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notafraidofredyellowandblue · 1 year ago

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OOR 1997 - Nr 21 - Rammstein interview

Rammstein

They are German, they play a mechanical-like form of metal and seem to be infatuated with fire, blood and different forms of pleasure. It could hardly be more wrong, but this interview with the usually quite reserved singer Till Lindemann shows that there is more going on than sensationalism.

I don't understand how people can get so upset about us

by Hans van den Heuvel, photo Niels van Ieperen. With thanks to Monique Aerts.

They are German, they play a mechanical-like form of metal and are infatuated with fire, blood and deviant forms of the experience of pleasure. You simply can't be more wrong than Rammstein.

But what is even more important: the former East Germans are certainly not ashamed of this. Under the motto: there are so many prejudices about Germans that even an entire human life is not long enough to get rid of them all, they go one step further. Rammstein sings about SM, necrophilia, incest, sex between brothers and sisters, sex with animals. And all in the imperative mood: Küss Mich, Bück Dich, Bestrafe Mich, just to pick three stylistic flourishes from titles from the recently released CD Sehnsucht. The face is completely equal. Buck Dich. I don't care about your face. Bend down! You would expect that the entire women's movement would immediately rush to the barricades, but the opposite is the case. Or could that be because the band is mainly attributed a homoerotic appearance? For example, the Dutch magazine Blvd featured the band in an article about glamor cousins, which would also include Freddie Mercury, Divine, Village People, Liberace and Adam Ant. Rammstein's mention was accompanied by the following text: 'What should you do with this combo from East Berlin? Are they dangerous? Are they scary? Are they subversive? They have shock value, that's for sure. It will all be Rammstein and that is actually the only correct attitude. It could be sadomasochism, it could be degenerate, it could be a temporary phenomenon. In any case, Rammstein is hot as hell and their music is irresistibly good. That's what it's about. Pop is entertainment. People with need for a message should just go to the toilet. Or to Albert Hein 1).

Just like with Rockbitch, we are confronted with a strange phenomenon at Rammstein: people come up with all kinds of excuses to not have to like the bnad, but after some insistence they admit to doing so anyway!

At the basis of all this fuss is an incredibly infectious thump, which balances perfectly on the razor's edge between metal and electronic dance music. The terrain that acts such as Frontline Assembly, The Prodigy, Moby and The Chemical Brothers are looking for from the other side. Rammstein succeeds where a similarly German band like Krupps failed. And manages to break records in that Heimat. For example, their second CD, Sehnsucht, entered the album charts at Number One, after the record had remained on the shelf for more than half a year because its predecessor was still being sold. The band adapted to the situation very quickly. Interviews may not last longer than twenty minutes, take place with a random band member (because everyone is equally important; that is why there are six different versions of the CD Sehnsucht and the T-shirts based on it, each with a different band member on the front ), must be conducted in German and photography is not allowed.

With those rules in mind, we start a six-hour car journey to Erfurt, the first stop in the former East Germany and home of speed skater Gunda Niemann 2). Faded posters urge you to attend the Giants of Rock tour, featuring Meat Loaf and The Scorpions. There is no poster anywhere for tonight's concert: Rammstein has completely sold out the Thüringerhalle. The people come for the fireworks and they get fireworks. Rammstein brings an arsenal of explosives that even Dio and Venom could have smelled in the heyday of hard rock. It is so over the top that it becomes fun again and the presentation of the singer Till Lindemann, who came straight from the mocking school (according to some, the sex symbol of the nineties) has something so charmingly clumsy that we - based on Rammstein's music - not entirely illogical - The thought that this would be the man who will pave the way to the Fourth Reich should immediately be banished from our minds. The chance of that happening is just as small as the CD winning the elections under Janmaat. Lindemann has actually seen it up close. something like Claw Boys Claw frontman Peter Te Bos and he is almost as sympathetic. Although the vocalist with the ultimate beard in his throat almost never does interviews, in this case he even appears to be willing to answer - while chain-smoking, that is. to the question whether Rammstein consciously wanted to be as politically incorrect as possible, or whether this was just a bonus.

"I used to play drums in a punk band, which only consisted of bass and drums. We worked with guest guitarists, mostly Paul and Richard. We did a short tour, where I switched instruments with the bass player in the encore and put on a low voice. It was so popular that Richard insisted on setting up a project in which I would sing. Gradually other band members were added. But it was only when I moved from Schwerin to Berlin that the band took serious shape."

Your group takes its name from the Ramstein air base, where a plane crashed about ten years ago. The force of the explosion that followed caught up with fleeing victims and scorched them in front of the cameras. Not only did you name your band after that airport, but you sing the song Rammstein dressed in a burning coat. That seems quite harsh to the surviving relatives.

"We saw those images on television. This hellish accident hit us with such intensity that we wanted to create a musical memorial for it. At the time we didn't have a name for the band and Rammstein was one of the first songs we finished. We thought it would be good to continue that... I have never heard a single spectator complain about our name, only journalists look for something behind it. We simply describe what we have seen: crying mothers and dying children. Even the birds stopped singing. singing at the sight of this total inferno. You would expect time to stand still, for the earth to darken. But the strange thing was: the sun simply shone through. That's such a strange contract, with every catastrophe that strikes humanity: life just goes on..."

Otherwise you'll rub salt into the wounds with your burning coat!

"Some people feel bad because they think we are making things ridiculous. But I see it as a form of identification. And a show element. A person is burning is quite easy to sing, but I try to take it a step further." to continue by wearing a burning coat. And I regularly burned myself..."

For someone who sings songs about SM, that must be a real pleasure.

"Punished Mich has nothing to do with SM. Although I am an atheist - the whole band is by the way - I have the feeling that I am constantly being punished for something. When one believes in a higher power, it is logical that all the good that comes to you falls is attributed to that higher power: Der Herr Gott nimmt, der Herr Gott gibt. That is a saying from the Bible. God has rewarded me, assigned something good. But He only gives to the people He loves. I feel only punished. And it's not just me who is screwed, a large part of the human race is punished. Why else is there so much misery and injustice in the world?"

Why do you feel punished?

"It would take us too far to go too deeply into this. It is a whole series of little things that keep coming back. All my love relationships, for example, end in disappointments and sadness. Just like the four seasons, the misery keeps coming back. Why is it possible Don't just spend more than three months in summer? You can go on vacation to enjoy summer longer, but if life itself doesn't offer you that summer time, there is no escape. And I'm not just talking about myself, but also about the situation in which others find themselves. For example, our song Tier is about incest. Sex between father and daughter is something that is only normal among animals. Was power a man among two men and animals not unterscheiden kann, I ask myself in the start from scratch. There are so many things going on. If you want to, you are happy. You are your own self. I have a twelve-year-old daughter that I am trying to raise. And I do my best to understand how someone can make it for themselves. can justify making love to his own child. I simply can't imagine anyone lying down against that in excitement. In the first verse I describe the situation, with the only conclusion being that only animals can do something like that. Because this is in no way distinguished from animal behavior. In the second verse I wonder: was power a Frau, who between their Tier and Mann, could not be separated? where the focus is on the child who has grown up to be a woman, but has to go through life with that nightmare from her youth. She writes a letter to her own youth, to herself. When her father slept with her. She actually becomes an animal too. The fact is that she has been more or less destroyed. It is a cycle: what you experience in your youth, you carry with you throughout your life."

"When I have written a text, there is a lot of discussion about whether it is acceptable. With the other musicians, the producer, the record company, with some friends. You look for confirmation: can you make this or not? Is it possible? was it misunderstood? Or can you put it out like this? We have six people in the band. So you understand that quite a bit of discussion takes place before anything comes out. But the entire band fully supports everything that has been said. of us has been published. The limitation lies in the German music legislation. Things like love with animals and incest are on the index, so you know in advance that you don't have to put energy into certain lyrics, for the simple reason that they be banned and a beep will appear on your record. That happened with the first pressing of our first CD. But the complaint was declared unfounded, after which the censored CD was withdrawn from the market and became a collector's item again for collectors. item has become. Because of those beeps... However, when we started working on our second record, that process still hung like a shadow over our heads. Our record company then took a square stance and said: if we don't get the first CD through the index, we can completely shake things up with Tier. But nothing happened. And we are happy that we stuck to our guns."

Is your goal to shock? Or is that just a nice bonus?

"I want to put myself in the mindset of certain people: how a certain situation that has gone off track comes about. I want to enter their brain room: a space with many colorful and black and white corners. Sometimes a bit dark, sometimes light. I try to hide all those corners from the darkness with a flashlight. Even the cobweb-covered corners that you normally wouldn't go near, the chaotic piles of rubbish you find there! I'm just trying to describe, without attacking. I understand that people can be shocked by this. I even read in a newspaper five minutes ago that we would incite people to violence. I read that often. But the reaction that has affected me personally the most is a letter from a girl who was raped when she was nine or ten years old. She wrote that she could identify with the song Weises Fleisch - which was briefly on the index - because I talked about rape, while she herself did not could. She had grown up thinking that she had to keep that passage from her childhood a secret, not to tell anyone. My love made her understand that it was something to talk about. She was very grateful that I wrote the song... By the way, I don't understand how people can get so upset about us sometimes. I have seen what happens to children and prostitutes in Indonesia. And if you knew what goes on behind the curtains in this city at night, my lyrics would be very innocent. Those small studios and basement stairs of the red light district, those small SM shops with cages and whips. How sick is humanity? And how trivial are the themes I address in my lyrics, or the things I do on stage?!"

Yet you are obsessed with the things that happen in those small boxes, because that is what you write your lyrics about.

"That has more to do with the fact that all those other topics are so annoying. Everything has already been said before! What I hear of German music doesn't grab me by the balls. It's about love, tralala?"

Love in Rammstein goes from: Bück dich, dein gesicht ist mir equal?

"That comes from the film Tokyo Dekadenz, about an incredibly rich man from Tokyo who is married to three or four women. But he cannot find satisfaction. He invents all kinds of things, buys the most expensive things and pays a lot of money for sexual excitement, but he is not happy. He works twelve to fourteen hours a day, his whole life revolves around his work. With a lot of money he tries to buy the love he lacks. Despite all his money, he does not succeed, which makes him even more unhappy to feel."

Do you think people who see a Rammstein performance will experience the song the same way?

"Most people want to see a good show. If some of the lyrics stick, that's a bonus. But in our latest single Du Hasst I put myself in the position of the registrar and sing: Will you remain faithful to this person, until death do you part? the entire audience shouts at the top of their lungs: No! I don't even have to sing it anymore, the audience will do that. I find the vow you take when you get married anyway questionable. You can still Don't fixate on one and the same person all your life?! Marriage is not a tattoo!"

Attention dear reader. You might miss it after the serious tone of the preceding, but that last comment was a joke!

Rammstein's music definitely contains a humorous element.

German humor can certainly be funny, but it is usually based on power. And you have to be able to handle that. While some Dutch people think that nothing good has come out of Germany since Hitler 3), Germans are often sensitive when we make jokes about the Second World War (the most obvious comment being that we want our bicycle back). But there were also many casualties on the German side. The uncle of one of Rammstein's musicians, for example. It fell from a watchtower in the concentration camp.

"Even though we sound pushy and serious, we try to put as much humor into our show as possible, so that it all becomes a bit more light-hearted. But we are not a cheerful band. If it is not in your nature, you should not try to add it artificially. Maybe one day it will work out. With Engel we have already taken a different path. The female voice we have added gives the song a pleasant contract."

Was Heino perhaps an influence as far as your own singing is concerned?

"No, much more the Sisters of Mercy. That deep voice. I didn't want to imitate that, but there is a bit of exaggeration in it. I have a low voice, I can't help it. What strikes me is : when you sing in English, no one cares what you are talking about. Just listen carefully, what kind of dark things bands like Marilyn Manson, Type O Negative, Ministry or Megadeth sing about! Just because we are German, they try open a drawer."

There is also something frighteningly militant about your music and the German language.

"It's not that we want to be a German band, we just are! I know that many Germans are ashamed of their origins. Because of the warlike character of our forefathers, I understand that tendency, but I'm German. That's the problem with all those German bands. Whether they make crossover, punk or whatever, everything comes from somewhere else, has no roots. In the sixties the German Schlager still existed, there was a clear German music landscape But at some point things changed, they started fixating on America or England. They tried to copy things and bring them into the country. I don't know what exactly it is, but for me Kraftwerk was the first real German band. An example for many. After The Scorpions, the only German band that represents something worldwide and certainly the only band that is known all over the world with the German language. Because they are unique. Kraftwerk was not a copy, they were themselves! But links to the Ȕbermensch idea were also made at Kraftwerk. However, we are not interested in politics at all! We are more likely to stand next to reality. It is an exaggeration to say that we are only artists, but we stand for our music and not for messages. We come from the former GDR, maybe it has something to do with that. We have not always had it easy, but we can say from the bottom of our hearts that socialism and everything the GDR stood for also had its good sides: harmony and a sense of solidarity. Strongly focused on the collective and the community. You mainly heard in the news that things were so bad in the GDR, but it wasn't that bad. There were things that were not good, but you could live quite normally without the consumer hunt that people have now and which does not make people any happier. It was about other things. Life was arranged, there was work for everyone, wages were low, food cheap. There was free childcare, all social conditions were well taken care of. Commercial things were lacking. A good TV cost five to six months' wages, and you had to wait at least ten years for a car. Commercial things - consumer goods they called them here - came in second place. The fact that man was not satisfied with that, because he wanted everything, is somewhat lost sight of. People wanted a VW Golf, or a hi-fi system. And they wanted to be able to travel. That's why the wall had to be removed. But an idealistic wall still exists. If we need computer parts or something, we still have to go to West Berlin. There are still no such specialty stores in the ancient East. Although there are no boundaries anymore, there is still a mental barrier. Which hopefully will no longer bother our children, but which will continue to exist throughout our lives. I am also convinced that many people would like to have the wall back, to return to the old situation. There used to be unity, but now there is a lot of loneliness. Currently there are unemployed, homeless, beggars, skinheads and right-wing radicals. They didn't exist in the ancient East. They were immediately put under lock and key. Everything was arranged down to the last detail. Capitalism has come over us like a tidal wave. And many people drowned.”

Would you like the wall back?

"Besides the bassist, I am the only one who worked 4). The other band members could earn their money by making music. When you made music seriously, you were recognized as an artist and you had relatively much freedom. If you had to work you were given the less pleasant sides of socialism: subordination, one was more equal than the other, you know. So I didn't really feel the need to rebuild the wall. And now that our music is going so well Not at all. But for a while I did have doubts."

1) Bit hard to translate, dutch word 'boodschap' means 'message in music' (as in a meaning to the music, and not just some fun), need to go to the toilet (nr 2) or an errand at a grocery story like dutch supermarketchain Albert Hein.

2) Speedskating is one of the most popular sports in the Netherlands, and Gunda Niemann at the time was a very succesful skater from Germany, the name probably more familiar to a dutch reader than many others mentioned

3) I was surprised to read a phrase like that, i'm sure a journalist wouldn't even think of writing that down nowadays but 25 years ago, apparently this was okay.

4) from other interviews we know the others had sidejobs too

List of other Rammstein OOR interviews

#rammstein #rammstein OOR interviews #till lindemann

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soranihimawari · 2 years ago

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Hopelessly Safe

Inspired outtake from Dancing on my Own.

For @multi-fandom-fanfic (🐹) & @m0nstergeneration20xx who wanted to know what happened between Mei and Atsumu

Blurb pairing: miya atsumu x (mei) x hint at platonic!yn by end

Rating: 17+ language!

Notes?: I like to see Miya witness how much Mei was temporary while when looking at yn & Suna, he regrets not seeking you out after going pro. Photo link is a suggested pose, not necessarily the actual outfit for the NYE party mentioned.

They say it’s impossible to forget about first loves. Surely now at the ripe age of thirty does Miya Atsumu’s metaphorical heart ache. There amongst his possessions on the counter from the cleaning lady is a wedding invitation of one of his friends from high school. Close enough to be brothers, the pudding cup blonde glances down at the formal kanji next to Suna’s name. To say it preceded with the abbreviation ‘doctor’ has him impressed. He scoffs as he checks the attending box. Don’t get it twisted, Atsumu really does care for you, he has a fucking shitty way of showing it, but he does. He comes to all your post-practice meets since Suna has asked him to and together you bond over onigiri. You rarely bring up Mei when impromptu meets happen like this and though Suna does arrive at Samu’s shop, Atsumu blends into the background, but when he hears you tell Suna you were just there to keep an old captain company, Atsumu nearly bursts into tears.

“He thinks he doesn’t deserve your kindness, yn,” Suna holds your hand. “Or whatever amicable friendship you have now.”

“Well, that’s too bad then,” you shake your head. “I was really hoping to ask him and Samu to stand behind me when you call me your wife. Girls are so damn dramatic.”

Suna laughs, asking if you had a concussion lately. You wave him off with a just kidding look, but you focus back to the door where Atsumu had walked you through.

“Hmm, I wonder if one of my colleagues might be interested in going as his plus one?”

“What was that?”

“Nothin’ Suna,” picking up an umeboshi rice ball, you stuff his mouth with it. “Don’t worry about it.”

Memories he has of the fiancé with fierce eyes encased behind glass tears at Suna’s house burns bright in his mind. You were highly upset at his now fling of an ex, Mei’s words, not his. Now dating Mei wasn’t a big mistake, sure he could have done without the hooking up or the popularity gossip in his friend group, yet Atsumu learned to be a reckless lover too. Mei was everything you were not: bold, funny, put Samu in his place as a joke, but one night right before he was to leave for Osaka, he discovers just how unfair Mei was treating their fragile relationship. Caught being seen leaving the movies with another “bad boy”, even going so far as to lie and say she was single is when Atsumu saw red.

He gives her a brief text, the photo was damning evidence. The argument blew up his phone until she sent a rolling eye emoji with the attached, “whatever loser. who chases dreams of professional athleticism anyways? you’re not even that great.” He walks down the busy collegiate street by the university he didn’t know you’d attend. Breezing by a cafe on the corner, he hears your familiar voice, it’s bit more distinct than he remembers. The words cut into his psyche and his shoulders are slumped impossibly low, even for a six-foot tall volleyball rookie. He’s angry, alone, and hurt, you can tell who it is as he walks by with watery eyes. Two years they dated on and off, you remember because Osamu would feed you hints about an impending break up soon. How soon. You didn’t think it would be before the month ended, but here you were running after the setter like you did in the hallway of Inarizaki.

“Atsumu?…” he doesn’t turn around. “Hey! Miya Atsumu!”

When he does, his ochre eyes see you in jeans and a shirt he doesn’t recognize right away. It has an anchor on it as well you typically are the anchor for the 4x4 swim relay. A couple seconds go by before his feet move on their own to bury you in a bear hug. You’re both nearly twenty by now and you don’t mention how his shoulders shake when he chokes out a childish, “Ah shoulda listened t’ya.” You understand almost immediately, and those coworkers of yours are curious why the handsome stranger hugs you so close. One offers to cover your shift because it is perceived he was an old flame who must have came to his senses.

“Let’s get out of here, yeah?” You whisper, running your fingers through his undercut. He nods, drying his eyes on his sleeve.

If there is one thing you learned about being with either Miya is that no matter what, they can be pretty self-destructive. Osamu, you learn, averages three to four hours a night since his restaurant took off after launch. Atsumu? Atsumu found refuge in bottles. He doesn’t develop a problem persay, but you throw away the full cases he bought with his first few signing checks the more you frequent his house. Even on three occasions, you’ve come to the bar post victory, at the behest of Meian. Atsumu is too far tipsy and not sober enough to get him home, and he’s whining about his ex. Again. For the fourth time that week.

“He’ll listen to you,” is all Meian says. “The boys can’t seem to pull him out of this funk.”

You sigh, agreeing with the observation by his captain. The guys make way for you to walk to the couch where his lamenting pauses when you crouch down, looking up at how far an Icarus could have drowned.

“Miya fucking Atsumu,” your tone is deliberate and irate. “Get your shit together. Don’t wallow and waste away here in some bar. Show that bitch ass ex-girlfriend, my worse toxic friend, you’re better than what she said. You hear me?”

You slap your hands to cup his cheeks and the team flinches at the sound. It seems his sobriety started then. His eyes grow wide with fear or adrenaline, you can’t decipher until you choose to do something no sane person would do. It’s something not even Suna knew about and this was a good two years b e f o r e you two started dating.

You shock Atsumu, the person whom you thought you had feelings for back when you were eighteen, by taking none of his bullshit excuses when your lips close on his own. The kiss is harsh, riding, and stone cold. Neither of you process what happened, just knew that it did. His arms wrap around you as he leans into your surprise display of affection; it ignited something carnal within himself, and by default, you. For whatever reason, Atsumu’s eyes shut tightly, committing the way you feel, taste, and when he does return your act, you gasp, slightly chuckling into his agape lips. He has to have known you have moved on away from him and you’ve aligned yourself with his middle blocker friend from high school. And though it was a fatal blow as his lips pressed against the corner of your mouth again, Atsumu pushes you away, panic induced features written all over his face when realized what he had done. Tanned brows furrow as his eyes raise to meet yours, you who sat on his lap now, his breathing a bit rushed—you hum with a nod whispering, “it’s going to be ok,” whilst waving away the rest of the team to give you both some space.

“Why?”

There is a child like and yet embarrassed nature to the way he asks you. His grip on your clothing never ceases. You hush him with tracing your hands over his white knuckles on the edge of your coat.

“I loved you first,” you tell your truth, cupping his cheek less harshly than before. A soft smile graces your lips as you press a gentle peck on his brow.

“‘tsum, I think it’s time you know,” you sigh a you tilt his face to see you Mei just copied everything from me. Everything you liked down to arcade games, I liked them too. So please, don’t destroy yourself because you had received the wrong kind of love.”

He nods, thanking whoever watched his shoulders gave him a sturdy wall of a friend like you.

“Promise?” you tease holding up your pinky.

Atsumu links his with yours and gives it a shake.

“Swearing on mah life,” he says.

“Good. Now let’s get you home. What d’ya say?”

You stand up, turn around slightly and extend your hand to him. An olive branch of years worth of forgiveness exchanged for a good natured soul to encapsulate his learning one is worth the years of friendship afterward.

And so nothing transpired from this kiss or event. Miya goes on to reserve tickets for you and a nurse colleague and when he feels up for it, your friend asks him to sign her jersey with his number. Eventually, life goes back to the balance that he knows: season opener, Olympic qualifier, worlds qualifier, off seasons filled with cheat days with you and the boys™️, etc.

Presently, it’s practically six years to the date, his calendar alarm goes off with little party hats as text chime goes off. The sealed envelope of his RSVP is ready to be hand delivered to Suna tomorrow night. Sure Atsumu thinks it’s the best honor to have been part of your journey in falling for Suna, even going so far as to act like a spy when Suna was dead set on marrying you. You may have mentioned you liked stackable jewelry one day when you were hanging out at Onigiri Miya.

“Think Suna thought about askin’ ya to marry ‘im?” The blonde teases, a slap to his arm makes him scowl. “The hell was that fer?”

“Ya ain’t slick Tsum!” You hold up his phone conversation with Suna. It goes back to the start of this year. “And what I tell ya about using my birthday as yer passcode?”

“But yer mah best friend! Can’t I use it to deflect creeps at the bar?”

“Does Suna know?”

“He thinks it’s fucking funny.”

You groan, laughing a few seconds later with Atsumu who comes around to finally being his old self again. Crude, annoyingly loud, but the best adult friend after his brother in arms to you ever. He loves you, more than you’ll ever know, but when you saw him at his lowest, you lent a hand in his healing journey and his family couldn’t be anymore grateful. Osamu and mama Miya especially. Suna was never jealous, by the way, he always forewarns his old captain, “yn liked me a lot longer after you made the worse mistake when we were still young brats.” Atsumu reluctantly agrees, yet when he sees Suna slip the ring on your finger it shines just as brilliantly as you did that misty morning in the wildflower field.

Reflecting back at your best moments in your steady friendship with him, Atsumu notices you sent a text and as it stands, his heart learnt to feel hopelessly safer when you’re rooting for him on the other side of the line.

【Ｈａｐｐｙ　ｓｅｖｅｎ　ｙｅａｒｓ　ｓｏｂｅｒ　Ａｔｓｕｍｕ！

— attached 1.jpg】 XX—yn

Attached is an old photo where he’s kissing your cheek at 12:01 AM at the MSBY!NYE party dinner. The team is grateful their setter has a ‘found family’ friend in you; it’s clearly written on the smiles of the surrounding teammates at the party. And you? You’re laughing at the camera because for all the trouble being associated with the Miyas (and after one year of being with Suna then), you’re proud to have loved them the best way you knew how.

Brief Mei update:

Currently a stay at home single mom from one of the ,any one night stands she had post breaking up with Atsumu. She recognizes her mistakes and lives with regretting everyone has had their chance at happiness. Hers eventually comes at reconnecting with her child’s father when their kid turns six. They reconnect over grocery shopping, eventually putting the pieces together as to why Mei might have ran after she confirmed she was ‘late.’ As far as anyone knows, Mei lives abroad now, last known update was a family photo taken in New Zealand via instagram. Will Mei’s child ever know of their mom’s horrid nature? Maybe not yet since they are too young to understand, but best believe when they are a little older, Mei comes to terms with her misdeeds when she teaches her child cheating and pretending you’re something you’re not is wrong. However, when asked about her first love, Mei is quoted as saying she once loved a boy whom her first ‘real’ friend loved too.

#🌻— flying around collecting pollen—queue #sora scribbles 2022 #miya atsumu x (mei) x platonic!yn

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whispersatdawn · 4 years ago

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on the rebound | jeong jaehyun social media!au | part 8

↳ In an attempt to finally move on from his ex-girlfriend, basketball star Jeong Jaehyun reaches out to Y/N, who he knows has a crush on him.

prev | next || masterlist

a/n: i wasn’t gonna include a written part, but here we are

word count: ~3k

This... feels strange, you thought mindlessly to yourself, as your gaze fixed on the boy seated next to you. He was busy on his phone taking photos of the fading sunset that he barely noticed you staring, which you were quite thankful for because it allowed you to take a look at him just a little longer.

There was no denying that Jaehyun was attractive. To be honest, his beautiful features slightly intimidated you. When his perfectly shaped brows raised in surprise. Or when his dreamy dark brown eyes looked like he was trying to figure someone out. You especially liked it when Jaehyun smiled or laughed. You were confident Jaehyun’s dimples were the culprits of stealing many people’s hearts; those cheek indentations were truly fatal. However, for you, it was simply the occasional, cute nose scrunch. Unlike the dimples, the latter came and went quickly, but it still had an impact all the same.

Despite having been on few casual dates with Jaehyun in the past week, it was difficult to wrap your head around the time spent together, especially since the past two years consisted of you pining over him, after missing the opportunity to act on your feelings and confess to him.

Two Years Ago (First year of college)

"We should rent an apartment and be roommates next semester!”

Your eyes widened at Sujin’s suggestion. “All four of us?” you asked, swiftly spinning your finger once to point at yourself as well as the group seated around you. It was a clear day, so after class, you had a picnic with your friends at the university quad. “My parents helped me pay for campus room and board this year. I don’t know if my part-time job at the fitness center can afford rent.”

After meeting Sujin at the freshman orientation and running into Ten and Johnny in line at a food stand during the school organizations event, you had never had more fun nor felt more comfortable with anyone than you did with them. You remembered studying for hours often with Sujin since you both were biology majors and shared some courses. There was also the time when you attended the university dance team’s fall show and watched Ten’s first solo performance. Of course, though you almost always refrained from physical altercation, you could never forget the day you confronted Johnny’s ex-girlfriend at a party after she cheated on him and showed no remorse, which resulted in hair-pulling as well as Sujin and Ten dragging you out before further troubles. With what you all had gotten through together, there was no doubt that you considered the three to be your closest friends.

“Aren’t you going to apply for the research position with Dr. Kim? I’m sure it pays more,” Sujin said before taking a bite out of her sandwich.

“That’s the plan, but she hasn’t opened applications yet, so I just have to wait,” you sighed, laying down Johnny’s lap. “I think it’ll be fun to live together though!”

“I’ve actually been thinking about living off campus, too,” Ten said, grinning, “so you’d all be saving me from looking for roommates. I’m in.”

“Johnny?” you asked in a sing-song voice, looking up at the handsome male, waiting for his response. You opened your mouth as Johnny fed you a grape and then he leaned back, probably considering the idea.

“Hm... if I say yes, can I bring people over to spend the night?”

You grimaced at him before sitting back up right away while Johnny let out a laugh due to your reaction. “No thanks for the image,” you deadpanned, “though I guess it’d be cruel to deprive you of sex. We’ll all need to obviously talk more about housing and details later...”

“Y/N, behind you! He’s here.”

You instantly froze after Sujin’s announcement. “He’s here?” you mouthed, heart rate picking up, and Sujin confirmed with an eager nod. Pushing the conversation with your friends to the side, your ears were now focused on the sounds behind you. Multiple shoes against pavement. A ball dribbling. Familiar as well as unfamiliar voices chattering. When you tried to discreetly turn around, you found some members of the basketball team on the open court. You immediately spotted Jeong Jaehyun, casually wearing a black hoodie and maroon basketball shorts, playfully shoving a teammate after a teasing remark.

“Oh my god, how did he get even hotter after Spring Break?!” you muttered before turning back to your friends.

Johnny scoffed jokingly. “Hey, hey, keep it in your pants.”

“Also, aren’t you forgetting something?” Ten asked you, nudging his head back to the basketball court.

Oh. Right.

The actual reason you coincidentally (not) picked this day for a picnic at the same time Jaehyun and his friends played basketball.

You and Jaehyun took a Calculus class together the previous semester, and in a room with a little more than 100 seats, you ended up sitting next to Jaehyun. The two of you barely exchanged much words other than when one of you had questions about assignments, but you could not help but be drawn to him anyway. And although he did not have to talk to you outside of class, you always appreciated his greetings whenever you ran into each other at parties or after his basketball games. You thought your feelings were just a temporary infatuation, but your crush only seemed to grow after months, so you made a vow. After Spring Break, you would ask Jaehyun out.

However, now that you saw Jaehyun standing a few feet across from you, you felt like you were going to throw up. You wanted to back out. Abort. “Oh, look at the time!” you laughed nervously, pointing at your wrist that was definitely not wearing a watch. “I forgot I have to study for an exam tomorrow.”

You started to stand up, but Ten yanked you back down to the ground right away, causing you to land on your butt. “Nuh-uh. Don’t think so. Hey, Yuta!”

You shot a look at Ten, sending a quick telepathic message along the lines of Are you fucking serious? before turning back to everyone on the court. Almost all of the guys faced the direction of your group after hearing Yuta’s name called. You found Yuta who waved once he spotted you and your friends. I guess I’m doing this, you thought to yourself, breathing deeply and then mustering the biggest smile you could in that moment.

“Good luck, babe,” Sujin cheered as soon as you stood up and started to walk towards Yuta. The group had already dispersed to different parts of the court, ready to start a game.

“Is there a reason why you texted me if I would be out at the quad today?” Yuta asked as you ran into his arms for a quick hug.

You pulled away and then playfully punched his arm. “Maybe there’s just something about you playing basketball that makes me swoon,” you said, batting your eyelashes at him.

Yuta rolled his eyes, punching your arm back lightly. “Please. I can assure you that from middle to high school, when your parents worked, you had to wait after my practices so my dad could take us home. You’ve definitely used the word miserable to describe it.”

“Okay, but it’s obvious that my presence at your practices have made you into who you are today, right? This university has to thank me for their best shooting guard.”

Yuta grinned. “Alright, just tell me what you want.”

You hummed, rocking back and forth on your feet as you glanced around for the one who has been on your mind. “I actually wanted to talk to Jaehyun.”

“Jeong Jaehyun?”

You nodded your head. Yuta leaned closer, eyes narrowing as if he was trying to assess you. After a second, your friend straightened back up and called for his teammate. “Jaehyun!”

Jaehyun stopped his conversation with another player and turned his attention to you and Yuta, slightly confused, but he walked over to you both. “What’s up?” Jaehyun questioned, catching a quick glimpse of you.

“Y/N wanted to talk to you, so I’ll leave you two to it,” Yuta explained, ruffling your hair as a goodbye before he left you alone with Jaehyun.

You let out a nervous laugh, fixing your hair. It was now or never. With the close distance between you two, you got a whiff of Jaehyun’s cologne—wood, also kind of spicy. “Hey, Y/N. Sucks we don’t have a class together this semester.”

“Yeah, sucks. How was your break?”

Jaehyun shrugged. “I went to Cabo.”

You paused. “Oh.” The wealthy be different. “Cabo. Must’ve been a hell of a time. I thought Haeun’s pool party was something. Not even close.”

"Yeah, Cabo was a great time. So... what did you need to tell me?”

“What?”

“Um, you said you wanted to talk?”

“Oh!” you exclaimed, feeling shy after remembering why you were there in the first place. Your eyes shifted to your shoes, unable to keep eye contact with the boy in front of you. Nervousness as well as excitement rushed through you, and your body felt like it was tingling. It kind of scared you what his reaction would be, but it was what it was. The worse he could say was no. “About that. I—”

“Jaehyun!”

Suddenly, a feminine voice called out his name. You whipped your head around to find a girl with a black long bob and bangs waving excitedly to Jaehyun and then running straight into his open arms. You took a minute to process what was happening. Your first thought was that she was very pretty. Her makeup suited her, especially the burgundy red lip tint. Her body also fitted well in her white tank top and black skinny jeans.

“Hey, babe. What’re you doing here? I thought you were working on your journalism project,” Jaehyun said, happiness evident through the way his face lit up, smiling in a way you had never seen Jaehyun smile before. Arms still around the girl, Jaehyun leaned down to give her a peck on the lips. You quickly averted your eyes, feeling as if you were intruding on the intimate moment.

“Yeah, but I missed you, so I decided to take a break and hang out with you,” the girl answered in the sweetest tone as she pulled away from Jaehyun. She then looked over at you as if she noticed you for the first time. “Who’s this?”

“This is—”

“I was just leaving,” you interrupted.

Jaehyun brows furrowed. “Wait, I thought—”

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” you said a little too quickly, waving your hand dismissively. “It was nothing important. I had a question, but the answer just popped into my head, haha. I, uh, actually have a thing, so I’m gonna go now. Yeah. Thanks, Jaehyun. And nice meeting you—”

“Hyejin.”

“Hyejin. Nice meeting you, Hyejin. Okay, bye!”

You spun around, and your feet picked up pace as you walked away from the basketball court, out the quad, towards the direction of the dorm. Your phone vibrated in your back pocket, likely a call from one of your friends, but you could not help but feel slightly embarrassed after the incident. The last thing you wanted to do was talk about it.

Babe. Definitely way worse than being rejected.

End of Flashback

When you snapped out of your thoughts, you realized that Jaehyun was now staring back at you, with those captivating eyes that sought for answers. “Y/N?” he called out softly.

You felt your cheeks grow warm, slightly flustered that you zoned out while looking at him. “Y-Yeah?” Shit, you cursed to yourself after you choked on the reply, and you cleared your throat before answering more clearly. “Yeah?”

Jaehyun leaned back and chuckled. “I just wanted to let you know I really appreciate you coming to the basketball games again. It’s nice seeing your face in the crowd.”

You smiled. “Of course. None of my roomies except Ten really enjoy watching basketball, but he’s been busy and it’s been fun attending with Mark and Lucas. Also, don’t tell Yuta but I think I gradually started to like basketball because of him. Watching him for so many years, I can’t help but get into it when I see him find so much delight in the sport. He’s insane on the court.”

When you caught Jaehyun’s pout, you let out a laugh. He wanted his ego fed for sure. “I mean, obviously, he’s nothing compared to you, Captain. Come on now.”

“Obviously,” Jaehyun replied, giving you a smug look. Then for some reason, in a few seconds, you caught his expression when his smirk fell. “You know, my ex,” Jaehyun started, absentmindedly grasping at the sand under his hand and letting them fall through his fingers, “she never really attended my games.”

As the sun was about to fully disappear, you heard the sound of thunder rumble in the sky. Looking up, you noticed that dark clouds started to roll in. Was it supposed to rain today, you wondered. “Hyejin?” you asked, returning your attention to Jaehyun. He nodded. Since he brought her up, you might as well have asked your questions and got them over with now. “If it’s okay, can I ask what happened between you two?”

Silence settled between you and Jaehyun when he did not answer right away, which made you feel bad because you did not want to open those wounds again. Another wave of thunder roared. You two would have to return back home soon. You were about to try and change the topic, but Jaehyun spoke first. “She said that the way I loved her bored her. I don’t know. Something about how I always agreed with her and that I never confronted other guys when I felt jealous. Or when I didn’t argue with her, it felt like I didn’t care at all.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” You did not know what else to say. Breakups were hard. Before you realized, your hand reached over to Jaehyun’s, and you placed yours over his, squeezing it softly. “It’s not place to say... but she didn’t deserve you.”

Jaehyun turned his hand over so that his palm held yours, squeezing back. His lips stretched into a small smile. “Thank you, Y/N.”

You then felt a droplet of water tap on your leg. Then the top of your head. Then your cheek. Suddenly, the pitter patter of the rain became louder as it hit the sand and water. You and Jaehyun looked at each, mouth opened in awe at such misfortune, before the both of you bursted into a fit of laughter. “Wait, did you not check the weather before planning this?!” you exclaimed to Jaehyun with a huge grin on your face as you jumped up, barely covering yourself with your hands above your head.

“Listen,” Jaehyun explained as he also stood up, grabbing the jacket that he brought with him. “did you not check the weather?”

You were not sure if the rush your body felt was due to the unforeseen weather or the way Jaehyun stared at you like he was waiting for you to make a move. With your adrenaline and curiosity, you stepped closer to him. “Are you seriously trying to blame this on your date right now, Jeong Jaehyun?”

Jaehyun leaned closer to your face. You sucked in a breath, aware of the lack of space between you two. Jaehyun took his jacket and covered the top of your head to protect as best as he could from the rain. You grabbed the outerwear, but Jaehyun’s grasp was also still on the jacket. Despite the rain drenching Jaehyun from head to toe, a smile remained on his face. “I’m sorry. You’re right. This was my bad. How can I make it up to you?” Jaehyun asked as his eyes fell onto your lips before looking up to read your eyes. His lips pressed together, and his next question almost turned you into a puddle. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes.” It was all Jaehyun needed to hear to release his hold on the jacket and moved his hands to cup your face. Jaehyun’s lips brushed against yours. Soft. His lips were soft. You smelled the familiar scent of his cologne, and it made you even dizzier as you continued to kiss Jaehyun, letting the blossoming warmth consume you. You could not help but smile into the kiss, and when his tongue pressed between your lips, you started to part your lips for him until a loud crack of thunder struck in the sky, prompting you both to pull away from each other.

“As much as I’d like to keep going, I think I should get you home before you catch a cold,” Jaehyun said with a chuckle.

Like a gentleman, Jaehyun walked you all the way to your front door. Though you offered Jaehyun shelter from the rain inside your apartment, he declined, assuring you that his fraternity house was not too far from your place. “Really sorry we couldn’t get that fancy dinner,” Jaehyun apologized. “I knew you were looking forward to that the most.”

You shook your head, reassuring him with a smile. “No worries. I had such an amazing time, Jae.”

He leaned in to give you a quick peck on the lips. “Next time. Now get inside and change into some dry clothes. I’ll text you later.”

“Drive safe,” you told him, and he nodded. As soon as Jaehyun walked away from you, you grabbed your key and unlocked the door to your apartment, calling out to your roommates. “I’m home!”

Sujin was the first one to greet you in the living room. Her eyes widened when she spotted you in your wet clothes, droplets of water dripping from your hair to the tiled floor. “Geez, Y/N! I thought you two were just going to watch the sunset, not get into the water fully clothed.”

You playfully rolled your eyes and passed by Sujin to get to your room. After you closed the door, you ran to your bed and plopped on the mattress, not even bothering to change out of your clothes right away. You unlocked your phone and opened Instagram to view the most recent photos of you and Jaehyun from today, recalling the event that occurred hours ago. Today really happened. Jaehyun kissed me.

taglist: @fluffyjaes @hwangful @seeking-faces @urlocalnctstan @justineasian @127-jaehyun @dearjaehyxn @taesty-jams @jeneyesmile @taeiluv127 @mango-bear @marklexleaf @generantionct @tyxsaturn @247byun @yourchasingsunsetslove @ajhdr @jaeficrecs @bitchenderyy @thorscrown @leaurcitee @erisxczenie @minavenue @phoenixes-and-wizards @renjunf00ls @notminniie @sanisms @sunflowerhae @smileyyuta @ohmy-fandoms @artfulbarnes @anotherfullsun @moons00 @nctlovesme @unmanageable-day @raywishii @thejungjaehyun @venusprada @doyobun @nshitae @andrea-chanel @llamabouquet

#nct social au #nct social media au #jaehyun social media au #jung jaehyun #jung yoonoh #nct #jaehyun au #jaehyun angst #jaehyun imagines #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun x y/n #jaehyun x reader #nct aus #nct angst #nct imagines #nct scenarios #jaehyun fluff #nct fluff #on the rebound

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waitingfortheendtocome · 4 years ago

Text

Deceiving Love

This was a request idea send so all credits for the idea goes to @me-goro Thank you for the request and I promise I’ll try my best :)

Request: Enemy to Lovers where Lou meets y/n for the first time while Lou’s trying to be sneaky because she wants to get information o but Y/N is unknowingly in the way of her getting it.

This is probably not going to be that many chapters maybe a few chapters, more or less fast pace. I tried to get it in a one shot but it would’ve been too long.

I’m so sorry is so long I couldn’t find a stopping point and wanted to get as much info out there as well as introduction for the first chapter. I promise I’ll try not to make them too long in the future lol. I’m bad at finding good ending spots as well as writing characters hating on each other LOL. Fair warning I went for the crashing into each other cliché to create a bad start between them LOL

I haven’t edited it completely so there might be grammatic error and for that I apologize.

Also this is my first Ocean’s 8 Lou Miller story so I’m sorry if this turns out bad 😅

Warnings: None yet except Cursing here and there. bad first impressions if you count that (is that under angst????)

Chapter One

~Lou~

Lou parked in front of the warehouse they had rented out for the job. They made sure to rent it out under a false name to avoid backtracking in case somewhere where to go wrong. They all took a flight to France for a job Debbie insisted they should do. She claimed it a really good job and the pay was good. Personally Lou didn’t needed the extra cash and rejected the job a few times over the course of a week before finally caving in due to Debbie’s persistence. Despite her agreeing she wasn’t happy and had been slightly grouchy she wanted to focus on running her club, upgrading it here and there to make it better and maybe open another club so she was very busy.

If she did this job she had to put all the plans on hold for a while which she was upset about. She had to hire a temporary manager to run her club while she was gone, hell even Tammy tried to tell Debbie to leave Lou be but according to Debbie they’ll get caught if Lou wasn’t there. Lou had been in a bad mood that day and saying a few things that would have hurt Debbie’s feelings if Debbie had been within hearing range only Tammy heard her and the two had a lengthy conversation which made Lou wish she had a strong drink which wasn’t wise thankfully Tammy made her feel better already sensing Lou’s sudden stress. Safe to say after talking to Tammy she agreed on the job better her helping Debbie than having all seven of her friends get caught and arrested. Debbie was more than happy at Lou agreeing to do this job something Lou noticed and had to admit made her happy.

They all walked in the warehouse and looked around except for Lou who walked confidently to a chair and sat down her long legs spread out in front of her. She had already came here a week ago to get the place set up for the team she even set up a spot for nine balls with the equipment the woman needed for the heist so she didn’t needed to explore or look around. Debbie grinned at Lou proud that Lou had set the place up already Lou looked up from her phone giving Debbie a smug smirk before she finished texting her temporary club manager. She put her phone away and looked up knowing the team had gathered and Debbie took the floor.

“So, what are we stealing? You guys haven’t told us.” Amita wondered

Lou lounged back shrugging, “Don’t look at me not even I know.”

“Yo, are they diamonds?” Nine Balls wondered

“Woah, wait you haven’t told Lou?” Constance wondered shocked

“I didn’t wanted her to try and back out if I told her.” Debbie informed them earning a snort from the blonde in question who shoved a piece of gum in her mouth

“Oh now we really wanna know, spill girl what is it?” Nine stated closing the lid of her laptop

Smiling satisfied that she got everyone's attention she turned on the screen projector stating, “Hear me out first.”

The screened turned on and an drawing of three jewels popped up and beside it another image of two crowns popped up. Lou studied the items quickly wondering what was so special about them besides the lack of photograph.

The necklace collar is large and is made out of pure gold hallmarked with roses and harps made out of diamonds put to gatherer alternately. They where tied together with knots made out of pure gold and topaz diamonds. The roses where made out of diamonds and rubies. In the center of the collar was an imperial Jeweled Crown crest surmounting a harp of gold and diamonds. There was a small writing that says they're suppose to be two of them one had the imperial badge crown and the other did not other than that both necklace collars where the exact same.

The second jewel was a Grand Master diamond badge. The badge looked like it was similar to the one hanging off one of the necklaces. the badge is made out of silver containing trefoil in emerald on a ruby cross surrounded by sky blue enamel with rose diamonds writing. The crowned harp was made out of Diamonds and Brazilian stones.

The third Jewel was a simple large star made of gold diamonds and brilliants. it consisting of eight points with four lesser issuing Centre enclosing a cross of ruby and a trefoil of emeralds surrounding a sky blue enamel circle with writing in rose diamonds. The crowns was made out of pure gold, diamonds among with other jewels spread out creating a rather elegant and luxurious pattern.

Lou looked at them than at Debbie and sighed shaking her head looking incredulous. The jewels in the first image where known as the crowned jewels and the crowns where royal crowns from who knows how long ago both of which were stolen at different times ages ago. Lou was very confused as to what Debbie was planning unless Debbie decided to change her profession to treasure hunter.

“Debbie what are those jewels?” Tammy wondered confused

“Yo, what’s with the lack of photo are we downgrading or something?” Nine pointed out

“No we are not downgrading these-,” Debbie began before she was interrupted by Lou

“Those are the Crown jewels that went missing in 1906. The crowns on he right where missing in 1799 both where never seen again.” Lou explained

Debbie nodded slightly surprised Lou knows about them, “Yes, you know what they are?”

“Duh! So Indiana Jones how the fuck are we looking for said jewels are we pulling a Lara Croft or something.” Lou stated sarcastically

“If you would have let me finish Lou instead of interrupting I would have said that there was rumors that the said jewels are no longer missing they supposedly are here in this city in their most popular museum. Unfortunately we need information in order to get it that one one has but probably one person without said information there’s no way we can find them.” Debbie explained

Rose became confused and spoke up shyly, “What are they worth, don’t we usually start off by saying how much the seven of us earn?”

Debbie grinned mischievously and looked at the group proudly, “Today, four-hundred million dollars in today’s money minimum we might easily be able to up the prices due to the simple fact that the they where all stolen long ago and thought to no longer exist.”

“You’re not telling us something.” Lou pointed out casually

Debbie pressed the button on the remote and three pictures popped up, two of them where of two men one older than the other and the third of a woman Lou had to admit was the most beautiful woman she had ever laid eye’s on. She honestly could care less about the pictures of the men she was focused on the woman. Lou noticed you smiled proudly, you eyes shinning with happiness. You where wearing an outfit that was business casual, your hair styled to suit your professional style you where going for. Lou’s eyes flickered to Debbie to find her staring at her smirking smug and Lou cursed softly at being caught she knew that look anywhere. Debbie smug looked at the group and stated casually.

“These three are the ones in charge the younger man is the owner and director his name is Richard Davis, the older man’s name is Liam Moore he is the Curator, and the woman’s name is Y/F/N Y/LN she is the registrar. One or two of them have all the information we need and we need to get it out of them to find it. It’ll be too risky getting it out of Richard Davis and even Liam Moore. Our biggest chances is Y/F/N, she is in charge of what goes in and out of that place. Her job is to literally keep track of all the object, records, authenticity and borrowings so if these jewels are heading to their museum they’ll be passing through her and it'll be her job along with Liam to put them away either on display and hide them.” Debbie explained

“Don’t forget that if she has good relation with the director he’ll be giving her special tasks involving Jewels.” Tammy added earning a nod from Debbie

“So, how do we get this information out of her?” Amita wondered

Debbie grinned eying Lou again earning a sharp glare from Lou which in turn caused Debbie to laugh and look at the confused group who was looking back and forth between them wondering what they missed.

“Well Lou will be getting close to the woman and try to get information out of her she has Lou’s type written all over.” Debbie told them smug

“Like she’ll tell me the information. ‘Hey Miss. Y/L/N where the fuck are you keeping the jewels my team wants to steal them’.” Lou hissed her tone dripping sarcasm

“Please, we need the information.” Constance pleaded pouting Lou narrowed her eyes only causing Constance to pout further finally earning a sigh in defeat from Lou who all but caved she can’t resist Constance pout and she knows it she has a soft spot for the girl.

“Alright, I’ll do it. That was a cheap shot kid,” Lou pointed out getting up earning a beaming smile in return. “How hard can getting information out of her be aren’t people working in museum are boring or uptight as fuck.”

Lou without a word left the building deciding to pay the place a visit she kind of hoped one of the other’s would go in and do that after all Lou’s job was to gather anyone working for them, stealing the objects, making sure everything is going according to plan and have backup plans in case something goes wrong among other things bribing information out of someone wasn’t one of them. Granted a very attractive someone but she wasn’t going to admit that to anyone. Lou sighed realizing is been too long since she’s gotten anyone in her bed and it was starting to show. Lou climbed on a car and drove off following the GPS directions.

~You~

You rushed into the building of your workplace cursing at yourself for forgetting to set up the alarm. You moved to France from your home after finally landing a job that you actually loved for a change. You’ve always been a fan art and Historical artifacts so you began working at a big historical museum in Paris.

You walked into the building passed security and across the huge building waving hi to the security guard. You walked straight to your office that's located towards the back of the building. You barely made it in when your boss who’s also the director and owner of the museum jogged up to you looking like a kid in Christmas and you know something must have happened to get him this excited. The two of you had been friends since you started working there, you where originally the tour guide to the place before he promoted you to the official Registrar of the museum.

"Y/N right on time, we need to talk about something important that just happened." He told you barely able to contain his excitement. You honestly wonder how this man is an adult and owns this place. He is like a child sometimes.

You quirked an eyebrow at him confused, "Sure, what is it?"

He pointed to your office door, "let's go to your office to talk privately. I don't want anyone to overhear.”

Nodding more confused, you opened the door and walked in with him behind you. He closes and locks the door, tugging you into the room making you more confused if possible. The both of you sat across from each other, you barely had the chance to ask again why he was so excited when he handed you two folded piece of paper. Looking confused you opened the first one and stared at it to find an old drawing of a three jewels. You looked confused when you saw it since it looked like a drawing of the jewels rather than an actual photo.

You looked up at your boss after you studied the two pages and the descriptions of the jewels along with what was used to create them. You remember hearing about these things going missing during a conversation you had with your coworker who was a guide here in the museum. When discussing missing jewelry or historical artifacts he had mentioned several different ancient royal jewels that had gone missing and mentioned these but you weren’t sure what this had to do with anything.

“Richard, do I want to know why you’re showing me these? These aren’t even in our museum I would know is my job to memorize anything and anyone that goes in or out of this place.” You wondered confused

He grinned excitedly, “Yes, They went missing centuries ago and we recently found them again and just so happens that they are secretly on their way here we wont put them on display of course.”

Your eyes widen in shock, “Really? How the hell did you find them?"

He shrugged grinning, "I honestly don't have a clue how they where found the important thing is I got my hands on them before anyone else did. The jewels where stolen and sold in the 1900s someone must have found them recently the crowns where destroyed but turns out they where stolen and hidden. That's as far as I know."

You nodded processing the information for a moment, "okay that makes sense sort of but wouldn’t they be prone to thieves though?”

He chuckled, “Yes, which is why I have a plan which is foul proof. I did not wanted us to suffer the same fate as the Toussaint so I’m going to change a few things here and there around this place but more importantly only you and I will have all the information and location.”

You shook your head at that. Being the only one with specific information only added more stress on you especially if you’re going to be put in charge of it which you knew you where based on the look you where given.

“I’m listening. What’s this infamous information.” you told him slightly sarcastic earning a chuckle

He looked satisfied with your reply and sat back explaining the importance of having the word not get out that those jewels where discovered. He went into greater details on how they where going to get them in the museum, how they where going to be hidden, secured and how they where going to up the security and his crazy idea of adding a few decoys in other locations when you asked why the decoy he looked at you sheepish and said he took the idea from the Met when it was discovered Klugger was wearing a fake so he was borrowing the idea just in case. After he was done explaining which took up an hour or so you looked baffled.

“This better not backfire on us.” you sighed and got up getting ready for work to distract yourself leaving a smug owner in your office.

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

Most of the morning was uneventful and slightly dreadful. There was a tour by a Primary school which was stressful given how some of the kids wanted to run off on their own when their teacher and tour guide was not looking. At one point one of them almost knocked something over since they went past the security point forcing you to run and steady the item and pointing out to the teacher to keep a better eye on her students. You where of curse polite and respectful about it despite your patience being tested.

It wasn’t until the afternoon where everything started to go south. It was a lot busier an old lady freaked out believing that one of the old priceless painting was hers and tried to steal it not to mention she had a cane and smacked you with it a few times until she was escorted away from the area. You where pretty sure you where going to bruise a little. You could not help but wonder how does an old lady able to swing the cane that forcefully. So is safe to say you where in a really bad mood. You walked past the Egyptian wing and paused when you heard a childlike giggle. You walked over just in time to see yet another child trying to get past the safety line and getting inside the security glass. You ran over and stopped him before something tragic happened and fixed the glass. You couldn’t help but glare at the kid. The kid backed up but you grabbed his arm.

“Where are your parents?” You asked in a serious tone he didn’t say anything only pointed to the other side of the Egyptian wing. You walked him over to them to find them both on their phone you tapped their shoulder interrupting the careless parents.

“Yes?” the arrogant mother asked

“Is this your kid?” You asked trying to not sound rude and snap after earning a nod from both you spoke up before they can say anything, “Please keep your kid close to you I just found him nearly knocking over an artifact.”

The father took the kid and narrowed his eyes scolding his son for walking out of their side and misbehaving deciding to punish the kid by taking him home earning a temper tantrum.

“Bill don’t be harsh he didn’t mean it I’m sure we could have paid for the damages.” The mother scolded her husband

You rolled your eyes at that and said, “Yeah, ma’am keep him close and for the record neither of us can afford that thing. Instead of being on your phone how about showing your kid a good time if you payed attention to him he wont have any need to destroy the place. This is the third time I had to stop him.” you turned around and walked off not even bother with civility anymore.

You turned around and stormed off to keep an eye on the rest of the of the museum hoping nothing more will happen. You where in a bad mood and ready to go home. You walked around the corner only to collide with someone causing you to tumble back at that same moment you felt something cold splash all over you. Looking down you realized it was just water.

“Fuck. Watch where you’re walking.” the woman snapped

You glared up at her to find a pair of light blue eyes glaring right back you belonging to a tall platinum blonde woman. You looked down to find her shirt was also wet and she was holding a half empty cup.

“First of all watch where YOU’RE walking, second of all no cellphones and third off I wasn’t the one walking with a cup filled with what ever that was you’re not allowed to have liquids in this section only the lobby’s lounge area blonde.” You snapped right back

“What the fuck I was walking here you’re the one who crashed into me and be glad it was water and I’m allowed to take pictures what kind of fucking museum is this.” the woman snapped

You rolled your eyes, “That’s what bottles of water are for genius.”

That only pissed off the blonde even more, “First of all this use to be soda before I finished it and emptied my water in here second of all fuck you, you’re rude as fuck.”

Both of you glared daggers at each other clearly pissed off. Any other circumstance you would have admired how attractive and how her closed hugged her body just right but not right now. Right now you where actively glaring daggers' at her for being a rude bitch. Why the hell are the hot ones always rude and obnoxious. You wondered

You saw her unlocked phone and narrowed your eyes pointing to a sign, “You can’t take pictures in this section new rule only certain areas are allowed to have pictures taken put that phone away”

“What the fuck. First of all none of the other staffs have said shit the only uptight complaining is you second of all I only took some pictures.” The woman snapped

“I need to check your phone.” You told her. it wasn’t that you where out to get her but it was a rule and this particular area no one was allowed to take pictures ever since last year most museums and locations holding expensive items became more strict

“NO.” The woman all but growled

“I need to see it.” You said beginning to loose your patients you said hell with professionalism and snatched it looking through the pictures she took earning a protest trying to snatch it back and you stopped her with a sharp glare and grabbing her free hand. You found a few pictures of statues that are pretty heavy. You looked suspiciously at the glaring woman and handed her the phone back.

“We don’t allow phones anymore miss. Put that away.” you told her for the second time sharply

Lou glared at you not appreciating the bad treatment, “Why not the other museums allow it and I don’t appreciate having my phone snatched from me.”

“Not anymore. Blame the moron who decided team up with Klugger and steal that Toussaint necklace. Lucky them the insurance agent is dumb as fuck. No one allows phone anymore let along pictures being taken. Now either chug that drink or I’m snatching it with your phone and not returning them.” you warned and stormed off to try and clean up your top leaving a very pissed off blonde behind.

What the fuck is wrong with her? Fucking rude. You thought pissed off. You spoke sharply through your walky-talky’s earpiece to have someone clean up the spill and stormed off to your office deciding it was better do paperwork than to deal with guests.

~Lou~

It wasn’t until you stormed away when Lou realized you where the woman Debbie mentioned that had all the information and cursed at that.

Great, Getting information from someone like her will be nearly impossible. Lou thought glaring at the spot you where just in.

Lou stormed out of the building determined to get something out of you but knew it will be impossible since she knew you will probably keeping a close eye on her after that horrible interaction. Lou got even more angry when she remembered you boldly snatching her phone and probably erasing some of the pictures she had taken from the interesting objects there.

“Fucking rude uptight b.” Lou complained angrily while driving only to be interrupted by her phone. Lou drove towards the warehouse clearly pissed off evident in her feature, her posture was tense, her jawline clenched and she was gripping her steering wheel tightly. She chose to ignore the phone to annoyed to bother with answering.

#ocean's 8 #lou miller #debbie ocean #tammy #Amita #daphne kluger #constance #nine balls #lou miller x reader #lou miller/reader #Lou Miller x Reader Fanfic Request

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jamestrmtx · 4 years ago

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Fairytale Complex - [Undertale | Sans x Reader]

[Gender Neutral, Frisk's Parent Reader]

Chapter One | Home

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(Author Note, written in November 2020 and updated on May 2021: For those who've already read the prologue, two changes happened: [1] the story title went from Goodnight, Starlight to Fairytale Complex, and [2] since this's a rewrite of an older work, the main/focus relationship would now be Sans, but there will still be alternate relationships, other main four being Papyrus, Muffet, Grillby, and Napstablook! More info on that can be found on Chapter Sixteen | Dummy! (Part 3 of 3).)

• • •

Your phone lights up and buzzes erratically, waking you up and forcing you to get out of bed when it proves to be too far away for you to reach it. The screen marks an unholy five thirty five in the morning, and you can only wonder over what your aunt wants to discuss with you at such an early hour. There's around two urgent voicemails, eleven text messages, and three missed calls, all from her, so you decide on phoning her back to get things over with.

She answers fast, hardly giving the phone a chance to beep once.

"Turn on the TV right now, honey," your aunt shouts, an indistinguishable emotion between anger and shock displayed in her voice. "Now," she repeats, authority shown in that single word. "And don't forget to call me later. We need to talk." She hangs up after that, leaving you with more questions than you once had.

You raise a brow at the oddity of her call, yet relent with how tired both your mind and body feel. You'd left work at eleven at night, only to arrive home at midnight and fall asleep at one. With barely five hours of rest in your system, you don't exactly feel motivated to watch television, yet that changes when you sit at the edge of your bed, turn it on, and see the first thing there is a breaking news report taking over every cable channel present. No matter which one you switch to, it's there, reporting over the rise of a whole new species of living beings, these capable of human reasoning and conduct, as one of the reporters and even a scientist so claimed based on the little information they've both gathered about the species already. They proceed to display a picture of a large crowd of people gathered near a mountain, these looking straight out of a fantasy novel. They vary greatly, from bipedal, anthropomorphic fish, bears, bunnies, goats, and spiders, to living skeletons, ghosts, and live, humanoid flames. You have to rub sleep away from your eyes and blink a few times to process what's going on, until you see who's standing smack in the middle of them all.

"F- Frisk?!" you shout, breaking the silence of your home and the night.

Almost immediately, you pick up your phone and search for more information on where and when the picture was taken. The sun seemed to be setting in it, and based on when the news had chosen to report on the event, you figure Frisk has to be with that group somewhere around. You access the news channel's main page and see a pinned post asking for information on the child's parents, comment section blocked to prevent a flood in them, along with the share button to keep any second parties from spreading it around more.

>> A goat lady by the name of Toriel has taken Frisk under her temporary care while authorities regain contact with the child's parents. If anyone reading this post happens to know about their location, number, or any other contact information, please do let us know over at private message, so that we may interview them personally. We have searched far and wide for more thorough information on the child, but Child Protective Services have settled upon keeping that information private, while the child refused to tell us anything else after they found out over what penalties their parents would be receiving. They insist that their primary caregiver is a good person, that they do not know about their secondary caregiver's whereabouts, and that they will not allow anything bad to happen to either of them, refusing to so much as give up their last name to us as a result. However, we are still in dire need of said information in order to interview the parents and perform more proper investigations as to why the child disappeared for a period of almost two whole months.

Below the basic gist stands a shorter paragraph and a photo of a different monster, this one a skeleton instead of a goat woman.

>> In addition to the goat lady offering to look after Frisk for the time being, another monster has reached out to us and left his number only specifically for the parents. He states it is necessary they meet and that he would like to offer an explanation as to what happened at the Underground and how Frisk got there. If you are one of the parents, please contact us through private message so that we may provide you with his number and further directions on what to do from there.

You check the time of the post, lock your phone, and set it aside when the news returns from a commercial break, this one much shorter compared to usually.

"Passerby say it sounded similar to that of a bomb going off, yet there were no signs of destruction and nobody near when they made it to the place where they heard the noise. It's estimated the Barrier broke at late evening, and that the monsters left with Frisk barely an hour after that event, without bothering to inform anyone over the missing child's arrival. Authorities claim they've yet to gain contact with Frisk's secondary caregiver and that they are now on their way to contact their primary one. Given the circumstances and the current hour, Child Protective Services believe it best to visit at noon, as they have already tracked down the parent's location and received further information on the subject through social media. That's all we've managed to cover so far, but remember to stay tuned for more at-"

“(Mom/Dad), I'm home!”

Your eyes shoot open and you almost have to double take when you hear that voice. It's followed by a few persistent knocks on the door, though you still go as far as to check the pulse on your wrist to make sure you're still alive. You turn the television off, hop out of bed, and rush over to the living room, where you're greeted with the sight of Frisk standing by the entrance and looking around, their own set of keys balanced on their finger as they take in their surroundings. They continue to look this way and that, observing the changes you've made to the house since they were gone.

They meet with your eyes and freeze up, taking a small, precautionary step forward. "I… I missed you," they mutter, voice soft and quiet, a large difference from when they announced they were back home. They fiddle with their hands and face at the floor, casting a guilty look at the worn welcome mat as they say, "I'm sorry for… for disappearing like that. But I promise I-"

Before they can finish speaking, you've already made it to their side. Your arms wrap around them and you bring them in for a strong and lasting embrace, tucking their head against your chest, squeezing them tight, and allowing them to listen to your heart beat. "Oh, sweetheart, forget all that," you reply, stroking their hair and kissing their forehead. "I… I missed you, too." You hold them tight and let some of your worries out through another squeeze. It feels almost bizarre having them in your arms again, but it feels right all the same. Every puzzle seems to fall right into place, and the only thing in your mind right now's their well-being. "H- How are you, by the way?" you ask, breaking the hug apart. "Are you hungry? ...Sleepy? And who brought you here? Did they treat you well?"

"I'm okay," they reply, giggling. "Miss Toriel made me some food before we left, and I'm way too pumped to even think about sleeping!"

"And where is Miss Toriel?"

"She left right after we got here. She said she didn't want to bother you now that I'm back, and that you could meet up with her some other time!"

You hug them yet again, still too stricken to let go of them. "I'm… I'm so glad you're back home, dear," you whisper, holding them close as you mutter more sentences with similar sentiments to the previous one. You still can't shake off your shock nor can you believe this is real. The rational part of your brain insists it's no time to be emotional and that you need answers stat, though the emotional part demands you pour all your attention onto the moment and appreciate Frisk's return. You'd cried countless hours, days, nights, and weeks. And all of that pent up regret, confusion, and relief begins to be let out through whispered words, strong hugs, and gentle caresses. "I… I thought you were gone for good, dear, an- and that you left because you hated me." You hiccup at that last statement and hold them tighter, fearing another disappearance. "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel bad about me being your (mother/father). And… And I'm sorry for anything I might've done to upset you. I- I'll try to be a better parent for you from now on, and you can tell me over where I can improve. Alright?"

Frisk breaks the hug apart and faces up at you with a frown. "What are you saying? I don't hate you, (mom/dad)!" they reply, gaze furrowed and eyes wide. "I… I was thinking about something else that day. B- But it has nothing to do with you. I promise!"

"Then why did you disappear?" you ask, placing a hand over their shoulder and maintaining your frown. "Why did you run away? ...And just what do you mean by that? What were you thinking about before you disappeared?"

Looking caught, they face the floor and fiddle with their hands again. "...Can we talk about that later? I think I'm feeling sleepy now."

Your glare finally shows through, the rational part of you taking over now. "Don't you dare change the subject, Frisk (L/N). What did you mean by that? What happened before you disappeared?"

"Please, (mom/dad)! I can tell you later," they whine, tears welling up in their eyes. "I- I don't wanna talk about that right now. I miss you. And I… I really wanna be with you right now. I really miss my home, I miss studying with you, and I... I miss going out on weekends with you, too."

You straighten your posture, cross your arms tight, and frown, still unconvinced. "Can you promise me you'll tell me first thing tomorrow, after we catch up today?"

Slowly, they nod. "I promise."

"Pinky promise?"

Frisk smiles bright and wide at your suggestion and at the gesture you make, pinky finger offered out to them. They interlock theirs with yours and let go when you both nod, sealing the deal. "I promise. Could we go watch a movie now?"

"Didn't you say you were sleepy?"

"I sleep better with the TV on!"

"Yeah, right." Despite yourself, you giggle and smile at them. Then, you place a hand on their head and mess up their hair, poking your tongue out when they glare at you. "Let's go, then. Just... Remember me to call my boss so I can take the day off today and go to work a bit later tomorrow."

"...Can you really do that? I thought you could get fired for that!"

"Probably not." You laugh. "But you're my main and only priority right now. And I can just try to find another job after all this's over with."

You offer your hand out to them and lead the way back to your bedroom when they take it. Your heart's still racing and you've yet to acknowledge the fact they're finally back with you, though your happiness continues to persist through it all; they're here and that's all that matters right now. Worry would come in later.

"Why did you move the TV to the bedroom, though?" they ask, halfway through your destination.

You squeeze their hand and stare down at them, managing a guilty and meek smile. "I, uh, might've... borrowed your dad's Netflicks password, and tried watching some movies since you went missing. I could barely sleep at night, so I just tried distracting myself by finding something new to watch." You let go, finally reaching the door of your bedroom. "I also made sure to tidy up your bedroom once a week, just in case you ever came back, so it's all nice and clean if you want to go there later," you say, smiling. "But... I'm guessing you'd want to be with me for awhile now?"

They nod, not an ounce of reluctance present in their actions. "Definitely!" They flinch back and giggle when you kiss their cheek as a response, "Can I, really?"

"As long as you fulfill your promise, then yes. You can stay in my bedroom for as long as you want, dear."

"But didn't you say I was a big kid just last year?"

"Yes, but I…" You chew on your lip and blink back tears, their return finally dawning on you. "I missed you too much to care about that right now."

You turn on the television and access Netflicks, putting on a movie and climbing into bed. They do the same and rest their head against your lap, cuddling against you. You both stay that way for the entirety of the movie, with them close and with your hand on their head, stroking their hair until they fall asleep halfway in.

When you're sure they're out like a light, you allow yourself to cry again; tears continue to go down the more time you spend with Frisk close to your side.

They were back.

Your prayers had been answered, and now you wouldn't have to lay awake at night, feeling guilty and mourning over their loss for hours on end.

Hopefully, Child Protective Services and Frisk's school would go easier on you now; despite what you said about not minding if they were taken away after their return, you do care. Now that they're back in your arms, you can't imagine not having the right to visit them again; a world without them. At that thought, sorrow overflows your mind and you find yourself crying quietly during what's left of another movie, uncontrolled yet quiet as you try not to wake or worry Frisk over your state. You needed to be strong for their sake and for your own as well, if the time to part ways from them ever became a reality.

That's the last thing you think of as you close your eyes, exhaustion finally taking your body for itself. Faint murmurs of an ongoing movie are the last things you hear and the sight of Frisk sleeping peacefully on your lap is the last thing you see. It all feels right, yet not; cherishing these final moments is the only thing you can do for now.

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#sans x reader #undertale x reader #lgbt #lgbt themes #gender neutral reader #male reader #female reader #mother reader #father reader #parent reader #chubby reader #long fic #romcom #adventure #mystery #platonic relationships #slow burn

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ateezingbabies · 4 years ago

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Revenge [Choi San x f!Reader]

tw - angst, smut (oral (f and m receiving), overstimulation, unprotected sex, spanking, choking (f recieving), degradation, revenge sex), cheating, uncharacteristic san tbh, overuse of the term baby, mentions of blood (no actual blood), a little plot

Words 3.1k

I do NOT condone any of the actions in this fanfiction and nor do I think that these would be actions made from Ateez' San.

You were sure that revenge has never tasted so sweet.

With San eagerly lapping at your release underneath you and you vigorously sucking on his cock, the both of you knew that there was going to be regret and heartbreak in the morning. The deep plum marks on each other’s bodies’ only added fuel to the fire. The red hot jealousy spikes through San when he hears a door open, recollecting the sight that he had seen last week.

San wasn’t quite sure when it began, when his girlfriend of three years started to have eyes for someone else. That someone else being your boyfriend of five years. Somehow a drunken mistake turned into a repeating one when sober and the hidden moans turned into longing glances and lingering touches and hushed whispers of “Soon” and “I love you.”

San was returning from practice earlier than usual and was met by a sight that he had never expected to see, his blood turning ice cold when he watches your boyfriend kissing his girlfriend’s neck over the marks that he left the previous night. Face paling and a sudden wave nausea runs over him when he turns around and starts running to the direction of your apartment. Repeatedly ringing your doorbell as heaves and chokes over his cries, you open the door and immediately bring him into a hug. Salty tears drop onto your neck and your heart drops when he tells you the events that he saw in front of his front door.

At first you didn’t want to believe it, you wanted to laugh in his face and tell him there was no way that you boyfriend was cheating on you. Once the first wave of denial finishes washing over you and San repeating the story like a mantra, rage fills you. Wanting to tear every photo and break every gift he has given you. The two of you sit there crying and consoling the other a plan works itself out. One that left pleasurable flames licking at the base of your spine.

After a double date to a cute café, you left the table under the guise that you needed to use the restroom whilst San went to go get the food from the counter. The two of you shared a knowing glance as San paid for the food, watching his girlfriend kiss your boyfriend’s cheek as you watched your boyfriend mouth, “I love you,” to San’s girlfriend. Eyes steeling as you make your way into the cramped bathroom, you bite your lip as you now have to pretend that everything is fine.

Flash forward after a few days of glancing at lewd text messages being sent, San and you settled on a date to ‘surprise’ your lovers. Taking a sick day from your work and San had already had the day off to take his soon to be ex-girlfriend on a surprise date, the two of you shared awkward kisses at first before San took the liberty to get a bottle liquor to share a few shots.

With the liquid courage pulsating in your veins the awkward kisses soon turned hot and steamy as the smacking of lips caused pleasured sighs to leave your mouth. San pulled his mouth away from your lips as all thoughts of guilt and regret flew out the window when you rolled your hips on his growing erection. Moaning out your name when you repeat the action you pull him back to your mouth to meet for a searing kiss. His hands kneading your ass forcing your back to arch.

In a sudden rush of heat, you pull off your shirt and fling it somewhere in the living room, San quickly uses this opportunity to suck temporary reminders of these events on to the top of your breasts. Annoyed with the lacy bra you were adorning, he unhooks it with clumsy fingers and pulls it off to set it next to him on the sofa. Bending down to make his face level with your breasts he sucks on a nipple, tugging on it with his teeth while his hand tweaks and kneads the other. Another whine rips from your lips at the harsh actions left on your sensitive breasts. San looks up to your pleasured face with a cocky grin. “Does that feel good, baby?”

Nodding your head as another whine bubbles out of you, San pulls away from your heaving chest, “Use your words,” a teasing lilt is found in his tone as he smiles at your blissed out state.

Fingers threading through his hair, as you moan out, “Yes, San. It feels so good.”

Content with your response, he kisses you again leading you to his bed. After spreading you out, San slips out of his shirt so quick you almost worried that it burned him. Settling in between your legs and burying his head back into your neck, he grabs one of your legs and hikes it to his waist. Lost in the headiness of lust you immediately start grinding your clothed core on his. Throwing your head back because it wasn’t enough. Noticing your frustration, San struggles removing your jeans and underwear in one go and discards them next to the bed before removing his own.

Your eyes raked down San’s body appreciating his chiseled torso, and you almost laughed that his girlfriend cheated on someone who looks like he was chiseled by Michelangelo. Not realizing you said your thoughts out loud San looms over you with mirth swirling in his gaze, “Michelangelo, huh?” He leans down to whisper in your ear as a blush rises to your cheeks, “I’m glad you think I look that good, dollface.” Grabbing your hands and pinning them above your head, San kissed, licked, and sucked along the expanse of your body before stopping at your wet slit. “Oh baby,” he tuts, “When was the last time you were fucked?” Furrowing your brows at the question you ponder when was the last time you were pleasured beyond your own hand. However, to San, you spent too long thinking about the question and to get you out of your head he slapped the top part of your thigh. Yelping at the sensation, it sent another round of heat to the base of your spine.

“I asked you a question and I expect you to answer it, baby,” San growls out barely tracing your clit that you wondered if he actually touched it. “Three.. Two-”

“I-I don’t know!” You yelp before San could enact on a punishment, “Maybe six months ago? He always said that he wasn’t in the mood.” San shakes his head at your answer, feeling sympathy run through his head.

Placing more pressure on your clit, he slowly rubs small circles on the little bud. You bite your lip at the sensation trying your hardest not to buck your hips. He looks up at your face, notices the inhibition in your eyes, “Let go for me, sweetheart, I want you to feel good. Don’t be scared of the pleasure.” Glancing at San and see his eagerness in his face almost makes you wonder if he had hidden feelings for you at a period in time. Taking a deep breath and resting your head on his pillow you close your eyes and focus on San’s fingers working his way to your opening and barely breaching inside to gather some of your wetness before spreading it onto your clit where his slow moments started to become faster. Even though he was not your boyfriend you will admit that he knows what he is doing. Slowly gyrating your hips on his fingers, San smiles as you lose yourself to the pleasure he is providing you. Deciding that he was teasing you enough, he takes one of his fingers and slips it into you. Biting his lip by how tight and wet you are, he pumps his finger in and out of you as you arch your back. Keeping an eye on your writhing form San slips in another finger and you hiss at the forgotten stretch. Scissoring his fingers in deeper, your eyes roll back into your skull as he presses against the spot that blinds you with pleasure. Mewling and scrunching your eyes shut at the sensation you barely hear San chuckle wanting to get the same reaction out of you again. “You like that, baby?” San teases as he angles his hand to make sure that he hits that spot every time he flutters his fingers.

Feeling the white hot pleasure wash over you become oblivious to the world only to be jolted back into the present as San kitten licks your clit. Combing your hands through his hair you whine out as he pushes you closer to your orgasm. San moans against your clit as you tug on his roots and thrust your cunt into his face. Stuttering out his name as he increases the speed of his fingers inside of you and it is too much for you to handle and you can feel yourself releasing onto his fingers. You relax for a split second to catch your breath however it is taken away from you again as San does not stop his ministrations.

Broken whines and breathless moans leave your lips as San continues to roughly lick your clit, one sounds akin to a soft no as he removes his fingers from your sopping core. But before you can focus too much on the loss of the stretching sensation, San pulls you closer to his mouth alternating between licking your clit and thrusting the wet organ into your cunt. Your back arches once more as another orgasm forces itself out of you.

San pulls himself away from your heat and wipes his hand across his lips, “You taste so sweet,” he climbs on top of you with hands on either side of your head and a thigh in between your legs. “Want a taste, baby?” Before you can answer his lips are on yours and you cannot help but agree. Wrapping your hands his neck again as his tongue swipes against your lower lip and when you refuse to let his tongue in your mouth, he growls and bites you lower lip what seemed as hard enough to draw blood. Yelping at the pain, San forces his tongue into your mouth causing you to moan. San’s hands start to wander again, gripping your skin in his hands. Tears gathering in your eyes at how rough he was being but still tugging him closer in order to forget the thoughts of your previous lover.

When San feels a small drop of liquid smear against his cheek, he pulls away from the kiss and stares at you with a frown tugging at the corners of his lips. “Hey, what’s wrong Y/N?” San cups your cheek eyes soft as he brushes away the tear with his thumb, “Am I being too rough?”

Shaking your head at his question, “N-no, it’s perfect- er.. You’re doing perfect. I’m fine.” You start to ramble as a few more tears trail down your cheeks. Seeing your emotional turmoil San lays next you and pulls you into his arms. Resting his lips on the top of your head, he gently rubs his hand up and down your back to console you. “I just can’t believe that they did this to us. Did I do something wrong? Was I not enough?” You snuggle closer to San as your tears fall onto his chest.

The frown on San’s face deepens as he starts to feel guilty for coercing you into this. Brushing your hair away from your face, “Hey, we can stop. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to.” Shaking your head once again, you pull him back on top of you.“No, no. L-let's finish this. Just be slow,” you snivel and stutter, voice trailing off, “please.” San’s eyes soften as he brings his fully erected cock to the outside of your slit.

Tensing for the inevitable stretch, your facial expression morphs into one of confusion as it never comes. San’s eyes are wide while he looks at you, “Do you want me to use protection?” A deep maroon blush forms on your cheeks as you realize the gravity of the question. Biting your lip, you tell him no, and that the two of you should get them back where it hurts.

Bracing yourself once again, San slowly sheaths himself into you. Hissing at the stretch, and when you fully expect him to be bottomed out, he keeps going. Once he finally settles into you, tears prick your eyes again because you feel so full. Unable to help yourself, you clench around him and shudder at the gravelly groan that he emits. “Baby,” San’s voice is tight as he tries to warn you of the consequences if you keep clenching around him.

Smirking and deciding to push your limits, you clench around him again. As San positions himself into a more comfortable pose, he puffs out his chest to make himself seem larger. “I thought you told me that you want to take it slow?” His hand trails up your chest, and lightly grasps your throat, “So why are you acting like a little whore?” Feeling a burst of pleasure and shame flicker up your spine up onto the surface of your cheeks; you debate if this is what you really want. When San sees the shimmer of playfulness in your eyes and before you can answer his question his hand tightens around your throat and thrusts into you hard enough to make the wooden bed frame slam against sthe wall with a solid boom.

Eyes rolling into the back of your head you had half the mind to make a witty response but then San thrusts into you again and your mind a white haze. A smirk seems to be permanently carved into his face as he angles his hips to make sure he really hits the right spot and you are truly rendered speechless. Seeing the blissed out expression on your face he feels his ego grow, “Does the baby like being treated like a slut?” Even though you can see his lips moving you cannot hear anything above the rushing in your ears. Letting out a drawn out whine, San’s smirk turns into a dimply smile that seems too innocent in comparison to the way that he is wrecking your body. He lets out a mocking giggle as he comments, “I’ve already fucked you dumb, and I barely even started.” Back arching at the degradation it feels like your head is in a whirlwind at the swirling of emotions inside of you. Part of you is loving San’s harsh treatment towards your body and the other part of you feels guilty that you are not being the bigger person.

Lost in your head, you let out mindless moans as you grip and scratch the skin on San’s back. However, San is not much different. Part of him is hating that he is cheating on his girlfriend that he loved, and still loves. But he just can’t stop. A little voice is in the back of his head wondering if this is how his girlfriend felt when she first had an affair on him with your boyfriend. That little voice in the back is soon crushed by the powerful jaws of lust when you clench on him so tightly he can barely move. Feeling a weak wet stream on his abdomen, his focus shifts to the small stream of liquid that drips down onto the bed sheets. His gaze shifts back up to you. Face flushed and hair strewn across your face he cannot help but think that you're beautiful.

Voice hoarse from the moaning and using the little air left in your lungs, “Did you cum yet?” San refocuses his attention to his aching cock. Letting out a small no, you push him onto to his back and shimmy down the bed to lower your mouth on his painful erection. Hands immediately on the back of your neck as San forces your head down so he can be buried in your throat. Whimpering at the sensation soon turns to be an immediate regret as you gag and immediately pull your head away to cough. But San stops you before you can, pushing you back down whilst moaning and bucking his hips. Your hands clench the bed sheets for a split second and you slap his thigh to let you up.

Releasing his hands away from your neck you pull off his cock to violently cough and gag. In an attempt to calm you down, San combs his hands through your hair. Once you’ve stopped coughing and spit falls from your heaving mouth. San glances up at the clock and knows within a few moments his girlfriend is going to come home soon, and he bites his lip as he comes up with an idea. Yelping as he manhandled you into a position where your face is level with his cock and he has perfect access to your swollen pussy, “Suck,” was San’s only demand. Grabbing the base of his dick, he moans you press little kisses to his tip. Raising his hand to slap your ass, “That wasn’t part of your instructions, brat.” Gasping at the stinging sensation left behind, you quickly wrap your lips around his tip, tongue swirling around it. A weak moan resonates as San starts licking your slit and your hips shift to get away from the stimulation. Growling as you try to escape from his tongue, San wraps his arms around your waist to prevent you from squirming away.

Whining as San nibbles your clit, you start to bob your head up and down his cock. The sounds from your loud sucking and his lapping are euphonic to San's ears. Lost in your own world you bring your hands to fondle his balls. Bucking his hips, you gag slightly and San swears he could have cum right then and there. Hearing the front door open and multiple feet clamber in and stumble towards the bedroom, he holds himself back just long enough to cum when he hears the two gasps come from the door. Gagging from the sensation of San's cum shooting into the back of your throat, you grind your hips on to San's face as you were pushed over that ledge for the fourth time that afternoon.

And by the way the couple ran from out of the house, the two of you knew that revenge could never be sweeter.

#ateez san #san #ateez choi san #choi san #ateez angst #san angst #choi san angst #ateez smut #san smut #ateez san smut

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brave-clarice · 4 years ago

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“Clarice” Liveblog: Episode 1

Here are my extremely unfashionably late takes! They’re long, so strap in if you want.

okay, I genuinely thought the scenes in Gumb’s basement were ripped from the film for a second. extremely well done.

I both appreciate that they’re acknowledging the Bureau-mandated psych eval Clarice would have to go through (not sure she’d have to have another one a year later?)...

...but I sure wish they hadn’t chosen to open this show in a therapy-like session. it’s going to be subject to enough NBC comparisons as it is.

gosh, Rebecca Breeds is so pretty, and in the same almost, idk, elfin kind of way Jodie Foster is.

“Bride of Frankenstein”! a novel reference! and a Hannibal Lecter reference even though they can’t use his name! I’m excited

I was afraid of this part, though--everyone’s going to call her “Clarice” aren’t they?

it’s very significant that in the books, Hannibal is virtually alone in using her first name to address her; even Ardelia calls her “Starling.” but of course this series chose “Clarice” as its title, so...

“the checkout lady at the Safeway asked me to autograph a melon” omg

so Clarice has supposedly been “mandated” to see an FBI therapist for an entire year? hmm.

tbh, this feels kind of like a proxy for Hannibal’s scenes in the movie, especially with the therapist calling her “Clarice.” not sure if I dig it.

“...given that your last therapist was an inmate” Hannibal reference #2!

they’re explicitly talking about Hannibal without being able to name him and it’s hilarious, frustrating, and immensely satisfying all at once.

there’s no way to avoid talking about him altogether without being disingenuous to Clarice’s eventual character arc, so I’m glad they’re ripping off the band-aid early

“you let that relationship be intimate” Yeah, Clarice and Hannibal’s relationship IS intimate and YOU! SHOULD! SAY IT!!!

it’s kind of ridiculous for this guy/the show not to acknowledge that little trainee Clarice was sent to see Hannibal by someone who should’ve known better. That Crawford was doing it with the intention to save lives doesn’t mean he didn’t use the shit out of Clarice.

that’s not to take away her agency or minimize the choices she made after she met Hannibal. She wouldn’t have been in a position to make those choices if Crawford hadn’t arranged it, though.

even if they don’t have the rights to Crawford’s name, either (I have to assume that’s the case) couldn’t they at least mention this??

“hasn’t seen her own family in years” Are they actually going to address Clarice’s maybe-dead-maybe-not mother (depending on the canon they adopt, book or film) and possible siblings??? Please tell me they are!

Clarice’s “egregious” PTSD doesn’t have much to do with Buffalo Bill ofc, and this therapist seems to be making excuses to be the first in a long line of men getting in the way of Clarice’s career goals...

...which she recognizes and confronts him about. Call him out!!!

*Anthony Hopkins voice* That’s my girl.

the way she’s been written in this scene gives me a lot of hope going forward! she’s funny, she doesn’t take any sexist bullshit, she’s calm and polite but you get a glimpse of the rage underneath.

wow, they promoted Senator Martin to Attorney General!

the opening credits (if you can even call them that) are a let-down, though

she has her beads!

can anyone who’s not Hannibal please stop calling her Clarice

wonder if they’re going to touch on any of the extreme tension that existed between Senator Martin and Clarice in the novel? they didn’t interact in the movie, but in the book, Martin is under intense stress, and it doesn’t go smoothly.

of course in “Hannibal,” Martin invites her to “ride horses,” so they obviously reconciled after Catherine’s rescue and kept in some kind of touch.

and speak of the devil: horses! (and Catherine)

“I can’t have a reputation, I’ve only done it once” Thank you for being the voice of reason, Clarice.

“Paul Krendler” *ugly screaming commences*

“you don’t have any people, Clarice” Aaand that’s the plot of the Hannibal novel!

looks like they even gave her the ring Jodie’s Clarice wears!

oh yeah, this Krendler looks like a sumbitch if I ever saw one. No one will ever be as perfectly cast as the dude in Silence imo, but a much better fit than Ray Liotta.

“small carat, but it’s a sweet ring” A very in-character observation probably directly informed by her comments about nail polish in Silence.

she mentions this victim’s nail polish (!) being “tasteful,” and I shrieked a little again.

I understand it’s necessary for Krendler to be a douche, but there’s not even going to be any payoff for the audience (or Clarice) when Hannibal eats him, so boo.

wait...wait, why aren’t Clarice and Ardelia in their Alexandria duplex? They’re not just best friends, they’re roommates! For the entire seven-year story! GIVE ME THE DUPLEX!!!

BUT points for Ardelia bringing Clarice a treat, since she was always leaving her candy bars in the Silence book!

Clarice interacting with the washer/dryer is a nice nod to the books, too.

speaking of... “What did we learn in the laundry room back at Quantico?” For some reason this line made me actually cry, I guess because this whole episode has been such a love letter to something I love so dearly, and it’s making me emotional.

FIRST PRINCIPLES!

DESPERATELY RANDOM!!!

wow, the men in Clarice’s new office giving her lotion as a hazing “welcome” gift is awful, and now I’m just mad (which is the point of the scene ofc).

so this ex-military OC is the John Brigham stand-in, I take it?

if that means John Brigham won’t be here, No Thanks.

Clarice telling him she’ll drive...a tribute to Dana “Why Do You Always Have to Drive?” Scully, perhaps (who was herself inspired by Clarice) as well as a nod to Clarice’s love of cars?

“Why do they call you the bride of Frankenstein?” Sorry, I don’t have the legal rights to tell you about my last intimate relationship.

“Already on my way to West Virginia Granny Witch” Look, this show could crash and burn from this scene on, and it would still have been worth it just for these first 25 minutes.

I like that Clarice is shown wanting to help people, and the scene of her with the baby is a nice call-back to the eventual shoot-out at the beginning of “Hannibal”...but I hope they don’t try to domesticate her too much. Clarice needs her hard edges. To be tough (reasonably so)--a cub growing into its big cat’s claws.

also, somehow I doubt that Miss Valedictorian spent her six years in the Lutheran home “changing a lot of diapers,” but sure, okay. If her siblings are alive in this, she might have changed their diapers!

even though Krendler’s a real dickwad so far, he’s not slimy enough for me. Needs more grease.

“I got a call from your therapist who’s concerned that you might genuinely flip out” I really do not like this subplot Sam-I-Am. Aren’t the huge glass ceiling/Boys’ Club obstacles enough?

seriously, though, I know Hannibal tells her that the metaphorical lambs will come back--at the end of Silence, though, she’s at some kind of temporary peace, not in danger of “flipping out” any time soon.

if Esquivel really is our Brigham stand-in, I’ve got...problems with that. He was Clarice’s teacher and became her friend, not some Krendler double-agent. (Also worried they’re setting him up as a love interest for her which...eesh, no thanks.)

and sorry, I actually hate that Catherine kept Precious the dog in this.

I have no problem with Catherine being a character, or with her interacting with Clarice...that said, I don’t know if her being shown as severely traumatized and reaching out to Clarice as a form of emotional lifeline is...a good idea?

I understand the symbolism of Catherine’s smashed mirror, but...smashed mirrors are already a Thing in this series (albeit not Clarice’s chapter in it), and that’s all I can think of here.

Catherine’s a victim of unthinkable trauma. Nevertheless...she’s talking to the woman who saved her life. Who risked death to do it. I just don’t like the way this scene is written. Apparently, in this show’s canon, Catherine hasn’t gotten the help she needs. But Clarice isn’t her therapist, and it’s upsetting to have Catherine being all “I’ll never be safe and neither will you.”

how does Catherine remember “the mannequins, the autopsy table”?? And why is she throwing them in Clarice’s face?

I’m going to stop talking about this scene now because it’s making me angry and a little upset, which is maybe the point? I just don’t think it’s written well. If Catherine’s going to be a recurring character, I hope she’s shown getting professional, medical help.

Clarice finding the victim’s papers in the box of pads is a direct callback to her finding the photos in the jewelry box in Silence. Nice.

let’s agree that Hannibal and Crawford are both in Ardelia’s (too-cutesy-for-me) book

another nice little X-Files homage?

I have some qualms about that big climax, but...meh. It was capital-F Fine.

Yikes, this is a full week late. Thanks for reading this entirely-too-long post through to the end, if you’re still here!

To sum up my thoughts...

The Good:

the visual connections to the Silence film (that green coat/blue knit scarf combo in particular)

Rebecca Breeds’ performance overall so far

Clarice’s strong writing/characterization

her sense of humor and her inclination to call out bullshit

maybe it was just me, but I also got a sense of Hannibal’s influence on her in some of her dialogue--her blunt observations--and I love it

Ardelia Mapp

the repeated in-your-face references to Hannibal Lecter

the respectful, non-exploitative way the victims were treated by the narrative.

let’s just say, not all Harris-inspired shows managed to do this. :)

the many, many allusions to the novel

“you let that relationship be INTIMATE” !!!

The Bad:

the near-constant implication that all Clarice’s trauma stems from her experiences in Gumb’s basement

I just don’t understand this one...it’s not supported by the text imo

the “Clarice-is-a-psychological-loose-canon” subplot

almost everyone calling her “Clarice”

NO DUPLEX IN ALEXANDRIA! Boo!

Esquivel maybe replacing Brigham

the narrative choices they’ve made surrounding Catherine so far.

Seriously: please let Catherine seek/get help instead of screaming “HELP ME” at Clarice, who after all risked her own life to save Catherine’s, over the phone.

The Ugly: Paul Krendler, lol. Confession time: I also don’t care for the way they’ve styled her hair. Not sure why it bugs me, it just...does.

Overall, I’m thrilled to death with this. I was so afraid it would be disappointing, so even if it’s not a five-star episode (and pilots rarely are), it’s a great beginning! It’s beyond amazing to see our girl on the screen again. Just this hour-long episode did her character way more justice than the entire Hannibal film. Despite its shortcomings, it’s such a loving homage to characters and a story that mean a lot to me, and I love it just for that.

Going forward, I’d like to see more of Clarice as a person. Her hobbies and interests--cars, sharpshooting, running, fashion magazines stuffed under her bed, horseback riding, her total inability to cook...anything would do. I of course want to see more of her with Ardelia. I want to hear more about her backstory and find out which version of it (truly orphaned when her father dies or sent away by her mother) they’ll choose to explore. And while we all agree that this show is about Clarice and she don’t need no man, I won’t lie: I’d gobble up more sly references to Hannibal. He’s her endgame, after all.

I’d also like to really see the warrior underneath. There are flashes of her in the last twenty minutes of this episode. But Clarice Starling is a big cat, she’s a warrior, she’s between iron and silver. I’d hate for her to spend most of this show doe-eyed and traumatized. I want her to be ferocious, to see the woman who’s a match for the monster.

Krendler needs to get nastier. He should make us feel like we need to shower. In the novels, he wants to use Clarice--only for her body. And when she won’t allow him to, he takes his revenge. That’s what makes him so particularly awful. Let’s amp him up here.

And finally...maybe I’ll appreciate Catherine’s scene more on a second watch. Maybe I’m not being sensitive enough to her trauma, her struggles. But I didn’t like the way that scene was staged or scripted, and I didn’t like the suggestion that she just hasn’t gotten help after a year and is subsequently taking her pain out on Clarice on some level. I hope future episodes handle this subplot, and her character, a bit better.

Please let me know if you guys would like me to do another of these monstrosities for the next episode. (I promise it won’t take me an entire week this time!) And thank you again for reading!!!

#Clarice Starling #clarice #cbs clarice #rebecca breeds #media [cbs show]#char [clarice starling]#I'm sorry again about how amazingly late this is heh #you've probably all watched and processed by now and have moved on to Episode 2 but I am slow

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manga2day · 3 years ago

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Vinsmoke Sanji

Sanji, born as Vinsmoke Sanji is also known as "Sanji the Black Leg", is a pirate and the chef-chef of the Straw Hat Pirates. 👨‍🍳 He is the fourth member to join the ship. He is the third son of the Vinsmoke family , which makes him a prince, but he relinquished his title and reneged on his family twice after leaving Germa 13 years ago and after Big Mom's betrayal of the Vinsmoke family. He was born in North Blue, in the kingdom of Germa, he is the first straw hat not to be from East Blue. He's one of the top four fighters on the crew alongside Luffy, Zoro, and Jinbe. His dream is to find the famous All Blue, which is where East Blue, West Blue, North Blue and South Blue meet with their wildlife 🐟 a cook's paradise. His first bounty was 77,000,000 berrys after beating Jabura with the CP9 🐺 , but the photographer was wrong and replaced his photo with that of Duval . His second bounty was 177,000,000, but he survived thanks to the request of his father, Judge Vinsmoke. After his escape from Totto Land, Sanji's current bounty is 330,000,000 berries, but the text on his poster has changed from "only alive" to "dead or alive" and has his last name printed due to his ties to the Vinsmoke family, despite rejecting his surname "Vinsmoke".

During his childhood, his father, Vinsmoke Judge, abused him and his brothers intimidated him. He has lost all respect for almost all of his family and hates them except for his deceased mother and sister . When he leaves, Judge allowed him to leave on one condition: never tell anyone about their relationship ⛔. After he left, Sanji severed his family ties and raised Zeff like a real father. He was forced by Judge to marry Big Mom 💍's 35th daughter, Charlotte Pudding , as a pawn for his own purposes, until he learned that he and his family were also pawns of Big Mom.and that they had been deceived by her. He learns that Big Mom's real intention is to kill him, his crew, and his family during their so-called "wedding" 🔪. After that, he turned on Big Mom by ambushing and tying up a guard in the infirmary to see his sister Reiju. He encouraged him to go with Luffy and the others and let his family die . But he and Luffy formed a temporary alliance with one of the supernovas, Capone Bege , to save his family from Big Mom's shenanigans at the wedding ceremony🍰. After saving his family, he definitively rejected them (with the exception of his sister, Reiju) and asked them to never again show their noses in his life or that of his crew.

After the Whole Cake Island Castle collapses 🏯, Sanji and his friends prepare to escape Totto land until Pudding (who has sincerely fallen in love with Sanji) shows up to insist that he help out. make a substitute cake for Big Mom , who suffers from eating disorders . After completing the Cake 🎂 for Big Mom Disorganized by Bege and the Fire Tank Pirates, he returns to Cacao Island to help Luffy escape. They are surrounded but until the Germa 66 arrives and fight the Big Mom Pirates squad led by the 4th son of the Charlotte family, Oven to escape Totto land. After escaping from the land of Tottoland, he refused to try the Raid Suit and viewed the Vinsmoke family as a curse due to the greedy amibitions of his father Judge and the fate of his biological family to be betrayed by d 'other stronger organizations, like the Big Mom Pirates after deceiving them into forming an alliance with them and the world government for their failed attempt at an alliance with Big Mom and severing their ties with the Germa Kingdom 👨‍👨‍ 👧‍👧.

After the ellipse

After the two year ellipse, Sanji's hair now covers his right eye, shows his left eye which also has a curly eyebrow, he also wears a dark goatee and mustache on his upper lip. Her left eyebrow and right eyebrow are both curled to the right. Sanji's neck also thickened, like Luffy and Zoro's. He is wearing a black and yellow three-piece suit 🤵. In Punk Hazard, he wears a three-piece full black suit.

In Punk Hazard, Kinemon used his devil fruit power 🍓 from fuku fuku no mi (clothing) to give Sanji a coat made for the cold, as he was stuck in Nami's body due to Trafalgar law.

Sanji's past

The Dream of Two Fools (Zeff & Sanji) Sanji was Zeff's protege and sous-chef, and the two had a long history together. Nine years earlier, while young Sanji was working as a cook on the cruise ship Baratie 🚢 a North Blue, the red-footed pirate Zeff and his crew attacked the ship. But both ships got caught in a sudden storm, and sank. Zeff managed to save young Sanji from drowning, losing part of his leg and the two were washed away on a small desert island. Before the storm tore the boats apart ⛵, Sanji cried out his dream of finding the All Blue, and was saved by Zeff. Sanji subsequently realizes that Zeff has lost his leg. Despite their good fortune, there was little food for them: a few rations had been thrown on the rock with them, but there was no vegetation, no animals, and no way to reach water for them. to fish. Separating the few remaining rations, Zeff ordered Sanji to sit on the other end of the island 🏝 and look for a boat. Sanji protested that Zeff kept a large bag for him, but Zeff pushed him away, saying that as an adult his stomach was bigger.

Days passed, Sanji was out of food 🍠, but there was still no sign of a boat. Several weeks later (the exact length differs between the manga and the anime), an emaciated Sanji decided to take a risk and kill the old man for his food. But he didn't kill Zeff: when he opened the old man's bag in a fit of rage, he discovered that there was no food inside, only treasure. To his dismay, he realized that Zeff had sacrificed his own leg to save him . Zeff confessed that he often ran out of food on the high seas and planned to open a restaurant on the sea 🍴. Sanji, guilty of plotting to kill Zeff, agreed, but Zeff pointed out that he was too weak to help him. Soon after, a ship appeared, and they were spared death. In the manga, Sanji started smoking soon after he started working at Baratie in order to impress Zeff 🚬, despite the latter's warnings that it would destroy his taste buds, Sanji replied, "Now I'm a man. ! "

Abilities and Powers

Sanji is one of the top four fighters on the crew , having the third highest bounty, after Luffy and Jinbe. Sanji typically faces off against an explicitly weaker third-rank opponent than Zoro's. This is the case for example when Sanji fought Jabra of CP9 🐺 , who had a slightly lower power level than Kaku, who lost to Zoro. Douriki's introduction during the CP9 arc is one of the only times in the series where opponents' strengths have been measured numerically. He received a genetic modification for superhuman strength. However, his modification was undone by his mother, Sora, using an antidote 💉 to have traces of emotion. Physical capacities Immense Strength: Although Sanji is best known for the incredible strength of his legs, the rest of his body is shown not to be outdone, including his arms 💪, which allows him to use a whole host of grips, for his fighting style, which makes him much more versatile in certain combat situations. In his first appearance, Sanji held Fullbody by the neck without support with one hand even before showing his lower body strength. A particular example of his inhuman strength is given during the Skypiea Arch. While aboard the Vogue Merry, he was able to lift a large mallet that appeared to weigh several tons 🔨 before using it to strike an impact dial that was resting on a cannon; Needless to say, the impact would most likely have made a hole in the deck of the Vogue Merry had it not been absorbed by the dial. The strength of Sanji's arms Another example of his physical power is when he was able to hold Absalom in place by grabbing hold of his leg, despite the latter's reinforced muscle structure and being repeatedly punched in the process. In the same fight, Sanji was able to hold Nami above her head and keep her in balance while receiving countless attacks from Absalom on her body 🤕. During the arc of Water 7, Sanji was also able to easily prevent Chopper at Heavy Point from going to heal Usopp's injuries . In the sixth film, Sanji was shown lifting a huge pot and physically turning over a giant meal 🍽.

In the Zou rc, Sanji was shown lifting a huge pile of injured mink with little help. After two years of training, his body became much stronger and also gained in rapidity, being able to break a pacifista's neck with a single kick, severely damaging it, and showing no signs. of fatigue after such a feat (which he couldn't do before the time jump) or being able to smash a Sea Granite cage with a simple kick (as seen in the episode of Luffy ). When he was reunited with his family, his younger brother Yonji attempted to reprimand him , which prompted Sanji to attack him, leaving him with a lump in his face as Sanji walked out without a scratch; it should be noted that Yonji used to bully Sanji in the past because Sanji was not as powerful as his other siblings 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦. His brother couldn't believe that Sanji was able to outdo him as he was such a weak person thirteen years ago. Sanji later managed to match his father Judge , the leader of Germa 66 in a duel, and his newly improved strength left his onlooker father and sister surprised, the latter calling him a "beast."having a hard time believing he was the same little boy he was back then. Later, in the same arc, Sanji matched Charlotte Daifuku and Charlotte Oven in strength and in Wano's arc, Sanji overpowered Page One with a kick of rare power. Immense Resistance: Through years of extremely intense physical training under Zeff's guidance until the start of his adult life, Sanji's body has become extremely resilient. He was able to survive the decompression when Kuroobi forced him to descend into the water of the very deep pool in Arlong Park, while suffering frontal attacks like the punches of Kuroobi's Fish-Man karate. Sanji was able to survive Ener ⚡'s "El Thor" , an attack so powerful that it disintegrated a normal man earlier in the arc and took out the great serpent Noa, but Sanji resisted the lightning at close range. and was able to still stand and make fun of Ener before collapsing.

Sanji's extreme resilience Sanji was caught off guard and nearly beaten to death by Kalifa 👩 after being affected by his Devil Fruit powers, but later, when freed from them, he was able to continue fighting Jabura to the point of receive half of the latter's "Gekkou juushigan" just before counterattacking them with his kicks and even winning the confrontation. In Thriller Bark, Sanji was stabbed in the back by Absalom with a knife long enough to go through his chest and still managed to defeat him with great ease (which Zoro in a similar situation was unable to do, when 'he was stabbed by Buggy). In the Sabaody Archipelago, Sanji survived a laser beam from Pacifista that passed through his chest .

After the two-year ellipse is also able to withstand pressures of over 5,000 feet under uncoated water, a depth that would have crushed a submarine . Sanji was also able to receive direct punches from Jinbe and Luffy to the head, from both sides simultaneously, with relatively minor injuries (although he was left bleeding on the ground 🩸). At Punk Hazard, while Nami was in his body, he also displayed enough endurance to withstand a direct explosion from Caesar's castanets. Moments later, after recovering his body, he could still fight on a par with Vergo and recover from a broken shin 🩹. In Whole Cake Island, Sanji even ignored a gunshot wound to his arm while protecting Luffy from Oven's army on Cacao Island, and didn't notice it until Chopper reported it. Sanji's Inhuman Speed Immense speed: Sanji's speed, agility and reflexes are formidable. In fact, his speed rivals that of Brook and even Luffy's in Gear 2. In his first fight with the Krieg Pirates, Sanji moved so fast that he seemed to disappear and reappear 💨 . In Little Garden, Sanji dodged the machine gun fire 🔫 from Miss Friday and in Jaya, he dodged the Mont Blanc Cricket shot at point blank range. Even in the face of lightning-fast CP9s and their formidable Rokushiki techniques, Sanji proved her mobility by easily countering Kalifa's Soru and forcing her to the ground, causing the assassin to collapse. amazed at the cook's speed.

He mustered enough centrifugal force to lightly pierce the guard power of Blueno's Tekkai with a single kick to the side. Sanji managed to dodge the blows of the oars, which annoyed Luffy's shadow. After fleeing the kingdom of Okamas Kedetrav 🏰 for two years, the already impressive speed Sanji has grown massively. Sanji managed to dodge Vergo's kick a few inches from his face and, in Dressrosa 🦩, he took out a sniper 🏹 (who had Sanji in his sights) that was 16 yards off the ground and claimed that it was "nothing" to Viola. Sanji was confident he could dodge a point blank shot from Pudding and was quick enough to dodge Charlotte Katakuri's jelly projectile from several yards away, an exceptional feat as Katakuri is a user of Kenbunshoku no Haki. extremely skilled and couldn't predict that Sanji would be quick enough to dodge his shot and he was surprised by Sanji's reaction. In the same arc, as Pound attempted to defend Chiffon against Oven, Sanji was able to instantly push Oven away and grab Chiffon without Pound or Oven noticing.

In addition, during the time he spent fleeing Okama on Momoiro Island, he developed the "Blue Walk" and the "Sky Walk", techniques similar to the Geppou technique of Rokushiki, allowing him to swim (at high speed) and to fly respectively . Sanji's fighting style Sanji has mastered a martial art called "Black Leg Style" that the pirate Zeff is said to have taught him. His legs and feet are extremely powerful, capable of breaking rocks ⛰ and effortlessly defeating creatures much larger than himself (like Bananawani and Meuh-Meuh ). His legs also give him superior agility, and his speed is fit for a Superman as he was easily able to overtake the super fast limbs of the CP9 . He also said the reason he fights with his feet is because he doesn't want to risk damaging his hands because he needs them for cooking., although handles are not prohibited. Facing Jabra, Sanji unleashes a new movement, the "Devil's Leg", which allows him to heat his legs to such a high temperature that they turn red 🌋, turning quickly in place , which makes his attack more powerful. .

After spending two years on the run from the Okamas, his sprinter abilities reached a point where he can momentarily run underwater, using a technique similar to that of the Geppo, he called it "Blue Walk" . In addition, the latter is not slowed down by the weight of the water as it was during the Arc d'Arlong, it can also run at an incredible speed, as fast as a fish 🐠. Usopp also said that Sanji's speed is comparable to that of a fish, yet they are at their best physical level when underwater. He is also able to jump and run much further than most humans. He then enhanced this ability by using his version of “Geppo” in a move he calls “Sky Walk” . Whether his mastery of this technique is comparable to that of other CP9 members remains a mystery 🤔. Additionally, after the ellipse, he's been shown to now be able to use fire in his strikes, such as in his Devil's Leg. This is in part due to the trauma Sanji has endured over the past two years, so much so that just remembering it causes him to burst into flames in sheer anger 💢. Which he shows after easily defeating the gigantic fishmonger Wadatsumi, using "Hell Memories" while in this mental state to engulf the enormous enemy in flames.

This unusual martial art seems to be inspired by Brazilian martial art, Capoeira , and Korean martial art, Taekwondo , and may have taken part of the Chinese art, Tan Tui. The inspirations can also refer to a known French fighting style, the Savate . Originally developed by French sailors, the Savate uses techniques that use the hands to somehow support the body and give more power to kicks , and is particularly useful on a swaying ship. At that time, French law considered hands to be lethal weapons ☠, which could result in death if the hands were used to kill someone. Perhaps this is why Sanji's main opponents throughout the series so far have all been martial artists with their own unique styles (like Kuroobi's "Pisces-Men Karate", the " Okama Kenpo "from Bon Kurei," Ramen Kenpo "from Wanze and" Tekkai Kenpo "from Jabra) 🥋. As for the use of his actual "attacks", Sanji has a very large number of specific kicks and techniques that he uses to fight. It's worth noting that he doesn't call out an attack name every time he kicks someone or something, but for important events and fights, he usually does . Most Read the full article

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artloife · 5 years ago

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Skip Beat Timeline

As some of the rest of you are ALSO preparing for KyokoxRen Week 2020, here’s a rundown on the recent timeline of Skip Beat and KyokoxRen development.

Point the First!

The month of April has lasted in real-time FOR OVER SIX YEARS and it’s still not May yet. It’s lasted, so far, for 81 chapters. Did you get Skip Beat Exhaustion in the past six years?? Gee...I just dunno why.... (Honestly Sensei....how...how do you even do that? It’s amazing)

Timeline under the cut!

Dates and Chapter Numbers bolded for convenience

April 4th -Kuon kisses Kyoko in Guam (ch211) and tells her he loves her

April 11

Kyoko sees her mother and they discuss Kyoko's father after Kyoko saw both Shotaro and Ren the night before after her mother’s TV interview. (the kissing picture taken at 1:56 on 4.11 as referenced later)

After seeing her mother, Kyoko and Kanae meet up for the Lotus in the Mire talk, so Kyoko can get the lowdown on the character audition and whathaveyou. Kyoko sees Ren and Yashiro again that same evening, before Ren returns to Guam

the day after she sees her mother (the day is 4.12 as is seen on Kanae's phone in ch238), Kyoko sees Shotaro and tells him to back off, and that she's talked with both her mom, and his parents and she's gonna do what she wants yooo! TO REITERATE: Shotaro plants one on Kyoko, two days later, she does all that, lmaaao. You cray cray gurl.

Kyoko begins Momiji prep the next day

ch. 240 states that it's a month after White Day. So there's at leeeeaast a three day span of time between this chapter and ch238 but I believe it may be a little more, bc Kyoko's stage combat practice began, and she also met with Erika Koenji, and also did research on Morizumi and each of those occurrences happened on different days. In this chapter she also receives her White Day gift from Yashiro and Yashiro begins his stint as her temporary manager and says he'll do so for two weeks, until Ren returns from Guam

(RELEVANT LATER TO PUT THIS HERE: CH. 266.5 is when Kyoko receives the envelope postmarked 3.13, and it's referred to in this special chapter as having been received a month later by Kyoko (Mid April at the earliest, though it's far more probable that it was at the end of April, due to the following clues)

Eight days after that, (eight days into Yashiro's temp managing) in ch 241, Kyoko comes across Momose Itsumi and it's indicated then that Kyoko has yet to receive the WD gift from Ren. This would then be, at the very least, April 23rd

(Momiji Audition begins ch. 242, Kyoko is officially given the role of Momiji in ch256)

As of ch245, We see Yashiro's phone and a text from Ren saying he's back 2 days early from Guam. So, if we take the factual date from ch238, of it being 4.12 when he left, and being gone for two weeks, and coming back 2 days early, it'd be 4.24, which is consistent with ch241, BUT Ren's phone in ch246 says 4.26, which is inconsistent with his leaving time, BUT we then do know the date of the Momiji audition and the 'when' of the events that take place that day.

4.26 is a day that includes the following:

Momiji Audition

Ren's return to Japan

Ren's discussion with Lory about the picture taken on 4.11 by that paparazzi

Kyoko being confronted by Koga about her feelings for Ren

Morizumi hears this convo, and weaves the first of her lies to unsettle Kyoko

Kyoko, on this day, at this point, IS STILL UNAWARE OF REN'S WD GIFT

In between audition segments, in an effort to avoid explaining the truth about her feelings for Ren, Kyoko lies to Kanae about the Morizumi-Ren connection and why it would be upsetting her

Morizumi withdraws from the audition, and Erika gets suspicious and sticks around, and sets a trap for Morizumi, which goes off when Morizumi and her manager try to throw Kyoko over a rail of the building while they've got her drugged

Ren and Kijima reunite and go get a drink and are joined by Kana at some point while at the bar

Kanae is offered another position by Producer Kuresaki that, from all context clues gathered so far, is an American production also involving Cedric D Bennet and Mr. Duris

Kana kisses Ren

Kanae and Kyoko talk about their offers, and Yashiro notifies Ren about Kyoko getting Momiji

AS OF CH 261 APRIL 26TH HAS ENDED

Yashiro is still taking Kyoko around as temp manager, and Ren and her share a ride on 4.27 while Yashiro drives. Also in this chapter is the clue that the Darumaya Master is now remembering the letter he put in his safe a month and a half ago.

4.27 includes:

that drive

that clue

the Ren, Kyoko, Yashiro lunch

Ren giving Kyoko the dandelion ring and her calling him despicable

Ren attempts to hold back his questions about the ShoxKyoko kiss paparazzi photo, (and that lasts until he sees them next morning at the Darumaya and they fight during the morning car ride)

Kyoko meets Koga and others on the Lotus set

Kuresaki learns that Kyoko's combat instructor of the famous Uesugis and it's a guy he fanbois over

Kanae and Uesugi talk about her role some more

Kyoko saves her dandelion ring

another clue about the Darumaya Master keeping something in his safe

4.28:

the dawn of a new day comes in ch266, April 28th, when Ren and Yashiro catch sight of Shotaro and Kyoko outside the Darumaya

In ch267, we get the reference to April 11, 1:56 am, the night of the second Sho and Kyoko kiss, which was the same night Kyoko saw that interview with her mom and also met Ren his one brief night back from Guam

Ren and Kyoko fight about that

Koga and Kyoko meet again after that

Later that night, Kyoko decides to not return Ren's text or call

In chapter 270, it's another new day, Kyoko's phone shows the date of 4.29, and this is the day after Kyoko and Ren fight in the car about that second kiss because he also saw Sho meeting Kyoko that same morning at the Darumaya

4.29 ALSO includes:

the magazine release of the RenxKana kiss, the reaction people had to its broadcast at the Lotus Set, Kyoko and Ren meeting at LME where Lory, Yashiro, and Kanae also witness Kyoko fleeing from him.

the convo between Kyoko and Kanae about Cedric D Bennet and Mr. Duris, and Kanae auditioning for an American role in a production that involves both those individuals (Mr. Duris is 'Uncle Tiger from the Grateful Party, and Kuon's grandfather in American show business, and we learn this from Lory's convo on the phone with him that same day. He is also the 'Father of Champions' that Chiori mentioned ages ago)

It also includes the Kyoko and Kanae talking about the Morizumi-love interest-Kana confusion in regards to Ren, and about Kanae learning English with help from Kyoko

Next Day: April 30, Bo and Ren meet (ch274) and talk about the Kana thing and the truth of his actual feelings. Kyoko and Ren meet almost immediately after that convo (ch277) in the building lobby. Kyoko flees again. Ren gives chase to the elevator

They exit elevator and continue convo in a dressing room

Another mention of Cedric D Bennet and an American production

Ren actually openly voices his jealousy during this convo: PROGRESS. So does Kyoko!! DOUBLE PROGRESS

Ren and Kyoko are actually as honest as they can be about how they feel for each other: AMAZING

GIFTGIVING TAKE TWO: his own pendant this time instead of a dandelion ring like three days prior

CONCLUSIONS TO BE DRAWN:

1. Ren/Kuon will almost ALWAYS act upon his love for Kyoko as a consequence of something Shotaro does that (may or may not) show affection for Kyoko.

Shotaro may be a plot device for the otherwise-and-previously-not-well-motivated female lead Kyoko (the inciting incident of the story in fact, tho she moves past it). BUT HE IS ALSO THIS FOR OUR SLOW-TO-ACT-ON-LOVE MALE LEAD REN LMMAAAAOO.

Previous Examples:

‘Suddenly a Love Story’ Arc, ch.79-99 In which Ren behaves differently after seeing the Fuwa PV and getting caught up with the Beagle/Fuwa mess because they drag Kyoko into it. We see the first hints of ‘Kuon’ in this arc, hot on the heels of the implications of the ‘HoneyTrap’ practice arc.

The action Shotaro takes in ch145 for a Valentine's Day present, causes a five-chapter long mini-arc as Ren dares to be bolder with Kyoko in response, but winds up walking it back because he wanted to be considerate of where her state of mind was at the time.

-Shotaro's behavior after the Dark Moon Wrap Party towards Kyoko, and his attitude towards Ren in that parking lot after Ren sees him and Kyoko together(ch190), directly causes the consequences shown between chapters 191-211, starting from when Ren breaks character in the Heels hotel room, all the way up until ch211 when Kuon finally says i do what i want, and lays one on Kyoko in Guam after he tells her he loves her.

2. BO, the CHICKEN CHARACTER THAT IS ALSO KYOKO can also SERIOUSLY motivate Ren. Ren was only truthful with himself about how deeply he felt about Kyoko during the Katsuki arc because BO pressed him to be. THIS ALSO HAPPENS HERE!! IT'S BO THAT TOLD HIM TO JUST SPEAK PLAINLY AND CLEAR UP ANY MISUNDERSTANDINGS. Kyoko didn't know it at the time, BUT SHE VIBE-CHECKED HERSELF WHEN SHE TOLD REN TO FACE IT HEAD-ON I CAN'T WITH THIS GUUURL

3. Also of interest, and relating to the above mentioned points, KIJIMA is also an instigator that applies to the most recent arc with him needling Ren about a teenager getting to Kyoko, and was there at the bar for DRAMATIC IRONY AT ITS FINEST, right before Kana laid one on Ren. He was also an instigator with the Dark Moon Wrap Party, and the Heels arc that led to the hotel room scene, because he’d been texting Kyoko the same day Ren saw Kyoko and Sho arrive together at TBM (chapters of the 180s to the 190s). Sho, Reino, Kijima, AND BO, can all motivate Ren in SUPER INTERESTING AND MULTI-FACETED WAYS!!!

4. Kyoko seriously fixated on Morizumi being the real love interest of Ren's. It took up sooooo many chapters you guys. It took up like... Thirty freaking chapters and two years of time in reality. To this DAY I can't believe that became such a fixation. Erika was so, so clear that Morizumi was a problem and would do anything to unsettle Kyoko during this audition. And yet, Kyoko never applied that to Morizumi's chatter except to get angry that Morizumi had tossed over Ren for the Cedric guy and had withdrawn from the audition without giving it her all. It could be an indicator of Kyoko’s one-track mind, but it really stretched the suspension of disbelief.

Kyoko focused on this SO MUCH, that even though ONLY 3 DAYS HAVE PASSED and like... THREE PLUS YEARS IN REAL-TIME, she had completely forgotten they'd argued about Shotaro until REN BROUGHT IT UP! But damn do I love the parallel that BOTH Kyoko and Ren actually believed that Morizumi and Shotaro were 'actual' threats to the love they felt for each other. It's downright ridiculous and they are entire whole dumbasses.

However... Kyoko's temperament about Ren and 'love' has been shaky since... The 190s chapters. This seemed like a deep dive of a spiral, leading to this 'Disaster Landfall' for sure. She'd been going around and around in circles about this 'highschooler', probably in an effort to make herself believe that it wasn't her, Kyoko, that was his target-though all evidence was showing otherwise. I mean, for heavenssake, she'd had thoughts back in the 90s chapters right before Karuizawa and right after the Katsuki Test, where her instinctual insight was telling her he was giving her preferential treatment, and she kept denying how that made her feel and ALSO DIDN'T EVEN VOICE IT OUT LOUD until ch. 201.

5. Sensei has a way of bringing drama in during the 70s/80s/90s counts of her chapters lol. I wonder what 280 to the 290s will bring.

#skip beat #kyokoxren week 2020 #kyoko mogami #tsuruga ren #kyokoren #my writing

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imagining-supernatural · 5 years ago

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The First Date

Part 2 of Seventy Percent

Series Summary: When you left on your trip to Vegas, you’d planned on letting loose for one last weekend before heading back to reality and getting your affairs in order so your best friend wouldn’t be left cleaning up your mess when your cancer finally ended your life. What you hadn’t counted on was waking up married to a celebrity who has a knight-in-shining-armor complex, connections with an oncologist, and amazing insurance…

Chapter Summary: Your first date with Sebastian is breakfast, then off to the courthouse for an annulment!

Word Count: 1571

“So, uh, according to this website,” you started as soon as Sebastian walked out of the bathroom with a towel secured around his waist. And you definitely did not check him out. You had to stay focused on the annulment. “Um, we should be able to file what’s called a, uh, complaint for annulment at the courthouse if we’re actually married.”

“What’s this?” He sauntered over to the bed and picked up the marriage certificate you’d set on the corner of the bed. “Well, looks official.”

You nodded. “It could also just be a paper, you know? My best friend took a calligraphy class one summer because of that one Relient K song about college kids. She could write this. I figured I’d wait for your input before calling the courthouse to see if it’s legit. You know, didn’t want someone to see your name and get Twitter-excited.”

“Good call.” His voice was soft, as if surprised.

“If it is legit,” you continued with your findings as he searched around the room for his clothes. “Then I’m pretty sure we meet all of the requirements for annulment…” he bent over to pick up his pants and you trailed off at the muscles that flexed in his calves and the—Nope! Annulment. You turned your attention back to the website. “We got married in Nevada, which is one. And considering we don’t remember it, I’d say we were drunk enough that we meet the mentally incompetent or unable to understand what we were consenting to standard. It might be kind of hard to prove that, though,” you muttered.

He laughed. “I don’t know about that. I was looking through my phone and I’ve got some great drunk texts I sent and some pretty blurry pictures of us. One in front of Elvis.”

“Oh god. I got married by Elvis? Drunk? In Vegas? How much more fucking cliché can this get?”

He just shook his head and grinned. “Why don’t you take your turn in the bathroom. I’ll call my lawyer and see what he can do.”

With a nod, you stood up. “Feel free to use my laptop. I have everything secure I need. Oh, and I have a charge cord for Apple and Android over on the desk, so if your phone needs a charge, go for it.”

“You talk a lot, you know that?”

“Yeah. I’ve been told that. It gets worse when I’m nervous or stressed. I’d apologize for that, but it’s not really a character flaw. Just you know, what makes me me.” You made the conscious effort to keep your mouth shut for three seconds. “So, yeah. Feel free to the laptop and charge cords. I’m gonna put a door between us before I embarrass myself more.”

The door closed on his laughter and you took a deep breath. As you let out your breath, you whispered, “Shit.”

You tried to enjoy your shower. You really did. Usually you could shut your brain down and relax.

Not fucking today.

By the time you were done, you could have sworn you were even more stressed out than before.

In an attempt to calm your nerves, you sat down on the toilet seat and unlocked your phone. Sebastian mentioned pictures from the previous night. Maybe you had a few. But, your first order of business was making sure you didn’t drunk text anyone something that you would regret. You weren’t much of a drunk texter, but last night was anything but normal.

Luckily, you’d only texted your friend, Jasmine, a few times.

*Girl these mojitos are fuxking expensive

*hella good tho

*so mdndu hit ppl here

*gon get some f real

She’d texted back that she was glad you were having a good time and reminded you to drink water and be safe, and that was the end of your conversation. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Next up: pictures.

And, boy, did you take pictures. The first few were of you and random people in a club. You had vague memories of those people. You had bonded over… something? Something told you it was mojitos, since all of you had a glass of mint and lime in your hands.

Then you got to the ones with Sebastian. Horribly taken selfies mixed in with blurry photos of whoever was performing on the stage. The background in your selfies changed from the club to a restaurant to some sort of brightly lit up sculpture. Finally you got to your own Elvis pictures.

It wasn’t the wedding you’d ever pictured for yourself, but it was the only one you would get. Even though it would last for less than a day, ideally, you were strangely glad that it had happened. Once you found out about the tumor, you put your love life on the back burner. Not that you ever really put much focus on your love life to begin with. You had plenty of other shit to sort through before you pulled anyone else into your toxic mess of a life. And then, once the chemo didn’t work and reality set in, you made peace with the fact that you would never get married.

If you had a bucket list, one more item would have just gotten crossed off.

Your eyes drifted over to the ring you’d set on the counter while you were in the shower and reached over. It was so much bigger than any ring you’d seen in real life. A huge diamond was nestled in diamond encrusted halo knots, set atop a braided band of yet more diamonds.

It was beautiful.

With a hard swallow, you slipped the ring back onto your finger, admiring it. There were only a few minutes left that you would have it. Only a few minutes to soak this in. This ring was far too expensive to keep.

You took a breath before standing and opening the door to rejoin your temporary husband.

“Hey.”

Sebastian looked up from where he was seated on the bed with your laptop in front of him. “Hey. So I called my lawyer and he called a colleague who found out that we are legally married.”

“Awesome. He give you tips on annulment, then?”

While Sebastian filled you in on what he’d learned, you started picking through the mess of your hotel room to fill your purse with the necessities. His voice was soothing, helping to calm your nerves.

“Alright,” you said, once he was finished. “So we just need to head over to the courthouse?”

He nodded shallowly. “Let’s grab something to eat first. What kind of a husband would I be to not take my wife out the morning after we got married?”

“Breakfast then annulment.” You nodded thoughtfully. “Have to give you props, Seb. This has got to be the most creative first date I’ve ever gone on.”

You fiddled with the ring in your pocket while you waited for Sebastian to show up outside of the hotel. Leaving the room ten minutes apart just added to the strange feeling of this whole thing, but it was necessary to try and keep everything out of the press. The two of you walked down the street once he joined you.

Mundane chat of everything you saw filled the space between you until you arrived at the restaurant where you were quickly led to a private table.

Then came the awkward small talk. You found it easier to hold a conversation when you were walking. Something about the motion was calming. Once you stopped moving, you had two switches. One was talk until the other person put duct tape over your mouth and the other was to not say a single word. After your babbles this morning, it seemed you were all talked out, so you looked over the menu in near silence. You two would throw out a comment here or there about a certain dish, but that was it.

Then the waiter came with water and coffee, then left with your orders and menus.

“Coffee,” you breathed, adding your cream and sugar as quickly as you could so you could burn your tongue by drinking it too soon. After the first sip, you nearly moaned at the feeling of caffeine waking up your every atom. “Fuck, I love caffeine.”

After a moment more of awkward silence, Sebastian broke it. “I don’t think I ever asked what you do. Where you work.”

“I work at data security firm.”

“That’s why you let me at your computer. You had all your private stuff hidden away.”

Your coffee cup was lingering at your lips when you smirked. “I think you saw enough of my private stuff last night, don’t you?”

The blush and sputtering that resulted from your risky joke was well worth it. But he recovered quickly and a spark flickered in his eye. “Does it really count if I don’t remember? It’s too bad that the only thing we’ll remember from our marriage is trying to end it.”

“That’s what makes us special.”

Now that the ice was broken, conversation flowed easier. The topic of your cancer didn’t come up again, and you got away from talk of your upcoming annulment. By the time you were finished eating, you felt more like you were talking to a friend. Not a celebrity. Not a one night stand. Not your soon to be ex-husband.

A friend.

Time for them to head to the courthouse and end their marriage...

Part 3: The Burning Question

#sebastianxreader #sebastian stan x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #buckyxreader #sebastian x reader #marvel fanfiction #mcu fanfiction

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dzaneena · 4 years ago

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2020 Recap, Onwards 2021!

New year always makes us think of how our previous year has been. It’s been a heck of a ride and I think it would be sort of a good way to remind ourselves of the hardships, lessons learned, and growth there’s been in the past year. Here’s how mine turned out. January

Oh, new year, new hope. I thought this would be the year I could make it mine. Get the things I’ve always wanted and spoil myself with every little thing I could not have when I was younger. Job is going well, financially stable and able, everything was fine. This month, I’ve purchased my first Macbook. Yes, apparently I’ve been sucked up into the apple ecosystem and now I want to experience all of it if I can. I did and I’m happy about this. It’s been a dream for someone who always had to save each meal into two so I could have it for my next meal just so I can save money.

February

Oh, the month of love! Yes, yes. I had the chance to travel to Thailand, being the temporary adopted child of a friend’s family. I was thrilled to be there and experience this one-of-a-kind experience. At this time, the virus was not that rampant with everything and there were no restrictions for travel. We thought everything was fine and would be fine.

March

A week after arriving from our trip to Thailand, I got a text from one of my closest friends asking if I would like to spend a weekend in Vietnam with her. Well, of course I did! At this time, finances were a-ok! I could afford it. Plus, the food there was really good at a low price! We didn’t spend much on this trip. We just hung out and took photos here and there. We arrived one day before the city announced General Community Quarantine. We were lucky to arrive at that exact day or we would have been stranded in another country for God knows how long. :( Work was feeling the effects of the pandemic already. 50% of our workmates were laid off. This was a sad, sad time. I couldn’t help but think of all our workmates who had to think of how to survive without work through this pandemic under the quarantine with little to no mobility.

April

Work has been... work. Everyone had to cut their hours and get back to basic pay. I am thankful to still have work but this took a big hit with my finances, of course. I live alone. Recently paying off the house I’ve invested in from last year.

This was also the month my friends practically forced me to play mobile games. Thank goodness they did! This was where all my rage/frustration was spent.

May

Remember that house I invested in? Yeah, that went down the drain, literally lol. I’ve been having problems with leaks and puddles of water coming through the walls of the house which caused a chain of serious issues, health-wise and safety-wise. This was a hazardous house to live in. I guess it’s true what they say about things being “too good to be true”. I’ve tried to settle this with the landlord but I didn’t get not one penny back, not even my deposit. I’ve been paying this for over a year. Much, much regrets. There’s a whole lot that happened during this time. I had to move out and decided to just cut further losses and be done with it. I couldn’t sleep at night for no idea how many weeks/months because of all that money I’ve invested that just vanished. I still feel a weird kind of sadness every time it rains. It always flooded in that house whenever it rained. So you can see how much I relate to that movie “Parasite”.

June

Lucky I have a house to still come home to. This was the previous house I lived in before purchasing that God-forsaken flooded house. I was adjusting and trying to make the best of what I could for the time being. I had a small renovation project as well.

July

Renovation project going well and it was my joy to see how clients were happy about it. This was also the first time I was seeing my mother since January and it was only for a few hours because she had to go back to our hometown within 24 hours or else she would have to be quarantined. Traveling was such a pain during this time. We can’t even go visit our hometown to see our family.

On the bright side, I got to try out a lot of food (all home-cooked, of course). And I got to learn to cook some Korean food as well. I was well into the k-drama world for this whole time.

August

Kittens were growing up well. My cat gave birth in May but a lot of things happened then. I had 3 cats pregnant almost at the same time. Needless to say, we had to castrate our lover boy cat, Brutus. Though he had one last go before we did this and got another round of our cats getting pregnant. I can’t even. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Had the opportunity to do a product photoshoot for a local ice cream business. It was an amazing experience and it’s cool to think that people actually believe in my photography skills if I had any. LOL.

September

My birth month. I found out that I wasn’t even worth one minute of people’s time to text me. LOL. Well, life goes on. (Insert BTS’ Life Goes On)

On the positive side, my boyfriend’s family decided to do a Korean dinner (Samgyeupsal, Kimchi Jjiggae, Tteokbokki) for my birthday. It was really sweet of them. 😭🥰 I couldn’t spend my birthday with any of my family but they spent it with me. I’m tearing up just writing this down hehehe thankful for this second family.

October

One of my closest friends was getting married. I kid you not, we were waiting for this day to happen ever since college. We travelled to the city where he was getting married with the Friendship Pause crew. (That’s a whole other story LOL) It was nice getting a nice moment down from all the crap we’ve been facing.

I was also able to get back to my hometown for my mother’s birthday. Despite all the travel restrictions, we managed to push through. My eldest brother and I are the only ones not living in our hometown.

November

Ahh, yes. The year is almost over but it still feels like we’re stuck in March. During the span of the year lately, I’ve been actively looking for a second job for extra income. And thankfully, because I’m such a “never give up, never surrender” kind of person, I’ve landed a few jobs project-based for this year. I’ve been a graphic designer, personal assistant, transcriptionist, food photographer, social media manager assistant, etc. I’ve also landed my latest job from a start-up company. It’s amazing how some people can see your grit and potential. I pray we all get to do what we want to do in life so it won’t be such a chore to do. My first (online) job is the very first job that I actually enjoy and everyday, I am really excited to get work done. Hoping that this company recovers from the economic hit of the pandemic fast.

December

Ahh, the last month for this challenging year. What could be in store for us? I think this pandemic has hit us physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically, and financially. It also makes you realize things. I realized that I’m no one’s go-to friend. I’m just that extra friend right there when you need me to be. Not a particular someone you call when something’s up. That’s okay, I guess. We can’t be everybody to...well, everybody! Haha!

I’ve been into tech lately and with all the gaming I was doing, I created a gaming page somewhere along in those past months. Streaming games was one of my stress relievers. Hopefully, if I can have a stable source of income, I’ll be able to do this full-time seeing that traveling is still out of the picture. All in all, this was such a shitty year. There are a lot of in-betweens that happened this year and I had to just highlight some things but basically, it’s just been so hard. I know I’m probably not the only one struggling and trying to survive on a daily basis. I am thankful that I have a job (3 actually, 4 if you count our online business on hiatus) and I am still able to put food into my stomach. But sometimes, we just need a good cry and some ice cream maybe.

If you’ve read this far, thank you! Thank you for actually caring to read my thoughts and random stuff I have in mind. We may not see each other but please know that I really appreciate your effort.

On a lighter note, I hope everyone will be happier this coming 2021. Stay safe!

#2020 2021 HNY happynewyear happynewyear2021

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ayellowcurtain · 5 years ago

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could you write something about robbe and sander having their first fight in an established relationship?

They drank way too much, this is not the type of conversation Sander wants to have when they are drunk. He wants to kiss the shit out of Robbe, take him to their bed, not really talk.

But this has been bothering Robbe, Sander knows him well enough to get that Robbe’s mind can only think about one thing these days: long-distance relationship.

His first college option is away from home. Not too far, but far enough to make him move to another city. And Sander can’t follow him there, he doesn’t want to either. Sander loves Robbe more than anything, but he can’t just move somewhere else just because Robbe will do it. Believe it or not, Sander likes living in Antwerp and he never thought of leaving and he doesn’t think long-distance is such a problem if it’s a temporary thing. They might even be in need of some time apart. They live together, do everything together and Sander believes that missing someone every now and then might make the relationship better.

“Yeah, but I don’t wanna leave you, Sander!” Sander rolls his eyes, tired of constantly trying to make Robbe drop this subject already, but it’s not working.

“Why not, Robbe? I heard online sex is fucking amazing.” Robbe sighs, moving away from the wall Sander was just pinning him against.

“You never take me seriously.” Sander takes his jacket off, leaving it on the floor behind their door, following a whiny Robbe to their tiny living/dining room.

“Because I don’t wanna talk about it! We settled that you would go and we would visit each other on the weekends.” He can see how Robbe shakes his head lightly, closing his eyes.

“And do you think this is going to work? That we won’t create a distance between us and make our lives even harder?” Robbe drops both his arms to his sides, looking at Sander with his eyebrows raised, almost pouting.

“It’s not a fairy tale now and we always figure it out.” Sander tries to tease Robbe, make him break to some lighter conversation, but Robbe looks at him with the most annoying look and he gives up, sighing and dropping himself on their couch.

“Fuck, Robbe! What do you want? Me to leave my life on hold just to be your housewife? It’s not that far.”

“That’s not what I’m asking and you know it. I don’t think it’s too much to ask to want my boyfriend close to me.” Robbe comes to sit right next to him, putting his heavy arms around his neck, weighing him down as he whines again and Sander is getting tired of this bullshit tonight.

“I never said it was going to be easy, Robbe! You just held onto to me like I was your fucking life jacket.” Sander tries a more practical approach, trying to get Robbe to finally understand that’s not that deep.

The mood in the room changes drastically. Robbe looks at him like he just killed someone, quietly taking his arms from his neck, stumbling as he gets up.

“Where are you going? Don’t be a drama queen, Robbe...”

But Robbe is already leaving the living room, Sander can see him at their small hall, putting his shoes back on.

“Hey, where are you going? It’s late!” Robbe puts his coat back on and Sander jumps over their coffee table, trying to stop Robbe from leaving, but he slams the door on his face.

Sander tries to wait. Robbe is just being unreasonable now, it wasn’t that deep, but he can’t sleep if he doesn’t know where Robbe is and if he’s safe. Jens finally answers his phone already telling Sander that Robbe already left his place, saying that he was going back home.

It’s almost morning when Robbe finally gets back inside their flat, carefully closing the door. Sander can’t believe he really thought Sander would be asleep when he came back. Robbe stops when he turns and finds Sander still very much awake, getting up from the couch to go talk to him.

It’s still dark outside, so Sander only sees Robbe’s face when they’re face to face. Robbe is crying and whatever argument Sander had planned for hours on his head is forgotten.

“No, Robbe, please, forgive me.” He holds Robbe’s hand, carefully pulling him closer, putting his other arm around Robbe’s waist to keep him as close as it’s possible, leaning down, resting his forehead against Robbe, looking at him. “You know me, you know I didn’t mean those words. I love you so much.”

Seeing Robbe crying and because of him is the worst kind of feeling Sander has ever felt. This is what he was always afraid of. Sander knew he would always be the one to fuck them up, but Robbe always chose to stay by his side. They had never had a big fight like this and Robbe never kept his distance.

The only certainty that Sander always had was that they would always be fine. And it’s mostly because Robbe is the best person, kindest person to exist. He always forgives Sander way too easily and seeing him stepping away from his touch now makes Sander’s brain go desperate to not lose the only person he cares about.

“Don’t, Robbe, please don’t do this.” Whenever he is angry or sad, Robbe manages to look even more beautiful and vulnerable and Sander can’t look into his eyes, but he holds both his hands, keeping him close. “Forget what I said, I wasn’t thinking, we’ll work it out, we always do. It’s just the two of us, ok?” He lets go of Robbe’s wrists when he starts to walk to their bedroom, still crying and Sander follows him like a puppy, hugging him from behind, walking with him inside their messy bedroom. There’s not much there except their bed and their clothes all over the floor.

Their clothes are always a mess, mixed together and it feels weird seeing it on the floor like one when Robbe is clearly not hugging him back.

Seeing Robbe’s bedroom completely empty broke Sander’s heart in a way he didn’t even know it was possible. He couldn’t help with the move, he just couldn’t and Robbe didn’t ask him twice.

He only sent one text when he got to his new place with Jens and Moyo. No photos, no videos and Sander kept checking his phone the entire night. When Robbe didn’t say anything, he decided to text Jens to ask how the trip went and if Robbe was ok even though he knew the answer to the last one. Ever since that night and the fight about Robbe moving or not, there was always this weird vibe between them, words that were never said.

They kissed, fucked and lived their lives, but it wasn’t the same. The move was always in between them. Robbe still wanted some big gesture and Sander wasn’t willing to give it to him. So he was left behind and Robbe moved to start his college, probably feeling different after the fight, accepting his defeat and probably thinking they wouldn’t last when there was a train ride between them.

Robbe didn’t want things to happen like that, he didn’t want to be away from Sander and yet Sander made him do it and now he regrets every second, every word of encouragement he gave Robbe to do it.

Sander never really bought flowers for anyone and he’s not sure if the bouquet will last a train ride, he doesn’t even know if Robbe likes flowers, but he decides to risk it. Jens sort of gave him directions on how to find Robbe’s new flat and it wasn’t that hard to find, it was really close to the train.

He should have probably paid attention to the building, and if it was safe, in a safe neighboorhood, but he didn’t. His brain could only think about his boyfriend, all alone in a new city, away from everyone else. Sander only registered that it was an old and small building because he had to use the stairs to go up three stairs to find the number. 2122.

Robbe didn’t know he was going - they still haven’t really texted since last night - so Sander takes a deep breath before knocking twice on the door, stepping back to let Robbe see him through the little peephole. He can see when he’s at the door, his feet making a shadow under the door and the hole going black as he looks through it for a little too long, finally unlocking and opening the door slowly.

“What...are you doing here?” Sander offers him the bouquet and Robbe holds it with not much care, still staring at Sander, so he shows him his big bag that feels so heavy on his shoulder, putting on the floor between his feet, finally getting some rest, feeling the blood starting to go back to his left shoulder.

“I brought most of my clothes so it’s easier when I come here to see you. I missed you too much and decided to come to stay for the weekend.” Robbe finally holds the bouquet a little tighter, bringing it closer to him, looking at it and Sander takes advantage of not having his boyfriend staring at him to come closer, gently putting his arm around Robbe’s waist, underneath his shirt.

“Thank you. For coming.” Robbe finally says and Sander smiles, kissing his neck and hugging him tightly.

#wtfock #robbe ijzermans #sander driesen #robbe x sander #sobbe

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blackfemmecharacterdependency · 4 years ago

Text

34. Ivory

Previous Trigger Warnings for mentions of underage/revenge porn, mentions of eating disorder Word Count: 8388

Between Grace making that post of her rapping along to Captain Hook, her saying "aye aye" to Simon in comments, and this photo of Simon's D print in the gray sweatpants, I'm starting to think he's packing a curve 👀

Simon Laurent "liked"

Commenter: He is! Did you never see the old sex tape?

Poster: The WHAT? No… But, wait… I thought that they dated in school. You mean like something that happened after that?

Commenter: They were in school, but it was online for the longest time before she snitched, so I’m sure somebody still has it out there…

Poster: That’s gross. I’m not that desperate to see it that I wanna look at some kids doing it. No thank you.

Simon Laurent “liked”

Commenter is blocked by Simon.

Grace was in the grocery store with her mother and brother, and Zasha, a white samoyed puppy that Mrs. Monroe had purchased from a breeder… to potentially train to be in competitions, and Zasha’s handler. Why did Mrs. Monroe bring Zasha into the store, just to have someone else hold her? For the same reason that the nanny was also there, tending to Montanus. “Because, that is literally what I pay them to do.” But… we’re at the grocery store and didn’t even have to BRING them! Grace didn’t argue.

However, she did wonder if she was suffering from some type of weird mid life crisis, or just a rich, bored woman whose husband was working more and more all of the time, despite supposedly getting closer to retirement. Then, she wondered if they weren’t doing so well. But, she kept those wonders to herself, as it would frighten her to know whatever the truth was if it was anything other than her mother did whatever she wanted because she could afford to.

Plus, she wanted to get out of the house, and apparently that had been reduced to tagging along with Grace at the grocery store, in case she needed help. “You’re almost 6 months, correct? How has it been? Online, one would swear that you’re Diahanne Caroll in her prime. You’ve rarely broken a sweat. Is that for your fans?”

Grace shook her head and read the label of something before putting it into her cart, “I haven’t had any problems, except for eating way more than I used to and getting gas, but those calcium chews usually help with that and I bounce right back. You know, I’ve always taken really great care of myself, think things through and pay top dollar for the finest self care. I guess that the baby is pleased with their temporary temple.” She smiled at her mom and noticed the woman looked leery. “I know… you had a very rough pregnancy with me. Believe me, I remember this fact, but I haven’t been having that experience, personally. In fact… Did you know that I’ve gained THOUSANDS of new followers since they’ve seen that I was pregnant. Pregnant people have been asking me what I use for this and for that and I’ve been plugging my brand, since we’ve got the pregnancy line now. It’s been sensational. I’ve had a blast!”

Grace had been working on a blog about her pregnancy, which she began with a video addressing all of the questions to all of the people who were not her.

“Hey, Those That Are Graced!” She’d cheered into the camera, “Happy New Year! I know that I’ve been unavailable to reach out too, and believe me, I do miss interacting with fans and followers, but I am currently not working on my career, to focus on other things in my life. Just to touch base with everyone, I feel like we’ve had this discussion before and those of you who actually respect me would definitely not need it repeated, but there have been so many new faces of possibly unfamiliar followers that I am revisiting notes that I have in all of my bios…

First, my professional life is one thing, my private life is another. I extend myself professionally, and over the past few months, even though I have not actually been working, I’ve still been spending time providing everyone with content. Please do not send messages, comments, or questions for me to any of my friends, and especially not to my family members, Hazel in particular. She is 12 and shouldn’t have adults bothering her for information that not only isn’t her concern, but isn’t your concern. She wants to be able to enjoy the limited hours of screen time that she’s allowed. That becomes difficult for her when people are asking her hundreds of questions that literally are related to her mother’s sex life.

Second, my professional life is offered at my discretion, as well. Whenever there is product that I think you should try, I will announce it. If I’m not familiar with a product or no arrangements have been made for me to try a product or I’m unaware of a product… my comments is not the place for said product. That is including everything from your all natural care supplies, book recommendations, your demos, your dance videos… Like… I LOVE receiving those things, but whenever I open my comments back up, that is not where those things go.

I have links for email addresses for avenues of business, entertainment, etc on my website, and if nothing else, my website is featured on every form of social media that I have. I am the person who goes through those emails. I am NOT the person who checks my social media messages, so you will never get a response from me through those and run the risk of me not seeing something if you send it there instead.

Third, my spaces have boundaries and moderators to enforce those boundaries. Whenever you’ve been allowed to be a guest in any of my spaces or my child’s spaces, you treat that shit like Afropunk - “No sexism, no racism, no ableism, no homophobia, no fatphobia, no transphobia, no hatefulness.” And then, since I’m not Afropunk and I have even greater needs, and can’t believe I have to say this much else: No pedophilia, no inappropriate interactions with a minor, no incestuous ideation, and no nudity. My moderators are quick, but not perfect. Your fellow guests and neighbors in my spaces should never have to see jokes about my mother and I engaged in sexual acts together, or worse, my UNDERAGE daughter, and no - Hazel and I posting a dance video is not an invitation for someone to make comments that because she might be fluid in her movements that it is sexually suggestive and if ever we find one of those headass posts where you put a photo of my beautiful daughter up, say something obscene or rude or ask, “Thoughts?” Simon finds out your IP address, sometimes more than that and he doxxes your ass. Ask around. If threats of violence or suggestions of harm are given… he might show up at your house and I don’t know what to even tell you about that one, because I’m not at liberty to say, according to the lawyers.”

She smiled, relaxed, unclenched her teeth that she realized had been clenched since she began her greater needs.

“Fourth, leave Hazel alone. She isn’t going to add you, because she is not allowed to add adults that she does not know. If you follow her public figure pages, those are for her poetry, her brand, her rapping, her artwork, her theater program, and whatever announcements she wants to share with her fans about her personal life, which is usually vague and innocent. If Hazel posts that she had a great time at the premiere of some movie, that is not the place to ask her personal questions. The place to ask her personal questions is nowhere! We don’t have a space created for strangers to ask her personal questions. She sometimes will be allowed to grant an interview, in which she will answer a professional about appropriate questions that have been approved.

Fifth, shut up about Simon! Shut up about Simon! I swear to you… In the past few years that Simon and I have been in communication and the ones that we’ve been in close communication, I KNOW that you realize that we are communicating, but that falls under my private life, which I have not created a space in the public for.

Now… you may speak with Simon about whatever things he speaks about in his private life, I can’t control that, but what I can control and do control is what he will or won’t say about me, even in HIS space. Yes. I got it like that, and what will happen, is Simon will be seeing this, and he is very good at remembering details and he will memorize everything that I’ve said here and he will respect that and enforce it, even in HIS space.

Which leads me to my last thing… There’s a lot of Esmoroth fanfolk in my spaces now and you all act a certain way in your little Esmoroth corner of the Internet… but in here, in Grace’s space, you better act like you’ve been tossed to the feet of the Idol Princess when her pheromones are igniting the internal flame of servitude. Because, we stan the Idol Princess in this space, and you’d better act right.”

After the release of the 3rd book and return of the Idol Princess aka the Future Queen, several fans were disappointed and had called Simon out for “pandering.” But, several MORE fans came around. He was competing for top spots with the YA novel greats after the 3rd book. But… that also meant more fans to be in Grace’s business.

Her New Year’s announcement remained pinned at the top of her page and the next post was text, “Oh, yeah. Last but not least, you may have noticed that I’m pregnant. I’ll be featuring some of my favorite findings on my maternity journey here, so please stay tuned if you’re pregnant, expecting, or planning, for what I think and hope will be some helpful tips for your journey!”

Most of the Esmoroth fandom didn’t like her very much, but they also “just couldn’t stay away. Aside from the Grace in Maternity blog, she still didn’t have social media open for commentary, though she did sometimes pass through Simon’s or Hazel’s comments and engaged a little bit with them. She pinned the video to other sites and then just didn’t really visit them again much.

“I could barely walk whenever I was six months pregnant. I had the finest of everything, too,” Mrs. Monroe broke into her thoughts. “Then again, I had what they now call an eating disorder for several years. I… wasn’t completely… well whenever you were announced…” she looked guilty, like she did whenever she faced her own failures as a mother. “We had to get a 24 hour nurse to keep me… healthy. By seven months, I could hardly get out of bed.”

Grace furrowed her eyebrows, “Mom… you’ve never told me that you had an eating disorder. Did you ever get help for it?”

“Help? Oh… like… whenever I had to be rushed to the hospital multiple times? Yes. I got help.”

“MOM… Did you ever heal?”

“Wait, are you asking me if I have disordered eating now? Heaven’s no, Grace. I was trapped with your father by the time you were born. I eventually realized that I had to be more… alive and well than I did flawless. We hired a nutritionist and personal chef.”

“Mom… a lot of people need psychological help for something like that.”

“And I come across to you as ‘a lot of people’? Hmph. It’s pathetic enough that I allowed myself to be so weak. I wasn’t going to beg someone to give me the strength I needed.”

“That’s not what it’s like at all…” Grace cupped her mother’s face and said, “There may be things that people need to help you with, Mom. That doesn’t make you weak or whatever else you’ve convinced yourself of. It didn’t make me weak when I needed to get help. It doesn’t make Hazel weak when she needs help…”

Mrs. Monroe waved Grace’s hands off of her face, “As long as you’re fine, have no other concerns.”

“Mom…”

“Were you done with the shopping?” Grace sighed and continued moving.

Simon was pacing, clenching and unclenching his fists. Several of the message boards, every one of his social media platforms, and even at least one of Hazel’s. He’d taken her devices away, but now she was angry and he certainly couldn’t find the words to explain beyond, “You can’t be online right now.” She was scribbling aggressively in one of her paper journals, and fuming. They both were fuming from different but related reasons.

Grace came in with her little shopping entourage and Hazel rushed to her, furiously.

“Your BOY TOY took my devices DURING screen time and REFUSES to give them back!” Grace’s eyes went wide and she turned to look at Simon, who was pacing and didn’t even seem to hear the accusation, notice that she came in or to see Monty. Something was absolutely wrong here.

“Help get the groceries and I’ll get your devices, okay?” Grace said and cupped her chin. Hazel was still breathing heavily as she stormed out towards the groceries and Mrs. Monroe settled on the couch. Grace took Simon’s hand and he was startled by her sudden touch. But, the moment he realized it was her, he let out a deep breath and wrapped her up in a tight hug. “Hey. Let’s go talk, okay?” She suggested, rubbing his back. He nodded his head, but didn’t move from the spot or lessen his hold on. She squirmed a little bit and said politely, “Oxygen, Gray Eyes..” He let up and rushed out of the room. Grace followed and watched him flop on the bed and cover his face with his fists. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“We’ve been doing SO well…” He said, shaking his head.

“We have.” So, this is something that he did wrong? “And the only way that we continue doing well is to be open and caring with each other.” He slicked back the wild hairs that weren’t pulled into his ponytail. He appeared to be in a lot of pain, but she had to get whatever this was settled. “Should I go online? Will I see what happened, if I do?” She pulled out her phone, mumbling, “I’m guessing that’s why Hazel’s stuff was confiscate-” He snatched the phone from her hands and she let out a yelp, both at the audacity and the fact that she didn’t even see him get up.

“No. I have to tell you. You can’t find out on the Internet. SHE can’t get on. She CAN’T!”

“Why can’t she? Because, she’s pretty pissed and it IS her screen time…”

“Because, the internet is relentless and unkind, and she’s too young to have to deal with how much. Not today. She’ll… I’ll… give her extra time once it's died down.”

“Tell me what’s going on, Simon.”

He frowned, “Someone brought the tape up.” At first, she was confused. Was this something about the movie? Why would he be so upset as to take Hazel’s… “And it’s recirculating again. I’ve been reporting it and fans have been reporting it and it gets taken down, but more and more people have seen it now and it’s just… too much. I don’t want her to run into it…” NOW, she understood. That tape… which… technically… it was done with a webcam, so it was never a tape, it was a recording, but… “I saw it again… not watched it, but you know, saw a portion of it whenever I was reporting it… God…” He sat down on the bed, “You’re a kid, Grace. You had the rounded face and everything…”

“Ummm… You’re a month and a day older than me, Dude.” she said, sitting down, trying to pretend that she was more calm than her heart was allowing. She could barely breathe, thinking about the feelings that just mentioning that used to bring up for her. She wasn’t sure how she might react to seeing it come up somewhere. But, maybe she should try…

She gently took her phone back, despite his struggling. One stern look and he let it go, realizing that she was determined and he was probably already in a lot of trouble, if something had been triggered. She nodded, “Yep, looks like a few people have tagged me, asking me if I saw that somebody posted it…” She went to the video and he clenched the bedspread, moving his legs uncontrollably and looking straight ahead. “You know, a lot of people used to say that you couldn’t see your face in it, that it was out of frame, but it does come into frame a few times…” she said. She paused, “See?” He shook his head. “Simon, you’re not even gonna indulge me a little bit at a time like this?”

His frown deepened and he took another long breath. She was right. SHE was the victim in this. The least he could do was take a look at his disgusting handiwork. He saw himself and he recoiled. “You were a kid, too,” she said. “Sure, at the time, this hurt more than anything my brain can recall. But… I do know, as a grown ass woman, you were wrong and also were a child. Both of those things can be accurate.”

“We’re only a few years older than Hazel, there. If some kid did something like this to her… I would…”

“I would hope that you’d remember that you were their age once and just as bad.”

“Is… is that how you would react?”

“Oh, hell no. I’ve never done anything like this. I’d kill that fucking kid. But, you would have to be the adult that fucking pulls me off of him…” She laughed and scratched at his beard, “But, nothing like this will happen to Hazel. She’s a good judge of character and we know all of her friends.”

“Your parents knew me too, and I think that they’re pretty good judges of character. Your mom at least. She always knew that I was rotten.”

“No she didn’t! She knew that you weren’t rich, and in her head those two things were the same thing. She knew that you were controlling, and she thought that I was going to sacrifice myself for you, but she didn’t think that you were going to straight up try to assassinate my entire character.” He looked away from her, “And NOW, you are very diligent in making sure that you aren’t crossing any lines, with me and with Hazel, my mother, my father, and I think people in general. This wasn’t long enough ago that it’s not hurtful to think about… but it was long enough ago to not beat yourself up over. But… It is a burden that you designed. So, it’s only right that you explain to Hazel exactly why she shouldn’t be online right now.”

Hazel took it so much better than she had taken him taking away her computer and phone. “Are you serious? I’ll just avoid social media. You KNOW I don’t wanna see anything like that, myself, but I already knew that it existed out there somewhere.” She shook her head, “I don’t like the way you look with clothes ON, think I’d run the risk of seeing you without them?”

Grace suggested, “Is there anything else you want to say to him? Maybe about how you broke the news to me when I got home?”

“Oh..” Hazel flared her nostrils and rolled her eyes, “Sorry I called you Mom’s Boy Toy… You kinda are, but I shouldn’t say it…”

Simon laughed, mostly because he was relieved that she wasn’t scarred by him having to talk to her about this video resurfacing. “You kidding? I’m gonna put that on a t-shirt.”

“No cap? Because I have SO many where that came from.”

“We’ve gotta brainstorm.”

“Simpsona T-shirts can be your new thing…” And just like that, Grace watched them be best friends again. Hazel could get mad and stay mad for a long time, but she didn’t like to argue, so even whenever she got mad, she tended to stay to herself until she wasn’t. The two of them left to go sit on the swing set outside of the house they were renting, and Grace sat by her mom on the couch.

“I don’t even want to know what that was about.”

“Cool, because I wasn’t gonna tell you.”

“You don’t have to. One of your “boy toy’s” fans will.” Grace laughed and then threw her head onto her mom’s shoulder. The woman gasped at first, taken aback by the show of affection, but then placed her hand on Grace’s. “You’re a very good mother to both of them. You’ll be a good one to that one too.” she pointed her free hand at Grace’s belly.

“Did you just…?”

“Come on, you’ve been raising yourself a man since you met him and I’ll stand by that forever. Might get it engraved on my headstone.”

Grace cackled, “I absolutely AM NOT raising him!”

“He is literally a life sized puppy that went through a rebellious phase where he kept biting you!”

“Well, I finally realized that I have the power to curve that behavior… and trust me, Mom… It’s not something you’d do with somebody you’re raising.” Grace stuck her tongue out.

“Get off of me you scoundrel!” Her mother joked. Grace just laughed and held on tighter. The woman put her arm around her. “Are you okay, Darling?”

“Whenever I was hurt or scared as a little girl, I was more afraid of admitting it to you and Daddy. I would be more hurt by the thoughts of how little you would think of me if I openly showed imperfection. Not feeling that way took a long time and a lot of work. So, now, if I have a hard day, I’m not too proud to lay on my mommy and say so.” She looked to gauge her mother’s reaction. She was always speechless whenever Grace got emotional.

She’d never learn past those suppressing ways and it amazed Grace that her mother didn’t realize how much her and Simon were alike in that way. Simon had to work really hard at it and her mother was too proud and pampered to put in such effort. But, whenever Grace booped her nose, the woman’s eyes flickered amusement, ever so slightly. Now, she pushed Grace off of herself and opened her arms to receive Montanus. “Take a photograph of me with my children,” She told the nanny. “One with the two human ones, then we’ll add the new fur baby…”

She still hadn’t made any announcements about her status with Simon, nor had she spoken about her pregnancy outside of the maternity blog by the time Valentines’ Day rolled around. But, one thing that she did was allow for Simon to share maternity photos. That was her “gift” to him.

There. Were. Tons.

Simon took photos of everything. He had a copy of every ultrasound. He had an electronic journal of every detail that came up. So, whenever he posted the album “Countdown to Ivory’s Arrival,” he had more photos than most of the fans were probably going to look through. Therefore, he left many of them private, with only close friends able to view, and the ones that were public were his favorites of the candids of Grace being pregnant and gorgeous, some of the ones from photoshoots that she would post, and the professional maternity photos that they had taken so far. They took some each trimester, as a family.

The ones at her three month mark were taken in New York, early November (around their anniversary, whenever he was in town. They had fall colors and all three of them were absolutely stunning. Hazel was impressed with how well that Simon cleaned up, so much that whenever he showed her older photos of himself, she thought he was a different person. She had no idea how right about that she was. Simon being both subservient and also a mega diva himself was absolutely salivating every time Grace did something, but also, it was him who insisted, "We have to have a photoshoot each trimester, each with a different theme.” She agreed on the trimesters, but wasn’t feeling the theme part so much. She told him that they could simply have the season be the theme.

They had three changes of outfits for each set. Grace had a gown made much like the one that she had worn to the fall festival in 9th grade (the one that the Idol Princess’ gown was very heavily based on, the one that Simon had taken photos of her in, getting her first beauty deal underway), one that Simon saw her in and immediately began crying. “You’re… gonna ruin the photos,” Hazel told him.

There were candid ones of him crying. Her favorite was one where he was crying, Grace was trying to comfort him and Hazel dropped in front of them, bombing it with a prison pose and her tongue out. She had on a yellow pantsuit with fall leaves in her hair, her signature look being wearing leaves in her hair. Simon’s yellow suit was similar to hers, but way more expensive and the red accents, instead of the orange ones that Hazel elected.

The orange outfits were Hazel in orange overalls, Grace in a romper and Simon in a jumpsuit that Hazel insisted was “the most expensive prison wear in the world.” The red ones were regal matching dress attire, Grace in a two piece dress to show off her belly, Hazel in the same floor length evening gown, but one piece, and Simon in a red suit, made of the same material. Hazel’s hair was down and flowing. Grace’s was gathered up, with most of her afro pulled forward, cascading out of the jeweled red head dress she wore, and Simon’s usually (these days) flowing hair was pulled into a ponytail, with the undercut showing. He was generally self conscious about it, but Hazel put little red jewels over his scar, so even though he was still anxious about his hair, he was proud of her accessorizing enough that he wanted to confidently show it off.

The six month ones were taken in January, and done in all white, which Hazel said, “Looks fabulous on mom and me, but you look like the abominable snowman,” to Simon, on the day of. They were in California by that time, but took a little trip to the mountains because the Monroes had property there that Simon remembered had beautiful scenery that he wanted to have family photos at.

They did all white shots and winter blues.

Whenever Simon posted them on Valentines’ Day, Hazel joked in the comments, “I still say that we need to crop your face out.”

People loved the maternity photos, noticed that Grace did NOT have any on her page and she didn’t comment or react to any on Simon’s page. (Yes, these people pay entirely too much attention to the lives of celebrities that they didn’t even KNOW), but someone did some investigating and found Grace’s pregnancy blog. So… even though that was mostly a completely different following, others stormed into the space, thinking that FINALLY, some place where Grace has actually been interacting and will interact with us. She literally ignored anybody that wasn’t asking about helpful tips for their own pregnancy or giving her helpful tips and the title changed from, “Grace in Maternity” to “Y’all Can See This is a Mommy Blog, Right?”

A few people were seething, but funny enough, Grace’s faithful mommy following were more along the lines of, “Wait… You’re FAMOUS, Monroe Mommy???” After that, she had a hoard of moms check out her other life. She enjoyed having more of them in her fan base, though she also had a lot of ones who had always known being like, “Y’all seriously didn’t know Grace Monroe?” and her favorite quote ever on that blog, “Hell, her album is the reason I AM pregnant!!!”

Meanwhile, Simon had been less likely to play around with any of the fans ever since the video thing. He’d made that very clear, and then sort of stopped interacting with them. He didn’t even go through to like people’s comments anymore. Some of them would say things like, “Whoever resurfaced that video, if we find you, it's on sight for making Simon hate speaking with us!”

Sometimes a person would “Lol” and contend, “He’s too busy working on the Esmoroth movie. He’s not here because of the movie not some fuzzy sex tape from years ago.”

Those were the only ones that he’d respond to just to say, “No, they’re right,” and nothing else.

He wasn’t as busy on the Esmoroth movie as he intended to be. He was working on more tech and models for the movie than any other movie things. For one thing, the script was being adapted, and casting was hard. The casting director wanted to get a different type for the Idol Princess, but Simon was extremely firm and clear that the Idol Princess HAD to look exactly as described in the book. “There are parts of the story that are directly related to her looking the way that she does.”

“We can adjust those parts,” the director had said, hoping to appease him.

“The Idol Princess looks like my childhood best friend. Her look is non negotiable,” he had told them. They didn’t believe in non negotiable, apparently, because the girls that were being considered were all much too light. Whenever Simon had rejected them all, they informed him of those girls’ filmographies and their agents and other people said agents represented.. “Maybe they have that type of record because people are hiring them for roles that were meant to be for someone else. Just… give me all of the call sheets for girl characters who auditioned.”

He went through and disqualified half on looks alone (not to say that they weren’t pretty children or whatever, but they didn’t look like the Idol Princess). Whenever he had the stack of dark skin girls, he went through, checking their filmographies and auditions.

He asked Hazel for her opinion and she suggested a name that he recognized from his rejected stack. He pulled it back up and looked at the light skinned girl in the photo, "Do you mean this girl, Hazel?" He wondered.

"Yes! She's a really good actress!"

He furrowed his eyebrows and pointed out, "But she doesn't look like the Idol Princess. The Idol Princess has dark brown skin, tightly coiled hair, full nose and lips, and dark brown eyes. This girl has none of those things."

Hazel shrugged her shoulders, "She's really good though."

"Well… maybe some of these other girls are really good and people just don't want to see them in stuff like this."

Hazel frowned and she asked, "Are you accusing me of favoring her because she's got features like mine?"

"No. I'm just saying that she doesn't look the part. You're usually really good about that kind of thing, Haze."

"Well… I don't know anybody in the age range that looks like the description of the Idol Princess." She folded her arms, "But like you said, maybe that's because people take the easy way out and just get the pretty Black girl that they know of to play a part instead of being true to characters. I've definitely read more books with dark skinned girls than I've seen in movies…"

"Here are some of my choices," he said and spread the sheets out before her. "I think this one has the look, but I think this one had a better audition. BUT, she was auditioning for a background character and this one was auditioning for the Wicked Heiress. Maybe she just didn't have that role in her and should audition for the Idol Princess, so we can know for sure.."

"I think that maybe they should all audition for the Idol Princess again. What if they just didn't believe it would be realistic that they'd get offered a job like this, especially if bigger stars are being considered? Sometimes, I have to talk kids into auditioning for our productions because they're worried that the same actors will win out anyway."

He gave her a side smile, "I think you're onto something, Haze."

Hazel sent out the invites for Grace’s baby shower. Unfortunately, all of Grace’s friends lived elsewhere, so it would be an expensive trip. Fortunately, they had money, so the Monroes could foot the bill for everyone who didn’t just have the means to travel across country for an event.

Meta flew in with Damita from New York the previous week, but he made some business plans to collab with a Cali artist that week, so he was working, as well. Meanwhile, Damita and Grace were spending the week reconnecting and chilling. Shana and Iza came in from Atlanta the night before. Gharrisahn was already in LA for work, so she would swing by the day of. Grace’s parents arranged for Mikayla and Tulip to come down. They were in coach on the same flight that Lucy’s and Lindsay’s moms and they were in first class, so they’d all meet the driver upon landing.

Hazel had on a headset, along with Simon’s assistant and Grace’s assistant, because Hazel had arranged the shower and she wanted to make sure that things went how she meant for them to.

Grace was in a custom made gown that was inspired by Book 3 of Esmoroth and Simon had been at her side simply staring at her for the entire time she had it on. It had been a surprise. A very nice one that he apparently loved. She hired the costume designer for the movie to make her several pieces, but this one was like the one that the Idol Princess resurrects in. Grace was now hip to the lore enough, mainly from paying attention to Hazel’s ravings, and her and Simon’s movie chat.

For the most part, Grace didn’t want to have a shower. All of her friends lived elsewhere, the baby was due sort of close to Hazel’s birthday and she still wanted Hazel to be able to have a party - which she doubted would be able to happen if she waited until after they were born, so she wanted to have Hazel’s birthday party, INSTEAD of a shower and Hazel said, “How about you just worry about slaying everybody in your peak perfection pregnancy, and I’ll take care of the shower?”

With the financial backing of GlamMother, her dad’s big brain, and her own penchant for moments and aesthetics, Hazel tended to be very good at making things come together. She even produced some choreography (Doereography, as she called her pieces), for her and her mother to perform, because, yes, Grace was good and swollen by May, but she also could still do mostly everything that she was doing before with that additional bundle. It did throw her balance off a little and she couldn’t lift Hazel at the moment, but she kept up with every step of the Irish step dancing that Hazel put into the choreo, and she absolutely could still nail every Haitian movement. Hazel wanted to make a birthday choreo with ties to her heritage, and Grace was always very supportive of her doing anything that made her feel connected to her identity.

For good measure, Hazel looked up cultures from Grace and Simon’s heritages too. She was most accustomed to American jazz/hip hop and ballet. She started at 6, with Grace and when they were apart, Grace used to make instructional videos and post them just for Hazel. Whenever she was 10, she started to tap, and all of the other things in between, she and Grace perfected, and whenever she really wanted to nail something, they’d call in a world class trainer.

Hazel felt that a world class trainer was needed for the baby shower. Grace very much so disagreed. So, Hazel got her grandmother to get them. “Next time, simply come to me first,” the woman had said.

Hazel opened up with one of her raps. Her mom’s friends (as always) got their entire lives whenever she would flow - which was possibly the reason that she honed her talent, if she thought about it - and even Simon would be into the groove with things. He didn’t have the best rhythm, but he certainly always looked way taken up with her talent. Grace bouncing around with a round belly was everything in the world to Hazel, and when she was done, she waddled over to hug her.

They played games, did some traditional shower things and some new things too, that Hazel consulted with celebrity event planners for. When it was time for gifts, Grace froze, looking at the way that everything flowed. It was like her 16th birthday again and she felt like she might have a panic attack. “Grace… It’s okay,” Simon said. She looked at him on the other side of the tete a tete and he smiled, “I learned my lesson. This is straight up simply tribute.” He kissed her on the forehead and she calmed down to receive gifts and cry about everything, but manage to not look ugly doing so, because no matter how comfortable she had gotten over the years, that was still engrained in her as a huge no-no.

Winding down from the party, she found Hazel and her friends at the photo booth, having switched out their baby shower outfits for their birthday party outfits. “Where’s Simon?”

“Bullying people about their gifts,” Hazel said nonchalantly.

“Oh God…” Grace raced over and smiled, “Hey… what’s uh… what’s going on?”

Mrs. Monroe stood behind Simon with her arms folded and Mr. Laurent was in front of them. Simon answered, “Well, I’m giving people things back that went against the specifications for the list.”

“I don’t remember making specifications for the list.”

“You wouldn’t, because you didn’t, I did. You aren’t particularly great at meticulous things and you don’t pay attention whenever I’m telling you plans like these,” Simon said.

“We’re not gonna send a gift back with the person who gave it to us.”

“What are we gonna do, donate it to charity? Because I am not putting this together for our baby. This company uses…”

“Thank you, Mr. Laurent. Thank you for coming and thank you for this gift.” She gave the man a pat on the hand and smiled at Simon. He was still frowning, along with her mother. “You’re backing him up, now?” She got flashbacks of whenever they used to gang up on her and she was very salty that she had to defend MR. LAURENT of all people against the devastating team and Simon and her mother could be.

“He specifically said nothing from that company ON THE LIST,” her mom said, beginning a tirade against this man, with her and Simon taking turns on letting him know exactly how he’d fucked up.

“Their product is cheap and substandard.”

“They’ve decimated the supply of the people in the area they harness things from TO make cheap product.”

“And they use slave labor!”

“Child slaves.”

“OKAY! Okay… That’s a good company to boycott. But hear me out… Mr. Laurent is a simple man who shops at like three places and definitely doesn’t look up things like that,” Grace said.

To which Simon and Mrs. Monroe both reminded her, (loudly) “It was on the list!”

“I made it clear which companies we weren’t accepting gifts from!”

“It’s already bought.” Simon was going to continue complaining, but Grace took his hands and placed them on her belly and he immediately softened up and stared at it. “This is the most important thing, right?”

He looked up at her and cupped her face, shifting himself to touch foreheads with her. Hazel appeared out of nowhere to bomb the photo that they weren’t even expecting Lucy to take.

“Wait, that was it?” Grace wondered. Let’s be clear… she did go through a lot of pain and it was a tough time in the birthing house, even with Simon right beside her and Hazel, her mother and her best friend nearby. But… it felt like there should be something else happening or that something was missing, that she had neglected something, or like something didn’t happen that was supposed to.

She supposed that she had simply set her expectations so deeply into the thought of pain, struggle, blood, sweat and tears, that when it came… her imagination had actually run wild. Simon had kept telling her she was doing well and how he was proud of her and other affirmations. He was holding the baby now while she was being cleaned up.

“Did everything happen?” Grace asked.

Hazel went over the checklist with her. Yes. Everything happened. “Did I pass out?” No. She was awake. She was there for every grueling minute. It just was a different experience for her than what her mother described, than what she read and interpreted.

The professionals explained to her how her birthing went relatively well, what to do next, etc. Charlotte, from the center, even talked to her about how it’s not only different for everyone, but how all four of her own pregnancies and births were different from the last. Grace was expecting something terrible to happen within the first few days, just because it didn’t seem like everything had happened! The paranoia died down on day 3 and she simply was back to cuddling with her new baby.

They looked like her, so far. Hazel made them a stuffie of a potato in a diaper… the baby just looked like a potato. She didn’t know how else to express that. Simon worshipped them. He was constantly holding them whenever Grace wasn’t. He was close by whenever she fed them. He took so many photos on his phone that within days, he surpassed all of the ones he had of Monty from the past several months.

NONE of those were going online any time soon. Grace had only posted a few days after giving birth her experience with having done so. She bounced back so quickly and looked so effortlessly beautiful that some people were claiming that she had been trolling and was never actually pregnant. She found that funny, but it also was her cue to duck away from the Internet for a while again.

The first month of Ivory’s life, they were for the most part a quiet baby. Simon frequently worried that something was wrong, checking, rechecking, then coming back and checking again that they were breathing, awake, happy, etc. Grace was more like, “You’re so gross. Look at you! Drooling all over everything. Little slobbery monster!” She spoke in a high pitched voice that made Ivory smile and kick their little legs around.

“GRACE! Don’t say that!” Simon insisted. “You’re gonna make them feel bad.”

“No way! Ivory’s a tough little cookie, like their Mama. I gonna bite you, Cookie! Mama gonna bite you!” Then she playfully nibbled at their feet and hands.

Simon studied the baby for a while and determined, “They seem to be enjoying it.” He would then relax a little.

Hazel was the only person allowed to post photos of Ivory, and comments were always closed. The first one was on Hazel’s birthday. She was in a sundress, tanned a little more than usual and Ivory and she had on matching rompers and sunhats. “Ivory came 13 days before my 13th year. They really said, “I’ma be 13 too, Sis.” Look at them. Tiny. Tiny Potato. Sis has your back for life. #taurustribe #jk #idcboutthat #MonroeSibs #Doetography #HouseLaurent

And there it was. All that anyone needed to see. You honestly couldn’t tell what the baby looked like, but how could anybody doubt Hazel’s hashtag “House Laurent?”

Simon sort of liked having a private family. He wasn’t sure why he had been so eager to have people acknowledge things before. Even one year ago, he needed for somebody, anybody to know that he slept in the same bed with Grace Monroe. He needed for her to say “I love you.” He needed to hear Hazel call him “dad.” He still loved those things, but he had everything he could have ever wanted… it just looked different than he thought it would.

Why did he want to “take care of” Grace for so long? She was caoable of taking care of herself, probably better than he was of himself. She had talents (was ALREADY back to working on new dances with Hazel and new music), qualities… God… that smile made him weak… She had several other things too, but if he sat there making a list, he’d be there for a while, and he COULDN’T be there for a while, because Ivory was six weeks old and Grace told him that he could take them with him to work.

He began strapping the baby into the stroller… “Are you… where are you trying to take my baby?” Grace asked.

“My calendar says that they’re six weeks old. I can take them to work with me.”

Grace put her hands on her hips and Simon frowned. “You said it. I have a recording of you saying it.”

“Well, I said that we shouldn’t take them anywhere before six weeks…”

“And I set my calendar,” Simon completed the thought and pulled the diaper bag onto his shoulder. “Abigail is bringing Monty, so they’ll have a play date.”

“Oh, she is?” Grace asked, toweling herself down. “Hold on. I’m coming.”

“Grace, I’m gonna be late!”

“I’m not letting you go be a Daddy sized snack with TWO cute babies on you with a cute, perfect bodied nanny with no friends!”

“I don’t think she’s all that cute and I have no idea what her body looks like!”

“It doesn’t look like she pushed a baby out of it six weeks ago!”

“NEITHER DOES YOURS!”

She came into the room, changed up and smiling, “Awww. That’s so sweet.”

“How did you?” She looked perfect. She looked perfect and she couldn’t have taken any longer than five minutes. And she thought she had anything to worry about? But, he wasn’t complaining. If he had Grace and the baby around, that was just better, all around.

“I’m staying here,” Hazel told them and continued dancing in the mirror.

Grace was standing on the scooter, with Simon behind her, sporadically kissing her on the neck every now and then, making her smile and gush. Whenever they pulled into the studio Simon took the baby out, which Grace noticed was wearing an oversized heather gray, “Proof he got lucky with Grace Monroe” onesie. “Simon! What did you…?” She gasped and saw that he had a shirt, the same color that read, “I got lucky with Grace Monroe.”

“In my defense, you weren’t supposed to be here today!” Simon told her.

“How many shirts and onesie sets did you buy?”

“Not a lot. I bought WAY MORE t-shirts than I did onesies.” She fell behind a little and the back of that man’s shirt said “Grace’s Babydaddy.”

“Simon…”

“In my defense… You were right there whenever I walked out of the house wearing it.” She laughed. “It’s just in the studio. I’m working on some mechanics. There’s not gonna be cameras on me or anything.” She was still pouting. “I know that you’re super secretive, but I’m sure that most of the people who give a damn about what we do already know that this is indeed my baby…”

“It’s not that.”

“Well, what is it?”

“Ugh. I wanted to do this whole reveal thing for you on Sunday! I was gonna make this long, sweet post and open my comments and EVERYTHING. Now, I feel like it won’t have the same effect…” His eyes were already all watery, just from her THINKING about doing so.

“Sunday is Father’s Day…”

“Yeah. I can keep my own secrets. Not tell people about my pregnancy or who I bone or how I share time with my daughter or whatever, but I didn’t plan on making you stay in the shadows of my spotlight for the rest of our lives, especially when it comes to this. You’ve been an immense pain in the ass, but you’re a wonderful father and I figured it’d be a good… coming out of sorts for me to acknowledge that on that day.”

He cradled Ivory closely, “You can still do that.”

“Well, you’ve announced it all over your clothes and also… I just told you the entire plan!”

“I love knowing plans!” Simon said. “Here.” He took off the shirt and threw on his hoodie, which it was too hot for and then they changed the baby’s onesie too. “I sort of want to eat it up whenever people actually find out from you that I am indeed, who you bone.” She laughed. “This is the best spoiled surprise that I’ve ever had!”

“Well… I didn’t tell you ALL my plans, so there’s still stuff to look forward to.”

“Yeah?” He asked, casually as they walked inside.

“Mmm hmm.”

“Can I have a hint?”

“Something that starts with the letter P.” Simon turned red and she smiled brightly.

“Uh. Didn’t put THAT on your calendar, did you?”

His lip dropped, “I DIDN'T!” He frowned, “In my defense… we don’t really do that enough for it to have been something I was counting down to.” He smirked, “But every time we do…” He raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. She bit her lip and shook her head, “Nope. Sunday. You aren’t gonna beard break me, Mr. Laurent.”

#If They Didn't Get on the Train #AU Infinity Train #Infinity Train #Nesha Fanfiction #Infinity Train Fanfiction #fics

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