#we fill in the blanks of what their motivations must be and we follow the script and let ourselves just wallow in unhappiness

[pennyblossom-meta]

L Lawliet: a deep dive into the expanded universe pt.01

EDIT (07/04/2024): Added some imgs.

Apologies for being so late to give this a follow up to @maevearcher's meta which can be found here and here. As usual, she’s made excellent points and I'll try to answer the ones which caught my eye.

Since this post ended up gaining a life of its own and becoming a bit too long, I’m splitting it in 2 or 3 parts. The core of the content for part 01 starts after under the button to Read More.

Here we talk about L's humanity.

I'll start with a disclaimer of my own: while I consider the manga as the base for the story, I'm very much open to the expanded DN universe as a complementary study of the characters and their motivations — sometimes even filling in the blanks for some of the background mysteries, such as the dynamics of Wammy's House and how L's successors view him.

To further clarify: by canon I mean the manga and any works by Tsugumi Ohba as the base material. I think @maevearcher and I are more or less in agreement on that, from what she mentioned in her own posts. As she said, the written word is indeed the baseline truth.

The expansion of the DN universe also has its own very special set of problems; for example, in many ways, L:CtW (L: Change the WorLd) commits the sin of overindulgence by throwing in considerations that, arguably, go against canon. Besides the ending where L lives for a final 23 days and Watari dies, the portrayal of Near in the movie (though in the novel he's also walking a fine line between becoming partially and very much OOC) is also a point of contention. I confess that I really wasn't fond of the way they portrayed Misa as a potential crush of L given canon insights on his opinion about Light whether in the role of Kira or as a person (pg.64 of Vol 13: How to Read, henceforth referred to as V13:HTR), but aligning L to become more humane and forgiving was at least interesting.

The same happens with the live action movies, the 2015 series, and the musical. At least the game Spiraling Trap isn't clashing with canon elements — that I could tell. The main plot is separate from the events of DN and the dating sim is a little slice of heaven into L's thoughts and emotions which I dearly love.

However, while L:CtW does indeed overindulge, the novel AN:LABB (Another Note: LA BB Murder Cases) gives us a singular glimpse into L through the eyes of Mello while keeping the events mostly accurate to the main plot, even with its slight deviations. It's certainly an optional perspective to the core of DN, but one that I always found very insightful. In V13:HTR, Obha mentions how he would’ve liked that there were more novels about L and how he solved previous cases, in a similar fashion to how Nisio Isin approaches AN:LABB. Here’s what Ohba says in pg.61 of V13:HTR:

(...) I didn’t think up much for [L’s] past. For him to be in such an influential position, he must have solved an amazing amount of cases, but I have no idea what kind of cases they were or how he solved them. But I would love for NISIOISIN, who wrote the Death Note novel, to write more stories about that (...)

This means that, to some extent, even the original author, Ohba, accepts AN:LABB as close to canon — or rather, as canon as it can get given the creative liberties allowed to a third party writer. To that point, Nisio Isin took L’s capoeira demonstration during the Yotsuba arc and made it a whole thing in the novel, with L taking inspiration from Naomi Misora’s skills. However, given the importance of that event, in the main story, L takes a while to even remember Misora so we can infer that either the stress of the case is getting to him OR learning capoeira and subsequently Misora’s role in it didn’t leave that much of an imprint on him because true canon didn’t really put that much emphasis into it. Either way, it’s an extrapolation that works. The technicalities can be overlooked given how ambiguous the scene is, as there is more than room to deduce a different past.

At the same time, I am an apologist that there are shared characteristics to L throughout the different mediums. My own interpretation of L's character has the manga as a baseline, but the expanded universe has taught me that there are sides to him that might not be so easy to perceive in dialogue bubbles or illustrations alone. Little things like L's addictive personality or the way he represses feelings are visible in the manga but caught beautifully in the novels, for example.

Going from the written word into the screen also represents a loss of the purity achievable only within the narrative in-book, where you can extrapolate and reach your own conclusions without being subject to the bias of sound and movement — though manga aggregates the visual to words and with it an altogether different dimension of meaning. That's one of the many things I enjoy about elements of fiction introduced through books; the stillness of the images and the narrative are more complex. Every time the baseline gets adapted, it loses something or that something shifts to fit into the perception of others. It ceases being pure and its essence is fundamentally shattered. Like the concept of a musical score on paper that gets played by an orchestra, there will never be an adaptation as good as the source material because it breaks the illusion.

While I can certainly extrapolate and accept the loss, I find that the written word from the novels, the tone of a VA's voice and the body movements in a live action still complement the manga well, despite narrative clashes.

About L’s humanity

Recently I've been re-watching the anime and it's incredible how Alessandro Juliani's understanding of the character resulted in such a well-rounded voice for L. I actually prefer the EN version to the JP because of the voice acting. It's superbly brilliant, even if L becomes less listless. He's certainly still aloof, but his aggressiveness is portrayed more vividly; in contrast, L in the manga feels a bit more dangerous and scary to me due to the range of expressions that the anime didn't manage to add in due to time and budget constraints. If anything L tones down how dangerous he can be. He does this on purpose so that he can trick and trip his adversary, as can be seen during his earlier interactions with Light. At times, L makes a mockery of himself, apparently placing himself in the position of a more demure individual while sharply observing the world around him and forming conclusions.

As to @maevearcher ‘s first point:

(...) An image of this lonely autistic genius, locked inside the confines of his ways, waiting for the right person to come along and save him from the banes of his solitary existence…until he meets Light and realises there’s someone out there who he can relate to, for understanding and stuff. I personally don’t buy too much into that.

The depth to which L relates to Light can be overestimated, but not without reason. Theirs is mostly an adversarial relationship with varying deviations throughout the expanded universe, but if we solely consider the manga then we get this comment from Ohba regarding whether L has any friends on pg.64 of V13: HTR:

Nope. And when he says that Light is his first friend that’s a big lie. He never considers him a friend. He probably secretly thinks really negative things about him.

During the Yotsuba arc, L is at a disadvantage. Light has turned the tables, tricked him into what Beyond Birthday could not do and thus gained a solid position into rendering L almost powerless to charge him. To elaborate on the latter point: BB wanted to create the perfect, unsolvable crime to humiliate L, making him lose, and thus “spend the rest of his life trembling in fear of B’s shadow” (pg.163, AA:LABB); L would know who the guilty party was but wouldn’t be able to prove it or bring that person to justice. As such, L would not be able to solve the mystery. At the end of the novel BB fails due to Misora’s quick thinking and that’s that. However, Light has several advantages that BB lacked, starting with his own social position, charm and the impeccable reputation of a model student and the prized son of a police chief who helps solve cases every now and then.

We can argue that, what truly happens in manga canon, is L and Light showing how much they respect each other for their detective skills, forming a sort of strange kinship within the cat and mouse game, especially when Light loses his memories of the Death Note. The game thrills them and they enjoy pushing each other’s buttons. No one else has ever challenged them like this. That being said, the first time they meet up for coffee after the tennis match, L is observing Light like a hawk, keeps testing him for a reaction and seems somewhat irritated at how much Light talks. I would venture a guess that L doesn’t actually like Light that much, even when he loses his memories. He might even find Light a nuisance when he waves the flag of morality — though this is a common problem L is confronted with when dealing with the Task Force, in particular Chief Yagami and Aizawa. This also places him at another gruesome disadvantage, as he’s surrounded by people who openly dislike and criticise his methods. The Task Force is also extremely wary of the way L pursues Light and think he’s being stubborn without proof to substantiate his reasoning. Ironically, it’s Aizawa, one of L’s most critical subordinates, who initiates Light’s downfall years later once he starts to consider L’s suspicions in light of Near and Mello’s tactics. 

Both L and Light respect the game, no matter where it takes them. I would further make an educated guess that Light even preyed on L’s vulnerabilities during the Yotsuba arc, predicting how L might fall into depression for failing at the game. Light was more than capable of understanding that L’s competitive and childish side would make him a sore loser, especially given that he had already “lost” the first round of battles just by showing his face. Even if there is a sliver of friendship between both during Light’s months of amnesia, it’s dead and buried the moment he becomes Kira again. 

My conclusion here would be that, while what happened with Light was extreme, it was also somewhat similar to Beyond Birthday’s eternal enmity towards L: the challenge, the need to humiliate and take down the greatest detective, one of the most brilliant minds to ever walk the Earth. There are some notable quotes from AA:LABB that reference what it is to be L, surrounded by future challengers and individuals who both look up to L and want to prove they’re better than him:

Pg.69

By simple arithmetic, L's ability in 2002 was the equivalent of five ordinary investigative bureaus, and seven intelligence agencies (and by the time he faced off against Kira, those numbers had leapt upward several more notches). This is easy to think of as a reason to respect and admire someone, but let me say this as clearly as possible: that much ability in one human is extremely dangerous. Modern danger management techniques rely heavily on diffusing the risk, but his very existence was the exact opposite. In other words, if someone was planning to commit a crime, they could greatly increase their chances of getting away with it by simply killing L before they began. That was why L hid his identity Not because he was shy or because he never left the house. To ensure his own safety For a detective of L's ability, self-preservation and the preservation of world peace were one and the same, and it would not be correct to describe his actions as cowardly or self-centered.

Pg. 117

L was the goal of everyone in Wammy's House. Everyone of us wanted to surpass him. To step over him. To step on him. M did, N did, and B did. M as a challenger, N as a successor. B as a criminal.

Pg. 160:

B approached Naomi Misora, calling himself Rue Ryuzaki. Rue Ryuzaki - L.L.  For anyone from Wammy's House, there could be no higher goal than identifying yourself with that letter - and Beyond Birthday seized this case as his chance.

One of the biggest problems with these quotes is that they paint a very complicated — and, ultimately, suffocating — picture of what it is like to be L. Ohba himself mentions Watari’s predisposition towards collecting geniuses from all over the world and what Wammy’s House has turned into, under the snippet for Watari’s character (pg.60 V13:HTR):

He’s a guy who cultivates detectives for fun. That’s kind of terrible, isn’t it?

Everyone profits from L. Watari becomes richer than ever. Wammy's House becomes breeding ground for geniuses who end up dreaming of a life where they enjoy constant thrill and challenge. However, in order to do so, the dream cannot be complete until the successor crushes the original; until M, N, B and A defeat L. At least one of L’s successors couldn’t handle the pressure and committed suicide. B, known as Backup, runs away from the orphanage and goes on a murder rampage. Having never met L in person, he deduces several personality quirks that the “original” demonstrates, going as far as exacerbating them in order to be creepy and repulsive. Mello, who boasts of having met L in person and being privy to stories about how he defeated several other detectives (then taking their aliases as a trophy) both fervently admires L and wants to step on him. 

Step on him. That’s quite the turn of phrase. It does sound scary, doesn’t it? To be surrounded by people who would take the opportunity to pull you down, no matter how much they admire you. They want to be you, to prove that they’re better than you. It’s game and ego. Life and death. Winner and loser. 

And that’s perhaps the most blatant summary in approved canon of what it is like to be L that we’ll ever get. We can, of course, argue that Watari cares about L. He’s not only his handler, but also the one who brought him into Wammy’s House. It’s fairly clear that he nurtured (and even enabled) some of L’s most distressing character traits, though I wouldn’t necessarily say it was with a purely utilitarian agenda. It’s perfectly acceptable to extrapolate how Watari might’ve wanted to keep L, a child of great intellectual genius, happy by allowing him to be challenged and properly educated. In fact, AN:LABB (pg. 145-46) even gives us L’s perspective on the kindness that justice can achieve, which is confirmed within the expanded universe to be similar to Watari’s teachings as L confronts Kujo in L:CtW. 

"I have nothing to do with him," L said. "To be completely accurate, I do not even know B. He is simply someone I am aware of. But none of this affects my judgment. Certainly I was interested in this case, and began to investigate it because I knew who the killer was. But that did not alter the way I investigated it, or the manner in which my investigation proceeded. Naomi Misora, I cannot overlook evil. I cannot forgive it. It does not matter if I know the person who commits evil or not. I am only interested in justice." "Only... in justice... " Misora gasped. "Then ... nothing else matters?" "I wouldn't say that, but it is not a priority." “You won't forgive any evil, no matter what the evil is?" "I wouldn't say that, but it is not a priority." "'But..." Like a thirteen-year-old victim. "There are people who justice cannot save." Like a thirteen-year-old criminal. “And there are people who evil can save." "There are. But even so," L said, his tone not changing at all. As if gently admonishing Naomi Misora. “Justice has more power than anything else." "Power? By power ... you mean strength?" "No. I mean kindness." He said it so easily. Misora almost dropped the phone. L The century's greatest detective, L. The detective of justice, L. Who solved every case, no matter how difficult... " ...I misunderstood you, L." "Did you? Well, I'm glad we cleared that up."

I would, once again, venture another educated guess that, while Watari’s primary reasons for starting a program of successors to L was noble, it ultimately backfired on an individual level. Society wise, the letters, as L calls them in L:CtW, are a force for good. They solve crimes, help law forces around the world to keep peace. Some of them even become scientists like Dr Kujo — though she becomes the main antagonist in the spin-off novel. However, the pressure this kind of lifestyle fostered creates a group of individuals who are highly competitive and manipulative. Some, like A, can’t handle it. Even L has his own troubles, being called a reclusive sociopath, possibly by the police forces who treat him as a utility rather than a person. He’s someone they admire and resent, who is tolerated given how effective he is at cracking down cases. 

This passage from L:CtW paints a grim picture of the way L suppresses his own feelings as he breaks down for not being able to prevent Maki from being kidnapped (pg. 150-51):

"Light...it hurts. My heart--" It was a hurt that L Lawliet had suppressed, that he had to suppress in order to continue his existence as the peerless Detective L. How had the world's top detective been described in regard to facets of his personality rather than his ability as a detective? He had been called a kinky detective who relished bizarre murders, a human computer capable only of measuring mass murders in terms of cold numbers, a reclusive sociopath. What L thought of such estimations of his personality only L could know. But no one could truly understand L. How L did not and could not forget the faces of thousands of victims. Who could comprehend the man who had lived his life, and had to live confronting all the lives that ended prematurely, the tears of grief-stricken survivors, the devaluing of life as a daily reality. How was it possible to measure the pain of such a man? Was it a strain so heavy that L's back curved under all its weight? Was it an agony so terribly to leave the indelible dark circles around his eyes? Was it a feeling so bitter that every bite he took needed to be coated in sugar? The chronically rounded shoulders, the inevitable dark circles, the eccentric tastes--L suppressed the pain of being a champion of justice, but the evidence of the pain was moulded into his very body.”

Even within the clear disparity from the official canon, this passage slaps. It humanises L further, making the detective become a person and not just a machine who is content with his lifestyle. I know there’s a tendency for those who prefer the manga to see L as someone who is unabashedly himself and perfectly alright with the life he lives. I would argue that the Kira case was not only the most difficult challenge L ever faced, but also a series of moments where he had to be at his best — and at his worst. He had to do everything within his power to solve the case, not only because of his pride but because of what he considers to be his sense of justice. Saying with such confidence ‘I am justice’ is a rather cheesy and childish thing to say out loud, though I read it as both what started as a child’s stubbornness and what L became, as he positioned himself as a barrier to prevent crimes. 

L suppresses himself, represses his emotions; he tries to control them, as Fu Takashi says in an interview, he is “dependent on games or battles of the mind”. Perhaps this is a consequence of the foundations of his personality. Despite L’s innate stubbornness, it could be argued that this is as much his fault as it is Watari’s, who didn’t nurture L’s social skills as he should have when he was a child. By not having an outlet outside of his hobby, L is trapped in a prison of his own making. Superficially, L is a “smart guy who hates losing”, but what about the rest? What about the things that make him human, the connections with others? In the same interview, it is mentioned how L feels lonely and needs affection. But what affection can you get when you isolate yourself from the world and keep everyone at arm’s length? He’s not a machine. Even machines become obsolete with time, and need outside help to keep functioning.

As for the latter point, if everyone around L is trying to step on him, humiliate him and surpass him, then it’s only natural that his emotional defences would be up. Aside from Watari, whose loyalty he can count on, he’s alone. L has no one else. And everyone around him will have a dangerous, significant probability to betray him.

Next in part 02: About romance, having someone close and intimate, the meaning of the Monster speech.

Tagging @rinneroraito, @flametrashira and @sharkiethrts who might be interested in this meta.

#death note #l lawliet #death note meta #light yagami #spiraling trap #l lawliet headcanons #l lawliet x reader #watari #mello #mello death note #nate river #mihael keehl #near death note #beyond birthday #another note #l change the world #l death note #l lawliet death note

[focusandrelaxforme]

Documenting My Subject's Hypno Slavery Journey (Part 3)

Here is the next entry in the ongoing journey of KittySub.

Some notes/observations, as always:

As I thought would happen, her writing style has changed the more she does these journal entries. They are more resembling entries you'd find in a diary (complete with a Dear Diary to start with). This was my original intent when we started these, so I'm pretty happy with this development.

At least once a day, she's allowed to masturbate and cum only while reading her only entries. I'm hoping that this helps reinforce everything we're doing, and also serves as motivation since she can see all the progress she's made.

I just wanted to thank everyone who's commented, liked or followed. I'm glad that people seem to be enjoying these, and we're going to try to do them as long as we can. Seeing the feedback has been very encouraging since neither of us really knew what to expect when we started. So again, Thank you.

And now for the good part:

--------

Dear Diary,

The past 2 days have been more relaxed with me and my Master. He has been a bit more busy but is still keeping me on my toes with things to do for him. We are currently working on trying to blank out a toy that is pressed inside me. I have had to wear my lush almost around the clock. Including my workouts, going to the store and even once while I was sleeping. I have successfully been able to blank it out at least half the day.. but every time I think of my Master, the toy feels so full inside me and it makes me so wet and excited. I find myself having flash backs of moments that have made me so wet for my Master . He keeps me wet all day.. even when he is not around, my pussy is soaked and ready for him. At night he has had me take out my lush and insert a dildo. Most of my dildos are rather large.. so I have decided on a black oddly shaped dildo with a knot at the bottle. It is very flexible and feels nice and full inside me. He gave me the task of trying to blank it out for 20 mins in a row last night. I FAILED miserably.. the reward sounded so nice too . A nice orgasm. Orgasms have kept me so motivated.. i am ashamed to say that those keep me going so much. If I had to workout everyday forever or lose my orgasms. I pick working out. Even though I despise it. I think the worst part about working out is that I cant look at my phone the whole time...and I have an extreme phone addiction.

Anyway.. I'm writing this as I attempt to once again black out this large dildo pressed inside me.. it isn't working. Although my words managed to distract me a lot. The dildo feels so cold.. like ice cube inside me. Its so weird.. that must be from the hypnosis. At least it isn't hurting.. but my vagina has a heart beat. Maybe because its hoping to get a good fucking. Every time I pull out my lush now, Master has made me lick it clean.. it feels so humiliating and so hot.. i could probably cum from that alone.. because I am soo on edge. When I take out my lush, I also feel empty and aching to be filled again. Its such a weird feeling. This is the longest I have ever kept a toy in.. and I wonder how long I will have to keep putting my lush in.. will it be forever? Why does that excite me and frighten me at the same time? Until next time diary..

Xoxo kittysub, Masters favorite slave

--------

#hypno girl #hypnotized girl #hypno journal #hypnokink #hypnosis #hypnosub #kittysub

[lananiscorner]

A long overdue update regarding my WIPs

So, those of you who have been following my writing probably noticed that I haven’t actually updated anything since... *checks AO3* May 4th. Ouch. I wanted to give everyone an update on why, and where we’re (hopefully) going from here.

First of all, I want to apologize to everyone who has been waiting for updates for months, especially readers of Conversations of a Lion Prince, where I actually tried to keep a consistent schedule (one chapter every Monday night/Thursday morning). I have always been wary of posting unfinished multi-chapter WIPs on AO3 for this exact reason. No-one should have to wait this long between chapters. Truly sorry.

I think what really ruined my writing drive for FE3H fics in particular (both the WIPs I actually have published on AO3 and the ones I haven’t put up yet) is the Warriors game. I haven’t played it, but just its mere existence is enough, and with every bit I learned about it, some more of my writing drive died, mostly because of how my writing/world-building works: I try to stick to canon as closely as possible + I try to keep all my stories within a single franchise somewhat consistent, so that it feels like all of them happened in a single universe, in a single playthrough, if you will. Readers of my Batfam stories know what I mean--I actually organized most of my Arkham Batfam stories into a series for that reason.

So for a new spin-off game to come in with new lore and such, some of which is almost guaranteed to go against the lore I headcanoned based on FE3H canon, to fill in the blanks left by that game, kind of makes my brain go “great--now all the stuff you wrote is invalid, because what *actually* happens in the lore as *actually* shown in the spin-off game is [insert thing that does not match up with what I wrote]”. And I know that’s a ridiculous way to think about it, because fanfiction is explicitly a place for exploring headcanons and different interpretations, but this is just how my brain works. Nothing kills my motivation faster than a spin-off game that invalidates (part of) what I already wrote (which is the same reason why I haven’t updated any of my Darksiders fics in many, many months, and likely won’t until Darksiders Week later this year).

So where does that leave me (and you, my readers) now? Well, I have deliberately kept up with what happens in the lore/storyline of Hopes, because spoilers are inevitable and if I am going to be spoiled, at least I get spoiled on my own terms.  I must be one of the 4 people in the world who are actually HAPPY that the lore in there contradicts FE3H in places, because that’s making it easier for my brain to write off Hopes as “not stuff that we need to be canon-compliant with in our own writing”. That said, I have deliberately avoided almost all of the supports content, because if 3 Hopes has Dimitri supports with people he can’t support in 3 Houses, then I don’t want to see them AT LEAST until I have finished Conversations of the Lion Prince.

So... here’s the new plan:

I’m gonna try to tackle my WIPs one at a time, starting with A Ghost Here Amongst The Living. This one was never supposed to be multi-chapter and only became so because I was 6k words in, with no end in sight, at something like 5 am and I wanted to get at least something out in time for Dimitri’s birthday. Terrible scheduling choice on my part. I will try to get this one done before I get spoiled on the details of how the Lions support Dimitri in Azure Gleam, because the entire point of AGHATL is “how the Lions support Dimitri, and not just Byleth, in the aftermath of Gronder”.

Next up on that WIP list are going to be two unpublished one-shots that I started when playing SS/CF (one where Byleth suffers the logical consequences of losing their powers post CF and one where Byleth decides to take a third option inside the Holy Tomb). These two are actually very dear to my heart, because I started them literally after finishing those very scenes in the game because my brain was just like “we HAVE TO write this”.

After that, I will return to Conversations of the Lion Prince. I started and re-wrote the Bernadetta chapter at least 5 times by now, because on one hand I would like to break from the pattern of “someone does something innocuous > Bernadetta panics > misunderstanding gets cleared up > Bernadetta still panics”, which is so prevalent in her canon supports and which I personally find very, very annoying, but on the other hand... that pretty much IS her character, so not doing it feels like I’m not writing her correctly, and I hate it. This one is a chore to write, ngl.

Finally, I recently got gifted Steam keys for the original versions of Darksiders 1 and 2 (which are no longer available for sale on the Steam store), so I’ll be replaying those two games and aiming to finish 5 Times Mayhem Turned White while playing those.

Once those stories are done, I’ll take stock of what’s still left to do and see where we go from there. I won’t make any promises as to when any of those chapters will be published, as that’s just setting myself up for failure, but I’m hoping to get at least AGHATL finished this month.

Thank you all for your patience! May your own muses be kind and your brains be more co-operative than mine!

#writing #my fanfics #status update #personal #writing is terrible #my brain does not like spin-offs

[commercepaathshala]

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[iztopher]

akane ze for the character prompt?

omg thank uu!

may be a little long + also vague ZE spoilers for anyone following me who cares about that so, under the cut

First impression:

"Oh I see we're doing the blushy childhood friends to lovers thing. Well, I know my friends like her, there must be more to her than that"

Impression now:

OH BOY IS THERE EVER and I LOVE HER... she's just, deeply compelling and fascinating. She has so much in her I wanna pick apart under a microscope and also she is the type of character who picks apart OTHERS with a microscope. I love how if you compare her in 999 and VLR in many ways she's a walking mess of contradictions. I do not love how ZTD filled in the middle blanks. I think she is the coolest character to come out of ZE

Favorite moment:

literally every single one of her infodumps. also the DS reveal in 999 (i didn't actually get it the same way because i played on mobile, but it still Got Me)

Idea for a story:

not sure if this counts but I would love a rework of ZTD that digs deeper into akane's shift from 999 to VLR and kind of acknowledges how she goes from very (understandably) selfishly motivated to using the exact same methods (and putting directly on the line again) in VLR. instead of what we got. I like the idea of her feeling like she put in so much effort to be here that now she needs to use it for something

Unpopular opinion:

I am no longer on the pulse of the ZE fandom so I'm not sure what's popular/unpopular! of the people I follow I think I have pretty popular opinions on her

Favorite relationship:

her and junpei but like fraught and divorced and not 100% healthy about it (i like to think they get the chance to work on it but they both have a lot of unpacking to do)

Favorite headcanon:

i said akane&junpei for relationship because it's true, of her canon dynamics i find that one most interesting, but i want to shoutout to the c-team ot3 because Yeah

also the joke about akane telling aoi to invest in gamestop for the bit and that being how they get nonary game funding

#dear mel

[loudstan]

Epiphany (P1. 13, FINALE)

A collection of  NCT werewolf AU stories.

Doyoung (pt.1) (pt.2) (pt. 3) (pt. 4) (pt. 5) (pt. 6) (pt. 7) (pt. 8) (pt. 9) (pt. 10) (pt. 11) (pt. 12) (PT. 13 FINALE)

Summary: The wolf population kept decreasing and those who were left had a hard time trying to fit  into society. Sure, people didn’t consider them as dangerous as vampires, but wolves could still sense some hostility every time they did as much as go for a walk in a public place. Thanks to wolves’ natural magical abilities, NCT (one of the remaining packs) found a safe place among witches in a town where no one knew their secret, allowing some members to finally get a job, study and interact with others without fear of being rejected.Life seems to finally be peaceful for them… except that wolves have needs, and one of those needs is finding their mate.

Pairing: Werewolf! Doyoung x Witch! female reader

Warnings: smut

“So you’re okay with this?” you asked

In awe, he nodded and you wasted no time.

You straddled him again and with no warning you pumped his length a couple of times, lined yourself up and started to sink down.

Desperately, Doyoung scratched the couch to the point he tore the soft fabric up, mumbling something you couldn’t quite comprehend.

If you weren’t so turned on you would have laughed at his weak attempt to stay still while you were sitting there, taking all of him. You thought that convincing him would be harder, but he was clearly about to lose it.

“Are you sure you don’t want to touch me?” you teased, giving a tentative bounce.

He sobbed and squirmed, still babbling nonsense.

“What was that?” you asked leaning closer so you could hear what you were sure was a string of curses and moans. Instead it was more coherent than you expected, and in Latin.

A spell?

You sat up just in time to see a dim light surrounding his wrists, glueing them efficiently to the couch.

“The handcuff spell? Seriously?” he was either being childish or kinky. Handcuffing himself with magic to control his wolf? “How long can you keep the spell going though?” you scoffed.

“I-it’s not up to m-me,” he sighed, slightly relieved that the spell had worked. “It will vanish once you say the password.”

“So, a safeword? Fine, what is it?”

“You’ll h-have to figure it out,” he had the audacity to smirk when he wanted this as much as you. Maybe even more than you, he was the one who got physical pain if he couldn’t have his mate.

“Have it your way,” you said, giving another bounce. “ Like I need your help to get off.”

“We’ll see a-about that.”

You decided not to argue anymore, quickening the pace instead and effectively turning him into a moaning mess. Or maybe the one moaning was you, you couldn’t quite tell at this point.

As the minutes went by and the air grew thicker, your whole body was trembling as you felt him grow inside of you.

“O-oh, god,” you panthed. “ Are you getting b-bigger? Is that your knot?”

Doyoung, who had been observing you with lidded eyes the entire time, finally had something to say.

“Uh, n-not yet. That’s just m-me…”

“Oh… but that means that knots...are a thing, right?

“Y-yeah, it normally happens during heats, but it can also happen if we...get really worked up,” he said, licking his lips. “ But it takes a while of uh...fucking for that to happen. You know, basic werewolf anatomy.”

You looked at where your bodies were connected, your mind completely blank. You had stopped listening after he confirmed he could indeed knot you. You had never thought you were into that before, but there was something so animalistic about being knotted that you could only think about that now.

With a new purpose in mind, you gathered the strength you had left and rode him hard. Doyoung looked at you with wide eyes.

“D-does that turn you on?” he asked in disbelief in between moans.

You whined and nodded. Normally you wouldn’t admit it, but your pride was long gone.

“Yeah? My needy little mate wants my knot? Oh- so g- ah! That feels so good, baby. Just like that, just like that,” Doyoung was also leaving all formality behind, seeing you so desperate for him.

His praises served you as motivation to continue moving, even though your legs had given out. Frustrated, you tried to force yourself to ride him, only managing to grind harsh and slow.

“I can’t, please!” you sobbed incoherently.

“Keep going. Keep fucking going. Come on baby, use me,” he encouraged you while trying his best to thrust his hips into you. He couldn’t fuck you properly if he couldn’t move freely, but it was better than nothing. You were willing to take anything.

“More, more please oh my god,” you gasped as he gave you a few more thrusts, mixed with the weak movements your body could offer in your state.

“Are you gonna cum soon, hmm?” he hissed. “A-re you satisfied?”

“No!” you wailed. You were oh so close, but you didn’t want to cum just yet. “Y-your knot, want your knot.”

“Fuck!” he growled and his member twitched inside of you. “I wanna breed you so bad. You’re mine, mine, mine-”

It was the possessiveness in his voice that had you reaching your climax and collapsing on top of him while he whispered sweet nothings in your ear.

“Good girl, you did so well. I love you so much.”

“Love you too,” you replied weakly, closing your eyes to welcome what you thought would be a long nap, when you heard a sudden snap and Doyoung’s arms surrounded your body.

“Finally,” he growled next to your ear and before you could even blink, he manhandled you so you were on your back under him.

“Wha-” you tried to question what had just happened when he connected his lips with yours into a passionate kiss.

“Did we really have to go this far for you to admit that you love me?” he asked between kisses. “I literally had to fuck the confession out of you.”

“T-that was the password?” you asked gasping when he kissed his way to your breasts.

“Not necessarily,” he delicately licked at one of your niples before sucking on it, moaning.. “The only condition was that you admit your true feelings for me, whether you felt something or not.”

He released the sensitive nub and gave it a last kiss before going back up and pinning your wrists above your head with just one of his large hands. His other hand travelled down to grab his member and without a warning he re-entered you.

You literally shrieked and squirmed under him.

“Too s-sensitive-AH!” your eyes rolled back when he pushed himself in deeper than he could when he was tied up.

“Shh, baby. Don’t you want my knot?” he purred, grabbing your hips and pulling you onto his cock again and again.

“Oh my god, ohmygod,” was all you could mumble.

“Fuck, you like that, baby?” he gritted as he lifted one of your legs and his pace accelerated.

The new angle and how deep he could reach now had you arching your back and letting out a silent scream.

He pulled his hips into him harder and faster, his knot slowly forming at the base of his length. He let out a shaky moan as he forced it inside of you, your mind too blinded with pleasure to feel any pain at first, but when the rest of it started growing inside of you, you panicked.

“It’s too big, s’ too much-please” you scratched his arms and back.

“Take it,” he simply said as his knot grew further while he fucked into you. “I’m gonna fill you up so good.”

Your entire body was shaking. You had never felt so full. And just when you thought the pleasure couldn’t be better than this, Doyoung gasped dramatically and halted his movements. Your eyes followed to where he was looking: at the very bottom of your belly there was a little bump.

“Y/n, look,” he said, caressing your belly as if he was hypnotized. “I’m so deep inside of you.”

“Fuck,” you were officially losing it now. Your locked your legs around his hips, trying to fuck yourself into him. “Give me your knot, give it to me.”

He didn't need to be told twice. He pulls you into him as he fucks forward as fast and hard as he can.

“You want it? You want me to cum right inside of you where I belong?”

“Yes! yes, yes,yes, yes, oh fuck!”

You spasmed around him and reached your high as he fucked you brutally. Right after, he fell forward, his knot squirting furiously inside of you as he let out a delirious laugh, lost in pleasure.

“Oh, y/n look at how good you take it,” he gritted while his hand reached for your clit and rubbed it quickly. “One more time, baby, cum for me one more time, come on.”

Sobbing desperately you felt another wave of pleasure hit you, your entire body trembling before you relaxed completely. You felt Doyoung panting next to your ear, before he started licking and sucking on the mark he had left there weeks ago.

It must be a wolf thing, you thought gaining back some of your long forgotten ability to think.

“Sorry. I'll remember to use a condom for the next round,” he said softly. “I’ll also get you plan B if we need it.”

“You’re lucky I’m on the pill. How many rounds are we talking about?” you asked breathlessly.

“Enough to fuck the attitude out of you-ouch!” he laughed when you hit his arm. “I don’t know, it could take one more round or we could be here all week.”

“Well, fuck.”

“Yep, fuck indeed.”

You two remained in silence for a few minutes before he broke the silence again.

“Can we please be together now? Like, really together. As a couple? I mean, we don’t have to, but-”

You bursted out laughing, but stopped when you saw the insecurity in his eyes. Seriously, only he could get insecure when his knot was locked inside of you.

“On one condition: I get an A for my last written assignment.”

He stared at you in disbelief before he let out a chuckle.

“I’ll reread and re-evaluate every single assignment you wrote this year, after I make you squirt.

“Deal.”

#nct doyoung #nct drabbles #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct smut #doyoung #doyoung smut #kim doyoung

[wonlouvre]

pairing: doctor!wonwoo x lawyer!female oc genre: modern royalty, arranged marriage, fluff and future angst word count: 4.1k WARNINGS: orphanage, mentions of abandonment and lost of parents

author’s note: just a little filler chapter as we continue reading on the progress of their relationship! thank you so much for waiting! i hope you enjoy reading

six: hustle and bustle | masterlist

When Wonwoo went to college, he moved out from the Royal Residences and rented an apartment with Soonyoung and two other friends of different majors. That period of his life where he was swamped with school works and other official duties, had given him the smallest of chances to go home and sleep for more than two nights in the bedroom he had since he was a teen. From then on, he managed to handle most of his activities on his own. He was assigned a staff that would help him navigate through his busy lifestyle and that was about it.

Their Majesties were not bothered at all by their son’s independence although, oftentimes they felt terrible because of how busy they were, they lacked the time to spend with their only child.  

It was a challenge for the Royal Family to apply the definition of “family” in their own context, but in the end, they made it work. The kingdom was flourishing meanwhile the family is loved and supported more than ever. 

Their Majesties knew of their son’s wishes to marry his past girlfriend and they were more than ready to support him. But then again, he was young and when they heard their decision to go their separate ways, they were also there, ready as they will ever be, to support him. 

Wonwoo wasn’t impatient to find love again. Most especially when he landed a job at the Royal Hospital of the neighboring kingdom. If he was driven to excel as a student, he was more than driven to be the best that he can be when he worked full-time. 

Occasionally, your arrangement with him crosses his mind. He likes you. He really does. He likes how you message or call him. He likes how you smile and talk to him. He likes seeing you and having you around. And just recently, he likes holding and kissing you. 

He’s just worried that maybe because of this whole arranged marriage thing, the two of you are moving too fast. Or that maybe, this is just an infatuation that may vanish anytime soon. 

He doesn’t know why he’s thinking of such thoughts so early in the morning when you’re here with him but he can’t help it. 

Wonwoo was the first one to wake up and the sight of your back greeted him. An elated smile is drawn on his face when he remembers the night before. He still remembers the feel of your lips and breath against his. It makes him wonder if he’d get to feel them again today. He yawns and reaches his hand out to your back, gently running it against the t-shirt you borrowed from him. A low chuckle then escapes his lips as he tries to figure out how you even got on the edge of his bed when he clearly remembers how he locked you in his arms last night. 

After a moment of just listlessly playing with your hair and back, he finally scoots over and completely wraps his arm around your waist. He tugs you close to the middle because he’s sure one more movement in the wrong direction, you’re going to fall over. 

His action caused you to wake up. Wonwoo meets your bleary eyes and he’s immediately apologizing with a guilty grin. 

“Sorry. You can go back to sleep,” he says and fixes the hairs that’s covering your face. 

You sigh and close your eyes again before sinking further back on the pillow. “What time is it?”

“I don’t know either,” he answers sheepishly. “But, it’s early. Too early to leave the bed.”

You give him a look of disbelief before pulling yourself up, much to his dismay. A few stretches of your neck and arms helped get rid of your drowsiness. As you stand up to go to the bathroom, the Prince remains sprawled out on the bed with arms now behind his neck, just watching you fondly.

“Have you been awake all this time?” You ask while gathering your dress from the rack, contemplating if you should wear it again instead of being seen with the Prince’s clothes. “You looked like you’ve been creepily staring at me.”

Wonwoo scoffs at your remark and finally stands and follows to where you are. He finds you standing in front of the sink and fixing your hair. With crossed arms, he leans his broad shoulder against the doorframe. His mind goes blank again with thoughts filled by you only. 

“You didn’t deny it,” you say and pick up the toothbrush you used last night. “And you’re doing it again.”

Wonwoo snaps out of it and rolls his eyes. “I think you’re liking it though.”

You tried to fight against his claims but your mouth was muffled by the foam of the toothpaste. Wonwoo laughs at your struggle and walks towards the sink as well to mirror what you’re doing. Your playful glare was returned by Wonwoo with a wink. You fake a disgusted gag and the two of you just laugh altogether. 

Wonwoo’s concerns earlier were thrown out the window the moment his eyes saw your smile and ears heard your laughter. He’s confident on how his heart fluttered at the thought of sharing every morning like this with you. A few banters or bickering here and there but if it ends up with a warm hug and breathtaking kiss then he won’t complain. 

“I have to go back to my room,” you say as you wipe your face with a towel. “For real this time.”

Wonwoo pouts and holds your waist. “I told you it’s still early.”

“Wonwoo, it’s already seven thirty in the morning,” you tell him after giving the clock on the wall a quick glance. 

Wonwoo doesn’t relent and wraps his arms around you. “And? Don’t people sleep in while they’re on vacation?”

“Let’s just meet at breakfast,” you dodge his question and untangle his arms from your body, to which he protests against. “Wonwoo.”

He doesn’t let you go as you walk towards the door. You’re dragging a six foot tall baby giant and you don’t even know if you can actually reach the door at this rate. 

“Let go.”

“No.”

“Wonwoo, please—” 

“Aha!” The door suddenly opens and to your dread, it’s the Queen. “I knew I’d find you here!”

What ensued in the early hours of the morning is something you wish to not be spoken about as you and Wonwoo carried on with breakfast. The Prince still insists that he locked his door and you are a witness of that, in spite of getting lost in each other’s heated kisses last night. But then again, his mother is the Queen and it’s no question that she’d have keys to every single room of the Royal Residences. 

Plus, Her Majesty was more than pleased to see the two of you getting along so well that you even share a room and bed together. You apologized profusely at the breakfast table but all you remember is her dropping it by saying how welcome you are to stay at Wonwoo’s bedroom from now on and if you wish, she’ll have your luggage moved right this instant.

Wonwoo was embarrassed, but he doesn’t disagree with his mother’s suggestion. He knows she’s joking so he played along even though it earned him a painful pinching on his thigh under the table. 

His Majesty already left by seven sharp for his scheduled meeting with the cabinet members hence the absence at breakfast. 

After a hearty breakfast and relentless teasing, you and Wonwoo proceed with the agenda for the day. The Queen gave a short briefing on what the day has in store for the two of you. She regretfully informs you on how long and tiring it might get, but assured you that it will be only for today and afterwards the two of you can have the freedom to explore and do whatever you want for the coming days. 

You and Wonwoo have had similar busy days even before you got engaged so this is something you’re already used to. It’s just that this time it’s a different load because you’re doing it together as a couple. You must say it’s nerve wracking, but Wonwoo is here and he will be with you every step of the way. 

The Queen excused herself a little while later, leaving you and Wonwoo remained seated to wait for the staff to finish preparations for your departure. 

As you look around the pristine garden, Wonwoo catches you by surprise with a kiss on your shoulder. You could barely feel it from the button up you’re wearing, but let him be nonetheless. He leans his forehead on said shoulder and you do the same to the top of his head. 

“Still sleepy?” You ask and you can feel him nod. 

“I can already see myself falling asleep in the car.” 

You snort at his dramatics and lightly tap his cheek. 

Wonwoo then abruptly lifts his head up and juts his lips in a pout. “We should have slept in.”

“Her Majesty will not hesitate to wake us up,” you remind him while shaking your head and rolling your eyes.

“No she won’t!” He insists and holds your hand. “She’d think “poor babies, I should let them sleep.””

You let out an uncontrollable giggle. “That’s not how it works Wonwoo. For one, we’re literal adults in adult bodies and second, we can’t escape this whether we like it or not.”

Wonwoo couldn’t argue with you anymore so he opted to narrow his eyes at you instead. He attempted but Jeongyeon’s arrival cut him off. She happily announces that the car is already at the front and that you’re good to go. Wonwoo mumbles “we’ll talk about this later” to you when he stands up and takes your hand. 

You just nod your head to let the baby in him win. 

Timely enough, Wonwoo’s alma mater is celebrating its founding anniversary and they invited the “Royal Couple” - as they call the two of you these days - to say a few words of motivation to the student body, most especially those who are about to graduate. 

It was only supposed to be Wonwoo, but when the news of you joining the Prince for his homecoming spread, they didn’t think twice to invite you as well. You were more than okay to just let Wonwoo do his thing and watch from the sidelines or through a livestream, but you considered that it’s only right and polite to introduce yourself properly to your future husband’s people. 

So far, the people from yours and his have been very welcoming and supportive of your union. However, you can’t be complacent because a minor slip up by public figures like the two of you will not be tolerated by the people who have the potential to be cruel. 

The university’s biggest auditorium was booming and vibrating from the loud cheers and claps of every student and school official present when your arrival was announced. Men and women alike cheered specifically for their Prince and senior who returned the enthusiasm welcome with a strong wave and bright smile. 

You do the same beside him until you both reach the designated chairs near the stage. A bouquet of flowers was presented for you by some students to which you gladly accept. Wonwoo keeps your hand clasped with his, only letting go to shake hands with his previous professors. 

Shortly after, the crowd quiets down and the president of the university stands at the podium and officially opens the program. 

You’re nervous. That’s the least you can say out of all the emotions that’s running through you at the moment. You think you look awfully awkward and stiff with your posture and you’re afraid that this could be on the front page of every newspaper the next morning. Your appearance should be the least of your worries right now, but you can’t help but feel conscious.

Wonwoo must have noticed because he took hold of your hand that’s placed on the arm rest, giving it gentle squeezes and a quick kiss. This is him letting you know that he’s right here and that you’re okay. You didn’t even notice that you’ve been holding your breath all this time. You exhale and squeeze his hand back. It makes you wonder if he felt as nervous as you are now when he made similar appearances back at your kingdom. 

“Thank you, your Highness, for accepting our invitation,” the dean of the Medical and Health Sciences department, who took the microphone after the president’s opening, says and claps at your direction.

You and Wonwoo stand up to wave once again to the clapping crowd, their energy not dying anytime soon. 

Wonwoo is then invited to go up the stage to grace the students who have been waiting to hear his voice since the program started. He takes the microphone from the dean after he shakes his hand. 

“The last time I was here, I was about to graduate,” he starts and the expecting crowd listens. “I was younger and you know, really excited and relieved that school is finally over and I’m free!”

The students laugh and so do you. 

Wonwoo continues, “It didn’t cross my mind that I’ll be standing here again and be embraced by your kindness. I will make this short as I’m sure that you’d much rather prefer the festivities outside instead of being here,” he tries to humor and the students disagree with him. 

“The people first,” he emphasizes and points his forefinger up, “As someone who is delegated to do various activities responsibly, I do it not for my image or the cabinet or even my family. I do it because of the people, because of you,” he says and gestures his hand to them.

“Likewise, as a doctor, I do my job responsibly with the people I’m serving in mind. I do it for their well-being, safety and overall survival. That’s my purpose and I hope that as you have yours, you remember to be selfless because that’s what we need the most. I congratulate you in advance, for those who have only started and for those who are about to cross the finish line. Congratulations because I know and I believe that you’ll do well and even better. Just hang in there a little bit more and take breaks if you need to. I hope to see you around someday, wherever it may be.”

You don’t know if it’s your imagination playing tricks on you, but Wonwoo seems to be dashing and blinding as ever. The way he stood and spoke gracefully made him shine as if he’s the only light that’s being illuminated inside this auditorium. 

Wonwoo ends his speech with a sincere thank you and a polite bow. The crowd claps and cheers for him (for the nth time). The school officials went to the stage and gave him flowers as well, to his surprise, before proceeding to have their pictures taken to commemorate the event. 

You clap just like everyone else and watch Wonwoo with your smile never disappearing. It didn’t take long for the Prince to search for you and meet your eyes. With a wide smile, you give him two thumbs up. In response, he charmingly winks at you. 

You can’t believe you like this guy. 

I like him, you realized. 

You’re just realizing that now after doing almost everything with him. Holding hands, sharing kisses here and there, hugging each other’s warm bodies and even spending the night together. 

Yeah, I like him. 

Lunch had to be short because you have one more place to visit. Jeongyeon mentioned that the drive could last approximately forty minutes to an hour. If you want to get back to the residences before it gets too dark, you need to get moving. You just grabbed a honey bread, which was Wonwoo’s recommendation since it’s his favorite and it’s the kingdom’s famous delicacy. You accompanied it with a cup of tea meanwhile Wonwoo got himself a cup of coffee. 

The two of you ate your quick bites inside the moving vehicle and it was a stretch to not spill your beverages. The driver had to slow down every once in a while, but you and Wonwoo just giggled like some teenagers out on their first date. 

Twenty minutes in the drive, Wonwoo is already passed out with his head laid on your shoulder while his fingers are interlaced with yours. You’re not sure if Wonwoo is tired or if he’s just really a sleepyhead by how much he’s been sleeping since the two of you arrived. Well, it’s only your second day. But you clearly remember how he slept on your way here, then today on the way to the university and now to your next destination. 

Nonetheless, you let him be because this will last for two weeks only and after that, he’ll be back to his hospital duty schedule. And you won’t deny, he is definitely cute with his mouth ajar.

You have been to an orphanage several times before. Usually it’s with your parents as an official duty and other times, it’s just you. After witnessing various cases involving children at your internship at the Supreme Court, a purpose arose. 

Children in your kingdom, like in any other kingdom, are beyond valued and laws are enacted to emphasize that value. Any crime committed against children is corresponded by punishments, regardless of who and what you are. 

You haven’t handled a case firsthand and you hope to never do so.  

This visit is nothing new to you and Wonwoo. But the heartbreak each time you step foot at such a place is something you’ll never get used to.

The children of the orphanage were nothing but full of joy when you and Wonwoo stepped out of the car. Their smiles and waves were enough to put a smile on your faces and lift the heavy burden of today’s affairs. Some of the kids ran to the two of you and handed flowers and small trinkets as gifts. One of them proudly said that they made it during their arts and crafts classes. While the others agreed saying how they made it just for you. 

You and Wonwoo have your hearts swelling in adoration.

Hand in hand, you and Wonwoo followed the head caretaker as he toured you around. The facilities were of great condition, making it a healthy environment for the children as they play, study and grow. Right now, the orphanage only offers elementary education as there is only a small number of orphaned teenagers. But that doesn’t mean that they are taken care of any less. 

A lot of changes and improvements have been made as the kingdom made an effort to protect the welfare of children in the country. According to the caretaker, there has been a spike of abandoned children on the streets from the previous year and to say that they are alarmed is an understatement. Volunteers, mostly teachers from elementary schools, protested and appealed to the kingdom’s cabinet members to do something and accordingly enough, they did.

It was a gradual process and it still is. But to them slow is better than unmoving. 

After the program where the children presented a play of the turtle and the hare and the older brothers and sisters performed a dance number, you and Wonwoo were led by the caretaker to the gallery where photos that dated back to the establishment of the orphanage were displayed. 

The photos hold memories of past volunteers and children who used to live here. Some stories of the children before were saddening. They didn’t only lose their real parents, oftentimes they also lose the second chance of having one. Some do get adopted meanwhile some grow old here, considering the orphanage as their sole family. It was difficult and eventually, the orphanage faced trials that almost caused its closure. 

But the perseverance and sacrifices of the people here fought against those trials that helped the orphanage’s service to continue to this day.

“These are the children who got adopted this year,” the caretaker shows you a framed photo while the Prince spoke with the volunteer doctor about the health and wellness of the children. 

The kids in the photo donned innocent smiles as if they were smiling directly at you. You touch the glass of the frame and try to embed their faces on your mind just like how you did to those you have met today. 

You pray that they get to be happy forever. 

You don’t get to see the sunset as much. The sunrise, maybe. But sunsets are a rare sight for you because of how late you stay at your office every day. So when Wonwoo suggested to stop by the nearest beachside and watch as the sun sets, you didn’t hesitate to say yes. 

Wonwoo is the opposite. The sunset is closer to his heart because that’s usually the time where he catches a break. He’s go-to place to take in the majestic view is at the hospital’s rooftop. Sometimes Soonyoung accompanies him with dinner and sometimes he’s all by himself with a warm cup of coffee. 

It’s a bit cold as you walk barefoot on the sand. It’s a relief that you’re wearing the pants that Jeongyeon prepared for you among the other options. 

Wonwoo’s holding your one hand while you’re using the other to carry the heels you wore today. Security is lurking around as they give you the space and free time that you need. Today has been eventful but fun. And ending it with a peaceful walk on the beach only comforts you further. 

“You were cool today,” you speak up against the sound of the waves and bump your shoulder to his. “Earlier at the university.”

Wonwoo smirks, but hangs his head low. “I’m always cool.”

You roll your eyes. “Whatever.”

After a few hundreds of steps, Wonwoo pulls you down to sit. He keeps his hands locked with yours as you take the last minutes of the ablaze color of the sky which is also reflected on the water. 

“What do you think of going to my family’s vacation home tomorrow?” He asks while smiling at you.

You pretend to think for a second. “I really can’t say no to that, can I?”

Wonwoo purses his lips. “No, not really.”

“Well then, I think it would be lovely,” you finally answer. 

Wonwoo took advantage of you facing him and stole a kiss from your lips. Your eyes widen with the fleeting contact while your cheeks burn in spite of the cold breeze coming from the ocean. The Prince laughs at your reaction and pulls you closer to him with his arms wrapped around your waist. 

“From my memory of last night, you kissed me first.”

You threw daggers at him with your glare and hit his arm. “You’re unbelievable.”

“What? You don’t want to kiss me anymore?” He acts hurt and clutches the middle of his chest. “I’m hurt, Princess.”

“I didn’t say that,” you mutter under your breath and Wonwoo grins in victory.

“You started it so you’re gonna have to keep your end of the deal,” he whispers as he snuggles his face to your neck. “You’re marrying me after all.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Wonwoo suddenly draws back and gazes into your eyes. 

“What?” You ask, confused.

“Kiss me.”

You push him away and stand up. “You know what, it’s getting cold. I want to go back to the car.”

“No!” Wonwoo holds onto your calf to prevent you from escaping. “You have to kiss me first!”

He seems to have forgotten that you’re not the only people enjoying the beach by how he’s acting and it’s starting to get embarrassing. He doesn’t seem to care as well because he remains persistent, hugging your leg and whining against it. 

“Okay, okay!” You appease him and secure your hand on his cheeks. “Just one and we’re leaving.”

Wonwoo promises with a nod and stands up. He wraps his arms around your waist again, hugging you close to his chest. You rest your hands on them and stand on your toes to finally reach his expecting lips. 

You give him a quick close-mouthed peck and that’s it. 

“You call that a kiss?” Wonwoo teases, tightly holding you because he’s not taking any chances of you escaping him again. 

“I’m starting to dislike you,” you say while pouting. 

“Not if I do this,” he refutes and pulls your chin up so that he can lean down to kiss you fully. 

Just like that, Wonwoo steals your breath again and you don’t even know anymore if it’s doing your heart good or not. 

You’re guessing it’s the former.

#seventeen #wonwoo #seventeen scenarios #wonwoo scenarios #seventeen imagines #wonwoo imagines #seventeen scenario #wonwoo scenario #seventeen imagine #wonwoo imagine #seventeen fluff #wonwoo fluff #seventeen wonwoo #wonwoo seventeen #fic: ifliys

[sariahsue]

Rivals Are Always One “Make Me” Away From Kissing

Tossing the controller onto the desk, Adrien reached for Marinette’s waist and slid her into his lap. She came willingly, looping her arms around his neck and weaving her fingers into his hair. (An Adrinette no powers video game AU - 10,000 words)

Adrien had to admit that he was a little bit of a nerd. Here he was, fifteen minutes early for school, in an outfit his personal assistant picked out for him, and looking over his homework alone in the hallway instead of talking with classmates or hanging out in the sunny courtyard like everyone else was doing.

A gust of cool air rushed in through an open doorway and ruffled his hair, making him sigh. It was no wonder he was still single.

The whisper of his name on the wind caught his attention.

"Nino?" Adrien called. The hallway was deserted, so he stuffed his homework into his backpack and stepped closer to the open doorway to investigate. The back of Nino's red cap came into view. He was sitting on the front steps, brushing shoulders with Alya.

"You have too much faith in my bro," Nino said.

Adrien stopped walking forward as his heart sank to the floor. Nino didn't believe in him about something?

"I'm giving Marinette one week, tops," Alya said.

"It's going to take him at least a month," Nino countered.

"You willing to bet on that?" she asked, standing.

"Yeah, I am."

Alya stuck out her hand, then pulled him up as they shook on it.

It was only when they started to turn to come into the building that Adrien realized he shouldn't have been eavesdropping while standing in the dead center of an empty hallway. There was nothing to hide him from the surprised eyes of his friends.

Alya was the first to recover, her expression quickly slipping to suspicion. "How much of that did you hear?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Nothing!" he said, hands up. "I didn't-"

"Did you hear the news?" Nino cut in.

"N-no? What are you talking about?"

"The Olympic Committee voted."

"About?" Adrien asked. He tried to forget… whatever they'd been talking about.

"eGames are in for Paris 2024!"

"Seriously?" Adrien asked. "I thought they voted against that last month."

Nino ignored the comment and held out a hand for a high-five, but it was more like a middle five, limp and unenthusiastic. Nino glanced toward Alya, and they shared a smile.

"I bet I could get us tickets easy," Adrien said, pulling Nino's attention away from his girlfriend. "Want to come-"

Nino snapped back to attention, eyes gleaming. "You should sign up for the team."

"I should what?" Adrien asked, bewildered by his friend's sudden change in tone. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I'm not that good."

"No really, dude." Nino grabbed his arm. "I think you could do it." He threw an arm around Adrien's shoulder, turned him around and marched him deeper into the school.

"No thanks?" Adrien let himself be steered into a crowded hallway, Alya stalking behind them, her eyes burning into his back. "I'd need more practice than I have time for. Some of those gamers-"

"All you need-" Nino guided them around a group of upperclassmen. "-is a partner to practice with."

What was going on? Adrien knew he was kind of sheltered and maybe a little socially awkward, but he knew Nino well enough at this point that he could tell he was trying to set something up. "I get it. You want an excuse to play on my system every day. But you know my father-"

"Oh, no way, man. I'm not good enough." They stepped through a pair of double doors and out into the morning sunshine of the courtyard. Students laughed and yelled at each other. Others lounged on the stairs going up to the second floor. Nino's hand on his shoulder tightened and they stopped moving. "But maybe there's someone-"

"Yeah," Alya cut in. She shoved her way in between them and pointed to the middle of the courtyard, toward a tight cluster of students. "I bet Marinette would want to practice with you."

Adrien followed the line of Alya's finger. Marinette's dark hair and bright smile peeked out from the center of the group. As usual, she was surrounded by admirers, all of whom were laughing at something she had just said. His stomach clenched, though he wasn't sure why.

"You're kidding, right? She's one of the most popular girls in school."

"Did you miss the memo, sunshine?" Alya said. "You're pretty popular yourself."

"And the four of us hang out together all the time," Nino said. "I'm sure she would love to spend some time with just you."

"I don't even think I want to be in the Olympics," Adrien said, turning away from Marinette and glancing at his other friends. There was definitely something going on. Nino and Alya traded sideways glances and wiggling eyebrows, communicating something Adrien couldn't figure out.

"You really should ask Marinette to practice with you, dude," Nino said.

"No, I don't think-"

"Come on, Agreste." Alya stepped up into his space. Not that he could ever tell Nino this, but his girlfriend could be scary when she wanted to be. She was somehow towering over him, even though he could have sworn a few seconds ago that he was taller than she was. "You want a gold medal, don't you?"

"No?"

"Yes, you do. Now go ask Marinette."

"This isn't even about the Olympics, is it?"

Alya nudged him through the open door and into the light. Adrien blinked, disoriented by the sudden movement and the direction his morning had taken.

"Get moving," Alya insisted.

"Okay, okay! I'll ask her!" he said. His plan to skirt around Marinette's knot of students and escape to the other edge of the courtyard was shot down when his friends' footsteps crunched behind him. They weren't going to let him get away.

Feeling their eyes on him, Adrien weaved his way through the students that filled the yard, hoping the bell would ring and give him an excuse to abandon his quest. What was really happening here?

Guys and girls alike were leaning over Marinette's shoulder, and as he got closer he could tell the laughter was due to something on the sketch pad she was holding. Her smile and the light hitting her hair just right made her glow. Her eyes sparkled.

And Adrien stopped moving.

There was no way he could approach her with this many people around. What was he going to say, anyway? Hey, I think our friends are terrible and plotting something against me, and I'm going to regret asking later, but will you please play video games with me? It sounded stupid even in his head.

A single, sharp fingernail between his shoulder blades reminded him that he had no choice in the matter, so he stepped forward, excusing himself through the crowd of Marinette's admirers, until he was close enough to grab her elbow and borrow her attention.

"A-a-adrien?" she asked, stuttering when her bright eyes found his. "How you- uh, what?"

"Can we play video games later?" Ugh. This was even worse out loud than it had been in his head. "Um, the Olympics are coming up later. And we should practice." Yes, that was an eloquent explanation. Very smooth.

Marinette's eyes went wide in a doe-eyed stare, like she couldn't believe he'd ask her such a thing. "Oh." Her voice shook. "Th-tho nank you. No thank you! I don't-" She glanced behind him, over his shoulder. "I mean, yes! I would love to!" She stared at his feet and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear nervously.

Adrien glanced quickly behind him. Nino and Alya were standing a little way away, looking far too innocent. Alya examined her fingernails. Nino was gazing all around the courtyard, not fixing on any one point, his face blank. So they were bullying Marinette into it, too? Whatever they were planning, he wasn't going to let them make her uncomfortable.

"You don't have to," he told her quickly, and her head snapped back up to his. "I mean, it's probably a stupid idea. If you don't want to, I understand. It's kind of a weird idea. And I think the Olympics are dumb and, I mean, you probably like them, so-"

"No," she said quickly, mercifully cutting him off. She reached out to grab his arm, but pulled back just before her fingers brushed his skin. It was close enough to raise goosebumps.

"I do want to practice with you," Marinette said.

He raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"Really," she said, putting enough force into it that she sounded almost convincing.

"Okay," he said, skeptical. She must have so many friends and demands on her attention. She was really going to make time for one-on-one time for him? "I have a free two hours before my piano lessons tomorrow. I'll ask if you can come over."

"I'm free then!"

After her initial hesitation, he was surprised to hear her so excited. What was really going on? "Then, that's good, I guess. Sounds... good. Great."

"Great," she echoed.

The bell rang. Relieved, Adrien walked off through the shuffling crowd, pushing through sharp elbows and heavy backpacks and toward Nino and Alya, who were muttering to each other, their heads close together, and not paying him any attention.

Alya was whispering as he approached. He only caught a soft, "They're going to be-" before she noticed him and walked off.

"Bro, please make me lose." Nino adjusted the headphones around his neck.

"You want to lose? What, a bet?"

"Can't say," Nino said. "It's important, though. You've got a month."

If Adrien was confused before, he was stumped now. The only thing he was sure of was that this had nothing to do with the Committee vote or video games. Was Marinette in on it or was she his fellow victim?

Now that he didn't need the bell to save him from anything, it happily rang the beginning of class. Dozens of shoes shuffled down the hallways. Friends called out to each other. Adrien trailed far behind Marinette on his way to their class. Her pigtails bounced to her enthusiastic step.

What was really happening?

***

A week later, Adrien didn't really care what the motivation behind the practice sessions had been. He was having too much fun. In a stunning display of paternal affection, Gabriel had allowed Adrien to set up regular video gaming sessions with Marinette. Or Nathalie had put it into his schedule and not mentioned it to his father. Probably the second one, though he liked to pretend.

Today, they were up in his room, being washed in the music of Mario Kart that they were playing on his gigantic television. Adrien sat up straight on the couch, toes digging into the plush carpet, and pouring his focus onto the screen, but Marinette was draped across the furniture, one foot dragging on the floor, the other accidentally poking his knee whenever one of them leaned into a turn.

In the past few days, a remarkable change had come over Marinette. Instead of being anxious and fidgety whenever they ran into each other at school, the hours of being together had forced her to grow relaxed around him. It was amazing to see the side of her that everyone else so admired shining out of her when she was with him, instead of it being trapped under her awkward stutter like it used to be. He loved this.

As he rounded the final turn, Marinette on his tail, he squeezed the controller even harder, though his character was already going at top speed. A squirt of black ink blocked out his half of the screen.

"No!" he yelled, trying to negotiate the curve while blind. "I forgot you had that one! I thought you were out!"

Marinette didn't leave her position on the couch until she'd crossed the finish line. When she did, she jumped up and crowed her victory. "I beat you again! Admit it! You're going to cry yourself to sleep tonight because I creamed you so bad!"

Adrien wiped away a fake tear with her controller and was rewarded with one of Marinette's soft giggles. The sound was infectious, and soon his laughter joined hers. This was the way a lot of their games ended. Win or lose, they were both happy, just because they enjoyed each other's company.

Adrien's suspicions had melted away over the past few days. Nino and Alya were dating, and they wanted their best friends to spend time together. That must have been it. He had to admit, he loved the idea.

And he loved that she was comfortable enough with him to be the person he saw her be with other people, bold and funny and expressive, somehow kind and fierce at the same time, ready to compliment him or trash talk him at a moment's notice. It kept him on his toes.

While the question of why it had taken her so long to warm up to him nagged at him, it wasn't enough to keep him from acknowledging that he was much happier when she was around.

"So what do you want to play next?" Marinette slid off the couch and pulled out his collection of games.

"Shovel of Hope," he said quickly.

"I usually pick that one," she said, turning to direct a questioning eyebrow his way.

"It is. And I want you to be happy, so we can play your favorites twice in a row."

A slack look of shock was replaced quickly by Marinette's shy smile, and Adrien's heart flipped.

He'd always known she had a nice smile. So why did it seem like a new revelation just now?

***

If Adrien's observation about their first week together was how much he liked Marinette, then observation about the second week was how much his game had improved.

Marinette's skill on most games was just a little higher than his own, so playing against her was always a challenge, and teaming up with her was always instructive. Of course, her teasing continually spurred him on.

Today they were in her room playing Zombie Fighter 2, which he'd never even heard of before. And it showed. After seven rounds, he had failed to land a single hit on Marinette's character. He went down in a shower of sparks.

"KO'd again! I can't believe it!" Adrien tossed his controller into his lap. He noticed every time his left knee brushed her right as they sat cross-legged on her chaise.

"Your skills are improving, young grasshopper," Marinette said.

"How is losing improving?"

"You lasted a whole ten seconds longer than last time. You're learning how to run away."

Adrien socked her in the face with a pink pillow. He'd been in her room a handful of times now and he still couldn't get over how pink everything was. Walls, curtains, blankets, even furniture. It suited her, though.

Marinette stood up and stretched. A small strip of skin peeked out where her shirt rode up. "We should head downstairs. Your driver will be here soon."

"No." Adrien averted his gaze quickly. "Let's play one more!" The warmth of Marinette's room wasn't something he looked forward to leaving, not when his own sterile, empty room was the only thing waiting to welcome him home.

"I was hoping you'd say that," she said. "Can't get enough of me, or can't get enough of being pounded into the ground, I wonder?"

"Jury's out."

"Ouch! Why do I keep you around, again?" she asked.

"Must be because I'm so cute." Adrien selected his character, and the screen lit up with another round.

"Must be." Marinette ruffled his hair.

Adrien sat up a little straighter. Was it the praise? Or was it her touch? When she took her hand away, it was to fix his grip on the controller.

"You're never going to win like that. Your fingers aren't spread out enough. Like this." She adjusted each finger individually, pushing and poking and smoothing each one into place until they curved just so.

Her hands radiated warmth. But not just that. It felt like... kindness? Caring? How was he getting that from just the feel of her fingertips against his wrists, directing him to relax the sudden tension in his arms?

By the time she pulled away and they started playing, Adrien's hands were shaking. He pulled them deeper into his lap, so she wouldn't see the tremors.

What was happening? And why did he feel like Marinette touching him again was going to make him feel better? Whatever it was, it wasn't helping him win.

"That'll teach me to compliment you," Marinette said after cutting down his avatar with ease. "That was awful. What happened?"

"Just tired, I guess," Adrien said, putting his controller between them and flapping his hands, like they were sweaty or cramping or something else normal.

"Tired, huh? I can play better than that in my sleep! So what's the real reason?"

"Tired. That's really the reason."

"Tired of getting beat, maybe."

"Oh, lay off."

"Make me."

He needed something to do with the nervous energy in his hands, and Marinette was asking for it. When he poked her side, she made the most adorable squeal he'd ever heard, and he had to do it again. The tickle fight that ensued was nothing short of inevitable. She tried to reach for the pillow on the floor to defend herself with, but he took the opportunity to poke her side and she tumbled off the chaise and pulled him with her. It wasn't enough to stop him.

"I surrender!" Marinette gasped after only a few seconds. "You win!"

"You admit I'm better at something than you?"

"No, your arms are just longer, like a monkey's." She laughed even before she felt his retaliation tickle for the jibe.

As their laughter subsided, Adrien felt lighter. He hadn't had fun with a friend like this in he couldn't remember how long. His father always made him feel foolish for finding something mildly amusing. Somehow, Marinette made falling off his seat liberating instead of embarrassing. He loved that about her.

Sprawled out as they were, it took Adrien a few seconds before he noticed where his hand was resting. Right on Marinette's soft stomach. She was smiling up the ceiling, not seeming to notice or care that he was touching her. It felt nice.

But it was probably weird. He was being weird.

So why was he not moving?

His hand moved up and down with her breathing, rhythmic and calming. Would she stop him if he slid his fingers along the fabric and felt the texture of her shirt?

He kept his hands still until she sighed deeply, and then he guiltily removed it.

***

It had been the best month of Adrien's life, and he owed it all to the girl who was walking toward him. The school courtyard was packed with students going home for the day. Backpacks hung off shoulders. People shouted to each other. Heads bobbed up and down as they tried to find their friends in the crowd.

Marinette's small build made it difficult for her to push her way through the crowd, but shoved backpacks and used her elbows and finally reached him. He was touched by the effort that she made to be near him.

"Nino and Alya coming?" he asked.

"Over there," she said, nodding toward the couple. "You ready to head out? My dad promised croissants for all of us today, and I'm very done with school right now."

It wasn't easy to pick out their friends in the mass of students, but he finally found them by the stairs, heads together like they were whispering despite the noise.

"What are they talking about?"

Marinette sighed. "The, uh, that bet." She looked sideways at him, like she was hoping he'd say something about it.

"Oh," Adrien said, racking his brain for scraps of memory. "Nino won, right? He said it was going to take over a month." For someone who won a bet, he didn't look very happy about it. The two looked over at him at the same time and frowned. Well, Nino frowned. Alya glowered.

"Technically, Alya's got until the end of the day but... yeah." Her voice became very quiet. Small and sad. "Nino's going to win."

"I never learned what that was about," he said, hoping she would provide an answer to the mystery.

Marinette just shook her head and started fidgeting with her purse strap to avoid looking at him. "L-let's wait for them," she stammered.

That wasn't a good sign. He didn't want to push her into her old habit of not being able to hold a conversation with him, so he didn't ask again. "Sure, we can wait," he said, taking a step to the side to give her some space. "It looks like they're on their way over already."

Nino and Alya approached with fake smiles plastered on their faces, like nothing had happened. Neither greeted Adrien or Marinette when they reached them, just kept walking toward the doors. The crowd thickened the closer to the door they got. Students pushed to get out of the building, and Adrien quickly lost sight of Nino and Alya somewhere ahead of him. He and Marinette squeezed through the doors and finally made it out onto the stairs.

"Oh no!" Marinette pulled at her hair as they started down the stairs.

"What?" Adrien asked, shuffling behind a red backpack that was going much slower than it needed to.

"Nothing, nothing. I just broke an elastic again." Keeping one fist in her hair to hold the pigtail in place, she fished in her purse for another one. Their pace became a crawl as she searched.

"Just wear it down," Adrien suggested.

"I'll look stupid," she said, giving up the search in favor of digging in her pockets.

"Come on, you'll look fine," he said, trying to convince her so they could catch back up to the others. He could see them waiting by the crosswalk, backs to them. "I've never seen your hair down before."

Marinette half turned to him, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "All right," she finally said, letting it fall and taking out the other side to match. She brushed it out with her fingers as they finished walking down the stairs.

She looked nice like that. Really nice. A piece of him thought he should probably tell her that, so she wouldn't feel self-conscious. The rest of him was just glad Alya and Nino weren't looking at them, so they couldn't see him gaping at Marinette like a vulture.

That was when his hands started trembling. The nervous energy was back, urging him to reach out and touch her. Maybe tuck that stray strand of hair behind her ear and let his fingers linger by her cheek, his fingertips graze her jaw. But he didn't want her to pull away again, so he clenched his fists and tried to remind himself that there was no reason for him to be acting this weird around her.

"I feel like everyone is staring at me," she said after only a few seconds.

Well, I don't know about everyone. At least one person is. He cleared his throat and forced himself to look away. Students started breaking away from the main group, escaping down the sidewalk toward their homes. Nino and Alya had finally noticed their approach.

"My hair must look stupid. I knew it!" She threw her hands on top of her head, a combination of covering herself and patting it down to lie smooth.

"They're only staring because you're so beautiful."

Adrien and Marinette stopped and stared at each other. Alya and Nino stared at the pair of them. A light turned green and cars streamed past, the wind they created making Marinette's hair dance.

Marinette looked as surprised at his words as he felt. But it was true. He'd never thought about it before, but she was probably the prettiest person he'd ever met. Inside and out.

When the initial shock wore off after three seconds, Marinette hunched her shoulders. "Oh, w-w-well, y-you th-thank."

Panic settled over him as she stuttered. He'd messed up somehow. She was nervous. He'd made her uncomfortable. He was weird and made her feel weird, and he'd messed everything up. She was upset.

He opened his mouth to apologize – he had no idea how to apologize for giving an honest compliment but he knew he had to try – but the look on her face froze his tongue to the roof of his mouth. Shock and disbelief, warring with curiosity. But they were all replaced with the familiar crinkle in her eyes that meant a challenge was sure to follow.

"So your true feelings come out at last," she said in delight. "Sorry, but I can't get involved with my sparring partner, so don't ask."

"What-"

"No, no. Your begging won't work on me!" She pushed him away with one hand flat against his chest.

Could she feel his heart beating through his shirt? She must have been able to. The whirlwind shift in her attitude was making him nervous.

He looked at Nino and Alya for help at this sudden change. They were both open-mouthed.

That was when it clicked. She was just teasing him again. Or more likely daring him. He knew her well enough to know that tone when he heard it, the same when she offered a bonus challenge round. That compliment had been sincere, but he knew how to play along.

"Oh please, Marinette," he said, falling to his knees. "Your grace and beauty surpass all." The words were so easy to say. Too easy. "Make me the happiest boy in school and go out with me?" He clasped his hands and unleashed the most pitiful expression he knew how to make, not sure if he was even acting.

Marinette flipped her loose hair over her shoulder. "I could never give my heart to my most bitter rival."

"Noooo!" He threw his arms around her waist, pressing his face into her stomach. He heard more than felt her laughter, but inside he ached. Ached as she ran her fingers through his hair and down the back of his neck and then because she pulled her hand away. Ached because it felt so good to be close to her and then because he was letting her go as he stood back up. It was all he could do not to let the ache show through his fake smile as he continued the "joke."

Nino had his face in hands. "I hate both of you," he mumbled through his fingers. "So, so much."

Alya had already given up on them. She was halfway to the bakery.

"That's unfair," Marinette said, shifting her backpack and not looking at Adrien like he wished she would. "This is completely Adrien's fault."

"Mine?" he said, trying to sound scandalized instead of bitterly disappointed. "You're the one who won't go out with me."

She opened her mouth to respond, only to pause when she saw his face. He tried to school his expression, hide the new emotions pulsing through his blood, replace it with a smirk and a wink.

It must have worked because Marinette tapped his nose and said, "Sorry, Adrien. You'll have to ask me again some other time. I'm too busy being single at the moment."

The words cut deeper than they had any right to.

Nino grumbled something and turned away. Across the street, Alya shouted, "Are you two done being stupid yet?"

It seemed like Marinette was the only one who was truly happy after the joke, though he thought he saw something else flash across her face as she looked away. He wanted to pretend that it was longing or maybe regret, but he knew that couldn't be true. Marinette considered him just a friend. They had only been joking.

No, she had been joking. Everything he'd said was real. Why hadn't he realized it sooner?

His compliments, all the praise, asking her out, every single word of it had been real.

The ache settled deep into his heart.

***

The next morning, Adrien arrived at school a few minutes earlier than he normally would have, heart pounding and exhausted as he walked through the front doors. The exhaustion was caused by barely sleeping at all last night, instead being consumed with thoughts of Marinette, her confidence, her hair, her laughter, her quiet beauty, her kindness, and how much he wanted to touch her and spend time with her.

It hadn't even been 24 hours since he'd realized he was in love with her, but it spread through him like an wildfire, burning him up from the inside out, reaching through every part of him and carving out new places for thoughts of Marinette to inhabit, driving him to do something, anything so he could be with her.

His pounding heart was caused by that last bit, the knowledge that he now needed to act. His plan was simple, but he ran through it again anyway as he waited by her locker. As casually as he could, he was going to ask her out. But not on a date. Not yet. If she didn't like him that way (the "if" killed him; he knew she didn't), he wasn't going to mess up his chance by playing his hand too soon. He repeated his line over and over again. "I was just wondering if you'd like to do something other than video games with me some time?"

It was simple. It was normal friend stuff. He leaned against her locker, the cool metal soothing the voice that said she was going to say no, that he was an idiot for even asking her. After joking around yesterday, it was clear that she only thought of him as her weird gaming nerd friend. Why would she want to do other things with him?

But he had to try anyway. If she said yes, it would be a step in the right direction. He would be able to spend more time with her.

Though he tried not to, Adrien watched every person who entered the hallway, waiting for her. His heart leaped to his throat every time he saw black hair, and it crashed back down to his feet every time it wasn't hers.

If she said no, well, he would accept his place as just her gaming buddy, even though it would break his heart. And he could always pretend that their practice sessions were dates, right? Besides, he'd known her for over a year and he'd been okay with being only friends that entire time. It would probably be simple to find his way back to that easy, uncomplicated friendship.

He slipped a little farther down the cold locker door. His argument was very unconvincing, and he swallowed back the tightness in his throat at the idea.

Black hair bobbed into view, and this time it was Marinette's face underneath it. Blue eyes flashing. Smiling broadly at someone who wasn't him.

Excitement and terror washed through him. Her laughter echoed down the hall ahead of her, and he basked in the sound and sight of her. Would he even be able to speak by the time she finally saw him?

Marinette hadn't noticed him yet. She was talking with someone else, and Adrien's eyes flicked to her companion.

Nathaniel was laughing too, then laughing harder at something else Marinette said. Without hesitation, he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a side hug. Marinette looked content as they walked ever closer to her locker, and that's when Adrien finally accepted the truth.

She was going to say no.

And he couldn't accept just being friends.

With only seconds to make up his mind before she saw him, Adrien did the only thing he could think of.

He ran away.

***

Today's practice was taking place cross-legged on his floor, staring up at his giant television. Marinette sat with him, a six-inch gap separating them, but she looked over at him from time to time, concerned at his silence.

Over the past week, Adrien hadn't given up hope completely, though he knew he should have. Marinette didn't like him that way and was way out of his league. The knowledge didn't stop him from agonizing over the perfect thing to say that would get her to change her mind, or at least give him a chance.

In the end, he had waited too long.

Though he was trying to act like everything was fine, the jealousy ripping through him was affecting his mood, his game, even his face, and had been chewing him up all afternoon. For the millionth time, he tried smoothing out his scowl. He'd already given up trying to shake life back into his numb hands.

B, up, duck, A. Button smashing when he knew he wasn't fast enough. Finally watching as his avatar felt defeated to the mat. Again. He took a shaky breath.

"Okay, what is going on?" Marinette asked, placing her controller carefully down in front of her, lining it up perfectly parallel to her knees. "You're making a lot of rookie mistakes. It isn't like you."

"Oh, just tired," Adrien said, making a show of stretching and lolling back.

"You told me this morning you'd slept really well last night," she said flatly.

"Oh." Right. He'd said that. Shoot. "Tired... from school."

"Okay... What was so-"

Adrien started a new round, forcing Marinette to scramble for her controller and cut off her interrogation.

It was only going to buy him time. If Marinette thought someone was upset, he knew she wasn't going to let it rest until she'd helped them feel better. It was one of many, many things that he loved about her. But he also knew he'd be better off bringing it up before she did, so he could steer the conversation.

They played for a few minutes in silence while Adrien's character was annihilated and he organized his thoughts. "So..." he finally asked, and he was pleased to hear his voice sounding almost normal, not tense like he felt. "What did Nathaniel want to talk to you privately about earlier?"

Adrien knew. She probably knew that he knew.

Nathaniel had asked her out. Adrien had been too slow, and now she was someone else's girlfriend. Could she read the agony on his face underneath the mask of disinterest?

"Oh, Nathaniel asked me for a date." How could she be so calm about the thing that was causing him to die inside? Sensing his distress, his avatar also keeled over and died. Round sixteen ended in defeat.

"Oh? That's..." He gulped. What question would just a friend ask? "When's the big-" He forced the word out. "-date?" That had sounded awful. The words and his delivery.

"I turned him down," she said casually, and just as casually she slaughtered his character again.

The next round began as Adrien blurted out a thrilled, "Really?!"

Marinette's character killed itself by jumping off the edge as she dropped her controller and turned to stare at him.

Adrien cleared his throat. "Really? Too bad for him, I guess." I'm cool about this, Marinette. Not interested in you or your love life at all. His unasked question hung over them: Why did she turn Nathaniel down? He couldn't bring himself to ask.

She continued to stare, considering him, then turned away with a smile she couldn't quite hold in. "I've wiped the floor with you for the past eighteen levels. You want to go again, or are you ready to admit your defeat?”

"And let you rub it in for the rest of our lives? I don't think so."

"I promise not to if you agree to do my homework for the rest of the year."

"I would absolutely love to never do that ever. Bring on level nineteen."

"Oh, that's what I was hoping you would say." Her glance was sly, and Adrien felt a challenge coming on.

Their characters were whirls of pixels, but this time he had no problem keeping up. She'd turned Nathaniel down! Adrien was back on form, matching Marinette stroke for stroke, about to pull out his first win since-

"I bet you were wondering why I said no." Marinette's avatar slipped a punch over his slack fists, knocking him down to half health with one blow. "It's because I already like someone else." With one more kick, she finished him off.

Adrien gripped his controller, not seeing the screen or even her as the next level started playing. Of course she already liked someone. Someone as loving as Marinette would have someone she loved. He'd never even had a chance, even before he'd wanted one. He was an idiot for not realizing.

"Complete devastation!" Marinette said. She meant his character, but she could have been talking about the boy sitting next to her. Both were crumbling to the ground.

The practice session ended early that day. Marinette sent him several questioning looks over the next hour that he stubbornly ignored, and he was glad she didn't push him. He wasn't sure he'd be able to stand her sympathy.

Like the gentleman he was, Adrien walked her to his bedroom door. Even with the awkward tension lingering in the air, he wanted her to stay a little longer. Maybe sensing that, or maybe just still hoping to cheer him up, Marinette hesitated in front of the closed doorway.

Adrien opened his mouth to speak, but when he realized he had no idea what it was he wanted to say, he shut it again slowly. Marinette waited patiently, playing with the hem of her shirt. What could he tell her? Nothing that would help his situation. Nothing that would change her mind about whatever wonderful guy she had her eye on. Nothing that would make her consider her dork of a gaming partner.

Marinette smiled up at him. After the miserable company he'd been all afternoon, she still felt like smiling at him? He almost blurted all his feelings out anyway.

"Well..." she said. "I should go."

Pushing herself up on her toes so she could reach and putting her hands on his shoulders for balance, Marinette placed an unexpected kiss on his cheek, just next to his mouth.

Adrien closed his eyes at the tender touch, heart melting.

I could turn my head, he thought as her lips lingered. I could wrap my arms around her and never let go. The scene was vivid in his mind, her hands slipping from his shoulders to his chest, fingertips tracing the stripes across his shirt. Whispers of how much she loved him. Him pulling Marinette close, her wanting him to.

But it wasn't real. She wouldn't like that, he reminded himself, so he kept still. His hands gripped his jeans to keep them from seeking her out.

When she pulled away a few seconds later, her look was intense. Despite her announced intention to leave, she hesitated. Waiting for something. For him to say something?

The words were right there on the tip of his tongue. Confess! He could do it!

He could, but he shouldn't. She'd just admitted to liking someone else. How disrespectful of her confession would telling her now be? Adrien didn't want to lose her.

"See you tomorrow?" he said, pulling the door open for her.

She frowned, not like she was angry. Like she'd been disappointed. Without another word, she slipped through the door and padded down the wide atrium stairs. He didn't take his eyes off her the whole time, but she didn't turn around to see it. From his spot so far away, he heard the front door click softly behind her.

He stayed put long after she'd gone, replaying the kiss in his mind, what her soft lips felt like, the tingle he'd felt as she'd rested her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, the heat of having her body so close to his.

Had it been all his imagination, telling him what he wanted, or had her kiss really been that close to his mouth? It had felt like she'd almost touched his lips she'd been so close.

The memory was still fresh on his skin, and he outlined the spot hesitantly, then with awe as his finger brushed the corner of his mouth. It wasn't his imagination. She really had.

Maybe... maybe he had misunderstood. Hope bubbled up inside him. She liked someone else, someone other than Nathaniel. He wasn't Nathaniel. What if she'd meant him?

What if he did have a chance after all?

***

Adrien wanted to be absolutely sure. Getting his hopes up again, or listening to Marinette's rejection, would be too painful. He was going to make sure he was the one, so he spent the next week looking for clues that he was the lucky boy she'd set her sights on.

And clues were everywhere.

They were mostly little things, like the way her face would light up when he came around a corner, or how she leaned into his touch when he dared to brush her bangs out of her eyes, or how she didn't scoot away if he sat down close to her.

Four days later, in the middle of a hard level, he experimentally touched his hand to her knee, keeping the pressure as light as he could, in case it wasn't wanted. She scooted closer, like she wanted to make it easier for him to do it again.

Marinette knew about his strict diet and would often bring him goodies, leftovers from the bakery. The following day, she'd brought him ones she'd made herself "with love." That's what she said. The big L word. A small part of him told him to calm down. She could have meant that she loved him as a friend. Most of him excitedly took it as an obvious hint.

Overall, his second favorite hint of her feelings was how she glowed under his compliments.

"These pastries are the best things I've ever tasted! Could you teach me to make them?" Marinette stumbled over her words for the next five minutes.

"Forget competing in the Olympics," he said two days later. "You could be the team coach. You're amazing!" She blushed for the rest of the day.

The best hint, the one that left him reeling, was becoming a common occurrence: she talked to him. Lately, their practice sessions would be filled with long stretches when they chatted about everything and nothing, controllers abandoned.

Today, she lounged on his couch, and he sat on the floor by her head. She'd asked him about his day, and he'd listened to hers, though she admitted herself that it was boring. She'd asked him about his day, then about his dreams for the future.

The honest curiosity she had for his answers, the fact that she even cared, left him leaning the couch for support. Marinette was on her back and smiled up at him as the movement brought him closer.

The conversation hit a lull when he ran out of things to say. Instead of feeling awkward, it was peaceful, and she closed her eyes and sighed.

What a perfect time to test her feelings for him again. Before he could think better of it, he ran his fingers through her hair. Her reaction was immediate. Her whole body relaxed, her smile widening. When she opened her eyes to look up at him, they were soft, maybe even loving.

But the "maybe" was still too daunting, and he pulled his hand back and looked away.

He needed to tell her how he felt. He liked her too much not to. He wanted her to look at him like that all the time. So why was he pulling out the controllers again to avoid her? Was it really better to wait and see what happened? Or should he just lay his heart bare right now?

He settled on the couch next to her, Marinette bending her knees to give him room without moving from her spot. Was she still giving him that loving look? Or had it turned into a frown because he was being a coward? He hunched forward under the weight of all his questions, resting his forearms on his knees.

"I bet I could beat you in my sleep," Marinette said. Her voice sounded normal, so he dared to look at her. Her face was mischievous as she stretched out with an exaggerated sigh, throwing her legs across his lap and pinning his arms down. "Care to bet against me?"

"Um, move. I need those arms."

"Make me."

Two more hints: the ease with which she touched him, and the way she seemed to save her most dazzling smiles just for him.

"Make you?" Massive crush or not, Adrien was not about to pass up a challenge. "I'll make you."

Marinette settled deeper into the cushions, pressing down onto his arms. It was the best trap he'd even been in, and he couldn't reach much to help him, just the coffee table in front of them. Leftover snacks littered the table, along with a half-filled glass of water. He slid it off the edge of the couch as Marinette squirmed to keep him in place.

With his limited movement, he couldn't lift the cup very high, so he mimed pouring it over her shins. She shrieked and kicked him in her scramble to get out of the way, and the glass spun out of his hand, splashing water all over him before landing on the floor. It soaked into his shirt and dripped through his hair.

"I'm sorry!" Marinette jumped up immediately, flapping her arms around her head so fast they blurred. "I'm so, so sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"It's fine," he assured her while rivulets of water tickled his down scalp. "It wasn't that much water."

She groaned at the lie. "I'll go get you a towel."

Before he could protest, she ran toward the bathroom door. Adrien followed her, dripping. "It was my fault. Please don't-"

A fluffy towel muffled his words as she threw it over his head and started rubbing it into his hair. "Marinette," he mumbled. "You don't have t-" The pace of her hands became less frantic as she moved from the crown of his head, moving down to dry the back.

"Sorry," she whispered. Her tempo became even slower as she worked the sides of his heads, rubbing gently so she wouldn't hurt his ears. Plans to "accidentally" get himself soaked on a weekly basis were already starting to form in his mind. He wasn't sure if it was the attention she was paying him or her rhythmic pace as she stroked circles around his ears, but every muscle in his body seemed to be melting.

"Is that any better?" she asked. Her hands stilled, but she didn't remove the towel from his face. Her breathing was quick and shallow.

Adrien lifted up the edge to reveal Marinette's panicked face. What did she think? That he was going to hate her because of some water? He wasn't a cat.

Her eyes searched his, looking for anger or rejection or who knew what, and he gently grabbed her face with both hands to bring her back to reality. And as an excuse to act out at least the beginning of every fantasy he had about kissing her. With the way she was looking at him, he could even pretend that they were about to come true.

"It's fine," he said, rubbing a thumb across her cheek. "I'm all dry now." A cold spot was soaking through at his shoulder, but he ignored it.

After a few more seconds of wide-eyed staring, Marinette slid the towel off his head and looped it behind his neck, holding onto both ends and giving no indication that she wanted him to remove his hands. So he didn't.

Another clue. It finally was enough. He knew.

Leaning in slowly, so she would have time to change her mind, he looked at her lips, then raised an eyebrow in question. Marinette used the towel to pull him closer to her, closing her eyes. A rush of heat swooped in his stomach when he felt her body brush against him. Her breath fanned his face as he inched closer. They hovered, anticipation building, noses brushing, lips quivering, until he tilted his head and finally closed his eyes.

Without warning, the door swung open. "Adrien."

Marinette and Adrien jumped apart, the towel falling on the floor.

Nathalie walked in, staring at her tablet and almost ignoring the teenagers she was speaking to. She hadn't noticed anything. "Your piano teacher is here. Ms. Dupain-Cheng's ride is waiting downstairs." Without another word, or even looking around the room for them, she left, leaving the door open after her.

"Um," Adrien said. Cursing the interruption, he bent to pick up the towel. When he straightened he reached out for Marinette's hand, but she was already across the room, picking up her things and not looking at him, her face glowing red.

She snuck him a peek once as she was putting her shoes back on, but when she saw him staring at her, she looked down again. Probably because he was gaping at her like an idiot.

Marinette finally walked back over to him, eyeing the wet spot on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-

"Want a hug?" he asked, offering his arms. "It's nice and cold."

She chuckled as she leaned into him, resting her cheek against his. "Thanks for having me over." Her breath blew his hair, tickling him. "And for letting me beat you."

"Oh, yes," he said. The hug didn't feel cold at all. It was warming him up from head to toe. "I lost on purpose, just for you." How was he supposed to just let her walk out his door, when all he wanted to do was hold her and never move from this spot again? "Because your happiness is so important to me."

As she pulled away and stepped back, he grabbed her hand, and then just as quickly let it go, unsure how to recreate the mood that had so quickly evaporated.

They waited, neither moving, Adrien hoping for at least another goodbye kiss like she'd given him last week. Without warning her expression crumpled, and she walked through the door without saying goodbye at all.

She'd been waiting, he realized as soon as she was gone. She'd been waiting for a goodbye kiss, too.

Adrien ran to the window in time to watch her walk down the front steps. He followed her with his eyes as she slid into the car. When she turned to pull the door closed behind her, she paused, looking straight at him. He waved, but she shut it without returning the gesture.

"Tomorrow," he vowed. It was Saturday, and they had another practice in the morning. The first words out of his mouth were going to be his confession.

He just needed to figure out what to say.

***

Saturday mornings used to mean stifling isolation. There was no school to look forward to. His tutors often had the day off, and if there wasn't a photoshoot, he was likely to be confined to his room. Another benefit of having Marinette in his life was that he was no longer alone on the oppressive weekends.

"You're smart, and kind, and funny." Adrien muttered to himself in the back seat, his driver occasionally looking at him with concern through the rearview mirror. He'd been rehearsing multiple versions of his speech since last night. It was only a few minutes until he saw her, and he still hadn't decided what to say. Should he just blurt it out? "Marinette, I love you." Or should he build up to it? "I've loved spending time with you, and you're my best friend, and lately you've become more than that." He tested them both out. They were both fine, so why did they both sound so... wrong?

Maybe he wasn't being specific enough. Anyone could tell her she was great. So what should he say about her specifically? This only led him back to all the other lists of rehearsed lines he'd come up with in the last 12 hours, her confidence, her infectious joy, her compassion...

The car pulled up to the curb, and Adrien stepped out, knees a little wobbly with anxiety. He was going to have to just wing it. Say what felt right in the moment. Which was a terrifying idea, but now he had no choice.

The bell tinkled and the smell of fresh bread and chocolate chip cookies filled his nose as soon as he pushed open the bakery door. Sabine and Tom turned to him with wide smiles.

"She's already waiting for you," Sabine said, waving him through the door to their upstairs apartment. "Have fun!"

His footsteps seemed to echo through the small hallway. Hesitating only a second, he knocked on the door that led into her living room, and waited, heart pounding.

Marinette, I have something to tell you. Marinette, I love you. Marinette, before we start to play, can we talk? He'd promised himself. The first words out of his mouth would be his confession. Don't mess it up, Adrien. Just tell her you love her. 

The door was yanked inward so fast that it hit the wall. Adrien jumped. "M-marinette. I lo-"

"I've got a new idea! Come here!" She reached through the doorway and clamped down on his wrist, then turned and towed him through the living room and up her stairs. A woman on a mission.

He had no idea what that mission was, or what really was happening, so his imagination started supplying possibilities. She got a new game? She needed to show him her newest art project? He tripped on the top step when he thought that maybe she was dragging him up to her room because she couldn't wait to kiss him.

He imagined her snapping the trapdoor shut, with the pink curtains closed and her room dimly lit by filtered light. She would let go of his hand, then turn around to face him, before slowly stepping into his space. She'd slide her hands up his shirt, stopping at the collar, grabbing fistfuls to pull herself closer. And closer. Their faces were millimeters apart. He could count the lashes of her half-closed eyes. He reached for her eagerly, wrapping both arms around her waist, pulling her closer, her stomach flush against him.

"I love you," she whispered. "You're the only one for me." Her lips parted slightly as her eyes slid shut.

Marinette's voice was suddenly bright and cheery. "Pick your favorite button!"

Adrien's daydream popped.

Sunlight flooded her room through uncovered windows. Her trapdoor was still open, as her parents had always requested, and she waited for an answer expectantly, bouncing on her toes and not looking smitten in the slightest.

"Uh, what?"

"Buttons," she repeated. "Which one's your favorite?"

She'd dragged him upstairs for sewing help. He cleared his throat and smoothed out the collar of his shirt, which hadn't been rumpled by her hands.

"I've never thought about it," he said, keeping the disappointment out of his voice. "Flat buttons are probably the easiest to sew with, but Father says shank buttons are almost as easy, and I think they look... What?"

Marinette was laughing at him. "No, your favorite controller button, you goof." She waved one in front of his face. The A button had been taped down. Taking it in both hands again, she mimed playing an intense round. Enthusiasm bubbled off of her. He had no idea what this was about, but he was already on board with whatever it was. (Even if it wasn't kissing.)

"I'm confused." And also in love with you. 

It was too late for his confession to be the first thing out of his mouth. His fingers itched to touch her, but she was too excited to let him interrupt.

"See, we're getting too good. We need a new way to push ourselves, so I thought, give ourselves a handicap." She pointed at the incapacitated button. "And go head-to-head. What do you think?"

"I think that's amazing."

As soon as the moment passed, he'd realized what a perfect opportunity he'd missed. Marinette was scrambling across her room to tape down the B on his controller. "You're," he whispered, too quiet for her to hear. "I think you're amazing."

"Catch!" The controller flew, and he caught it deftly. Marinette flopped onto the chaise, leaning sideways against the cushioned back, leaving enough room for him to sit at the end, if he didn't mind her feet poking his thigh, which he definitely did not.

The computer monitor flickered as Marinette scrolled through the settings. Adrien leaned forward as the round began, trying to ignore the way her toes jabbed him when he got a hit on her. It didn't happen very often. The handicap was almost impossible to play with. Marinette won every round easily. At the end of the fourth round, she covered a fake yawn and stretched lazily, and he finally realized something important.

"You practiced this beforehand, you dirty cheater!"

Marinette laughed wickedly as his character was knocked out again.

"You're almost as good as I am now, young grasshopper. I've got to maintain my superiority somehow!"

"We both know that isn't true." He swiped for her hands, but she was too fast, moving the controller out of his reach. "Give yourself a second handicap."

"Make me," she said, her feet pushing against him to press herself further into the back of the chaise.

"Give it."

"No."

He leaned over her legs and into her space, but she kept the controller away from him, grinning wildly. Feigning defeat, Adrien leaned back. When Marinette lowered it into her lap, he pounced forward, but she was still too quick, lifting both hands behind her head, hiding it out of sight.

"Hand it over!"

"No!"

He reached, and she leaned back farther, one elbow poking his cheek. Pushing into her, he strained to get the controller, and she arched underneath him to keep it away.

His arms were longer than hers. He should have been able to get it. His fingers found her wrists, and he slid them up to find her fingers.

A warm breath on his cheek made him stop. He was face-to-face with Marinette. He was nearly lying on top of her, pressing her into the chaise. They were both breathing hard, though they'd barely moved. One of her pigtails was loose.

"It's not fair," he said, mouth dry. "You need to make it even."

She lifted her head, until her face filled his vision and their noses touched. "Make me." Her lips brushed his with each word.

He kissed her.

Every longing moment, every loving thought he'd ever had about her poured through him into his kiss. Again and again his lips found hers. Somewhere, a controller clattered to the floor, and then her hands were on him, in his hair, splayed against his neck, pulling him closer, and he kissed her harder, caressing her face, pulling out her loose pigtail so he could feel her soft hair between his fingers.

Kissing a line from the corner of her mouth to ear and back, he asked, "Have I sufficiently dazed you?"

She hummed dreamily in response.

Kissing just below her ear, he asked, "Think you can play like this?"

A whisper. "No."

Taking his time, he worked his way back across her cheek, making sure to kiss every inch until he reached the corner of her lips, but he stopped just shy of them, gently kissing her nose instead. "Good."

Somehow, he managed to pull himself off of her. Marinette clutched at his shirt, trying to get him to come back, but he circled the chaise and retrieved her controller, holding it out to her. He loved the way her fingers hovered over her mouth as her eyes wandered up his arm. When her eyes reached his lips, her fingers pressed down hard, like it was the only way she could stop herself from kissing him again.

"Up for another round?" he asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to the computer screen.

"Yes, but not of that." She scowled. Half of her hair was loose around her shoulder.

"Let me win this game and you have a deal."

"Never."

"Poor, Marinette," he said, settling down next to her and clicking Start. "No more kisses for you."

Ten seconds into the round and Adrien already knew his plan was going to end badly. His hands were shaking. Marinette's character wobbled. Every time he licked his lips, he could still taste her.

And she had realized that if she rubbed her toes against his hip, he would jump and look over at her. The first time she did it, he was unsure if it had been on purpose, but the second, he turned to find a sly smile waiting for him. This girl was going to drive him crazy.

"I don't think much of your tactics," she said a minute later, as her character finished him off. It had taken three times longer than normal because they were both awful. "You're clearly just as dazed as I am."

"Not nearly enough," he said. Tossing the controller onto the desk, he reached for her waist and slid her into his lap. She came willingly, looping her arms around his neck and weaving her fingers into his hair.

One of his hands stayed at her waist, the other reached up and pulled her other pigtail loose. "You really do look good like this," he breathed.

"You love me," she giggled. "Admit it."

He leaned forward, forehead resting on hers, eyes locked. "Make me."

"Oh, believe me-" Marinette's voice was a low whisper, and Adrien felt a thrill. "I will."

***

Author’s note: This might just be my new favorite thing I’ve ever written.  :)  I wrote this in response to a poll I took a zillion years ago.  It’s finally here!  Thank you @ours-polaires, @khanofallorcs and @actuallycannotflirt for beta’ing this one!  I know it was long, and I truly appreciate the help!

@tbehartoo 

#adrinette #adrienette #ml #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #no miraculous au

[tranquilstudy]

Hey everyone! So I've seen a lot of these floating around and I've always wanted to make one but just never had the creative incentive to do so... until now! I think these are pretty cool in how they allow people to get to know each other and bond on the studyblr community and as a community of welcoming and acceptance. Not all of the challenges on here are study-related but I think they make pretty decent conversation starters for people to get to know you and your studies better! Because this may be a time for people to take a break from school as well, I think the questions are fairly fitting. But, it's my first time doing this so who knows, haha.

Basic Information

The challenge will run from kind of a weird time: May 2nd, 2021 to May 27th, 2021. However, you can start or stop at any time! Feel free to participate in this whenever you feel like it. Everyone is welcome!

There are 25 26 prompts / challenges, and they range from strictly academia to just fun prompts to spruce up your posts. It's honestly more about getting to know yourself and where you direct your energy. There's questions for productive days and questions for days when you just wanna crawl into a ball and fall asleep forever. The most important part is having fun and connecting with others here, that's why I decided to make this. They're meant to be answered once a day, but know that you can answer however your posting schedule fits you! I know for me I don't typically post everyday so I'll probably be answering these in a bit of a wonky fashion. Feel free to join me or answer them on the dime!

If you decide that you wanna participate, whether at the designated time or not, feel free to use the tag #tranquilstuddybuddies ! I'll be following it and I'm excited to see what you guys come up with. Also, please reblog this post so that I know you're at least thinking of doing it! Even if you don't end up doing it. I'll create a taglist below as I see more people becoming interested and reblogging this post so we can all stay connected!

Questions

Daily Question: So, I've been doing a lot of yoga lately.

...I swear this will all make sense.

And I've been doing a lot of Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube, and in her practices she always tells her followers to set intentions for themselves, which I thought was really cool. So, I'm gonna borrow her idea here!

For every day of the challenge, you can answer one or two of the following:

1. Fill in the blank: Today, I choose _______. (Kind of like an affirmation for your day.

2. Fill in the blank: Today, my goals are __________. (Like a to-do list! what are your plans for the day? What do you want to accomplish?)

These are meant to be done along with the prompt for each given day. So , for Day One you would answer the daily question(s) as well as the prompt for Day One, and so on. They don't have to be answered but it might be a nice way to set yourself up for success, both in an academic and a mental mindset.

...

Prompt questions:

Day One: Tell us a little bit about yourself! What classes are you currently taking, if any? If not, what are you currently studying or what is your current long term productive projects or goals?

Day Two: Choose one: "True love flows like water, coming and going, surging and receding, and must be followed accordingly." or "True love is choosing someone or something, over and over, no matter what." Explain your choice if you'd like! Kind of a philosophical way to get the brain churning.

Day Three: Share some pictures from your favourite vacation or travels. What's your favourite part of this place? (Or, if thinking of travelling makes you sad because of covid restrictions, take a picture of your study area and tell me what you love most about it!)

Day Four: What are you doing to take care of yourself today? Show us a picture of your favourite face mask, tea / coffee / hot beverage or your comfort activity.

Day Five: What is your favourite band? Share some of your favourite songs from them! (Bonus points if you also share your study playlist with us, or what you like to listen to to get in "the zone").

Day Six: What do you do on days that you feel blue? Share three songs that help you feel better.

Day Seven: What type of learner are you? (Visual learner, audial learner, etc.)

Day Eight: Tag someone that you would love to stargaze with, talking about anything that comes to mind deep into the night. Can be a studyblr, or it doesn't have to be!

Day Nine: Tag someone that you think deserves to have more recognition in the study community. What are two things you like about them?

Day Ten: What would you love to learn more about or do more of?

Day Eleven: What article of clothing that you own makes you feel your best? Share it today!

Day Twelve: Do you have any pets? Share a picture and an interesting fact about them!

Day Thirteen: What class have you had the most fun in during your academic journey? What class have you learned the most in?

Day Fourteen: Do you believe that dreams reflect real life? What do you think dreams represent? (Kind of a random one, but interesting I think)

Day Fifteen: Within your field of study, what particular issues are you the most passionate or interested in? OR, what subject or class in school is your favourite?

Day Sixteen: What is your process for writing notes?

Day Seventeen: What time do you usually go to bed? Do you find falling asleep easy or difficult? How do you cope with not being able to fall asleep?

Day Eighteen: If you're comfortable with it, share an experience or a struggle that has helped you to become who you are today. (If you're not comfortable, share a picture of your handwriting instead!)

Day Nineteen: How would you describe your best friend? How do you think your best friend would describe you?

Day Twenty: What book(s) are you currently reading, if anything?

Day Twenty-One: What keeps you motivated? What motivation tips would you give to someone in a slump right now?

Day Twenty-Two: What do you use to escape from reality, if anything? Do you think it's necessary to escape from reality every once in a while?

Day Twenty-Three: Tag yourself: Team "late night matcha lattes, snuggled up with a blanket for one last late night review session" or Team "staying out late at the soda shop, drinking a milkshake and popping quarters into the jukebox, dancing your cares away"? (Team cozy matcha or team sodapop for short)

Day Twenty-Four: Share your favourite recipe for one of your favourite dishes to make! Can be cooking or baking.

Day Twenty-Five: Tag someone that gets you. On, like, a higher level. They just get you.

Day Twenty-Six: The end of the challenge! What did you like or dislike about this challenge? What did you enjoy? What did you learn? What are your plans for the future now that this challenge is over?

Well, I can't count. I thought there were 25 questions... *sigh* this is why I failed stats...

Taglist

@lampstudy @notionblr @asterinunfathomed @predvmstudies @itsleahstudies @divinity-study @helianthuscryptid @jkjustplanning @econtwin1 @leillee @mangofiend @mangomybeloved @agriblr @fromtheatretomedical @elentiascodex @finchleaf :)

[wandsandwheezes]

Fake It | Weasley Twins | CH8

one // two // three // four // five // six // seven

Warnings | 2.3k // 18+ SMUT (in other chapters), mature themes, fake relationships, secret relationships, love, sex, drama, angst, fluff, character death, murder???, unforgivable curses. Happy? ending

Summary // Fred Weasley has been set up to publicly date Y/N, London’s best Quidditch Seeker in order to drum up some publicity. Y/N however has a different ginger man on her mind; George Weasley.

A/N // well well well, we have come to a close. Writing this has been the best release for all of my feelings!! this really has been amazing and the support I've had has been unreal! a massive thank you goes out to every reader who made it possible and motivated me to get out! my special thanks goes out to the rose of my life @starlightweasley​ - possibly fake it’s biggest fan and the girl who has supported all of my breakdowns through this fic! This however isn’t a goodbye, just a see you later because I have a big announcement coming alongside the epilogue <33

‘I saw you and Fred just now.’

The words echoed through your head, trying to gauge what George could have possibly meant by his words. Fred must know, he must have some inclination as to what had set George over the edge so quickly. You were confused, George had refused to tell you what he saw. You knew that you hadn’t slept with Fred, hell you’d hardly spoken more than a few words to each other in at least a week. But now, you were walking up the concrete steps to the first floor flat, tapping softly on the pale yellow door. It swung open slowly, the whine of the hinges echoing through the stone stairwell, you were greeted by the tall, dishevelled man, he didn’t speak, choosing only to stare back at you blankly. 

“Look Fred I don’t know what the fuck is going on with George, he says he saw us together but I was at practice and-” He still stared back at you with absolutely nothing behind his eyes. Normally Fred would’ve at least looked away or cracked a smile or something, but a deadpan look washed over his face, his eyes burning into the back of yours with a stare so intense you felt like he was medusa and you were turning to stone. 

It was only then that you noticed a perfectly manicured hand snake over Fred’s shoulder to his chest, the nails were a long, glossy red to match the name of the person whose hand it was. Cherry’s face came into view as her chin rested on the opposite shoulder of the man in front of her. Red lip gloss leaves its mark on Fred’s skin as she presses a sensual kiss to his ear as her sinister breath fans over his neck. “Come, Freddie, let her in so that the girls can talk, hm?”

Fred simply nods, moving to the side to allow you in, shutting the door behind you before walking over to the corner and just standing there. Your eyes following him as his expression still runs blank, like he was a shell of a human. “What have you done to him, Cherry.”

She laughs, smirk hanging off her lips, every word breath and sound that breached her mouth was dripping with malice and hatred. "Don't you worry your pretty head about that, he wanted this just as much as I do."

You cocked your head to the side, watching as Cherry pulls out her wand, you go to do the same but she quickly disarms you, leaving you helpless, vulnerable and open. Confusion washed over you more than anything. What could possibly be going so wrong that she needed to take it out on you, on Fred even. "You know, Y/N, Polyjuice potion is a fantastic thing, I just wish i could've seen George's face as he caught his twin brother fucking his girl right in front of him."

You finally understood. It wasn't you George had seen earlier tonight, It was Cherry. You finally got why George called you all of those horrible words, why he kicked you out, why he was so furious. Because you felt exactly the same, anger bubbling over like hot iron, the blood and rage reaching your eyes as you lurched forward. "You fucking bitch, I can't believe you'd do tha-" 

Your airways closed, you couldn't talk, nor breathe as you clutched at your neck, dropping to your knees as you felt what air you had in your lungs leave. Cherry released the magical grasp she had on you, causing you to exhale a deep breath, trying desperately to fill your lungs again, completely doubled over as the terrible pain crippled your lungs. Cherry's hand grasped roughly onto your hair, forcing you to look up at her, as she squatted down in front of you. "Cat got your tongue?" 

"Why…" you pleaded, looking up at her desperately as she pointed her wand at your throat, you wished Fred would intervene, stop her from what she was doing or at the very least speak up. "Why me? What do you hate so much about George and I being together?" 

"It's not about your stupid fucking boyfriend," the wood pressed against your throat a ittle harder as she got angrier, taking a deep breath. "You're a Murderer."

With the same breath you were protesting the ghastly accusation. You wouldn't hurt a fly, your anger reserved only for the quidditch pitch and when George had been particularly frustrating, but never in your life would you have thought about killing someone. "What are you talking about I haven't killed anyo-"

She cut you off with a sharp slap across the face. Sneering at you as she spat back her response, you looked deep into her eyes, clouded with anger and fury. "You are a cold blooded killer, the moment I found out it was YOU who killed my sister, I knew I was going to ruin your life."

"Your sister? I didn't even know you had a sister, please this must be some sort of mistake." You were begging her as you stared at her with pleading eyes before hanging your head in sorrow, causing her to scoff and pull away from you. “You don’t even realise the damage you did to my family when you killed The Bishop.”

Your mind flashed back to the war, a green storm swirling in your head as you’re brought back, watching from the side-lines, a ghost of the future as you watch your body contort in hideous ways and finally hear the spine-stiffening screams for yourself. You replayed the image of Maria Bishop’s body flying through the air and collapsing on the floor in a loud thump over and over again. Shock hitting you again as you realise that you’d taken a life, a life that wasn’t yours to take.

In Cherry’s mind she is taken back to the moment she found her sister’s cold body, splayed out across a pile of broken bricks and rubble, still wearing the expression she had been caught in; mouth open and eyebrows furrowed. Aveline Bishop was the youngest of her bloodline, with a surname destined to die, her mother never able to bear a son to her husband - that destiny loomed over the family of pureblood death eaters, making The Bishop, her sister, all the more of an inspiration to her. So now as the young girl was staring into her sister’s lifeless eyes, no longer shining a bright blue, but instead a cold grey, Aveline knew that she would avenge her sister’s death, no matter the cost. Aveline’s fingertips ghosted gently over her sister’s eyelids to shut them, embodying the new person she set out to become - Cheryl Jackson.

“And now, your family will know the pain that you put mine through.” Cherry had her wand out, the cruciatus curse falling from her lips with such ease and you felt that same surge of pain again. Like a thousand knives against your skin, twisting and turning. Her laugh rang the same as her sister’s, enjoying the look of pure torture etched upon your face. With every tear that spilled from your cheeks the pain grew harsher, you found yourself calling out for someone, anyone to help, realising that your pleading turned to Fred’s name, as it was grated through screams.

“He won’t help you. He’s going to watch the girl he loves die in front of him.” Fred heard it all, every blood curdling scream and every sob. He was internally yelling as he tried to force his legs to move, to help you, to be there for you and stop the tears from falling. Every minute that passed by you grew weaker, the screams turning to low sobs as you felt yourself fall in and out of consciousness. You thought that maybe death would come as the sweet release from your pain. “Freddie, if you can hear me in there, You tell George forever, you tell him I love him with all my heart, I’m sorry I brought you both into this.” 

Fred slowly felt his fingertips start to move, from him willing them to be moved. His love for you was breaking him free of the curse veiled over him. His fingertips were finally able to reach for his wand, using every ounce of strength within him to push himself to save you. He couldn’t just stand by and watch you die, not without giving it every fibre of strength he had inside him. It was like eerie silence to Fred’s ears as he blanked out the words he didn’t want to use but words he would use to protect anyone he loved. A brilliant flash of green left his wand as he aimed it right at Cherry’s back, the power of his spell obliterated the woman he once knew into dust, leaving you to collapse to the floor. 

In that moment, all panic washed over Fred, he was too late, too late to save you. He was scooping your body into his arms, as tears pricked the back of his eyes, threatening to spill from his eyes. He didn’t check to see your small shallow breaths, taking your lifeless body as the only sign, a sign that he hadn’t done enough. He took you to the only place he could think of, apperating in with a pop, before yelling through choked back sobs. “GEORGE!”

George runs In to see you being carried by Fred, your body limp and your arm hanging down. Thinking the worst already, he scoops you into his arms, but as he moves you he notices the soft rise and fall of your chest and realises that you are alive - you may be weak, unconscious and in pain, but you’re alive.

Fred had sunk down to curl his legs up to his chest, making himself as small as possible as he realised that what he had done was utterly unforgivable. George looks at him and sees the same shell of who you had been after the war attempting to piece together what had happened. George no longer cared about his feelings or what he had seen earlier that day. He saw the unconscious body of the girl he loved and his twin sat on the floor shaking. He walked over to sit next to his brother, back pressed against the wall. “Freddie what happened?”

Fred looked up, seeing the pleading eyes of his brother. He took a moment to compose himself, using what small voice he could to try and choke out his words. “Cherry- I she used Polyjuice to pretend to be Y/N and when she showed up at my house, she brought her in, she… was torturing Y/N and she had me under imperious… I tried to save her, Georgie, I really did.” George’s eyebrow’s furrowed, as his brother took another deep breath. “I killed Cherry, trying to save Y/N, and I was too late.” 

George pulled Fred into a hug. It was something that they hadn’t done, not in years, not like this. Not a hug that really mattered, that comforted each other. Fred immediately burst into tears again, the salty, wet tears soaking through George’s shirt, feeling vulnerable and numb in that moment. “She’s okay, Freddie, You did save her.”

You take a sharp breath as you wake up, finding it hard to breathe, like you’d been hit with a bludger to the chest. The sound causes the boys to snap their heads to the direction of the sofa. Your weak voice calls out for George and he is immediately by your side, pressing a gentle kiss and soothing your hand as he takes it into his. Whispering a thousand apologies to you as he presses kisses to your palm and back of your hand.

He sees that same fear behind your eyes that he had helped you heal once before and by the grace of god, he wouldn’t dare leave your side until he had seen you heal again. Watching as the fragile heart of the girl he loved whispered softly, pressing your fingers against his cheek “‘I love you, Forever, Georgie.”

“I’ll never let you down again. I promised to protect you and I couldn't even do that.” he hung his head in shame, you tilted his chin up to look into his eyes, while you shook your head at him. The small smile that clung to your lips through the pain and the fear was for him, to show him that it didn’t matter. George being with you in that moment was enough for you, because there was nothing to hide anymore. 

“Your love is enough for me, George.”  his heart leapt at those words, watching as you pushed yourself up tentatively before slipping down onto the floor, your arms wrapped around him, begging to be held. The desire to be near him in that moment was satisfied when his hand stroked up and down your back, rubbing small circles. You pushed yourself up so that his lips could press softly against his, the kiss was like magic, with the ability to take you away from the pain, take you from the moment of sadness. He was your forever, for everyone to see. You no longer had to fake it. 

/// TO BE CONTINUED ///

taglist //  @starlightweasley​ @slytherinsunrise​ @gcdric​ @theweasleysredhair​ @whiz-bangs78​ @weasleysflowr​ @vogueweasley​ @minty-malfoy​ @vivianweasley​ @feetoffthetablee​ @thisismynerdyself​ @rip-us​ @witch-and-a-half​ @sarcasticallywitty15​ @pandaxnienke​ @loony-loopy-lupinn​ @pigwidgexn​ @mackaywhore​ @softlyqoos​ @colorfulprofessornickelangel​ @fandomscombine​ @satellitespidey​ @txtdreamss​ @aaannabbanana​​  @starkidpotty​ @mollydarling-hphm​ @amwithers2001​ @mrmoonyy​​ @asthmax​

#Fake It Fic #george weasley fic #george weasley x reader #George Weasley #fred and george #george weasley fluff #george weasley angst #fluff #angst #george weasley smut #fred weasley #fred weasley fic #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley fluff #fred weasley angst #harry potter #harry potter fic #harry potter writing #harry potter smut #ginger hair

[hatterstan-shameblog]

For the AiB headcanon thing: Arisu and Usagi are in a queerplatonic relationship. This isn’t News, it's canon. The thing is, people at the beach, including most of the executives, think that they are a full blown couple. This makes things awkward when Niragi catches Arisu and Chishiya agressively making out one day and reports back to Hatter. Hatter goes to Usagi being all "hey girly, hate to be the one to tell you this but your bf is cheating on you". Usagi has 2 possible answers for this: she either goes "Hatter, I'm a lesbian." Or, full blank faced says in a deadpan "oh noooo. How will i get over this."

(So I had to look up the particulars of queer-platonic relationships because they’re kind of new to me, which was a cool learning experience! That being said, I apologize if I got the gist of it wrong—feel free to correct me if you want! I like learning!)

(Also, this is basically PG, only very slight allusions to anything spicy, so anyone can read it!)

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

“Let’s talk about boys.”

Usagi’s heart skips—and not in a good way. Of all the trouble she could have gotten into today, tea with Hatter is perhaps one of the worst options; because it’s never just ‘tea’ or ‘drinks’ or ‘listening to The Doors’ self-titled album while we craft new locker key bracelets.’

No. He definitely has an ulterior motive.

“Specifically,” Hatter clarifies, snapping another grape from the bowl of fruit between them, “yours.”

Usagi stiffens.

“Uh,” she says, taking a nervous sip of hibiscus tea, “what do you want to know?”

“It’s not what I want to know,” Hatter says lazily, admiring his gaudy ring in the early afternoon sunlight, “but what you might like to know, my dear.”

He knows. Usagi gulps nervously, fingertips gripping the delicate porcelain of her teacup a little tighter. Hatter somehow caught wind of Arisu and Chisiya’s plan to steal the cards, and now he’s gonna get me to confirm it.

“I’m not sure I follow…” Usagi recovers, setting her teacup down on the coffee table.

Hatter smirks.

“Your Arisu is a handsome young man, isn’t he? Strong jaw, lovely eyes,the long and elegant limbs of a dancer,” Hatter muses, “why, I imagine he could get away with murder with just a pout of those kissable lips…”

“He’s, uh,” Usagi stammers, “he’s v-very beautiful. I’m, uh…I’m a lucky girl, I guess?”

“Look at how your eyes light up when you talk about him—oh, aren’t you precious,” Hatter pouts, taking up his teacup and examining its contents, “Although I worry that won’t be the case for much longer…”

He watches Usagi over the rim of his teacup as he takes a long, slow sip—he’s waiting for her to react, he’s waiting for her to shatter and tell him all about the card-stealing scheme with tears streaming down her face and a wavering voice.

He’ll have to keep waiting.

Usagi Yuzhua doesn’t break.

“Arisu is a good man,” she insists, “I can’t imagine him doing something that bad.”

“That’s the difference between you and I, I suppose. You can’t imagine and I…well, I don’t have to.”

Hatter leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His chin perched on his right fist, he regards Usagi with a questioning look.

“Your beau,” he says, “he’s…rather close with that Chisiya fellow, isn’t he? I hardly ever see one without the other these days—surely you’ve noticed it, too.”

Usagi feels her palms start to sweat. Not good, not good, not good! She must have told them a hundred times to lay low, that the walls in this place may as well have eyes and ears for all the gossip that gets spread around.

“He and Chisiya are,” Usagi says weakly, “they’re good friends—“

“Very good friends,” Hatter clarifies, putting an uncomfortable amount of emphasis on the word very, “Makes one wonder just what on earth those two have been getting up to…”

“I-I don’t,” Usagi clears her throat, “If you have something to say, I’d rather you just tell me instead of…whatever it is you’re doing right now.”

Hatter chuckles.

“I’ll admit,” he says, leaning back into a relaxed slouch, “not many people speak to me like that these days. It’s…refreshing to see a young lady so unafraid to speak her mind.”

He plucks a strawberry from the spread in front of him, examining the glistening perfection of the ripe fruit in the light. With a casual glance thrown in her direction, Hatter twists off the green stem and pops the entire strawberry into his mouth.

“I didn’t mean to barge in—truly, I didn’t,” Hatter recounts, “I was fetching some documents from the meeting room; classified information, couldn’t let just anyone pick them up, so I simply decided to go get them myself.”

Usagi nods along politely. It’s very difficult to maintain her composure when it feels like there’s an axe above her head about to come swinging down at any moment, but she must be doing a good enough job because Hatter is still regaling her with his little adventure.

“…Well, you know how it is,” He says, shooting her a cheeky little wink, “Anyways, imagine my surprise when I opened the door to see that your darling dearest and that little blonde fellow were already there. And—oh, how do I put this?—they were very much up to something.”

“What, uh,” Usagi asks, “what were they up to?”

He must have caught them with the very documents Hatter had been going to retrieve—it had a detailed set of blueprints, plus all the information they’d need to formulate their escape once the cards had been stolen.

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, darling,” Hatter says with an air of fake regret, “but I saw your boyfriend and his best friend…”

Here it comes. Usagi’s stomach flips with nervousness. There’s a few windows in this room—not many, but maybe she could break one and escape if things got rough. She’s not really wearing the right shoes for that, but she would just have to make do.

“…in flagrante delicto,” Hatter says, drawing out each syllable for dramatic effect, “and right on the table, no less.”

“Oh.”

Relief crashes over Usagi like a wave. Of course Chisiya and Arisu wouldn’t have failed their mission—they’re two of the smartest, sneakiest people Usagi’s ever met, and snatching up a few documents wouldn’t be any kind of challenge for either of them.

…But Hatter is looking at her like she’s insane, jaw slack and sunglasses pushing his hair back to reveal a pair of very concerned eyes.

“I mean, oooooooooh,” Usagi attempts to recover, doing her best to appear hurt, “that’s, that’s terrible! I’m, uh…Arisu is going to be getting a stern talking-to when I get back to our room…”

Hatter does not seem impressed.

“Nice try, sister,” he snaps, crossing his arms across his chest and regarding her with an impatient look, “but I’m not falling for whatever cute little doe-eyed excuse you’re trying to sell me. You…you knew about this, didn’t you?”

Now, Usagi isn’t usually one to speak publicly about her relationships. In a place such as the Borderlands, it could…complicate matters, particularly when it comes to being paired up for games.

But right now? With Hatter staring at her with the fire of curiosity burning deep in his pupils, Usagi has no choice but to fill him in on their situation.

Who knows—maybe this could throw him off their trail even further?

“Arisu and I,” she starts carefully, “we’re…well, we’re in a queer-platonic relationship.”

“A what, now?”

“It’s,” Usagi considers how best to explain it to the gobsmacked man in front of her, “uh, I’m a lesbian and Arisu is still figuring out his sexuality, but he definitely doesn’t identify as straight.”

“But you’re…together,” he says slowly, the cogs in his strange little mind doing their best to process this information.

“Our relationship is mostly based on emotional intimacy. He loves me, and I love him,” Usagi explains, “it may not be what some would call a ‘conventional’ relationship, but we’re happy together.”

Hatter ponders. The takes a wedge of pineapple and pops it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

“So, the whole thing between Arisu and Chisiya,” he asks, “that’s…everybody’s cool with it?”

Usagi laughs lightly.

“Yes,” she nods, “in fact, I’m happy to hear that Arisu and Chisiya are, uh, finally expressing their feelings for each other.”

“Oh, they were expressing something,” Hatter muses, “Don’t worry—I left them to it. Far be it from me to interrupt young love…or whatever the hell that Chisiya kid’s got going on, I don’t pretend to know.”

He shrugs.

“Well, anyways,” Hatter concludes, “their business is their business, and I’m not one to pry.”

Usagi doubts that, but nods along anyways.

“But you, though,” he adds, lifting the delicate little teapot on the table and topping off her hibiscus tea, “since you’re already here, and we’re having such a lovely time together…”

Usagi gulps, that feeling of ‘this is not good’ settling into her stomach once again.

“…Let’s talk about girls.”

#alice in borderland #hatter #danma takeru #alice in borderland netflix #writings and such #usagi yuzuha #hatter: so Chisiya’s friend. the tall one. with the hair and the mouth thing. #Usagi: *blushes profusely* #hatter: oh my GOOOOOOD I knew it okay okay you want me to talk to her for you??? #Usagi: that is the exact opposite of a good idea

[gascon-en-exil]

About the post you reblogged about canon complaint fics. Fire Emblem is a fountain of ideas for compliant fics due to the narrative structure of the games in which supports and romances are often done in three or four "conversations" but we all know it's basically the script of the relationships and therefore more happened between such events, letting the player to fill the blanks. Therefore most fics that don't contradict canon are indeed canon compliant (as long the authors or developers don't release information that contradict it) so I need to disagree overall with the person who said that fics are often divergent by nature. If depends very much of the fandom. In my experience Fire Emblem fanbase is a 50/50, considering that half of the fics on ao3, for example, are one shot smut that can't be necessarily considered canon compliant as there's no heavy plot lol but most heavily plot oriented long fics follow the canon specifically.

That must have been in tags and I don't recall who said it, but I'd imagine that that person was thinking of fanfic in general which does indeed proceed from a postmodern, decentralized conception of the relationship between author, text, and audience. Death of the author is a foundational principle of transformative fandom, in other words, regardless of how canon-compliant any given piece of fanwork claims to be. This is especially true when canon is vague or inconsistent, leading to disagreement among fans over what it actually says which as an example is how we got to the entrenched factions of the Three Houses fandom. That aside however, it's impossible not to bring something of one's own preferences and biases to fanfic - or meta, for that matter - even when aiming to be canon-compliant. For instance, I emphasize queer subtext in much of my own meta, but people who aren't interested in that kind of content or who have a motive of their own in making alternative readings, ex. a rival ship, or opposition to a character based in part on their perceived alignment with conservative attributes *cough*Dimitri*cough*, will disregard or deny that subtext as they deem fit. This easily applies to fanfic as well, in the characters and ships and genres of fic a person is drawn to reading and writing about.

Regarding Fire Emblem specifically, it's always had a lot of space in its text to spin stories in different directions. At least some plotless smut fics could be described as canon-compliant from a transformative perspective if not from a meta-writing one; for example, there's nothing in canon to suggest that furtive teenage sex wasn't a part of Dimitri and Dedue's four years of intense trauma bonding prior to the start of the game, which is suitable fodder for technically canon-compliant fic even if I wouldn't be able to use it to make any kind of definitive claims regarding their (canon) sexualities because it's still a form of divergence from the heteronormative assumption that every character is straight unless they have a romantic S rank with same-sex Byleth. On the flip side, personalized retellings of FE main stories have been popular as a fic genre at least since the mid-2000s, when FFN.net was inundated by personal spins on Lyn's story in FE7 that usually included pairing her with that game's proto-Avatar tactician. This kind of story has only become even more popular with the introduction of actual designated self-insert Avatars, and as these are effectively the authors' OCs when they appear in fic their characterization can be quite revealing of the writer's interests and priorities - which is where the divergence comes in.

The Three Houses author who many of us over here have been criticizing has been from what I've seen quite open about what from his personal life he's been bringing to his work. The trouble is that he appears to lack the self-awareness to distinguish between his own biases and what's actually in the script of Three Houses, on top of a lack of understanding that meta and fanfic differ significantly from one another - in their assumed approaches to canon, in their expected levels of objectivity, and in how audiences engage with them. The result is an Edeleth novelization of CF that claims to also be meta (and is taken as such by a group of Redditors, a demographic that typically engages less with transformative fanwork) and presumably canon-compliant as his fandom faction sees it even though it's as much a reflection of the author's subjective experience as all those Lyn/Tactician fics or indeed pretty much any FE Avatar-centric fanwork. That his fic diverges so heavily from canon - and in ways that are often offensive especially when paired with the author's performatively progressive slant - while being held up as objective and compliant to (an observably flawed) canon is what bothers people, I think.

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses

[logically-asexual]

Hold me like you mean it

summary:

Logan’s feelings for Virgil and the fact that now Virgil barely notices him are stopping him from getting any work done. Janus offers a way for Logan to cope, by disguising himself into Anxiety. but is this really what Logan needs? and what’s in it for Janus, anyway?

alternatively, an angsty story about rejection, denial, and manipulation.

note: this fic is completely written with a total of 9 chapters and 9k words, but I will be posting the chapters every couple days in hopes to build up hype. this is my first time writing something longer than ~1k and also my first time writing in A While. but I tried really hard and I’m very proud of it so I hope you like it.

note 2: please don’t take this as a guide to learn about unhealthy relationships, it's a theme in the story but it’s not meant to be educational in any way.

warnings: (for the whole fic) unrequited love, rejection, manipulation, unhealthy relationships, gaslighting, dependency, dubious consent and non consent for kissing, sad ending, depression (vaguely described), angst in general, nightmares. let me know what else i should add.

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Chapter 1

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words: 1,217

Logan sighed as he tossed another paper ball into the bin. His eyes were starting to burn from the strain, but he was determined to have the plan finished by tomorrow. He had started typing his ideas into his computer, but the light began to hurt as the sky became dark, and he couldn’t risk anyone seeing his room’s light on from the hall, so he had turned on a small lamp and tried again with pen and paper.

He pulled another blank paper sheet and started over. It was kind of ridiculous, when he thought about it long enough, to spend this much time trying to figure out the best way to talk to Virgil in the following days, but he had identified his lack of communication with Anxiety as the most important and urgent issue to resolve in his table of priorities. After all, Thomas had become more anxious in the past weeks. So, in order to be heard, he needed to be able to collaborate with Virgil, which would also keep Thomas’ mind clear and stop him from procrastinating so much.

Another list of ideas had almost filled the page when Logan was startled by a knock on his door, followed by the sound of his pencil dropping to the floor. He hurriedly turned the paper over, stood up, and went to open the door, hoping to end whatever interaction that was about to happen as soon as possible. He was surprised to find Janus standing on the other side. At least it wasn’t Virgil, but Logan knew either of them could easily detect the smallest sign of nervousness, and Logan was definitely nervous. It was late and he shouldn’t be working.

“Good evening Janus, is there anything I can do for you?” Logan greeted from where he stood, poking his head out of the barely open door. The sooner this conversation ends, the better, he repeated to himself. His hand tightened around the doorknob as he waited for Deceit to say something, while the other was staring at him with a slightly amused look on his face.

Just when Logan was about to tell the other to stop wasting his time, Janus spoke. “I came here to ask for your opinion on an idea I had, but I can tell you’re trying to hide something,” he said as he crossed his arms and looked into what was visible of Logan’s room, before turning his gaze back into Logan’s eyes. “So spit it out already.”

Logan glanced quickly towards the papers on his desk and back at Janus with an expression as neutral as he could manage. “I am trying to hide the fact that I am working late at night, because I must be an example to the rest of the Sides and keep a strict, healthy schedule to encourage them to do the same. Happy?”

“Of course.” Janus said, apparently satisfied, but he only gave Logan a second to feel relieved before he pushed past him into his room. He walked directly towards his desk and, out of all the objects laying on it, he picked up the one Logan dreaded the most.

Janus looked the paper sheet over as a wide grin formed on his face. Then, he held it high and began reading out loud. “Strategic Plan to Communicate Effectively with Anxiety. Updated version 5.2. Step one: approach Virgil (gently) after our next discussion and point out the arguments he made that were helpful. Step tw-”

“That’s enough.” Logan interrupted, as he snatched away the paper. “What do you want?”

“Oh you know me, I just love it when you all insist on hurting yourselves and Thomas in the name of irrelevant lies.” Janus said with a sarcastic tone, increasing Logan’s discomfort. He continued, with a mocking smile. “If you’re going to hide things, I’d prefer you do it for something useful instead of some crush.”

Logan blinked rapidly and felt heat rising to his face. “What? What are you talking about?” He took a moment to look at Janus’ unimpressed expression, while he pieced together what the other Side was implying. “You think I have a crush on Virgil? No, no. See, I have a table of problems that hinder my productivity and therefore Thomas’ that I need to address and lately Virgil hasn’t been listening or interacting at all with me, which has stopped any of my other projects from being considered, so the most logical solution is to fix that as soon as possible through effective communication with him.” He had to take air in once he finished his explanation, realizing he had uttered it all in one breath. He watched expectantly as Janus raised an eyebrow.

“Right...” Janus said, as he once more took the paper from Logan’s hand. “And what role exactly do Step six, “partake in movie nights when Virgil chooses the film,” and Step eight, “stand closer to his position on the stairs when the twins are making him uneasy” play into this… productivity thing?” Before Logan could defend his reasoning, Janus went on, now with a slightly softer expression. “Listen, Logan. I know you have a selfish motive behind this, you don’t have to hide that from me. I’m not Patton. I won’t judge you.”

Logan swallowed, embarrassed to admit this feeling, both to himself and to Janus, and replied with a whisper. “I just… miss him, and I want us to be friends again.”

“Is that all?”

Logan nodded, looking down at his shoes. After a moment, he added “we used to understand each other well, and I had an easier time working then, with him, with the rest of the Sides, and by myself.”

“Very well. If that’s the case, I think I can help.”

With the intention to ask what kind of help he meant, Logan turned his gaze back up, only to be shocked by the sight of Virgil standing in front of him. He inhaled sharply and took a step back, not moving his eyes from Virgil’s tilted smile. Once his mind caught up with what happened and what was being offered to him, he immediately refused. “No, Janus.” (Saying the name out loud helped him remind himself who really was in front of him) “I want to make things right with the real Virgil. Staying in denial and pretending things are fine won’t help anyone.”

“But it will help you, L.” He heard in Virgil’s low voice, but with Janus’ usual intonation, it didn’t match well. “You said yourself that you can’t get any work done because your mind is occupied with missing me. This way you can work on our relationship while taking the edge off.” Janus took a step towards him and put his hand on Logan’s shoulder.

Logan considered it for a second, before settling on the same answer. “No. I’m sorry, Deceit, I’ll follow my own strategy.”

Janus’ expression fell, and he shifted back into his usual appearance, but he kept his posture straight and his head high. “Fine, but my offer is still open for whenever you are ready to accept it.” With that last statement, he gave Logan his notes back. Then he walked out of Logan’s room, shutting the door behind him, leaving Logan alone in the dark.

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notes: (yes, i just talk a lot, sorry) welcome to the journey! hope you enjoy :D and if you like it pls leave a comment.

also the title is from Four Tequilas Down by dodie, (which is a big mood for the story)

#logan sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #thomas sanders #sanders sides #analogical #loceit #unrequited crush #manipulation #manipulative relationship #toxic relationship #1217 words out of 9000 #angst #hold me like you mean it

[saphirered]

Hi, I love your writing, and was wondering if I could get a Essek x aasimar reader ( in which they are in an established romantic relationship) , where the reader gifts Essek quills made from their own feathers as an anniversary gift?

Thanks for requesting. I hope it turned out to your liking. Warning for all the fluff. 😘

You open the front door stepping inside the familiar interior of the towers. The entry hall is dark. With a snap of your fingers the vase on the side table glows with a radiant light. You take off your shoes and set them neatly underneath the side table next to Essek’s; the dark leather boots giving away the wizard had returned before you did.

It had been a long exhausting day of work but you’d finally made it home. With the time, you half expected Essek to already have headed to bed so made sure to be quiet setting down your usual things and heading up the stairs, fine carved box wrapped under your arm.

You had to find a spot to hide the box. The anniversary’s coming up tomorrow and you wanted to keep this a surprise. You’ve worked long and hard to assure your gift would be perfect and were able to find someone able to make you the things you couldn’t yourself. A jeweller made you carefully crafted nibs engraved in geometric designs. You found some silver twist thread to secure the nib in the beautiful feathers taken from your own wings.

You would have asked a skilled maker to do it for you but too many questions would arise from you walking into a shop providing feathers with a bit of a radiant angelic glow to them so instead you had to assemble them yourself. A good many tries, and many ruined feathers later you had a working quill and made a few more to complete the set. You ended up with one for notes, one for letters, one for official documents and one for transcribing spells. Each quill slightly different and unique in its own right.

Finding a place to hide your gift proved a bit more difficult than you thought. A place where Essek wouldn’t look or accidentally stumble across it… Underneath the bed? No that’s stupid. Bottom of the wardrobe? Too easily found. Kitchen? Push one thing aside and the box will stand out like a sore thumb. The study…. The study! Hide it in plane sight. You’d just have to make sure you’d be up before he was and get to the study first. Easily done!

Off to the study you went but your brilliant plan fell apart when you saw an ember glow come through the slightly ajar door. You look around the hallway. Think fast. Bookcase. You lift a display box from the shelf and put the carved box down, putting the display box on top of it. Hidden in plane sight. Terrible but it will have to do.

You push the door to the study open a bit more to reveal the interior. The candlelight basks the room in a warm flickering glow. Back facing you Essek sits in a chair bend over his desk softly grumbling to himself. Leaning his head on his fist he scribbles on a sheet of paper before adding it to a small stack next to it with a sigh. He grabs a new sheet and continues writing.

As quiet as you can you tiptoe up behind Essek. You wrap an arm around him, leaning your head on his shoulder and press a soft kiss to his temple as you look over his work. Essek relaxes leaning into your embrace dropping the decrepit quill and stretching and curling his fingers to get rid of the stiffness. Looks like he’s been writing a lot more than this single stack by hand.

“Hey.” Essek breathes placing his hand over yours and squeezing softly. His lips press against your cheek lazily as if he’s finally found the mind space to relax and let the stress dissipate.

“Hey.” The two of you stay like that for a little while.

“What are you working on this late?” You ask getting a glimpse of the documents, some stamped with the Bright Queen’s sigil. Did he take home his work? Must really have been a busy day for the both of you then.

“Nothing worth talking about. Just some orders to the Lens to be signed off on. What time is it?”

“It’s almost midnight, Essek. I thought I finished up late. Take a break. The work will still be here in the morning.” Essek looks at you to make sure you’re not messing with him. Realising you are being truthful he rubs his brow pushing the quill and paper back further. You let him get up and he stretches his back trying to get rid of the ache from sitting in the same position for however long he had been.

“You know what day it is tomorrow. I want to spend it with you. Not caught up in this.” Essek gestures to the neatly stacked papers. You step up close to him placing your hands on either side of his face offering him a loving smile.

“If it’s important you have my permission to finish up. Besides, maybe I can help. Unless you think I’d be too much of a distraction rather than a motivator.” You tease pecking his lips.

“Come on. By the looks of it neither of us have had dinner yet. I’m sure there’s still some broth left. We can improvise some stew.” Seeing no reason to complain or decline the offer of some proper food Essek allows you to drag him along to the kitchen. Aren’t you glad you decided not to hide your gift in the kitchen?

The two of you work together to provide dinner, you doing most of the work; preventing Essek from ruining your meal by adding the wrong spices or turning down the heat too much. It’s known that out of the two of you you are the better cook so Essek resorts to just following your instructions to the dot to not end up with a bland, wrongly spiced, or undercooked meal.

In half an hour or so the table is set with a steaming pot of deliciously smelling stew, a loaf of bread cut in slices, some cheese, a bottle of wine and the two of you sitting opposite of each other, your legs stretched out to balance on the wizard’s lap as he pours two glasses of wine handing one to you. You fill a plate with food exchanging it for the glass of wine and fill a second plate for yourself.

Together you enjoy your meal discussing your activities of the day or part of it hiding the details of working on your anniversary gift. Table cleared and dishes washed you return to the living room relaxing on the couch in each other’s embrace determined to finish the remainder of the bottle of wine tonight.

You’re about to doze off but sit up catching a glimpse of outside through the window. Essek looks at you confused giving you a ‘what’s wrong’ expression as you rush over to the window. You beckon Essek over who reluctantly gets up to watch the skies you seem so hyper focussed on all o the sudden.

“Look!” You exclaim pointing at the moons and stars. Essek searches the skies for any inconsistencies but finds none. It’s a beautiful clear night, that’s for sure. What he didn’t expect is you turning around and pulling him into a deep and passionate kiss. Not one to deny such gesture from you he’s quick to return the kiss albeit still somewhat confused about the link between the night sky, excitement and kiss.

Pulling apart after a long kiss you wrap your arms around Essek’s middle. You catch on to the lingering sense of confusions from Essek and decide to spell it out for him.

“It’s past midnight. Happy anniversary, dear.” The drow’s eyes light up and quickly gives you another kiss to cover up the embarrassment of not catching on.

“Since we’re still up anyway. I have a gift for you. Wait here.” You untangle yourself from the comforts of Essek’s embrace, rush upstairs to retrieve your gift. You nearly drop the display case you had hid it under but avoid a messy disaster and broken antique. Box behind your back and goofy smile on your face you approach him once again but leave enough space between the two of you so you can actually hand him your gift.

“Humor me. Close your eyes.” Essek closes his eyes. You open the box displaying it properly, tapping Essek with your foot to signal he could open his eyes again. At first when he does he’s playing along with your game but that drops the moment his eyes fall upon the pristine quills. Shock, bewilderment, gratitude, love, that’s what you get from Essek. A warm and content sense washes over you.

“These-. What-. I-I have no words.” Essek breathes as he reaches for one of the quills but stops for your permission.

“They are yours. You need not ask for permission.” Not having to be told twice Essek picks up one of the quills and inspects it closely, feeling the weight in his hand, the silver thread twisted grip and nib. In awe he breathes one word; ‘perfect’. Before you know it kisses are peppered all over as he takes the box from your hands and carefully sets it aside. Once he does you’re pulled into a deep embrace.

“Thank you. They are… beautiful, perfect. They are perfect. You, are perfect.”

“I hope these will last you longer than your old ones. You’ve gone through those in a matter of weeks now.” You laugh. Essek pulls away from you holding by the shoulders. Your own turn to be confused, you give him a look.

“Any time is as good as now.” Essek hurries off up the stairs and you can hear the door of the study opening. He quickly returns, telling you to close your eyes before he reaches the bottom step. You obey and cover your eyes with your hands. You hear footsteps draw near until they stop in front of you.

A hand pulls away yours from your face and you’re met with Essek’s joking disapproval. No peaking so you close your eyes and allow your hands to be pulled down resting in front of you palms up. A heavy rectangular object is dropped in your hands. You wrap your fingers around to make sure you don’t accidentally drop it.

“Open your eyes.” You’re met with suspense from Essek nudging for you to look at the gift in your hands. It’s a proper leather-bound book. On the cover is your name pressed in gold lettering surrounded by streamlined geometric line designs in beautiful patterns.

You open the book the title page is blank but backing the cover there’s a message dedicated to you.

‘A story not nearly completed and yet to be named. May we continue this story for many more pages to come.’

You now know exactly how Essek felt upon receiving your heartfelt gift; speechless. You flip the pages. It’s the story of how you met, how your lives developed, how you’d grown close together and eventually grown to love each other paired with sketches of places where some of these events took place, of you and him together, and of you alone. Essek awaits your response but your words seem to have left you.

“Come here.” You breathe the words barely audible and you wrap your arms around the wizard pulling him tightly against you as you whisper thank yous on the verge of tears. Relief washes over him as he melts into your embrace.

“I take it my gift is to your liking?”

“I love it. Almost as much as I love you.” You pull back enough to give him a kiss a bright smile on your face.

“I love you too.” The two of you stay in each other’s arms watching the skies satisfied. No words can describe the love you share but your respective gifts give some insight in that. To many more stories to be told. To many more stories to be told.

#critical role #critical role x reader #critrole x reader #mighty nein #mighty nein x reader #essek thelyss x reader #essek x reader