#how did i start this week wearing a sleeveless cropped shirt and now i need a thick hoddie and a raincoat ;-;

[witchwhaat]

this weather is already driving me crazy and autumn hasn't even really started yet ;-;

[ladywinterwitch]

Silver

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader 

Summary: You and Sebastian have been dating for a little over a year, and hwen he asked you to be his date at the Avengers: Endgame premiere, you couldn’t be happier. Now the only thing that’s missing, it’s the dress.

Warnings: None except fluff, two ofc, some cursing

Word count: 1651

A/n: Nothing elaborate, but cute nonetheless. Ps: I know that the gif is from TWS premiere, but I needed that suit color.

(Gif not mine)

-Hey sweetie!- you turned around, seeing your two besties coming towards you with an excited face.

-Finally! Ugh what took you so long?- you hug them both to greet them. Lily huffs.

-Traffic was a bitch.- Carol rolls her eyes, opening the boutique's door.

-It's not true, I had to wait for her to finish her damn make up.-

-You never change.- you laugh shaking your head. The guilty girl gives the other a slight nudge with her elbow.

-Thanks a lot.-

-Always honey.- Carol responds with a fake smile.

-Hello girls, can I help you?- a nice woman, probably in her forties, approached them. She was wearing a black jumpsuit that looked as elegant as the rest of the shop. That was all Sebastian’s fault. He insisted to pay. You didn’t want to spend a fortune for a dress, but he said to choose whatever you liked. 

A fortune for him that you weren’t a mony grabber or someone who spends a lot in general. And he trusted you.

-Yeah, I'm here to find an evening dress.- you responded. She nodded and smiled politely, inviting the three of you towards some fancy leather couches with a  few changing rooms nearby. The tent was open, showing a quite wide space and a full body mirror, both outside and inside the room.

You would've expected to explore the shop, but you soon understood that it was one of those places where you had to be followed by a shop assistant at every step.

-So, what's the big occasion, if I may?- she asked, offering champagne to the three of you. Your friends almost had their eyes out of their head at the sight. None of you was really used to this fancy shit.

-A premiere.- her eyes widened a bit.

-Wow. We really need you to shine then, don't we?- you gave her a shy smile and she chuckled. Then she made you get up to go take a look at the dresses. Carol and Lily immediately started to look and comment on each one.

-So, just to get a more specific idea. Did you have something in mind?-

-I'm sure about a long dress. Something elegant, not too tight maybe?- you didn't have a precise idea about what you wanted. All you knew was that you didn't want to appear raunchy nor ridiculus with something too stravagant. It wasn't your style. Also, it would’ve been your first public appearence with Sebastian, and your first time in front of the paparazzi ever.

It had been a fight sometimes to keep your relationship under wraps, and knowing how much Sebastian valued his privacy, it surprised you when he asked you to come to the premiere as his plus one. He was giving you trust, and you wanted to prove to him that you were worthy of it, because he deserves it.

-Okay, I think I got it. Why don't you go in the changing room while I bring you a few to try on hmm?-

-

The lady, which you later found out to be named Ines, brought you five different dresses. Your friends gawked at you every time, tellin' that you looked great, but the gowns didn't really convinced you, even though they were beautiful. The first was a sleeveless blue dress with a silver embroidered top with a very deep neckline, the second had a basically identical cut to the first, but the neckline was more covered and the color was a very light, almost greyish blue and the whole dress was embroidered, the third was embroidered, rose gold and had long sleeves, the fourth was plain, violet and was covering just one shoulder, and the fifth and last one was emerald, with the upper part separated from the skirt kinda like a crop top but longer, decorated with stones and sleveless but with a collar attached, while the skirt was made in soft organza and had two stripes covered in stones at the waist. 

They really were beautiful. The problems were that one didn’t fit your taste, or it didn’t convince you. In any case, you wanted to look around for yourself, to avoi wasting both yours and the lady’s time.

-Can I take a look around?- you ask with a smile, still wearing the fifth dress.

-Yes sure, that way.- she pointed to your right. You went around, barefoot on the soft moquette, your wavy hair picked up with a large pin.

-I don't understad why you don't like those dresses. I mean, you look like a damn princess even right now.- Lily said, following you. You shrugged.

-It's not that I din't liked them. I just didn't liked them enough.- you look at a few more dresses, then you stop, picking one.

You look at it for a few seconds and smile, then you turn to Ines.

-I take this one.- you announce with convinction.

-What? So fast?- Carol says shocked. She look at Lily, which just shrugs.

-You may want to try it on first, Darling? I'm sure it'll look great, it's just a precaution.- the shop assistant talks sweetly to you.

-Alright, but I'm buying this.- you answer while you close the tent of the changing room.

-

You tried it on, and it fitted you like a glove. You paid, a quite reasonable prince surprisingly, and then went home after two full hours of searching.

-Honey, I'm home.- you called out while you closed the door to your shared apartament. Sebastian came out of the kitchen in his full glory. A tight black t-shirt, gray sweatpants, freshly washed fluffy hair and a delicious scruff. He smiled at you widely.

-Hi baby.- he placed his hands on your waist and pulled you close to kiss him.

-I missed you too.- you chuckled, caressing his cheek.

-Did you find what you wanted?- he asked, leading you to the kitchen where he was making dinner. Kind of a miracle, considering that before meeting you he never even tried to learn to cook.

-Yes. Mmh, it smells amazing in here.- you mix the boiling sauce with a spoon.

-Thank you. And?- you raised an eyebrow, leaning against the kitchen counter.

-And what?- you asked, he got closer, starting to kiss your neck, cheek and collarbone.

-Can I see it?- you moaned slightly, biting your lip so suppress a smile.

-Nope.- he backed away to face you.

-Why?- you give him a quick kiss and then you went to the kitchen stove to turn the sauce off.

-I want you to see the whole package the day of the premiere.- you answer.

-I don't care about the 'whole package'. You, stark naked and without make up are a whole package for me already.- he resumed to kiss your neck.

-Okay lover boy. But I'm not changing  my mind. Also, it's still at the boutique, I'll go fetch it the morning of the premiere.-

-You're cruel.- he pouted sitting at the set table. You placed his plate in front of him giving him a kiss on the head.

-Evil.-

-

A week later, it was the day of the premiere. You went to collect your dress in the morning and now, Sebastian's hairstylist, which brought along a friend of hers who was a make up artist, was applying the last touches to your face. You decided to go for a grey bright smokey eye which made your eyes magnetic, some blush and a medium red matte lipstick. You didn't do anything special with your hair, you just curled them in natual beach waves and pinned two locks in the back of your head, fixing them with a silver and diamonds star shaped pin.

Finally, you put you dress above the black lace lingerie, which you knew Sebastian would appreciate later on. Carol and Lily were there too to help you get ready. They fixed your dress and checked your make up for the last time.

-Perfect.- the first said.

-Sebastian's gonna love it, y/n.- you smiled at her.

A  sudden knock on your door interrupted your conversation.

-Baby, the driver will be here in ten minutes, are you ready?- your boyfriend's voice spoke through the door.

Your friends looked at you excitedly and you huffed out a breath before going to open the door.

You were welcomed with the sight him in a classic black suit with a black shirt and tie. His scruff was gone and his hair were a litle shorter and styled upwards.

When you were done checking him out you saw that his mouth was slightly agape and his eyes full of love.

-You're stunning baby.- he finally said. You smiled sheepishly.

-You look handsome. I'm kinda jealous.- you laugh a bit placing your palms on his chest.

-You shouldn't be. You look brighter than a star.- he smirked, then frowned a bit looking again at your dress.

-Are these...for me?- he asked referring to the silver stars adorning your black dress. You smiled widely, happy that he understood it.

-The winter soldier's colours. Black, silver and red.- you marked the last word with a featherlight kiss on his lips.

He didn't say anything for a few seconds and your smiled faltered a bit.

-You don't like- but before you could finish you sentence he grabbed your face by your cheeks and kissed you. You placed your hand on his wrists and closed your eyes.

-I love it. And I love you.- he whispered on your mouth. You smiled fondly at him, while you locked gazes.

-Sorry to interrupt, but it's better if we go now.- Carol said startling you a bit. You forgot that they were even there.

-Oh sure. Thankyou girls, for everything.- you hugged them quickly.

-Don't mention it sugar. You both look fantastic, so if you'll excuse me now I'm going home to cry with a bottle of wine.- Lily said in a dramatic tone making you all laugh.

After a few minutes the driver arrived and you got in the car.

-Are you okay?- he asked kissing your hand.

-Just a little nervous.-

-Don't be, you look beautiful. Also, you already know half of the cast. It's going to be alright.- he soothed you. You smiled feeling a bit reassured.

-We have arrived, sir.- the driver says.

-Let's go out there.- you say confidently while a smile creeps on his face.

Hope you liked it. Feedback is always appreciated :)

[unmanageable-day]

Meet Ha Sungwoon

Yuri spent the rest of her day wandering around Insa-dong, where her best friend, Jimin, told her he will meet her there after his routine finished. She couldn't even say no to this sweet, kind guy who always exudes positive and bright aura with his eye smile. Everyone, including Yuri herself some times just didn't understand why Yuri and Jimin couldn't be together as a couple. She just didn't feel it, she said long time ago. And so did Jimin feel about this girl with complete criteria just like his ideal type. Then both of them realized that the concept of ideal type is actually flexible in real life. Tired of walking around without any destination, Yuri chose a coffee shop with mini library to relax while waiting for Jimin to show up. She also sent a text to him and got no reply until the next 15 minutes. He usually replies back in no time, as if his phone got stuck in his hand. She tried to call him too, but still got no answer.

Her lips pouted. She put her phone back to the beige satchel bag she was carrying while sighing in annoyance. It had been 30 minutes since she tried to read a random novel book she picked, yet she couldn't concentrate because her best friend was somewhere she didn't know. Probably he was still teaching in his dancing class at one of his studios (he had like maybe 5 studios in Seoul). Or maybe he was already on his way to Insa-dong. Or maybe Taehyung, Jimin's bestfriend too, kidnapped him. After finally succeeding reading 3 pages of that novel titled Behold the Dreamers, her single-lid big eyes caught this figure that she had no doubt who he was. Yuri immediately got up from her seat to approach him. A friendly slap on the shoulder just landed on this guy with all black outfit. "Ya! Where have you been? I've been waiting-" she stopped as he turned his head to her surprise. How on earth?! He is not Jimin, but looks like Jimin. A lot. "Oh. My. Gosh," Yuri gasped. "I am very sorry. I'm really sorry. You look like my friend. I'm sorry." She panicked and bowed to him several times. This Jimin looking like guy flashed a smile. A smile that even reminded her of Jimin too. One thing that caught her attention instantly was his lips. Thicker than Jimin's, but as plump as Jimin's. Even more luscious. "It's okay. I get that a lot." Yuri bowed again, still apologizing before she decided to set off from that cafe. She rushed walking out, abruptly took her phone out of her bag and searched for Jimin's contact. Jimin would need his ears all open for the rants coming out of Yuri's mouth. ◎ 3 weeks had passed and Jimin invited Yuri to come to his house, celebrating his 5th year as a dance teacher and senior coreographer. Of course she said yes. She even prepared a customized speaker shaped like a dancing silhouette as a gift. Yuri was welcomed by Taehyung when she arrived at Jimin's house. There were not many guests, probably around 10 people in total. Yuri went straight to the kitchen where Taehyung said Jimin was in. "Ji~min~ah~" Stomping towards the kitchen, she sang as she put both her hands on the guy's shoulder with intention to surprise him. And like deja vu, Yuri had to find herself beyond shocked when she realized it was not Jimin again. It was the guy from the cafe before. Jimin innocently appeared behind her and greeted his best friend who was still in shocked state. "Hi, but I'm Jimin?" Then he just got a smack from Yuri. Yuri was so close to death from being embarrassed. She could feel her face was burning red everytime Jimin brought up about how she mistook this particular person for him. Two times. And the climax was the truth that he was Jimin's friend as well. "Anyway, Yuri, this is my friend. His name is Ha Sungwoon." Jimin stood up between this Sungwoon guy and Yuri, resting his hands on both Sungwoon's and Yuri's shoulder. "Sungwoon, this is Im Yuri, my friend since elementary school." "Hello," Yuri greeted, bowing 90 degree to Sungwoon. "I'm terribly sorry for mistaking you again." The natural reddish blush on her face still hadn't faded away. Who knows such a thing could happen. "Hi. It's fine." Sungwoon let out a little chuckle. "I hope we could meet often in the future. It might help you to tell which is Jimin and which is Sungwoon." Yuri was still lost at words. She was too shy after what happened. Meanwhile Jimin only laughed it off, giving his friends some loving pats on the shoulder and said, "So, all is good, right? Get along, you two." ◎ Ever since then, Yuri was being more cautious every time she saw someone who looks like Jimin. Especially when she was about to meet him. Besides, she felt like she bumped into Sungwoon quite often these days. Her natural reaction was to run away before Sungwoon noticed her. But having Jimin as mutual friends eventually would make them meet again.

Like today. Yuri was dragged out of her apartment by Jimin this morning. He said to accompany him, being his plus one at an acquaintance's wedding, where Sungwoon would be there to sing for the bride. Yuri, again, lost at words. She even got stoned for a moment that Jimin had to 'help' her to choose the dress to wear and pick out some make up stuff with shades that matches the dress. Yuri must say he does have a good taste. When she came out from the bathroom she already found a knee-length, peach colored, sleeveless dress on her bed, along with flower shaped necklace and simple earrings. "You owe me one," Yuri said as she tied her hair into a bun. Jimin chuckled. They just arrived at the venue and Sungwoon was already standing by the entrance of the hall. He waved at Yuri and Jimin with a wide smile on his face. Yuri could feel her cheeks heating up and she started to rant in her mind about why she agreed on accompanying Jimin. "Yuri, hi~" Sungwoon cheerfully greeted her. Yuri awkwardly smiled back and bowed to him. She hurriedly followed Jimin to find their seats after Sungwoon excused himself to prepare his stage. "Let's bet, you're gonna fall for Sungwoon right after you hear him singing," Jimin whispered in her ear when all the guests were in awe appreciating the moment of the groom kissing the bride. Yuri only gave him a piercing gaze in annoyance. But Jimin was right. Her ears were spoiled by the sweet and emotional voice of Sungwoon who sang whole-heartedly. That made her can't stop looking at him. And of course Jimin caught her. "You owe me one?" He grinned mischievously. "No, I don't," she quickly denied. After singing 3 songs, Sungwoon joined them outside the hall. Yuri spent most of her time in silence being out of the loop meanwhile the 2 boys were chattering excitedly. Until one of them finally left for a drink. And the other one was left in an awkward silence with Yuri. "So, Yuri, you've been friends with Jimin for a pretty long time, yeah?" Sungwoon started the conversation. "Well, yeah, I guess so." Another awkward silence. Sungwoon's eyes started to wander around. Jimin also didn't seem to be coming back any sooner. "Do I look like Jimin that much?" He finally brought this up again. Yuri covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. "Yes, you do," she answered as she fanned herself using her hand. "But now that I see you both at the same time, I guess, not really?" Sungwoon's smile got wider. "Yeah?" "Jimin has this cute and innocent look. And you are... more manly, I guess?" Yuri couldn't believe herself she just said that. She let out an awkward giggle. Sungwoon blushed instantly and also let out an awkward laugh. "Anyway, is it okay if I ask you out some time?" "Eh?" Yuri couldn't believe her ears. Sungwoon bent down his head, groggily scratching the back of his head. "Ah, it's just.. I'm wondering if it's okay if I ask you out some time." Yuri gulped. Her lips was pursed. She slowly nodded and said, "Yeah, sure." Hopefully the peach shade on her cheeks was able to disguise her real blushing. ◎ Jimin had been teasing Yuri all night long until the following day once he knew Sungwoon asked her to watch a concert. Jimin got himself very excited that he wanted to devote himself as a stylist for both Yuri and Sungwoon. Yuri herself almost blocked Jimin from her contact because he was being too noisy. This time Yuri refused Jimin's offering to help her styled up. She decided to keep it simple and comfortable: black shirt, broken white cropped pants, and 3cm heeled black suede shoes. Surprisingly Sungwoon wore matching outfit like hers. This successfully made her blushed. Thanks to Sungwoon's extra ordinary choice of concert - acapella group concert - Yuri really enjoyed every single second that she finally could relax and be her true self around Sungwoon. He was glad he bought one extra ticket when he ordered it long time ago, and not giving it to Jimin. "The concert was super great. Thank you," Yuri happily told him. "Oh, no, I thank you." Sungwoon beamed. "Let's have dinner?" Yuri nodded and followed him from behind. It seemed now he didn't look like Jimin that much. Except his height. Both of them had this tiny giant concept. And Yuri found it cute that her lips curved into a slight smile without her realizing it. "Ah, I'm hungry.." Yuri talked to the menu book as her eyes got busy scanning all the menu and her hands kept on turning the pages. Sitting before her, Sungwoon's eyes were locked on Yuri's face instead of the menu book he was holding tightly. How he admired her that probably his eyes were able to shoot little hearts. "Hey, I've been wondering," Sungwoon suddenly talked. Yuri turned her head up at him. "Are you... and Jimin, perhaps..." "Oh my gosh, no." She quickly cut him as if she knew what he is going to say. "I've been with him for a quite long time, and maybe I know him better than I know myself. But, no, we don't have that kind of relationship." Sungwoon's mouth shaped an O while nodding. A grin grew on his lips. They came back to their menu and ordered the food. "Can I be honest with you?" He groggily asked, and got a nod from Yuri. "Actually I've been wanting to get to know you since... well, since Jimin showed me your photos." Yuri squinted her eyes, not so sure what he meant by that. "He brags about you a lot," Sungwoon continued. "That's why I asked you, if there's something going on between you guys." How unexpectedly nice of Jimin, she thought. Who would have thought he would do that. And to meet Jimin's doppelganger like this, it was not a bad thing after all. Maybe she did owe her best friend one. Yuri cleared her throat. Now she was getting nervous. "Well, I had no idea Jimin ever did that. I thought I'm gonna be single forever because he always acts like my guardian." Yuri let out a sigh while rolling her eyes. "A little bit too much," she added. "So... that's why I'd like to promote myself to be your guardian. Your supporter. Maybe, your personal entertainer, singer, dancer, even comedian." Sungwoon wore his smile as he talked firmly, quite ambitiously, and pretty persuasive actually with his modest amount of confidence. "Basically be your partner. 24 hours per day. 7 days per week." Yuri could feel her jaw almost dropped if she didn't have her hands to support her chin. She used her fingers to cover half of her face, at least her blushing cheeks. "How's my offering?" He pierced his eyes into hers. "I get to know you better, and you get an extra guard who can entertain you and will be there for you when needed." Yuri got speechless. How she hated Jimin for being right. "Well.. how do I say this..." Sungwoon chuckled. "Okay, I'll make it short." Sungwoon cleared his throat before continuing. "I, Ha Sungwoon, am asking you, Im Yuri, to walk the path ahead, hopefully a beautiful and flowery path, by my side and have a journey with me. I will take care of you, guard you, and always try to make you happy. So, may I have your answer, yes or no?" Still covering half of her face, from the nose down, Yuri secretly smiled. Her heart raced due to happiness.

Hello, there! This is my second time posting fanfiction on tumblr. I usually post on AFF under the name joyful_joy (https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1051231).

[jakeander11]

Tumblr’s full of writers that are better than me, anyone want to weigh in on whether this optimizers gales this seem like a story worth reading?

“Gareth brushed sweat from his eyes, and tucked some damp, sandy curls behind his ear. The sun beat down from the cloudless sky, baking the streets of Greyport beneath it. Gareth shifted slightly, and felt another line of sweat run down his back beneath his yellow doublet. The slight ocean breeze coming in off the harbor only served to move the hot, humid air around, instead of cooling anyone down. It was not an ideal day to stand around and sing to crowds, but that was Gareth's role today.

He was standing on the raised edge of the white marble fountain in the center of the market district. The fountain was old, and much of the intricate carvings that adorned the sides had become soft and blurred from the wear of time, but the carved dolphin that formed the central spout was still easily identified.

The fountain’s lip was a good three feet off the ground, which would have given most street performers a commanding stage above the milling bodies of the market. Gareth, who stood a mere three-foot-two, was only placed a mere head’s height above the small crowd of market goers that had stopped to listen to the peculiar halfling in the brightly-colored clothing.

He hit the last note of his song, and allowed the final chord to carry into the air for a moment before he silenced the strings of his lute. The small crowd gave a slightly better than polite round of applause, and a few even whistled. Gareth smiled. It was always nice to have his talents appreciated. He wiped the back of his neck and smiled at the crowd. Gareth may not have been allowed to call himself a real bard, but he had been trained by one, and could perform as well as any of the official members of the guild.

"Thank you, my friends, thank you!” He bowed at the waist with a flourish of his free hand. Dirk frequently accused him of being unnecessarily dramatic, but as Gareth always thought, why not add a little flair to things when he could?

"Now, my throat is getting a bit sore, and it’s rather hot out, so my next song will be my last. I hope you enjoy it. Before I begin, however, I have a request to make. This is, after all, how I make my living.”

Which was more or less true, from a certain perspective.

"If you’ve been entertained here today, please consider making a small contribution, if only a few coins. After all, where else will you spend your copper sheaves, silver acorns, or even, dare I suggest, gold crowns today? Will you buy a cheap meat pie stuffed with gods know what beasts? A flimsy wind-up dragon that will break the very second you get home? Perhaps a ‘genuine’ elvish necklace made of tin, glass, and lies? No. I am your best spending option, and I thank you for it,” Gareth said.

As he spoke, he swept the faded yellow hat off his head and tossed it onto the cobblestones below his perch. It landed with a puff of dust, and Gareth launched into a spirited rendition of the Ballad of the Rose and the Thorn. It was a well known tale, filled with love and loss, betrayal and revenge. Gareth's old master had said it was the ballad that he could perform the best, and the earnings of previous performances had proved that statement correct. Gareth hoped that this audience would also consider it worth loosening their purse strings for.

He needn’t have worried. As he sang, he saw many of the people in the crowd pull out their purses and come forward to drop a coin or two into his hat, which quickly filled with a modest pile of coins.

Gareth glanced down, and saw that most of the coins were copper sheaves, with a couple silver eagles glinting amongst them. Cheap bastards, Gareth thought. From the amount of silk and velvet draping the bodies in the crowd, he had expected more silver, and perhaps even a gold crown or two.

From his vantage point on top of the fountain, Gareth could see the edges of the square relatively clearly. As he sang, a form slipped out of the darkened alley across the square. Dirk was right on time.

Dirk was a wiry man somewhere between twenty and thirty five years of age, as far as Gareth could tell. He was only of middling height, perhaps a few inches short of six feet tall, with dark hair and calculating eyes. He could be considered handsome, in a dangerous, disheveled sort of way. Usually, he maintained a few days worth of stubble over his sharp-edged features, and his face often sported some form of a mocking smirk. His regular choice of clothing was almost exclusively dark grays and blacks.

Today, however, Dirk was dressed in what he referred to as his “hunting clothes”. He’d disguised himself as a member of the prosperous merchant class, and Gareth barely recognized his partner.

Dirk's hair had been combed back and tied with a red silk ribbon into a tidy ponytail at the base of his neck, and was freshly clean shaven. He wore a crimson doublet embroidered in gold thread over a white silk shirt, and his black velvet breeches were tucked into shining leather boots. In short, he looked about as far from a thief as a civilian could be.

Which, of course, was the point. As he liked to say whenever Gareth asked him about his fancy clothes, "After you’ve mastered the skills, the most successful pickpockets are always the ones that don’t look the way thieves are expected to look. "

Dirk slipped into the crowd and began to slowly wind his way through it. He carefully chose a route that brought him near the most wealthy of the crowd, and he happened to bump into most of them as he gently pushed his way past. The men and women didn’t give him a second glance. None of them suspected that the purses and pouches they had just taken out to throw a coin or two into Gareth's hat were no longer on their person.

As Gareth sang, he watched the crowd closely, and kept an eye out for guards. After a while, he noticed a man on the edges of the small crowd that seemed to be watching Dirk.

He was a small man, dressed in the same undyed linen and wool clothing as many of the poorer shoppers in the square, with a dull brown cloak loosely draped over his shoulders. His brownish hair was cropped close to his head, and he had a short beard of the same color. Overall, Gareth thought he was a man of profoundly nondescript appearance. After a moment’s thought, Gareth decided that the man reminded him of a field mouse. Gareth couldn’t quite tell, but the man seemed to be following Dirk’s progress through the crowd out of the corner of his eye.

Dirk made it to the other side of the crowd, and continued on his way down another street. A few seconds after Dirk was out of sight, the mousey man turned and left the square, and walked quickly northwards.

Gareth didn’t like the timing. He finished his song, bowed one last time to the crowd, and collected his hat. As he started to walk down the narrow streets towards the inn that he and Dirk were staying at this week, Gareth found himself thinking about the mousey man and his unnerving behavior.

He made Gareth very uncomfortable. There were only so many explanations for what he had noticed, and the only one that wasn’t bad news was that Gareth was just being paranoid, attributing meaning to nothing. Everything else suggested that the man had caught on to the scam Dirk and Gareth had set up. If the man had, and if he decided to go to the city watch, the lives of the partners were about to get far more interesting than either would ever want. Gareth mulled over the problem, and decided that he should probably bring up the mouse man with Dirk that evening. He nodded to himself, and hurried down the street towards what passed for home.

"Look at all that copper. Not bad for a whole afternoon of performing. You could almost buy half a shoe with that.”

Gareth scowled at Dirk across the wooden table, and Dirk twisted his lips into a mocking smirk.

They were sitting at a scarred wooden table, in the corner of the tavern the pair had chosen as their base in the city. The room was full of people drinking and laughing their cares away, and the air was thick with the smell of ale and pipe smoke.

Dirk had changed out of his merchant costume, and was now dressed in his usual dark clothes. He wore a sleeveless black leather jerkin over a grey, rough-spun shirt, and his grey trousers were tucked into the tops of his worn, black leather boots. Dirk's heavy leather belt was festooned with a variety of small bags and pouches, with a dagger on each hip.

In broad daylight, Dirk’s regular clothing, coupled with his overall appearance, had a tendency to make people look twice and secure their purses. Under his preferred cover of night, however, nobody saw him coming until it was far too late.

Gareth shuddered and forced his thoughts away from the memories they were heading towards. Dirk was a consummate professional, and they got along reasonably well in their partnership, but sometimes, when Gareth thought too hard, Dirk scared the living hell out of him.

“Alright, fine, yes. I know. Honest street performing isn’t about to make us rich anytime soon. You don’t need to rub it in. I’m guessing you did better?” Gareth asked.

Dirk’s smirk shifted into a gloating, self-satisfied smile, and his eyes glinted.

“Oh yes. Much better. They may have been cheap sons of whores, but they sure as hell weren’t poor.”

Dirk glanced around the crowded room, then lifted a large leather bag from where it had been sitting on the floor next to his chair and dropped it on the table. It landed with a heavy thud, and the clink of precious metals.

“Forty-seven crowns, twenty-six eagles, and seventy-nine sheaves for only eight good minutes of cutting purse strings.” Dirk sat back in his chair and crossed his arms smugly. “I love this city.”

Gareth stared at the bag on the table. This was the largest prize from their scheme that they had ever collected, by a rather wide margin.

“That’s… That’s a lot of money," Gareth said.

Dirk laughed softly. “Yes, Gareth, it is. We do this for a month, and we'll be rich.”

“Or, we get caught and spend a while in the dungeons. Or lose a hand, depending on how lenient the magistrate is feeling that day.”

Dirk’s smile soured, and he scowled at Gareth.

“We won’t get caught. Nobody in that crowd gave me a second look today," Dirk said.

“I’m not sure that that’s entirely true, actually," Gareth said.

"What?"

"Well, earlier today, when you were collecting all that," Gareth gestured at the bag of coins on the table. "I thought I saw a man watching you. I couldn't be entirely sure, but it looked like he was following your progress through the crowd, and he took off towards the citadel as soon as you left the market."

Dirk frowned.

"You're absolutely sure he was watching me?"

"I didn't say that, but it seems a little too much of a coincidence, doesn't it? Maybe we should move on again, not press our luck here tomorrow. This was a good haul today. Maybe that's enough here?"

Dirk glanced around the crowded tavern, then leaned in over the rough wooden table.

"Gareth, we made more today in this city than we've made in the last four towns combined. Think of what we could walk away with after a couple days of this! Tell me, where else are we going to do this well?" He asked.

"I don't know, Dirk, but what if they're on to us here? I like coin as much as the next guy, but I like my hands and freedom more."

Dirk sat back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair, his face calculating. After a moment, he spoke.

“All right, Gareth. How’s this: We go back to the market tomorrow and do it again. If you see the man again, signal to me, and I can follow him down an alley and cut his throat. Problem solved.”

“Dirk!” Gareth quickly looked around the tavern, fearful that someone had heard his partner. Fortunately, the sounds of general carousing were loud enough that nobody could hear one small conversation amidst the din. He turned back to Dirk and scowled fiercely at him.

“We are not going to murder a man just because he might, perhaps, possibly be on to us. That not how this works. We’ve talked about this. Murder is never our go-to plan.”

Dirk smirked.

“Not your go-to, at least. But yes, fine, I remember the terms of our agreement. How’s this for an alternative. Remember when we were in Bansbury?”

“Yes, we nearly got caught in Bansbury. Because you wanted to try a second day. Like right now,” Gareth said peevishly.

“Exactly! But we didn’t, because you gave the signal that we have agreed on, the story about the Lucky Thief. It worked, and I got away clean. We do that again. If this mysterious gentleman was actually onto to us, and an informant, and there are extra guards in the market, tell that one. I’ll be listening, and can slip off into the shadows. If he wasn’t, we get to make a lot of money again. Fair?”

Gareth pursed his lips, but couldn’t find any particular reason to object to Dirk’s plan. They did have a signal, and after all, he wasn’t even positive that the mousey man had really been watching Dirk. It could’ve been a coincidence. Gareth looked at the bag of coins on the table. It had probably just been a coincidence. He would just keep a closer watch on the crowd, and be ready to warn Dirk.

“Yeah, alright, that’s fair. We’ll go back again tomorrow,” Gareth said.”

[fantasyhorrorandotherthings]

Teaser for ‘File 75′

2 

Zara

New York, 2020

3–2–1

The camera started recording.

‘Hey, guys, welcome back to my channel.’ Zara Mathews stood in front of her kitchen bench wearing a pink sleeveless crop top and black stretch pants. The arctic white walls of her apartment and the lack of clutter would serve as ascetically pleasing to the potential thousands of people, perhaps a million if she were lucky, who would see her video. ‘Today, I’m going be making a pitaya smoothie bowl. If you don’t know what pitaya is, it’s basically dragon fruit that can be ground up into a fine pink powder. You’ve probably seen it all over Instagram,’ she laughed. ‘I feel like it’s a good alternative to an acai bowl. So, for this smoothie, I’m just going to be using the usual stuff—coconut milk, frozen banana and, of course, my favourite fruit and nut mix as a topping. So, let’s get started.’

She undid the blender.

‘Hey, babe.’

His dirty breath hit her neck. The smell of unwashed skin tormented her nostrils.

‘Up already, huh,’ she said as she gazed at the blender’s blades.

‘What are you up to?’ he asked gruffly as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

‘I’m trying to make a video,’ she sighed.

He kissed her neck. His lips against her skin were like a slimy tongue.

‘Another smoothie video?’ he said mockingly. ‘What was that grey one you made yesterday? Butterfly piss?’

She rolled her eyes.

‘Butterfly pea,’ she said as she poured frozen banana chunks into the blender. ‘P–e–a.’

She pushed away from him, causing him to smirk.

‘Babe, why do you got to be doing this now? he asked. ‘It’s so early.’

‘It’s nine,’ She frowned at him.

‘Exactly, it’s Saturday. What do you have to wake up so fricken early for?’

‘It’s better for your body to wake up at the same time every day.’

‘I think that’s just some bullshit you read on Pinterest,’ he said as he went over to the fridge and grabbed a slice of pizza from the previous night when the game was on.

She glared at him as his yellow teeth ripped into the crust and observed his unwashed brown hair, the dark purple bags under his eyes, the thick stubble on his neck and on his double chin, his flaky lips, the bits of breadcrumbs and sauce stains around his mouth, and the careless way he left his robe undone. She had curly black hair, creamy brown eyes and soft, dark skin that she always moisturised and exfoliated. She didn’t think that Brock even knew what exfoliating was. She went to the gym three or four times a week and Pilates once a week. Zara took pride in her appearance, so she wondered how she ended up with this.

‘Listen, are you coming tonight?’ she asked irritably.  

‘What’s tonight?’

‘Jay’s birthday.’

‘Who?’

‘My brother?’

‘Oh yeah, that guy.’

She swore under her breath.

Around six in the evening, she found her family standing outside a burger grill. She smiled as soon as she saw them. Zara seldom ate burgers and deep-fried food, but as her mother had explained, this place sold healthy burgers, not to mention sweet potato fries.

Her mother, Deborah Mathews, a secretary at a middle school, wore a black jacket over a purple top with a gold chain necklace. She had straight black hair that she liked to keep short, a round face and the same brown eyes as Zara. She had a short, plump structure, while her husband, Jacob Mathews, a high school biology teacher, had a tall, thin build. He had dark eyes, shaved black hair, and wore a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. The two of them had been married for almost twenty-six years and had raised their children in a flat in the Bronx, where they still lived.

Their son, Jay Mathews, a freelance fitness apparel designer, was wearing a pink T-shirt with blue denim jeans. He also stood tall with his head shaved but wore some light stubble and had the same eyes as his mother and sister. Next to him, standing slightly shorter, was his girlfriend, Courtney Blake, a personal trainer, who had shoulder-length brown hair and wore a blue top tucked into black denim jeans. The two of them had been dating for around two years, and although she didn’t see them much, Zara thought they were cute together and were what Zara’s co-workers would have described as ‘hashtag couple goals’.

‘Hey.’

They all turned around and their faces lit up as they simultaneously greeted her.

‘Happy birthday,’ she said as she went to hug her brother.

‘Aw, thanks,’ he said. ‘I haven’t seen you in ages.’

She noticed that her mother looked confused.

‘Where’s Brock?’

‘He couldn’t make it,’ she said. He was at home playing video games, but instead she told them, ‘He has work.’

Her mother frowned.

‘Should we go inside now?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, sure,’ Jay nodded.

They all walked into the restaurant, which looked more like an art studio with its wooden yet colourful interior. They found a large booth at the back with red padded seats and a pop art painting on the wall.

‘So, how are things in New Jersey?’ Zara asked once they had all taken a seat.

‘Ah, good,’ Jay nodded. ‘Well, actually, we have to something tell you.’  

‘Oh, yes,’ she said, feeling a little nervous.

‘We’re engaged!’ they both said at the same time.

‘What! You’re getting married?’

They both nodded.

‘Oh, God, congratulations,’ she said, a little taken aback by the news. She remembered when they were children, they would ride their bikes around with their neighbour Randy Barton, along with his older sister, Billie. When they were a little older, the four of them would head down to the basketball court where Randy would practice shooting hoops while the other three would sit on the side lines and play Beyoncé on loudspeakers, infuriating the old people in the neighbourhood. And now her little brother was getting married? She wanted to be happy for them, but all she could think about was Brock sitting on his ass on the couch as he ripped apart a zombie on the PlayStation.

‘And that’s not all,’ he said. ‘We’re also having a baby.’

‘No way!’

It only seemed like yesterday when Jay was a baby.

‘That’s just … wonderful. I’m so happy for you. Now I have so many questions. When’s the wedding? When’s the due date?’

‘Well, we haven’t really set a date for the wedding,’ said Courtney. ‘But the baby’s due in January.’

‘Wow, that’s just …’ She turned to face her parents. ‘Did you know this?’

‘Yeah, we already knew.’ Her mother laughed.

‘Imagine if the kid comes early at Christmas,’ her father joked.

‘Yeah, things have been pretty hectic for us lately,’ said Courtney. ‘But what about you, Zara? How is your YouTube channel going?’

‘It’s going well,’ she said. ‘I’m up to nine thousand subscribers.’

‘Oh, wow. Getting there. You’ll be considered an influencer soon.’

‘Yeah, but I’m running out of ideas, though,’ she said. ‘Recently, they all seem to be about smoothies.’

‘Maybe you could do one of those decluttering videos,’ Courtney suggested.

‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure if there’s much to declutter, apart from Brock’s video game console.’

And Brock himself.

For dinner, everyone got sliders and sweet potato fries. As Zara was vegan, she ordered herself some avocado sliders. After everyone had finished, she got out her phone and took a selfie with Tray.

‘One for the gram,’ she laughed.

She hugged him tightly as the timer went down.

3–2–1

She then took another one with all five of them.

‘We should do this again soon,’ said Zara.

‘Definitely,’ said Jay.

‘And listen, next time Brock’s coming,’ Courtney smiled.

She scoffed. ‘I’ll try my best.’

As Jay and Courtney parted ways, Debbie pulled Zara to the side. She noticed the apprehensive look on her mother’s face.

‘Zara,’ she said softly. ‘Is everything okay with you and Brock?’

That had caught her off guard.

‘It’s … fine.’

‘Zara,’ her mother sighed.

‘He’s just … You don’t like him, do you?’

‘No, I don’t,’ Debbie said bluntly. ‘I never have. You said that he’s at work, but I didn’t even know he had a job.’

‘Well, he … he doesn’t,’ she sighed. ‘It was just easier to say that, instead of telling everyone that he’s on the PlayStation.’

Debbie shook her head in disgust.

‘Zara, he’s thirty years old and he’s playing video games,’ she said. ‘You’re such polar opposites.’

‘Well, what’s that old saying, opposites ...’

Her mother continued to frown.

‘Okay, look, maybe things are not going great, but—’

‘Zara, you’re putting all of this hard work in, and he’s just mooching off you,’ she said. ‘Now, I’m not saying that you need my approval, but I don’t think he makes you happy.’

She couldn’t argue with that.

When she arrived back at her apartment block, she looked up at the ninth floor of ten. She knew which window to look at. It was Apartment Number 5. She remembered falling in love with the place the first time she stepped foot in it. The white walls and wooden floors were the stuff of her Pinterest vision boards. Then she found herself thinking about what was in that apartment. A boring boyfriend who never wanted to do anything.

The very first thing I see, every morning, is his stupid face with bits of food on the corners of his mouth and his drool sliding on to the pillows that I bought.

Zara unlocked the door and switched the lights on as she walked in.

‘Brock?’

She thought that he would have been playing video games in the living room but he wasn’t. She went into her bedroom, thinking he was in there, and he was, but her heart skipped a beat when she realised that he wasn’t alone.

‘Who are you!’

She had a pig-like face, bloodshot blue eyes and wisps of dyed hair which had obviously been an unsuccessful DIY job. She wasn’t wearing any pants, not even any underwear. She only wore a dirty tank top that smelled of greasy food.

She looked at Brock, who was sitting in bed in one of his usual stained singlets.

‘What the hell is going on here?’

Surely, it can’t be what I think. It must be a misunderstanding. He would never cheat on me ... he’s too fucking lazy to cheat.

‘Oh, Zara ... I wasn’t expecting you home so soon,’ he said.

Zara thought he seemed suspiciously unsurprised.  

‘Brock, who is this?’

‘This is Tessa,’ he said as he climbed out to reveal himself. Zara winced at the sight of it.

‘I’m his girlfriend,’ Tessa said as she chewed on some gum.

‘Wait, what?’ Zara shook her head in disbelief.

‘I’m sorry, Zara, but it’s over.’

‘What do you mean it’s over? Is this some sick joke?’

‘Look, Zara, we did have something going on, alright, but then you started acting all weird,’ he said. ‘You started waking up at five-thirty in the morning, not eating meat and doing yoga or whatever, and then you started talking about it on the Internet.’

‘I was trying to improve myself,’ she said defensively. ‘I wanted both of us to improve.’

‘He didn’t need no improvement.’ Tessa placed her hands on her hips and leaned her torso and neck forward like a chicken as she spoke. ‘He don’t need no insta-hoe to rule his life!’

‘Insta-hoe? What? Get the fuck out of my apartment, both of you!’  

‘Um, honey, it’s his apartment,’ said Tessa. ‘You pack up your things and move in back with ya mama.’

‘Listen, you piece of trash, this is my apartment,’ she snapped. ‘My family helped me buy it. I decorated it. I maintained it. I cleaned up after him every night. He had hardly any interest in choosing the right place for us to live. I had to do all the decision-making, while he just strolled along behind me, hoping to get out of his mum’s place. Well, you can both go back to his mama. I’m sure you’ll all be really fucking happy together in that tiny apartment.’

‘We better go, Tessa,’ said Brock as he picked up his underwear from the floor. ‘Before Zara fucking kills us.’

She turned her back to them while they got dressed. Her mouth went dry and her eyes filled up with tears.

How could I have been so stupid? It was so obvious to everyone else that things were not working out. Why didn’t I just admit that to myself and end it on my terms?

‘I’ll come back for my stuff later,’ he said awkwardly.

‘No, I’ll send it to you,’ she said bitterly. ‘I never want to see you in this apartment again.’

He pulled up his zipper.

‘Let’s go,’ he sighed.

‘That’s right, bitch,’ Tessa said proudly as she and Brock exited the apartment. ‘He’s my man now.’

Zara almost grabbed her by the neck, but she managed to restrain herself and simply said, ‘You can have him, you ugly little troll.’

[marisolleffler]

I Channeled Kendall Jenner - and Went Braless at Work

I hopped off the bus in Times Square and started to walk toward the office. That's when he saw me. He shook his head back and forth slowly as he stared down at my chest. "Why do you do that?" the man moaned loudly. Yes, seriously. I sped up into a walk-run, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious.

I was wearing a sleeveless turtleneck in a fuzzy mustard-colored material so as to distract from my nipples as much as possible. Clearly, it wasn't really working. Plus, a bathroom selfie I had taken in the mirror that morning confirmed it was definitely easy to make out the shape of my boobs. But when I left the house, I had been comfortable. There were no bra straps to slip off my shoulders or underwire to adjust when it dug into my skin. Honestly, I kind of liked the look. I thought my outfit - the aforementioned turtleneck plus a denim skirt with a pair of sneakers - appeared effortless. I added a pair of gold hoop earrings too, which said "polished," but my nipples were just like "whatever." "Is this how it feels to dress like a French girl?" I wondered.

But you should know the reason I decided to ditch a bra in the first place. During a brainstorm with my coworkers, I came up with the idea as an "editor experiment" based on the fact that Kendall Jenner has been all about wearing sheer tops that expose her nipple ring and supermodel sisters Bella and Gigi Hadid have followed suit. (The Hadid sisters don't have nipple rings, but they do have nipples.) And even though these ladies are more well-endowed than I am, they seem very nonchalant about going braless. When I look at their street style shots, I want to put on an outfit that appears to be so easy. "So who's going to try it?" I challenged, looking around the room during our meeting. "Why don't you do it?" someone said. Right. I had unknowingly volunteered myself to go braless, and at that point, I couldn't turn back.

So there I was the next day in a black button-down cardigan - one I usually wear with my Victoria's Secret Bombshell push-up bra. But on this day, there was more of just a sag situation going on. I styled my sweater with cropped high-waisted denim, pointed-toe flats, and artsy earrings I always get compliments on. I wasn't trying to distract from my breasts, but I was, perhaps, trying to channel Audrey Hepburn.

"I can totally tell you're not wearing a bra," my mom blurted out at dinner on this night, as we sat around the table with my cousin who was visiting, my boyfriend (who probably doesn't love that I'm writing a Tale of Two Titties to be posted online), my sister, my grandma (who doesn't even remember where she keeps her bras or what they're for), and, oh yeah, my dad. "Yes, I guess that's the point." I said, again feeling sort of uncomfortable that everyone was now staring at my chest. We're a supercasual family, so it's not like this was such a big deal. But I guess I was surprised by how often people were taking note - even when I was wearing black.

I took a final stance on going braless when the weekend came, and I was able to style my "going out" outfits more easily. Since a night out to dinner with Bae called for a pretty little sundress with complicated bow straps, it felt like such a relief not to have to worry about the placement of stick-on boobs, or as some girls call them, "chicken cutlets." There was zero panic about those guys peeking out from the sides or the top of my dress, and no chance of them slipping down when I started to sweat (partly because it's Summer and partly because the Cioppino sauce was supposed to be spicy).

Related: I Haven't Worn a Real Bra in 4 Months - and I'm Never Going Back

Later that night, I changed into a floral tube top that cinches into a bow at the front and would absolutely have revealed all different smidgens of my bra or bralette if I had attempted to wear one. I threw on the flirty top with cutoffs and sandals and danced the night away. It felt so easy! "This is it! I am French!" I thought to myself as I kicked it to "Despacito" at the bar. Some of the people I am friends with and spend time with on the weekend did notice I wasn't wearing a bra. Jokingly, they called me names like "Titties McGee," which felt a little bit demeaning to me, but in their defense, I told them all about my experiment, and they were very supportive.

All in all, going braless is far less manageable at the workplace. I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable when I was sitting in meetings with the AC blasting and my nipples were the most excited things in the room. But going braless on the weekend? Now that I can get behind - I even think it looks more elegant to make the move with a fancy gown at a wedding. Because really, messing around with boob tape is never fun, and it can cause wardrobe malfunctions and straight-up inconvenience when you're just trying to enjoy the shrimp cocktail instead of having to run to the bathroom every five minutes.

That said, going braless isn't for everyone. There are women who truly need the support of a bra on an everyday basis, and luckily for them, the look is definitely more sleek, polished, and clean. Nevertheless, I don't mind a good fashion experiment every now and then. I could have done without the 8:30 a.m. comments from the man who interrupted my walk to work, but it did help me to draw conclusions about how I felt without a bra on. I do think going a full week without one helped me feel more confident in my own skin.

Not that bra size is of much importance to me, but as a 32A, I wouldn't mind being, like, one cup size bigger. It'd be nice to fill out a bodyhugging top with a plunging neckline, instead of swimming in the material or having to secure a safety pin behind my neck to hold things in place. And I'd love to wear one of those retro-style swimsuits with a half-moon cup and underwire that provides lift. Unfortunately, I don't really have much of anything to "lift." Even so, my boobs became more visible to me during the week I went braless. As soon as I took off my shirt at the end of the day, there they were!

I discovered the natural shape of my boobs, too, because I was always staring right at them when I looked in the mirror. It turns out my boobs aren't perfect minicircles, as they appear to be when I'm wearing a bra. Without a bra, I had to support my own breasts, and I did this by wearing my head high and shrugging off the double takes and widened eyes of the people I passed on the street. I did this by paying attention to my posture. Instead of slouching, I stood up straight. Instead of hunching over at my desk, I perked my head up and rolled my shoulders back. The whole week was a sort of lesson in poise for me, and I'm proud of myself for sticking through it. I'm proud of my boobs, too.

I Channeled Kendall Jenner - and Went Braless at Work published first on http://wholesalescarvescity.blogspot.com

[fireninjadagger-blog]

Give Me All Your Hopeless Hearts

Synopsis: Frank didn't plan on befriending the art and music kids at school and he especially had no intentions of falling in love with Gerard Way. All he wanted was to get through the year as quickly and as painlessly as possible.  Frerard: Classic high school setting but I'm fairly certain this combination of characters has never been done before. My Chemical Romance, Tonight Alive, Set It Off, PVRIS, Panic! At The Disco, Paramore, Fall Out Boy. 

Chapter1: September 15th

       "This will be your class schedule," the secretary says handing me a printed form. I take the warm paper from her hand and scan it. Well, at least they got the guitar class I wanted and I was also given the early release I was promised. Though I didn't ask for math, history, or English but this is a school so I can't really complain there. I got what I wanted and looks like my study hall is the first hour. Good, I'm not a morning person. "Is there any other questions you have that I could answer for you?"        I glance up from my schedule and look at the woman. "No, that's all, I guess," I mumble.        "Well then, welcome to North Shore High," she says with a cheery smile. I stand and fling my bag over my right shoulder then shuffle out of here. I guess I should be going to class but I don't really want to. Due to the untimely cross-country move, I'm already coming to school two weeks after it started, making my transition a hell of a lot bumpier. As if the new kid from New Jersey dropping into a sea full of prissy teens living their whole lives in upstate Cali wasn't bad enough. I'd be worried I'd get jumped for standing out so badly but I have to remember I'm not at home anymore where not constantly looking over your shoulder is a death sentence. The worst thing that could happen here is you tan too dark for your eyebrows or someone else bought your $750 dollar shoes and you can't wear them anymore to be "original".        I know I'm just being spiteful here and I'm sure not everyone is as bad as I built them to be in my head. But I fought a one-man war about this move and tragically lost. I don't know how I planned on spending my summer but moving from New Jersey to California was definitely nowhere on the list. My top three would be catching up on sleep, finally relaxing, and saving up to buy an electric guitar. Turns out parents' job rearranges everything. When my mom and dad sat me down to tell me, I was expecting them to inform me they are finally getting a divorce. They've been fighting over the years and it kept getting worse and worse. I know deep down they don't love each other anymore like how they did when I was younger and I felt it coming soon, I felt in my heart. The fact they shouldn't be together is the only thing they could ever agree on in the past 10 years. But turns out they still haven't gotten around to the divorce so instead, both of my parents move to California and they drag me along biting and clawing the whole way there. How could I possibly move across the country and not be angry? I knew they were both offered jobs over in LA but I'm in school and my life is in New Jersey. I didn't want to go but I didn't get a say in the matter. After doing everything I could, I knew there was no way I could opt out of this move or convince them otherwise. So I lost the war but I did win one battle and it was the battle of my life. I managed to compromise and at least get to finish my sophomore year before the move.        I told my friends I was leaving but none of them took it as hard as I did. They were "bummed out" but nowhere near as distressed as I as. It seemed to constantly slip their mind I was leaving too because I had to keep pointing it out every time they talked about "next year" with me. I wasn't going to be there next year and they didn't seem to care. It was in that moment I realized you're not supposed to care much about your friends. I mean, the lot of us never really been close. We were all very different. Charlie and Luke were on the football team, Patrick was the super nerd in all the computer, science, and math classes, Darin was I dare say the delinquent of our group as well as the player. Then there's me: the metalhead who likes music too much for my own good. Friends aren't much of anything besides something to pass the time. I could never define friends until now.

       I climb up to the second floor and roam the halls until I come across the room number. The door is open and the teacher is sitting in the front at his desk typing on the computer while the class is working or diligently napping. A few kids have their earbuds in while writing homework assignments, some kids are talking to their friends next to them but a majority of them are either on their phones or burying their face in their desk asleep.        I walk up to the teacher's desk and he looks up at me. "Ah, you must be the new student," he says getting up and greeting me. "Frank Lero is it?"        "It's Iero actually," I correct.        "Oh, my bad," he says. "Well, welcome to our school. I'm Mr. Cee and this is your study hall. I know it's the first period of the day so you won't always have work. If that's the case, I don't mind you on your phone or relaxing before you go to your other classes. I also don't have assigned seats, you can find a place. And if you ever need to go somewhere else like a computer lab, library, any other class, just sign out with a pass and you're good."        "Okay, thanks," I say and awkwardly shuffle away from his desk and glance over at my options of open seats. A few kids noticed my arrival and are glances at me. Others are too busy to realize which is all for the better I'd say. Then I spot an empty seat in the very back of the room on the same side as the door. That's a good place. I head over to the empty seat and ask the girl with glowing hair next to it if it's taken.        "Huh?" she says still laughing at whatever funny thing her boyfriend or wannabe boyfriend said to her.        "Is this seat taken?" I ask again.        She brushes her neon, scarlet hair out of her face and looks up at me still giddy. "Oh, no. You can sit there," she says. I drop my bag off my shoulder and grab the strap before it thuds to the ground and I sit down. The girl starts giggling again and the guy with dark hair shortly cropped on the sides with longer bangs falls over on his desk. I roll my eyes at those two and put my music in. I just want to get through the day and then the week. I just want to get through this year and repeat for my senior year. I don't care anymore, I just want to get through high school in one piece and then I'm done. I don't ever have to deal with this again, I'm free. I just want to be invisible and make this as painless as possible. No time to bother making friends, I doubt any of them are worth it. There's no such thing as real friends. Just people to pass the time. I turn on my phone and look at my text messages. The last text I received was from my mother this morning. The standard "have a good day at school! Here's our address in case you forgot so you know how to get home" My dad hasn't texted me recently and my friends all forgot about me already. I've tried texting them in our group chat but they started talking about hanging out together, which I clearly can't do anymore. Then Patrick said they should make a group chat with all of them but not Frank and use it for when they hang out so I don't feel bad. I guess they started using the one without me and never went back. I tried texting them, both on the big one and individually. Some of them haven't responded, Patrick hasn't even opened my texts to read. The ones who to respond only send one-word replies and kill the conversation quickly. I eventually left the group chat and stopped trying a long time ago. I've come to see they don't text me, to begin with, which is why I no longer have friends and maybe never had any in the first place.

       After a period of sitting there contemplating my life while listening to Smashing Pumpkins, I make my way down to the music hallway for guitar. I really hope that this class is better than the last one, something to do but hopefully even less interaction with people other than a teacher. Sitting in the corner by the door, I notice in the back the same girl and guy from my study hall are here except they're with more friends. There's five of them all together. Another guy wearing a hoodie and two more girls with a unique hair. The brunette has really long hair down to her waist and it's wavy. The side of her temples are shaved completely and she wears all black and grey schemed clothes. Grey tights, black boots, dark grey skirt, light grey blouse and a very classy jacket. Then the other girl sitting next to the fancy lady is dressed similarly to the neon-haired girl. She too has ripped skinny jeans, converse, some sleeveless shirt that requires her to wear a black tank top underneath and a flannel tied around her waist. The five of them all sit in a tight circle laughing together and playing really obnoxiously on their instruments. Part of me really wants to start shredding Metallica because I know how to but I don't think that would be a good idea. Remember, low profile and invisible.

       History goes by. Gym goes by. Lunch is a real adventure trying to find somewhere to sit and then I have a brilliant idea of going down to the empty guitar room during my lunch period. No one is in here so no one can bother me. I'm almost done with the day when English comes around and I have an aneurysm. I go up to the teacher and instead of keeping her cool like the other teachers have, she makes a huge scene after the bell rings.        The last of the kids walk into class as the bell rings and they're all still talking when she pulls this stunt. "Class, we have a new student today." Everyone quiets down and starts looking around the room. I pull my hood over my head and try to avoid eye contact. Oh god... "Frank? Please stand up so we can all meet you." By now, a majority of the class knows I'm the new kid intruding on their lives. I reluctantly stand and pull my jacket down. I'm now showing the whole class how short I am. If I was a girl, I'd be average height except I'm a guy and I am pathetically small. "Introduce yourself to the class," the teacher says with her preppy voice.        "My name is Frank Iero," I reply.        The teacher waits for me to continue but I just stare at her wanting permission to sit back down. "Tell us where you're from and something about yourself so we get to know you."        This is not part of the plan. I'm just supposed to pass by here invisibly and unnoticed until I'm free. I don't want people to know who I am. I just want to hide. "I'm from Summit, New Jersey and I like the color red," I say flatly. There are some whispers going around over the fact I'm from Jersey.        "Oh, that must be exciting over there. Did you like it?" the teacher asks.        "Yes. And then I was dragged here to this land of sunshine." The teacher looks at me slightly uncomfortable sensing my attitude.        "Well, thank you, Frank. You may sit down." My knees collapse as soon as the words leave her mouth and I retreat back underneath the hood of my leather jacket and do my best to become invisible. God, that was utterly humiliating. I could have just died on the spot right there. Hell, dying on the spot right there would have been better. Man, this is a train wreck. I just want to go back to Jersey. I may not have had friends but I fit in with the people there. Everyone listened to the same music and it was a passion we carried deep in our blood. We fought for what we loved and we lived as though we'd die tomorrow. People were crazy, everyone was crazy and everyone was okay with being crazy. There was violence that made you fearful and knowing one wrong mistake may get you killed prevented the idiots from surviving. Everyone around had common sense and we weren't stupid. Knowing while walking home you might get shot made sure you never took anything for granted. We all sounded the same and we were never pointed out for how we pronounced words and we never pointed out when someone we knew spoke differently. I missed it back there. I don't belong in California.        The period is almost over when someone taps my shoulder. I uneasily turn around to see the girl from my guitar class wave at me. It's the girl with the flannel around her waist and sitting next to her is the other girl who dressed as if she just might go have tea with the queen of England at any moment. "Hi," she says cheerfully.        "Hi?" I say unsure and give a small wave.        "So you're new here, huh?" she brings up as a conversation starter. I really wish she didn't feel the need to talk to me for the sake of talking to the new kid.        "Yeah," I answer hoping to end the conversation.        "My name's Jenna and this is my-," Jenna looks back at the girl and gives a nervous laugh, "my friend Lynn."        "Hi," I respond towards Lynn.        "Yeah, well, I noticed I had a lot of class with you. Our friend Hayley said you sit next to her and Brendon in study and I saw you also in my gym class. You seem to be hanging by yourself so I wanted to ask you if in guitar tomorrow you wanted to sit with my friends and me."        "Oh, um, that's-wow-really nice of you," I say, sitting up. "Um, I guess if it's cool with them."        "Oh, totally. They're super chill. And Hayley and Brendon said they wanted to talk to you but you had your earbuds in so you didn't hear them.        "I didn't know they were," I say. "I didn't really want to bother those two, couples tend to get annoyed with others intrude I thought."        Jenna and Lynn start giggling. "Oh, no. Hayley and Brendon aren't dating. No, they're like brother and sister. And Brendon is dating someone else," Lynn explains.        "Oh, okay," I note. "So, I'll see you girls tomorrow then?" I ask.        "Definitely," they say in unison and then look at each other laughing. I smile warmly as the bell rings and I head to my math class. I resume my undercover op of remaining invisible however I kind of wished Jenna or Lynn were here, especially Jenna. They were really nice to me and Jenna seems like we'd make good friends. I can tell just by the way she dresses. And she's really nice, I don't know. God, what's gotten into me? One nice person makes an effort of being kind to me and all of a sudden, I'm hoping she's my best friend. I need to keep it cool, in case this is just getting to my head.        My math class ends and I don't have homework considering I used to be a year ahead of math at my old school and they put me in honors juniors math, which is technically the class I took last year. This is way too easy for me but all the better to get an easy A. My early release is after math class so when the bell rings, I walk out of the school. My phone had my new home address typed into google maps so I knew how to get back from here. On my way out, I see Jenna again with more of her friends. The girl she's with looks like her twin. It's not Hayley or Lynn but another girl. I think Jenna has a twin because this girl has the same 90's punk rock style cut and platinum, bleached blonde hair. They look like they both have an off style of Joan Jett's hair but bleached to an almost white. They also both have ripped skinny jeans, Jenna's grey and the other girl's blue. They have the converse, tied flannels, and sleeveless tops. The two of them walk together in front of the rest of them. Only one of the guys is familiar. I don't think it's the Brendon dude so it's the other one in guitar class. There are two more guys walking side by side. One wearing sports clothes and looks like a preppy athlete, the other kind of looks like me almost. Long, black bangs covering his face, wearing a leather jacket with the hood up and his bag hastily slung over his left shoulder. The only real difference between me and this guy walking out with Jenna and her friends is he's a few inches taller and he's carrying a bulky sketchbook.

Continue reading here! Hope you enjoyed :) Wattpad and Quotev: @.FireNinjaDagger https://www.wattpad.com/story/108061102-give-me-all-your-hopeless-hearts-frerard-high

[onlineshoppingwalmart-blog]

Wearing Five Dollar Clothes From Wish For A Week

Wearing $5 Clothes From Wish For A Week

Tyler's making fun of my dress, but Tyler's been wearing the same shirt for three weeks. Hello friends and welcome to another video. This week, I'm going to be dressing in outfits completely from the website “Wish”. So, Wish is a website and app that I've often seen on my Facebook feed that features incredibly discounted items including a lot of clothing. Now, I personally have been a little bit hesitant to order clothes from this site just because it seems like it's a little too good to be true like the things I would get might not be what I saw in the pictures, but I got a lot of requests from you guys and I'm also incredibly curious myself so I decided to order an entire week's worth of outfits from Wish and see how they are.

Not necessarily shoes and accessories, but all the body clothing I want to see if I can find seven outfits, so let's do it. Okay, so I'm opening up the Wish site right now So right away, I'm seeing like a decent amount of clothes, shoes, a few fidget spinners. It looks like a glow-in-the-dark shower head. It seems to me like the clothes on Wish range from about one to ten dollars. I'm not going to limit myself to just like the five dollar stuff, but I have a feeling that most of these things are going to be around five dollars, so I'm sorry for the slight click you guys. Okay, I feel like I have to start somewhere. I like these pants. These are like jogger sweatpants with some rips in them. Something I do appreciate is that they have like ratings and reviews like right on the product. Some people are like one-star all the way, but a lot of other people are like four or five stars. Oh, here's a sizing chart. I'm going to get a large and I'm going to get them in black.

That's one pair of pants down, so I need a top. I do like this lace shirt. This is the “Zaful new women plus-size lace long-sleeve sexy see-through blouse tops”. People like this! Four stars And it has 4000 reviews. People say to order a size up, but generally people are into it. I'm going to go with the large. I don't have a big boobs anyway. I'm gonna go with the black. I promise not everything I buy will be black, but that top looks so cute black I had to.

All right so that's outfit one. This is interesting. This is a “Summer Autumn women casual long-sleeve chiffon dresses ladies Fashion V-Neck T-shirt loose short dress tops”. They're just trying to fit like every keyword in that title. This has a decent amount of reviews and it has three and a half stars. There's no sizing chart and not a lot about the sizes in the reviews, so I'm going to size up and get an 8 just because I would rather that it's bigger than smaller. How about the gray? That sounds exciting. All right. I'm going to add that to my order. Outfit two, check! This is interesting. Okay, this looks like a hoodie dress. I actually at one point in my life was searching for a hoodie dress, and I saw images of this thing on Amazon But I was too nervous to buy it.

I was nervous that it wouldn't look like the picture because it was so cheap. Let's take a look. She looks very hip and cool. Interesting! Okay, this also has three and a half stars and it has five thousand reviews. A lot of the people who are upset say it's too small, so I'm just going to just order up. I love this one. She just says “Wack!” It seems like all the other colors pretty much are sold out except for black, so I think that I might get to buy black. I see, I see. So that is three outfits down. All right. Let's take a look at this This is a “new summer women fashion solid off shoulder T-shirt casual short sleeves blouse loose tee Tops black white”. This is a two and a half star rating. “It looks nothing like the picture. It's just a white Hanes t-shirt”. “Nice shirt, but it isn't an off-the-shoulder sort, more with a plain t-shirt type shirt”. I think we have to see what this is. It seems like everyone's saying that if you want it to be off the shoulder you need it to be really big, so I'm going to get the extra large.

Like everyone was like “this is just a white t-shirt. Do not buy!” and I'm like “Yes, buy”. So, this is going to be off the shoulder. It would be cool to put something underneath. Oh! Yes, this is what I want. This is like one of those really cute like crop like bralette tops for one dollar! This has four stars with 3000 reviews and it's like just right like no one said that it was too small or too large.

Oh, it's one size, that's why. That makes sense. All right, let's add that in. So, we just need a bottom for this outfit. Ooh, let's get a pair of jeans. This should be interesting. This has also three-and-a-half stars with a thousand reviews. I'm going to go with large. The jeans are eleven dollars. So on the more expensive side of the things that we've got already. Oh, it's fourteen dollars, okay, never mind. They were eleven dollars to begin and now they're suddenly fourteen dollars, so I guess that's fine. Outfit four, a check! It is cool to see like who's buying what. I guess the strategy would probably to go for the things that more people bought. Ooh, look at this jumpsuit. I've seen one exactly like this at Urban Outfitters. I almost bought it I think like a year ago. I would buy this for six dollars, for sure. “Made out of balloon material”, “Material is like a swimsuit”. What on Earth is this thing? I'm gonna get a large and I'm going to get it in Army Green, how about? So, that is outfit five.

I could search something. I have just been scrolling Maybe we could try something like a skater skirt and see what happens. Ooh, yeah. Here we go. Ooh, look at this. It's one of those skater skirts that has like little suspenders. People like this. It's got four stars, but only 20 reviews. Not a lot of people are saying too small. A lot of people are saying too large. I'm going to buy a medium, but it is kind of the nerve wracking decision. I think that they had the right idea to just style it look like a white t-shirt. I love this, “I ordered a black extra-large, but I got a white medium tank top that has words on it”.

Someone says, “I got a 4x and it appears to be a toddler medium”, “If you aren't sure about what size you want, go one size up.” I feel like let's just go with that. So, I'm going to get a large in this. Okay, and that is outfit six. Oh, this top is really cute, and it's almost gone. I need it. It looks like a little cleavage top. I have none of that. It's called “Summer Fashion women casual sexy mesh V-neck blouse sleeveless tops t-shirt vest”. Meow! A lot of people think it fits just right. I'm just going to get a medium this time around and see what happens. What's the difference between black and cool black? Should I get a cool black just to see what that means? All right, so let's look for a bottom for this outfit. There is a tab that says bottoms. Ooh, those jeans are questionable. Here's something, so four stars, one written review. It's not a lot of information, so this is probably the riskiest purchase yet. I'm going to get it in A large and that rounds out the last outfit.

All right, I think that is seven outfits! A lot of the like estimated arrival times are like well over a month away. So, It's going to take me a while to get these things, but I'm Incredibly excited to see what they are. Some of their reviews were all over the place and it also seems like sometimes People don't get exactly the item they ordered.

Like not just it didn't look like a picture like this is a completely different item. So, we'll see, but if any of these things are good They were a great deal, so let's see what happens. That is a lot of Five-dollar clothing, so it's been about a month and a half and these things have been slowly trickling in, but I think I finally have everything. [This is a mess], so I took on the pile, hung everything up.

There were a couple of things I felt like I didn't recognize but we'll get To that when I, you know, like try to put them on. So, I started off with this green billowy jumpsuit thing. Okay, So here is the jumpsuit on. In the reviews people were kind of weirded out by this thing. They said it was giant and also maybe made out of balloon material, but when I got it it was pretty cute and soft out of the bag. I am Kind of loving this. I think that there's a couple of things that are a little odd.

I thought these were pockets at first, but they're just kind of like wings. Like there's some wings around the thighs like M.C. Hammer pants style and some strange ruching around the calves, but aside from that it fits pretty well. I put a belt on it just to add some shape to it and I also wore birkenstocks To match the kind of like “Earth Mama” vibes I was getting from it. I just look very comfortable, and I feel comfortable, but I also look comfortable. It was definitely hot outside, but the fabric was pretty thin and flowy. Got a lot of breeze waves for the air to travel through. The fabric did cling to my butt a little bit. A couple of crevices were spotted, But besides that I was pretty impressed by this. When you weigh the pros and cons like the price versus the “thigh fins” Eh, it evens out pretty much, I think.

So, outfit number two was this sweatshirt dress that I was super excited about. I thought that this dress looked like what was shown on the website, but it did fit a little awkwardly. There was some bulk like around the middle because of the pockets and it was a little bit shorter than I expected, especially in the thigh slit area. Okay, so we're at the mall right now. I think the style of the dress is fine.

I think like besides the pockets like it's a cute dress. It's just so warm. It's not terrycloth. It's like a ski fleece, So it could work really well like with tights and boots in a winter climate, but in July in California It's just, like even inside the mall, I'm feeling warm. It's confusing because like my legs aren't covered, but they're so warm. Overall I wouldn't say I got scammed with this dress.

Like I did get what I ordered, But I didn't like it as much as I hoped that I would. It just didn't fit me right. It was a little too hot and it's a bit of a tight hood So you got a little bit of the South Park effect. [Goofy Laugh] So outfit number three was my white, off-the-shoulder top, black bralette, and distressed jeans. Okay. So here is this outfit on my body. I like the straps on the top of the bralette and I actually can fit into these jeans. pretty effectively. The top was not just a “plain white Hanes t-shirt”, as the reviews had suggested, But it didn't show off as much of the bralette as I wanted it to. It was also a little bit bulkier than I expected. There were a few more folds and flops than I had hoped for. That said, it was all pretty comfortable to wear and I didn't really notice that I was wearing Wish clothing throughout the day.

I'm liking it so far; my only complaint is that these pants are riding down and I feel like if I tug on the belt loops, they're gonna just come off. I would maybe not wear all these things at the same time again. I feel like I looked a little bit like a mid 2000s, Jessica Simpson. TYLER: It also looks at your hosting T.R.L. It's the sleeves that bring out that like late 2000s vibe, but the individual items were pretty good. Day four Brought us face to face with the only item that I actually did not recognize when it arrived. So, I did not remember ordering a pair of black pants, but I did remember ordering some distressed sweatpants.

I think these are them. The way I identified that I hadn't actually received a completely wrong item was the rips in the pants, but this definitely isn't what I thought that I had ordered. They were supposed to be sweatpants, but they feel like almost like a swimsuit, a little bit. I was just so surprised by the material of them. These things are like crepes. Like an inedible very thin cloth pancake. They're neither sweatpants nor jeans nor pants nor leggings. TYLER: They're like fake clothing. SAF: Yeah, that's what it is. It's like It's like doll clothes. That said, the top was super cute and it looks a lot like the pictures. At first, I put it on backwards because there's no tag anywhere. Let me just humor myself. TYLER: You're turning it around again? SAF: Once I got it on right way, front ways, things started going well. Okay this feels better. So, while the pants were kind of a fail The top was one of my favorite things that I got. I feel like they scammed me with the pants and I scammed them for the top. So, outfit five was my little suspenders skater skirt and white crop top.

Okay so here is this outfit. This skater skirt was really a cute style, but I just didn't love the fabric. So, I had left the skater skirt hanging for a while because when it came out of the bag it was like super wrinkly, but the folds did not come out. So, we drove down to Disneyland. The car was not super kind to my skirt. TYLER: Why? SAF: It's a little more wrinkled than when you last saw me. Which was already a little wrinkled to begin with. I kind of wish it was more of like a jersey type fabric and this is more of just like a crinkly somethin'-somethin'. After walking around for a while, it's a little bit humid, I think my wrinkles are coming out. Maybe not entirely, but… Besides that I thought that the skirt and the top were pretty cute together And I would say that the crop top was a pretty solid buy.

I am glad that I listened to reviews and sized up though. A+ on the crop top. I feel like both items pretty much look like the photos and with Wish it can just be hard to tell what the fabric is going to be like before it gets to you. So, you kind of get what you get. Can you see my underwear? TYLER: No. SAF: Oh, no? Good. So outfit six was my mesh top and denim skirt. Now the skirt was definitely my riskiest buy because there was only one written out review. I would say that it fit like width wise, but it was a little bit Longitudinally challenged. Like my butt ends here I actually think from the front like it's not that short. It's just that the back gets shorter. The other thing is I feel like I'm kind of like walking with my thighs close together just to not move the skirt too much.

Though I think for something with no reviews I did get an actual skirt and not just like a puff of smoke and a stolen credit card. So the top I liked okay, it definitely does look like the photo. This is pretty close to what I expected. It's not a perfectly fitted shirt like there's some Emptiness right here. I thought that it fit pretty well, though it does feel like swimsuit material. It feels like with Wish like even if it looks like what I expected it to look like there's always just like Something that's a little bit off. I think most of my focus was on the length of the skirt, but besides that the outfit was pretty comfortable to wear around.

Now outfit seven was wrinkle-pocalypse I'm sure that if you steamed this it would be less wrinkly, but I can't find my steamer. But I did leave this hanging for a week and I also did the steamer shower trick and pretty much none of the wrinkles had come out by the time I put it on. I just look like I've been sleeping in this for a few days. Maybe should I put a belt on it, would that help? I really do like how it's longer in the back, but I don't love how it randomly cupped my booty. Like it's close to be kind of like a straight down sheath dress and there was a little like cupage. I will say that there's nothing wrong with the comfort of this dress. It feels just a little bit like I'm wearing a sheet It was, however, a pretty light and breezy dress for a hot summer's day.

It's easy and breezy up in my crotch-eezy. TYLER: Inappropriate. And maybe if you were living somewhere humid, the wrinkles would come out on their own. So, that was my Wish haul. It's definitely a crapshoot. And I don't know if I know how to navigate Wish any more now than I did before. I do think there's some stuff on Wish that is a very good deal. The reviews are almost always all over the place, so you kind of just have to go with your gut. And I'm actually really psyched about the stuff that I found that I like because it's kind of like finding the diamond in the rough. So my favorites were the green jumpsuit, the black sheer lacy shirt, the black bralette, and the white crop top, but if I had any advice for people shopping on Wish, tops are more of a sure bet, skirts and dresses were a little shorter than I expected, and I think that sizing up usually helps.

Also, if you see a pair of cool distressed sweatpants, Do not buy them. Thank you guys so much for watching. If you've bought anything from Wish before Let me know in the comments below. If you liked that video make sure to smash that like button, and if you want to see more videos like this make sure to Smash that subscribe button and if you've already smashed that subscribe button, make sure to also Smash that little bell icon in the middle to turn on post notifications.

[lovejemorgan]

Today I would like to compare Fall 2017 and Fall 2018 Bridal week trends. This is going to be a long one, so bear with me as I delve into quite a few styles that made an appearance in the last two Fall Bridal Weeks.

Let’s begin with the most recent, 2018 Fall Bridal Week, and what a week it was. Fall Bridal week for this year made quite a showing, introducing some new trends, as well as some that we are already familiar with.

Let’s start with my least favorite trends; capes, mid-length dresses, split sleeves, nude dresses, and minis.

Capes, oh Lord, there is a time and place for these, and personally, I don’t think it’s a wedding. There are a wide variety of capes, hooded, no hood, short, long, sheer, opaque, and so many more, but the one constant is that you’re always fiddling with it. It will most likely end up choking you half way down the aisle, you’re hood will probably fall off while you walk, unless you pin it, and I don’t know about you, but I’d be checking, regularly, to make sure everything was in its proper place.  So other than how pretty you’re gonna look in your pictures, this trend is a no for me, the cons far outweigh the pros, in my opinion. We also saw capes in the Fall 2017 shows.

Mid-Length dresses are fabulous if you have the body type for them. I, however, do not. Whenever I wear mid-length anything, I look like I’m wearing something that’s too short, but my roommate looks adorable in mid-length pants and dresses. So, again, it’s all about body type on this trend, I just don’t like it because it makes me look dumb. That’s not to say you won’t look stunning in something like this. One thing that should carry over to bridal wear that we all know about regular clothes is that you have to keep your body style in mind. What looks good on stick thin, 6 foot something models, is not going to look the same on a voluptuous woman that is 5 foot 5, it’s unfortunate but true. So when you go to try on wedding dresses, don’t go in thinking you have to be the sample size, you have to look like the girl in the picture because chances are you won’t. I know I won’t.

Split Sleeves, similar to capes, I feel like they’re a significant distraction, but if you want to look like a fairy or channel you’re inner bohemian, this might be the trend for you. If done right, it’ll look fantastic. However, if you want to do an ultra-glam, city wedding, I’m not sure this is a look you want to go for, I’d feel like I was from 14th century England with all of that fabric hanging off of my arms. But hey, if that’s what you like, please don’t let my opinions stop you, that’s all this is, my opinion, I don’t want you to change your mind just because I said so.

Nude Dresses, again, have a place. Something I wonder about designers is if they ever consider TPO, Time, Place, Occasion. You would think that they did, considering. However, looking at nude gowns, I would never wear one for my wedding. I feel like nude dresses are a more casual thing, more every day rather than My Special day. Maybe I’m a bit odd in thinking that, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bride in a nude gown, but perhaps that will all change this year, we’ll see I guess.

All things mini, another TPO situation, and a wedding is not the time, place, or occasion for anything mini. When I say ‘all things’ I mean, skirts; normal and high-low, and shorts! Again, if this is your jam, more power to you, however, I feel as though mini skirts and short shorts are not the appropriate things for weddings, whether you’re the bride, in the bridal party, or a guest. Too many opportunities for a wardrobe malfunction. Also, if you’re doing a church wedding, this trend will not fly.

Jackets, similar to capes, are distracting. However, I like them better. Why? You ask, simple, they’re easier to deal with. They won’t choke you, if they open up, it won’t fall off of your shoulder, it won’t twist around. They tend to stay in one place, and if you get too warm, you’re tired of wearing it, removing the jacket won’t completely ruin the look you’re going for. I think that this is an excellent idea if you’re going for a casual wedding, or even rocker glam, or something similar. I would love to see this make a total appearance this year because I think it will be a great statement piece. In the shows, this year, most of the jackets shown are white. However, there are so many color options you could utilize with this, go with your wedding palate, go with your favorite color, or it could even be one of the good luck symbols for marriage; something borrowed, something blue, something old, something new. The options are limitless! This trend has my seal of approval for sure!

Pants are a new alternative that we’ve seen cropping up increasingly throughout the years since gay marriage was legalized especially. I think that wedding pantsuits and jumpsuits can be amazing if done tastefully, that is easier said than done sometimes. It, of course, has a lot to do with your budget and what look you’re going for. If you want to go for a more sleek look, or you just don’t like dresses, I think this is a fantastic alternative for you. This style also showed up in 2017, but that’s not very surprising.

Pink dresses, I feel like this is the bane of all mothers everywhere. I love watching Say Yes To The Dress, and whenever a bride comes in and asks to try on pink hued dresses, their mom, or mother-in-law, or grandma, always has a conniption. While, personally, this is not a look I would go for, pink dresses look gorgeous on some brides. However, some designers have gone a little pink crazy. But hey, there some women who want bright colored wedding dresses, others like more muted colors. This is another situation where if it’s tastefully done it looks fantastic, but when you go a little crazy with the color, it can seem a bit tacky. This is especially true if your dress is pink, and your wedding colors include pink, and your flowers are pink, and your bridal party is in pink, that’s a bit much, don’t you think?  I think this look is great for daytime weddings, but you do you on this one.

Gold dresses, I’m calling it the Belle Phenomena, after all, what little girl didn’t watch Beauty and the Beast and wanted to wear that beautiful, gold gown? I like this trend a whole lot better than pink dresses, but that’s probably because I’m not a fan of pink, but that’s neither here nor there. When you think ‘gold dresses’ I’m sure you’re probably thinking of something big, bright, and shiny. However, that’s not what designers are doing! It’s gauzy, a little sheer, and a little shimmery, it’s more of a matte gold than a metallic gold, which might be why I like it so much. Of course, I wouldn’t go with this look if I were doing a daytime wedding, it feels more like night time, formal affair.

Detached sleeves, do you like sleeves, but love the look of sleeveless? This might just be the look for you! I like detached sleeves, on my shirts and my more casual dresses, I’m not sure I would go with this for my wedding gown though. It just looks like an afterthought, while the fabric is the same, it just doesn’t seem cohesive to me, and in a similar vein of capes, distracting! Just my luck the sleeve will slide down my arms, and I’ll continuously tug at them, pulling them back into place (I have small arms, that’s why I feel this way). However, one neat thing about this trend, if I have the correct assumption, you can take the sleeves off after the ceremony, and BAM! New look for the reception! This look does work with all types of dresses, it works for all women, and it works with all kinds of weddings.

Clean, modern dresses, we’re taking it back to the classic, no frills, no bling look, and that works. It’s a classic for a reason. When I look at the clean, modern, looks I fall in love with the clean lines, and the smooth fabric. This trend is for the modern woman, the woman who doesn’t like to make a big deal out of things, the woman who wants to look perfect and leave nothing to chance. I’m not that woman, but that’s ok if you are, then please take this trend into consideration.

Halters, oh I love this trend! I love high necklines, I love halter anything. Consider this one of those trends that aren’t really a trend, it’s a staple for some women. I prefer high necklines, because the more of my chest that shows, the longer my neck looks, I need the extra fabric to cut that all up, and I know I’m not the only person with this problem. Trends and looks that utilize this neckline are glorious because a few years ago, the only thing that seemed available was sweetheart necklines and strapless dresses. I’m glad designers are keeping different body styles in mind when designing their new gowns. This trend definitely gets an A+ from me.

Now onto 2017 trends! Again, we’ll start with my least favorite; billowy sleeves, cascading ruffles, and neo-opulence.

Billowy sleeves, a less structured version of the Princess Di sleeve, my opinion on the split sleeve kind of goes here. It’s not my favorite sleeve style, it just seems like way too much fabric, especially if you pair it with an A-Line dress or a ball gown. I don’t have much else for this one, it’s a bust for me.

Cascading ruffles, oh boy, I have never seen a dress with ‘cascading ruffles’ that I like. I think a lot of it is too much and overdone, no matter the size of the ruffles. I guess I’m not really a ruffle girl, but I know some people like them. If you like them, then maybe you’ll like this look. I’ll be the first to admit it can be done tastefully. It’s really just not my thing.

Neo-opulence, also known as bling! I know that some women love the bling on their gowns, I know some who don’t. I couldn’t say either way of which one I’d be, in this situation, though I’d guess probably not. I think Neo-Opulence is not just bling for the sake of bling, designers are trying to make it look less tacky, (some designers did better at this). I do like the new dresses that are coming out in this style, though I’d probably not buy one myself. I’d say this style has a place in some weddings, for some women, and we’re probably going to see some brides buy this style dress for their beach wedding because people are weird like that. But, it’s my least disliked style.

Metallic dresses made a big show last fall, and like the gold dresses of this fall, it was done beautifully. Yes, there is shimmer, yes there is bling, but it’s shimmer and bling to give that metallic look rather than shimmer and bling just for grins. This is another look that is great for evening ceremonies and a formal affair. I think If I could find a gown like this in the silhouette and style that I like I would ultimately follow the metallic idea.

Breezy silhouettes give off that ethereal look, great for weddings on the beach. It’s great for those women who want to have a relaxed affair. There is very little structure to this dress, it’s flowy and free. I like this because it gives you the opportunity to let loose and have fun, but you can make it look more sophisticated if you want to. It’s a very freestyle, it can be worn at just about every type of wedding.

Simple dresses, meaning no bling, no added shimmer. These dresses have basic details, basic silhouettes, and necklines. I can see the draw of these dresses because some women want to be the center of attention, not their attire. Also, some women do merely prefer minimalistic designs.  I’m not one of those women, but I know some.

The mod look made a comeback last fall, and again there is a particular type of bride that would eat this up. It’s pants, it’s tea-length and shorter dresses, it’s a throwback to Twiggy and Audrey Hepburn. Some women fully embrace this style in their everyday life and want to continue it for their wedding. I’m not into it for me, but I do appreciate the style and why people like it.

Less common embellishments and details. What I’m talking about is macrame, embroidered, re-appliquéd, and guipure lace. These new lace styles have added a new dimension to the dresses. I do actually like this, I like lace, not on me though. I think lace on a wedding gown is appropriate though because it has this femininity about it, a sense of romance. I hope to see more of this trend, just because I think it has the chance to stand the test of time.

High-Low ballgowns, I really like this. I love the high-low style, it’s the fun of a shorter dress and the drama of a full-length gown. There’s a sense of movement that goes with this style, and I love that. I’m all for the pure drama and the movement. You can get this look with a detachable skirt as well, have a long removable train over a shorter skirt, two looks for the price of one.

Designers decided to take a step away from the more sheer looks and made the dresses more coverage. High necklines, full skirts and lots of lace. I love this, because it is very much similar to my style, to a point. This, unfortunately, did not last very long, we’re in a culture that loves to bear it all. I don’t think that is always a good thing. This look leaves a lot to the imagination because you are going to be very covered up, but that almost makes the end of the night more fun. You can wear something sexy and fun underneath for when you and your new husband have alone time.

Structured corsets, like standard corsets, emphasize the narrow part of the waist. Pair this with a full skirt and everything is exaggerated, and that can be fun. I actually really like the corseted look, it gives you that sense of sexiness, and it can also make you feel like a princess. I would highly recommend this for women to at least try before deciding that they do not want this style incorporate into their gown. It isn’t for everyone, but you have to determine this for yourself.

    Where I found these trends:

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/wedding/bridal-fashion/g7976/wedding-dress-trends-fall-2017/

https://www.theknot.com/content/bridal-fashion-week-fall-2017-wedding-dress-trends

https://www.brides.com/gallery/wedding-dress-trends-fall-2018

https://www.theknot.com/content/bridal-fashion-week-fall-winter-2018-wedding-dress-trends

Disclaimer: I really did not take any of these photos, they were all done by pros, whose names I do not know, I did get a lot of the images from Brides.com and Harpers Bazaar, some of the images came from Google. 

Let’s Compare Today I would like to compare Fall 2017 and Fall 2018 Bridal week trends. This is going to be a long one, so bear with me as I delve into quite a few styles that made an appearance in the last two Fall Bridal Weeks.

[jakeander11]

OK, so this is a little different from my normal reblogs, but I‘m curious. I know I only have like, nine followers, but if any of you folks would want to read a beginning excerpt from the novel Im writing and perhaps message me with feedback, that would be kind of cool. Or, this will just fade into the aether, either way works. Anyway, here it is:

Gareth brushed sweat from his eyes, and tucked some damp, sandy curls behind his ear. The sun beat down from the cloudless sky, baking the streets of Greyport beneath it. Gareth shifted slightly, and felt another line of sweat run down his back beneath his yellow doublet. The slight ocean breeze coming in off the harbor only served to move the hot, humid air around, instead of cooling anyone down. It was not an ideal day to stand around and sing to crowds, but that was Gareth's role today.

He was standing on the raised edge of the white marble fountain in the center of the market district. The fountain was old, and much of the intricate carvings that adorned the sides had become soft and blurred from the wear of time, but the carved dolphin that formed the central spout was still easily identified.

The fountain’s lip was a good three feet off the ground, which would have given most street performers a commanding stage above the milling bodies of the market. Gareth, who stood a mere three-foot-two, was only placed a mere head’s height above the small crowd of market goers that had stopped to listen to the peculiar halfling in the brightly-colored clothing.

He hit the last note of his song, and allowed the final chord to carry into the air for a moment before he silenced the strings of his lute. The small crowd gave a slightly better than polite round of applause, and a few even whistled. Gareth smiled. It was always nice to have his talents appreciated. He wiped the back of his neck and smiled at the crowd. Gareth may not have been allowed to call himself a real bard, but he had been trained by one, and could perform as well as any of the official members of the guild.

"Thank you, my friends, thank you!” He bowed at the waist with a flourish of his free hand. Dirk frequently accused him of being unnecessarily dramatic, but as Gareth always thought, why not add a little flair to things when he could?

"Now, my throat is getting a bit sore, and it’s rather hot out, so my next song will be my last. I hope you enjoy it. Before I begin, however, I have a request to make. This is, after all, how I make my living.”

Which was more or less true, from a certain perspective.

"If you’ve been entertained here today, please consider making a small contribution, if only a few coins. After all, where else will you spend your copper sheaves, silver acorns, or even, dare I suggest, gold crowns today? Will you buy a cheap meat pie stuffed with gods know what beasts? A flimsy wind-up dragon that will break the very second you get home? Perhaps a ‘genuine’ elvish necklace made of tin, glass, and lies? No. I am your best spending option, and I thank you for it,” Gareth said.

As he spoke, he swept the faded yellow hat off his head and tossed it onto the cobblestones below his perch. It landed with a puff of dust, and Gareth launched into a spirited rendition of the Ballad of the Rose and the Thorn. It was a well known tale, filled with love and loss, betrayal and revenge. Gareth's old master had said it was the ballad that he could perform the best, and the earnings of previous performances had proved that statement correct. Gareth hoped that this audience would also consider it worth loosening their purse strings for.

He needn’t have worried. As he sang, he saw many of the people in the crowd pull out their purses and come forward to drop a coin or two into his hat, which quickly filled with a modest pile of coins.

Gareth glanced down, and saw that most of the coins were copper sheaves, with a couple silver eagles glinting amongst them. Cheap bastards, Gareth thought. From the amount of silk and velvet draping the bodies in the crowd, he had expected more silver, and perhaps even a gold crown or two.

From his vantage point on top of the fountain, Gareth could see the edges of the square relatively clearly. As he sang, a form slipped out of the darkened alley across the square. Dirk was right on time.

Dirk was a wiry man somewhere between twenty and thirty five years of age, as far as Gareth could tell. He was only of middling height, perhaps a few inches short of six feet tall, with dark hair and calculating eyes. He could be considered handsome, in a dangerous, disheveled sort of way. Usually, he maintained a few days worth of stubble over his sharp-edged features, and his face often sported some form of a mocking smirk. His regular choice of clothing was almost exclusively dark grays and blacks.

Today, however, Dirk was dressed in what he referred to as his “hunting clothes”. He’d disguised himself as a member of the prosperous merchant class, and Gareth barely recognized his partner.

Dirk's hair had been combed back and tied with a red silk ribbon into a tidy ponytail at the base of his neck, and was freshly clean shaven. He wore a crimson doublet embroidered in gold thread over a white silk shirt, and his black velvet breeches were tucked into shining leather boots. In short, he looked about as far from a thief as a civilian could be.

Which, of course, was the point. As he liked to say whenever Gareth asked him about his fancy clothes, "After you’ve mastered the skills, the most successful pickpockets are always the ones that don’t look the way thieves are expected to look. "

Dirk slipped into the crowd and began to slowly wind his way through it. He carefully chose a route that brought him near the most wealthy of the crowd, and he happened to bump into most of them as he gently pushed his way past. The men and women didn’t give him a second glance. None of them suspected that the purses and pouches they had just taken out to throw a coin or two into Gareth's hat were no longer on their person.

As Gareth sang, he watched the crowd closely, and kept an eye out for guards. After a while, he noticed a man on the edges of the small crowd that seemed to be watching Dirk.

He was a small man, dressed in the same undyed linen and wool clothing as many of the poorer shoppers in the square, with a dull brown cloak loosely draped over his shoulders. His brownish hair was cropped close to his head, and he had a short beard of the same color. Overall, Gareth thought he was a man of profoundly nondescript appearance. After a moment’s thought, Gareth decided that the man reminded him of a field mouse. Gareth couldn’t quite tell, but the man seemed to be following Dirk’s progress through the crowd out of the corner of his eye.

Dirk made it to the other side of the crowd, and continued on his way down another street. A few seconds after Dirk was out of sight, the mousey man turned and left the square, and walked quickly northwards.

Gareth didn’t like the timing. He finished his song, bowed one last time to the crowd, and collected his hat. As he started to walk down the narrow streets towards the inn that he and Dirk were staying at this week, Gareth found himself thinking about the mousey man and his unnerving behavior.

He made Gareth very uncomfortable. There were only so many explanations for what he had noticed, and the only one that wasn’t bad news was that Gareth was just being paranoid, attributing meaning to nothing. Everything else suggested that the man had caught on to the scam Dirk and Gareth had set up. If the man had, and if he decided to go to the city watch, the lives of the partners were about to get far more interesting than either would ever want. Gareth mulled over the problem, and decided that he should probably bring up the mouse man with Dirk that evening. He nodded to himself, and hurried down the street towards what passed for home.

"Look at all that copper. Not bad for a whole afternoon of performing. You could almost buy half a shoe with that.”

Gareth scowled at Dirk across the wooden table, and Dirk twisted his lips into a mocking smirk.

They were sitting at a scarred wooden table, in the corner of the tavern the pair had chosen as their base in the city. The room was full of people drinking and laughing their cares away, and the air was thick with the smell of ale and pipe smoke.

Dirk had changed out of his merchant costume, and was now dressed in his usual dark clothes. He wore a sleeveless black leather jerkin over a grey, rough-spun shirt, and his grey trousers were tucked into the tops of his worn, black leather boots. Dirk's heavy leather belt was festooned with a variety of small bags and pouches, with a dagger on each hip.

In broad daylight, Dirk’s regular clothing, coupled with his overall appearance, had a tendency to make people look twice and secure their purses. Under his preferred cover of night, however, nobody saw him coming until it was far too late.

Gareth shuddered and forced his thoughts away from the memories they were heading towards. Dirk was a consummate professional, and they got along reasonably well in their partnership, but sometimes, when Gareth thought too hard, Dirk scared the living hell out of him.

“Alright, fine, yes. I know. Honest street performing isn’t about to make us rich anytime soon. You don’t need to rub it in. I’m guessing you did better?” Gareth asked.

Dirk’s smirk shifted into a gloating, self-satisfied smile, and his eyes glinted.

“Oh yes. Much better. They may have been cheap sons of whores, but they sure as hell weren’t poor.”

Dirk glanced around the crowded room, then lifted a large leather bag from where it had been sitting on the floor next to his chair and dropped it on the table. It landed with a heavy thud, and the clink of precious metals.

“Forty-seven crowns, twenty-six eagles, and seventy-nine sheaves for only eight good minutes of cutting purse strings.” Dirk sat back in his chair and crossed his arms smugly. “I love this city.”

Gareth stared at the bag on the table. This was the largest prize from their scheme that they had ever collected, by a rather wide margin.

“That’s… That’s a lot of money," Gareth said.

Dirk laughed softly. “Yes, Gareth, it is. We do this for a month, and we'll be rich.”

“Or, we get caught and spend a while in the dungeons. Or lose a hand, depending on how lenient the magistrate is feeling that day.”

Dirk’s smile soured, and he scowled at Gareth.

“We won’t get caught. Nobody in that crowd gave me a second look today," Dirk said.

“I’m not sure that that’s entirely true, actually," Gareth said.

"What?"

"Well, earlier today, when you were collecting all that," Gareth gestured at the bag of coins on the table. "I thought I saw a man watching you. I couldn't be entirely sure, but it looked like he was following your progress through the crowd, and he took off towards the citadel as soon as you left the market."

Dirk frowned.

"You're absolutely sure he was watching me?"

"I didn't say that, but it seems a little too much of a coincidence, doesn't it? Maybe we should move on again, not press our luck here tomorrow. This was a good haul today. Maybe that's enough here?"

Dirk glanced around the crowded tavern, then leaned in over the rough wooden table.

"Gareth, we made more today in this city than we've made in the last four towns combined. Think of what we could walk away with after a couple days of this! Tell me, where else are we going to do this well?" He asked.

"I don't know, Dirk, but what if they're on to us here? I like coin as much as the next guy, but I like my hands and freedom more."

Dirk sat back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair, his face calculating. After a moment, he spoke.

“All right, Gareth. How’s this: We go back to the market tomorrow and do it again. If you see the man again, signal to me, and I can follow him down an alley and cut his throat. Problem solved.”

“Dirk!” Gareth quickly looked around the tavern, fearful that someone had heard his partner. Fortunately, the sounds of general carousing were loud enough that nobody could hear one small conversation amidst the din. He turned back to Dirk and scowled fiercely at him.

“We are not going to murder a man just because he might, perhaps, possibly be on to us. That not how this works. We’ve talked about this. Murder is never our go-to plan.”

Dirk smirked.

“Not your go-to, at least. But yes, fine, I remember the terms of our agreement. How’s this for an alternative. Remember when we were in Bansbury?”

“Yes, we nearly got caught in Bansbury. Because you wanted to try a second day. Like right now,” Gareth said peevishly.

“Exactly! But we didn’t, because you gave the signal that we have agreed on, the story about the Lucky Thief. It worked, and I got away clean. We do that again. If this mysterious gentleman was actually onto to us, and an informant, and there are extra guards in the market, tell that one. I’ll be listening, and can slip off into the shadows. If he wasn’t, we get to make a lot of money again. Fair?”

Gareth pursed his lips, but couldn’t find any particular reason to object to Dirk’s plan. They did have a signal, and after all, he wasn’t even positive that the mousey man had really been watching Dirk. It could’ve been a coincidence. Gareth looked at the bag of coins on the table. It had probably just been a coincidence. He would just keep a closer watch on the crowd, and be ready to warn Dirk.

“Yeah, alright. That’s fair. We’ll go back again tomorrow.”