#fic: i think i want to marry you

[sowoozoo-7]

I Think I Want to Marry You (KSJ)

Pairing: actor!Seokjin x stylist!reader

Genre: strangers to friends to lovers, fluff, a lil bit of angst

Rating: T

Word Count: 4.3k

Summary: You've never put a label on your relationship with Seokjin, and you prefer it that way. But one day, he proposes out of the blue.

Warnings: language, mentions of sex but nothing explicit

A/N: In honor of Jin's return from the military, here's a fic I've been sitting on for the past few months. Welcome home, Worldwide Handsome 🫶🫡 Unedited and unbeta’d, and as always, would love to hear from you!.

The day you meet Seokjin, he walks you down the aisle. 

He arrives to the venue minutes before the wedding is supposed to start. When he steps out of the chauffeured black car, it’s like you’re seeing him in slow motion arriving at a red carpet, his hair swept back, suit tailored to perfection. Apologies drip from his lips like honey, for missing the rehearsal the day before, for almost being late today. 

Every inch the Hollywood darling, you want to hate him, but he introduces himself as if he’s not plastered on every billboard in town, gets misty-eyed at the vows, and actually remembers your name. When he busts into a goofy dance during the wedding party entrance at the reception, you can’t help but smile and wiggle along. 

“So anyway, every time I get to see the stars like this, I can’t help but think abut that one scene in the Lion King where Timon says they’re just fireflies stuck in the sky.” 

You’re lying flat on a trampoline, the voluminous skirts of your pastel-puke bridesmaid dress spread out around you. Weddings are exhausting, doubly so for the perpetually single, and triply so for industry weddings. The pressure to be gracious, to (barf) network, to make sure everyone looks good for the inevitable social media posts, all of it has your social battery dangerously low. You’ve done your rounds on the dance floor and you’ve hand one drink past your best friend’s two-drink limit. So you’ve escaped the reception and found the trampoline tucked in a back corner of the mansion’s extensive gardens, presumably for events with kids. Makes for a good hiding spot. It’s quiet and dark, the only evidence of a party the bass and cheers from the dance floor.

“What if they are?”

You push down your skirts to look at Seokjin. His hands prop up his stupidly handsome head, eyes on the clear sky above you. 

“Idiot. We’ve been to space. They’re big burning balls of gas.”

“What if they’re just really, really, really big fireflies really, really far away and we just don’t know it.” 

You think for a second, seriously considering it as a possibility. Then you shrug. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? They’re still stars to us. Untouchable.” 

“Give me your hand.” 

His expression is dead serious when you look over at him, and you place your hand in his. He takes it and places it over his heart. You feel his heartbeat under the layers of clothing, the rhythm steady. Your own heart picks up the pace as he looks at you, eyes serious, searching. 

“Not all stars are untouchable.” 

You scoff and snatch your hand away. “That’s the worst line I’ve ever heard.” 

He laughs with you, the trampoline shaking with the force of your laughter. 

An announcement interrupts the music, too muffled to make out, but a quick check on your phone shows you it’s time for the bouquet toss. The whole event is less a wedding and more of a highly choreographed dance.

“That’s my cue to go.” 

You sit up and crawl off the trampoline gracelessly. 

“Wait.” He scrambles to the edge of the trampoline. “Your hair is all over the place.” 

A static shock travels from his fingertips to your neck as he reaches for your hair. You jump and let out an involuntary gasp.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, as he smooths down your hair with careful fingers. Your traitor heart skips a beat. 

Once he’s done, you tug his suit into place, just so no one gets the idea that either of you have been horizontal. 

“Maybe you want to wait a couple minutes before coming back?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“What will they say, if they see Mr. Worldwide Handsome coming back to the party with a nobody like me?” 

“You’re not a nobody.” He sighs and leans back anyway. “But you’re right. Sometimes I forget about all of that.”

You look back just once on your way back to the dance floor. Seokjin sprawls out on the trampoline, looking up at the stars again. 

Another wedding, the second in as many months. It’s that season of your life where everyone around you is getting married, having babies, and hitting all the milestones, and all you have to offer is your job as a stylist. Your old classmates think it’s glamorous, to work with celebrities all day, but seeing the sparkle of endless engagement rings makes you feel like you’re far behind. On top of all that, your mother called you to catch up that morning. Her words echo in your head, reminding you that you’re still single and not getting any younger. 

And to add insult to injury, you’ve been parked at the singles’ table. At least there’s a familiar face. Seokjin, seemingly friends with everyone you’ve ever known, is there too. You’re glad he’s around. Saves you the energy of painful small talk with a stranger. 

Once dinner ends, you escape into the grounds of the country mansion-turned-hotel. 

There’s no one at the pool, and you slip your heels off to put your feet in the water. You consider canceling your RSVP to the next four weddings you have this year as you watch the light reflect through the pool. It’s not doing great things for your mood, to have love shoved in your face like this. Like the whole world is happy except for you. You’re happy for your friend, of course, she deserves this just as much as the next person, but you can’t help but be jealous of the stupidest thing: she’ll actually get laid tonight.

You’re in the driest spell of your life, what with project after project at work, long hours on set, and a demanding boss who thinks you can do nothing right. You don’t even have time to shower and eat, let alone swipe on Tinder for a hook-up. 

“Good god, I need to get laid.” The words escape your mouth along with a world-weary sigh. 

“Does shouting it at the heavens work?” 

Your hand flies to your chest, and you let out a squeak of surprise that turns to laughter. It’s Seokjin, who’s found you again. He takes off his shoes and socks before joining you at the edge of the pool. 

He cups his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. “Good God, if you’re out there listening, I need to get laid, too! Thanks!” 

His antics bring a much-needed smile to your face. It’s hard to be in a bad mood when he’s around.

“Wait, you’re telling me Mr. Worldwide Handsome doesn’t fuck? Car Door Guy isn’t drowning in pussy?”

“What a crass way to put it.” He heaves out a world weary sigh of his own. “But yeah.” 

“Shit, if I was as famous as you, that’d be my preferred cause of death.” 

“Fame is the problem.” He pauses. “I didn’t know you were into women.” 

“Labels don’t fucking matter. I’m into whoever is hot and thinks I’m hot too.” You drag your feet through the water, watching as the ripples extend to the other side of the pool and back again to you. “Are you saying you’re too famous to fuck? Like you’re too good for us peasants?” 

He laughs, a sad, bitter laugh. “Sometimes I can’t tell. When someone is interested for me, or for their own fifteen minutes in the spotlight. Sex is great and all, but there’s only so many times one can wake up to someone that just wants picture evidence that you’ve fucked.” 

He says this with the weight of a dozen stories, untold. 

You place your hand on his, curling over the lip of the pool. 

“For what it’s worth, I’d go after you for that sweet, sweet ass rather than any type of public attention.” 

He scoffs, but flips his hand over and tangles his fingers with yours. 

“So you think I’m hot?” He looks at you, his joking tone belying the intense heat of his gaze. 

“It goes both ways, bud. You gotta think I’m hot too if this is going to work.” You try to match his light tone, but heat rises to your cheeks. 

“Beyond hot. Beautiful.” His thumb strokes circles across the back of your hand. 

“What about the reception?” 

Without hesitation, he jumps into the pool. Your breath catches in your throat as he rises from the water, wet shirt clinging to his defined chest. He pushes his wet hair away from his forehead. 

“Aw, damn it. I’m all wet now. How could I possibly go back to the reception?” 

A smile spreads on his face and you can't help but smile back. He holds out his hand in an invitation.

You take his outstretched hand and he pulls you in. 

Honey, I know you don’t want to talk about it but—

“Then why are you bringing it up, Mom?” 

I don’t want to see you alone, and besides, what am I supposed to do with my retirement if I don’t have grand babies to take care of?

“How you spend your retirement is your problem.” 

 I raised you, all my myself, and I worked so hard, you can’t do this one thing for me?

“Mom, you’re being unreasonable.” 

I just want to see you happy, sweetheart.

“And you think marriage and babies is the way to happiness? It wasn’t for you.” 

You regret the words as soon as they’re out of your mouth. There’s silence at the end of the line and, for a moment, you think she’s hung up.

You were the greatest joy in my life, honey. I wouldn’t have traded that for the world. 

The quiet conviction in her voice brings a lump to your throat. 

“I can’t talk about this anymore, Mom. I have to go. I’ll see you next week.”

You set the phone down beside you and pull your knees up to your chest. The city sparkles in the night, holiday decorations adding glitter to the view from your fire escape. The fire escape is the best thing about your apartment, and you spend as much time on it as the weather permits. 

Just as your joints start getting stiff in the chill, your phone buzzes. You almost don’t check it, expecting more guilt tripping from your mother, but it’s Seokjin. 

WWH [19:34]: want to grab a drink? 

It’s been over a year since you first hooked up, and it’s been going like this:

Every time Seokjin travels to your city for work, he’ll text you, for dinner, for drinks, really any excuse. The first time it happened, you met him at his hotel bar, and ended up in his room that night. The following night, he insisted on meeting you somewhere near yours and wound up staying the night at your place. Since then, you meet him somewhere close to home on his first or second night in town, and he stays at yours for the rest of his trip. 

You [19:37]: I didn’t know you were in town

You don’t mind. Even though your apartment is barely big enough for one, it’s nice to have company for a few days. He cooks, claiming he’s never home enough to keep fresh groceries at his place and that he misses his own cooking. You believe him, with his filming and promotion schedule for three different films. When his trip coincides with the farmer’s market a few blocks over, you go shopping together, takeout coffees in hand. He makes friends with each of the vendors and leaves you with at least a week’s worth of leftovers every time. 

WWH [19:38}: last minute press thing

When you’re in public, he keeps his distance, but when you’re in private, he holds you close. In the bedroom, in the kitchen, in the shower, on the sofa. Claims he doesn’t get enough genuine human touch in his line of work. You scoff, but let him cling. You don’t get enough human touch either. 

He admits once during those quiet moments after sex, with only the streetlights illuminating your room, that your place actually feels like a home.

You [19:40]: take me somewhere nice this time

He’s your boyfriend in everything but name. Two spare sets of clothes in his own drawer, a toothbrush that lives permanently next to yours. You even got each other a gift at Christmas, and he sent you chocolate and a gorgeous dahlia bouquet on Valentine’s Day. You’re not official though. So it always starts with a text. 

WWH [19:40]: car will be there in 20. dress nice. 

The streets are icy, slippery wet where your heels meet the concrete. The bar Seokjin took you to was indeed very nice, with fancy cocktails and even fancier small plates that didn’t amount to much of a dinner. You’re unsteady on your feet and it’s going to take something greasy and carb-y to sop up all the alcohol in your system. 

You’re looking for a taxi, or maybe something to eat; you’re not entirely sure. What you do know is that you’re moving forward, which is keeping you warm in the icy wind blowing down the city streets. 

As you step confidently forward, your heel skids out from under you and the only thing between your ass and the grimy sidewalk is Seokjin’s hand around your waist. 

“Wow. If this was a k-drama, they’d film this from like, fifty different angles.” 

He laughs and steadies you as you get your feet under you. “Maybe we’ll see the Subway ads floating around here somewhere.” 

“Ooh, Subway sounds so good right now.” 

His beauty doesn’t catch you off guard as much anymore, but now, with the wind ruffling his hair and the cold bringing a slight pink to his cheeks, you’re mesmerized. Your hand comes to caress his face, cold against the warmth of his skin. 

His hand covers yours as he looks into your eyes, something indescribable in his gaze doing funny things to your stomach.

“Marry me.”

“What?” You’re not sure you heard him correctly. 

“Will you marry me?” 

You laugh in his face. As far as you’re concerned, this is the best joke he’s ever made. You laugh so hard, you break away from his arms.

“Sure, why not? My mom already loves you. Maybe with a ring on my finger she’ll get off my back abut marriage and babies.” 

He accidentally met your mom a few months before when she showed up at your apartment building to surprise you for your birthday. Seokjin was graceful enough to treat her to a fancy day out on town. Of course, she melted for him and has asked after him every phone call since.

“Great! We’re engaged, then.”

“Ooooh, I’m a fianceeeeeeee.”

You wobble a bit as you do a little spin and he puts your hand in the crook of his arm to help your footing. You look at your left hand then, and notice something missing.

“But wait. How will other people know I’m a fiancée if I don’t have a ring on my finger?" You waggle your hand in his face. "How will I know not to fuck other people without a ring?” 

You don’t tell him you haven’t slept with anyone else for months now. 

“I’ll get you a ring.” 

“Okay yay!” You tuck your arm back in his but break away immediately as you catch a glimpse of the gleaming golden arches in the distance. “I! Want! Nuggets!” 

He calls you on a frosty Saturday afternoon to tell you he’s coming over for something important, that he wants to stay but can’t. He’s been shooting on location, and you haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks.

The trees have lost their leaves and the sun makes a weak attempt at heating up the city. You’re waiting at the top of the steps to your apartment building, debating whether or not to run in real quick to grab a more substantial coat. A large, black SUV pulls up, making the decision for you. 

Seokjin jumps out of the car, wearing a long camel-colored coat to ward off the bite in the air. He takes the steps up to the top of the stoop two at a time and reaches you quickly, his breath puffing up in the cold as he drops a kiss on your cheek. This is new, but not unwelcome. 

“Hi.” 

“Hi.” 

“I can’t stay long, I have to get back to the airport soon, but I needed to deliver something.” 

“You could have sent somebody over.” 

He shakes his head. 

“I had to deliver this in person.”A ring box comes out of his pocket. He opens it to show you.“We’re engaged, right? You need a ring.” 

The ring nestled inside the box has a tanzanite stone framed with little diamonds. You’ve never been one to imagine your engagement ring, but this one is perfect. Delicate and beautiful. 

“Did you fly all the way here just for this? You could have waited a bit, I mean…” 

“I had a day off. Besides I wanted to see you.” He slides the ring on your left fourth finger and admires your hand. “There. I couldn’t until I wrapped. What if you had fucked someone else in the meantime?”

You wince a little at his words. You say such stupid things when you’re drunk. “You know I haven’t, and I wouldn’t.” 

He pulls you into a hug. You slide your hands around his waist inside his coat. 

“I know.” 

You want to stay wrapped in his embrace forever, his warmth shielding you from the cold, his warm, musky scent enveloping you. Too soon, he pulls back. Before he goes, he cups your face in his and pulls you into a kiss, sweet and tender. 

The paparazzi photos you see later make your heart ache. The two of you look so in love from the outside, like a real-life engaged couple should. 

Early the next morning, your phone rings. It’s your mom, wondering why she had to find out on the news that you were engaged?! Saying that he’s such a good man. And that she’s so happy for you. You don’t want to tell her you don’t think it’s real. 

You don’t tell anyone you’re afraid it’s just a joke. Not even Seokjin himself the next time you see him. 

He deviates from the routine, but only in that he comes straight to your apartment from the airport, no more pretense of asking you out for a drink before he stays a week. 

So you stay in this limbo, happy to pretend you’re engaged. It’s easy to pretend to be a happy couple when he’s around. Now when you go to the farmers’ market together, you can hold hands with him, paparazzi and passerby phones be damned. You don’t know if it’s real or not, but you enjoy it, and let yourself sink into the fantasy. 

When he’s not around, it’s harder to convince yourself, but you catch yourself smiling openly at your phone every time he texts you. And he texts you about all sorts of things, about his annoying coworkers, about a potential project he’s excited about, about what he wants to cook for you next time you see him. You tell him you miss having his cooking skills around. (It’s as far as you’ll go to say you miss him). 

The months pass like this.

At the end of spring, your mom starts to not-so-subtly hint that she can’t wait to meet Seokjin’s parents at your engagement party. You say you don’t have anything planned, that you don’t even have a wedding date in mind because you both have been so busy. You don’t tell her you haven’t even talked about the wedding with him at all. That you’re afraid that he’ll say once and for all that this is just a thing for convenience, to get the weight of the public’s eye off his back. 

He hears your end of the conversation one late-May afternoon. 

“Let’s do it.” His parents have been nagging him too. “Our families need to meet eventually.”

“How are we even going to plan this? I have a million things going on at work and so do you. When will we even do it?”  

“Just give me a list of who you’d want to be at the wedding, and what dates you have free in September, and the planner will take care of the rest.” 

The mention of the wedding has adrenaline pumping through your veins. It's the first time the word "wedding" has been uttered between you.

“How nice it is to have money.” You try to keep your tone light, cool.

“What’s mine is yours. You know that, right?” 

He’s standing across the living room by the big window, framed a golden sunset halo. You can’t quite make out his face, but you hear the weight of his sincerity in his voice. The bigness of it all scares you. 

“Time to buy a house and invest in the stock market, I guess.”

He just gives you a slow shrug. “If that’s what you want…” 

“I’ll look on Zillow and get back to you with estimates.”

You excuse yourself to the bathroom, and he doesn’t bring it up again when you come back. He just plays the movie and hugs you close like he always does. 

The planner makes it all happen. Invitations with hand-written addresses by an expert calligrapher get sent out, a venue overlooking the ocean gets booked. All you have to do is fill out a simple form the planner sends you. You pick your favorite flower, a color scheme, and your favorite alcohol for a signature cocktail. She even takes care of your dress, says you’ll have options ready on site along with a hair and makeup team. Money indeed. 

Summer passes in a blur and you almost forget you even have an engagement party. The only reason you don’t book in a work thing on that date is because Seokjin sends you a calendar invite for the party, blocking out the entire day. 

You pull up to the event alone, nose in your phone. A work emergency kept you at home sending emails all morning. Seokjin sent a car for you, told you he’d meet you at the venue later. You’re so engrossed in answering a nasty email from your boss’s boss that you don’t look up until you’re fully inside. It’s not what you expected. 

You thought there would be tables for guests, with a dance floor and maybe a little stage for musicians or a DJ. Instead, you’re standing halfway down an aisle, rows of chairs on either side of you. Dahlias, just like you asked, decorate the space, with fairy lights twinkling gently around the blooms. There’s an arch at the end of the aisle on a raised dais. 

You turn at the sound of your name. 

Seokjin stands at the entrance, looking more nervous than when he had to host an award show. 

“What’s all this?” you ask. You think you know the answer, but you need him to say it for you to believe it. 

“Our wedding. If you want it to be.” 

“What do you mean if I want it to be? This looks like a done deal.” You’re shaking a little, in the frozen stage of fight or flight. 

He approaches you like one would a frightened animal. 

“I mean exactly what I said. This could be our wedding, if you want it to be. We can change this back to an engagement party if you don’t want to. It’s up to you.” He takes his hands in yours. Red creeps up his neck to his ears. “I know you took it as a joke when I asked you to marry me, but I was serious. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” 

You look into his eyes, so tender and full of love, and know you have two choices. 

“I know marriage makes you nervous, because of what happened with your parents, and because you changed the subject every time I tried to bring it up. So I thought I would surprise you, show you how serious I am about you. But I can wait. We can change it all back if it’s too much, too soon. The staff are on standby.” 

Reverting back to an engagement party is not an option. Because you may lose him while you try to sort your shit out. He might walk away. And that would crush you. Because it’s like you’re missing a limb when he’s not around. Because his laugh is the best sound you’ve ever heard. Because, you finally admit to yourself, you love him. The way he’s looking at you, so unsure but full of hope, your walls crumble.

“It’d be a shame to put all their hard work to waste.” 

His smile rivals the sun. Your vision goes fuzzy as your eyes fill with tears. 

“I’m not changing my last name.” Your voice cracks. 

He brushes the tears from your cheeks, catching them as they fall. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

“And I don’t have any vows written.” 

“I had them put some standard ones in your room. You can choose whatever you like. Or no vows, it’s up yo you.” 

“You thought of everything.” 

“I tried to.” He kisses you once, twice. “Now go and get ready. Guests will start arriving in a couple hours.” 

“Oh my god, I still have to choose a dress.” You use your palms to wipe your face and let out a watery laugh. “My mom’s gonna kill me for this. She’ll die of joy then come back to kill me.” 

He laughs and takes your hand to lead you toward the dressing room. You almost don’t want to leave him now, but he pushes you in the door with a little smile. The hair and makeup team are waiting for you, but you remember something at the last second. 

“Seokjin!” He’s halfway down the hall, but turns back at your voice. You run to him and wrap him in a hug. “I almost forgot. I wanted to tell you I love you, too.” 

His arms tighten around your waist and he buries his face in your neck. 

“I know, love. I know.” 

A/N: This fic came from a wild dream where–surprise!–I was getting married to Seokjin. I had to write it down, but it came across super creepy outside of dream logic lmao. Seeing it written down reminded me of all those AITA posts about people getting surprise weddings from toxic partners, which was not the feeling I had in the dream, so this is the result of that. Not included in the fic but featured in the dream: a coworker being a total hater about it, the rest of BTS (sorry).

©sowoozoo-7 2024

Please do not copy or repost. I do not crosspost anywhere else

[lucabyte]

monologue

[totallynotashieldagent]

the one where bruce is too rich to understand vegas weddings

Dick: So how was the trip? Bruce: Decent enough. Designs got through. Made appearances and- Y/N: Oh and we had the funnest little pretend wedding! Jason (choking on his drink): What??? Bruce: Oh, yes! It was quaint. They even had a little Elvis impersonator and everything. Stephanie: Uhh... B. Those aren't fake. Bruce: Of course, they are! Who would actually get married like that? So pedestrian. Y/N: It was such a fun party-trick. Alfred: Master Bruce, did you get wed without me? I diapered your bottom and- Damian: Father, how could you?! Duke: Jeez, B- You really got married, huh? Bruce: It wasn't a real wedding! Y/N: Who gets married like that?! Cass pointing to Tim, who is holding Bruce's very real wedding licence. Bruce and Y/N: Oh-

[luxaofhesperides]

(yourlocalcorviddad)

Wait wait wait, can there be more written about the one with Duke going on college tours with Danny??? If it's not too late?!??

(part one)

Danny’s been in love with Duke for years now. It’s always been kept a closely guarded secret, buried under as many wraps as he could get it. He tried to chase after other fleeting crushes in the hopes of moving on from his feelings for Duke, sure that they were never going to go anywhere.

How could they, when they lived states apart? 

The Danny back then would have never believed that he would one day be waking up in Duke’s arms in a hotel far away from home, traveling around the country to figure out a future together. 

Or rather, planning their own futures by each other’s sides, rather than planning to be together throughout college. Danny knows they’ll be spending even more years apart, chasing after their dreams, but it’s a gift just to a a summer together again. So what if it leads them to living on opposite sides of the country? They’ve managed to survive a long distance friendship for this long, they can keep it up for another few years.

And if it comes to it, Danny can just fly to wherever Duke is. He’s only gotten faster over the years, settling into his powers and practicing them so often. 

The future is daunting, but all his nerves are chased away by Duke’s smiles. 

“Can’t believe we’re almost done,” Duke says as they get settled at a restaurant in Massachusetts. They’re both tired, but the giddiness of getting together, of knowing their feelings are requited, keeps them energized and happy despite the long drive across state lines. 

“One state left, yeah?”

“Yeah, and I got Harvard first on the list so we can visit Jazz.”

“You’re the best,” Danny grins, stretching his legs out under the table to lightly knock his foot against Duke’s. 

This entire trip has felt like a daydream to him. It’s one thing being able to travel around the country with Duke, but to be able to kiss him wherever they go? Even now, two weeks later, Danny can’t believe how happy he is.

It makes the uncertainty of his future less scary. It helps distract him from how much he wants to escape his parents, despite how much he loves them.

Their conversation comes to a brief pause as a waiter comes by to take their order, writing everything down before hurrying away to keep up with the rush of activity in the semi-busy restaurant. 

“Oh,” Danny says, suddenly remembering the third person in their group, “Is Peter going to be joining us?” 

Peter, Duke’s chaperones, is odd but funny. He disappears and reappears like a magician, always carries a gun on him, and treats Duke like a little brother the rare moments he’s around. He’s mostly only been with them to act as transport, driving them around from university to university. 

Duke’s face does something strange when he hears Peter’s name, but it’s gone before Danny can figure out what that’s all about.

“Nah,” he answers, “He’s off doing his own thing. You’ve seen how he likes to follow his own plans.”

“So I guess we’re stopping here for the day?”

“Yeah. I’m sure we can find somewhere nice to spend the night, and until then we can explore—” Duke takes a quick moment to check the name of the town they’re in, helpfully stated on the restaurant’s wall of five star reviews “—Baldwinville. I’m sure there’s something for us to do around here.”

“I mean, we don’t have to do anything special, you know. I’d be happy to just to spend the day with you.”

Duke smiles softly, reaching over the table to take hold of Danny’s hand. “I’d like that too. Maybe we should just take some time and explore the place together. Have a relaxing day before we head to Cambridge.”

“That’ll be nice. I feel like it’s been forever since I had a quiet day.”

“Same!” Duke laughs. “Gotham’s wild, man. Did I ever tell you the story of having a barbeque with Killer Croc?”

“No! I can’t believe you kept that from me!”

Duke launches into the story as if it’s any other day, just the two of them hanging out. Danny’s enraptured as he always is when Duke shares his Gotham Stories. He doesn’t falter even when their food is brought out, and Danny tries not to blush too hard when Duke feeds Danny some of his meal, just so he can try it. 

There’s a reason Danny sometimes daydreams about what his wedding with Duke will look like, and it’s because of this.

But that’s getting way ahead of himself! He shoves the thoughts away and focuses on the story, enjoying their lunch together. 

Duke pays when they’re done, as has become routine; Danny had fought him about the first few times before Duke told him that it was all ‘Bruce fucking Wayne’s money so they don’t need to worry about costs.’ It’s a gift from the man himself to Duke, and rejecting it would be rude. 

That hit Danny right in his midwestern politeness and he could do nothing but let it happen, already planning thank you gifts for Bruce Wayne. 

They walk out into the quiet streets of Baldwinville, hand in hand. Summer has the air humid and full of buzzing insects, and the sweet scent of flowers surrounds them as they head down the sidewalk, idly looking into the display windows of each store they pass. The buildings are old, mostly made of brick, and carry a charm that’s lacking in the urban sprawl of Amity Park.

He likes it here. 

Honestly, he’s been liking a lot of what he’s seen in Massachusetts. 

He wouldn’t mind spending a few years here as he gets his Bachelor’s degree. Of course, it all depends on if he gets into the colleges of his choice, but he’s feeling hopeful about his future. He’s worked hard to bring his GPA up after his freshman year, and his ability to juggle and extreme workload has made him a master at getting things done before deadlines and adapting to things at the last minute. 

Danny idly swings their clasped hands between them as they walk, savoring the time they have together. 

The end of their summer trip is creeping up on them and Danny can feel the distance between them start to pull tight. 

They don’t speak until they wander into a park, just a large grassy field filled with wildflowers and bees. There are a few benches placed beneath large trees and Duke leads them over to it to take advantage of the offered shade.

“I can’t believe we’re almost done,” Duke says, sitting down with a sigh. He tugs Danny down after him, and Danny goes willingly. He swings his legs up to drop them across Duke’s lap, leaning against him, his heart fluttering when Duke gets a hand around his thigh to keep him in place. 

“I don’t want this summer to end,” Danny admits. “I’m not ready to leave you again.”

“Hey, we’ll figure it out. I’m not going to be away from you any longer than I have to.”

Danny can’t resist the urge to lean over and kiss him, so he doesn’t. Duke meets him with a smile, keeping the kiss slow and sweet, though the way his hand skates up Danny’s thigh sends molten heat through his veins.

He pulls back before they can escalate any further (one time in public was enough; he’s still embarrassed by it and can’t look Peter in the eyes) and leans his head against Duke’s shoulder. “It would be nice if we could live together.”

“Planning out our future already? Well, in that case, I want a dog and a pet snake.”

“Why a pet snake?”

“Just feel like it.”

“A dog would be nice,” Danny says, “As long as it gets along with Cujo. Not sure about the snake, but if you can take care of it, I’d be fine with having it around.”

“Think you’d ever live in Gotham?”

Danny considers, then shrugs. “Maybe. I dunno, it sounds like a lot and I already dealt with so much just with the ghosts in Amity Park. But I don’t think I’d mind if I was with you.”

The smile that crosses Duke’s face is soft and Danny wants to see it all the time. He loves when Duke gets flustered; Danny just turns red and shy, but Duke becomes soft and adoring in a way that makes Danny feel like he’s holding sunlight, all warm and happy.

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Duke says, not yet able to bite back his smile. “Now that we’ve visited most of the places on our list, do you know which ones you’re going to apply to?”

“I’ve got a few ideas,” Danny answers. He’s been thinking about where he wants to go since summer started and he left school with Mr. Lancer reminder everyone to think about college and preparing their applications. 

It’s been a topic that’s never left his mind since for the past couple months, wondering about what the future holds for him. He honestly never thought he’s get this far, having died at 14 and struggled to adapt to how his life changed after. But he’s gotten back on track with school, has a handle on the ghosts, and the support of his parents to go anywhere he wants. 

For so long he’s been stuck in the routine of school, fight, struggle. There was never any time for anything else, much less planning for the future, and now it’s hanging heavy over his head. 

At least he gets to be with Duke as he figures things out. It’s like going back to their childhood, spending summers together, but they’re both grown up now, walking ever closer to the next stages of their lives. 

He’d love to get into MIT, but he knows the chances of being accepted are insanely low. He’ll apply anyways, just in case, but Danny’s prepared to go somewhere else. Maybe somewhere else in Massachusets. Or maybe go to New York. 

“I really liked the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. If I get in, I think I’m gonna go there,” Danny says, putting his hopes for the future into words.  

“Yeah? I think I might try to get into a college up here too,” Duke replies. “If things work out, we won’t be so far from each other.”

“And even if we do end up far away again, we can make long distance work. Right?”

There’s a worry in the back of his mind that Duke won’t like a long distance relationship, that he’ll be off in college falling in love with someone else, but there’s barely a second before Duke says, “Of course,” as though it’s obvious. Like he hadn’t considered any other option. 

Danny’s heart settles and he shoves away the rest of his general anxieties. There’s no time for that now! 

He intends to enjoy the rest of his summer trip with Duke to the fullest extent possible, which means all of that is a problem for Future Danny.

“Should we go find Peter? We’ll need to figure out where we’re staying tonight.”

“I think we can go a few more hours to a bigger town,” Duke says, “Not that this place isn’t nice, it’s just too quiet. It’s weird.”

“Alright, city boy,” Danny says, standing up from the bench. He pulls Duke up after him, leaning over to kiss the exaggerated offended expression off his face. It’s not like he’s wrong, anyways; Gotham is a big city, and Duke is an urban boy through and through, especially compared to Danny, who comes from a large town and has family living in reclusive rural Appalachia.

“Small towner,” Duke returns, nipping lightly at Danny’s bottom lip and laughing when he squeaks in surprise.

He pulls away before Danny can retaliate, and Danny lets him go, saving his revenge for after they get to their next hotel. 

Their time together is coming to an end soon, and as much as the future terrifies and excites him in equal measure, knowing Duke will be with him, one way or another, gives him the courage to keep going.

He hopes Jazz will be happy that Duke’s dating him now. He’s already hoping to ask her to be a bridesmaid for him.

[twistedappletree]

Arranged marriage zhuiling AU where instead of being arranged to marry each other, Jiang Cheng keeps trying to set Jin Ling up with random girls from other clans after Jin Ling mentions he’s interested in marrying ‘someone’ because he doesn’t know Jin Ling meant Lan Sizhui, so Jin Ling keeps doing the most ridiculously annoying and unappealing things to scare off every girl who comes to Koi Tower and Jiang Cheng is ripping his hair out because you little brat, you said you wanted to get married???

Eventually, both of them are so exhausted from the miscommunication that Jiang Cheng investigates and finally finds out what’s wrong, then tells Jin Ling he has one more potential spouse for him to meet. Jin Ling is a pouting lackluster mess over it until his entire world stops when the doors to Koi Tower open and Lan Sizhui walks through.

[zestyaahbutler]

That scene where Alucard and the queen interact made me so giddy the first time I watched Hellsing. It's one of the reasons why Alucard and her is like my top ship for him.

Imo there is something so special about how despite not ending up with someone due to your role in politics/influence, your love for them never ceases. An immortal being that is caught up in the beauty of seeing you matured and full of life experiences when they met a version of you that didn't have all of that. I don't think he'd let anyone hold him that gently. I know that Alucard is a whore but I'd like to believe that the look in his eye to her was pure love and tenderness.

[bibuckagenda]

Buddie fic where in an ambiguous earlier season (before bucktaylor?) Eddie is hanging out in his kitchen while he watches Buck cook. They’re having a good time, laughing together, when something sparks an unease in Eddie. A phone call? a visitor? A comment he just remembered? That makes him feel like he’s taking advantage of Buck by always letting him cook for them. That maybe it might be nice if Eddie actually learned to cook a dish or two to better balance their dynamic.

And he obviously thinks about going to Bobby or his abuela, but he can feel his chest tighten in embarrassment and Eddie doesn’t like the feeling nor does he want to examine why he felt too seen when he thought of going to the people he cares about, so he signs himself up for some beginner cooking lessons.

He tells no one and he feels incredibly uncomfortable when the entire class is filled with older women (think 50-60s). He’s incredulous at first because all of these women seem to know more than the basics and they spend a lot of the class gossiping about people he doesn’t know. He doesn’t mean to get sucked into the drama, he’s here to learn to cook!, but then Debra mentions her daughter getting into a fight in a Denny’s parking lot and Eddie feels like he’s listening to a bad telenovela and he can’t stop himself from opening his mouth and piping up with his thoughts.

At first he’s terrified as the entire group looks at him, but then Colleen, Midwest accent and one of the more sarcastic women, nods at him and goes on about how he’s right.

Soon Eddie gets dragged into this group and while he does learn some things about cooking, he realizes that he made friends. With people he doesn’t work with!

Eventually why he was there gets brought up and he gets clocked as being in love with Buck so fast that his head spins. He wants to freak out about it, but Georgia pats his hand and smirks at him before asking if his Buck is handsome. The others all cackle when he blushes, but after they see a picture of Buck after a work out and one with him cuddling Chris, all they can do is gush at Eddie.

He loves it. He won’t ever admit it, but he loves it.

So he spends two nights every week learning what a ragù is and teaming up with Paula in an attempt to convince Pam that she’d spent two decades too many on her deadbeat husband.

(And if Buck is surprised when Eddie cooks them pasta on a rare night Chris is with his abuela, and he blushes a pretty pink color that leaves Eddie lightheaded, well that just means he has something to tell The Girls tomorrow evening in between making pie dough and trying to get Lottie to admit she thinks Mr. Harris, her upstairs neighbor, is handsome.)

[dasha022]

Till the ghost do us part

When a bird can't help but get into trouble while searching for an answer and makes a certain ghost guy face the terrifying truth, the bird will have to deal with the consequences and give him a new home. Because that's what a husband does, right?

If I receive a lot of interest in this plot, I will upload the complete chapter to ao3.

“Ok… What the hell did you just say?”

Danny took his time to look at the large amount of furris surrounding his “holding cell” and let out a long sigh. Now he understood his former literature professor when he felt exhausted from explaining something that was too easy for him to understand.

“Ask the sad blond in the trench coat, so much for my wanting to explain my now-husband’s situation.” To make his point, Danny turned around in what by now would be his “VIP” room and proceeded to ignore his husband’s family.

“That’s the damn question mark, how in the hell did Red Robin end up married to you in the first place!” Spoiler exclaimed with his arms in the air. “There was not even a ceremony involved, much less a priest or Judge!”

“I already said it was his fault for not listening to me and continuing to use the same summoning circle to look for answers to questions that would not be answered," repeated the starry-snowy-haired boy as he stood with his back turned and waved one of his hands in disinterest.

Dick massaged his forehead while he assimilated the information, but he still could not process the whole event. “So, you got mad at Red Robin and decided to make him your husband as punishment?”

Phantom, the specter that was not supposed to need a breath, let out another sigh. “To a certain extent, you could call it punishment. But, from my point of view, this marriage is the responsibility that your co-worker must assume for ruining my peace by playing with that summoning circle.” At the end of his tone, Danny's voice turned cold. This was also reflected on the walls and the floor where he resided as a "captive".

If you find any grammar mistake, I'm sorry English is not my first lenguage and I'm a little be bad writing it. But tell me if I need to fix something. 😅

[padawansuggest]

I really hate pining with all my heart, so here’s an idea: CodyWan who fall in love within the first month of meeting each other and hold hands and give hugs and little nuzzles and everyone else is like ‘yeah. Cody and the General. They sure are friendly…’ but no one says it to them till they overhear it one day and straight up go ‘we got married on month two of dating’ and everyone loses their minds they thought they were in a ‘everyone but them knows they’re married’ AU but they’re actually in a ‘speedrun strangers to old married couple’ AU and they’re so confused.

[astarlightmonbebe]

“when you play go, you pursue your desires in silence. you seduce, and you fall. you strip each other bare. and if your partner doesn't reciprocate, then it's just a game of go.”

go as an overarching symbol throughout the glory, both figuratively as a representation of dongeun’s revenge, and also as a metaphor for class and relations (between her and the men in her life, i.e. yeojeong and doyeong).

on a relational level, go is a game of seduction. it’s a mental sword dance, so to speak. dongeun learns it with revenge in mind - she plans to catch the interest of doyeong, the husband of the girl who destroyed her life. she uses go to approach him - she seduces him the very first time he sees her play, so much that he can’t get her out of his head. she uses go to entice him; she wins before he even knows that he’s playing.

dongeun learns go for the purposes of ensnaring doyeong, but it’s yeojeong who first teaches her go at all. and it’s go that becomes a cornerstone of their burgeoning relationship as well. throughout the seasons, go helps both of them, as something that centers them, tethers them to current life. for yeojeong, his sessions mentoring dongeun in go were the only thing that created a schedule for him in his most turbulent time (after his father died, etc.). it becomes their mode of communication - he asks her to make a play so that he can know she came by. a silent way of saying i’m alive.

and then there’s dongeun approaching doyeong to play go, then them meeting again at the park he designed. yeojeong also approaches doyeong to play go, also purposefully - the man who taught dongeun vs the man she learned to play for. 

but for dongeun, go is never about the men so much as it is about herself. go becomes something she loves for what it is, a game that builds territories, a game where the enemy can be slowly and methodically destroyed as you take all their territories, like how she plans to take everything from yeonjin. it reminds her of the dreams of being an architect she had before she had to drop out of school from the bullying/assault.

doyeong says that one of his go teachers tells him that he was born holding the black stones. when dongeun plays with yeojeong for the first time, she says she has to start with the white stones, since she’s the beginner. that’s how they play, for months. when doyeong meets dongeun after finding out the beginnings of the truth, he says that this game is more difficult than the ones he’s played in the past (and she beats him, the first time they play prior to that meeting). 

the black stones represent the upper hand, the wealthy. it’s a class metaphor, especially when related to doyeong. yeojeong also starts out with the black stones, maybe because of wealth, maybe because he’s learned it for far longer. maybe because life was kinder to him. dongeun starts at the bottom, with the white stones, because she has nothing and knows nothing.

but when she places her first stones on the go board, she plays with the black.

[honeycreammilkshake]

there will be cake.

i finally finished my first fic, and it's greenflame! it takes place between possession and skybound. i spent a few days on it and i'm still not satisfied... it still feels a bit ooc and amateur to me, but please let me know what you think. here it is...

Sitting down for dinner with the other ninja, Kai had no intention of talking about anything serious, let alone marriage, and especially not how he should go about proposing to Lloyd. But picking at his bowl of chili, he looked around to his friends, watching them talk about their day with animated expressions and exaggerated hand gestures, observing Cole and Jay arguing about every detail of their training so they could trade insults while blushing whenever anyone (mostly Zane) pointed out just how closely they'd have to be watching each other to know such minor things about their routines. And when Kai glanced over to his sister she was already glancing his way with an exasperated smirk at Cole and Jay's antics.

The only absent one was Lloyd. The Green Ninja was training late, as usual, pushing himself to his limits. The perfectionism was at first a little annoying for Kai, who tended to take any show of exertion as a competition against him, but overtime he'd learned to accommodate his boyfriend, who was typically late to dinner or outings with the rest of them. The pressure Lloyd must have felt, every single day, to not only lead the rest of them but to also make his pretty much godly ancestors proud of him had been grinding on him even more as of late, and Kai didn't want to add to their young leader's troubles. Still though… after their last battle, almost losing Lloyd to possession had made him keenly aware of how fragile the normalcy of all their lives were.

At any time, they could find themselves under attack once more. Ninajo had a reputation for attracting the most dark-hearted, vengeant, and power-hungry of villains, and Kai had to wonder if there was some kind of sign posted out for all the tyrants coming to seize this particular place. Something massive and neon was advertising how siegable and conquerable this entire land was somewhere, he was sure.

But as a ninja, bound and entangled with all the rest of his team (a fate he would never want reversed or changed in any way), he knew he would lay down his life for any one of his friends if it ever came down to it. And, naturally, he knew in his heart that no matter how much he teased or gave Lloyd trouble, he would stand behind that completely unhinged god-in-training no matter what. Wherever Lloyd led him, he would follow. And it was because of this that he knew he had to make their relationship even more official, even more sacred, so that when villains like Morro or Chen or the rest came knocking again, Kai would know there was still a chance at a normal life, even a small part of it, in their own lives. That he could say that Lloyd was his in more way than one and come back home to that small piece of stability.

Now, watching his friends continue to taunt and push each other, a warm feeling suddenly overtook Kai, not unlike the sensation he got whenever he drank a nice cup of Wu's tea. He felt it blossom inside of him, a hot and protective surge that came whenever he thought of the others, especially Lloyd. He knew he could trust them completely, he could ask anything of them and they wouldn't treat him any differently for it.

So it was without any filter that he found himself asking, "Guys, if I were to hypothetically propose to someone… someone who's very uhm… career-driven and practically all-powerful, how would I go about asking them to do something absolutely ordinary like marriage?"

A small silence briefly overtook the table as the others, except for Cole who was still digging into his plate without interest in anything else, glanced around towards each other. Nya, on Kai's left side, was completely still all of a sudden and opposite him Zane and Jay exchanged looks.

Just as the stillness was starting to become unnerving, Zane, always practical, broke in, "Logically the best way would be to—"

"Oh my gosh, you guys," Jay all but shrieked. "Kai and Lloyd are going to get married!"

"Wait what????" Kai burst out, feeling his cheeks start to heat up. "I didn't say anything about—"

"Oh please," Jay scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You're the fire ninja, Kai, so whatever you're trying to cover up, you still burn holes right through it." He was picking at his bowl of chili delicately, like most of its contents offended him, and by the way he had complained about every other dish Cole had prepared for them, you would think it was genuine. But Kai knew the Blue Ninja would sneak lots of extra helpings of Cole's meals whenever he thought they weren't looking. And seeing as how most of Cole's food was… to put it plainly… bad, Kai knew it was because Jay was simply (and not so secretly) completely crazy for the Earth Master.

"You guys thought it was such a secret, but we could all tell what you were up to," Jay continued, matter of fact, then smirked. "The walls here are really thin, you know."

Kai groaned and buried his face in hands. "Okay," he sighed out. "So what if it is Lloyd?"

"I knew it!" Zane exclaimed from Cole's side, face lighting up. When the others looked to him, he explained, "Pixal told me they have a 95% compatibility rate. Lloyd's sensitivity and high emotional intelligence counterbalances Kai's hotheadedness and temper—"

"Yeah yeah we get it," Kai huffed, feeling called out.

"My vitals monitors indicate that your heart-rate speeds up whenever Lloyd appears," Zane added helpfully. "My data also suggests that Lloyd's libido increases whenever he watches you training."

Beside him, Nya made a choking sound. "Oh my god," she gasped, wiping away dribbles of water from her lips. "Please never say libido again, Zane."

Despite the embarrassment at having his secret relationship exposed so quickly, Kai couldn't help the way that information stroked his ego. All the time that little brat had been claiming to watch so closely to point out errors in Kai's form (as he always did) he was secretly checking Kai out shamelessly. It made him flush with more than a little contentment, but he got a hold of himself quickly, and managed to grit out, "Okay guys, that's enough."

"Where would they even get married though?" Jay pushed on, ignoring Kai entirely.

"Somewhere big enough for all of us," Zane pointed out. "I can compile a list of popular wedding locations and analyze them for suitability."

"No no," Jay dismissed, whipping his spoon around passionately so that a bit of chili hit Kai in the face. He wiped it off with a grimace as Jay continued to lecture Zane. "It should be somewhere perfect for the both of them..." Jay bit down on the handle of his spoon and then grinned widely at Kai. "I know just the place—my parent's junkyard!"

Kai blinked, caught off-guard. "Jay, I'm not marrying Lloyd in a junkyard—"

Across the table, Cole's face finally unfused from his plate long enough for him to shout, "Will there be cake? I'll definitely come if there's cake!"

"Always thinking with your stomach, right Cole?" Jay snarked. But the Earth Master chose to ignore him, much to Jay's disappointment.

As the others continued to conspire Lloyd and Kai's wedding, loudly describing each lavish detail — "Lloyd should wear all red so Kai can wear all green... and there should be dragons!!!" Jay contributed while Zane added, "Kai should put Lloyd in his lap and ride in on one to the ceremony" and Cole piped in, "And there should be triple stacked cake afterwards!" — Kai's ears picked up shuffled movement in the hallway. He sat up straight. Wu and Misako were out getting "vital" supplies like flavored tea and herbal medicines — old people errands — and they weren't expecting anyone else to come calling. It could only be Lloyd.

Getting that sensation he got whenever he was about to be cornered, he felt himself start to panic. "Guys, if you don't shut up now, I swear I'll send every single one of you to the Cursed Realm," Kai hissed out. "I don't even care if we're on the same team — you will all be banished for your crimes. This conversation is over."

But, of course, cause everything and everyone hated Kai, this was the exact conversation Lloyd chose just that moment to walk in on.

With a short glance around to the other ninja, he came into the room and a crushing silence followed as they all tracked him with their eyes. He walked casually, carrying a bowl laden with an excessive amount of Cole's chili (which wasn't that bad but it also wasn't that good either, so Kai felt Lloyd had filled it to the brim subconsciously) and settled down in his usual spot to the right of Kai, slowly lifting his spoon to his lips…. Lips that were twisted up in an unmistakable smirk, the one Kai knew and adored so well, that he loved to bite on — but right now, seeing the way it melted away the usual prim and proper princely beauty of Lloyd's face into the wild rawness of the conceded brat he really was, all Kai could think was Lloyd knows…. He's been listening in on the whole thing!

"What's all this about cake?" Lloyd asked, oh so innocently, as if he didn't know already, and Kai kind of wanted to manhandle him right then and there for being such an unyielding brat.

But before Kai could say or do anything to grab at any sort of control over the conversation, Jay leaned in closer to Lloyd, conspiratorially settling his chin into his cupped hand like he was about to tell the world's greatest secret. With a hauntingly straight face he said, "Only that Kai can't keep his eyes off yours."

… And then everything kind of blew up in Kai's face.

Nya and Zane burst out laughing and Cole let out a bellowing huff before slapping Jay across the back so hard the Blue Ninja's face almost landed in his uneaten bowl of chili (Kai wished with his whole heart that it really had). Jay glared briefly at Cole but then the Master of Earth said, "I guess that's why they call you the Master of Shocks! That was a good one, Jay."

Pure pride swelled the Master of Shocks' chest, making him look just like a puffed up little blue jay — which he technically was… though Kai could barely register the humor of it as sticky hot embarrassment exploded inside of him.

"Oh wow you guys," Nya finally managed to gasp as she held her sides, like she could fall apart from the delicious humiliation of it all. She wiped at her eyes, choking out, "Look at Lloyd's cheeks — they look like cherries!"

Lloyd's mouth was pressed together tightly, and his cheeks were definitely a deep scarlet that Kai took some satisfaction in seeing, but he knew his own cheeks were probably just as red and burning twice as hot.

And of course Jay would point that out. "Guys, check out Kai's face — he's burning up!"

"Oh the irony," Nya giggled.

"Red ninja indeed!" Zane chimed in with a grin that practically spilled off his face. And in that moment, Kai had never been more certain in his life that he was surrounded by traitors. Enemies.

Kai ground his teeth together and finally managed to squeeze out some sort of response. "You're all banished."

The other ninja, minus a cherry-colored Lloyd, started laughing again as Kai sat there, gripping the edge of the table and plotting revenge. Only Cole made any kind of move towards redemption, leaning closer to both Lloyd and Kai to say, "You know we're just teasing you two… We're really happy to see you making things more official. And just so you know, I would love to be there for you, even if there no's cake for me."

"You do know the whole point is so that Kai gets to keep the cake just for himself, don't you?" Jay smirked.

Before Kai could set fire to either himself or Jay, Cole turned to the Blue Ninja and smiled. "Don't worry, sparky, I'll make sure to claim a cake for myself too," he said, and proceeded to reach over so he could grope Jay's ass as the smaller ninja let out a high-pitched squeak.

"Who's the Master of Shock now?" Zane grinned as Jay started choking.

Nya pursed her lips and said, "Really? Right in front of my chili?"

Kai moaned and buried his face in his hands as the entire table descended into chaos. But it died out quickly as Lloyd stood up, his face unreadable, that silken smirk of his erased from his lips. As Kai peeked up at him, he couldn't help but feel… reverent. Lloyd was strong, and fierce, and brave. And more than that… he was the magnet that kept them gravitating to him, to their destiny. Their fates were inexplicably tied to his for the rest of their lives. They all shared a bond deeper than mere friends: they were each other's counterparts and focal points and homes.

And nobody was more at home with Lloyd than Kai.

"Kai," Lloyd began, and Kai felt the air rush out him as soon as Lloyd turned those ember-bright eyes right on his face. "Do… do you really want to marry me?"

Kai's heart was pounding far too fast. It felt like the adrenaline spark right before a battle. "Of course," he managed.

The other ninja were finally fully silent, their eyes wide and watchful. Feeling bold, Kai pushed away from the table and stood right in front of his boyfriend. Then he sank to his knees, his eyes never leaving Lloyd's, and swallowed. "You know that all of us are bound to you, and all of us would protect you with our lives, just as you would do for us. But the bond I share with you runs even deeper. I promised you that I would protect you, and that I would follow where you lead me, that you could always rely on me, so I would like to ask you now… Will you let me follow you forever? Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, will you marry me?"

In all that time, Lloyd and Kai didn't look away from each other. The others remained blissfully quiet, but there was a current of anticipation coursing through the room.

It felt like an age before Lloyd cleared his throat and said, "Of course I will.... Someone has to keep my cake away from Cole, after all."

Kai groaned but found himself grinning anyways. "You're insufferable," he told Lloyd and pushed up from the floor.

"That only means you're even more perfect a match," Nya pointed out from Kai's side, but she hugged her brother tightly, patting him on the back. They both knew how much this meant to him...

Lloyd and Kai returned to their places at the table and tried to resume eating normally, but they kept glancing over to each other until Jay scoffed and said, "You two, honestly, go get a room."

"Quiet, sparky, you'll get yours soon," Cole winked and Jay started to protest.

"If you think I have any interest at all in a dusty piece of rock like you—"

"Yeah yeah," Cole waved him off. "Keep pretending, bluey."

Lloyd laughed and reached over to offer his hand for Kai to hold. Kai took it gently, and didn't miss the way everyone stared at their joined hands, their fingers twining together.

"No matter what comes in the future, we'll face it together," Lloyd promised Kai, and they felt each other's pulses jump at his words.

Kai nodded, soaking up the way the light hit the pale gold of Lloyd's hair, making it look just like a glowing halo. This boy would be the death of him, he just knew it. He couldn't help the smile spreading across his face. He raised a spoonful of chili towards Zane, Cole, and Jay and gave his best unhinged grin. "The future looks bright for you and me both, but right now I say we take these three down for being so obnoxious," he suggested and Lloyd grinned too, wild and full of fire, just like Kai.

"What?" Zane sputtered. "I didn't do anything!"

"Wait!" Jay cried out. "But we helped you propose to him, Kai!"

Lloyd snorted while Kai rolled his eyes. "Sure you did," the Master of Fire said, then launched the first spoonful at Jay's surprised face.

"Food fight!!!" Nya cried, pounding her fist on the table before she upended her entire plate on Kai's head.

Kai gasped, shaking sticky shrimp out of his hair. Reaching up, he felt the clingy, pasty sauce of the dish matting his once-immaculate spikes, and he shrieked, "GET HER, LLOYD!"

With a roar, the table fell into chaos again. As the ninja threw handfuls of food at each other — except for Cole who sat there lamenting the waste of it all — Lloyd and Kai looked at each other and smiled. Everything that they had ever done, all that they had ever faced and clawed their way through, had been worth it for moments just like this. With a laugh, Kai leaned in and kissed Lloyd in front of everyone, not even caring to keep anything concealed anymore.

He didn't even care when Nya shouted, "Gross!" and splashed the rest of her water on them. With a smirk, he pulled Lloyd closer and set a palm to the boy's back to dry out his clothes.

"You know," Zane said afterwards, as everyone settled down. "Someone has to clean all this up before Master Wu returns."

"Not me!" Jay was the first shout.

"We will," Lloyd said calmly, volunteering an unwilling Kai before he could protest. "We started this after all."

"They had it coming," Kai argued but stopped when Lloyd cast him a sharp look.

"You said you'd follow wherever I lead," Lloyd reminded Kai, then smirked his signature smirk when Kai let out yet another groan.

"Alright then," Kai sighed. "Lead me to the dishes."

"Get used to this," Jay said smugly. "This is going to be married life for you from now on."

Cole stood up from his seat and brought the rest of his plate down, shrimp-first, on Jay's head. "And this is going to be married life with me," he promised the Master of Lightning and walked away smiling.

"Welcome to the family," Nya said to Lloyd before standing up from the table.

"Can't be crazier than my family," Lloyd called after her, then turned to Lloyd. "Well, let's get cleaning."

Kai sighed melodramatically but didn't complain. He had promised to follow Lloyd wherever he lead him, even if it was just to another mess to clean up. So he smiled as he knelt down to pick up pieces of dinner from the floor with Lloyd. He wouldn't have traded it for anything else.

[nadiajustbe]

After months of running away, objecting and arguing with his brother, Prince Justin finally marriess Beatrice of Strangia. And it's... not bad, definitely: the weeding was big, rich and loud, made for four people, marrying at the same day. Beatrice herself is a great, a strong-willed person who knows how to dab socks and manage the country.

He can't tell anything here is objectively wrong: on the contrary, every single detail, from the number of candlesticks arranged in an even circle on the chandeliers, to the color scheme of the napkins and the distribution of seats at the huge tables, semeed horrendously perfect. People approach him, glowing with the wide smiles on their faces, sharing their remorse that the Royal Wizard — as If they thought it would be great to remind him about this miserable fact, or somehow guessed he wasn't keeping it in mind himself — can't come to see his dear friend on such a important day of his life.

For fully unknown reason, Justin almost finds the fact that he isn't there a good coincidence, at least a little bit, walking around a huge decorated hall, so full of music and voices he can't quite hear his own steps. Royals and commoners of all wise and statutes are eager to shake his hand, tipping a glass or two of wine with him.

But aside of that, things go pretty smooth. His own brother is smiling at him, almost as If they never argued about anything in their lifes, proud and clear. Prince Justin finally found a place of patience, stopped running around his problems, throw yourself into the flames of a chaos, burn himself with their tongues, without considering the consequences. He became what they all called, "a model prince", in the end of the day.

And, watching at all they do, and hearing all they say, Price Justin thought that they may be right. That the feeling of tingling uneasiness will ease with time, earning itself, that he'll find the way of ruling, the way of earning trust and respect hundreds of times larger than the one he has. There's nothing that tragic in leaving your own country forever, when you're an adult general with important issues on your mind? Justin thought he could handle it.

It lasted for about a week. Even less, if Justin had to be honest, counting days, unsure whether the whole week has passed yet. Less than a week of time, stretching and testing him, ticking with the hands of the clock. Less than a week of missing his small garden outside of the castle, where cats would climb on trees and water would rush through small, calming stream. Less than a week of missing Valeria's scribbles, silly painting on wich Justin was almost always shown somewhere at the top of the paper and childish, mischievous laughter.

Less than a week of one particular name jumping on the tip of his tongue, showing up in his own thoughts, appearing before his eyes everytime mighty mountains cleared the path into the Ingarian fields, somewhere in the distance.

There's nothing wrong in the feeling of loosing something so dear to you tearing you up, he reasoned. Most accordingly, his own reasoning had much more swearing, army slang and vague wording within it, but it sounded close to that.

And there's definitely, absolutely nothing wrong in being so eager to see your friend, whom you are not sure you will ever meet again. No matter how often your last meeting — brief, sore and painfully quick, accompanied with with the impatient clatter of horse hooves and the order to move forward — flashes in his own memory, keeping him awake at night.

There were simply so many things to tell, and so little time in which saying them had at least some sense.

And the irony is, Justin didn't even know, what exactly those words were supposed to be.

He looked up at the celling of his hew home, trimmed with gold, while Princess Beatrice was moving a little uneasily by his side, having long since fallen asleep.

The other disadvantage of marriage turned out to be sharing a room with another person. Justin didn't want to wake her up, nor bother her the nonexistent problems, seeping through his fingers like sand.

Still, he was at the right place. He had to be at the right place. He was a Prince with a powerful Princess by his side, wounded in worthy amount of battles, getting his long-earned rest. That's what every fairy tale says: happily ever after comes after Prince finds his courage to find a Princess, and they face not a single problem after that, filled with joy. There's a reason they never show married life in this books, If you squint.

Except, it didn't feel right. Nothing, written in ink, engraved on the paper, felt right. The walls gave off a ghostly coldness, the curtains swayed in the wind in rather strange way, the halls drowned those present with its grandeur, completely different from the one he knew. Even the selling — higher power knew how much he wanted to close his eyes just not to look at it — looked even more distant than the one they had in the library, mirroring his reflection.

Here it goes again.

He liked Ben. He liked him a bit too much for his own well-being, or at least that's what his brother had been telling him. And his brother was a big fan of reminding Justin of all the wrongs in his life.

According to him, there were a lot. According to him, more than a half of them led to the Royal Wizard.

Not like he cared. Of course, screw the rules, let your own worries consume you, let your legs take you whenever they want to go, let the darkness eat you alive, let it decide what are you made up from.

His brother could scream at him all he wanted. That's wouldn't have changed anything. Justin knew there were things and people worth fighting for.

It didn't matter, now that he was away. That's not something a model prince should be thinking about, but it was certainly something Justin couldn't help but think about despite this new status.

Everything returned to Ben, in the end. As If it was a cycle.

To than strangely big amount of moments they didn't get to share, to occasional smiles and words in a language he could never quite make out. To the days when his friend couldn't even understand what he himself was saying, looking fascinated by every thing that met his eye, asking unusually basic questions. To quiet melodies, created by the strumming of the guitar strings, which he always deeply, unreasonably cherished. To that too peaceful ideas — he told him the only thing that could stop the Witch of the Waste was well-armed army, and certainly not a planting of fields, but Ben always clang to more idealistic ideas than Justin did.

Every thingle moment, unwillingly running across the celling — as If Justin's own image wasn't really his — collected a cluster of such a strange, pulling sensation somewhere under the side, that he wanted to punch something. Or hit it with a sword.

Shit.

His vast, colourful vocabulary had no substitute for this particular word.

If he's gonna stay here for a second longer, no damn princess will save him from what he's about to do.

Justin doesn't really remember how exactly he got out of bed, leaving a disheveled blanket on the mattress, the floorboards creaked somewhat under his weight.

Gathering his things into a small cloth knot, moving as quietly as possible so as not to wake Beatrice or anyone else important enough in the castle, Justin quickly glanced at the clock on the wall.

There was a brief conclusion, made on a rush of his mind, the same way every of his questionable, unbearably harsh ideas, that never led to anything remotely sane or logical: he held the status of a model Prince for about a dozens decades less than he was supposed to do so.

Yes, definitely less than a week.

Justin didn't give himself benefit of the doubt. Whatever the hell will be going on there after he does what he does is not his problem.

He was never supposed to be a King of this country. He's more of a solider. A general. A dog, a servant, an inpatient mysterious costumer gone to buy spells. That felt right.

The curtains had stopped waving, freezing in a slippery, eerie moment. Justin could swear the sound of water droplets hitting the metal supports of the balcony began to reach his ears. A thread of chill stretched through the crack in the window, making its way into the room, right under the sleepwear.

The dim glow of the candles cast shadows across the corridors, echoed by the heavy boots of guards and servants.

He couldn't get straight through the main exit. As if his situation wasn't a total crap without this fact.

The cold was getting on Justin's nerves as he opened the window wider, hastily pulling on a green coat and rough shoes. Tons of fighting about saving his "unacceptable" clothes definitely paid themselves off.

Justin looked down, gripping the handle of a huge, door-like window tighter with his fingers. Only a couple of meters, no more that two floor — no thing that a proper army man couldn't handle.

He jumped onto the balcony, grabbing the handrail with one swift movement. He took one last, quick glance around the room before turning his back to it.

Beatrice continued to dream, almost motionless now, like had never known any strong worry. Raindrops, from that moment large and unpleasant, flew into the room, blowing out the lights of the candlesticks with the howl of the wind, that was treacherous enough to start picking up again now.

The flame went out. Justin closed the window.

He jumped over the partition, holding on to the small connecting bars.

It was very stupid. Very unclear. But there was no difficulty in crossing the mountains of Strangia, even on foot. Justin did much harder things. No matter how majestic the borders were, they could hardly compare to the fearless dryness of the Waste.

He knew where he was going. Of all the houses that had ever been in his native country, he knew exactly which door to knock on. And Ben might laugh at him for it — he would have every bloody right to burst into pure mockery — and at the same time he would not mind in any way. He liked Ben, no matter what it meant.

Justin jumped off the balcony, landing nimbly on the ground.

He was going home.

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

Hi hello I watched all of carmilla in a weekend when I was 17 because a student teacher who in retrospect I had a bit of a crush on mentioned that she knew one of the actresses. also I am pretty invested in all your recent vampire stuff because I watched iwtv in 2 days last week because your edit intrigued me

oh hiiii 🫶 thank you for indulging me. thats so cool that you watched iwtv! did it live up to the expectation?

i also watched carmilla at 17! or like, 17-19. i found it when s2 had just started and followed it to the end. did something permanent to my brain but i think it was a good thing. on rewatch now im like, i was right to like this. like it's a solid show, it's good. it has its flaws obviously but it's well written, the emotional moments still get me, i can see why i liked it and i still like it now even when it's not anymore, you know, meeting every need that baby gay me didnt even know they had

what it doesnt reaallyy do though - i dont remember if i posted abt this or if i left it in my drafts but - is explore vampirism as a concept. their subject matter is more lesbianism than vampirism. which is great! thats what they wanted to do and they did it and it's very good. but reading interview with the vampire the book rn im realising how much potential vampires have to be metaphors for like so many things and i started wondering like 'wait, did carmilla just not really engage with it or did it all go over my head'. but it just didnt really engage with it all that much. which again is fine bc that wasnt what they were doing. im glad they were more about the lesbianism than the vampirism

but there's this interesting difference in framing, because in iwtv they keep calling armand 'ancient' right? and emphasising how old he is. and he's like 500? and i was like 'wait isnt carmilla like 400?'. she isnt, shes 340, but still, thats getting there, you know? and we know quite a lot about her history, but kind of just the Big Events. when she was turned, the events of the novella, coffin of blood, silas. thats sort of what we know. but none of the long lonely slog of history day to day you know? with armand i feel like we can really feel how much time everything takes. how every one of those years is made up of single days. with carmilla i dont feel that as much. i keep kind of thinking about daniel, when louis calls him a boy in the first episode, saying "im an old man, with all the triggers that come with it"

because carmilla might look 18 (or mid twenties at this point) but she has lived all that time. shes also seen her native land be claimed by like a succession of ruling powers, right? like armand. shes been buried alive, like louis. when lestat is born, shes already 80 years old, shes lived a whole human lifetime, and the entire adult part of it shes been a vampire. shes lived through 1680-1870 being a lure. i compared her to abigail hobbs in some tags on a post, i dont know if youre familiar with hannibal the tv show, but i do also kinda keep thinking about that comparison

if youre not familiar, in the first episode of hannibal the murderer of the week is this guy garrett jacob hobbs who kills and cannibalises girls who resemble his daughter. and later on it turns out she was made to be his lure. like they'd go places and he'd sent her to the victims to make friends and maybe get them back to their home or smth. not sure if they specified all the details. but that's what carmilla did for mother. and in s2 we hear from mattie that while every couple of decades carmilla had to lure victims for the fish god, she also seemed to just enjoy humans between those times, right? like the doctor, gets lonely, gets a new companion. but we've only sort of got mattie's mocking word for it ("dont eat him, hes a poet! or her, shes got such a wonderful voice. or that one, shes just too pretty to ruin"), we don't know exactly from carmilla's point of view what she was doing or why. if mattie's talking about stuff that happened after the blood coffin, 1950-now, then i think it's a fair assumption based on what carmilla says in the s1 sock puppet show that after she'd figured out what the real situation was and what her role in it was, when she'd started trying to save girls from being sacrificed, that she mightve been doing the same trying to save people from becoming mattie's victims. it's probably more likely that she was just trying to find excuses to stop mattie from sucking someone dry rather than actually having like an aesthetic based morality. but it might be a bit of both. im still trying to figure out what her philosophy actually is, like i dont know what existentialism actually means ghkfjghkj but i will

i also found it pretty striking in the movie when shes turning back into a vampire she says like "this was supposed to be done, you know? the blood lust, the self-loathing, the sleeping tied to a chair in my own bedroom". thats what defines her vampirism, wanting blood and hating yourself for it (the third part is a joke/reference to s1 but also i think meaningful for how she sees her relationship with laura when she IS a vampire. little bit of that 'she will reject me for my monstrousness' shining through). and thats what defines vampirism for lots of vampires across the genre obviously, but i dont know, it struck me. we dont get a lot from carmilla's pov, we know a fair amount about her, but the story is always told through laura. we get laura's diaries, but just snippets here and there from carmilla, what shes thinking, how shes feeling

and i love that shes a philosopher. i love that thats how she seems to try and find something to hold onto, in a world that kind of moves around her, having been murdered, kidnapped, turned and groomed to be a lure on the cusp of adulthood, never having been properly loved (the relationship with her father wasnt good she says in s3, and her mortal mother i dont think has ever been mentioned (like laura's)). the only good relationship she seems to have had for the better part of 3 centuries seems to have been mattie, and mattie seems to love being a vampire. i can imagine carmilla just sort of going along with anything mattie wants to do just because shes so desperate for that friendship. not like, against her will necessarily really. but more like, she hasnt even had the space to develop her own will, you know? and philosophy lets you do that. philosophy gives you frameworks to understand the world and to develop your own opinions on it. and by the 21st century she seems to have developed those opinions, she has a sense of her own values, but shes also still stuck in that same situation. shes jaded and cynical in the face of laura's optimism and strong moral code a lot of the time in s1 because she feels probably pretty powerless. like she does what she can to save some girls but at the end of the day shes scared of her mother and she has nowhere else to go really, right?

i like how she grapples with that over the course of the series, in tandem with laura grappling with her black and white morality. she sort of jumps ship from her mother to laura bc theyve fallen in love, but then laura still stuck in her hero thinking refuses to see her monstrous side. not literally bc i think the biological vampirism never seemed to be a problem for laura, but morally. the having murdered. carmilla needs laura to see that and love her while seeing it bc the last girl she loved rejected her for being a vampire.

but you see her kind of swing back and forth in s2. she softens first with laura but then they break up and she leans back hard into the sarcastic cynic defense mechanisms, leans hard into "im a monster, dont expect heroism from me". but thats like, it's sort of learned helplessness i think. it's powerlessness, resignation. bc morally shes not a monster. maybe she doesnt have as strong a drive to help other people as laura does and is a little more selfishly hedonistic in that she just wants to enjoy her/their life, but she doesnt hurt people for fun, she never has. she just sort of didnt have another option for a Really long time. so she pretends she doesnt care. "im a vampire, this is what i do, this is who i am". but clearly from the way she talks about it when she turns back into one, she doesnt enjoy it

and i like how she goes even further in s3, where she starts swinging even more to the heroic side, bc she sees hope. shes like "wow if we kill my mother, i'd be free". theres hope and she becomes like a lot more active. and shes like that at the start of the movie too, a lot happier, a lot more relaxed, and then vampirism is back and bam depression gfhgkjh like shes immediately more gloomy, ashamed of her past and her self, retreats into herself

sorry i just took this as an opportunity to dump all the carmilla thoughts floating in my head on you. you didnt ask fhkghgjh consider this an open invitation to you or anyone else to come talk to me about carmilla

[novella-november]

Is this fanfic friendly? I feel like an outlier.

I guess this is my sign it's time to throw together a FAQ post to link to lol.

Yes, every event for this blog is fanfic friendly :D

Though as I mentioned on my Ominous October post, for events that include multiple short stories, I encourage everyone to flex their creativity and take one of their planned short story fanfics, and at least *attempt* to turn one of them into something entirely original; rebuilding a character and story from the ground up to stand on its own two legs is no easy feat, and that is what makes it so fun!

It really gets your creative gears turning, to make an "au of an existing material" to be something entirely original, and you can be pleasantly surprised about the things you come up with!

As a few people say, its not just a matter of "filing the serial numbers off" -- you have to add in just as much *or more* as what you take out when you are turning a fanfiction into something that is original and completely divorced from its original source material / inspiration, and that is a hard, but very rewarding challenge!

Obviously, this is not a requirement (there's no hard requirements for any of the challenges, other than no cheating, including no using AI),

but if you would like an extra challenge for the short story events and you're planning on doing entirely fan-fiction, I highly recommend trying it out at least once, and seeing where it leads you--

you may find yourself pleasantly surprised by what you find down that rabbit hole!

[cupiidzbow]

that one post asking what ring they would propose to you with….. i actually have a whole thing of how it would play out ( im normal )

[greenerteacups]

What do you think as Hermione's career would be post battle of Hogwarts? To me her being minister for magic really doesn't make sense. She does not have patience or tact to wade through murky waters of politics 😭😭

So hard to say! The Trio are so, so young when we leave them, I find it almost impossible to project their futures farther than a few years out. The job that suited me at 17 would be radically unsuited to me now. That's why of all the Trio, Ron's ending strikes me as the most realistic — he jumps straight into the save-the-world business again, burns out, realizes he's actually Done The Fuck Enough, Thanks, and pivots into a low-stress career where he gets to see his family a lot. Feels accurate! The others are weirder to me because they do seem to just... pick a lane and stay there.

With Hermione, you could spin her a couple ways. You could say that she leans into her bookish side and does research or teaching, which is not my preference for a couple reasons (namely, I don't think Hermione would like academia as a profession; she finds her classwork interesting and enjoys intellectual validation, but she'd be stifled and wasted in a DPhil program, and she'd be infuriated by the administrative politicking of your average higher-ed faculty). You could say that she gets disaffected with politics and ends up as a barrister or a lobbyist of some kind, but if anything that requires more political finesse, because you don't actually have institutional power, you're just handling the people who make decisions and trying to persuade them of your goals. This is not Hermione's preferred method of influence. She's not even particularly good at persuasion, she just happens to be smart enough (and right often enough) that people take her ideas seriously.

Or you could say her brashness fades with the years into a softened flavor of tell-you-like-it-is honesty, which some politicians actually do successfully trade on; as we see in British politics today, you don't have to be all that charming or clever to get ahead, you just need to be really driven and well-connected (which Hermione completely is; she fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the first postwar Minister and her bestie, the Literal Messiah, runs the Auror Office.) But I don't know if Hermione especially wants to be Minister, after the war. She's just watched years of horrendous bureaucratic incompetence plunge the country into a violent civil conflict. She's had not one, but two Ministers of Magic try to bully or shame her friends into complicity with fascism. Her view of government is... likely extremely dark.

But Hermione also isn't the kind of person who sees her life as a quest for happiness. Babygirl has a savior complex that makes Harry look selfish. (She basically kills her parents — yeah, obliviating is a form of murder, #changemymind — "for their own good," and justifies every batshit, vindictive, mean-spirited move she ever pulls on the grounds that it "helps" one of her friends.) She is a mean, lean, dragon-slaying machine, and she needs a dragon. After Voldemort, the Ministry is the no. 1 threat to muggle-borns and non-wizarding Beings. As a war heroine with basically infinite political capital, I'd be surprised if she didn't try to do something there. That said, Hermione is so vivacious and dynamic that she could potentially grow in a hundred different directions; it's possible that all of this, while true of her at 18, becomes completely inaccurate by 22. That's why I'm not too fussed about any particular fanon interpretation.