had a boyfriend, you had your small share of girlfriends, scattered across two years. None of your relationships were serious, and it was always you calling things off- you felt like there was something missing, something that you couldn’t quite place.

Jihyo and her boyfriend broke up towards the end of your junior year of high school. He had been cheating on her, and she caught him right in the act. It was clearly hard on her, but she put on a brave face and pushed forward, which is what brought you together one night at a party at a mutual friend’s house. You weren’t crazy about parties, and you knew Jihyo wasn’t either, but between her break up and your lack of receiving romantic affection, you both needed a distraction, and that’s how, after quite a bit of underage drinking and some fiery glances towards one another, Jihyo had you in the upstairs bedroom, pushed up against the wall, her lips hot against the skin of your neck, hands traveling over every inch of your body. You relished the feeling, and pushed any thoughts of poor consequences far out of your mind for the night as you welcomed the distraction with open arms.

That’s all it was. A distraction.

This continued for months. Your friendship had, in most cases, recovered from the damage it had taken once Jihyo had gotten into a relationship, and the particular benefits that came with your friendship this time were more than welcomed. It was a game to the both of you- just a way to get your mind off things and have some fun, while keeping the friendship you both so desperately wanted to hold on to.

Sleeping with Jihyo had changed things over time, which was unexpected. You first noticed the change when you and Jihyo had been hanging out one summer day, and you found yourself focusing on the tiniest details of Jihyo’s face, your eyes lingering on her lips, entranced by the shape of them. When she caught you staring, your eyes wandered to anywhere but her. Jihyo laughed, but didn’t say anything about it.

You noticed it again when you had a hard time saying goodbye to Jihyo another night, after you drove her home from a trip to the beach to go stargazing. You weren’t sure what your problem was, but a sad feeling lingered in your chest after you dropped her off. It was a different feeling, and you didn’t like it.

The third time you noticed the change was after you and Jihyo had slept together again, and you held her in your arms as she fell asleep, head resting on your chest as you ran your fingers through her hair, softly, comfortingly. You listened to her soft breathing and found it to be music to your ears, and you thought, in this moment, that she was the most beautiful girl you had ever seen.

And when Jihyo’s hand reached for yours in her sleep and snuggled closer, you knew the both of you were screwed.

When senior year had started, you expected Jihyo to go off and find herself another boy to get involved in. You two had been sleeping together all summer, and now that you were back in school with all your classmates, you figured it was time to move on from the fun you two had and continue life as senior students. You wouldn’t blame her if she did want to find herself a boyfriend- sleeping with your best friend could only get you so far in the romance department of life.

What you didn’t expect was for Jihyo to stick around, to keep up the relationship you two had (whatever that was at this point) and show no signs of wanting to back out, which is exactly what happened- Jihyo showed no interest in anybody- no boys, no girls. Just you, or so you thought- you didn’t want to get your hopes up.

“What are we doing?” You finally asked, as you searched for your t-shirt in the mess of clothes that littered Jihyo’s floor the night before. It was Tuesday, and both of you had to get ready for school, but only you were stressing about getting to class on time.

Jihyo, who was wrapped up in her blankets, rolled over to look at you. “What do you mean?” She asked sleepily, snuggling into her pillows. She looked as though she was ready to go back to sleep, and you couldn’t blame her- you were just as tired as she was.

“This.” You motioned between the two of you. “Us. What are we doing?”

“We’re sleeping together.” Jihyo stated bluntly, and you rolled your eyes.

“No shit,” You deadpanned, shaking your head, “but is that really it? Are we just sleeping together?”

Jihyo fell silent, and you stood there, in front of the bed, half dressed, eyes staring at the tired girl in bed. You wanted an answer, because you couldn’t keep this up any longer- you had feelings for Jihyo, and sleeping with her became worse of decision every time.

A part of you wished that things didn’t turn out this way- whether it was from the start, where you had first slept with Jihyo, or when you started to develop feelings- it was just something that shouldn’t have come to be. It was a dangerous game, and your friendship was potentially at risk.

“I don’t know…” Jihyo mumbled finally, sitting up from her spot in bed. She looked at you, her dark, tired eyes falling on you, on your body, on your own eyes, and then the sheets in front of her. “I’m not sure,” she continued, pulling her knees up to her chest, “what this is anymore.”

You gave a slight nod in agreement. “Me either.” You sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at the ground as you thought of what to say. What should you say? Should you tell her how you feel? Or should you cut whatever you two were doing out of the picture? “Do you want something else out of this?” You questioned slowly, as if testing the words on your tongue.

Her answer was quiet, just a whisper. “Yeah.”

You nodded slowly, eyes falling on Jihyo, in her bedhead, bare faced glory, drinking in the sight of her. “Me too. I want us to be more than what we’re doing now.” The truth, you realized, was that just like when you were little, you wanted Jihyo to be your girlfriend. You were older now, more mature, and you knew the importance that came with the term, but it was her. It was always her. “Can we be together? Like, officially together, not just sleeping together, but like, in a romantic sense where I can buy you flowers and call you my girlfriend and-”

“Yes.” Jihyo cut you off, reaching out to you, taking your hand in hers. She grinned, eyes sparkling like you’d never seen before. “Yes.” She repeated, pulling you to her, lips meeting yours in a soft kiss that spoke more than any amount of words could. It was a short, sweet kiss, but it had your head spinning like you had just done a million cartwheels. “Come here.” Jihyo whispered with a smile, pulling you back down on the bed with her, snuggling into the crook of your neck, her arm wrapped around your middle.

You let out a content sigh, and the thought of being late for class escaped you as you pulled Jihyo closer, your heart racing as you planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.

This was how it was supposed to be.

#jihyo #jihyo imagines #jihyo scenarios #twice imagines #twice scenarios #twice reactions #high school au #park jihyo #twice #twice jihyo #jyp #jyp twice #fluff #angst

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libralita · 7 years ago

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Title: The Knights of Crystallia

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Illustrator: Hayley Lazo

Summary: In this third Alcatraz adventure, Alcatraz Smedry has made it to the Free Kingdoms at last. Unfortunately, so have the evil Librarians--including his mother! Now Alcatraz has to find a traitor among the Knights of Crystallia, make up with his estranged father, and save one of the last bastions of the Free Kingdoms from the Evil Librarians.

Rating: ★★★★★

Review:

“You want to be a better person? Go listen to someone you disagree with. Don’t argue with them, just listen. It’s remarkable what interesting things people will say if you take the time to not be a jerk.”

A quote that needs to flash before anyone uses the internet. This was another great installment. There were so many great new characters in this book and we get some more world building. I can’t wait to continue on!

Y’know the more I think about it…the more I think this book doesn’t make much sense. I know this is coming from a series that spits in the face of sense but…hear me out. Most of it has to do with Bastille. First, she never gives a reason why not to tell Mountain Girl and Dance Boy that they’re in love and she seems fine with them getting married. That just made absolutely no sense. Then Chin man takes her off the mind stone thing or whatever when that also doesn’t make sense. Because wouldn’t it be safer for her to be on the mind stone because then she won’t be able to stop him? Also…why are there so many references to drugs in this book? I know Brandon was probably on drugs when writing this series but like…Mountain Girl has a line saying how she’s been clean, Bastille is going through withdrawal and then there was that after school special joke at the end. I’m confused…

Still liked it though.

“Definition of ‘book four’: And…how’d you manage to start with that one? I haven’t even written it yet. (You sneaky time travelers.)”—Page 14

First of all, well this is the future so you have written the 4th and 5th book. Second, are there time travelers in this universe? It’d be make sense.

“By not reading book two, you also just forced a large number of people to waste an entire minute reading that recap. I hope you’re satisfied.”—Page 15

The best part of this series is Brandon complaining about recaps in books.

“Rotating Rothfusses!”—Page 15

Rothfuss!

“Oh and see to my son. He will need, er, clothing and things like that.”—Page 32

Does everyone in this universe lack paternal and maternal instincts? Besides Leavenworth?

“She must have been really worried about you, Alcatraz. She ran right over to your side. I—”—Page 34

*Can You Feel The Love, Tonight? Begins playing*

“I glanced over my shoulder, whereupon I noticed a dangerous scaly lizard slithering its way along the sides of the buildings, obviously bent on devouring us all. ‘Behold!’ I bellowed. ‘’Tis a foul beast of the nether-hells. Stand behind me and I shall slay it!’ ‘Oh, Alcatraz,’ Bastille breathed. ‘Thou art awesomish and manlyish.’ ‘Lo let it be such,’ I said.”—Page 42

This is great.

TALKING. DRAGON. Hey, why can Dragons and Dinosaurs talk but not normal animals? Or can normal animals talk but in the Hushlands they don’t?

“(Though, of course, knights never use the term ‘break wind.’ They prefer the term ‘bang the cymbals.’ Guess that’s what they get for wearing so much armor.)”—Page 47

Best fart joke.

Attica, Kazan and…Pattywagon. One of these names is not like the other.

Immediately when Alcatraz mentioned that the king had red hair, I knew that Bastille was his daughter.

“Bastille got teary eyed. Then she hugged me.”—Page 60

Aw, they are so cute.

Aunt Patty knows what up between Bastille and Alcatraz.

“I should stop and note here that in the years since that day, I’ve grown rather fond of Aunt Pattywagon. This statement has nothing at all to do with the fact that she threatened to toss me out a window if I didn’t include it.”—Page 69

I really like Pattywagon, she’s probably my new favorite character. Her Talent is really silly but makes her hilarious.

“‘Okay, look,’ I said. ‘Horses are not more advanced than cars.’ ‘Sure they are,’ Patty said. ‘Why?” ‘Simple. Poop.’ I blinked. ‘Poop?’”—Page 71

Poop. I’m getting flashbacks to Words of Radiance.

“If I could somehow work in barfing, then I’d have a complete potty humor trifecta.”—Page 71

Ah, I love Brandon Sanderson.

“Fame is like a cheeseburger. It might not be the best or most healthy thing to have, but it will still fill you up. You don’t really care how healthy something is when you’ve been without it for so long. Like a cheeseburger, fame fills a need, and it taste so good going down. It isn’t until years later that you realize what it has done to your heart.”—Page 75

That is actually a perfect metaphor.

“I recall an image: a group of strangely shaped buildings beside the road. I’d seen them before, and I’d always wondered what they were. They looked like small white domes, three or four of them, the size of houses. As we passed, I turned to my foster mother. ‘Mom, what are those?’ ‘That is where the crazy people go,’ she said. I hadn’t realized there was a mental institution in my town. But it was nice to know where it was. For years after that, when the topic of mental illness came up, I would explain where the hospital was. I was proud, as a child, to know where they took the crazy people when they went…well, crazy. When I was twelve or so, I remember being driven past that place again with a different foster family. By then I could read. (I was quite advanced for my age, you know.) I noticed the sign hanging on the dome buildings. It didn’t say the builds were a mental institution. It said they were a church.”—Pages 77-78

*Spits out soda* How has Brandon not been kicked out of his church?

“To be honest, I hadn’t expected the Librarian to be so pretty or so young.”—Page 82

For a second I was scared that this would start a…love triangle. But thankfully it didn’t.

“It had all the elements of a great story—a mystical weapon, a boy on a journey, a quirky sidekicks. But it ended up ruining itself by trying to say something important, rather than just being amusing.”—Page 87

Now, who would do that?

Books play theme songs when you open them? That is awesome.

“‘She Who Cannot Be Named?’ I asked. ‘Why can’t we say her name? Because it might draw the attention of evil powers? Because we’re afraid of her? Because her name has become curse upon the world? ‘Don’t be silly,’ Himalaya said. ‘We don’t say her name because nobody can pronounce it.’”—Page 109

Hahahahaha, is she related to Numuhukumakiaki’aialunamor?

Oh god when they’re chasing Fletcher in the carriage, it’s so cringe-y.

“‘I smacked you,’ said Grandpa Smedry. Then in a slightly lower tone he added, ‘It’s an old family remedy.’ ‘For what?’ ‘Being a nigglenut,’”—Page 124

Grandpa Smedry really is the only character with a hint of paternal instincts.

Wait a minute the Knights are withholding information. Why? To keep order? I think Horseshoe Theory is at play.

“Oh, and don’t get in my way. If you do, I’ll have to rip our your entrails, dice them into little bits, then feed them to my goldfish. Toodles!”—She Who Cannot Be Named, Pages 156-157

That’s…pleasant…

DON’T EAT THE COOK—Oh, never mind…

“They’ll come up to you and say things like ‘Why are you reading that trash?’ or ‘You should be doing your homework,’ or ‘Help me, I’m on fire!’ Don’t let them distract you. It’s of vital importance that you keep reading. This book is very, very important. After all, it’s about me.”—Page 165

Sounds good to me.

“‘How could they tell if anything was missing?’ I asked. ‘They can’t,’ Sing said. ‘They figure if nobody can get in to steal books, then they don’t have to keep them counter organized.’ ‘That’s stupid.’”—Page 173

Agreed.

“‘Folsom stays suspiciously close to her,’ I said. ‘He rarely lets her out of his sight—I think he’s worried that she’s really a Librarian spy.’”—Page 183

Ah, Brandon…for all your trope subverting, you still manage to succumb one the worst of them all. The idiot teenage boy who doesn’t know a thing about romance.

“‘But what if he gets killed?’ I asked. ‘Then they’ll have to pick a new crown prince,’”—Page 195

I’m glad Bastille is going back to her old self.

“She sat down on a pile. ‘But…but I’m recovering! I’ve been clean for months now! You can’t ask me to go back, you can’t.’”—Page 197

This is ridiculous.

“I am a good Librarian.”—Page 203

Yeah!

“Anyway, that’s beside the point. We should talk to those two and settle this misunderstanding so they can get on with things.”—Alcatraz, who knows what’s up, Page 220

YES! Brandon, you didn’t give a sufficient answer on why Alcatraz should just let Mountain Girl and Dance Boy “work it out”.

“‘He means nothing to me.’ I froze. It was a lie.”—Page 241

Aw.

“I mean, why is it you readers always assume that you’re never to blame for anything? You just sit there, comfortable on your couch while we suffer. You can enjoy our pain and our misery because you’re safe. Well, this is real to me. It’s real. It still affects me. Ruins me.”—Page 243

I feel personally attacked…

“I KILLED HIM.”—Page 244

Who?

OH MY GOD ALCATRAZ MARRIED HIMALAYA AND FOLSOM TO GIVE HER THE SMEDRY TALENT! That’s amazing and kinda weird. Also, they’ve only known each other for like…six months. Weird.

“We’d discussed our plan during the chapter break. (Neener neener.)”—Page 255

Much maturity.

“It depicted a bloody skull. Archedis turned toward King Dartmoor.”—Page 269

I love Swcbn.

“Swcbn finally put down her knitting. ‘You,’ she said, ‘are very bad children. No cookies for you.’”—Page 274

Here’s hoping Swcbn comes back, she’s my favorite villain.

“Ah, I thought. That’s right; I forgot. Bastille got around fame’s touch by being a freaking psychopath.”—Page 280

Yeah, she is.

“In that moment, looking at that smile, I could swear that I’d seen him somewhere, long before my visit to the Library of Alexandria.”—Page 282

What? Was there foreshadowing that I missed?

Give Talent to ordinary people? I don’t like the sound of this…with great power and all…

Let her? Excuse me! Alcatraz did not let Fletcher steal the book…you are the most insufferable character ever.

“We can control them.”—Attica, Page 285

Sounds Librarian-y.

GERBIL SNORTING! What a great way to end the story.

#Knights of Crystallia #Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians #Alcatraz #brandon sanderson #hayley lazo #reviewsdaytuesday #2017 reviews

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illfoandillfie · 4 years ago

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Howdy! Can I get a creative block reading and a general career reading?

here you go darl!

tarot: knight of cups, 5 of cups, 6 of cups, 7 of cups, 5 of wands, queen of wands

Okay so in a creative block reading we look at both internal and external factors that might be effecting you and creating the block. You might find that one is more relevant than the other so take whatever resonates for you and if something doesn’t really fit, don’t worry about it too much. It might be worth keeping in the back of your head in case it’s predicting something yet to happen or is like a warning of sorts but y’know, it’s up to you really how much you take from this.

So, anyway, with that out of the way, let’s start with the internal stuff. The first card represents internal difficulties that are keeping you from creating and in that position we have the knight of cups. this knight is idealistic and romantic and listens to his heart rather than his head. Generally I’d say he’s a good card to get as a creator because he is associated with creativity and imagination but obviously here there’s some other element getting in the way. To me there are two possibilities. Firstly, this knight isn’t all romance and passion. He can be moody and his mood can switch rapidly. One second he’s excited and thrilled and full of this romantic energy, and then the next he’s emo and wondering why no one understands him and just emotionally all over the place. So if you’ve been dealing with some mood swings lately, that could be part of the block. If you’re anything like me you can find it hard to create if you aren’t in the right mood/headspace and if your mood is shifting around it’s even harder to pin the right time down and get into making whatever you’re trying to make. This is especially true if, like the knight, you tend to follow your heart. Your head might be yelling at you to just fucking sit down and start something please!! but if your emotions aren’t right or you feel like your heart isn’t in it, you’re much more likely to go do something else rather than obeying your head. The second way I could interpret this is to do with determination. This knight is idealistic and his determination to reach perfection can get in his way. It might be the same for you. There’s so much focus being put on the end result, on completing the project and how people might respond to it, rather than the process of creating and building it, that it’s keeping you from properly working on it. If you have more expectations about the end result then there’s more ways it can go “wrong” and that makes it easier to talk yourself out of actually doing the damn thing.

The next card represents what you need to change in your attitude to get through this block. Here we have the 5 of cups. This card is about self-pity and thinking about the “maybes” In focusing on making something ~perfect~ you’re leading yourself to disappointment and self-pity when it doesn’t immediately meet those standards. You’re too preoccupied with what’s not “right” or what could go wrong that you’re not seeing the good parts of it, the parts you should be proud of. You need to switch up your way of thinking so that you can put aside the what ifs and maybes and any doubts you have about your abilities to make what you want. Stop pitying yourself, stop lamenting your lack of natural talent, stop picking out every little flaw you see, and instead focus on the good things. focus on how you might make something better than what you first imagined, or how much fun you can have trying to make your idea a reality! Flip the script a bit and you’ll free yourself up and be more open to actually working on your project.

So that’s the internal but let’s look at the external.

The seven of swords here represents any external difficulties that are keeping you from creating. Interestingly, the suit of swords is related to the mind and thoughts so it’s a bit odd that this card has popped out in relation to the external world. Now, the 7 of swords is about deception and trickery. It’s generally related to lying and manipulating and sneaking around. Because this position is talking about external difficulties it might be that there are people or a person who’s behaviour is negatively effecting you. If you’re living with someone who can be kind of manipulative or sneaky they may be making it hard for you to feel creative. My first thought was someone who tries to coerce you into leaving what you’re doing to hang out with them or possibly someone who likes to snoop through your belongings and you worry they’ll find your works in progress before you’re ready for them to be seen.

The next card is things you can physically or practically do to combat this external block. And here we have the 5 of wands which symbolises conflict. I don’t want to tell you to fight this person but.....

no, I’m kidding, don’t fight them. I hope it doesn’t come to that anyway. There a couple of different ways to actually read this card in relation to what you can physically do. Firstly one way to interpret this card is about accommodating varied tastes or needs. So this might be about creating rituals for yourself or ways around this person’s tendencies. For instance, if they like to barge into your room without knocking then it could be a case of designating time while they aren’t home or they’re asleep as “creative time”. Something to get around what they do, without it turning into a big deal. But, the suit of wands is related to action so it could also be about addressing these issues head on, letting this person know you aren’t comfortable with what they’re doing or letting them know straight up that you’re going to be working on something so you hope they don’t mind watching that movie on their own or whatever. The thing about the 5 of wands conflict is that it could be serious, life or death type fighting, or it could be more like play fighting with friends. So if you raise the issue or let them know you’re preoccupied it won’t necessarily turn into a shouting match. But i mean if you’re looking for an excuse to fight someone i’m not going to stop you lmao

Our final two cards are related to lessons to take away from this block and any other warnings or advice the cards might want to give you. So here we have the 6 of cups and queen of wands. The 6 of cups is about familiarity and happy memories as well as healing. I think this really ties in especially well with the internal/mental aspects of this block - taking away positive associations and a reminder that joy can be found in the process of creating and not just the finalised work. This could also be a sign that this isn’t the first time you’ve dealt with a problem like this or a creative block like this and 1. you got through it before so you can get through it again but also 2. there might be something you can remember from your past that can help you deal with the block. If you previously had a friend or relative who wanted to go through your notebook or sketchbook or whatever without your permission, then you might be able to apply what you learnt in dealing with them to the person influencing your external block now. Or maybe thinking about things you created in the past can help you see how much you’ve grown as a creator and can help you feel more capable of meeting those standards you set for yourself now. Something in your past could be the key to moving through this block.

And finally the queen of wands is about courage, determination, and joy. I think she has a great energy - funny and warm and friendly but she isn’t a pushover. The wands are associated with fire and action so she’s not afraid to stand up for herself or take matters into her own hands which i feel could be relevant if you’re dealing with the external block situation. And then the messages of determination and joy seem to connect with a lot of what came out in this reading so there’s definitely things you can take from her regarding standing in your truth and finding the joy in creating.

okay lets whip through these oracles lmao

So these first two cards each come with 3 pieces of advice. The music oracle has advice regarding attitude/lifestyle/inspiration while the art oracle gives advice for life/work/inspiration. I obviously picked both of them for the “inspiration” aspect but i’ll include the other parts as well since you might find them relevant too. But, because of that, some of the advice may not fit so if it doesn’t resonate don’t worry and focus on the parts that do.

Right so, your music oracle is: John Coltrane - take your solo, but give others their moment too / if you follow your own truth there are false notes / find beauty in the unexpected.

Theres two things here I want to touch on. Firstly that follow your own truth part instantly reminded me of that queen of wands so definitely listen to yourself and take into account what you’re feeling about the situation. Secondly, that last piece of advice ties in with the internal aspects of the block - finding beauty in making something different to your expectations or intentions. Even if it’s not what you planned or not how you envisioned it, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value.

Your art oracle is: Piet Mondrian - Logic should come from the heart // true simplicity takes a lot of concentration // find utopia in a straight line.

That first bit is really jumping out at me here, mostly because the whole top row of cards are from the cups suit which is connected to the heart and emotions. It’s definitely interesting to compare “logic should come from the heart” to that heart over head knight of cups.

Then you have 2 sacred creator cards: Creator Earth and You Are Light.

Earth energy is grounded and connected to our safety and stability. It’s related to the material world including finances and objects as well as connections with family. This card suggest thinking about how safe you feel in your material world and how you can feel more nourished by it. Do you have a network of people you can talk to and who love you? Do you have peaceful surroundings? What about the vitality of a nutritious meal? Think about how grounded you are and if theres anything you can do to improve your material world to better unlock your creative energy. The guidebook gives a few examples of things you might try including grounding yourself by going outdoors onto the grass or dirt, barefoot. You might find it helps restore balance or unblocks your mind. Another method would be getting out into nature, take a walk through a park or sit quietly under a tree to meditate. And finally, write in the dirt. This could literally be about getting your fingers or hands into the earth, drawing pictures or words in the dirt, but it can also be something like using a mud mask to cleanse your skin, or writing you intentions or your goals on a piece of paper and burying it in the ground to try and connect with that earth energy.

You Are light says that at the core of your cells and atoms is your light energy. It’s a signature that belongs to you alone and though it can interact with other light energy of the world, it will always be yours. By creating you share this light with the world and make the world a brighter and more interesting place. So don’t try to dim your light.

You also got 2 literary witch cards: Pond (looking inward/inspiration/uncertainty) and Apple (the senses/hunger/sex).

Pond definitely ties in with the internal block part of the reading. Confronting your ideas and beliefs and how you’ve been viewing your work, as a way of shifting the block and finding more inspiration. Even if you feel uncertain about what you’re creating, there will be good in it at the end.

And lastly there are two Frida Kahlo cards for inspiration which say:

Don’t play wishy washy. Paint the world with your clarity, and create with clear ideas about love. // Go to the depth of your heart, speak with who you are and know yourself intimately.

#card readings

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