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woozvc · 2 months

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call you tonight

final (part XIX)

w/c - 1.6k + smau at the end

a/n - and this is it! after so long call you tonight has officially come to an end. I hope the last part of this clears up the eunwoo situation (reading your replies and theories made my day😭😭) and i hope this is an ending you can be satisfied with. thank you so much for all your love and patience on this series. it truly means a lot that you guys stuck around till the end even with my terrible posting schedule 🫶

previous / masterlist

this is it. this is the day.

the event started 20 minutes ago and till now, it's been a success. the auditorium is filled with laughter and dancing, courtesy of jihoons playlists.

you're currently standing at a corner just observing the entire place. a part of you feels at peace that this is finally over, the results will be out today and this is it. a part of you is also shit scared. the past few days have been a rollercoaster.

seungcheols words keep echoing in your head about how you're still important to him and he's changed. you really want to believe him. you really want to give him a-

“hey are you okay?”

you wake out of your trace by jihoons voice.

“yeah I'm fine”

“you seen a bit…distracted” he hands you a cup of lemonade. you take it with a small smile and shrug his comment off. no need to reply when he's right?

“how do you feel, you know, about your performance and all?” you look at him. he shakes his head

“I don't know. all of this feels unreal. I never thought I'd have to perform that too dance but here we are”

“doesn't it scare you?”

“obviously it does, but I find some comfort in it too. maybe it's the fact that a part of me believes taking this chance could end really well. maybe I'll finally let go of my past fears and just let myself be in the moment once.”

“hah.. that sounds nice.”

“yea I guess so. I think whatever happens tonight, I just hope I don't regret it. I want to take that risk”

you open your mouth to reply but you're interrupted by hoshis voice calling jihoon. he gives you a small smile and walks away.

right. regret. don't regret tonight. you decide to leave your spot in the corner when you see hansol walk in. being with a friend is better than being alone.

so jihoon is an amazing dancer. you were mesmerized, truly. his moves are fluid and his body doesn't miss a single beat. obviously hoshi is amazing too. his sharp and timed movements make him look like he was born for the stage.

the song is also amazing. jihoon later revealed it was called “bring it”. you'll definitely tell him to record it and send it to you.

the auditorium is a bit loud now. one hour till new year and the presidential results are about to be announced. you avoided seungcheol all night today. reason? you don't really know.

maybe you know mentally a part of you won't be able to handle his teasing if he wins. it's all friendly of course, but it doesn't change the fact you really, really want to win.

“hey y/n ready for the results?” jeonghan nudges into you and you push him off with an annoyed whine.

“jeonghan I swear if I don't win you'll have to wipe my tears”

“I won't mind that because I'll be winning”

“this is important to you huh?”

“it's my one shot to prove I'm actually good at something, can't fuck this one up”

“you dont have to prove yourself to anyone you know?”

“this is for me. I need this to tell myself I'm better than I think. I'm done always being known as the problem kid. and who knows maybe this will get me some street cred?” he winks and walks back to his group, knowing if he kept speaking, he would say something something sad and make you feel more stressed than you already do. you'd probably scold him for being so self deprecating too. your eyes follow him walking back and

oh.

seungcheol is looking directly at you. his gaze burning deep into you. you look away quickly, taking a deep breath to calm yourself. the music in the room slowly fades out.

“okay ladies and gentlemen are we ready for the most awaited moment of today?” seungkwans voice echos through the room and so does the cheering of the students.

“honestly? I'm not shocked at the result. I'm so proud of everyone who participated and made it this far. just know all of you are amazing and we as the student council and the teachers love your dedication. so first of all here are the names of the people who made it to the finals”

he starts reading off the list. there's your name and eunwoos name. after a few students he announces jeonghans name and….thats it? what?

this is surely a mistake and the entire auditorium feels so. there's chattering and confused looks all around

“ah yes, there's only 9 participants now. choi seungcheol removed his name because of some unavoidable circumstances so we divided all his votes to all the others”

your head shoots in seungcheols direction. you look at him confused and he smiles at you. he motions you to stay where you are for now. this can't be real? he can't just remove his name?

hansol taps your shoulder and tells you to focus on the stage. you look back at the stage, realizing you completely missed seungkwans dramatic speach on how much he waited for the results etc etc.

“and so, svtct, your student council president is…..y/n!”

there's screaming in the auditorium but this place has never felt so quiet. your legs are numb and your hearing is fucked. you…won? you actually did it?

“y/n go to the stage!!” jeonghan pushes you from the crowd towards the stage. you want to say something to him. you want to apologize for winning to him but

he's smiling so wide.

his eyes are genuine. he's genuinely happy you won. “don't worry about me, my favorite cousin’s win is my win” he grabs your hand and takes you to the stage.

seungkwan helps your walk onto the stage where the teachers are standing to give you your certificate and badge. you receive it, saying a small thank you to the teachers presenting and seungkwan hands you the mic

“any words president?”

any words? what the fuck even are words? you stare at the mic then back at seungkwan. you're glad you've been friends with him for so long that even without words, understands and nods at you

“I think our president wants to save the speach for during school hours to not bore us.. well I hope my speach was dramatic enough, wonwoo I'm looking at you. there's 30 minutes till new years so till then…enjoy!” he looks at jihoon to restart the music and when it does, all the eyes on you slowly move away as seungkwan leads you to the teachers.

they all congratulate you and praise you. after a while one teacher asks

“so who's going to be your vice?”

“jeonghan” there's no hesitation in your voice. the teachers seemed shocked, a bit put off too but they don't question it. they tell you good luck and let you go back to the crowd.

you stand near the stage for a bit. letting it all sink in. all these months of work, all the effort and everything worked out. even the banter with seungcheol worked- right. seungcheol.

you run back to try and find him when eunwoo bumps into you.

“hey y/n! congratulations there's no one who deserves it more than you” he gives you a smile and pat on your shoulder.

“thanks eunwoo”

“are you guys busy” you hear seungcheol behind you and immediately turn to him.

“not busy at all man” eunwoo says and walks off, winking at seungcheol while seungcheol just looks at him disgusted.

“I never liked that guy”

“why did you remove your name”

“he's always given me a bad vibe”

“you wanted this so badly”

“and he keeps flirting with-”

“choi seungcheol answer me.”

you cut him off

“answer you? okay fine. first of all don't call me by my full name. I left presidency because frankly I hate the pressure. I never wanted to be captain anyway. I got forced into it because of my grades and extra curriculars.” he takes a pause to look around the room before continuing.

”i realized I was only doing this because it was expected of me. so I left it. I rejoined the track and badminton team. that's what was important to me before and I'm going to continue it now” he says and looks at you. a small smile playing on his lips.

you're speechless. you always knew seungcheol never really liked captaincy but you didn't know till what extent. you feel bad. you feel bad for the all “why aren't you working” and “why did they make you captain” comments you said to him.

“I'm sorry seungcheol”

“for what”

“for everything”

he smiles. you realize that you're seeing his dimples after so long. he's never smiled that much in front of you before. he looks pretty.

“10 seconds guys!” yells seungkwan into the microphone. seungcheol softly takes your hand and says

“y/n, I know you haven't forgiven me”

“but I have to say”

“I've been thinking a lot”

“you're too important to me”

“I think I like you, more than friends.”

“can you give me a chance?”

“happy new year!” jeonghan comes and hugs you.

you have no idea how this is going to end. you're scared, terrified of this feeling but you won't let this go. you keep your grip on seungcheols hand. slowly the student council joins the hug and the rest of your friends follow. you look around. you're surrounded by people who love you, people who care for you. what could possibly go wrong?

“yeah…I'll take the risk.”

2months later :

taglist 🔖 — (thank you to you all <3)

@minhui896 @lirtha97 @haecien @thefroggybazaar @mayashu @jeonghansshitester @wonwoos-wineparty @huening-kawaii @sp1ng @wonwootakemyheart

@ddokye @thepoopdokyeomtouched @zzenkha @nishloves @weird-bookworm @sana-is-ms-rmty @immabecreepin @amxlia-stars

@peachhiz @punkhazardlaw @lockburn-castle @asyre @luchiet @ocyeanicc @wondering-out-loud @odetoyeonjun @tamcitrus @miriamxsworld @kissesfrmwonwoo @cherr-y-eji @jeoncatsworld @youre-on-your-ownkid @addicsvt @bangantokchy @tacosandbitch @sun-daddy-yoriichi @ckline35 @rakshithanotrao @isabellah29 @mangocustard16 @lone-lone-ranger @gyuguys @writingbarnes @scarlet931 @odxrilove @wonwoobestboyy @wollycobbl3-blr

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ownedbythescribe · 1 year

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Wanderer/Scaramouche | Vanilla Coffee

ıllı Synopsis: As sweet as vanilla coffee? Yes, that's how you would describe your boyfriend. Why? Because all dark thoughts disappear with just a single word from him.

ıllı Genre: Fluff, Modern AU

ıllı Notes: Use of his first name ‘Kunikuzushi’, Gender Neutral Reader, Engineering Student Reader

ıllı A/N: I had been thinking of trying out modern AU lately, and I ended up with Scara. I’m not sure if I did good here, but I’m happy with it. When will I get myself a guy like this? *sob sob*

It was officially the 28th hour that you had been wide awake for the week, sleep thrown out of the window. The cherry on top, it was just Wednesday. The glare from your laptop's screen started to irritate your eyes, so you opted to lean back and close your eyes for a moment. Exhaustion blanketed your body, and the stiffness of your neck was another fact of the number of hours you had been doing your project. Turning to the side, you saw your roommate still sleeping. There was a 7 AM class waiting for her later, though, while yours decided to use the time to let the groups finish the design project for finals week.

'What a great time to run into problems. Just fantastic.' If anyone were to talk to you right now, they would be barraged with sarcastic comments. It was not something you wished for others to receive so early in the morning. Still, the lack of sleep and fatigue from researching sample calculations for the dryer section of paper production depleted your patience.

After 30 minutes of rest, you heard a notification sound from your phone. It was your partner messaging you about a plausible sample they found online. You hastily opened the document and noticed the similarities to the equipment you had been designing for a couple of days. Sending a happy sticker, you asked if they could do the final touches to the chapters prior to the computation section. You informed them that you would take the calculations part and send it to them for rechecking. You planned to have the paper assessed by the professor before the presentation.

“Are you sure? I can help out a bit. We can meet up later by City Cafe.” They suggested, eager to help, considering that you had been stressing over the matter for hours.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry. Plus, this is a good way to release some tension from all that research we did last night. Be back in a few hours!” You chimed.

With renewed energy, you stood up and sauntered toward your roommate, who was happily snoring away. You nudged her awake, but she entirely turned around and mumbled words of "five more minutes." By then, you knew she meant another hour. You called for her name again, and as if annoyed, she smacked you square in the face. It was neither light nor heavy.

"If you don't wake up this second, I'll throw your cinnamonroll plushie in the toilet." You threatened, having enough of her antics. She bolted up from her bed and then noticed the redness on your face. Knowing her sleeping habits, she quickly apologized. It was almost comical, but you were too weary to entertain it. Sighing, you ordered her to get ready for class before grabbing cereal for breakfast.

While munching on it, you started solving the design for the dryer. The document made it easy to follow, but you needed additional data to complete it, so you re-read another article you used as a basis. Suddenly, your phone buzzed. Plastered on the screen was your boyfriend's name, "Kuni <3". People know him as Scaramouche, but you prefer to call him Kuni. He was skeptical at first, but it grew on it. Although, it was only you who was allowed to do so.

“Hey, do you have classes today?” Scaramouche asked. You squinted your eyes at the camera. It looked like he was walking by the gardens near the pharmacy building. Honestly, you envied how the school's budget was poured into that place. They had a scenic park outside, and the laboratories were top-notch.

"Luckily, no, because this project is killing me." You groaned, scratching away at the paper on your desk. Another data was missing, so you checked the excel file for it. You did not notice your boyfriend staring at your face. He could see how stressed and tired you had been. Sleep forgotten in the midst of accomplishing the project.

"Is it due this week?" He asked. You took in a deep breath before shaking your head. He let out a sigh, but before he could berate you, you let him know that it was because of the schedule proposed to finish the paper. He was still conflicted but accepted it nonetheless. Pausing for a moment, you watched him walk to his building. It was slightly covetous how relaxed the indigo-head was compared to you.

Scaramouche tapped his ID in the scanner before looking back at you. He caught your stare. In the pit of his stomach, he hated that you neglected yourself again. He clicked his tongue instinctively before telling you to get at least a power nap after doing the computation.

"All right, but this might take a while. Oh, you're going in already? See you by the end of the week for our date?" You asked, hope evident in your tone. He could not say no to your puppy face.

"Yeah. Don't collapse on me, all right, doofus? Love you." He teased. You grinned, shaking your head at his mean nickname. He repeated his goodbye before ending the call. You missed him already.

"Stop with the long face. Here, I cooked some eggs and ham. Got you some rice too." Your roommate nudged. You took it from her hands and thanked her.

She went to the closet while scolding you for staying up all night considering that you have a weak immune system. You assured her that you had been taking vitamins every day. She was not convinced.

"That's not enough. Scaramouche is right. Take a power nap after that whatnot you're doing. I'll get going now, or the professor will kill me this time. Don't forget to lock the door before you sleep!" She reminded, dashing out of the dorm. You shook your head at her strange chirpiness.

Once again alone in your own world, you continued with your endeavors. You moved from determining the drying properties of the conveyor dryer to its design parameters. The good thing about the latter portion was it was based on heuristics alone, so you could simply pull out a handbook and search for the formula there. It was the computation for the cylinders' length and number that was lengthy.

"All right. That should do it. If my partner approves this, the next part would be to render the 3D model in SolidWorks." You murmured, exhaustion catching up to your body.

The document was immediately sent. You stoop up to stretch, only to collapse on your side of the bed. Your eyes felt hot and heavy, breathing unsteady. It felt like the world crashed on your body, so you closed your eyes. A hushed promise to wake up after an hour or two slipped from your lips.

“Hey, I’m coming over after class. Don’t forget to lock the door. I know you have a security guard downstairs, but you can never be too careful.

-Kuni”

After what seemed like hours, you blearily opened your eyes to the sigh of familiar indigo hair by your bedside. Scaramouche was taking out medicine bottles and fruits. It seemed like an illusion, probably a dream even. He did not have any reason to come to your dormitory.

Unable to help yourself, you reached to brush off his hair. He was startled by the action, but when he glanced at your dazed look, he sighed. He touched your forehead, the coldness of his hand enticing you. A chuckle left his lips at the sight of you trying to nuzzle into his hand.

"Good to see you awake, sleepyhead. Here, eat this. Drink your medicine after." He instructed. A little bit of clarity reached your mind, so you sat up and tilted your head in confusion. What was the medicine for? Catching sight of it, he replied.

"You had a small fever by the time I got here. I assume you were not able to read my text and simply fell asleep. Not to mention, you left the door unlocked. What am I going to do with you?" He scolded. You stared owlishly, a bit apologetic but dazed. Then, you saw a coffee by the kitchen table.

"Vanilla latte?" He nodded. You were about to ask for it when he glared at you, clearly compelling you to eat first and drink the medicine. The coffee could wait, but your fever would not.

Succumbing to his orders, you finished the food he prepared for you. It was chazuke, his specialty. You were unsure if it was because you were sick, but it tasted better than before. Subsequently, you downed the bitter medicine. It was a bit difficult to swallow, but you held it in. When you showed him that you were done, he gave you the coffee with a headpat in tow.

"Don't stay up late tonight. You finished your task for the day, right?" There was a concerned glimmer in his eyes. It seemed like you worried your boyfriend again. Not like he was not used to it, but it was better to remind you to take care of yourself. He loved you too much to get tired of it anyway.

"I won't. Let me check my phone first to see if they approve of it. Hmm? Oh, I made a mistake in the last part. I'll fix it tomorrow, then have the model rendered. 'Thanks! Let's rest for tonight', and send." You grinned. It was nice to be ahead of your schedule. Scaramouche nodded, putting away the bowl and medicine. Deep inside, he was proud of you and wanted to smother you with kisses, but that would be out of character for him. He knew being an engineering student was tough, but you held on to it because it was your dream.

"Kuni, are you going home early after this?" You asked. He was washing the dishes but said he might because his roommate passed him the task of making dinner tonight. It was infuriating how irresponsible the guy was sometimes, but he let it slide today.

Hearing his answer saddened you. There was a part of you that wanted him to stay and cuddle up, but it might be too selfish to ask. A dejected hum left you, which did not sit well with him.

"Don't worry. I can stay for a bit longer. I'm sure Heizou can hold himself for hours of no food." He finished putting the plates away and joined you in bed. You leaned on him as he smoothened your hair. His warmth was comforting, pushing away the fatigue that crept up your spine. It made you feel fuzzy. Sometimes, you thought having him by your side was too good to be true, but he scoffed at it. His words still rang in your ears.

"I chose you. You are mine, as I am yours."

All dark thoughts were blown away. You did not want to let go, and he would not let you do so.

"Thank you." He held you closer, then kissed your forehead.

"Always."

Please don’t copy or repost my stories, but notes and reblogs are always appreciated!

#genshin impact #genshin #fluff #romance #genshin x reader #wanderer #scaramouche #kunikuzushi #wanderer x reader #scaramouche x reader #kunikuzushi x reader #modern au

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8picklesinatrenchcoat · 1 year

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In the spirit of Paris Paloma's "Labour":

- I have to completely plan out my meals for the week of my period (endometriosis, ergo immense pain), because I can't trust my husband to cook me anything. Not one meal. Apparently he doesn't know how. When I offer to teach him or ask for him to help me cook in the hope for him to learn at least a bit through exposure, he doesn't want to.

- I am completely responsible for the housework. Even when I still worked, it was all left for me to do.

- I am apparently to blame, that there's absolute chaos. But if I ask him to tidy up only his stuff, he doesn't know where or how. I'm supposed to do it. Then I get yelled at, when he can't find, what he's looking for.

- When I asked him to sort out his closet and get rid of maybe a couple things, because he had way to much stuff he wasn't wearing, he didn't have too much, I was just exaggerating, while I didn't knew where to put freshly washed clothes of his anymore, because it was so much.

- Multiple times I had to help him out financially. He earns pretty good money, but spends it on so much unnecessary stuff, that there's almost nothing left for living. Now that I don't work anymore, I get money from my father. No, not from my well-earning husband, but from my worker dad, which is barely enough for me by myself. And husband expects me to manage to feed us for 200$ a month.

- He says I'm exaggerating all my symptoms of my various illnesses and disorders. They aren't that bad, I just needed to pick myself up, not think about it that much and smile more. I'm also overreacting on my multiple experiences on SA, because "I never got penetrated in them" (he did. When he r*ped me, he did. But hey, that doesn't count).

- He spends almost all of his time and money in streams, when I interrupt him even the slightest he gets annoyed and mad.

- He still blames me, that he is not a dad. He wanted kids, but only until he was 25, because beyond that age he would be "too old to be a dad". I never wanted kids, and in the beginning he told me that it was okay. But now he regularly tells me, how old our imaginary child could be, if only I pulled myself together and let him have his dream child.

- He treats me like a toddler, degrades me, doesn't take me seriously. Sometimes falls into babyspeech when talking to me. I asked him to stop it, but according to him I'm just imagining things, and he doesn't do that.

I'm tired, in pain, physically and mentally, exhausted. I just want to run, leave him and his semantics behind. But I don't have the means to live on my own. Also, I'm afraid if he ever finds out, that as soon as I can, I'll leave him, he'll get even worse. I don't have anybody I can turn to, nobody that can offer me shelter for a long enough period. Nobody is willing to hire me and pay me enough, that I can live on my own, because of my disabilities.

I'm not really looking for advice here, just some space to vent. But I'm at the end of... Everything. Patience, strength, willpower, you name it.

#i'm tired #too much labour #disabled #paris paloma #labour #tw abuse #tw sa #tw rap3

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purplenidoqueen · 2 months

Note

why did you read “let’s hold transmisogynistic trans mascs accountable and not humor their bigotry” as “i hate trans men”? come now. the post only criticizes transmascs who engage in transmisogyny. nowhere does it say that transmascs are a threat or danger to trans women, just that they’re capable of being shitty to us and shouldn’t. you have to learn to read trans women in good faith.

Sorry for the wait! I have too little free time and too much to say on any given topic.

The reblog that garnered these messages can be found here.

Since this was split into two messages I'll have to respond in two parts, so bear with me. While I don't have much of an audience, it's important to me to head this off, so I'd appreciate it if anyone who reads this and agrees with my stances here also walks away with the message of patience and solidarity, and doesn't send messages her way for whatever reason. This isn't a callout and I don't believe in callouts; this is just how the inbox function works.

Anyway! First:

I can understand your rush to send off these messages, considering the amount of pushback you seem to have gotten, but as I said at the end of my reblog, I'm a trans woman myself; I've been out and proud with my she/they pronouns for over a decade. It's not about learning to understand trans women, is it? It's about the communication of ideas in the midst of a disagreement, itself in the midst of one of the most volatile and socially violent moments in our corner of the platform.

First, and perhaps most confrontationally, you didn't start with transmisogynistic trans mascs. You started with how this is our fight, and this isn't about them. That's the bit I take issue with. You say we have to stop excusing this behavior, and stop getting defensive and generalizing this shit, and that we cant be afraid to recognize their bigotry just because they’re also trans, but you are the one who started generalizing, and this is me recognizing it. You're lumping the guys who said "this is why we have to care about trans people, listen to trans siblings" in with the trans mascs -- including those which are profiles worn by the dedicated terf brigade that has been antagonizing Rita and other trans women for years -- who are spreading callouts and being part of the problem. We can't go into this acting defensive against our allies. I'll double down on this: You're playing the game the terfs want you to play.

To clarify a related point, this isn't about whether or not you hate men. I'll admit that I did check your reblogs, and that I give a little nervous side-eye toward some of the content you've posted, but that's honestly not my business and it wasn't the point. The point is that, whether you hate men or love them, whether you're helping to sow discontent among the community intentionally or unintentionally… you're still playing the game the terfs want you to play. This isn't about feelings; it's about the results.

"Nowhere does it say that transmascs are a threat or danger to trans women, just that they’re capable of being shitty to us and shouldn’t"…

Sure, but it does say

"it’s kind of fucking annoying as hell seeing transmascs watch all the insane recent transmisogyny and go “this is why we have to care about trans people, listen to trans siblings” no. this is about trans women."

And isn't that the point? This isn't just about trans women. This is about the BLM protest, and all the black bloggers who got called russian bots and were terminated. This is about every sex worker who straddled the line of post-porn-ban TOS as best they could and still got banned for presenting wrong, from trans women posting their faces to trans men posting their nipples. This is about every voice that has consistently been eradicated from Tumblr, and Rita's is the latest and the loudest explosion heard but hers is not the only one we should be talking about, and her situation and ours is not the only one that matters.

I did read the rest of the post before I responded, and I'll give the same note here that I give when "journalists" front-load their articles with falsehoods because they know that the first few sentences are the most important ones: if you don't want your work to be adversarial, don't start it adversarially.

Part two here, and since we're on to the second message I promise it's less about personal presentation of the message and more about the greater topics.

#inclusivity #intersectional feminism #transgender #trans pride #transphobia #transmisogyny #tma #tme

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olsenmyolsen · 1 year

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Any Day Now

Part 20 of On The Inside With Elizabeth Olsen

Word Count: 7.6K

masterlist

Scarlett POV

I don't know what's poking me, but it better stop.

"Mommy, can you wake up?"

I roll my eyes from beneath my closed eyelids. "Five more minutes Rosie," I mumble to my offspring before turning away from where I was being poked.

"But Colin, told me to get you up, so you have to get up!"

I'm going to kill Colin when I see him.

"Baby, please, five more minutes." I groan to an already annoying six-year-old. I love this child to death, but I enjoy my sleep a bit more at this moment. I hear silence from behind me before the shuffling of small feet, and then WHAM! Rose jumps right next to me on the bed, causing the mattress to droop down next to me, waking me up even more.

I open my eyes to see Rose looking back at me with a wide smile.

"Did you think this would get mommy up?" I ask with a smirk before closing my eyes. I hear a sigh come from Rose.

"Please, mommy, get up!" Rose huffs and pulls herself up to her knees before she starts jumping up and down on the bed. "Mommy!" Rose starts raising her voice, and you know what? I'm up now. This child did it. I'm annoyed and awake. I open my eyes and playfully grab a giggling Rose, bringing her down onto the bed.

"Mommy's up! You happy now?" Rose is in the midst of a laughing fit. "Sooooo happy!" "Well, how about now!" I ask as I start to tickle my daughter's side, making her fit of laughter grow louder and harder.

It's not long till my daughter is begging for mercy which I guess I'll give her.

Whatever.

Anyways I'm now, like, actually up and moving to my bathroom while my sweet Rose follows me. "Rose, you don't have to follow me and watch me pee." "I know, but Colin told me to make sure you get up and do all your morning stuff. He didn't say stuff, but I don't remember the word he said."

Rose kindly informs me, so with a smile on my face, I finish peeing before moving on to my morning routine while Rose watches me eagerly.

Once that's all done, I debate changing out of my nightwear, but I can feel Rose's patience is wearing thin, so I get a move on.

Just as we're about to step out the bedroom door, Rose has her arms around my legs. "Happy Mother's day, Mommy!" She beams at me.

Oh shit. It is Mother's Day! Why in the hell am I not being served breakfast in bed? Before I can let these essential questions weigh my mind down, Rose is tugging at my hand to usher us out the door, so we can see what my husband has been cooking up.

And yes, I don't want to kill him now. I just enjoy my sleep. Sue me!

As we reach the bottom of the stairs, Rose is off and racing to the kitchen to inform Colin of the great job she did in getting me up. I smile at my little offspring as she not so discreetly, runs past some red balloons. I laugh as I look around the foyer to see if there is anything I missed.

As I scan the area, my eyes land on a pair of heels left at the front door. Until now, I didn't even remember that those two spent the night. Hell, I don't even think they know they spent the night here. Maybe forcing wine down their throats wasn't the best idea. Is this why Colin wanted me up? So I could wake up the sleeping beauties? I look back up the stairs before calling out to the two awake people in the house.

"Rosie. Colin. I left something upstairs." I couldn't quite make out was Rose said, but it sure made Colin laugh. "Okay, babe!"

I make my way up the stairs and stop at the closed guest bedroom door. I knock a couple of times gently, earning no response. I don't want to barge, but if I'm up, they need to get up! And it's my house! "Okay," I say quietly to myself. "Please don't be naked. Don't be naked."

I turn the door handle and push the door open. Luckily the window curtain is pushed apart slightly, so it's letting some sunlight in, making the room not as dark as it could be.

As I step into the room, I smile at the sight before me.

It's Y/N flat on her back with Lizzie nuzzled into her neck. They both have their arms wrapped around one another, holding each other. It's cute, and the closer I get, I see the biggest smile on Lizzie's sleeping face.

They're not naked, but I notice they're wearing my clothes. I knew Lizzie went into my room last night!

Time to wake them up.

Y/N POV

I don't know what's poking me, but it better stop.

"Y/N, you wanna wake up?"

I groan and turn my face away from whatever is calling to me. "Five more minutes," I mumble before hearing the person huff and followed by silence.

Good.

Just as I'm about to doze back off, I hear some feet shuffling before the person sounds like they're next to me. Ugh. God, who do they think they are trying to wake me right now?

And then, I feel a breath of air hit my ears before a raspy voice begins talking to me.

"Y/N, if you wake up right now, I can show you alllll the ways Black Widow is better than your little witch." Before my tired mind can even respond, I feel a soft hand brush its fingers down my cheek, making my eyes shoot open.

Oh, fuck, it's Black Widow- uh- I mean Natasha, no, shit, I mean- Scarlett! And she's inches from my face! Am I dreaming?

I visibly gulp at the sight of her smirk as her green eyes look from my own to my lips. Suddenly she's moving closer before she turns her head and has her red lips next to my ear again.

"You look so cute when you blush for me, Y/N. I'd like to see that happen more often." She practically moans into my ear in her raspy whisper fuck me of a voice.

And then suddenly, she's up on both her feet clapping As loud as possible, "get up! Get up! Get up!"

What is wrong with this woman??

Wait? Am I still drunk? What is that? No way!

Is Scarlett pregnant? How did I miss that last night?

"Scarlett, shut the fuck up!" My sweet Lizard draws my shocked face away from Scarlett to her as she yells in her sexy morning voice! "I have the world's worst headache, and I don't want to get up to kill you!" My Liz turns away from me and flops her head hard into her pillow.

"She really is a pillow princess, huh?" Scarlett teases as she gives me that world-famous smirk once more.

She is playing with fire right now.

And then WHOOSH! A pillow comes flying past me towards Scarlett, but luckily the pregnant woman's reflexes are quicker than mine as she catches the pillow with ease, earning a whine from Liz.

"No fair!" I turn back to a pouting Liz. "You can't just wake us up and not get hit?" Scarlett just shrugs at her. "Too bad. Now get your asses up. We got breakfast, Advil, and a six-year-old waiting!" Scarlett crosses her arms, waiting for us to get a move on. "How are you so awake right now?" I groan out as Liz takes my hand in hers and rests her head on my shoulder. "You have said six-year-old to thank for that. Now chop-chop." Scarlett demands. Pillow still in hand. Very threatening.

I'm still a little stunned by how I was woken up and the fact that I'm in Scarlett Johanssons' house that I feel myself painfully not moving. I turn to see Liz smile at me with tired eyes before she whispers. "The quicker we get up, the quicker she's gone. And then we can get our kisses in." I smile and manage to convince my legs to move up and out of the bed, satisfying Scarlett.

"Good! Alright, the guest bathroom is down the hall. Lizzie, you know where. Be quick, guys. I'll see you downstairs." Scarlett says before tossing the pillow back into the bed, leaving Lizzie and I alone.

Liz immediately flips back onto the bed with her arms wide open. It's the quiet and most obvious signal in the world, and so far, I have yet not to give in. I jump into my girlfriends arms and let my body rest on hers as she squeezes her arms around me.

"I want to stay like this forever," Liz says as I feel her lips press onto my cheeks. "Me too, baby." And so we lay like that, not forever but for enough time to pass that I feel Liz's breathing start to slow, meaning she's falling asleep again.

"Liz?" I whisper, hoping she's not too far dozed off. "Liz? Baby?" She moves under me, nuzzling her head into my neck even more. "I don't wanna." She whines, causing my heart to warm up and break at the same time. "I think we have to. Come on." I kiss the top of her head and go to get up, but she quickly wraps her legs around mine, pulling me back onto her.

"Liz, as much as I love this and would love to keep doing this, Scarlett and her daughter are waiting for us." My Lizard slowly unwraps her legs from behind me, allowing me to lift myself off of her and take in the beauty of my girlfriend. How does she look ethereal at all times? We just woke up, and she could walk a runway. Unfair. "Something caught your eye?" At the sound of her voice, my eyes travel back to hers.

"You. Always you." I reply before I bring my lips to her own. Liz smiles and lets out a small laugh on my lips. "I'm so lucky." She husks out, leaving a confused look on my face because that's me. I'm the lucky one. But before I can say anything, Liz is pushing up into me, causing me to get off her fully. "Alright, let's get down there?" Liz says as she opens the bedroom door.

"Oh wait!" She stops and turns around to face me. She grabs the collar of Scarlett's graphic shirt that I'm wearing, pulling me into a kiss that quickly trails down to my collarbone.

Once again, Liz is marking what's hers.

I would protest, but I enjoy this too much.

Sue me!

Once Liz's lips leave my skin, the cool air rushes over the fresh red she left behind. I look down at the mark before looking at the lustful eyes of my girlfriend. I feel my cheeks start to burn, causing a satisfied smirk to form on Liz's face. We're now in this moment, and I don't know what to do, but I don't want to leave.

Liz must actually read minds because she's walking up to me, placing her hands on my hips, rubbing up and down. "You look cuter when you blush for me." My eyes go wide as Liz turns on her heels and walks out the bedroom door.

She heard?! How!?

By the time I poke my head out the door, I see Liz happily bouncing down the stairs. I want to chase her down, but my morning bladder has another idea. So after locating the bathroom, peeing, looking over my hickey, and freshening myself up, I make my way out of the bathroom and down the stairs. I was surprised to see Liz waiting for me at the last step.

"Any day now Y/N!" "Why were you waiting?" "Because I wanted you to see this first hand!" Before I can question what she means, she's dragging me towards the sound of a child laughing and Scarlett pretending to be a dinosaur.

Liz POV

As we round the corner to the kitchen, I let my hand drop from Y/N's so I can have both hands to surprise my little Rosie. Colin clocks me and nods my way as I make my way toward the two giggling blondes. Colin also looks toward Y/N and gestures for her to sit next to him at the kitchen island. I see Y/N knock back some Advil and water as the taller blonde notices me sneaking and crouches in front of her daughter.

"Rose-" "I'm not Rose right now. I'm Dino-Rose!" Scarlett puts a hand on her head. "You're right, Dino-Rose how could I forget! But can Dino-Rose listen to me?" Rose stops swinging her arms and pouts. "Am I in trouble?" Scarlett shakes her head at her dramatic daughter. "Not at all, sweetie. I want to talk to you. So you know how Mommy went out with some friends last night, and you stayed with grandma?"

Rose nods her head. "Well, Mommy's friends stayed here last night!" Rose tilts her head at her mom. "Are they living here now?" Even that earns a chuckle from Colin, who's been watching this whole interaction with heart eyes for his girls. Scarlett takes her time to reassure Rose that, no, her friends are not moving in.

"Good, because I didn't want to share my toys yet.." Scarlett looks up from Rose and to me. Signaling that now might be a good opportunity to jump in.

"You wouldn't even share with me?" I pipe up, causing Rose to whip her head so fast in my direction. "Aunty Lizzie!" Suddenly I have a six-year-old sprinting at me, and my only choice is to accept whatever comes next.

A hug. That's what comes next. Rose ran to me at full speed before coming to a full-blown stop with arms stretched out and puppy dog eyes. So, of course, I gave in and let her give me the world's biggest and greatest hug!

We're currently sitting on the floor as she keeps a squeeze on me and keeps telling me how much she missed me and how much she loves Wanda, much to her mom's distaste.

I kiss the top of Rose's head after she's had enough hug time and hips off me. I pull myself up and dart my eyes toward my smiling girlfriend. "What?" She shakes her head at me and mouthes, "you're perfect." Which makes a quick blush form on my face. Rose has now returned to her mom and is demanding why she didn't know Aunty Lizzie was here! Scarlett is doing her best, but Rose is putting up a good fight.

Rose has now come back to me and is asking to be held. "Rose, last time I did this, you said you were a big girl and didn't want it." "Please, Aunty Lizzie, it's been so long." I roll my eyes before scooping the little one up. She's not a million pounds or anything, but I'm glad Marvel makes me do some sort of workout. "Happy?" Rose simply nods before she furrows her brows.

"What is it, Rosie?"

"Is Uncle Robbie here too?"

With that question, the room freezes. Kids huh?

I take it with all the excitement and Dino time. Rose hasn't even had time to notice Y/N. Shit. I glance my eyes towards Scarlett, who has an apologetic look.

"Uh- No, Rose, he's not here, but I did bring someone with me?" She looks disappointed but interested. I move my body, so Rose can look in Y/N's direction. I can see Y/N internally struggling on how to handle this situation. However, before Y/N can even greet Rose, the little one moves her head away and into my neck. I look to Y/N's eyes, and it's like I can see her heart become fragile. I then look to Scarlett, who is just waiting with bated breath. She has walked towards my Coffee Girl for support but hasn't said anything. Thankfully Colin speaks up.

"Rose, it's okay." He gets up from his seat at the kitchen island and walks towards Rose and me. He crouches down in front of us so he can look up to Rose as opposed to down at her.

"Rose. Remember I was new once too?" He offers only gaining the movement of Rose's head. "It's okay to be shy, but just know your mom and Aunty Lizzie will never put you around someone they don't trust or love." Colin looks to me and gives me a tight smile. He's really trying with Rose right now.

"Rose, do you wanna come down, and we can go say hi to Y/N together?" Rose shakes her head no. Colin thinks."Do you want Aunty Lizzie to take you?" Rose turns her head to look at Colin before shaking it yes. "Okay." He nods before bringing himself off the floor. I mouth a thank you before walking towards Y/N.

Y/N has silently moved from the kitchen island to next to it, making it easier for all of us. I start making my way towards Y/N while Rose looks at her with such intensity. I don't know why I'm so nervous. Rose isn't my daughter. Maybe a tiny part of my brain wants Rose to like Y/N more than Robbie? It sounds messed up but is it true?

After what felt like forever, we're standing before my girlfriend. She isn't as tall as Colin, so she doesn't crouch in front of us, but she does hunch slightly.

"Hi, Rose. I'm Y/N. I know meeting new people can sometimes be scary, and that's okay." Y/N stops talking, and of course, Rose is giving her nothing. "Oh, my favorite color is orange. What's yours?" Y/N offers a little wave and question to Rose, who tilts her head in thought.

"Purple."

You can feel the room come back to life.

"Purple is an awesome color! Did you make that?" Y/N points to a handmade card that reads "Happy Mommy's Day" in purple crayon. Rose nods her head. "It's for Mommy. She's a superhero." Y/N's smile gets bigger the more she talks to Rose, and I can see that soon enough, Rose will have her wrapped around her finger.

I must've tuned out what was happening because the next thing I know, "Auntie Lizzie" is being said.

"No, I'm not a superhero like your Mommy and Auntie Lizzie. But they are pretty cool, aren't they?" Rose again nods before turning to me whispering in my ear.

Y/N POV

I look toward Colin and Scarlett, who are showing nothing but pure smiles. Clearly happy with how Rose came out of her shell. Not that being shy is terrible, but I think they just wanted Rose to like me and to not ask any more about Robbie.

Right now, Rose is whispering something in Liz's ear, making her giggle and whisper back to Rose.

I am watching my dirty blonde holding this cute as a button child, talking about who knows what is making the baby fever kick into overdrive.

"Y/N." I gaze at my girlfriend's face at the sound of her angelic voice. "Rose and I have been talking, and Rose would like to ask you something?" What kind of question did these two cook up? Oh, God. I can feel my nerves start to run laps around my body. I look to Rose.

"Who's your favorite superhero?" I hear Scarlett snort at the seriousness with which the question was asked. That's it? Wait. Is this a trick?

"Well, what's your favorite superhero?" I ask, hoping to trick the kid into giving me the correct answer. "You can't ask me. I asked you." Rose says with a smile. I step towards Lizzie and Rose before bending down slightly. "Rose, is your Auntie Lizzie trying to get me to say that Wanda is my favorite?" This cause Rose to laugh while trying to talk. "Noooo." I nod as though I believe her. "Okay." I then pretend to take some serious thought into Rose's question.

"Black Widow is my favorite Rose. What about you?" Roses jaw drops, and she looks at Lizzie, shocked! "I told you she would say Black Widow." I hear Liz not so quietly whisper into Rose's ear. Rose then turns back to Liz and whispers in her ear as well.

These girls love to only talk to each other.

Liz nods before saying, "I think that's a wonderful idea, Rose."

Liz carefully places Rose onto her feet before smiling at me. Rose cautiously makes her way to me, delighting Scarlett. In an effort to not mess anything up, I choose to remain standing.

"Aunty Lizzie said that since your favorite superhero is Black Widow, maybe you would want to play superheroes with me?" I smile down at Rose before crouching down to her level. "I'd love that, Rose! Thank you."

"You're welcome." Rose then looks over at me. "Is it okay if I hug you?" I think my heart might explode. "Of course, Rose! Thank you for asking!" I throw open my arms and close my eyes as Roses arms land on my side. I hear some coos from the adults in the room, and I'm pretty confident I heard a picture being snapped, but I'll ask about it later.

"I'm sorry about being shy earlier," Rose admits to me as our hug comes to an end. "Rose. That's okay. Remember what Colin said? It's okay to be shy. I was shy to meet you." Rose looks at me. "Really?" "Yeah! I thought since your mom and aunt were sooooo cool that their little Rose has to be like the coolest person ever!"

Rose throws on a little smirk at hearing how cool she is. Damn the Johanssons and their smirks. This little one is going to have me wrapped around her finger soon enough. Rose then looks up at her mom. "Is it okay if Y/N and I go play? I know it's your special day, but please, mom!" Rose jumps up and begs her mother, whose green eyes are full of happiness. I see it.

I also stand up and look to Liz. She places a hand over her heart and gives me a happy frown. "Rose, do you not want breakfast first?" Her mother raises an eyebrow in question. "No, I had some chocolate when Colin wasn't watching earlier," Rose states, not even looking at her mom. I have to cover my mouth to hold in the laughter. Scarlett groans more at Colin than Rose before ushering us away. "But you're going to have a full breakfast when we get done, okay?" "Okay!" Rose answers, pulling me away with her.

Liz POV

I smile at the sound of Rose giggles getting further away. Not because she is gone but because she is with Y/N.

"Name your price."

Huh? I turn my head to Scarlett. "What?" "Name your price. How much are you willing to pay for Rose."

"Scarlett," Colin says while laughing. "You can't sell Rose."

"Look at her face Col. I think she'd pay anything to see those two be happy and get along. I bet her ovaries are already putting up a fight."

My jaw hits the floor at the words falling out of Scar's mouth. Is she wrong? No. But she doesn't have to say it.

Thankfully once again, Colin steps up. "I'm sorry for her, Lizzie." Scarlett puts up her arms in defeat. "Listen, I'm just saying. Once this one comes along." Scarlett points to her growing stomach. "Lizzie will be begging to see him with Y/N."

Oh my God, Scarlett, stop talk- wait. Him?

Scarlett's having a boy?!

"Him?!" I ask in shock. Colin notices the look in my eyes and looks at his wife. Scarlett sees it, too, and starts walking towards me. "You're having a boy?" I ask, needing answers. I can see panic growing on her face. Scar reaches out and grabs my hands placing. "Yes, I'm having a boy." I go to jump up and squeal, but Scarlett's pregnancy reflexes are quick as she puts a hand over my mouth, shutting me up. "Rose doesn't know yet." My mouth once again drops. "Scarlett, this is amazing! I'm so happy for you! Oh my God." Before she can even protest, I'm hugging the Black Widow.

Once she's released from my grip, I quickly make my way to Colin and pull him into a hug as well. "Talk about a weekend update," I say, earning a groan from the other two people in the room. "Hunter said the same thing." I frown in disappointment. "You mean I'm not the first one to know again!" Scarlett shakes her head at me. "I'm sorry it slipped out when he came for dinner a while back." "Ugh. Fine." I try and pout, but I'm so happy for my friend right now.

"Okay, since you're pregnant. You sit down and relax while Colin and I prepare you, your daughter, and my Y/N an exceptional breakfast!" This causes no argument, as Scarlett will easily bow out from making meals when I'm around.

"What you got there?"

I ask Colin, who seems to be putting mustard on some peanut butter spread on toast with slices of pickles. "Scarlett's pregnancy craving at the time. I'm making it now just in case she wants it with breakfast." He looks disgusted by the creation, and frankly, so am I.

It's not often that it's just Colin and I left by ourselves. He's a nice guy and has been there for Scarlett in more ways than one. When she first told me about this guy she was falling for, I was a little shocked, to put it nicely. But he makes her and Rose happy, which in turn makes me happy. I'm sure others would disagree but ehh.

"So, how are you holding up?"

"I'm excited." He turns away from Scar's gross food to focus on the eggs he's scrambling. "You know, nervous but excited." I nod at his generic answer before continuing-

"Do you think I'll be a good dad?" I turn my attention away from the stack of waffles I got going on as this conversation gets more serious. "I mean, I think I will be, but... this is my first kid. I love Rose to death, but I wasn't there for those early years. What if when I'm there for this kid, I fuck up or..." Colin closes his eyes as the worry and panic start to overtake him. "I don't know. It's stupid." I shake my head and move the pan of eggs onto an unused stovetop before dragging Colin into a kitchen chair.

"That's not stupid, Colin. It sounds cliché, but I feel like no parent knows what to do their first time around. Hell. I bet Scarlett will forget things this go around too." He chuckles at that. "All that matters is that you love and care for that baby no matter what. Let's not forget anytime you need Y/N or I to come by and help, we will. Plus, do you think you'll be a good dad? Don't just say yes. Think about it." Colin leans back in his chair and closes his eyes in thought. I wonder if this is how he writes jokes.

"Yeah. I will be."

"Then you will be."

I simply state before returning to the ever-growing breakfast. It takes Colin a couple of minutes before he rejoins me. "Thanks, Lizzie." "No problem, Mr. Johansson," I smirk at him, making him roll his eyes. "Now, I can finish up here if you want to go and grab your wife. Then I'll leave you two to talk for a minute while I get the girls. Cool?"

"Cool."

"Oh wait, Lizzie." I turn to see Colin holding my phone. "I found this on the steps this morning. I didn't know if it was yours or Y/N's." I take it from him. He could've just looked at the wallpaper and seen whose phone it was. I tap the screen, and it doesn't turn on. The phone is dead. Ah, that's why.

"Thanks, Colin. Do you have any extra chargers?" Colin thinks. "Maybe in the living room? I'll ask Scarlett." I nod before he leaves. _

After Scar and Colin returned, I begin charging my phone before I'm off to find where those two rascals went. After consulting Rose's mom, she said they'd be in Rose's room or her old playroom, which is being transformed into baby #2 nursery. However, they made it pretty obvious where they were when I overheard Rose giggling about Y/N's, and I quote, "horrible form," to which Y/N said Natasha was nothing but a poser earning more giggle from Rose.

I was going to knock and interrupt, but I was having more fun listening in.

"Come on, Y/N, let's color!"

Y/N POV

Hanging out with Rose is sooo fun, but goddamn, it's tiring.

After we made it to her room to get some extra toys, we made it into another room that Rose called her playroom. It looked like a nursery, but whatever the kid was happy, so was I.

For the first couple of minutes, Rose showed me all of her Black Widow action figures. Some looked like Scarlett, while some were scary bad. Rose, let me pick first, and I picked one that looked nothing like the Black Widow we know and love. We played with them for a while. Pretending to go on missions to pretending that our widows were sisters. It was all fun. Once Rose got bored of that, she wanted us to be Widows, so that mainly involved me holding Rose up or her tackling me or Rose making fun of my "horrible form." By the end of it, we just ended up lying on the floor together, coloring in her Frozen coloring books.

I haven't seen Frozen or its sequel, but don't let Rose find that out.

I'm happily coloring in a guy with his reindeer when Rose stops what she is doing and scootches closer to me. I look over at her, and I'm instantly worried and looking her over. She seems concerned and sad. I drop the coloring pencils and sit up to comfort her.

"Hey, Rose. What's wrong?" I try and keep my voice calm to not stress her out anymore. Rose moved closer to me and opened her arms, so I did the same, allowing her to crawl into my lap. "It's okay, Rose. You don't have to talk or anything if you don't want to." Geez, now I'm immediately backtracking in case I said something wrong. "Do you want me to get your mom or Colin?" Rose shakes her head no and lifts her face to me. "Why isn't Uncle Robbie here? He always comes when Aunty Lizzie visits. But now you're here."

Well, there goes my heart. I hear it shattering.

I don't know how to proceed, but Rose is looking at me, and I know this moment will be in her memory for years to come.

"I'm sorry, Rose. Do you not like me being here?" Let's start there. "No. I like you. You're funny and play Superhero with me." I smile at that. "But Uncle Robbie also did that, and now he's not here."

Fucking hell.

I look towards the playroom door as it gently opens. Liz walks in with an apologetic smile. Shit. Did she hear? "Hey, you two!" Liz pretends like she didn't interrupt a meaningful conversation, but I've been picking up on her acting skills. Liz gets closer to us and "notices" an upset Rose. "Rosie, what's wrong?" Rose looks up at me before looking towards Liz.

"Where's Uncle Robbie?" Liz looks at me before sitting down right in front of Rose and I.

"You know how sometimes when your mom and I talk and you get bored because we talk about "grown-up stuff"?" Rose shakes her head, a little confused. "Well, you and I are going to have one of those talks." "About Uncle Robbie?" Liz nods her head. "Is he dead?" Rose bluntly asked, shocking my girlfriend and me. Liz's jaws drops while I cover my mouth. "No, sweetie Robbie is not dead." Liz quickly refutes any doubt in Rose's mind. Rose physically wipes non-existent sweat from her forehead. Colin totally taught her that. Liz smiles at Rose before putting on a serious face.

"Robbie is very much alive in Los Angeles and grown-up time Rose." She firmly says to make sure Rose listens. "Uncle Robbie and I aren't together anymore." I would've phrased this a bit better, but I can see Liz getting stressed from talking about this, so I can give the girl a break.

"Like you aren't getting married like Colin and mommy did?" "That's right, sweetie." Rose moves her head down in thought before she gets up and hugs Liz. "I'm sorry, Aunty Lizzie." Awww. Liz puts her arms around the tiny human. "It's okay, Rose. Everything's fine now." "You'll find someone else to marry." Rose casually drops before turning back to face me. "Thanks for being there for my Aunty," Rose says to me before she turns back to Liz. "Is grown-up talk over?"' Liz nods. "It can be."

Without another word, Rose starts picking up her coloring books and pencils. I watch as Rose does this task with ease before my eyes latch onto my Lizard. She's wiping away a couple of tears that have escaped. In an instant, I'm on my knees in front of her helping her out. "Tell her." Liz husks out to me. "Tell who, what?" "Tell Rose about us." "Me?" Liz simply nods before calling out to Rose. "Y/N has something she'd like to tell you." Rose moves away from her pile of books and comes up to Liz and me, sitting on the floor.

I've never been good at talking to kids, mostly because I have never been around them, and now here I am, having multiple serious conversations with Scarlett Johanssons kid. What is my life?

"Rose, does it make you sad that Auntie Lizzie isn't with Uncle Robbie?" I cautiously ask as I feel Liz's hand work its way up my back, silently comforting me. "If Aunty Lizzie isn't sad, then I'm not sad." I nod and move on. "How would you feel if Auntie Lizzie started seeing someone else?"

"If it's you, then I'd be happy."

I don't know why a kid's approval who has no blood relation to either Liz or me is so damn important, but I'm glad I got it.

"It is me." I smile at Rose, who looks between Liz and I before jumping up and down and then onto us. "Yay! That makes me so happy, Aunty Lizzie! I'm gonna go tell my mommy!" And before we can even stop her, that kid is out of the room.

I let out a breath I didn't know I had and fall onto the floor. Liz does the same before she rolls onto her side placing her arm on my stomach. "Still want kids someday?" Liz teases. "I do." Liz doesn't reply, but she does lean up and place a kiss onto my cheek. "You were great with her."

"Really? I feel like I didn't know what I was doing."

Liz just smiles down at me.

"I think that's called parenting." I roll my eyes. "Not for us yet." "No, not yet. You still have people to meet." Liz reminds me, even though I know she's nervous whenever that day happens because I know not long after that, the world will soon know too.

"You ready to get up? Some yummy waffles are waiting!" Liz scrunches her face up, and just as I'm about to answer, my stomach decides now is the time to put on a concert forcing Liz and I to laugh like idiots.

"Come on, let's go!" Liz hops onto her feet before pulling me up too.

"Oh, actually, you go ahead with it being Mother's Day. I should probably call my mom now as opposed to later."

Liz nods at me and gives me an ole sailor's kiss before leaving me in the former playroom.

Liz POV

So did Y/N and I admit that we want to get married and have kids with each other, or am I crazy? Is that why she suddenly needs to call her mom? Also, that kiss that I left her with! I'm not going off to war.

Man, my ovaries are attacking me today...

I close my eyes and slowly breathe in and out, shaking off the thoughts swarming my mind. Once I feel grounded and calm, I make my way down the stairs to an already set-up dining room.

Just as I'm about to comment on how I could've helped set the table, Scarlett comes and pulls me into a hug. "Lizzie! Rose told us the good news!" Why is Scarlett using her fake voice? Also, what good news? "About you and Y/N!" Oh right. "Oh! Yes. Thank you! Rose, are you happy that you got tell your mom and Colin?" I look at the six-year-old who is stuffing her face full of waffles. "Hmm, mmm! Aunty Liz-" "Rose, swallow your food before you talk." Scarlett sternly tells her kid. Rose starts chewing rapidly before swallowing and looking back to me. "Aunty Lizzie, did you hear I'm going to be a big sister to a boy!" "I did, Rose that's so awesome! You're going to be the best big sister!" Rose grins at me before going back to what's most important. Her food.

"Where is Y/N?" Colin looks at me with an eyebrow raised. "She's calling her mom." Both adults go ahh as I join the family at the table.

After loading up a plate for Y/N and myself, I dig in. I could wait, but Rose didn't, so why should I? Within minutes silence has taken over the table. I don't think any of us realized how hungry we were. Even Scar is eating her gross toast.

After swallowing some fruit, I decided to break it up. "So Colin, how's SNL? Planning on staying on?" Colin nods. "It's great. I'm a head writer now. You know it pays the bills-" That earns a hearty laugh from Scarlett that she quickly tries to cover up. "But maybe once the little man over here pops out, that'll change." He points to Scarlett's stomach.

"Anything new with you? I know you just got done filming the Doctor Strange sequel." Do I tell Scar and Colin about the HBO Show or not? Fuck it. "Yeah, I'm going to be in an upcoming HBO Show!" "House of Dragons?!" Scarlett immediately jumps the gun. I shake my head at her before receiving a pity look. "I'm still pissed you couldn't do Game of Thrones because of Marvel." I shrug because it's in the past, and I still watched and loved the show. "I didn't know you were almost in that." Colin looks at me, amazed. "Yeah, add it to the pile of things I was almost in." I laugh to move the conversation along. "So what's the show going to be about?"

"Apparently, it's based on a true story, and I don't know all the details yet, but I get to play an ax murder," I say with excitement. "Holy sh- shoot!" Good save, Scar. "That sounds crazy! I can't wait to see you kill it." Scarlett winks at me and laughs at her own joke.

"Wow, didn't wait, huh!" My girlfriend speaks up as she enters the room to see everyone stuffing their face.

"Rose didn't wait!" I exclaim. "Rose is a child," Y/N says into my ear as she sits down next to me. I see she turned her phone off? "How's your mom?" Y/N looks at me and then at the other people in the room who don't see it. "She's good. She's happy I called." Y/N smiles at me, but she has something in her eyes. "She's seeing Davey today." I place a hand on her back before nodding along. "We don't have to-" Y/N places a hand on my thigh and give sit a squeeze. "Thank you." Y/N begins digging into her food, and I smile because I made the special waffles I made the first night she stayed with me. I look up to see Scarlett already looking at me with a big smile.

The rest of breakfast goes on with some small talk here and there, and by the end of it, everyone is full. Colin talked about how much he loved WandaVision while Scarlett teased Y/N about her love for Black Widow. I made sure remind the other adults know that Y/N has only seen up to the first Avengers, which made Scarlett comment about how much she'll love Natasha in the Winter Solider.

Without meaning to, I'm pretty sure I was giving Scarlett, Wanda's death glare because then Y/N was in my ear telling me that I'm hers.

Scarlett noticed and smirked at our interaction and made sure to ease up on the flirtatious teasing. But this won't stop her forever.

After breakfast was cleaned up and put away, Rose brought down her coloring book and colored pencils for Y/N and her to continue drawing. About half an hour later, Y/N and Rose made some fridge-worthy art. Now I know Colin isn't ushering us out the door, but I know he has something planned for Scarlett's Mother's Day, so we shouldn't intrude.

Scarlett and I had to convince a pouting Rose that Y/N and I would be back. Y/N made a pinky promise to Rose that someday they could have a day together. Rose called it Y/N Day! That seemed to make everyone happy, so we soon gathered everything we needed, including phones, water, and clothes from last night, before making our way to the waiting car.

Y/N POV

How has today already been so eventful? It's not even noon. Is this what having kids is like? Is this what being married is like?

I look to my Liz, who has her phone in her hands, furiously typing away.

"What's up?"

Liz briefly looks over at me.

"Liz?" I ask, more concerned. She clears her throat and looks back at me. "Sorry, I'm catching up on a lot. The HBO show. Some WandaVision stuff. My team is asking me to do Hot Ones next month. Sorry. Let me do this stuff, and then I'm all yours!" She gives me a proud smile before it disappears as she dives back into her phone.

I just nod along. Sometimes I forget how much work her job can be. It's not just filming a thing, and then you're done. There's so much behind-the-scenes stuff. Liz has done a great job at trying to keep it out of view from me. But she shouldn't have to. I'm a big girl. I mean, yeah, I could sit back and look pretty while she handles things, but I don't want her to look or be as stressed as she seems right now.

"Is there anything I can help with?"

"Not at the moment. But thank you." Liz says without looking up from her phone. Maybe asking her while she's in the middle of working isn't the best time.

Well, while she's on her, I guess I can be on mine.

I turn on my phone, surprised to find it still working. The battery life says it's at 17%, but who knows how much time that actually means-

Wait.

Who are all of these people?

On my lock screen are hundreds upon hundreds of Instagram notifications. Some things from Twitter. Was my name trending? I have dozens of texts from Sam, Max, and MK. Tons of missed calls and texts from unknown numbers. All of this has been in the past hour.

I'm unsure what's happening, but I can feel the blood leaving my body. I feel my throat closing, but at the same time but stomach is telling me I'm going to throw up.

I turn to Liz, and she's on the phone. When did this happen? How long has she been talking?

"Liz?"

She doesn't hear me.

"Liz?" I say louder.

She turns to me, and I see the gloss over her green eyes. She bites the bottom of her lip before she ends the phone call with whoever it was.

"Lizard, please, what's going on?" Liz swallows and puts her head in her hands. She's mumbling, and I quite make out exactly what's she saying. I take off my seat belt and put my butt in the middle seat.

Liz lift her head to me. She's on the verge of breaking. She places her shaky hands into my own.

"Liz?"

Liz's phone starts going off. When did she turn the ringer back on?

"Liz."

The phone keeps ringing.

The more it rings, the smaller this car feels. I look at Liz, and she is so close but so far.

Liz closes her eyes, squeezing a tear down her cheek.

"I- I'm... we've been outed..."

"Oka-"

"They-"

Liz stops.

All of her stops. Her breathing. Her shakiness. Her.

And then she opens her fucking beautiful green eyes.

"We can't be together."

A/N: Hey, besties... So what a good chapter, right? Scarlett and Rose! Colin isn't an asshole. All in all, some good stuff. Nothing stressful or full of drama, right guys?

Part 21

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superthatguy62 · 3 months

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top 5 ffs?

Oh, hello.

Just as a warning, I have yet to go through the post 5 FF games to a significant degree, so I'll be including some spinoffs:

5: Final Fantasy Explorers

I haven't played... well, any Monster Hunter-type games, so FFE was my first taste of it, and you know what? I enjoyed it. I played it on single-player, so it was essentially "Beastmaster: The Game" and the bosses were still fun enough. Also it probably has one of my top 5 favorite Big Bridge remixes and some of the music (particularly the general boss theme and Odin's theme) are highlights for me.

4: Final Fantasy Tactics

It clears the 'higher-than-you'd-expect' hurdle of me being able to actually play a decent amount of a strategy game and is generally fun to boot. I got up to Chapter 3 before the random encounters started kicking my ass enough to discourage me from continuing (though the fights towards the end of chapter 2 really tested my patience), though said encounters didn't help by me playing the PSP version with its magic/animation slowdown. By all accounts, I should probably go for the GBA/DS games since those lack permadeath (albeit with a very different tone plotwise), but I still intend to try out the PS1 version of the first game and hopefully not grind myself into a corner.

3: Final Fantasy 2

Yes, this. FF2's 'quirky' and 'complicated', but I dig the story, the gameplay once your characters actually get built up and just general setting. It's also to read the supplementry material and other notes on what could have been: It really shows that the devs were putting some thought into the story and its a shame how some elements didn't translate properly. It's the type of game where it gets better the more you know of how it works. That said the dungeon design alone holds this back fiercely, especially in the PSP's Arcane Labyrinth (Darkness floor, my beloathed). Speaking of which, the bonus content for this game is probably some of the better such content of these re-releases.

2: Final Fantasy 3

Wow, what a surprise.

FF3 is basically the video game equivalent of "it could be that deep" in my eyes. Because you don't have any of those fancy "Materias", "GFs", Magicites" or even abilities to carry over like in FFV and FFT, you need to team build your way through whatever the game throws at you. Again, FF3 is one of those games that gets better when you have more an idea of what to expect: Getting thrown into a mini-dungeon early on is annoying, but its less so when you have mages prepared ahead of time to either magic their way through or play "pass the Fire Rod that the devs conveniently added". The world isn't fully developed, but the nuggets you can find are interesting, especially the whole duality concept and the existence of the World of Darkness.

But this is also the same guy who has spent however many years obsessing over this game, so you know. Feel free to add some salt to this opinion.

As for why this isn't higher, it's because my image of this game has been ruined by my obsession, and there I feel there is no "definitive" version. All three versions are playable (yes, even the remake) and enjoyable (yes, even the remake), but all have enough pros and cons that I can't fully say one is better than the others. It's the kind of game that feels like it has yet to reach its full potential and I unfortunately don't think there are many people, at least in the west, who would care even if it did. 3's always been the overshadowed game. After all, FF5 is right there. And, oh hey, speaking of...

1: Final Fantasy 5:

Not quite a basic answer, but still a not-uncommon one, I feel. I was very late to the FF5 party, only playing it when the PR came out and not even experiencing it through osmosis like I did with FF6, and while my obsession with 3 means that it will never overcome that bias, I can easily see why people consider it to be the gameplay peak of the Nintendo-era, if not 6. It builds on what 1 and 3 started and the job combos can be fun to play with. That said, I'll admit that part of my ranking it so high is a particularly impressive mod known as "Custom Classes", which allows you to swap out basically all of the commands, meaning that you can carry over more than one skill between jobs. I haven't finished a full playthrough of CC yet, but between that and the reasons I gave for FF3, I'll be willing to give the edge to 5 over it.

Also, 5 gave us Gilgamesh and ExDeath (and indirectly eScape, and therefore The Twinning).

Honorable Mentions:

Dissidia (012): I don't know how to feel about this game. Settingwise: I love the ways it expands the FF1 mythos, but I hate how WoL is a manikin and what that implies for the rest of the FF1 party. It gave me my favorite portrayal of Garland, but it also gave me Onion Knight, whom I resent for sidelining Luneth's party in later crossovers. Even gameplaywise, I like the general gameplay, at least on paper, but I think I get far frustrated with it more than I would with a normal fighting game. Yet, I keep playing or get the urge to keep playing. Maybe it deserves to be on the list? Maybe it doesn't?

Final Fantasy VIII: I haven't gotten far in FFVIII (I finished the Dollet mission) but what I've played so far feels promising as far as my first PS1-era FF goes (some perfectionism on my part aside). Junctioning is an 'interesting' mechanic, but I think I like it. I need to get the hang of Triple Triad, but I can understand how people get hooked on it.

Final Fantasy Dimensions: Albeit with the mother of all asterisks: This is here mostly for the 'idea' than the execution right now. Like the other FFT games, I do have it ready for play, I just haven't gotten around to it, because when I play games on my phone, it's usually the gatchas that I'm stockholm syndrome'd to playing right now and it's rare for me to not be playing at least 2 at a time. At some point I do want to get around to actually playing it, but until it gets like a steam release or something, it'll be one of those "get to it eventually" type games.

Final Fantasy: Admittedly, it has been ages since I played through FF1 (relatively speaking) compared to every other game on this list aside from FFE, so I don't know how much mention it merits. But I'll put it here anyway.

#asks #Final Fantasy #opinions

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asena-graywolf · 1 year

Text

Be Up All Night At Door

You had to work until late at night. The computer had been on his lap for hours and his engine was overheated from long work. You could feel the heat of the engine in your lap.

You felt a tiredness in your eyes and thought that a little tea break would be good for you.

In fact, the reason for working so hard was not just the reports you had to produce. Because of an argument you had with your boyfriend, you hadn't answered his calls or texts for several days. He was still texting and calling. He kept saying that if you didn't answer him, he would come to your door as a last resort.

The reason you were arguing was that Kuro spends more time playing volleyball than usual these days. Therefore, he neglected both you and your relationship. Whenever you wanted to meet him, he always had work to do with the Nekoma team. You were out of patience now and you couldn't hold back your anger any longer and you lashed out at your boyfriend.

You both said hurtful words to each other. It was you who said, "Let's not see each other for a while if possible". But that sentence Kuro said in return broke your heart even more.

“Let's not talk. I can handle my work more easily. At least there won't be someone who constantly nags at me"

After a week, you hadn't said a word to each other. You had been separated. But afterward, Kuro was indescribably regretful.

He was constantly texting you how sorry he was, apologizing every minute.

You never responded to his messages, after a while Kuro's apology messages became so annoying that you almost decided to block him. For some reason something was keeping you from blocking his number from your phone.

Even the possibility of ending your relationship crossed his mind. Because you were almost on the way to ending your relationship. Until that night

You went to the kitchen and put water in the kettle and boiled it. Then you put a cup of green tea in a bag. After mixing sugar in your tea, you listened to the torrential rain outside.

It was spring rain. It was your favorite weather

Unfortunately, your enjoyment was interrupted by a knock on the door. The clock was showing 02:00 at night. Who would come at this hour?

Whoever came, what right did you have to disturb them in the middle of the night?

Anxiety and some fear arose in him. You slowly approached the door. You looked through the peephole. It was Kuro who came to your door. This kid was insane. He was really serious when he said "I'll come to your door"

Even though you wanted to pretend you weren't home, it was in vain.

“Y/n! Open the door, I know you're inside. I saw it coming. The house lights were on. Please open this door and let's talk"

You flatly refused

"No! Get out of here, Kuro. Neighbors will hear. You have no right to disturb anyone in the dead of night!”

Kuro knocked on the door

“Y/n. I beg you open. I need to see you. Let's just talk. I want you to listen to me for a minute. Then I'll go if you want and I won't bother you again. Please just listen to me"

“I said go, Kuro. I will not say it again. Because of you, I'm going to be a disgrace to the whole apartment. I guess you don't want them cursing behind my back"

“All I can think about right now is you y/n. I have nothing on my mind but you. Y/n…I love you. I didn't sleep every day without cursing myself for hurting you. I'm a vile man. Maybe I didn't deserve a person like you. But I'm really begging you. Please forgive me. Hurting you is the last thing I want in life. I never wanted you to be sad"

Kuro's voice trembled. You felt like you had a stake in the middle of your chest. Both of you were hurting

“I admit y/n. I am the only one responsible for what happened to us. I shouldn't have said that word to you. You didn't deserve this. I'm very regretful. I made my decision. I will wait at your door until you forgive me. I'll be here in the morning if necessary"

Your patience was starting to run out.

“Look how you are, Kuro! You should have thought of that before you broke my heart.”

Kuro knocked harder on the door

“Y/N…damn! I hate myself! I'm a vile bastard! Don't do that, please. Enough that I miss you so much. Please forgive me, lemme go inside. Lemme hug you like in the old days."

“Go and hug the volleyball ball. Damn Kuro! The whole apartment heard our voice! I am disgraced because of you! Get out of my door or I'll call the police"

“Y/N!”

The last word you heard from him was your name. He had been felt like crying. Even you didn’t pay no attention. You went inside and continued to work at an intense pace.

You fell asleep, unable to keep your eyelids open any longer than the last time you were tired.

When you wake up in the morning, you realize that you don't even remember how you fell asleep. Everything that happened last night crossed his mind within seconds of waking up.

Could Kuro still be at your door? Or had he given up and left? There was a torrential rain last night and when she got to your door he was soaked.

Even though you were angry with him, you worried that he might be sick.

As soon as you got out of bed, you went to the door. You didn't dare to open it up.

Gathering all your courage, you slowly opened the door and as soon as you opened it you were met with Kuro lying on the mat. You were so angry with him for putting yourself in this situation.

You nudged him to wake him up

“Kuro! Hey! Wake up!"

Kuro muttered and opened his eyes.

“Huh? Y/n?”

"Damn! You fool! What sanity are you lying on the mat?”

“You didn't let me in. Also, didn't I tell you that I won't be leaving your door until you forgive me?"

You sighed nervously.

"Ok! Get in there you idiot"

Kuro got up from the ground. You moved to the side of the door to let him in, and you let him in.

As soon as she walked in, Kuro hugged her tightly around her neck. He buried his head in your neck and inhaled your scent.

“I missed you so much, you know? Please tell me you forgive me"

You raised your hands to rest on his back when you remembered you were still angry with him.

“I'm only worried about you right now, Kuro. You're chilled! You're gonna be sick!"

"Can we stay like this for a while?" ' he asked, without breaking his breath.

Your heart slowly began to soften. You were so close to forgiving him

“If you want it that much…I'll warm you up in bed. You need warming up. I can't let you get sick"

He suddenly stopped hugging you and grabbed you by the shoulders.

“Does that mean you forgive me?” he asked excitedly

"What else would it mean, idiot!" you said patting your chest

"I can't live without you Kuro"

“God! i love you y/n. It's hard for me to even breathe without you. Welcome back to my life darling"

He kissed her on the forehead and you smiled at her

"Come on. Let's go to bed. Get some sleep too"

"Okay" he said smiling at you

You went to bed together. Kuro took off his clothes. He was left in only his underwear and t-shirt.

You hit the space next to the bed. Kuro got under the covers and lay down next to you. He pulled you to his chest and started playing with your hair

When you played with your hair you started to mash and muttered

“Kuro…sleep now my love”

He kissed the top of your head

“I'm going to sleep too now baby. It's so nice to sleep with you. Your bed is cozy too. Just like you"

If you had answered, you would have woken up. Instead, you snuggled closer to your boyfriend's chest and you both fell into a peaceful sleep after a long time, each other's scent and warmth.

#hq x y/n #haikyuu x imagines #haikyuu!!#hq x reader #haikyuu x reader #kuro tetsuro #kuro tetsuro x y/n #kuro tetsuro x you #kuro tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsuro fanfiction #kuroo tetsuro x y/n #kuroo tetsuro imagine #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsuro x you #haikyuu kuroo #kuroo tetsuro scenarios #haikyuu imagines

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msmargaretmurry · 7 months

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hi there! you've mentioned one thing you're pretty good at is pacing and i always enjoy the way you talk about craft. would you mind getting a little into how you pace stuff and how you know things are working/not working regarding that?

hello anon! i'm so flattered that you came to me to ask! i would be happy to talk about pacing! ❤❤

i will get the most obvious and most annoying advice out of the way first: write a lot and read a lot. like any skill, you get better at writing the more you practice! in my experience, the more stories you write, the more you just kind of develop a sense for where the beats of a story should go, and developing a narrative arc or character arc becomes more second nature.

with reading, i do honestly think that just reading a lot without even being that critical about it is helpful, but obviously reading with pacing in mind is best if that's what you're working on! i pay so much attention to pacing in books i read because bad pacing is so annoying to me. i have more patience for it in fic, because we're all just having fun here, but in published books i'm like, buddy wtf was your editor doing 😂😭

anyway, reading for pacing! just pay attention to if the story feels rushed (what do you think is missing? what beats don't feel earned and what do you think would fix that?) or feels like it's dragging (what do you think could be omitted from the story without losing essential information or development? are thematic or character beats being repeated unnecessarily?) or if it feels well-paced — finding that balance between keeping you engaged in what's on the page in front of you and interested in/anticipating what's going to happen next — and then you can pay attention to what is happening at what points in the story, and think about how it wouldn't have worked as well if you learned certain information later, or if those characters kissed sooner, or if the story spent more time on x instead of y.

also, read the kind of thing you want to write. if you want to write short things, read short stories! ditto longer stories, read novels or novellas. pacing is similar across the board but the length of the story definitely affects it! when i'm talking about pacing i'm generally talking about my long fics, if that is helpful context.

but i know none of that is really helpful if you're working on a story RIGHT NOW!!! so. some thoughts on pacing while i'm writing!

firstly, i'm not a detailed outliner, but i do keep a loose story structure/beat sheet that i sometimes fill in ahead of time and sometimes fill in as i go, to help keep myself on track and to keep the overall shape of the story in mind. there are a lot of different ways to structure a story, so if you're not familiar with beat sheets, do a little googling and find one that you feel like fits your story and/or jives with your writing style. if you're writing something with a strong romance arc, i definitely recommend specifically looking at romance novel beat sheets or romance plot outline guides! just remember that you never have to adhere religiously to the beat sheet if it feels like it's limiting your story 💖

usually my own writing process goes something like this: i write the first chunk of story (10–20k ish) with little to no planning, then take a break and see how what i have maps onto the beat sheet, and think about how the story i've started might hit future plot beats. if i have concrete ideas of scenes i'll pencil them in, and go back to discovery writing. rinse and repeat every 10–20k words.

a process similar to that might or might not work for you — maybe you're much more of a planner, and that's fine! you gotta find what works for you, and sometimes that takes some trial and error!!

another thing for me with pacing is that if i'm trying to write a scene and it feels forced, or it feels really hard to write, there's probably something wrong with it. often the thing wrong is that i'm trying to get my characters to do something that i haven't earned for them yet. which means i'm either going to have to go back and fix something to better build up to the current moment, or (and this is what i do most often) figure out a new goal for the scene that gets the development a step closer to what the original intent of the scene was, and push that plot beat or character moment further down the line. i do think it probably takes some practice to learn to tell the difference between "this scene is hard to write because there's something wrong with it" and "this scene is hard to write because writing is just hard today" but i promise there is a difference! 💕

i wrote some about keeping track of ideas and plot threads in long stories here, which i think is also helpful for this topic. especially wrt keeping track of subplots and stuff, and ESPECIALLY with the stuff about giving characters the space they need. i truly do know the temptation to push on through so you can finish the story faster, trust me, but having the patience to NOT force it can really help with pacing.

i can't remember where i originally learned about it, but i think about the rule of threes a fair amount when i'm writing. that is, if something is important and you want the reader to pay attention to it/expect something from it, say it or show it or allude to it three times. foreshadowing clues, character traits, etc. not a hard and fast rule but useful to keep in mind!

it also must be said that obviously i'm not perfect at any of this. i do think it's one of my strengths as a writer but we all make mistakes and i am definitely still learning and growing!! so once again this is where having a good and trusted beta reader comes in. sometimes you are truly just so deep in your story that you can't tell that the pacing is wonky and you need someone to tell you so you can fix it!

my final little piece of advice here is that if you're writing something long, don't rush the ending. an abrupt ending can definitely be used effectively, especially in shorter works, but in long stories it often leaves the reader wanting. i've read so many books this year that i was really enjoying and then they ended and i was like, well i would have loved another 30–50 pages to properly wrap all that up! i think this especially happens in fanfic, which is so relationship-centric, that fics end super fast after the couple gets together, when sometimes there was a lot of other stuff going on in the story that could use some tlc in the denouement. or, if it's been a long and feelingsy journey for our lovers to get to their happy place, having just a little bit of them actually navigating that happy place and all the baggage they dragged in there with them can be SO nice and cathartic. obviously once again not a hard and fast rule — all stories are different and need different things and that's beautiful!! — but something i like to keep in mind ❤

i hope this was helpful and good luck with your writing!! 💖

#ask #writing

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offrozenmemoirs · 7 days

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"It's funny, you know. When I first laid eyes on you at the tower, I thought of you, a dragon, as just some beast. Nothing more than some proud mongrel with an inflated ego."

It's ever so clear that Orchidus hasn't at all inherited his otherworld counterpart's charm - but as he drags a pocket knife across a length of wood to fletch an arrow, the elf's eyes remain closed in meditative sincerity. It's almost like he's not expecting to get knocked on the head for that comment.

"When the idea occurred to me, when we met after the fact, that there was even the most remote possibility you could be interested in me, I... truthfully, I scoffed. It was unthinkable to me that we could ever share a place in the hearts of one another that wasn't choked by bitterness. Now, though... now that I've seen who you've become and what you're struggling with, and Maisie too... I've had a realisation."

All that time in the tower, I laughed at the idea that you should be worthy of me. It's taken me this long to see... I should have been asking whether I was worthy of you."

Unprompted Asks || Always Accepting! @ofthescatteredstars

Makoto listens to the other's words, watching as he fletches his arrow, and a brief look of annoyance flashes across Makoto's face as he hears the other considered him little more than someone with an overinflated ego. As much as he would hate to admit it, part of him is fond of Orchidus, even if it's more or less in a physical manner, with the tiniest bit of emotional fondness as well. Even if the other could be rather annoying with how hard he was trying to make up for his first impression. It's nothing that couldn't be dealt with in time, and with patience.

"Hm. Normally, I'd give you a swat with my tail after those words, but I suppose for now, I'll let the first part of that slide. However, don't mistake yourself as being unworthy. I despise when someone thinks they aren't worthy of my presence. If you weren't worthy, I wouldn't be making the effort to befriend you."

Makoto's tail sways slightly, before it maneuvers around to slide underneath the other elf's chin, tilting his head up to look at him.

"Were you unworthy, I certainly wouldn't have let you stay in my room and share my bed with me. Of course, part of me wants to ruin you and have you crying on your knees...But I like to think that'll happen once we take the next step in whatever we are."

Makoto doesn't love very easily, but giving himself to someone who he's slightly fond of, even if as sad as it sounds, out of a desire of closeness, to another who could understand him in a way...It would be welcome.

"Of course, I suppose I would want our first time to be more than a little romantic. I don't want it to be something done out of the heat of the moment...Nor do I want it to be a result of us simply being glad to be alive. For now, darling, I suppose I'll have to satisfy myself with your lap and fleeting kisses, hm?"

#ofthescatteredstars #canto d'inverno (in character; makoto)

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psychewritesbs · 9 months

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I'm waiting for what happens next with megumi's character to decide whether I like the yorozu vs sukuna fight. I could really see myself liking it if he plays it off by showing us the tragedy of how tsumiki's death was made a mockery considering reggie's curse, and how he couldn't even have a last talk with her you know? It still surprises me that he's one of the few who didn't at least speak to his loved one before they died and for now, how tsumiki and her relationship to megumi was done still seems lazy to me. In addition, i think if tsumiki was always dead from the beginning of the story and we knew of that, it would have settled more for me because then megumi really was a fool for chasing an impossible goal, and you know maybe we would be given some flashbacks of the kind of person she was, but at least i wouldn't think she was wasted as much now. Personally, the fact that he wants this story to end does have me worried for how he'll handle these characters, and he's valid in wanting it since his conditions probably aren't good, but well, I can still dislike those choices he makes, but I do try to have the patience to continue reading anyway, and now that's on me lol

I do love that we saw him cry though. I don't care that he didn't do something like Maki or Yuji with fighting back, so that criticism doesn't bother me so much, but I love it because tsumiki was and still is his person and sometimes that's enough to make me emotional over him, but knowing why or when that started would have given it that good push. Plus, a character like megumi crying of all things hits me good, but I understand why people wouldn't like the moment, but I'm patient and considerate enough to wait to see how it plays out

My own wish, but I would love it if gege would delve into and point out how a lack of responsible adults in megumi's life who cared about the siblings' wellbeing affected how he grew up. I know tsumiki filled that role, but I feel that because she was a child too, there were gaps in how megumi's mind was shaped in the end because I do believe adults add value to the minds of children to guide and help them experience good and bad things you know. Plus, it seems more probable to me that megumi was never told words of wisdom from adults by the time hes a tween because how do you end up on that type of the morality scale with self sacrificial tendencies. Plus, Tsumiki, my girl, how did shouldering that weight make her feel. She was still a child too, so there must have been things she couldnt answer or do and end up frustrated as a result, so, I guess I want to know how it affected them both, but that's a dream

Also, I'm iffy on sukuna vs yorozu simply because I did not like how either of the two were written here. I personally felt annoyed with yorozu and her sayings and she felt so hollow to me. I know perhaps it was gege's intention, but I hated how bored sukuna was. He wasn't taking her seriously enough for me to care about what she said and did either, and he clearly has opinions over the topic of love and the such so it annoyed me how gege treated her like some joke when he could have had sukuna act more condescending, but still engaging with the topic to balance it out, but it felt like yorozu was talking to a wall. I don't even think he had to be interested with her, but having them both engage with this theme of love and loneliness could have led me to enjoy the fight more. But, again, if these were his intentions with the mockery and everything, I'll respect those choices anyways

YO! Welcome to JJK-Sunday Confessionals (published not on a Sunday). I have been getting asks from people telling me about how much they don't like jjk and I feel like I'm holding JJK-Sunday Confessionals as a result 🤣.

Ehem. First, I feel like I've rewritten my response several times. So as per usual, thanks for the patience. I also suck at time management (clearly), so.... again, thanks for your patience anon.

Second, thanks for stopping by and sharing your #thoughts. I agree with a lot, and not that I necessarily disagree with other things, I just feel like it comes back to personal taste and preference.

I think with how long it's taken me to answer your ask (soooorryyyyy), a lot of things have changed. Anyways, here we go.

Word vomit under the cut.

Re the whole ordeal with Tsumiki

I totally get where you're coming from because I personally still don't know how I feel about Tsumiki and what happened to her.

I mean... I can mental gymnastics the hell out of it as a way to make meaning of what happened honestly, have we met?, but in the end, I also wanted to know the real Tsumiki, not Megumi's imagination or perception of Tsumiki, but the flawed girl who got sucked into this mess.

I mean just look at how she's depicted in Megumi's memory:

She's surrounded by Japanese White Lilies (which symbolize purity) against a sparkly background, her cheeks are blushed... she's straight out of a Shojo manga.

Honestly, one of the things I love about Gege's character work is that his characters are flawed. As she stands, as a character, Tsumiki is an incredibly 1-dimensional, self-insert type character. So I can totally see why you feel like it was a lazy execution.

Not only did she get fridged, her role is also basically that of a plot device for Megumi's development. As a result, she's literally just this Sleeping Beauty whose ideal and morals have to be protected because, in Megumi's eyes, she can't do it herself. Her one flaw is nagging on Megumi because "she cares".

And this is not to hate on Tsumiki or Gege's writing... rather, I wonder if the audience never getting to see the real Tsumiki or get more insight into their relationship isn't part of THE point Gege is trying to make given Megumi's lack of psychoemotional maturity.

In other words, he fucked up royally when it comes to Tsumiki and he's not going to be able to fulfill his "fantasy" of being the Knight in shining armor that protects her and makes everything right by apologizing.

That's a though pill Megumi will have to swallow.

To your point of waiting to see more to make up your mind about Sukuna vs Yorozu, I get it.

But look at it this way.

I wonder if part of the reason people are not vibing with the manga as much anymore is because Gege is relying on irony quite a bit, and sometimes people don't vibe with it because it can be very deadpan.

That's just my best guess since I've noticed Gege seems to like using irony quite a bit.

Irony.

Thing is, you can think of how "poetic justice" failed to be served in Tsumiki's situation.

You have aaaaaaall of this crescendo, all of this lead up to saving Tsumiki--

from Megumi's monologues about his regret regarding his behavior towards her and wanting to apologize for it,

to Megumi manifesting a domain because he decided to challenge himself in a situation that directly involved trying to protect her,

To "Tsumiki" waking up because of Kenny,

to Megumi asking others to risk their lives to help him save her,

to Megumi's willingness to do whatever it takes to reach his goal including killing people,

to Tsumiki entering the colony so that she could declaring participation in the CG,

to BAM!

Irony.

As another example on irony in jjk, @linkspooky writes a lot about how characters who think of themselves as the hero/protagonist of the story get punished in jjk, and Megumi utterly and miserably failing to save Tsumiki is definitely a case of that.

Now, according to Writers.com, "irony occurs when a moment of dialogue or plot contradicts what the audience expects from a character or story."

I think it was expected that tragedy would happen at some point or another, but with all of that lead up that Gege set up regarding Tsumiki, and it looking like everything was going to work out in her favor, Gege delivered a heavy dose of irony when he said jk she's been ded 💀.

To your point about Megumi being the only one who didn't get to speak to her before she died unlike other characters, yes. I totally get you. I know several of us wanted to see him apologize to her.

What makes this tragic for me is that...

This is why earlier I said he fucked up royally when it comes to her. It sucks he didn't get to apologize to the real Tsumiki but.. sometimes in life there are no second chances no matter how much you want them. It's a harsh fact of life.

Is there a better character than Megumi who believes that life is unfair to have to face this particular predicament?

2. I love the panel above for several reasons. I have a propensity to overthink, right? And to me, this panel tells a story in the subtext. What if he did apologize but Yorozu was amused by him and just made a fool of him by pretending to be Tsumiki the whole time?

After all, Yorozu could have joined the Culling Game if she wanted to. Instead she played along for her own gain--she got enough points transferred and she used the points to set a rule that would benefit her and her goal of finding Sukuna.

Is all of this cope? Yeah totally 😂.

So anyways. If that helps you see a little deeper into what might have happened and change your mind about it, great; if not, then that's great too because now you know that no matter how much Mental Gymnastics anyone can spin, you don't like Gege's sense of irony.

On JJK ending soon

Personally, the fact that he wants this story to end does have me worried for how he'll handle these characters

OH MAI GAH! I'm assuming you've seen the announcement (from I think the editor) that there's still quite a bit of story left and how jjk is not ending any time soon... omg thank the anime gods!

There was a lot of people making fun of others for being freaked out about jjk's pacing and Gege announcing he wants to end the story "this year" but like... when the mangaka says "I want to finish this story this year" what am I supposed to think?

"Oh, he means to say he has a lot of story left so it most definitively won't be over before some date far into the future"?

NO!

I take the mangaka's words as fact ffs 😂.

Anyways. Please excuse the rant lol. Turns out this might happen quite frequently in the manga industry?

Ma 🍒, @justafrenchlondoner, kept telling me that something similar happened with Naruto but that the manga did not end within the expected timeline.

And not to long ago CLAMP announced that they are not ending Card Captor Sakura Clear Card just yet as they had previously announced.

THAT SAID.

I did share your concern. See... I think that Gege's announcement at the beginning of this year planted a seed in fandom's collective brain. As a result, some of us started perceiving jjk as moving faster than usual.

This is how powerful the power of perception is. Basically, we see the world as we are and not as it is.

This tells me that I need to be more self-aware about my expectations when I read jjk moving forward and I love that you share your own moments.

Megumi

Everything you said about Megumi. YES.

✅ I do love that we saw him cry though

✅ I don't care that he didn't do something like Maki or Yuji with fighting back

✅ I love it because tsumiki was and still is his person

✅ but knowing why or when that started would have given it that good push

✅ Plus, a character like megumi crying of all things hits me good

Ok.

Well, almost everything.

❌ I understand why people wouldn't like the moment

I refuse 😂.

I'll be petty all day long about it because I'm insufferable like that.

So I'm going to officially be obnoxious and gatekeep that moment as a very poignant execution of the event that would usher Megumi's growth. Symbollically, metaphorically, narratively blablabla.

To me, the people who don't like the moment for whatever reason, it just means people don't get Megumi.

Ok I'm done being insufferable and obnoxious.

In the end, it comes back to personal taste, right? 😂

To each their own lol.

ANYWAYS...

My own wish, but I would love it if gege would delve into and point out how a lack of responsible adults in megumi's life

I love this. All of it.

That's what I love about how Megumi is written. His backstory sort of tells you why he is who he is--his character walks a fine line between nature vs. nurture. It's like Gege gets Psychology or something.

So thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Fushigs being forced to grow up and how this experience shapes their sense of self.

Man, sometimes when the brainrot goes deep I get really emotional about Megumi. I swear.

Re: Sukuna vs. Yorozu: having them both engage with this theme of love and loneliness could have led me to enjoy the fight more

Yeah, Yorozu is just such a polarizing character. I can see why people don't like her, but I just found her amusing and loved how deluded she is.

I'm not sure if you know that in Sufism, being in love is another method of "enlightenment". Not sure if that's what Gege was going for, of course, but so far he's given us a nice little tour of comparative religion.

That said, it's nice to see this theme of love and loneliness come back around in chapter 230.

I think a lot of people are worried about the execution of it because when the topic of romantic love is brought up, people seem to think...

But romantic love is not love per se. Romantic love is the fireworks you see when you feel butterflies for the Beloved, sure, but it is really about inner divinity projected upon another human. jjk does not talk about divinity per se, but it does talk about the soul.

As the story continues to unfold, I like what Gege is saying about the love principle. Thing is, psychologically, an overwhelming sense of self does not allow for the relational principle to flourish because ego is by default "separate from" and does not see itself as part of a unifying force that includes the soul, which is itself part of the all (divinity).

Hope that made sense lol.

For that reason I think this motif will continue to unfold and I am curious how that will change Sukuna's character who has no regard for others as a result of an overwhelming sense of self.

Mind you, I don't think he'll become besties with anyone, I just want to see him realize there's a spiritual realm beyond hedonism and ego-driven pursuits... or whatever it is that Gege has in mind for him.

Anyways. That's my hc. Thanks for stopping by and my apologies once again. I need to get better at time management 😭.

#god i love jujutsu kaisen #ask the mental gymnastics anime girl

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overobsessedfanboy23 · 8 months

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Drawing With the Wind

YGO Rarepairs Week Submission

Day 3: Domestic Life

Pairing: Windy/Ryoken

Word Count: 777

Description: Ryoken does a drawing for a particularly fidgety and impatient subject.

“How long do I have to sit still like this?” Windy grunted, shifting in his spot on the couch. He wasn’t used to the SolTis body and was even less used to sitting still for long periods of time in it.

Ryoken looked up from his piece of paper. “Do you want this drawing to look good or not?”

“I want to snuggle,” Windy complained, his fingers digging into his jeans.

“We can snuggle after.” Ryoken squinted at his paper, brushing his pencil across one spot repeatedly. “Your hair in this new SolTis is very… unique, it’s hard to fully capture.”

Windy rolled his eyes. “Well, excuse me for feeling myself when I have bouncy swirly hair.” He fluffed up a piece of his hair.

“It’s not a crime. It’s just annoying to draw.” He looked up at Windy, their gazes locking for a moment before Ryoken looked back at his drawing. “Okay so that part swirls like that…” he muttered under his breath as he sketched.

“It’s cute huh?” Windy teased, twirling a piece of his hair in his finger. “And very soft too. Wanna feel it?”

Ryoken pulled his drawing into his chest as his face reddened. “Later.”

Windy moaned, leaning his head back against the couch. “Ryoken, I swear, when I get my hands on you I’ll… I’ll…” Windy trailed off, biting his lip.

Ryoken glanced up with a smirk. “You’ll what?”

“U-um…” Windy felt his face heat up at Ryoken’s tone. “I don’t know, but you hate love and affection so it’ll be torture to you.” He stuck his tongue out.

Ryoken huffed in amusement. “I don’t hate love and affection. And that hardly sounds like a punishment.”

“W-well…” Windy fidgeted with his hands. “Not an actual punishment, I don’t really want to hurt you. Just…” He grunted again. “Get revenge for being forced to sit still for so long.”

“You said yourself that first SolTis didn’t feel like you.” Ryoken squinted at his page as he drew. “So I’m drawing the one that does feel like you.”

“I know, and I’m grateful.” Windy’s fingers dug into the couch. “But it’s been hours! Can’t you take a break and let me snuggle you?”

“I’m almost done,” Ryoken insisted, not looking up from his paper.

“You’ve been saying that for like an hour!”

Ryoken bit his lip. “That was before I started drawing your hair.”

Windy groaned, tapping his feet against the ground.

Ryoken chuckled. “Don't worry, as soon as I'm done, I'll repay you tenfold for this transgression.”

“You'd better. I wanna… I'm gonna… ugh, I don't even know what I'm gonna do to you.”

Ryoken simply smiled and hummed as he continued drawing, stopping occasionally to observe Windy. Windy meanwhile could feel his patience and sanity dripping away. His boyfriend was right there, right across from him, casting teasing glances as though taunting him, so close yet he couldn’t get up to touch him. Well, he could, but Ryoken would insist he stay still so he could draw him. So Windy sat still. His fingers dug into the couch cushion and feet tapped the ground repeatedly and frantically.

“And…” With one last brush of his pencil, he put it aside. “Done… for now.”

“For now?!” Windy groaned and slumped over.

“Well I'd like to colour it at some point,” Ryoken replied holding the paper up, but keeping the side with the sketch on it turned to himself. “Now do you want to see it so far?”

Windy stood up. “Sure.”

He took a moment to stretch out his stiff arms before stepping closer to Ryoken, who'd turned the drawing around so Windy could see it. Instantly, Windy could recognize himself in the drawing. It had his same swirly hair and a bright smile and eyes, though the face was a touch too round. Windy decided not to comment on that.

“Great job, you're a super talented artist. It looks just like me. “Windy swooped Ryoken into his arms bridal carry style, making the man squeak in surprise. “Now can we please go cuddle?”

Ryoken smirked. “Tell me more.”

“Ryoken!”

Ryoken broke into a chuckle. “Seriously, do you appreciate the drawing?” He draped his arms over Windy’s shoulders, keeping his grip on the drawing. “I want to know. I did it for you after all.”

“Yes.” Windy kissed Ryoken’s cheek. “I do…” With a chuckle, he added. “I greatly appreciate your ways of showing love, my partner.”

Ryoken sighed a bit. He leaned closer to Windy's face, tilting his head to the side.

Windy instantly recognized this sign. Smiling, he leaned in as well and captured Ryoken's lips in a kiss.

#ygorarepairweek #ygorarepairweek2023 #bulletstormshipping #fanfiction #writing

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iloveyou-writers · 2 years

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Dear Writers Who...

go on and on about their ideas and writing,

You should never feel annoying or like you're too much. It's nice to see writers passionate about their ideas. It's fun to see the ideas develop as they go. It's like you're welcoming us into becoming part of your process and that is fun, not annoying. Be loud and proud about your ideas. It's a lot easier to be swept up into it that way.

keep their ideas to themselves until they are fully developed,

I don't know how you do it. You're remarkable to me. I could never come up with an idea and completely keep it to myself. I hope that the process really works for you, because it's kind of cool and mysterious and then suddenly BAM there's this whole new, crazy awesome idea being thrown out into the wild with no previous introduction, which is rather exciting. Just like :o I didn't even know you were working on another project what is this!?!?!? Keep doing what works for you, because I'm sure your readers love it either way <3

only write on occasion,

You may or may not be writing so occasionally by choice. If life is just getting in the way, I commend you for your patience. I hate when life gets in the way of my creativity, but you're doing it, so I commend you and I want you to know you're treasured. You're still a real and valid writer no matter how frequently you write. You don't have to be a daily writer for your writing to be amazing and to matter. <3

If you are doing it by choice to keep your mental health up, you're incredible and strong. It is so difficult to choose your health over your creativity. It can be so difficult. And sometimes what you need is self-care and for a lot of people, that's what writing is. But for some, it's stressful and hard but still enjoyable. And I commend you so much for choosing to put the writing aside when you need breaks. You go!

pressure themselves to write daily,

You really don't need to. I know a lot of writing advice on the internet argue otherwise when we say this, but it's truly true when we say that you need to take breaks when you need them. There is nothing healthy about forcing yourself to do something that's just a hobby when you don't want to. I get that writing is a passion and you may have readers you don't want to disappoint or that you want to keep updating, but they can wait. And y'know, if push comes to shove, you can always just update them with thoughts you have about the writing. You don't HAVE to work on putting words toward the WIP itself to be working on the writing. And maybe just developing the story or characters is creative enough to fulfill your need to create while not pressuring you to put words down, which might be mentally draining for you right now <3

There are tons of ways you can work on creative stuff for your writing without actually writing and it still counts as writing. <3 so just think about that rather than trying to force yourself to put words to a page.

🤍 H

PS: I'll probably make a part II to this post but this is just so long right now.

#writeblr #writing #writing encouragement #writing inspiration #writing motivation #writblr #writing tips #writing advice #dynamic encouragement dames

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justanotherstarlightmonger · 2 years

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Helsinki Chapter 6: Goodnight, oppa.

Helsinki syndrome is a term sometimes used incorrectly in place of Stockholm syndrome. It’s use in literature is often ironic and deliberate and literally means when a captive refuses to cooperate with their captor.

Summary: A war of wits does have some rules too. But if one party refuses to acknowledge the sacred rule of leaving family out of it, the other must retaliate stronger to quell any such advances for the future… Or at least that’s what Min Yoongi told himself when he abducted Kim Namjoon’s younger sister. That was before he realized that this elaborate game of chess didn’t have just two players and before he had promised Namjoon he’d keep her safe, But also before he realized that one month was enough to leave his whole life in chaos.

Genre: MAFIA AU, slight yandere themes, smut, a happy sprinkling of fluff/comfort, and a truckload of ANGST.

WARNINGS: Gunplay

Pairing: Main pairing: Mafia!MIN YOONGI X READER

Others include: Collegeboyfriend!Hosoek x reader + Mafia!Taehyung x reader + Kidnapper!Seokjin x reader.

Word count: 3.6k words

Previous II Ch 6 II next

Helsinki Navigation

Author's Masterlist

Feedback is always appreciated. Leave a comment, or let's talk in reblogs!

Taglist: @rosquilleta @parkdatjimin @gaeguuliii @bebejungkook @minniesvenus @themochiverse @darkafterhours13 @sugasbultornebae17 @silentkei @definetlythinkimanalien @zae007live

A/n: Updates may be delayed for a week or two, though I'll try to be punctual. I love you guys!! 💜

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

“How has Min not called yet? It’s been more than a day!” Namjoon ran his hands through his hands, clearly frustrated as he paced his head officer’s office.

“I understand that the situation is stressful Namjoon, but please have a seat, you’re disrupting the decorum.” the head detective said in a monotone voice.

“Decorum be damned. That scum took my sister!” Namjoon was at his wit’s end, but still he slumped back into a chair. “Why won’t you let me contact him myself?”

“Because we don’t want to make it seem like we’re desperate, detective. He took her, he’s sure to call. All I ask is some patience and a little bit of faith.”

“But I AM desperate. That’s my little sister. I’m supposed to protect her, sir. What kind of brother does that make me?”

“Trust me, Namjoon.”

“Trust you and stay here like a sitting duck while he could be torturing her as we speak?” Namjoon got sickening goosebumps at the thought alone.

“Min Yoongi is the scum of the earth, but even he wouldn’t hurt a hair on a woman’s head. That’s a rule he abides by that you’re familiar with.”

Namjoon nodded half-heartedly. What a sick twist of faith that he had to place his faith in the mercy in Min Yoongi’s heart, the most merciless man he had known in all his years of service.

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

“But I’m perfectly comfortable in these pajamas. It’s not like I’m going to be going out anytime soon!” you screamed from behind your door at Mrs. Fen, who stood outside, on the receiving end of another tantrum after suggesting that you should tell her your sizes so that she could get you some clothes to wear.

“Fine then, let her roam around like that. Get her a couple more pairs of those pajamas though, because I wouldn’t put it past her to roam around in the same pair like a little hermit.” Yoongi said absentmindedly, when Mrs Fen came to him with this latest problem.

It felt like Yoongi had suddenly adopted a moody little kid, even when Taehyung was a teenager, he’d been better than this. Mrs. Fen had come to him twice in two days, asking something that wasn’t related to what he’d like for a meal that day. How annoying. He should really get on with that phone call to Kim Namjoon. He must be ripping his hair out at this rate. This stupid new deal had to go through before that happening though, that was the whole point. He had to get a massive shipment of firearms moved from Seoul to Hong Kong, and another one had to be flown out from Ilsan to California, and if Namjoon didn’t get off his tail for at least a month, both these multi million dollar shipments would cost Yoongi alot of time and money.

Hence, he needed to deliver a good scare, and show of power so that the wild cats which were the Seoul PD, would calm down somewhat.

The said scare though, was being a royal pain in the ass. Speaking of which, where was she?

He asked Mrs. Fen as much.

“Oh. I think she really likes sitting outside under the ginkgo trees. She was there yesterday evening too, and I just saw her leave from the back door. She’s probably out in the garden again.”

Yoongi nodded, interested. “Should I go talk to her?” he asked, before realizing what he was saying.

“Um... if that’s what you’d like. Though, I can’t say she’ll indulge in any riveting conversation with you, given the state of affairs between you both and the situation you seem to be in.”

Mrs. Fen was quite perceptive. Yoongi nodded, dismissing her and rising from his chair, looking out into the garden. Sure enough, he saw a small figure in maroon silk pajamas, sitting under the trees with her back rested against the bark of one, running her fingers through the grass, occasionally ripping some out.

What an interesting creature.

Yoongi was out the door before he thought about what he’d say to her. Conversation was something that never came easy to him. He guessed he’d figure it out as it went.

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

It was not going well.

You hadn’t said a word when Yoongi came and stood over you for an awkward moment. Had refused to register him when he asked you if he could sit with you. And had ignored him when he sat right opposite to you.

It was when he lowly said, “You should let me buy you some clothes.” when you felt you could snap at him. Even then Yoongi only got a mumbled, “No Thank you.” from you.

He frowned, his forehead wrinkling slightly. Were you being difficult on purpose, or were you really this moody?

“Um... why is that?” he egged.

You snapped your head towards him, that fire that seemed to be reserved only for him, shining through again. “Well, I was buying myself some clothes when I was rudely interrupted by a manner less thug.” you spat.

Yoongi was too stunned to speak. Then a strange constriction seemed to crawl up his chest. A laugh bubbled out of him, shocking you into being completely still, shoulders raised.

Min Yoongi was laughing?

At you?

Anger bubbled inside you, threatening to explode and blow off his head along with it. “You’re so incredibly rude, Min.” you huffed, rising swiftly and stomping off towards the house, grumbling curses and “Can’t even let me be alone”s before you heard hurried footsteps following you.

Oh, so now he was chasing you too? Fear overtook your body as you screeched and ran forwards, running away in zig zags further into the lawn rather than into the house as you initially intended to. Pleasantly surprised, Yoongi gave chase.

From inside, Mrs. Fen’s eyebrows had disappeared into her hairline, but a fond smile played on her lips. It had been so long since Yoongi had acted even half his age.

“Why are you running?” he screamed.

“Why are you chasing?” you screamed back over your shoulder as the soft grass cushioned your bare feet and the wind tossed your hair back.

It didn’t take the long legged man much time to catch up, cutting past you and coming to a stop in front of you. You stopped, bending over, grabbing your sides and gasping at the exertion.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean that.” you were quick to mumble, eyes trained on his boots that were slightly soiled after the impromptu excursion.

Yoongi shrugged, though you probably couldn’t see it. “I mean you’re not wrong.” his words were also quipped as if he was also catching his breath.

Chest heaving and a soft smile forming on your lips, you met his eyes for the first time that day without the thick blanket of resentment over them.

Yoongi met your smile, something tugging inside him. He had known you were cute. With your big eyes and round face and slight amused expression. You were quite smaller than him too. He was well aware that he would be very intimidating to you. A flashback of those same eyes, wide with fear and brimming with tears shot through his mind and he almost scolded himself before reminding himself that he only did what had to be done.

He took an unconscious step towards you, not realizing it until it was too late. The smile on your face disappeared as if it had never existed, as you flinched and took a defensive step back, eyes closed and shoulders hunched, as if expecting a blow. Yoongi’s eyes widened, and he was sure his heart had just broken cleanly into two.

The blood thundered in your ears, as every nerve stood on attention for a strike that never came. Slowly, you opened your eyes, peeking up at the man who still stood where he was a moment ago. You realized you had mistaken his intentions by a ridiculous margin when you saw the concern and hurt on his face.

“Y/n...” that was the first time he had ever called your name, and it was oh so soft, almost like a fond whisper rather than a call to attention. Heat rose to your cheeks as you avoided his gaze, looking at the trees, the bushes, the grass, his shoes, his hands, anywhere but his face. “Do I scare you?” he sounded hurt.

You shrugged, having nothing to say and embarrassed beyond belief. You wished you could actually run up, back to the sanctuary of your room that you could lock and never step out again. But, you were positive Yoongi would just catch up again, especially now that he had a question he wanted answered.

“I...” he had no idea what to say. “I’m not gonna hurt you.” he said, his voice still deceivingly low and void of all danger.

“You kinda already did, Min.” you looked up at him, truth in your eyes. They held no animosity towards him, not in this moment, as he could see, yet somehow that was even worse.

But before he could answer, you had turned your back to him and had walked away. He saw you go back in the house, silently closing the door behind you, shutting out the light that had streamed forth, leaving him alone, with his thoughts.

This would be an interesting night.

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

Something kept interrupting your sleep. You tossed and turned and rolled over, hugging your comforter and then tossing it off. What is that noise?

Ok, so Yoongi could explain why he was standing outside y/n’s door at 2 am. But he’d explain as soon as the little pest decided to open the goddamn door. He had knocked twice already. How much of a heavy sleeper was she?

Ugh.

“Y/n?” he called out, “Could you open the door please?” he knocked again.

You sat up, willing your eyes to focus to the dark in your room. You heard the knock again. Was the person in the next room knocking the wall again? “What the hell?” you mumbled.

You cleared your throat, swinging your legs off the bed, “Um...Yoongi?” your voice was a little hoarse, but audible enough.

“Y/n?” Yoongi’s voice drifted over, from the direction of the door. Squinting, you saw the usual light from the corridor being blocked by someone standing outside. Why was Yoongi here at this time?

Wait, what time was it, it’s not like you had a phone to check it on, and it was too dark to check the clock on the wall.

The shadow behind the door shuffled but didn’t answer. Your heart thudded in fear. Who was it? You stepped closer to the door.

“Min?” you whispered, louder this time, “Is that you?”

“Yeah, could you open up?” he replied, putting you at ease, ironically.

You unlocked the door, throwing it open, “Oh thank God.” you breathed.

A confused expression played across his face, “Who did you think it was?”

You shrugged, “Someone dangerous.”

“Excuse you, I am dangerous.” he feigned hurt.

You rolled your eyes, “I guess that means I’m going back inside then.” before stepping back and closing the door. Yoongi’s foot was quick to find it’s way right in between the frame before it could shut though, his gaze challenging as he met yours.

“There’s no one dangerous here, that would dare to hurt you. I hope that’s clear.”

You gulped. “But what are you doing here. What time is it anyways?”

“It’s a little past 2. Come with me.” he answered and was swift to turn around and move towards the stairs.

“Come with you...where? Hey Min!” you called after him, to no avail as he had already begun going down. “Ugh” you grumbled and followed him.

He led you to the living room, sitting on one of the lavish couches and putting his slipper clad feet on the coffee table. Something told you Mrs. Fen wouldn’t approve of this behavior but you merely frowned before sitting on the opposite couch, well across the room from him.

“Well? Why are we here instead of in our respective hope--” you stuttered and stopped. Hoseok had always called his dreamland as ‘HOPE-WORLD’ and you had picked up a habit of calling your sleep cycle ‘Being in my hope world’. Your heart thudded with that sorrowful pang of guilt that would hit you often.

Yoongi, who had noticed your stammer was watching you intently, probably hoping you’d complete your statement. When you remained quiet, he sat up straighter.

“Well, I was going to place a very special phone call, and I thought maybe you’d like to be here for it.”

Excitement spiked through you, as well as a healthy amount of fear. “A-are you gonna call my brother?” you asked.

“Quite perceptive of you.” Yoongi nodded.

You felt your stomach do a sick flip and felt a wave of nausea hit you. What would he say? You would finally get to hear your brother’s voice, maybe even talk to him... but the smirk on Yoongi’s face suggested that he was in the mood to taunt and torture your brother. How would you handle that without either bursting out in tears or hitting Yoongi. Especially because the latter option was going to get in so much trouble with the man who had been quite tame till now.

“I- what if I don’t want to be here for that?” your tone had dropped drastically.

Yoongi looked at you, a foreign feeling toying with his heart. “Why?”

“I don’t want to hear Namjoon in distress.”

“Well...” he leaned back, biting the inside of his cheek, “I do need you to be here though. So I would suggest you suck it up.”

A flame of anger licked up your airways. What had you been expecting from him? Sympathy? How stupid of you. You swallowed the bile rising up your throat and calmed your thudding heart as Yoongi whipped out his phone and dialed a very familiar number.

“Hello?” a voice so painfully familiar yet so very exhausted that it made tears rise to your eyes, answered on the third ring.

“Kim Namjoon.” Yoongi’s voice was cold, his tone hard as a stone. This was the man who had captured you from under your brother’s nose, not the low key pleasant house mate you seemed to have been fooled into thinking he was in the past three days.

"Min Yoongi" Was it just you or had Namjoon's voice suddenly lost it's tired drawl and seemed much sharper. "So you finally decided to grow a pair and call me."

"Bold words coming from the man who's been running around like a dog chasing his own tail for the past three days, instead of searching for his oh so precious sister" Yoongi looked at you with a malicious glint in his eyes that had chills running through you.

" You should have left my family out of this. Don't you degenerates have some sort of code to not involve families. Especially women."

" You seem to know an awful lot about my rules Kim. Have you been researching me to join me? "

" You know damn well I'd choose death any day. Where's y/n?"

" Y/n? " Your name lingered on his tongue as his calculated, cold gaze held you captive, " Such a pretty name, isn't it?" You fidgeted. This was getting unbearable.

" Min, you touch a hair on her head and I'll make sure you have no hands." Namjoon suddenly sounded panicked. You half rose from your place, heart aching to let out some sort of sound to reassure your brother that you were indeed right here, and were alright.

But a shake of Yoongi's head had you questioning what to do, and as his thumb hovered over the end-call button, sensing your indecisiveness, you were back in your seat. That's when he let out a deep chuckle. There was no mirth in the sound. Only a taunt.

"I have her right here with me. And judging by the fact that she can't fucking stay still, I'm guessing she wants to talk to you..." Yoongi let the sentence hang in the air, let the frustration stew inside Namjoon, let the panic lick your heart.

"Would you like to talk to him pretty thing?" He asked you.

He tilted his head to the empty space next to him. You silently made your way there and sat yourself down before he handed you the phone, his mannerisms were gentle, despite the harsh tone he was putting on. That's what was throwing you for a loop every other second.

You looked at him, beseeching questions in your eyes. Could you?

You nodded once.

What exactly was Min Yoongi upto?

You cleared your throat.

"Let it stay on speaker" he said to you gently. You arched a brow. You hadn't thought of taking it off speaker anyways... Had that been an option?

"Oppa...hi." you breathed.

"Oh God y/n... Are you okay?" The urgency in his voice had you choking on tears.

"Yeah." Your whisper broke as a helpless sob left you. You realized how much you had missed him, had worried about him, had worried about him worrying about you.

"Did he hurt you? Tell me honestly. Did he hurt you in any way? If he's lain a finger on you, I swear..."

"No, I'm okay."

"Oh y/n-ie, don't cry. I'm coming to get you, trust me, I'll bring you back."

You nodded, wiping the tears hastily from your cheeks on the realization that Yoongi was looking at you intently. "I know, I trust you."

"Where...is he keeping you?" Namjoon ventured. And that was when Yoongi snatched the phone away.

"That..." His smirk was back "is something you don't need to know. Don't try tracing this call Kim, you know it'll ping somewhere I'm not. I'm sure that's frustrating every time I call."

"God, what is it you want exactly? Why are you doing this?"

"Finally, I thought you'd never ask. Now listen carefully little detective, take out your pen and paper. I have a shipment leaving from Ilsan in a couple of days, and I'll need clearance at Incheon. I want no hassle in my way, since it's one of my VIP clients. You'd do well to not test my patience when it comes to my job. Once that's done, I'll give you a few days of peace and mind my own dainty business. But at the end of the month I have some precious cargo I need to ship off, so guess who'll not interrupt my business at the sea port?"

Namjoon remained silent for a long while, your heart thudding in fear was what counted 8 seconds before Yoongi continued, "The Seoul police department, exactly. Good work little detective."

He sounded awfully happy about the whole plan. "And then, when both these important deals have gone through, at the end of the month, I myself shall deliver your precious sister back to you, unscathed."

"Deliver her back to me tomorrow and I'll think about it." Namjoon sounded undeterred from the whole speech while you were nearly hyperventilating.

Yoongi spared you a glance, before pulling something from his pocket. You squealed at the sight of the gun that seemed to fit his hand perfectly as he casually pointed it towards you.

"Tell your brother what you're seeing prettiness" he gauded.

A couple of nonsense syllables fell past your lips. "Clearer!" Yoongi ordered, all gentleness leaving him as he pressed it into your stomach.

You cried, "A gun!"

"Min, leave her alone, you have my attention. Put the gun away!" Namjoon might as well rip out his own hair at this point.

"I could give her back, and I'll still get my shipments through, you know that Namjoon, but why shed so much blood. Especially because in this case, I'll have to remove the 'unscathed' part from my offer."

Sighing could be heard from the other end, and Yoongi put his gun in the space next to him, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. He knew he'd won.

"How do I know she'll be safe with you. A whole month at that"

"She's safer with me than she ever will be with you." Yoongi shrugged nonchalantly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. As if he wasn't just nudging your abdomen with a gun.

"When is your shipment from Ilsan reaching Seoul?" You had never heard your brother sound so defeated.

"I'll let you know."

"I know you have a younger brother Min. As a brother, I'm asking you to leave my sister out of this. Please keep her safe." There was only a plea in the statement. No resentment, no threat.

Yoongi's eyes found your pale, petrified face again, "Do you have anything to say?"

You shook your head, betrayal rearing it's ugly head in your gut. Your brother had just abandoned you with this monster. What were you supposed to say to him? When you knew you would be here for a whole month... On the receiving end of countless other gun-pulling incidents, and other such horrors that would live in these walls. Was it possible to hate your brother? Because you felt you just might.

"Sleep well, oppa." You spat before slamming your thumb on the red button, shaking in anger. Before Yoongi could get a single word out, you had stormed out of the room and he heard the kitchen's back door slam, as you made your way out into the lawn

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