#maybe $30 is the amount we would each be paying for a card if they didn’t rely on whales to pay the bills
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simeons-hips · 4 days ago
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something to be said about spending an unknown amount of money for a card in a gacha vs a known amount for a garunteed card
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nickgerlich · 21 days ago
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By The Tank
Today is Election Day. You would have to be a cave dweller not to know this. Even the rest of the world knows what’s going on here today, because whomever is elected has huge implications for international policy.
I’m not going to dive into the pros and cons of political parties and candidates. You can do that in your private time. I do, though, want to discuss one of the most contentious issues of this campaign, a product each of us (presumably) uses on a regular basis. And that is gasoline.
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As of the end of October, Texas had the lowest gas prices in the nation, averaging $2.68 per gallon. Nationally, the average price is $3.09, with California, Hawaii, and Washington leading the nation with more than $4 a gallon. A couple of days ago, I was in Plainview Texas and refueled at Walmart, where it was $2.33. Deduct 10 cents for my Walmart+ discount, and I got gas for only $2.23. Not bad. That’s cheap traveling.
As is the norm, gas prices have dropped considerably since summer, because demand has decreased, and more expensive summer blends are no longer required. Yet some have used gas prices as a political hot potato, primarily because during COVID gas prices dipped to as low as $1.30. That’s a pretty bad comparison, and anyone who can think critically can see right through the argument. But that doesn’t stop some people.
A few more facts: The current price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate is $71.62, helping push down the price of gas. And since oil is a global commodity, one whose price is determined by market forces as well as a certain Middle Eastern cartel, there’s nothing any President can do to affect the price of gas, aside from relaxing federal gas taxes or releasing massive amounts of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That’s a card every President since the 70s has played, but it is not a wise one, because that reserve must be replenished.
Oh, and the US is the world’s largest producer of oil, with a 20% share, producing 19.4 million barrels a day last year. Cries of “Drill, baby, drill” are probably going to fall flat with the oil companies as long as the price per barrel is so cheap, because there is little incentive. Why risk prices going even lower?
But here is my question for you as you make your way to the polls (or perhaps you are one of the 78 million who voted early): Do you find yourself consuming more gas now that prices are cheaper?
I am betting the answer is no, unless you are one to say to your spouse or SO, “Hey honey, gas is cheap. Let’s go for a long drive.” No, you have just gone about your business, because it is hard to consume more of something that cannot be stored at home. Yeah, maybe a few 5-gallon gas cans, but that’s it.
Perishables are another item, unless you freeze or can food. Clothes and shoes can be stockpiled until you need them, like I did with a recent sale on trail runners. I know I will need them someday. Other items, like furniture, would be foolish to buy just because they’re cheaper, unless you need a new sofa or bed.
What are you doing, though, with the money you are saving on gas? Indulge in a PSL at Starbucks? Go out to eat? Depending on where you live, your savings per fill-up will likely range between $15 and $30, a nice little bonus to have in your wallet or bank account. It’s yours to do with as you please.
As for me, October spun out of control and I did very little driving, only 1100 miles. About half of that was driving back and forth to the Canyon to hike. I figure I saved about $40 compared to summer prices here, which is enough for three lunches at the Thai place across from campus. I’ll take it. She knows what I like.
All of which helps illustrate my point that many of the things we regularly consume have a pretty vertical demand curve. We’ll pay for it whatever the price, but if the price goes down, we’ll just keep doing what we have been doing. It’s kind of like being at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Sure, you can keep eating, but you’ll just get sick. The law of diminishing returns sets in, and you can’t—I mean shouldn’t—keep consuming. The same goes for gasoline.
Now if a barrel of oil shot up to $300 and the price of gas hit $10, then we would be looking for long-term solutions, like getting a hybrid, moving closer to work and school, etc. But until then, we just deal with it. Maybe we cut out the PSL when prices are high, but add them back when prices drop. It’s a fixed-sum game, because our savings and available credit are not infinite.
Just something to think about on this Election Day, with anything and everything having become planks in one or the other’s campaign platform. Vote wisely, and remember this: Regardless of who wins today, that person is our President, a person to whom we owe our unceasing allegiance.
That’s the American way. Full stop.
Dr “With Liberty And Justice For All” Gerlich
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pedro-pascal-love · 4 years ago
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The Nanny
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Chapter Two of Well, This is Awkward
Series Masterlist ❖ Main Masterlist ❖ Join My Taglist
Rating: 18+, NSFW
Word Count: 1k+
Summary: Dave and Reader realize that they’re going to be seeing a LOT of each other now that it’s come to light that Reader is their family nanny. Uh ohhhhh.
Warnings: Language, angst, slow burn, no smut this chapter but mentions of sexual situations
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Dave was so screwed. Carol was going on a work trip, and he would be stuck at home with you the entire time. All he could think about was fulfilling all the fantasies he had about you from the night you both met.
Taking you over the kitchen counter.
On the couch in the living room.
Over his desk in his office.
And, of course, in his own bed, the same one he shared with his wife.
Fuck, I need to stop.
She’s my nanny, for fuck’s sake!
“Honey, I’m about to head out, and the nanny should be back in a bit. She's dropping off the girls at school,” he heard from downstairs. Dave sighed. His marriage was no longer a happy one, but it was a massive risk for him to sleep with the nanny, especially while under the same roof as his wife. But your smell and the feel of your walls clenched around him was just —.
“Stop,” he told himself. He shook his head, trying to get those thoughts out of his head but to no avail. Dave sighed again and got up from his desk, making his way out of his office and into the kitchen to bid Carol goodbye. He came up beside her and poured himself a cup of coffee.
“How long is your trip again?” Dave asked, already knowing the answer but asking nonetheless.
“Two weeks, but might be more than that, depending on things,” Carol replied. Dave nodded, already formulating some plans in his head on how to fill his time and avoid his nanny.
“Ok, well, let me know if anything changes. I have a bunch of work to do, so I have to head back upstairs. Have a safe trip,” Dave said, kissing Carol on the cheek and making his way back up to his office to hide.
“I love you,” Carol called after him.
“You too,” he replied as he made his way up the stairs.
This is going to be a long couple of weeks.
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Your morning was spent inwardly panicking while trying to get the girls out the door and to school. After finding out that the mysterious, sexy stranger who’d given you the best sex of your life was none other than your employer, more importantly, your employer’s husband, you weren’t sure how to feel. That first night after finding out who you were working for, you laid in her bed looking up at the ceiling, wondering how fucked up the universe was for doing this to you.
Of course, I’d hook up with such a hot guy and have some of the best sex ever, and it turns out that HE IS MARRIED.
Why do you hate me, universe?!
The second and third nights were spent much of the same, just counting down the days until you’d have to start working for them and living in their home. On the fourth night of no sleep, you were contemplating what you were going to do about the situation.
“Fuck, and his wife is going to be gone for a few weeks!” you groaned out while rolling over and looking at your phone. 4:43 AM blinked back at you, and you groaned again. “I hate this. Maybe I should just quit… Ugh, but the money,” you tried to reason with yourself. You sighed and got out of bed. Since you couldn’t sleep, you might as well get up and get ready for the day, especially since today was the day you were officially starting as the York’s nanny. You cracked your back as you got up and padded your way to your bathroom, looking at yourself in the mirror.
“Girl, you got this. Just pretend that it never happened,” you told yourself.
Who am I kidding?
I can’t even look him in the eyes without getting all nervous.
You shed your clothes and started the shower, turning the heat up to the hottest setting. You’d slept with a married man, might as well get ready to go to Hell.
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—THREE HOURS LATER—
You made your way to the York household, dressed as modestly as you could.
As if I need to, he’s already seen me naked, and at his mercy, you thought as you made your way up the steps to their front door and rang it. Carol greeted you, and she smiled as she saw you.
“Oh, you’re early! I wasn’t expecting you until 8:30!” Carol said as she opened the door to let you in.
“Heh, yeah, it’s a bad habit of mine, always being at least 30 minutes early to anything,” you replied.
“Oh, nonsense,” Carol replied, “Dave is the same way. He always has to be at least 20 minutes early, even if it’s just to the movies.” You tried not to let the statement affect you, as you thought of other things you and Dave might have in common. Like sleeping with a random stranger at a bar.
Snap out of it! You chastised yourself. You followed Carol into the kitchen where Molly and Alice were sitting, finishing up their breakfast, and greeted them warmly.
“Hi!” Alice greeted, while Molly simply waved, her mouth full of cereal.
“Oh, sweetie, before I forget, here are the keys to the house and the code for the alarm, and all the contact information you’ll need. Your room upstairs is ready for you to move into when you’re back from dropping the girls off,” Carol said as she handed you a manila envelope. You gingerly took it from her and smiled.
“Thank you,” you said. “Do you need me to do anything around the house while the girls are at school?”
“Not really; we took care of most of the things this weekend, you just make yourself at home, and if you have any questions, Dave should be upstairs in his office,” Carol replied. Your heart skipped a beat.
Fuck, he’s here right now?!
Doesn’t he have a job that he has to leave his house for or something?!
“Oh, ok. Sounds good! I actually brought a good amount of my stuff over from my house, but I may need to stop by and get a few more things,” you said.
“Nonsense,” Carol replied. “Here’s a card for you to get anything you need for the room, and don’t worry about spending too much, you’re a part of this family now. And you’re going to have your hands full taking care of the girls while I’m gone.” Your eyes nearly fell out of your head.
Are you fucking kidding me?!
“Oh my gosh, Carol, this is too much! You’re already paying me more than enough,” you pleaded.
“Don’t even worry about it. Dave and I, mostly Dave, make more than enough that we won’t even notice. Besides, as I said, you’re going to have your hands full,” Carol replied. You merely nodded your head and looked down at the black card in your hands.
This has to be some weird, fucked up dream.
The metal felt heavy in your hands, and you turned it over several times while eyeballing the gold lettering of your name on the front. Never in your wildest dreams had you thought you’d ever hold a black card, let alone have one with your name on it.
“Thank you, Carol. This is seriously too much, but thank you,” you said gratefully. She smiled at you and nodded.
“Of course, sweetie. I should be leaving a bit before you get back from dropping off the girls, so I won’t see you, but have fun! Girls, behave for her and your father,” Carol said as she handed the girls their lunches.
“We will, mom,” both girls replied as they got up and got their backpacks. You straightened up and smiled at Carol one more time before making your way out the door to drop off the girls at school. The girls followed closely behind you and gave their mom kisses before getting into the car.
“Have a safe trip, Carol,” you said as you and the girls waved, and you pulled out of the driveway. “Alright, girls, let’s get you both to school!” The girls cheered as you put on some music for the short drive to their school.
I really hope that Dave isn’t home when I get back, you thought as you spied his car in the driveway next to Carol’s.
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dhaaruni · 3 years ago
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I understand your point about money and relationships when dating, but what about marriage? Because I'm of the opinion that once married all assets are shared 50/50, regardless of who makes what.
What would you say if the man had a very physically demanding job that left him wiped out half the week, but the wife actually earned substantially more than him? Yet, because of the difference in the kind of work and schedules, she still does more housework and more child care? This isn't a hypothetical, this is my life.
I mean, if it works for you, that's great, but I personally wouldn't be okay with it at all. Maybe that's my immaturity talking but I don't like when relationships don't feel equal and it would feel unequal to me. But I'm emphasizing, if your relationship feels fair and equal, it's not my place to tell you about how to live your life and you shouldn't listen to me.
Like, even when married, I'm still keeping my own bank account that my husband won't have access to and I'm assuming he'll do the same. My parents have been married almost 30 years, they deeply love and respect each other, and they still have personal bank accounts that the other person doesn't have access to, even though they own a house together. Like, we have two cars, and one car is in each parent's name; my mom didn't pay for the Mazda and my dad didn't pay for the BMW at all, and they both primarily drive the car they paid for although they'll obviously borrow the other car if need be.
It's obviously totally fine if someone falls in love with and marries someone who makes much more or much less money than them, but if I made $70k and I married a guy who made $300k, I'm not going to live outside my means. I think couples should have a shared account that each person contributes to regularly (albeit not necessarily the same amount if there's a large income differential), but for instance, we wanted to go on a nice vacation together and he wanted to travel First Class, if he was like "Dhaaruni I make more than you, and I want to pay for flight tickets for both of us," that's rhetorically different than me saying "I can't afford First Class tickets but you should buy them for us both." Similarly, if he chose to buy me a very nice gift like a diamond bracelet, I'd happily accept it, but I can't be making $70k and demanding that he buy me a $6000 bracelet on a whim like that's really tacky and I'm not supportive of that at all.
Marriage is a partnership, a mental, emotional, and yeah a financial partnership. If I'm claiming that a guy should sponsor an expensive lifestyle for me that I can't afford by myself because I'm beautiful and charming and a good partner, what happens when I'm no longer as beautiful and charming as I am in my mid-20s or if I'm prickly and mean on occasion? Does that mean he can leave me then because I'm not holding up my end of the bargain? Also, I really don't want to be whipping out my credit card that connects to our shared account for stuff that's mine like Starbucks that he doesn't drink or SoulCycle classes that he doesn't attend. If it's for Netflix that we share or our kids' piano lessons, that's a different case obviously.
That makes sense right?
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clavis-baby · 3 years ago
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The (possible) Downfall of Obey Me
5-16-21 (when writing this the event toys out)
(Tbh this post is just be trying to be naïve towards Solomare and at ever aspectthat I mention you have every single right to be upset and mad)
Okay so it’s no secret that Obey me is making bank and is very very obviously trying to make us money on the game with even trying to make us spend money with original stuff that was free to now secretly changing some mechanics behind our back
Here’s a post by @thalfox https://thalfox.tumblr.com/post/653994972840919040/i-just-noticed-a-little-bit-ago-that-the-barbatos that dose a really good job at explaining everything that has changed
(also this isn’t a hate thing fox has actually done a great work explaining everything to good detail of what has changed)
With all the changes I don’t think that it’s shocking to say that players are leavening the fandom because of many reasons to the games getting stupidly harder to even the game development
This is just a heads up this in no way is a post saying “hey this is why you shouldn’t feel this way” I kinda just wanted to see from a business standpoint and be naïve of what’s happening you have every reason to be mad at Solomare because even me I’ve been playing sense week 2 of game released and I’m only on lesson 42 every counter argument that I’m going to make I have complained about at some point
Arguments
(P.s grammar is really bad it’s sort of turned into more of a rant I wrote this at 5 am without any sleep so sorry)
1. Obey me is marketed as a free to play game
First there are many reasons people are mad this main thing that I hear about is from a lot of people is that is a “free game” which lets be honest is ridiculously hard
But still it is still essentially a “free to play game” I personally feel like the main prolog is lessons 1-20 to introduce all the characters to understand and getting the just on how to play the game
Okay and now here’s where I sort of stand with obey me, the gatcha rates are kinda ridiculously lucky when you play for the first week you luck is so amazing and is in my experience with gatchas the best luck I have ever seen for games so it’s not really hard collecting the cards
Now are they the best absolutely no, this I feel like is where you might have to spend money unless they up the skills on the Nightmare A
But what Obey me is technically trying to do is obviously making you pay by releasing your favorite demon card every 2 week which…aren’t essential they are really just hoping that you love your main demon enough to pay
With the high increase on the gatcha rate there really isn’t a pity unless you count the card pieces (but I’m not going to count that because you are more likely to roll your UR before completing the pieces)
Now after lesson 20 once the huge break I feel like Obey me almost expecting the players to keep logging in any doing jobs and some players did do that and boy did it pay off
But those players have not needed to spend a single dollar and are all caught up
Now for everyone else who didn’t the game was so difficult it’s unimaginable and because for that a whole lot of players left the game and personally I don’t blame them because of how much impact the next lessons were
Now sort of like Mystic Messenger you really just have to grind you ass off log in everyday and do JOBS :D and grind but as hard and long as it is you are still able to be a f2p but where obey me fails is that when grinding Mystic Messenger grinding was a lot more fun for me it took about a whole year to just get 550 hourglasses even when I purchased and same with Genshin Inpact it takes a while but with obey me there isn’t really anything else to do once you get to a certain point which I think obey me really lacks and could be part of a reason why people left. Grinding just is not fun (now I do think that on a phone there is so much you can do with a app game but I feel like there could be a bit more they could do)
Personally I’m just going to come out and say it don’t spend your money for one UR card for your favorite demon it’s really not worth it now im one of those Mammon stans but if I ever wanted a specific card for instance the Mammon bunny card when it first came out I wanted it so badly and didn’t get it but I also knew there would eventually be a revival so I saved and did not spend any DV(demon vouchers) until the revival
The events
Some people complain about getting the cards in the events onestly for me this one kinda makes a bit of sense I noticed the first change when the Vampire even came out and how it wasn’t as easy to get the second card but if you think of it it makes sence why
When the first event came out (Santa event) you only had to collect about 30,000 gingerbread compared to the 100,000 in event today but when the first event came out no one was at high enough levels for the AP required and you would every day when times rest to gain gingerbread as well as there was only one part to the story so when people kept leveling up their AP Obey Me had to higher the bar so it wouldn’t be so easy to get all these cards and have a actual reward system but eventually they also added another story lesson starting at the Ruri Chan event
Second thing about the events is that one there started just getting plain out boring.
When lesson 20 finished and we were all waiting for season 2 I was still loving in everyday and logging in at 12 and 8 for the free 30 AP because I didn’t know what else to and would participate in the event but eventually what I think that all otome games that have constant events like Ikemen Vampire and Ikemen Revolution they just start getting repetitive and getting real boring so I stoped playing until there was something more interesting
The last thing that some people complain about the events is that you can’t keep up with the story and the events now I can’t find it but I believe that @0beyme said something about the events a long time ago about how you have to pick between the event and moving through the main story which I kinda think isn’t really the games fault and more just a discussion on maybe missing a event
Add ons
Okay so they did this from day 1 you spend a certain amount of Devil point that you guaranteed don’t have and get out a card
Now this is just spelling out a disaster
Yeah so for the first Charge Mission is when you log in which everyone had but essentially what they want you to do is spend $100 on a game that you just logged into and never experienced or played I don’t really understand what they were even thinking with that but it must’ve worked for them to keep doing them
The second time they did it was when the break was over and season 2 came out and they celebrated by doing another charge mission which was the Lucifer and Simon card which would cost again $100 again I really don’t understand what they were thinking
And now this is I believe the fourth time they have done this for the 1.5 anniversary where they know that Mammon is obviously a favorite for many Obey Me players and where smart to put it on the really stupid charge mission but the difference is, is that instead of it costing $100 it would cost almost $200(same with Levi’s) for one thing I don’t understand
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But one thing that you do have to remember is is that this isn’t apart of the main gameplay it really just is a mini game if you would even call it that of dress up and optimization so still I guess would be just a add on that has no effect on the actual story and game so you could I guess still call it a f2p game with really really stupidly high priced add ons
VIP
Umm so I am the first one to call myself out I have bought the VIP package first when season 2 happened and I knew how much I loved the game so personally it was worth it to me to support the developers and gain something out of it
Now I haven’t really seen much complaints on the VIP because people more use it as a “hey the game is impossible with out VIP” but the people who say this ive noticed never bought it
For $9.99 each month it is 100%
IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!! Out of everything you get which honestly isn’t much you get some extra free space in jobs and really that’s it and if you choose to use all your job slots for the highest paying you get around 30,500 about a 10,000 difference not really worth it in my opinion
With VIP you also get other things like higher chance of gifts from Jobs which you will not notice one bit, and +20 AP (which if you play the events is sort of useful) as well as extra packages exclusive to VIPs so after paying $9.99 per month you also get more things to buy and that’s about it for VIP now if you really want to get more grim just use your AP and spend it of normal lessons you will get more AP that way
The Story and Kids
This could be all me just complaining and a theory by I wanted to include it anyway
Obviously many people are not even caught up or even playing but as more lessons went on the less interesting the story became to me I don’t know if it’s a me thing but season one was absolutely amazing the once season two came out it was good but not anywhere as good and one
One reason why I think that it to me became almost bland is the amount of kids that is on the app and how sensitive people were if anything bad happens
It’s no secret that the Japanese versions a lot more non-kid friendly for hell’s sake the characters don’t even swear as well as all the colors I feel like to a American audience bright colors is usually marketed towards kids but in other countriesI think many understand that that is not always the case for instance a lot of people will thing in America that anime is all for kids but I mean look at Attack on Titan or Tokyo Ghoul you would not let kids watch that of literal people getting brutally murdered you just don’t see things like that in the West where something looking kid friendly could also be very adult like
Also wtf dose this in the App Store say +12 with Ikemen Vampire and a lot of other games if you have a game rated +17 then there will be a actual pop up that says something along the lines of how “thier could be violence acts and sexual act are you sure you want to instal”
Now the story I’ve seen people point this out but there isn’t really much character development for instance Beel he dose not have a actual personality his personality (fight me on this one) all you really know about him is that he likes food and his family now I could be wrong cuz I’m on lesson 42 but still not much and this is kinda with all the characters except the special ones where the devs really favor and love for story
Some one mentioned how the developers hold back a lot which I agree with 100% they said how when there is character development they all the sudden pull back and never will almost talk about it again like ???? So there’s this constant bland story
——————-
Honestly if you liked this I might do more cuz as much as this post made me especially at the end I kinda liked ranting so...yeah there is also many other things that I want to rant about but I’m tired soooo
feel free to comment your opinions btw
Bye ima go sleep now
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non-bee-knees · 3 years ago
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So
I just rewatched “The First”
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And let me tell you;
I’ve seen a lot of this franchise in a relatively short amount of time
I got into it just before the summer holidays, June-ish, and since then I’ve seen most of the Specials and Movies (some are…very questionable😓), a few episodes a piece of Part 1 and 2, as well as all of Parts 4 and 5, some episodes twice or even three times (think the Jigen and Goemon eps from part 4, any ep that involved Albert in part 5 and the part 5 finale eps) and I’ve read and written my fair share of FanFics (even the supposed ‘OOC’ ones are still in character btw, yall are doing gods work with your writing) and I gotta say,
After all of that, coming back and watching this movie, as absolutely spectacular as it is, just feels out of place, for a reason I couldn’t figure.
Until I did.
So, with no other way to begin phrasing this will-be-essay of a post, here it is:-
They made Zenigata stupid.
Obviously, he’s not an idiot, that’s not fair to say, but we see through other movies, as well as parts 4 and 5 that he knows the Lupin and the gang inside out, from figuring out it was Jigen in that Chapel in his part 4 ep, to knowing Lupin would go after Fuji in part 5, he can figure out Lupins next move like nothing, calling card or not.
So for him in this movie to just not be up to that, he feels lacky almost, letting his guards try catch Lupin rather than do it himself (until that desert scene, where he’s tricked). Yeah he’s still smart, but it doesn’t feel like he has it all figured out yet. He feels like “The First Contact” kinda smart
Next, my Dear Goemon.
I’m impressed, really, because they took one of the most annoyingly standoffish and quiet characters, AND MADE HIM MORE SO!
But not quite. He’s not himself.
He’s been quiet before, and standoffish before, but this feels different. Before hand it felt he wasn’t talking/interacting with the others by choice, but here, it felt more like he wanted to say things, but wasn’t sure how. He was just awkward. And while I love that, it wasn’t him.
That scene where he didn’t want to give up his sword, he felt childish in complaining about it, where as in another other movie/series of the show he’d had thrown hands at the idea of it.
Even back in the original Red Jacket series and other Red movies, he isn’t like this, isn’t as unsure as this.
Next: Fujiko.
Right off the bat; I don’t like her. I can’t tell you why, because I don’t know, because as much as I hate the bitch, I fucking love her at the same time. It’s a very mixed vibe.
The summary about her is shorter, because she is one of the few characters who hasn’t changed much (in my opinion). She has gotten more empathetic over time, I think, but I don’t pay too much attention to her really.
What I did notice is that she was very sloppy. She got caught out of her scam with the suitcase very quick, and you can’t tell me that it’s because that guy was smart. No he wasn’t. She was also surprisingly co-operative with the gang, something she usually seems reluctant on, at least without some reward. And while she did complain, it was only once, and she wasn’t trying to get something out of it afterwards. She wasn’t as fleshed out in her whole “scamming” business yet.
Finally, Jigen.
(I’m not gonna do Lupin, as his character is very hard to place at the best of times, but hasn’t changed too much really)
Jigen right off the bat, is not the man we know and love today. He too feels like he’s more of a few episodes after “The First Contact” kinda development. Without a second glance he shuts down Lupins idea of the Bresson Diary, despite the fact we know they been through worse for less. He doesn’t really care. And even though he never says it, it feels like he could have called Lupin ‘Boss’ in this movie and gotten away with it.
He, at the point of this film, feels like he’s only in it for the money. Maybe he’s starting to grow attached to Lupin, which is why he goes after him, but still, they don’t have that bond yet.
Where am I going with this nonsense?!
This film starts by calling out that the first scene takes place in World War 2, probably near the end, so let’s say on a late end, it’s ‘44.
Then just after the open title, we see that it’s “more than a Decade later”, and we get to see Laetitia for the first time. I’m not saying she’s anymore that 18-ish, so let’s take the late end again and say she’s 20.
Given that ‘44 year before and the 20 year age gap, we can safely say, even at the latest, this movie takes place in the mid ‘60’s.
If we can guess about the Gangs ages, with what we know, we can say that Goemon is about a year or two older than Laetitia, say 22-ish. Fujiko isn’t far behind, nor Lupin, say 25-ish and 27-ish respectively, with Jigen pulling rear at around 30. (These are all just guesses)
All of that together puts this film at the very earliest, timeline wise, that we’ve seen the Gang together, even earlier than the OG Green series, which we can assume takes place in the 70’s, the years it was produced (Ik the manga was written earlier but the show would probably have taken elements from the year it was produced in)
Basically!
That explains why they’re all so odd. They haven’t gotten to know each other yet, they haven’t been in the job long enough to figure the kinks out!
Ik that Zeni obviously knows a few of Lupins tricks, indicating that he’s been after him at least for a hot minute, but this could be one of the first times that the Gang (Zeni included) are all working together!
And I kinda like it, looking from that perspective, that they don’t really know that they’re doing yet.
If they make another CGI film I hope they keep it in the older era, and that they keep this newer feel to their partnerships together.
ANYWAYS.
Im so hyped for Part 6, seeing Albert AND Yata in the trailer says to me that even though it’s a different Jacket, it is indeed a rough carry on of the last 2 seasons. CANT WAIT :))
(All of this is my person opinion and take on the film and the characters, please feel free to give your own take on the subject, I’d love to here y’all’s opinions too x)
THANK YOU IF YOU READ THIS FAR X
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cucumbers-and-olives · 4 years ago
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Enemies To Lovers- Part Two (Charlie Gillespie x reader)
i forgot to post this last night, oops! here it is now...
<<<part one—part three>>>
Summary: Its New Years, and you fare asked to stay in town for the annual New Years party. But what happens before and during the party? Well that’s a story!
Category: it’s a league of its own
Fandom: JATP
Paring: Charlie Gillespie x reader
Word Count: 1,960 (woah)
⚠️PLEASE READ⚠️ Warnings/Includes: if mentions of drinking, drugs, (getting) roofied/drugged, strong language and typos
Please make sure you are comfortable before reading this chapter.
A/N: so it’s a few days late, i hope you guys enjoy this NYE fic a few days after
Mandatory Thanking of the Betas: THANK YOU LOVES!!! you two literally hold me up and help me make my ideas into their finished product, so thank you!
AO3 link here (will be up by 1/7 10pm est, i’m have wifi issues at the moment)
Please don’t repost my work without my permission, in part or whole. My work can also be found on AO3 under the same username. Thank you!
“Y/N!” A woman said entering your room. It had been a week since you had arrived in the Gillespie home. In that short amount of time you had met all of Charlie’s younger cousins (there were only three, but they were a handful), celebrated Christmas the Gillespie way, and gotten into a total of five fights with Charlie over a range of things, but each one had a bigger fall out than the last. You supposed that was why at every meal your spot was next to his, an obvious way that Ms.Gillespie tried to “bring the two of you closer together.”
“Hun, you okay?” Ms.Gillespie said, her hand resting on yours. “You’ve been staring at that shirt for a while.”
“I’m alright, thank you,” You said, placing your shirt into the suitcase that lay on the floor. You were packing to leave, but you could tell that the older woman’s appearance in your room meant that you wouldn’t be leaving on your flight. You held your breath as she spoke.
“I’d like to invite you to stay through New Years. You’ve been such a help with the younger kids, and it’s been delightful to have you here.” She must have been telepathic at that point because she rushed out her next point. “And Charlie has agreed to play nice.”
“Ms.Gillespie, you are so kind, but I don’t think I have enough money-” You said, not wanting to overstay your welcome any longer.
“Nonsense, nonsense!” She cut you off. “I knew you would say this, it’s the kind of person you are, and so Charlie has found you a flight and we are paying for it.” You could tell that there was something that she was leaving out, but you could get hit with that later. Ignoring your work and your family was something that you were good at. And besides, hanging out at the Gillespie house was fun.
“Alright!” You agreed. She sweeped you up in a hug.
“Wonderful! Have you had lunch yet?” You shook your head. “Well that is perfect, I’ve got some sandwiches, so I expect to see you down in a few, okay?”
You nodded, and with that, she left, a smile on her face. You were excited to stay longer, but would Charlie’s promise hold? Would he really be nice for the remainder of your stay?
“Let’s hope so,” You said, closing your door and making your way to the kitchen. You should have been paying attention, but you weren’t. Bumping into someone, you both landed on the floor, your phones and other things flying.
“I am so sorry,” You said, picking up the various items. As you reached for one of the notebooks, your hands met and you finally saw who you had bumped into.
“Is this a game to you?” Charlie asked. His eyes were tear-stained, and you slowly noticed that some of the pages had tears on them too.
“I-” You picked his phone up along with yourself off the floor. “Are you okay?” You asked softly, tucking his phone into his back pocket, where you knew it had been before.
“Does it look like it? God, will you just fuck off! When are you leaving anyway?” He grumbled, his previously sad tone taking on a very harsh one. His hand that used to lay by his side was now in a very tight fist.
“I’m leaving after New Years. Your mom asked me to stay, and she’s paying for the flight back,” You said, answering honestly. You didn’t know what happened when he got angry- really, truly angry. And you didn’t want to see it.
“That’s why she had me- Oh my god, no. Just no.” He barked, stalking off.
“Yeah, you know what, fuck you too,” You whispered hotly, calming yourself down as you walked into the kitchen.
~
“Cause I don’t care when I’m with my baby yeah,” You sang along with the T.V. You enjoyed dancing to the Wii, and you hadn't minded when Anna had asked you to join. But the same song had played over five times now.
As the song ended, you placed your control down. “Gimme ten minutes, okay? I just gotta get some water,” She nodded, and you stepped out of the room and entered the kitchen.
“Is it this cabinet?” You said, opening the cabinet that you guessed the glasses were in. They weren’t in that one. Or the next, or the next or the next.
“Excuse me,” Charlie said, stepping around you to open a cabinet you could have sworn you had opened. He grabbed a glass and closed the cabinet, and poured himself a glass of water.
You opened the cabinet to grab a glass, but they seemed just out of your reach. You got on your tiptoes, and your fingers just brushed the edge of the glass.
He let out a little chuckle and grabbed the glass, and filled it up. “Thank you,” You said, reaching for it.
“Oh, you thought this was for you?” He feigned shock. “This is for Anna, she asked me to grab her a glass.”
“Are you kidding me?” You shouted after his retreating form. Sighing, you decided you could do without water as you walked back into the game room.
He sat smugly on the couch, sipping at his glass of water.
“Come on, let’s play!” Anna said, tugging at your hand.
“What song?” You asked, looking to the screen as she pressed play.
“I love it when you call me senorita, I wish I could pretend I didn’t need ya,” Anna sang to the track.
You felt the beat and began to follow the moves on the screen. You knew Charlie was staring at you, and so you made everything bigger. More power, more accuracy, more everything.
When the song ended, he walked out of the room, but he backtracked to whisper something in your ear.
“Strictly professional, Ms.Y/L/N. You aren’t that good of a dancer.”
~
“What do you think of this, Anna?” You said, showing the young girl the sparkling black dress you had on.
“You need more color! And that’s too shiny, and you wore it to Christmas dinner, and-“ She could have kept going, but she caught sight of something in your closet and pulled it out. “This! This is perfect!” Red, off-the shoulder, a leg slit, it was something you would never wear in a million years.
“I’ll… try it on?” You said, and Anna smiled as you stepped into the bathroom.
You pulled it off the black dress and put on the red one, but as you zipped up the back of the dress there was something in the way. A little card.
“Huh,” You were confused as you pulled it out, but as you read it, everything made sense.
You placed the card down to look at yourself in the mirror. The dress fit perfectly, falling down every curve perfectly. It wasn’t you that you saw in the mirror. It was who you pictured in your mind when you thought of yourself.
“Can I see it now?” Anna asked, knocking on the door.
“Yeah,” You said, opening the door.
“Woah,” She gasped softly, looking you up and down. “I think Charlie’s gonna love it.”
Before you could say anything in response, Anna ran out of the room.
~
“Really?”’ You said as you accepted the call on your phone. “I look amazing, but why?”
“Remind me what you’re talking about?” Savannah asked.
“Your acting is on point, Savannah Lee May.”
“Ooh, full name, I’m so scared!” She laughed. “You look good in red, and I knew you would need a dress for New Years!”
“Ya know, if you want to switch to facetime, all you need to do is ask. And the answer is yes.” You rolled your eyes as she squealed, quickly switching to facetime.
“You look stunning!” She gasped. “I wish I could pull off a dress that good!” She whined a bit.
“Who are you talking to?” Owen hollered in the background.
“Y/N! She looks amazing in the dress, come see!”
“Hey Y/N,” Owen said, stepping into frame. He made a face at Savannah. “If she wears that, you have to deal with Charlie when he calls to ruin my New Years.”
“What does he mean?” You asked. Savannah muted herself and had a heated argument with Owen before answering you.
“When we were drunk one time, Charlie talked about his ex. Specifically, the dress she always wore. A red off the shoulder with,” You cut her off.
“With one leg slit. Well that is specific, and I am not the woman that he wants to see in it.”
“It goes further,” She said. “The only people that heard that conversation were Jer, Caroline, Owen and I. So he’ll know that I did this, and he will call Owen to let out his frustration. He’s a nice guy, in that he’ll only yell at men. Truly yell.”
“Wow. So you are sending me into a death trap?”
“Not exactly-“ Owen’s phone rang, cutting her off.
“It’s him! Get over here and answer the phone for me please, Sav!” Owen shouted.
“Who?”
“Anna must’ve told him. She found the dress in my stuff.” You told her and she sighed, hanging up.
~
Music played loudly, filling every corner of the house. And where the music was, there were people. Maybe 75 or so, but it was only 11:30, and you had a feeling that number would increase. You didn’t know what, or more specifically who you were looking for as you scanned the room you were in.
“Hey doll, have a drink!” A random man said, and as he walked by he passed a drink to you. A clear but faintly yellow liquid was in the cup. You didn’t want to know what it was.
“Bottoms up-“ You said, about to tip the cup back and down it before someone pulled it out of your hands.
“I may despise you, but I am not about to let you get roofied,” Charlie said, handing you a beer. “Don’t you know that you have to be holding something at one of these kinds of parties?”
“I didn’t realize it was gonna be one of these kinds of parties,” You muttered, taking a swig of the beer.
“It’s always been like this,” He said, watching all of the couples.
“How close are we to midnight?” You asked.
“Maybe 30 miniutes? I’m gonna go see how my family is.” He said, leaving you in your tiny corner.
~
“10,” The room continued to chant.
You searched the room for Charlie, or at least a familiar face. Couples surrounded you, preparing to kiss at midnight. And you, like a 5 year old, prepared to cover your eyes.
“9,” There was no sign of him, but there were a few men around the room with a similar haircut. You slowly ruled them out.
“8,” His hair was too short.
“7,” His was too dark.
“6,” He was too short.
“5, 4,” You started to give up, just as you saw a couple emerge from one of the back rooms. That couldn’t be him, could it?
“3!” But that was his voice.
“2!” And that was his jacket. Your face dropped as you prepared yourself. You knew what the incoming trainwreck was but you couldn’t look away.
“Happy New Year!” The couples shouted before pulling their lover close.
You watched as his lips met hers. You looked for a bit too long before tearing your eyes away and stalking to your room. But you couldn’t help but look back, and when you did, your eyes met his for a moment.
And the mood shifted.
~
Send me an ask if you’d like to join my tag list(s)! Strike through means i wasn’t able to tag you.
Enemies to Lovers Tag List: @yagorlemmalyn @ifilwtmfc @kaitieskidmore1 @p0uge420
JATP: @n0wornever @unsaidmegan @calamitykaty @screwunsaidemily @crybabyddl @badwolf00593
All: @funsizearsonist
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ggukkiedae · 4 years ago
Text
❝𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤❞
𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
⇢ jeno explores the streets of la with hannah
⇢ set in january 2018
𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜:
⇢ conversations written in italics are spoken in english. requests and feedback are highly appreciated!
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“This isn’t a good idea, Hannah.”
“Jeno, it’s only eight. Relax.”
Jeno looked around anxiously. He didn’t think that he’d be spending his last night in LA walking around some unknown streets with one of his best friends. Not that he didn’t like being with Hannah. On the contrary, he loved being with her. It’s just the concept of roaming around an unknown city at night that freaked him out.
“Hey, you cute little thing!”
A man whistled in Hannah’s direction. She just rolled her eyes at him. Jeno, on the other hand, turned towards the man and narrowed his eyes. He knew that people in America did things like this, but he didn’t think he’d have to watch someone do it to Hannah. He glared and draped an arm around Hannah, pulling her closer to him. Maybe he should have insisted on her wearing jeans instead of shorts. Well, he wouldn’t be able to stop her anyway.
“It isn’t safe for you,” he pulled her along faster.
“Okay, big boy, first of all,” she laughed and wrapped an arm around his waist, “I’m not alone. You’re here with me. Second, I’m from California. I know my stuff.”
“Yeah,” he gave her a pointed look, “San Francisco, not LA. And how long do you think it is till someone notices that I’m not some grown man and that I’m only seventeen in this country?”
She scoffed, “Seventeen-year-olds in this country have gone to prison.”
“Not helping!”
Jeno could only hang his head in exasperation as Hannah laughed at him. Here he was worrying about her safety (and his own!), and she was just laughing in his face. He halted and let go of her, taking a step back and watched her throw her head back in amusement. She seemed to act way more carefree now that they were in America.
He was surprised when she took his hand and pulled him forward. 
“Stop staring, Jen, and hurry up! I found this really good street with tons of food carts online.”
Jeno did not know what was happening.
Well, he had a good comprehension of English because of being with Hannah and Mark most of the time, but everything around him was zipping past his ears. All he could focus on was how Hannah was rushing around the streets more excited than she had been in a few years. For the first time in a while, she was genuinely glowing with youth. 
For some reason, it made his heart speed up.
And he was distracted enough to accidentally run into a small group of people. He jolted back to reality and muttered a quick sorry and stepped to the side. The group of girls giggled and moved to the side, whispering things to each other and looking at Jeno in a way that made him uncomfortable.
“Hannah?” He looked around for her, wondering where she went.
“Yes?”
“Yah!” Jeno jumped as she appeared right in front of him. “Don’t scare me like that. Those girls over there are scary enough.”
Her scan of him made him feel queasy. It was almost as if she could see right through him. For some reason, it made him a little nervous. Anyway, he watched the way her eyes trailed him from head to toe, then he followed as they glanced over to the group of girls he pointed to earlier. They were now grimacing as they looked at Hannah, but the smiles appeared on their faces once they caught him looking once again. That was weird.
“They like you,” she smirked.
Jeno’s jaw dropped. “What? No, they don’t.”
“Trust me, Jen, they do,” she crossed her arms, but not before she tugged a little bit at his jacket. “I dressed you well, and you’re not so bad on the eyes for a nineteen-year-old.”
“Seventeen in this country, and you just used the clothes from our filming,” he rolled his eyes before leaning down to align his face with hers and raising his eyebrows. “Are you calling me handsome?”
“Please,” she scoffed at him, “I’m speaking objectively. And you know you look good. Those girls staring at you? It’s on you, my friend.”
Jeno looked back at the group of girls in a mix of discomfort and disgust. He wanted them off his back as soon as possible. He looked back at Hannah with a silent plea for help. She just chuckled and pressed a kiss to Jeno’s cheek and, for the second time that night, took his hand.
“Now they think you’re off-limits,” she grinned. “You’re welcome.”
“Thanks.” They walked off towards a less crowded street that seemed to have a few more high-end shops compared to the food carts they had been going through. That’s when he realized. “Hey, what about you? Why aren’t guys staring at you?”
“Calling me pretty, now?” she asked him, making him shrug, face lightly heating up. “Well, I’m here with you, and all those guys who I saw notice me saw you.”
He smirked at her. “They think I’m your boyfriend, huh?”
“Do you want to be my boyfriend?” The way she looked at him, the playful glint in her eye made his breath hitch in his throat and heart skip a beat. She laughed. “Trying to be as flirty as Nana, Jeno? Yeah, nice try.” 
He watched as she walked down the street, pulling him along with her. Why did he get flustered? Why did the thought of people thinking he was her boyfriend satisfy him? Why did seeing their clasped hands make his insides melt? And why did seeing the way she laughed while showing him the streets of LA make his heart race?
Oh no.
He knew where this was going, and he didn’t think he liked it.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked him, eyebrows knitting together in slight worry. “Why are you being so quiet?”
It took one look at her worried face that made all these thoughts flow into him at once. She made him feel comfortable. She didn’t make things easy, and she knew him. She knew when he was ecstatic, she knew when he was upset, and he could easily talk to her about everything. 
He liked her.
“Jen?”
Oh god, he liked her.
“Jeno?”
He liked his best friend and groupmate. He liked the girl standing in front of him. He liked Lee Hannah.
“Lee Jeno!”
“Let’s get rings!”
He nearly regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. He watched as the worry disappeared from her face, replaced by a chuckle.
“Okay,” she shook her head in amusement, “a little fast there. You’ve gotta at least take me out to dinner before asking me to marry you.”
“No!” The sudden raise in his voice called a few bystanders’ attention. Jeno facepalmed. “I mean, not like that, Hannah. It’s just that you’re gonna be with 127 and with U now, and I don’t think I’ll be there for all your stages…”
That was a good save, he thought to himself.
“So to keep up our tradition?” she smiled. “Sounds like a good idea.”
He was grateful that that seemed to distract her from how weird he was acting. He looped her arm through his and pulled her over to one of the jewelry stores he could see on the street. “Come on, I’ll pay.”
“Are you sure? Because I can do half.”
“No,” he shushed her, “consider this my Christmas present. I told you I’d get you one in LA. You just need to do the talking.”
The huge smile on her face was worth it.
That’s how he found himself watching while Hannah looked around the cases in the jewelry shop, constantly asking Jeno for his opinion on which rings would look best on them without hindering their stage outfits. Well, not like Hannah would care. Knowing her, she’d wear it without hesitation whether or not the stylists let her. And if she would do that, then so would he.
“Oh, how about this?” she pointed to two simple silver bands. “It says here that we can engrave stuff on the inside. How about crowns?”
“Crowns?” He was amused by her excitement over everything. 
“Yeah,” she grinned. “Jaehyun oppa calls me princess, and it caught on with the other oppas. And the fans call you a prince. It seems fitting.”
“It seems so,” he nodded. “Don’t they look a little small, though?”
“True,” she pondered before calling over an employee. “Excuse me? Do these rings come in bigger sizes?”
“Choosing a promise ring for you and your boyfriend?” The clerk gave them a knowing look.
Well, Jeno knew what that meant. He shook his hands and laughed.
“Oh, he’s not my boyfriend,” Hannah clarified, “he’s my best friend. We kind of just want matching rings for this tradition that we have before we go on stage.”
“Sorry,” the clerk apologized, “I just assumed. Dancers, huh?”
“You can say that.”
“Well, this is a good choice,” the clerk took the rings out of the case and showed it to them. “This is stainless steel, and it doesn’t corrode or get scratches easily. Also, it’s meant for your pinkies, so it’s naturally small.”
Hannah quickly translated it for Jeno, and he picked one of the rings up to have a closer look. It was simple and understated, and they could easily add it to stage or photoshoot outfits without being scolded. 
“I like it.”
“Me, too. Can we possibly get a crown engraved on the inside of each of them?”
“You’d have to come back here in thirty minutes,” the clerk pondered, “and the store usually closes at that time, but I guess you can come back at 11:30, and I’ll have these ready for you. There’s a cafe down the street that’s open till three in the morning. You can wait there. How will you pay?”
“Thank you,” Hannah smiled, “by card, please. Yah, Jeno, it’s already eleven?”
“Huh?” Jeno checked his phone, and his eyes widened as he saw both the time and the amount of missed calls from Jaemin and Mark. He shook his head and pulled out his wallet while the clerk brought them over to the counter. “Hannah, check your phone.”
“Oh shit,” she mumbled once she saw her screen. “Mark is so gonna kill me. I told him we’d be back by nine.”
The two exchanged a look. The clerk handed Jeno his card and a claim stub back. He accepted it and turned back to Hannah.
“Should we buy them food to make up for it?”
“Probably.”
Thirty-five minutes later, Jeno and Hannah find themselves walking back to their hotel, new rings on their fingers. Jeno couldn’t help smiling when he saw the light reflect off of the band on Hannah’s pinkie while she talked to Mark. It was an English conversation, and he didn’t really try comprehending it.
He watched the way her eyes lit up as she looked at their surroundings, a stark difference from Korea and Ukraine, which she had just visited. She was radiating excitement despite probably being scolded by Mark over the phone. She glowed differently under the lights of LA’s nightlife, and it was something he was glad he could witness.
The glimmer of her new ring once again caught his attention. He lifted his own pinkie which held his ring and poked hers without a thought, making her glance at him in the middle of her explaining something to Mark. She laughed and hung up on the elder and looked at Jeno.
“We’re in trouble with Mark,” she began, “but the managers know nothing.”
“Good,” he draped an arm around her. “We’re in the clear, then.”
“We’ll see,” she snorted. “When Mark gets mad, he gets mad. But, hey. We’re in this together.”
Jeno raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re his roommate.”
“And you’re my best friend,” she laughed while holding up her pinkie to show her ring.
“Right. Best friend.”
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chemicalpink · 4 years ago
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Trust Fund Baby ♡ Kim Seokjin
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Pairing: Kim Seokjin x reader
Genre: Fluff + Softcore Smut with a side of Comedy
Word Count: 6.1k
Warnings: includes softcore porn, mc cries during sex bc too much feelings, fake engagement, Jin’s mum dislikes YN
Summary: Kim Seokjin is the biggest Trust Fund Baby, it is no secret but he’s almost thirty and on the line to inherit his dad’s CEO position, which makes his family set a deadline for his engagement or he loses it all.
OR
The one where Seokjin is no good with buried feelings but Y/N isn’t any better (they kinda hate each other and they have to share a bed okay, thats the cliche here)
A/N: banner made by me, whoa I finally got this bad boy finished that took quite some time, well, I hope you enjoy, these past few days haven’t been nice to me but I’m slowly working on it. Much blessing to all of you reading this first attempt at a slightly longer shot.
Seokjin has always been one to enjoy the finest things in life, traveling around the world at any given time? check. shopping without checking the price tag? check. attending a top tier university? also check. 
The thing is, one can only live so long without having to actually work for every single swipe of a black card. He is about to turn 28, youngest child of the most successful tech innovator in Korea and a former second-place Miss Universe, and he has yet to bring a girl home that provides him with some kind of secured future to the family name.
“We are not getting any younger” his mother had said the first few times the topic was brought up during their usual family Sunday brunch, but the words fell on deaf ears.
When his dad started getting involved in the matter, Seokjin knew he was over and done with.
But as much as his dad was headstrong, Jin was one himself too, he entered each blind date knowing that he would make whoever was sitting across from him, absolutely despise him after less than an hour went by, which was quite a hard task in itself, seen as he was pretty good looking and with a heavy amount of money under his name. 
See, he would have probably agreed to marry to some of the girls that his dad sent his way, but every time he sat down for dinner with each of them, they were not even trying to fake being interested in him, just his lifestyle, whether it is if his dad was about to name him CEO any time soon or how much money they could blow off in the wedding.
He could do it for the rest of his living days, scaring off his father’s candidates, that is. It was somewhat fun, earning a weirded out look when he mentioned he liked bathing in goats milk religiously, or how he allegedly liked being put to sleep like a baby, he even once went as far as admitting a fake toe kink in the most perverted way possible when one of them just wouldn’t budge.
Then again, his fun could only last so long, as his father called him up to the office to give him a 30-day ultimatum or his trust fund would be taken away for good. Now that had the gears in his head working, how on earth would any sane enough person agree to marry in a month-long time.
“I’m not saying you’re not a keeper, hyung but I honestly don’t think I can take up such a responsibility,” Namjoon laughed as they sat in one of the campus’ lounge chairs while they waited for their class to start, the elder groaned in response.
“Could you imagine having to marry THE Kim Seokjn in less than a month, but also having to meet the standards of tech genius Mr Kim and universal beauty Mrs Kim” Jungkook laughed at his friend as he patted his shoulder in pity “I don’t think anyone is willing to put themselves through it hyung”
“Could you just- I don’t know, help me out a bit? I already know I’m fucked” 
“Okay, let’s say… who could pass the scrutinising judgemental eye of the Kims?” the blond one offered, just a bit of teasing in his tone “They would have to be a girl, your father seems adamant on that one” he paused as if in thought “ A nice family name would help too”
“She would have to be good looking too, my mum says Seokjin-hyung’s mum can never be seen without looking like she is about to own a runway” 
“Well that’s about it, I will be broke for the rest of my life, I won’t be able to pay my student loans, it was nice knowing you guys, I’ll just have to work at some greasy old diner to pay for a one-bedroom apartment somewhere out of the city and we’ll never hang out again because I’ll be a disgrace of society, this handsome face will just wrinkle and spot without the high maintenance and- ugh” he buried his face in between his hands, resting on the table in an overexaggerated manner after his rant, making the youngers try to stifle a laugh
“Whoa, what is the drama queen crying about now?” Taehyung, another friend of theirs approached the table after hearing the not so subtle commotion “Hyung, if your night cream went out of stock again, you know I can get my mum to ship some to you, we’ve talked about this”
If Seokjin’s dramatic outburst from before had made them laugh, Taehyungs’ confession made them burst in a fit of laughter that had both of them holding onto their sides “You’ve- you’ve had to restock Seokjin-hyung on- on night cream before?” 
“And now he’s going to kill me, stop laughing!” he took a seat next to them “What is this about anyway?”
“His dad said he has to marry or they will completely obliterate his spending rights” 
“Oh but, how hard can it be? You’re Kim Seokjin, just ask a girl to fake marry you” 
“He’s just worried that after having a taste of Worldwide Handsome, they won’t let go ” Seokjin let out an overdramatic groan at that, continuing to fake cry, sound muffled by his arms
“Then just ask someone that doesn’t give two shits about your money or reputation to fake marry you”
“I don’t think such a person exists, hyung”
“Yah, Y/N is a good option, her family is filthy rich too” 
“But isn’t Y/N… you know, a bastard child?” Taehyung was known amongst their scene as a social butterfly, not caring about the protocol they were subdued into when they were children, so it made sense that while for them it was almost a rule to never consider an illegitimate child a friend of theirs, Taehyung would just jump over that fact.
“Which is exactly my point, if you show up to your parents’ house, saying you’re ‘oh so in love with this black sheep’ I could bet my life, they’ll let you off the hook”
 So maybe Taehyung was right, you were his best shot so far. Contrary to what most people new to the scene of Korea’s high society believe about your social status as an illegitimate child of the car emporium’s CEO and national treasure, he knows you are more of an insider, having grown up with him but… pretty much on the side. It wasn’t like you were alien to his lifestyle, but as you both grew up and he was involved more in the family business, you had grown apart, going as far as rebelling against your father once you were grown up enough to understand what being a bastard child meant for you. 
He never stopped seeing you around though, once you started going MIA on business dinners and family trips, he thought enough to see you during classes.
However, you stopped being recognisable after he attended a semester abroad, coming back home to see pigtails and pink puffy dresses long gone, in their place, ripped jeans, which were completely unacceptable for a lady, according to his mum, and driving one of your dad’s self-proclaimed archnemesis designs. 
It was a spring semester in high school, he could recall the time as if it were a precious memory, while the rest tried to pretend it had never happened in the first place; at age 27 he doesn’t have to try so hard to recall the way you burst into one of your father’s celebratory cocktails, drunk off your ass, barely managing to get a hold of some mic and screaming into it how he, and everyone else attending the party, had a stick up their asses that didn’t let them see anything but price tags before you were dragged off stage by security. He had giggled at it but his mother had scolded him, asking him to pretend as if you had never existed in the first place.
So of course, the secure way out of an arranged marriage was simple: you. 
Now, this promised to be no easy task, he knew you hated his family almost as much as you hated your own father, but he also happened to know his way into negotiating an infallible plan that would get you to rebel against the system you were so adamant on taking down. 
“Wait wait wait, so you’re telling me, asking me, to marry you” so perhaps approaching you on your way to class wasn’t the smartest way to do it, seen as you halted your hasty walk to turn to look at him, books in hand and looking like you hadn’t slept in days.
“Yeah, fake marrying me though” 
“I would still sign a contract, Jin you do know we would be legally married, right?” he just raised his shoulders as if to dismiss your statement.
“Say, hypothetically I do it, I don’t think your parents would approve of me” you resumed your walk and he found it appropriate to play dumb with a smile on his face.
“Why wouldn’t they?” 
You stopped walking again and blinked a few times his way as if debating inside your head if he really was that dense“Jin… I’m a bastard child, you know how it goes around here”
“Hmmm I’m willing to look past that, yeah” you stared at him for a few seconds before smiling in a knowing way, resisting the urge to roll your eyes at him,  not being able to see past his words to his true intentions on the matter since you two hadn’t really hung out for years “So what do you say?”
“No thank you” you weren’t about to turn around once you started to walk away once again, but out of the corner of your eyes you could see him hanging his mouth open in that drama fashion he was known for.
Days passed and each one seemed to go by faster than the last, by the time two weeks were left, he could practically hear the ticking clock inside his head, reminding him that maybe he should have gone for an easier target, perhaps some girl from the country club that seemed to always try so hard to steal a glance from him. But then again, he wouldn’t get rid of her for all he’s worth.
Seokjin tries, again and again, everytime ending up with a no from you, he starts actually trying as his days run low, peer pressure, you’d call it as he set up a huge booth full of roses just outside your dorm building, a mic held in his hand as everyone around him took videos of THE Kim Seokjin making a fool of himself for a girl, your cheeks blazing red as you walked up to him, finally fed up with him as you angrily whispered to him “You’re asking me because you don’t think I am on your level, you honestly think less of me, why? because I didn’t grow up in a golden cradle like you and your friends? because I actually have to work for what I have? You’re an asshole Kim Seokjin, but I will prove you, I can absolutely charm both of your parents, I’ll do it” Seokjin’s grin taking over his features.
The first time you officially posed as Seokjin’s girlfriend, you wouldn’t have thought it would be one of the most nerve wrecking experiences in your life, having grown in a wealthy family, after your mother decided to leave you with your biological dad and his rightful heirs, you were no stranger to their roundabouts, their lifestyle and everything in between.
“Well you cleaned up nicely, Y/N” Seokjin said in a mocking tone, body resting against his black car just outside your dorm building as he watched you close the glass door, ready to drive both of you to his family’s vacation house all the way in Jeju Island
“Why aren’t you a gentleman and help me with my stuff?” you groaned as, once again, your suitcase betrays you and tries to slip away from your grasp.
“Nah, not really my thing” he adjusted his sunglasses perched on his nose as he mockingly added “...darling”
“Kim Seokjin, I am the one doing you a favour by going with you!” you shouted back at him, in a futile attempt to get him to help you as he was already buckling himself up  inside the driver’s seat.
In all wealthy family fashion, as soon as Seokjin phoned back home to let his parents know that he was ‘finally ready to bring his girlfriend over’ his mum had gone all out and invited most of the inner Kim family for a weekend get together in one of their houses in Jeju, with just a text the night before having to leave campus as a heads up for you to get ready, currently on your way to catch a plane. 
“Wait so let me just get this straight” you said, surprised at Seokjin’s story of how the conversation with his mum went down, turning in your seat to face him more clearly “just after month of your parents trying to set you up, you just went ahead and straight up lied to your mother by saying that you’re bringing your long time girlfriend that you just somehow never mentioned before?”
“Yeah, Y/N, didn’t you hear me out the first time?”
You let out something between a laugh and a scoff as you melted into your seat “We’re so screwed”
Two hours and a lot of bickering later, you are still pushing your own suitcase forward as you and Seokjin made your way to a rented car just outside the airport.
“Listen so- these family things are kinda..”
“Stuck up?”
“I was gonna say etiquette-driven, but yeah, stuck up probably fits best” he said as you buckled your seatbelt on, him beginning to drive away and towards his family address, somewhere from the side of your eye you could see his hand trembling lightly on the steering wheel. Could it be that Kim Seokjin was nervous? The Kim Seokjin? 
“Relax Jin, I know exactly how to handle it. We grew up together, remember?” you said smiling at him as he turned your way for a second; to calm him down, but honestly it was more a thing to try and calm yourself down, having ran away from such a lifestyle, stirring things up in your family, only to end up somehow at the center of it all was sure a wild ride to be on.
“Yeah, I sometimes kinda forget you used to be so much better at this stuff than your sisters” his eyes lingered on you a second too long as you stopped at a red light, a small smile taking over his lips and the car behind you being quick to make it known that Seokjin was taking up too long to start the car going again when the light changed.
The ride was pretty much silent and kinda awkward but soon over with as the car pulled up to a familiar villa, white houses with fancy front gardens and over the top luxury cars lining up together as Jin parked on the third house on the right, just beside the one that used to be your father’s, and probably still was.
A woman was waiting by the entrance door, which you soon recognised to be Seokjin’s mum, looking just a tad older than how you remembered her from all those years ago, a bright smile on her face as she rushed to the driver’s side to greet her son.
“Ah Seokjinnie! You never visit anymore, look at you! Are you eating well? You look so thin!” she said as she placed two sonorous kisses on her son, one  on each cheek.
“Yah, eomma, we talk on the phone a lot though” 
“Wait so who’s the lucky lady you’ve brought home?” you stood kind of awkwardly on the front of the car to greet her with a small bow and a faltering smile, your heart speeding up at the memories of what your life used to be, fingers gripping your bag tighter in an attempt to not run away as soon as her eyes landed on you and her smile fell “Y/N? Seokjinnie, is Y/N really the girl you brought home?”
“Surprise?” Jin said from behind her as she not so subtly let out a huff and entered the house as you tried not to notice how your heart sinked at the sight, surely, you had always known deep down that you were quite the talk of the town amongst the families, with you being a bastard child and all, which was exactly why Seokjin had asked you to pretend to be his girlfriend, so his parents would drop the topic, very much preferring to see his son single rather than married to an out of marriage offspring, which not only made you realise that what you had promised yourself to make Seokjin down his words would never be true, you could never in a million years make his parents love you, and you didn’t calculate just how much it would hurt yourself as you tried.
“You can take the room upstairs, I’ll call you when your sister’s back so we can have dinner together” his mother said as she made her way inside without another word
“So I don’t think your mother likes me” you blurted out as soon as you closed the door to the room “Which I guess, goes exactly as you planned, after this I don’t think they’ll be pestering you to marry”
“Y/N that’s the least of our problems”
“What are you talking about?”
His eyes opened up to emphasize along with his hands dramatically pointing towards the bed “There’s only one bed and I have a bad back so I’m not about to sleep on the floor”
“Well that’s the least you could do Kim, I’m not about to share a bed with you”
“Take the couch?” he said as he pointed to a small couch that faced the window 
“Kim Seokjin I’m doing this much for your sorry ass, so unless you want me to go down and tell your mother that all of this is a set up, you take the damn couch”
“Well I never knew you looked that hot while yelling at me, Y/N”
“You’re insufferable” 
“Y/N come on, I don’t fit in that couch” he whined at you as you walked towards the bathroom to freshen up
“Do as you please Seokjin, but you’re not sleeping with me” 
As if dealing with Seokjin’s mum wasn’t enough, his sister was about to burst your head either from all the questioning or out of spite from the looks she was giving you as you sat across from her on the dinner table
“So Y/N, your sisters never mentioned you dating our Seokjin”
“Oh yeah- it was more of a very private matter, we dated for awhile just to see how it went, right Jinnie?” you said the nickname in a honey dripping voice that fitted the fake scenario you had going on
“Ahh yeah, yeah, Y/N and I, we uh- we like keeping to ourselves”
“And I haven’t seen you at your dad’s company dinners after- well, the incident”
“Seung” their oldest brother said sternly, catching up with her intentions “We’re just glad to see you again, Y/N”
“Thanks”
After dinner, Jin and you walked upstairs saying your goodbyes to the rest of his family to enter the bedroom, separately doing your night routines, you lied on one side of the bed as Seokjin prepped a few blankets and pillows in order to lie on the floor “I was just joking, you know? You could sleep on the other side of the bed” you said, feeling somewhat guilty at how he had taken your past statement as a rule
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable” he was quick to say, already tossing at being uncomfortable lying on the floor.
“Oh so now you’re being considerate?” you scoffed- sure, Seokjin was kind of a dick, most of the time, but he wasn't half as bad as most people his age and social status, but honestly speaking, if he was so preoccupied on making you uncomfortable, he wouldn’t have even proposed to make you go through this whole ordeal “After what I just had to go through with your sister?”
“Well you kind of accepted to come” he retorted in a soft voice, one you hadn’t listened to him use before, as if over the course of the short dinner time, something had changed in your relationship “A friend doing me a favour, you know?”
“Seokjin…” you trailed off, however as far as you two went back, after news broke that you were somewhat cut off from your father’s heirship, and everyone started treating you cold as ever, you would have thought Jin had gotten the clue “We stopped being friends a long time ago”
“What are you talking about” the night was filled with silence apart from your two whispering voices in the dark as both of you laid there
“Yeah after… that time, we hadn’t talked to each other until now” Describing your relationship with Seokjin was one of the most difficult things to do, while you were still part of the official lineage of your father’s, the Kims had actually even rooted for you to marry Seokjin, whomst you were head over heels at the time, both of you were, but Jin being the good son and heir to a tech emporium, had always disliked the way you stood up against your father and the whole elite thing your families had going on; needles to say, you both completely cut off any strings attached after you proclaimed your despise to the whole wealthy ordeal and you were vanished from your dad’s will. 
“I fail to see your point” and for a second you would have loved to believe his soothing voice in the dark, to still be in friendly terms at least, with him, after all this time.
“Nevermind just- goodnight” you said as you turned on your side to cuddle the pillow in between your arms, his soft voice reaching your ears once more and for the last time in the night.
“Goodnight Y/N”
“I’m just going straight to the point here, Y/N what exactly do you plan on achieving by marrying my son?” Jin’s mother said as soon as you came down the stairs, Seokjin having left the room a while back
“Nothing ma’am, we’re just really in love” something inside you twisting at the lie that could have been truth if things were just a tiny bit different than how they were evolving at the time, the words leaving your lips sounding as the mere truth to your ears nonetheless
“I don’t buy that lovebirds facade, Y/N drop the act now” she turned to look directly at you, trying to sound menacing, which, would have worked, had it not been for you handling her for quite some time now, so you just tried your sweetest smile at her “Whatever you and Seokjin had when you were teens, your father and Seokjin’s father called it off”
“I know” you tried to conceal just how much the reminder hurted, the memories flooding into your mind, of you and Jin being engaged even before meeting each other, the good times you both spent together as friends, a few months as something more, then the lonely nights when it was all over and it had seemed like a dream that just wouldn’t ever come true.
“Just so you know, I’m keeping a close eye on you two” were her last words before leaving the kitchen, off to some other place in the house.
“Yes ma’am”
“Hey, Y/N, we’re heading to the beach you coming?” Seokjin asked as he laid his elbow on the counter, you pull him towards you, taking his hand in your smaller one as you watched his mother closing in on you two from the distance before she set her eyes elsewhere
He leaned in to you, whispering “What was that for?”
“Your mother knows something’s up” you shortly answered
“Y/N, I didn’t know you were coming” Seokjin’s father looked just as he did the last time you saw him years ago, his face contorting into an incredule one as he saw you descend from one of the cars that took you to the beach “Are you and your father on a better place now?”
“Oh no sir, I’m accompanying Seokjin” if he hadn’t believed your presence at first, he surely wasn’t believing the words leaving your mouth; Seokjin’s father had always had a soft spot for you, my hardest working tobe daughter-in-law, he had once said, and even after you and Seokjin’s engagement was called off, mainly by your father even when Jin’s mum said otherwise, his dad had offered you a place in his company’s headboard after you graduated, which you politely denied, knowing that someday, Seokjin would be CEO and you would have to work under his name directly.
“Seokjin? my son?” you nodded “What has Seokjin ever done to deserve you as his fiancee?”
“The same thing I keep repeating myself” you mutter more to yourself than for him to hear
“What was that?”
“Oh, nothing!”
The weekend with Jin’s family was as monotonous as you remembered them to be, with family dinner after a day at the beach, plus the constant scrutinising eye of his mother on you two, which made you both hold hands more than the normal amount a real couple should, only to have to spend the night at a lonely bed.
 “Jin, I’m cold” 
“Well you sure aren’t planning on also taking my blanket from me, you’ve taken my bed already” he joked from his made up bed on the floor, which in hindsight, was probably even colder for him than for you
“Jin”
“No can’t do”
“Come cuddle me then” the words had left your mouth before your brain could even complete to process them, the situation all too familiar from years before, like muscle memory, your brain had just dwelled into a common relationship between the two, too easy to slip away from.
“Ohhh you’re already falling for worldwide handsome” he joked, only you knowing the truth his words hid behind them and you felt your face heat up, somehow deciding against backing up.
“Shut up just-” torn between spilling your “new found” feeling for him that were remains from a past love or keeping it the bare minimum “I’m cold”
“Fine, I’ll be there” he paused, and you knew him all too well to know that he was wearing a stuid grin on his face, wondering if by any chance the innocent banter had a deeper meaning for him too as he added “Almost fiancee”
You could hear a shuffling  of blankets and him throwing his pillows on the bed before he literally jumped on it, whole body hovering over yours, his eyes glistening as they bore into yours as he kept his body weight on his extended hands, a familiar twist in your heart at the distance, his lips on yours in the blink of an eye for less than a second before he rolled off to the empty side of the bed
“What was that for?!” you panicked, not loud enough for anyone to hear but him
“I don’t know it felt right”
As you turned to confront him, the air suddenly didn’t feel as cold as before, a warmth enveloping you both that felt like home, like this place and time was exactly where you were supposed to be all along, your hands coming up to caress the side of his face as his larger ones tugged you closer to him effortlessly without breaking eye contact; both of your faces coming closer to each other, noses brushing against each other before your lips found his, an all too familiar setting for the both of you, everything feeling as if both of your lives had been a movie that had been unwillingly paused and someone had pressed play just as you were close like this, feeling as if all those years apart were nothing when together, his hot tongue lapping your lower lip as you granted him entrance, tongues dancing with one another as time seemed to slow down, a gasp escaping your lips as his cold hand found its way into your pajama pants “sorry, is this okay?” he whispered against your lips, to which you agreed, your own hands scurrying under his top to caress his torso, his lips finding your sweet spot under your ear all too easily, as if he had never forgotten about it, his pants straining by each passing second as you felt him grow harder against your thigh, hand going under the covers to palm him over the fabric, which made him exhale a moan in your ear, feeling yourself grow wetter at the display, all too familiar, yet not enough, you lunged yourself over him to straddle his hips, clothed core rubbing against his covered length in a futile attempt to ease the tension “ah- you’re sure about this, Y/N?” he found himself checking in with you before you both lost yourselves to pleasure “a hundred percent, Jin”.
Seokjin was quick to rid you both of your clothing, both of you grimacing at the cold and giggling about it for a second before you resumed your ways with one another, Jin’s tongue working its way down your body until he reached your folds, eating you out like a man starved, his hand finding yours to grip tight as he went down to business, lapping up your juices and working you to your first quieted orgasm of the night with a questionable experience, were you two to have never broken up in the first place; you quick to turn you both over so you were on top and ready to ride his apparently aching length as soon as he disctrated himself by kissing you post-bliss tasting yourself on his tongue, a smirk forming in his features as he reached on the bed side table to roll a condom on himself, your hands teasing him already as you muttered a “Your parents are in the next room” that was soon answered with a cocky “We shouldn’t let them hear then” before you lined him up with your entrance and slided down on him, hands gripping each other’s as you started working a pleasurable deep pace, moans tangling with the other’s, eyes fluttering shut and a lonely tear rolling down you cheek at all the emotions that you had pent up and were slowly releasing by each thrust as you buried your face on his neck, startling Jin  and making you look down on him to check on you as he noticed you crying “Y/N, are you okay?” he muttered sweetly before kissing your lips in the sweetest form, hips stilling as he was buried deep inside you, him tossing you underneath him, angling his hips better and taking over a more passionate pace, plump lips kissing away your falling tears, as if knowing that they were caused by something bigger than the both of you “God you’re so beautiful” he said as his pace became erratic “Come with me please, Y/N” whether his words or the newly found position as he pulled a leg over his shoulder, hitting all the right spots, worked you to your second orgasm, followed by him spilling in the condom, would remain a mystery as he was quick to dispose the used condom and clean both of you as you edged on sleep, his naked torso colliding with your bare back as he cuddled you.
“What are they doing here?” You muttered under your breath as Jin leaned into your frame, your right arm intertwined with his as you both rounded the corner to greet the guests that Jin’s mother had so carefully selected for the engagement party
“What? Who?” his eyes scanned the room rapidly 
“My father and- Seoyun and Junghee” his free hand rested on top of yours in an attempt to let you know he was there for you, having witnessed first hand all the history between you and your family and mentally cursing his mother for playing you so dirty
“Shit”
“Seokjin I can’t keep doing this” you turned to him, eyes panicked and wide on the verge of tears, his mind racing a hundred miles per second in search for the right words that would make you stay, he had already lost you before, and even though things didn’t quite turned out the way he had planned, he wasn’t about to let you slip away again “I can’t face them again, after all they’ve put me through, Seokjin, they took away my dreams just because I wouldn’t pace around like the rest of them,  this is your life, not mine I’m so sorry” you had ran out of his grip and out the door before his brain could even begin to process it, blinking a few too many times before he called out to you 
“Seokjinnie! What’s taking you so long?” his mother had gathered the guests in the garden for the grand entrance of the newly announced engagement, tired of being kept waiting, walking up to him
“I’m so sorry eomma, I’ll- I just- I have to go” in his mind he was already out the door looking for you, had it not been for his mother’s hand on his bicep keeping him on place and turning him to look at her
“Kim Seokjin, we get it. Your father and I will wait until you find a girl to marry, one that suits you well” Seokjin’s mother was sure a woman that could not be fooled, but this one time perhaps it was Jin that had been fooled by himself on letting himself get close to you and fall in love all over again, just the way it happened all those years ago, just the way it was supposed to be
“That’s what you don’t get mum, I’ve already found the one” 
“Y/N? Jinnie, Y/N is not part of our world, you know it” 
“Then I want to be part of hers. I don’t care if you take my trust fund, take everything, I’ll build myself up, just like she did all those years ago and all of us, we all turned our backs on her, I want to be there for her, like it should have been from the start” he would have loved to record the incredulity in his mother’s eyes as she let her arms fall to her sides defeated, the first time Kim Seokjin had fail to complied with his mother was about none other than in an engagement matter.
Truth be told, you couldn't go far, there was no possible way you could just run home all the way from Jeju Island, but somehow seeing your tear stained face as you slumped over an old set of swings that he now recalled, you two used to go to back in the day, had his heart filling up, butterflies roaming his tummy
“...Jin” you exhaled his name, his mind quickly recalling the night before, how your eyes spilled love all over, how the past days watching you go on your daily routine alongside him, had him imploding with the purest kind of love
“Y/N? Listen I-” he began, a thousand words tangled in his mind waiting to be released
“I don’t think I made it”
“Made what?”
“Your parents to like me” a smirk appeared in his features as his hand came up to caress the side of your face lovingly
“Well you certainly made me like you” he said, close enough to your lips that you could have sworn both of your breaths mixed into one
“I don’t think you ever stopped liking me” a mirroring grin traced your lips before you leaned in to kiss him, whatever the path you two were once destined to walk, it was all different now, whatever turns it may take the only sure thing was that you two would walk it down together after all those years apart. 
Plus, technically speaking, Jin’s trust fund should remain intact since he found a wife in less than a month’s time, and you could always ask his dad for that place in the company he was always talking about.
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prorevenge · 4 years ago
Text
Give my hours away to a new-hire? I’ll leave you with a store to close yourself, misfiled paperwork and get you fired.
This happened a couple months ago at an old employer. I worked at a supermarket in my state throughout high school and while in college in the United States making $9 to start and only $10.50 at the end. The store had 1 Store Manager, 2 Assistant Store Managers, 1 manager and assistant manager per department, which there were 9 departments. For 5 years, I worked every position there because who knew what hiring was, right? Understaffing was a regular here, so if a department needed closing and I worked, I had to close it. From stocking to register to managers duties, everything was game. My biggest acknowledgements were being a Book-Keeper (Out terms of the person who keeps track of all the money), Monitor (Glorified cashier, basically wrangle the regular cashiers and divvy up cash drawers to each register), Service Desk (Cigarettes, lottery, customers bullshit) and store opener/closer. There were 5 people who knew Book-Keeping, 2 other people besides me and the 2 managers who ran the front end of the store. There were about 5 monitors who all needed to be trained on Service Desk as well. Every monitor and Book-Keeper needed to know how to open the store and close it. For being a supermarket in a town with about 20,000 people, we were severely understaffed. I worked 12 to 16 hour shifts at least once a week because people would call off all the time. Keep all this in mind for later on.
Backstory: I started working here at 16 in high school originally as a stock person. 25 hour work weeks, eventually moved up to 35+ hour work weeks. Moved up to register, then monitor, then Service Desk and finally Book-Keeping when I turned 18, now 21. The hours were always good, never had a week drop below 35 hours at least. But it all changed because of some dickhead.
At the start of COVID-19, I was working while in college, so all these guidelines had to be followed. Everyone needed their toilet paper and hand sanitizer to keep COVID away. No biggie. On top of the guidelines, we also had been hiring a copious amount of people. This store had a history of training new hires with other people who have been working for maybe a month or so. So as you could guess, training was a disaster. But since COVID-19 had the store busy all the time, we needed more people. I wanted to train people the right way because I got sick of doing other people’s jobs. In March, we had gotten 4 new-hires to train for my position. Now these new-hires needed training on the service desk. Easy, let them run it while I watched and helped out the best I could. Easiest way to get people to learn. Most of them needed trained on here because there were 3 of us total, at the time, who could run it. After training everyone, one per shift at a time over 4 weeks, there were 7 people now ready to fuck up the world. But everyone who knew how to run the service desk needed training on Monitor too. Guess who had to train everyone for another position? After another 4 weeks of bullshit, everyone got trained. Around this time was the end of May. This is where the juice begins.
The Juice: Starting in June, we had been starting to lay off the hours since COVID-19 started to slow down. Hours started to get cut from all the register people, from about 20-30 hours a week to 10 hours max. We got over staffed and people started quitting left and right. Not a big deal because those positions were easy to fill. But that’s when MY hours started getting cut. At the time, the one new-hire who started in March, who we’ll call Helen, had been getting really good hours, I’m talking about MY hours. We had the same problem, college money, car money, the works and all. But then I got scheduled for 16 hours one week and they got scheduled for over 35 hours. Not once since I was 18 did I get less than 35 hours. So I decided to confront the Assistant Manager who was in charge of scheduling, we’ll call him Frank.
Me: Hey Frank, I noticed my hours got cut. What’s happening?
Frank: I know, everyone’s hours are getting cut. I have to make room for everyone, ya know?
Me: I couldn’t help but notice that Helen is getting quite the hours, so you made room for her and no one else?
Frank: I was unaware of that, I’ll get you some more hours next week.
The reset of the week was kind of boring since I was a workaholic. No one called me to cover shifts or anything. The following week, I asked around to see who covered any shifts last week and it turns out that ALL the new hires got called first. That kind of pissed me off but hey, can’t do anything about it now. Later that day, I check my schedule and whaddya know? The same 16 hour week. I was livid at this point, I should have been honored for my seniority there, not getting fucked over in hours. I went back to Frank and confronted him.
Me: Hey, what the hell is this?! I thought you’d be finding me hours this week, I can’t live off of this.
Frank: Well it turns out that I couldn’t find you hours. I tried calling-
Me: Bullshit you tried calling me, not a single person called me. Instead, all the new-hires got called. What the hell man?!
Frank: There’s nothing I can do, you might have to just find another job.
This PISSED me off beyond belief. I was ready to pop. But this is when my bright idea came into play. For a couple days, I searched around for other supermarkets in my area offering jobs. After about a day of searching, I found a job paying DOUBLE what I made now for the same qualifications. I gave them a ring and got an interview for the following week. The following day, I went into work, for what I didn’t know was my last shift, and told Frank what was happening.
Me: Hey Frank, I just wanted to let you know I took your advice.
Frank: Advice? Do you mean finding another job?
Me: You’re A fucking right, I hope you have fun!
I will never forget the look on his face. Completely baffled. He didn’t expect me to actually find another job so quickly. This is where my revenge began.
Revenge: After I walked out of dickhead Franks office, I went around doing my usual work. During every shift, a metric fuckton of paperwork needed to be processed in the computer in order to close the store correctly and setup Book-Keeping for the next day. Fun fact, that day in particular was SNAP-day. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s the day that government funded Food-Stamps arrive on everyones EBT card, monthly. That day I decided to say fuck paperwork and just don’t do shit, I was quitting that day because my anger got the better of me. The store closes at about 12am, and I walked out of that shit hole as free as can be.
The next day, I woke up to find some really obnoxious and angry texts from coworkers. I completely disregarded them, unknowingly that they said I worked that morning. I went down to the supermarket to grab some things for my house and as soon as I walked in the door, every ex-coworker of mine looked at me as if I had just passed on the floor. One of them pulled me aside, let’s call them George, and this happened:
George: What the fuck bro? I had to cover your shift this morning and you have the balls to walk in here after that?
Me: I don’t work here anymore, fuck off.
I continued to get my groceries and talked to one of my closer ex-coworkers there about what happened. As it turned out, the Frank had no idea that the previous day was my last AND that the ENTIRE front-end of the store had gotten brutally fucked over. Since the store closed at 12am and no paperwork was filed, our Corporate called the Assistant Manager, also in charge of making sure all departments are closed correctly, and asked where all the paperwork was. No idea that I had not filed it, Frank had to go into the store, over an hour away from him, to file all the paperwork himself. Not only that, tons of violations were given to him because since none of the paperwork got done by the person closing, no one had a record of anything done at the store from the previous day. On top of everything, the amount of paperwork needed done was practically doubled since that day was SNAP. As soon as the Store Manager heard about this, she was LIVID.
After about a month, I was working my new job and heard some information about Frank. Apparently he had to go into a meeting with our Corporate bosses and the Store Manager. He had gotten fired from his position due to all of this and had not been able to get a letter of recommendation from that employer also. Sucks to suck huh?
TLDR: Manager gives my hours away to new-hire and tells me to get another job. I walked out and got him a bunch a violations and fired due to his stupid remarks.
(source) story by (/u/FweakinLittle)
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earthlyemily · 4 years ago
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I’m struggling so much financially and honestly just wanted to vent somewhere. I’ve always lived in poverty and I think in my whole life I’ve had maybe 2 years where I didn’t have to stress about money and not be able to buy groceries or pay rent or be put into collections for not being able to make payments etc and that was when I was in college. For at least the past 5 years I’ve been struggling but I never talk about it. I don’t even know where to start haha I don’t even know what it’s like to not stress financially and be in debt. I’ll just start with the first things that come to mind with what I’m owing maybe. So it’s Dec. 23 and rent was due yesterday because we moved into this small suite attached to someone’s house on Nov. 22. It’s $1200 which is so expensive, but also the average price for BC if not even cheaper for a one-bedroom with a yard, utilities included. and no first and last, no pet deposits, etc because this is just short them for 4 months until the end of March because i reached out and asked and they said yes.
After 1 month I already remember why we went into the trailer almost 2 years ago and it’s literally because we can’t afford any other lifestyle. I think that’s the difference between us and some people that live in trailers, vans, etc. like we lived in a mouse & mouse shit infested trailer for 6 months breathing in their feces and urine and having it all over all our belongings. i literally had to take my whole life to the dump and we officially have no food storage because they ruined it all. there were at least 50-60 mice because a few birth cycles happened in the ceiling. I could write a whole post about my experience of living with field mice, but now isn’t the time so for rent, i only had $600 yesterday so that’s what I gave them. thank goodness they were okay with me asking for a few more days to make the other half. but I don’t even know when that’s going to be :(
my etsy shop veganveins has been doing so bad lately for more than one reason, most of my orders are just postcards and stickers, and while I’m grateful for them, that $1-3 profit isn’t going to keep my business going. and it’s so hard for me to work lately. the wifi doesn’t work sometimes for hours and I always get distracted by shawn and the dogs working from home in a small space. I need to get better at my time management. I got up at 8:30 today which is actually early for me so I’m proud of myself. I’m chronically ill and I really need to go get a blood test and see what’s happening because I haven’t gotten one since being diagnosed with graves disease again 1.5 years ago. anyways. i switched to a print on demand method this year for veganveins for some shirts and sweaters because i couldn’t afford to keep ordering shirts in bulk, and it’s honestly been so, so expensive and i barely make any profit. I’m currently owing my t-shirt printer $999 on one invoice (it was originally $2196 so I’ve at least paid half of it) but that was 2 weeks ago and I still need to pay it. Mario, my t-shirt printer has been with me since I started veganveins and I’m so grateful he gives me extensions on paying the invoices. every other t-shirt printer I’ve ever asked has said no. in addition to the $999 there’s going to be another $2200 invoice I’ll be receiving this week for my last order. I think because of the holidays he’s going to give me some time to pay off that too, but the problem is when I have outstanding invoices he doesn’t print new orders for me. He’s closed now until Jan. 4 so I just need to somehow make that much before then.
btw I don’t have a credit card ($8500 all used on veganveins and it got put into collections last march) and I had a fully used $5000 line of credit but I got a debt consolidation loan for $16,000 1 month ago and my payment for that is $167 a month. it fully paid off and closed my credit card and line of credit + $3000 overdraft which is nice. but now I don’t have any extra money except for what comes in. my credit is only 640 which is really bad in canada so I won’t get approved for a new credit card or loan until I build that up, which is going to be a few months of regular payments. so for regular payments, the $167 for the loan is due on Dec. 27. Yesterday the trailer loan which is literally unliveable from what the mice did until we renovate it came out for $260, that’s how much I pay once a month for it on the 22nd. I didn’t have $260 in my account so it got rejected and I got charged a $48 NSF fee. omg if anyone is reading this long i’m shook. i’m genuinely just writing this for myself to process my feelings and in case anyone was curious about my financial situation here you go haha. maybe some of you can relate, maybe some can’t. anyways. so now I somehow have to get $260 in my account for that for when they try to take it out again in the next few days.
another payment that was supposed to come out yesterday but hasn’t, but I’m sure will come out today is our truck loan. they deferred it for 8 months because of covid which was so nice, but we started paying it again 2 months ago. for both those months I called and made my payment a later date and that helped, but there’s barely any service here so when I called 4 times yesterday to try and change the date the payment comes out, I was on hold for 20-30 mins then my phone would disconnect and hang up. so that’s $586 and it will come out today, I have $0.46 in my account right now so it will get rejected and I’ll get charged another $48 NSF fee. this is why being poor always costs more and the banks are always harsher on those who don’t have money. today I’ll try calling again to see if I can ask for it to come out on a different day like january 10 instead, so I can first have time to pay rent and the trailer and also our $190 truck insurance which got rejected from my account 3 days ago, which was another $48 NSF fee. oh and something else i’m so stressed about is CIBC is going to put me into collections on December 28 if I don’t pay $1000, $700 of which is purely their fees. I have a $300 overdraft which they said i have to cover by then and the $700 is literally their $48 fees added up over the past 3 months. I got a text from them today saying my account is over and it’s because an amnesty international $11 monthly donation came out and obvi there’s no money in there, so that’s another $48 they charged. they’ve already given me a month to pay it and don’t want to wait any longer :(
I owe everyone in my family money, my sister $1650, my mom $700 and my brother also lent me $700. none of my siblings have money either and my mom definitely doesn’t so I hate that i had to borrow that much, and it’s literally been months. thankfully they’re so patient but i can’t wait to not owe them that
omg and i can’t even think about the amount of money shawn’s grandma has lent us. she’s genuinely the only reason we haven’t been completely homeless. but it’s a lot. like i don’t even want to say the number on here. she let us use it from her line of credit over the years and we’ve been slowly paying her back, but she lets us go months at a time without making a payment which i honestly hate doing, but have no choice. i’ve felt a lot of shame and guilt about this, but I also know that she genuinely would rather help us than see us suffer.
so i’m gonna talk about a big reason I’m broke this month especially - saving a pig named buster. his rescue cost me $1850 out of pocket that I didn’t have. but otherwise he was going to be killed in 2 days, he was my baby and I loved him so I had to do it. I somehow made $1350 that went towards it but I’m still owing $500, which I just asked for an extension for today until the new year. i’m not really supposed to talk about it but everything I’ve ever posted here has stayed here, so that cost was literally just from me buying the pig off the farmer. myself along with everyone else ive talked to is disgusted that he charged that much, but he wasnt budging and if that’s what it was going to take, of course I’m going to do it. I wouldn’t think twice about doing it for my dogs and Buster was smarter and more affectionate than them. i love him and I’m so happy he was saved. a non-profit organization transported him to a sanctuary and it was my biggest wish come true and the happiest moment I’ve had all year. my eyes are literally tearing up haha i love him so much. i could write a whole post about his neglect but basically he hasn’t had fresh water in weeks, he was only being fed handfuls of mixed nuts, he was constantly dirty in a muddy enclosure with an electric fence that he was always getting shocked on. he never got true love or affection except for when I gave him it. i posted an instagram story about him and asked people to message me and that i needed help, 2 people donated $111 and $120 each, and 2 other people donated $15 and $12. Someone also e-transferred me $20. These 4 donations equaled almost $300 ($277) and I was so grateful for those people wanting to help me help buster. if anyone else wants to help me with the cost of his rescue i still do need help and would appreciate it so much. this feels really weird and vulnerable for me to do and i’m sorry if anyone is annoyed by this post, I just genuinely am struggling and figured if someone does have extra and wants to help, there isn’t harm in that. but i do feel guilty for asking because i know there are so many other people struggling out there that need even more help than i do :(
i haven’t talked about it publically but i guess I will now, this farmer that I bought buster off of is the owner of the organic vegetable farm i was living and working at this past spring and summer. we worked really hard all summer to be able to stay there and park for free in the winter, but this past fall he told us no one was allowed to stay at the farm anymore, including us, so we had to find a new place to bring our 14ft trailer in to live. so that was an unexpected bummer and if we had known we wouldn’t be allowed staying there anymore (despite doing the labour of $1200 a month for free harvesting organic kale, for an off-grid spot he told us was worth $350 a month to park) we wouldn’t have driven 8 hours with the trailer and we would have stayed in the snow in northern BC and sucked it up and lived on the land we got the opportunity to rent this fall. Donna, the woman who is renting the land to us has been the biggest blessing in my life this year. I love her so much. Basically, she’s letting us live on 170 acres for $600 a month. letting us do whatever we want on the land (building a cabin, setting up rainwater catchment systems, having a solar passive greenhouse and a huge garden) LIKE WHAT. we could even open a farm sanctuary if we had money, i wanted to so bad but obviously that dream didn’t even come close to being reality. opportunities like this literally don’t exist in canada, especially not in BC. i cant even process my gratitude, i cry everytime i think about it. when we go back in the spring it’s going to be the beginning of the rest of our life :) i want to rescue so many senior dogs. everything we’ve always wanted to do we’ll be able to do, assuming we have money haha. but i want to have an organic farm and grow veggies to donate to families in need, especially since we live on stolen indiginious land and I see how the goverment actively restricts their access to fresh healthy produce. but anyways by then it was too dangerous to drive 8 hours back hauling a trailer in the snow and it was just easier to stay in the okanagan until the spring. i know the farmer probably doesn’t realize this and he’s also probably struggling financially but not being able to stay at the farm for the winter months we worked for, and buying buster for that price is a big reason I’m in the financial stress I am now so I figured i’d talk about it.
anyways. i think this is long enough and i think anyone reading this gets the point, i’m drowning in debt, my small business is almost costing me more to run and i’m not making nearly enough profit to live, the past few months ive been living off grid (not by choice) and just focused literally on surviving and not freezing and getting water etc and not having service or internet has affected me negatively. there’s internet now in the suite I’m in, it works really good in the morning and not as well at night, like for example tumblr doesn’t work past 5 pm for me to post photos. but ive been in a bad sleep schedule since i got here that i need to change. im sick and i need to heal myself. tomorrow i’ll set my alarm for 7:30. hopefully i make some money today. i got a social media managing job and it will end up being $1000 a month once i do the 3+ hours a day of work which im already feeling like i barely have time for my own basic life tasks. but i can do this.
if anyone reading this wants to help me out a bit, my paypal email is [email protected] or http://www.paypal.com/paypalme/veganveins
and my e-transfer email is [email protected] i have auto deposit so you won’t have to ask a question :)
this is my first time in 7 years i’ve made a post like this or asked for help. i won’t do it again but figured i have nothing to lose. if you read up to here i love you a lot and thank you so much for being here <3
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collectsfallenstars · 5 years ago
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WARNING: Absolutely long post
IN DEFENSE OF KIM EUN SOOK'S "THE KING: ETERNAL MONARCH"
The King: Eternal Monarch has been getting mixed reviews 10 episodes into the season and it has boggled my mind as to why this has been happening. It’s a grand project, has a robust storyline, beautiful cinematography the likes of which is done for full-length films, and has a love story between two adults who behave like adults and not in perpetual high school. It is very different from most Korean dramas I have come across, and that alone is reason enough to watch it.
 
Granted, I have not watched many of them so maybe I don’t really know what I’m talking about. But what I am sure of is that I get tired of things very easily when they’ve become predictable.
 
See, before watching The King: Eternal Monarch, the last Korean drama I watched was Something Happened in Bali back in 2004. Then coronavirus happened, billions of pesos were to the government but no mass-testing happened, ABS-CBN shut down, people speaking against the government were being put in jail, and I thought, hmm let’s go to Netflix to escape. K-dramas with beautiful autumn colors should do the trick.
 
I watched maybe one or two series in full but soon found myself giving up on the ones that came next. Watching them one after another made it clear that they were built like romance novels – no matter how different each premise was for a series, they always followed a pattern. And patterns, while they may be dependable, can sometimes be boring.
 
And then I decided to give The King: Eternal Monarch a try even though the binge-watching monster inside me disagreed with it. So there I was last week, Netflix open and a lunch of Sinigang na Baboy with rice laid out in front of me.
 
The series opened with a serene view of a bamboo forest, wind blowing gently through it, and the voice of a man talking about the legend of a bamboo flute back when monarchs ruled Korea. Oh, a historical series.
 
1 minute and 40 seconds later, it cuts to a man covered in blood, in a police interrogation room in modern day Korea. Oh, it’s also detective fiction. Gotta watch out for red herrings then. Oh but wait, the man covered in blood, Lee Lim, is supposed to be 70 years old but he doesn’t look a day over 30. I mean, yes Korean genes and skin care are magical but not to this extent. The idea of immortality is introduced which suggests that the series has supernatural elements too. This means world building for these magical elements and forming rules that govern them. (I mean, Bram Stoker and Anne Rice made their vampires perish under the sun and Stephanie Meyer chose to make them…sparkle.)
 
And then 4 minutes in, we get a flashback to winter of 1994 in the Kingdom of Corea. Uhm. Typo? No? Lee Lim, the bastard son of the former king, murders his half brother, the current king, in order to steal the bamboo flute that grants the owner much power. The king’s young son, 7 year old Lee Gon, witnesses his father’s murder, struggles with Lee Lim, splits the power laden bamboo flute in half, and nearly dies if it weren’t for a mysterious figure coming in to save him.  The mysterious figure drops an ID card with the name and picture of Lt. Jung Tae Eul on it and Lee Gon clutches it along with half of the bamboo flute. Lee Lim escapes to the forest with only a broken half of the bamboo flute. He comes upon a pair of obelisks, passes through it and lands in Korea with a K. Lee Lim comes face to face with the face of the person he had just murdered, except he isn’t a king anymore. He’s just an unkempt unemployed man. We now have the introduction of parallel worlds and doppelgangers. It had only been 18 minutes into the first episode.
 
I put it on pause, finished my lunch quickly, cleared the table, and settled down on the couch to watch. I did all that before resuming to watch it because it clearly wasn’t the kind of K-drama you could easily watch while eating, glancing up and down between the screen and your food, missing bits of the subtitle here and there and not paying any mind. Because of its structure, the kind of story it wants to tell and the breadth of its narrative, it demands your full attention.
 
I get why people find it difficult. I found it difficult. But it was infinitely exciting. It’s as if someone laid out a puzzle with a thousand pieces, a maze, Connect the Dots, Spot the Difference in front of me and told me to play with them all at the same time.
 
What kind of story did the writer, Kim Eun Sook, want to tell? She began with the murder of the parents of Lee Gon by his bastard uncle, Lee Lim, who feels he has been deprived of power for too long and intends to take it all for himself. It becomes a story of both sides seeking justice for their own separate tragedies. To flesh out this story, she has to give Lee Lim a plan for world domination and give Lee Gon a defense strategy in place, as well as an active pursuit to entrap his uncle. She has to give them motivations, conflicts, moments of doubt and triumph. If this were the only story she wanted to tell, a linear storyline with flashbacks and flash-forwards should be enough. Throw in a romance, love triangle, one final obstacle, 2 chaste kisses, 1 passionate kiss, 1 tearful kiss, 1 reunion kiss and you will arrive at your happy ending.
 
But Kim Eun Sook wanted to do more. She expanded Lee Lim’s plan for world domination into two parallel worlds. Adding science fiction to the mix complicates matters because you will have to build another world that is visibly different from the other even if they are parallel to each other. Audiences should be able to tell one apart from the other quickly in order to keep up with the story. The difficulty that The King: Eternal Monarch faces is that the Kingdom of Corea and the Republic of Korea look almost exactly alike. It takes almost a few seconds to recognize the Royal Seal, or the European inspired trams running in the background to ascertain that the scene is in the Kingdom of Corea. But once the characters appear, it becomes easier to tell which world we’re dealing with. Jung Tae Eul and the police force belong to Korea. The Royal Staff and family, Prime Minister Koo and cabinet members belong to Corea. The only ones to traverse between both worlds are Lee Gon and his uncle.
 
Therein lies one of the criticisms for Kim Eun Sook’s work – the pace is too slow. I would argue though that the pace is just right when you’re creating two worlds, with very different characters in each, whose stories run parallel to and interweave with each other. It is very easy to place all evil characters in World A and all good characters in World B. But that’s lazy writing, and also ugly.
 
Kim Eun Sook humanizes and fleshes out a significant amount of the supporting cast with such care, developing them alongside the major characters. Usually in dramas, the side characters will get hints of a back story in an episode or two, and then have just one episode dedicated to them. Kim Eun Sook did so much more and in effect, her two parallel worlds became so concrete, with real, moving characters contributing their bit into the two separate forces of Lee Gon and Lee Lim that are about to clash. It creates anticipation, excitement, and spreads your heart out amongst many characters instead of investing your emotions into just the main leads.
 
But aside from the science fiction element, Kim Eun Sook also takes on the task of writing detective fiction into her already robust narrative. Lee Lim is essentially building an army of doppelgangers from the Republic of Korea and planting them in key positions in the Kingdom of Corea. He then takes the dead bodies of these Corean citizens and dumps them in the Republic of Korea, leaving Lt. Jung Tae Eul and her squad in the police force with a trail of unsolved cases. Detective stories are by themselves difficult enough. You begin with a dead body, a search for clues, weeding out which clues are significant, chasing a lead, failing, planting and then ignoring red herrings, closing in on a suspect, interrogation, a surprise turn of events, and so on until the murder is solved.
 
But Lee Lim didn’t leave just one dead body in Korea. There’s an entire army of them and Jung Tae Eul has to be on the trail for some of them in order for her to work with Lee Gon in order to solve them and in turn, help him uncover his uncle’s evil plans.
 
This brings us to one of the major criticisms of this drama – the romance between Lt. Jung Tae Eul and King Lee Gon. Apparently, there’s not much of it as it has taken a backseat to the struggle for power in Corea by the Prime Minister, Lee Lim’s murderous spree and body switching between the two worlds in a bid for a two-world domination, and murder investigations that Jung Tae Eul and her squad must carry out in Korea.
 
Would I like to see more of the actors Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun on screen? Why, yes of course! But as early as the 1st episode, it was already apparent that this was not going to be the usual K-drama. They weren’t going to meet cute, fall in love, fight their feelings, work on a murder mystery on the side, finally confess, become a couple, fight the final boss side by side, and then live happily ever after. Fantasy, science fiction, and detective fiction all seem bear equal weight with romance. It was different, and I found that absolutely interesting. And just because romance doesn’t dominate 80% of the story does not mean that the romance is lacking.
 
The first episode tricks you into thinking that there is very little romance in this drama. The lead characters of Lt. Jung Tae Eul and King Lee Gon meeting each other for the first time in the last 6 minutes of an episode that was 1 hour, 12 minutes, and 15 seconds long. What can possibly develop and deepen in 6 minutes? Not much, right?
 
But what happened in the last 6 minutes? Lee Gon rides into Gwanghwamun Square on his white horse after having crossed over from Corea and into the parallel world of Korea. He creates a slight commotion what with his royal handsomeness and almost ethereal white horse. Lt. Jung Tae Eul reprimands him. Lee Gon recognizes her as the woman on the ID card his savior had left behind 25 years ago. And in dramatic fashion, he alights from his horse, walks towards her, stops, and then engulfs her in a tight hug. He tells her, “I’ve finally met you” and the episode ends with a shocked Jung Tae Eul in the arms of an almost reverent Lee Gon.
 
In Kim Eun Sook’s other, wildly popular work, Goblin: The Lonely and Great God the first meeting between Kim Shin and Eun Tak also had that moment of finally finding the one they’ve been searching for. But for the Goblin, his bride’s existence was merely functional, as he needed her so he can finally die in peace. So their first meeting was your typical first meeting in K-dramas. There were no feelings yet, but they develop from there. So the whole drama then became a stage to establish the growth of their relationship that would give him the will to live instead of dreaming of death all the time.
 
But now, in The King: Eternal Monarch, the first meeting isn’t an easy blank canvas.
Lee Gon bursts into the first episode, already halfway in love with Jung Tae Eul long before he’s even met her. As a child, Lee Gon had held on to Jung Tae Eul’s image as his a savior. There is deep gratitude.  As a young orphaned monarch, he held on to the idea of her to ease his loneliness. His first duty as a king was to bury his father and learned to cry only in the privacy of his own room when he was 7 years old. But somewhere out there, there was someone who had cared for enough for him to have saved him. This thought sustained him as he grew up.
 
And at this point in the first episode, we’re working with the idea that time travel hasn’t been introduced yet. Which means we’re treating time as a straight line, allowing Lee Gon and Jong Tae Eul to age at the same time. So if Jong Tae Eul had been 25 years old when Lee Gon was 7 in 1994, then she would be 50 years old and he would be 32 in the present year, 2019.
 
Then, as a man in his 30’s, he still keeps on searching for her. But in his head she is frozen in time as the 29 year old woman in her ID picture, and at this point he might possibly be half in love with her already. And when he finally meets her in the flesh, he had spent nearly all his life loving her in different iterations. Finding out that she hadn’t aged as he thought she would have gives him another possibility of loving her as a man would a woman.
 
Now the audience has to grapple with this idea, that he had loved her for 25 years already, prior to seeing her in the flesh. But then if you add the idea of time travel as hinted at by the 10th episode, then this first meeting becomes heavier. Not only would he have loved her for 25 years, but he also would have loved her for 25 years multiplied by the number of timelines he had crossed as a time traveller.
 
That’s why their first meeting had to happen in the last 6 minutes of the first episode. Everything that happened in that first hour and 6 minutes, all the murders, plotting, collision of worlds, and clash of doppelgangers in the past 25 years had to happen in order to bring Lee Gon and Jung Tae Eul to that fated meeting at Gwanghwamun Square. Kim Eun Sook had played with the idea of destiny with Goblin: The Lonely and Great God’s Kim Shin and Eun Tak. Now she takes the same idea of a fated meeting between two souls, Lee Gon and Jung Tae Eul, and proceeds to tear them apart with time loops, parallel worlds, and a frozen dimension to test how their love can endure all of that.
 
There can be no slow burn; there is no chase that starts with attraction, denial, bickering, jealousy, no you-make-me-worry-so-much love confession that is so often found in K-dramas. The lovers don’t even have that poor girl-rich boy/immortal-mortal or whatever uneven power dynamic that’s so popular in dramas. I guess that's what most people inevitably look for because these things were built to be formulaic.
 
But now you have a writer who is trying to build a bigger, more ambitious story, who is willing to take some risks with that formula in order to tell a love story that can transcend time and universes.  The stakes had to be raised higher, the backdrop made grander, in order to hold a love story as epic as this.   How can this not be romantic enough?
 
There are six more episodes left in this series.  Quarantine has been extended. Give this series a chance. 
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fanbynature · 5 years ago
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Obikin x AU /part 1/
Here are some additional things to know before you read the fic.
The ages of some of the characters are: Obi - 28, Rex - 26, Anakin - 23, Ahsoka - 19 going on 20, Plo/Shmi - late 40s, Qui-Gon - early 50s
The thing about the setting is this: It’s still in the SW universe, so aliens, planets and the like still exist and I am mixing it up with our reality while using some slang from SW. It’s set in a peaceful time period, so it’s just a normal living situation for them at the moment. The Jedi are going to have a place in the story but nothing too major. I hope this is not too weird.
I was hoping this to be just a one shot but I had to go and write something that is deeper than just some shag scene. I do love readin just plain NC-17 stuff but this ain’t it one. 
There are some warnings /non-healthy life choices, mention of non-con/rape, foul language, ooc - it’s an au what do you expect/
Obi-Wan is in a punk-rock band by the name of "Space Maniacs" that has been active for a few years but has not been very popular until recently. They had started to search for a better studio to record their songs because the home soundproofed garage of Ahsoka's dad, as nice as he is, does not scream "professionalism". Or at least that is what Ahsoka and Rex had been trying to sell to Obi-Wan. Honestly, he does feel apologetic towards Plo, Ahsoka's dad, for all the inconvenience they have caused even though the man had said time and time again that he feels proud of their tenacity and doesn't mind as long as they keep out of trouble.
And when Obi-Wan meets Anakin, the musician tells himself that he may start believing in God, because it's a whole ass miracle that the man comes across the band. 'Cuz if a guy that cute knows the band, is offering his very real and professionally equipped studio plus has the total hots for a certain lead singer it must be some type of miracle created by the almighty Her or that's what Ahsoka had been going on about for the past 20 minutes in the backstage area of one of Coruscant's' better known night cantinas they had just performed at. The cantina is called "Dirty Habit" and tonight they may have met somebody that will be beneficial for the future of the band. At least that is what they are all hoping for.
Obi-Wan had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the comment that the guy has the hots for him so he settles for a snort. Even if it was true the decision of having sex with someone that could be professionally engaged with the band, won't be a wise one to make. Even if Obi-Wan found the idea of kissing those plush pink lips and to have his hands go through those dirty blond curls, tugging them enormously enchanting. The younger man would make such pretty noises for him. Fuck, no. That is a dangerous zone to enter. He won't jeopardize this chance for the band just because of a shag. Even if it's the best shag he could have in his life.
The guy, Anakin Skywalker as he introduced himself 30-40 minutes ago to the band after they had finished their set made a very tempting offer that they can hardly refuse. He offered them a fully equiped studio to use for as long as they want for 30 cred each month. The band wasn't sure whether they can trust him because that seemed like a total scam, that in the end they would be the one that have to pay an enourmous amount of money. However he explained that he and his mother have a non-profit organisation that helps rising artists who struggle to find their footing. Anakin gave them their cards and assured the band that they can check them out first on their Infocache and confirm that everuthing is legitimate. He doesn't blame them as he understands the dangers of being a rising artist and the people who try and take advantage of that. The blond also explained that he has followed the band for quite sometime now, since they were still experimenting with their sound actually and choose to first observe them and later decided to introduce them to his mother and if everything with their donors went smoothly they would help them. And here he was, speaking with them, offering them a generous amount of help.
They thanked him, understood everything but came to an agreement that they need just a little bit of time and they will contact him back with their answer.
"Honestly, Nobi, I don't understand why we just didn't agree on it on the spot. Anakin seemed genuine and proper with his cards and polite talking. And not so polite ogling."
Obi-Wan glared towards Rex and flipped him off.
"What did I tell you about that nickname? Stop using it. It's annoying. Also, we should not appear desperate. Weren't you the ones that were yapping about how we should "behave more professional-like". I was trying to not appear like I was going to suck this guy off. And I am the one who is in the wrong?"
"He didn't seem to mind. Bet he would suck you off before you get the chance to do it. Haha" the young togruta tried to whisper talk but it was loud enough for the fuming ginger to hear.
"Seriously you too? Can I get a break from the two of you?"
"Whaaaat? Come on, Obi. I know you are irked because Satine decided to end up things but you seriously can't blame her or take it out on us." Obi-Wan was contemplating the ways he could make a murder look like an accident or suicide. "Honestly, you can't look me in the eyes and tell me that you didn't know that this was coming. Like seriously, it was not going well."
Rex was watching his bandmates from the side and was sensing that things were going to either explode soon enough or their lead singer was going to storm out of the room to go get shit faced, sleep in some alleyway and get him and Ahsoka in trouble.
"Ahsoka." Both the man and the girl turned towards Rex. "I think it's time to stop with the jokes and get you home." The lead singer's eyes filled with gratitude towards the bass player and he gave Rex a little smile.
"Oh, Rex, you too. Let's have a little drink to celebrate. We deserve it. You two should stop behaving like old men. You are in your freaking 20s. Live a little."
"Rex is right. I have to go to work tomorrow morning. Get off me and prepare to go."
"That's not true. I know your schedule, it's your day off." Ahsoka scowled at Obi-Wan with disbelieve and crossed her arms in front of her. The man was trying not to snort at the display off childness of their youngest bandmate.
"Well, I decided to take a shift. The extra cash won't hurt us. Especially now that we have to pay for a studio." He smiled a little and gave Rex a knowing looking.
"So we are going to accept the help?!"
"Sure" Obi-Wan turned his gaze towards Ahsoka, gave her a bigger smile and then transformed his facial feautures into a more irritated emotion “Now let’s go because your father it’s going to kill me.” 
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Of course, Obi-Wan didn’t have an extra shift and Ahsoka doesn’t have to know that. It’s not like he doesn’t want to get an extra shift, the thing is he can’t get one because he has the maximum available shifts his manager can give him. Other people have to work too, you kriffin menace, you know that right. Also I am going to tie you up to your bed and not allow you to do anything for a week straight if you don’t stop bugging me. Obi-Wan is slightly afraid of Cody now. He was even thinking of asking him to help in another position but he decided against it. Maybe Cody is right but that doesn’t mean that the Obi-Wan is going to listen to him. He has responsibilities and he can’t allow himself to rely on other people. Even if that was the reason him and his father have become estranged. It doesn’t matter, not anymore. He is a capable adult who does not expect other people to do his work. 
He may start to search for another job.
The ringing of the phone by the bedside brought up the troubled man back to reality. Shit, Ahsoka. Maybe he can ignore that. If he waits long enough it’s going to stop ringing. Ah, yes. Silence. Then a massage sound.
DONT IGNORE ME, KENOBI! I know.... 
Oh, for kriffing....She went to his job. Ringing again.
“Shouldn’t you be at Uni?”
“Shouldn’t you be at work? You liar. You know better than to lie to me, Obi-Wan. You should have just told me that your old bones were tired yesterday and Rex and I could have stayed and you could have gone home without lying. Also I have 1 hour brake and decided to visit your sorry ass. Know can you... ”
The older male was trying to remane calm as he knew that getting mad at the girl won’t be a sensible decision. She was right. He lied to her but she didn’t know earlier and was probably just worried that he was exhausting himself and wanted to check on him.
“Ahsoka, can you please slow down. Look, I am sorry. It was a stupid thing to do. Sorry for making you worried.”
Silence.
“If you want to...” Obi-wan started with a sigh but couldn’t finish.
“Next time just tell me the truth. I may be young and have to experience things but I am not daft....I am sorry too. For annoying you about Satine and the Skywalker guy. I was just trying to have some fun. But it was that peachy for you. I should have known better. It hasn’t been that easy for you this past year and I chose the wrong way of cheering you up.”
“When did you mature so much?” the older man was getting filled with a warm sensation in his chest. Proudness. The proudness of a big brother. Even if they weren’t related Ahsoka was close to him as any real sister he could have had.
“Tell anything to Rex and you are dead to me.” the girl warned him with an exaggarated threat in her voice.
“Hahah. I think Rex will truly appreciate the way you are starting to carry yourself, the way you think and sense the emotions in other people. He will love this side of you as much as he adores the careless, fun and cheerful side of you. Rex hasn’t been around as much as I have but his brotherly protectivness over you seems to be stronger than mine.”
“Stop it, you are making me blush.”
“It’s very much true. You know that one time-”
“So when are we going to talk with the Skywalker guy?” Ahsoka seemed to be in a rush and cut off the sentimental notion that the conversation was headed to. Obi-wan rolled his eyes. There haven’t been any time to really think about it but it has been sitting at the back of his head, constantly reminding him. The sooner he calls the better for the band. However there was this constant feeling of anxiety that was washing over him. He doesn’t know what to do. He can’t tell his bandmates, they would think he is just not getting enough sleep or food. He can’t talk to Cody because he really had the chance to tell him anything about yesterday and Ahsoka was waiting for an answer now.
“How about tomorrow? If that’s alright with you Miss Ahsoka?”
“Of course, my leash. My very trustworthy Knight in armor or Jedi in robes. I don’t know. Choose one. That’s sounds fantastic. I’ll talk with Rex and come by your house after I am finished. You just go and sleep, you old man.”
“Stop calling me an old man.”
“You stop acting like one.” she said with a mocking tone and hanged up.
Oh, Force. Sometimes he wishes he has chosen a different path for his life. This one seems like it needs a restart. Hm, maybe he should have become a Jedi. What he knew from his father is that he is Force sensitive but when a young Jedi had come to speak with Qui-Gon about the future of his child he had declined the offer of giving Obi-Wan to them. They had a long conversation and had concluded that as an ex-Jedi Qui-Gon had the abilities to keep his son save and help him if there was any trouble. So in reaching an agreement of Obi-Wan’s future as a Force Sensitive kid he can say that he had a pretty normal and stable upbringing. Well, except maybe a few instances. Some of those were his own fault so he couldn’t really blame the people that came across him. He turned out quite decent in end. For the most parts.
However from the texts which he could find about the Jedi some things seemed more appealing than others but certainly they didn’t feel as they were too far way from him. He could have easily fit with the culture. But he loves music too much too give it up now. He loves Rex and Ahsoka as his own family and he doesn’t want to let them down. 
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3 hours later
There was a banging from somewhere outside but the drowsiness from the sleep couldn’t quite allow him to register where it came from. After a few more moments of banging and the voice of Ahsoka, Obi-Wan finally came to his senses. The door. 
He rubbed his eyes and yelled a muted “I am coming. Stop doing that. The door is going to fall.” He was still sleepy and couldn’t find his slippers so he just headed barefooted with one open eye towards the door and opened it.
“Finally. We were going to- Can, you please put something on ?” Ahsoka looked her friend up and down, unimpressed and passed by him to go inside. 
What in the blazes... His sleeping habit of undressing himself had acquired for the first time when he was hitting puberty and he couldn’t exactly explain what is what connected to. It’s probably the most embarrassing habit he could have developed, especially when the first time it happened was during summer camp with the freshers being mixed and him trying to sleepwalk to there in the early morning with his blader not allowing him to sleep. He couldn’t have predicted that there would be somebody else. He also didn’t know about the lack of clothes on him. With the years it got less frequent, thank the Force.
“We brought food and a holofilm. It’s the crime-suspense one we have been wanting to watch.” Rex tried to hide his smile and not to comment that his friend hasn’t been able to outgrow his adolescent habit. It’s not like everyone can train their brains to do what you want them to do, damn it, Rex.
“Did you come here straight from Uni?” Obi-Wan was trying to speak to the younger girl while she was putting the popcorns in the nanowave and just not staying in one place. He had two rooms + fresher and a balcony. How much more she can move?
“Sure. Why?” she moved to the balcony taking a pack of cigarettes. Obi-wan took the whole pack out of her hands and threw them to Rex. “Hey, come on”
“Not good for you.”
“Look who’s talking. Blondie, pass them back.” 
“I ain’t getting into the middle of that. I am just minding my own business, thank you very much.” 
“Chicken” Ahsoka puffed her cheeks out, signed and put her hands on the balcony’s metal barrier. 
“You should spend more time at home. I thought you stopped being a bratty rebel who didn’t like her dad that much with no reason.” 
“I did. And I do. I do spend time at home I mean.” A few beats pass by them, looking to the Coruscant’s landscape, basking in the noises of the city and background noises of Rex doing something in the kitchen. Ahsoka straightens up and turns around towards her friend, looking at the ground, playing with something in her hand. “I love my dad, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes there comes a time when you just feel like you have to split from each other and live alone.” A few more beats pass by “You understand better than anybody I know.”
“Of course I won’t judge you if you want to live separately from your father if that’s what you mean. I do hope you talk to him first and not just run away.”
“Absolutely. I am not that irresponsible, not anymore. I am sure he will miss me and it would be much harder for him than it is for me. I just need this at this point in my life.”
“I am sure he will understand. He is going to absolutely throw you “a goodbye party”. Or more likely “get home sooner” one.”
“Oh, Siths. Please don’t make me imagine this. It just sounds embarrassing.”
“Rex is totally going to get everything filmed.”
“I already know that I am going to kill him.”
Both of them laughed at the ridiculous situation. Obi-Wan placed his hand on the younger girl’s should in a reassuring manner. 
“Whatever you decide to do I am here for you one hundred and ten percent of the way.”
The togruta smiled at him and pulled him into a hug.
“Thanks, big bro”
“Oi, the sappy bunch, are we going to watch a movie or what?”
The other two rolled their eyes and returned back inside. While the two were chatting outside Rex had set the snacks and drinks on the coffee table and prepared the film for just pressing the play button. 
“Hey, look what we’ve got here. Can you believe, Obi. Our bassist is good at more things than just looking good, playing the bass and getting us a free drink.”
“He is sometimes good at repairing stuff. You gotta give him that.”
“Oh, yeah for sure.” the other two snickered while the blonde was flipping them off.
“Haha, you guys. You are a golden comedy duo. Can we now just watch the damn film? “
“Absolutely”
Halfway into the movie, Ahsoka fell asleep and the guys let her sleep on the bed and called Plo so he won’t worry about his daughter being kidnapped or something else. He told them that he could come to pick her up so it won’t be trouble for Obi-Wan but the younger man reassured him that it was no problem at all.
“So we are calling the Skywalker guy?”
“That is what you want, guys, right? I am not making that decision just on my own and just presuming your opinions.”
“Yeah, it is.’
“Then it’s decided.”
The two men were sitting on the floor cross-legged, drinking whatever was left from the things Rex and Ahsoka brought. 
“Do you want something stronger? “
“What do you have in mind?”
 “Cheedon whiskey. You know that is not my usual preference but someone who I used to fuck from time to time gave it to me recently as a gift for our good times. Amusingly he was there when Satine and I, well Satine to be precise broke things off. “ The ginger was pouring the drinks while talking and his bandmate was watching him cautiously .”But this is a great drink. Let’s drink to our future success. Cheers.”
“Cheers.” Rex watched his friend enjoying the brown beverage going down his throat and then looked at his own and sipped a little. Making a face because of the burning sensation of the drink. It had good after taste but Rex is definitely not the biggest fan of this type of liquor. He prefers his beer.
“How are things with after Satine? I mean I know you don’t like sharing the hard stuff with us, especially me. You sometimes talk to Ahsoka but you haven’t said anything. What I am getting at is that I am worried. We are worried, with Ahsoka. And we want to know if everything is really fine.”
Obi-Wan knew that Rex didn’t like initiating conversations with serious topics. He was usually there when you needed him, he doesn’t ask you a question, just stays with you until he knows you are ready to tell him what’s wrong. And Obi-Wan could sense the uncomfortableness in Rex’s everything. The older male greatly appreciated what his friend was doing for him and he didn’t want to just blow him off. He knew that it took strength to do something you don’t enjoy doing.
“I can’t blame her. As much as I want to say it was both of our fault. It was mine. I just wish she could have done it sooner for her own good. I was too much of a coward to leave her. I stayed with her just because I was used to it, but I didn’t really feel the way I felt before and it wasn’t fair to her. And that not being the worst part. Now cheating is what an immoral person does.”
“You know that wasn’t the full story.”
“Wasn’t it? I remember it differently.” Obi-Wan was pouring his third drink now and Rex was thinking of hiding the bottle. Or plain pouring it out into the sink.
“You don’t remember half the night. That is the problem. You are trying to take the full blame for something you weren’t even half-conscious to do.”
“But I was conscious enough to kriffing get it up and stick it up into a guy’s ass. Wasn’t I, Rex?” The ginger was trying no to raise his voice so he won’t wake up Ahsoka but he was having a hard time. He stood up, cursing under his breath, took his cigarettes and went to the balcony. 
Rex was blaming himself for even raising the question. He knew better than that. Why did he even try to get something out of the older? He never wins with him. His brother is better than him with that. Dealing with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Kriffing Siths. He begrudgingly went to the balcony’s door frame and stood there. Shifting his eyes between Coruscant’s view and his friend’s back. 
“Look, I know it doesn’t matter what I say, you are going to continue putting the full blame on yourself, but just know that. I am on your side. I will call you out when it needs to be done. But not when you don’t deserve it.”
“I wanted it, you know that Rex. I told you. You were there.”
“You were drunk. He wasn’t.”
Obi-Wan turned around with glistening eyes. Tears. 
“I said yes, Rex. I said it. I would-I would have said it even if I was sober, Rex. I know it. I do. I just-” the older male dropped to his knees. Putting out his cigarette and hanging his arms to the side.”I am just-just not sure anymore.” 
He looked up to Rex, with his cheeks already wet from the streaming tears. The blonde crouched down and hugged his friend. They stayed that like for a few minutes and Obi-wan spoke again, with a hushed voice.
“I think I am just trying to convince myself at this point. Not trying to fall apart. I can’t do it. If I fall apart I have to tell her. She can’t know, Rex. She’ll blame herself that she didn’t let me speak. It’s better that way.”
Rex pulled away from Obi-wan and sat on the floor across him, looking at his friend.
“You are kriffing idiot you know that. How is that better? Who is it better for exactly? Not you, that’s for sure.”
“Don’t say anything, Rex. Please. Not even to Ahsoka.”
Rex was wondering really hard how he could just prevent his friend from harming himself further than he already has. 
“I am not the person that is going to tell you how to live your life and what choices you have to make. That is your job. But I am the person who is going to be next to you until you want the help you need. Ahsoka and I are going to be here. Cody too. He cares for you too, even if he has “the though love makes you stronger logic”. Rex paused for a moment and continued “Your father will always be there for you too. Well, at least until you know. Nevermind.” He dies Rex thought.”Maybe things with Satine won’t be the same but they don’t have to be. The important thing is that you feel better.”
Obi-wan stopped crying and he was sniffling softly. Trying to get his composure back. He didn’t like showing his vulnerability. Even to his friends. He would start to think of himself as a burden but wanted to stop it.
“I don’t think I am ready yet Rex. I don’t think I am able to face it.”
“Look that is perfectly alright. As long as you don’t try and deal with it alone in an unhealthy way. We are here for you, okay.”
The only thing the ginger could manage as a response was a weak nod. He searched for his cigarettes and popped one his mouth. Rex picked up the conversation again.
“Truly the pot calling the kettle black.” he laughed a little to his friend’s earlier hypocrisy to Ahsoka. The older male looked at him confused.
“Huh? Oh, that. You know that I have tried to quit several times with no positive outcome.” He lit his cigarette and let out a blow of smoke.”It’s truly something I’ll never be able to fix.”
“Whatever you say, Nobi, whatever you say. Do you want me to stay more because the public transport will soon stop and the prices of the hovercabs are going up.”
“Nah, go. I am going to fine.”
“Call me when you get a word from Skywalker.”
‘Absolutely.”
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The next day came faster than he expected with the bustling city noises waking him up. He forgot to close the door to the balcony last night. He remembered dragging himself from the outside, laying down his futon and just laying down. Now he had a duvet, which he didn’t remember getting. Ahsoka. She is still sleeping. He realised it’s still early as Ahsoka haven’t gotten up and she usually doesn’t have classes until late morning or early noon. He wasn’t sleepy, which meant his day will be longer and that annoyed him to no limit. He grunted and pulled the duvet over his head.
“Can you please just let me sleep for one more hour? Your grinding teeth are really kriffing annoying you know that. I think you should really go and let a doctor check you out. You have too much sleeping habits. It’s not healthy.”
“I just woke up and you are already annoying me.”
A small heart-shaped pillow flew over his head almost hit him in the face.
“You missed.”
A creak from his bed followed by footsteps on the wooden floor. His eyes were closed so he did not anticipate a soft yet hard hit on the face by a larger pillow.
“I think not. Ugh, now I am woken up. Make us some coffee. You are the host. Be one.”
“Half of my wardrobe is filled with your clothes plus a couple of your shoes. I think you can make your own coffee.”
“You are unbelievable.”
A small scratching noise was coming from the window outside followed by a meow. Ahsoka’s head snapped towards the noise and she went to check it out. There was a middle-sized loth-cat. The cat’s whole body was white except a patch of brown on top of each eye. Which was now meowing in Ahsoka’s feet, not knowing if it could do anything else
“Did you get a loth cat and not tell me?”
“She’s not mine. She just came one day and I started feeding her. She comes from time to time and I give her food when I am here. She seems like she’s domesticized. She had a collar when she first came but not anymore. Didn’t have a tag or anything like that.”
The togruta had already started making noises at the animal and petting her. Obi-Wan got up, when to the kitchen and took out a packet from the cupboard under the sink. He passed the girl with the cat in her lap, went on the balcony and poured the food into a green plastic bowl. The cat run next to him and started eating. He petted her for a bit and stoop up.
“Okay then. I think it’s time you get ready for Uni and I am going to make us breakfast and then I am going talk to Anakin.”
“Okay, boss. Oh, there is something else I want to talk to you about.’
“Sure. What is it?”
“Um, I have actually started to look into some places where I can move to live. As you know I received some loan and grants before I entered Uni so I have some money saved and can live for a while on those. But I was wondering if you could still help me with checking out when I pick a place if it’s legit or not. You have some experience so I think it would help me greatly.”
“Yeah, yeah. No problem.”
“Okay, I have more to tell you but I am going to shower first.”
The ginger laughed to himself and returned his attention to the breakfast. He hasn’t cooked for himself in a while. Running on coffee and cereal lately hasn’t been that great on his health but work kept him from making healthy choices. Okay, he kept himself from making healthy choices. A soft meow interrupted his inner monologue and his attention shifted towards the small creature which was halfway inside halfway out. 
“Oh, water. I forgot. What an idiot.” 
He filled an empty jar with water and went outside to put it into another plastic bowl but this one was blue. 
“Here, little one. Enjoy.”
The man smiled slightly and petted the cat softly again, trying not to disturb it, then he returned inside and went to finish making the food. While the man was occupied with his furry friend the shower noise had stopped and minutes after that the young togruta came out surrounded by fog.
“You should be thankful I don’t ask you for money for the electric bill. Half of it it’s yours. Doesn’t your skin melt off or something. “
“No, Mr Freeze who would probably shower in ice cube bath. I don’t have your endurance. “
“I could say the same to you.” Obi-Wan sent his most mature response - sticking his tongue out which was returned by Ahsoka with twice the emotion. 
“What else are you going to tell me.”
The togruta got closer to the kitchen counter and started making coffee for both of them
“Oh. I asked Cody if he can help me with a job in like a month or two. And he said that he won’t be needing any additional staff for the near future but he said he can speak with some friends of his that are in the business and will let me know if something comes up. ”
“That’s great. I am so glad for you.” Obi-Wan set everything on the table, while Ahsoka put some background music to enjoy while they were eating. 
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997 · 6 years ago
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Hi everyone or antyone who's gonna actually read all this
c’est moi Yaya FKA tumblr user @997 a non-presenting trans woman living with my non binary little sister and lesbian mom on the world’s 7th deadliest/most dangerous cities in the world, Fortaleza, and who's been thru hell and back the last few years as some of y'all may know and yes this is a donation post so if you’re familiar with our story and have some coin to spare scroll down to get my info but if you don’t and is willing to read all this here is why I need your help more than ever:
My mom never had a real job. She had me at 19 and my father who is a military promised to provide for her while she would take care of the baby and the house. It was old fashioned but here in northeast brazil people were still kinda living like it was the 40s in 1993. Everything she had that produced income was temporary and unstable and dangerous, like working on a drugstore and getting robbed thrice a week, convincing people to make credit cards on our town’s main square all day long walking by feet under a 90° sun to get paid like $600 a month… and it wasn't even close to enough to keep two kids (my little sis had just been born back then) and lead a decent life, since it was one my parent’s longest break ups. But that was when she was finally able to get a high school degree, at the age of 30.
Ten years later, in 2014, I convinced her, after 25 years married to my incredibly toxic father that blamed HER (who was drunk) for being sexually assaulted by his brother, and used this through my entire childhood and adolescence as an excuse to cheat on her many times with many different women. We also had to deal with my father being chemically dependent to drugs since he was 18yo, which led to many missed opportunities and irresponsibly spent money, which would always take its toll on our finances. tea is we never rlly spent a single month without hustling a lot to get basic living. Maybe once for 3 years exactly when I was born and he got into the army, but that was it.
Nowadays both me and my mom work part time at this place teaching little kids their home-works to get paid a little less than $180 dollars each/a month. Six months ago my father managed to cut my alimony off and now only pays my sister’s alimony which basically pays for our three bedroom half-house. The other bills & food & gas is paid by our salary + the graphic design freelance thingies I get every once in a while and when she has enough courage to UBER.
We’ve been living together for a year now, from 2010—2017 I was living with my father’s sister, an incredibly toxic aunt that would disguise her fatphobia and motherly issues that she has with her sociopathic daughter as overprotectiveness and control and compulsion towards me. So yeah, I’m just glad we’re finally getting this time to be an actual family together but it has been tough since our financial conditions been unstable. So thats why I am asking for yalls help: My mom needs money to start this radiography course that takes 2 years and it costs an amount of money that is completely out of our budget (like 2k dollars) but it can get discounted up to 45% if we pay everything in advance, or get like 20% off if we pay every month without delay. So yeah if you have any coin to spare, help would be much appreciated since a dollar/euro costs 3-4 times more than our money and a pound up to 5 times more! my paypall is [email protected] and you HAVE to use the "pay for good or services" option cause it’s still the only way some countries get to receive paypal transactions as of now (and yeah they tax over the transaction but what can I do)
if you dont have the coin but follow me and like my content or just empathize with my story please reblog this post! <3
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phoebehalliwell · 4 years ago
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so apparently my brain will not let me rest until I figure out the Prue/Roger dynamic, so: Prue's right out of college when she gets hired at the museum and she gets partnered with a senior curator, Roger. Roger flatters Prue first professionally, then personally, and when Prue is hesitant because he's married, he spins some line about how his marriage is over in everything but name. Prue, young and only having one real relationship before, falls for his charm and they start sneaking around 1/?
at the office. at some point Roger does divorce his wife, he and Prue are together publicly, and then he proposes. somewhere in there, he makes a move on Phoebe, who rejects him. Phoebe immediately goes to Prue, but Roger insists that she's lying, "Prue, don't you think I love you, I left my wife for you." Prue, habituated by years of this kind of emotional manipulation, chooses Roger over Phoebe. This pretty much destroys her relationship with her sister. Prue and Roger continue plans for the wedding until Grams dies, at which point Roger calls off the wedding because he didn't sign up to be anyone else's emotional support. Prue, spends her days angry at Roger, Grams, and Phoebe for abandoning her, and spends her nights secretly wondering if there was anything she could have done to keep any of them with her.   
hmm an inch resting yarn you have spun here but i’m gonna offer you another one: pure was popular in high school she was like really fuckin cool and she could very easily have been any man of her choosing. there was no settling for her, she was prue motherfuckin halliwell. so she went for what her heart always wanted and dated her childhood sweetheart andy trudeau. and like,, they were the It Couple in their heyday and it was definitely that passion head first our love will never die dramatic but also just kinda silly love. and that sorta sets the bar. then she’s off to college presumably at this point still trying to pursue a career in photography and she’s like having fun she hangs out with the artists and free spirits and people who were misfits in high school and draws them in with her undeniable queen bee energy but like. she knows her stuff. she doesn’t get by on looks and popularity, she’s really good at what she does. so now we bring in college boyfriend no. 1 who cupid name checked as alan, and we’ll say this really is a relationship of two artists and they’re both amazed by each other’s work and the soul and heart and spirit in it and in them it’s definitely the most pretentious of prue’s relationships but it’s like the kind where they “break into” the local art gallery after hours (alan works there and has a key, so it’s not like it took a lot of masterminding) and like slide around polished hardwood floors until they fall down laughing that type of vibe. but now we’re encroaching on prue’s blue period. for starters, piper’s get ready to y’know apply for college this that and the other and like grams is all concerned about how much college costs blah blah blah with paying for both prue and piper and the same time yada yada yada and prue sorta realizes how sorta tight the money situation is what with the cost of education and the house and this that and the other and she’s starting to realize that this photography career is Not the move bc like this house needs a breadwinner if they want to keep it blah blah blah so life already blows when she has to go pick up phoebe from a party which she’s not like happy about but like you know at least phoebe isn’t drunk driving maybe this is a chance for them to bond as sisters for prue to impart some wisdom on her chaotic younger sister but no of course not of course they have to get in a huge argument and prue doesn’t hit the breaks in time and the car gets totalled and phoebe lands in the hospital and like now prue’s sorta spiralling and she like wants to quit photography and she feels horrible about everything and alan who is again i must harp on pretty pretentious is like no u can’t quit ur family doesn’t understand you it’s not about the money it’s about the art use this pain to make something amazing to which like sorry king,,, but it is about the money. the manor has been in the family for decades and prue can’t lose it. and with piper’s college, phoebe’s hospital bills, and grams’s failing health... it’s 100% about the money dude. and fuck turning your pain into art fuck glorifying suffering and fuck you. so now prue’s p cut off she’s pretty isolated she’s all down in the dumps blah blah blah she changed majors to whatever major it was she needed for like museum jobs bc at least this way she can make bank but she’ll still hold a piece of art close to her and she like drowns herself in her work like she’s not just gonna be this major (art history?) she’s gonna be the fuckin best she’s gonna be the top of her class blah blah blah yada yada yada. but y’know flash forward an amount of time and her roommate’s like hey babe. i get like life’s shit i get u got to be the very best like no one ever was but like. you have not left the apartment in four months. you haven’t smiled in probably twice as long so like. idk do something?? that makes you happy maybe???? and prue’s just like :/ bc what made her happy was like photography but now she has very mixed emotions around that and her roommate’s like what did you do for fun in high school like what did you do after school and prue’s like idk cheerleading practice and her roommate’s like word well then go to cheerleading tryouts time skip we really see prue return to all her old glory and climb up the lil cheerleading ladder blah blah blah and in this renaissance of hers she also scores a new love interest who’s basically the opposite of alan enter tom peters the star wide receiver. and i think this relationship for prue was really just like fun it was tipping her toes back into the water it was learning to smile again it was just like a good time fun simple no concerns about the future just like vibing right then and there and then that ended just sorta naturally and they both graduated and it’s time for prue to leap into the professional world and she’s never left california so when she gets a job offer in london she jumps at the chance blah blah blah she’s working she’s having fun she’s defining herself enter eric from london who i’ll say is like a Business Man he’s like a this that or the other idk maybe a museum investor like the young son who just took over his dad’s business that sorta vibe and like eyes meet breath catches there was just this click but it like took them months to get together it was just this dance this game of cat and mouse until prue finally like took the bull by the horns and just like went for it and i think that would be her like most “adult” relationship like dates were going out to fancy dinners not breaking and entering or picnics on the empty football field these were like two professional adults like dating but you know they hit a year and then some and we’ll say like prue is maybe like 24 25 and this guy’s maybe 29 or whatever and they’ve attended friend’s weddings bs they’ve hit that era where everyone’s getting married and suddenly this cloud’s hanging in the air like baby are you my forever girl like is this it fifty years from now to i still come home to you put you know what let’s push that to the back of our minds but now eric’s like 30 and his family’s like dawg,,,, r u gonna be like a spinster or something are you gonna put a ring on it or not and prue (after many many international phone calls to piper) has decided yes she’d do it she’d stay her and be with this man she loves and eric decides prue’s just not the girl for her. so uh. ouch. blah blah blah prue’s had her fun in the uk but it’s like time to return home piper’s just graduates college or whatever and found a job in the city if prue follows suit they could room together which is when she gets the job at the museum where roger works at. and blah blah blah prue’s like amazing as always and of course she catches roger’s attention bc how could she not and he’s constantly pursuing her and prue keeps turning him down at first bc she’s not really interested and then like he’s her boss and then like it becomes a sort of game but now all her friends from high school are getting married and marcia from homeroom has a baby look and the lil pumpkin on her christmas card and fuck what am i doing so you know what yes roger i’ll be your date to the new years party and here’s the thing roger knows prue is really impressive like she’s amazing at her job and she’s a total babe like he shows her off all the time and prue’s like you know receiving this really high praise and you know roger also has cash to spare so it’s like it’s not bad and she doesn’t well love him but he clearly loves her so she can be satisfied and you know her high school reunion is this year and if there’s one thing she would love it would be to write (nee halliwell) on her nametag, to show she got the job, she got the guy, and she’s living pretty in pac heights. so when roger proposes, she says yes. and piper’s happy for her and phoebe thinks roger’s a sleaze and grams is lukewarm but what does grams know about a long lasting marriage and what does phoebe know about anything so blah blah blah she goes to that high school reunion with a big ol rock on her finger and this that and the other and like to be perfectly frank coming home to roger is not like the highlight of her day there’s not this comforting glow when she falls asleep next to him but it’s like. she’s committed. she’s gonna see this through. besides, they’re already working on the guest list and venue and everything like she’s in it now there’s no turning back now and it’s fine like roger’s fine he’s perfectly palatable and she’s encroaching on 30 so. well whatever prue and roger host an easter party and it’s so cute she’s in a darling floral dress dazzling roger’s stuck up parents and eating finger sandwiches when she hears voices coming from the bedroom and is like gonna pretend to ignore it when she catches piper’s eye and piper has that uncomfortable look on her face and she realizes she can’t find phoebe anywhere and Where Is Roger and she busts in on the two of them looking disheveled and phoebe’s like prue- and prue’s like i don’t want to hear it and roger’s like baby- and prue’s like not now and she turns to phoebe like i think it’s best you go and she looks at roger like we’ll talk about this later your parents are wondering where you are so piper drives phoebe home and phoebe’s telling her about how she went to confront roger on being a whore and also like a spineless sleazebag and she was gonna tell prue when he totally started hitting on her and trying to kiss her and then prue broke in and piper’s like uh huh uh huh bc like. she doesn’t like roger all that much. and she agrees with phoebe. but still this thought sorta lingers at the back of her mind like could phoebe have done something? purely to get back at prue? no she wouldn’t. probably. meanwhile roger’s like your sister was totally hitting on me blah blah blah and prue’s like we can talk about it later right now we’re hosting a very nice party and i’m not going to have you ruin in and roger’s like see that’s what i love about you and prue’s like yeah cool and now whenever she comes home to roger she’s just like 🙄 and she’s like complaining to piper about how like she like doesn’t really want to marry him but it’s like too late now the venue’s booked and the save-the-dates have been sent out and piper’s like it’s not too late until you say i do. do you really want to be married to that sleazebag? and prue’s like :| and piper’s like you can call off the wedding and prue’s like :| and piper’s like i’m just saying and prue’s like does he remind you of dad? and piper’s like what? and prue’s like i think roger’s just like victor. i think i’m about to make the same mistake mom made. god, i always wondered how she could have married such a douchebag and here i am about to do the exact same thing! and piper’s not really commenting bc she doesn’t really remember dad but what she does say is you haven’t made that mistake yet so prue’s like you’re right. and that night she calls of the engagement.
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dlwritings · 4 years ago
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Firecracker Soul | Dean Winchester
Chapter 20 - Bonnie and Clyde
pairing - mob!Dean x teacher!ofc
word count - 3,306
warnings - language, alcohol, fist fighting
additional notes at the end
(previous)
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The next day, Alice and Christine met up for breakfast, as usual. Even though they were going to see each other in the evening at the party, they wanted to get breakfast anyway since they missed the week before. Plus, Alice wanted to prep Christine for meeting Dean, because even though she told Dean to be on his best behavior, it was Christine she was worried about.
"If I've said it once, I've said it a million times," Alice said, "Dean's really nice, so you have to be nice to him."
"I will, I will," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm just going to grill him on his intentions until he breaks."
"Christine," Alice whined.
"I'm joking, geez," Christine laughed. "I know he means a lot to you. I swear I'll play nice."
"And," Alice added, "don't talk about his job, okay? I'm pretty sure everyone who's there is going to be part of the family, but I don't want to take any chances. Plus, I don't even know if you're supposed to know about it."
"Well, you just eliminated my opening line," she said. "Hey Dean, you kill anyone lately?"
"Hilarious," Alice said.
"Does he have any cute workers?" she asked. "Any who are more around our age?"
"Mm, Jack probably won't be there," she said. "Kevin's kind of cute in like a nerdy-secretly-sexy way."
"I could be into that," she said.
"Is your only goal to get laid?" Alice asked.
Christine shrugged. "Not everyone has hot ass on tap."
After breakfast, Alice headed back home. She only had about an hour before she was going to go shopping with Hannah and Jess. She got a text from Jess that read, Making a Starbucks run. You want anything?
While she had just had coffee at breakfast with Christine, she couldn't turn down Starbucks. She told Jess what she wanted, thanked her, and in about a half hour, Jess texted that they had arrived. Christine headed down to the car, waving at the girls as soon as they could see her.
"Hey girlie," Jess said. "Your venti iced caramel macchiato."
"Thank you, thank you," she said, taking the drink. "So where are we shopping?"
"There's a designer dress shop about an hour away," Hannah explained. "You alright for a bit of a road trip?"
"Sure!" Alice said.
Their ride was filled with crowd pleasing classics -"Born in the USA", "Rocket Man", and the likes- and random chit chat about how everyone was doing. Jess didn't bring up the pregnancy -just as she said she wouldn't- but it was hard for Alice not to talk about it when it was the biggest event of her life at the present time.
When they got to the dress shop, Alice already saw dresses in the window that she liked. She was glad Dean offered to pay for whatever she got. Even though she didn't like him spending excessive amounts of money on her, she loved the idea of being able to dress up in something designer.
"How fancy is this event?" Alice asked, running her fingers over the fabric of the dresses. "Are we talking ball gowns?"
Jess chuckled. "Not that fancy. Maybe a-line? Trumpet? Column?"
"So floor length?" she clarified.
"You could do tea length," she said. "High-low."
"Got it," Alice said with a nod. "So lots of options."
"Exactly," Hannah said. "So let's get to it."
The shop may've been small, but it was chock full of dresses. They were there for at least an hour before they finally were all settled on what they were going to buy. Alice stood in front of the mirror in the dress and stared at her reflection. It was a high-low, asymmetrical dress with long sleeves and floral embroidery all across the torso and arms. She put her hands on her stomach and smoothed down the skirt.
"You look beautiful," Hannah said, her eyes meeting Alice's in the mirror. Jess was at the counter talking to the worker. Alice smiled.
"Thanks," she said. "Don't really feel like myself."
Hannah chuckled. "I didn't either the first time I got to dress like this."
"How long before you got used to it?" she asked.
"I'm still not sure I am," she said. Alice chuckled, then looked at her reflection again. "It suits you though," she added. Alice turned to face her.
"What does?" she asked.
"This life," Hannah said. "You take it all in stride. It's admirable. A lot of people can't handle it."
"How do you?" she asked. "Handle it, I mean."
While she loved talking to Jess, and she knew she once had experience as a mobster's wife, Hannah was in it then. Hannah thought for a moment. "It was hard for a while," she admitted, "mostly because of my job. I was already a councilwoman when I met Castiel. I felt like I was betraying everything I stood for if I was with him."
"But you don't feel that way anymore?"
Hannah shrugged. "I have lines I won't cross for him, and for the most part I just try to stay in the dark with what he does."
"And that works?" Alice asked.
Hannah nodded. "Yeah. We make it work. I decided that who Castiel is was more important to me than what he does for a living."
Alice nodded in understanding, then looked at her reflection one final time. "Yeah," she whispered. "I get that too."
-
Alice and Christine got ready for the party together at Alice's apartment. She told Dean she'd meet him there so that she could ride separately with Christine. Christine was going to the party dressed as a fortune teller. Her make-up and costume were both perfect and very much fit her aesthetic. Alice and Dean were going as Bonnie and Clyde, so Alice pretty much raided every thrift store in a 30 mile radius before she found all the right pieces.
Christine insisted on pregaming a bit before heading to the party, and Alice didn't care one way or another. She was posing as DD for the night, so she didn't need to come up with some bogus reason why she wasn't drinking. Christine was two jager shots in when she was finally ready to go. She was the perfect amount of tipsy to let go of her inhibitions for the start of the party.
When they got to Sam and Jess', it looked like everyone was already there from the amount of cars in the driveway. Alice was really excited. Halloween was a fun holiday, and any excuse to finally introduce Christine to Dean, she was game. She may've been nervous, but more than anything, she was ready. It was high time her boyfriend met her best friend.
Music was playing throughout the house when they walked inside, and Jess had really gone all out with decorations. "Alice!" She turned when she heard Jess' voice, then smiled as the girl jogged over to her. She was wearing black pants, a white button-up, a black bralette, and a jet-black, pixie cut wig. The trickle of fake blood on her nose made it clear that she was Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction. She could only assume Sam was somewhere dressed as Vincent.
"Hey," Alice said, accepting the hug Jess was offering her. "Jess, this is my best friend, Christine."
"It's great to meet you," Christine said. Jess smiled and pulled her in for a hug too.
"You too," she said. "Your costume is great."
"Thanks," Christine said.
"Well, come on in," she said. "Alice, Dean is in the kitchen."
"Duh," she said. "Wherever the drinks are, Dean's not too far away."
The three of them walked through the house, and Alice could see Dean had her back to her -she'd recognize that perky butt anywhere- and she smiled to herself. She snuck up behind him and put her hands over his eyes. "There's no escaping now, Clyde," she said to him. Dean laughed and turned, holding Alice at arm's length.
"Well, don't you look beautiful, Bonnie," he said back. She stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss to his lips. When they parted, Alice turned and looked at Christine again.
"Christine, this is Dean," she said. "Dean, this is Christine." Dean stuck his hand out to her.
"It's great to meet you," he said. "Alice has told me a lot about you."
"Same here," Christine said, taking his hand and shaking it. When they both dropped their hands, Dean wrapped his arm around Alice's waist. She leaned into him, resting her hand on his stomach.
"Where're Cas and Hannah?" she asked. "And Sam?"
"They're all around here somewhere," Dean said. "Might be playing games in the other room."
"You've got games?" Alice asked Jess.
"Duh," she said. "Grab your drinks, and I'll show you."
They had beer pong going outside on the patio, some people playing cards in the kitchen, and they even had a karaoke machine set up. Bobby and Rufus were singing a very drunken rendition of "The Gambler."
It looked like everyone -save Jack- from Dean's family was there, plus some people that must've worked with Jess and Sam that she didn't recognize. When Alice talked to Claire and Jody, she introduced her to her other adopted daughter-
"Alex?" Christine said with wide eyes.
"Oh my god," Alex said with a laugh. "Hey!"
"You guys know each other?" Jody asked.
"We work at the hospital together," Christine explained. Alice was thrilled that Christine knew -and clearly got along with- someone at the party, because it relieved some of the tension she had, worrying that Christine wouldn't have a good time or would need Alice to babysit her the whole night. Then again, Christine could make fun anywhere. Even if she hadn't known anyone, she would've made a friend eventually.
When Christine met Kevin, things seemed to actually spark between the two of them. Alice didn't know if he was her mister right or her mister right now, but regardless, Christine seemed happy, and that was all she wanted for her friend that night.
The party was a blast. Dean was the master at beer pong, though Alice stopped being his partner when she realized all she did was bring him down. With Sam, the duo was unstoppable. While it was fun to watch them, she did get sick of standing by and being his cheerleader. She walked over to him and placed a kiss to his cheek before he started another round. "I'm gonna go sit and talk to Charlie for a while," she said. "I'll cheer you on from over there."
"Okay," Dean said, flashing her a smile. He kissed her forehead, and she smiled back and headed over to join Charlie and Dorothy on the couch. Dorothy was -ironically- dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Her great-great-grandfather was actually the author of the book. Charlie was dressed as, she assumed, the brainless scarecrow from the tale.
They talked for a while until Sam and Dean challenged Dorothy and Charlie to a round of beer pong. Alice rolled her eyes but waved them away with a laugh. She made her way to the kitchen to get herself another glass of water. Only one other person was in the kitchen, and she didn't recognize him. He was around Sam's age, and he was dressed in a basketball uniform. "Hey," he said with a smile. "You must be the Bonnie to Dean's Clyde."
"Yeah," she said with a laugh. "That'd be me. I'm Alice."
"Jaden," he said. They shook hands, and he picked up a cup. "Can I make you a drink?"
"Nah, I'm DD," she said. "I'm just grabbing some more water."
"Taking one for the team, yeah?" he said.
"Well, someone's gotta do it." He smiled, and she poured herself some more water. "You work with Sam and Jess?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said with a nod, pouring himself some of the punch that was in the bowl. "They're offering me a spot in their firm so I can get out of the biglaw."
"You gonna take it?" she asked.
"Probably," he said. "Pay won't be as good, but I am pretty sick of these corporate jagoffs." She laughed and leaned her back against the counter. "What do you do?" he asked.
"I'm a first grade teacher," she said. "I actually teach Sam and Jess' daughter."
"Lexi?" he said with a smile.
"Mhm," she hummed.
"She's a sweet kid," he replied.
"Yeah," she agreed. "She's great. Most of my kids are."
"Most?"
"Well," she laughed, "not every kid's an angel."
He laughed and nodded. "You got that right." She cocked her head to the side.
"You have any kids?" she asked.
"Not that I know of."
They both laughed, but Alice's was cut short when someone put their hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw Dean. She could tell by the tenseness in his jaw that he was pissed. "Hey, Dean," she said, giving him a smile in an attempt to get him to relax. It didn't work. What was he so angry about?
"Why don't you go make some friends somewhere else?" Dean said to Jaden.
"Dean," she said, furrowing her eyebrows at him.
"Can't you let your girlfriend speak for herself?" Jaden said, raising his eyebrows in slight amusement. "We were having nice conversations before you-"
"I'm only going to say this one more time," Dean said, his voice low. "Walk. Away."
"Dean," she said again, putting her hand on his arm and squeezing it. He ignored her.
"It's alright, Alice," Jaden said with a smile. "You don't have to act like you have a say in your relationship."
Without a beat, Dean punched Jaden in the jaw. "Dean!" Alice shouted. Dean ignored her as he shoved Jaden against the fridge. A few people who were standing around outside heard the commotion and ran into the house. Christine, Kevin, Bobby, and Jody were among them. Christine grabbed Alice's bicep and pulled her away from Dean as Bobby grabbed Dean and pulled him off of Jaden.
A lump grew in Alice's throat as she turned to look at Christine. "I want to leave," she whispered to her. Without question, Christine nodded and put her arm around Alice's waist, and the two of them pushed through the crowd of people and towards the front door.
"Alice, are you okay?" Christine said as they walked towards the car.
"I just want to leave," Alice said again. Christine nodded and hopped in the passenger side while Alice got behind the wheel. As she started the car, her phone started vibrating in her bra. She pulled it out and saw it was Dean, so she hung up and tossed it in the backseat. "Can we go to your house?" she asked.
"Yeah," Christine said. "Yeah, of course."
Most of the drive was quiet with the exception of Alice's phone vibrating continuously on the backseat. Alice could feel tears pooling in her eyes, but she refused to break. "Alice," Christine said. "Can you tell me what happened?" Alice scoffed as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"He can be so frustrating!" she said. "I was just talking to this guy, and Dean came over and lost it. He's so possessive! I don't understand why he's like that!"
"Did he hit you?" she asked.
"No," she replied quickly. "He would never."
"Then why are we going to my house?" she asked.
"I just don't want to see him," she said. "And I know that he'll come to my house to talk to me." Christine nodded, and the rest of the ride was spent in silence.
-
When Bobby pulled Dean off Jaden, Jody grabbed Jaden and took him into another room. Dean's chest was heaving, and his jaw was still clenched. "What the hell is the matter with you?" Bobby said, giving Dean's shoulders a shake.
That was the thing with Bobby. Dean may've been his boss, but he did help raise the kid, so he was allowed to put him in his place like that.
That didn't mean Dean liked it.
"Get the hell off me!" he shouted, pushing Bobby's chest. He looked past the man, and his shoulders dropped. "Where'd Alice go?"
"Where the hell do you think?" he snapped. "She left, ya idjit."
"And no one stopped her?" he said.
"She's a grown woman, Dean!" Bobby said. "She can do what she wants. It's about time you wake up and realize that before she leaves your ass."
Dean let out a frustrated breath and pushed past Bobby, then ran out to the front of the house. Alice's car was already gone. He called her phone, praying she would pick up. It only rang a few times before she sent him to voicemail. "Dammit!" he shouted. He figured she wouldn't pick up, but he still tried again. And again. And again. When she didn't pick up the final time, he let out a frustrated shout and threw the phone across the yard. He sat on the ground and put his elbows on his knees, hanging his head in frustration.
Fine. If she wasn't going to pick up the phone, he had a car. He'd go right to the source.
He got in his car and drove off to Alice's apartment. It took him about half the time considering how fast he was driving. He wanted to beat her there, and when he arrived, he didn't see her Jeep, so he knew he had. He figured he'd wait in the parking lot for her.
After thirty minutes, he knew she wasn't coming. His next best guess was that she was at Christine's house, but he had no idea where that was. He had plenty of connections that could get him the address -Donna and Jody had legal access to databases, and Charlie could hack them- but he knew none of them would get the information without probable cause, no matter how hard he pushed it. Damn his soldiers for having consciences, and damn himself for not being more of a hardass. Sometimes he wished he was more like Crowley.
Sometimes.
Dean rested his head on his steering wheel and sighed. Alright. How was he going to make this one better? Maybe he needed to give her time and space, like she had given him when he was mad about Lisa. She couldn't be mad at him forever, right?
-
Alice stared at herself in Christine's bathroom mirror as she brushed her hair. Her eyes were blank, and she wasn't really seeing her own reflection. Her hands moved on their own accord as she thought about what happened at the party.
"You don't have to act like you have a say in your relationship."
The anger in Dean's eyes when he punched Jaden had legitimately scared her. She knew Dean could be violent. Hell, practically his entire job revolved around murdering people. She was just sick of him hurting people in her name. How long until he lost control and hurt her too?
The knock at the bathroom door made Alice jump. "You okay in there?" Christine asked. Alice cleared her throat and put the hairbrush down, then opened the door causing Christine to step back.
"I'm fine," Alice told her with a tight smile. "Just tired."
"Do you want to talk-"
"I want to go to bed," she said firmly. Christine pressed her lips into a line and nodded.
"Okay," she whispered.
The girls shared Christine's queen bed, just as they had during every sleepover when they were kids, and Alice pulled the covers over her shoulders. "Goodnight, Alice," Christine whispered.
"Night, Chris," Alice mumbled back.
She turned on her side, facing away from Christine, and allowed some silent tears to fall as she drifted off to sleep.
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