#put a * if you want to talk in private and don’t want me to publish it

[artsyjedi]

A Moment | Mick Schumacher x Reader

summary: what’s going on in Mick’s mind and you meet a little of his world.

author’s note: i found this written in a old notebook and decided to rewrite. there’s no beginning or end, it’s truly just a piece of moment between you too. english isn’t my first language, so please be nice!

warnings: none

Mick Schumacher was something.

He had that smile that could sweep you off your feet. His voice was soft and he loved to show how much he loves you whenever he can. He was a private person, always leaving more questions than answers to the curious ones.

He was your boyfriend. And he could easily be the love of your life.

“Are you coming today?” He asked you, his voice muffled by the shirt he was putting on.

“You want me to?” You raised your voice for him to hear you from the bathroom.

Mick doesn't often invite you to the races. In fact, he doesn’t often invite you to anything that requires any sort of public or social gathering that goes beyond your families. At first, right at the beginning of the relationship, your friends were skeptical of it, trying to open your eyes on how weird it was that your boyfriend never seemed interested in taking you anywhere people could see that he had a girlfriend.

You never gave much thought to it. You trust Mick. You had already noticed how uncomfortable he can get around too many people, or how he looked annoyed with some questions from the journalists or even fans.

“Of course” he made his way towards you, hugging your waist from behind and resting his chin on your shoulder. Ocean blue eyes meeting yours through the mirror.

You tried, but the excitement smile appeared on your face when you saw he truly meant it, “Give me five minutes”

He smiled at your reaction, spinning you to face him. His hands ran through your hair.

“Don’t worry, we have more than five minutes” he gave you forehead a quick kiss.

“Wait, what am I gonna wear?”

“Anything you want, ich liebe dich so wie du bist. You can wear pajamas and would still look beautiful”

Mick smiled and left you alone to get ready. He lied down on bed, following each one of your movements. He found amusing how you tried to do everything at once, mumbling to yourself a full conversation.

He loved these little things about you.

Sometimes, Mick could be found wondering if he was enough for you. When he mentioned this insecurity to his friends, they said he was going crazy, you’re Mick Schumacher, how could you not be enough? they said as if it was clear. As if he, being who he was, meant something.

Then, when alone, trapped inside of his mind (which he knows is always a dangerous thing), he can’t help to think that’s the problem of it all. That if he had a different last name, a different story, things would be easier.

He knows how it’s like to be harassed by the media, treated like a machine or a piece of meat on display for the vultures to eat. Mick grew up like that, having to learn how to talk, walk and act. All the eyes were on him and his family, even before his father’s accident.

Mick wondered if he was selfish by pulling you into his mess. Everyone on his life faced all the bad things a public person, or being related to one, can face: cars chasing them, people camping in front of their house trying to find something to publish about, to create rumors, get information on his private life, on his dad.

Just the thought of something occurring to you was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

“Mick?” you snapped your fingers in front of his face, sitting beside him and caressing his leg. “You’re ok?”

“Just thinking”

“A penny for your thoughts?”

“Not that important” he pulled you to a tight hug.

“You think I look good?”

“I think you look like the bane of my existence and object of my desires” he dramatized, winning a genuine laugh.

“I should never have watched Bridgerton with you” you shook your head and got up, adjusting your outfit. “Now let’s go, big boy! Your team has a race to win!”

“Yes, ma’am!” he pretended to salute you.

The paddock was… energetic, to say at least. You knew that there were gonna be hundreds of people but you never actually managed to get a hold of how many. Part of you were glad Mick hadn't left your side and always kept touching you somewhere, making his presence known. When he went to give some interviews, he had you at his eyesight.

Questions about you popped up now and there, the more respectful ones didn’t ask anything personal and only said they were happy for us. Mick answered everything like he was taught to: answer without exactly answering. But anyone could see the happiness and passion on his face.

Mick introduced you to everyone and you thought how funny and sweet it was that the older ones acted more protectively, like older brothers. And when you got to the Mereces garage, Lewis stole you faster than Mick could notice. He and George were side by side, showing everything to you while your boyfriend took the opportunity to discuss something with the mechanics.

“And Toto and Susie are like his race week mom and dad, when Corinna isn’t here. Gina becomes a little sister too” George explained. You were loving every second of it. For the first time in months, you were completely part of Mick’s world.

“Mick can be very private, we didn’t actually think he would bring you” Lewis admitted, closing half of his jumpsuit and leaving it hanging on his waist.

“I was surprised too, believe me” You turned around to see Mick, unintentionally mimicking his serious frown face. You smiled. God, you truly loved him.

George and Lewis shared a known and amused glance.

A few weeks prior, they found out Mick was in a serious relationship and annoyed the younger one until he opened his mouth and told them everything. Of course George shared it with Carmen. Ocon also started to pick on him on why he hadn't told them anything. And Mick was honest in his answer: he was afraid. It was understandable, everyone has been in that position, sharing the same fears - and they knew it could be trickier to Mick due to his personal reasons.

“He wants to protect you” George smiled “That’s why he doesn’t show you off”

“That and because he’s afraid you’ll notice he’s not that big of a deal” Lewis said playfully and louder for Mick to hear.

“Yeah, I figured” you shrugged. “Not noticing he’s not a big deal, but the protection thing. He worries too much sometimes”

The other two drivers adjusted their posture when noticing their reserve driver was approaching them.

“So… Do you have any siblings or cousins who are as beautiful and nice as you for this guy?” George pointed towards Lewis, who let out a loud and surprised gasp.

“None that are single, sorry Lewis” you laughed, feeling Mick’s arm around your shoulder. You hugged his waist, pulling him closer to your side.

“I’m not a jealous person, so everything should be fine”

“Oh God, shut up” George rolled his eyes and said his goodbyes. Lewis did the same, going to get properly ready.

You could still hear the two discussing something.

“You have a great family here” you comment, looking up to your boyfriend.

“And now you are part of it, so it got a thousand times better” he kissed you.

“You know that I love you, right?”

“But?”

“But now I see how everyone falls for Lewis, like… Wow” you laughed and so did he, remembering a conversation you two had a few nights ago, about how Lewis was the most beautiful driver on the grid “I mean, I knew he was pretty but in person? He’s literally a god!”

“Do I need to be worried or something?” He was facing you now. You tried not to laugh at his attempt to pretend to be angry.

“I mean… do you look hot as he does with the jumpsuit hanging?”

“Wait for tonight and I'll show you, alright?” he whispered in your ear, hugging you closer.

“I think I’m gonna prefer you without it” you whispered back, biting his ear lobe quickly so no one could see it.

“Please, respect the elders!” Toto’s thick accent made you jump in surprise.

“And the single ones!” The social media added.

Mick Schumacher was more than something: he was everything. Your everything.

[therandomartmaker]

(In Case I Don’t See You) Good Afternoon, Good Evening and Goodnight.

DPxDC

After a reveal, things go strange for Danny. At first, he thinks it’s just the lingering effects of having his vigilante identity out in the open. Sam and Tucker tell him he’s being paranoid, and Jazz doesn’t talk much with him because she’d left for college. She only listens to his words and talks him through the feelings, a steady presence.

It’s then that he realises that his ghosts had been showing up… regularly. Not erratic and randomly, they were almost scheduled; he’d checked once, and they had always shown up when the time was even. He’d said this to Sam and Tucker, Tucker looked concerned but Sam brushed him off. “They’d have to coordinate for that, Danny,” she said, “Do you really think Skulker wouldn’t take every chance possible to fight you?”

His ghosts were getting more agitated. It wasn’t hard to defeat them, they were just. Angrier. They also went down easier, but got back up faster. They also were disjointed in their banter, and it got worse as time went by, fights quieter and more… emotion filled.

It’s only when Danny spots several white vans nearby his fights that he realised he’d forgotten about the GIW.

Danny rushed home, to the portal- he’s unlucky, or perhaps rather fortunate, that he stumbles upon the GIW in his home, talking to his parents. It’s an easy decision to turn invisible.

“Keeping Patient Zero in the Truman cage is working well, but it might be catching on. Unscheduled fights give us more subjects, so you’ll be lent Subject-E and Subject-SK in two days, in the private laboratory, as they are currently useless in field and hinder the process.”

Patient Zero? Subject-E and Subject-SK? Useless? What process?

Truman Cage? …Danny knew that movie. Watched it with Jazz a few years before, because Jazz had a project on it, wanted to do inquiry on unethical ‘imprisonment’ and isolation.

Static buzzed through the air, and Danny heard the GIW agent pick up an ecto-proof walkie talkie. “Report, Patient Zero has been missing for two minutes, unknown whereabouts, may be heading or already at FW Household.”

Danny swore mentally, flying away to the roof of the Nasty Burger, still invisible.

Shit. What were they doing- what kind of shit had they already done?

…What could Danny do to stop it?

—

Batman stared at the report in his hands. Phase One of the Ghost Investigation Ward’s plan was going well, to capture and learn everything they can about ectoplasmic beings and a ‘villainous creature’ that has taken control of a small town in Illinois. Supposedly, the ‘creature’ was a volatile destructive being that repeatedly put the town through constant attacks.

Everything about it smelt fishy, and he’d found about the ‘GIW’ was flimsy, and a strangely large amount of money was being siphoned into it. The Fenton research being used was also something that shouldn’t’ve been published, biased and clearly contradictory in areas.

The information blockout was just asking for investigation.

sorry that this isn’t more for the story! I may write more for this, but idm this being used as a prompt post either! If you respond to this in a separate post, please tag me, i like to see what y’all make, don’t just link this post and run y’all. Also, i’m like 80% sure someone’s made this already or at least done something similar, so if someone could find and link that, that’d be awesome

On a side note; some notes for this specific thing, but freedom is encouraged and this is mainly for myself because ik i’ll forget about this.

The GIW learnt danny’s id before the reveal and figured out very quickly that they wouldn’t be able to do anything to him because he’s legally human and he hasn’t had biological testing to make sure he isn’t human. They got ghost confirmation via the fenton parents after the public reveal, but had already informed the fentons of the possibility of danny being a ghost and proposed the ‘Truman Plan’ to them.

The plan was to set up another ghost portal with coordinates set to the same area the fenton’s portal lets out and recapture whichever ghosts danny lets go there, and this works exponentially well. They gain a bunch of speech capable ghosts to experiment on, and decide quickly that they’d start ways to put them under control and make them stronger, in order to, eventually, capture danny.

Phase Two is weakening Danny and looking into his skillset and how to counteract it.

Phase Three is actually capturing Danny.

Danny figures out that the GIW has agents everywhere, bugs everywhere and nowhere is safe. The only people he is absolutely certain he can trust to not make the GIW aware he knows he’s entrapped is Jazz, Sam, And Tucker, but since the last tw oare in the bounds of the GIW, he can only talk to Jazz to plan (he flies up up up and calls because tucker had them up on a private network so the only risk was being overheard, really)

B only discovered the GIW while passing over recent government records, and sets up one of his disguises to visit the town, eventually.

He ‘just so happens’ to be bowled over by Danny Fenton one afternoon and sets up a white noise generator to tell the boy the JL was on his side. After all, something wasn’t right, here.

[nicestgirlonline]

sneaky

Pairing: Bucky x Reader 

Warnings: None! Just fluff!

Summary: You and Bucky decide to keep your new relationship a secret with somewhat disastrous results…

Word Count: 3.7k 

A/N: Here’s my entry for @the-slumberparty week 2 challenge blast from the past! I don’t really have an old WIPs, I was trying to jumpstart my writing again with this sleepover. So here’s a little sequel to dumb dumb, since you guys really really seemed to like that one! Hope you enjoy! Feedback is always welcome! <3 

part 1

That Valentine's Day was possibly the best night of Bucky’s life. He had finally gotten to express everything he had been feeling for you. Friday night bled into Saturday morning, neither of you getting much sleep. The months of yearning and pining all finally erupted into passion, lust and love.

Saturday morning quickly became Saturday afternoon, with lots of pillow talk, telling each other little secrets about yourselves, sharing childhood stories. A simple Postmates order and quick text to Steve meant no one to bother you, and no reason for you to leave his bed. 

Saturday night, or what Bucky was calling round two became Sunday morning and that brought about a little thing called the Sunday Scaries.  

Amidst the bliss and happiness there was a lingering thought that kept bothering you. The two of you lounged in his bed, enjoying each other's quiet company, the moonlight of the early morning making the room glow blue. 

You bit your lip. Time to rip the bandaid off. Real life was going to be starting too soon again. 

“Bucky I’ve been thinking…about us.”  

“Really? Me too.” He started to pepper your face with kisses. “I’ve been thinking about all the ways I can have fun with my girlfriend.” You giggled as he started to tickle your sides. You wiggled your way out of his grasp. You propped yourself up on your forearms and did your best to put on your serious face. Which was very hard when Bucky was being so cute. 

“I mean it! I’ve been thinking, maybe we should keep this private? For a while?” You tried your best to keep your voice soft, the face Bucky made broke your heart, which was what you were afraid of. He looked extremely scared. 

“What’s wrong, what’d I do? Was girlfriend too soon? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, ” He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close against him. 

“No, no, you’re my boyfriend now.” You assured him. You took his face in your hands and he leaned into your palm in relief.  “I am really excited to be with you but we do work together. And there’s HR and office gossip and I don’t want that to affect us when we are still figuring out us. I guess I’ve never really thought about the power imbalance between us.” 

Bucky nodded albeit a bit reluctantly.  He untangled his arms around you so you were both lying on your side looking at each other. 

“I mean…I understand. You know I don’t really think of myself as a big superhero or something, but it is a ‘power imbalance’. Does it…bother you?” He asked scratching his face to avoid eye contact. You sat up, suddenly very confused. 

“What are you talking about, I’m the scientist who’s studying you? I’m the one abusing my authority here. It's all very unethical!” You exclaimed. 

“I don’t feel taken advantage of here, Doll. If anything, people are going to think I’m taking advantage of you.” Bucky chuckled. 

“Why?”

“I’m a bit older than you. I’m sort of famous for not so great reasons. I’m also literally more powerful than you?” He held up his left arm as if to show you proof. You dismissed it with a hand wave. 

“You don’t know that you’re more famous than me. I’ve been published in many academic journals.” You pointed out. Bucky shook his head. Gosh he liked you so much. He couldn’t even believe this was really happening to him half the time.  

“There were weeks of press coverage for my trial.”  You just rolled your eyes at that. Bucky was always so afraid that everyone saw him as a villain, but you’d never once felt any sort of danger from this sweet man. 

“Well, agree to disagree. But I still think maybe for the first two months we should just keep it quiet. So we don’t have to worry about anyone but each other. Just lowkey.” He pressed a kiss on the top of your head. 

“Yeah. You’re right, you’re totally right. We will keep things low key.” 

X

“Hey Steve, uhhh we’ve got a problem.” Bucky rushed into the breakfast room, thankful that Steve was the only one there. Steve queried his eyebrow at his panic stricken best friend. 

“What’s up Buck?” He asked. Bucky, seemingly slightly out of breath grabbed the side of the cabinets, he closed his eyes to try and get his 

“So you know how I told you about…on Valentines Day…and then we…so the weekend was…” He waved his hand to emphasis his pauses and Steve nodded along.  

“Of course,  I’m happy for you two, Bucky!” He said brightly, of course this must be some sort of post confession bliss the two of them were in making his friend act so strange.

“Well that's just the thing. Did you…tell anybody else about it?” He asked, his voice a bit strangled and his tone grim. 

“Uhhh was I not supposed to?” Steve asked, his face falling immediately. 

“Can you answer my question?”

“I told Sam about it. The two of you have been dancing around it for so long that we’re all just a little excited for you.” Steve started to explain but he could practically see the fury radiating off of Bucky in waves. His signature death stare was fixed on him. 

“Look, I really appreciate the um, support for my relationship. But here’s the thing, she doesn’t want anyone to know we’re dating.” He ground out, his teeth still clenched. “So we are going to be low. key.” 

“Look who it is. We were about to put out a missing person alert .” Natasha had slunk her way into the breakfast room, her voice dripping with self satisfied condescension.  “Getting provisions for the love nest?”

“God damn it, you told her too?”  He cried out. She shrugged, innocently looking away. Bucky grabbed his head, he was going to throttle Steve. 

“Oh come on, Y/N loves Nat. I figured she already knew.” Steve held his hands up in surrender, the captain certainly hadn't thought this was how his morning was going to go. Bucky turned his attention back to the super spy who was a bit too pleased with the unfolding drama. 

“Nat, did you tell anyone about this?” 

“Please, I’m a spy. I don’t just go around giving out important gossip with nothing to gain.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question, Romanoff!” He snapped back. 

“I’m still a bit confused why she doesn’t want anybody to know? Is that a modern dating thing, not telling people you’re dating?” Steve asked. It didn’t make much sense to him, what exactly did she think was going to happen if people found out? 

“She just doesn’t want the gossip and the pressure of everyone knowing about us to color the beginning of our relationship.” Bucky explained but his tone belated his true feelings. He absolutely did not want to keep this a secret. “So I told her I wasn’t going to tell anybody but I forgot I already told the biggest blabbermouth on the team.”  He quickly turned back to anger at his teammates. 

“I’m not the biggest blabbermouth…hm crap wait I forgot, Clint knows too.” Steve closed his eyes, wincing, ready for the smack upside the head he sorely deserved. 

“Loose lips sink ships asshole! ” Bucky was exasperated. 

“I didn’t know this was top secret information!” Steve countered. 

Nat stayed at the breakfast bar watching the two super soldiers argue, it was amusing but she had her limits. She had to intervene before Bucky had an aneurysm. 

“It's not so bad, we can do damage control. Tell Sam and Clint to keep quiet about it.” Nat said before taking a sip of her coffee. “And Wanda.”

“AND WANDA--” Steve looped an arm around Bucky’s waist before he could lunge at Natasha. 

x

Bucky Barnes: Hello Sam,  I am texting to inform you that Y/N and I are NOT DATING and please disbelieve the rumors to the contrary. Yours, Bucky Barnes

Sam Wilson: please learn to text like a normal person

Sam Wilson: You know I saw you making out with her in the elevator on Friday right? 

Bucky Barnes is typing…

Bucky Barnes: Sam, please disregard my previous message and meet me in the training gym on level 5 ASAP. Yours, Bucky Barnes

Sam Wilson: You don't have to sign your name I know it's you 

Sam Wilson: forget it

Sam Wilson: yeah I’ll be there

X Something wasn’t quite right. Your love life had never been better, Bucky was an amazing boyfriend, it was all you could do to not spend all of your time with him. The two of you would meet up after work hours and spend blissful hours back in Bucky’s apartment. But the rest of your work life, well it was starting to feel like people were avoiding you. 

Like the other day at lunch, you were sitting across from Bucky which wasn’t too unusual, you had been friends before you were seeing each other. The very tips of your shoes were touching, a special little secret way of holding hands. The two of you were discussing movies that were coming out, a totally neutral non flirty conversation. But then Steve walked in, looked at you then immediately spun on his heel and walked away. You furrowed your brow. That was a bit weird.

Or when you had bumped into Bucky at the gym on level 5. It had actually been a happy coincidence, you decided to do some yoga as you sorely needed to stretch your body out after being hunched over a microscope all day.  Bucky had been working out with Sam, Bucky lifting weights with Sam on the treadmill. You waved to the two of them and made your way over to say hi and Sam without saying a word jumped off the treadmill and started to jog out of the gym. 

Even Nat, which hurt the most, flaked on the movie night you’d wanted to have in the TV room. Then it was the domino effect, Steve dropped out then  Wanda and Vis dropped out too and soon it was just You and Bucky. 

“Oh nooo. What are we gonna do, watch the movie by ourselves? Just the two of us?” Bucky whispered in your ear as you were pouring popcorn into a large bowl. He grabbed you by the hips and waggled his eyebrows at you. You let out a little sigh and snatched the bowl before heading to the TV room.  You weren’t in the mood to flirt with him. The tv room was ready for what you had thought would be a big group. The lights were already dimmed and there were plenty of blankets and pillows around. 

You and Bucky settled next to each other on the couch. He grabbed a big fuzzy blue blanket and draped it over the two of your legs. He gave your leg a little squeeze beneath the blanket and winked. You just let out a sigh and grabbed the remote to fire up the Roku. Bucky frowned, this was certainly not what he thought their movie night would be like!

“What’s wrong Bambi? You seem down.” He asked, concerned. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder and pulled you into his body. You let him cuddle you, resting your head on his chest 

“It just feels like all of our friends are avoiding me. I mean I thought we were friends. Co-workers I guess, you know I’m not great at reading people.” You sighed and buried your face in his chest. Had you grown more annoying these past few weeks ? He grabbed your chin and tilted your head up so you were looking up at him. 

“Honey, you’re great at reading people, don’t let your insecurity tell you otherwise. I’m not really a people person anyway so I was excited that it was going to be just us. Nobody’s avoiding you I promise. Want to just reschedule this night?” He offered. 

You shook your head. Rescheduling wouldn’t make you feel any better. Besides it was nice to be able to spend time with Bucky out in the open like this.  You still felt like your friends were all acting weird, but you trusted Bucky enough that you decided to let it go. 

“Well since it’s just you and me, we still have to watch The Princess Bride.” You relaxed into the couch, already pulling it up on the screen. 

“Sounds perfect.” 

X

You were working away in the lab, it was a little past lunch time but you simply couldn’t stop in the middle of your project. You could push yourself just a little bit and finish this in time to actually leave at a normal time tonight. You had a date tonight. You smiled to yourself. A secret date.

You were deep in the process, so much so that you didn’t even notice the secret date, arriving hours early in the lab. He gave your sides a squeeze making you yelp. You spun around to see your smirking boyfriend. 

“Bucky! Um, what are you doing here!” you asked, trying not to sound too excited. 

“I'm here to help you out with those samples you had requested from me.” He projected his voice around the lab. But it was for the benefit of no one, you were the only two there. You smiled, happily playing along. 

“Oh right! Those samples I requested.” 

“Those spit samples.” He grabbed the back of your head and crushed his lips to yours in a sloppy wet kiss. You slapped his chest as you pulled away from him giggling.

“Ew! Bucky, that's so gross, why would you say it like that!” But you couldn’t stop giggling. He smiled, clearly feeding off the laughter. 

“You’re the one who wants us to have this clandestine affair, I’m just trying to keep up appearances.” 

“"Why are you even here? You’re a little early.”

“It's my lunch break and I wanted to say hi and give you a kiss.” He took  one of your hands in his. You reached out and grabbed his vibranium hand as well so you were holding both. It made his heart flutter, how unperturbed by his arm you were. When he was with you it was like he was just a normal guy.

“Hi.” He murmured, rubbing his nose against yours. 

“Hi.” you breathed back. This time when your lips met it was sweet and soft. He slowly moved his lips against yours, you opened your mouth just slightly enough that his tongue could slip inside and ---

“So I’m pretty sure the Erskine notes were in here.” It was Bruce! Bucky felt a sudden rush of fear. Bruce wasn’t one of the inner circle who would just pretend not to notice their closeness. They could actually get caught!  

You quickly as hard as you could pushed Bucky away and he clamored backwards. You wiped your mouth, hoping somehow that would disguise yourself. Bruce poked his head in.

“Just looking for the Erskine notes. Uh, everything ok in here?” He took stock of each of you, freshly shoved apart. 

“Yeah, just leaving!” Bucky cried as he raced out of the lab. 

“I’m indifferent to him leaving! I’ll go grab the notes for you Dr. Banner!” You raced to the file cabinet not looking at anything but the ground. 

Bruce cocked his head at the strange interaction he just encountered. 

X

“Good morning Bucky!” You greeted cheerfully as he entered the breakfast room in the morning, Steve and Sam in tow. “Morning Steve! Morning Sam!” You quickly added as they filed in. As not to raise suspicion. 

“I get a good morning? Wow. Don’t I feel special.” Sam said with a smirk. 

“I say good morning to everyone. I’m just a morning person like that. How are you doing Sam? I feel like you’ve been so busy, I barely even see you these days.” You asked, trying to sound casual. You still felt like everyone was acting so weird around you. 

“Oh you know, mission after mission. None of them were in Hawaii either, it's all been Nepal, Siberia, whatever frozen wasteland they can dump me in.” He sat down next to you. You nodded along as he continued talking about his missions, eager to connect with your friend again. 

“Good morning troops. Ah and good morning Beaker. Didn’t think I’d see you this early on a Monday.” Tony Stark, sunglasses still on, his closes wrinkled like he’d just come in off a jet. It had been awhile since he was on at the Compound.  

You hoped you weren’t blushing at the comment. Bucky had talked you into another Sunday night sleepover, you were trying to be subtle about it but you were a morning person, it didn't make sense to pretend to show up later.

‘I didn’t think I’d see you at all Mr. Stark. It's been awhile, since you’ve hunkered down with us mole people in the lab.” You always had a professional but good natured relationship with Tony. He was your boss after all, which is why you found it a little weird to call him Tony. 

Tony let out a chuckle and started to make science small talk, about the lab and the projects you’d been working on. 

Bucky and Tony were not great friends. They had buried the hatchet, sure, but it wasn’t like the two drank beer and watched the game together. Cordial coworkers are best. 

Except Bucky didn't feel very cordial with Tony right now. Considering he had taken the only open seat next to you. He gruffly sat down at the table next to them with his coffee. 

You wanted to invite Bucky to come sit with you, or go over to his table, but that would probably be a bit too much for just friends. You peered over Tony’s shoulder to your grumpy boyfriend darkly having breakfast. You tried not to make it too obvious and still listen to his anecdote about building a mini laser. 

The two of your eyes would catch more often than not. Quickly turning back to whatever they were doing. Tony picked up on this immediately, he looked over his shoulder

“What do you keep looking at?” He spun around to look directly at Bucky who was frozen in place.  “What’s going on here? Are you two fucking or something?”

It was like everything happened all at once.

“Tony -- out of line.” “Uh HR?” “No no no you misunderstand.” “Which one of you told Tony?”

Everyone burst into action, all speaking over each other.  Wait what? You swung your head from pleading with Tony to your secret boyfriend.  The three soldiers froze. Sam took a deep breath. 

“I’ve had enough of this! Nobody told Tony. You two idiots are just so obvious that anyone could see it.” Sam said. As soon as he did Steve let out a huge sigh of relief, his shoulders rolling forward like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.  

“I won’t have this, no way, not on my watch. Y/N. My beloved employee. With Mancurian Candidate? Under my nose, in my own lab?” Tony said indignantly,  putting his hand over his heart as if he was scandalized. 

“Tony! That’s really not very funny. You shouldn’t call him that.” You said your face a hard frown. and Bucky felt his heart burst with happiness. But then your gaze turned to him and he felt your icy stare.

“I--I can explain. You see I had actually texted Steve before we decided to be lowkey. It was before so really if you think about it. I didn’t do anything wrong. And Steve and his big mouth told a few people. But it’s just the people in this room. And Nat. And Clint. And Wanda. But that’s all.”  Bucky tried to explain to you as best he could. His eyes were pleading, he felt weak in the knees. You remained silent, your arms crossed. 

“Yikes, you’re in troooouble.” Tony taunted. 

“So basically everyone! Everyone I see on a daily basis. I can’t believe this. So they’ve all known the whole time?” You looked at Sam and Steve who both sheepishly nodded. You turned back to Bucky, you let out a shaky breath. People knew, and nothing bad had happened. Your friends had actually gone out of their way so you two could have some privacy.  “Well I guess there's no point in keeping this up then.”

“Hm?”

“I'm having breakfast with my boyfriend now, so if you don’t mind gentlemen.” You grabbed your breakfast bowl and moved your chair so you were sitting next to Bucky. You grabbed his hand and placed it on your lap. 

“Ugh, I'm nauseous you two are so fucking cute. Guess that’s my cue.  Come on, Commandos, take a hint.” Tony got up signaling to the other two who also rushed out of the room, more than happy to get out of the tense atmosphere. Once you were completely alone, you finally spoke. 

“I can’t believe everyone knows. Why didn’t you just tell me?” 

 Bucky let out a deep sigh. 

“I mean I kept it a secret from some people. Tony being one of them. I just…I wanted to give you what you wanted. But I mean to be completely honest I did want to tell everyone. I’m all in.”  

“I’m all in too!” You cried clutching his hand and kissing his knuckles. “That's why I wanted to try and slow things down so I couldn’t mess anything up. Now it just all seems so silly. I tried so hard to be sneaky too!” 

He took his hand off yours and gave your thigh a squeeze. 

“I mean…we can still sneak around sometimes. If you want. ” He had a playful glint in his eyes. “I mean, I had plans, Doll, a lot of plans. I was fully prepared to take you on every inch of that lab table.” 

“Sergeant Barnes! ” You gasped. “I think we may be a bit too loud for that level of sneakiness.” He took your chin in his hand and rubbed his thumb down your lip.

“I’m sure we can find a way to keep you quiet.”

[lukolabrainrot]

Hey there, what do we think about Nicola’s IG post for Camilla’s bday. It’s a collage of 4 pictures taken by paparazzi of her and Camilla last year and in the caption she said something like remember when the paparazzi took photos and you protected me by covering my face. I feel like that is for sure throwing shade at a certain someone. Like she could’ve chosen any photo with Camilla. She has sooo many, why that one and why this caption. Also the way the photos were stacked looked like A’s recent soho house photos with her friends.

I feel like Nicola’s being very cryptic and sending messages through her posts recently including the scrabble board. I don’t know what that was about exactly but I feel like she posted it for a purpose and the person who that was aimed at would understand. I dunno I might be over analyzing but I think we should paying closer attention to her posts.

I also feel like that means we are headed in a positive direction because it means she cares about Luke and feels protective over him and is letting everyone know, even if there is currently a bit of tension between them. Not saying there is tension but just a feeling that she’s not very happy with how he’s handling things at the moment.

What do we all think?

Ok I just reblogged a post about this, but I am going to add this (and a lot of this is just based on my gut feelings/opinions based off of everything I've seen, so these are all just THEORIES):

First, I want to start by saying we will NEVER know exactly what anyone's SPECIFIC intentions are on SM posts unless the publisher publicly clarifies it.

HOWEVER, N is VERY intentional on SM. So is A. L... not so much (I've known a lot of dudes like him who just don't really care to put a lot of energy/thought into SM, EVEN if they have it and utilize it). So I get the impression this might be the case for him as well. Intentionality takes thought and energy, so I do agree that N and A's recent SM posts are VERY intentional, but what those exact intentions are, again, we will probably never EXACTLY know. What/who is the common denominator between these two women though? L. Sooooo, I feel pretty confident that he is at the root of most of these more "cryptic" posts/stories on N and A's SM.

Now, normally, I would say WTH is a 37 y/o woman doing playing petty and shady SM games with a 23 y/o woman that wants the attention?? Well... I think SM is the only way for them to communicate with each other, and these two women have a LOTT to say to each other (which totally makes sense if ANY of our theories on L/N or the PR tour/papgate/A are accurate). Which is why I do think a lot of N's recent SM activity has been shade, but more directly towards A. Since the London premiere, I personally think L/N are dealing with their complex feelings over everything in private mainly because people are analyzing EVERYTHING they do.

If you have read my other theories on this blog, I don't think L/N are in a terrible place rn (but are very likely having to work through a LOT of complex things in private). I am sure they BOTH aren't happy about how this all publicly played out. And as I have mentioned, I think EVERYONE in this situation has made some mistakes (some more than others though). Please look through my "timelines" posts if you have any more questions on my thoughts on this.

I have also said this before, but I will say it again. N AND A WILL NEVER, NEVERRR BE FRIENDS. Based off of everything I have seen and know about these two women, they have VERY little in common (and A is very insecure and envious of N). Therefore, these two women are probably NEVER going to talk alone face-to-face (I personally don't think A has the cajones to address anything with N to her face). A (based on her public image and actions and everything else we know about her) seems like such a selfish, two-faced mean girl (just my opinion). N appears to be the opposite of that, and I believe would be more inclined to address things with A face-to-face. Since that is not an option though, N has utilized SM to share her real opinions/feelings with A. And yes, I do believe N is protective of L (BECAUSE THEY REALLY LOVE EACH OTHER). I don't have any solid proof on this, it is just a gut feeling, but I think a lot of N's most recent "cryptic" posts/stories are hinting that L/N's connection is not going to be ruptured by immature, selfish, and insecure behavior from A. And I think that is a really good sign for us Lukola fans.

Lastly, who again is the common denominator here? L! Could he have handled this WHOLE situation better? Yes! I've mentioned before though, he got ANNIHILATED on SM after Papgate. And he has been getting hate on SM from people in the fandom for years (him AND N already had to leave Twitter because of all the hate they were receiving). Therefore, I believe he is FED UP, but also TRYING to stay engaged just a LITTLE bit on SM. Yes, N has also gotten a lot of hate on SM, but she and L are very different people, and I get the sense that she is able to navigate the hate a little better than L. Therefore, L has taken a major step back from his public engagement online, and to be really honest, I don't believe he will be returning to his typical public SM activity anytime soon. Now, what other people AROUND him post on SM, I think that has a lot more to do with THOSE INDIVIDUALS than L himself (again, just my opinion). How aware/involved L is with any of these posts/stories that adjacent people in his life are posting, we will probably never know. L is a chronic people pleaser though, and I got the sense from what I have seen that he is not very good at setting firm boundaries with people in his life (which likely played a role in SOME of the SM activity we have seen recently from adjacent people in his life). I think there is a lot of self-reflection going on for him at the moment in terms of determining HOW he wants to move forward in his career and HOW he wants the public to see him. I think he is still figuring it out...

Anywhooo, like I have mentioned multiple times, the whole situation seems to be REALLY messy (and I am almost certain that both L/N didn't want all of this to play out on such a public stage). And we will never know the full story of what was/is going on BTS for everyone. However, a lot of the recent posts/stories from N have been very interestingggg 🤔

[holylulusworld]

What you see is what you get

Summary: Your friend needs help. You get more than help.

Pairing: FBI! (Alpha) Dean Winchester x Omega!Reader

Characters: Cassie Robinson, Sam Winchester, Charlie Bradbury

Warnings: angst, catfishing, mentions of nudes, mentions extortion, a/b/o, scenting, flirting, cocky Dean

“That motherfucker.” Your best friend slams her laptop shut and shoves it away. “I-I can’t believe I fell for his good looks.”

“What’s wrong?” You look up from the book you read. “Babe, we wanted to have a girl’s night. But all we did so far is read, and watch boring movies while you were glued to your laptop.”

“I tried to find out more about Jeremy,” Cassie sighs deeply. “I thought he was the one this time. He was funny, smart, and got a big dick.”

“Big dick,” you choke on the wine you drank. “How do you wanna know? Did you exchange nudes? I told you to not send guys nudes online!”

“I didn’t send him nudes.” Cassie doesn’t look you in the eyes, making you suspicious. 

You cock a brow. “Cassie, I need you to be honest with me. Did you send pictures of your coochie to a stranger you never met?" 

“I-no…I mean…it was a boob pic and one of my clothed pussy,” she finally admits. “Now he wants money from me. He threatens to publish the pictures. What do I do now?”

“What does that cockroach want?” You grab the laptop to check on the messages Cassie’s chat partner sent her today. “He wants five thousand bucks? Like hell! You won’t pay him a single buck. We are going to the cops.”

“No—they won’t help me. No one can. It’s my damn fault that I sent the pictures to him. I should’ve known better than trusting a stranger on the internet.”

Cassie looks devasted. Usually, she’s a strong and cocky woman. But right now, she looks like a scared child.

“They will,” you grunt. “I won’t accept any less than that bastard’s head on a silver plate.”

“Hi, uh—we,” Cassie doesn’t know how to start. Your friend doesn’t want to talk about her mistakes. She stares at the officer, ready to just run out of the police station and never look back.

“We need to talk to someone from the cybercrime department,” you size the officer up when he ignores you and waves you off. “Dude, did you even listen.”

“Do I look like an FBI agent?” The officer snaps at you. “If you have a problem with your laptop, look for a repair service.”

“Hey! My friend cat catfished and now that bastard wants five thousand bucks. Last time I checked extortion was still a crime. Now I want to talk to someone more qualified.”

“Miss, can I help you?” You dip your head to look at the new arrivers. Two tall guys in suits. One of them steps closer and shows you his badge. “I’m Agent Winchester, and this is my partner Agent Winchester.”

You snicker. “You are both Agent Winchester?”

He chuckles as you grab his wrist to keep him from putting his badge away. You read the name on the badge, humming as it says Winchester.

“We are brothers,” the other agent explains. “I’m Sam Winchester, this is my brother Dean. How can we help you?”

“Do you work for the cyber crime department by any chance?” You ask, still holding Dean’s wrist in a tight grip. “My friend needs help.”

“We will help you and your friend, sweetheart. Our colleague Agent Bradbury is a cybercrime expert. How about we go somewhere more private?”

“Y/N, I don’t think this is a good idea. The FBI has better things to do than helping me with my problems.” Cassie tries to drag you away. She grabs your arm, but you are glued to the spot.

“You won't pay that sonofabitch a single buck,” Dean smirks at your curse words. He dips his head and looks you up and down.

“Dean…don’t,” Sam warns. “We’ve got a case going on and got no time for distractions.”

“We must help these ladies,” Dean insists. “Call Charlie, we need her here.”

“Fine. But you will explain to Bobby why we didn’t solve the case…”

Half an hour later you sit in one of the offices at the police station.

It’s handy to have a bunch of FBI agents around. Suddenly the cops offered an office to you and even brought you coffee.

"To make a long story short…” Sam clears his throat when his brother is busy staring at you. “You send nudes to that douchebag and now he tries to extort you?”

“Not me. My friend,” you point at Cassie’s laptop. “She chatted with him for months. He seemed to be a nice guy. One thing led to another, and he sent a dick pic or like fifteen. After he begged and pleaded she returned the favor.”

“A classic,” the quirk redhead Sam called finally looks your way. She was busy checking on Cassie’s laptop and didn't even make a sound until now. “That’s how they gaslight you into believing you owe them nudes or shit.”

She drops her eyes back to the monitor, typing away on the keyboard. “Can you help my friend, Agent Bradbury?”

“Aw, sweetie. After I’m done with that little bug, I will clean your hard drive,” Charlie grins when you drop your gaze. She chuckles and goes back to work.

Dean dips his head to whisper in Charlie’s direction. “Hands off. I saw her first. You can hit on her friend.”

While the agents check on Cassie’s laptop, and talk about codes and shit you don’t understand, you lean closer to your friend. “I call dips on the cocky one. You can have one of the others.”

“Hmm… I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on both,” Cassie chuckles. She’s in a better mood now and ready to flirt with Sam and Charlie. “Jeremy’s loss, their win.”

“Gotcha, you bug!” Charlie exclaims. She flashes Cassie a smile, hoping to impress your friend. “I located the IP address and found the bastard extorting you. It’s not a guy, though.”

“What? Damn…” Cassie sighs. "It wasn't his dick on the pictures?"

“Nope," the redhead shrugs. "Do you know a woman named Bela Talbot?” 

Cassie gapes at Charlie. “I heard that name before…I mean…uh…”

“She’s her ex,” you hastily say. “Bela cheated on my friend with some guy. Cassie broke up with her."

"I haven’t heard of her for like three years.”

While Cassie and Charlie talk about her ex, online dating, and how to get her pictures back, you turn your attention back toward Dean.

Placing your hand on Dean’s thigh you purr his name. “So…are you single, taken, or seeing someone, Agent Winchester?”

“He’s single and desperate,” Sam grins. “But be aware. What you see is what you get.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it…” 

[storm-angel989]

Hello 🐝🚬 is back!

Could I request male! reader,Valentino's son that is dating Angel Dust and Valentino's reaction to him being told that ( it is fine if you dont want to do it)

Of course I want to do it! It’s just a matter of inspiration- I will always tell the requestor (either privately via PM or if anonymous a published response) if I don’t feel comfortable writing something. Thankfully, I happened upon a bit of thought earlier that this request seemed to fit, so enjoy!

TW: Valentino is fucking evil. Rape. Porn. All of the things that make Valentino NOT a good demon. 

That is all <3 Feedback is always appreciated! 

I took a deep breath and walked into my father’s studio. At the age of eighteen, I had become more than familiar with the inner workings of my fathers business for far longer than I cared to consider. More than once, I had followed in my father’s footsteps, taking center stage both directing and starring. 

“Ah. Reader. Come. You’re just about to see our favorite actor…take center stage.” 

The way my father said it made me wince. I watched my now boyfriend strut across the stage and take his place, his legs spread wide open as he was tied down to the bed. 

“Dad, stop, I need to talk to you before this scene.”

My father gave me an annoyed look before returning his attention to the stage. “What the fuck is going on that is so important that you need to interrupt my art?”

“My boyfriend isn’t your art,” I shot back as my temper flared up. 

My father chuckled and took a long drag from his cigarette. “Boyfriend, you say? Angel?” He leaned forward as his eyes flashed red. “Angel is my property, little boy. His life depends on the salvia from my mouth. Not yours. And I couldn’t give less of a damn what you do with him in his off time, but while he’s on my stage, his dick is mine.” He leaned forward and I saw the familiar glint of darkness flit in his eyes. “Unless you want to join him? Make a bit more money for your Papito?” 

I gritted my teeth. “Mom would be pissed if she ever….”

The slap sent me flying across the room. I struggled to stand as my fathers footsteps clinked across the room, his eyes blazing. “Do not ever, ever talk about your mother in front of me, do you understand? She’s dead. And there is nothing you, or I can ever do about it. Now piss off, or get on the stage before I get really angry.” He turned on a heel and retook his place in his chair. 

I brought myself to my feet and wiped the blood off my cheek as I slowly made my way to the stage. I shoved aside the demon that straddled him and took his place. 

“Hey,” Angel said softly as I leaned into him. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“Better me than him,” I replied as loudly as I dared. The lights flickered and dimmed. I took the cue to push myself into Angel. He gasped, the loud overdramatic screams I had come to learn firsthand were so incredibly faked. Every inch of me wanted to kill the man who put me in this position, but I knew that unless that contract was null and void, Angel would disappear along with him. 

I held Angel against me in the dressing room after the shoot and stroked his back as he curled into me. Bruises, not by my hand, blossomed across his body. Angel’s pet pig, Fat Nuggets, nuzzled into us, circled twice and laid down. As I held Angel as tight as I dared, only one thought crossed my mind. 

I would get him away from my father if it was the last thing I did.

[avalentina]

My newest fic, this one will most likely end up being published as a series. For now it is in my Harry Styles page on my Masterlist. I'm not sure how long it will be, and I'm still working on the story itself so it might be a bit before I post more, but the poll showed that about 2/3 of you wanted it now. So without further ado ...

Word count: 4,074

Warnings: bits of anxiety, depression, feeling overwhelmed; Robin Twist's death, grief; unnamed douchebags who want you for your money and title

Noble!Harry (Peerage!Harry) x Princess!Y/N

Note: This story features certain words in multiple languages mainly traditional Chinese, but I have put the English word or phrase in parentheses directly after the translated word or phrase.

Ex: Mǔqīn (Mother)

The Princess's Lover

Zero: Enchanted Love

(any and all pictures are not mine, all I do is collage them, pictures of Harry are a reference for his appearance during the specific moment, all other pictures are only for the purpose of an outfit/hairstyle/accessory, Y/N can look however you would like her to)

I remember the day as though it was just yesterday. Hard to believe it was closer to five years ago now.

(FLASHBACK)

I was at yet another ball, sometimes it feels like my parents, the King and Queen of MiraZhou, host one every week. I'm 19 year old Princess Y/N, the only girl to graduate from my private high school without ever being kissed. I've had a few offers for courtship, none of which I've accepted, all of them just a family's desperate attempt to increase their wealth, status, and favor in the eyes of my parents. I'm being the perfect princess, as I usually tend to be. I've never found anything I wanted to rebel for, I mean I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have more choice in my life, but I guess you could say I'm terrified to actually find out what that would really entail.

This ball tonight was a masquerade, not that it actually made a difference in my case, seeing as I’m stuck wearing a tiara. The one I'm wearing may be my second favorite tiara, and my favorite formal tiara, but it does a wonderful job at making it known exactly who I am. For that reason, I've actually been trying to avoid talking to anyone at tonight’s ball.

It’s not until I’m summoned to my parents’ side for the formal ‘thank you for hosting’ part of the night that my care for this particular event heightens. My family knows everyone in our court based on their voices alone. As a family of four gets to the front of the line. I recognize the voices as Duke Desmond, Duchess Anne, and Lady Gemma of Duchy Holmeshire, but it’s their son that I can’t say I’m familiar with. As they make their approach, I catch eyes with him, the soft green of them is mesmerizing, I feel as though I could get lost in them and just be happy.

“And I see Lord Harry has returned from University, Cambridge in England correct?” My father asks Lord Harry directly.

“Yes, your majesty, uh sir.” Lord Harry replies, fumbling his words slightly probably to do with being away for so long, but he has an english accent that he must’ve developed during his time abroad, and it definitely suits him well.

“It’s good to have you back in MiraZhou Lord Harry.” My mother says, offering him a gracious smile. “I don’t believe you’ve formally met Princess Y/N?” she adds.

“I have not, It’s a pleasure to formally meet you, your highness.” Harry says to me as we make eye contact again and he does another short bow.

I can’t help the wide smile that appears on my face as I return the introduction. “Likewise Lord Harry,” I say and offer him my hand to kiss. A gesture I don’t give out lightly, and you can tell that by the tiny gasp that slips out of my mother’s mouth before she stifles it, and the way Duchess Anne’s smile grows a tad bit wider.

As the Styles family of Holmeshire takes their leave so the next group of nobles can greet us, Harry and I caught eyes one more time and I mouthed silently ‘bye’ with yet another wide smile.

After the “thank you’s” were over, my mother and father turned to each other. I heard my mother tell my father, “I’ll invite them to the palace for dinner one day next week.” I smiled to myself and excused myself for a brief restroom break, that I spent staring at where Harry had kissed my hand, remembering the softness of his lips, and how I really hope he didn’t have any other potential matches. Harry and I didn’t get another chance to talk that night, but we always seemed to be catching each other’s eyes, even from across the large ballroom.

“Y/N, darling, the Duke and Duchess of Holmeshire will be joining us for dinner tomorrow night.” My mother said at breakfast that following Tuesday morning. My attention perked up at that.

“Are Lady Gemma and Lord Harry joining them?” I asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

“Not this time, but they both will be joining their parents here for dinner on Thursday night.” She said with a smile that I returned. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up about a courtship dear. Tomorrow night will allow your father and I to find out about Lord Harry’s current status, and any potential matches he may already have.”

“I know Mǔqīn (Mother), thank you, and I apologize for my obvious reaction, I’ll work on those some more.” I say, apologizing.

“Xiǎo jiāhuo (little one), we're happy you're actually excited about a possible courtship. I saw the way you lit up that night, it reminded me of how happy the first few conversations I had with your mother made me. Which is why you, Lizabeth, and Helena will be having dinner in the slumber party suite you used to enjoy. That way we can shield you from whatever potential hurt there may possibly be.” Father adds to mother's comment.

“And darling, your expressions are wonderful, a princess should not be void of emotion, nor always show indifference, your emotion shows your honesty in that feeling and that is what makes you an amazing princess. Your manners and etiquette are exactly where they should be. True feeling is just as important as manners and etiquette. Now run along, you have classes to get to.” Mother finishes out our conversation. I love attending University, it's the only time I'm allowed to wear jogger pants and hoodies in public. With no makeup or tiara or heeled shoes. I am intentionally supposed to look unimportant, because it does help me blend in a little bit more and instead of eight guards I only have three, all dressed down to appear as students as well.

My midnight violet Lamborghini centenario topless with ‘gongzhu (princess)’ as the license plate is the closest resemblance to royalty I get. After my classes for the day are done, Creyton, who is my lead guard, and I head to my favorite nearby pizza truck for a slice each before we return to the palace. Our usual nearby chess table is taken today and when I look again, it's none other than Lord Harry and a friend of his playing while enjoying a slice as well.

I elect to take the table next to them which happens to be open. As Creyton and I begin our setup and start talking, Harry turns to me, having probably recognized my voice.

“Your highness, what brings you out into the city today?” He asks quietly, careful to avoid drawing attention to me. He turns to Creyton and offers a handshake.

“I attend university in the city, so classes, but my lead guard, Creyton here, and I usually stop for a slice or two and a few plays on a chessboard before heading back.” I say with a small smile.

“We really should be going Y/N.” Creyton comments, now that I've been ‘recognized’ we have to head straight back or risk breaking protocol, and I like having Creyton around too much to let him get fired for something as simple as a protocol violation.

“I'll see you at dinner on Thursday night H.” I say to him, not wanting to compromise his lunch either. With that I head back to my car. Creyton follows me closely and we met up with the other two members of my security team. They share a very brief ten to fifteen second report before we get into the cars and head back to the palace.

“Princess, you know you're not supposed to talk to anyone besides me during that time, and you're definitely not allowed to advertise my name and who I am.” Creyton says to me during the quiet drive back to the palace.

“I know, I'm sorry Creyton, I wasn't expecting Lord Harry to be there, let alone at our usual table. It won't happen again, and I fully understand any repercussions that arise.

Lizabeth and Helena were not the best of distraction that night. Especially considering all they talked about was Lord Harry's return from England, and how attractive he is.

“Ladies, please, his parents are downstairs having dinner with my parents.” I say aloud and both girls turn to me.

“He's here? Lord Harry is here? Y/N please you have to introduce us.” Lizabeth practically begs.

“He, is not here, just his parents, and I will consider introducing you after they find out if he's available for a match. And if he is, I've pretty much already got dibs, I hope. Did you two miss the candids of him kissing my hand and the wide, stupid smile on my face.”

“Oh my God, Y/N has a crush! It's about time.” Lizabeth squeals.

“And on that note, we promise to back off, but if he has any extremely attractive friends please promise to introduce us.” Helena states and I smile.

“I know he has at least one semi-attractive friend. But he definitely wasn't from here. His accent sounded way too Irish.” I said and they both just looked at me. “I’ll look into it, I promise, just not right now.” They both grumbled a bit, but agreed.

It was late Thursday morning when my mother and father both entered the study I use for my schoolwork. I have three different 20 page essays due next week so I decided to have one of the kitchen staff bring breakfast to my study. I just finished finalizing and submitting one, and was polishing the second when they knocked. I closed my laptop so I wouldn’t be distracted by my essay while they told me whatever it is they have to say.

“Look at you, working hard on your economics degree.” Father said, smiling proudly.

“But that’s not why we’re here Damien.” Mother interrupts before he can continue on that line of topic further. “We’re here because we thought you might want to know more about Lord Harry Styles before dinner tonight.” She continued.

“He is not currently courting anyone, and Duchess Anne mentioned that he asked her to help him get up to speed on where you’re at and what has been keeping you occupied lately.” Father said and I legit squealed. It felt like hundreds of thousands of butterflies were dancing in my stomach. “We figured that would be your reaction and wanted to make sure you had ample time to put your finest princess foot forward for dinner tonight. We’ve arranged a walk through the rose garden for the two of you before dinner starts. Lord Harry will be here at four, and dinner is at six.” He finished saying.

“So in girl terms, you might want to start getting ready now.” Mother added with a smile and I quickly excused myself and hugged them both before taking off towards my rooms at nearly a full sprint.

“Mel, Marie, Helga!” I hollered into the staff door from my entry room. Mel and Marie are my new ladies maids and Helga is assisting them in learning everything before she officially retires next month. The girls tie half of my hair up into a braid and a bun, and then curl the remaining pieces, I have a simple gold and diamond tiara, gold gladiator flats, and a one shoulder golden gown. I ended up on the gold because i knew it would reflect in the sun during our walk, and it’s also a color I’ve always loved wearing. Plus it’s proven to be a confidence booster, and I have a feeling i’m going to be in need of a lot of that tonight. Other than my title, I have no idea what I have going for me in regards to why I’d make a good match. Though I’d rather he like Y/N, rather than just Princess Y/N. I needed to be radiant tonight, for myself, although, who wouldn’t want to look golden?

At exactly 3:56 pm I make my way towards the main palace entrance, it’s a solid five minute walk from my rooms, and it usually takes guests anywhere between fifty and seventy-five seconds to go from the drive, up the stairs, and finally step inside the doors. Which means that if I timed this correctly he should be just stepping inside the doors as I step off the last step to get to the entry foyer.

I maintain my normal pace and arrive to the front entry in exactly five minutes. However when I get there, Harry is already waiting for me in a mostly black suit, a bit of gold on the shirt, and a black suede hat.

“My apologies Lord Harry, it took a bit longer to get ready than I had anticipated.” I said to him as soon as I had made my approach.

“Well, it was well worth the minute long wait, you look radiant your highness.” He says back with a bow. “Shall we?” He suggests and holds his arm out for me to take.

“You’ll have 12 feet of privacy.” My mother informs us as I take his arm and we depart. I wave a small goodbye to my mother and father before turning all of my focus onto my walk with Harry.

“You’re going to have to guide me, I’m afraid I have absolutely no idea where we’re supposed to be going.” He says with a small chuckle.

“I suppose, though getting lost does sometimes lead to finding something unique, fascinating, and totally unexpected. A left at the spiral hedge just up ahead.” I say.

“That’s true, it’s an adventure, that much is for sure.” He replies with a smile.

We walk in silence for a minute or so as we enter the rose garden. He pauses just before the first fountain.

“Why me?” He asks a few seconds after we stopped. He’s staring into my eyes and I can’t help but stare back. “My mum told me that you have a habit of turning down courtships, and being very selective about who you let kiss your hand, so why let me? I mean you could have your choice of princes from distant lands, lords with so much more wealth, and fame than myself, the male heirs of duchies that make mine look infintesimal.”

“I hope this isn’t awkward of me to say but to be honest, the first time we caught each other’s eyes, I felt like I could be lost in the soft green of them for eons and be happy for each second of that time. That’s not a feeling i’ve ever had before.” I say, he smiles and the way it lights up his entire being is pure magic. I can’t help but smile too. “It’s actually why I wore gold today, I knew I would struggle to say what I wanted to…”

“And you needed the confidence boost?” He finished my exact thought. I nodded and he smiled again. “Me too, I knew I would need it to even manage to say a word to you.” He continued as we started walking again. “I can't help but feel leagues below you.”

The conversation flowed so easily from there, it was one of the easiest conversations I've ever had. We talked about university, our degrees, our families, our childhoods, my dogs, our favorite books, movies, shows, anything and everything. As we approached the entrance again he paused one more time.

“I’d like to have another outing with you soon, and I also want to aopolgize for making you violate protocol in the park the other day.” He says to me, and I have never met someone who means everything so genuinely, who is so kind hearted, and it just feels almost right to be around him.

“I’d like that as well, and as far as the other day is concerned, that is my fault, I know not to engage with the public while undercover like that, I couldn’t stop myself though, because it was you and I wanted to have a conversation with you.” I say back, desperately hoping it’s not too much.

“May I?” he asks and begins to reach for my hand. I gladly let him take it and press his soft lips to it once again. I feel the blush rising in my cheeks, and I smile as he offers me his arm once again. We make our return in silence, just sharing smiles with each other.

Harry and I had about two outings each week for the next couple of months, but he still hadn’t asked for permission to court me. It was beginning to stress me out to the point where my parents took us down to one outing every other week. We would text in between, but I was still terrified that he would never ask me, that he didn’t see in me what I saw in him. The every other week outings turned into two outings over a three month period, the texts had stopped, and I was afraid that I was going to have to accept a courtship out of obligation rather than want. It might sound weird, but after almost seven months of knowing Lord Harry Styles, I was in love with him. I was in love with someone who didn’t even want to court me.

The Styles family joined us for dinner on a Monday night, and I was to tell Harry that a courtship was no longer an option, I was to be courting another Lord within the week. I was at least happy my parents agreed to let me tell him privately with a chaperone just twenty feet away.

When they arrived that night, something felt different between all of them, something had happened to them. I was dressed in a ruby red and gold Qipao with a gold plated ruby and diamond tiara, my hair was pulled back into a woven ponytail style with curls for volume. Harry was in all black except for his shoes which were a camel color, and his long hair was also pulled back. It was the first time I had seen it that way, and it was definitely doing something for me, no matter how much I wished it hadn’t. When he finally removed his sunglasses for dinner, I had initially wondered why he was wearing them in the first place, but I saw firsthand why, when he politely removed them before dinner. His normally bright, soft green eyes were slightly puffy, he had definitely been crying.

Dinner was terribly quiet, no one felt like talking, Harry seemed to be trying to avoid eye contact with me and it felt like everything was seriously ending. I excused myself for a few moments which I used to try and compose myself, what I was about to do was beginning to feel overwhelming and almost painful. As I went to make my return, Harry was already waiting for me in the rose parlor as my family called it. It looked out to the rose garden and the vases were filled with roses of all colors.

“Harry? Did something happen? Your entire family was quiet during dinner, it worries me.” I asked him quietly.

“Yes, I’m not sure how much you actually know, but my parents aren’t actually together. My mum maintained her title when they split just because of how loved she was by the people of Holmeshire, your parents actually had to approve it. I was only seven when they split, and have maintained a relationship with both of them, my mother moreso though. She has had two relationships since, one which none of us speak to anymore, and the other, Robin, he passed from cancer a little over three months ago. It was getting progressively worse and I just knew I needed to be there for my mum, which is why I stopped texting you, and why it was hard to find time to see you. You have to believe me when I say I wanted to see you, Robin was a good man, he made sure I had good values, and taught me that it’s actually ok for a man to cry.” Harry explains to me, I just sit and listen quietly, knowing he just needs to get all of this out. “My mum has been trying to slowly reconnect herself back to my father over the past six weeks and while it is definitely an adjustment for all of us, I want to start doing things for myself again, rather than just doing things for my family, I want to get back to spending more time with you.” He finishes speaking, and the tears I have been trying to force down, overflow.

“Harry, we can’t, my parents are expecting me to start pursuing other potential matches at tomorrow night’s ball. I’m supposed to tell you that,” I cry while trying to explain it all to him. Harry being the gentle and beautiful soul he is, uses his thumbs to wipe away my tears. I take a few deep breaths before continuing, “Harry I’m to tell you that courtship is no longer an option for us, I’m meant to tell you goodbye, and it breaks my heart to say that to you. I… I need to go.” I say and attempt to rush out but Harry stops me with one word, “wait.”

“Y/N it’s not tomorrow yet, let me try one thing.” He says and steps closer to me.

“Harry, we shouldn’t, I can’t, you can’t do anything Harry, our chaperone is right there, just twenty feet away, and my father…”

“Relax, I’m not going to do anything like that, I want to ask for permission to court you in front of everyone, tonight.” He says with a smile.

“I suppose it’s worth a try, I don’t want to say goodbye to you Har.” I say softly.

“Then it’s settled, and we’re doing this now.” He offers me his arm and I take it, hoping it won’t be the last time.

When we get back to the dinner parlor where everyone else is, still sitting in silence. Harry grabs their attention immediately.

“Excuse me your majesties, Princess Y/N has just informed me of everything, and it upsets me greatly, especially because with my family’s recent loss of Robin, I needed to take time to put them first, and put their well being above my own, even though I would have much rather been spending that time with her highness. Which is why since it’s not tomorrow yet, I’d like to ask you for your formal permission to begin a courtship with her highness Princess Y/N.” Harry announces.

“I suppose you are correct Lord Harry, it is not tomorrow yet, and I suppose…” my father begins, turning to look at my mother, who nods at him, before continuing. “I suppose that my wife and I can excuse your recent absence and forgive you for upsetting our daughter.” he wraps up.

“And as long as it’s what the Princess wants…” My mother picks up and looks at me, I nod eagerly, a wide, bright smile returning to my face for the first time in months.

“It is, it’s everything I want.” I say happily.

“Then you have our permission, and our blessing to court Princess Y/N.” My father announces. I’m just so happy that I was wrong about Harry not wanting me, I hug him. He’s surprised at first, but hugs me back almost immediately. It’s the best feeling in the entire world, to be in his strong arms, I'm impossibly happy.

“Okay, that’s long enough.” My mother says as my father wraps an arm around her waist.

“Sorry mother,” I say, breaking apart from Harry. He takes my hand and kisses the back of it though.

The conversation for the night livens up after that. Harry and I are allowed to sit next to each other on one of the couches. We’re holding both of each other’s hands and whispering to each other for the entire rest of the hour. Just before we go our separate ways for the night he whispers the best phrase in the entire world to me.

He simply says, “I love you,” squeezes my hands again, kisses them both, and heads towards the Velychnyy (Majestic) Suite.

Hope you enjoyed!

As a quick reminder as of 1/17/24, I'm still working on this story, I don't want to post any of it until I'm finished writing it (mostly potential format changes) so please be patient with me and let me know if you'd like to be tagged in future The Princess's Lover (TPL) posts by commenting below!

-Ava

[monstersinthecosmos]

I don’t want to be a baby but like the way corporate internet is pushing fandoms into private spaces like Discord sucks so fuckin bad and like, when someone tells you “My Discord loves your fic!” that actually isn’t a fucking compliment when no one is leaving comments lol. This has happened to me a couple times recently and it feels pretty awful.

I wonder if it’s generational and people who grew up with social media think that fan creators are like, influencers or something? But we’re people, writing for fun, for free, for joy, and when you consume our work without treating us like people it actually just excludes us from the entire process. I write for myself, for fun, but I do share because I need to scream about stuff, and when we’re screaming into a void with no engagement it makes us not want to bother. Why should we put the work in to editing and polishing and publishing on AO3 if no one is going to talk to us about it? I could keep my fics private in my Discord, too, you know?

Anyway, leave comments on fics, please show fic writers some fucking respect, don’t treat them like content mills because it’s actually so discouraging and it makes a lot of us not want to write anymore! :D

[noonajoe]

He Protects You From Reporters (Bokuto x Reader)

"I'm always proud of her"

Characters: Bokuto Koutaro x Chubby!Reader

Word Count: 652

©noonajoe (Published on 11 March 2023 - 21:14 Bangkok Time) this story is not going to be sold, modified, or translated in any manner.

He’s a really damn good boyfriend

He met you because you’re the branding manager of his team in order to promote your team to an international volleyball match

When he saw you, you were a little overweight and you were pretty cool when you present her ideas and talk to other members. Upon that, he’s really curious about you, during the process of knowing each other, Bokuto learned that you’re really organized, and tidy, and also you’re always giving him comfort, also some advice when he’s in the bad mood.

Those sides of you make him want to get closer to you when you ask him to accompany you to the gym, he’s getting more *obsessed* with you

Sometimes got jealous because day by that you were not getting skinnier, but just a little chubby and he got jealous sometimes when some boys complimented about your changes.

He’s so proud of you, and in the end, he confesses to you that he’s been liking you since the first time they know each other.

But she worried so much that, ‘she’ dated Bokuto? The most famous player at MSBY Black Jackal? In the end, she asked him to give her more time to think

At first, Bokuto frowned hearing that, but he beamed showing his bubbly side that he was okay waiting for you!

Suddenly, when you both go out of the gym, many reporters and fans already capture pictures of both of you, asking Bokuto about who is this person beside him.

You are shocked and panicked when you realize you didn’t have a mask to cover your face. All you have is a shirt and a hat. 

He quickly moved you behind him so the reporters can't have your picture

“If you make us uncomfortable in the future, you will stand with my lawyer that you had been disturbing someone’s private life,” he said, you hide behind him while he’s grabbing your hand tightly.

“Who’s that chubby girl you hide? Is that your partner?” one fan asked while recording him with their phone.

He remained silent, and said, “Yeah, and?”

You shocked hearing his answer, put a little pinch on his back

“And please don’t use ‘chubs’ like that, she’s just a girl, no need to add that mocking adjective,” he said with an angry expression, he knows how dirty an obsessive fan is.

“One more step and I will ask for gym CCTV recording as proof you were disturbing our lives,” he asked. After that, he grabs your hand and went to your house.

“Bokuto-san, I didn’t give your answer yet,” you said with a little smile.

“Uh- sorry! Okay? I will clarify anything at tomorrow’s press conference! I’m so sorry Y/N that really shocked me as well :(“ he apologizes to you and bowed to you with a funny gesture.

“No! I mean, you… are so cool, Bokuto-san. Thank you, that’s really bold of you” she said, and he suddenly realized he still grabs your hand.

“Ah! Sorry! I didn't mean to” he let go of your hand, and suddenly the situation gets awkward.

“So… for tomorrow…. I will make this right, I will tell them I’m just shocked, and you’re just my friend… and-”

“It’s fine”

“Wha- but… you’re”

“I accept your confession, Bokuto-san”

“Y-you don't have to if it's because of my dumb action beforehand! I'm still waiting even if it takes years, ok?!”

“No, I like you Bokuto Kotauro-san. Your brave side just a minute ago just made me like you more” she smiled, grabbed his hand, and stroke his knuckles smoothly.

Suddenly it gets silent

“You never stop making me happy, you know?” he closed his eyes, really blushing, indicating that he was really happy.

“Thank you for always supporting me, Bo-chan”, Bo-chan, his new nickname from his new girlfriend.

When a press conference happens, he stated, “She’s my new partner and I’m proud of her”

[lovelytsunoda]

mess is mine // colton herta (instagram au)

summary: colton and his girlfriend have always kept their relationship lowkey. but when they both seem to disappear from the internet, fans begin to worry.

warnings: mentions of severe anxiety!

pairing: colton herta x female reader

listen to ‘mess is mine’ by vance joy for best experience!

liked by kyle_kirkwood, josefnewgarden and 380,457 others

coltonherta all the love songs in the world can’t hold a candle to the way that I love you ❤️

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yourusername 🥹🥹🥹

yourusername I love you. Thank you for sticking with me ❤️

user5839 can someone catch me up? who is y/n? who is this beautiful woman who only has 170 followers?

-> user291 she’s coltons girlfriend! they’ve been together for two years, and she likes to keep her life private from the fans. she’s been on some of his livestreams before and sometimes shares small parts of her life with us! she’s studying copyright law and plans to work in the publishing industry.

davidmalukas I thought you did write a song about her?

-> coltonherta not one I’m letting the rest of the world hear. that’s song is for y/n’s ears only 😊

coltonherta added to his story!

coltonherta added to his story!

indycargirlfriends

indycargirlfriends y/n y/l/n seen entering the indianopolis motor speedway this morning ahead of this weekend grand prix on the ims road course. the girlfriend of andretti driver colton herta has been noticeably absent this month during the open test for the upcoming Indy 500 race, and her strange behaviour over the past few race weekends has been the subject of much debate.

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magicmalukas she looks pale…like a lot paler than normal…and has she lost weight?

andretitty have you ever seen y/n wear sweatpants? every time she’s been at the track she’s either been in jeans or a sundress

user3619 as someone who’s in indianopolis rn I can confirm that she doesn’t look very good. coltons been fussing over her all morning, and he’s only left her side when he was contractually obligated. it’s almost like he’s scared to leave her alone

coltonherta

liked by davidmalukas, 12willpower and 20,561 others

coltonherta Everybody talks about the magic of love and how wonderful being in a relationship and finding your person is. But they don’t talk about is how unglamorous showing up for your partner can be, how sometimes, you want to tear your heart out of your chest when you see the pain that your loved one is in.

Y/N has struggled with severe anxiety and panic attacks since long before I knew her. Over the past few months, her condition had taken a nosedive for the worse. She found it increasingly difficult to get out of bed, and her intrusive thoughts made her scared to be left alone. When I came out to Indiana for the 500, many of you noticed that she wasn’t with me. She flew back home to the town where she grew up and spent time with her parents, time she was trying to use for recovery. Even though I told her that she didn’t need to come out for the two races in Indianapolis, she has always supported my career as I have supported hers.

The 500 weekend was the final straw for her. She felt on edge and overwhelmed, and struggled to enjoy a race weekend the way that she normally did. That night, I sat down with my dad and told him that I couldn’t do this any more. That I could not keep putting her through this. That I would not compete in another indycar race until I knew that she was okay.

We’ve spent the past three weeks in Maine, where we’ve focussed on reconnecting with each other. I am very pleased to announce that Y/N is faring much better. While she may never be fully ‘recovered’, I can now see the smart, funny, lovely girl that I fell in love with. Assuming things stay in this positive, upwards trajectory, we will both see you in Mid-Ohio

Peace out,

Colton and Y/N.

comments on this post have been limited.

kyle_kirkwood Send y/n my love. Rooting for you both.

12willpower This is what real love is like. I know better than most what you’re going through, and I know that Y/N couldn’t be in better hands. Keep your head up, and I’ll see you in Ohio.

yourusername Forever thankful to have you by my side 🫶🏻

andrettiautosport ❤️❤️

coltonherta added to his story

TAGS

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[mariacallous]

Hello there. Today I would like to talk about Charlotte Owen. If you’ve heard of Charlotte Owen, it’s probably because you’ve read someone – unquestionably one of the “good guys” of the discourse – saying some creepy, innuendo-laden thing about the “riddle”, “mystery” or “enigma” of her relationship with Boris Johnson. Before we go on, a word on vocab: all those words are journalese for “I can’t stand up this cobblers but I just want to publish it anyway”.

If you haven’t heard of Charlotte Owen, then (a) you may be the last pure human, and (b) you will need a primer. So here goes: she worked for Johnson’s No 10 operation, and was unexpectedly given a peerage in his resignation honours list. Alongside her House of Lords work, she has recently taken a position in a business Johnson has got with a uranium entrepreneur. Any more background? I should also say I have never met Owen, who is now 31, or had the remotest dealings with her. However, I have watched the absolute deluge of sexism disguised as gossip that has beset her since Johnson chucked her the poisoned chalice. Though entirely fact free, most of it has been frothingly circulated by the sort of person who imagines themselves to be on the side of the angels. So allow me to offer a counterpoint: they’re not.

Listen, I’m sure it’s not great to give a peerage to a 29-year-old. But let’s get real: even if she were totally useless, Owen could still only be about the 200th worst person in the House of Lords. She wouldn’t even make the same postcode as the cut of the true monsters, about whom we don’t get any articles because they’re not youngish and blond. Do imagine if all the good guys casting twice-weekly aspersions at Owen were chucking even half those at fellow Johnson peer Evgeny Lebedev – a serious piece of work, who has somehow garnered fewer bad headlines this past year than Charlotte has this past fortnight. Records and colleague accounts suggest Owen is a diligent peer, turning up very frequently and offering contributions some would estimate put her in the top 10% of speakers. (Lebedev has never even bothered voting and has asked only four written questions in four years.)

As for being unqualified for her latest job – countless 31-year-olds in this country have jobs that I’m sure their elders and betters think they’re not good enough for, and they were often hired for them by people they met through previous jobs. You’re going to need more than that. Yet not one person has produced a single nano-particle of evidence for their theories, while indications that they’re nonsense pile up. Consider the pictures of Owen at Carrie Johnson’s soirees. Seriously, Carrie’s the final boss of this game. She saw off master strategist Dominic Cummings (Carl von Clownewitz). Pretty sure she’d make light work of Charlotte if there were anything to worry about.

Some people will say it was ever thus. Funnily enough, I think I was Owen’s age when I started reading stories about my own affair with the former editor of this newspaper. Not true stories, as it goes, and I’m just trying to think back to it all. Private Eye ran some of them, so I contacted the magazine to tell it they were completely untrue and asked it to correct. Alas, corrections were not a Private Eye thing, I was told – but I was offered the option of writing a letter to its letters page, under my name, to counter the story. I remember sitting and wondering what such a bizarre and inherently unedifying missive would even look like. I pictured a letter reading “Dear Sir, Sorry to trouble you but this is just to say I’m not actually having an affair with my boss. Yours ever so gratefully, Marina Hyde.”

I concluded that would be rather adding insult to injury, so declined to send it, and instead had to come up with a sort of renegade campaign of ways to get the record corrected, which now seem excruciatingly ridiculous in retrospect. I can’t remember all the stupid stuff I did, but I do remember, for example, agreeing to a hideously dreary media panel, purely because the then editor of Popbitch was also doing it, then sitting through it and waiting for an opportunity to confront her in public about what I think I called “my non affair”. This was no one’s finest hour, but I couldn’t think of a better way. In the end, you realise you just have to ignore people and work hard, and maybe that work will displace people’s current view of you in, like, a couple of decades?

Now I am a much older lady, I wouldn’t say I can say exactly what I like – but I can certainly say a lot more of what I like. And I say all this now not because I want to spare Charlotte Owen the ball-ache of having to do some dire panel on climate lies at the next Cop conference, purely to tee herself up for introducing a leaden non-sequitur beginning with the words, “Hey – you know what else is a lie … ?” No, I am doing this because I honestly can’t believe that almost 20 years later, fact-free faux journalism like this has got worse.

Much of it is down to social media being a place where people very much like to look as though they’re insiders (again: they’re not). The other corrosive practice, popular on social media but also with some very online journalists, is that thing of putting two pictures or stories together and saying with some kind of flourish, “You join the dots!” To which the only acceptable response is: no. Would YOU mind joining the dots? You are, after all, supposed to be the professional here. The fact that you can’t confirms you’re not “doing journalism” – you’re doing sexism, you’re doing conspiracism and you’re doing indolence. Still: lovely clicks.

Allow me to end by offering a competition prize. The next person to publish any fact-free innuendo about Charlotte Owen shall be crowned the biggest trouser-rubbing weirdo in Fleet Street – and that’s a tough field. Guys, that actually means something! If anyone has any evidence of the thing at which they have hinted so remorselessly, then let them produce it. Otherwise, maybe they have had their fun, and it’s finally time to shut up and leave her alone. Instead: please tell us more about the uranium entrepreneur. You see, this is the other thing about getting older: you start wanting to know more about the uranium entrepreneurs. But we always look the wrong way in this country – so don’t hold your breath.

[baronessblixen]

Why don’t you talk about your real thoughts on David, Gillian and Gillovny on Twitter? Afraid of losing readers on those awful fics you write. You are such a fake clout chaser pretending to like David and Gillovny. I have screenshots of the things you and those space cases write in that Discord group that I’ve been sent.

Best believe one day I’m going to expose you and that group for the things you say in private but not publicly. I can’t wait to see you try to spin this too.

By the way it takes a real special kind of dummy to think that idiot Penguin is a truth teller. I’m laughing because I know you didn’t think someone would be bold enough to expose you and that group.

I know you won’t publish this but you’ll definitely go back to your group shaking in your boots trying to figure out who sent me the screenshots.

On twitter? I barely use twitter, anon. I do use it to post links to my fics, yes, but I don't force anyone to read them. Are you honestly saying I don't like Gillovny? For real??

I don't know why I have to keep explaining this. The reasons I don't say things - as you say - publically, is because this here, is not a conversation. I am not going to put every thought I have in a post and post that. So how exactly am I supposed to say thinks publically?

Why shouldn't I publish this? It's sad, is what it is. That someone thinks they should go around and take screenshots like that. I feel sorry for you, and that person, to be honest. I hope no one ever does something like that to you. Expose me all you want for what I care but leave the other people on that Discord server alone.

[fabbyf1]

I woke up to your post about the stolen story and I’ve been trying to find the right words. I write too (privately) and my stories are very close to my heart and I’m very defensive about them. So I can only imagine that’s even worse when you actually publish your work and make yourself vulnerable. Still not sure I’ve managed to put my thoughts, but here we go:

First of all I want to tell you how sorry I feel for what a night/evening you must have had. I cannot imagine how much it must hurt to realise that people try to profit from and steal something that you have put and keep putting so much work, love, passion and dedication into. (English is not my first language so I hope I’m making sense here) I can only imagine that it feels like someone is using you and taking something away from you that is close to your heart and I‘m so sorry someone made you feel this way.

I also went through all my bookmarked stories on AO3 from the past two years to check if there might be some of the „similar“ stories you mentioned. Obviously I don’t know what stories you’re talking about. There were a few stories with a similar character dynamic, but nothing as blatantly copied as the one from your post. But (and I don’t know if that’ll make it less painful and disappointing for you): there are very very VERY few stories that I go back semi-regularly to re-read. There are even fewer stories that I go back to when I have a bad day. That are even less stories that made me tear up and keep making me tear up when I go back to them. And there are even fewer stories that are just open as a tab, just in case I want to read them again. But most of these very few stories are your stories.

If I want to cry and be sad and happy at the same time, I go back to the amnesia fic.

If I want to deep dive into Lestappen feelings and laugh and cry at the same time, I go back to Long Live.

If I’m in the need of some laughter and banter with great smut on top, I go back to like a Vapor

If I feel angsty and want to feel comfortable and distract myself with some good smut with feelings, I go back to the Warming Verse

If I want to read great character dynamics and studies, banter and unhinged smut, I go back to lestappen + guest (although I sometimes skip Carlos, depending on how annoying he is in real life…)

And the list goes on!

They can try to copy your character interpretation, steal your dialogue and write stories that are similar to yours, but they will never get this. They‘ll never be able to get these feelings out of people, because it will never feel as real, BECAUSE A COPY CAN NEVER BE AS GOOD AS THE OG!

Sorry for spamming your inbox, I hope you have a great day and I cannot wait to read lestappen + Oscar: the feelings edition (personally hoping for an actual conversation about what they are, but I promise I’ll get equally excited about 10k of feelings and a great blowjob)

bestie 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 this is so?

wow.

thank you so so so so much for spending the time to write this to me. i can't even tell you what it means to me. it definitely made me cry a little bit lmfaoooooo. i'm so glad that you enjoy my work. i really am. it's why i do it.

writing is a selfish hobby in a lot of ways because i'm clearly writing what i want to read, and i'm doing it for me, but i'm also very much doing it for you guys. i like writing things that you all enjoy and that can mean something to you, and i'm SO glad you get it. and that my fics stick with you so much.

seeing that somebody had stolen my work was... an interesting wave of emotions for me. i was clearly angry, i think everyone can see that in my response to them because i'm not one to anger-respond to things on this platform or on AO3. i'm pretty good at holding my tongue and bitching about it offline to my gf or my friends. i don't like to engage in anon hate (which is why i never publish them. i think every creator who has a following similar to mine receives anon hate and i'm not immune from it, i just refuse to publish it.) and i don't like to engage with anybody who's intentions are not good.

i want my little corner of the internet to always be a safe space for everyone. i want everyone to have a good time. to be happy, to love each other, to feel like they can come to me with things they might not be able to say out loud. i never want that to change, which is why i try really hard NOT to respond to haters or other bad things that happen around my fics.

but this time, i couldn't be silent. and i won't apologize for it.

before i posted my repsonse, i thought about going back and making it more... professional. taking out the "fucks" or whatever. i can write a corporate email like you wouldn't believe. i have "fuck around and find out" tattooed on me, sure, but ya girl is 33 years old. i'm a writer. i can destroy you with my words in a way that is so dignified and HR-approved, you won't even realize i've ruined your life until the end of it lmfaooooo.

but i think at the end of the day, in this case, i was just pushed too far lmfao. i can only stay silent for so long. and it felt good to let my raw emotions out without censoring how angry i was. because fuck yeah my feelings were hurt. they're still a bit hurt. i'm confused why somebody who claims to be a fan of mine, who follows my work here and on ao3, who has supported me and read my fics, would do something like this to me.

but i don't want my blog to become a negative space. i don't want this to be the only thing we ever talk about again on here. but i think it is important that we talk about it right now because it's a real thing that's happening outside of my works. lots of creators are getting their art, gifs, fics, manips, etc stolen and not getting credit for their work.

and that's just... not okay.

as a fandom, and as a society, we need to be better. tumblr and ao3 are an escape from the real world. it's a place you can go and be free, and happy, and goofy, and silly, and--frankly--embarrassing about the things you like. there is no reason any of us should be stealing someone else's art in any capacity. because if we do? if we let this continue? it's not fun anymore. and what the FUCK is the point if it's not fun?

this is not our real life. this fandom does not define who i am as a person, and it doesn't define who you are either. we all have real lives outside of this space. if we keep plagiarizing each other's art and sending anon hate and being cunts about everything, we will ruin all the good things we have here.

we need to recognize other creator's hard work and thank them for it.

appreciate their work and get inspired by it, without stealing it. make it your own. make it DIFFERENT. don't put the same quotes, don't put the same characters, don't put them in the exact same scenario as your inspiration. don't have them sitting the exact same way as the characters in your inspo were!!! BE BETTER.

anyway, happy saturday. my coffee tastes great. i hope you all have a wonderful day, wherever you are in the world. don't let this ruin your day.

[imagine-that-one-thing]

Chapter 5 "Sanity Slipping"

Word count: 5,569

Harry X Anastasia || Royal Fanfic

Master Link || Chat with me

•••

The media has been camped outside the palace gates, waiting for anything juicy to report on. Unfortunately, they haven't been very kind to me online. I did make headlines, but not in the way my father had hoped. People are talking about 'The Monarch being in the hands of an unsteady Queen.'

The media's relentless assault paints me as unfit, unstable, and unreliable, their words carving deep wounds in my already fragile sense of self. If only they knew the truth behind their own painted words. Last night's events epitomize the distorted narrative they weave, twisting reality to fit their preconceived notions. Is it twisted?

Am I truly unstable? The question haunts me, gnawing at the edges of my consciousness as doubts creep in like tendrils of smoke, obscuring the clarity of my own judgment. I find myself questioning not only my character but also my mental state, wondering if their relentless scrutiny has eroded the very foundation of who I am and what I’m supposed to be.

Last night, in a moment of vulnerability, I almost succumbed to the overwhelming tide of emotions that threaten to engulf me, nearly begging my security guard to stay by my side, to shield me from the relentless onslaught of my own demons. And in that same breath, I almost pleaded with him to cast aside the veil of secrecy that shrouds our relationship, to allow us the freedom to express ourselves openly and authentically.

But as the weight of their accusations bears down upon me, I realize that their portrayal of me as unstable is not a reflection of reality but rather a projection of their own fears of the monarchy and the prior government they have created. I am not unfit to be Queen. I am not unstable. I am simply human, navigating the treacherous waters of power and politics with as much grace and dignity as I can muster. Above all else, I am trying, I’m running this rat race to the best of my ability and they don’t even know half of the story.

I'm hoping my father will be able to handle the situation and put a stop to all the negative press. Unfortunately, my father announced an unknown relationship at a garden party and our media team released a story to the publishers. Even though names were never mentioned, it was speculated through many sources with multiple names. I’m a train wreck in the eyes of the media.

Being inside the palace with my father at this time is awful for everybody, the staff are attempting to discover ways to hide out and keep away from him. He is on a warpath. Two people have been fired and my mother has had to overrule him and hire back the staff. My mother tends to do her own thing and stay out of his way, but the last few days she has been handling things and challenging him. Last night I heard her arguing with him about some of his decisions that are unknown to me. I couldn’t hear the whole conversation.

He went behind my back and painted a misleading picture for the media to dwell in, and now that his picture has streaks running through it, he wants to be deranged. My life should be private, instead, my life is a matter of privileged information for anyone who works for the media.

I hear the sound of rustling grass and a few hushed coughs. Turning around, I see Harry walking towards me wearing a light jacket. "I'm sorry for being late," he apologizes as he approaches me. Lately, I seem to be hearing apologies from him more frequently. I am not sure why he is apologising, he said he was leaving for a few days.

I smile and shake my head, "No worries," I reassure him. I notice the dark circles under his eyes and his slightly dishevelled hair, but it doesn't look bad. "Are you okay?"

Harry nods, "Just exhausted. My flight was delayed," he admits, clearing his throat.

“I thought you were leaving for a few days?”

Harry nods his head, "Something told me to come back."

I softly smile to myself, a sense of happiness fluttering through me like a spark just ignited inside of me. “I didn’t intend for you to come home early.”

Harry hums and steps closer, his lips pressing to my forehead, “Sometimes, I know better.”... “I'm surprised to have found you here.”

“I’m procrastinating. I have a meeting with a parliament official. Can you give me a reason not to attend?” I softly question, and Harry sighs.

Harry shakes his head, “I’m not allowed to interfere with that.”

“I don’t want to have this meeting and deal with it… what kind of mood is he in?” I softly question, hoping for a positive answer but aware of what I’m going to receive.

Harry lifts his shoulders into a shrug, his lips pursed into a straight line. “Let me guess, you don’t want to overstep and give me an answer?” I ask, assuming Harry’s lack of words has a reason.

“He’s fine with me, we smoked cigars before I left. And he offered to pick me up from the airport.” Harry informs me with a raspy voice, stopping for a moment to clear his throat, “The king is pissed off in general, especially with you not cooperating with his plans.” Harry's voice is dry and dull, there’s a struggle in his tone as he continues to speak.

“I’m walking into the lion's den, great.”

“Mhm,” he hums. He is aware the King is pissed with me and my lack of decisions. I am making my father’s life hard, but it’s better than making my own miserable. “Care to talk about last night?”

“No,” I bluntly respond. I have no desire to relive my self pity and whirlwind of emotions. I’d much rather forget that my emotions are a prominent thing. I’d like to formally turn them off for a few moments.

Harry nods his head, respecting my response, “I have to go. I’ll try and find you later.”

“Walk me back to the Palace?” I offer, watching as Harry sighs before he nods his head and we begin our ascend back up towards the Palace.

As we walked to the Palace, the only sounds were those from the surroundings. Harry seemed to want to stay silent, and I respected his choice. I didn't have much to say as I prepare for my upcoming meeting.

Harry closes the Palace doors behind me, the two of us taking a few steps towards the meeting hall. Harry takes a breath, “Good luck, Anastasia,” Harry softly smiles.

“You’re losing your voice,” I sigh, feeling sympathetic. He nods his head and gives me a small smile before opening the double doors to the meeting room, forcing me to take a stride and step into the lion's den. My Father and a few members rise, all glaring at me as I swallow hard. Oh, Fuck.

As the heavy doors close behind me, I turn around, bleakly hoping Harry opens the doors and saves me from this mess, but I know better. I turn back towards the crowd and I am greeted with a chilly reception and hostile glares. "I believe a curtsy is in order," I suggest, noticing the lack of polite greetings. I refuse to be intimidated by their political positions. Deep down, I want to crawl into a hole and never return to see the daylight with them again.

My father lets out a sigh and gestures towards the members, "She's correct, please curtsy."

The members of parliament comply with my father's request, but it's evident that their actions are not out of respect for me.

The Prime Minister speaks up, "Does she have to be here? You can’t trust everybody.”

"I have to ask, do you need to be here?" I inquire. "I understand that the king values his relationship with the Prime Minister due to constitutional reasons, but to me, your presence isn't necessary or important, Pippa."

"Anastasia," my father interjects.

"I mean, the king has the right to appoint and meet with the Prime Minister on Thursdays, but today isn't Thursday. So, I don't see why you need to be here," I explain.

Pippa chuckles and shakes her head, leaning against my father's desk. "Come on, you two, let's not argue," my father intervenes. "I called this meeting to discuss some political views that have been brought to my attention."

I furrow my brow and cross my arms, showing disinterest in discussing political matters in this particular setting. "As a constitutional monarch, Her Majesty must remain politically neutral. I won't be participating."

"Anna, this is a good opportunity for you to learn about these political issues and the people involved," someone, whom I do not know his name, insists.

"She isn't Her Majesty. I don't believe she should be present," Pippa interjects, wanting me out of the meeting. She wants me exiled for some reason. It’s evident. “She’s irrelevant.”

I shake my head, "I hold a higher title than you," I remind her.

My Father sighs, "Anna, you will become Queen and will need to attend these meetings with parliament officials. You need to be able to virulently support your government and speak with them."

"I cannot speak on political matters, but as Queen, my Prime Minister will handle the political arena. Pippa will not be my prime minister during my reign whenever that may be."

I’d rather lay down on a bed of nails then to have Pippa as my right hand and prime minister.

"Oh, you haven't informed her yet?" Pippa grins. "My dear child, I'm contracted in. You're stuck with me if you ever become Queen. I'd hate to see that day. If only the succession to the monarchy wasn’t altered, huh?"

I turn to my father and raise an eyebrow, unsure how the current Prime Minister can remain in office if the crown is passed on to me.

“What do you mean by the monarchy being altered?” I instantly question. “I will clear the seats, and order new parliament officials. It’s a strategic dissolution I will start-.”

My father cuts me off and changes the topic. "Our discussion topic is Assenting to Bills passed by Parliament, on the advice of Ministers. Please take a seat and listen," my father gestures to the long table, inviting me to sit down. I reluctantly take a seat across from Pippa, who seems to be opposed to my inheritance of the crown, just as I am opposed to her serving as my Prime Minister due to her condescending demeanour.

I have yet to understand why my father is determined to pass down the crown to me so suddenly without a clear reason. The household staff has their theories, one of which is that he wants to relinquish his royal duties to me. However, I do not believe this to be the case. I am certain there must be a solid foundation for his decision, as only one British monarch has ever willingly abdicated the throne. My father is unlikely to do the same unless there is a compelling reason. He may grant me the title of Princess Regent, enabling me to perform his official duties, while he retains his title as His Majesty the King. However, there are several possible reasons why he may choose to pass down the crown and force me to marry a prince, such as wanting to see me fail as Queen or simply having other motives.

There is one rumor swirling that he is stepping down because he has a mistress and he doesn’t want it to be leaked to the public.

Then there’s Political Pressure: There are whispers of political pressure or scandal brewing behind the scenes, leading the king to abdicate in order to avoid potential fallout or controversy. This rumour is the most compelling so far, I’m not sure what scandal could be brewing, I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.

And my most favourite and least convincing rumor is the desire for Modernization: Some may suggest that the king is embracing a more progressive approach to monarchy, viewing me as better suited to usher in much-needed reforms and modernization efforts. I call bullshit, the man is determined to follow every old age rule in the fucking book.

Each of these rumors adds layers of intrigue and complexity to the unknown, fueling speculation and uncertainty about the king's next power move.

After the meeting ends, I bid everyone goodbye and feel relieved that it's finally over. As I stand up, my father's voice startles me. "You should learn to behave more like a Queen," he advises.

"But I don't aspire to become a Queen. I don't want to deal with the criticism and scrutiny," I reply.

"You don't have a choice," he responds firmly.

“And that’s just the fucking problem. This monarch is controlling my life. It’s one thing to force me to be Queen without a say, but it’s another to force me to be with a Prince and lay my life down for all the members of parliament and this kingdom.”

My father's jaw clenches and his eyes narrow down on me, “This is part of your legacy. I’ve built this monarch from the ground up, I’m not letting it fall.”

“And I’ll tear it down to the bottom if you force this upon me.”

“Don’t you fucking dare threaten that,” my father raises his voice, “Do not become a monstrosity to this monarch, to this family.” He yells, shaking his head and stepping away from me. “I am not the villain in this story like you portray me to be.”

I shake my head, “I don’t portray you to be the villain, you do that yourself. You’re sounding like your brother.”

“Leave. I have to speak to security,” he mutters, pointing to the doors.

I obey my orders and proceed towards the doors, pushing them open and slamming them shut behind me. I spot Harry approaching and greet him with a smile, but he struggles to reciprocate. His eyes are tired and dark, suggesting he hasn't slept in a while. I then hear my father calling my name, causing me to let out a deep sigh.

“I’m never going to hear the fucking end. He’s in a bad mood by the way,” I inform Harry and he nods.

As I approach the imposing doors, their weight matches the heaviness weighing upon my heart and mind. Each creak of the hinges echoes the burden I carry and the screams I hide, a tangible reminder of the weight of the world resting upon me.

With a heavy sigh, I glance at Harry, his expression mirroring the solemnity of the moment. There's a fleeting exchange of understanding between us, unspoken words hanging in the air like a glass veil of silence. He longs to offer comfort, to ease the weight of my worries, but he knows the limitations of his role, the boundaries that separate us as Princess and security.

I push the heavy doors open, wishing it was as easy to push these emotions as it is to push these doors open aggressively.

“You know what? I’m stripping you of your title if you can’t take things seriously.”

I lift my shoulders into a shrug and lean against the wall, “You’d be doing me a favour.”

I don’t want to gradually go down the rabbit hole of self-destruction because of a monarch who relies on me when I’m not even Queen— we all know I don’t want this.

As much as I desire to relish in the thought of being stripped of my title and not under the thumb of the royal family and monarch, I know he won’t do it. I’m the only person to take over this monarch. There’s nobody besides me unless we get down to the nitty-gritty and find a long-lost cousin. Almost every living English citizen is somehow a descendant of an early monarch.

“The king has no legal authority to alter the succession to the throne. That would require an Act of Parliament.”

“We will see about that Act of Parliament. Been done before,” the king sneers.

“And unless there's a secret love child, I’m the only one who is eligible for the crown,” I remind my father of how this is meant to work. “Harry, don’t you think my Father is being a dick by threatening to take away the title to the only person who can take over the damn monarchy?”

Harry shakes his head, glaring towards me disapprovingly, "I don't think we should discuss this. He does have a say in my wage,” Harry voices his opinion with a raspy tone, still struggling to speak.

“Smart man,” the king comments, “Harry, I need you to extend your shift and end at three in the morning, I have a few things I need you to do.”

“Sir, I can’t,” Harry breathes out, “Matthew just took me off all services.” He’s struggling with every word he forces out.

My father isn’t pleased, but he surprisingly doesn’t seem mad, which is odd. “Can you use the last of your words to tell me when you planned to tell me you’re fucking my daughter?”

I widen my eyes and swallow hard, blinking back and forth between the two men standing before me. Despite the tense moment and sudden surprise, I can't help but let out a chuckle, which earns me glares from both of them. Fuck.

With a straight face, Harry responds, “Your Highness, I’m not fucking your daughter.”

A bold move to lie to the King of England.

“Father,” I begin, “it is not nice to accuse someone of such an act when they can’t fully defend themselves, he can barely speak.” I can’t conceal the smirk on my face. This is entertaining.

“I want to talk to you both about letters patent.”

“Do these letters patent involve abolishing the monarchy?” I question with a grin, causing my father to side-eye me. “Because I do not want to deal with Pippa as a prime minister.”

“How do you deal with her?” He asks Harry.

Harry lifts his shoulders into a shrug, “I’m not sure,” he responds with a slight smile, “A lot of patience.”

“At least you have the patience,” the king mutters. “We can’t abolish. You know how it works. It would take legislation, an act of Parliament, and signed by the Sovereign to end the monarchy. We are not abolishing what so many past royals have worked for.” … “You will take the throne.”

“We are one of the eighth-longest monarchies in the world, it’s time to give it a rest. Let it go.”

“Anna, hear him out,” Harry grasps my attention, gesturing to my father.

I glare at Harry and cross my arms over my chest as I lean on my father's desk, “Excuse me?”

“Ah, fuck,” Harry mutters, looking down before looking back towards my Father, “May I leave? Why am I here?”

My Father chuckles, “Scared?”

Harry shakes his head, “I don’t like dealing with her when she is on a warpath and I just pissed her off,” Harry comments, “As you can see, she is glaring at me as if she would like to kill me.”

He has a valid point. Perhaps he isn’t as stupid as his last comments painted him to be.

My Father chuckles before recomposing himself. “Do you know what letters patent are?”

“Yes, gives a person an exclusive right, privilege, title, or office,” Harry nods, “What does this have to do with me?”

“It doesn’t,” I bitterly interject, not amused with Harry or my father appearing to team up against me. “Are there any other fun facts about these letters you’d like to contribute, Harry?”

“They were written in Latin until 1733,” Harry responds with a dry voice, “I might just be part of a security team but I am well educated, Your Highness,” Harry looks towards me, causing me to bite the side of my cheek and stare at him. I can’t tell if I’m pissed off with his comments or mildly turned on. “Is there anything you’d like to add?”

“Grants of land or rights from the monarch to a private individual were made by letters patent. Which means unless someone is granting me the right to leave this fucking monarch, I believe this conversation is over.”

Harry rolls his eyes, “I’m still not sure what I have to do with this, sir.” Looking back towards the King.

“The bloodline ends with Anastasia, if anything happens to her, the Monarchy crumbles, there are letters patent that pertain to you both,” My father looks towards Harry.

“If the bloodline ends with me, kill me now so we can end it.” I mutter, pushing off the desk and walking around Harry, tapping on his shoulder, “Will you, dear sir, put me out of my misery?”

Harry rolls his eyes, “We are going to get anywhere with this conversation.” Harry gestures towards me.

My father hums, “She’s too high-strung for me to handle right now.” My father shakes his head as he sighs, “Anna, letters patent show that you have to get married before taking the crown, if you don’t, the monarchy is at risk of falling into the hands of the wrong people.” … “It doesn’t matter to whom, you have to be married otherwise it crumbles.”

“Who are these people?” I ask. I’m genuinely curious, maybe they should have the monarchy.

“It’s not for you to worry about. You are the last remaining heir, for the monarchy to stay in safekeeping, you need to rule with a King.”

I shake my head. “I do not want this.” …. “Please, just abolish it.”

“You can both go,” my father sighs, “I’ll discuss more with you later, Harry,” my father dismisses us.

Harry and I leave the room, and I feel anxious as my heart beats fast. I follow him down a long hallway, my heels clicking on the marble tiles. I’m pissed, I’m anxious and I’m confused all in one.

As Harry pulls me into a hidden door, a rush of excitement courses through me, mingled with a hint of apprehension. The passage is dimly lit, the flickering lights casting dancing shadows along the stone walls. The air is cool and musty, carrying with it the scent of age and secrecy. I don’t use the secret doors very often, when I do, it’s usually with Harry.

The narrow corridor winds its way through the entirety of the palace, its walls adorned with faded tapestries and ancient portraits, their eyes following our every move with silent curiosity. At night, it’s creepy and unsettling, during the day, it isn’t too bad.

The stone floor is worn smooth by centuries of footsteps, its eerie to know that many people have walked these hidden paths.

The air feels dense, suffocating almost, as Harry sighs, the sound echoing in the heavy silence between us. His fingers run through his hair in an agitated gesture, and I can sense the weight of his gaze on me, heavy and stressed.

As the moments pass, the weight of our unspoken truths threatens to crush me, the heaviness of the mood between us becoming unbearable. But still, I can't bring myself to speak, to acknowledge the elephant in the room that looms over us like a specter.

In the quiet intensity of our shared gaze, I can't help but wonder if our unspoken desires will forever remain just that—unspoken. I love him, and I want nothing more than to be with him in blissful harmony.

In the stillness that envelops us, I feel the unspoken love for him pressing against my chest walls, threatening to burst forth like a dammed river begging for release. His presence fills me with a warmth that defies the chill of the heavy world around me in a constant battle, and in these moments, I realize that I want nothing more than to weave our lives together in a beautiful tapestry of shared dreams, whispered promises and unconditional love that is never questioned nor chased.

Yet, I hesitate to speak the words that linger on the tip of my tongue, afraid of the convergences that comes with laying bare my heart's deepest desires. Instead, I find solace in the quiet intensity of our shared gaze, silently hoping that he can sense the longing that pulses beneath my surface.

I try to lighten the mood by chuckling and saying, "Looks like the secret's out." However, Harry continues to glare at me, and I don't understand why.

“He knows. Letters patent?”

“He doesn’t,” I respond, “He is testing you and you passed. If you’re that scared we can always run away to Greece.”

I’ll run away anywhere with him, to the end of the world if it means being happy and in solitude.

“I’m not amused. I would like to know what letters patent have to do with me.”

I'd like to say he’s trying to logically process what I’m saying. There's a small part of me that wants to tell him I’m not joking, but we can't just run off together and fall off the grid. My father would have everyone looking for us and would presumably attempt to kill Harry with his bare hands for running off with me.

Would we manage to live life together by the rules of the monarch?

“I-I,” I begin, struggling to find the words. I truly don’t know what Harry has to do with letters patent. “I don’t know,” I sigh. “I don’t have the answers when it comes to this life.”

“Do you not think we should find out?” Harry asks.

I shake my head. Ignorance is bliss. Right now, I need bliss.

***

The warm breeze whistles through my hair and the sound of the water hitting the banks of the lake becomes music to my ears. The Lake at Buckingham Palace is a large man-made lake located in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. It was created in the early 17th century as part of the gardens of the palace and is a place I don’t settle at often. It’s hard to take in the beautiful scenery with it being open to the public on most summer days. Today, it has finally been closed to the public, giving me a sweet sentiment.

It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to stand by the lake without a care in the world, and without having to look over my shoulder to make sure nobody is taking pictures. For the first time in quite a long time, I have a sense of being normal. The grass nestles between my toes, I take a deep breath of the fresh air as I tilt my head to the side and glance over at Harry who has belatedly joined me after he left me earlier today after our letters parent discussion with the King.

A smile spreads across his pink lips and he stares at me with awe in his eyes.

Harry takes my hand and we wander closer to the water's edge. I let out a heavy breath, more so relieved and belatedly, happy. "I'd give anything to be able to feel like this more."

"Feel like what?" Harry questions, glancing around as an arm subtly drapes around my waist.

I grin to myself, taking note of the birds soaring high over the water, "Like a bird," I chuckle to myself, well aware my description is not ordinary, then again, I'm not ordinary either, "Free and happy," I respond. "There's no restraints, no duties, no photographers, and I didn't have any security until now, I could run into the lake with my clothes on and nobody would give a damn," I gladly smile.

“Well, you were supposed to have security,” Harry coughs, and I shrug my shoulders. Harry smirks and lets go of my hand, "Well, go on." Harry gestures towards the water, "By all means, enter the water with your clothes on, be a bird."

I shake my head, "Harry, join me."

Harry shakes his head, "Not a chance in hell, love. I’m already sick, not making it worse." Harry chuckles, “You’re the only crazy one who would happily jump in.”

I shrug my shoulders as I look down at the water. "Do you think I could've been a bird?"

"Oh, god. No. Don't—" Harry begins with a heavy sigh.

"Say it! Say I'm a bird," I insist, well aware of what I'm doing.

Harry brings his bottom lip between his teeth and he glances around.

"Anastasia, I’m losing my voice."

"Say I'm a bird!"

"That would mean admitting I've watched a romantic movie." Harry shakes his head, watching me as I move away from him with a smile.

I spin around, allowing my flowy white dress to dance around me. I glance over my shoulder and see Harry shuffling closer, his hands now in his pockets.

My feet dance at the edge of the bank, thoroughly relishing the freedom, "Tell me."

"Tell you, what?" Harry questions, stepping closer to me. “That you’re about to fall in?”

"Quote my favourite movie."

Harry rolls his eyes playfully, "I'd never do such a thing."

I gasp, stepping away from him with a laugh escaping my lips, "Anna," Harry laughs, reaching out and wrapping his hand around my wrist, causing me to laugh louder as I playfully attempt to pull away from him. Harry tenderly tugs on me and forces me to face him, "If you're a bird, I'm a bird," Harry recites the line and I draw my hair away from my face, still giggling like a schoolgirl. I beam at Harry and he smiles back at me, his eyes bright and full of more love than I could ever imagine. "If you're a bird, I'm a bird. Anastasia,” his voice is raspy but he continues, “I'll be anything you need me to be, and I'll go anywhere I need to go. I'd walk to the end of the earth if it meant being with you."

My heart pounds in my chest like a wild drum, the rhythm echoing against my body. Before I can even comprehend the words forming on my lips, they tumble out in a rush, spurred on by the raw intensity of my emotions.

"Then marry me," I blurt out, the words hanging in the air between us, my deepest desires no longer containing themselves inside me. I've laid bare the very essence of my soul for him to see— something I thought I’d never do— something I had no intentions to do, it just happened.

Despite the unknown and being scared of what I have just opened, I know with absolute certainty that I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my days by his side, bound together in a union of love. My father did mention earlier it didn’t matter who I married, as long as I married before the crown reached me.

I hold my breath, waiting his response, my heart still racing. And in the quiet depths of his gaze, I find myself hoping against hope that he will say yes, that he will choose me, every day, every time, against all odds, it’ll be me. Selfishly, I want it to be me and him in the end, no matter whether this monarchy is standing or not.

Harry blinks at me a few times, seemingly shocked by the request and sudden statement. “Anna, I-I can’t,” Harry shakes his head and I pull away from him. “No, wait,” he breathes, reaching out for my hand but I retract it from him and begin to walk away.

I pinned my heart to my sleeve for a brief moment and became overwashed with nothing but a bitter rejection that I’d have rather ignored. I feel utterly stupid and ashamed.

I feel his fingers wrap around my arm and gently stop me from moving forward. I spin around and press my hands to his chest, pushing him away. “Anna, hear me out.”

He’s relentless.

I shake my head. I don’t want to hear him out.“What? What could you possibly say? You’ve said all I’ve needed to hear.”

Harry takes a deep breath, biting his lip before speaking.“If I marry you, it changes the entire system of this monarch, it changes everything, are you aware?”

“I asked a simple question between me and you. Not a question between me, you and the monarchy.” I respond.

Harry sighs and rubs his eyes tiredly while his phone begins to ring, he glances down at the caller ID, “Can we finish this later?”

“No,” I shake my head, walking away from him while he answers his phone call.

Wearing my heart on my sleeve and allowing myself to let my guard down is something I wish I had never done. I never expected to fall in love with Harry, I never expected us to get to the point of being this serious. At one point, I thought it was just a summer fling, but now here I am, wearing my heart on my sleeve and asking him to marry me. I am insane.

[sevenboarproductions]

[IDOLiSH7] [Part 6] Chapter 2: New Project

6.2.1. - Deep below the surface

Takanashi Tsumugi: Uhm, a “private talk”…

Utsugi Shirou: Ah, I apologize. This information has not been published yet, so I had to handle it like this. A big project is underway.

Takanashi Tsumugi: A big project…

Utsugi Shirou: Yes. The working title is ‘New Black or White’.

Takanashi Tsumugi: New… Black or White… Black Or White as in, the one at the end of the year…?

Utsugi Shirou: That’s correct. This Black or White will have a wide-reaching impact on the industry and with that on the new era.

Takanashi Tsumugi: ……. Black or White is…

(Flashback of IDOLiSH7 winning Black or White in Part 1)

(Flashback of IDOLiSH7 winning Black or White in Part 4)

Takanashi Tsumugi: The idea of Black or White changing is…

Utsugi Shirou: We at Tsukumo, as well as several other parties, are involved and are holding meeting after meeting regarding this.

Utsugi Shirou: Perhaps, even more than now, it will start to feel more like a live.

Utsugi Shirou: Once I really got into it, I decided to ask for your help once more. Since you are a promising stage director, I wanted to hear your opinion, Takanashi-san.

Takanashi Tsumugi: ‘Promising’, that sort of phrasing is scary. But if I can help, that’s fine.

Utsugi Shirou: Do you like lives?

Takanashi Tsumugi: Of course, I love them.

Utsugi Shirou: Why.

Takanashi Tsumugi: Why… You can see the guests’ smiles up close and you can see the coolest idols.

Utsugi Shirou: Why are you happy about that?

Takanashi Tsumugi: Uhm…

Utsugi Shirou: Don’t misunderstand me, please. I relate to this, too. But I want to be able to put it into words.

Utsugi Shirou: Why do we love lives? What is it that you can only obtain from a live?

Takanashi Tsumugi: Something that can only be obtained from a live…

Takanashi Tsumugi: What could it be… When you’re asking me like that, I can’t put it into words right away.

Utsugi Shirou: I’m fine with just your opinion, Takanashi-san. Lives aren’t just about fun, are they?

Takanashi Tsumugi: That’s true… A big number of people, including the staff and the audience, are involved.

Takanashi Tsumugi: In order to avoid accidents or trouble, it is necessary to communicate and convey information in detail.

Takanashi Tsumugi: No matter how much you prepare— the weather, current events, as well as the staff and the idols’ physical condition are easily influenced.

Takanashi Tsumugi: From preparation to cleanup, I cannot relax. It’s a big job, but…

Takanashi Tsumugi: I want to deliver that sparkly, bright, happy atmosphere to our guests and enjoy it together with them.

Takanashi Tsumugi: Working together with a lot of people, spending time and care to create a single event… and then seeing the smiles of the happy people.

Takanashi Tsumugi: ‘Ah, I’m glad. I’m glad everyone liked it. I’m glad we safely made it succeed.’

Takanashi Tsumugi: An excitement and satisfaction that cannot be explained in words.

Takanashi Tsumugi: Every time, there are lots of  things to reflect on; there’s times where I feel down, too, but… Soon after, I want to do lives again.

Takanashi Tsumugi: Things like, ‘let’s try those stage directions next time’, ‘I want you to stand on a stage like this’, ‘how about this kind of costume’...

Takanashi Tsumugi: The fun never ends.

Utsugi Shirou: Just from listening, I can tell how much you love lives.

Utsugi Shirou: Taking the time to carefully create them. Do you think the audience is the same?

Takanashi Tsumugi: ….I think so.

Utsugi Shirou: Why?

Takanashi Tsumugi: Because they spend just as much time looking forward to the lives as we do towards creating them.

Takanashi Tsumugi: Until the day of the live comes, they prepare a lot of things and hold on until then….

Takanashi Tsumugi: While their hearts shake with anxiety and expectations, they looking forward to it….

Takanashi Tsumugi: At least that’s what I feel it is.

Takanashi Tsumugi: During that period, the fans are not just waiting, it’s like something is being created among them, too….

Utsugi Shirou: The feeling of waiting together… like for a carnival?

Takanashi Tsumugi: I think so, yes.

Utsugi Shirou: I see. I feel like I understand.

Utsugi Shirou: While we are spending different kinds of days, we look forward to the same festivities.

Utsugi Shirou: A live might be a festival between like-minded people. If that is the case…

Utsugi Shirou: What is the greatest live?

Takanashi Tsumugi: The greatest live…

Utsugi Shirou: That’s right. An unprecedented live that hasn’t been seen on earth before. If that existed, what would it be like?

Takanashi Tsumugi: I… I don’t know. I can’t even imagine…

Utsugi Shirou: Is that so? But…

Utsugi Shirou: I think your father means to entrust it to you.

Takanashi Tsumugi: Eh…?

Nanase Riku: Manager!

Takanashi Tsumugi: Ah…

Utsugi Shirou: Ah, you’re being called. I’m sorry, I took up your time.

Takanashi Tsumugi: No, likewise…

Utsugi Shirou: One last thing. If you had the opportunity to create the greatest live, would you do it, Takanashi-san?

Takanashi Tsumugi: ……

Takanashi Tsumugi: I would love to do it.

Takanashi Tsumugi: I want to create the greatest live.

Utsugi Shirou: Haha. I’m glad to hear a positive response.

Utsugi Shirou: I’ll be going then.

~ to be continued ~

6.2.2. - Chance for a great return

Yuki: Ah, is that Kaoru-chan? Did TRIGGER already go back?

Momo: After this, it’s probably going to be that. Look, it’s a lucky day today, after all.

Yuki: Does that have to do anything with it being a lucky day?

Momo: He knows these things precisely. Yaotome Papa, that is.

Yuki: Ah, speak of the devil. Isn’t that Kaoru-chan’s car over there?

Momo: It’s a quiet parade, isn’t it?

Momo: Congratulations on your triumphant return, TRIGGER.

--

Woman A: “Zero” was so much fun! I wanna see it again!

Woman B: There’s no tickets left! Additional performances sell out really fast, too! Even on SNS, it’s going viral!

Woman A: That’s right, isn’t it. I was told that even the relay broadcasting tickets in cinemas are all sold out.

Woman B: Even my boss who usually doesn’t care about these things would be envious if I told them I went to see it!

Woman A: Right! The Zero Generation, the TRIGGER Generation, everyone wants to see it!

Woman B: From theme parks to traveling, right now, I think  there’s more people who prefer seeing “Zero” over that!

Woman A: It’s more popular than expected! That’s TRIGGER for you! But it’s a bit complicated…

Woman A: Even though everything turned on them, now all of TV is about “Zero” and TRIGGER…

Woman B: Because TRIGGER has the ability to do it! It’s frustrating, but if TRIGGER are smiling, we should also smile and cheer them on.

Woman B: We overcame a hard time together with TRIGGER, after all!

Woman B: I might be overthinking it, but TRIGGER, who were kind of like princes out of reach…

Woman B: To be able to support them in a place so close to me makes me happy!

Woman A: Right... During the nationwide tour, too, TRIGGER was so close to us and it was the best!

Woman B: During MOP, I cried while voting, but that sounds like a joke now! It was really good…

Woman A: I’m glad that these wonderful people finally are being recognized again…

--

Passerby A: Oh, it’s the venue for “Zero”. Can I buy a ticket on the day of?

Passerby B: It’s impossible unless you get in line in the early morning. Ah, look, it’s sold out.

Passerby C: It’s a “Zero” poster!

Passerby D: It’s Tenn-kun! Let’s take a picture.

Passerby C: I just want a pamphlet! I wanna see more of Gaku-san!

Passerby D: I wanted to see Ryuunosuke-san live! Because "Backyard MAGIC" showed me the backstage side every week, I wanted to see the stage performance, too!

Passerby D: Let’s go ask the theater staff whether more performances are planned.

--

Woman A: “Zero” is really popular, isn’t it…

--

Announcer: Today’s trending feature is the third installment of our special feature on the popular musical “Zero”!

Announcer: What is this? It only was published recently, but the soundtrack reached first place in the ranking!

Announcer: Zero’s Best of album, which was released on the same day, stays in second place!

Commentator: I know it’ll sell. After watching “Zero”, I couldn’t get the songs out of my head.

Commentator: The line-up is filled with famous songs. Surprisingly, I got used to TRIGGER’s voices with Zero’s songs.

Announcer: After all, Zero’s producer, Kujou-shi, strictly oversaw it! 

Commentator: It’s truly wonderful. Even the people who couldn’t get tickets, please listen to at least one song.

Announcer: A lot of people say that! The soundtrack has a good ranking, too.

Announcer: Today we are looking at the previous musical works of TRIGGER, who acted in the musical “Zero”.

Announcer: We are presenting “Crescent Wolf” and “Last Dimension ~ who will pull the trigger ~”!

Commentator: The theme songs have been in the single ranking for the past week, haven’t they?

Announcer: That’s correct! I think TRIGGER’s past masterpieces are being re-evaluated.

Announcer: Whether it’s a drama or a movie, TRIGGER has been highly rated in their acting performances— I am looking forward to what they will do in the future!

--

Kujou Aya: Ah… there it is, a flower shop.

Flower Shop Clerk: Welcome.

Kujou Aya: I’d like to send congratulatory flowers. The sender is Kujou Takamasa and the address is the office of Yaotome Productions.

Flower Shop Clerk: If that is the case, how about these flowers? Elegant and beautiful, they’re perfect for celebrating.

Kujou Aya: Waaah, that’s wonderful. Then please give me these flowers.

Flower Shop Clerk: Understood.

Kujou Aya: Also… what flowers do you have for proposing to someone?

Flower Shop Clerk: Proposing… The standard would be roses, right? Tulips are also popular.

Flower Shop Clerk: This Blue Star, too. It’s a flower that’s used for proposals. It means “blessed love”.

Kujou Aya: Blue Star… Blessed love… It’s so beautiful…

Kujou Aya: If it’s a star, I’m sure he will be happy. Please make this flower into a bouquet.

Flower Shop Clerk: Thank you. Do you want it to look like a proposal?

Kujou Aya: Not ‘like’ a proposal, I want it to be a bouquet that can be used for a real proposal.

Kujou Aya: I’ll do it tonight.

Flower Shop Clerk: Eh?

Kujou Aya: Proposing. I’m serious.

Flower Shop Clerk: Uhm… Understood. Please do your best.

Kujou Aya: Yes!! I’ll do my best!!

Flower Shop Clerk: The baby’s breath flowers and the ribbons are a bonus.

Kujou Aya: Thank you!!

~ to be continued ~

6.2.3. Promised sign(ature)

Yaotome Gaku: …….

Yaotome Gaku: This place is nostalgic, too.

Yaotome Gaku: …….

--

Anesagi Kaoru: I brought the contract with me.

Yaotome Gaku: Ah.

Anesagi Kaoru: You guys, take this.

Kujou Tenn: Thank you very much.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: It’s kind of nostalgic, isn’t it?

Yaotome Gaku: Thank you. Can we sign it here?

--

Yaotome Sousuke: Wait.

Yaotome Gaku: What?

Yaotome Sousuke: Is it really okay like this?

Yaotome Gaku: …………….

Yaotome Sousuke: The way you are right now, you will be held in high esteem no matter where you go.

Yaotome Sousuke: Even if we stay at the current office, it should be fine as long as we increase the number of staff.

Yaotome Sousuke: If you come back here, you might be subjected to unnecessary scrutiny again. Even so…

Kujou Tenn: I don’t mind.

Yaotome Sousuke: Tenn….

Kujou Tenn: You told us you had a dream, President.

Kujou Tenn: I was happy. As an artist, there couldn’t be a bigger honor.

Kujou Tenn: Please let me follow that feeling of mine. I want to continue that dream once more.

Yaotome Sousuke: …Thank you.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I feel the same way. If you hadn’t spoken to me back then, President, I wouldn’t be here the way I am right now.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: At the start, I was confused, but… For the interesting life you have given me, I am sincerely grateful.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I think of you as something like a second father, President Yaotome.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Please watch where we go from here together with us. 

Yaotome Sousuke: That modest Ryuunosuke… you’ve become a hungry-eyed person.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Ehehe… If you say it like that, it’s a bit embarrassing. 

Yaotome Sousuke: Thank you. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Haha… Come on, Gaku.

Yaotome Gaku: Mhm… stop nagging me.

Anesagi Kaoru: What? You’re embarrassed?

Kujou Tenn: Even though he is happy.

Yaotome Gaku: Shut up…

Yaotome Gaku: Lend me your pen. I told you we would come back.

Yaotome Gaku: I just kept my promise.

Yaotome Sousuke: ….Gaku….

Yaotome Gaku: You did well, too. You didn’t let go of this building. I don’t know much about this, but it must’ve been hard, right?

Yaotome Sousuke: Hm… It’s the place you guys were going to return to, after all.

Yaotome Sousuke: I wanted to greet you here once more. ….Thank you for coming back.

Yaotome Gaku: Sure.

--

Yaotome Gaku: Let’s continue to get along well from now on.

Kujou Tenn & Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Yeah, let’s!

Anesagi Kaoru: (crying) Thank goodness… With this, the days of your long trials are finally over…

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Anesagi-san…

--

Yaotome Sousuke: Anesagi… I made it hard for you, didn’t I?

Anesagi Kaoru: No, not at all! I believed in TRIGGER and in you, president Yaotome.

Anesagi Kaoru: For those kids, it may have been a difficult, hard and unnecessary experience, but…

Anesagi Kaoru: If Yaotome Productions had continued to protect them, they wouldn’t have learnt a lot of things.

Anesagi Kaoru: A star who knows both the highs and the lows. There’s not a second one like that in the world. Isn’t that cool?

--

Yaotome Gaku: That’s right.

Kujou Tenn: Thank you very much.

Anesagi Kaoru: Well then! Today, we celebrate! That’s fine, right, President?

Yaotome Sousuke: That’s right. I made a reservation in a restaurant for later.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Is a luxury like this alright…?

Yaotome Sousuke: It’s a day to celebrate, so it doesn’t matter! I’ll pay for it from my own funds.

Yaotome Gaku: Seriously, you’re so vain.

Anesagi Kaoru: It’s because it’s your special day.

Kujou Tenn: Haha, this will be a treat. 

Kujou Tenn: It feels like a long time ago, but it was really not that long ago, was it? The day we left here.

Kujou Tenn: “MOP”, “Crescent Wolf”, “Zero”... A lot of things happened.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Right… I thought we’d fallen into the abyss, but together with everyone’s power we made it back out.

Yaotome Gaku: Is it alright to think that there will be no second-guessing from now on?

Yaotome Sousuke: Of course. 

Yaotome Gaku: Let’s give it our all and continue, then! We’ll do it!

Yaotome Sousuke: Yeah, do it to your heart’s content. There’s no one who could be your enemy anymore.

TRIGGER: Yes!

Yaotome Sousuke: Ah, right… Tenn. A congratulatory flower came from Kujou-san. Tell him my thanks.

Kujou Tenn: Of course, I will. Thank you very much. 

Yaotome Sousuke: Do you know anything about Kujou-san’s plans from here on out?

Kujou Tenn: No… After “Zero”, there is nothing on his schedule.

Yaotome Sousuke: Is that so… I was hoping he would continue doing the stage direction for TRIGGER.

Yaotome Sousuke: At least until the end of the year…

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: There will be Black or White at the end of the year, too. I don’t know whether we will be invited, though.

Yaotome Gaku: Why are you saying weak words like that? Of course we’ll be at the Black or White.

Kujou Tenn: I will be talking to Kujou-san regarding his future plans.

Yaotome Sousuke: Please do.

~ to be continued ~

6.2.4. Restart

Yaotome Gaku: Well then!

Everyone: Cheers!

Anesagi Kaoru: Ah~ it’s delicious! Ah, it’s delicious! Ah, it’s so delicious…!

Yaotome Gaku: Haha! You don’t have to say it three times.

Yaotome Sousuke: You haven’t had good alcohol in a while, have you?

Anesagi Kaoru: Well, that’s true too. And I was worried this entire time. But tonight, we can drink without worrying, right?

Yaotome Sousuke: There’s no drinking without worrying. Who’s going to take care of you?

Yaotome Gaku: Isn’t it fine, just for tonight? I’ll look after you, Anesagi.

Anesagi Kaoru: You’re a good guy… Ryuu, I’ll be drinking with you tonight!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Uhm, but…

Kujou Tenn: Well, once in a while it’s fine, isn’t it? I’ll look after Ryuu.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Really?

Kujou Tenn: Yeah.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: You’re a good guy, Tenn… Well then, once more, cheers!

Kujou Tenn & Yaotome Gaku & Yaotome Sousuke & Anesagi Kaoru: Cheers!

--

Yaotome Gaku: Let’s win Black or White this year!

Kujou Tenn: JIMA and MOP, too. Everything.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Let’s do it! This is just the beginning!

Yaotome Sousuke: Haha… that’s right. You guys are only just starting.

Yaotome Sousuke: We’re planning a restart of the TRIGGER namesake show next semester.

Yaotome Gaku: Our namesake show… this early?

Kujou Tenn: What kind of show will it be?

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I wonder if there will be backlash if we suddenly get more media exposure…

Yaotome Sousuke: No, it’s the exact opposite. Everyone wants to see TRIGGER right now.

Yaotome Sousuke: One of the reasons is the massive success of “Zero”, but there are other things that had a hand in this too.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Maybe “Backyard MAGIC”?

Yaotome Sousuke: You got it, Ryuunosuke. That’s correct.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: A lot of the people who saw the show called out to us, saying they’d misunderstood before.

Anesagi Kaoru: “Backyard MAGIC“… I hadn’t liked the idea of that sort of documentary show.

Anesagi Kaoru: But actually, because of this show, I feel like more people have positive opinions about TRIGGER.

Anesagi Kaoru: Through the camera, they saw the way you guys earnestly go about your daily lives.

Yaotome Sousuke: I wanted to protect your brand through flawless promotion, but…

Yaotome Sousuke: That way, I might have ended up hiding your strong points, too.

Yaotome Sousuke: TRIGGER is first-rate. But it isn’t a flawless, unconcerned-looking or pretentious idol group.

Yaotome Sousuke: You’re a group with a steady and earnest attitude in everyday life, but also a result-oriented, highly professional mindset.

Yaotome Sousuke: By conveying the right image, your past scandals become little more than overly heated media coverage, and the perception of them will probably change.

Yaotome Sousuke: Aside from taking this seriously, I also want to make a decision regarding your future stance on your image, also including on the namesake show.

Kujou Tenn: …So that’s what it is…

Yaotome Gaku: Are you against it?

Kujou Tenn: I am not against it, but…

Yaotome Gaku: If you’re against it, just say so. It might be irresponsible to just change your image like that.

Yaotome Gaku: I don’t want to tell you to stop doing something you took pride in doing.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: That’s right, Tenn.

Kujou Tenn: …

Kujou Tenn: I am not against it. Because of my experience during “Zero”, I also had things to think about…

Kujou Tenn: I thought I should fix my habit of taking everything upon myself.

Kujou Tenn: I wanted to protect my fans. I wanted them to have no heartbreak, and just wanted them to enjoy seeing me.

Kujou Tenn: As if I was keeping them tightly wrapped in my hand, I wanted to protect them and show them a beautiful dream.

Kujou Tenn: But our fans aren’t scared of pain, they’re not just there to be protected.

Kujou Tenn: They’re our equals. That’s why this time, we should show them the respect they deserve.

Kujou Tenn: But it’s a bit…

Yaotome Gaku: It’s a bit what? Don’t hold back and tell me.

Kujou Tenn: Usually… It’s embarrassing. It’s because I’m not that used to showing my true face.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Not in front of us, either!?

Kujou Tenn: In front of you guys, I guess I am showing it a bit more…?

Yaotome Gaku: You were with Nanase when he was sick, after all. You were on edge all this time, unconsciously.

Yaotome Gaku: But there is no need for that anymore. Because we are here.

Kujou Tenn: ……..

Kujou Tenn: It’s kind of embarrassing…

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Eeeh? Cute!

Kujou Tenn: Calling it cute is…

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I get it now. You were always on edge. But the thing with Kujou-san is over now.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: From now on, you can depend on us and let us spoil you!

Kujou Tenn: Thank you very much.

Yaotome Gaku: You’re being so stiff.

Kujou Tenn: …No, I think maybe I can’t do it… I might not come across as natural.

Anesagi Kaoru: It’s fine! Right now, you’re super natural!

Kujou Tenn: Is that so…? I don’t know how to relax.

Yaotome Gaku: It’s easy. Laugh when you wanna laugh, be angry when you wanna be angry.

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Not for someone else, but for yourself.

Kujou Tenn: …Ah, that’s right. Thank you.

--

Kujou Tenn: That being said, I think I can get used to it, step by step.

Yaotome Sousuke: I am glad to hear that. In the previous namesake show, we invited guests and the focus was on the talks in the studio, but…

Yaotome Sousuke: In the next namesake show, as long as your schedule allows it, we want to do variety-style shoots at different locations.

Yaotome Gaku: Variety-style shoots at different locations…?

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Like a casual trip…?

Kujou Tenn: If we go to a teahouse together, I’ll definitely end up doing fanservice, though…

Anesagi Kaoru: President, don’t you think this is too sudden of a change?

Anesagi Kaoru: TRIGGER are already fully recognized as hard-working and earnest artists who made “Zero” a big success.

Anesagi Kaoru: They don’t have to try too hard to appear friendly…

Yaotome Sousuke: Of course, I don’t intend to pander to the masses. You guys don’t make compromises regarding your work, and you’re popular for your reliable attitude.

Yaotome Sousuke: I don’t intend to sell the other side of TRIGGER as idols bit by bit anymore. It’s a lot to bear for you guys, too.

Yaotome Sousuke: So this is what the show producer suggested.

Yaotome Gaku: Don’t put your files everywhere on the dinner table!

Yaotome Sousuke: Just look at them quickly and then put them away!

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Don’t fight!

Yaotome Gaku: Geez… huh?

Yaotome Gaku: Experience as a waiter at the nation’s best hidden famous coffee shops….

Yaotome Sousuke: Right. There’s a stoicness and gorgeousness in historic coffee shops and cafés.

Yaotome Sousuke: You will have the work experience as a waiter, while talking to the locals, and bring out the charm of the store.

Yaotome Sousuke: Japanese people are capable and diligent people. They like to watch something be steadily accomplished and get a sense of accomplishment from it themselves.

Yaotome Sousuke: I’m sure people will accept the sight of you guys working on something positively.

Yaotome Gaku: You’re saying that with such confidence? Well, it's fine, but…

Yaotome Sousuke: It will be fine. Believe me.

Yaotome Gaku: Tenn, Ryuu, what about you?

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I like coffee, and it sounds interesting! I am worried about talking freely, but I’m good at things when there’s something to do.

Kujou Tenn: I feel the same. It isn’t that hard of a job for us, to the point where I wonder if that’s okay…

Yaotome Sousuke: Of course, we’re going to make other corners, too. But this will be the main focus of the project.

Yaotome Sousuke: I had my doubts at the start, too, but as I was being persuaded, I became convinced. This show will become a national hit.

Yaotome Gaku: Is that so…?

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: To go that far…

Yaotome Sousuke: It will. Trust me!

Kujou Tenn: Understood. I am looking forward to it.

~ to be continued ~

----

Translator's notes:

Aaaah, finally done with this! Anyway, hello, I'm Riku, and I TL'd this thing. Haruka did the proofreading this time, but I will absolutely shirk my responsibilities as soon as possible. You might notice that the title of 6.2.1. was not translated literally, but that's mostly because it's a weird metaphor.

As for Re:vale's conversation at the start of 6.2.2., they are talking about 大安, lit. "auspicious day", which is like... a thing in the old Japanese calendars.