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becomewings · 3 years

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The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>

BTS Universe Story Highlights, pt. 2 / 4

« pt. 1 | » pt. 3

Introduction

JungKook’s and YoonGi’s stories are the first of the paid content in BTS Universe Story and are substantially more detailed than the episodes covered in part 1. As this led to longer summaries (4.2k and 3k), I have added “tl;dr commentary” at the bottom of the post after a section of additional thoughts. This commentary summarizes the parenthetical asides I made throughout the summaries and may be of interest as standalone reading to those who have already played the game yet would like to review its connections to the BU texts and MVs.

Content warning: contains references to death, suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, domestic violence, blood, homicide, depression, trauma, PTSD

This guide contains major spoilers and includes references to other BU media

Do not repost, copy, or quote without permission

The Boy on the Threshold

In this story, SeokJin works to uncover the motivations behind JungKook’s nightly street wandering, instigation of fights with thugs, and decision to jump from the roof of a construction site. He was aware of the “darkness” within JungKook but never thought that he would give up on himself. SeokJin is determined to find a way to make JungKook think “I want to live” on his own.

In the afternoon on 11 April Year 22, SeokJin drives by the crosswalk outside Songju Jeil High School. Spotting a grim-faced JungKook, he gets out to greet him. JungKook visibly brightens and pelts him with question after question, finally finishing with, “But how come you’re here at school?” If the player chooses the response “I came to see you” rather than “I was in the neighborhood,” JungKook seems a little disbelieving due to the coincidental timing but nevertheless pleased. SeokJin offers him a ride, thinking that JungKook will not carry out that night’s actions from previous loops if he gets home right away. In the car, SeokJin reminisces aloud about the day they all met. On 3 March Year 19, all seven boys arrived late on the first day at Songju Jeil High School and were scolded outside by the Dean. (Aside from the absence of extra students, this scene looks very similar to the BTS Begins Middle Scene VCR, including the detail of YoonGi arriving last. This VCR predates official BU content.) When the Dean spotted SeokJin in their lineup, he reduced their punishment of community service for one month to just that afternoon. After classes, the boys cleaned the annex. The old classroom-turned-storage room became their secret hideout where they enjoyed various activities like dancing, playing the piano, and spending time with one another. JungKook appears happy as they chat about their school days, although in one path, his face falls after he remembers when he and YoonGi were caught in the annex. SeokJin is concerned, but JungKook insists, “It’s nothing.”

They say goodbye outside JungKook’s house, but SeokJin watches to make sure he goes inside. JungKook hesitates before ringing the bell at the gate. His mom answers, surprised and at a loss by his unexpected arrival. She asks him to come back later because his father’s relatives stopped by, and the intercom cuts off before he can answer. (His mother remarried, so this is really his step-father and family.) SeokJin wonders if JungKook has no one to lean on at school or at home and if this is why he wanders the streets at night. He asks JungKook where he wants to go now. “The beach… the one I went to with you guys,” JungKook answers, then says he’s kidding when SeokJin hesitates, thinking about the night ahead. SeokJin invites JungKook home instead, hoping to keep an eye on him before he needs to save NamJoon at the gas station.

In his bedroom, SeokJin hastily takes down the map and notes pinned on the wall of the boys’ incidents around the city. After letting JungKook inside, he shows him a box of photos from their time together in school. While JungKook browses, a notification on SeokJin’s phone reminds him of Songho Foundation’s inaugural ceremony that evening. Songho Foundation is a scholarship foundation funded by his maternal grandmother’s estate, and his father formally introduces him on this occasion. SeokJin also receives a call from his father’s long-time aide, a man he refers to as Uncle JunHo, who instructs him not to be late to the ceremony. Claiming it won’t take him long, SeokJin asks JungKook to stay there and wait for him to return. He is worried about leaving JungKook alone but also concerned that bringing him to the gas station after the ceremony will make him late to intervening in NamJoon’s incident.

In the lobby of the hotel hosting the Songho Foundation Inauguration Ceremony, SeokJin recognizes many important faces from around the city: Song JunHo, his father’s aide; Seo HyunJung, the city’s deputy mayor; the CEO of Youngjin Engineering & Construction Company; a professor from Munhyeon University; and the Jeil High School principal, Jo JinMyung. SeokJin doesn’t want to cross paths with the principal but is drawn into a conversation with him, the mayor, and his father, Kim ChangJun. “Assemblyman! Congratulations on the launch of the scholarship foundation,” Deputy Mayor Seo says to Kim ChangJun. “I hear that your son has been accepted to Munhyeon University? You must be happy that he’s attending your alma mater.” Kim ChangJun shakes his head. “He still has a lot to learn.” She remarks that everyone knows how well SeokJin has grown up and inquires about his career plans. The player is presented with three choices: “I haven’t decided yet,” “I want to become a good person,” and “I want to become someone like my father.” SeokJin’s father continues to look grim while the others chuckle in response to the first two answers, but his expression softens at the third, which SeokJin knew would not rub him the wrong way. Deputy Mayor Seo proposes to Assemblyman Kim that they establish a regular meeting to discuss community development, mentioning that it would be better if he could invite the city’s prominent citizens and give a speech. Assemblyman Kim agrees, telling his assistant Song JunHo to make note of it. The ceremony concludes, and the guests head towards the hotel’s restaurant. SeokJin is wary of his father’s watchful gaze but impatient to carry out the rest of the night’s plans. While his father is surrounded by other people, he informs Uncle JunHo that he has to leave to work on a group project. SeokJin slips out of the hotel and heads to NamJoon’s gas station.

While SeokJin is gone, one of the photos in the box catches JungKook’s eye. It shows the seven boys sitting on a wall with the ocean behind them. (This photo resembles the shot in Euphoria at 5’32” except that they appear to be wearing school uniform shirts and slacks.) A flashback retells the afternoon of 12 June Year 19 when the boys cut school early and visited the sea, trudging over 3 kilometers under the scorching sun to find a boulder that is rumored to make your dreams come true. (The date is not specified in the game, but the memory closely follows this set of entries in The Notes 1.) Everyone collapses in disappointment when they can’t find the rock at its designated location. JungKook is tired but not as disappointed as the others—just walking there with them is enough for him, even though he often feels uncertain of his place among the group. He gets up on the pier railing, reflecting: “I’ve always liked walking on the edge of walls or on top of lines. Focusing on centering my gravity means that I don’t really think of anything else, and the boundary—not quite a part of either place—always felt like where I should be.” Balancing precariously, JungKook walks until someone grabs his arm. YoonGi scolds him not to do this. JungKook assures him that he will not fall but privately thinks: “YoonGi would often grab my arm when I walked on railings. The others would look after me, too, after seeing him do that. I liked their helping hands. It felt like they were telling me that I should go to them. That this wasn’t my place. Maybe their hands were why I walked on the railings.”

The story returns to the present in SeokJin’s perspective. He rushes back to his room after saving NamJoon and finds JungKook asleep, leaning against the bed with the photos still scattered around him. Feeling both relief and regret, SeokJin quietly coaxes JungKook to lay down and sleep more comfortably. JungKook wakes up and says he should go home after hearing that it’s past ten o’clock. The game cuts briefly to SeokJin’s father in his study with his aide. Kim ChangJun asks Song JunHo to fetch SeokJin, as he needs to know what goes on for the foundation. JunHo says that SeokJin must be entertaining a guest for the group project because he spotted an unfamiliar pair of shoes in the entryway.

Back in his bedroom, SeokJin is startled when his father knocks on the door. It’s rare for his father to visit the second floor of their home, so he let his guard down while chatting with JungKook. “F-Father.” Stammering, SeokJin flinches and gathers up the scattered photos. “Did you leave the ceremony early to waste time like this? Even lying to say you were doing a school project?” asks Kim ChangJun. His cold and reproachful stare suffocates SeokJin. When his father’s eyes scan to JungKook standing awkwardly at the side, SeokJin is plunged into a childhood memory. On 10 October Year 9, 9-year-old SeokJin hid a school friend who was being chased by scary men in his bedroom. His father arrived and asked if the boy was Mr. Choi’s son, saying people had come to take him. When Kim ChangJun ordered him to “be a good boy,” SeokJin froze and was powerless to stop his friend from being handed over. The following day, SeokJin was told his friend transferred schools. (This event is also depicted as the first entry of The Notes 1.) In the present, SeokJin struggles to think of an explanation, smothered by that memory and his father’s pressuring stare. JungKook timidly speaks up. “I was only here to visit for a short while. I was actually about to head home. Hey, I’ll go now.” SeokJin knows he can’t leave him alone yet and finally forces himself to move. “Father, I… I’m going to go out for a little while.” He runs outside, but JungKook is already gone.

The story cuts to JungKook’s perspective as he arrives in a familiar alleyway. He is thankful that SeokJin was so considerate to him but feels that he shouldn’t have gone to his home since it made things more complicated for his friend. “YoonGi even got expelled because of me… Why do I always mess things up for the people around me?” JungKook thinks. The player is presented the choice to either text SeokJin or call YoonGi. In the first path, SeokJin calls JungKook while he is mid-text and says that he’ll come pick him up, but JungKook declines, thanks him, and hangs up. In the second path, JungKook fiddles with his phone, wondering if YoonGi will be annoyed or even answer. He remembers when they crossed paths a few days earlier. On 7 April Year 22, JungKook heard a familiar tune while roaming the dark streets and saw YoonGi playing piano through a broken window of a music shop. YoonGi stopped and eventually staggered out of the shop without noticing JungKook reaching out to him. JungKook tried to play the music by memory, and suddenly YoonGi returned—just like their days at the classroom. (Note: In his 7 April Year 22 entry of The Notes 1, YoonGi is drunk and stumbling by an empty construction site when he recognizes a clumsy piano tune that he’d been playing “not long ago.” But when he runs to the music shop and finds JungKook, the text does not indicate that he remembers this is his second visit to the shop this evening. Additionally, the Wings short film First Love seems to reference some of the events of this night—or evokes YoonGi’s distorted memories of it, mingled with a representation of JungKook’s later accident.)

In the present (11 April), JungKook wonders if YoonGi is doing well. He has thought about him since their chance encounter but doesn’t have the courage to call him first. (The narrative paths rejoin here.) JungKook wonders where he should go now yet doesn’t want to think about anything. He stops in the middle of the road, and a passing car’s headlights make him dizzy. SeokJin arrives in the distance and shouts his name, but JungKook just thinks, “One more step from here. Just one more step, and everything ends.” He steps in front of the honking car. SeokJin calls him in the distance, and JungKook feels everything slip farther away. The glass shatters and the loop resets.

Awakening once more on the morning of 11 April, SeokJin vows to protect JungKook until the end. The memory of arriving too late as JungKook threw himself in front of the car reminds him of how he was also unable to protect his childhood friend when he was 9. He needs to devise a new plan, since JungKook practically ran out of the house when confronted by Kim ChangJun. The story cuts to that evening, with JungKook looking at the photo in SeokJin’s bedroom. This time, SeokJin ignores his phone’s buzzing reminder about Songho Foundation’s inaugural ceremony. He asks JungKook where he’d like to get next and, when he doesn’t have any ideas, offers him a tour of the university campus.

JungKook seems happier looking around the campus, the cherry blossoms in full bloom. SeokJin uses this opportunity to ask him if anything is on his mind and if school is going well. JungKook answers nonchalantly, but SeokJin remembers how grim he looked at the school crosswalk that afternoon. He asks if JungKook still hangs out with the other guys. “HoSeok and TaeHyung are working part-time jobs. The others… I’m not sure,” JungKook answers, expression darkening. SeokJin wonders if he shouldn’t have brought it up but still presses him. “How come? You should talk to them from time to time.” “But it’s because of me,” says JungKook. “The reason why YoonGi was expelled… It was because he was trying to protect me.”

SeokJin either responds “It’s not your fault” or “Don’t think that way.” Following the first choice, JungKook insists, “No, it’s my fault. YoonGi wouldn’t have talked back to the teacher if I wasn’t there.” SeokJin shakes his head. “No, you couldn’t really do anything given the situation.” JungKook replies that he should have at least apologized and that he never had the chance to tell YoonGi he was sorry. “That’s how you felt, huh… I should’ve done more. I’m sorry,” SeokJin apologizes. JungKook shakes his head with a smile, but SeokJin knows that he doesn’t understand what he really meant. (Per events in The Notes 1, it is technically SeokJin’s fault that the teacher found them in the classroom.) If the second dialogue choice, “Don’t think that way,” is chosen, JungKook questions, “How could I? When it was because of me.” “No…” SeokJin is not brave enough to say that he’s the one to blame. The camera (i.e. the animation) starts wobbling as though SeokJin’s vision is swimming. “SeokJin?” asks JungKook in concern. “I should’ve done more. I’m sorry.” The episode ends with the same dialogue and animation of JungKook shaking his head with a smile, except that in the second path the camera is still wobbling from SeokJin’s perspective. (This is the only episode I noted in the game that has a slight difference in endings based on the player’s final choice, although it is essentially cosmetic.)

Episode 5 opens with a more detailed memory of 11 June Year 20 from JungKook’s perspective. The high school was holding an open house for parents. Not wanting to stay in a classroom, he wandered off and heard piano music drifting from the annex. JungKook slipped into their classroom hideout and settled down to listen. YoonGi continued to play without acknowledging him. The music helped calm JungKook—it seemed as though YoonGi understood how he felt and was trying to console him. The sound cut off abruptly as the door slammed open. “You rascals! What are you doing here?!” the Dean of Students demanded. He slapped JungKook, knocking him down. A flurry of verbal abuse poured over his crumpled form. YoonGi shoved the teacher’s shoulder and stepped in front of JungKook. “Wow, look at this kid… You put your hands on a teacher? You better be prepared, Min YoonGi.” With that ominous threat, the Dean departed. JungKook spoke from the floor. “Hey, sorry for making you—” “It’s nothing,” YoonGi cut in. JungKook wondered why he helped him. It was the first time someone had protected him, and he believed that he would never forget the view of YoonGi’s back. YoonGi asked why JungKook was smiling. “I don’t know.” Still smiling, JungKook touched his throbbing cheek. YoonGi stared at him before breaking into his own smile and sitting down next to him. They sat there wordlessly for some time. The feeling of growing closer to YoonGi made JungKook feel giddy the rest of the day. But YoonGi did not come to school the following day, and two weeks later, he was formally expelled. (The encounter with the teacher and YoonGi’s subsequent expulsion are also referenced in JungKook and YoonGi’s 25 June Year 20 entries in The Notes 1.)

In a brief interlude in the present (11 April at the university campus), SeokJin reflects again that he does not have the courage to confess to JungKook the real reason why they drifted apart. He walks with his eyes trained on the ground until JungKook calls for him to look at the cherry blossoms floating in the wind. The scene cuts to 30 September Year 20 for another of JungKook’s school memories. He stood outside the school’s annex, reflecting that his friends probably didn’t know that he went there every day. Although school was a place he found awkward and unfamiliar, their hideout was a space for him that put him at ease. On that day however, only HoSeok was inside the classroom, gathering up the items they’d left behind. JungKook realized that the time they spent together was now a memory and would never return again. (This is also an entry in The Notes 1.) Back in the present, SeokJin notices that JungKook looks grim once more and tries to improve his mood by asking if they should go to the beach. JungKook privately wonders: “Do you think YoonGi would go? And no one knows what’s going on with JiMin. Will we really be able to go together like we did then?” Holding up his pink camera, SeokJin says they should take a picture to commemorate the evening. They’re both smiling in the photo, and he hopes that they’ll all smile together again one day. After their campus tour, SeokJin walks JungKook home, ignoring the many calls he receives from his father’s assistant JunHo.

At the crosswalk outside the high school the next day (12 April), SeokJin reflects that staying with JungKook instead of attending the inauguration ceremony seemed like a good choice. He prevented JungKook from jumping off the building and stopped NamJoon’s incident too. But SeokJin wants to keep an eye on JungKook for a few days. While he’s waiting, the principal Jo JinMyung approaches and greets him, asking what brings him to the school. SeokJin tries to excuse himself, but the principal brings up the ceremony. “I thought you’d be there, but you weren’t. Did something happen? Why weren’t you there?” Caught off guard, SeokJin either answers vaguely (“I had something important to do”) or honestly (“A friend had an emergency and I couldn’t attend”). JungKook joins them slowly during the exchange, and the principal seems a little suspicious regardless of the player’s choice. In the “honest” path, he adds, “Next time, think about what's truly important before acting.” The paths rejoin when the principal smiles pointedly and mentions that he should call the Assemblyman soon. SeokJin wonders if Jo JinMyung intends to tell his father that he was with JungKook. Kim ChangJun did not approve of the time SeokJin spent with his friends even in school. “Father thinks it’s useless to have human relationships that don’t help you succeed.” When he and JungKook are in his car, SeokJin notices that the principal ominously watches them pull away.

Later that day, SeokJin meets with his father in his office. Kim ChangJun looks exhausted. Though they’re similar heights, to his son he seems like a massive grey wall. “Why didn’t you attend the inauguration ceremony yesterday?” he asks. SeokJin either lies (“A professor asked me to do something last minute”) or answers honestly (“A friend had an emergency and I couldn’t attend”). The ultimate result is the same: Kim ChangJun speaks after a long moment of silence. “The one thing I want from you is for you to be a good son.” “Yes,” says SeokJin. “I don’t think it’s a difficult task. You may leave.” As he exits, SeokJin hears him call Song JunHo and worries that his flimsy excuse will fall apart. Running into the principal may have made matters worse too. Despite his uneasiness, SeokJin has no choice but to keep going and trust that everything will work out. While NamJoon and JungKook are safe for now, he wonders if he can be a person for JungKook to lean on for comfort whenever he needs it so that he will not resort to such an extreme decision again.

SeokJin visits JungKook after school every afternoon the following days. On 15 April, JungKook asks if it’s okay for him to come like this every day. SeokJin assures him, “Yeah. I come to see you because I want to.” He observes that JungKook still seems to take social cues from him rather than acting comfortably, so he encourages him to either pick what they do next or where they should go eat. On 19 April, however, JungKook does not appear at the school gates. SeokJin tries calling him, only to learn that the number isn’t in service. Someone shouts his name, and HoSeok emerges from the Twostar Burger across from the school. “I had heard you were back, but I didn’t think I’d see you here in front of the school.” HoSeok digs a piece of paper out of his pocket, explaining that JungKook stopped by earlier. “He said he’s switching schools.” SeokJin asks where, but HoSeok doesn’t know. This has never happened before in a loop, and SeokJin wonders if he caused it. HoSeok hands over the paper, which JungKook requested be given to SeokJin. It’s a drawing of the cherry blossom tree they saw together, with a thank you note written at the bottom. SeokJin hopes that his suspicions aren’t correct.

Hunting for clues to JungKook’s whereabouts, SeokJin visits Jeil High School’s administrative office the next day (20 April). He receives slightly more information if he acts like he knows the Director of Administration, but as the student records are confidential, the man only reveals that JungKook transferred to a boarding school. On 30 April, SeokJin is summoned to his father’s office. Kim ChangJun asks him to sit down and continues speaking with his aide, Song JunHo. He confirms an upcoming appointment with the Deputy Mayor before asking, “Oh, did you take care of that incident?” “Yes. Do you mean the one concerning the Jeil High student?” JunHo responds. “I’ve taken care of the issue with the student.” Heart racing, SeokJin realizes that his father was behind JungKook’s transfer and deliberately let it slip as a warning to him. On their way out, Uncle JunHo adds, “SeokJin. You do know how difficult it was because you didn’t attend the inauguration, right?” SeokJin promises that he’ll be at the next meeting. Back in his bedroom, he decides that he made the wrong choice in this loop. He wanted to be someone JungKook could always come to, but instead he pushed him farther away. HoSeok calls him at that moment. Voice wavering, he relays that JungKook has disappeared. Some of his classmates stopped by the restaurant that day, inquiring if anyone talks to him often.

The story cuts back to 25 April with JungKook in class at his new school. His mom likes the dormitory here, and he suspects that she feels more comfortable without him at home. School, home, the dorms—he doesn’t belong in any of those places. While pairing up the students, the teacher notices that they have an odd number now and asks JungKook where he wants to go. He closes his eyes and remembers a voice: “JungKook, let’s all go to the ocean.” He thinks, “I want to go…” The scene jumps to JungKook walking towards the ocean shore. The glass shatters.

SeokJin opens his eyes on the morning of 11 April. He wonders what caused the loop to reset and assumes something must have happened to JungKook after he transferred schools. Again, he could not keep his promise of getting them all to the ocean. The episode ends with SeokJin sitting atop the seaside observatory at sunset. (This is a key location on 22 May Year 22, recurring in The Notes and depicted in the HYYH On Stage: Prologue short film and Euphoria MV. It looks the same in the game.) SeokJin ruminates on what may have happened to JungKook and where events started going wrong. He thought he could be the person JungKook needed to lean on, but he failed. This arc concludes with him wondering: “Was my method wrong? Or is it not supposed to be me? Maybe… If the person who’s supposed to console JungKook’s scars and be there for him isn’t me… Then, who can save JungKook?”

The End of His Gaze

SeokJin’s main challenge in saving YoonGi is the unpredictability of his actions between loops. The opening of this story is no different. On 2 May Year 22, SeokJin chases YoonGi after he leaves his workroom with a heavy bag but loses sight of him in the streets. As soon as he picks the nearest motel, black smoke pours from one of its windows. (The sign matches the motel in YoonGi’s scenes of the I Need U MV.) YoonGi ignores the commotion outside the room’s locked door. Once again, SeokJin is too late, and the glass shatters, resetting the loop.

Waking in his bedroom on 11 April, SeokJin considers how YoonGi backs himself into a corner no matter how or when he tries to intervene. It’s different from the incident with NamJoon because no outside person or situation is involved. SeokJin realizes that if YoonGi’s struggle and variables that make his decision so unpredictable are within him, then the only way he can stop YoonGi is by truly understanding him. He takes out his old camcorder from high school, hoping its footage may reveal some clues. In the first video clip he plays, YoonGi is off in the corner of their classroom hideout drawing music staves but speaks up to tell HoSeok and TaeHyung not to play a prank on JiMin. SeokJin wonders if YoonGi still writes music and remembers the piano in his workroom. In the second video, TaeHyung quibbles with NamJoon, who is tired yet refuses to take a nap until YoonGi pushes some desks together and tells him to lie down. SeokJin focuses on YoonGi for the rest of the video, but he is either motionless or off camera. He finds a similar challenge within his photographs: he has less than ten solo photos of YoonGi, and though his face is visible in group pictures, he is never looking at the camera. Still perusing the photos, SeokJin overhears voices from the camcorder. “It being here is a secret. Okay?” TaeHyung whispers to YoonGi. “What’s a secret?” SeokJin in the recording asks. TaeHyung and YoonGi, standing by the piano, both whip around. TaeHyung dismisses it as nothing and shushes YoonGi when he asks, “Why are you hiding something like that?” In the present, SeokJin wonders what they hid in the classroom and decides that it’s worth investigating in case it can help him save YoonGi.

On 15 April, SeokJin visits their old classroom hideout at Jeil High School, which is still being used as a storage room. The player can choose from a total of four locations to explore, provided they select the piano last. SeokJin identifies his father’s name alongside the message “Everything started from here” on the graffitied wall (he first saw this note in his 25 June Year 19 entry from The Notes 1). Even after thoroughly examining the piano, he does not find YoonGi and TaeHyung’s secret or anything else useful. Uneasy at leaving YoonGi alone for so long, SeokJin leaves the school and parks in front of his friend’s workroom. YoonGi appears to be safely inside, so SeokJin browses through the old video files on his camcorder and finds one that continued recording after he thought he had pressed the stop button. Listening to his and YoonGi’s voices, he recalls a forgotten memory of the day they walked out of school together.

The majority of episode 3 plays through a memory of an afternoon that SeokJin and YoonGi walked out of school together (date unspecified; this event is also referenced in YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry from The Notes 2 and the similar Note accompanying Map of the Soul: 7). SeokJin receives a text summoning him to the principal’s office. The office is empty yet suffocating when he arrives. Principal Jo JinMyung arrives and apologizes for making SeokJin wait. SeokJin looks down, heart suddenly heavy. The scene cuts to YoonGi entering the storage classroom as he thinks about all the days he doesn’t feel like going home. It’s not a comfortable place for him, yet there’s nothing for him at the school either, except for the group’s hideout. He feels awkward in the oddly quiet room and puts some sheet music on the piano’s rack. But when he thinks about how no one is there requesting songs from him, he can’t bring his hands up to the keys. The flashback transitions back to SeokJin’s perspective following his meeting with the principal. As expected, the principal wanted him to report on YoonGi’s behavior. SeokJin spoke carefully so as not to tip him off about anything, but he hears internal whispers calling himself a hypocrite even when he’s laughing with his friends. Fretting over how much longer he can protect YoonGi, SeokJin runs into him at the classroom hideout’s door. He hopes YoonGi doesn’t notice how flustered he is, but YoonGi doesn’t say anything beyond confirming that he’s heading home. SeokJin tries to strike up a conversation as they walk out together, but the conversation awkwardly fizzles out whether he brings up food or the weather. YoonGi points out that his phone is buzzing, and SeokJin’s camcorder falls from his bag as he looks for it. YoonGi waves him off when SeokJin films him to test that it still works. He sheepishly lowers the camcorder and forgets to turn it off. YoonGi breaks the uncomfortable silence when they are almost across the field. “Is something up? You didn’t look very happy earlier.” Heart pounding, SeokJin tries to laugh off this sharp question with an excuse, but YoonGi stares straight at him. “You’re awkward too, SeokJin.” “What is?” “Your laugh.” YoonGi pauses before continuing, “When was the last time you genuinely laughed?”

The scene fades back to the present in SeokJin’s car (15 April). He can’t make out the rest of their conversation in the recording or remember what he answered. He wonders why YoonGi asked him that. SeokJin was always tense then, afraid that his friends would learn of his meetings with the principal. Did the others notice, too? While he’s lost in these thoughts, someone outside shouts, “Fire!” Flames erupt from YoonGi’s workroom. Realizing he should have focused on YoonGi and not the video, SeokJin runs into the building. As he tries to open the locked door, he hears the glass shatter.

The fourth episode opens on the night of 11 April with SeokJin watching JungKook and YoonGi walk away from the construction site and towards NamJoon’s container. A few days later, SeokJin spots JungKook on the sidewalk on his way to YoonGi’s workroom. When asked where he’s going, JungKook avoids his gaze and replies, “I was just… walking around.” SeokJin knows this is because he has nowhere to go. Not wanting JungKook to keep wandering and remembering that he was once close with YoonGi, SeokJin invites him along. The perspective switches to JungKook as they enter the workroom. It reeks of alcohol, and YoonGi is fast asleep among empty bottles. “YoonGi… will be okay, right?” he asks. SeokJin picks up the bottles without responding. A memory from their school days occurs to JungKook. TaeHyung chased him around their classroom hideout, trying to snatch his sketchbook and succeeding when JungKook found his escape unintentionally blocked by YoonGi standing in the doorway. JungKook was dismayed when YoonGi called TaeHyung over to the piano so they could look at it together, but then YoonGi deceived TaeHyung and threw the sketchbook to JungKook. In the present, SeokJin doesn’t want to waste time while YoonGi sleeps. He taps a lost-in-thought JungKook on the shoulder and says they should leave, but JungKook responds that he will stay until YoonGi wakes.

Back again at the classroom hideout, SeokJin hunts further around the piano. He uses an old mop handle to fish out a piece of paper from underneath it. The hidden secret turns out to be TaeHyung’s abysmal math test. Dejected, SeokJin slumps to the floor. On this level, he notices a small handle on the piano’s lower panel and uses it to pop off the cover. Faded music sheets are wedged into the piano’s frame. A phrase on one of them catches SeokJin’s eye. (함께 라면 웃을 수 있다 : The Korean is not translated in game, but Google translates it as “if we are together, we can laugh.” This recurring phrase is instead translated as “we can laugh when we’re together” in The Notes 2. In YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry, he also reflects on finding the note written in the margins of the music scores he took from the classroom. The handwriting isn’t his own. Additionally, a similar sentiment is expressed in a line of You Never Walk Alone, which is the basis for one of the BU-inspired Graphic Lyrics books.)

This message reminds SeokJin of YoonGi’s question: “When was the last time you genuinely laughed?” “This moment is the answer to that question,” he thinks, initiating a flashback to 20 March Year 19. The boys gathered around HoSeok in the classroom, chattering excitedly about the new club he’s leading. TaeHyung jokingly called him “Mr. President.” HoSeok told him only members could call him that before asking YoonGi if he wanted to join. “I’ll allow you to join without an audition, but only you.” TaeHyung exclaimed that he was just trying to get YoonGi to call him president. “Oh, it was obvious?” HoSeok chuckled. “Acting up again, huh?” YoonGi spoke up from the corner. The memory fades, returning to a pensieve SeokJin. He clearly remembers YoonGi’s face as he laughed with the others. “When did we stop laughing? Did it start that day, when I ruined everything?” SeokJin wonders. “It’s my fault,” he says aloud, standing there with the sheet music in hand until the sun begins to set. (Note: the date of the memory may be a typo. On 20 March Year 20 in The Notes 1, TaeHyung overheard SeokJin in the classroom informing the principal of the trouble he and YoonGi had gotten into. SeokJin realized that NamJoon heard it but not TaeHyung, who remained hidden out of sight and then pretended not to know. It’s not impossible that this memory really occurred in March Year 19, but most of them had only met at the beginning of that month.)

On the night of 15 April, SeokJin follows YoonGi at a distance from his workroom to an alleyway bar. (It is possible but not entirely clear that this is the same day SeokJin found the sheet music at the classroom, which is why I did not specify the date earlier.) It appears that YoonGi visits this bar often since the owner asks him if he has money today. SeokJin sits at a table behind YoonGi and watches him knock back shot after shot. Deciding that he shouldn’t leave him alone any longer, SeokJin musters up the courage to join him. YoonGi doesn’t look surprised to see him. He smiles before looking down again. SeokJin attempts a natural conversation to catch up. YoonGi asks why he didn’t come along the night when everyone got together at NamJoon’s container. “It’s been awhile since we’ve all seen each other, and JungKook… Never mind. You were probably busy.” SeokJin apologizes and inquires how JungKook is doing, then turns the same question on YoonGi when he replies that he doesn’t know. “Anything new with you?” SeokJin presses when YoonGi avoids his gaze. “Well, as you can see.” YoonGi dodges a direct answer.

The restaurant owner brings them a second glass. They are quiet in a restaurant full of chatter. SeokJin brings up the past to break the awkward silence, asking if YoonGi remembers the day they walked out of high school together. “Why do you ask?” says YoonGi. SeokJin explains that he remembered what YoonGi said to him that afternoon. “I want to ask you the same thing you asked me then.” SeokJin is nervous but continues, not wanting to waste this opportunity. “When was the last time you genuinely laughed?” YoonGi is silent for a moment. “Who knows.” SeokJin encourages him to think about it. “What good is it whether I remember or not? It wouldn’t change things now, even if I remembered.” YoonGi’s refusal to express his feelings upsets SeokJin more than his indifferent tone. “I just wish he would open up to me so I could figure out… anything. If only I could tell him,” SeokJin thinks. His internal narration continues over a shot of him in high school looking at his phone: “Or maybe… If I went back further in time, mustering up the courage to protect my friends, and prevented YoonGi from being expelled. If I did, maybe now we’d be…” “What’s with that expression?” YoonGi’s voice snaps him into the present, and he stares at SeokJin the way he had when they walked home from school. “Nothing, just… I feel like it’s been a while since I last saw you and I’m wasting time with useless subjects. It’s nothing—” SeokJin tries to laugh it off, but YoonGi interrupts. “You’re the same as always… There’s something there in your expression, but you say that it’s nothing.” This remark hits hard, rendering SeokJin speechless.

YoonGi’s words echo in SeokJin’s head even after he arrives home later that night. How did YoonGi notice what SeokJin thought he kept well-hidden? He once viewed YoonGi as someone who was indifferent to the world and trying to distance himself from everything. It dawns on SeokJin that he is mistaken. He opens his camcorder, hoping to see something new with this changed perspective. A recording plays in which he, YoonGi, and JungKook are the only ones present in the classroom hideout. When YoonGi starts playing piano, JungKook gets up from the desk and carefully stands by him. YoonGi doesn’t seem bothered and continues to play. Suddenly, he stops. “You wanna try?” In the present, SeokJin wonders why he asks JungKook that out of the blue and replays the footage, feeling like he missed something. This time, he notices that JungKook begins chewing his nails before YoonGi asks him. “Can I?” says JungKook. “Why not? It’s not my piano or anything. You can play if you want to.” At YoonGi’s words, the color returns to JungKook’s face and his hands drop from his mouth. SeokJin watches a little more of the video. As the recorded YoonGi patiently corrects JungKook’s wrong notes, he realizes that YoonGi doesn’t merely ask JungKook to play on a whim but out of respect for him.

SeokJin turns his attention to his box of photos. The player can choose up to three to examine. SeokJin realizes that YoonGi is a little further behind the group and not looking at the camera not because he feels left out or is avoiding attention, but because he is always watching how they are all together. YoonGi knows us very well, he thinks. He stopped JungKook from biting his nails by asking him to play the piano rather than acknowledging it directly. He saw through SeokJin and recognized when his laughter wasn’t genuine, even after several years apart. SeokJin thought that YoonGi wanted to give up everything, would never open up to anyone, and experienced feelings that were impossible for him to understand. “But if we were the ones to make YoonGi laugh… It may be possible to save YoonGi,” SeokJin reflects. With more determination, he vows to save him. “I’ll save him no matter what, because we can laugh when we’re together.”

SeokJin visits YoonGi every day after their meeting at the bar, responding that he’s making time to see him when asked if all university students have this much free time. They grow more accustomed to each other’s company, but SeokJin’s glimmer of hope fades as alcohol and aimless wandering continues to fill YoonGi’s life. Since just visiting YoonGi’s workroom seems meaningless, on 24 April SeokJin decides to show him the sheet music he found in the hideout, hoping it will encourage him to resume songwriting. Upon seeing the music, YoonGi has a flashback to 25 June Year 20, the day he received the school expulsion notice. He ran immediately to the classroom and played the piano as though possessed. The anger refused to settle. He shoved all of his sheet music into the piano and vowed to never play the piano again. In the present, YoonGi asks, “Where’d you find this?” At his cold expression, SeokJin wonders what he’s done wrong and explains aloud that he just happened to find it in the hideout’s piano. The papers fall from YoonGi’s hand, scattering across the floor. “Leave,” he spits. “What? Min YoonGi, what’s going on?” SeokJin asks. YoonGi shoves him. “Just leave.” “Don’t do this, let’s talk for a moment,” SeokJin tries again. But YoonGi replies, “I have nothing to say to you.”

YoonGi avoids him after that. On 25 April, SeokJin calls him numerous times without any answer and finds only torn sheet music and empty bottles in his workroom. He remembers YoonGi’s last words to him and says aloud, “It can’t be. No way.” An ominous thought crosses his mind, but he forces it out to focus on recalling something from memory. The story cuts to him running down a street, trying to figure out where YoonGi went to set the fire in the last loop. (It is never clarified what SeokJin’s “ominous thought” is—it may refer to YoonGi setting a fire or possibly even a suspicion that YoonGi figured out SeokJin was involved in his expulsion.) SeokJin finds the same motel (the one with the sign like in the I Need U MV) and rushes upstairs in a cold sweat. Faced with a hallway of identical doors, he doesn’t know how to locate YoonGi’s room. Whether the player chooses for him to call out to YoonGi or “think of something else” (which results in him pulling the fire alarm), the result is ultimately the same. SeokJin forces open the last closed door with a fire extinguisher, but the room is empty. Filled with regret, SeokJin wonders what he has done wrong. “Like an idiot, I… I knew that the location and method of YoonGi’s attempt could change, and yet…”

“Fire!” someone yells. The motel across the street erupts in flames. “No! Please…” SeokJin begs, falling to his knees. “How can I stop this tragedy? … Am I not enough to stop it?” The story ends as he hears the glass shatter once again.

Additional Thoughts

For me, JungKook’s arc really draws back the curtain on SeokJin’s private life. It demonstrates SeokJin’s challenge to balance saving his friends and maintaining his own daily life, particularly fulfilling the duties that fall to him as a prominent assemblyman’s son. We see little of this side of him until The Notes 2, when his perspective has already drastically changed.

JungKook’s reflection about his habit of walking along the edges of walls is an interesting moment of self-awareness. This “tightrope-walking” is depicted frequently in the MVs.

The car accident and loop reset at the beginning of JungKook’s 4th episode suggests the possibility that the I Need U MV depicts JungKook deliberately stepping in front of the oncoming car rather than accidentally. (Maybe people have already interpreted it this way, but personally the thought had never occured to me due to how it’s shot and acted.) The car accident is a recurring theme in the loops for JungKook, particularly as he is struck the night of 22 May and comes to believe that it was SeokJin who hit him.

This internal dialogue of SeokJin’s from YoonGi’s arc gives me a lot to think about: “If I went back further in time, mustering up the courage to protect my friends, and prevented YoonGi from being expelled. If I did, maybe now we’d be…” SeokJin’s first experiences of the time loops are depicted in the Save Me Webtoon. At that time, he believes that 11 April is the date that he can begin fixing things, but it’s not clear if this ability granted by the cat-like creature truly gives him control over to which date the loop resets. (It is more obvious that he cannot control what triggers the reset itself.) Does he ever go back earlier? Only *ahem* time will tell, but if you want some more food for thought, please check out these interesting quotes that occur before 11 April Year 22.

As mentioned above, the following “tl;dr” commentary summarizes the parenthetical notes I provided in the summaries in case you want to review them on their own.

The Boy on the Threshold — tl;dr commentary

SeokJin’s flashback to 3 March Year 19, when all seven boys arrived late on the first day at Songju Jeil High School and were scolded outside by the Dean, looks very similar to the BTS Begins Middle Scene VCR (aside from the absence of extra students), including the detail of YoonGi arriving last. This VCR predates official BU content.

The photo in SeokJin’s collection that catches JungKook’s eye resembles the shot in the Euphoria MV at 5’32” (the seven boys sitting on a wall with the ocean behind them) except that they appear to be wearing school uniform shirts and slacks.

JungKook’s flashback to the night of 7 April Year 22 expands the context of his reunion with YoonGi, adding that he is drawn to the music shop by a familiar tune and through its broken window sees YoonGi playing piano. YoonGi doesn’t notice him when he staggers outside, and JungKook tries to play the music by memory. In his 7 April Year 22 entry of The Notes 1, YoonGi is drunk and stumbling by an empty construction site when he recognizes a clumsy piano tune that he’d been playing “not long ago.” But when he runs to the music shop and finds JungKook, the text does not indicate that he remembers this is his second visit to the shop this evening. Additionally, the Wings short film First Love seems to reference some of the events of this night—or evokes YoonGi’s distorted memories of it, mingled with a representation of JungKook’s later accident.

I mentioned in part 1’s introduction that every episode’s ending is identical regardless of the decisions made by the player, but the end of episode 4 is actually cosmetically different (a wobbling camera/animation effect) if the second path is selected for the last choice. The dialogue is the same.

The end of episode 7 depicts the seaside observatory. This is a key location on 22 May Year 22, recurring in The Notes and depicted in the HYYH On Stage: Prologue short film and Euphoria MV. It looks the same in the game.

The End of His Gaze — tl;dr commentary

The motel sign at the beginning and end of the story matches the one visible in YoonGi’s shots of the I Need U MV.

When searching the classroom hideout for clues on 15 April, SeokJin identifies his father's name alongside the message “Everything started from here” on the graffitied wall. He first saw this note in his 25 June Year 19 entry from The Notes 1.

Episode 3 presents a memory from both SeokJin’s and YoonGi’s perspectives of the afternoon that they walked out of school together. Although the date is unspecified, this event is also referenced in YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry from The Notes 2 and the similar Note accompanying Map of the Soul: 7.

On his second attempt at searching the classroom, SeokJin finds sheet music that was hidden inside the piano. A phrase written in the corner of one paper catches his eye: 함께 라면 웃을 수 있다. The Korean is not translated in game, but Google translates it as “if we are together, we can laugh.” This recurring phrase is instead translated as “we can laugh when we’re together” in The Notes 2. In YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry, he also reflects on finding the note written in the margins of the music scores he took from the classroom. The handwriting isn’t his own. Additionally, a similar sentiment is expressed in a line of You Never Walk Alone, which is the basis for one of the BU-inspired Graphic Lyrics books.

SeokJin has a flashback of 20 March Year 19 in which the boys are excitedly chattering about HoSeok’s new club. However, given the larger context of this moment (both in the past and what prompts it in the present), the date of the memory may be a typo. On 20 March Year 20 in The Notes 1, TaeHyung overheard SeokJin in the classroom informing the principal of the trouble he and YoonGi had gotten into. SeokJin realized that NamJoon heard it but not TaeHyung, who remained hidden out of sight and then pretended not to know. It’s not impossible that this memory really occurred in March Year 19, but most of them had only met at the beginning of that month.

Did you learn anything new from these stories that I did not specifically mention? Let me know in the replies or tags! Please stay tuned for part 3, featuring JiMin and HoSeok’s stories.

#armiesnet #bangtanarmynet #networkbangtan #armysource #dailybangtan #bts universe #hyyh #bangtan universe #bts universe story #bts universe story highlights #seokjin #jungkook #yoongi #jinkook #yoonkook #yoonjin #bts theories

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lilolilyr · 3 years

Text

Tagged by @ongreenergrasses, thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Way over 300! Tho it feels like it's been at 300sth so long by now, it'll be weird to look at once it hits 400 :D

Btw, funny how this tag meme asks for so much stuff that can be looked up by just... looking at my Ao3... without asking for any commentary by me? Lol

Anyhow, rest under the readmore bc this is 20 questions and Long!

Personal post - do not reblog

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

995596 - just a few more ficlets or 1 longer fic, and I've got a Million! Hey, maybe I should try to write one with... 4404? (I'd need to ask a calculator xD) words exactly... not rly a hardship with how many drabble exercises (exact wordcounts, 100 is the most used, I also do 200, 500, longest was 10000 exactly lol) I've already done... we'll see!

Over 400k for this year alone, and over half of that is my actual writing (not translations etc), I'm so proud! Last year I only barely hit 200k and that included a lot of translating work

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Again, one could look this up in my works filtered - sorted by kudos? But all three of my incubus!jaskier witcher series are in it, part 2 of the series is highest with 1091 kudos, then a Venom halloween oneshot, and 'Belonging', a fluffy snake-crowley piece from my ineffable spouses series (yes, sth with under 1k words - 666 to be exact - is in the top 5... my poor longfics lol)

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

...I try to? But atm I have 202 unanswered (and I always click 'mark read' on replies so these are all comments on my own fic) even tho I told myself I'd not let it get past 200, and now I'm doing a tag meme instead of replying to anything so ummmm

Edit: 203 unread now

But I do love love love all the comments I get! And while atm it's still semi-manageable, if it ever gets to the point where I really can't manage to reply to everyone cause it's too much, i'd rly take that as a compliment lol :D I'd still try to reply to the longer and/or more thought through comments tho :)

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

*thinks* I have an MCD fic? But not only is that very much a case of ~posting a draft version that's barely in complete sentences insgead of taking the time to turn it into a real longfic~, I also just killed off the mlm couple I only semi care about and left the wlw couple with a happy/hopeful (rly don't remember) ending, so... hm idk whether that counts for angsty ending

Apart from that... I dunno, I just prefer my babies to be happy and fluffy? *.* i remember a mirror milippa in the mirrorverse one where in the end Michael is worried about lying to Philippa about her identity... there are some angsty TOG and Gomens ones but I think they end happy-ish (my memory is. Bad. but looking through my 'angst' tag I just saw a lot of h/c and 'angst with a happy ending')

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

They're all happy???!?

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Ahahahahahhahahaahaha

Check this out

I need you to know that all the works in that collection take part in the same universe (or rather, multiverse), and are alltogether just scratching the surface of my gigantic headcanon multiverse that I've been building in my mind since I was like 10

Actual crossovers other than that I don't remember writing

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeh but I only remember clicking 'delete comment', as it should be

Recently I've just gotten a bunch of 'you Need to continue this' and 'omg why isn't there more' or 'this shouldn't end' type comments, not hate, probably not meant maliciously, but So Annoying (maybe espesh bc I don't want to just hit delete on these, but I also don't want to pretend it's fine, but I also don't have the energy for a fight, and trying to explain why that behaviour is entitled and annoying and that I write what I want to write and nice comments should praise what I actually have written, and hoping that they understand and don't get mad is... hard.)

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

Check out my rated E and rated M in my works

Mostly femslash lately, but I did also write other smut in the past

Most is a bit dominant/submissive play, but I do also like good fluffy smut with feelings! Best in combo, really :D

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not in the sense of pretending someone else wrote it (that i know of), but posted to other sites without my permission - writing 'don't repost to other sites' etc did Not help, they even copied those tags lol, so I just let it be, choosing my battles wisely etcetc, I'd prefer for my fic not to be cross-posted by others bc then I can't edit or otherwise influence the fic anymore and don't see everyone's reactions to it, but as long as it's not someone pretending they wrote it, I only semi care, not enough to fight it tbh

PSA: I Only post fics to Ao3 (and WIPs/prompt fills to tumblr&discord at times), if you see them somewhere else that's Not Me and you'd do me a favour by checking them out on ao3 and kudosing&commenting there instead :)

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yup, one to Russian a while back, a floreleine (Gunpowder Milkshake) one to Korean just today actually, and I translated a bunch to German myself

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

I made a TOG fic together with @cinnamonplums, well mostly I wrote and she made the art :D

Trying to remember whether I ever actually co-wrote anything... don't think so?

13. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Don't make me choose!!!

Atm Milippa is OTP bc I'm busy writing them for @discoveryfemslashfortnight (this is not a post to reblog for the fortnight), but I'm also still rly into Floreleine, Bering&Wells and Andromaquynh and Andronilynh, and I read a lot of Mirandy lately

All-time favs I'm not rly active in atm but will always be dear to me are the ineffable spouses, clintcoulson, heistwives, gosh so many more I'll stop here tho xD

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

A Heistwives Kinda Job immediately comes to mind

I also rly want to finish at least one cohesive original-ish storyline for the lverse that I already linked for the crossover question above, but I just have so much backstory (it's been over 10 years!!!) and it's... hard...

And everything else that's still WIP and untouched for more than a few months will probably have the same fate lol

Also have a few that haven't even seen the light of day at all, most recent a Mirandy ~what if Andy had been pregnant when Miranda hired her and how would it change the entire storyline~ bit - I wrote it in bulletpoints in one go as quickly as I could, I know I had the finished product in my mind, I don't remember anything now and don't feel like going through the bulletpoints painstakenly filling in the blanks

15. What are your writing strengths?

Writing one-shots quickly in one go

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Forgetting everything about a fic if I leave it in a draft for a second too long

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

There are many ways to go about it, and I think they all work (depending on the fic and the length and relevance of the dialogue)

I tend to leave single sentences as is, and for longer and important sequences use cursive and 'they said in xylanguage'.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Hobbit apparently? I remember thinking that fic was so long lol, it's 3k

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Kat/Ana from Reef Break, they have Such Shippable Chemistry, and it would totally fit Kat's player personality to bang both siblings (she's canonically friends with benefits with Ana's half-brother)... but the ship has one (1!) fic on Ao3 *cries*

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

TOG Andromaquynh longfic In Your Stead has had the title since last year and probably for a while to come! I loved the story idea so much I really worked with several drafts and only! worked on that fic until it was finished so I wouldn't get distracted & forget about it, and the result was wonderful.

Tagging, if you want to do it, @sarah-fiers @purlturtle @cookie-sheet-toboggan @ussjellyfish @onaperduamedee @startrekgeorgiouery @rosalie-starfall @lonely-night @banashee @xvnot15 and everyone else who sees this

Questions to copy:

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? 5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? 6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? 7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written? 8. Have you ever received hate on a fic? 9. Do you write smut? If so what kind? 10. Have you ever had a fic stolen? 11. Have you ever had a fic translated? 12. Have you ever co-written a fic before? 13. What’s your all time favorite ship? 14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? 15. What are your writing strengths? 16. What are your writing weaknesses? 17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? 18. What was the first fandom you wrote for? 19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? 20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

#tagging meme #tagged #mine #ongreenergrasses #ao3 tag #ao3 link #lilolilyrae #sept'21 #personal #Personal 2021 #28.09.21

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minghaos-pet · 4 years

Text

sucker punch (1/?)

eventual smut

group: ateez

member: fighter!jongho

word count: 3k

warnings: violence, language, sexual suggestion, drug use, fear???

“Can you not drive any smoother?” Jongho groaned beside you, clutching his side and wincing each time you drove over a bump or pothole.

“I’m trying my best,” you glared at him for a short while, “it’s not my fault the roads are fucked up.”

“You could at least try to avoid them,” he spat, “I’m fucking dying in your passenger seat.”

“No you’re not,” you clenched your jaw trying to look as steely as possible, but deep down you had to admit you were a little worried he actually was dying in the seat next to you.

“Fuck,” Jongho cursed amidst a sharp exhale as the road beneath you turned from pocked asphalt to straight gravel and sand. The car bounced violently along and your face was practically pressed against the windshield trying to see the road in front of you enough to avoid rocks.

“I need to turn the lights on,” you reached for the knob when his hand shot out in protest, “I can’t see a goddamn thing on the road, Jongho.” All he could do in response was whine, too agonized and exhausted to form words. Regardless of his lack-of-response, you didn’t turn the lights on, knowing that if you did your chances of being stopped by any stray cops would raise tenfold. An injured-Jongho was one thing to deal with, having someone dig through your car in the middle of the night was another. “Are we--”

“Stop the car,” he interrupted and swung the door open as you slammed on the brakes, practically throwing yourself across his lap to prevent him from rolling out of the car as he vomited outside the open door. After a minute or two he righted himself, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and pulled the door closed.

“You good?” You looked at him with (mostly fake) disgust.

“Fuck you,” he smiled weakly as you pressed on the gas, “I think I ruptured my spleen.”

You bit your lip and kept silent, continuing to drive the last couple miles to your destination. A ruptured spleen, or any other medical malady that could bring Jongho practically to his knees hurling onto a dirt road was far from good. You knew the medic you were visiting could fix up some lacerations, a broken rib or two, but something more internally damaging was out of the question as far as you were concerned. “Jongho…” your voice was quiet and riddled with anxiety, you looked over at him, his forehead drenched in sweat, lip split, and bloody knuckled pressed tightly against his right side, “should I take you to a hospital?”

In the darkness you could see his eyes soften as much as they could, “I’m fine, baby,” you could hear the effort he was making to hide the pain in his voice, “I’m just being a bitch, is all.”

You hummed in acknowledgement and refocused on the road, scared that if you tried to speak your voice would crack. Your relationship with Jongho was complicated, and definitely not one that either of you filled with emotions. You found him a year ago when he needed a manager, someone to allocate his earnings and pay-off his debts, patch up any injuries, someone to fuck if the occasion called for it. For 13 months you’d done exactly that, he paid you relatively handsomely (but you always snuck a little extra cash if you could) and it got you out of the depressive post-grad hole you’d been trapped in. It was mutualism at its finest.

When you pulled up to the house the lights outside were off. They were supposed to be on. You parked the car in the driveway and watched Jongho swing the door open and struggle greatly to exit the vehicle, if the circumstances weren’t as pressing you might have laughed at him and thought it was cute. “Do you need help?” You asked.

“No, y/n, I can exit a fucking car on my own,” you watched him struggle for a few more seconds before he turned to you pouting, “...yes, please.”

You sighed and slammed your door behind you, walking around the front of the car to Jongho; “where can I not touch?”

“Avoid my entire right side if you can, and my shoulder’s a little rough too, but not as bad.�� You wrapped your arm around his back and under his shoulder as gently as you could, preparing for his weight as you helped him slide out of the car, “you might have to help me walk too,” he said sheepishly as you did your best to close the door behind you and lock the car.

“Anything for you,” you rolled your eyes and sarcastically smiled at him, hoping he was smiling back in the dark. When you reached the door of the mobile home you knocked quietly, not wanting to wake up any neighborhood dogs. You were about to knock again when the porch light flickered on and the door opened slowly. “You’re late. I thought you died along the way,” the gruff man in front of you said to Jongho, ignoring your presence entirely...not that you were complaining; it was better to be invisible in situations like this.

“Yeah,” Jongho shot you a glance and in the yellow light you could see the blood caked on his cheekbone, “she can’t fucking drive, I guess.” You transferred Jongho to the man in front of you, relieved to let your shoulders and back have a break. The house was small and poorly decorated. A box of medical supplies set on a dining room table next to a glass of water and a picture of an old 1970s grandma. Jongho collapsed into the pulled-out chair and you helped him take off his shirt while the other man washed his hands. “So what’s wrong with you this time? You look like shit.” He asked from the kitchen. “I think I have a broken or bruised rib and maybe a ruptured spleen,” Jongho kicked his shoes off under the table, “but nothing too serious other than that. Might need to pop my shoulder back in though.”

“Can’t do anything for a ruptured spleen,” he responded, “needa go to the hospital for that one or you’ll bleed out internally in a day or so.”

You gulped, feeling the anxiety raise in your body once more. You stood awkwardly in the corner of the room, disappearing nicely into the ugly floral wallpaper. You could have sworn Jongho’s eyes flicked up to you, but you weren’t completely sure.

“Well then,” Jongho placed his hand on the table, “I’m sure there’s no ruptured spleen here.”

“If you get nauseous or pass out you should be worried.”

The doctor--could you call him a doctor?--stitched up Jongho’s face and looked at his side, pushing slightly on the purple flesh as Jongho’s face screwed in pain. Surprisingly, he was quiet though, a glaring contrast to the whiny, annoying mess you drove for an hour and a half through the dark. You wrung your hands, wondering if you should tell the doctor more details about what happened; surely it would allow Jongho to get the care he needed, even if it wasn’t pertaining to his bruised ribs or cut up face. “Um,” you squeaked from the corner and cleared your throat to speak clearly, “he did throw up on the way here...could that be a spleen-thing?”

Jongho looked up at you and gave you a look that told you you should have kept your mouth shut.

“Next time don’t bring your mouthy girl,” the doctor glared at you for an instant, “I don’t like people telling me how to do my job.”

“Not my girl,” Jongho said flatly, “woulda left the bitch at home anyway if I could move without feeling like I was gonna keel over dead.” He looked at you while he said it, his voice monotonous but his eyes apologetic. You crossed your arms over your chest, you knew he didn’t mean it, but it still didn’t feel good to be disrespected like that.

“What’s her name?” The doctor asked Jongho and looked you up and down more thoroughly.

“Don’t--”

“It’s y/n,” you cut him off, receiving the harshest warning look from Jongho. He shook his head slightly, but you didn’t pick up on it. The doctor pushed his chair back and stood up, walking slowly towards you while you sunk further into the wall, Jongho went to move as well, but his condition left him glued to the chair.

“How much?” He asked Jongho, but his focus maintained on you, his eyes sweeping over your face.

“Not for sale.” You could hear the resentment drip from Jongho’s tongue. A twisted part of you wished you could see through the man and watch Jongho get angrier, the way his fists balled up and his jaw set.

“Then get out of my fucking house,” the doctor backed away from you and made his way back to Jongho.

“W-what?” You were confused and a little frightened, even though you knew better.

“Get out of my fucking house,” he repeated, “unless you having something to offer me I’m not in the mood for guests.”

“Just wait outside, y/n,” Jongho said exasperatedly, “I’ll be done soon.”

You gave him one last look before crossing to the door, dragging your feet over the threshold and onto the small porch. Moths fluttered around the porch light and you could hear insects in the trees behind the road, you sighed deeply as you squatted down, your back against the laminate siding of the mobile home. You reached into your coat pocket for your phone before remembering you left it in the car...the locked car. The key to which was on the dining room table of a man who kicked you out of his house to sit outside alone in the cold. “I’ll never hear the end of this,” you said quietly to whatever creatures were listening in the dark. You should have gone in with no questions asked, no words spoken and stood against the wall quiet until everything was done, but why should you have? You weren’t Jongho’s girlfriend, you weren’t some naive teenager, you were his manager. In technical terms, you were the one in charge, not Jongho, not the sleazy, illegitimate doctor. You contented yourself on the porch for the next few minutes, fuming and running over the various ways you would chew Jongho out when you got in the car in just a few minutes; until the light shut off.

You weren’t sure if it was automatic or if the doctor shut it off purposefully, but regardless of the intent or lack-thereof you were in the dark. Sitting on a strange man’s front porch in a backroads neighborhood with no car keys and no phone. “It’s okay,” you whispered to yourself in reassurance, planting your butt on the ground and pulling your knees to your chest, “it’s already been like fifteen minutes,” you wrapped your arms around your knees. Fuck, it was cold. “Jongho’s probably already done and he’s just talking shit with the doctor.” You could see your breath now that it was dark, the grey clouds of condensation hanging in the air momentarily every time you spoke. You hummed to yourself to keep track of time, going through songs you remembered one by one until seven had passed. “Jongho…” you whined quietly in the dark, “it’s been over twenty minutes, just leave already.” Another seven songs, another twenty minutes. Your heart began to race slightly, blood pressure rising as you wondered why you couldn’t hear anyone talking inside while your brain conjured up countless horrible theories that involved one or both of them being dead. Should you stand up and knock on the door? Should you go inside? You wrapped your arms tighter around your knees, knowing that if you went inside and something had happened to Jongho there would be no way for you to defend yourself. If anything, your best bet was to wait outside until morning and find someone to break into the car, or maybe someone from another house nearby would help you. Your breathing slowed a bit, anxiety evening out as you formulated a plan just in case what you feared came to fruition. You sat there like that for another few minutes, running over new plans and courses of action; managing the situation, even though you usually handled other peoples’ affairs. You were mid brain wrack when the porch light clicked back on and you heard footsteps towards the door, and you unfolded yourself from your position and stood up, preparing yourself to run until you heard Jongho’s voice from the other side of the door.

“There you are,” Jongho hobbled out of the doorway smiling, obviously feeling much better than he had before, “I was getting a little lonely in there without you nagging me every 30 seconds.”

“I just gave him some oxy,” the doctor said to you, pushing Jongho out of the door towards you, “there’s more in his coat to take later, he’s gonna need it.”

“Thanks,” you forced yourself to say, not wanting anything to do with the man who kicked you out of his house in the middle of January, “did he pay you already?”

“Don’t give him anymore,” Jongho put his hand on your shoulder, steadying himself on his feet, “the motherfucker already cheated me out of everything I had.”

“The Blues are gonna kick in soon,” the doctor ignored him and backed up back into his house, “get him in the car before you have to drag him.” The door closed behind you and the light shut off once more, affirming your earlier suspicions that he had deliberately left you in the dark.

Jongho shuffled down the steps and through the dark to the car, head lolling onto your shoulder as you neared the passenger side, “keys?” You lifted your arm to get him upright again.

“In my pocket,” he mumbled, “my arms are asleep.” You reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a handful of assorted pills, but no keys. You sighed and shoved your hand into the front pocket of his jeans, and wrapped your hand around your pepperspay keychain. Almost instantly he shot away from you, eyes wide, “damn, y/n, can’t it wait until we’re in the car? Fuck.”

You scoffed, “here I was thinking it was perfectly acceptable to grab your dick in the middle of this bumfuck neighborhood,” you pretended to aim the pepperspray at his face and lightly smacked his butt, “I’ll just settle for this I guess.”

Giggling, Jongho’s hand came down heavily with your lower back, sending you jolting forward, you pulled the door open for him and rubbed your back with the other, knowing it would bruise, “you missed, you fucking asshole,” you muttered and shoved him into the car.

“I can’t help it baby, I’m high as shit right now.” The drive to Jongho’s apartment was peaceful, primarily because he was knocked out the entire hour and a half. By the time you pulled into a parking space you could see the sunrise peeking through the dark; you unbuckled your seatbelt and rested your head on the steering-wheel, glad to finally have a break. You turned your head to face Jongho who was still asleep, his mouth formed into a pout and his head slumped forward to rest on his chest. Regardless of the narcotics he’d taken, you knew he was exhausted. Normally a fight night ended with him walking home from the gym after splitting the money and you driving safe, comfortable, and a little bit richer to your apartment. You reached under the driver’s seat and pulled out the ziplock bag of cash, you loved this--even if it wasn’t all your money--but the thrill of being able to hold a few hundred (or sometimes a few thousand) dollars every few nights was indescribable.

“Jongho,” you poked his cheek, hoping he’d wake up easily, “Jonghoooo,” you poked him harder, not wanting to have to carry him up the stairs of his apartment.

“Mmmmwhat,” he hummed and peeled his eyelids open.

“We’re at your apartment,” you tucked the money into your coat pocket and reached over to unbuckle his seatbelt, “wake up so you can go to sleep in a real bed.”

Jongho groaned once more in protest, but didn’t press the issue any further, even in his altered state. You were not above leaving him to sleep peacefully on the curb outside his apartment building, and he knew that. You had your arm wrapped around his back once more, but it was mainly to make him feel more emotionally secure as you both stumbled tiredly up the stairs; if he legitimately started to fall backwards there was no way you’d be able to catch him--break his fall, maybe, but you’d rather one of you be seriously injured than both of you.

When you reached his door you punched the code and practically pushed him inside, he uttered some sort of complaint about you knowing his lock-code, but you were too exhausted to open your ears to him anymore.

Arms hanging loosely at his side, he beelined straight to his bed, collapsing onto it with nothing more than a slight squeak of discomfort. You sat on his bed next to him, leaning over to take his shoes off, “you can’t get in bed with shoes on, Jongie,” you smiled at the nickname, knowing that if he was in his right mind he would have thrown a fit hearing you call him that, “that’s gross.” After tossing his shoes out of the room and into the hall, you worked on the rest of his clothes; his shirt was soaked with sweat and some blood, and you cringed at the thought that he had so willingly gotten into bed in them. You made a mental note to remind him to wash his sheets in the morning.

“Take yours off too,” he mumbled and grinned to himself while you pulled on the hem of his shirt, “it’s not fair that I get to be the only naked one in this house right now.”

#ateez fic #ateez #ateez writing #ateez x reader #ateez smut #ateez angst #jongho fic #jongho x reader #jongho imagine #jongho smut #jongho angst #jongho ateez #ateez jongho #kpop smut #kpop imagine #kpop writing #kpop angst #yn

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eryiss · 4 years

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Fraxus Fanfic Masterpost - Updated 28/01/2020

Hi everyone. So I thought that I could make a little post that has links to everything I’ve written for Fraxus; which is almost everything I’ve written, honestly. I plan to update it and reblog it every month and hopefully I can keep to that.

Hopefully this’ll help you if you want to see what I’ve done. As always, happy reading and enjoy.

New This Month!

Portrait of a Lightning God (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 22/1/2020

With a crappy job and no financial support, Laxus needs money. On Bickslow and Evergreen's advice, he goes for an audition to model for the reclusive painter Freed Justine. A man he knows nothing about, but finds himself enthralled by. [Modern AU | Request | 4.7k Words]

A Pattern of Dots and Dashes (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 19/1/2020

Laxus has always been good at seeing patterns. So when Freed starts to tap out a pattern, Laxus can't help but pick up on it. The more he thinks about it, the more it drives him crazy. But as he looks into what this pattern means, he starts to realise just how romantic his boyfriend can be. [Canon Verse | Request | 2.7k Words]

Both Addictive and Electric (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 10/1/2020

After finishing filming for the final season of the fantasy series Fairy Tail, Laxus finds himself at a party. Across the dancefloor is Freed, a co-star and a man who Laxus respects more than any other actor. But his feelings are more than just respect, and the space separating them is an ocean, but Laxus wants to change that. He just needs some time. And courage. [Acting AU | Request | 2.5k Words]

Multi-Chapter Work

Gambler’s Luck (Ao3 | Fanfiction)

A drunken night at a bar; that's how it always starts. A few shots, some self loathing and a decision you would never make when sober. But for Laxus Dreyar, the morning after doesn't include regret, copious amounts of aspirin and a stranger in his bed. For he only made one drunken decision, becoming the personal driver for professional gambler - Freed Justine. [Modern AU | Complete | 141.1k Words]

The Captain’s Charm (Ao3 | Fanfiction)

Freed Justine: infamous captain of the ship Raijinshuu and pirate of the seven oceans. Laxus Dreyar: faceless night in a society he doesn’t belong in. Fate brings them together, but will the knight succumb the the captain’s charms [Pirate AU | Complete | 10.7k Words]

Blade Of The Wanderer (Ao3 | Fanfiction)

Laxus’ life was fine. Not comfortable, not as good as it could be. Then a stranger entered the walled town of Magnolia, a stranger named Freed Justine, and everything changed. [Samurai AU | Complete | 31.8k Words]

A Vow To Protect (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction)

Laxus Dreyar, prince of Fiore, has been trapped in the town of Magnolia for months by order of his grandfather. After a failed attempt at leaving ends up with the prince injured, his grandfather punishes him by adding a new guard to his retainer team. An arrogant, up-tight, overly confident, handsome bastard named Freed Justine. [Fantasy AU | Ongoing (Hiatus) | 29.2k Words]

One Shots

Walking Through the Year (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 21/7/2019

The walk to and from the guildhall had always been something that Freed had taken for granted. But now, dating Laxus and sharing that walk with him, he found himself enjoying the scenic pathways more than he could have expected. [Fraxus Week | Canon Verse | 4.4k Words]

Feast of the Dragons (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 20/7/2019

After a fire takes place at the girls dorm, Wendy finds herself sleeping in a guildmates house until something more permanent can be organised. After waking up to Laxus entering the unfamiliar house, the young woman finds something new about her guildmates and shares a midnight snack with the unfamiliar dragon slayer. [Fraxus Week | Canon Verse | 4.2k Words]

A Complicated Type of Hope (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 19/7/2019

Sitting in his bed, Laxus beside him, Freed's mind starts to wonder. He thinks back to the first time he met the man he would fall in love with, and the hope that came with that meeting. A complicated type of hope, but hope none the less. [Fraxus Week | Canon Verse | 3.7k Words]

Solace and Steam (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 18/7/2019

Having been given a second chance to become an S-Class mage, Freed had put his focus on making himself strong. The issue was that he overworked himself, and Laxus couldn't deal with it anymore. So what else could he do but take his husband to a hot spring to relax? [Fraxus Week 2019 | Canon Verse | 3.7k Words]

A Second First Date (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 17/7/2019

After a continuous steam of bad things happening, Laxus finds himself in an almost constant bad mood. Not wanting his husband to feel like this for any longer, Freed devises a plan to cheer up the man he loves. All he needs to do is have a second first date with the man. [Fraxus Week 2019 | Canon Verse | 3.6k Words]

Late Night Drinks (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 16/7/2019

On a seemingly unassuming mission, Freed and Laxus' lives change when the former proposes to the latter. After returning, one of the first things they decide to do is celebrate their engagement with a group of their close friends and family. [Fraxus Week 2019 | Canon Verse | 4k Words]

The Beasts of Fairy Tail (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 15/7/2019

The idea of performing a Unison Raid had previously felt unattainable for Freed and Laxus. But after hearing stories of their guildmates managing to perform the spell, the two powerful men make it their goal to do the same. [Fraxus Week 2019 | Canon Verse | 3.7k Words]

The Life of His Deskmate (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 26/4/2019

Laxus Dreyar: Reporter for Fairy Tail and member of an elite group of investigative journalists: The Raijinshuu. When trying to get evidence to bring down a criminal family, he finds himself at the wrong end of a gun and is saved by someone he didn't believe existed. A vigilante who is closer to Laxus than he could ever imagine. His deskmate: Freed Justine. [Superhero Au | 22k Words]

The Champagne Suite (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 17/3/2019

On the one year anniversary of their wedding, Freed and Laxus chose to go on a vacation to the beutiful town of Akane. Their love as strong as they day they wedded, they find themselves in the luxury Champagne Suite. [Modern AU | 2k Words]

A Night On The Cobbles (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 16/1/2019

The streets of Magnolia have always been beautiful, more so in the dead of night. After a day of drinking and celebrating Makarov’s birthday, Freed and Laxus find themselves alone on the cobbled streets of their home town, and get caught up in the beauty of it. [Canon Verse | 2.8k Words]

The Heart Grows Fonder (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 20/7/2018

After months without so much of a conversation, Freed gets a letter from the exiled Laxus asking for a meeting. During their reunion, they will both come to the conclusion that distance makes the heart grow fonder. [Fraxus Week 2018 | Canon Verse | 4.3k Words]

A Spectacle For All (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 21/7/2018

When called upon by the organisers of the Grand Magic Games to entertain the crowds during the day of rest, Laxus and Freed indulge in a stage match and truly make a spectacle for all. [Fraxus Week 2018 | Canon Verse |4.6k Words]

Thought’s of an Old Man (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 22/7/2018

Freed and Laxus are soon to wed, and they have called upon Makarov Dreyar to write a speech for their reception. The old man faces some difficulty with getting out the right words, but when he manages to listen to his heart he makes something beautiful. [Fraxus Week 2018 | Canon Verse | 4.9k Words]

A Patchwork Romance (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 23/7/2018

During a difficult mission, Freed is injured and Laxus is called upon to patch him up. As a form of distraction, the two begin to talk about the times they have taken care of each other throughout the years. [Fraxus Week 2018 | Canon Verse | 3.9k Words]

Our Lives In Print (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 24/7/2018

While moving some old boxes from the attic, Laxus discovers one filled with old Sorcerer Weekly editions, all containing articles about Freed, Laxus or the Raijinshuu. As he and Freed start to read through them, they reminisce about the years and about their relationship. [Fraxus Week 2018 | Canon Verse | 3.5k Words]

Stories of the Stars (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 25/7/2018

When a calm evening alone in a forest leads to Freed and Laxus resting under the stars, conversation slowly turns to their opinions on the idea of gods and how they view mythical creatures. [Fraxus Week 2018 | Canon Verse | 2.3k Words]

Solace In Your Arms (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 26/7/2018

The war is over and Laxus is back in Magnolia. But his husband hasn't yet returned and Laxus finds himself feeling more and more nervous. And then, as the afternoon begins, a train arrives. [Fraxus Week 2018 | Canon Verse | 4.1k Words]

An Evening With Makarov (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

After being a couple for some time, Freed and Laxus decide to take the next large step in their relationship. But to do this, they need to survive an evening with Makarov. [Fraxus Day 2017 | Canon Vere | 4.1k Words]

The Newest Member (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

Upon stumbling into the guildhall on a late night, Freed and Laxus happen upon the last thing they expect to see. But when called upon, the men are more than capable of looking after the new, infant member of Fairy Tail. [Fraxus Day 2017 | Canon Verse | 4.1k Words]

The Start of an Eternity (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

Today is the day. The day they meet at the end of the alter. The day that is theirs and theirs alone. The day where they promise themselves to one another, for and eternity. [Fraxus Day 2017 | Canon Verse | 3k Words]

Teasing and Treachery (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

On a vacation in one of the most romantic places in Magnolia, Evergreen and Bickslow are sure they can nudge Freed and Laxus into finally getting together. The only problem: Freed and Laxus are together, and are well aware of their teammate’s previous nudges. [Fraxus Day 2017 | Canon Verse | 4.8k Words]

Romantic Beginnings (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

Romance doesn't come easy to Freed and Laxus. They’ve prioritised other things for all their lives, so it’s not second nature to them. But, on their first date, they decide that maybe romance isn't such a bad thing. [Fraxus Day 2017 | Canon Verse | 2.6k Words]

By His Bedside (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

Being a mage, danger is everpresent. But knowing that doesn’t make it any better when you’re at your lover’s bedside, hoping to god they’ll recover but knowing it might not happen. That’s the situation Laxus finds himself in. [Fraxus Day 2017 | Canon Verse | 4.3k Words]

During The Storm (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 20/10/2017

During a week away from Fairy Tail, Laxus finds himself enraptured by a storm. After Freed mentions his previous opinions of storms, Laxus begins to make comparisons between the mage and his element. Soon, the couple find themselves making love during the storm. [NSFW | Canon Verse | 3.8k Words]

The Nightly Routine (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 20/7/2017

A task by the guild master has driven Freed and Laxus to spend their spare time in separate rooms, much to their displeasure. So when an opportunity arrises for them to have the night off, the leap at the chance. After all, it’s healthy to break the routine. [Fraxus Week 2017 | Canon Verse | 3.5k Words]

Reversal of Fate (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 21/7/2017

At a low point in his life where everything seems to be on top of him, Freed finds himself sitting alone on his apartment stairs. He finds himself questioning why fate was being cruel to him. But, in a complete reverse to what he expected, fate decides to send Laxus Dreyar to his door. [Fraxus Week 2017 | Modern AU | 4.4k Words]

Overnight Training (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 22/7/2017

Being apart from your partner is a part of any mages life, it's normal and unavoidable. But when you have a bad day and your boyfriend is away, walking through a forest in the middle of the night is justified. At least to Laxus Dreyar, it is. [Fraxus Week 2017 | Canon Verse | 2k Words]

A Nervous Habit (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 23/7/2017

Everyone had a different way of coping with being stressed, Laxus used his music. So here he sat, in a hospital corridor, blasting music through his headphones to distract himself from reality. Just waiting to hear the news about his fiancé. But until then, his world is music. [Fraxus Week 2017 | Canon Verse | 2.1k Words]

When The Games End (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 24/7/2017

A night of poker can be exhilarating, dramatic and endlessly entertaining. The Raijinshuu's monthly poker night was something they always looked forwards to. But for Freed and Laxus, what happens after a game of poker can be just as enjoyable as what happens when you play. Even if it's just sleeping. [Fraxus Week 2017 | Canon Verse | 1.9k Words]

A Day For Spoiling (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 25/7/2017

There are certain moments in a relationship that are special. Landmark moments that only happen once. So when Freed and Laxus Move in together, they decide to celebrate the landmark by spoiling each other rotten. [Fraxus Week 2017 | Canon Verse | 4.1k Words]

Playing By The Pool (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 26/7/2017

Laxus and Freed could be seen as stoic and only focused on their work. This wasn't true. they had more than enough of stupid, playful fun with each other. Unlike most of Fairy Tail, however, they reserved these moments for rare occasions. By the pool on their honeymoon, it was the perfect moment to have stupid, playful fun with each other. [Fraxus Week 2017 | Canon Verse |2.4k Words]

The Longest Walk (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 30/1/2017

Laxus was tired, all that was in the way of sleeping was the short walk to his bedroom. But it seemed his rune wielding boyfriend had something else planned. A walk that should have taken minutes at the most became the longest walk of his life. And damn it was the best walk of his life. [Canon Verse | 4.6k Words]

#fraxus #freed justine #Laxus Dreyar #freed x laxus

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someobscurereference · 5 years

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unfinished fic meme

I got tagged by @kimium in a writing meme!

“Rules: post your favorite parts of 3-5 fics that have been sitting abandoned in your drafts for ages. (for extra shame, throw in when you last worked on each thing.) tag 5 other writers to reflect on their life choices.”

I don’t think I have anyone else to tag, lol. So if you want to participate, just say I tagged you!

Most of my unfinished work here are things I haven’t looked at in a long, long time. I don’t even recall where I intended for some of them to go. Here are some brief previews of that unfinished work (under the cut because they’re long):

1. The one where I basically wanted to write that scene from Finding Nemo except with Leo and Odin instead (blood tw)

Leo’s heart stopped. He froze.

Odin.

Leo only had a split-second to register the sight before him, but that was unmistakably Odin, slung over the ruffian’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes, horribly limp. Parts of his blond hair had been dyed shockingly red with blood, and though Leo couldn’t see his face, Odin looked awfully pale. Fat drops of crimson dripped from Odin’s hair to the floor, trailing behind him.

Dead, Leo thought before anything else. He’d dead.

He didn’t know that, not for sure, but Leo was already raising his arm again on instinct. He yelled something intelligible as he fired off the shot, some words he didn’t even recognize himself, too focused on the sudden overwhelming flood of grief and anger in his chest for self-awareness.

At the sound of his voice, Odin’s head jerked up, his eyes wide. In that same moment, Leo fire his spell.

Shocked, Leo froze.

Odin did not.

With the element of surprise apparently on his side as well, Odin twisted out of his captor’s grasp, landing flat on the floor just before Leo’s spell made contact with the ruffian’s back. With a strangled cry, the ruffian hit the floor and didn’t get up. Odin pushed himself to all fours, surprised written all over his features.

“My lord!” Odin cried, sitting up. “I hadn’t expected you so soon! It must be fate’s will that we have crossed paths like this. Are you all right?”

Leo’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. Blood sluggishly trickled from a thin cut on Odin’s forehead. There was a bruise on his cheek and another just above his eyebrow. He looked dirty and worse for wear, but unmistakably, he was alive. His wounds were much more superficial than Leo had initially registered.

Still, Leo’s hands shook. He breathed in and steadied himself.

“Lord Leo?” Odin said, a little more hesitantly.

Instinctively, Leo said, “I’m fine.” He looked at Odin, who was still very much alive. “Are you all right? Can you fight?”

“Of course!” Odin was all energy and focus, same as always. He leaped to his feet and barely wobbled. “I was merely looking for a proper opportunity before I staged my surprise attack! It seems you took care of that before me though.” He flashed a smile. “As expected of my lord.”

Leo barely resisted the urge to sigh.

(Notes: I wrote 3K of this like a year ago and could probably finish it with a handful of paragraphs. I just didn’t love it, I guess. There was something about it that made me not finish. Maybe the tone or the plot not feeling as strong as I wanted it to be? I’m not sure. I still really like the concept though, lol.)

2. The Modern Trio travel between Nohr and Ylisse via water all the time (like Inuyasha) and Inigo and Owain have a fight about going out and acting their age sometimes (maybe have shown some of this before?) (alcohol/getting drunk mention)

(snippet 1)

“You just want to go out without me,” Inigo said tearfully. “You even got Severa to go with you! You both lied to me!”

Owain bit the inside of his cheek. “Sometimes we don’t want to have to play rock-paper-scissors over who has to take your drunk self home that night.”

“Excuse me,” Inigo squawked, indignant. “I don’t get drunk every time.”

“You do,” Owain told him matter-of-factly. “And that’s fine. Have fun. But you get smashed, and then one of us has to take you home and…”

He felt his face grow warm.

“Oh, I saw,” Inigo said knowingly. “Sometimes you want other people to take you home.”

Owain looked determinedly toward the castle. They were crossing the bridge.

When Owain didn’t say anything else, Inigo said, “I’m not a child, you know. Even if I’m a bit tipsy, you don’t have to fight over who takes me home. You don’t have to take me home at all. I’m an adult.”

For all of Inigo’s whining all afternoon, this was the first time he’d sounded truly serious. He might have meant his complaints before, but he clearly meant this way more.

Owain’s frown deepened. They neared the end of the bridge. The two guards stationed at the castle gate nodded solemnly at their approach, and Owain and Inigo nodded back. They didn’t speak again until they passed the gate.

“You are an adult,” Owain agreed. “But I would feel like a bad friend if I didn’t make sure you got home safe, especially when I know that if we go out, you’re going to get drunk—"

“Not every time!”

“It is every time, and sometimes—”

“You make me sound like the worst version of myself.”

“It’s not bad! It can just be—”

Inigo scoffed.

Owain spotted a flash of blond hair in the distance. He got ready.

After a beat, Inigo started, “Am I really—”

But Owain was already jumping into action. He pointed the other way.

“Ah!” he said loudly. “Lord Xander! I didn’t see you there!”

Inigo instantly straightened and looked around wildly. Owain booked it in the other direction.

(snippet 2)

“So,” Niles said, suddenly slinking out from around the corner like a cat, “men who look like they could snap you over their knees are ‘the dream,’ are they?”

For the second time that day, Owain choked on air. Under Niles’s even gaze, Owain cursed Inigo’s big mouth and recovered as quickly as he could. It was a bit of a struggle.

“An eavesdropper, eh?” he hedged. He tried to gauge Niles’s reaction, but he was a hard man to read. “You didn’t have anything else to do but listen in on private conversations then, I see.”

“Given the volume with which Inigo likes to shout from the rooftops,” Niles said, “I wouldn’t particularly call it eavesdropping.”

(This one I like the concept for but I guess didn’t finish because it’s a version of the Trio I don’t think I’ve ever written before. Or at least rarely dabble into outside of the privacy of my own head/a close friend. I don’t like going out or getting drunk or anything, but a lot of people my age do and I kind of wanted to show that side of modern life where you go to clubs and maybe have a casual hookup sometimes. I often write the Trio as people who don’t have many (or any) romantic relationships before meeting Whoever I Ship Them With In X Fic, but part of me wants to change that default sometimes. I do think about modern Odin who has no problem meeting dudes in bars and having a brief fling or doing other, wilder stuff that his friends (especially in Nohr) maybe don’t always know about. I thought it would be a neat exercise, and I still think about it. The Modern Trio having their own lives that the Nohrians aren’t privy to and are maybe curious/romantically jealous over when they find out? Also I like the idea of characters having “types” (just like real life people do sometimes) and other characters who are romantically interested in them do hear about it (as seen above, lol.). This fic was leaning to be leo/odin/niles or at least niles/odin, I think. It’s been on my computer for at least 5 months. I just really like this concept in general but I guess I’m a little embarrassed because it’s so different from what I normally write. Maybe I’ll go back to it, one way or another, someday? Also Inigo and Odin do make up, yes.)

3. The college AU Severa/Owain fic where Severa propositions Owain about getting it on (Nothing actually happens, it’s all talking)

“I can get your character sheet drawn up in no time,” Owain continued. “In fact, I think I have some extras—"

“We should have sex,” Severa said.

Owain, suddenly red-faced and wide-eyed, choked on his never-ending list of nerdy suggestions about why he thought Severa had appeared outside his window. He looked at her in disbelief. Severa took the opportunity to roughly shove Owain’s upper body back through the window and crawled in after him.

He stumbled back, too surprised to protest, and Severa fell to the floor in an ungraceful heap. She plucked a leaf from her hair with a pout, grateful to finally be on solid ground again and hoping Owain’s mother hadn’t noticed Severa sitting in the tree outside her son’s room for the past several minutes.

“Uh, I don’t,” Owain stuttered as Severa climbed to her feet. “I mean, you—”

“Seriously?” Severa said, cocking her hip in a way she hoped was sexy.

What was she talking about? She was definitely sexy, childishly climbing trees or not. So what if she’d been too embarrassed to knock on Owain’s front door and risk the chance of one of his parents answering when Severa had come with a request like this? Nobody else knew that.

She continued, “That’s all you have to say?”

Owain sputtered out several more unintelligible phrases until he finally said, “You don’t… feel obligated or something, right?”

The tips of his ears were very, very red.

Severa crossed her arms, scowling. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing!” Owain held up his hands defensively, looking like he was regretting his words already. “I just meant—You don’t. Like. This isn’t a peer pressure thing, right?”

“What are we, fifteen?”

Owain stared. Severa’s scowl deepened.

“No,” she said. “It’s not a ‘peer-pressure’ thing or whatever.”

She used air quotes.

“Okay,” Owain said slowly. “Then… why do you want to…”

He couldn’t even say the words have sex. Severa was suddenly very doubtful she had come to the right person at all. But who else was she supposed to go to about this? Lucina? Kjelle? Inigo?

Absolutely not. Owain would have to do.

He’d always put up with her enough that she’d thought… Well, maybe he wouldn’t say no outright.

Not that things were off to a great start already.

Feigning indifference, Severa shrugged and looked at the wall beside Owain’s head. “Do I need a reason?”

“Yes,” Owain said bluntly. His hands were still raised. As though just realizing this, they fell to his side.

Severa couldn’t help but make a face. She didn’t want to explain herself. She didn’t want to say anything about what she was thinking or why she wanted to have sex, as sudden as it must have seemed to Owain. But she knew it wouldn’t have exactly have been fair of her to ask without him at least knowing something.

Because the thing of it was—

Embarrassing, she mentally chided herself with a grimace.

The thing of it was that at twenty-one years old, Severa was still a virgin.

There was nothing wrong with being a virgin. Severa knew that. Logically, she knew that.

But it was hard to convince herself that it was true.

(This one is also a modern au exploring a lot of pressures that young adults might feel when comparing their own experiences to people around them.Severa goes on to explain a lot of her reasoning to the reader about why she’s propositioning Owain, but it was getting really long so I didn’t include that here. Mostly it was about controlling the experience of your first time and when you want to have it. I never got to the actual sex part, lol. It would definitely be awkward and slow if I did. Purposely, of course. Also Severa has always lowkey liked Owain like that.)

4. The AU where royals and their retainers have a telepathic link

Niles stands at his side, impassive as any proper retainer should be at public events, and Leo does his best to appear the same when Odin’s voice rings through his mind, laughing and giddy with the exhilaration of a fight.

That was so cool! That explosion was like BOOM! And that fire! Like pfft! I wish somebody else was around to see that. Oh well, I can describe it for everyone later.

Odin’s inner voice never sounds the same as his speaking voice. Not unless he knows Leo is listening and wants to put on a show. Odin’s inner voice lacks the extravagant dressings he layers upon his words aloud. Occasionally, Odin still narrates in his mind, still writes long novels with every adjective and made up noun under the sun. But more often than not Leo finds Odin’s inner voice to be much freer and more easily understandable than he would have first expected before he’d experienced Odin’s thoughts firsthand.

Odin, Leo projects, pretending he is paying more attention to Xander’s speech than he really is. Some of us are trying to focus on our own missions.

Not that attending a meeting is a mission, per say, but it’s an important duty nonetheless. It gets the point across, anyway.

Oops! Odin accidentally projects more than Niles ever did, even after having years to get used to it. Now that he knows Leo can hear him, Odin makes it a point to use his narrative speech instead. My sincerest apologies, my lord! I’m afraid I was overcome for a moment, my mental barrier weakened through some villain’s curse. But fret not! My mental shield—

Odin, Leo projects, aiming for serious and fearing his true feelings may betray him. He knows there is no curse or attack, though there may have been minutes ago. Odin is simply too excited and eager to share, just as he always is. Leo is trying very hard not to be distracted right now, but it’s difficult when Odin’s bluff and bravado are still somehow more interesting than running the same tactical drills Leo has run a hundred times over already, necessary as they may be.

Leo also knows Niles should be hearing their exchange as well. Niles’ face betrays nothing. If Leo didn’t know any better, he could have mistaken Nile’s tiny exhale of breath as one not so amused at all. But Leo always knows.

(Note: I’d definitely rewrite this now if I ever started it again, but the core concept is still a little neat, I think.)

I have a few other fics, but they’re not that old just yet. These are all about 6 months or more old. Maybe one day I’ll finish them? Or at least use their core concepts again, lol. I hope you enjoyed these snippets anyway!

#my text #writing meme #my fic #snippets #fic snippet #long post #blood tw #implied character death tw #alcohol mention tw #telepathy au

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aphorisnt · 6 years

Text

Padawan Ben Continuation Part 10 (End)

You read that right; this is indeed finally the end! Holy shit this has been a wild ride and I’m still kind of in shock that I managed to complete all this abd actually posted it and that so many of you folks actually read and liked it!!

So part 10 is actually 2 parts, what was the rest of part 9 (I split it because 3k is a lot to read in a tumblr post) and an epilogue. I’m not 100% sure I like the epilogue but I’ve looked at it for I don’t know how long and fixing it would entail doubling or tripling the length which would take another few days and I kinda want to get this out now (maybe I’ll rewrite it or make the long version in the future, I dunno).

Huge thank you and endless love and appreciation to @swpromptsandasks, the one who started it all!! (I know I said most of this already in an ask I sent you but I’m gonna say it again.) Without you none of this would exist and I just can’t thank you enough for the opportunity to finish this fic. Also, without you spreading the word and reblogging, none of the people reading this now would’ve even found it in the first place, so in the end I owe every single like, reblog, reply, ask, and new follower I’ve gotten to you. That support just means so incredibly much to me and I wish I had better words than just “thank you” to express my gratitude.

Another huge thank you to anyone and everyone who has read along with me as I’ve posted this thing!! I can’t put into words how much your support means to me as a beginning fic writer and just in general. I always got so nervous right before posting, just wondering if what I was writing would be even remotely ok, but the overwhelming positive response made everything worth it and it’s thanks to you folks that I’m feeling a tiny bit more confident in my writing. And if any of you have any feedback you want to give or comments you want to make

Thank you everyone who has joined me on this adventure and I hope I do the ending justice!!

(Part 1/Part 2/Part 3/Part 4/Part 5/Part 6/Part 7/Part 8/Part 9)

It started with a small twitch of fingers, the movement barely perceptible and small enough that Anakin might have missed it completely if it weren’t for the accompanying soft nudge he felt through the Force. His eyes snapped open as he pulled himself out of his meditation.

Ben was starting to wake.

Fingers twitched in his hand again, this time stronger and Anakin felt hope begin to swell. He kept his eyes glued to that copper-framed face looking for the slightest flicker of eyelids and listened for any change in the man’s breathing.

“Ben?” he calls gently. “Ben, wake up, it’s me.”

Ben’s eyes stayed shut but this time his face twitched along with his fingers before stilling. Anakin called again, this time a bit louder.

“Ben, it’s me, Anakin, your husband. Can you hear me? Ben, if you can hear me I need you to open your eyes.”

He gently squeezed the other hand in his and reached out with his free hand to stroke his husband’s hair.

Ben’s breathing picked up a bit, his heart rate climbing ever so slightly. He was coming back, surfacing from his long sleep. Anakin could feel it.

“Yes, Ben, I’m here, I’m here. I just need you to come back to me, open your eyes and come back to me.” Reaching out to his husband through the Force, Anakin said, “I love you, Ben. I’m here for you, I’m waiting for you; come on, just open your eyes, even just a crack. Just come back to me.”

“Slowly, with near painful effort, Ben’s eyes blinked open.

“Anakin?” he tried to say, throat dry and voice rough from disuse.

“Ben!” Anakin yelled in sheer joy, nearly launching himself at the other man in his excitement but catching himself just in time. Instead he moved his chair that much closer and leaned over so he could look into Ben’s eyes.

“Oh, Ben,” he said as tears pricked his eyes. “You’re ok.”

He bent forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his husband’s forehead, then pulled back, a huge grin stretching across his face.

“What happened?” Ben asked.

“That’s a long story,” Anakin replied, wiping his eyes. “But it doesn’t matter, the important thing is you’re safe now.

“Water?” Ben asked, unable to say more than a few words at a time.

“Oh, yeah, of course, let me get you some to drink.”

He grabbed the cup of water off of the small bedside table, placing a straw through the lid and handing it to Ben.

“Here, let me help you sit up,” he offered.

He used his arm you pull Ben up to an almost sitting position, supporting Ben who gratefully drained the entire cup. Anakin took the cup back, replacing it on the table, then helped Ben to lie back down.

“Better?” he asked.

“A bit,” Ben answered, voice still rough.

Anakin regained his seat, taking Ben’s hand back in his and returned to carding fingers through Ben’s hair.

“I love you so much,” he whispered reverently.

“Love you,” Ben said back.

Master Che chose that moment to walk into the room.

“Ben!” she exclaimed. “Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. You look to be doing better. How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Ben replied.

“After all you’ve been through I would imagine so. Well you can get back to sleep in a bit, but first I need to run some tests and do some labs. If you like, Skywalker here can keep you company,” she said with a grin.

Ben nodded, a smile stretching across his face, and gripped Anakin’s hand that much tighter.

While Che checked him over, Anakin took the opportunity to fill him in on the events of the past several months: Ben falling into a coma, getting kidnapped from the Halls, Palpatine revealing himself and the subsequent battle, the second shorter battle with Ventress in the Works, the chips, and everything else up to that moment. Throughout the whole retelling Anakin kept Ben’s hand in his, only releasing it when he needed to move out of Che’s way.

“But now you’re back and you’re safe and you’re ok,” he reiterated as much for Ben as for himself and squeezed his husband’s hand. Ben just smiled.

All right,” Che said. “I’m all finished. So far you seem to be healing quite nicely. The bacta is doing its job though there may still be a small scar at the incision site and your heart and lungs sound good. You did lose a significant amount of weight during your convalescence and we’ll work on putting that back on you as you recover. We’ll start slow, liquids only, and then we’ll steadily bump you up toward the high calorie diet you’ll need. You’re also pretty dehydrated right now, but between the IV drip and just drinking enough glasses we should be able to solve that quickly. You also spent a few days in a Force suppression collar while with Ventress, so if the Force feels a little hard to reach, that’s why, but your Force sense should return to normal in a few days.

“Now,” she said, voice turning stern. “You are going to be on strict bed rest for a while. That means no getting up or walking around except to use the refresher, and even then I want you to get someone to help you for at least today and tomorrow. I don’t care how good you think you’re feeling or how recovered you think you are, you are not to get out of this bed until I say so. Is that clear?”

Ben made a face, hating being stuck in the halls, but he acquiesced. “Fine. No moving.”

“Don’t worry, Master Che, I’ll make sure Ben follows your instructions to the letter.”

Ben narrowed his eyes at Anakin, unhappy at this betrayal, but Anakin just smiled back.

“That’s what I was counting on,” Che said.

“Well, that’s all I have for now until we process these labs. Remember: you,” she said pointing at Ben. “Bed rest. And you,” she turned to Anakin who grimaced. “You can visit a while longer but then you need sleep. Don’t make me hit you with a sedative. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

With that she swept out of the room.

Ben turned to Anakin, narrowing his eyes again. “Sleep?”

Anakin smiled sheepishly. “I know, I know, I’m sorry, just I was too worried about you to sleep. I know I need to take care of myself, and I will, but later.”

“No, we’ll sleep now.”

“We?” Anakin asked.

Ben nodded and pulled Anakin’s hand, inviting him up into the bed. Anakin gently helped Ben shuffle over and climbed into the space on the bed before pulling Ben to lie against his chest.

“I love you so much,” Anakin said, pressing a kiss to the top of Ben’s head.

“Love you,” Ben said back, voice tired and eyes already drooping.

Anakin wrapped his arms tighter around Ben holding his husband close, and the two quickly drifted off to sleep.

Epilogue

“Sure, you are that want this, you do?”

Anakin and a fully recovered Ben stood hand in hand before the full Council, every one of the Masters present. It had been one year since Palpatine had died, the Sith dying with him. A full year since the end of the Clone Wars and peace was restored to the galaxy. A full year since saving Ben.

While his recovery had been long and arduous, Ben had since gained back most of the weight and muscle he had lost, was performing katas and sparring at near his former ability, and was one check-up with the healers away from being put back on active duty.

Or he would have been.

“We’re sure, Master,” Ben said, smiling at the diminutive green Jedi. We have thought long and hard on this, have spent much time meditating and discussing, and I believe we are following the will of the Force.”

He squeezed Anakin’s hand and Anakin shot him a quick smile before turning back to face the Masters.

“ We both agree that this is what’s right for us,” Anakin added. “It’s what we want and what we need. I talked it over with Master Jinn as well and he supports us in this. We’ve made our decision.”

The Council members looked at them with expressions ranging from gentle smiles of encouragement to outright sneering disgust. Not that it mattered to Anakin anymore; he was done caring about what the council thought.

Yoda just gazed at them both, face sad for a moment, before a tiny smile broke out.

“Understand and respect your choices, I do, and wish you well.”

“Thank you, Master Yoda,” they both said in unison.

“Well then,” Mace said. “Let it be recorded that on this day, Knight Anakin Skywalker and Padawa–“

“Wait a moment, you will,” Yoda interrupted, holding up one hand. “Other business we must attend to first. Ben,” he beckoned to his Padawan. “Step forward please.”

Ben looked confused for a moment but did as asked, walking closer to the front of the room and standing in front of his Master. Yoda stood up from his chair and walked to meet him.

“Kneel, you will,” Yoda said.

Ben again followed instructions and dropped to one knee.

“Ben, a wonderful Padawan you have been. Learned much you have; an accomplished Jedi and good man you have become. Proud I am to have been your Master. Many trials this year, you endured, and faced them all you did, mastered them. For that, upon you I bestow the title of Jedi Knight.”

Yoda stepped forward and, in one quick motion, ignited his lightsaber and severed Ben’s padawan braid. He then pressed the braided strands into his apprentice’s–now former apprentice’s–hand.

Ben just stared at him in shock. “Master?” he asked.

“Deserve this, you do,” Yoda said. “And forever acknowledged your skills and efforts will be.

A wide grin stretched across Ben’s face and he leaned forward, wrapping his arms around the Master in a tight hug.

“Thank you,” he whispered, tears pricking his eyes. “For everything.”

They broke the embrace but before Yoda could return to his seat Ben caught him by the arm.

“Wait, Master, I want you to have this.” He pressed the braid into Yoda’s hand and closed three clawed fingers around it.

“Thank you, Padawan,” he replied with a smile, and before Ben could interrupt he said, “because to me, my Padawan you will always be.”

Ben stood back up and returned to his place next to Anakin, who quickly pulled him into a tight hug.

“All right,” Mace said. “Then let it be recorded that on this day, Knight Anakin Skywalker and Knight Ben have chosen to step away from the Order and live their lives as private citizens. From this moment on they are no longer a part of the Jedi Order.”

Anakin grinned, the smile stretching wide across his face. It was over; they had done it. He and Ben were free to live their lives however they chose, together forever as husbands.

“Thank you,” Anakin said, bowing in once last show of Jedi decorum. He decided he could give the council that much.

Ben followed his lead, bowing as well, and the two walked forward to hand over their lightsabers but Mace just shook his head.

“Keep them,” he said. “You’ve earned them.”

With one final glance back, Ben and Anakin rejoined hands and turned to walk out of the council chambers for the last time. Anakin wasn’t sure how he felt. There was joy at finally leaving the order and escaping the council’s judgment, but also sadness and a little fear at leaving the life he’d spent so long building. One look at Ben, however, and everything but overwhelming love faded away.

“So,” he said, still smiling. “What would you like to do on our first day as not Jedi?”

“I don’t know,” Ben answered. “But I don’t really care as long as it’s with you.”

Anakin leaned over and kissed his husband’s cheek. The two of them continued on their way, walking out the main Temple entrance, down the stairs, and into their new lives.

#swpromptsandasks #PadawanBen #sw #fic #obikin #holy shit i actually did it #*loud screaming*

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pineapplekeith · 6 years

Text

House Cat - Pt. 4

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Pairing: Klance

Universe: Modern Earth/Fantasy

Rating: T (language)

Word Count: 3K+

Part: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]

Summary: Werecats are hard to find outside of lab facilities now-a-days and Lance has had a suspicion that a small stray that comes by his house now and then is one when he noticed a new face around town around the same time. / Modern AU setting with werecats for fun and seriousness now and then. Klance heavy with Garrison Trio and maybe some more ships making an appearance later on.

A/N: So far, this has been well liked on AO3 and FF so I decided to post the full parts on here. Links to AO3 and FF are on my story blog @kal-i-ka-stories

Over by the television, Lance was in the middle of winning his third game against the game’s computer system. Once the screen announced his victory, his phone vibrated in his pocket, alerting him that he had a new text message. Lance glanced at the time on the cable box. It’s too late to be mamá or pops. He then looked over his shoulder. Seeing that everyone was busy with something, Lance dug through his jacket pocket for his phone.

::::::::::

Unknown Number: You weren’t home. We need to talk. -Keith

::::::::::

...::::..::::..::::..

Cold.

Keith peeked out from under his covers. He squinted his eyes when the light from the rising sun peeking through the plastic on his apartment windows hit his face. He then fully crawled out from under his covers and stretched out his legs and back. He sat down on his bed and scratched at his ear before grooming himself.

Down below he could hear a door slam and soon after, someone was banging at his floor from the lower level. “Wake up kid! We open in two hours and you need to get down here and clean. You better hurry or you won’t get any breakfast!”

Yeah, I know.

He then sat still on his bed and concentrated for a bit. Once he opened his eyes, the cold of the room hit his body like knives. “Yeah, I’m up! I’ll be down in a minute!” Keith yelled back as he raised his arms and stretched his back. He flinched as his foot touched the cold hardwood, but he pushed through and got ready for the day.

Keith’s one room apartment was just that. A one room apartment. There were two doors on either side of the room, one leading down stairs to the shop below and the other being the main entrance that lead to a staircase outside. He had a twin-size bed in one corner with a night stand next to it. There was a small table over by the half kitchen in the corner across from the bed with only one chair tucked underneath. There was another door across from the kitchen that led to a bathroom that just contained the bare minimum to make the space livable and next to it in a corner was a standard size dresser. The windows in the room over looked the beach from across the street, but the view wasn’t much since the sky always looked gloomy this time of year. Then again, Keith couldn’t fully see the view since putting plastic up on his window to block out the cold air.

Keith quickly went through his morning routine and put on a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, and his usual pair of sneakers. He grabbed his red jacket off the back of the chair at his kitchen table before walking down stairs to the shop. The shop wasn’t much to look at, just like his upstairs apartment. After Keith walked through the door at the end of the tunnel of stairs he was met with a dull, sad nautical themed restaurant that was clearly just getting by. He turned to walk behind the bar and grabbed a broom to start his opening chores.

“About time. I was starting to wonder if you were ever coming down.” The owner of the shop said from the grill. The smell of sausage and eggs filled the area around him.

“Sorry, had a hard time finding something clean to wear.” Keith lied. He just didn’t hurry because he knows it doesn’t take him two hours to open the shop like it did his boss before he started working there.

“Whatever. Dirty or not, it’ll still smell like fish at the end of the day with the sea-salts we get in here.” The owner said, not really caring for Keith’s excuse. “Hurry and finish so I can feed you. Mother found out that I forgot some of your lunches at home and got mad at me when they turned out to be bad.” Even though the owner seemed tough around the edges, he did care enough about Keith to give him a place to stay and work, but his wife cared a bit more. His boss would always complain about how his wife would always scold him about not feeding Keith enough. Keith did agree with her on that, but werecat naturally ate more than humans to replace the energy lost when shifting. But he couldn’t say that, it would give himself away and he probably would end up back at a lab, so he ate whatever his boss thought was enough. “Oh, and here’s your allowance,” the owner said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a $20 bill and put it on the bar for Keith. “I still don’t understand why she insist on giving it to you. I already pay and feed you and you don’t go out like a normal kid your age so I don’t know what you’ll do with it.”

“Don’t know, but thanks.” Keith mumbled as he continued to sweep the floor of the shop. His boss did have a point, Keith didn’t really go out and only used a fraction of his allowance and pay for a small amount of groceries. But he did have a plan for the left-over money. After moving in, Keith knew that he couldn’t live above the shop forever. He’s still missing the important stuff he would need to be treated like a normal person and live a normal life on the outside. Keith still needed to get the proper forms of identification before he could even think about moving to a new place or a new town and the only way to do that was to pay for it.

“Well, over the years, I’ve just learned to just shut my mouth and let her do what she wants. With the kids and grandkids having their own lives, she’s probably just happy to have someone she can spoil, whether I like it or not.”

So, the old man actually has kids. Didn’t know that.

Keith finished sweeping up the shop and then went to take the chairs off the tables after picking up his allowance from the bar. The morning just continued quietly. Keith finished setting up the shop, ate what he thought was a small breakfast with his boss, and then unlocked the door and set up the outside of the shop.

“Hey Keith, Val has you working this early again?” Someone called out from behind Keith as he was writing the day’s seafood special on the blackboard stand.

Keith looked behind him to see a small group of the usual fishermen that would come by the shop in the morning. “Yeah, it’s like this every morning,” Keith responded as he went back to finish writing on the board.

“That old bastard needs to let you be a kid occasionally.” The head of the group said before they walked in.

I never was one so why be one now. Keith thought to himself as he set up the chalkboard. He then walked in and went behind the bar. The men were already seated at the bar and Keith’s boss was cooking their usual breakfast orders on the grill. Keith tied his hair back in a small ponytail before gathering up three coffee mugs. “Black, two shots of milk, and a pack of sugar and a shot of cream, right?” Keith ask as he walked over to the coffee station behind the bar.

“Val, you need to give the kid a raise.” One of the men said, amazed at Keith’s memory with how they all liked their coffee.

“I already pay him and Ellie keeps giving him an allowance. He’s good.” Val responded as he continued cooking.

“Ok, then give him a day off.”

“Yeah Val. The closest he gets to a day off is when its slow and you close early.”

“He doesn’t need a day off.” Val responded, getting a little annoyed with his customers’ badgering. “Keith working here is how he’s paying rent. Besides, he doesn’t mind it. Do you kid?”

“Not at all.” Keith said as he finished making the coffees and brought them over to the guest.

“See, he’s fine. Now leave him alone or you jackasses aren’t getting food.” Val said, ending the conversation.

The fishermen decided to leave the conversation there, all three of them still finding it funny to pick on Val’s nerves. The morning continued with Val talking to the three men about how their business on the water was going and Keith just staying out of the way and keeping himself busy. The shop was always slow, with most of the customers being the local sea-salts on that side of town and the older population of the town that would stop by during their morning walks. It would sometimes get a different clientele in the afternoons, but it was usually just people who were wondering by or curious about what was inside the building. Keith and his boss had a system that they kept to everyday. Keith would clean and take the orders in the dining area and handle all the drinks while Val would only worry about his loyal customers at the bar and the grill. It was an unfair balance of work, but it was one that Keith agreed to and didn’t mind doing.

“Hey kid, get out here and work,” Val yelled out through the small window in the wall between the shop and back room.

Keith was in the back washing a few dishes that were left by his last group of customers. He looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was already the afternoon; random stragglers were starting to come in. “Coming,” Keith yelled back as he started to dry his hands. Once he walked out, Keith grabbed his notepad off the edge of the bar and scanned the room for the new patron.

Shit.

Over at one of the tables by the window was a group of teenagers around Keith’s age, which was a strange thing to have in the shop. But sitting at the table with the small group was the last person Keith wanted to see. Lance was sitting by the window and looked to be uninterested in his friends’ conversation while he looked out at the unimpressive view. Keith tried to keep himself together as he walked over to the table, hoping that Lance wouldn’t notice him and say something.

“Are you all ready?” Keith asked as he walked up to the table, getting his notepad ready. Just like the rest of the customers that Keith would wait on, the first two people to order were just a blur to him as he wrote down their orders.

“I would like to have a milkshake please.” One of the teens said as she read over the menu.

Keith looked up at her and instantly got a chill down his spine. She smells weird. Keith thought to himself as he looked at the girl for a moment before writing down her request. He didn’t understand why she gave him a chill, she didn’t look threatening. But he knew it wasn’t a good one and needed to keep his distance.

“Lance what are you getting?” The guy sitting next to Lance asked him as he bumped his shoulder.

Keith kept his head down, hoping that not making eye contact would make Lance notice him less.

“I’ll just have a milkshake.”

Keith then quickly turned away and walked back to the bar before Lance could finish his sentence. Out of all the places him and his friends could come to, why come all the way out here? Keith thought to himself as he walked over to hand Val the order that he just took. He then walked over to his drink station and got to work, thinking that the quicker they were served, the quicker they would leave.

“Hey,” Lance said in a hushed tone.

Shit!

“Go away.” Keith said sternly as he topped off the two sodas that were ordered.

“So you did notice me.” Lance said with a slight bounce in his voice.

Keith cut his eyes up at him for a moment, annoyed to see Lance’s smirk. “I’m working, go away.” He warned again, getting irritated with Lance’s pestering.

Keith walked over to the small fridge and pulled out a carton of milk and the tub of ice cream from the freezer. He could feel Lance watch him and he put the ingredients for the milkshakes together in the blender. “How have you been?” Just fine. Now shut up. “You just left and then never came back so I’ve been a bit worried.” Don’t be. I’m not your damn cat. Now shut it! “I haven’t told anyone you know.” Who would believe you if you did? Keith then turned on the blender, running it a bit longer than what was needed just to enjoy the moment of Lance’s silence. Keith stopped the blender and then went to grab two cups to pour the milkshake mixture in. “You said you came over to be fed and get warm, right?” What other reason was there? “Well,” Lance then reached behind the bar to grab something, “if you want to come over again, just let me know. You can come by however you want.”

Keith continued to pour the milkshakes into Styrofoam cups before looking at what Lance was holding. He was holding out a napkin that he had picked up from behind the bar and Keith could see a series of numbers written on it. That seemed to really strike a chord in Keith. He looked at Lance before snatching the napkin out of his hand and threw it in the small trashcan behind him. “I told you to forget what happened. I’m not a charity case. I don’t need to be pitied. Leave me alone.” Keith tried his hardest to keep his cool while saying that. For most of his life, he didn’t have one. And even though the one he had now wasn’t perfect, it was his and he was not going to have someone pity him. Even though the old man and his wife took him in out of pity, they were at least making him work for his bed and figure things out on his own. All they were to Keith were his landlords and bosses. They never gave him serious handouts and Keith respected them for that.

After feeling that he made his point across, Keith then grabbed the milkshakes and put them on a small tray with the other drinks and walked around the bar with them. Leaving Lance behind to take in what he said. He dropped off all the drinks at the table and instantly turned to walk back to the bar, Lance bumping his shoulder as they passed each other. What are you, a child? Keith thought to himself as he looked back at Lance before going to the back to finish his dishes.

Keith tried to stay in the back as much as he could while Lance and his friend were in the shop. Luckily, they didn’t need anything after Keith dropped off their two food orders and he was able to just wait on the usual customers he and Val would get each day. “Hey kid, you have empties,” Val called out through the window, telling Keith that one of his tables were empty. He finished washing the few coffee mugs he had in the sink and put them on the rack to dry before walking out. The shop was completely empty at this point, with the only table that needed clearing was the one that Lance and his friends were at. Keith grabbed the dish bin from behind the bar and headed toward the table to clear it. For a table full of teens, it was surprisingly clean. The plates were already stacked for Keith and they even left a tip behind for him. Keith put the dishes that were on the table in the bin and collected the tip, finding a piece of paper with a note written on it under the bills.

‘You should really give my friend a chance. He’s really a nice guy. At least be friends with him. You look like you need some.’

Underneath the note was a phone number that looked like the one that Lance wrote earlier. Keith reread the note a couple of times, trying to figure out which of Lance’s friend was watching their conversation earlier and wrote it. He noted that it didn’t smell like the one friend that gave him a chill, so at least that narrowed it down a bit. Keith then decided to give up on the mystery and shoved the money and the note in his pocket with the rest of his tips from the day. He quickly wiped down the table and walked back to the bar to collect any other dishes that he needed to wash.

“I don’t know what happened between you and that guy from earlier, but at least I see that you actually meet people outside of here now and then.” Val called out when Keith got to the bar. He was busy scrubbing the grill top clean, using the moment to his advantage so he could close early.

“He was just an idiot that bugs me. It won’t happen again.” Keith explained as he collected some dishes that were used during the early dinner period.

“I’m not complaining. I know I didn’t show it this morning, but I really do worry about you isolating yourself here. Seeing that happen today was actually refreshing.” Val was a master at hiding his emotions, something he had learned with age, but when he did admit that he was interested in something, that was worth noting. “If you ever want a day off to go and meet people or just get away from here, just let me know. But don’t do it too often,” he said as he pointed the scrub brush at Keith. “I’m old and still need help here. I can’t easily lift those chairs forever.”

“Understood sir.”

“Good.” Val went back to cleaning the grill. “Go ahead and take everything to the back. The guys told me this morning that everyone would be out tonight collecting their traps. Go ahead and lock the door and I’ll count down the till when I’m done.”

Keith nodded his head and started to collect every dish that he usually washed at night that was behind the bar. Closing the shop was just like running it. Keith would wash all the dishes, wipe off the bar and tables, sweep and mob the floor, and make sure everything was stocked while all Val did was clean the grill and count the register and half the tips with Keith. It looked unfair on the surface, but it was manageable for the two and Keith was just fine with it since he always seemed to finish when Val was ready to split the tips. When Keith pulled out the tips he collected form his pocket, he found the note that was left for him mixed in with the money. He found himself reading the note again a few times before putting it back in his pocket before Val could say anything about it. The shop never really received tips before Keith started working there. It started with some of Val’s friends giving Keith a few extra bills as their apology that he was working there. But soon, it became a usual thing that everyone that visited the shop did before leaving. At first Keith would keep it all since it was all usually left for him, but when Val suggested that they start splitting it, he didn’t mind at all and agreed to it so he could stay on good terms with his landlord/boss.

“I’ll see you early tomorrow morning. A lot of the guys will be coming in for breakfast before going out to reset their traps.” Val said as he went to lock the door.

“See you then.” Keith waved as his boss left through the shop entrance, locking the door behind him. He then went up to his apartment through the shop entrance. Once in his room, Keith didn’t bother to turn on the lights and just went straight to his bed. The day was a complete blur, apart from one vivid moment. The slight change in his routine was a bit exhausting for Keith, but at least it was different from the usual gray days that he would have. He then got up from his bed and walked over to the kitchen space of his apartment. He grabbed a bottle of a sports drink out of his small fridge and then turned on the lights. He sat at his kitchen table and dug out the money he had earned that day from his pocket. His stomach growled as he counted the money. Compared to how much he was fed at the lab, Keith practically had only eaten one meal that day. He usually wouldn’t be so hungry if he didn’t shift much, but with the cold weather setting in he was practically burning more energy than usual when he slept in his feline form.

After counting his earnings from the day, Keith instantly separated his allowance from the total and folded up the rest of the money. He walked over to the nightstand by his bid and pulled the drawer open. Inside was a small money box that his boss had given him instead of throwing it away. Keith opened the money box and inside was everything he had collected over the few months of working for Val. He had enough to get some of the things he needed to live a normal life, but still not enough to really be out on his own. He put the money he earned inside and put the box back in its hiding spot.

Keith’s stomach growled again. He went back to his kitchen and reopened the fridge. There wasn’t much food inside, only a few minor things that wouldn’t fill him up. He looked back over at the table at his allowance that was taken out of his savings. I guess I’m going to the bar tonight. Keith thought to himself as he picked up the money, revealing the note that was left for him by one of Lance’s friends. He picked up the note and read it again, trying to figure out which of the friends were watching him and Lance talk at the bar and wrote the note. His mind then singled in on the one friend that gave him a chill. She looked nice enough, but the warning his senses gave him about her made him worry. Keith had always dealt with shady characters after he started working at the shop, but none of them gave him a frightening chill like she did. He then broke out of his thoughts and shoved the money and the note in his jacket pocket and headed for the main door to leave his apartment.

..::::..::::..::::..

Where the hell is he?

Keith was standing outside of Lance’s window, annoyed that he wasn’t home even though it was almost midnight. He swore that he would never come back after what happened between them, but he kept thinking about how Lance’s friend gave him a bad feeling and just ended up at his house.

I’m probably overthinking this. Keith thought to himself as he started to walk out of the alley and back to where he wanted to go in town. But something about her just bugged me. Maybe I should say something? But then that idiot would just tell me I’m crazy or something. Keith kept fighting with himself over what he should do. He soon reached a park and decided to sit down for a moment and really think about what he should do.

Keith pulled out his phone and the note and just stared at them. If I talk to him, I know he won’t believe me. But then again, he might just have a brain and listen to me.

Keith debated over what he should do for a bit longer. Then he made his decision.

::::::::::

Me: You weren’t home. We need to talk. -Keith

::::::::::

Keith waited for a bit, thinking that he was stupid to text Lance this late. When he started to think he wouldn’t get a reply, his phone vibrated to alert that he had a new message.

::::::::::

Unknown Number: I’m at a friend’s house. What do you want?

Me: I need to talk to you about something. Can you meet me somewhere?

Unknown Number: I thought you told me to leave you alone?! Why the hell would I give you any more of my time?

Me: Can you stop being a drama queen and just come out and meet me?! This is serious! After we’re done, we can go our separate ways.

::::::::::

Keith’s phone was silent for what seemed like forever.

::::::::::

Unknown Number: Where at?

Me: You know where Rufus’s Bar is?

Unknown Number: Yeah.

Me: I’m heading over there now. Meet me there.

::::::::::

Keith then got up from his seat at the park and stuffed his phone back in his pocket and headed toward where he wanted to go at the beginning of the night.

#house cat fic #klance fic #klance #keith kogane #lance mcclain #voltron legendary defender #voltron #vld #my story #mine

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mavengers · 7 years

Text

Letters to the Editor

Steve Rogers x reader

Warnings: some swearing, light mentions of sex, mostly just fluff (it’s really cute guys)

Words: 3k

All credit goes to Marvel.

Tag list: @littlewolfieposts @seargantbcky @cutecuddlycalpal @irepeldirt @its-sophia-xo-love

AN: GUYS! This is my first fic of 2017 and I’m SO sorry I haven’t been posting, as many of you know, I was dealing with some pretty intense shit but I’m feeling well enough to resume writing. Thank you all for the love and support you guys have shown me. This is for you guys.

“What’s got you so smiley?” Clint smirked, taking a sip from his beer. Steve had been sporting the biggest smile ever since he got home from what was supposed to be grocery shopping with Bucky, who looked like he was about to go back into cryo if he heard Steve keep talking about it.

“Yeah, Stevie, go ahead and tell them all of what you told me. I’m going to take a shower.” Bucky said, turning and leaving the room. This was all Steve talked about on the way home and when Steve’s excited, he never shuts up. He looked like he was about to pee himself with how excited he was.

“Spill it, Cap.” Sam said. If there was ever a minute where unicorns and rainbows felt like they were gonna spill from Steve’s mouth and lungs, it was now.

“I’m writing a book!”

You sat back at your desk after your lunch break, hot cocoa in hand. You pulled your cardigan tighter around your chest as you recovered from the cold New York weather. Jeannie, your assistant, popped her head in. “Ms. Y/L/N?” You hummed against the lid of your cup of cocoa. “The girls want to know if you’re up for drinks after work tonight.” You nodded and smiled at her as she closed the door to your office and went back to her desk out front.

You spun yourself around in your leather office chair, lightly laughing to yourself. The girls were never going to believe this.

“You’re writing a book?” Sam asked as Clint began cackling in the back. “Dude, that is the second least cool thing for a superhero to do.”

“What’s the first?” Steve asked, his brow furrowing.

“Going grocery shopping.” Clint spoke up. Steve frowned as he turned and put his re-useable grocery bags on the countertop.

“Well I think writing a book would be cool. I got a lot of little kids looking up to me, why not give them a look into my history?”

“You sure have a lot of that.” Tony said, walking by and grabbing an apple from the grocery bag, taking a bite.

“I didn’t wash that!” Steve exclaimed. Tony paused, taken off guard by Steve’s outburst.

“I’m sorry, do you want to wash it now?”

“Did you hear…?” Your co-worker, Jamie began, leaning forward in her seat to start what you liked to call ‘gossip hour’. You took a sip of your martini and popped one of the olives in your mouth. “…Delanie from printing is hooking up with Harold?” Your olive nearly rolled out of your mouth as your jaw dropped.

“Harry? He’s married to Sophie!”

“I know. God, what a pig.” Jamie said with a look of disgust. As she sat back in her seat, another of your co-workers, Sheila, leaned forward to share.

“Well what I heard today was that someone landed a major client. Y/N, do you happen to know anything about that?” She smirked and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Maybe his name will ring a bell? Steve Rogers?” She sounded out his name and you took a nonchalant sip of your drink again as the Jamie and Nicole gasped.

“No way!”

“You got Captain America to write you a book?!”

“I didn’t get him to write me a book! I just ran into him on my lunch break and we got to talking and he told me he was curious about writing a book!” You said innocently. You smiled when the bartender came by and topped off your martini, adding a couple extra olives, just how you liked.

You stumbled out of the bar at 1:30 in the morning, early for you. You groaned when your phone began vibrating loudly in your purse and you pulled it out, putting it between your ear and your shoulder so you could take your heels off. “Hello?”

“Oh, hey. Did I wake you?” Someone asked.

“No, who is this?” The noise of cars whizzing past you and people talking loudly from various other bars made it difficult to understand your caller.

“It’s Steve, Steve Rogers.”

“Right, Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N.” You smacked yourself in the face. Of course he knew your name. Why would he call a total stranger?

“Hey, uh, are you okay? It sounds like you’re on the highway.” You looked around at your surroundings. Bars with people stumbling out of them (much like yourself), busy streets, sketchy alleys.

“Uh, not exactly.”

“Where are you? It’s late and you sound like you’re in a bad part of town, let me come get you and I’ll walk you back home.”

“Uhhh… you know that bar with the fake palm trees and weird fish curtains?”

“The Pink Dolphin? That’s right down the block, I’ll be there in five minutes. Stay there.” He clicked off the line and you couldn’t help but smile to yourself. Captain America coming to your rescue. You were going to refuse and tell him you’d be fine and catch a cab, buutttt it is Steve Rogers offering to walk you home and it would be a decent way to talk about the book.

The cold air helped bring you back to a slightly sober state and you began spinning yourself around a street pole, nearly jumping out of your skin as an arm circled around your waist, beginning to walk with you. “You do realize you’re pole dancing in the middle of the street, right?”

“And grabbing me off the pole before saying hello was just as good of an idea?” He stopped, leaving an arm still wrapped loosely around your waist.

“Fair enough. Well, if I’m walking you home, lead the way.”

You and Steve had been walking and laughing for about five minutes now, taking your time on getting back to your studio apartment. “You know, one of these days you’re going to step on a piece of glass.” He laughed.

“Yes and I’m sure you’ll be there to come patch me up when that day comes, but come on. Have you seen these things?” You asked, gesturing to your heels. “They’re like four inches tall! These shoes are purely for decoration.”

“Okay, whatever you say, doll.” You both laughed and quieted down for a little. You stared down at your bright pink heels that dangled from your fingers. Steve’s jacket had done little to warm you since he had given it to you five minutes ago. You could feel the goosebumps raising on your legs and you couldn’t wait to get home and get into your pajamas.

“So what made you want to write a book?” You asked, breaking the silence. He looked ahead, smiling and biting his lip.

“Well, I’ve always wanted to. I want to be a bigger inspiration to the kids, you know “you can do anything if you really feel passionate about it”. Cheesy, but true.” You nodded thoughtfully, a guy who cared about kids? What a dream. “But truthfully, I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten around to it if I hadn’t bumped into you on the street the other day.” You laughed, slightly blushing.

“You mean when you made me spill hot chocolate all over a copy of James Patterson’s manuscript?” He put his hands up in defense.

“Hey, I bought you another hot chocolate, didn’t I?”

“What a gentleman.” You said and he chuckled.

“Is this you?” He asked, pointing up to the tall skyscraper in front of you. You nodded, and before you could say goodnight:

“Do you want to come up?”

The elevator ride up to the 16th floor was painfully long, especially when you had always wondered what it would be like to have sex in an elevator. You pushed your key in the lock and thanked God that you had decided to clean up for once only the night before. You couldn’t imagine Captain America in the mess that usually was your not-so-humble home.

“Wow, it’s nice in here.” Steve commented, looking around.

“Yeah, perks of being a ‘big shot editor’ as people like to call me. It’s nice, but too big for one person.” You said. “If you excuse me, I’m going to go change out of this dress that’s currently suffocating me and into something actually comfortable.” You walked into your room, nearly ripping the tight dress off of you and stripping of your stockings.

And that was when you remembered it.

All of your laundry, including pajamas, was being dry-cleaned.

And all you had for pajamas was a Captain America onesie that you had bought as a last minute Halloween costume last year.

You mentally groaned and placed your palm on your forehead, cursing yourself. Okay, you began to rationalize, he just picked your drunk ass off the street and brought you home. He’s spilled hot chocolate all over James Patterson’s manuscript. Wearing a Captain America onesie is the least embarrassing thing either of you could do right now.

Before you knew it, the onesie was on and you were shouting to Steve who was sitting on your couch, probably wondering what was taking you so long. “You have to promise not to judge me! It’s laundry day and this is all I have!” He pulled his eyebrows together, confused.

“If all you have on is underwear, you can wear my shirt to cover yourself- oh.” He said when he saw you step out of your room, fully clad in the onesie and he bit his lip to stop the loud laugh that was threatening to come out. “You look cute.” He said, barely trying to hide his grin.

“I think I could pull off the suit better than you.” You challenged, cheekily.

“I’m sure of it.” You laughed, grabbing your laptop and sitting on the couch beside him, pulling up all your publisher’s website.

“Okay, so basically what happens is you send me a chapter or two of the book every week or so, I make corrections or add notes, send it back to you. That continues until we have a manuscript and then we send it to get published.” Steve nodded as he stared at the laptop. “Nervous?” You guessed. He nodded again. “Don’t be, it comes easier than you think. Just imagine that you are the reader. Write about what you want to read and hear about.”

“I wanna hear about you.” He said, and you couldn’t help but look down and smile, willing away a blush, but he seemed completely serious.

“Well what do you want to hear about me?” You asked. He seemed to be contemplating his questions, which unbeknownst to you, there were many swirling around in his head.

“What made you want to become an editor?” Ah. The question you had mainly only been asked at interviews or on dates with guys that you were sure weren’t listening to you after you began talking. But Steve? Steve seemed to genuinely wanna know. You shrugged.

“My mom and dad were both editors, which, while seems nice, was actually horrible. They were always fighting over clients or sneaking into each other’s offices and reading the other’s manuscripts so they could steal ideas from one another,” you paused to take a breath, and Steve was still looking at you, possibly even more curious than before. “It just sort of felt like I was destined to be an editor. In high school, they had me taking college English courses.”

“Is that why you’re single? You don’t want to risk ending up like your parents?” The question seemed to spill before he could stop it, and he grimaced, but you only laughed.

“Partly, I just try to steer away from people who are either in my profession or people who are interested in pursuing my profession,” he laughed and you smiled. “But mostly, I just haven’t met my prince yet.” He smirked to himself.

“Does it have to be a prince? Would you settle for a captain?” You felt your cheeks and ears heat up and you smirked back.

“Well that all depends.” You nonchalantly shrugged, looking away and biting your lip to hide your smile.

“On?” He raised his eyebrows.

“If the captain settles for me.” He laughed again.

Later that week, after you and Steve’s night of flirting, you were sitting at home on your laptop. Boxes of Chinese takeout were sprawled across the coffee table and you had the evening news playing in the background. Your pin-straight work hair had been thrown haphazardly into a ponytail and your black and white Adidas joggers matched your black tank top.

You were on the last few pages of James Patterson’s new chapter when your laptop chimed, signaling an email. You switched tabs to your email and smiled when you noticed the sender was [email protected]. Attached to the email was a pdf of what seemed to be the first few chapters of his book. “Sorry, James, Alex Cross is going to have to wait a bit.”

Halfway through reading, you noticed that in addition to Captain America being a very good author, in the middle of one of his sentences, he had tucked in “dinner @ castro’s? 7:30?” You laughed, picking up your phone besides you and taking a picture of it before sending it to Steve with the caption “you’re such a dork, see you at 7:30 :)”

“It’s like I’m seeing a whole new side of you, Rogers.” Clint commented. Bucky clapped Steve across his back.

“It’s because he’s got a date.” Bucky said, proud like a father to a son at his first baseball game. A chorus of surprised sounds echoed through the conference room and Steve dramatically rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t contain his smile.

“With who? The old lady at the supermarket who always calls you ‘hot stuff’?” Sam snickered. Steve threw a pen at him, only fueling Sam’s laughter.

“Her name’s Y/N.” Bucky sing-songed. Natasha gave Steve a pointed look.

“Isn’t that your editor?” She asked.

“Oh yeah, she’s real pretty, isn’t she, Stevie?” Right before Steve could speak up and tell his best friend to screw off, your picture was pulled up over Tony’s phone.

“Y/N Y/L/N. A 26 year old editor who resides in New York City. She went to Yale and graduated top of her class. She grew up in Long Island and is an editor for famous authors such as John Green, James Patterson, and Gayle Forman.” Tony said. Steve sighed, unable to say anything as his team analyzed you.

“Rogers, I swear to God, if you fuck this up, I’m going for it.” Sam said, admiring your picture.

“Hey, can you hand me my pen back?” Steve asked Sam. His friend nodded, handing him back the pen. Steve took it in his hands, looking at it almost lost in thought, before gearing up and flinging it back at Sam.

7:30 saw you sitting neatly in a candlelit table in Castro’s. Your hair was curled, falling in perfect waves that framed your face, which was done nicely with a red lip and cat-eye liner. You had your best dress on; a black velvet dress with a plunging neckline, exposing a bit of cleavage.

The second you saw Steve, you swear your heart stopped and you nearly dropped your martini. He was wearing a red button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, tucked into a pair of neatly pressed black dress pants. He pulled out the seat across from you before sitting down. “Sorry, I’m a bit late, I know. But I have an excuse.” You urged your mind to stop focusing on his biceps and onto his words.

“Saving the day?” He chuckled.

“Unless saving the day is code for ‘being harassed by my friends’, then sure.” You laughed as you took a sip of your martini. You could feel his eyes on you, looking at you in a way that he hadn’t yet seen. He had seen lunch rush you, drunk you, editor you. He had yet to see you like this; all done up. It was all for him, and he was shamelessly loving it.

2 weeks and 4 dates later, you received another two chapters from Steve. He warned you that these two were most likely going to be the hardest to write. You didn’t know why until you opened up the pdf. In big, bold letters, at the top of the page was “CHAPTER 3: PEGGY CARTER.”

You tensed up, not sure if you were ready to hear about how great the love of his past life was. You considered sending it to Sheila or Jamie, but this was your job, and you were his editor before you were his date.

You were expecting to feel heartbroken over what he wrote about another girl, but instead, your heart fluttered. He talked about her in such a way, showcasing how strong she was and how big of a part she played in Steve’s life, and you briefly wondered if he talked about you like he talked about her. Granted, you were no Peggy Carter, but he liked you a lot. You knew that.

You especially knew it when in the bottom, right-hand corner of the page, he added a footnote.

“Peggy Carter was an amazing woman in her time. Presently, there are many other woman just as amazing and bad-ass as her. I’m lucky enough to be dating one of them. I’m also madly in love with her.”

You didn’t even realize how wide you were smiling until your cheeks began to hurt. You immediately picked up the phone, taking yet another picture and sending it to Steve, with the caption: “still a dork; but a dork that I am also madly in love with.”

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theherblifeblog · 6 years

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Spotlight Series: Michelle Allred of LVCANNAGARS

This week we had the chance to learn about a Las Vegas company specializing in high-end, luxury cannabis “cannagars” “cannarillos”, “Rosegars” and the incredible looking “Perfecto”, the first paperless cannacigar. The company, LV Cannagars is owned and operated by Michelle Allred, a woman who has been blowing glass and rolling cannagars since she was in her late teens. Through vision and drive she has built her company into one of Las Vegas’ most respected cannabis companies and her products are enjoyed by everyone from locals to celebrities.

Check out the company’s Instagram for some truly drool-worthy shots and read on to hear Michelle explain how she got started and where she’s going.

How did you get involved in the cannabis industry?

I moved out of my parents house at 15, I immediately started blowing glass. By the time I was 18 I bought a small house, removed the kitchen and replaced it with a glassblowing studio and the other half of the house I grew cannabis. This was how I made a living for almost 7 years. The second Arizona offered a medical card and became legal, I removed my home grow and retained a position with a state regulated and licensed grow facility. Once there, seeing all the excess cannabis, I asked our grow if we could try and make some "thai sticks". They had always been a goofy stoner day dream I had, and really wanted to try one, or make one. They were like a myth. I used to listen to all the vets describe them when I was young, and always wanted to experience what they had. In my first week of making them, I sold 10, the next week we sold 20 and then kept doubling our sales steadily for a very long time. Cannagars are a hand crafted product, that requires love and attention to each one in detail. By the time I left Arizona I was selling 600 a month, I went to California and started a cannagar department in Arcata CA. Immediately learned how to increase production to 1000+ gars (cannagars) on my own and now exceed 3k units here in Nevada and training to expand production numbers and sales here shortly. Our production has never been able to meet the demand. So we are currently expanding.

Tell us a little bit about your product or service

We are a luxury, craft cannabis production company. We create only fine quality, unique cannabis items you won’t find in any other state or dispensaries besides Nevada. We make cannagars, this is our number one product. But we also create different style gars (cannagars) no one else creates currently on the market. Like our 100% paperless, wrapless cannagar the Galaxy gar, which is a flower core, drenched in concentrate and rolled in kief. It smokes solid for 30 minutes to 50 minutes with up to 20 people partaking. depending on lung capacity of course. Our smallest cannagar 2 grams flower, 1.5 grams concentrate and fully cured cannabis leaves, has a solid 1 hour burn time with 3-15 people. We have had up to 30 people smoking on the smallest one, and it almost last a full hour. We also make the only rose gar available in dispensaries, instead of cannabis leaves we use biologic edible organic rose petals, the most organic petals you can buy in the world. They are expensive, but pass state pesticide levels. We spend months testing organic rose companies for a solid source of truly organic rose petals. We only offer the best. This is our smoothest product we offer.

What time does your day typically start and what does a normal day look like to you?

Monday through Friday 5 - 6am to 6 - 7pm, I am hands on in cannagar production. Every cannagar and product we produce is made by three full time production cannarollers. We all have a specific stage of the cannagar process. I mold the flower core and drench them in concentrate, the two other crew members wrap the cannabis leaves or rose petals around the gars. We all package. Sat and sunday are reserved for celebrities, gatherings, popups, and giveaways. We work with a local dispensary in town to supply they're A list celebrity guests with custom cannagars adorned in 24 k custom gold lettering. Often accompanied with custom wooden cigar boxes and glass etched cigar tubes all made by us.

I also blow glass on weekends for giveaways with our products, we’re a start up and don’t have a lot of cash for giveaways or marketing at the moment, so I do most grassroots style :) I'm working 7 days a week. Some days I will work through the night to make sure we don’t miss a deadline. 27-32 hour shifts are not uncommon for me at this point in building the company. I have financially held all responsibility of this company and it has been no small task for me, I take my responsibilities very seriously. I live, eat, bleed, breathe and literally dream of cannagars. It may be a slight obsession. I am fully driven to make this succeed.

What is your vision for your company going forward?

At first moving into multiple states. Expanding and building a solid foundation. Once this happens, I will be wanting to use the company to make a positive change somehow. Whether it leaves a very small change, but hopefully a much larger positive mark or change on the earth, we intend to try and do as much good as we can with the time we have. I don’t require much in terms of possessions. So I'd like to instead, reforest a deforested area. Plant a billion trees. Help children, homeless, maybe even help clean the oceans. There is a website 4theOcean, we’re huge fans and intend to emulate them. They build bracelets made of recycled glass, they sell for 20$ and for every bracelet, they remove one pound of trash from the ocean.

We have asked, what if we do that with cannagars. For now, we are paying our bills and slowly being able to invest in extra product and small amounts of marketing or upgrades on packaging every once in a while. It's been slow, but very steady. We are not going anywhere, only growing roots here in Las Vegas. One of the most amazing towns I've ever lived. We’re beyond grateful for the opportunity to be here to have an opportunity to make sure we can give back. It's our ultimate goal.

What would an ideal post prohibition society look like to you?

I want to see it dominated by craft and truly natural medical cannabis. I know all the small canna- businesses are worried and dreading the big pharma takeover, but I'm hoping and manifesting that we can all thrive and succeed. Some will want cheap, fast cannabis, synthetic pill forms of cannabis, but others with finer palettes and health requirements will want and need fine craft cannabis and cannabis products. Hopefully large and small cannabis businesses have a place together in the future. It's the American dream; To work hard, make something of nothing. Hopefully with future regulations and laws we (the small cannabusiness) will be allowed to continue with this dream of the cannabis entrepreneurship. I also wish to see that the medical side hopefully doesn’t end up too pharmaceutical [in nature]. Hopefully keep our natural cannabis cures natural and not patented to create a synthetic version to be regulated, and used to prohibit the more natural side of cannabis.

What was your first experience with cannabis like?

I was a fairly unhappy, sad child. Marijuana was the first time I truly felt a pure and utter happiness. I had never laughed so hard or smiled so much in my life. I could barely lift my head, I stared at the ground. But could hardly breathe from laughter. True and pure happiness, it was an incredible experience and it made its mark on me. An experience I have chased every day after that. I was a daily consumer after my first time. I ended up loving cannabis so much, I needed to make it my profession. I truly believe it's not only an incredible medicine, but is a most sacred plant.

Tell us about some of the challenges you face working in the cannabis industry

Goodness, quite the question. Honestly, My first challenge was being a woman. It was a 99% male dominated industry in the beginning. As was glassblowing, which is where my cannabis career started. This created animosity and hard feelings for my talents and skills. No one wanted to look less knowledgeable than the girl on the crew. I understand the dynamic but it never felt fair, and I lost two separate jobs from this particular perspective of others in the industry and many more issues due to me being a skill based female cannabis worker. I don’t like to harp on this, as it was a very negative aspect if my earlier career and now is almost the exact opposite. I actually receive recognition from many locals and people in the industry here for being a woman business owner, who started from nothing. So the tides have changed. I'm deeply grateful and much more satisfied in my overall place in the cannabis industry now that women are more readily accepted, especially those without using physical attributes but more intellectual and skill based talents, which was something I personally feel was very gradually integrated into the industry in the past few years.

What are some solutions you've found?

"I have used my oppressors as a drive, as a push." -- Michelle Allred

Learning how to speak politically correct, how to use proper etiquette in all situations. Being uber polite has really helped, even going out of my way to help or complete jobs for the ones that didn’t appreciate my skills or necessarily want me around due ro me being female. I guess I tried to kill my opposers with kindness. Show them I’m not as bad as they think, I just wanted a home. A place to belong. And I belong nowhere other than cannabis. I also never stop, never quit, sleep less. Learned to work harder and longer than those around me and those that doubt or deny my true skills, knowledge and passion. I have used my oppressors as a drive, as a push. I have failed many times. But after falling I always get up and try again.

What is one thing you wish everyone knew about cannabis?

It can cure cancer, or at least help significantly. It’s safer than alcohol. It’s safer than toothpaste. It has more medical benefits than any other plant or substance I know of. It's not just for the typical "stoner". Its for everyone, over the age of 21, and in severe medical cases, children as well. The list of conditions cannabis treats, is a mile long.

What is one thing you wish everyone knew about your product or service?

That we are a small woman owned craft cannabis company that specializes in creating the most exotic and unique cannabis products available on the legal market today.

If you could go back in time and do it all over again, what (if anything) would you do differently?

Protect myself better. Learning business and business coldness. Unfortunately, being a stoner kid, I had somewhat rosy colored glasses on when it came to community and cannabis and this industry. I would have protected my proprietary information and myself personally much better and required contracts instead of handshakes. I have learned contracts tend to keep people and companies accountable, upfront and transparent. Going from stoner to business owner was quite the learning curve, I won’t lie.

What is your favorite way to consume cannabis?

In a bong. Or in a paperless, wrappless cannagar.

Concentrate or flower? Why?

Mixed. I like both flour and concentrates combined for the terp profiles and affects.

Do you think cannabis legalization will change the world for the better? Why?

I can see it going both ways. For the better If we can all keep it honorable. But if the pharmaceutical companies get control, I worry they will make synthetic versions of all our cannabinoids and patent them. This in itself is not a problem, it's more that I'm worried since its offered through a pharmacy in a pill form and patented, they will make the natural ways to consume it illegal again or regulate it so hard it would cause problems for the smaller businesses to produce and sell. Maybe I'm crazy. I just hope to see craft boutique cannabis have a solid foundation and place in the industry.

What advice would you offer to another woman who is looking to get into the industry?

Be strong. In your convictions and what you stand for. Don’t sell yourself, your ideas, drive, passion, morals and ambition short. Believe in yourself. Sounds cliche, but I feel like people try very hard to push their own agendas, wants and needs on individuals like me who are trying to make a business and brand. It can be difficult to discern motives of others at times and counteract them for the future.

#cannagars #rosgars #luxury cannabis #women in weed

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eryiss · 5 years

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Fraxus Fanfic Masterpost - Updated 28/01/2020

Hopefully this’ll help you if you want to see what I’ve done. As always, happy reading and enjoy. ^.^

New This Month!

Portrait of a Lightning God (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 22/1/2020

A Pattern of Dots and Dashes (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 19/1/2020

Both Addictive and Electric (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 10/1/2020

Multi-Chapter Work

Gambler’s Luck (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction)

The Captain’s Charm (Tumblr [1,2,3]| Ao3 | Fanfiction)

Blade Of The Wanderer (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction)

A Vow To Protect (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction)

One Shots

Walking Through the Year (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 21/7/2019

Feast of the Dragons (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 20/7/2019

A Complicated Type of Hope (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 19/7/2019

Solace and Steam (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 18/7/2019

A Second First Date (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 17/7/2019

Late Night Drinks (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 16/7/2019

The Beasts of Fairy Tail (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 15/7/2019

The Life of His Deskmate (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 26/4/2019

The Champagne Suite (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 17/3/2019

A Night On The Cobbles (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 16/1/2019

The Heart Grows Fonder (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 20/7/2018

A Spectacle For All (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 21/7/2018

Thought’s of an Old Man (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 22/7/2018

A Patchwork Romance (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 23/7/2018

Our Lives In Print (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 24/7/2018

Stories of the Stars (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 25/7/2018

Solace In Your Arms (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 26/7/2018

An Evening With Makarov (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

The Newest Member (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

The Start of an Eternity (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

Teasing and Treachery (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

Romantic Beginnings (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

By His Bedside (Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 5/11/2017

During The Storm (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 20/10/2017

The Nightly Routine (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 20/7/2017

Reversal of Fate (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 21/7/2017

Overnight Training (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 22/7/2017

A Nervous Habit (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 23/7/2017

When The Games End (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 24/7/2017

A Day For Spoiling (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 25/7/2017

Playing By The Pool (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 26/7/2017

The Longest Walk (Tumblr | Ao3 | Fanfiction) - 30/1/2017

#fraxus #freed justine #Laxus Dreyar #freed x laxus

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