#its a little different with Mira because their relationship is closer

[arcanaaa]

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[elliepassmore]

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: horror, contemporary horror, ghost stories

Big thanks to Netgalley, Mira, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

TW racism/Sinophobia, covid, murder/gore

I wasn't totally sure what to expect coming into this book, but it is 100% a horror book. Not fantasy horror, horror...and I actually really liked it! While it is straightforward horror, I was invested in the story and the ghosts, and trying to figure out how the ghosts fit in with the other (arguably far scarier) stuff that was going on in the story.

Cora's story and the other murders go hand-in-hand. Cora's sister is murdered in the first chapter, and then time flashes forward to when Cora has already been working as a crime scene cleaner for a bit. As the story progresses, and the ghost(s) become more prevalent, Cora's journey of healing ties in with what's going on around the city and her journey of trying to figure out that mystery.

While this is a horror story, I liked seeing Cora make friends and start to come out of her shell a little. Even before Delilah's murder, Cora hadn't had the smoothest childhood, and even as an adult she deals with OCD. As a result, she has a tenuous relationship with her family members and almost no friends to speak of. Yifei and Harvey are pretty different people, and different from Cora, but somehow the three of them make sense together and I liked the budding friendship they form as they try to figure out how to satisfy Delilah's ghost. Yifei turns out to be a big asset since she's dealt with ghosts before, and while Harvey has seen one before, he has little experience with returning one from whence it came.

I liked Cora as a narrator and thought she had some interesting perspectives on things. As mentioned, she has a tenuous relationship with her family, on both her mom and dad's side, and so she's clung to Delilah for most of her life, resulting in Cora feeling as if she's not her own person (though she admittedly doesn't seem bothered by this). Part of Cora's story in this book is not only healing and coming to terms with some things, it's also about finding her own identity and connections. As the story progresses, Cora becomes friends with Yifei and Harvey, and she also becomes closer with her aunt on her dad's side. By the time the story ends, she may still not know exactly what she wants, but she feels more solid to herself and is eager to find her place.

I don't read a lot of horror, especially when it's not fantasy horror, so I found the ghost element interesting. The ghost can only come out in dark spaces, such as when the lights are off or in the dark crack between your closet door and the floor. I thought that was an interesting feature, and I second Cora's question of whether the ghost is gone or just invisible. The Hungry Ghost Festival also plays a big part in the ghost storyline and Cora's resistance to it, then slow acceptance follows the intensity of her ghostly encounters.

And as if being haunted isn't enough, East Asian women are also being brutally murdered around the city. Cora tries to chalk it up to coincidence at first, but as the crime scenes build and the pattern becomes more obvious, she's forced to acknowledge that something dark is afoot. Cora becomes invested in figuring out who is murdering these women, and Yifei and Harvey are on board with her plan, both also increasingly fed up with how the murders are being ignored/covered up (Yifei especially). This takes them down a twisty road that threatens to be even more dangerous than being haunted by a hungry ghost.

Related to the murders, and the book in general, is racism, and particularly the Sinophobia that reared its head during the covid pandemic. Delilah was murdered by it, as were the other women, and Cora deals with both subtle and overt forms of it throughout the book, from being told she scares people because she might carry covid to having someone spit in her face. We also see it with Yifei, whose roommate automatically assumed she didn't speak English. As Cora heals and develops in the book, she also gets angry and begins to want justice for the discriminations, both small and big, that have been piling up.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book and actually didn't find myself too freaked out by the horror elements (the ghosts and murders are definitely creepy though). I enjoyed reading Cora's story and seeing as she finds her footing in her life after everything that's happened. I'm going to be honest, I usually don't think the pandemic affected me very much (aside from not being able to watch TV shows set during the pandemic that actually acknowledge it exists), but I did get a little teary-eyed reading the Author's Note at the end.

[althememelord]

Modern x Parallel AU Headcanons Part 5

We got the the house, we got the job, so who wants to hear about the relationships of the Modern Madrigals ? No one? Well, i’m writing it anyway. Past headcanons can be found in my pin post on my profile which i update frequently. 

#######

-No surprise that the triplets (Juli, Pepi and Brunito) are as close as ever. Brunito never left and the only time they separated was for university. Juli went to cooking school, Pepi did a degree in atmospheric science and Brunito studied anthropology (he is also part of a small acting troupe.) 

-Abuela didn’t have to worry about raising the kids herself and so has a better relationship with her kids. Although she has high expectations for them after going through the school system and being a teacher she realises that each child is different and they can only to their best. Pedro was a great help in giving their kids the freedom they needed to explore their interests. 

- Lu and Doll are actually pretty tight. The two year age difference helps a little bit but its the sound therapy work that really helped them get closer. Despite not having super hearing like Dolores, Doll has always been sensitive to sound whilst Lu having been a former high school varsity athlete always felt pressure. Both of them found comfort in being able to share therapeutic methods from listening to ambient music to meditating to help them cope. 

-Milo is actually pretty close to Brunito and has helped as a stage hand for his acting troupe a few times when he was younger. It’s how he got into acting in the first place. He saw the troupe’s Don Quixote play where his uncle was actually the lead and was hooked ever since. Pepi blames Brunito for why her son is so extra but she secretly loves it. F is more like meh, cause he could use less of Milo’s dramatics over a stubbed toe. Once you’ve heard “i’ve been shot” echoing through the house over a minor inconvenience you’ve heard it a million times. 

-Toni is still the baby of the home and has been very much influenced by his older siblings and parents. Check him vibing to Billy Joel, the Backstreet Boys, Mayday Parade etc. The kid has got a wide variety of tunes blasting through his little ears since his birth. Cause of the age difference there have been times when people thought he was Doll’s or Isa’s kid but a sharp look quickly silences the sinner for that transgression. Cause they are not OLD, HOW DARE YOU ..

- Milo and Mira are the evil twins. Their parents were sure they made a mistake giving birth to them at around the same time but they thought it would be fine like with Isa and Doll. They were mistaken. Twin Terrors never fit two people best than it did with Milo and Mira. Milo was the more mischievous twin but Mira was creative, if the former started something the latter would end it in an explosion of colour. More than once the duo’s parents were called into the school because of one thing or another. Their only saving grace was that Milo was fairly popular and Mira was the A+, honour student. A deadly combination. 

-Isa and Doll are still close as they are the oldest in their respective families but are more like best friends who grew up together. Their time together is more limited nowadays because of relationships, school and work but they always make time for each other and check in. In school Isa and Doll were the Madrigal Beauties, combined they were the whole schools’ interest. You liked one or the other or both, both works too. Isa was outgoing and had a bit of a bad girl rep despite being an A+ student and Doll was the quiet nice one who helped anyone who asked. If anyone tried to say shit or bully one of them Isa would high key slam the person on a wall and threaten bodily harm while Doll would whisper their deep dark secret and will threaten to leak it to the school. 

- Basically Milo and Mira looked like cinnamon rolls and were cinnamon rolls whilst Isa and Doll looked like they could kill you and will kill you. And you best believe they did the same for all the younger Madrigals when they entered school. You don’t mess with their familia. 

-Lu is the only one who was an actual angel and the teachers still weep when they were left with the M&M twins. Cause who would reign them in now? Toni was still in elementary/primary school so that was a No Go. 

-Speaking of Toni, he was considered Madrigal Angel MK II. The second Luisa and his school teachers sighed in relief when he entered at the age of 6. That being said, he was completely devastated when the class pet died over the summer and had to hold him back from killing the kid who forgot to feed him......yea, he got F’s patience but Pepi’s wrath. 

-The kids also spent a lot of time at Aug’s music school when they were younger except Doll who would always run away to Brunito’s shop because she couldn’t stand the new students blaring the trumpet in horrible ways. It was like someone choked on a kazoo and died, she would say. 

-Abuela and Isa don’t have a bad relationship but its certainly no golden grandchild and grandma relationship. Abuela is still a traditional woman so she tends to favour the oldest of the oldest but she’s a lot fairer especially since the other grandkids are not as scared of her and are more willing to be doted on and look for her for comfort. 

-You best believe Pepi and the grandkids got their fury from Abuela. If she heard even a whisper of something bad being sad about her familia she was like a pitbull ready to rip someone’s head off. 

-Pedro was the calm one in the relationship and Brunito, Juli, Milo, Doll, Mira and Toni got it from him. He got on well with both F and Aug, although he was concerned about Aug’s lack of survival instinct and hoped he didn’t cause stress to Juli because of it. 

-Speaking of Pedro, he had a great relationship with everyone. Pepi was definite papi’s girl and Isa loved hanging around her granddad who let her try out new hair colours and paint his nails. Actual best dad and best granddad. He cried each time Juli and Pepi gave birth. 

-Isa and Mira are a lot closer in this world as well. Their similar yet opposite dispositions balanced each other out perfectly. If Isa was mad about something, Mira would be the one to calm her down with a flower distraction or her favourite Frappuccino. Because both of them having nothing to prove, their happy in indulging each others interest and being the youngest for quite a while, Mira has no qualms to act cute to get her older sisters attention. Like:

Isa (Age 16) Mira (12)

 “Isa~ Isa~ can we go to Mcdonald’s please”

“Mami said we are having dinner in a few hours and you’ll spoil your appetite, so no.” 

“Pwease (UWU) i’ll even buy you some nuggies with my pocket money :3″

*Isa struggling to not pinch her sisters puffed up and squishy cheeks*

“We can even stop by the new garden that opened up in the park. I heard they got new flor de mayo’s planted ~”

“Get your coat, let’s go before we’re late for dinner.” 

- Manipulation, the skill every youngest child should learn in order to survive. Bel taught Toni her ways and knows she’s getting played by him when he asks her for something that he shouldn’t have like candy or coffee but she has little self-restraint sooo......

Note: Asks are open so feel free to ask anything you want about either my headcanon or fanfic

[giftofwonder]

The Tomb (Dabi x f!Reader) - Part Two

A/N: Thank you guys so much for all of the love and support! If you’d like to be added to the tag list, just let me know!

WARNINGS: Slightly NSFW, Contains mentions of nudity, abuse, and brief foreplay.

TAGLIST: @mikasackrmann @missalicebaskerville @liitlesushi @bonemarroww @jamaisvusbitch @winchescumberholland @mira-mirach

You both left and walked through the city toward the large bath house. You stopped by small stands to grab fruit and fish for breakfast, and then continued on your way. The stares you had gotten yesterday were gone, but they still lingered on Dabi.

You took in the shift in structures. Where Dabi lived, the houses were smaller and plain. Many of them suffered from a bit of damage, the mud bricks crumbling over time. Now you had entered a much different part of the city. The buildings were large, the bricks of the houses were in much better condition and stained white. The homes had wooden doors instead of just hanging reed mats. You knew if you went inside, you would find beautiful pictures painted along the walls and ceiling in a wide array of colors.

Finally, you reached the bathhouse and entered, and it was absolutely beautiful. High ceilings painted in vibrant colors that put you in mind of a stained glass window, tall limestone pillars, and everything was lined with golden trim. When you imagined paradise, this was what came to mind. It came as no surprise that many people were inside to enjoy the bath.

You knew a lot from this era, the history, but it was still a bit of a culture shock to experience it for yourself first hand. Especially, in this specific case. Men and women were considered equals here, which you loved. Nudity was common and sex was not really a taboo. Really, the only prominent known things were they believed in consent and valued loyalty above all else. Beyond that, there wasn’t much information. Many researchers had offered that because the ancients views were so open, they just never thought it important enough to document. The restrictive world you came from was so different. Sure, some people and places had more open views, but overall there were usually unspoken rules of how to conduct yourself. What is deemed “inappropriate” is a long list.

It really was exciting to be in this time, to see the past and be able to live within it, but your mind was a constant reminder that you were not from here. That this was not your home.

You both undressed, and you tried to hide the shaking of your hands as you did, but Dabi noticed your trembling. He took your hand gently and led you toward the bath. He didn’t look at you, and that made you feel a bit more at ease.

The water felt nice, and you relaxed into it immediately. You smiled, wetting your hair.

Dabi handed you soaps to use, which you graciously accepted. You had regretted not being able to bathe last night, wishing you could have rinsed the sand and dirt from your skin before going to bed. You knew bathing was especially important during this time, the ancients believed the cleaner you were, the closer you were to the Gods.

You kept your body low in the water as you washed your hair and skin, humming in joy at the feeling of being clean once more. You felt warm hands on you and looked over your shoulder. Dabi stood behind you, his eyes trailing across the plains of your back. His hands massaging as they rubbed the lathered soap onto you, his fingers working out knots and kinks from around your shoulders. You figured his actions were meant to give you peace of mind in a situation you were obviously uncomfortable in, but for a brief moment, his touch had you more worried about the downfalls of falling in love with a spirit.

This was something that you could definitely get used to. You were sure that you could sit there forever and not be bothered in the slightest. Your eyes fell shut as you relaxed in his hold, all of your previous tension and discomfort now gone. His hands moved from your shoulders to your neck and down your spine. He kneeled as his hands caressed along your ribs and slid under the water to your stomach. Then they slid further, grabbing along your thighs, and pulling back just enough to grip your hips. He tugged you backwards against him, your back flush to his chest.

Your eyes opened at the feeling. The bathhouse had emptied quite a bit since Dabi had entered, no doubt his presence and their evident discomfort from him being the reason, but there were still people bathing here and there.

“Stop, someone could see!” You hissed out while trying to pull forward to put some distance between you, but his hands kept you in place.

He leaned forward, dipping his mouth to your ear.

“Who cares, let them look.” And then his lips latched just below your ear, and his hand moved between your thighs. The breathy moan you let out at the sudden contact only spurred him on.

Your head leaned to the side and your hand braced on his wrist, ready to pull him away at any moment, but you didn’t.

You had dedicated your life to your work, and in doing so, you had missed out on a lot of the romantic opportunities that many of your friends had gotten to experience. You had boyfriends back in school, sure, but relationships were a sore spot for you as you had made your career your top priority.

You traveled often, you were gone for long stretches of time. Anything more than a quick fling was pretty much off of the table. Being held, being touched like this, it was new. It was nice. You couldn’t find it in yourself to turn him away, because truly you were craving the intimacy that he was offering.

Your breathing was ragged and more moans fell from your lips. Dabi’s teeth and lips brushed across your neck, leaving a trail of heat on your flushed skin behind them.

“Touch me.” He whispered against your skin, and slowly your hand reached behind you to grasp him. He let out a low groan against you as your hand moved on its own accord. Your mind was too lost to pleasure to stop yourself.

Dabi pulled your hand away and removed his fingers from you. He lifted you slightly to guide you over him, but you quickly twisted around and put your hand on his chest to stop him, the action of him shifting you had snapped you back into reality.

“Dabi, wait. Please. I can’t.” You begged softly. Your heart was pounding in your chest. Stopping him was incredibly hard for you as you wanted nothing more than to collapse into his hold. You were lonely and touch starved, and it felt so nice to be wanted, but you knew that if you were to give in to him now, your heart would get involved and it was a risk you weren’t sure you should take.

His hand quit pulling and he gave a slight frown, but reluctantly let go of you. You gave him a small smile and cupped his cheek with your hand, trying to convey your thoughts and feelings in a simple gesture. You weren’t trying to reject him, you knew this was much more common in his time, but for you it was too fast, too unfamiliar. You felt yourself let go so easily with him, and that scared you.

His blue eyes held yours, unwavering, before he suddenly turned his head to run his tongue along your palm. You squeaked and pulled your hand away quickly, smacking the water and splashing you both. You turned your back to him and sank back down into the water, trying to hide your blush as you called him a pervert under your breath. He snorted, obviously satisfied by your reaction. You were thankful for the change in atmosphere.

Dabi seemed like someone who took what he wanted regardless of what stood in his way. His tomb had definitely painted that picture. You were glad he didn’t push you or hold a grudge toward you, and that he had reverted back to playful and teasing. You couldn’t stop the small smile that stretched across your face as you thought of him. He was a mystery that you couldn’t wait to solve.

Not much later, you both finished bathing and left the baths together.

———————————————————————

As you walked through the city, he kept his hand on your lower back to guide you beside him. You carried your worn dress in your arms and wore one of the others that Dabi had brought for you.

You saw children running and playing up ahead and smiled. You leaned into Dabi, head resting against his shoulder. He glanced at you as his hand slid further to rest on your waist and keep you beside him.

“What was your childhood like?” You asked without thinking, eyes still focused on the kids playing. Dabi’s brown furrowed and you felt him tense beside you. You opened your mouth to tell him that he didn’t have to talk about it, but he had already started speaking.

“I was born from an arranged marriage. My father was a powerful man, he worked in the palace and was regarded the same as royalty. He was strong, and feared, but well respected. My mother was kind and quiet. She was chosen to balance him, to keep him grounded, and to help give him a strong heir.

I was the first born, the oldest son. I was expected to follow in his footsteps. To take his position in the palace and be just as strong, if not more.” He shifted uncomfortably before continuing.

“He started training me from a young age, but I was never good enough. Always falling short. His obsession with power and greed pushed him harder. My next two younger siblings were born and they were ignored by him, forgotten. All of the pressure was on me. And when I failed I was punished. But I always failed, my body wasn’t able to handle it as well as he felt it should.”

Your hand reached behind him to brush your fingers against his back, trying to provide what little comfort you could offer.

“Finally my youngest brother, Shouto, was born. At a young age, he took to the training well, though he hated it, and I was cast aside.

Over time, mother resented Shouto, he looked too much like father, and so she threw boiling water on him, burning his face. She was taken, kept somewhere in secret.

Father took Shouto to the palace with him to recover and continue training. He was locked away from the rest of us, and we were left to fend for ourselves in a small and empty home.” Dabi’s eyes narrowed at the memory, and he refused to meet your gaze.

“One day, when father visited, we fought. I was taken by palace guards, who had escorted him, and dragged to the dungeon of the palace to be taught my place. There I was locked up, tortured and burned. Eventually, I escaped, but the damage was done, and I looked...like this.” He finished, his tone dark as he stared down at his scarred arms.

Your heart was heavy, and you felt so much pain for him. Life had been so unfair, and you recalled in the tomb, how it spoke of great sadness and anger. Of him being alone. Hurt.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that. You didn’t deserve any of it.” You whispered, reaching up to turn his head to face you as his eyes locked with yours.

“It was just what the gods chose for me. My fate. At first I thought they betrayed me, that I was set to fail from the start.” He said nonchalant, his eyes breaking away from yours to stare ahead once more.

“What did you do when you escaped?” You questioned, looking forward again as he lead you further down the road.

“I ran, for a while, I lived in the desert, and would come back to the city and commit petty crimes for food and money. It was like that for a couple of years, just getting scraps. But then I met a group of people, we shared similar views. Similar goals. We wanted the society to crumble and rebuild it.” He said, a glint in his eye that you couldn’t quite place.

“In the time I had spent in the desert, I had prayed for a while. Then I had revolted and rejected the Gods. Blamed and hated them. But one appeared in a dream, and offered me power. They gave me a new fate, and it started with the League.”

[natsubeatsrock]

The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Bonus (What If? #11)

What if Lisanna was part of the Strongest Team?

Let me be very clear from the jump. I'm not doing this for real. Of course, this is a fun hypothetical, as most of the ideas I consider in this series are.  (A few get weirdly darker than I'd like them to be.) I'm not doing this as a plan to actually supplant Lucy's place in the series. (Lucy barely factors into my plans for this.)

At the same time, I was excited to come up with this idea for the rewrite. As yet another immediately dismissable idea, I can't act as though the prospect isn't tempting. Part of that might be that I'm the only one who'd seriously consider doing something like this. But hopefully, this isn't a terribly insane idea. (Especially compared to others I've had in this series.)

Now, I can guess where many would think I'd start: the end of Edolas. Once Lisanna returns from the guild, she would come to join the team similar to Wendy and Carla only an arc before in the manga. To be honest, that might be a decent time to start their partnership. After all, that's the time she re-enters the narrative in the original timeline.

But, I can do a bit better.

In the anime, Elfman remembers that Natsu was teased about joining the Strauss kids on the mission that would result in Lisanna leaving. One thing he seems to regret is not taking Natsu with them as a way to potentially take care of the situation. Obviously, he doesn't go with them and the rest is history.

But what if he did?

In this scenario, they actually decide to let Natsu join them on the mission. With the extra help, they're able to finish the mission without Elfman needing to perform a full Take-Over of the beast. As that doesn't happen, Lisanna isn't pushed into the situation that is responsible for her being pushed into a potential state of going to Edolas. 

To be clear, in this scenario, Lisanna never goes to Edolas. Obviously, this results in a lot of different changes. The big thing this means that the Strauss siblings start to see the efficacy of Natsu as a partner in their missions and they decide he ought to work with them on more missions. The seeds for the Strongest Team are planted before the original series officially started.

So what of Gray and Erza as members of the Strongest Team? After all, their partnership with Natsu was what prompted the statement of them as the Strongest Team from Mira in the first place. While I could see this team potentially rivaling that makeup, I think that Natsu working with the Strausses may lead to an end to the beef between Mirajane and Erza. With that ended, it's not unlikely that Gray and Erza would start working with Elfman and Mirajane.

Oh, you thought that only Lisanna was joining the Strongest Team? If I want to have one of the Strauss kids join the Strongest Team, especially under these circumstances, I'm having all of them join. If all three of them can work, I imagine they'd want to be part of a group together. As for Lucy and Wendy, they would still join the group, as I imagine the story beats that would still lead them to join Fairy Tail, and ultimately the Strongest Team wouldn't be compromised by this setup. 

In this situation, the Strongest Team would likely look less like its canon iteration where everyone goes on all the missions together. It would likely look closer to my loose affiliation between team members. Given the question driving this scenario, the big difference is that there is a legitimate alliance recognized by the guild among all the parties involved. However, it wouldn't be so tight to not allow for the Strausses to go on a mission separate from others, even as I've argued already happens in canon with several characters in the Strongest Team.

The fun thing about this scenario is that, even as it starts with Lisanna as a member of the Strongest Team, we end up with a situation that creates a lot of other interesting scenarios. We have a great way to further relationships that fans are very much interested in, like Natsu and Lisanna's or Erza and Mirajane's. Though, I'm honestly most interested in how this would affect the relationship between Lucy and Lisanna. With this setup, you could write them as best friends or heated love rivals depending on how much you're influenced by Mashima's France interview.

Of course, there's another aspect to this I have to bring up. This is another way to deal with Lisanna's lack of impact post-Edolas. Instead of having her stop living, make it so she never goes to Edolas. You can't act like that isn't an interesting alternative. Even if she wouldn't end up being a part of Natsu's main team, this makes up for the lack of logic behind her return.

Well, only kind of.

See, the idea that Lisanna went to Edolas because of the accident is speculation. It's not unreasonable to think that everything goes well on the mission, with or without Natsu's help, and Lisanna still ends up going to Edolas. Even if that was the logic, as much as I love the guy, it's hard to say that having Natsu would actually make the difference between Lisanna being safe and her not being safe. Considering how little either version of the mission presents us with how things devolved, it's hard to say what difference Natsu being there would actually make.

What's crazy is that these aren't the big reasons why I'm only considering this here. If I were to try hard enough, I could probably come up with explanations as to why everything works the way it would have to work for Natsu to join the mission, keep Lisanna safe, and have Lisanna remain on Earthland. Worst case scenario, I just handwave the explanations entirely by skipping straight to some later date where Natsu's doing things with the Strauss kids regularly because he helped them on that mission.

The real issue I'd have is dealing with the characters after this. If I went through with this, I would have to reimagine nearly every single character involved in this situation. The only characters who would be the same are Lucy and Wendy. They joined the guild after the mission and were mostly ignorant of it until Edolas. The Strauss kids ended up being how we recognize them in canon largely because of what happened on that mission.

Based on Part 16

What If? #1 | What If? #2 | What If? #3 | What If? #4 | What If? #5  | What If? #6 | What If? #7  | What If? #8 | What If #9 | What If? #10

[miraefmd]

updates & changes restructuring prompts

assuming your muse has changed in some way, be it internally or as a result of a change of the external factors around them, how is your muse different?

well... her faceclaim has changed, which i feel actually represents most of the character changes she’s had pretty well, but that is almost certainly something that only makes sense to me and is not surface-level obvious to an outsider. mirae has changed a lot less than ash has, but she’s got a little more background and journey now within her past in the industry.

firstly, i gave her dad back his hobby of singing in his little hobby indie rock band. wish mirae had that, but i removed it for silhouette mirae when she became dance focused over vocal focused. i’ve given it back to her now because i feel like it works well with who selene mirae is, which is very well-known for her stage presence and performance. her dad would drag her up on stage sometimes to his little free shows with an audience of like fifteen people, and that sparked her love of the stage. he’s still an author as how he makes money (when he makes money... his books aren’t bestsellers and mirae does support him quite a bit financially now that she has a steady cashflow and he divorced her mom).

there’s more focus on her having made the choice to keep mostly to selene without venturing too much into solo activities despite being presented several chances that she pretty much threw away over the years now (her viral fancam in 2013, parasite’s success). a lot of her changes are reflected in her established career claims, so i’ll more in depth about that in that section.

since this is the section for it, though, abracadabra soty. she wasn’t so sure about the whole era at the time because the sound was very different from what selene had been doing and was twenty and her role in the mv was quite sexual, far beyond the bounds of what she’d acted at that time. in retrospect, she really loves the era, though, because it marked the beginning of selene stepping outside of the typical idol box and the choreography is fun to perform despite its simplicity. petition for mirae to get felt up by female dancers in more of their choreographies.

version two of mirae was very ambitious and version three still is, but it’s more explicit in her background that she’s often suppressed her individual ambitions in favor of the group.

what does your muse think of their company and their group?

mirae loves selene. she very aware of the gift being able to debut within selene is. she’d been let go from her old company and dropped out of school by the time she became a gold star trainee and her family had nowhere near the money or network to secure a future for her. she had to secure it herself and she’d given everything to secure that as an idol, only for it to be ripped away. joining gold star and being put in selene was a saving grace. she would love the group to some extent even if she’d been put into a group she didn’t like, but selene’s concepts have fit her like a glove over the years. it could be argued their debut song was too sexualized, but, at the time, mirae loved it and felt it showed the best sides of her.

idol girl groups aren’t always given the chance to mature at the same pace as their members, but mirae is grateful that eleven years after debut, selene is still releasing music that doesn’t feel out of place for women in their late twenties and early thirties. she’s never grown tired of standing on stage as a member of selene and has no desire to see them disband in their lifetimes. she doesn’t know how the others feel, but she’d love to release an album when they’re in their sixties or seventies to prove they’ve still got it.

gold star is the entity that allowed selene to exist, so she’s grateful toward the company. she doesn’t have any particular negative feelings toward the company, but she’s also aware companies are companies and it doesn’t make sense to ever glorify one entirely. she has no plans to leave gold star at this time.

is your muse on their first contract or their second? if they’ve renewed, what were their feelings around that at the time and what were their hopes for their second contract? if they haven’t renewed, what are their current thoughts on the end of their eventual first contract?

mirae renewed her contract with gold star in 2017. she never seriously considered leaving the company, but she did take renewals seriously. it was around that time she realized she’d had her career for seven years and although selene had tons to show for it, mirae as an individual hadn’t shaped much of a name for herself. she’d acted in a well-received film in 2013 and gone viral for her stage presence, so her name had some weight behind it, but she’d seen others who debuted around the same time rise to cf queens or solo artists, meanwhile mirae was best known for being in selene to most.

it’s not that she didn’t want to be known for being in selene, but she’d been taking acting lessons the past four years even though she wasn’t acting and that seemed like a waste when it was something she had a passion for. when it came time for meetings about contract renewals, mirae expressed that she wanted to be able to pursue acting more consistently that she had been. it was an early step into allowing herself to have ambitions beyond selene, but a crucial one that it may have taken her longer to make had contract renewals not come into the equation.

she worried that their second contract would mean waning activities for selene as a group, which happened a little bit, but not as much as mirae had feared beforehand. right now, she’s happy with where her second contract has landed her and wouldn’t be opposed at all to signing on for a third in a few years time.

what are your muse’s goals and motivations?

when she first became an idol, her main goal was to make a living. she’d never really known financial security growing up and she was lucky to have what she did have. this, at times, conflicted with her own personal determination to do what made her happy. the topic had been a source of contention between her mom and dad for a long time, with her dad not contributing much financially to the household but being much happier with his job than his mom, who was the main source of income for the family. mirae was much closer to her dad and favored his approach to life, so whenever she thought too much about her own deep need for financial security, she doubted if she was pursuing idoldom with the right intentions, but she usually worked out eventually that if she really wanted money, becoming an idol under a fairly small company (as the one she first trained under was) was far from the most reliable way to go about that.

now, at twenty-seven, mirae is mostly driven by a desire to grow and challenge herself. she’s found financial security and it doesn’t look to be going away any time soon, so she wants to become someone who is very fulfilled personally instead. it’s a luxury she can worry about such a thing and, because of her history, she knows that. with the foundation of money solidly built, she’s turned her focus to building the foundation of a legacy she’ll have when the day comes she can’t act or sing or dance or model with the same energy and health she has now.

what is one conflict, internal or external, that your muse is currently dealing with, has recently dealt with, or will need to deal with in the future?

i’ve touched on this multiple times already, but mirae struggles with the idea that striking out too much on her own might somehow hurt selene. she’s not sure where the idea came from and if she sits down and thinks about it logically, it doesn’t make much sense, but it might come from a place of fear more than anything else. she’s dealt with hate comments for speaking her mind and being unapologetically herself for years now and she has pretty thick skin, so it’s not that, but dedicating herself to individual activities risks loneliness or not living up to the expectations set for her by all the praise she’s earned as a selene member. whenever she finds herself on the verge of a potential breakthrough as an individual, like with her acting debut or her viral fancam or parasite’s global success, she’s balked at it a little. she wants to stop doing that and embrace it if she gets another chance like that. she's trying to do that right now with her viral dance performance video from her youtube channel.

another conflict she’s dealing with is her relationship with her family, specifically her mom. mirae and her mom have never gotten along very well, and her mom never supported her in being an idol. even now that mirae’s successful, her mom doesn’t seem to approve and mirae can’t tell if it’s pride or genuine disapproval that causes that. she tries her hardest to be a good daughter to her mother like she is to her dad, but it comes much less easily to her because she’s never really gotten any kind of obvious approval from her.

if your muse has established career claims, what are their thoughts on their career so far? if they do not, how do they feel about not having individual activities yet? what would they like to do in the future, if anything? if they don’t have ambitions for individual activities, explain why.

mirae’s main area of established career claims is in acting. she made her acting debut in the film miracle in cell no. 7, which was a big success. after that, she didn’t take an acting role again for almost five years when she took on a supporting role in the film heart blackened. acting became more consistent after that with a role in parasite in 2019 and her first lead role in space sweepers in 2021. she’s only acted in films so far, although this year, she starred as the female lead in platinum’s “remember that” music video. 

in 2013, a fancam of her performing selene’s song “up & down” went viral for her charisma and stage presence. for a brief moment, she had a surge in popularity as attention turned to her skills as a performer and her visuals, but she turned down the offers that came her way for individual activities and the effect of that faded with time.

mirae’s long held an interest in fashion, so when her newfound global popularity following parasite got her an offer to attend paris fashion week in spring 2020, she took it. it confirmed for her that she wants to do more in the areas of fashion and modeling, whether through the gateway of her acclaim as an idol or actress or on her own merits as a model or style icon.

mirae’s solo activities have been spread out across her eleven year career and she hasn’t fully utilized them to the potential they had to propel her forward as hwang mirae and not only selene’s mirae, but she is proud of them and the work she’s been able to accomplish.

[miraefmdarchive]

headcanon #003: family relationship

word count: 467 words.

father (hwang seunghoon, born 1962): mirae’s closest familial relationship growing up was with her father. she’d spend much of her time as a kid with him and she gets her natural daydreamer tendencies from him. he always seemed to be happier than his mom and as a child, she didn’t analyze that too much, and only knew she naturally preferred the energy her dad gave off. she picked up some skills in photography from him and his stories inspired her interest in high-concept media. she’ll brag about him to anyone that will listen.

mother (baek yuna, born 1962): mirae and her mom have had a tense relationship for as long as she can remember. mirae is far more free-spirited than her mom, and it got her in trouble a lot as a child. the frequent fights she heard between her parents and mirae’s much closer relationship to her father only added to the distant. as mirae grew older and had more independence, their relationship only grew more strained. mirae choosing to go into idol training was when their relationship hit its lowest point. mirae tries her best to keep in touch with her mom to this dad because she feels she owes it to her because she’s still her mom, but holding a conversation requires more effort than it does with the rest of her family.

older brother (hwang woong, born 1991): mirae has a friendly relationship with her brother. it’s not exceptionally close, but they stay in contact and up to date on each other’s lives. mirae takes full advantage of her role as the annoying little sister at times, but woong is the more reserved of the two and balances her energy well. they’re on better terms now than they were as kids and woong makes sure to support silhouette to the best of his abilities. professionally, he works for an insurance company, but he’s good at drawing as a hobby and has drawn some fan art of silhouette’s comebacks over the years to show his support that mirae has shared with fans.

younger sister (hwang yerim, born 2001): mirae didn’t grow up being very close with her younger sister. they have an eight year age difference and mirae moved out of the house before yerim had even entered the double digits. mirae tries to be a good older sister to yerim, but they have a relationship more like cousins or a young aunt and a niece than a true sisterly bond.

step-father (kim jinhwan, born 1963): mirae doesn’t know her step-father that well since he married her mom once mirae was well into her idol career, but he’s nice enough. he seems to have a better marriage with her mom than her dad did, and she sees why, as their personalities are more similar.

[r6shippingdelivery]

I saw the "what scares you the most" reblog and I am wondering if you could extend the hc thing and let us know the deepest fears of all the ops :)

Oh boi, you don’t ask easy stuff, do you? Okay, I’ll give it my best shot! And a big thank you and hug to @todragonsart who’s been a huge inspiration and help, and my willing co-conspirator 💜

FBI

Ash: Failure, not being good enough at what she does. Combined with her impulsiveness and competitve nature, it can be a volatile mix. She also fears being treated differently than her colleagues just because she’s a woman.

Thermite: He’s afraid of his explosives. He knows how unstable they can be, and how easily they could cost someone’s life (his own or even worse, someone else’s). He nearly lost all sensibility in his hands the last time a charge went awry, he doesn’t want to contemplate what could happen if he messed up again. Still, he won’t let his fear change his life, or make him lose confidence in himself.

Pulse: Spiders. All those spindly legs and how they scuttle around, weaving that disgusting stuff… he can’t stand spiders, they make his skin crawl.

Castle: The hopelessness of life, how the bad always seems to outshine the good and the fear that his effort and choices won’t really make a difference.

SAS

Thatcher: The pass of time. All his life he’s been a soldier, he doesn’t know what he’ll be once he can’t serve anymore.

Sledge: Not measuring up to what people expect of him. He knows he’s expected to be Thatcher successor when the old man retires, and those are some really big shoes to fill in. He’s also afraid of not being able to protect his squad, his friends. Especially the younger two, who can be reckless and irresponsible at times or most of the time in Smoke’s case

Smoke: Being ignored and alone, that’s the reason he was/is a troublemaker, to catch people’s attention.

Mute: Memory loss. Aside of all the wealth of knowledge he has suddenly disappearing, are you still yourself without your memories?

GIGN

Montagne: Illness, like the one that runs in his family. He can fight terrorists, but he’s not so sure he could fight (and win) against cancer.

Twitch: She’s strongly empathetic, and she fears that could be her downfall, that  it could make her unable to act decisively in the middle of the action, that her emotions would paralyze her.

Doc: His choices costing innocent lives, even if it was by inaction (rather than direct action) on his part,

Rook: He fears his trust exercises makes him look gullible, aside from worrying that his skillset is insufficient compared to the other prodigies in Rainbow, that he’s too simple to be part of such an elite group.

Spetsnaz

Tachanka: He built himself an image of powerful, unflappable and unstoppable force, yet deep down he’s only human. He’s terrified people will see through his act and stop respecting him without that metaphorical mask.

Kapkan: The unstoppable marching of time that is slowly guiding us to inevitable death (according to that post you mention xD). In fact I think he’s terrified of his own feelings, of becoming too attached and emotionally dependant on other people. He craves it as much as he fears it.

Glaz: Going blind. He’s a soldier, a sniper, and an artist. Without his eyesight, he would be nothing.

Fuze: Despite his reputation, he’s terrified of accidentally killing someone with his gadget, be it a civilian or worse, one of his team mates.

GSG9

Jäger: He has PTSD from Outbreak, which for a time rendered him unable to pilot even. It also left him with an irrational panic to darkness, he sometimes thinks he can still hear those things scuttling closer and closer to him, while he’s alone in the dark, not knowing if anyone will come for him.

Bandit: He’s already experienced it, and would rather never have to lose someone close to him, knowing it was his fault. That’s why he tends to keep people at arm’s lenght. Note: I don’t think Cedrick is dead, but Bandit is too chicken to face him after the incident, considering their relationship irreparably damaged, aka lost.

Blitz: After being a soldier in the Kosovo war and witnessing its horrors, plus all that he’s seen working in a counter-terrorism unit, he’s afraid of discovering how far human depravity can go. Every time he’s deployed, he fears what new horrors he’ll see this time. However, that’s also the reason he wanted this job, to stop those things from happening.

IQ: She’s a perfectionist, and her obsessive nature and refusal to gice up are a result of her deep seated fear of failure. She defines her worth by her success, and if she doesn’t succeed, then what is she worth?

JTF2

Buck: He’s a direct and practical man, he fears being stuck in a position where he has to act diplomatically or deal with politicians, or even being a public face where his actions and words would be examined by many people.

Frost: She’s not good at reacting in front of surprise or unpredictable situations, plans meticulously because she fears getting caught off guard and not knowing what to do.

SEAL

Valkyrie: She fears physical injury. She already had to give up her dream of being an Olympic swimmer after the car accident that broke her arm, now the stakes of injury are much higher, and she could lose her job and new life. She also fears being treated differently or patronized just for being a woman on an almost purely male environment.

Blackbeard: He’s afraid of losing faith in his nation. If his country was wrong, he would start to question if what he’s done for the country was the right thing or not, and that terrifies him.

BOPE

Capitao: He fears helplessness, being again in a situation where he can’t do anything but wait for someone to help him, just as it happened when h was taken hostage all those years ago.

Caveira: Not being able to protect her family is her worst fear, and knowing how prone her brothers are to get in trouble, it’s not an unreasonable fear. She would do anything for them.

SAT

Hibana: She’s scared of losing her cultural identity. Tradition is important to her and her family, and yet she works away from home in a multicultural team, so she fears losing touch with her roots, forgetting who she is.

Echo: He’s terrified of Ying. Have you ever seen her angry? He has, and after all you can’t spell terrifying without ying.

GEO

Jackal: Failing his brother’s memory. If he can’t solve Faisal’s murder, what’s the use of his life? He can’t have his brother back, hell sometimes he can barely remember his face anymore, but he can bring him justice.

Mira: Fear of abandonment. After he mother left when she was a child, she always has that little voice in the back of her head whispering that everyone else will leave her too, just like mom did.

SDU

Ying: She has PTSD from being in a car crash. Took up driving, and quite recklessly, to feel that she was in control of the situation, not her fears. Yet every time she hears a loud crash noise or feels the car not responding as it should, she starts to feel the panic building up.

Lesion: Drowning. He’s a good swimmer, but during the incident in the oil tank, when he igested the oily water and started coughing, that was the first time he ever thought he would die, with his lungs filled with toxic waters, and it stuck with him.

GROM

Zofia: Following her father’s footsteps and alienating her family because of her job and the expectations she puts on others.

Ela: Due to how her childhood was, she’s always had that feeling in the back of her mind that she won’t ever be enough for the people close to her, not as good as others, not as worthy of love. She also fears she’ll live all her life under Zofia’s shadow, unable to be anything else but the Bosak little sister.

707SMB

Vigil: He’s afraid of loss, vulenaribility, emotions… In fact, it would be easier to list what he isn’t afraid of. Just check his bio and you’ll see.

Dokkaebi:  She fears to not be taken seriously due to his young age and image. That’s the reason she so viciously shows off her skills and exploits people’s weaknesses. She is ruthless out of fear.

CBRN

Lion: Himself, what he most fears is becoming again who he was before finding faith. He knows his pride and anger aren’t good either, but at least they keep him in check from spiralling down again.

Finka: Her illness, she’s terrified of the day she won’t be able to move, feels like it’s a countdown to the moment her life will be forever put on hold and she will only be a victim, someone to be pitied.

GIS

Maestro: He fears losing the ability to chose what he wants, of his family or Rainbow taking him for granted and wanting him to stay forever, and how could he say no to his loved ones even if he wanted something else? The guilt of leaving them would kill him.

Alibi: Stemming from witnessing her father being extorted by the mafia, she fears being taken advantage of, or witnessing again how someone close to her being in that position. She’s also afraid that in such situation her anger would override her common sense.

GSUTR

Clash: She’s afraid of her own volatile emotions, of acting rashly again like she did when she was part of the riots.

Maverick: Water, it triggers his PTSD, bringing back memories from when he was imprisoned and waterboarded during that time he was MIA. He avoids bodies of water as much as he can.

GIGR

Kaid: He’s a man who values honour highly, and fears that his moral integrity could be questioned, that someone would think him capable of taking bribes like the Commander that besmirched the reputation of the Fortress before he took over.

Nomad: Growing up in a privileged family came with certain expectations for her future, however, she preferred to enlist and travel constantly alone rather than remain home. She fears having to live a sheltered life again, having to marry and not being able to keep proving to everyone and herself that she’s capable of.

SASR

Mozzie: He’s afraid of being forgotten, and that’s the reason for his showman personality and his tendency to take risks.

Gridlock: She fears taking on more responsabilites than the ones she already has (eldest of 5 siblings, indebted family, taking care of the farm’s finances, and protective of her teammates), that’s why she keeps turning down promotions.

BONUS

Warden: He painstakingly built himself an aura of mystery and danger and proficiency, his biggest fear is people being able to see through all of that. He can’t bear the idea of someone degrading his merits.

Nokk: [REDACTED]

[khhunniewriting]

No Coincidence

As you got closer and closer to the semi-finals of Show Me The Money your fanbase grew. Not only were you gaining credibility as a rapper but also great friends and future business partners. Since you were basically an unknown underground rapper the biggest question on everyone’s mind was who you would end up signing with.

You were always sending love to Yoon Mirae making people think you wanted in with Feel Ghood. But then again you were in Zico & Dean’s team. “I swear I’m going to make my own company and sign you.”

You laughed, it was getting late and you were still caught up rehearsing. Coming up with your next performance for the show was proving to be difficult. Hangzoo had already gone home while you remained. “Give me a good contract Boss and I’ll sign.”

“Really?” Dean asked in shock. He too thought you were after Feel Ghood. 

“Honestly,” your hand pressed against your chest. “I’m open to all offers but I do have a list.” You shot a wink at Zico, “I’ll add you to the list Boss.”

“I like being called Boss,” Zico sat taller feeling like he had just been crowned king. From now on you should just call me Boss.”

“Show me the money first,” you shot back causing the filming staff and Dean to break out in laughter. 

\\\

Unfortunately, your next performance was your last.

You hugged Hangzoo and congratulated him for being the last member of the team. “You have to win this,” you encouraged while shedding a few stray tears. It was an emotional time, on one hand, you were sad to go but on the other, you had done your best and showed what you were made of.

Hangzoo nodded as held you. He really didn’t want to see you go while he stayed. Zico and Dean joined the hug and gave you words of encouragement that brought back your smile. 

On all sides, the other producers and remaining finalists waited to also bid you farewell. You were the final female rapper, your leaving meant the stage would be all men again. They would be losing their witty queen who had a comeback for everything. 

“We’re going to miss you Y/N,” Tiger JK gave you a final comforting pat on the back. He slid you a card making you gawk at both him and Bizzy.  “That’s my wife’s number.”

“Are you serious? I have Yoon Mirae’s number?” Finally, you had managed to get your favorite rapper to notice you. Everyone wanted to take a look but you quickly held it to your chest obstructing their view and jumping with joy. 

That’s how filming ended for you... or so you thought. 

As you walked out into the parking lot you ran into Jay Park. “Going home?” he asked rhetorically. He knew you used public transportation and wanted to offer you a ride. This just seemed like the proper thing to say first before doing so.

“Yeah,” you nodded.

“Even though you got eliminated today, you’re a winner and you should be sent home like one.”

You had to admit you blushed hard just in time for Dok2 to see it too. He came out almost out of nowhere like he was waiting for you somewhere in the shadows.

“What’s going on?” His question was directed at Jay who he thought had already left. 

“Just some business.”

“Business?” you asked now realizing what this was about. You were being scouted by CEO Jay Park. “You want me in H1ghr?” That was the label he seemed to be recruiting for recently but he shook his head.

“AOMG.”

Your hands clasped over your mouth to muffle your loud gasp. Could it be true? Were you really being offered the chance to be the second female signed to AOMG? “Like with Hoody and Simon and Gray-”

Jay laughed, “yes to everything.”

“Shit-” you muttered to yourself. First, you got an invitation to Feel Ghood and now one to AOMG. Could things get any better?

Zico approached the three of you with an amused smile. He had expected this. You were truly talented, a diamond in the rough that people were desperate to get their hands on and help shape into something even more amazing. “Is everyone trying to take my talent?”

“Your talent?” Dok2 asked completely unaware of your little conversation with Zico the week before since the episode had yet to air. None of the other producers even knew Zico planned to open up his own company. 

Zico nodded, “I am now officially CEO of KOZ Entertainment.”

No one was as taken back as you though. “Damn Boss, you really did it?” Because even if Zico had told you about it you didn’t expect him to really want you in his label. By no means was any of this expected.

Dok2 did not appreciate how close you had grown with Zico or how he towered over you as he showed you some pictures of his new office that was yet to be seen by anyone else. He, on the other hand, had to keep from conversing with you.

“Is Illionaire looking for their first female rapper?” Jay asked. Even though he was personal friends with Dok2 he didn’t know he was interested in you. When everyone else talked about you he seemed particularly quiet. He did, however, catch him staring a few times. “Were you eyeing her all this time?”

You nearly got whiplash from how quickly you turned to look at Dok2. 

With all eyes on him, Dok2 had no choice but to say something. “Depends on Y/N.”

The weight of his words made it hard to breathe. “Woah, okay I think I might be dreaming.” For once you had no response to offer.

“If this were a dream I don’t think you would have lost...” Jay pointed out.

“True,” you straightened up and looked each one of them in the eye. All three CEOs were skilled and respected in the community. There was no wrong answer but a decision like this couldn’t be made on the spot. “I appreciate all of this but I need to think about it for a while.” 

It was understandable, this was your future- the future of your career. “And as for the ride- I just don’t want to show favoritism to anyone so I’ll just go home the way I usually do.”

And just like any other day you walked down the street to catch the first bus that would take you to the subway station you frequented. All the while you thought of how you had ended your time on the show by crying. “God~” you whined pushing your forehead against the window making the person sitting beside you question your sanity. “Why did I have to go out like that-” your eyes widened as you saw the familiar Rolls-Royce Ghost of a certain CEO. 

You scowled in its direction as you stepped out off the bus. After only a couple of steps, you heard your phone begging to be dug out of the small red leather crossbody bag you carried daily. You knew he was watching you through his heavily tinted windows. So you rebelled, you shook your head refusing to answer.

Dok2 gave up. He stepped out in his Gucci bomber and tugged on his beanie. “You know I don’t like being ignored.” 

You sighed as people started to notice him and by default- you.  It was inevitable if he was around. “And I don’t like standing out in public.” Ironic- with your passion of performing and aspirations of breaking out of the underground scene into mainstream media. You turned him around hooking your arm with his and dragging him back to his car as quickly as possible- before anyone could act on the fact that you two were speaking to each other on the streets, 

Not forgetting his decorum, Dok2 opened the door for you. “You sure about that?” The way you auditioned for Show Me The Money told him otherwise.

Your eyes followed him as he made his way around the front of the car and into the driver’s seat. “Why are you mad?” Weren’t you the one who was supposed to be mad? He was the one who suddenly showed up.

“I’m not mad.” Correction- he was annoyed, maybe even irritated.

“Well I am,” you crossed your arms over your chest. He was jeopardizing everything you had worked hard for. “Joonkyung all I wanted was to prove myself. I wanted people to see my talent.” 

For the past two years that you and Joonkyung had been dating no one had managed to find out.  At first, it wasn’t intentionally meant to be a secret. It was just you two trying things out without putting pressure or having to explain anything to anybody. Now you were used to it. The two of you were becoming increasingly serious as your name was starting to gain some recognition.

That’s why you decided to audition for Show Me The Money- before anyone could pin your success on your relationship with Joonkyung. You intentionally kept your audition a secret from him, chose a different team, and kept your distance from him to avoid speculation.

“You proved yourself,” Joonkyung reached for your hand holding it up to his lips. “Baby you did good.”

His sincerity warmed your heart but you couldn’t smile. Instead, you leaned over the center console to place your forehead on his shoulder. “I lost Joonkyung~” your voice came out whinier than you intended but dammit you were sad. “All I wanted was to win so I could join Illionaire.”

Dok2 wrapped his arm around you as you began to cry. “If you wanted to join all you had to do was ask.”

“Ugh,” you pushed off of him with a groan. “You don’t get it. I don’t want you to just get me because I’m your girlfriend. I want to earn it.”

“You have earned it.” The whole reason he met you was because Hyoeun told him about you. He had seen you at one of your shows at a bar that was well known for its hip-hop performances. “I didn’t just run into you when we met.”

“What do you mean?” you asked intrigued by where this was going. The remaining 50% of your makeup that had managed to survive your tears at the filming was now gone. You dabbed at the edges of your eyes trying to regain composure.

After two years he was finally confessing how he had admired you from afar before chasing you. How he had intentionally booked Hyoeun and Hash Swan at an event you were performing at just so he could have a way to get close to you. “I liked your music, then I liked you too.”

“Babe-” you cut yourself off as you hid your face in his neck. You hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go or he’ll see how hard you were blushing. 

Dok2 didn’t care, “So you can forget about the other offers now.” He pulled you over to his side making you sit on his lap. Space was tight as you tried to keep from pushing any buttons. 

There was something strange in the way he said those words. It seemed like he was happy, relieved even. “Well, I have to at least talk to them. I didn’t even get to congratulate Jiho.”

“Jiho?” Dok2 tilted his head giving you a questioning look. He wondered when you started calling him by his name. 

“Yeah, he’s my friend- very funny. One time he and Hyuk-”

“You’re friends with him too?”

You nodded, “the episode didn’t air yet but we went to the arcade together as a group.” The arcade was your all-time favorite place to go. When Zico and Dean took the team you were the most excited. “They’re all pretty cool.”

“Babe you can’t just tell your boyfriend how cool other guys are. Especially when I just saw you being with them for months while you ignored me.”

“I had to ignore you.”

“That’s not the point.”

“You can’t be jealous.”

“Why not?” Of course he was jealous. You were beautiful, talented, and potentially single to everyone else. He had to think about the possibility of someone trying to make a move on you. 

“Because I’m already your girlfriend.” The thought of Joonkyung being jealous never even crossed your mind. "You're always so confident and sure of yourself. Do you honestly think I would leave you for Jiho or Jay?”

“I never said anything about Jay.”

You sheepishly smiled, ”Guess I was just thinking about him.” When you saw the flash of jealousy you confirmed he was indeed the jealous type when it came to you. Instead of holding it against him you put him at ease with a kiss. “Just kidding~”

-end-

A/N: Yeah so what do you guys think about CEO Zico and KOZ?

[superfreakerz]

Magic Potion

This was a request from @lucy-h-lover​ :)

"Magic Potion"

Rated T.

Summary: Lucy and Natsu have been dancing around their feelings for each other and Mira is fed up. With a plan up her sleeves, it's time to set things into motion.

Magic Potion

To the eyes of everyone else at Fairy Tail, it was just any other typical day. Gray was stripping while Juvia fawned over him from afar. Gajeel, Levy, and Pantherlily were chatting it up at their usual table. Cana was cradling a whole barrel of booze to herself, refusing to share with anyone. Natsu and Lucy were staring at each other with longing in their eyes only when the other one wasn't looking, dancing around their feelings for each other and not making any progress. Again, typical.

But to the eyes of Mirajane, it was soon going to be an interesting day.

After the battle with Zeref and Acnologia, many of Mira's ships had gotten together, or at least made tremendous progress. Gajeel and Levy were a known item around the guild, and there were even rumors of a baby in the oven. Gray and Juvia, while their relationship didn't hold a title, made it very clear that they were together. Even her little brother, Elfman, was making strides in his relationship with Evergreen.

All that left was her biggest ship of all, the one that she had been rooting for since day one.

Natsu and Lucy.

It had been over a year since the battle, and the guild was in a long, surprising status of peace. Lucy had won an award for her novel and everything was going fine. So why were they not acting on their feelings yet?

Hell, the two had been closer than any of the other ships that Mira had, and had known each other longer. Well, besides Erza and Jellal, but that one was complicated. There was no reason that Natsu and Lucy couldn't have at least confessed. There was nothing holding them back anymore!

And Mira was fed up.

The take-over mage watched from her place at the bar, absentmindedly drying a glass. If everything went according to plan, then the two should be confessing their love for each other any second now.

It was the day before that Mira had finally lost her patience and visited a small shop on the outskirts of Magnolia. It was a shop that specialized in magic potions, some of them unapproved by the council. Which explained why the shop was empty and rundown looking. And why the owner looked pretty sketchy…

But none of that stopped Mira from buying a particular potion.

"What did you do?" someone asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Mira glanced at Cana, who was the only one sitting at the bar. She was staring at her with narrowed eyes, knowing that she was up to something.

"Oh, nothing!" Mira hummed.

"Don't 'oh nothing' me. I know that look. You did something. Which couple are you messing with today?"

"I'm not messing with them! I'm helping them!"

"Your idea of helping them always backfires on you, you do realize that don't you?"

"Well this plan is foolproof!" Mira exclaimed with a huff, crossing her arms.

Cana rolled her eyes. "Sure it is. So, what did you do this time?"

"I bought a potion."

"A potion?"

"Yep! One that'll make Natsu and Lucy be more open with each other and confess their love!"

Cana's eyes widened, her jaw dropping to the floor. "Mira! Don't you remember what happened when Juvia tried to give Gray a love potion? She ended up affecting everyone and it was a total disaster!"

"This potion is different, though!" Mira replied with a pout. "I made sure to take caution against that sort of thing. The owner said that it only affects those with preexisting feelings towards each other!"

Cana sighed, shaking her head. Judging from the way Mira kept her eyes glued on Natsu and Lucy, it was no doubt that she had somehow slipped them the potion already. Knowing the devilish girl, she probably slipped it in their drinks. At this point, there was really no other option than to watch what happened.

Meanwhile on the other side of the guildhall, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy were talking about the exceed's most recent attempt to win Charle's heart when Natsu and Lucy's eyes went wide. Their eyes flashed a purplish hue before returning to normal. They shook their heads, a wave of dizziness washing over them for a brief second.

"Natsu? Lucy?" Happy called out. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're good, buddy," Natsu answered, feeling fine again. "That was weird, though. I just got dizzy out of nowhere."

"Me too," Lucy added, cupping her chin in thought. "Oh well. I feel better now, so I guess it doesn't matter."

Lucy went to take a bite of her food when she heard Natsu scarfing down his own. Bits and pieces of the food flew around, landing on her clothes and in her hair. A vein ticked in the girl's forehead, watching in disgust as the boy across from her ate. She had seen him eat like this a million times since she'd met him and had somewhat gotten used to it. She usually ignored it, knowing that he wasn't going to change how he ate. But this time, for some reason, she chose to comment on it.

"You eat like a wild animal," Lucy said, glaring at him. "It's disgusting."

"It makes the food taste better this way," Natsu replied, his words distorted as his mouth was full. He glared right back at the girl. "At least I don't eat like a pigeon like somebody."

"Huh? I do not eat like a pigeon!"

"Yeah you do! It takes us forever to do anything because it'll take you years just to eat an apple! In fact, it takes you forever to do anything!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe your hour long showers! Hate to break it to ya, Luce, but the reason you have to bust your ass on jobs all the time is because your rent is so high because of how much water you use! You could build your own aquarium with how much water you use!"

Lucy crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Well I can say the same for you and food! Guess what, Natsu! You eat enough to feed an entire army!"

And right before everyone's eyes, the two began to bicker. It wasn't their normal kind of bickering, though. It was on the verge of an actual argument.

Mira watched, confused. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was the complete opposite of what was supposed to happen.

"Hey, Mira," Cana started, never taking her eyes off of the arguing couple. "What exactly did the guy say the potion was supposed to do?"

"He said that it'll make people with preexisting feelings towards each other be open with each other and confess their feelings."

"Did he say that they would confess their feelings, or is that what you assumed would happen?"

"Well…"

"Because they're definitely being open with each other, but not about the good things."

"…I may have assumed that it would make them confess."

Cana sighed. "Remember what I told you, Mira? These plans always tend to backfire on you."

Lucy slammed her hands on the table, rising from her seat. Their fight had grown in volume and had gained the attention of everyone in the guild. It had also went from being about petty things to much deeper issues that neither of the two never really talked about before.

"You have no right to say any of this to me!" she shouted, glaring at her partner. "Not when you up and left me for a whole year!"

Everyone in the guild winced, knowing that it was going to be hard for Natsu to crawl his way out of that one.

The boy stood up, too, knocking his chair back on the floor.

"I left so I could go train! I needed to get stronger so I could protect you and everyone else!" he shot back.

"I didn't ask for you to protect me!"

"No, but I'm your partner! That's my job!"

"No, your job is to be by my side and help me through my dark times! Which is what I wanted to do for you too, but you didn't even give me the chance! You just left! And all you left behind was some crappy note!"

Lucy was panting after finishing her rant, tears welled in her eyes. It had been over a year since that incident had happened. After they gathered everyone up and picked up where they left off, she thought that she had gotten over it. Turns out she didn't.

"Why're you even bringing this up now?" Natsu asked. "I thought we were past this."

"Past this? How could we be past something you didn't even apologize for?"

"I don't need to apologize! You should understand why I left!"

"I understand why you left! What I don't understand is why you had to go without me! Or why you didn't at least say goodbye in person!"

Losing her patience, Lucy turned on her heel and headed out of the guild. She didn't know where all of this was coming from. They were doing just fine, and all of the sudden she was spilling her feelings about everything. She needed to get away and calm down.

Natsu picked up his chair and sat back down, a frown spreading over his face. He was confused. Ten minutes ago, they were laughing and having a good time like always. Now, they were fighting. What the hell happened?

Cana turned to Mira. "Well, you better hope that this turns around soon. Otherwise, you may've just destroyed your favorite ship."

An hour passed by slowly as Lucy laid on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She had calmed down a bit since then, but now she missed Natsu. It'd been a while since they had gotten into any arguments. She always hated fighting with him. He was her best friend, and so much more.

Before she could dwell on her thoughts any longer, the girl heard her window crack open. In seconds, a flash of pink went past her eyes as Natsu jumped through the window.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, jolting up into a sitting position. Her lips curled downwards into a frown, unsure of what was going to happen. Were they going to fight again?

Natsu didn't turn to look at her. His hands were balled into tight fists, his body rigid.

"You're right," he said quietly. "I never apologized."

"Huh?"

Natsu turned around to look at her, a frown resting on his face. "I never apologized for leaving without saying a real goodbye. I'm sorry, Lucy."

Tears crept its way back into Lucy's eyes as she shook her head. "I'm the one that's sorry. I understand why you left. Everyone copes differently. Yeah, it hurt, but we decided to move past that. I shouldn't be bringing it up out of nowhere."

Natsu's lips curled up into a small smile. "How about we both just accept each other's apologies?"

Lucy mirrored his expression. "That sounds good to me."

The boy sat on the bed next to her, their thighs flushed against each other. Their hearts were thumping wildly in their chests, threatening to break free. Things were right between them again.

"You really scared me back there, you know that?" Natsu asked, nudging the girl beside him.

"What do you mean?" Lucy questioned with an arched brow.

"I really thought you were gonna be mad at me forever and not be my partner anymore."

Lucy nudged him back. "You should know by now that's never going to happen. You're stuck with me as your partner, whether you like it or not."

Natsu grinned at her. "Oh, I like it. I like it a lot, actually."

The girl's cheeks turned pink as she turned her head away from them. She always became a blushing mess during times like these in which Natsu would suddenly say something flirty. She always wondered if he meant to come off that way or if he was just dense.

Her mouth seemed to move on its own.

"Do you mean you like me?" Lucy, unaware of the potion that was slipped in her drink earlier, slapped her hands over her mouth immediately, her eyes the size of golf balls. "What was that? I didn't even mean to say that! It just came out!"

Natsu, having drank the same potion, shook his head. "Not like. It's more than that, you weirdo."

The two looked away from each other, their cheeks set ablaze. Lucy fumbled with her fingers while Natsu tugged on his scarf. Finally, after years of dancing around each other's feelings, they were out in the open.

Now what?

"Umm…" Lucy started, not knowing how to continue. "Do you want to go back to the guild?" She needed something to distract herself from her racing heart.

"Sounds good," Natsu replied.

So, together they walked back to the guild. Only this time, Natsu mustered up the courage to try something new. With a shaky hand, he intertwined his fingers with Lucy's. Both of their palms were sweaty, and with the potion circulating through their body, they both commented on it. Luckily, that lightened up the mood and made things less awkward for them.

Whatever happened next was going to be new, and perhaps a little awkward for them. But it was a new adventure they were both excited on taking.

"That shirt makes your boobs look good."

"Natsu! Why would you even say that!"

"I honestly have no idea! Things just keep comin' outta my mouth without me wanting them to!"

Mira and Cana watched as Natsu and Lucy entered the guild again. This time, things were noticeably different. Instead of pining over the other when they weren't looking, they were actually looking at each other, smiling and blushing. Something happened while they were gone. Something good.

Mira grinned cheek-to-cheek.

"Looks like I won't have to kill the guy that sold me that potion after all!"

[edo-salandria]

FanFic: SENSORY OVERLOAD

SUMMARY: Natsu and Lucy have been targeted. A mysterious tattoo appears on both of them that changes their relationship in ways they could never have imagined.

RATED: M

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Also can be read on: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12234990/1/Sensory-Overload  (Up to Chapter 16)

Prologue ; Chapter 1 ; Chapter 2 ; Chapter 3 ; Chapter 4 ; Chapter 5 ; Chapter 6 ; Chapter 7 ; Chapter 8 ; Chapter 9 ; Chapter 10 ; Chapter 11 ; Chapter 12 ; Chapter 13 ; Chapter 14 ; Chapter 15 ; Chapter 16

 CHAPTER 8

'I'm getting sick of this shit. If these people weren't family I would pound their faces into next week. What gives them a right to talk about her like that.' Natsu followed the path leading away from the guild hall with no real idea of where he would go. He played the incidents over in his head 'Freed thinks I'm a idiot, hell, everyone thinks I'm a damned idiot… Hah, like I don't know what a woman is, I know more about the women in this guild then any of those horny bastards. They're the idiots who get their asses handed to them when they're too stupid to know when to steer clear.' Natsu snickered to himself as he walked to the eastern edge of the city still lost in his thoughts.

'You know what, the girls aren't any different. If only the guys knew what those ladies talk about. Maybe the Master should install a fresh pantie dispenser in the women's room. Hell, while he's at it he could install a used pantie dispenser in the guy's room and friggin' recycle.' The cold wind picked up a bit but Natsu barely felt the chill, he was too angered and frustrated to feel it. He continued to follow the path into the woods knowing it would eventually lead him home. 'And then there is Lucy, that woman will be the death of me. She thinks I haven't figured this out, that I couldn't handle knowing. Maybe she is the dense one who doesn't understand love. Why has she been hiding her feelings for me, I just don't understand. Ya I know she has always been physically attracted to me, she could never deny that without lying. The smell of her gives everything away. But why hide any of it?' The truth of it was that he was tuned into her heady scent of amber and vanilla with a little bit of something that reminded him of the forest, it told him everything he needed to know. When to give her space, when to have Mira make chicken soup for the colds she was on the brink of getting, and even when to leave chocolate covered shortbread in her cupboard before she even realized she craved them.

Natsu's train of thought was broken up by the sound of a growl just at the path's bend up ahead of him. "Well hey there, sounds like you wanna play!" Natsu squinted to see what kind of beast was behind the low growl. Out from the undergrowth stalked a single wolf, eyes glaring yellow. As if on cue the Dragon Slayer's hand fisted up and effortlessly produced brilliant flames. He could feel the fire spread through him like a wave of calmness that focused his scattering thoughts and emotions. For Natsu the destructive behavior of combat was what made him feel at peace. It was how he learned to cope with his troubles, his magic soothed him and quieted his mind and that is just what he needed at the moment, a good fight. Natsu and the wolf were assessing each other and for every growl the wolf made he returned it in kind. They stalked around each other waiting for the other to initiate the fight. The wolf started baring teeth and in an instant lunged at Natsu. The beast let out a yelp when he landed a solid blow the wolf's chest as he twisted out of the way. The dance continued for a while, he could have ended it quickly but he need the fight, he was focused. So much so that he didn't even sense Happy flying at mach speed toward him.

"STOOOOP! YOU'RE HURTING LUCY!" at the sound of Lucy's name Natsu whipped his head around toward Happy's voice from behind him. Before he could respond the wolf took the opportunity and charged Natsu. Heeding Happy's warning he stopped using his magic and instead used sheer physical power to wrestle the wolf. He met Happy's eyes quickly with a look that told the cat he needed to elaborate and fast "SHE CAN FEEL YOUR FLAMES". It was at that moment the wolf decided to bite into his forearm that was protecting his neck.

Lucy watched through blurry eyes as the cat raced off to find Natsu. She laid on the ground trying to focus and take control of her situation. 'I am not actually on fire… this is just a ghost of his magic.' Despite the searing pain she felt in her hand and throughout her body she eventually managed to rise from the ground and slowly get herself standing upright again 'I have to find that idiot and tell him to stop before I melt from the inside out!' she stumbled at first trying to compose herself. Gingerly she made her way to the forest edge and into the woods, she knew she was going the same direction as Natsu and then Happy since she could smell their scents intermingled. As she started moving a little more easily she finally felt the intense burning heat die out in her body. She was only momentarily relieved because no sooner did she let out her sigh of relief the she felt a very sharp and very intense pain in her forearm. She clutched it with a painful scream and she paled at the realization that Natsu got hurt almost like something bit him she felt her adrenaline kick into high gear and she bolted toward the new scent of blood.

As Lucy rounded the corner she quickly assessed the scene before her. Natsu was wrestling a wolf and he looked like he had the upper hand despite the blood that was covering his forearm. At their back was another wolf running toward him about to attack, there was no time to call one of her spirits so she went on pure instinct and charged at the wolf and with all her weight she tackled the wolf before it could reach its intended prey. 'What the HELL was I thinking!' was all she could ask herself as she found herself tangled with a stunned wolf. She managed to scramble to a position where she could effectively kick the wolf back. Yelping at the swift kick it ran back a few hundred yard to regroup. She looked toward Natsu to find that the wolf he was wrestling was doing the same thing.

Scrambling to Natsu's side Lucy yelled toward Happy who was hovering with a dumbfounded look on his face, "GO, GET HELP AND MAKE SURE THEY BRING WENDY!" the cat snapped to attention and flew off, he was still to shocked to even reply after seeing Lucy tackle a wolf. Natsu was panting heavily and wincing at the pain in his arm when Lucy grabbed it gently to look at the wound. Throwing her and unconvincing smile "I'm fine Luce, barely a scratch" she looked into his eyes and huffed "You can't lie to me you know." He was going to retort with a snide remark but they both realized that the number of wolves cautiously surrounding them swelled from two to five. Glancing at her injured partner, she started to feel the familiar warmth building up "Natsu, don't - I can't handle the pain of you goin' all out on these guys". She felt the anger and frustration that his face reflected and rapidly tried to think of something that would beat the wolves without making Natsu feel like he couldn't protect her. She understood that it was one of his weaknesses, and he always took it very hard when he couldn't protect someone he loved and cared for. She quickly remembered the sensation she felt as they had entered the guild hall earlier and she knew the answer.

With a wide grin on her face she looked him in the eyes and raised her eyebrows a little "So, you wanna try something a little different?" Natsu looked surprised and wasn't sure what to answer but he didn't have to, Lucy started talking rapidly "Look, I am super sorry and I should have told you earlier. Our senses and emotions are linked. Remember earlier when you wanted to throw up sparkles? Ya, that was my magic you were feeling. I'm really sorry I just thought you would torture me to no end and… I'm sorry"

"Luce, what do you take me for?" a devious smile spread across his face "So wait, you get all tingly and vibrat-y when you use your magic?"

"SHUT IT, this is not the time or the place"

"Does that mean there could be?"

"Damnit Natsu - the wolves are getting closer and all you want to do is tease me?"

With perfect timing he managed a wink and responded "Always!" he paused a moment "So, does what you want to try get rid of these wolves?"

Lucy was exasperated at this point "YES now FOCUS. We can feel each other's magic right? Which means we can be in sync with it, like a Unison Raid."

"AWESOME, so what do I do?" he could barely contain his excitement at trying to use his magic in a new and unusual way.

Lucy let out a brief sigh "I don't know - but it will work. I know it will. I'll call Taurus and as I do that you focus your magic to his Axe, got it?"

Natsu nodded firmly, believing that they could pull this off. The wolves were starting to get closer and their time was running out. He watched as she made quick work of removing Taurus's key from her ring. She leaned over him and grabbed his hand lacing their fingers together. Awkwardly she tried reaching over to place the key into their joined hands. She looked over their eyes locked onto each other but neither one of them looked away. Without even thinking or breaking his gaze he wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her into a straddling position on his lap. Lucy flushed instantly at the compromising position and she saw it reflected back at her in his face. She looked down as he took the key from her hand and watched and slid between their connected palms. He reached back around her waist and pulled her in a little closer adjusting her weight more comfortably. He gently intertwined his fingers with hers and she gasped as she instantly felt the warm signature of his magic build and mix with the hum of her own. Her concentration broke only momentarily when she heard him suck in a deep breath as a result of him feeling the mixing of their magic.

Natsu couldn't help but stare at the beautiful woman in his lap, he was enthralled with the sensation that was snaking out from his core. The fire in his belly mixed with her ethereal hum was almost too much for him to handle. He ran through a gamut of emotions from amazement, love, devotions and lastly desire. In that moment he wanted to close the distance and and brush his lips against hers.

Lucy looked down at the man in front of her, the play of emotions she felt and saw run across his face was too much for her to handle so she shut her eyes. She could no longer be distracted and had to call her spirit before the wolves attacked. "Gate of the Golden Bull, I open

thee! Taurus". In that moment the combination of magic created vortex of wind and fire that surrounded them as the Bull started to materialized. As the initial burst of magic died down she was afraid to open her eyes, she feared that what she felt in those moments would not be reflected genuinely in her Dragon Slayer's eyes and that it was only her own feelings she experienced. She felt him pull her down closer to him she held her breath anxiously. There was a warm breath near her ear, he whispered "That was amazing." Her body's response was immediate as she felt the low familiar stirring of arousal and froze.

"Lucy you're lookin' pretty hoooot today. My axes isn't the only thing on fire for youuuuuuu." Lucy leaped to her feet and saw that Taurus's axes was glowing and engulfed in flames. She welcomed the rush of adrenaline that pushed away her embarrassment and commanded "Taurus get rid of these wolves." the oversized spirit looked over his shoulder "Anything for you miss Luuucy." As the wolves approached and lunged toward the bull they were each taken out with a swift blow from Taurus's flaming twin-headed axe. Natsu watched with envy, as the humanoid bull dispatched the wolves, the mix of fire and celestial magics made fast and easy work of it. With the last of the wolves lying at Taurus's feet he looked to Lucy with his lecherous eyes "I'm ready for my reward Miss Lucy, hows about a little smoooch?" She could only roll her eyes "Not happening you perv!" and with that Taurus's gate closed and he dematerialized.

Lucy's attention went immediately back to the wound on Natsu's arm. She knelt down in front of him grabbing a piece of his torn waistcoat, she was ready to rip a piece of fabric loose to wrap his wound "Luce, I told you I'm fine. Wendy's probably on her way so no biggie."

She went ahead and ripped a length of fabric anyway and began wrapping the gaping wound in his forearm "Ya I know, but the smell is just making me nauseous. I don't know how you ever put up with it." she gave him an almost sorrowful look "how do you even manage it all?"

"Manage what?" Natsu had knew exactly what he met but but he played dumb as always.

Lucy sighed as she was collecting her thoughts, as she was going to elaborate on her question she smelled someone coming. Quickly looking at Natsu with a questioning eye he nodded at her as if he was reading her mind and he confirmed "It's Wendy."

"Let's talk later then." Lucy looked back toward the curve in the path and saw the petite little bluenette running toward them with Happy and Carla flying closely behind. She felt a wave of relief both for the help that was coming and the distraction from answering the questions and talking about the inevitable.

[cvrnewsdirectindia]

Shahid Kapoor on Mira Rajput’s debut: ‘She has all her life to figure out so many things for herself’ | bollywood

It’s not every day that your film makes close to Rs 280 crores, that too, only in India. Especially, for Shahid Kapoor, the experience is absolutely new, or as he says, “it’s a virgin territory for me.” But along with bouquets for Kabir Singh, came brickbats as well, for his “faulty character”. “But there is a certain section of people, who had propaganda of sorts that they talked about,” he says. We catch up with the actor for a freewheeling chat about the criticism, success, being a family man and more. Excerpts:

Kabir Singh is the biggest hit of the year so far. Has the feeling finally sunk in?

Yes! Weirdly, the first thing that I sensed was a feeling of being relaxed. And then, I also felt very emotional and undeserving of such numbers because it’s not as if I worked five times harder on this film and still, it’s making much more money. God has been very kind, and I’m very thankful to people. It has changed something inside me as far as my relationship with audiences is concerned. Now, more than anyone else, I want to work for them — be it my own reasons, family or my belief in cinema. I feel like keep giving them films which they’ll really enjoy. I don’t want to let them down.

Shahid Kapoor seen with his wife Mira Rajput in Mumbai on Aug 24, 2019. ( IANS )

At the same, the film and your ‘flawed’ character has been criticised by a section of people. Does that still bother you?

You know, it’s strange that no one questioned Shah Rukh Khan’s character from Baazigar (1993) when he loved both the sisters at the same time. I feel we’re coming of age with the kind of films we’re making, and our cinema is coming closer to reality, but with Kabir Singh, I saw an opposite kind of reaction. I found it a little hypocritical and surprising too since the character that Leonardo DiCaprio played in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) — who I feel had a lot more issues than Kabir — is celebrated and applauded. And the same people are dissing Kabir Singh. Interestingly, people — at mass level — loved both the films.

As award season kick start, do you expect nominations or winning awards in the wake of all the talks?

Let’ see. We have seen that the audience has matured and has come of age. Now, we will see if other people have also grown up or they are still prejudiced. Time will tell. One thing’s for sure: the kind of love Kabir Singh has got can’t be disputed, and the film is driven by the character. So the writing is on the wall. Beyond that, nothing is in my control.

There’s a lot of mystery around your next film. Why haven’t you signed anything new?

My life is maintaining a mystery with me (laughs). I am dying to tell everyone what I’ll do next as it’s the best time to announce it. I was trying to find a film even before Kabir Singh released as I don’t like to sit at home. But I just didn’t like anything enough. Now, a lot of things have started coming so, I’ve to go through everything. Also, it took me a month or so to absorb everything, and understand what it means. After all, pehli baar hua hai. But there are things that I have liked. Hopefully, we will soon make an announcement.

  It has been four years since you got married [to Delhi girl, Mira Rajput]. And you put it beautifully in an interview that ‘even though it’s just been four years, a large part of who I am has been formed since the day we got married…’

It’s like a wild horse that used to be free in the wild. But for four years, he has been domesticated. So, my self-image has completely changed. I’m a domesticated horse now (laughs). On a serious note, your sense of identity becomes different before marriage as compared to when you have children and wife to come back home to. Then, it’s not just ‘you’ anymore, but more about ‘us.’ I think once you get there, then it’s difficult to get back to ‘you’ in terms of how you even think about life. Your thoughts and decision make a transition from ‘I, me and myself’ to ‘us’. I think that’s a big change.

Of late, there’s a lot of curiosity about whether Mira will get into showbiz or not. You take?

Wherever, whatever, however – that’s completely her decision. We got married and within first year, we had our first baby and then two years later, we had another one. So, right now, it’s difficult for her to give her time completely to anything else rather to herself. I can see how dedicated she is as a mother, and she is completely consumed by that. But she is just 25. In another year or so, she would have taken care of an extremely important, big part [giving all the attention to the babies]. She has all her life to figure out so many things for herself. Then she can do what she wants to.

You have tasted a blockbuster hit such as Kabir Singh after being an actor for 15 years. Do you think it will change the course of your career?

Just the fact that it happened, has already changed the course. The platform has been provided to me. Now, if I take this great opportunity and screw it up, then that’s my fault. But I will try not to (laughs). The opportunity has been given. Also, I strongly feel there’s never a wrong time for the right thing. Whenever it comes, it’s the right time.

Coming to all the criticism that Kabir Singh received, would all the talks make you think twice about taking up a similar character in the future?

Not really! Today, I feel liberated. Now, I know my relationship is with the audience. And if they got it, that matters the most. Everything else is just noise. It gives you clarity ke main yeh films kiske liye bana raha hoon. To me, the most exciting part about cinema is to play all kinds of characters. I was never obsessed with being this perfect man whom every woman wants. I’m here to play characters, good and bad, to be loved or hated for the traits of the characters. It’s just so difficult to make people hate you. And the fact that Kabir was hated in some parts, I take it as a compliment as it means I possibly did a good job with it.

Why do you think all the criticism has been unfounded?

For me, it’s a fundamental thing. You can’t impose your personal morality on a character, as he/she has its own morality. If I say that only a certain kind of film should and shouldn’t be made or watched, then I am saying that the entire country knows less than me. Then, you’re putting yourself on a pedestal. And it’s like living in a bubble of being intellectually superior. That bubble burst with Kabir Singh as people were like, ‘I am an adult and I will decide what I like.’ Just because they love a film, doesn’t mean they like the bad behaviour of a character. In the ’70s, when Mr [Amitabh] Bachchan played the angry young man, did people start shooting the cops? No, people don’t do that.

What’s your personal take on your character?

Did I like the way Kabir behaved in certain parts of the film? Not at all! But an actor’s job is to play a character without being afraid. It’s a coming-of-age of cinema wherein you have to show things the way they are. If there’s a problem in the society, what’s the first thing that you need to do? You must acknowledge that there is a problem and then address it. The job of films is to mirror life and show what happens and what can happen. If people today are saying that this kind of behaviour against a woman is unacceptable, it’s great that Kabir Singh has fuelled such a conversation.

Also read: War box office collection day 4: Hrithik Roshan-Tiger Shroff film collects Rs 124 cr, beats Salman Khan’s Bharat

There has also been chatter about your part being misogynist…

Yes, there were people who said that, ‘Kabir is a misogynist.’ But for me, he was badly-behaved across the board, starting with his grandmother. If he was very nice to men and badly behaved with women, then I’d have agreed that he is misogynistic. But his prejudice is not on the basis of gender since he has an anger management problem. He just loses control. So, that term was very propaganda-ish. I didn’t see any relevance in it. People, who watched the film from a neutral point of view, understood it. But those who came in with prejudice, didn’t see it in totality.

Recently, I came across a scene of Raj Kapoor and Nargis where they are having a very passionate fight. And I was like, ‘something like this got made at that time?’ So, I was very surprised that in today’s times, when people are watching Sanju, in which he puts a commode cover around his wife’s neck as a mangalsutra , why is everyone attacking only this film. It felt a bit strange. But I am happy to hear from people that they didn’t like the film. No issues! But it’s unacceptable that you tell other people not to like this film or that this film can’t be made.

In spite of everything, right now, how do you feel?

I really believe a lot in destiny. A lot of people say, ‘oh, you waited 15 years for a hit this size,’ but maybe, if I hadn’t waited for so long for this, I wouldn’t truly appreciate and respect it. Honestly, I feel failures make you a man. Even boys can do well when success is under their feet but when that carpet of success get pulled away, only the men can stand up and survive. The boys get knocked out. So, I feel all the failures that I have seen have made me who I am today. I am very thankful for the fact that it took so long for success to come my way, as I know it could have never happened.

Talking about fatherhood [with kids, Misha and Zain], what has it done to you?

You forget yourself to a large degree since you are so much in love with your kids, and just observing how they grow every day. It’s so fascinating and beautiful that you feel very satisfied. Nahi to life mein it’s like, ‘mujhe yeh karna hai, mujhe woh karna hai.’ Also, when kids are young, they are available to you. So, I would want to spend as much time as possible with them because I know after a point, they won’t have time for me, even if I have all the time for them. So, sitting at home after Kabir Singh was possibly a good thing as I got time for my children.

Rumours are floating around that you have increased your price…

There’s always something floating around (laughs). I have to sign a film first for any kind of price conversation to happen. But the fact of the matter is that obviously, my price will change, simply because it’s [the industry] driven by commerce. But let me sign a film before you start assuming.

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First Published: Oct 06, 2019 11:26 IST

from CVR News Direct https://cvrnewsdirect.com/shahid-kapoor-on-mira-rajputs-debut-she-has-all-her-life-to-figure-out-so-many-things-for-herself-bollywood/

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SWF 18- Final Chapter

"Sailing with Fire"

Rated M for smut.

Summary: Lucy is in desperate need of a break from the mage life and embarks on a two week cruise alongside her partner, Natsu. What they don't know is that it's a cruise designed specifically for couples. With no other choice than to pretend they are married, the two try to enjoy the cruise the best they can, all the while dealing with uncharted feelings.

Read earlier chapters on FF.net

A heavy yawn escaped Lucy's lips as she trudged towards the guild that morning. Nearly four weeks had passed since she and Natsu had returned from the cruise. Since then, they were doing remarkably well at hiding their relationship. Every night when Happy fell asleep, Natsu would rush over to her apartment and immediately their clothes were being ripped off each other in haste of feeling the other's skin.

Hence why Lucy was always tired in the mornings now. She didn't get much sleep with their post-midnight rendezvous. Sure, there were the occasional nights that she would allow both Natsu and Happy to spend the night- in which no funny business occurred, of course- but she had kept it to a minimum in order to uphold their cover.

It wasn't that either were against telling the guild about their relationship. It was just that things were still in the early stage of their official relationship. Not to mention the whole betting incident. Plus, and perhaps most importantly, sneaking around was fun. Sneaking away from the others and knowing that they were holding such a big secret excited them. They didn't want to just give it away just yet.

There had been two times in which they had almost been caught. The first time was during one of their midnight sessions a few days after their return. Happy had apparently woken up after Natsu left to sneak to her apartment and came searching for him. Luckily, the two were able to slip into some clothes before he showed up. Lucy was glad she was with a dragon slayer because his nose sure did come in handy sometimes.

The second time was while they were on a mission with the rest of their team. Natsu had hugged Lucy after she subdued a mere thief. Since her fighting was apparently one of his turn-ons, he leaned in for a kiss after their hug while the rest of the team was staring at them. Luckily, Lucy had dodged it in time and pulled him in for another hug, reminding him about their situation.

Once Lucy entered the guild, her brown eyes surveyed the crowd, searching for her boyfriend. Thanks to his noticeably pink hair, she found him sitting at the bar between Happy and Gray. As everyone noticed her entrance, the guild roared with its usual greetings.

Lucy beamed at them all as strolled up to Natsu and the others. Happy moved to sit on the counter so that she could sit by Natsu.

"Hey, Lucy," Gray greeted with a friendly smile, one that was sure to cause Juvia's heart to throb.

"Hi, Gray!" Lucy replied. "Hey, Happy." She then turned to greet Natsu, only to find him studying her. He eyed her up and down before leaning in and sniffing her. The blonde gave him a pointed glare and backed away. "Natsu! What are you doing?"

The said boy met her gaze, eyes still narrowed slightly as he analyzed her. "You smell different."

"I smell different?"

"Yeah."

"Good different or bad different?"

"…Good maybe? Don't know. It's hard to explain."

Lucy shrugged. "As long as it's not bad different, I don't care." Turning towards Mira, she opened her mouth to order food before quickly shutting it with a frown.

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Happy asked.

"I was going to get some food but I figured I would just throw it up again anyways."

"You are still sick?" Erza asked, joining the conversation with ease. She gazed at her friend in concern. "Perhaps you should see Wendy or Porlyusica."

Lucy waved her hand in front of her and shook her head. "It's nothing that serious!"

"You've been throwing up the past few days. You really should get checked out," Gray countered.

"It's just from anxiety!"

"What are you anxious about?"

"Well, I'm not sure. But I'm sure I'm anxious about something!"

Natsu studied Lucy longer. Her scent had gradually been changing little by little as the days passed. At first, he didn't even notice it. But now, he couldn't help but think about what it could be. Usually, he could literally smell the emotions rolling off people. But this wasn't one of those times. This was different. It was like Lucy's scent had mixed with something new.

As he listened to Lucy argue against seeing Wendy for her stomach issues, a thought popped into his head. His eyes widened slightly and his mouth parted at the thought before he shook his head.

"Nah, that can't be it."

Hours passed by without a care in the world. The guild drank, chatted, and sang in merriment just as they did every day when they weren't busy fighting some dark guilds or being mowed down by an evil dragon. Every day was like a celebration, even if there was no special occasion to celebrate. That was how Fairy Tail worked.

Lucy, sitting with the rest of the girls in the guild, sighed as she heard Natsu's maniacal laughter coming from behind, where he was engaging in a brawl with the rest of the males. Even Loke decided to make an appearance, joining the squabble. The boys were obnoxiously knocking over chairs and tables and even got close to hitting a few of the girls at times.

"Boys," Levy said with a sigh, her eyes landing on a certain boy with a long mane of unruly black hair.

"Tell me about it," Lucy agreed. With a smug grin, she continued, "But you're in looove with one of them."

Her petite friend glared at her as her face turned red. "A-Am not!"

"Are too!" Lucy said. She giggled watching Levy pout.

"It's true," Erza agreed with a small nod. The corner of her lips tugged upwards into a small smirk. "Just like how Lucy is in love with someone else among that rowdy group of boys."

The blonde's cheeks morphed pink. Being accused of such a thing two months ago, she would've been denying the notion haughtily. Now, she simply shook her head. "Me? As if!"

"Don't lie!" Levy exclaimed, getting in her friend's face. "You're head over heels for Natsu and you know it!"

"You're delusional."

"You're in denial. I wish you realized your feelings when you want on that cruise. I could've bought so many books from that bet! And I could've rubbed it in stupid Gajeel's dumb face."

"Hate to break it to you, Levy-chan, but there's nothing to realize. Natsu and I are just friends." Lucy smiled knowingly. "Friends that just so happen to be in a relationship and sleep together every night."

As the rest of the girls resumed teasing Levy over her crush, Lucy turned her head to look at the boy she had been thinking about. He was currently dodging a devastating blow from Elfman while sweeping Max's feet from under him. His abs were in perfect view as he had long removed his vest so that he could fight better. Licking her lips, she admired his muscular arms.

He was definitely going to have to sneak over again that night.

Natsu, feeling Lucy's gaze on him, turned his head towards her. Sure enough, he found her ogling at him, causing his lips to curl upwards into a smug grin. When Lucy's eyes met his, she turned red in the face before quickly looking away in embarrassment. He chuckled.

Knowing that pleasing his girlfriend was more important than some brawl- which he didn't even know what was about anymore- Natsu excused himself from the fight, dodging blow after blow.

"Oi! Chickening out, Flamehead?" Gray taunted as he punched Elfman.

"You guys aren't enough of a challenge, Ice Princess!" Natsu shot back. He approached Lucy, who had her back turned to him as she talked to the other girls. He hugged her from behind and brought his lips to her ear to whisper, "Storage closet. Five minutes." Then, he messed up her hair to make it look like he just came over to mess with her. With that, he walked away.

With an ache between her legs and a flushed face, Lucy tried to calm her racing heart. Especially now that all of the girls' skeptical gazes were on her.

Levy groaned. "Ugh, see? When will you two just realize that you're hopelessly in love with each other?"

"Right?" Cana agreed, drinking straight out of the barrel. "Couple of dense idiots."

Once five minutes passed, Lucy excused herself from the group and walked briskly towards the storage closet. They had made the cramped room their private space for the times that they just needed to release their pent up sexual frustration. They never went all the way- Lucy refused to risk their guild catching them- but their touches were far from innocent.

She checked to make sure nobody else was around before opening the door to the dark room and quickly shutting it behind her. In seconds, her back was against the door and a set of warm lips were molded with hers. Smiling against Natsu's lips, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her.

Lucy's hands journeyed to his chest while his found home on her hips. She could feel his member poking against her and wished they were home so that she could feel the velvety texture of his sensitive skin.

Natsu released a low growl as Lucy's hands traveled downward towards the hem of his pants and lightly stroked his clothed shaft. He moved one hand to her bum while he slid the other underneath her shirt. Luckily for him, his girlfriend went many days without wearing a bra and his fingers were free to play with her hardened nubs.

Natsu tore his lips away from hers and left a rough trail of kisses over her body. He moved to her neck, then to her collarbone, closer and closer to the valley of her breasts. He was about to tug on the collar of her shirt so that he could tease her breasts with his tongue when light suddenly filled the previously dark room.

The two froze, Natsu's hand hovering over Lucy's breast, the other still on her rear. Lucy's were on his abs, as she was previously stroking them. With disheveled hair and flushed faces, it wasn't hard to guess what they were doing. And unfortunately for them, the worst possible person to find them was standing at the entrance of the doorway, her eyes widened and her jaw practically dropped to the floor.

"Shit," Natsu muttered, still unable to move his hands. Lucy groaned and covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.

Mira's blue eyes glanced between the two and she dropped the tray that was in her hands, causing the glasses to shatter. Then, she raised a shaky hand to point at them.

"Y-You… You two are…" she began, unable to form a coherent sentence out of sheer astonishment.

"Here we go…" Lucy mumbled.

When Mira's mind finally made sense of what she was seeing, her eyes went even wider and a wide grin settled over her face. Then, she squealed loud enough to startle all of Fiore.

"Oh my! I knew it!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" Without giving the two any time to explain themselves, the excited girl then ran off to join the rest of the guild and tell them about her discovery.

Lucy sighed, shaking her head. "Well, it was fun while it lasted."

"Should we go out there?" Natsu asked.

"It'd be better than having everyone bombarding us with questions in here. Come on, let's go."

The two joined everyone else in the guild, who was staring at Mira in concern as she literally shook with glee.

"Everyone, guess what!" she exclaimed. "I just caught Natsu and Lucy making out in the storage closet!"

The room went dead silent as everyone glanced between Mira and the said two. Then, all hell broke loose.

"You what!?" Erza demanded, her face matching her hair.

Levy ran up to her blonde best friend. "Is this true, Lu-chan!?"

The said girl sighed and dragged a hand down her face. "Yes, it's true."

"H-How long have you been-? Are you dating? How far have you gotten?"

"One question at a time, Levy-chan. We've been dating since the cruise. And I'm not answering how far we've gone in front of everyone!"

"Since the cruise!?"

From behind the petite girl, Gajeel scoffed and crossed his bulky arms over his chest. Glaring at Natsu, he asked, "You couldn't hide it any longer?"

"Wait, did you know about this?" Gray asked.

"'Course I did. I'm sure Wendy did too. Their scents are always mixed together now. It's disgusting."

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Levy exclaimed, glaring at the iron dragon slayer. "That means you knew that we actually won the bet this whole time!"

Erza pulled out a sword, glaring at Gajeel and Gray. "Pay up, lousy cheaters."

The two boys grunted and cursed under their breaths as they got the money they owed, which was quite a bit since they also had to return the money they took when they believed they won the bet. They paused from their movements as they heard a loud gasp coming from their right.

Happy's eyes widened as he pointed at Natsu and Lucy. "Wait a second! Is that why you were at Lucy's place at like three in the morning!?"

Lucy turned red and groaned in embarrassment as the guild turned their gazes back to them.

"Three in the morning?" Cana repeated with an arched brow and smug grin. "Well, well, well. What could these two lovebirds possibly be doing at three in the morning?"

Unlike Lucy, Natsu wasn't embarrassed and simply grinned with pride, letting everyone know that their insinuations were correct. He, Natsu Dragneel, was sleeping with none other than Lucy Heartfilia.

"Shoot me," Lucy muttered.

"You two managed to keep it a secret for a while," Gray commented. "It's almost been a month since you guys got back."

"You two love each other, don't you?" Mira added with hearts in her eyes. Her number one couple in the guild finally got together. It was like a dream come true. Next up were Gray and Juvia. Perhaps she should send them on one of those cruises as well.

Lucy and Natsu shared a glance, the former finally getting over her embarrassment. The two smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, we do," Lucy answered, lacing her hand with Natsu's.

Natsu gave the girl a toothy grin before swooping down and pressing a quick peck against her cheek. The girls in the guild cooed while the boys shared mock looks of disgust.

"Get a room," Gray jibed.

"It was better when they were two dense idiots. Now they're two sappy idiots," Gajeel added.

"Oh hush," Levy said, elbowing the boy. "Lu-chan and Natsu are finally together! You know what that means?"

"PARTY!" everyone shouted.

With that, Mira started serving more drinks to everyone while Gajeel began playing one of his songs. The girls pulled Lucy with them to bombard her with personal questions while the guys merely patted Natsu on the back in a congratulatory manner.

Even with news of Natsu and Lucy's relationship, Fairy Tail was still Fairy Tail.

"I can't believe you two kept such a big secret from me!" Happy complained with a pout. "I'm your partner too, you know!"

"Sorry, buddy," Natsu replied, smiling at his companion. "We knew you would just tease us."

"What? I would never do that! When have I ever- okay, yeah. You're right."

The three laughed as they walked back to Lucy's place for a sleepover. With Happy joining them, Lucy and Natsu wouldn't be able to get frisky, but that was alright. They were tired after the party anyways.

When they reached Lucy's apartment, Natsu and Happy immediately raided her fridge, leaving the girl to sigh. It was to be expected.

The three sat in the living room, snacks beside them and a board game in the center. Lucy continued to beat them at every game they played. Natsu demanded for rematches every time due to his competitive side, but was never able to best her.

Natsu glanced at Lucy's face as she took her turn. Her warm smile had his cheeks heating up, prompting him to pull at his scarf. There was something he had been mulling over since they returned from their cruise and now that their secret was out, it seemed like the perfect time to discuss it with his girlfriend.

"You know, I was thinking," Natsu began, his gaze lowering to the table. "With Happy and I always spending the night-"

"You mean breaking in?" Lucy interrupted with a smirk.

"Details, details," Natsu replied with a wave of his hand. "Anyways, what I'm saying is we're always together. We might as well, you know, live together."

Happy grinned and nodded his head. "Aye! That sounds fun!"

Lucy's eyes widened and her cheeks flooded with warmth. "R-Really?"

"Yeah!" Natsu answered, grinning at the girl. "I think it'd be awesome!"

"You don't think we'd be moving too fast?"

"Luce, we slept together before we started dating. I'm pretty sure we move fast regardless."

Happy chuckled, about to tease them before Lucy silenced him with a threatening glare.

"Besides," Natsu continued, "we're all partners! And it'll save you money on rent."

"That is true," Lucy said, tapping her chin in thought. Though, it wasn't like she had much to think about. The love of her life and best friend was asking her to move in with him, what was there to think about? Sure, she loved her apartment, but this extra step in her relationship with Natsu had her heart swelling with joy. "Let's do it!"

"Aye!" Happy cheered. "Lucy's moving in with us!"

"But you guys have to stop being so messy!"

"Deal," the two replied in unison.

With that, the three grinned at each other while discussing the dates they would start packing and moving Lucy's stuff to their cottage.

The three were more than friends and more than partners. They were a family. Even more so now that they were all going to be living together.

Lucy glanced towards Natsu and smiled warmly. Just over a month ago, the two were either hiding or in denial about their feelings. Now, they were going to be moving in together. Everything was working out for them and she believed she couldn't be happier.

Luckily for her, the universe had another surprise coming up for them in the near future. But for now, she was content with what she had. A wonderful guild, a great team, two amazing partners, and a loving boyfriend.

With their hearts set on the future, the family trio smiled and laughed throughout the night.