#every time i refresh i get confetti

[steddiealltheway]

(A special post for my dear friend Cass @henderdads who is celebrating 10k followers 🫶💛 can’t wait to celebrate more milestones with you 🥳)

Eddie watches the follower count on the Corroded Coffin TikTok rise every time he refreshes their page as the rest of the band looks over his shoulder.

“I can’t believe your bat song is going to bring us to ten thousand followers. Considering it’s about-”

“Shut up,” Eddie cuts him off, refreshing the page again.

“Seriously though,” Grant says, pointing at the follower count, “We’re going to hit ten thousand pretty soon.”

“Which is a big milestone for us,” Jeff adds before circling in front of where everyone in staring at Eddie phone. “Shouldn’t we celebrate or something?”

All the boys pause for a moment, and Eddie can feel them all staring at him, waiting for some type of creative revelation as if he can just come up with something on the spot like... “I have an idea.”

Gareth and Grant high five as Eddie jumps up and points at Jeff. “Go get some lame confetti party poppers and a cheesy celebration cake.” He turns to Gareth and Grant and points at them. “You guys need to find out how to put our follower count on a laptop or something while I set up my room so we can do a livestream on Tiktok in there.”

“We’ve never done a livestream.”

“Exactly!” Eddie says clapping his hands excitedly, “That’s what will grab people’s attention and boost our follower count. We’ll tell them that follower ten thousand will get a special private video from us or something. I don’t know. Whatever they want!”

“What if they ask us to strip?” Grant asks.

Jeff sighs and puts a hand on his shoulder. “No one is going to ask you to strip, dude.”

“You never know!”

Eddie just laughs as he rushes off to his room.

“Wait!” Jeff yells after him.

Eddie pauses and turns around.

“What money am I using to by this stuff?”

Eddie sighs and digs his wallet out of his pocket, pulling out two twenties and handing them over. “If this doesn’t cover it, you’ve done something wrong.”

Jeff smiles widely before running out the door yelling, “I’m gonna spend all of it!”

Eddie doesn’t even care about his money going down the drain, he’s too excited about reaching ten thousand and being able to call Wayne about it. For now, it’s time to seriously do some work to his room in order to make it somewhat presentable…

-:-:-:-:-:-

Eddie adjusts the camera stand and the ring light he bought for their videos that he gets constantly made fun of for buying. But the guys can’t deny how much better their videos look, so he doesn’t want to hear it.

“Jeff, give me your phone.”

Jeff hands his phone over but whines, “Why my phone?”

“Because you have the best camera,” Eddie explains, setting it up and going to their tiktok page. The numbers are quickly climbing through the nine thousands, and at this rate, they’ll definitely hit 10k during the livestream.

Once everything is prepared, Eddie asks, “Ready?”

Everyone nods and Eddie starts the livestream. He waves at the camera and watches the view count grow quickly. “Oh wow. Hi everyone. We haven’t done this before, so sorry for anything weird that may happen or when Grant inevitably says something dumb.”

Eddie gets a smack on the back of the head as Grant says, “Hey!” Jeff and Gareth just look at each other knowingly and laugh.

Eddie half winces and smiles as he rubs the back of his head and reads the comments asking about the numbers on the computer. “Oh shit. Yeah! Oh wait, I don’t think I should’ve sworn. Oops. Uh, anyways!” He takes a deep breath and gestures to the computer screen. “So, this the whole reason for our livestream. We’re about to hit ten thousand followers-”

“Thanks to you guys!” Gareth interjects.

“Yes, thank you guys. Really. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you,” Eddie says sincerely, laying his hands over his heart. “And we thought that we’d do something special for our ten thousandth follower. Maybe send them a video of us doing a cover of their favorite song or something. We don’t know! Whoever it is, you get to choose.”

“But you can’t make us strip!” Grant yells.

Eddie runs a hand over his face before gesturing dramatically toward Grant. “And this is what I meant when I said Grant would inevitably say something dumb.”

Gareth and Jeff just laugh as Grant turns red. Eddie turns around and pats him on the shoulder. “You know we love you.”

“Yeah, because you would suck without me.”

Eddie turns around and looks at the camera. “That’s absolutely true.” He looks at the comments and notices people asking them questions about when they’re releasing another song and if they’re planning on touring anywhere soon.

Jeff leans over squinting and says, “Oh! Our next song is called Hellfire Rains!”

Gareth looks at him slowly and asks, “Dude, are we allowed to say that?”

Eddie puts his head in his hands. This is absolutely a disaster, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Eddie’s head pops back up. “We could do something even worse and give them a sample of it.”

He sees the comment section flood a bit with affirmations of YES PLEASE. I BEG OF YOU.

Eddie turns to the guys and shrugs. “Are you guys good if I play a weird acoustic version of it?”

All the guys shrug and nod until Jeff stops to say. “Wait, what if we hit ten thousand during that?”

“Then, you guys stop me and we look at the follower,” Eddie replies.

Jeff nods and says, “Okay, but what if I told you we’re only nine followers away from ten thousand?”

“What?!” The rest of the boys yell and turn to the computer, noticing the numbers going up.

Eddie scrambles to grab his phone and go to their page, refreshing their notifications to grab the name of the ten thousandth person. He quickly looks at the camera and says, “Okay guys, I’ll give you that cover after we hit this milestone and freak out.” He refreshes the page and grabs Gareth’s shoulder. “Wait, do you have the party poppers?”

“Shit!” He yells running to the plastic Walmart bag and digging through it, handing them to everyone.

“It’s about to happen guys!” Jeff yells.

Eddie’s heart thuds in his chest as he refreshes the page over and over.

“Holy shit!” Grant yells first as Gareth and Jeff yell to celebrate. Eddie glances at the screen showing 10,000 and laughs as everyone pulls their confetti party poppers. He turns back and refreshes the page.

He freezes.

“Eddie, man, who is the lucky person?” Jeff asks excitedly.

Eddie looks at them with wide eyes.

“What?” Gareth asks.

Eddie looks back at the name and presses on the profile, noticing their mutual followers confirming that it’s a legit account. “Oh my god.”

The guys all rush around his phone and stare at the page.

Gareth shrieks with laughter. “Holy shit! Steve Harrington? The same infamous Steve who your bat song is about?”

“The same infamous Steve who you had a horrible crush on in high school but could never get the courage to talk to him?” Jeff adds with a laugh.

“I talked to him once,” Eddie grumbles out running his hands over his face. This cannot be happening.

Gareth laughs loudly and says, “Let me recall it.” He turns to Jeff and acts like he gets flustered as he says, “Uh. Steve. Steve Harrington. You’re. Hi. Yeah. You. Uh. So Dustin and you. That’s cool. I. Well. Good seeing you!” Gareth then turns to run away quickly.

Jeff laughs loudly as Grant says, “Uh, guys?”

Eddie shakes his head as Gareth and Jeff ignore Grant to laugh about it until Grant yells, “Guys!”

They all look at him and notice him staring off. Eddie realizes that he’s staring at Jeff’s phone…which is still streaming.

They all seem to realize it at once and freak out. “Turn it off! Turn it off! End it!” Eddie yells as Grant drops the phone and Jeff scrambles to end the livestream.

They all pause and slowly look at Eddie who breathes out, “What are the chances that Steve wasn’t on that livestream and that everyone will forget about this?”

The rest of the boys slowly turn to look at each other with grim looks on their face.

“Oh no,” Eddie says burying his face in his hands. This is not going to be good.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Sure enough, the next day, there’s a viral TikTok going around of the movement that someone had screen recorded, and Eddie’s phone is spammed with texts from Dustin, annoyed at Eddie for never telling him about his pathetic crush on his babysitter.

Eddie ignores it and his friends attempt to drown out his sorrow with cake and platitudes of, “Hey, we’re actually gaining a lot of followers from this.”

Eddie just groans and buries his face in his bed. This cannot be happening.

“We did promise that we’d give our ten thousandth follower something special,” Jeff says. “So we still need to follow through with that.”

Eddie sighs, “I’m not going to message him.”

“Then I’m going to message him from our account and pretend to be you,” Jeff says.

As Gareth and Jeff encourage him, Eddie slowly sits up and says, “No. No. I’ll do it.” He begrudgingly reaches over and grabs his phone.

“And while you’re at it, people are complaining about you not doing that short cover so…” Gareth trails off as Eddie shoots him a glare.

“Okay, well we’re going to go pick up some food and give you some space so you don’t kill us,” Jeff says while grabbing Grant and Gareth and dragging them away.

“Thank you!” Eddie yells after them.

“But you’re not getting food unless you’ve sent him a message!” Jeff yells before closing the front door.

Eddie sighs and takes a deep breath before he glances at this phone, ignoring all the text notifications from Dustin, but he becomes curious about the text from a number he doesn’t have saved. He clicks on it.

As your 10,000th follower, do I still get to request something?

This is Steve Harrington by the way

Eddie nearly throws his phone but swipes to Dustin’s texts instead typing out, YOU GAVE STEVE MY NUMBER????

He scrolls through the dozens of texts, noticing a sequence of important texts he missed.

can i give steve your number? he’s asking me for it

eddie i swear he’s not mad or anything

okay i can’t promise that but it didn’t sound like he was mad

eddieeeee

eddie stop ignoring me

if you don’t respond im going to send your number

okay

im sending it

if anything happens i expect to be the first to know!!! don’t make me find out from a tiktok ever again

Eddie takes a deep breath and reasons that at least now he knows the number is legitimate. He opens the texts from Steve and stares at them. There’s no way he can text him.

And for some reason, he immediately decides to call him with is arguably a thousand times worse, but before he can hang up, Steve already answers with a, “Hello?”

Eddie swallows and tries to remember how to speak. “Hi,” he croaks out before clearing his throat and trying again, “Shit. Hi.”

“Hi,” Steve says, sounding amused.

Eddie sighs and lays back on his bed. “So, what are the chances that you weren’t on the live stream and you didn’t see that video?”

“Zero.”

Eddie groans. “I’m so sorry. I haven’t checked TikTok yet, but have people found you and flooded your notifications?”

“Uh…” Steve trails off, sounding hesitant to answer.

“I’ll take that as a yes. God, I’m so stupid. I just completely forgot the livestream was going or I never would’ve dragged you into this mess.”

Steve pauses and asks, “And what if I told you that I’m glad you forgot it was still on?”

Eddie sits up. “What?”

“What if…” Steve pauses and Eddie hears rustling on his end as if he’s anxiously twisting around. “What if I told you that I know what I want as your ten thousandth follower.”

“To punch me?”

Steve laughs, and Eddie tries as hard as he can not to latch onto the noise. “To ask you on a date.”

Eddie freezes in shock. Yeah, this isn’t happening.

“Eddie? Are you still there?”

“Yup, still here,” Eddie manages to breathe out. He pauses before asking, “You’re serious?”

“Yeah,” Steve replies, “I kind of had a big crush on you in high school, too. And I may have redownloaded TikTok when I heard about your live stream.”

“No way,” Eddie calls him out.

“Yes way. You should ask my best friend Robin. She saw the live stream and timed the follow perfectly for me. Plus, she’s suffered through my crush on you and has always been mad at me for never doing anything about it.”

Eddie can’t believe it. “Steve, can you FaceTime me right now?”

“Uh, sure. Yeah.”

Eddie clicks on the FaceTime button and waits until Steve’s face appears on the screen, further confirming it’s him and further freaking him out. Gosh, he hasn’t seen him in a while and he’s almost forgotten how gorgeous he is.

“Hey,” Steve says with a smile.

Eddie wants to melt into a pile of goo. “Hi.” He pauses for a second, getting a bit lost in seeing Steve’s smiling face on his phone. Then he remembers, “Oh! Okay, tell me again. But look me in the eye so I know you’re not lying.”

Steve chuckles and asks, “Eddie Munson, my secret high school crush, will you go on a date with me and fulfill the promise you made to all your followers?”

Eddie smiles and says, “Yes.”

-:-:-:-:-:-

A few days later, Eddie posts an update on the Corroded Coffin TikTok with a video of him singing a sneak peak of their new song then glancing off camera to ask, “Does my ten thousandth follower like it?”

Off camera, there’s a voice that sounds exasperated as they say, “How many times are you going to call me that instead of your boyfriend?”

Eddie puts his guitar down and rushes off camera quickly with a smile, but then the voice asks, “Did you end the video?”

Eddie pauses before saying, “No.”

“This is going to be a lasting issue isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” Eddie confesses.

Then, the mystery man appears in the shot, revealing Steve’s smiling face before he ends the video.

Once again, the video ends up going viral, and soon enough, Eddie is celebrating 50k with all the band members along with Steve (and Dustin who is very mad to find out about their relationship via the second TikTok). But he wouldn’t have it any other way.

[sun-kissy]

Hello. I don’t really know how to do this properly

Can you make something where the reader is like two/three years younger then the marauders and like grew up next to James so he’s like her older brother type thing? Completely fine if not but this has been stuck in my head

(zero romance pls if you do pls)

thank you so much for the request!! ♡ i tried to play around with the plot a little :)

always | j.p.

tw: fluff

james potter x reader (platonic)

Your hands instinctively come up to shield your face as confetti rains down in the Great Hall for the third time that evening.

A frown settles on your face as you slowly lower your arms, feeling the split second when your hand comes into contact with a drink on the refreshments table and knocks it to the ground. A frustrated groan escapes your lips.

You flick the remnants of the drink off your hand and sigh, moving away from the table to go lean on another wall. You shuffle your way through the various couples giggling and dancing and snogging, feeling your resentment grow by the second. Once you’ve safely reached the other side of the mob in the middle of the hall, your eyes rake over the place.

As usual, Hogwarts was shimmering with splendour for the annual ball. Fairy lights adorned the ceilings, and decorated tables were laden with every type of food you could think of. The long tables in the centre had been cleared to allow for dancing, while the Weird Sisters played popular tunes at the front of the hall.

You tried not to let it get to you, but as you awkwardly shuffle around to make way for couples trying to get past you, a dull ache makes its way into your heart.

Kingsley Shacklebolt had very sweetly asked you to the school dance a couple of days ago and you had agreed. The whole evening had been spent in preparation for tonight, doing makeup with the girls and putting on your lovely dress adorned with golden butterflies. But Kingsley fell terribly ill an hour before the dance, and couldn’t muster the strength to even get out of bed.

It was unfortunate, something you were so looking forward to going wrong like this. Especially since you really really liked Kingsley.

You sigh, loneliness and embarrassment starting to get the better of you as you resign yourself to staying as an onlooker. Couples fade in and out of your vision, twirling and prancing around. A huff of resentment escapes you as you try not to glare too hard at those having fun.

Just when you stand up straight, deciding that there was no point staying, you feel a hand on your shoulder and startle. Turning around, you come face-to-face with a grinning James Potter.

“Hey Pickle. You doing good?” he asks, his smile widening as he sees the frown on your face.

That was what James had called you since you first met on the Hogwarts express years ago, a timid first-year crashing straight into the most popular third-year in the school. You bumped into him while holding a jar of pickles (god knows why), and ended up hurling them all over him. He laughed it off while you apologised incessantly and cleaned him up. He thought you were adorable.

That day, James pestered you about yourself till you snapped, and the two of you were inseparable ever since.

“No, Potty. I’m not doing good. Kingsley’s sick,” you mutter, trying to veil the hurt in your voice with anger. He lets out a sympathetic coo and softens, his hand moving down to take yours.

You sigh, your anger dissipating to leave disappointment. “I’m gonna leave,” you murmur, turning around to get to the door. But his grip on your hand remains firm. You turn back around, brows furrowed in confusion.

He's smiling at you, tugging on your hand with that mischievous James Potter twinkle in his eyes. “Come on, Pickle.”

“What?”

“Come on. One dance?”

“Jame-“

“Pickle! You’re no fun. Pleaaaaase?”

You groan, mocking reluctance as you let yourself be led by him as he pulls you to the dance floor. “I can’t dance.”

“You don’t have to, I can do it well enough for the both of us,” James grins. He wraps his arm around your waist, takes your hand in his other one.

He pokes at your hand, gesturing for you to put it on his shoulder. You sigh and do as you’re told. He gives you a small smile and you soften, unable to help smiling back in return.

As the two of you position yourself, the loud manic pop music previously playing comes to an end. A gasp escapes you, your eyes lighting up as you hear the first notes of ‘O Children’ start to play. A childhood favourite, your mum’s go-to song to sing.

James chuckles, slowly starting to sway you along to the beat.

‘Lift up your voice, lift up your voice…’

You move along with him, closing your eyes and feeling the rhythm.

‘Children!...’

James’ footing is perfect, yours is haphazard. His movements are elegant, yours rusty. His dancing on beat, yours attempting to be. But the smile that graces both of your faces is the same.

‘Rejoice, rejoice…’

A giggle escapes you as he twirls you around, both of you bursting out into laughter as you trip on his shoe and your face lands smack on his chest. None of you pull away.

You stay like that for a while, your face buried in your shoulder as he holds you close. The two of you move from side to side in time with the music. You melt into his touch, feeling all your disappointment disappear as you tenderly dance to the soft tune.

“Thanks, James,” you murmur gratefully. He smiles down at you.

“Hey, none of that. You’re my Pickle - of course I had to pester you to dance, I always will,” he chuckles, ruffling your hair. You grin into his shoulder, playfully punching him in the stomach.

“And this song better be playing at your wedding. I need to show everyone, especially your future husband, just how much you suck at dancing.”

“James!”

He laughs, wincing as you pull away to smack him on the shoulder. He pushes you back, but catches you before you tumble to the floor. The two of you are clutching your stomachs and each other’s hands.

You and James dissolve into heaps of laughter and joy, just like you always do.

[lackablazeical]

Apologies for the repeat ask, I just think mine got lost in all the others and now that you're answering asks I just wanted to try again so please ignore the first one if you manage to find it (again, really sorry if this bothers you and thanks for taking the time to read all of this). First off, I absolutely adore this AU!!!! I love how dark and angst-filled it is and the toxic relationships and the characterizations as a whole are so brilliantly well-done. You manage to draw me deeper and deeper into this twisted fiction with you and your co-writters masterful ideas and art. Not to mention how refreshing and relieving it is to be able to enjoy all of this angst without having to worry about if the individual(s) behind this truly feel that those kinds of relationships work that way (ie. romanticises/normalises it). All in all, thank you so much for all the time and effort you and your co-writors have put into this, it's greatly appreciated and I can't wait to see more!!!

P.S. I feel like Hateful Ever After by Ellise as well as a bunch of her other songs plus Paparazzi by Lady Gaga work really well in encompassing the vibes Addams Leosagi gives off. Maybe some of Upsahl, Will Wood and Confetti (especially Rob a Bank) songs for Addams Mikey too?

Thank you gain for taking the time to read this huge text dump and I hope you have a wonderful day(s)/week(s)/month(s)/year(s) because you deserve it and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise!!

No worries!!!!! I see every ask I get, I just have like. The lowest social battery ever, and for some reason asks are included in that (yeah, idk either) so I don't answer often. Your words are so, completely, absolutely screamed and fawned over.

We love dark themes and it's nice to see that you agree!!!!! All the dynamics and stuff are always so fun to work on and flesh out, how toxic relationships manifest in loads of different ways and how to portray that correctly. Labor of love, for sure!!!! Sad that some people do romanticize or normalize it, but all there is to do is be better then they are, yk?

Thank you for your kind words!!!!!! They are so so appreciated, you don't even know!!! We have lots of stuff in the works, which is so exciting (and nerve-racking, lol).

Now, song reccs!!!! Hell yeah >:]]]]]

For Hateful Ever After, I think the tone is really Leo, but the lyrics hit me over the head with Usagi. Like, Spot on!!!

Don't tell my brother, please // I know he worries about me // Seen I've been losing sleep 

The ones who told me all I need to know // But, I can't go back even if I want

Four eyes to watch each other cry // Three lies, you whispered to me that night // Two arms to hold my broken trust // One heart for the both of us

AS FOR PAPARAZZI?????? THE FACT ITS SO LEO *AND* ITS GAGA????? LEO WOULD LOVE GAGA OH MY GOD. LOVED THESE LINES.

I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me

But I won't stop until that boy is mine // Baby, you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me

Look at the past blast, I'ma make you fall on your ass // Suck it up and pacify, but it's irrelevant

As for Mikey, I do love those!!!! ESPECIALLY Rob A Bank (hell, I put it on my OWN playlist, it fucking slaps). I also really like Ghost by Confetti for him too!!!! Confetti just seems to be really good overall LOL

I didn't listen to too many songs by each artist, just some of the first that popped up, but I really loved both Drugs and People I Don't Like by UPSAHL for him too! That's really how Mikey approaches his fame and the people he has to interact with because of it. He's there for the drugs and the party, not for the people. And he's aware they aren't there for HIM, but the connections he can give them.

As for Will Wood, Main Character is SOOOO Mikey. Bro really would call people NPCs LMAOOOO. I loved the line "God forbid I'm seen just as an average human being." That alone definitely made it an insta-add to his playlist :]

GOOD LUCK READING MY TEXT DUMP RIGHT BACK!!!!! HAVE AN AWESOME DAY TOO <333 THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR ASK!!!

[nsfwhiphop]

Comedy skit: Title: "Debt Dance: Mario Draghi vs. the EU Parliament"

Scene:

A dimly lit EU Parliament meeting room. Members of Parliament (MEPs) sit around a large table looking exhausted and worried. Mario Draghi enters confidently, dressed in a sleek suit, holding a briefcase full of papers labeled "€800 Billion Debt Proposal." The MEPs eye him suspiciously.

Mario Draghi: (smiling broadly) Ladies and gentlemen, great to see you all! I've got a brilliant new plan that'll solve all of your problems. Picture this: €800 billion! Every year! Freshly printed, piping hot euros! Who’s ready to talk debt?

MEP #1: (nervously scratching head) Uh, Mario... I think we’ve had enough debt. I mean, we’re still trying to dig out of the last hole.

Mario Draghi: (grinning, waving his hand dismissively) Oh, come on, what’s a little more debt among friends? You know what they say, “Go big or... well, go bankrupt!” And trust me, this is BIG.

MEP #2: (raising hand slowly) Isn’t this kind of like... borrowing from tomorrow to pay for today? And tomorrow’s looking... pretty broke already.

Mario Draghi: Exactly! That’s the beauty of it! You borrow tomorrow’s money today, and then—drumroll—you borrow more the next day. It’s like an infinite money machine! (he claps his hands, clearly proud of himself)

MEP #3: (whispering to another MEP) I think he’s trying to sell us a pyramid scheme...

Mario Draghi: No, no! This is way better than a pyramid scheme. This is a mountain of debt! Higher! Loftier! You’ll be on top of the world! Just imagine, every year, 800 billion euros raining down like... confetti at a wedding!

MEP #4: (shaking head) Yeah, and the divorce that comes after when we can’t pay for it. Look, Mario, we’re already drowning here. We’ve got debt up to our eyeballs.

MEP #1: (nodding vigorously) I haven’t seen the sun in years! I live in a shadow of unpaid loans!

Mario Draghi: (chuckling) Oh, don’t be so dramatic. You’re not drowning... You’re just... swimming in liquidity! It's refreshing! Plus, think of the thrill—the excitement—of knowing that future generations will be paying off this forever! It’s like leaving behind a legacy!

MEP #2: (sarcastic) Oh great, that’s what I want on my tombstone: "Here lies a guy who left his grandkids a mountain of debt and a broken economy."

MEP #3: (leaning forward, suspicious) Wait a second... Are you even planning to pay off this debt, or are you just... you know, stacking it higher and higher?

Mario Draghi: (smiling mischievously) Pay it off? Oh, no, no, no, my friend. That’s old-school thinking! The new world is all about managing debt. You don’t pay it off. You just... keep it moving. Like juggling! You throw one ball up, then another, then another. And soon, you’re a master juggler! Ta-da!

MEP #4: (leaning back, eyes wide) Or you drop all the balls and end up with a bunch of broken plates...

Mario Draghi: That’s the thrill of it! The suspense! Will they drop the plates? Or will they keep them spinning forever? It’s an adventure in economics!

MEP #2: (shaking head) Mario, we’re already in a pit. A deep, dark, bottomless pit. And you’re telling us to dig... faster?

Mario Draghi: (excited) Yes! Exactly! Faster, bigger, deeper! Because here’s the thing, once you hit rock bottom—if there’s ever such a thing—you just dig sideways. Maybe even diagonally! Who knows? You’ll find new ways to manage all that beautiful debt.

MEP #1: (in disbelief) This doesn’t sound like a plan... it sounds like a financial disaster movie.

Mario Draghi: (leaning in, whispering dramatically) Oh, but it’s not a disaster if you never stop borrowing! It’s genius! Every time you think you’ve reached the end, boom! More debt, more funds, more freedom! You’re never out of options because you’re never out of... debt!

MEP #3: That’s the problem, Mario! We don’t want to be forever in debt!

Mario Draghi: Ah, but forever is just a mindset! Think about it this way: Debt is like wine. It only gets better with age. And trust me, you guys are gonna have a vintage collection by the end of this!

MEP #4: (throwing up hands) I knew it! He’s trying to keep us enslaved for centuries! We’ll be the debt-collectors’ grandkids’ grandkids' cash cows!

Mario Draghi: (cheerfully) Think of it as an inheritance! You’re passing down... opportunity!

MEP #2: (sighing) Opportunity for... bankruptcy.

Mario Draghi: You say bankruptcy, I say... freedom from financial expectations. Tomato, tomahto!

MEP #1: (looking defeated) Look, Mario, we just want to get out of this pit. We can’t afford another shovel full of debt.

Mario Draghi: (grinning) But that’s the beauty, my friends! You don’t need to dig yourselves out. Just keep building with the debt! Before you know it, you’ll have a shiny new skyscraper—made entirely of unpaid loans. It’s... visionary!

MEP #3: (sarcastically) Yeah, and when it collapses, we can use the rubble as a pillow.

Mario Draghi: (shrugging) That’s the spirit! Think outside the pit. Think big! Now, who’s ready to sign on the dotted line?

MEP #1, #2, #3, #4: (in unison, shouting) NO!

End Scene.

P.S.:

Headlines :

[chuckling-chemist]

Tumblr did you break your confetti

[captainmalewriter]

Shady App

Alright.

I'll be the first one to admit that maybe I shouldn't have been fucking around on the dark web. But what I can say, I was bored. And besides, most of the things I've found on there haven’t been that serious. Jump scares, scam ads, shitty mobile games, and even the occasional doxing blackmail that turn out to be nothing but empty threats. So I figured this "Body Lottery" app wasn't going to be any different. 

It was late at night when I found the app while scrolling through the dark web. I didn’t recognize it, it must had been recently added. I clicked on the app info, which read: “New body, new you! Just fill out some basic info and get ready for a brand new life!”

I thought it was fake. After all, body switching only happened in movies or in books. Fantasy stuff. But I decided it couldn’t hurt to try it out for shits and giggles. I downloaded the APK file onto my phone and started it up. It took a minute to load, but when it did I was greeted with a “Welcome!” message, followed by a long text box that I didn’t bother reading. I clicked “I agree to the Terms of Service” and proceeded to the next screen, which asked for some info from me. Although really all it asked for was my name (I just put a fake name), my birthdate (I randomly hit some numbers), and my preferences. The preferences were just two questions, what gender and age range you wanted. I filled in male and early 20′s for my preferences, and hit submit. 

It asked if I was sure, and I hit yes and submitted my info. A confetti effect appeared on my phone and said I was successfully entered into the lottery. It laid the next steps, which read: “Go to sleep, and be ready for a new you!” 

It was pretty anticlimactic to be honest. But whatever, the damage was done and I just had to wait for this magical switch to happen. I scrolled my Twitter timeline for a bit before I couldn’t stay awake anymore and fell dead asleep. 

***

I slept so good that night. I felt so refreshed when I woke up from the sunlight hitting my face. That feeling of total relaxation didn’t last long however. I caught a glimpse of the bedroom I was in and quickly realized it was not my room. I saw a wall of shoes and a neatly organized rack of clothes, all of which weren’t mine.

I sat up in the bed in a panic. I was alone in the room. I was freaking out, but then I figured it was probably just a prank by my friends.

“Alright guys, you can come out-”

I stopped mid sentence when I heard my voice. It was lower than I remember it. I reached out to touch my neck, and I felt stubble brush against my hand. I touched my face and felt a beard growing in. But I had just shaved! This was not me!

I jumped out of the bed and saw that I was fully clothed. There was a phone and a wallet I didn’t recognize on the floor. I picked up the wallet and pulled out the ID in it. It belonged to some guy named Fernando Castillo. I grabbed the phone and unlocked it with the face ID.

“Not a good sign,” I said out loud. 

I opened the camera in selfie mode and saw Fernando’s face on the phone. I looked between the ID photo and the face on the camera. No matter how many times I checked there was no doubt about it, I was now Fernando Castillo. 

I noticed a mirror on the wall and walked up to it. I still had the phone on in my hand. I switched to the outer camera and took a mirror photo of me.

Damn... this guy was hot. Err, rather, I was hot I guess? I’m Fernando now. 

I felt around my new body with my free hand. I lifted the shirt and saw my chest. I couldn’t help it, I had to take more pics. 

This guy was pretty lean, not totally shredded but still fit. He didn’t have too much body hair but he had a treasure trail. Just the way I like them. 

I took off the shirt and jacket and started feeling all over my new body. I loved it. Every touch felt brand new as I explored my new body. This guy had thick thighs and a nice ass too. 

I remembered the mirror, and suddenly had an idea. I adjusted where the mirror was pointing and leaned forward onto the bed. I grabbed the phone and took more pics. 

Damn... I’d fuck. 

My new dick started getting hard. I grabbed it through my jeans and rubbed it, letting out a moan as I did so. I couldn’t take it. I unzipped my jeans and my dick sprang right out. Fernando’s dick was longer than my own, and uncut too. I grabbed his dick and started jerking off. It felt so good, every stroke felt like pure ecstasy. 

“This is so wrong... but it feels so good...!”

I took off my jeans and shoes as fast as I could and kept stroking my new dick. I licked my fingers and started fingering my hole too. It was tight, and I could feel the hair as I slipped in my middle finger. I didn’t know if anyone else was in the house but I didn’t care, I moaned loud and hard. 

I was close. I wanted to edge but I was lost in the moment. I slipped in another finger in my ass, my strokes got faster and I felt the pleasure spread all over my body as I shot warm loads of cum all over the bed and floor.

My face felt warm. I was gasping for breath. My dick was still leaking out cum onto my legs. It was so much... no doubt the real Fernando hadn’t gotten off in a while. I had so much fun, I almost didn’t want to leave my new body. But I had to. I had to get back to my real body. 

I grabbed the phone and opened an incognito tab. I’m sure the app could bring me back if I tried. You know, that one app..... What was it called again?

I stared at my phone as I tried to remember the name, but I drew a blank. Damn it! Was the name of that... that... Was I looking for again? I felt like it had something to do with my phone, but I couldn’t remember what.

For some reason, I felt myself getting worried. I’m not sure why though. I felt like I had to go back... somewhere. I think I had to “become” someone else? No, that couldn’t be right. You can’t become someone else, that’s just fiction. I’m Fernando Castillo. Always have been, always will be. But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I was going to download something on my phone. It was no use, I couldn’t remember. 

I felt some cum run off my leg onto my bed sheets. I just jerked off, but I was still horny. Oh wait, maybe I wanted to download Grindr. Yeah, I wanna get fucked tonight. 

I went to download Grindr, and as I waited for it download, I took one last pic.

[itsallyscorner]

Just saw your little mix!reader au (LOVED IT) and I was thinking, what if y/n is kinda like Perrie aka the queen of leaking things and she's dating Tom and everyone makes fun of them bc they are THE couple that keeps spoiling/leaking stuff

Hello lovey!! Thank you for requesting and reading my other work, it’s very much appreciated!🥰 I love this request sm, omg. Happy reading, I hope you like it!💖

💌.

The King and Queen of Leaking

I had WAY too much fun with this request...enjoy!🥰

It had been a regular day in your household. You were in the kitchen starting up on breakfast while Tom was in his makeshift gym doing his morning workout. You were just finishing up on the eggs when your phone pinged. Glancing at your phone you saw that it was a text from Jade.

Jade💜: Babes! Check you email ASAP!!!

The texts in the band’s group chat began to flood in making you curious. Have you all done something to get in trouble with management? Maybe it was an awards nomination? Turning off the stove, you place the last pile of scrambled eggs onto Tom’s plate. After you set the plates on the table, you pull out one of the dining chairs and sit on it, pulling out your phone to see more texts from the girls.

Perrie🦋: Oh.My.God. I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!

Leigh-Anne😻: AHHHHHH THIS IS BIG!!! FIRST NUMBER ONE OF THE YEAR!!!

Jesy💖: I’m so so so SO proud of us!!! And our fans omg, they’re amazing!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Jesy💖: Where the hell is (y/n)???

Jade💜: Probs busy with Tom👀🍆💦

Perrie🦋: Has she not seen the news yet??

Leigh-Anne😻: Based on her lack of response, I’m guessing she’s busy😉

Jesy💖: (Y/N) I SWEAR HOP OFF TOM’S BLOODY DICK, SWEET MELODY IS NUMBER 1 ON THE CHARTS!!!!!

You gasp once you read Jesy’s last message. Your fingers move rapidly across your screen, exiting the messaging app to open up your email. The anticipation builds up in your body as you refreshed your inbox. Your leg bouncing as the little circle that went around and around popped up on your screen. For the last couple of days and weeks, your fans have been streaming Sweet Melody to top the charts and get it to Number 1. It has only been 10 weeks since “Confetti” has been released and the album has been getting an amazing response. Seeing your fans’ determination to get the song up the charts made your adore them even more and you just wanted to hug and thank every single one of them. You guys had the most amazing fans in the world, though many celebrities claimed that theirs were the best, Mixers were the crème de la crème in your eyes.

Your inbox refreshes and the first email you see is from the Official Charts Company, a company that celebrated singles that reached number one on the charts. You click on the email and carefully skim through the paragraph. When you read that Sweet Melody had officially charted at number one you let out an excited squeal. Tessa, who has been sitting beside your seat, jumped up to her feet the same time you did. Your crouched down as she happily bounced around you.

“Number one Tess! We made it to number one!” You squealed as you gently squished her face. She let out a bark before licking your face.

“Let’s go tell daddy the news, huh? Let’s go!” You couldn’t contain your excitement, the feeling rushing through your veins. You felt like your heart could burst from all the happiness you were currently feeling.

You practically ran to where Tom was, your feet moving as quick as your heartbeat. Tessa’s nails clicked against the wooden floors echoing in the hallway.

Tom, who had just finished his workout, heard the commotion outside. Your excited squeals and the sounds of both your and Tessa’s feet getting closer to him. The stomps came to a halt once you stopped at the doorway of his “gym”. He looks up from his phone and looks at you expectantly. You were beaming, like the sun that brought light into the room. His expression mirrors yours, but his smile was a bit more confused.

“Hi darling, what’s up?” He asks, removing his AirPods and placing them back into their case. You squeal excitedly once again as you run across the room and stand in front of him. Though, it was as if your feet had springs in them because you couldn’t stop jumping. Tom looks at you amused but was still confused.

“(Y/n), what did you do, love?” He asks. Maybe you were up to something?

You stop jumping for a bit and unlock your phone, shoving it into his face. He moves his face back so his eyes can focus but ends up taking the phone from you because you were moving too much. As you dance around the room, Tessa joining in on your little fiesta, Tom reads the email to himself. Once he reads the news his jaw drops looking up at you with wide eyes.

“NUMBER ONE BABY!” You scream before running into his arms. A look of shock is on his face before he screams “YES!” at the top of his lungs. Your legs wrap around his torso as his arms support your back and your bum. He starts shaking his hips and jumping around just like you were as you both celebrated your band’s huge success.

Your cheeks began to hurt from smiling too much, but you just couldn’t keep it off your face. You were too happy to keep a neutral face so you continued to smile. Tom looks up at you with the most proudest expression. He knew how hard you and the girls worked on every song on your albums, so to see that hard work being rewarded made him feel immense amounts of joy for you all.

You began to giggle as you hid your face behind you hands, Tom still carrying you. “I can’t believe this actually happened, oh my god.” Your voice came out muffled but Tom could still understand you. He chuckled while he placed your feet back to the ground. You leaned your head against his chest while his hands rubbed circles onto your back.

“Of course it happened love, you guys deserve it.” He places a kiss on your temple while he swayed you guys back and forth. His cheek resting against you hair as he held you. Your excitement boiling down to disbelief at the news.

He moved his head and gently removed your hands from your face. “Look at me.” Turns out you were silently crying, your tear stained cheeks making his heart drop, but then he noticed they were tears of joy.

You sniffled, smiling when Tom wiped some of your tears away. His hands cupped your cheeks while his eyes gazed at you lovingly, “You have no idea how proud I am of you— and the girls. You guys have worked day and night for this album to exist. I’ve seen you guys write each song and saw how much thought goes into each one, you guys are fucking incredible. Look at how much success it’s getting, you guys did that.”

You laughed as more tears ran down your cheeks. You groaned throwing your head back and wiping them away, “Well, I couldn’t have done it without you. You’ve been so understanding with everything and you managed to be one of my biggest inspirations for writing. Thank you. I love you so much.” You beamed at him before crashing your lips against his soft ones. You felt his lips curve up to a smile as his hands held your face. You suddenly pulled away, Tom chasing your lips, still stuck in your little moment.

“Oh my God! We need to tell the fans! They’ve been streaming for weeks!” You pecked his lips once more before rushing out the room. The excitement entering your body once again. Tom looks down at your phone in his hands smirking. He turned to Tessa, “Give her a few seconds.”

“MY PHONE!” He heard you exclaim in the hallway. Your head popped from behind the entrance. You skipped into the room and took the phone from Tom.

“I love you!” You sang, kissing his lips again, then skipping out to the hallway.

Before you can post anything of the band’s new achievement, you opened the group chat.

(Y/n)🌻: First off, I was far from Tom’s dick, I was actually cooking😌

(Y/n)🌻: Second, I love you all so much!!!!!! I can’t believe we did it, the amount of pride I feel to be part of this band is astronomical right now! Nine years together and we’re still making it, I love you guys!❤️❤️❤️

After you messaged the girls, you opened up Instagram. Meanwhile, Tom had joined you, dressed in new clothes and fresh out the shower. He hummed at the food on the table and pressed a kiss to your forehead, his way of silently thanking you. He sat in the chair beside yours and began to dig into his breakfast.

“Do you mind if I film a video real quick?” You ask him, looking into the camera as you fixed your hair. Tom wipes his mouth and swallows his food.

“Go ahead, tell the world you’re number one.” He teased you. You rolled your eyes though your lips were curved into a smile. You prepared yourself before pressing down on the circle.

Video:

“Hi guys! So I’ve just found out some amazing news and I thought you guys might want to hear it too—“ Tom began to drum on the table, making you look at him in amusement.

“Oh, that’s a good idea.” You nod, approving of his actions. When he stops drumming and points at you, you look back to the camera with a giant smile.

“Guys...WE MADE IT TO NUMBER ONE! SWEET MELODY IS AT NUMBER ONE ON THE CHARTS!” You announced, voice bouncing off the walls of your house. Behind you was Tom, also cheering equally as loud while he pumped his fists into the air.

“Thank you guys so much! The girls and I love each and every single one of you, you guys are the best fans in the world and we are forever grateful for you. Thank you!” You blew a kiss into the camera before ending the video.

You watched the video over then tagged the girls and the group’s Instagram. You quietly hummed Sweet Melody to yourself as you clicked around and added some stickers to your video. When you were content, you clicked on share and turned your phone off.

“Alright, celebratory breakfast.” You sang as you grabbed your fork and stabbed it into a strawberry.

Tom chuckled beside you and nudged your shoulder, “Then celebratory sex after?” You hummed at his suggestion, eyes teasingly squinting at him.

“Give me time to digest first. Then celebratory sex.” When Tom agreed you laughed and dug into your food. Everything was going great at the moment. Your song is number one on the charts, your career is flourishing, you had four amazing sisters, and you had the world’s best boyfriend. It was as if nothing could go wrong.

~half an hour later~

Tom had you pinned to the bed, light kisses scattering along your skin while his hands rubbed your thighs. With clothes still on, he was snuggled in between your legs, finding comfort in the tight space. He managed to get your top off leaving you in that red lacy bra he adored on you. His lips ghosted between the valley of your breast and down to your belly button. His lips stopping right above your sweatpants. He tilted his head back a bit to drink in your appearance. Hooded dark eyes, laid out before him, that red bra making your breasts look irresistible, you were perfect.

“Look at my pretty girl. Aren’t you stunning?” His voice was deeper than his usual chipper tone. The tone brought butterflies in your belly, the vibrations of his voice going straight to your core.

“I’m all yours, Tommy.” Your hand finds its way to the brown curls that rested on his head. You gently guide his head back up and pull his lips towards you. Your lips connect, first gently and almost innocent, but full of passion. The passion burns more when he presses his hard on against you, roughening up the passionate kiss, your teeths clashing and tongues wrestling. You were lost in his trance until your phone tinged.

Tom curses under his breath as you both jump from the sudden sound. You quietly apologize and mute your phone, not bothering to look at the notification. When you lay back on the bed, Tom’s palms press against you cheeks as he crashes you lips together. His hands move below you, tugging off your sweatpants. He was about to remove the last layer of clothing separating you two when your phone continuously began to vibrate. On the other night stand, Tom’s phone began to vibrate as well.

Your boyfriend groans plopping his head against your stomach. You sigh apologetically, hands now stroking his bare back.

“We should get that, seems important.” He kisses your stomach, hesitantly dragging himself off you. You roll over to your stomach and grab your phone.

Notifications

Jesy💖: We love you too my darling!! We miss you so much here in London:(

Perrie🦋: I would say let’s have a sleepover as soon as you come back from Atlanta, but the pandemic:( I miss you tons!!!🥺

Jade💜: I love youuuuuuuu❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Leigh-Anne😻: You absolute gem, I love you❤️

Jesy💖: (Y/n) what did you tag me in?

Jade💜: Wait, I’m tagged too.

Perrie🦋: I didn’t get tagged :(

Oh wait, I see it :D

Leigh-Anne😻: Why do I have a bad feeling about what she tagged us in?

Jesy💖: (y/n)?

(Y/N)!?

WHY IS SHE NOT REPLYING WHEN I NEED HER TO REPLY!

Perrie🦋: OIIII!!! AT LEAST IT WASNT ME THIS TIME🤪

Jade💜: Jesus, she’s turning into Tom, smh.

Leigh-Anne😻: She’s always been like this lmao

Tom’s only made her worse🙄

Jesy💖: (Y/N) DELETE YOUR FUCKING STORY ON INSTAGRAM THEY ARENT SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT SM IS NUMBER ONE YET!!!!!!!!!!

Jade💜: I bet you NOW she’s busy with Tom

hehehe🍆💦👀

Leigh-Anne😻: Babes!!! Now’s not the time to be doing the deed with Tom!!

Jesy💖: Hold on let me text Tom too.

Your eyes widen as you read the messages from the girls. A string of “shits” with a mix of “fucks” fall continuously out your mouth. You struggle to turn around, getting tangled in the sheets. When you finally sit up properly you go to your Instagram and rush to your stories.

“Uh, (y/n)—“

“Yeah, I know, I know.” You frustratedly mumble as your thumbs fumble on the screen. You go to your story and don’t even hesitate to delete the video you posted just half an hour ago. Tom’s phone rings and you swear you hear him gulp. He answers it, putting it on speaker mode and holds it away from his ears.

“Tom Holland I blame you!” You hear Jesy’s voice through the phone. You double check if you deleted the story before turning your phone off and shoving your face into your pillow.

“I didn’t even do anything!” Tom defended himself, almost laughing. Honestly, as bad as the situation was, it was ironic how it was his girlfriend that leaked the news. You guys are really meant to be.

“The hell you weren’t! Literally drumming on the table, you div! I can’t with you two!” Jesy exclaimed. You knew she was joking by the tone of her voice. “Where is your girlfriend anyway?”

Tom giggle shoving the phone next to your ear, “My lovely girlfriend is right beside me.”

You hear Jesy gag, “Babe, did you even read the email properly?”

You lift your head from the pillow and take Tom’s phone. “No, I got too excited about getting number one.” You admitted pouting. Tom chuckles at you, moving to lay beside you. His arms wrapping around your almost bare figure and shoving his head in between your breasts. Nothing sexual but because they felt like soft pillows against his cheeks.

“They said they’re announcing it on Monday.” She informed you chuckling. You whined and facepalmed yourself. “It’s okay, hun. You were just in the moment, I know how you can get. Although, the fans absolutely love it.” She mentioned.

“Do they?” You asked stifling a laugh.

“Having an absolute field day, they’ve deemed you the Queen of Leaks. Apparently Tom’s been crowned as your king.” She teases. You feel Tom laugh against your chest, his shoulders shaking.

“Alright, I’ll go now, let you two get back to what you were doing. I suggest lurking through Twitter and Instagram, the fans’ reactions are hilarious.” You bid your goodbyes and hang up. Tom’s head pops up from your chest, “Can we please go through the reactions?”

“I was thinking the same thing.” You tell him already opening up Instagram. You go through your tags to see a bunch of memes. Tom shifts to sit beside you, throwing his arm around your shoulder.

Some fan reactions:

🖤 1,944 likes

Tom watching (y/n) make her video and being the supportive boyfriend he is🥺 They’re made for each other I swear

🖤 1,393 likes

The girls watching (y/n)’s story and finding out she just leaked the news. We stan our Queen of Leaks😌🙌🏼👑

🖤 1,838 likes

Tom realizing that (y/n)’s really the one because they both can’t keep secrets without spoiling them. This is why they don’t have good things smh.

🖤 1,878 likes

Jesy calling the police, not for Tom, but for her because she’s ready to shred that boy’s ass for turning (y/n) into him💀

You and Tom spend the rest of the day stuck in bed going through the different reactions from your fans. They were entertaining, making you and your boyfriend laugh at your fans’ humor.

While you sat in between his legs, your back against his chest, Tom leans down to nuzzle his face into your neck. He breaths in the scent of you mixed with your shampoo, something he would never get tired of. You feel that goofy grin press onto your skin making you look up at him.

“Why’s that look on your face?” You ask hun teasingly.

“Because the fans have a point.”

“That we both can’t keep shit to ourselves?” You laugh. Tom makes a sound of agreement pulling you closer.

“Well yeah—but when they say that we’re meant for each other, they have a point. You really are my soulmate.” The goofy grin on his face was permanently stuck to his lips. You giggled shifting to peck his lips. When he sees you struggle he meets you halfway, finally touching those soft luscious lips of yours.

“I guess I am.” You hummed contently, mirroring that lovestruck look on his face. There was no other person in the world that you’d be willing to spend this moment with. The more you stared into those honey brown eyes of his the more you believed your fans; he truly was your soulmate.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 1

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

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

Ryuu to Sobakasu Hime (The Dragon and the Freckled Princess)

In the world of U, Belle met a dragon with a wound on his back.

“Who are you?”

Chapter 1: Invitation

A white line emerges in the darkness.

It slowly approaches. What is this line?

It gradually becomes clear. It's a series of units with intricate details. They are lined up regularly and repeatedly, like cells seen under a microscope.

Cells?

No, it's a "city".

This is a mysterious megacity called "U".

Created by the five wise men, the "Voices" who control the intellect of this world,

U is the ultimate virtual world.

The largest Internet space in history, which has surpassed 5 billion accounts worldwide and continues to expand.

You haven't played "U" yet.

It is displayed opposite to the shaped figure.

"We are investigating various shapes of U particles to embody this ethos, similar to the differences and peculiarities of each person in the world."

“Much like the difference and particularity that makes each individual in the world unique, this explores a variety of different shaped U particles to embody this ethos......"

One of the innumerable U particles is determined.

Authentication is complete.

"Welcome to the world of 'U'.”

U particles pop out from a myriad of smartphone-shaped windows.

Welcome to the world of U.

It's you, authenticated.

The U particle instantly turned into a pretty rabbit-shaped girl.

The announcement echoes.

"'U' uses the latest body-sharing technology so that everyone can relax, gather and enjoy."

Here, the avatar is referred to as "Az" (Az = Autonomous self).

Autonomous self. Az is your alter ego in "U".

The best AI that "U" is proud of is your Az.

Perform automatic generation.

U particles that also logged in are generated one after another in Az and fly from the window.

You can see it popping out.

Your Az - that is, a lovely girl with white, fluffy ears popping out of her sleek hat, descends like skydiving with your first friends.

The sea of ​​clouds, which had filled the field of vision, suddenly opened.

The brilliance of the skyscraper town reflected by the light of the twilight.

You will instinctively yell out in admiration.

The elaborately constructed geometric skyscrapers have no top and bottom, no left and right, and are layered on top of each other, creating an overwhelming evening view that has never been seen before.

A gorgeous shopping mall. Release that left the company while it was still bright in the evening

In the feeling, wander around Fifth Avenue, Champs Elysees, or Ginza.

It's such fun. Az dressed in colorful costumes are like a Venetian costume ball, and it's fun just to look at them. Graphical pieces of florets are spinning and floating like confetti. When you pick up one of them and smell the scent, a refreshing young scent lurks in the gorgeous and sensual. Perfect for the view of this city. You suddenly look up at the heavens while swimming like a bird on the rippling boulevard. Even in places that should be empty, upside-down skyscrapers are so crowded that they look like they are about to fall. There is a huge park that looks like a hollowed-out skyscraper town, and you can look down on the Az who play with it.

Is there a city that makes you feel so free?

You realize without a doubt, this is the center of the world.

The moon can be seen in the gaps between skyscrapers.

The announcement echoes.

<< "U" is another reality >>

《Az is another you》

<< Here is everything >>

The crescent moon that draws an arc below seems to be in the shape of a "U".

<< Reality cannot be redone. But if it's "U", you can start over. >>

<< Now, let's live another you. >>

《Now, let ’s start a new life》

"Now, let's change the world."

Suddenly, the noise of the city was cut off.

It's a song.

Someone is singing.

Where do you hear it? Many Az try to find the voice of the singer.

I'm turning. You, too, listen.

The song is magnificent and delicate. Intimate and powerful.

I'm drawn in unintentionally.

"Over there!"

Someone shouted. The line of sight of many Az gathers at one point.

A whale.

A huge whale dressed up with countless speakers is swimming leisurely between the upside-down buildings. At the tip of his nose, a small figure in a crimson dress can be seen. The song seems to come from there. The whale makes a roaring sound from the countless speakers it wears. She stands on the tip of the whale's nose and sings with an overwhelming voice that is comparable to the sound pressure of the whale’s roaring. What looked like a crimson dress was a flower dress made up of various types of red, such as dahlia, gerbera, and echinacea. She has unrealistically long pink hair. Blue eyes as deep as the sea. A beautiful woman.

And on her cheeks, there are freckles that look like they are engraved.

"Belle!" "Belle!"

The Az looked up at her and called her name from their mouths.

Her name is "Belle."

Lalalai Lalalai Running through a nameless time Unbeknown to anybody To reach that crescent moon Lalalai Lalalai Want to get to know you No matter how many times I awake Feeling like I can't even make a sound

"Belle!" "Belle!" "Belle!"

You are among the wide variety of Az who call her name. I knew it. Unknowingly singing Belle's song. She turns her face and smiles in response to the cheers. For a moment you feel like her eyes meet you and your chest squeezes. Once you see her, you'll be attracted to her and you can't take your eyes off her anymore. You're already captivated by her, even though you've just met her.

"Belle!" "Belle!" "Belle!" "Belle!"

Belle crossed her hand in front of her chest and spread it all at once.

At the same time, graphical flowers were emitted all at once from her body.

The flowers spread all over the city from the top of the whale that swims leisurely. Belle sings loudly, as if to bless every person, every event, every life. Who the hell is Belle?

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

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[buddydollysims2]

get to know me tag!

@nervosims tagged me! thanks so much! I love doing these every once in a while :)

rules: tag 9 people you would like to get to know/catch up with

last song you listened to: well, when I was tagged I believe the last song I’d listened to was It Ends Tonight by All American Rejects, but earlier I was listening to Qveen Herby and ended on Pink Cadillac.

last show you watched: I think the last new-to-me show I watched was Midnight Mass on Netflix, which is fucking phenomenal; do watch it if you haven’t seen it. I bawled like a baby at the end. Erin, my beloved... 🥺 I’m gonna add listened to too, because I listen to podcasts far more often than I watch any movies or shows, and since Is We Dumb just ended, I got into Can You Don’t? and the first episode was really good! I’m excited to hear what they do with it. No Accounting For Taste with Kyle Kinane and Shane Torres is also very good. (I’m a comedy junkie for the most part, if you couldn’t tell).

currently watching/listening to: always Qveen Herby. I started listening to her ironically but she’s actually everything and I love her so much. But right now I’m just bumpin’ to Wild Party’s Phantom Pop album, ‘cause I was in the mood for it. As far as watching, I have Stranger Things in my queue because I haven’t got to it yet o__o and First Bite because it looks really really good—praying it doesn’t disappoint my gay vampire-loving heart.

currently reading: Between books right now but I just read The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna, which I’ve been recommending to literally everyone because it’s just. It’s perfect, it’s everything. (Aro/Ace Protagonist if that sweetens the pot for you!) I will say though, if you look into it and intend on reading it, it’s very trigger heavy as there are very explicit descriptions of SA multiple times throughout the book. I had to take breaks from it a couple times as I was reading, but it was so worth the read. I tried to start Frankenstein because I’ve never read it before, but it’s a bit tough to focus on when I usually read because it requires more concentration, being from an earlier time and having more flowery language that’s easier to get lost in. So, I think when I can get back out to the bookstore I’m gonna pick up The Sirens of Titan and reread that, Kurt Vonnegut has never disappointed me, I always feel so refreshed after reading a Vonnegut novel, but I didn’t really comprehend TSOT when I read it in high school.

current obsession: One of my OCs; a resurrected death god who attempts to live the normal mortal life he was robbed of.

5 songs I’ve had on repeat lately: (According to my Spotify) 1. Confetti - Qveen Herby 2. Free - Florence + The Machine 3. Curls - Bibio 4. 1985 - Bo Burnham 5. WILD - Qveen Herby

I tag: @simsisit, @carrotsimspia, @pollination-technician-27, @simvac, @simspirations2, @slythersim, @simnationlifebefore, @beau-broke (love your blog! where’s your simblr at? I’m dumb and can’t find it), and @s1ndle ♥

No pressure to do this if you hate tags! y’all are just a combo of the most recent unfamiliar people in my activity feed (thanks for checking in!), some I already knew but haven’t interacted with a lot, and a few of y’all I just love. You know who you are (I hope!).

[whittakerjodie]

A Quick Reprieve (13th Doctor X Reader)

For: The lovely @evening-sol who I know is going to do amazing on her upcoming exam. Love you. 

A/N: sorry for lack of writing. Have this. 

Typically, your alarm would shatter your slumber and let you know that it was time to start your day. But tonight, or more accurately, this morning, you were already up and alert; you had been, the entire time. Before you, on your desk, lay a plethora of notebooks, papers, flashcards- anything and everything that could prepare you for the upcoming exam. It was a cloud that had been hanging over your head for weeks now, and you weren't sure if you’d be ready to face the rain when it broke open. All you could do was prepare and it seemed like there was no limit to the hours you had to spend to do that.

A consequence of that was the fact that you had spent the whole night awake, rereading almost every single word and yet feeling as though you weren’t absorbing any of them. One more round, you kept telling yourself, as you paused to blink the sleep out of your eyes. A hand moved to close the book in front of you. The book shut with a thump that was just as gentle as the hand that closed it. A gentle hand which was not your own.

“Seems like you’ve had enough of this for now,” more gentleness, this time in the form of a quiet whisper. You tilted your head back. Although your eyes were half closed, you could still see the Doctor’s face peering down at you, her lips molded into a small frown.

“What’re you doing here?” You asked, wincing at the way your dry throat was scratched by the words. The Doctor reached over you to start gathering your notes into piles. It didn’t seem like she had a plan when she began the attempt, but somehow it seemed as though she was organizing it all quite nicely. Or at least you hoped, for the sake of your studying. You watched her as she tucked it all under her arm and grabbed a blanket from your bed.

“Are you too tired to walk?”

“Depends. Where am I walking to?”

“Yeah, you definitely sound too tired. Be right back!” the Doctor said, a bit more cheerfully. Her very awake personality and movements contrasted with your tired ones a little bit too much, and you realized just how drastic they were. Suddenly everything felt very heavy on your shoulders. Without any notes to stare at, your eyes started to throw in the towel. What perked you up was the sound of the TARDIS materializing. You didn’t open your eyes, which had shut, but if you did you would’ve seen the TARDIS parking itself around you, inviting you into its infinite depths. Your chair and your desk, too, meaning you’d have to move them later. But beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“I really don’t… want to move,” you admitted, completely slumped against the chair. You heard paper slap against the console as the Doctor set your papers down. Then the sound of paper hitting the floor. You peeked through one eyelid to see all of your notes scattered on the floor. They had apparently not found a comfortable resting place on the console. The Doctor stepped in front of them, walking over to you.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Might wake up with a hurt back though.”

You groaned; after everything else, the last thing you needed was a hurt back.

“Are you okay with me carrying you to your room?”

Normally, such an offer would make you blush like mad. But the blood in your body had settled for the night and you just grunted in response, hoping the TARDIS translated the ‘yes’ hidden in it. Your hopes came true as the Doctor pulled you into her arms, lifting you off of your chair and away from your desk. You didn’t even make it to your bedroom before your eyes screwed shut, determined to get some rest.

When you awoke, your cheek tingled with the memory of a gentle touch and your hair seemed less tangled than it usually was upon waking, as if someone had combed through it for you. Lately when you woke up, your body would tense and your mind would kick into its highest gear, nervous for the day ahead and the studying that you had to fill it with. But this time you felt completely at peace, as if everything was paused and waiting for you to decide when to press play again. Like you were completely in control. It felt nice. As did the sheets and comforter that covered you, joined with the blanket the Doctor had brought from your room. She had laid it over you, you realized. She had tucked you in.

Oh, she had carried you to bed. Now that your body was awake, your blood rushed to your face and you hugged the blankets a little bit closer, trying to hold onto the realization as tightly as you could. After a few moments, your mind considered the timelord in a different way: where was she?

You decided to find out after a long moment, grabbing your blanket and wrapping it around yourself like a cloak. It floated behind you as you quickly walked through the halls of the TARDIS, your strength and awareness renewed. After several empty rooms and one encounter with a horse, you found a large open space with no defined ceiling or walls. Despite the lack of basic room features, the Doctor had found a way to string up several strands of crepe streamers in various colors. Each color seemed to be in just the shade that you preferred, blending together beautifully.

“You shouldn’t be up yet!” The timelord complained from behind you. Head moving towards the noise, you found her sitting criss-cross applesauce on the ‘floor’. It seemed as if she’d rolled around in the same streamers that she had decorated with, as they were tangled all around her body, like there had been a failed party-themed mummification. She glanced down at them and smiled sheepishly, then wiggled out of them, as if she wasn’t aware that they could simply be torn. Maybe she didn’t want to tear them. After all, it seemed as though she had a plan to use them to really pull the rest of the room together.

You realized that the stretches of the room, glaringly white upon entering, were actually shifting through a variety of gentle shades at a slow pace. It gave the impression that the room was pulsing, alive. Like the TARDIS was celebrating with you. But celebrating what? What was the Doctor getting up to?

“What’s this for?”

“For you! Well, once I get everything else in here” she said with a loud scronch of her nose. “Took me a while to find the party supplies. Got chased by a tiger.”

“For me?” You asked.

“Yeah!” the time lord stood, brushing herself off. In the movement, a small bit of confetti fell from her pocket. She kicked it aside with her foot. “That was for later. Don’t worry, plenty more where that came from. These pockets are bigger on the inside after all.”

She patted the fabric for good measure, and a little bit more confetti fell out. 

“You can go off and rest some more, or study if that’s what you need! I have everything set up for you in the library. You can tell me when you feel ready, and I’ll drop you off for the exam. But only when you’re absolutely ready, okay? No rushing yourself.”

Before you could speak, her voice barrelled on. She put her hands on her hips and stuck out her chest, as if making an important announcement. “Then, after the exam, we celebrate!”

After that, the Doctor had pushed you out of the room and towards the library. She had indeed made sure everything was set up for you. There were multiple tables put together so that all of your notes had their own space instead of sitting in piles. Behind the tables sat what appeared to be the most comfortable chair in existence. The curves and support seemed to be a perfect fit for your body, something you could tell without even sitting in it. Once you did, you couldn’t help but sigh a little in relief. It felt like the chair was going to take on some of the pressure you knew would come from tackling your notes again.

It was nice to have everything laid out in front of you and to revisit it after a nice break. Everything felt refreshed. Your brain seemed prepared to take on more information and hold it tight until it was ready to be moved to the far reaches of your mind after the exam. The exam. Even though you felt eager to tackle your notes again, the thought of the exam still set you on edge. The Doctor had said that she would drop you off at the exam when you felt ready to take it. But would you ever feel ready? You felt transported to the night before, when you were so sure that no amount of time could ever be enough.

A large part of you felt ready to get it over with, equipped with all of the knowledge you’d learned in class and nearly memorized while studying. But a small part of you worried that there was some missing piece that would trip you up. An unexpected or confusingly worded question that would throw you off the rhythm you were already worried about.

All of a sudden you blinked. You must not have done it for a while. Your eyes felt dry and, with a groan, you realized that they already felt tired both in the sense that they were bored and exhausted. Suddenly it didn’t seem so nice that your notes were all spread out. Now you had to take in how much there was, how overwhelming all of the information was to handle. You pushed yourself away from the tables, the rolling chair carrying you far across the room.

Awkwardly but determined, you managed to kick yourself back into the Doctor’s party room on the rolling chair, not wanting to move from it despite moving destinations. The time lord perked up at the sound of the chairs' tires moving across the floor. Somehow, in the few minutes that you’d been gone, she’d gotten a significant amount of decorating done. Perhaps you waking up had made her feel the need to work faster.

“Something wrong? Not stuck to the chair I hope? It hasn’t come alive? There is plastic in it, and sometimes the Autons-”

“No, Doctor, the chair isn’t alive” You confirmed. “Very comfortable though. I just… wasn’t comfortable with all the other stuff”

Seeing the Doctor’s confused and concerned expression, you quickly clarified “The studying. I don’t know, I guess it’s just hard to go back to it after a break, even though I probably should. “

“Or you could take a longer break!” the Doctor suggested eagerly. “Little trip? Or two? We could meet all the science greats! Historical figures, or even just someone you really like”

You considered it for a moment, but shook your head. “I don’t know, Doctor. I’m torn. I feel like I could do that, I could run and take an eternity to study. But I also want it over with, you know? Sometimes I feel like I need so much more time and sometimes I wish that I could just go ahead and get it done. “

“Which voice is louder?”

“Neither.”

The Doctor put down the party supplies that she was holding. Several packages of un-inflated balloons sat on the floor, all in your favorite colors. The sentiment pricked your heart a little.

“Do you know what I think?” The Doctor said, bringing your attention back to her. Her stance had softened and she stepped in front of you, cupping your chin and making your eyes meet. “I think that you could follow either voice. Do whatever you need, whatever feels best. But either way it wouldn’t change the fact that you are capable of taking that exam.”

“Capable of taking it maybe. Getting a great score…” you sighed, looking around at the room. “I mean, I appreciate the hope and your effort setting up this celebration and all but if I don’t pass-”

“Then we’d still celebrate” The Doctor said, her voice strong and sure. “You don’t think I set up this party for some number, do you?”

She moved behind your chair, setting her hands on your shoulders and squeezing reassuringly. “I set this up to celebrate you and your hard work. Because that’s what matters. Not what score you get.”

She shifted her hands to the back of the chair and began to pull, then push, and you were off, directed by her whim and hanging on to the seat for dear life.

“How many hours have you studied?” She yelled as she propelled you through the TARDIS. The lights seemed to fly by- how fast was she moving, and where was she taking you?

“I don’t kn- Doctor!” You yelled. She had turned a corner all too sharply, nearly knocking you out of the chair. You leaned backward for your own safety, pressed up against the back of the chair.

“How many hours have you spent in school learning”

You could only squeal in response as the Doctor turned another corner, her need for speed becoming concerning as she asked you questions. Another few corners past and you found yourself laughing. Whether it was out of nerves or joy, you weren’t sure. Perhaps the notes of laughter were a mix of both melodies, creating a funny feeling in your stomach.

“How many tests? Exams?”

“I-” you nearly choked on air. “A lot, I guess?” The console room came into view, and then Doctor slowed to a stop in front of the TARDIS doors. Your brain was whirring, late in realizing that you’d stopped moving. The Doctor stepped back in front of you, hands still on the back of the chair. She was leaning over you, peering down into your wide eyes.

“All of that- all of the studying, the hours spent in school, and the other assessments. You’re here, aren’t you? “

You nodded slowly.

“You’ve made it this far, after all of that. If this fear you’re feeling, about not passing or not having studied enough, had the power to stop you, it would’ve done so already. But it hasn’t. You’ve faced it each and every time and come out on top. Now you’ve just got one more go at it. And do you know what? I think you’ll do brilliantly”

You just stared up at her, enthralled by her words and her eyes. Both were so honest, awakening a sense of security within you. She was right. You’d felt this fear before, and what had happened? Everything had still led to this point, where you were so close to achieving everything that you wanted to. Perhaps the fear wasn’t a stopping point or a hurdle, but something to carry along with you like you always had. Like a companion.

“Did the TARDIS just brighten the lights or did I see a spark in your eye?” The Doctor whispered, the words moving through the air like they alone had the power to carry you through the doors.

“I- I think you saw a spark, yeah,” you said. “I guess you’re right. And I guess I know, now, which voice is louder. “

“Yeah?” the Doctor said excitedly.

“Yeah!” You said with a smile. “Maybe I am ready to just get it over with. I think I’m ready to take the exam, Doctor. “

“Oh, you always were,” The time lord said with an exaggerated tone, pushing herself off of the chair. The movement pushed you further towards the doors, towards the inevitable that you were indeed ready for. “But I bet the extra rest was nice!”

You rose from the chair, watching the Doctor punch in the coordinates for the time and a date of your exam. How she knew of them already, you had no idea, but your heart warmed at the fact that she was so eager to take you.

Your heart was pounding and your stomach was contorting with nerves of all sorts. But you knew that they wouldn’t change anything. You were going to do your best on the exam, just as you had done with everything else in your academic career. Being reminded of the strength that you had, the knowledge that you had, and all of the distance you’d put behind you so far helped carry you out the door. 

You barely registered the Doctor’s “Good Luck!”

[dem-obscure-imagines]

New Year’s Eve Drabbles 2020

Fandoms: Jumanji, Rise of the Guardians, Ben 10 Alien Force, Maleficent, the Hunger Games

Note: Happy New Year! Here’s to hoping 2021 is a little kinder. I did a set of New Year’s Eve drabbles a few years ago and it was a lot of fun, so here you go! I hope you like them!

Warnings: Hunger Games spoilers

Alex “Seapilot” Vreeke x Reader

Word Count: 0.4k

The idea of a new year, admittedly, made Alex a little nervous. It was only a few months before that you had found your way into Jumanji with your new friends, rescued Alex, and brought him with you to modern day. And the six of you had figured: What better way to celebrate the new year than to have a little party?

So, you’d helped Bethany and Martha get the living room of Bethany’s house ready while Spencer, Fridge, and Alex picked up pizza, snacks, and drinks. You set some party favors out on the table. There were cute glasses proclaiming the new year, noise makers, candy, streamers, balloons, and some confetti.

When the boys got back, you helped set up the kitchen and Alex walked over to you, helping you unload the pizza and breadsticks and garlic knots. You kept catching him glancing at you, but every time you looked at him, he glanced away nervously, chuckling to himself.

“What?” You asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just…I have this irrational fear that when midnight hits, all of this will go away.” He exhaled a long breath. “And I’ll be there all over again.”

“Hey.” You grabbed his arm, grounding him in the moment. “That’s not gonna happen, alright? You’re not going anywhere, and neither are we.”

“You’re stuck with us, Vreeke.” Fridge said, giving Alex a pat on the shoulder. “Nothin’s gonna happen. It’s over. The game is gone.”

“I know, but…It’s just stuck in my head.”

“It’s gonna be okay, alright? I’ll…” you bit your lip, thinking. “I’ll take your mind off of it.”

“Okay,” He nodded. And he didn’t know exactly what you meant, but he trusted you.

So, when 11:59 rolled around, you walked right over to where Alex was standing, his hands shaking, his eyes fixated on the TV screen, and you cupped his cheeks in your hands, turning his face to yours.

“Stay with me. Stay right here with me.” You whispered to him, your eyes focused on his. “No numbers, no countdown, just us. Just you and me.”

“I like the sound of that.” He whispered back, his hands resting on top of yours for a second before sliding down to your waist and tugging you closer.

And so you stayed there, and when the clock struck midnight, your lips met his, soft and sweet and everything he ever dreamed they’d be. When you pulled away, he exhaled a long breath, his eyes sparkling.

“That’s the first time I’ve been kissed in twenty years.” He said softly.

“You want a second one?” You asked.

He didn’t even reply, just pulled you closer and aligned his lips with yours once more.

Jack Frost x Reader

Word Count: 0.3k

The relationship you had with Jack was, well, complicated. You were a college student. You’d been friends with Jack for a few years because you were, what he called, the oldest believer. Even long after Santa had stopped bringing you presents, you still believed, and therefore, when Jack had flown past your window one night and your jaw dropped, he decided to loop back around.

The rest was history.

You were at a college party to celebrate the new year, but honestly, you just weren’t feeling it. So, you wandered up the stairs, found an empty bedroom, and opened the window to get some air.

“Oh come on, party girl, tapping out already?” Jack said, floating just outside the window.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood.” He shrugged. “What’s up?”

“New Year’s Eve party.” You told him. “It’s hot down there. And loud.”

Just as you said it, all the people in the lower level of the house started shouting numbers.

“Sounds like it’s almost over, though.” He floated closer and sat on the windowsill. “Hey, uh…” he reached up to scratch the back of his neck, his icy blue eyes landing on yours. “Do you mind if I do something I’ve been wanting to for a really, really long time?”

“What would that be?”

“Well, it’s a surprise.” He tilted his head. “Can you close your eyes?”

And while you knew Jack was a trickster in every meaning of the word, you closed your eyes, waiting in the window, the cold air refreshing on your face and in your lungs. And then, a few moments later, you felt something cold and soft against your lips. You couldn’t help but kiss him back.

Ben Tennyson x Reader

Word Count: 0.4k

It was Kevin’s idea to have a little New Year’s Eve party. Of course, it was just the four of you, the team, celebrating. You had been exiled to the back seat with Ben and because you were on patrol, there was no champagne to be had.

Gwen had, however, brought along some plastic wine glasses and a bottle of sparkling grape juice. It was better than nothing, and though you didn’t admit it, you were glad you were with the other three of them. It was better than spending the night alone.

Kevin drove the car out into the middle of the field and parked, tuning the radio to a New Year’s Eve broadcast. It was then that the four of you split into pairs. Kevin wrapped an arm around Gwen and they stepped off away from you and Ben, who stayed closer to the car.

“Want me to top you off?” He asked, holding up the bottle of sparkling juice.

“Sure, thanks.” You held up your glass and he poured more juice into it.

“A new year, huh?”

“Yeah…” You nodded an took a sip. “Weird.”

“Weird.” He agreed. “I have this weird, funny feeling that things are just gonna get weirder from here on out.”

“It always seems to where the four of us are involved.” You chuckled, sitting on the front of Kevin’s car.

Ben joined you.

You motioned to Kevin and Gwen, off in their own little world. “They’re good together, you know?”

“They are.” Ben chuckled, shaking his head. “That’s weird too, but…it’s getting less weird.”

“Mmhmm.” You nodded. You sighed and looked up at the stars. There were so many. So many planets and solar systems and galaxies in the vast, vast universe spread out before you. “It’s gorgeous.”

“It is.” He agreed, but he wasn’t looking at the sky. He was looking at you.

About twenty minutes later, the countdown started. You’d never had feelings for Ben. You didn’t know why. He was cute, he was confident, and yet, you’d never felt anything romantic for him. Well, until tonight. When the countdown got dangerously low, he looked at you and you looked at him and it just…clicked.

So, under the sparkling stars, side by side, you brought in the New Year with Ben Tennyson, his lips interlocked with yours.

Diaval x Reader

Word Count: 0.3k

You had to hand it to her, Maleficent threw quite the party. It was the eve of the new year, and to celebrate, Maleficent had called together all of the people of Aurora’s kingdom and all the fae of the Moors.

You were an enchantress from the kingdom, someone who was magical, but unaccustomed to the woods. You were wearing a fine silver gown made of silk and a moonstone circlet around your head. In your hand, you held a goblet of champagne, and as you walked through the forests, which were lit up with the gentle glowing magic of the creatures who inhabited it, you couldn’t help but be amazed by their beauty and grace.

You continued through the Moors and, inevitably, ran into a tall stranger. Quite literally. You found yourself standing right in front of a tall man with dark hair hanging in his face. It took you a moment to recognize him. This was Diaval, Maleficent’s companion and shapeshifter.

“Pardon me, didn’t see you there.” You apologized.

“I blend into the dark, I’m afraid.” He chuckled. It was true, with his dark hair, dressed in all black, he did indeed blend in with the shadows.

“No harm done.” You smiled. “I’m (Y/N).”

“Of the (L/N) house?” He asked, his eyes widening. “You’re the enchantress.”

“I am.” You nodded, smiling softly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He said, taking your hand in his and raising it to his lips. “Maleficent has mentioned introducing the two of us, but she’s been…busy, it seems.”

“I can imagine taking care of two kingdoms would be quite the task,” you mused softly. “Well, the pleasure is mine, Diaval. I will admit, your abilities are intriguing to me.”

“Oh. They’re not mine. It’s Maleficent’s magic that granted me this form. Usually, I’m a raven.” He admitted, a sheepish smile finding his face.

“Fascinating.” You said, your eyes alight with awe. “Well, Diaval, what do you say to accompanying me for the evening?”

He slipped his arm through yours, his dark eyes sparkling and a promise written in his smile. “I’d be honored.”

Peeta Mellark x Reader

Word Count: 0.7k

Another New Year’s Eve alone with your books. You couldn’t complain, though. It was quiet. It was nice. It was you, the TV, your cat, and the Hunger Games books. Specifically, you were reading the first book, starting the series over again for what felt like the thirtieth time. Your books were very worn, the spines cracked beyond repair. You loved them and everything they stood for.

So, you opened the cover and pulled the bookmark out. You were nearing the end of the games. Peeta was hiding from the careers somewhere while Katniss took care of Rue. And when she died, as she always did, you cried. A few of your tears landed on the page of the book, and when the third tear landed on the paper, you heard a thud in your kitchen.

Looking up, you searched the room for your cat, but you spotted him on the chair across from you, notably, not making a mess in the kitchen. So, slowly, you walked through your apartment until you reached the doorway of the kitchen. You thought maybe one of your barstools had fallen over or something. But no, sitting in the middle of your kitchen, a shocked look on his face and a large gash on his leg, was none other than Peeta Mellark, right down to the District 12 jacket and the Josh Hutcherson face.

“What the fuck.”

“Is this…Where…where am I?”

“In my kitchen. In my apartment. Are you…You’re Peeta Mellark.”

“How did I get here?”

“I don’t know.” You shook your head. You looked at his leg, the shock of a fictional character sitting in your kitchen wearing off when you realized he was injured and bleeding pretty badly. “Shit, you’re bleeding! Um, I’ll get a first aid kit. Stay right here.”

You ran to your bathroom and back, carrying your first aid kit. He was lucky you knew your shit. He was also lucky he’d landed there before it got too badly infected.

“What district is this?” He asked, looking around your apartment, still sitting on your tile floor. “Where am I?”

“Peeta, I don’t know how to tell you this.” You sat down and opened your first aid kit, pulling out some ointment and bandages. “This isn’t one of the districts. This is another…world? Reality? I don’t know the terminology, but…”

“What do you mean?”

“Once I patch you up I will try to explain everything, okay?” You applied some hydrogen peroxide to his cut and then put ointment on it, wrapping it up in bandages. “Is that too tight?”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you.” His eyes were grateful, but you could tell he was still shaken up.

You helped him to his feet and he limped to the living room with his arm over your shoulder for support. Once you got him settled in a chair, you walked back out to the kitchen and got him a glass of water and the leftover half of a Subway sandwich that was in your fridge. You were planning on eating it for lunch the next day, but he needed it more than you did.

“You must be starving. Here.”

“Thank you so much.” He said, taking an eager few gups of water. You knew he was definitely dehydrated. “I’m pretty sure this is just some amazing dream.”

“It might be.” You shook your head, chuckling to yourself. “I don’t know how to explain this to you, but, here…” You handed him all three of the Hunger Games books and watched his face as he looked them over, curious but sullen.

“This…this is a joke, right? I’m not…this is…how…?”

“I don’t know either. But, um, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to. Or as long as you want to. I can’t imagine going back to a place like that. To the games…”

“You’ve read these a lot, huh?” He noticed how beat-up they were and looked up at you. “Why?”

“They give me hope. Things are pretty bad in my country right now, and it gives me hope that even though things are bleak, they can get better.”

“So they do get better?”

“They will, Peeta. It’ll get worse first, but they will get better.”

He smiled a soft but painfilled smile.

Your TV announced that the new year had arrived, and when you looked, it was indeed midnight.

“Happy New Year,” you said quietly.

He nodded and let out a long sigh before repeating, “Happy New Year.”

[fragileizywriting]

the stars are nothing (compared to your constellations of freckles)

pairing: Adrien / Marinette word count: 7,521 chapter: 1/1 rating: G summary: “I used to have a huge— huge— crush on you when we were younger. She took hold of it and has been running with the idea that we’re perfect for each other ever since then.” Adrien nearly choked on his drink. “Really?” “It was embarrassing.” Marinette placed the cup down and rubbed her fingers together for warmth. “B-but trust me, the crush is gone now, don’t worry.” “G-gone?” Was the sky spinning, or was he just seeing things? Was he melting? Even while sitting, he felt like the world had been pulled out from underneath him. She used to have a crush on him. She used to have a crush on him. Only to give it up so she could— so she could— Date Chat Noir. Date him. His breath crumbled in his lungs, suffocating and painful in the cold air. AO3 link

He heard her first before actually seeing her. His back turned to their tent in the cool, chilly night— he knew just by the sound of her voice she had tucked herself into her knitted cap, and layered long sleeves to keep the cold air from permeating into her skin. “Oh— Hi, Adrien.”

“Did I wake you?”

“No, no. Just— just looking for something to do for a little while. Couldn’t fall asleep?”

He poked a bit at the firepit with a metal prong, watching the flames lick the sides of the sticks he’d put inside the bowl the way Nino had taught him to do. He sat back onto his little floor cushion, turning just so to catch a hint of Marinette’s pink lips pulled into a shy smile as she zipped the tent behind her closed.

He shook his head, warm in the chest as Marinette pulled out another cushion from the small laundry bag they had brought to store them in, and she sat close to the fire. Close enough for him to wrap his arms around her, if he were any bolder, or if he was any less terrified. “Not yet. Nino is moving too much, and I can’t find his phone to stop the music blaring from his headphones— I’d follow the wire, but they’re bluetooth. He’s going to go deaf in his sleep one day from how loud it is.”

Her laughter filled him to the brim with warmth, and he couldn’t stop himself from letting his own smile form.

“What about you? What are you doing out here instead of sleeping?”

She laughed to herself, rubbing her hands together, trying to keep herself warm. He wished he could reach over to her and warm them for her— but he was nothing more than a stranger to her. He turned his attention back to the fire to keep himself from acting on impulse. “Oh— well— It’s embarrassing to admit, really.”

He smiled into the collar of his sweater. “Try me.”

Always up for a challenge, Marinette’s eyes sparkled as she took his bait. “I move a lot in my sleep, too. I’m a hugger.”

“Oh really?” Adrien wanted nothing more than to tell her that he knew exactly that. He knew what Marinette looked like tucked under his chin, arms somehow making it to his hair and petting behind the ears. The sweet smell of milk soap on her skin making up for the headbutts he’d get as she tossed and turned in his arms. The way to only manage to get her to hold still for even a brief period of time was to sleep on top of her, blanketing her in his own weight.

He knew that she hated his fake snoring. He wasn’t sure if he did it for some backwards irony to make up for the lack of sleep he always got, but he loved the sweet and generous laughter he got out of her from it.

He knew that her laughter was contagious past nine at night— where her smile would take form into one of the most beautiful sights he’d ever seen, where her eyes would twinkle like stars.

He knew that when she finally did sleep, and finally did stop moving for the night, her weight was comforting on him— assuming that somehow she’d flipped their positions throughout the night to rest her head on the space on his shoulder. She’d always complained about the sleekness of his hexleather costume and how it was impossible for her to feel comfortable without slipping off, and yet she fell asleep for hours on him without having her head slip off him uncomfortably.

He knew that her hair tickled his nose when she slept, and that he only slept well when he could smell the easy scent of her shampoo pressed up against him.

And he knew that Marinette only slept well when she could press the meat of her palm on the space just below his clavicle, letting her hand rest where his chest rose and fell.

“Oh, yeah. I’m a total annoyance— Alya hates it— she feels claustrophobic whenever she sleeps near me, so I’m letting her get some sleep before I head back in.” Marinette sat back, humor lining her own voice, completely oblivious to the way Adrien was buzzing in his seat with yearning— wishing to the point it hurt to just reach out to her and kiss her. “How long have you been out here for?”

“I’m not sure. An hour, I think?” Adrien poked at the fire again, flipping one of the sticks over to the other side and watching the fresh bark crumble and burn. Ever since they’d tucked in for the night, he hadn’t been able to sleep. It’d been a long while since he had to sleep without Marinette with him, and the experience was foreign.

His hands had gravitated so much towards the other heat source in bed— Nino— looking for a hand to hold or someone’s neck to nuzzle. He’d nearly pulled Nino onto him like he was used to doing with Marinette— and while he was sure Nino wouldn’t mind, Adrien had left the tent before it had gotten embarrassing. He missed her warmth.

He didn’t know heartache could be so strong.

Marinette fiddled with her phone, swiping through her conversation on her apps, waiting for the circle bar to finish loading and refresh for new messages. Nothing. Adrien tried not to pay attention to what was on her phone— he was just a friend, she didn’t know him— but he couldn’t help himself watch her refresh their conversation over and over again on a blackened messenger app, lilac pink chat bubbles jumping back and forth on her screen with every refresh.

Waiting for a response from him.

Him.

Chat Noir him.

But not Adrien him.

She sighed to herself, biting her bottom lip, accepting the lack of internet. “I guess there’s no signal out here?”

“I tried sending out a couple of messages already,” He nodded, admitting to her face that he had tried to respond. She didn’t know he was referring to that— was it obvious in his eyes at how much he wished he could say it to her? “Nothing— uhm— nothing went through.”

They break eye contact after a moment.

His heart felt heavy.

“Oh, wow. The service here must be a lot worse than I thought. I hope we don’t need to contact anyone this weekend, or anything like that.” Marinette crossed her legs in front of her, wiping her palms on her pajama pants. Chat Noir paw-prints dotted all on the legs— a gift from him last christmas. He’d bought it off of the original fan merch website after spending a while looking for what to get her. She’d laughed about it, given Chat Noir a glare that had dissolved into laughter as he had opened his own gift and confetti had ruptured out of the small box.

He loved the bed slippers she had given him, and always made sure to hide it away under his bed or in his closet whenever his friends came over.

It wasn’t a gift for Adrien. Because it wasn’t for this half of him.

It was a gift for Chat Noir— and he made sure to keep it away from his civilian friends. The mint green color for the bunnies was incredibly endearing.

She wore her own gift for laughs sometimes, always finding it incredibly humorous that he’d gone out and bought his own merch. He always made sure to pepper her face with kisses every time she wore it, telling her that she looked like she was his biggest fan. It never failed to make her laugh to the point of losing her breath.

Adrien never felt so far away from her than sitting right next to her in front of the fire.

It made him want to cry that Marinette had put it on willingly, unknowing that he was here, most likely for the simple reason to have a bit of him with her while she left the city for the weekend. Adrien blushed to himself, staring away from Marinette’s hands, who he’d gotten entranced to looking at the way they moved. He wished he could hold her hand. His voice felt weak. “W-well I’m sure we won’t need to call anyone for a while. We brought enough food to last for a week, Nino’s decision. If we hike up more of the mountain tomorrow, we’ll probably have more signal.”

A private smile filtered to her face, one that he shouldn’t be able to read. But he knew everything about Marinette now. She was excited to have service. She wanted to text him. She curled her legs in closer to her, holding herself tight, resting her forehead and tired eyes on her knees. The small lock of hair that escaped her cap fell from her shoulder, spilling softly onto her collarbone.

Adrien tried not to stare, the words he so desperately wanted to say and had practiced for the entire night getting stuck at the edge of his throat. He— he couldn’t do it.

Coward. Coward.

Marinette would hate him, wouldn’t she? She’d trusted her entire life with Chat Noir— but he was a nobody to her when he was Adrien. What chance did he have to ruin her trust like that, and hope that it turned out okay?

“I won’t be able to send a goodnight text tonight. I hope… I hope that’s okay.” Marinette murmured to herself, speaking into her knees. Adrien wondered if she missed him as much as he missed her— regardless of her being right next to him.

He wondered if he’d be able to tell her the truth like he had planned to. His mouth refused to move, his tongue pretending to be made out of cement. He’d fought countless of Akumas, stared at death hundreds of times— he faulters now. Here. An entire galaxy and universe between them, even as they’re just centimeters away from each other.

He pretended not to hear her, favoring on bringing the subject back to the cold. He poked a bit more at the fire, letting a fresh new stick fall into the pit, enjoying the way the flame licked the surface. “Hey, I think there’s hot chocolate left in the container from dinner. Do you want to share the rest of it?”

“Oh, that’s a great idea. Let me go find it. It’s in the cooler, right?” The fire coated her cheeks rosy pink. She’d gotten so much better at communicating with Adrien him the last two years ever since Chat Noir him had shown up at her doorstep— and while she was finally able to maintain eye contact with Adrien without squeaking, she was always outspoken with him whenever he was covered in hexleather as Chat Noir— always so opinionated and passionate. Adrien couldn’t help himself by falling in love. Smitten as a kitten.

Marinette would’ve loved that pun. He wished he could tell her it.

Just three words. Just three words. All he had to do was just say three words.

He poked at the fire listlessly, trying to hype himself up to tell her the truth. She deserved to know. She deserved to know that it was him. The boy who showed up at her door every night was nothing more than her classmate that she had managed to finally stop sputtering in front of. He wanted to tell her that he loved her outside of his suit— he wanted to tell her that he wanted to be with her always, hexleather or genuine skin— he wanted to fall asleep with her tucked underneath his chin every day for the rest of his life.

He continued to poke at the fire with his prong. He couldn’t tell her.

Marinette found her way back over to him and she pushed her floor pillow closer to him with a foot, trying to balance her phone in one hand and the camping insulation bottle in the other. Her smile shy, she sat down before she had even made up her mind. Adrien tried not to scare her off.

She passed him a cup, and Adrien wept on the inside at their fingertips touching each other. Why was he such a coward? Why couldn’t he turn to her and tell her— “Adrien? Everything okay?”

“Sorry,” He dropped the metal fire poker in his hand, leaning forward to give her better attention. She held the hot chocolate bottle in between two mittened hands, smile soft and curious on her face. He tried not to dissolve into a blush, cursing himself for letting his thoughts run away without him. He bit the inside of his cheek as she poured his drink for him, the sound of the fire crackling and hissing loud against the silence of their breaths.

He hadn’t been joking when he had said that Nino’s music had been too loud. Even when Adrien had originally gotten over trying to cuddle with Nino under the covers, the music blasting in his headphones was enough to wake Adrien up from the edge of sleep. Leaning back against the fallen log, cradling the cup of hot chocolate in his hands and looking into the fire, Adrien reasoned that he could fall asleep in the position he was in. He was sure his back would protest the hike they would go on the following day if he did, but at least he wouldn’t be waking up to his hand searching for body warmth.

“I feel kind of bad for the both of them.” Marinette pulled her legs up to put her chin on, hugging her knees with her arms.

“Who?” Adrien took a sip out of his cup. Lukewarm and agonizingly sweet from all the undissolved sugar that sat at the bottom of the bottle. Perfect for the chill. Perfect for him to get his mind off of things for a bit.

He could see from the corner of his eyes that Marinette was gazing into the fireplace, the strings from her cap falling across her shoulders. He wanted to reach over and tuck that stray piece of hair under her hat— brush her bangs back and kiss her forehead. “Alya and Nino. I feel kind of bad that they have to sleep in separate tents because of us.”

“I’m sure they don’t mind it.” He kept his tone polite, trying not to devolve into his usual banter of flirts. I wouldn’t mind sharing another bed with you. He was Adrien. He was just a friend. She didn’t know him well enough. She didn’t know how well their fingers intertwined.

A short chilly breeze cut through their conversation, sending a plume of smoke from the fire into their general direction. The two of them parted, jumping quickly off their cushions as they tried not to laugh too hard. The smell of smoke burned in his nose and stained his clothes— no doubt his hair smelled like smoke, too. He should’ve worn a hat to keep the smoke smell off. Too late now.

Marinette laughed from the other side of the firepit, the light bright enough for him to see how sparkly her blue eyes were. He could probably see stars in them, if he got close enough— he knew that they lived there often whenever she was with him. “Was that the fire telling us to go to bed?”

“Not a chance,” He kept his voice low, and took a sip from his cup. It just barely tasted like smoke, which was a good sign to keep drinking. “But it may have been the fire telling us to get warmer. It’s freezing out here.”

As if she’d noticed only when he said it, she nodded in agreement, suddenly shivering under her three layers of clothes. He hoped she wouldn’t catch a cold from how much shivering she was doing.

He passed her the handle of his mug and asked her to wait, unzipping his tent to grab for his blanket. He almost hit the back of Nino’s calf in search for an end of the blanket to pull on. He brought the blanket’s edge around his shoulders, letting a big portion of the fabric drape across his shoulder as he accepted his cup back. He held the rest of the blanket with his long arm and shrugged his shoulder, beckoning Marinette to come closer and share the blanket with him.

As a friend. Just a friend. Always a friend.

He was miserable without being able to touch her.

They sat back down on the pillows, shoulders barely touching. She accepted the other end of the blanket with a thankful smile, and draped the remaining fabric over her thin frame. They sat in comfortable silence, letting the smoke billow up and the blanket cover them from the chill. He sipped from his cup contently, trying his best to stay at ease with her next to him.

Soft, strained laughter made its way out of Marinette’s throat. “No, I don’t think Alya’s okay with sleeping away from her boyfriend. Alya’s been trying to get me to change tents with Nino the entire trip over. This was supposed to be their getaway from home, you know. I’m sure she doesn’t actually mind sleeping in another tent, but I think she’d like it a lot more if they were together.”

“Is that what the both of you were talking about in the back of the van?” Nino had wanted to drive for the majority of the car trip, saying that whoever drived was always considered the designated controller of the speakers. Alya had sent him in the passenger seat, claiming that his kilometers of model-legs would cramp in the back seat no matter how much space he was given. His chance to try to warm himself up to talking to Marinette had been squished.

Marinette and Alya had spent the entire car ride talking in hushed voices in the back of the van, and Adrien wasn’t able to hear them over the sound of the speakers. Marinette had been stained permanently red from whatever blush had come up throughout the trip by the time they had made it to the park they were camping at. At the time, Adrien hadn’t understood what the fuss was about.

“Y-yeah.” She took a sip from her own cup.

“I’m sorry.” He found himself speaking before he was able to think of something to say, fingers white-knuckling around his mug. “Uhm. I know I make you uncomfortable sometimes— so the switch— it wouldn’t have been ideal.”

Marinette turned to him as best as she could on her floor pillow, trying her best not to jostle her hot chocolate. “No— no you don’t— make me uncomfortable. Honestly— I— I’m just really shy.”

He knew that wasn’t true. He knew for a fact that Marinette wasn’t shy with anything except when it came to Adrien. Marinette was vocal about everything and anything with everybody— he’d seen her bicker with akumatized people just as he showed up to take her away from trouble, and even when tossed over his shoulder to run she’d continue to ask them to let go of the akumas in them. Marinette was brave— and he knew that— and she knew that— but she couldn’t tell Adrien.

He wanted to cry. He was a coward who couldn’t tell her.

“Still though,” He cleared his throat as he felt a wave of tears threaten to take over his voice. “I don’t ever want to purposely make you uncomfortable, Marinette. You’re one of my closest friends. Being in a tent together would’ve made you uncomfortable, wouldn’t it?”

And incredibly difficult to explain if he had pulled her on him in the middle of the night, like he usually did under the context of being Chat Noir. It was one thing to explain doing it when he did it all the time. It was another to try to make an excuse when he was just his civilian self.

“No, no! I promise— I promise you don’t make me uncomfortable. Alya’s just been pressuring me to pair up with you since the beginning of time, it feels like.” She ducked her head, shy. Her cap’s strings bobbed at the movement, and she pulled at her collar as if she was struggling with admitting it. “I used to have a huge— huge— crush on you when we were younger. She took hold of it and has been running with the idea that we’re perfect for each other ever since then.”

He nearly choked on his drink. “Really?”

“It was embarrassing.” She placed the cup down and rubbed her fingers together for warmth. “B-but trust me, the crush is gone now, don’t worry.”

“G-gone?” Was the sky spinning, or was he just seeing things? Was he melting? Even while sitting he felt like the world had been pulled out from underneath him. She used to have a crush on him. She used to have a crush on him. Only to give it up so she could— so she could—

Date Chat Noir.

Date him.

His breath crumbled in his lungs, suffocating and painful in the cold air.

“I mean it’s been years now, and we’re good friends like you’ve said and— well I just— well— I have a boyfriend.” He saw her visibly bite her tongue at that. Her eyes widened at what she’d just said, nervously patting at her Chat Noir pajama pants, finally realizing that she’d admitted to having a crush on him. “I don’t think— and the tent is so small— it would be like sharing a bed and—”

“I— Oh— you do?” He had no words, staring at her with wide, slow-blinking eyes. Marinette had never referred to him as her— her— oh. Oh. Wait. Hold on. “But Marinette I would never— uh— and I never knew— I’m sorry—”

Something rattled in his chest, threatening to make him cough. Inhaled the hot chocolate into the wrong tube, he reasoned, but he couldn’t focus on it now.

Marinette referred to him as her boyfriend.

She used to have a crush on him.

The firepit was too loud in his ears. It was too hot under the blanket, surely that was it.

She smothered her nervous laughter into her cup, gazing behind her to see if Alya stirred at all in her tent. They didn’t have to worry about Nino, with his noise-canceling headphones. A bear could come in and take all their food and Nino wouldn’t notice. Or a boar. Many boars. Wolves. Cows. An entire procession of cows. With cowbells.

Adrien could scream at the top of his lungs— and he was very close to doing it— and Nino would be completely deaf to all of it.

“No, no, I didn’t— I didn’t mean to suggest that you’d do something, oh my god I’m so sorry, that’s not what I meant at all— I know you wouldn’t.” She groaned. “It— I just meant— it just wouldn’t feel okay to me.”

“Right. Yeah I’m— sorry. I never knew you had a boyfriend— god— I’m so sorry for—” Adrien couldn’t breathe, trying to clear his throat. She had a crush on him. Had. The stars in her eyes were blinding. “How— uh— how? How long, I mean?”

She blushed. How was he supposed to survive this? Oh— and she’d never called him her boyfriend before, at least not to his knowledge. They kissed a lot, they played video games, he helped her study and she would let him catnap on her chaise during the afternoon sun, but— well— there was only so much dating they could do when one of them was masked as one of the Heroes of Paris and was also a coward that couldn’t tell the girl he loved and dated that he was a civilian that she knew and— Adrien wanted to kick himself.

“Two years, maybe. That sounds about right, I guess?” She spoke so softly that he almost missed it in his turmoil.

He felt faint. “Two years?”

“We don’t really have an anniversary.” She had the idea to be sheepish as he stared at her, scratching the back of her neck with her fingers while she worried her lip between her teeth. She broke eye contact with him in favor of looking down at her cup which was only left with the small dots of undissolved chocolate spots. Adrien couldn’t stop staring at the way the firelight illuminated her face.

“He’s… very lucky to have you.” Adrien managed to say after a long pause in the conversation, his hands flexing hard around his own cup. Thoughts of being called her boyfriend so casually to anyone else made his entire body heat up in warm thoughts, and it made him want to take off his sweater from how sweaty the back of his neck was starting to get. If he could drown himself at the lake, he would’ve.

“He’s a private person,” She tried reasoning to him, under the impression that he was upset. “I don’t mention him because I don’t want to overwhelm him.”

Only half-true. Everyone knew who Chat Noir was, and even Marinette herself knew that he talked about his life as best as he could under the circumstances of not being able to reveal his secret identity. It would make him absolutely delighted to hear Marinette mention him even more in casual conversations like this.

“I can relate to being a private person,” Adrien chose to say, leaning hard onto his life-of-fame outlook. “Does Alya know about him?”

Marinette frowned. “Oh, god, no. Please don’t tell her— she’d never let me hear the end of it of how excited she is and the double dates and so many things we could do. We’ve never really discussed if we were ever going to tell others but I think it’s for the best we don’t. Alya wouldn’t be happy finding out that it’s already been two years, we’ve dug ourselves into a pit with this one honestly.”

Especially since it was Chat Noir. Alya would suffocate the both of them. The fact that he could envision it with such clarity made him grit his teeth.

He winced sympathetically. “I get you. Don’t worry, Marinette. Your secret’s safe with me. I promise. And don’t worry about your— ah— boyfriend. I hope he’s a nice guy.”

She nodded a bit too enthusiastically. “Oh. He’s wonderful.”

She gladly took his cup once he was done drinking the rest of the hot chocolate, and stood up to bin it. His hands clammed cold against the fabric of his pajama pants, and he wiped them against his thighs. He needed to tell her.

Seriously. He needed to tell her.

It wouldn’t be okay to continue this lie in front of her— especially since she called him her boyfriend to his face even though they’ve never talked about it— god what was he supposed to say to her when they saw each other again back at her house? How was he supposed to continue doing what he was doing now that he knew that she had a crush on him once?

He was going to faint.

He pulled out his phone while she pittered behind him, and cursed at the blinking empty spot on the top left corner of his screen. No signal. He couldn’t even text it to her even if he wanted to. He refreshed the messaging app just as a last measure, looking for anything that could come through. Nothing.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried earlier today, hitting refresh over and over on the app looking for new messages. He’d typed and then untyped messages on how he would tell her what he’d been trying to prepare himself to say for weeks. Everytime he thought he had gotten a message that looked perfect, he thought of the way Marinette smiled and laughed, and realized that he would break into a thousand little cataclysm pieces if he messed this up and lost it. Lost her.

Was he a coward? Could he truly not just turn to her and open his mouth and say the words that he’s been trying to say all night ever since he came out of his tent and started poking at the fire, longing for her to be right next to him and happy that they were together? And not have to hide behind a stupid hexleather domino mask and have Plagg complain to him that he was being too much of a lovesick idiot to do anything about it except just continue to go to her house?

Was he not able to confess his true feelings to a girl who had literally just spoken about having a crush on him to the point that their friends had tried to set her up on numerous occasions with him? And yet, his mouth remained shut. Coward. He was a coward.

“Marinette?” He turned to look for her, surprised that she was returning to her seat with an apple. He pocketed his phone, shy. He watched her eat, battling his mouth and brain for words to form and speak and say it.

“Adrien? Everything okay?” She looked as nervous as he did.

“Yeah. Yeah, everything’s okay.” His tongue felt too big for his mouth. He didn’t want to ruin this. She was the greatest thing to happen to him. He couldn’t do it. Even if it made him flounder and upset at his cowardice, he couldn’t tell her. If something happened to their relationship because she was upset about it being him, Adrien would never be able to live it down.

“Are you sure?” He watched a trail of juice from the apple curl down her wrist.

“Oh, yeah. You should tell me more about him.” Adrien almost thunked his head back into the log behind him, disappointed in the way his voice sounded desperate. Anything to get Marinette from questioning why he looked like he was about to faint.

She looked up at him in between long lashes, adoration so crystal clear on his face. No. He definitely couldn’t tell her that it was him. “He’s my best friend. He’s my whole world.”

“More than Alya is?” He hoped he didn’t sound winded.

“Absolutely more.” She passed the apple between her hands, the puff at the end of her cap bobbing with her movements. “Oops. Don’t tell her that.”

He grabbed for the metal poker, letting his hands fidget with the sticks and the slow crackle of the fire. “What makes him your best friend?”

“He just knows so much about me. We spend so much time together. We’re hardly ever apart.”

“What’s your favorite moment with him?”

He knew her well enough to recognize her nostalgic gaze up to the starlit sky. He recognized her smile— reminiscing with such raw longing that Adrien had to give a double take in her direction. He wondered what specific moment she was thinking about. He wondered what moment he would pick if she ever asked him.

He remembered the days he would show up at her trap door, looking for somewhere to stay after a fight with his dad. Back when things were simple and Marinette was the only thing that could fix it.

Who was he kidding? Marinette was still the only thing that could fix it.

He remembered after the first few Akuma fights, when he would show up at her door just as a courtesy to check in if she was okay— the Akuma fights where Marinette would be in the middle of the fight begging the akumatized person to change their mind— and he would stay for hours. Under the pretence that he was concerned for a citizen of Paris, of course.

He remembered when she cried on his for the first time— something had happened at school that he had never understood because Marinette was a silent cryer when she cried, and didn’t speak other than the occasional curse word. He remembered when he cried on her for the first time. That was when he found out that she smelled like milksoap— and the scent had clung to his nose like a blanket for the entirety of the following day. The following school day he had felt that he was floating, drifting away in a cloud of milksoap.

He’d been useless during that following Akuma attack.

He remembered their first kiss— how could he not? The memory was seared into his head for the rest of time. It was one thing for him to lay on her bed while they watched cartoons together. It was another to lean towards her, hogging her body pillow, while she looked at him with wide expectant eyes. She wanted something from him, and he wasn’t sure what. A gentle little smile. Her breath caught on something. He couldn’t stop looking at her. What other choice did he have but to kiss her in that moment?

In her soft pajamas? Hair down? Cherry lip balm? The smell of hot chocolate on her breath? He wasn’t a fool. He had never been more sure of something in his life.

He still couldn’t remember what the cartoon was about.

Plagg had made fun of him for the entire day following it. He couldn’t help himself. All he wanted to do for the rest of his life was kiss her.

“My favorite memory would be… well. There was a day where he found out I have freckles.” Her voice took him out of his thoughts, and he nearly missed it.

“Your— your freckles?” He tilted his head, trying to give the impression that he had been paying attention.

Marinette’s eyes softened towards the fire, completely lost in thought. Adrien tried not to lose his breath. Even wind-chilled, and lips chapped, she made his heart hurt. “It was late, once. I think we were watching a movie at my place.”

It had been his idea to watch the movie. He had been absolutely certain that she would’ve loved the movie— and he was still sure— but they’d never finished. The entire time he had completely ignored it in favor of playing a game with her on trying to put his head on her lap without her trying to push him off the bed. She had laughed the entire time while he was trying, advocating on closing the movie app in favor of letting him cuddle. He’d gotten too close to her face, in the process— her laughter had died down. Her eyes were so much more bluer up close.

She had freckles. He remembered counting them— a smattering of dots across the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheekbones. He’d lost track after twenty, since she’d broken away from him, stammering over her words that reminded him of when she talked to him as Adrien. It hadn’t taken a lot of brain power to realize that their movie night was done. He’d gone home after apologizing, and could barely look at her in the eye the next day.

“He looked at me like he had finally realized what I looked like,” Marinette laughed to herself, taking a bite of her apple. She was nearly done with it, Adrien noticed too late. She was going to get up soon. Maybe even head to bed. “It was the sweetest little moment we had, I feel like. I think about it all the time.”

Adrien could only keep the polite smile on his face for so long. Was she yearning for him? Did she know how much he wanted to burst from being so close to her but having to be a complete stranger? Did she know that he wanted to drown himself in the lake from how awake he was? If they parted for the night, he wouldn’t be able to sleep for the next week and a half. Plagg would never stop teasing him about it for the rest of time. If only she knew what he was going through. He tried not to choke on his tongue as his mouth ran over itself. “Marinette? I want to tell you something.”

She turned away from the fire to look at him fast enough to give him whiplash. “Oh. Did I— I’m sorry— did I over talk?”

“No, no not at all!” He could hear the strain in his voice. I’m here. I’m right here. It’s me. “I just. I just. Uhm.”

She tried to appease him. “Oh. If it’s about me having a crush on you, it’s okay. We’re just friends.”

He was an idiot. A huge idiot. Say the words. Say them. She was right there. Hugging distance. Kissing distance. He wanted to kiss her so badly. “No— well. It’s about the ‘you having a crush on me’ part, yes, but not just that.”

“Go on?” She winced at the weakness of her voice.

“I’m sorry.” Oh, he really wanted to drown himself now. What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he say it? He fought akumas harder than this, and he had bruises to prove it. Why couldn’t he just say the words? His hands were shaking in his lap. He was freezing and on fire. His miraculous ring was never more interesting than it was as he twisted it on his finger with his other hand.

She frowned, not at all understanding. “What are you apologizing for?”

“I’m sorry for not knowing you had a crush on me when we were younger.” He was the emotional equivalent of grasping at straws, desperate for himself to be able to say the words in the most graceful way. Chat Noir was a coward. He wondered if Ladybug would be mad if she knew that he was floundering on telling a girl his true feelings.

“Oh— oh. That’s— that’s fine.”

“It isn’t. I should’ve realized.” He was nervous enough to rake an entire hand into his hair. “I should’ve seen the signs. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. I thought you had been just a best friend at the time.”

“Seriously— it’s— it’s fine.” She waved him away. “It was such a long— long— time ago. We were children.”

Adrien could do nothing but be silent for the following minutes. Marinette had a boyfriend now. Of course she would be over him. Even though she was still dating him. What a confusing mess…

Would she still be over him after he told her? If she walked away, or zipped herself in her tent? The following day of hiking would be awkward and terrible. Oh, God. He didn’t want to lose her. If he sat here and ignored everything— continued to stare into the fire, with her at his side— would he be able to withstand the rest of the weekend? She was understanding, and she was kind, but he couldn’t help himself from trying to preserve one of the best things to happen to him.

Would it hurt if he fell face first into the fire? Anything would be more bearable than this. He would never be able to model again— no more money, fine. Who cared? He’d be dead. Maybe. He could feel it bubbling in him, threatening to escape his mouth in whichever way it could.

“I— I’m Chat Noir.” He bit his tongue so hard he could taste copper, trying to stop himself from talking. He managed to hold back a string of curses that tried slipping through.

She nearly dropped her apple, which was now mostly cored, searching his face for a joke. “I— hold on— what?”

“I’m Chat. I’m Chat Noir.” He barreled through it like ripping off a bandaid, refusing to make eye contact. “I know you were talking about me being your boyfriend. For two years. It’s— I’m— I’m Chat Noir.”

“Are— are you sure?”

“What?” It was his turn to frown at her. Was she starting to smile? “What— huh? What do you mean ‘am I sure’?”

“Are you sure you’re Chat Noir?”

He had the audacity to look down at his miraculous ring, wondering for a split second if he had hallucinated the past four years of his life. “I think so.”

She threw her hands around him tight, fisting the back of his sweater with her hands. The apple went flying from her hand, past his tent, and somewhere into the bushes— snapping twigs along its path. The fire crackled low as the last stick in the firepit burned, the branding heat leaving way to the chill air. He paid no mind to any of it, his nose full of milksoap, and his hands full of soft fabric from her layers of long sleeves.

Laughter bubbled in his ear as she clung to him— soft, sweet laughter that gripped his heart to the point it hurt. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I already knew, Adrien— I’ve been waiting for you to tell me for a couple of hours now.”

“What? How— how did— you—” He couldn’t help himself from pulling her closer, burying his face into her shoulder, feeling faint and overwhelmed. He couldn’t feel the log behind him, and he couldn’t feel his toes.

She curled her hand in his hair, and Adrien nearly lost his mind. The entire time he had felt guilty about keeping this from her and she’d accepted him with open arms. He would argue that crying was absolutely a valid response. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Don’t cry, kitty-cat— it’s okay.”

He sucked in a breath. “How long have you known?”

“Just today. I found out this morning.”

“What do you mean? How did you—”

“You left early from my house today. You— you told me you needed to get ready for our trip, which was why you left so early from my house” She whispered. “I thought that was your way of telling me that you’re Adrien— but— you never mentioned it when we met up again at Alya’s house so I thought I’d— hallucinated it in my sleep.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” His mouth pinched. “Please— why— why didn’t you?”

She wiped a tear from his face. And then another. And then another. “I— I didn’t know if I’d heard you correctly, Adrien! I didn’t want to give something away just in case— so I’ve been trying to drop hints this entire time, instead.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, kitty-cat. You’re okay. Please don’t cry.”

He smothered her, pulled her into his lap to wrap the blanket around them, sucking in breath after breath. “I hadn’t even realized what I did— I’m sorry. I’m sorry I left you waiting for me to admit it— I’m sorry that I took so long to tell you— I’m so sorry that it took me this long.”

“It’s okay.” She shook her head, the strings of the cap falling across her shoulders again. “It’s okay, Adrien. We’re okay. Everything is okay.”

He tucked the stray piece of hair back underneath her cap, hands buzzing from the ability to touch her. He followed the outline of her eyes with his thumbs— he followed the outline of her cheeks and jawline, as well— petting each individual freckle that dusted her cheeks. “Marinette— my god— I’ve— I’ve been going crazy this entire day— I couldn’t do it anymore. I needed to tell you— I’ve been wanting to— to tell you— for— for the past two years. God. God.”

He tried his best not to squish her while he hugged her, but he couldn’t contain himself as soft peels of laughter mixed with his tears escaped. She laughed, and hugged him just as hard, squeezing all of the air in his lungs out.

Everything was okay. Everything was going to be okay.

“I couldn’t fall asleep without you, Princess.” He managed to say after they’ve cried enough.

“I couldn’t either,” She confessed into his shoulder. “It was terrible— so horrible. Alya hogs the sheets— and then she has the audacity to complain about me moving around too much. I honestly was starting to go nuts, I’m so tired without you. I can’t sleep without you anymore, kitty-cat— I was about to somehow convince you that we needed to sleep in the same area together.”

“I wouldn’t mind sharing a bed with you.” He kept his laughter down at the little pinch she gave him at his side. He couldn’t stop himself from pressing kisses to her forehead, at the edge of where her cap met her hairline when he brushed her hair back— when he kissed each individual constellation of freckles that dotted her upper cheekbones. “I’ll have you know, I’m an expert sleeper.”

She kissed him sweetly on the lips, giggling to the point it looked like it hurt. Adrien tried not to sniffle too hard as warmth after warmth filled his chest. “Believe me— trust me— we’ll sleep fine from now on.”

[anonthenullifier]

In a follow up to Billy coming out to Tommy, how would Tommy come out to Billy? Would he even say anything or would he just appear with a boyfriend one day and cackle as Billy’s brain recalibrated?

Thank you so much for the ask! In case anyone wants to read Billy coming out to Tommy here it is. Below this is Tommy coming out to Billy...and Wanda and Vision because I figured the whole family should find out. I hope this meets your expectations of how Tommy would do it!

———

It was supposed to be an escape room. One of the ones where intellect wins and the biggest challenge would have been dealing with a bored and grumpy Tommy. “He is never planning,” Billy twirls around, arms engulfed by pulsating electric blue, and slices a chainsaw wielding robot in half, “again.”

Teddy’s glorious smile tempers his annoyance...marginally. “We are trying to escape,” he crushes a tentacled, monstrous vacuum-like robot between his hands, “and it’s a room.”

If Teddy wasn’t so stunning in situations like these, Billy would seethe for longer, but the sheer elation on his boyfriend’s face as another onslaught falls under their combined might is enough to make it seem a less horrible idea. Until his annoyance at his brother’s idiocy surges back. “This would be Tommy’s idea of a chill evening.”

Expertly Teddy deflects. “Where are they?”

It’s not something Billy had thought about in the ten minutes of endless fighting, but now that Teddy points it out, both Tommy and the newest recruit, David, are not visible. “He’s um,” Billy reaches out mentally, quickly finding the frenzied mind of his brother, the pattern of his thoughts like watching a pot of boiling water right before it bubbles up and over the rim. With practiced ease he latches on, keeping his own mind detached enough to not be dragged into the whirlpool of chaos, “they’re on the other side of that tower.”

“Race you?”

Billy grins, hanging back a second to appreciate the view, and then his hands alight and he rises into the air, body leaning with the current and wrists rotating forwards and backwards as he clears all obstacles from his path. If he allows his eyes to stray down to watch Teddy’s path of destruction, no one’s the wiser, neither Sam nor Carol here to scold him.

Five feet before Teddy reaches the base of the tower, Billy opens a portal, diving headfirst into it and then pops out of a second portal past the makeshift finish line, just in time to paint on his best faux innocent grin. “What took you so long?”

The dry “Congrats,” is made more genuine by the loving kiss that follows.

Tommy’s frantic “David!” ruins their moment.

“Shit.” Billy follows his boyfriend’s eyes up to a little walkway on the tower where David stands, hands gripping a rickety railing and glasses reflecting the menacing lights of the encroaching robot battalion.

Blue energy crawls out from between Billy’s fingers, his body gearing up to fly up and help their teammate, until Tommy sprints over. “I got this,” and then becomes a blur, zigzagging up the ramps and stairs, bowling through the last of the mechanical foes until they all crash down from the tower.

“He’s such a show—“ Billy freezes, head tilting to the side as Tommy scoops up David bridal style and executes a perfect Maximoff rescue, their lips meeting in fevered presses, David’s arms wrapping around Tommy’s neck, and their attention focused solely on passionately celebrating. “Um…”

“I told you David had a small crush on me, right?”

Billy’s brain slogs through recent memories, vaguely recalling this information. “Um...yeah?”

“Guess he moved on.”

“Guess so…” The mind isn’t a computer. Billy knows this, has sat through dad’s lectures on the tired and not empirically backed metaphor, and yet right now he feels like a computer that’s missing a vital update, his thoughts desperately trying to recalibrate and refresh itself to process the awkwardly long make out session in front of him. And then they stop, Tommy placing David back on his feet, though their arms remain around each other, and that’s when his twin starts cackling.

“Look at your face!” If this is some cruel joke, Billy doesn’t appreciate it nor does he appreciate the fact that Teddy is chuckling along with Tommy’s riotous glee. “Look at it.” Now David is snickering as well, the mood apparently contagious to everyone but Billy, who’s inoculated to Tommy’s shit by now.

Tommy hoists David back into arms and runs them down until they’re standing in an awkward sort of square-oval formation. “Oh don’t look like that.”

“I’m not looking like anything.” Real convincing.

“It’s not a joke,” his brother hesitates and then clarifies, “okay, depends on how you define a joke, but the message is real.”

What message was he sending? That he’s learned mom and dad’s celebration tactic? That he likes to catch Billy off guard and embarrass him or that...that he and David are still holding hands and that Tommy’s usual confidence is starting to crack and a spur of fear that never, ever exists in his brother’s mind has cropped up the longer Billy stays silent. All at once Billy’s chagrin disappears, replaced by emphatic happiness, one that manifests with a chuckle at the ridiculousness of his brother.

“Finally connect the dots?”

“Yeah,” Billy pulls his brother into a hug, ignoring the grunt of disapproval at such shows of affection, “thanks for telling me.”

“Of course,” Tommy pulls back wearing the sunniest smile Billy’s ever seen on his face, “had to make sure you knew first.”

A brush of his brother’s mind reveals an evening out of stress and concern, both things Tommy didn’t need to have, but Billy knows firsthand how terrifying coming out can be. “I appreciate it.” Billy steps back, eagerly accepting Teddy’s arm around his shoulders, “You going this elaborate for mom and dad?”

The glance between Tommy and David not only answers his question perfectly, but helps him see the genuine connection they already share and the future trouble of dealing with a mutually devious couple. “I have a few ideas, if you’re willing to help.”

———

Everything is set. There’s a conspicuous rope ladder hanging out his window, the banner is strung up over the table with his cake and party hats, he’s got a box of party poppers under the comforter, and, most vital to it all, David is laying next to him.

“You nervous?”

Insanely. “Nope,” he’s a pretty gifted liar but the little quirk of David’s eyebrow lets him know he isn’t fooling anyone. “Fine, a bit.”

He has, for a long time, made fun of Billy and Teddy’s little reassuring kisses, but now that David tenderly brushes his lips to Tommy’s forehead, he’ll have to admit it’s a little calming. “Me too. This is going to be my first time meeting your parents outside of uniform.”

Oh shit, he hadn’t even thought about that or how awkward this all might be for David. Other than the crushing fear that their acceptance and love can only extend to one child (something he knows is not true but still can’t shake), Tommy has no qualms with the method of coming out they’ve gone with. He thinks back to all the talks (the many many many talks) dad has had with him on respect and consent. Things he has considered and put into practice but it feels way more important now. “If you aren’t comfortable with this…”

“I’m fine, just nervous,” another kiss, but this one on the mouth and exciting instead of soothing, “and really looking forward to the cake.”

It’s a three tiered cake, each layer a different color of the flag, all wrapped in white buttercream, and in the fanciest writing Billy could muster it says: I’m bisexual . They argued over whether to add an exclamation mark, but Tommy himself would like to insert the enthusiasm instead of the frosting doing it. “Me too.”

There is the tell-tale chime of vibranium phasing through a wall and the less easy to spot sound of wind going through his dad’s intangible body. Good thing Tommy has snuck around enough to recognize it. “Come here,” he pulls David closer, deciding if they’re going to have to incur suspicion, might as well have some fun with it. It’s successful, the chiming moving from outside to inside the master bedroom and then footfalls let them know his parents are outside the door. Tommy steals one more kiss, “You ready?”

Except David can’t let him win and sneaks one more. “Are you?”

“Yep.” He is. He has never been more ready in his life which is why it’s aggravating that there hasn’t been a knock and the door hasn’t clicked open. “Be nice if they moved faster.”

From outside there is a muffled conversation, one that sounds like it involves a lot of gesticulating and disagreement. Then he can hear Billy, his guardian angel, chime in, “You can’t let him get away with it. That’s not fair.” What a sly and loving asshole.

Dad sighs, and it’s a deep one, one that means he’s exhausted from his mission and just wants to relax but now there are shenanigans he has to deal with. That’s when the knock comes, followed by, “Thomas?”

David giggles and Tommy does his best to shush him, only that just encourages it further and now Tommy’s sniggering as quietly as he can. “Thomas?” A more forceful knock and more barely subdued laughter. “Thomas, I am opening the door.”

His fingers grip the party poppers as he waits for the light to switch on and then Tommy leaps up with a “Surprise!” The first party popper bursts to life, confetti flying all over his comforter. “I’m bi!” The second popper erupts with even more force.

It’s through the settling confetti that he sees the confusion on mom and dad’s faces and suddenly it all feels too much, too elaborate, too close to a joke. Even Billy’s double thumbs up from the hallway doesn’t allay the dread circling in amongst the swirling shreds of paper. He tracks every movement of his parents’ eyes as they take in the cake and the banner and the streamers and oh...yeah this is awkward, “Um and this,” Tommy helps David out of the bed, “is my boyfriend, David.”

Mom and dad look at each other, some unspoken thing passing between them and then dad walks over to the table, grabs two of the pink, lavender, and blue striped party hats, hands one to mom and then delicately slides the elastic band of his under his chin. “It’s nice to meet you David,” they shake hands and then dad, without asking permission of any kind, wraps Tommy in a tight hug. “I love you.”

This is usually when he squirms away, utilizing his super speed to avoid such displays of affection, but this time he allows it, reciprocating the hug and smiling as mom joins in to make a Tommy sandwich. “We love you so much.”

“Thanks.”

After about a minute it’s a bit much though, something his brother senses, exuberantly declaring, “Anyone want cake?” David, bless his heart, takes on the role of cake slicer and disher, passing out the plates and making sure Tommy gets the corner with the most frosting.

It’s all a bit surreal, a bit too wholesome for his tastes and yet it’s also perfect, mom’s hat askew while dad grimaces at the overly sweet frosting she offers him, Billy chatting happily with David over some punch, all under the handcrafted banner of Guess Who’s Bi?

Tommy smiles, digs his fork into the cake, and joins them, feeling more like himself than ever before.

[jaeminscoffee]

Happy Birthday, Love

Pairings - Jung Jaehyun x reader

Genre - Pure fluff.

Warnings- None, But this is extreemmeellyyyy long.

Summary - Jaehyun loves spending his time and money for you every single day, guess how he'd be like on your birthday?

This oneshot was requested! ♡

Autumn.

The absolutely perfect weather to either stay in and cuddle up, or go out with your significant other.

You were so glad that your birthday falls in autumn, it's the perfect season, not too hot, not too cold, and not too lonely with Jaehyun beside you.

The minute you opened your eyes that morning, you saw Jaehyun, your boyfriend of over 2 years, leaning over your side with a tray full of English breakfast, all perfectly set, looking absolutely tempting.

"Happiest birthday, sleeping beauty" he said, an enthusiastic tone, as hearts basically flooded out of his gaze. He leaned forward, placing the tray full of food on the side table, sitting beside you and placing a soft kiss on your cheek.

"Oh my god thank you so much!" you tried sounding nearly as excited as he is, but your voice came off groggy as you'd just woken up.

“When did you even prepare all of this?” you question, rubbing the sleep from your eyes as you sit up straight on the bed, head against the headboard.

“I made sure not to snooze my alarm this time” Jaehyun let out a chuckle, standing up, tilting his head slightly towards the bedside table pointing at the dish.” Freshen up and have your breakfast, babe. I’ll need to head out now’ He said, a frown forming his feature as you mirror his expression.

“Work?” he nods slowly, you let out a sigh.”I wanted to spend my birthday with you thougghh” you drag your words, reaching forward, holding his forearm is a tight grasp. 

Jaehyun beams a smile at you, pulling you towards him using his other hand, keeping you closed in a tight embrace. “I’ll try coming back as fast as i can, i’m sorry” He dug his face into the nape of your neck, the feeling ticklish on your skin so you squirm. Pulling away, you know it isn’t the best idea to hold your boyfriend back from doing his job, but you really didn’t want to spend the day alone, and so you give him your best puppy eyes.

Jaehyun notices the way you were looking at him, cooing at you, squishing your cheeks between his palm. “They said it’s important”, He gave you one tight comforting squeeze, a kiss on the forehead and pulled away from your hold.

You whine but let him walk away nevertheless, not like you could do anything anyways,and he said it’s important. You watch Jaehyun, walk towards the closet, get a hoodie, pull it over his head and walk towards the bedroom, turning back waving one last time, walking out once you did the same.

After hearing the front door close, you fall back onto the mattress, reaching for your phone which was beside your pillow, turning it on to check for any notification. No, you weren’t all about wanting everyone to wish you, but you weren’t one to not want Anyone to wish you either.

So seeing only 2 of your girlfriends send you a dog meme and wish you, both made your day and made you grumpy.

Great, No Jaehyun, No friends, No nothing

You get out of bed, as the food your boyfriend made turned cold long ago, making your way towards the bathroom to get your day started, You open the drawer to take out your skin care products, where you see a black box, with a golden ribbon tied around it in a graceful bow, with a tiny red heart shaped tag tied to it,

You reach out for the box, examining it and then placing it down, removing the tag, reading whatever���s written on it.

‘Saw you ran out of most of your skin care products, got you the ones you always wanted, hope you like it 💕’

Your heart did a 360′ turn as you place the tag down, taking the box in your hand once again, carefully undoing the bow placing it on the basin counter, you open the box to see it filled with a bunch of papers, which you take out, discarding it in the trashcan. You find the box divided into two, filled with a bunch of the best products.

One side, they were the products from cosrx, one that you really wanted to get, but thought would be a waste of money because of it’s ridiculously high price. The other side contained products from Klairs, also ones that you wanted.

The smallest observation he made of you running out of your products, and keeping a mental note of your favorite products made you feel all warm inside.

You carefully arrange the products in the drawer, going out of the bathroom to place the tag in your bedside drawer, going back into the washroom to carry on with your morning routine.

-

After a long refreshing shower, you walk towards your closet to chose your clothes, when you find a bag at the very back, you don’t remember placing anything there, you’d swore you cleaned the closet not a week ago.

You walk towards it, taking the bag out from the secluded area of your closet, going back into the room to see what’s inside the bag.

You see ‘From Jaehyun, chosen by Taeyong and Johnny’ writing at the front of the bag. Not another present you sigh, chuckling to yourself.

You open the bag, to see a note inside it. ‘I better see you wearing this when i’m back home’

You remove yet another black box, this time, seeing the words Saint Laurent embedded into the cover of the box in beautiful silver. You keep in mind to scold Jaehyun later for buying such expensive stuff. But for now, you open the box, to see a really beautiful Yves Saint Laurent fall piece inside. Gawking at the simple yet pretty piet mondrian design, you walk towards the dresser, immediately discarding your towel, putting on the dress Jaehyun brought for you.

As conceited as it sounds, the piece looked absolutely dashing on you, you even did a double twirl in front of the mirror, totally loving Jaehyun’s.. well Taeyong and Johnny’s choice.

You sit in front of your dresser, opening the drawer to take out your make up products to doll yourself up matching the clothing that you wore. You felt like banging your head on the table as you were greeted with a white box inside of the drawing.

Another one of those tags you see, this time in pastel pink. 

‘Best of all deserves the best of products’

You smile at nothing in particular, taking the note back to where the other 2 tags were kept, placing the third one neatly on top of the other two.

You open the box once you sat back down on the dresser, finding Urban decay’s spectrum eyeshadow palette, E.L.F blush palette, Anastasia’s Beverly Hills contour cream kit, and a set of MAC impassioned lipstick.

You felt overwhelmed with all the gift’s you’d found in just your room,now scared to leave the room.

Nevertheless, you used all the products he’d bought for you and did your make up, standing up once you’re satisfied with the look, grabbing the tray and making your way out of the room to heat it up and eat it.

-

Feeling bored, sitting there all dolled up, with nothing but the same movies repeating on the television, You decide to head out to the mall until late, knowing for a fact that Jaehyun had the spare keys with him so he wouldn’t be locked out. You check your phone once again, to see no notifications. You let out a sigh, making your way back into the closet, taking out a white cropped denim jacket to match the clothing, walking back out once you were happy with your outfit.

You go to the front of your house, after getting the sling bag Jaehyun had gifted you last week, to choose a shoes to match the outfit. You go weak in the knees, when you find another cover, Jimmy Choo written in Gold on the white packet, you already knew what you’d be opening. 

‘Johnny said this would look stunning with that dress, but i said you’d look good in any shoe or clothing piece ;)’

The note read this time, you’re basically radiating positive energy now all dressed up with things your boyfriend got you without having you get to know about a single thing. The fourth note found it’s way to the other three. You take out the shoe bag, opening up to a romy 60 pumps, which had a golden designing towards the tip, it was such a show stealer as you stared at it, mouth wide opened.

After the moment of admiration, you slip it on, not even bothering to see the final look. You walk out of the house, with a bright smile on your face.

Maybe the day wouldn’t be as bad as you’d thought it would be.

-

The day passed by quick, you did not forget to thank your boyfriend for all the gifts he’d gotten you through text, for you to not get any reply back. The other members of his group hadn’t contacted you since morning either, weird from them as they’d been the ones to spam you for your last 2 birthdays.

You make your way towards the elevator, rummaging through your purse to get the keys out.

Reaching your floor you make your way towards the end of the corridor, where your house was situated at.

Your shared house wasn’t anything too fancy, it was extremely spacious, a little too spacious for only the two of you in the house, but Jaehyun's excuse for getting a big house was ‘The boys are for sure going to turn our apartment into their second house’ and so you couldn’t do anything but comply.

You turn the doorknob clockwise, opening the door wide open, humming soft tunes to yourself, closing the door behind you. Walking in a little further into the house to turn the light switch on.

You turn back around to remove your shoes, only to let out a loud scream as all eight of the boys, jumped out of literally nowhere scaring the life out of you.

“Happy Birthday Y/n!!!!” they scream out loud, opening champagne bottles on either sides of the room stood Johnny and Taeil, Popping open the confetti birthday poppers stood Mark, Haechan and Jungwoo, Yuta and Taeyong stood beside both Johnny and Taeil with a bunch of boxes, Doyoung stood in the middle of them all holding two large heart shaped helium balloons.

You started tearing up just a bit, overwhelmed as each of them discard things they held onto the floor or onto the table that was decorated with a bunch of food items, making their way towards you, taking turns in hugging you and wishing you the best of wishes you could’ve gotten on your birthday.

“Yo YO why are you cryinngg?” Mark asked, pulling you in for a second hug.

“Listen, princess we really wanted to wish you the first thing today morning, but two weeks prior today, Jaehyun came threatening us” Doyoung started.

“Oh god yes i remember him saying something along the lines like ‘Spoil the surprise i’ll make you write your names with your nose blood’ boy was that scary” Jungwoo added.

“Jaehyun basically kidnapped Taeyong and i to come help pick presents for you, i see my fashion choice is still the best” Johnny stated, playfully checking you out with a smirk on his face.

“Thank you so much” you say between your crying state, laughing as the boys continued whining about how Jaehyun bullied them over your birthday for 2 weeks jokingly.

“You see those boxes Taeyong and I were holding? Those are all from Jaehyun, ours is still in the backseat of our cars” Yuta huffs out, shaking his head at the amount of money he spent on one of your birthdays.

“Here comes Mr.Lover Boy!!” You hear Haechan scream, cutting you off even before you could speak, as you look back to see Taeil and Haechan holding a huge banner with a bunch of words, standing by the entrance of your apartment.

You start reading it, to be stopped and asked to start over again, but louder.

“Dear Y/n, the one who makes my busy days go so much slower, a lot more calmer and definitely a little better, Happiest birthday, my love. Waking up to your peaceful face, clears all bad thoughts from my head, you looking absolutely ethereal in the most minimal things you do makes me smile a lot brighter, Your tiny complains when i leave you melts me completely, your smile sweeps me of my feet. The one thing i want to tell you, You were, are and will forever be the reason of my happiness.-” The boys all hooted, whistling even, when both Haechan and Taeil lowered the banner, to Jaehyun standing there with the biggest smile on his face, a cake in his hand.

“I love you, Y/n” he said the moment he was fully on display “ And i wouldn’t want to imagine a life without you” he handed the cake to Jungwoo who stood beside you.

Pulling you in, wiping the continuously flowing tears from your cheeks as the boys kept cheering. He pulled you in for a long loving kiss, the cheers getting louder with every passing second, Pulling away once the both of you ran out of breath.

Jaehyun held you close, looking at you while holding the entire galaxy in his eyes, the smile revealing his dimples.

“Happy Birthday, Love”

[annikasafternoonread]

So. Gideon the Ninth. That was a wild, wild ride -- wild doesn’t even begin to cover it. This is going to be a long reflection, so buckle up and stay hydrated. 

My biggest reaction is one that I’ve mentioned several times through reading this, which is just -- this book does not behave the way I expect. That’s not a value statement one way or the other, just a fascination. Oh, there are dozens of genres and ages and thousands of authorial styles, but there’s still a pattern to it all. A familiar rhythm to the way a story is told (in this time and place and language, at least -- certainly other cultures have different rhythms) -- a certain way of setting up ideas, a certain narrative voice, a certain rise and fall of the action and drama and mystery. 

This book does not know that rhythm and it does not care. Everyone else is ballroom dancing and this book is breakdancing. To classical music. But somehow it works. And it’s so different as to be breathtaking. It takes a little getting used to, I wasn’t sure at first if I liked it, and I’m sure some people would find it too jarring -- but as I got used to it, it just felt fun. To have every one of my preconceived notions about what a story is and what a character should be and how a thing with a certain connotation is interpreted -- every single one of those expectations was cheerfully fed through a shredder and then sprinkled out a window like confetti. I never quite knew what was going to happen. And as I adjusted to that unpredictability, my expectations shifted a bit as well; my guesses became what felt completely wild and ridiculous, and some of them were, but some of them weren’t. But I never had the slightest idea which was which! Oh, some things at the end were more predictable, some of the final payoffs could be guessed as we got close, but that’s not a bad thing either -- that just means it was set up well and the conclusions satisfied. I couldn’t see anything coming at the beginning, but at the end, it all felt like it made sense (albeit in a somewhat nonsensical way). 

I enjoyed how this book challenged my preconceived notions of death magic and necromancy as dark and illicit. And I enjoyed how as I got more used to that, it twisted again, in that some kinds of necromancy are still Not Acceptable. I enjoyed how it challenged my understanding of past and future, modern and ancient. They know what guns are but choose to fight with swords. They have space travel, but there’s no mention of computers or internet. It’s not entirely clear whether this universe is our universe in the far future or another galaxy or universe altogether.

Sometimes that uncertainty and unexpectedness is fun, but it also can be frustrating. There are a lot of gaps and questions left unanswered. I’m sure many of them will be answered in the next book(s), now that we’re not trapped on one planet, but... I guess I’ve seen too many books that didn’t make it to sequels to feel entirely comfortable with a first book leaving that much open. It’s not clear what the Cohort is fighting and expanding into. It’s not clear what the Emperor and the Lyctors are fighting. It’s not clear what the Emperor is and what his relationship with his followers is. It’s not clear what’s hiding in the Locked Tomb, and why, and why the Ninth has been allowed to continue if it wasn’t supposed to, and why the other Houses seem to treat them with so much reverence. It’s not clear if all the Houses are in the same star system, if they’re planets or moons or something else or a mix, if they’re trying to colonize or explore or defend or what. On a smaller level, it’s not clear who killed Protesilaus the second time. It’s not clear what’s up with Gideon surviving everything, and why they didn’t kill her when she didn’t die. It’s not clear why Harrow wanted Gideon to be her cavalier. It’s not clear why the Ninth leaders killed themselves, and it’s not clear why Harrow brought them back. It’s not clear why the Ninth House stopped having kids after the murder spree. It’s obviously good for the first book to have some world left to explore, some questions left to answer, but when that list gets too long and unwieldy... it just makes me uneasy. 

It is definitely fun to have a book that focuses on queer characters without it being about queerness or making a big deal out of Hey Look This Person Is Queer Hell Yes Representation. Both of those have their place and are valuable, and I don’t want to diminish that -- queerness is an important story to tell, and representation is great. And it’s not that Gideon isn’t Flamingly Loudly Queer, she totally is, but it feels... different. It doesn’t feel like a statement or anything, it’s just... Gideon. She’s buff, she’s rebellious, she’s into women, she likes swords, the list goes on. None of these is any more or less remarkable than any other. 

I also enjoy that this book is absolutely unapologetically queer to the point where it doesn’t even bear remarking on in universe. Like, it’s not just that queerness is accepted -- it’s that being queer isn’t, well, queer. There’s nothing to remark on, it’s just a person being attracted to a person. There’s no wondering oh is she even into women though it’s just she pretty I like and that’s that. The question isn’t “is she attracted to my gender” it’s just “is she attracted to ME.” It feels like being into women is like... being into redheads, or guitarists, or history geeks, or whatever. It’s refreshing.

I feel like I should have more to say than this, but also this is already like a thousand words long. I’ve written some that were longer, but this is definitely up there. And I think I’ve hit the main points. So I will leave you there with one more thank you so much for tagging along and for all your love on this journey -- it’s been awesome to watch things grow this past month or two. We passed 100 followers, we passed a year of this blog, I got so many asks and comments and posts that folks seemed to really connect with or enjoy or just side-eye the shit out of. It’s been a blast. 

I can’t wait to continue with Harrow the Ninth.

[atomicstrawbrys]

We Need to Talk

Summary: Alfred’s girlfriend isn’t usually one for cryptic messages. So, when he gets a text that they need to have a ‘talk,’ he can’t help but worry. USUK. //

Alfred, we need to talk.

That was the only text message that Alfred’s girlfriend, Alice, sent him. He gulped as he read it, running a hand through his hair as he wondered what it could mean. He didn’t think he’d done anything wrong recently, and besides, when he messed up Alice was usually a lot more open about it, and they talked it through. Cryptic messages definitely weren’t her style, but, hell, that just made Alfred more nervous.

Though they were in their college years now, Alfred had met Alice when they were thirteen. A new student from another country, well, Alice got all the attention, with her fancy accent and her prim and proper clothes and demeanor. Not all of it was good attention- she was teased mercilessly by some, but she gave as good as she got. And honestly, that was what had drawn Alfred to her. She was composed, sure, but there was a fire burning in those eyes that was more than ready to flare up against anyone that would do her harm. She was smart, sharp, and witty, but also gentle and kind, and on her birthday, she brought in cupcakes she’d made herself. And god, they were delicious.

Alfred’s quiet admiration had turned into a soft infatuation once they got into high school. Everything Alice did was amazing, and he didn’t care what anyone else thought. People whispered when she switched out tartan dresses and white blouses for baggy jeans and hoodies, and they stared when she came into school with her hair cut to the base of her neck rather than in a long, flowing ponytail or braid. But to be honest, Alfred didn’t give an ounce of care to what she looked like- she was always gorgeous, as long as her eyes remained a sharp, refreshing lime green, as long as she snorted when she laughed, and as long as her blush brought out her face full of freckles.

Alfred went to prom with her in junior year. He’d planned out a big love confession, with roses and sparklers and confetti and anything his Hollywood-saturated brain could think of. But, one day Alice simply turned to him, looked him over, and said “Hey, do you want to go to prom with me?” and Alfred had melted.

Now, years later, they were still going steady. They’d dated leading up to and after junior prom, and they stayed together throughout high school and their freshman year of college. Every day spent with Alice was like being in Eden- everything she said and did commanded his attention, and as far as Alfred was concerned, she had hung the sun and the moon and all the stars in the sky.

And, evidently, she wanted to have a talk. Nervously, he tacked his message out on his phone’s keyboard. He sent it, adding a little smiley face to try and diffuse the tension he felt through the screen.

Sure thing, baby! :) Is everything okay?

He got a response right away.

That will depend on you. I’ll be at your apartment tonight.

Mysteries, mysteries...whatever this was, Alice wasn’t ready to divulge it just yet. Alfred’s stomach was doing flips, and it was hard not to think of the worst possible outcome. Alice wasn’t going to break up with him...right? Of course, he wouldn’t stop her, he’d never do anything to hurt her, but...he thought they were happy. She told him she loved him every day, they laughed and joked around and could sit comfortably in perfect silence for hours- not that that happened often, since Alfred was by his own admission a chatterbox. Still, she loved listening to him, and would actually pay attention and ask questions when he launched into his long and aimless tangents about everything that happened in his day. Had he been annoying her? This whole time? She’d have said something, wouldn’t she?

Alfred spent the afternoon as a bundle of nerves, the only thing on his mind being the ominous message sitting in his pocket. He felt as if he were falling, whilst simultaneously being crushed by stones. He was distracted in his classes, and though he was usually a dutiful note-taker, (Alice wasn’t the only one with good grades), he found himself staring blankly at his professors and not absorbing a word they said. This would give him a hell of a time doing the chapter quizzes later in the week, but today, the only thing that mattered was figuring things out with his girlfriend.

When he got to his apartment, Alice was waiting outside. She was so beautiful, just like always- short, cropped hair, flattened chest covered by a green sweater, brown slacks and matching penny loafers...she looked up at him, and Alfred could tell she’d been crying, the telltale red rings around her eyes being the only indication he needed. “Oh, baby…” He murmured, face crumpling as he approached her. “Whatever happened, I am so sorry, okay? Did something happen? Is it my fault?” Alice cleared her throat and gestured towards the door. “Alfred- I’d rather speak about this inside.” “Oh! Oh, right, of course, sorry,” Alfred fished his house key out of his jacket pocket, fumbling with it and unlocking his door after a couple tries. He placed a hand on Alice’s back, gently guiding her in. “Do you want tea?” He looked to her, eyes big and pleading for some kind of reassurance that things were okay. He didn’t get it, though. Alice’s face didn’t betray anything about why she’d come, and other than shaking her head to refuse the tea, it didn’t change. “Alfred,” She began, slowly. “I love you so, so much.” She took his hand, gaze cast down as she blinked quickly. “I hope I’ve made that quite clear over the years we’ve seen each other.” Alfred just nodded and squeezed her hand. He could be unobservant, but even he could tell that the air was heavy, and it was Alice’s time to speak. “What I need to tell you- it’s scary, because I’m afraid I may lose you if I say it, and I don’t ever want to lose you. But I need to make myself happy too, you know?” She looked up at him, sniffing and shaking her head, her bangs falling over her eyes. “You’re a wonderful man. And...I should have told you sooner, probably, but I just kept thinking you’d just get it eventually- I realize that was naive of me, ha, you’re not stupid in the slightest but you are dense, my Love.” She let out a hoarse chuckle, one that made Alfred nervous. It was the sad sort of laugh- one someone might do when they were getting ready to say goodbye. “Alice..” He started, but she cut him off. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes, and although she was nervous when she spoke, her voice didn’t tremble. “No, Alfred. My name is Arthur.”

Oh. Oh.

And suddenly, it clicked. Little things that really should have tipped him off, but didn’t because Arthur was right, he was dense, denser than lead- he should have noticed the day he’d seen Arthur in his binder, but god, he’d thought it was a compression tank for sports. He should have noticed when their teachers referred to Arthur as ‘he,’ and he never corrected them. He should have noticed it when Arthur absolutely beamed the day a stranger referred to him as ‘young man.’ And then, as Alfred floated back to the present, he realized Arthur was still talking.

“-And I know, Al, that you’ll always respect who I am, but I also realize that you’re attracted to women and I’m, well, not one. While I love you to death and I want to stay together more than anything, I realize that you might not be able to reciprocate that and I want you to know that I’m not going to be upset at you if you choose to break up with me-” He was talking a mile a minute, nervous and wringing his hands in the absolutely adorable way he always did when he was unsure of something but wanted it badly. 

Laughing, Alfred scooped up his boyfriend, swinging him around like a doll. “Break up with you? Baby, I thought you were gonna break up with me!” He pressed a wet kiss to Arthur’s cheek, and hugged him close, nosing against his hair.

“So...we are staying together?” Arthur replied, arching his brow with a small, hopeful smile gracing his lips. Alfred kissed him, chuckling. “‘Course we are. Artie, you should know by now that I’m gonna love you no matter who you are.” Then, Alfred’s grin turned bashful, and he set Arthur down so he could rub the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, though, for not pickin’ up on it before.”

Arthur laughed as well, and gave a cute little snort, shaking his head. “I’ve been dating you long enough to know that subtlety isn’t always your strong suit. I’m not that surprised, to be honest.” He held out his arms, a silent request for Alfred to pick him up again. Alfred obliged.

Arthur nuzzled against his neck, and gently kissed the skin under his jaw. “I am pleased, though, that you’ve handled it well. You seem happy, at least.” “Of course I’m happy,” Alfred replied, turning his head to kiss Arthur’s brow. “I just found out that I’m dating the cutest guy in the whole world.”