#within reason. looking at you Instagram stalkers out there

[grimreaperschild]

this is my first fic ever and it’s kinda short but any advice + if you wanna see more let me know

warnings: some wednesday level threat maybe ooc wednesday not sure but stalker/infactuated wednesday

not proof read bc im dyslexic and it hurts my brain but i hope you enjoy ❤️

Wednesday trudged into the quad at the start of the semester, she would never admit it but with the new year looming over her she’s slightly exited for what new things she can uncover, there’s chatter of a new student and she hasn’t given it a second thought, even though nevermores resident artist xavier had gifted her a phone she still refused to succumb to such trivial things as gossip, that was of course until she saw you, walking into the quad with slumped shoulders and a shy smile next to the new principle, her eyes lingered on you for far longer than she seemed acceptable cursing herself when you met her eyes confusion evident in your expression though behind it she could see some form of hope, pulling her eyes away from you she tuned into the conversation enid and yoko were having about you vaguely annoyed that her interest was peaked.

y/n pov:

the car ride with my dad to nevermore was silent, as was the goodbye the principle greats me kindly enough and i think maybe this was a mistake, this was supposed to be an adventure but i was proven wrong as we stepped into the quad, the amount of eyes on me making me slightly nervous, zoning out to avoid the lecture on the old space i feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end

snapping my head up i meet the eyes of a girl dressed in black with pigtails, the curiosity of why she has a different uniform out ways the thoughts of how captivating she is, turning and cutting off mr harrow i jester with my head “who’s that, the goth girl” he tilts his head with obvious disdain “y/n it’s not a good idea to get involved with the wrong crowd, that’s wednesday addams and by the looks of it you’ve caught her attention, i feel my condolences are in offer, let’s continue the tour” i nod once taking in the new information stealing one last glance she seems occupied with her group of friends fighting down the disappointment that flashes through me i turn on my heel and follow along the rest of my tour black uniform painted in my mind.

moving in was easy enough and within a few hours my room is looking more mine, being tired i decide to nap knowing i have a long day tomorrow.

wednesdays pov:

i let my feet carry me, overcome with the strange need to know where the new student that i now know is called y/n is dorming, to my utter dismay her dorm is only a few doors down, this is all panning out to be too easy convincing herself that’s the only reason she has interest in you, it’s easy and something to do, heading back to her dorm to fill thing in and have him keep tabs on you came more naturally than expected.

over the next couple of days she manages to secure seats that have a clear view of you in classes, if you notice her impassive stare you don’t let on, she learns that you can control fire from thing, her own research brings up noting but happy pictures of you and your family from years ago on social media, she stands in the shower for half an hour contemplating why instagram doesn’t seem that bad anymore, research online is so much easier than trialing behind you, as fascinated as she is with you, your not that important not yet anyway.

y/n pov:

the past few weeks settling in have been good, i’ve made friends with enid and her boyfriend ajax, the group is a little quirky but it works all the same, joining them for lunch in the quad has become a regular occurrence, so has my seat next to wednesday i’ve embarrassingly tried a few times to engage in conversation with her only to be meet with a steely glance or a roll of her eyes.

enid let’s out a groan as her head hits the table “we’ve only been here for a few weeks and im already struggling with classes, how is that even possible” i let out a low chuckle “comon it’s not that bad plus im sure nes here can help you, right” as i turn to her she’s already glaring at me the use of nickname obviously peaking her intrest “call me that again and i’ll cut your tongue out” turning back to the book she was reading, i give enid a thumbs up “nes is definitely down to tutor you” the sudden movement of wednesday getting up and stomping away makes me jump slightly ignoring the way disappointment rolls off me in waves. “we are going to the lake you should come with” i already know she’s giving me the puppy eyes and i sigh as i look up and my suspicions are confirmed “let me go to my dorm and grab my swim stuff” enid squeals as she jumps clapping in excitement

wednesdays pov:

i watch as she stands in the mirror nose scrunched as she tries on another bikini, eventually picking a dark red set, my eyes scan over her body gulping it in, as she closes her dorm room behind her i turn back to the bathroom im in taking note of what different shampoo she has, finally giving into the mental struggle i turn on my heel determined to get atleast one more glimpse of the colour red

#jenna ortega x reader #wednesday addams x reader #wednesday addams

[beardedmrbean]

Did you hear about the psycho that broke into Jenna Marbles house? Then, to compound it, TMZ found out and planned to report on it without even talking to them. Julian felt forced to post about it himself so their side would be heard even though they'd wanted to keep it private.

I can't even imagine the feeling of violation they'd felt from the break in and then having their privacy violated again by a rag mag that doesn't know the meaning of privacy.

She still in business, thought she dropped out a while back? She's still 'retired' it's odd that someone would do the break in thing.

Let's look

A woman allegedly stalking Jenna Marbles is accused of having twice gone to the former YouTube star’s home Monday.

Marbles, 36, and Julien Solomita, who tied the knot last month, had no knowledge of the woman before she came to their San Fernando Valley residence, authorities told TMZ.

Solomita and the suspect ultimately got into an altercation that ended with him pepper spraying her twice, according to the outlet.

Marbles remained upstairs at the time the ordeal occurred, insiders told TMZ.

Los Angeles Police found the woman while heading over to Marbles’ house and got an ambulance to take her to a nearby hospital after she was sprayed, the outlet was told.

Once released, sources said the woman would be taken into custody and booked for felony stalking. _____________________

They're counted as public figures, privacy situation is treated differently, be one of the reasons I don't actually disagree with musk changing the twitter ToS to include real time tracking as a thing that can get your account terminated.

People can still do it, but he's just not providing a platform for it.

Same thing with TMZ, they're within the law doing what they do even if it is scuzzy. We're a voyeuristic species too, so we keep looking.

and here's his version

The YouTuber's new husband, Julien Solomita, detailed a break-in involving a "complete stranger" at the couple's Los Angeles home that he says prompted him to jump into action and defend their family.

"Today someone broke into our house," the Twitch streamer wrote in an Instagram Story Jan. 2. "A woman, that we don't know, entered our home unannounced. Upon her entering our back door, I immediate subdued her with OC/pepper spray and was able to lock her out."

The 30-year-old said police were called to the scene, where the woman was "apprehended and arrested."

"Jenna, the dogs, and myself are safe," Julien continued, adding that while he does not know personally know the suspect, she has been "harassing me at my home throughout the last 2 months."

TMZ, citing law enforcement sources, reported on Jan. 3 that the woman is an alleged stalker. Per the outlet, she has been taken to a local hospital for treatment for pepper spray and will be booked on a felony stalking charge. ________________________

"Jenna Marbles husband" he has a name you know, lol.

This story was getting out one way or the other, glad he's not in any trouble, this is California after all. Gavin is probably chomping at the bit to try out that SAFE-T act thing they've got starting up in Illinois.

there's a rundown in here for that one, it's a mess

Nobody is going to be even handed talking about it either so, if you're super curious it'll take a lot of different sources on the ups and downs of it.

#goat yells at everything

[teddybear-sunflower]

Of pens and papers - Bokuto x Reader (pt.Two)

Pairing: Bokuto x reader

Wordcount: ca. 2200 words

Genre: fluff, future angst, college Au

Summary: Sometimes you are lucky enough to meet the right people at the right time. This is how you met once more and he finally remebered to ask for your name!

Parts: One Two Three

A/N: Sorry for the wait but the series should now continue regularly.

Bokuto Kotaro.

That was the name of the boy who helped you out at the library a few days ago and ever since you couldn’t forget about him.

You were so thankful that his friend actually called out his name or else you wouldn’t have known how to find out about him.

You didn’t want to come off as a stalker, but you guiltily had to admit that you already checked social media and to your delight you had found him rather easily.

You had been right thinking that he was an athlete. He was in the volleyball team of your university and considering everything you´ve read about him, he was good at what he was doing.

His Instagram wasn´t private, pretty much inviting you to go through his feed and you weren’t disappointed. His feed was full of pictures with his friends and volleyball. He always smiled in the pictures.

He seemed like such a fun and good-spirited guy.

He told you that he would like to see you again, yet he didn’t even know your name or asked for your number. You considered texting him on Instagram, but you were not brave enough to actually do it. Maybe he was just being nice when he said he wanted to see you again.

So, you did what you did best: you daydreamed about a what if instead of actually doing something.

-

You sat down at an available seat in the middle of the lecture room, music still sounding through your earphones, effectively cutting you off from your surroundings.

You were tired. That was probably what described you best right at that moment. Exams closed in on you and you had the habit to sleep especially unwell within those weeks, be it due to actually studying or just stressing about what you actually needed to know but didn’t.

On some days you weren’t too bothered by your lack of sleep but today wasn’t one of those days. That also explained why you didn’t look as put together as usually. Your hair was in a bun, your bangs were a bit more messed up than usually and your body drowned in that overly huge hoodie and oversized sweatpants.

It wasn’t like there was a reason to put effort into your outfit, at least you thought so.

Your cheek leaned against your hand as your eyes were closed. You concentrated on your music, trying to find a moment of peace. The attempt failed when you suddenly felt someone touch your shoulder.

Easily startled, you immediately straightened up before turning around. Your eyes widened at what you saw. Sitting one row behind you was the cute volleyball player.

His golden eyes also widened as recognition settled in.

His grin grew, and he almost looked a bit too happy considering that you two weren’t even friends.

“Hey, hey, hey! If that isn’t the short library girl” he teased, his voice was just as booming as ever, earning you a few looks of your classmates.

“What are you doing here?” It came out a lot more shocked than it was supposed to, but you couldn’t help it. It was almost the end of the semester, and you hadn’t seen him here once! Bukoto wasn’t exactly the type of guy to mix with the crowd, so how did you miss him all this time?

“Oh, yeah, I´ve only visited this class a few times because I am usually getting something to eat with my friends before training at this time. Akaashi always scolds me because of it but I am sure I´ll be fine” you didn’t know him well but somehow this explanation seemed so like him, you couldn’t even explain it yourself.

“But if I knew you were in this class as well, I would have made more of an effort to come here!” He exclaimed happily.

Was he flirting with you? You weren’t sure.

For a few seconds you just stared at him. His golden eyes made eye contact with your (e/c) ones before they seemed to travel down your figure, taking in your outfit.

A small blush started to form at that action, mostly because you knew that you didn’t look presentable.

Unbeknowst to you, he didn´t mind your look. He actually thought it looked cute the way your hoodie seemed at least two sizes too big and there was something so naturally attractive about the way your face was framed by the few strands of hair that didn´t want to stay in your bun. If anything it was endearing to see different sides of you.

He still wasn´t blind to the obvious dark shadows under your eyes that could only mean that you lacked sleep. He knew it wasn´t his business how much sleep you got but he couldn´t hold back from at least asking about it.

“You look a bit tired, rough week?” It asked bluntly, eyes still fixed on the dark shadows under your eyes.

“Well, exams are coming up. Who isn´t tired?” You tried to justify yourself, almost wanting to tell him that you usually didn’t look so done but that would have been too weird, even for you. You just hoped he remembered the you from the library that looked a lot cuter than your present self.

“Yeah, I hate it. I still have so much to study. It´s so annoying” he openly complained, and you weren’t surprised. You didn’t want to judge but he didn’t seem like the studious type to you.

“I´ve already studied so much but it feels like a never-ending circle” you agreed with a small sigh.

“Just try to get enough sleep and drink and eat a lot!” he made it sound so easy and even he knew that it wasn´t but he could at least hope that his words would make you get a bit more sleep.

When you looked into his face, at this bright smiled and sparkling eyes you almost wanted to promise him but you knew that it wasn’t as easy when you were completely stressed out.

“Will do!” A smile settled on your face when you said that. This was only small talk and you were pretty sure he wasn’t interested at hearing you ramble about how easily it was to lose yourself between studying, classes and your part-time job.

The conversation dwindled after that and you were worried that it would end here.

“By the way, I am not exactly short. That shelf was high. Maybe you are a little too tall” it was probably strange to go back to the beginning of the conversation, but you weren’t exactly known for your conversation skills. Maybe you didn’t need to worry so much because you still didn’t know why he spoke to you to begin with since he seemingly didn’t recognize you beforehand.

“Can someone really be too tall? If anything, I would be an even better player if I was a bit taller” he mused as his mind went straight back to volleyball.

“I guess, it´s helpful for volleyball” you mumbled under your breath, not thinking that he would hear you, but he did, considering the confused look he was giving you. The way he cocked his head to the side made him look cute.

“Did you just say volleyball? You know me?!” His excitement went through the roof as the emotion mixed with pride. He always thought that he looked the coolest on the court, so maybe you were already a fan of his.

He made it so easy for you to hide the fact that you looked him up online. All you had to do was telling him that you had seen in a volleyball game or that you were at least aware of the volleyball team, and you had recognized him.

Instead, you went in panic mode and made it awkward.

“I don’t! I guessed it! Volleyball, basketball… those are sports at which height is important and you look like an athlete” you stumbled over your own words as you tried to explain.

“And how did you guess that I am a volleyball player?” Bokuto asked once more, slight disappointment could be heard in his voice.

“Intuition?” It sounded more like a question than a statement but luckily, he didn’t have time to make fun of you because of your answer thanks to the fact that your professor finally walked through the door, making you turn around to face the front of the class.

That seemed to remind Bokuto of something as he immediately reached out to you once more. Apparently, this time he chose to slightly pull at the hood of your sweater.

“I almost forgot because I didn’t expect to see you here but can I have a pencil or something? I forgot mine” he admitted almost sheepishly.

“You´re lucky I´ve always got an extra one, here” without hesitation you grabbed your second pen and held it out for the male to grab.

As he grabbed the pen his fingers slightly touched yours. You didn’t want to be all cliche, but you swore you felt something when his fingers brushed yours. For a moment you made eye contact with the white and black haired male who didn’t seem to mind the contact at all. You on the other hand blushed, which was why you turned around before he could spot the change of color on your face.

-

When your class finally ended you took your time to put away your stuff in hopes that Bokuto would talk to you once more. You knew you could just start a conversation and he wouldn’t mind, considering how nice he was but you couldn’t just throw away your shy nature.

Luckily, he didn’t leave you hanging this time.

“I almost forgot to ask again but what’s your name?” You looked up from your bag and over to Bokuto who was already ready to go and now stood by your side.

Your heart skipped a beat at the mention that he almost forgot again, meaning that he already wanted to ask the first time you met.

“It´s Y/L Y/N” you pronounced your name with a small smile.

“Y/N” he tested it out and you swore it never sounded better.

"I´m Bokuto Kotaro!" he told you as if you didnt know. Well, he truly didn´t know that you knew.

“So now that we are practically friends how about we study together?” The tall male suggested, and something told you it had to do with the fact that he practically never visited this class and had no clue what’s going on.

Luckily his endearing personality made up for that.

“Well, why not? Want to meet up sometime?” You gulped, feeling a little too giddy. You had to remind yourself that this wasn’t a date. He just wanted to study but your heart didn’t seem to listen.

“We can exchange phone numbers and text each other when we have time” Bokuto spoke excitedly, already fishing for his phone in his pockets.

You nodded, also pulling out your phone. Without thinking you unlocked it right in front of the male and what greeted you almost gave you an heart attack or at least you wished you had one.

Your Instagram was open and of course it was Bokuto´s page that was proudly displayed. You forgot that your friend pestered you about him just before this class, so you decided to show her some pictures from his Insta.

The color of your face turned into a deep red. Bokuto looked confused as he was connecting the dots. As fast as possible you swiped your finger over the display in order to close the app. Acting as if nothing happened, or at least you tried to – your hands were still shaking – you opened your contacts and held your phone out to the ace.

You didn’t dare look up to see his reaction as you drowned in your own embarrassment.

Bokuto was enlightened though. It took him a moment to remember that Akaashi called out his name, so that was probably how you got it but it must have been a good sign that you looked him up. You must have been interested in him, at least a little.

“So, you purely guessed that I play volleyball, right?” He teased you with a smirk on his face. You gulped once more, wishing the floor would swallow you.

“Can we act like you didn’t see that?” Your voice came out a lot more timid than you intended to.

“Not gonna happen, I have to tell my friends about that! They will be so jealous!” That didn’t make you feel better but the bright laugh that followed somehow eased your nerves.

At least you had his number now.

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #my writing #haikyuu!! #anime #hq #fluff #haikyuu fluff #manga #bokuto kōtarō #bokuto imagines #bokuto x you #bokuto x y/n #bokuto x reader #haikyuu imagines #strangers to friends #friends to lovers

[sirfuxsuffsuffixs]

Sick of meeting doubles of names etc from my own life. How could they get this so fucked up. How after so much already by age 10 could they seriously use someone else and make me live what was meant for them, a super F. Mad annoying and dangerous when I'm the real one. And how have I not yet hit record. Gained weight so I could blame it on something but honestly my ass got to music video standards before I finally ate at 30yrs old. Can't wait for my trust fund because it actually is so hard to accept that while still working but having done so much already I haven't been paid, still haven't been able to buy mama a house, still haven't worn the fanciest shoes in existence, still haven't attended a gala, honestly what do you have to do. What's left throw my reputation away publicly to cause a scene? Leak my own sex tape? All the things I was holding my nose too. Apparently work and effort means nothing. Apparently heart and soul is better pretended on whoever and not appraised or appreciated to the rightful owner. Apparently if there's no money being shown to the right person thats not the only way they want to upset them. Don't put their name, don't let them participate in person with the masses, don't let them see the inside of a studio even from a distance. Why was I starving next to my parents for six years. I asked for a piece of toast and got screamed at. Why would you choose the one person I asked you to ignore, you have the whole world to choose from. Is that supposed to be my diss? Thanks, I guess, but shit. I was the one that asked and dreamed all the time and now I'm hearing my thoughts in voice and it hurts. And when trying to remember moments from my adult home life I'm getting hurt. Not to mention I still can't picture or remember my childhood room. And the photos. I actually found some amazing ones from my amazing childhood and glorious moments with the gparents and had them posted on Instagram and for some reason they deleted my account. I wanted to be able to look at them anywhere, now I don't know when I'll see my innocence again. And it's being challenge with interactions of strange (not just because they're strangers, but ethics or lack thereof completely defy what I believed in humanity for the past several decades.) How have you not taken the time when you've taken so much in other ways -- thank you -- to fix my voice in time so the phone wouldn't disconnect with my grandparent, that I still don't have money to visit. In the latest place I tried to escape to a person within my first week there said something about "the stalker life" and hands moved like supposed cousin from cheo e(f) and I need Myself the one day like I did when I was a kid from the stage fright they tried to get out ahead of time. I need my panic attacks to think. Cool and thank you that we were alive at the same time thanks for letting me live, and for college. "She's allowed college" okay great. And I'm still rapping and writing but it would help if I was finally away from the people who said "I don't want my ____ talking like a black person"

#diary #diary23

[beekatef1]

Re on the tags: it might be because I'm a history nerd and just a curious person in general who likes to know a lot of "fun fact" (than nobody finds fun) but I definitely could name more easily some old af race results out of nowhere but if someone asked me to name one of Alex's cats I'd start panicking be like "cmon anna... you know what a cat looks like"

Fun facts that nobody finds fun make up 80% of my conversation repertoire 💛

I partially blame being unable to remember their names on the sheer amount of Albon pets. There are just so many in that house I can’t process it. You get ONE pet for me to remember. ONE. maybe two but you’re on thin ice

& you’re not alone with remembering older race results: I can remember past seasons I binged through lockdown so much better than this last season. who knows what that’s about 😅 (maybe it’s just that 2008-2012 we’re all incredible + this year was weird & confusing with the double races)

#also you are definitely NOT ‘one of those Reddit men’ for remembering results & history over current driver affairs #but the tag did make me laugh #The important line to draw is to just not look down on other people for what draws them to the sport even if it’s not your thing #within reason. looking at you Instagram stalkers out there #asks #gp2engine

[savannah-5555]

"This isn't what it looks like"

Prompt 18 of @jilytoberfest "This isn't what is looks like"

Muggle AU at Hogwarts University feat. Chris Evan's sweater from Knives out

******************************************************

Group chat: Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, Mary MacDonald, Dorcas Meadows

Lily: He’s here!!!

Marlene: Who?

Mary: SEND A PIC PLEASE

Marlene: Who are we talking about??

Lily: I can’t send a pic! That is super stalkerish

Dorcas: do it do ittttt. btw be there in 4 minutes, just got out of my chem midterm

Marlene: Who are you talking about @Lily?? Also I grabbed your charger from the dorm

Lily: Arms is here. That guy we saw at the gym after cycling class and who is in mine and Dorcas’ bio lecture

Marlene: Arms?? BRUH make a move!

Mary: You guys have been talking about him all week… I NEED A PIC

Lily: Ok hold on, he walked away from his table.

Lily: @D hurry up and get here!!!

Lily: He’s back!!

Mary: picccccccsss betch!! :)

Marlene: Is Man Bun with him? Asking for Remus.

*Remus Lupin added to conversation*

Remus: i stg man bun better be there after this psych lecture gets out 🤤

Dorcas: lmaoooo Mar get that man some water #thirsty

Lily: brb gonna be the world’s creepiest stalker and snap a pic

“Hey babes,” Dorcas sat across from Lily, propping open her macbook. She craftily hung her bag on the back of her chair, secretly peeking at Arms and Man Bun behind them. “Remus is so peeved they had a make-up lecture today.” As if on cue, their group message lit up on their laptop iMessages.

Remus: we’re waiting

Mary: you are the world’s hottest stalker! I believe in you 🤗🤗🤗

Lily casually leaned onto her shoulder, and flipped open the camera on her iPhone. She feigned scrolling up through her phone. Very casual. Any onlooker could clearly see she was probably scrolling Instagram or Tik Tok and absolutely not about to take a photo. Arms was within perfect line of sight, two tables down from her in the library. Chair tilted back on its hind legs as he lounged back, hands interlaced behind his head. He laughed at something Man Bun had said as one hand ruffled his dark brown hair.

*flash*

The next several moments of Lily Evans’ life proceeded in a mortifying succession.

Camera flash.

Arms looked directly up, catching her in the act.

Man Bun whipped around, an amused expression on his face when he saw who was holding the camera.

Lily: omfg

Dorcas: YOU GUYS HER FLASH WENT OFF

Marlene: nooooooooooooo

Mary: rip 💀

Arms smirked, humor glinting behind his circular specs as Lily felt her face burn. Man Bun leaned in to whisper something and Arms turned and nodded.

“Sorry D, text me when it’s safe to come back.” Lily hopped out of her seat to find solace in the library stacks so she could go hide out in the bathroom. Her mobile buzzed incessantly as her group chat continued to blow up. “Shit shit shit,” Lily swore under her breath, looking down to respond, “Oof” she collided with another student, “Sorry sorry I was just-” She stopped short when she realized who she ran into.

“Hey mate,” Arms stood in front of her, dark jeans, cream colored knit jumper really doing wonders for his torso. He leaned against the end of the bookshelf and crossed his arms.

“This isn’t what is looks like,” Lily blurted.

“So this is not you running away after you tried to take a photo of me when your flash went off?”

“Ok so this is exactly what it looks like.” The jig was up, Lily saw no reason to lie about it.

“And why are you staking me out in the library exactly?” Arms seemed to enjoy making her squirm.

“I’d like to clarify that I was not staking you out. I’ve been coming to this section of the library for the past two years and have never seen you here before,” she started, flipping her phone to Do Not Disturb, “and I was simply gathering photographic evidence of the hot guy in McGonagle’s lecture so show my friends.”

“Mhmm, and did you get this photo?”

“I did, yes, thank you. But now I must go and die of embarrassment in the loo, so if you’ll excuse me,” Lily attempted to slip past him, but he quickly sidestepped in front of her.

“And no apology for this gross invasion of privacy?” His voice was lighthearted and smile proved he was not actually upset.

“Oh!” Lily scrunched her face, “You’re right. I’m sorry. That was wrong of me. I can delete it now actually.” Sorry Mary, she thought as she opened her phone to delete the picture.

“I’m going to need a little more than that,” Arms arched a brow at her, before swiping the phone from her unexpecting hands.

“What the-” Lily started as his thumbs began moving across her phone screen.

“Dinner will be a good start though,” He handed her her mobile back, reaching into his back pocket as a ping! Messaging sound rang from his own phone.

Lily looked down to find a text message crafted to an unknown number, a lone camera emoji encased in the blue text bubble.

“Dinner…” Lily repeated slowly.

“I get off football practice at 4:30 tomorrow so can we can meet in the Great Hall for 5:30? They’ve got pasta bar on Wednesdays.” He named off the dining hall on campus known for its rotating themed dinners.

“Erm, like a date?” Lily’s brain was working over time to process their conversation.

“An apology dinner, a date, potato, potahto,” Arms shrugged, grinning devilishly, “Text me your name will you?”

“I’m Lily,” her thumbs fired off a quick Lily Evans to the text thread he had opened.

“Great. See you tomorrow, Evans,” he winked before slinking away, undoubtedly returning to rehash the turn of events to Man Bun.

Her phone lit up.

[phone]: James Potter 📸 😏

#jilytober 2021 #jily fluff #jily drabble #jily au #jilytober #jily supremacy #jily fanfic #idiots in love

[1ddotdhq]

❄️Tues 27 Oct ‘20🐖

Ho ho ho! Liam is (alongside all of his spooky content) also giving us Christmas realness and releasing a Christmas song called Naughty List on Friday. There’s clearly a woman’s voice on the song, but he hasn’t credited his mystery collab. There is some speculation that it’s Dixie D’Amelio, but I guess we’ll have to wait for Friday to find out. Liam’s current constant companion Conor has been making back to back appearances in his Tik Toks, lending credibility to my theory that they are roomies right now. Or maybe they just can’t get enough of each other! Harry has stepped up on twitter to retweet one of Joe Biden’s ads and say, “If I could vote in America, I’d vote with kindness”. HSHQ has released Golden merch, including a cute Italian themed hoodie - proving that they CAN make good merch when they WANT TO, but they they don’t want to very often, as they also came out with a T-Shirt that could have been completely ripped off of a tumblr shitpost that made fun of their terrible T-Shirts. They also tweeted a mock-up picture of the new Co-Op live stadium, which looks cool, but shows no signs of being pandemic friendly. 

Louis liked a tweet about his promo, which is one of the rare times he’s chimed in on the discourse. 1075 The River (a radio sation) tweeted, “ugh @/Louis_Tomlinson has my heart”, and @/LTxPromo said, “does your station have @/Louis_Tomlinson music to spin as well?”. Ever the sassmaster, Louis liked the second tweet! Louis made headlines for his support of with Marcus Rashford, and iHeartRadio posted his (warning?) selfie, captioning it, “We get so lost in @/Louis_Tomlinson’s eyes”. Hey what a coincidence - I know someone you can talk to about that! And, speaking of radio promo, Niall (who spent all of yesterday in a studio, making MORE MUSIC we won’t get to hear for a while) went around doing more radio interviews to promote his upcoming concert, even saying about One Direction, “we were just kids when we started, and now there’s kids...kids everywhere!” He didn’t mention any names, but went on to reassure the interviewer (Lorraine) that HE would not be adding to the brood of children any time soon: “I’m comfortable with where I’m at, at the moment”. 

Before we get into the next bit, can we just spend one more gleeful second with the Italian sun shining on our faces and the scent of Christmas pudding? Okay, well. On we go with the “never ending cycle of media speculation”, and our favorite pub dwelling pigs.

Celebtm published part two of their article on Briana and Micheal Straus and it is...a mess. As are, by the way, the instagram comments under that post, but we’ll get there. The article itself is riddled with contradictions: is Louis an involved father who loves his son or is Briana a single mother who is struggling to provide for him? After making a few claims about how involved Louis was with Freddie, Straus went on to say that he himself “wanted to step up and be the man in Freddie’s life” and that “whether or not [Louis is] an absentee father isn’t for me to say”. That is to say, it’s all bullshit. Including, by the way, the initial claim that he was scammed out of his money, as he goes on to say that he told Briana not to worry about paying him back! We often make jokes about these people, but let's be frank: Michael Straus is vile, and the reason that he is suing Briana is because he’s upset he never got to look at her new breasts. That - however ridiculous - is the premise of the case. And if that wasn't messy enough, guess who works for celebtm and is getting in on the action: BOOPSY! Yes, our old pal Boopsy-the-celeb-stalker is also in that mess of a comments section in her official work capacity, letting it be known that she's looking for inside dirt on Briana.

But now let’s dive into what Celebtm had to say about the whole thing, because they have taken a sharp U-turn since part 1 of this article. Hmmm...wonder why? The site remained confused on what their position on Freddie’s parentage was: they leaned heavily on Michael’s quote that said, “he is 100% Louis and Briana’s son”, but also they quoted fans who said that he wasn’t, and then!! They claimed (in the comments section of the instagram post) to have offered to pay for a paternity test for Louis. Well, hey I know a ton of people that would start a gofundme and pay for it themselves (not that we’d need to, uh, I think Louis’ got it covered)! They then claim that LTHQ declined their offer because, “the deal he made with Briana saves him millions. We know she only receives less than 60k a year and the money meant for Freddie goes to … self upkeep for Briana”. This is even funnier today, when Louis’ net worth was calculated at 47 million pounds. 

So here’s where the research gets verbose, but I’m going to attempt to present it as simply and concisely as I can. As far as I can tell, there are two ways for an unmarried man to claim paternity in California: the first is to sign a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity upon the child’s birth, at which point your name goes on the birth certificate (this fits with the birth certificate we’ve seen), and you have full parental rights and obligations (custody and child support included) without a necessary DNA test. The second way is to arrange a court hearing and establish paternity through the courts, which does require a DNA test. If you have signed a VDP and then wish to change your mind, you can either fill out a rescission form (which must be done within 60 days of signing the original VDP but only needs one party’s signature) or you can go to court. Celebtm is claiming that Louis has no rights, and is voluntarily paying 60k a year in order to MAINTAIN this Schroedenger’s Baby situation rather than take a test and end the speculation. Even odder, this claim makes it seem like even LOUIS doesn’t know if Freddie is his or not, and he’s just. Paying this random family for a child that might or might not be his, but he’s not involved. But all of this makes perfect sense if he DID sign a VDP, then immediately rescinded it, and is now paying for something other than child support. 

TLDR: this all looks like a mess that doesn't add up but it all makes sense if he did sign this one document, took it back, and is now paying for something other than child support - let’s call it secrecy rather than silence, because if there’s one thing we know about this family, it’s that they can’t shut up.

#liam #harry #louis #niall #and #the clown car #my source for the legal stuff: https://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp-parentage.htm?rdeLocaleAttr=en #i gotta im disappointed with the timing of the celebtm drop yesterday #discourse and i made two beautiful posts and then all the wind got taken out of our sails #sighhhhh #yeah thats me for today come ask about any questions or just to chat! #anyways! #song of the day! #redwood tree by cam #honestly i could not be more excited for changes #if i tried

[alpacaparkaseok]

Mine

3. Stalk me all you want, just bring refreshments.

Genre: Yoongi x OC

Warnings: some stalking lol

Word Count: 3.1k 

We’ve made it to Paris by the time the first stalker finds me.

The past week has been spent in England popping in and out of interviews and press conferences. For the most part, it’s been pretty quiet. Granted, each interview never fails to bring up BTS, one even going so far as to pull up a quiz to see how similar I am to Suga.

I got 62%.

Sebastian demanded to take it as well. He got 43%. I still can’t tell if he was relieved or upset. Either way, things have been a little strange between us ever since that morning when he woke me up post panic attack. I can’t tell if it’s just because we’ve both got a lot of things on our minds or the fact that we’re back in civilization now, but I find myself seeking out the company of friends through phone calls and facetimes more often.

Stacey has been working nonstop to deflate the situation as much as possible. Truly, I owe her everything. She’s quick to remind me just that as I make my way to my hotel room.

“You know, this is very different from any other case I’ve had before. This fanbase is hard to get around.”

I roll my eyes even though she can’t see me from the other end of the phone. “You really have to stop referring to this as a case. It sounds like I’m some type of criminal.”

Sebastian passes me to go to his room while I fumble with my keycard. Stacey is in the middle of explaining the reasoning behind calling this a case when I finally open up the door and nearly drop the phone at the sight before me.

A girl sits on the edge of the bed, phone held up and hat low on her head. She stands up, walking over to me.

“Look who it is! Cara Richie!” For her surprised tone, I know she isn’t surprised at all. Stacey pauses on the phone as she picks up on the other voice. I remain frozen in the doorway, utterly confused. Did I get the wrong room?

Sebastian is the first one to react. “Keep your head down Car, and walk over here. Come into my room, I’ll get security.”

I do as he says, hesitating only a moment longer before turning my head down and heading down the hall. Stacey is demanding answers in my ear, but I can’t bring myself to answer her. Not as the girl is rushing out the door in an attempt to capture more footage.

“You think just because you’re a pretty face that Yoongi would be interested in you? He probably felt bad for your sorry excuse of a career and wanted to help. How do you feel about being a pity case?”

The words fling themselves at my back, but I focus on putting one step in front of the other. Sebastian is speaking quickly on the phone, motioning for me to walk faster.

“C’mon, c’mon…” He mutters under his breath, opening his door wide.

“I think you should know that this is live on Instagram. You look like a coward. Why would he like a coward like you?”

My feet refuse to move faster, my measly pace being the only thing I can manage. There’s a piece of me that really wants to turn around and give her a piece of my mind, but I know that’s the last move I should take. Not when she’s filming. Not when we’re just beginning promotions and my career is already barely hanging in there.

When I’m within arm’s reach, Sebastian grabs me and hauls me into the room. I just glimpse the dark clothing of security bursting out of the stairwell before Sebastian closes the door behind us.

“What was that?” Stacey demands to know. I watch as Sebastian scours the room, checking the bathroom and even under the covers for any unwanted visitors. Once he gives me a thumbs-up, I finally speak.

“I...I think that girl was stalking me.”

🌙

To say the least, Paris and I don’t get along well. Yes, the world-famous city of love. The irony of it all isn’t lost on me. I’m stuck in the city of love all the while trying my best to avoid crazed would-be lovers of some man I’ve only ever seen through a screen.

On the bright side, people who work for the tabloids are having a heyday. I haven’t managed to get my hands on any of the magazines they’re working for, but I do have a phone and said phone is in a constant state of buzzing and ringing.

One the down side I still have no clue how I’m supposed to make it through these promotions in one piece. A part of me hopes that BTS will step in and basically tell everyone to knock it off, but I have no way of knowing how their PR teams works. Either way, they seem to be very good at keeping things on their side very quiet while my side is barely holding the barricade.

We’re driving back from an interview when my phone rings yet again. Sebastian looks at me.

“You gonna answer that?”

Sighing, I yank my phone out of my pocket. No doubt it’s yet another nosy friend or reporter that got my number from a nosy friend.

“Oh!” I gasp. It’s an actual friend. “Bong-Cha!” I all but scream into the phone. It’s my crazy roommate from my senior year in college that convinced me to pursue another degree with her in Seoul.

“Wow, you actually sound happy to hear from me,” my friend teases.

“There’s a first time for everything. How are you?” It feels like it’s been years since we’ve last spoken.

Sebastian looks at me with a puzzled expression as I slip into Korean. I’ve never spoken it around him, but I’ve never had a reason to. In fact, it’s about time I got a call from my friend. I need to keep practicing.

“I’m...great.”

I furrow my brows as I study the Parisian streets we pass. “Are you sure about that?”

Bong-cha’s sigh carries through the phone. “Yeah, I think so. It’s just...remember when I told you before you left for the Congo that I had a really big gig coming up? Like, really big?”

The conversation we had less than a week before I left for the Congo comes back to my mind. Bong-cha and I originally went into the university to study acting. When we were both accepted to a prestigious school in Seoul she was elated and I was confused. I didn’t apply to the school. I didn’t even speak the language, why would I apply? Bong-cha took things into her own hands and filled out the application for me. It took a lot of puppy eyes and convincing, but eventually I realized that a fresh start on a new continent and even with a new language would be exactly what I needed.

The program took two years, but it only took Bong-cha six months to realize that she wanted to focus more on the music part of filming rather than the actual acting. The little punk switched programs, but we still lived together for the duration of the two years. Looking back, she made the right decision. She can weave and create a soundtrack that puts people under a spell. She even helped with the soundtrack for one of my very first indie flicks.

Thanks to her I had something of an advantage going into the world of cinema with both American and Korean acting experience. But the best part of it all was the building up a friendship that will last for decades.

“Yeah,” I come out of my walk down memory lane. Paris somehow makes me nostalgic. “What happened with that? How did it go?”

“Well, it went well...it wasn’t exactly for a movie, though.”

“What was it for, then?” I can sense the hesitation in her tone and urge her forward. “Are you releasing a mixtape or something?” We both chuckle at the notion.

“No, not that. Although I would take the world by storm if I decided to drop a mixtape. It would be pure genius.”

“Yeah, yeah. What was it for? Now you’ve made me curious.”

Another sigh. “I was working on a comeback trailer for BTS.”

My heart stutters for a moment. “You- you what?”

“I know, and I should have told you all of this-”

“Daebak!” I shout into the car, Sebastian jumping a little at my sudden exclamation. “That’s so cool, Bong-cha! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me before!”

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, it is amazing, isn’t it? They’re kind of going for this intense dystopian feel and somebody recommended me to them because they’d seen ‘True Lies’, isn’t that great? I still can’t believe it.”

Bong-cha deserves every ounce of credit that comes her way, I couldn’t be happier for her. Then I remember my current situation, and the questions I’m dying to ask her are all jumping for attention. I bite them down, reminding myself that this isn’t about me.

“I told you that the soundtrack for ‘True Lies’ was perfect, didn’t I? See, you should listen to me more often.”

A half-hearted chuckle from the other end of the phone. “I guess I should. But Cara, that’s not the only reason I called. I think I may have screwed something up.”

If my heart keeps stuttering I may die. Trying not to jump to any conclusions, I struggle to keep the apprehension out of my voice. “Ok...what happened?”

“Well...I worked a lot with all the boys, they’re very hands on in the whole process.”

“Ok.”

“I especially worked a lot with Suga because he’s very talented at producing music and all that, so he had a lot of say in the overall vibe and feel of the piece. Anyways, as you can imagine, we had to spend a lot of time together and we actually became pretty good friends...”

A yellow bike is being parked in a bike rack painted with red flowers and vines. It’s outside of the kind of cafe you only see in movies, and a young woman sits by the window with a book in hand. She’s lost in thought, no longer looking down at her book but instead watching the cars as they pass by. One hand rests idly around her drink which is still full. We make eye contact for a single second before I speed by, and I know that I’ll never see her again but I can’t help but wish I was her.

If I were her I could sit there calmly, not worried about much except for not spilling my drink on my novel. I would admire the yellow bike in the rack, and think up bike routes that I could enjoy. I would pack my book in the little basket between the handlebars and I would wait for a sunny day to go out and read.

Just my bike, book, and me.

Jumping a little as we pass over a speed bump I’m ripped from my alternate reality and drink in the words that Bong-cha speaks as delicately as possible.

“...we talked a lot, and eventually I started talking about my friends. You know, pretty normal, isn’t it?  Everyone talks about their best friends. I mentioned you, of course. Explained how we lived together for however long, like what, four years? Two in the states and two in Seoul? Anyways, I was going on about you because ‘Under Nine’ has been so huge and it’s like you finally had your big break.”

Coaxing my jaw to move from its stiff position, I form a sentence. “Bong-cha, just tell me.”

There’s a two second pause before she dives back in. “He’d seen the film, said that you seemed cool. And I just started thinking about it and I thought that you two would be so cute together. And he just seems...lonely. Is that weird? And you’re always so stressed with trying to find the next big project so I just talked you up but...I- I didn’t tell him to date you or anything, I swear! I just said that you two should be friends. That’s all, I swear.”

Somehow the spike in heart rate I was expecting never comes. Instead, I almost feel  more at ease. At least I’m starting to understand how this got started. It all seemed too disconnected before, like he just picked my name out of a hat and decided to have some fun with it.

“So...do you know why he said those things in the interview? Because that wasn’t exactly a call for friendship. At least, if that’s how he meant it, he failed. Big time. And now I’m paying the price.”

I can’t keep the bite out of my voice toward the end, and Sebastian doesn’t need to be fluent in the language to understand that tone.

‘You ok?’ he mouths. I nod and roll my neck in an attempt to relax. I don’t want Bong-cha to think that I’m mad at her. If anything, I’m flattered that she even thought to act as a sponsor for me to one of the most famous rappers in the world, however misguided her intentions.

“I know. I know, trust me, I talked to him about it.”

I wasn’t expecting that. They must be pretty good friends if Bong-cha feels comfortable calling him out on this. “You did?”

She chuckles. “I know, shocking. I just feel partially responsible for all of this. Then when I saw that video in your hotel room-”

“Wait, you saw that? I thought they were able to take that down in time.”

“Well, it was live when she was filming it. So she had to stop the filming but it was already out in the world. If it makes you feel any better, most people feel bad for you. You reacted really well in the video. Didn’t even say anything. Yoongi felt horrible when-”

“Hold up, hold up.” The words tumble from my mouth before she can continue. “You’re telling me that he actually saw that? And you talked to him about all of this? What is he saying?”

“I would tell you if you would quit interrupting me.”

“Sorry.” A hint of a smile tugs at my lips, the head strong Bong-cha I know so well reappearing.

“Anyways, as I was saying he felt horrible once he saw the video. Obviously we knew that it was probably a little crazy for you, especially with interviews and stuff. But I think even the guys were surprised to hear about you having stalkers and stuff.”

“The guys as in…”

“As in the guys. Jin and Jimin and-”

“Yeah. Yep. Got it.” I’m not sure whether I should laugh or cry, so I settle for shock.

“I talked to Yoongi about it, though. They all feel horrible about it, really. I guess after I talked about you so much he got curious and started doing some research and trying to figure out who you were. You know, kind of like friend shopping.”

“Is that a thing?”

“Sure, when you’re that crazy famous it is. You have to make sure the person you want to befriend isn’t some psycho in disguise.”

I snort. “I am a psycho, though. I don’t even try to hide it.”

Bong-cha chuckles, in full agreement with me. “Trust me, I know. But I don’t know, maybe he thinks it’s endearing? I mean, look at his closest friends. Compared to the rest of the members, you’re pretty tame. They’re all nuts.”

Just from the way Bong-cha speaks about the band I can tell that she really loved spending her time working with them. It would appear they all became fast friends. I can’t say that surprises me; she’s always had a knack for making friends.

“Alright, if you say so.”

“Anyways, I guess the guys were just giving him a hard time because he was always watching your stuff. Everyone took it too far in that interview. I mean, honestly speaking, I think they want him to get a girlfriend as badly as I do, but,” she keeps chattering away as she senses my impending interruption, “they realize that this wasn’t the best way to go about everything. Trust me when I say that their agency practically skinned them alive when the interview went viral.”

I suppose it makes sense to a certain point, but there’s still one outlier in all this information. If this is purely just an innocent mistake, then why on earth would Yoongi fan the flame by inviting us to the film festival in Seoul? And publicly RSVP?

I ask Bong-cha as much, the skepticism thick in my voice. “I just don’t get it, I guess.”

Bong-cha curses on the other side, and I can practically see her rolling her eyes. “That is precisely why all of the boys have basically been in time out for the past couple of weeks. Remember when I said that the other boys want Yoongi to get moving as much as I do?”

“Yeah? I don’t follow…”

Bong-cha laughs at the situation, the sound of it only worrying me more. “That wasn’t Yoongi that invited you guys and RSVPd.”

I nearly choke at the new information. The anger I feel is red-hot. Somebody really is trying to sabotage my career, aren’t they? “W-who? Who would do that? Why haven’t they said anything about that? Clearly someone is trying to ruin my career, and possibly his as well. Wouldn’t BigHit do someth-”

“Hey! Listen to me you psycho!” Bong-cha yells through the phone, barely able to get me to shut up for more than two seconds. “Are you even listening to me at all? I just said that the others are pushing for you and Yoongi, too. Nobody is trying to destroy your career.” She pauses, and for once I don’t interrupt her. Instead I wait with bated breath for her to continue. “You should have seen Yoongi’s face when Jin told him what he did.”

Jin? Kim Seokjin? What did he do?

“What do you mean? What did Jin do?”

A sigh of long-suffering. “He’s the one that invited you guys. And made sure Yoongi would have to be there to face you by publicly RSVPing him. Got it?”

“Why would he do that?” I ask myself the question more than anything. Bong-cha still responds though, the smirk evident in her tone.

“You’ll just have to ask him in person when you get here, won’t you? Make sure you save me a seat. I want to be there for this.”

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Taglist is open!

taglist: @taylorroe3 @eusticenatalie @agustneeds @oceandeep​

#yoongi #yoongles #yoongi x oc #suga #suga x oc #bts #yoongi imagine #yoongi imagines #yoongi fluff #bts imagines #bts fic #bts fluff #jin #jin being the man he is #suga fanfic #suga fluff #suga imagines #min yoongi #Min Yoongi x oc #bts fanfic #bts imagine

[lady-divine-writes]

Klaine Advent Drabble 2020 - “Take One” (Rated PG13)

Summary: Embroiled in the aftermath of two very messy break-ups, Kurt and Blaine are preparing to film their first love scene together. But how do you pretend to be in love when your love life is falling apart?

It probably doesn't hurt to be in love with your co-star then. (1982 words)

Notes: Written for the @klaineadvent Drabble Challenge 2020 prompt 'grey'.

Read on AO3.

“Ooo, I get a limo this time,” Kurt mumbles, not nearly as impressed as he’s pretending to be. But he needs to keep up appearances. Even though it’s the literal buttcrack of dawn, he’s not alone. There are about thirty asshats, armed with cameras, camped out on his doorstep, climbing over each other to snap a candid of him for the gossip sites. A photo of him emerging from his townhouse fresh-faced and ready for another day on set will fetch an easy couple hundred.

But if he looks like he rolled out of bed, drank a bottle of whiskey for breakfast, then fell down a flight of stairs, landing face-first onto a mountain of cocaine - those pictures would fetch considerably more.

That’s what he gets for going through a horrendous break-up while having the nerve to be rich and famous.

Despite how he feels about his life at this moment, he went for the former, not the latter. He would never touch hard drugs, not for any reason, and he can't justify looking less than his best. 

Like a good friend once told him - never let them see you sweat.

“Kurt! Kurt Hummel! Over here!” the pariahs start calling, some of them whistling for his attention like he’s a dog. “Hummel! Hey, Hummel!”

Hummel.

That’s the one that gets him, burrows into the roots of his teeth and makes his whole head pulsate. It keeps his feet moving when he might have stopped to exchange a polite hello. Who talks to people like that? When did it become acceptable to bellow out someone’s last name as a means of getting their attention? Is it too much to ask for the respect of at least shoving a ‘Mr.’ in front of it? Have these glorified stalkers forgotten that if it weren’t for him and stars like him the only jobs they could get would be snapping photos of families for minimum wage at Six Flags?

Ugh. 

Too much thinking too early in the morning.

He could write an essay on how much he loathes pap culture, but today, Kurt can’t be bothered caring.

He slaps on a smile and waves, sliding his glasses down his nose only far enough so they can’t see how red his eyes are from crying.

“Oh, hello! I didn’t see you all here! It’s so nice of you to greet me at 5:30 on this fine winter morning! Oh, careful there. You spilled your coffee. And I think you just kicked that poor young man in the face.”

Kurt greets his guests this way every morning, killing them with kindness, as subtle an eff you as he can come up with when his brain cells have yet to kick in for the day.

Coffee. He needs coffee. About a gallon-and-a-half of it.

Kurt glides through the crowd, an angelfish among sharks, and comes out unscathed.

A man with dark hair and olive skin, wearing a fitted, black uniform tailored to within an inch of its life, opens the car door for Kurt as he approaches.

"Good morning, Mr. Hummel."

“Good morning, Harold. It's nice to see you.” Kurt slides into the car, thankful when the chauffeur shuts the door. He sinks into the leather seat and tosses his sunglasses aside. “God!" he moans, burying his face in his hands. "I don't want to do this! I want to stay home and eat ice cream! I don’t want to kiss anyone today!”

Blaine, who had been waiting quietly and wearing a sympathetic smile, frowns. “Gee. Thanks.”

Kurt's head snaps up, his face splotchy and red in seconds. “Blaine! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were …! That’s not what I meant!" He takes a deep breath in, lets it out slowly. "It's not you. I just don’t feel particularly romantic today.”

“It’s okay. I know what you mean. I feel the same way.”

Kurt squares Blaine with a stern look. “Gee. Thanks.”

Blaine ducks his eyes, his cheeks turning pink as he pours Kurt a glass of champagne. There’s always champagne, no matter what vehicle the studio sends to pick them up. But Kurt and Blaine never avail themselves to it.

Today, however, Kurt thinks as he accepts the flute Blaine offers and takes a sip, is an exception.

“I didn’t know Harold was picking you up first,” Kurt says, starting small talk to ease the tension. Kurt and Blaine don’t usually have trouble making small talk.

But, again, today is an exception.

“Well ...” Blaine clears his throat, seems embarrassed “... I was just … you know … a few blocks down the way.”

Kurt sits up further, leans forward with interest. “So you did it. You moved out.”

“Yup,” Blaine replies quietly. “I couldn’t … I just couldn’t stay. Not after …” He stops and sniffles, turning his head to hide eyes that must be as red as Kurt’s. Kurt doesn’t know.

He only ever notices how striking they are.

Kurt rests a comforting hand on Blaine’s knee. “I know.” 

“Yeah,” Blaine says with a slightly bitter laugh. “So does the whole world. In fact, the photogs knew I was leaving before I knew. You should have seen it. I could barely get past them.”

Kurt pulls a box of tissues out of the side panel and offers one to Blaine. “They’re bottom feeders. Try to ignore them.”

“Easier said than done.”

“I know,” Kurt repeats, feeling exceptionally useless. He’s in the exact same boat, but his heart hurts more for Blaine.

Blaine doesn’t deserve what he's going through. He doesn’t deserve such a public break-up.

He doesn’t deserve having his name drug all over social media by an emotionally manipulative bastard.

Kurt gazes out the window at the sky above. The forecast said it would be clear and sunny today, but it’s cloudy and grey. It matches Kurt's mood. Everything is cloudy and grey.

Well, maybe not everything.

The champagne isn’t. It’s cool and refreshing, and the bubbles make his tongue tingle.

That helps.

And Blaine helps, too.

Even gloomy, melancholy Blaine helps.

Just being in Blaine's presence helps.

“Living in the public eye isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, huh?” Blaine asks, though it sounds as much like a statement to himself as a question for Kurt.

“Not on days like today. But that’s the trade-off for being a star, I guess.” 

“Would you ever give it up?” Blaine takes a sip so slight it doesn’t lower the level of the liquid in his glass.

“I can’t say I would. You?”

“Nah. Acting has given me so many opportunities I could never have dreamed of. And all the great people I've met? I mean, this is what? The fifth film we’ve starred in together?”

“It is." 

Blaine chuckles, shakes his head. "Some of them have been real winners."

"I know! The roles you get offered when you're just starting out are criminal! Let’s see, we’ve been rogue enemy agents from different factions …”

“High school frenemies …”

“Alien co-conspirators …”

“Jealous rivals …”

“And now … lovers.”

“Yes,” Blaine says bashfully. “And today …”

Kurt smiles. “We get together for the first time.”

Hearing Kurt say it makes Blaine’s heart race, his pulse thrumming so fast it disappears.

The day Blaine found out he’d gotten the role of Kurt’s love interest and not the ‘jealous ex’ (the role his agent originally pitched him for since they play adversaries so well) was a dream come true. The studio felt the two of them could take their insane sexual tension (the studio's words, not Blaine's, although he doesn't disagree) and use it to fuel the plot of their latest 'friends-to-lovers' rom-com.

Blaine has always wanted to be a leading man. Deep down, he prayed that his first time, he'd play opposite Kurt. Now that it has finally happened, the role of his dreams comes with the greatest perk in the universe - an intimate moment with Kurt.

In front of about three dozen crew members, but still. 

It's Blaine's chance to indulge his crush, which he plans to savor since it may not come around again. 

Not in the way Blaine wants.

As friendly as Kurt is to him, as flirty as he can be, Blaine doesn't know for sure whether Kurt shares his feelings.

“If you don't mind my asking, when did he tell you?” Blaine asks.

“He didn’t." Kurt snorts humorlessly. "I woke up, and he was gone. I thought he had left for work. He had a table reading at six that morning, so I wasn’t immediately suspicious. Not until I started noticing important things were missing - clothes, toiletries, his contact lenses, his laptop …” 

"Did he tell you why he was leaving?"

Kurt chews his lower lip at the question he'd known was coming ... the answer he's debating whether or not to give. "Eventually." He glances up at Blaine, flashes a sly grin, and decides to go for broke. “He left because he thought I was falling in love with my co-star.”

"Really?" And just like that, Blaine Anderson dies, his heart shrinking into nothing and blowing away on the wind. "W-which one?" he asks, solely for conversation's sake.

This time, when Kurt snorts, clamping a hand over his mouth to keep from spraying champagne all over the interior of the limo, it's genuine. "You, you gumball!"

"Oh. Oh!" Blaine’s expression of shock is so endearing, Kurt can’t look at it too long. There's a glow about him. It's like staring into the sun. “That's ... that’s funny. My ex broke up with me for the same reason. Because of ... you. At least, that's the excuse he gave on Twitter ... and Instagram ... and Facebook. There were other things. Other men, too.” Blaine's glow dims as he talks about his ex. Their relationship, and separation, weren’t as civil as Kurt’s. In reality, trouble had been brewing behind the scenes for a while. 

He’s glad they finally went their separate ways. 

But it stings just the same, finding out that someone you once loved, who you thought loved you back, was using you for clout. 

And in that, Blaine's ex was a better actor than Blaine ever was.

"That is funny. Not funny ha-ha. Just ... funny. Who would have thunk?" Kurt goes back to his glass of champagne, keeping an eye on Blaine above the rim.

Blaine glances out the window as the limo slows, approaching the gates to the studio lot. Kurt doesn't follow Blaine's gaze, but he doesn't need to. 

He knows what Blaine sees by the way his face falls.

Blaine had hoped they could slip in quietly, but there's already a mob three feet deep waiting for them. The photographers and fans won't be able to see a thing through the car's windows. The tint on them is darker than dark. Still, the whole lot will be on high alert with them here. 

Inevitably, a handful will slip in. 

They may even find their way on set.

Blaine doesn't have the energy to deal with that.

Not today.

“How are we going to get through it?" Blaine asks. "Filming this scene? I mean, the timing is ... uncanny, to say the least.”

“Think of it this way …” Kurt slides across to Blaine’s side, sits as close as they're both comfortable with. Crooking a finger beneath his chin, Kurt draws Blaine's attention away from the gathering crowd and over to his eyes instead “… we get to spend the entire afternoon making each other feel better. That's how we're going to get through this. Agreed?”

Blaine's eyes lower, flicker to Kurt's lips unintentionally. When they travel back up, he notices Kurt's eyes do the same. He swallows hard. At this distance from Kurt, from his mouth, Blaine only has the wherewithal to say one word. He makes it count. "Agreed."

#klaine advent 2020 #klaine advent: grey #klaine fic #klaine fanfiction #klaine

[usagiwusagi]

Week 10: Social Gaming  ●﹏●

Social gaming, many people seem to think that it’s a new trendy thing that gives a source of entertainment to the viewers or audience, but it’s not new, gaming has been around since my childhood. I’m a 90s kid by the way. At least back in my days of gaming years ago, during 2009 ish and a girl, gaming was considered tom-boy and nerdy, “anti-social” and so much that you only can interact with people who play games, majority boys, always had to go house to house to use WLAN to play multiplayer and have great times. That’s how I got called tomboy at least by the other female classmates, and sometimes the boys were ashamed that there was a girl and mocked by other guys. Kids mindset back in those days :P 

It wasn’t pleasant to be name-called/labeled but I learned to be myself at least because gaming is a part of me and shaped me into who I am and what I am doing today. You see, it’s not only gaming but also cartoons, elder generation think cartoons or games are for children but think again who actually made these, are they, children? It’s adults who made them possible for children/teens/adults who seek entertainment and visualization and in the present now games/cartoons are better quality such as concepts, stories, visuals, and ideas. So in this blog, I am going to talk about how gaming social has changed over the times and made possible and accessible for everyone.

Firmly, I believe the internet and social media have brought gaming to gain more popularity. This is because the internet is the source for sharing information and thus communication and entertainment are more enabled in this new age.

Here are some videos within this link to show how gaming socially has evolved

https://wearesocial.com/uk/blog/2016/07/the-future-of-social-gaming

Today, youngsters are very connected to the gaming world and they share their experience on social media as a way to let people know what activities or fun they had. The same goes for streamers who use streaming platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, and Discord servers. How they connect together with their fans is through using social media such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook where they usually tell viewers to follow them or look for updates during their end card of the video or stream.

So, these streamers or Youtubers who enjoy the games they have chosen to play during their recordings, it’s a way that they are playing with fun and at the same time recommending their viewers that this game is fun. Gamers within that community would try it out and share their experience or how to beat the level in the comments section and this is where social media comes to connects this community, a bit like fandom but different.

As a person who grew up with games, I may have been addicted at some point, I wasn’t aware of it but that is how my family perceived it when they tell me, but it’s also a getaway from stress and sadness that I had when I was still schooling from being bullied and shunned by others. I have dreams I would fly and run like crazy with powers, and meeting these online friends one day (I still have contact with them to this very day from 7 years ago). It didn’t shape me into a violent person or anti-social person, I was quite lucky to have met truly nice people and help me gone through those tough times where I couldn’t voice out to anyone, I knew but strangers despite the time difference. If it’s not for them, I wouldn’t have been or what I am today and I really appreciate gaming socially in my heart. Of course, you must be careful who you meet, I have met not very nice ones before and I just treat them like NPCs/Bots.

 It true, gaming was not like how it was before, started out with communities that were cool and fun, however slowly, with more and more audience joining and all so different from every perspective, people don’t tend to get along even if you thought this person is interactable. Identities are hidden, words may wrongly be interpreted, one wrong move and you are stalked by media or backlashed for the smallest reasons. Not everything in unicorns and rainbows, same as real life, if something is public, you got to know that millions of eyes are watching because the internet, stalkers, and everyone can access your information.  I know this is truly bias to social gaming goodness, this is what I have seen, what I experienced, and what I truly believe, some may have not this type of experience but I feel grateful I did and able to share.

Feel free to comment on this post, let me know your experience in gaming socially good or bad, there are still things we can learn every day and share together :D

#mda20009 #digitalcommunities #social gaming #week 10

[quickspinner]

I’ll Give You the Stars - Ch 3 Share Your Dreams with Me

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Luka was about ready to nominate Penny Rolling for sainthood. It had become crystal clear over the past couple of days that while Jagged could put his name in the spotlight for a brief flurry of publicity, it was Penny who could actually get his foot in the door of the industry. It was Penny who had sent Luka a list of classes and private tutors he should consider, not only on musical subjects like composition and performance, but on business and publicity as well. It was Penny who gave him tips for handling the media attention his unexpected performance had temporarily garnered, and asked for his approval on the press statement she had prepared for Jagged. 

It was Penny who kept him from being completely overwhelmed and paralyzed with her prioritized action item list, and included with that list were applications for music scholarships Jagged sponsored—both for his age group and Juleka’s. Because chasing your dreams costs money, after all.

She’d also suggested he consider selling some of his compositions, and implied that Jagged Stone would love to have the first chance at whatever he came up with.  

Luka had to take a long walk to calm down after she’d suggested his music might actually sell. That Jagged Stone might be willing to perform something he wrote. Rose was going to flip.   

Finally, while Penny explained that she herself couldn’t represent him as repping Jagged alone was a full-time job, she had also sent him a list of agents she knew and trusted and promised to get him a meeting when he was ready.

So when Penny sent him a release form for his unscheduled appearance and begged him to have his mother sign it before her legal team paraded her corpse down the Champs Elysee for letting Jagged pull a minor onstage without parental consent, he gladly went to bat with Anarka, who despised paperwork in general and legal documents in particular, and pestered her until it got done. His mom would probably be extra contrary for at least a week, but that was fine, he could handle it. At this point Luka was so grateful that he was pretty sure he’d donate a kidney for Penny if she needed it.

Now, she told him, it was just up to him to keep the ball rolling until he was musically and emotionally ready to try for the big time—to keep his name out there and build his fanbase. 

Fanbase.  Like he was ever going to be emotionally ready for that.  

Luka coped with his sudden crushing case of imposter syndrome by focusing on the band. He saw no reason why keeping the ball of his popularity rolling, as Penny put it, couldn’t include bringing the rest of Kitty Section along for the ride. After all, none of this would be happening if Marinette hadn’t done the same for him. He’d asked Penny to include Kitty Section’s Instagram in her press release, though he’d cringed at her insistence on the wording “Kitty Section featuring Luka Couffaine,” as if he was any more important than any other band member, and their number of followers had tripled overnight. Rose had posted pictures and a short clip of him on stage with Jagged, and she’d been calling every club and venue she could find to pitch Kitty Section.

It was a beautiful madness that was at the same time overwhelming and so far removed from his daily life that it didn’t quite seem real, and finally he decided to give himself a break from trying to figure it all out, and he took his guitar out on the deck.

Luka was staring dreamily into the sunset, singing softly along with his guitar, when suddenly his view was blocked by a curtain of black and purple hair with lace sleeves. 

“Okay,” grumbled a familiar voice from within the curtain. “What the hell happened when you walked Marinette home?”

Luka sighed as Juleka came to plop herself down in the other chair.

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“You haven’t sung in ages.”

He eyed her suspiciously. She was speaking in full sentences so something was up. “You didn’t want me too.”

“Not while you sounded like a cat in heat, but that’s been over for a while. Why now?”

Luka shrugged. “Why not?”

“Luka.”

He said nothing.

“Do you realize that ever since the concert you sound like you’re putting together the soundtrack for a heavy metal romcom?”

“I do not,” he grumbled. Yeah, smooth. God, nobody could get under your skin like a sibling. Especially his. 

Juleka was silent for a minute. “She has a crush on Adrien Agreste.”

Luka’s jaw tightened and he turned his pick in his fingers, pressing into the hard edges. 

“Like a super-mega-nearly-stalker crush, Luka.”

He said nothing.

“You know that stuttering, word-scrambling thing she does that you think is so cute? She’s a million times worse with him. It’s a small miracle that he hasn’t decided she’s a complete psycho.”

Luka sighed. “You’re telling me this why? And why now?”

Her face screwed up the way it used to when she was five and he wouldn’t let her play with him. “Because you’re my stupid brother and you’re getting in over your head, and I hate you and I’m scared you’re going to keep me awake with your sobbing when she breaks your heart.”

Luka had to smile at that. “I love you too, Juleka,” he said, with more sincerity than he’d intended. “And I already knew she had a thing for Adrien.”

“Has  a thing, Luka. A big thing. Eiffel Tower big. The Great Wall of China, visible from space big.”  

Luka plucked at a string, pretending to tune it. “Does he have a thing for her?”

“Luka.”  

Luka groaned and rolled his eyes. “Look, I know the score. It’s fine. I’ll be fine. I’m just...we had a nice moment, okay? We don’t have to be destined soulmates for me to enjoy her company. Now get lost so I can watch the sunset without your mopey goth doom and gloom.”

Juleka sighed gustily. “I’m going to have to smother you with my pillow, aren’t I?”

“Tell me about Lila,” Luka said abruptly, and Juleka tilted her head. 

“Why do you want to know about Lila?”

“I don’t know, I just kind of got a weird vibe that night while you guys were talking about her.”

“Marinette doesn’t like her.”

“Why?” 

Juleka rolled her eyes. “Because Lila is pretty and confident and wealthy and well-connected, and Marinette’s insecure and jealous. She thinks Lila wants Adrien and it makes her act crazy.”

Juleka’s words were so discordant with Luka’s reality that he almost felt nauseous. “That doesn’t sound like Marinette at all,” he said cautiously.

“I told you, Marinette loses her mind when Adrien’s involved.”

“Yeah...so much so that she agreed to help him ask out another girl.”

“She probably did that so she could spy on his date. She’s as threatened by that Kagami girl as she is by Lila, only nobody actually likes Kagami, so she’s a tiny bit less crazy about it.”

“I was there, Juleka,” Luka reminded her sharply. “Nothing like that happened.”

Juleka leaned her chin in her hand and looked at him. “You’re biased, Luka.”

“Biased, not blind, and Marinette’s not exactly hard to read.” Luka put his guitar aside and turned in the chair to face her. “Juleka, you know me. I’m not wrong about this. I was there. She told me when she asked me to go that we were going to support Adrien, and that’s what she did. I watched her smile at him and encourage him when he was nervous. I gave him advice myself right in front of her. And yeah, she looked at him like a sad puppy whenever he couldn’t see, but she didn’t even give him a hint at how upset she was.” He sat back, studying his sister. “I thought Marinette was your friend.”

Juleka started. “She is.”

“Are you even listening to the things you’re saying about her? Does anything you’ve said actually make sense with what you know about Marinette? Look, I believe you when you say she’s crazy about Adrien, that makes sense, and I can believe she’d come up with some crazy convoluted things to get his attention, but do you really think she’s that jealous and petty? And if she were, that I’d be so crazy in love that I couldn’t tell?”

Juleka chewed her lip. 

“Marinette’s done a lot for us...and for you, Jules.”

Juleka lowered her eyes. Luka just shook his head and reclined back on his chair, picking up his guitar. “Look, I think I’m done talking about this, forget I asked. Tomorrow’s the first day back at school since the concert and to be honest I’m kind of freaked out about how things will go, so…” He made a little shooing motion with his hand. “Can I just get some space please?”

Juleka didn’t move or speak for a moment. Then she said, “Are you going to be up here singing more sappy barely-rock love songs?”

“Vocal practice was on Penny’s list. I’m more marketable if I can perform my own vocals.” 

“Right,” Juleka drawled. “Penny’s list.”

Something about her tone made him put down the guitar again to look her in the eye. “Juleka, anywhere I go, you go too, for as long as you’re up for the ride. I promise.” 

She held his gaze for a moment, and then stood up, and started to walk off. “Whatever. Enjoy your quest for the perfect rock ballad to serenade Marinette. Just don’t call me to bail you out of jail when Officer Roger arrests you for public disturbance.”

“It’s not for Marinette.”

“Sure.” She waved over her shoulder. “Try not to be a total cliché or I’ll disown you.”

Luka just smiled and shook his head as he picked up his guitar.

***

The first day back in class after the crazy fever dream of the concert night was as surreal as he expected it to be. Some of his schoolmates were at the concert, enough to whisper and point and spread the news around the school. The weight of his guitar on his back was steadying, but it marked him. There were a lot of awkward conversations with people he barely knew. 

The attention he got from girls who were suddenly giggly and handsy was what really threw him, until his best friend took pity and passed Luka his phone, open to a news site that had a photo of Luka playing at the concert. Luka stared at the photo and covered his mouth to keep from...something. He wasn’t sure if he would laugh or swear. 

It was clearly a professional photo, not like the slightly hazy ones that Rose had taken from the pit. They’d caught him mid-riff, his arms flexed as he played, his hair flying about his face, his eyes focused and a smirk on his lips. He understood now why girls kept grabbing onto his arm or cuddling up and slipping their hands under his jacket. The picture made him look hot, and there was a lot of muscle on display in that custom-fitted MDC Original shirt that was totally hidden in his usual layered look.

Luka passed the phone back and put his head down on his desk while Evan tried to smother his laughter.

He wondered if Marinette had seen the picture. Maybe he should see if Penny could send her a copy. For her portfolio. 

***

A week after the concert Rose texted that she had big news and asked if he could meet the rest of the band at the collège after class.  

Rose and Juleka were the first band members out, walking with a red-headed girl Luka didn’t recognize. He’d expected Rose to be bouncing, bubbly, excited after the tone of her messages, but instead Rose looked a little uncomfortable, and Juleka...Luka’s eyebrows rose. Juleka had her murder face on. 

“That’s so great, I knew Gustav would come through,” the redhead giggled to Rose. “He and I are such good friends ever since I grabbed that fire extinguisher and saved his club from burning down. I knew I could convince him to book Kitty Section!”

“Um, that’s really sweet of you, Lila,” Rose was saying. “When I called, you know, he said that he saw Jagged Stone’s press release and—“

“Oh, yes, I sent that to him as soon as I got it!”

“You...got it?”

“Of course, I get all of his press releases. You know we’re like this.” She held up her crossed fingers. “And honestly, I felt bad for you guys! I’m sure Marinette meant well but singling out one person to meet Jagged, it just seemed so unfair! You all deserved that chance, but maybe she just didn’t know him as well as she said—I mean, as well as she thought she did! I wish I’d been there like I planned, I could’ve done something. It’s too bad that I had to cancel to go help Prince Ali with that emergency at the children’s hospital.” She dropped her voice so that she was only barely audible to Luka. “Honestly I’m surprised Marinette would use her connections like that just to impress a boy, I would never dare, but I guess we all know how far Marinette will go when she has a crush!”  

Juleka’s eyes lifted from the ground and met Luka’s. 

He realized he had his murder face on too. 

The two siblings smirked at each other and then both looked at their feet. Luka breathed, reminded himself of little black butterflies, and when he looked back up his face felt more normal.

“W-well, I understand why you might think that, but you haven’t heard Luka play, he really was the best choice and—“ Rose began, then Juleka caught Rose’s chin and turned her face toward Luka. Rose brightened. “Oh, there he is!”

“Oh!” Lila slipped ahead of them to plant herself in front of Luka, hands wrapped around the strap of her bag as she looked up at him from under her bangs. “You must be Luka, I’ve heard so much about you,” Lila gushed, batting her eyes at him. “Juleka talks about you all the time.” Juleka gave her a sidelong look, which made Luka want to laugh. Juleka hardly talked about anything, and never talked about Luka if she could help it. “Rose and Juleka and I were just talking about this gig I booked for Kitty Section at L’Accord d’Or!”

Luka smiled over Lila’s head at Rose. “That’s great Rose, I know you’ve been trying to get us in there for months.”

“Yeah,” Juleka said flatly. “Who knew that all that time all Lila had to do was make a phone call.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rose fluttered, not seeming to know where to look. “What’s important is that we got the gig now!” Her face brightened with genuine excitement. “And it’s not at the open mic, we’re the headline act. And it pays!” She bounced on her toes, hands clasped together. 

“That’s great news, Rose. I know you’ve worked really hard to make it happen.” Luka said, giving the girl’s shoulder a little squeeze. No wonder Juleka was pissed, if Lila was trying to take the credit. 

When he looked back at Lila, Luka could practically see the calculations appearing over her head as she looked him up and down. He gave her a bland look back that was part disinterest and part warning. He knew that look, he’d seen it over and over in eyes the same blue as his own. It wasn’t even any special kind of insight that told him this girl was selfish and self-centered, just cold, hard experience. 

Maybe he’d done too well at shielding Juleka if she couldn’t see it too. Luka turned his attention back to Rose.

“I thought we should get together and talk about it right away,” Rose was saying, “since we only have a couple of weeks to get ready. He wanted to do the gig soon while people are still talking about Luka. And I thought maybe Marinette could help us make up some T-shirts and things we could sell.”

“You’re so forgiving, Rose,” Lila said with admiration. “Even after Marinette ditched you guys to be with Luka.”

“Marinette’s done a lot for all of us,” Luka said mildly. “But Rose, If we’re getting paid, we need to make sure Marinette is too. She’s already done all of our costumes and the backdrop.”

“Wow,” Lila cooed, curling her hand on Luka’s arm with that slip-squeeze move girls had been pulling on him all week. “She did all of that? She must be so into you.” 

Luka didn’t even hear her, gaze suddenly focused on the door. “Here she comes now.” He tried to keep his expression neutral, but he knew he hadn’t entirely succeeded. It was kind of impossible, given the rush that flooded his system. He hadn’t seen her since he had kissed her in the hall at the bakery. He pulled his arm away from Lila absently, plucking her hand off when she didn’t let go, and reached for the guitar pick in his pocket, pressing the edges into his fingers. He’d promised her when they kissed that it wouldn’t change anything and he was going to keep that promise if it killed him. Marinette caught sight of them, blushed, waved, and tripped on the steps. 

Luka moved without thinking, even knowing he was too far away to help. Suddenly there was a flash of white and blond in front of them and Adrien was lowering a red-faced and stammering Marinette carefully to the pavement.

“Adrien,” Lila squealed, bouncing over to them. “Oh, it’s so good that you were there, that was a really bad fall, Marinette. I know you must be excited to see Luka but you should be more careful.”

Marinette’s face turned even redder as she got to her feet. Lila pushed in between them, and linked her arms through both Marinette’s and Adrien’s, pulling them with her back over to Rose, Juleka, and Luka. “I was just telling Luka about the gig I booked for Kitty Section!”

Juleka growled at Luka’s side and he put his hand on her shoulder. He got an elbow in the ribs for his trouble, but then she folded her arms and huffed out a sigh. 

“Hey Luka, good to see you!” Adrien waved, trying to discreetly pull his other arm free of Lila’s. Marinette was less delicate, shoving the girl’s hand away with a disgusted expression. Undeterred, Lila simply wrapped both hands around Adrien’s arm as he continued. “I saw the clip of you on stage with Jagged, it was awesome! You looked like you were born for it.”

Luka ran his fingers through his hair. “Thanks, I’m just glad he picked that song since I’ve played it so many times at home. I thought I was going to pass out just meeting him, but he was really cool, and it was really funny watching him tease Marinette.” She blushed slightly when he smiled at her, and his heart did a little flip. 

“Really?” Adrien chuckled. “I know he’s a fan of her work. She signed my copy of his last album cover.” He grinned and nudged Marinette with his elbow.

“Yeah, it’s adorable actually, he treats her like she’s his favorite niece or something.” Luka kept his attention on Adrien but watched Lila out of the corner of his eye. “And he brags about her like a proud grandpa.”

“Wow,” Lila said, opening her eyes wide. “Marinette must really have wanted to impress you to use her connections like that. That’s so brave, Marinette! I mean, I would never have dared to bother Jagged Stone just to impress a boy. Oh, isn’t it sooo cute that Marinette likes Luka so much, Adrien! They make such a cute couple!”  

Marinette flushed from her hairline to her collar. “We’re not a couple! It wasn’t like that! I only know Jagged because I was in the right place at the right time and he happened to like my work. It was crazy lucky and Luka’s so talented, I just thought he should have the same chance that I had. And he did great and now he’s opening doors for Kitty Section. I think it’s awesome that we can all help each other succeed in our dreams. After all, what good are all these ‘amazing connections’ if you can’t use them to help your friends?”

Something ugly flashed across Lila’s face but Adrien spoke up before she could bite back. “You’re right, Marinette,” Adrien agreed brightly. “It might have been luck that you met Jagged but you’ve definitely made the most of it, and paying it forward to help Luka and Kitty Section is really cool.”

“Y-you think so?” Marinette nearly whispered, still red in the face. 

“Yeah, it makes me think I should be more active thinking of ways I could do the same,” Adrien rubbed his neck. “I never really thought about it before, but there’s got to be more I could be doing.”

“Oh, Adrien, it’s so like you to think that way,” Lila purred. “Maybe we could have coffee sometime and we could talk about it? You know I’m involved in so many charity projects, I have tons of experience at that kind of thing.”

Marinette looked like she might explode. Adrien laughed uneasily and finally managed to get his arm away from Lila. He started backing away from the group, glancing back towards the silver car waiting for him. “Some other time, maybe, I have uh, somewhere to be right now. Bye guys, and congrats again on the gig!”

“Bye Adrien,” Lila waved cheerfully, and then turned to Marinette. Luka felt a physical pain at the way Marinette tensed up. “Oh, Marinette, it’s so good to see you’ve finally moved on from your hopeless crush on Adrien. I hope that means we can be friends now since there’s no more need for you to be jealous.”

Marinette folded her arms and gave Lila a look that Luka had last seen aimed at Bob Roth. “I think we both know that’s not going to happen and why.”

“Oh, Marinette, it’s really not fair for you to lead Luka on if you’re still hung up over Adrien,” Lila returned, sugary sweet, and Marinette went from red to white, and Luka felt his own face heat. “Or,” Lila lowered her voice to a perfectly audible stage whisper. “Don’t tell me that you went to all that trouble for him and he still turned you down. You poor thing, that’s so…” she paused, as if looking for the word, and then smirked. “Pathetic.” 

Lila whipped around as Luka began to laugh. “You can’t be serious,” he managed to get out between chortles. Beside him, Juleka was smirking. “You’re not taking anyone in with that one.” 

“Yeah,” Juleka drawled. “He’s been stupid over Marinette since they met.” Rose giggled, though she still looked uncomfortable.

“All right guys, are we having this meeting or what?” Luka stepped around Lila and put his arm around Marinette’s shoulders to guide her away. “Anybody know if Ivan is coming?”

“Oh, he asked me to tell you he had to stay and talk to Miss Bustier for a little bit,” Marinette said. “He’ll be along in a few minutes. Um, if you want, we could have the meeting at my place? It’s not big but at least we wouldn’t be standing in the sun. Plus you know Maman and Papa will feed us.”

Rose and Juleka both perked up. “Sounds like a plan,” Luka grinned. “Lead the way.” 

“Don’t worry, Marinette,” he heard Lila purr behind them. “I’ll take good care of Adrien now that you’ve moved on. You couldn’t have gotten in at Gabriel even with Adrien’s help, anyway.”  

“Ugh, she makes me nauseous,” Luka said softly to Marinette as they approached the crosswalk. “I see what you meant, now.”

“Oh my God, Luka, I’m so sorry, that must have been so embarrassing for you,” Marinette whimpered. 

“Not really. It was the truth, I’m crazy about you and I’m not ashamed of it.” Luka tightened his arm around her, and then reluctantly let her go, pretending not to see her radiant blush. “She wouldn’t be so threatened by you if you weren’t so amazing. People like that, you almost have to feel sorry for. How lame must her life be to make her so bitter?”

Marinette was silent for a moment, her blush fading as her expression fell. “So you think I should just let it go?”

“What? No!” Luka said, surprised. “Feeling sorry for her doesn’t mean putting up with her crap. Whatever’s going on in her life, she has a choice about how she treats other people. And I can tell you from experience, people like her will take everything they can get and then burn down the rest just out of spite.”

“Adrien knows how she is,” Marinette said quietly. “But he didn’t want me to say anything. He said making a bad guy suffer has never turned them into a good guy.”

Luka snorted softly. “All that is required for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.”

Marinette’s head whipped around to look up at him. He met her eyes got a moment and then focused on the sidewalk ahead of him.

“Look, it’s to Adrien’s credit that he is the way he is. In a way he’s proof of what I was saying. He has a crappy home life and he still chooses to be optimistic and compassionate, and maybe that means he has a weak spot for people like Lila and Chloé. Maybe if he admitted to himself that some people are beyond redemption, then he has to admit that there’s no hope for his own father. That his dad will always be cold and calculating and manipulative and Adrien will never be good enough for him.” Luka paused and took a deep breath. “It’s a hard thing to admit to yourself. It’s even harder to admit that the reason those people won’t change, is because they don’t care enough to try.” He glanced back at Rose and Juleka, glad to see they were trailing far enough behind that they wouldn’t overhear. “I get it, you know? He still has hope. I just…” He lowered his voice without really meaning to and she swayed a little closer to hear. “I remember how it felt when there wasn’t any hope left, just all of us exhausted and used up and tossed away, and all I can think about is how much time we wasted believing the lie that if we just tried hard enough we could make him want to stay. So no, I can’t agree with Adrien. Giving in to selfishness never turned it into generosity either.” 

Marinette stopped walking and put her arms around Luka’s middle, squeezing tight. He patted her arm, and then pulled away, a little uncomfortable with having said so much. “Anyway, you do what you think is right, Marinette. Protect yourself and trust your instincts. You might not always get it right the first time, but I know you will in the end.”

“Thanks, Luka. I think I needed to hear that.”

They waited in silence at the crosswalk for a moment for the others to catch up. Luka chuckled suddenly. “You know, she made a mistake today.”

“What?” Marinette blinked at him. 

“Lila screwed up. She pissed off Juleka.” Luka grinned. “Rose has been spinning her wheels for months trying to get us into that club, and Lila just up and claims it was all because of her that Rose finally got through. I’m not sure whether Juleka believes Lila and is mad that she didn’t do anything sooner, or if she knows Lila didn’t do anything and is mad at her for lying, but either way, she’s mad that Rose is unhappy. So that’s one less person on Lila’s side anyway. That’s how I know you’ll come out on top no matter what you decide to do.” He didn’t even try to hide the affection in his face when he looked at her. “You can call it karma or whatever, but I’m sure you’ll always have people on your side. Maybe there will always be a Lila out there, taking the credit and name-dropping and looking out for number one. But you...you’re always lifting up the people around you. You don’t let pursuing your own dreams stop you from caring about everyone else’s.” 

As he said the words, the world seemed to stop for a heartbeat, and suddenly he knew what he wanted to sing for her.  Her pink cheeks grew a little pinker as he smiled a slow, secret smile, but before she could ask any questions, Rose and Juleka joined them and they all crossed the street. “You’ll come to the gig, right?” he asked, trying to keep his tone casual. “We wouldn’t even be playing a place this big if it weren’t for you.”

Marinette sighed. “I wish you’d stop saying that. You’re the one who impressed Jagged. You’re the one who played in front of all those people.”

“You’re the one who gave me that chance. But I’m sorry, I’ll try not to bring it up anymore if it makes you uncomfortable. Anyway, will you come? I’d really like you to be there.” 

Marinette waved her phone. “Already on my calendar. Actually I was thinking I might try to get there when you guys do so I can help you get ready, if that’s okay? I want to make sure your costumes are perfect for this!”

Luka smiled. “Better make sure your website is ready for all the traffic you’re going to get. Rose said people are already asking about T-shirt’s and things.”

“I’m not surprised, you did make it look good.” Marinette slapped her hand over her mouth and Luka looked away and coughed to hide his laughter. 

***

Kitty Section worked harder than they ever had for the next couple of weeks. It was a scramble to finish the new song Luka and Rose had been working on, and then they had to figure out what else they were going to play and practice that. (Penny said covers would be a good way to pad their setlist, Luka had informed the group.) Fortunately all of the band members were extremely motivated, so once they got over the hurdle of agreeing on which songs to play (which turned out to be a very high hurdle indeed), they worked relentlessly to get them down, meeting every chance they got to practice.

Marinette had to miss a lot of those rehearsals, but that was fine--that was actually good as far as Luka was concerned, since he had to get the band on board with his plan and then teach them the music he had reworked to suit Kitty Section's metal sound. 

He tried to frame it as platonically as he could, but he still spent almost as much time ignoring teasing comments (and Rose’s overly romanticized fantasy world where he and Marinette had a wedding officiated by Jagged Stone before honeymooning during Luka’s first international tour) as he did practicing. As he lived with Juleka, he was accustomed to blocking out things he didn’t want to listen to, so he let most of it roll off his back. 

Luka was surprised when Ivan stopped after practice one day to lean against the rail next to him.

“Hey,” Ivan said, rubbing his hand over his hair. “You um...okay? We were kinda giving you a really hard time today.”

“Yeah, you were.” Luka shrugged. “But it’s okay. I know I’m an idiot.”

“You’re really in love with Marinette?”

Luka sighed. “Head over heels, man.”

“Wow,” Ivan mumbled, and then was silent for a moment. “So you think the song’ll work?”

“Nope.” 

Ivan blinked. “Really? But…”

“Rose’s romantic fever dreams aside, I’m not doing this to try to win Marinette over. I know she loves somebody else and—well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish for something different, but that’s her choice to make, you know? I just…” He paused, automatically beginning to play his feelings as he tried to find words. 

“I owe Marinette a lot,” Ivan said after a moment. “She was the one who really encouraged me to confess to Mylène. I might never have gotten up the guts of it weren’t for her.”

Luka grinned, looking up at him. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah, I was the first akuma victim, you know. Yay me.”

Luka huffed. “I feel you on that one.”

“I was so in love with Mylène but every time I tried to get close to her, I scared her. I was feeling super down about it. Marinette gave me a pep talk. I mean, things still kinda got worse before they got better, but it turned out all right.”

Luka shook his head, smiling to himself. “She’s something else. You know I was impressed with her before we even met. You wouldn’t believe how much money I’ve spent on ice cream and nail polish every class photo day for years. I was all set for Juleka to come home crying yet again, and instead she comes home with a smile on her face. Even having been akumatized that same day, she was so happy. I asked her what happened and she just smiled and said, ‘Marinette.’” 

“She’s always helping out, huh?” Ivan rubbed his hand over his head again. 

Luka slid his hand over the fretboard thoughtfully. “I just...want her to know how special she is, you know? Like I said, it’s not about winning her over, just...letting her know.”

“Yeah, I think I get it.” Ivan punched him lightly in arm and Luka tried not to wince. “Still...good luck, man. You and Marinette, you both deserve good things.”

“Thanks, Ivan.”

Even though Marinette couldn’t always be at practice, she was still working for them. She presented them with three new t-shirt designs, all of them simpler than the ones she’d originally made for the band so they could be easily sourced out to a printing company. She’d teamed up with Marc and Nath (names Luka only vaguely recognized) and they’d created posters and fliers featuring comic-book style drawings of the band playing on the back of a winged cat unicorn. Luka had to admit, once he stopped laughing, that they were pretty awesome. The band plastered them all over their schools, in as many local coffee shops and music stores as they could get to, and Luka had to smile when he passed one proudly displayed in the bakery window. 

And somehow, the image, including the gig date and time, got passed to Jagged Stone, who tweeted it out to his billions of followers. “I thought we were going to have to give Nath oxygen when we told him,” Marinette giggled. 

By the time the gig night rolled around, it was no shock to anyone that the club was packed.

***

“Are you nervous?” Marinette asked as she helped Luka lift the breastplate into place and began to fasten the ties. 

“If you’d asked me that yesterday, I would’ve said yes, totally, but tonight? Honestly, I’m stoked,” Luka told her, tilting his mask in his hands to admire the play of the glitter under the club lights. “This place is amazing, the set list is sick, the crowd energy is amazing, and your costumes look unreal under these lights. We’ve worked really hard and I feel like we’re ready for this. I can’t wait to get out there.”

Marinette shook her head. “You guys are amazing, if it were me I’d pass out. Is this okay, can you move?”

Luka moved his arms experimentally. “Good as gold. You’re amazing in plenty of other ways, Marinette.” 

He wasn’t even sure she heard him. She bounced and squealed. “You look so great, you’re right, this is gonna be awesome! You’re gonna knock ‘em dead!”

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He blinked at her but Marinette just flashed him a shy smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and turned away to help Rose. 

He took a few minutes to himself to just close his eyes and breathe, and when he opened his eyes again the rest of the band was ready, and Marinette was passing him on her way to the door. “Hey,” he caught her shoulder. “Can you try to get a spot up front? I want to be able to see you.”

Marinette smiled. “I’ll be there. Adrien’s already out there and he has his bodyguard holding space for me and Nino and Alya.”

“Great,” he said, letting his hand fall to catch hers and squeeze it. “Hey guys, all in real quick before Marinette leaves?”

The band crowded together to slap a high five. “Kitty Section!” They yelled together. Marinette and Mylène went to find their places. 

Luka slipped his mask over his face. “All right guys, let’s do this.”

The crowd roared as the band walked on stage. Luka took a deep breath as he slipped his guitar over his head.  Remember the plan.  He played a short riff to get the crowd’s attention as the others took their places. He stepped up next to Rose at the center mic as she welcomed the crowd, and then handed off the microphone to him. There was a cheer as he took off his mask and waved to the crowd.   

“Thanks for coming out to hear us tonight,” he began. “Let me introduce the members of Kitty Section, first on lead vocals, Rose Lavillant!” Beside him Rose lifted her mask, waved, and held up a victory sign. “Rose is also writes our lyrics, runs our Instagram, and books our shows, she’s amazing and her hard work and persistence got us here tonight.” Eat that, Lila. “Next, if you didn’t know, I have the coolest kid sister in Paris and she’s here on bass, Juleka Couffaine.”  Juleka left her mask in place and her wave looked more like clawing the air. “And last, he plays a killer set of drums but he’s also one of the greatest friends any of us could ask for—especially if you have furniture to move—ladies and gentlemen, Ivan Bruel.” Ivan stood up behind his drum set and punched his arms in the air as the crowd cheered.  “Alright, let’s get this place rocking, I’m Luka Couffaine and we are,” they all bellowed together, “Kitty Section!”  

Ivan counted them off as Luka slipped his mask back on and relinquished the mic to Rose, her own mask back in place as she belted, “Oh I love unicorns…”

The energy in the crowd was amazing and it definitely fired up the band. Luka didn’t think they’d ever played better. They went through the first half of their set flawlessly and Luka felt incredible. 

Then it was time, and for the first time that evening the chill of nerves wound down Luka’s spine. 

“Thank you!” Rose hollered into the mic. “And now we have something special for you tonight, so ladies and gentlemen, kittens and unicorns, give it up for Kitty Section’s own Luka Couffaine!”

The audience erupted as Luka took off his mask, handing it to Rose as he took his place at the mic. 

“Wow, thank you,” he said, grinning out at them and hoping his nerves didn’t show as he raised the mic stand to a more comfortable height. “Really, thank you, I’m so humbled and grateful to have all your support.” Chants of Luka, Luka broke out and he laughed. “Wow, seriously, you guys. Thank you so much.” He cleared his throat. “So this next song is maybe an odd choice for a rock band, but I hope you’ll like what we’ve done with it. I’ve been thinking a lot about hopes and dreams lately. I think you can probably guess why,” he grinned as laughter rippled across the audience. “It’s been a pretty surreal experience. And it’s got me thinking a lot about dreams and life and just...potential, you know? I think about how lucky I am to have gotten the opportunities I’ve had. But, at the same time it feels disrespectful to call it luck, because it was intentional. It was a very special person taking the opportunities she’s been given and passing them on. If you ask her, she’ll tell you she didn’t do very much, but that’s not even remotely true. For one thing, she designed our awesome stage gear,” he tapped the sparkling kittycorn on his breastplate. “And if you could have been there in the band meetings and listened to what the poor girl had to put up with while we were tossing ideas around, you’d be even more impressed.” There was another ripple of laughter, and Luka chuckled, turning his pick in his fingers. “You know, some people think you have to be ruthless to follow your dreams, that you’ll never get anywhere without stepping on the people around you.” His eyes locked on Marinette, who was gaping at him, mouth open and one hand locked on Alya’s arm. “But then there are some people who aren’t afraid to share their dreams and who are excited to share yours, and that’s what Marinette has been for us. I don’t have time to tell you half of the things she’s done for Kitty Section and also for me personally, or to tell you how she’s encouraged and inspired a lot of people in this room, and if I tried she’d probably pass out.” He grinned and winked at her. “So instead I’m just gonna say, this one’s for you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the girl with a million dreams, and a heart big enough to hold all of ours.” There were scattered cheers from Marinette’s friends, but for the most part the room seemed to hold its collective breath.  

Luka closed his eyes for a moment, gathering himself. When he felt ready, he began to play what he’d been working on for weeks. He took a deep breath, and stepped up to the mic, eyes still half-closed as he began to sing, his voice low and mellow despite the metal sound of his guitar beneath. “I close my eyes and I can see a world that’s waiting up for me, that I call my own…Through the dark, through the door, through where no one’s been before, but it feels like home…”

Luka opened his eyes, and smiled down at Marinette, who now had both hands over her mouth. “They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy, they can say they can say I’ve lost my mind...I don’t care, I don’t care if they call me crazy...we can live in a world that we design…”

Luka tore his eyes away from her, scanning across the crowd, feeling Ivan’s rhythm through his feet and Juleka’s bass thrumming behind him and Rose’s voice coming in to support his. “Cause every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head, a million dreams are keeping me awake…I think of what the world could be, the vision of the one I see, a million dreams is all it’s gonna take...a million dreams for the world we’re gonna make.” He was starting to see faces in the crowd, now, friends that had come out to support them, faces with dreams for their own. He wanted every one of them to have the same gift Marinette had given him. He sang on, and his already racing heart tripped and stuttered, and he closed his eyes again to keep back the tears trying to spring up as he poured his heart into his hands and voice. 

“However big, however small, let me be part of it all...share your dreams with me...we may be right, we may be wrong, but I wanna bring you along, to the world I see, to the world we close our eyes to see, we close our eyes to see…”

He dropped his hands from the guitar and held the microphone instead.

“Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head, a million dreams are keeping me awake.” He barely remembered to pick up his guitar in time to catch the crescendo. “I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see, a million dreams is all it’s gonna take, a million dreams for the world we’re gonna make…”

His voice caught on the last line. “For the world we’re gonna make.”

There was a beat of total silence, and the crowd exploded.  Luka could only raise a hand to acknowledge them as he stepped back, and accepted his mask back from Rose, who hugged him impulsively before coming back to her place at the microphone. He settled the mask back over his face, breathing hard, and tried to remember what they were supposed to play next. It was several minutes before he felt composed enough to look at Marinette.

Her face was in her hands, but she looked up just as he looked down and caught his eyes, and though her face was tear-streaked, the smile she gave him was blinding.

#quickspins #backlog #i'll give you the stars #lukanette #i am lukanette trash i admit it #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #miraculousladybug #miraculous ladybug #mlfics

[artificialqueens]

Parisian Nights, Parisian High (Gigi Goode x Nicky Doll) - strangersophia

A/N- Hi! This is a fic that I posted in parts on my account, but thought it would be nice to submit it as one somewhere. It’s based on the song Paris by Sabrina Carpenter!

Summary: When model Gigi Goode’s flight to Paris is delayed, she meets Nicky Doll. And something about that French accent makes her want to know infinitely more.

Read on AO3

“it’s so romantic in Paris

won’t even try to compare it

thought I was sure that I’d find it

but I already have love in L.A”

With her trolley of suitcases trailing behind her, Gigi looked up at the scheduled flights. After being offered a place in a high-end fashion show in Paris, she had booked the first flight she could that week. And that same flight had now been delayed eight hours. Anyone else would go home at this point, wait it out and come back when needed- but Gigi couldn’t bring herself to sit through another bout of LA traffic in an uncomfortably long Uber ride. So as any other workaholic would, she took her bags and set herself up at a nearby table, laptop open and ready to work on her upcoming editorials she needed to submit. 

It wasn’t much longer than an hour before she found herself sharing the table with someone else who needed a workspace- and as it turned out, Gigi now had more things to be nervous about than a delayed flight. While Gigi was never the type to get flustered, she found it near impossible to keep focused when she was sat next to the girl next to her; the platinum blonde hair combined with the sweet smell of rosewater and ivy were difficult to ignore. Not long after she sat down, the blonde turned towards Gigi and spoke in the most melodious French accent she had ever heard.

“Excuse me ma’am, do you have a charger I could borrow? I noticed we have the same laptop and, well, mine is almost dead.”

Gigi stuttered for a moment before processing what she had said, replying,

“Uh- yes. Yes! Of course.” 

“Oh wonderful! Thank you dearly. I would have brought my charger, but I didn’t expect to have an eight hour wait ahead of me.” 

Gigi stopped in her tracks when she heard this. “Oh, your flight is delayed too?”

“Yes, unfortunately. I’m just trying to get home to Paris but it seems it’s going to take longer than I thought.” The girl sighed, plugging in her laptop. 

“Paris?” Gigi enquired. “I’m on the same flight, I believe.”

“Well isn’t that perfect! We have each other to pass the time!” Gigi could have sworn at this point she felt her heart give way at the thought of eight hours with the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.

“My name is Nicky by the way.” The girl said, resting her chin on her hand and smiling at Gigi.

“It’s lovely to meet you Nicky. I’m Gigi.”

After general introductions and shared frustration over delayed flights and rude airport staff, Nicky asked why Gigi was going to Paris. Nonchalantly, Gigi told her- trying her best to hide her insane excitement under a mask of sophistication. 

“No. Way!” Nicky exclaimed upon hearing her story. “You’re in this year’s fall runway? My best friend runs that thing!” Gigi had to stop her jaw from dropping to the ground.

“Seriously? You mean you’re friends with Crystal Elizabeth?”

“Oh yeah. We go way back. I’m sometimes the makeup artist for her shows!” 

At this point, Gigi was pretty damn sure that meeting Nicky must be some sort of fate. While she wasn’t one to usually listen to the universe, she couldn’t exactly ignore the messages right now.

“That’s crazy!” Gigi finally replied after a moment of shock. “So what brought you to L.A.?”

Nicky’s face dropped slightly at the comment, Gigi noticed. 

“Well, I’d been visiting my boyfriend over here for a while. But, things turned sour and we had a fight. I told him I didn’t want to see him again, and I booked the first flight I could back to Paris. I only packed my bags about three hours ago, and - well - now I’m here.”

While Gigi could sense the pain in her voice, she also couldn’t help but notice the pure relief in her words.

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Nicky. You deserve better. And I hope you find that in Paris.”

Of course, in Gigi’s ideal world that meant they would fall in love then and there, and live together forever. However, the mention of an ex-boyfriend stung a little as Gigi crushed any idea she had of Nicky being anything but straight.

“It is what it is. C’est la vie.” Nicky responded, tying her blonde hair into a loose ponytail.

“Well, we now have about five hours til the flight,” Gigi said, “and I’m getting hungry. How would you like to come grab dinner with me?”

“I would love that. A junk food airport dinner is somehow actually exactly what I need right now.” 

Both of the girls opted for burgers and fries, a comforting meal considering their situation. Gigi had learnt over the course of dinner that Nicky was not only beautiful but she was hilarious- Gigi couldn’t help but laugh every time she made an incredibly sarcastic comment, or when she couldn’t pronounce words in English, to her own frustration (which was the cutest thing Gigi had ever seen.) And Nicky felt the same way about Gigi- she thought maybe the reason she kept messing up her words was because it was hard to focus on anything but the face of perfection in front of her. They ended up talking for hours. It turned out they both had a passion for makeup, design, and fashion- and Gigi showed Nicky all the photos of the looks she had been working on in return for a peek at Nicky’s upcoming work with Crystal. When it finally came to the time they had to check in and go to their gate for boarding, Nicky hesitated when they got to the desks.

“Actually… I have to go to the first class check in.” This was returned with raised eyebrows and a smirk from Gigi. Nicky laughed, “I know, I know, fancy rich French bitch, but trust me, this wouldn’t usually be the case. I just had to book the flight so late that they only had first class seats left.” 

“Oh, you poor baby.” Gigi giggled, as Nicky just winked and joined the queue for first class. But not before turning to Gigi and saying softly,

“See you on the other side.”

“why’d it take so long for me to know this?

scared to put the water with the roses

halfway ‘cross the world for me to notice

but I notice, yeah, I notice, yeah”

The ten hour flight from LA to Paris was the hardest Nicky had been on yet. Sure, she was in first class. But she couldn’t stop thinking about Gigi. Which concerned her, considering she had broken up with her boyfriend that morning and had only just met this girl a few hours after. Not to mention the fact that Gigi was, well, a girl. And while Nicky had always known she was pansexual, she had never fallen for a girl before. But something about her… something made Nicky sure that Gigi was something special. And she knew for sure that it wouldn’t be the last time she would be seeing her. Which is why Nicky got out her phone, and opened Instagram. She remembered seeing Gigi’s name all over the photos she had shown her, and thought she would put it in and see what came up. And there, on her screen, was Gigi’s account. After minutes of deliberating, Nicky decided she didn’t care how much of a stalker she might look like, and she tapped follow- hoping she wouldn’t regret it later. 

The long flight was no easier for Gigi. Consumed in the memory of Nicky’s smile, her laugh, her accent- the idea of relaxing was impossible. And Nicky’s last words to her repeated constantly in her mind. 

“See you on the other side.”

So that meant she wanted to see her again. ‘There’s one thing,’ Gigi thought, ‘but what if she doesn’t? What if it was all just a way to pass time for Nicky, and she’s forgotten all about me since getting on the flight?’  Gigi was snapped out of her thoughts as the pilot announced the plane landing, and Gigi made sure to take some photos of the city from above to put on her Instagram later. It suddenly occurred to her that earlier, Nicky had shown Gigi her Instagram page, and she could remember the handle- @nickydoll. Frantically logging into Instagram, she saw a notification pop up:

@nickydoll started following you.

It took everything within Gigi to not throw her phone down the aisle of the plane as she stared at the name on her screen. While she couldn’t remember giving Nicky her Instagram, she concluded that Nicky must have remembered her name and searched for it herself. Which, in all honesty, made Gigi’s heart flutter a little bit. Gigi followed back instantly, and didn’t hesitate to look through almost every one of Nicky’s posts. By the time she finished, it was time to get off the plane and see where Paris would take her. 

As Nicky got off the plane, she deliberated whether she should wait for Gigi or not. Upon doing this she realised she would be crazy not to- but she decided to wait until she would see her at the bag carousel where they would be picking up their luggage. Gigi spent the entire time at border security keeping her eye out in case she saw Nicky around, but gave up after a while in fear of looking way too desperate. But as she got to the bag carousel not too long later, she noticed a familiar patterned coat matched with shoulder length blonde hair and realised it was exactly the girl she had been looking for the whole time. 

“Excusez-moi, belle.” Gigi said, tapping Nicky on the shoulder. As Nicky turned around she found it hard to cover up her excitement, not only from seeing Gigi but also at the fact she called her beautiful. Not that she was reading into it or anything- it was probably just a subconscious comment. But still, two could play at that game.

“Bonjour, ma chérie.” Nicky replied, smirking. It was a good thing Gigi didn’t understand much French, because if she knew that Nicky just called her ‘darling’ then she might have melted right there. But she just smiled, and asked,

“So how was first class then huh? Must’ve been the best flight ever.” Of course Nicky could protest to that last part, but she wasn’t about to admit that- so she simply replied, 

“It was definitely a luxury. You should have seen the food they served me!”

“Oh girl, anything would be luxurious compared to the shit I had to eat.” Gigi laughed, grabbing her suitcases from the carousel. 

“Anyway,” Nicky started, “how are you getting to your hotel?”

“I was just going to call a taxi I guess. I don’t really know my way around or anything yet.”

“Oh, well, I was going to offer if you wanted to get a lift with me. My friend is picking me up, and I already texted her asking if she would be okay giving you a ride. She’s American actually, from New York. I think you’d like her.” 

“Nicky, that’s lovely of you to offer but I wouldn’t want to interrupt anything, it’s-”

“No, Gigi, honestly. I’d love to get you introduced to Paris.”

Gigi’s face softened as she smiled at the girl in front of her.

“Okay. Thank you so much, I owe you big time.”

They walked outside the terminal together, Nicky texting her friend to make sure they were picked up from the right place. As soon as they got to the carpark, Gigi saw a woman about the same age as the both of them - maybe a bit older - waving out the car window yelling,

“Bonjour ladies!”

“Jackie!” Nicky yelled back, running to the car and greeting her friend. “Jackie, this is Gigi. Gigi, Jackie.”

Gigi smiled and waved. “Nice to meet you, Jackie.”

After exchanging conversation and giving addresses, Gigi found out that Jackie was a performer and model who moved to Paris four years ago for an opportunity similar to Gigi’s, and had been living there since- with frequent visits to New York. There was one point where Gigi couldn’t pick up on the two friends’ conversation, as they began speaking in French- but from what she could deduct, they must have been talking about Nicky’s ex-boyfriend. What Gigi didn’t realise was that a good portion of the conversation was regarding her, and Jackie’s sneaking suspicion that Nicky felt some sort of way about Gigi. Jackie argued that there was no way Nicky would have invited just anyone to drive home with her- she knew all too well that Nicky was far too cautious around anyone she didn’t trust. But Nicky attested that there was nothing there, as she was trying to convince herself at the same time. 

Once the three arrived at the hotel Gigi was staying at, Nicky got out of the car to help with her bags. 

“Oh yeah,” Nicky said nervously, “I hope you don’t mind, but I followed your Instagram earlier. I thought it would be nice for you to have someone to contact if you need anything here.”

Gigi blushed, replying, “I did see that- and I don’t mind at all. I followed you back actually.”

“Good, you better have! Cause you have way more followers than me and I want more now.” Nicky laughed. 

“Sorry girl, I can’t help being this beautiful,” Gigi said with an exaggerated hair flip.

“You really can’t, can you?” For a split second moment, neither of them said anything as they made eye contact and let Nicky’s comment sink in.

Gigi broke the silence first- “Anyway, thank Jackie again for the drive ‘cause I seriously appreciate it. And thank you for keeping me company Nicky. Hopefully our paths cross again soon.”

“I agree, ma chérie. Have a wonderful night now, sleep well.” And with a quick blow of a kiss she hopped back in the car, leaving Gigi to go up to her hotel room and stalk Nicky’s instagram until she fell asleep. And sleep well, she did.

“took myself where I think I should be

something told me that it’s waiting here for me

Parisian nights, Parisian high, Parisian breeze”

Over the course of the next four days, Gigi had not only started rehearsals for the show, but she had spent a good amount of time with Nicky. As it turned out, Nicky had discussed the show with her best friend and producer of the show - Crystal - and was hired to help with the design and marketing side of things, which Nicky really just took as an excuse to see more Gigi. So while Gigi spent most of her time at rehearsals with the other models, she often got chances every now and then to spend a moment with Nicky- who usually always had Crystal by her side. But when rehearsals finished for the day, Nicky would always find Gigi before she had a chance to leave, take her by the hand, and drag Gigi to her favourite bakery a block away. There, they would order coffee, eat pastries, and discuss anything and everything. At first, Gigi would go back to her hotel after an hour, so she could do work and get ready for the days ahead of her. But by a few days in, the two were spending hours together every day. And Nicky was sure she had to do something to really solidify their relationship. So she talked to Crystal, and between them they planned a small afterparty for the runway show, hosted by Nicky and involving the two of them plus Gigi, Jackie, and Jaida- one of the other models who Gigi had become good friends with. Crystal and Jackie were entirely on board the idea of getting Nicky together with Gigi that night- and unbeknownst to them, Gigi had been planning the same thing with Jaida. 

When the night of the runway show rolled around, Nicky couldn’t help but be even more in awe of Gigi than usual. That girl sure knew how to work a runway, and look incredible doing it. Nicky even made the point of buying a bouquet of flowers for Gigi, which she gave to her after the show along with a ‘casual’ kiss on the cheek. Gigi was on cloud nine the entire night- not only had she performed in the biggest show of her career, but she was sure that she had won over the prettiest girl she had ever met. Once the five girls all met up at Nicky’s small house, bottles of alcohol were started and finished one after the other, and the whispers of hooking up got louder and louder. About an hour and a half into the party, Gigi took a seat in the corner by herself- but was met hardly a minute later by none other than Jaida.

“You liking your party, girl?” Jaida asked Gigi over the sounds of loud music and singing.

“I’m loving it. I can’t remember the last time I felt this happy.” Despite talking to Jaida, Gigi couldn’t keep her eyes off the blonde girl dancing in the middle of the lounge. Nicky was wearing a tight gold mini dress - which, frankly, had been driving Gigi crazy all night - and she was twirling her hips in time to the song playing. She truly had Gigi hypnotized. 

“Well, I see that your focus is somewhere else right now,” Jaida said sarcastically, following Gigi’s eyeline, “and I don’t blame you.”

This caught Gigi’s attention, and she turned and smiled softly at her friend.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Jaida. I like her so much, but I don’t want to scare her off.”

“Oh honey, please, that girl is not scared of you. She’s the complete opposite! I don’t think she could keep away from you if she tried.” 

And at that same moment, Nicky turned and winked at Gigi, strutting towards her with an arm extended.

“Dance with me, mon doudou!”

Gigi laughed and looked at Jaida, who simply smiled and raised her eyebrows. Before she knew it, Gigi was wrapped up in the arms of a somewhat drunk Nicky, who was pulling Gigi closer every second. Once they were tightly face to face, Nicky stopped singing along to look at Gigi and say, in a completely slurred voice,

“Gigi, you’re so preeeeetty. I’ve never seen anyone as pretty as youuu. Je t'adoreeee mon bébé.” 

‘Note to self’, Gigi thought, ‘Nicky flirts in French when she’s drunk.’ 

It wasn’t until then that Gigi noticed a pair of hands caressing her face, and as much as she wanted to keep going in the moment, she knew it was the wrong time while Nicky was this drunk.

“Alright party girl, let’s get you some water shall we? And you wanna leftover croissant?”

Nicky grinned even wider at this, nodding and following Gigi where she led her. They ended up alone in the kitchen, and Gigi managed to get a fair amount of food and water into Nicky as best as she could. 

“Whyyy are you taking care of me?” Nicky asked as she sat on the counter in front of Gigi.

“Because I care about you. And I kinda need you to stay sober tonight.” 

“You’re the best person I’ve ever met, Gigi!”

At this point Gigi knew she couldn’t take anything Nicky said in the next hour seriously, so the rest of the night turned into a pretty long waiting game.

A few hours later, the party side of things had died down and the girls all sat on the couches chatting together. Nicky had luckily almost completely sobered up, although that could probably be thanks to the fact she threw up twice in her bathroom, rather than all the caregiving she got from Gigi. Either way, it was a good thing for both of them. By about 2am, Jackie and Jaida had already left, and Crystal was ready to say her goodbyes. Both the girls hugged her as she left to the door, and Gigi was sure she heard her whisper something in Nicky’s ear along the lines of “you’ve got this, I’m rooting for you.” Honestly, it was no secret to Gigi the plans that the girls had made for them that night. And she sure wasn’t mad about it.

With Crystal gone, both of the girls knew what had to come next- but whether they were entirely confident on what to do with that information, was a different story. The house seemed quiet without the other girls, and with the music playing only softly in the background. Gigi couldn’t remember when the upbeat music turned into a playlist of slow, sultry songs, but she thought it set the mood pretty perfectly. Nicky flopped down on her couch, patting the cushion next to her to get Gigi sitting beside her. 

“Thank you for tonight,” Gigi said, “I’ve had a lot of fun.”

“Of course, I’ve had fun too. I think we all needed a bit of a party after all our hard work.”

Gigi nodded quietly, looking down at her feet. 

“I’m glad I met you. Truly.” Nicky said, hoping to get a reaction from Gigi. And she did- Gigi looked up and smiled at her.

“I feel lucky to have met you, too.”

It was as if they both felt the moment click, and Nicky placed a hand softly under Gigi’s chin, lifting her face towards her own. And almost as if in slow motion, their lips met. 

Only suddenly Nicky pushed Gigi away, moving back in her seat and putting her hands to her face.

“Gigi, I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” Nicky frantically whispered. Gigi stood up, staring at Nicky.

“What do you mean, you can’t do this?” 

Nicky just looked at the other girl blankly, trying to figure out something to say.

“Just… I can’t. Not with you, not right now.”

“Wh-what does that mean?”

“I’m sorry, but please just-”

“What the fuck am I supposed to do, Nicky? What do you want me to say?” Gigi started raising her voice so she was practically yelling. “That I’m fine with the fact you’ve led me on all night, for days even, and now you say you can’t do this?”

“Gigi, please don’t make this a big deal.” Nicky pleaded, but Gigi was already on the verge of tears.

“So this isn’t already a big deal? This doesn’t matter to you, none of this has fucking mattered to you? Nicky, you can’t act like you have no idea how much of my time I’ve dedicated to you, how much I’ve thought about you, and then when I finally think we could be on the same page, you turn on me. Just like that.”

Both of them in tears now, Nicky whispers, 

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Well it hurts, Nicky. It fucking hurts.”

And without a second thought, Gigi left through the front door and didn’t look back. 

“if you show me too much love, it makes me leave

guess that’s one of many things that’s wrong with me

looking past you when you’re right in front of me

i won’t do that anymore, i won’t do that anymore”

The next week was hell for both of the girls. Crystal had offered Gigi a spot in her offices as an intern for the rest of the time she was in Paris, which meant she would be working in the same place as Nicky. While the office wasn’t small by any means, it was still easy enough for the two to cross paths- outside Crystal’s office, by the kitchen, through the corridors. Gigi would always walk past quickly, making sure her eyeline never met Nicky’s once. This, of course, just made things worse for Nicky, who already felt like crying every time the girl was close by. It was fair to say she was regretting her actions- and despite feeling like she should be mad at Gigi for yelling at her, she couldn’t find it within herself to be anything more than heartbroken. 

After three days of this, Nicky called Jackie when she got home from work, broken down in tears. 

“Jackie, what the fuck did I do? I ruined it. I ruined it like I always do.”

“Please don’t say that Nicky. Remember what you’ve been through, and remember how brave you are. I know you, and I know that none of this is your fault. So please, for the love of god, don’t beat yourself up over this.”

“But I lost her. How am I meant to forgive myself if the only thing I do is make my own life worse?” 

“Your life doesn’t depend on any boy or any girl, ok baby? Take some time for yourself. I’ll be here if you need to talk, and you’ve got Crystal and all of your other sisters.”

“Thank you Jackie. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Nicky ended up talking to Jackie for six hours that night. She needed a distraction- anything to get her mind off Gigi. Around 1am, Jackie finally convinced her to get some sleep and take the next day off work. And after hanging up, Jackie decided to send a message to Gigi.

1:04am @jackiecox: Hey Gigi, it’s me, Jackie. I’ve just been talking to Nicky. I think it might be time that you two talked to each other and sorted something out, because I don’t know if I can deal with seeing her cry for three hours again because of how she feels about you. I care about both of you, and I can’t see why you should carry on like this.

When Gigi first read the message, her instinct was to reply instantly, telling Jackie that she was sorry and horrified and never wanted to go a day without Nicky ever again. But instead, she took a breath, and typed out what she felt was a more appropriate response.

1:10am @gigigoode: Thanks for reaching out, Jackie. But I don’t think I’m ready to do that just yet. 

1:12am @gigigoode: When Nicky tells me herself that she’s ready, that’s when I’ll be ready. Because I’m not risking it again. 

The next day, Gigi stumbled out of bed a little more carelessly than usual. She knew she would have to see Nicky again, and knew it would be more painful knowing now what had been going on behind the walls she had put up. So she got to work as last-minute as she could without being considered late, going straight to her desk and putting her head down to work. While she wasn’t necessarily keeping an eye out for Nicky or anything, she found it strange that by midday there was still no sign of her. And she found it even stranger when Crystal walked by her desk and asked if she had seen Nicky that day. Somewhat taking advantage of the situation, Gigi decided to work late and didn’t get home until 8pm that night. And yet, still no sign of Nicky. So, she grabbed her phone and took matters into her own hands. 

8:11pm @gigigoode: Nicky, look, I know you’re probably mad at me. Or scared. Or both. But you can’t just stop coming to work, I think you already know I’m over it okay? Can’t we just remain civil?

No reply. At this point, Gigi was pretty sure her suspicions were correct in presuming she was the reason Nicky had been so absent. So after a few hours, she decided to try again. 

11:56pm @gigigoode: Whatever, I get it. But there’s no point in hurting both of us. 

After half an hour with no response, Gigi opened a bottle of gin and settled down for the night. It was the only way to repress the anxiety creeping into her mind; the more she thought about why Nicky could possibly be ignoring her this hard, the more she worried. Just as Gigi was about to give up hope on getting any sign of life, her phone finally lit up.

12:57am @nickydoll: Gigi I’m sorry, I swear I’m not mad at you. 

It took a minute for Gigi to realise she had actually got a response. But it wasn’t enough for her. What she really wanted was an explanation. So she opened the message, and waited.

1:08am @nickydoll:  But yes, I’m scared. I’m scared because when I look at you, I know how I feel, and it scares the shit out of me. And I wish I could go back in time and kiss you again but it feels impossible because I’m not used to letting anyone love me, okay? 

1:10am @nickydoll: You wanna know why it was so easy for me to just up and leave LA like I did? Because my boyfriend was the worst person in the world. He abused me, he manipulated me, he used me, and he lied to me. So when I saw the opportunity, of course I used it to escape. And I guess that’s why I clung to you that day at the airport, because it was the first time in so long I felt like someone saw that I actually existed, and didn’t just see me as a pile of broken parts. I felt something when I talked to you.  And when you kissed me… my heart knew it was right, but my mind told me to shut it out because I’ve been taught not to trust people like that. So I put up my walls. And I’ve shut myself off from you because every time I see your face it reminds me of just how broken I am, and how badly I wish I could fix myself. Or find someone to fix me. But I know I can’t put that responsibility on you. So I’m sorry if you’re hurting, Gigi, but just know it hurts me more.

1:16am @nickydoll: Still, I know I can’t change what I did to you. But if you want me, I’m here. 

1:20am @nickydoll: I’ll always be here.

By the time Gigi finished reading the messages, she was already halfway out the door, her vision blurred by tears. She should’ve known she was being selfish. Nicky deserved so much more. And Gigi wanted nothing more than to be the one who could give her the world. So if it meant turning up on her doorstep at 1:30 in the morning, she was willing to do it. By the time her Uber arrived at Nicky’s house, it was nearing 2am. After pacing for a minute outside the door, she built up the confidence to do what she needed to do and knocked five times. No answer. She tried knocking again. And again. 

“Nicky, what the fuck.” Gigi muttered under her breath. Surely there was no way Nicky had gone out at this time of night- so Gigi assumed she was inside and ignoring her on purpose. Getting out her phone, she dialed Nicky’s number and waited for an answer. And to her surprise, she heard a voice pick up the call. 

“Gigi?” It was Nicky. But not by herself- there was music in the background… and voices. 

“Nicky? Where the fuck are you? I’m literally at your house right now.” 

“Merde. I’m sorry. Be there in five.” And with that, she hung up. 

At this point, Gigi didn’t know what to do. Or what to think. Or where the hell Nicky had been. So she sat down on the doorstep and waited for her to arrive. And surely enough, in five minutes, she did. And when they came face to face, neither of them could bear to say a word. 

“if I asked that girl to jump, i know she would

she don’t even have to say, it’s understood

she treat me nice, she treat me right, she treat me good

still I get so hesitant, still I get so hesitant”

As Gigi stood in front of Nicky on the steps of her front door, neither of them had a clue what to do. But as soon a single tear rolled down Nicky’s face, all doubt slipped Gigi’s mind and she stepped forward and hugged her as tight as she could. Nicky melted into the embrace. And soon enough, both of them were crying quietly in the glow of the streetlights, holding on to each other as if that was all they needed to survive. Because in that moment, it felt true. 

When the moment felt right, Gigi pulled away to look Nicky in the face. She had a full face of makeup, now ruined with mascara running down her face and lipstick smudged. 

“Hey, let’s get you inside and get you cleaned up, yeah?” Gigi said almost in a whisper, met with a small nod from Nicky as she opened the door and led them both inside. Once they were in the house, Gigi got a chance to look at Nicky properly. She had tall heels on which made her almost a head taller than Gigi, and she was wearing a mini skirt which left her with bare legs that were barely covered by the large coat she had wrapped around her. 

“Why did you come here?” Nicky asked nervously as soon as they got in the door.

“Why did I come here? Because I was worried about you, Nicky. You weren’t answering my messages and I felt horrible. And then when you sent me that message, well, no amount of things I could have texted you would have conveyed how I felt. I needed to come here, and explain how sorry I am for being such a bitch to you.”

“Gigi, I never thought that about you. Just so you know.”

“Even still, you deserved better, okay?” After a moment of silence, Gigi knew she had to ask what she had been wondering since Nicky turned up.

“So, are you gonna tell me where the hell you’ve been? Because I’m still gonna be worried until I know what you’ve been up to.” 

“Gigi, I don’t think you wanna-”

“Please. You can trust me, okay?”

“Can I go get changed first? You can sit down on the couch if you want. I just want to be comfortable, if that’s okay.” Nicky looked at Gigi pleadingly. 

“Of course, baby. Take your time. I’ll make us some tea.”

Ten minutes later, Nicky came back in pyjama shorts and a hoodie to see Gigi sitting on the couch with her legs curled up, holding two cups of chamomile tea. When she sat down, she was met with an expectant look from Gigi.

“So? You wanna explain?”

“I was at a club.” Nicky said quickly, looking down and playing with her hands.

“That’s all?” 

Nicky kept looking down. “Well… it was… a gentlemen’s club, you know.” She looked up at Gigi who was obviously trying to appear as unbothered as possible- but she could sense the shock.

“Before you say anything, I’m never going back there again. It was a bad idea for me to go back there tonight anyway.”

“What do you mean, go back there?”

Nicky sighed before explaining everything. “Before I moved to LA, my work wasn’t doing too well here in Paris. I needed another way to make money, so the only thing I had left to turn to was working for an escort company. It was while I was doing that when I met my ex-boyfriend, who was visiting Paris from LA and would hire me all the time. We got to know each other, and after a month he convinced me to move to LA with him. Looking back, I was completely manipulated, but I didn’t notice until it was too late. Anyway, I swore I would never go back to that industry. But the past couple days have been so hard, that I just needed any way I could find that would take my mind off of things, you know? So I went back. But now I just feel worse about everything, and I feel so, so, stupid.” Gigi grabbed both of Nicky’s hands and looked into her eyes.

“Nicky, you are not stupid. You were going through a hard time and you made a bad choice. It’s okay. These things happen. But I’m not going to judge you for it and you shouldn’t beat yourself up for it either.”

“I don’t deserve you, Gigi. You’re too good for me.”

“Doll, please, don’t say that. You are the sweetest, bravest, most talented person I have ever met. And I’m not just saying that. From now on, I want you to trust me and know that everything I do is because I care for you. You are extraordinary. And you always will be extraordinary in my eyes, no matter what.” 

Almost instantly after she finished her sentence, Nicky grabbed both sides of Gigi’s face and kissed her with all the intensity she could. At first Gigi was completely stunned, but after a few seconds she relaxed and let her hands find her away around Nicky’s waist. Nicky had no idea how she had gained such a surge of confidence, but she did know that she had never been more sure of anything in her life. She wasn’t scared anymore, because she had Gigi. And in that moment, that was all she needed. 

Once they both broke away from the kiss, Gigi was smiling harder than Nicky had ever seen- and Nicky reciprocated her reaction. 

“I’m glad you finally came around,” Gigi said, “because I’ve been dreaming of that moment for a while now.”

“Oh believe me, I have been too. But I only now stopped my mind from getting in the way.”

“Well, I’m glad you did. Cause I could get used to this.” Gigi laughed, and Nicky leaned in for one more peck on the lips. This turned into another passionate kiss, but after a while they both pulled away in fear of taking it too far, too fast. 

“As much as I’d like to continue,” Gigi said while stroking Nicky’s hand with hers, “you have had a long day and we both need a rest.” Nicky pouted, but knew Gigi was right. 

“Should I call an Uber?” Gigi asked. “I don’t wanna be in your way if you want some time alone.”

“Are you kidding me? You are staying here as long as I can keep you.” Nicky replied, earning a smile from Gigi. “And correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think either of us are gonna be up for going into the office tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, yeah, I am definitely going to need a sleep in tomorrow. I’ll call Crystal in the morning.”

“Alright then. Do you wanna borrow any pyjamas?” 

Gigi looked down at herself and remembered the fact that she was in such a hurry to leave earlier she had actually just thrown a hoodie over her pyjamas and left.

“I’m good actually, I can sleep in what I’ve got on. But thank you.”

“Ok, let me know if you need anything though. And I don’t know where you want to sleep, but…”

“I’m fine to sleep wherever, honestly. I can sleep right here right now if that’s easiest.”

Of course, Nicky would ideally have Gigi sleeping in her bed already. But, she didn’t want to rush anything. So she offered her the guest bedroom that she kept ready for any friends she had sleep over. 

Once both of the girls had gotten ready to sleep, Nicky went to Gigi’s room to make sure everything was set up properly for her. And, really, she wanted to make sure she had a chance to truly thank Gigi for everything.

“Hey Gigi, everything okay here?”

“Oh, it’s perfect. Thank you so much for letting me stay over.”

“Of course. And actually, I wanted to come and say thank you. If you didn’t come over tonight I don’t know what might have happened to me.”

Gigi got up from her bed and pulled Nicky into a soft hug, whispering, “I’m glad I did come over. I couldn’t bear to think of you hurting.” 

Nicky smiled gently and, walking to the door, said, “Well, I’m glad you’re here. Goodnight, ma chérie.”

“Nicky, wait-” Gigi said before the door could shut, “what does that mean? Ma chérie? I’ve heard you call me it but I’ve never known what you’re saying.”

“It means, my darling.” 

And with that, Gigi was left feeling more in love with Nicky than ever. 

“je ne voulais pas trouver l'amour

mais paris a quelque chose

qui donne envie d'aimer, d'aimer passionément”

That morning, Gigi woke up slowly to the sound of Nicky crashing around in the kitchen making either breakfast or lunch, depending how long Gigi had slept in. As she listened closer, she could hear her singing some song in French. Gigi had no idea that Nicky had such a beautiful voice- she closed her eyes for a minute to take in the happiness she felt in being woken up by the sound of the prettiest girl in the world- the girl that had kissed her not once but twice in the past 24 hours. As she turned over to check the time, she noticed her phone screen lighting up beside her.

9:35am @jaidaehall: UMMMM YOU + NICKY = BOTH NOT AT WORK???

9:37am @jaidaehall: You better not be all sulky and depressed now too, or else I’m gonna come over there and make you snap out of it. 

9:45am @jaidaehall: Like for real, the reason you’re not replying better be because you and Nicky are making out and not because you’re staying at home all petty I sweaaaar

Reading the messages from Jaida made Gigi giggle to herself, and she knew Jaida would die if she told her what happened with Nicky. So she decided to make her wait a little longer, just for fun.

10:12am @gigigoode: hahahaha i’m literally at nicky’s house right now. will explain tonight ;)

10:13am @jaidaehall: BITCH OMG

10:13am @jaidaehall: Just so u know, make up sex is the best sex okay?

10:15am @gigigoode: lol, shut UPPP

And with that, Gigi got out of bed slowly and made her way to the kitchen where Nicky was standing in front of the stove, occupied by her phone. Before she even noticed Gigi in the room, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind.

“Good mooorning.”

“Oh bonjour, princess.” Nicky said, turning around with a wink. Gigi loved how she was already calling her pet names- it felt like they were dating already. 

“Did you sleep okay? After everything?” Gigi asked, with her arms still draped around Nicky’s waist.

“It took me a while to get to sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about everything, but I didn’t sleep too badly.” Of course, by ‘everything,’ Nicky meant that she could not stop thinking about Gigi’s lips on hers last night- and Gigi’s night had been pretty much the same.

“Yeah, same here. So, what did you want to do today then?”

The two girls spent the day at Nicky’s house curled up on the couch together, watching a marathon of movies- both in French and English. Nicky loved explaining all her favorite French movies to Gigi, and seeing her gradually fall in love with them the same as her. When the end of the day came, both of them decided it would be best for Gigi to go back to her own hotel room for the night, since they had to go to work the next day and Gigi still had things she had to prepare. So after a dozen goodbye kisses, Gigi made her way back to the hotel, still basking in the fact that traces of Nicky’s perfume were left on all of her clothes.

At work, it was impossible to keep the two apart. In fact, Crystal noticed and gave them projects to work on together, discovering that they actually made an extremely efficient and talented team. The next week for Gigi was spent back and forth from her hotel to Nicky’s house, alternating where she would stay for the night. It was on the third night staying at Nicky’s house that she first slept in the same bed as her. That particular night was filled with torrential rain, and a thunderstorm that began around 1am. Gigi had always hated thunder, so upon hearing it she decided to go into the kitchen and get something to drink, to try to take her mind off of the noise. This woke Nicky up, who tiptoed into the kitchen to see if Gigi was okay. 

“What’s wrong, mon coeur?” She whispered upon noticing Gigi huddled up with a glass of orange juice. 

“Sorry baby. I just got woken up by the thunder and couldn’t sleep.”

Taking her hand, Nicky said, “That’s okay, you do what you need to do. I mean, if you want, you could come join me in my room. You know, so I can keep you safe.”

Gigi smiled warmly. “I think I would love that.”

“Ok, well, I’m going to go back to bed and you join me when you’re ready, yeah?”

Gigi nodded, and Nicky gave her a kiss on the forehead before going back into her room. 

After finishing her drink, Gigi slowly opened the door to Nicky’s bedroom- admittedly, very nervous. 

“Come here, ma belle.” Nicky said sleepily and patted the other side of the bed. Gigi had never slept in a bed with silk sheets before, so getting into Nicky’s bed felt like a luxury. Not to mention the fact that she was sleeping next to Nicky. Both of them faced each other as they lay down, and Nicky started to stroke her fingers through Gigi’s hair and down the side of her face.

“Gigi, you’re perfect. You know that right?”

“I could say the same about you, doll.” Gigi flinched as a particularly loud bout of thunder struck. Nicky put a hand on her side and pulling her closer, whispering,

“Hey, I’m here. You’re okay.”

“Thank you, I’m okay. I just jumped, that’s all.” Nicky nodded, starting to trail her fingers softly up and down Gigi’s arm, giving her goosebumps.

“Try and get to sleep, baby.” And with that, Gigi felt safer than she ever had before- and she fell asleep in no time to the rhythm of Nicky’s breaths. 

Since that night, Gigi fell asleep in Nicky’s arms every time she stayed over. 

And she loved it.

In the last week of Gigi’s four week stay, she ditched the hotel room all together and stayed with Nicky every night. They had game nights with the other girls, they had movie nights, and they had quiet nights where the two of them would sit on the balcony talking for hours, drinking red wine under the stars. Life felt perfect. However, both of the girls knew that Gigi’s time in Paris had to end at some point, and Nicky still had been too scared to bring it up. Until one night when they were arriving home from work, when Nicky forced herself to ask Gigi about her flight home.

“So, I’ve been wondering, what day is your flight again? Is it next week?”

“It was meant to be this coming Monday, yeah.” 

“Meant to be?” Nicky replied curiously. 

“And that brings me to what I was going to tell you tonight.” Gigi said, dragging Nicky’s hand to sit them both down on the couch, 

“Nicky, I’ve been given a job offer. Or at least, an interview for one. Crystal recommended me to a big designer who wants me to not only be a model, but also help with the design of their new line for the year coming up. If I get the job, I guess I’ll have to move here. Permanently.”

“Holy shit, ma chérie this is amazing!” Nicky yelled, grabbing Gigi into a huge hug.

“I mean, don’t get your hopes up too much baby. I still don’t know if I’m gonna get accepted.”

“Still, even so, I’m so proud of you. You’ve been in Paris for a month, you’ve only just turned 22, and you’re already making a name for yourself. You amaze me, Gigi.”

“Thank you, Nicky. Honestly, I couldn’t have done it without you. You’ve been my rock through all of this.” Nicky smiled, and Gigi kissed her quickly. 

“Now, I don’t know about you…” Nicky started, as she swung her leg over Gigi to straddle her, “but I think we should be celebrating this win.” 

Gigi looked up at the girl on top of her, smirking. “Oh, you think so?” 

Nicky could barely fit in an “mhmm” before Gigi pulled her down by the waist, kissing her passionately. In less than a minute they had gained a rhythm, Nicky grinding on top of Gigi and running her hands through her hair. Gigi grabbed the back of Nicky’s tight shorts, causing her to moan into the kiss. To get her back, Nicky pinned Gigi’s wrists down on either side of her, and began trailing kisses starting from the top of her neck all the way down to her collarbones. And 

pulling the neckline of her shirt down just a little, she left a dark hickey at the top of her chest. Once they got back to kissing, Gigi’s hands found their way under Nicky’s shirt and she traced circles all over her stomach. Nicky began to pull her shirt over her head, but Gigi took her hand for a second.

“Nicky, babe, you sure you wanna do this? I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.” 

“I’m more than sure, mon bonheur.” And as she spoke, she threw her shirt on the ground leaving her in a light red lace bra. Gigi took a moment to take the sight in, in disbelief of how she got so lucky as to end up with someone so perfect in every way. And without hesitation, she ripped her own shirt off and threw it down next to Nicky’s. 

“Wanna take this somewhere we have more room?” Gigi said breathlessly, met with a nod from Nicky who was already dragging her by the wrists to the bedroom. Before she knew it, Gigi was already pinned down to the bed without her clothes on, enjoying every moment of what the blonde girl on top of her was doing. Most of the time was spent that way- save the moments where Gigi found her head between Nicky’s legs, finding out that Nicky did not keep quiet when she was satisfied (which Gigi loved, and did her best to evoke). 

It was fair to say that the two enjoyed each other’s company, in every aspect of their lives. When people talk about humans being made out of stardust, there was no doubt they would have been made from the same star. It was the only explanation as to how they fit each other so perfectly, and neither of them could imagine it being any other way. 

“mon coeur est à toi pour toujours

you will always have my heart.”

When the day of Gigi’s job interview finally rolled around, it was almost impossible for her to get out of bed. Of course, she was incredibly excited for the opportunity she had been given- but at the same time, she couldn’t quite escape the chronic overthinking part of her brain. So as she lay in bed sleepless for an hour before her alarm went off, she went through every possible thing that could go wrong in her day. That was, at least, until Nicky woke up. It was hard to stay reluctant when you are greeted in the morning by your girlfriend on top of you showering your entire face in tiny kisses, telling you how amazing you are. Oh yeah, girlfriend. Gigi still couldn’t believe she could use that word. It was all because of one night the previous week, where Nicky had fallen asleep on the couch during one of their movie nights. When it got late, Gigi decided to scoop the sleeping girl up the best she could and carry her to the bedroom. Nicky woke up halfway through the process, but kept her eyes shut until she reached the bed. And when Gigi lay down beside her, Nicky - who was still half asleep - mumbled quietly,

“Thank you Gigi. You’re the best girlfriend ever.” And just like that, she was back to being fast asleep. 

The morning after, Nicky remembered what she had said in her sleepy trance. As soon as Gigi woke up, Nicky instantly asked,

“Did I say anything to you last night? I don’t remember what was a dream and what actually happened.” Gigi laughed, and started intertwining her fingers with Nicky’s.

“Well, you did say something about me being the best girlfriend ever… or something along those lines.”

Shocked, Nicky stammered, “Shit- Gigi, I’m sorry, I know we haven’t discussed that yet and I didn’t mean to-“

“Hey,” Gigi cut her off, “If you feel like you’re ready, it would be an honour to be your girlfriend, Nicky.” Nicky’s eyes brightened, and she squeezed Gigi’s hand tightly.

“It would be a dream come true.” 

So since that day, they considered themselves an official couple- and every one of their friends never heard the end of it. 

That day, however, Gigi felt more lucky than ever to have a supportive girlfriend like Nicky. She was the one who motivated her to get her work done, get the interview booked, get out of bed, get ready, and finally get her ass interviewed. And she was also the one who was there to celebrate when Gigi came home grinning, gushing about how amazing the interview went.

“She said she was impressed by my work. Violet Chachki liked MY work! And not only that, but she said she wanted to work with me from the moment she saw my portfolio.” Gigi could almost cry, she was so happy. Not only about the job- but about the heightened possibility that she could be spending the rest of her life in Paris with Nicky. And surely enough, she received a call only two days later offering her a position. Nicky hosted a wonderful party for Gigi with all of their best friends, a lot of dancing, and a lot of alcohol. It almost made them forget about the fact Gigi was still due to fly back to LA in a few days time. She would only be gone two and a half weeks - just enough to get everything organised back home for her move to Paris - but Nicky knew it was going to feel like a lifetime. When the day came that they had to say goodbye at the airport, it was a mess- mascara stained coats and puffy eyes boarding the flight, knowing they would see each other soon again but still torn at the idea of missing each other’s touch. They video called every day, getting used to the change in time zones that meant Gigi would wake up when Nicky was having dinner, resulting in many pretend dinner dates while Gigi ate her breakfast. Gigi enjoyed spending as much time as she could with her mother before leaving LA for good, while Nicky spent her time catching up on everything she had missed with Crystal. But the eighteen days they spent apart from each other only made them realise how much of an impact the other had made in their life. Nights felt a little bit colder, and days felt a little bit longer. It was hard to put a finger on exactly what felt different– rather it just felt like a small piece of their life had gone missing. What both of them did know, however, was the love they felt for each other. Every video call they kept the three words on their lips, neither of them letting it out in fear of rushing the other. So their love went unspoken yet strongly felt; in every exchange they had where they would lock eyes and feel it rise in their throats, or every time they would hear the other’s voice and at the same time hear their heartbeat pound a little louder. When the day came that they reunited in Paris’ airport, it was as if their wiring reconnected from the first embrace, lighting up their lives once again. 

But even when they got back home and Gigi unpacked her belongings - for good, this time - Nicky still found it impossible to spit out the words she so desperately fixated on. The same went for Gigi, who had planned for the moment the entire flight home but lost all conviction when she set foot in the airport. That night, however, Nicky knew she had to do something about it before they fell asleep. Which was a decision she made as she watched her girlfriend get ready for bed, as they usually did. 

“I missed this.” Nicky said, sitting next to the sink waiting for Gigi to finish brushing her teeth. Gigi spat out her toothpaste and turned to Nicky, confused.

“You missed me brushing my teeth? Out of all things?”

“I mean, it was the small things I missed. You know? Like this, getting to watch you get ready for bed and do your adorable nighttime routine. Or going to bed and having someone to warm my cold feet. Or getting out of bed in the morning and hearing music coming from the kitchen. And I missed having someone to correct me when I used English wrong, I missed having someone to sing with me in the car in the mornings, and I missed having coffee with my girlfriend after work.”

Gigi was tearing up at this point. It felt so crazy that anyone could feel that way about her. And she knew what Nicky meant– those were all the things she had missed too. Nicky stepped towards her, and pulled her into a deep hug.

“I love you, Gigi.” 

Gigi melted into her arms. “I love you too, Nicky.” Pulling away, Gigi softly put her hands around Nicky’s face, and kissed her with more desire than she had ever felt. And at that very point in time, it felt like the entirety of Paris was their own. The city of love shined just for them, in all of its heartache and glory. From their Parisian high, they never wanted to come down. 

#rpdr fanfiction #gigi goode #nicky doll #gigi x nicky #hurt/comfort #fluff #a little smut #smut #s12 #strangersophia #tw manipulation #tw suggested abusive relationship #tw prostitution #submission

[mor-beck-more-problems]

No Good Time || Morgan & Winston

Timing: Current

Parties: @danetobelieve & @mor-beck-more-problems

Summary: Morgan and Winston break the news to Coraline Adams’ family about her untimely death. Winston tries out a hunch.

Contains: discussions of death and grief

There was absolutely nothing weird about going over to visit the stranger whose contact info had been dug up from a phone. Morgan and Winston were trying to reunite a family, step in where structures failed, ignored, and forgot. They were, maybe not heroes, but do-gooders. Not stalkers. And yet, dropping by the food court on campus where Marina Adams had checked in on social media felt distinctly stalker-y. Morgan gave Winston a sidelong glance. She was putting up ‘have you seen me’ flyers with her younger sister’s face smiling for the world in the middle. Marina maneuvered her push pins along the bulletin boards with obsessive care. Each flyer lined up perfectly next to the one before, making an even wallpaper along the board, end to end. There was an older woman with her, someone Coraline called her Aunt Jo in an Instagram post, though there wasn’t any sign of relation they’d managed to dig up. Fae were clever though, and in a world where something like this could happen to a girl barely past eighteen, it made sense to cover tracks. Aunt Jo held the stack of flyers, still gleaming fresh from the print store, and scoped around the eating area with steely eyes, as if the killer might be hiding in plain sight like Waldo. “This is...gonna be interesting,” Morgan muttered under her breath. “You wouldn’t happen to magically recognize either of them from campus, would you?”

Raising an eyebrow gently, Winston looked over at Morgan and swallowed before shaking their head. “No, I’m afraid that we never had any classes or anything together and I don’t recognise them,” that would have been a real stroke of luck. At least this would feel less weird. Gaining access to the phone hadn’t been hard. The skeleton key spell had worked almost perfectly, it had required a few modifications true, but once Winston had gotten the wording down it hadn’t been that hard. It was nice designing your own spells, the semantic component actually being in English was great. Not to mention using memes to create your own magic spells was pretty great. “I can throw around the forensics stuff if you really want, technically this isn’t police business but I don’t know if it would really help at all….” Swallowing again, Winston steeled themselves. This was absolutely the right thing to do, even if it was difficult.

“No,” Morgan said softly. “Not that. Or not the police part. If they’re fae-fae, they’re not going to like the idea of humans touching her body or keeping hold of it. But the magic part, and maybe about holding onto her phone a little longer so we can see if whoever killed her was messaging her, if they left some kind of digital trail...that will be good. Magic stuff will be good. Maybe.” Or not, if the alchemy thing went down poorly. “We should just...be honest. Mostly honest. The kind of honest where we’ll stick to the point and only mention the terrible and/or awkward details if they ask.” That said, she ripped off one of the fliers pinned nearby and came up to the pair, holding it out. “Hey, you’re, um, you’re Coraline’s sister, right?” The two women went stiff with alarm, but Morgan pressed on. “I saw your thing. And...well, my friend and I have some answers for you.”

“Where is she?” Marina asked.

Morgan nodded, the truth stuck in her throat. “Maybe we can take this outside the student common. I don’t um...I don’t think this is the sort of discussion to have near so quite so many humans.”

She could see both women looking them over, puzzling over the tremendous lack of fae within them. Whatever trace of herself Deirdre left on her body, it wasn’t enough to broadcast ‘fae ally’. And there was no ubiquitous signal to indicate where she stood. Morgan could see the ‘but aren’t you human’ written on their faces. “I’m sure we can find an empty classroom--”

“I don’t think we’ll be following strangers into any isolated rooms, thank you,” Jo said.

“Or outside, if you prefer. We should, um, we should go do that?” She looked over at Winston, anxious behind her stiff smile.

If they were fae, then promise binding would work and would be enough to prove that neither Morgan nor Winston had any harmful intent for either of the ladies. “Just be honest, fuck okay I can just be honest,” Winston replied with a deep breath. This was never ever their favourite part of anything fae-related but sometimes you had to do things you didn’t love to help people who really needed it. As Morgan and Marina spoke, Winston swallowed nervously, steeling themselves for what they were certain they would need to do. “Listen, ultimately where we meet is not a big deal for us, I promise you that all we’re trying to do in this moment is help you and we simply thought that you’d prefer some privacy to have what is a difficult conversation, we’re happy to work to your preferences, but ultimately the choice is yours.”

The fae didn’t look convinced, but now was not the time for hesitation. Confidence (even when you weren’t feeling confident) and action were what were important.

Winston strode away, hoping that they were following. “Let’s hope that this works, because I hate promise binding myself for literally no reason.” Winston whispered to Morgan, it didn’t really matter if they heard, but privacy was always nice.

Morgan watched the shift in Marina and Jo’s expression. She couldn’t sense whether either of them had taken Winston’s words or not for certain, but the look they exchanged with one another seemed to indicate that someone had. “Very well,” Jo said after a moment. “We will find out if you’re lying, though.”

“It’s a promise given willingly,” Morgan assured.

Jo remained unimpressed, but lead them out of the student common and onto the quad. She lead them to the middle of a grassy area, far enough away from everyone that Morgan searched the ground for traces of mushrooms just in case this was going to be some obnoxious fae trial. So far, so good though. Morgan held her hands in front of her, looking first at Marina, and then at Jo. “So, the thing is...I found Coraline a few days ago. Well, I found um…” Stars why was this so hard? “I was able to identify her through her Student ID…”

“What do you mean, ‘identify her’?” Jo snapped.

“I mean she’s dead!” The words were out before Morgan could think of anything better or gentler to say. She balled her hands into fists, fighting for control of herself and dropped her gaze from the two women.

This was going very well, Winston wasn’t sure that they would’ve used the tact that Morgan had thought appropriate. But then again hindsight was twenty twenty and maybe Morgan wouldn’t have done that either. Eitherway, they were here now and this was going to be hard. A thick lump had grown in Winston’s throat and they couldn’t help but try and swallow it away, not with great success, but still.

“Listen, unfortunately we found her body and …” Winston swallowed again they hadn’t any idea how the officers in the station did stuff like this on a daily basis, “... there was significant damage to Coraline which made it hard to identify her, which is why we had to use her student ID.”

A second later and Winston was taking a further deep breath. “We wanted to let you guys know and we’ve got some questions that we were hoping you might be able to help us with, I don’t know if you can but yeah, we wanted to check and see if you did have answers so that we could rule things out.”

Marina Adams had been raised to fear humans and what they would do if they ever discovered what she and her sister were. They were animals, but worse for their capacity to be cruel with intent. They had no right to touch her sister, to hurt her. She stared into the faces opposite her, face slack with disbelief as she cried. “I don’t understand…” she whispered.

Jo, on the other hand, had seen enough of the world in her forty-odd years to know what to expect from strangers with guilty faces and bad news. “Damage? What kind of damage? You don’t know the first thing about what ‘damage’ means to a girl like Coraline. I think we’re the ones with questions here, such as who are you to be meddling with her body and what help you think you can possibly offer us.” She fidgeted with the sleeves on her cardigan and put an arm around Marina.

“We know enough to promise-bind our intentions willingly,” Morgan replied. “And we have resources you probably aren’t used to seeing from people who aren’t fae.”

Winston was glad that they weren’t having to do this on their own because honestly this was really hard shit. Maybe that was why police officers always or usually worked with a partner. It definitely helped having someone else to bounce everything off of. “We came here to help you and we’re doing everything that we can to help you, honestly, we’ve kind of put ourselves in a precarious position by promise binding ourselves at all,” Winston thought that would have earned them more trust but obviously not.

“We’ve been looking into the death, because unfortunately that is what we have to call it,” Winston bit their lip hesitantly, “there are lots of things that don’t add up.” But Winston had their own theory that they had already shared with Morgan.

“We were able to gain access to her phone,” Winston remembered the spell they had performed, it hadn’t been that hard to work out the way that things had gone from her phone records, not to mention the GPS trail that it left, “it was very illuminating.”

Marina continued to cry. Nothing these humans said would make a difference. She had told Coraline a thousand times that college was a waste, that she didn’t need to blend in this far, that the kids at the lake back home would drown just as well as the swim team and the partiers. But Coraline was the baby and the baby got her way. And now this. But Jo kept her head. Jo lived in the human world more than anyone else the Adams family let into their tight little circle. And she could be brave enough for all of them. “Phone? What phone? How can we trust whatever it is you find. If you know so much about our world, you should know you can make an illusion charm for almost anything these days.”

“Not for the kind of trail my friend is tracking,” Morgan said, her voice tired, but patient. “And not with the methods they employed. I can assure as someone who knows their Agrippa from their Atkinson that this is no false signal.” She nodded at Winston encouragingly. None of this felt like a good idea anymore, but sitting back and letting them look and wonder had seemed so much worse.

“Tell me what you found and give me the phone,” Jo said.

Things seemed to be breaking bad quickly. Winston couldn’t help but feel their heart surge with pity for Marina as she sobbed. “I promise you that this phone is not an illusion, I’m in the know enough about your world to know that this isn’t a glamour or some piece of magical trickery, however I don’t have the phone with me currently.” Even if they did there was no way that Winston was going to give it over to the person that they were pretty sure was responsible in some part for Coraline’s death. They’d said as much to Morgan already, it didn’t make sense for it to be anyone else. Aunt Jo appeared to be the most obvious culprit. “We found a number of messages, facetime calls and a GPS signal, they all paint a picture of Coraline’s movements.” Maybe they’d trip up. The criminals often did. Winston wished that the Sarge was here to see this. Winston hoped he’d be proud.

“Tell me what you found!” Jo snapped. Her rage was loud enough to echo over the lawn and sent Marina whimpering. The woman was angry; of course she was. The floor was being ripped out from under her. Her family, related or not, was in pieces.

Morgan wasn’t sure how much she agreed with Winston about the probability of her hurting Coraline. There was nothing that looked wrong in the pictures they’d examined and even if there was a spike in correspondence before Coraline died, there was nothing to show that she hadn’t simply been attacked after. They didn’t even have proof Jo was a witch, much less an alchemist. She looked uneasily between everyone gathered and put out a gentle hand toward the woman. “We have some solid ideas and we’re following up on them.” she said. We’re following up on you, for one, she added silently. “We were able to identify how Coraline was killed. We know there’s only so many people with the kinds of capabilities her killer exhibited, and we’re confident we can track them down. I know this is a terrible moment, but  finding out who did this is very important to us.”

Jo withdrew from Morgan, pulling Marina with her. “Oh, well as long as it’s very important, why should we worry? I think this family has had enough ‘help’ from humans at this point. We will handle the casters--the wardens, whoever else did this ourselves, thank you.” She tucked Marina close against her side and marched them away.

Morgan deflated as they retreated. “Shit…” she sighed.

There was something in Winston’s stomach. A feeling.  A conviction. A certainty that this was the aunt. Her reaction to their unwillingness to completely take their point of view into account all but convinced them but WInston was hesitant to allow this Jo to just leave, especially with Marina in tow. “If you change your mind please don’t hesitate to contact us,” they managed to say before the other pair were gone, “fuck, I’m sorry I can go after them and try and convince them to talk to us more…?” Winston already knew that it was pretty much useless. She had made it very clear that she wasn’t looking to have a discussion about this, not now and not anytime soon. As they gained distance on them, Winston chewed their lip. “That was a big reaction for an innocent person, I guess she could just be distressed but I don’t know … there’s something off.”

“She’s probably having the worst day of her life, Winston,” Morgan said, grimacing as she watched them walk away. “And grief doesn’t always look like collapsing in tears. Who knows what the rest of this family’s life is like. If they’ve bonded with the water here or if this was supposed to be a fresh start or--anything.” She held herself tight, wondering how the universe expected any of this to turn out balanced or fair. Two lives had been taken, that she knew of, and at least two more were wrecked because of it. “If you’re right and Jo isn’t fae, she probably just feels guilty for her species. I...I just don’t see how she can be that close to those girls and not feel for how fucked their situation is. You can try as hard as you want, but it’s impossible to keep yourself or anyone else safe all the time.” Morgan gave Winston’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Thank you, for doing this with me. You were pretty darn brave there.” Glad as she felt to have the technomancer in her corner, though, Morgan didn’t feel any closer to piecing together the murders. Until she could work up the nerve to confront the body again, it was back to the drawing board.

#no good time #wr winston #wr chatzy #wr winston chatzy #wr #wickedswriting

[ageofevermore]

1-96

(1) Do You Sleep With Your Closet Doors Open Or Closed?

it’s a dual sliding door, so usually one sides open. but preferably, both doors are closed. 

(2) Do You Have Freckles?

sometimes in the summer, not often though. 

(3) Can You Whistle?

yes! 

(4) Last Song You Listened To.

well for some reason there’s a guy on my TV singing God Bless The USA

(5) What Is Your Favourite Colour?

purple

(6) Relationship Status.

single because my favorite omegle guy won’t answer me 

(7) What Is The Temperature Right Now?

48F / 9C

(8) Did You Wake Up Cranky?

i woke up wishing i was still asleep

(9) How Many Followers?

835

(10) Zodiac Sign.

Sun: Capricorn, Rising: Aries, Moon: Aquarius 

(11) What Is Your Eye Colour?

brown / hazel 

(12) Take A Vitamin Daily?

no

(13) Do You Sing In The Shower?

obviously, i’m not completely insane

(14) What Books Are You Reading?

whatever fucking book my english class assigned...

(15) Grab The Book Nearest To You, Turn To Page 64, Give Me Line 14.

i literally only have a text book by me and opening it is triggering

(16) Favourite Anime?

i don’t watch anime

(17) Last Person You Cried In Front Of?

my mom...about greys anatomy...but still my mom about christmas and my birthday. i cry alot, but i like REALLY cried about those two topics

(18) Do You Collect Anything?

chapstick, trauma, candles 

(19) What Did You Have For Lunch?

it’s only 10am and i haven’t even thought about breakfast 

(20) Do You Dance In The Car?

yes, and then my mom yells at me because i do nothing “subtly” and the entire car shakes

(21) Favourite Animal?

white siberian tigers, snow leopards, dolphins, and now elephants

(22) Do You Watch The Olympics?

unfortunately. i love gymnastics, but like, i’m not trying to watch men in toboggans and swim caps 

(23) What Time Do You Usually Go To Bed?

anywhere between 12pm and 3am

(24) Are You Wearing Makeup Right Now?

no, i never wear makeup because it makes me look more ugly

(25) Do You Prefer To Swim In A Pool Or The Ocean?

ocean

(26) Favourite Tumblr Blog?

besides my friends i don’t really have a favorite blog, i stick to my circle and don’t venture very far 

(27) Bottled Water Or Tap Water?

bottled. 

(28) What Makes You Happy?

i couldn’t tell you...

(29) Post A Gif Of What You’re Currently Feeling Right Now.

(30) Do You Study Better With Or Without Music?

without, but i always start with it on. it never lasts more then two songs.

(31) Dogs Or Cats?

dogs

(32) If You Were A Crayon What Colour Would You Be?

a shade of purple from the crayola 200 pack

(33) PlayStation Or Xbox.

wii

(34) Would You Swim In The Lake Or Ocean?

ocean

(35) Do You Believe In Magic?

hell mothering fucking year i do baby, lets take that train to hogwarts 

(36) What Colour Shirt Are You Wearing?

its a friends pj crop, so black and white stripped with the central perks logo

(37) Can You Curl Your Tongue?

yup

(38) Do You Save Money Or Spend It?

save money 

(39) Is There Anything Pink Within 10 Feet Of You?

my cup 

(40) Do You Have Any Obsessions Right Now?

stranger things ig

(41) Have You Ever Caught A Butterfly?

no, those assholes scare me, but i’ve grown + released them 

(42) Are You Easily Influenced By Other People?

um chile, i would follow my best friend off a cliff with no hesitation

(43) Do You Have Strange Dreams?

all the fucking time 

(44) Do You Like Going On Airplanes?

ITS MY FAVORITE FORM OF TRAVEL 

(45) Name One Movie That Made You Cry.

the hannah montana movie

(46) Peanuts Or Sunflower Seeds?

peanuts 

(47) If I Handed You A Concert Ticket Right Now, Who Would You Want The Performer To Be?

one direction 

(48) Are You A Picky Eater?

yes 

(49) Are You A Heavy Sleeper?

yes, but it takes me forever to fall asleep 

(50) Do You Fear Thunder / Lightning?

yea, depends on the day and the level of scardy bitch i feel like being 

(51) Do You Like To Read / Write?

i love both 

(52) Do You Like Your Music Loud?

hell yeah, let me feel the beat in my kidneys 

(53) Would You Rather Carve Pumpkins Or Wrap Presents?

carve pumpkins 

(54) Put Your Music On Shuffle, What Is The First Song That Came Up?

no tears left to cry by ag

(55) What Season Are You In Right Now? (Weather)

fall

(56) What Are You Craving Right Now?

a churro + peppermint mocha frap

(57) Post A Screenshot Of Your Tumblr Feed.

(58) What Is Your Gender?

female (she/her)

(59) Coffee Or Tea?

iced coffee / sweet tea

(60) Do You Have Any Homework Right Now? If So, What Is It About?

yeah, i have environmental homework and US I homework and Algebra II homework

(61) What Is Your Sexuality?

bruh, idk 

(62) Do You Make Your Bed In The Morning?

no, that shit’s never made 

(63) Favourite Pokemon?

jigglypuff 

(64) Favourite Social Media?

pintrest 

(65) What’s Your Opinion On Instagram Stories?

they’re okay

(66) Do You Get Homesick?

no. i don’t miss thins very easily, i’m away from home for a week and i have no doubt that i could spend the rest of my life without going back. 

(67) Are You A Virgin?

yes sir

(68) What Shampoo And Conditioner Are You Using Right Now?

idk, some really thick and heavy in hydration set 

(69) If You Were Far From Home And Needed To Sleep For The Night, Would You Choose To Rent A Crappy Motel Room For $60 Or Sleep In Your Car For Free?

sleep in my car, though both options scare me 

(70) Are Both Of Your Blood Parents Still In Your Life?

i have a strained relationship with my bio dad, but unfortunately i still have to associate myself with him a few times a year 

(71)  Whats The Next Movie You Want To See In Theaters?

black widow or spiderman 3, but i’m willing to see anything just take me back! 

(72) Do You Miss Your Ex?

i’ve never had an ex, but i do wish krystian would stop ignoring me. stupid scotland boys 

(73) What Is Your Favourite Quote Right Now?

“friends dont lie”

(74) What Eye Colour Do You Find Sexiest?

green / brown 

(75) Did You Like Swinging As A Child? Do You Still Get Excited When You See A Swing Set?

i loved swinging, but a few years ago it started making me dizzy so i don’t swing very often anymore. but tire swings especially are my shit 

(76) What Was The Last Thing You Ate?

chicken flavored ramen 

(77) What Games Do You Have On Your Phone?

yes 

(78) Would You Give A Homeless Person CPR If They Were Dying? Why Or Why Not?

yeah...because they’re dying and if i have the skills to save them...why wouldn’t i?

(79) Been On The Computer For 5 Hours Straight?

honey, i do full virtual high school. we stan a pandemic (we don’t)

(80) Stalked Someone On A Social Network?

social media stalker is my middle name. not anymore though, i haven’t been asked to find a boy in a while 

(81) Do You Like Meeting New People?

no. i hate it. anxiety city man. 

(82) Do You Wear Rings? If You Do, Take A Picture Of Them.

i don’t wear rings, but i really want to.

(83) Do You Sleep With Your Bedroom Door Open Or Closed?

closed

(84) What Are Three Things You Did Today?

woke up, watched stranger things, made ramen 

(85) What Do You Wear To Bed?

whatever i fall asleep in. 

(86) List All Of Your Different Beauty Products You Have Right Now.

are beauty and skincare the same? because i don’t own much makeup. 

(87) Are You A Day Or Night Person?

i used to be a night person. but this pandemic has hit hard with depression and i’ve become a stay in bed all day person

(88) List All Of Your Video Games On Your Phone, Console Etc.

2048 balls, among us, ball sort puzzle, bubble shooter, bubble sort, color roll 3D, drag n merge, fit and squeeze, hole.io, mario kart, match 3D, nonogram.com, paint the cube, roof rails, solitare, spit, stacky dash, stair run, timber run...

(89) Tell Me About A Dream That You Had And When It Happened.

After my moms fiance died, I had a dream that he was able to come see my fifth grade play (he died just before it happened) and when we were walking out he got into the white car from fast and furious (we watched the movies together) and said he would see me again soon, then he drove off...like talk about weird 

(90) Favourite Soda Drink?

rootbeer 

(91) What Sounds Are Your Favourite?

i like a good clicking sound 

(92) Do You Wear Jeans Or Sweats More?

sweats everyday all day 

(93) How Do You Look Right Now?

like a fucking wreck 

(94) Name Something That Relaxes You.

netflix 

(95) What Tattoo Do You Want?

i want a bunch of little symbols, and i think it would be cute if i got a T for my mom, but i can’t tell her that because she might think i’m going soft and exploit my show of affection (jfc why am i like this lmao)

(96) Favourite YouTuber?

colleen ballinger 

#soapy tag #pink tag #ask game

[kaffeinic]

Caffeinic | Bang Chan

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Epilogue

Pairing: Reader x Barista!Bang Chan

Genre: Neutral // Slight Fluff // Romance

Warnings: Fem!Reader

Preamble: You’ve been going to the same coffee shop for the past four years. You’ve ordered the same thing almost every single day, and you never, ever skip on that part of your morning. So, when Mrs. Park hired a new barista and the once serene café was suddenly flooded with people every second of the day, you were less than thrilled.

It’s the day of the party, and you’re currently standing dead center in the middle of your bedroom, - which is completely covered from corner to corner in clothes and hangers - trying to find something, anything, that you can wear.

The problem isn’t that nothing looks good. You personally like your style. The problem is that you don’t know how to dress. You know that you asked to not go in the water, but should you wear a swimsuit and/or something beachy anyway? Should you just show up in something casual, like a hoodie or t-shirt?

This is the only thing you’ve been doing for three hours straight.

Growling in frustration, you carefully tip-toed out of the room using the tiny bits of floor that were still visible to avoid dirtying your clothes. It was then that you heard your phone vibrate from the other side of the room.

Turning back around with a sprinkle or two of colourful language, you made your way back to your phone, checking the text. It was from Junseok.

Hey! We decided not to go to the pool. Are you cool with just being at the apartment?

You squealed in delight. This essentially eliminated the inner turmoil you had been completely overdramatizing, causing a wave of relief to rush through your body.

Yeah, of course! Same time?

You replied to him, tapping your foot as you waited eagerly for his response.

Yeah. See you then!

You smiled from ear to ear and threw on a change of clothes, which consisted of a white sweater, ripped blue jeans, and a pair of white adidas. You styled your hair and threw a few items in your book bag - whose old contents were neatly stacked on your desk - and walked out of the front door.

Junseok’s apartment was within walking distance, so you took your time and enjoyed the sounds of birds and people chatting in the distance. It took about ten minutes to get there, give or take. Junseok’s apartment was pretty much the exact same type as yours, so you already felt a bit of comfort knowing the general layout of the place. When you arrived at the door, you could faintly hear pop music playing inside. You knocked, fixing your bag to lie better on your shoulder. Your friend - honestly, more of an acquaintance - greeted you with a smile.

“Y/n! I’m happy to see you! Come on in!” He was absolutely beaming, very proud of the party he had put together. There were already seven people chatting in various sizes of groups in the living room, and you could hear more people around the corner in the kitchen. You didn’t smell booze, and internally thanked Junseok for that.

“Thanks for inviting me.” You said, stepping inside and taking a better look.

“Just make yourself at home. The bathroom is upstairs-” He paused. “Wait. You said you lived in the neighbourhood; you probably already knew that.” He began to chuckle in embarrassment, scratching the back of his neck. “Anyway, I hope you have some fun!” With that, he waved and walked off to speak to more of the guests.

You found yourself suddenly very uncomfortable. Apart from Junseok, you recognized no one. According to your memory, you haven’t ever been to a party like this. You awkwardly held your arms and moved towards a wall in the living room that separated it from the kitchen. You could still hear the buzzing of voices from around the corner. Most of the conversations revolved around gossip and/or dating. You began to notice that many people were in different corners of the house, making out unapologetically. You scowled in disgust.

You reached into your book bag, groping blindly for your phone. If you didn’t know anyone here, you would at least try to act like you knew people who wanted to talk elsewhere. You had your phone opened to the texting application, swiping up and down to seem like you were doing something. Getting bored, you looked up coffee art on Instagram.

Most of what you saw was latte art, but you found yourself drooling over the intricately designed cakes as well. Suddenly, you wanted coffee. Gee, I wonder why. You shook off the thought, continuing scrolling through the videos. You came across one from the Parks’ café and couldn’t resist watching.

You saw Mrs. Park at the counter, talking gleefully to the camera, explaining the types of coffee you could buy there. In the background, you saw that same head of curly blonde hair that greeted you when you would enter the shop. Chan was called over to the camera to show the cup of coffee he had just made. It looked delicious. Someone cleared their throat behind you, breathing on your neck.

You instinctively scooted away and gave a warning. “I’m not interested in you or making out with you in the back room. Go away.”

“I mean, I wasn’t planning on it, but it’s good to know you’re not here for a one night stand.” Chan’s voice sounded playful. You looked up to see the man with arms folded, leaning against the wall next to you. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

He wore a white hoodie with a black leather jacket, ripped jeans, and boots. His hair was styled and he smelled of cologne.

“I didn’t expect you, either.” You raised an eyebrow. “Stalker.” Chan’s eyes widened and he took a moment to process your comment before laughing.

“I couldn’t let all of these guys pressure you into making out in- Where was it that you said? The back room?” He smiled gleefully and you returned the gesture. “Remember when I told you I had a friend that lived near you? It’s Junseok.”

“Wow. I only got invited as a favour to a friend.” You rolled your eyes, not entirely faking the pain.

“I didn’t say anything to him. He called me yesterday to ask if I’d like to come over tonight.” Chan moved closer and turned to face you. “Maybe it was fate?” With that, you giggled, immediately embarrassed that his stupid joke made you laugh.

“Jokes aside, I’m glad to see you. It’s... uncomfortable here.” You looked down, placing your phone in your pocket.

“Can’t say I’m not surprised.” Chan replied. “You’re more of a studious, introverted type. When I said I didn’t expect you to be here, I meant it.” He smiled at you again, making you forget everything else around you - even the loud sounds of melodramatic storytelling coming from the kitchen. You turned to face Chan.

“I honestly don’t know what I’m doing here.” You admitted, looking down. Chan’s hand wrapped around your shoulder.

“You don’t need to stay. I could take you back home.” He offered. You smiled at his kindness and shook your head.

“I think I’ll try to stay a bit longer. I need life experiences that don’t involve a textbook and laptop.” You said. Chan’s hand left your shoulder and returned to its original position in his pocket as he looked at you.

“You can be my lost puppy if you want to.” He said. Your brows furrowed in confusion.

“Your what..?”

“You can follow me around. Or not. It’s just an option.” He replied. You had a Eureka moment and nodded.

“What were you planning on doing?” You asked.

“I was going to swim, but it seems we aren’t going to the pool. I feel cheated.” He said, eyes narrowing at Junseok from across the room. “The only reason I came is because he said we would go swimming.” You laughed at his annoyance and looked back at Junseok. He was chatting happily when he turned to you and waved Chan over.

“Yo, come over here. I want you to meet someone.” He said. Chan looked at you and ushered you to follow him. You two walked up to Junseok to see a very pretty - albeit very snobby looking - girl. She smiled at Chan and waved.

“Hello.” Chan said. The girl all but made heart eyes at him.

“Hey there. I’m Kim Seoyeon.” She said. You looked down, immediately uncomfortable. Was Junseok trying to play matchmaker? You thought Chan was into you. He held out his hand politely and she shook it.

“You need a girl, bro. I think you’d like Seoyeon here. She models.” Junseok said. You could tell that he meant no harm, but it still hurt. Chan smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you, Seoyeon, but I have my eyes on someone right now.” Chan moved a bit closer to you, and your heart fluttered. Did he just reject her to try to make a relationship with you?

“With this?” She said, looking at you with disgust. “You’ve gotta be kidding. I’m way prettier.”

“No, you’re not.” Chan said. He looked at you and gestured you to walk away with him. Before leaving, he turned to Junseok. “Thanks anyway, mate.” Junseok’s eyes were wide with surprise from the last few moments that transpired, but he looked at you and frowned.

“But Seoyeon is more your type. Y/n is my-” He stopped himself. “Not your type.” It was at that moment that you understood what was going on. Junseok invited you because he liked you, and when he saw you chatting with Chan, he wanted to deter the two of you from getting too close.

“I’m sorry. I’m not interested. Maybe you could date her, if you really think she’s that pretty.” He said. Something told you that Chan had figured out what was going on, too. He didn’t seem happy about it. You looked around, then held up your hands.

“Hey, guys- I think I’ll just go home. It’s okay.” You said. Both of the boys looked at you with disappointment.

“No, please don’t leave. I invited you here.” Junseok said.

“It’s okay, I can see you at the university.” You replied.

“But, Y/n-” Junseok tried to argue, but Seoyeon cut him off.

“If she wants to leave, let her leave.” She said. Though you knew her ulterior motive behind that remark, you still were happy that she wasn’t opposed. Junseok looked defeated.

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow?” He asked. You nodded.

“Yeah, of course.” You said with a smile. He held the back of his neck, smiling.

“Bye!” You waved to him and Seoyeon and headed for the door. You heard Chan’s footsteps follow you.

“I said I would take you home, and it’s dark now.” He explained. “May I?” You looked up at him and smiled.

“You should go enjoy the party.”

“Snobby girls, no pool, an inevitable awkward conversation with my friend, and a lack of my favourite coffee addict? I think I’ll pass.” He opened the door for you. “Let’s go.” You stepped outside.

“Thanks, Channie.” You said. He smiled again at the nickname.

“Oh, I love that.” He walked toward his car and opened the passenger door.

“What a gentleman.” You said, taking a seat. He grinned and closed the door. When he sat down, he shoved his keys into the ignition and started the engine.

“Y/n?” He said. You looked up at him quizzically. “I don’t want you to think I’m looking for anything else on the side.” He said. It took a moment for you to process.

“I know.” You said. “It was pretty obvious.” You laughed at the situation. Chan didn’t laugh, but he did smile.

“Thank you.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“I-” He began. “I don’t know. For everything.” You two sat in silence for most of the ride, which was only a couple of minutes. You seriously could have walked home yourself.

When he pulled up into your parking lot, he didn’t say anything. After an awkward silence, you began to gather your things and open the door.

“Y/n, could I have your phone number?” He asked. You smiled and nodded, reaching in your bag for your phone. It was a new number that you weren’t too sure you had memorized. You definitely didn’t want to give Chan a fake number by mistake. You continued searching in your bag, but failed to find the device.

“Where’s my phone?” You asked yourself. Chan looked around the dashboard and the floor where you sat.

“Should we go back?” He asked. You nodded.

“Yeah.”

Fast forward a few minutes and you were back at the party again. You and Chan opened the door and looked around, but didn’t see it anywhere. Junseok and Seoyeon came up behind you with confused and/or concerned looks on their faces.

“What are you looking for?” The boy asked. You didn’t really look at him, but you replied.

“My phone. I know I had it when I got here.” You explained. From behind, unbeknownst to you or the two men, Seoyeon smiled devilishly.

“I could try calling it.” Junseok offered. You nodded, then stopped him after a moment.

“It’s on vibrate. Crap.” You muttered. Seoyeon fiddled with the device in her pocket, shutting it down. After a few moments, you and Chan gave up and left. After saying your goodbyes, you plopped on your bed, exhausted.

You went to sleep that night with a sinking feeling in your stomach. Something didn’t feel right.

~

This one is much longer than a few of the other chapters! I tried to make up for my lack of posting lmao. I hope you enjoyed! Just a reminder: If you want to be tagged on my posts, send me a DM or an ask. I’ll add you to the tag list!

* DISCLAIMER: I do not own any gifs/photos used in this post. I do own the written content. Do NOT repost/edit. *

🏷 @a-toxic-galaxy • @hoshithehamster • @woo-for-woojin

#kpop #fanfictions #headcannons #reactions #ships #imagines #stray kids #skz #bang chan #chan #boyfriend #barista #love #cute #ulzzang #3racha #cb97 #christopher #christopher bang

[starringemiliaclarke]

Press: Emilia Clarke: ‘I didn’t want people to think of me as sick'

THE GUARDIAN – As she stars in this year’s Christmas feelgood movie, Emilia Clarke talks about the intense scrutiny of Game of Thrones, how she coped with the brain haemorrhage that almost killed her – and why we all need to escape reality sometimes

Gallery Links:

PHOTOSHOOTS & OUTTAKES > 2019 > 2019 The Guardian

MAGAZINES > 2019 > 2019 The Observer – Dec 1

  Emilia Clarke had a headache. It was 2011, just before Valentine’s Day and just after she’d wrapped on the first series of Game of Thrones, playing Daenerys Targaryen, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons. She didn’t yet know, as she crawled into the locker room of her local gym in north London and vomited bile into the toilet, that Game of Thrones would run for seven further seasons, break Emmy-award records for most wins for a scripted television series and for a drama, be named one of the greatest TV shows of all time, and quickly come to define her. But there was much she didn’t know.

She didn’t know that at 24 she had suffered a life-threatening stroke, a subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) caused by bleeding into the space surrounding the brain. She didn’t know, as she lay on the floor repeating lines from Game of Thrones in order to test her memory, that a third of SAH patients die immediately, or that those who survive require urgent treatment to avoid a second, often fatal bleed. She didn’t know there was another swollen blood vessel in her brain, which had doubled in size by the time she finished filming season three. She didn’t know that one day, eight years later, over biscuits on her pink sofa, she would be smiling with the dark realisation that her stroke was one of the best things that could have happened to her.

Her pink sofa is in her pink house, which is also green and blue and muted shades of rust, and has a secret bar hidden in a courtyard shed, and an outdoor screening room heated by a wood-burning stove. To walk into her living room, where one corner is painted with a symbol relating to her mum, another to her late dad, and a third with a meaningful dragon, is to enter the cosiest corner of Clarke’s mind. By the stairs, horsehair is visible in the plaster; the walls are stripped back to the bone. She shows me round with a raw sort of glee, a sense that her comfort and safety are bound into the details: the friends’ art on the walls, the “single girl’s” bedroom. She moved in after Game of Thrones; in this and many ways, her life can be cleanly dissected into before and after.

Before, Clarke, now 33, who grew up in Oxfordshire, had appeared in a single episode of the daytime soap Doctors. She was ambitious, optimistic and relentlessly cheerful. After, after Game of Thrones, and the death of her father, which shook her family, as did her life-threatening stroke, she is sitting on her pink sofa and contemplating a decade that changed her.

“And yes, I’m at the point where I definitely think of the brain haemorrhage as a good thing,” she nods. She has extremely expressive eyebrows that appear jointed – for every word Clarke says, and she says many, they add 15 more. “Because I was never destined to be the ‘young actor goes off the rails’ type, up and down the gossip columns. And having a brain haemorrhage that coincided precisely with the beginning of my career and the beginning of a show that became something quite meaty, it gave me a perspective that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.” She pauses. “I’m quite a resilient human being, so a parent dying and brain haemorrhages coinciding with success and people following you in the street and getting stalkers – you’re just, like, ‘Well let’s try and make something sensible of it.’”

It was a decade that contained the very best and very worst of a life, and one of the sensible things she tried to make of it was the founding of a charity, SameYou, to provide treatment for people recovering from brain injuries and stroke. It was only in order to promote the charity that, eight years after her stroke, she finally decided to talk about it, in a piece for the New Yorker. “On the set, I didn’t miss a beat, but I struggled,” she wrote, of returning to Game of Thrones after brain surgery. “Season two would be my worst. I didn’t know what Daenerys was doing. If I am truly being honest, every minute of every day I thought I was going to die.”

It’s remarkable, considering her profile and her regular appearances in the Daily Mail in lovely dresses and grand smiles, that she managed to keep it secret for so long. She didn’t want to tell strangers, “Because it was mine.” She feared, too, that people would “sneer at it”.

It so happened that, the week before I went to meet her, I had a similar (though less dramatic) neurological diagnosis – when I tell her about it, for some reason my voice shakes. She is warm and quick with recommendations, and as she continues she says, “Well, you know, then. You know the worries. That people will think your soul, your movement, your voice, who you were,” was damaged. “It was nerve-racking to share it, to be honest. It always is, when you make yourself vulnerable.” She waited so long to talk about it, because, “I didn’t want people to think of me as… sick.”

There are still days on set when she will quietly pull aside the makeup person and say, “‘I think I’m having a brain haemorrhage. I’m not, I promise, but maybe just put me in a cold tent and we’ll sit down for a second, and I apologise in advance if I freak you out.’ Over the summer I was burning the candle at both ends, and I was with my mate on the plane. And I was like, ‘Dude, I feel really weird…’ But I was fine. It’s hard not to think the worst. It’s hard to think you’re overtired, or you’ve been on Instagram too long, and to realise these might have the same side-effects as something deadly. But the charity evolves with me. I use it. Here’s something else that I feel: maybe someone else feels the same way.”

She talks about the summer just gone with a regretful kind of wonder – it was th e summer after the Game of Thrones finale had divided fans, when she was coming to terms with how the “overwhelming” amount of nudity in the first season had affected her. And, after years of “filling every hiatus with a movie, shit, good or otherwise” (she starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator Genisys, and as Qi’ra in Solo: a Star Wars Story) she had decided to take a break. Or, the decision was made for her.

“After we did the premiere for the last season, it felt suddenly like I lost all of the bones in my body. And I was in this puddle on the floor going, ‘Maybe this isn’t just the show.’ I’d never wanted to look around and see what we had, because I was convinced it was just going to blow up in our faces. And, well, at the end it kind of did. So I kept my head down. Then, after the premiere, I finally was able to stop, and that was difficult.” She travelled and went “raving with my mates, but that was not fulfilling. So, bloated and exhausted I went away for two weeks with my best girlfriend, [The Good Fight star] Rose Leslie, and it was in this retreat in India that I suddenly got it. This is what stopping feels like. And I was able to finally… be kind to myself.”

All this is recent. All this is really recent, with a new understanding of grief. Her beloved father, a theatre sound engineer, died of cancer in 2016. “The world felt like a scarier place once my dad wasn’t in it,” she said at the time. “There was the referendum, too,” she shudders. “It was the year of everything bad.”

But it was after her lost summer that, “I finally got this feeling. As if, on a cellular level, I’d grown up. And it’s so bittersweet, because I was clinging on to that childlike optimism. Then, when I finally let it go, I realised that was actually quite a heavy backpack to be wearing. I felt like that at the Emmys, too, finally popping my head up from the bunker. It’s as if you can see the actual landscape that you’ve been living in this entire time from another perspective.”

Occasionally she looks at me apologetically, her eyebrows like arrows, to check she’s not saying too much, and then she continues. “It can be perceived as such a feminine trait, can’t it – the responsibility to ‘put a smile on it’. And, and you feel like it’s a defeat if you give in and admit, ‘Maybe it’s not going to be OK in the end.’ But then, if you do, then you have an opportunity to go… ‘and what if that’s all right?’ Death is shit,” she says, dramatically. “It’s really hard and grief is horrific, and yet it is completely and utterly guaranteed. No matter how much Silicon Valley boys want to prove to everyone it’s not. But the finality of death, the absolute certainty of it, I’ve realised, is such a tonic.”

Along with a good stroke, I add the loss of a parent to her list of recommendations. “No! I’m not recommending it to anyone, obviously. But it is something real you can actually hold on to. We don’t look at grief properly. I’m not talking about the random moments of completely overwhelming emotion, I’m pretty in control of that… there was only one time on set where I just physically couldn’t stop crying. It’s the other stuff that we don’t discuss – the functional grief; when your worldview and your perspective on life and yourself changes irrevocably, forever.”

How is she dealing with that? “By realising that there is a framework that life lives within, and knowing when you reach the edges of it. There’s that. And I try to use the shit feelings as opposed to just ‘breathing through it’. It’s like putting my plastic in the recycling bin – it might not do anything, but I should at least try. And then being an actor and having a production company, knowing that the greater understanding I have about life, the greater storyteller I can be. As an actor, you’re always observing – no matter what trauma you’re going through, there’s a wee bit of your brain that’s like, ‘Isn’t this fascinating?’”

Every time I interview a famous person I leave feeling slightly high and slightly sad, because to enter their fabulous world also, inevitably, means you see the shadow of their cage. The imposed disconnect, for instance. And the constant smiling and the many locks. Clarke was catapulted to extreme fame during a period when she nearly lost her mind. She started to find gifts outside her door, from one of many stalkers. One, she says, is extremely unwell, another extremely mean. “The stalker stuff is just horrible because, as a single lady walking around town, I already feel like I’m being followed.”

These stalkers believe they’re having a relationship with her, “which is confusing, because having a relationship with people I don’t know is a big part of what I signed up for. I care about what art does to people. But it carries with it a responsibility, and when you leave your front door you take that with you. And it’s a difficult path to navigate. Because sometimes,” and she’s talking about fans now, the line between the two often being blurred, “you get grabbed physically and your instincts kick in. When you see shock being registered on someone else’s face, you’re like, ‘Where’s the danger?’ And then you realise, oh, it’s me – I’m the danger.”

Her fanbase is due to change shortly, as she maps out her career without dragons. Clarke’s new film is Last Christmas and is based on the Wham! song. While it is a box-office hit, reviews have been… mixed. “The kind of bad,” said Rolling Stone, “that falls somewhere between finding a lump of coal in your stocking and discovering one painfully lodged in your rectum.” It threatens to become a cult classic. Reader, I loved it.

Clarke plays a woman whose messy life, it becomes clear, is partly a result of recent illness. “I was able,” she says darkly, “to bring a lot to the role.” There is a romantic twist, a twist so gooey it may cause diabetes in vulnerable audiences, but there is a second twist, in that this film (co-written by Emma Thompson) could prove to be the most effective piece of anti-Brexit propaganda of the festive season. Clarke (with Thompson as her mother) plays the youngest of a family of first-generation immigrants, dealing with the fallout of the referendum.

“We filmed a scene of a hate crime,” Clarke says, a scene on a London bus where a couple are told to go back to where they came from. “And Emma said, ‘Come on, let’s be honest: haven’t we all witnessed something similar?’” She loved working on this film, in part because of the women in charge, “who recognised that we all had a life outside this movie. You don’t have to have a vagina to do that, but the difference lay in that slight… lack of patriarchy?” And in part because of the intersection between entertainment and what she describes as “meaning”. Something she continues to search for, albeit with regular disclaimers of privilege, and embarrassment.

“The world is scary at the moment, both politically and environmentally. You have politicians pushing people to the absolute limits of their left versus right parameters, and the middle ground that we were all living in before is now wasteland, because both sides are life or death. It feels so much more polarised and extreme than ever. You’ve got 33-year-olds like me asking, ‘Should I bring kids into this world? If I do, what will that kid feel like?’ It feels frightening, consistently. And I’m not alone. I’m leaning hard on Bake Off right now.”

But the fear has made her reassess her work, post-Game of Thrones. “Entertainment is about taking you outside of yourself for a second, which is largely what I think the success of Game of Thrones was. People wanted to see something familiar, but also have that level of separation, through dragons and magic. Escapism is what lots of people go to art for. So, if we can cherry-pick stories to tell people in a shitty time, I’d like to give them something really good. It could make them feel better, or less alone, or make them realise there’s something outside of their front door that they should care about.”

She takes a sharp breath. “You know, I spent a lot of time being like, ‘What I do is all bullshit. I’m completely selfish, a total narcissist.’ And then…” And then the world hit her at a great speed, and she emerged into this new adulthood, and 10 years crawled over her like glittering rats. “And then I realised what it was for. I help provide relief. And that’s worth something, especially now. Right?”

It takes a second before I realise she is waiting for an answer. “Right,” I say, reassuringly. “Right.”

Last Christmas is in cinemas nationwide now

Press: Emilia Clarke: ‘I didn’t want people to think of me as sick’ was originally published on Enchanting Emilia Clarke | Est 2012

#emilia clarke #game of thrones #game of thrones cast #GOT cast #daenerys targaryen #me before you #terminator