#((nobody asked u mags))

[meownotgood]

hi mags! big big fan of your work 🥹 i just wanted to ask a lil about how you went about starting to write fanfic n self ship stuff? i’ve been wanting to for a while now but the thought of actually posting it out of nowhere seems pretty daunting to me 😭

dearest anon... I understand how you feel...... but listen... the very first time you start posting fics and silly stuff, you'll probably feel nervous at first, but then it's super fun and freeing... when I first started posting fanfic, it was one of the most fun and happy times in my whole life. once I got over that initial fear of what people would think, and realized I could just be myself, I truly enjoyed every aspect of my silly postings. and I'll always look at that time fondly, even if my writing has improved since then!

we all have to start somewhere!! just do what you love, it's such a nice feeling. and I promise soon you won't be alone, you'll find others who love the same things..........

[magnetiix]

"At some point this qualifies as harassment."

[cephalonserotonin]

Devstream 178 Notes

Megan has cool pants! Rebb has a cool earring!

Dante Unbound

next week!

"We wanted to bring lore! Important for us for people who want some texture… with their food…?" lol

Hence, even though there's no quest with this update, lots of lore! Drusus and other leverian stuff

Dante prex:

They mentioned no sticky corners and someone in the audience cheered.

Styanax deluxe

Nipple talk

Gauss Prime's little goofy run is gonna be an emote! for plat! "This is only a microtransaction panel" - Rebb

Banshee, Loki, and Nekros voidshells!! And some Loki QOL: some buffs, customizable invisibility, and an augment!

Easter bunny ears have FUR (using tech for the companion rework) and are now PERMANENT! "Nobody could stop me," - Rebb (Geoff boos)

Protea prime! Including her gear!

And Velox prime, Okina prime, Rhoptron prime syandana (this is GORGEOUS), a bonus alt helmet that moves, and an ephemera (no asset for this yet)

Yareli deluxe!, the Kompressa deluxe

"If you haven't played Yareli, maybe depending on where you get your warframe news…" LMAO the subtlest shade. I've liked Yareli from the beginning and definitely thought the initial backlash to her kit was overblown, so

blah blah soulframe

New update between Dante and Tennocon featuring the Stalker: Jade Shadows

Jade, our 57th warframe

Cinematic quest update from the Stalker's point of view!

J is the second to last letter we need to cover the alphabet, we're just missing U Audience member: what about Umbra? Rebb: No, that's Excalibur Umbra. If your arsenal said Umbra Excalibur you might stand a chance in court.

Warframe 1999

Very much a Warframe update, but a different style of update. New lore, lots of content, a new Warframe chapter. The gorgeous Arthur is our poster boy.

It's not a single player Warframe spinoff, a "Warframe 2" (I confess I was among those theorizing this). Those nipples stay on.

and now, waking up from his nap… it's Ben Starr! "Arthur is a very mysterious character who I am bound by NDA to say… VERY little about!" He's SO cool. and REALLY sexy. He's relatable. He's gonna be a badass, he's got a samurai sword.

Excalibur is a frame. Arthur is a PROTO-FRAME.

Just as an aside, Ben is adorable and hilarious, very fun to watch.

Stuff about Conflict between humanity and the non-human.. "you don't perceive humanity without how it reacts to others."

a first look at Aoi, our proto-Mag, and I am GAY SCREECHING

Bike: the atomicycle

Q&A

Audience member in a (Uniqlo?) metal gear rising revengeance shirt that Rebb recognized and appreciated: when is my man Caliban getting buffed? A: If Pablo were here, he'd say ask me at TennoCon.

Q: any other warframes getting reworks? A: Inaros rework coming with Dante unbound. Loki rework not planned.

Q: What inspired proto-Mag's design? A: Liger did Arthur and Aoi. We had a very specific vision for those two protoframes: Arthur being the "man scout," and Aoi we wanted a nice contrast to Arthur.

Q: Two questions very well worded I didn't get them down in time because I was nodding along. About stat sticks / pseudo-exalteds and trading. A: Stat sticks: we've talked about it but no changes planned. Trading: we've talked about maybe adding riven filters but not much more than that.

Q from guy in Dante DMC trenchcoat: Drifters? Maybe new outfits? A: In Unbound we are bringing one more operator outfit to drifter.

Q: I've been playing Warframe for 10 years, and I'm legendary 4. Any additional benefits for high rank players? A: The social benefits of being a high-rank player are unexplored. In terms of more mechanical aspects… we're thinking more social benefits. congrats on being legendary 4!

Q: When's infested liches? A: Steve is that you

Q In the second metal gear shirt: warframe 1999... dark sector? A: A lot of what Warframe was built on was the scifi part of dark sector that was never meant to be. So it's poetically coming full circle, that 1999 is dark sector inspired. Q: is there a plan for the dark sector remaster? A: 1999 is the dark sector remaster.

Q: Is there going to be fashion protoframes? A: Actually, yes… And that's all I'll say on that.

Q from Leon Kennedy: is squad link coming back? A: RIP scarlet spear. Not coming back in the way you might think, but we're experimenting early days with something you might like. It's in an urn. Geoff: that's pretty dead. Rebb: Someone hasn't played Baldur's gate 3! It's not totally dead, but mostly dead.

Q: Has anyone at DE considered a TTRPG or even a war game? you could blow games workshop completely out of the water. I'd rather give money to you than them any day. A: We're all fans of that kind of content, we'd endorse fan content, but we don't have the time to pursue it. Q: Has anyone considered modular ("kit") frames? A: We have considered it, but it didn't seem shippable. Seemed scope-scary.

Q: Are you, Rebb, personally happy with the way movement works at this very moment? A: Are you asking pre- or post- sticky corners? Q: Post. Also is Soulframe taking from the movement in Warframe? Geoff: Soulfame is very much in the opposite direction of Warframe, movement-wise. Rebb: I always thought it'd be fun to explore wall running in Warframe. But other than that, I love it. I think it's the best movement system in the third person games space. Every other game I play I try and bullet jump and aim glide. Questioner agrees.

Soulframe question I used to catch up on my above notes

Q: If you could go on a date with a warframe, which one?… me, it's Grendel. Ben: what would you do on that date? Questioner: just eat :) Geoff: Excalibur? (Rebb: that's very Raphael-coded of you. Little Baldur's Gate reference for you) Mag: Probably Valkyr. Rebb: why choose? All of them >:) Ben: pick one for me. Rebb: Mirage. Ben: What would I do? Rebb: Circus act. You are the circus.

Q: What was your favourite part of developing 1999, and Ben, what was your favourite part of voicing Arthur? A: Some stuff we haven't announced yet. As with most characters I play, there's something lovable about him despite his rough exterior… rough but he's nice about it. He's gonna do something to you, but he's gonna kiss you afterward. Rebb: I think it's quite sacred to introduce protoframes like this. We're being quite sacred about it (it's not Mag and Excal, it's Aoi and Arthur). Ben: The ways in which you're exploring that dynamic is very cool, and very 90s.

Q: Rebb, what are the things that plague you? A: My plagues are supported by the development team. I'm not alone; whenever I have an ailment, I have someone that to help support me with it. Geoff: I've genuinely never seen someone care so much. He gets teary. \*audience cheers as REBB DESERVES\* Same asker: when is my girl Titania getting buffed? A: Controversial question, she's pretty strong. I could see Tribute receiving some QOL to be easier to use (some Tribute). But those dex pixia, they do kill.

Q in a Warframe sweater with a Warframe backpack!: Which NPC would you be most likely to be besties with? Ben: Fibonacci Rebb: We love you Neil! Ben: If you don't have a cranky fish as a friend, what are you doing. Megan: I love Ordis :) especially little trash can ordis Rebb: you better say Lotus, Geoff >:) Geoff: Lotus. Rebb: Hard not to love Little Duck. We'd be besties for sure, drinking in the back room.

Q: if Teshin can have his head crushed and come back, what about Veso? A: He died a hero, I'm sorry.

Q: When can we get points to Dante his brother? A: ??? audience member yells out "VIRGIL!" Rebb: \*laughs\* maybe the bike is Virgil (This is a devil may cry reference)

Q: clan to clan interaction? Haven't had that since solar rails? A: Ok so in the urn we have squad link.. \*laugh\* We are trying to do more clan events. They work for by the book tasks. There's opportunity there we haven't explored. No leaderboards. I'll try to do more.

Q: I'm curious how you develop characters as a Warframe team. I've noticed a lot of references to mythology. A: it's a library of devs that have passions. The team is just really diverse and loves really cool shit. The amount of inspiration we get to name things thematically, we have touched lore I didn't know existed. When it comes to Warframes, we're still looking at old Keith Thompson drawings… he's built different.

Q: I'm sorry to take you back in the morgue. Void keys. Will there be a return to the old void and endless missions? A: We're not in the morgue here, we're in ICU. Visiting hours are open. I loved the old voidkey system. We did a soft tease with Dagath keys, it had wins and losses… There were user experience problems. But it's not totally dead. The omnia fissures are kind of that vibe. You can bring any relic to an omnia fissure and just haul ass.

Q: Can we get a toggle for Protea's visor? A: The rigging artist working on it talked about it. Maybe. You're right, it would be nice.

Q: Fashion frame question. Have you considered a DE color palette, like, Megan's greatest hits? A: That sounds like a great idea :) We're doing it.

Q: Are we ever going to see new necramechs? A: I hate saying probably not. No new ones in 1999 at least. We're touching up the ones we have before we go to the morgue, and grab a skull, to make a a new one. Sorry

Q holding a Clem plushie: when more Clem??? A: We'll see. Clem holds a special place in our heart. He's not in the morgue, I promise.

Q: I've been coerced into asking a question on behalf of someone who's not here. He's made it clear if I don't get a satisfactory answer I won't see my family again. Are there any plans to look at spawn rates for loot and reactants? A: I'm gonna keep talking until you can get your family out safely, I'm filibustering. There's performance issues, we want to get safe on all platforms. The worst offenders we can probably fix. We can increase reactant drop rates. Loot rates is harder to solve.

Q: if you have Drifter selected, can you use drifter melee? A: We thought it was important to keep drifter melee in duviri, but… why not? We could try. Drifters can't mod though. It's not impossible, but it'd take some time.

Q: Warframe being predominantly PVE, has there been talk of collaboration among clans? A: I implied it with the other question, but a social benefit would be great. I'd love to see you make friends with other clans

Thanks to the DE team for your hard work <3 supporting us for 11 years!

visual assets are either my own stream screenshots or from DE's devstream overview

[boabelboo]

🔥 - district 4 tributes

hey lily!! thank u for sending this and sorry for being so late, i've needed to clear out my askbox for a while!!

okay so my unpopular opinion is that district four tributes are careers 100%. they are just as much careers as districts one and two. i see so many people trying to categorise district four as an almost-career district. for example, they could say "yes, people train but not nearly as much as in d1 + d2. people still get reaped and nobody volunteers, that's what must of happened to finnick!" and, no. its explicitly stated in the og trilogy that district four is a career district. finnick and annie are careers. just as much as cato and clove or cashmere and gloss.

i think the reason why this is so common is because of the movies changing district four to be a non-career district. its explicitly clear that they made this change when cato kills the district four boy in the bloodbath, who (in the book) is meant to be his ally.

then this is further perpetuated with finnick, mags and annie in catching fire. the movie wanted us to see them as heroes, so they left out the part about them training and volunteering for the games (minus mags, since her games were so early on its unlikely she did) so they aren't associated with more antagonistic characters such as the 74th hunger games career pack.

the reality is, career districts are heavily indoctrinated with pro-capitol and pro-hunger games ideals. this makes the games seem like something patriotic, something that they can win to bring glory back to their district. the statement that careers training to kill and hunt down more helpless tributes in the arena is wrong and that careers aren't the villains can coexist. the careers are people too, and they are a direct representation of how propaganda works on the oppressed.

obviously, each career district is different and nuanced in culture and attitude but that doesn't mean that because more heroic characters exist within that district, that it isn't inherently career.

thank u sm for the ask!

[kairiscorner]

AWOO AWOO ANON IS BACK WITH ANOTHER GWEN PROMPT 🚨🚨🚨 (but it’s abt like parent talk and annoyances so its okay if you don’t wanna do this <33)

HELLO P!! Hehehejhee I hope ur doing well!!! I just come up with a bit of a wholesome kinda angsty idea

Details: reader comes to Gwen’s apartment to rant abt parental issues (minor inconveniences, bickering with parents, details that are pretty minor but it’s so triggering)

LIKE

(Alam mo yung usual na pinapagsabihan ka like they’re scolding/annoyed kahit na minor lang yung topic 😅?)

Ex. “Ugh my mom rolled her eyes and honestly scoffed when i talked abt Barbie etc.”

(Tas pag tatay nakakatakot mag salita parang galit lagi)

Ex. Pag sinigaw pangalan to call you tas pagutos. BASICALLY ACTING LIKE HE’S BETTER GANON

(TAS LIKE YOU HAVE TO WALK ON EGGSHELLS W BOTH) ((ofc it’s different for everyone but idk why i feel like this is almost universal BKA AKO LANG HAHAHAHAH))

AHEM

So! Just a deep talk with Gwen about how she deals with bickering/fights with her dad would be a cool conversation!! Especially since it’s only them too

(Doesn’t hav to be specific! You can play around with it ofc!! Loaf u and hav a splendid week <3)

(AY CLARIFY LANG suggestions r different from fanfic reqs right..? I don’t wanna be makulit sa suggestions tas yun pala bawal ehe ^^”)

HI POOOO ooo i love the idea! esp bc i'm always one to rant about my parents when we fight 😭😭😭 loaf u too platonically boo 🫶🫶and also, yes! suggestions would be kind of like an idea, but not really asking for a fic to be made, just an idea you wanna share (at least that's how it's gonna be like on my blog!) PERO OK, I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS !!

(reblogs are greatly appreciated, it helps get my content out there! if you guys like what you see, please reblog it too <:D)

gwen plopped herself down on the edge of the bed next to you, her expression full of dismay and aggravation. you looked over at her with a semi-fretful gaze. "what happened, gwinny?" you asked her as she sighed and looked into your eyes. "it's my dad, again..." she muttered as she covered her face with her hands, falling back down on your bed as your eyes followed her. you lay down on your side next to her and gently asked her in a whisper if she wants to talk about it. gwen breathed in deeply removed her hands from her face and looked at you from the corner of her eye.

"oh, where to even begin?" she asked aloud to nobody in particular, smiling ever so slightly in an ironic manner as she looked up at your ceiling. she didn't speak for a few moments, until she finally found the strength to open up, even by a tiny bit. she opened up about how her father has been putting a curfew on her, after hearing her sneak back into her room after her nightly patrols. she got mad at him for enforcing that curfew, and he got mad at her for not realizing how all he wants is for her to be safe. "he just wants to feel at ease, like he's not... like he's not failing as a dad." she grumbled out as her eyebrows scrunched up a little as her gaze towards your ceiling morphed into a glare.

"i get how he wants me to be safe, bravo for you dad, but... at least i come home. you leave all the time, what difference does it make if i'm not there at home? what difference does it make when we're both on patrol, we're both concerned about the city and each other, i have your back, it's just... you don't know i'm the one doing the saving, which is good for you." gwen ranted as her voice became softer, as if her inner turmoil had simmered down and hearing her speak her thoughts out was less gratifying than she thought it'd be. gwen breathed in deeply as you moved closer to her, not tearing your eyes away from her one bit.

"i know how you feel, kinda. i sometimes feel like my parents never want me to have any fun, but at the end of the day... they do it for a reason. might not always seem like good reasons, but trust me when i say that among all those reasons," you placed a hand on her shoulder, which caused her to look at you with eyes shimmering with twinkles of shame in them, slight shame that she spoke about her father that way, but they were still gleaming with confusion and frustration, "his love for you as your dad is the biggest reason of all." you finished with a smile as gwen's expression went from agitated to remorseful.

gwen leaned over towards you and pressed her forehead against yours. she gently took your hand in hers and interlocked your fingers together. "thank you... well, i have a lot of explaining to do the minute i get home, then. can't really tell him i've been spider woman for the night again, but i can't really tell him any other made up reason. i just... i want him to stop worrying sometimes." she confessed as you squeezed her hand. you chuckled as you brushed away her hair from her forehead. "he's a dad, he's supposed to worry." you reminded her as you kissed her forehead. "and it's okay." you said as gwen wrapped her arm around your waist and hugged you.

"i guess... sorry i had to dump this all on you when you're supposed to be sleeping." "gwen, never be sorry for letting off some steam. you work so hard to save people you don't even know... and yet you're hesitant about saving yourself. let me save you, at least once for all the times you've saved me." you said as you hugged gwen back. gwen couldn't murmur a 'thank you' anymore as she felt like that wouldn't be enough to do you justice. she held on to you tighter, wishing this moment could last longer. she swore to herself, though, that by tomorrow morning, she'd say sorry to her dad. she'd say sorry and express how she doesn't want to worry him, how she wants nothing more than for him to be at ease, to trust her. and she hopes that one day, she'll be okay with him, they'll be okay with each other; and she has you to thank for helping her realize this.

tags !! @fiannee @luvstarrstruck @maxoloqy

[wisteriagoesvroom]

u are the cutest ever other michelin star gax anon mwah <3

i have several thoughts i must share here immediately. max wanting george's praise more than anything but refuses to admit it. he *never* changes a dish for anyone, but he finds himself incorporating the things george mentions in his latest articles and really, everyone's Slightly concerned because it's fucking Max. they *know* to never critique him because he's basically food-world royalty among the big names. charles is *all* about the gossip. like. max's sous chef, a prodigy in the kitchen, grew up working in some of the best restaurants in monaco so he's earned his spot and knows max's threats of firing him aren't true at all because he can Cook. he's just. casually smoking after a Long day (extra stressful because George Russell was in to try another slew of dishes) and who's that walking with george to his car? and then the next morning when Max walks in with the biggest fucking hickey known to man and gives the entire kitchen a Look. everybody knows not to ask about it. but charles is a gossip. bonus points if the restaurant is in like. france or something so he and pierre can get up to some shithousery after work.

it becomes a bit of a thing afterward - them hooking up, finding each other in places they know they shouldn't. i could go so into detail here but i Won't. george calls max princess everywhere and seriously, alex is wondering Why max hasn't bit his head off yet so nobodies surprised when the hook-up rumors come to fruition. george can't let that get out though, because he'd lose his credibility. also i just think it would be kind of silly goofy if george is like "fucking me for another michelin star?" and max is like. so fucked out and tired he's like "mhm"

a 'just for the record i don't sleep with every chef i come across" AND ALSO. OSCAR SAUCIER. we need to have lando as george's photographer so the entire kitchen's like "oscar you're fraternizing with the enemy" and max smiles to himself because They Don't Know.

y'all gaxers are crazy. (pls, keep going.)

i am TOASTING to lando being the newspaper/food mag photographer btw. hello???? ??

[jeonggukkiepabo]

CRYSTAL SNOW ❄ MYG

SUMMARY: Christmas has always been a stressful time for Yoongi: buying presents, decorating the tree, baking cookies, you name it-Yoongi does it. It wouldn't be so difficult if Yoongi had someone to help him, but all he has left in his life is his beautiful daughter Ara.But maybe this year, he won't be all alone.

GENRE: christmas fluff  ❄ a bit of smut

WORD COUNT: 7,3k

WARNINGS: f l u f f, single parent yoongi, kindergarten teacher y/n, oral, satoori, domestic christmas vibes :(, mentions of death

AUTHOR’S NOTE: the secret collab is finally here! thanks @kimtaehyunq​ for letting me join💞 i’m so excited to read the other fics as well! & thank you Mags for doing this amazing banner I think this is the prettiest banner I've ever had. 🤧 Tysm love💞

MERRY CHRISTMAS

People usually say she looks a lot like her father, but all Yoongi sees in Ara is his wife. Wherever his daughter goes, his wife's ghost follows, the memory of his teenage love and the wonderful years they spent together until she left their lives.

Min Dasom died almost one year after Ara was born, her death coming too sudden for anyone to bid their last goodbyes-leaving her husband and baby heartbroken and alone.

It was awful, Yoongi won't be able to forget that one night the police called him, telling him that his precious wife drowned in the ocean during her monthly trip to the beach with her friends. 

Ever since that call, Yoongi has never stepped near a beach again, never felt hot sand between his toes again, never went swimming again.

It was hard, being a single parent and Yoongi was tempted to give up many times, but seeing Ara grow and bloom into the beautiful girl she is now, Yoongi is beyond thankful that he survived the pain and sorrow.  

He never drowned his thoughts in alcohol because his sunshine always looked at him with her sad little eyes, almost as if she knew what he wanted to do and hugged his legs tightly until Yoongi set the bottle away and picked Ara up and spent the night cuddling her.

Things got easier as soon as Ara was old enough to finally go to kindergarten, allowing Yoongi to work more hours and on a daily basis again. It's not like he needed a lot of money, it's just that Yoongi needs to work. 

He's used to working all the time, he's always been-because working doesn't give him time to think about the tragedy that is his life.

Money wasn't an issue for the Min family, Yoongi used to be one of the most successful pianists and producers in South Korea, but he gave up on that as soon as Ara was born, just to have time for his family.

His friend Hyunjin offered him a job as a songwriter and composer at his own label JinHit Entertainment. 

Yoongi could work from home whenever he wanted and needed to, but the studio Hyunjin set him up was way better and filled with new technology that Yoongi loved playing and experimenting with.

The acclimatization to her new daily routine wasn't easy for Ara because she wasn't used to having women in her life-until now, it has always been Yoongi and Ara. They ended up switching kindergarten two times before Ara came into the one that you've been working at for a while now-instantly falling in love with you.

The first few days with your new reference child we're quite… interesting because the little girl was full of action and so curious about every little thing in the room that you couldn't sit still and talk to her father for a while because Ara grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the next game she wanted to play.

Her father, Min Yoongi, sent you an apologetic smile as he watched you play with his daughter from a distance, giving you time to get used to each other and build a bond. You winked at him as you took a seat next to Ara and started to explain the rules of the board game to her-impressed about how well she was understanding them.

It didn't take Ara a long time to send Yoongi home, waving him goodbye and pressing a loud kiss onto his lips. "Go and work, Appa! Uncle Hyunjinnie waits for you to make good music!"

Yoongi looked at her with a pout, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're telling me to leave? Just to go and work? That is rude, princess."

You giggled and hugged Ara as she ran over to you, Yoongi long forgotten.

"Would you like to bring your dad to the door, Ara? I think he might be sad if you won't. Remember: he won’t see you for a few hours and you don’t want your dad to be sad during lunch, right?"

Ara giggled but nodded nonetheless and grabbed Yoongi by the hand. "Hurry!"

Yoongi looked at you in shock, desperately trying to hold in his laugh. "I think you gave me Ara's evil twin instead of my sweet little princess! Where is my nice girl that always kisses Appa goodbye?"

You shrugged your shoulders playfully as one of the other kids asked for you to help him with building a big tower out of building blocks. "Have a nice day, Mr Min. Oh and make sure you won't forget about our appointment on Thursday! I don't think it'll take longer than an hour, it's just to talk about Ara's development so far."

Yoongi was one of the few parents that were always punctual, not even a minute too late-and the only parent you've never felt any kind of rage towards. Not only that, but he attended every kindergarten fest, always prepared little cupcakes for Ara's birthday to bring with her to kindergarten and share with her friends.

May was rolling around quickly and you were as eager as always to craft some little gifts for the children to give their mothers. 

You prepared some candle wax and melted it so the kids could fill it in plastic forms and add glitter and scent to their preference, just to have a nice little gift to give. 

Most of the kids had fun, some of them were a bit grumpy because they got glitter all over themselves, but there is one little girl pouting and trying not to cry in front of them, not even touching the wax.

Ara.

It breaks your heart every time, knowing that Ara's mother died years ago and that she probably had no other woman in her life because you’ve already heard that her father works quite a lot. 

Squatting down next to the little girl, you gently pinch her stomach just to hear her little giggles. 

"What's wrong, sweetheart? Don't you want to make a nice candle?"

Ara looks up at you, one single tear slipping out of her eye. "I don't have a mom, so no candle for me."

You coo, playing with Ara's hair as you stand up again, leading her towards the crafting table.

"That doesn't matter, Ara. I think your dad will be happy to get a candle too! We can pick a different color than pink, what do you think does he like the most? I’m sure we will find something!"

Ara taps her chin, smiling slightly as she thinks about Yoongi's favorite color. "Black! He wears black clothes! Always! Do we have black glitter, Y/N?" 

She scrunches her nose at the first few oils, but one scent really lights up her face. "This smells like Appa! Can we use this?" 

"We do, I didn't put it on the table because usually nobody wants it so it sits on the shelf, all by itself. I think the glitter finally deserves to be used!" You smile at the kid, grabbing the small container of glitter from the shelf and handing it over to Ara.

"We do have a few scents, would you like to smell them? Choose whichever you think smells the best and we can put a few drops in the wax,' you offer the bowl of different oils to Ara and help her open the lids.

Ara holds up the little bottle of rose oil and you smile to yourself. Black roses, that really seems to fit the impression you have of Mr. Min.

"Of course. Now, let's mix the glitter with the wax and we can put it into the mold. Alright, now stir it while i put in a few drops of the rose oil, okay?"

You guide her through the process, talking to her and listening to her rambling about the piano lessons Mr. Min gives her on a regular basis, just because Ara wants to be like her favorite man in the world.

"He is a great dad, Ara. You're so lucky to have him, I know that he must be sad sometimes too, but you're such a sunshine and help him as much as he helps you," you hug her from the side, enjoying the way Ara leans into the hug as well.

"I want a mom, but Appa is almost like a mom! He lets me paint his nails, goes to ballet with me and always bakes princess cookies for our tea parties!"

Ara giggles as she dips the wick into the liquid wax.

"Appa needs a woman to love, the only dates he goes to are work-dates with uncle Hyunjin," she says.

And yes, you think so as well.

One day around September, you decide that it’s definitely hot enough to prepare the blow-up outside pool for the kids, allowing them to change into their swimsuits and let them play around, even adding some bubbles to the water to let them experiment.

Mr. Min smiles at you, his gums fully showing and you can’t help but smile as well as you hear his words.

“And I think there’s no job that you could do better than this one.”

You’re sitting next to the pool on a bench in the shadow, reading some books to those few kids that don’t want to hop into the water as Ara jumps out of the pool.

“Y/N, come inside as well, it’s so nice!” She jumps up and down, her wet ponytail dripping onto her shoulders.

You pout, pointing to the kids next to you. “I can’t, you know that some of the kids are still afraid to go into the water with so many other children around. Maybe next time. Now, go and enjoy it, it’s super hot and I don’t know when autumn will come around and surprise us with bad weather!”

Ara nods quickly, hopping back into the water and continues splashing some water around with her friends, but she glances at you every few seconds. Then, she whispers with her two best friends before all three of them nod as they look at you.

Suddenly, they run towards you, surprising you with wet hugs and loud giggles, leaving your white summer dress almost see through.

Suddenly, there’s someone clearing his throat right behind you and you wish you could sink deep down into the pool once you see that it’s Mr. Min. 

“Girls!,” you can’t help but yelp, the cold water causing you to jump up from the bench. Yet, you laugh with them, the cooling really helping you with the heat.

“You can’t just do that, Ara. Look at my dress now, you can almost see through it, you’re lucky that the parents won’t come in within the next two hours, otherwise they would see me like this,” you try to look stern, but to be honest: you would have done the same if you were Ara.

“Ara, why did you do that?,” he asks with his calm voice and tries his best not to look at your hardening nipples under the dress. 

Ara’s bottom lip trembles as she looks at you with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I just thought it would be funny…”

Mr. Min turns to you and bows slightly. “I’m sorry, she shouldn’t have done that. And well, I came to pick her up earlier because we will visit her grandparents over the weekend. I should’ve informed you earlier. Is there any way I can help you with your… erm, dress?”

Mr. Min nods at you, picking up his-still wet-daughter as he looks you up and down slow enough to leave goosebumps all over your skin once again. 

You blush, shaking your head as you grab Ara’s clothes and hand her to her father.

“It’s alright, Mr. Min, it’s not your fault-and a water fight is too much fun to just not do it, right, Ara? It’s sunny enough so I’ll just bring the bench into the sun and I’ll be dry soon enough! I hope you’re having fun with your grandparents, Ara! Have a nice weekend, Mr. Min.”

“It’s alright, Mr. Min, really. You don’t know how many children happen to call one of us mom without realizing it. It’s nothing too wild, I’ve gotten used to it and I think especially in Ara’s case… It was supposed to happen, you know? I mean, I don’t want to intrude on your private life, but I suppose you’re not seeing another person and Ara isn’t growing up with other females, so she takes those she sees here as a female person to bond with, you know?”

“Thank you, mommy! Oh… I mean Y/N..,” Ara quirps as he turns around in her father’s arms, even though it doesn’t look like she’s really sorry at all.

“Ara!” Mr. Min gasps as he looks at his daughter. 

Yoongi shakes his head. “I haven’t seen another woman ever since my wife died. Ara is the only woman in my life, the only one I give all my love to. She deserves it,” he sighs. “But you’re right, I think another female person would really help her with growing up. I just don’t want to introduce her to some random woman I might not even want to spend the rest of my life with. Is this egoistic?”

His honest words hit you, knowing how lonely he must be, all alone with his little girl and a bunch of work he has to do. “It’s not, Mr. Min. You don’t have to date just because you think it would be the best for Ara. There are many single fathers that raise their kids perfectly fine and I think you’re one of them! Ara never tells bad stories about you and I think you’re doing a really good job, spending all of your free time with her and allowing her to experience so many fun things. I’ve met so many ‘happy’ families that didn’t even manage to pack breakfast for their kids, so really, don’t break your head over something like this! I’m happy that Ara accepted me so much and that she always comes to me whenever she has a problem. This is why I chose my job.”

Over the next few months, Mr. Min is all that’s on your mind, even though you know how unprofessional it is, but he’s even kinder to you than he’s been before. You usually have a small chat with every parent whenever they bring or pick up their children, but Mr. Min makes sure to always catch you and ask you about your day, if there’s anything new in your life and you can’t help but ask him about his work and the songs he’s been working on as well.

“Ah, it’s really stressful right now. I’m working with this band that’s debuting soon and we have to prepare and finish the entire album I wrote about five songs for. They’re really good but still so young, I think the oldest is 16? Or was it 17? Whatever, that’s like ten years younger than me! I think I’ll grow grey hair soon when I keep on working with such young idols,” he sighs playfully as he helps Ara to put on her shoes and jacket. 

“I mean, you’re not that old, Mr. Min. Don’t worry-as long as you keep that handful smile you will look like you’re straight out of some perfume poster. But I’d love to listen to one of your songs! I mean, if you’d let me,” you smile with honesty as you hand Ara her backpack. 

Mr. Min shrugs, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he opens his Spotify account. He types something in and turns the screen towards you. AGUST D, it says. You scrunch your eyes at the name, trying to remember where you’ve known it from, but it doesn’t ring a bell right now. 

“I’ll make sure to listen to some of your songs, I hope they aren’t too sad though, I prefer my music to be more… pop and rock?”

You cringe at your own words, hoping that the man knows what you were trying to say. 

And fuck, you did like it. Turns out that AGUST D wasn’t some softie that plays guitar lullabies, no. 

Yoongi cracks a grin, then winks at you playfull before he takes Ara’s hand after she said goodbye to you.

“I think you’re going to like it.”

AGUST D seems to be one of the best rappers in the music industry that you’ve ever been listening to. He sounds so aggressive and fast that you needed to listen twice to some of his songs to understand what he was saying, but you ended up adding much more songs into your playlist than you’d like to tell him.

But you did tell him.

“Oh, I’m not doing that crazy rap thing anymore. It was a phase, I guess. By now, I use the name to help smaller musicians and trainees, produce their songs and write their lyrics. It’s better to do so with a bigger name, but AGUST D died a long time ago, I guess I killed him.” Mr. Min says the next day.

"I mean, as long as you keep all of them on Spotify, I'm alright with that. Most of those songs match my aggressive driving vibe and I can't imagine driving to work without it." You try to joke before you realize what it must've sounded like. "Oh lord, I didn't mean it like that!" 

You blush, trying to hide your reddened cheeks in your palms, but Mr. Min just laughs it off.

"Don't worry, I get what you mean. I usually play Love Talk as soon as i leave this building."

He even has the audacity to wink at you before he leaves with a grin, causing Ara to coo.

"Appa really likes you if he teases you!"

And the teasing goes on and on, there’s almost no day without a snarky comment from Mr. Min or a sarcastic comment from you-but neither of you takes those words to heart because that’s what you need in your lives, someone to laugh with, someone to make jokes with.

Even though there are plenty of other children in your group and so many parents you talk to daily, the only one you’re happy to see in the afternoon is Mr. Min.

The summer is long gone and fall said goodbye a few weeks ago, December came around and your little crush on Mr. Min isn’t as little anymore-and you can’t help yourself but wonder if he might be into you as well. You’ve shared a few noons talking about Ara’s development and if she’s ready for school next September, but most of the times you didn’t talk about the girl for more than thirty minutes before one of you switched the topic to something more private as the man leans closer to you and locks his gaze with yours.

You’re not as nervous around him as you were before and you can feel him starting to open up towards you as well. Yet, you’ve never met outside of the kindergarten, knowing it would be way too unprofessional and you’d never want to ruin the wonderful bond you share with Ara just because you’re desperate to jump into her father’s lap and call him Daddy too.

You’re not one of those women to go into a club and have a dirty one night stand with a random stranger, but you’ve been too busy to actually go and meet people, so you’ve kind of gotten used to being alone, even though you’re really missing late night cuddles and Disney marathons.

It’s Saturday afternoon and you’ve been strolling through the mall for a while now, looking for some christmas presents for your friends and family-but also wanting to treat yourself because work has been more than just exhausting lately.

You’ve been handling the entire group alone, having a lot more smaller children because new kids have been coming to kindergarten and having to deal with so many parents alone can be pure hell. Sadly enough you’re living all by yourself, only having a few close friends that don’t understand why you’re even doing this underpaid job and your last relationship crashed almost two years ago.

The mall looks amazing, beautiful christmas ornaments are hanging from the ceiling and there must be someone playing the piano somewhere because the soft melodic tunes fill the entire mall, reminding you of Mr. Min once again.

You just stepped out of a lingerie store, something you’re really passionate about even though nobody but yourself sees you in it, but you love the feeling of lace on your skin, love how beautifully the soft colors compliment your skin and love imagining Mr. Min ripping the soft material off you.

The small paper bag in your hand, you look around for another shop that might hold the next christmas present for one of your friends. 

“Appa, please! I already have a picture but we need you to have one too!”

You know that voice too well to ignore it, searching the area for the small owner of it, giggling as you found her. Ara and Mr. Min are in the Santa area of the mall that gives you the ability to sit on Santa’s lap and take a picture with him as you tell him your biggest christmas wishes.

But the little girl is not sitting on Santa’s lap, she’s trying to push her father towards the man with the fake beard, clearly wanting him to sit down on that lap.

You giggle, walking towards them just to find out what’s going to happen.

“Ara, I’m too old and heavy for poor Santa, I think he prefers girls your age-wait, no not like that. I think he likes boys and girls-ugh. You’re driving me crazy, princess. Look, there’s a few other kids wanting to have their time with Santa as well, why don’t we just leave and try to find some more presents from the giftshop here, hm?” The man tries to talk his daughter into leaving the uncomfortable situation, but Ara is as stubborn as ever-she always gets what she wants, especially from her father.

“But… I want you to have pictures with Santa too!” She pouts, looking over at the confused Santa before she hears your giggle. “Y/N!”

Mr. Min turns around, a shocked expression on his face and a soft pink tint on his cheeks.

“Oh, Ms. Y/L/N. What a surprise.”

You giggle even more, stepping closer towards them. “Hello Ara, good afternoon Mr. Min,” you bow slightly before accepting the little girl’s hug. 

“I see, you really want to sit on Santa’s lap, but Ara doesn’t want to let you because she’d be embarrassed.” 

Yoongi hums in agreement. “Horrible, those children. I mean, I just want a nice christmas picture with Santa, but you know how they are… right before puberty hits them.”

“Y/N, Appa doesn’t want to take a picture with Santa, would you sit on his lap and take a picture for me?” Ara looks up at you with her big eyes and like always, you can’t say no. Instead, you hand Mr. Min your bags-not thinking about the fact that one of them is from the lingerie store-before taking Ara’s hand and walking over to the smiling Santa.

The picture is quickly taken and not even five minutes later, Mr. Min hands you your bags, whispering, so Ara wouldn’t hear you. “I think the peach one will suit you the best.”

Ara nods and rips the bags out of Mr. Min’s hands to show you her cute dresses and bows while the man just stares at you with an open mouth. Did you really just say that to him? 

You gasp, hiding the bags behind your back but who are you to deny the fact that this man is the exact reason you stepped into the store?

“Thank you, I hope someone will get to see them before Christmas. It would be a shame to waste those pretty pieces for some lame mirror selfies,” you smile innocently before squatting down next to Ara. “Did you buy something nice yet?”

“Appa, we wanted to get hot chocolate, can Y/N come too please?”

Yoongi is speechless once more as he quietly follows his daughter and her kindergarten teacher towards the mall’s cafe-realizing that he shouldn’t have chosen his tightest pair of skinny jeans because somehow, they got quite uncomfortable as soon as you arrived.

Yoongi raises an eyebrow at his daughter before he picks up all the dresses that Ara tried to shove back into the bags. “If she wants, she’s welcome to join, but I think you should ask her first, maybe she is busy.”

You blush at the invitation, not sure whether to accept it or not-but you’re not one to decline on hot chocolate. Smiling at Ara, you nod. “Show me where to get the best hot chocolate, I’m craving something sweet and thick down my throat.”

He watches you as Ara grabs your hand and swings them around with a soft giggle, heart warming as he sees your fond smile.

Ara talks about you a lot-hell, Yoongi asks about you a lot whenever Ara doesn't want to talk about you but watch her favorite show.

It's unprofessional and probably not allowed, Yoongi knows, but Ara leaves for school in March anyways, so who cares? 

It's obvious to the both of you that you're interested in each other, the flirting and teasing coming to a point where Yoongi can't wait for another snarky remark of yours.

And now that he has the chance to sit and talk with you outside of your workplace, you just chose to buy a bag full of fucking beautiful lingerie (yes, Yoongi looked inside, no, he doesn't regret it).

Ara leads you into this beautiful cat cafe that apparently has "The best hot chocolate and bubble tea, but it's too cold for bubble tea… Can they make hot bubble tea?" as Ara says, earning a harsh "no" from Yoongi, because that's something he wishes for as well.

"Go find a place with Mr. Y/L/N, Ara. I'll get your order, yeah? What can I order for you?" Yoongi looks at you as he pulls out his wallet, giving you some time to read the menu.

"Oh, the candy cane hot chocolate, please! And please, as long as we are not talking inside the kindergarten, call me Y/N. I mean, you've seen my underwear, I think you deserve to call me by my name."

Yoongi blushes, nodding and rushes towards the cashier to order your drinks. You smile at the man, then at the cats-they look somewhat similar-before you sit down next to Ara who is currently petting four cats on her lap.

"They're adorable," you coo, "Do you have any pets?"

Ara nods with a big smile and hands you one of the cats, a pretty one with orange fur and big eyes. 

"I have a turtle! Gukkie gave it to me and Appa didn't like it first, but I love her!"

You enjoy the cat's purring as you gently stroke her chin. "A turtle sounds lovely, I hope you can show it to me one day."

"Oh, that won't be a problem, I can invite you for dinner and Appa will get shy and red in the face, but he wouldn't say no because he's super soft for-" "ALPACAS! I'm soft for alpacas, haha, here we go, three hot chocolates."

Yoongi appears with a pained expression as he places your hot chocolate right in front of you.

"Thanks, Yoongi," you smile at the man and Yoongi swears that his heart stopped beating for a second. "I'm soft for Alpacas as well."

Right after you all finished your drinks, Ara decides that it’s time to walk through the mall once more, just to make sure that Santa is still there and will take another picture with hot chocolate-filled Ara. 

“Did you enjoy your date with Y/N, Appa?” She looks up at her father as you walk towards the mall. Yoongi trembles, blushing brightly. “I’m pretty sure this wasn’t a date, Ara. Don’t assume things like this, it’s rude,” he mumbles as he gently pets her head to make sure she isn’t hurt by his comment.

You giggle, whispering loud enough for Yoongi to hear. “I really liked it, Ara. Your Appa can be funny if he wants to.”

The picture with Santa comes out pretty, even though the man groaned as two grown adults decided to sit on each of his legs, the bright smiling Ara kneeling in front of them. But it’s really worth it, because Yoongi’s smile never leaves his lips this evening, gums showing beautifully on the picture and you quickly make sure to get a copy of that picture as well.

Yoongi’s eyes widen. “So was this a… you know?” It’s endearing, how shy he suddenly seems to be. You’ve never seen him like this. Stressed, overworked and happy - yes. Shy and blushing? Never.

You nod with a soft smile as you lay your hand on his shoulder.

“Yes, I’d like that to be a ‘you know what’, Yoongi.”

You can't even tell when the two of you officially started dating, but you'll never forget the first kiss you've shared during one of your walks-thanks to Ara for snapping a picture of it. Yoongi's hands wrapped around your waist, eyes clenched shut and lips curled in a soft smile as fresh snow fell down on you.

Seeing Yoongi at work wasn’t as weird as you had expected it to be, it’s quite the opposite. He’s attentive and lovely, bringing you fresh croissants or donuts every morning or puting little chocolate for you and Ara in his daughter’s lunchbox.

He’s caring, picking you up after your shift to invite you to dinners and walks through the forest with Ara, because that little girl just loves walking in the fresh snow that has started to fall recently. She takes pictures of your footprints with Yoongi’s phone and makes him promise to print it for her to hang up.

“Of course I can, Ara. You’re already wearing your sleeping clothes and you’ve brushed your teeth with Appa, so hurry up and pick out the book you want me to read!” 

Ara grows closer and closer to you, until that one day where you stay over the Min’s house for dinner, she asks you to bring her to bed.

“Can she, Appa? I want her to read my favorite bedtime story to me! Please, Y/N,” Ara looks up at you with a pout, her beautiful eyes-that remind you of Yoongi-sparkling with admiration. 

That girl really makes your heart melt, combined with the soft smile that Yoongi gives you. And suddenly, you feel like you’re meant to be here, helping that man that you’ve grown so close to, helping the girl that lost her mother way too early and maybe even helping yourself with accepting that love really comes unexpectedly.

You gently tuck the soft blanket over Ara and place her favorite stuffie next to her as you smile at the girl fondly. "Sleep well, Ara," you whisper quietly, trying not to wake her up.

"Kissies, please," she mumbles sleepily and makes grabby hands towards you.

"Ara, I-" "Please," she whines and opens her eyes, tears starting to build up.

"Okay, it's okay, Ara." You swipe her hair out of her face before you plant a soft little kiss onto the girl's forehead. "Good night, sweetheart."

"Good night, Y/N. Will you be there tomorrow morning?"

Your smile fades, unsure if you really want to tell the little girl the truth. 

"Probably not, I have to get ready for work. You know that I love to wear dresses on Thursdays and I didn't bring mine. But we will see each other in the kindergarten!"

"Okay," she whispers before she falls back into a quiet slumber.

Yoongi has cleaned the kitchen in the meantime and poured more wine for the both of you to enjoy in front of the fireplace.

"She really adores you," he says as you sit down next to him, sipping the rosé Yoongi bought just for you.

"And I adore her. She's an angel. Thank you for allowing me to spend so much time with her, Yoon."

Yoongi blushes again, shaking his head. The greyish blonde hair got messier as the evening passed. "No, Y/N. You're the first mother-figure Ara has, I have to thank you in both mine and Ara's name. I know that dating a single father is a lot, but you're accepting my family so well… I never thought I'd find another woman in my life again. Ever since my wife died, it was hard for me to even look at other women, let alone build up something like a relationship with them because I always felt bad. But that's what she would have wanted for me. To love again, to not waste my last handsome days," his lips curl into a smirk before he shakes again. 

Then, his sharp eyes met yours and soften within seconds. 

"I… I don't know if it's the right time, we've known each other for two years, we've been officially dating for only three weeks, but I think I won't change my mind about it-no I know that I won't change my mind. I love you, Y/N. And I know that Ara loves you too."

You gasp, lips beginning to tremble once your eyes meet Yoongi's. "Yoongi…," you whisper before you place your glass on the table and basically jump onto his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck. 

"I wanted to be the one to tell you first. I love you so much, Yoongi. I've had this stupid crush on you ever since you saw me in that wet dress, ever since you've shown me your music. Ever since I've seen you being the wonderful father you are-and that's so sexy, you can't even imagine."

Yoongi smirks as his hands find their place on the curve of your ass. "Sexy, huh? Me, doing the laundry and cooking dinner? Or me walking Ara to kindergarten with the homemade lunch boxes? That turns you on?"

You laugh, hiding your face in his neck as you lean closer to press your lips against his ear.

"All of that-and the way that you love Ara with all your heart, that's maybe the sexiest thing about you."

The man groans as he grabs you even tighter. "I never thought that sweet talk would turn me on even more than dirty talk," he laughs shakily as he wiggles his hips slightly to get into a more comfortable position that won't suffocate his hardening erection.

You sigh, sit up and run your hands through his hair. "Isn't all of this too early? I always tell myself that I shouldn't fall so fast, but here I am, ready to go every step with you."

Yoongi nods before he presses a peck on your nose. "Same, but we have all the time on earth. Ara wants us to get married by tomorrow, but I'm sure she'll survive it if we decide to postpone it for a few weeks."

You giggle as you look over your shoulder to the fireplace. "Did someone ever suck you off in front of a fireplace? Isn't this the definition of Christmas?"

The man underneath you gasps in shock. "No, but… I mean, I… You don't… have to?"

Laughing, you slide out of his lap and onto the floor, thankful for the soft carpet. "I want to, bubs. I wouldn't do something either of us isn't comfortable with. I assume you're alright with it?"

"Of course, but… I guess nobody ever did it because they wanted to, but because they feel like they had to?"

You raise an eyebrow at him, obviously disappointed in his previous partners. 

"It's as much fun and pleasure for me as it is for you, believe me, Yoon. Now lay back and enjoy, yeah?" You give him a calming smile as you open his pants carefully, then sliding them down his toned legs.

You press kisses all around his thighs to warm him up to the feeling, knowing that it has to be overwhelming to have some that close after all that time. Then, you gently remove his boxer shorts as well, leaving him bare and proud in front of you.

You groan as you start to stroke his cock, earning a low growl from Yoongi. "So beautiful," you whisper, then you take him into your mouth, getting a feeling for the weight on your tongue before you start bopping your head. 

Yoongi tries to contain himself, knowing that Ara could wake up every second, but alone the sight in front of him could make him come with a scream.

Instead, he cups your cheek, feeling the bulge that he causes there. Another groan leaves his lips. 

You look up at him, smirking-or trying to, with a mouth full of cock-and leading his hand into your hair, using it to push you down even more.

Yoongi's eyes lighten up. "Really?"

You almost laugh out, but you're doing your best to contain yourself and nod, placing your hands on his thighs to stop whenever you can't take it anymore. Yoongi is long and thicker than the average you've had before, but it's a challenge that's worth it.

He pushes you down slowly, enjoying the hot warmth of your mouth and then your throat as he pushes in-surprised that you didn't really gag around him.

Spit trickles down your chin as he moves faster, thrusting his hips to meet the movements of his hand and enjoying the gurgling sounds you make.

He comes far to quick for his own liking, shooting his load down your throat with a quiet groan. "Fuck."

You giggle as you swallow what he gives you, standing up to sit back on his lap to kiss him.

"You're welcome." 

Then, before you can grab your wine again, he flips you around and goes on his knees in front of you. "My turn," he smirks, eyes shining dangerously behind his fringe. 

"Yoongi, I-," you try to say, but he shushes you with a sloppy kiss.

"I know that I have to, but believe me: I love giving pleasure more than receiving it."

You pout, hands running through his soft hair.

"I didn't shave…," you whisper, a bit ashamed because you didn't come prepared, not thinking that this would be happening today.

The man in front of you raises an eyebrow.

"Do you think I am a 15 year old, pre puberty fuckboy that cares about shaved pussies? It's natural, love. Even if you can't believe it: I grow hair too, nobody is freshly shaved every day. I don't mind that, okay? Now, stop pouting and let me do my work, will you? Can you be a good girl and do that for me? All you've got to do is lean back, open your legs, throw them around my shoulders and let me devour you."

His shameless words turn you on, you can't even deny it-especially not when your panties are that damp. So, you naturally obey and help him to remove your pants.

"I told you, peach is your color," Yoongi groans in his deep Satoori as he looks at your clothed core. The peach colored lace has darkened from your arousal and the man can't help it but press his face against the material, licking one bold stripe over it.

Nobody has ever done that to you, rather pulled them off in a hurry because they thought that body fluids were disgusting, but Yoongi didn't seem to mind as he gently bites your folds through the lace. 

"God," you moan in pleasure as Yoongi finally pulls your panties to the side and spits onto your pussy, making it even wetter.

You're a whimpering mess as soon as Yoongi's tongue is on you, flicking and playing with your clit, collecting your juices and spreading them all over your pussy. You've read about that before; men eating pussy like they're starving, but Yoongi is somewhat different.

He eats pussy like he wants you to always remind it, to make you obedient and never being able to enjoy anyone else doing that job.

He does it well-of course. His tongue is as fast as he's been spitting rhymes on his mixtape, and you're more than thankful for that.

He doesn't even get to use his fingers before your orgasm approaches you, strong waves of pleasure hitting you as Yoongi keeps on kissing and slowly licking you through your high.

Then, he grins at you. "Round two, here we go."

And this time, it's not only his tongue working wonders, but also his fingers stroking you on the inside until they found your spot. 

You press your hands on your mouth to keep yourself from screaming out loud, hips bucking wildly as you come for a second time within less than ten minutes. And again, Yoongi guides you through it and softly caresses your stomach.

"Fuck, I love you," you pant as he comes back up and steals a kiss from you.

"I can't wait to have you in my bed properly," he whispers and takes a large sip from his wine. 

You can only agree.

You've started to spend the nights at Yoongi's more often, bringing Ara to work with you and helping Yoongi with her and the household whenever you can. Your relationship blooms beautifully and Ara is the happiest little bean when you're around.

Obviously, you spent Christmas with Yoongi and Ara as well, buying little presents and enjoying the comfortable atmosphere with the family.

Yoongi gave you a spare key to his house, so you're always able to visit them, spending the nights there and soon enough, you moved in.

❄❄❄❄

The Christmas after that, you surprised Ara with the adoption papers, telling her that now that she's in school and not one of your kindergarten kids anymore, she'll be able to finally call you Mommy (not that Ara minded before, you just felt weird and guilty about it).

And here you are now, preparing the huge breakfast for your third Christmas around, smiling at the ring that adorns your finger. 

"Smells fabulous, Mama," Ara says as she runs towards you and falls into your arms.

"Do you want me to help you with dessert, Mrs Min?" Yoongi asks as he presses a kiss onto your cheeks. You lean into his touch, shaking your head. "It's almost done. You can go into the living room, I'll be there in a minute to open our presents, bubs."

Yoongi prepares the fireplace, lightens some candles with Ara and lets his daughter hand out the presents. 

"I have one more for you, Yoon," you whisper as you hand him a small box.

"Oh? Can I open this first?" He tilts his head curiously, shaking the light box.

"Open!" Ara squeaks and sits down between her father and you. You nod with a fond smile as Yoongi lifts the top. Then, silence.

"Really?" He whispers with teary eyes.

"Yes, finally," you smile, "Ara, you'll become a big sister!"

Yoongi sniffs, hugging his family tight.

"And she'll be the best sister in the world. Merry Christmas, loves."

[rotshop]

*slams into your inbox* I just read through mag reader and Deimos headcanons again and I love it. I would def be interested in seeing more! (Also are you sure you don’t wanna hold his hand? Even just a little?) -Echo

gonna do a funney little mix of ideas here ,,,,, lol ,,,,,,,, also yes i am sure <333 i go 'hey check out this funny fish' and then i hold his head underwater.

[ tw brief, light violence, body horror and gore / blood ]

context

auditor + mag s/o ;

-OK OK HEAR ME OUT .

-you weren't originally an aahw project. while they're definitely the biggest company of sorts around there's still a few others that are like them but not exactly them hanging around nevada. you happened to be in some facility they decided to raid due to them having some possibly useful information regarding the anti-aahw . she's definitely a little less than enthused to get a call from her agents that she should come check this out but ,, when she lays her eyes on u that immediately melts away

-he's VERY very curious about you. keeps you close which is kind of nice bc it means you're treated pretty well but also it means a lot of being watched. audi just has like. a habit of unconsciously ''''''''studying'''''''' you. they're always noting little behaviors of yours down mentally and asking you little questions abut how you came to be and what abilities you hold.

-believe it or not he actually DOESN'T want you in fights. she knows you're incredibly capable but the thought of you getting too involved in a bunch of clawing and tearing again makes her get uneasy. she just prefers for you to stay by her side, with the excuse that you're a body guard of sorts for her (you aren't, she's got several other, more disposable mags that serve that role just fine.).

-HOWEVER. there is one time where he doesn't get an option in that. a few contractees and dissenters attempted a raid on the base audi was at, hoping to try and get some sort of bargaining chip to make deal with. before they can even really attempt to try and land some sort of hit on them you're already pouncing on the nearest grunt, blood already spurting and painting the walls red in mere seconds of your arrival. it honest to god shocks her into stillness, her just watching motionlessly the entire time, only really moving once to dodge some limb you'd mindlessly thrown her way after tearing it from its socket. WHILE SHE IS IMPRESSED ,,, she still scolds you a little for being reckless while trying to scrub the blood off of you with a wet rag, huffing that 'you could've gotten seriously hurt' if you were any less careful >:/

-however he does do the thng where he like. cups both sides of your face and then presses his forehead against yours. you have to lean down a lot for him to do so but still. sighs a little while brushing his thumb under your eyes and tells you to be more careful from now on.

-auditor is not immune to favoritism and it shows. someone brings it up (shakily, of course) and she just shrugs and goes 'idk what you're talking abt' while petting you who's got your head on her lap. said person promptly gets 'dismissed' after.

-hates whenever anyone tries to put some kind of muzzle on you, even if its just for the jaw dislocation thingy it still makes him go kind of '>:|' . he'll let them for like. a day at MOST (unless you keep trying to get it off, then chances are he's just gonna take it off for you. nobody really bothers asking / trying to get it back on you bc he just sends them a sharp little glare before they even can. if you REALLY need it that bad then he might try and convince you to keep it on a little longer or otherwise take your mind of it, he still feels really bad about it tho . )

sanford + mag s/o ;

- :)

-you two knew each other before he dissented / you became a mag. worked pretty close together and were just close in general !! you didn't know dei super super well since he worked in a different area but you two met a few times and hit it off pretty well.

-anyway ! he doesn't take your magnification well. at all. the first few times he saw you after it were the worst, mostly because those few times were primarily because you were lashing out at agents for one reason or another (mostly maltreatment from guards / people being shitty in general) . for the first while its so obvious that you're just exhausted from what's happened to your body that was NOT meant to become this, that you're tired and on edge from not being allowed any real rest. it makes him feel fucking terrible to see how awful of a state you're in and know that there's next to nothing he can really do to help.

-it especially hits him when he notices the other little changes. there's some specific moment where he's holding onto you far too tightly, clutching at the back of your jacket while he does his best to keep composed. you always had this habit of giving a half jokey hum of some stupid little joke or even just a 'what's wrong, big guy?' whenever he seemed off or tense, he can't help but make note of the lack of real response from you in the moment other than you wrapping your arms around him as well. another time, maybe he tries to make some little inside joke after something reminded him of it, looking back at you with a little smile. it hits him with a special punch to the gut when he notices your confusion, you just can't recognize it. you don't remember it anymore. you don't remember a lot of your old self or interactions anymore.

-you two end up getting split up at one point or another. orginally, he'd planned to run away with you and deimos buut,,, one way or another, you weren't really able to get out. he goes looking for you a bunch but eventually he has to stop when it gets to be too much and he can't find any real sign of you, he's quiet for a long time after it.

-HOWEVER . he does eventually find you in some abandoned warehouse him and the others had planned to look for supplies in. the entire time he's in there he keeps hearing sounds he thinks are just dei or hank but every time he asks or comments on it they just give him a look of confusion or a little 'what are you talking about?' it puts him really on edge, it's worse when he's in one of the further corners, digging through a few boxes and desperately trying to ignore how much it feels like someones there. anyway umm lol its just you ,,,, ehe . it takes him a solid minute to process that its you but as soon as it clicks he's yelling your name and running up to hug you. doesn't even stop to think that you could totally tear him a new one right then and there he's just too happy to see you. dei and hank both come rushing over after hearing him, dei recognizes you too and is just kinda 'oh hey !! friend !! :D' while hank stands there and just kinda stares.

-is able to take you back to base without too much argument from the others. he does his best to fill you in on everything that's happened in hopes you'll explained what happened on your part too. even if you don't he can't be too upset since he's just too gd happy to see you again ,,,, chances are you stick around him a lot . deimos is nice but u don't remember him super well and hank makes you uneasy lmao . its ok he thinks its funny though, just laughs a little whenever you stand in his doorway in silence until he notices you :)

[with-the-same-tattoos]

Okay wait what do you think the slashers would be like at college?

AHAH allright uh....... ive not been to the traditional kinda college personally, I've been and am currenly in a vocational college, so I'm not totally sure how accurate I can be w this but!!  ; v ; honestly????? Student life slasher au hcs???????? Lets go?????? Here's the ones I could think of currently, feel free to ask abt others /send me opinions abt yalls own >:0

Brahms Heelshire

Literature major. English lit? Dunno if they get seperated, I feel like I've heard that in a sentence somewhere!!

Doesn't really have a clear aim for what he wants to do after gratuation. Like, doesn't really care all that much.

However, he is actually really passionate about school and studying. Student life fits him well. He loves learning, etc, and likes to get good grades.

The routine works well for him too. At least, partly. He's a bit bad at taking care of himself, because he just puts a bit too much focus into studying instead of cleaning, showering, eating well, etc.

He really is just a massive tall guy who appears at classes wearing half pajamas and kinda smelling musky but not bad. He never speaks during class but he really, REALLY looks like he wants to "well, actually-"

Gets flustered easily by his thoughts/opinions being challenged. Not good at debating his thoughts w other people, feels personally attacked, and wants to always be swooned over.

Doesn't really talk to people. Stares, however. Like, a lot. At boys n gals.

He has like a p nice apt, payed for by his parents, nat. Its messy. Not too bad, but a lot of pizza boxes. N som nasty mags n such. Kinda empty.

Bubba Sawyer

What if..... the Sawyer family decided to farm instead of murder? Hmm....

Agriculture in vocational college mayhaps??? Economics, mechanization, kinda the technical stuff at first- but he gets interested in the sustainability, politics, etc the further he gets!

A bit of a chaotic student. Tries REALLY hard and is very passionate and spends a lot of time on schoolwork, extra reading etc. But he struggles w organizing papers, files, looses a lot of his notes and pens, etc.

He's always helpful, and like, eeeveryone likes him bc he's just so nice??? Bumbling lad but if u need a pen he will borrow u one, if u need help w schoolwork u should ask Bubba, also just super fun to hang out w !!!

He's... hes big yeah and kinda noticable, he often kinda knees himself on things and rattles tables, drops things etc, so he might be a bit distracting to students who struggle w attention :(

Chop Top Sawyer

ART MAJOR CHOP TOP BAYBEE

YOU KNOW WHAT I AM SAYING. ART MAJOR CHOP TOP BEING SO WONDERFUL AND CUTE N JUST CREATING AND VIBING.

Nobody really gets his art. Its kinda grandiose, chaotic, colorful, kinda painful to look at, but he's so full of enthusiasm and joy and he's so nice to everyone that u can't help but to love him.

Always wearing clunky headphones and jamming to loud music that can be heard very strongly thru the headphones. But like, its all bops so nobody minds all that much?

Im guessing this is like BOBBY, not chop top, technically? Long hair Bobby in college with the weed bunts and rocking music.

Actually has like a lot to say thru art, the world just isnt ready for it yet.

Also does performance art.

Jason Voorhees

Forestry. Duh.

Good good student, good kid, solid person. A little shy and withdrawn, but, RELIABLE.

Generally interested in natural resources, sustainability, and very into wildlife studies. Is just there to stUDY HOW TO PROTECT NATURE.

Can kinda come off as scary, pretty often. Tall, muscular as hell (he works out rly often and hikes), has kinda lumberjack kinda look going on w durable pants, boots, flannels and tanktops. Looks like he could fuck shit up but if u spend just a little time w him u find out that he's just... so soft

Not like the most upbeat, gets kinda nervous in big people groups. Probs had some experience w bullying as a kid in school. The enviroment he's in now is much more mature, tho.

Also he's like 6"6 pure muscle people r not gonna mess w him anymore.

Also the reason why the dorm area around him is so fucking chill.

He has 2 knock like once on ur door and stare u down for 5 sec and if ur partying too loud and u WILL NOT BE PARTYING TOO LOUD ANYMORE.

People r scared of him but also love him

Imagine being his wimpy small roommate tho ; v ; who he's in love w and all n uhh... yeah....

[orange-waterfalls]

Hugs From The Captain!

Captain Magnum x gn!reader

A/N: hi. it's me. i'm not dead! which is an awful surprise considering the amount of people who WROTE MY OBITUARY yesterday, PREEMPTIVELY in case I did die. but i didn't! so suck on that.(yes this is a markiplier quote no I do not remember what video) anyways here's a soft Magnum fic with a lil angst. as a treat. after fucking MONTHS. I have been kind of experimenting? with like more banter or realistic type of dialogue. just like. lemme know if u think it's good. Rated T for cursing. Fluff and sort of angst. Uhhhh tw: self-doubt, tw: guns, tw: alcohol, tw: drugs. Reader doesn't like. Use guns. Or drink. Or do drugs. Uhhhh I think that's it enjoy!!!

Word Count: 2.8k

Hugs From The Captain!

---

“Good job, matey!” Magnum yells out when you drop a large sack of coins on the ground. You breathe heavily and your arms are shaking, but by God you carried that shit onto the ship. In the middle of a gunfight, no less!

You don't respond, preferring to hit the deck as bullets continue to fly. You cover your ears with your hands and squeeze your eyes shut tight. No matter how long you'd be on this ship, you were sure you'd never get used to this part. You don't know how long you were on the floor, but when you looked again, two other crewmates were on the floor as well and it was silent. You scramble to your feet and look around, sighing when you notice the other ship sailing away.

"Good job, Y/N!" One of your mates says loudly, still on their stomach on the floor. Ah, yes. Gunshots. Ringing in the ears. Love it.

“Thank--!” You’re cut off with a squeak as Magnum squeezes you in a giant bear hug.

“Aw, you’re doin’ fantastic! That was wonderful! I never thought I’d have such a great first mate!” He turns to another crewmate. “...no offense”

“Some taken…” he sighs and rests his cheek in his hand.

"Mag-" you can't finish before you wheeze a breath out, and the captain takes that as a sign he should put you down. He does, holding your shoulders as you sway, and brushes you off a bit.

"Apologies… I get a bit excited," he flushes.

"You're-" you clear your throat, "you're fine."

"Anywho, let's all celebrate tonight! I have some o' that fancy whiskey in me cabin!" He suggests.

"Fancy?" You croak.

"Ya know. Fancy! The bottle actually has a label on it!"

"Right… uh, sure. We can do that. Ok."

"Fantastic!" He reaches out for another hug but freezes when you flinch away. He plays it off by grabbing a rope and telling the crew what to do.

You sigh in relief. You love the guy, you do, but goddamn he is strong. Sometimes a hug is a bit too forceful. You were sure he's cracked a rib before.

You stand next to him, waiting for him to let you know what you can do, but he just smiles and sets a hand on your head.

"Ye were wonderful today. Yer arms must be tired. Ye should go rest," He explains.

"What? No, I'm fine!" You put your hands on your hips. He squints at your arms, and you look down and notice they're shaking. You let them drop.

"Mm. Go rest," he instructs and you cross your arms before sulking away to your room.

--

You lay on your bed completely still. You'd been in this position for the past 4 hours. It had gotten dark and you were sure you missed dinner.

Ok, fine, your arms hurt before.

But now you couldn't feel your body at all. Everything was completely numb. Maybe carrying a giant bag of gold coins that was nearly the same size as you wasn't the best idea.

You hear the door creak and your heartbeat speeds up but you literally do not move a single muscle.

"Mate? Y'alright?" Magnum asks. You groan in response. That was supposed to be a "yeah". He walks over to your bed and you manage to move your neck a bit to look up at him.

"I have a feelin' yer bein' dramatic." He chuckles, a deep sound that echoes through your room.

"How dare you," You whisper, your throat hoarse.

"It can't be that bad."

"Not everyone is a seven foot tall mass of muscle."

"There's a bit I'm pudge in here too, don't worry."

"Whatever."

"We're celebratin'. Ye wanna come or are ye gonna lay here for another 6 hours?"

So it was 6, not 4.

"Magnum, boss, cap, mate, I don't think I can fucking move, much less dance with you people." Because whenever there's drinking, there will be dancing. You've been here long enough to know that is a fact.

"Here, I have an idea."

"Wha--" He lifts you up like you weigh nothing and you feel your face heat up a bit. He pulls you into a bone crushing hug. Literally. You hear and feel your back crack in several places. He drops you onto your feet and, again, you sway a bit, and again, he steadies you. You stretch your limbs, sighing.

"Uh… thanks. Still don't think I can dance, though..." You scuff the floor with the toe of your boot.

"Eh, thas alright. Ye can sing, can't ye? Ye know a few shanties?" He asks.

"... a few…" You say with a smile.

"Good! I'm sure they'll love to hear ye," He gently sets a hand on your shoulder. He sets it gently on purpose. You know because he was about to slam it down with a force that would probably dislocate your shoulder, but stopped a few centimeters away and made sure to let it down soft.

"Mm. We going now?" You pat the hand on your shoulder.

"If ye want."

"Bet. Let's go."

--

After an hour or so, you had exhausted your voice and all the shanties you knew. Magnum was right, the other crewmates were very excited to hear you sing. They even chanted beforehand. As soon as they recognized the songs they joined in they joined in. They started dancing after a while, too.

You're sitting by a light in the corner, sipping your drink. They're having a lot of fun, and you can't help but smile. You feel… safety. Comfort. Affection. Love.

You love these people. This is your family. This is a group of people who you might have never known if your life had gone just a bit differently. You thanked whatever being is out there in the universe for giving you this… family. This feeling of pure joy.

You hear loud creaking towards you as Magnum approaches. You tilt your head back to look up at him behind you.

"Oi. Ye alright?" He inquires in a voice much quieter than you're used to.

"Yeah, I'm good," You say, matching his volume.

"Ye were actin' like we were goin' ta haveta saw yer arms off," He teases.

"I thought you were!" You defend jokingly.

"I'da been the one to do it."

"Woulda given me a cup of beer and said 'it's basically an anaesthetic'."

"Well, of ye drink enough…" you both chuckle. You look down at your drink and swish it around in your cup a little. You can feel him staring at you and it starts to make you uncomfortable.

"What is it?" You snap a bit on accident. He frowns. "Sorry…"

"Ye sure yer alright?" You groan loudly in annoyance.

"Yes! I am absolutely sure, 100%--"

"Tell me and I'll buy ye a treat next time we get to shore." You both stare at each other for a moment. Your arms are in midair since you were cut off from your dramatics. He had an eyebrow raised and was looking at you suspiciously. You drop your hands onto the table.

"I feel useless." You say bluntly.

"Wha? Why? Did someone say somethin'? I'll shoot them out o' me cannon right now!" Magnum panics.

"See, this is why I didn't want to tell you!" You sigh and fall back in your chair.

"Wha d' ye mean?" He furrows his eyebrows.

"There's no… nobody said anything, I just… I got a bag. One bag!"

"Aye! An' that was very--"

"Mags, they each got at least two. Some even had three. You got seven. Plus a chest."

"Ok, so we're a little… little stronger than ye, what about it?"

"I'm not… useful to you! I'm not as strong, I'm not good in a gunfight, I can barely talk my way out of anything--"

"Ye talked John out of his potatoes."

"I thought his name was Jack?"

"Eh, he-he never corrects anyone. I called him James the other day and nothin'."

"Huh. But that doesn't count. I know him."

"Ye are useful, and even if ye weren't, yer a valuable… valuable? Yea, valuable member of this crew. I haven't seen 'em dance this much in months. I haven't smiled this much in months. Ye are a very important part of me ship. Crew. Me crew."

"...Mags, are you drunk?"

"Not the point. Wha I'm sayin' is we love ye and now we're attached and ye can never leave."

"Ah, I see. C'mon. Bedtime," You stood up and walked over to Magnum, putting a gentle hand on his arm. He squints at it.

"No," He looks up at you.

"Mags…" You warn.

"No," He crosses his arms and leans back.

"Magnum," You cross your arms. Is he really doing this right now?

"Call me captain," He smiles brightly.

"...I'm not doing that," You can't help but smile back.

"Please?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Why do you want me to?"

"I like it."

"Ok, Mr. authority complex."

"Stop psychoal… psychoan… psy--"

"Psychoanalyzing."

"Yeah that."

"Only if you get to bed."

"...bah."

"Bah, yourself. Stand up."

"I'm a lil tipsy, it's fine." He says, swaying a little. You put your hand back on his arm and he stares at it as you lead him to his cabin.

"You'll thank me in the morning when everyone has a pounding hangover and you just have a headache." You pat his arm.

"Mm. Mate?" He asks, still staring at your hand.

"Yeah, Mags?" You open his door and let him walk in. He looks at you standing in the doorway with this… weirdly soft look on his face.

"...I love ye." He whispers. Ok, that was way too quiet and a very uncharacteristic thing to say.

"Love you too. You're drunk." You repeat.

"I know. I still love ye."

"Thank you. Go to sleep."

"Cuddle?"

"No, you smell like whiskey."

"Please?"

"No. Love you. Go to sleep."

"G'night."

"Night."

--

"Morning, everyone." You smile over your cup at the tired and annoyed faces that walk through the door. Some mumble a "good morning" back, some only give you a wave, some straight up ignore you. Magnum walks in, visibly doing better than the others, and makes his way to you.

"Uh…" He scratches his beard.

"Hm. Let me guess…" you tap your chin with a finger and raise your eyebrows.

"...thank you." He sighs.

"Called it," You tilt your seat back and put your feet on the table.

"Yeah, yeah…" He grumbles.

“Sleep well?” You sip your drink.

“Eh… yeah…” He says after a couple seconds.

“That’s a hesitation I hear,” You raise an eyebrow.

“Mm… dream was a… a little bad…” He sits in a chair across from you.

“Bad? Bad how?” You tilt your head, and the look he gives you isn’t a very good one.

“Eh, jus’… jus’… mm…”

“Don’t wanna talk?”

“Not… really…”

“Ok. Coffee?”

"Aye." You stand up and get another cup of coffee with a little bit of sugar and some whiskey and hand it to him.

"... sugar 'n whiskey…" he says, surprised for some reason.

"Yeah. You like it that way, right?" You ask, worried you'd gotten it wrong.

"Aye, aye I do…"

"...is something wrong?"

"...no. Nothin'."

"You… sure?"

"Aye."

"Ok… I'm gonna… go see if the others want anything." He nods as you walk away.

That was. Very weird.

You shake your head and walked up to John. James. Whatever.

"Mornin'... Joseph." You say experimentally.

"Mornin', Y/N." He smiles. So, he just answers to anything. Great.

"Need anything? Coffee? Food? Drugs?"

"Why would we need drugs?" Another mate asks.

"For your hangovers, duh." You clap your hand on Jim's (Jake's?) shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll spike your drinks." They all thank you at different energy levels as you leave to get their individual cups of coffee. You feel someone staring at you and turn to see Magnum gazing at you from his seat. He clears his throat and turns away once you see him. You sigh and distribute the cups among the crewmembers. One of them stares at you as you hand them a cup.

"What?" You ask defensively.

"He's in love with you." She comments.

"Yeah, I know…" you sigh and sit down at her table.

"You know? What do you mean you know?!"

"I mean, I know!"

"Do you like him back?"

"That's a difficult question."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I love him a lot but he's a greedy bastard with an authority complex and he hugs way too hard."

"The hugs are not that bad." You give her a look. "Ok, yeah, they are."

"Uh-huh."

"You could… teach him how to hug and see where that gets you?"

"I think I'd hurt his feelings if I suggested that."

"Then just… hug him!"

"What? No!" You whisper-shout to get your point across but also make sure Magnum doesn't hear you.

"Why not?!" She whisper-shouts back.

"That's… weird! I don't give hugs! Hugs are not a thing I give! I get hugs I do not give them!" You both stare at each other for a minute.

"You're touch starved," she raises an eyebrow.

"No shit, so is he."

"One hug! That's it!"

"I refuse."

"I'm sure it'll make him happy!" You pause, thinking about it. He did seem a little upset when you flinched at him. You glared at the pirate and she gave you a shit-eating grin back. She knew what she was doing. Fuck.

"One hug." You hold up your finger to emphasize the point.

"That's all I ask." You point at her and stand up from your seat. You walk over to Magnum. He looks up at you, eyes widening for a moment.

"First mate." He nods.

"Captain," You nod back, "Can we talk?"

"...uh."

"Just real quick? Somewhere private?"

"Uhhhh."

"Magnum."

"Ok. Yea, we can… do that." You nod and began walking towards his cabin. After a couple steps you realize he's not following you and turn around. There he is, sitting at his table.

"Mags?"

"Hm? Oh! Comin'."

He makes his way over to you and enters his cabin. You enter afterwards, shutting the door behind you. You look at him, this 7-and-a-half foot giant of a man, fidgeting. Nervous. You squint at him. How are you gonna go about this?

"You hug too hard." You state. He frowns and drops his hands to his sides.

"Oh…" He says, sounding disappointed. Fuck hurting his feelings, he was gonna hurt your organs, goddamn.

"You need… you gotta be softer. More-More gentle. Like… like, uh…"

"I'm not sure I can--"

"Here, lemme-just…" you shuffle over to him and wrap your arms around his torso. You feel him tense up under your touch. You lay your cheek on him and just squeeze your arms a little. You can't reach all the way around, but it seems to be working pretty well for what you can do. His arms are just frozen in the air, and he keeps moving them just a little, like he wants to hug you back but can't. You inhale a little and smell gunpowder, wood, and coffee. It's a comforting smell, mostly because it's just his, and you can't help but squeeze a little tighter and nuzzle into him. His breath hitches and his heartbeat speeds up. You grin.

You're fucking with him. Not on purpose, but it's happening.

You finally pull away after a few minutes, giving one final squeeze to his midsection before finally stepping back. You look up at him, an innocent smile on your face. He just stares down at you, a blush on his face. His eyes are a little foggy, and you start to get a little worried. Maybe that was… too much, too fast.

"Mags? You okay?" You whispered. He seems to snap out of whatever trance he's in at that because he sucks in a breath and drops his arms.

"Aye! I'm alright! I'm going to uh… go now!" He announces loudly and stomps out of his cabin.

You chuckle as you watch him walk robotically over to the front of the ship, almost tripping over himself and yelling at anyone who laughed. You sigh, shaking your head and sitting on his bed.

You'd wait until he told you about his feelings. You'd wait until he was ready. You could do that... You could do that.

You look out the door again, seeing the crew all working, and him just standing at the wheel. He has a dopey, crooked smile on his face and his hands keep twitching like he can't contain himself. He catches your eye and looks at you. You stick your tongue out and scrunch up your face. He smiles wider and it looks like he chuckles. He looks away, embarrassed. You smile again before standing up and leaving his cabin, planning to ask what you can help with.

Hugs are good enough for now.

[literateleah]

hi leah 🥰 i was wondering if u have any posts about getting your work published? i’m a hobbyist writer with interests in journalism but i have no clue where to begin, and i think you’ve mentioned getting some stuff published..? if not sorry lol feel free to ignore this ask entirely

no problem at all!! well there’s some things i obv can’t say for privacy but i can just speak to my personal journey so far

- i met a friend working with a multimedia and journalism outlet looking for new freelance writers on a monthly contract and stipend. this kinda defeats the definition of freelance here but it had to do with more of freedom when it comes to picking or generating our assignments.

- i write 8-10 articles a month for a stipend and full rights to my work, and this often includes specialized reviews or covering events i attend. as y’all know, reviews and literature content are kind of my specialty so i write a lot of that

- i’ve done this since aug 2020 and it’s honestly opened so many doors! i’ve gotten to interview public figures, do live coverage of sports events, community enrichment and conferences and a lot of other stuff because my boss knows she can depend on me to write a good story

- i also have written on my school newspaper both in hs and college now which counts as publishing! and there are often many student awards and contests you can enter for as well

- with that said, you don’t have to be contracted to a particular magazine or paper to write! if you’re truly freelance which it sounds like u are, you can sell your stories to outlets who seem like they may want to publish them. this process i’m less familiar with but it’s basically a lot of trial and error. and editing. and begging

- or, if you’d like to remain completely independent you could always try substack or medium or something like i did! i’m adding to my portfolio and down the road i can monetize it if i want, and nobody tells me what or when to write. this is good for my self discipline and exploring the things i feel i should write

- as far as creative nonfiction or prose or poetry all that jazz, i’ve also submitted to student contests and lit mags to get published there! those are often free, and there are TONS out there just waiting for ur talent especially if you’re a student. i think i rbed a post with links to open submissions but i’ll try and find it for u again too. you never know what medium your skills might be suited to, so give it a try!

honestly it’s a combination of what u want to write and who wants to publish it, and trying to find a good match and relationship that allows you to do the former. whether that’s as a part time staff reporter or freelancer, wishing you the best of luck!

[mmmmmmygodstopfuckinlying]

Part2

The next dayyyy.

Class started but Rena and Satoshi were nowhere to be seen. Keiichi had already ran through the halls looking for them. Satoshi was probably mad because he forgot about his homework but he had unlocked some new secrets in Mario. He planned to impress Satoshi with them but whatever he guessed.

-they are outside in the woods-

“Soooo Shion had sum makeup in her bag. That’s for u…keiichi has a Bruce Springsteen cd…ewww no thanks!!! Rika had a flask…that’s ours now…mion had some Pizza Hut coupons…lol guess we’re getting a pizza later”

Satoshi had ransacked everyone’s bags and he and Rena emptied their bags to so that it looked like they were also victims. “Omg we have to blame this on satoko”

“Oh also I took all the money as well so we can get some of those clothes at the mall we wer looking at.” Satoshi saw the kewlest sweatshirt. It was from the gap but it was like blue n purple. But it was like 50 bucks. “Girl wait I have an idea. I’m saving the money for something else I know how I can get that sweatshirt”

——later—-

They went back 2 Satoshis house again. Satoko wasn’t home so they went thru her room and looked at her diary: “Dear diary my brother is sooooo mean to me. He is a bully!!!!” Bla bla bla. Lol honestly teppei sucked n deserved to die n so did his aunt. But sometimes he agreed w them n their choices.

“Omg tomorrow we HAVE to bring this to school and like leave it in someone’s desk. It would be funny I think” Rena said

Just then the phone wrang. “Who is this.”

“Hey it’s me Keiichi! Wat r u doing right now?”

He held the phone away from his face. “Rena it’s Keiichi should I tell him to meet me at the mall” and they laughed.

“Hey I couldn’t hear u what did u say?”

“Nothing. What do u want.”

“I was wondering if I could come over n we could play Mario I have 2 show you something”

He held the phone so he and Rena could both hear it. “Yea do ur parents have any alcohol? Maybe u could being that. I’ll let u come over if u do”

“Well…maybe they’ll notice”

“Omg it’s literally not a big deal I used to do it to my uncle all the time. Just full it back with water so it looks like nobody took sum” he rolled his eyes

“Um well ok…I’ll see you soon then I guess”

“Yea don’t forget the alcohol see u later”

Satoshi hung up “We are gonna go get cross faded girl”

They went to his room and hot boxed. He had to to deal w keiichis ass.

30 mins later they heard a knock. Satoshi opened the door “Hey”

“Hey best friend!!! …Wats that smell”

“God you are such a goodie two shoes. Anyway where’s the alcohol” He grabbed it out of keiichis hand. “cool thanks. Come in”

Keiichi walked in and set up the famicom. “This tv is old I don’t even no if I can set this up”

“Are u calling me poor? R u?”

“Um no I didn’t say that. It’s retro that’s kewl”

Rena whispered to Satoshi “He is so dumb I swear to god” “Girl I know right”

“So Keiichi we were thinking of going to the mall tomorrow. Maybe you could come”

“Oh kewl kewl. Yea I’ll come the sports store had this kewl BB gun on sale that I wanted”

“Yeah the Gap had this kewl sweater…it was like 50 bucks tho…so…”

He stared at Keiichi expectantly. He knew he would look sooooo good in this sweater. He wanted to pair it with his acid washed boyfriend jeans n his converses he stole. He bought the jeans JUST so he could pair it with the sweater.

“Hmmm well we could go check it out I guess. Anyway who wants to play Mario”

Rena rolled her eyes “Who wants to fall asleep am I right” Satoshi hip bumped her “Who wants to order a pizza” she said staring at Keiichi

“Yea that sounds good to me guys. Why r u staring at me?”

“Well unfortunately whoever took our bags at school stole all my money so we r wondering if you could get it n we pay you back” Satoshi said blinking his eyelashes “Or do you not like me enough”

“Yeah cool cool. Okay that’s fine…thanks for letting me com over btw”

“Yeah ur welcome. Anyway Rena u gotta see the mag I got at the store today, Debbie gibson is in it” they sat at the table reading the magazine drinking keiichis alcohol.

“Cool I wanna join” Keiichi sat with them.

Satoshi sighed “Cool do u like debbie gibson? Sorry Bruce Springsteen isn’t in this magazine you wouldn’t like it. Anyway Rena this top is so cute, u would look soooo hot in it”

Keiichi tried to join in. “Yea you would look pretty in it. Did u guys catch last nites baseball game?”

“Ummm what kind of loser likes baseball” Satoshi rolled his eyes. Rena and Keiichi both looked at him. Satoshi went back to the magazine n read the astrology section. “My guys look what it says about Geminis this month. Apperantly I am going 2 get rich and get lots of money. Wow that would be nice”

“Wat does it say about Aries” Keiichi didn’t care about girly astrology but he wanted 2 look like he fit in

“It says this month u will feel charitable…hmm that’s nice of u.”

“Wow that’s kewl. Anyway what pizza do we want” they ordered the pizza. Satoshi and Rena started smoking weed again. “Guys what are u doing?” He looked shocked

“I guess what they say is true it’s hip to be square I guess” Rena said smoking the weed and passing it to Keiichi “I thought u wanted to fit in with us.”

“Um ok…”he tried to smoke but he coughed. “why would you wanna do this guys it doesn’t seem very fun”

They showed him how to smoke weed. If he was willing to smoke w them maybe he was a little Kooler than they thot. Keiichi smoked a lot and they thought it would b funny to just let him.

The door bell rang “Keiichi go get it”

It was SHION!!! “OMG what does that ugly ratchet dusty bitch want. Keiichi tell her we went to the mall. Tell her we waited for her but she never showed up n that I’m mad at her”

So he did. “Um why r u at Satoshis house by itself.”

He wanted to answer but he couldn’t think of anything to say “Ummmm well” he was so fucked up he didn’t know what to think “Well his plumbing was messed up so he wanted me 2 look at it for him”

“Whatever just let me in” she pushed her way in “Keiichi are u smoking weed? It’s like I don’t even know U!!!”

Then the pizza came! Keiichi took it

“Keiichi that’s a lot of pizza for just 1 person. Ur sooo high” she laughed at him mockingly “Keiichi why r u listening to Debbie gibson?”

“Ummmm well g2g. Sorry they are at the mall like I said I guess they waited for u”

He shut the door in her face

“Stupid bitch”

He took the pizzas to the other room “She’s so stupid I’m a little sick of her Tbh”

“Omg us too! She thinks she’s all that. Well newsflash…SHE ISNT!!!!” Rena said flipping her hair

“Watever guys let’s just play Mario I guess since Keiichi doesn’t want to have fun.”

They played Mario except Keiichi was so fucked up he couldn’t even play. He was just looking at the screen trying to figure out what path Mario needed to take to jump over the pipe.

“Keiichi what r u doing. U are sooo dumb. Okay let’s prank call people” Satoshi picked up the phone and called the irie clinic.

“Hi is this the irie clinic?”

“Hello yes this is! How can I help you?”

“Oh shit sorry I thought this was the nambla hotline” Satoshi hung up and he and Rena laughed their asses off

“ummm. What’s nambla” Keiichi asked and then laughed his ass off at himself since nobody else seemed to think he was funny

“Keiichi we have soooo much to teach u.” Rena said

They ate the pizza n watched tv. Well maybe Keiichi had friends after all…

[pinaasang-umasa]

Correct me if im wrong. Pakiramdam ko kasi ginagago ako ng ex ko. Sumabay siya sa pag lamig ng panahon. Pumunta ako sa kanila para ayusin yung relasyon namin. That very moment alam ko wala na. So, i ask him meron na bang iba? Kaya ka nan lalamig na? He said wala daw. Today nasa work ako. Nakita ko sa my day niya na may kasamang babae at sa tingin ko new gf niya iyon. Common friends nmn yung girl. Dun sa my day ng ex ko ay nasa National Museum sila. Eh nakita ko sa timeline ng girl na nag Nation Museum siya is May 2021 that month okay kame, okay pa kame? Bakit may mga lalaking mag two timer? Mag Cheat? Bakit ang bobo ng ibang lalaki?

halu, thank you for sharing this anon. wait, so ex na? so probably, you ended things with him or are u still hanging? minsan okay rin magtiwala sa intuition nating mga babae kasi minsan tama. (i repeat, minsan)

pero if that's the case and ikaw mismo nakakita ng proof na feel mo nagcheat siya sayo, i would prefer if you would ask him. final say lang, para mabawasan yung burden mo. minsan kasi mas okay kung nagtatanong tayo para matapos na, para malaman natin yung sagot. mas nakakastuck lang kasi lalo kung naiiwan lang sayo yung tanong na siya lang naman talaga yung makakasagot.

nobody deserves a cheater. u don't have to dwell on the fact na nasaktan ka, u need help yourself out. kaya mo yan, anon! i'm wishing u a happy heart and a peaceful mind. isang mahigpit na yakap!!! 😌❤

[normal-thoughts-official]

How do you think Magnus told Alec he had a son? Magnus in the middle of the date, so you know that vampire who’s home you broke into while murdering his friends, yeah that one, well funny story... honestly I’m imagining it kind of cracky but it has the potential to be really angsty as well. Feel no pressure to respond if you’re busy but I just really love Magnus and Raphael and you’re one of the few blogs I know that doesn’t characterise them in a bunch of barely concealed racist stereotypes

im never too busy for magnus and raphael asks 👀👀👀 i might take a while to respond (usually with asks i like a lot djdndjdn) but i always love getting asks and answering them, so dont worry about that. especially magnus & raphael asks!!!!!!! they are everything i want out of life

also im happy to hear u like my characterisation of them but yeah this fandom is hell. and trying to think about ppl who post about them frequently and that i trust i was like "bruh there's so little" but anygays @luxxmagnus @maiaisbia (aurora_chiroptera on ao3) @some-thrilling-heroics (yellow_craion on ao3. to be fair she's been more into the old guard lately but still worth a follow) are all mag&raph enthusiasts with good content. @magnusraphaelmaia is basically a reblog blog but it has good shit as well. and those are the ones that come to mind daisndaidas if yall have any other recs im all for it

as for the actual question! oof. idk. id usually say that it’s probably on his clave file, but that’s actually implied to not be true (which makes sense since it was kind of risky for raphael to be camille’s second-in-command if she knew that she was magnus’ son and how much she could use them against each other and just generally not trust raphael, which kind of fucked up his ‘overthrowing her’ plans), since izzy didn’t know about their relationship and neither did simon, or anyone else that i can think of. (and like simon is nosy and literally lived with the vampires so it doesn’t make any sense for him to be like “what is raphael doing here??” when he got into magnus’ house unless it was some kind of secret). and alec also didn’t understand why magnus defended raphael with the whole yin fen thing which also points in that direction

i mean to be fair it could be just that he was overtaken with Rage and Big Brother Instincts, but i do actually think it hadn’t come up before. so probably after that? i actually don’t remember whether or not magnus and alec talked about that whole thing or if it was just swept under the rug as usual, i have a vague feeling that it was mentioned, but i might be wrong. either way i would have loved to see them talking about it. it would probably come in the form of a dramatic revelation like “izzy is my family!” “and raphael is mine”. or maybe magnus got into how raphael would never use izzy or lure her into addiction because he’s also struggled with that (you know a random moment of ooc bull nobody ever talks about? magnus buying the idea that the yin fen thing was on raphael without a second thought. he was all but angry with raphael and that pisses me the FUCK off, because even if it was raphael’s fault - and it wasn’t - he still would?? trust his son enough to ask him about it??? but FUCK logic in this house) and he’s been clean for decades

and alec listens to it all with that frown of his that he has when he’s trying to figure something out, and then, when magnus is done, alec is all like “how do you know all this?” and magnus sighs and is like “because i was the one who rescued him. i watched it all, alexander. i know raphael would never do that to someone. even when he was at his lowest, he never wanted to hurt anybody” 

and alec has that moment of “ah shit i just punched my possible future son-in-law hmmm that’s a problem” and like, look, izzy has many many faults, especially in her relationship with raphael and all the SHIT she did to him, but villainizing him is not one of them. literally the second she had just been caught and was high af and probably knew she would be into some kind of trouble she yelled “alec, it was not his fault!” so i think she would tell him what happened. maybe wouldn’t straight up admit she was the one who got him hooked, but definitely tell him that raphael had nothing to do with this and if anything he ended up in the story because he tried to protect her. which is something he did out of pure selflessness since they were like, literally enemies up to that point

anyway i’m going too deep into my yin fen rant but LOOK I HATE HOW THAT PLOTLINE WAS HANDLED I HATE IT. FUCK VILLAINIZING RAPHAEL FOR THE YIN FEN 20FOREVER. but my POINT is, after that, alec apologizes to raphael eventually, and magnus heals raphael’s wounds, and they both focus on taking care of their respective families as they are BOTH struggling with addiction god fucking damn it they literally ignored raphael trying to come clean! for the second time! fuck this! anyway the point is that at least raphael has gone through this before so he knows it’s possible to pull through, but also, he’s gone through this before so it’s fucking humiliating to go through it again and he needs emotional support, okay?

and alec probably tries to awkwardly help magnus take care of raphael in a very earnest but “hm” way because this whole thing is a mess lmao. and slowly they start to mend that? and alec makes sure magnus knows that this would never be a drawback to him because if anything he loves how caring and generous magnus is? yeah. and i guess that’s my take on how that would come up diahduisa

[brw]

4, 10, 32 and 33 for the marvel comics asks? ♥

4 - favourite x-men villain

the writers uh there’s a lot i like! x-men are. vv good with villains tbh. i feel like i’m cheating if i say Mag Neet Toe because a) obvious and b) technically he’s not a villain anymore he’s a,,, p*litician 🤢🤢🤢 i would. also like to say Mystique but idk if she counts? but u know what i guess nobody really counts as a villain anymore because they’re all.. basically forced to be friends so i say mystique! she’s canonically bisexual and has a wife and i LOVE THEM SM it’s. very good. she has GUNS and is VIOLENT and ANGRY and while also 😔 very sexualised but u know comics a woman can’t be in any way unattractive if she has any one of these traits. but she’s cool and she vibes and yes she’s,,, a shitty mother but u know what we let magneto get away with his awful treatment of pietro n wanda (and lorna tho i. haven’t read too much of them together tbh shshsjnshj) so. she gets the Gay Pass. anyway bring back her wife or suffer her wrath 🙃🙃🙃 honourable mention to my best girl madelyne pryor i absolutely LOVE her but she deserves so much better then what she gets so. hshshhs

10 - what character has the best character development?

honestly i could name a LOT but partially because writers are inconsistent as hell it’s actually hard to say,,, but tbh i’m gonna go with my underrated fave wonder man. man had a chronic anxiety disorder for a good few years and was Struggling and honestly like. same. everyone else goes right ahead into danger and he’s just freaking out in the background and is AWARE of this and feels ashamed for not being strong enough emotionally despite being one of the most powerful members. and u know what? checks himself and decides to do something he loves (acting) which helps him with his confidence! he actually gets better and begins to Grow and Learn. then there’s a. slight degression in the 80s and 90s but shhh comics during that time were generally... b*d. BUT. he then kinda becomes more Normal, kinda a jokeish character tbh at some points and just kind of there to Punch and act as filler. THEN. has a slight Mental Breakdown (had a few of those in the 80s & 90s) and by the end of it decides that enough is enough and that he does not want to cause people any more harm, which is ESPECIALLY meaningful when u remember that he is canonically a survivor of childhood physical abuse at the hands of his father & brother. he makes the DECISION despite his background and despite his strength to be a pacifist, to not resort to violence because he feels like he’s hurt too many. much like how he decided to be a hero despite previously getting incarcerated for embezzlement. simon has messed up multiple times, and has suffered through so much and (especially during the 80s-90s) has been angry and destructive (rightfully so) but despite that he refuses to let it consume or be his defining characteristic and chooses to be a pacifist and i. i love him a lot ok.

32 - which character has the coolest powers?

I’D LOVE TO NAME WANDA IF PEOPLE COULD ACTUALLY DECIDE WHAT THEY WERE LIKE I--

um. but there’s! a lot i like. obviously i like my mans wonder man who is A Being Of Pure Ionic Energy or whatever the fuck, straight up no organs where did they go what happened why did him being able to turn purple snatch his organs??? BUT. also am a big big fan of mr reed richards and his horrifying stretchy long body 

he’s gross. disgusting. body horror rep we all need i love him so dearly cdhdhdh. i also LOVE LOVE LOVE the silver surfer’s powers he’s cool as hell. man just floats around in space naked on a surfboard and honestly king. me too. you wish you could be half as cool as motherfuckign norrin radd of zenn-la. monica rambeau’s powers are also awesome like??? she can become ANY kind of energy she wants that’s dope. like she can even duplicate unknown energies if she see’s it for long enough... honestly imo the BEST captain marvel. she’s so cool. i’m love her.

33 - who’s your favourite character without powers?

OOO BOY. there’s. quite a few i like. edwin jarvis, the butler of the avengers is,,, probably my fave lmao. he’s trying SO hard n he’s so sweet and. honestly a miracle he’s alive. anyone that goes in or out of that mansion is his child no matter who you are. his dad vibes are immense. i,,, i love him a lot. also robbie robertson (epic fucking name btw /s) from the daily bugle who is. honestly a legend. i could probably read... a LOT more spiderman comics but. i love him a lot he’s very supportive and caring and. i trust this man. the only man in the news business with right tbh. everyone else GET OUT.

marvel comics asks!

[writeyourownlifestory]

L I GH T S  U P

Chapters: 1/20 Fandom: IT Rating: M Warnings: No warnings at this time  Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Beverly Marsh/Ben Hanscom Additional Tags: PunkRocker!Eddie, Writer!Richie, Beveddie!Friendship, No Clown Written by: myself & @ahardlife Tag list: @richietoaster, @beproudtozier, @that-weird-girls-blog, @s-onora, @s-s-georgie, @bellarosewrites, @iamcupcakefrosting, @reddieonwheels, @bi-gemini1983

Puff piece writer Richie Tozier is given the chance of a lifetime to interview his celebrity crush: Dr. K, the lead singer of punk rock band, Trashmouth. Dr. K is about to release his first solo album and Richie wants to get all the dirty details. But all is not what it appears to be and the two realize they know each other from a different time, in a different place, when they were both very different people.

One: Cruel To Be Kind: Nick Lowe

Oh I can't take another heartache Though you say you're my friend, I'm at my wit's end You say your love is bonafide, but that don't coincide With the things that you do And when I ask you to be nice, you say

You've gotta be cruel to be kind, in the right measure Cruel to be kind, it's a very good sign Cruel to be kind, means that I love you, baby (You've gotta be cruel) You gotta be cruel to be kind

Richie Tozier didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life.

That wasn’t a very unique statement but Richie wasn’t a very unique person. An average guy who was as blind as a bat, born in bumblefuck nowhere and eventually making it out of there and into the big wild city, making a living working at a big-name magazine.

Okay, the last part was pretty impressive, but he didn’t actually work very hard for that job.

He used to dream of writing comedy. Of telling jokes or writing for amazing shows like Saturday Night Life or something on Comedy Central. He wanted to be a comedian. To make people laugh. Sure, he is seen as the funny guy around the watering tank, but thats just because the rest of the people he worked with were a bunch of yuppies with impressive college degrees and no real personalities. They’re no better than the robots who work for Buzzfeed.

They had paperback covers and an app for people who didn’t want to go to the store to buy an actual copy. They had their own YouTube channel that hit millions of hits thanks to interviews and other shit that Richie took part in.

When Bill decided he wanted to make this into a real thing, he wanted it to make some sense. It wasn’t some balls to the ball insanity mag that people read for juicy gossip. It was real. The people who subscribed were real and the people featured in it were real.

Richie’s writing, not so much.

He mostly did puff pieces. Little things that didn’t take a lot of effort but were mostly filler in between the larger stories. It was something Bill had done for them after the magazine got big. You see, he and Bill had been buddies in college. Both young and naive about the world. Neither really knew what they wanted, but they had dreams and that was all that mattered back then.

It was Bill that had the real talent with writing and despite publishers being interested, he never took into account just how much time, effort, and money went into getting a book published. Richie, always believing in his best friend, decided to give him all the cash he had saved up for spring break so he would make the first move on getting his novel out.

He didn’t mind much as he found that he could eat, sleep, and drink on the couch the same way he could out on the beach.  

That novel ended up being a best seller and skyrocketed Bill’s career. Bill always remembered that, so when his second and third books became such a thrill, he decided to take the chance and create a magazine and brought Richie along for the ride.

It was easy work and he made good money for doing very little, but he found that was the main cause of his quarter-life crisis. He wanted so much more than he had been given that Richie was actually feeling guilty for wanting more.

He had done stand up in the city and even took an improv class, but nothing seemed to stick to him. Now he was over thirty and found himself in a rut. He lived alone in a small apartment filled with things he didn’t need but purchased because he thought they would bring out a sense of excitement.

He was single, though that was a whole nother issue as it took Richie an embarrassingly long time to come to terms with his own sexuality. Growing up in a small town where people were cruel and the world didn’t understand left marks on an impressionable kid. It wasn’t until he was halfway through college that he did anything with a guy and well-passed gradation that he realized that it was more than okay to be gay, it was normal.

So yeah, he was open and fine with it, but still lonely as hell. He had been with people in the past, but he found that he mostly just shut himself off from the world. He wasn’t happy about anything anymore and it seemed the only thing that got him by was that ending it all would have proved his teenage bullies right; that he was better off dead.

And if there was anything Richie wanted to live for, it was spite.

And also music.

Despite not being musically inclined at all, Richie loved music with all his heart. He spent a good portion of his time listening to records as a kid. He used to go around carrying a walkman and CD player and Zune throughout his life. He paid for the mom's gigs on his phone because he needed to have all his favorite songs ready to blast at the tap of a finger.

While they already had a guy that wrote specifically about music for the magazine, he had always been able to sweet talk Bill into allowing him to have a few moments to shine and write something about some artist. Those were the pieces that really mattered to him. The ones that gave Richie the chance to dive deep into the thing he loved.

Sure, he had written a whole expose on Street Fighter and perhaps he did make a big deal out of the Star Wars franchise, but it was the moments when Richie could reel back and listen before writing that got him going.

They rarely did full-length articles on performers as the magazine was something of a clusterfuck of topics. Bill Denbrough never wanted to settle on just one thing. Paper Boat was more than just one specific topic. It was everything and they would be damned if they ever settled on its something.

But of course, now and then something would come along and the whole team would be scrambling to put together a magazine dedicated to that one specific person. It wasn’t always a celebrity. Bill meant what he said when he wanted to keep the magazine aimed at the everyday people.

Their biggest seller to date had been when they put out issues all about Ben Hanscom the architect. Richie had no idea why anybody would want to read about the guy other than to enjoy the pictures that were taken of him, but low and behold, the world wanted to know.

As it turned out, Ben was a decent human being who just wanted to make the world a better place and he also happened to be extremely hot while doing it. Who knew that was possible!

The physical copies sold out everywhere and the website crashed thanks to all the promotions they did on it. Like, what the actual fuck?

Bill was that good at what he did and it also helped that he was writing his books on the side. He had people from all over coming through wanting to see what they could do and it only proved to be more impressive as time went on.

Now the magazine needed something new, something fresh and it seemed Bill had it all planned out.

“Here at Paper Boat, we don’t choose a good looking celebrity because we want to make money. You know, I’m not going to call up Jennifer Aniston and ask her to do me a favor -- I could, but I won’t -- because that isn’t what we do here.” Bill explained as they went over the board meeting for the next issue. “The people featured on our cover are interesting. People who want to bring the world together and make a change. Or maybe they’re just batshit insane and look good while doing it. Who knows.”

A small array of laughter came over the place. Richie leaned back in his chair, half paying attention. He knew how these things went. Bill made a big, exciting speech before revealing who or what they’d be focusing on. The assignments would be passed around and Richie would be given something soft and fun.

He got the dumb shit that got the people who didn’t want to read involved. Sometimes he’d do interviews while vlogging. They’d try food they never tried before or do something stupid. One of the most interesting had been when he got assigned to interview Kristen Wiig while bobbing for apples. Certainly interesting and the flow to the website was wonderful.

Richie was the writer they went to when they wanted it to seem kitsch and gimmicky. Enough for it to garner actual attention, but nothing worth anybody's time.

He tossed his stress ball up in the air, catching it as it followed the natural path and came back down. He got bored easily as meetings like this and he waited for Bill to just get on with it and assign everybody their respected jobs.

Bill hit a button on his computer, revealing a picture that Richie was all too familiar with. It was of a punk rock band that he had followed since he graduated from college. Trashmouth was one of the greatest bands that had ever come into Richie’s life. They were like if Queen and the Ramones were put together, had a baby, and then that baby had a baby with Green Day: that weirdly insane combination would be Trashmouth.

There were five members, but the main focus was and always had been the lead singer and guitarist Dr. K. Nobody knew why he went by that nor did he ever give an answer. Richie had googled him a couple of times, wanting to find out more, but the guy was a fucking mystery. It was like he just appeared on the scene, completely out of his mind with cut off sleeves and steller vocals.

It was safe to say Richie had a big gay crush on Dr. K.

And that was fine because Dr. K was just as gay.

He had never been seen with anybody, always choosing to keep his personal life private, but his songs were obvious enough even if most of them seemed pretty genderless. He had done one interview where the person asking the questions kept using the term ‘she’ or ‘her’ until finally, the guy replied that he writes songs about guys.

That took the world by fucking storm and Richie Tozier had never been the same.

“Some of you may be familiar with Trashmouth. Multiple Grammy noms and wins. Always in the top 40 listings despite repeatedly being told that punk rock was dead.”

“Please tell me we’re going to be featuring the band,” Mike, the music specialist for the magazine, piped up eagerly.

“I can’t because we won’t,” Bill replied. “Our focus is on him.” Bill hit another button and a solo picture of Dr. K popped up.

Richie’s mouth was watering and he sat up straight. He had the same picture in a small poster in his apartment. It was set up alongside some other pictures in what he called his “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Wall” because he was just that big of a fan. He looked at it often, always finding himself thankful for all the music that had been created and got him through some pretty dark days as a kid.

Did it also help that Dr. K was incredibly attractive and gave Richie a little bit of encouragement just by looking so good? Yes, yes it did.

“It seems Dr. K will be going off on his own. My sources tell me he’ll be putting out a solo album by the end of the year and I want to know everything about it. Mikey, that’s your job. Speak to whoever you have to to find out what is going to be on that album. Audra, speak to the rest of the band, find out how they feel about the ending of an era. Georgie, get your camera ready because we’re doing a photo shoot with him in three days.”

“Who is doing the main exposé?” Greta asked, popping her gum as she spoke.

Bill smirked, turning back to his computer. “I’ll pick someone later. For now, you’re all dismissed.”

The group got up from their chairs and left Bill’s office. All except for Richie, who was too fucking flabbergasted to do a damn thing. As Bill began to head out, he finally scrambled to his feet to follow him. His long legs led him there quickly, though he mostly sidestepped around his coworkers to finally reach their boss.

“Bill! Big Bill! Wait up.” He called, following him to the elevator.

“What's up, Rich? I’m about to head out for lunch.” Bill said, turning to face him. “You hungry? We could check out that new sandwich place that opened across the way.

“Oh, no. I’m time. Stuffed.” Richie patted his stomach lamely, offering a large smile to his friend and boss. “Hey! So, just checking in to see about that latest pitch.”

“Oh right,” Bill paused, hitting the elevator button. “You were a fan of that band, right? Oof. Sorry about the breakup buddy. Haven’t you seen them like six times?”

“It’s sixteen, but that’s not important right now.” Richie corrected. “Bill. Buddy. You have to listen to me.”

“You got it, Rich.”

“I know you only trust me with the puff pieces because I’m not as talented as Mike or even Greta, but I need you to trust me on this.”

“You can do the exposé, Rich.”

“I have gotten better over time and I swear, if you just give me the chance, I promise. I won’t do a single embarrassing voice or anything to get Paper Boat blacklisted.”

“I’m sure you’ll embarrass yourself in one way or another, but that’s your issue. You have two days.”

“Until what?”

“Until your interview with Dr. K,” Bill said, stepping into the elevator as the doors opened. “If you’d stopped rambling you would have heard me tell you that you’re going to be the one doing the expose. You’ll be meeting him in two days, so you better come up with some good questions.”

“Holy shit,” Richie muttered.

“Holy shit, indeed Tozier,” Bill smirked. “I know you’ve been in some sort of funk lately, so I hope that this will shake you up a bit. Better keep your fanboy boner under control.” Bill warned, smiling as the elevator doors closed between them.

Whether Richie realized it or not, Bill believed in him and his writing ability. He may not have the raw talent like himself, but he knew what Richie was capable of. He has a way with people that allowed them to loosen up and relax and nothing was better for a good interview than someone comfortable with the person asking the questions.

Bill couldn’t think of a single person who would be better for this specific project and having Richie be an uber-fan of the artist was just a bonus. If Richie made an ass of himself, that would be his problem, not the magazines.

Richie stood there, not knowing what to do next. He looked to his watch, realizing he had less than 72 hours to come up with a buttload of questions for his idol. He ran back to his cubby to brainstorm.