#i love this baker concept so much i needed to include that in the tags

[crashingmeteorz]

doing it again, ranting about pat’s art TRY TO STOP MEEEEE

so much feels like it doesn’t even need to be said, which you alluded to in your tags, and pat that’s bc the concept was planned and executed so well i can’t even believe it. this feels silly to say bc of how talented, creative, and capable you are, but getting to listen in on small pieces of your process as you developed the idea just makes me so proud??? bc you did it!!!! the way you play with the medium, the originality of this idea, god i love it so much!!! and you knocked it out of the PARK my friend!!!!

i know color is your muse in many ways, and you play with it so well. i love sherlock & the borscht being in bright, clear, obvious colors as everything else, john included, is gray. the soup offering is so clearly more than soup with this concept!!! it’s an offer for life and joy, it’s a gateway to sherlock’s world! and more than this, sherlock’s almost reaching out is the biggest gesture of all, you can SEE the way john’s shoulder begins to glow from sherlock’s presence, see how completely torn sherlock is in this unfamiliar situation, that he wants to help but doesn’t know what’s best.

and then john is overwhelmed - beautifully and warmly - by sherlock’s world crashing into and splashing across baker street. with the officer’s arrival, it’s not long until john is surrounded by the color and vibrancy, but still we do not see a change in john himself until sherlock deduces him and ensnares him all at once, hook like and sinker. oh pat how beautiful your gifts to us are.

i could go on, ofc, particularly about the bottom “panel” of the fifth page, the warm yellow light that represents all the good that is to come, all that there can be built up from their friendship. we go from john alone to john as THE central figure in sherlock’s life!!! in less than a year!!! it’s CRAZY and you demonstrate so wonderfully why and how it happens so quickly, what about this is appealing. john was looking for his life to start over again, he just didn’t know where the on switch was - and he finds it in sherlock.

and the pupils!! how they turn bright colors (orange for sherlock, red for john) in the heat of a deduction! their focus and intensity reflected back on each other, culminating in a fully colored john the final page. i particularly enjoyed the focus on hands as well - again, the fifth page has john’s translucent, faded hand in focus as he descends the stairs. the final page has his hand around the mic, completely filled in and alive with purpose and excitement.

and there’s more, ofc - the tube map, the swirling pattern in the last few pages like licks of flame - not burning but setting a fire, sparking joy, so to speak. the little realistic details like the height difference, john’s mismatched socks, sherlock’s various cuts and scrapes, the officer obviously prepping with no small amount of joy to hear john get owned by sherlock. FUCK it’s all so GOOD!!!

literally can’t believe i know you and we’re FRIENDS, like hi, yeah, this is my pal pat, THEIR WORK CHANGES LIVES. but since we are i want you to know how amazing it is to see the passion, love, and thought you have for this podcast translated so perfectly! thanks for sharing this with all of us pat im going to think about it forever.

Happy 1 year anniversary to Mr Sherlock Holmes! Here's a litttleee celebratory comic from me

[rywritten]

Yes to the List. Absolutely. FicRec time I am here for it

yeah so ive got a few other asks requesting for a similar thing so here's the list of dreamnap and dreamnoblade fics I've enjoyed so far (including the link to the fics & authors + tags and rating + fic summary and my thoughts about it)

Ry's Dreamnap and DNB Fic Recs:

Dreamnap:

My Love. sadly the author is already orphaned / not rated / tags: canon-divergent + light angst / short oneshot

summary: sapnap visits dream in prison for the first time, but things turn out differently from what happened in canon

thoughts: i cried. not really, but i was pretty sad when i read this. lots of angst, but the hurt/comfort was there to make me feel better!

More Than A Bandaid by notorphanedaccount / rated G / tags: skater!sap and pretty hospital receptionist!dream + mild descriptions of blood and injury / oneshot

summary: Sapnap is accident-prone, and also happens to have a soft spot for pretty boys with blonde hair and green eyes who happen to work at the ER. This is not a good thing.

thoughts: the author took the meet-cute concept and made it one of the best things ive read this 2022, skater!sap lives in my mind rent-free and im not even mad about it

A Smile Like Summertime by notorphanedaccount / not rated / tags: summer camp + childhood friends to lovers + hurt/comfort / oneshot

summary: Sapnap brings a smile to Dream's face, but it's a double-edge sword.

thoughts: please read it. i cried fr this time. its so good.

Where the Sun Meets the Sea by notorphanedaccount (as you can tell, im a huge fan of their works lmao) rated T / tags: angst + depression (some really heavy stuff) + demigod!sap and lighthouse keeper! dream / chaptered fic - ongoing (last updated on 01/04/2022)

summary: dream has not been feeling ok for a long time, he decides to work as a lighthouse keeper as a way out and meets godling!sapnap

thoughts: no thoughts, head empty. i just love this fic so much, but please check the cw, there's some heavy topics throughout the story so make sure you're ok before reading it!

you are in love by duvide / rated E 😳 / tags: college au + violinist!sap and artist!dream + pining and lots of it / oneshot

summary: the one where Sapnap realizes he's in love.

thoughts: pining at it's finest, dreamnap slowburn, my beloved. would always rec if anyone's interested in childhood friends to lovers done right 👍

you didn't think you'd feel this way by lieyuu / rated G / tags: dialogue heavy + lovers to enemies (ouch) + angst with a happy ending / short oneshot

summary: that one (1) richard siken quote that goes: you're going to die in your best friend's arms.

thoughts: pain. that's it. but yes the wiring is phenomenal and the imagery is outstanding.

call in the stormclouds by lieyuu / rated G / tags: dialogue heavy + confrontation + angst / short oneshot

summary: Who left first, indeed.

;

sapnap and dream and confrontations in the rain

thoughts: ouch (again) this author has a thing for angst, it's great 👍

pain au chocolat by yasminnie / rated T / tags: baker au + one-sided rivals (on dream's part) to lovers + fluff

summary: The owner of the new patisserie across the street leaves a treat outside Dream’s bakery every week. This can only mean one thing: war.

thoughts: meet-cute set in a bakery can never go wrong and i stand by this.

to mend a hero by paperokay / rated T / tags: superhero au + hurt/comfort + hero!dream / two chapters, completed

summary: Dream gets injured on missions— a lot. Hiding his hero-status from Sapnap hurts more, and his feelings for his best friend puts a spin on things.

thoughts: loved it, liked the concept and the ending was real sweet!

write our names in the wet concrete by aes_asteria / rated T / tags: highschool au + childhood friends to lovers / two chapters, completed

summary: Dream meets Sapnap in the second grade. Things start off from there.

thoughts: the dreamnap coming of age fic you didn't know you needed

Dreamnoblade:

postmortal sadly the author is already orphaned (rip, queen) / rated T / tags: prince!techno and adventurer!dream + medieval fantasy au + pining / oneshot

summary: In which Dream meets a stranger in a forest, and decides to tag along to kill a dragon.

thoughts: the fic™ that got me to ship dnb, this was it lads.

insurance by the same orphaned author (sobbing) / rated T / tags: part two of the postmortal series + in techno's pov / oneshot

summary: In which Dream falls physically, and Techno falls metaphorically.

thoughts: the best way to end a two part series, getting to know the other character's pov!!

A Song in Ice by ollie_oxen_free / rated T / tags: fantasy au + arranged marriage + the homoeroticism of swordfighting / oneshot

summary: In need of an ally to fight an encroaching army, Dream agrees to marry the king of a distant kingdom.

Ever a fan of the underdogs, King Technoblade agrees to marry the governor of a distant land in exchange for help from his army.

They are both completely normal about this, btw.

thoughts: READ THIS PLS, IM COMPELLING YOU ALL TO READ THIS. would give the author a kiss (romantic or platonic for how good this fic was)

so dawn goes down to day (nothing gold can stay) by luolii / rated T / tags: mcd + sick fic + highschool au + sadness and pain, actually / two chapters, completed (i didn't finish this bc it got too sad)

summary: a  story of youth, small yellow flowers, and love.

or or, what it means to lose someone

thoughts: i dont have the strength to finish this bc again, ouch. but the writing is beautiful!!

Hungry for your Touch sadly the author is also orphaned (sobbing in a corner) / rated T / tags: hurt/comfort + light angst + blood and injury / oneshot

summary: Dream is running from Tommy and ends up at Techno's house. Tommy cut his mask open and Techno doesn't recognize who the stranger he's helping recover from his injuries is.

thoughts: the first half of the story was really good!

New Hunger by Typical_Kiwi / rated M / tags: merfolk au / chaptered fic (5/6 updated last on 01/09/2022)

summary: Techno runs from his piling, suffocating problems. Runs and runs and runs, drawn by a strange obsession with a certain high-paced river in Yorkshire.

Somehow this leads him to unexpected freedom, found with a charismatic, glowing merthing that terrorizes UK waters.

thoughts: not entirely my cup of tea, but who knows, maybe ill like it when i continue reading it one day. the concept is pretty interesting, so i thought id add it here in case anyone's interested

(and that's it for my fic recs! i still haven't scavenged through the entirety of the dreamnap and dnb tags in AO3 yet, so i might end up finding more later on!)

[writing-wh0re]

HOLY MOLY! 

It’s happened, I have hit 1,000 followers! When I joined back in February I did not expect to even make it to 100 followers, let alone 1000. This is incredible, I love you all so much and cannot thank you enough. I’m so glad you all enjoy what I create, I enjoy writing for all of you ❤️

  So with that being said, I have come up with a little writing challenge for you all  ❤️  Rules:

✏️ You don’t have to be following me to participate in this challenge, however it would be amazing to see what my wonderful followers can produce! ❤️ Otherwise a reblog of this post would be very appriciated!

✏️ Must be a reader-insert, considering this is what my blog consists of. 

✏️ Can be any of these characters that I write for: Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Draco Malfoy. Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Spiderman - Peter Parker, Loki Laufeyson. Sebastian Stan, Chris Evans, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston.  Billy Hargrove. MGK (Colson Baker). Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester. 

✏️ Blurbs, One-shots, Imagines and Series are accepted. If you do write a series please create a masterlist or include previous chapter links. 

✏️ Smut is prefectly okay, however please ensure you include warnings on the chapter and a ‘read more’ insert. (Over 18′s only, please ensure your characters are of age as well.) 

✏️ Any other genre is fully accepted, this is time for you to let loose and explore different ideas / concepts! Include any and all warnings at the begining of your fic!

✏️ This should go without saying but no PEDOPHILA, R*PE, RACISM OR INCEST ALLOWED. (You will be blocked if this occurs.) 

✏️ Choose one prompt from the list and send me an ask (Ask box only and off anon please) of which one you have chosen and the character you’ll be writing it for. Only one person per prompt - first in, first served. 

✏️ A crossed out prompt means it has been taken - once a prompt has been written the author will be creditied beside it. 

✏️ If the word prompts don’t excite you, I have also listed a few different AU concepts / Tropes and have provided different songs (with links) for you to write about. Same rules apply - one person per idea. 

✏️ No minimum word count however anything over 500 words please insert a ‘keep reading’ break. (Ctrl - Shift - K on windows computers)

✏️ Not mandatory but just to make it easier for me please bold the prompt you use within your story! Please also list which AU / Trope / Song you choose. 

✏️ Hashtag your writing with #writing-wh0re-requests1k

✏️ Please tag me once you have posted your fic so I don’t miss it! @writing-wh0re 

✏️ Due date: July 4th, 2021! (In your timezone) I hope that’s plenty of time for you to get creative x  However if you’re creating a series and need more time, please message me. 

✏️ After the 4th of July 2021, I will create a seperate masterlist to make it easier for everyone to find. 

Prompts are below the cut. 

Prompts: 

1. Really? You’re choosing them over me? @meph1stophelian

2. So I mean nothing to you? - @midgardianweasley

3. Do you ever shut up? @pengwengs-writing

4. Have you been drinking? @annyadawson

5. If you had just asked me, I would have. 

6. Shut up for a second. 

7. Do you not understand what I’m trying to say? 

8. Kiss my ass. @harleytonks

9. Fuck you, pay me. @rosietoesy

10. Can we not make this work? 

11. Um, how about go fuck yourself. 

12. You didn’t seriously say that? Did you? 

13. Play nice. 

14. This means the world to me. 

15. I can do this, with or without you. @stxvercgersslut

16. If you don’t do as I say, you’ll die. 

17. You’re marrying him?  @classyhorseeclipseduck

18. I can’t believe you. 

19. Get it through your head. 

20.  We’re just friends. 

AU Prompts: 

1. Sibling’s Best Friend AU

2. Roommates AU

3. CEO AU

5. Professor AU

6. Body Guard AU

7. Prince/King AU

8. Sailor / Pirate AU

9. Apocalyptic AU

10. Vampire AU @skarlettmikaelson

11. AU of your choice. @samineisntmyname

Song Prompts (enjoy my mixed music taste): 

1. Leave the Door Open - Bruno Mars

2. Drunk Face - Machine Gun Kelly 

3. Dangerous - LEFT BOY

4. Heat Waves - Glass Animals

5. Daddy Issues Remix - The Neighbourhood

Tropes: 

1. Blind Date - @horrorxweasley

2. Forbidden Love

3. Long-Distance Love

4. Secret Relationship

5. Love Triangle

6. Fake Date / Fake Dating. 

7. Enemies to Lovers

8. Friends to Lovers

I tried to give you a variety of options! I hope you all enjoy what you create, I know I will enjoy reading it all. Thank you again for your amazing support, love and encouragement. Stay safe in this crazy world! xoxo

Don’t forget to tag me in the stories and #writing-wh0re-requests1k 

Tagging a few mutuals who may want to join / will reblog for me  ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

@maybesandohnos @gaycatlord-stuff @midgardianweasley @horrorxweasley  @justadreamyhufflepuff @hufflepuff5972 @mathletemadison @black-like-my-soul @harleytonks @meph1stophelian

[nichoberri]

Cravity as fairytale characters

Serim- he’s one of the knights in the royal guard. Ever since he was a child, he wanted to be a knight so he could fight in battle, tame dragons and meet royalty. Serim got to do all of that and more, like befriending the two unruly princes, who he’s always one step behind so they don’t get into too much trouble. Although he always whines when the princes want to go on another one of their adventures, he still tags along, knowing that he would never get in trouble as he’s the bravest fighter of the royal guard.

➽───────────────❥

Allen- he’s one of the best healers in the kingdom. This means that he gets called into the palace when any of the royal family and staff are sick. He has his own herb garden at the back of the huge cottage he shares with most of the other boys, and uses some of them for medicines that get sold in the apothecary. Allen also works part time in the ‘Luvity Bookshop’, and has read almost every book in there.

➽───────────────❥

Jungmo- is one of the princes. He is the eldest but is constantly looked down upon by his father who has invalidated Jungmo’s ability to be the next king. So he turned to music for comfort (as well as his brother and friends), eventually performing at the winter ball surprising the king with his great courage. Even though he has gained more if his father’s affection, he stills wants to run away and become a pirate or a bounty hunter lol.

➽───────────────❥

Woobin- is the baker boy who runs ‘Ruby’s Bakehouse’. He regularly delivers various baked goods to the castle, due to the princes’ insatiable sweet tooths. He soon became friends with the two boys. Speaking of friends, Woobin is usually dragged around the town to take part in Minhee’s antics, including being turned into a crow and summoning a demon. He swore on Merlin that he would never be roped into Minhee’s shenanigans ever again.

➽───────────────❥

Wonjin- is a pixie, a particularly mischievous one at that. He jumpscares people walking through the forest and fields, and sometimes leads his friends astray when they’re travelling, you know...for the laughs. He loves dancing literally anywhere, especially to the music of frogs and crickets in the morning. However, he is very caring and will do anything to help his friends, like stopping the rain when they need to go on journeys or flying them to their destination.

➽───────────────❥

Minhee- now he is a warlock and specialises in any type of magic imaginable. He leads his friend into all kinds of strange predicaments and somewhat dangerous ones too, but he always know how to get out of them in the end. Like yeah he made a ghost possess one of Woobin’s cakes but he got it out eventually. Minhee runs the apothecary by day, giving out medicine and potions. He also lives in the cottage, but insists he does tarot card readings, seances, spells, etc in his own cave. Ya know, for the ✨aesthetic✨

➽───────────────❥

Hyeongjun- is a brownie, meaning he’s always helping people do chores and running errands, for something in return of course. This led him to cleaning up in the castle occasionally for five silver an hour. Now being a brownie also means that Hyeongjun is a little sensitive, so the other boys have learned not to be too mean when joking around with him or he threatens to leave the cottage forever. Instead he just pranks them when they are being too lazy.

➽───────────────❥

Taeyoung- is the younger rebellious prince, who was favoured by his father for his full childhood. The only problem is that he doesn’t want to be king, so has found a way to rebel by studying the arts like poetry and painting rather than his princely duties. He’s always sneaking away into the town with his brother, so they can both wreak havoc. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch him racing through the meadows trying to chase the love he always reads about in the novels he buys from ‘Luvity Bookshop’, while laughing to himself.

➽───────────────❥

Seongmin- now baby Seongmin is half flower fairy, half human. He found out he had powers one day, when he had a fight with his dad that made him run into the woods, sit under the willow tree in the lit-up clearing and sob until his aching heart was fixed. He looked at the ground to find pretty wild flowers where his tears had fell. He will trap you in a rope of tree roots if he’s angry with you though (it’s just his fey nature) Now he’s seen growing flowers in the cottage’s front garden, helping the crops grow for harvest and working in ‘Flame Florist’ that resides betweeen the bakery and bookshop.

a/n- this was very fun to right and get off my mind and into here. i just really felt the need to share my strangely detailed incoherent thoughts haha. maybe because i love fairytale au’s and fantasy au’s, and i think cravity fit this concept and the characters i gave them. this also revived my desire to write the rest of the nct dream fairytale au’s. please give this some love even though it’s nothing special-issy ❤️

[calpops]

stuck in the storm | c.h.

A record shop Calum and baker reader one shot 

Word Count: 1.5k 

@rbforsmileycal Ok I am LOVING the business AU. So to continue with cal and baker reader- let’s say the bakery closes earlier than the record shop so one day reader is locking up and planning to walk home/to the bus stop/ subway or whatever. And it was raining outside and reader thought it would be that bad... but it just gets worse as she leaves and so in a desperate attempt to get dry she runs to the record shop bursts in soaking wet to find Calum who is a very enamored and concerned bub (who knew someone could look so cute all soaked) and he just stands there admiring her for a sec before jumping to action and trying to help her get dried and wait out the crazy weather (geez this is long but SERIOUSLY I LOVE THIS CONCEPT)💖💖

***

A light spattering of rain turns to torrential downpour in the blink of an eye. You’re barely two steps past the awning over the bakery door and blocks away from home; cold rain seeping through your thin jacket quickly. The bakery doors are already locked and set for the night, you feel as if there’s no turning back now to wait out the rain. But with a few steps more and a shock of lightning torching the night sky your heart takes off, racing uncomfortably hard as you sprint across the street. Welcoming lights in the record shop across the way indicate it’s still open, a viable shelter to escape the storm. And maybe, a chance at more conversation with Calum. You don’t even think about it as a rumble of thunder has you pushing open the doors; eyes wide in fear and body shivering from the cold clinging to your clothes.

You’re not too familiar with the store, having only been in once when Ashton gave you a gift card. But you know the register sits at a straight across from the bay window of the bakery, sometimes sneaking glances of Calum stood behind the desk as you roamed past cases of already made desserts; sometimes pretending to work and take stock, other times being a little more obvious in your endeavor. You crane your neck toward the register but Calum’s not there. You turn, conceiving a plan of roaming the aisles and pretending to look through albums you have no interest in until someone comes through. But you jump in surprise when you’re met with concerned brown eyes and unsure hands timidly reaching out to you and dropping instead of being met with wooden crates of albums.

“Are you okay?” Calum asks after a moment, eyes taking in your shaking cold frame and the fear that’s still evident in your eyes. “What happened?”

You’re still a bit breathless from your run across the street, from the heart pounding scare of lightning and thunder coming out of nowhere.

“Got stuck in the storm,” you explain hastily, watching Calum’s eyes flicker to the window and realize the severity of the rain, just in time for another strike of lightning. “It wasn’t so bad when I locked up. Then it was. Real quick,” you finish in a staggered rush.

Calum nods in understanding and waves you further in. You take small steps, wet shoes squeaking on the tiled floor and arms wrapping around your body to beg for warmth. A shiver pushes past your lips and Calum looks back at you with eyebrows furrowed, inquisitive in his thoughts as he leads you towards the back of the store. He disappears behind the desk, ducking down for a moment before popping back up with a small towel. He offers it to you, eyes skirting down your soaked clothing, lips pursing as he formulates a plan.

“I can hang your jacket to dry,” he offers, hands outstretched to exchange the towel for your jacket.

You peel off the soaked material, goosebumps dancing across bare skin, thankful for the towel though it only dries you minimally. You wipe down your arms and neck, squeeze some water from your hair and bite your lower lip as Calum turns back around to you after hanging your jacket. Your feet are freezing, shoes soaking through your socks and numbing your toes. Your T-shirt and pants are still wet but the warmth of the store aids the drying process.

In a quick moment Calum rounds the desk and shrugs out of his jacket. He offers it to you wordlessly, placing it over your shoulders with such sincerity and kindness clouding his eyes it takes your breath away momentarily. Your heart rate that had finally settled from the shock of the storm picks up again, racing at the small contact of Calum’s fingers brushing your shoulders.

“You don’t have to-“ you begin but Calum clears his throat and cuts you off.

“Need it more than me.”

You can't argue with that, are appreciative of the warmth the leather jacket gives you. It’s lined but you figure most of the warmth comes from Calum’s body heat as you sink into the worn material. Your toes scrunch in your shoes, body reacting to the pleasant warmth and before you can even voice thoughts of cold feet Calum’s offering for you to go behind the desk and take your shoes and socks off to dry by the heat vent on the back wall. You take him up on his offer immediately, an immense amount of gratitude coating your thank you to him. He brushes it off and tells you it’s not a problem, that he’s just glad you’re safe from the storm and the cold. Your cheeks heat at his admission, a twinge of something unknown making your stomach flutter. You decide finding refuge within the record shop was one of your best ideas.

You find yourself sitting behind the desk with Calum, coat hung up and shoes and socks laid out by the heat vent, as you wait out the storm. You make idle small talk as he sifts through business papers and you watch his minute reactions to the music still playing from the speakers. Most of it is easy going, soft songs with serene melodies and beautiful lyrics. Calum catches you staring but you don’t mind; having caught his glances through the windows times before. He smiles and you smile back, the empty store close to quiet aside from a love song as white noise.

“You know,” you begin, a new round of small talk entering your thoughts. “For a store name  synonymous with chaos, it’s quite calm in here.”

Music Mayhem is quite the contrast to its name. Soft wood tones and low lighting give the store a welcoming and comfortable presence. Overstuffed chairs dot the store randomly, welcoming patrons to stay a while. Vases and pots of flowers and plants—some less kept and alive than others—are strewn about shelve tops every now and then. Select instruments are set for display and obscure band posters plaster drywall. Everything about the shop is inviting; personal for all yet somehow still specialized to the tastes of the owners. You don’t know Calum all that well yet, but you can still catch glimpses of his personality in the store.

Calum smirks at your remark; his voice nearly in harmony with the music in the background. “Ashton says it’s supposed to be ironic. I think he just likes alliteration.”

You laugh; a floating feeling capturing your chest, making your heartbeat feel free. You continue the conversation and it’s so easy it feels right.  You wish the rain would never stop, that time could still and your private moment with Calum could last. But you can hear the rain outside, it’s lessening by the minute. You haven’t seen a flash of lightning or heard a rumble of thunder in nearly ten minutes. A desperate feeling washes through you at the realization—Calum disappearing from the desk to start closing up—that your time tucked away in the deserted record shop with him is coming to an end.

Calum comes back to the desk; you having taken a hint and getting your socks and shoes back on, swapping jackets—donning your still slightly damp one and  moving from behind the desk.

“Let me drive you home again,” Calum says and it feels much less a question or request and more a matter of fact that sets the disappointment of a disappearing storm at bay. “You probably shouldn’t wear that yet.”

Calum lightly pinches at the sleeve of your jacket, feeling the damp with the pads of his fingertips.

“You could catch a cold. You can borrow mine for the ride.”

And so you do. And you both accidentally forget you're still wearing it when he walks you to your steps and tells you goodnight. Only once you’re back inside do you realize you have a reason to see him tomorrow; leather still draped across your shoulders.

***

If you’d like to be added to my tag list just let me know!

Copyright 2020 calpops. All rights reserved. This work is not allowed to be uploaded by anyone else in any format (translations included). 

Tagged: @rosecolouredash @irwinkitten @golden-hood @caswinchester2000 @wildflowergrae @empathycth @cuddlemecalx @calumsmermaid @babylon-corgis @outerspaceisbetterthannothing @mariellelovescupcakes @xhaileyreneex @goth5sos @gosh-im-short @feliznavidaddycal @loveroflrh @findingliam-o @flowerthug​ @g-l-pierce​ @talkfastromance4​ @sc0ttish-wildfl0wer​ @cthoodsthetic​ @calumscalm​ @thesubtweeter​ @akafeliznavidaddy​ @myloverboyash​ @treatallwithkindness​

[popgirljpg]

Cravity as fairytale au characters:

Serim- he’s one of the knights in the royal guard. Ever since he was a child, he wanted to be a knight so he could fight in battle, tame dragons and meet royalty. Serim got to do all of that and more, like befriending the two unruly princes, who he’s always one step behind so they don’t get into too much trouble. Although he always whines when the princes want to go on another one of their adventures, he still tags along, knowing that he would never get in trouble as he’s the bravest fighter of the royal guard.

Allen- he’s one of the best healers in the kingdom. This means that he gets called into the palace when any of the royal family and staff are sick. He has his own herb garden at the back of the huge cottage he shares with most of the other boys, and uses some of them for medicines that get sold in the apothecary. Allen also works part time in the ‘Luvity Bookshop’, and has read almost every book in there.

Jungmo- is one of the princes. He is the eldest but is constantly looked down upon by his father who has invalidated Jungmo’s ability to be the next king. So he turned to music for comfort (as well as his brother and friends), eventually performing at the winter ball surprising the king with his great courage. Even though he has gained more if his father’s affection, he stills wants to run away and become a pirate or a bounty hunter lol.

Woobin- is the baker boy who runs ‘Ruby’s Bakehouse’. He regularly delivers various baked goods to the castle, due to the princes’ insatiable sweet tooths. He soon became friends with the two boys. Speaking of friends, Woobin is usually dragged around the town to take part in Minhee’s antics, including being turned into a crow and summoning a demon. He swore on Merlin that he would never be roped into Minhee’s shenanigans ever again.

Wonjin- is a pixie, a particularly mischievous one at that. He jumpscares people walking through the forest and fields, and sometimes leads his friends astray when they’re travelling, you know...for the laughs. He loves dancing literally anywhere, especially to the music of frogs and crickets in the morning. However, he is very caring and will do anything to help his friends, like stopping the rain when they need to go on journeys or flying them to their destination.

Minhee- now he is a warlock and specialises in any type of magic imaginable. He leads his friend into all kinds of strange predicaments and somewhat dangerous ones too, but he always know how to get out of them in the end. Like yeah he made a ghost possess one of Woobin’s cakes but he got it out eventually. Minhee runs the apothecary by day, giving out medicine and potions. He also lives in the cottage, but insists he does tarot card readings, seances, spells, etc in his own cave. Ya know, for the ✨aesthetic✨

Hyeongjun- is a brownie, meaning he’s always helping people do chores and running errands, for something in return of course. This led him to cleaning up in the castle occasionally for five silver an hour. Now being a brownie also means that Hyeongjun is a little sensitive, so the other boys have learned not to be too mean when joking around with him or he threatens to leave the cottage forever. Instead he just pranks them when they are being too lazy.

Taeyoung- is the younger rebellious prince, who was favoured by his father for his full childhood. The only problem is that he doesn’t want to be king, so has found a way to rebel by studying the arts like poetry and painting rather than his princely duties. He’s always sneaking away into the town with his brother, so they can both wreak havoc. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch him racing through the meadows trying to chase the love he always reads about in the novels he buys from ‘Luvity Bookshop’, while laughing to himself.

Seongmin- baby Seongmin is half flower fairy, half human. He found out he had powers one day, when he had a fight with his dad that made him run into the woods, sit under the willow tree in the lit-up clearing and sob until his aching heart was fixed. He looked at the ground to find pretty wild flowers where his tears had fell. He will trap you in a rope of tree roots if he’s angry with you though (it’s just his fey nature) Now he’s seen growing flowers in the cottage’s front garden, helping the crops grow for harvest and working in ‘Flame Florist’ that resides betweeen the bakery and bookshop.

a/n- this was very fun to right and get off my mind and into here. i just really felt the need to share my strangely detailed incoherent thoughts haha. maybe because i love fairytale au’s and fantasy au’s, and i think cravity fit this concept and the characters i gave them. this also revived my desire to write the rest of the nct dream fairytale au’s. please give this some love even though it’s nothing special-issy ❤️

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Moriarty 8 - 11 (FINAL) | HypMic 12 - 13 (FINAL) | Taiso Samurai 7 - 9 | Akudama 9 - 12 (FINAL)

Hopefully I’ll be able to get on to all that backlog soon, because...I don’t want it to keep accumulating and Skate-Leading Stars (first winter 2021 anime) already has an advance 1st ep. up...

Moriarty 8

(Moriarty 8 notes deleted accidentally…)

Moriarty 9

If you want a modern equivalent to the Baker Street Irregulars, then I’d suggest you look this way *jabs finger at Odd Jobs Yamada (from HypMic)*.

These CGI background horse and carriages are…kind of distracting…

I’m guessing back in those days, the Irregulars were better than Google at finding info…because Google didn’t exist until the internet did.

Moriarty 10

Just this ep and one more until the end…at least, until spring 2021.

Wow, the use of colour here is really striking!

White lilies mean…purity/chastity…?

I’ve never heard of “bending someone’s ear” until now. It means to talk to someone, especially to ask a favour or to talk at length.

Probatio diabolica: the devil’s proof. I didn’t even know that was a concept until now…(I never once studied law, as you can tell.)

“William” isn’t normally shortened to “Liam”…It’s normally “Will”…also, notice all the footprints on the floor…

Moriarty 11 (FINAL)

Last ep. before spring 2021.

LOL, kabedon.

The fishy thing about Brits is that they’ve named things across the world names from Britain. I know there’s a Doncaster which isn’t anywhere near Britain, for one thing…

Observe the weird finger-like marking made by one of the bloodstains and the scratches on the suitcase. The latter was probably forced open.

Considering the number of signs the killer left, he was clearly in a hurry…

Well, based on that shoeprint we can find the killer if we can find traces of blood on his shoe.

“Duram” (sic).

Ah! If it was raining in Durham, then there would be traces of mud on the killer’s shoes. I remember early on in Detective Conan Shinichi, then newly shrunk, deduced Agasa was running in the rain based on the mud on his pants…this is similar.

Chloral (hydrate…?).

The “washroom” (apparently a Canadian term, the British term is “water closet”) has privacy and a place to get rid of the evidence, to some extent.

What about the rest of Eddie’s clothes?

Considering there are still 5 minutes of the ep. left…there’s going to be some kind of stinger for the next season. I can feel it.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait…Director Holmes??? Y’mean, Mycroft?! That is a good stinger! See you next time.

HypMic 12

“Ever since I was born, there was never a time I’d felt I’d accomplished something.” – Aw, Doppo, sweetpea (<- this blogger calls people “sweetpea” when they’re feeling lots of moe feels for them). Please don’t say that. You’ve accomplished more than enough in your life!

…Oh, almost didn’t notice it until Hifumi hid behind Doppo and the angle changed to confirm the jacket was on the bed, but Hifumi doesn’t have his jacket on.

I think I saw a tweet that said something about a wall being wrecked (specifically “Wall: Ow…”) but I wasn’t sure of the context, so I saved it in my bookmarks…LOL, so that’s what it means?

Samatoki, I know you don’t like Ichiro…but please stop trying to preach what his 2nd character song says in the title…(i.e. Break the Wall, LOL)

Jyuto’s very much a “I’ll leave this problem to the other guy” guy.

When the Funi subs say “dame”, I think Samatoki is just referring to an “onna” (woman). It’s a bit of an odd choice, really…although I can’t go and interrogate whoever was responsible for it. I don’t have the authority or the contacts that will allow me to.

This is not the time for fighting one another!!!

Notably, in the manga, Jakurai was going to chaffeur Hifumi and Doppo to their place, but then he had to go to work and so they rode the train with their prize money. This “run from Special Forces” ending is better, I think, since people got grumpy at Jakurai for having to abandon them with the money.

“…permission to cover a story.” - Permission from…who?

*screams* I was thinking Tom, Rex and Iris worked for a foreign government! They work for Ichijiku – why didn’t I think of that?!

LOL, I couldn’t even tell what Tom was saying until I played it back…it’s English, just…said in a spot where you don’t expect it.

“…that scares me.” – This may be nitpicky of me, but osoreru is actually a derivative of osore (fear), so “it strikes fear in me”…? “It strikes fear in my heart”? What would sound right…?

Go, host mode Hifumi! (...but does that imply host mode Hifumi is the only “version” of Hifumi able to rap? Certainly, he was able to do Wrap and Rap without his jacket, right…?)

You can tell Tom still respects Jakurai after all this time because he (the former) calls him (the latter) “Sensei”. Also, this’ll be interesting, we haven’t seen many mics and speakers beyond the standard bad guy ones (depicted in both the anime and the manga).

My gosh! All I knew of this song was that m-flo, also responsible for Human Lost’s theme song (and notably they’re a hip hop group with techno influences), was responsible for this song. Man, this s*** slaps! It’s great! (Sorry, I’ve just never really had the chance to capitalise on all the info I gathered on EDM DJs when talking in terms of things from Japan…m-flo is basically the only act I know which does that, so I’m really excited…can’t you tell from how verbose I’m getting in this note?)

That’s interesting that Matenrou won and Tom still took the gold chair symbolism to represent him and the Secret Aliens as the victor instead.

Iris’s parts are awesome. M-flo has a female vocalist and so I’d assume Iris takes on Lisa’s (m-flo’s vocalist’s) parts.

…Hmm, Gentaro’s made a reference to the track “Me Against the World”, has he?...Maybe.

I’m not quite sure, but I think Ramuda said “majo” (witch) when he was referring to Beauty and the Beast in the English subs.

…gosh, what is up with that airhorn…? Still, next time is the last time. See you on Christmas…no, Boxing Day.

HypMic 13 (FINAL)

This is the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning…y’know, considering how stuff trended on Twitter, I’d say this anime’s gonna get a 2nd season, but you can’t really say that until it actually happens. I mean, Boueibu is much less popular than HypMic and that got a 2nd season…

This is the 1st episode where I woke up early enough to watch without spoilers and had no obligations to place over it, so…this is exciting, in its own sense, but in a sense, it could also be called “profoundly disappointing” because this experience is only available to me as of the final episode.

One of the tweets I saw a few weeks back came to mind – someone became interested in sakuga houkai (terrible animation, literally “animation collapse”) because of HypMic…I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing…

…Dude, you probably shouldn’t answer a call from someone who just revealed themselves to be a traitor last episode…*sweatdrops*

(Spoiler for rest of franchise) Hmm…Dice’s face is pretty straight. Assuming at this point we knew Dice was Otome’s son, this is a good poker face from him…!

This thing about gangs was mentioned in their profiles (although the words used implies they “went delinquent”), so it actually doesn’t surprise me.

I wonder if this subway exists in the mainline story…?

According to the next ep. preview I saw on Twitter, TDD will reform to take down the Secret Aliens. I’m not sure if that was a guess or whether that’s true, so I’m waiting for the shoe to drop on it.

Samatoki-san, not -sama. Hmm…

There was definitely the word “team” in Dice’s line, so it’s “what the legendary team was made of”.

…oh gosh…they’re still using that airhorn…?

Again with the play on “lonely thunder”. It’s a really fun pun, but one I’d like to see in the rest of the series more.

Notably, Iris’s rap in English missed the word “charisma” where it could have fit (unless I missed reading it the first time).

Note Samatoki does actually use the word “shinsensa” (freshness), so there’s no lie there.

I still love how much they went in on Rex’s theme, even in his raps.

Huh, that’s new. Never seen a tag team like this before.

It seems Tom’s signature is using a lot of English, which makes it easy for us English/Japanese pair translators.

Saburo didn’t actually say “Ichi-nii”, did he…?

…based on the rock intro, this is Rhyme Anima, the OP, or something that sounds similar. What I’d need to confirm this is the “nautilus” line and the “ends corruption” line, which are the OP’s two biggest tells for AMQ.

“rainmaking” – Hmm, another link from Gentaro to Rei. This might be a different part of Rhyme Anima (OP) that wasn’t used as the OP proper.

“this white light invites and heals” (<- paraphrased) – Sounds like Sensei, alright!

…now that (rainbow bit). That’s sakuga!

*a silhouette appears* - Oh nooooooooooooooo! Now they‘ve done it! They’ve included Rei! That’s more than enough spoilers to last a lifetime for y’all anime-onlys!

I wish someone would work on this collaboration between Saburo and Riou…

Hmm…what is the series endgame? Putting in Dice as the new ruler??? I mean, Dice is the worst possible politician ever. He’s far too lax about things.

*Nemu enters* - No! Nemu!

Not only is Iris a “ramen shop owner”, it’s Tom’s favourite food…No wonder ramen has significance to her.

…ooh! A new song! Update: I don’t know what this song’s name is, although it probably will become clear what its name is on the 13th. I’ll keep my eye on Twitter in case the answer is there.

…I knew it was far too early to say if there was an s2 – the DVD’s live events go until September 5th and the 2nd DRB finishes in March. That almost felt like a stinger right there. Oh well, I’m more than happy to call this anime a success, even if I would call it the worst of the arms of the franchise. All HypMic’s anime had to do was deliver fun, before anything else, and it delivered on that front. See you around!

Taiso Samurai 7

Anime burnout means I’m coming back to the anime after the day it finishes.

This dancing scene is kind of like the one at the start of ep. 2 of IWGP, except it has the owl to represent the setting as well as the dance stage.

Leo doesn’t seem to know kanji or katakana, only hiragana.

Even though this part of the anime is set in London, the characters are still speaking Japanese (lel…?).

LOL, Edward Scissorhands much?

LOL, these background gossips are like the Plastics from Mean Girls…haha.

…LOL, that’s not one of those dismounting moves, is it? It’s just kind of…jumping off the bar.

Lookit how Leo’s sticker is 90 deg. sideways from what it should be, haha.

I don’t think it’s true that Olympic gymnasts have never failed. Like other people at the top of their game, they’re probably failed millions of times, but only outside the view of most of the world. Persistence and passion are what’s key to becoming the best at what you are, no matter what field you’re in.

Now Aragaki’s what I call a “determinator” (see TV Tropes on what that is).

Taiso Samurai 8

Notably, the word used for “clothes” is specifically for Western clothing, like dresses.

Well, now we know why Leo can do those stretches…

They’ve clearly sped up the dance here, but…it’s basically the same sort of movements Yuri on Ice used to suck me in. I’m here for it!

Leo seems to be the type who tries to push away his worries by distracting people (including himself) with other things…I see. I didn’t have much of a grasp of his character beforehand.

Britney! F*** you, Britney!

Ah, that must be the (a?) fabled owl of Ikebukuro. I’ve never actually been to Ikebukuro…the closest I got was Akihabara (to memory) and even then, that was for electronics, not anime…so I’ve never seen the owl statue I’ve been talking about close up.

Rei does kind of look like her mother like this.

Ah! Rei and Kitty have a pair look now! “Twinsies”, they call it.

Amakusa’s head is located right next to Leo’s butt, so I end up staring at it…LOL.

The Hoover mission.

“I <3 Ninja”, LOL.

LOL, “Nyapoo!”

*sighs* The problem with being multi-talented is that you’re going to be told to one day put one passion above the others, even if you don’t want that.

LOL, you can be a ninja with this WikiHow article. (I was looking for Kitty’s quote, but found that instead. It seems to be a quote from one of Tomoyo’s movies.) Update: I was right.

There’s a movie in the back where the title is “Black Rainmaker”. (Tomoyo, I presume) Mifune is the 1st person credited.

Considering this is 2003…you won’t be on Mars in 2013, Kitty.

Wow, a tape! That brings me back to 2003, indeed.

Charlie’s Angels…so that’s what the tape was.

LOL, a shoebill.

“blade in your heart” – That would refer to the character for “ninja”, which has a blade over a heart. Y’know Kiss Shot Acerola Heart-Under-Blade (from Monogatari), yeah? Like that.

…you might think emails were out of place in 2003, but a virus from an email caused me to be an avid reader and that virus was unleashed around the late 90s – early 2000s.

LOL, Kitty’s cat belt buckle.

You said it, Rei. You said it.

Taiso Samurai 9

Lausanne, Switzerland.

I noticed one of the boxes at the start of the OP says “Horizontal Bars”, rather than some random name to make the boxes look like they were discarded.

Someone encoded the video funny…

LOL, BB’s getting possessive of his territory.

Fuku-chan the fukurou (owl) in Ikebukuro…LOL.

LOL, randomly there’s a skeleton with a hat in the background of Britney’s clinic.

Notably, one of the wall hangings says “heart” on it – alternatively, “soul”.

Notably, Atlanta was the 1996 Summer Olympics…there is no 1997 Lausanne Olympics, as far as I know.

Akudama 9

I watched the part where it glitches twice and I can’t quite figure out what that circular symbol is…maybe it’s Hacker’s symbol…?

Ah! Only now they properly confirm Swindler used to work in the Seal centre.

“Life that never dies is defective.” – Doctor

Does that mean Doctor is actually older than she looks, due to plastic surgery…?

Marker? What marker?

Apparently that flower is a cherry blossom…according to Detective Conan.

…I know this anime wasn’t made in America (it wouldn’t be “anime” otherwise), but Anime Feminist is going to have a field day with this one…if they haven’t abandoned it already due to their idea of morals.

…now I can even see parallels between HypMic’s authorities and Akudama’s. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

“Why did this have to happen when I’m chief?” – Sounds like…basically every authority during COVID and BLM, to be honest.

See? Akudama likes the S word. I told you.

I haven’t watched The Shining, but reading the synopsis, you can figure out why Cutthroat is the way he is…sort of.

How does the iconic quote go? “Heeeeeeeeeeeere’s Danny!” (or something…?)

They even copied the iconic eye shot! There you go!

Way to take a guy out (with the door, LOL).

…with all this killing, I can see why Akudama Drive was only in one magazine now. (Then again, HypMic was in basically all of them and that also has a tonne of problems…)

Akudama 10

万死 literally means “10000 deaths”.

Babel.

That police chief is such a mood, LOL.

I can see why people didn’t recognise Swindler, but Courier never changes his look, so…uh…

You can’t become a police chief without a sense of justice, no?

“Since when did you know that I’m not-“ - *facepalms*

Is this what they call an “ass-kickin’ Christmas”? (LOL)

Y’know, Sister, you could just do the whole “wherever you are, I’m also seeing the same sky as you” thing some other anime do.

Notably, there are shide (the paper strips) and a rope over the vault…they really do treat the shinkansen and its immortal children as a single god, huh?

Hmm? They don’t care about Sister anymore? Just Brother? (Somewhere along the way, the priorities must have shifted.)

In the end, the best ship is Brawler and Hoodlum (lel).

Akudama 11

One more ep after this. I’m gonna miss this anime, even if it was crazy over-the-top and I didn’t finish it until after the day it ended.

I think the scariest scene in all of Akudama Drive is the one where the “cleaner” tosses the girl aside.

“This nowhere place!” – Around this time, the bunny and shark’s shirts say “morning”/���afternoon” (shark) and “evening” (bunny).

The blue bird of happiness…literally. That character on the birds is the one for “happy”.

…LOL, that one glitched Courier looks more like Cutthroat.

Hacker’s drone matches Courier’s head angles, LOL.

I guess if you think you’re falling in Kanto, you’re falling in Kanto and if you think you’re floating (like Courier did), you float. I always liked that concept.

War Games. Now the title makes sense!

…but they can be together if they stay here in Kanto as vessels for the citizens? (That sounds mighty antagonistic of me, but…that logic does compute.)

Maybe swindlers play games with the truth…? (What an interesting concept.)

“Just fine.” – I think Hacker needs a “This is fine” meme.

“We can hear your heart talking.” – It means something like “We can hear you spouting your true intentions.”

“…worth every last penny…” – That’s a weird thing to say for someone whose life got changed by 500 yen…Just goes to tell you how American the subbers can be sometimes.

Swindler’s smug face is so good, LOL.

Akudama 12 (FINAL)

This episode isn’t named after a movie. It’s named after the anime itself.

The TV says “Please watch away from the TV”, i.e. stand back from the TV while you watch.

“They came and stole the offerings…” – At this point, bunny’s shirt says “freedom” and shark’s says honpou, meaning “wild, uninhibited, rampant, extravagant”.

…where did Shikoku come from? Is that where Swindler and Sister landed after they tried going to the moon?

Ohh! That Christian imagery! That’s scary!

Is Akudama Drive a tragedy? No, I think…on the contrary, it’s a story of hope.

LOL, “s*** guy”.

I thought the girl had a bomb. Turns out she has a gun, which is…far worse, come to think of it.

Instead of red characters which say things about the situation, now Shark and Bunny have Hacker’s symbol on them.

There’s no way anyone who wasn’t immortal would survive the attack Courier took…

…why is it that falling over represents vulnerability in children in all of these stores where a war has happened and/or there’s a chase? Hmm?

Wow, Sister did everything with heels on…?!

Anyways, that was a fun time. See you next time!

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hullo, Steph, and happy new year! Sorry if someone has asked this already, but I’m searching for Jealous John fics (preferably new ones). Just finished reading “White Knight” by DiscordantWords, and it is amazing!!! Once again, thank you SO MUCH for all the work and effort you put into this blog... the fandom wouldn’t be the same without you.

Hi Nonny!! 

Thank you for the well wishes! I hope you had a good holiday season yourself

I don’t have very many new Jealous John fics, but I do have some new ones to add to my past lists! So, why not, let’s update my Jealous John and Jealous Sherlock Fic rec list!!

JEALOUSY Pt. 5

See Also:

Jealous John

Jealous John Pt. 2 and Jealous Sherlock Pt 2

Jealous John Pt 3 and Jealous Sherlock Pt 3

Jealous John and Sherlock Pt. 4

JEALOUS JOHN

Anchor Point by trickybonmot (E, 49,856 w., 80 Ch. || Truman Show AU || Psychological Drama, Suspense, Slow Burn, Dark Characters / Fic, Alternating First/Third Person, Protective John, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Tender Moments, Love Confessions, Hand/Blow Jobs, Cuddling, Jealous John, First Kiss/Time) – The world tunes in nightly for Sherlock, the ultimate in reality TV: Sherlock Holmes, a real person with a legendary name, unknowingly lives out his life in a staged setting contrived by his brother. Things get complicated when a retired army doctor joins the show to play the part of Sherlock’s closest friend. This fic borrows its concept from the 1998 film, the Truman Show. However, you don’t need to have any knowledge of the movie to enjoy this story.

Hell Sent, Heaven Bound by ConsultingHound (M, 64,381 w, 16 Ch. || Angels / Demons AU ||  Fallen Angel Sherlock / Angel Cop John, Alternate First Meeting, Slow Burn, Case Fic, John & Lestrade are Friends Before Sherlock, BAMF John, Mind Palace John, Friends to Lovers, John in Denial, Sherlock Picks Out John’s Clothing, Clubbing / Dancing, Mildly Jealous John, Awkwardness, Kidnapping, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Sacrifice, Worried / Anxious Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Immortal to Mortal) – Ex-War healer and current angelic guard John Watson is not having the best day. He overslept, he’s underpaid, and now there’s someone tagging the Council’s building walls. However things may be about to get interesting: there’s an unusual stranger hanging around (the definition of tall, dark, and handsome), a literal underground cult is brewing, and rumblings are coming from hell. Can he keep his neighbourhood safe, how and why is he being connected to all this, and who the hell is Sherlock Holmes?

White Knight by DiscordantWords (M, 69,840 w., 13 Ch. || S4 Compliant/Post S4, Marriage For a Case, Jealous John, Pining John, Janine / Sherlock Fake Relationship, Serial Killers, Case Fic, Undercover as a Couple, Weddings, John is a Mess, Misunderstandings, Wedding Planning, Jealousy, Drunkenness, Love Confessions, Angst with Happy Ending) – Green. The word green was used to convey a great many things. Illness. Envy. Inexperience. Standing there amidst Janine’s chattering bridesmaids, watching Sherlock furrow his brow and study fabric swatches, watching him smile and simper and flirt, John thought it a remarkably apt colour choice. Because he felt quite sick to his stomach, he feared the source of said sickness might very well be jealousy, and he had absolutely no idea at all what to do about it. Or: Sherlock needs to fake a relationship for a case. He doesn’t ask John.

The Bang and the Clatter by earlgreytea68 (M, 137,049 w. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Baseball AU || Slow Burn / Dev. Rel., Possessive/Obsessive Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Body Appreciation, Depression, Closeted Sexuality, Family, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Ogling Each Other, Anxious Sherlock, Panic Attack, Drunkenness, Talk of Forever, Big Feelings™) – Sherlock Holmes is a pitcher and John Watson is a catcher. No, no, no, it’s a baseball AU. Part 1 of Baseball

Proving A Point by elldotsee & J_Baillier (E, 186,270 w., 28 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Me Before You Fusion || Medical Realism, Insecure John, Depression, Romance, Angst, POV John, Sherlock Whump, Serious Illness, Doctor John, Injury Recovery, Assisted Suicide, Sherlock’s Violin, Awkward Sexual Situations, Alcoholism, Drugs, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Body Image, Friends to Lovers, Hurt / Comfort, Pain, Big Brother Mycroft, Intimacy, Anxiety, PTSD, Family Issues, Psychological Trauma, John Whump, Case Fics, Loneliness, Pain) – Invalided home from Afghanistan, running out of funds and convinced that his surgical career is over, John Watson accepts a mysterious job offer to provide care and companionship for a disabled person. Little does he know how much hangs in the balance of his performance as he settles into his new life at Musgrave Court.

JEALOUS SHERLOCK

Santa Knows by Itsallfine (T, 1,719 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas Party, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, Matchmaking, POV Sherlock, Pining Sherlock) – Sherlock and John both get exactly what they want from the Yard’s secret Santa exchange. Pure holiday fluff.

Denial Isn’t Just a River in Egypt by satanatemycat (T, 2,107 w., 1 Ch. || Humour, Friendship, Texting, Bored/Cranky Sherlock) – In which John makes a bet with a co-worker. If he wins, she shuts up about him and Sherlock being a couple. If he loses… well, that doesn’t matter, because he won’t lose. Because he and Sherlock ARE NOT a couple. Right?

The Haunting of 221B Baker Street by earlgreytea68 (M, 10,388 w., 2 Ch. || Post TRF, Halloween / Ghosts, Pining Sherlock, Ghost Sherlock, Stroppy Sherlock, Sherlock POV, First Kiss/Time, Angry Sex, Ghost Sex, Love Confessions, Open / Ambiguous Ending) – In which Sherlock Holmes is a ghost.

The Burning of the Leaves by blueink3 (M, 15,915 w., 3 Ch. || Post S4, Angst, Reichenbach, Parentlock, Past Jolto, Idiot John, Sherlock’s a Mess, Puppies, Fluff, Possessive / Jealous Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock POV, Matchmaker Sholto, Melancholic Feelings, Emotional Sherlock, Domesticity, Love Confessions in the Rain, Kissing in the Rain, Pet Names) – After the events of series 4, Major Sholto invites John and Sherlock to lunch one day. It nearly proves to be too much for their tenuous relationship as the past haunts the present, putting the future that Sherlock so desperately wants at risk.

You’re On the Air by prettysailorsoldier (M, 20,616 w., 1 Ch. || Unilock, Matchmaking, Radio, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Sherlock POV, Pining Sherlock, Flirting, Bisexual John) – The Consulting Detective and The Woman dominate the airwaves of their university radio station, doling out advice on everything from meeting the parents to sexual positions. When their ratings start to dip before the holidays, however, manager Mike thinks it’s time for some fresh blood, and who better to fill in the gaps than rugby captain–and notorious flirt–John Watson? Part 1 of 25 Days of Johnlock

A Home for Us by sussexbound (M, 30,581 w., 12 Ch. || Scars, Bedsharing, Grief, Doctor John, Hurt/Comfort, Post-TRF, Implied/Referenced Torture, Sherlock POV, Pining Sherlock, Suicidal Ideation, Heavy Emotions, Clingy Sherlock, Hallucinations, Disassociation, Emotional Turmoil) – He has been on the road for two years, and he is exhausted. He’s almost accepted that he will never see London (John) again—almost. But then there are nights like tonight, where he is weak, and all he can think of is the warmth of the flat they once shared, the crackle of the fire in the hearth, the teasing smile playing at the corner of John’s lips, the boxes of half-eaten Chinese takeaway balanced precariously in their laps. He aches at the memory of it, at the realisation that it is something he may never experience again.

The Whore of Babylon Was a Perfectly Nice Girl by out_there (E, 32,897 w., 1 Ch. || Past Drug Use, Blowjobs, Toplock, Mentions of Switching, Rough Sex, Background Cases, Sherlock’s Past, Sherlock’s Sexual History, Experienced Sherlock, Past One Night Stands, Fingering, Cuddling, Possessive Sherlock, Paris Holiday, Bed Sharing, Naked Lie-Ins, Bathing Together, Confessions, Worried Sherlock, Laying in Bed All Day, Meddling Mycroft, Naked Lazy Day) – Sherlock walks into a room and takes all the space right out of it. He does the same inside John’s head.

Guidelines by WithLoweredVoices (M, 43,018 w., 15 Ch. || Winglock || Angels, Fantasy, Angst, BAMF! John, War, Jealous Sherlock, Possessive Sherlock, Jealous John, Falling in Various Ways, Needy Sherlock, Wings) – The Good Soldier, one of the oldest and strongest of the fallen, is offered a bargain: to live as John Watson and to Guide a fledgling archangel so that he will stay on the path of good. Of course, Sherlock Holmes has different ideas about his destiny. Fantasy AU. Warnings for violence, occasional gore, and a whole load of hurt and angst.

Being John Watson-ish by elwinglyre (E, 69,902 w., 17 Ch. || Bodysnatcher AU || Author John, Cranky Sherlock, Angst, Sexual Tension, First Kiss / Time, Falling in Love, BAMF John, Past Soldier John, Feelings, Inside Someone’s Brain, Shy Sherlock, Sherlock Loves John, POV Sherlock, Switchlock, Slow Burn, Internal Dialogue, Mental Turmoil) – When consulting detective Sherlock Holmes steps on one toe too many at a crime scene, he’s consigned to a desk job in an archaic office on the seventh-and-a-half floor of the New Scotland Yard. It’s in this bleak office that Sherlock discovers a portal into the mind of renowned author John Watson. Grander than his mind palace, this new wonderland affords Sherlock new vistas of experimentation. To learn more about the mystery behind the portal, Sherlock seeks out and befriends Watson. But then it all goes wrong when others find the secret portal door—including the man whose brain he visits.

[cynoirsure]

sweetener | jjk

pairing — jungkook x reader

word count — 12.4k

genre — bakery!au, fluff

summary — running your up and coming bakery with an attractive boy named Jeon Jungkook turns out to be harder than anything you learned in pastry school.

warnings/tags — none!!

a/n — im telling you now, i’ve been thinking about this fic since september. i had this as a bulletpointed idea but after seeing bts live i’ve been uhh looking like the kermit furiously typing gif. i have not written a fic in a HOT second so this might be a lil mediocre!! also publishing a fic for the first time!! big scary!!

“Add 70 g of egg whites into a bowl, when the egg whites become frothy, add half the sugar,” You mutter to yourself, before pausing. “...and multiply the recipe by 40.” Ever since your best friend left your co-owned bakery for grad school, you’ve been feeling spent by the amount of work being done at your bakery by yourself. You and your friend had never felt the need to hire anyone else since you two were pretty productive, but since you were alone, you took on a lot of responsibilities at the bakery now, including but not limited to: finally nailing the macaron recipe, actually confronting your fear of making croissants, and even sucking it up and actually making the damn tart crusts.

You sighed, zoning back into the macaron shell recipe that your friend had written down, and you realized you really couldn’t do this alone. The bakery could only be open for so long with only one person in the back of the house and also working the cash register. You stopped the stand mixer, walking into the office and typing a simple sign that did the job: Now Hiring Bakers!

The next few days were filled with numerous hopefuls, including teenagers with similar ambitions of yours when you were in high school, amateurs who only knew how to make box cake mix and chocolate chip cookies (you shuddered at the fear of inaccuracy), and other people who only wanted to work because you were cute. After shoving the last person out for said reason, you hit your head on the stacks of resumes in your hand. You were beginning to lose hope in whoever would aid you in helping out the bakery, and at this point you were thinking of switching locations to a smaller storefront so you could manage it all by yourself. Just as you set down the stacks of papers, you hear the door’s bell jingle, and a man who couldn’t be much older than you walks in.

And you couldn’t miss how cute this guy was. He walked in with a simple outfit on, a simple white t-shirt and black jeans, but you could tell that he was fit from the way his arms contoured as he pushed through the door.

“Good uhh...afternoon!” He starts off, pausing halfway to check his watch for the time to make sure he was accurate with the time. “My friend Hoseok was telling me about how one of his favorite bakeries was hiring and I was curious if the position was still open?” His fringe fell in front of his eyes and you were faintly reminded of a coconut.

You hummed in approval, smiling softly. “Ah yes, Mr. Jung and his love of strawberry shortcakes, my own specialty! Well, we are still hiring indeed,” you nod towards the table with the stacks of resumes still stacked. You both take a seat at said table, and he rummages around in his backpack before giving his own resume to you.

“My name is Jeon Jungkook, I’m fresh out of undergrad and I would like to help out in the kitchen!” Jungkook introduces himself to you with a small smile, and you gloss over the resume that he had just given you. He recently graduated from one of the top schools in the nation and his previous job experiences have all been working at Michelin star restaurants. Quite honestly, you were shocked. Whatever deity above had planned for you, you were pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Your mouth opens to a small o as you set down the resume, blinking at him.

“You graduated from one of the best schools in the nation, used to work at a Michelin star restaurant, and now you’re here? Why?” You questioned carefully, not to sound too harsh with your word choice. Jungkook’s ears went pink and he looked down into his lap.

“I… Really like the small bakery concept.” He says quietly, his voice suddenly softer and lacking the confidence that was once in his voice. You had to lean in a little more to hear what he was saying, intrigued. “I found my passion of baking when I studied abroad in France my junior year of college, seeing all the different ways this art had come along.” You smile softly, the memory close to your heart as well.

“What’s your favorite thing to bake, Mr. Jeon?” You asked after a pause of comfortable silence. He smiled to himself, before looking up at you. “I love making tarts!”

And with that, you knew the search was over. A cute guy with a passion to making tarts, something you could never nail yourself? “Welcome to the team, Jungkook!” You grinned, holding out your hand.

—

Hiring Jungkook was arguably the best and worst thing to happen to your bakery. On one hand, he was bringing in a lot of customers, the bakery was more busy than it has been before, you could get him to carry most of the deliveries in, and you could finally reach the Good Stand Mixer that your friend put on the top shelf, for some reason. Maybe it was so that the next person you would hire would have good muscles, or by some miracle, you’d grow a bunch so you can reach the top shelf.

However, since the bakery had been getting more busy, you couldn’t be as lax as you were before. With the amount of girls coming in to ogle at Jungkook when he would work at the counter, you had to wake up 2 hours earlier than you would usually to make enough to last you to at least 2:30, and your bakery opened up at 11 AM every day.

Not to mention, he wasn’t just a distraction to the girls coming in. You couldn’t stop yourself from watching his muscles flex while he stirred the last of a cake batter together, or feel a slight twinge of jealousy when he would arrive before it’s time to open up the shop and see his snatched waistline before he put on his apron over his outfit.

You couldn’t blame him, though. He was as equally as dedicated to the bakery as you were, as shown from the multiple times you’d come into the bakery early and he’d already be there, working on something in the kitchen, his oversized black shirt covered in flour.

“Oh? You’re here early, Jungkookie.” You muse, sipping from the mug of cherry blossom tea that you brought down. You lived in the apartment right above the bakery, so you were comfortable with coming down in the morning in your pajamas before Jungkook would come in to help finish off what you had started to decorate. He grinned at you, revealing what he had been working on so early in the morning.

“Ta-da! Try this, it’s a blueberry basil tart!” He smiled so hard that the crinkles in his eyes appeared, a different kind of smile than the one he would show the girls who would come in. You set down the mug, walking over and grabbing a pair of forks for you and him. He already had grabbed a knife to slice a piece of tart for you, beyond excited for you to try the tart. You hold out another fork with him, clinking the forks together before taking a bite of the tart.

You knew this boy said he was famous for his tarts, but what he had put in front of you was like nothing else of its kind. You looked up at his smile, eyes wild in bewilderment.

“Hey Jungkook, do you think you can make like… 4 more of these, full sized? I think I might put them on the menu for today…” You start off. You had never even entertained the idea of a pastry of the day until he came along. His eyes lit up and he grinned at you, suddenly enveloping you in a hug.

“Thank you for giving me a chance, this is what I was truly missing in the Michelin star restaurant experience.” He whispered into your ear, you still being frozen from the sudden hug. You awkwardly hug him back, patting his back and nodding slowly.

“No problem, Kook. Now get to work! We need to put this on the menu.” You pulled away, giving Jungkook two thumbs up and going to the front of the house to find the whiteboard marker to write on the mirror behind the cash register. Jungkook went into full concentration mode, and you started to clean in preparation for the wave of girls that were to come in soon.

—

Turns out that Jungkook making new pastries every day brought out your own creative side as well. Often times, instead of waking up early, you would make some cold brew coffee in the morning and drink it while you were brainstorming ideas to make at night. Jungkook would also stay up with you to a certain extent, but you found out that he lived an hour away from the bakery and when 10:30 would hit, you’d practically push him out of the bakery and wait for his bus with him before going up to your apartment to sleep.

This would become a regular occurrence, even if it meant he would try to pout his way through asking you to stay over. However, one day, you forget to do so. You and Jungkook were super invested in making an earl grey lavender panna cotta that you had seen in a recipe book beforehand but didn’t remember any of the measurements that came along with it. Needless to say, the last 7 hours were tweaking the perfect earl grey to lavender ratio, as well as scooping out the usual popular cookie flavors so you could just pop them in the oven tomorrow morning.

“Let’s take a break, yeah Kookie?” You arched your back, hearing your spine pop in satisfaction before grabbing your phone. He picked up his phone as well, shooting a look at you when the clock read 1 AM.

“Were we really… Grinding for 7 hours for opening today?” He questioned, confused. You raised an eyebrow, checking your own phone and your eyes almost popping out of their sockets. You were pretty sure that the buses weren’t running anymore and you didn’t know how to get Jungkook home since rideshares in your area weren’t always the best.

“Uh, do you have a car or something to take you home?” You asked, leaning onto the counter when he ruffled his hair, shaking his head. “I can call you an Ube--” “Is it possible for me to stay over tonight? I don’t wanna worry my my mom if i’m in an untrusted car,” he smiled, pinching your cheek. “And I don’t want you to worry either. What if I get kidnapped?” He jokes lightly, but your eyes widen in realization that he’s probably right, what if he had died on his way home? You couldn’t bear to lose another beloved worker, especially one that had done way more for the business than you would like to admit.

“I haven’t cleaned in like, a week, but I guess you can come up and crash on my couch for the night?” You were skeptical. Not to mention, Jungkook would be the first boy (that isn’t your best friend’s boyfriend) that would be up in your apartment, and needless to say, you were extremely nervous. Not like your apartment wasn’t dirty, you liked to keep it pretty tidy, and even all your Rilakkuma bears were arranged pretty nicely on your bed and couch.

Even so, you couldn’t drive and it would be cruel to send him home so late. “... Mayhaps, but you still have to show up for work tomorrow, yeah, Kookie?” You say sternly, and he smiled happily, nodding.

“Thank you so so much! I owe you my life, mon petit chou!” The nickname slips out of Jungkook’s mouth and his eyes widen, covering his mouth.

You blink, tilting your head. “A small cabbage, how cute.” You laugh softly, going over to the door that led upstairs. “Well, what are you waiting for? Are you gonna stand there shocked all night or are you coming up?” You ask, making Jungkook snap out of his shocked state and follow you up the stairs. You fumbled with the keys for a quick second before opening the door and toeing off your shoes. Your apartment was a small one bedroom apartment with a futon couch in the living room with 3 bear plushies on it. You went to go grab the spare pillows and blankets in the bedroom closet, gently reminding Jungkook to take off his shoes before setting up his bed for the night.

“Why don’t you go shower so I can set up your bed? I can get you a towel and something to change into?” You turn to Jungkook, who was currently taking off his sneakers. You smile, ruffling his head and opening the door to the bathroom. You grabbed a towel and large shirt that you hoped would fit him as well as some flannel pants, both acquired from when your friend moved away, and set it in the bathroom. As Jungkook went in to shower, you set up the couch to be bearable for at least one night.

When Jungkook came out of the bathroom, you were half awake, watching Great British Bake Off on Netflix and wrapped up in the fleece blanket you had set for him to sleep with, already changed into your sleepwear. He smiled softly, sitting on the opposite side of the couch.

“Are you having fun, petit chou?” He laughed softly, you nodding in and out of your sleep. You were too tired to form a response, you two watching together as they struggled to bake their roulades in time. By the time the episode was over, the room was more quiet than usual. Jungkook stretched his limbs out and sat up to ask you a question, however, you were knocked out, curled up in a warm fleece ball and hugging the Korilakkuma plush close. He smiled, rearranging you so you were laying down on the couch, laying on the floor and preparing himself for a less comfortable night than what you attempted to prepare for him.

—

You woke up the next morning, unfamiliar with your surroundings for about 5 seconds before realizing you were on your couch. You relaxed back into the couch, before freezing up once more. Why were you on the couch?

You sit up on the couch, turning towards the TV and noticing the sleeping figure on the floor. Jungkook had fallen asleep on the floor, one arm cushioning the back of his head and the other one lazily wrapped around his waist, making you feel terrible. Gingerly stepping around Jungkook, you started to make breakfast for the both of you. You plugged in your headphones and started playing music as you took out the ingredients for Nutella crepes.

Jungkook woke up half an hour later, sitting up and watching you wrap up the crepes before clearing his throat. You didn’t pay attention to the sound, Shawn Mendes’s In My Blood blasting in your earbuds. One moment you heard Shawn’s voice loud and clear, and suddenly, one earbud was gently tugged out of your ear, but enough that it startled you.

“Jesus, Kookie, can’t I enjoy Shawn Mendes in peace?” You frown up at him. He flashed a grin at you, shaking his head. He stepped away from you and walked around to go stand at the opposite side of the table, grabbing a plate and thanking you for the breakfast. You both eat in a comfortable silence, your headphones long discarded in favor of the quiet morning with Jungkook.

After breakfast, you got ready while he washed dishes, much to your protest. You also figured out over breakfast that you would be in charge of the front of the house, so you went into the bathroom to put on your face of makeup and putting in your contacts before coming out. You were mesmerized by the way his muscles moved while he was doing simple things such as washing the dishes. He catches you staring, grinning when you blush and turn away, shaking his head.

“I’m gonna go downstairs and start baking off the cookies, yeah?” You say, still not looking up at him. “You go wash up, you smell, Kookie.” You waved to the younger, laughing awkwardly. You didn’t want to make eye contact since you knew Jungkook had that stupid shit-eating grin on his face. “Don’t forget to lock the door before going down, yeah?” You were putting on your shoes, checking if you had everything one more time (even if you did live upstairs from where you worked).

And it baffled you as to why you suddenly got extremely jealous with every girl that walked through and flirted with Jungkook that day.

--

There are 14 days in 2 weeks. In the last 14 days, Jungkook stayed over 10 times.

You weren’t complaining at all, however. You were kinda glad that the weird tension from the first time that Jungkook had stayed over had gone away, and even if he was staying on the couch, it wasn’t weird. You two even stayed up sometimes running to the 7/11 near your house to pick up some things that you could easily distinguish as his in your house including a child’s toothbrush of Ryan, the Kakao Talk character, some bunny slippers for wearing inside the house, and a bunch of candy that you guys could snack on while watching The Great British Bake Off.

Some nights, however, you felt lonely, even if there were two people in your one bedroom apartment. You would fall asleep thinking about if Jungkook was in the empty space next to you, cuddling into your bear plush harder and wishing it was the brown haired boy instead. You would dream about doing extremely domestic things with him, waking up and bitterly drinking a cup of coffee within the same boat as your emotions.

You couldn’t even get started on seeing him in the morning. While he was at the stand mixer making the first batch of meringues for the day, you had to refrain from hugging him from behind. You know he probably wouldn’t mind you back hugging him but to be safe, you just stood next to him and quietly leaned on him. You didn’t miss the soft smile that would curve onto his face and the arm that wrapped around you to pull you into a side hug. Your heart was beating so loud that you feared that he would hear and tease you, but he never said anything about it.

As the days passed by, you noticed that Jungkook would bring upstairs more and more of his personal items before work began (if he went home that previous night), and the sun started to set before 6:30. This was the prime time to finally make a move that could change gears on your relationship with Jungkook. “Ah, the autumnal equinox. The rise of pumpkin spice, chai tea, apple flavored baked goods, and cuffing season.” Jungkook saunters into the bakery bright and early, his voice snapping you out of your thoughts. You turned to him, squinting at all of the things he had just listed. He grinned at your reaction, peeking over your shoulder to see the words flavor of the day: chai spice macarons written on the announcement mirror.

“And I see you’ve fallen victim to at least one of those things.” He chuckles and you roll your eyes, turning back around with the whiteboard marker in hand. You continue to mind your own business decorating said mirror, humming along to Don’t Forget by Crush and Taeyeon playing in the background. A few beats pass before you feel a pair of arms wrap around your waist, his brown hair coming into view on your right side as his chin rests comfortably on your shoulder. Typically, the height difference would’ve been a lot more noticeable, but since you were standing on a stool to write on the mirror comfortably, the difference was bearable for once. You freeze up a little and you bump your head lightly into him, heat rising to your cheeks.

“Do you need something, Kookie?” You question, and he squeezes his arms lightly around your waist. Since the weather was cooling down, you opted to wear a fluffy knit sweater over some high waisted shorts, and when he squeezed, you could feel his arms around you instead of just the fabric lightly pressing into your skin.

“Do you think… I could sleep with you in your bed tonight?” He asks softly, and your eyes widen, dropping the marker in your hand. Upon seeing your reaction, his own eyes widen for a second before he laughs. “No, not like that, silly! Unless you want to-” he starts, before you start to wiggle out of his grasp.

“You’re disgusting, Kook,” you laugh off, hiding your embarrassed expression and shaking your head. He grins, squeezing you tighter in his grasp. “... But since you asked so nicely, I guess. Don’t expect me to cuddle you, though! I would still prefer to cuddle with my bear rather than you!” You joke lightly, the lie going right through your teeth. He grins, nuzzling into your neck and making you blush even more. This was the first time that he’d ever been so affectionate with you aside from the casual side hug, and you weren’t sure if it was because of the favor or if he was being legitimate with laying on the affection so heavy.

“Mhm, but you’re still warm nonetheless so don’t be surprised when you wake up and I’m spooning you.” He releases his hold on you, grinning and going into the kitchen. You were stuck in your place, hearing the pans start to bang in the back and you just sighed, burying your face into your hands. Tonight will be a long night, and you’re not sure whether or not you’re on board with it or you’re against it.

—

“Hey, I think we should head up, yeah?” Jungkook nudges you as you pull out your latest attempt at your friend’s famous recipe for apple cider donuts. You purse your lips, looking at your watch. The watch read back 2:30 AM, and you realized that meant by the time you got into the bed (with Jungkook, you mentally reminded yourself), you would have to wake up in 3 hours.

“Kookie, why didn’t you tell me earlier? You knew we would have to get up early to finish the cakes anyways!” You huffed, pouting at him. He laughed softly, pulling the tray of donuts from your hand and placing them onto the speed rack.

“I’m sorry,” he smiled, taking your hand as you both headed towards the door that led to the upstairs apartment. “You just looked super in thought with whatever you were baking, I didn’t want to interrupt.” You noticed the way he held your hand, as you guys both went up the stairs. “I was also busy with closing up the shop, since you were in the back of the house all day. Why don’t you wash up first, hm? I’m gonna make some tea for us.” He patted your head, going into the kitchen, toeing off his shoes on the way. His uniform was still on, you noticed, making you smile as you went into the bathroom to prepare for the night.

Once you were out the bathroom, you could hear Jungkook on the phone when you waddled out in your pajamas, and he turned when he heard your feet padding through the hallway. He bid goodbye to who he was on the phone with (his mother, you presumed) and he held out the mug full of sleepytime tea to you. He had taken off the apron, and his hair, once styled to reveal his forehead, had been reverted back to his natural hairstyle. You waddled over, taking the mug with a silent thanks and you sat across from him at the bar table.

“What’s your fondest memory?” You ask him after you finished half your tea, making him look up from absentmindedly scrolling on his phone. He purses his lips in thought, before sighing.

“When I studied abroad during my junior year, I was stuck at the train station and I didn’t have enough money to get home. I didn’t know what to do, so I set down the hat I was wearing at the time and I started to sing.” He nodded, taking another sip of his tea. “I only say it was fond because so many people gathered around to hear me do this mediocre cover of Sofa by Crush, and so many girls offered to pay for me. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t even hit most of the lower notes.” He laughed softly, finishing the tea in his mug, watching as you also finish your tea. “What about you?” He questions after setting both mugs in the empty sink, you standing to join him at the other side of the table.

“I think my fondest memory has to be opening up this bakery. Me and my best friend had always talked about opening up a bakery together, and seeing it all come together seems like it happened so long ago, when in reality the bakery’s only been open for two years, going on three in February.” You smile fondly at the memory of the first day, leaning on him. “I’ve always been super dedicated to the bakery, if there was a day that passed that I didn’t want to work to open it, I feared I would lose the passion to open it...” You were beginning to fight the sleepiness, and he could tell.

“Let’s get to sleep, yeah?” He picks you up, your arms wrapping around his neck on instinct. You clung to him like a sloth, nuzzling your head into his neck. Once you two got into your room, he laid you down gently, pulling the bear you promised to hug from where he was to lay and into your arms. He went to go change into his nightwear, and soon enough, you felt the bed dip and a certain pair of muscular arms encircle you, as well as a soft whisper of your name.

“Goodnight, mon petit chou.”

“Shut up, Jungkook”

—

When you woke up the next morning, the bear you promised you’d cuddle all night had ended up on the floor, the bed sheets tangled between your and Jungkook’s legs, and you were cuddling into his chest as much as you could. He was still fast asleep, holding onto you like you were about to fall apart in his arms any moment. The warmth that you two created was too comfortable to move, and you contemplated closing the bakery for the day to stay in bed all day with him.

An alarm went off what felt like 10 minutes later, Troye Sivan’s Youth playing throughout the room. Of course that was Jungkook’s ringtone. You laughed at the thought but when you saw that he wasn’t waking up immediately, you took matters into your own hands. Rolling over him so you were on top, you sat up straight before shaking him a little.

“Kookie, it’s time to wake up for work!” You chirp, seeing a grin rise on his face. Suddenly, you were pulled down from arms that snuck up to your face. You yelped in surprise, wiggling wildly when he laughed softly against your struggle.

“You make too much noise in the morning and you’ve barely moved.” He says into your ear, one arm letting half of your body free as he snoozes his alarm. “Let’s just stay in~ I don’t want to leave the bed.” He grinned, nuzzling your neck. Right as you were about to answer him back, you hear your text tone go off, your best friend’s name flashing across the screen. You sit up on top of Jungkook, pursing your lips in curiosity of what they had wanted so early in the morning.

“I think we’d have to close today anyways, we’re busy!” You grinned, showing him your screen. Your friend had sent a message about a cake for a locally famous artist, Kim Taehyung. Jungkook raised an eyebrow as to question why you would need his contact. “My friend and I have been in talks with Taehyung since we opened this place, and we’re in charge of making the star of his next gallery opening, the most over-the-top cake you can imagine!” You were ecstatic, much like a kid being given an unlimited budget in a candy store. Jungkook smiled at your excitement, happy for you as well as the bakery.

“So we’re closing up shop today so we can work on this cake with the artist?” Jungkook questioned. He wanted to know more about this Taehyung character and your relation to him. He knew of the artist from some of his shows at art museums around the city, since Jungkook was also a fan of art. You crawled back into the bed with Jungkook, nodding and smiling up at him.

“Yep! And not to mention, since it’s only the appointment today, we can stay in and sleep a little longer.” Your arm lazily draped around him, giggling as he pulled you closer and enclosing you in his arms.

“Oh? More time with you is always great.” He grinned down at you. You couldn’t look at him long, since you knew you’d get lost in him if you stared any longer. You felt something soft brush the top of your head, and as quick as it was there, it was gone. “What time do we have to be downstairs then, hm?” He asks quietly, stroking your hair slowly and you felt yourself falling asleep under his touch.

“We go down when the bakery typically opens, and we just talk with the client,” you say sleepily, snuggling into him, “and then we draw up the cake and make the dream come true, since we only get a 48 hour notice, unless it’s a wedding cake.” You two fall in a comfortable silence, and when Jungkook realizes your breathing has gone even and you were fast asleep, he smiles, kissing your forehead and bidding you a goodnight before falling asleep himself, his head resting comfortably on top of yours.

—

Jungkook’s first love was you. He always thought that falling in love hit you immediately, but he fell in love with the way you did small things, how you used to wait with him for the bus home, telling him to text you when he gets back, and even the way you looked when you were so deep in concentration while decorating a single dessert. It was one of his own mottos that living without passion is like being dead, and it filled his heart with joy to see how passionate you were about the bakery.

He didn’t understand why it was so hard for him to make eye contact with Taehyung when the three of you were in the room together. You and Taehyung had clicked and when he decided to zone back into the conversation, you two would be reminiscing about your high school days. From the information that he gathered, you two and the original co-owner of the bakery were the inseparable trio during high school, and while you were drawing out the cake, he noticed that sometimes Taehyung would take the pencil from you and draw some of his own things, and he wasn’t sure if you were totally okay with that.

The hour consultation felt like years to Jungkook, and when it was over he was more than relieved. You and Taehyung said your goodbyes and once Taehyung left, Jungkook wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around you and never let you go.

--

“What’s up, Jungkook? You seem a little off.” You frown, poking at Jungkook’s side. The time after Taehyung left, Jungkook had been uncharacteristically silent, literally punching into the fondant while he was kneading it out. You figured the poking was going to do nothing, so you went with the second thing that would definitely get his attention. Your arms wrapped around him from behind, the younger boy immediately going tense. He stopped kneading the fondant, sighing and turning to you. He enclosed you in a warm hug, nuzzling his nose into your hair.

“I don’t know, I felt super out of place when you and Taehyung were talking.” He admits, not wanting to look at you. He didn’t want to see how sad you would get when both of you would make eye contact. You blink, trying to figure out why he was so sensitive about Taehyung, when it all clicked in a second.

“Kookie~ Are you jealous of Taehyung?” You giggled, pulling away and scrunching up your nose at him. “Why would you be jealous of Tae?” Jungkook’s ears went red. He turned away from you, the embarrassment creeping up on him quick. You laughed softly, shaking your head at him.

“I don’t know… I didn’t like the way he was looking at you and stuff. It sounds stupid, we’re not even dating, let alone roommates, but like--” Your laughing caught him off guard from him spilling his feelings, and for a split second, he was offended. You made eye contact with him, a mischievous glint in your eyes.

“Kookie… He’s gay and we’ve been best friends for years, it’s nothing big, okay?” You patted his head, pulling away completely. He stood there shocked, mouth wide open. You tilted your head slightly in curiosity, a slightly amused look on your face as he started to stutter. “Enough of that, Jungkookie! Let’s get to baking this cake! The event is tomorrow and I’m not letting you stay in my apartment to just gawk at my friends and their sexual orientation!” You grinned, going back to trimming the cakes. Jungkook shook his head, going back to kneading the colors into the fondant. He really should’ve asked more about Taehyung preceding the consultation, but what was done was done, and he just made a big fool of himself in front of you.

----

The cake that Taehyung wanted was requested as such: “This is my first solo show, and a lot of my pieces are based off of my trip to Italy. Can you make something reminiscent of the Spanish Steps in Rome? But in a fashion that it incorporates mostly this one specific blue palette! Oh, and the cake flavors could be chocolate cappuccino torte!”. Even if you did love Taehyung with all your soul, him being the missing third in your best friend trio, his request was insane and you had to brainstorm the final idea 4 times before both of you compromised on the final look.

You and Jungkook worked nonstop on the cake, only pausing when an alarm went off at 7 to eat food instead of just sustaining off of small pieces of cake and other various leftover desserts that were left in the fridge that had not spoiled.

As you guys ate dinner, Jungkook had a million questions about Taehyung. Such questions included things as how you met, craziest thing you had done together, and if he ever kissed you, which you couldn’t help but look at him as if he was insane. The conversation was so extensive that it had gone into past dinner and into your round two of throwing the cakes in the refrigerator and molding fondant flowers.

You couldn’t help but look over at Jungkook’s concentrated state, watching him delicately thin the edges of the petal and attach it onto the rest of the fondant flower. Taehyung had chosen the crocus flower for this cake, a flower that both you and Jungkook were unfamiliar with. You took it upon yourself earlier to google what the flower was and it what it looked like. The crocus flower is a late blooming flower, an autumn flower that represents youthful joy, which you thought was extremely fitting for Taehyung. Once you and Jungkook saw the image, you set to work with the fondant, teaching Jungkook since he had never made fondant flowers before.

The quiet of the bakery seemed to be too much for the both of you, so a while after dinner, you turned your phone back on to blast music in the back of the house on the overhead speakers. You two worked all night, leaving the fondant flowers out to dry, doweling the cake, and making the basic structural components to the cake. Time seemed to pass by faster when you were working with music, sometimes you would catch Jungkook staring at you while you were working, and while you joked with him to get back to work, you also couldn’t help but stare at him when it was his turn to be busy.

A pot of tea later you and Jungkook had finally finished, watching the sun rise through the window and the early morning businessmen speed walk their way to the train. The clock read 8AM as you both went back up into your apartment, not even bothering to change as you both wiped out on your bed, your head resting on Jungkook’s chest and his arm wrapped around your waist.

By the time you had woken up, it was 3PM, and the lack of warmth from underneath you had woken you up. You smelled something coming from the kitchen, which automatically registered as fear in your brain. The last time Jungkook had cooked in the kitchen, he ended up burning the scrambled eggs that he tried surprising as breakfast in bed for you, and you had woken up just in time before your kitchen (your most sacred area in the house) had burned down. You immediately kicked off the covers, speed waddling into the kitchen to be met with Jungkook’s back, bent over to the oven to pull out a pan of roasted brussel sprouts, potatoes, and beets. Jungkook turned around, flinching a little by your presence, but laughing at your surprised reaction because of him cooking with ease.

“I googled a recipe, if you were wondering.” Jungkook smiled, setting the pan down over the stove and removing the oven mitt. You breathed a sigh of relief, walking over to Jungkook and grabbing bowls and forks from the cabinet.

“We shouldn’t eat a lot, Kookie. If we have a lot of time tonight, I’ll make dinner, okay?” You passed him a bowl, pulling out a spatula to spoon some of the vegetables on the pan onto your plate. You and Jungkook ate in silence, and you took into account the different spices he had used, each differing with the vegetable he had used. After your meal, you both went back downstairs to put the cake into the box, carrying it into the car. The cake ended up being 4 tiers and if you were honest, one of the best cakes you had done. You felt a surge of pride as you and Jungkook went back, a smile so wide on your face that Jungkook couldn’t help but notice.

“What’s with the smile, hm?” Jungkook pinched your cheek lightly, your attention going back to him. He seemed to beam when he was opening the door for you, the sun setting by the time you went back into the store front. You gestured to go back upstairs, your smile less wide but still with as much heart as before.

“I’m just really proud of this cake, as stupid as it sounds. I’ve made and decorated a lot of cakes in the short time of me being a professional baker, but this one really does hold a special place in my heart because of the aesthetic Tae was going for. I went to Italy for a semester abroad in college and just seeing how similar it looks to when I went, I feel proud with the outcome of the cake.” You smiled, unlocking the door and kicking your shoes off immediately. As you walked over to the couch, Jungkook couldn’t help but feel his heart surge with a new wave of love for you.

“Let’s go to Italy someday,” Jungkook blurts out, making you turn around. His eyes widen and he’s quick to follow up “... soon! Like as a friend vacation or something, we can bring along like, Hoseok and Taehyung or something.” He scratches the back of your head. You blush at the idea of going out to Italy, just the two of you on a gondola, leaning in for a kiss--

Your text tone snaps you out of your thoughts, a specific sound only set aside for texts from Taehyung. You whip out your phone, unlocking it quickly to see the message.

[From: Taehyungie 4:15 PM]: heyyyy bb forgot 2 tell u

[From: Taehyungie 4:15 PM]: yr invited tnight!! bring ur bf

[From: Taehyungie 4:16 PM]: cocktail party, not too formal, dont forget the cake

You furrowed your brows at the text, completely disregarding the second part of the second text. Taehyung must have something up his sleeve if he was inviting you along, but you knew you couldn’t get it out of him. You knew Taehyung was good at one thing particularly, and that was the element of surprise.

“Ah, looks like we were invited? It’s not out of the ordinary, but I don’t know if you brought any semi-formal clothes?” You looked up at the younger one, who’s current outfit was his usual white shirt and black pants, only instead of it being clean, it was covered in flour, freeze dried fruit powder, and powdered sugar.

“Oh, I think you mentioned it to me, I can go see what I brought? You can change first, I’ll just change after you.” He nods, watching you type away on your phone. You quickly typed a response, making sure Jungkook couldn’t see your phone. You got up from the couch, walking into your room and into the closet.

[To: Taehyungie 4:23 PM]: o,,, ok

[To: Taehyungie 4:23 PM]: hes not my boyfriend tae

[From: Taehyungie 4:25 PM]: ok but dont blame me when i claim his as mine :P

[From: Taehyungie 4:26 PM]: set up the cake in the main room and then come into the main gallery, you wont miss much with the way you work!!!

You looked up at the dresses that were hanging in your closet, opting for a black halter neck keyhole dress. You hurried into the bathroom, changing quickly and grabbing all the makeup and your contacts, doing your makeup in the vanity as Jungkook went in to change into whatever he pulled out.

When the bathroom door opened once you were done doing your makeup, you knew if you weren’t gone before from what charms Jungkook had, you were definitely a goner by now. Jungkook walked back out with his hair styled to reveal his forehead, a little makeup on, with a fitted all-black tuxedo look, dressed down a little with a few buttons unbuttoned so that it was more casual than having a tie on over the black dress shirt. You don’t think you’ve ever seen a man dress up this nice and this well, and you’ve gone to numerous opera nights where the dress code was formal. Your face went red as he turned to face you, a smirk on his face. It was different than the shit eating smile that he would give you when he wanted something from you.

No, this was some kinda Big Dick Energy smile you had only seen once before. You shuddered when he checked you out, a lazy grin on his face. This was not the first time Jungkook had teased you like this. He’d only done this once before when you were seeing him off one night at the bus stop, after he asked for a kiss on the cheek goodbye.

“You clean up pretty well, mon petit chou.” He chuckles, and you had to hide your blushing face from him. Your hands quickly flew to your face, and all you could hear was his faint laugh. “Why won’t you look at me, hmm?” He typically didn’t like to play around like this, but seeing you all flustered over his look made him feel more confident in the look.

“There you go with the cabbage thing again! Why do you keep calling me a cabbage?” You pouted up at Jungkook, trying to wiggle your hands out of his grasp. He chuckled, letting go of your hands.

“I’ll explain later, but for now, we have an event to go to, don’t we?” Jungkook grinned, standing up and extending his hand to you. You sighed, rolling your eyes and grabbing his hand. Once he pulled you up from the bed and you rearranged your dress, you both went to go slip on your pair of easy black heels, and respectively, his own dress shoes (which you had never seen till today? Jungkook was full of surprises). When you were coming up from fastening your shoes, you felt something wet brush your cheek, making you go red once more. Jungkook had just kissed your cheek and you were trying your hardest not to freak out.

“I bet you’ll be prettier than the art there.” Jungkook says softly, his body ridiculously close to yours. He was being ridiculously flirty, and if he wanted to play like that, well, two people can play that game. You grinned, biting your lip and looking up at him.

“Careful Jeon, you might distract me from the art.” You giggle upon seeing Jungkook’s shocked reaction to flirting back with him, grabbing his hand as you both go down the stairs, almost forgetting to lock the door on your way down.

The car ride there consisted of small playful banter and small flirting back and forth. You couldn’t miss the way how one of Jungkook’s hands rested on your thigh for the ride there, but your mind was stuck on how much you still had to put together at the venue, most of the flowers that you had made still not on the cake in fear of them falling over and breaking during transport. As if Jungkook could feel your worry radiate off of you, he would draw small circles on the flesh of your outer thigh where his hand rested near your knee, calming down your nerves.

The venue was on the opposite side of town, so while you and Jungkook drove down the scenic highway along the lake, you couldn’t help but roll the windows down and let the wind blow through your hair. You heard Jungkook laughing while you watched the skyline come into view and disappear down the highway, marveling at the city. Had it not been for the changing scenery from blues to the yellow leaves on the trees on the way down, you would have thought this was a normal summer night between a couple teenagers.

Once you two got to the venue, you found a cart to wheel in the cake while Jungkook found the last of the fondant flowers in the back, safe from any damage even if the ride down to the venue was smooth. You and Jungkook wheeled in the cake, carefully putting it on the table. The space you and Jungkook were in was quite empty, which gave you a nice ambience so that you could finish the cake.

Rather, you take out the fondant flowers while Jungkook put them on the cake, since he could actually see to the top of the cake. After placing the last few flower buds on the cake and doing some last minute touch ups, you two went into the main room, as Taehyung had instructed in his text. Before opening the door to the gallery where bossanova jazz played softly, Jungkook held out his arm for you to link with, a soft smile on his face. Grinning back, you swallowed your heart back down as you linked arms with him. He kissed your cheek, to your surprise, and when you looked back at him, he chucked softly.

“Let’s give them something to talk about, mon petit chou.”

The gallery itself seemed smaller than you remembered from when you were younger, a lot of ridiculously large prints of photos and abstract oil paintings contributed from Taehyung’s collection. There were some you had recognized from older exhibits where his art had been featured, and seeing how his art had grown made your heart swell. You had known Taehyung for a ridiculously long time now, and just seeing where his art had taken him made you extremely proud.

As you and Jungkook marveled at Taehyung’s work, you heard someone yell your name in the venue, and hurried heel clicking. Before you could register who could be yelling your name, a body slammed onto yours and a familiar laugh filled your ears, one that you hadn’t heard since Jungkook came into your life.

“I didn’t know you’d be here!” Your best friend, Ji Hae, who you had opened up the bakery with beamed at you. Ji Hae looked Jungkook up and down, and it only took her a split second to recognize him. “And you must be the new baker that every Yelp review is talking about! I’m Ji Hae, co-owner of the bakery!” Ji Hae held out her hand to shake Jungkook’s hand. Jungkook’s arm around you slipped off and shook her hand, smiling.

“Ah, I’m Jungkook, it’s nice to meet you, Ji Hae.” He smiled. After he introduced himself, Ji Hae snaked her arms around your waist, grinning.

“You won’t mind if I borrow her, right? I need to catch up with her.” Ji Hae didn’t leave any time for Jungkook to reply as you were pulled away from him. You were completely confused but once you realized you were moving, your senses kicked in.

“Ah, Jungkookie, if you wanna go home and I’m not back, just text me!” You called out before your friend pulled you to another part of the gallery. Jungkook shook his head, going back to admiring the photograph in front of him. It was only a few beats before a flute of champagne was held in front of him. The flute was being offered by Taehyung, who was also holding a glass himself.

“Did they leave you alone? I told Ji Hae not to do that…” Taehyung tsked. Jungkook accepted the champagne from him, nodding.

“Ji Hae surely is a character… The both of them get along well.” Jungkook chuckled, looking over at Taehyung. Jungkook took a sip, watching Taehyung in his peripheral vision nod thoughtfully.

“How much do you know about your co-worker, Jungkook?” Taehyung questioned, Jungkook almost spitting out his champagne. He blinked slowly at the older man, Taehyung looking back at Jungkook with a raised eyebrow. The younger brown haired man coughed a little, wiping his mouth a little from the champagne that threatened to escape his mouth.

“W-well, I know she knows minimal french from high school, her birthday, her favorite tea is herbal and she only has real coffee once a month--” Jungkook rambles before Taehyung holds up a hand, shaking his head.

“No no, what do you know about her? All that stuff you just listed out is basic. Is there anything that catches your attention? It doesn’t have to be big and glaring, small things are things as well.” He grins at Jungkook. Jungkook tilts his head in confusion before it finally clicked in his head.

“Well, when she’s deep in concentration, she tilts her head just slightly, even if the orientation of whatever she’s working on is completely straight. Her favorite color and the colors that she’s attracted to are completely different, and if anyone sings around her, her nose scrunches, although I’m not sure why…” Jungkook trails off, thinking harder about your little nuances, but Taehyung’s chuckles snapped him out of the thoughts before he could delve deeper.

“That sounds so classic of her. You know she was a music major in high school? She’s an amazing singer and it’s sad she doesn’t use her voice all that often anymore. I think you’re the only person to know that about her outside of anyone who knew us back then. I have also never heard of any guy observe her that hard.” Taehyung nods. “Do you spend a lot of time looking at her?” Jungkook goes pink, matching half of Taehyung’s half-and-half pink and blonde hair.

“I’ve been uh… Living with her for the last few months, maybe 3?” This time, it was Taehyung’s time to sputter at the comment. He looked at Jungkook, jaw slack. “So yeah, I guess I’ve been looking at her a lot.” He chuckled nervously.

“I saw her come in with you and she was clinging onto your arm. Is she always that touchy with you or was it just for show tonight?” Taehyung was completely intrigued with your relationship with Jungkook, and Jungkook didn’t know how to avoid the questions, this was Taehyung’s show and he couldn’t go anywhere else without you. You’d probably punch him or something.

“Well, we sleep in the same bed, nothing goes any further than hugging, but sometimes she’ll reach out for my hands to hold, or she’ll automatically lean on me when we’re doing something together.” Jungkook shrugged casually, finishing the champagne that was given to him earlier. Taehyung’s eyebrows raised in surprise, before he set down his half empty glass. He scanned the room before leaning into Jungkook.

“She’s being really touchy and she hasn’t said anything about liking you? Are you sure you aren’t dating?” He reaffirms with Jungkook, who just nods in return. “Just shoot your shot, Kook! She probably does like you, but she doesn’t think about it because she’s so into the bakery.” He flashes Jungkook a boxy grin, punching Jungkook’s arm. Jungkook looked at Taehyung in disbelief, and he was skeptical about Taehyung’s advice. Surely, you couldn’t be into him, right?

“Ah, there you two are!” You came back, automatically going to stick on the side of Jungkook. Taehyung shot Jungkook a look and only wiggled his brows. “Let’s go see the other art!” You smile happily, lightly tugging Jungkook away.

You two continue your night right where it left off, a little bit of flirting here and there, and soon enough, the cake that you two had created was cut. Jungkook noticed that your grip loosened a little, so he took it upon himself to grab a piece of cake off the table and cut off a bite size piece.

“Hey, Earth to mon petit chou, say ah~” Jungkook cooed, snapping you out of your trance. “You’re really distant, are you okay?” He smiles at you, his fork in front of your mouth. You gladly accept the cake at first, watching as his hand sets down the fork on the plate and his arm travels down to hold your hand, squeezing it lightly. You lace fingers with him, nodding a little and smiling. You swallowed the bit of cake before replying to him.

“Yeah, just a little sleepy, should we head back?” You yawn a little, emphasizing on your exhaustion. “I think this is the most human interaction I’ve had in a minute.” You giggle, leaning into Jungkook.

You two congratulate Taehyung on the art show once more, and after numerous hugs and goodbyes are said, you and Jungkook finally make it into the car. Jungkook puts on music once more, but it’s more calm music instead, lulling you to sleep in the car. Once he stopped at the stop sign, he looked over to you, smiling softly as you fall asleep with one of his hands linked with yours. Once you two pull up to your apartment, Jungkook stretches in the car seat and sighs once more. You were dead asleep in the seat, and he figured he would have to carry you back up. He unbuckles his seat belt, cutting off the engine. Getting out of the car and opening your door, he made sure that you wouldn’t fall out, scooping you into his arms bridal-style.

Jungkook fumbles with the keys for a split second, but he managed to open the door with you not waking up, which is a personal surprise for himself. Slipping out of his dress shoes, he opens the door to the bedroom. He lays you down on the bed, taking his time to change into his sleepwear. He kept thinking about Taehyung’s words about how you might like him back, as well as the other facts that he had heard from him.

Jungkook walks back out, frowning when he realized you were still in your party clothes. It didn’t vibe with him for you to sleep in the clothes you had gone to the party in. He nudged you gently, watching you stir to face him.

“Hey, don’t you want to change out of your contacts before we sleep?” Jungkook’s voice rang in your ears. A groan escaped your throat as you stretched out in the bed.

“You don’t live enough, Kookie.” You grumble, sitting up so that you could go change out of your contacts and your dress. You padded over to the bathroom, grabbing all the necessary items such as your makeup wipes and your pajamas, slowly getting ready for bed. Once you were back out of the bathroom, you spotted Jungkook lounging on your bed, checking his phone once more and turning on his alarms. You crawled onto his side, pulling the sheets over your shoulders.

“Goodnight, Kookie~” You cooed before falling back asleep by his side. Jungkook’s heart skipped a beat, gulping nervously at your sleeping figure. Maybe he could entertain the idea that Taehyung was right for a second, that you were in love but you were too oblivious to see it.

Jungkook wasn’t sure how he could live out this imagination, and his heart told him not to pursue anything. He wouldn’t want to ruin anything with the best thing to happen in his life.

----

It was an uncharacteristically slow day at the bakery, you guessed it was because it was finals week for a lot of the schools around you, but nonetheless, a bit too quiet in the bakery. It was actually so quiet that you could hear your thoughts over the soft jazz music that always played at the front of the house. Pursing your lips, you went over to the stereo and turned the music up a little more, bobbing your hair to the music while also rearranging the baked goods.

“First in, first out.” You chanted softly as you rearranged the macarons, making sure to set aside the broken cookies (how did they manage to break?) and the less appealing tarts. Jungkook walked out into the front of the house, seeing you bob to some bossanova before grinning. He goes over to the stereo, turning on a certain album that both you two enjoyed. There was no one in the bakery at the time, so when the song’s beginning started playing, you were thrown off from your flow.

“Jungkook, what the hell?” You sighed, rolling your eyes. You weren’t mad about the music change, but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes when he wrapped his arms around you.

“You don’t have the urge to sing along? We’re too busy to go to karaoke and I’ve never heard you sing, only occasional humming from time to time. Didn’t you go to an arts school for voice?” Jungkook teased, remembering the conversation he had with Taehyung at the gallery opening. Your face flushed, which he took as a positive and he started to sing along first. It was Daniel Caesar and H.E.R’s Best Part, and due to the copious amounts of times you had listened to that song, you memorized the lyrics. The chorus came up quicker than you thought, and you found yourself singing along with Jungkook.

“I just wanna see how beautiful you are…” You start singing along in the octave that H.E.R is singing in, only tuning in a little to hear Jungkook’s lower register. You grin and sing along to the rest, wiggling out of his grasp. You never took the time to actually sing full on anymore, and you felt a little rusty singing along. A little while later, you peeked over to Jungkook, who had apparently stopped singing. He was staring at you in awe, his eyes wide. You sauntered over to him after you were done cleaning out the display case, resting your arms on his shoulders, slow-dance style.

“If you love me, won’t you say something?” You smiled up at him. Your heart swelled when you felt Jungkook’s arms wrap around your waist, slow dancing with you as he found his voice to sing back to you. He touched foreheads with you, closing his eyes as you closed yours. You both savored the moment, his breath on yours. You could feel your heart beating as if you just ran, and you opened one eye, starting to lean in. The bell on the door suddenly interrupted both of you, Jungkook flying off of you as you turned away from the door, face as red as the raspberry macarons.

“W-welcome to--” Jungkook cleared his throat, silently gesturing you to go to the back of the house while he regained his composure, saying the name of the bakery as you went into the back, fanning your face. You watched as he helped out the mom with her baby, a soft smile on your face.

The music in the bakery continued to play one of Jungkook’s R&B playlists, a Sabrina Claudio song playing next. As you continued to watch him clean up where you left off, you couldn’t quite place the feeling that Jungkook gave you, and you weren’t sure if you liked it or not.

--

According to a lot of love language profiles, your heart usually warmed with the idea of someone surprising you with little things, acts of service, to be specific.

It was a trend with all of your romantic partners in your past, you usually felt extremely appreciative when they did small things like make your cups of tea, wash the dishes, or other extremely domestic things along that sort. In return, you would always try to help them out, but you never felt a click with the people you dated.

You never noticed it, but Jungkook would always do these things for you. He would make you cups of tea and remind you to eat when you would go long hours without any breaks, making you your favorite tea when you were having a down day, or even making you a quick sandwich that sat by your side as a gentle reminder. By the time you would notice these things, he’d always be back to the task at hand, whether that be entertaining the girls in the bakery or making more goods to put out.

The winter season where your bakery was located felt like they started from mid October to April. When November hit, you could feel yourself struggling to get out of bed, the motivation in your body slowly decreasing. Jungkook had started to notice this in you, but he wasn’t sure what was wrong. You usually were extremely happy and upbeat, but for a few weeks, you would barely talk in the morning and would prefer to work in the back of the house. Not to mention, you were a lot more touchy and would typically lean into Jungkook more or back hug him when you had the chance.

Although he didn’t mind, and he would typically reciprocate the touchiness, but he wanted to do more, and worried himself about you to the point where he fell under the weather. You seemed a lot more distant when both of you were upstairs, and you would typically stay downstairs for a little while longer, dismissing Jungkook to go upstairs so that he could sleep earlier and not be so sick coming into work.

You didn’t want to tell Jungkook that you would dismiss him upstairs so that you could meet with other people without worrying him. Although you liked Jungkook a lot, you were scared of how he would look at you if you confessed to him. You didn’t know if he even liked you like that, so it was better to be safe rather than sorry. You’ve been distracting yourself from falling further into the seasonal depression and in love with Jungkook by throwing yourself into the world of online dating, swiping absentmindedly when Jungkook worked front of the house. You had a date tonight, and you attempted to look better than normal before closing up the shop and waiting in front.

You had planned on going out with this guy (His name was Kim Seokjin, a nice guy, really) twice before, but he had always rain checked before you could go out with him, and you guys were planning on going to the holiday market downtown. The meeting was supposed to go that you guys met at the bakery and then make your way down, since the train near your bakery went directly down to the market. You both agreed that you would meet at 7:30, 30 minutes after the bakery closed, but once the clock hit 8, you were losing faith in meeting up with him. You waited for him for another hour, and as much as you wanted to not believe it, you had just been stood up.

Admitting defeat, you sulked immensely, going back up to your apartment. This wasn’t the first guy to do this to you, and you were actively seeking for love from people you thought you clicked with. Your brain started to fill itself with self deprecating thoughts as you opened the door, the soft sounds of the Netflix series Nailed It! playing. Jungkook looked up from the couch, already all showered and ready to go to bed, but on nights like these he would wait for you to come back before you both went to sleep. That, along with all your other overwhelming internal dialogue seemed too much that you started to feel the tears well up in your eyes.

“I’m home…” You barely managed to get out from the overwhelming emotions that washed over you. The TV had no noise coming from it, meaning that either Jungkook had paused it or muted it. You avoided eye contact in the general direction from where he was, the tears falling silently down your face as you yanked off the scarf and fumbled with the buttons of your pea coat. Jungkook noticed the way you rubbed furiously at your eyes almost rhythmically, after every button on your coat was becoming undone. He frowned, sitting up on the couch.

“Is everything alright, chou?” He wanted to stand up, but something in him told him to keep rooted. Jungkook was about to turn back to the tv when he heard something rushing towards him, and suddenly you were in his arms, your own arms wrapped around him tightly as you openly sobbed on him. You had never cried on Jungkook, and here you were, bawling on him. Jungkook started to rub your back gently, squeezing you. He had learned somewhere that during a panic or anxiety attack, you should squeeze the person in order to ease their anxiety. He didn’t know what was wrong, but obviously it was something bothersome enough that it would send you into tears like this. He whispered words of reassurance in your ear, continuing to rub your back slowly.

You both stayed like this for a while, your breathing evening out before Jungkook rolled you over so that you were on the couch. He slowly peeled away and before you could protest, he smiled softly at you and stroked your cheek. “I’m gonna get some stuff, okay? I’ll be back soon. Don’t miss me too much.” True to Jungkook’s word, he came back quickly, your blanket, some milk tea that was sitting in a thermos (he probably had made it earlier for you to have when you came home), and a plush that you thought was hidden from him, a little black bear with a heart shaped patch. He sat down next to you again, you automatically curling into him as he wrapped you both in the blanket and made the little bear plush kiss your cheek before setting it in your lap. His arms wrap back around you, stroking your hair softly. “If you’re comfortable, you can tell me what’s wrong, yeah? No rush.” He reassures you. You both sit in a comfortable silence before he hears a sigh come from you. You curl closer into him, the bear being a slight barrier between you and him as you spill to him about the whole date ordeal.

“Jungkookie, I’ve been taken for granted for so fucking long… I always give so much and I never get it reciprocated. It’s almost cruel how scary that giving and receiving ratio is. I’ve been stood up so many times, I’ve never clicked with any of the people I have dated, and I just think something is wrong with me, or maybe I’m too dedicated to this bakery that I can’t ever date.” You bite your lip, smushing the face of the bear in. You had to keep your hands busy so that Jungkook wouldn’t see the trembling in your hands. You couldn’t prevent it for long, however, since Jungkook looked down at your hands playing constantly and held them in his own. You couldn’t look at his eyes, but you could feel his frown. His hands squeezed yours and tears began to resurface. “I just don’t know if anyone will love me for me, in all the times that I’m here running the bakery, love me even with the lack of time.” You could barely get the last part out, hiding your face in Jungkook’s chest once more. Jungkook lets go of your hands, squeezing you once more so that you wouldn’t say any more.

“That’s not true, you have so many people that love you. You have so many friends and I’m sure that they would all hate to see you so sad.” He starts off. There’s a reluctant pause in his voice, a space where he would say he loves you, but before he could say more, you open your mouth.

“I know that there’s that kinda love, but Kook,” you start to emphasize, sulking. “I want someone that I can imagine in my life that kisses me awake and stuff. You have so many girls doting over you, I want to feel like that for someone, you know?” You whine, “That’s just never gonna be me with anyone so I’m just-” He cuts you off by squeezing you again, pressing his forehead against yours.

“You need to hush sometimes, you know?” Jungkook sighs softly, his heart about to burst from what he’s about to say. “I know you won’t give love another chance, but I want to be the one to show you how love can be reciprocated.” His cheeks dust a light pink and you didn’t know how to react. “I promise I won’t break your heart intentionally, I love you too much for that to happen.”

You were in complete disbelief over his confession, because that confession was something that you thought would never happen to you. You would’ve thought that eventually, Jungkook would’ve gotten a girlfriend (that wasn’t you) and would have to quit the bakery and leave you alone once more. For a split second, you thought Jungkook was lying before you realized he was a man of his word. Even with the smallest promises, Jungkook would always be able to live up to the promises.

“It’s always been you, mon petit chou.” He smiles softly, wiping the last of the tears that were on your face. That was the last thing you heard before you pulled him in, a sweet kiss that tasted like the earl grey vanilla tea. He gladly returned the sweet little kiss, pulling away from you.

“I kinda… wanna bake with you for like a long time. Maybe forever.” You blush, covering your eyes at your stupid confession. You didn’t know how else to phrase it, and the way you said it made Jungkook chuckle.

“Is that so, mon petit chou? Well I’m glad you feel the same way.” He cooed, pulling you into another kiss.

The rest of the night was a blur, nothing further than a few kisses here and there, but nonetheless, a night that turned bad events into things that made you smile instead.

--

“You know how I call you mon petit chou?” Jungkook was currently hunched over the worktable, carefully peeling away the chocolate decorations from the parchment paper. Since it was the holiday season, you two had gotten a sudden influx of requests for yule log roll cakes (“that’s not all we make, but they always ask us to make it!”). Jungkook’s friend, Jung Hoseok had also requested for one, but specifically requested for you to make it, despite Jungkook’s protests that he made roll cakes much better than you.

You perked up at his voice, setting down the whipping cream that you were weighing out for the filling of the roll. “Yeah, I thought you just wanted to call me a little cabbage because of how short I was.” You chuckled, shaking your head at the absurd term of endearment. You heard Jungkook’s soft laugh as you poured the whipping cream into the stand mixer.

“No no, not chou as in cabbage, babe. Mon petit chou means my little cream puff. Your favorite dessert are cream puffs, aren’t they?” He hummed, rearranging the chocolate he had just peeled away on the log he was finishing up. “Plus, you’re sweet. I thought it was fitting, and when I was in France, my host mom said I should only use that name with someone I love. And I love, well, you!” He grinned, a light dust of pink on his face.

You couldn’t help but smile at the way he explained the nickname, covering your mouth from smiling too much.

“Jeon, you better get back to work before I kick your derrière.”

[entrenous88]

For the writing ask meme: 39, 43, 44, and 50!

39: What’s the weirdest story idea you’ve ever had?

Huh, I don’t know that any of my story ideas have been so very out there, but we’re talking within the context of fandom, where entire fic challenges revolve around ideas that might seem weird to outsiders (and in the days before AO3, there were substantial archives devoted to niche themes).  I’ve written a variety of kinks and tropes and plotlines, partly because I like challenges and partly because I used to write for a bunch of fic fests.  Maybe one of my more unusual fics was Fairy Cake Felicity, featuring Ron Weasley becoming so obsessed with hiding that he’s gay that he unconsciously starts decorating cupcakes with little rosy cocks.  Then he becomes an erotic baker and Draco Malfoy starts ordering his cakes.  Eh, not so very odd, right?  But fun!

43: Have you ever killed a main character?

Not unless turning characters into sexy vampires counts (Buffy fandom, what what whaaaaat!) 

44: What’s the weirdest character concept you’ve ever come up with?

Possibly Jim and Spock as supermodels in Stellar Explosion?  I should clarify I don’t think that’s odd -- I mean, anything that has a pre-existing tag on AO3 or shows up as an item in an AU prompt meme (as the modeling AU was) can’t be so unusual.  BUT I had multiple comments -- which I just want to preface were absolutely lovely comments that I adored getting, and that included encouraging fb and enthusiastic responses -- that tended to open along the lines of “I usually hate AUs [and/or] I don’t like anything about models...but I really liked this!”   And that’s actually really cool with me; I absolutely appreciate people taking a chance on a story they don’t think they’re going to dig and then telling me they enjoyed it, yay!   

50: If you could live in any fictional world, which would it be?

United Federation of Planets, baby!  IT’S A DREAM THAT BECAME A REALITY AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE STARS (and it’s coming -- I mean, it better be, right?)!   The only issue is that I am like Bones and am completely petrified of space, so I’d need a desk job.  HOWEVER, it would be for this enlightened wonderful society that’s focused on equality and liberty so it’s still exciting!!!!

Thanks so much for asking all of these!  This was fun!  :D

Ask me more writing-related questions!

[jesicajparksuk]

How Do Instagram Stories Work

Simply stated, Instagram defines a story as, “a way of sharing photos and videos with your followers that disappear after 24 hours.” If you want to know exactly how Instagram Stories work and how to make them work for you, this is your blog post!

Every brand, blogger, influencer, and business is different, so what works for your Instagram Stories strategy may not work for someone else. Truth be told, when IG Stories first hit the scene, a great many influencers found it a bit absurb. Why, they would ask, would I want to showcase something for 24 hours and then poof… it’s gone? Maybe this very writer thought that to herself. This is a brave new world, folks, and there is a method to this madness. Keep reading, as we’re sharing tips on making Instagram Stories work in your favor by maximizing it to the fullest:

Why Do Instagram Stories Disappear After 24 Hours?

According to The Guardian, “Beyond the design of the app, there’s the unique culture that’s grown up around it. Nobody wants a sad profile of pictures that no one has liked.”

In other words, the concept of things being transitory and lasting for a brief time is on trend and showing no signs of slowing down. There’s only so much content a person can post and consume in 24 hours. FOMO is a very real condition. We live in a “want more, what’s new” culture and a 24-hour window is the new norm. We want to know what the dog in Japan is doing today, what the cat in California had for breakfast, and what the latest pet products are according to today’s modern pet influencers.

How to Maximize Instagram Stories

Know How to Add to Your Story:

Go to your Instagram Profile page and click on your icon.

Go to your main Instagram feed and click the camera icon.

Use Hashtags: When in the Instagram Stories feature, after you upload your content, click the stickers icon and hit “hashtag” or just type in the hashtag using the text icon. The end result is a tappable, searchable hashtag.

Tag Brands and People: Click on the text icon and type the handle of the brand or person. Instagram will generate a listing of Instagrammers who you might be trying to tag as you type. If you see an underline under the tagged name, then you know it is working.

Add Links to Your Instagram Stories: Verified business accounts are able to embed links into an Instagram story. Pet influencers can use this feature to maximize their Instagram Stories. Ideas include:

Promote a blog post

Go live and share stories from an in-person event (remember to hashtag it)

Share content

Share adoptable pets

Get on the radar of brands

Promote sponsored content

Go behind the velvet ropes and show your followers a slice of your day

NOTE: Always include a call to action (CTA) in your story so that followers know what you want them to do. Examples of a CTA on Instagram Stories include  “See More” or “Swipe up.”

Learn more about getting creative with a Call to Action.

Creative Ideas for Instagram Stories

How many pieces of content should you put in your Story? Between 7 and 12 is generally the sweet spot, but if you are at a live event, a few more are fine. You don’t want to bombard your audience with content overload. Quality over quantity is key.

Use non-vertical images with ease. Make your IG Stories vertical, even if they aren’t shot that way. Try the InShot app.

Think outside your images and try flatlays. Upload a flat lay, infuse your own typography/font/colors, and you’ve got the makings of a branded, on-point template. Using an app like Canva on mobile or desktop, you can create your own branding style.

Try a “Day in the Life” for a behind-the-scenes look. Maybe you do this once or twice a month and promote it on other social media platforms so your fans know where to find you.

Invite your followers to engage with you. No one likes a spammer who makes their feeds all about them them and more them. Make your audience feel connected and involved by running a poll, asking questions, or even getting feedback on future posts. “Today, I am blogging about cats who don’t use the litterbox. What cat health questions do you have? DM me and let me know!”

Save and repurpose the story on Facebook. Open the story, and click the three dots at the bottom right and a screen pops up with a variety of options. If you add it to your timeline feed, then your account’s privacy settings apply.

Working with a brand? Show the product in action on IG Stories. I recently did a post for Petmate that features my medium-sized dog and also my friend’s larger dog. We infused an Instagram Story from video into our blog post. If your video was not shot within the previous 24-hour time period, and you want to share it now on Instagram Stories, there are hacks. Keep reading.

Get Analytical with IG Stories

Instagrammers are able to see who viewed their story by swiping up when viewing their photo or video.

Instagram Business Accounts have access to a wealth of Instagram analytics by clicking the bars at the top right of your Instagram screen. If you want to be seen as a business, you are a business, you want the contact button in your profile, and you want access to basic analytics, yes. If you ever want to switch back to a regular profile, you can do so in Account Settings.

Alternatively, here are a few basic Instagram Analytics tools:

Social Bakers Free Instagram Report

Simply Measured Free Report up to 25K IG Users

Use Tools Wisely In Instagram Stories

When you share a photo or video to your story, you can use creative tools to help capture and edit them.

Tools on the bottom portion of the Instagram Story panel include:

LIVE: Go Live and show folks what you are up to or where you are. If you don’t want to publish a live IG Stories segment, then no need to do so.

Normal: Shoot in normal mode.

Boomerang: Sort of a forward and backward cute way to showcase video. I use this to show my dog in action.

Rewind: Backwards, in reverse. Try it.

Hands-Free: Perhaps this blogger’s favorite IG Stories tool, I go hands-free to shoot my IG videos.

Note: IG Stories segments are 15 seconds at this time, so string your storyline together. Here is a screen shot of those tools:

Is This a Millennial Thing?

According to HubSpot, “Chances of Stories catching on is much higher because it’s housed within the Instagram platform, and not the Facebook platform. The demographic overlap between Snapchat and Instagram makes it much more likely users will simply migrate their goofy stories to the other platform. But only if Instagram gets on the facial recognition game, and quickly. Millennials love that puppy filter.”

To that end, face filters are now a part of Instagram Stories. #justsayin

Uploading Hacks

How to Hack Instagram: How to add stories or videos to Instagram beyond the 24-hour window

Hack Part 2: According to The Verge, “Instagram Stories are meant for sharing of recent content, but there are several ways to post something older. There are two key apps that adjust the timestamp of an image or video automatically. If you are sending the file to yourself: Slack and WhatsApp do the job. I frequently bombard my sister with WhatsApp messages of random creations in order to renew the timestamp. If you don’t have either of those, other apps can also get around the 24-hour rule. Story Uploader is the best option.”

Don’t Stop Now

Now that you know how Instagram Stories works, how to maximize it to your advantage, check out these helpful related posts:

Creative Ways to Use Instagram Stories to Increase Blog Traffic

5 Popular Instagram Tips to Ignore

Your Turn

Do you use Instagram Stories? Do you like it? What is holding you back if not? Share in the comments below. BlogPaws is on Instagram. Follow us and we will follow back!

Carol Bryant is the Marketing and Social Media Manager for BlogPaws and runs her own dog blog, Fidose of Reality and its fundraising arm, Wigglebutt Warriors. When not busy playing with her Cocker Spaniel, Dexter, she stays far away from cooking. Her trademark is her mantra and is tattooed on her arm: My Heart Beats Dog.®

Images: Giulio_Fornasar/Shutterstock.com and nenetus/Shutterstock.com

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