#spot my special interest 101 this got way too long

[doberbutts]

Post in question:

A: post doesn't mention pedophiles or zoophiles at all, but does mention furries and kinksters. Are we really equating furries to zoophiles and kinksters to pedophiles in the year of 2023?

B: even bad humans deserve human rights because otherwise it's really easy to falsely claim someone is a bad human to take away their rights. That is fascism 101.

C: not that it matters but my blog name hilariously has nothing to do with doberman butts and everything to do with a nickname convention a friend of mine had in the years before I started in the breed. They called me Jazbutt because my username at the time was Jazi. I told them I was getting a doberman and wanted to make a blog but couldn't think of a good URL. They said they would call my doberman a doberbutt. I thought it was funny and decided to use it as a blog name. I know that the people engaging in this behavior don't know The Deep Lore of this blog but like. It's actually not that hard to find this explination as it's one I've had asked of me for years.

D: this is a dog blog. It's all dog aesthetics because it's about dogs. Specifically mostly about my dogs. Specifically mostly about my doberman Creed who died in 2021 and it was too painful for me to continue trying to exclusively be a dog blog while I grieved him so I started just posting about whatever was on my mind. Then I got a doberman again in 2022 and another a few months ago and started posting more just about my dogs unless I spot something interesting on my dash or in my tracked tags. There's nothing nefarious here because I'm all about my dogs because competition dog sports are a long-held special interest of mine and I used to be a professional dog trainer. Dogs were my job until early 2022. I got paid to think about nothing except dogs for close to a decade. I decided to blog about it and stopped when my reason for blogging about dogs died and I switched professions.

E: this type of ask being spread around is exactly why I'm quiet about what I do like sexually because I don't think it belongs on a dog blog but also because too many people are interested in completely ruining lives off of one bad faith take. No thank you. It was bad when the straights were doing it to us and it's still bad now when it's happening as an intra-community conflict. The only people who get to know what I like are people I fuck. If I'm talking about it on a public blog, safe to say it's not a sexual interest of mine. You can continue to make assumptions if you'd like but you're way off base.

[butterfly-winx]

What kinda accents do the realms have? You can say in comparison to real one or just describe, it works either way

Butterfly canon is built on the assumption that there is some sort of universe wide spell easing communication. Another winxer coined the term Universal Translation Spell which I also like to use with my own imposed limitations.

The butterfly UTS is meant to enable communication and works best on spoken language. It gives the listener the ability to understand what is being said to them regardless of what language the words have been said in. The listener will still hear the foreign language, but receive an instant seamless translation in their brain as if they were able to speak the language in question. Over time people learn to tune out the words they hear as it can be headache inducing after prolonged exposure.

What the UTS doesn’t enable is the acquisition of the ability to process written language. People won’t be able to write in any language unless they do study it. Reading ability is also limited: people are only able to understand texts if they have an idea what it says. Once a translation is given, they will be able to parse the text better and are able to build “vocabulary” and understanding in a language using the UTS. This is ofc still not equal to having learned a language, because the UTS slides over cultural references, or linguistically important structures and just delivers an unembellished basic translation. To be able to express oneself in a nuanced way, one still has to study languages.

So there is no “common language” everyone learns to speak. If people choose to learn a foreign language, they do it for practical reasons like communicating with frequent foreign language speaking partners or because their native language is a dialect and they need to know the official language of their realm for legal applications. Alfea mandates all students study Magics Standard, to help students integrate and learn about the local culture. Knowing Magics Standard also enables them to use Alfea’s and Magics City’s extensive library without having to rely on audio recorded material only.

Given this, I can describe the phoneme case of each of the girls’ native languages, which would influence their accent in any language they chose to learn.

Stella:

Native language: Solkaros

Sounds: Solkaros has only 4 vowels, which only exist in a few combinations; consonants are either very hard or are complex sounds like tl, hu(wa) and ng; Solkaros combines flection/conjugation with nouns and verbs and the word length is long (old Solarian doesn’t); words have no innate inflection and are spoken flat/with equal weight on each syllable

Writing system: letter by letter

Speaks: Old/Ceremonial Solarian, Magics Common, very little Esperanto

Resulting accents: Stella tends to overpronounce or catch on consonants like t, ch and pronounces her dʒ-s like a hard g instead

Musa:

Native language: Gou dialect Melodean

Sounds: Melodean is an inflection heavy language, in which intonation of words matters and is used to differentiate meaning; Melodean has over 18 distinct vowel sounds, Gou uses about 15 of them and sounds a little flatter in comparison; consonants are almost completely unvoiced ones (f, r/l, n, t, ch, q) and lack voiced ones like (z, g); word length is very short

Writing system: pictogram based

Speaks: Simplified Melodean (official language) Magics Common

Resulting accents: Musa sounds very soft and has trouble with harsh ch, or rolled r sounds, she sometimes runs out of breath on longer words (6+ syllables)

Flora:

Native language: Bisayang 

Sounds: Bisayang is heavy on consonant grouping, using a lot of combinations as it has a low total sound repertoire of 20 distinct letters/sounds; if doesn’t use f, voiced h sounds, but has three different n/ng/nmg sounds; word length is variable with shorter verbs spoken upfront and long noun constructs

Writing system: syllabic

Speaks: Tulang Linpi (official language), Magics Common

Resulting accent: Flora sounds nasal in her n, m, b and g sounds and tends to replace consonants she doesn’t really know with familiar ones before getting confident (eg f->p, cs/tsh -> sh)

Tecna:

Native language: Jordan

Sounds: Very heavy on r and hard ch sounds; has a characteristic inflection where the last vowel of nouns is stressed creating a lilting speech; 

Writing system: combination of syllabic with pictograms

Speaks: Trible (language of Tribilisi), Magics Common, very little Esperanto

Resulting accent: Tecna unconsciously recreates the Jordan lilt in their speech, pronounces g, ch and tsh sounds hard and rolls their r, strangely no trouble with ny/ty sounds

Bloom:

Native language: Esperanto (south)

Sounds: t, k, soft ch, dʒ , and sh consonants are very common, has a rolled r; uses 7 vowel sounds, e the most frequent of them; south dialect is heavy on inflection and stresses s and sh sounds longer, making syllables follow a fast-long-fast rhythm when speaking; south dialect adds vowels to the ends of words and doesn’t leave final consonants unsounded

Writing: letter by letter

Speaks: Frederican, Magics Standard, Dominian, 

Resulting accent: Bloom speaks often with Esperanto rhythm and unintentionally stresses consonants at the end of words, has trouble with y/ly/ty sounds

Layla:

Native language: A’gu

Sounds: uses mostly sounded consonants like m, ʒ, g; y, f and r are also frequently used; very soft sound relying on swallowed consonant sounds and heavy complex vowels; oi, uo and a are frequent sounds; words are frequently equal in length so words of importnace are stressed; mostly spoken with a wide, slightly open mouth

Speaks: Igbou, Magics Standard, Pachit (Nabu’s language)

Resulting accent: Pronounces her a’s and e’s flat and doesn’t open her mouth too much for very clear sounds, makes every sound a complex sound through that

Roxy:

Native language: Esperanto (blend of west and south)

Sounds: Same as with Bloom; the west dialect doesn’t stress final consonants and has a different rhythm: most words are stressed on the first syllable; Stronger w, and harder ch sounds

Speaks: Frederican, very little Magics Standard

Resulting accent: Has no trouble with throathy ch sounds, but lisped s, and ly/ty sounds are difficult, front-heavy intonation on words

Daphne:

Native language: Dominian 

Sounds: Bright and open mouthed vowel sounds, 9 distinct ones spoken in isolation, complex consonants like ar, ny, ty (rare), gn; final syllables are often swallowed; inflection is not word specific, but changes within a sentence going from high tone sections to low tone sections marking different sentence components

Writing: letter by letter with few exceptions in “cursive”

Speaks: Old Dominian Runespeak, Magics Standard, Simplified Melodean

Resulting accent: Has trouble with complex vowel sounds and usually speaks with either or sound, speaks longer sections with on breath than strictly necessary in Melodean

[miss-smutty]

The Destructive Secret

Chapter 4

Summary- You've got a secret to hide and it's going to cause complete and utter devastation. It's only so long until your lies are going to catch up to you.

Pairing- Chris Hems x Reader x Liam Hems

Word count- 2,211

Warnings- Smut, swearing, angst, cheating

18+ Only!!

Disclaimer: This is an entire work of fiction/AU and has no affiliation to real life what so ever! This is a fictional story about fictional characters who happen to share names and faces with some real people.

Posted: 29th June 2021

Taglist:- @innerpaperexpertcloud @pandaxnienke @chickensarentcheap @mostly-marvel-musings @longlostinanotherworld

>The Destructive Secret Masterlist<

"No not married but you do know her. You know her really well actually." Chris says while avoiding your gaze purposefully...

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife, silence so acute you could hear a pin drop. Liam waiting for an answer, Chris looking at his feet and you looking visibly anxious. Chris had drank way too much and now he was about to let all of your secrets loose. This isn't the way you want Liam to find out, surely Chris wouldn't be so cruel.

"I suppose you're not gonna tell me who it is?" 

"Not just yet, see how we go." He looked at you, if he so much as even looked slightly smug you would have slapped him right across his face. Instead you could see the hurt in his eyes, tears welling in the corners. You're both faced with an impossible dilemma, Chris wants you all to himself but doesn't want to lose his brother in the process and you want it all over and done with but don't want to hurt Liam. The latter of both is inevitable but you would take all the blame just so Chris didn't have to lose his brother, given the choice you would lose them both just so that didn't happen.

"Well on that note, I need to go to bed. I've gotta be up early in the morning." You avoid Chris' gaze, you're angry with him but you don't want to cause him more pain. 

"Yeah me too. I better get going. Thank you for dinner Y/N, it was lovely."

You risk a short glance at him, you're eyes softening when they meet. The moment broken when Liam speaks, reminding you where you are and who you're with right at this moment in time.

"Are you for real? You're really going to drop a bombshell like that and then leave? Fuck man." Liam runs his hand through his hair, letting air out of his cheeks exasperatedly.

"Sorry bro, I'll save the excitement for another night. I've said too much already." Chris apologises with his eyes as he passes you, his hands twitching by his side's with the need to touch you.

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

The next morning when you wake, your heart sinks knowing all the turmoil you're going to have to go through just to make it to the hotel without being spotted. All the messing about and hiding you have to do, checking in under a false name at different times. Making sure nobody follows you to the hotel and especially no one follows Chris. Getting caught checking into the same hotel would be dreadful, it wouldn't take a genius for the press to put two and two together, they wouldn't even care if it was true or not as long as they sold copies.

"Right babe, I'm ready to go." You pull your suitcase towards the door, stopping to wrap your arms around Liam.

"Have a good time, I'll see you soon." Wrapping his arms tightly around your waist and lifting your feet from the ground in a squeezy hug. "I'll miss you." 

"I'll miss you too, bye babe." 

"Bye. Love you. Let me know when you get checked in." He kisses you goodbye before watching you leave.

"Will do, Love you." You say over your shoulder, climbing into your silver, Audi convertible.

This is the part you hate the most, the part that made you question whether it was all worth it. It was, of course or you wouldn't be doing it, you wouldn't put yourself through having to pretend to be somebody else and praying your not caught by anyone. It only takes one person to notice you and Chris in the same hotel and it's over. You imagine having an affair is hard work whatever your circumstances but when your boyfriend and your lover are as famous as they are it becomes impossible. It's terrifying. 

You spent the car journey constantly checking your mirrors and making sure you weren't being followed. A huge sunhat and even bigger sunglasses covering your face as your heart beated faster than you thought was possible. A couple of laps around the hotel, making doubly sure you weren't being followed before you finally pulled into the carpark.

You had to constantly think, you couldn't let your guard drop for even a moment and it was exhausting. You were ready for it to be over and done with now, this just isn't fun anymore. Maybe you could run away together and start a new life somewhere else. Which one would you pick though? Who are you ready to give up? Would there even be an option to choose? Would Liam even be willing to forgive you if he knew you were sleeping with his brother? In love with his brother.

Your heart beating out of your chest, your fight or flight well and truly kicking in now as you walk up to the front desk. If there's any recognition in the receptionists eyes you're ready to turn right around and leave. The girl behind the desk, with long blonde hair has her eyes on the computer In front of her, thankfully not paying you much attention as you stand and wait for her to finish.

"Hi I'd like to book a room for two nights please." You stutter nervously, subconsciously checking over your shoulder while you spoke.

"Of course, is it just for yourself?" 

"Yes please, I'm just here for a work conference. I'd like a double bed if possible though, I haven't been able to sleep in a single since I was young." You giggle nervously, embarrassed that you'd told her information she isn't even slightly interested in.

"No problem, I'll see what I have for you." Her eyes barely left her computer as she spoke, she definitely didn't recognise you. The tension in your muscles relaxed a little as your eyes scanned the lobby.

"What name is it please?" She asked, one of the moments you'd been dreading. You hate lying but luckily you'd already come up with the fake name you were using, one you'd already used many times before in the exact same situation. It never gets any easier.

"Jessica Crawley." The names tumbled from your lips, names that had absolutely no meaning to you. 

"Room 101, floor 5. Is there anything else I can help you with?" 

"No thank you, that's great." The overwhelming feeling of relief at completing step one without any problems, rushes over you. Adrenaline spiking, making your legs feel like jelly.

"You're welcome, enjoy your stay. Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions." The girl says, smiling sweetly at you before going back to her work.

The elevator seemed to take forever to make its way down to you, your feet shuffling as you watched the numbers above the door, counting down. The overwhelming need to get to privacy and away from the many prying eyes of the people in the lobby was severe. Most were business men and women, that were so consumed in themselves they weren't paying special attention to anyone around them. There were also young couples, making their way through the lobby, probably on their way for lunch but the people that worried you the most were the random loners sat in the armchairs scattered around the lobby. They'd chosen the perfect place to watch, some pretending to read newspapers while their eyes discreetly scanned over the top.

They were much more inquisitive, much like yourself they paid more attention to the people around them. People watchers you liked to call them, these are the sorts of people that make you nervous. They see everything, noticing any minor details, you'd spent a lifetime perfecting 'people watching' which is how you knew to be wary. You could pretty much judge a person's personality just by watching them for a couple of minutes. If anyone was to spot you it would be one of these people. You felt thankful you weren't Chris, there is absolutely no way he was going to make it to the elevator without being seen at least once.

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

Chris didn't feel quite as nervous as you, this was a every day occurance in his life, avoiding paparazzi was near impossible for him. As long as you weren't seen going in to the hotel then it wouldn't matter about him being seen. Still, he'd worn his baseball cap and sunglasses to at least try and hide his identity. He wasn't nervous about being seen but more about having to face you after his fuck up last night. Now that thought was way more intimidating to him.

Casually strolling into the hotel, he tried to ignore the whispers of the people around him. People questioning if it was really him, young girls barely out of high school giggling at the sight of him. Chris quietly prayed that he would make it up to the room without anyone asking for a photo, not that he usually minded but today all he wanted was to spend every possible minute with you as he could.

The receptionist tried to make a fuss when his identity was confirmed during check in. The pale skin of the same blonde girl who'd checked you in, had turned a rather bright shade of red when she heard Chris' sexy Australian accent. You wouldn't blame her, it still makes you swoon whenever you heard him speak.

"I'm fine honestly, I don't want any special treatment. Actually if I could get away with going completely unnoticed during my stay, I will speak to your boss myself and tell them how accomodating you'd been." 

"Oh wow, really? Thank you so much Mr Hemsworth. I will make sure nobody bothers you and if you need anything at all just give me a call, I'll make sure you won't have to leave your room for anything." Chris smiled, pretending not to notice how she seemed to be flirting with him, badly. Tossing her hair over shoulder as she insinuated not so subtly for him to let her know if he wanted any 'special' treatment. Again, you don't blame the girl, infact you would've commended her confidence.

She handed over the keys to the penthouse, watching bright eyed as he walked to the elevator, pulling out his phone as he stepped straight in. 

"Hi babe, I've booked the penthouse suite, meet me up there?" Smiling a tight lipped smile at the girl behind the desk, who was still watching him intently as the elevator doors closed.

"Ok, it isn't very inconspicuous staying in the penthouse is it?" You shouldn't be surprised, he does it everytime. You remember the first time you ever saw a penthouse and how amazed you were that it was actually bigger than your own home at the time. That was a memory you shared with Liam, all of your first times had been with Liam, the thought made your heart sink.

"I mean they knew who I was as soon as I walked in, I think it would look more suspicious if I didn't stay in a suite." Chris answered, pulling you from your thoughts.

"I suppose that's true, I'll be up soon." You could hear the sadness in your voice, something you had to snap out of before meeting Chris.

"Good because I can't wait to get my hands on you." 

Sinking back onto the spongey mattress of your bed, tiredness washing over you already. The mental exhaustion of constantly having to play games and be on your guard at all times, catching up to you as you're finally alone.

Maybe that's what you need afterall, a chance to be alone to gather your thoughts, to workout your own needs and wants without spreading your attention between the two brothers.

You make a mental list of the pros and cons of both of them knowing deep down if Liam were the one for you, you'd have never have looked twice at Chris. They were so similar in a lot of ways but completely different in others.

Liam was the sweetest man you knew, so gentle and caring, attentive to your every whim and being so young when you first got together he was everything you were looking for.

Now being a woman that has gone through so much trauma in her life that had tainted your soul, darkened it with a lust for more.

Then Chris came along, he was still sweet and caring but less attentive to your needs unless it was in the bedroom. He was cheeky and funny, drop dead gorgeous and oozing manliness effortlessly. He was fire and passion. He was more. 

If you let yourself admit it, you wanted excitement, which is how you ended up here in the first place. You didn't want perfect anymore, you wanted a man who could do wrong and then make up for it in the most fulfilling way he knew how. Just thinking about it made your pulse race, Chris had put you through hell last night and now it was time for payback. You imagined Chris only a couple of floors above you, worried about the way you were going to act when you saw him and lord knows how much you're going to make him sweat.                    

[senorarelojes]

Fic: If You Want (1/1)

A while back, I put up a post asking for writing prompts, so I'm slowly making my way through them. This is for the very lovely @what-could-have-been!

Summary: This prompt from @what-could-have-been: "Dave and Alan (who don't know each other yet) coincidentally happen to go to the gym at the same time. Throughout their exercise they keep eyeing each other on different machines. Then they end up in the showers also at the same time (surprise!), Dave drops his soap or something else on the floor and Alan comes to "help". Aaaand you can probably guess the rest... I was also thinking they could be in their mid-20's or so?” Rating: Mature Notes: (In my head, this is early Music for the Masses era DM)

.

Alan liked Ultra Fitness because it was ten minutes away from his workplace, plus it was also along the way home. So it gave him less of an excuse to skip his workouts. Besides, he was already starting to see the results from his frequent visits. His arms were getting nicely sculpted and garnering compliments from the women in his office, and he could see the beginnings of a six pack in the mirror if he held in his stomach enough. So he made it a habit to keep going after work, even though it was more crowded at that timing.

Before he had ever stepped foot in a gym, Alan had been a bit apprehensive about the type of clientele that frequented gyms - for example, those beefy blokes with necks thicker than their heads who looked like they ate guys like Alan for breakfast. But to his surprise, most of the people at Ultra Fitness were nice, friendly and tended to mind their own business, which was a big bonus in Alan’s book. There were also all sorts of regulars, from the afore-mentioned beefy types to those who were just starting out and looked just as nervous as Alan initially had been. But overall, most of them looked like regular people, just like Alan himself.

By now, Alan had definitely become familiar with a few other people at the gym. There was Daryl, the manager at the reception who seemed to know everyone, as well as Martin and Fletch, two friends who mostly came to use the swimming pool or join the Zumba classes. “Great way to meet women,” Fletch had told Alan once with a wink, waggling his eyebrows as Martin had laughed in agreement. Alan had only smiled; he didn’t like flirting with women (or men) at the gym, thinking that people probably didn’t want to be hit on when they were breathless or sweaty. He himself didn’t want to be disturbed: he would just come in, say hello to Daryl as he signed in, grab a locker, pop in his noise-cancelling earbuds and do his workout in peace. That was his routine, and it only ever deviated if he stopped for a chat with Martin and Fletch at the water dispenser.

However, one day he came back from his workout to find a strange tattooed bloke trying to open his locker.

“Er, can I help you?” Alan said, as the man fiddled uselessly with the lock.

He jumped in surprise when Alan spoke to him. “Oh, sorry. I can’t seem to open my locker,” the bloke said, holding up his access card. The lockers at the gym were first come, first serve, and Alan had a special liking for Locker 101, which was located in a far corner, nearer to the shower stalls. Half the time, it wasn’t taken and he was able to grab it for himself. Alan often wondered who was the other person who seemed to like it just as much as he did, and sometimes beat him to it.

Alan flashed the man an apologetic smile. “Sorry mate, think you’re mistaken. It’s mine today,” he explained, holding up his own card to the lock as it whirred for a moment, then clicked open.

“Fuck!” The tattooed bloke was laughing now, face a little red with embarrassment. “Sorry-- it’s just that I usually snag 101, I must have forgotten today.”

“So it’s you,” Alan said with a laugh, before realising the tattooed guy was looking at him with curiosity. “I mean-- never mind.”

The bloke was smiling at him now. He had a really nice smile, which made him look rather boyish even though he seemed to be around Alan’s age. “Well, wish me luck in finding my locker, then,” he said, dropping Alan a wink.

“Good luck, mate.” Alan couldn’t resist watching him walk away in his fitting gym shorts - it was quite a view - as he began taking out his belongings for a shower.

***

After that, Alan began to notice the tattooed bloke around the gym more often. Like Alan, he did a fair bit of weight-lifting, but he also joined the group classes with Martin and Fletch, the three of them chatting and laughing with many of the female regulars after class. Alan found himself watching them at times, wondering how weird it would be for him to ask Mart and Fletch for Tattooed Bloke’s name. Sometimes he would catch Tattooed Bloke watching him in the mirror too, but Alan never seemed to be able to catch him, Martin and Fletch at the right time.

Thankfully, Alan finally learned his name when he was late to the gym one day, finding Daryl already in conversation with Tattooed Bloke at the reception. “Oh hey Charlie,” Daryl said when he spotted Alan, nodding at him as he handed him a towel. “Got held up at the office?”

“Something like that,” Alan replied, glancing over at Tattooed Bloke who was regarding Alan with great interest.

“Your name is Charlie?” he asked, a grin slowly growing on his face. “Was wondering what your name was, but I didn’t peg you for a ‘Charlie’.”

You were wondering what my name was? Alan wanted to ask, but instead he said, “I’m actually Alan, but Daryl got a kick out of my middle name when he did my membership card.”

“C’mon Dave, don’t you agree with me? Doesn’t ‘Charlie’ suit him a lot better than ‘Alan’?” Daryl asked the tattooed bloke, who was just grinning as his gaze rove up and down Alan’s body.

“Dunno, mate,” Dave said, his eyes lingering on Alan’s arms. “A rose by any other name, y’know?”

Daryl rolled his eyes. “You’re useless,” he complained, throwing a towel in Dave’s face as Alan chuckled.

Taking the towel away, Dave seemed hesitant, like he had something else to say to Alan. Unfortunately, the announcement for the start of the Zumba class blared through the gym’s speakers at that moment, leaving Dave grimacing in frustration.

“I’ll see you around, Charlie,” Dave told him with a wave, before he ran off to the dance studio.

***

Now that Alan knew Dave’s name and they’d been sort of introduced, he found himself wondering what would be a non-cheesy way to strike up a conversation with Dave on the gym floor. They would run into each other quite often; if Alan was using the squat rack, Dave would appear soon after and wait for his turn, often offering to spot Alan. Alan wanted to do the same when it came to Dave’s turn, but Dave seemed to have no end of friends at the gym who volunteered to spot him as well, so Alan had no reason to hang around unless he wanted to look like a lecher, drooling over Dave lifting weights.

That didn’t stop him from watching, though. Alan was very, very good at being very, very sneaky, and he used his abilities to his advantage, watching Dave doing deadlifts in the ubiquitous mirrors around the gym, Dave’s tattoos darkened by his sweat, his muscles gleaming as he huffed and pulled on the bar, his perfectly coiffed hair tumbling over his forehead as he bent down to re-rack the weights. Men like Dave were the reason Alan decided he might not be entirely straight, and that his experimentation in uni hadn’t been just a phase.

However, he still lacked the ability to tell if other blokes were straight, gay, bi or whatever else. Alan thought Fletch and Daryl were unequivocally straight, while Martin definitely pinged his gaydar - not that Alan was interested. As for Dave, he was still a huge question mark as far as Alan was concerned. Dave seemed to watch him a lot, but Dave also flirted with the ladies in yoga class as easily as breathing. So Alan decided to mind his own business, unless Dave made a move first.

After a particularly gruelling workout one evening - Alan really hated leg days - he pushed himself to the showers, picking his favourite stall at the corner and draping his towel over the door. The warm water felt like a relief on his shoulders, which were still sore from yesterday’s workout, and he groaned a little as he rolled his shoulders under the hot shower, cracking his neck before he went about shampooing his hair.

He was just done rinsing his hair when he heard someone stepping into the cubicle beside his, shutting the door and starting their own shower. Whoever it was had a nice voice, humming something that sounded like Sigur Ros. Alan listened absently as he slicked his hair with conditioner, wondering if he should get a haircut soon. His hair was getting a little too long to style into a quiff, and he wondered if he should ignore Flood’s advice and get an undercut this time.

He was just done rinsing out the conditioner when he heard someone curse, “Fuck!” as something clattered to the floor, sliding under the partition over to Alan’s stall. It was a bottle of Axe body wash, which the bloke beside him must have dropped.

Alan picked it up, holding it under the partition that separated their stalls. “This yours, mate?” he asked, but the bloke had already stepped out of his stall and was knocking on Alan’s door.

“Sorry, could you pass me my soap?” he asked, and Alan sighed before he stood up, opening the door to hand him the bottle.

His eyes widened when he saw it was a very wet and very naked Dave, who seemed just as surprised - and pleased - when he saw it was Alan. “Oh, it’s you, Charlie.”

Alan couldn’t stop his eyes from roaming even if someone had a gun to his head. He took in the clear view of Dave’s few tattoos, his smooth chest, his tight brown nipples, the heavy cock between his legs. “Uh, this is yours,” Alan said dumbly after a billion years had passed, holding out the bottle of body wash to Dave like a moron.

Dave licked his lips, stepping forward and backing Alan right into his shower stall again. “Mmm, thanks for your help, mate.” Dave was staring openly at Alan’s mouth now, his tongue running over his lower lip. “Reckon you could help me with something else?”

Alan was breathing hard, taking in Dave’s nearness and his brazen confidence, his seeming certainty in Alan’s attraction. “Help you with what?”

Dave finally took the body wash from him, tipping some into his hands and lathering them into a foam, smiling wickedly at Alan as he did so. “Help me soap up my back, yeah? It’s so hard to reach.”

Alan was distantly aware that this felt like some kind of porn scenario, but he couldn’t care less as he grabbed the shower gel from Dave, soaping up his own hands before he leaned in and kissed Dave hungrily, his soapy hands roaming all over Dave’s back. Dave moaned softly into his mouth, his hands running all over Alan’s chest before rubbing at his nipples, making Alan gasp into their kiss.

“Fuck, wanted you for ages,” Dave breathed out before nipping at Alan’s lips again, guiding them both under the stream of water. It was all so slick and hot and steamy, frotting against some handsome stranger in the gym shower stalls where anyone could walk past and hear their moans and gasps. As hard as Alan tried to be quiet, it became impossible when Dave wrapped a soap-slick hand around his cock, pumping him in swift efficient strokes that had Alan’s knees weakening in the shower.

“C’mon, Charlie, c’mon,” Dave whispered against the shell of his ear, his own cock pressed against Alan’s hip, hard and hot and insistent. Alan wanted so badly to wrap his hand around it, put it in his mouth, but he lost all train of thought when Dave bit down on his neck, his hand speeding up on Alan’s cock as he came all over Dave’s stomach in a hushed moan.

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” Dave nuzzled against Alan’s cheek with a soft gasp, Alan reaching down for a few clumsy strokes before warm spurts of come landed on his hip, quickly washed away by the stream of water.

They were both panting now, arms loosely wrapped around each other, Dave’s back still covered with soap. Once Alan realised this, he grabbed Dave by the shoulders to angle him towards the water and get it washed off. Dave initially was filled with panic, as though afraid Alan would shove him out of his stall. But once he figured out what Alan was up to, he laughed and pressed a kiss to the side of Alan’s head. His lips felt warm, nice.

“Can I take you out to dinner?” Dave asked quietly, rubbing slow circles over Alan’s shoulder. “I swear I wanted to take you out first before doing this, but-- fuck, you looked so fuckin’ irresistable, mate. All warm and wet, y’know?”

Alan had to chuckle in agreement. “Yeah, I do know.”

Dave pulled away to look at him. His eyes - green? brown? - were serious as they regarded Alan. “So it’s a yes to dinner, then?”

Alan rolled his eyes. “If you haven’t clued in to the fact that I just got you off in the shower, then I don’t know what to say.”

“Idiot.” Dave flashed him a sunny, relieved grin as he ducked out of the shower stall. “I’ll see you outside, then.”

***

Dave was waiting for Alan at the reception counter, chatting animatedly with Martin, Fletch and Daryl. However, he straightened up immediately when he spotted Alan, ignoring all of his friends at a drop of a hat. “Hey Charlie.”

Fletch was frowning deeply in confusion. “Wait, isn’t his name Alan?”

Alan shrugged at Fletch, smiling when Dave came up to him and took his hand in his, making everyone’s eyebrows shoot up to the ceiling. “A rose by any other name, y’know?” Alan quipped, grinning at a stunned Fletch.

“Hey, that’s my line,” Dave said with a laugh, tugging Alan by the hand and out the door. “Don’t wait up, fellas.”

[katutsukushii]

2????I waana add some fics to my bookmarks if you shall find the time to answer this maam😊😊😊

2. What’s next on your ‘to-read’ list? (Fan fiction or otherwise)

I don’t really have ‘to-read’ fics or anything like that, I just have fics that are currently updating and that I’m currently reading, that’s it.

But some of my fave fics that I’m currently reading are:

Flower Bouquet - fucking obviously I’m going to put this absolute masterpiece on this list; this right here is one of the most incredible works of art that I have ever read. It’s BkDk and it is Omegaverse but please, even if you’ve never really seen the appeal in A/B/O, read this. It’s..... fucking amazing. Just beautifully written, heartbreaking, so fucking good. 10/10

ilomilo - first of all, mind the pairing (they’re both adults in the fic though and the age gap isn’t that big at all). This fic right here has me in a chokehold. It is so damn good; I love the whole concept of it but listen!! Katsuki in this??? The sweetest little thing I’ve ever seen in my whole ass life, he is so damn precious, so cute and adorable and he wears dresses!! An innocent bean. This is the fic that got me to actually like Omega Bakugou, and it’s probably one of the only fics with that specific subgender that I’ll ever fully enjoy.

You’re a Blast - again, mind the pairing, and again, the age gap is practically nonexistent lmao anyways, this right here is one of my favourite fics. They’re both so complex and so beautifully written and there’s such good development in the characters and the relationship too. I’m so sad it only has two chapters left before it’s finished, I’m going to miss it so damn much.

Social Media: 101 - to be completely honest, I need to catch up with this fic. The last chapter I read was chapter 10 and the fic itself is so upsetting to me that I cannot read it until it’s over because I know fine well if I have to wait for Katsuki to get comfort it will actually break me. I have anxiety and it would keep me up at night lmao but!!! if you’re looking for some good fucking angst this is the fic for you. It hurts so damn bad.

blackugou widow - need I say more? It’s BAMF Katsuki, obviously I’m going to fucking like it. It’s an amazing fic, one of my favourites, I adore it and I’ve reread it an embarrassing amount of times.

So the Dead rages, and the Living weeps - Bakucamie friendship. That’s it. It’s such a good fic and I really love the whole concept of it; this was actually the fic that inspired me to write one of my wip’s about human experimentation. It’s really fucking good.

Blame It On Me - I just have a weak spot for angsty fics where Katsuki suffers, his parents suck and Aizawa takes care of him. This has all of that and it also gives us the Shinbaku brothers we deserve. Good shit.

Liability - Katsuki suffers again and needs a hug, I volunteer to give said hug. Good shit.

Fuck You, Pay Me - it’s just that good ol’ classic fic with mobsters and shit, it’s good. I’m just weak for that mafia trope, tbh, and Katsuki is a bad bitch in this. And also I really love Shinbaku.

Trial by Fire - this fic is one of the worst best things that’s ever happened to me. It is insanely well written, the concept is beautiful, it’s so good but fuck, it hurts so bad. The whole fic is just one giant angst fest in which Katsuki suffers so fucking badly, it’s really painful. Due to the fact that I am an emotionless rock I never cry but this fic right here broke me several times. It’s very good at reminding you how much pain Katsuki is in. It shows trauma and how to deal with it really well, it’s beautiful. But I stopped reading at chapter 37 and am currently waiting for the fic to finish because I cannot keep reading it until Katsuki gets his happy ending lmao

Scar Tissue - just some good ol’ Bakutodo omegaverse fuckery. It’s really sweet, actually, their interactions always make me happy and I really love this fic a lot.

The Ticking Time Bomb - fucking amazing concept, I love it. I adore this whole fic, I really do, and we’re currently at the peak of pain and I’m waiting for an update heh

A Fissile Family - I love all of Sif’s fics but this one is so good already. I just love the entire idea of Katsuki being close to the League, I really do. I love the villains and I love Katsuki, it’s basically the perfect fic.

You Do Not Fuck With Fair Folk - I’m going to be completely honest, I read this one while travelling from one country to another and I was starving and sleep deprived so I don’t remember much about it but I do remember looooving it, I do know it’s good and it has all the shit that I love, I just need to reread it lmao

The Truth About Family - spoiler alert but Katsuki has AFO. Need I say more?

Elixir - Katsuki having a special ability/power that makes him superior to others? Angst and fear and suffering? I love it.

Basically an Angry Environmentalist - it has human experimentation and I’m weak for that shit, it also has badass Katsuki and Izuku who I desperately want to punch, so it’s really fucking good. I love love love this fic!

Homeward Bound - Katsuki is BAMF and he suffers while also being a bad bitch, I adore it.

Standing at Ground Zero - this fic hurts. It fucking hurts. It is actually upsetting the way Katsuki changes and how much he suffers and goes through but it’s such a good fic.

He Wasn’t - this fic deals a lot with Katsuki’s mental health and it has so much angst; it’s also quite interesting with some plot twists and stuff. Good shit, I love it.

Lines Crossed - I’m just pathetically weak for Dabi and Bakugou friendships, like... my boys!!! Katsuki suffers and Dabi is a good boy.

By Design - I don’t normally read fics from Izuku’s POV but this fic!!!! So good, check it out please, it’s amazing.

Can you tell I lost steam near the end? Lmao

I put it under the line cause it got too long, anyways these are all absolutely incredible, there’s a lot more in my ‘marked for later’ section but these are the ones that really stand out to me and that I check for every day.

[hyperion-moonbabe-art3mis]

Caught In Between: 01. New Beginnings

IMPORTANT!!! This is content from my original blog @hyperion-moonbabe​​ . It’s being reposted here as this is now my main blog.

Summary: Athena Dumont has finally found a place to call home after many years of foster homes and traveling. She had finally tamed her supernatural side and just wanted to live a normal teenage life. She quickly discovers that there is nothing normal about her hometown, Mystic Falls and gets sucked right back into the supernatural world.

Post Date: 02.26.20

Word count: 4.7K

Based off: 02x06 “Plan B”

Masterlist

I walked into my old childhood home, not expecting it to be fully furnished. I spent time looking around, gathering items from my family that I wanted to keep, and finally getting a moving company to get rid of the old furniture. Once everything was gone, I went into town to apply for a job and find some new furniture. I walked into a restaurant called the Mystic Grill.

“Hi, I was wondering if you guys were hiring,” I said to a blonde-haired guy as I walked in.

“I’m not sure but, I can grab an application for you to fill out and pass it on to my manager,” The blonde guy says and walks to the back. He returns with an application and a pen. I fill out the application and hand it back to the male.

“I’m Matt Donovan, nice to meet you.”

“Athena Dumont, nice to meet you too,” I say as I shake his hand.

“Wait as in the founding family Dumont?” He questions.

“Yeh, just moved back in today actually,” I responded back.

“Welcome back to Mystic Falls, see you around,” He smiles and goes back to work.

I continue to walk around the town looking for furniture to replace the old. After walking out of the last store I hear a familiar voice coming from behind me.

“What-a-surprise, Athena. Never thought I’d see you here in Mystic Falls.” The familiar voice says.

“Damon,” I turn around and give a fake smile. “And why would that be?” I question back.

“I mean this is Mystic Falls, a small town, nobody comes here.” He says scoffing.

“Well, I thought it’d be nice for me to finally settle into my roots as a founding family,” I responded.

“You come from a founding family here!?” He questions not believing me.

“Yes, I’m a Dumont. Might not be a name you hear often considering my family and I moved away about 12 years ago with my parents.”

“Wow, I was not expecting that. Well, I guess we should play catch up then,” Damon says, smirking and walking up next to me putting his arm around my shoulders before I push it off. But he just puts his arm back around my shoulders. We somehow ended up at his house and catching up with each other since it had been about two years since we met each other.

“I finally learned about the supernatural world… So two years ago, the whole thing about you being a vampire was true, but I didn’t believe it huh,” I say to Damon as we’re sitting on the couch in the grand room.

“Well sorta. I drank your blood, fed you mine, then compelled you to forget,” Damon explained loosely.

“So basically I was your personal blood bag,” I said, fake smiling at Damon as he nodded. “Well, I bite now so I wouldn’t try anything if I were you.”

“Huh?” Damon looks at me confused before we hear a knock at the door.

Damon gets up from the couch and opens the door. I follow closely behind. When he opens the door I see a tall brown-haired guy standing in the doorway for a brief second before Damon blocks my view.

“I need to talk to you” I hear the guy say.

“And why do I need to talk to you?” Damon responds and I roll my eyes at his dickishness, as he tries to close the door on the other guy.

“Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse. He’s not a werewolf yet.”

“Wow, fascinating. Not enough.” Damon says not impressed and tries to close the door again.

“I’m not sure what you have gotten yourself into this time but maybe you should listen to him,” I say but Damon ignores my comment.

“But Mason Lockwood is and he’s looking for a moonstone, a special rock connected to the werewolf legend. That’s why I’m here.” The guy says trying to convince Damon to give him his full attention.

“Wait, a moonstone? I’ve heard about it somewhere” I say trying to remember where I heard it from.

“I know where it is.” the guy responds.

“And you’re bringing me this why?“ Damon questions.

"This actually sounds important. You should stop being a dick and listen, Damon. Especially if it involves the moonstone, there’s something important about it. I just can’t remember,” I say sternly.

“And why do you seem to know so much about this moonstone, Athena?“ Damon questions me while keeping eye contact with the guy on the porch.

"Wait are you Athena Dumont?” The other guy asks me.

“Yeh, why?”

“I’m Jeremy Gilbert, you may not remember but you were best friends with my sister before you moved away.” He says as I think about it.

I was about to say something before Damon interrupted me “What’s your sister say about this little discovery, anyways?” Damon questions Jeremy, but no response is given. “Oh, you haven’t told her, have you?”

“Well, Elena doesn’t want me getting involved in all this,” Jeremy says sighing.

“And you’re a Gilbert and you just can’t help yourself. Wow. Your search for life’s purpose is as obvious as it is tragic.” Damon says. I roll my eyes at his dumb comment.

“You going to let me in or not?” Jeremy asks. I see Damon hesitate and I shove my way in to open the door.

I’m not sure why, but I’m interested in whatever trouble Damon has gotten himself in. But in all honesty, I am glad that I could possibly make some new friends here. Well, new old friends, I guess. Maybe even help them solve this little problem they have, whatever it is.

I see a blonde girl walk from what I assume is the kitchen, with a silver tray in hand, stocked full of food. She spots me sitting in the great room with Jeremy. “Hi, I’m Athena. I just moved into town and an old friend of Damon’s” I say to her smiling.

“I’m Caroline, your name sounds familiar. Have we met before or something?” She responds questioningly.

“She’s Athena Dumont, an old friend of yours, Bonnie and Elena’s when you guys were young. Oh, and she’s a founding family member” Jeremy says before I can respond.

“Oh my god, I remember. You just moved away when we were only like five years old. But how do you know that Jeremy?” Caroline responds.

“I just saw some old photos of you guys not too long ago,” Jeremy explains.

“Well, there’s this masquerade ball happening tomorrow and you should totally come and meet everyone else,” Caroline says before she heads off to some other part of the house.

I can’t help but shake that everyone else remembers who I am, yet I don’t. It’s almost like my memories of them were purged from my mind. I keep trying to jog my memory until my thoughts are interrupted by someone walking in the door with a box in hand. He’s a little older, maybe around Damon’s age when he became a vampire.

“What are you doing here?” He asks Jeremy.

“Helping Damon. I’m the one who found out about the moonstone.” Jeremy responds as the man looks at Damon.

“Does Elena know you’re here?”

“Not exactly,” Jeremy says, as the man looks at me.

“Hi, I’m Athena. I was just here when this was all unveiled.” I say the man looks at me slightly confused at why I’m here. “If you’re worried that all of this shouldn’t be said in front of me. I’m an old friend of Damon’s. And I’ve heard of the moonstone, so I thought that I may be of some help. If that’s ok.” I say picking up on his cautiousness.

“I’m Alaric, and if you’re up for getting caught in all this. Then, you’re more than welcome to stay and help.” He says in response and sets down the box he’s holding.

“What you got?” Damon says breaking the silence and starts to go through the box and picks up a book.

“This is Isobel research from Duke. Her assistant sent it to me.” Alaric says

“Mmm, Vanessa. The hottie.” I roll my eyes at Damon’s comment and bump my elbow on his side. He looks at me with a confused look and I just give him a look of why.

“Vanessa, yes. Now, do you remember the old Aztec curse she told us about?”

“Sun and the moon, blah blah blah blah blah.”

“An Aztec curse? Cool.” Jeremy says slightly excitedly.

“Yeah, supposedly vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a shaman put a curse on them to limit their power. Since then, werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun.” Alaric explains as Damon shows off his daylight ring, “Most of them, anyway.”

“It sucks,” I say in response to the werewolf side of the curse.

“Wait am I missing something, here? How exactly do you know so much about the supernatural world?” Damon says looking at me questioningly.

“Yeh that comment about me biting, I’m a werewolf now. How did you not catch onto that? And the fact that I’m a Dumont.” I say defensively and a bit upset that he can’t pick up on a hint.

“I’m sorry I didn’t attend Mystic Falls supernatural People 101 “ He responds sarcastically and I just roll my eyes again.

"Well, if I could offer a piece of information. I do know that according to the legend, my wolf side, like every other werewolf, is sealed with the moonstone,” I say and Alaric nods and pulls out some sort of map.

“What do you mean sealed?” Jeremy questions as he looks at the map.

“It’s a witch thing, whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse,” Damon says from across the room.

“Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse,” Alaric says in response.

“If we start believing in some supernatural witchy-woo legend from a picture book, we’re idiots. Who has the stone now?” Damon says, sounding slightly more intrigued.

“Tyler” Jeremy responds to his question

“Can you get it?” I ask Jeremy even though I really have no clue what’s going on.

“Yeah.”

“See, now your life has purpose,” Damon says dickishly.

“Shut up Damon. I can help if you’d like” I sigh and Jeremy just looks at me nodding.

“This has nothing to do with you,” Damon says with a little harshness in his voice, but I ignore his comment.

“So, you do believe the curse?” Jeremy asks.

“It’s the same book that says a werewolf bite kills a vampire. Ignoring it would make me an even bigger idiot. Let’s go.” Damon says, finishing his drink. I follow him and Jeremy out the door.

We make our way over to a mansion where it looks like they’re holding the masquerade ball Caroline told me about. Damon, Jeremy and I walk in, I follow behind Damon who walks up to a brunette girl, but I stay at a distance being respectful of their conversation.

“Looking for my baby bro. Speaking of, would you tell yours to stop following me around?” Damon says slightly louder. I assume this girl is Elena Gilbert. Damon then just walks past me and outside. I just stand in the room until I hear my name.

“Anyways, Elena, this is Athena Dumont, from our childhood. She just moved back in.” Jeremy says as I walk up to the siblings.

“Hi, forgive me, but honestly I don’t remember anyone from here, even though everyone remembers me. But it’s really nice to meet you.” I say nervously.

“Well, I’m Elena. It’s nice to meet you too.” She says smiling as Jeremy walks away leaving us alone.

“So, I noticed that you walked in with Damon. You should really watch out for him” Elena says, I offer to help her and she passes me some masks to sort

“Yeh, I know. We’re old friends. He tried to deter me from this whole situation you guys are in. Which in all honesty I still don’t have the full picture. But he couldn’t stop me since I have some helpful info.” I say and chuckle.

“Well, it’ll be nice to have another person around. But, I wouldn’t recommend sticking around.” Elena says coldly.

“Well, I’d be more than glad to help with whatever you guys need. I’ve heard about this curse and honestly, I have a feeling that I need to figure it out.” I respond.

“In that case, you should probably meet everyone else.” She says putting the masks down and gesturing to follow her outside.

We walk down into all the chaos of the outside set up. Elena first takes me to the guy named Matt I met earlier and a brown-haired guy. They were in the middle of a slightly heated conversation but Elena didn’t hesitate to interrupt.

“Hey guys, this is Athena. Athena this is Matt and Tyler” She says pointing to the blonde and then the brunette.

“Matt and I actually met earlier, I went to apply to the Mystic Grill,” I say, turning to Elena.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Tyler says looking at me up and down. Elena was then called over by someone and Matt just walked off, leaving me alone with Tyler. Or so I thought.

“Hey man,” Jeremy says walking over to Tyler and me. They started talking about the moonstone and I could sense that Tyler was uneasy about the fact that I was standing there. I look up to see Damon and another man standing next to him, so I decided to walk up to them.

“And who might this be,” I say to Damon, referring to the other man.

“This is my lovely baby bro, Stefan,” Damon says, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you not going to introduce me to your friend Damon?” Stefan questions looking at Damon.

Damon starts to open his mouth before I interrupt, “I am an old friend of Damon’s who just moved back into town. I’m Athena Dumont.” I say holding my hand out to Stefan. I see Stefan’s face light up slightly at the mention of my last name as he shakes my hand.

“Well, we are busy. I will come and get you later” Damon says walking away and Stefan following behind.

I see Elena sit down on the stairs with a concerned face. I walk over to her feeling awkward just standing here. “Everything alright?” I say sitting next to her.

“Sorta. Stefan, Damon’s brother. Isn’t filling me in on what’s going on.” she says upset.

“I’m sure he will. Just give it a moment. He did just walk off with Damon a few minutes ago.” I say looking at her, noticing she’s growing impatient. She looks at her phone and starts to call Stefan.

After a while, I go to find Damon. When I find him he’s in the front of the house with his brother and another girl. Who I assumed was a witch considering the concentration in her face and the man clutching his head. Damon knees the man in the face and then takes notice of me standing in the doorway. The two brothers take the man and put them in the back of the Jeep.

“Are you just gonna stand there or get in?” Damon says looking at me and gesturing for me to get in the Jeep with him.

“I guess I’m coming,” I say and hop in the back seat.

We drive back to the Salvatore house, once we arrive Damon picks up the man and carries him into the house as the girl and I follow behind him.

“I hate that this is the way we meet. But I’m Athena.” I say to her.

“My name is Bonnie. I’m sure you’ve guessed it but I’m the local witch.” She says with a little sarcasm in the word “local”.

We walk over to Damon, I look at the books on the shelves as Damon and Bonnie talk. I hear chains being pulled out of the bag that Bonnie had brought in, “You wanna make yourself useful and help me, Athena,” Damon says looking up at me. I sigh and walk over and grab a chain from him.

“Whoa. Looks like this guy’s used to being tied up” Bonnie says. I look up to Damon smirking at me, knowing that he’s thinking about our past together. I just roll my eyes at him as I help tie the guy to the chair.

“So is this the Mason Lockwood guy. You and Jeremy were talking about?” I say looking between Bonnie and Damon.

“Yup and we need him to give up the moonstone. What are you doing?” He says looking at Bonnie.

“You’re looking for the moonstone like you just said. I’m just trying to help” Bonnie says, taking Mason’s head in her hands. Damon responds with multiple requests as Bonnie starts to search his mind.

“Somewhere small. dark. There’s water.” Bonnie describes.

“Like a sewer?” I ask trying to help her description

“No. Like a well? That can’t be right. Yeah. It’s a well.”

“Why would it be in a well?” Damon questions

“I told you, I only get what I get.” She says with some haste, looking at Damon. Then Mason wakes up and grabs Bonnie’s arm. My immediate response was to grab Mason’s hand to make him let go. She rushes out of the room.

“Hey, judgey! Thank you,” Damon says to Bonnie. I look at him in surprise when he said that. I stay in the room with them, curious about this moonstone business. I sit down on one of the couches as Damon starts to interrogate Mason or at least attempt to.

I sit on the couch watching Damon’s interrogation technique. Mason struggles in the chair we chained him to and ends up falling backward as Damon heats up the metal poker in the fire. He sticks the poker into Mason’s upper right chest.

“You can hurt – good to know. I was afraid you were gonna be some beast with no affinity for pain.” He says nonchalantly.

I start to open my mouth but Damon stops me, “If you don’t approve, you can leave.” He says looking at me. I just sit back and stay quiet.

Damon starts to question Mason about this Katherine girl but gets no answer. This goes on for some time but Damon still wasn’t successful. I then see Jeremy walk into the room with a box in hand. I walk over to the box he had just set down and start to take some of the stuff out as Damon makes some whiny comments about Jeremy being here. I stop when I notice a familiar dried herb.

“What is it?” Damon asks, noticing my hesitation.

“I did a search on my phone. It’s a plant. Aconitum Vulparia. It grows in the mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. Commonly known as aconite, blue rocket, and” Jeremy starts to explain handing the herb to Damon.

“Wolfsbane,” I say interrupting Jeremy, as he looks at me confused.

“What else did you read?” Damon asks looking at Jeremy.

“Well, every source says something different. One myth says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus. Another one says that it protects people and another one says, well, it’s toxic.” Jeremy explains as Mason groans and I tense up.

“I’m guessing toxic,” Damon says, noticing me tensing up and hearing Mason groan.

“You guessed right,” I say, touching my finger to the herb, displaying its ability to harm werewolves. I inhale sharply and hold my finger from the pain. I see Jeremy’s face light up as he comes to the realization that I’m a werewolf.

Damon goes back to interrogate Mason, using his new toy. I wince and turn away when the wolfsbane is shoved into his mouth. It’s like I could almost feel the burning sensation in my own throat that Mason was experiencing. Even with the wolfsbane, Damon was unsuccessful. After multiple failed attempts at getting answers, Jeremy interrupts and tells Damon that maybe he should stop. He ignores the comment and threatens to take Mason’s eyes. This causes Mason to finally give him answers to the many questions. Once Mason stops giving answers, I could see in  Damon’s eyes that he wanted to kill him, I guess to cover his tracks.

Damon tries to get rid of Jeremy, knowing that he disapproves of the actions that are about to take place. But Jeremy just stands his ground and Mason pleads to him in order to keep Tyler safe. I walk around the chair pushing Damon out of the way.

“I may not know you or  Tyler that well. But I assure you I won’t let that happen. I know what the curse does to a person, I’m a werewolf. And I would never wish the curse on anyone” I say looking at Mason. I could feel the annoyance radiating off Damon.

“You should go, Jeremy,” Damon says, not even really responding to what I said.

“I’m staying, Damon. He’s had enough.” Jeremy says and I stand up between Damon and Mason.

The next thing I know Damon super speeds towards Jeremy, slamming him into the couch, “You wanted to be a part of this? Well, here it is! Kill or be killed! The guy is a werewolf; he’d kill me the first chance he got! So, you suck it up or leave.” He says with a menacing look in his face and holding Jermy by the throat.

“Damon! Stop.” I say trying to stop him from killing Jeremy. The only response I get back is wolfsbane being slammed onto my arm. He only lets go of both Jeremy and me, after I let out a gut-wrenching scream from the pain. Jeremy gets up from the couch after catching his breath and leaves, I follow behind just glaring at Damon.

Once we make it to the hall Jeremy stops and turns around, “ Are you ok?” He asks, bringing my arm up to look at the burn mark left by the wolfsbane.

“Yeh, it’ll heal” I respond sighing and looking at the burn starting to disappear.

I sit in the great room, not wanting to see Damon, but also not wanting to go back to my unfurnished home just yet. After a few minutes, Stefan walks into the house, with what I assumed was the moonstone, in hand.

“You ok? What did my brother do this time.” He asks me with slight concern in his voice.

“Yeh, he used his leverage for Mason on me. Wolfsbane. I’m fine now. He was just riled up, I’m sure he’s just about done now.” I say looking over towards the library.

“Well let’s  go see what he’s up to now?” Stefan says walking up to the couch, offering his hand to help me up.

We walk to the library and are greeted with Damon rolling up Mason’s dead body in the blanket he placed down earlier. I stop at the top small set of stairs while Stefan goes to show Damon the moonstone. I listen to their little brotherly banter and watch as Damon dials a number on Mason’s phone. It ends up being Katherine. From what I gathered, I could tell that they used to be romantically involved with one another and possibly Stefan too from his physical responses. A few hours later, I leave Stephan in the library to think and Damon follows behind me into the great room.

“Well, I’m going home,” I say turning to Damon

“Or you could stay here,” Damon says stepping closer to me with a smirk on his face. “Now I’m sure that your house is empty since you just moved in. Getting rid of all that old furniture and all. And I’m sure you’d rather sleep in a bed than on a couch.”

I sigh and look to the side, “Fine, I haven’t even paid the power and heating bill yet anyways. Luckily when I came over my bag was filled with new clothes I had bought. I’ll go find a room” I say looking back up at his sculpted face.

“Orrrrrrr you could stay in mine,” Damon says stepping even closer, making our bodies almost touch.

“After what you did to me today, I don’t think so. Not to mention, it kind of hurt me when you left me two years ago.” I say referring to when he left me two years ago.

“I’m sorry, it was because I was caught up in the moment,” he says with an apologetic voice.

“That’s what you always say” I respond as Damon steps away. I notice that he does so because we’re interrupted by a crying Elena rushing out.

Damon turns to her, “Elena. I riled Katherine up. I - I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t think.” He says to her just before she opens the door.

“It doesn’t matter, Damon. She won. Katherine won.” Elena says with teary eyes, before walking out.

Damon looks back at me with an upset face, I had never seen him like this before. He must really care for these people, more care than he’s ever shown me at least. I take a deep breath, grab my bag and head upstairs, leaving him alone in the great room. Once I got upstairs, I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to try to reconnect with Damon, so I looked for his room.

“You need help choosing a room?” I hear Stefan say walking up behind me.

“Ummm….I’m not sure if Damon told you this but we used to be involved with one another. I know it’s probably a mistake and I’m gonna regret it, but I thought that maybe we could possibly reconnect. So I’m looking for his room. That and I don’t think he’s gonna give me any other choice.” I say, half regretting what I just told him.

“It’s the one on the end,” He says pointing to the end of the corridor.

“Thanks,” I say and give him a hug, noticing that he’s upset. He hugs me back.

When I walk into Damon’s room I notice how big it is, including the ensuite bathroom. I set my stuff down by the dresser. I look up and notice a small familiar box sitting on the dresser. I open it up to find the moon-shaped necklace I lost when I was with him. It was a necklace that was given to me by my parents, at least I think so, I’ve had it for as long as I can remember.

I set it back down, start to undress and hop into the shower. It felt nice to clean myself off after today and gave myself time to think about what I’ve gotten myself into. When I finished showering and getting dressed to sleep, I was greeted by a shirtless Damon standing by the dresser.

“I see that you took my offer,” He says, continuing to rifle through his clothes in the dresser.

“I don’t think you’d take no for an answer,” I say walking over to him, he chuckles at my comment. I pick up the box that contained my necklace, “I thought I lost this forever” I say opening it up.

“I found it on some other girl. Of course, knowing it was yours and that it means a lot to you. I ripped it off her neck. You were already out of town before I could give it back to you. May I?” He says picking it up. I turn around allowing him to put the necklace around my neck.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, turning to face him, he gives me a little smile as he stares intently into my eyes.

Soon enough, I’m wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his soft ones. He hesitates at first but gives in. He picks me up allowing me to wrap my legs around his waist. He super speeds us over to his bed and starts to undress me, feeling every inch of my body.

A/N: Here is the first chapter! I know it may be a bit messy, but I wanted to introduce to Athena to all/most of the characters pretty fast, considering that this episode also allowed it. I’m also still trying to figure out how I want to write since there is a lot of characters and dialogue in TVD. I hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think. Any advice would great as well! :)

[notthatiwilleverwriteit]

i feel like jian yi uses emotion to influence zhan zheng xi's decision. when he talks about his sexuality he is either crying or on the verge of crying which i think softens zhan zhengxi's attitude towards him. i don't get people that are saying zhan zheng xi is demisexual and not interested in girls at all and when his only encounter with girls is xiao hui? who is his stalker. it is very natural for zhan zheng xi to dislike her. i feel like jian yi is very manipulative.

Good evening, dear anon-san!

Before we get any further, I got your another ask that it’s okay if I won’t answer your question. I’m not sure why you felt that way but you had gone through the big trouble of writing your thoughts, so I want to try and give you mine. Also, I don’t talk about Zhanyi too often, so I don’t want to pass chances when people give me a nudge to do so. Anyway, I hope you won’t mind I decided to answer your ask.

You had a lot of things to talk about, so I thought I would give my thoughts some structure by picking up some overall themes.

A bit of a TL;DR: I imagine your interpretation of Jian Yi’s character is very much of an unpopular opinion. And I’m afraid I won’t be agreeing with it very much because I have always read him and his relationship with Zhan Zheng Xi quite differently. That being said, though, I do want to applaud your courage to share your views with us. It makes me feel privileged that you feel comfortable enough with me to be open about your opinions.

Zhan Zheng Xi and Xiao Hui

Let’s start this with perhaps the easiest topic: XH having a crush on ZZX. It’s true she didn’t really hide her feelings for ZZX. She tried to muster up enough courage to deliver her confession letter many times and also approached him directly. However, it was clear ZZX was bothered and felt uncomfortable by her affections. (ch. 51, 52, 98, 99. 102, and 156)

She was quite persistent and forward, but I don’t think she deserves to be called a stalker. Not even close. I think we’re forgetting that middle school is that awkward time in life when it’s starting to be noticeable that girls develop faster than boys. Girls of that age can actually be very open about their crushes while boys feel embarrassed, bothered, and annoyed by them. Nor are boys really interested quite yet. I think that’s very much apparent in ZZX and XH’s case.

A short storytime. When I was in middle school (about 12-13 years old) I had the most intense crush on this boy in my class. My very soul was consumed by how much in love I was with him. And I had no problem being open about it, either; I gave him birthday and Christmas cards publically, forced him to write on my friends book, and overall was quite pushy with him. He never returned my passionate feelings but was rather annoyed, embarrassed and disgusted by them. After two years, my feelings passed. Was I a stalker, though? I don’t think so.

So, yes, it was very understandable and realistic for ZZX to be bothered by XH’s advances but I wouldn’t brand her as a “stalker” and make too direct conclusions about their relationship. Rather I think that’s how it usually goes in that age.

Jian Yi and Xiao Hui’s letter

Overall, JY was in a very difficult position when he found out about XH’s feelings for ZZX. On one hand, he was very much in love with ZZX, and it had been his most precious secret that he’s both wanted to confess and hide. Worst case scenario, his romantic feelings might end their childhood friendship or put them in a position where others could easily discriminate and bash them. On the other hand, XH’s advances put pressure on JY and painfully remind him that it’s not as simple for him to confess and be open about his crush. I have always sympathized with him because being in that position can be very painful and conflicting. (100, 101)

I mean, imagine someone asked you to deliver a confession letter to the person you have been in love with for years. Can you imagine how crushing that would feel? A big part of me, at least, would certainly think my crush was doomed. And it was obvious JY struggle between doing the right thing and doing what his heart wanted to.

When JY agreed to give ZZX her letter on the condition that she won’t come near him, I think that was the most manipulative JY got in that whole story (ch. 100):

And I don’t think even that was very successful. He told her to stay away but... what was the endgame? Was JY’s plan to make her believe he had given ZZX the letter and prevent her from finding out the truth by telling her to keep her distance? But at some point, she would have grown anxious and approached ZZX again, right? The truth would certainly have come out eventually.

I think he hadn’t thought it through at all but rather that “don’t come near him” plan was a desperate attempt to buy some time. I don’t see that as JY trying to isolate ZZX in a toxic way at all but rather him trying to prolong the inevitable. His feelings for ZZX never had the same promise of a future as XH’s feelings - and straight love, in general.

Also, let’s not forget that JY did end up giving ZZX the letter despite his own difficult position (ch. 102):

What ZZX said made him realize it wouldn’t be right for JY to decide things for him. He couldn’t advance his own goals that way and feel good about it. But at the same time, giving ZZX that letter put JY’s feelings at a big risk. Basically, JY came close to watching the person he loved returning someone else’s feelings. I’m not sure I could have done the same if I had been JY, and I bet many of us would have struggled to make up our minds, too. Would that make us toxic manipulators, though?

Xiao Hui’s letter exposed

XH’s confession letter being exposed to everybody was a messy situation for all parties. It exposed so many private and vulnerable feelings for anyone to see and make fun of. And usually, the more we want to protect something inside us, the stronger we react when it’s either exposed or poked at.

Even if I don’t really see JY worrying about ZZX’s reputation as a bad thing or something problematic, I have always wondered about that part (ch. 158):

It always seemed like an odd thing to worry about in that situation to me. But I suppose he just didn’t want ZZX to become the center of gossiping. People were making fun of the letter and both its writer and who it was addressed to. Again, romance is quite a tender topic at that age, especially publically. To be involved in those kinds of things - even involuntarily - would most probably put you in the kind of awkward position that you can never quite live down. So, yeah, even if my center of worries wouldn’t probably be protecting ZZX’s reputation, I still get where JY was coming from.

I also suppose JY didn’t want XH’s crush to be public knowledge because it made his situation that more difficult and an uphill battle. The rumors and gossips would stoke and contribute to the overall rhetoric that ZZX has a girlfriend or that he’s popular among girls. But again, I don’t really see that line of thinking as manipulative. I don’t think he was pretending to be sad or trying to provoke XH to make her look bad in ZZX’s eyes. I’m sure I would have felt somewhat the same in his situation, actually.

However, I do agree that readers (if that’s what you meant by “people”) were too eager to brand XH as a problematic homophobe and hate her guts. What she said was wrong and hurtful but still not that surprising (ch. 158):

She had been publically humiliated and her feelings had been made of by everyone. She was hurt and embarrassed, and when JY blamed her she lashed out and threw the easiest and most obvious insult she could think of. I don’t think it’s fair to judge her whole character based on one moment when she was so vulnerable and humiliated.

What comes to ZZX, I don’t think it was a case of him conveniently walking in when JY had been bashed by XH and him judging the situation wrongly (JY as the victim and XH the villain). The way ZZX handled the situation tells us that he could see behind the emotional escalation and recognized the pain both JY and XH were suffering (ch. 158 and 159):

He understood XH had poked a very vulnerable spot with her “disgusting gay” remark and why JY had gotten upset. Not long ago before the letter incident, he had seen how insecure JY was about his feelings for someone of the same sex and how scared he was of being rejected because of it. It was the last thing JY wanted people to talk about out loud but also where you could hurt him the most.

But ZZX also realized the situation XH was in and why she had lashed out. He was very gentle with her and treated her feelings with respect despite turning them down. He saw his own little sister in her, not a villain or a bad person. I’m sure his reaction would have been vastly different if he had thought XH was out to deliberately hurt JY.

Jian Yi’s orientation and manipulation

I can’t say I see JY using emotions to knowingly influence and manipulate ZZX’s decisions but I do think ZZX has an obvious soft spot for his best friend. It goes all the way back to their childhood when ZZX promised to protect him, and later JY’s special place in ZZX’s eyes is represented by the rhetoric of lifelong promises between them (ch. 97, 127, 159, 161, 169, 285):

To me, that’s pretty much the essence of ZZX’s character. He’s loyal, protective, and surprisingly comfortable being so caring. We can see him treat his little sister very similarly to how he treats JY. So, when he sees his best friend crying and thinking there’s something wrong with him because he’s different from others, it’s his second nature to comfort and reassure JY.

Overall, JY has talked about his orientation or feelings for ZZX three times in the comic so far in a way that has changed the course of the story. (If you wish to read more about how I see the Zhanyi storyline go check out my other earlier answer.) The most shocking and dramatic turning point for both of them was probably when JY’s feelings came to light for the first time (ch. 143):

I really can’t see JY being emotionally manipulative at that moment. I would say his reaction is more than understandable and realistic instead. I don’t know if you have ever had to come out to anyone about your sexual orientation, dear anon-san, but it’s always a nerve-wracking experience. I’ve told about my own bisexuality to my parents and best friend and it was insanely scary both times even if I was confident they wouldn’t have a problem with it. Despite everything, there’s always that little “what if” rattling in your head.

Now, multiply that by XXX and put yourself in JY’s raincoat. He was a teenage boy who had just kissed his lifelong best friend and couldn’t play it off as a joke. The more he tried to run and hide, the more the feelings he had buried for years poured out in a mess of tears and fragmented thoughts. I mean, we had read about how deep their friendship ran for 100+ chapters by then but I’m sure many of us were still nervous and unsure about how ZZX would react.

However, ZZX isn’t unable to set his limits even when offering comfort. I think that was apparent the second time JY’s feeling were addressed when JY was drunk and looking for something ZZX wasn’t ready to give him yet (ch. 165):

JY was genuinely very emotional and in a vulnerable place but ZZX had to reject him. I actually talked about that moment in one of my earlier answers because I have always found it interesting and complicated. JY was so insecure and afraid of ZZX rejecting him that he wanted to push the limits to find out how ZZX felt about him (both being in love with him and someone of the same sex). It almost seemed like he was tired of being anxious and kind of wanted to get it over with. But ZZX wasn’t quite there yet. He had expressed his support when it came to JY liking men but wasn’t ready for what JY was really feeling. Unfortunately, that meant he had to hurt the already vulnerable JY but the bottom line is, he did reject him. He might have a lot of affection for JY but he’s also very in tune with what he wants and isn’t ready for. That’s also a part of him being honest and loyal. If he had allowed JY to have his way, ZZX wouldn’t have been true to JY or himself.

The third and last time was when JY finally, officially confessed and - according to my interpretation - ZZX returned his feelings. Again, I don’t see JY being emotionally manipulative but there is one aspect that has always caught my attention (ch. 209):

JY says he likes ZZX so much he’s about to explode and whether it’s about their past or future, it’s always been and will always be about ZZX. This time JY’s fear of rejection manifests itself a bit differently, though. He kind of rejects his feelings himself before ZZX even says a word. He already knows ZZX isn’t happy about being loved by another guy and his best friend at that, so there’s no need for ZZX turn him down. Also, by seemingly shifting the goal of his confession (you won’t feel the same way but at least I finally said it) JY is protecting himself.

Could that behavior be taken as manipulation? I guess on some level, but I think it’s also a very natural and realistic reaction. It can be used to influence someone’s decisions but it’s also a defense mechanism. One that I - and I’m sure many others - can personally relate to very much. And I don’t see JY saying those things in that situation as a way to try and make ZZX feel sorry for him and return his feelings that way. This was the first time he was completely open and honest about his love for ZZX - confessing while looking straight into his eyes - so it’s no surprise he behaved defensively like that.

Also, I believe ZZX had already made up his mind about what his answer would be before he even asked the question. He had reached his resolve and was comfortable with it. All he needed was for JY to say the words out loud.

Jian Yi, Mo Guan Shan, and He Tian’s money

Okay, the last topics! This was something you only briefly mentioned but I felt like they supported your view on JY that already differed quite a lot from mine, so I thought I would give my two cents about these, too.

I think JY is exactly the kind of friend Mo Guan Shan desperately needed when he was falsely accused of assaulting that girl. In fact, JY is the kind of friend all of us should have: someone who won’t hesitate to stand up for us. Because I don’t think “anyone would have done the same thing” for MGS. Actually, that’s why She Li picked him as the scapegoat in the first place (ch. 178, 186, and 184):

Not only did SL take advantage of knowing MGS was a social outcast at school and people were prejudiced against him so no one would even doubt the things said about him but he also knew MGS didn’t have the kind of friends who would step in. He Tian most certainly was one of them, but so was JY the way he didn’t hesitate to barge into the office and loudly demand justice for MGS (ch. 185):

Let’s remember, when the assault case was going on HT, JY and ZZX were the only ones defending MGS. Not even the teachers seemed to think “innocent until proven guilty” or even entertain the thought that MGS might not have done it.

What comes to JY talking about HT having a lot of money (or being rich or poor in general), I think it’s just a part of him being cheeky and the kind of humor 19 Days has. JY’s character has this obliviously and unapologetically immature side that can be a bit annoying at first but soon becomes one of his most lovable features. I never took this side of him as an offense but rather him just being a 15-year-old boy among other teenage boys that will fire back just the same (ch. 258, 296, 298, 301, and 310):

JY doesn’t really have a filter and he likes to brag a little when, for once, he’s in that kind of position, but there’s no true malice in his words.

A few quick notes that I won’t get into deeper than this:

I don’t know about ZZX being demisexual but overall BL does seem to have this trend of making male protagonists fall in love with each other without identifying as LGBT. BL has been criticized for this because it’s a way to avoid talking about the fact that men who are attracted to other men are, in fact, gay (or bi). In many BL stories, the protagonists are portrayed as straight and them falling for a guy is just special circumstances and they’re gay for just that one guy. And while I don’t personally have a major problem with it, I can’t deny it feels a bit of a cop-out. Does Zhanyi fall into that category? On some level, I guess, but it’s also too early to say. The boys are just figuring out who they are as individuals, so JY, for example, identifying as gay might be said out loud one day. Don’t think that will ever happen in ZZX’s case, though.

I also don’t think JY is trying to isolate ZZX from other people. Now that he’s more secure regarding ZZX’s feelings for himself and their relationship, he’s even included XH to their group.

Phew!

Was that all? I think that was at least the most of it, if not all. If you think I skipped something or would like me to elaborate on something, let me know!

As I warned you in the beginning, I ended up disagreeing with the majority of your interpretation. Hopefully, I wasn’t too harsh with my wording or ways of putting things. Even if our views were pretty much the opposite to each other, your thoughts prompted me to look at JY’s character and Zhanyi from a new perspective. And that’s always a good thing. Thank you again for that opportunity and for sharing your interpretations with us, dear anon-san!

[marscats37]

ranking the tma entities.

I wanted to examen the entities on the magnus archives and rank them based on how scary I found them, or how much they “get to me.” 

None of the low rankings are at the fault of the creators, it’s all my personal opinion and obviously what I was scared of or fascinated with before the podcast is what’s impacting my opinion. We’re all gonna have different opinions on this, and if you listen to the magnus archives, I’m so curious on which ones are your favorite.

To keep this fun, I’ll also list my favorite statement related to each entity. Also, I’m sorry, but I won’t include extinction on this ranking. It’s not really touched on until the end and I don’t have a solid enough opinion on that one.

We’re starting at the bottom.

14. The Hunt - I mean, the hunt is cool, but like canon says, it’s hard to relate to this one due to the fear of being hunted not amongst most people. I don’t have a strong enough opinion on this one to really give it any chance to be higher on the list. I’ll give credit to it being the entity for some of the coolest characters (Daisy, Trevor, the Montauks) 

Favorite Episode - 109 / Nightfall. Despite the low ranking of the hunt, I really love the montauk storyline, and it’s exciting to see julia and trevor team up

13. The Desolation - This one only ranks slightly higher because burning is the given for most painful way to go, but this one doesn’t get to me. It’s just, mean. Maybe if I worried about losing the things and people I love, but it’s not something I think about. 

Favorite Episode - 067 / Burning Desire. Not a scary episode, but I have a soft spot for Agnes, she comes across as a tragic character. I’m also biased because I associate this episode with a good atmosphere I was in when listening to it for the first time.

12. The Slaughter - I think I feel similar to the hunt as I do this one. It’s cool, but I don’t have a fear of violence. Plus, the slaughter is often associated with war, and I've never been a fan of war imagery. 

Favorite Episode - 042 / Grifter’s Bone. This is proof that I’m not put off by slaughter - related statements in general, because I freaking love this episode. 

11. The Web - Ranking this one so low may be unpopular since a lot of people seem to love this one, but it doesn’t get to me ! I’m not scared of spiders and to the metaphorical sense, not scared of manipulation or control. I dislike it as much as the next, but doesn’t hold a true space in my nerves. 

Favorite Episode - 081 / A Guest For Mr. Spider. I’m hard on the web, but there actually have been some spooky statements, especially the ones involving cocoons. But this episode is a special kind of creepy, and statement aside, showed us an even more vulnerable jon, which I loved.

10. The End - I think the statements that revolve around not being able to die are actually scarier than the ones about death itself, but I think I just have that natural fear of death, I think this is really just another neutral fear for me. I don’t really have much to add.

Favorite Episode - 121 / Far Away. Not a scary episode, but I really enjoy Oliver Banks, I love his statement, and you know, it was interesting to see him visit Jon. 

9. The Corruption - It doesn’t seem fair to rank this one so low, corruption is so cool and creepy ! But I kind of got over my fear of bugs and gross stuff (with the exception of roaches. I still scream at the sight of roaches.) so these episodes just mostly serve as really good visuals. I will emphasize that I really love the corruption, I just simply love the other ones more. 

Favorite Episode - 032 / Hive. The Flesh hive is my favorite aspect of corruption, and I really loved getting Jane’s side of the situation (sort of.) Plus, trypophobia is actually really unnerving. I just googled the word to make sure I spelt it right and now I have goosebumps. eeeesh... 

8. The Spiral - To be honest, these episodes aren’t super intense, I don’t have a fear of going mad. It’s ranked high enough because of how much I love the distortion. I’m giving the creators’ credit for this one, the distortion is really the only reason the spiral has any impact on me.

Favorite Episode - 101/ Another Twist - see above.

7. The Buried - Now we’re getting to my fears. I got claustrophobia, babey ! Also I have asthma so the feeling of not being able to breath is a familiar one lmao. 

Favorite Episode - 015 / Lost Johns’ Cave - I think this is a popular one amongst the fans. It’s such a good episode and I think about it a lot still. 

6. The Eye - If we’re getting personal, I’m a private and paranoid person. So naturally this one is a bigger fear of mine. If I really think about it, I can scare myself over intense eye contact too. In a visual sense, I have a bias towards eye imagery. 

Favorite Episode - 120 / Eye Contact. this is hard to answer, there aren’t many eye-centric episodes, although technically every episode involved the eye. But I like the references in this episode, and story-wise, the finale of season 3 is my favorite. 

5. The Vast - It’s not fair to rank the vast higher than the buried, since I’m more scared of the latter, but the vast is just so fascinating to me. The only negative part is that I get vertigo, but I find the empty cosmos and the large ocean almost comforting. Idk, I like this one ! 

Favorite Episode - 051 / High Pressure. I just think this a neat statement ! I also like how being underwater does had an element of the buried, so best of both worlds.

4. The Lonely - I feel.. conflicted on ranking this one so high. On one hand, it’s not that scary, it’s just the fear of being alone, but on the other hadn't, when the statements hit me, they hit me the most. I love isolation and being alone, but these episodes make me feel like I’m only conditioned to love those things due to them being my comfort. 

Favorite Episode - 170 / Recollection. This episode made me cry. I know it’s centered around Martin, but I also found myself relating to it too. Also, I love Martin.

3. The Dark - I can stand being in total darkness, unless I think about it long enough. I think that goes for many, but I still think about the dream where I saw a completely black patch growing on my ceiling and I actually screamed myself awake. I don’t recall another time I’ve had a scream-induced nightmare like that. Especially at my old age. I also think the creators do a good job making this one scary. I remember one Q & A where the writer said this was the hardest entity to write for. 

Favorite Episode - 086 / Tucked In. By the way, I had that nightmare months before I heard this episode. This statement naturally stuck with me due to the familiarity.

2. The Stranger - Another popular entity, and rightfully so, the stranger has so many opportunities to be scary !! No wonder two of the season finales involve this one. I don’t think I can add much to it that’s not a given, I love how creative these statements can be. We have the “not them” we have nikola, the angler fish, etc. 

Favorite Episode - 034 / Anatomy Class. I mean, as good as many of the stranger episodes are, this is my all-time favorite statement. The students are like an innocent form of uncanny and the professor’s fear is really felt. 

1. The Flesh - if you follow my twitter, you might have expected this one. The visuals are so gross and interesting, I’m biased towards body horror. I even like the meat statements, I was surprised there were so many of them when I listened to the podcast for the first time (and tbh it’s helping me towards my path of not eating meat lol)  I don’t have deeper reasoning for making this one my favorite, I just think it’s neat (and gross.)

Favorite Episode - 171 / The Gardener. Yes, the newest episode to the date of me making this post. So far season five has been really exciting and I love the format it takes. But oh my god guys, the visuals for this one ?!?! The metaphors of negative body obsessions to something so grotesque yet fascinating to imagine. It’s not an episode I can listen to over and over (remember, this is a horror podcast and my nerves need a break) but it’s one that I’ll remember. It’s right up my alley in terms of horror content. 

ANYWAY. This is not a final list, Most of the episodes I’ve only listened to once so I’m sure if I had a chance to revisit more of them I’ll change my mind on rankings and favorites. I genuinely like how everything is categorized, but these are based on my preexisting fears and fascinations, as mentioned above. The statements in the podcast only amplify them. so yeah, this list is very subject to change. 

[perspective-series]

Exposed Perspective (10)

By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67

Warnings: Slight fear, and talk of erasing memories

THIS IS THE THIRD STORY IN A TRILOGY. READ “A Third Perspective” AND “Switched Perspectives” FOR THIS TO MAKE SENSE!

(Check the reblog for the links to the previous chapters and the TWO prequels!)

———————————————————————————————

 Virgil woke up the next morning, bright and early. He grabbed the bag he had packed the night before, a small bag that didn’t have much in it. He then climbed out of his room and sent one last look down at it. He sighed. He would miss his home but at least he didn’t have to leave his friends behind. 

 Speaking of, he heard a bit of shuffling in Logan’s room and waited patiently in the hall, near the wall, for Logan to come out.

“Good morning, Virgil.” Logan greeted, hiding a yawn behind one hand as he emerged, having not slept long. Logan knelt down, offering Virgil a hand. “Breakfast?”

 “Sounds great,” Virgil said, climbing onto the offered hand. 

Logan stood up, stepping carefully over the hole in the floorboards. His landlord wouldn’t thank him for that, but at this point, it felt as though trying to repair it himself would just be foolhardy. Logan made his way to the kitchen, setting Virgil down on the counter. 

“Coffee?” Logan offered, already starting up the pot.

 Virgil tilted his head, looking at the strange thing Logan was setting up. Of course, he had seen it many times before but never when it was on. He had no idea what it did or what coffee even was. “What’s coffee?”

“Oh, right.” Sometimes Logan forgot just how different Virgil was from himself. “Well, it’s a caffeinated beverage that can provide energy to the drinker. Quite addicting, but very useful for staying awake.”

 “Oh, then um, yeah, I guess I’ll try it,” Virgil said with a shrug. He could use the extra energy for the move.

Logan nodded, popping in some toast as well for a more filling breakfast. Once the pot beeped, Logan took it out and poured a mug for himself, setting it down next to Virgil so that the borrower could get some as well.

 Virgil took out his tinfoil cup and scooped a bit out. He blew on it before taking a taste. The bitterness was unlike anything he had ever tasted before and it was almost too much. But Virgil found that he almost sort of liked it? Kind of? “It’s...interesting.”

“It’s bitter, but it’s more for a specific function than necessary pleasure.” Logan lifted the mug to his lips, taking a sip of his own. The toaster dinged, and Logan put the two pieces of toast on a plate. He pulled a jar of crofter’s jam from the fridge, beginning to spread it on one slice. “Do you want jam on yours? Or another condiment?”

 “Jam’s fine,” Virgil said, taking another sip of the coffee. He was already starting to get used to is. And he could feel himself being more awake than before. Weird, but cool.

Logan put Jam on the second slice as well, taking his own piece in hand before sliding the whole plate closer to Virgil.

“I found a few possibilities for a new residency,” Logan explained, taking a bite. “I suggested to Roman via text the four of us go scope them out today.”

 Virgil nodded as he ripped a piece of toast off and took a bite. He hummed at the flavor of the jam. No wonder Logan liked it so much. 

 “...I wish we didn’t have to do this.” He said after a few moments of silence.

Logan glanced at his smaller companion, then at the apartment around them. “It certainly is not ideal.” Logan agreed quietly. “But, certainly preferable to any other outcomes.”

 “I can agree with you on that,” Virgil said, taking another bite of his food. He wanted to be as far away from Dee and any other humans that now knew about him.

“How are you feeling, by the way?” Logan asked, having never fully gotten a rundown of Virgil’s injuries. He certainly looked different, if only due to his new haircut.

 Feeling Logan’s eyes on it, he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m fine. I didn’t get much other than this haircut and a few bruises from his grip.” Virgil shivered as he remembered being wrapped in those fingers. “I think Patton got it worse. Dee...Dee seemed to take a lot of blood out of him.” Virgil couldn’t help but feel guilty about that since it should have been him that had blood drawn from.

“I see.” Logan frowned, noting this in the back of his brain. He would have to help keep an eye on Patton for any abnormal behavior and suggest methods to ease Patton’s recovery. 

As Logan pondered this, there was a knocking at the front door.

 Virgil snapped his head over to the door. “You think that’s Roman and Patton or…?” Virgil bit his lip, worried that it could be Dee or another human looking for them.

“I’m not sure.” Logan set his mug on the counter, approaching the door cautiously. He peeked through the peephole, eyes widening when he saw an unfamiliar figure. Turning back to the kitchen, Logan gave a motion for Virgil to hide.

 Virgil tensed and quickly hid behind the coffee pot, heart racing. He barely dared to breathe as he listened.

“Can I help you?” Logan asked, quite on edge and barely opening the door. With the door open, Logan could see there was actually three individuals on his doorstep. One was Thomas, who looked almost as confused as himself. The next was a suited individual with colorful hair, standing to Thomas’ right. The final individual was right in front of Logan, wearing a bright orange beanie and the same suit as the other.

“The name’s Joan, Special Victims Unit Officer.” The individual leaned closer, grinning and sticking out their hand. “Hi, how ya doin’?”

Logan slowly reached out his own hand. “Logan Sanders.”

“Oh, we know who you are.” Joan shook his hand eagerly. “You’re harboring a borrower, aren’t ‘cha?”

 Virgil tensed, shaking as the unfamiliar voice confirmed they knew he was there. And did he say something about an officer? Had Virgil been right? Had the government gotten involved and was looking for them? Virgil felt panic start to seize at his heart and mind.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Logan quickly pulled his hand back, ready to shut the door, but Thomas’ voice stopped him.

“They saw the tapes, Logan.” Thomas shifted on his feet. “I...I think they’re here to help.”

“What?” Logan frowned. 

“We’re a very special Special Victims Task unit,” Joan explained. “We deal with any crimes involving borrowers.”

“Including covering up whenever someone screws up and tries to expose them to the world.” The other suited member finally spoke up.

“Oh, that’s Talyn by the way,” Joan explained, pointing to their partner who gave a wave.

“I think we can trust them.” Thomas insisted.

“I like this guy, he gets it.” Joan nodded, jabbing a thumb at Thomas. 

“How do I know this isn’t some elaborate ruse?” Logan squinted at them.

“Well, if we really wanted to get in there, we could just wipe your memory and push right past.” Talyn got closer, standing on their tiptoes to look Logan in the eye. “But we’re trying to be civil here, so do the right thing and let us in.”

 Virgil shook as he fell to a seated position up against the pot. He didn’t care if they were here to ‘help’ or not, he didn’t want any other humans around him. But he had a feeling this encounter was going to happen whether he liked it or not.

“Wiping a memory is not actually possible,” Logan observed. Talyn frowned at him, pulling out some sort of rod and holding it in front of his face.

“Wanna bet?” They threatened.

“Okay, let’s not do that,” Joan advised, pushing the rod back down. “Not at least until we’ve found Virgil.” Joan now pushed back Logan, into the apartment. Talyn walked inside with a glare at Logan, and Thomas followed. 

“They came to my apartment first,” Thomas explained. “They asked where you guys were.”

“And why did you tell them?” Logan spoke out of the corner of his mouth, looking peeved.

“I couldn’t lie to a federal officer!” Thomas insisted. “Besides, I really think they can help us. They’re the ones that took down Remy’s video.”

“...what?” Logan looked at the agents in a new light.

“Yup, that was my doing.” Talyn looked proud of themselves. 

Joan cupped their hands around their mouth. “Virgil! Where are ya, buddy?”

 They knew his name?! Like hell Virgil was going to come out to their calling. He stayed where he was, hoping Logan or even Thomas would get to him first. Anyone but these other humans.

“...he’s in the kitchen,” Logan admitted, and immediately Talyn whirled on him.

“How dare you.” Talyn hissed. “What, you think you can help us just because you’re human?”

“I, ah, yes?” Logan took a step back, thoroughly confused. 

“It’s all part of borrowing etiquette 101,” Joan explained, pulling out a book. “It’s considered an act of disrespect to out a borrower. A borrower should be in control of when and to whom they are revealed.”

“Oh.” Logan glanced at the book, feeling both sheepish and intrigued. “May I see that?” 

“Sure thing!” Joan nodded, handing it over. Logan began to leaf through the pages.

“...I’ll go get Virgil.” Thomas offered, heading towards the kitchen. 

“No grabbing.” Talyn insisted.

“Yup, already knew that one.” Thomas nodded, giving them a brief look before leaving the room. He looked around the counter, not spotting the borrower.

“Virgil?” Thomas whispered, coming closer to it.

 “Thomas?” Virgil stood up on shaky legs, revealing himself as he walked out into the open. He had been listening the entire time and while he was slightly mad at Logan for revealing where he was, what the agents said only confused him. Were they actually here to help? It couldn’t be that though, right?

“It’s me.” Thomas smiled, laying down his palm for Virgil. “Uh, there’s some people here who want to see you but um, I think they might actually want to help?”

 Virgil bit his lip and after several moments of hesitation, he got onto the offered hand. “...Just don’t let them take me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” Thomas promised, bringing Virgil close to his chest. He held the borrower there protectively, putting his extra hand up as well.

“Ah, there you are.” Joan’s volume decreased slightly but their tone did not, a sure sign they were trying to be easy but not condescending on Virgil’s ears. “Virgil, it is an honor to meet you. My name is agent Joan, and this is my partner agent Talyn. We are here to help you.”

 Virgil shifted more into Thomas, looking at the new humans warily. “...How?” He asked hesitantly.

“We help relocate borrowers whose identity has been compromised,” Talyn explained, coming over as well. “We wipe human’s memory of you and find a new suitable borrowing home far away from the incident for an extra layer of precaution. Of course, if you prefer there’s also a borrower base back home in Area 51 where some of our old borrower friends have built a community.”

 Virgil blinked. “There...is? H-How many times has this happened?” 

“Quite often.” Joan nodded sadly. “Modern surveillance systems aren’t exactly borrower-friendly.”

 “Oh.” Virgil looked down. The thought was sad but if these humans actually helped them… “And why do you help borrowers? Why haven’t you revealed our existence and made us pets or science experiments or whatnot...unless you do perform tests on my kind and this is some sort of ruse to get me to come back with you so you can do that to me!” Virgil’s breath became erratic as the thought sent him into a panic.

“Okay, y’know? Perfectly valid questions.” Joan put up their hands in surrender, taking a step back. “It may sound strange, but not all humans are actually evil. Talyn and I actually found borrowers ourselves when we were younger, but unlike what’s going on here we actually treat borrowers as people.”

“Wait a second.” Thomas frowned. “We treat Virgil like a person.” 

“Sure you do.” Talyn squinted suspiciously at him.

“Rule number 33.” Logan recited, still diligently reading. “Prolonged hand-holding is to be kept to a minimum, and only for as long as necessary. Lingering is considered an offense as you are limiting the borrower’s freedom through manipulation of an act of kindness.”

“...oh.” Thomas glanced down at his hands, realizing how long he had been holding Virgil. He moved over to the coffee table, setting Virgil down on it sheepishly. “I’m sorry Virgil, I didn’t mean to.”

 Virgil blinked. “No, Thomas, you’re fine.” He glanced at the book Logan was reading. It was a great rule, of course, but not at this moment. Virgil was perfectly comfortable with his human friends holding him for a while. As long as they put him down when he wanted to be put down, of course. Which they were usually good at doing. He turned towards the agents. 

 “I do know that not all humans are bad, just most of them,” Virgil explained. “Because Thomas is right. He, Logan and Roman all treat us like people.” Well, of course, not at first. But they were in a good place now. 

Talyn sat down next to the coffee table, leaning in and speaking in a hushed tone. “Are you just saying that?” They asked. “We know it can feel like you have no escape, but that’s why we’re here. You don’t have to stay captured by these humans any longer.”

“Hey, we wouldn’t do that!” Thomas exclaimed, before remembering the time Logan had indeed put them in a cage. He winced, looking at Logan. “Er, anymore that is.” 

Logan’s fingers tightened around the pages slightly, clearly overhearing their conversation.

“We can erase their memories as well,” Joan explained, coming over to sit next to Talyn. “If you think you will ever have any trouble with them, even just in the future, say the word and we zap ‘em.”

 Virgil’s eyes widened. “No!” He yelled, hating the thought. His friends had come so far, especially Logan! All that learning going down the drain would just be awful. “They’re my friends and I won’t let you erase their memories! Or take me away from them!” Virgil yelled, taking a step away from the two agents.

Talyn and Joan blinked, looking at each other briefly.

“Oh, so this is one of those cases.” Joan nodded in understanding.

“We’re not gonna take you away from your friends,” Talyn said earnestly. “We just wanted to make sure you were actually alright.”

“And, y’know, not being held against your will.” Joan shrugged. 

 “...Oh,” Virgil said, a little embarrassed by his outburst now. “Well, thank you for that.” He supposed these agents really were doing some good and helpful things for borrowers. They were even listening to him.

“Also thank you for not erasing our minds,” Thomas said feebly.

“Indeed.” Logan nodded in agreement, looking perturbed as he closed the book. The idea of losing any of his memories was quite troubling.

“Well, then, in that case, we’ll just get to work rehousing all of you,” Joan said, standing up.

“We were actually already planning on moving out to the next town over,” Logan explained.

“You were?” Thomas furrowed his eyebrows, having not been informed of this.

“...we meant to tell you.” Logan gave a half-hearted shrug.

“Where’s Patton?” Talyn asked, looking around.

 “He should be with Roman,” Virgil said, not feeling bad about revealing that information now that he knew they were here to help.

“Alright, let’s go get them then.” Talyn stood up. 

“Rule 72.” Logan recited. “All borrowers should be involved in discussions pertaining to life-changing events such as a move or a reveal, so as to give every borrower a voice.” 

“You catch on fast,” Joan noted. 

“Can I see the book?” Thomas asked, looking eager. 

“By all means.” Logan gave it to Thomas, then set his palm down for Virgil.

 Virgil got onto the hand without hesitation, once again looking up at the book Thomas now held. “Who made that?” He asked to Joan and Talyn.

“A couple of agents back in the 50’s made the original,” Joan explained as the group migrated upstairs. “But the newest copy was compiled by yours truly.”

“With yours truly helping.” Talyn piped up, looking proud.

 “Huh. Well...it seems like a really helpful book.” Virgil complimented.

“It comes in handy.” Talyn nodded.

Joan paused once they had reached the front door, knocking on it.

[hyperion-moonbabe]

Caught in Between: 01. New Beginnings

IMPORTANT!!! TO ANYONE FOLLOWING OR READING MY TVD SERIES: This blog is currently my secondary blog. I have wanted to change it to primary for a while and since Tumblr does not allow it. I have created a new blog: @hyperion-moonbabe-1 

I will be porting everything over to this blog including my series and possibly eventually delete it so I can use this name without the “-1” on the end. If you would like to continue to read my series, please know that it will be continued on my new blog. Thank you!

Edit: Update

Summary: Athena Dumont has finally found a place to call home after many years of foster homes and traveling. She had finally tamed her supernatural side and just wanted to live a normal teenage life. She quickly discovers that there is nothing normal about her hometown, Mystic Falls and gets sucked right back into the supernatural world.

Post Date: 02.26.20 Word count: 4.7K Based off: 02x06 “Plan B” 

00.

I walked into my old childhood home, not expecting it to be fully furnished. I spent time looking around, gathering items from my family that I wanted to keep, and finally getting a moving company to get rid of the old furniture. Once everything was gone, I went into town to apply for a job and find some new furniture. I walked into a restaurant called the Mystic Grill.

"Hi, I was wondering if you guys were hiring," I said to a blonde-haired guy as I walked in.

"I'm not sure but, I can grab an application for you to fill out and pass it on to my manager," The blonde guy says and walks to the back. He returns with an application and a pen. I fill out the application and hand it back to the male.

"I'm Matt Donovan, nice to meet you."

"Athena Dumont, nice to meet you too," I say as I shake his hand.

"Wait as in the founding family Dumont?" He questions.

"Yeh, just moved back in today actually," I responded back.

"Welcome back to Mystic Falls, see you around," He smiles and goes back to work.

I continue to walk around the town looking for furniture to replace the old. After walking out of the last store I hear a familiar voice coming from behind me.

"What-a-surprise, Athena. Never thought I'd see you here in Mystic Falls." The familiar voice says.

"Damon," I turn around and give a fake smile. "And why would that be?" I question back.

"I mean this is Mystic Falls, a small town, nobody comes here." He says scoffing.

"Well, I thought it'd be nice for me to finally settle into my roots as a founding family," I responded.

"You come from a founding family here!?" He questions not believing me.

"Yes, I'm a Dumont. Might not be a name you hear often considering my family and I moved away about 12 years ago with my parents."

"Wow, I was not expecting that. Well, I guess we should play catch up then," Damon says, smirking and walking up next to me putting his arm around my shoulders before I push it off. But he just puts his arm back around my shoulders. We somehow ended up at his house and catching up with each other since it had been about two years since we met each other.

"I finally learned about the supernatural world... So two years ago, the whole thing about you being a vampire was true, but I didn't believe it huh," I say to Damon as we're sitting on the couch in the grand room.

"Well sorta. I drank your blood, fed you mine, then compelled you to forget," Damon explained loosely.

"So basically I was your personal blood bag," I said, fake smiling at Damon as he nodded. "Well, I bite now so I wouldn't try anything if I were you."

"Huh?" Damon looks at me confused before we hear a knock at the door.

Damon gets up from the couch and opens the door. I follow closely behind. When he opens the door I see a tall brown-haired guy standing in the doorway for a brief second before Damon blocks my view.

"I need to talk to you" I hear the guy say.

"And why do I need to talk to you?" Damon responds and I roll my eyes at his dickishness, as he tries to close the door on the other guy.

"Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse. He's not a werewolf yet."

"Wow, fascinating. Not enough." Damon says not impressed and tries to close the door again.

"I'm not sure what you have gotten yourself into this time but maybe you should listen to him," I say but Damon ignores my comment.

"But Mason Lockwood is and he's looking for a moonstone, a special rock connected to the werewolf legend. That's why I'm here." The guy says trying to convince Damon to give him his full attention.

"Wait, a moonstone? I've heard about it somewhere" I say trying to remember where I heard it from.

"I know where it is." the guy responds.

“And you're bringing me this why?" Damon questions.

"This actually sounds important. You should stop being a dick and listen, Damon. Especially if it involves the moonstone, there’s something important about it. I just can’t remember," I say sternly.

“And why do you seem to know so much about this moonstone, Athena?" Damon questions me while keeping eye contact with the guy on the porch.

"Wait are you Athena Dumont?" The other guy asks me.

"Yeh, why?"

"I'm Jeremy Gilbert, you may not remember but you were best friends with my sister before you moved away." He says as I think about it.

I was about to say something before Damon interrupted me "What's your sister say about this little discovery, anyways?" Damon questions Jeremy, but no response is given. "Oh, you haven't told her, have you?"

"Well, Elena doesn't want me getting involved in all this," Jeremy says sighing.

"And you're a Gilbert and you just can't help yourself. Wow. Your search for life's purpose is as obvious as it is tragic." Damon says. I roll my eyes at his dumb comment.

"You going to let me in or not?" Jeremy asks. I see Damon hesitate and I shove my way in to open the door.

I'm not sure why, but I'm interested in whatever trouble Damon has gotten himself in. But in all honesty, I am glad that I could possibly make some new friends here. Well, new old friends, I guess. Maybe even help them solve this little problem they have, whatever it is.

I see a blonde girl walk from what I assume is the kitchen, with a silver tray in hand, stocked full of food. She spots me sitting in the great room with Jeremy. "Hi, I'm Athena. I just moved into town and an old friend of Damon's" I say to her smiling.

"I'm Caroline, your name sounds familiar. Have we met before or something?" She responds questioningly.

"She's Athena Dumont, an old friend of yours, Bonnie and Elena's when you guys were young. Oh, and she's a founding family member" Jeremy says before I can respond.

"Oh my god, I remember. You just moved away when we were only like five years old. But how do you know that Jeremy?" Caroline responds.

"I just saw some old photos of you guys not too long ago," Jeremy explains.

"Well, there's this masquerade ball happening tomorrow and you should totally come and meet everyone else," Caroline says before she heads off to some other part of the house.

I can't help but shake that everyone else remembers who I am, yet I don't. It's almost like my memories of them were purged from my mind. I keep trying to jog my memory until my thoughts are interrupted by someone walking in the door with a box in hand. He's a little older, maybe around Damon's age when he became a vampire.

"What are you doing here?" He asks Jeremy.

"Helping Damon. I'm the one who found out about the moonstone." Jeremy responds as the man looks at Damon.

"Does Elena know you're here?"

"Not exactly," Jeremy says, as the man looks at me.

"Hi, I'm Athena. I was just here when this was all unveiled." I say the man looks at me slightly confused at why I'm here. "If you're worried that all of this shouldn't be said in front of me. I'm an old friend of Damon's. And I've heard of the moonstone, so I thought that I may be of some help. If that's ok." I say picking up on his cautiousness.

"I'm Alaric, and if you're up for getting caught in all this. Then, you're more than welcome to stay and help." He says in response and sets down the box he's holding.

"What you got?" Damon says breaking the silence and starts to go through the box and picks up a book.

"This is Isobel research from Duke. Her assistant sent it to me." Alaric says

"Mmm, Vanessa. The hottie." I roll my eyes at Damon's comment and bump my elbow on his side. He looks at me with a confused look and I just give him a look of why.

"Vanessa, yes. Now, do you remember the old Aztec curse she told us about?"

"Sun and the moon, blah blah blah blah blah."

"An Aztec curse? Cool." Jeremy says slightly excitedly.

"Yeah, supposedly vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a shaman put a curse on them to limit their power. Since then, werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun." Alaric explains as Damon shows off his daylight ring, "Most of them, anyway."

"It sucks," I say in response to the werewolf side of the curse.

"Wait am I missing something, here? How exactly do you know so much about the supernatural world?" Damon says looking at me questioningly.

"Yeh that comment about me biting, I'm a werewolf now. How did you not catch onto that? And the fact that I'm a Dumont." I say defensively and a bit upset that he can’t pick up on a hint.

“I'm sorry I didn't attend Mystic Falls supernatural People 101 " He responds sarcastically and I just roll my eyes again.

"Well, if I could offer a piece of information. I do know that according to the legend, my wolf side, like every other werewolf, is sealed with the moonstone," I say and Alaric nods and pulls out some sort of map.

"What do you mean sealed?" Jeremy questions as he looks at the map.

"It's a witch thing, whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse," Damon says from across the room.

"Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse," Alaric says in response.

"If we start believing in some supernatural witchy-woo legend from a picture book, we're idiots. Who has the stone now?" Damon says, sounding slightly more intrigued.

"Tyler" Jeremy responds to his question

"Can you get it?" I ask Jeremy even though I really have no clue what's going on.

"Yeah."

"See, now your life has purpose," Damon says dickishly.

"Shut up Damon. I can help if you'd like" I sigh and Jeremy just looks at me nodding.

"This has nothing to do with you," Damon says with a little harshness in his voice, but I ignore his comment.

"So, you do believe the curse?" Jeremy asks.

"It's the same book that says a werewolf bite kills a vampire. Ignoring it would make me an even bigger idiot. Let's go." Damon says, finishing his drink. I follow him and Jeremy out the door.

We make our way over to a mansion where it looks like they're holding the masquerade ball Caroline told me about. Damon, Jeremy and I walk in, I follow behind Damon who walks up to a brunette girl, but I stay at a distance being respectful of their conversation.

"Looking for my baby bro. Speaking of, would you tell yours to stop following me around?" Damon says slightly louder. I assume this girl is Elena Gilbert. Damon then just walks past me and outside. I just stand in the room until I hear my name.

"Anyways, Elena, this is Athena Dumont, from our childhood. She just moved back in." Jeremy says as I walk up to the siblings.

"Hi, forgive me, but honestly I don't remember anyone from here, even though everyone remembers me. But it's really nice to meet you." I say nervously.

"Well, I'm Elena. It's nice to meet you too." She says smiling as Jeremy walks away leaving us alone.

"So, I noticed that you walked in with Damon. You should really watch out for him" Elena says, I offer to help her and she passes me some masks to sort

"Yeh, I know. We're old friends. He tried to deter me from this whole situation you guys are in. Which in all honesty I still don't have the full picture. But he couldn't stop me since I have some helpful info." I say and chuckle.

"Well, it'll be nice to have another person around. But, I wouldn't recommend sticking around." Elena says coldly.

"Well, I'd be more than glad to help with whatever you guys need. I've heard about this curse and honestly, I have a feeling that I need to figure it out." I respond.

"In that case, you should probably meet everyone else." She says putting the masks down and gesturing to follow her outside.

We walk down into all the chaos of the outside set up. Elena first takes me to the guy named Matt I met earlier and a brown-haired guy. They were in the middle of a slightly heated conversation but Elena didn't hesitate to interrupt.

"Hey guys, this is Athena. Athena this is Matt and Tyler" She says pointing to the blonde and then the brunette.

"Matt and I actually met earlier, I went to apply to the Mystic Grill," I say, turning to Elena.

"It's nice to meet you," Tyler says looking at me up and down. Elena was then called over by someone and Matt just walked off, leaving me alone with Tyler. Or so I thought.

"Hey man," Jeremy says walking over to Tyler and me. They started talking about the moonstone and I could sense that Tyler was uneasy about the fact that I was standing there. I look up to see Damon and another man standing next to him, so I decided to walk up to them.

"And who might this be," I say to Damon, referring to the other man.

"This is my lovely baby bro, Stefan," Damon says, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you not going to introduce me to your friend Damon?" Stefan questions looking at Damon.

Damon starts to open his mouth before I interrupt, "I am an old friend of Damon's who just moved back into town. I'm Athena Dumont." I say holding my hand out to Stefan. I see Stefan's face light up slightly at the mention of my last name as he shakes my hand.

"Well, we are busy. I will come and get you later" Damon says walking away and Stefan following behind.

I see Elena sit down on the stairs with a concerned face. I walk over to her feeling awkward just standing here. "Everything alright?" I say sitting next to her.

"Sorta. Stefan, Damon's brother. Isn't filling me in on what's going on." she says upset.

"I'm sure he will. Just give it a moment. He did just walk off with Damon a few minutes ago." I say looking at her, noticing she's growing impatient. She looks at her phone and starts to call Stefan.

After a while, I go to find Damon. When I find him he's in the front of the house with his brother and another girl. Who I assumed was a witch considering the concentration in her face and the man clutching his head. Damon knees the man in the face and then takes notice of me standing in the doorway. The two brothers take the man and put them in the back of the Jeep.

"Are you just gonna stand there or get in?" Damon says looking at me and gesturing for me to get in the Jeep with him.

"I guess I'm coming," I say and hop in the back seat.

We drive back to the Salvatore house, once we arrive Damon picks up the man and carries him into the house as the girl and I follow behind him.

"I hate that this is the way we meet. But I'm Athena." I say to her.

"My name is Bonnie. I'm sure you've guessed it but I'm the local witch." She says with a little sarcasm in the word "local".

We walk over to Damon, I look at the books on the shelves as Damon and Bonnie talk. I hear chains being pulled out of the bag that Bonnie had brought in, "You wanna make yourself useful and help me, Athena," Damon says looking up at me. I sigh and walk over and grab a chain from him.

"Whoa. Looks like this guy's used to being tied up" Bonnie says. I look up to Damon smirking at me, knowing that he's thinking about our past together. I just roll my eyes at him as I help tie the guy to the chair.

"So is this the Mason Lockwood guy. You and Jeremy were talking about?" I say looking between Bonnie and Damon.

"Yup and we need him to give up the moonstone. What are you doing?" He says looking at Bonnie.

"You're looking for the moonstone like you just said. I'm just trying to help" Bonnie says, taking Mason's head in her hands. Damon responds with multiple requests as Bonnie starts to search his mind.

"Somewhere small. dark. There's water." Bonnie describes.

"Like a sewer?" I ask trying to help her description

"No. Like a well? That can't be right. Yeah. It's a well."

"Why would it be in a well?" Damon questions

"I told you, I only get what I get." She says with some haste, looking at Damon. Then Mason wakes up and grabs Bonnie's arm. My immediate response was to grab Mason's hand to make him let go. She rushes out of the room.

"Hey, judgey! Thank you," Damon says to Bonnie. I look at him in surprise when he said that. I stay in the room with them, curious about this moonstone business. I sit down on one of the couches as Damon starts to interrogate Mason or at least attempt to.

I sit on the couch watching Damon's interrogation technique. Mason struggles in the chair we chained him to and ends up falling backward as Damon heats up the metal poker in the fire. He sticks the poker into Mason's upper right chest.

"You can hurt -- good to know. I was afraid you were gonna be some beast with no affinity for pain." He says nonchalantly.

I start to open my mouth but Damon stops me, "If you don't approve, you can leave." He says looking at me. I just sit back and stay quiet.

Damon starts to question Mason about this Katherine girl but gets no answer. This goes on for some time but Damon still wasn't successful. I then see Jeremy walk into the room with a box in hand. I walk over to the box he had just set down and start to take some of the stuff out as Damon makes some whiny comments about Jeremy being here. I stop when I notice a familiar dried herb.

"What is it?" Damon asks, noticing my hesitation.

"I did a search on my phone. It's a plant. Aconitum Vulparia. It grows in the mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. Commonly known as aconite, blue rocket, and" Jeremy starts to explain handing the herb to Damon.

"Wolfsbane," I say interrupting Jeremy, as he looks at me confused.

"What else did you read?" Damon asks looking at Jeremy.

"Well, every source says something different. One myth says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus. Another one says that it protects people and another one says, well, it's toxic." Jeremy explains as Mason groans and I tense up.

"I'm guessing toxic," Damon says, noticing me tensing up and hearing Mason groan.

"You guessed right," I say, touching my finger to the herb, displaying its ability to harm werewolves. I inhale sharply and hold my finger from the pain. I see Jeremy's face light up as he comes to the realization that I'm a werewolf.

Damon goes back to interrogate Mason, using his new toy. I wince and turn away when the wolfsbane is shoved into his mouth. It's like I could almost feel the burning sensation in my own throat that Mason was experiencing. Even with the wolfsbane, Damon was unsuccessful. After multiple failed attempts at getting answers, Jeremy interrupts and tells Damon that maybe he should stop. He ignores the comment and threatens to take Mason's eyes. This causes Mason to finally give him answers to the many questions. Once Mason stops giving answers, I could see in  Damon’s eyes that he wanted to kill him, I guess to cover his tracks.

Damon tries to get rid of Jeremy, knowing that he disapproves of the actions that are about to take place. But Jeremy just stands his ground and Mason pleads to him in order to keep Tyler safe. I walk around the chair pushing Damon out of the way.

"I may not know you or  Tyler that well. But I assure you I won't let that happen. I know what the curse does to a person, I'm a werewolf. And I would never wish the curse on anyone" I say looking at Mason. I could feel the annoyance radiating off Damon.

"You should go, Jeremy," Damon says, not even really responding to what I said.

"I'm staying, Damon. He's had enough." Jeremy says and I stand up between Damon and Mason. 

The next thing I know Damon super speeds towards Jeremy, slamming him into the couch, "You wanted to be a part of this? Well, here it is! Kill or be killed! The guy is a werewolf; he'd kill me the first chance he got! So, you suck it up or leave." He says with a menacing look in his face and holding Jermy by the throat.

"Damon! Stop." I say trying to stop him from killing Jeremy. The only response I get back is wolfsbane being slammed onto my arm. He only lets go of both Jeremy and me, after I let out a gut-wrenching scream from the pain. Jeremy gets up from the couch after catching his breath and leaves, I follow behind just glaring at Damon.

Once we make it to the hall Jeremy stops and turns around, " Are you ok?" He asks, bringing my arm up to look at the burn mark left by the wolfsbane.

"Yeh, it'll heal" I respond sighing and looking at the burn starting to disappear.

I sit in the great room, not wanting to see Damon, but also not wanting to go back to my unfurnished home just yet. After a few minutes, Stefan walks into the house, with what I assumed was the moonstone, in hand.

"You ok? What did my brother do this time." He asks me with slight concern in his voice.

"Yeh, he used his leverage for Mason on me. Wolfsbane. I'm fine now. He was just riled up, I'm sure he's just about done now." I say looking over towards the library.

"Well let’s  go see what he's up to now?" Stefan says walking up to the couch, offering his hand to help me up.

We walk to the library and are greeted with Damon rolling up Mason's dead body in the blanket he placed down earlier. I stop at the top small set of stairs while Stefan goes to show Damon the moonstone. I listen to their little brotherly banter and watch as Damon dials a number on Mason's phone. It ends up being Katherine. From what I gathered, I could tell that they used to be romantically involved with one another and possibly Stefan too from his physical responses. A few hours later, I leave Stephan in the library to think and Damon follows behind me into the great room.

"Well, I'm going home," I say turning to Damon

"Or you could stay here," Damon says stepping closer to me with a smirk on his face. "Now I'm sure that your house is empty since you just moved in. Getting rid of all that old furniture and all. And I'm sure you'd rather sleep in a bed than on a couch."

I sigh and look to the side, "Fine, I haven't even paid the power and heating bill yet anyways. Luckily when I came over my bag was filled with new clothes I had bought. I'll go find a room" I say looking back up at his sculpted face.

"Orrrrrrr you could stay in mine," Damon says stepping even closer, making our bodies almost touch.

"After what you did to me today, I don't think so. Not to mention, it kind of hurt me when you left me two years ago." I say referring to when he left me two years ago.

"I'm sorry, it was because I was caught up in the moment," he says with an apologetic voice.

"That's what you always say" I respond as Damon steps away. I notice that he does so because we're interrupted by a crying Elena rushing out.

Damon turns to her, "Elena. I riled Katherine up. I - I wasn't thinking. I didn't think." He says to her just before she opens the door.

"It doesn't matter, Damon. She won. Katherine won." Elena says with teary eyes, before walking out.

Damon looks back at me with an upset face, I had never seen him like this before. He must really care for these people, more care than he's ever shown me at least. I take a deep breath, grab my bag and head upstairs, leaving him alone in the great room. Once I got upstairs, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to try to reconnect with Damon, so I looked for his room.

"You need help choosing a room?" I hear Stefan say walking up behind me.

"Ummm....I'm not sure if Damon told you this but we used to be involved with one another. I know it's probably a mistake and I’m gonna regret it, but I thought that maybe we could possibly reconnect. So I'm looking for his room. That and I don't think he's gonna give me any other choice." I say, half regretting what I just told him.

"It's the one on the end," He says pointing to the end of the corridor.

"Thanks," I say and give him a hug, noticing that he's upset. He hugs me back.

When I walk into Damon's room I notice how big it is, including the ensuite bathroom. I set my stuff down by the dresser. I look up and notice a small familiar box sitting on the dresser. I open it up to find the moon-shaped necklace I lost when I was with him. It was a necklace that was given to me by my parents, at least I think so, I've had it for as long as I can remember.

I set it back down, start to undress and hop into the shower. It felt nice to clean myself off after today and gave myself time to think about what I've gotten myself into. When I finished showering and getting dressed to sleep, I was greeted by a shirtless Damon standing by the dresser.

"I see that you took my offer," He says, continuing to rifle through his clothes in the dresser.

"I don't think you'd take no for an answer," I say walking over to him, he chuckles at my comment. I pick up the box that contained my necklace, "I thought I lost this forever" I say opening it up.

"I found it on some other girl. Of course, knowing it was yours and that it means a lot to you. I ripped it off her neck. You were already out of town before I could give it back to you. May I?" He says picking it up. I turn around allowing him to put the necklace around my neck.

"Thank you," I said quietly, turning to face him, he gives me a little smile as he stares intently into my eyes.

Soon enough, I'm wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his soft ones. He hesitates at first but gives in. He picks me up allowing me to wrap my legs around his waist. He super speeds us over to his bed and starts to undress me, feeling every inch of my body.

A/N: Here is the first chapter! I know it may be a bit messy, but I wanted to introduce to Athena to all/most of the characters pretty fast, considering that this episode also allowed it. I’m also still trying to figure out how I want to write since there is a lot of characters and dialogue in TVD. I hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think. Any advice would great as well! :)

[inklingleesquidly]

The Wonderful Splatwoon: Eilogue

The final chapter of the series. I said to myself that I would make it when The Wonderful 101 received a representative in Super Smash Bros or got a modern remaster.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/platinumgames/the-wonderful-101-remastered?ref=checkout_rewards_page

I’m so excited about this, I pledged to the Wonderful Art tier! Please do feel free to pledge as well, or buy the game when they release it; you won’t regret enjoying one of my favorite action games of all time! And thank you for enjoying the Squidlys time as super heroes! Hope to do more with them in the future 

Lee and Janine star as Wonder Inkling, the ink-tastic mom and son duo charged with defending Inkopolis from a mysterious alien invasion. Using ancient technology containing the heroic souls and power of over 100 wonderful heroes, this super powered duo saves the day! 

Word Count: 1,324 words

After a period of unrest and attacks on the bustling megalopolis of Inkopolis, its citizenry strived to return to normalcy. A picture of what the city hoped to be lied in the Finjuku district. There, at the Seaside Hill High private academy, students had their lessons as they always did.  

Breaking away from the mundanity of being in a stuffy Biology lab, a class was taking place in an outdoor pavilion on the schoolgrounds. The instructor energetically proceeded through his presentation. “--And if you’ll watch carefully, you’ll see the interesting reaction this alga has to this airborne chemical mixture.”

SHEEEOOOOOO—KABOOM!

An ear-piercing whine sliced through the air, followed by an earth rattling explosion miles-off in the distance. Those who managed to recover from the scare of the blast could look up to see the sky being peppered by mysterious midair machinery. The aliens were attacking!

Panic and chaotic confusion immediately set in between students and teachers alike. The more rational educators rushed into action, herding everyone into the school’s main building. In the time since the alien’s arrival, many facilities in the city had received several structural reinforcements to make them safe sanctuaries. Seaside Hill High had been designated one of those safe zones.

The teacher heading the Biology class held one of the armored steel doors open as lines of teens haphazardly filed in. “Single file! Don’t shove! Remember the emergency drills!” He shouted over all the screeching, gently pushing on the shoulder of the occasional passer to keep the way uncongested. “If your classes aren’t on the ground floor then stick together and find a room to hunker down in.” While the educators did their best to keep order, there was no fighting the alarmed disarray.

Soon, the straggling students all managed to seek safety—all except for one who lagged behind even the last teachers rushing in.

“Mr. Squidtalto, you have to get inside!”

“What? Lee?” The Science instructor found one of his students hadn’t taken refuge. Lee Squidly. “What are you still doing out? We have to lockdown the school.” He hurriedly urged.

Lee mysteriously refused. “I know, so you have to get in now!” Confused, but still anxious, Mr. Squidtalto tried to urge him in. In the end, he seemed to concede, “Okay, okay, I’ll go—SIR, LOOK, IT’S AN ALIEN!” He yelped, pointing away.

“WHAT? WHERE?” The teacher followed his direction, only for the Inkling sophomore to shove him in and slam the heavy door closed. Over the sound of the science instructor’s pleading shouts, Lee heard the clangoring noise of the electronic locks safely sealing everyone inside.

With that, the campus was left completely and utterly deserted. The only sign of life left as the alien threat loomed ever closer was Lee. Nobody could see, and nobody would know about the always timid, soft spoken young man.  

Glasses clutched in his hand, head raised, shoulders cocked back, he boldly looked toward the oncoming assault. Everybody is safe, I can go stop this.

The brave Inkling didn’t get far out of the school courtyard before he was suddenly ambushed. Two hulking monstrous machines belonging to the alien army dropped directly in front of his path. His reflex was to raise his fists, ready for a fight, only to be swooped upon by a pair of aviary automatons. Surrounded on all sides; even the quickest of quick thinking wouldn’t be able to save him.  

The extraterrestrial weapons trained their sights on him. Then, without warning, they fired beams of raw energy directly at him; energy so blisteringly hot they would disintegrate him right on the spot.

Or did they?

If the machines could feel surprise, they would as there was no anticipating their target leaping high into the air, and out of the way of their attack. One of them couldn’t react in time to being pelted by a rapid blasting of ink. As it fell to the counterattack, the rest of them seemed to stare forward, finding the child they attacked had transformed.

Just before the beams struck him, Lee activated his secret weapon. Pinned to his ear was a most wonderful device; one psychically linked to his mind that triggered in one-one billionths of a micro-instant. At the call of “WONDER EYES INKLING!” he donned an all-too familiar burning red costume, only something was distinctly different.

His stance, and the way he gripped a pair of Inkopolis Defense Force issued .96 Gal ink shooters was so much more powerful than ever before. As the one machine began to succumb to the ink spreading through its system, Lee made a declaration.

“I’m a special combat agent of the Inkopolis Defense Force planetary secret service, secret weapon designated for combating extraterrestrial invasion.” As he spoke, the mech fell to its side. “Codename: Wonder Inkling... Junior!” Just as he finished, the robot punctuated his introduction by exploding in a mighty fireball.

Without sparing a moment for their fallen comrade, the three remaining automatons launched another assault.

The empowered boy dodged with great agility, retaliating with super charged shots from his dual weapons. As they failed to hit him and began to succumb to his ink shots, he proposed diplomatically. “Lay down your arms invaders, come peacefully and we won't have to use force!”

One of them remained standing. Camouflaged just long enough by the explosions of its fellow robotic brethren, it moved to attack Lee.

In a flash, it was halted by a pink streak of light delivering a powerful punch.  The first hit sent the machine reeling off its feet, followed by a speedy second jab. The strike smashed clean through its metallic carapace, annihilating it just like the rest.

The new arrival was clothed in the same super powered exoskeleton and identity concealing mask as Lee. Only they were colored in flashy, passionate pink. The sight of the suddenly appearing costumed entity made Lee clench his fists tight against his sides and laugh. “Heh-eh, Mom, you made it!” Watching her turn to face him with a skeptical glance made him suddenly remember their decorum. He cleared his throat, straightened his posture, and saluted. “uh-ah-he-hum, thank you for coming, Wonderful One leading the Inkopolis Defense Force Field Operations, codename: Wonder Inkling!”

Her expression softened, and she couldn’t help but giggle. His abrupt eagerness to adopt this superhero persona he created was so charming. “Ara ara, oh honey, it’s so cute when you act like such a little hero!” A mighty clank sounded as she clapped her shining golden colored gauntlets together.

“Tsk, Mom…” He muttered at her fawning.

Just then, a serious, commanding voice buzzed over their communicating radios. “Come in Wonder Inkling Senior and Junior; the aliens are attacking the city. They’re converging on Inkopolis Tower. Make your way to Shee-Booyah as soon as possible.”

It was such a feat that in an instant, the peaceful city could be transformed into a warzone. I.D.F. jets rumbled across the sky while fights with earthbound enemies could be seen on the way to the center of town.

“Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us.”   Janine punched her open hand with her fist. “Ready to go? Partner?”

Standing at her side, Lee readied his pair of super shooters. “I’m right here, ready for anything!” Thinking back; recalling the hours upon days upon weeks of convincing it took to get her to reconsider her decision of ending their ties to the Inkopolis Defense Force and fighting the invaders. Now, they were back in action.

Further fueled by his vigor, the maternal woman said, “That’s my boy. Wonder Inkling, and Wonder Inkling Jr!”  

She held out her hand, to which Lee leapt up to smack his own against hers. With their energies combined, the two merged together into the towering form of Unite Kraken.

With their wonderful power surging through their invincible transformation, the Squidly family yelled together. “Team, unite up!” and they charged into battle.

THE END....?

[harttohartforever-blog]

The Red Strokes

"Many of you were here last year when I sang a song to Jonathan for our anniversary. Well, he insisted on a song this year as well. Last year his gift to me was a very special painting. Darling, here is my painting for you." Jennifer nodded at the orchestra and took a deep breath.

 "Moonlight on canvas, midnight and wine

two shadows starting to softly combine

The picture they're painting is one of the heart

And to those who have seen it

it's a true work of art

Oh, the red strokes, passions uncaged

thundering moments of tenderness rage

Oh the red strokes, tempered and strong

burning the night like the dawn

Steam on the window, salt in a kiss

two hearts have never pounded like this

Inspired by a vision

that they can't command

erasing the borders

with each brush of a hand

Oh, the red strokes, passions uncaged

Thundering moments of tenderness rage

Oh, the red strokes, fearlessly drawn

burning the night like the dawn

The blues will be blue and the jealousies green

but when love picks its shade

it demands to be seen

Oh, the red strokes, passions uncaged

Thundering moments of tenderness rage

Oh, the red strokes, fearlessly drawn

burning the night like the dawn

Steam on a window, salt in a kiss

two hearts have never pounded like this

 Happy anniversary, Darling."

 The applause was loud in the ballroom Jonathan had reserved for the anniversary party this year. Jennifer wouldn't tell him what she planned to sing but he pulled out all the stops, booking the Legacy Ballroom and an orchestra to accompany her and provide music for dancing.

 The room was filled with men in either black tie or Naval uniforms, the ladies in elegant ballgowns. Jennifer's peach-colored chiffon stood out among the sea of mostly black dresses, its strapless bodice thickly paved with crystals. Around her neck, she wore his gift to her this year, a necklace of perfectly matched, cultured pearls with a large, antique, cushion-cut diamond enhancer lying against her sternum, its banked fire flashing and throwing sparks as she moved.

 The orchestra had played during the cocktail hour, and then, once Jennifer's song was through, they played unobtrusively throughout the dinner service as the waiters passed grilled duck breast and shrimp skewers. At nine the orchestra played the intro to their final song, the Sweetheart's Dance, just for the Harts alone. Jonathan led her onto the dance floor to the first strains of Once Upon A Dream. After he had waltzed her around and around for about two minutes alone the deejay called for all the married couples to join them on the dance floor. When the last notes faded the deejay took over to provide plenty of dance music. They danced the evening away, Jennifer was twirled around the floor with seemingly every man at the party while Jonathan was much in demand as a competent partner, he knew how to make even the most amateur dancer feel like the belle of the ball.

 "I need to be alone with you." He told Jennifer when they finally had the chance to dance together again to a recording of the Glenn Miller Orchestra's performance of Sunrise Serenade. "That was quite a song you chose. I felt like I was making love to you through the whole thing."

 "That was the idea." She smiled radiantly as he waltzed her into a dip and then kissed her soundly on the way back up.

 "I think every man in here had the same thought."

 "Then maybe some of their wives will get as lucky as I'm going to get tonight."

 "What makes you so sure you are going to get lucky tonight?" His voice was a sensual growl that traveled from her ears straight to all the pleasure centers in her brain and she shivered delicately in his arms.

 "Experience," she answered tartly. "I can see it in your eyes. Right now you are wondering if we can slip away quietly like we did at our wedding reception. It's only too bad we have such a long ride home. I don't think Max is going to want to leave his poker game with the waitstaff quite so early."

 "It might be the best thing for him, before he loses all his money to them. Besides, it's not early Darling, it's past midnight. It's time for the carriage to turn back into a pumpkin."

 "That's Cinderella. Once Upon A Dream is from Sleeping Beauty."

 "Well, it's time I got my Beauty home and into bed."

 "That was the general idea."

 They cuddled in the backseat as Max piloted the big car across the 101 and then South on the 405. They could never drive the 405 without remembering the day they had found Freeway on the ramp. He was just a filthy bundle of fur but Jennifer had insisted they stop and rescue the little pup. Tonight, she had her arms around Jonathan's neck, her fingers in his hair and she had drunk enough champagne toasts that she was feeling no pain.

 The sticky August heat inland became cooler and they could smell the salt air coming off the ocean as Max turned onto Sunset Boulevard then up into the canyon. At this hour of the morning, there was almost no traffic and they made it home in about 35 minutes. Jonathan went to bring up a couple of brandies for a nightcap while Jennifer slipped upstairs to change into something more comfortable.

 "Why, Mr. Hart, are you trying to take advantage of me?" She asked when he walked into the bedroom with two crystal snifters of Remy Martin XO.

"I rather thought it was the other way around." He told her, clinking his balloon glass to hers. "After that song choice tonight I suspect you have designs on my virtue."

 "I don't want your virtue Darling, it's your vice I'm interested in," Jennifer looked delicious in a long, black silk nightgown that swirled around her ankles much the same as her ballgown had earlier. For him, dancing with her was always like an extension of their foreplay. After an evening of holding her close, or even watching her dance with others, seeing the way her dancer's body moved, he could hardly wait to be alone with her. She considered herself lucky that she had married a man who loved to dance, but before her, he hadn't cared about dancing at all.

 Jennifer had studied ballet and modern dance right up through college, and still took classes occasionally. The night they met he had taken her to the various night clubs of London and they danced the night away then too. He could waltz and foxtrot passably thanks to Max's insistence that he learn the skills expected of a gentleman, but he had never loved it until he danced with Jennifer. During their very brief engagement, he had taken a crash course in dancing, practicing every evening in order to keep up with her.

 Holding her tonight, feeling the heat from her skin radiating through the thin silk of her negligee and remembering how beautiful she looked singing just for him as though the ballroom full of people didn't exist, he felt again the enormity of his love for her. Jennifer had improved his life in every way, he would give her the sun and stars if she asked, dancing was such a simple request.

 "What was that you sang, about salt in a kiss?" He asked her, kissing that spot on her throat that always made her crazy. She threw her head back, encouraging his exploration of her soft skin before leading him to their big bed. She had her favorite sheets on the bed, the royal blue ones that flattered her pale, freckled skin, made of pure mulberry silk that was just as smooth and soft as satin but breathed so much better.

 On these hot, sticky summer nights the lightweight silk made sleeping bearable. They could leave the air conditioning turned off and throw the big windows open to the evening breezes. The smells of night-blooming jasmine and moonflowers drifted in with the sounds of the coyotes calling to each other in the canyon. Very rarely, they would hear the distant echo of a wolf howling, the eerie sound always filling Jennifer with a kind of beautiful sadness she could never put into words.

 Jonathan paused a split second from entering her, her legs wrapped around his hips, her body slick and aching for him, he saw her again like it was the first time. He was looking into her eyes as he moved in her with exquisite, agonizing slowness. Her pupils dilated and her breath stopped for a heartbeat when he, at last, filled her completely. His name on her lips was a plea as he moved back out with the same slow control until her body responded to him from that place beyond words, Her nails clawed at his back, her heels a drumbeat on his thighs, her muscles holding him tightly within her until he let go as well, filling her with everything that words could never convey.

 When he collapsed beside her, both of them breathing hard, she turned with him to hold him inside her a little longer. He was caught in her eyes just as surely as within her body. She was the center of his universe, the sun that kept everything spinning in rhythm. It sounded so corny even in his own mind to say that she completed him but that was exactly what she did. She complimented him, her strengths balancing his weaknesses, as he did for her. They fit together so perfectly that nothing could ever come between them or break them apart.

  Chapter Two

 "Jennifer? Can you come right away? I need your help." Beth sounded frantic and Jennifer looked blearily across Jonathan's body at the clock. 9:15. It had been nearly one-thirty when she and Jonathan had gotten in last night. And after three when they, at last, fell asleep in each other's arms. Between the many, many champagne toasts and the brandy they had shared at home, it felt like the party was still going on inside her head.

 "Of course, Beth. What's wrong?"

 "It's Gianna. I think she's been kidnapped."

 "We'll be there in an hour." Jennifer hung up the phone and shook Jonathan awake. They both dressed quickly and told Max they would be back later. The drive to Sherman Oaks took thirty minutes and then they were pulling through Beth and Cary's gate, parking behind Beth's sporty red SUV.

 "All right Beth. Why do you think something has happened to Gianna?" Jonathan asked when they had been shown into the Aldridge's living room.

 "We got a phone call. It was from her phone, but it was a man. He said they have Gianna. Not to call the police, and they want five million dollars transferred to a numbered account at Fidelity Bank of the Bahamas by four p.m. or they will kill her." Cary answered for his wife. He was much calmer than Beth. "What do you think, Jonathan? Should I pay it?"

 "We're not there yet. Let's start with the obvious. Did you call the school to see if Gianna is there? Maybe it's just a really bad prank." Jonathan spoke seriously, his mind racing. He and Cary had been friends since college. Jonathan had been the best man at his wedding, and he had a photo in his study of Jennifer dancing with a two-year-old Gianna at their own anniversary party five years later.

 "I called the school," Beth spoke up although her voice shook. "They said she never arrived."

 "Was she driving?" Jennifer asked suddenly. "OnStar should be able to track her car." Gianna had been so excited to get her license just a few months ago, Beth and Cary had given her a little Chevy Volt as a birthday gift.

 "No, she rode in with her friend Molly. I've already checked, she didn't make it to school either and her car wasn't equipped with a tracking device. Her parents are on their way over." Beth broke down in tears, Jennifer moving swiftly to hold the sobbing woman. She couldn't imagine what Beth must be going through. The Aldridges had married older, much as she and Jonathan had, but unlike the Harts, Beth and Cary had been blessed with a child. Gianna was the light of their lives.

 Just then there was another knock at the door and the housekeeper ushered in a younger couple. Chris and Maggie Malone were in their early thirties and despite living in Sherman Oaks they clearly were not as well off as the Aldridges. Unfortunately, they knew as well as Jonathan did what that likely meant if Gianna had truly been kidnapped. Molly was collateral damage, she had no value as a hostage, therefore a kidnapper would have little reason to keep her alive.

 "Why not check Gianna's GPS history? It might tell us something about where she has been recently." Jonathan suggested. The other two men followed him out to the garage where Gianna's little blue convertible was plugged in. Cary activated the touchscreen display and called up her GPS history. It showed her most frequently visiting the Westfield Mall with school in a distant second place.

 Chris Malone suggested driving over to the mall to see if anyone remembered the girls or saw anything suspicious recently but Jonathan took him aside and asked him to stay and help Cary see to the women. Privately he thought that canvassing the mall might be a good idea but he didn't want to risk Chris accidentally finding his own daughter's body. He and Jennifer could investigate the mall on their own.

 "Cary, you stay by the phone and call me immediately if you hear anything, anything at all. And Chris, why don't you and the ladies call around to the girl's friends and see if they know anything. Jennifer and I will check the mall and around the high school." Gianna and Molly attended Campbell Hall in Laurel Canyon where they were both starting their junior year.

 The mall had only been open for an hour or so when he and Jennifer started asking around, showing pictures of both girls. Several employees recalled seeing the girls around at various times, especially in the food court but no one could really identify when they had last seen them with any certainty. Jonathan and Jennifer were in the security office trying to convince the on-duty Captain to let them review security footage to see if there had been anyone following the girls recently when Jonathan's cell phone chirped.

 "Abe ... What? When? We're on our way now. I'll call you when we find out anything." He pocketed his phone and turned to the security officer. "Where is 2bella?"

 "That's in the east wing, on the first floor, it's that way." He pointed down the left side of the huge space and Jonathan took off at a run, Jennifer hot on his heels. "Gianna's credit card was just used at a store called 2bella a few minutes ago. I had Abe flag her card when I asked him to track her cell phone. Whoever has her card might still be in the area if we can get there fast enough." He panted, threading his way past early shoppers and small clots of track-suit-clad mall walkers.

 The clerk in the boutique remembered a group of high school aged girls who all seemed to be together but couldn't specify if Gianna or Molly had been part of the group. She did recall that they were talking about going to Sephora next setting Jonathan and Jennifer off running again. Sure enough, Sephora was filled with teens, one of whom was very familiar.

 "Uncle Jonathan, what are you doing here?" Gianna asked him as he tried to catch his breath. Jennifer was already dialing her phone as soon as she spotted Molly Malone in the crowd as well.

 "Cary, we've got them. They are safe. Yes, both of them. We don't have any information yet. We'll be headed back to you in a few minutes." She hung up the phone and turned her attention back to the girls.

 "We just decided to skip today, we didn't have any important classes, it's just review from last year. And I lost my phone somewhere. What's the big deal? I can't believe my dad sent you after me." Gianna looked embarrassed being singled out and Jennifer felt bad for her but Jonathan took the two girls aside for a quiet conversation after which both girls looked worried and quickly gathered their bags and sprinted towards the exit.

 "They are heading straight back to Cary's house. I told Molly her parents are waiting there as well. I'd better call and let them know the girls are safe ..."

 "I already did," Jennifer interrupted him. "But what happened?"

 "Thank you, Darling." They both began to move towards the exit as well. "It seems the whole pep squad decided to ditch their morning classes and meet here for some retail team building. They all met up in the food court and it was half an hour before Gianna noticed her phone was missing."

 "Just this once I wish she was a normal teenager obsessed with her phone, it might have saved a lot of worry if she had noticed it sooner."

Jennifer commented.

 "I don't think so, Darling. And I don't think Gianna lost her phone. It's too coincidental to think that a random stranger finds her phone and decides to stage a fake kidnapping AND just happens to call the wealthiest parents in the school. Someone knew what the girls were planning and took advantage of the circumstances. Will you drive back to Cary and Beth's, please? I need to speak to Abe again." Jonathan's brow was furrowed as he scrolled through his contacts.

 She was horrified by the idea that someone would be so cruel as to play a prank of this magnitude on her friends. The drive back to the Aldridge estate was a quiet one as Jonathan had a cryptic conversation with Hart Industries head of cybersecurity, Abe Solomon. She was very happy to see the girls climbing out of Molly's white Jeep in front of the Aldridge's house when she pulled up to the gate. All four parents came spilling through the front door crying happier tears now and hugging the girls.

 The Malones, in particular, couldn't seem to let go of their daughter, standing in a close huddle, rocking back and forth and crying on each other. Jennifer could empathize with the special fear they must have been grappling with. Cary and Beth had known that their daughter was most likely alive and unharmed, the Malone's didn't even have that comfort. Jonathan asked that all of the adults meet him in the living room when they were ready and led Jennifer inside.

 She would not normally presume to make requests of someone else's staff but today she sought out Beth's housekeeper, Ingrid, and asked her to make some strong coffee and sandwiches for everyone. She couldn't help but notice that Ingrid's eyes were red too. She had been the Aldridge's housekeeper since before Gianna was born and she had been praying for The Virgin to intercede and bring the girls home safe. Now she promised to have lunch on the table in half an hour and Jennifer returned to find the adults clustered in the living room listening to Jonathan explain his theory.

 "I don't think any of this was a coincidence. I believe someone knew that the girls were planning to skip school and followed them to the mall. I think they used the bustle of the group as cover to steal Gianna's phone and make that call to Beth."

 "But Jonathan, if that were true then whoever it was would have to know what I am worth. Why ask for so little?" Carrington Kendrick Aldridge had taken a modest hundred million dollar inheritance and turned it into a multi-billion dollar conglomerate of air and sea shipping companies.

 "Because their plan depended on you paying quickly. They needed to ask for an amount you could put together within a couple of hours. The longer it took the more chance there was that you would discover they didn't actually have Gianna, just her phone. The whole scheme would fall apart if she simply borrowed a friend's phone and called home for any reason.

 I have asked my corporate investigator to find me the location of Gianna's phone. The supposed kidnapper probably doesn't know Gianna is home. I'd like to play this out. Let him think that you are going to pay, that you are sick with worry over her safety. Drag it out as long as you can, give Abe time to do what he does."

 "Look, Jonathan, I'd like to catch the guy too, frankly I'd like to pummel his face into the pavement, but Gianna is home safe and the phone is easily replaceable. Why not just leave it at that?" Cary asked him.

 "Because if he is desperate enough to try a stunt like this he may not give up so easily. And next time he might not be bluffing. I don't think Gianna will really be out of danger until we figure out who it is and stop them for good."

 "You're right of course. I hadn't thought about that. All right, Jonathan. We'll play this your way. Tell us what you need us to do." Cary spoke but the others nodded their agreement.

 "For now just keep on as you have been. Call Gianna's phone and just keep them talking as long as you can. Ask to talk to Gianna, but don't push too hard when he refuses. Maybe talk about how distraught her mother is. Anything to keep the line open while Abe does what he needs to."

 "Jonathan, why not just use one of those 'find your friends' apps? Gianna must have one, all the kids do." Jennifer asked him. "It will tell you where the phone is in just a few seconds."

 "Abe will be able to get a much more precise location, he only needs to phone to be active for a minute or so and he can pinpoint the location to within a few feet." He nodded at Cary who dialed his daughter's phone number and performed as Jonathan suggested. He wasn't able to keep the faux kidnapper on the line for more than a minute but it was enough. Jonathan's phone chirped again and Abe was able to provide him with an address.

 Jonathan tried to convince Cary and Chris Malone to remain behind but they would not hear of it so he had to settle for asking the police to meet them there. Abe's information led them to a house about fifteen minutes from the Aldridge home in another upscale neighborhood. Unlike the homes surrounding it however, this house appeared to have fallen on hard times. The lawn was overgrown and turning brown in patches, and there were cobwebs accumulating in the corners of the wide porch. When Jonathan rang the bell they heard the sound of footsteps and then the door was opened by a teenage girl in a Campbell Hall school uniform with the inevitable Airpods in her ears. Cary introduced himself and asked if her parents were home.

 "Da-ad, it's some guy for you. I'll be in the kitchen if you ever get ready to take me to school." Just as she bounced out of the room a man came downstairs, preoccupied with shuffling through a stack of letters in his hand. When he glanced up and spotted the three men in his foyer he looked panicked and tried to bolt past them for the door. The crunching sound of his nose breaking seemed very loud when Cary punched him just as Jonathan launched himself into a flying tackle at his midsection. The man went down in a tangle of arms and legs and made no attempt to get up again.

 "Why did you do it?" Cary shouted at him.

 "I-I don't know what you're talking about. How did you get in here?" The fear in his eyes gave him away and Cary took out his phone. He punched the redial button and the unmistakable bubblegum sound of Taylor Swift came from the man's pocket. Chris grabbed him roughly and pulled a bedazzled blue cellphone from his pocket just as the police knocked at the front door.

 David Standish became very chatty once the handcuffs were on. He had made some bad stock investments recently and was being foreclosed on by his creditors. His daughter Alecia was on the cheerleading team with Gianna and Molly. When he overheard the plan to ditch school he saw an opportunity to get back on his feet. This morning he pretended to 'catch' Alecia and grounded her so she couldn't reveal him then it was a simple matter of getting close to the oblivious group of girls at the food court and stealing Gianna's phone when she put it down. He figured that since he asked for so little Cary would just pay him quickly and quietly rather than risk Gianna's safety.

 He claimed it wasn't really a crime since he didn't actually kidnap Gianna and was surprised when Officer Benton informed him that he did, in fact, commit attempted felony extortion as well as theft of the cell phone. Cary gave a disgusted snort when David started pleading for mercy on behalf of his family and begged him not to press charges. Chris coldly informed him that he was pressing charges even if Cary didn't and he should be grateful they weren't suing him for intentional infliction of emotional distress. That was the last they heard from Mr. Standish as the cops led him away. They returned to the Aldridge estate where Jonathan and Chris collected their respective women and left, the ladies promising to make plans to meet for lunch next week.

  At home, Jennifer suggested a soak in the hot tub since they left in such a hurry this morning. The spa was a fairly new addition. After fire destroyed the house in '94 they had made a few upgrades to the rebuild that it had been needing, including enlarging the small balcony off of the master bedroom and which now sported the jacuzzi set into the deck and a couple of comfortable chaises for sitting outside and enjoying the balmy southern California weather. With fifty acres of empty canyon wrapped around the house, they were free to forego swimwear, as they were doing now.

 "To anniversaries." Jonathan raised his wine glass, "May they never get boring."

 "That's what I love about you, Darling. I meet such interesting people. I think my next husband will be a nice, boring banker. Or an accountant."

 "Your next husband? Darling, you could never leave me, you love me. You can't live without me. You will never have this much fun with anyone else."

 "Jonathan?"

 "Yes, Darling."

 "Move your foot."

 "You love me. You know you love me. I know you know you love me."

 "All right, Darling. I love you. Now, would you rub my back for a minute please." She turned to rest her arms on the deck as Jonathan crossed the small space between them and positioned himself behind her. Her sleek blowout was completely undone in the steam and the tendrils that escaped her hair tie clung to her neck in damp curls that reminded him of how sweetly tousled she looked when they made love.

 She knew what he was thinking by the way his hands felt on her back, one minute kneading the knots from her neck and the next lightly running his fingers down her spine. She shifted slightly, moving closer to him and wedging him firmly against her butt, smiling as she felt the sudden jump in his attention. His gentle stroking continued along her sides, tracing an hourglass under the water, making her sigh and lay her head back onto his shoulder.

 "What were we talking about?" Her voice was already husky and sexy sounding and he could feel her moving against him. The bubbles added a new dimension to their playful banter.

 "How much you love me, how you could never, ever leave me." He reminded her, nudging even closer against her.

 "I could leave you if I wanted to." She insisted, even as she pressed back against him, her voice becoming ever more ragged in the flow of bubbles from the jets. It was an old routine between them. He could talk her into anything because she was helpless when he turned the full wattage of his seduction on her. But there was always a moment of apogee, when he became helpless in the face of her touch. If she was powerless to resist his words, he was just as paralyzed by her caress.

 The bathrobes draped over the nearest chaise were still warm from the late afternoon sun when Jonathan rose out of the jacuzzi and held the thick white terry out for her to step into. And when she went into her dressing room to select a negligee she found one already laid out on the blue velvet upholstery of her slipper chair.

 "How does he do that?" She mused under her breath. Jonathan had been with her all afternoon and yet here was one of her favorite negligees all ready for her to slip into. She was certain this was one task he would not entrust to Max, and yet how else could he have accomplished it?

 "Magic." She had been so deep in thought she hadn't noticed him approach and she jumped at his voice.

 "I'm sorry, what?"

 "I said 'magic'. You were wondering how I got your gown laid out without you noticing." He smirked at her look of confusion and held the garment in question out for her slip on. He was already wearing a pair of soft pajama pants in white silk with black piping trim. His favorite gold chain glinting at her from its nest in his chest hair. She was so glad he had never gone in for the current fad of waxing his chest. Smooth, hairless chests might be trendy but she had always found his hair to be sexy. She loved the rough feel of it under her fingers when they made love, the way he responded so quickly when she toyed with it through his open collars, and especially how the gold coin he wore on a chain looked resting in the thick brown nest.

 The coin had been a gift from her on their first Christmas together, after he had commented about having a lucky penny growing up in the orphanage. He had immediately taken the coin to the jewelers and had it strung on a chain so he could always have it close to his heart. In all the years they had been married he had never taken it off and seeing it there still moved her.

 The gown he had chosen for tonight matched his pants, of course, he frequently chose his own clothing to complement hers. She was wearing the same white silk but hers was styled like a traditional cheongsam, the formal high neck Chinese dress slit high up both sides. It was inked in black with watercolor peonies and a vertical line of calligraphy that translated to 'When I met you the sky burned, and so did I'. He had commissioned an artist to paint it especially for her the year she turned 50. That had been a difficult birthday for her since menopause had her questioning her sexuality and whether she was still desirable to him. The gown made her feel beautiful and sexy and very, very cherished.

 "It's not the gown," she had told him that night with happy tears in her eyes. "It's how you see me." It still remained one of her favorite gifts. The fabric hugged her slender body and whispered against her skin.

 "I want to give you all of the beautiful love words you deserve but your eyes steal all of my words away." He told her now.

 "Jonathan, you always say the sweetest things. I wish that I had taken the time to write down all of the beautiful things you tell me. If I had put them all in a book it would be a runaway bestseller. Finally, a definitive primer on how to understand the heart of a woman. But I never wrote them down and my only excuse is that I was too busy being in love with you."

 The big California king was an island unto itself when they met in the middle of it. Jonathan fingered the satin frogs that closed her gown from shoulder to hip, slipping them free one by one. Jennifer could feel the heat from his hands searing her skin. Tiny blooms of heat in every brush of his fingertips that spread like ripples on the water. The covers moved slightly and he glanced down to see Freeway squirming out from the blankets beside her.

 "Freeway, out. Scat now." He shooed the little dog off the bed and put him out. "Go find Max now, run along." His tone was loving but firm. He sounded like he was speaking to a naughty child and Freeway obeyed much like a child who knows there is no point in protesting any further.

 "Now, where were we?" He asked as soon as he returned to the big bed. "Oh yes, I remember. I believe I was right about here." His hands returned to the last couple of knots that held the fabric closed against her skin. "I love this negligee, Darling but it hides something I desperately need to get to." Her laughter was sweet and musical as he finally opened the last frog and the nightgown fell open. "Your neck." He added with a grin, kissing the hollow spot he revealed.

 "Darling, you're like a vampire. I should call you Count Dracula the way you are always biting my neck."

 "You love it. It's no use denying it now. It's far too late for that." He wasn't wrong. His lips on her throat never failed to excite her. "I'm trying to make up for all the years I should have been kissing you but I just hadn't met you yet."

 "I just want to feel your touch, your love. In your arms I am home." Jennifer wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him right up against her body. After his slow seduction in the hot tub, she was ready for him. She didn't want to wait any longer to have him inside her and she wrapped her long legs around his thighs to urge him forward.

 "I want to be as close to you as I can be. It's not just the way you touch me, I love the way you say my name, the way you make me believe in forevers. I never wanted to be helpless until you. Every day I willingly hand you the ability to destroy me and every day you show me why I am right to trust you. My life has changed for the better because I love you" Jennifer spoke simply but her words were all the more eloquent for her quiet delivery.

 "You have quite the way with beautiful words as well, Mrs. Hart. Being with you is special because I don't have to censor myself. I can say all of the ridiculously over the top things in my heart and know you won't think less of me."

 "We really are completely over the top, aren't we? But I wouldn't want it any other way"

 "We are. I love these times with you, when the whole world just fades away and all my walls come down. You speak directly to my heart." He kissed her again, long and slow and he was rewarded when he felt her tongue probing delicately, reaching out to sweep across his lower lip. He could taste the rich wine they had shared in the spa as well as a hint of her peppermint toothpaste. The setting sun cast red lines in the quiet room as their shadows merged into one.

 They moved together again like thousands of times before. Jennifer loved the way his five o'clock shadow rasped across her skin. Jonathan loved the sound of his name, spoken like a prayer, on her lips. And the way her kisses tasted like sunshine.

 "E poi, poi ci son io che in te vorrei semplicemente." Jonathan loved the way her voice sounded, low and sexy when she spoke love words in Italian. Or French, or Spanish, or any of the half-dozen languages she spoke. He waited now, knowing she would translate for him. "And then, then there is me who would simply lose myself in you."

 "Sometimes I look at you and wonder how I got to be so damn lucky." He told her. His hands were everywhere on her body, moving over her breasts, through her hair, stroking her arms. His weight on her as familiar to her as her own skin. She tugged lightly on his chest hair, fastening her lips around each of his nipples in turn, making him cry out her name as he spilled himself inside her.

 The late sun painted her body in wide strokes of red and dark shadowed places. Now it was his mouth that hovered over her breast and she arched her back up to him but he remained frustratingly out of reach.

 "Don't tease me, Jonathan, I need you."

 "Tell me." He demanded, his breath a torment on her skin, and a rush of heat flooding her body.

 "Kiss me." She pleaded. "Touch me, make my world go black." His hand drifted lower, finding the secret heart of her and stroking softly. He kissed her hard cinnamon-colored nipples, first one then the other, until her breath grew harsh and ragged.

 "Not yet." He whispered against her ear. Her body was primed and ready for him and it took only a slight shift to slip inside her again. Her heat was overwhelming as she trembled beneath him and he held himself up with one arm, keeping the other seated firmly between them, pressing against her in time with his movement inside her.

 "Not yet," he whispered again. Her body shook with need and he could see that she was nearly at the end of her control. He withdrew almost all the way from her. "Now." He growled in her ear, driving deeply into her and quickly lowering his head to feast again on her swollen nipples. Her screams echoed in the room and a small covey of songbirds in the garden took flight. As her body convulsed she gripped him tightly and he poured himself into her for a second time.

 He held her close as her quakes gradually subsided and her racing heart calmed. Thick tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she breathed great gulping sobs in his arms. Her head was thrown back, his arm holding her close, comforting and soothing her as only he could. He kissed her gently. It was perfect, delightful, as she tangled her tongue with his. It was so soft and gentle and he calmed her soul as he quieted her body. Tenderly, with the softest of touches.

 "I love you, Darling."

[solastia]

Tuqburni | 2

Pairing: Yoonmin x Reader 

Word Count: 6,968

Genre & Warnings: Angst, Fluff, explicit smut. Threesomes. 

Notes: Enjoy this smutfest before we delve back into angstville. 

Saturdays were usually your favorite. You’d sleep in until noon, wake up and make breakfast, then you and Yoongi would binge-watch Netflix for most of the day. Today, however, was your three-year anniversary, and usually, those involved him taking you out somewhere. Even though he didn’t seem to remember it, you continued your routine in the hopes that maybe he was just being sly and trying to spring something on you. 

So despite how tired you were from a night of tossing and turning, you get up to make breakfast. You make the usual heart-shaped pancakes complete with chocolate chips, strawberries, and whipped cream. You make his coffee using the special expensive beans that are only brought out for holidays because you guys had to special order it from some hipster place that grows and roasts them on site in limited batches. You even make his usual bowl of rice on the side, because even though rice isn’t usually paired with pancakes, he’s an old-fashioned soul that “feels weird” if he doesn’t start his day with rice. 

You hear the shower start up and assume it’s Jimin since Yoongi likes to have his coffee and breakfast first. You go ahead and start plating now that they were awake. 

You’re humming to yourself when Jimin finally wanders into the kitchen, no doubt following the smell, no sign of Yoongi behind him. His puffy and half asleep face was slightly covered by the hoodie he’d put on, and frankly, you’d find him adorable right now if you weren’t so determined to not like him. 

“Sit,” you order softly and place a plate in front of him. He quietly thanks you, smiling drowsily before he takes a bite. 

“Noona, these are amazing!” Jimin moans with a gravelly voice, thick from sleep. 

Ever a sucker for having your cooking complimented, you smile at him genuinely for the first time without thinking. Jimin freezes midbite, staring at your mouth. A strawberry falls off of his fork unheeded. You’re about to ask if you have something stuck in your teeth when Yoongi comes strolling into the kitchen, pecking the both of you on the cheek. 

“Good morning, loves.” As you observe him cheerily fixing his coffee, you realize that besides the odd phenomenon of him being fully aware before his caffeine, he’s totally showered and dressed like he’s ready to leave. 

“How many pancakes do you want, Yoongi?” You ask, setting his rice and a plate next to Jimin at the table. 

“Mmmm, as good as they smell, babe, I have to get going. We have a comeback starting in a couple weeks, and I can’t leave Namjoon alone in the studio.” He chuckles then drains his coffee quickly, leaving the cup in the sink. 

“Oh, noona, did you drop this?” Jimin asks, peering at the trashcan. He leans over and grabs the card you’d thrown in there, Yoongi’s name in bright red glitter glue. You always use glitter glue instead of markers. He hated how the glitter got everywhere, and you found it hilarious when he grumbled for days. 

You want to be furious at Jimin for not keeping his mouth shut, but you suppose it’s more your fault for waiting until after breakfast to take out the trash. Yoongi’s eyes widen when he spots the shiny red of his name. 

“Oh, did you write me a love letter, Princess?” He smirks and grabs the card from Jimin, who is glancing at you curiously, no doubt wondering why you’d suddenly gone tense. 

Yoongi opens the card and pulls out the two playoff tickets you’d had to promise so many favors to get. Your friend Baekhyun was as adorable as they come but was really a diabolical mastermind. He’d made you promise to treat him to pizza once a week for a month and petsit his puppy. However, the way he’d worded it made you unsure if he’d really meant his dog or his boyfriend. 

“Shit, babe! These were sold out! How did you get these?” Yoongi’s surprised gaze flitters between you and the tickets as you smile at him with smug pride. 

“I have my connections.” You say airily as you prepare coffee for yourself. 

Yoongi grins at you knowingly. “So, what do you have to do for Baek this time?” 

You huff at the loss of your mysterious cover. “Pizza for a month,” you moan dramatically as Yoongi chuckles. 

“Shit, babe this is amazing, but these are for today. I really have to finish at work, the last piece is due on Monday. You and Jiminie should go. I’m sad that I’ll miss out, but at least my babies can have a good time, yeah? Love you, gotta go.” Yoongi pecks the both of you on the lips and rushes out, leaving you staring at the tickets he’d left on the counter. He didn’t even seem to wonder why you’d gotten him the tickets. 

You sigh wearily and begin cleaning up, not much in the mood to sit down to eat anymore. Besides, you’d had your fair share of stolen strawberries while you’d cooked. It’s silent for a good two minutes until you hear Jimin clear his throat behind you. 

“Noona?” His voice is soft and unsure, and it makes you feel terrible. You were generally well known for being a kind person, and the fact that someone was too scared to even talk to you was an uncomfortable experience. Even if a small part of you reveled in the last shred of dominance you had over him. 

You turn to Jimin, your eyebrow raised in question. He clears his throat again and squares his shoulders like he’s going into battle. 

“I’d love to go with you if you’ll have me. We could make it our first real date because I think you’ll agree that ice cream thing that Yoongi sprung on us doesn’t count. I’ll even take you to dinner. Please?” His eyes are wide and pleading, his generous lips pursed in a slight pout. You wondered if there was a secret school that people like Jimin and Baekhyun attended. Pout perfection 101. It had even you melting momentarily. 

“It’s okay, Jimin. You don’t have to pretend to date me. I know what you’re here for.” You mumble, unable to stop yourself from allowing hurt to color your tone. 

“No, Noona, it’s...I know we don’t have to date each other too to be in this, but I think it would be good if we at least try? It would certainly make things easier, and it’s not like I don’t find you attractive.” His voice tapered off into an almost whisper towards the end, and you peek over to find him staring at his hands, his cheeks covered in a deep blush. 

You were slightly flattered, you couldn’t lie. Someone as ethereal as Jimin saying he found you attractive in any way would flatter anyone. 

“Jimin...I don’t know.” You know that what he’s saying makes sense if you want things to work out in the long run, but it seemed too hard. You were still so hurt, and in your head he was still the dastardly villain, twirling his evil mustache.

His head shot up, eyes filled with fierce determination. “Y/N, give me a chance. This is the first time we’ve really been able to talk one on one, something we should have done a long time ago, but still. I know this is all unfair, and that a good chunk of the blame lies on my door. Allow me to make an attempt at making things better for us. You’ve been trying so hard, and you do so much for us. But you’re unhappy, I can see that, and I don’t blame you. Yoongi seems to love you as much as he loves me, and I know it would break him if you became so unhappy you’d leave him. For Min Yoongi to love you so fiercely, you must be amazing, so I’d like the chance to learn for myself. Please? Please give me a chance to make you happy?”

You stare at Jimin in wonder, and for the first time, you see a glimpse of just what would make Yoongi fight to keep him. 

“I...” you chew your bottom lip in thought, observing Jimin’s eager expression. Finally, you sigh. “Fine, but you’re buying dessert too.” 

Jimin beams, his eye smile endearing. “Great! Let’s get ready, Noona.” He jumps up and places his dishes in the washer before running to the bedroom. 

He politely lets you shower first, which is a blessing because you’ve learned since he’d moved in that he takes forever to get ready. While he’s in there taking his turn, you get dressed, throwing on one of your favorite semicasual date outfits. A simple black dress accented by a silver leather jacket and matching pumps, as well as your fishnets. Yoongi loved your fishnets, and you wondered if Jimin would too. 

He wanders into the bedroom clad only in his tight boxer briefs as you’re finishing up your hair and makeup, freezing in the door as soon as he sees you. 

“Wow, you look incredible.” He says as his eyes travel your body up and down. You’re still a little weirded out by this sudden change, but you can’t help feeling a little smug. 

“I know,” you shrug, pretending to be unbothered, and go back to touching up your lashes. Jimin chuckles and grabs his clothes from the closet. 

You sneak a small peek, just out of curiosity since you’d never really allowed yourself to look at him in that way before. You had to admit he was built nicely. Surprisingly muscled and sharply toned despite the babyface. And even you had to admit the view you had of his ass as he bent over to pull on the black jeans he’d grabbed was fascinating. You quickly remind yourself that his ass is what your boyfriend has been buried in the past couple of nights, completely ignoring you, and that sobers you back up. You’re not doing this for any personal interest, just to try and be less unhappy. Maybe if Yoongi sees the two of you getting along, he’ll be more inclined to remember you’re a part of this too. 

You were so lost in your thoughts you slightly jump when Jimin suddenly speaks behind you. “Well, what do you think?” 

You turn from your vanity seat to see him smirking at you, his outfit a mirror to yours. Black shirt, black jeans, and a silver jacket with silver dress shoes. 

You can’t stop the giggle that escapes. “Couple outfits, are you serious?” 

“Hey, Y/N.” He says softly, his voice somehow still commanding in a way, enough to make you glance at his face in surprise. His expression is completely sober. “I am. Completely serious. I want to do this for real.” 

Your cheeks suddenly feel hot as a blush forms against your will. You flap your hands in a way that you hope conveys a lack of care. The fact that your heart fluttered a little was probably just due to lack of attention the past few weeks.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

The courtside seats were excellent; near enough to the players that you even smelled the sweat, and not too crowded. You felt terrible that Yoongi had to miss out because you knew he would have flipped out being this close. Not to mention that the seats were utterly wasted on you, someone who’s only knowledge of the sport came from what Yoongi yelled at the television. You spotted a few idols and actors you were familiar with in the crowd and exchanged friendly waves. 

“Noona, did you just wave to Gong Yoo?” Jimin asked in shock, his mouth next to your ear to be heard in the loud stadium. 

You smirk and lean in, trying not to focus on the fact that he wrapped his arm around your waist to bring you closer to his ear. “Yeah, he played a musician in his drama last year, and I was the one that worked with him. He still asks me out every time I see him, so don’t be surprised if he comes over here.”

Jimin’s eyebrows shoot up at that, and he quickly turns to glare in the man’s direction. You snort and poke his shoulder. 

“Stop glaring at Gong Yoo.” 

“Nope. Can’t let you become the Goblin’s bride. We all saw how that played out. Yoongi would kill me because you know he’s totally the grim reaper.” 

You throw your head back, unable to stop the genuine laughter at the image. Jimin glances back at you, smiling proudly for finally making you laugh. He opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by the appearance of a food vendor. He unwraps his arm from your waist and leans forward to talk to the man. You try not to dwell on the fact that your waist suddenly felt naked without Jimin wrapped around it. 

“You want anything, baby?” Jimin asked absentmindedly as he looked over the options. Your silence prompted him to turn around, and he took one glance at your surprised face and hastily apologized as he realized what he’d said. 

“I’m sorry, it just...ummm.” Jimin stuttered, his cheeks blazing. 

“It’s...uh, it’s okay. No biggie. I’ll take a hot dog, no onions, and a beer. Please.” You shyly answer. Jimin nods and quickly turns back to the vendor, no doubt hoping for the moment to be forgotten.  

The two of you dug into your food as you pretended to watch the game. Honestly, it was more exciting to watch live, but you still didn’t know enough to really follow. And it quickly became apparent after Jimin starting rooting for “guy with the green hair” that was on the opposing team that he didn’t know anything either. 

“I’m beginning to suspect that these tickets were as big a waste on you as they were on me. You don’t know anything about basketball, do you?” You snicker at Jimin’s overly dramatic sigh. 

“Only a little that I picked up from Yoongi. Otherwise, it just looks like a very complicated game of monkey in the middle. At least they all look very nice doing it.” 

“True,” you agree, as a passing player winks at the both of you. 

Suddenly the crowd around you is yelling and shaking your shoulder, pointing up to the ceiling. You look up to find a nightmare. You’d forgotten about this horrifying tradition at sports games. 

You and Jimin were on kiss cam. 

You inhale a shuddering breath and glance up at Jimin, who is already staring down at you, his gaze dark and terrifyingly determined. As usual, your mind had to go into overdrive, questioning everything. Was he determined because he really wanted this, or was that more of a preparing himself for something unpleasant kind of determination? 

A hand gently cupped your jaw, and suddenly Jimin was coming closer until his lips were on yours. You were surprised to find you didn’t hate it. His plush lips were so soft and gentle as he tentatively coaxed you to respond. He began to pull back, but you mindlessly followed and finally kissed him back, marveling at how your lips slotted together perfectly. He sucked your bottom lip into his mouth, nipping gently and grinning against your lips when you gasped. He quietly moaned against you, his heavy breathing as you finally moved apart awakening something in you. You stare at his lips that are wet and pinkened because of you, and you’re so confused as to why that makes you feel proud. 

Suddenly, you become aware of the roars of approval and remember where you’re at. The two of you soon sport matching blushes and Jimin grins at you sheepishly. As soon as the camera moves away and the people behind you stop poking your shoulders, Jimin leans over. 

“Wanna head out?” 

“Oh, God, please.” You plead, making Jimin laugh as he helps you up and escorts you out to the car. 

Once you’re on the road, he turns to you. “Still up for dinner?” 

“Yeah, I could eat. All I really had today was the hot dog.” 

“Can’t let my Noona starve! I know just the place.” 

Twenty minutes later he’s leading you into a tiny restaurant, following after a sweet old woman who greets Jimin like he’s her grandchild. After you tell him you don’t have any preferences, he places two orders of “his regular,” which turns out to be Kimchi Jjigae with pork belly and a plate of mandu. You take a bite and glance at him in surprise. 

“This is really good. Most places don’t make it sour enough for me, but this is perfect.” You explain, humming around your spoon. 

He grins, pushing some side dishes closer to you. “Yeah, she’s great. She learned a long time ago that I’m not into seafood, so she makes it with rice stock instead of anchovies. Same with the side dishes, all fish free.” 

“Aren’t you from Busan?” You ask, cocking an eyebrow.

He sighs theatrically, still smiling. “Yes, I’m a man from Busan that’s not into seafood. I’m a disgrace to my city. Please stone me and have me exiled.” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t go that far. Most you’ll get from me is a good shaking of my head in your direction. I’ve been with Yoongi too long. I’m much too lazy for a stoning,” you giggle. 

The rest of the dinner goes by smoothly, both of you too preoccupied with eating to make too much conversation, but when a topic arises, it’s not difficult. Jimin’s surprisingly easy to talk to, not to mention polite and kind. You’d never really noticed before since you’d been looking at him through a haze of bitterness and jealousy. Not that it had all magically went away. You’d just packed it into the back of your mind. Might as well enjoy your anniversary. 

Soon enough the two of you find yourselves walking along the street eating the crepes filled with ice cream he’d insisted on getting, despite your stomach near to bursting. You’re staring into the shop windows as you pass along, humming to yourself as you enjoy your treat when Jimin suddenly grasps your left hand and laces your fingers together. You glance up at him in shock before looking down at your combined hands. 

Jimin clears his throat and peeks at you with a little embarrassed smile, squeezing your hand lightly in a comforting way. 

“Soooo....” you mumble, trying to cut the tension a little. “Did you always want to be a dancer?” 

“Oh, well. Secretly, yeah. But for a long time, I planned to become a police officer because I figured that was more realistic.”

“You should have just become a stripper then. You could be a dancer and an officer whenever you wanted.” You chuckle mischievously.

Jimin cocks an eyebrow, grinning down at you in amusement. “Oh Noona, already thinking about lap dances? Feisty.” 

You choke on your own saliva, squeaking with indignation as Jimin laughs. 

“Shut up.” You groan. Jimin smiles at you happily and swings your arms back and forth as the two of you walked back to the car. 

“This was nice, Y/N. I’m glad this went so well. I'm serious when I say I want this to work. I know we didn’t start off well, but I’m hoping this is a sign we’ll be okay.” 

You sigh and buckle in, taking in Jimin’s seemingly genuine desire to include you. “I hope so too. I mean, everything is not going to be perfect all because of one night, Jimin. I’m still hurt, and yes, I’ll admit it, jealous and bitter. What we have going on here is weird, and I don’t even feel welcome in my own home half the time. However, you seem like you really are serious about making it work. I have just been so focused on making sure that Yoongi was happy that I forgot we’re supposed to be happy too. I promise to try harder.” 

“Let’s go home, Noona.” Jimin reaches over and grabs your hand, leaving a gentle kiss on the back of it. He grins cheekily then starts the car, humming as he drives home. 

You decide to take the time to check your phone. You power it up since you’d both shut your phones off during the basketball game and you’d just forgotten to turn it back on. You had ten missed calls and fifteen messages, all from Yoongi. 

“Shit, is your phone on?” You ask Jimin as you scroll through the messages, most of them just asking where you were and to text or call him back asap. 

“No. I left mine off too.” He hands his phone to you to turn on while he drives, and sure enough, he has an almost equal amount of messages. 

You quickly call Yoongi, who answers after one ring. 

“Finally. Where are you guys?” 

“We went to have dinner after the game, then walked around a little bit while we had dessert. Why? What’s up?” 

Jimin glances at you, worry evident in his eyes, and you shrug.

“Just...get home soon. I’m so sorry, Princess. So sorry, I love you. Hurry home.” 

The call abruptly ends, and you hold your phone before your face in confusion. 

“What’s wrong?” Jimin asks, and you shrug. 

“Not sure. He said sorry and to hurry home. Maybe he remembered...” you mumble, and Jimin peers at you in confusion. 

“Remembered?” 

“It’s, ah, nothing. I guess we’ll see what’s up. Onward, Officer Park.” 

“You’re going to hold that over me forever, aren’t you.” He snorts. 

You smile innocently. “Of course not. Only until I lose my memory someday.” 

“Yoongi? We’re home,” you call out as the two of you enter the house. You kick off your heels, looking up with a small smile as Yoongi exits the bedroom. 

He looks angry, and for a moment you’re terrified that perhaps he saw the kiss cam and was mad about you kissing Jimin. After all, you’d never discussed actual dynamics. Maybe Yoongi didn’t want the two of you to interact like that. 

He rushes towards you, and before you can think of an excuse, he drops to his knees and buries his face in your stomach, wrapping his arms around you to bring you closer. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me,” he mumbles into your shirt. 

You reach down and card your fingers through his hair, crooning. “It’s okay, baby. It’s no big deal. I’m fine.” Of course, you knew you were lying, but you hated seeing Yoongi like this. 

“I didn’t even make the connection, my mind was so wrapped up in work. The pancakes, the tickets. God, I’m an asshole. I didn’t even remember until Jin brought Namjoon lunch and screamed in my face for being at work today.” 

“What am I missing?” Jimin asked, prompting Yoongi to finally look up. Your heart clenches when you notice he was starting to tear up a little. 

“Jiminie, thank you for taking care of her today. I forgot today was our three year anniversary, but at least she had you.” 

“Anniversary? Noona, why didn’t you tell me?” Jimin’s jaw drops, and he turns to you dumbfounded. You just shrug and keep petting through Yoongi’s hair. 

“Because she never complains. She never fucking complains. I used to love it, but then she lets me get away with doing shit like this and I hate it. Baby girl, I’m so sorry. I love you so much.” Yoongi finally stands up and pulls you in by the back of your neck, kissing you harshly with slightly chapped lips. He pulls away and presses your foreheads together. 

“I got you a gift though. I didn’t forget entirely. I got it a few weeks ago. Hold on.” Yoongi suddenly rushes towards the fancy sound system he had set up for the entertainment center. He pulls the front off of one of the speakers and pulls out a velvet box, approximately the size of a tablet. 

“You sneaky son of a bitch.” You exclaim with a pout, seeing his new hiding spot. 

Yoongi chuckles as he walks back to you. “I had to get creative after you found my present stash in the hall closet.” 

He holds the box up in front of you and slowly opens it. “You know how much I like you in red. I saw these and couldn’t stop picturing you wearing nothing but them,” he explains with a slowly deepening voice.

When the box is opened, you inhale shakily, shocked by the glittering red contents. It’s an entire set of ruby jewelry. There is a ring and a bracelet, what appeared to be a thick ruby collar, and right in the middle of all of them was a ruby tiara. 

“A tiara, Yoongi, really? Why do I need a tiara?” You giggle, still peering at the contents in awe. 

He hums and kisses your cheek, pleased by your reaction. “Because you’re my Princess. Do you like them?” 

“They are stunning. Yoongi, this is too much.”

“Nothing is too much. You deserve everything, and I’m sorry that I’m lacking.” Yoongi mumbles. You stroke his cheek lightly, letting him know without words that you loved him. 

“Okay, now put them on me!” You laugh, hoping to lighten the mood. 

Yoongi’s eyes darken as he smirks at you. “Not yet. I told you I pictured you wearing nothing but them, didn’t I?” 

You peek at Jimin, a little embarrassed that Yoongi was talking like that in front of him. Yoongi notices and turns to Jimin. 

“What do you think, Jimin? Don’t you think your Noona would look stunning in these?” 

Jimin licks his lips and catches your eyes, his own slightly dilated as he stares at you hungrily. 

“Yes. She would look incredible.” 

You gulp nervously as Yoongi sets the box down and grabs the jacket your wearing, lifting his eyebrows in a silent plea for permission. You take one last look at Jimin, and not seeing any signs of discomfort, you quickly nod. Yoongi sighs and slides your jacket off, throwing it across the recliner behind him, before moving behind you and grabbing the zipper in the back of the dress. 

“Jiminie hasn’t gotten to see you yet, has he? He’s in for a treat.” Yoongi chuckles darkly and presses a kiss to the back of your neck as he begins to pull the zipper down slowly. The sound is abnormally loud and echoing in your ears. 

Jimin still hasn’t looked away from you. He’s just staring right into your eyes like he’s daring you to look elsewhere. It isn't until Yoongi begins sliding the dress off of your shoulders that his gaze finally lowers. As the black lace bra is finally revealed, Jimin visibly swallows hard and licks his lips. His gaze follows the path of the rest of the dress as Yoongi purposely lowers it slowly until it hits your ankles and you kick it away, allowing Jimin to feast on the view in front of him.

“Can he help with the rest, sweetheart?” Yoongi asks as he rests his long fingers along the side of your stomach and holds you close. You can feel his bulge digging into your back, and it takes you a few moments to remember he’d asked you something. 

“Yes...please,” and suddenly it was like he’d just been waiting for you to say something because Jimin rushed forward and buried his nose in your neck, inhaling and pressing a soft kiss there. 

Jimin’s fingers trailed down from your collarbone to either side of your breasts, teasing with light brushes before cupping them both. He lifts his head and watches you as he moves his thumbs over to brush against your nipples. 

“Is this okay, Noona?” He asks softly, his voice deeper than you’d ever heard it before and looking at you like you were the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. Either he was the world’s greatest actor, or he was being genuine, which was just as confusing. He was only here for Yoongi, right? 

“It’s okay. You can...take it off.” You mumble shyly. 

Yoongi unsnaps your bra from behind. “Still good, baby?” He asks lowly in your ear. You nod and crane your neck around to peck his lips quickly before turning back to Jimin. 

He bites his lip and hooks his fingers under each bra strap, sliding them down slowly. As your breasts are revealed, he throws the bra behind him and stares down at you in awe, reaching out to cup them like before. 

“So perfect,” he groans, pinching your nipples slightly. You gasp in surprise but lean into the touch. 

Yoongi chuckles from behind you. “I guess you can tell Jiminie is a boob guy.” 

Jimin smirks then trails his fingers down until they rest near Yoongi’s that were still lodged against your hips. He tugs lightly against the top of your panties, peering at you in silent query. You take a deep breath, suddenly really nervous because holy shit you were about to be naked in front of Park Jimin, but you nod to give him the go ahead. 

He suddenly drops to his knees and begins pulling the panties down slowly, groaning as you’re revealed to him. 

“Fuck, Noona, you are so wet already. Your panties are soaked. How are you so wet?” He holds up the panties in question, causing you to blush profusely. Yoongi groans at the sight, leaning in to nibble on your neck. 

“I think we’ve been neglecting her, haven’t we? Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of you. You have two cocks at your disposal, baby. Nothing but the best for the Princess.” Yoongi growls against your neck. “How’s the view, Jimin?” 

“She’s perfect, hyung. So pretty. Even her pussy is pretty,” Jimin responds as he strokes your thighs, staring at the dripping sight in front of him. 

Yoongi smirks and releases you, reaching over to get the box of jewelry. You give a startled squeak when a wet tongue suddenly slides up your pussy. You look down to see Jimin grinning at you with wet lips. Yoongi peeks over your shoulder and laughs. 

“Yah, you brat. Are you sneaking a taste?” 

Jimin whines dramatically, still smiling. “I couldn’t help it. She’s dripping down her thighs, and she smells so good.” 

“Sounds like she’s going to need to be serviced soon. Strip while I get her ready.” Yoongi orders as he clasps the ruby bracelet around your left wrist. 

You take a moment to admire it on you before you notice the shuffling in front of you. Jimin is taking off his clothes speedily, throwing them everywhere until you were faced with the view that you had earlier today. He stood there with his sculpted body, his hands holding the tops of his boxers as he waited for the go-ahead from you, like you would actually turn him down at this point. You scoff quietly but nod, following the path of the boxers down his body. 

It was strange seeing another dick in front of you after only being with Yoongi for three whole years. He was thicker than Yoongi but not as long. It was a pretty pink and clear of all the veins that stuck out on Yoongi’s. You were suddenly struck with the desire to see what he tasted like and unconsciously licked your lips. His dick twitched like it heard your thoughts and he stalked back to stand in front of you. 

Jimin helps Yoongi put the rest of the jewelry on you, wrapping the ruby collar tightly against your neck and placing the ring on your right hand. Yoongi comes around to face you with the Tiara, grinning naughtily as he places it snugly into your hair. 

“Damn, Jimin, have you ever seen a more beautiful woman?” Yoongi asks as he observes you. 

“No. She’s stunning. The perfect Princess.”

You can’t stop blushing, never having received this much attention in your entire life, but you can’t say you don’t like it. In fact, you probably loved it a little too much. You were supposed to hate Jimin, he was your rival, but all you wanted right now was to know how he felt buried deep inside of you. 

“Jimin, since you were so desperate to get a taste of her, why don’t you eat her out while I undress, make sure she’s nice and ready for us.” 

Jimin led you to the couch and sat down, positioning you so that you were standing on the cushions with one leg on either side of him and leaning over to grasp the back of the couch. You blush and glance down at his head between your legs. He winks at you cheekily before sticking out his tongue to lick your clit. You groan and buck your hips into his face. He grabs your ass to pull you closer, the lewd slurping noises as he basically feasted on you filling the living room. You reach down and slide your hands into his hair as he works, your cries increasing in volume. His plush lips felt so incredible, like they were made for pleasure. 

“Fuck...” Startled, you glance behind you, surprised to find you’d actually forgotten Yoongi was there. He was staring at the sight of Jimin underneath you, his lips working against you as saliva and your juices dripped down his chin. 

Yoongi has his long fingers wrapped around his cock as he watched, tugging lazily. You whine, desperate for him, and he smiles as he comes up behind you and kisses the dip at the base of your spine.  

“Are you ready to sit on your throne, Princess? Wanna try out Jimin’s?” 

You pull your hips away slightly to glance down at Jimin, suddenly unsure. Did he even want to go that far? You were in such a pleasure induced haze, you’d probably agree to anything right now, but that didn’t mean he had to. 

You guessed he sensed your hesitation because he suddenly smiled shyly, his drenched face contrasting perversely. 

“Please, Noona? I’ll make you feel so good,” he asked quietly, pressing a light kiss against your thigh. 

You chew your lip in thought, assessing his face for the truth. He seems to really want this, amazingly enough, so you nod and let him ease you down. Yoongi reaches between you and grasps Jimin’s cock, leaning near your ear one last time. 

“Still all good?” He murmurs and kisses your neck when you nod. 

He lines Jimin up with you and Jimin’s hands on your hips slowly ease you down. The slight stretch as your body adjusts to the new thickness isn’t bad, and you practically slide right down you’re so wet. 

Jimin gasps and bangs his against the back of the couch. Yoongi looks up from your neck, releasing the bit of skin he’d been sucking on to laugh. 

“She feels fucking amazing, doesn’t she?” 

Jimin nods but keeps his eyes clamped shut. “So fucking tight and warm. I’m not going to last long,” he whimpers, his fingers clenching hard against your hip.

“Give him a good ride, baby,” Yoongi whispers into your ear before sitting in the recliner next to the two of you and grasping his cock in his hands. 

The desire to just watch Yoongi was strong, but the twitching cock inside of you reminded you of your task. You peek at Jimin, surprised to find him watching you. He suddenly lifts you up before slamming you back down, the both of you moaning at the intense sensation. You adjust yourself so that your hands are on his shoulders and dig in your knees, and ride him hard, giving him your all. A tiny part of you insists it’s to show Jimin that Yoongi lacked nothing while he was gone. The other thought that you’re not quite ready to explore says that you are just enjoying how pretty Jimin is when he’s falling apart under you. 

And pretty he is. His lips are parted with little whimpers and groans escaping, his heavy-lidded eyes pleading with you to look at him. You stare into his pleasure filled gaze as the room is filled with skin slapping against wet skin, cries from the two of you, and the occasional grunt from Yoongi. 

It doesn’t take long before you feel his grip on your hips tighten painfully. 

“Fuck, fuck, I’m gonna cum, Noona!” Jimin groans and tries to lift you off of him, but you smack his hand away and slam down hard, rolling your hips slowly as he cums inside of you with a stuttered moan. He stares at you as he comes down, breathing heavily and petting every part of your skin he could touch. 

“Is the Princess ready for me now?” A voice growls against your ear. 

“Yes, Yoongi, please.” You plead as he helps lift you up so that Jimin could slide out of you. 

You try to back off from Jimin a little bit, so you don’t smother him, but he just pulls you closer, kissing you softly before tucking your head into the crook of his neck. This angled you towards Yoongi, so he entered you effortlessly, the remains of Jimin’s release easing the way. 

“Shit, this is so dirty. You like this, baby? You like me fucking Jimin’s cum out of you? I’m going to fill you back up when I’m done. Can’t let my Princess be empty.” Yoongi grunts as he slams his hips into you, already overly excited from watching. 

You moan into Jimin’s neck as he wraps his arms around you, petting your sides and whispering things into your ear that you were too far gone to make out. Jimin slides one of his hands down to rub your swollen clit. 

“Oh, God, I’m going to cum! Jiminnnnn....”you whine, nipping his neck as your orgasm rips through you. 

It doesn’t take long for Yoongi to follow, pounding into you fast as he fills you up with one long groan. He leans into you and kisses the back of your neck as he catches his breath, then pulls out slowly. It’s completely silent for a minute, so you glance behind you to find him staring down at the mess between your legs. 

“Stop looking at me.” You whine, shoving your head back into Jimin’s neck in embarrassment. They both chuckle as Yoongi helps you up. 

“Can’t help it if my Princess is prettiest when she’s messy,” Yoongi smirks and taps your butt on the way to the bathroom. 

Yoongi props you on the bathroom counter and runs a warm rag across you and helps you take off the jewelry. Jimin was apparently in the kitchen getting water for all of you.

“Was that really all okay? I know we didn’t talk about it, but I thought it was amazing.” Yoongi asked softly, peering at you with a hint of vulnerability and worry. 

“Yeah...it was good. New, kinda strange, feel like a porn star, but nice. I felt like I was wanted.” 

Yoongi suddenly appears horrified. “Baby, did you not feel wanted before?” 

“Um, not for awhile, no.” You whisper, staring down at your hands. 

Yoongi sighs and leans his head into your lap. “You are wanted. God, you are so wanted. I’m sorry I’m such a bastard. We’ll talk, properly this time. Okay? We’ll all sit down and figure things out better. I’m not good with actually talking about shit, I know, but I can’t have you going around thinking that you’re not wanted.” 

“Okay. It’s okay. This was good though, alright? I enjoyed it.” You quickly reassure him, not wanting to end the night on a sad note after everything that happened. He nods and kisses your thigh. 

Jimin brings water for everyone, and you all finish your bottles before climbing into bed, everyone content and sated for the first time. You smile happily as Yoongi cuddles you close to him, and Jimin sweetly tells you goodnight. Maybe it was okay to have a little hope that everything would soon work out, because this day wasn’t bad at all. 

Little did you know this was merely the calm before the storm. 

[betterthinkaboutittwice]

Andrew’s Top 10 Kpop Title Tracks of 2018

Hello again, it’s me. Yes, I’m still trying to make this a thing. Nobody cared in 2015, then my 2016 list got a decent amount of notes, then that dropped off by a lot for my 2017 list, so we’ll see what happens this time. I hope there’s even a couple folks out there that enjoy reading this, but even if there’s not, I still enjoy putting it together and writing it, so here we are. Quick refresher on how this works, I limit myself to title tracks (and/or songs that have a MV and were promoted), link their MVs, and then give a quick write-up of why I picked them, all listed in descending order from 10 to 1. I’ve changed the name from “Top 10 Songs” to “Top 10 Title Tracks” because I’m thinking of doing a separate list for b-sides or non-Korean releases. On that note, let’s get it; list under the break~

10. KHAN - I’m Your Girl?

The tenth spot on my list is always a dogfight, and my honorable mentions list is always long. This year, the debut song for KHAN (composed of former The Ark members Jeon Minju and Euna Kim) won the fight, and I’m not gonna lie, a solid part of why is based in the gay undertones of this song and MV (and honestly, they’re really not undertones, the lyrics are pretty frank about it). Honestly, though, I just really adore the chemistry Euna and Minju have always had together, and I’m so happy they’re back making music together. I’m Your Girl isn’t the fanciest song out there, but it is a bop and a half and will definitely be one of the songs I think of in future when I remember 2018.

9. gugudan - Not That Type

At spot nine, there was another fight, but it was between songs by the same group. The loser of that song will appear in my honorable mentions later. As for the winner, Not That Type was something I’d been hoping gugudan would do ever since they debuted. Their Produce 101 trio (Sejeong, Mina, Nayoung) have always had a certain sass and badassery about them, and even in previous comebacks you could see the other members had it in them, too. This is the song they needed to let it out, and boy did they. This track and MV had an attitude we don’t see much as of late, and the song managed to have that attitude without seeming try-hard or having an overplayed sound. One particular thing it did that I really liked was how it never entered the chorus the same way or on the same beat, keeping the listener on their toes. All in all, a breakout song for gugudan that had to make my list.

8. IZ*ONE - La Vie en Rose

This song, at number eight on my list, took some growing on me. When it came out, I never pictured it being on my Top 10 of the year. In fact, I didn’t even think I’d listen to it much at all. However, there’s just something about it, something about the chorus, that made it unforgettable to me. It worked its way into my brain and wouldn’t leave. Still to this day it won’t leave. It’s quickly become one of my most-played songs of the year. I followed Produce 48 all the way through, and while I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the final lineup, I must say they’ve really grown on me. Whoever produced this song did a brilliant job, because each member has a part that fits them like a glove, and no one really feels either over or under-exposed (though I could certainly ask for a couple more lines for Nako). Just a very solid song from a dynamic group that deserved to make my list.

7. Sunmi - Siren

Dropping in at spot number seven for the second year in a row is everyone’s favorite lesbian and best follow on twitter, Sunmi. Does she release anything other than bops? I think not. She revealed recently that this song was actually originally a Wonder Girls production, and released a quick snippet of the original recording from WG as a band in 2016. While I most definitely wish we could’ve heard the full group’s take on Siren, I’m glad Sunmi revisited the track and made it her own, ‘cause it’s really a stroke of catchy genius. Get away outta my face! More like get away outta my head. I just could not justify keeping this song off my list, not with how often I find myself subconsciously singing or whistling it.

6. WJSN - Save Me, Save You

Another artist that released multiple jams this year, WJSN comes in at number six. While I loved Dreams Come True, there was just something very special about Save Me, Save You. It felt like they finally nailed their sound again. The last time they truly hit it on the head was with Secret, and it feels like they’ve been trying to get back there ever since. Well, they did it here. This track has exactly that dreamlike quality to it, that beautiful cosmic sound that their name would lead you to expect. Add in nearly properly balanced line distribution (except for Dawon, #JusticeForDawon), and a particularly interesting choreography, and you’ve got a recipe for one of the best songs of the year. With their next comeback on the horizon, I’m hoping they can continue the trend.

5. (G)I-DLE - Hann

IDLE really leapt onto the scene in 2018 with their debut, but it’s their followup effort that makes my list at spot number five. The main thing I can say about IDLE is that, as rookies, they have no business being this good. They’re all incredibly talented, their stage presence is off the charts, and both of their title tracks thus far are certified bops. Rookies don’t do that! Yet, here they are. The chorus of Hann is simply unforgettable, both musically and visually. Vocals, raps, visuals, choreo, this song has everything you could ever want and it has them in spades, which is why it leads off the top half of this list.

4. GFriend - Time for the Moon Night

It wouldn’t be a kpop Top 10 without GFriend on it, and here they are at number four. If you’ll recall, I was probably the world’s biggest fan of their first “different” release, Fingertip, naming it my Song of the Year in 2017. TFTMN arrived as their second effort at a more mature concept, and I think they really killed it here. Not only is this track a more mature GFriend, but it is also still very distinctly GFriend. For their entire career, these girls have had a sound all their own, and TFTMN proved unequivocally that they can maintain their signature sound while striding into new conceptual territories, and for that alone it would make my Top 10 of 2018. It certainly isn’t hurt by the fact that the chorus is incredibly memorable, the melancholy-yet-upbeat tone is right up my alley, and the choreo is dope as hell.

3. fromis_9 - Love Bomb

The song that made me fall all the way in love with what is now essentially my second bias group comes in at number three. Honestly, I was actually expecting this to be my Song of the Year for 2018, but a couple other songs reminded me who’s boss. That’s to say nothing against Love Bomb, of course. I mean, imagine a single song making you fall head-over-heels in love with a group whose names you didn’t even know! Going into this release, I legitimately only knew Gyuri (from Produce 48) and Jiwon (way back from SIXTEEN). Now, a couple months later, I know them all better than I ever thought I would. As for the song, this is honestly one of the happiest songs that came out this year. By that I mean that it never fails to put me in a good mood. There’s just something truly special about this song. Moreso even than the song, it’s the girls’ singing; they have a way about them, where they always seem to put feeling into how they deliver lines. I can feel this song, and it wouldn’t change that even if there were no instrumental included; their singing is so incredibly emotional, it’s just special.

2. Chungha - Roller Coaster

The earliest release to make it on my list this year, coming in at number two is one of the bops of a great month of January, Roller Coaster by Chungha. I’ll be honest, this song really had a good argument for being #1 on the list. If producers went into the studio and said “we need to make the perfect song for Andrew,” this is what would’ve come from it. It’s funny, actually, because if you go back to when this was first released, I was lukewarm on it, but now it’s one of my most-listened to songs. The song has nearly every musical element that I love; it’s got that retro sound, those good synths, a gorgeous voice, upbeat, catchy, great choreo. I couldn’t ask for any more, other than to have her do more songs in this style because she absolutely kills it.

1. Red Velvet - Bad Boy

January was truly a great month for kpop songs, and Red Velvet’s Bad Boy has stood the test of time, making it all the way from January to year-end to claim the title of my Song of the Year for 2018. As I said when Bad Boy dropped, “Well fuck. Good luck, literally everyone else. I don’t see this being passed up as my song of the year for 2018.” Here we now stand, and that holds true. I said that Roller Coaster is the perfect “me” song, and it is. Bad Boy, though, is the perfect “me” song for my other main love in kpop; laid-back R&B. Everyone always seems to love the Red side of their music more, but I’ve always been about the Velvet side, and Bad Boy really gave me the perfect Velvet song. It’s everything I ever wanted from Red Velvet, and I’m not sure they’ll ever pass it up for me.

We’re at the end! As always, if you’ve read to this point, I love you, I thank you, and bless you. I’m not a professional writer or music critic, but I love putting together this list every year, and even if only one person reads it and finds it truly interesting, then it was worthwhile. I’m very proud of this list and the work I put into it, and I just hope y’all enjoy it. I began this list on January 1st, but it is now the 2nd (this seems to be a theme for me with this). That said, I wish you all a happy new year, and here’s to another great year of kpop!

Honorable Mentions

MOMOLAND - Bboom Bboom, gugudan - The Boots, CLC - Black Dress, Jeon Soyeon - Idle Song, J-Hope - Daydream, NCT 127 - Touch, DAY6 - Shoot Me, TWICE - Dance the Night Away, SNSD-Oh!GG - Lil’ Touch, Oh My Girl - Remember Me, TWICE - Yes or Yes, Yubin - Thank U Soooo Much, MAMAMOO - Wind Flower

[millennials21st-blog]

Let’s Travel!

Have you ever wondered where your feet and money can take you? If no, then we got you covered. Let us take you to a journey.

Vigan is a city in the Philippines, on the west coast of Luzon island. It's known for its preserved Spanish colonial and Asian architecture. Calle Crisologo dominates the Mestizo district, with its cobblestone streets, malecón, horse-drawn carriages and rustic mansions. Near the white baroque Vigan Cathedral are Plaza Salcedo, offering fountain light shows, and Plaza Burgos, known for its street-food stalls.

 In 1999, Vigan was listed by UNESCO as the best preserved example of Spanish colonial towns in Asia. Its architecture is the conglomeration of cultural elements from the Philippines, China, and Spain, making it unique in the world. On December 7, 2014, Vigan was named as one of the New 7 Wonders Cities.

Before you go to a different place, you must have things to remember. If you don’t, then we have it listed for you!

5 ESSENTIAL THINGS TO BRING IN THIS ROAD TRIP

1. Travel Pillow. Expect a long butt-numbing road trip and you’ll be groggy with sleep (nothing else to do) so at least bring some comfortable pillows to support your neck, back or butt. I suggest inflatable pillows. 

2. Chips. Expect to be bored and once attacked by boredom, the best way to kill it is to eat. Eat. Eat. 

3. Patience. “Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be so hard.” The lyrics from the song scientist can give you the idea for this road trip but please don’t get back to the start. Be patient and its gonna be worth it.

 4. Good friends. “There ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” You’ll definitely meet a few traveler on your way here, but be sure to bring your friends too. Just in case, you want to be sure if you love or hate their company. 

5. Good Attitudes. Don’t be such a baby on how long the travel will be or how hot the trip is… no one is forcing you to travel to Ilocos, so better be ready. Have fun!

Of course, travelling is not free. Expenses are inevitable and it is better if you have everything planned beforehand. If you are organized with how you spend your money, then you can avoid wasting your own money. Here are charts for expenses that you may encounter.

Here, we have listed the expenses that you are going to pay for and options for hotels that you can stay in. Along with it is the number of travelling hours.

Vigan is not only a historical place but also a place where you can have and create new memories. Make sure you visit these places.

1. Calle Crisologo. This is a classic! Being able to cruise the street of a very historical place and admiring the architectural structures can really take your breath away.

2. Vitalis Villas. Vitalis Villas is actually a hotel and a place with fun activities, like zipline. It is also called as a mini Santorini as it mimics the structures of it.

3. Paoay Church. If you’re looking for relics of Saints and beautiful frameworks of a sacred place, Paoay Church is the perfect place for you to visit.

4. Sand Dunes. Experience warm and pillow-y sand on your toes here. You might confuse yourself because of how beautiful this place is. This is Vigan, Philippines, not Saudi Arabia!

5. Pagudpud. Pagudpud is a city in Ilocos Norte. Here, you will find the famous windmills; and the white sand beach, in Saud Beach, Pagudpud.

Memories! You need to store memories and catch moments that you can come back to with just one picture. But you can’t do this if you were not able to capture those. Take in mind these things.

5 ESSENTIAL STUFF TO BRING ALONG WHILE EXPLORING

1. Water. Drink up and keep hydrating yourself. The heat is too exhausting. Specially, before and after sandboarding, 4×4 ride, and Kapurpurawan Rock visit. 

2. Camera. Never a camera-dull moment in Ilocos, so better gear up. 

3. Jumping Travel Buddies. Picturesque tourist spot will definitely make you  jump all over the place. Here are the best of the best jump shots of my friends.TALON ILOCANDIA 101. 

4. Arm Cover/Umbrella. Hotta-hot! You might want to have some skin cover. Sun-kissed or sun-burnt skin just two options for this trip. LOL. 

5. Sunblock. Protect your skin and apply sunblock often times.

Now while if you’re on the road and you got hungry, you can stop by at small eateries, we swear it is delicious! Here are some food that we can recommend for you to try in Vigan.

Pakbet

Vigan’s style of pakbet sets its difference from the Southern’s through adding bitter gourd and excluding squash which is a key ingredient of Southerns. It is also one of Ilocano's preserved dishes, if you’re feeling a bit conscious about your health, this is the perfect meal to try out in Vigan. 

Royal Bibingka

Satisfy your cravings with this mouth-watering sweet treat. The crusty top and the sticky but soft cupcaked-sized body makes up the crowd favorite bibingka, not just an ordinary bibingka but a ROYAL bibingka! This small and definitely terrible bibingka topped with cheese and butter will never fail to satisfy your sweet tooth. Due to its pleasing characteristic, this treat made its way as one of Vigan’s specialties.

Longganisang Iloko They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but for the Vigan people, it's more important if you have longganisang iloko for breakfast. Also branded as Vigan longganisa, this very own version of sausage will change your life in a single bite! Filipinos cook them in a pan with a bit of water. After the water evaporates, the longganisa is fried using its own fat and is further fried until it turns slightly brown. It brings out its best flavor when dipped in vinegar.

Empanada "If you really visited Vigan then you've tasted the Vigan Empanada but if you didn't, then you're lying!" Just one of the expressions that you can hear from other people who've visited Vigan and tasted their world class empanada. Found almost anywhere within the crowded plazas of Vigan, Empanada is something Vigan takes pride in. Sellers make it right before your very eyes which is also another interesting sight.

Bagnet Traditionally dried under the sun, marinated then deep-fried to make it crisp and tender, Bagnet is recognized as the region’s delicacy symbol. This huge chunk of meat with crunchy golden skin that was fried to perfection can be eaten at any time of the day and is available basically everywhere. One bite and you’ll get hooked so be wary of this cholesterol-rich slice of heaven.

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Sadly, we have come to the end of our journey. Time to pack our belongings and head back home. It was such a fun experience. We hope that this has helped you! Convinced to travel to Vigan, yet? 

[chrysaliseuro2018]

BOSS OF THE BUS

As we were making our way down the west coast on our 5 day trip, Genevieve was investigating trips from Side to Capadocia in the centre of Turkey. Correspondence went back and forth about a €40-50 (about $75-80) 3 day trip. Comparing what we were paying for our 5 days this was so cheap I feared we would be camping. But no this was the price. Of course the sting came a bit later.

So we were up for it and the 4 of us booked to start the tour on 12th June with pick up time 6.45am. Antique Side is closed to cars other than those of residents so the tour bus couldn’t come down the hill to collect all our luggage. Booking ‘agents’ advised the town electric cart would collect us but alas no. Meanwhile Chris was in negotiations with the police manning the gate but it was a firm No. With minutes ticking by Doug quickly got Penny’s car, luggage was loaded into that and driven to the bus.

Now about 30 minutes had elapsed so understandably got some stink-eye from the passengers who’d been kept waiting.

The bus was designed for 12 passengers but fitted out for 17 so it was a close and intimate affair. In the front 2 seats were Doug and Gene who it has to be said got lucky with some extra leg room. Behind them 2 elderly Danes who grabbed a bottle of wine and or beers at every possible opportunity. Behind the Danes were 10 year old Russian lad with his mousy mute mother. Then Chris and me wedged in (Russian lad had his seat reclined the entire 2 days), and behind us the very friendly and chatty Aunty Margaret and Tina from Essex. Along the back were sweet young newly weds Soyah & Maurice from Holland, a spare seat, then Holly, Tina’s stepsister who judging by her size would have been grateful for the spare seat. Could have knocked us over with a feather when she told us she had been to the 7 continents by age 24, had emigrated to Melbourne several years ago (lives in Chelsea)and works as a sound engineer. You just wouldn’t have picked it!

Then heading back along the bus in single seats was a surly young lad who turned out to be part of the tour operation, a woman of unknown origins who disappeared after day 1, then Mr Russia who seemed to have supplanted both his wife’s and his son’s ego into his own.

Bus driver slipped under the radar but the same can’t be said for the guide Nahjo. In fact it was a battle of egos between Nahjo and Mr Russia. He didn’t just like the sound of his own voice. He was addicted to it! Along the way amongst other chit chat and information we got his life story, some group marriage guidance, how small lies can be forgiven and how this works in a religious context too. Every monologue went for a minimum of 10 minutes and woe betide you should you chat amongst yourselves during one of his diatribes. In the gaps the gregarious, party-loving-club-going-40-something Tina would try to share with me her life history. Nahjo seemed to get wind of it and standing facing the back of the bus would either clear his throat or announce it was his turn. Chris and I were left thinking our polite and humble Gallipoli guide must have been absent for the Tour Guide Arrogance 101 unit of the qualification.

So we were off and despite the late get away we stopped not 20 minutes down the road for a tea/ coffee break, followed by a breakfast stop 40 minutes later at a petrol station/ roadside stop. (It has to be noted that Cappadocia is some 470 kilometres from Side so it was going to be long day if the stops came so frequently). Breakfast option 1 was a vast modern complex selling everything you don’t want to eat. Gene who has an eye for local food spotted hidden in a corner behind some trees an outfit selling gözleme so we headed there. Great decision. Shoes off and into the tent where the local lady sat crossed leg with her dough, tubs of filling and the black dome for cooking the gözleme. Spinach and cheese one was a bit dry but the potato one was outstanding.

All wedged ourselves back in the bus which climbed up the mountains through some magical scenery. Unfortunately Nahjo kept reassuring us on the wrong side of the bus that we would see it ‘on the back journey’. However our arrangements meant we weren’t doing ‘the back journey’ so at one particular stop he was a little annoyed when we headed off 200 metres down the road to photograph the nomads herding their goats. I suggested it would be better for all if the bus pulled over so we could all see anything of interest on the way to Cappadocia. Suggestion was not welcomed.

Another stop for coffee and the sting of the extra €’s. It had to happen of course. You can’t run a tour for €50 per person providing transport, 2 nights accommodation no matter how basic, 2 dinners and two breakfasts. So lunch which we though was fend for oneself turned out to be a set payment (we only paid for one and opted to take our chances on day 2), and extra for Whirling dervishes, museums (charge €25/ $39.20 versus ticket face value less than $9) etc totalling an extra €120 between us. Even taking that into consideration €220/$350 for both of us was pretty cheap and the overcharging on extras balanced the undercharging on initial outlay.

Next stop, lost count if it was 4 or 5, was at the Mevlâna museum Konya, the birth place of the Sufi religion and Dervishes. The site is a holy place for Muslims with over 1.5 million visiting it yearly. The Mosque contains the tomb of Rumi (unfortunately hidden due to renovations) later known as Mevlâna who devised the idea of whirling and the tombs of other eminent dervishes. Also on display were Mervlana’s coat, a box apparently containing his beard and any number of exquisitely decorated Qurans, one so tiny that the author went blind writing it.

Alongside the Mosque was a complex giving information about the dervish culture. Included was a lodge displaying mannequins dressed as they would have been in Mevlâna’s day and the dervish cells displaying various items. I for one would have enjoyed more than our tightly scheduled allotted time there. But we were rounded up like errant school children and headed back for the bus. Chris managed to ruffle Nahjo’s feathers by needing a toilet stop when we were warned the next section of the drive would be 2.5 hours. By this stage as it was 1pm we were wondering about the elusive lunch if the drive was for 2.5 hours. There was some grumbling from Tina and Aunty Margaret and it wasn’t from their stomachs.

Eventually we rolled into another vile modern roadside stop - our lunch venue. Behind the counter were some aggrieved (probably because of the lateness of the hour) gorillas of men slopping out an assortment of runny casseroles, reluctant to identify any ingredients. It tasted as bad as it looked. We were immediately pleased with the earlier decision not to commit to day two lunch.

A short drive and then time for another stop. This time it was to visit a preserved home dug under ground, a primitive more simple Coober Pedy affair. Apparently tunnel complexes formed entire cities but this was a small example taking only 10 minutes for everyone to get through. I opted out and instead waited near the entrance/ exit where a dozen or so middle aged women had set up a market. Trouble was they were all selling the same little local cloth dolls so competition to get any one walking by was frenetic. Females in particular were the target for the spruiking with a good natured but frantic cacophony of calls of “Mother, Mother”. The closer anyone ventured to the stall the louder the screeching got. I hope everyone managed to sell something but with another 5 weeks on the road, it wasn’t something I could buy.

Everyone back on the bus and off to Dervish show scheduled to start at 6pm. Clearly we were up against it as the previously cautious bus drive planted his foot. Arrived shortly after 6pm with another bus arriving after us. Having been so enchanted with the beautiful ceremony we saw at Hodjapasha in Istanbul Chris and I we were looking forward to a similar experience. Dougal and Gene had never seen them and had their expectations built up by us.

Oh dear!!! The pipe/flute player struggled to find a note, the dervishes all looked like novices (part time uni job perhaps), they wore slippers that made a noise that was distracting, one was losing his pants, also very distracting. There was a non dancing head honcho roaming around amongst them dressed in black once again distracting, they didn’t vary their speed and were for the best part out of sync. Yes they could spin but it lacked all the beauty, rhythm and charm of our previous experience. We left feeling glad to have seen a more authentic experience and Doug and Gene left feeling they were yet to see one.

Short drive to our delightfully self rated ‘Special Class’ hotel in Göreme, rooms allocated and orders that we had 15 minutes to get to dinner. Dinner a simple affair with lentil soup, the not-so-traditional-Turkish chicken schnitzel and melon. Danish couple of course knocked off another bottle of wine.

Gene, Chris and I headed for a stroll to town wandering through the streets. Highlight was at a hotel where I poked my head in and elderly Mehmet the owner insisted we come and look at his accommodation. Beautiful rooms that were huge with the bathrooms built into the rock giving a sense of a modern and upmarket Flinstone bathroom. With Mehmet’s limited English we spent a special half hour in the hotel’s courtyard trying and making a reasonable hash of having a meaningful conversation.

A long day and time for to return to our ‘Special Class’ Hotel Karl for bed, especially for Gene with a 4.30 am start for her hot air balloon flight over Cappadocia.