#some of my family came over from overseas so that kept me busy for a while

[viewingthevoid]

Hey. Let's all collectively pretend I wasn't gone for a couple of months

[meenatranslates]

[SSR] Tsuzuru | Everyone from the Minagi Family

I worked on this for quite a while and when I decided to post after it was done, I kept it in drafts because I realised a bit too late that someone already translated this :) Though, it's such a waste to discard the efforts I put in, so I'll post this as a practice.

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Midnight Crunch Time - Part 1

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*Director's default name as Izumi

―Hallway (Night)―

Izumi: Let’s see, what are the plans for today...

Hm? Did something just fell?

(This is... a photo of Minagi family? That means this belongs to Tsuzuru-kun.)

(I wonder if he’s in his room... Huh?)

―Balcony―

Tsuzuru: ......

Izumi: (Seems like he’s in the middle of doing his work. He’s so focused... Is it alright if I call him out?)

(I guess it’s fine since it’s just a photo.)

Hello, Tsuzuru-kun.

Tsuzuru: Oh, Director. What’s up?

Izumi: Sorry if I bother you. This photo is yours, right?

Tsuzuru: Hm? ...Ah! Yeah, that’s mine!

Izumi: I found it over there just now.

Tsuzuru: Argh, my bad. I didn’t even realize it fell.

Thank you, Director.

Izumi: That’s a nice photo you got there.

Tsuzuru: Kaoru came to my part-time work today. I got it from him then.

He also told me to send his regards to you.

Izumi: I’m glad to know he’s doing well.

Oh, how are Tadoru-san and Meguru-san doing?

Tsuzuru: They’ll be back from overseas at the end of this month. I’m planning on going home too.

Though, I doubt I’d be able to...

Izumi: Why’s that?

Tsuzuru: Truth is...

*flashback*

―Veludo Way (Night)―

Tsuzuru: Thanks, Kaoru.

Kaoru: Sorry for coming in out of the blue.

Tsuzuru: Well, I really didn’t expect for you to come.

Kaoru: I just happen to pass by chance, and I wanted to see you working.

Please send my regards to Director-san too.

Tsuzuru: Got it.

Kaoru: Oh right, I’ve been meaning to hand this to you.

Tsuzuru: ?

__________________________

Midnight Crunch Time - Part 2

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Kaoru: I printed out the photo that we took when you were back at home before.

Tsuzuru: Wow... We’ve been taking photos with phone lately and leaving them as they are, but it’s kinda nice to have a printed photo like this.

Kaoru: Right?

I guess the next time you come home is when Tadoru-oniichan comes home at the end of this month.

Tsuzuru: Right... I said something like that, didn’t I.

Kaoru: Meguru-oniichan said that he’ll show up at home then too.

Tsuzuru: End of the month, huh... The deadline for my assignments and my part-time work might overlap then...

Kaoru: That sounds tough. Don’t push yourself if you’re busy.

Tsuzuru: Yeah. Still, I wanna see you guys, so I’ll try to finish them as soon as I can.

Kaoru: Tadoru-oniichan and Meguru-oniichan wasn’t included in the photo from last time, so I hope we can get a photo with all of us together next time.

Tsuzuru: I hope so.

*flashback ends*

...And that’s why I might not have the time to go home.

Even so, I’ll do everything I can to show up, so I’m starting with what I can do for now.

Izumi: I see.

🌸CHOICE 1: Don’t push yourself too hard

Izumi: Don’t push yourself until you pass out like when you’re writing your script.

You’re too focused when you concentrate that you forgot to eat and sleep.

Tsuzuru: ...I’ll be fine. It’ll be all for nothing if I pass out.

Besides, writing script is something that I like to do, aside from the report.

🌸CHOICE 2: You’re very family oriented

Izumi: I see you’re very family oriented.

Tsuzuru: Hm, there were times I wanted to be alone when I’m at home, but...

I figured that living apart like this makes me miss them.

Izumi: Your house is very lively after all.

Tsuzuru: Well, the dorm isn’t that much different. They both are precious places to me.

I’ll keep writing more good stories as the playwright for MANKAI Company.

Izumi: Fufu, I’m looking forward to it.

―Dining Room (Night)―

Izumi: Our dinner tonight is Massaman Curry!

Chikage: The scent of the cardamom and coriander is nice.

Izumi: I got my hands on some good spices, so I tried using them.

Citron: Oriental aroma is wafting through the air~. It stimulates my appetite!

Masumi: Your curry is the best in the world...

Sakuya: What kind of curry is it?

Izumi: It’s a curry of chicken, potatoes, onions, and peanuts simmered in spices and coconut milk.

Sakuya: It's quite unique to have peanuts included! I’m excited to know what it tastes like.

Izumi: I made a lot, so you can have seconds!

Masumi: I’ll eat the whole pot until there’s nothing left...

Izumi: You don’t need to eat the pot too.

Chikage: The spices work well, and the ingredients are simmered soft and tender.

Itaru: You sound like a nagging food critic.

Chikage: The "nagging" part was unneeded.

Sakuya: It’s very delicious, Director!

Citron: It feels like I’m traveling in a foreign country~!

Izumi: Fufu, I’m glad you like it.

Tsuzuru: *yawns*

Citron: What a big yawn!

Izumi: Not enough sleep?

Itaru: Were you grinding for a game event all-night too?

Tsuzuru: I’m not the same as you. I’ve told you before that I’m trying to finish my report.

Chikage: College report?

Tsuzuru: Yes. Though, it’s not going smoothly because there’s a lot that I need to research...

Masumi: He stayed up late last night too.

Izumi: Really?

Sakuya: Are you okay, Tsuzuru-kun?

Tsuzuru: Well, I’ve got a lot of part-time work, so there’s not that much progress...

I need to concentrate on finishing it soon, or else I won’t be able to go home... I’ll get it done somehow.

Thank you for the food. I’m gonna head back to my room.

Izumi: I hope he’s not working too hard...

Sakuya: He looked really tired too.

Chikage: He’s a workaholic after all.

Citron: We’ll ‘curse’ him if he passes out! [1]

Izumi: ‘Nurse’, you mean.

Itaru: He’d get instant death if you do that with the way he is right now.

Sakuya: I hope his assignment goes well...

Izumi: I hope so too...

Masumi: ......

=====NOTES=====

[1] Original:

❌カンチョー / kanchō - The act of putting your fingers together in a pointy position and sticking them up somebody else's butt.

✅介抱 / kaihou - nurse / taking care of

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Midnight Crunch Time - Part 3

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―Room 102 (Night)―

Masumi: *zzz...*

Tsuzuru: *yawns*

...It’s never-ending.

(My shoulders are stiff, and my eyes hurt too...)

I’m so tired... Oh, it’s already that late?

*yawns*

(...Guess I’ll take a nap.)

*snores*

Masumi: ......

Tsuzuru: Mm...

(Shoot, I overslept...)

Hm? A blanket...?

(There’s even a jelly drink...)

(I doubt anyone would come into the room in the middle of the night like this.)

(So that means...)

Masumi: *zzz...*

Tsuzuru: ...Thanks, Masumi.

Alright, let’s wrap this up with one final push.

ーHallway (Day)ー

Izumi: Oh, Tsuzuru-kun. Good morning.

Tsuzuru: Good morning.

Izumi: How’s your assignment going?

Tsuzuru: I think I’ll make it in time.

Izumi: That’s great. Sounds like you can finally go home now.

Tsuzuru: Yeah, I’m also glad that I can adjust my part-time shifts.

And here, look... I got this from Masumi.

Izumi: A jelly drink...? He brought you a refreshment?

Tsuzuru: Seems like it. It was on my desk while I was napping.

Izumi: The way he didn’t give it to you in person is very Masumi-like.

Tsuzuru: Right?

I never thought that Masumi, who used to argue with me a lot when I first joined the troupe, would come to support me like this.

Izumi: ...You’re right. Both of you have such a great relationship.

Tsuzuru: Well, he's like a cute little brother now, just like Sakuya.

Masumi: ...You’re too close with Director, Tsuzuru.

Tsuzuru: Oh, Masumi.

Izumi: Good morning, Masumi-kun.

Masumi: Good morning. You’re very cute today too.

Izumi: Ahaha... You sure are lively too.

Tsuzuru: Hey, Masumi.

Masumi: ...What?

Tsuzuru: You’re the one who left this for me, right?

I finished my report without a hitch thanks to it.

Masumi: ...Director was worried, so.

Tsuzuru: Thanks.

Masumi: So annoying. I want headpats from Director herself, not you.

Tsuzuru: Yeah, yeah.

Masumi: ...I told you to stop it. I’m not a dog.

Tsuzuru: Come on, isn’t it fine?

Masumi: No, it’s not.

Izumi: (It’s so heart-warming to see that both of them are like real brothers.)

Story Clear!

[theheelerbooklifereads]

Ⓡⓐⓣⓘⓝⓖ: ♾️

Welcome to a small town where everyone knows everyone and this happens to be Benevolence, Maryland. Harper has just left her cheating boyfriend and decides to drive to her old college roommates' home to couch surf for a bit. However, Harper ends up stopping in a small town called Benevolence and happens to see some jerk wad named Glenn hurting a woman named Gloria. Harper ends up attacking Glenn to get him to stop hurting Gloria and Harper ends up getting a bit hurt. When Harper opens her eyes, she is met with a face of a beautiful man. This man happens to be Luke and Luke informs Harper that she has driven four hours the wrong way from her destination. Sophie, Luke's sister insists that she stay the night with Luke and that Harper and Luke should pretend to date for one month until he deploys overseas for six months, and the reason for the fake dating is so everyone can get off Luke's back on making sure he is okay and for Harper to find a place to live within that month. Harper is given the office manager job at Luke's business and as she makes it easy for him and makes his home feel more like a home, will Luke allow her fully in? Will Luke allow Harper to know why he struggles with letting people in?

I first read Lucy Score back in March 2023 and that was Things We Never Got Over, which I absolutely adored. I saw Pretend You're Mine on NetGalley and knew instantly I needed to request it and I even made the decision back in March to read as much Lucy Score books as possible because she seems like an author that is going to become a favorite.

Pretend You're Mine is one of Lucy's older books that is being released so that is something to keep in mind as you read my review.

When starting Pretend You're Mine, I became instantly excited over the fact that this book takes place in Maryland! I grew up in Baltimore County, Maryland and have not lived in Maryland for almost a decade, so seeing books that take place in any area of Maryland makes me heart happy.

The beginning of this book felt a little too insta love like for my taste, but that feeling of dislike for insta love was quickly thrown away as I kept on reading. The chemistry between Harper and Luke is intense and it just leaps off the page.

It was so fun reading this and the dynamic between Harper, Luke, the Harrison family, and just the whole town. One thing I really loved about Things We Never Got Over was the small town and how it came together for the main character and how a found family was formed and these things were found too in Pretend You're Mine.

I squealed, laughed, swooned, and teared up a bit as I read this amazing book. Harper cracks me up with some of her decisions and one of my favorite scenes is when Harper brings a dog home to Luke's named Lola and he is pretty annoyed by this, but he falls for Lola and ends up bringing a small tripod terrier dog home named Max and tells Harper to not say one word about this due to all the grief he gave her over Lola. I teared up during the revelation about Luke and even teared up as well as swooned when Luke came home from his deployment.

Harper and Luke make one another better and pulls each other's strengths out and loves one another for who they are even when they do not want to admit they love one another. Harper brings life back to all areas of Luke's life even when he is not wanting it and expecting it so it was nice to see Luke grow from Harper.

Harper is a really resilient character with all she goes through and even when her dark secret comes out. Luke and all the town members of Benevolence make her feel like the first time she actually has a family and because of that she really starts to flourish and grow into such an amazing character.

I could gush and gush about how amazing this book is and how I loved each and every part of it, but we will be sitting here forever. Just know that this book is amazing with all the dynamics packed into it and that it is a pretty spicy romance that has a lot of sweet moments, but at the same time deals with grief, other day to day life problems, and is about finding yourself as well as growing a found family.

You all seriously need to get this book and read it. I guarantee you that you will not regret it!

⁉️𝚀𝙾𝚃𝙳: 𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚛?

[kimberly-spirits13]

Batboys Dating Royalty HC

(not really the British Royal Family, just a royal)

Dick Grayson:

He met you first as a Flying Grayson and then again as Robin

You were a bright young royal with a sense of wonder in your title

Then you blossomed into a daring intelligent youth

The two of you were reunited once again when your parents requested the Young Justice team as security for a conference that you all had to attend

You and the hero got along very well, always joking around and gossiping about the dignitaries

You had the itching suspicion that this was the young acrobat that you had met all those years ago

So much time had passed however that you weren't really sure

You were positive that it was him when you saw the team in action

Watching the way he flipped through the air in a such a familiar way was very telling

He approached you with a sly smirk afterwards when he was coming to check on you in your quarters

"You're an acrobat?"

"Uhh- what?"

"A Flying Grayson I presume. Am I wrong?"

"Y/N I-" "Yes."

You start dating and from there it's pretty smooth other than a few logistical bumps

first of all, you live overseas but you can easily fly over to the US

Then there's the media for both of you

Your parents didn't really mind since they're pretty chill

You became friends with the rest of the team very quickly and starting partnering with WE very quickly

Some people thought that it was a press relationship

But after the longevity of the entire thing, their ideas of that were diminished

You often went to carnivals and parks together

There were times you went on expensive vacations and walks around the gardens of either the castle or manor but it was mostly small public dates

They were extremely fun

He's always there when the royal life gets aggravating or stressful

Jason Todd:

You and Jason met when he was adopted by Bruce

You two were both at a gala and bored out of your minds

He had snuck up to the roof top only to find you there

"Who are you?" He asked walking up to you, not sitting until he had a suitable reply

"My name is F/N. And you are?"

"Uh, Jason... Todd."

"Oh you must be Mr. Wayne's son. A pleasure." "I hope I'm not intruding. Galas and balls are terribly boring."

That's when you hit it off

Turns out that the two of you are often traveling to the same places for business related affairs

That's when you would hang out

Eventually, it turned into a romantic spark and you two were secretly dating

It was something that you kept from everyone

Your parents and everyone around you just thought that you two were best friends which was only a partial truth

Then it came the day that he died

You knew about everything that he did

But it was something that you had never taken time to prepare for

You were at a gala and got the last message from Jason

It was a simple I love you and it made you worry

You found out about everything the next day and weren't the same after

After months and months of grief, your council convinced you to do something with this and you started a foundation for children that were abandoned on the streets or living in poverty to get an education, food, housing, and any help that they would need with kick starting their lives

You knew that Jason would have loved it and it was named after him

Years later, you had nearly totally taken over the kingdom as your parents were getting ready to pass the crown down and you were on another trip to Gotham

Now it was harder and harder to come back but when a masked stranger took you, you were just mad

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

"relax sweetheart."

that sounded oddly familiar

The stranger landed on a rooftop, it was the one that you had had your first kiss at

"Why on God's earth would you bring me here?"

"Don't you remember?"

That was alarming

it took some convincing to get you to believe him but once you understood that it was Jason, you were in hysterics and happy sobbing

He was too but still

you two were dating again and this time it was public

There were headlines for months openly wondering who this stranger was

Everyone seemed to forget about the Jason from your teenage years and just accepted him as here

Bruce played it as a kidnapping and disappearance so that helped instead of telling everyone that he was dead

There are so many pictures of the two of you on his motorcycle or exploring the gardens and libraries of the castle

He's also big on the castle kitchen

the chef knows him by name and they cook together

there are pictures on each others Instagram of you two both covered in flower from baking

Tim Drake:

Kind think that you two would have just known of each other from his parents and then later met while his parents were still alive

So the childhood best friend kind of thing

When Tim’s parents died, he stayed in the penthouse that your parents owned in New York

you ended up spending a lot of time in New York anyways so, he was never really alone which was good for him

you knew everything that he was doing and he was the first person to tell you that he had discovered Bruce Wayne’s other identity

you believed him cause all of the evidence just made too much sense

Tim confronted Bruce and after a little while Bruce did adopt him

you came over a ton since you were like -dude you took my best friend wtf

like you were happy for him since now it was like he had family again but TIMMYYYYY

Bruce lets you come over all the time

since you know about everything you go down to the Batcave too

you’re involved in the crime fighting stuff

you do get trained but that doesn’t mean that you’re always out there and active

your parents probably got you some sort of self defense classes or whatever and you have body guards

it’s also good to observe the moves of some of the assassins you’ve had the misfortune of running into 😃

Bruce was very aware that you two would probably start dating- Bruce plus your parents were not surprised when it started

You start dating after he joins the YJ team

it’s because he’s really really really really jealous of everyone flirting with you and he also gets a push from some of the guys

You don’t really like that Cassie is getting a bit too head over heals either

It’s not that you don’t like Cassie, cause you do- just back way off girly

It becomes this big thing in the media

everyone knows that you’re dating since you really didn’t try and keep it a secret

Power couple to the max

everyone just bows down at galas

not really but still

He goes to a ton of the royal events and stuff that you have to go to and also makes sure that the team does some of the security

everyone loves you to death

his siblings try and steal you away sometimes

baking with Alfred because that would be amazing

you probably talk all the literature with Jason

the girls force you to watch Barbie movies with them

it’s pretty fun

Tim just sits there and doesn’t say a word

just latches himself onto you and doesn’t move

sulks but also it’s a Barbie movie so you can’t be sulky for long

You probably got a fake plastic crown or something as a gag gift from him and now wear it around the house just to be funny

Damian Wayne:

Imma be totally honest here Damian is the only one that could care less that you’re a royal

he literally doesn’t make a fuss about it

and you don’t make a fuss that he’s a Wayne

he kinda thinks that you don’t really care because you’re a royal

you just don’t care since he’s not a snob like a lot of the people that you’ve met

once he figures out that the two of you just equally don’t care he’s sold

You two start hanging out at all of the galas since that’s the only way that you can entertain yourselves without knocking someone out

Once your important duties are done and what not you sneak out of the place

usually it’s just either to the rooftop or just out to one of the balconies or something

You start hanging out outside of the things and since you’re in the US quite often you two become fast and best friends

his siblings always tease you two about being together even when you’re not

When Damian visits your country, that’s when you two become a thing

you know that he’s Robin after someone tried to break into the castle to cause some trouble

he sees you differently when in order to defend one of the servants you spear the person with one of the spears that was left in some knight’s armor just standing around

you know that he’s Robin cause this man just starts busting out moves and taking people out left and right

“uhhhhhhh-“

“surprise”

There’s not really an official time that you start dating it just happens

media frenzy once again

you two try to keep it all private but there are some times where there will be like some funny interview thing

like the one where they ask you questions with the puppies or whatever

or it’ll be like “reaction video with Damian Wayne and Princess/Prince F/N”

that’ll go viral really fast

Met Gala couple

you two always make it on the best dressed list of course

Whenever work gets stressful or whatever the two of you just bunker down in a room and do whatever work you have to do in near silence

He loves all of the castle animals and there are places in the castle for his animals when they come

You definitely give him a horse at one point

he definitely doesn’t cry at all

“I have only just now been gifted this horse, but if anything happened to it I would kill everyone in this room and then myself” kinda vibes

HORSE BACK RIDING DATES YALL

best secret vacations too where only a handful of people even know where you are

his siblings love you to death

royally funded animal shelters galore

you also probably have a ton of just random knowledge on a ton of different things because of your education so he loves just talking and talking and talking since he knows that you can both have hours of conversations on the most random stuff

wanna talk about warfare? you two are already neck deep in it

[lingering-42-long]

I’ll be home for Christmas pt 3

Last of the series! I loved writing this as I enjoyed being domestic and true to what many families go though during the holidays. I was also debating on if I should have him come home After Christmas, but everyone wants a happy ending so here it is, enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Warnings: none, General fluff, mention of spicy time, Just Overall, squishy, domestic fluff

(Y/n) lay on her bed, looking though her phone at the list of things she had to get done today. Last minute gifts for the family, make the eggnog for the Christmas Eve party, finish wrapping presents, buy groceries, and house clean. (Y/n) closed her notes and looked at the Home Screen, a picture of Johnny and her last Christmas playing in the snow. It had been a particularly cold winter and snow had fallen. The two of you were playing in the snow. He had thrown a snowball at (y/n) as she made a feeble attempt to catch the snowball, witch had splattered all over her. Laughter could be seen by the two. The photo was taken by Johnny’s cousin.

(Y/n) smiled as she recalled the memories. She hoped Johnny was well and ok. Finally deciding that it was time to get up, (y/n) got dressed and made her way downstairs where she saw Eilidh drinking coffee. “Good mornen love” the older woman smiled. “Good morning! Where’s Keith?”

“Oh he is doing his own running around.” Eilidh shook her head, “left early too.”

“Oh bummer. Are we still good to go shopping today?” (Y/n) asked.

Eilidh shook her head. “I’ve got to take Johnny’s nephew to the doctors, his mother is going to get presents for the kids. I’m sorry love.” She gave a sad smile.

“No no! It’s alright! I got my list and I will be back home before everyone else probably.” (Y/n) chuckled as she made her coffee. “Do you need anything while I’m out?”

“Nope but I will text you if I do.” Jonny’s mother responded. “When are you going to go?” She asked

“Probably after I have my coffee” She shrugged.

“Good idea, git there befer the traffic.” Eilidh nodded. “I hate how busy it can get this time o’ yer”

“Same” (y/n) chuckled.

After some time (y/n) made her way into town, to do the shopping. (Y/n) walked around the many Isles picking up and collecting things that she would need for later on. Christmas Eve was coming tomorrow and she wanted to make sure everything was ready to go. She was just about ready to head to the cash register when she received a text from Eilidh. ‘Hey sorry. I do have a small list I need to pick up. Can you do it for me?’

(Y/n) sighed and texted back ‘sure! Send it over.’ Shopping was never fun bye herself. She preferred to go with somebody, she preferred to go with Johnny, but Johnny wasn’t going to make it she feared. How could he? The list came in. Just a handful of items easy to grab and quickly go. Within a few more minutes she was able to collect all the things that she needed and made her way back to the cashier with another 20 minutes of scanning. Once everything was loaded into her car she made her way back home.

‘I’ll be home for Christmas’ was playing on the radio. It seemed to be the song that kept echoing around more so this time of the year. ‘I bet Johnny is thinking about it too’ (y/n) thought to herself. She wondered what the army did for people who were overseas during the holidays. Did they get a special holiday meal or some form of Sunday service? Did they get the day off? She didn’t know. Rarely did she dive into Johnny’s life in the army. She knew his friends, his battle buddies as he would call them, and she knew a few terms that he would use on a frequent basis with certain terms meant just so that she could stay in a somewhat understanding anytime he was talking to one of his Conrads. But 9 times out of 10 (y/n) Didn’t get herself involved that much. She didn’t want him to think about work while he was at home with his family.

Coming home, finally, after nearly four hours of shopping and driving, (y/n) made it to Johnny’s parents home were she had been staying and helping to decorate. (Y/n) noted Keith was back by his car being in the driveway. Smoke puffed out of the chimney. She got out of the car and grabbed what bags she could carry and made her way to the door.

Opening the door she called out from the foyer “Hey guys I’m home!” (Y/n) walked into the kitchen with the groceries, “Hey can someone help me with the bags, I got a few more in the trunk.” I said

“I can help with tha’” a deep Accented voice approached from behind her. (Y/n) spun around and saw Jonny standing there, smiling at her “hello Lass did you miss meh?” (Y/n)’s eyes glistened with tears as she jumped into his arms “what kind of a crazy question is that you twat”

Johnny laughed, “I missed ye so much” he rocked her back and forth.

“I was afraid you weren’t going to make it”

“Aye, so did I bonne, but I am here now. Da’ got me from tha’ airport this mornin’”

“So your mom and dad knew you were coming, and I’m over here worried sick that you were injured or worse, killed.”

“Ah Lass! They hav’ te stab me a hundred times befer’ I go doon.” Johnny kissed (y/n) passionately and smiled at her “Ga I missed ye so much!”

“I still got the groceries in the car.”

“Let meh help ye with tha’” Johnny got on his coat and shoes and opened the door for (y/n).

That night after dinner and the family was watching football, Johnny was holding onto (y/n), gently rubbing her back with one hand and occasionally kissing her neck. His other fingers entwined with hers as the two nestled underneath a thick, wool blanket. Johnny occasionally whispered “I love ye” and called her all the pet names she loved.

“Christmas eve is tomorrow… are you excited to see everyone?” (Y/n) asked as she nuzzled into his body.

“Aye. It will be nice to see tha’ wee babes.”

“We best get to sleep then. Or I am not going to have any energy for tomorrow.” (Y/n) yawned witch earned her a bunch of wet kisses from her boyfriend.

“I agree.”

The two went up to (y/n)‘s room she had been staying in. Johnny had already had his gear in there at the foot of the bed but he paid no mind to it. “Lass… I want ye” he groaned as Johnny kissed the back of her neck.

“Well Sargent, what are you waiting for?” (Y/n) teased.

That night the two became too tired in the morning.

Sunlight filtered into the room as (y/n) felt something stroking her back. Johnny, who was already awake smiled at (y/n) as she shuffled over to the other side to face him.

“Good mor’n” Johnny kissed (y/n) gently and brought her close to his bare body.

“Morning~” (y/n) yawned and kissed her boyfriend.

“Did ye sleep good?” He asked, stroking his beloved’s cheek.

“What little sleep I did have yes.” (Y/n) chuckled and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

“Ah I know Lass, but we got a busy day ahead of us, tis Christmas Eve und I want ta spend it with my Bonnie Lass and family.” His thick Gaelic coming out strong and deep as his voice was still sleepy.

“But I just wanna sleep.” (Y/n) muffled then sighed.

“Alright, five moe minutes.” Johnny rolled his eyes and laughed.

Five minutes turned into thirty, which then later on turned into an hour because the two had continue to doze on and off, only to wake up fully when Keith knocked on the door asking if they were ever going to come out. Johnny called back to inform his father that they would be down in a bit.

“ I guess tha’s our Queue, Lass” he kissed his girlfriend’s lips gently before sitting up and giving out a big stretch. Y/n could not help but to stare at the way his back muscles rippled, as he pulled his arms up.

“Like wha ya see Lass?” He checked behind him to see (y/n) staring.

“Oh hell yah. You look good” she blushed as she too sat up.

“Well you’re tha one that I loove lookn’ at.” Johnny chuckled as he took a long glance at (y/n)’s naked body “you’re breathtakingly beautiful.” He leaned behind to give her another kiss “It was so ‘ard te leave ya behind. I missed ye so mooch.”

“It was hard for me too. I was worried something happened or worse.” The thought made her shiver.

“Ah Lass I’ll always come back te ye.” Johnny smiled “I already told ye tha’”

Y/n nodded and stood up “right! I got a crap ton of things I got to do.” She smiled “wanna help me my Gaelic sergeant?”

“Aye!” He got up quickly and followed in suit.

Christmas Eve Knights in the family was gather together for a pre-Christmas party. Cousins and their children, the little nieces and nephews running around laughing and giggling as they still cookies and bits of food from the kitchen as the grandparents would scold and chase them out only to have them return once again. Johnny was currently drinking scotch and in a conversation with one of his cousins about a recent rugby match, though, he would glance ever so often on his girlfriend to make sure she was there. It was silly, he knew, but he felt better knowing that he could see (y/n).

(Y/n), on the other hand, was in the kitchen cleaning dishes. The food was about to be served soon and everyone was getting ready. She had made a casserole that her mom had made at large family gatherings.

Keith called from the dining hall, “Alright everyone! Foods ready ta eat!” All the family stopped what they were doing and made there way to the massive dinner table and sat down, the kids had there own table to sit at. (Y/n) was about to pull up a chair when Johnny swooped in from behind to do it for her “my lady” he gave a slight bow. (Y/n) laughed lightly and sat down. Johnny carefully scooted her in and sat next to her.

“Alright! Let’s say grace.” Keith announced. The family bowed there heads as Keith led the family in prayer. With a final Amen, everyone dug into the food.

Laughter and talking could be heard as the family made jokes, told stories, and debated about the political issues in Scotland. (Y/n) was talking to one of the members when she felt her knee get bumped by her boyfriend. She bumped back and the two continued this for a while.

After dinner the family went back into the living room to enjoy dessert. The kids and adults were aloud to look into there stockings as tradition in the McTavish household. (Y/n) was sitting on Johnny’s lap as she was handed her stocking by Eilidh. Some pretty earrings, some of her favorite chocolate, a necklace, a gift card to her favorite book store and a black box. (Y/n) oped the black box and gasped. There nestled in the center was, a beautiful ring. The ring was simple but elegant. A Diamond in the center With two smaller gems that were her birthstones. Followed by four smaller diamonds on each side, it was very simple but beautiful.

(Y/n) looked at Johnny as he set her off his lap and got down on one knee and held her hand “ I wanted ta give this ta ye tomorrow, but I missed ye so much I knew that’ I couldn’t wait much moe’.” Johnny’s eyes glistened slightly and his hands were shaking, but his voice was strong and clear. (Y/n) (Y/l/n), will ye share with meh, your future, hopes, and dreams? Will you marry meh?” it felt like time had stopped and nothing mattered everyone held their breath and looked at the two expectantly “YES! YES YES YES!” (Y/n) threw her arms around her Now Scottish fiancé and peppered his face with kisses as he held on tightly to her letting a few tears slip from his eyes. “Ah Lass ye make me the happiest man in tha’ world!” He picked her up and spun her around the room as everyone clapped and cheered, and congratulated The two.

A bottle of champagne was opened. Johnny‘s male cousins and other relatives were clapping him on the back and congratulating him, while the females were all gathered around marveling at the beautiful ring that was now adorning (y/n)’s ring finger. Johnny looked at his beautiful fiancé, Nothing in this world seem to matter. He would be marrying the love of his life, after three years of carefully considering. He looked forward to starting this new life with his bride to be.

[sukirichi]

earned it [07]

Gojo Satoru is a firm believer that if you work hard for it then you shall earn it. But on the other side, he’s not unfamiliar with his own sins. He also believes that there is punishment due for his sins as he’s earned it.

cw. explicit smut, pool sex, slight angst, i miss naoya :(, mafia business, mentions of blood, lots of drama, mentions of death and murder

note. IDEK ANYMORE. lmao anyways do you guys want faster updates or do you guys want to wait? i can finish the series next week and then we can move on to white lies 😈

series masterlist

The three of you were seated back at your tables, where the whole dancing fiasco had thankfully ended. Satoru noticed nothing of your behavior – either he was really clueless, or you were a damn good actor – the guy was much too invested with the files Nanami was currently showing.

For a moment, you let yourself loosen as you took a deep breath. The account was much more important than whatever Nanami was scheming.

“I think I may have found where the real money is, or treasure, we should say, since none of us can really figure out what the Zen’ins might be hiding. And from the looks of it, considering Naoya had no idea about what his family kept prior to his death, this is something only his elders wanted to know about,” Nanami pinched the bridge of his nose, sliding a photo of an unsuspecting white manor that you hadn’t seen in a long time. “And it’s been right under our nose the whole time.”

“That’s one of our islands,” you replied with a furrowed brow, “Are you saying you traced the source back there? But that’s impossible, we haven’t used that island for years and even Naoya told me he was going to sell it because it was of no use to us. It’s not on commercial waters and there’s no local people around either. That island is in the middle of nowhere.”

“This is exactly why it’s the best place to hide things – because no one would ever suspect this seemingly harmless middle of nowhere could contain their assets.”

Satoru, who’d kept silent the whole time, inched closer to you. His cologne wafting off to you eased you for a moment – purely because it was familiar – and even though you despised saying it, you were thankful he was here. Currently, the blond man posed a bigger threat, the difference being that Nanami actually had leverage against you while you had more control over Satoru.

You sighed. If Naoya was here, things would’ve been so much better. He never lost his composure in figuring things out on his own. But now that he was gone, now that he’d never be coming back, you had be responsible for his sake, but mostly for yours.

“Take a look at this. The nearest land is a small, uncharted city from Brazil’s outskirts. I’ve been illegally transporting weaponry and firearms somewhere near there since our family started the business – it’s the easiest place to sneak in things without getting caught. All you need to do is pay a few fishermen and they’ll easily transport our load from one place to another, no questions asked,” Satoru announced, seemingly deep in thought as he rubbed his chin. “It would make sense if the Zen’in clan elders found this place useful too. It’s basically a hot site for criminals.”

“But we don’t operate this way. The Zen’in elders are too prideful to handle transactions like this. They would’ve chosen a more…discreet yet formal way of handling things.”

“How does an underwater passage sound?” Nanami pushed the other photo aside to reveal a blurry snap of what seemed like a tunnel under the sea. On the surface, it looked just like an abandoned rig, but it stretched too long, the exterior already covered in mold and seaweed. “About 80 years ago, the Zen’in Clan leader at that time was often heavily targeted by their enemies in business that they preferred to travel under the sea. If my theory is correct, right under that island would be another base of some sort that allows the clan leaders move from one country to another while remaining undetected.”

“So that’s how they easily sent their own shit overseas…”

“It would be a very sound conclusion to assume so,” Nanami crossed his arms at Satoru’s musings, “However, that’s all I know. All I can tell you is where I last got the signal for the source – which is about seven years ago, and a few months right after Toji Zen’in was disowned by his family when Naobito took over. It would also be near around the time he met his wife and had his child, which would increase the possibilities that he may have stored something in this island for his son’s future. Again, it could be money, gold – we don’t really know,” he nodded your way, a sense of finality behind those blue eyes that had now looked so menacing when once it brought you comfort – reassurance. “How you get there is all up to you.”

Something didn’t feel right.

“If the elders really wanted to hide this place, they wouldn’t have passed the rights of the island into my inheritance when Naoya died. They surely wouldn’t have wanted me to find out about this.”

“I could think of two things,” Satoru proposed, “It’s either they trust your potential enough as the clan leader to replace Naoya, or they didn’t think you’d care anyway.”

You let his words sink in. The clan elders have never bothered much with you. They were too prideful about “saving face” and “keeping up images” that they couldn’t even let a word of insult slip past their lips under the belief they were above that. But you weren’t stupid; they had never approved of your marriage to Naoya. An outsider like you, suddenly becoming a part of their family when they could’ve had your husband marry a family friend?

They may have kept silent about their dislike to you, but one way or another, they were going to take action for it.

Knowing the Zen’ins, being a Zen’in, you knew there was one thing they hated the most: not being in control.

“Neither,” you finally concluded while mumbling down at your lap. The theory was hazy, incomplete, based only on mere emotions but slowly, you were coming together to piece it. You felt Satoru turn your way, his large hand caressing your knee as if coaxing the words out of you. “It’s neither. Naoya’s elders…they never liked me. It’s been made pretty clear to me that I’m dispensable without my husband, and I will never be a Zen’in in their eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if they asked me to give up all my inheritance from Naoya because I’m not related to them by blood.”

The silence in the table stretched.

No matter how grandiose the hotel restaurant may be, you felt suffocated in that seat. How didn’t you realize it sooner? You were in a land that stretched past your territory, with both men accompanying you people you couldn’t wholeheartedly trust, while your husband rotted away back at home – probably covered in dust and not even given a proper burial like he deserved.

There was only one way out of this, to put an end to everything. It would prove to be a daunting task, but you didn’t have a choice. No, in fact, this was your only choice if you wanted to survive.

Satoru’s voice softened upon seeing the grimness of how you turned mum. “I’ll follow you wherever you go. I promise to help you in finding out whatever is in there,” he met your eyes; yours filled with contempt, with fear, with desperation, and his filled with regret. “It’s the least I could do…after everything I’ve done to you.”

You took a deep breath.

You couldn’t lie to yourself. There was no way you could trust him with his empty promises. He’d shown enough times that he wasn’t a man of his word, and you’d be a fool to fall for it again. However, Nanami’s glance was curious and suspecting, hiding his true colors with an innocent gesture of sipping his wine. He may seem unbothered and only here to ‘help’, but this man was cunning, possibly more so than Naoya could ever be, and one wrong move would be similar to stepping on a land mine.

Satoru received no response from you, and soon the three of you were standing outside the hotel’s lobby to escort Nanami back where he came from. The dinner was tense, so much so that you’d unknowingly been clutching Satoru’s bicep the whole time.

He tapped your shoulder, bringing you back to life as he gestured to his phone. “Sorry, it’s Geto.”

“Oh,” you muttered and stepped away from him, feeling your heart sink in your chest as you watched him retreat behind the glass doors. Beside you, Nanami snickered.

“Made up your mind, agent?” he taunted, “This is your final chance to prove yourself. Gather enough intel for us to intrude whatever that mighty clan is hiding underneath that island, surrender Gojo to us, and we’ll give you everything as promised.”

You faced him with fiery eyes, prepared for whatever he’d throw your way when he showed you that cursed red coin again. Realizing its power, the true meaning it held, you immediately shut your lips. It must’ve satisfied to know he was the one in charge here, and how could he not be when your life was literally at the palm of his hands, your days growing more numbered if you didn’t follow everything he asked for?

If you had just…if you had just done everything the Organization had asked you for, you wouldn’t have been here. You wouldn’t have felt this torn.

Nanami flipped the coin before tucking it into his pocket, sending one last salute your way. He hailed a cab and disappeared afterwards, leaving you alone to ponder over the consequences of your actions, your emotions. For the first time in his life, Naoya had lied to you.

He wasn’t correct when he said you were strong.

Because after all this time, you still held onto something that you should’ve let go of a long time ago, and you had nothing but your weak, sensitive, hopeless heart to blame for. Said hurdle appeared not long afterwards, his touch warm on your shoulder as he gazed at the empty spot beside you.

“Oh, Nanami left,” he noted, turning your shoulders to him until you were completely exposed. There was no more hiding from him, or more like you didn’t have enough energy to. You felt dull, tiredness lining your eyes and lips pressed into a flat line. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

Ten days. That was how much you’ve wasted your time here in Milan, and you weren’t even remotely close to figuring things out. Your resources were much more limited the farther you were from the Zen’in Estate, and your lawyer was a family one, meaning they held more loyalty to the actual Zen’ins instead of law-affiliated people like you were.

Simply put, you were all alone to solve this by yourself.

Satoru promised to help, but he kept disappearing in the morning along with Geto. You never asked where they went or what they did; it simply didn’t matter anymore.

You would only spend hours locked in your room as you researched everything you could on your private island near Brazil. Just like Satoru said, it seemed like the perfect place to hide things for the spot seemed remote enough to offer privacy for the family’s getaway. You could somewhat recall Naoya proposing once to take you there for your honeymoon, but business got in the way, and it wasn’t like you truly trusted him then to spend such an intimate with him that you said no.

Sighing, you put all the papers away. Not even a single clue led you to what could be possibly be there, but there was an underwater passage. The fact the Zen’ins was capable of building that made you wonder just what the extent of their powers and influence stretched to, and you contemplated for a bit if you could hold that same ability now that you had his name.

Whatever was there, you would look for it.

Your mission was clear – the success of it would determine the fate of your life. Find out what they’re hiding, surrender Satoru Gojo to the Organization, and then everything would be over.

It sounded simple, yet your heart knew it wasn’t. Naoya died with the confidence of his trust over you, the trust you worked so hard to earn. But wasn’t that point? You needed him to trust you for you to be able to pull this mission off, but things happened, emotions and conscience got in the way, and you banged your knuckles on the table until your ring throbbed on your finger.

You just wanted it all to end. You never meant to hurt Naoya, never meant to betray anyone, but it fucking pissed you off that Naoya wasn’t the real problem. He wasn’t the one holding you back.

With not much thought to your next actions, you slipped past the guards and into the pool that had long been closed since 10PM. Being at your room’s tub reminded you of memories you’d rather forget, and you slowly undid your robe and stepped out of your underwear before dipping in the cold, freezing water.

It felt good. It may have been temporary, but the numbing bite of the water helped you feel more placated. Even for a little while, it was nice to not worry about anything. There were no titles, no mafia drama, no anything, just you and the water that you would’ve easily fooled yourself to be simply enjoying your little trip in Milan until –

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere. You had me worried sick,” You sighed. Of course. Opening your eyes, you raised a brow as Satoru towered over you, a standard hotel towel in his arms. He’d change out of his suit and into cotton shorts and a shirt this time around, possibly on his way to sleep when he realized the room was empty. With no energy to deal with him, you swam away from the man, earning a groan in response. “What the hell is your problem? You’ve been acting weird ever since Nanami came. Listen, if this is about that island, you don’t have to worry too much about anything. I have enough people and resources to help you in every step of the way.”

You ignored him. After everything that happened, what was there to talk about anymore? Even if you told him everything, he might not understand.

So you swam in the middle of the pool, thankful that it was dark enough from the maintenance shutting the lights off that Satoru struggled to find you. However, you’d underestimated him because soon you heard the splashing of the water, and you were harshly tugged by the wrist before Satoru cornered you at the edge of the pool.

He was breathing hard; both of you were, and tried to push past his chest, only to be met with a solid plane of muscle that wouldn’t budge. You sighed and turned away from him, covering your exposed chest with your arms.

“Whatever Naoya is looking for…you’ll find it, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I’m serious,” the scorn in his tone had been so biting you turned back to him, about to hit him with something, scold him for something, but your words died down in your throat before you even had the chance to.

Satoru hadn’t been demanding. His face, illuminated by the moonlight, made his azure eyes twinkle like stardust exploding. Once in your life, you found so much comfort into staring at such beauty, but that was when everything was still a perfect lie. Funny how the truth ruined everything for its darkness, and you could only look back at him weakly, throat running dry from all the emotions that threatened to pour out of you.

Regret and desperation was written all over his face.

“Please,” he rested his forehead on yours, eyes closed as he mumbled, “You’re not alone in this. I don’t want to ask for much because I know I don’t deserve it, but please at least understand you don’t have to solve everything on your own. You’re not…you’re not alone. I’m here now.”

“When you left me,” your voice cracked, “It’s because you thought I wouldn’t love you anymore if I found out your true nature,” Satoru opened his eyes, anxiety swimming in those eyes that had once been so sweet. Perhaps he still held that sweetness now, albeit it was less tender and more cautious as he waited for you to continue. “If I told you about every sin I’ve committed, the name of each person I killed and everything I’ve done, would you stay with me? Or would you leave me again, only this time it’s because you think I’m no longer someone you could love?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t expect you to,” was all you said before you felt a tear prick the back of your eyes. You didn’t want him to see, god, you wanted to disappear in that moment you couldn’t think of anything else. Crashing your lips to his, you brought him down by the back of his neck to hide the tears freely falling from your face.

He froze for a split second before he eagerly pushed back, clenching the pool edges with his hands so hard his knuckles turned white. You were panting, moaning in his mouth as he pressed you harder against the edge, skin to skin, breath to breath, soul to soul.

Threading your hands to his hair, you grinded down on his shorts where he was already beginning to grow hard. Satoru groaned inside your mouth from your teasing but made no move to stop to – after all, why would he want to stop? It had been years, seven fucking years, and even you wouldn’t want to stop. It was wrong, it was dirty, it was immoral – but you needed this. You needed this more than ever.

Satoru’s hands tickled your waist as he squeezed them harsher than he intended, his calloused fingers travelling until he was kneading your breasts. You pulled away from him, head thrown back to rest on the edge.

And it was romantic.

The moon had never been so big, sprinkles of star shining in the vast darkness, the scene just perfect for two lovers in a getaway from the harshness of life. You knew it wasn’t real and the spell would break sooner than later, but did it matter? He rolled your beaded nipples into his fingers before he ducked down, lips suctioned to suck heavy bruises on the sensitive patch of skin on your neck that had you twitching in his hold.

Along with your moans, you cried harder. From heartbreak, from regret, from guilt; there was no turning back from this.

“Satoru, please, please, please. Make me feel better, make me feel good, I just want to forget everything.”

He nodded eagerly against your neck, letting your eager hands help him push his shorts down before his cock sprang free. His length grazed your lower abdomen for a moment, though he didn’t waste any time in entering your hole. You gritted your teeth at the intrusion, nails dug so hard in his shoulders that he bled.

The both of you had your foreheads connected, noses brushing and breaths mixing as you moaned and he sighed, eyes shut tight from finally being engulfed in your warmth.

“Right there, ‘Toru, oh fuck.”

“F-fuck,” he hitched one of your legs to wrap around his waist, “You’re still so tight after all this time,” Satoru praised, molding his lips with yours once again. He picked up his pace and watched as you desperately clung from one surface to another – his shoulders, his hair, the edge of the pool, flailing your arms each time his deep thrusts knocked the wind out of you – breasts bouncing as he bounced you on his cock.

“You look so fucking beautiful – my sweet, sweet angel. I missed you, missed you so fucking much.”

You didn’t say anything. No words were needed to be exchanged; actions spoke louder than words. At least right now, you could promise you wouldn’t lie.

Pulling him down for another kiss, you bit down on his bottom lip to muffle your moans, too speechless at each movement of his dick grazing past your walls. Fuck, he still felt so good, still knew your body way too well and your pussy hugged him so tight like you didn’t ever want to let go.

But you knew you had to, even as he came inside you and brought you back to your room, uncaring of the dripping mess you’ve both made before he locked the door.

You forgot how many hours you spent underneath him writhing in his bed. He took you each way he wanted – knees folded beside your head, on your side where he whispered all the filthy things he’d been wanting to do to you while he took you from behind, or your head squished on the pillow as he repeatedly smacked your ass, pulling your ass cheeks apart to praise you on how you took him so well. Satoru didn’t stop; you knew what you were getting into the moment you pulled him into you, that his sex drive was insane and he’d take long to tire himself out.

By the time the first shy fingertips of the sunlight extending across the horizon arrived, you were emptily staring at the window, Satoru fast asleep beside you.

It was time.

Silently, you pulled his arm away from you and quickly got dressed. He seemed to still be deep in slumber, and you carried the only bag previously packed with everything you might need. You were on the process of wearing your stilettos when he stirred awake, sleepily eyeing you from the bed you both devoted yourselves to in pleasuring one another.

“Where are you going?”

“Away,” you answered, tight-lipped. “From you.”

“Why?”

“Because…I lied,” you inhaled sharply, gloved hands frozen on the golden knobs.

Just open it, you screamed at yourself, walk away before it’s too late.

But you couldn’t move, pathetic that even after everything Naoya had worked so hard for, you still remained a slave to your past.

“No matter how much I hate everything you’ve done to me, I can’t bring myself to forget I once loved you. Maybe I still do – I don’t know. But what I do know is that I’m not as strong as I thought I was,” you cried, losing grip on the bag before it fell. You watched emptily as all the contents poured out – your money, your clothes, your phone, your ring – it all served as a reminder of who you were, of who you’d forgotten to be, of who you were supposed to be.

Your shoulders slumped in defeat.

“I don’t have enough strength to kill you.”

“Hey, angel,” he cooed, reaching you in three long strides before he caged you in his arms. Satoru was so warm, so strong, and the safety he provided you with only made you cry harder. You wanted to hate him, wanted to keep lying yourself since you’d been doing a great job at doing that for the past seven years, but it wasn’t that easy. Deep down…you still harbored the most miniscule affection, and that enough was capable of destroying you.

“What’s wrong?”

“Everything,” you whispered brokenly as you banged a weak fist to his chest, “Everything is wrong.”

Finavice Pharmaceuticals didn’t disappoint.

You were beyond impressed the moment you stepped through the door, a horde of eager chemists guiding you through the upper floors. Finavice was one of the biggest – if not the biggest – companies that were known for harboring the rarest or hard to get elements that not even you and Naoya could get your hands on.

Not by yourselves, anyway, so you took it upon yourself to strike a sponsorship to their research program in developing a cure to cancer under the guise of being an advocate to the improvement of the medical field.

Truthfully, you just wanted to please Naoya, show him you were useful and that he didn’t need to kill you. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and there you were, your prettiest smile plastered on as you scanned the towering buildings with unmasked interest.

“Here is the laboratory for the Finavice Pharmaceuticals where we test…”

“Mrs. Zen’in?”

The entire team stopped as a tall man, cloaked in a beige suit instead of a lab coat appearhed out of nowhere. Judging by how everyone had ducked their heads down and turned silent, you could only guess he must be the boss. Flashing your most charming smile, you hitched your bag higher up your arm. “Yes?”

“May I have a word with you?”

You fought the urge to sigh. His question was spoken much more of a statement that you weren’t really given a room to decline, and the young chemists gazed at you curiously under their lashes.

Not wanting to create a commotion that would lead into unwanted attention, you nodded, following the man through a set of double doors, guarded by two heavily armed men from the outside.

The man, who was Kento Nanami, the founder of Finavice himself leaned back into his seat as he made himself comfortable. “So you signed a contract with us two weeks ago to partner on our latest medicine, am I right? I’ve read over your proposals and I must say, they are rather interesting and innovative. I didn’t expect that a businessman’s wife would be a chemist who is interested in expanding to the pharmaceuticals as well. The Zen’ins has never been much invested in that.”

Gladly accepting the tea he’d slid your way, you made sure to clink the teaspoon against the porcelain as you played along. “People change, Mr. Kento. My husband and I’s goals are rather different from their former, traditional ones. Surely, steel exchange couldn’t support us for the rest of our lives.”

“I can’t say no to that. Kudos to you and your husband for your rather…ambitious shared goals then.”

Your hand froze on the utensil, and you narrowed your eyes at him in warning. “Are you implying we should not have trusted you with this, Mr. Kento?”

“No, I am merely letting you know that your act won’t fool me,” he chuckled, leaning forwards to rest his chin on his clasped knuckles, his blue eyes growing dark and serious. “I know what you and your husband’s family does. The Organization knows a lot more about your actions than you think you know we do. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re only here because we’re the only company who has access to an element you need for your drug, isn’t that the case, Mrs. Zen’in?”

Well…this was certainly unexpected. You’ve been effortlessly deceiving countless businessmen, government leaders and officials even, that this took you by your surprise. Two could play at this game.

Even if he saw through you long ago, it wouldn’t take much to grab his letter opener that was right beside you and puncture it through a jugular vein. If his guards came, you could easily take them down too. Today was one of those few moments you were thankful for Naoya’s hellish training.

But you didn’t want him to feel satisfied, so you leaned back into your seat and crossed your leg over the other.

“If you knew this whole time, why didn’t you kill me already? A lot of people wouldn’t miss the chance to do so.”

Nanami chuckled. “It’s because like you, I’m not just a pioneer. I, too, have my goals and loyalty laid out for someone else. Most specifically, the Organization, an international collaborative effort of stopping and reducing mafia movement for the safety of our people. Obviously, I’ve been assigned in the Yakuza Division, and it’s no coincidence I read through your file. You are, after all, one of our precious targets.”

You stared at him boredly. Why couldn’t he just get straight to the point?

“Is this a threat? I’m not sure it’s working.”

“Oh, no, I’m not threatening you,” he snatched your tea and took a long sip from it, and it was the first time you learned of his habit of concealing his curious gaze through drinking; a perfect act to seem inconspicuous.

“I am offering you a path to redemption. You may fool everyone, but I know an unhappy woman when I see one, Mrs. Zen’in, and I can tell you find no pleasure in the life you live – running errands for your criminal husband, constantly fearing for your life, wishing you’d just been a regular person like everyone else…” At the lack of response, he took it a gesture for him to continue, and he set the cup down, pushing his glasses right back up his nose. “The Organization has labeled you a target, but I think you’re more of a victim caught in a series of unfortunate events. I merely wish to save you from it.”

You guffawed in laughter at his last statement.

“You men really are ridiculous!” you slapped your palm on his table, losing every bit of that elegant composure to be perfected by a Zen’in wife. “Always preaching about saving me and protecting me – what actually are you pathetic losers even capable of?”

Much to your dismay, Nanami didn’t seem the least bit affected by your mockery.

“Please, don’t group me in with your husband and your former lover. Unlike them, I harbor no interest in you as a woman, I only want to fulfill my duty as an Agent and save you not because you’re a damsel in distress, but rather because…I could kill two birds with one stone,” his eyes shone in mischief, and you swallowed in discomfort as he gazed you up and down.

You’ve had enough experience with being seen as a meal, but this was different. Nanami was viewing you like you were a secret weapon he intended on using as much as he could to achieve his goals.

“You are a very convenient woman, Mrs. Zen’in. Similar to how your husband adores your abilities, I would like to take advantage of your connections. The only difference between me and them is that I can actually give you something money can’t even buy.”

“Such as?”

“A second chance at a normal life.”

“What makes you think I’ll accept your offer? I’m the wife of a mafia leader – my loyalty resides in him.”

“Only because you fear for your life,” he flashed you a red coin, crescents of a Latin quote scripted inside. Mori quam foedari – death before dishonor.

“Join the Organization, Y/N. With your connections, we could easily take down these families and protect the country. Hand over Satoru Gojo and Naoya Zen’in to us, and I promise the Organization will do everything in its power to give you the life you always wanted. A safe, normal one. No more worrying about being killed as you ride your car, no more beating yourself up as you make drugs to promise your usefulness to your husband and no more pretending you are someone who you’re not,” he flipped the coin between his fingers, and tantalized, you couldn’t keep your eyes off it. “Don’t you want that? You’d be able to live freely if you cooperate with us.”

You could hear the gears in your head turning. Part of you would’ve assumed this was a trap had you not known better, but Naoya taught you that if something was a trap, it would sound too easy, too good.

None of this was easy. It would require facing a demon from your past and handling things differently than what Naoya had planned, but that wasn’t the worst.

It was the fact that if you accepted, you’d have to come home tonight and lie in the face of your husband who could easily read through you. He smelled lies and treachery before you could realize you were even thinking of doing something, and knowing Naoya, he wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes the instant he felt something was off.

But his offer… it was a risk you had to take. You wouldn’t ever get an opportunity like this again.

“Do you promise…that I’ll really go back to normal after this? That I won’t be involved in this mess anymore?”

“I can only promise that if you also promise to do your part. You see, I strongly believe you are the one that can put an end to this all. All you have to do is join us, and soon it’ll feel like this nightmare never happened at all. You’ll be free from Naoya Zen’in and Gojo Satoru before you realize it.”

You stared at his coin harder. Death before dishonor. This Organization he was a part of obviously didn’t fuck around, and it seemed scarier because they had their eyes on you for a while now. What were the odds they offered a deal instead of outright killing you, even going as far as to provide you a second chance at life, one that you genuinely wanted to enjoy? It would be a shame to say no, and even if the chances of this turning out well were low, you would damn well take it. A small chance was better than nothing.

“What do I have to do?”

Nanami grinned and pocketed his coin. “A very wise decision, Mrs. Zen’in,” he congratulated, “Please, meet me at my office tomorrow, eight on the dot. Oh, and remember, the Organization will now be watching you wherever you go. You’re one of us now.”

The next day, Nanami had cut your palm.

He spilled your blood into an empty metal casing with engraved letters, mori quam foedari, the phrase both comforting and ominous. Soon, you came home with your blood solidified into a coin to prove your membership and loyalty, that they quite owned you in more ways than one. Your blood meant your loyalty, and the coin felt heavy in your pocket with the implication it was also your blood they wouldn’t hesitate to spill should you betray them.

Mori quam foedari.

Death before dishonor.

Your life over Naoya’s, your future over Gojo’s.

The next few days had been tense. After telling Satoru everything down from the smallest detail, things had shifted between you. Quite frankly, you expected that maybe he’d kill you right then and there after explicitly stating that just because you couldn’t kill him, didn’t mean you wouldn’t turn him in.

“Angel,” he begged, “Will you never really give me the chance to do everything right this time around?”

However, you were too firm on your plans. You originally wanted to leave and go to the island yourself; it was easier to leave Satoru open and vulnerable for the Organization to attack him in your absence. He loved you, that was much clear, and if he looked for you, he’d make himself vulnerable to the Organization, but recent plans had to be altered now that he wasn’t willing to let go of you. Though no matter what he said, you valued your life and future more than you could ever love him.

It was an act of kindness to yourself.

“I don’t want this life anymore, Satoru. Either way, I don’t have a choice, not when I could die literally anytime before I could even say goodbye.”

It had been hours since ‘that’ talk and now you were on a plane back to Tokyo. You had to pull out some archives from Naoya’s files to know more about the island before you could visit it, and it was important for Satoru to know details such as security measures over there.

You’d long fallen asleep from exhaustion, bundled up in a fleece blanket while Geto glared at you.

“Are you sure about this, Sir? I think we should just keep her with us even if she doesn’t want to. The Gojo clan is powerful enough that no one would dare cross us. Not even this Organization she speaks of has ever done anything to us. Without her, they stand no chance against us,” he sat in front his boss and kept sending wary glances your way. “Letting her go like you did before wasn’t a good idea. She knows too much about everyone to live normally now. Do you really believe the Organization will protect her?”

“Knowing the strings the government could pull – and add on to the fact Nanami Kento, one of the richest men in this country works for them that it’s safe to assume each figure in them is a powerhouse – I don’t doubt their promise one bit.”

“But you’ll go to jail if you let her surrender you. Or worse, they’ll destroy the clan from the bottom up.”

“I know that, Geto.”

Geto groaned, brushing his hands through his hair from how indifferent his boss was being, drinking champagne as if he wasn’t willingly walking into his own death. “Then why aren’t you thinking more clearly about this? I understand you love her and you want to make it up to her, but we can’t let her do whatever she pleases! In order to keep herself safe, she’s going to sacrifice you! She’s dangerous, Sir, she’s been lying to her husband the whole time and who’s to say she isn’t capable of doing something worse to a stranger like you?”

“I told you already, Geto,” Satoru swirled the pink liquid in his flute, his face empty and unreadable. “I know.”

“With all due respect, Sir, I don’t agree with your decision. The clan would fall without you and you don’t have siblings or an heir. No one is powerful to hold the clan together aside from you so if you leave – there’s no more hope for us,” he sighed when Satoru didn’t budge. “I at least want you to reconsider your actions. She’s just a woman, Sir. It’s either we kill her or we imprison her. You let her go before because you believed she would be your downfall, and quite frankly, it’s happening all over again.”

Satoru gazed out the window, bringing the flute to his lips with a dark glint in his eye that Geto recognized meant trouble, or worse, an actual solution to this hellish situation.

“Which is why we’re going to pay an old friend a visit, Geto. There’s only one person who could turn the tables around.”

ADDITIONAL NOTE: TOJI IS COMING SOON!!! what are your theories on what might be on that island and *drum roll* WHO IS GOJO’S OLD FRIEND?! 

taglist open:

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[thebrochtuarachs]

Something in the Rain - “A Month Apart, Part 2”

A/N: Hi everyone, sorry this chapter came a little bit later than I intended but here it is. I've had some family things I need to take care of so in order to rest, the writing got put on hold. But do know that this story is on my mind and I hope you enjoy this update :) Stay safe and as always, your comments and suggestions are very much welcome.

A modern day meet cute instance between Jamie and Claire.

AO3  / C1: A Day In June / C2: Definitely, Maybe / C3: So We Meet Again / C4: Friday Lunch / C5: Finding Solid Ground / C6: Situations / C7: Interruptions / C8: A Month Apart, Part 1

XXXXX

The call was scheduled beginning Claire’s lunch and Jamie’s dinner. They opted for this time since Claire’s schedule was clear for the rest of the afternoon and Jamie was happy to stay up late for this. Her supposed agenda that day was to get some research and paperwork done but after what happened yesterday, she knew they needed to have a conversation.

Gathering her laptop, lunch and paperwork, she settled on her desk and waited for Jamie’s call. And right on time, his caller ID pops up in her laptop and she accepts.

“Hi, Claire.” Jamie greeted from the other line. Just by the way he addressed her so formally immediately told Claire just how nervous he was.

“Hi, Jamie.” she chimed back. Hoping to light the mood, she decided to take the lead in the conversation. “What time did you get home?”

“Erm, got home around 6:30, 7:00PM. Freshened up a bit and for food - well,” he held up the take out box from the table to show to Claire. “Thanks for these” It was a box of their favorite comfort food and Jamie could not feel any much more relief. “How about you, what’s for lunch?”

“Oh, it’s sub day today here at the hospital. So got the biggest one I could order to last me the day.”

“Any food over here in Scotland ye miss?”

“Honestly, the chicken! I’ve tried some here but nothing tops Mrs. Kim’s” As Claire shared that sentiment, Jamie took one wing on his mouth, prompting Claire to roll her eyes. “Right, rub it in, will you”

“Don’t worry, I’ll treat ye to some once yer back.”

“I’ll record that raincheck”  After a short laugh, the line went silent. They both knew it was time to address the elephant in the room.

“Claire, I want to let ye know what happened yesterday.” Jamie began. Claire was silent, a hesitation etched on her face.

“Are you sure? You don’t really have to -” Claire replied, hesitation etched on her face. The past three months of Jamie and Claire dating has been kept much in the down low with none of the tabloids catching drift of one of Scotland’s most eligible with the pediatric doc. It was unusual but they accepted that gift of privacy. It allowed for them to get to know each other freely and without much pressure so far.

But now, things have slightly changed with Jamie back in the spotlight, worse, linked to another woman. With all the things they’ve discussed so far, these - their past, the media - were not one of them yet. With that, it’s not that Claire didn’t want to hear Jamie’s story - it’s that she didn’t want him to feel forced to share something he or they aren’t ready to talk about yet.

“Just...please” he pleaded.

Claire took a swig of her coffee and nodded.

-

Flashback

Jamie was nearing his house when his father suddenly called. Clicking the screen on his dashboard, he answered his call.

“Yes, Da?”

“Hi lad, where are ye?” Brian Fraser spoke from the other line.

“I’m near home now. Why?”

“I just got off the phone with Lord Dunsany and he’s inviting the family for dinner.”

“Where will it be?”

“At the Number One”

“Alright, I’ll be there in 20, see you and ma, I hope!”

Jamie sighed but putting his family first overweighed whatever he was thinking about.

He honestly didn't like the Dunsany's that much. There was an air to them that didn't sit well with him but he shrugs them off as 1.) They are long time family friends, and more importantly, 2.) long time business partners.

Both their families have benefited from a decades-long relationship that going to unexpected dinners like this is something he just has to do once in a while. He turns his car to the next corner and heads to the restaurant.

Arriving, he hands his car to the valet and enters the restaurant to find their table. He should not have been surprised but seated on their table was his mam and da, the elder Dunsany’s and their eldest daughter, Geneva.

Again, after knowing each other for a long time, Jamie isn’t and wasn’t blind to Geneva’s attempts to flirt and get him. He was able to avoid it for so long as he’s always been respectfully direct with declining her advances. But as they grow older, the more persistent not only Geneva, but little by little, their entire family is joining in this cause to get them together.

Jamie took a deep breath and prepared himself for whatever was to come. He sat down and immediately took note of the other people he wished were there. “Hi Mam, Da” he greeted his parents with a kiss on the cheek for his mother. He proceeded to his seat, acknowledging their guests. “Lord, Lady Dunsany, Geneva” he bowed to them and they returned his greeting. “Is Gideon and Isobel not joining us?

“They had other things to do” Geneva quickly replied, leaving it at that.

The night proceeded as usual, business talk over dinner. The Dunsanys are looking to expand their real estate business to the Americas and want to get the Frasers opinion on their dealings. On the topic at hand, the dinner was quite enjoyable as it was a conversation Jamie was happy to chime in.

Geneva, to his few observations, was relatively quiet for some reason. Maybe because she didn’t understand it as much since she  wasn’t as involved in the family business unlike his siblings, opting to work as a brand ambassador or influencer through her big social media following.

But it didn’t feel like that to Jamie. It seemed like she was waiting for something to happen or come up. She kept looking at her father urging him to do something but he discreetly pacified her everytime she got impatient.

After a few more minutes, Jamie’s hunch would prove right.

“So, in addition to the planned expansion, Geneva here has finally accepted our offer to join the business and she’ll be heading to the U.S. to study and eventually, train and oversee the project on behalf of us.” Lord Dunsany shared. The announcement came as a shock to the Frasers though they didn’t let it show. They offered their congratulations to Geneva which she graciously received.

“Jamie, lad - “ It was Lady Dunsany’s turn to speak. “We’ve heard in the past from your parents that you’ve been planning to take further studies as well. Why not accompany Geneva and study overseas together?”

“Your family also has some business in America. You can continue to work as well from there if you wish be. Plus, it’ll give you time to maybe get to know our little girl better.”

So, there it was. Lady Dunsany winked at his direction as she and Lord Dunsany tag-teamed to put out this request. Geneva, for her part, nodded furiously and was shameless at showing her agreement to their proposal. Her eyes gleamed with hope as if it was already a done deal.

Jamie was dumbfounded on their very bold request. He looked at his parents for help but they seem to be at a loss of words as well.

“I, uhm, - “ Jamie braced himself, unsure what the consequences of this be. “Thank ye of thinking of me but I have to respectfully decline the offer.”

“Do ye not want to study anymore? You don’t have to decide right now about this, please take your time to consider. We’re not in a rush anyway.” Lord Dunsany replied, trying to control the conversation once again. However, his last statement sent death glares down his direction from his daughter.

“No, it is still in my plans.” was Jamie’s plain answer. The table was silent for a good 10 seconds when the implication of his response sunk in.

“Are you saying it’s me you don’t want to be with?” Geneva’s tone was calm and angry, her resolve was slowly dissipating, raising everyone alert on the table.

“No, it’s not like that. It’s more of me...not wanting to leave someone behind.”

Geneva had a confused look while all four parents’ interest piqued at this new information. Jamie closed his eyes to muster the courage to get through the next minutes. He turned to his parents, addressing them directly, while being mindful of their guests.

“This is not how I imagined telling ye guys this, and of course to you Lord and Lady Dunsany, Geneva” he acknowledged them one by one before focusing on his parents again. “But I’ve started seeing someone and it’s fairly new...”

“That is ridiculous! You haven’t been seen with anyone in ages! I mean I would know if you are, our social circles are not that wide…” Geneva started reasoning to herself. “Unless… she’s not?”

Jamie didn’t react or say anything that would give Geneva or the Dunsany’s any more ideas they can prod on.

Geneva quickly fetched her phone and nibbled with it. She turned to the guests and excused herself. “I’m sorry everyone but I have to leave. Jamie, walk me to the car?”

Jamie nodded and stood up. He may have dropped a ball on her but he’s still a gentleman.

On the way out of the restaurant, he can hear more interrogation from Geneva in his periphery. “Who is she? Do I know her? Is she from here? Is she even real?”

It was one fast question after the other and Jamie didn’t bat an eye but rather, lead her by the arm to get her going a little bit faster. Once they were out, he didn’t notice anyone except her car and driver. He escorted her in and bid her simple goodbye.The last thing he heard Geneva say was it wasn’t over and that they’re going to have another talk on this.

When he got back to the table, the foursome was on to dessert, the earlier conversation seemingly forgotten and passed. When dinner was over, they went their separate ways.

Jamie walked his parents to their car when Brian made a joke to break the ice. “What a night, huh?” Ellen giggled which made their son comfortable speaking with them.

“I’m sorry about what happened earlier. I didn’t mean to make it awkward but I couldn’t find a way to lie about it or give them false hope.” Jamie explained and Brian and Ellen were happy to give him some slack as he knew it was the right thing to do.

“I know, son. But what we are more surprised to hear is about your new friend.” Ellen pried and the smile that Jamie flashed just told them this was different. “What’s her name?”

“Her name is Claire” Jamie shared.

“And?”

Jamie jokingly shrugged. “She’s a doctor and we met around 3 months ago.”

“3 months and we haven’t heard of her?”

“Well, in my defense, Angus and Rupert have met her. I assumed they would babble it straight to ye.”

Brian and Ellen was just shaking their head. “Well, we need to remedy that, lad. If yer ready or such, we’d love to meet her.”

-

“So that’s what happened last night. As for the picture, I’m guessing there’s a pap I did not see outside the restaurant and - my parents want to meet ye.“ Jamie said in conclusion. “I mean there’s no pressure really but I wanted to let ye know.”

“Oh, wow. Okay.” Claire took a bite of her sandwich and sip of water. “So, how are you in all this?”

“What?” that was the last question Jamie thought Claire would ask. “How am I?”

“Yeah, I mean what are you feeling?” she looked genuinely concerned and it baffled him.

“Is this some sort of reverse psychology thing cause I know you have questions Claire and I’m more than happy to answer them”

Claire smiled briefly and raised a hand to settle him. “I know you are and I do have them. And this is not some psychology thing too” she laughed at that. “But before anything else, I want to know how you are.”

“I - “ Jamie let out a breath and released a tension he didn’t know he was holding in. He wants to be open to Claire but he wasn’t sure just how much yet. Their growth has been slow, gradual, and intentional, and the pace was working well for the both of them. But this situation did not fit that criteria.

“It’s okay” Claire assured him, breaking his thoughts and easing his hesitation.

Jamie nodded and began. “With Geneva and the photo, I’m frustrated. I hope you know that this part of my life is not something I wanted to hide from you, Geneva especially. It’s just not something I thought about us talking about yet. With the media, maybe I was buying us some time before they got a whip of this, of us, when this needs to be public, and of course, I need to know how you feel about that, but then again, conversations for a later time. As for my parents, a little anxious but more intrigued on how you feel about it.” He was out of breath after explaining that it was his turn to take a sip of water.

“Jamie” Claire called and Jamie leaned on his screen closer. “I honestly don’t know what exactly to feel about Geneva at the moment. I get it, you have a long history and you might feel it doesn’t but it amounts to a little something. Was I surprised? Definitely. Jealous, to be honest, surprisingly not. But I would love it if you could tell me more about this and your family when I get back.”

“I’ll tell ye everything, Claire” Jamie affirmed.

“Doesn’t have to be everything at once” Claire joked and thankfully, Jamie laughed. “As for meeting your parents…”

“You don’t have to decide on that now, Claire.”

“I know. No pressure . But...” Claire smiled. “...if you feel like the time is right, let me know.”

Jamie felt relief as he flashed a breathless smile, looked up and wiped his face with his hands. Claire, on her end, put her elbow up on the table, leaned her head on her hand, and just observed him.

“Happy?” she asked.

“Very” Jamie replied. “I canna wait till you’re back, Sassenach.”

“I know, me too. Just one more week. Now,” Claire shuffled some papers around. “I do need to get back to work and you need to go to sleep”

“Aaah” Jamie pouted and looked at his watch, it was almost 10PM. “I can stay a little bit more, keep ye company.”

“Fine, but don’t blame me if you come in late to work tomorrow.”

“Eh, can’t promise that.” Jamie jokingly shrugged. “So, how’s your day so far?”

And just like that, after an uncertain overnight, everything was back to its good place again.  

[bucky-barnes-diaries]

Away From Home

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Captain America: The First Avenger

Pairing: 1940s! Bucky Barnes x Female! Reader

Summary: Reader and Bucky are half a world apart. How are they holding up without each other? ft. some love letters!

Word Count: 1644

Warnings: 18+, minors DNI, hint of smut, angst, talk about war, mention of suicide. Please read at your own risk!

Authors Note: Just want to thank my beautiful wife @buckybarnesdiaries for hyping me up with this series! Not everything may be accurate to the 1940s, war or Bucky’s story. My apologies! Enjoy loves <3

Main Masterlist | Bucky Barnes Masterlist

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It wasn’t easy being all alone without your other half, but you managed to fill up your day with fun and responsibilities to take your mind off it. The women at the office missed their husbands immensely, just like yourself, so it was good that you all took comfort in one another. It was good to talk with them about the shared feelings of fear and uncertainty that came with the men going off to war.

The office work that was ordinarily boring to you became very interesting as your bosses ordered you around. At home, you had organized your various pieces of literature more times than what was necessary. You couldn’t either count how many times you’ve gone “I missed a spot” on the kitchen counter when it was nothing there in reality.

When there was nothing at home to do, you called up your girlfriends, hoping they would be willing to go out on the town. The few times they were up for it, you forgot all about the hurt inside as you danced the night away with your best friends.

Bucky's parents could come and go as they pleased. Your house was their house; whenever they wanted to drop by, they could. On the weekends, they would invite you home to their residence for dinner and drinks. It was sweet of them to ask you. You already had a strong relationship with them that only increased with you spending more time with your parents-in-law.

The stories they would tell you about James growing up in Indiana with his siblings were stored in your memories to use late at night when you couldn’t sleep. Those thoughts would turn into dreams and scenarios of him and your child that you would hopefully get pregnant with soon.

On the few occasions his parents and your girlfriends had other plans, you sat mostly inside staring at one spot on the wall. The book by your side would only be read a few pages before it was placed to the side again so you could continue gawking at the flower patterns on the wall.

That’s how you were sat now. The television was on, but you weren’t paying attention to the boring movie you had watched countless times playing on the screen. You decided that you would write another letter to James. Writing letters to your husband and receiving letters from him was the thing that brought you joy and was the closest you could come to him for the time being. Picking up the pen and paper, the words flowed easily as you wrote.

~~~~~~~~~~

My Dearest,

I feel I must write you again altho there is not much news to tell you from the last time I wrote. Work is keeping me busy, while your parents’ comfort and the fun my girlfriends are bringing keeps me content. I dreamt last night my husband. I dreamt about a child. Our child. A child that will bring us love and joy in the future.

I miss you terribly, my love. I miss the warmth from your touch as we are tangled in the sheets together. I miss the softness of your voice as the words whispered in my ear are meant for me only. I miss your laugh filling up the house that feels so empty now without you. I miss you. There is nothing more that I desire in life but to have you with me constantly.

I wonder how you are getting along, my love. I shall be so relieved to get a letter from you. I can’t help feeling a bit anxious for you, my dear. Thinking about what you are going through in the gruesome war overseas. I pray to whatever higher power exists for you to survive and come home to me in my arms.

Well, my husband, my brave soldier, I don’t know what more to say now, so I will finish this letter with fondest love and kisses from your wife.

I love you the most. From yours truly,

xoxo

~~~~~~~~~~

You sealed up the envelope containing your love letter for your husband, your other half, your soul mate, and hoped that it would bring him a hint of delight in his usual dark, empty and deadly war days.

Somewhere in hostile Germany…

With barely enough sleep from the night before, Bucky rested his eyes for the few minutes they had before it was out on another day of fighting the opposition. The faint sound of bombs dropping was heard in the distance. His heart started pumping in both fear and excitement to be out there again.

As his eyes were closed, he sat and wondered what his wife was up to at the moment. You were most likely at work. What would you have for dinner later? Something good, he hoped. It would at least be ten times better than what he ate for breakfast, soggy bread with a slice of cheese on top.

His mouth watered at the thought of a homemade meal from you right now. You always made the tastiest and fulfilling dinners.

What were you doing after? Out with your girlfriends? Were his parents coming to visit? Either way, he hoped you had the most beautiful time being as carefree as you always were.

When the darkness came, and it was time for bed, what would you be doing? Had the day been exhausting that you dropped dead on the covers as soon your head hit the pillow, or would you stay up and think about him?

His mind started racing to you, touching yourself dead at night while you remembered the last time the two of you were intimate. The thought about you moaning his name so softly and innocently had him adjusting himself in the seat.

Not now, Buck. We have to leave soon. There’s no time for that now.

“BARNES! Post for you.”

Once he had the letter in hand, he immediately knew it was you from the little drawing you drew on the envelope. You always did some form of artwork on it that had his heart warm up.

A single tear ran down his cheek after finishing the heartwarming letter. He could never fully express to you and his parents how these letters had saved him when he needed it the most. When he had thought about ending it all after watching the inhumane things he had witnessed that no human should ever have to see, the pieces of love from you and his family were what kept him going.

There was still some time left before they had to go out to war again. So he took that chance at writing a reply to his wife.

~~~~~~~~~~

My Darling,

Thank you for the heartwarming letter. It found me well in the time when I needed it the most. I so long to be close to you. Trust my love that I do not forget you. I am doing everything in my power so that these few lines reach you.

I am happy to hear that you are keeping yourself busy with work, friends, and family. I’m jealous.

I miss you terribly, my love. If only we could be together soon. I’d give anything to be back in the comfort of your arms. To be tangled in the sheets together. To feel you wrapped so tightly around me in all the ways possible. To hear your laugh that fills my heart with warmth and butterflies. Soon my love, soon.

A child? I’ll give you as many children as you want when I return safely to you. We will buy a big house out in the countryside to raise our children and grow old if that’s what my wife desires.

The war? I don’t know what there is to say? I won’t sugarcoat it. The war is brutal and gruesome. It is something I don’t even wish upon my worst enemy to experience the things I’ve seen and gone through. Don’t be alarmed, my love, by the words you just read. As long as I have you in my mind, I can make it through the days and nights.

There is not much more for the time being to write to you. Just know that I am coming back to you after the terrible war is over.

I love you the most. From your brave soldier,

xoxo

~~~~~~~~~~

He sealed it up in an envelope, and he once again hoped that this wouldn’t be the last letter he ever wrote to you.

A few weeks later…

You waited anxiously out on the steps of your home for the postman to arrive. Legs were bouncing up and down in anticipation if today was the day a new letter from James would arrive.

“Morning, ma’am,” the postman nodded at you. By now, he knew very well who you were as he would find you most days waiting for him to bring you the mail.

“I believe this is yours.” He handed you a single letter. A smile on his face once he saw the excitement on yours when you realize it was from your husband.

“Thank you, George.”

“Have a wonderful day, Y/N.” “You too.”

You opened it right there on the steps. There was no time to walk a few meters into the house to read it.

You took the time to read the lines on the paper written by your love. Sadness came over you as you read the part about war, but a smile was left on your lips nonetheless after you had read the whole thing a few times over.

You clutched it to your heart. To try and feel that extra bit of love that radiated off it. A few tears rolled down your cheeks.

Soon my love. Soon you will be back safe and sound in my arms again.

Credit @ firefly-graphics for the wonderful divider

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[syrenblubs]

Just Friends?

Matsuoka Rin x Reader

a/n: did i write this during class? yes. do i regret it? not one bit.

this takes place during eternal summer (s2)

also i've never learned how to skateboard (strict parent tingz) but i do want to get into it someday (maybe if i move out for college)

skateboarding experts pls don't come for me

im probably never gonna write for smth like this again because the amount of embarrassment i got from writing this pLEASE THIS WAS LITERALLY ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE A SKATBOARDING DATE WITH RIN BUT NOPE

Word Count: 1.5k

The cool wind, entering from the window, flew past your face, brushing your skin. You laid on your bed, scrolling through the dozens of posts on social media, as you normally do on a late summer evening. Looking through the recent pictures of your friends and classmates, having the time of their lives, you sighed with envy. Your parents were on a business trip overseas, and you had to babysit your little sister until they came back. You couldn't go anywhere without bringing her with you, and since she was still really young, she'd have to sleep early, leaving you unable to go out at night.

As you continued to dwell on your sadness, you heard a ring from your phone, indicating a text message had been sent. Expecting it to be from your parents, checking up on how you and your sister were doing, it was quite the opposite. The message was from your childhood friend, Rin Matsuoka, asking if you wanted to meet up at the skate park, one of your favorite places. Ever since you could remember, you and Rin would go to the skate park, just blocks away from your house, and skateboard for hours on end. Of course, as Rin got busier with swimming, you guys weren't able to meet up as much, often leaving you to skateboard alone or with the other locals who also went there. The last time both of you had skated together was before Rin left for Australia, and it has been a few years since then, so you didn't mind going over there again. The only problem was that your sister would have to accompany you, and who knows how long she'd stay with you until she started nagging you to go home.

"Well, it's not that dark right now. We could just do some tricks on the ramp and be on our way."

Though, it was a bit strange. While you and Rin did reconnect after he came back from Australia and reconciled with the Iwatobi guys, the thought of seeing each other again didn't come up in conversation, at least until now. Seeing as he was the type to plan, this wasn't something he'd normally do. It's possible that this meetup could be more than just a simple reunion.

You got out of your bed and walked over to your sister's room. As she's playing on the tablet your parents recently bought her, you lightly tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Do you think you could stay up just a little later than your bedtime? Rinrin wants to see us at the skate park. I'll get your food after if you want."

The moment you said Rin's name, her eyes lit up. Because she was still very young before Rin left for Australia, she didn't get to see him often, but when she did, she'd have a great time talking to him. They were both avid swimmers, with her now being a part of the old swim club he used to attend with Makoto, Haru, and Nagisa. She's the one who came up with the nickname "Rinrin". She nodded her head happily and jumped out of her seat to get ready.

In relief, you went over to your room to grab your skateboard and gear. Almost forgetting to let him know that you were coming, you quickly texted him.

"I'll be there in 10"

_________________________________________________________________________________

In the distance, you could see your childhood friend's hair flow in the wind. As you and your sister approached the entrance, his eyes caught a glimpse of your presence. He noticed that you didn't change that much. You did get taller, almost his height, and he thinks you did get a bit more attractive. Other than that, he still sees the face of a friend he once played with here.

You waved over at him with a small smile, while your little sister ran to his legs and hugged them. Rin grinned and ruffled her hair, bringing his hand to your hair after once you got close enough.

"How have you been s/n? Are you listening to y/n? Are you still swimming?"

He started talking to your sister for a bit, mainly just asking about how the swim club was going and giving her a few pointers and tips to improve. Once he finished, your sister went to the benches and Rin looked over in your direction.

"Ready to go?"

"Hell yeah"

______________________________________________________________________________________

The thrill the two of you got from skateboarding again. It reminded you of when you guys were younger when the only thing you had to worry about was that one math worksheet you were given for homework. Once again, the cool summer night breeze blew past you two as you continued to skate and do tricks near the edge of the ramps. You guys kept at it for a bit, until both of you fell off your skateboards onto the ground while attempting to kickflip.

"That was fun"

"Yeah it was"

Both of you looked up at the sky, an empty void filled with tiny stars. The distance between you and him was just inches apart. He could smell the shampoo you put on while showering before. He took a good look at you, only now noticing how much you changed. You went from being the energetic boisterous child to a rather quiet and reserved teen. He longed to see the old you, one that wasn't constantly pressured by the expectations of your family and society. In the years that he was gone, he wanted to see you, grow with you, and be with you. When he told his homestay parents about this, they told him it was a crush. He didn't want to believe that; you guys were like brother and sister. How could he be in love? As much as he would like to say you were the one friend he used to love playing with all the time, he can't help but think that he could go past that, to become someone more than a friend to you.

After all, the real reason he called you over was not to simply reunite with you but to see if his so-called crush for you would rekindle.

Now he knows it did, and it very much was a crush.

"Is there something on my face?"

Shit. You got him. He didn't want to admit it. Not, when he's literally rethinking his life.

"You know, it's kinda refreshing, coming back here, reminiscing about old times. I know we haven't been together in almost 6 years, but now that we're here, I feel like we're kids again. Just normal kids being friends, you know? Just friends...."

You trailed off without ending your sentence. You wanted to finish it, but you didn't know how it would turn out. You didn't know if he'd take it well. Will he say yes? Can he handle it? Will your or his views on each other change if he accepted? You knew biting the bullet, and just spilling it would be better, but the thought of rejection paralyzed you from doing so. The years you two spent with each other, making memories and having the childhood of a lifetime, were you really going to possibly risk throwing it away just for the sake of feelings that may not even be requited?

Sure, it's been years since your crush on him has lingered on you. You thought by this point you would've already gotten over him, but that definitely wasn't the case. Ever since you came here, that was the only thing on your mind. You just want to get it out already.

"Just friends? Are we really just friends?" Rin whispered in your ear, making you realize. It wasn't just you; he felt the same way. It wasn't infatuation.

"I mean, do you want to be more than friends?" You said quietly. At last, you said it. You laid there, frozen, waiting for his response. As much as you could've just beaten up yourself for saying that, you felt a burden to come off your shoulders, even if his reaction wasn't something you wanted.

"Honestly, I'd like that. If there's anyone I'd like to be with for the rest of my life, it's you." Rin said suddenly.

You were not expecting that, whatsoever. Happiness has now filled your heart more than it did now. To him, years of pent up feelings for one another poured outright in that statement. To you, it was a revelation, a good one at that.

Finally, you looked into his eyes, and he looked into yours. The silence that was once tense like the blazing summer afternoons, was now calm and soothing, like the night sky. He brought his hand to caress your cheek, until your little sister, who you completely forgot about, yelled.

"NEE CHAN WHY IS RINRIN TRYING TO KISS YOU?!"

[kojinnie]

AOT Characters’ Modern Jobs Headcanon; The Vets Edition!

The jobs that The Vets would have in modern!au, their workplace antics and their back story. There might be some inaccuracies when describing the job as obviously I don’t work at these industries to know its intricacies. Most of the jobs are office jobs. Enjoyyyy!

My Masterlist .::. Pt. II: Zeke Yeager’s Modern Jobs Headcanon   

Most recent work: Dream Me Home (Before Shiganshina) | reader x erwin smith

A/N: I really need to finish a presentation deck due tonight for an early morning meeting tomorrow but of course, this comes first hahaha 

erwin!

A/N: Basically lawyer!erwin is the way to go, innit?

He's in his 40s, so he may have a settled career

He came from a white-collar, middle-class family. So he wasn’t silverspoon-fed, but his parents had enough money to put him through good school

Got a scholarship to go to one of the nation’s finest law schools

Kept it lowkey in college’s social circle, graduated with summa cum laude, developed a strong academic relation with his professor, and got recommended for an internship at top law firm at the capital city

Starting his career as a corporate lawyer, but then built his expertise as white-collar crime attorney

In his early 30s, he represented a union suing against conglomerate corporation in a big case that had national coverage, from then on he began to know his calling

Expanding his portfolio and became well-known for defending workers, consumers and civilians against corporate fraud scheme

Currently doing a lot of pro-bono cases for deprived victims of big corporate fraud. You would see him frequently gracing your local newspaper we love us some socialist king

On the side, he often writes for law journal and fills in as guest professor at local universities for summer courses

Established his own law firm with some of his partners, specializing in white collar crime and labor & employment law

He’s damn accomplished, but never really had any time for self-indulgence. Even after he becomes a household name in the country, with tens of attorneys working under him, his employees would still see him working on New Year’s Eve

He was always attentive to his employees, though. Although he has a very strict, borderline no-life work ethics, he never forces his employees to follow his habit, in fact he despises when his employees works on holidays and can be seen blaming himself for it a bit of a hypocrite but thats ok

He still takes metro to work. He prefers a very lowkey, ordinary lifestyle because he fears if he shows any knack for indulgence, he will be susceptible to gratification from potential enemies or crooked politicians

Definitely a sight to see at the workplace, for he's tall and always oozes a sense of authority in the way he speaks and carries himself generally

His emotional intelligence is top-notch, you would never meet someone who is able to be very objective and calculating, while being kind and compassionate at the same time

His fellow attorneys put a lot for respect for him, and hundreds of applicants come to his considerably small firm every week, because a lot of aspiring attorney find him inspiring to work with

He wasn’t oblivious to his shiny reputation, but he’s trying his hardest to not let the compliments get to his head. Sometimes he doesn’t give himself enough credit for it

Was approached by one of the political party’s committee to run for local senate, but turned it down

basically he’s perfect if you like a man who’s never home for christmas

Hange!

A/N: Ok ok, I really wanna see Paleontologist!Hange because it has always been my fave dream job, but I want Hange to be out and about with people so here it is

Hange is the type to be incredibly good at one thing, that she will dedicate her whole life for that pursuit, but will be awfully oblivious to a whole lot of things (not intentional of course, they just have a very limited attention span) (they wouldn’t know who kanye west is or what tiktok is)

Like Erwin, they came from a middle-class family. While Erwin’s parents might have been teachers, accountants or other common profession, Hange came from a family of academician and researchers

Hange studied Human Geography at uni, but later found passion specifically in its relation to industrialization and urban development

Hange aims to advocate for a better living condition for workforce, and nearby inhabitants of industrialized city detroit would be a beautiful city if only they let hange designed it

Hange is a professor at university, where they also led a non-profit research think-thank that also serves as pressure group for better government policy.

The university that Hange teaches in, is also the uni where Erwin teaches in summer. They’re close-knitted colleagues as they share similar passion. Erwin relies on Hange a lot for some intellectual insights to help his cases  

Hange is relentless in their cause, you may find Hange everywhere! From street protest to a hearing in the government court. They are passionate and will do anything for the cause they believe in

Hange was once hired by the government as an independent consultant for a new housing project, but left because they grew to be frustrated by the government’s bureaucracy and their outward reluctance to follow Hange's recommendation

Hange spends a lot of time overseas, consulting and advocating development in newly industrialized countries

On Hange’s birthday, her fellow researchers surprised them with a ‘pampering day’ where they took them to an optometrist because Hange had been complaining about their eyesight for a YEAR that gave them a lot of migraines, but was always either too busy or too lazy to go

Hange never really considers themselves as working, because they enjoy their job very much. Hange likes to spend months observing a community, talking to people for hours, and trying their best in understanding their problem

Out of so many great qualities that Hange has as a researcher that meets different set of people everyday, prejudice or preconceived judgment is completely absent in Hange’s demeanor and perspective

Hange doesn’t get a lot of free-time, even if they do, they’d wander around the city to do a little observation. But when the weather’s bad and they’re stuck at home with their pet lizard, they would logged into Quora to answer random internet questions

They’re an avid writer for National Geographic, and one time Hange won a pitch to make a documentary about an industrial city project they were working on

After the docu-series got broadcasted, Hange gained a small but passionate and loyal fans on the internet. You could even find a subreddit dedicated for Hange’s works

for real I want to be Hange. I want to have that kind of passion in life

levi!

A/N: I spent a lot of times thinking about Levi’s job in modern!au. Because here’s the thing, either we adopt his unfortunate childhood into its modern!au equivalent, or let’s just recreate his whole upbringing. But I think his personality stems from a specific things he experienced during childhood, so let’s not dismiss that.

Levi came from a struggling working class family. I reckon his parents might have had worked multiple jobs to sustain their living expense. Unfortunately they both passed away when Levi was very little, and left little to no inheritance

Levi’s parents were not close to their extended family, so when they died, Levi was admitted to the system and had to brace several foster families who didn’t really pay attention to him

Little Levi had come to realize that life’s all about survival and so he had been able to fend on for himself since very young age, he never asked for things

His uncle, Kenny, finally won custody over Levi when he was in elementary. Kenny made money from small-scale racketeering here and there. Levi never asked what he did for living, as long as he got food to eat and tuition paid off

Kenny was emotionally absent, but he loved spending time with the oddly quiet little child, teaching him a lot of crafts, from carpentering to how to flay pig’s skin

Levi didn’t really care about getting into college, and thought that he’d probably end up working for his uncle, so he put his bare minimum throughout school, although he was really good with numbers, especially in math, accounting and finance

One time in high school, Levi’s teacher asked him to sign up for the olympiad team, Levi turned it down because he thought that was a rich kid thing

He didn’t even apply for college, and worked odd jobs after high school. Probably working as cashiers or assistant to retail shop’s owner for couple of years, enough for him to afford a cheap studio apartment on his own

One of his bosses came to acknowledge Levi’s talent, and trusted him to handle the company’s accounting

By sheer luck, the company hit it big, and Levi found himself running the day-to-day accounting of mid-sized business with over 300 employees

He made good money already without a college degree, but with a new-found confidence Levi applied for uni, where he chose to study accounting (of course)

Although he was confident with his skills, he understood he needed to widen his horizon and network -- thus uni

Levi was one of the oldest members of his cohort in uni, but graduated with highest distinction

After graduating, with his skills and experience, it wasn’t hard for Levi to score a job at top accounting firm

There, he discovered an interest for forensic accounting, where through audits, analysis and investigation, he basically finds out if a company is doing fraud and embezzlement or not

This is where he came to know and get acquainted with Erwin and Hange (yippie they’re together again)

The firm he works for was assigned to investigate the finances of a troublesome company that had been sued by its workers for a jeopardizing working condition. Erwin was on the case, and Levi helped him with evidences for legal proceeding.

By chance, Erwin introduced Levi to Hange. At first, Levi would find Hange annoying and overtly energized, but after learning the things they have done, Levi grew to appreciate Hange’s passion (and secretly wants to have more of his positive outlook)

Levi is fucking good his job. In short amount of time, he could get a really ideal position in the office. He was almost foolproof, finding even the tiniest bit of discrepancy in his audit. He’d get assigned to the big league case/project.

Although really good at his job, he’s not a social person, especially in his office. He couldn’t understand the lavish lifestyle that finance and banking people often lead. He will only show up to office party if it is really necessary for him to show up (usually to receive some kind of informal awards for, again, being so fucking good) 

He leads a no-bullshit attitude at the office, largely because of his background. He is a self-made man, and is not easy to impress by some young executives from posh school that talk bigger than they can chew

His cold, seemingly dismissive attitude gained him a reputation of being scary, when actually he is very considerate

One of the things he enjoys doing is to actually teach, he really likes when a new kid at the office come to him with none of that pretentious, big talk, and really asks for his guidance. He would love to teach you a thing or two

He would frequently check on his mentee, just to keep up with their development

And he doesn’t take credit too. When his mentee makes a milestone, he believes it’s 100% your work

If you’re his mentee, he probably doesn’t give a crap about your personal life, so don’t expect him to make small talk about that (and don’t ask him about his personal life either). But he really cares about your skill and career development

Same with Erwin, he leads a very ordinary lifestyle. He doesn’t go out often and would rather reading detective novel with his cat on the couch

He likes to spend Sunday at Uncle Kenny’s house, because he finds himself worried about the old man very often. They became close as Levi grew

Overall, Levi is a really kind and caring person if you know how not to push his button

[mcheang]

Lila doesn't know that Marinette's parents own the bakery and thinks that she's just an employee. So, she tries getting Mari fired by acting like a Karen, complaining about the service, etc. Or, she just tells the Tom and Sabine about how Mari is a bully at school and other lies. Unbeknownst to Lila, one of her classmates or someone from school overhears and records what Lila said. Tom and Sabine either reveal that they're Mari's parents or she learns at school.

Nickname

I’m not gonna use the phrase “Karen”. It’s kind of sad that this name can also be an insult. I always liked the name ever since watching Mermaid Melody.

Everyone knows Chloé refers to Marinette as “Dupain-Cheng”. But how does Lila learn about it?

One morning, Lila saw Chloé lounging at her desk when Marinette rushed in, surprisingly on time for once.

Chloé held out her hand imperiously. “Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette huffed. “I have a name you know.” And she handed over a T&S box of macarons.

Chloé: your point?

Lila turned to Nathaniel. “Does Marinette work at a bakery or something?”

Nathaniel: You’ve never been to Tom and Sabine’s patisserie before? You’ve gotta go today. They are the best patisserie in Paris!

Lila raised a brow. “Wow, Marinette must be quite the baker to have gotten hired.”

Nathaniel shrugged. “Well, she’s still learning but Marinette comes from a long line of bakers. She’ll probably be a professional by the time we graduate.”

Lila hid her scowl. She had not forgotten her promise of war to Marinette. And what better way to start then by sabotaging her job? After all, Lila had only just returned and while the class was under her spell, they won’t be so easy to turn on their old friend just yet. A professional bakery on the other hand...

Lila visited the bakery after school, when she was certain no one from class would be visiting it.

Down there, Lila wasn’t that impressed by the space, though the decor was colourful and elegant.

She ordered a macaron. After having a nibble of the admittedly scrumptious macaron, Lila made a face.

Tom: oh, is something wrong?

Lila: oh, it’s just that this is my first time in Paris and I was looking forward to trying the pastries here. I’m a popular food blogger you see. I travel overseas for holidays and recommend what to try and what to avoid on my blog. My fans were so excited to see my food recommendations, one of which was the macarons. But after this, I’m disappointed.

A waiting customer in line heard what Lila said and started filming her. Lila didn’t mind.

Tom was worried. “I’m sorry to hear that. Normally our customers love our macarons. Perhaps it’s because you are not used to french cuisine?”

Lila but back a retort, and instead sighed. “I gave this place a try after Marinette recommended it.”

Tom: our Marinette?

Lila: yes, she kept pushing me to come visit your patisserie. Even after I said yes, she kept badgering me and even the teacher reprimanded us!

Tom raised a brow. “That doesn’t sound like Marinette.”

Lila: she also promised me a free box of macarons if I visited. But now I’m not so sure. I’m afraid this is a definite place-to-avoid for my blog.

Tom was now suspicious of this girl. Marinette never pushed for reviewers to visit their place. She never needed to. Their bakery was doing splendidly. And it’s not like Marinette to just surprise them with a strange blogger without leaving a warning message.

Lila was hoping her representation of Marinette would paint her as a horrible employee. And she wanted some free macarons too from a boss hoping to salvage his company’s reputation.

But Tom just crossed his arms and gave a cold smile. “I’m sorry you didn’t like our macarons. But you still have to pay for the macaron you just ate.”

Lila frowned at the man. “So rude. I should at least have gotten a refund for the horrid taste.”

Tom’s face turned stern. “If you refuse to pay, I will call the police.”

Lila rolled her eyes. “Don’t be such a drama queen.” She handed over a bill. “Here.”

Lila stormed out, too upset to even enjoy the macaron in her hand.

When Marinette and Alya came inside, Tom called them over. “Marinette, is there a food blogger in your school.”

Marinette blinked. “Not that I know of. Alya?”

Alya shrugged, “Sorry. I don’t watch those.”

Tom: a girl came by today saying you had offered her a free box of macarons in exchange for her visiting. She also claimed to be a food blogger.

Alya: must have been a scammer.

Marinette: but how did she know my name? From the sound of it, she probably never came here before.

Tom: she had brown hair.

Alya: that’s it?

Tom scratched his head. “I’m not good at remembering people. But that’s the beauty of security cameras!”

Tom led them to the back where he showed the girls the Lila drama.

Marinette growled. “Lila!”

Alya: what the hell? You never go near her if you can help it, always claiming she’s a ...liar...oh.

Marinette: yeah.

Alya: well, I can see why you hate her so much now if this is her true personality. What a snob. Even Chloé doesn’t act like that.

Tom: so you do know her.

Marinette: Lila’s a new girl who likes to make up grand stories about herself and has somehow convinced our friends to buy her lunch.

Alya counted off her fingers. “Forgotten wallet, sprained wrist, allergic to the cheap menu items, donated all her allowance to charity...”

Marinette: which one did you pay for?

Alya: when she told me she was robbed. Ugh. That liar is going down!

Marinette: but Adrien thinks we should take the high road.

Alya: Adrien’s rich. We’re not! I’m busting her right now! Mr Dupain, may I film this scene?

Tom: sure. I have to get back to the counter to help Sabine.

But as Alya spread the footage to the class, another clip was being shared rapidly among Parisians.

The girls opened their messages to see a video link.

WHO IS THIS GIRL TO CRITICISE OUR BELOVED PATISSERIE?

It was the same scene, but shot from another angle.

The waiting customer was a fan of the patisserie and a regular customer. She was not pleased at hearing a supposedly famous blogger giving the shop a bad review from just one nibble. and Marinette was such a sweetheart, the customer didn’t believe the drivel that came out of Lila’s mouth. And so she posted this clip, calling Lila out on her rude behavior, and asking if anyone knows this so-called famous food blogger.

Alya eagerly replied.

This clip became so widely spread that it even made the evening news, told by Nadja Chmack, who had even interviewed Mrs Rossi and told her what Alya and other commenters have said.

Mrs Rossi was too stunned to give a comment and had retreated to her office.

Ironic that the diplomat had such a mob-rousing daughter.

Mrs Rossi’s public humiliation was perfect for akuma bait. She basically spent her time looking for Lila to confront her but was defeated before Lila even knew what was going on.

Mrs Rossi apologized to the heroes for doubting their ability.

When Lila came home, she was surprised to see her mother waiting for her. Were they actually having dinner together?

Not exactly. Mrs Rossi tore into Lila for her horrendous behavior and outrageous lies.

And because Mrs Rossi was in the spotlight for negligent parenting, she went for extreme measures. From now on, Mrs Rossi would call the school every day, once in the morning to see if Lila had arrived, and every evening to see her progress report. Lila’s allowance would be cut off since she had been cheating her classmates for lunch money. Lila would also be seeing a professional therapist regarding her behavior.

Lila was shocked and furious she had been exposed to Paris as a fraud. She was hoping for an akuma, but Mrs Rossi had realized her lecture would cause upset emotion so she had asked the heroes to keep an eye out while she lectured her daughter. Ladybug caught the approaching akuma quite easily. Chat Noir’s night vision helped.

Lila tries to claim she felt lonely but Mrs Rossi retorted that was no excuse for her behavior. Then Lila tried to blame her mother for neglecting her and forcing her to keep leaving behind any new friends she makes just because of her diplomat job.

Mrs Rossi paused at that. It was true.

“Fine. I’ll concede on that point.”

Lila brightened up until her mother continued. “You’ll be finishing one last semester here before I send you home to live with my parents. They’ll give you undivided attention (monitoring) and you’ll have friends for the long-run (which means if Lila gets caught for lying, she will face the consequences instead of moving away)”

Lila: you’re abandoning me again?!

Mrs Rossi: I’m going to leave you in capable hands. And it’s not like I don’t want to spend time with you, Lila. But someone has to keep a roof over our heads and pay the bills.

When Lila returned to school the next day, she scowled right back at the glares that came her way. Upon entering class, Chloé called out, “Look, it’s the famous blogger. Oh, wait, no, never mind. It’s just some bragging nobody.”

Adrien stayed silent. Alya had chewed him out for his advice and warned him he was on shaky ground. Yeah, Nino wasn’t happy with him either but defended his bro was unaware of the cafeteria activity since he was always at home for lunch.

When Lila sat down, Nathaniel drawled next to her. “Oh, did I mention Lie-la, that the patisserie you asked about is Marinette’s family business?”

Lila’s fingernails had splinters under them.

[edie-k]

Greener Pastures (Lavender Brown/Mystery Character, Romione, Hinny, Deamus, PG-13)

Title: Greener Pastures

Pairing: Lavender Brown/Mystery Character, Romione, Hinny, Deamus, Past Lavender/Ron, Past Lavender/Seamus

Rating: PG-13 for language

Summary: At Harry and Ginny's engagement party, Lavender bemoans her single status to a mystery man.

Author's Note: Well, here's an obscure ship for you. Thanks to @adenei for her feedback and kind words!

*************

“I think that proves that for all the complaining I’ve done, Harry, I mean it when I say you are the only one I thought was good enough for my sister,” Ron said from the front of the room, to a chorus of laughter. “So let’s raise a glass to the newly engaged couple!”

From her seat at the bar, Lavender made a face and threw back the remaining contents of her tumblr. Parvati, who was seated next to her, joined the crowd in applauding and cheering Harry and Ginny.

Click below to read more or read at AO3

“That was a nice speech,” commented Parvati.

“Oh, just the best,” muttered Lavender, trying to catch the bartender’s eye.

Parvati shook her head. “I just spotted Adam’s sister. I wanted to ask her about what the expectations are for dress code and stuff at his grandmother’s. All Adam said when I asked him was ‘Whatever’s fine.’ We’re going abroad to meet an entire side of your family I have never met in all the time we’ve been together and you’re telling me whatever is fine.”

“Mmm hmm,” Lavender said, still trying to signal for a drink.

“Are you going to be okay if I-”

“Yes, yes,” said Lavender, sighing. “I’m fine. Sorry if I’m being a drag. Just… that news earlier and then all this… happiness. Go get the dish from Mara so we can go shopping tomorrow.”

Parvati squeezed her friend’s arm before hopping off the stool and wading through the crowd to find Mara. The bartender finally made his way over to her and began to mix her another drink without a word.

At least Adam was out of town on business for the weekend so Lavender didn’t have to third wheel with her best friend and her boyfriend. Because that would have been the only thing more depressing than going to an engagement party with your platonic best friend.

The bartender nudged the glass back to her and she nodded her head in thanks as he made his way back down the bar.

“Is this seat taken?”

Lavender glanced up and met the gaze of a man she’d never seen before.

“Uh, no, be my guest,” she said. “Although be warned that I am shitty company.”

The man chuckled as he sat down on the stool. “I highly doubt that but I’m game to find out.”

Lavender looked at him again. She didn’t recognize him, which was shocking because even though the venue was full, Lavender had thought she would know everyone here. Harry and Ginny were obviously incredibly popular so they had kept tight controls on who was included on the guest list.

The man signaled for the bartender and Lavender took the opportunity to give him a once over. The guy was huge - not in an overweight or bodybuilder type way. He was just tall and solid. Other than her first boyfriend, her preference was tall guys. She was 5”8’ herself and preferred to wear heels when she could so aesthetically, it was nice for her companion to have some height. Nice eyes, cute face. He had dark blond hair and was dressed in a dark blue Muggle button down shirt and black trousers with no robes. Since the war had ended, Muggle style had become popular with the wizards in her age group. Harry, who was raised by Muggles, was always more comfortable in that style of clothing and Ron, who she knew was dressed primarily by Hermione and Hermione’s mum, followed suit. And whatever that little Trio did, everyone else did and for Merlin’s sake, Ron Weasley was now a fucking fashion icon. Lavender took a big swig of her drink.

“It’s a nice party,” said the man. Lavender nodded as the bartender approached. “I’ll have whatever she’s having.”

The bartender made another drink before placing it in front of the man. He went to reach for his pocket when Lavender noticed a look of panic cross his face. Before she could say anything, the bartender waved him away. “Mr. Potter has the tab covered tonight.”

“Well,” he said, his face relaxed again. He turned back to Lavender. “Should we follow Red’s instructions and toast the happy couple?” The two clinked glasses. “It was a nice speech.”

Lavender snorted.

“You disagree?”

“I’d have thought his wife wrote it for him but there was too much swearing for her to have had a hand,” Lavender said. Then she wiped the palms of her hands down her face. “Ugh, ignore me. It actually was a very touching and funny speech. I’m just in an ugly mood and I have a bit of a history with Ron so I’m being mean for no reason.”

“You dated him?” the man guessed. She nodded. “Huh, he said in the speech that he’d loved his wife since he was 13.”

“And I dated him when we were 16 so…”

“Hence the ugliness,” finished the man.

“Hence the ugliness,” Lavender repeated. “I’m over it, really. Hermione and I shared a room for six years and are better friends now than we ever were at school. As for Ron, that was just some stupid school kid bullshit on both our parts. It’s more that I didn’t realize that my only opportunity to find love was going to be at Hogwarts. If I had known that, I’d have made better choices or… maybe taken Arithmancy to secure a better paying job to support my lonely life.”

“What do you mean?” the man asked.

“Everyone I know, they’re married or engaged or about to be engaged to the person that they dated at Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny dated at school, Neville and Hannah somehow started to date during our last year during the war. My best friend Parvati and her boyfriend dated our sixth year at Hogwarts and then he fled with his Muggle family overseas but they started right back up again when he came back to England. See that girl over there, the pregnant one?”

The man nodded.

“That’s Parvati’s sister. That’s her second kid cooking. She’s married to her prefect partner, Anthony. I guess technically, Ron and Hermione didn’t date at Hogwarts but -”

“He’s loved her since he was 13,” the man said amused.

“Yeah. I’m the only one that couldn’t make it out with a relationship intact.” she moaned, taking another drink.

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

Lavender took another long drink and contemplated his statement. “You know what? You’re right. Ginny, she also had a relationship that didn’t work out. Do you see that tall bloke over in the corner that she’s talking to?”

The man glanced in the direction Lavender was referring to. “Uh, yeah.”

“That’s Dean. He was the guy that Ginny dated before Harry. Now, do you see that cute little Irishman standing next to Dean?”

The man nodded.

“That’s Seamus. He was my ex-boyfriend before Ron. And now he’s Dean’s husband. Met in school, by the way.”

“Oh,” said the man, taken aback.

Lavender narrowed her eyes. “Do you have a problem with that? Because despite the fact that Seamus is just one more example of my inability to keep a boyfriend, I will defend those men and their amazing relationship to the death from any bigot that threatens it.”

“No, no!” the man sputtered. “I’m just… I went to an all-boys school and I knew gay guys but they all hid it and I’m just not used to people being open about it. It’s fine - more than fine. Good for them! I mean, hey, they found each other and are leaving more beautiful women for the rest of us, right?”

“Merlin, I wish I could find a beautiful woman,” Lavender moaned, burying her face in her hands. The bartender seemed to take this as a signal that she needed another drink and provided her with a refill.

“Oh, are you… interested in women?” she heard him ask.

“No,” she moaned. “You must think I’m insane.” Lavender put both her hands on the man’s arm that was closest to her. “I promise that I am not hung up on some school romance from five years ago. It’s just that, if you knew Seamus or Ron at Hogwarts… did you know Seamus or Ron at Hogwarts?”

The man shook his head.

“Okay, so if you knew them, you would know that they were both totally immature prats. After I broke up with Seamus, I thought he was the worst boyfriend ever. He was always running off to spend time with his mates, talking about Quidditch, no interest in spending time with me, dumb jokes. But then, then I dated Ron, who was even worse than him. The only thing he wanted to do with me was snog and I think that was some weird power move with Hermione or his sister… who knows. I have to be way more drunk to psychoanalyze Ron Weasley. Anyway, the last month we were together, he didn’t even try to hide the fact that he wanted to ditch me for Hermione but was just too much of a coward. And yet somehow, both of those idiots ended up married before me! And it’s not like they got married to some random person that they knocked up after a one night stand. Ron eloped with his wonderful, talented, brilliant best friend that he was in love with all through school and the entire time we were dating and Seamus… oh for Godric’s sake.”

Lavender paused in her tirade for a moment. “Seamus also married his wonderful, talented, brilliant best friend that he was probably in love with all through school AND the entire time we were dating. How am I just realizing that?” Lavender groaned, banging her head on the bar.

“Can wizards knock up other wizards?” asked the man. Lavender looked up at him and burst into laughter.

“Oh, thank you for that,” she giggled. “I was spiralling.”

“Uh, yeah, no worries,” said the man, shifting in his seat.

“It’s just that this dating stuff is really hard. The wizarding world is so small, you know? I think it’s why everyone locks in with their soulmate at school, ” Lavender commiserated.

“Have you ever considered dating like, outside the wizarding world?” the man asked.

Lavender shook her head. “How could I? It’s tough enough here. After all the Prophet spotlights on battle injuries and such, everyone knows how I got all these awful scars on my face but it still takes a certain type of man to look past them. And I’m sure there are Muggles that aren't shallow about them either but they would ask how I got them. How would I explain them to a Muggle? I can’t just say ‘Oh during a war at my school, a werewolf tried to rip me to shreds. But don’t worry, I’m not a werewolf although I have some side effects from it.’ They’d think I was insane.”

“Uh, yeah, that does sound a bit… daunting,” the man admitted, looking a bit pale.

“I mean, I’m still a catch. I’m funny, I have a great rack, I make excellent scones, and I’m amazing in bed.” At that comment, she heard the man next to her choke a little and she stifled a smile to continue on. “And even if I could get away with not explaining it to a man, once I meet his family, there’s no way. In my experience, mothers are always trying to find a reason to hate the woman that’s dating their special baby boy. I can’t imagine a Muggle mother taking very kindly to a literal witch with werewolf scars.”

“Yes,” sighed the man before giving a little chuckle. “I can certainly see that. And with all of the, you know, war stuff, I can see where you wish you had a school sweetheart.”

Lavender shook her head and drained the rest of her drink. “Seamus and Ron are just easy targets. I really am not hung up on them. This is about Don.”

“Who’s Don?”

“Don is my last boyfriend. We dated exclusively for eight months and he was so fun and thoughtful and generous. But he never said I love you. He kept telling me that he was too young to settle down and, I believed that he thought that. I really did. So we split in December because we wanted different things.”

“Ah,” said the man. “Seems sensible.”

“And then this morning, I see it in The Daily Prophet.”

“See what?”

“His engagement announcement,” she wailed, throwing herself on the bar again and almost upsetting her glass.

The man patted her on the shoulder. “Oh God, I’m sorry.”

“Do you know how long they’ve been dating?” Lavender asked.

“Eight months?” ventured the man.

“FIVE!” Lavender cried.

“Maybe he knocked her up?” suggested the man.

Lavender looked up at him and burst into laughter again. “Merlin, you’re funny. Why am I whinging about all these dolts I’ve surrounded myself with when I should get to know you better?”

“Yeah?” said the man with a grin.

“Yes,” she said. “I mean, if you want-”

“Of course,” he interrupted. “A funny, beautiful woman wants to get to know me better - the answer is always yes. I do need a refill. Do you want one? You’re not driving home, are you?”

Lavender giggled.

The man shook his head and looked embarrassed. “Oh, right, you wouldn’t be driving. You would uh - ”

“You must be a Muggle born. Do- I mean, I’ve heard others say that before. Those habits die hard.”

“Actually,” the man took a deep breath. “I’m a Muggle.”

Lavender’s jaw dropped. “How the fuck does a Muggle get invited to the engagement party of the Chosen One and a pureblood Quidditch player?”

“Well, Harry’s my cousin,” the man said. “My name’s Dudley.”

***************

“Do you see that over there?” asked Hermione, nudging Ron. He turned away from his conversation with Neville and Charlie to see what his wife was gesturing to across the room.

“Is that Dudley Dursley chatting up Lavender?” Ron asked, as his eyes landed on the sight before him.

“It appears to be,” said Hermione. “Merlin, they are really flirting. Should we go over there and say something? A warning or...?”

“Right,” said Ron. “Absolutely we should. Which one of them are we warning?”

[ackermans-freedom-inc]

Diamonds

A/N: I am toiling over fics more and more lately. Here is my contribution to the Mafia!Levi AUs out there. I have to admit I dont even know what a mafia does but uh...just squint ok! Thank you @anlian-aishang for chatting with me about this, and @mysteriousmagicx for inspiring many parts of the fic as well <3 

tw: blood mention, minor character death

Diamonds - angst/fluff

You heaved a sigh and looked out the window to admire the blurring backdrop of a hometown that didn’t quite feel like home. It had been many, many years since you left, more time living overseas than anywhere else. Then again, one would suppose it to be normal. Your mother died shortly after your birth, and your father hadn’t even let the dirt settle over her grave before he took another wife. As soon as you were able to enroll in school, he had sent you overseas. Far away from him.

You always figured it was because you were his only daughter that he treated you with such distain, but never got a chance to confront him as he basically scrubbed himself from your life.

Even your return was met with silence. You called him but was, as usual, greeted by the voice of his quick lipped assistant. She took your message that you were returning home with the same efficiency as one would take down a drink order, informed you that your father would not be calling back as he was away on business himself, and hung up the phone before you could get another word in edgewise.

That was how you ended up returning home, not a soul to greet after two decades away, and frankly, you didn’t care. As far as you were concerned, there was no connection between you and the rest of the family at this point.

A couple nights after your return was your first brush with the sinister forces that seemed to run the city. You had just exited the bar when the sound of boots hitting the pavement echoed off the walls, only to find yourself surrounded by a group of men. You gulped, voice coming out soft as the leader sauntered up to you, tipping his hat as he leaned in close, booze on his breath.

“What’s a pretty lil thing like you doin’ out here all alone?”

Mind racing, you could only think to use your father’s name, hoping he still had some pull in the city.

“I’m waiting for my father. He’s with the Reiss Corporation.”

What you didn’t expect, was for the entire group to reel back, looking to each other with disbelief as you caught whispers of conversation.

“The Boss? The Boss has a daughter? No way.”

Before you could get some type of explanation, the click of more shoes against the pavement broke the tenuous peace.

Your captors breathed out a “shit” under their breath and straightened up, leaving you rooted to the spot in fear as you looked to the menacing group that just approached, clad in all black, a pin with wings the only source of colour on their clothing.

The man leading the group was short in stature, but he made up for it with an aura so menacing you gulped as he took a step, grey eyes flitting over yours for a second as he kept his arms crossed, his jacket draped over his shoulders as he engaged your captors with a bored expression.

“Reiss has been gone for a week and you boys already forgetting where your territory ends?”

“Le-Levi! Let’s not be hasty. We were just out for a bit of fun; we’re barely crossing into Scout territory.” The leader of the group that was only a moment ago accosting you now sounded so meek, looking so small under such a menacing gaze.

“Beat it before I give your boss a reason to come back.” The man you learned to be Levi growled, and within a heartbeat, the men had disappeared, slipping into the shadows from whence they came.

You breathed a sigh of relief, turning to the man to offer him thanks. Introducing yourself as Y/N.

You could see a furrowed brow as Levi regarded you. “You’re not a Reiss?”

Before you could answer, a striking girl that looked similar to Levi leaned in close, mumbling in his ear.

Whatever she told him must have been amusing, because he smiled, the expression not reaching his eyes as he spoke once again. “Oh ho? The secret daughter with her mother’s last name. Interesting.”

His words raised more questions than answers for you. It was infuriating, the way everyone else seemed to know exactly what was going on while you were left in the dark.

With a final look towards you, he turned to walk away, his little entourage following wordlessly. Just before he melted into the shadows, he called out to you, “Watch yourself little lady. You do not know what lurks in the night.”

~

The second time you met him, you swore it must’ve been fate pushing the two of you together. You had peeked into an alley you probably shouldn’t have after hearing some groans, eyes wide when you realized it was the same striking woman from that day, clutching at her ribs while she braced against the wall, crimson slipping through her fingers.

Your heart acted before your brain. With a shout, you ran to her, throwing her arm over your shoulder as you hobbled with her the short distance to the apartment, ignoring the way her blood splattered over plush carpets on the way to the bathroom.

Your first aid skills were limited, but thankfully enough to assess the wound. A nasty gash spanned the woman’s ribs, but you suspected it wasn’t the gash that caused the pain. She most likely broke a rib.

“You need a doctor” you said, a wet towel wiping the sweat from the woman’s brow as you finished cleaning the wound with alcohol wipes.

“No doctors.” The woman bit out; breaths shallow. “Just call the boss.”

Still stinging fingers dug for the phone in the woman’s pocket, straightening up from where you were leaning against the tub, pressing the contacts button and lingering on the contact LEVI.

He answered before the first ring even ended.

“What?”

“Um,” you mumbled, unable to form the words to describe your situation.

“Who is this. Where’s Mikasa?” His voice lowered, laced with suspicion.

“Oh! Her name’s Mikasa?” you found your voice at the mention of the injured woman, “She’s at my house. I found her hurt. She…she told me to call you. She needs a doctor.”

“Put her on.”

You handed the phone to the woman who was wheezing out breaths on the bathroom floor, and picked at the hem of your shirt as she spoke, comment of “I’m with the Reiss girl” making you scowl as you were once again associated with your father. After that first line, she spoke very little, curtly voiced “Yes Boss.” falling over and over from her lips before the phone clicked shut.

“He’s coming for me. You stay put for now.” Mikasa said, her voice steadier now as she caught her breath.

The clock on your wall ticked as the time passed in silence, her slumped for against your own perched on the edge of the tub. Even when your door burst open, Levi standing in the doorway, this time clad in a blood red shirt with a black suit jacket on top, you didn’t move from your spot. You watched with bated breath as people entered your house, a green-eyed youngster jumping out to throw Mikasa’s arm over his shoulder before taking her out of your apartment, worry in his eyes.

All too soon, it was just you and Levi in the apartment, you looking up at him from your spot on the porcelain.

“Who are you people?” You whispered, not sure if the answer was one you wanted to hear.

“The Scouts.” He stated cooly, eyes never leaving yours, as if searching for something. “I lead what I call a highly specialized enterprise. You would call us the Mafia.”

You kept quiet, waiting for him to continue.

“My card. I don’t like to owe a blood debt, even if it is for my lieutenant.”

You blinked, realizing a gloved hand was reaching towards you. Surprisingly still fingers took the crisp white card in your hands, tracing the neat script.

“Levi Ackerman – Professional Cleaning Services”

You flipped the card over, numbers dotting the otherwise pristine paper.

“If you need anything. Call. Just don’t waste my time.”

You were about to ask about a million questions, but looked up to see him gone, door clicking shut behind him.

Only then was the breath you didn’t realize you were holding escape. The Mafia. The mafia. In your city? As hard as it was to believe, it was truly, the only explanation for all the odd happenings you had witnessed. Besides, as far as you could tell, Levi seemed to care about his people, and not out to kill you. Yet.

Tucking the little card into your purse, a silent vow made to meet him again someday, two encounters with the man intriguing you more than you could bear.

~

The first time you called, he had been annoyed, because the only instruction he gave you was not to waste his time. But it was late, and you swore you heard noises outside your apartment. Begrudgingly, he stayed on the phone, only after you declined his repeated attempts to send someone to check on you.

The next time you called, it was to ask him how Mikasa was doing. She had taken the phone from Levi, thanking you for taking care of her before giving the phone back. Half expecting Levi to hang up after the exchange, you were surprised when the two of you stayed on the phone chatting about whatever came to mind as he listened.

Eventually, you started just calling the number, requesting to get picked up. You would meet at the usual corner, standing there with hands in your pockets. Mikasa would always show up not ten minutes after you placed the call, her eyes warming up slightly each time she saw you, insisting on stepping out to open and close your door despite countless protests. She would always look in the rear-view mirror when the car reached that intersection, and you would smile and nod, pulling a blindfold from your pocket and placing it over your eyes. After the first time, when Mikasa showed up with the green-eyed man you learned was Eren and they had thrown a bag over your head, you insisted on bringing your own blindfold thereafter.

It was routine now. When you missed Levi, and if he had time, he would never hesitate to send Mikasa to fetch you. You were friends with almost all of his members by now and considered them family.

Even though the headquarters was no place for a civilian, many a time your phone call going unanswered, or catching Eren running away from you with blood-soaked rags, you were never afraid. You saw how Levi treated his subordinates and the way all the other members looked at him with not fear in their eyes, but respect.

For Levi, he knew how dangerous it was to get involved with a woman, let alone a woman like you. He knew who you were, what you were, yet never found it in himself to tell you the truth. At first, he figured you were sent to spy on him, seduce him perhaps. But he quickly realized you truly knew nothing about the dark world he lived in, surrounded by shadows. The more time he spent with you, listening to you talk about whatever happened to be on your mind, or watching you interact with his members, the more the mafia boss felt himself go soft. He was supposed to be ruthless. Merciless. All controlling. Yet with you, he felt powerless. You had somehow wormed your way into his heart and claimed a spot in his brain, thoughts of your beautiful face and smile never quite leaving his thoughts.

Nearly a year after you first met him, Levi was rooted deeply in your life. You didn’t care what he did during the day, choosing to ignore the screams that echo from the basement. You would scrub at the dark red stains that sometimes splattered across Levi’s shirts, watching the water until it ran clear. He had, many times, tried to put distance between the two of you, but you never listened, telling him that him and the Scouts were your family. The first time you lay with him, he had whispered such loving words to you, holding you close as you trembled in his arms. You rarely stayed at your own apartment anymore, most things were moved to Levi’s and whenever you weren’t at headquarters, bustling around with the others or in his lap as he read through reports, you could be found cooking up a storm back at his place, inviting all the other members over for dinner many days in the week.

You felt like you found your place. Coming home had originally been a temporary thing, but now, you had someone you loved and a new tightknit group of people who actually cared; something you never had as a child.

As with all good things, they come to an end. More specifically, the good times came to an end when one day you were left alone in the common room, Levi and the other members in an emergency meeting following a phone call. You heard snippets of conversation through the door that lead to Levi’s office, and your ears perked up at your father’s name.

“He’s coming back – tonight – already confirmed- ”

When the heavy door finally opened and the other members marched out, you let yourself in, plopping in the chair Mikasa usually occupied. Levi was sitting at the head of the table, brooding as usual. You were about to ask him about the meeting when your own phone rang.

You looked down at the screen and frowned. Your father was calling.

After being absent from your life for over two decades, he picked this time to call you.

You answered, fully expecting his secretary, so when his voice boomed in your ear, you were taken aback.

“I heard you’re shacked up with an Ackerman.” Your father said, no pleasantries exchanged, “invite the fellow over for dinner tomorrow night. Your old man wants to have a nice little chat with him.”

A click sounded before you could get a word in, looking up just in time to catch Levi’s grey eyes.

“Your father?” he asked, something you couldn’t quite place in his voice.

You nodded, “He asked us to dinner tomorrow night. I think he wants to meet you.”

“I’ll be there.” Pushing himself out of his chair, Levi strode over to you, a hand on your shoulder as he passed. “It’s time for you to head home. Your home. I will be by tomorrow.”

He was acting different. Distant. You chalked it up to nervousness at meeting your father and let it be, choosing to ignore the nagging feeling that there was something wrong.

You didn’t hear from Levi the rest of the night, and the radio silence continued into the next day.

A knock on the door fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, and your father strode in for dinner, looking as he did the last time you saw him, just with more white hair. He took a seat at the head of your table, cigarette in mouth as he looked you up and down, something sinister in his eyes.

A moment later, Levi showed up, and you swore a black shadow ducked around the corner when you opened the door to let him in but waved the thought aside, assuming it was just your eyes playing tricks on you.

As soon as Levi stepped into the same room, you felt the air chill as the two men regarded each other.

Your eyes flitting between them as you chuckled nervously. “Father…do you know Levi? Levi what-”

Your father’s laugh cut off your question as he laid a hand on your shoulder, making the skin on the back of your neck stand up. Something was definitely wrong. Very very wrong. Your father calling you after twenty years of silence should have been the red flag. But you ignored it. To your peril.

“I knew my sweet daughter wouldn’t let me down.”

You were frozen as you father spoke, ignoring your presence as he always did as he spoke directly to Levi. Your eyes were on him the entire time shivers shot down your back. Eyes begging him to tell you what was going on. “Levi…what’s going on here?” you managed to squeak out.

Grey eyes looked past you as he spoke. “Your father is the head of the Kings, a rival group.”

You felt his words more than you heard them. Ice crept into your heart as it thumped against your chest. Your father…rival group…and you. Your father used you to lure Levi here tonight. But why would Levi come…if he knew?

Your father’s continued, voicing your deepest fear. “Did you really think he would ever want anything to do with someone like you? Pathetic. All you ever were was a pawn to him. He knew who you were from the day he met you. I guarantee it.”

Your eyes searched Levi’s for any indication of a lie. For as long as you knew him, he has never once lied to you.

“Levi…is that true? You knew…this whole time?”

His barely perceptible sigh gave you all the answers you needed as you felt a sob bubbling from your lips.

You looked between the man who had never paid you an ounce of attention your entire life, and the man who you thought would never hurt you – yet the pain was there and you weren’t sure who hurt you more.

You wanted to disappear, forget about everything that happened during the last year as your heart shattered.

Your father placed a hand on your head, making you look straight at Levi with a harsh twist of his wrist, a soft cry escaping as tears streamed down your cheeks.

“Open your eyes you stupid girl. He used you. You were useful for once in your life. I should’ve whored you out earlier had I known you would be the one to help me bring down the Scouts.”

“Levi, tell me it’s not true!” you yelled, a momentary look of pain across his face at your plea.

You father continued, stirring up the animosity between the doubt in your heart and the fury in Levi’s. “Wishful thinking dear daughter, that a man like him; someone who could have anything, would want anything to do with you. He used you. He took your love and he used you. Used you to get closer to me. He’s been a thorn in my side for years now, growing his organization. And you my dear, helped bring him to me tonight so we can end this. Once and for all.”

Cold fingers brushed your hair from your face as your father bent down to your ear, the smell of cigarettes on his breath as he whispered to you.

“Now do you want to shoot him, or should I?”

You braced yourself as the pain in your heart threatened the strength in your legs. Ignoring you father, looking straight at Levi as you spoke.

“You never loved me, did you? This was all a game to you wasn’t it Levi?” Searching his eyes for the answer, not seeing a shred of emotion, you continued, voice wavering, “little old me, too blind to see what her own father does, and too stupid to see that the only man I’ve ever loved was using me.”

Still seeing nothing betrayal in Levi’s eyes, you closed your own, feeling the last of your tears slipping out as you held out a hand.

“Hand me the gun father, I’ll kill him myself.”

Cold steel was placed into waiting hands, admiring the brushed metal as you remembered all that Mikasa had taught you about loading a bullet in the chamber, and flicking the safety off.

Gun raised, the barrel was pointed directly at Levi while he raised his own, pointed at you. With one final look at your lover, his eyes now narrowed at you and the weapon, you cocked the piece in your hands, and breathed a final sigh as a gunshot rang out.

Moments later, through the smoke, your father lay on the ground, blood pooling beneath him, face still frozen in disbelief. It was your shot that killed him.

Mikasa and Eren burst through your door, their guns lowering once they saw it was just you and Levi in the room. With a jerk of his head, Levi dismissed them, and Mikasa gave him a pointed look you couldn’t quite discern as they closed the door before soft footsteps trailed away.

You held the still warm gun in your hands for a moment longer before placing it on the ground. You turned to Levi, walking towards him. His breath hitched when you lifted his arm, pressing the barrel of his still unfired gun snugly under your ribs.  

You smiled, tears pricking the corners of your eyes as you closed them.

“You succeeded. You can have whatever you want now. My father’s empire is yours. Do it Levi. Take care of the loose end.”

Your voice broke as you kept your eyes closed, not sure which breath would be your last.

“Just end it quick. You’re the most important person in my life. Even if I never meant anything to you, you meant the world to me. So, if it ends here, it’s better you than anyone else. You hold my heart in your hands, so who better than you to crush it?”

Instead of the cold steel of the gun, it’s the taste of his lips on yours. His own gun clatters to the ground as Levi envelops you in a hug, crushing you to his body. “I never lied when I told you I loved you. I meant it, and I still do.”

You melted, finally giving in to your shaking knees, sobbing quietly into his chest as everything fell into place. All the pieces of the puzzle coming together to form such a gruesome yet beautiful picture. He held you, whispering over and over how he loved you, how he really loved you and never intended to use you. Fingers gripping his shirt, sniffles muffled against fabric. You were sorry too. Sorry for your shitty excuse of a father and his stupid plans.

Eventually the others had to come in to take care of the cleanup, Mikasa pressing a hand to your brow, wiping your tears away with a soft smile before going to assist Eren.

Levi picked your exhausted body up, your head in the crook of his neck. By the time the tears and sniffles dried up, you were back in his bed, surrounded by familiar sights and sounds.

Levi had a lot of explaining to do, but you let it be for the moment, too tired and too shell shocked to talk into the night.

~

Within a month, Levi had taken all control of the city. Without your father calling the shots, the Kings quickly fell into disarray. The Scouts were able to swoop in, and before long, the entire city was under Levi and your purview, your rightful spot now beside the man you loved. As you looked out at the sea of reports coming in about the various gambling rings and the files of men and women under Levi’s payroll, you smiled.

Diamonds are forged under pressure, and from the shadowy depth of where you and Levi now operated, you never shone as brightly as you did now.

[what-breaks-my-heart]

DanHwa Couple: Happy Ending versus Sad Ending

Note: I did plan to publish this post in conjunction with the last day of Run On Week when I came up with the idea for this post but I never thought this post would eventually be this long so I’m not going to ruin it for everyone 😂🙈

Previously, I’ve touched on the main theme of DanHwa’s storyline - goals & dreams.

Before I continue, I wish to extend my heartiest gratitude to @belsmultifandommess for taking my gif requests specifically so I could include them in this post ❤❤❤ You can click on “GIF by belsmultifandommess” to view the full sets from which the gifs I’ve included in this post were sourced. If you haven’t already, give some love to those beautiful gifsets.

This is going to be one hell of a long post so hydrate yourselves, get some snacks, prepare a box of tissues if you are a softie like me, and buckle up.

Previously in my series of write up on DanHwa storyline...

About Seo Dan Ah

Seo Dan Ah, Her Little Brother Seo Tae Woong, and A Planned Coup in Seomyung Group

Goals & Dreams - The Main Premise in the Live of Seo “Rapunzel” Dan Ah

Goals & Dreams - I Need You to Cooperate with Me

I have to be honest. The finale left me with so much feelings that made me struggle to understand how DanHwa’s storyline was concluded. There have been various takes on the conclusion of their storyline and I cannot totally disregard each of them because they do make sense in a way.

After seeing the preview for the finale, I did pose a question whether Young Hwa would agree to cooperate with Dan Ah’s potential goal to stop seeing each other, while still holding on to his dream of not breaking up with her.

As I was starting the finale, I saw the episode description on Netflix and giggled at how the storyline of DanHwa was described.

Mi-joo’s work gets a director noticed overseas. Yeong-hwa and Dan-ah achieve their own goals. Seon-gyeom officially becomes a sports agent.

Earlier, I did a write up about how Dan Ah was plotting a coup in Seomyung Group. Later in the finale, it was revealed that all along, she had been waiting for her father to pass away so she could take back what’s rightfully hers. I stand corrected. Dan Ah sweetie, I should have thought better than slandering you 🥺

True enough, she needed Tae Woong’s support in the coup, but she didn’t say the situation might call for him to turn against her because she wanted him to come clean about his paternity, but she said it because she knew how the bastard ‘older’ brother would blackmail Tae Woong into voting for him for the position of the successor in Seomyung Group by abusing his power and influence in Seomyung Group. I bet he was the one who started the rumour about Tae Woong’s paternity in order to control Tae Woong.

However, Dan Ah needed Tae Woong’s support as one of the major shareholders so that she could obtain enough support to be in a position of power in Seomyung Group. And thanks to his support, Dan Ah was promoted as the youngest Vice President of Seomyung Group. Yes, she was not yet wielding the power as the Chairwoman of Seomyung Group, but being a Vice President of Seomyung Group was itself a shorter-term goal, or a milestone towards achieving her dream of taking back what’s hers - her title as the rightful heiress of Seomyung Group.

Just like what Young Hwa - bless his young, optimistic yet immature self - told Dan Ah when she first came to his college after he kept crossing the line; if a dream seemed impossible to be achieved, focus instead on shorter-term goals while working towards chasing that dream.

By the way when I think of it, it was never made clear if the ‘older’ bastard son was appointed as President of Seomyung Group. Imagine if he was, because it wouldn’t be surprising, but he could never have things done his way because Dan Ah would keep having his ass handed to him by convincing the board room just how stupid his ways were.

Anyways, the way the story of DanHwa was concluded could be open to various interpretation, and I now believe it was intentionally done so. Why?

Exhibit 1

Young Hwa telling Dan Ah that his new goal was to watch her from a distance neither too far that he could not see her, nor too close that his field of vision would be blocked, so that he could always see her wherever he was.

He did so by asking her to just stay where she was. Of course the moment he said it, my alarms were buzzing because of how the story had compared her to Rapunzel living in a castle.

It was when Young Hwa looked “Seo Dan Ah” up on the internet when he later realised that he had forgotten how Dan Ah had been living in a castle that a peasant like him could never even dream of entering, since she was Rapunzel.

Exhibit 2

When Young Hwa and Dan Ah finally met again in front of his painting at the gallery, Dan Ah said that she was going to make that day to be her real birthday, before Young Hwa was finally able to wish her happy birthday.

These lines did seem rather out of place, but when I think more about it, it was Dan Ah cooperating with Young Hwa’s goal for both of them to celebrate her real birthday together.

This was in contrast to when she said her birthday was far away. This to me, seemed like both a literal and figurative remark.

In the literal sense, she was not sure at that point in time if they could still see each other when the day would eventually come.

Whereas in the figurative sense, celebrating her real birthday would symbolise a celebration of her successfully claiming her rightful title as the heiress of Seomyung Group - which seemed like a stretch to her at that time because she didn’t know about her father’s health condition.

But when they finally met again, she realised that there was someone who cherished her and kept her inside his radiant heart. And this person wanted to celebrate her real birthday with her because her being born was a miracle (just as other birth), because she was healthy, and because she was seeing him.

And he wanted to celebrate her real birthday with her as a way of expressing his gratitude to the heaven for all of these.

But ultimately, Young Hwa wanted to celebrate Dan Ah’s real birthday with her to get her heart in return.

And when Dan Ah decided to make the day they finally met again as her real birthday, it was symbolic that instead of obsessing over her dream of getting back her rightful title as the heiress of Seomyung Group which might require her staying in her castle, she finally gave her heart to Young Hwa, even though she was desperate to keep her heart intact due to her health condition. Maybe it’s just me but I think it’s poetic in a way.

And when she made the decision, it was symbolic to her accepting living with a fake birthday as long as someone truly cherishes her, because it may be fake, but her feeling was otherwise as real as it gets.

Exhibit 3

When the four besties met up and discussed about endings, Young Hwa told the group that his happy ending would be living well, giving birth to children like a rabbit with the person he loved (no joke that’s exactly what he said in Korean, hence the look of disgust on Dan Ah’s face).

And when he asked Dan Ah about what she wanted as her happy ending, he also asked if they could share the same happy ending, claiming their love would last forever (ah, the pure innocence of first loves).

Dan Ah then argued that she even faked a coming out to her family specifically because she did not want to get married, so sharing the same happy ending with Young Hwa like what he imagined would totally be out of the question.

Exhibit 4

DanHwa official Before poster

I’m sure many of us didn’t see this poster before the drama started airing. To be completely honest, I was not anticipating for this drama to air. There I was, minding my own business, when I saw gifs and screencaps from this drama’s first 2 episodes suddenly showing up on my dash. And then I read the usual caption spam by @dangermousie​ for those episodes and those caption spam actually piqued my interest.

You could see a sense of giddiness in this poster, as if they were playing a game of cat and mouse with each other. For those of you who don’t read hangul, the lines highlighted in this poster read as below:

“Don’t keep crossing the line.”

“But you came to see me because I crossed the line.”

DanHwa official After poster

And on the day the finale aired, JTBC released this official After poster. In this poster, both of them were portrayed to be lost in their own thoughts, no longer giddy and teasing each other.

Again, for those of you who don’t read hangul, there was only one line highlighted in this poster which reads:

“Don’t get sick, my first love.”

Special shoutout to @its-chelisey-stuff for highlighting the differences in these two posters in a post of its own.

Exhibit 5

After everything was said and done, the two of them kept hanging out together and seeing each other. They even went as each other’s plus one to the premier of Yook Ji Woo’s movie, Killing Day. And it was a public setting where people could gossip about them going together too, so it was clear she was not bothered by the possibility of people gossiping about it.

So with these 5 exhibits, it was clear that the drama was intentionally sending us viewers mixed signals about the conclusion of the story of DanHwa. But what exactly should we take from this intention?

Now, let’s talk about Young Hwa. Our precious little crybaby goof ball. We’ve seen lots of movies (or Young Hwa (영화), geddit??) with happy endings. Some gave us sad endings, but those sad endings were not unrealistic.

Throughout the drama, we could see the growth of both Dan Ah and Young Hwa since they first met each other.

In the beginning, Young Hwa told Dan Ah that he was too busy with what was in front of him (life of a college student coming from a small town in the rural area) that he never got to have a dream. When he finally had one, i.e., to not break up with Dan Ah, he gave her the assurance that he would make that dream comes true. He even tried delaying their breakup as soon as he realised that she would be breaking up with him. Not breaking up with Dan Ah was Young Hwa’s first dream ever, but he eventually learnt how hard it was to chase his dream.

But going back to the episode description, why did Netflix say that both Young Hwa and Dan Ah achieved their own goals? I’ve argued earlier in this post how Dan Ah’s appointment as the youngest Vice President of Seomyung Group could fit in this narrative. Young Hwa’s goal to keep watching Dan Ah from a distance neither too far nor too close could arguably fit in this narrative too.

I know, I know, the irony of me spending so much time thinking and talking about the ending is clear to me. But to me, the whole story of DanHwa was cleverly concluded. If we go back to episode 7, Dan Ah expressed her regret that she let go of her dream to play professional soccer (I much prefer the word ‘football’ but Koreans use the word ‘soccer’ so I’m sticking to it for consistency purpose) so easily and that she was still looking forward to having chances to kick the ball every now and then.

Later on, Dan Ah disclosed to Young Hwa how desperate she was to make time for her to go running to him despite time being of utmost importance to her, and how she desperately wanted to grab onto the little time she managed to make to be with him.

We also saw how despite being so desperate, she had initially tried to resist her urges to just run to him. Because to her, she could not afford to be distracted from running towards her dream. But she eventually ran towards him and gave in to her feeling nonetheless, albeit timing herself so she wouldn’t forget about her dream altogether.

I personally believe that their relationship would keep on going the same way it had been going - them chasing after their own individual goals, them cooperating with each other to make sure their individual goals would be achieved, Young Hwa keeping Dan Ah deep inside his heart with more subtlety just like how his painting evolved from a big drawing of Dan Ah to the silhouette of Dan Ah hiding in his painting which was displayed in Seomyung Art Gallery, while Dan Ah grabbing onto what little opportunity she would have to spend her time with Young Hwa, even if it was only for a short, sweet moment.

They might live the rest of their lives together, or they might not. But what Run On managed to tell me is we should not be too obsessed with our endings which may or may not be far away from us. Instead, we should focus on what’s right in front of us.

Instead of obsessing over our dreams and happy endings which may demotivate us if we keep stumbling onto boulders while chasing our dreams and happy endings, we should focus on shorter-term goals. Because who knows what great opportunities and sweet moments are standing right in front of us, waiting to be grabbed, if only we allow ourselves to cherish them and in return, being cherished ourselves.

And that to me, is the biggest takeaway from the story of DanHwa.

[houchlife]

10 Steps to Attract the Life You Want

By Heather Mathews Author of Manifestation Miracle

“What you seek is seeking you” - Rumi

     If I told you that you could create the exact type of circumstances you want, would you call me crazy?

What if your very thoughts could create ripples of change that not only impact your life…but those around you as well?

Philip, a call center worker from the Philippines certainly didn't think so. He dreamed of moving overseas so he could secure a better life and provide for his family.

But at every turn, his own mind shut down every opportunity he thought of.

For instance, Philip considered seeing an immigration consultant, but he either “didn't have the time” or “couldn't afford it”.

So, he resented his situation and cursed himself (and the world) for his “bad luck”.

He didn't realize that the real culprit was his mindset - not his circumstances.

And it seemed like the more he ruminated, the more bad things happened.

Thus, he kept feeding the cycle of being stuck in a rut and feeling bad, trapping him even more.

That was, until his aunt Sara introduced him to the Law of Attraction.

Turning the tide

Before she moved to California, Sara had been close with Philip and treated him like a son.

She had her own share of struggles finding greener pastures abroad, but she applied the principles from the Law of Attraction to overcome them.

So she sent a few books on the topic to Philip through Amazon so he could gain the clarity to turn his life around.

Discover the Lazy Person's Secret To Get Everything You've Ever Wished For

----- CLICK HERE ------

    At first, Philip didn't really think much of it, but he decided to read through the books since his aunt went through the trouble of sending it over.

After he started applying the lessons he learned from the material, things started to change for him.

It came as a complete shock to Philip - he never thought in a million years that making a simple shift in his thinking could have such a direct and POWERFUL impact in his life.

And soon enough, the fog of negativity and despair around Philip lifted and he found a way to make his dreams happen.

Through his persistence, he was eventually able to borrow the money he needed for the consultation fees, and learned the step-by-step process to get work overseas.

Philip was finally able to find a fulfilling and rewarding career in Australia. Not only does he get to support his family back home, he also made friends and enjoys his new life abroad.

Just a few months ago, Philip's parents started their own business, thanks to his help.

    At the rate they're going, his family could save enough so they can pass on their business to another relative and follow Philip to Australia. ould wait for Philip to take the offer so they can move there instead.

Whatever option Philip chooses, the possibilities for him are almost limitless.

But he's just one of thousands who made the Law of Attraction to work for him. Like Philip, a lot of people are initially discouraged to try because they think it takes a lot of work.   

But the reality is that it's surprisingly easy to get started. You just need to follow these 10 Super Simple Steps to Attract Everything You've Ever Wanted:

MORE ABOUT  Motivational / Transformational

Step #1: A little gratitude goes a long way

    The first thing you should learn about the Law of Attraction is that it operates on energy.

YOUR energy, to be exact.

Everyone has a different kind of energy they bring into the world, and it affects them in ways they often don't see or appreciate.

The secret lies in the FREQUENCY of a person's energy - and you need to raise yours in order to change your life.

Think of your unique energy as a sort of gas that fills the space of your reality. Whatever “gas” or “energy” you pump out into your immediate space will define your existence.

Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, said this in his book, “Man's Search for Meaning”:

“To draw an analogy: a man's suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative.”

So if you want to invite great things into your life, you need to set the stage first. And you can do that by leading with the right energy.

That's why being grateful and appreciating what you have is powerful way to recalibrate your frequency.

Most folks hold off on feeling this way for AFTER they get what they want. But that's putting the cart before the horse, as the saying goes.

When you LEAD with gratitude, it will act as the precedent for everything good that follows.

    Discover the Lazy Person's Secret To Get Everything You've Ever Wished For

----- CLICK HERE -----

  What I like to do is start of my day by making a list of things that I'm grateful for. If I miss anything, I save it for later and update my list at the end of my day.

And when I go over my list during the weekend, I'll see exactly how much good stuff I've accumulated.

This creates a kind of snowball effect and helps me attract even MORE good stuff down the road.

MORE ABOUT  Motivational / Transformational

Step #2: Be generous

    This can be a challenge for some people if they feel like there isn't enough to go around.

But if you take the initiative to SHARE whatever you can without asking anything in return…

… you'll generate the kind of energy that attracts prosperity for everyone…

…including YOU.

Again, this is the Law of Attraction at work.

Try offering your time, talents and material wealth to those who need it - you'll soon invite blessings without even trying.

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Step #3: Visualize your future

    What I find amazing about kids is how powerful their imaginations are.

When they role-play with other children, you can see in their eyes how REAL their games are to them.

This is something that's lost on grown-ups, and it's important to recapture that ability to envision the kind of reality you want.

The Universe likes to play games with us- the better you are at visualizing, the more you'll be rewarded.

Like I said, a certain type of energy attracts a certain kind of reality.

So if you focus your energy and thoughts on that dream job you want or the car you've always wanted to drive, you'll raise your frequency to ATTRACT those exact things.

MORE ABOUT  Motivational / Transformational

Step #4: Let the negativity pass

   When the bad times roll in and you feel like dirt, sometimes it's better to step aside and let it run its course.

Having negative thoughts and emotions are totally normal, but you don't always have to wrestle with them.

You can simply acknowledge what's going on in your inner world - then CHOOSE to keep moving forward anyway.

Let this negative energy pass through your system like bad case of gas. The sooner you let it do its thing, the quicker you can get back to what you were doing.

(Sorry for the fart analogy, but it get the point across, doesn't it?)

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Step #5: Never stop growing 

 It's good to have a daily routine in your life, but not at the expense of your personal development.

Most people are so set in their ways that they're afraid of the thought of doing something new.

Then they complain about their humdrum lives, or that some folks “have all the luck.”

Breaking out of your comfort zone is never an easy thing, but it's a step worth taking.

No matter how loaded your schedule is, find some chunks of time to do things that will help you grow.

Whether it's taking an online course, joining a community, or taking up a hobby, this is a powerful way to attract new and exciting things in your life.

MORE ABOUT  Motivational / Transformational

Step #6: Avoid the “toxic” crowd   

There are people who seem hell-bent on pulling others into their world of misery.

Whether they're trying to lessen their own pain or simply enjoy doing it, you need to steer clear of them.

Instead, choose people who will have the opposite effect on your psyche. Not only does a person's energy attract circumstances, it's also CONTAGIOUS.

So make sure you hang out with the people who'll inspire you to achieve greater things - and not bring you down with apathy or inaction.

Learn How to Force the Universe to Manifest Your Dream Life -

CLICK HERE 

MORE ABOUT  Motivational / Transformational

Step #7: Give yourself permission to succeed

   Most of the world's most brilliant people were put down in some way.

Somewhere along the way, someone told them they'd “never make it” or were “destined to fail.”

In your own life, certain people have tried to discourage you in some way.

They might have tried putting you down when you were growing up - or it could have been last week.

It doesn't matter.

What's important is that you understand that NO ONE can put labels on you.

And more importantly, they can NEVER give you permission to achieve what you want in life. You need to do that for yourself.

Don't let their words define your “story”. You don't have to fit whatever petty narrative they're trying to force on you.

MORE ABOUT  Motivational / Transformational

Step #8: Affirm who you are

   Instead of feeding into the lies that people tell you, let this be the day to start living your truth.

Create statements that embody the truth you choose to be, AND to live in.

People do this all the time.

When Elon Musk tried to launch the world's first privately owned rocket and failed, he told himself, “I'm going to try again, and I WILL get that thing into orbit.” (Well, maybe not exactly like that, but you get the point.)

And so his company SpaceX went back to the drawing board and got it right after the third attempt.

Elon affirmed his truth and it manifested into reality. In the same way, you can choose to affirm whatever truth applies to you.

Be honest with yourself and acknowledge the things that TRULY matter to you.

You know it, and the Universe knows it.

The key is to repeat it yourself every day. For example, if you know deep in your heart that you want to make a better life for yourself, you can say something like this:

      “I may be struggling right now, but I know deep inside that I have what it takes to improve my life. I see myself transforming into a happier, wealthier person who makes other people's lives brighter.”

When you operate from even the tiniest shred of truth, you can grow that into a powerful force over time.

MORE ABOUT  Motivational / Transformational

Step #9: Fail spectacularly 

 Here's something most people don't know about the Law of Attraction: before you can enjoy success and find true happiness, you need to crash and burn.

It's better to go after what you want and risking failure rather than playing it safe and not trying at all.

To create order in your life, you'll have to embrace the chaos that comes before it.

This is where you'll find the real lessons, even if they hurt a little.

(Or in some cases, a LOT).

Think of yourself as the beautiful Phoenix, like in the legends.

Imagine burning off bits and pieces of yourself that you don't need. As you rise from the ashes, you're reborn into a NEW YOU.

That's evolution. It may be an imperfect and unpleasant process, but the results are worth it.

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Step #10: Remove your BIGGEST barrier to success

   People don't realize that their greatest roadblock is none other than their own mindset.

They may say they want something to happen, but don't REALLY mean it.

For instance, someone might want to lose weight, but they don't want it bad enough.

Worse, they might not actually believe they can shed those pounds. A part of them refuses to acknowledge the faintest possibility of it happening.

This is pretty much why people NEVER attract the things they want in life.

In order to remove this barrier, you'll need to change something inside you.

You need to dig deep and understand WHY you don't want it as much as you say you do.

Are you scared of suffering through the process of getting what you want?

This is what turns most people off - they simply can't process the discomfort involved with growing up.

At the same time, you need to deal with the reasons why you think that your desired reality is impossible.

It could be some deep-seated beliefs brought about by past events, or experiences growing up.   

Once you sort this out, you'll be free to do what you want without any pre-programmed beliefs holding you back.

Now, these ten steps we just talked about will get your foot in the door. Once you start doing them regularly, you'll experience remarkable breakthroughs you didn't think were possible.

But if you want to witness even MORE changes on a massive (or even cosmic) scale, you need to check out my FULL course called Manifestation Miracle.

Like the name suggests, I enjoyed nothing short of a life-changing revolution not too long ago.

In a lot of ways, my situation was the same as Philip's. I worked myself to the bone and felt unfulfilled.

I was trapped in my soul-crushing career. Even though I needed the money, I HATED having to put up a hollow appearance of a happy, successful businesswoman.

But then I discovered how turn my mind into a magnet for prosperity and abundance…

Learn how I unlocked the secret to ATTRACTING anything AND everything I wanted - CLICK HERE to watch the video now… 

MORE ABOUT  Motivational / Transformational

[skullsandwineglasses]

You Are My Hero (2021) Review

Overall impression: The drama started off really cute and promising in the first half, but was weak and underwhelming in the second half. In-depth review below (with spoilers).

A cute and fluffy romance premise

Right off the bat, the love story between the leads is tropey as hell, but manages to not be tacky and is actually really endearing. The ML, a SWAT officer, rescues the FL, an aspiring neurosurgery medical resident, from a bank robbery 2 years ago. They leave a lasting impression on each other, but don't keep in touch afterwards. The FL never sees his face because he's wearing a mask, but the ML remembers her name. 

Fate brings them together again 2 years later when the FL enrolls in an emergency rescue training camp that’s supervised by the ML. He recognizes her and falls for her immediately, but she doesn’t know he’s the one who rescued her years ago. 

Their relationship starts off rocky, similar to how a CEO romance would start: the ML first appears cold and distanced, strict and brooding, but actually has a huge soft spot for the FL. The FL is put off by his coldness, but is sometimes surprised as random moments of tenderness. When the training camp is complete, the ML becomes a cute and awkward lovesick puppy who tries to figure out how to woo the FL because this is his first time (and hers) falling in love. It’s fun seeing him become so flustered around her when he’s usually so calm, collected, and in control as the leader of a SWAT team. 

On other hand, the FL slow falls for the ML when he reveals a more real and vulnerable side of himself. They banter a lot, but she slowly warms up to him. 

And as a no-nonsense drama, the two leads acknowledge their feelings for each other quickly (although they haven't directly admitted it to each other yet). They're in the awkward phase of attraction and going on semi-dates, but they haven't defined the relationship yet. *Sigh* First love. 

Things I enjoyed

I appreciate that although the FL is a Mary Sue, she does make mistakes. She's smart, but she isn't the top of her class. She’s kind and selfless, but she also isn’t overly tolerant of people. When people overstep their boundaries and are unjust to her, she’ll confront them. Ma Sichun is such a natural actress. She can do cute and flirty, she can be clueless and lost, she can be confident and in control, she can be angry and indignant. I especially loved her character’s adorable interactions with her best friend Xiao Xia. 

The acting in this drama was all around great. It’s probably the best part of the drama. It was so comfortable and fun to watch. I think AvenueX described it best: the acting in the drama was so natural that sometimes it felt like the actors broke character but the director kept the take. Some of the laughing, giggling, and gestures felt so genuine that you wonder if it was improvised, scripted, or a blooper scene that became canon.

I like how the FL and ML are each experts in their respective fields. They have very separate careers that occasionally intersect. I'm tired of CEO dramas where the FL is working for the ML, or there are class differences between them. Instead in this drama, the FL faces problems everyday at work that the ML doesn't know about. Her problems do not relate to him at all. She has problems that he can't understand or help with. Likewise, he also goes on missions that she isn't aware of. They work in completely different fields with different skill sets. They even talk about how their philosophies differ. Her job is to save lives but not make moral judgments of character, while his job is to enforce the law, which is all about assessing character. Where their careers do intersect, is the goal of saving others and putting others first before themselves. 

Another dynamic of the relationship that I really like is that the FL and ML are always occupied and on the move because of their professions, and yet, their loyalty and devotion to each other never change. They are each other's rock. Despite encountering so many different situations and people, despite all of the chaos and noise from their careers, nothing can really outweigh how important they are to each other. Despite being out in the field, far away from home, their hearts are anchored to each other. I just like this trope a lot, i.e., the trope of being away from home, but remaining true and loyal and unwavering. Despite having bigger and more important things in the world to deal with, their ultimate dream is wanting to just spend some time together. It's analogous to how in ancient period dramas, there are generals who command armies and and maintain a strictly professional demeanor and don't mention a word about their family to their soldiers, but when the general retires to his tent at night, he's writing a long and thoughtful letter home, because his loved one was on his mind all day. 

The supporting characters are great, but I do like the older and mature supporting couple (Xing Ke Yao and Shao Yu Han) more than the younger supporting couple (Xiao Xia and Shu When Bo), despite the actors playing the younger couple being literally my age. I also appreciate how the FL has multiple close friends who are quite separate from each other, instead of just the single token sidekick best friend (although the second half of the drama does just focus on one of her main friends). It's relatable because we all have different groups of friends. We have friends from high school, we have friends from college, and we have friends from work. Most of these friends are kept separate, and sometimes they interact. But I like how this drama shows that the FL has a small network of friends from different walks of life. 

Things I didn’t enjoy as much

The plot derailed and lost its charm after episode 30. There were fewer hospital cases, and the ML had to complete a mission that I had no interest in following. There was no other point to the superfluous mission besides to show that the ML has a busy and demanding job that prevents him from being at the FL’s side when she needs him the most. 

I also really, really disliked the introduction of the random love rival in episode 31 just to try to stir some angst. The plot device was pointless because in the end, there was no angst because the leads have a strong and healthy relationship, and so the love rival’s attempt at sabotaging the relationship was just laughable and completely random. It just disrupted the mood and pacing of the drama because that plotline just came out of the blue. It was just so annoying seeing the love rival and her sister cause trouble and wreak havoc in the FL’s workplace. 

The drama did a good job at showing how the leads put their careers first, which caused strain and tension in their relationship that they tend to ignore. But, the drama never explores this further, even though it’s a very real problem that many career-driven and ambitious couples face. The drama presents a very idealized vision of a relationship between a police officer and a doctor. Like when the FL leaves for a special research and training program in the States, the drama shows that the leads breezed through the two-year long distance relationship in a quick montage. They had no issue in communication. Yes, they miss each other, but they’re blissful. But what kind of long distance relationship has no bumps in it? The drama also implies that they never saw each other in person during two years (in the final episode, Xing Ke Lei squeezed her arms and said that since they haven’t seen each other in 2 years, he had to check if she was missing anything), which is highly unrealistic. Was she never able to go back home for the holidays? Did Xing Ke Lei, whose parents live and work overseas, never bother to visit his girlfriend? Overall, it seemed a little off to me that despite the budding tension and issues they’ve been having between them, they were able to overcome a long distance relationship so easily. You could argue that they’re used to long separations because of their work, and the drama has shown that they’re used to communicating over video calls, but I was just a little disappointed that they rushed this final plotline when so much more could have been done with it. 

Speaking of parents, we never actually got to see their parents. I understand that the parents are not relevant to the focus of the story, but the parents are rarely even mentioned, which further makes the romance in the story seem too idealistic. Whether it’s a near-death situation, getting engaged, or studying abroad for 2 years, the FL never mentions talking to her parents about these decisions and life changes. The drama handwaves the parents’ absence and lack of influence by having the FL mention early in the drama that her parents are busy with their business back home, so they don’t have time to worry about her. She also no longer bothers to update them about her work because she’s afraid they’ll be worried about her. And then from there, we never hear the FL mention her parents again. It’s just so weird to see that the most important person in her life is the ML and she only ever talks about major life choices with her friends. I mean, if the plot had said that she didn’t have a family, it wouldn’t have mattered. But the fact that she does mention her parents, but they’re completely absent and non-existent just felt a little off, like something was missing. But in the grand scheme of things, this is not really an issue. I’m just nit-picking. 

Lastly, I just want to comment on Bai Jingting as Xing Ke Lei. I admit that he sells the part well. At first I was skeptical about Bai Jingting as a SWAT officer because of how skinny and baby-faced he is, but he actually pulls it off surprisingly well and has some unexpectedly good chemistry with Ma Sichun too. Although during moments when he isn't talking and we're just left with his resting face, I'm suddenly hit by how young he looks, but then he speaks or is back in uniform and again, the gestalt shift goes back to Xing Ke Lei, the handsome SWAT officer. They made a point of showing how muscled his arms are, which was a little jarring to see in comparison to his youthful face, not gonna lie. So, while I liked him as Xing Ke Lei, it was a little distracting switching back and forth between seeing him as a really young, adolescent-looking actor, and him as the broad-chested character. 

Should you watch?

All in all, a really cute and easy-to-watch drama with some thoughtful and sentimental moments. Very fluffy. Minimal to no misunderstandings. Charming characters. There are the storylines of three couples with medical/police subplots interweaved between the romance. On bilibili, some people even edited clips of the drama with theme songs from TVB medical and police dramas like The Hippocractic Crush and Tiger Cubs. So, as someone who grew up with TVB dramas, it was nostalgic to see those thematic parallels. 

But, the drama does lose steam in the last 10 or so episodes, and has a lot of filler to stretch it out to 40 episodes. That’s the issue I have with modern dramas. The plot in modern dramas is usually quite basic, and I would argue that the modern romance is easier and less angsty. You either love each other or you don’t. You either are willing to commit or you’re not. There aren’t many external excuses for angst or misunderstandings. (Of course, I’m trivializing things; real life isn’t as easy). 

Still, I would recommend this drama for anyone who’s between dramas. I watched this drama to help me get over the rut I was in because I was going through withdrawal after finishing The Rebel Princess, so I needed a light-hearted drama whose genre was completely different from TRP. And this drama was perfect for breaking that rut. 

Rating: 8/10. Simple, fluffy, and not too much to complain about. I also forgot to talk about the great humour in the drama, but there were many moments when I laughed out loud or couldn’t stop grinning. This is also a drama you can take your time with because there aren’t constant cliff hangers to peg you on. It doesn’t consume your life, and you can pause (although, the first 18 or so episodes are definitely binge-worthy because the development of the leads’ relationship is just too cute, and so they suck you right in). However, while it is one of the better modern romance dramas I’ve watched (and the characters are very consistent), it’s not a very memorable drama. It doesn’t make me linger. I guess it’s because I’m more of a historical and xianxia drama kind of person. So take from that what you will.