#once again going old school Romantic lol

[pomefioredove]

need overblot boys with epel, and floyd with a reader that randomly lore drops as if they're an old dad like "yeah lol my old school had a shooting once....anyways *SNOREE*" and when asked they just agree and walk away and never elaborate whatsoever💀 if you feel uncomfortable feel free to delete or ignore‼️love ya pookie💥

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ a reader with a backstory

I got u 🫡🫡

summary: wacky reader lore type of post: headcanons characters: riddle, leona, azul, floyd, jamil, vil, epel, idia, malleus additional info: romantic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu

you find new ways to raise Riddle's blood pressure every day

little guy is worried enough as it is

you've already got your school work, taking care of Ramshackle, taking care of Grim, taking care of all the other freshmen, taking care of-

well... you get it

the last thing he needs is to hear another one of your stories

"oh, yeah, that's like the time I got stabbed"

"????? WHAT??"

what's entertaining to you and ADeuce is mortifying to Riddle

if you're not careful you'll end up sleeping on the floor in his room

where he can keep a close eye on you

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

you're like Leona's little court jester

and he takes you with him everywhere

it's not easy to get a genuine laugh out of him, after all

besides, what's so bad about a little dark humor? it's not like you died or anything

he knows you're a resilient little thing

and you seem to love telling him about "that time you crawled into a drainage pipe", anyway

you make him laugh; he likes you

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Azul indulges you

his white noise machine stopped working last month and you make for excellent background ambience

so, he lets you talk yourself in circles about your school work, your friends, Grim, Grim again

and then you drop the most HEINOUS bombshells in the middle

"blah blah blah Grim, blah blah Crowley, blah blah, that one time I got lost in the woods for a day, blah blah-"

he loses his train of thought every time

now, Floyd is the complete opposite

he will hyperfocus on the most mundane details

and ignore the bombshells

will give you an, "oh, that's cool" to your ghost story but will find you the pair of socks you mentioned liking three months ago

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Jamil is just fascinated by you

you as a person, of course

but also the fact that you're still alive

one night, he's explaining the reason he makes all of Kalim's food and you're like

"oh, yeah, I get it. I got mold poisoning once and hallucinated for a week"

?????

then you go right back to asking him about the recipe

sitting on the counter, as happy as could be

"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!!!"

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Vil is used to this

he knows that look on your face

he will shush you with a finger to your lips before you even start

"don't tell me, I'm stressed enough as it is"

he's going to break out if you keep at it

he finds you quite... macabre

which is entertaining until he sees you going down a flight of stairs without holding onto the railing and remembers all those stories you'd told him

he's just... concerned for you, that's all

and he does NOT appreciate Epel for encouraging it

"tell us more about the time you fell down that hill into that pile of rocks, Prefect!"

:D

like a kid in a candy store

learning new Lore is like the highlight of his week

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

"talk about having a high luck stat..."

Idia is more entertained than anything

he thought these kinds of things only happened in anime, but...

...there you are

it sounds like you experience more in a single month than he has in his whole life

and you know what?

GOOD

you can keep your freaky real-world experiences!

he'll just live vicariously through you

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

poor Malleus

he's been putting so much effort into learning and blending with human culture, and now here you are with your terrifying stories

you tell him in such earnest, too

you seem so... unbothered by it

perhaps humans are less fragile than he thought?

of course, he shouldn't have underestimated you in the first place :)!

then you come over for dinner one night

"hahah, yeah, last time I was at someone's house their grandma threw a lamp at my head and I got a concussion"

Silver and Sebek both go >_>

Lilia goes <_<

and then Malleus is there like, "ah, another fascinating tale :)"

[nnight-dances]

FOR LOVERS WHO HESITATE.

PAIRING: jeon wonwoo x fem!reader (ft. xu minghao)

GENRE: fluff, some angst

TROPES: best friends to lovers, reader is oblivious and an idiot sometimes, kinda he fell first and she fell harder, reader is a moa lol and also a hopeless romantic, wonwoo is in photography school and a youtuber.

it's raining cats and dogs when you step out of the shower and the burst of thunder that follows has you thanking that your commute from work to home hadn't seen any such rain. it's a big night for you, after all, you can't have anything spoiling it. it's txt's comeback night and for once, your schedule's freed up in time for you to be able to enjoy the coming weekend with some brand new music from your favorite kpop group. what's more is you had a date on saturday and where usually you would be shaking with nervousness, you actually quite liked this guy. his name was minghao, and he made you feel a calmness with him that you had yet to feel with another man on any dating apps. maybe there was hope after all…

you apply your prized lavender-scented body lotion as you re-listen to some old albums that have been close to your heart and hum along happily. you're about to turn the kettle on for some tea when you hear the doorbell ring. with a sigh, you glance at the time. there were only a handful of people who'd drop by your place at 9 on a friday. 

"wonwoo," you murmur when you start to vagule recall texts from him about coming over for ramen and ice cream. you pad over and open the door to the tall man peering at you through his glasses, "you didn't read my texts again, did you?" 

you gasp in feigned offense, "wow, you're really just gonna assume i didn't? of course i did! and that's why i knew it was you barging into my house this late at night."

"late?" wonwoo questions your wording as he lets himself in and then pauses when he catches sight of the elaborate set-up in your living room. the tiny projector you had bought ages ago and long-forgotten about is now out and function, displaying your laptop screen on the white wall, open on txt's youtube channel. 

"ohhh," he slowly turns around in realization, "are they coming out tonight?"

"coming back, yes," you call out from the kitchen, turning the kettle on like you'd planned, "i'm making some tea, you want any?"

"no, but i'll have the ramen you promised me." 

you narrow your eyes at him, "you do realize you promised yourself ramen, right?" 

"come on, y/n!" wonwoo starts whining, "you never hang with me anymore! it's always just work, home, txt, hinge boyfriend, work, work with you. what about jeon wonwoo time? what about best friend bonding hours?"

you can't help the chuckle that escapes you, watching the tall man slumped against your light blue fridge with a pout on his lips. he pushes his glasses back with sleeve of his black hoodie to stare you down. 

"...i hear you, sir," you start, "but to be fair, we did hang earlier this week when i took you out to lunch for getting a million subscribers on your youtube channel." 

"that doesn't count!" he complains, "that was like, duty-based hangout."

"right," you laugh, "listen, woo, i do wanna hang but you did see my plans for the night in the living room. so i mean, if you wanna grab some ramen and watch five men being silly before their new music drops… you're more than welcome." 

this time wonwoo's quiet, mouth moving undecidedly as he weighs his options. then, he shrugs, realizing he wasn't going to change your plans for the night. "eh, sure. it's not like it's my first time anyway." 

"cool! we have a plan!" you clap, "glad we came to an understanding." 

wonwoo laughs as he watches you take out to packets of ramen and start preparing the soup for them. now that he knows he gets to spend time with you, he relaxes, taking in the light blue pyjama set you have on. it matches the scrunchie in your hand and the hairclips that hold your bangs back in place. he notices how in the silence you naturally start humming a song under your breath, the melody vaguely familiar to wonwoo from the time he's spent listening to txt with you. 

truth be told, wonwoo really needed this tonight. he's had a long week of juggling classes and content creation, now that he had the new burden of pleasing a million people who had put their trust in him to speedrun and try out the newest video games. he's also had to meet up with friends, old and new, who reached out to him thanks to his new milestone. while he was always so grateful for the support, at the end of the day, he was an introvert and it was only in solitude he could gain back the energy he'd spent. 

except of course, solitude came back when it was with you, nevermind the real definition of the word. easy to say, over the years of your friendship with wonwoo, he'd become used to finding comfort in your warmth, though it changed with time. when you were both in college, it meant studying together and holding each other through the hard times. when you graduated and went on to get a job at a publishing company you'd always admired, wonwoo continued school to get a masters in photography like he'd always dreamed. now, comfort meant escaping his dorm room to drop by your place so he could bother you. 

sometimes, he hesitated, worried that he might actually be bothering you. you were an actual working adult, after all. but then, he'd find you sending him stupid memes in the middle of the night on a working night and he'd change his mind, knowing he couldn't go another week without seeing your face. 

"hello? you're just gonna stand there and watch me do all the work?" 

your stern voice breaks wonwoo out from his daydreaming and focus on the two steaming bowls of ramen that have appeared on the kitchen counter. "oh, sorry," he says, "just zoned out."

"not that you would've been much help with your hands of disaster."

"hey," wonwoo calls, "that's unfair, i'm a perfectly competent cook."

you raise a brow at him, "really, woo? would you say a perfectly competent cook would cut his thumb on a potato peeler? or, what was it the other time, would he spill boiling hot soup all over himself?"

wonwoo purses his lips. "whatever. i can just wash dishes if you're gonna be so mean about my cooking skills."

"sorry, woo, but there are no skills to be mean about," you murmur as you top the ramen with some fried egg. "anyway, here, take these and i'll bring us drinks. beer good with you?"

"you know it, sir," he confirms as he carries out your orders, balancing the bowls in each hand and making his way to the living room. he takes a seat on the couch, when something on the screen catches his attention. though your youtube screen is crowded with suggestions related to txt on different variety shows, there's a video in the corner that shows wonwoo's face. he recognizes it as one of his newer videos this week, one he made to thank his followers for their overwhelming support. he's honestly surprised to the red bar under the video indicate that you'd already watched the whole video. he didn't think you'd have the time to watch an hour long video.

he can't help the satisfied smile that creeps up his face, feeling a new level of accomplished knowing you were so up to date with his content.

"you're really just gonna grin like that to yourself?" your voice calls out, "i'm scared, should i keep a weapon close?"

wonwoo shrugs, "i don't know, would you really have the guts to kill your favorite youtuber?" 

you're caught off-guard and when you see wonwoo's video on the screen, you redden, averting your gaze as you place two cans of beers on the table. "so much for supporting my best friend," you mumble, adorable pout on your lips as you break open your chopsticks, stirring the hot ramen around. 

wonwoo keeps his smug excitement over the fact that you didn't deny his claim to your favorite youtuber and simply joins you in cooling his noodles. "anyway, i thought that txt was releasing new music? why would that include them being silly?"

"the countdown live, obviously," you inform him before slurping some ramen.

"ahh, right, i forgot those were a thing. when does the live start?"

you turn your laptop to yourself and scroll till you find the link to the countdown live, "hmm, let's see. it says here that there's 33 minutes." 

"wanna watch an episode of demon slayer while we wait?" wonwoo asks gingerly, ready to be rejected immediately. but you seem distracted by your phone, your quick typing indicating you were texting someone. "hm? texting a new guy?" he asks, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat. 

you hum out a yes and after a minute, you put your phone down, smile on your lips. "you must really like him if you're texting him back that fast," he comments.

you look at him with a chuckle, "i met him last week on hinge. woo, he's stunning and genuinely nice. how rare is that combination?" you sigh, "i honestly still think he's a little too good to be true but i guess i'll find out tomorrow."

"tomorrow?" he asks, "where's he taking you out?"

you cough, "we're going to a museum and then to lunch at an italian place."

"damn," wonwoo mutters, "he's rich then, i presume?"

you hit wonwoo's arm, "what's your next question? how much does he make a year? his criminal history?"

"i mean, does he have one?"

"wonwoo," you warn him, "he's a perfectly nice guy. or so i hope. anyway, wanna watch this episode of txt's show? it'll warm you up for the live." 

wonwoo quietly nods as you click on the recommended video. he takes a deep breath to settle the storm in his stomach and sips his ramen soup to clear his head. he was here to spend time with you, not fight with you over questionable dates you found on hinge. 

"that one's soobin, right? he's my favorite," wonwoo smiles when the guy's dimples deepen with a joke another member cracked. 

"i thought you liked beomgyu!" you laugh, "you're a really unfaithful one, aren't you?"

he shrugs, "i don't know what you're talking about, i've always been biased toward soobin." 

"you didn't even know his name till five minutes ago, but sure, woo, if you insist."

the episode ends with both of you weak with laughter, partly because of the goofy nature of the games txt was playing but mostly because throughout, one of you would make a remark that would get the other laughing and build from there. it really was a never-ending battle with laughter when wonwoo was around. 

"oh, i must know what happens next! i know soobin's gonna win this thing," wonwoo says. 

"ahh, as much as i want to watch the second episode, we should tune into the live or we're gonna be late," you tell him. "we can watch the second one some other time?"

"it's a date," wonwoo teases back before he can stop himself from filtering his thoughts. but it's too late, you've turned to him with a look of scrutiny, wondering if he was joking or not. 

"right, okay, here it is," you pull up the live, which has been on for about five minutes. soobin is in the middle of talking about the album when you tune in. "ohh, look, your favorite boy's talking about the album."

"i see that," wonwoo smiles, "where's your favorite guy at?"

"hmm, wait… ah, there he is, yeonjun with his new haircut," you gasp, "god, black hair suits him so well." wonwoo narrows his eyes at the black-haired guy you've pointed out. you're right, he looks amazing, though he can't tell if it's the hair or just his general abundance of beauty. 

the rest of the countdown live goes not unlike before, with you helpfully supplying wonwoo with any context he might missing behind the member's comments. at exactly midnight, wonwoo watches their new music video with you, laughing when at its end you immediately click the replay button. after its third re-watch, you switch to spotify and listen to the entire album once before nodding in satisfaction.

"that's a solid album," wonwoo comments, smiling at your half-contained excitement. "it's everything i need to get through life till their next comeback," you say, "the title track's my favorite for the first time. although that might change as i relisten to the album."

"the title's the catchiest so that's probably right," he says. wonwoo's about to say some more about the album when he catches the look in your eyes. "what's wrong?"

"sorry, i feel bad for making you sit through that for like, three hours."

wonwoo's heart melts a little when he catches you fiddling with the hem of your pyjama top. he lets out a lighthearted chuckle, "you didn't force me. i had fun, y/n."

you smile, "i had fun, too. i always do with you." wonwoo's heart skips a beat at your admission, his cheeks warming up, "oh, right, i should show you the new speaker i bought the other day." you stand up and run over to your room excitedly. 

a few minutes pass and wonwoo sighs, hand at his chest, trying to calm himself down. he rests his head against his arm, slumping against the sofa, as his mind races. this won't do, he thinks, closing his eyes to shut out his bothersome thoughts. 

perhaps, he calms down a little fast because when you return with the speaker clutched in your hand, you find him dozing off on the couch. you smile at the sight, plopping down next to him. "always falling asleep anywhere, aren't you?" you mumble under your breath, eyes drawn to the portrait of serenity that wonwoo was. you watch him breathe steadily for a while before you rest your head against his arm, inexplicably drawn to the sight before you. 

you felt… weird, almost itchy, when you're this close to wonwoo. his eyelashes were longer than you expected at this distance and you have to contain the desire to brush your knuckles against them. you wonder what he must be thinking, to appear to be so at peace. you let out a hum unknowingly and wonwoo stirs. 

he comes to with a start, feeling a weight on his arm that hadn't been there when he fell asleep. and then he opens his eyes, almost convinced he's still dreaming when he finds your head against his hand, blinking solemnly as if you had been watching him sleep.

wait… hadn't you actually been watching him sleep? wonwoo starts to wonder but you cut him off when you whine, "you dozed off, jeon wonwoo." 

"sorry, i didn't mean to," he mutters, unusually shy. 

"well, it's fine. it's getting late," you say. then, after a moment, "do you just want sleep over? it's kind of a trek to your dorm from here."

wonwoo hesitates, blood rushing to his face at the idea of sleeping over at your place. "no, it's fine, i'll just go back."

"no, i would feel too bad letting you do that," you insist with a pout, "plus, it's saturday tomorrow so you don't have to worry about rushing back to class or anything."

he pauses. you were right, it was a pretty reasonable proposition once he thought about it with straight mind. "then, i will," he agrees, "but where do i sleep?" the question comes from the knowledge that you did only own one bed, the one that was in your bedroom. never mind that it was big enough to fit you both, the fact that it was in your bedroom made it off-limits in wonwoo's mind. 

"my bed?" you ask.

wonwoo sits up, "absolutely not."

"damn," you mumble, but don't think much of it, "i guess you'll have to take the couch then?"

"that works for me."

you narrow your eyes at him, not wanting to push him to sleep in your bed if he really was that strongly against it but you can't help but pry a little more. "you sure you don't prefer a soft mattress with proper pillows?"

"you forget that i can fall asleep anywhere at any given moment with minimal trouble," he shrugs. "but i will ask of you to lend me one of your plushies."

you chuckle at that, "alright then, if you insist. i'll bring you a blanket and a plushie." when you leave to accomplish said missions, wonwoo takes a second to marvel and… well, panic at his situation. 

he'd only ever slept over at your place once and that was when he passed out from drinking too much soju. that didn't really count, especially since that time hoshi and karina had also passed out next to him on your floor. so this really felt like a big deal to wonwoo. 

you come back with a pile of a soft pink blanket and a matching pink bunny in your arms, dropping them next to wonwoo on the couch. "there," you say, "you want tea before you sleep?"

"nope."

"anything else? water?"

"oh, is there a toothbrush i can borrow?"

"ah, right. i should have some spare ones lying around. come, i'll show you."

it's nearly 2 am by the time wonwoo's in bed (couch), changed into some oversized shorts you had and sporting the same skincare that you used every night. it's all a little much for his poor heart, doing these domestic things with you as if he hasn't been down bad for you since he can remember. 

"okay~ goodnight, woo, sleep tight!" you call out. you pat his cheek, crouching next to the couch as you watch him settle down for the night. he mumbles back a goodnight somewhat quietly and you can't help but laugh to yourself at how adorable wonwoo looked.

"tell me if you need anything, okay?"

you stand up, ready to head to bed yourself and really, wonwoo should be thankful he can be alone at last, perhaps, collect his thoughts and rest his brain for the day. but being up so late must be getting to his reason because he reaches out to hold your wrist when you're about to leave, with a hurried, "wait!"

you stop with a raised brow, "what's wrong?"

"my goodnight kiss!" he blurts out with a sudden rush of courage. "i need one to fall asleep."

silence follows his words and wonwoo's ear slowly start to burn up when he hears the echoes of his absurd request playing back in his mind. he lets go of your wrist just as quickly he'd reached for it, covering up with a half-laugh, "i was just kidding. good night!" 

a beat passes and he thinks you must really find him ridiculous to not respond to anything he's said but before he can dig himself any further into the hole he's made, he feels your hair brush against his skin. he barely has time to register your body leaning over him when he feels you lips press against his cheek. the moment should last forever but it's over all too quick. wonwoo can't see your face in the darkness but he hears your voice near his ear, breath soft, "good night, woo."

he could die now, he really could, and he would die a happy man. he muffles the sound that escapes his throat when he hears the door to your room creak as you close it behind you. you, on the other hand, stare at yourself in the mirror in disbelief at what just happened. 

you really didn't know what to make of wonwoo's request out of the blue, but something about the way he looked so cozy, hair sticking out every which way in the moonlight that spilled into your living room, something about this night in general had you feeling strange. you felt the same itch you'd felt when you found yourself unable to take your eyes off a sleeping wonwoo. it's like when you encounter a beautiful cat lounging in the sun and had to drop everything so you could take in its joyful existence. you couldn't move an inch, completely fascinated by this being before you.

"what the fuck am i thinking…" you mumble, feeling your cheeks warm up. "i must be really tired." 

turns out even after a night's sleep you feel as confused as you did when you fell asleep. with a grunt of frustration, you roll over in bed and choose to scroll on your phone to distract yourself for a bit. it's almost 11 when you hear a knock on your door. you contemplate pretending to be asleep but then there's another knock, followed by wonwoo's, "y/n?"

you feel too bad leaving wonwoo to fend for himself in your home so you force yourself out of bed, patting your hair down as you pad over to the door. "hey, morning–" 

your greeting is interrupted mid-way when wonwoo's face moves close to you – hilariously close until he's kissing your cheek. your breath catches in your throat and you freeze up. wonwoo stands back up, arms on the doorway, a small smirk on his face. what had possesed him overnight? 

you could only ponder in defeat when he merrily called out, "good morning! did you sleep well?" 

"i… did…" you start and then stop, hand coming up to the cheek where wonwoo had kissed you. "what was that for…" you wonder more to yourself but wonwoo picks up your flustered question and shrugs.

"i was only paying you back for your goodnight kiss," he smiles, unsettling you to your very guts, "that was your good morning kiss."

you groan, suddenly losing all clarity. frustrated, hiding the blush creeping up your neck, "you know that's not a real thing…" but where you mean to sound harsh, you simply sound bewildered. wonwoo swallows his chuckle and pats your head, "i'm hungry. can you make me breakfast?"

you glare at him, trying to figure out what his real plan was but he simply follows up with, "pretty please? you wouldn't let a guest in your home leave on an empty stomach, right?"

"i- uh, let me wash my face and i'll make you something," you say, pausing for a split second befroe shutting the door in wonwoo's face. you speedrun your morning routine despite your very best efforts to act and thus, feel normal, you wash your face and brush at your teeth at an abnormal speed. you stare at yourself in the mirror when you consider changing out of your pjyamas and mentally scold yourself for acting like an idiot.

"stupid," you tell yourself as you leave your room to find wonwoo cackling at his phone screen. no matter how you look at it, wonwoo's acting different… he seems more confident, or rather, full of conviction, though you couldn't think of any reason why that would be. 

etiher way, in an attempt to act normal, you start making eggs for breakfast, scrambled and slightly runny the way you know wonwoo likes them. "toast?" you ask him as you whip the eggs onto a plate. "yes,," he calls out, "with some butter, please!"

you sigh as you place a slice of toast on his plate, sliding it toward him. you plop the stick of butter next to him with a knife and tell him with a sarcastic smile, "you can butter your own toast." 

"i sure can," he says with a satisfied smile. you really can't understand what he was thinking and it pisses you off, but not nearly enough to sit next to him as you dig into your own plate of eggs.

"as thanks for feeding me two meals in a row," wonwoo starts, swallowing a mouthful of food, "can i do anything for you? buy you a new pan? go grocery shopping with you?"

"i'm good, thanks."

he frowns at your curt reply. "ohh, how about a movie? it could make for a solid saturday night."

"sorry, i've a date tonight, remember?"

"ah, that," he says, flatly, "i mean, if you have time later right?"

"i'm pretty sure i'm gonna be beat by the time i'm done with the date. maybe tomorrow," you say but you know he can tell you're only half-heartedly saying so. he gives up after, thankfully for you. 

"all right, i should get going! as it turns out i forgot my clothes in the dryer for two days straight and someone threw them onto the floor…" you let out a horrified gasp at wonwoo's casual confession, "so i should probably deal with that."

"dude, please, why aren't you running back to your dorm right now?" 

"alright, alright, i get it! see you later, y/n!"

with that, the man's off, seeming somewhat appropriately concerned for his clothes now. you sigh once you hear the door close after him, resting your forhead on your fist. your head hurts and it's not even noon. you're mostly just having a hard time comprehending the last 12 hours you spent with wonwoo. 

it's not out of the ordinary for you to do impromptu things with him like this but you feel strangely empty now that he's gone. what's worse is your mind keeps replaying this morning when he kissed your cheek like a broken record. it makes you feel like a pervert, thinking about the kiss as if it wasn't wonwoo, your best friend for life. plus, there's that itchy feeling that won't let up every time you think about him. "man, this sucks," you groan out, opening your phone, "and i still have to get ready for that date." 

in an efffort to clear out the weariness you feel, you hop into the shower and take extra long in there, singing along to the new txt album and letting your worries wash away with the new vanilla scented body wash you'd bought earliere that week. without a doubt, you feel much better after, patting your damp skin down with some skincare.

that's when you're suddenly reminded of how last night wonwoo had crouched next to you, ridiculously focused on applying the products you handed him all over his face. he looked adorable, straining to get every pore covered as his fingers ran over his face. he had to squint of course since you'd told him you wouldn't stand him getting your precious skincare all over his glasses. after he was done, he'd elbowed you lightly, "how do i look?" 

"so clean and healthy, my princess," you joked as you patted him on the head. the proud look on his face made you swoon a little–

what the actual fuck. "fuck," you curse out loud when you realize you'd lost your newly regained sanity to the walk down last night's memory lane. "what the fuck," you repeat under your breath as you through your last steps in a hurry. you feel yourself spiralling again when a ping on your phone saves you. 

it's minghao.

minghao: afternoon, y/n! hope u slept well last night :)

minghao: just wanted to tell you i might be a little late cuz i forgot i had to run an errand for my mom! sorry

you melt a little at how sincere he is in informing you of every little change in your plans and can't help but feel a little guilty for viewing the date as a burden. that's right, you owed it to minghao to respect the date and approach it with an open mind. confusing feelings for your best friend for another day. 

you: hey!! thx for telling me but don't worry about it 

you: i'll text you when i get there so you know where to find me 

minghao: that would be great yay

minghao: can't wait to see you 

you: me either :) 

— 

minghao is amazing, exactly as you expected him to be. he shows up at the exact ETA he'd texted you earlier and not without a whole rose in his hand. when you turn impossibly red and shake his kindness away with a, "...but i didn't get you anything," he smiles and tells you to take it, "it's an apology for me being late to our first date." 

you inwardly lose it over his emphasis on first date and calm yourself down, accepting the rose with a thankful smile. you had to keep it together if you want there to be another date, for real. he's incredibly sweet the whole time, walking through the museum at a comfortable pace – enough that you'd be able to admire the piece but not too long that you ended up staring into nothing. 

after over an hour of perusing the museum's collection, your feet start to hurt a little, no thanks to the uncomfortable loafers you'd brought out for the special ocassion. it's like minghao senses your discomfort and offers to rest at the museum's in-house cafe and get some refreshments. "ahh, i'd love that," you mumble shyly, embarassed that he could see through you so well. 

over coffee, you try not to stare at minghao, noticing the few strangers who would pass by your table and do a double take at the man in front of you. he did catch the eye, what with his blonde hair which sat just right by the nape of his neck. you couldn't think of the last time you'd seen someone pull off a mullet so well.

"sorry if i'm a little out of it today," minghao starts with a small smile, "i slept much later than i usually do because my friend came over without notice."

"wait, you won't believe it but something really similar happened to me last night too," you say with a grin. "what did your friend want?" 

"really?" he asks with a similar smile. "also, well, he's not really a friend, more like a former roommate who can't get over the fact that i got a job and now have my own place. he likes to cope by barging in and having meals with me or watching a movie."

"wow, it's insane how similar your story is… my friend's still in college so he likes to also barge in and eat my food that i cook and watch stuff with me."

the two of you share a laugh, thrilled at the newfound similarity. "that's cool, we're like each other in a lot of ways, huh?"

"yeah, that's pretty cool," you agree. this is bad. you can't stop smiling. was minghao always this charming?

not that you would know, you remind yourself, laughing at his blunt sense of humour all throughout lunch, barely focused on the taste of the pasta minghao had ordered. you feel unlike yourself. like you're floating and all you could feel was minghao's magnetic charm, keeping you focused on him and him alone. or maybe that was the wine talking. 

that's how you end up at your place, kissing his face, before you can comprehend the situation. "fuck," you breathe between kisses, "i don't usually kiss on the first date." 

minghao pulls away with a small grin, "i don't either." with that, he kisses you again. and again. eventually, you make it to the couch, each somewhat recovering in their own way. now that you're back to your senses a little, you're more than glad things didn't go any further with minghao. it really was only the first date. you would hate to regret any of it later. 

"oh, i'm so rude, i didn't even offer you a drink or anything," you stand up, embarassed, "can i get you something? water? tea? coffee? um, i also have beer but i don't know if that's to your taste." 

minghao chuckles, "you don't have to worry, y/n. i'm good as it is."

"no, that won't do. we've been here for like 20 minutes and i haven't even gotten you water," you say, walking over to the kitchen.

"to be fair," you hear minghao say smugly, "we were kinda occupied for a hot second."

"...right," you mumble, reddening a little, "well, i'm gonna get you something whether you want it or not, so what will it be?" 

"some tea would be great," he admits finally. "nice, two teas coming up in five," you call out. you spend another 30 minutes just talking to minghao over tea, when you hear a knock at your door. you frown. 

you try to excuse yourself but minghao gets a phone call at that very second so you silently gesture to the door and he nods in understanding. you open the door and almost close it right back when you see wonwoo on the other side. he's grinning, all merry as if he didn't just interrupt your date. 

"wonwoo?" you question, "can i help you?"

"wow, that's cold," he says. "am i interrupting something?"

"actually, yes. remember the date i had today?"

"i thought that was just some boring stuff like museum and italian food?? now, he's followed you home??" 

you shush wonwoo urgently, thankful that minghao was still on the phone and couldn't hear his rude comments. "wonwoo, i'm busy. i'll hang tomorrow–"

"no, i wanna say hi to your date," wonwoo declares, pushing by you and into the living room where minghao talking on the phone. "rude, bro's on the phone in the middle of a date."

before you can ridicule wonwoo's stupid reasoning, minghao turns around, apparently done with his call and raises a brow when he spots the new figure next to you. you grimace apologetically, "sorry, minghao, this is the friend i was telling you about earlier. i tried to stop him but he wanted to say hi–"

"you've been badmouthing me behind my back?" wonwoo interrupts you with an unimpressed look, shaking his head. "whatever she's told you about me, i'm sorry. i'm wonwoo, nice to meet you."

minghao stands up and strides over to shake wonwoo's hand like the nice guy he is and introduces himself. "nice to meet you, too. i'm minghao." 

"i just came by because we had plans tonight," he says, with a side glance at your perplexed face, "but i guess i must've gotten the time wrong or something."

"oh, no, no, you're probably right. i've been here longer than planned," wonwoo doesn't miss the small smile minghao throws at you. "but i should head out, too. i also have some guests coming over later tonight."

you look deflated at how things are going, "are you sure?" minghao nods as he gathers his things – things such as a brown leather jacket that looked more expensive than any item of clothing wonwoo owned – and heads for the door. you follow him like a lost puppy. 

when you reach the door, out of wonwoo's earshot, you apologize to wonwoo again and he brushes your sorrys off, "don't worry about it. i'm the one who should be sorry for taking off like this. i would've liked to spend time with your friend."

"i don't know how that would've gone down," you say uneasily, "but thank you for today. really. it was great."

"i'm glad to hear that," minghao says with a grin. he reaches close and hugs you, a warmth radiating between you when he pulls away. "thank you for letting me take you out. i hope we can do it again some time." with that he places a kiss on your cheek and takes his leave. 

once he's gone, you go back inside and sigh, a mix of feelings in your chest. on the one hand, you feel uneasy now that your date with minghao is over, doubtful of whether he really meant his words about wanting to go on another date with you. your past experience had taught you can never tell with men, even if they told you they loved spending time with you with the sweetest smile on their lips. 

on the other hand, you were now alone with wonwoo, which was a whole another problem on its own. a problem you didn't feel equipped to handle right now. not when you still hadn't sorted your feelings about him out. whatever it was, it wasn't easy and it sure as hell didn't become any easier when wonwoo was staring you down, intently. 

"...wonwoo," you start, voice low, "i'm really sorry but i don't have the energy for this right now. i just want to head to bed now."

wonwoo doesn't hide the look of hurt on his face. "what? it's like six right now."

"yeah, but i've had a long day and–"

"is this because i interrupted your date with minghao?"

you feel an rush of annoyance rush to your head but reign it for the sake of your friendship. "it's not about anything other than the fact that i'm tired."

"you seemed perfectly energetic when minghao was here. why'd you invite him over anyway? i thought you kept it chill on the first date." 

"well, have you considered that i just genuinely liked him enough to bring him over? more importantly, i don't see how any of this is your business, wonwoo."

"of course it is! i care about you–"

"if you care about me, maybe don't cut my date short next time!" 

the silence is resounding, following your silence and you hate yourself when you see the grave look on wonwoo's face. he was being for real right now. but you really can't bring yourself to understand him.

"wonwoo, i'm sorry, i just don't know what you want from me, okay? i thought you would support me when i'm finally have some luck finding a boyfriend–"

"what i don't understand is why you want to find a boyfriend so bad. i think you're happy enough as it is and you only seem to become upset over men. why invite heartbreak into your life–"

"because i'm a romantic, wonwoo. i just want to fall in love!" you tell him, "i got degree my parents wanted, settled for a job that makes me enough money and maybe a little happy sometimes, but the one thing i want to do for myself is find someone i can love. i want to experience love, at least once in my life. is that really so bad?"

wonwoo scoffs much to your utter disbelief, "some romantic you are…"

"what the fuck did you just say?" 

you see him visibly inhale deeply and sigh. "y/n, i don't have a problem with you finding love." 

"really? because it sure looks like you do? i know you don't really care about love but–"

"why would you think that?" 

"well, have you ever been in love?" you ask him incredulously. 

"of course i have!" he cries out, "i'm in love with you, y/n." 

"you wouldn't–" you start when he says he's been in love and then stumble over your words when you hear his next words. you stop short with your mouth hanging open, "you're– wait, what?"

over the recent years, wonwoo had thought about whether his feelings really needed to be said out loud at this point – he felt like he was crazy obvious. but looking at the shocked look on your face right now, it was clear that if you would never have figured out his feelings without him telling you. which is fair, he can't expect you read people's minds but what really got his heart in a twist was the fact that you hadn't even remotely considered him liking you, which meant you were far from liking him back. 

though this a fact he's gotten used to, he feels the sting stronger than usual, maybe because the last day has him confused. to be honest, when you'd kissed him without a warning, it got to his head. thought maybe he had a chance after all. it was that high he'd been riding the whole time; that morning when he shamelessly kissed your cheek, this evening when he invited himself into your place when he knew you had a date over. 

but now he's positive he was delusional because all you have are platonic feelings for him at the end of the day.

"wonwoo, i'm sorry, i had absolutely no idea that–" you don't even know what to say, you cut yourself off, "i'm- i can't give you a clear answer right now. but if you give me some time, i promise i can."

"you don't have to answer me, y/n," wonwoo says with a bittersweet smile, "i know how you feel about me. but i had to tell you at least once before i gave up. i don't want you to feel burdened by my confession, just– why don't you forget about it?"

you blink at his words slowly, "but–"

"i should probably leave," he says, "i've long overstayed my welcome here." with that, he heads for the door, not heeding your requests for him to wait a second, "sorry for ruining your date by the way," he calls out as he leaves without another glance. 

– 

it takes you a whole day of overthinking your entire life – after all, that's how long you'd known wonwoo now – to come anywhere close to an answer. and really, it's not much. so far this is what you have: 

a week ago, you had never once considered wonwoo as more than a friend. maybe the best friend you'd ever have, perhaps a rare and special connection that you wouldn't have with another person. while the idea had come up, through other people doubting the purely platonic nature of your relationship, you had truly never entertained the thought. not because you had something against it, but because you were convinced a link like the one you had with wonwoo was only possible in a friendship. 

but then last night had happened, and something had possesed you to kiss him on the cheek – that something might've something to do with the itch in your body every time he was closer than normal, something to do with the way you'd been captivated by his sleeping form. 

and reflecting back, you were dumbfounded by how many times wonwoo had tried to hint at his feelings. a few years ago, when you'd gotten drunk with friends back in college, they'd dared wonwoo to kiss the person he liked and he'd politely declined, muttering that he couldn't kiss someone who was being pursued by someone else. as it turns out, and as you had been too stupid to realize, you had been the only one there in a talking stage with a guy you'd met at your part-time job. 

then, there was the way he always responded to you quickly, no matter what, ready to do things he was otherwise reluctant to do. always asking to spend time, always trying to stay close. there was also the eye-contact that he barely made with other friends, even other people – the way you'd look at him to find him already looking at you. 

"i'm an idiot," you tell yourself as you stare at wonwoo's contact on your phone, wanting to hear his voice but not when you still were so undecided. 

that's how it gets all the way to friday and you still haven't reached out to wonwoo. if you're daft reaction to his feelings hadn't closed the deal, your radio silence for the past week sure did. but unwilling to accept that truth, you call him, only a little surprised when he doesn't pick up. 

he must be mad, you think. but as much as that thought scares you, you can't stand giving up already. you end up making your way to his college campus, hoping he'd be in his room, even though it was 6 on a friday night. 

uncertainly, you knock on his door. and then louder a few more times when you don't hear a response. you're close to giving up and walking yourself home when you hear faint voices inside. "--sick of you making me open the door every time—" it's wonwoo's roommate, mingyu. he stands before you, in boxers and incredibly shirtless, and you think you should've at least texted wonwoo that you were coming over. 

but despite your apprehensions, mingyu doesn't seem embarassed, just amused. "oh? it's noona." 

you can't help but smile lightly at mingyu's use of the honorific, as if you weren't only a few months older than him. but him continuing the yearslong tradition reassured you, though you were sure he'd heard some foul things about you from wonwoo over the past few days. 

"hey, mingyu," you wave uncertainly, and try to get a look into the room past him with no avail, "sorry to show up like this, but is wonwoo around? i was trying to reach out to him but he didn't pick up." 

"ah, right, wonwoo…" mingyu says as if he didn't quite know who you were talking about. you can see the gears turning in his head, probably considering if he should tell you the truth or not. the choice is made for him when wonwoo's voice reaches you. he's screaming, "KIM MINGYU, I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ASS BACK RIGHT NOW— WE'RE FUCKING LOSING OUR LEAD BECAUSE OF–" 

you stifle a laugh at mingyu's guilty expression. "right, so he is here," you comment in what you hope is a neutral tone. "you think i can see him?" 

he pauses, looking unsure, "listen, i don't know the full details of what happened with you guys, but wonwoo's been really quiet the past week and i'm not sure if seeing you right now– if he's in the right state of mind…" 

"is that so…" you mumble disheartenedly, though this was a fact that you yourself had been grappling with. "i guess i should leave him alone, then." you're about to take your leave when an arm drapes itself over mingyu's bare shoulder, wonwoo's face poking into your view. 

you freeze up when you lock eyes with wonwoo's face, his smile visibly disappearing. "y/n? what're you doing here?" 

"i was just–" you rub your neck, looking away in an attempt to come up with a credible excuse, "i was just taking a walk around here and thought i'd drop by to say hi. but um, since you guys seem busy, i'll just find another time. anyway, good night!" 

with that, you take yourself out of their sight, rushing down the stairs to the room so fast that you almost trip over and die. thankfully though you've made it to the door that leads out without actually leaving a crime scene on the poor residents' hands. 

"y/n! wait!" 

you stop in your tracks when wonwoo's voice echoes in the stairwell and almost lose all feeling in your knees when you see him run after you, out of breath. "god, woman, since when have you been this fast?"

"sorry," you say quietly, though you're not sure why you're apologizing. 

"can we talk?" 

you look up at him in surprise, "...that should be my line."

"i know, gyu told me why you actually came by," wonwoo admits with a deep sigh, "that idiot, i can't believe he tried to shoo you away without even letting you in. sorry about him."

"no, he was just trying to protect your peace. i get it."

"really? in what world is keeping a guy from the girl of his dreams 'protecting his peace'?"

you gasp at wonwoo's blatant admission and swallow against the lump in your throat. wonwoo looks tired, you can tell from the bags under his eyes and the way his shoulder is set, and you feel guilty for adding to his exisiting stress. you owe it to him to give him a proper closure. 

"wonwoo, i'm so sorry i didn't reach out to talk this past week. i was just so in my head figuring things out and i kept losing the guts to face you. i truly can't express how much i treasure what we have, and honestly, i'm starting to doubt if it was always platonic. because somewhere along the way, i got so used to being around you, i didn't think about what it meant to be that close to someone.

"that being said, i still can't wrap my head around how i feel. i know it's not the clear answer i promised you, but if you give me a little bit more time, i will be able to think it through. but i understand if you wanna keep your distance with me while i do that. sorry." 

"why do you keep apologizing?" wonwoo asks you, brows set in confusion, "you're maybe the sweetest person ever to even think so hard about your feelings for me. and i understand if you need time, it's years' worth of feelings after all… but, there's one thing…" 

you perk up at the last part of his words, "yeah, what is it?"

"i don't think i can keep my distance from you," he says, eyes dropping to his feet for a few beats before meeting yours again, "i thought about it and honestly, the worst thing about the past week was that i couldn't just thoughtlessly intrude into your house and eat with you after a long day. maybe that's on me for having quality time as my love language, but god, y/n, i think i'd be a miserable man if i had to live without you."

"wonwoo, i…" 

"i'm warning you, if you say sorry one more time, i'm gonna do something bad. plus, i feel much lighter now that the cat's out of the bag. i can finally be the truest version of myself around you."

swallowing the millionth apology on your tongue, you say, "then let's not avoid each other. maybe spending time with you will help me understand how i feel–" you stop yourself mid-sentence when you hear what it sounds like, "wait, no, that sounds insensitive… what i meant was–"

"wait, no, you might actually be onto something," wonwoo says and you feel a chill run down your spine at the smirk that takes hold over his face. "perhaps i can find a way to make you sure about me? like, seduce you?"

"what? that's not what i was suggesting–" 

"i know but it's what i am suggesting!" he says, slowly closing in on you, hand coming to rest atop your head. "maybe i can finally let go and do the impulsive things i've wanted to do– don't worry, all within a limit, of course. think of it as the talking stage?" 

"the talking stage?" when he puts it like that, you can see some reason behind it. it wasn't serious enough to be a relationship but still served as a step up from your normal friendship with wonwoo. "i guess that wouldn't be not fine…"

"wouldn't be not fine…" wonwoo repeats your words under his breath, "so you're fine with it??" he sighs in relief, fingering coming to brush through your hair before they returned by his side. "alright then! glad we came to an understanding! now, i'm sorry i must excuse myself for i promised kim mingyu i'd be back at game night in no time." 

"oh yeah, you should definitely get back to game night," you say with a soft smile, but then catch him by the wrist as he turns around, "oh, wonwoo! thanks for letting me say my thing, by the way… and i'm sorry."

he sighs lowly at that, pulling you into a hug, "what did i say about apologizing again? now i have to do a bad thing or i'll be someone who doesn't keep his word." before you can protest, he pulls apart and leans in close to kiss your cheek. then he kisses your other cheek– and then, your forehead. you're turning beet red by the time he stops at your nose, laughing at your struck expression. "alright, now we're good. and i should be the one thanking you for taking my feelings seriously. i'll see you later, yeah? we should do something tomorrow since it's a saturday." 

"yeah," you agree and give him a slight push away, "okay, now go do your thing with mingyu or he's gonna hate me even more."

"he doesn't hate you, he's just–"

"don't wanna hear it! go play your games, gameboy!" 

"alright, miss, whatever you say."

– 

"watch it," wonwoo warns you, eyes fixed on your screen, "no, no, don't go that way, the turret's gonna hit you."

"i don't understand," you whine, "there's too many things on my screen." 

when you'd agreed to let wonwoo teach you how to play one of his favorite games, league of legends, you hadn't forseen the amount of stress would running in your veins. your head hurts and your vision is blurry. you've just started and you're only up against the easiest level of bots but every time you step outside the safety of your base, you seem to get immediately obliterated. 

"okay, y/n, here, let me show you," wonwoo shifts closer to you and if anything, it makes it harder to focus when you feel his shoulder come to rest against yours. at the same time, his warmth soothes you somewhat when he calmly instructs you where to go and how to attack the enemy. his tips help you drastically and in the next ten minutes, you've gotten to the enemy's turret, eventually scoring a kill.

"wonwoo! i got my first kill! did you see that?" you turn to him with a bright grin and find him sporting a similar grin, his hand coming to pat your head. "you did so well!" 

that's how you slowly make it through the first game, securing a victory, mostly thanks to wonwoo's overpowered skills, destroying his own lane and getting to the base in no time. "god, you're such a show-off," you mumble when you see the dramatic difference in KDAs on the final stat summary page. "i don't think i was built to be a gamer." 

"now why would you say that?"

"look at me, woo! i'm sweating my balls off and that was only against bots! i won't last a day in the real world," you complain with a pout, "plus my fingers aren't fast like yours. i take forever to cast my skill and by that time, it's too late."

"y/n, it took me like a week of playing to get my first kill against a bot," wonwoo tells with a grimace, "so the fact that you got through that with a decent KDA is incredible. and my fingers got because i played so much, i didn't get good in a day."

you sigh, resting your head on the couch, "hmm, you have a point."

"but we can call it day if you're tired," he says with a smile, coming back to rest his shoulder next to you and following your resting figure, "thanks for trying though."

"it was fun, but i'm gonna need a week before i can touch this game again."

you feel the laugh that leaves wonwoo in your own chest, the sound filling you with his joy, as if it were your own. without thinking about it, you shuffle closer to him, a soft sigh escaping you when you feel his bicep harden against your arm. 

"you good?" he asks you in a low voice when you stay unmoving for a while. you nod with your eyes still closed. "i'm doing great," you say, "just recharging." when wonwoo doesn't say anything in response, you take a peek at him to see him looking at you sideways, with a goofy smile. 

"mind telling me why you're looking at me like that?" 

"nothing, i just thought it was cute how you volunteered to play league for our date when you don't even know how to play."

you flush, "well, i figured i'd have you teaching me the ropes. and i've been wanting to play with you because you said it's one of your favorite games." 

"that's sweet of you, isn't it?" wonwoo says, unable to stop smiling. "you always treat me so well." 

"i do, for some reason. it's almost like i'm attached to my best friend or something."

you bite your tongue when you accidently let the words slip, tensing up as you start to correct yourself. "i didn't mean it like–" 

"y/n, don't worry about it," wonwoo shushes you with the same smile he's had this whole time. "i know what you meant. and i'm flattered." 

you sigh in relief as you drop your eyes to your lap, fiddling with your fingers, somewhat nervous for no real reason all of a sudden. maybe it's because you're conscious of wonwoo, afraid to slip up again and say something hurtful.

"you don't have to be so careful around me, you know?" he starts, "i've lived with this feelings for a while so it takes a lot for me to sway. and remember no matter what happens between us, i'm always gonna be your friend at the end of the day." 

"thank you for saying that," you say quietly, eyes still on your hands, feeling guilty. 

"hey, at least look at me if you want to show your gratitude."

"i can't. i'm…" you trail off, and then, "i'm sorry." 

"there it is again," wonwoo groans, "now you've done it. i'll have to punish you again for apologizing." his hand comes to rest atop your restless ones, slowly stopping your uneasy movements and intertwining his fingers with yours. and then steadily, he takes your hand close to his lips, placing a soft kiss against the knuckles. "the more you say sorry, the more i'm gonna have to work harder to make sure you fall in love with me, okay? and it's honestly pretty bad for my heart if i keep having to do things like this, so spare me."

bad for your heart? you question him in your head but don't voice iti, shaking your head at wonwoo's sly words. "you're insane," you murmur. 

"alright, that's more like it." 

– 

the following week, you see new sides of wonwoo because he takes it on himself to do all kinds things that are out of the blue for him. for one, he's been labelling every hang-out as a date, even when that day entailed perfectly normal activities you'd done a million times over with him. "it's an attempt to rewire your brain," he tells you with a foxy grin, "i'm making sure you don't forget to view me as a love interest."

speaking of love interests, he'd been straightforward with you that if you wanted to go out with minghao that would be fine. but you'd declined the possibility because you wouldn't know what to do with yourself around him now that you were immersed in the uncertainties of your relationship with wonwoo. and on thinking long and hard about the date with minghao, you'd gotten the feeling that you were interested in his looks more than anything. sure, he'd been so charming but it was wonwoo that was keeping you up at night. 

that's why you find a way to turn him down when he asks if you'd like to go on another date with him:

minghao: hey, y/n! there's a night market near where i live this weekend

minghao: i've never been able to go but i've heard it's super pretty

minghao: so i was wondering if you'd like to come with me? :) 

you: hey, minghao

you: i'm sorry, i don't think i can see you again

you: i really enjoyed our date but there's someone else i'm talking to atm

minghao: oh

minghao: i see

minghao: dw about it! it was nice to see you either way!minghao: but just out of curiosity, is this new person your friend from the other day?

you: huh??

minghao: you know the one who came to your place when i was over

you: …it is him

you: how'd u know

minghao: hehe i just got a vibe

minghao: he looked at you like you were lovers in another lifetime

you: girl what 

you: i mean that's so sweet but really?? didn't he just look at me like i was going to feed him for the night?

minghao: no way, when a guy looks at u like that… i don't know how else to say it but he'd love if you were a worm

you: interesting

you: thanks? idk

you: you're cool for a guy that just got rejected 

minghao: it's ok, i'm sure i can land another date in time for the night market ;)

you: of course you can 

you: goodnight minghao :)

minghao: night, y/n! maybe we'll meet as friends someday 

you: maybe…

"damn it, he's smooth…" wonwoo whines when you show him your screen the next day, only after you've made him promise you that he wouldn't jump to conclusions. "i don't think i can stand you being friends with him. like ever."

"wonwoo, i don't think that's gonna happen. but even if it did, i don't know, i think he'd make a great friend."

"oh he most definitely would. that's precisely the problem. i can't be outdone by another man like that," he says in a ridiculously grave tone, "he's too cool. i wouldn't stand a chance against him."

"you realize that the only reason i'm not going on that date with him is because i'd rather go on a date with you?" you poke wonwoo's arm with a soft smile.

the man hesitates, processing your words before a smile breaks out onto his face. "wait— i mean, of course i know i'm– wait, does that mean you–?"

"i'm in love with you, wonwoo. i think i've always been. i was just too much of an idiot to understand it."

wonwoo's imagined you saying something along these lines a lot but what he's been far more prepared for is you rejecting him. for the longest time, he's lived with the reality of you not reciprocating his feelings and that's honestly what became normal for him along the way. so when you look into his eyes, it's like you're looking into his soul and leaving him completely starstuck. all he can see is you before him for a solid few seconds before he truly comprehends you. 

"don't look so shocked! i thought this whole week was for this exact outcome!" you laugh at his speechlessness. 

"right," wonwoo swallows against his dry throat, suddenly shyer than he's ever been, "i'm just shocked. i didn't expect for it to actually work? i don't know, are you sure you love me? it's not just as a friend? like, i'd understand if it's just because we've known each for the longest time and seen each other through hard times."

"wonwoo…" you exhale, "are you rejecting my feelings right now?"

"no! of course not!"

"then why are you doubting me? i know how i feel about you. that's the whole reason why i took so long to give you an answer."

"i know," his gaze drops to the floor, head reeling a little. this is what he's wanted deep down for the longest time so he can't help but feel like he's dreaming right now. 

when you hear the doubt in his voice, you take his face in your hands, forcing him to look back at you. "wonwoo," you shake him, "i love you." you peck him on the nose. "i want you to be my boyfriend, if you'll have me."

"of fucking course," wonwoo seems to return to his senses when you press your lips against his skin. cheeks red and eyes wide, his hands find your body, fingers already by your jaw, pulling you closer. "i love you so much, i think it'll kill me one day. but for now i think being your boyfriend will do." 

you giggle at his dramatic statement and close the distance between you, feeling the warm of his breath like never before. he kisses you back immediately, letting out a low groan at the action, the hand at your waist, squeezing you lovingly. 

"can't believe i waited so long to do that," he says when the two of you pull back. 

you kiss his cheek with a soft mewl, "you're so warm, woo." 

"am i?" he wonders, arms moving on their own as they bring you closer to his chest. he kisses your forehead, "now we can both be warm." 

— 

"okay, okay, i'm ready to leave," you call out victoriously as you step out into the living room. wonwoo looks up from the projector screen where he's currently rewatching a run-through of a new game was gonna try out for his channel. but he immediately loses the smart comment he was gonna throw out there when he sees you, all dolled up and showing off the dress you're wearing with a smug smile.

it's a simple blue dress with a modest neck and long skirt that hugged your hips perfectly. and it also happened to be the dress wonwoo's birthday gift to you last year. you'd worn it out with him before but this is definitely the first time you'd taken it out on a proper date. and how appropriate for it to be a date with wonwoo himself. 

"you like?" you ask him as you walk closer to him, running a hand through his hair. 

"i love," he replies instantly, arm coming to your lower back, "you look heavenly. god, do we have to go out? i don't mind just staying here and watching you in this dress."

"no," you decline his ridiculous request firmly, "i've been wanting to visit this bookstore for the past year. so i'm sorry, love, but you'll have to do with watching me read if you really want to be creepy."

"it's not creepy if i'm your boyfriend, is it now?"

"...maybe."

"alright, i think i'm good to go then! let's go!" 

at the bookstore, you genuinely have to shake wonwoo off your back and force him to find a book he likes before you leave. he complains and whines about how he just wants to enjoy his girlfriend's taste in books but when he does finally wander off, you find him engrossed in a book he found in the science-fiction section.

you sneak up onto him with a grin, "enjoying yourself?"

he looks up, "...surprisingly. but only because i got kicked out…"

"you wanna get that?" you ask him, taking a glance at the book cover. "just drop in here," you show him your basket that already has a couple of your picks in it.

"you're buying?"

"mhm, think of it as a token of our first real date?"

wonwoo smiles, eyes bright, "alright then. thanks." 

after that, the two of you walk over to the restaurant wonwoo had had reservations at. it was also a fairly new place but had gotten popular for being a couples' hot spot. and wonwoo understands why when the waiter shows you to your table for the night– it's secluded by a corner on the porch, with nothing but a candle illuminating the surroundings. 

"ah, we can also move the table so that both chairs are next to each other?" the waiter says with a polite smile, "would you like that?"

"yes, please!" wonwoo calls out enthusiastically and you squeeze his hand with a chuckle as the waiter nods and shifts for the rearrangement. 

"this is perfect," he says when you sit next to him. "this way, i can still hold your hand," he mutters. 

"you're cute," you tell him with a soft grin, "i love you."

wonwoo leans in to kiss your lips softly, leaving you a little breathless when he slips in a quiet, " and i love you more than you could imagine." 

author's note:

oh my god this fic took everything out of me to get out there... took a whole entire week but she's here, i really hope you guys like it!! i'm really down bad for wonwoo recently, to the point that he might've joined my bias line haha... more reason why tomorrow's gonna kill me. honestly though, this man will keep me going through some tough times (aka jeonghan and wonwoo shortage).

also, i lowkey fell in love with minghao while writing him here so expect a fic soon??? lol idk for a moment there i was confused who this fic was really for (sorry wonwoo i love u tho). as always, thank you for reading and i love reading what you think so please do let me know <3

[snailmail444]

Hello!

Found you through my gorgeous friend @maylilithreign, who I adore enormously!

It's so lovely of you to open up your asks!

I just read your head canons about the bachelors. Our good doctor Harvey is my man.

I have a couple of asks.

Firstly, what are the bachelors favourite positions?

Secondly, the bachelors are in the mood for a little action. What are they going to do to seduce their significant other?

Thank you so much! <3

Bachelors Favorite Positions and Seduction Techniques

18+ 🌱 MDNI 🌱 NSFW

You 🤝 me

Loving Libby

Gonna try and mesh these together because I want it all in the same post lol okay here we go 😈 NSFW under the cut!

Harvey-

💚 When Harvey’s in the mood, I imagine he doesn’t just ask outright

💚 He’s gotta feel out the vibe first. Make sure you’ve had a good day, that you’re not tired or otherwise turned off because he’s considerate like that

💚Kind of a doctorly approach you know? Your feelings > his needs

💚 Once he’s ascertained that you’re good, he’ll start with a little shoulder massage or a foot rub. Something to get his hands on you and make you feel good, but definitely not platonic sort of touches.

💚 Kisses your calf or your neck and asks if you want him. Lord help !!!!

💚 As for position? Well since he’s the horny one he gets to have his favorite :3

💚 Missonary king. He likes how versatile it is, and that it’s comfortable for you, and he gets eye contact.

💚 win win win. He stays winning in this position

💚 Loves to use the eye contact to his advantage. Mr Soft Dom

💚 :3

Elliott-

❤️ Elliott isn’t often desperate horny

❤️ He gets worked up a lot and is almost always dtf, but rarely is he climbing the walls

❤️ So when he is losing it…well

❤️ The MOMENT you get home he’s covering your body with his, pressing you to the door and licking into your mouth

❤️ Voices his need in the spaces where he’s supposed to breathe

❤️ As for his favorite position? It’s literally right there

❤️ Your back to the door or the floor of the entryway or the couch if you two can stumble in

❤️ So it’s whatever is beneficial to that. Your legs around his waist or you bent over the nearest surface, etc

❤️ Place over position

❤️ Passion passion passion

Alex-

🤎 The shyest of the lovers I think

🤎 He just wants to be nice and sweet and he doesn’t know exactly how to ask for sex or initiate unless the mood is right

🤎 He’d probably try to ignore the horny away, but that doesn’t work LOL

🤎 One kiss and he’s panting and rocking against you like the needy guy he is

🤎 You have to ask him if he’s horny, and he’ll give you a shy kinda grin, his cheeks red but his eyes excited because he’s gonna get to fuck lol

🤎 Cowgirl king. Save a horse, ride Alex (I should be put down)

🤎 Loves seeing you on top, but it only

takes a little before he wants to show off by fucking hard from underneath. Core strength icon

🤎 Either of you can set the pace this way, and he loves that

🤎 Hon ment for Missionary because I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Alex is a ROMANTIC AT HEART!!!!!

Shane-

💙 Now Shane. I’m thinking he might show off a bit to try and seduce you

💙 Pick you up, throw you over his shoulder, something that puts those farm muscles to work 😍

💙 Tease! Tease! He’s teasing!

💙 Probably flirty/compliments too

💙 I totally see him once he’s comfortable in a relationship falling back on all his old high school gridball pickups

💙 I’m sorry I just think man’s got game once he sobers up

💙 So it’s easy to tell because he’s trying to Impress

💙 DOGGY!!!

💙 I know this isn’t a particularly fresh take, but he’s sooooo hitting it from the back. It’s just the truth

💙 Loves it because it’s so hot to him to watch your face buried in the covers as you slur out moans for him

💙 Probably switches a few times throughout though

💙 He loves to manhandle you what can I say

💙 Mating press hon ment

Sam-

🩷 He’s so easy and also horny all the fucking time

🩷 Dudes libido is off the charts first and foremost. So jot that down

🩷 So when he wants to fuck he typically will press his body all up against yours

🩷 Presses up on your back while you’re cooking, grabs your hips, pulls you into his lap

🩷 Big on physical touch, this guy

🩷 As for position? Hehe

🩷 His favorite is whatever you tell him to do. Doesn’t have any preference because oh man! He’s getting to hit! Sweet!

🩷 Does have an affection towards cowgirl because it’s the easiest position for someone else to dominate him in

🩷 Being so serious he’s suuuuuch a sub he wants to be controlled hardcore

🩷 So if his pleasure is completely contingent on what you give him? Well

🩷 😏

Sebastian-

🖤 Another shy boy !!

🖤 But also the most likely to out and out ask for what he wants

🖤 So a lot of the time he ends up just blurting it out

🖤 You’ll be watching TV together or something, reading, whatever

🖤 And out of nowehere he’ll ask if he can give you oral

🖤 King oral fixation wants his mouth on you now!!

🖤 And what are you supposed to do? Say no??

🖤 That’s his favorite, though I’m not sure it’s a sex position

🖤 Man just really loves giving head, okay?

🖤 If you’re in bed he’s probably jumping the covers, but he also might sneak a hand down there while he’s enjoying his meal because he is LOVING! IT!

🖤 Finishes in his boxers when you finish in his mouth, so it counts

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

First off, love your writing, IT MAKES ME FEEL THINGS😭😭 but…

Can we please get more of yandre emo boy Ashton I JUST READ IT AND IM DROOLING SCREAMING CRYING GIGGLING AMD KICKING MY FEET😭🧎‍♀️🤪🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️

THANK YOU❤️❤️🤭🤭🤭

(If not that’s okay, ignore this bae🫶)

Yandere! Stereotypical! Emo and his beloved popular bitch

Ayo, thank you for the compliment! I'm glad my writings made you feel things (I don't know what though LMAO)

Actually, I'm not planning to follow up Ashton, but hey, at least it would break my writer's block (lol it's just laziness) so here ya go!

Sorry that it took days though 😔

FOR THIS ONE, I RECOMMEND READING THE FIC FIRST BEFORE THE DRABBLE (this one).

Read the yandere emo fic here!

💌Little Ashton was misunderstood a lot as a child. He never really liked the same things the other children liked, and he had this morbid curiosity with death and occult.

💌Of course, this undoubtedly scared his family, making him out to be some sort of psychopath.

💌This irked Ashton of course. He's just... That. He still loves his parents, and nothing would change that.

💌But the fact that they're so conservative that it's actually bringing Ashton down is what drove him over the edge to find a school far, far away from his family.

💌A small, quaint town, yet filled with teenagers. It was kind of a nightmare when Ashton found out, but he gritted his teeth and thought that maybe, with the current years, maybe they won't judge him. Maybe.

💌So, he indulged more in his Emo lifestyle. He religiously listened to green day, Panic! At the Disco, My Chemical Romance...

💌He even got into writing poems as a way to put out his feelings that he never got to tell other people.

💌 He's actually very sensitive with emotions and feelings. So technically, he should be a great friend candidate, right?

💌But once he got into the school year, that's when he knew, that his life would be living hell. Stereotypes left and right. Mean cheerleaders and jocks that ostracized his choice of clothing, snobby rich students that turn their noses on him just because he's not that rich, geeks and nerds that keeps getting in his way, thinking he's one of them.

💌"Fuck. Get me out of here. Nobody understands me."

💌He didn't realize himself, but he's also slowly being a stereotype. Always alone, writing poems, and being unnecessarily nihilistic.

💌Until of course, one day, you transfered. You, your pink rover, and your slutty little outfit.

💌God, just looking at you and your charming personality made Ashton hard fall for you.

💌He wants you. So bad.

💌So he dabbled back into the occults. He found an old book in an abandoned "witch's hut" that he went on a mad hunt for weeks. Apparently, the witch that lived there was a matchmaker witch, who gave love potions to those really desperate.

💌At first, Ashton didn't believe it. Especially that it involves sampaguita, a flower not native to his town. How did the witch even get the flowers?

💌But there he was, mixing and creating the potion under the moonlight and putting your hair and his in the pot. Creating a love potion that smelled like the sampaguitas he had to smuggle in.

💌He wrote you letters everyday, obsessing and hyper fixating on your allure and beauty. Confessing over and over again on paper that looks old and aged with writing that looks like it came from a fountain pen. With a spritz of the love potion, he would put it in your locker.

💌God, who knew that it would work?

💌Day by day, he watched you read the letters. At first, you were disgusted (much to his dismay) but slowly, you started to read the letters with a neutral face, then a smile, then with a squeal and then a desperate plea for him to come and fuck you already.

💌Maybe putting his... Semen on your love potion got you desperate for him carnally, rather than romantically.

💌But no fretting, he would just make you fall for him.

💌And as you moan and scream out his name as he pounds into your tight hole like the feral, fuck machine he is,

💌He was pleading to the moon to see his bleeding heart and bare soul to make you his.

💌And if the moon won't allow it,

💌Well, it's nothing more love potions won't do.

💌"my beloved, why don't you drink this sweet tea I made? Why is it pink and smells floral? It's a new tea from Japan. Sakura, from what I know. It's glowing? Nonsense, love. It's probably just the lighting."

💌"Now drink up, don't let a drop go to waste."

[mxrcjqckspnchqsc]

Hiii! If you're accepting requests for prince Friedrich (bridgerton), could I get a Friedrich and reader fic where theyre royalty too and frenemies? And they end up at the same ball and have to dance tgt (obv)? The next day lady whistledown and the ton out there shipping the two so they have to keep up appearances and promenade together all the time? Eventually fall in love!! (+ points if they childishly argue through the whole dance) thanksss💕

Is It Love Or Hate?

Summary: Read request above!

Prince Friederich x gn!reader

Genre: Fluffiest of fluff, (It's also the only thing I can write about but moving on)

Warnings: Romantic themes, strong language(not really just good old british slang that I love very much), and It is a gender neutral reader, y/n(aka you or just plain old y/n) is a princess and wears a dress in this one-shot!!

A/N: Omg omg omg this is my first request, this is so exciting! This request is so cute, I hope you like it! Also I'm sorry for some of the writing is in third person, I just don't really like first person. And I'm sorry this took too long, I'm quite busy with stuff(school) atm. And now because of this request, I wanna make a prince Friederich fanfic lol but I hope you guys enjoy this one-shot!!(Also this isn't proofread so if there are any errors do tell me!)

Y/n groaned at the thought, they were going to yet again another ball, y/n loved being a royal and all but that meant they had the possibility of seeing him, Prince Friederich, Y/n had mixed feelings about him, they would love him and then the next minute, they hate him. As I finally laid down on the couch, my mother busted in, causing them to jump up.

"Mother, what is it? Why must you rush in here as if I did something wrong?!?" I asked.

"Oh no dear, it's just your dress is finally done! You just have to wear it for tonight's ball." Y/m/n explained as she gave you the dress. "Doesn't the color look nice?"

I had to agreed, the colors on the dress were absolutely stunning, y/f/c always looked good on them, always.

"Well I must agree, the dress does look nice." I agreed.

"Perhaps you might even find the one," Y/m/n teased.

"You said that as the last fifty balls," I exaggerated. "It seems people only see me for my looks Mother, nothing more, I told you many times that I wanted to marry for love."

"Then find someone you love, my dear. You know I will always support you." Y/m/n smiled at you and left moments after.

Y/n changed into the dress and was suprised on how the dress complimented her very well.

"Are you ready to go-?" Y/m/n asked as she busted in the room but stopped once she saw y/n. "My dear, you look beautiful."

"Yes mother I am ready to go," I placed the tiara on her head. "Thank you but we must not make haste," I reminded.

"Oh yes yes!" Y/m/n exclaimed. "We shall go to the carriage at once." Y/m/n announced.

Y/m/n linked her arm with Y/n and they left and headed to the ball, moments later, they had arrived.

"I'll be on the lookout for potential suitors, and you Y/n shall be the princess you are and dance with two men tonight." Y/m/n said.

"One," I corrected.

Y/m/n sighed knowing that Y/n wouldn't listen to her. "Fine, you must dance with one man tonight."

"Good, Ah I think I see the Duchess of Hastings right there. I'll leave you be mother!" I called out.

Before Y/n could make her way to Daphne, she was stopped by the one of the many men she didn't want to see tonight.

"You highness, Princess Y/n," Lord Gray bowed down infront of her. "May I have your first dance?" He asked, holding out his hand.

Y/n was about to tell him off when someone did it for her and she didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Actually, the Princess had already offered her first dance on her dance card with me." Prince Friederich explained.

"Oh, I see," Lord Gray seemed to buy the lie and walked away.

"Shall we?" Friederich held his hand out.

Y/n only glared at him before taking his hand, the two royals made their way to the dance floor.

"Now look at what you did," I whispered. "I only wanted to dance with one man tonight and now you're fulfilling my mother's wishes and I'm going to dance with two."

Prince Friederich only snickered in response.

"Well I apologize for doing that but it seemed like you didn't want to dance with him." Friederich stated the obvious.

"Yeah well I didn't want to dance with you either and here we are." I smiled sarcastically.

"You can blame my aunt on that, she actually insisted I'd dance with you first tonight." He replied.

Prince Friederich dipped you and pulled you close, making you gasp, he noticed this and backed away. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked confused.

"For making you uncomfortable," He answered rather quickly.

"If anything, you actually made me feel more safe from the viscount, I can see him glaring at us" I laughed and smiled at him, causing him to smiled back as he pulled you in close again.

...

"Y/n, Oh Miss Y/n! Wake up! Your highness, it is urgent!" Evelyn, one of the lovely servants shook you awake.

"I'm up," I mumbled, not fully awake.

"Lady Whistledown wrote about you and the Prince from the dance, you must read!" Evelyn exclaimed.

"Can I atleast get out of my bed first?" I asked, Evelyn nodded excitingly before leaving.

Y/n got up and ready and finally headed down the stairs where they was greeted by not only Evelyn but their mother as well.

"So Lady Whistledown wrote about me in her paper?" I asked.

Y/m/n nodded happily and gave you the paper. When you were shocked, Lady Whistledown wrote about the two of you dancing and how you two would make quite a lovely couple but before you could read anymore, you got called upon by Prince Friederich, he seemed to have read the latest issue quickly this morning.

"Your highness," Evelyn bowed down at him before he stopped her.

"Oh please, just call me Friederich, is Y/n awake yet? I hope I didn't wake her, I just wanted to have a little chat." Friederich smiled.

"And does your little chat include those lovely y/f/fs?" I asked.

I made my way to him and Evelyn, who now exited the room once she took notice of my appearance.

"Oh these," Friederich looked at them as well. "I didn't send them, maybe Lord Gray no Gary sent them." He teased.

Due to his teasing, I snorted and I quickly covered my mouth in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I normally never do that."

"It's fine, it was quite adorable if I were to be honest." Friederich smiled.

I blushed at his words and smiled softly but quickly changed my expression as I still had no idea what he was doing here so I asked. "Well if you will allow me to Prince-"

"Friederich," He cut you off.

"...Friederich, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I was just going to ask if well considering what Whistledown wrote about us, maybe she should write about us even more if you give me the opportunity to court you and take to on a promenade?" He asked.

My eyes widened at his words, he wanted to court me out of all people but I realized that maybe this was just his aunt's doing.

"Are you sure that you want to court me and this isn't your aunt's doing because if it is then I'm gonna have to-" I was cut off again.

"No!" He exclaimed before clearing his throat. "My apologies, I did this on my own. My aunt has no idea I am even here." He chuckled.

"Oh, then yes, I would be delighted to be courted by the only prince I seem to know." I laughed.

...

Y/n and Friederich have been courting for quite awhile now, making this their fifth time going on a promenade, Y/n had developed feelings for him and was wondering just as everyone else was thinking once they saw the latest issue "When will he propose?"

"This is the fifth time we're out to promenade, can we please go somewhere else Friederich?" I asked in a hushed whisper. "The sun is practically setting!"

"Please Y/n, just called me Freddie and to answer your question, we can't go somewhere alone, you know that but perhaps a boat ride would be nice."

"Or hunting or we can pretend to get lost in a flower field?" I suggested.

"A flower field would be nice, hm there is one there," He held up his arm. "Shall we go?"

"We shall," I smiled. "Mother, we'll be right back. We're going to pick some flowers from the field!"

"Okay, stay safe!" Y/m/n exclaimed.

But Y/m/n was distracted with Lady Danbury that she didn't even notice that the two royals weren't going to the flower field but instead the woods.

"Ah the woods, why did you take us here Freddie," I asked.

Friederich blushed at the nickname even though he suggested it but brushed it off.

"I wanted to look at the nature, nature is quite interesting. I mean just look at that bird!" He exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"That bird does look quite fascinating." I comments, making him smile wide.

"I never saw those in Prussia so they are new to me," Friederich revealed.

"Well maybe if you stay here a little longer then maybe you'll see more," I smiled at him.

"Yeah maybe," Friederich smiled.

I took my eyes off him and laid down to look at the sunset, He laid down beside me.

"It's quite beautiful isn't it?" I asked, referring to the setting sun.

"Yeah, it's breathtaking." He whispered, still staring at me.

I looked back at him when he was indeed already staring, he didn't take one look at the sunset and kept his eyes on me. I blushed and tried to look away when his hand caressed my face and leaned in, he kissed me and I kissed back. When we broke apart, he sat up, I repeated the action and we kissed again, he mumbled something in the kiss that I couldn't decipher..

"Freddie, what did you say?" I asked, my hand resting softly on his cheek.

"I wish to marry you Y/n, I'm in love with you." He confessed.

"The night of the ball when we danced, I lied to you, my aunt didn't say anything about you at all, I chose to dance with you that night because not only are you breath taking, you are the only person that I love competing with and poking fun at with, you're the only person who knows the real me and I love for that, I love that you let me in and that you trust me and you share all your conspiracies about who Whistledown is, you're the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, kids or no kids, in London or in Prussia. I want you just the way you are because I'm smitten and I love you oh so much. And I completely understand if you don't desire me the same but I couldn't keep it in any longer and I-" Friederich was cut off by you kissing him again, more passionate this time.

When you pulled away, you spoke. "I love you too, I would say that I want you but that's a lie, I need you and I just can't possibly see my life without you in it. Without you, I could probably be married to Lord Gray and I know we are both happy that isn't the reality," We both chuckled before I continued. "Freddie, just know this. No matter where we are or who we're with, I will always be looking at him and with you because you are now my husband to be, and I wish to be your wife forever." I confessed.

I rested my head on his chest and I heard his heartbeat making me calm, I closed my eyes and hugged him, he hugged me back.

"Your wish has been granted, my love." Prince Friederich kissed the top of my head.

[coldblooded-angel]

Another long ask incoming

So this Variety Article explains the love triangle dynamic really well by the screenwriter himself Justin Kuritzkes. While reading it, I really enjoyed the part where he touches on the fact that Tashi comes from a completely different background than Patrick and Art.

Excerpt down below

So for somebody from Tashi’s background to enter into the sport means something entirely different than it does for these two guys who grew up in tennis boarding school, whose parents sent them off to go be raised on a tennis court somewhere. It’s a really different relationship they all have to the sport. Not just what the sport means to them, but the precarity of their position in the sport to begin with. So much of Tashi’s drive and ambition is informed by that; so much of Patrick’s entitlement is informed by that; so much of what drives her crazy about him has everything to do with that. And so much of what they find alluring about her has everything to do with that. It’s all part of it.

I can only understand Tashi's feelings even more deeply being a Black woman in a super rich sport (paraphrasing from the article that said it was always the intention that - She was always a Black woman. Art and Patrick were always white boys. Patrick was always a very well-to-do Jewish guy, and Art was always a somewhat well-to-do WASP.

Earlier in the movie the boys discuss Tashi having a foundation for at risk girls and she's not only doing a sport she dearly loves, she's also trying to further the next batch of players already at her young age cuz even though it's unsaid or clearly stated, Tashi is a role model so her career tanking after that injury weighs a lot heavier compared to her more privileged peers. It's why she lives through Art who has the ability to do what she lost prematurely so many years priors. In that way she is the same as Art, who lost something prematurely all those years ago, his best friend Patrick who made playing tennis fun. It's an inverse of their relationship to tennis, Tashi seeing the sport as her passion and anything relating to it (hence her white boys) furthers that passion compared to Art only showing ambition again once playing against Patrick, the only coach to truly fire him up.

Then we have Patrick. He's a perfect mix of Tashi and Art (well they're all perfect mixes of each other tbh). Patrick is ready to go pro initially and can't get behind going to college like Tashi and Art do. Patrick wants to start playing tennis and isn't afraid to jump in, not wanting to stall his momentum. Of course, its a short lived career since he's living in his car if he can't crash at a online hookup date's place. He lost his girl and his boy, and we know he misses them because strangely Patrick is the most vulnerable about it, accepting all of his attractions, the beautiful and ugly traits. Tashi is another version of the age old saying "I would've gone pro if it wasn't for my *insert childhood/teenage injury*" while Art traded Patrick as a coach for Tashi and is seeing that her coaching isn't enough since he was willing to quit playing tennis until Patrick gave him the real push he needed.

The codependency is real b/n all three. Tashi is needed for Patrick and Art to explore more romantic/sexual feelings toward each other. Patrick is needed as he is the best rival for Tashi (in differing ideals) and Art (competitive mostly on the court). Art is needed to stir the pot b/n Tashi and Patrick lol but he's also there to show the softer sides of Tashi and Patrick --- Tashi cradling Art in her lap, Patrick feeding him a churro, both of them letting Art spit gum into their palms, both wanting Art to reignite his passion for tennis on their clashing terms). When college Tashi and Patrick are together, they're even competing when in the bed as Patrick asks about Art, even when Art's not in the room, his presence is felt as the unseen third in their dynamic, and in a role reversal later on in the film, it's Patrick who is the missing piece to Art and Tashi's relationship.

Also, how do you feel about Tashi's kid actually being conceived through her affair with Patrick, making her not Art's child, cuz if that's the case then that scene where the daughter and Art are sleeping cozily together is sooooo ugh emotions are felt!!!

Okay OKAY I HAVE. THOUGHTS.

Firstly, your take??? Chef’s kiss 10/10 stars would eat again. The codependency is the movie. They’re literally addicts chasing a high that only they could give each other it’s insane !!

Also I feel like a lot of resentment comes from their differing privileges. Like Tashi never had the privilege of “choosing to retire” or to not have a back up plan (and not go to college). But still she has to live through these two entitled white boys who don’t understand the depth of her love for the sport (until later i think cuz they realize how far she’s willing to go to play some real fucking tennis)

Also I have to do an entirely separate post for the idea that Lily might be Patrick’s because I dis see that theory and how the timeline matches up but also how only Tashi would know whose it really is. BUT YOU BROUGHT UP ART GOING TO LILY’S BED AFTER TASHI’S AFFAIR AND IM ABOUT TO JUMP—

[buffyfan145]

Morfydd gave a new interview at the Canneseries TV Festival about "Rings of Power" and teased season 2!!! :D It's in French but my browser translated it and I'll post behind a cut and a link in the comments to the article, but she actually mentioned how she and Charlie played Galadriel and Halbrand/Sauron's relationship as ambiguous so that it could be interpreted however the audience wanted to see it including romantically!!! LOL :D And it was Charlie's idea. LOL Could be the translation but that seems to be what she said which contradicts the press tour and what Charlie said in interviews. Then she also went into how she's been playing Galadriel being so sad and lonely and how devastated she is about what Halbrand/Sauron did to her, but is happy to know thanks to the LOTR movies and books she loved her whole life that she'll be ok and reunited with Celeborn at some point!!! It's the first time she's mentioned Celeborn in an interview too. She also then went on to say she's excited to see Charlie fully as Sauron in season 2, which seems to confirm like the other spoilers he's still the main form going forward. Again full translation behind the cut but I'm even more excited for s2 and honestly this confirms to me Galadriel really was in love with Halbrand/Sauron and still loves her husband too like I thought all along.

The Canneséries festival awarded the Welsh actress, who carries on her shoulders the prelude to Amazon Prime's Lord of the Rings, the Madame Figaro Rising Star Award. Meeting.

Floated Friday night on the Croisette, an air of Middle-earth. To open its sixth edition, the Canneséries festival presented its revelation prize to Morfydd Clark. In the Amazon Prime blockbuster series The Rings of Power, a prelude to the events described by Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings, the Welsh actress appropriates the character of Galadriel. The future great and wise elf queen of Peter Jackson's trilogy, played by Cate Blanchett. For her first recurring role in a series, the 32-year-old actress rose to the top. But remains in interview of disarming spontaneity and enthusiasm.

Le Figaro - What inspires you about this Madame Figaro Rising Star Award? Morfydd Clark. - I can't believe it. I am deeply grateful. It's a crazy chance to headline a program watched all over the world. At school, I was a calamity in French. Having been unable to unravel this mystery, I have always had the impression that your culture and language were phenomenal. This prize of a French festival so young, so warm touches me more than you imagined.

The Rings of Power ended with the thunderous revelation that Galadriel's Halbrand's alluring traveling companion was none other than the devious and dangerous Sauron in human form. Which unleashed the fans. Did you follow their turbulent debates? I've never been more anxious in my life than in the weeks leading up to the show's launch. Until that moment, The Rings of Power belonged to me in its entirety. Once online, it becomes the property of the fans. I love their imagination. I don't go on the Internet. But my sister scours the forums and selects me the theories that I might like. Some extraordinary ones defy comprehension. Others are aiming for the nail on the head. But I can't tell you more. I did not expect that the relationship between Galadriel, Elrond and Halbrand would be so dissected even if I imagine that the slightest perfume of prohibition - and still I am afraid with this word to say something I should not - can only stir passions. Halbrand's hold on Galadriel was less connoted in the scripts. It was Charlie Vickers who plays Halbrand who had the idea to make it ambiguous. Supposing that these quasi-divine beings can feel human emotions. Were we in a relationship of seduction or power? It's up to the viewer to decide. Extremely kind, Charlie was the best partner to play it. I can't wait to see what he does with his Sauron.

Looking back, how do you view Galadriel's trajectory? In The Lord of the Rings, Galadriel is at peace with her and rules Lothlorien. The series takes this path backwards by imagining the most extreme starting point. It's soothing to know that no matter how sad, her loneliness consumes her soul entirely and obliterates the rest in this first season, to which is added Halbrand's betrayal, she will overcome these trials. For the immortal beings that are the elves, the course of time is different. One can be separated for a lifetime and find oneself like Galadriel and her husband Celeborn, currently missing but present in The Lord of the Rings. That's what I love about fantasy: through magic pierce human experiences.

You've said it over and over again, Tolkien's writings rocked your childhood. I was born in Sweden. It was first the stories of Astrid Lindgreen, creator of Fifi brindacier, who accompanied me. It was my gateway into fantasy. Suffering from attention disorders that made my schooling trying, the fantasy characters, who managed to exist differently, were a great source of comfort. Wandering the Misty Mountains with the Hobbits, who have always had my heart because of their benevolence and vulnerability, was a wonderful escape. Peter Jackson's trilogy came out when I was 12. I was spellbound. During a bad time at school, I even watched The Two Towers every day. My parents were a little worried (laughs). When I realized that I was auditioning for The Rings of Power, I said to myself: "No room for failure, you must succeed". To find myself in the New Zealand landscapes was an enchantment.

What was the tipping point that made you embrace your acting career? I had to leave school at 16. I absolutely did not know how to endure and manage the stress of exams. I auditioned to join the Welsh Youth Theatre Company. I couldn't believe that after so much criticism at school, they finally wanted me. On stage, no one scolded me anymore. I made people laugh. For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged. I went on to get a place in a conservatory. I was incredibly lucky that my first steps in front of the camera were in 2014 in front of Carol Morley's historical drama The Falling. She protected us, made us feel safe. It is no coincidence that the actresses of this project Maisie Williams (Game Of Thrones) and Florence Pugh (Don't Worry Darling) are nowadays so much in demand. The psychological horror film Saint Maud which was my first experience of a leading role was also a special experience. I discovered that I loved horror, a mind-blowing testing ground with an audience that still appreciates risk-taking, even if it doesn't work.

What can you tell us about season 2 of the Rings of Power that you are filming? Nothing, except that it's exciting! I'm too afraid to accidentally let slip a spoiler. It's amazing to be able to reconnect with your character and your playing partners. It was also necessary to get back in shape: horseback riding, fight sequence and stunts. I kind of let myself go on that (laughs). One of the most surreal moments was the passage of Prince Williams on our sets. It's amazing to think that this public figure is a fan of our work. We even chatted in Welsh!

[beansterpie]

For the ship ask game: 1, 4, 34 and 39 for agohiru ❤️❤️

HEHEEH TY more excuses to talk about these gd idiots <3

1.) Describe their first date.

Ooohhh weirdly enough, this isn't something I've actually thought about before. And it sort of depends on what we're calling a date here-- if we're being tongue-in-cheek and calling any outing where the two of them do something they enjoy a date, then you could argue their time in middle school beating people up and gathering blackmail was a sort of date lol. BUT I'm going to go with like, a proper date that was planned as such, presumably after they get together.

Hmm. Agon would plan it, considering he's the one with (oodles of) experience when it comes to planning and going on dates. I could see him low key doing it as a way to stake claim on Hiruma lol, like as marker of a legitimate relationship. Trouble is ofc that Agon's never cared about any of the people he's dated before (if he even considered what he did before actual 'dating'. From what we know, it kind of seemed like he did it to stroke his ego and get laid and leech off of them financially), so his past experience might not be all that helpful lol.

And if it's a first date, it probably happens while they're keeping their relationship on the down low, during uni. I don't think Hiruma would care that much one way or another if people find out they're dating, but Agon definitely would care (✨homophobic bi boy✨), so he wouldn't want to be seen doing anything stereotypically date-like anywhere they might run into people they know.

Lol maybe they go out to eat and catch a movie in a different city, then end the night doing something ~romantic~ like walking through a light show or something. Hiruma is very obviously bored the whole time and doesn't try to hide it, and Agon gets pissed at him for being an asshole but he's secretly also really bored, and in the end they coincidentally run into a rival football team, or maybe a gang, and mutually have much more fun terrorizing them. That sounds about right tbh.

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This got really long, so the rest under the cut!

4.) Who initiates affection? Why does the other not initiate affection as much?

Definitely Agon lol. Not that he's some sweet, affectionate guy or anything, but simply because everything is relative and Agon would be the clingier one.

But really, neither of them would be all that affectionate. At the very least, not at first lol. As they get more physically comfortable with each other throughout their relationship though, I could see Agon initiating more casual physical contact (like throwing his arm over Hiruma's shoulder) as well as like, 'casually' cuddling up to him in more intimate moments lol. And Hiruma returns the affection by allowing it, which is saying a lot for Hiruma who seems to avoid affectionate physical touch like a prickly cat.

And beyond the physical, they'd show affection for one another through bantering and spending time together. I can imagine Agon arguing with Hiruma over some stupid bullshit because that's what they do, but as soon as someone else tries to butt in, they're a united front. (Or at least Agon attempts to be a united front, whether Hiruma goes along with it is entirely dependant on his whim lol) Including each other in stuff, doing schemes™ together, that sort of thing, I think would mean a lot to both of them.

34.) Do they have any inside jokes?

Probably! I imagine they would have had quite a few from when they hung out in middle school, but that all would have been soured during the intervening years after their Break Up™. So if one of them brought up an old inside joke between them post-canon, once they'd buried the hatchet and were tentatively hanging out again (ESPECIALLY if the inside joke came from Hiruma, I think), it would be kind of a big deal lol.

As to the flavor of their inside jokes, a lot of it would probably be referencing people they've terrorized in the past, lets be real.

39.) When and how did they admit that they loved each other? If they haven’t yet, why?

Hmmm admitting to each other or admitting to themselves?

I think it'd be sort of a gradual thing for both of them, though in different ways. Agon, for instance, would deny it both inwardly and outwardly at first, insisting that they're just hooking up, but once he gets comfortable with the arrangement and the closer proximity, I think he'd forget to deny it to himself so much lol. And then eventually there'd be a moment where Agon's feelings are just so blatant that even trying to deny it would seem pointless and more importantly, a pain in the ass, so he doesn't. He'd absorb it into how he sees himself and fuck anyone who has a problem with it.

With Hiruma... he's the kind of guy who will quite abruptly make a decision and then stick with it through thick and thin. Not to say he'd 'decide' that he was in love with Agon all of a sudden, but the way I imagine their relationship going is they tentatively reconcile after the world cup, and then start hanging out more, and then start hooking up in uni. Hiruma wouldn't have actually seen it coming when Agon first comes onto him, but then he chooses to go along with it probably because it was unexpected, and he finds that interesting.

Eventually though, I think it'd really sink in that Agon is actually invested in this relationship, in him, and he's not just fucking around on a whim that he can ditch once he gets bored, and that would shift Hiruma's perspective on things. I think he'd be more willing to relax into their relationship at that point, and then ~love~ would gradually but comfortably sneak up on him lol.

That being said, I don't think there'd be any dramatic declarations of love from either of them. tbh I feel like they'd date and continue sharing their lives in what more or less seems like a committed relationship to everyone else (and of course there'd be plenty of ups and downs during this time because they're both allergic to expressing their feelings), but they've never said 'I love you' rip. Then years down the line during a totally mundane moment, one of them (probably Agon) would casually say it, and Hiruma would laugh and say something like, "you only just realized that now? keep up dreads". And that would be that!

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Tyyyyy for sending an agohiru ask! Sorry this was SO late lol

[tsundereition]

Chenya x Riddle

Chenya x Riddle relationship headcanons

Okay, so you know the song "It's a wonderful cat's life"? That's basically their dynamic to me lol. This is one of my favorite ships for Riddle because I like the childhood friends to lovers trope, and I like Chenya as a character, but we don't really know much about him so some stuff will be made up kdfjds.

We know their first meeting was through Riddle's window, when him and Trey introduced themselves and took Riddle out to play and eat some sweet treats. Just,, that is already so cute and romantic lol, it's such a classic! The princess (Riddle) stuck on a tower meeting his prince (Chenya) through the window >< And his mother sadly prohibited him from seeing the other boys anymore :'( so it's a forbidden romance! But fear not, Chenya doesn't even need a long braid of hair to climb, his unique magic already allows him to float and become invisible so he can easily infiltrate Riddle's room! (which, thinking of… him getting his unique magic by 9 years old is quite young 🤔 but they showed it like that on the manga, maybe because he's a beastman and not a human he's more magic-inclined?)

Following that line of thought, I like to think that it was Chenya who fell for Riddle first! Always seeking to be beside him, for some reason the kid was so fun to tease, and he seemed quite lonely so he developed some sort of affection towards him. At first it was just friendly but as the years passed he slowley realized that his feelings were starting to shift towards something more romantic. Obviously Riddle too always looked forward to his visits; although he didn't like Chenya startling him by appearing out of nowhere, in the end he could always count on the cat boy to get a giggle out of him (and I want to believe that if Chenya stuffs something in his pockets, it dissapears with him so maybe he would bring biscuits and stuff from Trey's bakery to him lol).

Now, when going into RSA, Chenya was away for a full year before Riddle went to Sage Island as well. During this period, Riddle would have time to introspect -he misses both Chenya and Trey, but why are his feelings towards each of them different? Aren't they supposed to be both his friends? Still, even if he unconsciously already knew, it would take him a looong time to accept it, considering this is all still pre-overblot.

With Riddle getting into NRC, they would become close once again and Chenya could visit him more often without needing to hide from his mother (although he still needs to hide from authorities when tresspassing the school's gates lol). During this period, I think Chenya would let him be. Even if he's reckless, he knows when to not overstep a boundary. By this I mean… He wouldn't act on his feelings towards Riddle (maybe even going out with other people in the meantime to forget about him? oh the angst-).

It would still take one year more, after Riddle's overblot, for him to do an actual introspection and accept his feelings towards Chenya. Now, it's not easy for him. He already knows he likes him, then what? Should he try to pursue a relationship? Give up on it? Trey would become his advisor in this sort of situation, and given that he's also friends with Chenya, he would already be aware of the catboy's feelings for the younger boy, so he would encourage Riddle to give it a chance.

With all this said, it would be Riddle the one to confess; Chenya wouldn't have expected it, but of course he's happy and quickly accepts. Once they're both dating, the relationship would develop slowly but surely, starting with baby steps. First starting with little dates in more private places of the Heartslabyul gardens, then maybe moving to other locations around Sage Island.

I think Riddle would still be hesitant about having dates back home in the Rose Queendom, because they might run into one of his mother's acquaintances, not to mention his mother herself. But Chenya would introduce him to his own family first. Since cats usually have many kittens, I like to imagine that Chenya would have at least some siblings and they would all adore Riddle (and would love to mess with him lol, but Chenya is there to protect him -only he can annoy his boyfriend).

However, I don't think Riddle would be the type to date someone out of a whim, so when deciding to date Chenya he already knew sooner or later he would have to confront his mother. He just needs time, is all! After finishing higschool he would tell her about his decision and if she doesn't approve of it… well, he already has a family where he can make himself at home.

Bonus: a doodle :D thanks for asking about my rare pair, the world needs more content of these two.

[spacenintendogs]

3 10 16or 17 for the httyd asks!!

3. Did you play School of Dragon? If so, what dragon(s) did you have?

i tried back in 2018 but my laptop couldn't handle it. i never got past the tutorial with toothless and immediately uninstalled it and then was still devastated when they shut it down :')

10. What are your favourite songs from the soundtracks?

the big 3: forbidden friendship, test drive, and romantic flight.

see you tomorrow is a BANGER

all of the jonsi songs!!

once there were dragons is also so good... listened to that on repeat after i saw the hidden world in 2019

16. What is your favourite plot arc?

edit: i realized this said plot arc and astrid's character arc doesn't rlly count but for plot arc: hiccup & snotlout's arc of learning to respect each other more in riders/defenders of berk. basically the screaming death arc!!

astrid's in the first movie... it's near perfect and her role in the story is so vital bc her mind being changed makes stoick's mind being changed so much more believable. astrid's arc is such an interesting throughline to see the movie through. astrid being the most viking like of the teens and taking everything so seriously only to decide to give hiccup a chance (yes she was hanging off a tree rlly high off the ground and then only apologized bc toothless was whipping her around as payback for her attitude lol) but once toothless calms down that's when astrid rlly sits back and gives toothless & hiccup a chance & you just. see her relaxed for the first time in the movie and smiling so wide and it's SOOOOOOO. i love her so much.

17. Do you read or write HTTYD fanfic? If so, give some recommendations!

i do both!!

for reading, i haven't done a lot & i am kinda particular abt what i read (i heed tags & stuff seriously!! they're there for a reason!!) but!! from recent memory & my bookmarks

promises, promises is by @artinandwritin and it's abt her httyd ocs and @beebooca's oc set post the hidden world (except the dragons are still there!!) and it's such a fun exploration of the effect things can have on oc characters based on what happens to the canon characters they're connected to!! it's very good (and i am honored to have helped beta read :'))

translations by @bignostalgias is a hijack fic where jack frost ends up on berk after following silver dream sand (and ends up becoming "alive" again) and there's the whole thing where he's confused abt how berk exists and seems to be behind modern day and dragons exist. everything is so thought out and carefully put together and i just can not wait for more!!

frowny kisses by @tysonrunningfox bc my snotstrid loving ass adores those losers so much and op has got them DOWN!! the original snotstrid person fr fr i am begging y'all to pls check out their stuff!!!!!!!!!

also fics by @eemoo1o-tfrmoo & @kolasharkattack are also rlly rlly good!!!!!!

and yea i write fics lol but i go through spurts of YEAH UPDATE LET'S GO WOO and then quickly losing steam & updates come rarely even tho they take up so much space in my brain bc writing hard :')

the summer snotlout jorgenson got laid is tied to my modern au & it's abt the brief period astrid & snotlout decided to try dating & obv they break up but hey. unrestrained summer fun :)

burn is a series following astrid & snotlout's friendship. there's only 2 fics rn but windburn is complete and heartburn is a work in progress. i have a few fics for series stewing around in my brain as well but!! yea!!

then there's the calm dragon nip provides which is basically my fishlout smokes weed fic and it's not even a year old yet & tbh i'm not happy with it at all but i don't regret it enough to delete it. u can read it if u wish but i'm not proud of it. c'est la vie.

and those are my most recent fics!! and then my docs are just. full of incomplete bullshit lol <3 ty!!

[eco-lite]

Volume 5 thoughts! I can’t believe I have to wait until November for volume 6. 😩

“Citrine Undaunted”

* Bye bye, Shimomura. 👋🏼 Good luck following your passions. I hope Seigi will take inspiration from this.

* This is truly such a bizarre story. Why does it feel like Ms. Darling is some supernatural creature trying to influence Seigi’s path in life? And her compliments about Seigi’s hands are very uncomfortable.

* “It was a lot easier when you let your brain process what you were going to say before you opened your mouth, rather than blurting out something stupid in a panic” (36). Seigi… are you just learning this now?

* I can’t wait for Seigi to do some actual self-reflection and realize that he doesn’t give a shit about being a civil servant.

* Richard loves showing Seigi bi-colored stones, huh…?

* Richard sending emojis makes me so happy.

“A Visage in Sardonyx”

* Poor Homura. Let’s hope third time’s the charm for him. He does seem a bit to quick to marry though.

* Wait, so agate is quartz too? I never new so many stones were varieties of quartz!

* I never know how cameos were made either—that’s so cool!

* “‘Say, for example, you love someone in a romantic sense, but that person doesn’t even consider you a romantic possibility. You’re just someone they “care about deeply”’” (81). Please don’t say this to Richard. That’s gonna hit way to close to home. 🥲

* I’ve considered before that Richard may have wanted to just stop living, but it doesn’t hurt any less for him to confirm it. I’m glad he has support now. It gives new mean to when he says that Saul saved his life, though.

* SEIGI! How are you going to say that your relationship with Richard hasn’t changed at all, and that you’re just boss and employee?! After everything you went through together in the last volume??? Now that you regularly go out to dinner together and talk in the phone until 1:30am?????? What is your problem, man?

* I know the circumstances are weird, but I think Richard and Tanimoto would get along really well and have a lot to talk about. I’m excited for them to meet!

* Although I feel weird about the whole “in love with my stepmother” thing, this case was an interesting exploration of different kinds of love—and how defining your love for someone sometimes isn’t the most important thing. What matters is that the love is there. I suppose I agree with that. It definitely matters how you define the relationship that the love occurs in, though. Seigi needs to start thinking about that.

“The Majesty of Zircon”

* I agree that strict government work probably is t right for Seigi, but damn, his classmates are brutal!

* “And that was how the first step of my self-assessment started—with the fact that I apparently didn’t know the first thing about myself being shoved in my face” (110). Yeah, there are several things you don’t know about yourself, Seigi. Once again, I am begging you to do some self-reflection!

* Woah, a flashback and a POV switch?!

* “‘… I have a interest in waterside ecosystems’” (124). Wow me too!

* Not Jeffrey suggesting they burn the Claremont estate down 😅

* Lol the catharsis of punching Jeffrey in a dream. Wish I could do that. If Richard’s dream is accurate… wtf, Jeffrey?

* “‘…I don’t know how many people you must’ve hurt by being such an impossibly insensitive jerk. A guy like you would never be popular with the high school girls in Delhi, no matter how handsome you are. I could call a dozen of my old friends, and they’d all be like “No thanks”’” (172). You tell him! I love Monica so much.

* Lol Richard giving himself a pep talk in order to make a salad.

* This puts a new perspective on the scene in “White Sapphire” when Richard tells Seigi that he should value himself more than to just throw himself into dangerous situations to save others. Richard learned that lesson himself. He also cares about people deeply enough to take crazy desperate actions. Saul was the one who taught Richard to have more care for himself, and now Richard is passing on that advice to Seigi.

“The Grace of Peridot”

* Not Richard making Seigi read Les Misérables lol

* No Seigi, your past is not “better left unsaid!” Please tell us!

* I really don’t understand why Richard’s parents ever thought they could make their relationship work. Like, how do a conservation-focused entomologist and a self-obsessed actress even fall in love with each other??

* I can’t believe I’m past the point where Seigi saying he would jump into a fire if Richard begged him to doesn’t phase me at all. Yeah, that’s normal Seigi behavior. 🤦🏽‍♀️ For real though, the image of Richard crying and begging is truly very distressing. I hope he never feels so much pain.

* I don’t think we’ve seen Seigi call Richard cute before. And not only cute, but “like a matcha frappé with whipped cream and chocolate chips and muscovado sugar” (256). Wowie.

* This reunion with Chieko is so sweet. Richard is actually being adorable.

* “At any rate, I knew that Richard was not fit to stand around and chat, so I decided to wrap things up there” (258). It’s really hitting me just how attentive Seigi is to Richard’s emotional needs. It’s not just carrying candy around to pacify him when he’s in a bad mood. In this situation, Seigi understands that reuniting with Chieko is a very happy, but also emotionally exhausting experience for Richard. Seigi knows just when to remove them from the situation and come back another time. It’s very sweet.

* HOMURA PLEASE WHY ARE YOU HERE? Well, at least it seems like this relationship will succeed. Third time’s the charm.

* I’m so happy that Richard had such a caring mother figure, and that they’re reunited now. I hope they can see each other often.

* Ew not Margaret Thatcher 😑

* Classic marriage mixup once again.

* Wtf is Richard going to say to him?! You can’t just not let us in on this, Tsujimura!

“Andalusite on Christmas Eve”

* Tanimoto: misunderstands Seigi as always. Seigi: “There really are no gods in this world, huh?” 🥲

* “‘Now, I’m just speaking for myself, but special days can be a bit like storms. And in stormy weather, what you need isn’t a compass or sails but a calm harbor where you can set anchor.’ And then Richard said softly that he prayed that I would find such a place” (291). Holy shit. 🥲🥲

“Tiger’s Eye Look Back”

* A cute little story from the first few months of Seigi working at Étranger. I’m trying to figure out why this little scene was included, though. Maybe to show us just how far both Seigi and Richard have come since the beginning of the story.

* I find it really interesting that Seigi never questions why he finds Richard so beautiful. I feel like a typical “straight” man would not be so casual about thinking another man is beautiful, or having any of the other extremely romantically coded thoughts Seigi has about Richard. But I do appreciate that this series normalizes all different types of people finding beauty and happiness in all sorts of things.

Unrelated to a specific case, but now that Tsujimura has established multiple perspectives besides Seigi’s, I really want to read from Richard’s perspective. I know that would diminish the mystery around him and take away from learning about him as Seigi does, but I really want to know his thoughts in the moment he met Seigi. I’d love a re-telling of that first case from Richard’s POV.

[ladyhindsight]

I want to say it really ticks me off when this fandom (and Cassandra Clare to some extent) acts like TMI isn't for children. I've seen posts comparing Cassandra Clare's work to Colleen Hoover. As far as I know Colleen Hoover is an adult novelist who basically makes abuse fetish smut so like great comparison to a YA author guys in the fandom!

Clare's choosing to include things like normalizing abuse (Maia and Jordan) and incest are really terrible. Clare always hides behind the fact that the reason the incest existed in her story was "symbolic" for like how love can make us do evil things. But children can't understand something that complex and Clare does NOT do a good job at making this theme clear in the story and SHE DOES romanticize their incestuous relationship as so bad it's good (Clare fans go reread the scene in book 2 where clary has to kiss Jace in front of everyone and then go reread book 3 where they're constantly kissing and cuddling and sleeping in the same bed in a romantic way) and it's just really upsets me because I've witnessed first hand (I've been in this Fandom since 2013) child fans normalizing and becoming attracted to incest fetish because of these books. I've seen so many children normalizing incest because of Clare's continual refusal to JUST APOLOGIZE! She literally writes these LGBT books with incest fetish and rape fetish tied into it and eventually a conservative is gonna find these books and it's gonna be all over for Miss Clare and the LGBT community will probably be blamed for her bullshit because we're always blamed for gross books like these.

I also wanted to say (and you don't have to post this ask if it's divulging too much I don't want to offend anyone) but I'm an incest survivor. I read these books when I was thirteen years old (they were in my schools library listed for my age and up) and they really really hurt my recovery because at the time I thought what had happened to me was normal and when I read these books I thought it was totally okay and normal what happened to me. I won't go into any more detail than that but these books made it so hard to seperate the "love" from the "abuse". I've talked to others in this fandom and many other girls have said that these books normalized abuse to them because Jace is so controlling and abusive to Clary and she does nothing to stop him. The abuse is also normalized by the Fandom too I see posts all the time joking about how "Jace isn't a hero who helps people he's a hero who helps his girlfriend!!!" And "haha Jace doesn't let clary have her own tooth brush or space or any friends! Sooo kawaaaaiiii!!!!!" Or "if clary died Jace would be worse than sebastian lol so smexyyy!" Like as if that isn't disturbing and disgusting to normalize to MINORS!

I just wanted to take a moment to talk about the people who suffer the most from Cassandra Clare's continuous deflection of any wrong doing. You wrote these books about incest Clare, and children read these books and cannot understand your "complex" symbolism for how incest is bad but it's oh so good. It makes me want to burst into tears sometimes but instead I'll just send this ask and forget about it.

Oh,

P.S.

Fuck you Cassandra Clare for writing a Trump supporter female character who is against incest to try and say all the people who hate incest are Trump supporters or conservatives. I am a victim of a serious fucking trauma and I am not a fucking conservative because I want you to be held accountable for your fucked up books. You have spit in the face of rape victims time and time again and I genuinely hope some day you get torn to shreds by the public for everything you've perpetuated to CHILDREN.

Every once in a while I think about this interview Clare once gave that I saw on YouTube. She said that her readers often told her (at the time of the interview) that they are older than they consider the target audience of her books to be, and Clare commented something along the lines of, if you read her books, no matter the age, you are the target audience. Which is a nice thought, but the tonality is still very juvenile—even in her later works that are supposedly new adult genre. They differ in no way in style or tone from those works that are categorized in young adult fiction.

Colleen Hoover? Yuck. Perhaps it tells something about the mentality of those readers who liken Clare to Hoover.

Clare’s writing, tone, and capacity to handle serious and complex matters have always sucked. Each topic is handled with surface-level attention or used as a vehicle to ruminate and moan over the main couple and their obstacles in love. The writing has never went into any great length to realistically include themes such as incest (societal or personal level approach and attitudes) or abuse because the characters’ need to be liked and loved and be above the characters that are only used as a fodder for ridicule and betterment of the main characters in comparison. All while Clare tries to create a guise of them being “complex” because of the fact. It’s one of the reasons I have found comparing G.R.R. Martin’s style of implementation of different themes to Clare’s meaningful (as there have been convos about this some time back on the blog) because they are not nearly the same even though it is an easy comparison her readers like to make.

When it comes to idealizing abusive behavior, similar attitude within the readership can be seen in Isabelle’s character when she thinks Valentine is hot for being a villain. Young adult literature is littered with characters exactly like Jace who do not face responsibility for their abusive behavior because that is what the author chooses to prioritize and coddle, simultaneously failing to realize the impact that kind of behavior realistically has on others around them. Jace’s behavior isn’t acknowledged because others are meant to serve him and conform around his needs. Even Clary, who is the protagonist and heroine of the story. It’s never really about her—even her pain—it’s about Jace.

When I read TMI for the first time, I was incredibly conflicted with feeling the way I did (hateful and uncomfortable with many decisions and characters) because authors know better, right? This is how it is supposed to be, right? This isn’t supposed to be about anyone else than Clary and Jace, right? So why anything would be done different or better or given more attention to?

Fuck that. And also fuck Zara Dearborn because we know what Clare’s doing. And it’s embarrassing.

I am incredibly sorry that you had to live through such a horrible thing. I can’t even imagine the pain and confusion you’ve had to endure and work through. There isn’t much I can say but I hope you are faring better today and had good and trustworthy people around you to support you during the recovery (and still do). How could you offend anyone with your thoughts when you’ve survived it and know the destruction it causes? Never apologize for that. I wish you happiness and all the best in life.

[akookminsupporter]

yk i used to have an old frnd who i was very close to. like really. we used to talk all the time even though we live miles away and haven't met in like 7+ years. but we always got along. she had a really wide and kind of a different approach to life than other people which i really found admiring. i learned a lot of things from her and i honestly miss her presence sometimes. we don't talk anymore. time got us. there wasn't any fight or anything, we just gradually drifted apart and that's what hurts the most. why am i telling you this? because you remind me of her sometimes. she was strong, opinionated and never feared stating whatever was on her mind. that's a quality i acquired from her. so yeah... reading your messages (replies to the anons) remind me of her sometimes.

hope u do well in life, get everything u want and keep up with your spirit, rosie. i wish you the best in life and i hope everyone around you shows their love in their own way to you. and it's my request to you too, that if you have something to say to someone, say it. you never know when things might change, nothing is forever even the best of relationships (platonic, familial or romantic) end sometimes and you don't know when a stranger might become your new special person. so please don't ever hesitate to show your love to your loved ones. i've lost people and it won't be a lie if i say i barely have friends right now (i'm not forty years old, sigh. just ended high school) but that's fine i still have a lot more things coming. i could meet new people in college and hopefully form new definitions of friendships and relationships. but yes, from whatever i have seen so far, what i am sure of is that nothing is forever. i talk to everyone and you won't believe me people see me as a "happy go lucky girl" which i always like, because why being sad in front of people and making them feel sad when they can't do anything to help you? (in a good way. but i have this serious issue of bottling things up and that lead to anxiety. bad one) i literally have these thick walls because of how scared i am of forming bonds just for the fear of losing them. sigh. i just told you nothing is forever but i, myself have a hard time accepting that. easier said than done, isn't it? lol anyway a lot of sentimental and philosophical stuff have been said. geez i might cringe later at myself if you post this. nvm, it's so good that i found your blog, found bts, found armys, and found uh idk everything? yeah, life could be depressing but i try to smile it off because why not?

a frnd of mine was saying she's going to kill herself and i swear i've heard that lot more times from different people. two kids (15 year olds) commited suicide in the last two months where i live. and i was crying in the bathroom because idk who might be next. and it scares me yk what if it's me next? or in future months or years later maybe if i can't smile anymore? it's so disturbing, sigh. and i hate when people joke and say 'i'm gonna kill myself' at the slightest discomfort in life. at least once, just for a second i want them to think of thousands of those people who are surviving under constant fear of hurting themselves for real, who are actually struggling to keep themselves alive, to fight back life harder than it comes for them, and those who want someone to help them out of vicious circle of depression, anxiety and other similar problems they're caught in. i don't like people who make mental health issues look 'aesthetic'. hope they grow up to know better soon.

god i need to learn how to shut up. sorry this long. i love your blog, please don't ever shut this down. ilysm, hope you stay healthy and live your best life. also, again i'm sorry if my message is too depressing. i started off only to tell you that you remind me of my (ex) best friend lol.

Hi, anon! How are you?

I hope this doesn't sound disrespectful but I was a bit surprised when I read that you recently finished high school. There is experience in your words, experience that is usually gained over the years, with mistakes and frustrations but also joys. You are wise beyond your years, anon. That was nice to see. Although I keep in mind that at no point did you mention your age, assuming you're a teenager is perhaps a bit bold of me.

I think I've said it all day but thank you for the nice opinion you have of me. Thank you for the way you think of me. Thank you for somehow telling me that my sincerity is perceived by all of you. I'm sorry that you and your former friend have drifted apart. Life is funny like that sometimes. Sometimes people come into our lives to teach us something but not to stay. And in itself, that is also a life lesson.

In part, you remind me of me but unlike you, I have never had such positive thoughts about my future. About other people's? Of course, I have, but not about mine, I guess in that respect I like to preach but I don't apply what I preach.

Thanks for the advice and good wishes. You are a special person anon. Try not to change. Always try not to let life and all its tribulations ruin your way of thinking. Maybe try to be a little more positive about yourself. Trusting someone else people say is a rewarding thing to do, I need to work on that too, maybe we can do it together. I sincerely hope that people come into your life who bring something to you instead of taking something away from you. I hope that people come into your life with whom you can form sincere, honest and lasting relationships. You sound like the kind of friend I would like to have. That I often need to have.

I wish you nothing but the best anon, thank you for your kind words. I promise I won't forget what you said to me.

GRACIAS!!

[lavender-teardroplettes]

Not that I ship them cause Kenneth be stinky but do you have any hcs for Kenneth and Si?

ovo.... yeahhhhhhh yeah I do. Keep in mind while a lot of this IS based on canon I've tweaked it a bit so I was more...not so comfortable but okay with some of the changes I had to make towards Sugar Si to fit canon since, outside of canon Si would personally beat Kenneth within an inch of his life. Tw for being threatened with a gun down below and general toxic/unhealthy relationships, suicidal thoughts?:

They've been childhood friends and crushes since as long as both of them can remember, but with Kenneth coming to terms with how his father is/what's expected of him as the future "man" of the house, he kept his options open with Steph just in case until he decides in high school/college that they're "too much" and not as easy as to control or manipulate as Si. Though, due to how smart Steph is and how they would warn Si about their ideas that he might be cheating, Kenneth's part of the other half that causes a rift between the two of them. I'd say they got together at the end of high school/before college. Si was definitely a little more confident back then even with Kenneth making to so that no one took him from him in that time.

They both have that sense of codependency and comfort of having someone who has been "there" your whole life- but their relationship is still pretty strained before the events of day 1. Si can notice the changes in tone, the boredom they both feel together, but there is a part of him that loves Kenneth and misses when he was...well...more attentive of him and actually interested in him. I do like to think that there were genuine feelings there at one point, maybe when they were really young, but it's since then been tainted and now Si's more of an object of affection than in a romantic relationship. He does his best to keep Kenneth placated with him, because the alternatives are pretty uncomfortable and Kenneth has a habit of putting his gun on display when need be to make a point and get Si to stop pushing back against him. Kenneth's made SURE that Si knows that no one will ever love him in the same way he does- and he uses the fact that Si's a secret cat person to that advantage and mentions a lot how most people would just turn him into a lab experiment again and that he's LUCKY to have someone like Kenneth in his life.

I had a whole au that I was working on that I've kinda scrapped due to reasons, but it was essentially Kenneth threatening Si and everyone he had learned to really appreciate and be close to during their "break" after Sarah goes off at their wedding shower (yes, this includes Ellie) if he doesn't come back quietly- and they have an INCREDIABLY private wedding afterward when Si is back in his arms. It's horrible, emotionally breaking Si in his new life as a "Trophy Husband". He did try to run away once, but that ended up with him being locked in a dark room for a few ours while being tied up to "teach him a lesson", which I've drawn out below (ew old art lol)

Si often dissociates while he's in this relationship, often thinking about what could have been from the chats from when they were kids about what they would have been like when they grew up- wishing Kenneth was the gentle painter he had always dreamed about instead of the habitual cheater that his is. He mourns everything they could have been, but doesn't have the support system to get out of the marriage. His parents finally think he's worth something and Kenneth's mom is too brainwashed to get through, so he has no choice but to close in on himself and wish that Kenneth would just get mad enough and kill him, but he knows he wouldn't. At a certain point, even stops reacting to having the gun shoved in his face, much to Kenneth's dismay (and like...small concern that he's not going to ever admit to). That isn't to say that Si doesn't put on an act when he's being paraded around, but when they're alone he's completely shut down.

It isn't until Si is pushed to have a child by not only Kenneth, but also both of their parents to keep up appearances does Kenneth have more "ammo" for Si to respond and behave better, because no the fucker's not above threatening his own children. It's also one of the few times Kenneth sees Si smile anymore, and a part of that does kill him because he loves Si's smile and misses when it was directed at him and real- not the fake smiles Si puts on at dinner parties. He takes advantage of it however and sneaks pictures while pretending that Si is smiling because HE gave him the light in his life back with their son.

Ezra does eventually save Si from this situation after going through a long process of convicting Kenneth of treason (that's a whole thing wheeze, government connections and all) after gathering a lot of evidence and pulling some strings here and there, because Kenneth's mansion is secured with a lot of alarms and security once he has Si in his arms again to both keep him from escaping and to keep Ezra from sneaking in, but Si's left pretty broken after everything and it takes him a while to really break back out of his shell and recover.....not that Ezra is complaining now that Si's completely dependent on him. :3 But, in cute fashion, Ezra adopts Erick as his own child and is genuinely a better husband and father than Kenneth ever wished to be. However....Kenneth is still rotting in a cell- waiting for the day he can get revenge and get Si back....or die trying. :3

[chickensarentcheap]

@tragiclyhip​

I know we changed the first question to something about 'what do they know a lot about that really has nothing to do with the plot?'

Tyler: surfing

Esme: gardening

2. What do they feel guilty for that the other person(s) doesn’t / don’t even remember?

These are tough. I honestly don't know.  lol.   I think for Esme it would be the time she mentioned in passing that TJ is his first boy.  And she meant first boy with HER. And she felt terrible because she thought she'd hurt Tyler and that he'd think she was dismissing the fact his son that died ever existed.

For Tyler, hmmmm

I know he once compared something she said to his ex and something she did.  And he felt pretty shitty about that and while she was pissed at the time, Esme never thought about it again.

3. What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

Esme is pretty the same across the board.  She's very welcoming and bubbly and warm and loves to meet people.  When she's working however, she has to 'become someone else' and take on a whole new identity to get what she needs from people.  So she takes no these different personas to fool them.  Whereas outside of that, she's a very genuine person.

Tyler:  It's been mentioned before by him and Esme, that there's two very distinct sides to him. There's job Tyler and at home Tyler.  Job Tyler is who see in the movie while on a mission.  He's very 'to the point', very intense,  his instincts and his skills are on autopilot.  At home, he's very relaxed.  He's a husband and a father and that's all that matters.  He's playing with the kids, he's teasing and flirting with Esme, he's in his happy place and he smiles and laughs a lot and talks more.

4. What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Tyler: His gray hair lol.    He hates getting old.   People are not noticing when they look at you, Tyler.  lol.   People just notice his sheer size, the tattoos (the neck one is hard to miss) and his eyes.  

Esme:  She sees the scars that Mark had caused :(     Other people see those adorable freckles across her nose and those big brown eyes and how tiny she actually is

5. What’s the worst gift they ever received? How did they respond?

Tyler and those goddamn onesie pyjamas Esme gets the entire family at Christmas. He wears it once and that's it.  They get buried in the closet and never thought of again.

Esme was given a Barbie doll as a kid when she wanted a transformer.  Biggest disappointment EVER.

6. How do they greet someone they dislike / hate?

Tyler will just nod in greeting. Not even the smallest of smalls.  Just a curt nod and then he stays his distance.  Esme is civil, will make small talk but then avoid them the rest of the time.

7. What’s something unimportant / frivolous that they hate passionately?

Esme:  Vegemite. LOL. Do not get her going about vegemite

Tyler: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He sees Esme eating one and he gags lol

8. How do they respond when someone doesn’t believe them?

Tyler doesn't give a shit lol.   Esme gets offended and argues and offers up all the proof she's telling the truth

9. What’s a secret they haven’t told serious romantic partners and don’t plan to tell?

Esme: Tyler knows everything there is to know about her. But before him, she never told romantic partners she was bi-sexual

Tyler:  Same as Esme, she knows everything there is to know about him. But I would say that before her (and outside of Nik) partners never knew what he really did for a living. Or anything to do with his past.

10.  This was a repeat question. about feeling guilty for something.

[bluerosejuliet]

So I'm invested with the Polin Harry Potter AU now lol so what happened at the Hogsmeade? I really want Colin's POV cuz I know the man was FUMING the whole night. And how he put his foot in his mouth (again)

Cue the next few weeks of chaotic Colin running around trying to talk to Pen but gets thwarted at EVERY move by the combined powers of Eloise and the 2nd gen Marauders while James woos his littlle pretty redhead friend.

(BTW Im torn if I wanted this to end up as Poil or Pen x James crap)

Sorry for the late reply, it's been a bit hectic with the end of the year (I teach elementary school plus my mom ended up in the hospital with pneumonia) but here is basically what Colin is thinking during the Yule Ball and the fight that causes the first break in his friendship with Penelope (yes there will be another, much worse one later on).

Here is the link for the first two parts:

And now I present to you Colin Bridgerton, putting his foot spectacularly in his mouth.

When Colin had woken up that been, he'd felt a mixture of excitement and guilt. He was of course excited to see Marina looking no doubt gorgeous as ever in whatever dress robes while also getting a chance to twirl her around the dance floor (and if George Crane happened to be watching all the better!) He'd been in love with Marina Thompson since third year, when she'd offered him a sweet after class. His father had passed away the summer before and he was doing his best not to cry and be strong for his siblings but it was tiring.

Yet Marina, being the sweet and beautiful girl she was, had noticed and offered him the sweet she had been planning on eating.

Colin knew from that moment that she would be woman he would marry one done, his soulmate. His father had fallen in love with his mother during hogwarts after all so it was only natural Colin would find his other half as well.

Of course, their relationship wasn't perfect. Marina's father put a lot of pressure on her to do well while things seemed to come easy to Colin. Marina had plans to make a career for herself while Colin dreamed of traveling the world and researching new creatures. Despite their differences though, Colin felt confident that they balanced each other out.

Yes, he'd been upset when she'd broken up with him and utterly heartbroken when she started dating George Crane not even weeks later. But he could admit that he should have listened to her more and taken her a bit more seriously.

But all that was in the past and once more Marina was in his arms and all was right.

In fact, tonight might turn out to be a most excellent night as Marina kept hinting at slipping away to go to the room of requirement and finally take their relationship to the next level.

Perhaps he was old fashioned but Colin had heard how his father had not slept with anyone before his mother, wanting to only sleep with the woman he would marry. His brothers had of course not followed this path, especially Anthony who he was positive slept with half the girls in his year by the time he graduate. But Colin was a romantic and what could be more romantic than him and Marina giving themselves to each other on the night of the ball.

Of course Colin would have understood if Marina slept with George, he would never shame or judge his soulmate for not thinking the same as him. But Marina had mentioned that she could never take that step with George and she had realized that Colin was the one she wanted to share that part of herself with.

But while he was excited about the events of the night, another part still of his mind was occupied by thought of another girl.

Penelope Feathering, a dear friend of his family and one of his closest friends. They had been friends since Eloise and Penelope met as children and she had been there for both Colin and Eloise during their fathers passing. She'd also been the one to comfort him through his break up with Marina.

While Eloise and his siblings would spit vitriol words or muttered insults under their breath about Marina, Penelope merely listened and never said a cruel work about her. She understood that Colin loved Marina and still held her in high regard, given that they had been friends long before they started dating. It was why he originally asked her to be his date to the Yule ball.

Pen wouldn't try to hit on him or make a snide remark about his ex. She had a great sense of humor and would be wonderful company.

So when Marina had come back to him, by some miracle of fate, and Colin had to let Penelope know his change in plans, she'd of course been her usual sweet and understanding self.

Until she'd overheard his argument with Eloise and had avoided him since.

He knew he'd hurt her, he'd known that the second he met her eyes. But for the love of God he hadn't meant to! He knew Pen probably thought he meant that no one would want to date but he hadn't meant it like that!

She was his dearest friend and he could imagine treating Penelope the way he did Marina. It was unfathomable. It would be like trying to imagine dating his sisters (shudder).

Unfortunately for Colin, he hadn't been able to approach Penelope that whole week with Eloise guarding her religiously. So he'd given up in favor of spending time with Marina who seemed to want to be around far more than before.

But tonight he would find time to slip away to the Ravenclaw dorm and apologize to Pen. He doubted she'd want to attend the ball when Eloise was going with Theo (that itself was another thing that seemed unfathomable, his spitfire sister dating someone!) So he'd make sure to stop by and apologize when Marina was busy with her friends.

Everything had been going splendidly at first.

Marina looked breathtaking in a lovely gold dress that made her look even more beautiful and she'd even surprised him with a kiss that promised more to come.

His friends met him by the entrance the the great hall and they'd started a conversation about quidditch until Richard Fife had stopped mid sentence, eyes widening as he looked at something over Colin's shoulder.

"Is that-Penelope Featherington with James Potter?" he sputtered as Colin looked at him confused before turning around.

The boy coming down the stairs was certainly James Potter, dressed in black dress robes with his dark hair slicked and and mischievous eye which were currently gazing at his smaller red haired companion.

The girl looked similar to Pen with her red hair and short rounded figure. But his Pen didn't wear makeup and always wore her in one or two braids, explaining it was more manageable with her curls and wore baggy sweaters that her mother had bought as she was certain her daughter would only increase in size. And when she wasn't wearing her school uniform, she was always in yellow. She was his adorable Pen.

Which is why the girl coming down the stairs could not have been Pen

The girl coming down the stairs with James looked nothing like Penelope, with her emerald off shoulder dress robes lined with white lace that hugged her waist before poofing out into a floor length skirt. Around her pale neck was a black satin ribbon choker with some pendant hanging off of it. Red curls cascaded over her left shoulder from a bun adorned with tiny white flowers. Her blue eyes were framed by dark curly lashes (mascara her thought) and her cheeks were colored slightly pink as her red painted lips curved into a smile at something James said.

This girl was a lovely creature no doubt and he could see why someone like James Potter would have asked her to be his date but there was no way she was his adorable red haired friend-

"Penelope, James over here!" called Michael Stirling and Colin felt his body stiffen as James placed a hand on Penelope's waist (far to low for his liking!) as he lead Penelope over to the Marauders 2.0 but not before Colin caught the smirk James shot his way.

At some point Marina said something to get his attention and he put on his charming smile as they entered the Great Hall for dinner.

He did his best to pay attention to what his girlfriend and friends were talking about, but his eyes kept wandering to the table across the hall from them. Michael Stirling was waving his hands around and saying something that resulted in the people at his table laughing (except for Theo who looked strangely upset).

It wasn't until the dancing had started with Colin twirling Marina around, when he spotted James giving an overdramatic bow to Penelope as she giggled and followed his lead as he moved them across the floor that Colin's shock melted into fury.

Colin was not known for his temper, Anthony being regarded as the hothead of the family, but it took every fiber of his being to not march across the floor and punch James Potter in his smug little face.

The Marauders were known for their pranks and they had always been pretty tame, considering that no one got hurt but it seemed as if the boys were upping their usual pranks to acts of cruelty.

Colin knew that while he found Penelope to be adorable, many other made fun of her for looks. Unlike the Bridgertons, her family was not the most popular and of her sisters she often found herself the source of the most ridicule. Of course he'd done his best to reprimand his friends when they snidely commented on Penelope (except for Will and Alice who were the kinder members of the group) or changed the subject.

He didn't know why James Potter decided to play around with Penelope's heart but he was putting a stop to it right now!

Colin bided his time, waiting patiently until he finally saw James leave to get a drink leaving Penelope alone for the first time that night.

Murmuring an excuse to Marina, Colin quickly walked over to Penelope and grabbed her hand.

"Colin wha-"

"We need to talk. Now," he said firmly, sounding a bit like Anthony, as he dragged Penelope out of the Great Hall and into an empty corridor nearby. As soon as Colin deemed them far enough way, he let go of Penelope's hand and started pacing.

Penelope let out a huff, crossing her arms, looking a bit irritated with Colin.

"What on earth has gotten into you? You could have just said what you needed to in there. If this is about me being mad at you, I told you I'm fine! You know how Eloise gets though -"

"This isn't about that," interrupted Colin as his eyes were drawn to where Penelope's arms had pushed up her breasts. Merlin when did Pen grow boobs?

Shaking his head, Colin quickly removed his dress robes and wrapped Penelope, feeling more relaxed now that she looked it bit more like herself. Thankfully Penelope didn't try to shake it off, pulling it closer to her instead while shooting him a curious look.

"Okay then why the dramatics?" she asked.

Colin ran a hand through his hair, knowing what he would have say next would no doubt hurt Penelope but better to tell her now than let James continue to lead her on.

"It's about Potter," he said ask Pen titled her head in confusion.

"James?" she asked curiously making Colin frown.

"Yes. Look I'm not saying this to be mean or hurt you but I'd rather you hear it from me then have to face this all later on. I know you think he's a great guy and he's handsome and what not but he's not who you think he is. The Marauders are Hogwarts biggest pranksters and sometimes they take their pranks a little to far. I'm not sure if they realize that people can get hurt but I don't want you to be be hurt by James later on," he said as Penelope's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Prank? Colin I highly doubt James, Fred and Michael will do something like set off fireworks in the Great Hall or turn the dance floor into an ice skating rink. Headmistress McGonagall would have their heads and Phillip would never allow it," she said calmly as Colin sighed in frustration.

"That's not the kind of prank I'm talking about Penelope! I mean pranks like tricking people for fun like turning Cressida Cowper face into a cows or convincing a second year that mermaid like to eat cake or" Colin closed his eyes as he uttered the next part, "tricking girls into thinking they actually like them."

Silence.

Colin opened his eyes to see Penelope gaping at him in shock.

"You think James," she said slowly "asked me to the Yule Ball... as some sort of cruel prank?

Colin threw his hands up in the air.

"Yes obviously! I mean it makes no sense why he would ask you to go to begin with. The guy has had girls asking him out for the past two weeks and he suddenly decides to ask you. It just seems suspicious. Plus you and him are completely different," he ranted not noticing how Penelope stiffened.

"Different?" she said softly but Colin didn't seem to hear.

"Yes! I mean just look at the way you dressed up for him tonight! The makeup, the dress, the hair! This isn't you Pen and I don't want you to feel like you need to change yourself to get a guy like Potter to like you when he's only leading you on! James Potter is someone who likes having all eyes on them and your-"

"A wallflower?" she finished raising an eyebrow as Colin stopped mid speech as Penelope continued. " So you think the only reason James would ask me to be his date, when he's had much prettier girls asking to be his partner., is because he's pulling a prank on me?"

Colin fell silent as he looked shamefully at the floor.

"Oh I see. You honestly don't think someone like James would be seriously interested in me to want to ask me out because he can do better?"

Colin's head shot up as her grabbed Penelope's hand in his.

"That's not it! Your mind is utterly brilliant Penelope and any guy who can't see that is an idiot."

Penelope smiled sadly at him.

"Brilliant but not beautiful enough to attract someone's attention," she whispered as Colin stiffened.

"It's not like I haven't heard it before Colin. I've heard it all before. From my mother. From my sisters. From the other kids at Hogwarts. I just never thought you would have considered to be the ugly duckling as well. But you know I wanted just one night, one night where I didn't feel like the ugly duckling for once so I dressed up for myself!" she snapped before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"And you know, for once in my life, I actually felt pretty. Maybe I'm not as beautiful as Marina but formonce I actually liked what I saw in the mirror. And then you went on about how ridiculous I look and it made me realize that there's no such thing as an ugly duckling turning into a swan," she laughed sadly as Colin startled, realizing that there were tears filling her eyes.

"That's not what I meant! I told you you are brilliant Pen but it just doesn't make sense for James Potter to ask you to be his date out of the blue a week before the dance when he's turned down everyone else! None of the other the Marauders have dates yet James comes with you out of nowhere. It just doesn't add up," Colin babbled wondering why Penelope couldn't see that he was just looking out for her! He'd been protecting her since first year and he wasn't about to let someone hurt her.

Penelope shot him a glare.

"Colin, I've been tutoring James for the past year and a half. Eloise and I have gone to Hogsmeade with him and the others plenty of times," bristled Penelope as Colin shook his head.

"That can't be right! Your my best friend Pen and I would've definitely noticed-"

"That's because you've been seeing Marina! For Merlin's sake Colin, you barely spent any time around me or your siblings once you two started going out. You always said we'll catch up later but eventually I just gave up because you never followed through. I'm not blaming Marina for this but I think you need to find a better way to balance your priorities. We only started hanging out after Marina and you broke up and even then you only talked about her. I'm fine with listening to you but not once did you ever ask about my life. Do you even know how my classes are going or who I'm hanging out with? "

Colin quickly tried to back peddle.

"Of course I do Pen! You said something last week about having trouble with the mandrakes right?" he asked desperately as Penelope shook her head sadly.

"That was during my first few weeks of Herbology class last year," she whispered before shaking her head. She gently removed Colin's robes and placed them back in his arms before turning and walking away towards the Great Hall.

Colin knew he should go after, beg for her forgiveness or something but he remained frozen in place.

Penelope shot him one last look over her shoulder.

"Just so you know, I've been friends with James since last year. Yes he's a prankster but he's not cruel or malicious Colin. He asked me to go as friends since he knew I wouldn't try and use him like other girls. He's been an amazing friend and to be honest," she let out a shaky breath, "he's been a lot better of a friend than you are. I'm not sure what happened with us but I need some space from you for now."

With those words, she disappeared around the corner perhaps heading back to James or back to the dorms. Colin didn't know how long he stood there until Richard stumbled upon him. carrying a bottle of fire whiskey followed by an amused Will Mondrich and Harry Dankworth.

"Colin mate! I found some fire whiskey and me and the others are heading to the room of requirement for a drink? You in?" asked Fife, wiggling his eyebrows making Colin remember how he'd left his girlfriend back in the Great Hall. As if reading his mind Will answered Colin's unspoken question.

"She headed back to the dorms with Alice. Apparently the food was not agreeing with her," he said as Colin grabbed the bottle and took a swig from it.

"I'm in," he said, hoping to forget about this night as soon as possible.

And forget the fact that he'd probably just ruined his relationship with his best friend permanently.

_____________________________________________________________

Meanwhile

Once she was sure she was far enough away from Colin where he couldn't see her, Penelope hurriedly collapsed by the stairs to the Great Hall, thankful no one was around to her wretched state.

The night had honestly been magical. She'd been unsure about what James would think of her dress (she'd ordered a green one to match Colin's eyes) and had sat nervously as Edwina had finished place the violets James had given her in her hair.

All the nerves faded when James gaped at her as she exited the through the portrait hole, nervously stammering on about how beautiful she looked and she'd had to bite down a laugh at how he was acting like he was asking her to the ball again. But eventually they fell into their usual banter as James proudly escorted her to the Great Hall where the other Marauders greeted them and she'd spent the next few hours in their company, laughing and having a great time.

Surprisingly, James was a very skilled dancer, whisking her around the floor with the occasional dip that made her laugh, pouting like a child when one of his friends (usually Michael) would step in and steal her away.

It was the most fun she'd had in a long time and the evening had been so perfect.

But she was Penelope Featherington, so of course the other shoe was bound to drop at some point.

She just honestly hadn't expected it to come from Colin though.

Penelope knew she wasn't attractive, it would be impossible not to be when your mother was Portia Featherington. She was too short, too curly, too curvy, too pale, too everything. It was only with the Bridgertons and her friends, that she felt even halfway decent about herself.

Why she thought Colin would think any differently was a mystery to her but it still hurt hearing someone she cared about confirm all the things her mother said.

Penelope Featherington would never be good enough, no matter how hard she tried.

And so she sobbed for the friend she lost that night, wishing she had seen the cracks earlier before it had been shattered and cut at her heart.

It must have been only a minute when she heard someone slowly walking over to her. They said nothing as they sat beside her and pulled her into their arms.

"I'm sorry, I've made a whole mess of things," she hiccuped, earning a reassuring squeeze.

"Nah Feathers, you haven't ruined anything. It's not your fault Bridgerton is a prat," huffed James as Penelope pulled away to look up at him. Normally, she would have begun defending Colin but for once she didn't have the words to say to come to his defense.

"How did you-"

"Michael saw him pull you away. Didn't want to intrude but when you didn't come back I decided to check and see if you were okay," he said softly as Penelope sniffled.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want but can I make a suggestion?" he asked as Penelope nodded against his chest.

"I say we forget about Bridgerton and go back in there to finish the rest of our night because I'll be damned if I let you leave this ball sad when you've been looking forward to it for weeks," said James as Penelope did her best to wipe away her tears.

"You still wanna dance with me after all this?" she questioned, as James helped her to her feet.

"No, I what I really want to do is find Bridgerton and hex him into next year or better yet sick Eloise on him. But I did promise you a good time tonight and I intend to follow through on that promise. So, what do you say Penny? Still willing to chance getting you toes stepped on by me? Seventh times the charm," he said, wiggling his eyebrows as Penelope laughed.

She quickly pulled out her wand from her pocket, muttering a spell that would fix her makeup back to normal (thankful that Daphne had taught the trick to her earlier). Smiling, she tooks James' arm as they headed back into the ballroom, passing by three of Colin's friends who thankfully ignored her.

As promised, the rest of the night was spent dancing and laughing, though she did notice Theo had left as some point leaving Eloise by herself. Her best friend had looked a bit put out until she started chatting with Phillip about something, neither being in the mood to dance apparently.

At last, the ball ended and like a true gentleman, James escorted her back to her dorm, Phillip and Eloise walking ahead of them. Eloise had already gone through the portrait hole leaving just her and James outside the corridor.

"I had a really good time tonight James," she said smiling as he shot her a mischievous grin.

"Well I did promise you a magical evening Miss Featherington and I take my promises very seriously," he teased.

"That you did," she agreed.

She couldn't say why she did what she did next, only that it felt right in the moment, but for whatever reason, she quickly stood on her tiptoes and kissed James on his cheek.

Pulling back, she hid a smile at the shocked look on his face before turning towards the portrait hole.

"Goodnight James," she called over her shoulder as she entered her dorm room where Eloise stood waiting for her, clearly wanting to talk.

It would be year before Penelope kiss James Potter again.

Only this time, she knew exactly why she was kissing him and she was not the first one to make a move.

Ironically it would also take place on Christmas.

______________________________________________________________

I know this is longer than what many of you were expecting but I wanted to show what lead up to the fight and how both of them reacted afterwards.

Penelope will end up dating James (as you can see from the last couple of lines).

If you have anymore questions about this AU, feel free to ask! I have a whole bunch of scenes worked out, including some big events like:

The aftermath of the ball where secrets are revealed and someone is dead

Penelope and Colin reconciling before he leaves to go travel the world for his job (I'm deciding between him being a Magizoologist or Dragonologist)

The Christmas after the ball (AKA Penelope and James first real kiss!)

The REAL big fight between Colin and Penelope that happens the summer after Penelope's sixth year that leads to them not talking for seven years.

The Event (that's it, because more words will spoil what goes down but I'd be happy to give a hint.