#which is why he and katherine work much better

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Practice Makes Perfect

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Actress!Reader

Word Count: ~1.7k

Warnings: none, nervous!jensen that's super cute

Request by anon: Hey, can i request a series or one shot with Jensen x actress/singer reader, where the reader is very famous actress and singer that work in Marvel as Black Widow, Game of Thrones, TVDU, etc and Jensen loved her and always are talking about her in set without knowing that she is Gen Padalecki best fiends and Jared Padalecki friends and Jared tell her all Jensen said about her so she was casted as a new character who is Dean love interest without him knowing and in the end they end together and have kids?

Summary: You're a famous actress that's been in lots of movies and TV shows. Jensen has a huge crush on you and doesn't know that the newest person to be hired onto Supernatural is none other than you.

Square Filled: what if (2022) for @spndeanbingo

Author’s Note: just pretend that each of the shows/movies she's been in took place one after the other instead of going on at the exact same time.

x

Jared and Jensen have a few minutes alone before their panel. Jared is snacking on whatever they provided them with while Jensen is sitting on the couch browsing on his phone. Jared has his wife on FaceTime as he is stuffing his face, and she laughs at the food dripping from his mouth.

“Baby, why can’t you eat normally?”

“What? I’m hungry,” he says, more food spewing from his mouth.

“Our kids eat better than you,” she chuckles.

“Jen, tell her I eat normally.” Jared turns to his friend but Jensen isn’t listening to a word he’s saying. He has one of his Airpods in watching a video. “Are you guys coming to the panel?”

“Yeah, we’re just exploring right now.”

“Hi, Daddy!” Odette smiles and jumps into the frame.

“Hey, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay. Say bye!”

All three of his kids say bye just before Gen hangs up on him. Jared finishes eating his snack before walking over to his friend. He takes a seat next to him to see what video he’s watching and smirks when he sees you on the screen.

“So, what do you want to do when the panel is over? What section of the convention do you want to visit?” Jared asks knowing Jensen isn’t listening.

He’s too invested in the video of you doing press for your new Marvel movie. You play the elusive Black Widow in all of the Marvel films, and you just got done filming your own solo movie. You’ve done some press for the movie even before it comes out to prepare people for what to expect and things of that nature.

“You’re obsessed with her,” Jared chuckles.

“Shut up, I’m not,” Jensen barks. “I’m just an admirer of her movies.”

“You have posters of her locked away in your collection.”

Jensen slaps his friend on the chest and continues watching the video. It’s true, Jensen has a major crush on you not only for Black Widow but for every role you’ve ever done. You’ve played Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones, Katherine and Elena in The Vampire Diaries, and so much more. You’re such a talented person that acting is like second nature to you. You can do almost any role you’ve ever landed, and you’ve won a lot of awards for it which you’re proud of.

“Damn, look at her. She’s gorgeous,” Jensen says with metaphorical hearts in his eyes. Jared laughs and Jensen shakes his head. “I’m sorry, I have a major crush on this woman. What are you gonna do about it?”

“We’re about to do a panel. Come on.”

Jensen and Jared get ready to go out on stage. All their fans cheer for them when they make an appearance. Jared scans the audience to see his wife there with her phone pointed at him. He nods once and turns to Jensen knowing his wife is getting this on video.

“Alright, any questions?” Jared asks. A lot of hands go up in the air, and he points to the person whom Gen gestures. “What’s your name?”

“Elisa. I’m such a huge fan of both of you. My question is for Jensen. I watched a video you did talking about the actress Y/N. She just finished her movie Black Widow. Is it true you have a crush on her?”

Everyone cheers for this question but quiets down to give Jensen an opportunity to answer. His entire face reddens at the question and becomes extremely conscious of what he’s wearing, what he’s saying, and how he’s behaving as if you’re in the room.

“Wow, there’s a lot to unpack here. Look, she’s gorgeous, I’m not gonna lie. If she were standing in front of me now, I don’t think I’d form complete sentences. So, yes, I have a crush on her.”

Everyone laughs at how shy he’s becoming, and Gen looks at the person she’s on FaceTime with.

“He’s so cute,” you chuckle through the screen. “Very charming.”

You’re a really good friend of the Padalecki family. You met Gen through a non-profit organization she was funding a while back and became fast friends with her. She and Jared welcomed you into their family immediately but it was never known to Jensen that you knew them.

“Just wait until you meet him in person.”

“Isn’t it true that there is still an opening for that female character on their show?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m in between projects right now. I’d be happy to audition if you want to bring that to Jared.”

“I’ll have him hook you up,” Gen smirks.

“Is that Y/N?” Shep asks and forces his face into the frame.

“Hey, Shep,” you grin.

Supernatural is about to start filming its eleventh season which means the director is desperate to fill the role of Dean’s love interest. Jared brought you up as an option, the director had you audition, and you were offered the part before leaving the building to go home. Jensen still doesn’t know that you were the one who was offered the role, just that the position had been filled.

“Isn’t it a bit suspicious that we haven’t met this new person?” Jensen asks.

“Talk to the director, dude.” Jared gets a call from the director and answers it with a smile. “Hey. Are you here? … Perfect. I’ll be right there.”

“Whose that?”

“Gen is here. I gotta go. I’ll be right back.”

Jared leaves before Jensen can ask any other questions. He meets up with you and the director who is waiting for him on the other side of the set.

“Jared!” you grin and give him a friendly hug. “Working together is going to be so fun.”

You’re not sure how long you’ll be on the show, but you hope it’s going to last years.

“Is he ready?”

“He’s practicing his lines right now.”

Jared escorts you to the main set where Jensen is. He’s already in his Dean clothes since they are scheduled to film right now. His back is turned to you when you enter the room so you think this is the perfect opportunity to scare him. He is holding a prop gun and muttering his lines when you jump in front of him. He yelps and drops the gun as you let out an infectious laugh.

“What?” he stutters when he sees you.

“Hi, I’m Y/N,” you grin and hold out your hand for him. Jensen is a stuttering mess but shakes your hand nonetheless. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“She’s going to play your new love interest,” Jared says and slaps him on the back lightly.

“It’s going to be so much fun working with you.”

“Yeah, same here,” Jensen manages to get out. “Excuse me for a second.” He brings Jared off to the side to talk to him privately. “What the hell? Did you know about this?”

“Yeah, she’s a family friend.”

“How did I not know this?”

“I’m good at keeping secrets when I want to,” he chuckles.

“I can’t believe I’m going to be in the same room as her.”

“You’re welcome,” Jared smirks and pats his back.

Jared walks away just as you approach Jensen.

“I hope you’re okay with me being here.”

“More than okay,” he smiles shyly. I love your movies. You’re an amazing actress.”

“Thank you,” you smile. “I love this show. Dean just so happens to be my favorite character.”

That makes Jensen blush. Over the next couple of months, you’ve been filming with the boys as much as you can. It’s been nothing but fun especially when you participate in their pranks on Misha. You and Jensen are growing closer, more than you ever thought you would. He’s super nice, sweet, charming, and very sexy. He’s everything a girl would want in a man. This was inevitable, but you got to the part in your onscreen relationship where your characters share a kiss. He’s super nervous as are you since you both have feelings for one another.

“Dean, I don’t know why you’re bugging out. The hunt went exactly as planned,” your character says as you unpack your duffel bag.

“You got hurt. How is that exactly as planned?”

“We got the bad guy. Isn’t that what matters?”

“Not at the cost of your life! How could you think so little of it?”

“Dean, it’s just a scratch. I’ve gotten worse wounds than this.”

“God, you’re not getting it,” he scoffs.

“What? Please explain to me how you’re feeling.”

“It’s your life! No monster is worth that. You’re too important to me.” Jensen walks over to you and cups your jaw. The moment is so intense, so intimate. “I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t lose me. I’m right here,” you whisper.

You two stare into your eyes right before he smashes his lips on yours. He isn’t kissing you like how Dean would, he’s kissing you like how he would. The kiss is supposed to be short and sweet but Jensen keeps it going as long as he can. Your lips mold with his perfectly as if you were meant to be doing this your whole life.

The director yells CUT and Jensen pulls away from you slightly. He cheers at getting it on one take, and you step back from him with a nervous chuckle.

“Good job you two! Take ten everyone!”

“Listen, if you ever want to practice lines or… other things, you’re more than welcome to come to my trailer. You know, practice makes perfect.”

“I’ll make sure to take you up on that offer,” he smirks.

And practice did make perfect. After hearing the story of how you met Jenson yet again, both your daughters clap happily.

“Tell the story again!” your six-year-old giggles.

“Again!” your four-year-old laughs after her sister.

“Not tonight, girls,” you grin and kiss both their heads.

“Go to sleep. We’ll see you in the morning,” Jensen says.

You and Jensen leave their room and close the door gently. Jensen brings you into his arms and you wrap your arms around his neck.

“Landing that role has been the best thing to ever happen to me,” you whisper to him.

“You stole the words right out of my mouth,” Jensen smiles and kisses you.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[wekiaam]

2D NEWSIES: What I would change

I just realised I've been making fake concept art for a nonexistent animated Newsies adaptation for four years now. Over time, I've been getting so many ideas for this adaptation if it ever became real, I thought I would share them with you guys! This includes story changes, cut and additional songs and ideas for characters and style. I would love to know your thoughts on these!

When I started making concept art for "2dsies" as I came to be called, I intended for it to be based on the Broadway version and the Broadway version only. However, stories on stage differ a lot from stories told on screen, it just doesn't work the same way. I do still prefer the storyline of Broadway Newsies, but I think the best version would be a combination of the best parts of all different versions, plus some necessary changes. I would want Newsies to be a love letter to every production we've had, to everyone who made happen and every theatre kid who's been geeking out over it since 1992, while also being its own standalone movie that can be enjoyed by anybody. I am in no way an adequate screenwriter, these are just a few suggestions I have for a better story!

Story

Like I said, the story will be based mainly on the Broadway storyline, meaning we still have Artist Jack, Katherine, and most elements from the show that aren't in the movie. It will, however, be quite different from the show and the movie, and maybe add some more of the real events from the newsboy strike. There are still some details and scenes I would like to add and some I would remove completely.

- I like the history lesson opening from the movie, it gives people just enough background information on the real historical events the story is based on. I don't know if it should be Racetrack or Jack narrating, though.

- In Santa Fe (prologue), Crutchie mentions he's afraid the other boys will find out about his bad leg, even though they all literally know him as Crutchie, and it seems to be the first time Jack tells him about his dream of going to Santa Fe, even though they've clearly been best friends for a long time. It feels off, UNLESS they only just met, which is why I love @raggedy-albert 's theory so much. I would have the scene start off with them as kids, and have them grow up throughout the song.

- I want to add a scene in the beginning of Katherine at the New York Sun to establish her character and motivations, and possibly a little foreshadowing. Just an idea for a scene; she goes to the editor to let him read her story covering the trolley strike, but he reminds her of "her place" and that she's lucky enough to be in the position she's in and that she should go review a vaudeville or something. This would not only give her a similar motivation to the newsies, but also, if we're gonna bring the women's rights movement into the story let's do it right!

- Of course I'd also like to add more romantic interactions between Jack and Katherine, to make their relationship more believable. However, I don't think they should be a couple immediately after the finale, I was more thinking of an open ending to their relationship where Jack takes his first step to staying in New York by finally asking her out.

- Maybe add the actual scene where Jack and Davey visit Brooklyn instead of having them tell the other newsies what Spot said right before Seize the Day. Show don't tell, you know?

- A scene where Jack visits Crutchie at the refuge, similar to the one in the movie, but with the sadness Jack describes it with in the show. Again, show, don't tell. Show me how Jack visits the place of his nightmares again only to find his best friend in a worse state than ever and being unable to save him.

- Katherine punches Jack after the rally. Give it to me.

- Additional scene after Jack and Katherine's song after the rally where Jack formally apologizes to the newsies. Because in the show it just cuts from "omg he's a sellout *spits on the floor*" to "yay captain Jack is back" and it just doesn't sit right with me.

Songs

- There should be an entirely new Pulitzer song. The Bottom Line is good but by far the most skippable song on the cast recording, and The News Is Getting Better (the off broadway cut song) is a little Better but not quite the evil capitalist song we need.

- Swap Something to Believe In for When I See You Again. It's such a sweet song and I think it suits Jack and Katherine a lot better. It's much more "Neither of us know what tomorrow brings but when I'm with you I know we can change things for the better, even if it's scary but for now let's be here together and forget the world for a bit" instead of "I love you but I'm still gonna chase my cowboy dreams"

- Cut Letter From The Refuge, since my idea was to have this be a scene instead.

- Some lyric changes!

In Santa Fe: "Crutchie's callin' me, he's fine, just too damn slow"

In Once And For All: add this lyric from the movie, "Better to die than to crawl".

In Seize the Day: "Friends of the friendless seize the day, raise up the torch and light the way", not in the song but in the reprise where all the working children of the city gather before the finale.

Additional: "Still it seems like the dream of a boy, not a man", from The Truth About The Moon, a cut song from the movie that was supposed to be sung by Sarah. I don't know where I would put this lyric, but it could be said or sung by Jack as he realises what he's really looking for is not actually Santa Fe.

Characters:

- I want to add more girls to the background newsies, first of all.

- Sarah still won't do anything for the plot, but Davey and Les could mention that they have a sister. She's still canon to me.

- Speaking of Les, let's make him more likeable and also more helpful.

- Snyder has two scary dogs with him at all times.

- Just and idea, maybe Denton could still be a character if we replace Darcy with him, or maybe combine the two. Have him be Katherine's chaperone and friend formally, but also her reporter bestie. They could be a fun journalist duo!

Style

- The movie will still include the iconic choreography, which means it couldn't be fully 2D, but rather a mix between hand drawn and CGI.

-I would love for the backgrounds in the movie to be similar to impressionist and romantic art styles from the 19th century, to really sell how it's a story told from Jack's perspective. Especially his dream-like imaginations of Santa Fe would be brilliant in this style.

- I want to include a lot of weather foreshadowing. Rain right before Seize The Day and the sun breaking through when Davey starts singing. Mist surrounding Snyder and sudden darkness whenever he's near. A beautiful sunset when Jack and Katherine are alone on the rooftop. And of course, partly cloudy, clear by evening. It's such a cool way of visual storytelling when you have a plot that has no magic involved, like in most Disney movies.

- The real people characters' designs (Pulitzer, Hearst, Roosevelt) can be based on political cartoon caricature versions of themselves.

And lastly, quotes from the movie I liked that could be inspiring for the animated movie:

-"When I created the World..." "🙄" and "Where was I?" "You created the World, chief?"

- "No, we'll be just a bunch of angry kids with no money"

-"What, you couldn't stay away?" "Well I guess I can't be something I ain't." "A scab?" "No, smart."

Many of these ideas are still in development. Some might work, some may not, but I will be basing any future work I'll post on here on these ideas. I would love to see you guys  discuss and add on to these!

[blicketdabest33]

Y'all remember that MCYT PJO au I asked for help with awhile ago? WELL HERE'S THE CABINS AND MY EXPLINATIONS BEHIND THEM!!

#1 Zeus Cabin: Jimmy, Joel Jimmy: He's a Zeus kid, but everyone somehow forgets about it. Joel: He's competitive and strong. Also, because Jimmy is his half brother through godly parent, i get to make a fun bit about him dating Lizzie. And one of his origins in Afterlife SMP was a thunderborn

#2 Hera Cabin: Scott Scott: Scott's whole thing is loyalty. Hera is the goddess of marriage and is insanely loyal to Zeus. However, I feel like Hera should get at least one affair. So now Scott can use peacocks as weapons.

#3 Poseidon Cabin: Skizz Skizz: Poseidon kids tend to be really, really loyal to a fault and heroic, both qualities I think Skizz possesses.

#4 Demeter Cabin: Sausage, Shelby, Bdubs, Stress Sausage: This man built Sanctuary in a jungle and has flowers in his hair. He sells wood. There is no other place to put him. Shelby: Mushroom gnome, spooky mangrove witch, powerful storm witch, i need not continue. Bdubs: Moss man. Stress: SHE HAS FLOWERS

#5 Ares Cabin: Martyn, False Martyn: His planet is Mars, which is the roman version of Ares. He ended Limited Life in such a violent way, i can't help it. He was also red for the majority of Secret Life. False: I just feel like False should get to kill people more often.

#6 Athena Cabin: Grian, Pix, Owen, Xisuma Grian: This sums it up pretty well

Pix: Smart man. Archeologist and definitely a nerd. I wanna see him skipping out on training just so he can read history books. Owen: He likes to explore and discover new things in Pirates. In Rats, he's a tinkerer. In New Life, he's an explorer who wants to study hybrids. In Empires, he's a Llama who's curious about how humans work. Just a very curious character overall. Xisuma: Admin. I'm not elaborating.

#7 Apollo Cabin: Gem, Oli, Lyarrah Gem: She is an Apollo kid because of her Empire in S2. She's the sunlight princess. Apollo kid. Oli: MUSIC. MAN. Lyarrah: She writes the captions for the hermitcraft recap.

#8 Artemis Cabin: Pearl Pearl: Y'know, Artemis could've just like... had a kid, even though she took that oath. It wouldn't even have to be with a guy. Gods can change to whatever gender they want. Anyway, Pearl gets to be an Artemis kid because her symbolism is moon, she loves dogs, and will commit murder and hunt at night.

#9 Hephaestus Cabin: Doc, Mumbo, Tango, Impulse, Cub, Zedaph, Fwhip, Iskall Doc: Redstone Mumbo: Redstone Tango: Redstone Impulse: Redstone Cub: Redstone Zedaph: Redstone Fwhip: Redstone AND has a red scarf (don't ask me how that's relevant) Iskall: Redstone

#10 Aphrodite Cabin: Keralis Keralis: Okay, I don't know why, but Keralis gives me the vibes of a very charming person. His voice is nice to listen to, so imagine how useful it'd be if I gave him charm speak.

#11 Hermes Cabin: Scar, Etho, Joe Scar: Trader Scar, scammer extraordinar. Etho: All i must say is Shady-E's. I get "jack-of-all-trades, master of none, often better than master of one" vibes from him. He's funny, he's mischievous, it just works. Joe: Comedy man. Excellent delivery. And, yet again, i look at this man and go "That right there is a multi-talented man with a habit for mischief."

#12 Dionysus Cabin: Joey, Beef Joey: *points at his season one empires theme* i need not say more Beef: Idk, food. I don't really have a reason. I don't know too much about Beef.

#13 Hades Cabin: Zloy Zloy: Zombie man. He writes the Hermitcraft recaps in the dark at 2am with nothing but pure spite.

#14 Iris Cabin: Katherine Katherine: SHE. HAS. COLORS. and also I couldn't put her in Demeter cabin because Shelby is already there and i am NOT excluding Nature Wives from this au

#15 Hypnos Cabin: Bigb, XB, Wels Bigb: Sleepy stuff, right? WRONG. Gaslight. Go in everyones dreams, make fake prophecies, peace out, and cause chaos. XB: I look at his fanon design, I see an alien, and I go "aha he sleeps" Wels: This guy (@dingdinghq) said so and i completely agree. Something about sleeping in S6.

#16 Nemesis Cabin: Edit: wels not here no more

#17 Nike Cabin: Ren Ren: VICTORY. I don't know much about Ren's story in the Life Series, but I look at this man and see someone who has won a lot.

#18 Hebe Cabin: 

#19 Tyche Cabin: TFC TFC: Man goes mining and gets really lucky. That's it.

#20 Hecate Cabin: Lizzie, Cleo, Jevin Lizzie: Witchy vibes. Also, Arson. Cleo: Arson. She uses her magic for Arson. Jevin: He's a magic slime. Also, Arson. All Hecate kids love Arson.

[simkhira]

rainy school mornings 🌧️

You may have noticed that Kendra and Stephen are continuing to work on their relationship. Things are much better between the two of them. After being laid off (twice), Stephen decided to freelance as a programmer. Honestly, I don't know why we didn't do it sooner. It has awarded the family so much financial freedom... which in turn, saved their marriage.

The children are thriving as Copperdale Cubs! Chase is sporty and loves the outdoors, but he also has a slight obsession with Henry Pufferhead. He loves fishing with Stephen (fun fact: Stephen is great at fishing) and riding his "birthday bike" from Meme Katherine and Papa Kendall.

Lauren is an outgoing social butterfly who loves the color blue and playing with Barbie's. When she's not at little league cheer or scouts, she enjoys relaxing lakeside with her mom, Kendra. Aside from Meme Kat (of course), Lauren's favorite person is her Aunt Kacey. Everyone says they act just alike, which is Lauren's favorite compliment.

[asmutwriter]

Just A Woman (Part 1 Section 4)

DESCRIPTION: Inviting Benedict back to your place so he can get a taste of your lifestyle

A/N - I have condensed partr 1 (which you can find here) into 4 smaller chunks so that you can have a better reader experience

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

WORD COUNT: 5121

From beginning / Previous / Next / Master List

WARNINGS: Swearing, mentions of prostitution, time period sexism, mentions of sex work, smut, dom Benedict, sub reader,

DISCLAIMERS

- I wrote this in my knowledge of sex workers and I am truly sorry if I got it wrong and/or is offensive, that is not what I wanted to do and I’m sorry if that is the case

-  This is fiction. Please always talk to your partner before doing anything and make sure they are ok with what you are doing beforehand

“Welcome to my home” you go over and open the door “I’m back! I brought a friend with me as well” you say as you see the 3 oldest in the living room. Benedict walks in behind you, looking round the room. Daisy looks at you and then the man. Raising her eyebrow at you as he looks around. You look at her “what?”

“Oh nothing” he smiles at the girls.

“Where are your sisters?”

“Outside” you go out and call for them. They all run in and hug you within seconds. You hug them back and smile. You motion 

“This is Benedict Bridgerton. These are my friends. Daisy who’s the oldest. She’s 15. Jasmine who is 14. Sofia is 12. The twins, Rebecca and Heather who are both 9 and then Katherine who is 3″

“I want to show him” Sofia announces, taking his hand. Dragging him to the kitchen. Jasmine goes and holds his other arm. You go to say something but he shakes his head at you slightly

“It’s alright” he says softly to you as the two middle children show him your small home. The twins following behind them. You feel a small body hug at your leg, looking down you see the youngest. You pick her up and kiss her head. 

“Tours done. Now what?” 

“Games!”

“Oh yes!”

“Isa please?”

“I want to play games!”

“Oh yes a game would be fun!”

“Wow you guys calm down. Let’s let our guest decide what he wants to do shall we?” you calm them all, as Daisy announces loudly

“We could always show him our play we’ve been practicing”

“Oh no he won’t want to see that” you say as you’re interrupted by people again

“Yes we can get a boys opinion on it”

“Oh please can we show him the play?”

“It’s such a fun thing as well”

“Please, please, please!” they all exclaim loudly as you shush them again. He chuckles as he sits down. 

“A play sounds wonderful” you look at him

“Why did you have to say that...? Ok play it is then” all the girls squeal as they start running around happily. “You are going to regret saying that so much. It’s embarrassing” he laughs 

“It makes them happy though” you nod and smile slightly as he smiles at you. 

“It’s short as well, just so you’re warned”

“Isa stop chatting and get in position!” Rebecca almost yells at you. You chuckle as you all get into position. He smiles and watches, interest sparking in his eyes. Sofia goes out onto the ‘stage’, bowing as he watches

“Welcome one and all to this year’s finest show. Today we embark on the circus. A tale of heartbreak and love awaits” she dramatically says as he claps as she exits the stage. They all go on, saying various lines. Some of the younger ones forgetting so you having to speak for them. Others speaking to early so needing to repeat lines. But overall it is (an intentionally) comedic and fun experience for you all. He claps as you all go out and bow on the stage. 

“We hope you enjoyed that, sir” says one of the twins. He nods

“I enjoyed it thoroughly” she giggles at his words and hides in your leg “I’m especially impressed that Isabella managed to hold the child the whole time. Even during the dramatic dancing part” you laugh as you hug the youngest child close to you. 

“Goodness it’s late. I should prepare some dinner. Can you guys entertain yourselves for a short while?” they all nod and go into the kitchen to grab plates “What time do you have to leave today?”

“I told my family I had some things to do outside the house so they won’t mind me going back later”

“Do you care to join us for food?” he smiles

“I’d be honoured” you nod and go prepare some food, him coming in and joining you as he watches the kids running and playing with each other “How long have you lived here?”

“It used to be their mothers house” he nods and looks at you, a smile forming as you cook some food. Heather comes over

“Can I help cook?” you nod

“Yes you can my sweet” you grab a stool for her to stand on, “cut the potatoes for me” you smile as she carefully peals them and places them into a pot. About an hour goes past and you all sit down. Food given to each of them. Eating them all you see Daisy look at Benedict

“What’s it like?”

“What is what like?”

“Living in such luxury”

“It has its ups and downs”

“Leave our guest alone. I’m sure he doesn’t wish to be bombarded with questions” she nods 

“Did you get to dance Isa?” Jasmine asks you and you nod “did all the girls looks like princesses and the boys look like princes?” you nod again as she smiles

“It looked like straight out of a fairy-tale. It was almost magical” she giggles

“Can you teach me how to dance?” Sofia asks.

“I can try. I’m sure Mr Bridgerton can agree when I say I’m not very good at it” he chuckles slightly

“I don’t know. Considering you’ve never been to a ball before I’d say you did pretty well”

“You flatter me” Daisy looks at you 

“I’ve been reading more of my book today”

“Oh yeah?” she nods and smiles “what’s it about?”

“Two people who don’t realise they are made for each other until he goes off to war and she realises she can’t live without him”

“Sounds depressing”

“Oh it’s wonderful. The end of the book is her travelling to where he’s posted and she runs to him and kisses him. Saying just the nicest line”

“Let me guess. ‘Oh my love I could never live without you. You are the air that I breath and without you I feel like I’m suffocating’“

“No. Ok maybe slightly like that. But when you say it it just sounds obnoxious” you laugh at her words 

“I just say it how it is meant to be read”

“You weren’t joking when you said you disliked them, huh?” the man laughs as you all continue eating and chatting. As night begins to fall you put all the children to bed. Going into the living room to see Benedict looking at a drawing that’s placed on the wall. 

“Sofia drew that” you go over to him

“She’s very good”

“I know. She refuses to believe it though. Claiming she can never get hands right. I told her to just draw the characters with their hands hidden beneath clothing or behind their backs but she said it looked unauthentic that way” you go and sit down. Seeing the book that Daisy spoke about earlier. You pick it up and open it. “‘When I think of thee my palms sweat and my knees go heavy. I fear to be in your presence may be the death of me for I love thee so’. Yep, it’s as bad as I thought it would be” he laughs and goes over to you, sitting by your side and taking the book from your hands. Flicking to a new page he reads

“’I know truly I am in love as my heart skips and butterflies fly when I see you standing in the sunrise. I love you and all your imperfections, though there are few to count. My heart yearns for you as I cannot imagine my life without you by my side’” you watch him reading. 

“How do you make it not sound like absolute shit?”

“I read it the way it’s meant to be read” you glare at him as he flicks through the pages “looks quite good” you nod and watch his eyes scan the words. You take in a sharp breath and look away as he looks towards you.

“Can I help?”

“No” He chuckles slightly and goes back to read the book. You turn to look at him again as he reads out loud

“‘I asked for your name but when you spoke I didn’t hear the words. My body was too bewitched by your beauty to focus on the sweet softness of your voice’” you shift slightly in your seat, his voice sending waves straight down to your core. You bite the nail of your thumb as he notices your slight irritated nature. “Are you ok? You seem... unwell” you shake your head and look away

“I am very well thank you” he places the book down and turns to you. Scanning your body to see if you are lying. He meets your eyes as you look at his lips quickly before meeting his gaze again. He smiles slightly. You bite your lip, leaning towards him and placing your hand by his leg as you lean slowly closer. His eyes watching you. You take his non retreat as a sign for you to carry on as you place your lips to his. Embracing each other in a soft kiss. You pull away and go to sit back up straight “sorry I-” he shakes his head and places a hand either side of your face, pulling you in for a kiss once again.

You still remain balanced on one hand, the other going and placing it over his. You feel him lightly push you with his body so your back is on the sofa. You wrap your legs around his waist as you keep kissing, a hand going to his hair and the other going onto his upper arm. With his hands on the arm of the sofa either side of your head, he pulls away, smiling at you before he kisses your jawline, then your neck, lightly tugging at the top of your dress so he can place light kisses to the tops of your chest. You rut your hips slightly into his as one of his hands trails down the side of your body. He pushes your dress up slightly, lips still attacking your chest as he strokes your thighs with his hands. Just as you feel his hand start to move higher you both hear a noise from the bedroom. You both pause. Waiting for any other noises to happen. You hear footsteps start to walk towards the door as you feel him get off of you as you sit up and pull your dress down. Jasmine walks out. “Hey my dear” you smile at her, trying to be as innocent as you can. She smiles and tiredly waves at you

“I wanted some water” you nod and stand up, going to the kitchen to fetch the young girl a glass. You give it to her as she smiles

“Go back to bed my dear” she nods and hugs you quickly before walking back to the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. You stand in the middle of the room as he sits. You hear him let out a slight chuckle as you glare at him but smile. “It’s not funny. We almost just ruined a poor girl’s innocence” he nods and puts on a serious face, but you can see the humour still dancing in his eyes. You smile at him and playfully hit his knee. He laughs as he stands up, making you catch your breath as he stands closer to you then you thought he would. “It’s late” you say as you look at him. Eyes meeting yours. 

“It is”

“You should be getting home to your family. They will worry otherwise” your voice no more than a whisper. He nods and takes a step closer to you. Taking one of your hands in his he kisses it, still holding it when he stands up straight again. You smile as he makes eye contact the whole time. “I am happy for you to stay the night if you wish?”

“You are right I should be getting back” sadness fills you slightly as he drops your hand, missing his touch already. 

“You could always say that it got too late for you to walk back so you stayed in an inn or friends house?” he nods slightly, he takes hold of your chin with his thumb and finger, placing a kiss to your lips again. You feel yourself practically melting into him. He pulls away and looks at you, thumb lightly tracing your bottom lip as he smiles

“I could get lost if I left at this hour” you nod

“I will walk you back tomorrow. I know where the house is but in this light I fear we may not find the way” he nods as he removes his hand. 

“Where will I sleep though?”

“Shit...” you trace a hand through your hair as you laugh slightly. “I would say you could sleep in my bed and I’ll take the sofa but I don’t think the girls would appreciate you staying in there with them”

“I’ll take the sofa then” he smiles at you as he goes over to the sofa, placing a cushion at one end. 

“Give me a second” you go into the bedroom and quietly grab the blanket from your bed. Handing it to him as you shut the door again. “To keep you warm” he nods and takes the item. You go into your room to grab your nightdress, taking off your day clothes and placing the softer material on your body. You then go back into the living room, shutting the door behind you as you see he has taken off his top half, lying them down on the chair near him. “Good night Mr Bridgerton”

“If you’d like-” he speaks up before you leave “you could keep me company out here. An extra person might be good for body heat. Especially as you don’t have a blanket on your bed anymore” he looks at you. Your eyes scan his chest as you look at his face. “You can say no” you shake your head

“So long as you’re sure you want me out here” he nods and smiles at you. You nod then and go over to the sofa. He lies down, taking your hand and lying next to him. He places the blanket over your bodies. You face each other as you feel one of his arms go around your torso. 

“Come closer. Otherwise you may fall off” he pulls you towards him, chests becoming flush with each other. You shyly look away from him, eyes going to see his broad chest. Your hand lightly tracing over where his heart is. You feel his free hand move to your chin again, making you look at him before you kisses you. Moving the hand to behind your head as he pulls away, smiling at you “good night, miss” you nod as you watch him shut his eyes. You place your head near his collarbone, shutting your eyes as you take in his scent. Slowly drifting off to sleep.

Considering you were sleeping on a sofa you stay sleeping until you feel a light tap on your shoulder. Waking up you see Katherine looking at you. She smiles at you and lightly pokes your nose causing her to giggle. You chuckle slightly, feeling the arm around your waist tighten. You must’ve turned in the night as Benedict is now spooning you. You put your finger to you lips in a shushing motion at the young girl. Carefully getting off the sofa, covering the man with the blanket as you go into the bedroom to have a quick wash and dress into your everyday clothes. You and the young girl are the only ones awake, seeing as its 6am. You whisper to her “What do you want to do until the others wake up?” she smiles and strokes her hair

"Princess hair” you nod and chuckle, starting to French braid her hair. Tying the ends with 2 pieces of pink ribbon. You kiss the top of her head as she starts to dance around the room. Sitting on the floor by the sofa as she dances. The man on the sofa mumbles in his sleep causing the young girl to stop, looking at him. She walks over, you can see evil (well evil for a 3 year old) in her eyes as she goes to wake him. You grab her 

“Let’s get you dressed shall we you little terror?” she nods and smiles, giggling into your shoulder as you carry her to the bedroom, quietly getting some clothes and then taking her into the living room again. Checking to make sure your guest was still asleep, you help her get dressed. “Why don’t you go out and get me 2 eggs” she nods slightly and holds up 2 fingers. You nod and smile “Clever girl” she giggles and runs off. You figure that’ll give you 5 minutes. You rub your eyes, just wanting to curl up and go back to sleep. 

“Good morning” you hear a voice behind you

“Jesus you scared me” he laughs as he sits up, blanket falling onto his lap. 

“How long have you been awake?” he asks, stretching as he looks at you

“About half an hour. You should get some more rest” you motion at him to lie back down “If Katherine sees you’re awake she’ll keep terrorising you until her sisters wake up” he laughs and shrugs 

“I’m ok with that” he moves his feet to the floor, grabbing his shirt and placing it over himself. 

“I hope we didn’t wake you” he shakes his head

“No, you are fine” he smiles and looks at you “About last night”

“I apologise. It was entirely my fault. I know it is not proper for you and I’m very sorry if I caused you any sort of hardships” he nods slightly, watching your eyes dart away from him.

“None at all. I was going to say the same things to you” you both laugh slightly. You hear movement from the bedroom, Daisy walking out. She waves at you as she yawns

“I thought I heard voices”

“Sorry dear, did we wake you?” she shakes her head

“No, Sofia and the twins were sad because you didn’t come to bed last night so we all cuddled up. But it meant I was very uncomfortable all night” she looks at you, then at Benedict. Giving you a knowing look before she smiles at him “I’m glad to see you stayed last night. I feared you might go home and get lost”

“Yes. Your friend is a great host and offered me to stay here”

“Yeah I bet she did” you hit her leg slightly

“Bloody cheek!” she smiles at you and then goes over and picks up her book. She sits down on the sofa next to the man, opening to the page she last left off and starts reading. Just as the youngest runs in holding two eggs. You take them from her “thank you. Why don’t you sit and let Daisy read to you for a while? Just until the others wake up. Then I will make us all something to eat” she nods and climbs onto the sofa, sitting by her eldest sister as she begins to read aloud. You go into the kitchen, cleaning up the bowls from last night’s feast. Your guest joins you, leaning against the counter tops as he watches you scrub the bowls and plates. You feel him come next to you

“Let me help”

“Oh no don’t feel like you have to help”

“I insist” he takes the wet bowls and grabs a clean cloth, beginning to dry them. You carry on washing, handing them to him to dry. You accidently splash some of the water onto him.

“Did you just?”

“Oh god sorry” you cover your mouth in an effort not to laugh. He chuckles

“I think you did that on purpose” you shake your head

“I didn’t I promise” he puts his fingers into the bowl of water and flicks his wet fingers at you. Causing you to get water on your face. You pretend to look offended

“It was an accident I promise” he laughs as he continues drying. You glare at him before washing again. Finishing up, you both go back to the living room. You notice the twins have now both woken up and are sitting and listening to their sister who is still reading.

“I will go and start preparing breakfast soon” you say, the children all nodding and muttering various yeses at you. Daisy stops reading for a second

“Are you working today?” you pause for a moment before nodding. 

“Yes. Although we got some money from John I still need to keep up working there. Hopefully we can get some more farm animals and start selling their produce though” she nods and continues reading. You turn back to the kitchen. Benedict grabbing your arm before you leave.

“I can help you if you’d like” you shake your head and go into the kitchen, him following as you now prepare small meals on the now clean plates.

“How would you help me?”

“I could give you money”

“No thank you. I’m perfectly ok working there”

“But don’t you want to leave. Do something else with your life?”

“Yes. I’d love to. But I want to do it on my own. I don’t want to borrow money from you as I’d still need to work there to be able to give you the money back”

“And what if I just gave it to you? What if I don’t want to be payed back?”

“I don’t need pity money”

“It wouldn’t be pity money”

“Then why?” you stop what you’re doing and look at him “Why would you do that? If it’s not for pity, if it’s not a loan. Why else would you do it?”

“Because I’m your friend” you look shocked at his words, avoiding his eyes you speak quietly

“If you want to have sex with me you don’t need to pay off my house...” he shakes his head

“I want to give you money because I’ve come to know you. I want to help you because I care for you. I’ve seen you with my sisters and brothers. Plus your friends. You seem so happy and truly content with life but as soon as money or work is brought up you retreat emotionally from the situation. You are my friend and friends help each other out. I don’t want anything else from you, only to know you’re happy” you look at him, you feel tears start to prick at your eyes

“I can’t allow you to do that. Imagine if it got out that you were paying a random prostitute. It could ruin you and your family’s name. I couldn’t do that to you” he nods as you serve breakfast onto plates, taking them out for the children. “Would you all be ok if I walk this gentlemen back to his house?” they all look at you, then him, then you again and nod. 

“You’re coming back after, right?” you nod

“I work later tonight so you have me until after dinner” she smiles as you grab a jacket, waving goodbye to them as you and the man start to walk back to the rented house. A comfortable silence settling between the two of you. You walk down a path and then some woods, stopping when you get to a field. “The house is just over this field. It isn’t far”

“Are you not going to walk me all the way home?”

“Possibility of being seen with me alone? Defiantly not” you smile at him as he looks across the field. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you Mr Bridgerton. I’ve enjoyed every second of it” you bow to him slightly. He looks at you, eyes scanning your body. You can’t tell what emotion he’s feeling. It almost seems like a mixture of sadness and lust. He meets your eyes with his, smiling softly at you. 

“Yes I suppose we will be unlikely to see each other again” you nod, for some reason you feel sad about him leaving. He walks over to you, placing a hand either side of your face, just like had done the night before. You look at him, eyes meeting yours as you just look at each other. You place your hands over his wrists, squeezing them slightly as you smile at him. He kisses you, gently. So very gently. You feel yourself melt into him. All your sense are focused on him. Just him.

He kisses you harder, pushing you against a tree. You move your hands, holding onto the wood as your lips stay entangled with his. His hands still hold your face as he goes closer to you. Your hand goes to his waistband, pulling onto it as a means to bring him closer to you. With how close he is to you it would not be surprise you to see an imprint of yourself on the tree behind you. He pulls away, resting his forehead on your shoulder. One of the hands from your face going to your waist. You take the hand by your head and kiss the palm. 

“You need to go back to your family” he lifts his head and nods, eyes once again meeting yours. “Or...” you wrap both your hands around his, making all the fingers go down but the pointer as you kiss the tip of the digit. His eyes eating you up as you watch him “You could stay here for a few minutes more...?” you put the finger in your mouth. Sucking on it as you release it with a slight pop. The distance between you hasn’t moved at all and you feel him start to grow in his trousers.

You smile at him and interlock your hand with his. “What do you say, sir?” he lets out almost a growl at the last word. Kissing you again but harder. A lot harder. He grips your waist with his hand, the other rests against the tree behind you, your hands still firmly clasped in its grips. Essentially pinning you. You feel his hand pull up the skirt of your dress, just enough for him to get his knee under the fabric and place between your legs. He pushes your waist down as he puts his knee up. Causing you to moan when his leg touches your clothed core. He leans close to your ear, you shiver when you feel his breath on you neck.

“I want you to fuck yourself on my leg...” he pulls away and smiles at you as you look at him in slight shock “Do I have to repeat myself?” you shake your head, starting to grind onto his leg. You start to moan as you feel your clit being rubbed. You cover your mouth with your hand. He shakes his head and takes it in his, putting both your hands into one of his and pinning them above your head. You continue to ride his thigh, moans leaving your mouth. He notices your hips start to lose their rhythm slightly as you near your high, your legs starting to close together as well. “You need my permission to cum. If you cum without it you’ll be in trouble” you nod, continuing to grind against him you feel your high coming.

“Pl-please”

“Please what?”

“Wanna cum...”

“Hmm I don’t know”

“Please let me cum. Please. F-fuck” you say as you feel it getting closer. His dominance turning you on more and more. He shakes his head and stills your thighs “Please!” you practically cry out, trying move your hips in hopes to reach your high again. You look at his eyes. He smiles as you feel him move his hand, undoing his trousers and pushing them down he smiles at you

“I want to feel you cum on my cock” he kisses you, a reassurance to you that he will allow you to reach a climax but not yet. You feel his knee move, being shortly replaced by his tip. You moan as he brushes over your clit and then your hole. Slowly pushing in, he watches your face as it scrunches up with joy. 

“You feel s-so good sir” you moan out, loving the way he fills you up. He kisses your neck, using his free hand to lift one of your legs so its bent, making his cock go deeper into you. You let out a sinful moan as he starts to thrust. Softly at first but becoming more aggressive within minutes. You want to wrap around him and kiss him as he pounds into you but he has a firm grip on your hands still so you are unable to move virtually at all, making you only be able to moan and put your head back. He takes this opportunity and starts kissing your neck, causing you to moan louder as you feel him kissing, sucking and biting the soft skin. You feel your high approach once again. “I’m gon- please can I cum?” you feel him smile into his skin

“Hold it a little longer” he removes his hand from your wrists as he takes a hold of your hips, allowing him to go harder and deeper into you. You moan and wrap your arms around his neck, a hand entangling in his hair as you pull him in for a passionate kiss. “Please. Sir please. Let me cum” you beg him

“Cum for me” he watches as you let go, hand gripping his hair tightly, the other his shoulder as he groans as your pussy tightens around him. He continues to pound into you, chasing his own high. Not long after yours he pulls out, releasing himself onto your leg. You let out a slight moan as you come down from your climax. 

He rests his forehead against yours, shutting his eyes as you both control your breathing. Your eyes flutter shut, enjoying the noise of your now heavy breathing filling the once quiet woods. You feel him move, cleaning up you and then himself as best as he can, pulling your dress down and his trousers up before kissing you. You wrap your arms around him, holding him close to you. “I need to go” you nod and kiss him once more. Pulling away and letting your arms go to your sides

“I’m going to miss you, Mr Bridgerton”

“And I you” he smiles at you before walking towards the house. Leaving you on your own.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

[crazyk-imagine]

Finding their Mate

A/N: There's a few characters I wasn't expecting to write for but it's hilarious and I couldn't think of any other villains with a heart other than the icons (Kai, Katherine, and Enzo). There were a few I debated on adding and then decided not to. I feel like there might be slight yandere vibes in here but I'm also like ... *crickets chirping*

If anyone wants a villain they like and want it written, be sure to send in a request and I'll see what magic I can work

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enzo

He always thought Maggie was his girl, never gave any other woman a thought (before and after his time being locked up at Whitemore). Then he found Damon and the rag tag crew who are always in trouble, which is when he met you (after trying to kill Damon, of course). And after coming back from supernatural purgatory one time too many times, he stopped acting like a jackass and decided it was time to live his life. He felt something in his undead beating heart for the first time and had no idea what to do. Finding out you two are mates was even better than he could have thought, more so after you sacrificed yourself to stay with him during that fire to show him that you weren't going to leave him, whether he had his humanity on or not, really sold him

Kai

With him having no emotions, merging with his younger brother, and then getting them was terrifying but he'd never admit that out loud. Being told that the reason his heart beats faster around you are because of the feelings for you and is fated to you, he nearly pissed his pants. Then he approaches the Salvatore's for dating advice, and they nearly die because Kai is asking the two guys who have been nothing but mean and are actively trying to keep you two apart for help (the way his mind works is fascinating). When they couldn't offer too much help and nothing was working, he decided it was time to talk to you, confusing you when he had no real motive behind it. It worked though, you two would not be where you are without him chickening out/ manning up

Katherine

With her being on the run for most of her life, she never planned on tying herself down somewhere, more specifically to anyone. Honestly, after her family took away her little girl, she didn't want to be tied down; she was afraid they'd be taken from her. But then you fell into her life, literally. She was almost taken to Klaus (for the billionth time and you fell in front of her). If she were to find herself truly in love, and not what she feels she had with Stefan, a clumsy person like yourself does not make it onto her roster but you've changed her life for the better. Even when she runs back to Mystic Falls to terrorize everyone, she makes sure your safety is her top priority first and foremost

Silas

He always thought Amara was his special someone but then his ex got in the way and messed all that up (big rip for him). Anyway, when he decided to play the role of Saint Stefan, he found himself fascinated by you. The littlest things you did drove him wild, and it took him a while before he realized why he felt this way. He was always told to believe that mates didn't exist, but people still liked to pretend as if they did. You proved him and everyone from his youth wrong because here you two are. Don't forget that he will try and kidnap you to ensure you don't get hurt when everyone tries to gang up on him and to make sure he can "help" you because you are his most favorite thing person

Qetsiyah

She always thought her true love was Silas and always would be, but then he decided she wasn't enough and only used her. The bitterness in her heart grew after that and ruined her thoughts on romance and love. Then she kidnaps Stefan and fries his brain while also finding you amongst his friend group. She knew she had to meet you. Her being in the same places as you, not a coincidence. She slowly found her way into your life and started off as a friend. Then she figured out why she was so invested in your life and slowly backed away until you decided to do something about it. There's no way in hell you're losing someone else in your life especially when you know she means more to you than any of your friends could ever know

The heretics

This was an interesting development for everyone, not just you. But in this case, you could choose whether you wanted a romantic relationship or more of a friendship with the group. Lily and Julain weren't so much involved in the fated bonds thing which annoyed the man from time to time. The Salvatore's mother was just happy her family found someone special (reminding her of her Julian). This whole bond made things harder at times, but they were all happy to have someone else to care for and you’re the one who stopped any arguments from happening and/ or things from getting worse. None of your friends were happy to hear about you deciding to leave with them but if it meant you could save their lives, you're going to take the chance whether they like it or not

[kasagia]

Our little game pt. 2

~Part 1~ ~Part 3~ ~Part 4~ ~Part 5~

Pairing: Klaus Mikaelson x witch! reader Summary: After the engagement party, you, Katherine, Freya, and Rebekah start to organize a grand fairytale wedding for family members only. Which means you'll be staying at Mikaelson's house a little longer than you initially assumed. But everyone is delighted with your presence. Especially little Hope and her dad, who loves to watch you play with his little princess. Kol is teasing him that he's using the baby charm to get to your cold, iced heart because he isn't hot enough. Kol nearly gets stabbed. But Elijah comes and rescues his youngest brother. After all, someone has to perform the marriage ceremony. You also meet "The Hybrid's Therapist" and makes a huge, life-changing discovery. Word count: 6,3k+

Y/N POV

Three days. That's how long it took the original family to get me acquainted with everything that happened in those missing years. They found a new member of the family, killed their parents (and crazy aunt) again, and ruled New Orleans just like "in the old, good times." That was too much information to get in that short time. Especially since I was drunk for half of it. Bekah and Kit-kat made the decision to get to know me and Freya by attending parties every night. It was fun at first. But when the hangover came to me the morning after, it wasn't funny anymore. At least I made a new friend.

"Earth to Y/N!" someone screamed at me and pushed, making me fall from the kitchen chair. I groaned in pain, rubbing my sore butt.

"Kol Mikaelson. Do you wish to die on this awful morning?"

"It's 11am." he replied, annoyed. The 10th-century maniac always started his day with the crowing of the hens. I was unworthy (or too lazy) to participate in this mystery of the rising sun.

"I told you. Morning."

"I'm sorry, but I, unlike others, have a real problem on my hands, and I don't have time to deal with your bitter, hangover attitude."

"I apologize for your grace. What is so important that you have to hurt people this morning? You broke one of Klaus' paintings or finally stole his precious daggers?"

"That's better." I gave him a stern look. "Relax, darling. I was joking."

"Not appreciated."

"God. I don't know why my brother likes you."

"Hey! Elijah is my friend; of course he likes me." I replied offended.

"Not these ones. And not in a platonic way." my amused, kind smile faded at his suggestion.

"You know what? I'm too hungry to… what did you say? Deal with your attitude?" I said with a mean smirk on my way out of the kitchen.

"No! Wait a second!" he used his vampire speed to stand before me. "I'll make you breakfast. Just help me."

"What will you cook?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Scrambled eggs?"

"I want waffles."

"Waffles?"

"Uhm. With cherry jam, whipped cream, and strawberries."

"You're going to be fat."

"And very happy. You don't want me to be happy?" I gave him my best puppy eyes.

"Alright, alright. Three waffles then." he agreed, heading to the cooker.

"Six." I corrected him, sitting down at the kitchen island across from him to watch him cook my food.

"Seriously?" he gave me an incredulous look.

"I told you. I'm hungry."

"My God, watch over your future husband."

"And his bank account." Kol burst out laughing as he started cooking my breakfast. "So? What can I help you?"

"It worked. I have a real date with Davina."

"Congratulations." I nodded as I poured myself a glass of orange juice.

"Thank you. But now, as she said yes, I have to make this day unforgetable and amazing."

"I'm starting to worry about you. Are you feeling fine? How many fingers do you see?" I asked, showing him two fingers in front of his face. He snorted, pushing my hand away.

"This is very funny, but I need your help."

"Why me? I mean, you have two older sisters and two older brothers who have probably been in many more relationships than me. They know how to flirt better than me." I inquired, feeling uncomfortable about assisting a 1,000-year-old vampire in picking up a girl when the number of my ex-boyfriends was limited to only one.

"Oh, you'd be surprised…" he says, looking at me with a little smile. "Maybe they have some... romantic experience, but they are over a thousand years old. And Davina is from these times, like you. You know what I'm trying to say?"

"Usually? No. But let's say this time I understand that you called your sibling pensioners. So, tell me something about your girl. I need to know her likes."

~•♤♤♤•~

*After some time*

"I think that's all." he handed me my food, looking at me expectantly.

"Well... I think you shouldn't take her on your first date to any fancy restaurant, cinema, or theater."

"Then what?"

"You're a good cook. Make her something and go boating on the river at night. You know stars and constellations, tell her about them after dinner. But don't make yourself a genius, women usually don't like this."

"Do you think that's enough?"

"You can scatter rose petals on the deck and decorate it with lights. But definitely don't take the poor girl to Paris, or you'll overwhelm her. Save something special for significant dates, like big anniversaries or something."

"You sure?"

"Trust me, women like it when a man makes an effort. She'll be delighted if you do everything yourself. A pampered vampire prince flying around town to fulfill her every little whim and do something special for her? She will love it."

"Vampire prince?"

"Please... like your family doesn't act like royalty."

"Does that mean I'm the king, love?" Klaus came to the kitchen with a little girl in his arms. God. This man looked too hot while he was holding a child.

"Absolutely not. But this sweetheart in your arms is a true princess. Yes, Hope?" I asked, giggling, when she started laughing after I tickled her. I was so fascinated by the sweet child that I didn't notice the look a holding her hybrid was giving me.

"If I remember correctly, this is not your babysitting week. Have you been stealing her from Hayley for three days because you missed her, or do you have another reason, brother?" Kol asked, snapping me out of my trance. This child could easily charm people around her.

"Did you steal her?" I asked indignantly.

"I am her father, love." he replied, looking at me offended.

"What's your point?"

"I can't steal my own child."

"Well, since you don't get along too well with her mother, I believe you can. Did he steal you, angel?" I asked her as she started to grab my hair in her little hand, forcing Klaus to lower himself to my level so the little princess wouldn't fall out of his arms.

"No, I don't. Hayley knows where she is. You two don't have to worry." I gave him a chair so he could sit next to me and not have to do gymnastics with the little troublemaker he held.

He sat her on his lap so she had better access to my bracelets, which turned out to be her next interest. I giggled as I watched her mumble over the pendant of a silver witch flying on a broomstick towards a diamond moon. A birthday present from her father. Talking about the hybrid, he also probably appreciated the selection of my jewelry.

"May you be more like your mother, sweetheart. It would have saved her a lot of nerves." I said to her, taking the pendant away just as it was about to go to her mouth. She screamed something in her language and grabbed my finger instead, trying to drop it with her gums.

"She must have been teething." I thought, not even noticing the gentle, lovely gaze the hybrid was giving me while holding the baby.

"She has the look of the devil in her eyes. That's all me, love." I shifted my gaze to the girl's father.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"I think we already talked about nights and beds. Did you reconsider my invitation?" he asked, smiling and leaning closer to me.

"Don't talk to me like that with a little baby in your arms. It may be traumatizing for her. Just like for me." I replied, pretending to tremble with disgust.

Kol's snort reminded both of us of his presence.

"I told you, Nik. The baby trick doesn't work on her when your baby is cuter than you. You have to find another way into her cold heart."

"Don't you have a girl to chase?" I asked, shooting him a stern look. Did each of them have to be joking about our improbable romance?

"Actually, I do Y/N." Kol came over to us, kissed Hope on the cheek, and did the same to me. Klaus's quiet growl didn't go unnoticed. "Bye darling!"

"Stop calling me like that, you're a taken man!" I shouted after him. "Idiot. What?" I asked the hybrid, who was staring at me with a strange, unfamiliar look in his eyes.

"H e did you breakfast?" he asked with a cold, impassive tone, trying to cover his emotion.

"Yeah. He wanted help, so I made him do something useful in return."

"Oh, I see. Were that cheek kiss and "taken man" talk also part of your generous help." his resentment became more audible in his voice with each passing second. He was angry. But why the fuck?

"What's wrong with you? Kol and I are friends if you expect me to act like we don't..."

"Are you two just friends?" he immediately cut me off, not caring to hear what I was about to say.

"No. We're secretly married, and I'm expecting his child. I'm madly in love with him." I said sarcastically as I was about to leave the kitchen. I didn't like the direction this conversation was going.

"Y/N." Mikaelson's firm tone of voice and the use of my name instead of his usual "love" told me he wasn't joking or playing a game after all.

I turned and took a step closer to him, so our chests met. Hope's legs were hitting me a little as she waved them around, muttering something under her breath. His eyes were all on mine. Unwanted shivers ran through me.

"Kol fell for your town witch, Davina. I helped him plan a fantastic date. That's all. Don't misinterpret our actions. That's how we talk to each other. But even if we were something more, it wouldn't be your business. I'm not your toy that you can appropriate."

"I've never said you are. Don't misinterpret my actions."

"Are you using my own words against me?"

"I don't know, love. Did I?"

He gave me a challenging look, occasionally lowering his gaze to my lips. I stood there, never thinking about how close we were until his nose brushed mine. I couldn't give him the satisfaction of backing out. He'd never kiss me anyway, would he? We did a lot of stuff, true, but a real kiss was something neither of us could do as part of our "game." At least that's how I explained my suppressed desire to be close to him.

"NIKLAUS!" Elijah's yell immediately pulled us apart. I cleared my throat, reaching out to take the little one from him.

"I'll take her to the park. Maybe we even go to the playground, what do you think, Hope? Do you want to swing with auntie Y/N?"

"I'll try my best to come to you two as fast as I can." he said, and gave me his child.

He took a moment to look at both of us, and before he left, he kissed Hope on the head. Little bastard had to give me a "goodbye kiss" in the exact same place as Kol did. And just to be clear, I wasn't blushing.

Blood just suddenly ran into my face and made me red like a tomato. Just it. It had nothing to do with a kiss from the original.

~•♤♤♤•~

3rd PERSON POV

"I hope you had a good reason to call for me, because I was that close to finally making this little, stubborn witch kiss me."

Klaus ran into a library to meet his elder brother. It appeared that he wasn't alone. Kol was right behind Elijah, proudly smiling at him. That little bastard tricked him.

"What's going on here?"

"Kol told me about your..."

"Using our niece to flirt with Y/N. How do you plead from that?" Kol chimed in on his older brother's words.

"I'm not going to talk with you about my relationship with Y/N."

"Which, by the way, doesn't exist at all." the blond man moved towards his younger brother, but the oldest Mikaelson's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Behave yourselves. Both of you."

"I'm sorry, brother, but as you can see, he's the one who has consistently sabotaged my plans for Y/N. Make him behave himself." he pointed an accusing finger at Kol.

"I'm trying to save you from making the great mistake of your life. As much as I love Y/N, she doesn't fit our lifestyle. If you started to date her, you'd put her in the middle of our enemies, old, crazy witches who want to kill us, or even worse, your ex-girlfriends. You'll ruin her, and she deserves something more than our family drama."

"And you, Elijah? Do you share his opinion?"

"It doesn't matter. We just... want you to reconsider your plans before it's too late."

"Yeah. Let's take Hayley as an example. She didn't end up well after a night with you. Or... both of you." Kol stopped as he saw his brothers' angry look. "Alright, that was the wrong example, but you know what I mean. She's just a human with superpowers. She wouldn't put up with all the pain that comes with being a Mikaelson."

"Yes? Then what would you say about Davina? Is she strong enough? How is she different from Y/N?"

"She was born here. From the beginning, she grew up among witches. Y/N has known our world for only 4 years. That's a short time even for a mortal."

"When exactly did you become the voice of reason in our family? I thought it was Elijah's responsibility."

"Well, someone has to, as long as he's enchanted by Petrova's charm. By the way, you're no better than him."

The hybrid was about to throw a dagger at the brazen original, but his phone rang. He gave his brother his most terrifying look and went out of the room, taking the call.

"Oh my god, I miraculously escaped this. I'm never playing bad cop in your plan again, Petrova!"

"Do you think it will really work?" Elijah asked, completely ignoring his brother's nervous outburst.

"Of course, honey. We all know that he hated when someone tried to control him or give him an order. He'll run straight to her and admit his feelings right after he deals with the new vampire group. Let's hope Y/N finally tells him how she really feels about him." Katerina stepped out of the shadows, embracing her fiancé before kissing him on the cheek (to Kol's groan of disgust).

"How did you know where he went?"

"I could convince Rebekah to turn some vampires against Klaus and Marcel to keep them busy for the rest of the afternoon. Which will give me enough time to implement plan B."

"Which is?"

"What kind of matchmaker would I be if I told you before anything really happened? Trust me, they will be officially together on the day of our wedding at the latest." she said, then kissed the smiling original passionately, not caring that they had company in the room.

"Ugh! That's too much, even for me. Get a room or something before another innocent soul sees that. Before I go. Are we still on for tonight?"

"Yes. Me and Rebekah will help you with this date, but we are not cooking. Only decorate."

"Thanks. Play nice and use protection!" he shouted as he left, causing his brother to blush. Katerina laughed, kissing the vampire's rosy cheek.

"Wanna help me set up your stupid brother with Y/N?" she inquired, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. 

"Why exactly are you helping him? I thought you hated him?"

"Well, besides wanting to score points in your eyes and be able to point it out to him every chance I get, I think it would be nice to have Y/N with us permanently. She's a good friend."

"It's nice to see that you're starting to think not only about yourself but also about others around you." he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Well, if you come upstairs with me, I can show you how much I think about others… pleasure."

"Are we alone?"

"Mhmm..." the original picked her up in bridal style, causing the younger vampire to laugh as he carried her up the stairs.

~•♤♤♤•~

Y/N POV

Damon called me for the fourth time that day. I have been successful at ignoring him and playing with Hope. At least until Katherine didn't join us and took my phone to hang him up.

"What does he want? I thought your group fell apart?" she asked, putting my phone back in my pocket.

"Well... let's say we are on a break." I said, trying to get my hair out of Hope's grip to set the girl on the swing.

"Do they know where you are?"

"No. Actually, I only wrote to Bonnie to say that I'm safe and she doesn't have to worry about me."

Now that I think about it, none of them took an interest in my fate. Only Bonnie. On the other hand, it didn't bother me at all. I already had people who cared about me.

Damon called again, causing Kat to grimace in annoyance.

"Please, can I pick up your phone and tell him to fu..."

"Katherine! There're children here!" I cut her off before the curse reached Hope's ears. Klaus would kill me if his daughter's first words were "fuck".

"Atherine!" I froze in place, stopping swinging the girl. Now, I think he'd rather hear that her first word was curse than Katherine.

"Ha ha. You should see your face!" the woman laughed as she continued swinging Hope.

"But... how... when... What?" I mumbled, still in shock.

"Please, I taught her my name a long time ago. That's how I won Kol's collection of wine." I felt a stone fall from my heart. I was safe. "But this is the first time she told it in front of someone other than me and Kol, so... I don't think that Klaus knew." a mischievous smirk grew on her face. Well, I guess I'll be dead after all.

"No. Absolutely not. It'll break his heart if he hears that's her first word." I stopped the swing and crouched down to be at Hope's height. "C'mon Hope. Say daddy."

"Y/N... continue like that, and Klaus would rather listen to you calling him daddy than his own child." Katherine began to tease, making my face flush uninvitedly. If I was screwed anyway, why did she have to kick me down?

"Stop it. It's a serious situation. I took her for a walk, what should I do when we return and she starts calling your name?!"

"Well, if you try to use this daddy line on him..."

"Katherine!" I stood up and yelled at the laughing vampire.

"Atherine!" she cried, waving her arms happily.

"No sweetheart. Dad. Daddy. Dada. Dad." I knelt in front of the baby once again, practically begging her to help me in my unfair battle with amused Katherine.

"That's not how you teach a child."

"And how should I know that? I'm 20 with no siblings. Hope is the first child I care for. Thinking about that, I'm surprised that Klaus even gave her to me."

"From the first seconds of her life, this little one has had a 24-hour survival school. One afternoon with an inexperienced aunt wouldn't kill her." She stopped seeing how upset I was. She took my arm and made me look into her eyes. "Hey. Do not panic. Nothing happened. I will teach her, and Klaus will never know. You don't have to worry."

"Are you sure?" I asked, looking at her unconvincingly.

"I did it once. I can do it again. In the meantime, you can go pick up alcohol for the wedding from the bar across the street."

"Did you order alcohol from the bar? Doesn't your fiancé happen to have an age-old collection of all sorts of liquors?"

"Yes, but it is not an inexhaustible well. Kol insisted that we have to start restocking our supplies this year, and for every bottle we take, he makes us add new ones. It's not my fault that moron likes a special recipe that they only make at this particular bar."

"The Mikaelsons and their picky palates." I mumbled under my breath, kissing Hope's head before leaving her alone with aunt Katherine.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I left the playground. If Klaus finds his daughter with Katherine, at least she'll be to blame for the little girl shouting her name in fascination.

Or he'll have a heart attack. Maybe it's better to warn him.

Hello half-wolfie. I just want to let you know that the little princess is with Her Majesty. Don't get mad when you see them two - I have to go and take care of the wedding (which you're not helping me with at all, Mr. Best Man). I'm getting alcohol and rings, so you're responsible for flowers and food. Good luck! :)

Mr. Big Ego: I hope you know what you're doing. Also, if flowers and food aren't a woman's thing to do?

I'll turn a blind eye to this horrible sexist discrimination just because you're probably miles away and my magic won't reach you. Back to the topic. You're an artist, and you have a pretty good sense of style, so I believe you'll do just fine. Besides, you're quite handsome. Use your charm on the women, and they'll do the job for you.

Mr. Big Ego: Thanks for the advice, I'm just trying to use it in case you hadn't noticed. ;)

My God, are you getting senile blindness? I wrote that you're "quite handsome," not "incredible hot." You've got to find a desperate woman, so go and do your job, because I'm not going to do shitwork for you, LOVE. :-*

Mr. Big Ego: I'd rather read how you call me that under other circumstances... :-/

Take what they give you.

Mr. Big Ego: We both know I can get a lot more out of you. Like those tempting, little moans a couple days ago...

Don't you happen to have something urgent to do, your grace?

Mr. Big Ego: Nothing is more important than you (and Hope). Until we meet again, my love. <3

"Boyfriend?" woman's voice brought me back to earth. I looked around, realizing I was under the bar and blocking the entrance. I was annoyed that I couldn't stop smiling since I began writing to the hybrid.

"He wishes." I replied as I put my phone away and entered the bar.

I headed straight for the bar, hoping to settle this as soon as possible and get back to my girls. I loved Katherine, but the desire to spite Klaus might outweigh her good-natured offer. I wanted to make sure she didn't teach Hope anything terrible (like "Kol," for example).

Fortunately, the bar wasn't that crowded, so I was able to get to the barmaid without any problems.

"Hi, I'm Y/N. My friend ordered some of your drinks for her wedding. I promised her I would get them. It should be booked for Petrova or Mikaelson."

"Oh yes. I know. I am Cami. It's nice to finally meet you. After all the stories I've heard about you, I feel like we've known each other for a long time."

"Klaus' psychotherapist? I thought it was at least a full-time job." the blonde giggled.

"Let's say he's making progress."

"Which doesn't explain how you know me. Is Klaus talking about me all the time, again and again? I must be the real bane of his existence."

"Actually, he's very fond of you."

"Fond of me? In what universe?"

"Wanna have a drink?"

My first thought was to say no, but the barmaid poured me a drink before I could decline her offer.

Maybe one drink won't hurt me.

~•♤♤♤•~

"Have you never been in love?" Cami asked after serving me another tequila.

In those few hours (and probably 2 bottles used to make me a drink) the blonde went back to the topic of Klaus's untrue feelings for me. Forcing me, in a way, to talk about my love conquests. I was sure that they were not as diverse and interesting as hybrids.

"I was. Long time ago. We did all these stupid, cheesy things together. Stargazing in the forest on top of his car, swimming in the lake at night, dancing in the rain. He was my date at prom. We even won the king and queen contest. But the point is that my personal experience tells me that loving him wasn't worth it at all."

"And why is that?"

"Because my boyfriend—the man I'd been dating since we were ten years old—broke up with me via fucking SMS on my 18th birthday."

"Oh."

"Yes. Oh. And please don't give me any therapist speech about that: "He was the problem, not me." I got over him a long time ago." I said, taking a sip of my drink to avoid her sympathetic gaze.

"Then why don't you want to give a chance to someone new?" I mean, it's been proven that a new relationship and crush can aid in the healing of broken hearts."

"Well, I'm assuming you can't heal something that doesn't exist anymore. Also I don't need any new love in my life; I have my friends, and they are giving me enough of it."

"For now, but what will happen if one day you would like to have your own family? A person who'll choose you above everything else in their life?"

"Please, don't even tell me that Klaus fits into this "ideal" husband-to-be for me." the woman sighed, rubbing her forehead. I smiled victoriously, knowing that I had won over Klaus' therapist and that Katherine's little ruse had failed.

"To be honest, I shouldn't do that, but desperate times and all of that." the blonde took out a small dictaphone from her pocket and played a recording after a few clicks. "A week before Elijah and Katherine's engagement party."

"All right. Let's talk about something else. How do you feel about your brother getting married to Katherine?"

"Stupid question. Of course I'm happy for him. Even if his partner leaves much to be desired."

"Well, I've heard something different."

"And what exactly?"

"That you're grumpier than usual and growl at every poor soul around you. There are also many stories in the city about you. You've gone mad because you're secretly in love with Katherine, and that's why you don't want them to get married. But my personal favorite is that you tried to steal the ring from Elijah and sell it on Amazon."

"I admit I was more… moody in the passing days, but all is well now. I'm really happy for them. Very."

"Are you sure your mood swings have nothing to do with Y/N?"

"Veto."

"Come on. We need to finally talk about her. It's the perfect time."

"You're not going to let this topic go, are you?"

"Not as long as she is an important person in your life. Rebekah told me she had an impact on you. You tried to be a better man for her! I thought only Hope had that power over you."

"Do not say that. She'd be overjoyed to learn she has any power over me."

"Would it be wrong if she listened to how important she is to you?"

"Y/N and I are… complicated. We actually never say nice things to each other. I don't even know why Rebekah told you about her."

"Your sister said you loved her. You still do. Even after a year without receiving a single call, text, or email from her. I also saw her portraits in your art room. And pencil sketches. Maybe even some sculptures…"

"I see what you're saying, but it's not my fault she's… unimaginably, incredibly beautiful. I'm just admiring her charm. As an artist, it's my duty to try to capture the depths of her eyes. Or her sweet smile when she is laughing at stupid little things she admires. That's true. I have many pictures of her, because despite my tireless efforts, I have not succeeded in presenting her beauty in a proper way. There are no paints that match the color of her eyes and hair, not even talking about her probably soft, delicate skin. No canvas big enough for her portrait will ever make me forget her or stop imagining her every time I close my eyes. She is always in my darkest nightmares or in my sweetest dreams. Every single day, she steals my thoughts, so that sometimes I find myself thinking that she is here, chasing me around my own city to make me want her more than I already do. I'm disgusted at how easily I succumbed to the magic of her charm. And the worst part is that she didn't even have to use her power to make me enchanted with herself. It looks like she has to mess with me even when she isn't around."

"I think it's enough." she said, pausing. I stared at the recorder for a good few minutes, analyzing what I had just heard. "I'll leave you with that for a while and see if Steve has already sent you crates of alcohol. Take your time."

I took a sip of my tequila. It's impossible for him to have feelings for me, right? He has a child, a city to rule, and I… I'm only 20. I don't have so much on my mind, and I wouldn't find myself in a life like his. It's something else to spend here a month than… half of my life. And even if I wanted to be with him (assuming we really love each other), I would have to become a vampire.

As if my life wasn't already complicated enough without knowing the hybrid's supposed feelings for me.

At least it can't get any worse.

"Y/N? Is that you?" Fuck. I take that back.

"Tom." I said after I turned to the place where his voice had come from. My worst fears came true.

"It's you."

"Yeah. It's me." I replied, not sharing his delight and amazement. Meeting my ex was the last thing I wanted to do after hearing Camille's recording. As if I didn't have a mess in my head anyway.

"It's good to see you."

"You don't have to lie." I replied, turning back to the bar. Not trusting his words even a little bit.

"I'm not. To be honest I… I missed you."

"What?" I asked, eyeing him properly for almost two years.

He has changed. His dark hair, which was always combed and slicked back, was tousled in all directions, adding charm and feistiness to him. He had a slight stubble on his face, and judging by the obvious fatigue on his face, life had not been kind to him either.

"Can we go somewhere private and... you know, talk?" he asked tentatively, trying to grab my hand, but I pulled away from him.

"I'm sorry, but you're like, two bloody years late. We have nothing to talk about." I got up, intending to leave the bar as soon as it was possible, so I could free myself from him. What happened in the past should remain in the past. There was no point in re-entering the same river.

"Y/N! Wait a second, please! I know I screwed up then, but please, let me at least tell you why I had to do what I've done."

"The thing is... I don't care about it, Thomas. You abandoned me in the darkest, most difficult period of my life, when I desperately needed someone to care for me, without so much as a blink of your eye. You didn't have to explain this then, so I don't want to listen to it right now."

"I did it for your safety!"

"My safety?! Please spare me that pathetic excuse. You had two years to come up with something really good, and you went with: "I did it for your safety."

"Two years ago I turned to vampire, Y/N. Ripper to be precise."

"What? But who turned you? Damon?" I asked in shock, not believing that my sweet, darling Thomas could ever turn into one of them.

"I had an accident that was quite dangerous. I was on the edge of life, so they gave me vampire blood in the hospital to help me heal, but… it didn't go right. I woke up hours ago with that uncontrollable hunger. I could only think about human blood. I was too scared to get close to you or anyone else. Damon helped me get out of town, he sent me here so I could learn how to control myself."

"He didn't tell me anything. Not even a little word. And he had known all along when he saw me crying on his brother's shoulder." if I was angry at Damon before, I am mad as hell at him now. This son of a bitch didn't deserve any help from me.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N. I tought it'd be easier for you to forget about me if I... broke your heart."

"Do not flatter yourself. It takes so much more to break it. You weren't even close enough."

"I should know. You've always been the strongest person I've ever met."

"Don't act like you still care about me." I growled, moving backward with each step he took towards me, until I hit the wall behind me.

"Y/N. I have no idea what you've been through these two years, but all I know is that when I was gone, all I could find myself thinking about—all I could remind myself of my old life—was you and our time together. I've never stopped loving you, Y/N. I don't think I could ever do. But I had to leave. Otherwise, I could hurt you. Only here could I learn to control myself and my primal hunger for blood. The mere fact that somehow, from all places in the world, you found yourself here proves that we are meant for each other."

"Stop it. You can't just show up after a year and tell me all of this as if nothing happened. You left me. You break up with me by fucking SMS. Did you even know how it hurt me? You, of all people, promised me that we... we would last forever. And I believed you. I don't think I could ever trust you again."

"I know, honey. I know I fucked up, but all I can do right now is prove to you that I would never, ever leave you and hurt you like this again. Just give us one more chance."

"And what if I have someone? What if I've already found the one man who would never even consider hurting me? Who would rather tear the world apart than see me in pain?" I asked, staring hard into his eyes.

"Do you truly have that someone, honey?" he replied, rubbing a tear from my cheek with his thumb that had unknowingly flown from my eye.

"I... I..." I really would. But I don't know if I'll ever be able to tell him what I really want.

Before I could answer him, the dark-haired man came closer to me and connected our lips in a tender, longing kiss. I shivered as, for no reason, I felt watched.

What was truly terrifying to me was that I didn't feel anything but guilty. But I shouldn't be... right? I was a free, single woman.

Then why did I feel like I was doing something wrong? Why didn't I have any butterflies around my first love? Why all I could think about was how much better Klaus' lips would be on mine?

"Please, don't give up on us." he said, resting his brow on mine.

"Tommy I... I..." Why didn't I feel anything?

"Y/N? Are you okay?" I was almost glad to hear Camille's confused, worried voice. She must have noticed my red eyes from crying and possibly my makeup smudged by tears.

"Yes. Thomas was leaving, right?"

"Here. If you changed your mind." he slipped a piece of paper into my hand and kissed my forehead before obediently leaving the bar.

"Who was that guy? Does he hurt you? Should I call…"

"No! There's no need. Tom would never hurt me. Not deliberately." I cut her off before she could say HIS name. I didn't need another dose of confusion in my head.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I will come home. I think that's enough excitement for one day."

"Okay. I'll call you tomorrow. Just to check if everything is fine."

"There's no need." I responded, unaccustomed to the other's concern about me.

"You know I'm a good friend too. Not just a pseudo-therapist for a bloodthirsty millennial vampire." I smiled involuntarily, feeling some of my overwhelming emotion disappear after her little joke.

"I'll remember that for next time."

"Bye Y/N! It was nice to finally meet you." I waved to her as I crossed the exit from the bar.

As I turned to head towards the mansion, I noticed someone hiding in the darkness and staring at the bar's window. Someone who was as broken as I never imagined he could be. 

Shit. He saw us. But why did I care?

And then, when our eyes met, I knew that my decision about me and Thomas would be much harder than I had previously thought. And it was at this point in our game that Klaus and I had to finally define who we had to be to each other. It would be the hardest choice of my life.

A terrible (but true) thought crossed my mind.

I'm a freaking Elena Gilbert.

~•♤♤♤•~

Hi everyone! I just wanted to thank you for every heart and follow; I really appreciate it. <3 For anyone who is interested, this "story" will have like 5 or 6 parts in total.

[ruth-writes]

I decided to reread all of my John Green books at the beginning of the month, because (to say this in the style of John Green) 1. I haven't read them in at least five years even though I used to reread them all the time when I was a teenager, 2. it's been a while since I read fiction and I wanted to read something non-demanding and 3. now is the perfect time because I'm on vacation. So I started with An Abundance of Katherines because it was my favorite towards the end of my John Green phase, and I still really like it. Then I started Looking for Alaska, which was my favorite book for a really long time and which I've probably read the most out of all of them, and I realized that while I completely understand why I loved it so much when I was fourteen, it doesn't hold up as well in my early twenties. That doesn't mean it's bad or anything, it just means I'm not the target audience anymore. I also realized that I thought every character was interesting but I found Pudge to be incredibly annoying a lot of the time (and I get that's kind of the point because he's a teen), and I realized how much I loved Alaska as a character and how much I thought she deserved better and how much I would love the book if it was from her POV. So anyway I started writing a fic that's basically the story but from her POV, I don't know if I'm gonna finish it but I wrote what is essentially the books first chapter and I really like it (I still can't decide if the title is clever or horrible but I suck a titles anyway and just want other people to name my things for me)

[shootforthestars-28]

How we are with this season finale of Chicago pd...

What the future hold??

I have *so* many feelings post-finale! 😅

My thoughts are below the cut so, for those of you who haven't seen it yet, there are spoilers below.

Firstly, I'm truly gutted that we're losing Tracy from the cast but at least she got a better, more believable send-off than Jesse did. I still can't get my head around how they thought it was appropriate to have Jay simply up and leave Hailey after everything they had been through up until that point. It really just doesn't sit right with me!

Secondly, why the fuck was Chapman the one to sidle up to his gurney before he got loaded into the back of the ambulance?! I swear to God, if she becomes his love interest in Season 12, I'm rioting! 😅 While I do agree that perhaps the events of the finale might be the start of Hank opening up to someone, I really don't think it can be her. The dynamic of him being in a meaningful relationship with someone who, professionally, would go over his head at the drop of a hat, I don't think would work. He values trust and loyalty too much to let that happen.

Speaking of trust and loyalty...Alvin!! 🥹 How I loved seeing those to share the screen once more. Watching that scene, I found myself feeling really nostalgic for the older seasons when we got to see a more comedic Hank... mainly because it was Alvin with whom he shared those moments with. But this was an excellent little addition to the episode that was well written, well directed and superbly portrayed.

I thought the father/daughter arc was a sweet angle to take on Hailey's departure, albeit very similar to that of Erin's. I'm pleased to see that the door for both Jay and Hailey is very much open but it was evident to see that it wasn't Hank and Hailey on screen in the last few moments of the episode - that was very much Jason and Tracy.

Upton fans have been really vocal on socials this year on how afraid Tracy is of Jason and how intimidating he is on set when the evidence to the contrary is so overwhelming it's almost amusing! There is clearly a lot of love, respect and affection between all of the cast members which is seen in the plethora of behind the scenes photos and videos we get from the cast and crew. Having visited the set a few times myself, I can verify that first hand.

I have watched and re-watched the video posted on social media of Jason 'yelling' and 'swearing' at Director Jesse on set when, in actual fact, they were running through a scene and Jason asks Jesse "why are all the fucking cameras over here?". Jesse replies and Jason says "oh, okay" and runs the scene again. Anyone who knows even the smallest amount about Jason knows that he's a swearer. I'm not saying that's the right or wrong way to behave but after spending nigh-on a decade around him, from what I can see, neither Tracy nor Jesse seem to be phased at all.

Overall, I think it was a fitting way to end the season.

In terms of what's next, well the unit is now down to four so I suspect we're going to need to more hands on deck! Whether Petrovic will decide to stay or not, I'm not sure but one thing we definitely need is more Detectives! Hopefully the time has finally come for Officers Burgess, Ruzek and Atwater to finally pass their Detectives exams!

We're also due a Burzek wedding which I'm hoping to God Trudy Platt is heavily involved in!

And I'd love to see a happier Hank. With all the loss he's experienced, I'm hoping he can find something/ someone that makes fighting to live in the finale worthwhile... just as long as it's not Chapman 😂 He needs a Det. Katherine Meadows in his life 😉

I could go on forever but thank you for asking my opinion 💛

[practically-an-x-man]

I'm having a scatterbrained day, so for talk shop Tue, can I get a commentary reel/directors cut style talk about how WWFA came about? How you got the idea, how Kat was developed and how you decided to insert your plot into the movie canon?

Oooh man, great question!! Thank you!!

So first things first... there were absolutely elements of Katherine and her story that were logically chosen for a specific position, and as with all of my stories, I did have the plot in place before I started writing, but there was a lot of this story in particular that evolved as I wrote it.

So WWFA? first came about after I went through a huge NATM hyperfixation in late 2021. The movies have always been really comforting and close to my heart, especially as a history and mythology buff, but there was something about that time rewatching it that just sent me headfirst into it. I don't remember how specifically I came up with Katherine as a character, but the first little inkling of plot came from the idea of an artist leaving sketches for the night guards and janitors to discover, not knowing that it was the exhibits themselves who ended up appreciating them.

So that's where I started the story: Katherine, leaving her drawings, simple and sweet. I had my point A (her leaving the drawings), my point B (following the third movie, the tablet dying and being restored), and my point C (hush now, we haven't gotten to that yet), but hadn't quite gotten all the details of how I was going to work Katherine into the story. I always had her coming along for the ride, but it's safe to say that the original concept did not have her nearly as deeply woven into the story as her final version does. She brought her drawings to life, building off the idea of the tablet bringing museum artworks and exhibits to life, but at that point I didn't have much of an explanation as to why her.

And then I started college. I'd always been a history nerd and had a good base of knowledge to start the story, but then I was a history nerd taking various college-level anthropology, history, and archaeology classes, and it took my knowledge to a whole new level. I've said this before, but I nearly wrote a paper on how I believed the Egyptian god Tutu was borrowed from the Babylonian god of the same name (though that fizzled when the Egyptologist I tried to contact never emailed me back, and he was the only expert in that particular god I could find). I love that sort of thing, and if college had been a better fit for me it might've ended up being my lasting career. My knowledge skyrocketed, so did my inspiration, and that's what springboarded the fic into its present mythology-heavy form.

As for how Kat was developed... it was a lot of those more spur-of-the-moment decisions. She became descended from Bastet on a whim, and that ended up being a driving force that worked so well for the rest of the story. Her name, Katherine Johnson, is a reference to the NASA scientist who contributed to the moon landing, but that reference itself was just sparked from the fact that I couldn't decide on a name at first. Her physical appearance, her backstory, whatever else? I just wanted to create a fun, dynamic character, someone who really felt like a real person rather than a plot device - and part of how I do that is just to stop thinking too hard about it and let things just flow.

Idk, it's kind of hard to describe. I don't want to say I was flying blind at any point, but there were a lot of areas in which the story just fell together as I wrote it. Most of my work came from creating Katherine and establishing her within the first few chapters - after that, she just seemed to fall into the story.

[wynnyfryd]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @thefreakandthehair @stevethehairington @wormdebut @just-my-latest-hyperfixation and @morningberriesao3 thank you loveliess

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

27 dresses starring katherine heigl and james marsden

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

138,103

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stranger Things <3 My fics are all pretty exclusively Steddie or platonic Sstobin as the main focus, but I like to play around with the background ships - the best part of being super into a show with 14000 characters is you have so many opportunities for weird pair-ups

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

No Son of Mine

relax (lay it back)

TITS! magazine

Monsoon Season

relax (that's that)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I try to answer every comment I get because like, thank you for taking the time to let me know you read and liked my story you didn't have to do that and I love that you did

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

mmmm. I don't- HAHAHAHA okay wait, I was about to say "I don't really do unhappy endings" because I don't, but I did do a single angsty ending microfic as a personal challenge back in July

at the bottom you'll find all our friends

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

weirdly enough I think it was the sex tape fic I wrote for @inklessletter lmao that fic turned out so much more 'aggressively married' vibes than I originally planned. Just absolute sap city

Satanic Ritual: DO NOT WATCH!!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Hope not lol

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

ADHD crack smut with a heart of fluffy gold

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I have written exactly one chapter of one crossover, which is a modern Stardust AU where Eddie is Tristan, Steve is the star, and 1980s Indiana is on the non-magical side of the wall. Also Eddie was trying to find the star so he could grab a chunk of it and barter it for a new electric guitar lmao. I really loved the premise I came up with and thought the first chapter was great; unfortunately the fic is fuckin cursed and will never be finished (by me. if anyone wants to take a swing at the story where I left it off feel free!)

stupid fucking star stuff

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

See #8

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes! @gorgeousgreymatter-x and I co-wrote the first installment of the yogi steve vs adhd eddie series as a birthday gift to @flintandfuss <3 we broke each other's brains with our linear vs non-linear writing styles lmao but it was a really fun project

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Steddieeeeeeee

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I started working on this goofy little crack fic forever ago where Steve was a member of the snooty grandmas-only Loch Nora Gardening Club, and he was all stressed out because the ladies had beef with the neighboring town's club and had somehow put Steve in charge of operation "publicly humiliate them by throwing a better annual fundraising party"

and then Eddie, being the impulsive horny dumbass that he is, was jokingly like "hey, you could come to my garden party some time" and Steve's like "you're in a gardening club?" "yeah, technically! sure!"

then Eddie drives him to Indy and pulls them up to this shady little sex club called The Pleasure Garden and Steve gets gently bullied by a drag queen lmaooo

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue dialogue dialogue. Also I think in weird synesthesia (some words taste bad, some memories smell like cinnamon, ya know what I mean) so I feel like my imagery toward the fun and funky side

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

All the silly important shit that goes around the dialogue. And writing a seamless big group scene - more than four people in a conversation and the pacing gets so ssx tricky

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Mmmm. I mean, I tend to avoid it unless the fic/character actually requires it. Like I did a Robin POV fic where Robin would think certain curse words in different languages because it seemed fitting for the girl who's fluent in four languages, ya know? Ooh, I do also love a good "character royally botches what they're trying to say" moment so foreign language phrases are fun for that

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Twilight

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I'm really just unreasonably proud of myself for writing almost 30,000 words of continuous story in 30 days. I've been trying to do that for years and never even come close

okay sick thanks for letting me ramble incessantly about myself this was fun!

as usual I'm late to the tag party but tagging a couple people anyway <3 @steddieas-shegoes @thisapplepielife @wormdebut @aidaronan @gorgeousgreymatter-x

[hart-kinsella]

I love izzex too and would love to hear what you love best about them, why you think they're compatible despite/because of their personality differences, and a few of your favorite Izzex moments :) Only if you feel like answering, of course!

Hey! Thank you so much for this ask, any chance to talk about one of my favorite couples is always welcome.

I think what makes Alex and Izzie compatible is mostly the fact they're not similar - or at least they don't appear to be, because they both would go lenghts for the people they care about, for instance.

I've always been a sucker of the opposites attract type of couples, so I jumped right on the ship as soon as I started watching (season 2 was over and I already knew what had happened between them, sort of) and to me this is exactly what makes them work. They complete one another, like two pieces of a puzzle, and both bring out the best in the other, while also attenuating some of the not so positive sides of the other (Izzie makes Alex sweeter and lessens his jerk facade, while he challenges her and brings her out of her perfect princess comfort zone and also makes her more confident and willing to stand up in front of others in a couple of occasions).

I wouldn't know how to explain it better, there's just something about them that has always captivated me (the chemistry between Katherine Heigl and Justin Chambers definitely helped a lot).

Onto my favorite moments of them...there's so many!! Needless to say, their wedding and then of course their first kiss, which was so perfect and cinematic! Sigh, it's still one of my favorite first kisses on TV ever.

I also loved how Alex comforted Izzie after Denny's death in 2x27 (that moment is still iconic): he's always had a particular and unique sweetness when it comes to her, which is one of the aspects I love the most about Izzex.

How could I not mention their confrontation in 6x01? "I can't lose you, I won't survive" and the vulnerability in Justin/Alex's voice never fails to make me emotional.

Others are the very sweet and supportive moment in early season 3, when Alex puts his jacket on Izzie's shoulders after she's been outside the hospital all day long, panicking. And when he says 'Hello' to her, in early season 6, after encouraging a patient at doing the same thing with the woman he liked - a sign that things could start again for Alex and Izzie.

Before this gets too long (lol), I got to mention Izzie telling Alex (maybe in 3x18?) that the fact she didn't want him doesn't mean she's okay with someone else (Addison, in this case) wanting him - my heart! Early season 2, when they're just friends, is also an amazing time for them (when they laugh together and George, Meredith and Cristina watch them perplexed from afar? Priceless!) and, last but not least, their kiss in the storage room in season 2 (I don't remember if it was the episode of the bomb), so sweet.

This came out waaay longer than I intended lol, but I hope I've answered your question satisfactorily. ☺️

[empires-au-ideas]

Once again... sorry for all the Shelby posting. But she IS my poor little short sighted magical meow meow and I WILL put her in situations <3

Anyway. Withered Witch au my beloved <3

...

A Strange Force

...

Shelby straightened her books on the shelves, making sure they were all in line. Her cauldron was polished clean and all the potions she had prepared were neatly organized into crates.

She was wearing her nicest sweater (so the one least stained with mud) and her green overalls with the dainty embroidery her grandma made as a parting present. She fluffed up the flowers on her hat and tied back her hair in a neat-ish ponytail.

She even went though the effort of scraping away the mud, pulling out the plants that grew on the paths and getting rid of as many of those stupid roots as she could. Which... Shelby admits, she had been putting off for a while.

But Katherine was coming over soon, for her first visit to the Evermoore for a trade deal. Everything had to be PERFECT.

"ShelbyYyYy~"

"She know who we are, Sausage. Stop pretending to be some incomprehensible spirit."

Speaking of...

"Sausage. Gem." Shelby cleared her throat. "I'm... going to be doing a trade deal in a moment here, so if you wouldn't mind... not being around right now?"

"Who's coming over?" Sausage snapped his attention over, clearly excited.

"Better not be that archeologist," Gem mumbled, crossing her arms. "I bet he knew who we were, no thank you."

"Or that grave robber!" Sausage scrunched his nose. "I swear, he looked RIGHT at me-"

"Uhm..." Shelby shuffled her feet. "Just uhm- just..."

Why did her face get all hot? It wasn't embarrassing, to have a trade deal, right? The two ghosts were emporers way back when, they knew how this stuff worked. And they live in her house, have been, possibly months prior to their first appearance. Shelby has nothing to hide from them.

And... why did everything have to be perfect for Katherine? Katherine was really nice and cool and strong she guessed... probably just because she's a princess. Yes, Katherine was a princess with a nation that could squash the Evermoore like a bug. It would be important to impress her.

"Katherine!" Shelby blurted out. "Just- just Princess Katherine. So please don't make me give off a bad impression because it's very important this goes well because she's really strong and could proooobably kill me if she wanted to."

Ah! That must be why Shelby was so nervous. She was scared of Katherine, obviously.

"Ah..." Gem nodded knowingly. "Magic emporer to magic emporer, Shelby, I never got used to dealing with royalty. It doesn't get better."

Sausage blinked back, shaking his head. "Uh, hello, Gem? I was a king? And one of your closest alliances?!"

Gem looked him up and down. "My point still stands. So Shelby, if you need me to set up some spells, scare the princess off-"

"What?!" Shelby blanched. "No no no no, it's just a trade! I just need to impress her!"

... if Shelby was scared of her, why WOULDN'T she want Gem to scare Katherine off?

Whatever.

"Just..." Shelby took a deep breath. "Don't do anything stupid? Please?"

Gem looked over at Sausage again.

"Hey!" Sausage put on the meanest face he could... which wasn't that much. Despite what the books said, Shelby could NEVER see this guy being the servant of a terrifying demon.

"I literally said nothing." Gem crossed her arms, turning away.

"You both had what, a thousand years to make ammends and apologize?!" Shelby touched her temples. "How do you still SQUABBLE this much?!"

"Wrong," Gem rolled her eyes. "We had a thousand years to get SICK of eachother. "Why couldn't I have been stuck in the material plane with Scott? At least I could have a civil discussion about magic with HIM without it turning into a screaming match. Or Katherine. Or Shrub. Or Pix. Lizzie."

"Joey?" Sausage raised his eyebrows.

Gem paused. "Okay, no. I wouldn't go THAT far."

Shelby yelped as someone knocked the door. "Oh my goodness, she's here!"

Shelby rushed over to the door, turning around one more to shoo the ghosts off.

Sausage shook his head. "Man, this is the thanks we get for the free tutoring?

The ghosts disappeared, but Shelby knew better than to think they were gone. She brushed off her green overalls and adjusted her hat one more time before opening the door.

"Katherine!" Shelby cringed a little as her voice slightly cracked. She cleared her throat, trying to play it off. "How are you?"

Katherine was so cool. She always had the best outfit for the occasion. In the muddy and chilly Evermoore, she wore a pinkish purple peacoat and a brimmed hat with a bow. "Shelby! Here, I've got that string you ordered."

"Nice!" Shelby gave a thumbs up. Was that weird? That felt weird. "Here, you can come upstairs with me and take your choice of potion-"

A book page flipped.

"What was that?" Katherine leaned over to look behind Shelby.

The witch also spun around, seeing Sausage raise an eyebrow as he flipped through her potions manual. Katherine didn't seem to see him at least, but she could definetly see and hear the book's movement.

"Just a draft! Weird... fog draft!" Shelby laughed, rushing over to her desk to slam down the page Sausage had flipped to so he couldn't interact with it. "Yeah, if you'll come with me I-"

Shelby looked down to close the book to take upstairs with her when she froze. Sausage had opened up the book to the page on love potions.

She turned bright red. Why was she bright red?! Shelby quickly closed the book, hoping Katherine didn't see.

"Hey, are you okay?" Katherine crossed her arms. "You don't look so good."

"Just..." quick quick quick- "I get small allergies to the potions sometimes! Yeah, uhm... me and spider eyes don't mix well, ha."

"I TOLD you!"

Shelby glanced past Katherine to see Sausage floating circles around Gem, who surprisingly looked quite bemused herself. "Okay, I totally see it now... you know what they remind me of? Like Scott and Jimmy before Scott actually made a move."

Sausage barked a laugh. "Oh MAN does that bring me back!"

The two faded out and Shelby was left simmering and confused. Through their talks she had learned that there was a near identical ruler from their time for all of the empires now (except False? And Oli? She really needed to get around to asking about that...), but she had yet to actually write down who was who and what goes where.

"Shelby?"

The witch spun around. Right! Right. "I uhm... yes?"

"Which potions are strength again?" Katherine went over to a crate, picking up bottles and rotating them so they reflected in the candle light. "I told you I'm gonna be fighting over by the Ancient Capitol tonight, you know."

"Really?!" Shelby cleared her throat, not intending her voice to be that high. Or to crack that much. "That's uh- that's cool! Here, strength are the red ones."

A minute or two went by without anything jurassic happening. Shelby helped Katherine load the potions into her bag, even though the princess didn't really need that much help.

"And you're sure this is gonna work?" There, Sausage. From somewhere outside.

"Yes, yes." Gem, sounding as done as ever. "I've done this one a million times before. I did it at Joel and Lizzie's wedding, for crying out loud! Even with your grimy blood sheep magic in the way."

"Hey!"

"Well!" Shelby clapped her hands together, leaning towards Katherine on her tip toes. She needed to get Katherine OUT OF HERE before these ghosts embarrassed her any more. "Thank you so much for making a trade with me, Katherine! I'll see you-"

"Aw," Katherine's smile fell. Only by a little, but for whatever reason it made Shelby feel like she had committed the ultimate act of betrayal. "You aren't gonna show me around the Evermoore?"

"It's..." Shelby looked outside, and was for the first time ever grateful the sun was going down. "It's gonna get dark soon, and not even YOU should brave the Evermoore alone at night. You know? Here, I'll-"

A record scratched. Music started playing. But it wasn't like the weird eery music the ghosts usually played. It sounded like it was coming from all around them.

And it was... some kind of waltz, heavy with strings and wind instruments, not a lot of percussion. Which, if Shelby had to guess (based on a school project from what, five years ago) would make that a song from the long fallen Ocean Empire, dating it roughly 1000 years ago. Based on the counts and the tempo, it was... matrimonial.

Huh. Gem was right, she really had potential for history.

Speaking of Gem, and Sausage, Shelby was going to DOUBLE MURDER THEM.

"This..." Katherine tilted her head, listening to the music for another second before continuing. "Huh. I don't usually like these songs, but this one is quite pleasant! Is this a spell, Shelby?"

Shelby was going to melt away and die. "Uhm I- well... yes! It's my... it reminds me to make sure I don't have any potions left on the stand."

"Do you dance?"

Sausage's laugh could be heard from inside the room, but Shelby couldn't make herself glare to try and find him through the blush.

Why did that make her blush so hard?!

"Uhm, well I uhm- the-" Shelby took a breath. "No, no not really. Just like lame school dance stuff you know..."

Katherine groaned. "Oh gosh tell me about it, I have to go to all these prissy galas and balls... it's been years since I started going to them and I STILL cannot do any of the dances."

"Yeah at the dances I was always just sort of-" Shelby did a short little awkward dance, smiling when Katherine starts to giggle. She did that, she made Katherine giggle, she was doing such a good job. "You know?"

"Oh that looks MUCH more fun than a boring old waltz-" Katherine copied the move Shelby did. She laughed again, doing the dance with a bit more confidence, stylized. "Come on, dance with me!"

Shelby laughed, awkwardly doing the little dance with Katherine at first, but getting more comfortable as she realized Katherine was not taking it seriously one bit. They both loosened up and danced until the record scratched out, Shelby had kind of forgotten it was playing- and who might have started playing it- until Katherine stopped dancing.

Katherine and Shelby just danced together- kind of- to a marriage song.

Shelby stutters to a stop as soon as soon as the song is over, once again: she was going to DOUBLE KILL Sausage and Gem.

As Shelby's face goes back to a furious red, Sausage laughs again, and she SWEARS she heard Gem's snicker.

"Aw, well. That was fun." Katherine lifted her bag of potions with one arm effortlessly. "And Shelby..."

Katherine slowly looked around the room, before her eyes resting on Shelby, looking her up and down. Shelby felt her skin tingle at her gaze, she felt like she was going to bubble over word vomit. "S- Something wrong, Katherine?"

"No offense..." Katherine gave her a sympathetic smile. "You look like a mess... I think I know what's going on."

Shelby ALSO thinks she knows what's going on. Her heart stops, she was too obvious... she wasn't even doing anything she didn't even realize what she was doing or why she was acting like that... "Listen, I'm-"

"Ghosts are tough, but I know how-"

"What?!" Shelby's eyes went wide. She maybe looked a bit too relieved that Katherine didn't know about-... what she was thinking about.

"You look tired, your eyes flicker," Katherine listed off her evidence, keeping on that warm pitying smile the whole time, to her credit. "Books move on their own, MUSIC plays randomly... you even told me yourself I shouldn't go alone through this place. You've got ghosts!"

Shelby blinked at Katherine for... a long moment. The two ghosts stand behind her, Gem looking rather impressed and Sausage rather indignant. "I... am having a bit of a ghost problem, yes."

Sausage threw his hands in the air, grumbling. Gem face palmed.

"I see..." Katgerine looked out yhe windows, before leaning in to whisper, as well as pulling Shelby down to her level to be closer. That did NOT make Shelby's heart stutter, no siree. "Well... I have a little side job I do for the empires... I'm a monster hunter, and I'm sure I could get rid of your little ghost problem if you wanted."

Shelby smiled, big and awkward, not... really sure what to say? What could she?! "Oh don't bother they're from the ancient empires and help me with my magic 101 homework" like what?! And Katherine looks so eager to help...

Not to mention if Shelby DID say that... she'd need to explain WHY she needed tutoring...

"Wow, really?!" Shelby laughed, mainly from the nerves. She managed to give it a relieved air, she's really good at lying on the fly. "That'd be so helpful! How can I repay you?"

"Oh... you're a witch, right?" Katherine looked off to the side, scratching her arm.

"Yes...?" Shelby ignored how that also felt like a lie.

"I've- no, my KINGDOM has this curse, right?" Katherine explained glumly. What Shelby wouldn't DO to get that tone out of her voice. "And now that my parents are retired they- and my kingdom- expect me to cure the land. But I'm not sure how... but! You're the Great Witch Shelby! If you could come over to Glimmer Grove sometime and take a look-"

"Sure!" Shelby smiled, no she did not squeal that out. "I'd love- or, it'd be my pleasure! I'll do some research and... thank you!"

Of course Shelby did not want to get rid of the ghosts, but she did now have two reasons to be around Katherine. It was honestly annoying how much that idea made her grin like a fool.

The ghosts were silent as the emperors bid eachother bye, Shelby sighing dreamily as she leaned against the door after Katherine left.

This moment was ruined by Gem appearing in front of her, arms crossed and foot tapping. Man, she REALLY DID look like her teachers back home. "So now you're letting a ghost hunter in the Evermoore because she's your girlfriend?"

Shelby blanched. "Katherine is NOT my-"

"Not YeEeEeEet~" Sausage teased, forgetting he was in a bit of peril with a ghost hunter on their case now to torment Shelby's crush. Shelby didn't have any siblings, but this is what she thinks her peers at the Academy were talking about when they complained about their younger brothers and sisters.

Shelby hid her face in her hat. "Shut up, both of you! Gosh... now I've got to search for curse cures-"

Gem groaned. "PLEASE use the correct terminology-"

"AND for ghost PROTECTION spells, who would even write about those-" Shelby ignored her and started searching the books on her shelves.

Gem looked over her shoulder, helping her look, but still engaging in the conversation. "Just make sure you tell us before you start like. Kissing or something."

"Gem!" Shelby hissed, turning red again, she struggled to take five books (unlike Katherine, who could probably carry a million books) to her desk. "Can we PLEASE drop it?!"

"Nope!" Sausage piped in. He began to sing. "Shelby and Katherine sittin in a tree~"

Shelby glared down at her books. Maybe she WOULDNT look for those protection spells.

[ryuichirou]

I saw the spice 🌶🌶🌶 stuff on Twitter and lemme just say I love your art style.

I was wondering if there is a place to read the AU's you have?

And also what kind of Twst AU have you created?

Ahhh thank you so much! Extremely happy to hear that!

I post everything there is to know about our AUs here and on twitter, but there isn’t much: these AUs aren’t as thought out as, for example, our shingeki AUs; this is why we don’t even tag them. It’s more like having concepts we play around with, with the stories still being vague and pliable in our heads, even though we do have rough directions for them. That’s why we don’t really write long posts and descriptions for our twst AUs. I guess, just dropping random scenes based on our discussions of these AUs with little to no context is too much fun lol

We’ll probably have more AUs, we really love creating them, but for now we’re too focused on consuming all the canon stuff (vignettes, events, etc). But still, these are the AUs that we have for now:

AzuIde Marriage AU. This is the one we post the most.

Azul and Idia get married for convenience, and this marriage is indeed very convenient for both of them: Azul gets all the legal perks + a personal genius inventor who can easily bring him lots of profit; Idia gets to play videogames all day and not to do much else. He also doesn’t have to socialize at all: Azul does all the socializing for him, making presentations, networking, getting investors and such.

They’re amazed by how perfect their marriage turned out to be: both of them are very happy. Idia’s life is stress-free for once; he has all the time in the world for himself and indulges in games heavily, not worrying about having to communicate with anyone other than Ortho and his gaming buddy. Azul is doing his own thing, spending all days working, talking to rich people, doing shady stuff, expanding, expanding and expanding his business franchises. But the thing is, by enabling each other to live in this self-indulgent comfort zone and giving each other “that one thing that he craves”, they make each other the worst version of themselves. Idia becomes even more of a hermit; Azul becomes even more obsessive and unhinged.  This is why it’s a perfect marriage, but also a horrible one. It kind of depends on how you look at it, thus they are very happy in the funny strips, but the bad ending is still a thing that could happen. Actually, there could be more than one bad ending, some of them involve these two staying together lol

2. Prison AU. Pretty self-explanatory: some characters are the inmates, some characters are the guards. This AU kind of has multiple universes inside of it at this point lol, just because swapping characters’ roles is fun. The main “route” is inmate!Floyd/guard!Riddle though.

3. Catherine AU? Kind of. The one in which Idia takes the role of the main character of the said game (Vincent); Azul is his long-term boyfriend (Katherine) who wants him to get his shit together, find a better job, marry him and live together already; and Lilia is a mysterious cute-looking guy who seemingly just wants to be with Idia and have fun with him (Catherine). Hilarity ensues. I would’ve drawn more stuff for this AU if we remembered the game better, but still.

[crow-in-gotham]

BLOG POST NO. 7 - TALKING ABOUT THOSE WAYNES AGAIN

So I mentioned in another post at some point that I might talk about other members of the Wayne Family— and I got nothing better to do right now so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

First off is Alfred Pennyworth. I probably should have mentioned him in my original post, but that one was just about Bruce Wayne and his kids and Alfred is definitely not one of his children— for obvious reasons. I don’t have much to say about this man other than the fact that he looks very grandfatherly, if that makes sense. He looks like the kind of guy you’d come to for life advice, or to just listen to stories of the “good old days” while drinking a nice warm cup of hot chocolate. He’s also apparently a very good cook, according to literally every single Wayne, so I’d love to exchange recipes if we ever meet (pssh, like that’s ever gonna happen, but one can dream, amiright?).

Next on the list is Katherine Kane, or Kate Kane. Honestly this woman is the walking definition of “please step on me”. My friend’s words, not mine (which friend, you might ask? Well wouldn’t you like to know weather boy—). But like, seriously, look at this woman and look at Bruce Wayne— how the fuck are they even related? Bruce Wayne is like the human personification of the word “babygirl”, and Kate Kane is what “femme fatale” would look like as a person.

This woman has got people questioning their sexual identity right, left, and center.

Then next is Stephanie Brown. Some people say she’s an official Wayne, other people say she isn’t. She did an interview with the family once and in it she did say that she wouldn’t really consider herself a Wayne officially, but that she was great friends with the whole family. So basically, like a very close family friend. I’m pretty sure Bruce Wayne already made a college fund for her and that her high-rise apartment is paid for fully by him as well but you know, to each their own.

Again, I don’t have a lot to say about her, mostly because she’s one of the few people related to the Wayne family that don’t actually show up that much in the media. Well, beyond her personal social media accounts but she just posts random pictures of the Wayne family being various degrees of idiot.

Next is Lucas Fox, or Luke Fox. This guy got famous for being born into wealth and prestige— you know, being the son of Lucius Fox, the president and CEO of WE. He had a pretty good boxing career (I have never gone into boxing, I know nothing about it—). I think he’s working at WE with his dad now? Maybe? Honestly I don’t know, I can’t be bothered to do that much thorough research on some dude.

Oh, he has a double degree in engineering and business management though. If I ever meet the guy, I’ll probably just ask him about engineering related stuff. Like how to build a robot. And how to not go fucking insane.

Then there’s Barbara Gordon herself. I still stand by the points I made in my previous post talking about her and I will die on this hill. She is an amazing person and honestly I’m inclined to believe that she’s an actual angel. I mean, come on, she gave me homemade banana bread one time because she found out through my dumb friends that I passed one of my exams. She’s still my favorite.

Also, she apparently used to date the oldest Wayne kid at some point? Honestly the dude should count himself lucky.

With that, I think that’s about everyone? Maybe? There’s so many people connected to this family that honestly it’s hard to say.

I know the Wayne kids are also friends with someone named Harper Row, but there’s not that much information on her online other than the fact that she volunteers at Martha’s House a lot and also is in Electrical Engineering— which honestly makes me want to meet her because holy fuck I need more help with circuitry (why did I choose to pursue this degree again? None may ever know).

I’ll make another post if it turns out I forgot to talk about anyone major. Otherwise, that’s the whole post.

The Wayne Family isn’t even a tree at this point, it’s a fucking ball of yarn and Bruce Wayne is the cat that keeps tangling it up even more.

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

EVERY WEEK I WILL POST VARIOUS REVIEWS I’VE WRITTEN SO FAR IN 2024. YOU CAN CHECK OUT MY GOODREADS FOR MORE UP-TO-DATE REVIEWS HERE.

___

42. Identity by Nora Roberts--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

One of the best things I did for myself with this book was going into the story without reading the synopsis. I legitimately knew absolutely nothing about this book and man, when that first twist happened I was HOOKED.

The familial relationships in this book were everything and I loved that there weren't any of the usual tropes in this one when it came to the romance. It was a thriller first and a romance/familial story second. I did love how all of the characters communicated and worked together, even if their dialogue was sometimes a little awkward--especially when discussing intimate things. I know all families are different, but I wouldn't confess to my mom and grandma that I just came back from a night of pure sex LOL. But hey, to each their own.

The love interest was interesting. I really liked him and his blunt delivery, but sometimes he DID push that line of like "Alright, I guess we're just going with this." It was funny watching these two come together and I'll be honest, when he was a certain way (which I know is just his personality), I thought "wow, our standards are flat against the floor." While the relationship sometimes felt stilted, it didn't detract too much from the story for me.

Now the villain was something else. He was creepy and horrendous. I actually pictured his face changing from when he first meets the MC to when he sees her sick friend. It's horrendous and he was so well written--especially when we get to see his steady decline into even more madness.

Overall, this was FUN and had some very disturbing moments. Roberts is a little too good at writing someone who thinks so horrendously and does some horrible things to his victims. I recommend this for the sweetness of the family and a character who loves her job, but also for the creepy POV of the serial killer.

___

43. The Unknown by Katherine Applegate--⭐️⭐️

It's been a few weeks since I've read an Animorphs book because the library holds time is sometimes brutal. Why am I mentioning this? Because this was one of the rare books in this series that I didn't feel any urgency to read. I'll be super honest: This one felt like a weird dream. Half the time I was confused about how the characters got to certain points in the story.

I'll still be reading the rest of the series, of course, but this one was just okay. I do love these adventures, but this felt almost like a filler book?

Anyway, onto the next one!

___

44. The Titan's Bride Vol. 1 by ITKZ--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I will admit that while this storyline was actually sweet and pretty intriguing, this book is...nearly all porn. Had me blushing through the whole thing. I'm intrigued by where the story is going and I'm kicking myself for not having ordered the rest of the books yet, but yeah, this was basically porn with a sprinkling of a sweet and fantastical storyline.

I will say that the artwork is stunning!

Sigh. LOL.

___

45. Once There Was by Kiyash Monsef--⭐️⭐️⭐️

ONCE THERE WAS would have been better as an adult fantasy book. Why? Because so many things in this book felt like an adult fantasy book--there weren't any adult themes, but a lot of the circumstances were a bit of a stretch. I think I, as a reader, wouldn't have had to suspend my disbelief so much if this had simply been an adult.

I mean, a fifteen year-old inherits her dad's Vet practice and and lives alone?

By the end of the book, I had forgotten this was YA.

Moving on from that, this book had a really cool concept. I loved the idea that there's a vet out there destined to take care of mythological monsters. I also loved that it was such a diverse set of characters too, including the MC. We get to see more about her culture and her father and what happens when Western society stamps out that aspect of an identity. For example: food, language barriers, and culture.

While the book felt a little all over the place, I really liked seeing the MC in action when it came to these magical beings. I also really liked how Monsef explored the concept of grief and how important it can be to just feel the emotions.

Overall, this book was OKAY. There were points where I was a little bored and a little confused as to why this was YA, but I can also see why so many people might love it. This was like Dr. Doolittle for mythological creatures.

___

46. Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura-- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I didn't know what to expect from RAIDERS OF THE LOST HEART, but I had a pretty good time with what Segura gave us. From the badass FMC to the stuttering and himbo of a MMC.

I think with books like this one, I need to not take the storylines too seriously so I can fully enjoy it (which I did). The romance, tension, and spice were great. The adventuring was fun (even though I would have loved to see a bit more). I think reading the author's note also helped in realizing how much leeway was given to the characters' adventuring, since it isn't really like this in real life.

This really felt like I was watching a movie. It was a quick and addicting read and had me hooked from the very beginning.

There is one character, however, who is clearly Pansexual and I do wish they had said that instead of having the FMC confused as to how one person could like more than one gender. I do like that this character explains it, but I do wish Segura had gone the extra step of saying the term.

Anyway, I enjoyed this for what it was and I'm glad I didn't pay attention to the rating!

___

47. Olive Harvest in Palestine by Wafa Shami & Shaima Farouki (Illustrator)--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don't normally rate or talk a lot about the storybooks I come across. But I came across OLIVE HARVEST IN PALESTINE while scrolling Instagram and I knew I immediately wanted it on my shelves. It's beautifully illustrated and the story it tells of an event that was a yearly tradition of harvesting and pressing olives in such a beautiful place like Palestine was both eye-opening and heartbreaking.

It breaks my heart to know that all of that beauty is now only on pages of storybooks, memories, photographs, and videos taken in passing. My heart ached while reading this important book. My heart cries for those olive trees that were hundreds of years old.

If there is a storybook you pick up this year, let it be this one.

___

48. Block Shot by Kennedy Ryan--⭐️⭐️

When I read the first book in this series, I was hooked. I thought it was powerful, heartbreaking, and incredibly addicting.

And I don't know if it's because I spent yesterday sick in bed, but BLOCK SHOT was the last thing I wanted to finish (even though I only had like 4 hours left in the audiobook). I finally finished it earlier today but because I knew I wanted to finish it so I could get to the third book. Normally, I tell friends to DNF books but sue me, I wanted to give this book a shot.

All of that being said, I WAS intrigued at the beginning. I loved how these two knew each other from way back when and how, even years later, they still couldn't fight the chemistry between them. Call me wild, but I personally don't know how I would have reacted if I the FMC and the events of the first part of the book happened. On one hand, I get it because being a fat girl has always been my identity. Being the butt of fat girl jokes? Been there, done that. But on the other hand, I found that this FMC had a massive chip on her shoulder that she carried for the majority of the book, which she then moulded into a slightly unhealthy thing.

I'll admit, I found the portrayal of her body and how even the MMC referred to it (like being fat is a horrendous thing) really icky. I know that this was written a few years ago, but it made me so uncomfortable that the fat girl's humiliation was one of the big motivations for the FMC to "better" herself, as if her intelligence and already existent beauty wasn't enough. Don't get me wrong: wanting to feel a certain way and looking a certain way isn't a bad thing, I think the phrasing of it was just not it.

Which leads me to saying that...the FMC was one of those characters who supposedly had a powerful presence and was touted as this saint, but LOL, let's be real. She wasn't. Sure, she could put her business face on, but man, she was someone who was so easily manipulated. There were so many instances where I wanted to shake some sense into her. Like, we KNOW the MMC was an asshole, but at least he admits it? He was honest about who he was, while she was the one play acting.

I won't even touch on the fact that there's cheating in this and it's not like in the first book, where it felt like a glimmer of hope and fear. Here it was all pure selfishness. And I don't think we should always like the main characters in books, but like...at least make them consistent. I don't know, the FMC annoyed me and again, while I didn't like the MMC, at least he was honest.

Also, that twist. I saw it coming, but it added a whole other level of ick to everything and the FMC.

I'm disappointed with this book, but I'll still be picking up book 3.

___

49. My Love Mix-Up! Vol. 1 by Wataru Hinekure (writer), Aruko(illustrator), & Jan Cash (Translator)--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved MY LOVE MIX-UP! and how much fun it was. The storyline was entertaining and while I think things happened a little too quickly in this first volume, I did love the antics and honesty the MC had for his situation. I can never tire of these kinds of stories where kids are just casually living their lives and falling in love with the unexpected person.

This reminded me a lot of BLUE FLAG, which was one of my favourite reads a couple of years ago. I loved the friendship aspect and how, even though things have the potential to be messy, that friendship perseveres.

I also laughed quite a bit at that twist at the end. Will definitely be aiming to get this entire series!

___

50. Happy Place by Emily Henry--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think I always kind of know what to expect from an Emily Henry novel, so while I went into HAPPY PLACE with a bit of nerves, I also knew I would probably enjoy it. I didn't read the synopsis, as per usual, and I was (unsurprisingly) hooked from the beginning. This book was a shot of melancholy, heartbreak, and that magic feeling that summer sometimes brings out in us that anything is possible.

At first, I was put off by the going back and forth with the past and present. Mainly, I've always found these kinds of stories feel a little abrupt when they have a flashback chapter every so often and I become impatient for the present day story. But as the story progressed, I realized it was impatience mingling with anxiety. I was afraid to see what broke these two up; what had the power to come in between these proclamations of forever I-love-you's and soulmate-y kind of love stories. I was worried and while I had to force myself to face it, I'm glad I did. I obviously won't say what it was, but I will say that it felt like a very real reason, even though these two would heavily benefit from couple's therapy.

I also appreciated the friendships and how this book isn't just about the romance that broke, but the relationship between friends. There are different kinds of happy places in this book and many of them include these amazing friends who are guilty of a huge crime: growing up. I find that I related a lot to the one friend who spent her time chasing that high of youth caught in a summer breeze. I remember summers long past full of memories that will never be replicated, but growing up means knowing that those memories exist, even if life and time changes everything.

Much like many other Henry books, this delves into deeper topics as well, like familial trauma, grief, mental health, and abandonment issues. Those were palpable on the pages as the characters faced these very real parts of themselves.

I'm not giving this a full five stars because of the flashbacks and how messy the MC and her love interest were. Communication is a golden rule I wish more romances adopted, but I also can understand that in order to have diverse characters, we need to be mindful of the ones who genuinely have a hard time communicating--usually because of mental health and traumatic responses. All of that being said, I still stand by this couple being chaotic--even if they were probably my second or third favourite couple in the Henryverse.

ALSO, DID EVERYONE PEEP THE BEACH READ EASTER EGG?? Hell yeah.

___

Have you read any of these books? What were your thoughts?

___

Happy reading!