#“What’s the hype he was introduced for one book. What do you mean we weren’t supposed

[spork-supremacy]

I think my most disjointed media experience has to be Harry Potter.

I feel so all over the place thinking about it.

Like, I’ve had the books for a while. Got to the diagon alley bit in the first before giving up and getting bored. Also somehow ruined those pages with hot chocolate. I skipped the second one. Fully finished the third, got over halfway on the fourth. Skipped the fifth. And got a couple pages into the sixth one before calling it quits.

I did binge all the movies, could not tell you a thing about them other than particular scenes. I really didn’t like the lighting in most of them. Very dark. Browsed free to air tv last night saw order of the Phoenix and it proved my point.

I felt no attachment to most characters no matter how hard I tried. Except, like Minerva or the twins.

yet I owned a copy of the curse child and binge read it. (Really need to reread it just to pay closer attention to scorpius).

I own both a history of magic, and fantastic beasts (the encyclopaedia book)

played Hogwarts mystery, that little Mobile game, and liked it. (For like, characters and plot, game play itself is tedious)

then I got a copy of Hogwarts legacy and played the shit out of it.

What I’m getting at here is I did not care for most of the main story or the characters, but I liked literally everything else around it.

A case of world building better than actually story to me. Granted this was just my experience, I’m happy for those who can connect with the main canon, more fics to yee I say.

quite literally though, in HL there’s a small mini game where this raven claw girl quizzes you the lore and I got it all correct, despite not actually caring about those books, just the stuff in the world around them.

[btsmosphere]

Starlit ~ kth

~summary: you daydream of the boy who looks like stardust, but would never have guessed that he was thinking about you, too ~pairing: taehyung x reader ~first kiss, fluff ~word count: 968 ~rating: g

~a/n: this fic is to say a massive HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the amazing @taegularities who is getting even older today hehe💗but fr, rid, you are the most amazing author and friend and I am so happy to have met you. I know you are always around to hype me up, and ofc I’ll always do the same for you and your incredible fic ideas.. even if they do try to break my heart😔✊but it’s your birthday so I won’t be enacting revenge... yet😌I know we both share a love of the gorgeous man that is taehyung, so here is my humble offering of a drabble.. it’s basically all about kissing tae. so I hope you have fun ;) (for this I used the prompts ‘DNTae’, ‘stars’ and ‘bookstore au’ from the wonderful folks over at @thebtswritersclub​ who organised this birthday project)

Folded arms cushioned your head as you gazed into the inky sky. Forgotten beside you, a book with curling pages lay open, diagrams and lines showing you the night sky. But it couldn’t compare to the real thing, and you had given up on studying to stare wistfully at the glinting stars in the November sky.

This was your absolute favourite spot. Tucked away in the old bookshop near campus, if you went up the old wooden stairs and through the stacks that occupied the mezzanine, was a reading nook with the most glorious window. Its panes stretched to give you a flawless view of the stars on a good night.

Below, the city rumbled on. Though it was already dark, it was still early in the evening and people were returning from work and college.

Any notion of doing the same was far from your mind. You were sure Tae would come to find you and kick you out if necessary.

Ah yes, Taehyung. As your eyes continued wandering across the stars splayed across the backdrop of night, you vaguely thought they were the same colour as his hair. The gorgeous boy worked at the bookshop most days, though he was also a student at your college. During midterms, you had needed to come here often, but hadn’t been able to resist coming back just to chat with the charming man even after they were complete.

Needless to say, your heart had decided your feelings for him before your brain could even have a say. And so it was handy that your new favourite spot in the bookshop (which Tae had introduced you to) allowed you to spend a little more time around him each day.

A smile quirked over your lips as you thought of him. His boxy smile that illuminated his whole face when you walked in, shop bell tinkling. The silvery hair you longed to run your hands through, to see if it was as soft as you imagined.

“What are you daydreaming about?”

With a gasp, your head sprung from its resting place. Deep laughter accompanied Tae’s entrance, while you recovered from your flustered shock.

“Nothing,” you quickly blurted, “just, um, well- just the stars.”

Cocking a brow, Taehyung took a seat beside you.

“Really? It looks like you weren’t paying too much attention to them.”

He flipped your book shut, making room for his elbow to rest on the table. He was angled towards you now, giving you full view of his soft smile. Staunchly ignoring it, you laughed and hit him lightly on the arm.

“Not the stars in the book, obviously! I mean the real ones” – you gestured to the window – “if you haven’t noticed, they do look very nice tonight.”

“Ah, of course,” he nodded, sparing them a glance.

Your eyes too strayed outside, but they couldn’t settle for long. The presence of Taehyung so near to you at the small table was all that occupied your mind. Swallowing, your fumbling fingers found the empty cup which sat beside your book, and you toyed with it until Tae spoke again.

“Thanks for the drink, by the way.”

Looking up, your heart skipped a beat. Maybe you were imagining things, but he seemed closer to you now. Though his smile was harmless enough, the way his dark eyes gazed right into yours was enough to send your head spinning.

“Oh, it’s nothing, I was getting coffee anyway-”

“But it was thoughtful,” he insisted, leaning even closer to emphasise his grateful words. “And you got my order right.”

“I did?”

“Yep, caramel is my favourite.” For a moment his eyes flitted to your own cup. When they lifted, his voice was lower, taking your breath away. “What did you get?”

“Cinnamon.”

To your surprise, your voice was barely a whisper as it passed your lips. A little self-conscious, you tugged your lower lip into your mouth, wetting it with your tongue. With your eyes fixated on Tae, you didn’t miss the way his stare dropped to your mouth, gaze darkening.

“I’d like to try it.”

His voice was equally soft as yours was, tone husky.

You breathed out, trying to steady yourself.

“Sure, when I next go I can get you one-“

The next instant your words slipped your mind, trailing away as Tae’s hand lifted, grazing your jaw.

Another dizzying second and he finally closed the space between you, pressing his lips determinedly against yours.

Without hesitation, you were kissing him back, leaning into him as his palm kept you steady. Perfectly synchronised, your mouths danced together, chasing each movement eagerly. Drunk on the sensation, you surged forwards, shifting closer so your hand could reach his hair, drawing him closer still.

He sighed into your mouth as your fingers delved between the strands of his hair, the vibrations of his moan travelling tantalisingly through you. And by all things holy, his hair was silkier than you had thought, delicious against your fingers.

As you revelled in each other, your movements grew slower, drawing out each moment. Eventually, your lips fell away, though his hand remained at your jaw, yours in his hair.

You were utterly stunned. As your eyes roamed again across his otherworldly features, lit by the dim light of the bookshop and the canvas of stars above, you were certain you were dreaming. But it was him who moved first, hand trailing down the side of your face, gently brushing at your hair.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, breath falling against your skin.

“Tae…”

You blinked dumbly at him, not knowing what else to say. Though you made no move away, the first coherent thought to enter your mind was:

“Shouldn’t you be working?”

A soft laugh left him, mouth lifting at the corners.

“We closed two hours ago.”

thank you for reading!! remember to send plenty of birthday love to @taegularities and read some of her fics if you haven’t (in which case, where have you been?!🤣)

taglist: @aianloveseven @preciouschimine @un2-verse @rockwithwoo @taegularities 

[somethinginthewayiam]

What happens in New York... Part 5 - Birthday Boy

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Anna (OFC)

Warnings: language, talk of sex, alcohol

Words: 3170

Summary: Anna’s event is almost over and it is a complete success. It still tales a little convincing from her assistans Sandra, but Anna finally decides to join Sebastian at his birthday party at some club. She allowes herself to give in to her feelings for him and it is getting steamy pretty quickly...

Previous chapters:  Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4

It was getting late and a few guests had already left but there were still enough people that it was loud enough in the Grand Ballroom that you had to raise your voice when you weren’t able to catch a quiet corner or were standing or sitting quite close to your conversation partner. But Anna didn’t mind that because it meant everybody was having a good time.

It was well past 11 PM and Anna treated herself to her first glass of champagne of the night. She was standing next to Sandra who also had a glass in her hand. “To a great first event that couldn’t have gone any better, boss”, she said and clinked glasses with Anna. “Yes, it went well, didn’t it?”, she said with a bright smile and took a big sip of her drink. But the well-going of the party wasn’t the only thing Anna was smiling about.

About 1 hour ago… “Flowers for the pretty lady”, she heard a voice behind her and as she looked up, she found a single pedicel of paperwhites in front of her face. A surprised smile appeared on her face as she laid eyes on her favorite flowers. She took it out of the hand and turned around to face Sebastian.

“From all the flowers you could have ripped out of the bouquet, why this one?”, she asked curiously, trying eagerly to hold back that big smile that was about to creep up on her. “I don’t know, it just seemed right”, he shrugged his shoulders, his hands in the pockets of his dress pants. Anna bit down on her lip to still hold back the smile but he seemed to notice. “Was it a good choice?”, he asked with a cheeky grin. “You could say so”, she said as she twisted the flower between her fingers and looked down at it.

“Alright, give me your number, I’ll call you up when I’m done here”, she gave in and fished for her phone in the décolleté of her dress. “Whoa, what else have you got in there?”, he asked both surprised and amused. “Only what mother nature gave me”, she said as she scrolled threw her phone and clicked to create a new contact. “Oh, I’m well aware”, he said with a wink. “More typing, less talking”, she said and handed him her phone. With quick fingers he typed in his number and handed her back her phone. “I’m waiting for your call”, he said with a wink and now it was his turn to step closer and kiss her on the cheek as a temporary goodbye. He really hoped he would see her again tonight.

“What are you smiling about?”, Sandra pulled her out of her daydreaming. “The party, of course”, Anna said and quickly took another sip. “I know you love your work, but that was a boy-smile…You’re thinking about that Sebastian-guy, am I right?”, Sandra asked with a lowered voice and poked Annas ribs with her elbow. “I’m not”, Anna insisted, but couldn’t wipe that smile off her face. “Oh, yes you are! Look at yourself, you’re blushing”, Sandra said and started laughing. Anna instinctively reached up to touch her cheek with her free hand. “Come on, you know you want to tell me”, Sandra wiggled her eyebrows.

“He wants to meet up after I’m done here”, Anna finally admitted and felt her cheeks burning up. “Oh god, and what are you still doing here then?”, she asked with big eyes. “Hello? My work? I can’t leave before the Hastings did. Clarice would kill me if she found out”, Anna rolled her eyes. “Speaking of the devil”, Sandra mumbled and took a sip of her champagne, nodding to the front.

When Anna looked up, she saw the Hastings and her boss Clarice walk up to her. She quickly put her glass down on the nearby table and smoothened out the skirt of her dress. “Anna, darling, what a wonderful night. I can’t remember having such a wonderful time at my own charity”, Mrs. Hastings came over to give her little air kisses on each side of her face again. “I’m glad you had such a wonderful time, Mrs. Hastings”, Anna said with a nervous smile. “It was really a magnificent party. Well done”, Mr. Hastings said and congratulated Anna with a strong handshake. After a little polite chitchat, Mrs. Hastings kissed Anna again for goodbye and linked arms with her husband as they started to walk towards the exit.

“Come by my office on Monday and let’s talk about your performance tonight”, Clarice said and gave Anna a little kiss on one cheek before she left with the Hastings. “Oh my god”, Anna formed with her lips as she turned around to Sandra and she resisted the urge to jump up and down like teenagers. “I told you everything would go fine”, Sandra said with an I-told-you-so expression on her face, but you could see that she was hyped too.

“Oh god, this is so amazing, I could cry”, Anna said and felt her eyes getting wet. “Should I get us another glass?”, she asked instead and emptied hers with one big sip. “Are you kidding me?”, Sandra asked with big eyes. “Okay, then just for me”, Anna said a bit irritated and pulled up her eyebrows. “No, I mean, what are you still doing here?”, Sandra asked. Anna looked at her confused. “The Hastings are gone as well as Clarice. You should be in a cab right now, calling that hot guy where to meet up”, Sandra explained and took the glass out of Anna’s hand. “You’re right…you’re right”, Anna said and nodded her head in accordance with her words. “But the caterer and the band…”, Anna pointed towards the kitchen and the stage, where the band was still playing since they were booked until midnight.

“Don’t worry about it, I will take care of anything. Now go, get laid”, Sandra said and only resisted slapping Annas ass by still having a glass in each hand. “Sandra!”, Anna called out indignantly just to burst out laughing the next second. “Go!”, Sandra said and Anna finally got going. She kissed Sandra goodbye on her cheek, mumbled an embraced “Thank you” at her ear and almost ran out of the ballroom. She took the elevator up to the room where she had gotten ready in the afternoon and grabbed her purse. Sandra would take care of her clothes and bring them to her office on Monday.

While she rode back down to the lobby, she typed “I’m done here, where are you?”, into her phone. Just a few seconds later he texted her the address of a club Downtown. A big smile appeared on her face and her heart raced. She had butterflies in her stomach as she thought about seeing him again and couldn’t wait to finally get into a cab.

While she was on her way to the club, Anna opened up her ponytail and combed out the hairspray Gladys had used to fix everything. She knew how much Sebastian liked it when she wore her hair down. She put the little brush back into her purse and pulled out her cosmetic bag. Anna freshened up her make-up and was finished just as she arrived at the club. She paid the driver and got out.

Anna walked up to the bouncer and told him her name. Sebastian had texted her that he would put her on the list. With a nod towards another man at the entrance, he ticked her off the list and she was able to walk through the open doors.

It was almost midnight and the club was stacked with people. Anna had problems getting through the big crowd. She squeezed past people towards the back of the club where the booths were. She had to check in again with a bouncer and when he had ticked her off his list, she was finally able to get to the seating area. Her eyes wandered over the booths and spotted him before he saw her. The butterflies in her stomach were wide awake again. He had the top of his dress shirt unbuttoned and his jacket laid next to him on the big sofa.

Anna walked straight towards Sebastian and he stood up with a big smile as soon as he spotted her, so happy that she had actually come. Before he could even say something, her hands reached up to cup his face and pull it close for a deep, passionate kiss. His arms immediately wrapped around her waist and pulled her close. It took her a few seconds before she pulled back, her hands still on his face. “Happy Birthday”, she said and licked her lips. “It really is”, he said a bit out of breath.

“Uhm, those are my friends”, he said after a few moments and after realizing they were still at a club and not alone in his apartment. “Oops”, Anna said to him and turned around to face four surprised faces. “Guys, this is Anna”, Sebastian said and Anna leaned a little forward to shake everyone’s hand as Sebastian introduced them since they were sitting in a little booth-like corner. “We heard a lot about you”, a big, tall, muscled guy on the other end of the table said as she came to shake his hand, but she didn’t catch his name because it was too loud in here.

“Oh, I hope only good things”, she said and took a seat next to Sebastian, who immediately pulled her close and didn’t let go of her hand. “As if I could say anything bad about you”, Sebastian muttered at her ear and his breath tickled her neck. She turned her head to face him and got lost in his eyes again.

“I heard you had your first self-planned event tonight. How was it?”, the guy from before asked. “Yes, I did and it was really great. But I’m really glad it is over. Those were some stressful weeks”, Anna told him and rolled her eyes. “Yes, she was really stressed out, but I’m glad I was able to help her with that a bit”, Sebastian said and winked. Anna’s elbow hit his ribs and he coughed down a laugh. “So what do you guys do?”, Anna looked at Sebastians friends in a need to change the subject.

The small talk went on for a little while until a waiter came to take the next drink orders. “What do you want to drink? A Jack Daniels maybe?”, Sebastian asked with wiggling eyebrows. “Oh no, thanks. I always end up having sex with you when that drink is near me”, she said to him. “We’ll take two Jack Daniels”, Sebastian turned to the waiter and placed his order. “You’re so stupid”, she playfully slapped his shoulder. “But you like me”, he said with a big smile and it didn’t sound like a question. “Maybe, but for the sake of your birthday, let’s say I do”, she flirted with him and casually rested her hand on his thigh.

Their drinks came just a moment later and everybody raised their glasses for a toast. “To Sebastian, a great man, a great friend and a great actor. Happy Birthday, buddy!”, Don, his friend and personal trainer said. Anna was able to catch his name from the conversation before when one of the other guys asked him a question. “To Sebastian!”, everybody else joined in and took a sip of their drinks. “Oh, I’m gonna regret this tomorrow”, Anna said to herself as she felt the burning liquid pouring down her throat. She didn’t even like the drink itself but what it reminded her of.

“Hey, let’s go dance”, Anna said and got up. “I don’t know”, Sebastian shook his head. “Come on. I had to dance with you at my party, now you have to dance with me at your party”, Anna said to him and pulled on his hand to get him to stand up. “Yeah, but I don’t know how to move to that music”, he said and pointed up towards the boxes. “Oh, I see”, Anna said and nodded her head with a playful smile. “You’re afraid you can’t bring it out there”, she said and recreated his little speech from her charity event when he wanted to get her to dance with him.

“I see what you’re doing and it’s not going to work”, he called her out and pulled on her hand to get her to sit back down again. “But maybe this will”, she said and bent down to give him a deep kiss. “Let’s dance!”, Sebastian almost jumped up when Anna broke the kiss again which caused her to laugh out loud. He grabbed her hand and together they walked out of the booth area and downstairs to the dancefloor.

A remixed version of Ariana Grande’s Into You started playing. Anna had to smile about the song since she knew a bit of the lyrics from hearing it on the radio all the time. Sebastian led her to almost the middle of the dancefloor, surrounded by dozens of people. Anna immediately got hot, but maybe it was just Sebastian standing so close to her. His hands were on her hips and one of them started a little journey on its own.

Anna started moving to the beat of the music, feeling the vibrations of the bass wandering through her body. She looked up and met with Sebastians eyes that were completely focused on her. Her arms reached up and wrapped around his neck. It only took her a second to forget where she was and only saw him. Every move she made, every sway of her hips, every body-roll, she did it just for him. She wanted to turn him on and make him go crazy just as he made her crazy by just being so close to her, looking the way he did.

Anna turned around, took his arms and wrapped them around her waist from behind and moved with him. She stuck her ass out and pressed it against his pelvis, circling her hips. It looked like they almost had sex on the dancefloor. Normally, Anna would never act so over the top, so intimate with someone in public but they didn’t even had the chance to have some space between them even if they had wanted to because of all the people. But she lost herself in him in a way she had never experienced before with anyone.

She turned back around and looked up at his face. Anna couldn’t resist and got on her tiptoes to kiss him right there on the dancefloor. She put her arms around his neck again and deepened the kiss. She wanted more and more of him and there was only one way to get that.

“Let’s get out of here”, she said by his ear and had to scream to fight the loud music. Instead of answering her with words, he just started nodding heavily and made Anna laugh. They trudged their way through the crowd back to their booth so Anna could get her purse. “We’re leaving”, Sebastian said to his friends. “Yeah, we figured that. We saw you ‘dancing’”, Don said and made quotation marks in the air with his fingers. Sebastian rolled his eyes at him, but then said goodbye with a handshake to him and his friends. Anna waved in the round and they got going.

Outside, Anna was finally able to catch some fresh air. Only now she noticed how stifling the air was in the club. She took a few deep breaths as Sebastian tried to get a cab and just then she realized what she was about to do. She would have sex with him…again! And, oh boy, she couldn’t wait.

“Anna!”, he called her over and held the cab door open for her. He told the driver his address and the cab started to move as Anna intervened. “Please take us to 122nd and Manhattan, thank you”, she said and dropped back into her seat. Sebastian looked at her with a questioning look. “It’s my address…it’s closer”, she mumbled and blushed a bit.

He should be happy that she had just invited him to her apartment for the first time, but he only heard “Let’s have sex immediately”. Sebastian leaned over and started kissing her, he got really into it. “Sebastian, not here”, she pushed him back a little with a shy smile and looked to the front of the cab to check if the driver was watching them instead of the street. “Come on, I bet he has seen way more than two people kissing”, Sebastian tried to calm her. “Oh yes, I did”, the driver said from his seat.

The fact that he was listening and actually felt the need to join their conversation also convinced Sebastian to hold back until they arrived at Annas apartment. Sebastian paid the cab driver and as soon as the cab was gone, he was alone with Anna. Weirdly enough, nobody was around at the moment and it was just a bit over midnight on a Saturday night.

“So…”, Sebastian said and walked over to her. “So…”, she replied. “Are we moving this upstairs?”, he asked her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “You are eager to see my apartment”, she said with a playful smile and wrapped her arms around his neck, her purse in one hand.

“Yeah, let’s say that and also I can’t wait to get my birthday present”, he winked at her with a smug smile. “Birthday present? It’s past midnight, your birthday is over. How long are you intending to ride the birthday train?”, she asked back. “As long as it takes to get you to ride the birthday boy”, he answered and Anna was surely surprised by his answer. Not because how direct it was but how accurate to what she was thinking.

“Okay, that was cheesy. Thank god I know you can do better or else I wouldn’t even take you upstairs”, Anna said and got out of Sebastians grip. She turned around to walk over to the buildings entrance and immediately felt Sebastian’s arms wrapped around her waist again, his mouth at her neck, kissing upwards to her ear.

“Can I please come up and see your apartment?”, he asked in the sweetest voice and placed further kisses on her neck and behind her ear as he waited for her answer. “That’s how you ask a girl”, Anna mumbled with closed eyes and bit down on her lip. She needed to take him up and into her apartment because she wouldn’t be able to hold back much longer. So, she took his hands off her waist and kept holding his hand with her left one as she dragged him behind her towards the apartment building.

[tomdiddlyumptious]

Can u do a Tom Holland x model (tall) reader where she’s friends with law roach and zendaya and z and law roach introduces Tom and Toms friends to reader at a after party and they become friends and it’s fashion week and reader invites them and reader does multiple runways and photo shoots and Tom really likes her 🥰maybe fluff and smut

IT WAS TO FLUFFY TO ADD SMUT BABE- THANKS FOR THE ASK! REQUESTS ARE STILL CLOSED I HAVE TO FINISH THE ONES ALREADY ASKED!

Summary: ah, nothing like a nice life

Warnings: boob grabbing, dancing, sitting on laps and fluff! No smut!

A/n: IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK TO LONG- NOT PROOF READ!

T.H| I’m OuTsIdE iN a AmG

You sat down on your phone, playing candy crush like the old person you are, it was an after party and you came with zendaya and law roach, you’ve been friends for a little bit but it was nice, you both got closer then you both expected. You sat there pretty in a black tuxedo, shirtless with red bottoms on, hair in a shag, a pretty one though. You lifted your leg and placed ontop of the other, it was like any other after party, boring. Zendaya and law roach singing the lyrics while others jumped around them.

“Y/n!” Zendaya said, catching your attention, you shut off your phone and put it in the side of your pants, looking up at her. “Get up I wanna introduce you to someone” “zendaya-“ “later please” she took your hand and lifted you from your seat, you took the seat with you because bitches be wanna steal shit. “So y/n, this is my friend Tom- did you really take the seat with you?” “I sure did, hello Thomas” you looked at him, curly brown hair, a little bit of gel, he wore a charming smile, he was also short. “Hi” he laughed. “Thank you-“ a stranger said, trying to take the chair, “I think the fuck not!” You yelled over the music, tugging it back. “Back Yo ass up!” You say, fake charging at the person making them flinch. “You are so mean” law rolled laughed.

“It’s not my fault she crazy” you sat the chair down and sat in it. “Well anyways, this is Harrison” zendaya said, Harrison waving with a smile. “And Harry, toms brother” he also waved. “Hi Tom and erbodyelse” you waved right back at them. “She apologizes” law said. “What did I do?” You asked, law looking at you. “Hey it’s okay, she’s funny” he laughed, you gave a innocent smile. “Well let’s party right!” Zendaya said, making everyone but you smile....until of course ice cube had to come on ‘you know how we do it’ you had no other choice, you could rap every single word of it, of any 90s song. You weren’t the type to party but you better make the best of it, zendaya handed you a beer and you took it sipping it. “I’m not letting this chair go” you said, “I’ll take it” Tom said, you stood and he took it, walking to the bartista and asking him to keep it back there and not let anyone else grab it. Once the achol got in your system there was no going back, you did what you said you could, everyone was suprised you didn’t even break a sweat, would you remember this? Of course you would! You aren’t that drunk dumbieee.

You’re the life of the party when your not so stuck up and stubborn, but it’s just your personality, you got your chair back and Tom was about tired as hell, he ended up sitting on your lap and having his back on the arm rest, having a normal conversation, you both have a lot of shared likings, basically the same person but not, your feelings are always mixed but Tom is nice to even it out.

“You think this is weird?” Tom asked, “Nah it’s good, look at her” you pointed at the girl who keeps whipping her head around to the song, leaving Thomas laughing as you silently giggled. “So your a model?” He asked and you nodded, sharing a hamburger you got from somewhere, it didn’t matter. You handed it to him and he took a bite “so like Victoria secret?” “Yeah and Rihanna, ya know fenty?” “Of course I watched it like a million times!” “Who was your favorite?” You asked him, “I mean Laura was pretty sexy” he shrugged and you laughed, “yeah she was” “but she wasn’t the best” “who was then?” “You, you danced in that tight underwear, it had to be uncomfterble” “no Rihanna makes sure it’s comfterble” “well I know you would kill it in some butterfly lingerie” he shrugged, handing the burger back to you. “Why thank you, seems like you like me showing skin huh?” “Hey I might not be sober, but I’m sober enough to not tell you my secrets” “dang it!” You laughed taking a bite out of the burger.

“I should come to your runways” he looks at you, his eyes slightly squinted. “That was just what I was thinking!” You took a bite as he laughed with his cheeks filled, you chewed away as you both just looked at each other. “So favorite movie?” “I can’t go one night without watching Spider-Man-“ “really? Thank you” he cheered, you only laughed, “you didn’t let me finish, Spider-Man into the spider verse” “that movie sucks!” “Noooo it’s miles morales! He’s fucking better then youu” “we can fight if you wanna fight” “then you wouldn’t be able to come to my shows” “ah fine”

As the time passed you both only made jokes, watching everyone else dance and point out the ones who don’t know how to. It was fun, he gave you his number and you gave yours to him, chatting and no more drinking, just eating.

“Naw I saw you both!” Law yelled as zendaya hyped it up. “Doing what! We were only talking-“ “and eating!” Zendaya added on. “That’s romance!” “Well I don’t think so, so hmph” you shrugged. “Whatever bye y/n” law exited the call and zendaya did to, it was time for your photo shoot for the week and Tom was expected to come, he didn’t come yet so you had time to get dressed.

You went shirtless with a pair of high waisted cargo pants and combat boots, your hair wet and your long nails black, there wasn’t really any makeup on your face other then a whole lot of highlighter, when you went out you found Tom. He had two water bottles in his hand, his hair wet with a black shirt and normal navy blue jeans with some black air forces, he looked around for you until he found you, giving you a smile as you holded your boobs with one hand to wave at him. He made his way over to you “hey!” He cheered. “Hey Thomas, how are you?” You asked and he shrugged, “I’m pretty full so I’m happy” “you ate without me?” “How was I supposed to know? What do you want” “loyalty” he smacked his lips at you “I got you water atleast!” “I can’t drink that right know, my stomach has to look good” you both looked at it, you basically were glowing.

“Water can’t kill you” “yes it can, that’s my que, let’s go!” You took photos in this large house, with a huge mountain next to it. Tom thought you looked beautiful with your hair out, he was to respectful to look somewhere he wasn’t supposed to. You sat next to the pool with a chair, sitting in it backwards you arched your back, Tom having a seat in the background just watching how you move and how the sun reacts to your skin, lucky you put on some sunscreen so you didn’t have to get sunburns. He sipped his water and smiled to himself, Tyler the creator played in the background and as you took your time you danced some, you were a cute dancer...you couldn’t dance but you looked nice moving!

“Tom I need your hands!” You yelled, Tom instantly came over asking you what’s wrong. “I need you to fix my hair really quick” “you and I both know I can’t do that” “then please hold these” you smile at him. “What’s?” He asked, knowing what you were saying but not so sure. “Hold my boobs dude” you took his hand with your free one. “Alright alright!” He says, coming behind you to hold your boobs. “Thank you Thomas” as you were about to grab your phone your hair stylist came up to fix your hair. “You can’t do it either” she said. You smacked your lips as Tom laughed at you, still holding your boobs with both of his hands, which they perfectly fit too.

“Alright Thomas you have to be in this photo shoot” the photographer said. “What why!” He asked, completely not ready. “It’s just a great pose” he smiled. “I don’t know if she’s okay with that!” Tom said looking at you. “I don’t mind” you shrugged, looking back at him. “Alright then I’m pretty sure we have some cargos for you!” “Right here actually!” Why do they have some men’s cargos, you like men’s clothes sometimes, your more thicker then Thomas though so that’s really confusing. You silently gasped “law!” You said to yourself. “Let me go change yeah” he said, you put your hands ontop of his, he removed his and ran to go get changed, when he came back he was dressed just like you, highlighter on his abs, everything.

“You look good” you complement. “Not as stunning as you darling” he said, ice cube now playing “alright let’s go to the mountains”

You all made your way up there, on the tip of the mountain, if you were to fall you’d die, you afraid of heights but Tom held your hand to reassure your safe, you and Tom stepped on the end, one of his arms came around your breasts, perking them up and the other came around your waist, you leaned on your left knee, tilted your head to lean on toms, the sun glistening your skin as you closed your eyes amd lips slightly open and your hand held his cheek as his lips were softly touching your neck. “Alright, perfect” they recorded you both, then when they look back there gonna make it pictures, they snapped another of you both hugging each other, his back muscles and the back of his head, showing his wet curls as you wrapped one around your finger, your lips so close to his ear, pelvis to pelvis and chest to chest, all very very good pictures.

You and Tom danced to the music, all oldies playing, Mary J Blige, Tony!, Tupac, Brandy, New edition, Micheal Jackson, snapping more pictures while you both weren’t paying attention. “Oh this totally gonna is gonna get in the book, this is gonna be all over the news” “oh tell me about it” the photographers laughed, but it was time to take the solo one, you covered your breasts as you were on the tip of the mountain, your face infront of the sun, you covered your face with your hand from a distance, revealing one of your eyes as they were light from the sun, you looked up at the camera and made eye contact with it, your lips again slightly open. “Perfect!”.

Snapped.

Tom put you on his story, smiling to himself as you came back down. “It’s hot!” You yelled, everyone laughing at what you said. “Guess who’s the new face of vogue!” Jim said, the photographer. “Me!” You jumped, dancing to yourself as everyone cheered you on as P. Y. T played, everyone clapping to the beat as you kept dancing, everyone singing and doing their own thing. Tom sung as he came up behind you, holding onto your waist as you moved you hips, some people recording for the YouTube video. It was like you were dating before you even knew it, it was nice, everyone could see the love you had for each other even if you both were oblivious of it.

“Did a wonderful job darling” he said, both in the same dressing room. “You didn’t do to bad yourself” you smiled at him, putting on your bra and your oversized shirt, taking off your pants and boots next as he followed along to put on the clothes he had on first. “Your the new icon y/n” he smiled at you. “Don’t say that, we both know zendayas the queen” “but you can be the king” he winked at you, you only smiled and shook your head. “So you guys, can we post these videos!” Jim said, you both looked at each other then the door. “Yeah!” Both of you said, I mean it was platonic right? Totally.

For the rest of the week you did the runways, the photo shoots, you of course were the new face of vogue, Victoria secret, Rihanna wanted you to come back, rumors of you and Tom dating which was okay you guessed, it was all just so going good for you, but Thomas not so much. “I think I really fucking like her” Thomas said, sitting in one of the front seats for your runway. “Then ask her out div!” “Harrison shut up!” “I’m just pointing out the obvious” he shrugged. “Well then don’t” he whisper yelled. “I can hear your whole conversation, Thomas” zendaya said smiling, “me too” law and zendaya high fives each other as Tom rolls his eyes, soon music starts playing and models come out, best for last so you weren’t out yet, Tom sat there bored wondering when you were coming out, crossing his arms over his chest as the time ticked, everyone was recording the models, professional cameras all over and recording.

And then your music played ‘Shes A Bad Mama Jama’ as you came out with your yellow layered large poofy dress, a deep v-line and black heels under, dangle earrings and your hair in butterfly braids, shinny lip gloss and long eyelashes, you walked down and danced a bit, everyone clapping for you, just cheering for you, Tom was lucky to even know you, the way your skin shined and you were so photogenic, you were just a goddess really, a mic in your hand as you finished coming down, you said a single ‘hey y’all!’ And everyone cheered for you, clapping.

“As you know I’ve done a lot in this week, including this” you held up your hands at the whole entire place. “But I couldn’t have done it without a few people” people clapped for you. “That includes, law roach” claps. “Zendaya” some ‘woos!’ “And Tom holland” he was shocked but everyone still cheered for him, smiling and waving at everyone who cheered him on. “I honestly feel so honored, I love every single one of you in this room, you’ve been with me ever since I didn’t get a chance, but that’s the thing” you pointed at the camera “if nothing works out, be your own boss. No one can reject you if your doing your own thing, that’s what I did” you shrugged, everyone clapping for you more. “So we have this set up right?” “It’s all in the trunk Thomas” “well are you gonna help me?” He whispered to zendaya which she laughed at “you have guns for a reason” she squeezed his arms. “Shut up” he silently giggled as he still payed attention to you.

You then walked out, everyone still cheering loudly as you waved them goodbye. You made your way to backstage, finding the models, including cara, Naomi, Gigi, Bella, Kaia, and Lupita. You walked over to the table and grabbed the champagne and grabbed it, law, zendaya, Tom, and Harrison all coming backstage and grabbing their glasses. “Ready?!” You ask and they all cheer, all around you, you popped the bottle successfully, you poured poured everyone some, including yourself. “Alright what are we cheering for?” You ask everyone, “your success!” Gigi says, making you blush. “Stop it, our success, we did it all together” you say making everyone ‘aw’. “To our success!” You yelled, everyone said it after you, raising their glasses and clanking it with some people before taking a sip, Tom came over and kissed your temple, wrapping his arm around your shoulder.

“Congrats babe, you deserve it” he whispered in your ear. “What’s with the pet name” you laughed. “Come to the car with me yeah?” He asked, you nodded at him and the small group followed behind you, making your way to the car he opened the trunk, revealing balloons falling out and flying in the air.

but also a collage of you both, at the club with him sitting on your lap sharing the hamburger, laughing with each other to at the photo shoot, you both dancing with each other, the actual photos you used for the magazine too, then you both hanging out getting coffee and hugging each other in public, then both of you in these dark gothic wigs, with electric guitars, back to back as you put on this weird scrunched face, to hard to explain. You smiled as you picked up the collage “I love it” you said. “I love you” he said back, you looked back at him and he smiled. “I liked you the first moment I met you, your funny, sweet, stubborn, cute, your scattered everywhere-“ “I am not!” You cut him off. “Oh you are” zendaya said, the small group recording letting out small laughs. “You just proved my point y/n, but I love how I can even you out, I like the way you look at me, I want it to last everyday, every night, I just wanna be with you.... so in that case would you be my girlfriend?” He asked, you smiled so wide as you out the collage down in the car, you walked up to him and made eye contact with him as he stood there, looking up at you, you kissed him, smiling into the kiss and kissing him repeatedly “alright get it over with” law intruded, “yeah yes I will” you nodd and he smiled, kissing you again. Zendaya smiles “AGHHHHHH” she screams in excitement. For some reason ‘ivy’ by Frank ocean played and you both just made eye contact with each other.

[unrelenting-jazz-hands]

He picked the wrong seat.

(This is something that’s been floating in my head. I love college!AUs and I’m just happy to be here. I like the idea of Levi studying to be a social worker and Hange being a behavioural Neuropsychology prof/researcher. plus Hange would have rats... this fic is just a place for her to have rats and rat friends.)

He didn’t know it when he first sat down on the couch, but he should have known it when a woman in maroon sweatpants staggered up to his couch.

She placed the tower of books and papers she was carrying onto the couch with a grunt that let on how heavy the pile had been. She shook out her arms before sitting on the other side of newly formed blockade. Levi glanced her way and leaned over to throw a scowl, to make sure she knew the disruption was not appreciated.

But she just sat quietly and read. So, he didn’t move, he figured it would be fine. He should have moved.

And she just sat quietly and read. So, he didn’t move, he figured it would be fine. He should have moved.

"Hange! Hey, Hange! There you are, why didn't you answer your phone?" A young man jogged over to the woman sitting on the couch next to Levi.

Levi's scowl deepened, and he glanced at his watch, not for the first time in the last 15 minutes. His own class finished over an hour ago, but Isabel's lecture wouldn't be finished for another 45 minutes. It was getting late, and as the air grew colder, the nights were getting darker. He didn't like the idea of her walking home alone at this time of night. Furlan thought he was being dramatic, they weren’t on Understreet anymore.

The kid approached the couch and dropped his bag unceremoniously at her feet. He looked a little older than Isabel. Fuck, he was dreading the day she introduces some dumb boyfriend to him.

The woman slowly looked up and seemed more startled than she should have been to see the kid in front of her. She blinked and looked at her watch.

"Oh, it's 6:45 already? Hey Jean! Sorry, I lost track of time." One of her hands was still on the stack of books that was starting to lean just a little too much for Levi's comfort.

He shifted away and glanced around the room. The atrium was busy and noisy. There wouldn't be anywhere else to sit this side of campus on a gloomy September night. The choices were to either sit here or to stand somewhere like a weirdo. He grumbled to himself and looked back down at his notes.

Jean shrugged, "All good, Hange. But, where's your phone? You didn't see my messages?"

Hange looked down at the report in her hand as though she expected herself to be holding the phone. "Oh... I thought I had it." She attempted to pat down her jacket pockets (of which there were far too many) and then tried to use her foot to move her bag towards her.

Glancing up at the kid with a slight frown, "what's up? Why? Did something happen at the lab?"

"No," Jean said with smile, "Armin was just asking what time he should tell his tutorial the kick-off party starts. And then just to say that the slides for the lecture tomorrow look good."

Levi watched out of the corner of his eyes as Jean bent down to help the woman check her bag for her phone and mumbled, "We really should get you a case you can clip to your belt or something…"

"A-ha!" Hange raised a fist clenched around a flip phone, and then suddenly, she was holding it with two hands.

Her pile of books had had enough and was about to topple over when Levi's arms shot out to steady the tower before it collapsed on the brunette. She hadn't even noticed.

He didn't mean to catch the books before they fell. He really hadn't planned on moving at all; the books weren't even falling his way. It was her own damn fault if she didn't notice. But, his body was just too used to moving quickly to catch pictures, mugs, and lamps before they could reach the floor. It wasn't a coincidence that they didn't have many breakables in the apartment, what with the way Isabel was constantly twirling around and Furlan's sleepwalking.

When Hange did notice, a few seconds later, she let out a startled yelp and attempted to use her whole body to steady her library.

"Shit, no! That's making it worse," Levi said, not bothering to hide his annoyance. He steadied the pile again and kept his arms holding it up for a while longer before shooting a glare to the airhead next to him.

"Sorry, sorry!" Hange said with a laugh. She grinned at him from around the books, "thanks a bunch, though! Wild reflexes!"

He rolled his eyes, "You just weren't paying attention."

She raised an eyebrow and cracked a grin, "what? Were you staring at me?"

Levi felt his cheeks go warm and diverted his gaze from the woman's laughing eyes.

"No, I wasn't," he said curtly, "I was just sitting in the fucking danger zone."

He made sure the books were steadied before he picked up his notebook again.

The kid in front of them coughed and shifted around uncomfortably. "Thanks, man," he said while giving Levi a quick once over. "If those textbooks go down, all the paper she's stuffed into them would have ended up everywhere. It took hours to match the notes up to their text pages again."

Jean reached over and started restacking Hange's stuff on the floor while she held on. She still looked like she found the whole thing much too funny for Levi's liking. He decided not to look her way.

"You should really organize your shit better," Levi mumbled, keeping his eyes on his paper.

Hange leaned her head back against the couch, "aww, man... that's what everyone says. I've tried, guys! It just never lasts." She let out an exasperated sigh.

Jean muttered something too quiet for Levi to catch, but Hange nudged him with her foot and shot him a look.

"Well, enjoy carting around half the library then..." Levi shot her way and that, he hoped, was their last interaction.

Hange looked down at Levi's open binder, which was neatly labelled and visibly well organized.

She let out a small "huh," before turning her attention to the kid again.

"Alright, Jean! Well, the kick-off party starts at 8:30 at the Wallflower. I'll head over after my lectures and locking up the lab." She frowned, "wait, why wouldn't people join? Puppy therapy is always super busy."

Jean sighed and leaned his head to the side, "yeah, but Hange. I mean, the hype just isn't the same with rats. Plus, the lab is intense and the hours for the regular meetings are kind of random."

Levi frowned at his notes. What the fuck? Fucking weirdo...

Hange sighed, "yeah, you're right." Then shot him a bright grin, "But! I swear I'm about to get a big grant to really kick it all up a notch! We're really getting somewhere, and we can maybe take on a few more assistants next semester to help with all the data entry that's going to need to happen!" She was basically bouncing.

She paused and looked around the room quickly before returning her fiery gaze back to Jean, who was looking a little frazzled.

"And get this, Jean Boy, I've been working on something with Moblit. I can't get into it right now, but it could be really big if it all goes according to plan. Like really big!" She was bouncing again. Her hand gestures were getting more exaggerated and much too close to Levi's personal space. He decided to just lean away and scowl instead of getting dragged into another conversation.

Jean narrowed his eyes, "Wait, like big for you and research nerds or big as in normal people big."

Hange grabbed his hands, "like brand new wing big. Like the Rat Pack Club goes on vacation big."

Levi was still looking at his notes. He had to admit he was starting to be a little more curious than he was annoyed. She was trying to whisper but wasn't doing a very good job at it. God, it was like she didn't know how to be quiet.

"Wait, so this is something you're working on with Dr. Berner? I thought you were still heartbroken from him switching labs," Jean asked while trying to take his hands back. "Is he back?"

Hange shook her head, and her smile dimmed a little, "no, my ride or die still over at the Medical Imaging Lab in the comp sci building." She perked up and continued on, "But! It may have worked out for us in the end!"

Jean looked a little less tired now, "huh... well, when can you tell us about it? Who knows about it?"

Hange let out a low chuckle, "uh, well, don't tell anyone. It started as just a little side project for Moblit, Nanaba, Nifa, and me. We didn't expect it to really go anywhere. So keep it to yourself, for now, I'll let y'all know when I can."

Jean nodded. He looked determined and, suddenly, a lot younger than he had a minute ago. He gave a mock salute, "you got it, Doc!"

Hange mirrored his salute and gave him a wink. "Awesome, ok! Oh, also, did you have any questions about tomorrow's lecture?"

Jean shrugged and shook his head, "nah, I looked it over, and it's pretty chill. Cog Psyc was a fun course."

Levi glanced up and looked at the top right corner of his notes. Intro to Cognitive Psychology.

"And that's exactly the vibe we want this semester! Fun!" Hange exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Yeah… ok, fun. I can do that," Jean mumbled. "I'll tell Armin," he said as he turned to go. The kid waved lazily over his shoulder, "See ya tomorrow, Hange!"

"Get home safe, Jean! Tell Sasha and Connie I say hello," Hange waved to the back of the kid's head before leaning back and slouching down.

"Rat Pack Club goes on vacation. Ha! Take that monkey brain," Hange muttered with a smile. She closed her eyes like she getting ready to take a long nap in the middle of the atrium, which was getting less busy as time went by.

"Oh!" She exclaimed and shot up and turned to face Levi with a much-too-bright smile, "I forgot to introduce myself!"

She stuck out a hand that was covered in ink smudged. Levi felt the corner of his lips fall and held back a snarky comment; he really was trying to be less pissy, as Isabel put it. He sighed and reached out to shake her hand. He had hand sanitizer in his pocket.

"I'm Zoe Hange, but please call me Hange! Nice to meet you, and thanks for saving my books!"

Levi nodded, "Levi." He went to take his hand back, but the weirdo was still shaking it.

"You're taking Psyc 221 tomorrow, right? That's awesome. I hope you're ready for a heckin' good semester, Levi!" Hange was still shaking his hand.

"Yeah. Yeah, it sounds great," Levi mumbled as he jerked his hand away from her grip.

"Is this your first semester here? Transfer student? Do you live on campus? What courses are you taking?" Hange kept going as though he looked happy to be there instead of inching away and gathering his papers to leave.

"Second semester here, transferred from Wallrose College," Levi muttered. He didn't want to admit it, but Hange's enthusiasm was putting him on edge. What the fuck was she on?

Hange nodded enthusiastically, "That's great! Welcome, and if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask! I'll be your lecturer for PSYC 221. My lab's down in the Neuro wing, so feel free to stop by if you have any questions!" She pointed down the hall that had a staircase at the end of it. "I always really enjoy having some older students," she continued, "at least someone to make eye contact with when the kids make a reference I don't know." Hange smiled at him before rummaging through her pocket and proceeding to hand him a business card. He didn't want to take it, but he also didn't want to piss off his professor. Fuck it, whatever.

"I know what you mean. My younger sister is always trying to get me to do these stupid fucking dances for TikTok or whatever the fuck," Levi grumbled out as he looked over the card. His eyes flicked upwards to meet hers.

"rat_attack2000@maria.edu?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn't let it leak into his voice, but, shit… She had to be a few years younger than he was, and she was a professor and director of a research lab. He didn't want to say he was impressed, but he was. But she was also a fucking weirdo.

Hange nodded and smiled widely. She reached back into her pocket, grabbed the card back from Levi, and scrawled something down with the newly retrieved pen. The pen was labelled, pocket pen.

"Yeah! It's the email address for the club I started with some students. My research lab has been doing some behavioural studies with rats, and it's hard not to fall for their little paws and their little eyes. So, every now and then, we get together and hang out and chill with some rats. This Friday, we are having our kick-off party. You should stop by!"

Hange handed him the card back. It had a time, a date, and an address.

"This is more of a social gathering at a bar near campus, not really a regular meeting. It's mostly just a bunch of research assistants and a few of us old folk having some drinks," Hange shrugged, still smiling. She wasn't done, "the usual meetings are chilling with the rats and throwing around ideas. Sometimes the students pitch us some experiments, and then we give them feedback."

Levi didn't think he would go. To the meetings or the party tomorrow. Hell, he knew for sure he wasn't going to go. Still, he nodded and muttered out a half-assed, "sure."

"Plus! The kids don't stay too long at the parties. They eventually head out after a few drinks to the next destination to get trashed where their profs can't see them. So it's only rowdy for a little while. It's been a while since I made it to the second location. I'm not that old, but I'm not that young anymore." She laughed lightly, and Levi was caught off guard by how pretty the sound was.

"I can't Fridays," Levi said as he pocketed the card, "I work Friday afternoons."

Hange nodded, "It's 8:30 to late-thirty, so stop on by if you want! Or if you know someone who'd-"

She was cut off by someone dropping their bag onto Levi's lap.

"What the fuck?" He started, looking up with a scowl. Of fucking course it was Isabel. He looked at his phone and saw 5 missed calls.

"Dude, what's the point of having a phone if you never answer it," Isabel said with a little more sass than Levi was used to. His brow furrowed. He'd ask about that later.

"Don't be a shit," he said gruffly, but still more gently than his usual tone. She made him worry like that. "My phone was on silent."

"Hi! You must be Levi's sister! He mentioned he had a younger sister." Hange stood up and grabbed Isabel's hand with a smile, "I'm Hange. I'll be your brother's professor starting tomorrow. Should I be keeping an eye on him? I feel like he's going to give me a hard time." Hange gave Isabel a wink and a smirk, which the younger girl returned. She looked a little less tense than she had a minute ago.

"Pfft, Nah. He's pretty bland." Isabel replied and shook Hange's hand with significantly more enthusiasm than Levi had. "I'm Isabel. Thanks for engaging with Mr. Grumpy here. He usually just sits there like a weirdo."

Levi stood up and thrust Isabel's bag back into her arms, "Ok, time to go." He turned on his heel and started walking away at a brisk pace.

Hange shouted out, "bye, Levi! See ya tomorrow!"

Levi waved over his shoulder but stopped when he didn't hear Isabel following behind him.

Isabel was still standing next to Hange, who was staring at her pile of books. He groaned and made his way back to the couch as Hange leaned down and tried to pick up the stack.

He placed a hand on Isabel's shoulder and attempted to steer her away.

"Isabel let's go," Levi said.

The young lady shook her head, "Nah. I'm catching a ride with some friends. We're gonna go get some food before heading home! So don't worry about me!" Isabel gave him a look and gestured towards Hange, still mapping out a game plan. Levi pretended not to notice her look and shot her a glare of his own.

"Isabel. Dammit, why did you tell me that before I stayed till the end of your classes?"

Hange let out a chortle and glanced up at them, "Ha! Classic. Have fun, kid!"

"Well, since you don't need to worry about me," Isabel said sweetly, "you're free right now. Hange, let Levi help you with this!" She shoulder-checked Levi and stuck out her tongue at him with a grin.

"I'm sure she's fine," Levi said.

"Oh, man! I would so appreciate it!" Hange all but yelled, standing up suddenly. Her head smashed right into Levi's chin, making them both groan and bring their hands up to their respective injuries.

"Dammit, four-eyes. Be fucking careful," Levi growled. He shot Isabel a look, but it didn't stop her giggling. He was losing his edge.

"Ok, bye! I have my phone, and it won't be on silent!" She waved and hurried off in the direction of the exit. There was a group of girls who waved, laughing, before walking off together. Levi let out an exasperated sigh, but he was happy to see she was making friends. She deserved it.

Groaning, he looked back down. Hange… was just sitting on the floor, next to her pile of books. No, she wasn't just sitting there. She was reading a book.

"Yo, four-eyes. You want help or not."

"Hmm?" She looked up as though unsure of who was talking to her. She blinked her big, brown eyes and then smiled. Her lips formed a little oh, and though she only just remembered where she was. "Oh, yes! Sorry, I got side-tracked there for a minute. How's your chin! I'm really sorry about that!"

She stood and reached out to touch Levi's face.

He took a step back, "You were just touching the floor. I don't want you touching my face!" He felt his cheeks warm up a bit and shifted his gaze. He picked up most of the stupid, fucking books.

She chuckled and reached down to pick up the rest. She looked at him with a grin and replied, "that's a fair point, Shorty."

"Shorty?" Levi all but dropped the books. "Whatever, Four-eyes," he said and stormed away.

He heard some undignified sputtering as she tried to think of a comeback. He smirked. Good, she should feel bad.

"You just called me Four-eyes? What, I can't call you Shorty?"

"Not when I'm doing you a favour," he shot back. " And after you try to break my face!"

"No! Come back, Shor- Levi! I mean... I mean, come help me, Levi," she sounded whiney. He wasn't sure if he liked that sound.

He turned around and saw her trying to pick up the stack again. He let out a sigh and dragged his feet back to the fucking weirdo, again.

"Oh my fucking god… Why do you even have this many books with you?" He said gruffly as he took an armful of the offending items.

"Research!" Hange exclaimed as though it was obvious. She started to walking away at a surprisingly fast pace.

"What the fuck, slow down, weirdo," Levi said. In-fucking-credible.

"Well, come on then!" Hange said, glancing over her shoulder. "My office isn't too far away."

It sure felt like it was, though.

After winding their way through the halls and then down several sets of stairs, Hange finally unlocked a door and turned on the lights of her office. It was absolutely filled with books, with stacks of papers covering every surface. She shuffled into the room, stepping over a few plastic boxes, and placed her cargo on her chair. It was the only surface that had any space. Hange motioned for Levi to hand her his share, which she placed on the ground, next to the chair.

"Fuck, Hange. How the hell do you ever find anything?" Levi said, unable to hide the growing frustration from his tone. He didn't like clutter, and he really didn't like this room. "This is a fucking mess."

"Oh, it's not that bad! I can find what I need eventually!" She waved her hand and flicked off the lights. Hange picked up two plastic boxes, letting out a small grunt as she did so.

"Alright! Let's head out. Close the door, would you?" She nodded to the open door.

"What's in the boxes?" Levi asked, shutting the door. He had no idea why he was still here. Why was he still here, talking to this lunatic. God, he shuttered thinking of the stacks of paper in that little office.

"Oh, just old notebooks that I need to shred, some speakers I need to donate, and then a lot of rat food to bring to the shelter."

He had forgotten about the rats.

He looked over at the tall, lanky woman. She was obviously struggling. Shit.

"Give me those," he muttered as he took the boxes from her.

She let out an audible sigh as she shook out her arms, "oof, thanks a bunch! Ok, it's over this way!"

Levi glanced her way, "what is?"

"My apartment!"

He felt weird about this. He didn't know this person. Well, he did, or he would know her. Tomorrow, anyways. It still felt weird. He wasn't sure he really knew why. He nodded silently and followed her.

He paused when he looked down.

"Are you wearing fucking crocs?"

[thetypedwriter]

Lore Book Review

Lore Book Review by Alexandra Bracken 

Lore by Alexandra Bracken was one of 2021’s most anticipated YA novels and it's easy to see why. The plot summary itself is enough to pull you in with the intriguing concoction of calling it the combination of The Hunger Games and the Percy Jackson series. 

What’s not to love when you fuse the illicit danger of Katniss Everdeen with the mythological enchantment of Rick Riordan’s masterpiece?

Turns out, quite a lot unfortunately. 

Before I get into why this book didn’t live up to the insurmountable hype it built up, I’ll attempt to give a basic summary. The key word being attempt as a good portion of this novel’s plot was a mind boggling and convoluted mess. 

The book takes place in modern day New York which Bracken likes to remind you every other paragraph with small snippets about how the city that never sleeps smells like sewage and is yet still the best place on earth apparently. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love New York as much as the next person, but the pandering to the Big Apple got annoying after awhile. 

Within the cantankerous city lives a girl named Lore which we are introduced to by means of her kicking ass in an underground Chinese restaurant’s fighting ring. 

Pretty strong start. 

Lore’s world (and the reader’s frankly) is tipped upside down when Lore’s long lost childhood friend, Castor, reappears to warn her that he is looking for her. Terrified, Lore is then at first unwillingly thrust back into the world in which she was born-a world dominated by violence, bloodlines, and the Greek gods who are very much alive and out for vengeful retribution. 

In a very exposition-dump heavy conversation, we learn that Lore is the last of Perseous’ line with the rest of her family having been horrifically murdered, that a week long event called the Agon occurs every seven years in which the original nine Greek gods or their reincarnated selves become mortal for seven days, and that a series of killing often happen because if you kill a Greek god you then become that Greek god as well as inhabit their powers, abilities, and immortality. 

Well, until the next Agon that is. 

The currently reincarnated God by the name of Wrath is attempting to end the Agon by killing all the other Gods, but in order to do it he needs to wield a special weapon called the Aegis. 

Unfortunately, only the Perseides can wield this shield (for some reason) and thus, Wrath is out to get his hold on Lore as the last of her line so that he can bring this eons old competition to an end with himself as the sole victor and only remaining God. 

Confused?

I’d be surprised if you weren’t. 

Now, I love Greek mythology. I’ve read the classics and would say I’m fairly up to date on the stories, the legends, the gods, and the stories they represent. I’m not an expert, but I would say I’m  knowledgeable on who the major figures are and what they stood for. 

I genuinely think this book would have been miserable for anyone that didn’t know anything about Greek mythology.

 Bracken does a terrible job of explaining what the hell is happening at any given point, and she often throws out allusions and references to Greek mythology without bothering to explain a single shred of information about it. 

In addition, after this laughably and poorly explained world and plot at the beginning, it is almost never explained again. It’s brought up, as are names and titles and weapons and relationships, but it’s never explained in a way that’s feasibly understandable. 

At the beginning of the novel Bracken lists who all the important characters are, their bloodlines, and their titles.

 I soon figured out why, as every other sentence a name like Wrath or Reveler or Tidebringer or whoever was brought up, and it was impossible to keep track of so I didn’t even bother. 

Even Lore brings up that the names are ridiculous, which I appreciate, but the meta moment of clarity doesn't make it any better. 

Also, what Lore and her friends get up to over 90% of the novel is a muddled mass of bewilderment. 

Why do Lore and Castor and the others need to find Artemis? I don’t know, but sure, whatever, sounds good. Why was Lore the last of her line again? Oh yeah, right, okay, I guess. Wait, Castor died? Oh, he didn’t? Why not? Oh, we’re not going to explain it. Sure, sure. 

Throughout this entire novel, what the characters are doing and what is happening is almost impossible to follow with the way it's presented and the way Bracken developed her world. I think this was a really cool idea that had very poor execution. 

Points for the originality and the inclusion of Greek mythology, but all of the positives were taken away when that originality was flushed down the drain with a lack of explanation and logic. 

Lore very much reminded me of a shoot-em up, bang-em up action movie. Almost every other chapter was some sort of super intense, super climactic fight scene, chase, theft, break-in, etc. 

Now. I do think action scenes are hard to write and I think Bracken actually did an incredible job of writing action in a way that was entertaining and thrilling. 

However, when the action takes place every ten pages it gets really old, really quick. Towards the end, I downright started skimming the fight scenes, because they lacked so little depth and stakes and we had read so much action at the end point that it had lost all vigor and vitality. 

Continuing with the action movie metaphor, most action movies focus solely on the bright explosions and the crazy fight scenes as their selling point of the whole movie, often to the detriment of the characters, plot, and development. 

Now, some people like this. I am not these people. 

I find action movies boring as most of my enjoyment from consuming media comes from the characters and the developments they undergo. 

My biggest criticism with Lore, other than the astonishing storytelling, is by far the characters. I just...didn’t care. About any of them. 

Bracken tried to make Lore come across as a strong, opinionated, fierce, angry female character and while sometimes she succeeded, more often than not I found Lore temperamental, aggravating, impulsive, selfish, and shallow. 

Bracken very much invoked the tell-not-show strategy that makes any book hard to get through. While there were some decent moments of showing instead of just stating, more often than not, Bracken would tell us that Lore was strong by having other people say it or others calling her weak. 

I appreciated Bracken’s feminist agenda and how strongly Lore felt about gender inequality, even if it was a bit heavy-handed at times. Still, I did appreciate this inclusion of civil rights on this front, even if some of the circumstances to incite it were ridiculous or over the top. 

In addition, I hated that there was all this backstory that we were just told but not shown. Like in my last review of Wilder Girls, Lore suffers from an intrinsic failure of getting me onboard with these characters and their relationships by telling me how I should feel about them instead of exposing them through action. 

I was told:

Lore and Castor haven't seen each other for seven years, but my gosh, Castor is just the best and is so beautiful. Ensue obligatory YA romance. 

Lore has a best friend! Yeah. Her name is Iro. Here she is! Um. Okay. Why was this necessary?

Miles is just the coolest best friend ever. Like, look how cool and chill he is. How funny is it that he has no idea what’s happening? Really not funny at all. He was a useless character used to build empty stakes. 

  The list goes on and on, but Bracken will throw out some sort of fact or relationship and just expect the reader to go “Okay!” Which. I didn’t. On any of those occurrences. 

Often Bracken would do this in the use of flashbacks at the most inopportune times (during a fight scene, after someone was injured, right before a huge revelation, etc). These flashbacks were the worst. I do not care for adolescent Lore and child Lore was somehow even worse. 

The romance in this book, much like an action movie, is off to the side and really only there to fulfill the trope of having a romance. 

Lore and Castor are boring. I don’t know what else to say. Castor is too perfect to be likable and Lore is the opposite. Nothing about their romance was unique or well-crafted. 

The kiss between Van and Miles I also saw coming a hundred miles away. I also thought it was pointless as Van and Miles had known each for six days and had had maybe two conversations. So. No. I didn’t care at all about the romances. 

It actually made me laugh and scoff simultaneously at the end when Lore is looking at Van, Castor, Iro and Miles and smiles because she realizes that these people are her family. 

Ummm. Sorry?

Castor disappeared for seven years and you’ve been reunited for seven days. You’ve hated Van your whole life until this week. You also haven’t seen Iro in seven years and she tried to kill you at least twice in this book. Miles is...fine, but again useless. I don’t even know why Bracken included him except to make Lore worry about him which she only did about half of the time. 

Phew. 

I know this review has come across largely negative, so this might be surprising, but I didn’t hate it. It lacks substance and depth, but it was entertaining. 

Just like an action movie.

 If you want some hyped fights and a plot that really doesn't matter and characters that won’t stick with you, but a fast-paced narrative that keeps you on your toes nonetheless, then you would probably enjoy this. 

It’s like the equivalent of watching a James Bond movie or one of the millions of the Fast and Furious. Bracken tries to develop the characters, but at the end of the day, most of the story is made up of cool fights, magic, and weapons. If that’s your speed then you would probably really love Lore. 

Recommendation: Action, action, action. If you want some high intensity, get-your-blood-pumping enterprise then this is your novel. The writing is fluid, the adrenaline-inducing scenes are non-stop, and everything else falls to the backdrop of external fights and villainous monologues. If action is not your preferred genre, then your best left to get your Greek mythology needs from Percy Jackson or the Song of Achilles instead.  

Score: 6/10

[rainydayhogwartsimagines]

Just fools in love (first draft, tell me how this sounds in the comments please)

The steam hit Fred's face, leaving him in a coughing fit as he passed through the wall. "We've done this three different times now and the damn steam never makes it easier." George coughed out. Fred and George stepped away from the path of the steam, Bill messing up their hair hair as he passed. "Try not to cause too much trouble this year. I'd love to graduate in one piece." Bill said. "You do realize who you're talking to right?" Fred asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "God, I'm not going to make it am I?" Bill groaned. "Don't give Bill anymore stress this year." Molly said, warning the two twin boys. "We won't." George sighed, clearly lying due to their wonderful reputation around their home. "On the train now, go on. Have fun!" Molly said. Fred pulled George along. "We do not want to see mum cry. Again." He muttered. Carts were already filling up, Fred and George finally finding an empty one towards the back. "Think we'll make it?" George asked. "If Charlie and Bill made it, I think we'll be fine." Fred assured. George nodded before the cart door opened. "Uhm.. do... Do you mind if... I... If we..." You stumbled over your words. "Oh Y/n. Out with it!" Another girl said. You sighed and looked at her. "Can we sit with you?" The other girl asked. "Sure." George nodded. You sat down next to Fred, him looking at your eyes. They seemed to almost swirl with colors. You weren't looking at him though.

You were playing with your fingers. "Y/n, I grabbed this earlier from your bag. Thought you might want it for the train ride." The girl said, handing you a book. You thanked her and made yourself comfortable in the corner, reading silently. "She's not very social at first." The girl said. "I'm George. That's Fred." George introduced. "Angelina. And that's Y/n." She said, you raising your hand as a greeting. Fred couldn't place why you were interesting to him. Maybe it was the pen behind your ear, the band-aid on your knee or the polar opposite friend you somehow made. "No offense but how does a quiet person make friends like you?" Fred asked. "I speak sometimes Fred." You commented. You didn't look up from the book, seemingly enthralled by its pages and contents. "Any reason why she's so charming?" Fred asked sarcastically. "She and I grew up together. She's cool, trust me." Angelina gushed. Fred could've sworn there was a flicker of a smile, daring to grace your lips. You squinted at a line in the book though, underlining it with the aforementioned pen. "she's in deep now." Angelina chuckled.

Angelina seemed used to this, ignoring any of the faces you made as you read. By the time the train finally started to move you finished your book. Angelina noticed the closing of your book and looked over. "Well?" Angelina asked. "Dead. Again. What is it with the Greeks and death?" You asked. "That's like... The sixth one you've read with that outcome." Angelina noticed. "You'd think with so many cautionary tales of fate, they'd stop trying to change it." You shrugged. "What were you reading anyway?" Fred asked. "Ever heard of Orpheus and Eurydice?" You asked. "Me and George aren't big readers." Fred said. "Hmm." You squinted at him. "We're pranksters." George said. "Little tip: don't drink anything around us." Fred warned. "noted." You muttered. "Either of you fancy practical jokes?" George asked. "I don't mind them." You said earning a snort from Angelina. "What?" You asked. "that's bull." Angelina told them. "Uhm. Hello? Two older brothers? Three legends as Uncles? All of which played pranks on me and others endlessly?" You waved. "Oh? Like what?" Fred asked innocently. "Nice try. Not giving either of you ideas." You said, pointing your pen at Fred. "Y/n does have a talent for outbursts." Angelina warned. You gripped your pen that seemed to rattle at the mention. "Hey! We don't know them and I'm not fond of advertising that!" You snapped. Angelina nodded. "My bad." She said. What... Did that mean?

"Anyways. What houses are you hoping for?" Angelina changed the subject. Fred could've sworn your pen almost... Rattled? "Our family is usually Gryffindor." Fred said, still looking at the pen. You could feel his gaze go from the pen then to you. "I'm fond of Gryffindor too." Angelina nodded. "Ravenclaw seems nice to me." You said. "That doesn't surprise me considering you're the first year that brought a Greek tragedy as free time reading." Angelina chuckled. "whatever." You shrugged. Fred couldn't seem to remove Angelina's comment out of his head. "Oh! Candy cart! Who's in?" Angelina asked. You got up and followed her.

"They seem nice." George said, watching Angelina through the glass. "Did you notice Y/n's pen rattled after Angelina made that comment?" Fred asked. "She might've gripped it too hard." George shrugged. "Maybe." Fred said, watching you through the glass. You soon sat back down and stared at the scenery. "Hyping kids up with sugar before school. Terrible plan." Angelina said, snapping two candy bars in half. She gave George and Fred a piece, sharing the other pieces with you. You ate it, smiling at your friend. Fred swallowed the chocolate. "Remember what Remus always says?" Angelina asked. You let a laugh escape from your lips. "Everything can be solved with a little bit of logic and a whole lot of chocolate." You quoted before laughing again. Fred couldn't help but smile at that sound. It was... Cute.

"Say, Y/n you said you had two older brothers?" George asked. "Yep. Regulus and James." You answered. "So you're with the Black family... Isn't your grandmother--" Fred noticed the pen roll on the seat but you stopped it. "She doesn't know much about her." Angelina answered. "Dad kept me away from her." You answered, gripping the pen.

Focus.

Keep it controlled.

George noticed your eyes, seeming distant as you stared off. "Do you enjoy having older brothers?" Fred asked. "uhm.." you cleared your throat, blinking a few times to regain focus. "They're a pain but I love them." You said. "Regulus is... Interesting." Angelina snorted. "You mean nuts like Uncle James?" You asked her. "I thought James was your brother?" Fred asked. "My brother was named after my Uncle James." You answered. "Actually he wants me to look out for Harry next year." You said to Angelina. "Harry better not turn into more of a pain." Angelina groaned. "You know who he gets it from!" You sighed. "Prongs." You both nodded in unison. Angelina sucked in a breath. "Did your dad give you the--" "It's in my bag." You chuckled. "I swear you're speaking another language." George said. "hmm. Should we tell them?" Angelina asked. You chuckled. "Not yet. Keep the mystery alive." You said. The two boys exchanged a curious look.

A boy popped his head in. "Cold?" He asked you. "A little." You nodded. He tossed you a jacket and walked away as you slid it on. "Who was that?" George asked. "My brother James." You answered. "I don't get it. Regulus acts more like Prongs than James does." Angelina said. "James and I spent more time with Moony and Wormtail than Regulus did." You answered. "Who the heck are 'Prongs', 'Moony' and 'Wormtail'?" Fred asked. "Prongs is my Uncle James, Moony is my Uncle Remus and Wormtail is my Uncle Peter." You answered. "Weird nicknames." George said. "Get close enough and you'll find out why things are weird." Angelina said with a chuckle, passing you a card to a chocolate frog. You stuck it between the pages of your book and gave her a small smile.

Fred almost saw Angelina's words as some unspoken challenge. He did already want to know more about you. Maybe this was like that book you were reading. Maybe you couldn't escape fate.

[littleturtle95]

Alec’s birthday weekend celebration 🥰 Day 2 // free space. TLBOTW review

I havent’t seen a review for the book, only critics/praising and comments on specific moments, so I’m here to do a proper analysis.

This book has many perks and a few lows and I’d like to talk about both. I’ll start with the lows to end on a positive note. Surfing on the internet I’ve read that the plot feels a bit rushed, and I have to agree. I had the impression that the whole book serves the sole purpose of introducing Sammael and showing the last scene with all the princes of hell. Everything that leads to that (the thorn, the two swords then merging into one, the trip to Diyu, Shanghai and the false tracks) were born and died in this book and it felt like they were not well integrated with the TSC universe, they were just there to write something that could realistically lead to the final moment. The two swords Alec and Magnus carry are literal Gods that we’ve never heard before, they use them one time and then they’re gone. You don’t introduce something this powerful that carries so much weight just to shrug it off after one use, one use that doesn’t even involve the sake of our main characters (and why did only Alec have to be tested to prove his worth? both Alec and Magnus got a sword 🤔 that’s something I didn’t understand at all, if you know it feel free to explain in the comments) Another example of this are the two guardians of Diyu, the demons that heal constantly touching the ground of hell, apparently undefeatable. You don’t introduce something like that and kill it off in half a chapter, it’s anticlimactic. And you don’t hype up the father of all demons and then you get him defeated by Isabelle riding a tiger (come on he should have killed them all in that scene) and, even worse, you make him run away like a common demon after things start getting rough. Shinyu leaves and Sammael is “Fuck this, I’m out.” Bitch, you’re a Prince of hell! You’re the Prince of hell! Stop her! Kill them! WTF dude. Yeah, I think this is the main problem of the book. It introduces these huge elements and then it shrugs them off in the most anticlimactic way possible. The other thing I didn’t like was Ragnor’s reaction to Raphael’s dead. Ragnor probably isn’t one to make a fuss, but ffs they were extremely close friends. In TBC Ragnor scolds Magnus because Raphael calls him much more than Magnus does, they exchanged letters, calls, gossip, they used to have meetings, in GOTSM we see them greeting eachother with a high five, and we know how Raphael gets, he’s not so openly friendly even with Magnus and he died for him. They weren’t friends, they were great friends. All we get is a “he passes all stages of grief at once” and “I liked him // He liked you too”. Ohhhhhhhh and a “every war has a life count” like WHAT THE FUCK Seriously? Okay.

Well, what I didn’t like is over so let’s start with the perks. I’ve read many times that the characters are ooc. Jace feeling down because he has a broken foot and he can’t fight (Jace Herondale would never avoid a fight for a broken bone!!!), Simon feeling insecure (the first time he went down to hell things were even worse and he didn’t make such a fuss!!!), Alec calling Magnus pet names (it’s not like him he never did it!!!) and I’ll tell you this: At first I had this impression too, but in the long run I don’t think it’s fair to say those things. The TMI gang we know is younger, less mature, a teenage rebel gang. We read about the grown up them in other spin off books or in TDA, that’s for sure, but not as main characters, just as cameos, so it feels weird to see them as grownups. We thought we were familiar with them but we don’t feel the same familiarity anymore and that’s fine. It would be crazy if they were the same people as before. The Jace we knew was reckless, self destructive and didn’t care much if he lived or died. This Jace that doesn’t feel safe fighting with a broken foot and chooses to guide the others with his strategies is a Jace that knows his limits, a Jace that cares about his life and understands that his well being affects others, a Jace that accepts that the fact he can’t fight for once doesn’t make him less worthy. This Jace is the Jace he became, we are not used to it, we don’t recognise him at first, but what he does is perfectly normal. It would have been less realistic if he acted like he would have acted in City of Bones or even City of Heavenly Fire. This Simon is not the Simon he was the first time they went to Hell. That time he was a vampire, he wasn’t expecting to die. That time he cared deeply about Clary, he fancied Isabelle, but that was kind of all of it. Now he cares about Clary yes, but Isabelle is his family. Jace is his family. Magnus and Alec are his family, too. He is worried because he is mortal and because he has much more to lose. He is worried because he just lost a friend and for the first time he has to come to terms with the fact that being a Shadowhunter really means you go out in the morning and you don’t know if you’ll make it to dinner time. And this doesn’t only affect his bestfriend and the girl he dated while he dated some other chick. This affects him, his fiancée, his parabatai and the rest of his family. It’s not like City of Heavenly Fire, it’s okay for Simon to break down like this, it’s not ooc, it’s a character that changed because the story lead him to change. Alec calls Magnus pet names and is affectionate because he is not the closeted angsty teen he was in TMI. He is a father, a man, someone that knows his loved ones support him and someone who doesn’t have to hide. Come on, in GOTSM he showed Magnus’ and Max’s pictures to everyone he’s met, he stops randomly a werewolf girl getting ice cream, points at Magnus and says “See that man? That’s My Husband overthere.” He is not “He’s not my warlock” Alec, he is “That’s my husband” Alec and we aren’t used to it because we’ve never seen him as a main character in other books after his change, but we know this change happened so we can’t have a Pikachu face if Alec says “My love” or kisses him on the street in front of other people. This is not ooc, this is Alec, the same one, the one who is now more than twenty years old and wants to get married and is raising a child and in a few years is becoming consul. It would be absolutely nonsense for him to keep the distance he kept in TMI. Another complain I’ve seen is “not enough Malec and too many characters”. I don’t think there were too many characters and I don’t feel like we hadn’t enough Malec. Yes, the whole TMI gang was there but I liked that, that’s a plus for me. It’s true, Alec and Magnus’ relationship didn’t evolve in this book, they stayed pretty much the same, we don’t see an actual arc like we did in TRSOM but the romance was still there. There’s no need for relationship drama, and a book about romance doesn’t have to be a push and pull to be interesting. We had a lot of romance, but the angst and the challenges came from other people. It was an established relationship book and I think it worked well with it. The exchanges between the characters were genuine, witty, and I feel like every one of them bonded just right. The relationship between Alec and Jace, Simon and Clary, the other two couples, they were all on point and in character and I liked all their interactions. It was really nice to read them all together and I needed this. Now, the Tian discourse. I feel like Cassandra did a great foreshadowing with this one, something that I immediately noticed. In TRSOM I knew the whole time that Shinyun was going to betray them. It was said multiple times that Alec didn’t trust her and when they’re on the boat in Venice coming back from the party Alec is sleeping and still stops Shinyun that was going to touch Magnus waking up for a moment. Alec is really smart at reading people (except for understanding when they’re in love and that’s hilarious). A line that made me go mhhhh🤔 was when the book says “Alec trusted Tian”. Why say that in that way, totally random mid chapter? Why not to say the others trusted Tian too? Magnus at least? Or why to say anything at all? In that moment they weren’t discussing his worth and he hadn’t even started to act weird. The line made no sense. So I wondered if the line wasn’t saying Alec trusted Tian, the line was saying we should trust Tian, because the other time a trip like this happened Alec didn’t trust Shinyun and she turned out to be a total pain in the ass. Another thing I loved was the action. This is what I want from a TSC book, I want demon hunts, magic artifacts, trips to hell, weapon shopping. Our shadowhunters actually shadow hunting. This book had more of it than TRSOM, so kudos to that. To give this rant a end, I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed this book very much. I disagreed with some choices, I disliked some details, but I’m glad I bought it. It brought me back home, and that’s everything I wanted. This family, the TMI family, is a bit like my family now, and they were so much themselves that I couldn’t help but love it.

P.S. The cameos were rad. The parts with Maryse and Kadir were perfect, I adored Elyaas and when I read there was Raphael I screamed.

[peachiekoo]

One Beep || JJK

“I think it’s unfair that we can’t do anything about what our heart want.”

⇢ Pairing: Jungkook x Reader ⇢ Genre: Angst; Fluff; Romance ⇢ Warning(s): Hints of divorce, slight flashbacks to dark past moments, denialism at certain points ⇢ Word Count: 2.04K ⇢ Posted: April 10, 2020 ⇢ A/n: Hey, so I made a fic based off of a show I’ve watched recently called “Love Alarm”. It has since became one of my favorite k-dramas! I’m extremely happy that this idea suddenly came to me. (I deadass don’t think I’ve ever been this hyped to write a fic) I hope you guys enjoy and also there might grammar mistakes which I sincerely apologize for!

Everything that happened was an accident actually.

Maybe everything would’ve been fine if you only went to class at least a good two minutes later. All of it could’ve been avoided if you weren’t trying to go run an errand for a friend. But then again, who knows?

It was a Monday morning at exactly 7:50 am when you got a text from one of your closest childhood friends, Chaeyoung.

[7:50 am] Chae🍊: bubs,, where r u??

[7:50 am] You: studying in the library

[7:52 am] You: why?

[8:01 am] Chae🍊: do you think you could drop off my paper to ms.eve? i left it in your bag

[8:01 am] You: rn?

[8:03 am] Chae🍊: I mean,,, I would appreciate if you did

[8:03 am] Chae🍊: <3

You sighed and rolled your eyes. Classic Chae move, you thought to yourself. You closed the book you had checked out beforehand as you neatly placed it in your bag before you looked for her paper.

Finally, finding the paper slightly wrinkled, you made your way to the exit. You decided to take the shorter way than the usual way since you wanted to quickly get back to studying again before heading towards your next class.

While walking, you were busying yourself with your phone. Looking at a few unread messages and scrolling on twitter before you heard a group of people discussing a new app. 

It wasn’t your intention to eavesdrop but something one of them mentioned was an app that could tell if someone had a crush on anyone in a 10-meter radius.

“Unbelievable,” you scoffed quietly.

You continued walking past them as you decided to search up about it when you were recommended an app, LoveBeep. You chuckled at it. Do people really believe this? From the app details it’s popular at the moment. Are people just that gullible.

You were so engrossed by the app that you didn’t even see the tall figure in front of you. “Sorry! I-” Your sentence stops in the tip of your tongue when you realize who it is. He reaches a hand out for you without even throwing a second glance at you.

It was Jeon Jungkook. You two were never once friends but you shared a few good past memories together as your mom used to babysit him every once in awhile growing up. Now he probably wants nothing to do with you.

You felt your heart race in anxiousness. You quickly grabbed his hand and pulled yourself up before dusting yourself off and heading towards the main reason you were on the floor anyways.

You suddenly stopped though. You turned on your heels before gently tapping him on the shoulders. He looked at you with an annoyed look shadowing over his face.

“I’m sorry.” you sputtered.

All you heard was an annoyed sigh before he faced all the way towards you. He glared down at you. You felt as if you were shrinking, both mentally and physically. You watch him softly chuckling before he turned his gaze back to you.

“I don’t want your dirty ass apology, Y/n. Your mom has already enough,” He spits. “Why are you apologizing for what your mom did? Did you have any part in it? You pity me don’t you.”

You took a few steps back unconsciously before he grabbed your arm and pulled you close. He placed his mouth over your ear. “The fact that you constantly try to fix your mom’s dirty deeds is annoying. She should be able to feel the pain that she’s given others.”

Your eyes water at that for yet, he wasn’t wrong. She did bad things, but that didn’t make her a bad person. You pushed the boy off of you with resentment in your gaze.

It was silent for a moment before your voice broke it. “You know nothing. Nothing at all. You think you got it all figured out don’t you,” you hissed. “Don’t you!” you raved.

You felt the burning tears sliding down your cheeks. “I’ve tried so hard to be generous to you. Do you think I wanted things to be like this? Do you think you’re the only going through things?” you declared. “Go to hell, Jeon!” you shouted before storming off.

Finally, dropping the papers off, you continued on with the rest of your day. Doing your very best to avoid the brown-haired boy at all costs.

It was a late night, you were bundled under your covers. You looked across the room to see a Chaeyoung peacefully asleep in her own bed. You sighed as you rolled into another position so you could finally go to sleep but it seemed nearly impossible no matter how hard you tried.

You looked over at your phone and you remembered that ridiculous app from earlier. You grabbed it from the nightstand before typing the name into the app store before downloading

Once it was finished downloading, you inspect med the app. The first thing to pop up was a loading screen that displayed tips about the app. Once it finished loading you were introduced to a welcome sign before it faded out into 3 rings with a zero in the middle of them.

It seemed fake. Like an app, a seven-year-old girl would download to try to find her imaginary prince charming. Nevertheless, it still intrigued you. You stayed up the rest of the night trying to find out more about before you crashed around 4 am.

A few months later, it finally starting to begin spring. The incident with Jeon is far in the back of year head as you sit on the bench and enjoy the warm air and the few blows of cool air surrounding you as you took a considerable bite out of your apple, listening to Chaeyoung as she rants about her latest “life problems”.

You feel content for the first time in a while. You feel in your gut it won’t last for long though. You inhale a deep breath to just take the moment in. You let your eyes flutter closed for a second, reassuring Chaeyoung that you’re still listening to her.

Suddenly you hear your phone beep. You look at the notification to see from LoveBeep, saying exactly, “Someone in a 10-meter radius loves you”. You were just about to put your phone back since it wasn’t like it was the first time it had beeped before but you had felt a certain urge to look up.

You looked up to see Jungkook walking past you with a friend. You were just about to ignore the occurrence when you realize, he was, in fact, within a 10-meter radius when your phone buzzed. You felt your cheeks tingling at that.

No, it wasn’t him. It can’t be him. You convinced yourself. You’re in a school, there are tons of other students within a 10-meter radius of you. He was also walking with a friend meaning it could’ve been him.

The incident could’ve been easily ignored if for the past few passing you had with him within the last month didn’t result in your phone beeping. Every. Single. Time.

You kept trying to ascertain that it was another reason for this but what really got you was when you were in art class early, drawing a few sketches to waste time. You had felt your phone vibrate as you got other notification from LoveBeep. You had heard the door open before you turned your attention over to where the sound was made.

It had fully hit you. Jungkook is the one beeping you.

You were currently waiting by the exit of the school since Chae was taking way more longer than expected oddly since it was normally you that was always late.

The majority of the students had already left school, only a few people walking around which you assumed was for the after school clubs. You decided on going into the school to go find her when you saw the boy down the hall.

“Jungkook, we need to talk,” you said as you walked up to him. You felt your phone vibrate again in your pocket before you let out a sigh.

“What?” he asked nonchalantly. He looked up at you like you were, in fact, wasting his time.

You tilted your head at him slightly look at him straight in his eyes. You just wanted to get it over with.

How can he act so damn rude yet still have feeling for you? Seems kinda fucked up.

“Listen, I don’t wanna be here just as much as you,” you smirked at him. “I know you like me, Jeon.” All you heard in reply was bluff of air coming through his sealed lips.

He rebuked, “What in the actual fuck are you talking about? You genuinely think I out of all fucking people would like you?”

Annoyed, you pulled out your phone and went directly Into the app.

“Then what is this?”

“An app.”

“What app jackass.”

“LoveBeep obviously.”

“Okay, and what does it say.”

“I’m not reading that you can do it yourself.”

You groaned in annoyance. “Are you just that fucking difficult?” You shot the phone right in his face. “You like me.” You disputed

“You’re gonna believe an app?” he yapped through tight lips. An obvious thick tension in the air had you fidgeting with your school skirt. The reality of it hit you.

This dickhead, the one who is steadily hateful towards you. The one who you once were close with. Yet, he is someone who had a full reason to hate. Not hurting any less though.

You hated him. But you loved him. Not in the cheesy ‘I’m in love with my enemy’ type of way. But the ‘You and me against the world’ type of way. A platonic love that was now one-sided from something which you strictly blame on yourself no matter how many times you tell yourself otherwise.

Your mood suddenly turning more sour at the realization, you mutter out a barely audible “Why?” before keeping your gaze with his eyes.

“You are so sick and twisted. I know she fucked up everything but you just let it out on me and then when I feel like I did it you have then you yell at me about why am I trying to fix shit that I didn’t do. It’s because of you!” you exploded.

Not stopping there, you step to up still maintaining the connected glare as you continue on. “Then you have the fucking audacity to like me? What the fuck is wrong with you.” You wept, your emotions finally overpowering you. You were so filled with anger but it was useless because there was nothing you could do about it. “It’s so unfair you can live your life like this while I’m just here.” you ended.

“Live my life like this? My parents aren’t even in the same fucking country because of her and you think your life is tough because I developed unwanted feelings for you?” He argued.

Anger flurrying through you, your arm flung at him involuntarily, slapping him in the process. “You don’t know everything!” you screeched tear stains down your cheeks before storming off.

As you were walking off, you heard him yell out to you causing you to stop. “I think it’s unfair that we can’t do anything about what our heart wants,” You heard him let out an emotionless chuckle. “If we could do you think I would like someone as low as you?” he deadpanned before listening to his footsteps walk off.

“Fuck you, Jungkook.” you gritted out before continuing on. Deciding on going home, you decided to text Chaeyoung ahead of time.

[4:51 pm] You: im gonna walk home early

[4:51 pm] Chae🍊: ? did something happen :(

[4:55 pm] Chae🍊: y/n???

[4:56 pm] You: can we talk about it later please

[4;56 pm] Chae🍊: ofc bubs

[4;57 pm] Chae🍊: do you want me to order your favorite takeout when i get home?

[4:57 pm] You: yes pls

And that was the last time you had any interaction with Jungkook.

a/n: I hope you enjoy this series!

[ace-trainer-risu]

omg i would like to know the hated author...

OH thank you for asking I was. of course secretly deeply hoping someone would ask so I would have an excuse to go off. 

The author [dramatic pause] is VE Schwab!

Now I will pause (again) to say that I just spent like two hours writing a six page long essay on exactly why I dislike her as an author (I don’t know anything about her as a person so no feelings there) but then when I reread it I started to feel worried that it might hurt someone’s feelings who really likes her as an author, so this is a slightly redacted version.

But basically there are three things I hold against her.

For context, I’ve only actually read one book by her, A Darker Shade of Magic. But it’s not just that I didn’t like it. It’s that it left me angry. I read it a year ago and I still get furious when I think about it. It is, in my opinion, a profoundly toxic and hateful book. 

While at the same time also being a very boring and bland book.

So that’s point one) I just don’t get the hype. I read ADSM b/c I saw it recommended everywhere, but I really don’t get why? It’s not very well-written. Purely on a technical level her writing isn’t bad, but it’s not good either, its very...okay. The world building was really disappointing (it’s about four alternate worlds but they’re all almost. exactly the same. which was super disappointing. and also she seems to be under the illusion that london is like the most important place in the world?) The characters are bare minimum sketches, they basically feel like she came up with an initial concept and then never went any further. The characters aren’t particularly likeable or compelling, either, except for one character who...I felt like you weren’t actually supposed to like, lol. The pacing was actively bad. The plot doesn’t really start till around halfway through the book. I actually started ASDM twice and gave up on it the first time b/c it was boring. when I tried again the second time, I thought I had only read maybe the first quarter of it on the first try b/c I couldn’t remember anything happening, but it turned out I had actually read about half, its just that nothing happens in the first half. 

to be fair, I have read reviews of a different book she wrote which specifically praised the writing, so maybe she just did a shitty job on this book and she writes better in her other work?

point two) if you only pay attention to the text of the story, it’s fine! again, its not particularly compelling but its fine. but if you pay any attention to the subtext, its...really misogynistic and queerphobic. its incredibly pervasive through the whole text. 

for one thing, the female protagonist is introduced and is immediately like “Oh. I hate all other women.” (No one asked!) which is not necessarily bad in and of itself, except that...not only is her sexism never called out or contradicted, its actually actively supported by the text. there’s only one other important female character, and she’s Evil(TM), and also gets killed. the very few other female side characters are either someone’s mom or are portrayed as being extremely shallow and vapid and silly. they act exactly how the female protag despises women for acting. so...I don’t think its intentional but you’re left with this weird impression that the female protag is completely justified in her internalized misogyny b/c apparently all other women ARE bad. also, the female protag likes wearing boy’s clothes, which is great, but there’s this weird vibe that girls who don’t wear boy’s clothes are like, dumb and bad and sexist. I think the author is trying to critique repressive female clothing in the past (female character is from regency era england) but she does it really badly and instead accidentally(?) implies that girls who wear skirts are like. dumb sluts. a very weirdly sexist take. like it literally feels like this book hates women and specifically hates them for wearing “women’s” clothes.  *also not the point but it’s really funny that of all the time periods to critique for restrictive clothes, she picked regency england. ah yes, the torturous constraints of...empire waisted dresses and minimal or no corsets. dastardly! 

for another thing, the queer rep is just...so so bad. there’s one explicitly multisexual person (bi or pan isn’t specified but something along those lines) who gets tricked by a manipulative man older than himself heavily implied to be gay (bad) and gets horribly injured and almost dies (bad) basically just so the straight male protag can have angst (bad!). 

the manipulative guy implied to be gay is in turn being magically controlled by...a different! manipulative older man (bad) and is strongly implied to be sexually abused by that man (bad) and the straight main character literally never tries to help him in any way (bad) and ultimately kills(ish) him (bad) but it’s revealed that he basically chose to die (bad) because it was like, the only way he could ever escape his suffering (very bad!!) and the main character then! uses! his dying body! in a spell! to save his own fucking life! and basically disposes of his still alive! body into hell like he’s garbage (so bad I’m literally still fuming of it over a year later)

and then there’s the guy who is manipulating that guy, who is an older man heavily implied to serially abuse and assault teenage boys and young men (bad!!). he also dies too which is fine and good in and of itself...*

except for the fact that of our three queer-adjacent characters, two die and one is horribly injured and almost dies. two are abused and one is an abuser. two are used as angst-fodder for straight characters and one is literally sacrificed, coldly and selfishly and without his consent, to save a straight character’s life. they’re all closely associated with injury and death and trauma and abuse and it’s suggested that death is the only escape. 

subtextually speaking, this book hates queer men and punishes them for existing. 

*note: I want to specifically say that “enjoying abusing teen boys” does not automatically make a person gay or queer. that’s not what being gay/queer means. HOWEVER, there is a long and ugly history of gay men being portrayed as predators who deliberately prey on and abuse younger men, and this character plays directly into that stereotype, and that is why I included him. not b/c he’s positive queer rep but exactly because he isn’t

thirdly) about a year ago there was a bit of buzz about ve schwab writing a book with a canon asexual character...except I looked into it and a) it’s not actually canon at all; the book only says he’s disinterested in sex, which is by NO MEANS the same and it’s shitty to conflate the two when there’s a vast spectrum of asexual experiences (to be clear, it would be one thing if the text said he was asexual AND disinterested in sex. to say he’s disinterested in sex and that equals asexuality is a whole other thing, and is wrong), and schwab then confirmed on her twitter that he’s meant to be asexual. That’s not the same its not the same and we all know its not the same. b) this character is in fact a villain, which is frustrating when asexuality is FREQUENTLY and harmfully associated with people being heartless and unfeeling and evil and like, literal serial killers; to be fair, as I understand it the majority (all?) of the characters in these books are villains, so that’s less bad, but to be fair again, apparently this specific character is also portrayed as being, like “a sociopath” which is ableist AND goes back to all the stuff I said above. and c) what really annoys me is that in her tweets at the time she was very smug about this and fully patted herself on the back. she did half-assed, unresearched “rep” which wasn’t even actually canon and then acted like she was doing ace ppl a favor. excuse me, I didn’t actually ask to be represented by you. 

SO YEAH that’s not the...medium and short of it. the long and short is reserved for a Cursed(TM) google doc filled with my rage. but the tl;dr is that I think she’s an overhyped writer who wrote a profoundly misogynistic, homophobic book and trumps herself up over rep she didn’t actually do a good job of providing. and I would definitely never read another one of her books. The End!

[mustangshelby04]

No

Pairings: Chris Evans / Charlotte Mackenzie (O/C)

Summary: Saying no leads Charlotte to a friendship she has never imagined.

A/N: I’m trying to force myself to write. Maybe this will light a fire under my ass.... Or my muse’s. She’s a bit flakey.

Chapter 1

Charlie stood in line with her boyfriend Sam as they waited for their photo-op with Chris Evans.  They were second to last in line for the last day of the Comic Con they were at.  From the excited giggles of the people in front of them, Chris was posing and having some fun.  

Sam was clearly excited.  He was Marvel obsessed and had spent more money than any sane person should to get photo-ops with every Marvel cast member.  Charlie was just along for the ride.  It had been a point of contention with Sam that she refused to dress up with him this weekend.  She wasn’t a big movie or TV lover outside of old school Disney stuff and she didn’t get into all the hype of celebrity gossip.  She was a book lover and you could usually find her curled up with a book in some corner. 

She looked over at Sam, dressed as the Winter Solider and bouncing on the balls of his feet.  They had been dating a little over six months and this was the first time she had joined him at one of these things.  She wasn’t a fan of crowds and it had been absolute hell for her.  The whole weekend she had been regretting saying yes.  

“Ok, you guys are next.” The attendant said, leading them into the makeshift photo studio.  She was grinning from ear to ear like a creepy Cheshire cat.

Sam rushed in first and started gushing at Chris about how excited he was and how much he loved him as Captain America.  Charlie patiently waited for him to finish and then shook Chris’ hand when he extended it to her. “It’s nice to meet you.” She said politely.

“I really like your shirt.” Chris said.

She looked down at her blue Little Mermaid T-shirt she was wearing with skinny jeans and black Converse sneakers. “Thanks.  It’s one of my favorites.”

“Mine too!”

“So, what are we doing today?” The photographer asked.

“How about this?” Sam asked.  Charlie and Chris both turned to look and Sam was down on one knee with a ring held up at Charlie.

“What the actual fuck?” Charlie gasped.

“Charlotte Grace Mackenzie, will you please marry me?”

“Are you crazy?  No!”

“Charlie….”

“Get up!”

“I love you.”

“Oh my god!” Charlie turned and stormed out of the photobooth, leaving Chris and Sam to stare after her.

Charlie sat in the hallway of her hotel next to the door of her hotel room a little while later staring straight ahead at the horrible wallpaper in front of her.  She couldn’t believe what had just happened.  Sam had rushed after her and the two of them had fought about what he had done.  He had then left her standing there.  When she had finally calmed down, she had gone after him only to find that he had actually taken the car and left her there.

Luckily, they were only three miles from their hotel and she had no problem walking that.  She had busted out her cell phone and turned on her GPS to make her way back.  When she had gotten there, Sam had left her a note on the door.  She looked at the note again, completely flabbergasted that he was such an asshole.

Find your own way home.

They had travelled from Omaha, Nebraska to Chicago, Illinois for this Comic Con in his car.  She was desperately trying to hold herself together and not panic, but she could feel it working hard to burst down her carefully placed walls.  It was why she had curled up in a tight little ball on the floor and hadn’t gone down to see if she could get a key made for her so she could get into the room.  If she spoke to anyone, she was sure she would start bawling her eyes out.

“Is everything ok?” A voice said to her left.  She looked up to see Chris Evans standing there and he clearly recognized her. “Oh!  Hey!”

“Fuck me.” Charlie sighed as the tears started to leak out.  This was so not what she needed.  She had completely forgotten that Sam had chosen this hotel because it was where some of the celebrities were supposedly staying.  Fuck him for being correct.

Chris shifted his weight and glanced around. “Are you ok?”

“Nope.”

“Are you lost?”

“Nope.”

“Can I offer you any help?”

Charlie closed her eyes tightly. “How about a rewind on the last couple of hours of my life?”

Chris chuckled. “Sorry.  That’s a little out of my wheelhouse.”

“Mine too.”

“Seriously, are you ok?”

“Not in the slightest.” Chris sat down next to her on the floor. “He fucking left me here.  I have absolutely no way of getting home now.” Charlie wiped angrily at her wet cheeks.

“Where’s home?” “Omaha, Nebraska.”

“Shit, that’s a bit of a hike.”

“Little bit.” Charlie shoved her messy, curly, dark copper hair back from her face as the dam cracked further. “Fuck!  What the fuck am I going to do now?  I can’t even get into the hotel room because that asshat had the key!”

“Come on.” Chris stood back up and held his hand out to her.

“What?”

“You can use my room to breakdown in and then we can call down to the front desk about that key.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t, but I am.  Come on.” Chris reached down again and grabbed her hand this time.  She allowed him to lift her to her feet and then lead her down the hallway.  He opened the door to his suite and Charlie promptly started sobbing.

“I’m sorry.” She wiped at her tears aggressively again with shaking hands as Chris ushered her to the couch and sat down. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Please don’t be embarrassed.  Your boyfriend should be the embarrassed one.”

“Ex-boyfriend!” She dropped her face in her hands and shook her head. “I’m not even sure what it is I’m crying about.  That fuckwad sure doesn’t deserve my tears.” Chris walked over to the minibar and grabbed two beers.  He popped the tops on them and offered her one. “Thank you.”

“Gotta say, I’ve seen a few proposals at those things, but never a reaction like that.”

Charlie looked over and Chris was grinning hopefully at her.  It actually made her laugh. “What is my life right now?”

“What do you mean?”

“My entire quiet little world has been on the precipice of exploding, I just got abandoned in an unfamiliar city by the guy I was seeing, and I’m sitting here being comforted by a celebrity who doesn’t even know my name.”

“Right now, I’m not a celebrity.  Right now, I’m a good Samaritan who stumbled across a person in need.  It would make my mom proud.  Well, except that I haven’t properly introduced myself.” Charlie snorted as he held his hand out to her. “I’m Chris.”

“Clearly.”

“And you are….” He wiggled his hand at her and she relented, shaking it.

“Charlotte.  Everyone calls me Charlie, though.”

“Pretty.  So, Charlie, your life is about to explode?  How so?”

“You’re really asking?  Like, you really wanna know?”

“I really wanna know.”

She started picking at the label on her beer bottle. “I’m leaving everything I’ve ever known behind and moving to the East Coast in a month.  I think that’s why Sam pulled that shit today.  He doesn’t want me to leave.”

“Where are you moving to?”

“Boston.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  I accepted a job at Little Brown up there.”

“What’s that?”

“A publishing company.  It’s been my dream to become a book editor and I’ve been working towards that goal for the last four years.  I finally found a company that’s willing to give me a shot at it, but it’s in Boston.”

“That’s pretty awesome.”

“I didn’t even want to come to this thing with him, but I figured I would give him one last good weekend before I broke up with him.”

“You weren’t even going to attempt a long-distance thing?”

“When do those ever work out?”

“I don’t know.  I’m a hopeless romantic, though.”

“I’m not.” Charlie set her beer down. “I need to get into my room.  See if he left my things or destroyed them.  Knowing my luck, he’s set everything on fire.”

“I don’t think he did that.  The fire alarms haven’t gone off.”

“Good point.” She pointed at the phone on the desk. “May I?”

“Of course.”

Charlie walked over and picked up the phone, dialing the front desk. “Hi, my name is Charlotte Mackenzie.  I got locked out and I need a key to get in.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I don’t see you registered in our system.”

“No.  My boyfriend…. Ex-boyfriend made the reservation.  It’s under his name.  Sam Cooke.  Room 828.”

“Mr. Cooke checked out.”

“What?”

“Mr. Cooke checked out a little while ago.”

“But my things are in that room.”

“I’m so sorry about that.  Mr. Cooke didn’t mention that there was anything left in the room.  We can send a maintenance man up to let you in to get your things.”

“I kind of need a place to stay tonight.”

“We’re completely booked up, but you’re more than welcome to rent that room for yourself.”

“Ok.  Yeah.  I can do that, I guess.  How much is it?”

“For tonight, the room would be $238 plus tax.”

Charlie choked on air and started hacking.  Chris came over and patted her on the back, taking the phone from her. “Hi, this is Eric Prince in suite…. Yeah.  Look, can you just put that room on my bill?  I’m certain.  I would appreciate that.  Thank you.” He hung up and offered Charlie a bottle of water.

Once her breathing was back to normal, she shot a confused look at Chris. “Eric Prince?”

He shrugged sheepishly. “Prince Eric…. From The Little Mermaid.”

“Oh.” Charlie blinked for a minute. “Did you just pay for my hotel room?”

“I did, yeah.  Was that not ok?”

“I mean…. It’s your money, you can do whatever with it, but you don’t even know me.”

“I’m not someone who can just sit here and listen to someone in distress.  If I can help, I’m going to help.” There was a knock on the door and Chris went over to answer it.  Charlie stayed seated on the couch, sipping at her water.  When he came back, he presented her with a key card. “Your room key.”

“Oh.  Thank you.” Charlie took it. “I can’t thank you enough for this.”

“It’s no problem.  Let me know if you need any more help or someone to hang out with.”

Charlie laughed. “Yeah, like Mr. Big-Shot Needs-A-Fake-Moniker has no one better to hang out with.”

He frowned slightly. “Actually, I don’t have anyone to hang out with.  I ditched my team for a quiet night in.  Being around all those people all day long…. I need a recharge.”

She nodded. “I understand that.  I’m more of an introvert with some extroverted tendencies.  When I’ve reached my limit on people, I just need to stay in and hide.  Especially if there’s a crowd.”

“Same.” He shifted from one foot to the other. “Would you like to hang out with me, Charlie?  We can recharge our batteries, maybe order a pizza, rent a movie….”

“If you’re sure, then ok.  I just want to run and make sure he didn’t destroy my stuff.”

“That makes sense.” Chris followed her down the hallway to her room.  When she opened the door, she let out an angry groan while he let out a shocked whistle.  Her suitcase had been hurled across the room and it’s contents were scattered everywhere.  In the bathroom, he had squirted out all of her toothpaste, broken her toothbrush in half, destroyed most of her makeup, ripped the rows of bristles out of her hairbrush, and dumped her expensive curly hair products down the drain.

“No, no, no, no!” Charlie ran over to the suitcase and lifted it up.  Her laptop made sounds like little metal pieces were moving around inside. “Fuck!”

“Shit!  He actually broke your laptop?”

“What the hell is wrong with that guy?” Charlie started crying again as she held her broken laptop.

“A broken heart is one thing, but this….”

“He can’t have a broken heart.  We weren’t together that long!”

“Wait, how long were you two together?”

“Six months.  Today was the first time he even said he loved me.”

“Had you said it to him?”

“No!” She looked over at him. “What are you doing?” Chris had started to move around the room and picking her clothes up off the floor.

“Helping.” He started to fold the shirt in his hands.

“You really don’t need to do that.”

“I know I don’t.  You really don’t need to be so difficult.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry.  This is just a really fucked up situation and I’m not even sure which emotion it is I’m feeling.  And I really don’t mean to take it out on you.  Thank you for helping me.  It’s very kind of you.”

“You’re welcome.”

They worked together to collect her belongings and pile them on the bed.  Once they finished, the two of them tackled the bathroom.  Chris took pictures of everything and sent them to his assistant with instructions to purchase them and bring them to his room.  Charlie stopped when she got to a beautifully ornate compact mirror.  It was antique silver with filigree designs carved into it and little jewels set to resemble a starry night sky.  A few of the jewels were missing and the glass inside had been broken.  She clutched the compact and started to sob.

“Hey….” Chris gently pulled her into a hug.

“This was my mom’s.  My dad gave it to her as a wedding present when they got married.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“They died when I was eleven.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I can’t believe he broke this.  He knew it was one of the few things of hers I have left.”

After Charlie had cried herself out, Chris helped her finish cleaning the bathroom and they went back to his room.  She curled up on the couch and he sat down on the opposite end.  They were quiet for a long moment before he finally broke the silence. “I don’t normally do this.”

“What?”

“Invite strange women to hang out with me.”

“I never said you did.”

“I know, but…. I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to get in your pants or anything.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why don’t you want me to think that?”

“I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of me.”

“What do you think my impression of you is?”

“I’m not sure.  You’re not like most women I’ve met.”

“How so?” “Well for starters, you ask a lot of questions.” Charlie chuckled. “You’re also like this open book that I can’t read.”

“That’s the most interesting thing anyone has ever said about me.  What does that mean?”

“I…. Ok, so you drop these seemingly big clues about your life.  You were incredibly vulnerable when you told me that your parents died and you’ve cried in front of me while I get the feeling that you don’t do that in front of people very often if you can help it, but none of those clues lead me any closer to being able to figure you out.”

“Do you want to figure me out?”

“I kind of do.” “Why?”

Chris smirked. “I like to read.”

Charlie and Chris sat on the couch with a half-empty pizza box between them.  A pay-per-view movie was playing on the TV, but they weren’t paying attention to it.  The two of them had been talking for hours.  He found it a welcome relief that she didn’t care about him being a celebrity and that she didn’t know anything about him.  It felt great to actually get to know someone.

“I’m really impressed.” Chris said as he looked at the pictures on her phone. “You made out like a bandit on this.”

“I just hope there aren’t any crazy issues I’ll have to fix.” Charlie was showing him the house she had bought sight-unseen at an auction.  It was a two story Colonial house in Concord.

“You realize we’re practically neighbors?”

“Are we?”

“Yeah.  I just bought a house about two miles away from here.”

“That’s weird.”

“Are you sure you’re not stalking me?”

She laughed. “Trust me, I don’t give two shits about your celebrity status.  Unless you wrote a book.  Then watch out.”

Chris handed her back her phone. “The commute to Boston might be crazy.”

Charlie shrugged. “I don’t mind.  There’s a train station and all the research I’ve done says it’s about an hour commute.”

“It is.  You’re going to love Concord.”

“Where did you say you grew up again?” “Sudbury.”

“Gotcha.”

“So, Mac, what made you want to uproot your life like this?”

Charlie laughed at the nickname he’d chosen.  She usually hated it when people tried to call her that, but for some reason Chris made it sound endearing. “You really want to open that can of worms?”

“I really do.”

“Ok.” She took a deep breath. “So, you know mom and dad died in a car accident when I was eleven.  What you don’t know is that my twin sister was in the car with them.”

“Oh shit!”

“Yeah.  I went from having a full family to being alone.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“My aunt took me in and raised me.  Aunt Millie…. She was living with her second husband in Omaha when she got the call that her brother and sister-in-law had died.  She flew out to Maine and stayed with me.  My parents had just written their wills and hadn’t gotten a chance to tell her that they’d named her guardian of their kids.” “I bet that was a big shock.”

“For everyone.  My mom’s parents thought that they should get custody of me, but aunt Millie wanted to honor my parents’ wishes.  She ended up fighting them in court and the judge ruled in her favor.  When the school year ended, we moved to her house in Omaha.  About a year later, she found out her husband was cheating on her and plotting to take my inheritance.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah.  It was a pretty significant amount.  My mom’s family was pretty well off.  She had a trust fund which became mine when she died and my parents had really good life insurance.  My grandparents added the money to that trust fund that they intended to put into mine and Max’s trust funds…. Max was my twin.  Her name was Maxine.”

“I couldn’t even imagine losing all of that.”

“How many siblings do you have?”

“Three.  One older sister, Carly; my younger brother, Scott; and my youngest sister, Shanna.”

“That’s a lot of siblings.”

“Yeah.” Chris took a sip of his beer. “So, back to you.  I didn’t need to pay for your room, did I?” Chris smirked at her to let her know he was joking.

“You really didn’t.  I just…. I don’t really like to touch that money.  After what happened with aunt Millie’s second husband and then her third and fourth husbands…. I figured money ruined people’s lives.”

“What happened with her husbands?”

“They basically used her to try to get to that money.  After what happened with her second husband, my grandparents made it very hard for her to touch my inheritance.  I didn’t even have access to it until I graduated college.  By then, I had learned the value of a dollar by watching aunt Millie work her ass off to keep me clothed, fed, a roof over my head, and in good schools.  I had part time jobs throughout high school and college to help her.  I used scholarships and grants and a couple of student loans to pay for my college education.  I’ve only used that money for three things.”

“What were they?”

“To take aunt Millie to Europe before she died and to pay for that house in Boston.”

“Your aunt is dead?”

“She died about two years ago.  Pancreatic cancer.  That’s the third thing I used that money on.  I paid for all of her medical bills.”

“I’m so sorry, Mac.  That’s a lot to go through in only thirty-three years of life.”

Charlie shrugged. “It is, but what can I do about it?”

“When was the last time you’ve been to the East Coast?”

“I visited my grandma in Maine last year when she died.”

“Did you have a good relationship with your grandparents?”

“It was ok.  They loved me in their own way.  Mom was an only child and I was their only grandkid.  They sent me money for my birthday and Christmas.  I got Easter baskets from them, too, and I would go out for a week in the summer when I was younger because the court’s said I had to.  Those weeks…. Makes me glad that I ended up with aunt Millie.  My grandparents weren’t home very much.  I hung out with their butler in the summers.  When I turned 18, I stopped going.  I let aunt Millie have the birthday and Christmas money after that.”

“Wow.  You should write a book.”

“Why?”

“Because your life has been…. Eventful and I would even call it inspiring.”

“Maybe one day I will.  For now, I prefer to give other people chances to get their voices heard.”

“Is that what appeals to you about being a book editor?”

“Yes.  I’ve read some amazing books in my life and I used to wonder what it would be like to be the editor that gets the copy across their desk.  To be the first person to read it outside of the author and their family and know that what I have is going to make a lot of other people happy.  Not to mention the author.  Plus, I’ve been known to be a stickler for grammar, so why not put that skill to use.”

Chris chuckled. “You haven’t corrected my grammar once.”

“You’re pretty eloquent, Evans, but I’ve been silently correcting you.”

That made him tip his head back and laugh loudly, his right hand slapping against his chest.  It sucked Charlie in and they both laughed freely.  After a few minutes, they finally calmed down and wiped their eyes. “I’m really glad I asked you to hang out with me, Mac.”

“I’m glad I said yes despite the shit circumstances.  I really wanted to stay in by myself and hide from the world.”

“Why did you say yes, then?”

“You said the right thing.”

He grinned. “Good.  I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

Please let me know if you want to be tagged in this story. The more people that want to read it, the better. I want my muse to feel the pressure!

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[kpoppwriter]

You Still Have To Date Your Soulmate - Falling (In Love) pt. 2

Anon asked: could you do a part two for Hongseok soulmate au? I read it today and I'm in love.

Genre: fluff

Words: 1.5k+

Warnings: n/a its just fluff and Kino being a dork

a/n: so this ended up being longer than the original lol also I ended up writing Kino kinda like a stereotypical GBF gay best friend accidently whoops

Falling (In Love) pt. 1

“And when I looked at my phone, my cheek was all colorful.”

“See! I told you!” Kino slapped your shoulder, “He’s your soulmate~”

“Oh, shut it Kino,” you took a sip of your drink trying to hide the blush appearing on your face

“So, when are you going to see him again?” Yanan asked

“Well, I’m hanging out with him after his Lit class but he did ask me to go to his basketball game...”

“And you’re going,” Kino finished your sentence

You sipped your drink again, not agreeing with Kino. He groaned as he leaned on you. He complained and complained saying ‘you had to go’, ‘he’s your soulmate’ and ‘you had to fall in love with him’.

“I don’t know...I guess I’m just not used to all this,” you admitted

“Aww don’t worry Y/N,” Wooseok smirked, “I’ll put a good word in for you. I have Bio with him later.”

“Don’t you dare-”

“Oh! And I’ll come with you to the basketball game!” Kino exclaimed

“You don’t have to-”

“I’ll go too, if you want,” Yanan chimed in

You sighed flopping down on the table. You buried your face in the crook of your elbow. The boys quieted down letting you mull over your options. You slowly raised your head, deciding what you were going to do. 

“Ok fine. I’ll go,” you sighed, “But you’re coming with me, Kino.”

“Sweet! We can take my car!” 

Kino picked his phone quickly typing out a text to someone, probably his roomates. You did warn Wooseok that if he embarrassed you, you’d actually fight him. Kino, like the good friend he was, hyped you up so much and told you how much fun you’d have. You hoped he was right again.

~

You sat on a bench outside the English building reading a book for one of your psychology class. You were too absorbed in the novel that you didn’t realize that Hongseok had walked out of the building. He approached you slowly trying not to scare you. He gently tapped the top of your book. 

“What’re you reading?” he smiled 

“Ah-oh, a book for my Psych class.” 

“Cool,” he sat down next to you

He took the moment to enjoy the sunshine that was shining on both of you. His eyes closed as his head fell back. His skin looked so golden, the sun accentuating the color.  He was dressed rather casually, a pair of sweatpants hung on his hips and a basketball jersey over a black t-shirt. You weren’t well versed in sports so you weren’t sure what team the jersey belonged to. His eyes peaked open, spying you staring at him. 

“Are you staring at me?” he smirked

“No,” you turned away from, not letting him see you blush

He only hummed in response. He knew you were lying- it was obvious. His hand went up into his dark hair pushing the strands out of his eyes. You avoided looking at him, afraid of letting him see the blush on your face, if he hadn’t already seen it. 

“Have you eaten yet?” he asked

“Um..no I haven’t.”

“Want to get lunch with me? My treat.”

“Sure,” you smiled shyly

He got up off of the bench first, offering his hand to you. You hesitantly took it. Before you had a chance to grab your bag off the ground, he grabbed it and wore it.

“You don’t have to do that. I can carry it,” you went to take your bag but he shifted out of reach

“Don’t worry about it,” a teasing smile graced his lips, “I’m strong. I got it.”

You just laughed as he showed off his muscles. He posed in funny poses that showed off how strong he apparently was. He had you laughing loudly at his ridiculous actions. His heart fluttered when he heard you laugh. The sound of your laughter brought him so much joy. He never wanted to stop listening.

~

“I said I’m walking out the door now, Kino. Calm down.”

You put your phone on speaker as you left your very small studio apartment. You waved down the car that was slowly driving passed; a car you knew too well. You hung up the call with Kino as you got into the car. 

“I said i was walking out,” you huffed 

“You took forever,” Kino whined

“You were waiting 10 minutes. Calm down.”

You and Kino chatted the entire ride back to the college. You had gone home after classes to freshen up before going to Hongseok’s basketball game. You weren’t planning on going home but both Kino and Yanan convinced you to. They wanted your first date with Hongseok to go well, even though you refused to call it a date. You were just going to support him and his team. 

“You like him, don’t you?” Kino asked

“I mean...he’s really cool...and intelligent and funny- not to mention he’s pretty cute-” 

“Oooooo you like him~” Kino teased

“I do not!” you protested

“Yes you do!” he laughed, “You’re supposed to like him, stupid! You’re soulmates!”

Even though the day when you met Hongseok was engraved in your memories forever, you still forgot he was your soulmate. Like, you’re meant for this person and you’re supposed to be with him. It still was a new concept that you were trying to get your head around. 

“Oh yeah,” you responded

The rest of the drive was pretty much the same; Kino would tease you for liking Hongseok and you’d try to protest but there wasn’t much of a point in protesting. When you finally arrived at the college, you quickly got out of the car. Kino was just making you more nervous. The two walked over to the gym where the basketball court was. Many people were already there, not many seats available in the stands. You found a space where the two of you could squeeze into. Some of the players were practicing out on the court. You spied Hongseok and waved at him. He made his way through the stands to where you and Kino were.

“Hey, you made it,” he smiled brightly

“Yeah.”

You got lost in his eyes for moment, being brought back when Kino cleared his throat particularly loud. You looked over at him, his eyes screaming at you to stop being gross for one second. 

“Ah, this is my friend-”

“I’m Kino,” he interrupted you, “I’m Y/N’s best friend. I predicted you two were going to be soulmates.”

You wanted to kill Kino right there in the middle of the gymnasium. You could feel your ears turning a dark shade of red. You looked back at Hongseok apologetically. He only chuckled.

“Oh yeah. Wooseok told me you were coming together.”

There was a little bit more small talk between the three of you, mostly between Kino and Hongseok, before Hongseok had to return to the court. When Hongseok was far enough away, you hit Kino’s shoulder hard.

“How could you introduce yourself like that?! Are you trying to embarrass me?”

“Ow! I was just trying to assert myself as a protective, yet supportive friend,” he complained

“Well you could have done that without being such a dork about it,” you grumbled

You looked back at the players on the court, your eyes immediately going to Hongseok. You saw him trying to stifle a laugh then glancing up at you. He winked at you just as the referee blew the whistle, leaving you with a pink face to match your red ears. 

~

“You did really well out there...I think. I don’t know much about sports.” you smiled embarrassedly at Hongseok

“Thanks,” he smiled back shyly

The cold evening air hit your arms as you stood outside the gym. You cursed at yourself for not bringing a sweater or something with you. You shivered slightly, barely noticeable. At least you thought it was barely noticeable. 

“Are you cold? You can use my jacket,” Hongseok slipped off his jacket before you could answer him

“No, I’m alright-”

He draped the large jacket over your shoulders, not caring how you insisted that you were fine. He adjusted the jacket to fit comfortably over your form. His hands lingered on the front of the jacket. 

His eyes locked with yours. You could get lost in those eyes of his. You felt like you were standing there in silence for an eternity but you didn’t care one bit. His eyes flicked down to your lips for a moment. You knew what he was silently asking for. You took a small step forward as an invitation. He pulled you into his chest by the jacket. His lips pressed gently against yours, as if he was going to break you. He pulled away quickly. He wordlessly checked if you were okay by his sudden action. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him back for a deeper kiss. He melted into it, savoring the feeling of your lips against his. He wanted to stay like that forever. And so did you. 

[lovelybunny08]

Water Fountain “Prequel”

♡ Pairing- Jungkook X Reader

♡ Genre- Romance (No Smut) 

♡Description- Prequel to Let Me Down Slowly. You were always told that you weren’t beautiful from your boyfriend but you loved him and he was the only thing you knew but everything changed in one night by the water fountain.

♡ Again thank you @artofediting for editing all my story. Seriously love you I dont know what I will do without you.😭😭

♡ Word Count- 4,144

                                                                                                                Part 1>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You first saw him taking pictures, looking ethereal as the sun shone around him. You couldn’t bring yourself to look away, and the book in your lap was soon forgotten. You somehow knew that if you didn’t approach him now, then you would never have another chance. No way someone crosses paths with an angel twice.

Without giving yourself a way you out, you muster up the courage and begin to stroll over to where his lens was transfixed on a particular flower. He was kneeling close to the ground, snapping close shots when you timidly tapped him on the shoulder. Oh no. What if you interrupted him somehow? What if this was his ‘artistic’ time or something, and you just ruined his concentration. Your thoughts go into overdrive as you stand petrified, watching him turn around as if it were in slow motion. However, as soon as he peered his big brown doe eyes up at you, all your fears vanished. If you thought he was beautiful from the park bench you sat on, then he was truly from the heavens when you saw him this close. His questioning expression brings you out of your silent adoration as you realize that he’s probably wondering why a strange woman just walked up and poked him.

“Oh! I, uh, I’m sorry to bother you, but I figured that if I didn’t come talk to you now, then I might never get another chance to.” You internally grimace. You didn’t mean to be so straightforward, but honesty is the best policy, right?

At your remark, his expression softens as he rises to his feet. Damn, how tall was this giant? He loomed over you by nearly a foot, casting a shadow over you with his back towards the sun. He peers down at you with those sparkly doe eyes and grins shyly. He begins to rub the back of his neck nervously and a red tint colors his cheeks. W-wait? Was he blushing? Did you make this Adonis-like man blush? You quickly give yourself a mental high-five before he finally responds.

“Haha, thanks? What did you mean to, uh, talk about then?” He asks sheepishly. Gah, even his shyness drew you in, even though you normally went for. . . well, overconfident assholes based on all your exes. Whoops. A girl’s gotta learn.

“Honestly, I know this is rather forward, and I’ve never done something quite this impulsive, but would-you-sort-of-want-to-go-out-on-a-date-with-me?” You rush the last words out in fear of your impending rejection. You’re well aware of your looks, but overall you know nothing could ever compare to the man in front of you. Hell, you weren’t even sure there was a person in his league. Besides this, he doesn’t even know you. Heavens above, what were you thinking?!?

“I’m sorry, uh, could you repeat that last part? I couldn’t quite catch it” he responds chuckling. His laugh was another form of endearment, but also FUCK you had to ask again. Your eyes fall to peer at the delicate, white flower on the ground while you scraped together any remaining confidence. You let out a puff of air and stare him dead in the eye.

“I would really like it if you went on a date with me, and I know that sounds crazy and you could be a psychopath, well not that you are one, I mean I could be the psychopath—oh! But I-I’m not I swear, I was just—"

“Woah, okay, I believe you,” he laughs. “This is a first for us both then, but why not? When are you free?”

“Hmm, wow I didn’t think I’d get this far, but I’m free next Saturday? Does that work?”

“I actually finish up a photoshoot that morning, so it’s perfect. Should we meet somewhere, or do you want me to pick you up?” His hand resumes its habit of rubbing his neck.

“Let’s just meet somewhere for now,” you giggle at his nervousness. “Do you know where the water fountain at the front of the park is?”

“Yea, that’s one of my favorite spots to shoot,” he replies.

“Great! So, 5pm Saturday, waterfront?”

“Sounds good to me, but, uh, can I also have your phone? To put my number in? Also, I’m Jungkook by the way, haha. Guess I should have led with that.” He says this as he stretches out his hand, and it takes every bit of restraint to not accidentally throw your phone at him. With great skill, you calmly pull out the device and gently place it in his hand.

“Right! No! I should have introduced myself first. I’m y/n.” Once he finishes typing in his number, he throws you a big grin.

“Right, so just, text me when you get home. Or whenever. If you want. Oh, I would walk you home too, but I need to take a few more shots and—"

“It’s okay,” you calm him down with the softest of smiles. I guess you weren’t the only one who was a little clumsy in the flirting scene. “I’ll text you later, alright?” His face brightens at this, and he winks at you before he’s walking away to another small patch of flowers to digitally capture. You only stare for a few seconds longer before you begin your short journey back to your apartment.

As you walked down the sidewalk, breathing in the crisp autumn air, you felt a strong sense of pride. You had never done anything that bold, and the fact that you were courageous enough to do it and that it worked out perfectly really boosted your confidence. You had nearly a week until your first date with Jungkook, but ideas of your outfit were already swirling through your mind. You continued walking (nearly skipping) down the sidewalk, with a newfound sense of something you couldn’t quite put your finger on. You weren’t sure why, but you had a good feeling about this one.  

Once you arrived back to your place, you immediately peel off your clothes and step into a hot shower to relax, thoughts of your recent encounter replaying in the forefront of your mind. Afterward, you snuggle up in your pj’s and a face mask and head to the kitchen to make yourself some dinner. Hmm, instant noodles? Yes, please.

Settling into your bed with your steaming bowl of noodles, you turn on the tv and begin to flip through the channels for something interesting. However, nothing catches your eye as your mind is far away from whatever was on the TV. You replayed the first time you met Jungkook. Which was in his mind officially this past afternoon, but the first time you ever encountered him was a while ago. The first time you ran into him was actually at a block party.

________________________________________________________________

You were at your apartment putting the last few touches on your makeup and triple-checking your outfit in the mirror. Your then-boyfriend, Jackson, had just sent you a text that he was on his way to pick you up. You honestly didn’t care for the party scene, but Jackson believed that life wasn’t worth living without partying. While you would have been happy to let him go alone, the last time he came back from a part he was covered with hickies that “were just from a dare.” All your friends kept nagging you to break up with him, but you loved him--well, what you thought love was anyways--and you also knew that no one else would be interested in you.

You grew up thinking you were fairly good looking, but when you started dating Jackson he would occasionally throw in some “pointers” (as he called them) in order to “bring out your natural beauty.” It began with “You look great when you wear that, babe” to “You should wear more things like this; it’d look great on you” and eventually to “I thought you wanted to look good when you go out” and “Well, I know the other girls are going to look like this…” It grew into a comfortable routine for your boyfriend to tell you that you were lucky to have him. He used to say it in a joking tone, but not so much anymore. He’s recently added the “If I hadn’t taken you out, I don’t know if anyone else would? Right hun?”. It was gradual. He slowly tore you down bit by bit, and you put up with it because he was so sweet and loving at the beginning. Surely, he still loves you and just wants the best for you. That’s what you’ve made yourself believe. He eventually took to sleeping around every so often. Each time he claimed that it was because you were bad in bed, but that you two could work on it together. You had given your virginity to him a few times after he came back with hickies. You hoped this would make it so he would only want you. After he slept with someone else, you were knee-deep in your own lies to see his own. Yeah, maybe you were bad in bed. But it’s sweet of him to suggest that you could work on it together right? That meant that he wanted to sleep with you again, so you’re headed in the right direction. You knew these were lies, but you were too scared to not believe them.

As these thoughts flee from your mind, and you check your mirror for the umpteenth time. You were wearing a figure-hugging, black mini with a red pair of stilettos. Your friends texted and tried to hype you up with comments like “YES HOT MAMA” and “YOU LOOK LIKE SINNNNN,” but all you could see in the mirror were two boxes: pass or fail. You finally hear a knock on the door 20 minutes past the time Jackson said he would be there. Your stomach immediately twists in knots. You had spent the whole day getting ready, hoping to catch a glint in your boyfriend’s eye when he sees you. You grab your purse, and half walk-half trot to pull open the door. Without even a side glance towards you, he struts into your apartment like he owns the place.

“You ready?” he finally acknowledges you as he searches the kitchen to pour himself a drink.

“Uh, yeah-yeah, I just need to get my jacket” you reply as you slip on the red leather jacket from the back of the couch. Eventually, his eyes land on the already opened bottle of vodka on the counter.

“Ah, I see you started without me?” he asks with a smirk. You slightly grimace at your sudden exposure. The only reason you were drinking early was to get the courage to go out to this party. He shrugs at your lack of response and pours himself a cup. After twisting the cap on, he strolls back to the door and swings it open, waiting for you to walk through first. You scrunch your nose slightly confused at the gesture until it suddenly makes sense as you walk through, and he slaps your ass harshly. You squeal and jump away at the move.

“Sorry, hun. But couldn’t you have waited on me to start drinking?”

“Oh-uh, right. I’m sorry, I know I normally wait to drink when I’m with you.”

“Ah, it’s okay,” he responds as you both step into the elevator. “Oh! I see you put some effort in with the makeup tonight yeah?” He takes a long sip of his drink as you turn away to blush. He rarely recognized your effort... “Yeah, you look better than normal. We’ll keep getting better until you’re finally able to keep up with all the other party girls, right?” He nudges your side with his elbow and offers you a smooth grin like you weren’t recovering from the backhanded compliment. When the elevator doors open to the lobby, you trail behind him, letting his comments sink in. He was right after all; you could never match up to those girls at all the parties.

When you finally arrived at the house, the party was well underway. The yard was already trashed with beer cans, and you could see the mass of bodies swaying against each other through the doorway. You and your boyfriend enter and immediately head for his group of friends on the opposite side of the house. You quickly excuse yourself to go make a drink. Jackson offers a small wave and continues recalling a story from another party while his friends chuckle along like dumbasses. His stories were never that good in your opinion, but hey, he put up with all the stuff you did that he didn’t like. You go to make yourself a drink in the kitchen but end up standing there scrolling through your phone. By the time you finish off your last sip, it’s been nearly an hour. You weren’t really concerned at your unexcused absence because Jackson never really noticed. He and his buddies were most likely all trashed by now anyways. When you make your way back to their spot, his friends were all there with some new girls, but your boyfriend was nowhere to be found. Gaining the attention of one of his friends, you try to ask him.

“Hey! Hey! Sorry I’m shouting it’s just so loud in here! But did you see where Jackson went!?!?” His brows furrow for a moment as his drunk brain processes what you said.

“OH! Jackson?!? O H, yeah sorry toots, but Jackson just went upstairs with another gal. You snooze you lose I guess” he responds and turns back to the girl clawing for his attention.

What??? He did what?? Even when I am here, he STILL goes and finds another girl!! You know what, fine. I’m done. I rather be alone at home than dragged to parties I hate AND be alone. This is the last time; I’m done with him. You grab the shoulder of that same guy and tug him around.

           “HEY! Whenever Jackson gets back, tell him not to bother looking for me. I’m done with him.” The guy nods without much care, and you begin pulling yourself through the crowds to get to the kitchen. After downing one cup and pouring another, you start your journey to the front door. When you had first arrived, you saw a pretty lawn fountain in the front, and you figure you could hang there unnoticed while waiting for your uber.

You were fairly tipsy when you finally navigated yourself out of the house and stumbled to the fountain. There were some beautiful decoration rocks at the bottom of the fountain, and in your inebriated state, you decided that you were going to reach in and grab one as a keepsake of the worst night of your life. You wiped your mascara-smeared, tear-stained face and lean forward to grab one of the rocks. But in your drunken state, you overestimated your remaining coordination causing you to flail as gravity tries to pull you face-first into the water. You squeeze your eyes shut as you mentally prepare for the harsh cold when you instead feel a firm grip around your waist. As you’re pulled up and away from the fountain you turn to see your saving grace.

You were at a complete loss for words when your saving grace just also happens to be the most beautiful creation you had ever laid eyes on. You soon begin to heat up and you’re sure you’re now completely red BECAUSE your drunk ass just nearly faceplanted in front of the aforementioned beautiful creation. You stumble for words as he still holds you tightly to himself.

“I-uh, b-, than—, uh, sorry, I jus—” his nose scrunches cutely at your blabbering as he helps you straighten and stand on your own, but not yet fully releasing your waist.

“Did you drop something?” he finally interrupts you.

“Huh?” you ask dumbly.

“In the fountain? Did you drop something in the fountain and try to get it out?” he restates.

“O-Oh! Haha, well, no. See, I saw this beautiful rock and I wanted it” You explain like it’s the most obvious reason. His eyes turn to smile as he laughs at your story.

“You’re pretty cute,” he says as his eyes flit over your probably atrocious looking face. You were about to thank him for pretending his compliment when you suddenly get tugged back by the shoulder and slapped (spanked is more correct because it was intended as punishment) hard on the ass.

“No, she’s not” Jackson responded through a clenched smile towards the man, and a death sentence glare towards you. Your eyes quickly fall to your feet knowing where this was headed. You were used to his humiliation tactics honestly. You just hated that he had to do it in front of the cute stranger.

“Now, that really isn’t something you should say to a lovely woman such as herself." You whip your head up in shock as a pretty pink coats your cheeks. You can’t remember the last time you were genuinely complimented like that. No aggressiveness, no “pointers”, just admiration. The sudden high you received from the comment gave you enough clarity for what you were about to say. You rip yourself from Jackson’s grip and turn to him.

“Jackson, that is it! I’m done with you! You’ve left me for other girls time and time again, and even when I come with you tonight, you still leave me to go hook up with some other girl. You don’t like me anyway so let’s be done with this and just leave each other alone, okay?” Jackson’s face held a harsh glare for a moment until he broke into a smirk, chuckling.

“Whatever, you were just another whore to mess around with anyways.” He turned to head back into the party without a second glance, and just like that, he walked away from you and out of your life. While there was a relief that you would no longer have to deal with him, the fear of being forever alone and unwanted began to set in. Jackson had truly made you believe you were worthless. Tears begin to stream down your face once more, and you let out a quiet sob when you feel a warm grip on your shoulder.

“Hey,” the stranger calls softly. You had nearly forgotten he was there. Warmth floods your face in humiliation.

“Look, I-I’m so sorry for my boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend, and I just—gah, I’m sorry. . . wait I don’t even know your name—” you speak through tears.

“Jungkook,” he answers warmly. “Jeon Jungkook.”

“Oh, thanks, Jungkook. And I’m sorry again about the guy and the tears and me. I’m Y/N by the way. Y/N Y/L/N.

“Y/N, a fitting name for such a beautiful woman.”

“Are you drunk?” You abruptly question. There was no way someone like him would have said that sober. His face shows he’s slightly taken aback, but he responds humorously.

“Uh, well yes” he laughs. You drop your head. You knew he couldn’t have actually found you pretty. But then a soft touch under your chin is slowly lifting your head until your eyes meet his glassy doe eyes.

“But you’re beautiful whether I’m drunk or not.” He whispers, and you can’t help but smile. There was something about him (besides his devastatingly handsome good looks) that sparked something within you. You aren’t sure if it was because he stood up for you, or if it was because you were sad and needed comfort. You weren’t sure what it was at the time, but before you could rationalize your actions you stood up on your toes to plant a soft kiss on his lips. It was sudden, short and sweet. But it was also like a thank you, mixed with whatever that other feeling was. As your lips separated, your thoughts suddenly crowded you, trained to pounce on you when you’re happiest. What are you even thinking? He was probably just being nice. He wants nothing to do with you. Can’t you see how drunk he is? He probably won’t even remember this.

“I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I’m nowhere close to being beautiful, especially for you, and you’re too drunk to realize that and—"Panic begins to overwhelm you. You’re rambling and you hated yourself for not begin good enough. Not good enough for Jackson, not good enough for yourself, and certainly not good enough for Jungkook. Your eyes begin to look around searching for anything to pull you out of the chaos. Then you feel him wrapping his arms tight around you, bringing you into his arms in a tight embrace. His hand begins to smooth down the hair on your head as he whispers to calm you down.

“Hey, hey hey, shhh. I know it’s hard. Bad relationships can tear people apart, and from the little bit I saw, he didn’t seem to be a keeper. I don’t know your whole story, and you don’t know mine. You don’t think I’ll remember this, and I could say the same of you, but from tonight do this one thing for me okay?” You nod your head slightly against his chest as your breathing begins to level out.

“You’re beautiful. Not because I said so, and not because anyone else does. You’re beautiful because you simply are, and no one can add to that and no one can take that away. Just remember that one thing for me if you forget everything else. And I’ll remember the pretty girl who nearly face-planted into the water fountain.” You pull back and lightly push at him away as you both break into soft laughter.

“At least I’m memorable right? Haha.”

“You are most certainly memorable.” He responds more seriously.

Before either of you could make another move, your phone buzzes alerting you that your uber was on the street.

“Well, it looks like it’s time for me to go home. Thank you for being my good memory.” As you turn to walk away, he softly responds.

“Thanks for being mine.” He was sure you didn’t hear him, but you did. And you knew that no matter what, you would treasure tonight because of it. Even though it came from an inebriated stranger, his words did more healing for you than he would ever know.

________________________________________________________________

Your forgotten noodles are entirely too cold to eat once you come out of your memories. Yeah, you remember that night rather well. Better than he thought I would, and obviously better than he did since he didn’t recognize me. Your friends have asked you why you remember that night so well, and why you give a stranger so much credit for setting you on your path to rebuilding your confidence. Your answer remains the same each time. It’s because that night marks the first time you ever believed in the concept of true love: for another, and for yourself.

           The next Saturday you’re placing the last finishing touches on your makeup. Just come concealer, a little bit of powder, and then mascara. Just enough to make you feel a little extra pretty. You quickly check your reflection in the mirror, and with a soft grin you head out towards the park. As you approach the fountain from a distance you see him first. You can’t help the blush you feel as you get closer. Suddenly his eyes catch yours, and you both draw in a breath as you meet.

“Hey there” you greet with a smile.

“You look stunning,” He comments before even returning the greeting. “Oh, and hey, hi. Haha,,,ready to head over? The movie is about to start.” He grins at you.

“Yeah, let’s do it. I have a feeling I won’t ever forget tonight” you reply softly, grinning down at your feet, attempting to hide how fiercely you’re blushing. He’s quick to lift your head up by your chin and peer into your eyes.

“You don’t need to hide from me. You’re beautiful, and I don’t think I could ever forget the memories we’ll make.” He glances back at the water fountain before chuckling lightly. “You know, I once met a beautiful, shy girl by a water fountain at a party a few years back.” Your eyes snap over in time to see his mischievous smile as he winks at you and begins to walk down the street towards the theater.

“Jeon Jungkook you get back here and explain yourself!” You shriek as you run after him, and he begins to pick up speed down the street. As you case after him, you can’t help but think to yourself, please never let us forget each other.

[simply-shakera]

Embodying Black Joy

Before Black History Month 2021 comes to an end, I want to take this moment to reflect on how significant this time truly is. Although my belief is that Black History and culture should be celebrated throughout all months of the year;  for now, I do believe it is important that we continue to utilize this time to acknowledge the historical feat against monumental odds that Black people have been able to achieve. It is the responsibility of the current and future generations to take what we have learned and keep the momentum going. It is also necessary for us to utilize our talents and gifts to uplift those around us.

As a natural caregiver, I  nourish the people around me by creating and sustaining a community of care, joy & connection. Carnival Spice has allowed me to complete much of this work and I am truly grateful for that. Typically in February months I see an increase in Carnival Spice bookings due to Black History Month. Our most popular offering during this time is our family-friendly cultural presentations that highlight Black culture using dance, fitness and story telling in such a unique way.

I feel so full-filled when leading these presentations - especially when it is for our school-aged groups. Seeing kids of all ages so excited to learn and embrace the richness of Afro-Caribbean culture really motivates me to keep going. I particularly appreciate how engaged they are in the experience and the high vibrations they exude. Though all of our presentations were virtual this year, you could still feel their energy and joy through the screen.

"The most radical and revolutionary thing we can do for ourselves is to connect to joy and to allow ourselves to feel. That is how show up positively in the world and complete dissolve ancestral trauma."  -- Devi Brown

Joy, that deep-rooted inner feeling that inspires that outward expression of happiness... But Black joy goes far beyond that. Black people have contributed so much to this world yet sadly the way we as a people have been treated does not reflect that. Racism, social injustice, and trauma runs rampant plus there isn't enough spaces that allow for healing. Thankfully, joy is a form of healing; and while society often condemns Black people for being "too loud", "too angry" or "too much", revelling in joy is an act of resistance too.

Engaging in Black joy sends a message to your mind and spirit that you are worthy, you are important, and you are loved. We should make a habit of taking inspired action to bring joy into our lives. I put together a few light-hearted lists for you that may help you engage in Black joy daily:

The Beauty of Affirmations

I believe the universe has the power to align us with people, things and experiences that match our vibrations. It is important for us to keep our vibrations high to increase the opportunity of positive attraction. Practicing the act of repeating and affirmations (positive statements) is a powerful way to strengthen our mindset by helping us believe in the potential of an action we desire to manifest.

I encourage you to write out an affirmation related to joy and set it as a as a daily alarm on your phone. When the alarm goes off repeat the statement out loud and be present in the moment and positive energy.

Listen To Music

Music is a powerful tool that unlocks joy. From the beat, to the lyrics, to the melody certain parts of songs just know how to hit our soul. I created a playlist with a mix of feel good songs from different eras and genres - take what you'd like:

Can’t Take My Joy by Terri Lyons

My Dream by Nesbeth

Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See by Busta Rhymes

The Anthem by  Todd Dehaney

Blessed by Wizkid and Damien Marley

Beat of Life by Sarz ft. Wizkid

Jerusalema by Master KG ft. Burna Boy

Skip To My Lou by Ding Dong, Serani & Biggy

Just Dance - Wacky Dip by Ding Dong feat. Voicemail

Go Crazy by Chris Brown

High Life by Machel Montano

Full of Vibes by Voice &  Marge Blackman

Lose Control by Missy Elliot - ft. Fat Man Scoop

Happy by Pharell Williams

Dance Heals

Dance truly does heals and it is such a positive way to embody Black joy. Here are some of my favourite dance moves from the African Caribbean Diaspora - taken from popular genres such as afrobeat, soca, dancehall and hip - hop.

Shaku Shaku (Nigeria)

"Although the dance is credited to Olamide, the truth is that he is not the inventor of the dance. But he played the major role in the crossing over of the dance to the mainstream media. The dance originated in the streets. According to DJ Real, Shaku Shaku name is for street guys, and the dance was named after their particular style of dances when they are hanging out" - Source. The move involves crossing one arm over the other and bringing that same arm toward the ear as if you are making a phone call.

Palance (Trinidad)

In 2010, the world was introduced to the song and dance that is palance. The song by JW and Blaze ’s popularity was established when it took the "Road March" title at Trinidad’s Carnival that year where it was played along the parade’s judging route 417 times.The move involves jumping side to side on one foot at a time while waving yuh flaggg. Back then, soca song's weren't known for having dances - so palance truly broke the mold. We have even seen Beyonce and Justin Trudeau do it.

Krazy Hype (Jamaica)

This mid school dancehall move will always be one of my favourites. It was created in 2003 by choreographer Crazy Hype from the The MOB Dance Group to Elephant Man hit song of the same name. The move involves hopping from side to side but landing on your heels.

Harlem Shake (Us)

The dance was created by Harlem resident Al. B. in 1981. However, in 2001 the dance resurfaced and was renamed when it featured heavily in G.Dep’s music video for the song "Let's Get It". When you hear this song one can't help but get to shakin'.

Enjoy A Movie

Get your laugh on or enjoy a flick that makes your heart smile. While your at it, support a Black art! I have helped you out by compiling a list movies that exude Black Joy.

Soul (2020)

Critics Consensus: A film as beautiful to contemplate as it is to behold, Soul proves Pixar's power to deliver outstanding all-ages entertainment remains undimmed.

Synopsis: A music teacher who dreams of performing jazz live finally gets his chance, only he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.

Soul Food (1997)

Critics Consensus: Much like the titular cuisine, Soul Food blends a series of savoury ingredients to offer warm, generous helpings of nourishment and comfort.

Synopsis: This hit domestic comedy-drama concerned the fortunes of an extended African-American family recalled through the eyes of young narrator Ahmad Hammond.

Love and Basketball (2000)

Critics Consensus: Confident directing and acting deliver an insightful look at young athletes.

Synopsis: A young African-American couple navigates the tricky paths of romance and athletics in this drama. Over the years, the two lead characters begin to fall for each other, but their separate paths to basketball stardom threaten to pull them apart.

Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit (1993)

Critics Consensus: Sister Act is off-key in this reprise, fatally shifting the spotlight from Whoopi Goldberg to a less compelling ensemble of pupils and trading its predecessor's sharp comedy for unconvincing sentiment.

Synopsis: In the sequel to the hit comedy Sister Act, Whoopie Goldberg reprises her role of Deloris Van Cartier, a Las Performer. It appears Deloris is needed in her nun guise as Sister Mary Clarence to help teach music to teens at a troubled school in hopes of keeping the facility from closing at the hands of Mr. Crisp (James Coburn), a callous administrator.

[sapphicunicorn]

Docile by K.M. Szpara (science fiction/gay)

Docile is a science fiction parable about love and sex, wealth and debt, abuse and power, a challenging tour de force that at turns seduces and startles. To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents' debts and buy your children's future. Elisha Wilder’s family has been ruined by debt, handed down to them from previous generations. His mother never recovered from the Dociline she took during her term as a Docile, so when Elisha decides to try and erase the family’s debt himself, he swears he will never take the drug that took his mother from him. Too bad his contract has been purchased by Alexander Bishop III, whose ultra-rich family is the brains (and money) behind Dociline and the entire Office of Debt Resolution. When Elisha refuses Dociline, Alex refuses to believe that his family’s crowning achievement could have any negative side effects—and is determined to turn Elisha into the perfect Docile without it.

TW: rape

I think we all can agree by now that I love hype trains. Whether it’s a video game or a book, or even an anime, I will find that hype train and join it and cherish it… until the day of reckoning appears. Let’s not bring names into this but we all know what happened with a certain science fiction video game, how it promised to bring something new and exciting with beautiful graphics and unexplored worlds. Docile is my No Man’s Sky. I want so much to love this book for the promises it made, and yet the execution left me empty. Besides the listed dub-con, which I could easily skip over while reading, everything sounded exciting and I thought we would explore this dystopian world of debt and dismantle the system. When I finished Docile and closed the book, my actual words were: “Yikes.”

I’m going to spoil the ending right now and no, I’m not sorry. They get together in the end! Now let me explain why I hate this. Why it’s the stupidest ending possible. Why it makes a book that I could stomach absolutely make my skin crawl. We follow Elisha Wilder as he applies to become a Docile, a person willing to give up autonomy in order to work off debt. They’re only given seven rights, one of which is to refuse a drug called Dociline. Dociline turns a person mindless; they’re totally compliant to any order and the drug is supposed to help erase memories of their traumatizing term. Because Elisha’s family has a bad history with Dociline, his mother still walking around like a drone after working her term, he decides he’ll refuse the injection. Alexander Bishop III is the heir to the Dociline company. While he’s working on a new serum, he’s informed he needs to take on a Docile because… boardroom politics? Which is how he finds Elisha. Alex is riding on the hope that he can ignore his new Docile while pleasing the board of directors and continue his work on the new Dociline serum--until Elisha, exercising one of his remaining rights, refuses Dociline. Alex uses this as an opportunity to prove he’s capable of anything, including stripping a man of his right to his own body and mind without the use of Dociline. If he can do that, surely he can run the company in the near future. Later in the book, Alex has nearly molded Elisha into the perfect slave when Alex has his “change of heart” after the major traumatizing event. Major, but not the first. Elisha still has nightmares--screaming-himself-awake, apologizing-for-interrupting-Alex’s-sleep kind of nightmares--from a previous experience and yet Alex never, over the months they’re together, gets him help. But at this point, Elisha is so broken he truly believes he’s in love with Alex. He believes Alex punishing him is his form of love and Elisha pours his heart out because he literally cannot function without Alex. Immediately after this event, when Alex should be worrying about Elisha’s physical state (but not mental, because this was what Alex wanted), he decides to end the contract and take Elisha back to his family--where Elisha has already been rejected once. Abandoned, broken, Elisha is expected to become a normal human again. Here’s the thing: there’s no dub-con. There’s no dubious consent anywhere in this book. It’s rape, plain and simple. Alex rapes Elisha as a means to control him, every single time. Don’t even consider there’s romance--don’t shelve it with your romance novels, don’t mark it on Goodreads as romance, don’t tell your friends it has romance. If you think this deserves to be marketed as a “dark romance,” just don’t. Please. Don’t even put this in with your BDSM books. One of my guilty reading pleasures is the BDSM genre. I do my research, figure out if the authors are really part of the lifestyle, and make informed purchases. I have many, many books that feature what could be considered “dark romance” and even live-in submissives. I’m not trying to climb onto a high horse while discussing Docile. I’m not trying to sound “holier than thou” or as if I don’t like the book because I’m too busy clutching my pearls. I’m saying if you come to Docile expecting it to resemble a BDSM dynamic--like many other reviews claim--it doesn’t. This is a story about slavery, not submission. Personally, I feel like this reads as a futuristic companion to C.S. Pacat’s Captive Prince--another story about rape and slavery, with the exception that Captive Prince had some world building. Docile does not. We see both condensed sides of the debt system--as a Docile with Elisha, as a Patron with Alex--and we’re told about the ways Dociles are protected, how Patrons have to check in every few months and give their Dociles family visits. We’re told about debtors’ prison. We’re told about hordes of Dociles living in Alex’s facility. We’re told about the wasteland where Elisa lived outside the city--was that ever explained? And we’re introduced to Empower Maryland, the underground rebellion, who I thought for sure would start to dismantle this system. Instead, we get courtroom drama thanks to them. But this dystopian world is never expanded on! I appreciated the dual POV. I feel we needed the chance to see Alex explain himself, but it doesn’t redeem him. Personally I felt both POVs were similar; sometimes I’d forget who we were following because the voices were nearly indistinguishable. Neither POV felt "real." They simply filled in their roles. And the ending--holy heavens above, the ending. It majorly upset me because it’s not responsible at all. Stockholm syndrome does not make a relationship! Do you truly want to love your abuser? You want to try a “real” relationship with a man who enslaved you and broke you? There’s no middle ground--Alex and Elisha cannot ever, in any form of fiction, have a real relationship. I’d have liked it more if Alex had shaken Elisha’s hand and thanked him for a few life lessons he’s late to learn. I’d have enjoyed it way more if Elisha spat in Alex’s face. Neither character grew from their situations. If we had avoided the ending, maybe gone with an ending where Elisha gives Alex a verbal lashing and walks away, then I’d say they learned something. Elisha falling into Alex’s arms after everything that happened is just irresponsible. Elisha blatantly admits he can’t tell if he’s in love with Alex or if he’s still brainwashed! But sure, let’s try a “real” relationship! In my opinion, there is only one redeeming quality in Docile. Between Elisha and Alex, we see two different families. Elisha’s big and caring, and flawed. Alex’s small, mostly friends, and carefully planned. Everything Elisha did, he did for his family. Although they turned against him after becoming a Docile, by the end, they were supportive and helped how they could. And when Alex’s family turned against him, he found comfort and support in his friends. All in all, Docile isn’t a bad read. It’s just boring, bland. The high society parties weren’t anything special. The pseudo-science is easily forgivable. The courtroom drama went on for so long and it felt like it didn’t really belong. It was just an odd ending to everything that happened--especially Elisha and Alex getting together. Yikes.

[teazensstuff]

CEO LUCAS AU!

So you started to work at a new place

Which means new people and new environment

But not only that

You moved away, which means you left all your friends and family members back at home

And the overthinker you

Started to overthink everything 2 weeks before you started with work

Basically you were already burning out even before it all started

You arrived at your workplace by bus bc we broke that's why we need a job

Then you introduced yourself to the secretary and she told you where you had to go

Bc your job is not that important

for now you only need to know who your có workers were and how they are

What is there to do, how much work will there be, will the people be fun

Those are your main questions

Fuck the CEO

As you arrived everyone was hyped

Like damn what y'all so happy for?

After a few days of working there you got to know Yangyang

Who was also a newbie but ofc he was part of the company for a while now

Anyways he said that he was especially happy since now there's another newbie he can hang out with

And whom he can prank kun with, since Kun seems to realize that hendery and him are behind all those

You spent your days with Yangyang and as he introduced Lucas he also came along with all the time

However you knew that Lucas was not in your department since you know all the crackheads from your department already

And you don't have the balls to ask him

Not that you're shy but because you don't want to

Some people react allergic when asking things related to work

Not even a month later you felt safe and secure at your workplace

But ofc your ceo has to make a strike

I mean you don't know yet but its a

Winwin situation ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Anyways so your CEO called you and ofc you were like shit what did I do

Did I not do the papers correctly?

Did I play too many pranks on Kun?

But well, everyone knew that it's never something serious if Lucas calls you. If it was urgent he would be looking for you

You arrived in his office

and just like the typical ceo scene

He sat with the back towards you and his face towards the window

As he turned around you realized that it's Lucas and you were in awe

"LUCAS WHAT ARE YOU DOING GET OFF THE CHAIR THE CEO TOLD ME TO COME. THERE IS NO TIME FOR US TO JOKE AROUND", you yelled at him pulling him off the chair

Lucas ofc laughed, because he didn't expect that

He was into you because you were funny and because you helped him going through his senses

But I guess he never knew that you didn't know who he was

It was a major suprise for him.

"you... You know I am the CEO right?"

And after that both of you were shocked. Like tf is going on?

Even though you were shocked, Luca offered you to take the position of his secretary

Bc first of all our boy wants to keep his eye on you

And second of all he needs to finish off shit instead of walking through the departments and Wilding around with his mates

Yep so here we are, you my darling decide whether Lucas will work or not

You weren't comfortable with that at first because

Dude handsome ceo is looking at you and you become close

Also tf does a secretary do?

Anyways you accept the offer because you want money and you don't want to be a broke bitch

It was all fun and games until the overseas trip to NYC where your du bass accidentally only booked one room

And funnily enough the whole hotel was booked due to the NYCFW

So you had to share a room with Mr ceo

You didn't want to share one with him but he convinced you

The days you spent there were fun, not everything was work related

On the last night Lucas and you went out to have dinner

He's not the type to dine at fancy restaurants but prefers hamburgers and hotdogs

Which is why you went to a Hamburger place and that is where he confessed to you

Telling you how he felt and that he wanted to get closer to you also that in no means you have to accept his feelings and that he'd give you your former position back if u want to

But you were lying if you said u didn't like lucas

The second you laid your eyes on him you found him attractive but the moments you spent together made you realise how much you liked him

Which is why you were coming back as a couple

No one knows but everyone thinks that way

And you have no intention on telling anyone that you're dating

Dating ceo Lucas means lots of presents that yoz don't want to accept but sometimes have to or else he gets all mad but cute and you can't handle that shit at work

But dating him also means lots of times where you travel together and date in secret

Getting jealous at all the rich ceos that are good looking and that have their eyes laid on lucas

We know he a snack so we gotta protecc, else someone will snatch