#my mom grabbed it at blockbuster

[writinginthesecrettrees]

L.I.E. (2001)

What was the first "LGBTQ+" movie you ever watched? Because my friend just told me hers was I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007) which was the worst/funniest possible answer

[waitforyrlove]

˙ . ꒷ introducing personal trainer ! drew . 𖦹˙—

meeting personal trainer ! drew for the first time.

he was everything, the kind of face you only see on screens, plastered across the internet, his name etched in the credits of blockbuster movies. He was untouchable, a admiration you could only admire from afar. But then, like a joke, the universe aligned in the strangest way. Through some twist of fate—or your mom’s ability to network with his mom—Drew wasn’t just a distant person anymore. He was here, in your orbit, as a personal trainer assigned to you.

it was the kind of collision that could split universes.

you arrived at the gym, your heart thudding like a bad drum solo, the weight of it all pressing heavier than anything. The place was nearly empty, a quiet stage set for an encounter that felt both surreal and terrifying. He wasn’t just the guy from your screen anymore, he was in flesh and bone, waiting for you in a space where every little thing could happen.

you gripped the door handle and paused. This wasn’t just a meeting. This was like stepping into a parallel universe.

you stepped inside, the cool air of the gym hitting your face like reality itself. The place smelled of fresh rubber mats and faintly of sweat—you scanned the space, your breath catching when you spotted him.

he wasn’t posing for a camera or performing. He was leaning casually against a weight rack, scrolling through his phone, his jawline sharp enough to cut through your nerves. His hair was tousled in that effortlessly perfect way. He looked up as you entered, his face breaking into a smile that made him seem… normal, almost.

“You must be my new client,” he said, his voice warm and inviting. Not rehearsed. Not scripted. Just real.

you nodded, suddenly hyper-aware of every move you made. Did your gym clothes look okay? Were your sneakers too scuffed? Could he tell you’d Googled him for hours last night, trying to prepare yourself for this moment?

“Don’t be nervous,” he added, as if reading your mind. “Everyone starts somewhere.” He motioned for you to join him, his tone as casual as if you were old friends meeting up instead of a star and some random gym-goer linked by their moms’ ability to link.

you walked over, still trying to believe this was happening. He picked up a clipboard and scanned it like he’d done this a hundred times before, but you couldn’t help wondering what was going through his mind. Was this just another gig for him? A break from the spotlight? Or did he see this as a chance to be… normal, even for a moment?

“All right,” he said, looking up at you with a grin. “Let’s start with something easy. How’s your stamina?”

you almost laughed out loud at the question. Not great, you wanted to say, considering it had taken all your emotional reserves just to show up today. But instead, you nodded and stammered, “It’s… okay, I guess.”

Drew’s grin widened, and he grabbed a pair of light dumbbells. “Let’s warm up. And don’t worry, you’re in good hands.”

you didn’t know if it was the charisma, the absurdity of the situation, or the way he spoke like he actually believed it, but for the first time, you let yourself relax. Maybe, just maybe, this collision of worlds wasn’t as terrifying as you thought.

the warm-up was harmless enough—light weights, stretches, and a jog on the treadmill that had your legs feeling slightly wobbly. he kept it professional, guiding you with the calm authority of someone who knew exactly what he was doing. Still, every time he brushed past or adjusted your form, you felt like a live wire, your body hyperaware of his presence.

the came the squats.

“Okay,” Drew said, grabbing a barbell and loading it with what looked like a manageable amount of weight. “Squats are all about form. It’s not about how much you can lift—it’s about doing it right. Otherwise, you’re asking for an injury.” He turned to you, his smile teasing. “And trust me, I’m not letting that happen, yeah?”

you nodded, trying to focus on his words rather than the way his fitted shirt clung to his chest, his abs more predominant than ever. He positioned you in front of the squat rack, stepping closer than before. “I’m going to check your form,” he said, his voice low and deliberate, “so don’t freak out if I adjust you a bit.”

your pulse quickened as you slid under the barbell, your hands gripping the cool steel. You tried to focus on the instructions—feet shoulder-width apart, core engaged—but it was impossible with Drew standing so close, his presence magnetic.

you lowered into the first squat, your movements stiff and uncertain. “Not bad,” he mutters, his voice warm. “But you’re leaning forward a bit too much. Here.” He stepped behind you, his hands lightly grazing your hips. The contact sent a jolt up your spine.

“Relax,” he said softly, his tone soothing. “i’m just helping you align.” His hands guided your hips back slightly, his fingertips firm but careful. He was so close now that you could feel the heat radiating off him, his breath brushing the back of your neck as he spoke. “Imagine you’re sitting down in a chair—hips back, chest up. Got it?”

“Y-yeah,” you stammered, your voice barely above a whisper. You dropped into another squat, this time following his adjustments. His hands lingered for a moment, steadying you, and you swore you felt his thumbs press slightly as if to reassure you.

“Perfect,” he whispers, his voice dipping just enough to make your stomach flip. “you’ve got it now.”

you straightened, trying to calm the pounding in your chest, but he wasn’t done. “Let’s do a few more reps,” he said, stepping even closer. “and I’ll spot you to make sure you stay balanced.

you swallowed hard and lowered again, the weight pressing down on your shoulders. This time, Drew’s hands hovered near your waist, ready to catch you if you wobbled. His voice was steady, guiding you through each movement. “Nice, controlled. That’s it.”

with each rep, the air between you seemed to grow heavier, charged with something unspoken. On the last squat, your legs trembled slightly, and Drew’s hands quickly caught your waist, steadying you before you could stumble.

“Hey, I’ve got you,” he said, his voice close to your ear now. His grip was firm, his fingers pressing against your sides just enough to ground you. For a second, you were aware of everything—his strength, his scent, the way his body seemed to align perfectly with yours.

you straightened up, the barbell returning to the rack with a loud clang. Drew stepped back, giving you space, but the look in his eyes lingered—a flicker of something that wasn’t entirely professional.

“Nice work,” he said, his smile back, though his voice carried an edge of something deeper. “you’re a quick learner.”

you tried to play it cool, wiping your palms on your leggings, but your heart was still racing. Maybe it was just the workout. Or maybe… it wasn’t.

his words hung in the air, laced with that playful undertone that made it impossible to ignore the tension building between you. He stepped forward again, just enough to breach your personal space, as if testing an invisible boundary. His eyes searched yours, a glint of mischief sparking behind them.

“I bet I can push you just a little more.”

your breath hitched, was he still talking about training?

before you could answer, Drew reached past you, his arm brushing yours as he adjusted the barbell on the rack. His proximity sent a shiver down your spine. “How about we finish with one more set?” he suggested, his voice dropping an octave. “This time, we’ll add a little more weight. You up for the challenge?”

“I… think so,” you managed, though your voice came out shakier than you’d intended.

“Good,” he said, stepping back with a sly smile. “But we’re doing this together.”

your brows furrowed. “Together?”

he nodded, already removing his hoodie to reveal a snug tank top that clung to his toned frame. “A little extra motivation goes a long way.” He gestured for you to get into position under the bar. As you did, he stepped behind you once more, closer than before.

“This time,” he murmured, his voice low and intimate, “i’ll hold the bar with you. Don’t worry—I’ll take some of the weight if it gets too much.”

your heart was hammering in your chest as you slid your hands back onto the bar. You felt his hands move next to yours, his grip firm and steady. His body was so close now that you could feel the warmth radiating off him, his chest just barely brushing your back.

“Ready?” he asked, his tone making the word feel loaded.

“Yeah,” you whispered, though it came out more like a breath.

“Good,” he said, leaning closer, his breath grazing the shell of your ear. “now let’s make this count.”

as you lowered into the squat, Drew followed, his body moving in perfect sync with yours. His hands remained firm on the bar, but you couldn’t ignore the way his chest seemed to align perfectly with your back, his presence both steadying and electric.

“That’s it,” he said, his voice smooth and encouraging. “keep your core tight. I’ve got you.”

when you rose, your legs trembling slightly under the weight, Drew didn’t let go. Instead, his hands shifted subtly, his fingers grazing yours. “You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for,” he murmured, his tone carrying a hint of something more than just encouragement.

you glanced back over your shoulder, catching the flicker of heat in his gaze. For a moment, the gym seemed to fade away, the sounds of clanging weights and distant music muted by the intensity of the moment.

“You okay?” Drew asked, his lips curving into a smirk that was equal parts concern and challenge.

“Yeah,” you said, your voice a little steadier now. “Let’s do one more.”

his grin widened, his eyes never leaving yours as he leaned in just a fraction closer. “That’s what I like to hear.”

you weren’t sure whether it was the workout, the proximity, or the way his voice seemed to wrap around you like a promise, but as you lowered into that final squat, you knew one thing for sure—Drew wasn’t just pushing your limits in the gym. He was blurring the line between professional and something far more dangerous.

[sweethoneyrose83]

90s-inspired dialogue prompts

"Dude, did you hear? The new Nirvana album just dropped. We have to hit the record store before it sells out!"

"I swear, if I don’t beat this level in Mario, I’m throwing the controller across the room!"

"You've got mail! Wait, hold on, my dial-up is still connecting."

"Why would you spend $50 on a pager? Just call me on my landline, duh!"

"Have you seen the new episode of Friends? I need to talk about Ross and Rachel!"

"I'm telling you, AOL chat rooms are where it's at. You can meet people from anywhere!"

"Whatever. As if! Like I’m gonna wear that to the mall."

"Let’s meet up at Blockbuster later. I’m thinking about renting Clueless again."

"I just recorded that new song off the radio onto my mixtape. It's going to be on repeat all day."

"Mom said we could use the car, but we have to rewind the VHS before we return it!"

"No way. I heard they're working on something called a DVD. I don't get it. Why change VHS?"

"The Tamagotchi is dying again. I don't know how many times I can save this thing."

"I just got my first Walkman. CDs sound so much better than cassettes!"

"We should totally prank call that radio station and request Backstreet Boys for the hundredth time."

"Okay, I got a quarter—I'm gonna use the payphone and see if anyone wants to hang out."

"I'm recording TRL later. I can't miss that new Britney Spears music video."

"What do you mean you don’t have a MySpace account? It’s, like, the thing right now."

"If my parents pick up the phone while I’m online, it’s going to cut me off. Don’t call the house!"

"I just burned you a CD with all the best songs from the radio. You’re going to love it!"

"If this Y2K thing actually messes up our computers, I’m never trusting technology again."

"Dude, you won’t believe what I just found at Blockbuster!"

"No way! Did they finally get 'The Matrix' in stock?"

"Why do you always hog the phone line? I’ve been waiting for my AOL dial-up for like, forever!"

"Chill out, I’m trying to finish this important call on my pager."

"Man, you’re dressed like you just walked out of a Nirvana concert."

"It’s called grunge, bro. You wouldn’t understand."

"I’m telling you, Tamagotchis are like, the future."

"Yeah, if the future is taking care of a digital pet all day."

"I just taped the season finale of ‘Friends,’ wanna come over and watch it?"

"As long as there’s pizza, I’m in. Could I be any more excited?"

"My Tamagotchi just died because I was too busy playing with my new Game Boy Color!"

"You need to get your priorities straight."

"Can you believe they canceled 'Saved by the Bell'? Zack and Kelly forever, man."

"Yeah, but the new season of 'Fresh Prince' is all that."

"I just bought a stack of CDs, now my Discman’s set for the road trip."

"As long as you don’t hit a bump and make it skip!"

"I got an email from this girl I met in a chatroom last night."

"Email? You should’ve just asked for her AIM screen name."

"I heard they're coming out with something called a DVD next year."

"Pfft, like that’ll replace my VHS collection."

At the Mall:

Character 1: "Dude, if we don’t get to the food court soon, I’m gonna pass out. I need a slice of Sbarro pizza, stat!"

Character 2: "Chill, we'll get there. But first, I’m grabbing this Nirvana shirt—Kurt would want me to have it."

Dial-Up Drama:

Character 1: "I was this close to beating my high score on Pac-Man, and then someone picked up the phone and killed the connection!"

Character 2: "Ugh, the struggle is real. Why do we even have one line for the internet and the phone?"

Movie Night:

Character 1: "Blockbuster was out of Jurassic Park again! I had to settle for Space Jam."

Character 2: "As if that’s a problem! Michael Jordan and Looney Tunes? That’s a classic, man!"

Mixtape Meltdown:

Character 1: "I made you this mixtape—front to back, all the jams you love."

Character 2: "Wait, you recorded over my TLC album? You’re gonna be scrubs to me forever!"

School Day Crush:

Character 1: "He passed me a note in history class! I swear, it's love."

Character 2: "Let me see that… it just says 'Wanna hang at the arcade later?' So romantic…"

First Cell Phone:

Character 1: "Dude, check it out, I finally got a cell phone!"

Character 2: "That’s not a cell phone, it’s a brick! You gonna carry that in your backpack?"

The Internet:

Character 1: "I just spent an hour downloading one song on Napster. Totally worth it."

Character 2: "Better hope the FBI doesn’t show up at your door. They take that stuff seriously."

Fashion Emergency:

Character 1: "What’s up with the butterfly clips and platform shoes? Are you going for the full Spice Girls look?"

Character 2: "You say that like it’s a bad thing. Girl Power is forever."

After School TV:

Character 1: "Hurry up! Fresh Prince is on in like five minutes!"

Character 2: "Not until I’m done watching Sailor Moon, this episode’s a big deal!"

Computer Lab Chaos:

Character 1: "Why does this computer keep freezing? I’ve got to finish my PowerPoint for tomorrow."

Character 2: "You’re probably running too many programs. Close Oregon Trail before you get another 'Your ox has died' message."

[thewriteblrlibrary]

A Step-by-Step Guide to the Weirdest Mush of Storytelling Techniques Known to Human Beings (that works surprisingly well)

SPOILERS - basically you combine anime/manga storytelling with tumblr character obsessions.

Okie dokie human beings, let me just come out of the gate and say that I've been hyperfixated and doing obsessive researching on storytelling methods since I was ten. You hear it all when you deep dive into this:

'You need conflict to drive your story' (wrong... well, not always true. Conflict isn't required but you can use it for funsies)

'Your characters need to be flawed. Give them flaws so they aren't Mary Sues' (Wrong. Traits in and of themselves have both nice and not-so-nice aspects, depending on the situation.

Take 'loyalty' for example. Loyal people can be apologists for those they are loyal to/not be objective when they think about their friends. But they will also be there for their friends... does that mean they are a people pleaser and won't be as nice to themselves? Mary Sues are only there because they are cardboard cutouts and people aren't having fun with them. *See remakes and pointless cash grabs* When you're self-indulgent and ignore the 'don't make the characters too cool' rules, people can tell. You all will have the time of your lives.)

Then you have... the discourse. As a storyteller, reading those made me so insecure about writing characters because I was worried I would anger someone. This method won't assure avoiding all discourse, but it makes the characters more believable and fun to watch. Everyone else can avoid the story. (It isn't for them anyways)

Anywhosies, after years of researching, I've finally, finally found a storytelling methodology that is structured yet insanely flexible, works for any story you're telling (watching tv will never be the same), and is pretty much the exact opposite of trashy Hollywood blockbusters.

So basically, it's: exploring a facet of existence through complex characters and an easy-to-follow plot.

So yea, I've talked in the land of general for too long. This is my modified method from the resources down below. Have fun!

Step One: Characters Concepts.

This will help you a lot when you make characters. Let's go through an existential crisis!

What concept about "how life works/philosophy/the unknown/viewpoint/question" do you want to explore?  This will be the aspect of life that the story attempts to make sense of and give the reader some new understanding or comfort about it. It will be the groundwork and foundation for your story going forward, so feel free to explore as many aspects of this topic as you wish. 

Specific memories can help with this. For example, I used the memory of crying over unfinished crafting projects to write my main WIP. (I was supposed to make this doll dress with my mom and we did part of it, had a lot of fun, then never finished it. A few months later, child-me sat beside the bed and waited for my mom to come out of the bathroom so I could ask her something. In the meantime, I looked underneath the bed and found that unfinished crafting project. I started bawling.)

This memory led me to make my concept: Happiness chasing. Those who want that happy ending so bad so they can have their childhood happiness back. Mostly because they are filled with regret over all the happiness they didn't have when they were little (the 'smart and didn't like to play because they wanted to read books' children... anyone else do this? And regret how little time they spent with other people?)

The second aspect of this concept that came up was the 'avoiding being happy right now because you need to earn it for a happy future' also the 'happiness needs to be perfect... but what exactly does happiness feel like?' and the 'happiness is overrated. I'm satisfied as an observer wandering around the world'

So yea, explore a concept and see where it takes you! It's okay if it's abstract, you can refine it in the next step:

Step Two: characters

~Here we go~

Here we are picking a dynamic, an internal conflict, 'the two wolves'.

Aka: desire vs fear.

And these will be in direct opposition. The character will want something, but the fear will stop them from getting it. Because to get what they want, they have to face what they fear. They cannot exist at the same time.

This took me the longest time to figure out... mostly because no one else spelled it out for me. But it works! Very well! Probably the fastest way to create a complex character!

So you'll take an aspect of your concept. Like: 'trying to replicate the happiness you had when you were little because you are full of regret about not being happy'. Then create a duality/ warring desire and fear off of it.

(Feel free to include all the extra character trait funsies here... just don't get too carried away. That becomes overwhelming fast. We'll talk about that more in the next step)

Here's an example from my WIP:

Anuli the dryad wants to have faer happy ending that fae wanted when fae was little. (I get very specific here because I wrote backstory, feel free to write a very specific image about what a 'perfect world' would look like to the character. What will having that perfect situation mean to them?)

Anuli the dryad fears being happy. Fae thinks that by being happy, fae will make a mistake and ruin others' happy endings. Then fae will be left with nothing but regret. It's wrong for faer to be faerself. (There's a misbelief about the world here. Typically, fears are rooted in false worldviews. So, you can write an opposing viewpoint and create a 'worst case scenario' based off of that.)

Ta da! Now you have a dynamic where the character has a conflicted view of the world and themself. Perfect for angst, fluff, whatever your story needs are! (Why does this sound like an old car salesperson?)

Step three: First meeting

My major issue when writing a new character is how to translate their unique prose style and convey their internal conflict, whilst also trying to figure out plotlines.

This step is entirely my own, and has been SO EXTREMELY helpful. (I'm proud of myself.)

What you'll do is some random writing of your character's internal monologue/how they see the world. Go through your writing from the previous steps and try translating that into prose. Play around with it until you are comfortable. It does not have to be perfect, it just has to be comfortable. If you're having trouble, pick a mini-topic to write about (perhaps something that's been on your mind lately) and see how your character would react to that. Or you can change the style of writing (more parenthesis? be ridiculous? stream of coconsciousness? Third person? Poetic? Change it up until you enjoy writing this character.)

Here's an example from my writing (this is my second WIP and it's a biology fanfiction.). I'm including it all because I messed around a bit and tried different things. I ended up setting for an informal semi-stream of consciousness style (partially to offset the complexity of biology and partially because that's who Cassiah wanted to be):

(It is... long. So scroll and skim, this is a messy example.) <3

I ended up going for first person instead of third. And I always go for past tense...plus a poetic style is a bit.. much for a biology fanfiction... and I wanted Cassiah to be a nervous mess on the inside while keeping up a 'full of themself' exterior. Therefore:

Feel free to include notes for yourself! This is a great place to refine and edit the writing you did in the previous steps! You can also do some exploring about worldbuilding (I may make another post for that) and congrats! A lot of what you are writing here becomes the character's behaviors that they've gotten from their internal conflict. These are a lot more specifc (and a lot more helpful) than character traits like 'loyal'.

Okie dokie, you can always come back to this for some writing relaxation, and now we go towards everyone's favorite part:

Step four: the plot the tragic backstory:

Note that this doesn't necessarily have to be tragic. All this has to do is showcase the exact moment where the character got their internal conflict. You can do this with the desire, with the fear, or both! (Although typically you'll see the fear backstory... unless it's a Disney movie or Haikyuu)

'But wait!' You ask. 'Plotting is hard! And I need to have this backstory be perfec-'

So the method I followed had this thing where you would write one backstory scene where the fear came from, then three more backstory scenes where the character chose to follow the fear instead of the want and became more conflicted. You can do that if you wish (I'll give you a resource to help with plotting in a bit.)

What I like doing is... having fun? I rewrote my backstory scenes so much and got so stressed with it. (My main WIP has been my writing project since I was ten and I worked on it nonstop... but it JUST got a full backstory written.)

My method for writing backstory changes for each character I write. For that main WIP, I started trying to write the backstory for the backstory, and tried stopping myself from doing that. Which was a mistake. Nowadays I'll write pre-backstory for fluff, and how the fear complicates things after a twist. (Usually I get this specfic aspect of my concept that I want to explore through storytelling and I'll write a snippet about it), and my MC just gets more ridiculous every time I write faer.

All in all... you can just use the plotting method discussed in the next step for the backstory: kishotenketsu. If you do this, then I recommend that you use ki and sho for the 'want' portion. (some fluffy childhood goals if you will.). Then use ten and ketsu for the fear that complicates things and the aftermath.

But overall I recommend (for all scenes that you write) that you always connect whatever is happening to the character's internal dynamic. This is what gives weight to your story. And you've already practiced writing your character's internal monologue, so now it's time to relax, be ridiculous, write some bad stuff, and find the exact moments where the character's internal conflict came from.

I haven't gotten to this point with my biology fanfiction yet (been executive dysfunctioning until recently... the stars have aligned or smth.) but here's my initial prose-sketch:

From here, I'll write a more specific backstory (I tend to get bored of long scenes though, so I imagine I'll do my 'tiny section prose snippet style') to depict how Cassiah got their fear, then I'll write a bit showcasing how they started envying others and their confidence (the desire). Afterwards it'll be Cassiah being internally conflicted hijinks until they inevitably get themself in a ton of trouble.

Okie dokie everyone... now it's time for the plot present-day character explorations.

Step Something-or-other: Keep doing what you're doing, but technically this is the start of the story.

So there's this whole 'inciting incident' and blah blah blah.

Start your story when it becomes impossible for the character to avoid their fear anymore, which causes them to chase after their desire.

...I'm going to include a video for kishotenketsu because... I've been typing... for hours.... and I'll do an overview but video.

So kishotenketsu is the overall plot structure that anime and manga uses. Very flexible, very nice. I keep it in the back of my mind when I'm writing, making sure to connect everything back to the character's internal conflict (make sure they react to things and make decisions.)

Here's a scene card to help you with 'smaller scale' plotting:

So instead of the plot part I use kishotenketsu. And usually I'll write actual prose for the character's monologue (like we did for the freewriting) for the 'why it matters'. (What is the plot causing them to think and feel like? And what do they want to do to fix things?)

'And So?' is usually a decision that effects the plot moving forward. You can also just have a change in perception. Just something new to give the scene meaning.

Whoopdedoo so I'll do a quick overview of kishotenketsu, and then I'll list my resources if you want to do any further digging. My advice in general is to make up your own methodology for writing, and figure out what works best for you.

Kishotenketsu:

Ki - introduction: introduce the characters, their world, where they are at, what matters to them, and most importantly - their internal conflict/what aspect of your concept they represent.

Sho - development: The plot develops toward the twist later. You can use the scene cards for this part, it should have some cause and effect and it should develop and explore the character's internal world.

Ten - twist: this is where an obstacle occurs. Bonus points if it relates to the fear/desire. The character now has to change their perspective and deal with the aftermath of the twist.

Ketsu: I forget what this stands for - the aftermath. How do they deal with the effects of the twist?

Okie dokie fellow storytellers! Now go forth! And Remember! I SPENT WAY TO LONG WRITING THIS IT"S SO LONG WTFUDSICLE ICEPOPS IS THIS LENGTH IT"S TOO LONG

Resources:

Books: Story Genius (where I got the scene card from.)

Videos on kishotenketsu: First one. Second one.

Someone rewrote twilight and it was so helpful for my writing

And... funny story... my brother got viruses on his computer and now I can't pirate anime see 'restricted videos' on youtube because of ristricted mode.

So the Hannah person that rewrote Twilight? Search for 'physic distance' Very helpful.

Also look up. 'Zoe Bee poetry.' the basics of poetry are extremely helpful.

Things you should watch (the gifs)

Rise of the Teenage mutant ninja turtles

The promised neverland

Your Name

A silent Voice

Hilda

Avatar: the last airbender

Wolfwalkers

Song of the Sea

Amphibia

The Girl from the other side

Haikyuu (how did something get me to like a sport this is insanity)

Good Omens (I can't actually watch it because homophobic parents but I've seen all the clip compilations.)

[heyclickadee]

So, I’ve been texting my dad (mostly) spoiler free summaries of The Bad Batch all season, each with a different theme (bad batch episodes as Disney park rides, bad batch episodes so far as out of context Wrecker lines, etc), and the last one was just me trying to make the episodes as mundane as possible. Which basically went like:

1. The Spoils of War: A questionable middle-manager tempts her employees with the sizeable performance bonus.

2. The Ruins of War: Mom horrified to learn that their daughter took him literally while their brother refuses to acknowledge a medical emergency.

3. The Solitary Clone: Depressed man who hates his job and never gets a lunch break is forced to deal with the woman who keeps ignoring all the “under new management” signs.

4. Faster: Gifted pilot reveals that he is no more responsible than either the man child or the literal child he was left to supervise.

5. Entombed: Child convinces her aunt to take her to a high tech corn maze; exhausted dad reluctantly tags along.

6. Tribe: Dad Squad steps in to help with a carpool.

7. The Clone Conspiracy: Career soldiers contemplate retirement.

8. Truth and Consequences: Wanted criminals break in to the world’s most dangerous Blockbuster to find a rare video.

9. The Crossing: Family goes spelunking in Space Moab.

10. Retrieval: Demolitions expert is so hangry he accidentally stumbled into a Dickens novel.

11. Metamorphosis: Four idiots go out of their way to prove that they have never seen a horror movie.

12. The Outpost: New transfer goes birdwatching in the snow.

13. Pabu: Broke ne’erdowells eat sushi.

14. Tipping Point: Responsible big brother teaches little sister how to drive the family car while one brother grabs dinner and the other has a doctor’s appointment.

[enchantedchocolatebars]

Shopping For Snacks

Fanfic for Camila Mama Week 2024 (@camilamamaweek).

Day 3: Snacks/Shopping

To commemorate this wonderful week, I opted to write short stories that feature Camila and her second daughter, Alma, who is one of my OCs.

Day 6 will see the continuation of part 1 of this story with part 2.

Summary: Camila and Alma visit a drugstore to buy movie snacks.

Enjoy!

("Dorks" are a parody of the candy "Nerds").

Upon entering the drugstore together, Camila grabs a hand-held shopping basket at the front entrance while Alma picks out a shopping cart and follows her mother into the sales floor.

Camila had enough trust in Alma to let her push a shopping cart by herself.

"Now remember, mija," Camila began as she and Alma approached two aisles that sold snacks. "Don't put more than a few snacks into the shopping cart."

Alma nodded with a smile at her mother's instructions. "I won't, Mamá. I promise."

The girls were going to see the latest summer blockbuster, "Cosmic Frontier: Space Wolves Vs. Earth Ponies" with Luz and Beardo Philip.

They were in charge of bringing the snacks and meeting the two at the theater.

Of course, the snacks would have to be placed in Camila's purse and sneaked in since concession stand treats were quite a pretty penny nowadays.

Camila gave her youngest daughter a smile. "Good," she said, entering the second aisle.

When Alma pushed her cart down the first aisle, stars immediately formed in her irises as she spotted all of the snacks and sweets on the shelves.

...

"... Earl Grey Gummies, Dorks, and Mom Mints," Camila said, listing the theater box candies that she put in her basket.

The mints were for her, while the gummies were for Philip, and the Dorks were for Luz.

"Alright, Mamá, I picked out all my favorite snacks!"

Hearing Alma's cheery voice, Camila turned around, and a small gasp quickly escaped her.

She saw the mountain of candy and snacks in the shopping cart and sent her daughter a parental frown, placing a hand on her hip.

Camila pointed in the direction that Alma came from. "Alma, please put most of those snacks back. We can't bring all of them with us to the theater. I can only buy you three," the mother stated.

"But, Mamá, we can just save the ones that we won't take with us in the car," Alma pressed on in her adorable voice as she took on puppy dog eyes.

"Por favor?" she pleaded, her voice small as she pressed her palms together.

Is Camila going to give in?

...

A cashier at the drugstore stared idly into space as they stood in a slouched state behind the checkout counter.

They exhaled a sigh of exhaustion, hoping that three o'clock would come sooner so that they could leave and go home.

The lights in the store were blocked out by a tall shadow that suddenly stood over them, and when they looked up, the cashier let out a shocked gasp.

"It's movie day," Camila tried to explain with a sheepish smile as her happy daughter stood by her with her shopping cart of towering treats.

[beefromanoff]

Tempting Fate Ch. 2

summary: another flashback, Evie's first day at Stark Industries, and a run in with our two favorite Super Soldiers.

author's note: on my frequent updating gameee! let me know what you think, thanks for reading, xo!

masterlist

tag list: tag list: @yiiiikesmish @sunflower1290 @barnescamboy @thedisc0spider @bitchy-bi-trash @kulteule @kandis-mom @i-mushi @unknown-writings

1940’s, Brooklyn

The marquee lights of the local theater cast a warm glow over the bustling street. The smell of popcorn wafted through the air as people milled about, eagerly awaiting the next showing of the latest blockbuster. Among them, Ginny, Steve, and Bucky stood, their faces lit with excitement.

"Come on, guys, we have to be quiet," Ginny whispered, stifling a giggle. She glanced around, making sure no one was watching as they approached the side entrance of the theater.

Steve, ever the cautious one, hesitated. "I still don’t think we should be doing this," he muttered.

"Relax, Stevie. We’ve done this a hundred times," Bucky replied with a grin. He gently pushed the door open, revealing the dimly lit hallway beyond.

"Yeah, live a little, Steve," Ginny teased, taking his hand and pulling him inside. Bucky followed, closing the door quietly behind them.

They tiptoed through the narrow hallway, stifling their laughter as they approached the back of the theater. The sound of the movie projector filled the air, and they quickly found three empty seats in the middle row, slipping into them as quietly as possible.

The lights dimmed further, and the movie began. Ginny sat between Steve and Bucky, the box of candy they’d snuck in resting on her lap. As the picture began to play, she glanced at the boys, a wide grin on her face.

"Another successful mission," she whispered, scrunching her nose in excitement.

As the movie progressed, the trio found themselves engrossed in the story. They shared the candy, their hands brushing against each other occasionally, each touch sending a jolt of awareness through them.

At one point, a particularly funny scene caused Ginny to burst into laughter, her head tilting back to rest on Bucky’s shoulder. He looked down at her, a soft smile playing on his lips, his eyes lingering on hers longer than necessary. 

Steve, noticing the intimate moment, shifted slightly in his seat. Slowly, tentatively, his hand found its way to Ginny’s. She responded without hesitation, her fingers intertwining with his in the folds of her skirt’s fabric. He squeezed her hand gently, his gaze fixed on the screen but his mind far from the movie.

A few minutes later, Ginny adjusted her position, leaning more comfortably against Bucky while still holding Steve’s hand. The close proximity and casual touches weren’t unusual, but there was also an undeniable undercurrent of tension, slowly growing stronger every day they refused to acknowledge it.

Bucky lifted his arm to rest it along the back of their shared seat, brushing against Ginny’s neck and sending a shiver down her spine. She tilted her head slightly, meeting his eyes in the dim light.

Steve, feeling the shift in the atmosphere, glanced at them from the corner of his eye. His jaw tightened slightly, but he said nothing, choosing instead to focus on the comfort of Ginny’s hand in his. He ran his thumb across the back of her hand. Her smooth, perfect skin.

As the final scene of the movie played out, Ginny let out a content sigh, squeezing Steve’s hand and leaning further into Bucky. She felt safe and cherished in that moment, surrounded by the two people she cared about most, seemingly indifferent to the way they each squirmed in their seats. The way their lips each curled ever so slightly when her attention turned to the other. The way they both itched to grab her and pull her towards their own body, away from any shared contact.

When the credits rolled and the lights began to come up, she untangled herself from the hands and limbs draped over her. 

"Well boys, that was fun," Ginny said with a smile, standing up and stretching. "We should do this again sometime."

Bucky chuckled, running his thumb over her chin. "Whatever you want, Gin."

Steve grabbed each of their arms, pulling them towards the door. "Let’s just get out of here before we get caught."

______

Present Day, New York City

Why the fuck were high heels invented in the first place? 

Evie glowered as she rounded the final block to Stark Tower. I mean, it’s not like men even like tall women. They like short, petite, feminine women -- women that make them feel big and strong and manly. Fucking idiots. These are a torture device. 

Mentally vowing that heels were a one-time thing, reserved for her first day, she sipped her coffee and started up the steps to the front doors. The towering glass structure of Stark Tower loomed above her. Evie felt her agitation slip away as she walked through the revolving doors, greeted by the sleek, modern interior. She’d been here before, but never as an employee. It never lost the ability to take her breath away. After allowing herself a second to marvel at the high ceilings and the hum of the building, alive with technology, she started towards the elevators, tugging her badge from her purse. 

Since she’d been consulting for them, she was given an access badge to the upper levels of the building, the ones containing the laboratories and conference rooms. This one still featured a photo of her from her sophomore year of college and read “consultant” across the front –– but Pepper had assured her they’d get an updated version made on her first day. For now, this would get here where she needed to go. 

A few polite smiles and exchanges of pleasantries later, the elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, and Evie stepped into her new domain. The lab was a haven of cutting-edge technology. Every surface gleamed, holographic interfaces projected into the air, screens showing algorithms the likes of which the world had never seen. Evie’s eyes sparkled as she took it all in. 

This was what she’d worked her whole life for. This was her life. 

She made her way to her designated workspace, a pristine corner equipped with every tool and gadget she could dream of. On the metal surface, a small yellow sticky note was the only thing not electronically powered. 

Good thing you sat front row

TS

Grinning, Evie set her bag down and began to organize her space, carefully tucking the sticky note into her notebook. She wasn’t usually the sentimental type, but this was different. It felt like this was the first day of her life, everything prior to this just a prerequisite. MIT, the keynote speech she’d shown up embarrassingly early just to get front row at…it had culminated in this. Her own workstation inside Stark Industries. Maybe if I keep saying it over and over, it’ll finally sink in, Evie thought to herself, pulling her laptop of out her bag. 

"Can I help you with something?" a voice interrupted her thoughts. Evie turned to see a young man in a lab coat, his expression a mix of confusion and irritation. He had the look of someone who spent more time with machines than people.

"Just getting settled," Evie replied smoothly, her lips curving into a small, enigmatic smile.

"Are you lost? This is a classified area." His tone was dismissive, and he glanced pointedly at her, clearly not having been briefed there was a new engineer starting today.

Evie raised an eyebrow, debating whether she should correct him or play along. Widening her eyes, she shook her head. "Oh, I must have wandered off. This place is a maze."

The engineer snorted. "Well, you'd better find your way back downstairs before Stark finds out one of his...guests is snooping around."

"I’d hate to see what he’d say if he saw me here, around such…" Evie picked up a small piece of machinery, wires poking out of each end. “...expensive technology.”

"Look, just—"

Before he could finish, Mr. Stark Industries himself strode into the lab, his presence commanding immediate attention. He paused, taking in the scene with a smirk. Tony looked as effortlessly cool as ever in a Van Halen shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Much more casual than her slacks and heels. He’d made it abundantly clear that there was no dress code, even emphasizing that she could wear as little as she was comfortable with, but she’d been in STEM long enough to know that if she wanted to be taken seriously — she needed to dress the part. At least for the first week, until her inevitable all-nighters started to catch up with her. 

“There she is! The prodigy herself,” Tony called out, his arms open wide in mock applause.

Evie rolled her eyes, but couldn’t suppress a grin. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Stark.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Tony narrowed his eyes. “Now, what was I hearing? Something about my guest snooping around?” 

The engineer paled, realizing his mistake. "Mr. Stark, I—"

Tony held up a hand, cutting him off. "I’m gonna go ahead and stop you right there, Napoleon Dynamite, before you dig yourself an even deeper hole. Evie here is one of the few women on God’s green Earth to ever turn me down. While I’m sure she found me both wildly charming and devilishly handsome, she said she didn’t want there to be any question as to why she was offered a gig at the most prestigious technology conglomerate in the world."

Silent, the engineer’s eyes darted between them.

“That being said, she not only holds over a dozen patents for new technology––some of which you’re using in this lab––she graduated top of her class at MIT and has been consulting for us for two years now. E. Langston that you’ve been emailing, troubleshooting why you can’t get your proton reactor to bond effectively? This,” Tony gestured to Evie. “Is E. Langston.”

The engineer’s face turned bright red. "I—I’m so sorry, ma’am. I didn’t realize—"

"Relax," Evie said, waving off his apology. "You’re not the first person to think hot and smart are mutually exclusive. Let’s just start fresh." She extended a hand. “I’m Evie Langston.”

“Christopher Parr,” He stammered, shrinking before her eyes. 

Tony chuckled, clapping the engineer on the shoulder with a little too much force. "Now that you’ve met your new boss, hopefully you’ll be able to make it through the day without pissing her off. She’s here to whip this place into even better shape, and if you ever disrespect her again, you’ll be looking for a new job. Got it?"

The engineer nodded fervently and scurried away, leaving Tony and Evie alone.

Tony grinned. "That’s the spirit. Now, get back to work, and make sure you show Evie the respect she deserves."

"He seems charming," Evie said, leaning against the counter behind her.

Tony shrugged. "You’ll get a lot of that around here until they realize just how much smarter you are than all of them combined. Pepper dealt with a ton of shit like that when she took over as CEO."

“How did she handle it?” 

“Her philosophy is ‘kill them with kindness’, so usually a polite warning.” He raised an eyebrow. “But, on the second offense, they got canned.”

Evie laughed. "Do I have firing authority?"

“Let me be clear. I don’t care if you fire every engineer that works here, spray paint the entire lab baby pink, and install a snow cone machine. If you produce half of the innovation I know you’re capable of, you’ll turn our next closest competitor from a grain of sand to an atom.”

“Deal,” she grinned, opening her laptop. The itch to start was getting the best of her.

Tony leaned against the counter. "So, what’s the first project, wondergirl?"

"I’m thinking of starting with the security systems. Enhancing the encryption algorithms, integrating some new biometric scanners... you know, fixing the previously sloppy work." She winked.

"Sounds overdue. Just don’t make it too hard for us mere mortals to get in.”

"I’ll try to keep it user-friendly.”

Tony's phone buzzed, and he glanced at the screen. "Duty calls. I’ll check in later. Remember, no detonations in the building, please!”

With that, Tony left the lab, and Evie turned her attention back to her work, her mind already buzzing with ideas. She felt a thrill of excitement, knowing this was just the beginning.

She plugged in her laptop and activated her workstation, the multiple screens flickering to life with a soft glow. As the interface booted up, she reached into her bag and pulled out a sleek, customized tablet. Her fingers danced across the screen, bringing up schematics and blueprints she’d been working on in preparation for this day.

Before she knew it, several hours had passed. Her coffee cup, half empty, was long forgotten on the counter. She’d found several weak points in the security programming, and had spent the morning rewriting the code to eliminate them. By the time Tony returned, she would have sworn it had only been a half hour. 

“Good lord, Langston, I can hear your stomach growling from the rooftop.” 

“I’m not hungry, I don’t usually eat breakfast,” She didn’t look up from her computer. 

“Be that as it may, breakfast time has come and gone. It’s 2:27pm.” He set a hand on her desk, drawing her attention. “It’s time for a tour. No debates. Let’s go.” 

She reluctantly stood, locking her computer behind her, stepping back into her shoes and slipping her phone into her pocket. After snapping out of her work stupor, she became suddenly aware of the headache from her tight ponytail and the rumbling in her stomach. “I hope there’s a lunch break on this tour.” 

“Oh, look who’s changing her tune.” Tony swiped his badge and gestured for her to step into the elevator. “Here I was thinking you’d found a way to deprogram your own hunger.” 

“I’ll start on that tomorrow.”

After touring the first few floors, making rounds and shaking hands, Evie was once again regretting her choice to wear heels. She’d been banking on the privacy of her own lab where she could kick them off and work freely all day — not this psuedo-press tour around this massive fucking tower. There was a whole floor dedicated to Tony’s cars and the mechanics that worked on them, three floors occupied by SHIELD as their base in the city, a whole floor as a gym, one floor housing all Stark Industries corporate employees, one floor dedicated to his nonprofit organization that cleaned up the inevitable damage left behind by saving the world, and that was just the lower half of the tower. 

“Next few floors are for the team,” Tony explained, swiping his access card to press the button.

Evie raised an eyebrow. “By the team, you mean…?”

“Right, the Avengers. I’m sure you got out of the lab long enough to know who that is, at least once over the past four years?”

“It might ring a bell.” She pursed her lips.

“Well,” The elevator door slid open and Tony gestured for her to step out first. “This is the training floor. It’s nothing compared to what we have upstate at the compound, but the team uses it when they stay here. Floor above this one is intelligence, briefing rooms, and weapons HQ. Almost every field weapon engineered by us is tested up there. Unless, of course, it poses a major risk to the integrity of the building. We’ve been advised not to test those here anymore.”

“Bummer,” Evie muttered, marveling at the massive space, the sheer size of the weight equipment. It was definitely not designed for humans, judging by the 300 lb dumbbells she walked past –– and that was just on the smaller end.

They finished touring the training floor before spending another hour in the weapons section above it. She hadn’t had a ton of experience developing weaponry, something about safety regulations that MIT had been incredibly clear about. After seeing Tony’s work and his demonstrations — she had little interest in developing anything else. 

As they stepped out onto the designated floor, Evie was met with the sight of two men she’d known about her whole life, but had only seen in history books and news footage. Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. The classically handsome blonde and ruggedly charming brunette striding through the hallway towards her.

They were laughing about something, walking side by side, distracted. Coming from a run, by the looks of it. They both wore faded t-shirts with sweaty rings around the neck, shorts just long enough to tip someone off that they might not be as young and trendy as their faces indicated. Clearly, the trends today hadn’t been published in Super Soldier Weekly.

“Hey, Dynamic Duo!” Tony called out, his voice a trademark blend of sarcasm and nonchalance. “Get over here for a sec.”

Steve turned first, his face still slightly flushed from exertion. His blue eyes, striking even from a distance, were friendly yet cautious, taking in the new face with polite curiosity. His golden hair, damp with sweat, clung slightly to his forehead, adding a boyish charm to his chiseled features. Despite his casual attire, he stood with the natural grace and confidence of someone used to commanding attention. Seeing his posture, Evie straightened up, suddenly conscious of her own. She pulled her shoulders back, tilting her chin slightly higher. Damn, that jawline should be criminal, she thought to herself.

Beside him, Bucky was a study in contrasts. His dark hair, longer than Steve’s, was slick with sweat, falling in disheveled strands around his face. It gave him a rugged, almost dangerous edge. His steel-blue eyes, intense and scrutinizing, widened slightly as he took in Evie’s appearance. It was as if he’d seen a ghost, and for a moment, he looked shell-shocked. The infamous vibranium arm, visible through the short sleeve of his t-shirt, glinted subtly in the fluorescent light. The shine tempted Evie’s eyes to look, but she resisted, keeping her eyes on his. He stayed slightly behind Steve as they changed course to approach Tony and Evie, his posture relaxed but alert, as if on guard. She wondered if that was his permanent state. 

“Evie, meet Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. Guys, this is Evie Langston, our newest engineering genius and second most brilliant mind in the building, behind yours truly,” Tony announced, making a sweeping gesture over her body.

Steve and Bucky exchanged a quick, bewildered glance. Evie stood, grinning, waiting for them to utter whatever first words she’d undoubtedly remember forever. She wondered if they remembered her grandmother. She wondered if all the stories she’d heard over the years would do them justice or pale in comparison. Don’t meet your heroes, people always said. Yet, here she was, standing before two men she’d heard more about than just about anyone besides Jesus Christ himself. She’d waited twenty five years for this moment, she could wait all day for them to find their voices. 

Steve was the first to recover. He strode up and stopped right in front of her. “Nice to meet you, Evie. Welcome to the team,” he said, his voice warm and sincere, his smile the same.

Bucky nodded at her, a small, almost imperceptible smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Hey,” he muttered, his voice a deep, gravelly rumble.

Evie felt her heart rate spike as she met their gazes, eyes flicking back and forth between the different shades of blue, refusing to break eye contact. Through the years, she’d learned the effect she had on men. She’d grown up watching her mother command a room, watching necks nearly snap as she walked through a crowd. The older she got, the more she resembled her mother. The more she resembled her mother, the more difficult it seemed to be for men to keep their eyes –– and hands, at times –– off of her. She knew she could hardly fight it, so she might as well learn to make it work to her advantage. 

So this part came naturally.

“Nice to meet you both,” she replied, shaking Steve’s hand first, then Bucky’s. The contrast in their grips was fascinating—Steve’s was controlled power, while Bucky’s, though also strong, had a rougher, more unrefined feel. She tilted her head down ever so slightly, looking up at them through long lashes. “It’s a real pleasure.” A coy smile following carefully chosen words. Two sets of eyes watching her glossed lips pressed together. 

A shrill tone rang through the air, startling all of them. Tony tugged his phone from his pocket,  glanced at the screen and rolled his eyes. “Sorry, it’s Pepper. Probably calling to remind me of a meeting I’m already late for.” He answered the call, turning slightly away. “Hey, Pep… Yes, I know… of course I’m on my way, it’s this damn elevator –– hey, did you make sure we got the good catering again?” He covered the receiver with his hand and gave the trio an exaggeratedly regretful look. “Gotta dash. Rogers, Barnes, can you finish showing Evie around? Thanks, you’re the best.” And with that, he was off, striding down the hallway with his usual brisk efficiency.

Steve chuckled softly at Tony’s hurried departure. “Looks like it’s just us,” he said, slowly turning back to Evie with a reassuring smile. “So, engineering genius, huh? What’s your specialty?”

“Robotics and AI, mostly,” Evie replied, smiling shyly, despite being anything but. “But I dabble in a bunch of other areas. I can’t seem to narrow it down.”

“That’s uncommon, right?” Steve furrowed his brow, his eyes flicking to Tony’s retreating figure before settling back on Evie. “Engineers typically choose a specialty, don’t deviate?”

“Some. I think I would get bored if I had to choose just one.” She grinned and let her eyes linger on his, feeling a small sense of accomplishment when he tore his eyes away first. 

Steve and Bucky exchanged another glance, a silent conversation passing between them. It was clear they were both still sizing her up, but there was also an undercurrent of something else—something she couldn’t wait to unearth.

“Well, welcome aboard, Evie,” Steve said again, his smile genuine. “We’re glad to have you here.”

“Why thank you, Steve. I’m looking forward to working with you both,” she replied, meeting his gaze with steady confidence.

“So,” Steve cleared his throat. “Clearly, we aren’t exactly dressed to make a great first impression. I apologize for that. We can give you the rest of the tour and hopefully the next time we’re acquainted, we won’t be so ––” 

“Damp?” Evie finished for him. 

“Right.” He gave a sheepish grin.

She nodded, holding her hands out. “After you, Cap.” 

Steve smiled at her response, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "Right this way."

As they walked down the hallway, Steve fell into an easy stride beside her, while Bucky lagged slightly behind. Evie let her hips swing just a little extra as she walked. The atmosphere was a mix of professional courtesy and underlying tension, the latter mostly emanating from Bucky’s wary presence.

“So, Evie, where did you study?” Steve asked, trying to break the ice as they navigated the maze of corridors.

“MIT,” she replied, her tone light. “But I’ve been working with Stark Industries since my second year. Consulting, mainly. Tony likes to poach young talent early.”

Steve chuckled. “Sounds about right.”

Bucky remained silent, his eyes locked on Evie, studying her with an intensity that made her skin prickle. Never one to shy away, she decided to engage him directly, whirling to face him as she walked.

“And you, Bucky? How do you find working with Tony?”

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “It’s…an experience. But he knows what he’s doing. Most of the time.”

Steve shot Bucky a sidelong glance, as if to silently reprimand him, before turning back to Evie. “Tony can be a handful, but he’s the best at what he does. We’re lucky to have him on our side.” 

As they covered the next few floors, they talked about little else besides the purpose of each one. Evie nodded earnestly, smiled warmly, ooh’d and ahh’d at all the right times. Truthfully, she couldn’t give less of a shit about the uses of the building. The vast majority of her time would be spent in the lab, and if she had to choose a second way to spend her time, it was standing right in front of her.

“Here we are, back at your new playground,” Steve said, gesturing around the lab. “I wish I could give you a more in-depth run down, but unfortunately, that’s above my pay grade.”

Bucky, who’d been silent the past two floors, finally spoke up. “So what’s your first project?” 

“So far, beefing up security protocol, detecting weak zones, things like that,” Evie waved a hand, turning to face him. “Tony mentioned a few more pressing needs, so I guess I’ll see what they have in mind.” A smirk. “Or what needs the most help around here.”

Steve nodded. “Whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll do great. Tony wouldn’t have brought you in if he didn’t think you were the best.”

“That,” She winked. “...I am.”

He smiled, looking down before meeting her eyes again. “Well, it was very nice meeting you. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.” He offered her his hand. 

“I’m looking forward to it.” She returned his smile before turning to Bucky, holding her hand out. “Sargeant.” 

“Welcome to the team.” His face was stoic as he shook her hand. 

As they turned to walk away, Evie couldn’t fight the grin that fought its way onto her face. Dream job, kickass lab, insane salary, and she’d just met Steve fucking Rogers and Bucky fucking Barnes. 

Life was about to get oh so sweet.

____

Steve and Bucky stood in the elevator in stunned silence, the echoes of their brief encounter with the new girl lingering in the air.

“Did you see that?” Steve finally broke the silence, his voice barely above a whisper.

Bucky nodded, his expression a mix of disbelief and awe. “She looks exactly like Ginny.”

“I heard she had a granddaughter, but I didn’t expect… I didn’t expect this.” Steve rubbed the back of his neck, trying to process his emotions. 

Bucky leaned against the wall, running a hand through his hair. “Seeing her brought back so many memories. It felt like Ginny was standing right there in front of us. It fucked with my head.”

“Yeah. It’s uncanny. But she’s not Ginny, Buck. She’s Evie, she’s a completely different person.”

Bucky shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. “I know. It’s just… damn, it’s a lot to take in.”

Steve leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “We have to be careful, Buck. We can’t let our past interfere with the present.”

Bucky’s jaw tightened. “I get it, Steve. But seeing her… it’s bringing up a lot of stuff I thought I’d buried.”

Steve glanced at him, his expression softening. “We’ll figure it out, Buck. We always do.”

Bucky nodded slowly, his mind racing. “Yeah. We will.”

[admrlsnackbar]

Happy Birthday, Mother 2

In Japan, it's August 27th which is Mother 2's birthday! 29 years ago in 1994, what is probably the most important game in my life released.

Earthbound released in the US in July of 1995 and I was just shy of ten years old. I grabbed the game at Blockbuster because the box was gigantic and those weird scratch-n-sniff stickers in Nintendo Power. I expected gross out jokes and to return it quickly.

What I didn't expect was to connect with the game on such a deep level. Ness was a ten year old kid, living in the suburbs with his single mom, and had an absent father. I was the same age, lived with my mom, and only ever spoke to my dad over the phone. I walked around town like Ness. My only friend was our neighbor who was kind of a jerk.

Earthbound has taught me since I was 10. About being a child that's growing into an adult. The lessons of kindness, curiosity, and letting yourself be silly are the ones I hold most dear.

Happy Birthday, Mother 2! The official post about it, on their Ex-Bird account!

[astramachina]

Remembering how Blockbuster used to carry hentai just right there out in the open. I wasn't a kid who was big into animation but I remember the one time I picked up a VHS with a very 80s anime girl looking out a window, noir style cover, showing it to my dad and the man, cool as a cucumber told me to grab something else because I wouldn't like that one. He then turned to my mom and went "what kind of person gets off to cartoons?!" I had no idea what get off meant back then but as someone who's now 30+ the urge to ruin my dad's life is strong.

[hersterical]

People seriously overestimate how familiar with feminism and gender issues in general people are. I watched a YouTube video essay that claimed that pretty much all young people were experts on these topics but in my experience that is so far from the truth. More so than previous generations? Generally speaking yes, but that’s really not saying much if we’re being honest here. Especially for those of us who grew up in the post-feminist era.

I have this friend (we’re both in our mid-twenties) who was vocally anti-feminist which lead to to quite a few disagreements between the two of us (we are sadly unable to watch Legally Blonde together after a heated debate over whether or not it is a feminist movie) except any time I discussed feminist issues with her and replaced the word “feminism” with “girl power” she would agree with everything I said. When we were discussing the Barbie movie after watching it together she said something along the lines of how glad she was that it was hardly feminist at all (she specifically said that there was only one feminist scene and I was honestly too baffled by her statement to ask her which scene she meant. probably Gloria’s monologue but I’m really not sure). It took everything I had not to grab her by the shoulders, shake her with all my strength, and scream in her face that the whole entire movie was a feminism 101 class. I also had to explain to a different group of friends who were reluctant to watch it that no, the movie isn’t anti-men but actually shows how the patriarchy, that we do still live under, is harmful for everyone. I basically had to give them a crash course in the middle of the fast food place we were eating at. Again, these are all well educated, intelligent, and independent women who have been brainwashed their entire lives into thinking feminists were unreasonable man haters who like to make a big deal out of nothing just because things are better for women now than they were in the 80’s so what do women have to complain about? And beyond my personal experiences, I heard so many stories about women who realized how unfairly they were being treated by the men in their life (usually their boyfriends) and then took steps to change that after watching the Barbie movie.

And even if all younger people really were super well educated on gender studies, it’s still a good idea to try to educate older generations on these matters. They’re not a lost cause and they’re not beyond learning new things. My middle-aged dad took a huge step towards letting go of his homophobia after watching Bohemian Rhapsody (he’s never been hateful, just lacking in perspective. He’s already come so far and I’m really proud of his growth). Luckily my dad and brothers were all pretty much already on board with the messages the Barbie movie conveyed but it had never been presented to them so bluntly and simply to them before from anyone except for me, my sister-in-law, and my mom. I do think seeing these themes portrayed the way they were in the movie made it more real for them than just hearing us talk about it (not that they didn’t believe us, just that sometimes it’s helpful to actually be shown).

The Barbie movie is flawed, over-simplified, and largely lacking in nuance. All of this is true. But nobody ever said that this movie was going to actually fix the systemic issues it criticizes. There are plenty of people in the world who are in need of learning the basics and I think that this movie for a lot of people can work as a good gateway into learning even more about gender studies. Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I remember no one ever claimed the movie was even trying to accomplish that much. My understanding is that the primary purpose of the movie was to be fun and entertaining and it more than accomplished that goal for me. I can’t think of a single other blockbuster, mainstream movie that so bluntly, simply, and honestly discusses gender politics the way Barbie does and I personally love it, flaws, oversimplification and lacking in nuance and all.

“The Barbie movie is like basic gender studies 101. It’s like the bare minimum for feminism”

YEAH SOME PEOPLE HAVENT TAKEN GENDER STUDIES 101 AND WOULDNT YOU AGREE WE ARE CURRENTLY AT LESS THAN THE BARE MINIMUM FOR FEMINISM?

things do not need to be perfect to be good. You cannot teach someone intersectionality if that person has not heard of bare minimum feminism. You might be on step 100 but just because you started earlier does not mean that everyone can jump to your level. They have to climb the stairs too. And the people at the top yelling down to the people at the bottom that being at the bottom is bad, they need to be at the top, IT DOES NOT ENCOURAGE THEM TO CLIMB UP.

[the-firebird69]

It's a huge number of people who don't get it at all they're so dumb and you know they've lost their brains we're going ahead and taking tons and tons of stuff from them and they're completely clueless right now the battle has ended the inner ring is pretty much clear and the outskirts of being cleared and they're going after the people that started it 30 households went out 10 died and they are grabbing the rest of the households and finally and it's because they have support some from Stan and Biden and miscellaneous and they're sick of it finally they're very old crotchety and they're used to abuse let's see things going away and staying away people's bodies walking by with other brains in them and being announced and it's ridiculous and they don't have a good handle on what's really happening in a stupid s*** is above us with a retard in it so they're trying to stop it

-there's other things happening but if we put it out here it's an excuse people say they said so they go ahead and start doing it it's annoying what you people are doing and that's jackass s*** being inside my mom's body really I don't think that you're doing it and if you are you're confused because people are having to do it because they follow you around and they take the stuff that you supposedly take they're doing it like the matrix they do your second though I've been doing it regularly and it's gross.

-it's what it's like to be stupid Joey federman you people are stupid you don't have it tied up you don't have loose ends clan went down fighting to prevent this from happening to them and you're just going down and they're using you all for their cause and it's gross eventually you become iron Man and stop fighting and figured out that our son was right the whole time but it takes something to happen and I think it is the three fighting the max

Thor Freya

I think you're right we start fighting the clones and we see it we really need them to and they start fighting the clones again for ships but really they need to fight each other it's complicated but it works

Bg

Is more happening here today it is a huge deal what's going on all over the polarization between five groups versus the Macklemore lock and against clones is causing massive amounts of damage to them they are taking a severe pounding foreigners rolled up and started pounding them this morning and they wiped bja out and he walks by and he says it's him and stuff and says I can make it me just take everything from your Island and blame the clones and so it's not really he doesn't want it. And it is a new paradigm that is forming we have to be aware that we have to be here larger presents. We are putting two facilities in now he helped get it going and his cadre and his children they're going gangbusters and need a lot of help I'm listing how many this is a great duty it's for our leaders the two and us it is for the future and it is also going to start a massive massive advance it's the spearhead.

Thor Freya

We call it tip of the spear and that's what it is and we need that kind of people and we need them now and requesting them and that you sign on or that you sign on for the studio if you're not already signed into our military and please do so now

Frank Castle hardcastle

There's several other things happening and you're fairly big but that is huge these groups are good sized and they're more normal or normal people and they can waste these idiots real quick they're tired of living like s*** and having no cover and having them lose Intel or telling them or point at them or go after them and it's ridiculous it's like this road piece of crap sitting next to you and you can't parallel them. We noticed it it's happening and we noticed the effect it is that these morlock are terrified and they're clinging to our son and we must have them off they cling to our daughter but they don't have a way to get there

Duke nukem Blockbuster

You see a lot of them shaking their heads and they're trying for small fast ships that are stealth and like the millennium falcons and they're moving out and large groups in Florida too and they're going after pine Island it's a huge ship it's fast and has advanced weaponry finally what a pain in the ass

Thor Freya

Olympus

I hope my husband will be okay there's a lot of nincompoops around here with huge mouths and bad attitudes here comes a couple

Hera

[lubdubsworld]

Better Man.

              ~~~~We might still be in love, if you were a better man. ~~~~

Taehyung x OC 

Rating 18 +

Angst. 

Implied Infidelity in the past. 

Chapter 1 ~ Walk out the first time. 

"Are you okay?" My mother's soft voice came from behind me and i panicked, hurriedly swiping at the tears that were streaking down my face. Heart pounding, I grabbed a bunch of tissues from the dresser, patting my face down hurriedly , making sure to keep my back to her. 

"I'm fine, Mom." I said , voice surprisingly steady as I turned around to smile weakly at her. She stood near the doorway, a petite woman of fifty with greying hair and too many wrinkles. 

I thought she looked older than she was and i knew I had a part to play in that. Sighing, I tried not to cry more, moving to gently take my son out of her arms. 

He was four years old, fast asleep and smiling sweetly in his slumber. He had downy black hair, feather soft and warm brown eyes. He looked incredibly like his father, the resemblance stunning even though he was so young. I stared at him some more, laying him down on the bed and brushing the hair off his face. 

"Are you sure there is no mistake? Taehyung ssi wouldn't hurt us like this..." My mother said, sounding broken and I felt a pang of sympathy. But also annoyance. 

Us. 

Us....like she had an equal share in the hurt I was feeling.

 I was the one getting a  divorce but my mother made it sound like it was personal to her as well. Like somehow, the fact that she now had to meet her friends and tell them that her daughter was divorced could compare to the pain I was feeling. To the sheer anguish that was filling me.

To be fair though, my mother had loved Taehyung very much. Her favorite son-in-law . My sister's husband had been a mean drunkard who had brought a lot of misery to our family. Taehyung by contrast had been a loving, filial son in law. He had cared deeply for my parents, paid for my father's funeral ( even though the man itself was nothing more than a drunk , cheating fool who had abandoned us )  and he had been the most kind man . 

I swallowed. 

Maybe , you should have forgiven him. Maybe , you shouldn't have divorced him . So, he slept with another woman. Fine.  It was one night... just one night. you should have gotten over it! Was it worth it to spend all these countless nights alone? To break your mother's heart a thousand times over? 

 The funny thing was, i had forgiven him. Maybe right after I had found out. He had stood there, looking shell-shocked and horrified and his eyes had begged me for forgiveness and my heart had cracked , the way it always did whenever I saw him in distress. And when he had looked me in the eye and said, "  I’m sorry,  Jang mi..." I had forgiven him right then and there.

 But it was the forgetting that was hard. The fear that it would happen again. The fear that somehow, I was the reason he strayed. And that kind of fear can be debilitating. For the first three weeks, I'd tried to pretend it hadn't happened. I had tried hard to see him the way I had always seen him but it had been impossible. everytime I saw him, my heart had broken anew. It had been hard but I had to accept that things would never be the same. That I would forever look at him and remember what he’d done. That I would forever wonder if he would do it again. 

So we had done the wise thing. 

At first a break.

 A few days apart to get our head on straight.  Then I’d found a job and I had to move closer to the office to make the commute easy. And then suddenly, I wasn’t seeing him even during the weekends , to spend time as family for our son’s sake. And just like that , a whole year had passed and we  were separated. Only meeting to hand Hoshi over to each other. 

"I'm sorry mother." I said softly. I knew that she blamed me, a whole lot for the separation. 

People with children  didn't leave each other over infidelity in my country. You hit your husband, denied him from your bed maybe but you didn't break up a family over one night of bad decisions. You just didn't .

But for me, it was beyond the act. It was the broken trust, the shock of knowing that some other woman had given him something I couldn't, the fact that he had even wanted it from another woman had been enough for me to crumble on the inside.  

But, none of it mattered now. 

He wanted a divorce. Officially. Wanted to end it for real. 

It was jarring, how badly it shook me. I felt unaccountably lost and confused and disoriented. I couldn't imagine not being Taehyung’s wife , i realized with a stunning sense of self realization.

 Call me irrational, but apparently, I couldn't stop thinking of him as my husband , even after two years. Soon he wouldn't be my husband. 

He would be  my ex -husband. 

i hated that word. 

It had such a plethora of negative connotations to it. When you hear it , you just brace yourself for unpleasantness.

 Because it is unpleasant. A marriage ending, a family breaking, feelings hurt , hearts shattered,  angry words tossed...its all a very unpleasant experience for everyone involved. 

An ex husband was seldom a harbinger of happiness, more often a reminder of choices gone wrong, regrets and wasted time. and I didn’t want to associate Taehyung with a word like that.

Taehyung who was still the kindest, warmest human being I knew. The best father in the world. 

I felt like someone had sucked all the strength out of me.

I didn’t really want to think about the call I’d gotten from Taehyung last night. An appointment with a divorce lawyer.  It had been followed by an apology because apparently, someone in the law firm had let the info leak. And now it was all over the sleazy tabloids that fed on people’s misery. 

It was impossible to escape it too, Taehyung was famous. An idol. And actor. The country's sweetheart. And he was the epitome of perfection. The beautiful, talented actor with an impeccable record of well behavior. 

I knew that literally everyone on the planet thought he was a literal angel. 

 I remembered how much , by contrast, I had been hated when I'd married him.

I could just imagine how much more it would all be this time around. And i wondered if it bothered Taehyung too. Did he perhaps wish he’d never met me

? 

It had been sheer luck that we had met.... 

In fact, if Jimin's  car hadn't broken down right outside our home on that cold December night, I wouldn't have even met Taehyung. A great cosmic shift, somewhere some butterfly flapped its wing a certain way and suddenly, Jimin’s car ran over a thumbtack and his phone was dead so while he tried to fix the damage , Taehyung  just had to knock on our home and I had been the one to open it. 

Boom. That was it. Love at first sight. 

 I had been a high school kid and he had been barely nineteen. Fresh faced and cheerful , the struggling idol from a small company. He hadn't been surrounded by fans or chased by saesangs. He hadn't had security tailing him. No daesangs, BBMAs, or acting awards. No blockbuster movies to his credit , no chart-bursting songs either . 

And I had fallen in love with that version of him. 

The hardworking, talented young man who worked twice as hard as anyone around him. 

 That's right. You've loved him for fifteen years.  So it's understandable that you're upset. Now, maybe you can move on too. Go on a few of those blind dates that Jiyoung is always setting you up on. Go live your life instead of being a zombie. Get a hair cut. Dye your hair red. Do something to get your life in order. 

"I still find it hard to believe that he would want a divorce. Jangmi yah... did you tell him you forgave him? Tell him you wanted to try again..." My mother said again and the distress in her voice was equal parts heartbreaking and exasperating. 

"Mother, I don't want to try again . We aren't married anymore. It's over, whatever it was between us. " 

 Whatever it was. 

How cruel, to have all that love, all that affection  reduced to a phrase like that. 

What a pity. 

"But what about Hoshi? He needs his father..." My mother cried out and I willed myself not to snap. She means well, I thought miserably. 

"He has a father. Taehyung is an excellent father and you know that. Don’t start that again.” 

My mother sighed.

"I still feel that this wouldn’t happen if you tried a little bit. He’s a good boy. Such a good boy and you could never do anyone better. Why are you so full of pride, Jangmi... so prideful...you should be a little humble. Think of the kind of man he is...where would you find a man like that ? And moreover .... Taehyung loves you. i know he does." My mother said stubbornly. 

I sighed, feeling my fingers shake from the effort not to scream. I wasn’t strong enough to have this conversation with her. Not now. Possibly never. Taehyung did  love me. Had never made any effort to hide it. But sometimes, love wasn’t enough. It just wasn’t. 

And I wanted to yell at my mother she was at least partially to blame for me walking out on Taehyung. 

My father had left us for another woman , when I was twelve. I had seen the toll it had taken on my mother and I just knew that I would never let a man do that to me. My mother had later confided in me that it wasn’t the first time. He had done it before. A lot of times. And my mother had always forgiven him. Let him back into our lives. 

And one night, drunk on soju she had confided between hiccups, �� I wish I’d walked out the first time.” 

And that had stuck with me. 

Walk out the first time. 

If he cheats on you , walk out the first time. Don’t stick around waiting for him to do it to you again. Walk out the first time. 

 And so I had. 

“ Should I talk to him? Tell him you’ve changed your mind? “ My mother began and I felt my patience snap.

“No!! Could you just, for the love of God, stay out of this, ma? It’s over. Our marriage is over and it has been over for a long time. A piece of paper doesn’t really change that, does it? Its not my fault you can’t get over it but that’s a you problem. And you need to fix it yourself.  “ I shouted. 

My mother immediately recoiled, eyes shuttering down. 

“Of course. You know the best. Who cares how anyone else feels, right, Jang Mi? You always know best.” She said softly, and I exhaled, shaken. There it was. The guilt trip. It was never ending. 

Please... I just need to go now.” I moved to grab my bag, :” I need to go get ready for the meeting with the lawyers tomorrow. You can keep Hoshi with you tonight.  I’ll come pick him up after I’m done and then I’ll drop him off at his father’s place.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With Taehyung and I, our break up hadn’t been terrible. 

It hadn’t been terrible because our own penchant for being terrible had always been very minimal. We didn’t do swearing or fights or threats and it always annoyed our friends that we got along so well. That it was so easy for us to forgive and move on with each other . That we were the one couple who didn’t hold grudges or bring up past mistakes. 

Which is why, when we did break up, none of our friends had tried to change our minds over it. They had accepted it rather calmly, shocked at first because it was so out of the blue but not opposed to the idea itself . They just trusted us to know the right thing to do because we were easily the most mature , the most level headed couple in the entire group. We were usually the sounding boards , the voice of reason in whatever petty conflict our friends were involved in . 

So when it was us, needling a little advice, a little guidance, our friends had been woefully ill equipped to help. They had merely hummed and nodded and empathized. Maybe that was another reason I’d left. I hadn’t considered the alternative. No one had asked me to consider the alternative. 

Our friends had watched us drift apart watched us break up, but they hadn’t really asked us  why.  

Because if something had caused Kim Taehyung and Jang Mi to break up, man, that must’ve been a really huge issue. 

So the break up had been amicable. Gradual and slow but mostly amicable, eased by our mutual love for our son. We wanted him happy and he was happy when we were happy. So we put on a front, laughed and joked in front of him and let him have some semblance of normalcy in his life. 

It wasn’t easy. 

From him,  it had been nothing but a mess of   heated glances, touches laced with intent and eyes begging forgiveness . every gaze of his was a silent scream for a second chance that I was not at all ready to give. 

Because for me, the raw hurt and anger and frustration that bubbled up every time I saw him , it had nowhere to go. It stayed churning in my gut, made everything bitter and unpalatable and I wanted to hurt him for hurting me. How could I think of a second chance when the hurt from the first, was still so fresh, an open wound festering. 

Self esteem in tatters, I had hated him fiercely. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The meeting was at his company, and I arrived at nine in the morning, with a few more minutes to spare.  I knew the place like the back of my hand, was here at least  once a week either to pick or drop Hoshi off and I knew that the conference room in the third floor was sound proof and cut off from the rest of the building for extra privacy. 

Which was a little too late because I’d found two tabloid newspapers waiting outside my apartment this morning. 

I opened the door carefully, surprised to see Taehyung sitting in one of the chairs, bent over a sheaf of paper on the table and next to him a leggy girl in a small skirt hovered, fingers resting lightly on his shoulder, bent at the optimum angle to show him her curves. 

I sighed, looking away.

It was way too early for this. 

“Mia!” Taehyung’s voice made me look up, and I watched as he stood up, pushing the chair away and moving to me . He was easily the most good looking man in the country. And he looked so good at thirty five that it was impossible to look away from him. 

He was dressed in a pale blue shirt and black slacks and it never amazed me, how good clothes fit him. 

I took in the broad shoulders, thick arms and the lean waist, the carefully styled hair and the breathtakingly beautiful face and sighed when he kept coming closer, hands held out. . 

Of course, the customary hug. 

i let him wrap his arms around me, my face buried in the comforting warmth of his body, the scent of his cologne filling my brain . He always smelled so good it made my heart hurt. I tried not to let myself get carried away. Tried to remind myself that this wasn’t anything more than a.....

A facade ? Or was it? Was his affection genuine? 

Was I just too cynical?

I shook my head, pulling away and smiling a little at the genuine venom in the leggy girl’s face. 

“Are you okay? Where’s Hoshi?” Taehyung brushed the hair off my face, eyes warm and I wondered if he’d forgotten we were here to get a divorce.

 Whenever we met, Taehyung acted like we were still together. 

No, that wasn’t it. 

He just didn’t act like we had broken up. He was affectionate and open and cooperative. It always left me in a sort of limbo, unable to navigate our relationship with clear boundaries. There were no line to stop myself from crossing, because he just didn’t draw them. 

“ Ms. Lee says we just have to go over the details like the alimony and the custody and the division of assets and then we can just proceed. Get it all finalized.  “ He said casually, when I moved away and sat on the chair opposite him. 

“Okay .” I said casually. 

He smiled and turned back to the girl next to him.

“I’ll join you after the meeting Lisa.” he gave her a nice wide smile and the girl practically bloomed under the attention before bowing curtly in my direction. I watched her walk away, slightly amused.

“Bit younger than your usual type.” I commented , glancing at him. He gave me a look.

“I’m not dating her.” He shrugged. 

“Does she know that?” I retorted.

 It was dumb. Uncalled for. I was being a bitch, really but the urge to evoke some kind of reaction from Taehyung was something I’d never really out grown. I liked getting under his skin.

Taehyung sighed and gave me a little smirk.

“Are you jealous, Mia mine?” He teased. 

It felt a little like someone had dug a nine inch dagger straight  into my heart. 

That stupid nickname. 

God I couldn’t bear it. 

Swallowing i looked away. 

“Sorry. “ he said quietly, a few seconds later. 

I nodded curtly. 

“Don’t do it again.” I said hoarsely. 

“Why not?” He whispered gently. 

I groaned. 

“Taehyung... “

“it’s just a name...why does it bother you so much?” He whispered. 

“The same reason you’re asking me for a divorce.” I said softly.

He blinked.

“Mia...”

“Because we both know its time to stop.” I said quietly. “ Stop dancing around each other , stop doing...whatever it is we’ve been doing these past two years and give our relationship a name. “ 

“I’m not very fond of labels.” He shrugged. I glared at him. 

“Well tough luck. Labels are good. Labels are great. They let you draw boundaries. “ I retorted. 

“You sound like you’ve had enough of me.”

“Well, haven’t you had enough of me?” I snapped.

“Not even close.” He leaned forward gently, eyes pinning me to the table with a gaze so strong he may as well have used his body. And it didn’t help that two years wasn’t enough time to forget how it would feel if he  had  used his body. How it would feel to be stretched out on that table, him on top of me, hands working my clothes open, lips kissing their way down my jaw. 

I could almost taste him, taste the minty freshness of his breath, feel his tongue in my mouth, the hardness of him inside me. My thighs clenched because I hadn’t gotten laid in two fucking years and even if i did, no one would ever compare to the man in front of me. 

“Mr. Kim? Mrs. Kim? “ 

The lawyer’s voice broke the spell and i straightened, swallowing. Ms. Lee had walked in , and I watched her close the conference door behind her before locking it gently. 

She was young, dressed in a business suit , a no nonsense bun and had small round framed glasses. She gave me a nice smile, shook hands with us both and placed her briefcase on the table before glancing between us. 

“Shall we begin?” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note : its gonna be a bumpy ride. 

[jelenamasterpost]

2012

INDEX: purple font signifies importance, whether that be a specific date, quote, etc - I will later release a full index of all important dates and information combing each year of the Jelena timeline, but in the meantime, purple font signifies key information in their story to later come back to.

January 1st:

Selena celebrated NYE by Justin's side at his private party at the Glass House in NYC following his performance on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve:

"He...danced with Selena, showing off, picking her up and swinging her around like it was Dancing With the Stars," a source tells E!

*E! article here (x)

January 2nd:

Selena tweets (a now deleted) photo she posted to her instagram of Justin with a big smile captioned:

“This smile is because of Carly Rae Jepsen.. We have not stopped listening to your song girl!” in response to CRJ’s single “Call Me Maybe”

*tweet here (x)

January 3rd:

Selena was spotted getting gas and McDonalds on way to Justin’s house

*photos here (x)

January 4th:

Justin, Selena, Taylor Swift, JoJo and Francia attend The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles

*photos / article here (x) (x)

January 6th:

Justin and Selena are photographed in Los Cabos, Mexico

*photos here (x)

January 7th:

Photos of Justin and Selena in Los Cabos, Mexico

*photos here (x)

January 9th:

Justin adds photo of him and Selena in Los Cabos, Mexico to instagram captioned:

“2 much fun”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber)

January 10th:

Selena and Justin are photographed arriving at a restaurant together in Hollywood, California

*full article / photos here (x)

January 13th:

Selena and Justin are spotted by fans while walking with Baylor in Balboa Park, California

*full article / photos here (x)

January 14th:

Selena and Justin are spotted and photographed grocery shopping together with some family members in Encino, CA

*photos here (x)

January 15th:

Selena and Justin are photographed arriving at a friends house for Football Sunday

*full article / photos here (x)

January 16th:

Justin and Selena drive to Disney Land and were spotted walking on streets of Anaheim

*photos here (x)

January 17th:

Justin and Selena attend Disneyland together and are spotted kissing - they also run into Selena’s on-screen mom, actress Maria Canals Barrera, who tweeted a photo of herself with Selena and Justin writing “You never know who you’ll bump into at Disney Land.”

*full article / photos here (x) (x) (x)

January 22nd:

Selena continues her We Own The Night World Tour for the final South American leg of the tour this evening in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The tour runs through January 22nd-February 11th

Fans spot both Selena and Justin in San Juan and take fan photos with the couple - Alfredo later confirms Justin was indeed in Puerto Rico but that they were flying back to LA the following day

Alfredo Flores:

"Went to dinner tonight in Puerto Rico. Justin ended up eating fish… I wanted him to try something Puerto Rican but he really wanted fish.. LOL what a waste of trying. Selena had a great show though and it was awesome seeing all the fans at the arena. I met so many of you and it was so much fun. Last day tomorrow and then we have to fly back to LA. Enjoying my last moments tomorrow. Te Amo."

*photos here (x) / Wikipedia tour dates (x)

February 2nd:

Selena covers the March issue of Cosmo and mentions Justin a few times in her interview

Talking about Justin:

“I’m just like every 19-year-old girl. If you’re in love, you’re in love to the fullest, and you just want to go to the movies, hang out, and be as normal as possible. I’m fortunate that I’ve found someone who has that philosophy … [Love] is the most powerful thing. When it comes to my family, friends, a relationship … it centers me. You only live once, and I want to be proud of everything that I do and just have fun. I want to be able to say that I had a really fulfilled, fun life.”

Talking about Nick, an ex:

“I was in a relationship previously where I had to hide everything and it wasn’t my choice. I had to go through different exits and take separate cars and do the craziest things, and it just really wasn’t worth it. It was like a year of my life completely wasted.”

February 11th:

Selena officially finishes her We Own The Night World Tour as she performs her final show of her South American leg in Montevideo, Uruguay

She also announced via her official Facebook that her and her band Selena Gomez & The Scene would be taking a prolonged hiatus as she will focusing primarily on acting this year:

This tour has been amazing, Thank you all for all the love and support you have shown me on this tour. Today is the last show but.... I will be back. Love you all.

Just to clear up my last instagram post, my band and I are going our separate ways for a while. This year is all about films and acting and I want my band to play music wherever with whoever. We will be back but, it will be a good while. I love them and I love you guys

*Facebook status here (x)

February 12th:

Justin is photographed picking up Selena from LaGuardia Airport in New York, who just finished her South American tour the night prior

They're later photographed together shopping in H&M and again that evening getting dinner at Thai Bistro in Manhattan posing for fan photos

*photos here (x) / here (x) / and here (x)

February 13th:

Justin and Selena are seen arriving at their New York City hotel on the eve of Valentines Day.

Justin gifted Selena a diamond ring for Valentines Day with the letter "J" on it - she uploaded a photo of her hand and the ring to Instagram with the caption:

"I'm finally home :)"

*E! article / photo of ring here (x)

February 14th:

Justin and Selena spend part of their Valentines Day at Disneyland with his whole family and were photographed carrying around his younger siblings.

*full article / photos here (x)

February 15th:

Justin and Selena are spotted at iHop and Chuck E Cheese in Encino, California

*photos here (x) / and here (x)

February 17th:

Justin and Selena were spotted/filmed while out shopping at The Beverly Centre

Justin and Selena later took to the Malibu oceanfront with his younger siblings and were photographed

*beach photos here (x) beverly centre here footage here (x)

February 18th:

Justin and Selena were photographed out as they took his younger siblings, Jaxon and Jazmyn, for a trip to Japanese spot Benihana in Los Angeles.

Stuart Montalvo, general manager of the restaurant, tells HollywoodLife.com:

“Justin and Selena were here this past Saturday with a group of people. They are really nice and polite. They come here quite often and usually order the same thing: Rocky’s Choice, which is Hibachi steak and chicken breast. Justin’s younger brother and sister were also with them. It was a family affair. Everyone was in a great mood and laughing and having fun. Justin and Selena were very affectionate. They were holding hands when they walked in and when they left. They looked like they are very fond of each other.”

Justin and Selena recruit their friend Ashley Tisdale and crew (including Ashley's boyfriend Martin Johnson from Boys Like Girls, Sammy Droke, Mateo Arias, Logan Henderson, Kendall Schmidt and Carlos Pena) to film themselves lip-synching and dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe in a home-made video

*photos earlier that day here (x)

February 19th:

Taylor Swift films "dance challenge" with Zac Efron on behalf of Ellen's dare at the premiere of The Lorax, and includes footage from the same day of the premiere dancing up on Justin in the studio and Selena at the event

*full article here (x) (x) *full video here (x)

February 22nd:

Justin and Selena went to UNDER THE GUN tattoo parlor in Hollywood to get Selena her first tattoo. Jordan Sandoval tweeted a picture of Selena and Louie, the tattoo artist who tattooed her.

(he is quoted saying its a heart, but its actually a music symbol and has been long speculated to actually be a disguised "J")

“She got a little heart tattoo at Under The Gun, in Hollywood by Louie Gomez @selenagomez.”

Carly Rae Jepsen and Justin hang out in the studio, upload a photo together and announce they've recorded a song via Twitter

Carly's Tweet:

I finally got to say thank you in person. Ps @/kukharrell @/justinbieber and I may have worked on a little song tonight.

Justin's Tweet:

my first impression of @/carlyraejepsen - kind, talented, and the real deal. this is going to be fun. welcome to the team.

*tattoo parlour photos here (x)

February 23rd:

Justin and Selena are photographed as they stop at The Commons at Calabasas in Calabasas, California - they later stopped for coffee at Starbucks and frozen yogurt at Menchie’s with their entourage, and Justin debuts his dyed brunette hair.

*full article / photos here (x)

February 25th:

Justin and Selena are photographed having lunch together at Sushi Den then again as they head into the Sherman Oaks Galleria to catch an afternoon movie together in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Justin adds a photo of him and Selena to his Instagram

Later that evening while grabbing dinner they met Richard Reid in an elevator and stopped to pose for a photo with him that Richard ended up posting to his Twitter - after being flooded with questions from Justin fans, he began answering a few, revealing publicly via Twitter that there was boob grabbing (?)

*photos from earlier in the day here (x) Richard Reid photo here (x) Richard Reid tweet here (x)

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February 26th:

Justin and Selena are photographed by fans renting movies at a Hollywood Blockbuster

Selena speaks to Access Hollywood about her new diamond studded ring in the shape of a "J" from Justin and whether or not its an engagement ring. When asked to show off the jewelry, she suddenly came down with a sudden case of stage fright:

“No, no — that’s like almost a friendship ring, it’s just for fun.”

“No! You’ll see it in pictures!”

“I get nervous.” she added with a laugh.

*blockbuster photos here (x) / AccessHollywood article here (x)

February 27th:

Selena officially begins filming Spring Breakers in St. Petersburg Florida alongside Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson

February 29th:

Justin films his appearance for The Ellen DeGeneres Show (that airs the following day) to reveal that the first single from his upcoming album, Believe, was called Boyfriend and would be released March 26th - while filming, he's surprised and gifted an electric car from his manager Scooter Braun for his birthday

*full article here (x)

March 1st:

Selena adds photo to instgram for Justin’s birthday captioned:

Happy birthday to my best friend in the whole world!!! Have a great birthday baby!

March 2nd:

Selena is photographed leaving a medical clinic after getting bloodwork while still in St. Petersburg Florida

She's later seen arriving into LAX, having flown in for Justin's birthday party

Justin’s birthday party is this evening and Carly Rae Jepsen performs - Selena, their mutual agent Nick Styne, Jaden Smith, Ashley Tisdale, Ryan Good, Tori Kelly, Alfredo, Ashley Cook and Samantha Droke are also in attendance

*Medical Clinic article here (x) / DailyMail article here (x) / JustJared photos (x)

March 5th:

Its been reported that Justin is buying a $10.8million property in the Hollywood Hills to set up for himself and Selena

*DailyMail article here (x)

March 11th:

Justin flies down to Florida and takes Selena, Ashley Benson and her boyfriend Ryan Good, Justin's mom and his grandparents for a fishing trip excursion.

They are later spotted by fans at Gratzzi Italian Grille and Cracker Barrel before ending up back at their hotel.

Justin tweeted:

"great day fishing. time with grandpa doing the simple things in life. great day."

"Show the ones you love you love them. Take the time to make sure they know,"

*DailyMail article here (x) more photos here (x)

March 12th:

Justin visits Selena on the set of Spring Breakers

Later that evening, they meet up for dinner and drinks at a sports bar with Ashley Benson and Ryan Good in St. Petersburg Florida and have their first public fight - shortly after arriving Justin stormed out of the bar, followed by Selena chasing after him to their car.

“Justin’s security team drove the battling couple down the street to an alley where they had a ‘private conversation.’ After settling their dispute, they went back to the bar and continued boozing it up. By the time they left it was clear that the underage couple appeared to have had too much alcohol to drink.”

They were later photographed leaving the restaurant seeming to have made amends, but were reported to have been intoxicated.

*full article detailing fight here (x) *justin visiting set photos here (x)

March 13th:

Justin is photographed arriving back into LAX from Florida

March 15th:

Selena, Justin and her family are photographed leaving Cedars Sinai Medical Office Towers in Los Angeles California - Selena had a bandage around her arm where it looked like she had blood taken.

Upon getting in the car, Justin laid down in the seat so he wouldn't be seen by the camera.

*full article here (x)

March 16th:

Justin is photographed at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre waiting outside in his vehicle and allegedly is there with Selena - she was also there the day before getting blood work

*full article / photos here (x)

March 26th:

Justin does a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest on KIIS-FM explained how he tries to stay busy while Selena is away filming her movie:

“I work all day, it keeps me occupied.”

March 30th:

Justin sits down with Complex and talks about Selena and growing up in the game:

Complex: Obviously, you and Selena are fodder for the gossip blogs everyday. How hard is it to keep your relationship private?

JB: It’s so hard, because everyone’s got a camera-phone, and now everyone wants to get their picture on the blogs. So they’ll send anything that they have to the blogs. So you don’t really get any privacy. If I want to go out to eat, if I’m in L.A., I just have to expect that there’s going to be someone there. That’s the only thing that I don’t like.

Complex: Is it tough for you guys? A lot of people like, hate it. Do you guys hate it, or is it like, “This comes with the territory, we’ve got to deal with it, it sucks?”

JB: I’m kind of both. I don’t like it, but I understand it. I’ll be covering my face or something, and the comment that pisses me off so much is, “Oh, get over it, Justin. You’re famous. People are going to take your picture. Just suck it up. You’re rich. You’re making a lot of money. Suck it up. This is one of the things that you have to do.” I’m like, “Yo I just got off an eight-hour flight. I’m tired. My eyes have bags under them. I’m not trying to take pictures.” I’m not going to come to your house, wake you up out of a deep sleep and start snapping your picture, no matter how you look right now. It doesn’t matter. When I get off a flight, I’m not trying to sit there and let them take pictures of me. I’m tired. I’m scratching my eyes. I just don’t like taking pictures in general.

Complex: There’s been high profile couples in history: Justin and Britney, Jay and Beyoncé. Jay and Beyoncé kind of kept it private. Everyone knew they were together, but they kept it quiet. Even with the kid, they kept it so under wraps. Do you learn anything from those relationships? And do you guys talk about that?

JB: Yeah. I mean, for me, it’s like, there’s no way to hide it completely, because then it would be unfair for us. Then, we’re not even able to have a relationship. It’s like, “You take this car, and I’ll take this car, and then we’ll meet up at the spot. Then, you go in this door, I’ll go in this door. We’ll end up crossing ways. You get back in this car. We’ll cross over, do a James Bond. You go through the kitchen. I’ll go through the back area. Then we’ll meet in the dressing room and see each other.” At that point, it’s like, it’s not even a relationship. You’re just hiding from everyone. That’s unfair and unhealthy, man.

*full Complex article here (x)

March 31st:

Justin and Selena both attend The Kids Choice Awards though walk the red carpet separately - Justin gets slimed during the ceremony and they both win awards

(note to self: Selena seems a bit high during interviews backstage)

April 4th:

Selena and Justin are photographed having a Subway picnic overlooking the city at Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

*full article / photos here (x)

April 5th:

Justin and Selena held hands as they headed to Panera Bread for lunch in Glendale, California

*DailyMail article / photos here (x)

April 6th:

Justin and Selena were photographed getting food at the Chick-fil-A drive-thru

*full article / photos here (x)

April 7th:

Justin and Selena were spotted by fans at a grocery store and posed for photos

*photos here (x)

April 9th:

Justin, Selena and Alfredo are spotted/photographed by fans while going to watch American Reunions in theatres

*photos here (x)

April 11th:

Seventeen Magazine releases their May issue with Justin on the cover and ask about Selena during his interview:

Seventeen: Everyone is so interested in your personal life, especially your relationship with Selena. A lot of your fans don’t approve…

Justin: Everyone has haters, so you always have to deal with the negativity and be positive about it. I don’t think it’s nice; I’d rather they be nice, but at the end of the day I don’t let it affect me.

Seventeen: You’ve planned some amazing dates for Selena - who taught you to be so romantic?

Justin: I’m just trying to make her happy, that’s all. I think it’s important to make all woman feel like they’re princesses because every girl is a princess, I’m serious.

Seventeen: Will.I.am said he thinks it’s important for people to experience heartbreak so they’ll have something to sing about. What do you think?

Justin: I haven’t gone through it so I don’t really know what it’s about. I don’t think anyone wants to have heartbreak. I haven’t been in that deep a place yet, but I’m still looking. I’m still learning every day.

Seventeen: Would you and Selena ever record music together?

Justin: Yeah. I love her music, so maybe we could collaborate.

*full article here (x)

April 12:

Justin, Selena and Alfredo are photographed snowboarding at Big Bear Ski Resort in Big Bear Lake, California

*photos here (x)

April 14th:

Justin and Selena go to Jupiter, Florida for the weekend to celebrate the wedding of one of Justin’s friends and check into The Inn at Admiral’s Cove

They later attend Allison Kaye's wedding

*full article here (x)

April 17th:

Justin and Selena attend Lakers game together after both separately appearing on DWTS and American Idol, and publicly share an intimate kiss when put on the spot via the events Kiss Cam

April 19th:

During an interview with The Insider to promote her new perfume line, Selena is put to the test to correctly guess Justin's perfume through a sniff-test:

"The Insider's Brooke Anderson lined up three unlabeled fragrances for Selena, which included Justin's Someday perfume, challenging her to pick out his scent from the trio.

"I'm such a bad girlfriend," Selena sheepishly muttered when she confused Someday for Paris.

Selena revealed that Justin is impressed with her concoction and went on to explain why his opinion carried so much weight when she was creating the scent for her perfume, not only as a fellow perfumer, but also as a guy, citing "romantic" reasons."

*full video here (x)

April 20th:

Selena debuts a new additional music video for Hit The Lights

Selena appears on On Air with Ryan Seacrest and opens up about her Kiss Cam at the Lakers game earlier this week, and Justin’s upcoming debut with Taylor Swift.

Asked about the Kiss Cam, Selena called it "the most humiliating thing that’s ever happened to me, probably."

“They were showing these little elderly couples, and it was so cute. Then all of a sudden we’re both looking up and we come on the screen and it’s like … it was so awkward. It was so weird. I mean you have to kiss, right?”

"They wrote a song together and it’s beautiful - it’s amazing - I don’t know if it will make the album, but if not I’m sure they’ll release it at some point, because it’s a really great record. It’s kind of like … it’s Taylor and Justin combined. So it’s a little bit of an upbeat song, but it’s very acoustic.”

*full video interview here (x) / *full RadarOnline article here (x)

April 21st:

Selena visits Justin on set for his music video “Boyfriend” and the two are photographed hugging/kissing/being affectionate

*full article / photos here (x)

April 27th:

UsWeekly releases a special edition of their magazine featuring Justin and exclusive photos/interviews titled Inside My World: Justin Bieber. He's questioned about Selena during his interview and mentions recently gifting her a diamond bracelet:

UsWeekly: At least you get quality time with Selena. What do you love about her?

Justin: I dunno! She just carries herself in a very elegant way. And my family loves her, which is usually hard because my mom’s really picky. My mom wants, you know, a good Christian girl with good manners.

UsWeekly: Do you understand girls better now?

Justin: Well, every girl is different, so they are hard to figure out. Like, the way most men work is the same. But each woman works differently. It’s like I can’t figure them out! But I do know girls like you to tell them you love them and that they’re all beautiful all the time. So I do that a lot with any girl I’m with. I tell them that as much as possible.

UsWeekly: Most romantic gift you’ve ever given?

Justin: I’m not saying to who- but I gave a girl an expensive diamond bracelet recently. It was so pretty, I knew she’d love it!

UsWeekly: Would you and Selena ever do a duet?Yeah. I think she’s very talented.

Justin: That would be very cool. We have nothing planned- but I’m not opposed to it!

*full interview here (x)

May 16th:

Justin featured in GQ magazine/interview:

"I keep my guard up a lot," the singer says in the latest issue of GQ.

"Because you know, you can’t trust anyone in this business. That’s what’s sad. You can’t trust anybody. I learned the hard way.”

May 18th:

The Hollywood Gossip reports that Justin and Selena may have broken up after Justin cryptically tweets/deletes:

“thank u for the time i had with you but i have to move on now..”

*full article here (x)

May 20th:

Justin attends Billboard Music Awards solo in Las Vegas

May 20th:

Justin sits down with Sunday Times for an interview and reveals when news of his “love child” with Mariah Yeater broke, Selena called him right away. Justin also revealed that he wrote a song dedicated to Selena titled 'Be Alright.'

“She was like, ‘Do you see what they’re saying on the internet?’ I was like ‘Yeah.’ She was, like, ‘So…’ I was, like ‘No, it’s not true’. ‘Okay, thank you, bye!’ That was it, she trusts me."

“I’m going to call my girlfriend.” So he does, reaching Selena on the Florida set of her new film Spring Breakers.

“Whats up baby? I can’t stop thinking about you… I said I can’t stop thinking about you. That’s all. Yes, so, um, I gotta do this interview but I just wanted to call and hear your voice really quickly… Okay, I love you. Okay bye.”

Skype and FaceTime keep them connected, he says.

“Ten years ago, or even five years, long distance relationships were much harder. Now you see each other anytime you want!”

May 25th:

Justin and Selena reunite as he picks her up from the LAX airport

*full article (x) / photos (x)

May 26th:

Selena and Justin are photographed out for a lunch date at Benihana in Sherman Oaks. Afterwards the two snuck out the back door hand-in-hand. Selena then went her own way as she cruised to a nearby 76 gas station in Encino to fill her Ford Escape

*photos here (x)

May 27th:

Selena and Justin were strolling an outdoor mall in Calabasas when paparazzi began harassing them as they were trying to leave. According to witnesses (and photos taken) this photographer was so aggressive that he even blocked Justin's car, and was said to be rudely harassing Selena "about the herpes (coldsore) on her lip" while trying to capture a photo of her. After they began harassing Selena, Justin got out of his car and went to smack the camera from his hands and him and the photographer both fell off the curb.

The photographer was taken away by ambulance AND filed a police report that named Justin as the culprit. The Los Angles County Sheriff's office is investigating and say they will talk to Justin.

One of the girls who supposedly was there shared this:

"long story short; the paps were blocking his car and wouldnt move, he got mad after asking them to move, justin tried to knock their camera, the pap and justin both fell off the curb, he lost his shoe and hat while fighting him, selena and justin left and came back because selena lost her phone, and the paps would not get out of her face, and then they left and now the paps are trying to get money from the whole thing"

Another girl that was allegedly there as a witness had nearly the exact same story as above, except in addition she added the paparazzi were rudely asking Selena "about the herpes on her lip," and that's when and why Justin knocked his camera.

*full video to story above here (x)

May 28th:

Selena attends producer Joel Silver‘s Memorial Day party in Malibu

Selena and Justin have dinner date

*full article / photos here (x)

May 30th:

Detectives want to interview Justin and Selena after a photographer claims he was attacked by Justin at a Calabasas shopping mall Sunday, but authorities continue to seek additional witnesses.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Sheriff's Department said the investigation was continuing and that detectives "are planning to interview Mr. Bieber." Law enforcement sources said Selena is among the witnesses detectives would like to talk to. Detectives are investigating claims by the photographer that Justin struck him after he snapped photographs of Selena at the Commons at Calabasas Shopping Center.

The photographer complained of pain and was taken by the Los Angeles County Fire Department to a hospital, where he was treated and released, officials said. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, stressed that the probe was in its early stages.

*source here (x)

June 7th:

Selena’s photoshoot and interview for her Elle cover is released where she briefly mentions Justin renting out LA's Staples Center for a private screening of Titanic:

"If I'll share anything with you, it's that he really is a hopeless romantic. I had just mentioned it in the car - all I said is that I really want to see Titanic again, and then."

June 11th:

Justin joined Selena's mom and step-dad at the Right to Laugh event hosted by the Alliance for Children's Rights at the Avalon in Hollywood. Selena's mom Mandy, a huge supporter of the organization, purchased an entire table to support the cause, and invited Justin to accompany her family.

"Selena and Justin sat side-by-side," a source tells PEOPLE.

"They were laughing and smiling the whole evening. They were being very low-key and gracious as to not take away any attention from the cause."

June 15th:

Justin officially releases his third studio album Believe and many of the album's songs are inspired by Selena and their relationship, including Be Alright, a song about their long distance relationship, that Justin wrote by himself:

Across the ocean, across the sea

Startin' to forget the way you look at me now

Over the mountains, across the sky

Need to see your face and need to look in your eyes

Through the storm and, through the clouds

Bumps on the road and upside down now

I know it's hard baby, to sleep at night

Don't you worry

Selena is referenced by name in the song Beauty & A Beat during Nicki Minaj's rap:

“Justin Bieber / You know I'm gonna hit 'em with the ether / Buns out, wiener/ But I gotta keep an eye out for Selener”

*Be Alright audio here (x)

June 15th:

Selena arrives into Toronto Pearson International airport and Justin is photographed picking her up.

*photos here (x) / (x)

June 16th:

Selena and Justin are photographed boarding a helicopter to fly them into his hometown Stratford Ontario where Justin later sang Baby on steps of the Avon Theatre

*full articles (x)

June 17th:

Justin and Selena both attend Much Music Video Awards ceremony in Toronto, Canada where Justin was performing and Selena was presenting - they walked the red carpet separately and didn't pose for any photos together

*photos here (x)

June 25th:

Justin and Selena have dinner date at Geoffrey’s in Malibu and are later seen departing in Justin’s "party bus"

*photos here (x)

June 26th:

Justin and Selena attend Katy Perry’s “Part of Me” documentary premiere at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles - Justin skipped the red carpet

Later that evening Justin and Selena arrive at the Bootsy Bellows lounge with Katy Perry and Robert Pattinson in West Hollywood for the after party and headed to a private room in the back of the lounge:

“Justin and Selena shared a table with friends,” a spywitness tells JustJared.com of the after-party.

“They were very affectionate the whole night, holding hands and sharing kisses. Katy and Amber Heard, and Shannon Woodward spent a good portion of the night sitting and chatting with them. Everyone was laughing and having a great time, taking pictures with each other and snacking on mini-cupcakes.”

*full article / photos here (x)

June 28th:

Justin cut short a pre-taped interview with U.S. radio show Mojo in the Morning after the host compared him to Justin Timberlake and quizzed him about a potential romance between his mother and One Direction's Harry Styles.

Thomas Carballo, the host of the show, was in the middle of a phone chat with Justin when he (rightfully so) took offence at his line of questioning - and hung up.

The 10-minute interview got off to a bad start when Carballo told Justin he thought he was Timberlake the first time he heard him.

Justin said, "That's funny because our voices sound nothing alike... Saying I sound like somebody else is definitely not a compliment."

Justin eased up when talking about his new song Maria, which was inspired by the woman who falsely claimed he was the father of her baby last year, but he lost his cool when Carballo got personal and asked if he was worried about Harry Styles falling for his mum.

The DJ said, "Do you worry about Harry around your mum, since he likes older women?"

Clearly upset, Justin then mumbled something about Carballo's mother and, as the radio presenter explained his mum was dead, Justin had already hung up the phone.

A record company representative then tried to convince the DJ that Justin's phone had cut off, explaining, "I can't get him. He's in a really s**tty area."

She later revealed Justin was "really upset" with the questions, adding, "He probably won't be calling back."

*source here (x)

June 30th:

Justin and Selena enjoy a walk around Lake Balboa in Van Nuys, California, stopped at an ice cream truck with Alfredo and stopped by Bronco Burrito for some lunch.

*full article / photos here (x)

[haechanniesunflowers]

"I promise"

A Bang Chan scenario

A/N: mentions of pregnancy and labour, blood and childbirth, angst, fluff

After Stray Kids' contact expired with JYP, the boys went their separate ways but were still very close with one another. Minho became a choreographer, Felix, Hyunjin, Jeongin, and Seungmin signed with other companies for solo promotions. 3racha became full time producers under a different company, all 8 of them were doing very well.

Chan got married, the couple was living happily in an apartment. He set up a studio on one of the rooms so he could spend more time with her. Chan really did care about his wife but his 3racha signed a project with a sequel to a blockbuster movie and they were working on the songs for it.

"Chris I can't believe you forgot again!" y/n yelled at him. She was at her wit's end with him, she was eight months pregnant and wanted Chan to be a part of it for the final months, he promised he would take her to see her gynecologist two week ago but he was busy producing music and completely forgot. They rescheduled twice but he forgot both times. She called him several times, but he didn't hear it ringing. Now he came home, tired and upset that he completely forgot about his wife and unborn child, yet again.

"I'm not even going to say I'm sorry. I messed up big time and I'm embarrassed." he spoke.

"what do you want me to do about it?" she replied.

Chan didn't have the words to tell her how upset he was with himself. He let her down again and again and she had to go through the last months of her pregnancy alone.

"do you even know we’re having a child? I'm scared Christopher. Will you keep this up after the baby is born too? I can't have my child grow up longing for his father. I understand you love your work but if you love it to the extent you're forgetting about important things, why did you get me pregnant? Why did you want to bring a child in this world? For me to go through it alone? Will you even be there when I'm in labour?" y/n let her frustration out, with hot tears streaming down her face.

Chan came to hold her face but she backed away. He gave her space to cool down and opted to sleep on the couch.

For the next two weeks she she avoided him and did things in her own, she went to the gynecologist alone, and got food for herself from the store. Chan saw her entering the apartment with bags of food in her hand. It broke his heart that she was doing things for herself in the cold weather, and he wanted to make amends. He walked towards her and grabbed the bags from her hand, earning a warning glare from her.

"don't overburden yourself sweetheart" he said. She gave him the bags and went straight to their bedroom. He was right, she was overburdening herself but it was his fault. Coming out of the shower, she got into an oversized t shirt and pajama bottoms, and snuggled into the comforter. Chan stood at the threshold of the door, looking at her with soft eyes as she was facing away from him.

"can I lay beside you?" he began. Y/n missed him too much but he had to learn his lesson.

"no."

Chan felt helpless, he walked inside and knelt beside her side of the bed, facing her.

"I just want to say that I'm really sorry for being ignorant and making you go through these months alone but I promise you I will be there for you when you need me." he spoke and gently kissed her forehead, which she didn't back away from. Y/N closed her eyes, signalling Chan that she was about to sleep so he went out to sleep on the couch again.

At around 2 in the morning, y/n woke up to pain in her abdomen and lower back. It was intense and painful and she clutched the comforter. When it was over she was panting lightly. Her gynecologist told her about cramps near child birth. She got out of bed to drink a glass of cranberry juice. Looking around the house, there was no sign of her husband.

"where did he go?" she mumbled. Y/N went to check his studio and to her surprise he wasn't there either. She started to get annoyed and worried so she called Jisung to ask him if he knew.

"yeah noona he's in the company's studio with us, wait I'll pass him the phone." he answered and handed the phone to Chan, who didn't know how to explain himself.

"you're unbelievable" was all she said and hung up the phone. Chan gave the phone back to Jisung and excused himself saying y/n was asking him to come back home. The other two agreed to finish up with the lyrics.

Chan let himself in through the front door and saw y/n sitting on the couch, slightly bent forward and clutching the cushion. She looked towards him and her expression changed to an annoyed one. Getting up, she walked towards the bedroom but was stopped by Chan, who pulled her by her arm.

"what is your problem?" he inquired.

"nothing, let go of my arm."

"no, what are you trying to prove. You have been ignoring me for two weeks now, you don't even let me near you and you're doing things you're not allowed to do. Then when I'm not around, you suddenly have a problem and want me back, for what? When you're perfectly fine on your own and not speaking to me, what do you want me to do? Sit around all day? Doing what you want me to do? And be okay with with your attitude?" Chan blurted out in anger. Y/N pulled her arm out of his grip.

"I didn't call you back, I only asked Jisung where you were. And you're saying it like I made this child on my own against your will so I shouldn't expect anything for you. If that's how you felt then you should've told me from the start, I wouldn't have depended on you even in the slightest." she said and walked away, lying in bed and crying. Chan understood how hard it was for her but he had a huge thing going on and had to give time to that too. He put his headphones on and lied on the couch.

Y/n yelped in pain as she propped herself on one arm, the other one clutching her baby bump. The pain was excruciating and she couldn't even let out a scream. It was too much that tears welled up in her eyes. She looked around for her phone but she left it in the kitchen. Then she saw the time, it was 8:40 in the morning and Chan probably left for work. Squirming out of bed, she used the walls for support to walk out of the room and saw Chan sleeping on the couch with his headphones on.

"Ch-Chris" she breathed, he didn't seem to hear her since he didn't move.

"oh my God" she whined, clutching her abdomen, "Chris!" she cried. His eyes shot open and he looked to where she stood, bent forward.

"y/n? What's wrong?" he asked and hurriedly walked towards her, and saw her tear stained face, evidently in pain. He wasted no time and took her to the hospital.

The nurse told them she was going into labour and got everything ready. It was happening so fast, Chan stood there, watching his wife trying to push their child out, into the world. He was in awe of her. The scenario gave him goosebumps as we witnessed the moment. His whole world came crashing down, however, when the doctor revealed that y/n was losing blood and the baby wasn't coming out so they had to perform an emergency C-section. He was told to leave the operation theatre and wait outside.

So he stood outside and waited for any kind of news. In that mom he regretted how he treated y/n, for not spending more time with her, for letting her go through the pregnancy with him seldom by her side, for the argument he started the previous night. He was worried for her, he realized how important she was to him and he needed her. In a state of helplessness, he prayed for her wellbeing, for her to stay with him.

20 minutes later, the longest 20 minutes of his life, the nurse came out, holding a baby, wrapped in a small blanket.

"congratulations it's a healthy baby boy" she spoke and put the baby in his arms.

It felt unreal and surreal. He watched the baby, his baby, squirm in his arms, nuzzling towards his warm chest. His heart felt like iit would explode.

"how is my wife?" he immediately asked.

"she's unconscious from the anesthesia, we're shifting her to the ward, you can see her then." she answered and left.

Chan felt light headed. He didn't expect to become a father in the morning, when he went to sleep the previous night.

He went inside the room y/n was in, she laid there, little sedated but conscious. She looked towards Chan and smiled warmly. He walked to her and handed her their son for skin to skin. They looked at him with so much love in their eyes.

"our son, y/n" he spoke in a hushed voice, to not scare the child nuzzling himself into his mother's skin.

"I love him so much" y/n admitted.

"I'm so sorry. I don't have the words to express how sorry I am. You mean everything to me and I was wrong to not pay attention to you when you needed me. I won't let that happen again. I am going to protect you and our son, I promise." Chan stated.

"forget about that Chris, you promised me you would be there when I needed you and you were. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't home. I know you will keep your promise. I love you."

"I love you too."

[spidernerdsblog]

Wildest Dreams

Pairing: actor! Tom Holland x actress! Reader

Summary : Based on Taylor Swift’s song Wildest dreams. You thought Tom was the love of your life but it was just one of your wildest dreams.

Warnings : 18+,SMUT, mature content, infidelity, angst, tom being a douchebag.

"Today we have with us the Oscar winning renowned actress the one and only Y/N Y/L/N!" The RJ hyped you up. 

"Hello everyone" you spoke on the mic in front of you smiling. 

"Well first of all congratulations Y/N on your big oscar win." 

"Thank you so much. I’m still recovering from it not gonna lie." You chuckle. The RJ asked you a bunch of other questions which you replied cheerfully. 

"So you have been casted to play Morgan Stark in the next part of Marvel Avengers movie." 

"Yes and I am looking forward to it. Being in a Marvel film was always on my wishlist and I can finally tick it off." 

"Do you feel yourself under pressure as you will be continuing a legacy?" 

"It’s definitely a pressure playing Tony Stark’s daughter and living upto the standards of none other than RDJ. Luckily he is personally mentoring me and I think I’ll fare well. I have read the script which I can't reveal much but playing the grown up version of Morgan who is a part of the Avengers will be a lot of fun." 

"Well saying so you are also going to be sharing screen with Tom Holland after a long time. What do you have to say about the rumours  of you being speculated as the possible reason behind his relationship with his fiancee hitting the rocks?" you took a moment before answering the question. 

"Well a lot of things fly in the air we don't catch on everything right? And I have always made it clear that we never dated, we are just friends that's all."

"So you are still single?" 

"And not interested to mingle." You chuckle. 

"Well it was nice to have you with us today, Y/N."

"It was my pleasure. Love you guys bye."

The show ended and you headed out of the office building for the pre production meeting arranged by Marvel with the whole cast. You were sitting in your posh car, the last question of the RJ about your relationship with Tom still spiraling in your mind. You reminisced about one of your past mistakes. Though you wouldn't call it a mistake because you fell for a wrong person but when he left he gave you a life lesson which you will remember in your lifetime that 'nothing lasts forever'. 

It started with a small Instagram follow but who knew it would take you down like that. 

It all happened 2 years ago in a promotional show just like this. Your acting career had just begun and you had managed to create quite a buzz in and around the industry delivering two blockbusters mesmerizing the critics and audiences with your spectacular performance in your three year acting career. You were in a radio show for the promotion of your upcoming movie. The RJs were interviewing you.

"Well Tom Holland was here the other day and we asked who he likes among the upcoming new talents in the industry. He said and we quote that you are cute, sexy and very talented." the lady said. 

"Well what do I say thank you Tom." you giggle shyly. 

"Have you guys ever met?" the other male RJ asked. 

"Not really, though we had a chance to interact during the comic con. But I really admire his work and would love to work with him in future."

"But I have to inform you that he is a little disappointed that he follows you but you never followed him back." the lady jokes. 

"Well I can fix that I guess.'' You took out your phone from your jeans pocket and opened your insta app.

"And here we go, officially following Tom Holland." You said tapping the follow button.

"I hope now you are not upset anymore, Tom." you chuckle.

In less than a month you were signed up for a Netflix movie. It was a rom com and you were casted opposite none other than Tom Holland. The shooting began within two months.

You were on the set sitting in your trailer facetiming your mom. 

"Honey are you eating well?" Your mom asked.

"Yes mom I am." You assured her when you heard a knock as the door of your trailer opened and the person’s head popped in, it was Tom. You waved your hand to usher him in. 

"Five minutes please." You mouthed to him

"It’s okay," he mouthed back sitting on a chair. 

"Who is it?" Your mom asked.

"It's my costar you know him, the guy from spiderman." You inform her.

"Oh the one you have a crush on?" 

"Mom!" You shrieked utterly embarrassed with your mom revealing your secret.

"What? You only said that he is cute." 

"Ok-ok I get it you made your point but I have to go now, I'll talk to you later."

"OK sweetie take care." 

"Yeah bye mom." You ended the call heaving a sigh of relief and turned towards him. 

"Ignore my mom. I just told her that you were cute in the homecoming movie and she just assumed I have a crush on you." 

"Oh that's fine." He gave you a warm smile.

"So what's up?" You chirped.

"Umm just here to talk about the scenes we are going to shoot tomorrow together."

"Oh you mean the sex scenes?"

"Umm yeah." He said uneasiness clearly in his voice.

"Tom Holland nervous about some sex scenes?" You joked.

"No-no it's, it's not like that. I just want to make sure that you are comfortable tomorrow so I just wanted to discuss it beforehand."

"Oh that's really nice of you. Well honestly I'm always nervous before such scenes. Though it's partial nudity but still the scenes are quite passionate and vividly described." 

"Don't worry I'll try my best to make it easy and comfortable for you."

"Thank you Tom."

"Pleasure is all mine." he smiled. 

The next day on the set the director gave you the last minute reading of the scene that you are going to shoot. You and Tom walked in the frame. As per the script you guys play characters who are friends with benefits but both of you grow feelings for each other. When one confronts the other it leads to an angsty moment but soon turns into passionate love making. 

The camera started rolling and as soon as the director said "action!". You both got into your characters and played your parts flawlessly as per the script. 

"Why don’t you find someone who doesn’t hurt you?" You ask

"But I love you, Emma." Tom replies with a soft tone.

"Liam you don’t understand I was never good at this." You say with frustration in your voice.

"What.. talking?" He sarcasms.

"Yeah talking, communicating, relationships.." You were cut off as he captured your lips for a kiss.

"Well neither was I but we can figure it out slowly." his gaze was intense as your eyes were glassy. 

The next thing you did was, crashed your lips to his. It had to be a very messy sloppy one so both of you rolled your tongues into each other’s mouth. You popped open the buttons of his shirt out of desperation and then pushed him onto the bed. Tom plopped on the soft mattress as you got up to straddle him around his waist pulling your sweatshirt off your body revealing your red lacy bra underneath. Tom let out a light gasp it wasn’t to happen but the whole act turned him on as he felt blood rushing down south. You carried on the act like a true professional and leaned on to his face capturing his thin lips. He deepened the kiss holding your face and you kept on grinding on his crotch. The kiss grew heavy then you were suddenly aware of the growing bulge underneath you but you continued anyhow 'he is a human getting aroused is normal' you kept on repeating that in your mind. His hand trailed up your back and unclasped your bra. 

And with the scene coming to an end the director shouted "cut!" 

"Well done you guys." The director praised. You pulled away and got off him as the costume runner handed you your robe to cover you up, you slipped it on and tied it around your body. 

Tom's eyes never left you as you made your way back to your trailer to retouch your makeup and take a rest before the next scene starts. He was always known to be a professional but you made his mind go haywire. You on the other hand could only think about the scene, how you felt his hard on though it wasn't his fault it happens sometimes you reminded yourself. 

After the unit packed up for the day you were on your way back to your car as you heard a car honking behind you. You stopped as the car pulled over and the windows rolled down. 

"Need a ride?" Tom asked sweetly. 

"No thanks, I have my own." You gave a tight lipped smile.

"C'mon it's been a hectic week for both of us we should really blow off some steam and I don't want to get drunk alone too."

"Okay." You gave in breaking into a smile. You sat in the front seat as he drove the car while you texted your manager Mike about your change of plans. 

"So where are we going?" you ask. 

"Just in and about the town.'' everything went silent again before Tom cleared his throat and began. 

"Umm listen Y/N I'm.."

"It's okay Tom it happens sometimes I didn't mind anything." You cut him off saving him and you from  the awkward conversation. He took you to a local pub and had a few drinks together. Later you got back into the car both of you totally buzzed. You were laughing about something as Tom kept staring at you. 

"What?" you ask giggling. What came into his mind you don't know as he just straight up went to grab your face and kissed you, catching you off guard. You pushed him away, bewildered. 

"Tom! What are you doing?!" 

"Sorry, sorry, I-I just couldn't control myself. Ever since I saw you like that you are the only thing in my mind." he rambled. 

"But that doesn't mean you can kiss me."

"Don't tell me you didn't like it." his voice low as he brought his hand to your cheek. 

"Well.." Your words were stuck in your throat as your gaze dropped to his lips and you leaned forward to kiss him again fervently. 

"Your place or mine?" He asked, pulling away gasping. 

"Whichever is close." You said out of breath.

He never drove his car this fast the way he drove tonight to reach his apartment rented by the production company for him. You weren't even completely inside his apartment as he crashed his lips and pushed you against the door. You moaned into the kiss as he picked you up and carried you to his bedroom. 

You woke up the next morning as the sunlight hit your face squinting your eyes open. You stir on the bed to find yourself tangled in bedsheets and in the arms of Tom.

"Goodmorning, love." His voice husky as he looks down at you with his soft brown eyes. You sit up abruptly holding the sheets to your chest wide eyed as you recollect the memories of last night. Mike your manager had always warned you that you should avoid getting into any kind of relationship with your costars. You are young and new to this industry, a good image is what you need right now. 

"No, no, no this was a mistake. This should have never happened." You repent holding your head. Tom sits up holding your shoulders comfortingly. 

"Hey-Hey it’s okay. Last night was really good.I understand you don't know me well and your career has just begun so you don't want a relationship but that doesn't mean we can't have a little bit of fun." saying so he went for a kiss but you pull away.

"That's not the point Tom! We are colleagues and I want to keep it that way. And this will never happen again. This will be the first and last." You made it clear and left his apartment.

🥀

However Tom made it a mission to tease the hell out of you on set. You would often find him subtly touching you whenever he got the chance, when you were sitting together his fingers lazily dancing around your thighs making you shiver as he flashed you a cocky grin because he is totally aware of what he is doing to you. 

You reached your breaking point on the day you had to shoot another sex scene. The scene required minimal clothing. You would be just wearing your underwear and modesty patches to cover your breasts which will leave little to anyone's imagination. You took off your robe and lied down on the bed underneath the white covers Tom got on top of you in just his boxers. You licked your lips as you saw the prominent outline of his dick through the fabric which only reminded you of the night you slept together. He propped over you on his forearms a pillow kept between you. 

As the director shouted 'action', Tom leaned down to kiss you, dragging his lips down your body, sucking on to your skin as he massaged your breast with his hand. He could feel your nipple harden through the patch as you began to let out small moans as per the script. The heat radiating from his body was so overwhelming you could just think of him railing you to the mattress. Heat pooled between your legs and you were thankful that there is a pillow separating you or else he would easily get to know how wet you are. 

You closed your eyes, hands slipping on to his back letting out fake moans as he carried on rutting his hips on the pillow. Suddenly a chill ran down your spine when you felt two slender fingers brushing near your heat. 

"Did I make you wet, darling?" he whispered, chuckling lowly into your ears. Your breath hitched as you felt your cheeks heat up but you had nothing much to do than just go on with the scene. 

The scene ended as soon as the director said "cut!" And you were more than thankful as you quickly slipped into the robe. But you were hot and bothered as you exchanged glances as you both agreed to an unspoken agreement. 

And a few agonising moments later you find yourself bent down gazing at your flushed out reflection with droopy eyes in the dirty mirror of one of the restrooms on set you both snuck into to relieve your sexual frustration. Your dress bunched up to your waist as Tom thrusted inside you hard and fast. 

"Fuck darling! This feels so better when I actually get to fuck this pretty little pussy instead of wasting my energy humping a damn pillow." He grunted drawing back his hip to slam right into you as you jolted forward trying to keep yourself steady gripping on the edge of the marble.

"Fuck Tom!" you moaned. Your legs felt wobbly; knees on the verge of giving out as Tom’s hands expertly supported you. One of his hands slipped between your thighs rubbing circles stimulating your sensitive bud. You gasped at the added pleasure. 

"Tell me sweetheart who is fucking you so well?" He asked cockily.

"You T-Tom you." you were finding it hard to form proper words.

"Damn right." he chuckles. 

Just then there was a knock on the door. You squeaked in surprise and Tom immediately covered your mouth with his hand. You glared at him through the mirror.

"Miss Y/L/N?" It was your assistant Rebecca. Tom removed his hand from your mouth still going on with his menacing pace.

"What the fuck?!!" You seethed.

"You were being loud." he Whisper yells. 

"Mam are you there?" She asked again.

"Yeah- yeah. What is it?" You stuttered.

"The next shot will be ready in half an hour. You need to go for your makeup." 

"Okay .. ah i’ll be there in a few minutes." You tried to answer as energetically as possible.

"Mam are you okay?" she asked with concern in her voice. 

"Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just-just go I’ll be there." Tom had a smug grin plastered on his face. You rolled your eyes. His eyes darkened dripping with lust as he thrusted deep inside you again, hitting your spot as you moaned loudly but he pulled you back by your neck, capturing your lips messily muffling your moans. You felt him twitch inside you and you knew you weren’t far away. You heard Rebecca's receding footsteps as Tom increased his pace again tipping you off the edge you both came with a loud moan. His head dropped to the crook of your neck panting, brushing his lips on your sensitive skin. You hissed when he pulled out. He stepped away giving you some space to clean up while he chugged the condom in the bin and zipped his pants fixing his shirt.

"I’ll go out first and you come out later." He said running his fingers through his messy hair trying to tame them. You nodded trying your best to fix your dishevelled appearance. 

🥀

This just became a regular thing for you guys sneaking out on the set to end up making out at the most odd places you could ever imagine. Sometimes in your trailers for a quickie. 

One time you were making out at the back of your trailer Tom’s hands were roaming around all over your body as he blurted out of nowhere.

"I love you." You broke the kiss and raised a brow.

"You don’t need to show your fake love to get into my pants." Tom frowned. 

"What? No I do love you Y/N" 

"You’re joking right?" you gave a poker face. 

"No Y/N, ever since I met you I fell for you instantly." 

"Really?" Your eyes welled up in disbelief.

"Yes, love. I love you and will always love you." 

"I love you too." You sealed your lips kissing softly, emotions running high. 

You started to feel his presence even more around you after you confessed your feelings for each other. Your wardrobe now consists of half of his clothes which he leaves behind in your room every time he spends the night with you. He tells you he loves you but he is never there the next morning for you. He isn't ready to acknowledge the relationship between you because he says it isn't a good time. You are always dodging the prying eyes of the media. 

Yes you were young, naive and trusted people way too easily that is why you didn't see the obvious red flags in your relationship. 

🥀

The last scene for the movie was to be shot outdoors near a cliff. The location was picturesque as the last scene was shot of you and Tom kissing each other. After the shooting ended the director officially announced the wrapping up of the film. The crew hugged each other and indulged into a little celebration at the location itself. You went near the cliff soaking in the natural beauty reminiscing about how this was the best summer of your life where you found the love of your life when Tom walked up to you from behind. He brushed aside your hair placing a necklace with a heart shaped pendant around your neck. You let out a light gasp surprised heart swelling up at his loving gesture. 

"This-this is beautiful Tom." 

"I know, love. Only for the most beautiful woman. This will always remind you of our love."

He wrapped his arms around you as you overlooked the cliff watching the sunset with an orangish yellow hue. His phone buzzed as he took it out from his pocket and saw the caller id. 

"I need to take this." He excused himself to take the call. You fiddled with your necklace admiring it and smiling to yourself. One of the runners brought you a bottle of beer you took it and the boy was about to go and give the other bottle to Tom but you stopped him. 

"I’ll give it to him." You took the bottle from him and made your way where Tom was busy talking to whoever called over the phone. 

"Yeah bye love you. Miss you too." You caught the last bit of his conversation. 

"Girlfriend?" You joked startling him. For a moment he felt his breath caught in his throat, he gulped hard before chuckling nervously. 

"I’ll be so damned to cheat on you. It was my cousin. Have to go back home, some urgent family work has come up." 

"You will leave tomorrow only?" You pout.

"Sorry love." He brings his hand to your cheek.

"What about I go with you? I always wanted to meet your family, I mean my future family." Your eyes sparkled. 

"Uh i don’t think that’s  a good idea since we are not public yet." he fumbled. 

"So let’s go public. You love me, I love you, what's the problem?" 

"Ofcourse, love but not this time. Once I return from London we will make our relationship official I promise." 

"What if you find a hot brit chick and forget about me?" you pout. 

"I can never forget you. This face is worth remembering." he cradled your face lovingly. 

"I really want to spend the last few moments with you before I go back."

"I'll keep my door unlocked.'' You winked.

At night Tom stood in front of your hotel room and as you had said the door was unlocked he smiled to himself sneaking into your room quietly. He was startled as you grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him in pinning him against the door pressing your lips to his. 

"I’m gonna miss you so much." you say breathing heavily.

"Me too darling." 

Pretty soon all your clothes were discarded as you now lay on your bed spread out for him while he pounds into you relentlessly. 

"Oh fuck darling you always feel so good around me." He praises thrusting deeper inside you. You grab onto his back wrapping your legs around him. His phone buzzes several times on the bedside table but he was too invested in the pleasure he was getting being buried deep inside you so he decides to ignore it. 

"So gorgeous." He purrs trailing his lips down your chest sucking on to your hardened nipples. Your body arches at his touch, your one hand reaching  down to rub your clit.

"Yes rub that clit for me." He demands. You clench hard around him as you both reach your own highs. He collapsed on top of you burying his head in the crook of your neck as he pressed a soft kiss on your shoulder before pulling out and rolled over to your side. You turned to him resting your head on his chest. His phone buzzes again and he reaches to receive it but ends the call abruptly seeing the number. 

"Who is it?" 

"Oh it's no one, darling." He said, stroking your hair gently and pecking on your forehead wrapping you in his warm embrace. You nuzzle your face in his chest listening to his heartbeat lulling you to sleep.

You woke up to an empty bed next morning. Tom had an early morning flight so maybe he didn’t want to wake you up you thought, giving yourself false hopes.

First two weeks he used to FaceTime you daily but soon it got limited to plain simple texts and suddenly all of it stopped. Two months went by and you didn't hear anything from Tom but still you kept your hopes high telling yourself he must be busy.

🥀

The time of the premiere for your film was approaching and you were over the moon with just the thought that you were finally going to meet him. At the night of the premier you were dolled up in one of your designer dresses, you decided to ditch your expensive diamond necklace to wear the necklace Tom gave you before leaving. You reached the venue and stepped out of your car as your eyes were flooded with the flashes from the cameras, you gracefully walked the red carpet a wide smile adorning your face. But it didn't last long. 

You heard the crowd going frenzy chanting the name of the person you loved the most in this world. You turned around to look at him and froze. He wasn't alone, he had a woman in his arms as they smiled at the cameras. Your heart clenched when you saw the big rock shining on her ring finger. He got engaged and he brought in his fiancee to make the news public. So this was his emergency family work in London.

Tom looked around smiling when his eyes found you standing at a distance with a hardened gaze. His gaze dropped to his feet as a sense of guilt kicked in. You were disgusted and filled with hatred he left you, no he fucking lied to you and was cheating on you this entire time. You never wanted a relationship in the first place. He was the one who professed his love for you and you being the lovesick idiot believed him. 

The cast was made to stand together for a group photo. You stood to the left of him. He couldn't dare to meet your eyes. 

The movie began as you took your seats and tried focusing on the screen. Tom frequently stole glances of you as memories came flooding in. You caught him glancing at you and you could no longer take this betrayal anymore. He had imagined of getting married one day and starting a family but guess what it was true but just not with you. You informed Mike sitting beside you that you aren't feeling well, he arranged for you to leave. You got up in the middle of the movie and ran out of the auditorium. Tom saw that went after you. 

"Y/N wait! Please don't go. Let me explain!" he shouted desperately. 

You didn't listen as you ran towards your car with tears in your eyes. You got into it and drove past him as you saw his reflection in the rear view mirror desperately calling out to you. Tears pricked your eyes as you saw the necklace he gave you as a token of love dangling down your neck. You held the necklace and pulled it hard breaking the chain. You took a look at it for one last time and threw it out of the window in rage. You wailed inside the car crying your heart out. That night you made up your mind to only focus on your career no more distractions or false attachments. Your hard work has paid off because two years later you are now an internationally acclaimed star with a strong image, a role model for many and your fans adore you.

Though after that dreadful night you received a string of messages of apologies from Tom which went on for at least a month but you left all of them on seen.  Recently he had started texting you again mostly they read 'I miss you', 'can we meet?' He even went on a liking spree on your Instagram account which fueled the rumors of you two possibly getting together. You decided to ignore all of it because you always wanted him to suffer the way you did. You wanted the memories of you to haunt him for eternity like a curse he can't get rid of. 

Your car reaches Marvel's office as your bodyguard opens the door and you step out of the car you strut past the gates through the hallways to the room where the meeting was to be held. Your assistant walking by your side briefing you out about your today's schedule. You entered the room to find some of the big names in Hollywood already present and there was Tom too. This is the first time in two years you are finally meeting face to face. His eyes lit up instantly seeing you as he made his way to you enthusiastically. 

"Hi Y/N" 

"Oh hey Tom." you greeted him with a smile. 

"So how are you?" he began but you didn't answer as your eyes were trained on the person behind him, a handsome blonde with icy blue eyes walking right your way.

"Hi Harrison Osterfield." He introduced himself.

"I know, you are playing my love interest and I must say you are totally worth it." You giggled. 

"Well it’s my honor to be your love interest." he chuckled. 

Tom just stood there as a mere spectator watching his best friend and you flirt with each other. You're totally lost in him, the only thought reeling in your mind.

Fuck he’s gorgeous….. 

..................................................................................

(A/N : This crap came out of nowhere. Will I be writing a Harrison osterfield x Reader fic based on 'gorgeous'? who knows🤷‍♀️) Feedback and suggestions are always welcome.

Forever taglist: @starcoadrienette2​ @hollanddolanfangirl​

[im-in-love-with-pizza-bites]

Before the streetlights come on: Chapter 1

Steve Rogers X Fem!Reader (AU)

Series MasterList

Summary: It's the summer of 1994 and you find yourself falling for your childhood best friend. There's a lot that can happen before the street lights come on.

Warnings:

"Be home before the streetlights come on!" You heard your mom tell you and your little siblings as the three of you ran out the door.

"Yes ma'am!" The three of you shouted before the door shut and your each went your separate ways. You went right next door where your best friend of 16 years lived, while your siblings got their bikes and went to find their friends. Summer break started a week ago and this was now the routine. You rang the doorbell waiting.

"Hey y/n!" Sarah Rogers, your best friend's mom said as she opened the door.

"Hi, Mrs. Rogers is Steve up yet?" You asked.

"Coming! I'm coming!" You heard the blonde hair blue-eyed boy you call your best friend shout before someone came running down the stairs.

"Yes he is." She chuckled, you laughed with her as he stumbled on the last step.

"Smooth move"

"Hi." Steve smiled at you. "Bye, mom!"

"Bye, Mrs. Rogers!"

"Be home before the streetlights come on!" She hollered as you two ran to your bicycles.

"Okay!" The two of you rode down the street.

"Diner?" You asked him.

"Yeah obviously." He said speeding up on his bike. You rolled your eyes following. Once finally at the dinner you two were sat waiting for food.

"So for your birthday this year are you gonna have a party?" You asked.

"Probably not a party of us two, Tony, and Bruce won't be that fun." He shrugged.

"Oh well you should still invite them over to watch fireworks."

"Yeah."

———

"So I say we go to the mall." You suggested after a while of sitting in the park talking.

"Sure." Steve shrugged standing up before helping you up. "Race you?"

"Oh your on!" You ran to your bike getting on it as fast as possible before riding away. He copied quickly making it in front of you. He ended up winning though.

"Well, we could go to blockbuster and get a movie we can watch it at my house," Steve suggested.

"Sure." You shrugged putting your bike in the bike racks.

"Great! So what movie?"

"A Disney one." You suggested.

"Okay." The two of your walked around the mall for a little while before going to Blockbuster and getting the movie. By the time you got outside it was almost time for the street lights to come on.

"Race you home!" You said riding off. He followed quickly behind you.

"Hey, no fair! You got a head start!" Steve complained, parking his bike in front of his house.

"Don't be a sore loser!" You scoffed. "Okay I'll ask my mom if I can come over after dinner.

"Okay see you then." Steve smiled at you before walking in. You sighed walking into your own home.

"Momma! I'm home!" You exclaimed.

"Welcome home dear!" She smiled before going to the door to scream for your sibling. You rolled your eyes heading up to your room.

You looked out the window seeing Steve in his room which had a window across from your own. You looked away quickly when he noticed you and just grabbed what you came to your room for. You were developing a bit of a crush for the blonde. You couldn't tell him or anyone for that matter. You didn't want to ruin the long friendship the two of you had so you ignored you feelings. Hung out with him a lot as usual. You wish your other friends were there this summer but they weren't. Sure you had other friends then just Sam, Nat, and Bucky but they were also busy this summer.

Wanda and Pietro were visiting their home country. Clint was a counselor at a summer camp. Bruce had a summer job. You didn't know how but Tony got a job babysitting a kid named Peter. You were surprised he'd even get a summer job since his parents are rich but you assumed it was just to stay away from his dad. And Vision was with Wanda and Pietro.

So almost every day this summer will just be you and Steve. And you ignoring your crush.

Taglist: @honeyyxashes