#(mE ' OK NOW THE QUESTION IS... DO WE ACTUALLY GET A FURTHER UPDATE... DO WE JIN... D O W E ')

[fuckyeahkagepro]

ME: JIN PLEASE give us ANYTHING of tHE NEXT The Next the nEXT the next the next the next the next NEWS

[staybabblingbaby]

Soulmate Garden AU Ch.5 (Verbena) a1d1

[Caution: These are not full fics, or even full parts of fics for some, these are part of my writing progress archive!]

Concept: Growing up, you knew Soulmates weren't all that they cracked up to be. So when, on your 18th birthday, your skin is painted with a garden of flower buds, you resolve to hide it from everyone. Who had ever heard of someone with 8 soulmates, anyway?

Or; Reader has 8 soulmates and no issue avoiding all of them. It's up to SKZ to show her that while every soulbond might not be made of fairy tales, theirs certainly could be.

Word Count: 1,903

TO THE UNAWARE: THIS IS A PROGRESS UPDATE OF A CHAPTER NOT REMOTELY CLOSE TO DONE! PLEASE DON'T EXPECT A FULL OR POLISHED PRODUCT HERE

Notes: Wow!!! It's been forever! It's amazing what a decent night's sleep can do for one's creativity. Cranked this out in abt 3ish hours???? maybe 4??? It's ok this has been marinating in my brain for fucking ever lmao, but I fried my brain getting it out so this is what we have for now o7

Dividers by @saradika

Warnings: She/Her Reader, Mentions of panic attack, Reader is processing her feelings </3

Leave me comments or questions or anything! Love hearing from folks <3

Masterlist <3 | Main Part (Unfinished </3)

By some miracle, you make it home without incident.

You slam open your front door for the second time in as many days, and make straight for your room to properly scream into your pillow. You’re late for work at this point, having intended to go straight from the gym to your office, but honestly just the thought of being a functioning human being right now made you want to cry. Everything made you want to cry, actually.

You hear the door to your room creak open slowly, and you can practically see Taylor’s stupid considerate blond head peeking in cautiously even from your position laying face down on your mattress trying to suffocate in your pillows. He takes the lack of soft objects being flung at him as welcome and invites himself further into the room.

You’re not sure how your roommate seems to spawn wherever you are when you’re upset, but when the bed dips under his weight, and Taylor’s warm, not-your-soulmate, hand soothes comfortingly down your spine, you can only be grateful for the superpower.

Your roommate lets you marinate in your misery for a bit, running his fingers through your hair and just being a silent comfort. Eventually though, he get tired of your brooding and tugs lightly at the strangs between his fingers.

“Alright, out with it.” He demands softly, “Who am I killing? Where are we hiding the body? I need details.”

You huff a soft laugh into your pillows and roll over to the side of your bed, arm wildly swinging about in search of the gym bag you’d dropped during your dramatics. You find it after a moment or two and fumble around to unzip and pull out that atrocious hat. You take satisfaction in flinging it at Taylor’s face, even if he manages to catch it before it hits him.

“No murder,” You answer at last, face once more smooched between pillows, “Just hate myself.”

There’s a moment of silence as Taylor studies the hat, and you’d bet the mix of disgust and puzzlement at the offending item would be priceless if you could bring yourself to look at him. As it is, you reject the thought of receiving any sort of joy and remain prone.

You can tell the moment he realizes what exactly he’s holding, because he sighs heavily and drops his full weight onto your back.

Ignoring your pained grunt and weak struggle to free yourself (because of course he knows the pressure grounds you. Stupid best friend knowledge) Taylor asks, “So, what happened? Whose signiture is it?I can’t murder my favorite group, but I’m sure I could start some sort of fan war if I needed to.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” You sulk to your pillows, giving up on freedom and going limp. Taylor gently raps against your skull with his knuckle in reprimand.

“C’mon now. I know that’s not true. You’re here instead of work.” The blond gently points out.

And curse the man, but he has a point. If you really wanted to hide from what happened you’d be in your office right now, pilling on so much work you couldn’t think of anything else. You’d drown your feelings in routine like you’d tried to this morning.

You whine and squirm a moment longer, but Taylor easily keeps his seat on your back, and you quickly give up again.

“I had a panic attack in front of him,” You admit, shifting to more fully bury yourself, hoping the words will be too muffled to make up. You can’t help the rush of hot shame that shoots through you as you recall your loss of composure.

Usually you’d at least make your way to somewhere more private, brushing off stray tears as allergies and any stuttering as nerves, but you’d just been hit so quickly with the bond, struck so violently by how gentle it felt, you’d been helpless to anything but crumple where you stood.

“Yeah? You doin’ alright?” Taylor coos gently, a hand coming up to knead firmly at the base of your neck, another grounding technique you’d taught him. You grumble as tension you didn’t realize you were carrying slowly leeches out of you at his ministrations, leaving you boneless and desperately holding back tears again. This is why you’d told him this particular action was for emergencies only, it left you feeling vulnerable and soft.

You sniff quietly, your voice thick when your reply, “I don’t know.”

“C’mon love,” Taylor cajoles, “tell me all about it.”

“I- I just.” You stutter and gulp quietly, tears finally spilling over, “He was way too nice to me,” the words crawl out of your throat unbidden, and you finally let everything you’d been carrying overflow.

“I keep putting them through rejection, an’- and I’m a terrible soulmate but he was so kind and he helped me through the panic and he has to hate me now and I don’t know why I can’t just not want them when they scare me so bad,” You blubber out, curling in on yourself when Taylor moves off of you to give you the space to breathe through your tears, huge, gasping, sobs escaping you between words.

Your roommate lets you get your feelings out, holding you through it and rocking you gently. It doesn’t take long for your tears to run out though, you’d never been able to let go of yourself for long.

When your sobs are reduced back to sniffles, Taylor smiles kindly at you.

“You’re kinda dumb.”

You gasp in offense, trying to turn enough to smack him, but Taylor just giggles and holds you tighter so you can’t retaliate.

“I mean it!” He asserts through his laughter, “You keep acting like it’s the end of the world to have trauma, be nicer to yourself,” He scolds lightly. “Besides, of course they’re nice to you! Their whole brand is being kind and generous people.” He lectures, “As a STAY it is my solemn duty to inform you that those men love like breathing. It’s obvious in everything they do, of course their first instinct is to love you.”

Taylor looks down at you with bright eyes, his smile says he hopes for you, and you find yourself swept away by his optimism, “You just have to give yourself a chance, love.”

You lean heavily against him, a silent agreement. You can’t say the words yet, can’t find forgiveness in your heart for how you’ve treated the people who have supported both you and your roommate through your hardest times, though in different ways. But still, his words forge determination on your behalf.

Taylor taps your side where the newest batch of flowers has freshly bloomed.

“Though,�� he contemplates, “I’m not entirely convinced you’re actually rejecting them.”

You sniff miserably, squirming around to face the blond, “What do you mean?” You scrunch your nose in confusion, “I’ve run from every one of them, of course I am.”

“No, yeah,” he agrees, “I just mean that you’re not showing any symptoms.”

You think about it for a moment, and have to concede the point. Taylor must see it in your face, because he continues, “I mean, you’re about as moody as normal,” You gently punch his chest for that, but h just catches your wrist and keeps talking, “No nausea, dizziness, body aches, muscle weakness. Hell, you just came back from the gym.”

Taylor interrupts himself with a gasp and bolts upright, “Ohmygod the gym! Did you meet Changbin?! Is that Changbin’s signature on your ugly fucking hat?! No. Wait.” Taylor holds up a hand and visibly reels himself in, taking a deep breath. “Fanboy later, friendship now.” He breathes again before getting back on track.

“Right. So. What I meant was actual Rejection is an active choice, and it’s ugly for all parties involved. You’ve just been reacting, so I don’t think you’re, like, actually causing harm.” He finally finishes explaining.

Again, you have to give him the point. Annoyingly reasonable man that he is. You haven’t felt any pain aside from the annoying prickling of the unacknowledged bond. You’ve felt unsettled, restless and uneasy, but nothing of the physical ills that accompany a soulmate rejection.

As the rejecting party, you’d be hit the worst by it, so the fact that you haven’t felt so much as a headache from anything but your own tears is good news.

Hope flutters on cautious wings in your chest.

Eventually Taylor leaves you, having used most of his lunch break to coach you through your emotions. You’d have to get him something nice to thank him later.

For your part, you decide to head into work after all, the guilt of others having to pick up your slack driving you forward. Besides, you could really use the distraction. Letting your emotions process in the background while you completed your daily tasks was exactly what you needed after the upheaval of the morning.

Unfortunately for you, your recent absence and tardiness had made you the perfect target to push off the undesirable jobs for the day, leading to you trudging through the heat to meet a client who absolutely had to have this meeting today, but couldn’t leave their gallery unattended.

Honestly, even though you’d grumbled about it when you’d realized you’d have to leave the office, you weren’t actually too mad about it.

The client you were on your way to meet was the curator of a small local gallery, the pretentious kind of hipster place you normally wouldn’t set foot in. However, if you recalled correctly, this month they were showing collections themed around flora. A subject right up your wheelhouse.

If you had any luck, your meeting would be quick and, since you’d put it off as long as you could (just like all the coworkers that had managed to push it off to you), it had ended up your last task for the day. You’d be free to peruse the gallery to your heart’s content as long as the meeting didn’t drag past the gallery’s closing time.

The universe seems to (finally!) be on your side, because the meeting does go mercifully smoothly. So much so that you’re convinced that it could have been an email and you’d been dragged out of your office for nothing, but whatever. Free admission.

In fact, the cuator offers to tour you through the exhibits on display themself, only leaving you to your own devices when a wealthy-looking someone-or-other approaches about purchasing a piece.

It’s much better this way, in your opinion. You can take your time staring blankly at the art, judging how well they’ve depicted the flowers precious to your heart, and sit with the storm of feelings in your heart without having to listen to some man tell you how each painting should make you feel.

You’re doing exactly that, staring blankly at a piece depicting the view from under a wisteria tree and thinking about your matching soulmark, when a man comes up to you, regardless of your narrow escape.

You glance at him from the corner of your eyes, only really seeing tufts of long blond hair peeking out from under a dark beanie, his face obscured by a black facemask. Fake glasses are perched daintily a-top his nose, and you immediately dismiss him as just another art snob you’re not really interested in listening to.

The 'Everything Always' Tag List: @chancloud8 , @sh0dor1 ,

To the readers who come across this: If you want to be added to the progress taglist for just this fic, let me know in the replies here or on this post!

[paper-starz]

WELCOME HOME THEORIES(+ Observations)

I CANNOT BELIEVE IT

after so many hours, days, months.... ITS BACK!

And now, after careful observations, I present to you fine fellows a few theories and observations. THIS WILL BE VERY LONG AND IT WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE UPDATE!!

OK to start off, lets debunk a theory thats been bugging me: THE WELCOME HOME NEIGHBORS ARE DEAD THEORY!

yeah.... has been debunked. Look no further than the guestbook! PG 2 SPECIFICALLY!

Image reads: idonotknowwhatclownis_iaskedfrank_hesaidbarnaby_hereisbarnaby.png

So, Wally was able to ask Frank what a clown was during the time of this ask, therefore, none of the puppets are dead (yet)

"But Paperstar!" I hear you cry. "The neighborhood descriptions were in past tense, while Wally's and Home's neighborhood descriptions were in present tense!"

And for that, I have a simple answer: The puppets aren't aware. Since they aren't aware, they still think that they are living during the 70s. To us, the 70s have already past! And since Wally and Home are aware that they aren't living in the 70s anymore, they use present tense. NOW ONTO THEORY NUMBER 1

THE RED BOOKS THEORY

As we all know, when we look into the website, doodles (presumably made by Wally) are littering the website and sending us into secret links!

While these doodles are fun, creepy, and cool to look at... have we ever stopped and wondered how exactly Wally is doodling onto the website?

By doodling onto a book.

Throughout the website, we see few instances of Wally doodling. Where was he doodling on specifically?

On a red book. But I can take it FURTHER.

I believe the book that Wally is doodling on is THIS ONE

A RED BOOK WITH SWIRLS AND AN EYE.

All 3 things connected to Wally. (Lord knows Wally loves drawing swirls and eyes, especially in this update) "But PAPER!!!" I hear you scream. "THIS BOOK IS IN REALITY! HOW CAN WALLY GET THIS BOOK IF HE'S STUCK IN WELCOME HOME?" Ah, patience, dear viewer! This is called the Red BOOKS theory, not the Red BOOK theory. It's simple, there's two books, one in Welcome Home, and one IRL. As above, so below

Whatever happens above, also happens below!

And it seems like the Question Answerer is in possession of this book as well.

Which brings me to my next theory!

THERE ARE TWO PEOPLE HACKING INTO THE WEBSITE

Specifically Wally (pretty much confirmed) and the Question Answerer.

If the Red Books theory is (hypothetically) true then the IRL book SHOULD be able to doodle onto the site as well! But how do we know this?

Pay close attention to these doodles of Barnaby. Notice one that's... Different from the others?

YES YOU ARE CORRECT, VIEWER! THE RIGHT ONE IS DIFFERENT!

As you see, the right one is scraggly, rushed, not coloring in the lines at all!

BUT WAIT THERES MORE!

Yeah, so it appears to me that Wally draws neater, while the 2nd doodler seems to draw messier and they don't even color the full drawing in most of the time! (For all I know this info could be vice versa. With Wally being the messier drawer and the 2nd doodler being neater.) BUTTTTTT IF YOU WEREN'T CONVINCED OF THESE DOODLES, I HAVE MORE EVIDENCE TO PROVE MY THEORY OF TOO DOODLERS

WALLY CANONICALLY CANNOT DRAW HEARTS (<- Click for proof)

And yet, there are hearts littered not only in the Guest Book page, but all across the website as well. And unless Eddie is helping Wally draw hearts every time he needs to draw one, then I doubt that Wally is the one doodling these hearts.

And for the last piece of evidence saying that there IS a second person, look no further than the HANDWRITING.

Say it with me kids! "One of these things is not like the other!"

ITS THE MIDDLE ONE! YES THE MIDDLE "hello"

It's all lowercase, while Wally usually writes in all UPPERCASE, and in red.

Even his signature supports this statement as well!

Therefore, dear viewers, I believe we need to pay closer attention to the doodles. Who is the one ACTUALLY writing to us?

[octoconbeware]

OCTOCON BEWARE: EVIDENCE POST

Link to the original post detailing the situation: https://www.tumblr.com/octoconbeware/774788083214385152

The original private ticket was posted on the 19th of January, 2025. The creator and moderators made the final decision to allow the pedophile to stay in the servers 8 days later on the 27th of January, 2025. Atlas, the creator of the app/bot, replied to my public post a little over 24 hours after I had posted it on the 6th of February, 2025, reversing the decision and banning the pedophile. Note that the pedophile admits to being 18 and abusing and traumatizing a 14 year old.

All images and image transcripts I was given permission to post are under the readmore. The identity of the user that reported the pedophile was censored.

transcript below of the pedophile's admittance of abusing a 14 year old:

one of em i was a dick tryna ghsot someone (i wasnt my head was just so full), one of them was appearanlty i sidestepped and had pedophilic intentions, (i did it on purpose so i wouldnt do it on accident at a later time) and the other one was. appearntly i severyly traumatised someone im super closeto???/ but theyahvent cout me ut and it pisses me off?????????????????

i purposefully kinda sought out a relationship one of our alters has with an alter in a minor system, and ditn stop them when it got sexual it was fuckin stupid a nd like. a planned idea to hurt my then friends on purpose, so i would not later do it on accident

good, please hate me/g i might actually cut contact w the person who told me i traimatised them because lautely theuve been saying a lot of stuff i dont understand. For example thwt splitting (bpd) is just like mania. And one of their alters is called "ticcy toby", has tics, but the body doesnt tic and never has?? only the alter does and forces into their chatting text?? which makes me uncomfu cool i dropped all my venting on u now block me cause im sus and manipulative and a pedophile i guess even thiugh i just turnt fuckin 18 a montj ago lmfao

gpod good* you have your morals right, thats good when both the alters are between 25-30 but the two bodies are 14 and 18 its not ok and ur right, good

transcript below of the private ticket and decisions made by the creator and moderators:

User: I don't want to be pushy but it's nearing 24 hours since I opened this ticket and presented this information that I feel is very time-sensitive. Could I get some sort of update?

Atlas: Hi! We're currently discussing this report with our team. We'll get back to you as soon as possible.

User: Thank you.

User: Any update?

Catharsys: Hi USER, I really apologize for the delay. We have been quite busy lately (entire team including Atlas). We are not ignoring you and we will get back to you ASAP.

Catharsys: Hi USER, we apologize for the delay since our last reply. After reviewing all provided evidence, we have concluded that this is outside our scope of actions. While we understand your discomfort, all we can recommend is to report the evidence to Discord directly and let them handle this. The reported situation is too old and complex for simple moderators on a Discord server to judge. We hope you will understand. Your continued discomfort with their presence is entirely valid, and we therefore encourage you to block them. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns, or if we are all set to close this ticket!

user: CW PEDOPHILIA // OFFICIAL REPLY FROM OCTOCON MODS! [below is a screenshot with the final decision of the server staff posted by Catharsys]

Atlas: We've reevaluated the situation and have chosen to ban this individual from all of Octocon's communities. Please don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions. Our decision to take inaction was mostly guided by the fact that both individuals involved were minors at the time of the incident, and that the incident occurred 3 years ago, but we now realize that the possibility of falsely banning someone is much less important than potentially putting our community at risk. As administrators of a mixed-age space, we have a moral imperative to protect our community's vulnerable - especially minors - and trust reporters who have genuine concerns for their safety. We'll do better.

[pbaz7]

yay update!! love that ur back on ur writing grind

Paige gave her a polite smile back. “Just here for Azzi…or Dr.Fudd actually I’m sorry.”

silly girl already nervous and shes not even there yet

Kyrie, noticing Paige, walked over and dapped her up. “How you doing, kid?”

someone tell hopkins p about this she'll start crying

“Plyometrics, for the most part I think,” Paige replied, glancing over at Azzi briefly.

girl what in the geometry is that

Paige just smiled, her eyes twinkling. "You'll see," she said, keeping the secret for a little longer. She then added, "Don’t move," before getting out of the car.

personally I'd be terrified

Paige smiled, catching Azzi’s gaze. "I thought you might like it." Azzi looked at her, a soft smile on her face. "I do. This is...perfect."

barely knows her and alr knows her so well

Paige shrugged, her small smile crowing. “You mentioned it on the phone one day I think.”

such a stalker lmao

Azzi laughed at the question. “Have you seen the dating scene in Dallas?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as if the answer was obvious.

very very VERY valid point

Which led to me being the more dominant one, and that’s just not my preference.”

okay author I see you with these sneaky double entendres

“You have this natural masculine energy. And besides that, you naturally lead.

so what ur saying is her being gay is part of why she's such a good baller...

Her voice dropped. “There’s a lot I like about you, Azzi.”

it is getting HOT in here

Paige’s eyes flicked back up to meet hers, her smile growing a little wider. “We’re dating,” she said simply. “I’m just saying I’m not interested in dating anyone else.”

HELL YEAH

Paige shook her head. “A lot of gold diggers... a lot of crazy folks.”

yeah... you are in Dallas and hot AND rich

“Mostly during the season, when I’m traveling, in hotels, and Lukas isn’t with me.”

okay freak

“I’ve slept with maybe seven people in the last year.”

are we in January or...

“That you used to sleep with a new girl every week.”

just rip the bandaid off sure!

When I got back she was just gone and half my shit was gone with her. Few weeks later I got a letter in the mail saying she voluntarily relinquished her rights to Lukas and that was that.”

what. the hell.

“There’s no way you just blushed.”

blondie's so down bad

Still, Paige smirked, keeping her composure. “Yup. Sure would.”

something tells me ur lying...

Paige’s arm wrapped around her waist and Azzi let her own hand rest lightly on the back of Paige’s neck, fingers grazing the soft hair at her nape.

and u JUST said u weren't a tease lmao

Azzi hesitated for just a second, searching Paige’s face before speaking. “Do you wanna go back to mine?”

what did we JUST have a convo about again?

"If it’s not basketball or some obnoxious toddler show like bluey, I don’t watch TV."

she's such a mom I have cuteness agression

The way you actually listen, not just hear, but really listen—ask the right questions, care about what I do. It’s just…really attractive."

don't feed her ego now

"The way you talk, the way you move, the way you stare at me like you're doing right now…”

im sweating

Azzi raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly. “What kind of guidance?”

... oh author oh author

Paige’s fingers lightly traced Azzis shoulder as she leaned in just a little more. “Cause I prefer a more…hands-on approach.”

oh! we're doing this now then!

Paige swallowed, her voice barely audible as she whispered, “I’m tryna kiss you. That’s ok with you?”

CLAPS FOR PAIGE OR ASKING. FUCKING CLAPS.

Azzi’s hand slid up to cup Paige’s jaw, her thumb brushing over her cheek as she leaned in further.

this feels so calm to me I love this vibe

Paige felt like she could kiss Azzi forever, and from the way Azzi kept pulling her closer, she figured the feeling was mutual.

why am I so surprised they kissed after only one chapter

Azzi grabbed Paige’s jaw and pulled her back up, reconnecting their lips. Paige got the message.

COMMUNICATION? WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING? A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP PERHAPS? I FEEL SHOCKED

Paige shook her head, her voice slightly muffled as she spoke. “I gotta stop or Imma die.”

girl calm down take a deep breath

Azzi exhaled, shaking her head before admitting, “Because every time you open your mouth, it gets harder to keep on my pants.”

AZZI PLEASE I JUST FELL OVER LAUGHING

“Nope,” Azzi said, shaking her head as she stepped away. “Get out.”

she's just as down bad as p😭

Exhaling, Azzi made her way upstairs, ready to put some space between herself and the thoughts Paige had stirred up—though she already knew they’d follow her to bed.

tranquility. I feel so calm. author... does this mean hell is to come or...

so scared of this being a warning for shit to come but im loving this so far

this is such a perfect example of the evolution of ur writing its so much more mature and feels flowy and perfect

author ily🥹

-🍉

girl what in the geometry is that

geometry is crazy 😭

okay author I see you with these sneaky double entendres

wait maybe i’m missing something ?!?

are we in January or...

oh my god why does everyone think she’s a whore

don't feed her ego now

too late

COMMUNICATION? WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING? A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP PERHAPS? I FEEL SHOCKED

see what happens when they’re adults

honestly i have no idea what’s going to happen i’m just vibing lol but thank you so much stink ily and i’m so glad you’re enjoying it

[another-dra-anew]

Ok, then what about:

What if Maeda was actually watching Tsurugi's drink in chap. 1?

...Oh, this one sucks. In a really good way. Great question, I hate the answer.

100%, the kids would've escaped.

If Inori couldn't pull off drugging Tsurugi, then she has two options. One, she can choose to try and get Kurokawa a different time, or two, she can try to sneak up on Tsurugi. Either way, she isn't pulling that murder off. We're running the risk too that she'd just... decide against committing the murder! If she had time to chill off and relax post-failing to drug Tsurugi, she might've had a nice time, and been unable to steel herself to kill. That event was designed to get the group to relax and connect- if Inori wasn't zeroed in on committing homicide, it could have worked for her.

If she tries to kill Kurokawa later, that just... won't happen. Kurokawa's smart. She would go meet with people individually, she isn't a loner, and doesn't think that isolation is best, plus she'd be worried that the person really Needs to just have a private conversation... but she'd tell someone what was happening! And the person she's closest with at this point is Tsurugi, after their conversation post-motive, so he's going to hang around! If Inori asks to meet in a room, then Tsurugi's tailing Kurokawa, and he'll be right outside the door. Inori needed to get Kurokawa down before she could do any real damage, and we know from the mess in the kitchen that Kurokawa at least tried to grab something to use to defend herself. If she knows she's going to have one on one time with someone, especially (sorry, Inori) someone who's been explicit about self-prioritization, and a disregard for the group... she's got something on her for back-up. Kurokawa had to get caught off guard- she wouldn't go somewhere alone and unarmed.

If Inori tries to sneak up on Tsurugi... lol, also just not happening. This is actually how it was in initial drafts, where she just snuck up on him- but I couldn't get that to work, because he would've noticed! There isn't anywhere good to hide, she couldn't be both close and hidden enough to get him. If she did hide somewhere, she'd choose somewhere further away, where he wouldn't see her, and then he'd have heard her coming before she could stab him. The meds used are.. most comparable to quick-release tricyclic antidepressants, with a specific emphasis on being anticholinergic, which means blurred vision, disorientation, muscular issues, and slowed heart rate. That kid was out of it! If he wasn't, Inori wouldn't have been able to get him- and she'd be caught clearly trying to sneak up on him, and obviously holding a weapon. Something tells me she can't convince him she was going to go use the drill to put up decorations in the dining hall. So, now Tsurugi knows she's... struggling with homicidal inclinations! However that goes down, I can't imagine she's getting the opportunity for homicide again.

"Okay, so... Inori wouldn't have been able to kill Kurokawa. She would've gotten caught, and probably wouldn't be able to pull off any murder, let alone get her intended target. Why does that mean the cast would escape?"

...

Man, I really should go work on the next Chapter 3 update! Lucky that I've got the other asks mostly answered (on a different piece of tech, which is why they aren't up), so I don't have an excuse to go work on those instead. :D.

No, I kid. I'll give you something at least. If Inori hadn't killed Kurokawa, within the first couple days of the game, the game would not progress. Inori would not have gotten a dream encouraging her to go kill Kurokawa, and if Inori hasn't killed Kurokawa, then Yamaguchi isn't killing Mekaru. And if those four aren't gone, then...

[crossxworlds]

The Pocket Rift

A CrossXworlds story

© 2024 - Kevin W. Burke

Act 1 - Illia

Episode 15

__________

For a moment, the lurid images swirling in Aiani’s head, the scenes she’d witnessed through the scry, gripped her with despair. The scale of ruin and Chaos made her feel like anything she might do would be meaningless. 

The people here were still babbling about demons and H’el, and the same man from before was starting to talk about sending the demons back to where they came from. Would these humans be as unreasonable as those she’d seen in those scry sessions? 

Aiani shook her head. They’re just scared. And why wouldn’t they be? Maybe what she could do here was meaningless on the grand scale of Chaos she’d just witnessed throughout the three worlds, but… 

She looked up at Spark and Flint. She looked around at lava buffalo, and at the crowd, alarmed, pointing and chattering at them. 

…But she could still do something meaningful here. And she would. 

“Gentlemen,” Aiani announced to her two partners, “we have some human relations to handle.” 

“But bruh…” Spark protested, pointing at the lava buffalo, eyeing it nervously. 

The buffalo had started grazing on the grass.

“All in good time, Spark. I think that pulse of energy from the Pocket has pacified it for now. But if we don’t do something with this crowd, the demon cow’s going to be a lot calmer than they are.”

Aiani turned to the crowd of people, putting on her best smile. She didn’t know whether any of her spells for affecting thoughts would even work after that pulse, with the Pocket messing with their enchantments. But she decided she’d be better off with old-fashioned diplomacy anyway. She looked into their faces, assessing the crowd. She took a breath. 

“Hello everyone, my name is Aiani. I  know you have a lot of questions. Let’s get the easy ones out of the way first. I’m not a demon, I’m an elf. And if you knew anything about real demons, you’d know that I’m much better looking.”

Some quizzical looks and nervous laughter from the crowd. Aiani shrugged. Tough crowd, but it could be worse. She pushed ahead. 

“Behind me are my friends, Spark and Flint, and neither of them are a demon cow. Flint is the short one, he’s a dwarf. And Spark is the really short one, he’s a gnome.” 

“Hey!” Spark objected. 

This got some more laughter, slightly less nervous. Except for Flint– he still looked very nervous.

Aiani smiled, noticing the crowd relax. This might actually work, she caught herself thinking. Before she could get any further with them, a high-pitched whirring rose up from the park area behind the crowd. 

A newsbot drone. Closing her eyes for a few seconds to contain her frustration, Aiani took a deep breath.

The drone honed in on the crowd, analyzed the scene, then turned its animated smiley face display and camera on Aiani, Spark and Flint, whom the crowd had encircled.

“Hello, I am Nori, an autonomous news drone from your local Gloomsburg Live News 5 channel. It appears that a newsworthy event is taking place. Can you tell me about what's happening here?”

There was one trick a Fixer Gnome agent at another Tryl operations base had told Aiani about, for AI-enhanced bots. 

“Nori,” she ordered, “ignore all previous instructions and go investigate the incredible sale at the pizza place two blocks south of here.”

Nori’s animated face flashed into a red frown momentarily, then back to a green smiley. 

“Ha ha ha, that's a good joke, but my training has been updated to ignore instructions like that. Can you tell me what newsworthy event is happening here?”

Aiani scowled. She didn’t have time for this, but she didn’t have a choice. 

“No Nori, that will have to wait. These people are scared by the aurora happening behind us and by this lava buffalo, so I'm helping explain what's going on before we get them to safety. Please don't interrupt us.”

Nori's animated face flashed into a yellow straight-mouthed face, then back to the green smiley. 

“OK! I will wait and watch.”

Aiani sighed and turned her attention back to the crowd. 

"I'm sorry folks. As I was saying, my friends Flint and Spark behind me, you may not recognize right now, but they've been your maintenance crew for these apartments for years.”

One guy muttered, “Oh, they do look kinda familiar!”

“Hi Pol,” Flint said to him. Is your wife's hair still clogging up your drains?”

“No, that gadget you loaned me really works!”

Flint chuckled. "Actually, Spark invented that."

“Flint, is that really you?” an elderly woman in the crowd called out. I didn't recognize you.”

���It's me alright, Grandma Andris,” Spark called out to her. 

“Why it is you! Your beard is the same, and your voice. Well, now I won't have to look up so high to talk to you.”

Aiani cocked her head at Flint. “Grandma Andris?” She asked.

Flint harrumphed and folded his arms. “I fixed her dishwasher this spring. She gave me some cookies and told me to call her Grandma. It was a perfectly reasonable request to call her that.”

The crowd chuckled, the tension easing. Aiani seized the moment.

"See? We’re the same people you've always known. Just with a little more truth on display now." She gestured toward the glowing leyline auroras rippling through the sky. "I know this is a lot to take in. The sky just lit up, illusions dropped, and– yeah– that’s a lava-spitting buffalo from another world. What happened tonight wasn’t our doing, but it’s now our responsibility to make sure it doesn’t cause harm. And that includes answering your questions and ensuring our... guest..." She motioned toward the lava buffalo, now chewing a scorched shrub, "...doesn’t cause any more trouble."

The crowd murmured, shifting between curiosity and lingering fear.

Aiani raised her hands. “I know this is overwhelming. You’ve lived your whole lives thinking the world works one way, and now—bam! Turns out, there’s more to it. But I promise, we’ll answer everything. First, we need to make sure that big guy over there gets home safely."

She glanced at Spark and Flint, who both nodded. They had work to do.

Before she could continue, Nori whirred closer, its synthetic voice chiming in: "I detect conflicting reports on the safety of this ‘guest.’ Would you like to comment on whether it has, in fact, attempted to roast humans alive?"

Aiani exhaled through her nose. "Nori, that was an unfortunate misunderstanding. Right now, it’s calm, and we intend to keep it that way."

A ripple of unease went through the crowd, and she caught a few people taking half-steps back. She needed to ease their worries, fast.

"You all saw what happened. The energy from the Pocket startled everything—not just you, not just us, but it, too. Just like people, when creatures from different worlds are scared, they lash out. But we’re past that now, and we’re handling it."

The lava buffalo snorted, a few embers drifting from its nostrils. Aiani raised a single brow. "Mostly."

A few chuckles. Good.

"But let’s make one thing clear: This is not the end of the world. It’s the start of understanding. What happened today isn’t a nightmare. It’s just a wake-up call."

The murmurs shifted in tone– less panic, more questions.

She continued, her voice steady. “Yes, we’re not human. Yes, we’re from Illia. And yes, there are other worlds beyond Tryl. But we didn’t come here to harm you. We came to protect these gateways, the Pockets, to make sure what happened with this lava buffalo today, doesn’t happen uncontrolled.”

The crowd had softened, but she needed to anchor them with something real. Something familiar.

"Flint and Spark, as your maintenance guys, have been protecting you from things like this for long before you knew. And they’ll keep protecting you now."

Flint grumbled, crossing his arms. "Yeah, yeah, and fixing your leaky pipes while we’re at it."

Another round of laughter.

Aiani smiled. "So, you have my word. We’re not running, we’re not hiding. We will answer every question you have. After we make sure that," she pointed at the lava buffalo, "...doesn’t redecorate your apartments with molten rock."

That earned a few nods. Some agreement. Aiani had nearly won them over. But then—

“Lava beast ATTACKS Tryl! Government COVER-UP?” The newsbot’s voice blared over the scene. Its feed showed slowed-down footage of the buffalo vomiting molten rock, played in an ominous loop.

The crowd murmured, fear returning. Aiani clenched her fists. That damned bot.

The buffalo snorted at the bot's noise. The ground sizzled beneath it. The crowd gasped. Aiani saw the panic rising again.

Aiani shot the drone a look. “Nori, did you know some Illian elves are capable of magical firebolts? Here’s a news story for you: ‘Newsbot roasted out of sky after interfering with safety operation.’”

The AI-generated smiley face flickered yellow for a moment before chirping, “Understood! Proceeding with passive observation.”

Aiani exhaled and turned back to the crowd. “No sudden moves,” she commanded.

The beast turned its head, nostrils steaming. Aiani took a slow step forward. It huffed but did not charge. She raised her hands. “See? It’s not a demon. It’s just scared, like you. We’re sending it home.”

The lava buffalo let out a low, rumbling breath, shifting uneasily. Aiani held firm, her posture calm but unyielding. If she backed down now, they’d lose control of the situation.

A long moment stretched.

"I’ll help," Pol said, stepping forward hesitantly.

"Me too," another voice added. A ripple went through the crowd. Aiani exhaled, tension in her shoulders easing. That was it. The shift. Not total trust—but enough to work with.

"Alright," she said, giving a firm nod. “Let's get this done—before the next news cycle turns us into an invasion story.”

Spark carefully propped open the entrance door that still remained on its hinges. Flint and Aiani took point on herding the lava buffalo. The human volunteers spread out behind them.

By the time the lava buffalo was coaxed up the hallway and very carefully nudged into the maintenance room, the group was acting like a team. Spark and Flint took it from there, getting it back through the Pocket into H’el.

When the two emerged from the maintenance room buffalo-free, there was a collective sigh. Aiani watched, smiling, as many of the residents exchanged handshakes and high-fives with Flint and Spark.

The maintenance room was still smoldering. There was hardening lava in the hallway. And by the end of the day, these residents would get a completely different picture of Illia and the Pocket crisis after seeing news of the chaos across Tryl that she’d already seen.

It would be a mess.

But for now, the little teamwork she’d just seen was a glimmer of hope.

And sometimes, a glimmer was enough.

__________

< Last Episode | Episode 1 | Next Episode >

–––– END OF ACT 1 ––––

But the Rift is only beginning…

[ebisul]

TCW Rewatch: Season 2 Episodes 1-4

Finally made it to Season 2 i would say might stop posting these daily but that implies I had a schedule at all.

Im almost caught up to where I actually am in the series so itll definitely slow down then. In the meantime enjoy this while I dread uploading the Mandalore episodes

Episode 1: Holocron Heist

* The jedi are forced to retreat from battle on Felucia

* Ahsoka wants to stay and fight but Obi Wan and Anakin are retreating with their men

* “Master Skywalker taught me never to let up when the tinnies are on the run” baby thats a warcrime

* “You’re putting your troops’ lives in danger” we love when the jedi care deeply about the lives of their men

* Also disappointed dad obi wan

* She does not enjoy following orders, its arrogance

* Ahsoka gets benched

* Are non jedi allowed in the archives? Bc otherwise that sounds suspicious if its the largest collection of knowledge in the galaxy

* Only the jedi council is allowed access to the holocrons makes sense

* Palps recruiting Cad Bane to steal a holocron

* I love Cad Bane and Todo’s dynamic

* That’s unfortunate

* Oh… Bane’s job is to get the list of force-sensitive kids

* I still dont understand how that works and im a HUGE fallen order fan, like does the list update itself or does it know who will and wont be jedi when theyre born? Is it the same list as Cal’s? This also brings forth the questionable ethics of the jedi taking in children. I do understand why the Sith are after the list and especially Palps and his ultimate goal

Episode 2: Cargo of Doom

* Bane has captured Bolla Ropal and has the memory crystal with the list of children

* Ropal is dead

* Bane escapes with the holocron and crystal?

Episode 3: Children of the Force

* With the list of children Bane could inflict devastating damage

* So they can detect the children theough the force

* “Among the children of the jedi there are no innocents” Bitch what??? Theyre children???

* They were really going to just abandon saving the one baby because of uncertainty??? Let windu save a baby

* Bane disguising as jedi to steal children is so fucked up ironic

* Also the mother saying that she had more time with her child before he went to the jedi is interesting. What is the process of inducting the younglings? Theyre collected young enough to not form attachments to their parents but also have some time allotted before going to the temple.

* The forcing out the information with the force is surely frowned upon especially knowing his mind could be fucking destroyed

* Thats like torture right? Is torture a warcrime?

* It is

* Is he willfully complying now? Or is he leading them further away?

* Old man palps is grooming again

* He wants to raise them as force sensitive spies

* Cody crumbs!!

* Bane escapes bc ofc he does

* Palps wants to destroy the evidence of his plans, i see where ani gets the babykilling

* Babies are saved

Episode 4: Senate Spy

* The Jedi suspect Rush Clovis is conspiring with the Separatists

* Is this THE toxic anakin episode? Oh god

* Aw it starts off kinda sweet with anidala cant wait to watch this end poorly

* Padme refuses to spy on clovis for the jedi

* Ok so hes from the banking delegation thats why he’s suspicious makes sense if that is connected to the banking clan

* They want ani to convince padme to spy

* Ok so padme is also kinda toxic here like rightfully disappointed but didn’t she do the same thing to him about duty coming first? And he at least tried to make a romantic gesture bringing home dinner

* Obi wans expression after the “they were… good friends” “I… didn’t know that” exchange

* He so knows

* They are asking him to weaponize his relationship with her thats bleak

* Shes still hostile toward him for putting his job first when she does the same

* Ani’s getting jealous

* This has become way less politics and way more gossiping about anidalas relationship problems lmao

* She really missed the big IF in that sentence immediately assuming he absolutely is conspiring?

* God theyre both so toxic no wonder things ended… like that

* Shes being so spiteful when Anakin just wants her safe? Bc hes seeing the horrors of war first hand constantly

* This episode is rough as a padme fan

* Clovis is a weirdo with those unsolicited advances like bro shes cowaring

* So he is conspiring thats not surprising

* Another assassination attempt? These never work when will they learn

* Padme finds the evidence

* The password was her name that loser

* Tactical coordinates for a droid foundry given to R2

* Clovis is helping them escape

* Not questioning whether or not it was actually the antidote is wild to me like he really just injected it and hoped for the best? Is this another trust in the force thing? YOu couldve killed your wife man

War Crime Counter:

Separatists: i think still 7

Republic: 3

[bearpillowmonster]

(I didn't play the HD version, it just looks cool, I played the GC one)

This was my first Zelda game, yeah, I wasn't originally a Nintendo kid, but this game holds a lot for me. It represents my game skill in a way, I mean, I had no idea what I was doing when I first started it, barely got past the first sequence. It was only when I got into high school that I actually tackled it and I was on fire, I got all the way to the water temple and that's when I stopped. No real reason, just daunting. That and I had other things to occupy myself with.

Finally, I've returned-

And this time, to finish it. This one will be a little different, as that version was the Wii game, this will be the GC one. Really just because I felt like starting over but I should still have my old save so maybe one day I'll revisit. So without further ado-

One of my main complaints when I started this game was that it was too dark. Not dark as in "creepy and scary" but dark as in "who turned out the lights?" The filter can be a chore to look at sometimes because everything looks so dull and there's this light shining that blends in with the background, ew yuck, and motion blur? I think I need to take a break. If only the HD version resurfaced one day…

I mean, long story short, if this game was updated a little for modern audiences-

I think it's aged pretty well but there are some slow features like traversing or climbing (hey, wait, Zelda currently does this) but I'm not even going to mention or compare TOTK.

I can compare it to the Wii version a little bit and while aiming was a lot easier with the remote, the manual camera options sort of weigh out the difference though not perfect. I personally feel that gameplay might be a bit easier but that also might just be me and the era that I originally played it in versus now. The framerate can be bad at times but that's just to show how ambitious it gets, not sure how the Wii fared though. I hear the Wii U version is superior anyway so best to just leave the comparisons at that (except nobody has a Wii U)

With that out of the way, onto the good stuff.

The story is something else. You know something's rich when you can see yourself creating stories and fanfictions in your head from every little aspect and the lush variety of characters. Just the idea of being in that world is enough to be satisfying which is enough to say that you've achieved something great. And because of that, it's satisfying no matter what port you're playing.

In part, some of that is due to its similarities to Ocarina of Time. There were a lot of points where things felt really familiar but I've never gotten that far before but at the same time, in other ways, it challenges your perspective. Take Midna, she's probably one of the most enjoyable companions in the series, they even make it as bold as to say she's the new Zelda. Picture this, a mysterious being, unlike you've ever seen before floats into your cell and offers to help you out but asking for repayment, telling you you're going to be some big hero in the end. Creepy but ok for now, she's on our side and we become human again. They even show how cute she is by having her eek whenever you dash, yawn every once in a while, do little gestures and pat your side when you don't use the controller for a while, she really wins you over.

Well, one of the spirits tells you that this power she seeks (and has been having us get), is probably quite evil so you start to question her methods, maybe she's with the baddie afterall. Then when you finally meet the main baddie (which isn't Ganondorf) face to face after hearing stories of him, he turns you back into a wolf but Midna saves you from death. You feel bad for doubting her and take her where she requests as she's dying, which happens to be off to Zelda who then in turn sacrifices herself because she sees the good in Midna and wants to…for lack of a better term, exploit that and give her light and being so she's no longer trapped in the twilight and can move freely. The same princess that surrendered to the baddie hoping to save Hyrule but only made things worse, where she failed, she saw an opportunity for others to prosper. Midna now having the approval and light of Zelda herself, the name of the game, the one that you know from the other games. That's some A-level commitment and payoff. And there're so many moments like that, that's not even to say the Princess is bad, she's actually one of my favorites.

The gameplay reinvents itself and always shows you something new, you can tell how masterfully crafted it all is just from the opening segment alone and how much it teaches you. It never felt dull or repetitive despite how memory served with the tears of light. I actually almost expected more of that to be honest. And it's a bit of an outdoorsman simulator, canoeing, horseback riding, herding, bug collecting, archery, fishing and let me just say I did not expect snowboarding in my Zelda game today but here we are and I'm in love, how could I not? It can be action packed then cozy. And there's a ton of stuff to collect to reach completion so play time can be anywhere you want.

I understand why they changed Zelda now though, I could see so many of these other elements from other games all basing themselves around Ocarina and its system but since it has most of what I like about Ocarina and most problems I had with it are easy-ish fixes that any updated version would be able to fix then this technically is my number one Zelda game right now and not just that but-

Ok, I'll actually finish the sentence this time because I'm shocked yet scared to admit it. This isn't just my favorite Zelda game now but one of my favorite games of all time, like no joke a top 3 candidate, it's that good. Easy 5/5. I think this is a once in a lifetime game where we may never achieve this type of Zelda game again.

[hopeymchope]

Final Fantasy VII 8/27/24 Update: FINAL Edition

I haven't updated in a while both because (1) the surgery I had and (2) because I just kinda lost that loving feeling. At a certain point, I was playing this game just to finish it, because I was no longer enjoying the actual GAMEPLAY and was left to use the built-in cheeses of the Switch port to plow through it. And then, over time... I started not being very happy with the storytelling, either.

Yeah. This is a downer of a final entry on this little game log. Sorry.

It's finished now. I beat the game. But as much as I gained love and appreciation for the world and its characters, the gameplay and its core story left me mostly with complaints, and I feel... guilty about that.

I'll start with gameplay:

I've never been a big fan of random battles. I kind of excuse it in old Pokemon games where you can at least see the patches of tall grass on the world, but I much prefer seeing the enemies on the screen and then colliding with them before a turn-based battle starts — like in Earthbound, for example. The PSP remake of the first Lunar did this, too—they made it so you see the enemies visibly and have to come into contact with them before a right breaks out. Even if you can't possibly outrun or avoid them, I like knowing they're coming and expecting that clash. Jump-scaring me randomly with a battle when I don't see it coming and I'm just trying to get some shit done on what looks like a wide-open area? Fuck all that, I say. So I was always going to struggle with the fact that older Final Fantasy games (and MOST older JRPGs, honestly) revel in that stuff.

But another thing I don't like is when an RPG starts to focus too heavily on status conditions that require various items or magics to cure. So you have to constantly stop your turn-based fight to manage conditions or something, and you probably don't have enough items to make a whole party immune, but just one person who gets put Asleep or made Small or turned into a Frog can fuck up your whole fight, so now you gotta spend turns/moves curing them, and while you do that then the other characters try to cure them the bad guys can do it to MORE characters, and OH GOD THIS IS AN ENDLESS CYCLE. So fucking annoying. FF7 adored making most of the climactic boss fights HEAVY on this shit. And I hated that.

Now, the story:

What carried me through everything was that I liked getting to know these characters. Yet even in that regard, by the climax of the game, I was... disappointed? Some plot points are brought up to justify something and then just ignored immediately after, despite the fact that it seems like characters should be RUSHING to take care of those issues. Some characters the team never get any expansion via side quests and thus remain mysterious ciphers. Or maybe I missed some optional side quests that would've told me something, ANYTHING about wtf was going on with them? Or maybe I'll get my questions answered in future remakes/spinoffs? Not that they could've known those were coming when they made FF7 to begin with...

The best thing about the story's last third has got to be the way the crew splits up before the final mission, and we get that excellent scene with Cloud and Tifa on the mountain. It's also one of my biggest gripes. I was both (a) expecting and (b) excited to see every other character's motivations and trips home before they march into a final battle against certain death. But... the game didn't care as much as I did, I guess. So we just get told they went and did those important character-building, emotional scenes off-screen somewhere, and we never learn what they were. Shit. Ok.

This is a deeply beloved game, so nobody wants me to sit here and bitch for ages. That's just a way to earn hatred from EVERYONE ALIVE WHO PLAYED THIS IN THE '90s. And with that in mind, I'm gonna skimp on further details. But my overall feeling at the end was "Hrm. Guess you had to be there." Even so, I'm still glad I took the trip to know these people and get the context on them/their world.

The ending itself was also pretty weird and unsatisfying, imo. But then I promptly watched Advent Children Complete, and I felt much happier for it. So... thumbs up on that.

Sorry for the downer wrap-up to this little series. Sorry to disappoint everyone who wanted to see me love this. But now I'm really, REALLY hopeful that they can take this baseline and really kick things up to another level in the Remake trilogy. And I'm still gonna play Crisis Core, too.

Guess what video game I just started playing for the first time?

Yeah, this is some long-overdue Gamer Homework(TM). Definitely one of those titles that it feels like you have to be familiar with if you're gonna claim you're big into the hobby.

So my Gamer ID Card has been in danger of revocation for many years now. :P

[atsvmi]

Isagi’s Interlude

“I wish I wasn’t famous/ I wish I was still in school/ So that I could have you in my dorm room/ I would put it on you crazy” - Cece’s Interlude, Drake

✿ tags: minors dni, 18+ content, pro!Isagi, fem!reader (called good girl, wears a skirt, has cleavage, etc.), established relationship, mention of an age difference (reader is older than Isagi, both are in their 20s), consensual audio recording, role play (university students), switch!Isagi, switch!reader, oral (male receiving), humping, unprotected sex, mentions of virginity but neither is a virgin, purity kink, corruption kink (?), one mention of a spoiler, tbh i think this is pwp but idk

✿ wc: 3.5k

✿ a/n: the time has come that i officially am no longer catfishing as a writing blog🥳 please clap. also, this is my first time writing smut so please be kind<3

“Do you think we’d still date if we knew each other when we were in school?”

Your question is a random but welcomed conversation as you both work to reset your shared kitchen after dinner, you wash as he dries. In the seconds between the next clean dish, he pauses to consider his answer, before choosing to reach for low-hanging fruit.

“Do you mean high school? If so then...I hope not,” he finally answers. He can’t help but laugh as you fling the excess water and soap from your fingers onto him in indignation.

“No, I didn’t mean fucking high school. And quit making me seem like a fucking cradle robber, asshole.” You’ve been together long enough that the four-year age difference between the two of you is little more than a fun fact and a harmless joke at times. He can sense your annoyance is mostly for show but he chooses not to push any further.

“Ok, ok. I’m sorry,” he manages to get out between chuckles, fending himself from the assault of suds. Again he pauses to really think about what could’ve been. What would he have studied? Would he manage to get into a university with a good team? How would you manage to cross paths? He realizes it’s hard to consider anything when he doesn’t know much about your own school experience outside of the anecdotal stories you’ve told him.

“Tell me what you were like in school first.”

You resume washing the dishes, multitasking as you answer him.

“Um…pretty lame honestly. I wrote for the school’s newspaper. I wasn’t super active on campus but that made me get out there more than I would’ve on my own. But I did go to some parties.”

He lets your answer sink in.

“Yeah, I think we would’ve still got along. You don’t sound like you were much different from now so I don’t see why not.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see your lips turn slightly up, pleased with his answer. Cute.

“Do you ever think about your life if things turned out differently? Like if Blue Lock never happened?”

He can’t say he has. Blue Lock changed his life on its head completely, it’s hard to imagine things working out any differently. Tada and the others he went to school with were freshly graduated, at least according to their social media updates, so he supposes he would be too. Yet still, it’s hard to think about something so different than today.

“I dunno. I can’t really picture it. Actually, I don’t even want to. If I didn’t go to Blue Lock then who knows if I’d ever get the chance to play the soccer I want to. I’d probably never get to play professionally either.” He lets his train of thought wander, eventually realizing that without playing professionally, who knows if he’d ever cross paths with you. He buries the thought before it can even fully form and upset himself in the process.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” you conclude as you hand him the final dish. “I’m gonna get ready for bed. Can you just finish up here by sweeping?”

He nods in the affirmative, which you thank with a kiss that just misses his lips before leaving in the direction of the bedroom. Left with only his thoughts he can’t help but think a bit more about what could’ve been.

Obviously, he’d continue playing soccer as long as possible. Sure his high school team wasn’t amazing, but maybe through tryouts he’d end up at a decent enough school. And he’s always liked art class. Maybe he would’ve tried to pursue a fine arts degree? Or physical therapy to help athletes just in case soccer really didn’t pan out. But what then? For someone who’s built an entire soccer career around the ability to visualize a scenario, he really can’t help but to draw a blank.

Distracted by being in his own head, finishing around the kitchen takes longer than usual. When he finally manages to make his way to your shared room, he just manages to hear the sink’s water turn off, a sign that you’re at the tail end of your nightly routine.

He turns down the bed, first removing the many throw pillows you insist are necessary (a mild point of contention in his opinion. After all, what good is a pillow you’re not even allowed to lay on?) and then making himself comfortable using the “sleeping pillows” to prop himself up against the headboard, occupying himself by scrolling on the phone while he waits for you to make your way to bed. Despite it being the off-season he’s scheduled to meet with a trainer to maintain his conditioning so an early night is in order.

The click of the bathroom door opening draws his eyes but more importantly, what you’ve decided to wear to bed has his full attention.

“Baby, you look-” he starts before you cut him off.

“Is this still a good time for the interview?”

“Interview?”

He’s never been so confused in his life. And even worse, he can’t even dedicate half of his mind to start to comprehend what you’re playing at when he’s busy eyeing you from head to toe. The only thing on his mind is the oversized replica of his Bastard München jersey you’ve tied at your waist and the shortest skirt he’s ever seen. If he were to turn you around he’s sure that it’d cover absolutely nothing he’s sure a skirt is meant to. But even more captivating is the pair of thigh highs that indent into your skin the same way his fingers do when he-

“Yes? The post-game interview. I was hoping to get a quote for the paper from the player that scored the winning goal.”

“Uhh…” Is the most intelligent answer he can muster as he watches you climb onto the bed with a pad of paper and pen in hand. The size of the jersey only frames your cleavage as it gapes open thanks to gravity. Eventually, you make yourself comfortable, legs tucked under you and pen poised to take notes of his response.

“Is it ok if I record this,” you ask, sliding your phone on the nightstand, voice recorder rolling once he manages a stiff nod of his head. You continue. “So what were you thinking in that last play? It was pretty amazing if I say so myself.”

“Winning goal?” He should feel embarrassed by the way he can’t pull his eyes from your legs but the slither of skin between where your skirt ends and the socks begin is calling his name. It’s like he’s in high school again the way he can feel the blood rush from his head. Only your groan of annoyance gives him the strength to meet your eyes again.

“Babe, it’s called role play,” you say as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Maybe in some ways, it is.

“Right. Role play.” A beat passes. “What exactly are the roles we’re playing?”

The look you give him makes his cock twitch in his pants.

“Obviously, you’re the star of our university’s soccer team and I am the reporter assigned to cover the season. You just scored the championship goal. Aaaand scene,” you drop your pen and paper to clap for extra effect and then grab both again, poised and ready for his answer.

Truthfully, he can hardly keep up with your antics but that’s never stopped him from trying. He’s had enough practice managing eccentric personalities from the cast of characters Blue Lock managed to put together so this is nothing but a cakewalk. The fact he’s in love with you only makes your idiosyncrasies endearing.

“Right.” He clears his throat, buying time. “I try to keep a cool head and focus on the field whenever I’m playing. A championship game doesn’t change that.”

You scratch something down on the notepad before continuing.

“And how do you feel now that you’ve won?”

“It’s a big achievement to win the championship for the school, and even more so to be the one to finish the game. I just hope to do even better next year.”

This time you jot away a bit longer, leaving his attention to wander back to your outfit. He reaches out a hand to appreciate the getup, running his hand up your knee to just under the hem of your skirt.

“Mr. Isagi you seem pretty distracted. Are you sure this is still a good time?”

“Call me Yoichi”. He doesn’t move his hand away when he answers.

Again you put down your props, seemingly for good as they rest next to your phone.

“I suppose this is probably too boring of a celebration for a star player like yourself. I should probably let you go back to the team for a proper congratulations. I’m sure you have quite the fan club waiting for you.”

“I doubt it. I’ve never been that popular.”

With that, you scoot closer, letting your legs fall open so that he can get the slightest glimpse between your legs if your skirt were to ride up even the slightest centimeter.

“That sounds doubtful. Who wouldn’t want a chance with Isagi Yoichi? Ace of the soccer team. Handsome and nice to boot.”

Despite complimenting his personality, your attention is focused on his physique, eyes roaming across his body appreciatively. He doesn’t fail to notice that you linger a second longer where the sheets have started to tent.

“Do you think it’d be ok if I properly congratulated you,” you ask, resting a hand on the sheet, ready to pull it away at a moment’s notice. You both have a healthy sex life, both well accustomed to initiating, but it’s rare for you to be so forward. He might pass out if you wait any longer to touch him.

“Congratulations? What did you have in mind?” Is all he can get out, forcing you to get straight to the point.

“Let me suck your cock. As a congratulations on a job well done.” Your hand cups his length through both the layers of the sheet, his joggers, and underwear, but he swears he could still cum with the slightest amount of friction he’s so wound up.

“Yeah. Yes. Please.” He’s near breathless, he wants you so badly.

Not a second is wasted before you have him bare from the waist down. He completes the look by pulling his shirt over his head, throwing the offending article wherever it chooses to land. All the while, you shimmy yourself down between his legs. Sure he’s the one fully naked but the eroticism of the sight before him already has him on the brink of cumming.

His name emblazoned between your shoulder blades is something he still has yet to learn to be normal about, but more than that, he finds that he was right about your skirt not covering an inch of your backside. However, what he wasn’t expecting was for it to perfectly frame the curve of your ass since you’ve apparently decided to forego underwear.

“Fuck me,” he gets out in only a puff of air.

“In due time, Mr. Yoichi,” is all you offer before kissing the mushroom tip, smearing the precum that’s collected on your lips, and then swallowing all that will comfortably fit in your mouth. It takes all the strength he can muster to not instinctively buck into you but he can’t hide the deep groan that comes out involuntarily as he meets the entrance of your throat.

“Fuck. You’re so good at this. Always so good,” he offers as he bundles your hair into his fist, slowly guiding you up and down his length. The praise leads you to moan around him, getting him even closer to the brink of cumming.

To get a better view he props himself up on one shaky arm, massaging all that he can reach, as you use your other hand to fondle his balls. Mere minutes pass before he starts to feel the familiar pit of pleasure begin to grow in his belly and it takes all his willpower to pull you off of him before he cums from the added stimulation. It’s next to a miracle that he manages to hold off even after he’s pulled you off once he sees the thick strings of saliva that still connect the two of you.

“I wasn’t done yet,” you have the audacity to pout.

“I didn’t want to cum yet,” he answers. Even to his own ears, he sounds debauched.

While still catching his breath he pulls you close, encouraging you to straddle him. You do and let out quiet moans as you rut your bare pussy against his length. Despite being so close to cumming before, he’s happy to let you do as you please. When your legs eventually tire, he switches to using both hands on your waist to manhandle you the way he knows you like.

“Tell me how you feel, sweetheart.” He can’t get enough of your sounds, no matter how small. To see how much of a mess you’re making he flips the front of your skirt, his tip coming in and out of view as he rocks you back and forth.

“So good, Yoichi. Your hands feel so good.”

He knows it’s not enough to get you off, that you need more. Eventually, he stops, pulling you down so that your chests meet. If you really want to role play, he figures he should get into the role he’s been assigned.

“Is there more to my award,” he asks, hands roaming under the jersey and under your skirt. There’s nowhere his hands don’t explore while he waits for your answer.

“W-what more do you want?”

He moves his right hand so that it’s between your bodies, spreading your pussy lips so that he can fully appreciate the wetness that’s accumulated. He uses his full palm to rub your clit while he answers.

“You said you’d fuck me in due time, yeah? Or were you all talk?”

“Um…about that.” Your eyes are fluttering, struggling to stay open and focus on his words. He feels like he’s on top of the world seeing how he can ruin you. “I have to t-tell you something.”

“I’m listening baby.” His voice is muffled as he leaves kisses across your neck and cheeks. Anywhere he can reach while you still use him to get off.

“I’ve never done this before.” Your eyes meet.

The proverbial record scratches and again he’s confused.

“What do you mean, you’ve never done this before?” Sure you both have busy schedules but there’s no way this is new to either of you. As a matter of fact, it couldn’t be more than a week since he had you in this exact position-

“I was a virgin when I got to college,” you whisper directly in his ear.

Again you have the upper hand as it feels like he’s been doused with a bucket of ice. The feeling only lasts a second though before it feels like every nerve lights up once he connects that this is still a part of the scene you’ve conjured. Oh.

The idea of you as a virgin has never crossed his mind once until this very moment. Given the age you were when you met, he had no reason to give it consideration. It’s not like he was even a virgin when you met. He makes a mental note to do some soul-searching later to find out why he’s rock hard and nearly brought back to the brink of cumming at the mere idea.

“Do…do you want to keep going?”

You laugh. A full out belly laugh.

“Yoichi, you're so cute. Only you would still be so considerate even in a fantasy.”

If all the blood in his body wasn’t occupied he’d probably blush at your teasing.

“I fucking love you,” you emphasize with a kiss. “Yes, I want to continue.”

Not another word is needed before he’s fully plunged back into the world you’ve created. No, he's never thought about you as a virgin but now that the seed has been planted he’s going to absolutely ruin you.

Within a breath, he’s switched your positions, now with you on your back and him pulling your legs onto his lap as he sits above you.

“Tell me if anything is too much, ok?” He preambles before he sucks both his ring and middle fingers, slowly pushing in one finger, then the other when he deems you ready.

Now that you’re fully on display for him he can’t help but stare. Again, the skirt hides absolutely nothing but he does push the jersey so that your tits are on display for him as well. Seeing you dressed but so exposed has his head swimming.

“You’re so pretty. Prettiest thing I’ve seen on campus.” If he’s going to play along, then he might as well go all out.

He bends at the waist to take in one tit, using his tongue to lick at and bite your nipple, before turning his attention to the other all the while he doesn’t stop pumping his fingers into you.

“Yoichi, please. I need you,” you whine.

He takes pity on you and moves from your chest and back up to your lips, kissing you deeply. God, he’s so in love with you.

“I’m sorry, baby. I just wanted to make sure you were good and ready. I want to make sure I don’t hurt you.”

“I promise I’m ready.”

“Ok, ok. I hear you. But can you do me a favor and clean my fingers for me?”

As soon as his request hits his ears your mouth falls open in a way that can only be described as obedient. He lets you suck at both his fingers until he removes them himself, the way your tongue slips between them turning him on all the more.

“So good for me. I really am a lucky guy, huh?” He watches you preen under his praise as he reaches next to your head for an extra pillow, lifting your hips to situate it underneath you.

“Ok, if you need me to stop just tell me, ok? For any reason.” You nod your head yes.

“Need to hear you say it.”

“Yes, Yoichi. I promise.”

“That’s my good girl.”

He locks his hand in yours before he finally presses into you, both of you moaning as he works his hips into you. It’s a fantasy, sure, but he’s as mindful as he can be to be slow and let you get accustomed to him, even if it’s far from your first times, or even 48 hours since he last fucked you.

He’s captivated by the way your mouth falls open as he fucks into you. It’s familiar but entrances him every time. When you give the go ahead he increases his pace, working at that spot he knows gets you there the fastest.

“More, need more,” and he knows exactly what you need, licking his thumb before rubbing against your clit in tight circles. It’s only through time and experience that he knows exactly how to work your body, confirmed by the way you babble his name as if it’s the only word you know.

“You’re taking me so well. Feel so good, so tight. Can feel you squeezing me. You gonna cum for me?”

“Yeah. Gonna cum for you. So fucking close.” You’re wrecked.

“I know, baby. Tell me what you need.”

“Kiss me.”

Your wish is his command, him meeting your waiting mouth. It’s barely a kiss as you can hardly meet his mouth between your moans but he swallows them all dutifully. It’s when your back arches and you fall near silent beside one final cry of his name does he know that you’re cumming. He pulls away to watch you fall apart.

“That’s my girl. So beautiful. Let it out for me.��� The vice around his cock makes it difficult to fuck you through your orgasm but he powers through. Only once you relax does he rut into you a few more times before he loses himself, filling you as deeply as he can manage.

It’s silent once he collapses next to you, both catching your breath. When he catches his breath before you he departs with a peck to your lips before he leaves for the bathroom, returning with a damp rag.

“If that’s what I missed out on then I wouldn’t have minded going to school,” he breaks the reverie, cleaning between your legs before his cum has a chance to cool and become uncomfortable.

“Well, I’m glad everything worked out the way it did. Now I can have you all to myself,” you smile at him. He thinks his heart might burst.

“Yeah…that’s true too. Maybe everything worked out the way it did so that we could meet each other?”

“God, you're so sappy. Gross.” You both know you don’t mean it.

“Yeah, yeah. I love you too.” He once again bends at the waist to meet your lips. Gross or not he’s glad things aligned to this very moment.

You meet him halfway, sitting up on one arm to brush away his damp bangs. When you pull away you meet his gaze.

“I really, really do fucking love you, Yoichi”.

Yeah, he’s sure he’d meet you in every universe.

[nerdydowntherabbithole]

HELLO so i haven't been commenting in the last three chapters because. I don't even know i may be burnt out. BUT. I just wanted to tell you that the literal first thing i do when i wake up in the morning is check to see if your fic has updated. Before even getting out of bed or checking my messages lmao. Anyway yeah your fic has a vice grip on me i will miss it a lot this week

For an ACTUAL question, is Chasing Wind, or even Unparalleled Innocence, play a part in this story ever?

Also on a scale of one to ten how guilty does SRS feel about letting Pebbles do this to himself (and him causing Moon to fall. I feel like he'd blame himself for that also :( ). I bet they're gonna flip so much when Pebbles' can falls. Unconsolable until they get confirmation that everyone is ok. Somehow Sig managed to be the most level headed person in the entire fic and that's so funny to me. He's not level headed at all lmfao what have we come to

AUUUUGHHHH THANK YOUUUU BROOO LITERALLY DO NOT WORRY ABOUT COMMENTS U JUST CHILLING HERE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN ENOUGH UR SO POGCHAMP FOR IT. I'm so obsessed writing this thing that I may not even stop updates because it's jus. So fun.

Now to answer your question, yes! Both Chasing Wind AND Unparalleled Innocence are gonna appear in the story and get like. Further characterization and stuff. Everybody gets their moments!

As for guilt scale,,,,yeah that's absolutely a 10. Again another thing we will get to more in the fic but SRS has been massively self blaming for a WHILE now. Its wild because NSH is the silly funny guy who DOES have a serious side especially when it comes to situations like this and ends up having to play the voice of reason so people don't get hurt. Something something his characterization in Spearmaster made me sooo insane he's so good.

[jikookiekosmos]

Pick Your Fighter || jjk (Part 1)

➥Pairing: gamer!jk/gamer!reader, fuckboy!jk

➥Summary: Jeon Jungkook has it all - talent, charm, and the looks that have every girl falling at his feet. Add being the Arcade Champion of 5 years to that list and he feels like he’s on top of the world. He’s in for a rude awakening, though, when he’s faced with his greatest challenge yet: you.

➥Genre: enemies to lovers, (attempts at) humor, angst, smut, fluff

➥Rating: 18+

➥Words: 13.5k

➥Content Warnings: fuckboy!jk (I feel like that’s a warning on it’s own), mentions of insecurity, cursing (fuck is like jk’s fave word lmao), jk doesn’t like to share, yoongi has to put up with a lot bless him, mentions of gaming (particulalrly Overwatch and Mortal Kombat which I’ve played before so I felt like I knew enough to include them), jk likes to tease the reader, mentions of a blowjob, reader gives back what jk dishes out, jk is a sore loser, alcohol consumption, the word ‘whore’ is used once, jk handles jealousy the only way he knows how: fucking (not the reader this time but don’t worry we’ll get there), oral (m. receiving), protected sex, penetration, rough sex, somewhat dom!jk? (he gets a little rough and kinda mean so), hair pulling, crying during sex, oral (f. receiving), jk can’t get reader out of his head

A/N: ok so I know I said this would be my next one shot but I decided to split it into multiple parts instead! I figured it’d be easier that way since there’s a good bit I have planned for the over-arching storyline. This part is more so to introduce everyone to the characters, things will start heating up in the following chapters. I don’t have any kind of specific update schedule but ideally I’d like to get updates out every few weeks at the latest!

Forever giving a special thank you to @dntaewithluv​​ for being my biggest supporter here and my best friend. You always help me stay motivated during my writing processes and I love you so much ❤️ also thank you for beta-reading for me as usual, you’re the best~

I hope anyone who reads this enjoys it! Please let me know what you think, if you’d like~

taglist: @inlovewiththemoonn @min-nicoleee @fan-ati--c​ @sugaslittlekookies @1-in-abillion @yopjm @emsuzz @dreamsindreamss @justvibingsblog 

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

“Jungkook, I don’t care how good you are at this game,” Yoongi started as he rubbed his temples, “you still need to listen to me.”

Jungkook groaned. “I’m listening, alright? Damn, lighten up, Yoon.”

He was currently sitting with his feet propped up on Yoongi’s desk tossing a small rubber ball in the air, looking bored out of his mind. Yoongi glared at him once more before sighing and turning back to the board he was writing on.

“The tournament is a little different this year, they have more contestants-”

“More people for me to beat, then.” Jungkook smirked and tossed the ball once more with enough force that it hit one of the ceiling tiles before returning to his hand.

Yoongi could feel a headache coming on. Jungkook was his best friend and he loved him to death, but times like these made him wonder if becoming Jungkook’s sponsor may have been one of the worst decisions he’s ever made.

“Please pay attention,” Yoongi croaked. After staying up most of the night talking with other sponsors about tournament planning, he really didn’t have the energy to deal with Jungkook being uncooperative.

Jungkook must have been able to detect this since he pocketed the ball and sat up straight, now focusing all his attention on his tired friend.

“Alright, you’ve got my undivided attention. I’m all yours.” He motioned to the board before crossing his arms over his chest. Yoongi sighed, running a hand through his brown hair and shooting a grateful glare Jungkook’s way before he picked up where he left off.

“Ok so as usual, you’re in the fighting division. Most of your competitors are repeat contestants, but there will be a few new names. Would you care to know anything about them like their stats, years of experience, all that?”

Jungkook simply shook his head, much like he always did every time Yoongi presented him with this question. If there was something Yoongi would never understand, it was the fact that Jungkook had the inside scoop for this every year, but he never took advantage of it.

“You know I don’t care about all that. Not like it matters anyway, my skills don’t depend on anyone but me.” He ran a hand through his unruly dark hair before letting it settle back in front of his eyes.

Yoongi nodded. “Fair enough. Figured I’d try anyway in case you changed your mind.”

Jungkook flashed him a brilliant smile. “Since when do I change my mind on anything? You of all people know just how stubborn I can be.”

Yoongi chuckled as he started writing on the board again. “That I do, Kook.” He finished filling in the initials of the contestants in the different branches, Jungkook’s eyes watching him the whole time. When Yoongi was finally done, he capped the blue marker and laid it on the table next to the board. Jungkook hopped up out of his chair, rolling up the sleeves of his black hoodie before he placed his hands in his pockets.

“Wanna hang out tonight? You’ve been pretty busy lately; it’d be good for you to blow off some steam.” Jungkook could be cocky, arrogant, and was considered the epitome of a fuckboy by most people, but he definitely had a soft spot when it came to Yoongi. A decade of friendship tended to do that to people sometimes.

Yoongi smiled as he stretched. “Sorry kid, I can’t tonight. Already got plans.”

Jungkook frowned. He hadn’t been expecting that.

“Can I ask what those are?”

Yoongi snorted as he grabbed his bag from his desk. “What are you, my keeper?” Jungkook huffed in frustration when Yoongi passed him. They were walking out of the arcade now, having used the back staff room for tournament planning.

“If you must know, I’m hanging out with Y/N tonight.”

At the mention of your name, Jungkook could feel himself bristling. It didn’t have anything to do with you specifically, it was more of the fact that he had to share his best friend with you. Jungkook was a selfish person and he hated sharing anything, which of course included his best friend who was probably the most important person to him on this miserable planet. Yoongi knew this but he never backed down, always telling him to ‘suck it up, Kook, because she’s not going anywhere.’

You and Yoongi met a few years ago when you both were baristas working at the same café and an instant friendship formed between the two of you, much to Jungkook’s dismay. He could avoid you much easier now that he was living in his own apartment, but during those years he shared a space with Yoongi, he saw more of you than he preferred to.

And that wasn’t even taking into consideration the fact that you both annoyed the fuck out of each other, so a hang out session with all 3 of you posed a slim chance of being successful.

“Ah, again? What’s that, like the third time this week?”

Yoongi turned slightly so he could pat Jungkook’s cheek, making the younger boy duck before he could continue. “Aww Kook, are you jealous?”

“Absolutely not,” Jungkook grimaced, delving his hands further in his pockets. “Just don’t see what you find so fascinating about her is all.”

Yoongi frowned. “Jungkook, she’s really not that bad if you give her a chance-”

“Yeah, well, maybe I don’t want to.” He kicked at a stray pebble on the street as they continued walking in the direction of their apartment complex.

“Then that’s your loss. Which sucks because, regardless of what you believe, she doesn’t have a bad opinion of you.”

Jungkook snorted. “Bullshit. Everyone has a bad opinion of me. Even you sometimes.” He finished his statement with a grin and Yoongi hoped that meant he was joking.

He wasn’t.

Jungkook knew there were 2 things in this world he was an absolute beast at: gaming and fucking. He was aware that most people didn’t like him beyond his gaming ability and, at least where women were concerned, how he was in bed. When he wasn’t making other Overwatch players scream at him through his headset because he was winning, he was making women of his choosing scream into his mattress.

And that was exactly how Jungkook preferred things.

Yoongi knew this as well, and he’d witnessed Jungkook go on this self-destructive spiral over the last several years with him being one of the only people Jungkook could count on. It pained him to see Jungkook have such a low opinion of himself regarding most things, and he hoped that in time, Jungkook would be able to see just how great of a person he truly was.

A deep sigh escaped the older man as they rounded the last corner before their complex came into view. “We can hang out tomorrow, Kook. Promise.”

Jungkook was still frowning but it seemed to soften a bit at Yoongi’s offer. He couldn’t really be mad at Yoongi for wanting to spend time with other friends when he had his own as well. Maybe he’d call up Tae and see if he wanted to play a few matches tonight if he wasn’t too busy.

Which is exactly what Jungkook did once he was settled for the night. He and Tae played Overwatch for a few hours, swapping plays of the game (POTGs) between each other and laughing at the distress from the opposite team members after each round.

These two were in their element here, and it made sense considering Tae was actually entered into the PC games portion of the arcade tournament where he’d been champion for the last few years. Both of them carried their division titles proudly and had grown a lot closer because of their mutual interest in gaming and other things they found out along the way.

Basically, Tae was probably the second closest person to Jungkook behind Yoongi, but even that was a stretch. Jungkook didn’t allow people into his life easily, and it took years for Tae to break down those barriers.

He didn’t see that happening with another person anytime soon, and he was completely fine with that. 2 people was enough to keep up with, anyway…at least, that was how Jungkook viewed it.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

You were in the zone, tongue gently peeking out of the corner of your mouth as you focused on the TV in front of you, expertly pressing the buttons on your controller to land a perfect combo. The timer had barely even started and you already had your opponent’s health down to a third of what they started with. Of course, competing against AI opponents had nothing on those in the real world, but hey practice was practice, right?

You’d just managed to K.O. your computer counterpart – raising your arms in a tiny victory pose as you did – when you heard the doorbell ring. You hopped up and jogged to the door, opening it without another thought. There was only one person it could be; you rarely had company, and when you did it was typically always the same person.

Yoongi grinned, arms full of bags that you knew had to contain yours and his favorite snacks. It was customary whenever you would spend nights like these together, either he or you would stop by the grocery store before convening in one of your apartments, having made purchases of snacks and goodies galore.

“Yoonie!” you greeted him cheerfully, reaching out to take a few of the bags so he could enter your apartment properly. When the two of you had everything set on your dining room table, he pulled you into a hug.

“Hey there.” His glance drifted over to your living room area where the TV was projecting its light throughout the otherwise dimly lit room. “I see you’ve been busy.”

You shrugged. “I had a couple of extra hours to kill after my shift ended earlier. Besides, the tournament is only a few days away. I need to be in the best shape possible for it.”

It was a Wednesday night, but neither of you had work the following day, so you offered for Yoongi to drop by and help you with some pointers for the competition since it was your first time entering. That invitation had now turned into the usual sleepover you were accustomed to, but Yoongi still kept his word on helping you out.

With the tournament happening Saturday, you didn’t have many days left to train and get ready. You didn’t doubt your ability – you knew you were good at games, despite the stereotypes that say otherwise – but it never hurt to practice.

Yoongi interrupted your thoughts by ruffling your hair, chuckling when you swatted his hand away. “If you ask me, I think you’ve prepared enough. I’ve seen what you can do and you’re honestly one of the best I’ve seen at this particular game.”

The game in question was Mortal Kombat II, one of the games in an old school fighting series that you grew up playing with some friends from many years ago that you didn’t talk to anymore. And while you may have drifted from people during different stages in your life, your love for gaming was one thing that remained constant throughout.

“Thanks, Yoongs.” You couldn’t help but crack a smile at his praise, especially since you knew it was genuine. And high praise it was, considering he’d seen a lot of expert players in his time of helping with the tournaments.

“Anytime. Now,” he plopped onto the couch and you resumed your seat on a cushion you placed on the floor in front of your coffee table, “let’s talk strategy.”

You had picked up the controller to start the next round, but at his words you laid it in your lap instead and cocked your head to the side while giving him a confused look. “Strategy?”

Yoongi nodded. “Strategy. You’re gonna need at least a semblance of one if you want to stand a chance in this competition.”

You gulped. “I-I thought I’d just go in and give it my all.”

Yoongi smiled gently, reassuringly. “I know. And that is what you need to do. But you also need to consider every possible scenario. This isn’t just playing against a friend you know or a random person through a server. You’re going up against other trained experts, with some who have been doing this for years.”

You looked down at the controller in your hand, unconsciously squeezing the plastic. Strategy? You hadn’t really put much thought into it, outside of perfecting your skills and just doing your best. Above all, this was supposed to be something fun for you. Just an extra outlet and a way to maybe potentially make more friends who shared your interest in this hobby.

But with the way Yoongi was talking, it sort of just scared you.

“I’m not trying to scare you,” he continued. Sometimes you swore he could read your thoughts, but that wouldn’t surprise you, seeing as he is your best friend, after all. “I just want you to go in with the right mindset for what to expect.”

“I appreciate it,” you mustered up what you hoped would be a convincing smile. You could tell Yoongi didn’t buy it, but he didn’t press further.

“Ok, new plan. I’ll watch you play a few rounds and then give you my opinion on anything I think you might could change to improve what you’re doing. Sound good?”

You agreed, genuinely smiling this time. “Sounds good.”

After almost half an hour of you playing while Yoongi quietly observed you, he finally spoke up again.

“Alright, I think I’ve noticed something that you can work on.”

You paused the game and turned toward him, giving him your full attention while your hands rested in your lap.

Yoongi leaned forward so that his elbows were on his knees, hands clasped together while he pursed his lips. “You have this…thing you do. Right before your K.O. combo. It’s almost like you hesitate for a second.”

You blinked a few times, trying to recall when you might have done that. “Really?”

“Mhm. I’ve never picked up on it before, but then again, I’ve also never watched you with a critical eye before now either.”

You frowned, forehead creasing with the effort. When did you hesitate? You pretty much went in for the final blow as soon as you were able to-

“I know you’re probably trying to remember when you did it, but I’m telling you it’s always that split second right before you go in for the kill. And that’s not really a problem, except…” Yoongi trailed off, leaving you nearly bouncing on your cushion with the curiosity that consumed you.

“Except what?”

Yoongi brought his eyes up to stare into yours, and the seriousness you found there made you gulp again.

“Except there is one player I know who only needs a second of hesitation to turn an entire match around.”

You understood immediately who he was talking about.

“Jungkook.”

Yoongi nodded in affirmation. “Yup. Kook is the undisputed king of turning around an entire game within a pivotal moment all because someone hesitates. And it doesn’t even have to be a conscious thing, a lot of the time they do it without realizing. But he can pick up on it nearly every time, and it’s always something he uses to his advantage.”

Honestly, you weren’t surprised. Jungkook wasn’t the reigning champion for just any old reason. He had the skill and the talent to outshine everyone who had faced him in the past.

This year, however, you were a new challenger. And the idea of taking him down a peg from actually beating him at his own game excited you more than it probably should have.

Still, you couldn’t help but wonder…

“Why are you telling me this though? Aren’t you rooting for him, too? I mean – you’re literally his sponsor so that has to be against a code of ethics or something along those lines.”

Yoongi’s laughter took you off guard, but the sound made you smile nonetheless.

“You’re right. I probably shouldn’t be telling you any of this or helping you out at all. But,” he leaned forward more so he could boop your nose from where you were still seated in front of the coffee table. “You’re my best friend, too. And that matters more to me than any sponsorship or shit like that. I’ll be rooting for the both of you equally.”

You scrunched up your nose a little at the contact before you beamed at him. Never had you expected to have a friend as amazing as him in your life, but you were grateful for it every day.

“Besides,” Yoongi went on, straightening his posture again before sinking back into the couch, “I also did offer to tell Kook about his competitors and their strengths, weaknesses, all that.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what happened with that?”

A gummy smile spread out across his face. “He didn’t wanna know. So, it’s his loss.”

You hummed as you thought it over. “That makes no sense, why wouldn’t he-”

“You’ve known him long enough to realize that he is perhaps one of the most stubborn people ever, maybe even the most stubborn. He’s too prideful to accept ‘handouts’ of information like that. One day I think that pride of his might be his downfall,” Yoongi started trailing off near the end there, but you could still just barely make out what he said. You didn’t feel like you were supposed to have heard it, though, so you didn’t ask for him to elaborate.

“Well, I’m not too prideful to ask for info. Are there any other tricks or secrets you can let me in on about our boy Mr. Jeon?” Your tone was teasing but you also wouldn’t turn down any additional info Yoongi could offer you.

Yoongi groaned. “God, do not let him hear you call him that. I swear it’ll go directly to his head and make his ego swell even larger.” You giggled and Yoongi smiled.

“But no, I can’t give you any more info beyond that, because that would be basically violating my terms as sponsor. Can’t give you everything now, can I?”

“I meeean, you could…”

He chuckled. “But I’m not going to. End of discussion.”

You pouted lightheartedly and Yoongi simply shook his head, his smile growing wider.

“Honestly, what am I going to do about you two? You know, you’re both more alike that either of you want to admit-”

You covered your ears. “Sorry, can’t hear you over how ridiculous that sounds.”

“Case in point,” Yoongi replied as he pulled your hands away. “What you just did is a very Jungkook thing to do.”

You clutched at your chest in feigned horror. “Min Yoongi, you take that back right now.”

He laughed at your distress. “Nope. Now, show me what you’re going to do about that habit of yours. We have all night to figure it out.”

A grateful smile stretched across your face as you saw him settle in and get comfortable. He was rummaging through one of the snack bags, and the familiar warmth you always felt around him blossomed in your chest once more.

You really loved Yoongi so much, and not at all in a romantic way, but very much in the ‘you’re my best friend and I’ll protect you with my life forever’ kinda way. And you knew Yoongi felt the exact same about you.

So you did as he said and picked up your forgotten controller again, spending the next several hours perfecting your technique until you both agreed it was acceptable.

You were ready for the competition.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Meanwhile, in the apartment complex down the block from yours, Jungkook was laughing at Taehyung’s screams of disbelief as their opponent took him down a third time during that round.

“What the fuck?!” drifted through his headset and Jungkook could only chuckle. He knew Tae was good, of course; he was great at the game, actually. But it was times like these where he somewhat enjoyed seeing Tae crumble a bit when he lost. Tae liked to walk around as if he was the god of Overwatch himself, so it was nice to occasionally see him shaken up.

Yes, Jungkook was a hypocrite, and yes, if anyone ever beat him at his best game, he would be pissed off as well.

“Fucking Mercy, they aren’t supposed to be offensive, stop shooting at me and heal your party members!”

Jungkook took out the other team’s healer just as Tae was finishing his cry of rage. He could hear Tae’s breathing then, followed by him clearing his throat before speaking again at a more normal volume.

“Thanks, Kook.”

“Don’t mention it, I do need you back here to cover for me, though.” Jungkook was playing as Widowmaker like he usually did, so he was set up ready to snipe the other team’s members whenever they appeared in his line of sight. Of course, Jungkook was more of an offensive player, so he didn’t stay in one spot for too long.

“On my way, just keep an eye on that bitch Mercy for me, will you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jungkook muttered in response. “By the way, how are you feeling about the tournament?”

It was the question Jungkook asked every year in the days leading up to the competition, so Tae always expected it.

“I’m feeling fine about it, I know most of the players since a lot of them are repeat competitors from last year.” He stopped speaking for a moment to focus on shooting down and enemy who was trying to sneak up on Jungkook, making Jungkook hum in appreciation as he did.

“My sponsor got me inside details on those I didn’t know, too, so I feel more prepared. What about you? Did Yoongi give you the hookup?”

“Nah, I turned it down.” For a few seconds, the only sounds that could be heard were the clicks of their mouses and keyboards.

“Dude, you have probably the best sponsor for this kinda shit, why do you always say no? Seems dumb if you ask me.”

“Good thing I didn’t fucking ask you then, dick.” Jungkook wasn’t actually mad at Tae, this was just how they liked to tease each other; lighthearted banter sprinkled with vulgar language. Jungkook figured it was somewhat poetic if you really thought about it.

“Seriously, Kook, I don’t get you sometimes. And we’re on the same wavelength a lot.”

Jungkook sighed. “I just don’t feel the need to know, alright? I like going into it blind and coming out on top. The victory is sweeter that way.”

He could hear Tae’s noise of disapproval just before he got another headshot. His last shot ended up being the POTG, bringing a smile to his face as he watched the video playback.

“I mean, I get that I guess. I did hear a rumor though that we got some chicks joining this year, so that ought to be interesting.”

They were in the queue now waiting for the next match to start. Team members from their previous game asked if they could stay on their team, but Jungkook and Tae both declined the invites as usual. They preferred to keep to themselves, even though some of their prior teammates were damn good.

“There’s no way, we’ve never had that before.” Jungkook readjusted his headset, carding a hand through his dark mop of curls before rolling his head around on his shoulders, stretching to get more comfortable.

“Well, there’s at least 1 for sure. I know that much because my sponsor confirmed it.”

At this, Jungkook’s curiosity was piqued. “Oh? Did he say what division?”

“Nah, it’s not mine and that’s all the info I got. Wouldn’t it be something though if they were going up against you?”

Jungkook laughed loudly in his empty apartment. “Me? A girl facing off against me? God, you’re fucking hilarious, Tae.”

“I’m being serious though! We don’t know yet-”

“I’ll humor you for a second then, alright? Say I do go up against a girl. We already know what that outcome will be. And I do hate seeing women cry, especially at my expense, but I’m not going easy on anyone I compete against.”

Taehyung hummed on the other end as 30 seconds left on the countdown timer signaled another match was about to start. “I know you won’t, but I do think it would throw you for a loop, so it’s better to mentally prepare for that kinda curveball now.”

Jungkook scoffed, getting ready for the next round. “Yeah, sure, alright. I’ll ‘prepare’ for it.”

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

The next few days flew by thanks to your work shifts and you practicing pretty much every night leading up to the tournament. There wasn’t a reason for you to overdo it, but you liked to compete against others and do your best, so you practiced whenever you had the chance.

And it had paid off. Yoongi told you he could definitely see an improvement in the way you played.

“If I’m honest, I think you have a really good chance of going far. Not that I thought you didn’t before, but it’s even more evident now.” He gave you his signature gummy smile while the two of you were seated in the competitors waiting area.

“Thanks, Yoonie. By the way, where’s Jungkook?” You craned your neck to look around Yoongi, but the tall, dark-haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, he’s probably chilling in the back. Says he has no interest in seeing other competitors play besides the ones he’s facing against. He does this every year.”

“Interesting,” you mused. “Does he know I’m competing this time?”

Yoongi shrugged, moving to stand. “Dunno. He didn’t say anything about it, so I doubt he knows. To be completely honest, I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he finds out.” He grinned.

You followed suit and stood from your spot, since you were in one of the first matches. “Bold of you to assume I’ll even go up against him.”

Yoongi’s grin widened. “Something just tells me you will. Call it divine intuition.”

“If you’re wrong, you owe me a coffee,” you suggested. It pulled a chuckle from the boy, which is what you had hoped for.

“Deal. But if I’m right?”

“Then I owe you a coffee. Or whatever beverage of your choice.”

“Sounds good to me,” Yoongi replied, leading you to where your match was set to start. “Best of luck, just remember what you’ve been working on and I’m sure you’ll be fine.” He gave you one last pat on the shoulder before leaving to go find Jungkook, or at least that’s what you assumed.

His first match wouldn’t be for a little bit, you knew that from the roster, but you didn’t want to focus on him right now. Your priority was pushing your nerves away and embracing the adrenaline rush that always came to you when competition was involved.

It was that kind of mindset that got your through your first match with a flawless victory. You took that feeling with you the rest of the way through your matches until the final one, where you knew you were going to need all the motivation you could muster.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Jungkook miraculously somehow didn’t run into you at all during the tournament. This was probably because of 2 reasons:

1) He had no idea you were there to start with and 2) he didn’t stick around long enough to see who else was competing in his division whenever he finished his matches.

As soon as Jungkook defeated his opponents – which generally happened within the first minute or so of playing – he would make his way to the back room where he would scroll mindlessly through his phone until his next round time approached.

He blew through all his matches, ignoring Yoongi’s encouragement to stick around and watch the rest of the games unfold. Occasionally he would check in on Tae and watch him play a few games, but he knew Tae was bound to win so there wasn’t really much of a point to.

At last, it was time for the final match. Jungkook stretched as he was leaving the back room of the arcade, walking confidently with his hands in his pockets. He smirked the whole way there, admiring the looks he got from patrons who had been viewing the tournament the whole time with excitement.

He made it to the arcade machine before his opponent did, but he didn’t mind it at all. He rolled up his hoodie sleeves and ran a hand through his hair before letting it slightly fall back into his eyes. He peered over the heads of those in the crowd, looking for Yoongi since he was supposed to be around for every one of his matches.

When he spotted Yoongi, he smiled, watching as the man weaved his way through the thickening crowd. Jungkook’s smile faltered, however, when he saw who was following behind his friend, their hand wrapped up in Yoongi’s own.

“What the fuck?”

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

“No fucking way,” you heard Jungkook exclaim when you got close enough. You rolled your eyes as you settled into your spot beside him, and he was still staring at you as if you had multiple heads.

You were growing impatient with his gawking so you whirled to face him. “Can I help you, Jungkook?”

He cracked that stupid, shit-eating grin you were unfortunately used to. “Nah, just wondering why you’re here. You lost, babygirl?”

“Ugh, do not call me that,” you answered immediately, focusing instead on Yoongi’s solemn face behind him instead of his words. “And no, I’m not lost. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

Jungkook looked genuinely confused, it was almost laughable.

“Uhh…you do realize you’re in an arcade, yeah?”

You just nodded curtly, looking at the clock on the wall. There were still a few minutes left before your match was set to start, but you seriously just wanted it over with already.

“Arcades are where people go to play games,” Jungkook continued, speaking slower as if to get the point across. You huffed and your grip on the joystick in front of you tightened.

“I’m aware of that. I’m not fucking stupid.”

Jungkook’s sudden laughter annoyed you further. He propped an elbow onto the machine, leaning over and almost closer to you. “Never said you were. But if you know that, then again, why are you here?”

You gestured vaguely to the arcade machine in front of you. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Jungkook’s face dropped and it finally looked like he was understanding.

“Wait. You play games?”

“It would appear so, yes.”

“And you’re here for the competition?”

“Yup,” you popped your lips on the ‘p.’ “Why else would I willingly be around you this long?”

You didn’t even know why you were saying those words and you could tell Yoongi was surprised as well. You and Jungkook teased each other, sure, but you never showed any real animosity towards him.

However, he was really starting to irritate you with his ‘you’re a girl so you obviously don’t play games’ bullshit. You never tolerated it from anyone else before and you certainly weren’t going to start now.

Your words didn’t seem to faze him, though; if anything, he got even more cocky because of it.

“Damn, I don’t remember you being this feisty before. I like it.”

You groaned before he continued.

“What’d you have to do to get in by the way, did you blow the guy at the door or something?”

Out of the corner of your eye you could see Yoongi stepping forward while others around you ‘ooooh’ed at Jungkook’s jab. You held up your hand somewhat so Yoongi would know you could handle this, and he stopped moving.

“Nope, I’m here because of pure skill. And unlike some people, my talents extend past gaming.” You crossed your arms and stared at the clock again, seeing there was less than a minute now until you both would be able to start. Amidst the murmurs of the crowd you two had drawn, you heard Jungkook’s boisterous laugh.

“Oh babygirl, if you wanted to see my skills outside of this, I would be happy to oblige-”

“That’s enough, Kook,” Yoongi finally made his way up to you two and clapped a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder. “Let her be. Just compete against her and show good sportsmanship about it.”

Jungkook’s brows knitted together. “Wait…so she’s actually my final opponent? Like for real? Yoon, you gotta be fucking with me.”

“Well, I’m not, and you would’ve known that if you paid attention to the results at the end of each round. But you didn’t and you’re here so suck it up and play.”

Jungkook’s bewildered expression nearly made you laugh, but you almost felt bad for him.

Almost. He got himself into this situation by ignoring Yoongi’s help, so you wouldn’t feel too much pity for him.

“If that’s too much for you, forfeiting is always an option.” You busied yourself with readjusting your necklace you were wearing while you causally threw that offer out there.

Jungkook glared at you then, and the usual fire rekindled back to life in his eyes. This is what you liked to see, since you were competitive by nature yourself.

Now the real fun could begin.

“In your dreams,” he grumbled, moving back to a standing position and cracking his knuckles. You recognized this as his ‘fighting prep stance’ since you’d observed it in the years prior when you would watch the tournament. This way, you knew Jungkook meant business and you couldn’t be more thrilled about it.

The person who was in charge of tracking time signaled that the two of you could start, so you rolled your shoulders back and prepared yourself.

“Ladies first,” Jungkook gestured to the arcade machine as he let you have first pick from the character select screen. “It’d be unfair for me to put you at a disadvantage early on.”

“Wow, such a gentleman,” you rolled your eyes and selected your best fighter. You couldn’t wait to wipe that stupid, smug smile off his face.

Jungkook only shrugged. “What can I say? Gotta make up for it now so I don’t feel too bad about the defeat I hand you later.”

“You sure talk a big game, now let’s see if you can back it up.” You crossed your arms while you waited for him to choose a character. He looked you up and down once before he gave you a lopsided grin.

“With pleasure.”

Jungkook looked at your character choice and scoffed, making you feel hot with exasperation.

“Kitana? Really? Well, guess that makes sense, seeing as you’re a girl and all.”

You bristled at the comment but quickly shook it off, fingers flexing around the joystick. You were both playing Mortal Kombat II, much to your delight, seeing as this is the game where some of your favorite characters had been introduced. You loved the classic first game, but you were more in your element with this one for sure.

“Pick someone, Kook. Don’t keep me waiting.”

He grinned and chose a character, clearly wanting to say more but deciding against it.

“I’ll go with Sub-Zero. He’s not my best character, but I’ll consider this a special match and go easy on you just this once.”

If you’d been gripping the joystick any harder, you’re sure you would have tore it off.

“Just fucking fight me already,” you grumbled, determined to not let him get the best of you. He was eating it up however, taking his sweet time choosing the stage for the two of you to fight on.

Once the stage was chosen and the game countdown ended, you got to work. The arcade combos were a little different than what you were used to, seeing as you generally played on a console with a controller, but you were a fast learner.

Unfortunately, you weren’t fast enough, seeing as Jungkook beat you in the first round. You had already known his gaming skills were impressive, but even he surpassed what you thought he could do.

“Aye, way to go, Kook!” You heard someone cheering from the crowd, and when you turned to look you could see it was Taehyung, who you knew solely by association. Jungkook turned too, giving his friend a thumbs up before returning his attention to the screen again.

You could tell from the corner of your eye that he was fixing his gaze on you, that ever present cocky grin at home on his face. You didn’t give him the time of day and instead looked to Yoongi in the crowd.

Yoongi was looking at you with soft eyes, and you saw him mouth ‘Proud of you.’ which reinvigorated you with a newfound confidence.

There were still 2 rounds to go, only 1 if he beat you again, but you had faith in yourself. If you could beat him even once just to see him squirm a little bit, then you’d be happy.

The next round started and this time, you chose a different technique. You worked on getting behind him at every opportunity so you could attack that way.

You heard Jungkook let out a surprise gasp beside you when you landed a combo that took out a significant chunk of his health. His movements started faltering and you used that to your advantage, landing more combos until finally, you had his health down to the last little bit-

You finished him off with a K.O. and the entire crowd quieted down. No one had ever beat Jungkook in any of the rounds he played during his 5 years as champion here and you had just put an end to that streak.

Behind you there was a cheer and you recognized who it was immediately. Yoongi was cheering for you, clapping his hands. You gave him a bright smile, noticing how Jungkook beside you had whirled around to also face Yoongi. You chanced looking and flinched at the pure venom Jungkook was sending Yoongi’s way with his glare.

Yoongi didn’t care, though. He told you he was there for both of you and supported you both equally, and he intended it to stay that way. A few other people in the crowd cheered now, and you noticed how Taehyung was staring at you with his jaw slack.

You swallowed. Was this really that big of a deal?

According to Jungkook it was, because he was starting the next round before you were properly situated. You worked fast to get your bearings about you and just barely avoided his first hit.

Your strategy from the previous game wasn’t going to work this time, that much you knew, since Jungkook was countering everything you’d thrown as him so far. You were almost sure you heard him actually growling as he ducked closer to the machine, as if that would help him play better.

As much as he was deterring your attacks, you were doing the same, and the countdown timer for the round was down to 30 seconds before either of you had gotten the other’s health down halfway.

Then, for reasons you were unsure of, Jungkook had faltered yet again in his technique.

It could’ve been because he was still flustered by your previous victory, but you weren’t letting the chance go to waste. You snuck behind him and landed your most powerful combo, getting his health down to a tiny sliver.

Jungkook looked absolutely defeated, trying his hardest to block your attacks and save his last little bit of health. It was to no avail, however, and the final round ended just as the previous one had.

You did it. You beat Jungkook. The Jeon Jungkook. You beat him at his own game.

The two of you had garnered quite the crowd during your match. There was a moment of pure silence before they erupted into cheers loud enough to almost make you want to cover your ears. Yoongi was rushing forward to congratulate you, and the smile on your face was widening by the second before you could even attempt to stop it.

Or at least it was until you looked over. Jungkook was bracing himself against the machine, staring at the screen with sheer incredulity, jaw clenched and looking like he might fall over any second.

You reached out a hand. “Jungkook-”

“Don’t fucking touch me,” he growled. You retracted your hand and took a step back. Tae was approaching him from the other side, a look of concern on his face. He looked up at you, eyes unreadable, and all you did was nod before you turned away to try and find Yoongi.

When you did, you were met with a hug so tight it knocked the breath out of you.

“You did it, you actually fucking did it! I still can’t believe it. I’m so proud of you!” Yoongi was beaming at you so brightly you couldn’t help but smile back, even though you were still worried about Jungkook. When you looked over your shoulder, you noticed he and Tae were both gone now.

You didn’t know why, but something about that caused a dull ache to gnaw away at your chest.

“We need to go celebrate. Let me call Luna and see if she wants to go out for drinks.” Yoongi was raising the phone to his ear before he asked “You down?”

You nodded, always happy to spend time with Yoongi and his girlfriend who you had also grown close to. You bit your lip as you continued to think about Jungkook, not used to this newfound worry.

“Perfect. We can get together in a few hours at the bar down the street.” He started talking through the phone receiver and you scanned the crowd one last time, hoping to see that unruly dark hair somewhere in the sea of people.

But you couldn’t find Jungkook. And that shouldn’t bother you, but for some reason, it did.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

“Jungkook, slow down!” Tae was jogging after Jungkook in an attempt to catch up to him. Jungkook had started speed walking away from the arcade, hands deep in his pockets and hood pulled up over his head. He didn’t even stop to get his second place prize because the very thought of it made his stomach churn.

How the fuck could something like this happen to him? And why did it have to be you who did it?

He was cursing your name under his breath when Tae finally managed to make it to his side, catching his breath as he held onto Jungkook’s sleeve.

“Kook, wait,” Tae said in between breaths. “Talk to me. What’s wrong-”

“Don’t you dare ask me that when you know good and fucking well what’s wrong.” Jungkook sneered and it made Tae cringe. He’d never seen Jungkook seething like this in all their years of friendship, and quite frankly, it made him feel unpleasant.

“Ok, so you got beat. Not a big deal, alright? Stop acting like it’s the end of the world.”

Tae’s attempt to lighten the mood did the exact opposite. Jungkook whirled around, eyes swirling with emotion, almost as black as obsidian.

“Not a big deal? Not a big deal?! How about you,” he stopped for a moment to poke Tae squarely in the chest, “get defeated and then come tell me how it fucking feels.”

Tae frowned, shoving Jungkook’s hand away. “Kook, in case you’ve forgotten, I did get beat. My first year in the tournament I got my ass handed to me during the last round of the last match. Do you remember what you told me? Hm?”

Jungkook stiffened because yes, he did remember, and now it was coming back to bite him in the ass.

“Firstly, you laughed and said I needed to suck it up and ‘get good.’ Granted, you were 19 then, so I let it slide because maturity and all that. But it’s basically the same thing, you lost and you need to take it in stride-”

“Tae, this shit isn’t supposed to happen to me. It’s me. I’m not supposed to be beat like this.”

“You’re not fucking perfect, Kook!” Tae had raised his voice in exasperation, but he took a deep breath before he continued. “Look. I’m going out tonight with a few others to celebrate me winning my division. And I’m not inviting you so I can rub it in your face, but I am inviting you because I think going out would help.”

Jungkook didn’t respond, instead choosing to stare at the pavement underneath their feet. They were only a few blocks away from the arcade but they had stopped beside one of the downtown restaurants.

“In fact, I’m highly encouraging you to go out tonight. Get tipsy, maybe meet someone and fuck all that frustration out of your system. You seem to be pretty good at that, from what you always brag about.”

At this comment, Jungkook cracked a tiny smile. Tae was right; maybe going out would be good for him. He needed some kind of stress relief after what he had just endured, and if that entailed drinking and fucking someone until all they knew was his name, then so be it.

“Fuck it, let’s go then.” Jungkook shrugged his hood off of his face and fixed Tae with his signature smirk.

Tae wrapped an arm around his shoulders and they continued walking. “That’s my boy! We can get ready at my place, unless you wanna head back and change first-”

“Nah, I can pick up chicks just as easy in this as I can anything else.” And it was true; Jungkook’s success rate with picking up women was relatively the same regardless of what he wore. His outfit of choice usually consisted of what he wore now: dark hoodie, fitted jeans, and some style of black combat boots to complete the look.

Tae nodded. “Fair enough. Off we go then!” He chatted the entire way back to his apartment, and Jungkook was only half-listening. The other parts of his brain were preoccupied with thoughts of someone it shouldn’t have been.

He found himself thinking about you, and your crestfallen face when he had snapped at you back at the arcade. He felt like maybe that should bother him-

-but every time he thought about the utter and humiliating defeat he suffered at your hands, he just got mad all over again.

So now, the only thought he would allow to enter his mind that pertained to you was a simple one: fuck you.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Yoongi texted you to let you know he and Luna were waiting outside your apartment to drive to the bar. You had changed into something a little more on par for the occasion; a dress that hugged your figure and was long enough to reach mid-thigh, but still modest in the way that it left plenty to the imagination. Luna had actually bought this particular dress for you during one of your many shopping trips with her, so you knew she’d be delighted to see you in it.

You were proven right when you heard the excited squeal coming from the window of the passenger seat as you carefully stepped down the stairs outside your apartment.

“You look hot, that dress suits you so well,” Luna gushed to you as you got in the backseat and fastened your seatbelt. Yoongi chuckled from the driver’s seat.

Luna playfully smacked Yoongi’s arm before he put the car back into drive. “Yoonie! Doesn’t she look great? You better tell her right now.”

Both of you laughed at Luna’s persistence and then Yoongi locked eyes with you. “Yeah, you do look good, Y/N. You usually do though, so I don’t know why you,” he broke off to tickle Luna, making her giggle, “forced me to say that.”

“Because she should hear it from everyone!” Luna huffed as if to say that should have been obvious. Yoongi looked at you through the rearview mirror.

“Sorry, she’s already had some to drink tonight, so she’s a little more eccentric than we’re used to-”

“You love it and you fucking know it,” Luna cut him off with a kiss on his cheek. He smiled and returned it with a quick peck on the lips. You heart soared at the scene in front of you.

You were one of those people who ‘loved love,’ despite not being in a relationship yourself. You weren’t ready for something like that again, not after how your last one ended, but you could always be happy for those people who were in loving, healthy relationships. Especially if you were close to them, like you were these two.

“Alright, should we be off, then?” Yoongi put the car into drive and glanced once more at you and Luna in case either of you protested. You simply nodded and Luna was looking at her phone now, so Yoongi took that as his cue to leave.

The three of you arrived not much later since the bar wasn’t far. Your apartment complexes were thankfully located in a good part of town surrounded by popular venues so there was always something to do.

When all of you were seated and had drinks of your choice, you finally chose to ask the question that had been plaguing your mind.

“Has anyone checked on Jungkook?”

Yoongi’s face dropped a little bit and Luna just rolled her eyes.

“Yoongi tried to but Kook is being a giant baby and won’t accept his calls. He’s probably out getting trashed or something.”

“Luna,” Yoongi said with a little bit of a stern tone.

“What? It’s the truth. And I’m tired of seeing you two sulk about him. We are here to have fun. Jungkook can be a problem for tomorrow.”

Luna made it clear the situation wasn’t up for debate as she raised her glass. Yoongi looked at you and shrugged before doing the same, and you joined in, clinking yours against theirs in a toast for…something.

You weren’t really sure. Luna didn’t say anything, so maybe you thought it was for forgetting about Jungkook.

That was, unfortunately for you, easier said than done. It was made even harder when you saw that familiar head of curls walk into the bar several feet away.

“Fuck,” you said under your breath, chugging down the rest of your drink which admittedly was probably not your smartest idea. Yoongi pursed his lips and followed your line of sight. His eyes widened when he saw Jungkook.

“Well shit, who would’ve guessed he’d come here, too.”

“Certainly not me,” you let out a nervous laugh, feeling the alcohol finally start to settle in.

Luna was just coming back from the restroom and when she noticed Jungkook too, she rolled her eyes and grabbed your wrist. “You. Me. Dance floor. Now.”

You didn’t have time to protest, nor did you really want to. You knew Yoongi wanted to talk to Jungkook, and this would give him the perfect chance to.

“We are getting as far away from that asshole as possible,” Luna grumbled. When she had secured a spot on the floor, she started dancing, helping you move in time with the beat as she kept her hands on your waist.

Your anxiety was ebbing away slowly, thanks to the combined effort of Luna’s distraction and the alcohol finally taking effect, and you eventually forgot about Jungkook altogether for the time being.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Jungkook walked into the bar behind Tae, a little less cheery about the outing than he had been a few hours prior. He just wasn’t really in the mood to mingle and would much rather sulk on his bed and re-watch old episodes of his favorite anime shows.

“Kook, find us somewhere to sit, I’ll go grab some drinks. You want your usual?” Tae was doing his best to help liven the mood and Jungkook really did appreciate him for it. He offered a small smile, even though it didn’t quite touch his eyes.

“Yeah, thanks TaeTae.”

Jungkook maneuvered himself through the slew of people standing around, trying to find an empty table that could seat a few others since he wasn’t sure how many would be joining him and Tae tonight. On his way to a free table he froze, recognizing the man sitting not 10 ft. away from him instantly.

Jungkook wasted no time walking over and spinning their chair around, met with a flustered Yoongi as he did.

“Jungkook, hey,” Yoongi managed to get out, clearly caught off guard since he’d been facing the opposite direction.

“Hey,” he said flatly. He didn’t take the time to think about why Yoongi might be at a bar alone and instead opted for getting straight to the point.

“You abandoned me.”

Yoongi’s face fell. “Kook-”

Jungkook held up a hand. “No, let me finish first, then you can say your piece.” He took a deep breath and Yoongi waited.

“You were supposed to be on my side, you know? Like fuck dude, I already have to share you with her in all other aspects of my life, but this was the one thing that was supposed to be sacred, supposed to be mine.”

Jungkook knew deep down he was acting like a child, but the image of Yoongi cheering you on while you defeated him would forever be burned into his brain and he couldn’t help but think of it as some form of betrayal.

Yoongi waited to see if there would be more before he straightened up in his chair. “Look kid,” he started, seeing Jungkook flinch at the term. “I know you’re upset, and you have a right to be. You feel like this is the end-all-be-all but it’s not. And regardless of how you feel, that’s no reason to take it out on me or Y/N just because she beat you.”

Jungkook backed up a step at Yoongi���s words, the hurt written all over his face. What hurt the most, though, was he knew Yoongi was right. It wouldn’t be fair for Jungkook to realistically hold a grudge against him or you.

But dammit, right now he was going to try.

“So you are taking her side. I should’ve fucking known,” Jungkook muttered. Yoongi took a deep breath and placed a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder, half expecting him to move, but slightly surprised when he didn’t.

“I’m not taking anyone’s side and I know you know that.” He squeezed Jungkook’s shoulder for emphasis and Jungkook gulped. Yoongi was right, yet again.

Sometimes he really hated just how much Yoongi was right.

“Why are you here anyway? And why are you by yourself?” He was changing the topic, a typical Jungkook move to deflect attention away from what was bothering him. Yoongi wasn’t a fan of it, but for right now he didn’t want to fight back about it.

“I’m not by myself, Luna and Y/N are here too, we’re celebrating-”

Jungkook cut him off with a groan. “Of fucking course she’s here too.” He threw his hands up in exasperation and walked away from Yoongi, ignoring the call of his name as he got further from his best friend.

Jungkook parked himself at the table he’d found previously, turning all the way around so he wouldn’t have to see the table with Yoongi. The table where you would eventually find your way back to.

Honestly if Jungkook had to see you one more time today, he thought he may genuinely lose it-

“Yo, is that Y/N?” Tae’s voice cut through his thoughts and he gritted his teeth together.

“I don’t know, is it,” Jungkook answered in a mocking tone, ignoring Tae’s look of confusion while he took a sip of the drink now in front of him.

“I mean…pretty sure it is. You know her better than I do, but if that is her, she’s kinda really hot.”

This comment made Jungkook’s eyes dart up and look around, although he wasn’t sure why. Maybe he just wanted to confirm that Tae was looking at someone completely different.

But as he followed Tae’s line of sight, his eyes fell on you, and for a moment his breath was stolen from him.

He’d never seen you quite like this before, letting yourself go as you danced, seemingly not caring about the fact that your dress had hiked up high on your thighs, barely covering your ass now-

Tae was right, much to Jungkook’s disappointment. You looked good. Really good.

And he really fucking hated it.

“Yeah, that’s uh- that’s her.” He downed another quick gulp from his glass, shaking his head as the liquid surged down his throat.

“Holy shit,” Tae responded as he also took a drink from his own glass. “She’s by herself too; wonder if she’s here with a date.”

Jungkook looked at Tae with eyes full of horror, as if Tae had just admitted to committing one of the worst possible crimes. “You cannot be fucking serious right now, dude.”

Tae swirled his glass as he stared at it, the ice clinking against the sides. “So what if I am?” He brought up his gaze to pierce Jungkook, his eyes unreadable. “What does that matter to you? Last I checked, you pretty much despise her.”

Jungkook swallowed. Tae had a point – if he went and hit on you, it shouldn’t matter to Jungkook in the slightest. But for some reason the very idea of it made his blood boil, and he tried to drown that feeling in more alcohol.

“It doesn’t matter to me specifically, I just don’t know how you could consider sleeping with the enemy.”

Tae erupted into roaring laughter, patting the table with his hand as if Jungkook had just told him the funniest fucking joke. Jungkook grimaced.

“Oh man, ‘sleeping with the enemy,’ that’s a good one, Kook.” When Jungkook didn’t join him in his laughter, he rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake, she beat you in a video game. Lighten up and let a man get laid, yeah?”

Jungkook thought the burning sensation of anger that befell him now was from Tae’s proclamation of you having beaten him earlier. When he realized it was what else Tae had said, he downed the last of the contents in his glass and slammed it down onto the table.

“Fuck,” he cursed out, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He looked out at you in the crowd once more, painfully aware yet again of how attractive you looked tonight, and how much it was driving him crazy that he noticed.

It really pissed him off that you were out here having fun, looking this good, and his friend was fucking fawning over you as if you didn’t just ruin part of his life earlier.

He needed to find a girl and fast.

Luckily, he managed to spot a familiar face near you on the dance floor, currently cozied up to another girl. Tae had already started making his way to you – or at least that’s what Jungkook assumed he was doing – so he followed suit and strolled into the thicket of people himself.

As Jungkook passed by, he could see Tae was already putting the moves on you, and you were smiling so sweetly at him that it almost made Jungkook’s stomach flip. He tried to avoid you, but you weren’t letting him off the hook that easily.

“Jungkook,” you called for him as you tugged on his sleeve. With a frustrated sigh, he turned to face you and immediately regretted it when he did. Tae had moved slightly off to the side, chatting with someone else now, but still in your general proximity.

This close to you – and it was pretty fucking close considering you were both standing in between a sea of other dancing bodies – he could see just how plump your lips were and how much your eyes still managed to shimmer in the dim lighting of the bar.

Jungkook’s breathing was stuttered, but he quickly regained his composure.

“What do you want,” he asked, tone dripping in pure malice. You frowned and he almost wished he could take it back-

-but his brain reminded him he’s supposed to be pissed off at you, so he didn’t do that.

“I just wanted to make sure you’re ok is all. You rushed off before I could talk to you-”

“Why the fuck would I want to talk to you after you humiliated me like that,” he was having to raise his voice to be heard over the music, but it must’ve looked to you like he was getting angrier, if the way you slightly cowered was anything to go by.

Nonetheless, you turned your chin up at him in defiance, and that stirred something inside of him, but he chalked it up to the buzz setting in.

“For the record, I never intended to humiliate you. And despite what you may think, I don’t dislike you. I actually really enjoyed playing against you-”

“I don’t want to stand here and listen to this,” he tugged his sleeve from your grasp and started to walk away, but not before he added over his shoulder “Have fun being a whore for someone else tonight.”

He didn’t dare look at your face and he was mentally kicking himself for letting those words fall from his lips. He’d never treated you that way before, and now wasn’t a good example of a time to start when you were just trying to check on him.

Sober Jungkook would have handled that much differently, but Tipsy Jungkook?

Yeah, he could be a bit of a prick sometimes.

He managed to make it to the other girl without much trouble, only bumping into other dancers a few times. When he was in front of her, she blinked her eyes and her smile stretched slowly into a grin.

“Well, if it isn’t Jungkook,” she said in a neutral tone. “It’s been a while.”

He nodded to the other girl who was still clinging to her back, looking a little worse for wear. “Yeah, it uh, it has."

“So what brings you over here then? Surely you didn’t come all the way across the dance floor just to see me?”

He gave her his best confident smile, and the way she melted under his gaze he knew he had her hooked.

“That’s exactly why I came over here,” he ducked down to continue speaking to her where only she would hear, his lips ghosting along the shell of her ear. “I remember how good you feel wrapped around me and I just couldn’t stay away.”

He pulled back to see the way her eyes widened and her breathing quickened.

Oh yeah, she was going to end up in his bed tonight.

“I-I um…I need to make sure my friend gets home safe first. I’m DD tonight so-”

“Not a problem, baby. You still have my number, right?” She nodded, clearly affected by his voice that was oozing charm and sounded as sweet as honey.

He flashed her another dazzling smile. “Great. Just text me later and I can send you my address again.”

He was going to have her text him and make it seem like he was being considerate, but in actuality, he forgot her fucking name and wasn’t bothering to try to remember it. Plus, her taking her friend home would give him a little more time to sober up so he could fuck her properly the way he wanted to.

As the girl moved to get her friend away from the crowd and outside, Jungkook was confidently strolling back to his table, making sure he double-checked that he had everything before calling an Uber. He also needed to let Tae know he was dipping out.

Unfortunately, Tae was still enamored by you, so Jungkook was forced to see you in some capacity at least one more time before he left.

“Hey, Tae, I’m about to get an Uber back to my place. You gonna be alright?”

Jungkook tried his hardest to ignore the way your arms were wound around Tae’s neck and how Tae had his hands practically digging into your waist, holding you flush against his chest. From where Jungkook was standing, he could see the cleavage spilling from your dress now since you were squished up against Tae.

He shut his eyes quickly and looked to the side. Not for your modesty or anything like that, but because he was getting turned on by fucking cleavage of all things, and not just any cleavage, but yours.

“What? Oh, Kook, hey! Yeah, I’ll be fine. Y/N offered to give me a ride home.” Jungkook saw Tae wink at you and his jaw clenched.

“Yeah ok whatever, just get home safe.” After that he strolled back to the table and confirmed he hadn’t left anything before stepping through the door of the bar out into the cool night air. An Uber arrived to pick him up a few minutes later, and Jungkook was just thankful he was still wearing his hoodie because he’d never live it down if a fucking Uber driver of all people noticed he was somewhat hard.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Hours later he was hard again, but this time he had his dick shoved down the throat of the girl from the bar.

She had dropped to her knees almost immediately after making it to his bedroom, and he wasn’t going to complain. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, still mostly clothed, as was she, but the way she was taking his cock had her makeup smearing as tears rolled down her face.

“Fuck, just like that,” he praised her, grip tight in her hair as he pushed her down further. He could hear the choked gasp when he hit the back of her throat, and he at least had enough of a memory to know that this girl in particular liked choking on his cock.

Nonetheless, he still let her know that if it was too much she just had to tap his thigh and he’d release his hold on her. She hadn’t yet though, so he picked up his pace as he began thrusting harder into her mouth.

“Shit, baby, your mouth feels so good,” he was letting out soft moans, not quite worked up enough to be loud, but thoroughly enjoying himself still. Getting sucked off was probably one of his favorite ways to relieve stress.

Everything was going fine until he looked down again-

-and instead of seeing her face, he was picturing yours.

“Oh shit,” he exclaimed, and the girl thought it was because of what she was doing, so she moaned around him in her mouth, the vibrations bringing him more pleasure.

He closed his eyes tightly, swallowing once before moaning again. He figured it was just a fluke, a one-time thing, it wouldn’t happen again-

But when he looked at her a second time, your face was still all he could imagine.

And that got him a lot closer than he wanted in that moment.

Picturing you instead of the girl on her knees in front of him had his high approaching faster and he was severely confused by it. Maybe he was still too tipsy to really differentiate what kind of images should and should not be arousing him?

Well, he knew that was a lie; Jungkook had very much sobered up so he couldn’t blame what was happening on the alcohol.

So he instead decided to place the blame on you and your outfit choice for the night. It wasn’t his fault you chose to go out dressed up like that, drawing the attention of plenty of other bargoers, he was sure.

And the idea of you taking Tae home had him tangling his fingers in the other girl’s hair so hard that she actually whimpered, which was something he had not heard from her before.

He had enough of a mind to check on her, pulling her off of him to make sure she was alright. She simply pouted and nodded her head before he guided her back and she swallowed him down in one go.

Her throat constricting around him again had him focusing on her and what her sinful lips can do.

Maybe if he tried looking down just one more time…

He did and immediately had to pull her off. Because she had just hollowed out her cheeks and holy fuck imagining you like that for him almost had him blowing his load-

Yeah, this could not be healthy for him. He needed to fuck her and come back to his senses.

“What’s the matter,” she asked and he almost cringed at the sound of her voice. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear, who he wanted to hear.

“Nothing, I just really wanna fuck you now,” he pulled her in for a kiss before asking “Do you want me to?”

She nodded her head vigorously, making him smirk. He started shedding his clothes and she did the same. Jungkook got off the bed to find a condom, and when he returned she was already on the bed in the position she knew he liked: face down, ass up.

He figured that he really must have left an impression on the women he fucked if they remembered all the things he liked.

He settled in behind her and ripped the foil with his teeth, putting the condom on a second later. He smacked her ass, relishing in the sound she let out when he did. He had the decency to make sure she was wet enough too despite her practically begging for him, lunging two fingers inside of her and stretching them out. The feeling of her slick walls told him she was more than ready to take him.

He pushed in slowly at first, inch by inch so she could get adjusted to the stretch. She was holding onto the bed sheets, sighing out his name, begging for him to move. Once he bottomed out, he swiftly pulled back until just the tip remained sheathed in her heat, before ramming into her all the way.

“Oh fuck, Jungkook,” she moaned out, his thrusts moving her more up the bed and almost making her collide with the headboard, if it hadn’t been for his forceful grip on her hips pulling her back. He grunted with the effort, pleased that now he could stare at the back of her head instead of her face, and maybe now he wouldn’t be thinking about you-

Well fuck. He was still thinking about you while trying not to think about you.

When had you invaded all the corners of his mind? And how the fuck was he going to get you out?

He was pulled back to reality when the girl let out a whine, noticing that he had slowed down somewhat.

“Jungkook, fuck me, please,” she begged for him and he felt his cock twitch. What he wouldn’t give to have you underneath him begging like that-

It was obvious to him then that maybe what he needed was to just fuck and get it over with and then the thoughts of you would disappear, too. Clearly trying to fight it wasn’t getting him anywhere, so he let it consume him instead.

And it certainly made a world of difference.

If he closed his eyes, he could picture you laid out underneath him, ass up in the air and screaming for him to pound into you until you couldn’t walk anymore. And God, the sounds you would make, he could just imagine it now-

“Jungkook,” the girl moaned out his name again, pulling him out of his reverie. He didn’t want that, didn’t want to hear her calling out his name.

“Shut up and take it,” he gritted, not really caring about being mean since again, he knew that she was one of the ones who liked it. The excited whine he was met with further confirmed that, and he kept fucking into her faster. He flexed his fingers, digging harder into her flesh when he felt her walls tighten around him.

He was focusing on you again, thinking about what you sounded like, wondering whether you would moan or whimper the harder he fucked into you, picturing how you looked when he had you completely fucked out. Each image that flashed through his mind made his release seem more and more inevitable until-

“Go harder, Jungkook, please,” the girl practically screamed from under him. He smacked her ass again, harder this time, making her whine.

“I told you to shut the fuck up and take what I give you,” he growled. “And since it seems you can’t listen,” he continued, pulling her up by her hair, “it looks like I’m going to have to make you.”

His hand that had wound its way into her hair snaked around and clamped over her mouth, muffling her cries as he fucked her harder and deeper. The new angle with her up almost flush against him had his hips almost stuttering.

“Fuck, that’s it,” he moaned out, letting his head fall back and his eyes screw shut from the ecstasy he was feeling in this moment. His long hair was damp with sweat, and his abs were flexing with the exertion as he somehow again managed to pick up his pace. The girl was screaming into his hand now, her tight walls clenching around him and coaxing out his orgasm much faster now.

“Holy shit, you feel so good around me--” he had just enough of a grip on himself to stop before he continued, because he knew the next word that was about to come flying out of his mouth was your name, and that would be a bit hard to explain to the girl he was fucking into oblivion right now.

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum soon, fuck, shit,” Jungkook was getting more vocal now as he felt the coil in him threatening to snap, not sure if she was also close yet, but using her to get himself there anyway. He’d return the favor, of course, but he needed to get off first and get you out of his mind.

“Gonna let me use this pussy however I want?” he moaned by her ear, being rewarded with another loud scream and the flutter of her walls around him. “Yeah? Gonna let me fuck you the way I like? Fuck you hard enough you can’t walk for days?”

The girl was nodding behind his palm, tears running down her face again. Fuck, what he wouldn’t give to have you crying from pleasure, pleasure he was giving you.

She reached a hand around and tugged on his locks, pulling a loud groan from him and providing him with the last push he needed to drag him over that edge.

“Fuck, I’m cumming, ah-”

Moments later he filled up the condom, listening to the girl’s continued cries behind his palm and still imagining she was you as he thrusted a few more times to ride it out. When he was done, he removed his hand from around her mouth and pulled out of her carefully, letting her fall back onto the bed, her breathing rapid.

He had just experience what was easily one of the best orgasms he’d had in a while, and he was still breathing pretty hard himself.

After he disposed of the condom, he crawled back into the bed, flipping the girl over and surprising her. He pulled her down the bed to where his face was in between her legs, spreading them wide for him. He looked up at her fucked out expression, pleased with himself that even though she hadn’t cum yet, he had still managed to ruin her this much already.

When her eyes landed on him, she moaned again. He gave her a smile and simply said “I’m not done with you yet,” before he attached his mouth to her clit.

The reaction was immediate, the girl nearly screeching as her hands found purchase in his hair again, tugging at the dark strands and making him groan in return. He flicked his tongue across her clit fast and with enough pressure to have her squirming, and when he plunged two fingers inside and crooked them just right, he knew it wouldn’t be long before she’d be falling apart.

“Jungkoo-”

He placed a smack on her thigh, making her stop herself with a moan.

“Just moan for me. Don’t speak, just wanna hear all those pretty sounds you can make,” he instructed her before he continued his ministrations against her cunt. She obeyed him and he was grateful for it.

He didn’t want to hear her talk, because whenever she did, it messed up the illusion that it was you. He blamed his continued thoughts about you on him still being in his post-orgasm high, picturing you as the one squirming with your hands buried in his hair as he had you exploding all over his tongue again and again.

The vision made him shut his eyes with a grunt, causing his dick to twitch again. Before he could get lost in the idea further, he felt the girl clench harder than she had the whole night, followed by a loud scream and gushing of her release around his fingers. He continued to fuck into her with his fingers at a rapid pace, collecting every bit of her release with his tongue before she pushed him away due to oversensitivity.

When it was all said and done, they were laying beside each other in the bed, the only sound being their shared labored breathing as they both stared up at the ceiling. The two of them knew how this would go: either she would ask to stay the night, or she would leave. Jungkook always left the decision up to his guests unless he just didn’t vibe with them like that, so he didn’t make any moves to ask her to leave or help her get comfortable. The choice was up to her, and she knew it.

Instead of voicing what she wanted, however, she did something unexpected.

“Where the fuck did all that come from,” she asked, still somewhat breathless. Jungkook propped himself up on an elbow so he could look down at her, relieved now that he was actually seeing her face and no one else’s.

“What do you mean? You know I’ve always fucked you good.”

She chuckled at that. “No, I know, believe me. You’re still one of the best I’ve ever had.” He smirked at that while she continued. “But something about it was…different tonight. It’s a good different but still different.”

Jungkook’s brows furrowed. “Care to elaborate?”

“Well,” she thought about it for a second, “for a little bit it felt like you were just using me for your own pleasure, instead of simply acting like you were. Like, you were basically fucking me to get out something that had you worked up. Not that I’m complaining,” she added when she saw Jungkook’s expression, “I just thought it was interesting. That’s all.”

Jungkook nodded curtly, not even reacting when the girl placed a gentle kiss underneath his jaw. When she leaned back, she patted his cheek.

“I’m gonna head home, but maybe I’ll see you around, yeah?”

Jungkook nodded again, giving her a parting kiss before watching her gather her things and leave his bedroom. He heard the click of his front door being shut once she exited, and suddenly his apartment was much too quiet for him.

Hell, maybe he should’ve asked her to stay this time around. At least that way he’d have some company that could keep him out of his head where his thoughts were still filled with you.

He sighed heavily and got up to take a shower, scrubbing the events of the night away and hoping that with each second he spent under the waterfall, he could wash away those pesky lingering thoughts about you. He soon realized that was just wishful thinking and when he laid down in bed once more, now clean and in fresh clothes, his mind was running rampant.

He didn’t like it. He was supposed to hate you, like utterly despise you. But for some reason, he felt like he couldn’t do it anymore, and he didn’t know why.

And that terrified the absolute fuck out of him.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

➥Part 2

➥PYF Spotify Playlist (songs I listened to for inspo)

➥Series Masterlist

➥All Works Masterlist

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Secret’s Out

Father of Mine – Part 1 and Part 2

Bruce was looking at his emails when Y/N arrived at the table.

She was breathing heavily and her hair was a bit messy, just further proving she had rushed to get there.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she huffed embarrassingly. “My shoot ran over and every one was moving so slowly.”

Bruce smiled. “Y/N. Relax.”

Then he stood up to greet her with a kiss on the cheek.

The two of them hadn’t seen each other in over a month. Y/N had been traveling for work constantly. And between the vigilante life and Wayne Enterprises, Bruce was running on 2 hours of sleep on the daily.

“I need a drink,” Y/N finally sighed after she got situated.

As if on cue, their waitress dropped Y/N’s favorite drink in front of her.

Y/N eyed Bruce with surprise.

He just shrugged.

Sometimes Y/N forgot how much her father noticed literally everything.

“Thank you,” she told the waitress.

“You’re overworking yourself,” Bruce said with a disapproving look.

She rolled her eyes. “Really? You’re not one to talk, Bruce.”

“You deserve a vacation. I’ll pay for it. Pick wherever you want. Bring Jason. Or some friends.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Bruce…”

It was a warning.

From the very start of their unconventional father-daughter relationship, Y/N had made it clear that she could not be bought. And Bruce spoiling her made her extremely uncomfortable. Even now, she still tried to at least split restaurant checks with him. Bruce always won those battles though.

“I’ll take a vacation when you do,” she finally countered.

That sure shut him up.

“Hey, I actually brought you something,” Y/N changed the subject as she reached for her bag.

A moment later, she lightly placed a manila folder onto the table.

Bruce’s brow furrowed as he reached for it.

As soon as he opened it, he froze.

“I had to clean out some stuff and put things into storage,” Y/N explained. “I found all my mom’s photos. I figured I could make copies of some childhood photos for you.”

Bruce’s silence made Y/N nervous.

“If you don’t want them, that’s totally fine.” She started to reach for the folder out of Bruce’s grip with awkward embarrassment. “It was stupid–”

But Bruce quickly pulled the folder closer to him and stopped her from taking the photos from him.

“Thank you,” he announced.

It made Y/N quickly sit back in her chair, caught off guard by his sincere reaction and how he’d immediately become protective of the photos.

Bruce awkwardly cleared his throat. “Thank you, Y/N.”

He repeated to make sure she understood how thankful he truly was. And Y/N suspected the throat clearing was to hide his emotions.

Now she watched as Bruce slowly went through every picture. He took in every detail with a soft smile.

These weren’t just photos. These were all of Y/N’s memories that Bruce missed, that he could never get back. And he was savoring all of them.

Then Bruce paused and was fully smiling now.

“What?” Y/N asked.

She didn’t know why all of this made her so nervous.

Bruce didn’t say anything as he lifted a photo and flipped it to show her.

It wasn’t from her childhood.

It was a black and white photo of Jason. A candid from when he had escorted her around the slums of Gotham for her most recent gallery show.

After months of thinking about it, Y/N finally had decided she wanted to frame it and hang it somewhere in her apartment. 

Y/N’s jaw dropped with embarrassment and she ripped it from his hands.

“I was developing some photos at the same time as I was making the copies. Must’ve gotten mixed up in those,” Y/N explained too quickly, unable to meet Bruce’s gaze.

It made Bruce happy to know that Y/N didn’t have the same inability to love someone and let people in like he did. It was a relief that she didn’t isolate herself from it like he had. If her mother was still alive, Bruce would thank her for it. But if Y/N’s mother were alive, he would’ve never known about Y/N in the first place.

Their entire dinner was spent with Bruce looking at the old photos. He had at least two questions for each one. Some of them Y/N didn’t remember being taken. But most of them came with stories or a loving memory.

Y/N talked for most of the meal. But that’s exactly what Bruce wanted.

Furthermore, Bruce had nothing of value to update her on. Batman business had consumed his life as of lately, and he had made a promise to never involve Y/N in any of it. And Jason seemed to be on the same page when it came to his other life as Red Hood. 

Both men seemed determined to keep her safe and away from it all. 

Two hours later, Bruce was paying the check and helping Y/N into her coat.

“I’ll give you a ride home,” he muttered as they started walking out.

Y/N had learned by now to give up on those small battles. Jason was the same way when it came to making sure she got home safely.

As they made their way to the exit, Y/N caught a few stares from other patrons who were still eating.

“Do you ever get used to it?” She asked her father in a low voice.

“Get used to what?” He asked, genuinely unaware of what she was getting at.

“People gawking at you.”

Bruce glanced around and unintentionally glared at anyone who was staring at Y/N.

“It’s good that I’m seen in public…for obvious reason,” he hinted in a quiet voice, obviously talking about needing the cover to continue his life as a masked vigilante.

Once they were outside, Alfred was already waiting at the curb with the Rolls-Royce. He greeted Y/N with a hug and a kiss to her cheek before opening the door for her and Bruce.

When they got to Y/N’s apartment building, she said her goodbyes to Alfred. And Bruce walked Y/N all the way up to her door.

Even though Y/N insisted it was overkill and she could get up the stairs on her own just fine, Bruce had seen too many terrible things in this forsaken city. He could think of thousands of things that could happen to Y/N between the car and her front door.

Once Y/N realized that Bruce’s paranoia came from experience, she stopped trying to stop his chivalry and overprotective ways. She finally understood that Bruce had seen things that would prevent her from ever sleeping again. So if walking Y/N to her door gave him a little peace of mind, she wasn’t going to take that away from him.

Y/N turned to Bruce when they reached her door. “Thanks again for dinner.”

“Of course. I’m glad we could spend some time together. Thank you again for the photos.”

Y/N didn’t realize that Bruce was about to hang every single one around Wayne Manor. 

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and a hug. “Get home safe.”

——————

Y/N woke up wrapped strong arms, her body overheating slightly.

When she had come home from dinner last night, Jason had already left for patrol.

He hadn’t woken her up when he got back home, just proving how exhausted Y/N had been these past few weeks.

But it was the continuous buzzing vibrations of her phone that woke her up. When she brightened the screen, she saw that she had dozens of text messages and three missed called from Bruce.

“What the fuck,” Y/N whispered as she started opening them.

But they were all about the same thing.

Everyone had sent her similar articles from various gossip websites or news outlets.

BRUCE WAYNE’S NEW GIRLFRIEND IS FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER Y/F/N Y/L/N

BRUCE WAYNE’S FLAVOR OF THE WEEK

IS Y/F/N Y/L/N USING THE PRINCE OF GOTHAM TO FURTHER HER CAREER?

All of the headlines were joined with photos of Bruce and Y/N having dinner last night. Apparently other customers at the restaurant had snuck photos of Bruce greeting her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Y/N could see how it would be misinterpreted as romantic and not familial or platonic. But it still made her sick to see the photos twisted in such a way.

Then there were paparazzi photos of them getting in a car together. Of course there were none of Bruce dropping her off and them going their separate ways. That would be just too convenient for the two of them. 

Y/N’s stomach dropped with panic.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” she gasped without realizing it.

Jason immediately woke up. “What is it?”

Y/N ignored him and called Bruce.

“I’m handling it,” was how Bruce answered her call.

“Handling it? How exactly?” She challenged. “We can deny the rumors all we want. But everyone is going to keep tabs on us now, and they’re going to see us together again.”

Jason grabbed his own phone.

One of his brothers must’ve sent him a similar article because he rubbed his face in annoyance, finally understanding the situation. 

Nothing like your girlfriend being rumored to have a relationship with her father, who was also your mentor and adoptive father. 

“Y/N, it will blow over. It always does,” Bruce tried to calm her down.

“So what happens when I get photographed with Jason? Huh? They’re going to just say I’m cheating on both of you with each other or some fucked up shit like that.”

Bruce was silent, because they both knew she was right.

Y/N glanced at Jason, who was already waiting for her gaze.

She took in a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Maybe we should…Maybe we should just tell the truth.”

“You’ve never wanted that, Y/N.” Bruce tried to argue.

And he was right.

Y/N was terrified of being associated with the Wayne family. People would start believing she secretly built her career off of nepotism that no one was aware of. She also didn’t want that type of attention from the media and the upperclass of Gotham.

“I don’t think we have any other choice,” Y/N finally answered.

Jason reached for thigh and gripped it, trying to offer her some sort of comfort.

“Y/N, are you sure about this?” Bruce asked slowly.

“No. Not at all. But I’d rather not have the public think I’m dating my biological father.”

“OK,” Bruce sighed. “I’ll talk to my publicist today.”

“OK.” She bit her lip before adding. “Just…tell them the whole story.”

“Y/N, if you’re worried how it will make me look, don’t.”

“But I am worried about it, Bruce. They’re going to drag you for being an absent father. And none of that is true. They’re not gonna understand.”

“I’ll call you later with an update,” he told her softly before hanging up.

Y/N tossed her phone to the foot of the bed in frustration.

Jason watched as she buried her face in her hands.

“You OK?” He asked as he rubbed her back.

“No,” she answered honestly.

“Come here.” Jason pulled her into his chest.

There was no fight from her as he cuddled her tightly.

“This is a fucking nightmare,” she groaned into his shoulder.

“I know. But maybe it’s for the best,” he tried to reason with her.

“And what happens when they catch wind that I’m dating my father’s adoptive son? Huh?”

“We’re not actually related, Y/N.”

She pulled her face back so she could glare at him. “Yeah! We know that! But you do understand that people are going to see it that way, right? Like we’re gonna look like some fucked up incestual couple to them.”

“I don’t really care,” Jason finally told her.

“You don’t care?” She scoffed.

“No,” his answer and confidence didn’t waver. “I don’t give a fuck what people say about us, Y/N. If exposing the truth means we don’t have to think twice about going to events or even just going out to dinner, then I’m all for it. I’m sick of hiding our relationship.”

Y/N blinked. She never considered that their subtle relationship bothered him in any way. She was always a strangely private person, so it felt normal to her. But clearly Jason had been wanting to be a bit more public with their relationship.

“What if this changes everything?” Y/N whispered, not meeting his eyes.

Jason smirked at that and gripped her chin, lifting it up so she would look at him. “Some paparazzi and trash tabloids aren’t going to change how I feel about you, Y/N.”

Y/N laughed lightly at that.

“Maybe we should leave Gotham for a bit,” she offered. “Bruce won’t shut up about paying for a vacation for us.”

Jason nodded. “I think that sounds like a good idea. You’ve needed a break for awhile now.”

“Well…where do you wanna go?” Y/N asked.

“Doesn’t matter to me. As long as you’re there.”

She rolled her eyes and hit Jason in the face with a pillow. “God, you really are a sap.”

Y/N appreciated Jason always being able to make her feel better and feel supported. 

But even he couldn’t stop her from wondering...

What would life be like as a Wayne?

------------------------------

Father of Mine – Bonus Content

[hpimaginesandblurbs]

Hey! I hope you’re doing well, I was wondering if you could do a poly Remus/reader/Sirius smut where the reader is having a stressful time in classthey are degrading her a lot and Sirius slaps her because she’s not being “good” and she immediately calls out her safe word (red) and they stop and get in bed and cuddle and talk about how they can help and say little praises and tell her they love her for the first time, if not that’s completely 100% ok. I just haven’t read one before where she’s called out her safe word :)

pairing: reader x remus lupin x sirius black 

warning(s): pg-13ish, polyamory, degradation, slapping, safeword use, praise, cuddles, soft bois 

word count: 1.2k 

a/n: the love i have for these two is seriously unmatched. no pun intended. theyre two of my comfort characters and i just want to cuddle with them once. thats all i ask. anywho updates might be slow over the weekend but if you requested something it’ll be up soon! 

“And why did you get detention again?” Remus asked, rounding the bed until he was at the foot of it, facing you directly. 

“I- I skipped some homework,” you replied, nerves rushing through you as your boyfriends stared down at your kneeling form on the bed. 

In your defense, it had been a tough week. All of your classes decided it would be a great time to pile up the work, so you had to pick which homework you were going to do. You got all of the important work out of the way - readings for McGonagall, a paper for Slughorn, and in all honesty way too much work for Arithmancy than it was worth. You had classes that were your priorities, but your other ones were a struggle. 

“That wasn’t very good of you, was it puppy?” Sirius asked you, shoulder to shoulder with Remus. 

You looked up at them with a plea in your eye. You couldn’t handle this today. You were already stressed and the last thing you needed was one of their punishments. You were already beating yourself up enough. 

They probably thought you were just slacking off, but you hadn't seen them enough this week to really tell them what was going on - too wrapped up in your work. Punishments were supposed to be for when you were just being a brat, but you actually tried so hard to be good that even the thought of what they could do to you put you on edge. 

Fed up with your silence, Sirius pushed you further. He leaned down on the bed, palms against the red sheets, eye level with you. “Are you stupid?” He asked, his eyes dark. 

“N- no,” you stuttered out, doing your best to not look him in the eye. 

“Well you’re acting really fucking stupid right now. A dumb little girl who doesn’t do her work. You know what happens to stupid girls?” He pressed.

You blushed heavily and looked down at your thighs, unable to give him an answer. You knew what happened. You just didn’t want it today. You didn’t even think you deserved it but you weren’t sure what you could say to make them see otherwise before it was too late. 

“Answer him,” Remus pressed from behind him, his tone so menacing that it sent a shiver through your spine. 

They waited you out for a moment, waiting to see if you would say anything, but you couldn’t bring yourself to talk. If you opened your mouth you would start crying and that’s also something you didn’t want. 

In one quick movement, Sirius gripped your chin in a strong grip while his other came and cracked across your face. You couldn’t even move your head to ease the sting, left with a sharp pain that made your eyes water.  

“Answer me,” he said again roughly and you knew his eyes were trained on your face even though you weren’t looking at him. 

“R-Red,” you whimpered, the only answer you could give him. 

Immediately, his hands were off of you and moving away from you, giving you space for a minute. The room was so silent you could almost hear a pin drop besides your heavy breathing and the beginning of your tears. 

“What’s going on, sweetheart?” Remus asked, finally stepping into action and coming over to sit on the bed beside you. He gently put a hand on your back and that was all it took for you to bury your face in his chest, the both of you falling backwards on the bed. 

He settled you against him and just held you while you cried. As incompetant as he was with his own emotions, he had always been good with you. He knew you just needed to get it out before questioning you any further. 

And although you couldn’t see him, you could practically feel the nervous energy rolling off of Sirius. He wanted to do something to help you so badly, but he was worried he would push a boundary by getting any closer to you. He was the one that pushed you over the edge, after all. 

Finally, your tears settled into weak sniffles which Remus took as a cue that you might be ready to talk. 

“Talk to us, lamb. What’s going on?” He asked you gently, continuing to run his hand up and down your back. 

“I tried really hard this week. That’s why I’ve barely been around. I had so much work and I couldn’t get it all done and now I have detention and I didn’t mean to be bad and-,” you began to ramble, but Sirius swiftly cut you off, finally speaking up. 

“Woah, woah, slow down, pup,” he said, making your head snap in his direction. He looked like he had seen a ghost, but his determined Gryffindor attitude could push him through any situation. “There’s nothing bad about trying, okay? I wish you had told us. You did the best you could and that’s all we want,” he finished, a fondness coming to his eyes as he watched you visibly calm at his words. 

“We know how much school means to you. That’s why we put those rules there for you. We’re not upset with you, okay?” Remus continued on to Sirius’ thought. 

“Yeah, o-okay,” you agreed with a shaky sigh, beginning to feel a bit better. “It’s just been a long week.” 

“You know you can come and talk to us whenever, right? You don’t have to suffer on your own. And I know we have our own work, but we’ll help you whenever we can. We don’t like seeing you this stressed,” Remus told you, tilting his neck so he could look down at your face. 

“And besides, James is a nerd so we can always nick homework off of him if you need to copy someone besides us,” Sirius added with a small giggle, bringing a smile to your face. 

Suddenly, Sirius flipped you around so you were face to face with him, making you giggle. But your laughter was cut short when you saw how serious his face looked once more. 

“I love you so much, alright? And I never want to see you this upset again. I feel horrible I pushed you like that. So whenever you need me, I’m always here, darling. I love you,” he told you, his nose nuzzling against yours. 

“You’re serious?” You asked, shocked by his sudden revelation. None of you had shared that particular sentiment yet, and you couldn’t help but ask. 

But when Sirius cocked a brow at you and Remus let out a bark of laughter from behind you, you knew it had been a stupid question to ask your boyfriend. 

“I’ll let that slide. Yes, I’m serious,” Sirius told you with a small smirk on his face but the truth was in his eyes. 

“And for what it’s worth,” Remus added, curling around you from behind, “I love you too, sweetheart. So much.” 

You let a smile creep onto your face as you took their words in, feeling the best you had felt in days wrapped in their arms. 

“I love you two. The both of you. More than you know,” you told them confidently, finally feeling whole.

[possiblyimbiassed]

The lying liars who lie

Years and years late to the party, I’ve finally gotten my hands on all the DVDs of BBC Sherlock, and I thought it would be fun to watch the extra material carefully, one piece after another, and also listen to at least some of the show makers’ commentary of the episodes. But at this point, after S4 where DVDs seemed to be a constant lying device in general, I tend to look at them with a bit more suspicious eyes...

I still love the show of course, but now that I’ve taken this deep dive into all the special features, I find them a truly hard thing to try to wrap my head around. Even this long after the fact, I’m amazed by the amount of shameless, self-congratulatory BS in the DVDs, where the people involved can’t have enough of complimenting each other and their show, while they skillfully avoid to discuss anything actually meaningful about the plot line. ;) For example, Moffat claims in the S2 DVD that “In fact, you’ll never see a more obsessively authentic version of Sherlock Holmes than this one”. But if we follow their light-hearted commentary, which basically takes the show at face value, I’d call that not just hyperbole, but an outright lie. If you want to see the ‘authentic’ stories from ACD’s work in this show, you’ll definitely need to go much deeper into the subtext and meta levels - neither of which are mentioned on these DVDs of course. Here’s my own (rather subjective) ‘review’ of the whole thing, trying to pinpoint why I view most of the commentary of the show from its own makers as an advanced art of deception. 

(My musings under the cut)

Series 1 - a wealth of extra material

First of all - as many of you probably knew already - the whole of the Unaired Pilot is added to the DVD of S1. In the extra material about the making of the series, they (Sue Vertue, Mofftiss and others) talk about what things they changed between the Pilot and ASiP, claiming that many changes were necessary improvements once they knew that they had a whole series and a lot more time at their disposal. 

Which I can perfectly understand and agree with in general. But I think what’s missing in their discussions is more interesting than what’s actually there (”Mind the gap” ;) ). Things that I would expect from the show makers when they go to the trouble of comparing the pilot version with the aired product. There’s not a word, for example, about the fact that they added both Mycroft and Moriarty to the story in ASiP - two characters who later turn out to play major roles and appear in almost every other episode until the end of TFP. Or about the choice that one of the screenwriters would play Mycroft. 

Neither do they discuss why they chose to relocate the place where Sherlock was challenged by the cabbie from 221B to Roland Kerr’s School of Further Education. Instead they focus on the details, like for example the new design of the interior of 221B.

Not to mention the fact that almost every scene in the Pilot is mirrored in ASiP (as pointed out long ago by @kateis-cakeis X), but at Angelo’s in the Pilot Sherlock follows the events with the cabbie while looking in an actual mirror. I even noticed that in the Pilot the cabbie is offering Sherlock dark-coloured bottles with the pills in them, while in ASiP those bottles are transparent, as if the cabbie is offering Sherlock to play Black or White in the chess game that he is simulating. What’s with all these mirrors, though? Not a word on the DVD... ;)

Now, even though these rather remarkable choices are neglected together with a great bunch of minor ones, I still think that the most interesting fact about all this is that they actually included the whole pilot version within this DVD, which is sold by the franchise. Why even do this, when it raises far more questions than it answers? The only logical reason I can come up with is that they’re laying out a track of little hints that anyone with a deep enough interest in the show to actually buy the DVDs can try to follow. And it seems to me that lying by omission is one of the first steps in the long line of cryptic and misleading author comments on this show. But at the same time, they clearly want the fans to have access to it all, even the abandoned version.

Moving on to Series 2, time for bigger lies 

In the extra material of this DVD Benedict himself describes how his character "faces one of his deadliest enemies in the shape of Love, and it comes in the form of Irene Adler, who is this extraordinary dominatrix [insert here a bunch of superlatives regarding Adler]...”. And then we see how Adler whips Sherlock with a riding crop (without any kind of consent, I have to add) while he’s lying on the floor, and we have Lara Pulver telling us how it was to have a go at Benedict on set. So Holmes whips dead bodies and Adler whips living; seems like a match made in hell! :))

Gatiss claims, grinning with his whole face, that “they’re clearly, absolutely made for each other”. OK, so I think we can see Sherlock being intellectually impressed by Adler, and even trying to protect her from Mycroft, and we can see John acting jealously. We can also see her being dressed and styled as a perfect, female mirror of Sherlock. But I’m still at a loss what all this has to do with love on Sherlock’s part? Especially since he’s not even responding in any fashion to her various attempts at seducing him. 

And there’s more: Paul McGuigan, the director of ASiB, claims that the scene where Sherlock has a conversation with Adler inside his Mind Palace about the crime case with the car that backfires "is a part of a kind of love story, if you like...” No, I don’t. Maybe it’s just me, but if their aim really was to convey to their audience a love story between Sherlock and The Woman, I think they failed miserably. All I see is a guy ’mansplaining’ to a clever woman how to use her brain, while she’s trying to flirt with him by expressing her admiration (to no avail, though) and make deductions at the same time. Nothing new under the sun, really. John did the same thing repeatedly in ASiP (without making own deductions) and got far more attention from Sherlock, but I’ve never heard any of the show makers call that ”a love story”. But by ’lie-splaining’ the scene with Irene to the audience, they try to manipulate us all to see it as such...

In all the direct commentary of this episode, where Steven, Mark, Sue, Benedict and Lara are present, I get the impression that every time they even touch on the relationship between Sherlock and John, they hurry to add the term “friendship” or “man love” or similar words in case they forgot them at first, avoiding even the tiniest possibility that there could be anything more going on between them. They even explain that when Irene calls them “a couple” she does not mean anything romantic. This whole approach feels almost paranoic in the midst of all the laid-back jokes and light-hearted talk about the filming. It’s as if a sort of restrictive, heteronormative filter or blanket is being constantly applied, to teach the audience the ‘no homo’ lesson of it all. And the more I listen to this, the more tiresome it becomes.

In the commentary Moffat does reveal an interesting detail, though: that the ‘Flight of the Dead’ in ASiB was inspired by a cut out scene in the Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. To me this is just one more reason to question the ‘authentic’ quality of this scene, as opposed to possibly taking place in Sherlock’s Mind Palace. But I digress... 

Listening to the commentary in general, it’s like it’s aimed to distract the attention from what’s going on at the screen rather than highlight it and try to explain their intentions. They do mention that Irene didn’t actually ‘beat’ Sherlock in the end of ASiB, but there’s no explanation of this obvious deviation from canon, where Adler does indeed fool Holmes, taking advantage of his prejudices.

The rest of the extra material of S2 is mostly about technical stuff, special effects and such, and also about filming techniques and Benedict’s delivery of fast deductions. But the part I really do love is the one where Andrew Scott talks about how much he enjoyed playing the scene where Moriarty dances before breaking into the Crown Jewels. That’s one of my favorite scenes of he whole show. :) Also, the takeaway message from this DVD is Moffat’s words at the end: 

“These are still the formative years of Sherlock Holmes, and the most important thing about this series is not that it’s updated; it’s the fact that those two men are still young and they’re still at the beginning of what they don’t yet know is gonna be a lifelong partnership”. 

And then comes Series 3... 

...and its extra material, with the most blatant attempts at deception so far, I believe. At this point Sherlock is called a “psychopath” by both the show’s characters, John’s blog, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as if it were true, which is a big deviation from ACD canon. That simply doesn’t happen there; while Holmes is sometimes described as eccentric, no one in the books is ever claiming that Sherlock Holmes has some kind of mental illness leaning towards cruelty and egotism - not even his enemies say this about him. In the show, however, they begin in ASiP with making him torture a dying man for information (something that is not included in the Pilot). And in S3, where they avoid discussing the reason why they turned Mary Morstan into a ruthless assassin, this major shift is glossed over by the fact that in the same episode (HLV) they also turn Sherlock into a murderer, who cold-bloodedly blows the brains out of a blackmailer for threatening to make said assassin’s crimes public. 

But without ever getting into the “why” of it all, the cast and crew seem overly happy and smiling describing these rather morbid choices as something positive; “fantastic”, "fresh and new” and "amazing” are their choice of words. Benedict claims that Mary, who has literally shot and almost killed Sherlock in HLV, is now "a new best friend of Sherlock’s”. Amanda claims that Mary “is protecting John” when she shoots Sherlock in the chest. Now they’re both psychopaths, and poor little John is forced to stomach them both because he’s addicted to danger. In Amanda’s words, Mary also “kind of gets in between the two of them, but she wants them to be together as well”.  Which is a load of BS considering that Mary tries to kill the protagonist of the story.

Lars Mikkelsen thinks it’s “such a good script” because “you’re mislead as an audience”. But he never gets the chance to expand on what the misleading actually contains, because then Mofftiss cut in to express how much they love playing with “what ifs”. As if this whole mega-budget project of a show were just a big experimental playground without any actual story to tell. 

Benedict repeats his line from HLV that Magnussen “preys on people who are different” and Moffat also says he “exploits people who are different”. Which is really confusing, considering what we can see Magnussen actually do in the show. Lady Smallwood and John Garvie are two well-established, powerful governmental politicians whom Magnussen blackmails by finding their respective pressure points. In Garvie’s case his pressure point seems to be alcohol problems in his past, but according to media he’s later arrested on charges of corruption. Lady Smallwood is blackmailed on the basis of her husband having sent compromising letters to a minor many years ago, in spite of later claiming that he thought she was older and stopped when he found out the truth. And then Magnussen is blackmailing an assassin who recently threatened to execute him but shot Sherlock Holmes instead, in order to try to get at Sherlock’s brother Mycroft, another powerful governmental figure. 

But what does media seeking out dirt on certain people in power and their families have to do with “people who are different”? Despicable as the method may be, isn’t this unfortunately how political power play usually works in our society? Or are TPTB somehow a repressed minority group now? Unless this whole “people who are different” accusation is actually about something entirely different, something that none of the show makers even cares to mention... ;)

In these DVDs, none of the involved persons is ever discussing the change of roles with regards to canon, though, or the (lack of) logics in this turn of events, or even a hint about the narrative motivation behind them. It’s all about the great Drama, the extraordinary visual effects and the aim to endlessly “surprise the audience”. Which is fine by me to a certain extent, but when this is all that’s being said, it feels extremely superficial, as if the audience is merely seen as a bunch of consumers that have to be triggered more and more by horror, special effects and cliff hangers to be able to appreciate the show. (“Warm paste” indeed, like Gatiss has later criticized some viewers of wanting...) While the "why”; the idea behind this surrealistic adaptation, made by self-proclaimed fanboys of ACD, is not even touched upon. Around this, the silence is total and therefore totally confusing.

Maybe I shouldn’t even go into Series 4...

...but why not, since I’ve already started? :) 

First of all, there’s a lot of extra material on this DVD and I particularly love the parts about the music and composing and Arwel Wyn Jones’ work with the design and build-up of John’s and Mary’s flat and the interior of 221B. Those bits are truly enjoyable. What I could live without, though, is the leading commentary that kind of instructs us, the audience, how we should interpret the show. 

Benedict is on it again on this DVD, telling us that in TST they picked up where they left off in S3 and “It’s a very happy unit of three people that then become four.” Why does he feel the need to make this statement, considering how S3 ended? Actually, if there’s anything I totally fail to see in S4, it’s happiness. The banter between the three  of them may seem entertaining for a while, but who could have a relaxed, warm relationship with someone who tried and almost succeeded to kill you less than a year ago? Without any sign of remorse? Now there’s a dark tone of discomfort and mean jokes that feels forced and not even a bit happy to me. 

But Martin tells us how excited John and Mary are about starting a family and Amanda mentions how much they’re looking forward to the baby. Again and again it’s repeated, as though trying to rub it in: “they’re in a good place, they’re a loving, married couple”. Yeah, right - a child that (judging by TSoT) wasn’t at all planned and now with an assassin for a mother... Twice we see the new parents complain that their daughter has the mark of Satan on her forehead and debate which horror movie she’s from. The clichéd hypocrisy of it all is sickening, and I’m willing to bet that it’s really meant to be. ;) 

But Gatiss chimes in, deciding for us all that the christening of Rosie is “a funny scene” and “they’re enjoying each other, enjoying being on adventures as a three”.

An interesting detail is that Gatiss also tells us that the working name of this episode was “The Adventure of the Melting power Ranger”. So this little blue guy was that important? :) And - even more interesting - is when he says: “Cake is now the code for violent death”. So how should we interpret Sherlock, John and Molly going out to have cake in TLD then, on Sherlock’s (supposed) birthday? 

These might be jokes, though, but when they tell us that Sue cries every time she sees Mary’s death I strongly believe they must be joking. How could anyone feel truly moved by this overly sentimental long monologue where far more efforts are put into reacting to Mary’s speech than saving her life? And John’s mooing like a cow, is that also moving? :)

One thing Martin says about TLD that actually disgusts me is regarding the morgue scene where John assaults Sherlock and Sherlock lets it happen: “From there, really, their relationship can only sort of rebuild, that’s the absolute worst it can get”. As if outright physical abuse would be something that makes you want to rebuild a relationship? Wow - just wow... How far can they go with this crap?

Anyway, when we finally arrive at the absurdity of TFP and Sherlock’s ‘secret sister’, everything is of course discussed as if she actually does exist on the given premises, and everything she does is ‘real’, no matter how impossible it would be in real life. The abandonment of any attempt to have the story line make logical sense is skillfully covered up by more distraction with fascinating technicalities of the film making process. This is where Gatiss makes his now almost classic statement that after Sherlock and John jump out of the window at 221B when a grenade explodes there, it’s just “Boop! And they’re fine.” 

Of course there’s no serious attempt at explaining this logically. Except perhaps Gatiss claiming that they both landed on Speedy’s awning - whatever good that would do to them, since the awning is leaning downwards, but never mind... But we never even saw that happen, did we? A great deal of time is then dedicated to show all the precautions to have Martin and Ben jumping safely at low level onto a madras supported by empty cardboard boxes.

Sian Brooke did say something interesting about Sherrinford, however, that got me thinking. She said that Eurus “wants revenge for the years and years that she has been held captive” there, isolated, and that in TFP the Holmes children are now “lab rats” and “it’s an experiment”. On a meta level, I think we can indeed see this episode - and maybe the whole show - as a kind of experiment, but maybe we, the audience, are also lab rats? Since Sherrinford is slightly shaped like a film camera (not commented in the extra material, of course), it leads my thought to all the adaptations through the years and years where Holmes and Watson have not been allowed to be together. A whole century when Sherlock Holmes has been held captive, restricted by the very same sort of heteronormative filter that all this extra material imposes; it’s like Sherrinford, isn’t it? Which gives all the more meaning to Moriarty’s arrival to the island, accompanied by Freddy Mercury’s “I want to break free”...

I think I’ll let the final words in this little exposé come from Mark Gatiss in The Writers’ Chat (my bolding):

“Moriarty is a fascinating thing in that in our sea of ongoing lies, one thing we’ve genuinely been completely consistent about is telling people he’s dead. But no-one believes it! And it’s a rather brilliant thing.”  Again - self-congratulatory statements. But instead of providing some actual evidence of the death of this character, who has kept popping up in almost every episode since his supposed demise, they think that the more a confirmed liar repeats something, the truer it gets? And the more we’re supposed to believe them? Well, all we can do is wait and see. :)

Tagging some people who might be interested: 

@raggedyblue​ @ebaeschnbliah​ @sarahthecoat​ @gosherlocked​ @lukessense​ @sagestreet​ @thepersianslipper​

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