#concluding our other two threads if that's ok

[trashpandacraft]

so you may recall that we have a number of spinning wheels, because of who we are as people and also because i love them. and we decided after buying those that we were done, unless the perfect castle-style wheel appealed.

you may also recall that my most beloved wheel is the pipy, made by philip poore in 1972:

the pipy was far and away the most common wheel that poore made, but there was...another wheel. a castle wheel. called the wendy.

when i was gift-shopping for upcoming birthdays the other day, i was on ebay, and one of my previous searches popped up. and i opened it, obviously, just to see, and because i like looking at spinning wheels and seeing what people are selling.

well, there were nine items on ebay that matched that search, one of which was a wendy wheel, made in 1975, not terribly expensive, and less than 50k from my house.

so you can probably guess what happened next.

...ok, actually what happened is that i waffled about it and made sad noises for a bit, and my wife spent an hour or so whispering do it, do it, and then the obvious happened.

so now for real we have our (probably) last wheel (for now)! and buddies, lemme tell you, she's absolutely majestic. she's so small that if you take her apart, i'm pretty sure she'd fit into a carry-on-sized suitcase. she's so small that if i, a normal-to-tall-sized human person stand next to her, the top of the drive wheel is under my knee.

she also has a delightfully unusual tension system! frame flyers were apparently (relatively) briefly popular in new zealand, and honestly, i kinda dig it?

the rod is actually in two pieces, and they're connected by the threaded ball. turn the ball in one direction, and the upper part of the rod moves slightly further out of the ball; turn it in the other direction, and the rod moves deeper into the ball. this changes the tilt of the flyer, moving it slightly closer to or further from the drive wheel, and thus adjusting the tension. [update: you can see a video of it in action in this post!]

the flyer's slightly cracked, so right now i'm using the single flyer across both wheels, but i'm talking to more experienced people to figure out how best to repair/replace it. other than that, though, she's in amazing condition—it's clear she was treasured, but equally clear that she wasn't used. (there was a giant clump of spiderweb in the orifice, and don't think that wasn't an unpleasant surprise.) but i think we're more than happy to use her enough to make up for the years of disuse.

oh, and in the picture looking down, see that little hole in the frame, just at the bottom of the image? it's so you can screw a block of wood onto the frame and convert her to scotch tension, if you'd like.

she came with her original paperwork, featuring information about how to prepare wool, spin, and knit it, which is also rather charming.

this concludes the most recent (and probably final) episode of 'slightly odd spinning wheels that are older than i am that i have bought for a song'. i know i've said it before, but if you have the chance to play with vintage wheels, please do give it a go. sometimes they're just so-so, but sometimes you find absolute treasures that were made by masters of the craft, and then—hypothetically—you own four of them that collectively have still cost you less than the price of buying one (1) ashford traditional.

[lyssaterald]

Take Flight, Lesson 1-5: Good Luck

A summoning is attempted and explanations conclude.

(A/N: Liberties were taken with this lesson and some of the dialogues rearranged due to the shortness and oddity of the lesson itself).

Content Warning: General spoilers for the main story. Minors and ageless accounts do not interact! Named character, and slight mentions of character’s past and history which ARE expanded on as they ARE important to this chapter. Weirdly, I switch between past and present tense. Sorry, not sorry. Unbeta read.

Probably ok to read as a stand alone.

Masterlist

-------------

It was later that evening, after Mammon had shown me to the House of Lamentations and after I had been assigned a room on one of the upper floors. The first thing I had done was lock the door, set a locking spell against intruders, and then taken to the thickest parts of the tree for cover so that I could settle in and keep half an eye on the room beneath me.

It took a few minutes to get comfortable and find the best vantage, but I found it and dug claws into the bark of the tree. With that done, I was able to turn inwards towards my bonds and finally assess if Diavolo had actually done anything when his power had rolled through me.

They were like a spiderweb, connecting through the generations and then crossing between friends and lovers who had come to bond themselves together. The silken threads were taut, but unbroken, when I ran a mental claw across the strands that connected me to my family. Very briefly, their emotions resonated back to me and relied bits and pieces of their surroundings and going ons. There seemed to be a great amount of activity, anxiety, and worry mixed with strangled fury.

The strands of my eight siblings, aunt, uncles, and dame lit up furiously and there was only a short pause before I was being bombarded by the worry, thought impressions, and other emotions of everyone. Outwardly, I had to shake myself as the sudden burst of adrenaline that spiked through my body. Inwardly, I passed as much information as I could through the bonds to everyone. It was like pushing a leaf through molasses and I don't know how much got through to everyone.

There was a sudden dimming in the bonds of everyone except my dame as she opened our secondary bond and threaded the two together. This was dame acting as both my ruler and parent as she limited the number of bonds that were connecting to me and trying to strengthen a central one for communication between us.

After a long minute, the two bonds melted into each other and our bond shone a little stronger to me. The first thing to reach me was the worry that she was feeling and then there were bits and pieces of memories of her soldiers being mobilized, a frantic search for me or the magic source that had penetrated our wards and barriers, and the whole thing ending up fruitless. There had been no outside attack against us. I had been the only person or thing removed from the dragons' stronghold. Finally, her words reached me.

Disap-...how...what...doi-...Lys...who...

Words were harder to pass through realms, apparently. She wanted answers and was sending her questions as best she could, but it just made no sense what she was saying. Instead of trying to send words myself, I focused on the scent of this realm and the image of Lucifer and Diavolo standing before me in that assembly room. I kept sending those pieces of information until a burst of anger touched my thoughts. There was a masculine hue to that emotion and it wasn't hard to recognize Mathew, my eldest brother. He was trying to work his way through our dame's strangle hold on my other bonds and he had been mostly successful, probably because she had recently been sharing the duties and powers of her thrones with him as her first heir. I started to push the scents and image to him as well and the anger quieted.

Between the two of them, I was able to piece together most of the situation that had occurred after my disappearance. I had vanished in the middle of training with Mathew and he had been the one to raise the alarm. After it became apparent that I was no longer present in the dragon stronghold, they had turned to interrogating the nobles and dragged our Seers from their beds to try and look look for me through magical means. Scrying had failed miserably and only pointed to a spot in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, at which point I had decided to check on my bonds for any damage and come into contact with them.

It took us a long time to communicate anything across the strained bonds, but they eventually seemed to understand that I was alive, in a strange realm, and among strange beings that were intent on keeping me with them for an as yet unspecified. At some point, dame and Mathew must have joined each other in a room because they were getting different pieces of relevant information to me. What I thought I could sense was that they wanted me to stay hidden until they could figure out a way to reverse the spell that had summoned me.

Bang!

The crash of a body against the bedroom door startled me away from my inward focus and snapped closed my bonds from my conscious thoughts. Reflexively, I buried them as deep into my mind as I could and pulled several layers of protection over them. The whiplash of that disruption in concentration was settling into a migraine between my temples.

"Oi! Human, who said ya could lock the door?!" came Mammon's irritated growl.

Lowly, I growled back and extracted my claws from the tree bark, willing my fingers to become more human in appearance once again. I dropped onto the floor and wrapped my injured arm around my stomach again. The pain throbbing through the broken limb and the migraine behind my temples pulled my mood into a foul area, but I bit back the first three responses as I dissipated the locking spell and threw the latch on the door.

"What is it, Mammon?" I asked tiredly. He hesitated, his eyes gliding over me, and I lightly poked him in the chest. "You're the one that was demanding that I open the door a second ago. Cat got your tongue?"

"Wha...no, it don't," Mammon answered distractedly, his eyes suddenly darting around and behind me. The attempt at humor had been lost on him and I just sighed as I waited for his inspection to be done. "Lucifer wants ta see ya. In his office. Apparently, he and Lord Diavolo weren't done explaining things when you grabbed me."

I ran my fingers through my hair and stared at him. It was true he hadn't put up much complaint when I had done that to him and he had been the least invasive of the demons so far, including Lucifer and Diavolo. "Sorry about that," I settled on for my answer and he glanced down and away.

"Wasn't no big deal, human. Jus' don't be doin' it again," he muttered. "Come on, Lucifer doesn't like to be kept waitin'."

The door closed softly behind me as I followed Mammon through several halls, down two flights of stairs, and past so many paintings it made my head hurt just that much more. He gave a loud rap against one of the identical doors and received as sharp assent for me to enter and for him to remain outside. I cracked the door open and slipped inside as quickly as I could.

Lucifer was sitting behind an ornate desk piled with papers around him. For a moment, I was struck with nostalgia. Dame's desk is the same way. Difference was, her study was always messy and on the verge of a chaotic explosion from the Twins that passed through frequently. This study was immaculate with the books all neatly in their place across almost every wall. His fireplace crackled with a fire and the two chairs in front of his desk were precisely placed. The only thing that seemed even remotely out of place was the way that Diavolo was leaning casually into the couch across the room.

Ignore the skulls, ignore the skulls, ignore the skulls.

Why someone would have human or animal skulls about their office as decoration was a mystery I was content to let be. It just gave me the creeps and made me want to exit all the faster from their presence.

I gave them a second to invite me further in, aware that golden eyes had landed on me from the second I had entered. Lucifer, for his part, was continuing to work away on one of the documents in front of him. With a yawn, I strolled into the heart of the study and plopped myself in one of the two chairs. Red eyes flickered up to me and I returned his gaze as steadily as I could. After a long moment, I dropped my eyes from his gaze.

No use trying to play dominance games with them. This place isn't like home.

Most likely, they were all more powerful than me and I was stuck here, at their mercy and good graces, until Dame could reverse summon me home. The auras alone that I could sense made my instincts rattle on the side of caution about provoking them. But I will not be their prey, either.

"It is polite to wait until you are invited to sit," Lucifer said, setting aside the quill-quill?-that he had been using.

"It's polite not to go around snatching people out of their homes at random and making their families worry," I returned and saw Diavolo smile out of the corner of my eye. Lucifer just glared at me, so I skipped past that silence and continued, "Besides, you were the one who summoned me, so I see no reason to stand and wait for you to finish ignoring me."

There was a flicker of something in Lucifer's red eyed that glinted back at me. I turned a little in the chair to cross my legs and prop my chin on the palm of my good hand. For all intents and purposes, I was ready to wait them both out, politely, but Diavolo had other plans.

He got up from the couch and closed the distance between us until he was standing beside me. I gave him a sidelong look and continued to wait. His smile was almost apologetic and kind, but it didn't quite reach his eyes and so I didn't put any trust in that mask of his.

"I'm afraid this is my fault," he offered. "I had to insist we meet again because we hadn't quite finished going over the details of what will be expected of you in the year you are here."

My hand slipped on my chin as I startled towards Diavolo. "Excuse me?" I demanded.

"We can't excuse your presence just yet, but if you are patient we will only be a few more minutes," Diavolo said patiently and my migraine throbbed.

He had taken my question literally, like the meaning behind it had escaped him. It was as surprising as flustering. "No, I mean, not that. I meant to ask what the fuck you meant by a year? When in the thrice-fucked Saints did I ever agree to that?"

The sudden release of a murderous aura had me spinning in the chair back towards Lucifer. He was smiling, but there was a dark and ominous energy pouring from his body to seep into everything around it. It was heavier than any I had ever felt before, and I froze in the face of it.

"Disrespect towards Lord Diavolo will not be tolerated. I suppose your manners are something we will have to work on while you are here with us," Lucifer said, steepling his fingers under his chin.

"You can try," I spat back before I thought about it. His smile was content as he stared back at me.

Fuck. He probably took that as a challenge.

I jumped when a large hand touched my shoulder and gripped me lightly. "That is enough, Lu," Diavolo said quietly and the smile and aura disappeared from Lucifer like it had never existed a all. "And, Lyssa, please do not provoke my Avatars too much during your stay here. They are here to assist you, but there is only so much they can do." Tolerate, was the unspoken word and I only glanced side-long at Diavolo.

I wasn't going to agree to something I would likely be pushing anyways just by existing in the same space as them. In the silence that stretched, Diavolo brushed some stray hair out of my face and then took the chair opposite mine. The feeling of his touch lingered on my cheek and kept my heart galloping at a million miles.

"Now, as to the year. Did you not read the contract before you signed it?" Diavolo asked.

I had to pause for a minute as I stared blankly at him, searching my memory for a contract that might explain this situation. It was true that as the primary heirs, my older siblings often had to delegate some of their tasks and paperwork to me, but...

"There has been no contract proposed to me personally for something like an exchange program in Hell. I would remember something like that, so that would be a solid no, princeling." The nickname just slipped from my tongue without thought as I was thinking of my family and paperwork.

The subtle change in Diavolo's expression brought me out of my stupor. Something in his mask had cracked and he was gazing at me now like he was seeing me for the first time. Apparently, I was trying to get murdered tonight.

Fuck it. Roll with it.

"If you don't like what I call you, I can always drop it." Make it seem intentional. "Most of my family goes by nicknames so it is simply habit to assign such to others as I get to know people."

Diavolo gave a delighted laugh and the mask was suddenly just gone. "No, you may call me whatever you wish, Lyssa," he said over Lucifer's angry sputter. "But perhaps not in public."

"That's fine," I agreed.

There was a pause and then Diavolo asked, "What would you call Lucifer if you were to assign one to him?"

Lu had sounded like an unconscious thing only between the two of them. And asshole and lap dog would most likely get me murdered. "Prideling," I answered, opting for something safe and Diavolo laughed happily at that.

"No," came Lucifer's flat and immediate answer to my relief.

Before Diavolo could nettle his friend, I said, "Noted, but I still have to ask about this contract."

Lucifer looked like he had several things to say, but dropped it after a glance towards his prince. It took him some shifting of documents before he extracted a thin set of papers from a giant stack. Silently, he held it out to me and I had to lean forward to grab it as my arm throbbed painfully. I couldn't hide my wince as I took the set of papers from him and settled back into place. His frown was ignored in favor of balancing the contract on a knee and skimming the first page.

It seemed a standard agreement of shelter, safety, and attendance of lessons. It was vague in details, obviously something that was meant to be worked out in more detail later. There was a specific clause that prohibited the acquisition of my soul through trickery and pacts. I might have stared at that one for a long minute before moving on, filing the question for later. The whole thing was also entirely unfamiliar to me until I got to the very last page and found the signature, and it wasn't mine.

With Permission of Child's Guardian:

Serina Terald

It was the same, looping and elegant signature that I had seen many-a-time on different documents and requests and other things for my uncle's mother. She wasn't even a blood relative!

"That's my surname, sure, but Serina has never once been my guardia-" I started, but trailed off as a thought occurred to me.

The circumstances around my birth for Dame's courts was chaotic and uncertain. She wouldn't have had the time she needed to take care of me directly. And Serina was in many of my earliest memories, so it was possible that Serina had been given temporary charge of me. And apparently signed a contract for me to go to Hell.

I growled in frustration and tried to rip the thing apart using one hand and my fangs. Claws were easier to drag through the document and shred. The pieces fluttered to the ground in chunks and strips for a moment, then jumped back into my had and reformed whole and undamaged.

A magically binding contract, then.

"Fucking fuck! That bitch." The contract didn't even wrinkle when I crumpled it in my fist. Frustrated, I threw it back onto Lucifer's desk and dragged a claw through my hair. "My dame never would have approved a contract like this, had she known. Serina did this in secret and without the permission of my parents!"

Diavolo touched it and the paper shimmered for a moment. "She was within her rights to sign for you, but I can't imagine why she would have signed for something over twenty years away. That is a long time for humans, as I understand it." He looked at me and I saw his gaze drop to my claw. I Veiled my claws and fangs again in that split second he stared.

Golden eyes caught mine and I had to look away, but his fingers catch my chin and lift my eyes to meet his again. I didn't have it in me to resist him. "There have been centuries of fighting and bloodshed with this truce being only a tenuous thing. Humans, angels, demons, I imagine a universe where each accepts the other. Where we are brought together as friends. This is my dream and I'm asking you to be the foundation for it. One year, that's what I'm asking of you."

Without meaning to, he stirred a bloodline memory passed to me from dame. Dragons fighting each other over blood prejudices, a forgotten grudge, and being beaten down beneath the heels of tyrants and madmen. "I will drag them to a better future, willing or not. That is my only duty."

One of dame's predecessors, another madman that had given her two of her children. The dragons had needed a mother to rule them in order to heal old grudges and finally come together in peace. She had struggled with old traditions and torn apart an old, unfair hierarchy. The struggles had taken her from us in more ways than one, but she had won out with her own iron strength and kept the dragons sane through it all.

Was this so different? Heaven and hell, angels and demons. At least he seemed to believe his own rhetoric, but only time would give me the truth and, one way or another, I was stuck here for at least a while.

"I can only try," I sighed and he beamed at me, his smile genuine.

The change in his smile had me blinking rapidly back at him. I had noticed earlier that he brothers and Diavolo had been rather good looking in a statuesque way. This...this was...

I shook myself and set the bones to throbbing again. The sharp pain was a welcome thing that brought me back to my senses. He released me and sat back in his own chair as the conversation turned naturally back to what tasks would be required of me, which turned out to be centered around school of all things. They introduced me to the apps that would be helpful and keep me updated on the different assignments.

Diavolo's attention seemed centered on me and he seemed to be dragging the conversation on as he leaned over my shoulder to show me the different apps and how to use them. Lucifer just watched us with his chin resting on steepled fingers, his eyes once again entirely black. The purity of my soul was brought up like a casual topic and I was warned of the various ways in which a demon would try and steal it.

"With that, our explanation has come to a close," Lucifer stated crisply, shifting more documents again. "But to sum it up for you, you will be an exchange student here at RAD for one year, and you must do your tasks. Your tasks will include interacting with the general student body and public, living within the walls of the House of Lamentation, and attaining passing grades for each of your classes. As your magical strength has yet to be measured, my brothers and I will be lending you a hand while you get settled in the Devildom. And when your exchange period comes to an end, you are to submit a paper about your stay here in the Devildom. It's as easy as pie, don't you think?"

My eye twitched when he smiled at me, his eyes gleaming towards crimson again. That eye color change had to mean something, right?

"You could always send me home, now, instead of a year from now," I responded with a tight smile.

"I'm afraid that isn't an option," he said with a wider smile. "You were chosen out of the many applicants and that is something you can't change."

"You'll be staying here for the duration of the exchange program, with Lucifer and his six younger brothers," Diavolo cut across any response I could make. "If you're in need of anything, feel free to ask it of us and we will procure it for you."

Leaning back in the chair, I stared at Diavolo. "Gee, I can't think of anything right now. Except, maybe, clothes. Seeing as I was snatched up without any forewarning, I didn't get to pack anything." And I was still wearing the training clothes I had been when I was sparring with Matty this morning. I would need to shower and change soon if I was to avoid smelling rancid tomorrow.

My words were meant sarcastically, but Diavolo gave me a genuine smile that lit up his golden eyes. It was like he was happy that I had mentioned needing something for any duration of a stay here and it sent a little stab of guilt through my gut, which was promptly tucked away.

Of course, that was the moment that my bonds flared and power rose up and twisted around my limbs. The pain was blinding and I was crippled with it, folding in on myself with a scream lodged in my throat. Images, emotions, thoughts, everything rushed together in my head.

Dame and others, standing together, voices blending in words, a symbol etched on the ground before them. Frustration and fear, and wHy isn't ThIS worKing? An assessment of her body, taking the pain and broken bones, mending the ligaments in case she needs to fight. Then darkness and I was alone again, their power dissipated and my bonds fading back into the recesses of my mind, a hand on my shoulder, and an unfamiliar power throbbing in my bones.

Diavolo's concerned face swam into focus through the tears and the tight ache in my chest. I gasped a breath in and stayed curled in on myself. At least the pain was only an echo now.

The power gentled and swept through me again, a rushing feeling to it, almost like an ocean wave. Gritting my teeth, I swept the power back and forced it through my skin. Electricity cracked and sparked and snapped around us before it fizzled out and Diavolo stepped back, hands raised in a calming gesture.

"I only broke the spell meant to summon you away. You're safe now," he said soothingly and I wanted to scream.

We had had one chance to bring me out of this place, one. The remaining images and thoughts and emotions foreign to myself settled into place, allowing me to understand that they had used the only symbol they had had and core stones that would work with it on this attempt. It would take a good while to bring together the materials again for even the shadow of an attempt, well after the remnants of the Diavolo's summoning had dissipated.

I am stuck here.

That was the last thought that followed me into the darkness.

[womanofwords]

STEM Kids Shenanigans (Chapter 22)

Chapter 22: Matching Patches

Yujin was packing ribbons into her bag with glee. Now that Angelo was no longer grounded, they could come back to his house to meet up. They probably wouldn't be allowed to go back into the basement again without supervision, but that was OK. They weren't planning to do any of that this time.

"What do you need the ribbons for?" her dad asked.

"We're going for a makeover at Angelo's house," Yujin said.

"A beauty makeover?" Yujin's dad raised a skeptical eyebrow. "With two boys?"

"No, not that kind. We're getting decorative patches sewn onto our bags. Angelo said he was going to show us how to make them."

"Really?" Her father leaned over to her. "I didn't know that boy could sew."

"Well, he can. He does it for his sister," Yujin said. "She rips her clothes a lot."

"Hmm." Her father looked thoughtful. "When are you coming back?"

"Seven."

"Good. I'll pick you up when you're ready. Have fun." His tone became more teasing. "When you come back, tell me more about the boy that sews."

"APPA!"

(PAUSE)

Yujin arrived to chaos. Instead of being the first to arrive, she was the last. Angelo's mother opened the door looking exhausted. "I hope you're not as loud as the other three," she said.

"Loud?" Yujin asked. She sighed and took them into the same room they were in before. And there, she saw chaos.

"You are so weak! How did you survive this long?" Dante laughed, sitting on Angelo.

"I just had to run from people a lot," Angelo groaned. "I never actually had to fight anybody."

"This is such an unorganized selection. And why is there so much black thread?" Layla asked.

"Hi," Yujin said, waving awkwardly. They went silent and waved at her.

"Hi," they chorused.

"What were you doing?" Yujin asked.

"Angelo said that he would be able to beat me in wrestling because he was bigger," Dante said proudly. "He was wrong."

"And I was reorganizing the thread," Layla said. "It was a mess."

"You haven't really missed anything. We did nothing productive," Angelo insisted, as Dante let up.

"Let's start designing things now," Yujin said.

"Yes, that would be good," the other three agreed.

"How about a hexagon shape?" Angelo suggested.

"How would we even do that?" Dante asked.

"Fold and cut. Easy." Angelo rolled his eyes.

"Also denim is really difficult to cut through," Layla said.

"Difficult, but not impossible," Yujin said. "But it's still impractical. Let's just go with a simple square shape."

"Finally, some good ideas!" Layla sighed. "Yujin arriving with the common sense!"

Yujin turned red. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"What colours would you like to pick?" Layla asked. "There are a lot here."

"Thank you!" Angelo said.

"We can try out different styles, too," Yujin said.

"Nice! What did you have in mind?" Angelo asked.

Yujin grinned as she brought out her sketchbook. "Well . . ."

(PAUSE)

An hour and a half later, the kind of lettering had been chosen and colours had to be picked out. "There's four letters in STEM, and there's four of us, so each of us gets to pick a colour," Layla said, counting off letters and colours on her fingers.

"Yujin, what colour do you want?" Angelo asked, giving her the repurposed popcorn bucket full of spools of thread.

"Green," she said.

"I'm taking red," Dante said quickly

"I get purple, then," Layla decided.

"And I pick yellow," Angelo concluded. "This is going to be a fun project to work on. They should be done in . . . two weeks."

"Why two weeks?" Dante asked.

"Because I have a life," Angelo pointed out.

"Angie!" Mirella said, stumbling into the room with her arms outstretched. "Cookie."

"More like your sister has a life, and you're just a part of it," Layla teased.

"Angie, cookie," Mirella said, pointing at the kitchen.

"Mimi, Angelo is busy," Angelo said, looking at his friends, who were giggling.

"Yujee!" Mirella giggled, rushing over to Yujin. Yujin squeaked as a three-year-old collapsed onto her, as Dante and Layla laughed.

"I'm so sorry!" Angelo squeaked, as he scooped up his little sister. But Mirella whined.

"Yujee. Yujee is pretty," Mirella whined.

Yujin's heart melted. "It's OK. I'll hold her," Yujin said. "Mirella, you want to try on some of my ribbons?"

"You have ribbons?" Angelo spluttered.

"I brought them because I thought I would need them," Yujin explained. Clumps of ribbons were produced, which made Yujin wince. "Mirella, wanna try? Sit down and I'll put them in your hair."

Mirella sat down immediately, and Yujin expertly braided the ribbons into her hair. Swap and twist, swap and twist. The other three watched in awe as Yujin finished on one side and began on the other.

"How do you do that?" Angelo asked.

"I'll teach you some other time," Yujin said. She put bows on the ends of Mirella's new braids, and the little girl squealed with glee.

"Pretty! I'm pretty!" Mirella squealed.

"What do we say, Mirella?" Angelo prompted.

"Thank you!" Mirella sang, hugging Yujin.

"Oh my goodness, this is adorable," Dante said.

"Do you want me to tie up your hair like Angelo's little sister?" Yujin teased.

"I do it!" Mirella insisted, toddling over with a hair bobble. "I make Dante pretty!"

"OK." Dante sat back and let Mirella tie his braids back into a ponytail.

"You look great, Dante," Angelo said, sneakily taking a photo.

"Shut up," Dante muttered.

"Hi, just wanted to - oh." Angelo's mother stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the scene in front of her. "What is this?"

"We were making matching patches when we got . . . ambushed," Angelo said.

"I can see that," she said. "Why did you do Mirella's hair?"

"That was me," Yujin said. "I'm sorry, I can take it out."

"No, it looks wonderful!" Angelo's mother insisted. "Mirella, do you like your hair?"

"Pretty!" Mirella cheered. "Yujee is the best! She can sleep in my room!"

"Mirella, Yujin has a home that she lives in," Angelo explained. "I'm so sorry, Yujin. Mirella really likes you."

"She is so sweet," Layla said.

"If my little brothers were like that with me, then I would actually want to have them near my friends," Dante sighed. Yujin's phone rang, and all eyes turned to her.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this," she said, sidling out. It was her dad. It had to be her dad. "Appa?"

"You're late. You said you'd be home by seven. It's seven fifteen."

"Sorry, Appa! I lost track of time. I'll leave now."

"No, no, it's dark! Just tell me where you are and I'll get you." Yujin told her dad Angelo's address. "OK. Stay there. I'll call you when I'm outside." He hung up. Yujin walked back in and was ambushed by Mirella.

"Mimi, no!" Angelo yelped.

"Yujee came back!" Mirella cheered.

"My dad's coming to get me soon, but . . . is it OK if I stay here until then?" Yujin asked.

"Sure!" Angelo and his mother said.

"Yay! Angie's friends stay forever!" Mirella cheered.

"Oh god," Angelo groaned, as Dante laughed hysterically.

(PAUSE)

Angelo gave Yujin her patch at school a week later. "It's finished now," he said, handing over a pristine patch. Not a stitch was out of place. Angelo was good.

Yujin turned it over in her hands. "It looks amazing."

"If you want, I can sew it to your bag or . . . whatever you want me to sew it to."

"It's OK. You've already done so much. I'll do this." Yujin stuffed the patch into her badge and walked to class.

"What's in your pocket, Moon?" Melanie asked, popping up out of nowhere.

"I didn't know it was any of your business," Yujin said, walking away.

"I saw Angelo give you something, and I want to know what it was," Melanie snapped.

"Leave me alone." Yujin walked faster, and Melanie grabbed her.

"Show me what it is," Melanie snarled.

"Get off her!" a man's voice yelled. It was Mr Oluwatola. Melanie released her grip immediately, and Yujin rubbed the life back into her arm. "What is going on here?" he asked.

"Yujin Moon was given something suspicious by Angelo Riva. It's in her pocket right now," Melanie said.

"It's just a denim patch," Yujin said, producing the patch. "Everyone in the STEM club has one. We designed it ourselves and Angelo stitched this himself."

"Ah. Very nice." Mr Oluwatola walked away, and Melanie glared at Yujin.

"I'll get rid of your pathetic little club someday," she hissed, before stomping away.

(PAUSE)

Once she was at home, Yujin searched for the glue. It had to be around there somewhere. "What are you looking for?" her father asked.

"Glue. I want to glue this patch to my bag." Yujin continued to search. Her dad pulled it out of a drawer behind her.

"I'll do it. Bring me the gloves and a lamp. And your bag."

Yujin watched as her father slowly glued the patch onto her bag, tongue sticking out with dedication as he completed the painstaking task. Eventually, it was done, glued to her badge with pride.

"Thank you," Yujin said. The patch somehow looked even better now that it was on her bag.

"The stitching is very good. That Angelo boy did it?"

"Yes."

"He's very good."

Yujin giggled as she played with a piece of her hair. "Yes, he is."

To read the other parts of this fic, see Masterlist.

[randomboo256]

She Hulk: Attorney at Law Review

I may generally stick to video games, but on occasion I do shuffle over into film/tv reviews. In this case, I've decided to take a good look at Marvel's most recent disaster endeavor: She Hulk: Attorney at Law. Over a long 9 weeks of steady episode releases, the newest Disney+ miniseries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally concluded it's first season of episodes, and oh god what a long ride it was to get here.

For those somehow unaware, the show is about Jennifer Walters, the cousin of Bruce Banner (who, needless to say, is the Hulk). When she was in need of a blood transfusion, Bruce was the only one compatible and.. oh wait that's the comic storyline. In the show, she was casually taking a car ride with Bruce when he crashed out of nowhere and, somehow, his blood got into the open cut on her arm. This just happens a few minutes into the show, and uh... were they strapped for time or something? I mean yeah, the comic origin didn't make the most sense, but it was better than this. Whatever I guess... So uh, anyway so after getting a splash of his blood in her system, she suddenly got milder version of his Hulk powers. However, she doesn't want to be a superhero. She wants to be a lawyer, and the rest of the show is chronicling those misadventures.

I wrote a decent thread about the first episode when it originally came out, and to summarize, I felt that the main girl herself, Jen, was a rather uninteresting lead. She didn't have a particularly strong personality other than "smug girl with hints of self esteem issues". But even then, they barely did anything with that but crack smug jokes while occasionally trying (and failing) to make you feel for her. She feels less like a character and more of a lazy writer self-insert, which isn't helped by the 4th wall jokes, which I'll get back to shortly. Other than that, I thought that the CGI looked awful (and it is) and that everything felt really stiff, especially the humor. This show is meant to be a comedy and spoiler alert I hardly laughly once. The only joke that I remember laughing at was the lowbrow "Captain America is a virgin" joke which was literally like the first joke of the first episode (from my memory. I ain't rewatching it to check.) Talk about going downhill fast. Overall, episode one was a pretty bad first impression, and unfortunately it doesn't go much up from here.

Now before we move on, about those 4th wall jokes. They weren't very good. Like, I get it. It's She Hulk. It's part of her thing. But like, these jokes were not executed well. They all felt forced and they mostly amounted to Jen just making some smug comment to the camera, although admittedly the joke where she said "do you even remember this guy?" and she makes the show do a "previously on" for a minor character was pretty good. I liked that one. The rest were lame. Also the massive 4th wall break in the finale is really funny in concept but in execution it was so painfully drawn out, and as per usual with Disney, felt too corporate self congratulatory. Anyhow I'm getting ahead of myself.

When it comes to our main girl, by far my biggest issue is that she just becomes a master of being a Hulk basically instantly. I know She Hulk works differently ok. While Bruce and He-Hulk are basically two different people in one body, Jen and She-Hulk are still the same person. I'm fine with that. The problem is that there's no difference at all. They could have easily made it so that Jen and She Hulk are one woman expressed in two different ways. Maybe Jen is more quiet and reserved while She-Hulk is more bombastic and open. They're still the same person, but they act differently.

One of the most controversial moments in the show happens in the first episode. When Bruce is trying to help Jen learn how to control her powers, she explains that she needs no help and that she's already an expert on controlling her anger because she's a woman and being a woman is bad or whatever. It's essentially an excuse for why the show can completely skip over the "learning how to control herself" aspect of the storyline. It's never mentioned again. The moment was controversial for two reasons. For one, a lot of "antisjws" were pissed that she mentioned feminist talking points. Whatever. Fuck those dumbfucks. For two, more importantly, it essentially brushes aside any potential character development solely on the basis that "I'm a woman, and therefore I am already good at this." which is an extremely lame cop-out under the guise of looking "progressive". Rather than actually being progressive by baking in progressive themes into the storytelling, we had our main character stare into the camera and yell "WE'RE PROGRESSIVE" in hopes for some quick twitter likes when someone clips her rant and reposts it with "Yass queen slay". I want to be totally clear, I'm entirely ok with, and in fact encourage, including progressive themes in your work. However, you have to actually put the effort in and properly include them. This right here was just flat out lazy writing.

What if they included these themes as a central emotional point in the series? The idea of what society expects from women and how they have to put up with it could work well as a backbone to a She-Hulk story. Maybe Jennifer is "what society expects", while She-Hulk represents "what society wants to lock away". She-Hulk is Jennifer's personality unaffected by both her own anxiety and society's inhibitions. Maybe Jennifer starts off ashamed of being She-Hulk before learning to embrace herself and fuck society or whatever. You get the jist. It's a concept that flows very naturally into the premise and it makes for a far more interesting lead character all while avoiding having to be a superhero show, as the show is adamant that it isn't. But alas, that is not the show we received.

So what did they do with the whole Hulk angle? If it's not tied into her character arc (spoiler alert: she doesn't have one), what is it for? Well, She-Hulk is super famous, and Jen Walters isn't. That is basically it. I'm sorry, but am I watching a Hulk show or fucking Hannah Montana? Like she's a nobody who has an alter ego who's a big celebrity which is just such an uncreative take on this concept. Look, I get it. It doesn't want to be a superhero show. Again, I'm fine with it. But, they really do nothing with the fact that she's a Hulk both thematically and plot wise. It just feels so underutilized and it really begs the question of "Why am I even watching this?". (The answer is that it's an MCU show and I want to keep up.)

Ok, so the fact she's a Hulk means nothing. So what the fuck do they actually do in this show? Not much. There's very little in the sense of a coherent plotline throughout the show. It reaches a point where She-Hulk has a very elongated 4th wall joke in the finale that basically just exists to lampshade the fact that the writers planned none of this out. It's basically just "Yeah, we know the show is shit. What are you gonna do about it?" Was this show written by the Rick and Morty people or some shit?

Oh it was. Well, that explains a hell of a lot.

Anyway, so there's no real storyline throughout the show, despite the show somewhat pretending otherwise. The only real ongoing element through most of it was Jennifer Walter's Ultimate Quest for Cock (JWUQfC for short) as I like to call. JWUQfC, despite the name, was a pretty uninteresting dating storyline that was mostly just her thirsting for a date, failing to find a good one, repeat, repeat, and then she fucks Daredevil. That's basically it. Her whole dating storyline was mostly just "Omg it's like so hard being famous because guys don't wanna date the real me, yknow?" Ah yes, how relatable. I too am upset that my own immense fame is getting in the way of getting some quality dick. This storyline really demonstrates that this is a show made by upper class white women for upper class white woman. That is the best way I can describe how the writing feels. All of the situations she gets herself in are so detached from the ordinary human experience that it completely fails at getting me invested with her. It doesn't help that the characters in general act more like caricatures. Most of the dialogue is so bad at convincing me that any of these are real people.

But hey, despite my complaints suggesting otherwise, it's not a drama. It's a comedy. A really unfunny one with bad characters, bad CGI, mishandled messages, and a overwhelming lack of reasons to exist. This show was a colossal fuck up. Look, I didn't hate it. It wasn't like offensively awful, but it was really frustrating and generally just excruciatingly boring. It's mostly frustrating in the sense that it had so much missed potential, as I think I've shown already. It doesn't help that this show was LONG by MCU standards. 9 whole episodes of forgettable blandness. At least Wandavision was a pretty interesting watch despite the mediocre writing. She-Hulk just feels like a complete and utter waste of time.

3/10

[sullustangin]

Socrates and the Echoes of Oblivion

After re-playing Echoes of Oblivion, I’m thinking that this part of the patch is a massive Socratic Problem.

Disclaimer:  I think the Flashpoint was under-written (not enough time/money/vocal talent due to COVID) which led to no major new revelations about any of the characters.  If we had found out new stuff, then I think I would be more inclined to say it is what the game says it is: an adventure in Satele’s mind.  But since we didn’t, it wasn’t.  This is me going off on a lark again, so enjoy the theorycrafting.

What is the Socratic Problem?

So, when Socrates was condemned for 'impiety’ and ‘corrupting the young’ -- aka, stirring sedition and civil unrest against a corrupt government - not only was he put to death but all of his works were destroyed as well.  Essentially, all we know today about Socrates and his philosophy come through his students.  Plato is a biggie.  He claims many times throughout his works that a certain opinion was Socrates, and he also used him as the ‘hero’ or main character in his philosophical dialogues - Socrates almost always wins. 

Here’s the Socratic Problem:  is this a true representation of Socrates, as he was?  Or is this the fond memory of a dear student of a lost master?  Is Plato telling the facts, telling the truth, or making  Socrates fan fiction?

....what the hell does that have to do with Echoes of Oblivion?

I think we’re dealing with the same problem here when we supposedly go into Satele’s mind.  I don’t think we do.  I think this is just another exploration of the mind of the player character and their trauma from the last 10 years.

Is Satele sick with a virus?  Yes.  Is the Emperor trying to grow a collective being that he can manifest in?  Yes, preferably Satele-shaped and powered by her students’ life force. 

But the second that the player goes into that trance with Kira and Scourge, everything is only happening in the player’s mind.  Nobody else is in there.  Darth Marr suggests as much.  When the player chooses “You seem very insightful,”  he replies, “I know only what you know.”

It’s like writing your own fan fic -- your characters know what you know, as the author. If they make a mistake about their own biography, it’s because you lacked the knowledge.  In turn, if they are aware of something other characters are not, it’s because of you.  To me, that line says that everything we see happen is the Alliance Commander’s ‘mental fan fic’ about killing the Emperor. 

There is no revelation of information about the characters that the player works with.  We learn nothing new about Scourge, Kira, the Emperor’s family, Revan -- we’ve met all of them, but there’s no ‘secret past’ uncovered....

Not even for Satele... whose mind we’re supposedly in. 

And indeed, the only things the character sees are their own memories.  Remember that little padawan on Tython?  That’s not Satele; Satele re-discovered Tython -- she was never a student there. 

Why do all of the possible player character classes have memories of Tython?  Because of the Tython/Korriban incursions.  (I know mechanically, this is skippable in game, but work with me here.)  The Outlander becomes the Outlander because they caught the eye of the Emperor at Ziost, which only happens because of Yavin 4, which only happens because of Rishi, which only happens because of the conspiracy discovered at Tython and Korriban.

This makes me want to conclude that we’re never in Satele’s head, actually; there is nothing revealed about her that we don’t already know. So who is the padawan?  Maybe the player saw one of the little kids cowering after the incursion -- maybe that stuck in their minds for good or bad.  But historically speaking, that is absolutely not Satele.

And Marr let us in on that secret... but that’s not Marr. That is our memory of Marr.  Marr the realist.  Marr, who confronted the truth that his approach to the Force had been wrong in life -- and admitted it.  Marr, the truth teller.  Marr the Socratic Problem.

In fact, all the people we see in that dream/vision/mind adventure are our Socratic images of people we’ve encountered before. That includes Revan, who the player met during the Yavin 4 op and appears as a Force ghost before they go into a trance. 

...ok.  So what was the whole flashpoint, by that logic?

The flashpoint isn’t Satele’s mind.  It’s the playable character’s mind.  Everything that happens?  Essentially the player’s fan fic about how they really killed the Emperor.  Everything is representative and completely controlled by the memory of the player.  Remember, “My mind, my rules” in the finale of KotET.

That is, until the very end when Satele ‘wakes up’ and reveals that she and her students have been playing dead, essentially; they let the Emperor think he had consumed and dominated them.  They let his arrogance think they had toppled easy, with Satele barely hanging on by a thread.  While she dangled, the Emperor turned his attention to the player character.  The second that the player entered the trance, Satele, the students, and the Emperor all ‘changed instances’ to the player’s mind, not Satele’s mind.  The only things there are things that that the player knew. 

What purpose does the Commander serve? 

Remember that the door swung two ways on the whole Emperor’s occupation of the Outlander’s mind.  Not only could the Outlander not get rid of Valkorion, but Valkorion could not get out. He never does regain the power to use the Outlander as a meat puppet; the Outlander fights too hard for Valkorion to get up off that throne and kill Lana/Theron/Senya/Arcann. 

Basically, Scourge and Kira are using the Commander as a cage.  Remember that the imprint of Tenebrae (the so-called virus) doesn’t know anyone.  Valkorion, Vitiate -- they’re manifestations of a personality that is currently running on a backup file that was made once and not updated.  Valkorion ‘knows’ thanks to Kira’s memories that he lived in the Outlander.  Vitiate ‘knows’ he controlled Kira and the Jedi Knight in the past... but neither of them remember how that worked.  They have the facts, gleaned from sources after the fact, but they have no active memory of doing these things.

That means Valkorion doesn’t necessarily ‘know’ or ‘remember’ how trapped he was in the Outlander’s mind.  He sees this powerful person, he wants that powerful person to control... and can’t remember what happened last time.

The Emperor is all too keen to run into the trap that is the Commander’s head.  Another big powerful creature like Satele Shan he can dominate and control -- and off he went to try to consume the player’s mind.  But he forgot what happened at the end of that story! 

But Satele says it’s her mind and her trap.

And so it is.  I do think Satele was containing the Emperor until Scourge and Kira arrived with the player character.  As I say above, I think there’s a moment where everyone ‘changed instances’ into the player’s mind, which is the cage of Valkorion.  Otherwise, I think we would have seen things and done things that would reveal more about Satele.  We only see and hear things that the player knew before they went into a trance. 

Ultimately, the spirit/essence/soul/whatever of the Emperor is defeated by the Jedi Force plan thing that Scourge and Kira and Satele cooked up. They just use the player as a holding pen, essentially; worked before, so why not now?

Also, the end scene of the the flashpoint (the one with Satele) can be very self-indulgent.  Want to kill Satele?  Oh, if only you could.   You want to confess how you regret your decision regarding exiling/killing Theron?  Forgive me, Mother, for I have sinned.  Want your mother-in-law’s approval, if you romanced Theron?  Here you go.  Want a Grand Master to say what a great and powerful Jedi/Sith you are?  You get a compliment, you get a compliment...  It’s whatever the player wants Satele to say to them.  So again, this is all a happy coda to the flashpoint that the player in their own mind dreams up. (Granted, is that not the function of video games?  Us being the hero?  Us getting a little wish fulfillment?)

Can that still be real, if we 'change instances’ back into Satele’s mind once the Emperor is defeated?  Sure. If you believe Dream!Satele is real (and reusing her campground on Odessen), go for it. 

**

As I said at the top, I have a feeling this is more of a product of under-developed writing than a deliberate deep dive in to Socrates.  I wish we did find out more about Satele; Theron indicated he didn’t want to go in because he didn’t want to dig deep into her psyche.  He didn’t know what we would find -- turned out to be nothing, but... there could have been something. 

[paperbodiesamongthestars]

You matter. Or whatever.

Happy Valentine’s Day! I wrote something for the Harringrove Heart-On!

Read it on AO3 and check out all the other phenomenal works in the collection, too!

I

"Valentine’s Day is an abomination."

"Wow, Hargrove, don't hold back. Tell me how you really feel." Billy and Steve are in the parking lot, smoking before school starts, and Billy is in a mood. His shoulders are tense and there’s a tightness around his eyes that Steve is starting to recognize.

"This day is the fucking worst."

"Oh no," Steve says sarcastically, "you're going to spend your whole day getting cards and gifts from people who like you." Billy snorts.  

"Giving someone heart-shaped shit on a pretend holiday invented by greeting card companies does absolutely nothing to convey that you actually like them. It's performative bullshit." That checks out, Steve thinks. He loves Valentine's Day. Well. Loved.  

"I hate to break this to you," he says, "but your day is going to be chock full of heart-shaped shit." He drops his voice like he's sharing a secret. "I don't know if you know this, but Billy Hargrove still doesn't have a date for the party at the quarry on Friday. It's, like, open season." Billy rolls his eyes.

"Maybe I don't want a date," he says. "Gotta keep those options open. Besides," he adds as he watches their classmates streaming into the building, "those people either fear me or they want my dick. Or both. Like doesn't really enter into it." Steve doesn't have anything to say to that, but it doesn't really matter; their silences are pretty comfortable by now. Steve watches a girl walk past them with a cluster of pink heart-shaped balloons. He sighs a little before he can catch himself. When he looks up, Billy's staring at him. He has a look on his face that usually means Steve is about to be mocked. Mercilessly.

"You love this shit, don't you?" Billy asks, a little incredulous. Steve looks back at the balloons. He does. Well, he did. He would have done something like that, before. He's not sure what insanity compels him to say that, though.

"I used to, yeah."

"Yeah?" Billy reaches over to bump his shoulder, smile sharp. "You liked getting all those cards and flowers and balloons from admirers?"

"No. I mean, sure, but that’s not why I liked the day. I liked thinking of special things to do for N...for people." Billy snorts.

"Making sure everyone knew what a great boyfriend you were?" The question is maybe a little mean, but Billy's tone, surprisingly, isn't. Steve just shrugs. He stares at the entrance to the building, not really seeing it. He likes to think that he wasn't entirely bullshit.

"I mean, sort of? It was more about showing the person that I put some thought into it, you know? Like, I cared enough to do that because...because they mattered." He catches himself. "Or whatever," he adds lamely, but he knows it's too late. His soft underbelly is already on display. He risks a glance at Billy, who is watching him with an unreadable expression. He finally shakes his head and smiles, a little genuine, and that's not at all what Steve expected.

"You’re hopeless, Harrington." If Steve didn't know any better, he might describe Billy's tone as affectionate. Steve smiles back, tentatively and shrugs.

"Yeah, probably." And then they finish their cigarettes and they go to class.

Billy doesn't take a date to the party, but he does check with Steve twice to make sure he's going to be there.  

II

Steve shows up at Billy's apartment for their weekly movie night with takeout, two aggressively unromantic movies, homemade sugar cookies, and a stack of Valentine's Day cards from the kids. Billy looks at them, a little bemused, when Steve hands them over.

"I tried to spare you, but they insisted," Steve says. "They made me open mine before they would let me leave. There are also heart-shaped sugar cookies in here somewhere. I have strict instructions about which ones were decorated specifically for you." Billy cocks an eyebrow in surprise and Steve shrugs.

"They invited you because they actually wanted you to come, you know." Billy looks down and doesn't say anything. He's a lot better physically, but sometimes larger groups are still a little much for him. Steve's voice goes softer. "It's also fine that you didn't go. Just...they actually do care about you. Despite the fact that you are a bitter cynic who cannot appreciate a holiday dedicated to love." His smile and tone soften the words. "And, as I have learned from personal experience, those nerds are absolutely relentless when they decide they like you, so. Probably best just to let them." Steve continues unpacking the bags and starts setting out boxes of takeout on the coffee table. He slides a plastic-wrapped plate of cookies across the table toward Billy. Billy glances at the cookies, and then looks again. His brow furrows.

"At least one of these appears to have a dick frosted on it. And that looks a lot like a hand holding up a middle finger." Steve smirks at him.

"I guess the kids know you pretty well." Billy tosses a throw pillow at him, which Steve dodges easily. He's laughing, and Billy can't suppress a laugh himself.

"Did you have a good time?" Billy asks, and if there is the tiniest thread of wistfulness in his voice, Steve knows better than to act like he hears it.

"It was surprisingly enjoyable, yeah," Steve admits. "Although I suspect I'm going to be shedding random glitter for months." He pauses, and then grins. "Max is a menace in the kitchen. We had to ban her just to get any decent cookies made. Haven't you ever taught her anything?" Billy shudders.

"I tried; it's impossible. No one could teach Max to cook. She and the kitchen just do not mix."

"Harsh, but probably fair," Steve says. He pulls an envelope out of one of the bags and tosses it on top of the pile. "That is for you," he says. Billy eyes it and then looks back at Steve. "Aren't you going to open it?" Steve prompts. Billy does, a little cautiously. It's a card made out of a folded piece of red construction paper. The front features a frowny face traced in glitter, two angry slashes for eyebrows. Billy looks up at Steve.

"Glitter is the devil," is all Steve says. Billy opens the card. Inside is a poem in Steve's messy handwriting.

Roses are red.

Violets are blue.

You think Valentine's Day is an abomination,

And that's why I made this stupid card for you.

Billy snorts a laugh despite himself. Steve smiles, flushing slightly. He claps his hands together once.

"Alright. You will delighted to know that that concludes the 'celebrating Valentine's Day' portion of our evening." He pulls out the slasher movies he picked. "Ready to watch some idiots make terrible choices and promptly get murdered?"

"Sounds perfect," Billy says. They curl up in opposite corners of the couch. Steve watches Billy out of the corner of his eye as he casually opens the rest  of his cards, catching a tiny, crooked smile and the way he gently traces a fingertip over the lace edging on one of the cards. Steve smiles a little to himself and goes back to watching the movie.

After Steve leaves that night, Billy puts the cards up on his fridge. Most of them come down, eventually, but the one from Steve stays up.

III

The smell of coffee is almost enough to overcome the smell of burned pancakes, but not quite. Steve sits at their kitchen table, staring glumly into his coffee cup.

"What possessed you to try making breakfast, sweetheart?" Billy asks him as he slides another perfect pancake onto the growing pile.

"It's Valentine's Day," Steve says. "I just wanted to do something nice for you." There's a long pause.

"Ok, but why not just make dinner?" Billy asks. Steve huffs and tries to think about how to articulate this.

"You hate Valentine's Day," he starts, and Billy glances over at him for a second and hesitates.

"I do," he finally says, slowly.

"And dinner is...I don't know...it's more serious. The stakes are higher." Billy cocks an eyebrow at him.

"Is this you trying to tell me that the meal that you're good at cooking is somehow better than the meal that I'm good at cooking?"

"No," Steve says, starting to get frustrated. "Breakfast just felt like...like less of a commitment to the whole day. Like I could do a little thing in the morning, and if you hated it, we could just move on." Billy's expression softens.

"Baby," he says. Steve waves him off.

"It's fine. I fucked it up anyway, so."

"You did," Billy says, and Steve scoffs, burying his face in his hands. Billy just cannot fucking help himself sometimes, he knows, but still.

"But," Billy continues over Steve's scoff, "I think it's sweet that you tried."

"You do?" Steve asks, looking up. The word sweet is not typically a part of Billy's vocabulary, at least not as a compliment. Billy drops a kiss at the corner of his mouth and slides a plate piled high with pancakes in front of him.

"Eat your pancakes," he says, instead of responding. Steve looks down at his plate and freezes. The stack of pancakes is topped with a smaller, heart-shaped pancake. His eyes snap up to Billy's face. He starts to say something, but Billy cuts him off before he can speak. "Eat your pancakes," he repeats, waving his fork threateningly for emphasis. Steve does, but he can't suppress the little smile at the corner of his mouth.

He can't suppress it for the rest of the day either. Eventually, Billy resorts to kissing it off of his face, and they go to bed much earlier than usual.

IV

Billy is at his desk, collar unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up, curls a mess. He's clearly been running his hands through his hair, so he's stressed. The stack of papers in front of him is truly staggering, and there are more on every flat surface in his tiny office. Billy appears to be organizing them into binders. Steve isn't really sure what his internship at this law firm entails, but this entire week he's been 'preparing exhibits' late into the evening. Steve takes a minute just to gaze at his boyfriend, who still hasn't noticed him. Billy looks exhausted, which is fair. He's juggling a double major, a T.A. job, and this internship. It's usually fine, but apparently oral arguments for some huge case start on Monday, so it's all hands on deck this week. Billy has only been home to get a few hours of sleep each night.

Steve knocks on the door jamb to announce his presence. Billy looks up at him and smiles, and some of the tension drains out of his shoulders.

"You're a sight for sore eyes," Billy says, coming out from behind the desk. He draws Steve in for lingering kiss. "What are you doing here?" Steve holds up the bag in his hand.

"I figured if you couldn't come home for dinner, I could bring dinner to you." Billy cups Steve's face in his hands and kisses him again.

"I don't deserve you, baby." He grimaces. "I know this week has sucked. I'll make it up to you." Steve smiles at him.

"I know you will." He kisses Billy one more time and steps back. "I should let you get back to it so that you can come home and get at least a little bit of sleep at some point." Billy closes the distance between them and buries his face in Steve's neck.

"But I don't want you to go," he says, more than a little petulant. He's so obviously tired. Steve huffs a laugh and wraps his arms around Billy's shoulders.

"And I don't want you to have to be here anymore. If I'm not here to distract you, maybe you'll get to come home at some point." Billy sighs dramatically.

"You're right and I hate it," he says into the side of Steve's neck. Steve rubs his back.

"Just keep reminding yourself that you love this internship."

"Not right now I don't."

"But usually you do. And you're trying to turn it into a job offer. And oral arguments are going to go really well next week because of all this prep, and they're going to beg you to work for them." There's a long pause.

"Ugh, just shut up," Billy finally mutters. Steve laughs. They stay there for a minute, just breathing. Finally, Steve steps back.

"Drink some water in between all the coffees, ok?" He kisses Billy one more time and then he's out the door. Billy stares after him, wanting nothing more than to follow, but he has more to do tonight. He goes back to work.

He only realizes what day it is half an hour later, when he finally opens the tupperware container Steve brought him. He stares for a long moment. It's his favorite meal. There's steak, and the fancy green beans with the slivered almonds, and garlic mashed potatoes. The potatoes are in the shape of a heart. Billy looks at the calendar next to his desk and groans, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Fuck," he says with feeling. "Fuck," he says again, as he stares at the piles of documents he still has to get through.

It's after midnight when Billy finally gets home. He leaves his pants and his fucking tie and his button-up in a heap on the floor and slips into bed, wrapping himself around Steve. He nuzzles into Steve's neck.

"Baby," he says. Steve makes a sleepy noise. "Baby, I need you to wake up for minute."

"Mhmm," Steve says. "'m awake." Billy knows better.

"Can you sit up for me? Just for a minute, sweetheart." It's the only way to be sure. Steve grumbles about it, but soon he's sitting up in bed facing Billy. He rubs his face with his hands, and then his brow furrows with concern.

"Is everything ok?"

"I'm sorry I missed Valentine's Day dinner," Billy says. Steve just stares at him, confused. Then his face relaxes a little.

"Is that why you woke me up? It's okay. Besides, you didn't miss it. I brought it to you."

"You know what I mean," Billy says. He takes a deep breath, and then he leans forward and cups Steve's face in his hands. "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I--" and that's as far as Steve gets before his eyes go wide. Because he does know, Billy shows him all the time. He brings Steve coffee every morning, and he curls around him in bed every night and presses the softest kisses behind his ear, and he listens to the things that Steve says and actually remembers them in a way that nobody ever has before, but Billy's never actually said the words before. It's a whole thing for him, and Steve has tried so hard not to care about it that much, and it's fine, really, because Billy shows him all the time, but--

"I love you so fucking much," Billy says, and Steve thinks he might cry. Billy kisses him, and when they separate again Steve sneaks a look at the clock behind Billy. Billy catches him, of course he does, and he laughs and leans back in.

"Valentine's Day has been over for a while," he whispers against Steve's lips.

"You did that on purpose," Steve accuses after another kiss, smiling as he says it.

"I wouldn't do that to you, baby," Billy says. Steve pulls back to look at him.

"Because you love me," Steve says, thrilled by the words.

"Because I love you," Billy agrees, and then Steve lunges at him and they're too busy to do much more talking.

The law firm kicks ass at trial the following week, and Billy gets his job offer, and Steve makes his favorite meal again to celebrate. The next morning, Steve wakes up to mimosas and bacon and waffles with a frankly concerning amount of whipped cream. They spend most of the rest of that weekend in bed.

V

"I have to go," Billy says as he knots his tie. "Don't forget that we have that work thing at six tonight."

"Ugh," Steve grouses, still only half-awake. "Who schedules a work party on Valentine's Day?" Billy shrugs.

"It's not a real holiday, baby. We have to leave around 5:30 to give ourselves time to find parking, ok?" Billy seems nervous, which means this event is a big deal. He crosses the room to kiss Steve goodbye.

"I'll be ready," Steve promises. He leans up for the kiss and then reaches for the mug of coffee Billy has placed on his bedside table. "Have a good day!" he calls out as Billy heads for the front door.

"You too, baby!" he hears, and then the front door opens and closes. Steve stares at the tux hanging from the door of his closet. Who schedules a black-tie work event on a Wednesday? he wonders, but it's a fleeting thought. He reluctantly drags himself out of bed to get ready for work.

By 5:30 Steve is dressed and ready to go, hair looking particularly good, if he does say so himself. He leaves the bathroom and gets a look at Billy, who is also in a tux. He smiles appreciatively.

"Damn, B. You're just as gorgeous as the day I met you."

"I could say the same for you, pretty boy." They grin at each other, and then Billy closes the distance between them to run his hands up Steve's sides. He pulls Steve into a kiss, a slow, unhurried press of his lips. When he pulls back, he reaches up out of habit to tuck Steve's hair away from his face, but he stops himself before he touches it. "Don't want to mess up your party hair," he says, smiling. Then his eyes darken and his smile goes a little predatory. "Well," he corrects himself, "not yet, anyway." Steve shakes his head, smiling.

They're halfway to the restaurant--a fancy steakhouse that the law firm has apparently rented out for the evening--when Billy takes a wrong turn. Steve glances over, but Billy seems unconcerned. He takes a few more turns before Steve starts to recognize the route.

"Aren't we going to be late to the party?" Steve asks tentatively, not sure what's going on here. Billy grins back at him, eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.

"We've got time. I wanted to make a stop first." Steve gets out of the car, bemused, when Billy parks in a familiar lot. He follows Billy along a short trail to an overlook with a weathered wooden bench. The view out over the ocean is a familiar one--they come out here often in the evenings or on weekends to sit with snacks or coffee. Sometimes they talk, and sometimes they sit in silence, just letting the sound of the ocean smooth over sharp edges and frayed tempers. Steve wonders if Billy is having one of those kinds of days. He seems fine, but that isn't always a reliable indicator with Billy.

They stand there for a moment, watching the sun sink toward the horizon, and Steve feels himself starting to take deeper breaths. The sound of the ocean, the warmth of Billy's shoulder against his, the smell of salt in the air--it's all familiar and beloved and soothing.

And then all thoughts of calm desert Steve entirely because Billy drops to one knee next to him. Steve looks over, confused for a split second, and then immediately overwhelmed because Billy doesn't have his sunglasses on anymore, and his eyes are big and so goddamn blue and full of affection and hope and a little bit of fear, and he's reaching for his jacket pocket and taking out a box. Steve tries to remember how to breathe.

"Baby," Billy says, and his voice wobbles a little and his hands are shaking just a tiny bit and it is so incredibly endearing that Steve feels his heart overflow. He's pretty sure he's crying already. Billy clears his throat and tries again. "I've never been the best with words," he says, steadier this time, "but I hope you know by now that I can't imagine my life without you. I love your big heart and your terrible taste in music and your ridiculous, beautiful face. I want to bring you coffee every morning and trip over your goddamn sweats because you never manage to actually get them into the hamper." Steve laughs a little through his tears, swiping at his eyes with the sleeve of his tux. Billy's expression goes soft and serious. "I want to make you breakfast, and eat your incredible dinners, and fall asleep next you, and wake up next to you, and know that I can come home to you at the end of a bad day and you'll make it better just by being there. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Steve Harrington." Billy opens the box to reveal a simple gold band. "Say you'll marry me?" Steve hauls him to his feet and into a kiss, so happy he can hardly contain it. He cups Billy's face in his palms when he finally pulls back.

"Of course I'll marry you, you romantic bastard," he whispers as Billy takes his left hand to slide the ring onto his finger, and then they're kissing again. A few moments later, a thought occurs to Steve. "Did you just propose to me on Valentine's Day? On purpose?" he asks, a little incredulous.

"You know what?" Billy says, as though it's just occurring to him, "I think I did."

"But you hate Valentine's Day," Steve murmurs in his ear, amused. Billy pulls back far enough to make eye contact with Steve.

"I used to," Billy says, unable to suppress his smile.

"And then what happened?" Steve asks, smiling back.

"Then I met this boy and he taught me that love means showing the most important people in your life that they matter. Or whatever," he adds with a grin. "And it can be real, even if you do it on a pretend holiday invented by greeting card companies." Steve is a little surprised that Billy even remembers that conversation.

"Really?" he asks softly, touched. Billy huffs a laugh.

"Steve, I've had a Valentine's Day card from you on my fridge for years. In multiple apartments. A card that you made for me before we ever even got together, by the way."

"Yeah, but you were already into me by then," Steve teases.

"I was into you pretty much the first time I saw you," Billy says, and Steve knows that, has known that for a while, but he is still definitely crying again. He tucks his face into the side of Billy's neck. He's never been happier. They stay there for a while, just breathing and listening to the waves in the distance.

"We're definitely going to be late to your work party now," Steve finally says.

"About that..." Billy starts to say, and Steve pulls back to look at his face. Billy is grinning at him, clearly pleased with himself. "It's actually more of an engagement party? I rented out the restaurant, and everyone flew out for it." Steve is speechless, and then he's kissing Billy again.

"I guess it's a good thing I said yes," Steve murmurs eventually. Billy snorts.

"Oh, like you were ever gonna get a better offer."

"How dare you?" Steve says with mock outrage. "I'm an incredible cook and I look like this." He gestures toward himself. "I'm a fucking catch."

"Counterpoint," Billy says, grinning. "I make the best breakfast and I look like this." He gestures in the general direction of his abs. He may not be quite as cut as he was back in high school--Steve really is an incredible cook--but Billy still spends enough time in the gym to make damn sure that he looks good.

"That's true," Steve says, nodding thoughtfully. "And you did propose to me on Valentine's Day. You're a total sap. It's adorable."

"You take that back," Billy demands, horrified. "I've never done anything adorable in my life."

"That's not true at all. You're the absolute cutest, B."

"Cutest? Oh my God, I take it back. I'm un-proposing," Billy says, reaching for Steve's hand. Steve snatches it away.

"Nope, too late, you're stuck with me forever," he says, drawing out the last word. It’s a joke, Billy knows it is, but he also hears the tiniest thread of anxiety in Steve’s tone. Billy looks at him for a moment.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, baby," he says quietly, smiling as he pulls Steve in close to kiss him.

They are absolutely late to their own engagement party, and Steve's perfect party hair is a distant memory by the time they finally arrive. They receive an enthusiastic, slightly tipsy round of applause from all of the people who matter the most to them when they walk into the restaurant. It's the best Valentine's Day either one of them has ever had.

[mult1tude]

TWO STARS ✰ AN ETHAN NESTOR STORY — CHAPTER 1

story synopsis: adele belanger, an upcoming star begins to fall in love with a man named ethan nestor after doing a press junket to promote her upcoming series that’s going to push her fame further than she expected. will problems arise?

word count: 3k triggers: none

     adele belanger - the name spoke few and far on the dazzling and glamorous world of hollywood. celebrated for her roles in roles in indie films produced and created in canada, where she was born and raised, she is soon due a big break as she was in the process of getting ready for the rest of the world to know she was starring in netflix’s latest series.

saying the heat resonating from beneath her laptop was hot was an understatement, she didn’t dare to budge or move it in the slightest as she restlessly refreshed the youtube page waiting for the trailer to pop up, almost wearing out the button on her keyboard. the sable black strands at the nape of her neck that had evaded her grasp as she hurriedly tied a ponytail began to itch at her skin but she didn’t have time to fix it, not until the trailer was posted.

after what felt like a lifetime, her eyes were quick to notice a new thumbnail appear on the page and she reactively clicked it, pressing the mousepad button-down slightly too hard out of excitement. the entire video played, a beaming smile was plastered across her face, her dimples displayed prominently as she approached the end of the video. the young actress felt like a firework in a glass jar, so much excitement contained inside of her as she brushed the laptop from her lap, jolted from her rumpled bed and clenched her fists as she excitedly hopped around her tiny apartment and squealed. adele rushed to the dust speckled mirror that was hung near her front door that had a few dozen, in a hyperbolic sense, of her unused coats after moving from canada. she deeply exhaled as she examined her face, noticing her own excitement couldn’t even contain itself as a smile sidled upon her lips as she delicately let out a few words. ��i’m going to be famous.”

her emotions shot off again like fireworks, her chest fluttering and her palms tingling and red from the nails she didn’t realise she had dug so deep into her own skin. but it didn’t matter, adele was finally making the biggest leap possible into her career - it was everything she ever wanted.

“ok, i need some water.” she softly spoke to herself, taking another deep breath as she headed towards her apartment’s small open-planned kitchen. her shaky hands picked up a bottle of water from the fridge; she vowed that she would never drink l.a’s tap water after hearing an endless conglomeration of negative things from acquaintances and friends after moving only 6 months ago.

swigging it back and almost completing most of the bottle, she slapped it onto the counter whilst letting out a satisfied gasp for air. a few drops making wet patches on her eggshell coloured sweatshirt that may or may not have a few foundation marks around the neckline. a sudden change of thought, she remembered she needed to send the link to all of her friends and family if they already hadn’t seen it. adele slid the phone from her sweatpants noticing she was already getting congratulatory messages from some of her friends and even people that she hadn’t spoken to in a while. moreso, a lot of the messages from her friends were them completely fangirling over the fact that she had in fact worked with henry cavill.

adele replied to and messaged everyone she needed to before opening twitter and the rest of her social media to find that they were starting to blow up, multiple people talking about how cool the show looked and how excited they were. a lot of them were generic but few mentioned how intricate and interesting adele’s sidekick companion character seemed which made her stomach twirl once more and she felt like she had her ego stroked enough it would last the rest of the week. she put aside her phone and began to practice her bedtime routine before throwing herself back onto her bed where she only was an hour ago. her head smacking her pillow must have activated a switch because adele immediately felt her eyes involuntarily shutter closed and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

                                                         ✰

today was the first day of recording stuff for the press. needless to say, adele was super excited. from what the actress was able to gather from her manager jenna, since henry cavill was known to be such a huge gamer online, buzzfeed had organised the cast to play the game version of the new netflix series with a few special guests. it was undeniably going to be a great day and a great way to start the press junket as it progressively and eventually got more tiring and mind-numbing. plus, she had gamed a bit before so it would be funny if she were able to show up a few of her cast members, especially henry.

at 8am sharp, the assigned makeup and hairstylist, and wardrobe stylist arrived at her apartment. she was so giddy with excitement that she wanted to run around and shout and tell everyone but she had to sit silently for the meantime as the makeup artist worked on her face. edging elation bubbled through her every vein as they talked about varying outfits to wear, expensive designer brands she was allowed to borrow. she felt like a proper celebrity.

finally, the crew decided on a casual look for today. her slate black, silken hair was bundled in a half-up loose french plait whilst the rest of it waved down just below her shoulders, the front strands falling in front of her face. light and delicate makeup that made her eyes shine and sparkle like a glossy nephrite stone; the minimal makeup also allowed her ubiquitous, chocolate freckles to proudly be displayed on her face. polished, golden dangle geometric earrings to frame her heart-shaped face and overall elevate the look from simple to elegant. an ivory laced-back milkmaid top with puffed long sleeves, high-waisted, sun-bleached skinny jeans with a few sparse rips and shreds, tattered white thread entwined between the tears and loosely hanging like vines. to finish off the look was some pearly white stilettos and few rings as well as a similarly styled necklace to match the earrings.

“i feel, amazing.” adele faltered in disbelief as she longingly stared at herself in the mirror, turning to the crew exhibiting an approving smile. “thank you.” she softly spoke before squeaking with excitement as she danced on the spot causing her team to giggle in response. “time to get going!” she excitedly commanded herself as she made a poor attempt at trying to control her out of rhythm breathing. the exhilaration and eagerness began to convolute into a ball of anxiousness and fret. it was something new and different which was scary but she didn’t want it to hold her back. another deep breath and she made her way to the contemporary, modern lobby of her apartment block where she spotted the black suv through the towering glass front doors in which her chauffeur was waiting for her.

“per jenna’s request,” the chauffeur nodded towards the coffee in the cupholder. adele wrapped her hand around the starbucks cup — still hot. “vanilla oat milk latte?” she asked as she brought the almost searing coffee to her lips, the steam floating upwards and brushing past her skin. the chauffeur nodded as he put the vehicle into gear and started to head towards the destination. effortlessly, the sweet drink passed her lips as she took a few sips before she threw her head back in a satisfied manor. surely the coffee would help with the nerves and just overall elevate her mood. she scoured her social media for a short while, taking breaks to finish the rest of her drink before they arrived. it’s l.a, so it was always bound to take a while even if it just was a few blocks over.

discreetly, the car pulled into the back entrance where she was able to enter without getting noticed and was directed to a very bright and lively reception where the young actress signed in. her heels clicking against the laminated wooden flooring as she followed the operations manager who was indistinctively talking through the black earpiece attached to her ear and was clutching a clipboard to her stomach. a few corridors later they had arrived, the manager twisted the handle to the door and entered, allowing adele to trail behind her.

almost blinding, the room was filled with numerous studio lights. littering the floor almost completely, cables and all different sorts of leads and plugs lay disorganised on the floor. a huge monitor was placed in front of the white screen which was the focus of all the beaming lights. “hey adele!” vocalised the director as he approached her, also bearing a black earpiece. “so the premise of today’s shoot is quite simple. you’re going to be playing the game with our two guests over here,” he briefly motioned towards two gentlemen sat in the corner of the room chatting and chuckling between themselves clearly in a world of their own, “and we’ve paired you with henry because we only have two controllers and we want to get everyone to be involved so the others are being shot later. does that sound good?” he queried, concluded his speech.

“of course.” she eagerly spoke with a grin. “great,” the director spoke as he adjusted his wire-frame glasses, “let me introduce you to the guests. they’re going to be guiding you along with the game,” he spoke, leading adele over towards the boisterous men who were still conversing right up until adele and the director were stood only a few metres away.

“mark?” adele apprehensively suspected as she reached her hand out to his, inviting the suave gentleman to shake hands. “yes!” he answered in a shocked yet pleased tone as he stood to be polite and accepted the handshake with a beaming grin. “i think i watched a bit of your stuff a while back,” adele admitted before briefly catching eyes with the other guy who was staring up at her with gleaming eyes and a dopey yet adorable smile. “i’m honoured,” mark softly spoke before looking down at the other guy who was now standing to follow suit. “this is my friend ethan,” mark continued, placing a firm grip on his pal's shoulder.

“hi, nice to meet you.” ethan spoke in a much more gentle manner than mark did as he reached his hand out to replicate the greeting. “nice to meet you too,” she replied, reciprocating the greeting. “have you watched my stuff too?” ethan asked with a bashful smile as he ruffled his hair with his painted black fingernails. adele hesitantly shook her head not wanting to hurt his feelings, “no, but if it’s anything like mark’s stuff i’m certain it’s great.” she stated looking back at mark who had an affirming smirk on his face as he looked down at his younger friend who’s face had started to flush pink.

“henry is meant to be here right now, but he isn’t,” the director addressed somewhat annoyingly, “i’ll go and have a word to see where he is you can just stay here and talk to each other.” the director stated before hurriedly making his way to the door which adele entered through. she sat down in one of the spare seats that sat opposite the boys as they sat down once more.

“can i just say i watched the trailer this morning and i can’t wait to watch it.” he admitted as he began to pull at the strings of his coal-black hoodie. “thank you, it really means a lot,” adele’s cheeks blushed as she began to fiddle with the rings on her fingers yet still keeping her eyes on the boys. “seriously. we’re not just saying this it looks fantastic,” mark chirped in enthusiastically as he leaned forward in the seat, “i’m never usually this excited about a new series. so congrats!” he admitted with a deep chuckle, looking towards ethan who was nodding in agreement.

the conversation was silenced when a huge figure walked through the door followed by the director and operations manager. the director hastily wagged his fingers at adele and the boys who obediently made their way over. “adele!” henry happily bellowed in his charming english accent as he pulled her into a gentle hug, remembering he probably was over two times her size. “long time no see,” she affirmed as she hugged him back before breaking their embrace. her eyes involuntarily wandered over to ethan as the director began briefing henry. ethan quickly darted his eyes to the director as if he just hadn’t been gazing at her causing adele to grin to herself as she put her concentration back to the director.

“great, so follow me and i’ll seat you.” the director asserted as he walked towards the chairs in front of the white screen, two at the front and two at the back yet not parallel to each other. the front seats were more centred whilst the back two were offset so nobody would be getting in the way of each other when seated.

“adele if you sit in the front left seat, henry in the right.” he requested as he took a step behind the camera and watched the monitor to see if it was what he had envisioned. adele and henry sat which the director reacted with a thumbs up. “okay, ethan if you sit on the left and mark on the right please.” the director concluded as he continued to watch the monitor. the boys did as they were told before mark immediately remarked. “gosh it’s bright behind here,” he joked shielding his eyes as he laughed, eliciting a few giggles from everyone as the director adjusted some of the studio light placement with a few apprentices.

after everything was adjusted to the directors liking, they were ready to roll. the director placed his 3 fingers up as he counted down whilst mouthing the numbers. the thumb was up, which meant everyone introduced themselves and surprisingly it didn’t need multiple takes. “today, adele and i are going to be playing the symbols of shadows game which is very similar to the new series on netflix september 4th.” henry beamed, clutching the xbox controller in his hand as he looked over towards adele. “and i’m going to win. i’m going to beat henry.”

henry scoffed, dismissing adele’s statement as mark and ethan giggled behind them. “we’re also going to try to help, but it looks like they’re gaming experts,” mark spoke, wavering his tone with the last two words as he jokingly mocked adele and henry. “well, there’s only one way to find out.” ethan spoke energetically in a slightly goofier voice than what he was speaking in before. ethan looked at mark before they both turned towards the camera with a raised eyebrow. “okay great. we’ll cut there. let’s load the game up.” the director approved, leaning back in his chair, fixing his corduroy jacket as one of the apprentices loaded the game up and set up the first level. “we just want you to complete the first level so don’t try and rush.” the apprentice handed back the controller to adele as he quickly rushed out of view.

the camera began to roll again and the pair began to get a grasp of the controls and the setting of the game as they intentionally tried to set each other up in the game: pushing one another of the map, friendly fire, stealing points and collectables, and deliberately annoying each other which resulted in many laughs around the room. matter-of-factly, ethan and mark didn’t really do anything to help, however, they did make for a great commentary and supplied multiple belly-aching jokes.

the screen faded to black as they’d finished the first level; mark and ethan clapped and congratulated the pair in between giggles as adele and henry carried on the bit and refused to display any means of sportsmanship. “guys, i don’t know about you but i definitely won.” henry retaliated as adele shook her head and rolled her eyes. mark and ethan were laughing so hard it was almost silent. “this was a team game,” mark giggled as the pitch in his voice heightened. “let us know in the comments who you think won. because it was moi.” adele stated confidently, trying to hide the smile that wanted to appear on her lips so badly. the pair promoted their netflix series as they wrapped up filming. “okay, great. that’s everything. thanks, guys.” the director spoke as he picked up his macbook from the desk and began typing away. “if you just wait here until someone comes and collects you,” the director struggled to speak as he was too busy multitasking. he pressed the side of his earpiece and spoke to himself as he called for the cast to be escorted.

“you’re really good, i was impressed.” ethan spoke to adele softly, as everyone got out of their seats. “you really like to flatter me don’t you.” she joked which caused ethan to halter in his thoughts for a moment. “it’s not a bad thing,” she reassured him, “it’s really nice to hear. especially coming from you.” delicately spoke, eyes quickly moving over to see if anyone was listening but mark and henry were engulfed in their own conversation. ethan’s cheeks flushed pink again as he displayed a meek grin.

he was about to respond when the door re-opened and the manager stepped through, immediately grabbing everyone else’s attention. ethan bit at his lip as anguish washed over his face as he realised the conversation was over. adele was disinclined for a moment, lingering for a few more seconds as the butterflies in her stomach began to fade. “it was nice talking to you. talk soon?” she asked which brightened up ethan’s face as he nodded, “of course. see you soon.” he timorously spoke with a contemptuous smile as he waved goodbye, for now.

[ask-the-riders]

406 Learns A Lesson

(So uhhhh,, this is odd, it goes from action and "oh shit that's not good" to angst, then to fluff and Pest's humor (attempting to keep the mood lighthearted))

406 learns a very valuable lesson on why she should never try to make any moves on Pestilence

Her teacher? War

((Contains some unwanted flirting and advances, followed up with violence. A rat gets smacked pretty hard, but no worries, the fuzzball is totally ok))

The tip of a tendril trailed along the glitch's jaw, soon followed by the darker's fingers as he rumbled lowly, "Don't fail me, 406... I'm trusting you to keep an eye on him."

406 smiled widely, her figure beginning to glitch wildly as she purred, her eye lights blown wide in manic excitement and euphoria, "You got it, Boss... He won't be going anywhere. Not as long as I'm still here."

Nightmare let out a low rumble in satisfaction before stepping back away from her, his body warping into the shadows before vanishing entirely. The glitch waited a moment before slowly turning to look at her captive, her eye lights suddenly constricting as she smiled widely, "I'm gonna have fun with you, I can already tell."

Her captive scoffed, narrowing his sockets in distrust, "Yeah, how? It's not like you can touch me or anything." 406 continued grinning at him, her threads appearing and lowering before him, wound around a small pouch that had a medical cross stitched onto the side, "Oh, on the contrary. I can do whatever the hell I want as long as I've got this."

The prisoner's sockets widened and he stared in shocked, "When did you-?!" "When did I get this from you? Easy. After you smacked your head and passed out, I took it from you. Just like that", 406 cut him off, appearing proud of herself. He attempted to shift in his seat, the magic binding around his arms and legs beginning to cause pain.

His sickly green magic flared up, only to fizzle out again, and he furrowed his brow bones in confusion, "What the...? Why isn't it working?" The glitch tilted her head, the corners of her mouth still curled into a smile as she gestured to her neck as she approached him, "You kinda got a little somethin' right here, bud." Once she was within arms reach, she leaned down, her fingers snagging the collar around his neck and yanking it forward, cutting off his oxygen as she purred, "Oh yeah, that's right. It's a magic inhibitor. As long as this little baby stays on you, you can't use your magic."

Pestilence scowled at her, a single rat suddenly emerging from his hoodie and lunging at her hand, hissing as it did so. The glitch let out a startled yelp, roughly striking the creature and knocking it aside. Seeing what had just happened to one of his rats, Pestilence's scowl seemed to grow more intense and he muttered, "You bitch... You shouldn't have done that."

Scoffing, 406 rolled her eye lights and placed a hand on her hip, "Well then the stupid thing shouldn't have lunged at me. There's no need for violence. I mean, c'mon, I won't be violent unless you're violent toward me first." The rider continued glaring at her, his voice a low growl, "Get away from me." Arching a brow bone, 406 sighed, "Stop it with that look. I'm not ALL bad, y'know. I can be fun, too."

Pestilence didn't budge, still glaring harshly at her, and she locked gazes with him, entirely unphased as she moved even closer, "To show you just how much fun I can be, how about we play a game to pass the time? Just the two of us." He huffed, his sockets still narrowed in a mix of anger and distrust, "Not interested."

The glitch made a face, and he suddenly found her seating herself on his lap, facing him. Without an ounce of fear or hesitation, she pressed against him, a hand cupping his face, and he flinched, turning his head and trying to avoid her touch. Very well aware of what he was doing, she laughed softly, "That's cute... Pathetic, but cute nonetheless."

He growled in irritation, "What the fuck are you doing?! I thought I told you to get the hell away from me." Still completely relaxed, 406 hummed softly and shrugged, tilting her head, "I'm just sitting down, geez. We're within the castle walls and within my home, am I suddenly not allowed to sit?"

The rider attempted to lean as far back away from her as he could, only being stopped by the backing of his chair, "There's like five other chairs in this room alone. You could leave me the hell alone and go sit on one of them instead." 406's threads lowered the pouch of antidotes again and she removed a vial, calmly eyeing it for a moment before making a face, "Nah... Your lap is way more comfy. I think I'll stay here."

Shifting her attention back to him, she arched a brow bone again, "Besides, if I did that, then I wouldn't be able to do this." He stared at her in confusion, "...Do what?" She suddenly donned a wide smile, both of her hands cupping his face as she pressed her teeth to his. Sockets widening, Pestilence began to thrash, attempting to get out of his restraints, and 406 took advantage of his shock, deepening the kiss further.

An image of War appeared in his mind and he began to shake; no, this wasn't happening. This couldn't be. There was no way in hell.

As she forced her tongue into his mouth, he growled, biting down and making her yelp and draw back. Before she could get a single word in, the rider slammed his forehead into hers. The glitch, clearly caught by surprise released a second yelp and stared at him in shock for a moment, before chuckling softly, "...Well damn. You're a fighter, it seems. That's good... I like a challenge."

As she began to close the distance between them again, sapphire threads appeared, coiling around her neck and arms, and she was ripped backward away from Pestilence, letting out another startled cry as she was slammed into a stone wall. A hand gripped her face and slammed her head back against the wall at full force, earning another cry as War firmly stated, "I don't think so."

406 attempted to fight back, lifting a hand, but before she could create her own threads, War tightly gripped her arm. There was a sickening crack as the bone was broken, and 406 screamed, deep blue tears pricking at her sockets, "WHAT THE FUCK, YOU PSYCHO?! YOU BROKE MY ARM!" War scowled at her with empty crimson sockets, releasing her arm to roughly seize her neck vertebrae and squeeze, "And for kissing MY SOULMATE, I SHOULD BE BREAKING A LOT MORE."

From his seat, Pestilence stared, watching in shock. War's figure glitched wildly as she tightened her grip on the other's neck, beginning to choke her, "You're me, you should know how much I HATE when other people touch MY STUFF." 406's magic flared up and captured War's soul, sending her flying backward into another wall and pinning her in place. The rider roared, wars beginning to cloud her vision. Before her vision vanished entirely, she saw her duplicate moving closer to Pest again, and she growled, her threads seeking out the other's soul.

They were quick to capture it, and War hissed, "Release me NOW, or so help me, I'll fucking kill you where you stand." To prove she was serious, her threads began to tighten around the other's soul, and 406 murmured something under her breath. War squeezed her eyes shut, willing her vision to return before she opened them again. The magic that held her place suddenly vanished, and she bolted forward again, shoving her duplicate out of the way to snap the magic inhibitor that Pestilence wore, her tone void of remorse, "Use your magic to get free. I have a bitch to slaughter."

He stared at her, wide eyed as he nodded, at a loss for words. 406 attempted a surprise attack, hurling her entire body toward War, and the rider scowled, striking the other with her closed fist at full force. There was another crack, and 406 staggered back, holding her good hand over one of her sockets as blood began to drip down her face, and War fully turned to face her. She was quiet as she looked at her hand, seeing the blood and marrow on her knuckles, and when she took a few longer strides forward and raised a hand to strike the other glitch again, 406 flinched backward, attempting to curl in on herself.

War scoffed, roughly gripping the collar of her shirt instead and dragging her closer until they were mere inches apart. The duplicate seemed to shrink under her gaze, and War hissed, soft enough for only the two of them to hear, "There's a big difference between me and our original counterpart that you need to understand; unlike her, I don't care about you. She wants to help you become a better person, and as of today, I want you dead."

She jerked the other closer until their faces nearly touched, not at all phased as 406 whimpered. To conclude her threat, she decided to add, "For your sake, I hope you don't forget that. If I have to deal with you a second time, you WILL die, and that's final." The other immediately nodded in understanding, and War shoved her backward, her entire disposition cold as she spat, "Take a vial and get lost."

As 406 scurried to grab a vial and make a beeline for the exit, War turned to Pestilence again as he worked on removing the last of his bindings. Realizing that she was looking at him, Pest also shrank under her gaze, speaking slowly, "...I uhh... thanks for coming here and saving me." War looked away from him, choosing not to respond as she opened a portal to take them home. Knowing what she wanted, he offered her his hand to walk through the portal together, and she seemed to freeze in place, looking back and forth between his face and his hand.

Noticing how she hesitated, he sighed, his voice soft, "War... Babe, come on. Please. Everything's ok now. Please take my hand." She continued to hesitate, and he lowered his voice further, his tone pleading, "If this is about how she kissed me, you saw the state I was in. My hands were bound, and I could only do so much with that magic inhibitor around my neck. I fought her on it as much as I could, I swear."

War attempted to blink back tears, her body glitching again as she looked away from him, "...Just go through the damn portal already." Pestilence frowned, reaching out to her, before stopping and withdrawing his hand. Shoulders sagging in defeat, he nodded and whispered a soft apology before slipping through the portal as instructed. His soulmate followed close behind him, closing the portal them once they stepped out into their shared room.

Immediately turning her back to him, War lifted the hand she'd used to damage 406's socket, carefully peeling off her glove to see her hand directly. She instantly took notice of the visible crack that began near one of her knuckles and wound around her phalange, hissing softly as she attempted to flex her fingers.

She felt Pestilence approach her from behind, offering no protest as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close to himself. Looking over her shoulder and seeing her injured hand, his magic began to heal it, and she lightly leaned back against him. Everything was silent for a moment before War murmured softly, "...I know you fought her as much as you could. I... It just... really hurts. I arrived just as it happened, and I wasn't sure what to do." She paused, a blue tinted tear dripping down her face and rapidly transforming into a single thread, "I know it wasn't your fault, Pest, and I know you didn't want it. I can't get that image out of my head though, and it feels like my heart was just put through a shredder."

Pestilence made a soft sound of understanding, pressing his face into the crook of her neck and inhaling deeply, his voice low, "I know, and I'm really sorry... If I had any control over the situation, I would've fought her even more." Finally breaking, more tears rolled down her face and, like the first, transformed into threads.

She pressed her uninjured hand over her mouth, trying to muffle whatever sounds she made, and upon feeling the way her body shook in his arms, Pestilence loosened his grip on her and gently slipped around her. Standing in front of her now, he wrapped an arm around her again to hold her close, and she reciprocated, hugging him tightly.

For a moment, they were both silent, and he held her flush against himself, gently rubbing her back as she hid her face in his shoulder and sniffled. Full of guilt and sadness, he prompted her to look at him, and when she did, he very delicately placed a hand on her face. War leaned into his touch and placed a hand atop his, her eyes wide and holding what almost seemed to be a sense of desperation as he spoke, "I'll do anything to make it better... Whatever you can think of. Name it, and I'll do it."

The female rider quivered, nodding and mumbling, "Then make me forget, please. I don't care what it takes, just get that image out of my head." Pestilence stared at her for a few seconds, before he leaned closer and pressed his teeth to hers. War immediately pressed back, her body trembling as she returned the kiss and clung to him like a lifeline.

As he kissed her, he rested a hand on the back of her head, his magic beginning to flare up as he deepened the kiss. He didn't like the idea of using his magic to erase her memories, so he did the next best thing; he altered them. Rather than the painful image of 406 kissing him, she'd recall the event as though it was a dream she'd had, in which she took 406's place. To make it as dream-like as possible, he threw in a few odds and ends, making it seem just as random as an actual dream would've been.

As he slowly pulled back from the kiss to gently press his forehead against hers, he sighed softly, quietly gazing at her. Her cheekbones were now dusted a soft shade of blue as she moved closer to kiss him again, and he allowed it, more than happy to reciprocate. Unlike the kiss he'd given her, the kiss she gave him was much softer; she just wanted him as close as possible, and she didn't want to risk him having to leave again.

When they parted again, he smiled softly at her, gently taking one of her hands and intertwining their fingers. Giving a gentle squeeze, he lifted their hands, pressing a kiss to the back of hers and maintaining eye contact with her as he murmured, "I love you, War... With every fiber of my being. My heart and soul are yours, as long as you'll have them." Her blush visibly darkened and his smile widened a bit. Wanting to keep the moment lighthearted and give her some sense of normalcy, he playfully winked at her, "And my body? That's yours too. By all means, help yourself to it whenever you want."

Her blush darkened even more and she rolled her eye lights, grumbling, "Pervert." Pestilence laughed softly, flicking his tongue at her, "Maybe. You love me though, and you know it." War made a face, still appearing flustered, "Yeah... I do. I can't deny that one." Pest's cheekbones became a soft shade of green and his smile widened.

Despite what had happened with 406, he had a feeling that things were going to be alright. To seal the deal, however, he'd have to ask one of the others to wipe the bad memory from his mind as well. As long as no one told him or War once it was gone, then they'd be able to move on.

He'd do whatever it took to make sure his lady love was happy.

[rosikinsblog]

LUNALAND 🚀 FLY ME TO THE MOON!

LUNALAND - FLY ME TO THE MOON!

What is LunaLand?

LunaLand (LLN) is a peer-to-peer digital currency and store of value. Like digital gold, it aims to offer protection against inflation and infinite money printing. It is the antithesis of fiat currencies with unlimited supply potential. It not only has a finite supply, but it is also a hyper-deflationary supply coin which will burn most of the initial supply until the target supply of only 400 million coins is reached. 

Starting with an initial supply of 1 Trillion coins, a total of 99.96% will be burned in regular cycles. The burn cycles will continue until a target supply of 1 Lunar distance in meters – the distance from the Earth to the Moon – of coins is achieved, namely 400 Million LLN. 

Centralised platform token projects that aim to build a platform/ecosystem have a high degree of risk. Namely, there is execution risk, team risk, market risk and other risks which must be overcome for the project to produce real value and result in the appreciation of the coin price. LunaLand seeks to overcome this by not being tied to a centralised platform/project which impacts the price of the coin. It is a pure peer-topeer digital currency and store of value, and its success will depend only on user adoption and the building of the LunaLand community.

While there is no platform/ecosystem that can directly influence the price of LLN, the LunaLand project team is building real-world applications for the currency to underpin the value of the coin.

Our Mission:

Our mission is to develop a peer-to-peer pure digital currency and store of value which will be recognised as a cryptocurrency leader in terms of adoption, use and value.

Our Vision:

Create a new digital currency that becomes a top 10 cryptocurrency and is underpinned by real world use as not just a store of value but a medium of exchange.

LunaLand (LLN) Features:

1. Target Supply

The distance from the earth to the moon is 400,000,000 meters. LunaLand’s target supply is 400,000,000 coins.

2. Manual Burns

Regular burn cycles to reduce supply by 99.96% from 1 trillion to 400 million coins.

3. Hyper-Deflation

Hyper deflationary supply to increase upward price momentum.

4. Reward Holders

Controlled burns do not penalize buyers/sellers via a tax and encourage trading and liquidity while still rewarding holders.

5. Encourages Trading

Encouraging liquidity by rewarding early adopters and putting a minimum of 50% back into liquidity pools. No tax on trading to encourage liquidity, and coin rewards to holders gives you the best of both worlds!

6. Low Entry Price

A supply of 1 trillion coins is intended to provide a low entry price and reward holders with unlimited upside potential.

Manual Burn

One of the key features of LLN is its finite hyper deflationary supply. With an initial supply of 1 trillion coins, LunaLand will have regular burn cycles until 99.96% of the coins are burned and the target supply of 400 million coins is reached – 1 Lunar distance in coins. Manual burns that are controlled by the team means that the burn is finite and controlled. Regular cycles and clear communication will ensure that the community is informed and rewarded as we grow. The regular burn cycles and conditions will be communicated and tracked at the official website www.lunaland.io. 

Burn Strategy and Conditions

• Burn Cycle

LunaLand will implement at minimum weekly burn cycles which will burn an increasing number of coins until target supply is reached.

• Random Burn Amount

Each manual burn will burn a range bound randomly selected – via a random number generator – number of coins which will increase as coin adoptions grows.

• Burn Range

As account holders grow, so will the number of coins burned. A randomly selected burn amount will be chosen from an increasing range that will grow by an order of magnitude (10X) as the number of holders grows. Starting with a range of 1M-10M, the range will be increased for every order of magnitude increase in holders starting from 10 holders.

• Communication

Each burn will be announced to the community before the burn function is invoked and a burn countdown timer on the official website will inform the community when the burn is taking place.

• Burn and Earn

With each burn, we burn 90% of the burn amount and distribute 10% proportionally to holders.

Easter Eggs – Community Rewards 

The soul of this project is rewarding the community as we grow. There are numerous mechanisms which will reward early adopters and holders. Those that invest early, earn the most rewards. As the project grows, there will be additional features and benefits (‘Easter Eggs’) announced designed to reward holders. This section will be updated to incorporate newly announced schemes.

Our first Easter Egg is the announcement of the launch of the LunaLand Store – A Store of Value. The store will sell merchandise and accept payments only in LunaLand. We aim to partner with merchants to offer merchandise at a discount to reward our community and provide the backbone of the real-world use case of LunaLand coins as a digital currency and a medium of exchange. Additional Easter Eggs will be announced, but to give you a flavour of what we aim to achieve, below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the features and benefits.

Easter Eggs

• LunaLand – A Store of Value – A LunaLand store will be launched in 2021 which will offer exclusive merchandize and only accept payments in LunaLand.

• NFT Badges – LunaLand designed NFT badges to be issued to holders for joining and helping to grow our community

• Luna Calendar Airdrops – Internal Lunar phase airdrops to reward holders depending on the phase of the moon.

Pre-sale

Welcome to the LunaLand (LLN) Pre-sale!

Welcome aboard the mission to the moon, astronaut! This is the official LunaLand pre-sale event where you have an exclusive chance to book your ticket to the moon, at fire sale prices. 

Prior to the launch on PancakeSwap on 20th July, we are opening up the pre-sale to the tech savvy and the non techie alike. You can pay with fiat or crypto utilising the security and know how of two listed giants of finance, PayPal and Coinbase.

LunaLand is a hyper burn coin with an initial supply of 1 Trillion and a target supply 400 Million – 1 Lunar distance in meters. We set the supply high, so you can buy low and as we burn, you earn. Alrighty, let’s get your ticket to the moon booked! Follow the simple steps below and if you have any issues, give us a shout and we will gladly help!

Set Up Wallet

Step 1

LunaLand (LLN) is a BEP-20 token, so prior to purchase, please ensure you have a wallet handy that can store Binance Smart Chain (BSC) tokens. We recommend the popular Metamask or Trust Wallet, but any wallet that can accept BSC tokens is ok to use.

We will use your public wallet address to send you your LunaLand, once you have completed your purchase!

Sign Up

Step 2

Once you have your BSC wallet address, you can go right ahead and click the sign up button below, to complete our sign-up form so that we know who to send the coins to! Please complete all the mandatory fields, and as always, if you have any questions, we’d be glad to help.

Payment

Step 3

You’re almost done! Now that you've successfully signed up, the last thing to do is to tell us how many LunaLand you would like to purchase and pay securely with either PayPal or Coinbase. You can pay with fiat currency through PayPal or use any of the major cryptocurrencies to pay through Coinbase. Once confirmed, your LunaLand will be in your wallet within 48 hours.

Add LLN

Your LunaLand will be in your wallet within 48 hours. After this time, if LunaLand (LLN) does not automatically show in your wallet, you may add it manually with a few simple steps. Please find detailed instructions on how to make LLN visable in your wallet.

Tokenomics

LunaLand Contract

Name: LunaLand

Symbol: LLN

Decimals: 18

Contract Address: 0x6020371b0e8a2fc259a6b111d178bba9c966a4a4

Initial Supply: 1 Trillion

Target Launch Supply: 400 Million

Burn Function: Yes

Mint Function: No

Network: BSC Mainnet – BEP20

Liquidity Pool: 50% of amount raised as a minimum.Likely to be 100%, allowing for deductions for marketing and operational expenses.

Sales Stages

Pre-Sale – Presale will run from 28th June to 20th July where the price of LunaLand will be $0.005 per coin.

Parameters:

Price: $0.005

Soft Cap: 1 Million LLN

Hard Cap: 200 Million LLN

End Date: 20th July 2021

DX Sale – DX sale will run from 10th July to 20th July where the price of LunaLand will be $0.01 per coin.

Roadmap

Q2 JUNE 2021

Design and creation of LUNALAND

Launch of Pre-sale

Whitepaper published

Marketing team initiates campaigns

Q3 JULY 2021

Launch LUNALAND of PancakeSwap

Further ecosystem development

Expansion of marketing campaigns to drive coin adoption

Q3 AUGUST 2021

Listing on Coinmarketcap (CMC)

Listing on CoinGecko

Initiate development of LUNALAND online store and app

Target supply reached - burn complete

Q3 SEPTEMBER 2021

Listing LunaLand on additional DEX platforms

Merchandise partnerships for LUNALAND store

Q4 2021

Launch LUNALAND store

Merchandise partnerships in place.

2022 and Beyond

Listing of centralized exchanges - Binance, Kraken and others

Meet The Crew

Dusko Ruzic - Commander

Erol Salcinovic - Pilot

Ben (Joins Q4) - Mission Specialist

To conclude:

LUNALAND (LLN) is a digital currency and store of value that offers protection from real-world inflation as the World goes on a money printing spree. We encourage liquidity with no-tax trading by rewarding early adopters and putting 100% back into liquidity pools.

Useful links to the projec:

⭐  WEBSITE: https://www.lunaland.io/

⭐  ANN THREAD:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5346079.0

⭐  TWITTER:  http://twitter.com/IoLunaland 

⭐  TELEGRAM:  https://t.me/lunalandio

⭐  DISCORD:  https://discord.gg/RGM769PB

⭐  REDDIT: https://www.reddit.com/r/Lunaland/ 

⭐  YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPfFZksXwohPMzE7OyZiKRg

⭐  INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/lunaland.io

AUTHOR : 

Bitcointalk Username: rosikin

BitcointalkProfile: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3242441

Telegram : @rosikin

Bep 20 Wallet:

0x9f3033640C197dB41fe69741b56Be66e8d7Fdf7F

[neocultureparadise]

Much needed help

Pairing: Donghyuck (Haechan) x fem!reader

Genre: Fluff and a tiny bit of angst

Word count: 1K+

a/n: So yeah, it’s officially out! My first full fanfic written in English. Please note that English it’s not my first language so there may be some spelling mistakes, so I’m sorry in advance. Hope you enjoy and thanks for any kind of feedback. 

He was your best friend since childhood. The two of you did everything together. Going to school, climbing on trees, pranking your school mates or stealing food from yours or his parents. Nothing was standing in your way. But then high school came. And the problems appeared out of nowhere. When you saw him in the hallways, you couldn't hide your little smile and a slight blush on your cheeks. While helping you with homework you were helpless and just stared and his beautiful features as he was solving math problems. Or that one time when he went on a date with one girl from your class. The pang in your chest was too strong to just simply ignore. After observing all your symptoms, you concluded that maybe you had a crush on him. No, you definitely had a crush on him. On your best friend. Something like this never happened to you, but the worst thing above all of them was that fact, that he was completely oblivious to your not-so-little-crush. So, what now? Confessing was not an option for you, you were too scared that revealing your emotions would ruin your longtime friendship. And that would break you. In the end, you decided that hiding your feelings would be the best thing for both of you. Maybe it was only a stupid crush, that would after some time go away. Well, it didn't…

"Haechanie, can you please pass me the blanket?" You were with dreamies at the dorms. Jaemin decided,  that for some reason, it's time for a movie night with a sleepover. "Here you go!" He yelled right when the red fluffy blanket landed on your face. "Haha very funny." Hyuck was laughing on the sofa and wasn't paying attention, so you took the chance, grabbed the pillow beside him and smacked his head with it. In a few seconds, you found yourself in a messy pillow fight. "Hey, you two love birds, stop and come help me with the snacks." Said Renjun with only his head peeking from behind the doors. You immediately stopped. Hyuck didn't, so he was kind of stunned when you practically jumped from the sofa and disappeared in the kitchen. "What's up with her? She seems weird lately." Asked curious Jisung who watched the whole scene from the doorway. "I have no idea." 

From that moment atmosphere in the dorm was little a tense. Everyone wanted to know what happened to you, but all you did was sitting and blankly staring at the TV. All you wanted to do at that moment was just to leave. Your feelings for Donghyuck were getting stronger and every time someone mentioned the flirty side of your friendship, your heart ached a little bit. "Guys I'm hungry." Jaemin blurted out suddenly. "Yes, me too," Lele said all excited. Jaemin turned to Haechan. "And you know who's turn is today…" "Oh come on…right in the middle of the movie?" whined Hyuck. "I don't see a big problem with it, it's rights next to our building. Stop being lazy and bring us the food. You will be right back." Said Jisung out of nowhere, his eyes not leaving the screen. "Fine then…" Hyuck said defeated as he stood up and made his way to the doorway. He picked up the keys and his wallet. He sent one last glance to Jaemin, then carefully waved your way and left. „Ok Y/N, spill the beans." All five pairs of eyes in the room were suddenly at you. You raised your eyebrows. „There is nothing to spill…?" you tried to say it confidently, but it came out more like a question. "Bullshit" "What bullshit Jaemin, I'm just simply tired, I had a really tough day at school and…" "Y/n stop with it, we can tell you like Hyuck." Said Jaemin softly. You froze. Your eyes started nervously ticking around the room, then rested on the floor, unable to look anyone to eyes. "How could you tell?" a small voice came out of you. "It's really obvious, Hyuck must be blind or something." Jeno chuckled. "But you should definitely tell him." "No, I can't… It would destroy our friendship." "Y/N that's not true!" Renjun raised his voice, slightly standing up from his spot on the sofa. "You are not the only one with crush…" 

Suddenly, a loud thud coming from the hallway interrupted his little speech. Haechan showed up in the doorway, carrying two bags of food. "Who has a crush on who? Spill the beans!" Hyuck said excitedly, as he set the bags on the table in front of the TV. You panicked, extremely. Not thinking, you quickly excused yourself and almost ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind you. You tried to calm down your racing heart, but it wouldn't cooperate. Helplessly, you slid your back down against the door. You were never good at controlling your emotions, so all you could do was wait for your breathing to slow down. 

Out of nowhere, a gentle knock on the door made you jump a little. With nerves out of the window, you stood up, now facing the possible thread behind closed doors. "Y/N, are you okay? You kind of ran here…" You took a deep breath, slowly reaching for the key, unlocking the door. Hyuck carefully opened them, peeking inside the bathroom. "Yes, yes, I'm okay." He took a deep breath. "Y/N, I think we should talk. And please don't try to deny it, boys told me everything." With head held low, after few agonizingly long seconds, you spoke. "Hyuck, I'm sorry. It just happened and…" "Wait, why are you apologizing? There is nothing to be sorry for." He chuckled, and slowly reached for your trembling hand. "I should be the one apologizing for how blind I've been. Y/N, I like you too…" He spoke the word you never expected but always dreamed of. With widened eyes you watched as his other hand took your chin between his fingers, so he could raise your head. You could only watch with your heart in the throat as he leaned in a softly placed his lips on yours. You were stunned, so in the beginning, you weren't really able to kiss him back. But after few careful and sweet moves of his lips, you melted into the kiss, sneaking your hands in his beautiful brown locks.

From behind the slightly open door, Jaemin quickly looked inside the bathroom. The scenario he saw made him smile. When he came back to the living room, everyone was awaiting his words. "You guys, you should thank me." Jaemin whisper shouted at Dreamies. "Hyung, you're the best!" squealed Chenle as he tackled Jaemin in a hug. Meanwhile you, in the bathroom, reminded yourself that you must thank Jaemin later. Because of him, you could be in the arms of your now boyfriend.

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

(Vol. VIII)

It was a love story, from the very beginning.

(5x01)

Number 42 is a very Destiel number

Hello my friends, here we are now starting season 5 with this Destiel Chronicles.

I want to give special thanks to @agusvedder because she made the gifs for this meta here and discussed with me the episode. Thanks girl! 😘💕

Ok..

I can't believe you're gone

When Dean and Sam were on Earth again, one of the first things Dean said was WE NEED TO FIND CAS.

He knew they weren't alone now, they had a strong Ally be their side. And he was proud of it.

But when they arrived to Chuck's place... Reality hit him.

Castiel was dead... He couldn't believe it... He helped him to save his brother and try to stop Lucifer and now he was dead... He gave his life for them...

He try to give an excuse, because he didn't want to hear the truth.

But then... This happened...

That was the proof. Castiel was really dead. Because of him...

Look at Dean's face, he swallowed hard, and he looked to a side, with sadness.

Dean is trying to handle with that pain. Why? If you were going to help us? Why are you dead??

And then Zachariah arrived... With a very manipulative speech again, Dean didn't bought those words and immediately used the sigil to send them far away from there.

And he proudly said...

Giving honor to his friend.

Ruby/Sam as an early Destiel mirror

Aaand this is dedicated to my friend @poorreputation , she was always screaming about this mirror, and well... Here I found this example. Enjoy this gift girl.

When Dean and Sam were in the motel, Sam brought amulets...

SAM: Here. Hex bags. No way the angels will find us with those. Demons, either, for that matter.

DEAN: Where'd you get it?

SAM: I made it.

DEAN: How?

So yeah... Dean learned the sigil from CAS... And Sam from Ruby, a demon he was sexually attracted... Nothing to see here... 😏

Another thing I want to point here, not about Ruby, but about Meg... This happened too in this episode

Meg, the female demon, kissed Dean. I just want you to keep this image, because later on this season we will have an almost kiss between Castiel and her... You know about the indirect kiss, don't you? 😏💕 (May I point here that in season 6 CAS and Meg actually KISS EACH OTHER? Ok. Nothing to see here 2.0)

42, a very meaningful number...

They went straight to find "the sword of Michael" to the storage of John Winchester...

And here is the thing about 42, has a couple of VERY INTERESTING MEANINGS. And I will share it with you...

Is the answer to the meaning of Life, the Universe and everything, and that's because Douglas Adams wrote a book named "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" in which he told the story about aliens that build a robot/machine and the machine answered 42 when they asked about the meaning of life. Of course that was a mistake from this robot, and everything was like a kind of joke. That could be related to this lie angel constructed to get to Dean and Sam. They thought they were going to find the solution for their problems with Lucifer, but they found a joke. A trap.

Talking about biblical numbers, the 42 is the number of the Antichrist... His evil efforts will last 42 months in the end time: "Then the angel gave me a measuring rod like a staff, saying, "Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar . . . and they shall trample upon the holy city for forty-two months" (Revelation 11:1 - 2) I know we had an Antichrist later in this season, remember? But the Bible talks about the devil here, so ... Accurate with the storyline.

Ohhhhh and here comes the jam... It is too the atomic number of one element named molybdenum, you can say why the hell I'm so excited about this thing? Because if you If you go through molybdenum with light, a rainbow is born. And... You know... Dean was the molybdenum here because...

Yes! There's the light, the light from Castiel going though Dean's heart, giving born a beautiful rainbow of love 😏💕. Are you impressed with your angel Dean? He surely is happy to see him alive... And healthy...

Castiel is back, and he will protect the WINCHESTERS with his life. He carved in their bones a enochian protection against Angels. There he is, the strong Ally of humanity.

When Dean and Sam asked him about why he was alive, Cas just flew away, and the search of God began.

To conclude:

Dean couldn't believe Castiel was dead, and he could see the pain and the guilt in his face. A very early reaction to Castiel's death.

The dark relationship between Sam and Ruby, both of them sexually attracted to each other, was one of the first Destiel mirrors in the show.

The number 42 was an Easter Egg in my reading full of meanings for our delight.

The camera was focused on Dean the whole time Castiel appeared fighting as the bamf!angel of the Lord he was back then. On Dean. Focused on Dean. Again. On purpose.

Cas is now the strong Ally of the WINCHESTERS, a fallen angel, and he will protect them with his life.

Thanks to everyone for reading this. I hope you could enjoy it! C-u in the next volume!

Tagging @metafest @gneisscastiel @mrsaquaman187 @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @agusvedder @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @castiellover20 @whyjm @koshisekisen @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @cheerstofandomfamily @drsilverfish @savannadarkbaby @angelneedshunter @trickster-archangel @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @mishka-the-angel-of-saturday @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @hippyatheart80 @xsghn @foxyroxe-art @authorsararayne @anonymoustitans @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @wildligia @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67

Note: If you want to be tagged on this list, please let me know in this thread.

Buenos Aires April 21th 2019 1:00 AM

[cinaminho]

Stray Mafia: Their S/O is sick but hides it from them

Stray Mafia: Their S/O hides their sickness

╰ Group: Straykids

╰ Genre: Fluff,, lil' Angst

╰ Warnings: Mentions of fainting,, Nausea,, dizziness ,, short

Requested: Yes, "Could you do a stray mafia where s/o gets really sicks , but she/they hide it and end up passing out? If not thats ok! Make sure to take care of yourself!"

Plot - wether they're in the house with you or currently out somewhere handling business you know it can't be too long before they figure out that you've been-- off , they're busy men and their Jobs require a lot of attention which is why you choose not to tell them that you're not feeling well which forces your body to do it for you.

--------------- ♡

B. Chan ⇜ You did your best to focus on his beautiful smile as you headed down the stairs to him where he awaited. Your body were letting off small trembles that others couldn't necessarily see but you definitely could feel it, you forced a trembling smile onto your lips once to thr final step Chan extended his arm for you to grab hold of so you did once fully off of the steps, a slow shaky breath left your lips as you eyelids felt heavy with your vision fading in and out you felt almost drowsy. "Are you ready for a mesmerizing night?" Chan asked gleefully you did your best to nod your head but ended up getting dizzy teetering back and foward "I've never been more.." You trailed off each word getting more airy , this was it, your legs buckled under you and all your weight was now forced onto Chan's side as he had a strong arm around your abdomen.

He went foward with you as you lost control of all your limbs but he pulled you back up. Chan looked confused and panicked "Y/n, Y/n what's wrong?" Your head slumped on his shoulder, Chan thought quickly using his other arm and locking it underneath your knees swooping you up in his arms before heading to the living room sofa where he placed you down horizontally, he sighed and observed your face soon noticing that you were a bit discolored compared to your usual warm looking skin. "Change of plans, Angel, looks like our date will be spent getting you checked into a hospital."

K. Woojin ⇜ He was looking at documents sent to him By Minho who he had go undercover to spy on and take pictures of a Rival mafia member and his whereabouts. He was deeply invested in his computer screen and nearly cursed loudly when Jisung came bursting through his office Door. "My apologise for the intrusion but Y/n, kinda sorta fainted, like right here." Jisung spoke nervously, Woojin sprung out of his chair looking down at the floor to see you indeed right infront of the door completely movement free.

He pushed Jisung Aside a little too forcefully causing the younger guy to stumble back as he fell to his knee, he used two fingers to check your pulse which was still there but slow he also took notice in your alarmingly heated skin, he shook your should "Y/n, Y/n can you h-" "I~ don't think they can." Jisung annoyingly chimed in "I still need to Check, Idiot." He mildly snapped back so Jisung buttoned his lips. A soft long sigh left your lips, Woojin used his finger to open one of your eyes before shutting it. "Y/n!can you hear me?" He spoke frantically. It took a while but you finally responded "Woojin, I think I'm trying to get a fever." Your voice came out weak and groggy making Woojin scoff sarcastically "Yeah now you tell me, Jisung go get the truck and bring it around, Tell Seungmin to grab their coat and boots , some warm clothing as well , we're going to the hospital" Woojin ordered.

L. Minho: ⇜He was actually out at a store when he got a call from one of the men he had watch over you since originally he was gone for a few days but had gotten back a little earlier than expected so, being the great man that he is he stopped to pick up some ingredients to make meal that'd you equally enjoy, strolling down the aisle looking for a specific drink that'd you love he stopped mid stroll to answer a call and judging by the caller ID he knew it'd be an update on you ,now what he didn't expect was the information he was about to get , "Kihyun , I'm glad you called since I was going to inform you that'd I'll be home soon, don't tell Y/n though." He grinned at the thought of your priceless smile.

It was Silent before heavy panting was heard, Minho furrowed his brows at the sudden noise "Kihyun, what's-" it didn't take long for The trusted male to respond "Minho I'm glad you'll be home but detour to the base before you head there, it's Y/n , they've been feeling a sense of nausea all day so I sent her to bed early and when I went to check on her all I could see was her breathing heavily and sweating a concerning amount!" Every word boggles closely to another as he spoke. Minho was stuck as he heard the information, His Y/n sick , and he wasn't there? Minho was hanging on to his composure by a thread he did his best to respond sounding clear and not worried "This just happened all of a sudden?" His voice was monotoned. "No sir, they told WZ that they'd had food poisoning for a little over 2 day-" , "I'm on my way I don't need to know anymore." Minho didn't wait to hear anymore he dropped everything literally in the aisle pushing a few civilians out of the way in the process, because they didn't matter, you did.

S. Changbin: ⇜ He had to take over a snipering Job for one of the other members who was recovering from injuries of his last mission, He sat discretely behind a generator atop a building at midnight, Eye burning into the scope of his rifle that was placed on the giant machine, he was waiting for his supposed target to appear when he was annoyingly interrupted through his earpiece causing an agonizing streak to run through his ear making him jerk away and nearly snatch the piece out, whoever did that was going to get a nice string of profanities spat at them, "What the hell are you guys playing with the speaker for are there no ends to your idiocracy?" He growled in a rough but whispered voice but to his surprise your voice was heard dry and pained.

"Binnie it's me.." You said straining your voice further "Y/n, why are you at the base and I'm busy right now." He stated calming down at the sound of your voice but was concerned for it's state "and why do you sound like that?" , instead of an answer a more stomach churning noise came from you like you were attempting not to blow chunks. "Y/n what is going on?" He spoke more urgently but still no response instead he heard what sounded like someone falling to the floor.

"What the- Y/N!" He quickly shot a hand over his mouth peaking to see if someone could've possibly heard him but still no one was there, he had concluded that his target was a no show, He snatched the ear piece out getting up from his position and packing everything heading off the rooftop to you, "I'm coming Baby don't worry, they'll be more than hell to pay when I get there for them not watching over you properly that's for sure." He mumbled to himself.

H. Hyunjin: ⇜ He was home with you about to leave though. So you didn't tell him that you weren't feeling normal. At the moment you were cold but putting on a sweater would make you feel like you were melting, you had been highly irritable too but blamed it on your monthly cycle so Hyunjin would question you no further. You walked him to the front door carrying his duffle bag, he turned to you wishing to give you a nice kiss to your lips but when you jumped back it shocked him, you muffled a cough with your hand "I don't want you to be late." You smiled weakly, Hyunjin cocked a brow up at you has he moved towards you and you moved back from him. "No you just don't want to give me a kiss goodbye, why is that?" .

You knew you'd hit a wall soon "Hyunjin could you back up I'm becoming cautious and feeling closed in.. Oh my gosh why Is it so hot it here, why is it so hot!?" You began to panic as your clothing felt suffocating with beading sweat consuming you. "Woah woah Y/n calm down okay, what's going wrong, are you sick?" He asked frantically, you looked at him feeling lightheaded and Indeed you were causing you to fall into his chest going completely limp in his arms. "Dammit."

Hyunjin seethed he was panicking on what to do he had to leave soon but you were In this state so a choice had to be made and he knew which one he would choose.

Jisung: ⇜ He came to your house ready to show you the new hidden surveillance cameras he'd created so he could set them up at your place. He had a spare key to let himself in and he was all smiles Walking in unaware of all the tissues he was walking on until he nearly tripped over a Kleenex box. "What the heck?" He looked up seeing the place sort of Deserted. "Y/n are you home?" He called out to you, "Yeah I'm here." You sniffled coming through the kitchen entrance.

Jisung squinted looking at you, you didn't look like yourself , you looked a little more lifeless and your hair was a mess with an obvious sign of a stuffy nose and puffy watery eyes. Jisung set his box down and headed over to you. He cupped your cheeks softly but quickly "You're sick?" You nodded sadly "I didn't tell you because I thought that'd ruin the chances of you coming to see me, I know how you hate germs, but honestly, my head feels like it's about to burst my chest feels so tight. I'm a wreck." You whined.

Jisung was in awe at you delicate yet messy you looked as he stroked strands of hair that kept sticking up. "Jisung.." All he did was hum at the sound of you saying his name. "Catch me." He didn't really have to responde as an Umph fell from his lips from the impact of your body collapsing in his arms, he looked down at you. "Y/n... Y/n?" No response. "Ohhhhhh crap." He sighed.

Felix: ⇜ He had a feeling you were sick but when you kept denying it he just let it go. He was coming home to tell you about how crazy dangerous today had gotten, he knew you loved action stories especially about his real day to day life so when he came home to an oddly quiet house he wasn't that alarmed until he called out for you but got no answer as he walked through the kitchen, all lights were off minus the one dimly lit in the living room.

He quietly walked in smiling thinking you probably clocked out on the couch but to his Dismay , Jeongin was sitting their cradling your head and Fanning you. Felix's eyes widened "Jeongin what're you doing here and what's wrong?" He asked rushing over to you. "I- I honestly don't know I was coming to check on her and let her know you made it home safley but when she opened the door they didn't speak , they looked zombie-like. They tried to sit down but missed the couch and just collapsed. Seungmin called an ambulance." Jeongin said In a worried tone.

Felix growled lowly. "Go get their shoes and coat. I can't believe my sunflower is in this state, I knew they were sick but they just kept denying my claims." He ran a stressed hand through his hair. "Hang in there darling, we're gonna get you better."

-

-

This was terrible I'll do better next time :(

[fansplaining]

so... are you going to do a thing about tumblr's dumbass move of banning all sex content? And what is your prediction on where fandom will migrate to next?

So! As you might imagine, we have some feelings. 🙃 This is Elizabeth writing, by the way—I always mention this because I think it’s weird when entities speak in one unified ~brand voice~. Some links:

Flourish’s post yesterday, which concludes with the phrase “EITHER LEARN FROM THE PAST, OR GET OFF MY LAWN,” is now updated with some practical information in addition to the general message we both still stand by: “This is why the OTW owns the servers.” 

I wrote two Twitter threads yesterday—1 and 2—that spawned some great discussion about fandom, platforms, social media contracts, archiving, and the recent AO3 ~debacle~.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, if you somehow missed my recent piece on the OTW, speech, censorship, and fandom:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/8/18072622/fanfic-ao3-free-speech-censorship-fandom

Which goes hand in hand with our recent DISCOURSE TRILOGY: 

1) Purity Culture 2) Age in Fandom 3) The Money Question

But perhaps you are very clued into our various social media presences lol and have listened to all of this already. WELL. We don’t have plans to devote a full episode to it immediately, because our next guest will be Rukmini Pande (!!!) and the one after that will be our year in review. It will certainly come up! But we’re also planning on having @cfiesler back on for a proper full episode in January. She’s probably one of the best people to talk to about this specific topic—it’s one of her areas of expertise—and hopefully by then we’ll be able to dig in with a little more perspective than immediate reactions. In the meantime, she’s been gathering resources in this great thread, definitely check it out.

I think anyone familiar with our work, especially in the past year, talking about how the structures of fandom intersect with the structures of capitalism, will be aware that we are going to have Some Thoughts and Feelings about all of this. A few quick notes, under the cut: 

1) The history of fandom online is a history of purges, pure and simple. Whether it’s pressure from rights holders, pressure from ~concerned citizens~, pressure from the actual law (people get hand-wavey about this but they shouldn’t), fans, like all other users, are guests on any given platform. No social media site has promised to archive your stuff, forever, or to post whatever you want, forever. We’re aware that doesn’t make this suck any less! But it remains that Tumblr, a difficult to monetize or scale commercial platform owned by a very large corporation, was a bit of an outlier amongst big commercial social media sites, and now their policies are lining up with the rest. I’d argue this is a business decision, not a moral one, though then we get into whether capitalism’s amorality is inherently immoral, and life is short and I cannot do this right now.

2) But that brings me to the OTW, which was founded around the same time as Strikethrough—and around the same time that some fans, having seen what happened with LJ, still chose to migrate to Tumblr. The OTW does not have a social network and has actively resisted calls to shift in that direction. Nearly all of its projects are archival. The OTW is not the answer to questions of “what about my fannish conversations” right now, but it is an answer to “who will record our things if this platform won’t.” The answer is you, on AO3, which, they repeatedly stress, is not just for polished fic but also drabbles, meta, fanart, comics, etc, and on Fanlore. (Here’s Fanlore’s new user portal and a tutorial.) 

2a) Archiving will not capture the full extent of a conversation. It will not allow you to continue the conversation, either. But it also asks the question: what do I want to save? What should be preserved? Current social media structures build us limitless repositories for content, and rarely ask us to make these choices. But it might be worth thinking about these choices before they’re made for you.

3) While a lot of fannish activity is on Tumblr, we need to stress that LOTS OF FANS DO NOT USE TUMBLR. So we need to really pump the brakes on the “where will fandom go from Tumblr” line of discourse. Aside from barreling over the fact that lots and lots of fans never use Tumblr, it also presumes that your entire life on Tumblr is fandom, and for many people, myself included, it’s not that easy to pull it apart. Yesterday when people asked the “where do I go” question I asked them about behavior: what does fandom mean to you right now? Is it talking with a few friends? Is it making new friends? Is it discovering new art, or new meta, or new fic? Is it reblogging gifs from your 19 favorite TV shows? Plenty of people are fandoming elsewhere, so we really urge people to not treat “fandom on Tumblr” as some kind of monolith, from any angle.

4) Finally, take this one with a grain of salt, but I really urge people to think about their language a little in this conversation, and try not to conflate marginalized identities with “fan as marginalized identity.” Lots and lots of fans have marginalized identities, and obviously those identities are often integral to how they engage with fandom. But I really don’t know what to do with language that equates the oppression of fans with the oppression of peoples’ actual identities. It’s really messy! Which is why I’m suggesting that people take a look at how they frame things, rather than saying “DON’T SAY X, SAY Y.” (Also, lots of people do not do this, but I’ve seen enough of it in the past day that I just needed to say something about it.) FLOURISH ADDENDUM: One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of people are feeling very despairing and very disempowered. It’s true that no individual can just be like, “OK, Tumblr, fuck you, I’m gonna start my own Tumblr.” BUT, there are some things that one can do to empower oneself on the internet more. This is a good wake-up call to remind people that they can and should learn to do some of these very low-level technical things, like buying a little server space and hosting their own images (not very expensive, and much more reliable than Tumblr, if not 100% un-takedown-able). Learning to do these things doesn’t solve the problems with Tumblr, but it definitely makes me feel more secure and empowered, personally—so I really want to encourage people to believe in themselves and learn how to take these baby steps towards owning their own online presence!

ELIZABETH ADDENDUM: Thank you, Flourish, that was a very positive note to end on. More TK. :-)

[chuffyfan87]

Hiding. Part 35a

Cowritten with @disastrousintention. For this chapter we decided to try a bit of a different style of writing so the action bounces between two separate scenes for much of the chapter.

-x-

It had been two weeks but things were no better, in fact, they were probably worse. Charlie and Duffy were barely speaking to each other except to keep up appearances in front of the children. Not that the kids, particularly Peter, were fooled.

Charlie had a meeting that afternoon with Baz regarding Louis. The boys were away at sleepovers so Duffy decided to take the girls to visit Megan. It had been a couple of months since she'd seen the older woman. Arriving at the door she rang the bell, the girls bouncing excitedly at her side.

Charlie knocked on the front door of Baz’s house and waited. He felt sick with nerves.

The front door opened and Megan smiled brightly. “This is a lovely surprise!”

The girls ran through the door without a backward glance. Duffy sighed as she saw Megan's expression change as the she took in the younger woman's appearance.

Baz opened the door, surprised to find Charlie alone on her doorstep. "You best come in." She sighed.

“You are far too thin.” Megan replied. “Are you eating?” She invited her in.

“Thanks.” Charlie mumbled as he stepped into the house.

"Of course I'm eating! I lose a couple of pounds and everyone automatically thinks I've got a problem!" Duffy replied defensively.

Baz walked through to the kitchen. "Coffee?" She offered out of habit.

“So you haven’t got a problem? Despite being defensive?” Megan questioned.

“No, you’ll probably poison me or something.” Charlie remarked.

"I'm just sick of explaining myself to everyone." Duffy sighed.

"Don't be so childish Charlie!" Baz retorted.

“Ok. Do you want a tea? Coffee?” Megan closed the door.

“Wouldn’t put anything past you, Baz!” Charlie replied sarcastically.

"Black coffee please." Duffy replied as she went to help the girls open the toybox in the lounge.

"And you wonder why I want to move away from here?!" Baz shot back.

Megan went into the kitchen, filled the kettle and switched it on. She was worried, Duffy seemed to be getting thinner by the day!

“We’re here to talk about Louis.” Charlie reminded his ex-wife.

Duffy sighed. Megan just didn't understand. She couldn't see that Duffy was simply trying to salvage her marriage.

"And how you're making life difficult by refusing to let us leave the country." Baz accused.

Returning a few minutes later, Megan handed Duffy a mug. “What’s wrong?”

“Because I don’t want my son thousands of miles away from his siblings and his family!” Charlie retorted.

"Nothing." Duffy forced a smile, hoping, but knowing deep down it wouldn't be, that it was enough to convince Megan to drop the subject.

"I'm all the family he needs!" Baz shot back.

“Oh really?” Megan rose an eyebrow and sipped her tea.

“He’s my son too! Or have you forgotten that?!” Charlie's frustration was building fast.

"Megan please!" Duffy begged.

"Well at least you can be certain of that with Louis. No nasty surprises there!" Baz sneered.

“Talk to me.” Megan encouraged gently.

“And you say I’m the childish one?!” Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Its all such a mess." Duffy sighed.

"I still can't believe I fell for that innocent little girl routine of hers for so long, I should have realised what a devious whore she was all along." Baz mused.

“What’s wrong?” Megan pressed.

“Don’t you dare!!” Charlie snapped. “Duffy isn’t a whore ok?!”

"I don't think Charlie loves me anymore." Duffy whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek.

"Really? I thought that's what you liked about her. I guess it's not so much fun when she's your wife rather than your mistress." Baz sneered.

“What?” Megan frowned, “What makes you think that.”

“She is not a whore!! Stop slagging her off all the time, especially in front of Louis!” Charlie snapped.

"He's so distant. All we do is fight." Duffy sighed helplessly.

"I haven't said anything in front of Louis!" Baz claimed.

“You and Charlie have been fighting?!” Megan was shocked, she knew they were both stubborn but hadn't expected that.

“Bullshit!” Charlie laughed bitterly.

"We can't seem to agree on anything. It would be OK if other things weren't going wrong too." Duffy began to fiddle with a loose thread on her jeans.

"I suppose your whore was the one who told you I'd been saying things to Louis." Baz accused.

“What other things?” Megan asked.

“No it was our son actually! I will not have him disrespect his stepmother in her own home! Understood?” Charlie replied sharply.

"We... Um..." Duffy hesitated.

"Maybe he's just realised the truth." Baz shot back.

“What?” Megan touched Duffy’s hand.

“The only truth Louis will ever know is how much of a bitch his mother is!” Charlie replied.

"We're not sleeping together anymore." Duffy admitted.

"I'm only this way because of how you treated me!" Baz implied.

“Oh Duffy.” Megan sighed, “You’ve hit a blip, that’s all.”

Charlie sighed, “I never meant to hurt you.”

"Its my fault so I have to fix it." Duffy insisted.

"And now its your turn to be hurt." Baz explained.

“Why is it your fault?” Megan asked.

“You don’t believe me, do you? When I say, I didn’t mean to hurt or lie to you.” Charlie replied sadly.

"Because I'm old and fat. That's why he doesn't fancy me anymore." Duffy asserted.

"Lying once is bad enough but it went on for months." Baz replied bitterly.

“You are not fat!!” Megan replied, “You think Charlie cares about your size?!”

“I know. I’m sorry.” There was nothing more he could say.

"I don't know. Whatever the reason, I pushed him away. It's my fault." Duffy insisted.

Baz sighed, this wasn't getting them anywhere.

“Calm down! You know it isn’t your fault.” Megan attempted to get Duffy to see the reality of the situation rather than the catastrophic mess she'd created in her mind.

“I’m sorry.” Charlie replied again and sighed. “I won’t fight you for Louis.”

"It all started when I told him I wanted us to have another baby." Duffy explained.

"Finally you're seeing sense." Baz sighed.

“How does Charlie feel about that?” Megan questioned.

“Just take him. Do what you have to do. I’ll never win.” Charlie replied sadly.

"He hates the idea and now he hates me too." Duffy concluded.

"Its what's best for him." Baz assured.

“And you’ve spoken to Charlie about this?” Megan pressed, trying to get Duffy to think logically about this.

“When are you going?” Charlie asked sadly.

"All we do is fight. I don't know why he's being so unreasonable about it." Duffy sighed.

"At the end of the school holidays." Baz conformed.

“Have you tried talking to him about it?” Megan asked. “Probably not because communication wasn’t ever yours or Charlie’s strongest point.”

“Can I have him for the last week. Please?” Charlie requested.

"We've talked about it repeatedly. It always ends the same way." Duffy replied, defeated.

"OK. It'll give me chance to get everything packed." Baz agreed.

“In an argument?” Megan surmised.

“Thank you.” Charlie sighed, “I best go.”

"Yeh. He just won't listen!" The frustration was clear in Duffy's tone.

"I'll drop him over on the Monday morning." Baz offered.

“Do I need to bang your heads together?” Megan asked. “Is Charlie feeling OK? In himself I mean.”

“Thank you.” Charlie smiled sadly before turning to leave.

"I don't know." Duffy sighed.

Baz watched him leave, feeling a twinge of regret.

“He won’t talk to you?” Megan asked.

Charlie had no more fight left in him anymore. He couldn’t fight Baz over Louis and he couldn’t fight Duffy over having another baby. He went to the only place he could, the pub.

"He's fighting with Baz again. I've tried to be there for him but I just seem to make things worse."

“Over Louis?”

"Yes. Baz wants to take him to live in Canada with her."

“She’s a selfish mare.” Megan replied, “Charlie’s fighting her for custody I hope?”

"He's driven to Birmingham to try and reason with her."

“He sounds like he has a lot on and probably doesn’t know how to talk to you about it.” Megan suggested.

"But we've always talked about everything..." The tears were starting to fall again.

“Oh pet.” Megan put down her mug and Duffy’s and hugged her.

"I thought we were happy. I thought one last baby would be the perfect way to complete everything." Duffy cried.

“Ssh.” Megan tried to soothe the younger woman.

"I don't know how to make things better. I try but I just make things worse."

“Maybe you can’t. Maybe all you can do is be there for him.” Megan rubbed Duffy’s back, “Has Charlie been to the doctors?”

"Yeh. He didn't even tell me til afterwards."

“He’s depressed?”

"That's what the doctor said."

“Do you agree with the doctor?”

"I don't know enough nor have sufficient experience to make a professional judgement." Duffy replied tonelessly.

Megan sighed and nodded.

"I work in a+e not psych." Duffy pointed out sullenly.

“What’s your gut telling you, Duffy?”

Duffy hesitated, afraid to say it out loud, because that would make it real.

“Go on.” Megan rubbed her younger friend's arm

"There's something seriously wrong inside his head and I don't know how to help him."

“Seriously wrong? What do you mean?” Megan was beginning to get worried.

"He isn't himself, he hasn't been for quite some time now." Duffy admitted.

“In what way?”

"He won't talk to me, he's so quick to anger over the slightest thing."

“Do you know what you and Charlie need? A break. Get away from the children and talk to each other. It’s the only way.” Megan replied.

"I tried suggesting that. Charlie didn't seem keen. He just focused on how difficult it would be to organise the kids." Duffy sighed.

“That doesn’t mean he’s not keen on the idea. He’s always been very practical.” Megan pointed out. “Why don’t you call him? Ask him again?”

"OK." Duffy took her phone out of her handbag. She was about to dial Charlie when the phone began to ring. She didn't recognise the number. "Hello? Yes, that's me." She gasped. "What? When? Um... Yes, I'll be there as soon as I can. Thank you. Bye."

Megan frowned, “What’s wrong?”

[diyunho]

The Joker x Reader -“The Golden Boxers”

The Joker stumbled on the gold boxers by accident and didn't even care for them until he realized they have some kind of strange power over Y/N. What is a man supposed to do with such intoxicating ability? He's going to use it, of course. 

1.  First contact

Gotham’s royal couple is choosing some new clothes for their wardrobe at “Sauvage Coeur”, a very chic boutique belonging to one of The Joker’s business partners. The venue is closed to the public for the night, this way Y/N and her boyfriend can roam around and enjoy the shopping spree.

“What about this shirt, Pumpkin? Do you think this purple shade is too light for my skin tone? Should I get it?” J asks for your opinion, not sure he wants it yet.

“…U-hum…” you reply, completely absent minded.

“OK then, I’ll take it,” he adds the item to the pile in the cart and gazes your way just to see you staring at a mannequin wearing a pair of golden boxers next to the “Intimate Apparel” male section.

You seem totally smitten, almost in a trance.

Y/N grabs some socks from a nearby display table and rolls them in a hurry, stuffing them inside the underwear afterwards.

“Pretty close,” you grin to yourself and The Joker is confused.

“What are you doing, Princess?!”

“This…” you point out towards the plastic model, “…this would look great on you!” the excited girlfriend shouts.

“Hmm…” he huffs, analyzing the skimpy, tight boxers. He takes more socks from the table and shoves them inside the garment, finally pleased on how the crotch appears. “That’s more like it,” J grins, full of confidence. “Size matters, Pumpkin!”

“Oh!” you enthusiastically exclaim because it is actually closer to the truth. Your eyes are so big and you seem so captivated he reads the tag out of pure curiosity:

“One of the kind, made out of 24 karat gold thread. Exclusive for our boutique. Price: 10,000 dollars.”

“I guess I’ll take them,” J lifts his shoulders up because why not?

He loves gold anyway.

2. Discovering the Hidden Powers 

The Joker crawls in bed next to you, resting his chin on your arm.

“What are you reading, Doll?” he pretends to be interested in your magazine.

“Meh, boring things,” you sigh and glare his way, ignoring the fact that he’s naked. Y/N goes back to turning pages while J sulks, not happy about your reaction.

He pulls down on the strap of your lacy nightgown and you pull it back up, kissing his forehead in the process.

“Not tonight, baby. I have a terrible headache.”

“Do ya’?” he squints his eyes, suspicious on the reason. “I must point out that shopping for new clothes tonight got me quite aroused, especially after you tried on those pretty dresses,” he lifts your already short nightgown higher, softly pecking your thigh.  

“Maybe tomorrow, hm? I really do have a terrible headache,” you explain and go back to reading.

The King of Gotham pouts more, his pride hurt after the obvious rejection.  

“Fine!” he growls and rolls out of bed, grabbing the freshly washed boxers waiting on his side of the bed, getting ready to sleep since it’s clear he won’t do anything else this evening. One leg goes in, then the other. The soft fabric hugs his hips and…

“Oh!” you gasp and ogle J as he adjusts his pillows, suddenly paying attention. You scoot over, biting your lip so hard it hurts. “You look really sexy in this,” you walk your fingers on his abs, seductively battering your eyelashes.

“Do I?” he sneers, in a bad mood because you told him no moments ago.

“Yeah…” you gulp and slide on top of him, starting to kiss him in a frenzy.

“I thought you have a headache,” The Joker points out and you don’t even remember uttering the words.

“It’s gone now!” you scream with such determination there is no doubt about it.

Interesting…, your boyfriend has time to think before his Queen goes crazy on him.

Not bad for a woman that just miraculously got rid of a migraine in a few seconds. A true mystery!

3. More Powers

The next morning J is roaming around in his gold boxers, searching for one of his guns. You keep on following him like a lost puppy.

“You need something, Pumpkin?” he frowns, not understanding why you’re acting weird.

“Nope,” you fastly reply, pinching his butt when he bends over to peek under the sofa in the living room.

The Joker kind of jumps, rubbing the sore spot.

“Auch!”

In the two hours since he’s been up, his butt wrapped in the golden fabric got slapped, pinched and groped more than humanly possible. Not that he doesn’t enjoy the extra attention.  

“Stop it, Y/N! What got into you?” he scoffs, groping you back.

“Nothing,” you innocently answer, playing with your hair.

“I’m going to go take a shower, wanna join me?” he takes the underwear off and you have a change of heart.

“I already took a shower before you woke up, plus my headache returned. I’ll go make coffee, OK?” the Queen loses interest and heads towards the kitchen.

The Joker wants to test a theory building up in his mind and slips into the enchanted underwear again.

“Are you sure, Princess?”

You turn around to say “yes” but your brain can’t focus when you see The Clown Prince of Crime with the glorious flimsy garment.

“Oh!” escapes your mouth and you get rid of your nightgown and bikini so quickly he almost missed it.

You rush in his arms, dragging him towards the master bathroom.

“Come on baby, hurry up. I wanna have some fun too,” you impatiently cling to him and J sarcastically chuckles:

“I thought your headache returned!”

“It’s gone,” you nonchalantly conclude and push him through the opened door, not being able to control the urge of making him yours.

I might be onto something here, J debates before Y/N makes him forget about the newly discovered feature of the magical golden boxers.

4. Booby trap

Frost is waiting for his boss to get ready and The Joker wants a guy’s opinion regarding his hypothesis, that’s why he decides to ask the clueless bodyguard a few questions.

J emerges from the walk-in closet in his underwear, halting a few steps away from Jonny.

“So what do you think Frost?” he grouchily sucks on his silver teeth. 

“About what, sir?” the henchman is not sure what’s going on.

The Joker gestures towards his mid-section and Jonny panics.

Oh my God, a booby trap! What do I say?!  flickers in his brain because when The King of Gotham asks trick questions you better give him the correct answer, otherwise you’re a goner.

“Looks very…e-hem… nice on you, boss!” Frost confidently blurs out.

“How nice?”

Shit! This is a Mega Booby Trap! Jonny thinks and starts sweating. Slightly, but he’s starting to. Why?

The Joker’s Mega Booby Traps or MBT’s (as the crew named them) are very dangerous to get out of and lethal to a fault.

“Very nice, sir! Gold suits you.”

“Hmmm…” J sneers, not particularly thrilled with his bodyguard’s reply. “If you were a woman, for example Y/N, would you go ballistic at the sight of these boxers?”

Fuck! An Extra Mega Booby Trap !!! I’m screwed ! Frost loses the track of his thoughts, seeing the imminent end galloping his way. Why?

The Joker’s Extra Mega Booby Traps or EMBT’s (as the team named them) are the hardest to escape with your life: if the boss doesn’t like the first letter of the first word coming out of your mouth, you can kiss your existence goodbye.

Jonny takes a deep breath, already picturing his funeral:

“Only a sophisticated and refined woman like Y/N would know, sir!”

J puckers his lips, deeming the response to be acceptable for his wacky standards.

“I supposed she would…” the green haired plague announces before walking back into the closet.

Frost feels the need to sit down, entirely drained after the experience.

He has no idea yet, but after today he will become a legend among his peers: the first one to ever survive The Joker’s horrific EMBT. They will even open a blog in his honor, entitled: “Jonny Frost, The Unsung Champion of EMBT’s and Other Crap He Survived.”

5.  Karma

The King and Queen returned to “Sauvage Coeur” boutique because they both want to choose something special for their date night.

You didn’t find a dress yet.

“What about this red one, baby?” you inquire, maybe he can help out with a decision.

“…Yeah…,” J’s flat opinion reaches your ears.

“Alright, I’ll take it,” you conclude and gaze his way just to see him standing in front of a mannequin dressed with a gold bra plus matching thong next to the women’s “Intimate Apparel” section.

The Joker seems hypnotized, almost in a daze.

He finally snaps out of it and grabs a few socks from the display table nearby, rolling and stuffing them in the bra.

“Close enough,” J smiles, incapable of taking his eyes off the golden top and bottom.

“What are you doing?!” you skeptically interrogate.

“This would look awesome on you!” he purrs, already imagining you wearing the two-piece he would love to take off your body as soon as possible.

“I don’t know…” Y/N hesitates but rolls more socks that she places in the bra, backing out to see the results. “That’s more like it. Size matters, J !”  

“Daddy loves,” The Joker purrs louder and he’s so excited it makes you read the tag although you don’t care for the outfit:

“One of the kind, made out of 24 karat gold thread. Exclusive for our boutique. Price: 12,000 dollars.”

“I suppose it won’t hurt to add this to my wardrobe,” you accept to get it because why not?

You like gold anyway.

6. Flip side of the coin

The Joker didn’t pay attention to you after the date last night. He locked himself in the office all day and ordered not to be disturbed since he’s planning an important heist. You sure missed him and you realized how much the second he showed up to go to sleep; your boyfriend seems pissed and that makes him more delicious.

“Hi baby,” you shove yourself into him and kiss his neck, cuddling under the covers.

“Not tonight, Y/N! I’m tired!” he growls and pushes your hand away.

He hears you whimper, the spoiled Princess kind of fake cry.

“But you didn’t pay attention to me since this morning,” you complain and slide your fingers in his sweatpants.

“I’m tired, woman! Are you deaf?!” he snaps, ready to give you the speech about his manhood and how the crown jewelry works on his terms, not yours. He will definitely underline that there’s nothing you can do: when the King says no, it’s no. “I told you before, Y/N…” he initiates the rant and you try to avoid it.

“Fine, fine, I get it! OK? Fine!” you get annoyed also and dart out of bed. “If you must know, I went through the trouble of washing the stupid gold bra and panties for you. Almost broke a nail when I started the washing machine. A nail !!! Can you imagine the scare?!” the irritated Y/N mumbles, letting the silky robe she’s wearing fall on the floor. “My heart skipped a beat, J! It was terrible and you were in your office, not given a damn!” you continue to admonish, unaware The Joker’s heart skipped a beat also since now he can see the revealing gold two-piece acquired from the boutique yesterday.

“Which nail?” J suddenly pretends to be interested since he pretty much distinguished only that part; the rest went blank.

You lean over to show him your pinky, sulking.

“This one.”

“My Poor Pumpkin,” The Clown Prince of Crime whispers, carefully squeezing it like it’s about to explode. “Does it hurt?” he displays a seductive smirk as he pulls you on top of him.

“Not anymore…I thought you were tired,” you wiggle to escape when his arms go up and down your back, certainly wishing to initiate something.

“Me?! Tired?! When did I say that?” he grinds his teeth, forcefully holding the feisty pain in the ass.

“Just did!” you squirm harder, breaking free and distancing yourself from him.

“You must be hallucinating, Y/N,” The Joker gets on his elbow, intrigued.

You’re intrigued too: all the wrestling made his sweatpants glide lower on his hips, exposing the top part of the golden boxers.

“Oh!” you gasp and your reaction makes J remember he’s wearing the secret weapon. With a swift move he removes the pants and he’s not even finished when you basically attack him.

I think I possess a weapon of mass destruction, The Joker contemplates before not being able to concentrate anymore.

I think I found a weapon for total annihilation, Y/N reflects since her vigilance noticed the switch in her boyfriend’s mood as soon as he saw her in the golden minimal attire. Further testing will be required.

7. Another booby trap

You summoned Frost to the Penthouse, probably in regards to the heist J is planning. A fool’s expectations…Not even close!

Jonny steps out of the elevator and freezes: Y/N is waiting for him, wearing nothing more than the golden two piece. Frost immediately feels he’s about to faint, his eyes tensely searching around for the deadly threat.

“J is not here,” you correctly guess the reason for his anxiety.  

Jonny leans on the coffee table closest to him, avoiding looking at you but it’s hard not to.

“Frost!” you sulk. “As a man, what do you think about this outfit, hm?”

OH. MY. GOD! Another Booby Trap!!! Why me??? the bodyguard is on the verge of a nervous  breakdown, imagining how cute he’s going to look in his silver casket. Already picked the color. Why?

Y/N’s Booby Traps are by far the most atrocious you can come across besides The Joker’s.

“Ummm… It looks stunning on you, Y/N!” Jonny stiffens and his luck has left him.

“How stunning?” you lift your left eyebrow in contempt, displeased with the short reply.

Fuck me, a Colossal Booby Trap!!! runs through his mind, believing the cemetery on Gimmer Street has the best tombs available. Why?

Y/N’s Colossal Booby Traps or CBT’s (as the team named them) are plain and simple death sentences: one single sound that comes out of you wrong and you’re history.

“Impressively stunning, gold is your color for sure!” Jonny affirms with the utmost flair.

The Queen sniffles, meditating on his answer.

“So Frost, if you were J, would you immediately want me no matter what right in the moment you see this skimpy lingerie?”

Lord have mercy, a Gigantic Booby Trap!!! and the room starts spinning as he hopes somebody will bring flowers to his grave. Why?

Y/N’s Gigantic Booby Traps or GBT’s (as the gang named them) offer no possibility of an escape: if you make it to round three like he did, you’re literally dead.

“Only a person with amazing swag and class like Mister Joker would know,” Jonny babbles a bunch of nonsense since he reached the end of the line.

You roll your eyes and arrogantly push him out of your way, scoffing:

“Hmm… I suppose he would!”

Frost watches you walk upstairs, his heart racing like crazy.

He has no idea yet, but after today he will become more than a legend among his peers: a living and breathing myth! The first one to ever survive Y/N’s horrific GBT! They will even open a second blog in his honor, entitled: “Jonny Frost, The Ultimate Victor of GBT’s and Other Shit He Survived.”

Gotham’s true hero! Batsy has nothing on him. 

And that’s a verified fact.

Also read: Masterlist 

http://diyunho(dot)tumblr(dot)com/post/153664676321/joker-x-reader-masterlist

[trashcanmarvelfan]

Best. Job. Ever. 8/12

Summary: Reader gets a job on the set of Spider-Man: Far from Home for the 3 weeks they are shooting in New York City as what she thinks is a production assistant, but a twist of fate has her reassigned as Tom Holland’s personal assistant. As she & Tom grow close during filming, will their budding friendship turn to more or will they go their separate ways after filming concludes?

Warnings: Language, but that’s pretty much it? This is basically a PG-13 rom-com. (Legal) alcohol use as well but since it’s legal do I really need to tag it?

Word Count: 2114 for chapter 8.

Author’s Note: As this was written WAY before Spider-Man: Far from Home was released (actually before Avengers: Endgame was as well) I’ve kept plot details and which scene was being shot on what day extremely vague. Also, I’m American but tried to write Tom as British as possible, although I do think he’d try to stay(ish) in character and use as much American slang as he could while he’s still playing Peter.

Chapter-Specific Author’s Note: I hope this part was worth the wait... ;)

Requests are always open!

Cross-posted at AO3.

The next morning, Y/N woke up and checked her email.  Waiting in her inbox was Tom’s schedule for the final week of filming.

She pulled up Tom’s text thread. Got your schedule for next week. Ik you’re hanging out with Harrison today and we're going out tonight, so we can just go over it tomorrow or whatever.

Tom texted back almost immediately. Sounds great. Maybe we can do it tomorrow evening after Haz leaves? I was also thinking we could all have brunch in the morning so we can give him a proper send-off.

Ok, that’s fine, and brunch also sounds good. LMK the details tonight.

Y/N decided since she wasn’t meeting up with the guys until much later in the day and since she had been in NYC for almost 2 weeks and still hadn’t really gone sightseeing that she needed to get out and do something, so she took a shower and got dressed in some comfortable clothes she could go exploring in, grabbed her wallet, and headed downstairs.

She asked at the concierge desk for tour recommendations that she could do and wound up deciding to book a bus tour that passed by some shops she wanted to go to. She walked down to a little cafe’ for coffee then boarded her bus.

One of the stops was near the Strand Bookstore, so she decided to disembark there and check it out.

She took one step inside and froze. There were books everywhere she could see - books of every shape, size, and genre.  I’ve died and gone to heaven.

She spent most of the morning exploring the shop, finally choosing a few books to purchase before realizing how late it was and running back to the bus stop to continue her tour.

After eventually making a full loop around New York City, Y/N got off at the stop closest to the hotel and rushed back to shower and change for the evening.

She checked out her outfit in the full-length mirror in her hall. I guess this is it, she thought.

Laura had helped her pick out an outfit via Skype, delighted that Y/N had packed the pink satin camisole top she had bought Y/N for her birthday, and insisting that it was the perfect top to pair with black leggings and a pair of comfortable, low-heeled shoes that Y/N had bought earlier that day.  Y/N had gone with simple accessories, choosing a rose gold bracelet and teardrop necklace, and kept her makeup light lest she sweat it off under the club lights.

A knock came on the door.

She opened the door and Tom’s jaw dropped. “Y/N, you look absolutely stunning,” he breathed.

“Thanks,” Y/N replied shyly. “Ready to go? Where’s Harrison?”

“Oh, err, he said he'd meet us downstairs,” Tom replied.

“Oh, ok, that’s cool.”

Tom offered his arm. “Shall we?”

They exited the elevator in the lobby where Harrison was waiting. “Y/N, you look fabulous,” he said.

“Thanks,” Y/N replied.

“The Uber is a couple of blocks away so we should be getting outside.” Harrison pointed toward the doors. “You two ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m set. Tom?”

“Ready,” Tom replied.

They made their way outside where their Uber was just pulling up to the curb.

Tom got in first, holding out a hand to help Y/N climb in behind him. Harrison followed behind her.

They greeted their driver and chatted casually on the way to the restaurant.

After dinner, they walked down the street to the club.  Tom gave his name at the door and he, Y/N, and Harrison all showed their IDs to get their armbands for the bar, Y/N handing her belongings to Tom to keep in his pocket.  They walked in to the club full of glowing lights and thumping electronic music, peoples’ bodies swaying to the beat.

A waitress led them to their table above the dance floor and asked them if they wanted a drink.

“We should start with shots,” Harrison declared before ordering 2 tequila shots for each of them.

“Can I also get 2 shots of lime juice?” Y/N added. “I usually add a chaser at first if I'm doing tequila shots,” she explained at Tom and Harrison’s quizzical looks.

Once their drinks were delivered, Y/N picked hers up. “To good friends, good tequila, and good times,” she declared.

“Hear hear,” Tom and Harrison both agreed as they all clinked their glasses together.  Y/N drank her shot of tequila, the liquid burning her throat as it slid down. She immediately chased it with the lime juice, shuddering at the tang. “Ugh, much better mixed together in a margarita,” she joked.

They quickly followed with their second shot before Harrison decided that he was going to go check out the dance floor.  He shot Y/N and Tom a good-natured wink before he left.

Tom leaned in, the intoxicating combination of his cologne and the alcohol already starting to swirl in Y/N’s system making her feel fuzzy. “I’m going to go to the bar,” he said in her ear to be overheard over the music. “Want anything?”

“Sure.” Y/N told Tom which drink she wanted and he disappeared. She sat quietly for a few minutes before pulling out her phone and taking a selfie to send to Laura. Nightlife in NYC, she captioned it.

A couple of seconds later, a gorgeous blonde-haired guy bumped into her seat. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” he said apologetically.

“It’s fine,” Y/N said. “No harm done.” Y/N waited for the guy to keep walking, but he stopped right next to her.

“I’m Matt.”

“Y/N.”

Matt tilted his head to the side. “How about some company? A pretty lady like you must be lonely sitting there all by yourself.”

Y/N shook her head. “No thanks. I’m actually just waiting for someone.”

“Then do you wanna dance?”

“Um, no thanks.”

“How about a drink then?”

Y/N was starting to get uncomfortable. “Um, actually--”

“Here you are, love.”

Y/N looked up to see Tom carrying her drink as well as a beer for himself.

Y/N shot him a grateful look. “Thanks, babe.”

Tom sat next to her and gave her a lingering kiss on her cheek, dangerously close to the corner of her mouth. “So terribly sorry darling, hope I didn’t keep you waiting long,” he said apologetically, putting an arm around her shoulder. He pretended to only just then notice Matt. “Oh, hello. Sorry, didn't see you standing there.”

Y/N tried to keep her chill. “No big deal, honey. I was just talking to Matt, here.”

“Umm, actually you know, I've got to get going,” Matt mumbled. “It was nice to meet you, Y/N.” He rushed off.

“Bye, Matt!” Tom said cheerfully.

“Ugh, what an asshat,” Y/N said, taking a sip of her drink. “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

Tom shrugged and took a swig of his beer, keeping his arm around Y/N. “You were obviously uncomfortable and that guy clearly wasn't getting the hint.”

They were finishing their drinks when Harrison came back. “Time for a break. I need another drink.” He pointed to Tom and Y/N. “It's your turn to get out there."

Tom offered Y/N his hand. “Dance with me?” he asked.

Y/N nodded and took his hand. “Show me what moves you've got, Holland,” she said with a wink.

“Order me another beer when our server comes back?” Tom asked Harrison.

“Sure thing, mate. Y/N?”

“Yeah, actually.” Y/N told Harrison what she wanted to drink as she and Tom stood.

Tom led her to the dance floor, where one song had just ended and another song had begun.

Y/N swayed her hips, letting the beat of the music and the warmth of the alcohol in her system relax her. Tom wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her flush to him.  Y/N hooked one arm around Tom’s neck, closing her eyes and matching Tom’s rhythm to where they were one seamless flow.

They danced for several songs until Tom’s hand slowly traveled up Y/N’s back until he reached the bare skin where her top was cut low. Y/N shivered as Tom slowly ran a finger up her back, opening her eyes and locking gazes with him.

Tom’s gaze held something… primal, something that both excited and terrified Y/N at the same time.  She subconsciously licked her lips, Tom’s gaze flickering down for just a second before raising back to her eyes.  His grip on her waist tightened. “Y/N…” he murmured.

“Yes?” Y/N replied breathlessly. The way Tom said her name in that accent of his made her briefly wonder how many other different ways she could get him to say it and in what other situations. She blushed at the thought.

Tom tilted his head, leaning in slightly, while Y/N followed suit until...

...Someone knocked into them, shattering the moment and breaking the spell.

“You know what?” Y/N said nervously, looking everywhere but at Tom. “I need to hit the ladies’ room, I’ll umm… I’ll be back in a bit.”

Tom nodded. “Okay, I’m going to go back to the table then.”

Y/N nodded as well.  She went to the ladies’ room and splashed some cool water on her face. Get a grip, Y/N. You’ve both been drinking, and with the lights and the music… Just keep it together.

She walked back to the table, where the guys were each drinking a beer, Y/N’s drink on the table between them.  

Y/N sat down and took a long swig of her drink. “Bit warm in here, isn’t it?” she said. “Luckily we seem to be right under the AC.”

After a while and another drink, Y/N had calmed down enough and was ready to get back out on the dance floor.

She took turns dancing with both Harrison and Tom, but this time she was sure to keep a respectable distance, also switching to water for the rest of the evening lest she get tipsy again and lose her inhibitions.

They called an Uber back to the hotel, where Y/N and Tom dropped Harrison off at his floor, wishing him goodnight.

When Y/N and Tom arrived on their floor, Tom asked, “Would you like me to walk you to your door?”  

Y/N giggled. “That’s so gentlemanly of you, but it’s literally down the hall. I think I can make it.”

“Ok, good night then.”

“Good night.”  Y/N turned and walked towards her room.  She was almost to her door when Tom called out her name. “Y/N!”

She turned to see Tom jogging towards her, holding her belongings that he had been keeping in his pocket.  “You might need these.”

Y/N blushed as Tom joined her in front of her door. “Haha oops, yeah, those might be important.” She bit her lip nervously. “Thanks for inviting me. I had a lot of fun tonight.”

“Me too,” Tom replied with a soft smile.

Y/N's fingers brushed Tom's as she reached for her belongings, setting off that same spark that she had felt earlier that evening. She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Tom's cheek before turning towards her door.

Suddenly Tom grabbed her hand. “Y/N, wait.”

Y/N glanced back at him in surprise.

Tom dropped Y/N's hand as his eyes searched hers. What he was looking for, Y/N wasn't sure. Tom reached up and tucked some loose hair behind Y/N's ear, his fingers lingering on her face in a gentle caress.

Y/N subconsciously leaned into Tom's touch, her eyes fluttering closed as warm lips tentatively pressed against her own.

She reached up with her free hand, trailing her fingers up Tom’s arm before wrapping her hand around his bicep and pulling him closer, Tom wrapping his arms around her and pulling her flush to him as he continued to kiss her breathless.

The sound of a door closing down the hall brought them back to Earth, Tom giving Y/N one more chaste kiss before separating.

He grinned. “Goodnight, Y/N.”

Y/N smiled shyly. “Night, Tom.” She swiped her keycard on her door before entering her room, not noticing that Tom hadn’t moved or taken his eyes off of her for a second until she was inside.

She flopped down on her bed and touched her lips with her fingertips, the feel of Tom's lips still on hers.

What a night.

Taglist: @laureharrier @thoughstofaredhead & @greenarrowhead