#(I'd say this is pretty much spot-on for Jin)

[valentine-cafe]

Could I get a bungeoppang, pretty, please? 🥺 I'd love a drabble of fem reader losing her v-card to him

– 🍭 🪚

˖⁺. “ tender hands ” : 

﹙ detective grim reaper bf x fem reader ﹚.𖹭 ݁

. . . verse 9948e seong-jin x fem reader !! 🍓 : ﹙ detective  ˖ grim reaper character ﹚

your first time with your typically rough lover turns out to be quite soft in fact <3

﹙ cws ﹚: explicit content ˖ loss of virginity ˖ fingering ˖ penetrative sex | wc : 2.2k 

﹙ receipts ﹚: this was sooo sweet to write

꒰  other treats : guidelines ˖ m.list ˖ characters ˖ our lore  ꒱

“Come on, pretty girl. . .”

The swell of pleasure between your legs nurses the arch to your back. Curls your grip into the sheets. Parts your lips to the ceiling at the slow stretch and release of your gummy walls. In, out, in - out.

Your hips slowly crane into his hand. He rewards you with his palm flushed to your clit in tender grinding motion. It spins your head into disarray as pleasure nearly makes you numb. You buck into his touch more desperately. Whining all the while.

“S-Seo - Seong - Seoongg-jinnn please,”

You needn’t say what you’re begging for. The detective has heard it for the past few minutes. Your pleas and begs to feel him. Not his fingers. A wonderful as they made you feel. As much as you clenched around them.

You needed him.

“Sshh, dollface. Soon, alright?” His thumb strokes along your cheekbone. A soft kiss blooming in its wake. It turns into a few more. Tender. Gentle. Much like his fingers that make languid come-hither motions within your squirting cunt.

Your breathing speeds. Chest rising and falling in heated motions as the pleasure begins to twist within your stomach. You want more - but you know this is for the best. Not only is this your first time - but Seong-Jin is ample times bigger than you.

You can only imagine what he looks like down there. The thought slicks you up further and you whine as your aroused mind starts to unveil all of your deepest desires. Imageries.

“Yeah that’s it. . . That’s it. Doing so well.” He gives a few, somewhat quick thrusts to egg your approaching climax, before slowing once more.

The way your face twists and you reach up to grip at his shoulder should be considered a blessing. Something that he should revere. And so he’ll worship you with his warm lips along your neck. To your collarbones. To kiss along your breasts and nipples. Suck along the soft nubs in alternation until your whines grow to the point of utter desperation.

Words weigh heavy on your tongue. The pleasure is a culprit. You can barely think straight. Let alone give a coherent sentence. Instead all you can do is move against his hand. Cling. Hope that your incomprehensible stutters and gasps will tell the tale for you.

“Seon. . . S-Seong - Seong-jin - f-feels -”

“Yes sweetheart? Feels good right? Here?”

He curls his fingers into a spot that shoots sparks throughout your entire body. The base of your spine tingles and a cry splutters in your throat. Heat washes over your form. You gasp out for the sweetness of air as everything tightens, then releases. All while you sigh his name out like a prayer. One that he swallows with soft kisses. Induces with the tender stroking of his fingers.

He rides you out with tender praises. You never knew that such sweetness could drip from his typically dry voice. He handles you as though you are a fragile piece of porcelain. One that he wishes to put on display. To touch with such delicacies.

The emptiness that your walls soon experience leave you whimpering in disappointment. All you receive is a chuckle in response as he gives your thigh a little pat. “Patience. ‘m giving you what you want.”

His nestles between your folds and strokes up and down a few times as an apology. Before he parts and sits up on his knees for a moment. Amber eyes peering down into your gaze. Overflowing with a warmth through the chills of their usual frost. Nothing matters in this moment, even as he sits there. Slowly undoing his black pants to give you all that you have been asking for.

For a moment you simply admire. Drink in the appearance of your lover. His white hair. His lean, fit figure made known to you by the shedding of his shirt. All those years of reaper training, you assume. How large his hands are that caress your thighs slowly before he nestles between your legs. The warmth of his skin - how it kisses your thighs and promises sensations you have only dreamt of.

You reach up to caress his face. He dips to do the same to your lips. It is only then that you allow your eyes to wander. Catch sight of what’s awaiting you down below. It hitches your breath - he strokes along your side to soothe.

“I know. . . I’ll take it slow alright?”

He assures you with a soft kiss to your lips. His hands readjusting you on the sheets and slipping one of the pillows under your hips to elevate them. He slots himself between your legs. Running a soft touch up one of them and turning his head to give the side of your knee a tender kiss before he hooks them over his waist.

You breathe in deep. Suddenly you are made painfully aware of his size. But the assurance of his words and his soft touches are like a balm to your worries. If there is one man in the world that you trust - it is Kyung Seong-Jin. It is why you find yourself beneath him right now. Staring up at his face as though he hung the moon and stars in the sky. He caresses you as though you are both.

“Ready?” You bring your hands to his shoulders at his murmur. A small nod to your head as you focus on his face. Giggle at the soft kisses he insists on peppering all over your face.

“Mmm. . . mhhm. I love you.”

“Love you too, sweetheart.”

He dips to rest his forehead on yours. Hold you close as he guides his tip to your entrance. Slicking along the slit to apply an extra coat of lube - before nudging the head of his cock between your folds. It’s strange, yet familiar all the same. You bite your lip. Brace.

His shoulders become your comfort as you bury your nails into his fair skin. The stretch of your walls spills soft gasps and shudders from your lips as you cling onto him tightly. Feel the way that he parts you so deeply, so intensely. Yet slow all the same. Ensuring that only a bit of him parts you open, before he halts with a hitch of a breath.

“You doing good, pretty girl?” He stiffles a groan in favour of checking in on you. Another kiss to either of your cheeks. While one of his hands holds his weight up, the other strokes along your side. As with most new things, he eases you into it. And you can only feel grateful - for the stretch of his large cock makes you almost dizzy.

“I-It’s. . . ah,”

“I know, I know. . . doing so good.”

He gives a tester push. Slow and shallow. To get your clenching pussy used to the feel of him. He stalls, then inches in again. Repeats the process until he’s far enough to feel your walls tense around him and feel your chest stuttering against his. Your heart beats like a bird’s and he croons soft praises to your ear to help calm down any nerves or overwhelming sensations.

He’s well aware that he is far from all the way in. There is no way he is subjecting you to all of that for your first time. That is for another occasion. Into the future when he’s stretched you out enough and gotten you used to the feeling. Hooked on the pleasure.

“Colour?”

“G-. . . Green,”

He exhales at your assurance. Fingers tracing slow patterns along your hip in comfort as he waits a few moments. Before he gives a shallow thrust. Caresses your thighs. Kisses down your neck. Distracts you with his touch alone - and then gives another thrust.

He awaits your hushed sighs of pleasure. Only then does he take it as an indicator to slowly, slowly ease more of himself out of you - and then gently push back in. So that your walls might grow accustomed to the feeling of him.

And oh, they do. It sends sparks to the base of your spine. The familiar feeling swells within your tummy. Prickling along and encouraging small gasps and murmurs of pleasure. Ones that he quickly drinks up - having missed the bliss that he painted over your body. The way you reacted to how he makes you feel in the best way possible.

“Feels good?” He moans. A sound you wished you could engrave within your memory. Your fingers reach around to the back of his neck. Play with the ends of his white hair as your lips find his in answer. A soft hum of approval in their wake as he begins a steady, pleasurable pace.

“Really good. . .”

You sigh in pleasure against his lips. His hand begins roaming around. Grazing over your sides. Stroking along your thighs. His fingers nestle between your folds. Slowly rubbing along your clit and bringing an arch to your back once more. You flush up against him. Whimper his name at the alternation between shallow and drawn-out thrusts.

Arms hook around his neck. If you melt into him you would. Who’s to say you aren’t already? The entanglement of your limbs. Lips that meet so needily. On each other. On skin. The way your fingers etch your name into his flesh just as his cock stretches you out to remember it.

The slew of your noises says it all. The soft breaths of his name compliment the hushed pants and grunts from him. Along with his hushed praises to your ear, to your lips - the skin of your neck as his dips his kisses down to worship you once more.

“Taking me so - hah - t-taking me so well pretty girl. You feel that? That’s for you sweetheart.”

Your walls flutter around his dick at the words. Your hips stirring up to take what’s yours. Sensually, desperately. Perhaps even in a depraved manner. You don’t know — you don’t care. All that matters is his body above yours. His soft words. His tender eyes. The way that he holds you.

“Th-Think I’m gonna. . . I’m -”

“Come on sweetheart. You can do it for me. Come on.”

His thumb strokes along your clit firmer. His pace picking up just in the slightest as he feels his own nerves set ablaze. His mind swirling with the image of you beneath him. Oh - he doesn’t deserve this. Doesn’t deserve you.

But the face you made when you clenched up and came around him. The feeling down below. It hunched his shoulders and he buries his face into the crook of you neck. Groaning and giving a few more firm bucks of his hips before he finishes with you. His lips crash down against yours and he groans into the sweetness of your mouth. All while you cling onto him. Steer your own hips into his sloppily and whine his name out.

The blissful haze slowly bubbles out. You are left with a blissful soreness between your legs and a panting lover up against you.

“Mmm. . . did so well.” He presses a kiss to your cheek and slowly, carefully eases himself out of you. Pushing himself up onto his hands so that he might look down at your form. Laying there - on his sheets. Covered in sweat, dripping with cum.

Gorgeous.

“Pretty girl,” he croons. Swinging over to the edge of the bed and pulling his trousers on. Before his gentle hands swarm you. Hoist you up into his arms and crook your head against his chest.

“Get some sleep. I’ll clean you up.” His touch strokes along your side and he hushes tenderly as he finds his way to the bathroom.

A kiss to your head and the caress of warm water is all you can manage before you slip into the comforting darkness.

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[theres-a-body-here]

Male survivors with Jezebel!Reader

Its not everyday a notable figure is snatched by the entity. You clawed your way to the top before. Surly it won't be hard to do it again here. Right?

(The idea for this came to me in a cough syrup dream)

Dwight Fairfield

He's wary of you at first

Who wouldn't be?

He was expecting another Yun-Jin Lee

Someone cold and selfish

Surprisingly, you were neither

You actively helped others in trials

However, your language was......colorful

Dwight doesn't think he's heard someone swear as much as you do

"Fuck, medkit's empty. Fucking great. What kind of pussy ass bitch killer brings overwhelming presence?"

Complete sailor's mouth

You seemed to take a liking to him

Dwight doesn't know if that's a bad or a good thing

You always tend to his wounds gently and softly

Your words are a different story

"Fucking moron, running into the killer like that"

"But he had dark dev-"

"Might as well put your glasses back into your purse if you're not gonna fucking use 'em"

"Ah, there we go, all patched up," you grumbled, a sense of accomplishment in your voice as you rose from your crouched position.

Dwight blinked, his lips parting in an attempt to express his gratitude, but before he could gather his thoughts, a gentle press of your lips against the bandaged wound on his hand stole his breath.

His heart raced, caught off guard by the unexpected gesture."Um, I, uh..." Dwight's voice cracked, his cheeks flushing a deep shade of red. He fumbled for words, his mind a jumbled mess of surprise and flustered emotions.

Dwight's gaze trailed after you as you simply began to walk over to the next generator as if nothing happened. His heart was racing from the kiss.

"Right, work," he muttered to himself, his fingers subconsciously tracing the spot where your lips had made contact.

Ace Visconti

And you thought you were the lech?

This man is relentless

Slides up on you with finger guns.

"Hey baby, heard you were devoured by dogs. I wish I was one of them. I would've loved to eat you ou-"

It took 4 other survivors to pull you off him as you started to throttle him.

Homer Simpson style

You thought that would've deterred him

It did the opposite

Man has issues

He always tries to convince you to play strip poker with him

You always say no

Always tries to be the first person to unhook you

"You're knight is here, princess. Hehehehe"

"Leave me here dammit"

He always gives the best items he finds in chests

Ace gets the biggest shit-eating grin when you thank him

You pried open a chest, but your excitement dimmed as you laid eyes on the item inside – a broken key. A disappointed sigh slipped from your lips, momentarily quashing your hopes. Before you could fully immerse yourself in disappointment, a gentle tap on your shoulder startled you.

Turning, you found Ace standing there, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he held out a flashlight towards you. There was an unmistakable smugness in his expression.

You couldn't help but roll your eyes at his antics, accepting the offered flashlight with a quiet, "Thanks."

Ace's smirk widened into a self-satisfied grin, his response dripping with playful arrogance. "Anytime, babe," he chimed, punctuating his words with a playful finger gun gesture.

Suppressing the urge to growl at his audacity, you managed to keep your response to a subdued nod, appreciating his gesture despite his playful teasing.

Felix Richter

He's pretty nervous around you

Mostly because you flirt with him all the damn time

"Oh, you were an architect? Well, I'd let you study the curves of my temple anytime"

Instant blushing mess

"I-I.....uh......"

Moral dilemma time

He's technically still married

You know this

But you flirt with everyone else

(Except Ace)

So he doesn't take it seriously

Hates being alone with you

He's afraid to look stupid

Definitely blows up gens more often if you're working on them with him

You found yourself enjoying the calm silence as you worked with Felix on repairing a generator. The rhythmic clanking of tools and the atmosphere of the trial filled the air.

Despite his proficiency, Felix had inadvertently blown out the generator twice, a fact that he couldn't seem to hide.

You noticed his nervous glances in your direction whenever he thought you weren't looking.

Amused by his flustered behavior, you decided to play with the architect a bit.

Leaning in, you quirked an eyebrow and teased, "Felix, if you keep trying to sabotage the generator, I might start thinking you're trying to get my attention."

Felix's face flushed, his gaze dropping to his feet momentarily. He stammered, "N-No, that's not... I mean, I'm not trying to sabotage anything. It's just... this fog, it's making things a bit more complicated than usual."

You simply started at him. A small smile tugging at your lips. Felix's cheeks reddened even further.

Grinning, you decided to take pity on him. "Alright, I'll cut you some slack. Let's finish this generator together, and maybe later, we can find a way to make the trials a bit more... intriguing."

Felix's reaction is immediate; his cheeks flush into a deep shade of red, and his words stumble over each other as he tries to form a coherent response.

"Uh, well, I, um... I never... I didn't..... Oh, darn it," he stammers, his embarrassment all too evident.

You can't help but chuckle at his adorable reaction, finding his discomfiture endearing. "Got you there, didn't I?" you tease, enjoying the sight of his flustered state.

Masterlist Here

[bonny-kookoo]

Snowball Princess: Choices

Warnings: Angst, mentions of death, fluff at the end

A/N: Hoseok's enlistment has given me the big sad.

Masterlist

♥━━━━━━━━━━━♡━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

"I want to.. file in for independent living." You say quietly after the deafening silence got too much for you to handle. Your voice is still raspy from emotions as you'd tried to really keep it together when seeing Hoseok off for his military service - though you ultimately failed.

The topic of living independently had been on your mind ever since Seokjin enlisted - the whole reality of times changing and people leaving really hitting you hard.

"Do the others know?" Taehyung asks quietly, watching you as you just stare out the window, familiar scenery passing by. You shake your head.

"Its.. I don't know how to approach it." You simply mumble, making him nod.

"Can I ask why? Why you've been thinking about it, I mean." He gently asks, gaining no answer from you for a while, eyes quietly tearing up again.

"I.. you know, I often wish I'd met you guys sooner." You explain quietly, still not looking at anything but outside. "So I could've spent more time with you."

"There's still a lot of time ahead, sweetheart." He reminds you, reaching out to tuck some hair out of the jacket you're wearing- Hoseoks, just like you wore Jin's for quite a while after he left.

"Is there?" You ask, and by now, he can hear you sniffling again and spots the way your tears reflect on the mirrored image in the car's window you're looking out of. "Its all falling apart though, isn't it?" You question no one in particular.

"They'll be back before you know it. We'll all come back." He tries reassuring you, but you just nod- confusing him for a second.

"But things are still changing, aren't they?" You turn your face towards him, and he can't help but break a little at your defeated face, eyelashes all soaked in sadness. "You're not gonna stay like this forever." You explain yourself. "You're already living apart, it's only a matter of time until you all start families of your own. I'd.. rather go before that happens, you know, so you don't feel like you've got some.. obligation towards me." You tell him. "It was fun while it lasted, though."

"You know I won't say no if it's what you really want." Taehyung makes sure you know, before he smiles softly. "But I'm also very much going to keep my promise. You'll always have a spot in my family, no matter how much time changes things." He offers kindly, and you nod.

He did make that promise, over and over and over again over the course of the years.

"I know." You simply answer, before turning to look outside. "But.. maybe it's best to start living on my own now." You say.

"You do know we all love you, right?" He asks, and you nod.

"I know." You nod, but he shakes his head.

"No, I guess I need to rephrase that." He chuckles. "You do know we're all in love with you, right?" He asks more clearly now, and at that, you turn towards him, a devastated look on your face.

"I'm not a good future though." You explain with a soft giggle. "I won't have children, I won't be able to marry, and I'll die long before you guys." You say, reminding him of the grim reality no one really thinks of with hybrids.

Hybrids don't have a life expectancy as long as humans have. And it's not just five or maybe ten years- the oldest living Hybrid currently is a Swedish cat-hybrid, merely 51 years old. And she's already blind and almost deaf, senses and body failing her.

You don't want them to witness you waste away like this.

"We're all aware of these things." Taehyung reassures though. "Those things aren't new. I know that right now, emotions are pretty high- but please think about it once more when you're more calm, princess." He says, reaching for your hand. "And keep in mind that you'll always have a space with us, no matter what changes. Jin-hyung has furnished an entire room for you at his house, no?" He offers, and you shrug, before nodding.

Seokjin did do that for you.

It had been a complete surprise to you when he'd showed it to you, proudly telling you that you can always stay with him if you'd like.

"And I do too. The room where the windows-"

"-where the windows let the sunrise in." You chuckle with a sob, nodding. It's your favorite.

"And Jungkookie basically got almost all your stuff at his place!" He chuckles now too, glad he's seemingly cheering you up with his approach. "Every time you're staying at one of the members places, the first thing I hear is-"

"I have to get my stuff from Jungkook." You finish the sentence, smiling to yourself. You do have most of your things at Jungkooks place. Your clothes, books, games, toys and even things like bodywash and toothpaste. You're pretty much living with him at this point, the more you think about it.

"And Yoongi-hyung trusts you with his studio password. He's got the couch and everything in there just for you- even though he wanted to throw that old thing out." He nods to himself. The couch had been from the old dorms you all shared- and while he didn't want it at first, you clung to it due to emotional value.

So he kept it, for you.

"Hoseok-hyung knows all your medical dates. Hes like a walking book full of your most important things- allergies, vaccine dates, doctors appointments." He chuckles. "And Namjoon-hyung has all your paperwork at his place. Everyone always thinks of you, by nature. You're a fixed part in our lives, and that'll never change." He tells you, and you nod, car coming to a stop as the driver gets out to let both Taehyung and you out.

The man smiles politely at you- his face familiar as hes worked for the company and the band for longer than you've been with them. "And if they don't want you, I'll take you." He jokes, making you and Taehyung laugh out loud for a second, before you hear the first one of the other members call out to you in alarm at the sight of your tears.

"Oh puppy, it's okay." Jungkook offers, already jogging up to you to hug you tightly. His hugs are always tight. He always squeezes you a little. But that's fine.

"We're all staying at Yoongi's tonight, right?" Jimin asks, and Yoongi shrugs.

"I don't know, sure." He answers, while Jungkook sways you in his grasp, cheek resting on top of your head.

"We're gonna have to pick up some stuff of hers from Jungkook's place though " Namjoon says-

And you laugh together with Taehyung, last of your tears dripping down onto the ground.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Well, I think I made a mistake by putting Jordan Brookes first in the running order of my (first) Edinburgh Fringe experience. I thought it would be cool. Start the Fringe with the only person who has ever held the title of Edinburgh Fringe Festival Champion (they've changed the name of the Perrier so often, I'm just going to call it Champion as a name that's standard across eras) for more than a year. That's fun. And I very much like all his NextUp shows (I think there are four and I recommend all of them, but especially Bleed and Body of Work, both of which are also on YouTube for free), so it's a safe bet.

Unfortunately, he has set the bar way too high. I came away thinking... is there any chance all Edinburgh shows are that much better if you see them in person than on a recording? And I'm sure that helps, but that can't be the main reason why tonight was so good. I'm pretty sure tonight was amazing because Jordan Brookes has written an incredible show that no one else can live up to.

I mean, it does help that this was a rare case of me seeing a show in person. I think I might get clowning now! This wasn't a clown show or anything - I don't think, certainly more laughs came from things he said than things he did - but he did a lot of throwing his body all over the place in ways that made me laugh tonight, and that I know would not make me laugh on a recording. I've said for ages that I know my inability to "get" clowning may just be down to me watching most comedy on recordings, maybe it's only funny in the room. But to be honest, when I said that, I didn't really believe it. I really thought it was just a weird thing I don't understand. However, it turns out that people doing absurd things with their bodies is actually very funny, if they're right in front of you. Who knew? (Lots of people knew.)

Oh I've been here one evening and have already been able to play comedian spotting! I am very, very bad at recognizing faces, so I'm not going to be great at that game throughout the week. But in his show, at one point Jordan Brookes was reading a list of made-up names, and he said "Edward Hare", and I thought, "Isn't Eddy Hare one of the guys in Crizards?" Later on some people came out to do background dancing during the show, and it was really funny, but I kept being distracted by thinking "Is the guy on the right that guy from Crizards, or do I just think that because I heard his name earlier?" At the end of the show, the backup dancers were outside giving out flyers to their own shows, and the guy I recognized gave me one that confirmed he was Eddy Hare from Crizards, so score one against my face blindness there.

More significantly, throughout the show, I kept seeing this one guy in the audience and thinking "Is that Jin Hao Li or am I a racist?" I'm pleased to say that after the show, I saw a woman go up to him, I heard her call him "Jin" and tell him she was a fan of his comedy. Score two points against my face blindness in one night! I've seen one Fringe show ever, but I've already watched one comedy show while sharing the audience with another comedian - one I like enough to have booked his show later in the week. That's what festivals are for (according to my previous experience of festivals, which are folk music festivals where I'll frequently see a show with one musician on stage and one in the audience, then at the next show the second musician will be on stage and the first in the audience).

Seriously though, Brookes was amazing. We walked by him on the way out, the guy in front of me told him "That was the best show I've ever seen at the Fringe." The guy who said that had the look of someone who's probably seen a lot of shows at the Edinburgh Fringe before. And I thought... it's the best show I've ever seen at the Fringe too! I know I've only seen one, but I feel like that would be true even if I'd been coming for years! It's too high a bar!

Anyway I then went for a walk through the Royal Mile and surrounding area at night, and I don't know nearly enough words to describe how incredible that was.

I spent so much time in the run-up to this trip reminding myself that not everything will be as cool as it looks on the internet, real life is mundane everywhere. To try to lower my expectations so I wouldn't be disappointed. What I hadn't prepared for was the possibility that it really would be this beautiful.

[juvenilefrogg]

Hierarchy Kdrama

If you have guys watched Hierarchy share your thoughts down please.

(spoilers)

Just finished watching Hierarchy and I'd say I'm pretty DISAPPOINTED!!! I was expecting so much more drama! Scandals and media and finally the rich being on their knees but none of that happened ffs. Wtf was this?

What happened to Kang-ha going to expose everything but suddenly developing a soft spot for Jae-i? That was such a letdown. And I don't get her obsession with Ri-an. I don't get how she was so happy in all the flashbacks, it's not like her father was any better in the past. I am sure he treated her like crap in the past too and Ri-an might have been her only distraction but ffs I tried so hard to feel some empathy for Ri-an but damn I just couldn't.

The class president omggg he has my whole heart. I get where he's coming from and why he wanted to do all that.

I loved Woo-jin initially. He seemed nice. Until the end ahhh idk how to feel about him anymore. But for sure he was always there for his friends.

He-ra's character is so SKSKSKSK I loved herrrr. She's morally gray but at least she knows what she stands for. She's a bitch with morals and I'm here for it. At least she was fighting for survival (even tho their definition of survival is a lot different than common people).

Ms Ha has some nerves being that cocky when she's the one in most danger. I would've felt some sympathy for her if only her character was given more depth and she felt a little remorse for what she did.

Overall most of the characters were very bland, and cliche and showed little to no change or development.

[kookiecrush]

Hey 😊

What are some tk moments for you that made you completely sure of them being together? Like those moments where you can just cannot pretend that they aren't a couple 💜

Hi 😊 hmm, when I think about it, rather than specific moments, my belief is based on all the moments, big and small, that have happened over the years. They might not mean much on their own, but when you put them all together, it becomes quite clear and creates something beautiful. But there are some that stand out to me, and these are a few of them.

▪︎The ily sign during their Chile concert in 2017 - it's the way Tae subtly shows Jungkook the sign behind his back and the way Jungkook acknowledges it by gently nudging Tae's hand with his own. I just think it's such a raw and tender moment between them. Even though they're standing on a stage in front of thousands of people you can tell that moment was meant to be something private between them. It wasn't fanservice, I don't think it was even really meant to be seen at all. Tae was worried about Jungkook because he wasn't feeling well, and showing him ily was his way of letting him know that he was there for him.

▪︎Jungkook asking Tae, "Am I your friend?" During Summer package 2018 - although it's more about Tae's reaction to what Jungkook says for me. Jungkook was being cheeky and basically put Tae on the spot, causing him to appear quite flustered and speechless. The word (chingu) isn't the issue as all the members were using it to introduce each other during that segment. Jungkook even referred to Yoongi, who is his hyung, as "chingu." It seemed to me like Jungkook wanted to tease Tae about the status of their relationship being more than "friends," and Tae's reaction was very telling.

▪︎The "Private conversation" comment - we all know by now that k-army have said the "Private conversation" phrase is usually used in a romantic sense between couples and that it's also slang for "making out." Both Jungkook and Jimin's reactions to what Tae said is interesting. Jungkook looked slightly taken aback, instantly checks how long he's been on vlive, and then says, " Everyone, I guess I have to end it quickly." Which is funny because at the beginning he said that he was going to stay on live for a really long time, but as soon as Tae tells him to stop, he does. And then Jimin's reaction is to get close to the camera and start making kissy/teasing noises while smiling. Although quite bold, this moment doesn't really surprise me because taekook were pretty wild at times back in the day. Over the years they've obviously matured and learned to be more subtle and discreet.

▪︎Hiding in each other's lives - it makes no sense as to why they would need to hide the fact that they're sharing a room, or hide the fact that they're in the room when the other one is on live. This isn't an issue with any of the other members, and it relates to them being separated and their interactions together being reduced on screen. There's enough evidence (behaviour and voices in the background) for me to be confident that this has happened multiple times. One instance I'd like to point out is a Jungkook live in 2019 where Jin, Jimin, and Tae join him in his room whilst he's on live (the one where when asked what they where doing Jungkook replied "date" causing an awkward silence and Tae to start randomly clapping). Tae asked, "Who's room is this?" Which caused Jin and Jimin to look surprised because taekook were sharing the room but trying to hide it. Later on during the live, Jungkook asks Tae when he's leaving, and he says, "weren't we using the same room?" Exposing them both. And then when Tae finally does leave, he only pretends to because after he's "gone," we see the wrapper from the sweet he was eating earlier being thrown from a direction off screen and Jungkook keeps glancing to the right, the direction in which Tae "left."

▪︎Dates/trips for just the two of them - the most important thing to note about the Atomix date/Paradise hotel stay/Namsan date is that as far as we know, they were alone. There were no staff or managers with them. Those dates were something they did on their own for just the two of them. The Atomix date was on a day the restaurant is usually closed, so it's safe to assume they were the only ones dining that day, and you need to book in adance so it was something they had planned. I don't need to say that staying at the Paradise Hotel together sounds like a romantic staycation. The Namsan hotel also required booking in advance, and if I'm not mistaken, you have to book a hotel room to eat there. These all seem very much like intimate and romantic dates to me rather than two friends having a casual dinner.

There's many more, but I'm going to have to stop here because this is long as hell already. If you made it this far, I'm sorry 😂

[mdverse]

teehee you told me to drop by so i'm asking the most important question of them all.... of the main new directions who do they bias in bts and how much do they like bts 🤭

hi u are so real for this sorry this has taken me a while to get to!! been trying to organise my thoughts but i'm still not fully set on things. i guess ill do this from like. most to least likely to enjoy bts? (also i will say i have thoughts on the vb au squad specifically! i don't remember them in detail and they're probably similar to what i've written here but i def remember talking about it with mist)

tina: 100% most likely to be an army also def a once and a sone but that's not relelvant here! girlie has taste and i love that for her <3 she has jimin stan energy to me, i think she'd see the similarities between him and mike and she'd have a major soft spot for that

sugar: not technically one of the main new directions but i wanted to include her anyway bc i bet she loves bts. she has that vibe. she'd have all the merch and could very easily spend hundreds of dollars on concert tickets for herself and tina and anyone else who wanted to come. idk how she'd feel about the older eras but she'd def be a fan of the more poppy songs (maybe hyyh-onwards? def enjoys the LY/MOTS eras). probably a big vocal line fan, specifically jin and possibly jungkook as a bias wrecker

brittany: i think she'd enjoy bts a lot tbh! idk if she'd dive deep into fan theories or keep up with stuff like run bts but she'd def vibe with their music and i would kill to see her do the dance challenges or even full dance covers. i'd say she's hobi-biased but also just a big fan of 3J/sunshine line

blaine: i think he'd enjoy their more recent eras! mainly LY/MOTS-onwards i think? he has boy with luv/dynamite vibes. major jungkook stan in my head but i think he would really enjoy joon's lyrics/writing style

mike: def introduced to bts through tina dkfjgh but i think he'd get sucked in by the dance practices and the live performances even if the music itself isn't necessarily stuff he'd listen to! probably a 3J stan, if i had to pick one i'd very hesitantly say jimin

santana: idk if she'd listen to them regularly but. i do think she'd vibe a lot with agust d's albums? and i also think she'd find mono and indigo really soothing. epiphany would alter her brain chemistry and no one can tell me otherwise! i know for a fact that she would cry at that song. namgi fan

quinn: casual bts listener i think? def a joon stan tho i don't make the rules here!! i do also think she'd enjoy jin's voice a lot

artie: i feel like bts would be a guilty pleasure for him? idk if he'd be super invested but he would enjoy some of their music and he would def have an appreciation for the mvs! musically i'd say he enjoys tae the most but he def thinks jimin is ridiculously pretty

sam: hmmm sam is one i feel much less familiar with. mist said u guys have talked about blamtina being armys together and i can kinda see that? he does also kinda seem like he'd consider them a guilty pleasure to me tho. jin or jungkook stan energy

mercedes: secondhand fan through tina! idk if she'd listen to them on her own but if tina is around she doesn't mind listening to them. there's bound to be at least one song that hits hard for her but idk what it is rn. i think she'd appreciate tae's voice the most?

kurt: also introduced to them through tina! idk if i see him being much of a kpop fan but i do think he'd appreciate the aesthetics and the artistry of it all. i think he'd like jungkook bc he gets blaine vibes from kookie? alternatively there's sth about him that makes me think jimin stan

puck: bts doesn't really have much rock music so i guess puck wouldn't be super interested in most of it but i feel like there are probably a few songs he might enjoy just vibe-wise? maybe stuff like stigma, house of cards? i also inexplicably get a hip hop fan vibe from him despite that not being a thing in canon so i could potentially see him vibing with their earlier eras and stuff like the cyphers and being biased towards the rap line? but i'm not very set on that

finn: doesn't strike me as much of a kpop fan tbh but i think there are a couple of songs here and there he might like (fake love rocking mix!). idk if he'd actually ever remember any of their names tho kdfjgh he'd probably pick a different bias every time he's asked bc he never pays enough attention to recognise any of them

rachel: does not have kpop fan vibes to me at all but i find it hard to read her so i could be wrong there? idk i don't think she'd really listen to their music since she is so showtunes to me. that being said i think if she had to pick a fav it would be jungkook if only bc of the gold star/golden maknae association

[peachjagiya]

If we are sharing controversial BTS fashion opinions can I say I think Namjoon and Jungkook need to relax their mouths and jaws more in photoshoots. Sometimes the pouty tense mouth look can work in Jungkooks favour but the recent Calvin Klein shoot it just looks really tense making his mouth look small. I love them both really but needed to say this!

I think this is down to the fashion houses direction Vs. Our perception of them.

We all know, as ARMY, that JK is soft and sweet and has this big bright smile that turns his eyes in half moons. It is a bit of a disconnect to see him pouting it up?

I do prefer the original CK campaign because although he's still serious face there, the styling and hair and vibe of the shoot was spot on for emphasising some of the familiar JK traits we love him for. Pretty and soft but edgy. The Grand Central campaign felt a little less... Fitting?

As for Namjoon, I think it's a bit of the same. I always think of Namjoon smiling with his dimples but I guess you're not allowed to smile as a brand ambassador. These two shots from his Dazed shoot... The natural expression in the flamey one hits different because it is more natural and less posed. And I'm not entirely sure the clothes are exactly Joonie? His street style is really specific and quite bohemian and effortless. I might go as far as to say Namjoon has my favourite street style.

Side note: save me blue haired joonie save me 🫠🫠

And this is kind of why Tae's ambassadorship with Celine works so well for me. The ethos feels aligned, the styling is on point, they let him have a face that does face things. They signed his personality.

I also really love Hobi's LV shoots. He's serious but it flows. The clothes feel right and the way they let him use his body like a dancer is so beautiful.

I love Yoongi for Valentino. I don't think it would have always fit but the alignment with the release of D-Day and the softness he's displayed of late, it feels right to me.

I hate how I feel like I can't be honest about Jimin without a PJM attacking me but I'm 50:50 on Jimin x Dior. First picture here is SO SO GOOD. I'm less convinced by the parade of grey suits. I'd love to see him with a Maison Margiela or some such.

Oh god I hope none of this is too controversial an opinion though 😂😂 I'll always be honest 💜

Let me end with my favourite fashion picture of Jin in Gucci. I love it so much. 😍😍😍

[imminent-danger-came]

What are your least favorite lmk characters?

(lmk is one of the few shows where I think 'least favorite' is actually a fitting description. Most of the cast just have such fun and unique personalities, so it‘s pretty difficult to actively dislike any of them imo!)

(not counting cop out answers like the Goldfish Demon)

I‘ve sat here for an hour trying to figure out which characters I would pick myself. I‘ve genuinely never thought about it before, that‘s how GOOD this show is 😆

Like- the Host Girl low-key feels like cheating. (Again- I don‘t dislike her but she doesn’t really have a CANON personality. Everything about her is purely fanon and hinges on her being Macaque‘s generic cute daughter.)

Not sure if Mo counts either. He doesn’t really rise in the rankings through virtue of being a cat for me. Most of the time there just isn‘t much for him to do.

I physically CANNOT pick someone from the main cast or the brotherhood- that hurts just thinking about it. ALL WOMEN ARE QUEENS (I have soft spot for Chang‘e in particular!). And even the characters we’re supposed to dislike are such a blast on screen! The Mayor was so fun! And Lady Bone Demon? As a least favorite? NEVER.

I guess by process of elimination my least fav is Syntax? That‘s the closest to a reoccurring character I can get.

IDK. Maybe you have a character that comes to mind immediately 🤔

I'm going to argue that there is some interesting stuff with Mo, and I may sound the way the pepe silvia guy looks, but that's okay. Anyways, episode 2x03 shows Mo's devotion/loyalty to Sandy, which on it's own isn't really much, but it's the fact that Mo is the one to bring sandy back in 4x06. Pigsy's big heartfelt speech doesn't do the trick, but Mo giving Sandy unconditional love does. And boy, is there something there! Like, "You said it Mo! The world may be full of darkness, but to let the light shine, all we need to do is stand together!" Girl, what is going on between Mo and Sandy! Mo get's a pass from me not by virtue of being a cat (I'm actually a dog person, I got 4 puppies), but by virtue of loving Sandy. We have so much in common.

But yeah! There really isn't a character I dislike in this show. I love everyone a lot, and most characters, even if they don't have interesting stuff going on are a blast to watch on screen.

I'm someone who is legitimately a fan of the Jade Emperor because of his one cool speech and subsequent death on screen. "Heh. And I suppose you think that person is you? How is it you come to stand before me today Azure, was there a point where you questioned it? Or were you too oblivious with your own delusion to realize that you were a mere piece in someone else's game. You may try Azure, the throne will be yours, but if you think I'll gift it freely, you are mistaken." Coolest shit ever. Big fan.

But. And I'm sorry to everyone, but I'd say Jin and Yin are my least favorites. I know. The gold and silver demons everyone loves. Like, they're fine, they're entertaining, they have a lovely placeholder as a manifestation of a simpler time, but that's also just kinda all they are. And they don't need to be anything else! It just also solidifies them as my least favorites asdfadsf. I'm sorry boys.

[jinleebelee]

1, 2, 12 and 18?

Love you Jin💙

Mfm I love you too you meanie lee

1 what's a unique tickle spot you have/you like to tickle

On the to tickle part ( you all owe me for saying the t word when I'm this lee mood) I haven't really tickled people considering that ever few blue moons my sister would tickle me and even when I could 99 out 1 I'd be lee too

But I really really like having my ear tickled... theirs two ways that really really get me besides the occasional tickles with feathers that sometimes work and sometimes don't going one whispering (which you could whisper teases) and two blowwing- I actually had someone not on purpose do this to me because of how lee I was at school

Basically the kid ( I call students kid cause that whay I do he was around my age so don't you be thinking I'm so fucking pedo and crap) wanted to whisper something and me being the lee and lee that I was in class immediately walked towards him and when insay it tickled it tickled and it felt amazing and I actually asked him "what was that" just to get tickled again-

I also have very very very aenarive shoulders if you massaged them it would tickle me like crazy and I enjoy it very very very much

2 what's an underrated tickle tool in your opinion

Well I'd say the eletric flosser....and baby oil

(Your so freaken mean ashy using tools against knowing how much I love and fear tools or wait idk if you did or not but YOU DO NLW AND I WANT REVWNGE ADTER THIA LEE MOOD IS GONE)

12 favorite tickle spot in general

Um- I have a few like my neck ears shoulders and one that I get very very very embarrassed about and I'm really super insured about and feel that if I say I might upset others or I don't know um my feet... it's stupid I know but I feel very embarrassed about liking my feet tickled and just rgh it's all stupid and embarrassing and haven't told anyone about that- I just think it's stupid for me

18. A time something unintentionally tickled

I do have two incidents and this was back in the 6th grade for the first one (aka my worst first worst year in middle school and yes all the years were bad if ya wanna know what happened boy do I have a sotry for yall it's a 3 year story and I'll tell yall if ya want later )

Anyways anwaysv

Me and these three students were working on a project something about the past when the country's were alll fucked up in different places. Pendora Era or whatever and wellll one of the kids call him J poked me in the side I think or hip and I jumped. I remember it tickled pretty bad and I covered my hand on that spot. The two girls asked what happened and I either said something tickled or nothing. Either the kid knew what was going on or something but he poked me again and it tickled like a fucking bitch causing me to giggle like a fucking idiot. But then after we all lined up he did it again but it hurt and it didn't tickle (which still disappoints me to this day cause I really really liked being tickled- even back then-)

The second time when I was out of that middle hell thankfully was arooound the 10th grade. A friend of mine from school really liked giving out hugs right. It was his natural thing. I was at gym and I saw him and he saw me. He ran up to me and did his usual hug but what I didn't expect was the God damn mother fucker. His fuckinf voice or breathe fucking ticked my God damn neck and I started to smile like a bitch and hugged him tighter not wanting this to end. Thankfully I had a mask on (during the covid crap still going on)

Now as some of yall know I freeze up when people hug me when I'm not expecting or expecting it. It just something I'm not used to . Physical affection but when this kosher fucker hugged me and it started to tickle I didn't want it to end- not one bit see this is how Deserete I get yall

[legendoftheghost]

who is your muse ?

You're the Captain (An influential achiever) You're on the top rung, where those on deck look up to you.

OUTLOOK: Optimist

High levels of extraversion combined with low neuroticism mean that optimists always look on the bright side of life. This doesn't mean that they don't experience troubles from time to time, but they don't let negative things get to them or bring their mood down. Your naturally sunny disposition means that you have plenty of other things to get excited about.

CHARACTER: Driven

Driven people tend to be concerned primarily with their own needs and desires. They are prepared to work hard on achieving them and always keep their eyes on the prize. You may fall into this category if your single-mindedness sometimes means that you can easily become uninterested in other people if you don't think they'll be able to help you achieve your own goals.

SELF CONTROL: Determined

You keep your cards close to your chest and usually seem very laid back, but you know exactly what's going on around you. When you take offence at something you may not show it there and then, but you're likely to seek a way to even the score somehow. Be careful to maintain a sense of proportion and think about how other people might view your actions out of context.

COMPOSURE: Measured

Measured people have a clear sense of their goals and what they need to do - and focus on - to achieve them. They tend not to be overly affected by external factors and take unexpected changes and opportunities in their stride. It's crucial to maintain a realistic sense of achievement so you don't let your ambitions run away with you.

TASTE: Pioneer

You're interested in the new and different. Whatever it is, if you haven't experienced it before, you'll want to give it a try. People who share this characteristic also enjoy meeting people from different backgrounds, so thrive in big communal activities where they can learn about new places and perspectives.

SOCIABILITY: Leader

People with this characteristic are likely to enjoy social situations where they can really shine - where they can be in charge and give instructions rather than take them. They tend to be natural decision makers. If you recognise this trait in yourself, remember to think about how other people might perceive your forthright approach.

ACTION: Influential

Influential people are productive, efficient and quick. They know what needs to be done and they're ready, willing and able to make it happen. Sometimes your determination might come across to other people as pushiness though, so it's important to know exactly where the line is between being influential and being domineering.

ATTITUDE: Analytical

People with analytical attitudes are true critical thinkers and like to consider each situation on its own merits in order to avoid being influenced by sentimentality or tradition. This leaves them free to think about every angle and option before making their own judgement. If this sounds like you, be careful not to disregard the feelings of other people in pursuit of 'the truth.'

PROCESS: Achiever

Achievers have a real love of learning and very strong desire to do well. They combine impressive drive, high aspirations and a diligent approach to help them achieve their goals. They're also very adept at coming up with creative solutions to complex academic problems. If this sounds like you, remember to take some time to enjoy the ride - it can be as exciting as reaching the destination.

RESILIENCE: Engaged

Engaged people tend to take life quite seriously, but are still able to see the funny side and laugh off difficulties when they arise. They're very adaptable, and don't view problems as things to stop them but as opportunities to inspire them to come up with creative solutions - and of course some humour.

[robininthelabyrinth]

I adore your supernatural origin stories, may I therefore request some for characters besides the Nie siblings? I am personally very fond of worst boys JGY, Su She and WRH but I'd be happy to see anything that you come up with ^^

“Have you ever questioned your heritage?” Jin Guangyao asked one day, not too long after his marriage, and Su She turned to his friend with a blink of surprise. “I mean…whether your father is really your father, I mean.”

“Uh,” Su She said. “Is this about Qin Su’s baby? Because she’s really obviously completely head over heels for you, so I can’t see any chance that she’d do something like that to you –”

“Oh, no, the child’s mine, I’ve no doubt of that,” Jin Guangyao said, and there was something strangely stiff in his smile. “Qin Su has never given me any reason to doubt her loyalty to me. It’s more…ah…stories I’ve heard recently. About other people. Stories about children who turned out to be cuckoos and neither they nor their fathers never knew; mothers that never told either their husbands or their children – mothers who strayed, mothers who were abused by others, voluntary or involuntary…”

Su She wondered if someone had implied again that Jin Guangyao didn’t deserve to be recognized or treated as a proper Jin because his mother had been a whore, even though it had already been established beyond a doubt that he was in fact Jin Guangshan’s son. All those old bloodline-tied magic treasures wouldn’t work for him if he wasn’t.

He wasn’t going to mention it if Jin Guangyao wasn’t, though, knowing how much of a sore spot it was for him. If his friend wanted to pretend that he’d just heard some stories, then that was the way they’d play it.

“I was asking about you, though.”

“Me?” Su She scratched his head, bemused yet again about Jin Guangyao’s purpose in raising the subject. “Why me?”

“Well, aren’t people always saying how much you look like Hanguang-jun?” Jin Guangyao asked, and Su She winced: he preferred to try to avoid Jin Guangyao’s sore spots whenever possible, but Jin Guangyao often didn’t return the favor. On the contrary, he was the sort of person who liked to dig in on them. “They’re always comparing you two – you’re always complaining about it. And, in fact, you really do look remarkably similar in numerous aspects. Your height, your face, your stance…haven’t you ever wonderedif there was something more to it? Ever speculated?”

“We look similar because I’m his doppleganger,” Su She said. Was that not obvious? He was pretty sure it was obvious.

Jin Guangyao frowned. “As in – a body double? The way emperors have, to guard against assassins?”

“…no,” Su She said, abruptly realizing his mistake: Jin Guangyao wasn’t raised in the cultivation world. “As in, a creature born of resentful energy that turns into a copy of an existing person and increasingly takes on their traits in order to eventually replace them without anyone realizing it.”

Jin Guangyao stared at him.

“…I’m not very good at it, okay?!”

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook: 𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐌𝐘 (2)

Jungkook absolutely does not have a soft spot for you. He just doesn't know what to do with you yet.

Tags/Warnings: Mafia!Jungkook, Hybrid!Reader, mute!reader, Angst, Fluff, Slight humor, Crime and violence, mentions of kidnapping, graphic description of adult content (violence, smut, Jungkooks questionable interrogation tactics) strangers to lovers

Additional chapter warnings: none, fluff?

Chapter Length: mid

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Jungkook is hard to wake up.

So his surprise is evident when he's pulled out of sleep by you, right on top of him, cat-eyes reflecting in the dark as your tail whips from side to side. He's about to make a rude comment about you interrupting his sleep, when he notices something else about your body language; ears pinned back but always in the direction of the window. Your eyes looking into that direction as well, body tense, as if you're on edge.

"Something wrong?" he wonders, and you get up to sit on your legs, giving him an opportunity to sit up as well. He gets out of bed, walking towards the window, when you pull on his hand- shaking your head with wide eyes. "Why not?" he questions sleepily, unsure what's the matter with you.

He looks outside the window, and finally connects the dots.

"Thats just Yoongi. Here, look." he says, motioning you to come closer. "He's just checking up on things during the night." he informs you, and you watch the man outside walk around before he rattles on the front gate, presumably to make sure it's locked. You're pulled away however by the stare of Jungkook next to you, who seems to be deep in thought- before he walks back to bed, resuming his sleep wordlessly.

And considering he said it's fine, you do just the same on the mattress he'd set up for you close by.

The next morning he gets you checked up by Seokjin, and though he can clearly see your discomfort, you're not reacting as much as he thought you would.

Having slept the night with him in the same room, he'd called up Seokjin to take a look at you, for both a general checkup as well as to see what the wound on your ankle was doing. "She's a bit weak and malnourished, dehydrated, and.. You know, probably traumatized, but I don't think she's in any serious danger." Seokjin says, watching how your hand still holds onto Jungkooks pants- forcing him to sit next to you. "she's pretty clingy with you. It's cute." the older guy teases, making Jungkook roll his eyes with crossed arms.

"yeah yeah fuck off, what am I gonna do with her now?" he asks, as your stomach loudly growls, making you take ahold of your tail for comfort as you become shy.

"I'd say have breakfast with her first and foremost." Jin laughs. "You'll figure it out on your own, trust me." he says, before patting the younger guy on the back and leaving you both alone.

It's quiet for a second, before Jungkook speaks up. "Thanks." he says, and your ears flick towards him, confusion on your face. "For.. Looking out for me tonight. You know. Even though it was just grumpy old Yoongi." he snorts, before he crosses his arms, starting to walk out the room. "come on, I'm hungry too." he says,

Unable to hide a small smile of his own as he notices the happy spark in your eyes as you jump from the bed to follow him.

Yeah. You are kind of cute.

[syneilesis]

Yves's ambition of running a cafe makes me think of a modern setting coffee shop AU.

Like, Yves owns the cafe and he also bakes the pastries.

Jin, Nokto, Leon, and Luke are baristas. Leon charms the customers into becoming regulars. Jin and Nokto flirt with them at every opportunity, much to Yves's scandalized horror (the customers love the flirting, though, and it's why they come back to the cafe frequently, apart from the heavenly pastries). Jin is also assigned with the task of monitoring Luke in case he eats every pastry with honey.

Licht doesn't want to be a barista, so he hangs out in the kitchen while Yves bakes, taste-testing and all. Whenever there's some trouble outside that may disrupt the cafe operations, Licht is sent out to take care of it.

Much as Chevalier's pretty face would attract new customers, his intimidating aura would probably deter a lot of them. Either way he's not interested in baking or making coffee or talking to people. He does, however, donate the books he's already read ("I've already read those books, Showoff; do whatever you want with them."), so Yves designed the coffee shop to be a library cafe. Sometimes, whenever there's legal trouble or a similar situation, it's Chevalier who steps in and settles them.

Clavis is banned from the cafe, to no one's surprise. There was that incident way back when they were starting the business that involved an unwanted renovation ("Clavis, oh my god, why is there suddenly a waterslide inside this building?!") and creatively experimental recipes ("Clavis, for the love of god, no more exploding croissants!"). For everybody's sake Chevalier had to intervene, so he had Clavis scope out competition and other information-gathering/market-research-related tasks. He does sometimes sneak in the cafe and leave some surprises, to keep everyone on their toes.

Of course, Sariel is their accountant who rules with an iron fist.

Emma and Rio are cafe regulars. Emma loves everything Yves bakes. Rio always ushers Emma to their favorite spot beside the impressive bookshelves and does the ordering himself. This way he can cut off those flirty baristas who've been eyeing Emma ever since they first stepped in the cafe, months ago. The one with the silver hair and foxy smile is on cashier duty today, so Rio engages him in a minute-long stare-off before he finally grits out their orders.

The customer behind him clicks their tongue.

"I'll serve your order on your table when they're ready," Foxy Smile says with a smug smirk.

"No thank you," Rio replies, trying to keep his own smile on his face.

A few minutes later, Rio goes to their table with a tray of their order and finds Emma reading one of the books in the shelves.

"They have such a good selection of books, Rio!" Emma says, and Rio's smile looks more natural now. "There's a name on the first page of this book. C. Michel. I wonder who could it be. I'd like to talk to them about this book!"

For some unfathomable reason, Rio has a bad feeling about that. So he distracts Emma with the food and says, "Here you go, Emma. They've added new variations. Let's try these croissants first."

[plan-d-to-i]

I genuinely think that people don't understand that the reason that wwx went "you can do whatever you want to me" with lwj is bc he knows him and trusts in him. he is very much aware that lwj would never ask him to do anything that he wouldn't do/like, both in terms of relationship like sex and stuff and in terms of actions. they are married, they are a couple, they love each other, but they are also each other's greatest confident, best friend and, more important: partners. they agree with each other, they have the same moral ideals. they trust in eo's hearts. it's not bc wwx is blind by love, no, it's pretty much the opposite: it's bc he can see cleary who his beloved is

— mlisz

Absolutely. This is not Wei Wuxian meeting Lan Wangji for the first time and blindly giving him consent carte blanche. This is them growing towards each other over two lifetimes. WangXian may outwardly express themselves differently however their world views are completely aligned. They desire the same things, the same things are important to them, their goals are the same, the way they see the world, the people in it, and what's right and wrong is in harmony.

I think Wei Wuxian recognizes that he's met his potential match in Lan Zhan quite early, and he tries very hard to tease his way closer to him, but by the time LWJ figures out that he can trust Wei Wuxian's heart that boundless enthusiasm has dimmed somewhat both with past rejection and with the secret behind his demonic cultivation now coming between them. By the time LWJ makes his decisive move it's too late and Wei Wuxian can't even hear him.

In WWX's second life Lan Wangji has full faith in Wei Wuxian's nature, and he doesn't care if his feelings are returned as long as he's permitted to stand by WWX's side and be there for him unreservedly. He makes it clear enough with his actions that it can rectify all the previous misunderstandings they've had between them and it works. Unconsciously WWX starts to realize it -when jiang cheng kidnaps him and tortures him with Fairy, in that state of instinctive distress it's Lan Wangji's name that he shouts.

“Suddenly, Jiang Cheng glanced sideway at him, “Whose name did you call?”

Wei WuXian was in such a state of distress that he couldn’t remember whether or not he called someone’s name at all.”

As he's walking to reunite with LWJ he finally examines it:

“He had always thought that Jiang Cheng would be on his side, and Lan WangJi on the side opposite to him. He could never have imagined that things would turn out so differently.”

I'd say it really crystalizes when Lan Wangji takes his side in front of the whole cultivation world as his identity is revealed. Wei Wuxian gives Lan Wangji the same easy out he gave jiang cheng with his proposal to defect. He would take the world's condemnation squarely on his own shoulders and spare LWJ the ignominy of their association. LWJ however is not trash jc.

“Lan WangJi, though, was different from him. He wouldn’t even have to explain, and people would explain for him, such as how HanGuang-Jun had been deceived by the YiLing Patriarch.

Wei WuXian, “HanGuang-Jun, you don’t have to follow me!”

Lan WangJi looked straight in front of him, saying nothing in reply. The two left behind them a crowd of cultivators shouting to kill. Amid the chaos, Wei WuXian spoke again, “You really want to go with me? Think carefully. After you walk out this door, your reputation will be destroyed! The two had already dashed down the steps of Koi Tower. Lan WangJi grabbed his wrist”

Things get even more dire after Jin Ling, driven by the hate and lies jc has poured into his ear all these years, stabs WWX (in the same spot jiang cheng had stabbed him) still Lan Wangji remains staunchly by WWX's side.

“[Wei WuXian] didn’t know how long had passed, but when he hazily opened his eyes again, Lan WangJi flew on Bichen, while he was carried on Lan WangJi’s back. Blood had spilled onto half of his snow colored cheeks...

Wei WuXian called out, “… Lan Zhan.”

Lan WangJi’s breathing wasn’t as placid as usual, feeling somewhat rushed. It was probably from carrying Wei WuXian while fending off attacks and being on the run for too long.”

“The tone in which he replied, however, was still the single syllable, as steady as ever, “Mnn.”

After the “mnn”, he added, “I am here.”

Hearing the words, something that Wei WuXian had never felt before sprouted within his heart. It was like sorrow. His chest hurt a bit, but also felt a bit warm.

He could still remember how, back in Jiangling, Lan WangJi came all the way to assist him, yet he didn’t appreciate the kindness at all. With all kinds of disputes, the two of them often parted with disapproval.

But what he hadn’t expected was that when everyone feared him and flattered him, Lan WangJi scolded him right in his face; when everyone spurned him and loathed him, Lan WangJi stood by his side.”

It's very interesting that after this we get the long flashback of suffering WWX went through in his previous life, and as he finally wakes up in the present again :

“Lan WangJi sat beside Wei WuXian for a while. Seeing that he was motionless again, he was about to stand up when Wei WuXian grabbed him with his other hand, hugging his arm and refusing to let go. He shouted, “I’ll go with you, quick, take me back to your sect!

This comes right on the heels of the chapter ending with LWJ standing outside the courier station where jc and WWX have killed Wen Chao and where LWJ's “Go back to Gusu with me” was misunderstood and rejected by WWX. So the novel beautifully contrasts these two moments and the sharp change between them.

When WangXian head out again towards Yiling to investigate further it's clear things have shifted for Wei Wuxian. He even starts thinking of his childhood! with his mother and father and the incomparable warmth and safety that he experienced with them and playfully tricks Lan Wangji into reenacting that little scene with him.

“With this journey to Yiling, it was clear that their future was still unclear, even somewhat dangerous. Wei WuXian couldn’t get himself to feel nervous at all. Sitting on a donkey with Lan WangJi holding the rein, leading them down the path, his entire heart was fluttering, feeling as though he was walking on air. Even if a bunch of sects suddenly attacked from beside the road, aside from destroying the scene and spoiling his mood, he thought that he wouldn’t find it too bad.

Finally the symbolic fall from the tree into Lan Wangji's arms.

“All of a sudden, an abnormally strong impulse surged into Wei WuXian’s mind.

He wanted to fall down again, just like back then.

A voice inside of him said, If he catches me, I’ll…

At this point where he thought ‘I’ll’, Wei WuXian let go. Seeing that he fell out of the tree without any warning, Lan WangJi’s eyes immediately widened. He shot forward just in time to catch Wei WuXian, or one might say, be caught by Wei WuXian.”...

“His voice was hoarse, “Thank you.”

He wasn’t scared of falling. All these years, he’d fallen many times. But falling on the ground still hurt, after all. If someone was there to catch him, it’d be more than wonderful.”

It's just such a beautiful progression. Wei Wuxian trusts his entire being into Lan Wangji's care because he's seen step by step how careful Lan Wangji is with him and he's learned to read Lan Wangji and accurately reinterpret his past actions. Lan Wangji has become his safety. I think nowhere is it actually more obvious than in his own thoughts right before the Guanyin Temple at the end. In his life WWX was the kind of person who made due with what he had. Maybe because he'd lost his family so young and then lost what passed for his second home, then had to give up his Clan, then lost whatever home he'd set up with the Wens, a part of him remained untethered. He learned that he could lose everything so he should need nothing, but that was no longer the case when it came to Lan Wangji:

“He thought about it some more. Wen Ning didn’t know where he was going, but he didn’t know either, did he? In the beginning, when he was with Lan WangJi, he never thought about this problem at all. He took it as granted that they’d continue like this without change. But after tonight, maybe he and Lan WangJi wouldn’t go back to how they were ever again. Without Lan WangJi, it seemed as if it wasn’t too impossible for him to roam the world on his own.

But a voice in Wei WuXian’s heart told him with clarity, No, you can’t.

The words he said back on Koi Tower really proved to be true. The current Wei WuXian couldn’t do without Lan WangJi.”

[xiyao-feels]

i've seen takes that jgy started playing turmoil before the staircase, aka wwx comments that it would take 3months for turmoil to kill nmj (ch64) so obviously jgy started playing it a long time ago, causing all of nmj's anger, all of that was his fault.

but also the novel says that jgy made a decision on the stairs or gave something up then a few days later played for nmj (ch 49) and like...idk what that could be except for killing nmj, is there something else this could be?

is wwx right? is mxtx bad at timelines? is nmj kick 3 months in the past, what is the time between 49 and 50 (when nmj dies in 2mo)

idk this whole thing is fuzzy and if you have any clarification or insight i'd like to hear it

-🦊

Fox anon! I'm glad to hear from you, and I hope you're doing well. I'm sorry I took so long to answer this—I was trying to be thorough, you all can judge whether I succeeded.

Now, I think the first thing to note here is that WWX actually and explicitly observes the Song of Clarity working when JGY is playing for NMJ before the stairs (ch 49):

Since then, Jin GuangYao would travel from Lanling to Qinghe every few days, playing Sound of Lucidity to help quell Nie MingJue rage. He tried his hardest, without speaking even a single word of complaint. Sound of Lucidity was indeed effective. Wei WuXian could clearly feel that the hostile energy within Nie MingJue was being suppressed. And, when playing the guqin, the way that the two conversed and got along even had a hint of the peace they had before they fell out. He began to think that maybe the so-called busy reestablishing the Cloud Recesses was just an excuse. Perhaps Lan XiChen simply wanted to give Nie MingJue and Jin GuangYao a chance to ease their tension.

(emphasis mine)

I think this is pretty conclusive. WWX's observations on the spot override his conclusions after a) being extensively soaked in NMJ's anger/resentment (ch 48-50) b) the entire drama afterwards at Jinlintai including being stabbed through by Jin Ling (ch 50) and c) resting and recovering for four days (ch 63).

Moreover, let's look at what WWX actually says in chapter 63:

Wei WuXian, “Jin GuangYao’s spiritual energy isn’t high. He wouldn’t have been able to take someone’s life with just seven notes. And killing him this way would’ve been too obvious. He definitely wouldn’t have chosen a song so powerful. But, if he could use the reason of playing the Song of Clarity for ChiFeng-Zun to calm his temper and continued to play it for three months, would the song be able to act as a slow poison and catalyse ChiFeng-Zun’s outburst?”

He's asking LXC questions about Turmoil, because it's new to him and he doesn't understand everything about it. I think it's pretty clear here that he's starting from how long he saw JGY play for NMJ, and asking if that would be long enough, rather than definitively stating that it would have to take three months; nor is there anything in LXC's response ("… Yes") that suggests three months is any kind of necessary minimum.

So those are the facts at hand. And imho if you look at the text in the later Empathy, there's a great deal of supporting evidence as well. There's the moment you mention, where JGY seems to be making a decision:

Nie MingJue, “Then why don’t you sacrifice yourself? Are you any nobler than them? Are you any different from them?”

Jin GuangYao stared at him. A moment later, as though he had finally either decided on something or given up on something, he replied calmly, “Yes.”

He looked up. In his expression were some of pride, some of calmness, and some of a faint insanity, “I and they, of course we are different!”

I agree with you, he's deciding to give up on NMJ—and if it's something else, what is it? If JGY isn't giving up on getting through to NMJ here, what function does this line serve in the text?

And I think it's worth noting here, as I've noted before—when JGY is talking about how different his and NMJ's positions are, he says "Your background is noble and your cultivation is high"; and the "Your background is noble" part is 你出身高贵, with the 高贵 being the "noble" part. When NMJ is asking him "Are you any nobler than them? Are you any different from them?" the "Are you any nobler than them?" is 你比他们高贵吗—so the "noble" part is, again, the same word, 高贵.  Given that JGY has just spent a great deal of breath explaining that he is different from NMJ precisely because of his less-noble background, this is very much a pair of questions that might quite justifiably make JGY feel like NMJ is just completely not understanding anything he is saying here at all. 

Besides that moment, there is the way he approaches or interacts with NMJ, which is quite noticeably different after the stairs. If you look at the beginning of the stairs, he's trying to convince NMJ to let the XY thing go: he says that if XY is locked up for life and can't hurt people, this isn't too different from him being executed, and then when NMJ does not accept this, points out that it's JGY's father's command and he cannot simply go against it as NMJ wishes. Once JGY loses his temper, he is still presenting arguments for his position—which granted is now approximately "you're being a hypocrite and you don't understand things", but he is still arguing for it—that is, he is still trying to reach NMJ; he is acting as though on some level he believes he can get through to him. 

But in attempting to convince NMJ about XY, he is not acting like someone who expects that NMJ is right about to die; because if he were expecting that, he could simply say whatever he likes to put NMJ off, knowing that he won't actually have to pay up. Similarly, in attempting to get through to NMJ via argument, however angrily, he is not treating NMJ as purely an object to be manipulated; NMJ's beliefs matter to JGY separately (I am not saying /only/ separately) from what those beliefs lead NMJ to do. To put it another way: he cares about what NMJ thinks. This too is something that prevents JGY from simply telling NMJ whatever he wishes to hear, and this, too, is lost at the stairs.

For after the stairs, telling NMJ what he wants to hear, and just telling NMJ something that will put him off because he knows or hopes he won't have to pay up, are exactly what JGY does. When he shows up at the Unclean Realm a few days later, he tells NMJ he's here to acknowledge his mistakes and that he's realized NMJ is "doing this" for him; he promises to bring NMJ XY's head in two months, and tells NMJ he can do whatever he likes with him if JGY does not. This is a significant change in behaviour from before the stairs, and in consideration with all the other evidence it seems to me that this is because, post-stairs, he no longer values what NMJ thinks of him, and he is now gambling on his killing NMJ before NMJ kills him.

The only area where he does push back now is NMJ's treatment of NHS, I suspect because he worries about what NMJ might do or continue to do to NHS in his remaining two months of life.

So: I really do think the evidence is pretty clear that JGY starts with Turmoil after the stairs, in that it is directly signalled by the text and in that all the evidence around it backs this up.

That said, I have seen other objections raised by various anti-JGY folk, and while some of them have more merit than others I think it's worth taking the time to go over them.

-JGY couldn't possibly have prepared the Turmoil music in the few days between the stairs and him starting to play for NMJ after.

Yes, I agree; he must have had it prepared earlier. But that only means that he had it prepared, not that he was using it, and while there are certainly people who will only prepare a weapon if they are sure they will use it, I really don't think JGY is among them. He might also have prepared it as evidence for his father that he was working on solving the problem.

-WWX didn't notice a difference between the music JGY was playing before the stairs and the music he was playing after; therefore, it must be the same music.

Honestly, I think that WWX just didn't notice. It's explicitly described as very subtle, and indeed he can't tell the difference between the altered passage and the rest of the song (ch 63):  

Wei WuXian withdrew the flute from his lips, “It really is this section? But I don’t find this section different at all.”

And he again observes how similar they are in chapter 64:  

And he combined them so well. They sound as though there were the same. His musical talent is indeed excellent.

His repeated observation that they sound just the same suggests that he could very well have failed to notice, I think, and indeed he would have heard the altered version more often.

There is also another explanation, entirely compatible with JGY only using Turmoil after the stairs. WWX says of JGY playing Turmoil that he must have "used little spiritual power" during the Clarity sections, and "only exerted power" during the Turmoil section (ch 64). So if we think WWX would definitely have noticed the difference, there is an explanation for how he nevertheless very clearly observed NMJ's hostile energy suppressed by the music; JGY might have been using his power during the (much longer) Clarity part, and only used a very little during Turmoil. Personally, I think that it fits better with the overall emotional arc if JGY didn't change the music he was playing until after the stairs; but I accept this isn't ruled out as a possibility.

I feel obliged to note that at one point, after I was challenged on the issue of JGY changing the music after the stairs and pointed out WWX noticing NMJ's hostile energy being suppressed, as above, I was offered as an explanation for the passage that JGY couldn't possibly have abruptly switched to Turmoil right away when he started playing for NMJ, because NMJ would have noticed that he was suddenly feeling worse; and that therefore WWX clearly feeling NMJ's hostile energy being suppressed was not really evidence that JGY was playing Clarity and not Turmoil before the stairs. But I disagree with this, on two counts.

First, it is not clear to me that NMJ would in fact notice. He does not seem to be very self-aware about the effects of the sabre curse. He explicitly denies it at the stairs, for example: "I am not [in turmoil]. I know what I'm doing" (ch 49). After he burns NHS' things, when JGY asks him if he's told NHS about the sabre curse yet, NMJ asks "Why would I tell him so soon?" even though at this point he is quite clearly being affected (ch 50). And when he kicks open the door to kill JGY in chapter 50, he seems not to think about the curse at all. Of course this last is moments before he qi deviates and dies and is therefore perhaps not representative, but it fits with the general pattern; I don't believe we ever see him consider whether his anger might be because of the sabre curse, and indeed he is hardly given to questioning the righteousness of his anger in general.

Secondly, and more abstractly...WWX observing the hostile energy being suppressed—"clearly feel[ing]" it being suppressed (ch 49)—may not be /literally/ incompatible with the idea that JGY changed music after the stairs. But a story isn't just a collection of facts, and I think by far the most natural interpretation of this, in context, is that JGY is playing Clarity and not Turmoil. Which is not of course to say you can't have a resistant reading here, but I think it's generally good practice to acknowledge when your readings are resistant readings, and especially if you have a resistant reading not to say it is the only possible reading of the facts.

-JGY has no motive for playing for NMJ other than wanting him dead.

If we assume rather that he doesn't want him dead, he pretty clearly has a motive to help keep NMJ's temper under control, both on a personal level (so NMJ doesn't attack or embarrass him) and on a political level (so NMJ doesn't lose it and embarrass JGS). I would also like to note that although it was some time ago, and it seems likely that even before the stairs JGY's feelings about NMJ are not as positive as once they were, we have seen JGY go to quite heroic lengths to save NMJ's life before, when he saves him from Wen Ruohan by misdirection and assassination then drag/carries his unconscious body rather than leave him there and make good his own escape.

-The stairs and the fan burning both happen before JGY starts playing for NMJ after the stairs; NMJ wouldn't do either of those things in his right mind…

I agree; the Nie have to deal with the sabre curse. I think it's worth pointing out, too, that aside from Clarity we don't see NMJ take any measures to try to deal with the curse, either directly in addressing the curse itself, or by preventing himself from acting excessively under the influence of the curse; it shouldn't be surprising, then, that the curse can cause such drastic incidents.

-…and the sabre curse wouldn't be strong enough.

This one really confuses me as an objection, I'm going to be honest. We can be pretty sure NMJ would have qi deviated eventually, Turmoil or no. NHS says this in chapter 26:

"The sabers of our past sect leaders were all heavy with hostile energy and killing intent. Almost every single sect leader met a sudden death from a qi deviation explosion. Their irritable tempers also had a lot to do with this."

(As a side note: the missing paragraph in the ER translation right after this has I think occasionally led people to the conclusion that it is the qi deviation and such that WWX suggests is similar to demonic cultivation, as opposed to the sabres turning murderous after the deaths of their owners—you can see the Taming Wangxian and the MDZS Translation versions for the full context of the exchange.)

So NMJ was almost sure to qi deviate eventually! Moreover, he would have greatly strengthened the sabre spirit through his extensive use of Baxia during Sunshot, and after the war he continues to pursue cultivating with the sabre, without, I think, any sign of moderation. And it seems likely that he is already showing recognizable symptoms of the curse by the time JGY starts playing for him alone, as Clarity seems intended to slow the progression of the curse and also like something relatively newly introduced—they don't seem to have been doing this since Sunshot just in case, or anything. So how then could we be sure that the sabre curse on its own would be insufficient?

-NMJ wasn't at all violent before JGY started playing for him

This is simply not true. Unfortunately we don't see much of him outside of Empathy, but looking exclusively at things that happen before JGY starts playing for him:

His reputation in Sunshot is about his destroying the Wen, contrasted with LXC's which is about saving people (ch 48):

During the Sunshot Campaign, stories of praise were told about all three of the Venerated Triad. The ones of ChiFeng-Zun were about how he swept over all obstacles, leaving not even a trace of the Wen-dogs after he finished. ZeWu-Jun—Lan XiChen—however, was different from him. After the situation of the Gusu area had settled down, Lan QiRen was able to defend it with great tenacity. Thus, Lan XiChen often travelled to aid others, saving lives from danger. In all of the Sunshot Campaign, he had countless times recovered lost territory and assisted narrow escapes. This was why people were ecstatic whenever they heard his name, as though they gained a ray of hope, a powerful trump card.

The description of his reaction to seeing MY kill the Jin captain pretty strongly suggests his initial reaction was to attack MY on the spot (ch 48):

Nie MingJue saw all of the scene. Without saying a word, he unsheathed his saber by an inch. A sharp ring pierced through the air.

Hearing the familiar sound of unsheathing, Meng Yao immediately trembled. He spun around, his soul almost evaporating, “… Sect Leader Nie?”

Nie MingJue pulled all of his saber out of its sheath. The body of the sword glared brightly, yet the blade itself vaguely glinted in the red shade of blood. Wei WuXian could feel the billowing anger from him, along with emotions of disappointment and hatred.

Meng Yao knew Nie MingJue’s character more than anyone else. He dropped the sword with a clang, “Sect Leader Nie, Sect Leader Nie! Please wait, please wait! I can explain!”

Even after he's listening, he ends up grabbing MY by the collar and lifting him up (ch 48). 

When he's explaining what happened with MY to LXC, he announces his intention to kill MY if he ever sees him again (ch 48), and after MY kills WRH, saving NMJ's life in doing so, and is carrying him out afterwards, he grabs his sabre from MY's hand and tries to kill MY again (ch 49). He only stops when LXC physically blocks him, and changes his mind after LXC explains that MY was in fact a spy, and I think it's worth noting that WWX believes that MY would probably have died under NMJ's attacks before LXC arrived if NMJ hadn't been heavily injured (ch 49). We're also told the brotherhood oath 3zun swear is unusually violent, in a way JGY suggests, and which LXC notably does not refute, was decided by NMJ (ch 50). Finally, while this summary of NMJ's interests is arguably from WWX's perspective, it is still notable that the only two things he's apparently interested in are "training his saberwork and killing Wen-dogs" (ch 49)—which is to say, the study of violence, and a particular and fatal application thereof. 

(Totally unrelated fun fact: I was looking at the entrance to the Phoenix Mountain Hunt for this too and apparently NMJ is seventh on the young cultivators list (ch 69). The more you know!)

I want to be very clear that I am not saying that all of NMJ's violence is unreasonable or not understandable. But that it can be reasonable and understandable does not mean that it is not violent; and it is certainly not the only reaction a person could have to the events he's reacting to. Contrast LXC, as someone rather on the other end of the spectrum.

-If NMJ were violent, JGY wouldn't risk his life killing him via Turmoil (and therefore NMJ must not be violent)

Even aside from the extensive textual evidence for NMJ's violence, I don't think this holds together. As shown above, I think it's quite clear that NMJ was in fact always a violent man, but there is absolutely no question that he's violent to JGY in his last months of life, and if you think JGY started playing Turmoil for NMJ before the stairs, then it's really extremely clear that JGY was willing to risk NMJ's violence in killing him! I think the clash between JGY's desire to live and the evident risk to his life from killing NMJ with Turmoil actually supports the position I am arguing here. Assuming we are agreed that JGY is attached to his own life, and as it's clear that as NMJ approached his end he was a danger to JGY (regardless of how that end was induced!), why was JGY playing him Turmoil?

I think the stairs make it clear to JGY that his life is not safe while NMJ is still alive. Using Turmoil, therefore, becomes a gamble he is willing to take, though still an enormously risky one: on the one hand, it appeases his father and enables him to promise NMJ he can do whatever he likes with JGY if he doesn't kill XY in two months (ch 50), a promise he obviously and understandably has no intention of keeping. But on the other hand, if NMJ doesn't die within the two months, he probably will simply kill JGY—and more than that, given his focus on JGY, he may kill JGY anyway, for some much more trivial reason. Indeed, this is exactly what almost happens just before NMJ's death, when he kicks open a door and attempts to kill JGY on the spot because JGY was complaining to LXC about NMJ's treatment of him; if LXC hadn't blocked NMJ's sabre, JGY would almost certainly have died (ch 50). But as risky as this gamble is, it is still a better bet than waiting around and hoping LXC always saves him when NMJ tries to kill him—especially taking into account the risk from his father should he do so.

-The stairs incident was good for JGY and bad for NMJ, which is evidence that JGY arranged it on purpose

...I have a lot of things to say about this position. None of them are very nice. However, as I am in fact trying to argue in good faith, I will attempt to address it as an argument.

I think this comes from a confusion of the fandom reaction to the stairs with the in-universe reaction to it. To people now, yes, looking at this makes NMJ look bad, and inspires sympathy for JGY. In-universe, however—when NMJ publically assaults JGY and tries to kill him, when he calls him Meng Yao, when he shouts he's the son of a prostitute, it's not /NMJ/ who looks bad. NMJ of course is righteous in his anger; really he's only putting that boy in his place, don't you think? I knew Chifeng-zun didn't really accept him. Etcetera. It /weakens/ JGY's position, because the cultivation world does not have the same beliefs and priorities and value judgements that we do!

Certainly if he'd actually managed to kill JGY he would suddenly have found that he had killed JGS's beloved son, the only remaining son of the Jin, a war hero, his own sworn brother who had saved NMJ's life etc etc etc. But only because then there would have been political advantage in it for JGS, and quite substantial political advantage too, and he wouldn't have to deal with JGY being around anymore. As it stands, all NMJ's actions at the stairs do for JGY is tell the world that he is vulnerable and weak and disgusting. The only significant person in-world who would find JGY more sympathetic after this incident is LXC, and frankly a) he is already deeply in sympathy with JGY and b) we don't see JGY playing it up—after LXC's appearance at the stairs rather he minimizes and soothes things, and even when we overhear his complaints to LXC around two months later he is talking about what NMJ thinks of him, and not the physical danger NMJ poses.

I will also observe that while JGY does end up losing his temper, he starts off soothing even through NMJ's first attempted assault, and only loses it after NMJ calls him Meng Yao and says "your whole thing stopped working on me since a long time ago" in front of everyone; this attempted conciliation seems an odd thing to do were he in fact trying to manipulate NMJ into assaulting him, trying to kill him, embarrassing him and weakening his position in public. You could argue that NMJ would be more angered by JGY's attempts to be soothing than he would by JGY's directness, and thus the soothing could be read as provocative, but this simply isn't backed up by the text; while NMJ was obviously already angry before JGY lost his temper, he nevertheless escalates significantly after JGY talks back.

Moreover...I think what NMJ actually does and tries to do at the stairs, in terms of violence, is sometimes not fully grasped.

The first thing he does once they're properly outside is try to hit JGY, though fortunately JGY manages to dodge. When NMJ kicks him down the stairs, even aside from calling JGY the son of a prostitute, JGY ends up rolling down more than fifty steps and acquiring a head wound—/another/ head wound, because he already had one, apparently from the physical abuse he receives at Jinlintai from Madam Jin. And finally, NMJ actually /unsheathes his sabre/ and, after LXC approaches, announces his intention to kill JGY:

Lan XiChen, “Brother, sheath your saber first—your mind is in turmoil!”

Nie MingJue, “I am not. I know what I’m doing. He’s beyond hope. If these keeps on going, he’ll do the world harm for sure. The earlier he’s killed, the earlier we can relax!”

(ch 49)

When I say that NMJ almost killed JGY at the stairs, I am not just talking about kicking him down the stairs, although that certainly could have killed JGY. I am talking about drawing his sabre on JGY with the intention of killing him. JGY would very likely have died if LXC hadn't thought they were taking too long and come to see. 

JGY can certainly take enormous risks when it's necessary—but for a risk like this he would have to be gaining something extremely significant, and I remain unconvinced he was gaining anything at all, let alone anything worth the cost.

-NMJ's actions at the stairs and his burning NHS' things are completely unrelated to any of his previous actions and motivations.

In fact, although they're certainly both significant escalations, I think that in both cases NMJ's motivations and actions draw extensively from preceding characterization.

Consider the stairs. The direct classism is certainly new, but there are several other elements that have already been established as part of NMJ's characterization: the tendency to violence, the investment in JGY behaving correctly even while ignoring incorrect behaviour around him, the approach to justice both in his particular and frequently-retributive idea of it and in his commitment to that idea, and a failure to understand the realities of JGY's position.

The violence I discussed above, and the failure to understand JGY's position has I think been discussed sufficiently elsewhere and besides would be a full post in its own right. As to NMJ's approach to justice, you can see both idea and commitment to it in his anger to the men speaking badly of MY (ch 48) and his appreciation and promotion of MY for his accomplishments (ch 48); his initial intention to kill MY after he catches him killing the Jin captain (ch 48), his subsequent insistence that MY turn himself in to the Jin (ch 48) and his intention to kill MY for his betrayal after MY tricks him and escapes (ch 48); his initial insistence that MY should pay for killing the Nie cultivators, even as he acknowledges that MY saved his life and says he will kill himself after he kills MY (ch 49); and of course in his insistence that WQ and WN should pay for their complicity with WRH, even in the face of LXC and JC's defense of them (ch 73). And in describing LWJ as "absolutely [unable to] stand wrongdoings, possibly even more than Nie HuaiSang’s brother" (ch 30), WWX implies a great deal about the extent of NMJ's inability to stand wrongdoings. Of course, not all of these instances involve NMJ seeking violent retribution as justice, but a significant portion do—about half—and it is certainly a recurring theme. This approach to justice, I should add, is certainly involved in attempting to punish JGY for his misdeeds by killing him, but it is also part of why he is so upset in the first place: in NMJ's view of things, holding XY in prison instead of executing him for his crimes is failing to see justice properly done.

The investment in JGY behaving correctly, even while caring less about the behaviour of other people around him doing the same, is likewise an established character note. WWX concludes that NMJ's desire to guide JGY is one of the main reasons he agrees to the brotherhood (ch 49); we see his disapproval of JGY associating with XY, who already has something of a bad reputation, at the Flower Banquet (ch 49); at the conference after WWX rescues the Wen, when JGY backs up his father's lie about what WWX said about JC, NMJ seems to mark it more heavily than JGS' initial lie (ch 73). And then, of course, there is this, from the scene just before JGY starts playing for NMJ (ch 49):

In reality, it wasn’t that Jin GuangYao could calm Nie MingJue’s anger, but that since Jin GuangYao came, all of Nie MingJue’s anger would be directed at him alone, having no time to scold others. Thus, there was nothing wrong with saying that he was Nie HuaiSang’s knight in shining armor.

While NMJ's actions at the stairs are certainly not something he'd have done without the sabre curse, and again the direct classism is new, it nevertheless very much ties in to his preexisting characterization.

What about the burning of NHS' things? Again, many elements of the situation derive from NMJ's preexisting characterization; in this case, his tendency to release his anger on physical objects, his desire for NHS to be a strong cultivator and his angry displeasure with NHS' actual interests and capabilities, and his threatening to burn NHS' things.

Although prior to the burning of NHS' things it seems to be usually a momentary lashing out, NMJ definitely has a history of releasing his anger on physical objects. When he is annoyed at the men speaking badly about MY, he knocks down (or carves up? the English is unclear) a boulder at the front of the cave (ch 48); when he decides not to kill MY after LXC explains MY was their spy, he carves a boulder in half (ch 49); and he cracks the top of a table by bringing his palm down on it in the scene just before JGY starts playing for him (ch 49).

As to NMJ's desire for his brother to focus on and do well at cultivation, and his displeasure at NHS' actual areas of focus, this is perhaps one of his most consistent beats of characterization. We see it in our introduction to NHS at the Cloud Recesses lectures (ch 13); in NHS' plea for WWX's help with the test (ch 14); in LXC's message to NHS from NMJ and NHS' reason for staying in CR instead of going to Caiyi Town (ch 16); in WWX's reminiscences about NHS after discussing the "Man-Eating Ridge" with the "know-it-all of Qinghe" (ch 21); in NMJ and LXC's discussion when NMJ brings LXC NHS' sabre during in Sunshot (ch 48); and of course in the scene just before JGY starts playing for NMJ, both in his initial anger at NHS' preoccupation with the fans and uncertainty about his sabre's location, and in his dismissal of NHS as a "good-for-nothing" even after his temper had faded (ch 49).

The threatening to burn NHS' things, on the other hand, I believe we only see once, and really in the form of "instructing NHS to burn certain specific things of his"; but it is in the very scene before JGY starts playing for NMJ, as NMJ tells NHS to burn the fans he has just been going over tenderly before JGY interrupts (ch 49).

Indeed, I think that scene in general is very much worth a look here, for what it has and for what it doesn't. On the one hand, we do see NHS' fear of NMJ—he literally falls to his knees in terror, and stutters even after getting up! But he also seems fairly comfortable after the worst of NMJ's anger passes, and when NMJ sends him off he goes not to his room as instructed, but to the living room for the gifts JGY has brought him. Yet many of the elements of NMJ's later destruction of NHS' things are present here, and to my mind one of the most important things about the scene is its illustration of what prevents NMJ from carrying out the threats he made in his anger. It's not that he's convinced he's being unreasonable—indeed, he doesn't seem to consciously change his mind at all. Instead it is simply that repeated interruptions and NHS's ridiculous appearance as he greets JGY end up draining his temper, and with his temper drained he no longer pursues punishing NHS. But this has obvious implications for what might happen if NMJ's anger did not diminish, and I think it's quite clear how the behaviour NMJ exhibits in this scene could lead to NMJ burning NHS' things simply by giving him a more sustained burst of temper, even as it is not something NHS ever expected to happen, or something that would happen had NMJ's temper not been worsened by the sabre curse.

To conclude this section—while NMJ's actions at the stairs and in burning NHS' things are certainly unprecedented in themselves, they are nevertheless solidly rooted in NMJ's preexisting characterization, and it's easy to see how the sabre curse could lead to these extreme escalations. 

To conclude the post, I think the direct evidence is quite clear that JGY was playing Clarity before the stairs, and I think the indirect evidence also significantly supports it; nor am I convinced by various objections I have seen, for reasons I hope I have conveyed.