#your best friend slash love of your life calls you. she's just found out that a. she can't have kids

[benoitblanc]

making an emily-arc gifset and screaming internally. why the fuck did they do that to scully

[angellesword]

BAGGAGE | JJK (07)

Summary: Drowning in debt and blood, Jeon Jungkook knows he's better off alone, lest he brings people down with him.

But one drunken night changes everything.

In a blink of an eye, Jungkook found himself drowning not only in debt and blood, but also in dirty diapers and judgmental stares from you, a.k.a his long-lost love and the guardian of the son he didn't even know existed.

Genre and warnings: best friends to lovers, co-parenting, idiots in love, mutual pining, angst, fluff, implied smut, kissing, minor character death, slight getting back together, drama, OC cusses excessively so watch out, blood, pregnancy, discussion of abortion, giving birth

Pairing: dad! Jungkook x adoptive mom!Reader

Word Count: 6.1k

← Previous Chapter (06) | Next Chapter (08) →

****

Six Years Ago, 2017:

France was not all that you expected. One would think people pursuing their doctorate degrees would be busier with their academic lives, but it looked like French people cared more about their social lives.

"Come on, just a few more steps!" Elyna, your classmate, chuckled while dragging your warm, sweaty body across the street. She almost tasted victory when she got a glimpse of the façade of your apartment.

Admittedly, Elyna still gets jealous whenever she remembers your apartment being nicer than hers. Talk about favoritism, huh? You were both scholars of Sorbonne University pursuing your doctorate degrees, but Professor Verlaine liked you the most.

"There you go! You can look after yourself, right? Bye, cutie." Elyna kissed your cheek before practically throwing you in your front door.

You were smaller in stature compared to your French classmates, making it easier for them to push and pull you around. You groaned when your back hit the door.

You were too drunk to cuss your classmate, so you could only suck it up and push yourself to enter your apartment. After what felt like forever, you finally stumbled inside, puffing out a breath and debating whether to just sleep on the floor.

Hours of clubbing with your classmates messed you up. You shouldn't have gone with them, but those shitty French didn't really give you a choice. Even Verlaine encouraged you to go out, going as far as postponing the submission of your business paper so you could have a fun Friday night.

Verlaine's exact words were, "Have fun. You've been in France for months already. You're the only international student who hasn't gone clubbing here."

You did not care for clubs. In fact, you hated them. You only attended your graduation parties and some quiet bars with Jungkook.

"Hah! Stupid pompous freak!" You cussed your traitor of a best friend, wanting nothing but to beat yourself for thinking about that bastard. You had done so well suppressing thoughts about Jungkook for the whole day. It's ten minutes before midnight. How could you fail so miserably?

You struggled to fish your phone out of your pocket, vision doubling, but that did not stop you from sending chains of messages to Jungkook.

To: Jungkook-shit I fucking hate you traitor

To: Jungkook-shit yoi betrayed me freak,. i hope you rot in hell

To: Jungkook-shit fucker

To: Jungkook-shit i hate you so mcuch pleas fo me a favor snd die

To: Jungkook-shit i will ndcevef dorgive you digshfit 

To: Jungkook-shit dick 

To: Jungkook-shit duck you

To: Jungkook-shit ny heart hirts

To: Jungkook-shitcan we go back?

The last message remained unsent as your intoxication finally caught up to you. You dropped your phone on the floor, face hitting the cold tiles as darkness clouded your vision.

You fell asleep.

***

That night, you had a long dream, which you were pretty sure had happened in real life—back when you were still very small, probably at five years old.

If you thought about it, you'd say the dream slash memory was triggered by going to a club with Elyna and the others. Your dream started off in a club, too.

Your Jisoo-unnie told you to hide in the closet and never make a sound, no matter who tried calling your name. You were an obedient child, only trusting your older sister. But it didn't mean your mother was as kind as Jisoo. Your mom would boss you around as she entertained guests. You basically served as an errand girl at a young age, forced to keep your mouth shut even when you saw your mother and the other girls get violently beaten up by rogue men.

"Where is my sister!?"

You were lighting heavy scented candles for your mother and client when you heard your sister's voice.

Your ears involuntarily perked up. You threw the matchbox aside and immediately ran out of the club's private room.

"Jisoo-unnie?" You blinked innocently.

Your sister was standing there, looking as if she was going to smack your mother. But Jisoo stopped when she heard you call for her.

"Don't take her away!" Your mother screeched and tried to pull Jisoo's hair.

Jisoo dodged, immediately running toward you and hugging your frail body. She covered your ears. "I will take her away! Please. Stop it! She’s just a kid!"

"Bah!" Your mother spat. "She earns me money, unlike a brat like you!"

"I will take her place." Jisoo did not even hesitate. She hugged you tighter. "Let me be your errand girl or whatever you want me to do. I will do it. Just leave her alone."

You couldn't properly hear what the adults were talking about. Jisoo covered your ear tighter to ensure you heard nothing. It took a while before your mother spat on the ground for the second time, but she relented and let Jisoo take you away.

Your memories were pretty vague. All you remembered was that Jisoo had brought you into a tiny apartment; it was cramped and dark and smelled like dead rats. But it was better than those heavy-scented rooms at the club. At least in here, Jisoo cared for you and did not try to beat you up.

It didn't mean all your trauma would go away instantly, though. There were many moments when you would wake up in the middle of the night, silently crying because of a nightmare. You usually dreamt about your mother's client beating up girls and throwing profanities at everyone, including you.

"It's okay, my little one. Your Jisoo-unnie is here, I'll protect you." You weren't sure if you were recalling memories of the past or if it was just part of your drunken dream. All you knew was that Jisoo's warm embrace was palpable. She used to cradle your little body in her arms.

You were a docile kid, wings clipped by those men at the club. They used to threaten to beat you up if you so much as made a small noise or a mistake. For a long time, you carried that pain and refused to talk to your Jisoo-unnie, or anyone else, for that matter. At school, kids made fun of you for acting all meek and weak.

There was a time when Jisoo was called by your teacher, asking if there was something wrong at home for you to act so distantly. You were seven years old around at this time, and you still didn't understand adult words. You just recalled your teacher telling Jisoo that you needed therapy or whatever that was.

Jisoo was barely of legal age. Your mother had a cut whenever Jisoo took in clients at the club. She spent more than half her money to feed you and ensure you could attend class.

Your Jisoo-unnie only had one reminder: "Study well, my dear. That's all I ask. You can get anything you want if you're smart and have lots of money."

You still didn't speak much but diligently followed whatever your sister said. Things took a turn after your teacher talked to Jisoo. The latter took the teacher's advice to heart, but she didn't have enough money to bring you to a professional. She could simply improvise.

"My dear, there's nothing to be scared of anymore, okay? I won't ever hurt you the way they did. Here," Jisoo offered her cheek to you. "You can slap me and tell me all the bad things those men did to you, I won't ever fight back."

You shook your head rapidly, cowering. Memories of those nasty men came like a tidal wave, sweeping you off your feet until you felt nauseated.

"Sshh, my dear. It's okay. Just try, okay...You're okay."

It took a lot of conviction before you relented. Every day, Jisoo would coax you to act like a regular kid who was not frightened of acting difficult and throwing tantrums. She made you feel like it was okay to be mean and that whatever you did or said, you would still be loved—this was the beginning of you having a sharp mouth that couldn't go one statement with profanities leaving your mouth.

You got away with so many things because of Jisoo.

That had been your setup for many years, but your life slowly progressed. You worked hard in school while Jisoo did all the jobs available to her. You got out of that tiny apartment and were able to move to a new house. You were initially reluctant to leave, afraid you would lose connection with the first friend you made in the neighborhood—Jungkook.

You didn't talk to Jungkook before, either. You two would casually sit beside each other and be in your own world.

"You don't have an adult at home? Cool, me too." That was the first thing Jungkook told you. You weren't bothered by his presence before, but Jungkook had become insufferable over time, teasing you here and there until you had to snarl at him.

Despite your banter, you had grown attached to Jungkook and even begged Jisoo not to separate you. Jisoo smiled at you, ruffling your hair and explaining that you would only move to a nicer home, but it was still around the area.

You felt relief flood your veins. Things were going well. You slowly healed from your traumatic childhood as you stayed close to Jungkook and your Jisso-unnie. Your sister kept her promise, never once leaving you.

Every day, Jisoo would go home to you. You gingerly waited for your sister to arrive; you'd set aside your homework and other stuff to open your front door and greet Jisoo with a simple "Welcome home!"

You couldn't maintain your happy façade as Jisoo smiled faintly at you, coughing and smelling like smoke. There were bags under her eyes, too exhausted at her work at the club.

You were getting older. You thought you could apply for a part-time job and help your sibling with the expenses, but Jisoo wanted you to focus on your studies. She brushed your concern off, saying, "It's just secondhand smoke. You know those men at the club, they can't live without cigarettes. Don't worry."

As usual, you blindly followed your sister's request. You hid your verbal concerns and could only welcome her home with hot water with honey. You did your best to care for your Jisoo-unnie until you moved to the university dorm and got busier with school. As time passed, your time with Jisoo lessened until it reached a point where Jisoo would not contact you. She even went as far as betraying you.

She must have known, right? How could she not know that you were hopelessly in love with Jungkook? How could the two most important people in your life betray you like this?

It just didn't make sense.

But then again, nothing made sense—not when feelings were involved. For instance, you flew all the way to Europe so you wouldn't have to deal with the mess back in Incheon. You had cut off connections with Jungkook and Jisoo, but months later, right when you were recovering from your hangover from clubbing too much, was when your doorbell rang.

It's probably Professor Verlaine, you thought. You didn't bother checking the peephole because, for one, you didn't want to see your professor looking prim and proper while you looked like shit. You were still wearing your clothes from last night and you just got up from the floor. Seeing Verlaine at the peephole would make you want to freshen up first; you just didn't have the energy for that.

And for fuck's sake. It's seven in the morning. Seven! Anyone who dared to disturb you at this ungodly hour deserved to see your bed hair, drool on the side of your mouth included.

So you opened the door, fully expecting to grin at your professor, but your smile froze mid-air.

You were still hungover, yet your reflexes were as agile as ever.

You slammed the door shut—no, wait, that's wrong. You swore you were about to slam the door shut. You were not a pushover and didn't intend to talk to your traitor sister.

But you stood there, stiff and unable to shut the door to her face when you heard her cough.

A stupid fucking cough.

Jisoo coughed, and you felt as if you were a child again, excited to open the door and welcome your sister home with hot water mixed with honey from the comb.

***

In hindsight, you should have seen it coming. Jisoo could go a long time without contacting you, though she could never cut you off completely.

Once, she promised to stay with you forever, and until now, that promise still stands.

A promise is a promise.

Jisoo was sitting on your couch. You foolishly let her in, heart still throbbing after hearing your sister's cough. It was just a stupid cough, yet you felt your resolve crumbling.

This can't be. You couldn't possibly still have a soft spot for her.

"Ya having a sidepiece spawn?"—so you attacked her.

Jisoo visibly flinched at the roughness of your tone. You sighed a breath of relief. Her expression would help you sleep at night: Jisoo lowered her eyes, lashes trembling because of your intense look at her stomach. You longed to damage her heart until all she wished to do was run.

Jisoo called your name, choking back a sob. It was hard to say if it was because of the guilt she felt toward you or if it was because of what you called her unborn child.

Yes, Jisoo was heavily pregnant.

It was unfair. Jisoo felt the kick in her belly while you felt like your heart had been stomped.

"It's Jungkook's." There was no room for rebuttal. You said it with finality.

Jisoo didn't deny it, either.

"Of fucking course." You chuckled mercilessly. "How many rounds of 'playing around' did it take before you finally managed to get knocked up?"

"We weren't playing around." Jisoo defended. It was real. The thing they have done, it was real. "But I never dated him."

You scoffed. "But you fucked him." Your jaw slackened. Looking at your sister ignited your anger.

"Once." Jisoo was desperate.

You did not know what to feel anymore. A searing headache hit you. You barked a laugh.

"Tell me, Jisoo-unnie," you said pointedly. You might as well knife her heart. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Crashing defeat settled at the pit of Jisoo's stomach. The baby kicked her tummy aggressively like it was punishing her, too.

Jisoo called your name, trying again. "It was a one-time thing."

"A one-time thing." You repeated. It was probably said to reassure you, but it didn't. If anything, you just found a way to nitpick her excuse. "Not a one-time mistake?"

Jisoo inhaled sharply. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to cup her stomach to calm her baby, but she saw your piercing gaze there, leaving Jisoo no choice but to keep her hands on her side.

"We were both drunk. I admit, it was a moment of weakness."

Cliche. You snarled, feeling acid burn your throat. You wanted to vomit bile. "Still not calling it a mistake?"

"We both wanted it."

"Why!" Millions of questions attacked your head at once. Why did you betray me!? Why did you sleep with him, out of all people!? Was it good!? Was it worth breaking my trust? Why did you want it!?

Jisoo parted her lips, seemingly ready to answer your query, but you raised your hand to shut her up.

Jisoo obediently followed. 

"Don't answer that." You felt your knees buckling. You wanted to crawl and die.

"It is—"

"Please, stop." You were certain your heart had been broken to pieces, and you thought there was no way Jisoo could shatter it more.

But now you weren’t so sure anymore.

You could only storm off to your room, slamming the door and hoping Jisoo would leave you alone.

***

Jisoo did not leave you alone. She was sheepishly sitting on the couch when you emerged from your room.

"You're still here," you observed, no snark in your voice, but exhaustion was there. 

"I will be here," Jisoo responded with a small smile.

You ignored her, but she kept her promise.

She stayed the whole day in your home. The next day, she was still there.

Then the next.

And the next day.

And the next day.

And the next day.

And the next day.

And the next day.

You couldn't keep track anymore.

***

You and Jisoo were certainly not on good terms or talking terms. Fortunately, you learned to cohabitate without tearing each other apart.

Sometimes, you would buy baby clothes for Jisoo's child. You’d leave the shopping bag on the couch where your sister usually sat. However, you wouldn’t wait to see her reaction after checking the clothes.

Once, though, you accidentally saw her hugging the new clothes you had bought.

You caught Jisoo's gaze. Your sister smiled shyly at you.

Unlike before, you didn't immediately look away. In fact, you gazed at her as if asking, "It's white. A pretty neutral color. That should work, right?"

You weren't siblings without a reason. Jisoo picked up the question in your eyes.

She embraced the clothes tighter. "It's a boy. You’re going to have a nephew."

You did not react. You cast your gaze away and wordlessly left your sister alone.

But the next day, you had ten shopping bags in your hand. You left them at the usual spot.

Blue. You brought blue clothes and a bunch of toys.

You also brought pink clothes because assigning colors to gender was stupid.

But also because your nephew would surely look cute in blue, pink, and all other colors.

***

Jisoo was 32 weeks pregnant when you made up your mind to say something to her.

"That's it." You barged into the bathroom, catching your sister on the spot. She was vomiting blood.

Jisoo gave a start; her eyes were glistening with tears when she snapped her head up and met your glare. She hurriedly wiped her mouth.

"Why are you here?" Jisoo felt cornered, so she stepped back like a frightened lamb.

You smacked your lips together, finding this situation ridiculous. Jisoo had already slept with Jungkook; nothing could ever top that betrayal, so why was she acting like you would strangle her for puking blood?

"This is my apartment, in case you forgot."

"That's not what I meant." Jisoo inhaled as she struggled to swallow blood back to her stomach. "You're supposed to be at school."

"Yeah, whatever I skipped." You couldn't bear to see your trembling sister any longer. You helped her sit on the wide edge of the bathtub.

You worried about your Jisoo-unnie. She'd been retching in the bathroom almost daily. She thought she could hide it by turning the faucet on to muffle the sound, but she was wrong.

You planned to put an end to this. Your brow creased. "Enough with your bullshit. You are thirty-two weeks pregnant, and you can't possibly still be experiencing morning sickness. Even if you were, you'd be vomiting vile or that strawberry yogurt you've been eating every day. Not fucking blood."

"It's fine." Jisoo brushed it off, making a move to stand and end this conversation. You two never talked for more than one minute since she arrived, so why were you being loud now?

"You are not getting out of this conversation." You blocked her way out, glaring at her with the storm in your eyes. "I'll ask again. Why are you vomiting blood?"

The silence was deafening.

You wanted to punch the mirror. You cursed your sister; your eyes were turning bloodshot. The betrayal from before was back in full force. The fact that Jisoo wasn't telling you anything made you feel like she was hiding a nasty secret again.

You couldn't handle any more treachery. You might actually die.

"Don't lie to me again—" You cut yourself off, afraid you’d make yourself look pathetic by murmuring a soft please.

Jisoo stubbornly refused to speak. She watched as tears fell into her open palm.

She had done so well hiding this. She didn't want to tell you about her sickness, but every second that passed made Jisoo feel like the distance between you and her was stretching.

In the end, she could only concede. 

"I'm dying." Shallow breath. "I've cancer."

This time, it wasn't the distance that stretched but the silence.

Jisoo dared to peek at your reaction as the silence made her uncomfortable. Only two people knew she was sick: Jungkook and now you.

Jungkook at least hugged her and wiped her hands, telling her it would be all right.

But Jungkook was Jungkook. She hadn't done anything to hurt him.

But you? She shattered and betrayed you, so she should have expected it when she heard your giddy chuckle. However, when Jisoo looked at you, no sign of happiness or sadness could be traced on your face.

It was eerily impassive.

And then she heard you say:

"Good. That's good. I hope you die."

The bathroom door slammed shut, leaving Jisoo with tears in her eyes and kicking unborn child.

****

Jisoo was 33 weeks pregnant when you gave up on radio silence. Your sister was lying on the bed she bought herself. Your apartment only had one bedroom, but Jisoo still squeezed herself in. Seeing her dozing off on the couch was a pain, so one day, you brought brochures where Jisoo could choose a bed of her liking.

Jisoo bought a single bed, putting it close to your bed. You two slept without bothering each other. Tonight, though, you couldn't take it anymore.

You lay on your side, staring directly at Jisoo. Your sister was already looking at you.

She smiled and said hi.

You didn't bother with greetings. You went straight to the point.

"What type of cancer." It was like you were reporting the weather, refusing to ask the question properly. Your monotonous voice made you appear apathetic. No one knew how heavy your heart was.

"Does it matter?" Jisoo cupped her bulging belly. Her baby seemed excited whenever he heard his aunt speaking. He was wildly kicking Jisoo's belly.

"Tsk. Just answer the damn question. Why do you have to make everything difficult?"

This was starting to get on your nerves. Even after everything that happened, you still weren’t used to Jisoo not indulging you.

"It's not difficult. It just doesn't matter. I'm dying, anyway." Just like what you wanted. But Jisoo didn't say the last part. She was not in a position to hold grudges against you.

You hugged your pillow to your chest like you wanted to shield your heart that was about to jump out of your body.

"Just answer."

It was getting harder for you to breathe. Beads of sweat formed on your forehead; you couldn't seem to get the image of Jisoo coughing in your head.

Please don't let it be lung cancer. Please don't let it be lung cancer. Please don't let it be lung cancer. Please don't let it be lung cancer. Please don't let it be lung cancer—

"It's lung cancer."

Your heart missed a beat.

"How much time do you have left?" You dug your nails into the pillow while Jisoo sighed. She was sure you couldn't wait for her to die.

"Not too long. Maybe I'll pass soon after I have my baby."

"But why." Jisoo wasn't sure if she was imagining things, but she thought she heard you whine. "Don't you have a treatment plan? Fucking chemotherapy and stuff?"

"Chemotherapy is harmful for the baby." Jisoo's tone was soft.

"Fuck the baby!"

Even you were surprised by how resentful you were. But it was true, wasn't it? Her baby was the devil's spawn. It was the fruit of betrayal, so why was Jisoo choosing it over herself?

"Why didn't you abort it?" You abruptly sat on the bed, shooting daggers at Jisoo. A whirlpool of abuse danced at the tip of your tongue. You didn't voice it out because Jisoo looked sad.

"Don't be like that to Soobin."

"Who the fuck is Soobin? Why should I care!?"

"It's your nephew's name," Jisoo explained patiently as she caressed her stomach. Soobin had stopped kicking, probably scared of his aunt.

"That's such a basic name. It's so ugly. I hate it. I hate him."

You didn't give your sister a chance to speak. "Forget it." You turned off the lampshade. "I don't want to talk to you anymore. I'm going to sleep."

You laid back down. Darkness enveloped the room. This was better. This way, you couldn't see the sadness in Jisoo’s face.

But you couldn't sleep. You tossed and turned all night, but nothing worked.

It's my fault. You wanted to say. Jisoo got cancer because of you. That club was a rotten place. You should've stopped her from working there.

Lung cancer. What a bullshit thing to have.

"Don't die." A week ago, you were saying the complete opposite. "If you die, I'll chase you to hell. You can't die, Jisoo."

You still have debts to pay. I have not forgiven you yet. You have to suffer my eternal wrath, so do not die before me.

*** In Jisoo's 34th week of pregnancy, you had asked her another question.

"Why did you do it?"

Jisoo didn't need context. She knew exactly what you were talking about, but like before, you cut her off before she could explain.

"Never mind." You covered your face with a blanket and slept.

***

In Jisoo's 35th week of pregnancy, you pestered her again about chemotherapy.

"I told you already. It's harmful for Soobin."

"And I told you already, I don't care about Soobin." You rebutted.

This bedtime routine was tiring Jisoo. She felt like she was arguing with a wall.

"Good night," so she just turned off the lampshade and went to bed.

*** You asked about the betrayal again in Jisoo's 36th week of pregnancy.

"Are you sure you want to know now?" Jisoo's carefulness shot your heart.

You shook your head, your chest heaving.

"No," you admitted. "Never mind it."

***

Jisoo's 37th weeks pregnant when you panicked upon seeing her looking like she was in a lot of pain.

"What's the matter?" Your heart leaped to your throat. You were beside Jisoo at once.

Jisoo bit her lip and wiped the sweat on her forehead. "It's nothing. Your nephew's just being naughty. He keeps kicking my tummy."

Oh.

Your heartbeat returned to normal. And then you snorted and folded your arms across your chest. "Tell that scrub to shut his trap and quit being annoying."

You were about to return to your bed when Jisoo seized your wrist.

You flinched, but you didn't push her away.

It gave Jisoo the courage to push through her suggestion. She cleared her throat, "Why don't you pacify him yourself? He's quite obedient. Here, I'll guide you."

Jisoo slowly led your hand to her tummy. Your hand was stiff at first, almost resisting when you had contact with the skin of Jisoo's belly.

"Sshh, it's okay, dear." Jisoo's voice was like a lullaby. You relaxed at once.

It took you a while before you finally started caressing your sister's stomach without wanting to die.

And then you felt it.

"Oh!" Your eyes grew big. "He kicked me! Your kid kicked me!"

An involuntary chuckle came out of Jisoo. "Yes, he likes his aunt a lot."

"Hmp." You withdrew your hands. "Too bad I don't care about him."

Jisoo didn't react because, deep down, you were fooling no one.

***

You asked about the betrayal again in Jisoo's 38th week of pregnancy. Jisoo had learned her lesson, so she did not speak and pretended to be asleep.

***

You found the courage to be honest in Jisoo's 39th week of pregnancy.

"I take it back." You gripped your blanket. "Soobin isn't so bad. I think his name is cute."

Jisoo gasped, which had you worrying. You thought your sister was in pain again. These days, all she did was vomit blood.

However, Jisoo's gasp was because of plain surprise. She beamed at you, "Soobin just kicked me three times. He means to say he loves you."

"You're an idiot, and you know it." You clicked your tongue in disgust, "Tell your devil spawn I hate him."

Your words were harsh, but Jisoo knew your heart was melting.

Just a few more. Jisoo mused, mentally patting her baby's head. Your aunt’s gonna warm up to you soon, Bin-bin.

***

Jisoo was in her 40th week of pregnancy when she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

It took a while before you got out of the hospital because of Jisoo's worsening condition. Thankfully, you were there to look after Soobin.

"Welcome home, mon bébé," you secretly whispered when you finally got home.

Soobin cooed at you, and you wanted to cry.

You stopped calling Soobin the devil's spawn.

***

Jisoo's 3 weeks postpartum, and she was delirious.

"Jisoo-unnie, it's time for your medicine." You were sitting in your sister's bed with a glass of water in your hand.

"Honey water again...?" She blinked, eyes unfocused. She was hot to touch. "I don't want honey water. You make them too sweet."

"This is not honey water." You tried to make her drink, but Jisoo was stubborn.

She called your name. “My dear, please. You have to listen to me, alright? Hide in the closet. Don't answer even when mom calls for you. I will..." She cupped your cheek. "I will be back for you, okay?"

Postpartum was foreign to you, but you figured your sister was struggling.

"There's no need to hide. I'm not a five-year-old anymore, Jisoo-unnie."

It was the wrong thing to say because Jisoo scowled. She was unhappy, though she kept caressing your face.

"What are you saying? You'll always be my little girl."

***

Jisoo's 9 weeks postpartum when her mind cleared up. Regrettably, her body became weaker.

"You can't even carry your own baby," you taunted, peering down at your bedridden sister as you gently rocked Soobin in your arms.

Your nephew was so well-behaved.

"It's okay." Jisoo coughed. "Soobin has you."

"I'm not a babysitter." You jutted your chin, annoyed. "Hurry up and get better. I'm getting tired of—oh."

You weren't able to finish whatever you were saying. You couldn't even remember what you were trying to prove. All your thoughts vanished when Soobin wrapped his tiny hand around your pinky.

"Jisoo-unnie! Look! Look! He's holding me!" You stepped closer to Jisoo's bed, crouching down so your sister could see.

Jisoo forced out a smile. But that small action was taxing to her body. She coughed up blood again. She wiped it before you could see it.

"That's good. That's really, really good...."

***

Jisoo was 10 weeks postpartum, and she was still rotting in bed.

"You have to force yourself to get better," you demanded, a deep scowl on your lips. "Just look at your son. He clings to me a lot. Do you want him to recognize me as his mom?"

Your statement was meant to be threatening, but it made Jisoo happier.

"He is yours, dear." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She didn't have the energy to speak louder, but she could still smile. "He is meant to stay by your side."

"Shut up." You rolled your eyes. "I'm not cut out to be a parent. This is your mess. I was not there when you made him." I was against you making him. You hurt me.

Jisoo's forehead creased, though. She didn't agree with you. "But I made him for you."

What?

You couldn't believe your ears. If postpartum was this kind of bitch, then you were willing to fight it. It was making your Jisoo-unnie act crazy. She was full of shit.

"Soobin...stay...you..." And she was blabbering random words.

You touched her forehead. She was burning. Her fever was probably making her crazy.

"Next time, I'm bringing you to an asylum." Soobin slept soundly in his crib, so you had time to care for your sister. You put a wet towel on her forehead. "You're crazy, did you know that? Who would have thought a cute baby like Soobin came from a nasty girl like you?"

Jisoo's scowl deepened. She struggled and weakly caught your wrist. "No. Soobin looks like...me."

You glanced at Soobin's sleeping form. Yeah, right.

"Keep dreaming. It's free."

"No." Jisoo cried. It looked like she took your statement to heart. "He looks like me...he should look like me..."

Suddenly, Jisoo was crying. You were stunned. What was this drama queen crying for!?

"He looks like me. Please. He should remind me of you. I'm dying, I'm dying. I'm dying--!!"

Your eyes widened. Jisoo was out of control. She was sobbing and kicking her feet, albeit weakly.

"Jisoo-unnie, calm down." You held her hands, giving up. "I believe you, okay? Soobin looks like you."

She was easy to pacify. She stopped crying at once, and then she cupped your cheeks.

"My dear, my little one...I'm sorry, your Jisoo-unnie can't keep her promise to you. I'm going soon. Stay...stay with Soobin, alright?"

Jisoo slowly trailed off. The terrible realization slapped you in the face.

You were shaking, bile crawling to your throat when you connected the dots:

There was a high possibility that Jisoo, your sister, planned on sleeping with Jungkook so she could get pregnant. She wished to get pregnant because, after all this time, she still saw you as a little girl who needed someone by her side.

And since she was dying, she needed someone to...

You stopped thinking. You looked at Soobin's sleeping form and sobbed; your sister's words echoed in your mind:

Stay with Soobin. I made him for you.

Fuck.

***

In Jisoo's twisted way, what she did was for your sake. Unfortunately, you did not ask any of this.

Jisoo was 15 weeks postpartum. She was like a withered flower. No color was left on her face. Death was around the corner.

"Are you there, my dear?"

You did not answer. The question you didn't have an answer to entered your mind. You hadn't asked in a long time. Should you?

"Why did you betray me?" You asked it aloud before you could think properly. You thought Jisoo's too weak to answer, but she forced herself to speak.

"I was lonely. We were both lonely."

In the grand scheme of things, that explanation should have made sense. Lonely people sought comfort. You should be the first to understand that. But you didn't. It only brought you pain.

"I can't make you happy?" But you were her sister and Jungkook...Jungkook was your best friend. How could you not know that the people you loved were suffering? That they were lonely? Were you that...insensitive?

"It's not about you." Jisoo groaned. She was in a lot of pain. "You will never understand our grief. Your life is...a bliss."

The pain was unbearable. You wanted to cover your ears. You regretted asking that question, but you just couldn't stop.

"So you don't trust me? You don't think I'd understand you?" Did Jungkook think so too?

Jisoo didn't give a clear answer. She couldn't breathe. Her chest was stuffy.

Silence prevailed.

You stared blankly at Jisoo.

Jisoo struggled to maintain her breathing. She called your name.

"Have you forgiven me?"

It took you an eternity to respond, but your tone was biting when you did.

"You and Jungkook bonded over something you thought I was too immature to understand, so tell me, Jisoo-unnie, how can I forgive you?"

It meant to hurt. But Jisoo smiled through the pain.

She seemed...happy.

"Good…Good. Don't forgive me. I don't deserve it."

Blood. There was blood everywhere. Jisoo was barely awake.

"But leave Soobin...out of your...anger. That kid will love you. I swear, he will love you."

You had no plans to give Soobin away.

"I know...I am in no position to ask you anything, but...Jungkook...he must know about his son. He deserves that much, no--" She seemed to shake her head. "Soobin deserves that much....Promise me, in three..."

She paused. She was thinking....calculating...

"No four...four years...three years..." It was getting confusing. "Return him home in three years. Ugh."

Jisoo couldn't hold on.

She called your name. “ You and Soobin...you two are my life...I love you...I'll see..." you.

Jisoo didn't get to finish her last statement. She died, eyes clamped shut and blood splattering everywhere.

She died while her son slept, and you wept.

**** A/N: I wrote this for so many hours...this is not edited, I feel like I'm going to vomit if I read this chapter one more time. Imdeadtired.exe.

We will be back in the present in the next chapter.

← Previous Chapter (06) | Next Chapter (08) →

[r0cket-qu3en]

Want her back

izzy stradlin one shot<3

warnings: mention of drugs/addiction, cheating, angst

prompt: izzy calls reader begging for forgiveness after he messes up with her

He took the phone and put it to his ear, his voice was low and shy, he wasn't really sure what he was doing. He turned to look at his friend sitting on the bed, he had a slightly disappointed look, the boy wasn't proud of what he was doing, nor was he himself, but sometimes you had to lower your pride: he missed her, and he wanted her back.

The phone rang, but there was no answer. He remained silent, both hoping that the girl would answer, so that the two could clear things up, and the boy sitting on the bed would finally have his best friend back, and not the crazy man he found himself with.

"Hey, honey... It's me, I'm sorry for what happened... Please call me back... I love you..." Izzy murmured and closed his eyes, trying not to sink into shame, and so ended the call. He turned to her friend and looked at him with an anxious look.

"Was it really as painful as it seemed?" he murmured, sitting down next to him.

"I wish I could tell you no but... yeah, it was painful, almost pathetic." He replied, putting an arm around his shoulders.

A little, though, he was happy that the girl didn't want to take him back. He had made shitty choices with her and she didn't like it, in the end she deserved it.

Slash's curls tickled the dark-haired man's neck gently, who was now on the verge of tears. He clenched his fists, letting his bitten nails scratch the soft skin on the inside of his palm. He felt like he was standing on a cliff, unable to go back.

"I love her... More than anything..." He murmured, looking down, squinting and clenching his teeth.

"Then you shouldn't have done what you did..." The other replied, giving him a light pat. "Pray she doesn't hate you." The curly-haired man added, massaging his friend's shoulder with one hand.

The other remained silent, speechless. He didn't understand how it had happened, how and why he had let it happen. But now she was gone, and now he would no longer have her.

Her sweet gaze would no longer watch over him as he slept, she would no longer help him stay sober and he would no longer be able to write her love songs without bursting into tears.

He could already imagine himself: lying on the bed, with the faint light of the moon illuminating the room and the cigarette between his lips. The sweet words written on the paper, words she would no longer want to read, words she didn't want attributed to her.

She was his muse, his girlfriend, his salvation, the light at the end of the tunnel.

Now that light was out, and he would remain in the darkness of his room, faced with sweet words and salty tears that crossed his cheeks, that marked them like little cracks on his pale and slightly bony face.

God, he wanted her back, he needed her, he needed her to be his again, he needed to feel her lips against his skin again, his stomach, between her breasts... He wanted to smell her in the blue sheets of the bed again, sheets they had chosen together when they decided to move in together.

A possible life together thrown away for what? A little drugs and a stupid groupie, who in the end had no real meaning to him, just like he had none for her. It had been just a one night stand while he was completely high.

He could feel Slash's gaze on him, a sympathetic and sad gaze. He knew how much Izzy cared about the girl they had accidentally met thanks to Duff.

He knew he was in love, but it wasn't that easy, it never was when drugs or fame were involved. Izzy knew it, Slash knew it, and she knew it, but by now that relationship seemed to be falling apart, and she wanted to move on with her life, and with yet another mistake by Izzy, she realized that that relationship that had started as a high school crush, was now over.

[minimickzy]

Pretty In Pink || Misty Quigley

For the lovely and talented @peach-and-bugs sometimes we all need a story to escape into.

-and guys I haven't written fanfic since like 2019- please be kind lol! I wanted to have this done tonight so I actually wrote this during a 4 hour car ride (Also Blane is the love interest from Pretty in Pink and Molly Ringwald is the actress)

Characters: Misty Quigley (pre-crash) x Reader,

Word count: 2118

Sophomore year of high school you knew two things about Misty Quigley.

She was incredibly misunderstood and

She was in desperate need of a friend.

You knew it would be easy to at least start a friendship with Misty. She was talkative and was happy to get any type of attention. All you had to do was slide into one of the many empty seats at her lunch table and smile. From there it was never-ending conversation and hangouts.

To your surprise- and slight concern- Misty had walls built up pretty damn high and wasn’t easy to gain the trust of. She picked up more social cues than people gave her credit for. She had just been bullied to the point that the idea of you- let alone anyone- actually wanting to be her friend was unbelievable.

When you finally cracked her you could see her personality flip. Her eyes lit up, and smiles filled her whole face not just her lips, even her posture straightened up a bit. Who knew all it would take is saying that you liked The Phantom Of The Opera?

As soon as the walls fell she was an open book. Entrusting you with her deepest, darkest, secrets and in turn listening to yours. She would pick out tiny little things about you and gush about them to anyone who would listen. She even became the equipment manager after you joined the soccer team.

After two years of friendship, you couldn’t imagine life without her. And she seemed to feel the same.

Your friendship with Misty was different. No one outside of the two of you understood. She was just a little… quirky. She would put notes in your locker every day with complaints- sometimes coming off as tiny but stalkerish but you found it endearing. Sometimes if someone was even the tiniest bit rude to you, the next day their locker would randomly have rotten fruit in it. (one time a guy's car had its tires slashed after he called you a bitch).

People harassed her incessantly. You tried to stop it, even getting into a few fights over it but it was never ending and Misty had become a pro at brushing it off.

After all, as long as she had you it didn’t feel like it mattered what others said.

You weren’t sure when your feelings had changed from platonic toward your best friend. You had only realized when, as embarrassing as this is, you had walked in on Van and Tai in the locker room. They didn’t see you- thank god- but it was a push you needed to confront that seeing them felt right the way couples like Jackie and Jeff never had.

That event sent you into a spiral. You thought back to your so-called crushes. All boys from school- none of which you realized you had any urge to even hold a conversation with. You started to analyze movies. Seeing how the love interests interacted, looked at each other.

It started to click. There was only one person you felt that way towards.

A month or two into senior year was when everything came to a crashing halt. You and Misty were having your usual movie night like all other Saturdays. Slightly curled into each other on Misty’s bed. Her hair was pulled half up, p.j. top slowly slipping further down her shoulder. She had put her retainer in before the movie so all of her little quips had a slight lisp to them.

Adorable. She was simply adorable. This was a common thing for you to acknowledge now. What made tonight stand out from all the other movie nights for the past two years was a small conversation between the two of you.

Pretty in Pink played on the screen. It was one of the few VHSs that she owned, you two had probably seen it a good 20 times. You didn’t mind though. It was great background noise for your thoughts. Wandering from the last soccer match, to Misty’s bouncy curls, to the math quiz you should probably study for.

“Hey, do you want to know a secret?” You peered down to meet Misty’s eyes, her neck craning to look up at you from her position slightly further down the bed.

“Always.” You cracked a smile at how giddy she had become.

She pushed herself up to face you, kneeling- waiting for you to mirror her.

When you were sat facing her she took your hands, lifting and dropping them as she spoke. “You have to promise not to tell.”

“Of course.”

“Like never. Not a single soul.”

You took one of your hands from hers and stuck your pinkie in front of her face.

“Swear”

She took your pinky in hers and smiled, momentarily squeezing before wrapping her hand back around yours and setting them in her lap.

“Okay so-“ she whispered, looking around with wide eyes to check that no one was around, “you know when I said that I thought Blane was hot?”

You nodded, a little confused about where this was going.

“That wasn’t true- I just wanted to be him. Molly Ringwald is so pretty! I know it’s like totally wild but I want to kiss her so bad!”

Your brain stopped. Just for a second.

“Oh!” It came out as a yell, much more sudden and loud than you had meant. “I totally get that- yeah like- how could you not want to kiss her?” You could feel your hands becoming more clammy by the second.

“I know right!” Misty giggled and rolled her eyes happily as she turned to face the screen again.

With her gaze locked onto the TV, you took a deep breath- you felt like you needed to run away. Escape back into the safety of not having to confront your feelings. But you knew you had to stay. Firstly- did wanting to kiss a girl even mean that you’re gay? Or did girls do that to friends and people they admire? And if Misty had just come out to you- If you left now she’d probably think that you were disgusted by her.

So you stayed. Trying to act as normal as possible. Pretending to be asleep to avoid late-night conversations that normally lead to loose lips.

~

Come practice on Monday, the sleepover was still on your mind. Misty picked up on your funk. She always did. You brushed it off that you were up late the night before. It wasn’t a total lie. You spent half of the night replaying every moment in Misty and your relationship, trying to find any hints.

You earned a few glares from Tai and Jackie. You didn’t blame them. You were off your game.

At the end of the day, Misty was heading towards you at the team bench but Coach Martinez called her over to help with clean up before she could reach you.

You let out a sigh of relief, wanting to avoid any more awkwardness for the day.

“Woah, trouble in paradise?” You jumped a bit. You hadn’t realized Van was still on the bench behind you.

“Huh?” You asked stupidly.

“I just thought you and Misty were close. Are you good?”

Van was nothing if not perceptive. No one on the team understood- or even seemed to like Misty. Most of them refused to interact with you outside of practice too. Acting as if you’d pass on her “crazy” to them.

Van was never like that though. She seemed to have her own run-ins with bullying. She would sometimes make small comments and jokes but would still be kind to both of you.

You looked at her. Trying to gauge if she actually wanted to know if you were good. Her look wavered, becoming more serious. “Dude, are you okay?” She tried again.

You sat down next to her. Your eyes refused to meet hers as you looked out across the field towards the school.

It was just the two of you.

“Can I ask you something personal?” You knew that Van would say yes. It didn’t matter that the two of you weren’t close. She was always there for anyone on the team.

“Sure- I reserve the right to plead the fifth though.” Always one to try and keep it light.

“How did you figure out that you and Tai were gay?”

Van sucked in a breath next to you. “I uh- Tai isn’t-“

You finally turned to her. “I saw you guys. In the locker room.” The redheads face went pale. She seemed to brace for impact. “I won’t tell anyone. I just am confused. I don’t know who else to talk to.”

Van didn’t relax.

“Please”, the variability in your voice surprising even you.

She nodded and it was her turn to break the eye contact. “I don’t really know. To be honest I thought Tai was straight. Right up until the moment she kissed me. Fuck even after that I thought she was just a curious straight girl who pegged me for a dyke.” She let out a dry chuckle and winced towards the ground. “Do you think you’re gay? Or…”

You nodded. “Yeah, I figured that out a few months ago.”

Silence lingered between the two of you. Van kicked her feet, ripping up bits of dirt and grass with her cleats.

She spoke up gently, “Do you think Misty is gay?”

You dropped your head into your hands. “I don’t know. I think so.”

“Look- fuck- I don’t know Misty and I don’t really understand her but I do see a lot as a goalie. And Misty is obsessed with you. She looks at you like you hung the fucking moon.”

You chuckled, “Yeah- I know. But she’s always been like that. I think she’d treat anyone who was her friend that way.”

“Or she’s just always been into you.”

“Oh.” You furrowed your eyebrows, “I guess I didn’t think about that.”

Van barked out a laugh. The heaviness of the conversation gone. “Has she ever hinted at being into girls?”

“Well…” she looked at you expectingly, you debated on keeping Misty’s secret but decided that after Van had opened up and trusted you about her and Tai it's only fair you return the favor “On Saturday she told me that she was into Molly Ringwald.”

“Dude that’s totally dyke behavior!” She slaps your arm.

The two of you walked back to the locker room together. Misty was waiting for you, as she always did. As soon as her eyes landed on Van you could see the anger- jealousy?- immediately.

“Woah, Misty, I’m not trying to steal your lady- cool it” Van held her hands up in surrender and turned to wink at you so Misty couldn’t see.

Misty huffed and tapped her foot as Van quickly grabbed her stuff and saluted to you as she pushed open the locker room door.

When the door banged shut after her Misty pinned you to your spot with a worried look.

She opened her mouth and you saw her lip quiver. So naturally you blurted out, “I’m gay!”

Her mouth snapped shut and she looked at you confused. “Okay?”

You furrowed your eyebrows, “that’s it?”

“Well yeah- I mean I already knew that?”

“What?”

“We’ve been together for like a few months.” You looked at her like she grew a second head, “Misty what the actual fuck are you talking about?”

“Do you not remember?” She let out a exacerbated sigh and laughed lightly, “This makes so much sense! I was wondering why you got so freaked out about the Molly Ringwald thing. I thought you were jelous and mad at me!” She laughed again and moved to take one of your hands in hers as you stood in shock. “When we were on the bus back from the game at West Side, and I told you that I loved you and you said I love you too. I meant like love love.”

You took your free hand and face plamed. “Oh my god. You’re joking.”

She laughed gleefully, “No! I was getting worried you were losing interest or someone else had got your attention.”

“I don’t think that’s even possible.”

Her eyes were sprakingly under the bright fluoresces of the locker room. “Does that mean that I can kiss you? Because believe me I’ve been holding back.” She squeezed your hand excitingly and shifted more into your space.

“Yeah- that sounds cool.” You were still smiling when she lunged towards you, bumping you back into the lockers with the force. You laughed into the kiss and she let out a tiny squeal of glee.

~

Send in yellowjackets requests!

[gothamite-rambler]

Jason Todd Flash Fics

*updated daily

Cats can fetch apparently

Snowflame, again? Roy, stay away!

"I am SNOWFLAME!

1000 dollars at Barnes and Noble?

Jason you're grounded!

Contingency Plans

Thrill Seekers

Kids always know how to piss off their older sibling

"What is your father like? Um..."

Jason babysitting Damian during his 'Keep Secret Love Child a secret from Bruce' revenge plan.

The story after this is about Bruce offering Jason. $7000 a month to stop killing.

Bruce find out about Damian pt 1

"You knew this entire time?"

Bruce meeting his son Damian pt. 2

Jason may have a point here

Jason meets Damian

Jason Todd babysitting baby Damian.

Austen the cat

The batgirls on their period and how the boys handle them.

"How am I the positive influence on this child?"

Older sibling vs second oldest sibling giving you advice

Dentists seem to be their one weakness

"Who do we know that did drugs? I got it!" Batman said, calmly.

These roofs should be redone to support our weight!

Jason read the book Wicked specifically to mess with people

Flashback: Jason Todd when he discovered one of the trainers the Al Ghul's got for him is a child trafficker (based off a story from the book).

Oliver Queen to Dick Grayson and Jason Todd

Did Alfred just give Jason a gun as a gift? Aww, that's so sweet!

Jason read the book Wicked specifically to mess with people

Switching Places (Jason and Bruce mind swap)

A Phone Call from Jail - Kylar Got his Ass Beat Again

Did Alfred just give Jason a gun as a gift? Aww, that's so sweet!

Cass and Steph messing with the Robins

Pie Prank Gone Wrong

Wonder Woman and Jason Todd meeting years later

Another car bomb?!

"Do you have my charger?"

Why the batgirls don't like have their brothers around some of their friends

Two-face and Red Hood

Two-face and Red Hood pt 2

Jason being terrible at flirting

Comfort plush

"You had a bomb in what?!" Dick asked, calmly.

Jason has to make a mighty sacrifice to save Bruce.

"We could make it work," Jason said with a smirk.

"You slashed his tires?"

Jason and Roy getting out of a party

Jason and Roy having a nice family friendly convo

Jason reunites with Barbara

Roy and Jason at a Green Arrow

Jason and Roy having a nice family friendly convo

"Bath time Austen!"

He would rather do this over immediately asking Bruce for money

Jason and Roy being friends and using class of 09 characters

Flashback: Jason Todd when he discovered one of the trainers the Al Ghul's got for him is a child trafficker

Catwoman meets the Second Robin

How Catwoman treats the old Robins sometimes

Jason when he got his gun permit in New Jersey.

"Stop treating me like Gohan!"

Jason singing the best song ever

"Are you dealing drugs?"

Roy and Jason being the disgruntled couple/friends

Aww, he got him a pet!

Oliver Queen when he found out his son had remained friends with Jason Todd

The reason why the batgirls don't have always have their friends around their brothers.

Kids always know how to piss off their older sibling

The Wayne boys most days without sleep before they finally crashed (two manage to beat out Batman)

Kids always know how to piss off their older sibling

"She might have a point."

That was actually a good deed, Jason.

Wonder Mom with Jason Todd

How Catwoman treats the old Robins sometimes

Gordon meets the second Robin

"That's a big number!"

Jason has washed his jacket in a few months due to his hectic schedule… Roy wears a trucker hat.

The biggest mystery of life: Why are cats so cute?

Another car bomb?!

[itstheghostofmypast]

MOOT GAME: " make up a trope for your moots and their biases. doesn’t need to be romantic. can be crackfic/funny/anything you want ^ㅇ(๑>◡<๑)ㅇ^ "

Okay- so, first of all, thank you so much Anon, for this ask and I'm sorry I responded to late, but I had to take my time with this one.😭💖.

So here it goes, (i know i said i'd do two biases, im sorry guys, i love yall too much and i get too invested the word count was killing me)

1) @edenesth

Park Seonghwa- Rivals to Lovers

Here me out, he owns an old book shop across the street, he's been there longer than you too. This was his turf, his town, his people, people who loved to read in his cozy library, with its olden print books, worn out pages, read through by generations of the same family.

All was great until one spring she shows up, with her whole pastel plus minimalistic vibes, all with the cutesy trinkets and plants, with warm lights- he noticed some books too, but they were only for show- in conclusion it was a horrid place.

A horrid place where most teens would go to after school now, no longer going to his bookshop, where they'd gossip, read novels or mangas, or even look at pretty pictured magazines (the safe kind, mind you he kept nothing nasty). What's worse was that the older folk began to go there, too! Especially because of how nice she was to them, so polite and so pretty and - ANNOYING.

He even went to 'inspect' the place, with a sour mood and an ill intention, though he was greeted with a burst of sweet aroma, one that had his stomach growling and his inner foodie, begging him to pick at least one of the many pastries or have a cup of steaming, delicious coffee. What came next was worst, her, with her gentle smile and angelic features.

"Hello! Welcome to Spring Avenue, how may we help you today?"

"You're taking my traffic."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Of course you don't."

With that he had walked out, starting a cold war, between the two. Ironically, she was a pacifist, never a fighter, but boy, did he piss her off, he knew all those buttons that would have her steaming like a hot latte.

The war had begun;

It all began when he put a " 10% off sign on Mangas, Fashion Magazines and Manhwas" that took a god chunk of her traffic.

In retaliation, she launched a "Friendship campaign, any customer that brings a friend gets a cake slice free."

Spend 2 hours reading here and leave with a borrowed book/novel of your choice."

"Buy a coffee and get a cookie free."

This continued throughout the season, so did their rivalry, to an extent that led their divided customers sense the tension. And like usual, highschoolers are escapists and this little feud of Seonghwa and her's was a problem they'd like to avoid, from her cafe they could see their beloved bookshop owner Seonghwa scowl at them, and if they were leaving the bookshop, the kids could feel the uneasiness in her smile that she give them once they'd pass her by.

"Congratulations, you're in loss." She sighed, closing the file, earning a scowl from the cafe owner, "Hey, I'm just here to check your bills, loss, and profit stuff, don't shoot the messenger."

"Alexia, come on." She whined, this was her dream, she'd put in her life's savings for this, "What should I do, Lexi?"

"Gosh, maybe not give out stupid discounts four times in a month?" Alexia sighed, rubbing her face, leaning back to stare at the bookshop across the street, "San said he knows the owner, maybe you guys could do a collab, instead of trying to each other's traffic."

"Who's San?" She asked her best friend, slash account manager and Public Relations officer- wait, was she dating!?

"Oh- uh- hey would you look at the time?" Alexia got up, grabbing her disposable coffee cup and bag, "Tell you what, you ask the bookshop owner dude about this? Okay? I'll get back with the details on Monday!" She called out as she walked towards the door, ignoring the cafe owner's questions about this San, "BYE LOVE YOU!"

That's how she found herself standing Infront of his bookshop that evening, still debating if she should go in or not? Was this idea even worth it, the guy was rude, annoying, stupid, incredibly handsome and sweet with kids and- the hell.

"Can I help you?" His deep voice came out of no where

She almost jumped out of her skin, only to turn around and spot the man she had been hating for the past ten months, standing there in all his angleic glory, with that ugly sweater and that overly comfortable scarf, not to mention his hair, his undercut had grown, quiet well too, perhaps he really was blessed with good genes.

"I uh..." she trailed off, pouting to herself, thinking of how he'd react, maybe he would make fun of her, or insult her or even go as far as to tell the town about her poor business management skills.

"Are you still open?" his question had caught her off guard, staring at him quietly wanting to see if this was a trick, only it wasn't, for when she nodded, he had looked around and then asked if he could...get a cup of coffee from there.

Of course she had said yes, why on earth would she say no to a customer, she needed the business. Unfortunately, that one cup of coffee, turned into two, then three, well- not as unfortunate as she would like it to be.

The two, mind you, who still didnt like each other, began to learn a lot about each other. He learnt how she was genuinely a sweet, caring and gentle person, her persona was indeed not fake but very real, this is who she was. She on the other hand, learned that he had inherited this business from his family, and he was an avid reader- sort a geek, a cute geek, a cute geek that could eat a whole chocolate cake with three mugs off coffee like it was nothing.

It wasn't until the third week of him visiting her cafe, that when he had stepped out to go there, he had bumped into her. She had almost fallen, but he was quick, gripping her wrist and pulling her into his chest, only to laugh when she mumbled an excuse, though he was glad she couldn't hear how his heart was hammering against his chest, wanting to stuff itself in the breast pocket of her coat.

That day she had asked him if she could check out his book shop, because she had been looking for old English bakery recipes and she couldn't find it anywhere, not any store around or online. Of course he had taken her to the right isle, in the right section in no time, this bookshop was his life and collecting and sifting through books was his passion, that day he had seen her passion, she had sat there, on the floor the entire night, reading book after book, mumbling to herself as she noted down recipes. He had sat next to her, helping her jot down notes, bringing her coffee- well not as good as hers, but good enough. At one point he had even ordered them a late night snack, well snacks, because he's a growing boy. He had closed the shop with the two inside, even pulled out a blanket and some cushions from the lounging area so she could comfortably work- she was a passionate girl and ironically he had realised something that night, only it turned into a full blown epiphany in the morning.

Next morning she had woken up right next to him, her head on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her as the blanket was draped over the two, they had fallen asleep while reading- oh my, he really was pretty up close.

Though the two pretended nothing had happened, nothing had changed, however, everyone around them had noticed, the highschoolers would giggle when he'd come to her cafe for a cup of coffee, or how the older folk would pat him on the back when she'd step into the bookshop calling him out for help, with her little, "Hwa?"

Neither really knew how it happened, but one night while closing up he had waited outside for her, telling her he'd drop her home, even though she lived close by. Slowly this had become part of their routine, he'd often talk about the latest manga or an issue to the Star Wars comics or whatever on earth he'd talk about, but she'd always listen. Always smile and laugh at his jokes, while he'd readily accept any test recipes she'd try, telling her that his stomach was like a blackhole.

But when do the two get together? Simple, on New Years Eve, when he had to close his shop but she had decided to leave her cafe open, wanting to cater to all those who were celebrating the arrival of the new year with their loved ones, she knew Seonghwa had to go home anyway and she didn't want to spend the night alone since her family was out of town. What she did not expect was a few minutes before the strike of midnight, the cafe door chimed open as she turned to greet the customer, only to freeze at the sight before her- Seonghwa entering with a bouqet of origami flowers, smiling at her as he slowly walked to her;

"I- I know you don't like plucking flowers or bouqets, so I made you these."

"You...made these?"

"Ofcourse."

"W-why?"

"I...because I..." but before he could finish his sentence his ears picked up the count down, causing him to quickly place the flowers on the counter and as soon as the fireworks rang in her ears, it was as if she could feel the burning warmth in her body, taking a second to process how his lips were on hers, his hands cupping her face as her hands instinctively went up to grip his coat, pulling him even closer. Who knew that one day she'll end up opening a cafe that also served as a bookstore, who knew that one day, her little, evil, handsome rival bookseller, would be the New Year's kiss she never knew she needed, the man she never knew she needed, the lover that she was blessed to have.

2) @yessa-vie

Jeong Yunho- Neighbors to Lovers

No, she was not the new tenant, he was, and for some ungodly reason he was also extremely ill-prepared to live alone. Like any other weekend, she was leaving her apartment to go to the cafe to sit in peace and finish her novel, but God had other plans. She had opened the door to come face to face with a tall, good-looking man, though the smile he wore scared her- he was one of those extroverts.

No, he was not mean at all, nor was he the manipulative kind, Jeong Yunho really didn't know how the pre-installed dishwasher worked, that's why he had come to her that fateful weekend, about to knock on the door but she had beat him to it, opening the door before he could, earning a sheepish smile in return- who knew his neighbour would be so gorgeous, who knew purple could look so good on someone?

"Hey, I- I moved in across the hall, apartment 19, lol, I guess we're neighbours, huh?"

She had only nodded meekly at his question, pulling her satchel closer to her person, not because she didn't like him, no, but because she wasn't much of a talker anymore, not so confident either and also- because regardless of how good looking this stranger was, he was still a stranger.

"I'm Yunho- Sorry to bother you, I know you must be going somewhere, but I- I uh- I wanted to know if you know how to operate the dishwasher?"

That's how she found herself in his apartment, leaving the maindoor wide open, so she could escape if something were to happen, but to her surprise he was just a regular idiot, one who thought the dishwasher was a rack used to dry the dishes- men.

That night Yunho met an angel, one who seemingly had her life planned out, held together well, while he was still trying to build something out of his- data analyst or not, living alone was not the easiest thing to do, yet, she seemed so nonchalant about it.

Overtime however, she noticed how he would come over to ask her for help often, sometimes it was the 'fridge isn't working right' other times it was the 'how much water do you add to rice while boiling it?' Honestly, she would've told him to piss off if it were anyone else, but it was her polite neighbour, her sweet polite, new neighbour who would pass her by in the corridor every morning, smiling at her and wishing her a good morning- even if she wasn't a morning person.

Ironically, he continued to ensure they cross paths, only because he wanted to get to know her, to talk to her, he really needed a friend, and since moving here meant Mingi and him could no longer hang out 24/7, he really needed another person to talk to, someone who was not Hongjoong from the finance department.

Ironically, she did not protest or tell him to get lost, instead she's quietly help him whenever he'd approach her, giving him a shy smile then going back to her apartment. That purple door tempting him to go back and knock on the old wood, wanting to know what Narnia like secrets she hid behind.

She let it be, truthfully, she wanted fo befriended him, but during these little adventures, she realised she had begun to neglect her book, the same book she had a deadline for, the same book she had been working on day and night, and now this puppy pops up and takes all her attention?

So what does she do? Simple, she starts to create some form of distance, leave before he'd be awake, come back home later too, also even if he did come to knock on her purple door, she wouldn't be there to answer it, so technically she wouldn't feel guilty right?

Wrong, instead God had punished her with a severe writer's block, one so bad that she had missed two of her deadlines, and according to her publisher, she was on her last chance. That's how she found herself at the very cafe where she would find solace, now on the verge of tears, staring at the laptop in pure agony, maybe this was payback for leaving him unattended and ignoring him or maybe she was never meant to be a writer.

A fresh cup of coffee was placed next to her hand, causing her to quickly pull back and look at the stranger, only her panicked eyes met a softer, more timid gaze, a gentle smile gracing her presence.

"Hey... you looked like you needed the juice." He smiled, gesturing towards the chair, as if asking for permission to sit down next to her, to which she nodded.

"I uh..." she paused. Should she even be asking him how he's been? Does she have the right to do so, or are they just neighbours- well, at this point, two strangers living across each other.

"I read your books by the way," he began, giving her a gentle smile, as he felt the way she had tensed up, honestly, initially he thought she was like that because his presence made her uncomfortable, but he soon realised it wasn't him, but she usually was this tensed all the time, this nervous and unsure, which made no sense to him because she was one of the most well functioning person he had met in the city, and he was glad to have moved in next to her, "It's great, the plotline is amazing and the details- you really captured the essence, I particularly liked the world you created, honestly, when I moved here I thought everyone wore those 'blockers' too. To not...feel stuff you know," he turned to look at her, only to catch her staring at him, a small chuckle escaping him when she cleared her throat, averting her gaze, "You were the only one who was nice enough to help me, even for the stupidest of tasks...it means a lot."

She stared at him in awe and disbelief. She had been trying to avoid him for almost a month now, couldn't he tell? Or was he just playing dumb- I mean he totally could be dumb, he didn't know a toaster comes with settings, just thought the numbers were there for the appeal.

After that the two began to "spend time together", it was strictly casual mind you, nothing personal, though he would drop by more often than usual, sometimes after work, sometimes on the weekends- to have dinner with her, he'd bring dessert, or to watch a movie with her, he'd bring the snacks- no, nothing domestic at all.

Or so they thought, because a few months in, he had come over by swinging the door open, yes he had the keys and she had his keys, only to find her standing there all dressed up.

"Where are you off to? What about movie night?"

"Oh no..." she gasped, "Yuyu, I forgot to tell you I had a date tonight." A date? Why? With whom?

"Wait, why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Why would you go on a date when we- I mean...isn't it weird? Shouldn't you be more focused on your book, instead of this temporary romance?"

"Temporary romance?!"

"W-wait, I didn't mean it like that. It came out wrong-"

"Out."

"W-what?"

"I said get out!"

That happened a week ago, she had been avoiding him for a whole week, she had been ignoring his calls, his texts, his knocks- no he didn't barge into her apartment, it took him a great amount of time to get her to open up to him and he idiotically clowned himself. So he decided to go to the next thing, go to the official reading of her book launch.

He waited there at the back, listening to her intently, taking in each word, who knew he would ever fall in love with, her neighbour, the same girl who had helped with the dishwasher, brought him dinner at night, spent time teaching him the usual ropes of living alone- who knew the very same girl had changed the plot of the book, basing it on her life, expressing how the shy, depressed protagonist, who thought dying her hair purple would make her feel better, realised that the only thing that would make her feel better would be a companion, a tall, handsome man, with a heart of gold- it was not that she needed a man, no, she just needed a friend, and she had finally found one, the inspiration to her writer's block, the Chandler to her Monica, the- HE DIES!? 

He gasped, appalled at the way she had ended the story, where at the end, on his deathbed the man tells his beloved how she never needed him, but he needed her to function, to live through each day- bloody hell.

He waited for them to leave when he finally approached her, somewhat upset-no, he was very upset, as she stopped cleaning up to look at him, raising a questioning brow, "What?"

"I can't believe you!"

"Funny, Jeong, I should be the one saying that."

"What!? You killed me!?"

"What?"

"I come here to declare my undying love- no I come here to tell you how much you mean to me and apologise for never asking you out but getting upset when someone actually asked you out and you KILL ME IN YOUR NOVE?"

"First of all, I accept your apology, secondly, the protagonist was DEFINITELY NOT YOU, I made him up WAY BEFORE I met you."

"Oh..." he stared at her then looked around the almost empty bookshop, maybe he should just leave-

"So...Will you ask me out properly now or...'l"

"Move in with me."

"Too fast."

"Was worth a shot." He smiled when she let out a small laugh shaking her head at his antics, "Take me to dinner, Yunho." She smiled watching him lean closer then pause, as if asking for her permission,  "Can I...?" His question was answered when she gripped him by the lapels of his coat, pulling him closer to crash her lips against his, smiling when he wrapped his arms around her, pulling back only to press his forehead against hers,

"We move into my apartment..."

"What? Mine's great-"

"Yunho, have you seen the window and the balcony on mine?"

"Your apartment it is boss."

3) @jaehunnyy

Choi San- Bestfriends to Lovers

Idiots, these two were complete idiots who were utterly in love with each other but were also too blind to realise that - why? Simple, because both feared that confessing to the other may ruin the long-held, deep bond.

A bond that had developed at the ripe age of childhood, middle school, to be more accurate. The day he had come to school, bored out of his mind, staring outside the window, wondering if he could jump on the closest tree to escape this prison. What he had not expected was an angel to come and sit beside him, well technically, the teacher had made her sit next to him, and he hadn't noticed her until she poked his shoulder lighter, causing him to jerk back and gasp, earning a few chuckles from the glass as the teacher just sighed in defeat.

"Wh-Hello."

"Do you need help with that?" She asked, pointing at the math equation in front of him. He looked at his notebook and remembered that's what they were supposed to me doing- damn that was a lot of daydreaming.

"Yeah, I guess...do you... know how to solve it?" He asked the new girl, too afraid to make eyecontact.

"Here, I'll show you." Turning to face him, she pulled his scribbled notebook closer.

"I'm San by the way."

That day onwards, a nice and quiet introvert at the back of the class finally began to crack open. From time to time, you'd hear him whispering to her, talking about some anime or a film. Often, he'd be telling her about his cat, Byeol, and how pretty she was. During break you wouldn't see San next to her for the first five minutes, no, he'd be sprinting across the campus,jumping down the stairs to go to the canteen to get her something to drink with her lunch, or a sweet snack, regardless of how many times she'd say 'it's fine.' During self study hours, she wouldn't be studying, no, she'd be busy tutoring her athletically gifted friend, he was...a little dumb, but that's okay, he was hardworking and she'd tell him she'd help him where he'd get stuck, explain and tutor where needed- especially in math.

As they grew older, he grew into his body, his self-esteem issues slowly subsiding, his feelings for her deepening, yet, never enough to tip the scale, at the bring of an edge but never enough to flow out he had to keep it all under control, because that's just how San was, patient and calm, he would never take a step if there was an ounce of the doubt when it came to how she felt about him. Though watching her spread her wings into the beauty she was, well, was somewhat problematic for him. Especially when she'd come to him, smiling like that, greeting him with the gentle voice of hers, asking him if he liked her haircut.

"What do you think?"

"It's...very nice."

"Just very nice?"

"You'd look pretty to me even if you were bald."

Conversations like these would have her heart hammering against her ribcage, and she'd pray to God that he couldn't hear it. She'd pray for it when he'd be walking home side by side, his shoulder bumping into hers, or his hand brushing against hers, when he'd take her bag from her, clicking his tongue at how heavy it would be,

"You trynna' build muscles like me?" He'd ask, though he was still very fragile, he'd only started going to the gym when he noticed how the 'basketball team captain', had decided to ask her to 'help tutor him too', though she had politely declined.

"Hmm? Of course not, Advanced Math books are just big like that..."

"Why do you do this to yourself, dove?" A nickname she had gained over the time, one used only by him.

"Because I wanna teach one day, I love teaching, I want to make sure people realise subjects aren't difficult or they aren't dumb, it's just that they're not taught properly."

Yup, he was smitten, on his knees, begging for her please ( he was also an idiot).

Ended up in college with her, though in a different major, like hell the now 'mountain of a man', no longer the kitten-like fragile boy, was going to major in math- business was a way better option.

This wasn't a bad situation, though they rarely had a few classes together, she'd still make time to see him, to text him as soon as class would end, but he'd already be standing at the exit, waiting for her with a coffee in hand and a dimpled smile, reserved just for her.

In no means was Choi San an extrovert, but somehow along the line he had met one, who later claimed that his MBTI had changed to an introvert too, though he doubted that notion- Jung Wooyoung.

Boistorous, noisy, obnoxious but a genuinely nice person at heart, Wooyoung was his companion in his major's classes, he was also the first person to know about San's little secret, since San trusted him enough to know, though Wooyoung assured him he had figured it out as soon as San introduced him to her as his "bestfriend".

"You're an idiot." Wooyoung snorted, taking off his shoes as he walked into the 4th years tiny apartment.

"What? Why?"

"You really think I didn't know?"

"How did you kno-'

"You can be bestfriends with a girl since childhood, unless a) one of you confessed to the other and got friendzoned but still chose friendship or b) neither of you confessed but are secretly crushing over the other."

"Wow, should've been a psychologist instead of a business major."

"What can I say, Sannie? I am a man of many talents."

Things progressed like this for a long time, Wooyoung watched from the sidelines how the two would basically act like a couple that was not a couple- almost everyone at campus thought they were a couple and Wooyoung was basically the third wheel. Not that he minded, and San appreciated him for that, he was glad Wooyoung's relationship with his dove was platonic- borderline sibling-like.

But Choi San was a fool, one that Choi San, at the fresh age of 25 wished that perhaps he'd be able to take the next steps, but something at the back of his mind held him back, were his personal desires as important as this friendship?

Which is why he stood there watching his best friend get ready for her date, her date with Wooyoung. After a conversation he did not like, but what could he say? He was too afraid to even confess, and well, Wooyoung wasn't a bad guy, and technically, he was his friend.

"I'm gonna ask her out, Sannie." The brunnet sighed, before taking a sip of his coffee, humming at the bitterness, perhaps this bitterness was sweeter than the bitter taste that had developed in San's mouth at the statement.

"W-why?" The bigger man with the fragile heart whispered.

"Because...I like her...I'm sorry but...I gave you time, so much of it and...I just wanted you to be the first one to know...if she says no, we'll all still be friends, but if she says yes...San, I won't hold back."

That had led to her first anniversary with Wooyoung, then the second and finally a day before their third anniversary San had texted the couple how he wouldn't be able to make it to their anniversary party because he had work that day and he wished them the best.

What he did not expect was someone knocking on his door at 2 am, opening the door to find a tear stained Wooyoung, only for him to punch the taller man in the face, watching him stumble backwards then wipe his eyes and sigh, "I swear- if you weren't such a great guy, I would've stabbed you."

"What the F*CK WOOYOUNG?"

That night was the first time he had seen Wooyoung cry, cry about how when she read the message she had become a mess, one that even Wooyoung couldn't fix, begging him for forgiveness how she made a mistake, how even though she was happy with Wooyoung, her heart belonged to someone else, someone who she thought she could move on from since he never confessed, since he never liked her back the way she did, and though the text was a confirmation of that, she couldn't bear lying to Wooyoung, to give him only half the love of what he deserved, knowing he deserved someone who would teach him the true meaning of love, because she was a teacher with only one student in mind, the idiot of a man- Choi San.

That night San couldn't sleep, not a wink, he processed the words over and over again, so did she like him? Should he confess to her? Now? Wouldn't that make it awkward? Or should he wait? Would that be a mistake?

Though his questions were answered in the morning when the doorbell rang at 7 am, making the sleepy man sigh as he stumbled to the door with blurry eyes, opening it still half asleep, only the slap he received woke sobered him up quickly,

"OW- WH- WHY ARE YOU JUST LIKE WOOYOUNG!?"

"SHUT UP! DONT TAKE HIS NAME! I HURT HIM BECAUSE OF YOU!" Never in the many years of knowing her, had she raised her voice like that.

"I-"

"NO! LISTEN TO ME!" She yelled before shoving him inside so she could continue yelling inside, "I like you- and you- you d*ck you could tell him you liked me but you couldn't tell me!? All those horrible dates you watched me go to, but you couldn't stop me?! You knew you liked me yet you let Woo ask me out!?"

"I- I didn't wanna ruin what we had..."

"San, I- what if I had married Woo? Huh? Then what? When you already had half my heart, I-"

She couldn't finish her sentence though, because the next thing she knew, he was smothering her with all that pent up love, his lips pressing against hers with a ferocity she had ever seen in her gentle Sannie, wanting to claim what he was too scared to touch before.

He only pulled back when she lightly pushed him back, gasping for air, looking up at him all flushed and pink, her swollen lips just enticing him even more,

"W-what was that?" She breathed out.

"Never say you're marrying anyone but me, I would've ruined the wedding even if it meant being thrown out."

"You're an idiot Sannie."

"No, I just had a teacher who could teach me math, but couldn't teach me how to love properly - guess she was learning too."

[xhanisai]

Chat Noir is spoiling his Lady too much... (SOURCE: Scarabella)

AO3

Pairing - Ladynoir

Prompt - 'Chocolate'

Summary -

"No, no, no! You will not spend over €300 daily on chocolate for her! She goes through the entire box in MINUTES." Scarabella then momentarily muttered to herself but Chat Noir picked up every single word. "Not to mention that she refuses to share with me or Tikki." She went back to glaring at him. "Oh, and don’t let me get started on the sleepovers."

He could only cock his head to the side in confusion.

~(x)~

.

.

.

 "Debauve and Gallais. DEBAUVE AND GALLAIS. You just had to be Monsieur. Parfait and get her the most expensive chocolates every time she's on her period! I CAN'T AFFORD TO GET HER THOSE EVERY TIME SHE HAS A CRAVING!!!!" When Scarabella snatched his unassuming frame off the designated rooftop with her yoyo as soon as he arrived for patrol, Chat Noir already braced himself for a verbal lashing from his Lady's best friend. He just didn't expect it to be regarding the way he dotes on the love of his life nor did he expect it to be somewhat of a problem for everyone else...?

 "But my Lady deserves the best in the world." Was all he could answer, coming across as a little bit whingey and just like Guangdang's sad-looking cat (still tied up by the bandalore's wire and his kitten ears flat against his golden hair). "You guys should let me know whenever she has a craving. I can get them right away, it's no problem."

 "No, no, no! You will not spend over €300 daily on chocolate for her! She goes through the entire box in MINUTES." Scarabella then momentarily muttered to herself but Chat Noir picked up every single word. "Not to mention that she refuses to share with me or Tikki." She went back to glaring at him. "Oh, and don’t let me get started on the sleepovers."

 He could only cock his head to the side in confusion.

 "I now get ZERO hours of sleep because SOMEBODY has conditioned Ladybug into becoming a cuddler! Not only does it get so hot and make me all gross and sweaty— her grip is so TIGHT that I swear she's probably broken one of my ribs! Maybe two or three! This is all your fault!" She jabbed a finger at his forehead and not even his surprised little "miaou!?" was enough to cool her down.

 "W-Well. Maybe you should just get stronger. Then her cuddles won't feel so tight. Or just call me and I'll cuddle with her since I’m her boyfriend, slash future-husband in the process. You should be honoured to even get my Lady's cuddles. Hmmph!" He bleated, squirming on the spot and trying to get out of his bounds. Thankfully for him, Scarabella dropped her yoyo to silently scream into her hands and the hero was finally free.

 "You're insufferable!" She whisper-shouted.

 "But my Ladybug loves me this way~! And I’m gonna go buy her five boxes of those chocolates tonight~!"

 The rest of the patrol was spent with Scarabella chasing and nagging Chat Noir like an angry mother and the latter acting like a bratty child who found joy in winding her up. Their bickering was so loud, they unfortunately caused the akumatisation of a very sleep-deprived man who had a shift starting at five in the morning and he did not appreciate their lack of consideration.

 All the while, Marinette was knocked out in her bed, trying to sleep her period pain away and blissfully dreaming about her favourite chocolates that had captured her entire heart since the first bite.

.

.

.

~(x)~

[himawarijjk]

I had so much left to say. . . (OC x Suguru Geto)

"I had so much left to say . . ." Himawari whispered.

In her pale hands, she held a photo. This photo was old. . . 10 years. Still, the memories the photo held felt as though they had just occured yesterday. Suguru Geto, her ex-boyfriend, stood before their old school, Jujutsu High. He was in the process of tying back his hair. He wasn't paying attention in the candid photo, which is what had prompted Himawari to take the picture to begin with. At the side was two fingers making a peace sign. Satoru. She remembered being so cross with him that day, she even yelled. "You ruined the photo!" she remembered saying. Now, it was something she treasured dearly.

She had fallen in love with Suguru so quickly. He just had this amazing aura. He was so kind to her. . . so interested in what she had to say. She returned that feeling. When he spoke, she would sit and listen - careful not to cut across him. His voice, his face, the way his shoulders would shake when he laughed, the creases under his eyes. . . she noticed everything.

Then, everything changed. Suguru turned against Jujutsu society. . . which meant, he was also turning against Himawari. She did not want to betray those she loved. . .so she had to make the ultimate sacrifice. He sought her out. He showed up at her apartment she shared with her brother, Yuuji. He begged her to go with him. "Come with me," he said -- and the offer was initially tempting, until she realised everything in him had changed. He was no longer the man she fell in love with.

"Together, we can destroy those monkeys!" The tired look in his eyes, now emotionless and dead. She was incapable of finding her breath in that moment, realising he was too far gone. The words she was going to say -- they never left her mouth that day. Instead, she cried. Clutching onto him, pulling at his clothing, trying to beat some sense into him by smacking his chest. "Please, wake up, Suguru!" she remembered crying, tears blurring her eyes, "I can't take it! You're breaking my heart!" He stood there, taking her assaults without flinching, when suddenly, he grabbed her wrist.

"If you're not coming with me, Himawari, then you're an enemy."

Those words cut like a knife through her chest, completely slashing her already bleeding heart. She stumbled backwards, falling into the nearby wall. He stepped over her to leave. Her hand found its way to her stomach. . . where what was left of her Suguru was growing inside. She was only seventeen. How was she going to cope?

-- and yet, somehow she did. All thanks to Satoru Gojo. The man who stepped up to be a father to a child he didn't make.

A few droplets of tears fell, landing on the photo. "I wanted to tell you we could be a family," she spoke, her voice trembling, "that I could take all your pain away. That. . .despite our youth, we could make it. Together."

She sighed sadly, "Suguru. . . why did you have to change? Why did you have to leave me? Your actions led to your best friend having to end your life yesterday, and now. . . your son will never know his father."

She concentrated on his face, his features. She hadn't seen him in so long, and now she would never have the chance to. "I would have married you." Her concentration was cut short by a knock on her bedroom door. "Mama!" her now 10-year-old son Kazuki called from beyond the door, "Papa Satoru is here!" "Just a minute!" she replied, placing the photo back in her wardrobe. She could never allow her son to see it. Just before she closed the wardrobe, she wiped her eyes with her jumper sleeve, then took one last look. . . at least for another year.

"I loved you more than anything, Suguru," she said softly, closing her eyes. She could feel his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. His scent, both natural and his aftershave mixed together. His head rested on hers, his eyes closed with a wide smile on his lips. She insticively reached down, as if she were placing her hands over his. She let out a content sigh. "I love you, Suguru." "I love you too, Sunflower," she could almost hear him reply.

One final tear rolled down her left cheek, over her lips, dribbling down her chin. "Oh, Suguru. . . you have no idea how happy I am that. . . he has your eyes."

[seacee16]

hues of you | charles leclerc

charles leclerc x original female character

warnings: none

next chapter

chapter one ~ pink

Bahrain '23

juliette.amelie

Liked by pierregasly and others

juliette.amelie accidentally got onto a plane to Bahrain, whoopsies ✈

pierregasly best accident ever

juliette.amelie aww, you sound just like my parents :,)

pierregasly wtf ?!

pierregasly stop it. get some help.

juliette.amelie noooooooo, what if therapy makes me lose my 🌟sparkle🌟

pierregasly or maybe, just think about it, what if therapy actually fixes you?

juliette.amelie ARE YOU CALLING ME BROKEN BITCH BOY?!

pierregasly YES!!

juliette.amelie ...fair (I'm slashing your tires)

pierregasly alpinef1team she's threatening me!!

alpinef1team I pretend I do not see

Juliette had always been amazed a how one small interaction could lead to something bigger: love, heartbreak, betrayal, friendship. How the universe set up every aspect of every life, and how some lines are destined to cross in ways boy mundane and strange. But each crossing had a purpose. And one fated crossing back in the country of her birth had led her to where she was today. No matter how many years passed, she found it impossible to forget about it.

“Is this your first time in La Castellet?” The man asked in another attempt to strike up conversation with the young woman. It was two questions ago that she had begun to regret her decision of going out alone, but her friends were knee-deep in assignments and heck she was only in town for a few nights.

“No, I’ve been before,” she replied politely, just as she had with the other questions.

“Pity, I’ve been told I am a great tour guide.” She nodded, bringing her glass to her glossed lips in hope of finding a way out at the bottom of her drink.

The man’s eyes raked over her sitting figure before taking a step closer. Too close. “You know-“

That is when she first met him. She felt his hand on her back first, the presence of his body behind her own prominent and towering. Then came the smell of his cologne. And finally, the deep French-accented voice a little bit above her head.

“There you are, ma chaton.” My kitten.

The strange man’s head dipped down to press a gentle kiss to her cheek, so soft that it was barely felt. He lingered; eyes focused on the man opposite her as he froze in place.

“Need some help?” Her saviour whispered, the music around them keeping his words hidden from anyone else.

Her eyes flickered, catching a hint of stubble and dirty blonde curls in her peripherals. She turns her head slightly, enough to return the subtle kiss her had given her. His jaw was rough beneath her lips.

“S’il vous plaît,” she whispered back, feeling the man’s fingers tap the span of her back in response. Please. She saw him straighten his body to its full height, his gaze never leaving her unwanted company. But then he smiled, stepping forward to offer a hand to the confused man.

“Thank you for keeping her company while she waited. There are some real creeps in this world and I would hate for anything to have happened to her before I arrived.” She couldn’t see his face, but it had the other man stumbling over his words and feet until he was no longer in sight. The woman let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding, sweeping her hair over one shoulder.

Her saviour made himself comfortable in the seat beside her, giving her the perfect opportunity to take him all in. He leaned forward to say something to the bartender, oblivious to her stares. Expensive was the first word that came to mind as she gave him a once over. With both sleeves of his slightly creased white shirt pushed up to his elbows, she could see the large watch shining on his wrist. A pair of sunglasses hung from the front, exposing a hint of chest and muscle. Blonde hair and stubble all along his jaw. And when he finally turned towards her, she noticed his eyes. Blue as the melting glaciers, clear as day.

“That happen to you often?”

She shook her head. “Usually, I have a few friends around to keep the sharks at bay. Guess this is what I get for going out alone,” she joked, offering the new stranger a smile.

He seemed shocked by her words. “You’re here alone?”

With a raised eyebrow, she teased, “Why so surprised? Because you just can’t believe that a girl like me would come to a bar without a man dangling from her little finger?” The man grinned, amused by the words that surely any other man would have spewed in her presence.

“I was, but that makes me seem a bit douchebag-y, so let’s just say I’m wondering because it’s not entirely safe,” he played along. A drink was placed on the bar top in front of him. After thanking the man behind the bar, the stranger stood. “If you’d like, my friends and I have an area reserved further in. You are welcome to join us. You know, for the sake of your safety and all.”

The woman looked towards the table he was motioning towards. They were a group of around nine men, with two women in between laughing at something one of them said. Too many for her liking this evening.

“I think I’m good over here,” she declined sweetly. The man’s shoulders seemed to slump. “But, if you need to get away from all that chaos at any point, you know where to find me.” His mouth twitched. Instead of leaving, he sat back down.

“One night without me won’t hurt them,” he admitted, grinning against the rim of his glass. “Not that I don’t love a good mystery, minette, but an introduction is in order, no?” Kitty.

“Juliette,” she told him, watching as he took her free hand in his and placed a kiss on her knuckles. “And what name should I put to the face of my saviour?”

His face lit up in a grin that screamed trouble, his thumb grazing over the skin of her hand as he held it between them. Juliette found his blue eyes captivating, like the tide daring her to go deeper into unknown waters. Waters that would soon become as familiar as Nice shores.

“Pierre.”

The friendship was effortless after that. Both of them travelled for work, but on the rare occasion that they found themselves in the same place at the same time, it was as if no time had passed.

And now, Juliette stood outside of the Bahrain International Circuit. The first time Pierre told her about his career as a Formula One driver, she laughed in his face, failing to believe how the man who looked like he would trip over air was capable of driving at such high speeds. It wasn’t until he actually showed her the highlights of his 2020 win that it hit her. From then on, it was a constant battle of denying his requests for her to join him at races, swearing on his life that he would be able to focus better – maybe even win – if she were there with him. Two years later, and she had eventually been worn down, giving in to his pleas and arriving a little before qualifying was due to start. Having already let him know of her arrival, she slid her dark sunglasses up into her hair and walked through the paddock. It wasn’t long before she noticed a familiar team name on a nearby motorhome.

As if sensing her, the door opened and a tall Frenchman hurried out. With one hand up to shield his eyes from the bright Bahrain sun, she watched in amusement as his head turned from side to side, trying to find her among the many faces occupying the surrounding area. He looked well. He stood docked out in his Alpine gear; racing suit tied firmly around his waist. His hair was tousled, as if he had just woken up, no doubt from the balaclava he would have to put on once again when it was time to drive.

When his eyes finally landed on her, it took mere seconds for him to jog over and wrap her up in his arms. A small squeal left her lips as she felt her feet lift from the ground, legs swinging as the man carried her away.

“Pierre,” she whispered aggressively, eyes wide as she noticed the heads turning to watch the pair. “You need to put me down, mon coureur. People are staring.” My racer. The man ignored her complaints, tightening his arms around her waist and only setting her back down once they were inside the motorhome. However, her freedom was short-lived, as she was immediately pulled into another hug by her friend.

“Vous m’as manqué, ma chaton.” I’ve missed you, my kitten.

“You saw me two months ago,” she told him, giggling at the way the tip of his nose tickled her neck when he shook his head. Juliette tried to pull away to get a better look at him, but the man refused, wanting nothing more than to keep her in his arms for as long as possible. Realising that there was no winning, she smiled. “You’re so clingy today, mon coureur. Why is that?” Her fingers traced shapes on his back as she spoke, causing him to shiver against her.

“Let’s call it pre-race nerves,” he whispered into her hair, the tone of his voice implying something all too familiar. Pierre let his lips fall to her neck, an action that resulted in her pinching his sides playfully.

“Get pole position and I’ll see what I can do about that pre-race nerves,” she teased, finally managing to pry the male off of her. His eyes were daunting, but the smile on his face was a soft as she remembered it to be.

Juliette was no stranger to the undeniable charm of her friend. And she would be lying to everyone and herself if she denied the affect it had on her. There were multiple occasions where a night of drinks and his sweet words had led to the pair finding themselves tangled among the other’s sheets, only to laugh about it over breakfast the following morning. In fact, that was how most of their meet ups ended. Despite that, they remained the closest of friends. There was a time, not long after they had met, that the idea of being in an official relationship was brought up, and for a few months they tried it. Chaste kisses and candle-lit dates. It would have been perfect for any other person. Only they weren’t anyone else, and the whole ideal just made their relationship awkward and borderline boring. So, they called it off and went back to their comfortable routine of drunk nights on brief trips. However, this didn’t stop Pierre from hinting towards wanting to introduce her to his friends on the F1 scene, a bribe to get her to return the favour with her friends back home.

“Come on, you need a tour.”

There was no room for protests as she let Pierre drag her out of the small building and back into the sun.

“Also,” he mentioned as they walked. “Don’t think I don’t notice you showing up in Alpine colours. You look beautiful as always, chèrie.” Darling.

She couldn’t help but laugh as Pierre lifted their intertwined hands, watching as she happily twirled beneath their locked fingers. He then brought her back to his side, comfortably resting his arm over her shoulders as she played with the rings on his fingers. The black and pink in her clothing matched almost perfectly with the shades seen in his racing suit, the coordination bringing a smile to the male’s face.

It wasn’t long before Pierre was being called to the garage to get ready for qualifying. Given the okay, Juliette followed him down to where the car was being prepped. She watched in awe as a mix of strategists and engineers rushed in and out of the area, a few sending their ‘good luck’s to her friend as they passed him.

“Have I ever told you that you look really good in your racing gear?” She asked him as he zipped up the front of his black suit. Her eyes trailed down his tall frame, making sure to let her gaze linger when she knew that he was staring back at her.

Pierre looked around the garage for any prying eyes before stalking over to her. She had unintentionally backed herself against a wall in the back corner of the room, feeling his hands grab hold of her arms as his body pressed into hers. Juliette stared up at him, relishing in the way his crystal eyes flickered between her lips and her own eyes.

“Yeah?” He asked, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a grin as his face inched closer to hers.

“Gasly! Stop flirting and get your ass in your car!” A voice shouted from somewhere in the garage. A smile broke out on her face, followed by a laugh from both of them. Ignoring the calls, Pierre leaned down and put his lips to hers, pulling her body closer to him. She breathed him in, smiling at the feeling of his lips against her own. There were zero feelings behind the kiss, but it didn’t stop her head from spinning. When he pulled back, he pressed one last kiss to her temple.

“I’ll see you when I’m done?” Pierre asked, already taking steps back in the direction of the car.

“Good luck, mon coureur.”

[azsazz]

Furiously Fluffy Masterlist:

The Games We Play (Part 2) [Fight, Makeup]

Here’s to Tradition [Daddy!Az]

Ringside(Part 2) [Admiring]

In the Shadows

Leisurely

Starfall

Reading Between the Lines

You Have Yourself a Deal

Family Dynamic [Daddy!Az]

The Different Kinds of Darkness

One More [Smut]

A Different Color

The Art of Giving [Pining]

Can’t You See? [Daddy!Az]

Summer Daze [Daddy!Az]

Promises [Sick Fic, Daddy!Az]

Looking Back

Two Is Better Than One [Daddy!Az]

A Better Idea

Cocoon

Midnight Muse [SBA]

The Calm Beneath the Storm [SBA, Daddy!Az]

The Honeycrisp Grove [SBA, Daddy!Az]

Taciturn [Daddy!Az (doesn’t make an appearance), Baz centered]

Hush Little Baby [Daddy!Az, Wren centered, SBA]

The One with the Best She’s Ever Had [SBA]

Round and Round [Comedy Special, talks of who in the IC has slept with who]

Cuddle Me In[SBA, Daddy!Az, Jax Centric]

Unwrapped [Daddy!Az]

Into the New [Daddy!Az]

Coal Lined Lens [Modern!Azriel, Art School AU]

About Last Night [Daddy!Az, Bat Baby Centric]

Between Me and You [Daddy!Az, Jax Centric]

Moonlight Rising

Siren Songs  Blurb – Moon Jellyfish  [Merman!Az]

Here for You [Daddy!Azriel, Zuzu Centric]

Between the Shadow and the Soul [Death God!Azriel x Goddess of Life!Reader, Fluff, Mentions of Smut]

Warming Up

Storms Don’t Last [Friends to Lovers]

Hack and Slash [SBA]

Terrible Twos [Daddy!Cass]

Sugared and Spiked

Flesh Wound [Wounded!Cassian, Banter]

Structure of the Gods [Modern!Cass, Art School AU]

Burrow [Fluff, A/B/O Dynamics]

The Midnight Hour [Vampire!Cassian, Fluff]

Ace of Hearts [Modern!Cassian, Angst, Fluff]

Strips and Sutues [Daddy!Cassian]

Late Night Talking [SBA]

Clandestine Love [YA!Rhys, Pining]

Falling For You

Due Time (Part 2) [Daddy!Eris]

Just One More Taste

Sweeter Than Pie [SBA]

Sweater Weather [SBA, Daddy!Eris]

Creepy Campfire [SBA]

Milk & Cream [Daddy!Eris, SBA]

Late Nights in the Middle of June [SBA, Daddy!Eris]

Aching for Autumn [SBA]

Meet me in the Woods [SBA]

Our Souls Are Stars and Mine Is Forever Yours [Gideon x Maude] [Starfall Week Prompt 1]

Jax uses his powers at a party

Jax finds out Knox’s mating bond has been found out

Bryaxis calls Jax a friend

Uncle Cassian’s reaction to finding out Jax wants to visit Bryaxis

[virtie333]

Day 23 - Life Day Damerey Celebration

Prompt: Tip-yip

Summary: Poe and Finn prepare the Tip-yip for Life Day

Notes: This was inspired by the Lego Star Wars Holiday Special from 2020. I still want Poe's sweater.

AO3

“What is that burning smell?”

Both Poe and Finn looked up at Rey’s question, more than a little guilt on their faces.

“That’s the Tip-yip,” Finn said.

“But it’s not burning!” Poe defended. “That’s just a little bit that got caught up in the engine that smells. The rest of the Tip-yip is fine!”

“What is Tip-yip?” Rey asked. “I’ve heard more than one person mention it, usually in association with Life Day.”

“It’s a bird, actually,” Finn told her. “Native to Endor. When the Rebellion- slash- New Republic celebrated their first Life Day after the war, they roasted Tip-yip for their meal. Word got out, and it’s become a Life Day tradition.”

“You can find Tip-yips all over, now,” Poe added. “Anyway, we thought you might like to have a traditional Life Day meal this year, our first Life Day since our war ended.”

“I don’t know,” Rey said, eyeing the men warily as they turned the Tip-yip on a spit behind Poe’s X-Wing while BB8 controlled the thrusters from his droid socket. It looked more than a little dangerous. “I’m not really liking that smell.”

“I promise once the burned smell goes away, the aroma will make your mouth water,” Poe smiled.

Finn shook his head. “Provided we don’t burn the whole thing up.” He looked at Rey. “I know what you like to eat, Rey, and you’ll love Tip-yip!”

“Hmmmm…” Rey voiced noncommittedly.

“Hey, Rey!” Rose shouted from behind her. Rey turned. “Come help with the rest of the meal. It may be all we get!”

“I am truly appalled by your lack of faith in us, Rose!” Poe called out as Rey turned to help Rose. “Hey! Hey! Hey!” he suddenly shouted. Rey looked back to see him slapping the Tip-yip with a rag, dousing the bit of flame that had appeared on the bird. Laughing softly, she joined Rose.

“I’m assuming that was Poe’s bright idea?” she asked.

“He said he’s done it before, but I have my doubts,” Rose answered. They grinned at each other.

Thirty minutes later, the meal was ready, and the Tip-yip was surprisingly not burned to a crisp. In fact, when Rey finally got her first taste of it, she was amazed. “This is really good!”

“Told you!” Poe said with a smirk. “Granted, it might have tasted almost as good if we had just stuck it in an oven, but that takes so long!”

“Well, even I’m impressed,” Finn said. “When you said it was the best way to cook Tip-yip, I was sure we weren’t going to get anything but ashes for dinner.” He nodded solemnly toward his friend. “I concede that you are the master Tip-yip chef extraordinaire.”

Poe snorted a laugh. “Yeah, I think my greatest achievement was not getting killed while cooking this thing.”

Everyone laughed at his comment, then continued to eat.

They hadn’t planned on celebrating Life Day here on Candidus. Rey and Finn were travelling to the sites of old Jedi temples, looking for any information they could find on the teaching of new Jedi so that Rey could finally start a school of her own. Rose had come to be with Finn, and Poe had also followed along, uncertain of his future now that the war was over, and just wanting to be close to his friends. They had camped just outside the main village a week or so ago, and just yesterday while shopping in town, Rose had been reminded that it was almost Life Day. She had quickly purchased a Tip-yip and brought it back to camp.

After the meal, they all sat around the table with drinks and just talked. Rey had never felt so full and content before. She found herself staring at Poe. The graceful way his hands moved as he talked, the errant curl that fell over his forehead, the tiny gap in between his canine and incisor teeth, the slight imperfection endearing… Kriff, she had it bad. Sadly, he would never look at her as anything but a friend.

“What do you think, Rey?”

Finn’s question jerked her out of her brooding. “I’m sorry, what?”

“If Rose and I go to the Life Day ball at the Auditorium in town tomorrow night as a couple, would you be willing to go with Poe?”

Rey stared at her friend for a moment, then looked at Poe, not sure how to respond.

“Yeesh,” Poe said, eyes wide. “If her expression is anything to go by, I’d say that’s a no.”

Rey shook her head. “No, that’s not a no,” she denied. “I’m just… you mean like… a date?”

Poe suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Well, you don’t have to think if it that way. I mean, we could just be two friends escorting each other.”

“Friends,” Rey breathed. “Of course.” She nodded, looking down, not wanting them to see her disappointment. For one second there, she had been so hopeful. She composed herself and looked back up. “Yeah, I could do that.”

Poe was staring at her, his brows furrowed. It was the most serious he had looked all night.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I am ready for bed,” Rose told them. As if that was everybody’s cue, they stood, saying their goodnights and heading for their individual tents. Rey knew Finn would end up in Rose’s for the night.

Rey was half-way to her tent when she heard Poe call her name. She turned to find him running up to her, his expression worried.

“Hey, if you don’t want to go to this thing with me tomorrow night, I’m okay with that.”

Again, Rey felt her heart lurch. “You don’t want me to?”

“No! I want you to,” he said. “I just don’t want you to feel pressured into doing something you don’t like.”

“I want to go,” Rey told him. “I think it sounds fun. I just don’t want it to get awkward with people thinking you and I are a couple.” She smiled, but she was sure it looked as fake as it felt. “It might get in the way of you finding a real date.”

“What if… I want you to be my real date?”

Rey’s heart started pounding. “Really?”

Poe nodded, a small smile on his lips. “Yeah, really.”

“I’d like that,” Rey said softly.

Poe’s smile got bigger. “Good. Then it’s a date.” He paused. “A real date.”

Rey couldn’t help but smile back, and this time it was real. “Okay. Goodnight, Poe.”

“Goodnight.”

As Rey turned back toward her tent, she looked over her shoulder. “And thank you for the Tip-yip.”

[ungoliantschilde]

Powerage, 1978.

Worked all day, spent most of it thinking about how to articulate what I want to say about this album.

This is the album where Cliff Williams joined the band as the bass player, and Phil Rudd solidified himself as the third piece of the band’s bedrock: the rhythm section. Malcolm Young is regularly called the greatest rhythm guitarist of all time. Just a brilliant, brilliant player and a riff-writing machine. Phil Rudd’s drumming has a swing to it that perfectly matches what the band does when they’re at their best. And Cliff Williams on bass just locks in with Phil and Mal. Mal, Angus, Phil, and Cliff are the best AC/DC lineup. All of them just seem to know exactly how to play with each other in perfect lock step.

Now, for Bon’s work on Powerage, I am gonna talk about the lyrics.

Let There Be Rock, lyrically, exemplified everything enjoyable about Bon Scott. He was a wild-eyed, mischievous good time at his best. Powerage exemplified the dark side of that personality. It has the most personal, emotional, and directly confessional lyrics of their entire catalogue. For a band that is defined by seeking commercial success, an album comprised of almost entirely first person accounts of heartache is noteworthy. Bon was beloved for being a lewd, lascivious, rabble rousing ring-leader of a band of miscreants.

But Powerage was Bon as a broken hearted poet.

When an interviewer asked Angus what Bon was like, he said “what you see is what you get”. That is what Angus remembers about Bonny: that you could absolutely judge that book by its cover. In another interview, Angus was asked about why Bon drank himself to death, Angus answered in his typically terse style again, “it’s in the songs, mate.”

The songs on Powerage, to be specific.

From “Rock and Roll Damnation”:

-you say that you want respect, honey for what? for everything that you’ve done for me, thanks a lot. you say that I act the fool, well honey I’m a fool for you.

From Brian Johnson’s favorite song, “Down Payment Blues”:

-feeling like a paper cup, floating down a storm drain

From my favorite track, “Gimme a Bullet”:

-she had the word, had the way, the way of letting me know. She said ‘you go your way, and I’ll go mine, and that’ll be the start’. Come tomorrow, come to grips with being all alone. Give me a bullet to bite on. Something to chew. Give me a bullet to bite on and I’ll make believe, I’ll believe it’s you.”

From, “What’s Next to the Moon”:

-it’s your love that I want (background: your love that I need)

From, “Gone Shootin’”:

-Bought a ticket of her own accord… …I stirred my coffee with the same spoon… She never made it past the bedroom door, what was she even for? I took a lover in another town, she took another pill. She was runnin’ in an overdrive, a victim of overkill. My baby’s gone Shootin’… I used to love her so.

According to what I’ve read, Bon once had two separate women in the maternity ward, and they were unaware of each other. Bon was not a guy that would have done well in the age of social media and cellphone cameras. His point was that he found a girl who loved him for being a rock star, and he was not gonna quit being a rock star for her. He was a gross, lascivious and carousing womanizer. And she knew it. When she did the same things back to him, Bon didn’t like being on the receiving end. He was drunk and high most of the time, living out of hotel rooms and the beds of welcoming lovers in every town.

The end was coming, and his family and friends all knew it. No one that knew Bon was shocked when he drank himself to death. The tragedy was how inevitable it was at this point in life.

Powerage was the last of the Aussie made albums. The finale of their time as a bar band. And it’s their most personal, most poignant, and most heartbreaking.

Sad lyrics aside, Powerage is the album that every rockstar that grew up with AC/DC cites as the band’s best. Slash, Joe Perry, and basically every guitar player that was in a band formed after 1983 says the same thing. Powerage is packed with virtuoso performances from every band member. Every track is an all time favorite guitar riff.

Listen to it. Pay attention to it. It’s AC/DC’s breakup album. There’s a reason it’s so well regarded.

[typicalopposite]

2023 Fanfic Wrapped

Thank you @onthewaytosomewhere for the tag! :)

Sooo this year has been a wild ride fandomly for me... to say the least.

(we're gonna go ahead and add a cut cause she's gonna get long)

It started with a few prompt fics in January

Feel The Rain On Your Skin Destiel(SPN)663 words Tumblr Prompt Game “We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm, and you want to stop and feel the rain?” overtime - Steddie(Stranger Things)1305 words Fic prompt game “we’re you ever going to tell me?”

I worked on some WIPs I wont include because they were started in 2022 through February . Then in March I started three new fics (because I am insane) that are all still on going WIPs as well, but the first two that I share were left on a good stopping point; so you're not left with that bitterness once you see they haven't been updated in a long time. The last one... we won't talk about her(I swear it's not abandoned I just have been hyperfixated elsewhere and life has been messy)

It Takes Two - Starsky & Hutch 8746 words Nothing more than a box that had fallen over. He laughed at himself and relaxed for a brief moment — since at least there was no rat — but it was short-lived as he turned the box to reveal the writing on the side.  Give to Dave It was written in big red letters in Terry’s handwriting; Starsky felt like he might be sick. Her parents had brought it after… said it was in her apartment. He didn’t even know about it, and he had not yet found the strength to open it. So it was hidden away in his closet where he could forget about it, and he had. Go figure, he thought.  Interdit - Portamis(The Three Musketeers)8241 words It happens while Aramis is hunched over Porthos, stitching — or rather trying to stitch, as Porthos repeatedly flails and hisses and snatches away from Aramis’ needle — the slash across his left eye. just a little while - Gallavich(Shameless)12,725 words Mickey will be a shit dad. He will. He knows he will. It’s fucking encoded in his DNA… or some shit. Except, how come every time he’s stuck with one the Gallagher kids, it feels like the exact opposite…

Which brings us to August, when everything changed... drastically. I was introduced to RWRB and although I started getting ideas for fics and even started writing one I still haven't finished prior to seeing the movie, just a few days after it released I went on a spiral of writing i have NEVER gone on before... and it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

August - December every fic I wrote has been FirstPrince

August

Zahra Deserves A Raise 5091 words or Five times Zahra has to put up with Alex and Henry's shit... and definitely didn't get paid enough for it... plus one time she was happy to. A Summer Scandal 6123 words It’s next summer and they made it back to the lake house… but let’s make it angstier than last time. :) we're gonna need some pizza 1017 words Missing scene from when Alex comes out to Ellen. or What happens between Ellen ordering the pizza and her asking Alex what he identifies as. Home 2675 words Just my take on Movie Henry getting into the brownstone :)

September

Sometimes 2638 words Alex helps Henry through a difficult time regarding his father. what's not to like 1096 words It’s been four days since Oscar looked at his son and said, “Sometimes you just gotta jump… and hope you’re not standing on a cliff.” Or... Missing scenes after Henry leaves from Oscar’s POV What If 5817 words Alex called all day, everyday, for a week after Henry left the lake house. Each time Henry wished it would be the last; that Alex would take the hint, and let it go. Each time there was another call. Until there wasn’t. or... What if Alex never stormed the castle to win Henry back?! tell me more, tell me more 2981 words What are best friends for if not to go gush about the person you are secretly in love with after each (totally not but totally IS) date. or... The missing scenes of Nora and Percy finding out the story behind each time Alex and Henry get together. The Royal American Wedding Planner 9371 words It’s going to be the wedding of the century! But more importantly it’s going to be the wedding of their dreams. Zahra is going to make sure of it. ORRR 5 weeks of problems with the FirstPrince wedding and 1 perfect day!

October

Three Days 29,542 words He looks down at Henry’s body, steps closer. He’s right beside the bed and lays a hand on the top of Henry’s head. “Say you could go back three days; back to before all the missed plans, before all of the arguments, before the promotion… before the accident. Would you?” “Of course I would…” ooorrr I decided to write an angsty little Christmas fic in October based off an equally angsty movie I use to love back in the day one thousand four hundred and sixty four hours 926 words Alex has always made a habit of obsessively remembering certain days. Important days, of course. Ones that leave a special mark on his memory. Ones that he never wants to forget. eight legged freaks 895 words henry pulls a prank on alex based on a picture of a spider earring i saw on facebook cake-gate, baby gates, and a mess Henry could have avoided 1655 words Henry and Alex agree on a lot when it comes to parenting. They also disagree on a lot; that's just par the course with parenting, though… right? One thing they both sway on the fence about is baby restraints… or whatever the technical terms for them are. and so the story goes 2068 words Henry suggested Alex try his routine on the days he would have been putting her to sleep, to keep her nights as close to normal as possible. But Alex’s eyes went crossed trying to understand which concoctions (and the correct amounts) Henry uses for bath time. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sit still long enough to brush through her hair more than just the amount of times it took to detangle it. Most importantly though, he absolutely sucks at bedtime stories… which have always been her favorite part of Henry’s routine.  let me hear you SCREAM 2789 words Then Henry looks up from his writing desk, through the front window of the Brownstone, and sees a ghost face mask staring back at him from across the street. He certainly didn’t expect Alex’s idea of getting him back to involve… well that. The cloaked figure doesn’t move, save for a slow rise of his hand to give Henry a slight wave. It’s extremely creepy and Henry has to push back from his desk and get away from the window.

November

proud to be yours 4086 words “Made me very proud to be your boyfriend,” Henry had said. And Alex replied; “I’m always proud to be your boyfriend.” Henry made his little snide upperclass joke and Alex grinned and laughed as if he had just heard the most hilarious thing in the world. Then the moment was interrupted and quickly forgotten as they readied themselves to meet with the King. And it probably should have been the end of the topic — for Alex, perhaps it truly was. But for Henry, who tends to overthink things for the worse, he just can’t forget about it. or... Five times Alex was introduced as Henry's boyfriend, and one time he was introduced as his husband. ten seconds 'til 3544 words Five New Years showing the reasons that brought Henry to hate the holiday… and the one that changes his mind so says social media 606 words Alex shrugs and turns his phone off, sliding it into his pocket to resume watching TV. “Who knows, people just love to stir up drama.” Or... I have watched people micro analyze TZP and (especially) NG on social media so much I wrote a FirstPrince fic about it.

December (I have only posted one this month, because I was feeling the pressure of giving myself a timeline on a fic, and also joining the gift exchange... that being said I am going to add the gift fic to this list on the first.)

i saw papa kissing santa claus 3483 words “O- Oh, hello there young lady,” Henry says, swapping back to the deep American accent he’s been using as Santa, and Alex looks past him. There is a little girl storming towards the cottage; their little girl.

There you have it! My insane list of fics I've published in 2023, totalling up to 118,000+ words!

I honestly don't know anyone to tag who hasn't probably already been tagged, so I will leave it open to anyone who wants to join it! It's really fun to go back and actually see what you have accomplished in a year. Here's to 2024! :)

[calyxthenerd]

i wanna stay with you until we’re grey and old

“I’m scared Stan…” Richie let out, the way his hands trembled as he tried to fix his tie made that sentiment clear, so his best friend jumped in to do it, while questioned where did that fear come from

“It’s just, what if he doesn’t want to do it anymore? What if he decides I’m too much work, and he just goes back to the comfort of the same kind of ‘love’ he’s had his whole life?” He ranted

“Richie Tozier, can you even hear what you’re saying??” Stan waves his hands around, very irritated at his best friend’s stupidity “do you realize how idiotic that sounds?! Eddie escaped that life, and it was you he turned to to provide him with love and support while he healed from it, you guys have been in love since we were greasy, annoying children, your love survived 27 of hardly remembering each other, dozens of near death experiences, you think one measly show of commitment is going to scare him away??!”

“Geez, save some of that for your best man speech” Richie clapped his friend in the back and went to put on his suit jacket “Is it time?”

“Let’s get you married, Tozier”

—————————————————————

After the small ceremony in the decrepit Derry church, with only the seven there, they grabbed some alcohol from the small licor store, and went to the quarry to get drunk together

“Hey, shitheads!” Bev called out, to which all her friends turned, from the various spots they were swimming in

“Yes, darling?” Richie grinned at the happy looked on her face

“Do you guys want to do some last minute vandalism before we leave this place for good?” she hollered, to which everyone cheered, and left the water

Twenty minutes later they found themselves at the abandoned house that (almost) ruined their lives, with maces, bats, hammers and other objects who could be used for destruction, most notable being Eddie, who had grabbed a deodorant and a lighter from the pharmacy that haunted his childhood and built a makeshift flamethrower, yelling as he burned through piles of plywood, after that they piled into the limo that would take them to the airport in the nearest major city, where they would take a plane to California and start the rest of their lives

—————————————————————

Even though they lived in a pretty liberal area, it was still hard as a collective of seven people, with only one woman, and three children, of which only one had any discernible parentage, Mike struggled with not being able to be out alone with Penny or Charlie, only Sasha, but he’s had the police called on him one too many times, and it always came to his mind, that at least if he was a woman, people would think he was the nanny, it wasn’t the best, but at least they would leave him and his kids alone, now every time he went out with the kids, he had to take one of the others, usually Eddie, who’s doe eyes could persuade anyone

And they lived pretty good lives out there, near the ocean, that they never knew as kids, scrambling through parenting when they could count in one hand the number of positive experiences they had with their own parents, but they had fun

Like the time Richie had to be held back from punching out some guys who were catcalling Bev

Or when they all went to get L tattooed over the place they slashed themselves during their blood pack in their youth

Or when they got hammered and accidentally went back to the wrong house, getting caught skinny dipping in someone else’s pool

Or when they took the kids to the amusement park, and ended the day in the ER because Eddie learned first hand the dangers of hot dog stands

And you can’t forget the time they stayed up for 72 hours straight because some parent from the kids’ school, who hated their guts, got Penny a karaoke machine, and the kids took turns waking up in the middle of the night to belt out “Never Gonna Give You Up” (they all blame Richie for teaching them about rickrolling)

Looking back at those memories in their old age, made them be glad for the less than great circumstances that brought them together, and as each of them passed on, the last words out of their mouths were “Thank you, Demon Clown” which did scare the live-in nurses that their kids insisted on hiring, but Bev and Richie pestered the others until they agreed that those would be their shared last words, and so they were, cementing the love they had for the life that they shared

[armyhome]

Lost In Your Love Story | Yeonjun

⇢ summary: Hwa Suji is a very skilled makeup artist who works at her best friend's salon, serving major Korean entertainment companies and that includes the artists she is a fan of: Tomorrow x Together! One day when protecting one of the members, she ends up having a car accident that takes her to another universe! The universe of your favorite fanfic called "Winter Song" but the thing is, life is not a strawberry, her new universe got a target on her back, she's the villain and has no idea how survive this cannon.

⇢ pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Hwa Suji.

⇢ Chapter 1 : Life is not a strawberry.

⇢ Chapter 2 : Love is a Disease.

⇢ Chapter 3 : Made a little cookie...

⇢ Chapter 4 / 5 / 6

⇢ Chapter 7 : Why Don't You Stay?

⇢Chapter 8: Beyond this universe

⇢ Chapter 09 : I know I love you

⇢ Chapter 10: Lips on You

⇢ Chapter 11: Opening Sequence

⇢ Chapter 12: Sour

⇢Chapter 13: Waiting for a lifetime for you

Chapter [14/16]: Breaking Down

POV Suji

Six months later

I took a deep breath and pressed the play on the camera one more time.

"I decide, to start all this, by telling about myself, and how makeup change my life because this is the main point of my life, I meet my best friend, slash, sister, slash, soulmate, during make attempted on became a chemistry engineer, then we give up on university, mom wasn't happy about it, but once she saw our business working out she accepted, even not being happy with that, but she knew overall thing how makeup helps during my teenagerhood!" I applied foundation on my skin blending with the concealer " I suffered an accident at school, and that fine line crossing my face was huge, today is a little bit smaller, but that's when I fall for makeup because hide this, and kids stop calling me monster, etc…" I start to used contour to make my nouse more elevated "I think people don't know real monsters, that's why they use this word so lightly.." I keep recording my tutorial, and practicing speaking to the camera, is getting easier, but always gives me a big headache, dreams that look like memories battle with reality in my mind. I press the stop once I ended, and take a deep breath.

Since I woke up in that hospital, I had crazy dreams, I was so afraid to tell the doctor that I kept to myself, but sometimes they were so real to me that I mixed them with my real world, even more since Yeonjun and I get closer. So I decided to focus as much as possible on the present, recording things, like my day, my make-up, and my thoughts, I didn't post anything, was just the way I found to canalize all those feelings. So TXT's company thought would be great material to help both sides to tell our side of the history since so much was talked about while we aren't able to defend ourselves. 

So I decided to do a makeup tutorial, with all members, but one by one, all with their next comeback concept, something very fairy, with a daydreams vibe, I would show how I work on their skin, which colors I like to use o these concepts, all the details. 

"You know, I almost lose my mind while you don't wake up…" Jieun says helping me organize the makeup, I look at her, this was so random "You know, I kept sending you massages, even knowing you wouldn't respond," I hug her "You're my only family Sujiah, you know that right?"

"You're my family too unnie" I kiss her chick "And you have Taehyun too…" The worlds scape through my mouth, and the moment I close my mouth I know I mixed my dream with reality shit!

"How did you discover?" WAIT! WATH? "Or you finally read the new version of that manhwa and…"

"WAIT! YOU…HIM…OH MY GOD!" breath Suji, breath "Did, you guys have conversations in my room, while I was in a comma?" Jieun searched for her memories…"My god, how long have you guys been together?"

"Little bit before your accident, I would tell you, but this chaos happened, and you looked so fragile when you woke up, I decided to wait until you fully recover.." And maybe my dream was based on the conversations around me… I sigh, this was so much better explanation.

"I'm happy about you two, don't worry, but take care to not hurt yourself, he is an idol, and we know how these things work…" Jieun hugs me.

"I'll take care," She looks at her cell phone, "It's time Yeonjun will be here soon" My heart lose a beat for a while "Do you think will be fine if only two of you are here?"

"Yes, there are things that we only feel comfortable saying when are two of us, things that only we understand without judging, and the camera is a lot of pressure already…" I explain.

"Okay, I will be upstairs, anything, just scream okay?" She kisses my forehead and leaves the room.

I sit in front camera to record some introductions, deep breaths, Hwa Suji, you can do this, fighting, one two three.

"Hi, my name is Hwa Suji! Most of you know me because I trow a trash can on a guy," I laugh "I watched your remakes all over social media, you guys are so much cooler than I! Well, I'm here because a lot of things have been said about me, and I just wanna people to know me, through me. Does that make any sense?" I tight my hair  "And to not say I'm being biased, I'll bring some people that know me to tell, honestly, who I'm… Wellcome mom" I Open my arms like she was in the room, and laugh again "Just kidding, but I'm really bringing people that worked with me, and I'll do my favorite thing on them, make-up! Hope you guys enjoy…" At the moment someone, probably Yeonjun, "Look, someone is already here let's see who it is?" So I pause the recording.

When I open de door Yeonjun gives me the bright smile he has and hugs me, I would never become used to being his friend, I hug him back. 

"How have you been," He asks without letting me go.

"Just much as fine as I was the last time we talk one hour ago" We laugh "How was your training? You're not pushing yourself too hard right?" 

"No, I like promised you"

"Okay, let's start before Parallel 38 appears…" He gently puts me against the wall, I can feel his breath so close, a flash of the dreams in my mind.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" The way he looks at me makes me shiver, and my stomach contract. He was playing with me, I roll my eyes.

"I'll throw a trash can on you if you don't step back.."We laugh at the joke we always use with each other "Let's start recording before HYBE sends the ROKU to me"

"Okay, where do I sit?" I point the cair in my mini scenario "Wow! You really put effort into thins!" He sits on the chair I was sitting before, and I start recording again.

"And our guest today is the amazing, the only one, my best buddy in the afterlife, Choi Yeonjun!" We clap together "You wanna say something Jun?" He looks into my eyes, sometimes I feel he is looking for someone inside me, I don't know how to explain it.

"Hi, I'm Yeonjun of TXT" He browns "First, one more time I wanna apologize to make my love, moas worried! Is really nice to be here, alive with my dearest friend, the best make-up artist on this planet, Hwa Suji! Moa doesn't need to worry about my safety while I'm with noona, cause they know you throw a trash can power!"

"Okay, no more trash can jokes, is enough, let's start work, Jun today has a photo shoot for TXT's next album, and I think moas will love the whole concept" I start to tight his hair and moisturize his skin "Now beyond do makeup we're here to tell about our history, during this chaos…How do you feel when you wake up?" 

"Was like wake up from a long dream…" He simply says " And you noona?" I start to apply the primer.

"The last thing I remember was the car, it feels like we were flying, trying to hold your hand, and then I was in the hospital, The first thing I feel was worry, because that guy, I was afraid that while I was unconscious he was able to do something with you…" I touch his chin to move his face and verify if I fully cover his skin. 

"That's so you, worry more about others than yourself…" I show the primer on the camera, all the products were from labels that TXT's members were the face of the label.

"This prime gives you so much glow, you all will be so perfect for this comeback, how are you feeling about seeing Moas again?" Yeonjun put his right hand on the left side of his chest.

"So excited, I miss them so much!" I start to draw his eyebrows.

"I know they're feeling the same, now can you give they a little spoiler?" I ask starting to softly apply concealer on specific spots.

"Will be really sweet, a lot of Sugar involved!" I start to apply foundation on this skin "Now, my turn, your favorite manhwa will become a k-drama, are you excited?"

"Well a little bit, I heard the author change a feel thing, I didn't have time to read yet because of work, but I'll real soon as possible, L.M. Andrade is my favorite author, so I will definitely read it, maybe I will do a live reading, I don't know…"  I start the work on his eyes "Did you read?"

"Yes," He looks up automatically so I could apply the eyeliner "I like this so much more this version than the previous one" I start to use blush Yeonjun look right into my eyes and I end up applying too much.

"Don't move" I turn to pick the tissue to remove, and once I turn to Yeonjun is like someone scratched my mind, the left eye of Yeonjun is full of tears, and the other is worried "You can hold a little bit Jun, I know that," I say without knowing why I was saying that, so I use the tissue to remove the blush "See, you made it, now your lips," I apply the lip gloss, focus as much as possible "It's done!" I show Yeonjun's face to the camera "Hope you guys enjoy it. See you next time" I just press pause on the camera before I fall, I feel Yeonjun's arms around me. 

"Noona.." The darkness swallows me, and this time I'm completely alone.

[jcmarchi]

6-step AI framework: Roadmap to small business success

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/6-step-ai-framework-roadmap-to-small-business-success/

6-step AI framework: Roadmap to small business success

Imagine slashing your operational costs by 30% or seeing your customer satisfaction rates soar. That’s not a pipe dream—it’s the power of artificial intelligence at work. 

And guess what? 

It’s not just for the big players anymore. Small businesses like yours are tapping into this game-changing technology to leap ahead of the competition.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed? 

Don’t worry. This guide breaks down AI implementation into six actionable steps, tailor-made for small business owners who might be tech-savvy… or not so much. Let’s dive into this six-step framework.

1. Pinpoint your pain points

Before you dive into the AI pool, let’s figure out where it can make the biggest splash in your business.

Play detective: Take a close look at your daily grind. Where are the bottlenecks? Is your customer service team drowning in repetitive questions? Is your inventory management more of a wild guess than a science? These pain points are your AI opportunities.

Dream big, but be specific: What’s your endgame? Maybe it’s trimming operational fat by 20%, turning your customers into raving fans, or watching your sales graph shoot upwards. Whatever it is, make it measurable. These clear targets will be your North Star.

Bring your A-Team on board: Your employees are the real MVPs here. They know the ins and outs of your business better than anyone. Get them involved in brainstorming sessions. Their insights could uncover hidden issues, and their buy-in will be crucial for a smooth AI transition.

💡

Real-life win: Meet Jessica, the brains behind a chic boutique. Her biggest headache? Inventory management. By zeroing in on this issue, she set a crystal-clear goal: no more empty shelves or overstuffed stockrooms. With her team’s input, she found an AI sidekick that gave her real-time inventory insights and product suggestions. The result? A leaner, meaner boutique operation.

2. Budget smart: Your AI investment blueprint

Let’s talk money. Implementing AI isn’t free, but it doesn’t have to break the bank either. Here’s how to plan your AI budget like a pro:

Crunch those numbers: Consider both the upfront costs (like software purchases) and the ongoing expenses (think subscription fees or maintenance). It’s like buying a car – you need to factor in both the sticker price and the cost of keeping it running.

ROI is your best friend: Estimate your potential return on investment. This isn’t just about dollars and cents – think about the value of happier customers or freed-up time for your team to focus on growth.

Explore your options: Don’t have a stack of cash lying around? No problem! Look into small business loans, grants, or even partnerships with tech companies. Many offer special deals for small businesses dipping their toes into AI.

💡

Real-life win: Keith’s Bakery invested $5,000 in an AI-powered customer service chatbot. Sounds like a lot for a small bakery, right? But here’s the kicker – Keith projected (and achieved) annual savings of $15,000 in labor costs. Plus, his customers loved getting instant responses at all hours. That’s what we call a sweet deal!

3. Find your perfect match

Now that you’ve got your goals and budget sorted, it’s time to find the perfect AI match for your business. Here’s your dating guide to AI solutions:

Window shop: Browse through AI tools designed with small businesses in mind. From chatbots to data crunchers, there’s a whole world out there. But remember – always ask about data security. You need to know where your data is stored and how it’s protected.

Keep it simple: Look for user-friendly platforms. You don’t need a Ph.D. in computer science to use AI. Many tools are designed to be as easy as using your smartphone.

Compare and contrast: Don’t settle for the first option you find. Compare vendors based on price, features, scalability, and customer support. Read reviews like you’re planning a vacation – they can reveal a lot!

💡

Real-life win: Jamiel, a small restaurant owner, found his perfect match in an AI-driven reservation and customer management system. It was easy to use, played nice with his existing setup, and didn’t require him to become a tech wizard overnight. Plus, the company promised not to use his data to train their models – a big win for privacy!

4. Test the water: The Pilot Project

You wouldn’t dive into the deep end without testing the waters first, right? Same goes for AI implementation. Here’s how to start small:

Pick your spot: Choose one area of your business for your AI pilot. It’s like trying a new recipe – start with a side dish before you remake your whole menu.

Set your yardstick: Decide how you’ll measure success. It could be time saved, money earned, or even the number of happy customer emojis you receive.

Stay flexible: Keep a close eye on your pilot and be ready to tweak things. It’s all about learning and improving.

💡

Real-life win: Carlos, who runs a small logistics company, started by using an AI route optimization tool for just two of his delivery trucks. After seeing a 25% drop in fuel costs during the pilot, he rolled it out to his entire fleet. Start small, win big!

5. Stay agile: Monitor and adjust

Implementing AI isn’t a “set it and forget it” deal. It’s more like tending a garden – it needs regular attention to really flourish.

Track your progress: Use dashboards and analytics to keep tabs on how your AI solutions are performing. It’s like having a fitness tracker for your business.

Listen and learn: Create a feedback loop with your team and customers. Their insights are gold dust for improving your AI game.

Evolve or dissolve: Treat your AI implementation like a living thing. Feed it new data, tweak its settings, and watch it grow more effective over time.

💡

Real-life win: JW Kicks, a trendy shoe store, uses AI to analyze sales patterns. By regularly updating their AI model with fresh data, they’ve cut down unsold stock by 30%. That’s a lot of shelf space and cash freed up for the latest styles!

6. Scale up

Once your pilot project is crushing it, it’s time to think bigger. Here’s how to take your AI game to the next level:

Slow and Steady: Expand your AI use gradually. Apply the lessons from your pilot to new areas. It’s like leveling up in a video game – each stage builds on the last.

Invest in Your Team: As you scale up, make sure your team is growing too. Offer training and support to help everyone get comfortable with the new AI tools.

Future-Proof Your Tech: Make sure your AI solutions can handle growth. They should play well with your other business systems and be ready to take on more as you expand.

💡

Real-life win: Emily started with AI-powered sales forecasting for her online craft supply store. Seeing the amazing results, she expanded to use AI in her customer relationship management and marketing automation. The result? Her business didn’t just grow – it skyrocketed!

Wrapping it up: Your AI adventure awaits

Implementing AI in your small business isn’t about keeping up with the big corporations – it’s about outmaneuvering them. By following this roadmap, you’re not just adopting a new technology; you’re revolutionizing the way you do business.

Remember, this is your unique journey. Take it one step at a time, celebrate every win (no matter how small), and don’t be afraid to change course if needed. The AI revolution is here, and it’s got a front-row seat reserved just for you and your business.

Want to know more about AI and SMEs? Read the article below:

Beyond the machines: AI sentiment on the ground

Where does AI sit in the mix, and what’s really the feeling of SMEs adopting such technology on the ground?

Like what you see? Then check out tonnes more.

From exclusive content by industry experts and an ever-increasing bank of real world use cases, to 80+ deep-dive summit presentations, our membership plans are packed with awesome AI resources.

Subscribe now