#Dating Advice Guru

[fillmeupwithsugar]

One thing about me is I don't do sugar just for the sake of it, it's all going in my stocks portfolio 🤭 They should be so grateful their hard earned money is going into something so good.. For me of course 🎀

[writingislife20]

I want a book about post-apocalyptic world, it starts out with these four survivors, who are all in their early to mid twenties, with the oldest being 25. They are trying to find other survivors/find out what started the apocalypse. I want them to be traveling, getting close to where they think the apocalypse started and surrounded by a group of creatures (I’m thinking zombies, but if you can be more original, let me know.)

Just when they are starting to despair, a car horn sounds. A minivan careens into the circle, killing several of the horde of creatures. A door is thrown open, and a preteen girl pitches her head out and screams at the top of her lungs “ GET IN!!!”

They start scrambling into the minivan, while the monster shuffle at them. When the last person gets in, the girl throws the door closed and yells, ” Step on it, Rosie, and don’t hit another building!”

They turned to see a nine-year-old girl in the driver seat, with a 13-year-old boy looking like he was about to hurl. They drive so fast that one of the passengers definitely gets close to sickness. The nine-year-old keeps giggling, and whoever’s point of view it is is death scared of this little girl.

They get driven to this camp area that has obviously been turned into a hideout, with a gate enclosing it. There, they are greeted with a gaggle of kids, ranging from 7 to 16, with two elderly women, and a girl who stands out as being the oldest and probably the leader. She seems to be a lot older, and is very confident, giving directions to everyone. She takes the four of them to a side room, and shuts the door. All four of them are preparing for some sort of shovel talk. None of them are expecting to see this girl to sigh, lean against the wall and ask “Are any of you homophobic? because I am not willing to deal with that during this whole thing.”

Turns out, this place used to be a conversion camp that flew under the radar, and this girl had been breaking her little sister out of it when this whole thing started. Most of the kids have been fine, as they’ve been on lockdown due to her entering, almost all the faculty was dead or had abandoned the kids when everything started. The only adults who were left were the lunch ladies and the grandmother of one of the kids, who had been there visiting her grandson.

This 19-year-old had been put in charge of a gaggle of kids, and three older women who did not know how to take care of that many children. She asked the team for help dealing with the kids, crying that she needed an adult.

The group of four look at each other. Only one of them has experienced with children, and that is with a few kids from daycare, who are arguably younger than these ones. All of them are grad students, who barely survived the apocalypse due to sheer dumb luck, antisocial behavior, and their ability to dodge people attempting to bite them (grad students get crazy and cranky when you tried to wake them up or take them away from their work). All four of them are human disasters, then they look at this kid, who didn’t even get the chance to go to college, who is begging for help, and looks like she’ll cry if they refused to help.

They all collectively decide that They will be the responsible one. all of their other friends are human disasters, so they have to clean up their behavior and take care of this girl and the many children she has under her care. They know they’re going to need to help.

The problem is, they are all human disasters, who barely know how to cook. They are trying to be responsible, but they only have one brain cell, and it passes between them with no warning.

The rest of the story should be a mixture of comedy(these 20 year old trying to take care of a bunch of kids) and apocalyptic drama (these old ladies, trying to figure out why the apocalypse started, with a few appearances from Timmy, the grandson, who is seven years old and was sent there without the grandmother’s knowledge.)

Just, let the responsible grandparents figure out how the apocalypse started and why, while the grad students try to be responsible for 20 to 30 kids.

[ear-motif]

cutesy fic idea where bev lives and will gets out and devises his honeypot trap for hanni for season 2b. and hes freaking tf out. how tf is he supposed to seduce a genius cannibalistic serial killer? seduce in a purely intellectual way, of course. bev is like yea of course intellectually. well first we've gotta get you a haircut and im plucking your eyebrows. next we have 5 hours of facial expression training and as a reward we can go fishing in that swamp that has massive catfish but it smells like shit so not even the dogs will go with you. but ill go bc i love you and i wanna see you with a new hot bf i mean catch hannibal. ok lets do it

[idlerin]

love sick — profiles: ppl who think love sucks + [name]

masterlist — inarizaki dogs | episode one

[name] has been invested in finding “the one” ever since she was little. this was mostly influenced by her parents who were so deeply in love that taught her to seek the kind of love she deserved to have. it became worse when she was 12 and was exposed to the world of romance books, you could say she loved love.

[name] has a sort of “love guru” business going on, except she’s unpaid. it all started during first year, where she helped a guy from her media literacy class named akaashi keiji confess to his long-time crush who was their senior, bokuto koutaro. the confession went well and they ended up dating, bokuto teased his friend to get advice from you and in his words “maybe your crush would like you back” (the response of said friend was “don’t call it a crush, what are we, highschoolers?”).

[name] did end up giving good advice and bokuto’s friend eventually started dating the “crush”. a rumor started spreading that [name] was real-life cupid and a bunch of people started reaching out to her to ask for help. it became such a big deal that [name] ended up creating an email for them to send their love-related concerns (in it, she mentions that to keep in mind her acads come first!).

the mini “business” ended up being a hit and she developed many nicknames in the process, like “resident cupid” and “campus sweetheart”.

[name] is a 2nd year student along with atsumu while kiyoko and semi are 3rd years and kageyama is a 1st year.

[name], kiyoko, and semi are childhood friends (but kiyoko and semi are older than [name] by a year), they lived on the same street, so they’ve practically known each other forever. they all went to the same junior high but split up in senior high school, kiyoko went to karasuno while [name] and semi went to shiratorizawa. this meant it was harder for them to meet kiyoko constantly, [name] and semi had to dorm within campus because they lived a bit far from the school itself.

[name] met kageyama when she went to one of the volleyball tournaments and kiyoko introduced them to each other. they instantly hit it off ([name] found him adorable and so “little brother coded”) because of [name] being so talkative (kageyama kept thinking how she acted so much like hinata).

[name] and atsumu became friends the summer before the start of the first semester, while [name] was moving in to her new dorm. it was very much a meet ugly because atsumu accidentally splashed his drink on [name]’s brand new sweater (and his first reaction was to flirt with her), [name] responds by saying it was alright and ignored his attempts. atsumu became curious and not long after they realized they were assigned to the same hall! (you have no escape now).

atsumu soon realizes the two of you had too similar personalities and became partners in crime. then you soon figure out your lives were more interconnected than you thought (he knew kageyama). you don’t know since when has your life been surrounded by volleyball (you were always the most unathletic person in the room).

it was only until all of your worlds collide one saturday morning where you accidentally make plans with all of them all at once (you were out of it because you stayed up late responding to love advice emails) that they all became friends too (semi and atsumu instantly hit it off, kiyoko is civil with everyone, kageyama was still in miyagi).

you, you were just happy everything in your life was falling into place just the way you like it!

until of course, suna rintarou came into the picture. none other than atsumu’s friend you don’t acknowledge and the name constantly found in the emails you receive.

love sick ! a suna rintarou social media au

synopsis. cupid! calling cupid! as the resident matchmaker slash hopeless romantic of tokyo university, you are the person people look for to get love advice or to set them up with the love of their lives. when suna rintarou comes to you asking for the opposite, to help fend people away from trying to get with him, to the extremes of even asking to fake date you, you couldn't refuse! mostly because you did owe him since he was on the receiving end of a bunch of your clients’ unsuccessful love efforts (hey, you do warn them your matchmaking only has a 62.3% success rate).

a/n — belated happy valentines everyone! (still valentines for some people tho i think) i hope you guys has a nice day :)

taglist is OPEN ! + @yas-mjm @agirlwholovesalot @yenqa @fairywriter-oracle @noideawhothatis @renardiererin @cheezitwh0re @zephestia @nicerthanu @wolffmaiden @2baddies-1porsche @bluegrey02 @qualitygiantshoepsychic @lylovw @fo-love @cloudsvna @apinu @coyloves @rockleeisbaeeee @geombyu @girlkissersco @reveusecherie @erenjvegerrr @rintarousgirl @ris-krispie @kamikokii @complexivelovely @hearts4faey @yuzurins @eleanorheartschishiya @hearts4itoshi @justsomeonewhoyoudontknow @rijhi @sleepystrwbrryy @snail-squasher @seiamor @wave2love @le000xxgrd @iuspired @theidontknowmehn @linmabbe @rntrsuna @skomiomi @tenaciouswritersheep @i-am-l0ved

to those i can not tag, kindly change your mentions settings thank you!

note: this is not the whole taglist, it’s been a year since i posted the masterlist to love sick and there may be people who don’t want to be in it anymore so i’ve only tagged those who confirmed they still want to be in the taglist through this post by liking or commenting as i don’t want to bother people! hehe

[97-liners]

out of the frying pan and into your heart

jeon wonwoo x female reader

tags: college au, fraternities, fake dating, misunderstandings, childhood friends to lovers, this all could have been resolved with some proper communication, lots of pining specifically for em, fluff, rom com, best friend minghao, y/n is oblivious!!!

warnings: alcohol, weed, frats, american college setting

words: 9.3k

synopsis:

it starts, as it always does with this particular collection of friends, with shenanigans and cahoots.

well, more specifically, for wonwoo it starts with shenanigans, when soonyoung and junhui somehow manage to collide brain cells and write in to the school newspaper's love advice columnist about his crush on his childhood best friend.

and for you, the aforementioned childhood best friend and, in secret, also the aforementioned love advice columnist, it starts with cahoots when kim mingyu manages to convince you to fake date him so he can win some popularity contest for his frat.

for @notesof-mh

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It starts, as it always does with this particular collection of friends, with shenanigans and cahoots. 

Well, more specifically, for Wonwoo it starts with shenanigans, when Soonyoung and Junhui somehow manage to collide brain cells. 

He had barely been awake for 15 seconds when they had barged into his room, laptop in hands, just to show him the text in a pink-colored submission box surrounded by heart emojis. Wonwoo squints, the blurry words coming into just enough focus for him to make out what they say. “Dear Cherry, I’m a third year computer science student and I’m in love with my best friend, except I’m— what the hell is this?” 

He glares at Soonyoung who grins cheerfully and points again at the screen. “Read the rest, Wonwoo!”

Wonwoo sighs and continues reading. “Except I’m a huge awkward loser and she’s so cool and pretty, and I don’t know how to tell her I like her. What should I do?”

“Alright, hit send,” Junhui instructs, tilting the laptop away and laughing maniacally. 

Wonwoo pushes his hand across his face, trying his best to wipe away the last vestiges of sleep-addled confusion, and then he realizes what’s happening.

“Wait, you can’t do that,” he tries to protest, but Soonyoung giggles and clicks a button.

“No, this will be good,” Junhui says, plopping down on the edge of Wonwoo’s bed. “Minghao told me that whoever runs the advice column in the school paper is, like, a love guru, and she has four thousand followers on instagram. And she’s never shown her face, but she’s probably also really pretty.”

Wonwoo groans. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“Just trust us,” Soonyoung pats Wonwoo’s knee through the blanket, “this is a good idea.”

And for you, it starts with kahoots, when your chemistry lab partner, Mingyu, pulls your stool closer to his side and whispers a proposition to you.

“Do you want to be my fake girlfriend?”

You narrow your eyes at him through your fogged up department-issued safety goggles. “Are you insane? What kind of fumes are you on?”

“None,” Mingyu replies. “I’m Sigma’s nominee for the Greek God award at the inter-fraternity tournament this year and I’m the only nominee who’s single.”

“And so I’m your pick,” you respond flatly. 

Mingyu nods eagerly. His safety glasses slide down his nose, and he has to push them back up. “Yeah, you’re so pretty and cool, I think it’d be really impressive if I somehow managed to pull you.”

“Huh.”

“And,” he adds on, lowering his voice even more, “Jeonghan thinks my only real competition this year is going to be Jung Jaehyun from Nu Kappa Tau, and rumor has it you rejected him in high school. Twice. So I think it’d be pretty funny if we ended up together.”

You scoff and turn back toward the titration in front of you. “You can’t go up to people and ask for things like this.”

“C’mon, you know the winner gets free parking for an entire semester,” he whines. “Ok, how’s this? If you’ll pretend to be my girlfriend for the Greek God award, I’ll write our lab reports for the rest of the semester.” 

His offer makes you pause, and he jumps on that pause, wedging his way in there. 

“I’ll give you executive editing power, but I’ll do all the work,” he wheedles, “and I’ll give you a perfect peer eval at the end of the semester. I promise,” he puts a big meaty hand on your lab notebook and smears the ink under his fingers. “Kim Mingyu isn’t a liar.”

“I’ll conveniently ignore the fact that you’re lying about having a girlfriend to win this award, then,” you roll your eyes.

“That’s different, though,” he protests, “the award is dumb and meaningless and I really want it. But a promise made between buddies is important.”

He looks earnest, so you decide to lay off on him just a little. “When we’re fake-dating,” you sigh, “you can’t call us buddies anymore.”

“So that’s a…”

You groan, hating yourself for being so indulgent. “Yes. That’s a yes.”

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“Hold on Y/N, have you seen this?”

“Seen what?” You look over the top of your laptop screen, where you’re halfway through a paper on the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

Minghao, your co-admin of the school newspaper’s (infamous) advice column turns his screen towards you. “Someone wrote in calling themselves a huge awkward loser.”

“Huh,” you grin to yourself as you read over the message quickly. “That’s kind of cute, actually.”

“Of course you think it’s cute,” Minghao rolls his eyes. “I’m going to assign this one over to you.”

“Yeah, sure, but please,” you mutter, “can you be a bit more discreet about it?”

Minghao looks at you over the top of his glasses. “What, about us being Ask Cherry? It’s not as embarrassing as you make it out to be.”

“Be quiet,” you hiss, looking around, “someone could overhear!” You frown, and then quietly, you add on, “and it is embarrassing. I’m supposed to be a journalism major, and I’m here making up horoscopes and giving fake relationship advice three days a week.”

This is an overstatement, and Minghao rolls his eyes. You only make up horoscopes and give fake relationship advice one day a week (Mondays are for Matters Of The Heart, your schedule says). There’s also Am I The Asshole Wednesdays, a campus favorite, and Friday Free-for-alls, when you field confessions of all types. Dear Cherry, I need to get this off my chest. I’ve been using my roommate’s shampoo this whole semester, and today I found out that our two other roommates have also been using this roommate’s shampoo. He doesn’t suspect a thing. 

You hadn’t meant to end up in this position. You write serious pieces for the school newspaper too, reporting on the Student Government’s legislative sessions and the university’s semesterly budget for grants to culturally-centered student organizations. Those articles, you have your name attached to. But at the end of last year, the new editor-in-chief Jeonghan had approached you and convinced (strong-armed) you into becoming the new writer for the infamous advice column, Ask Cherry, since Cherry himself was quitting to make more time for other priorities.

(“And the kicker is,” you had complained to Minghao, “nobody will ever believe me.” Choi Seungcheol, fraternity president, football player, gym rat, jock, fuckboy extraordinaire— relationship advice columnist? No, it’s simply not realistic. 

“I’m sitting on the juiciest piece of gossip to cross my path in my entire life, and I can’t do anything about it,” you say dejectedly.

“Hmm.” Minghao doesn’t even pretend to be interested.)

But, despite your disastrous real-world love life, your clumsily dispensed life advice, and the completely made up horoscopes, Ask Cherry readership skyrocketed under your intrepid watch. Once, you told a reader that the albino squirrel that lives in the tree next to the physics building was a good omen, and the next day, rumor spread that an albino squirrel sighting would grant you an A on your next exam. For weeks after, people would scatter peanuts and pieces of toast by the base of the tree next to the physics building, until campus facilities had to fence the area off because raccoons were starting to show up instead. 

Minghao finding out had been a complete accident, after you had lent him your laptop to print out a paper that was due the next hour, but you had forgotten to minimize the window with your Ask Chrery submissions. Minghao, being someone who loves giving advice, both solicited and unsolicited, naturally joined in on this scheme of yours. 

“Anyways,” you shrug. You look up as Junhui steps into the public study area of the library and scans the tables twice before making eye contact with you, and then waving. “Minghao, did you invite the others over to study with us?”

“Yeah,” Minghao responds, raising an eyebrow at you. “You got a problem with that?”

“No, it’s just—“ you’re about to complain about never being able to focus on your work with the rest of them around, but the words die on your lips when you spot Wonwoo trailing behind Junhui with a bemused expression on his face and a cardboard tray holding bubble teas in his hands. You can’t help the grin that spreads across your face. “Hey guys,” you wave over to them, clearing off the table space next to you to make room for them. 

“I brought you a taro milk tea,” Junhui announces, gesturing behind him, “and a Wonwoo to boot.”

“He made me walk with him because he didn’t know your favorite drink,” Wonwoo explains quietly as he slides the drinks onto the table and takes his seat next to you. “Are you working on that international relations paper?”

“Yeah.” You take your taro milk tea. No ice, 50% sweet, tapioca pearls and grass jelly, just the way you like it. 

“Do you think you’ll be done by Friday?”

“I will be free by then,” you promise him, punctuating your statement by stabbing your boba straw through the film covering the cup. You’d rather suffer through an all nighter on Sunday than miss your regular Friday night gaming sessions with Wonwoo, a tradition the two of you have kept up since both of you were in middle school and still playing Starcraft.

“Anyway,” Junhui leans over the table, resting his chin on top of his interlaced fingers. “I have a funny story.”

You tear your gaze away from Wonwoo. “Hm?”

“So, you know that advice columnist for the school paper? Wonwoo submitted a question the other day. Well, Soonyoung and I did, but for Wonwoo.”

You feel your blood run cold. It’s not that you’re ashamed of running a love advice column, but it’s more that you’re… embarrassed. And you’ve been running it in secret for so long that at this point, you can’t even fathom anyone outside of Minghao knowing. Maybe when you graduate, you’ll do an identity reveal, but you’re not quite there now.

“Can we talk about literally anything else,” Wonwoo grouses, somewhat to your relief. he glares at Junhui, but the effect is somewhat dampened when he lifts his bubble tea to his mouth and loudly slurps up some tapioca pearls.

“Yeah,” you quickly agree, not eager to have your secret identity exposed.

Junhui steamrolls on ahead, however. “So. If you’re reading the column and there’s a question from someone who has a big stupid crush, you know who it’s from.”

Your breath catches in your throat. Wonwoo? A crush?

“Junhui,” Wonwoo groans, digging his fingers into the bridge of his nose, brows furrowed in an expression of exquisite pain. 

Minghao, however, leans forward and lets his glasses slide down his nose. He laces his fingers together. “A crush? On who?”

Junhui and Minghao both turn to stare at Wonwoo, who flushes beet red. 

“Oh, hey guys!”

You feel a heavy arm around your shoulder and turn to see, to your abject horror, Mingyu, who scoots his way onto the bench to squeeze in next to you. “What are you doing here,” you hiss at your oversized interloper, but Mingyu just glances pointedly at the spot two tables down where a bunch of upperclassmen are sitting and chatting. You recognize Choi Seungcheol, the president of Mingyu’s frat, and you sigh and deflate. Fine. A promise is a promise.

You smile weakly at the other three guys sitting at your table. “Surprise,” you say flatly,” Mingyu is my boyfriend now.”

You’re momentarily distracted by a loud honking noise as Junhui narrowly avoids choking on his bubble tea and spraying the table through his nose. 

“Mingyu?!” Minghao sounds simultaneously dismayed and slightly judgemental.

“C’mon, dude,” Mingyu whines, slumping like a kicked puppy. You pat his bicep soothingly. “You don’t have to make it sound that bad.”

Minghao and Junhui share a conspicuous glance. Mingyu isn’t the type of guy you’d usually go for, but you think this reaction is a bit uncalled for. “He’s not that bad,” you find yourself defending your fake boyfriend. “Mingyu is nice, and he’s really tall.”

You blink. Mingyu turns his pout on you now. “Nice and really tall? Are you for real?”

“It’s true,” you scowl at him. “Are you here to study, or did you just come by to get on my nerves?”

“Okay, well,” Junhui interjects sharply, “Wonwoo and I should get going.”

“Wait, but you two just got here,” you attempt to protest, but Wonwoo, who had been quiet this whole time, stands up and slings his backpack over his shoulder.

“I’ll see you later, Y/N,” he says to you, before leaving along with Junhui. 

(It’s not until later, when you’re lounging with Minghao in the living room of your shared apartment, that it hits you, again, but this time with its full weight.

“Wonwoo likes someone,” you say out loud. It’s not a question.

Minghao glances up form his book at you with a frown plastered across his face, his brows creased with irritation. He evaluates you carefully over the silver rims of his glasses, which you know aren’t prescription but are mainly there to make him look elegant and intellectual.

“...yes,” he finally acknowledges.

You frown despite yourself. “I wonder who it is.”

“What does it matter to you,” Minghao scoffs, “you’re dating Mingyu, remember?”

“You can pretend to hate Gyu, but I know you like him better than any of the rest of us.” You really hadn’t been expecting to defend Mingyu twice in a day, but you suppose that’s life as Kim Mingyu’s girlfriend. “And anyways, Wonwoo and I have been friends since we were kids. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me earlier.”

“Yeah, he probably can’t believe it either,” Minghao mutters under his breath so quietly, you almost miss it. Then, in a louder voice, he chides, “don’t think too much about it, yeah? You still have to reply professionally to his advice request. His anonymous advice request.”

“Right,” you sigh dejectedly, frowning at your laptop balanced across your knees. “How do I tell him that he’s not a nerd and a loser without giving away that I know who he is?”

Minghao shrugs. “Maybe tell him to be patient. Or maybe tell him to try to start getting over his crush.”

You consider his suggestion for a moment. It’s appealing, but then the thought of Wonwoo wasting away in his dark bedroom, sighing as he pines over his unrequited love, flashes across your mind. “I just don’t want him to be sad.”)

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“C’mon, he was right on top of you,” Wonwoo complains. You can hear the creaking of his gaming chair in the background, undoubtedly as he rises from his reclined position to gulp down more of whatever energy drink he has in his mini fridge this week. You groan and dig your fingers into the junction between your neck and shoulder, trying with little success to work out the knot that’s developed over this last round of PUBG.

“Wonwoo, that’s the problem, I suck at close range,” you huff in response, “you know I get panicky and forget to turn off auto-fire.”

It’s game night, and you and Wonwoo have been at it for the past two hours. Your paper isn’t done yet, but it can wait. It’s been over a decade since the years when the two of you would spend your summers together playing video games and walking aimlessly around the neighborhood with half-melted popsicles, talking for hours. But even as your social circles diverted from his, it’s always been something of an unspoken agreement that for this, you’d always make time for Wonwoo, and he’d always make time for you.

“Another round?” You and Wonwoo both ask the question at the same time. There’s a pause, and then you’re both laughing. Even over the headset mic, Wonwoo’s laugh is loud and unrestrained. It feels like a secret, a side of Wonwoo that he saves just for you and for Friday nights spent on opposite sides of the monitor.

“So.” You’re still waiting for the next match to start when Wonwoo breaks the comfortable silence. “Mingyu?”

You fidget at the ties of your hoodie. It’s stolen from Wonwoo, and you’ve had it since middle school at least. “Yeah?”

“Interesting choice.”

“What does that mean?”

He makes a casual, noncommittal noise. “I’m just surprised. I didn’t see it coming, and you didn’t tell me about it.”

You open your mouth to tell him that it’s actually all a ruse, to explain the whole situation, but the hard, petulant edge to his voice makes you pause. Wonwoo sounds… upset. But not quite upset. Jealous?

“Wonwoo,” you laugh. Onscreen, the timer counting down to the start of the match appears, and you jam on the space bar to make your character jump over his character’s prone body. “Wonwoo, are you jealous?”

Over your headphones, you hear the sound of his gaming chair squeaking. “I’m not jealous,” he says, in a tone of voice that sounds exactly like Wonwoo when he’s jealous. 

“You are. Where are we landing?” You toggle to the map in the game and zoom in on the path that the plane is taking. The player count in the bottom starts dropping as other players jump out. 

“Blue marker, does that look good to you? There’s a few houses we can loot, and it’s not close to the flight path. If we get bad circle placement, you can shoot me in the foot, if you want. As a treat.”

“Yeah, fine. Lead the way, boss. Anyways, why are you jealous?” You suppress the flutter in your chest. There’s no reason for you to get your hopes up. 

“You’re my friend,” Wonwoo says simply. It feels like a heavy towel being thrown over you. “You used to tell me everything. Mingyu is… fine,” he admits reluctantly. “He’s a good guy. I’m happy for you.”

Your heart clenches. You want to say something soft and sincere, but instead, you return with a jab. “You can’t be upset at me for keeping secrets, Wonwoo. What was Junhui saying about you liking someone?”

“Junhui just says stuff sometimes,” he replies curtly. 

You frown. “Junhui isn’t a liar, though. Who is it?” You ask, despite everything in you telling yourself that you don’t want to know the answer. “Who are they? Maybe I can talk to them for you.”

He laughs humorlessly. “It doesn’t matter. She’s in a relationship with someone else.”

You almost sigh in relief, but you stop yourself just in time. Why are you relieved? “Oh, Wonwoo. That sucks. She doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.”

Wonwoo makes a noise that tells you he’s shrugging. “She deserves better than me.”

“Hey!” You sit up, straightening your spine in indignation. “Don’t say that. You’re great, Wonwoo. You’re criminally underappreciated. You’re smart and you’re so sincere and kind, and maybe other people don’t acknowledge it, but you’re really funny and interesting.”

He’s quiet for a moment, and the only thing you hear is the game audio as your character collects supplies and clears the building the two of you are in. “Let me know if you find any gun that’s not a pistol, by the way. I have a 2x scope on me.”

“Thank you,” Wonwoo replies. You know he’s not talking about the scope.

Even though the two of you are gaming individually in your own rooms, you want nothing more than to tug off your headphones and go down the two flights of stairs to Wonwoo’s apartment and give him a hug.

“I have an AKM and a bunch of healing items on me,” Wonwoo says, “come to me and you can have whatever you want.”

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It would have been much less embarrassing if you had realized it last week when you were walking to class and Wonwoo had stopped you in the middle of the sidewalk to pluck a fallen leaf from your hair with that stupidly fond expression plastered on his face; or maybe when you accidentally fell asleep in his bed during an afternoon study session and woke up later with your head on his shoulder, legs tangled together, the sound of his soft snoring puffing in your ear, his hand held loosely in yours. Maybe in another life, it would have been one of those soft, romantic moments, like something out of a coming of age anime. But no, because you’re you and your life is the way it is, the moment you realize you’re in love with Wonwoo goes like this:

It’s Sunday, noon already, and you’re in Wonwoo’s shared apartment. Junhui had let you in earlier when you had knocked at their door until your knuckles were sore. When you burst unceremoniously into Wonwoo’s bedroom, he’s still asleep with his glasses on, smudged and crooked, and his phone on his chest. You frown. “Wake up, Wonwoo. Did you fall asleep while watching dramas again?”

Wonwoo jumps slightly and lifts his head, brows furrowing. “Huh?”

“You said you’d go to lunch with me.” You extend your arms and spin to show off your cute, perfectly coordinated outfit, picked out specifically to match the instagram trap you’re going to. You even broke out the eyeliner and glitter eyeshadow to match the cute knit cardigan and wool miniskirt you put on. “What hat should I wear? The fuzzy bucket hat,” you hold up option one, “or the beret,” you hold up option two, looking down at Wonwoo expectantly.

Your best friend groans and collapses back onto the bed, eyes sliding shut. “Um. The beret.”

“Okay great, now get out of bed. Our reservation is soon and you still need to wash your face and get dressed.” You poke at his cheek, which is greasy from sleep and still bears the imprint of his pillow. 

“Can you get Minghao to go with you instead?” He doesn’t bother opening his eyes.

“Nope,” you respond, popping the ‘p’, “he has dance practice.”

“Mingyu?”

“He said he had a textile arts club meeting?” You frown. “I’m not sure what it is, but he’s been crocheting like crazy for it this week.”

“Um,” Wonwoo smacks his hand over his face, clearly trying to think of other options. He forgets, however, that he fell asleep with his glasses on, and ends up jamming the frames against this cheek. “Ow. Ok, what about, uh, Seokmin?”

You pout at him even though he can’t see it. “Wonu,” you whine, sitting down on his bed, “I want to go to lunch with you, though.”

At that, he finally cracks his eyes open. “Why?”

Because, you want to say, I don’t want to do this with anybody other than you. You briefly try to imagine doing this whole thing– dressing up, making a reservation, taking pictures and walking around town, huddling together in a cafe in the afternoon to watch the latest Nintendo Direct together– with anybody else, but you just quite settle on it comfortably. No. It has to be Wonwoo. Because Wonwoo is your best friend, because Wonwoo has always been there for you, because Wonwoo just gets you, better than anybody ever has, and every moment you spend with Wonwoo, you feel your mood lifting and relaxing. Because you trust Wonwoo and he trusts you, and because you know him, and you love him–

You love him.

Oh.

Oh.

You’ll have to process that later. “Because you have a car and you can drive me,” you tell Wonwoo instead, shoving the revelation down to the back of your mind and putting it in a box labeled problems for future me.

“Fine,” Wonwoo acquiesces, sitting up with enormous effort. His hair is still sticking up in all directions, making him look like a big dark dandelion. A part of you expects to see him in a different light, now that you think you love him, like there’s supposed to be cherubs singing and starlight in his eyes or something, but instead, you just see regular old Wonwoo. Your best friend. He doesn’t suddenly look like a vision sent from heaven, he just looks sleepy and crusty and a little greasy.

“Hurry up and brush your teeth,” you tell him, slapping him lightly on his belly and laughing at the resulting ouuff that jerks out of him, “you have morning breath and I can smell it from here.”

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From: kwon.soonyoung@svt.edu To: ask_cherry_svt@gmail.com Re: advice

Dear Cherry, my friend is in love with his childhood friend but she doesn’t love him back :( how do we make her fall in love with him? from anonymous

“Hm,” you sigh out loud, “I wonder if Soonyoung knows that the anonymous signoff is made moot by the fact that he emailed this one in instead of using the anonymous submission box.” You’re draped on the couch with your legs propped all the way up and your laptop on your chest as you scroll through this week’s Am I The Asshole Wednesday submissions.

“You can ignore him,” Minghao says, passing by with a full bottle of wine in each hand on his way to put them away in the kitchen. “I don’t think you should be giving any love advice when your own love life is a mess,” he sniffs. 

“You’re the asshole,” you announce, not looking up from your screen. “That was for you, Minghao.” Clearly, he’s still mad at you after you had revealed the whole Mingyu situation to him a few nights ago. You still remember the blistering look that Minghao had thrown at you, like you’re the dumbest human he’s ever had the supreme displeasure of knowing.

“I guess you don’t want to go to the dance team party with me, then,” your roommate responds smoothly, returning from the kitchen. It’s only 6pm, but Minghao is already dressed in a silk pajama set with a matching robe, lenseless glasses frames perched on the tip of his nose, smelling of strawberry-scented lotion as he pours himself a glass of wine.

You scowl at him.  “Fine. I don’t care.” Turning back to your laptop, you scroll past a few more boring submissions on your hunt for the truly salacious stuff your classmates get up to. “I wonder what Soonyoung is even talking about, though,” you mumble, half to yourself, as you click on the next interesting subject line.

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.

.

In retrospect, Mingyu was definitely going to win that Greek God competition, even if Jaehyun from Nu Kapp put up a good fight.

Mingyu’s physique is certainly impressive, and the audience erupted when he won the (shirtless and oiled-up, for some reason) pushup contest, but his clumsiness eventually led him to lose at every other physical challenge. It was his overwhelming victory in the popularity vote and personality contest that got him to first place. It’s probably all because of his unwavering friendliness and his constant need for affirmation manifesting into an overwhelming desire to be helpful, but you like to think that maybe you helped too.

That’s why you’re here, in the kitchen of the Sigma house, absolutely wasted at the celebration party the frat is throwing in honor of Mingyu being crowned the best frat star on campus. Between the blunt that you, Mingyu, Minghao, and Seokmin, another friend in your year, had passed around upstairs, and all the shots that Mingyu had plied you with, you’re feeling weirdly bouncy and giggly and not entirely sure if you’ll remember this the next morning.

“Okay, so,” Mingyu mumbles, pulling you closer as the two of you nestle in a corner, away from whatever is going on at the beer pong table, “we should stage a breakup, right?”

You giggle against the hollow of his throat, arms looped over his shoulders. “Can we make it your fault?”

He whines like a kicked puppy. “Why can���t we make it mutual? Jeonghan would kick my ass.”

“Fine, fine,” you huff, not at all reluctant. “We should give it some time so it’s not suspicious, right?”

“Yeah.” Mingyu nods, accidentally knocking his chin against your forehead. “You’re so smart.”

“Which means I’m still on girlfriend duty tonight,” you conclude.

“Oh, come on.” Mingyu’s hands come down to rest at your waist, his fingertips skimming along the waistband of your skirt, eliciting a shiver from you when you feel his rough, warm skin against yours. “You make it sound like a chore.”

You sigh. Oh well, you could do much worse than Mingyu.

You’re not sure if it’s the weed or the alcohol, or maybe just jealousy at this fake version of yourself that’s happy with a boyfriend and not moping over an unrequited crush on your childhood best friend, but you find it strangely easy to lean up and attach your lips to Mingyu’s, feel the wet heat of his tongue in your mouth. and Mingyu, pliant under your grip as always, kisses you back, going along with it without a second thought.

“No offense,” he pants as he parts from you, “but I don’t think I want to hook up with you.”

You blink at him. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No, no,” he clarifies quickly, “you’re a good kisser, I just don’t want things to be weird between us, which I think might happen if we hook up.”

“If fake dating didn’t make things weird, I’m not sure that hooking up would,” you laugh, more of a giggle than anything. You attach your lips to his jaw, pulling him down towards you so you don’t have to crane your neck. 

“And also,” he nudges at the hair behind your ear with his nose, “you’re like, totally wasted right now.”

“You’re not sober either,” you shoot back, accusatory.

“More sober than you,” he shoots back. He’s right, though. His large stature means that he can hold his liquor much better than you. “It wouldn’t be fair,” he pouts, stubborn, “and I’m not a creep.”

“Fine.” You tug lightly at the short hairs on the back of his head. 

“Are… are you okay?”

Mingyu’s question makes you hesitate for a moment. You lean your flushed cheek against the jut of his collarbone. “I’m drunk,” you respond flatly.

“No, not that, you’re just usually not this…” you feel Mingyu gulp, “clingy.”

You wonder if you should tell him about Wonwoo and your stupid pointless crush that’s starting to feel less like a crush every time you’re with him and more like… something deeper. Something frightening, like a yawning chasm, just waiting for you to fall in.

You’re saved the effort of further deliberation, however, when Mingyu suddenly raises his head and interrupts your thoughts. “Hey, isn’t that Wonwoo?”

You lift yourself off of Mingyu’s chest and look behind you. True to his word, it really is Wonwoo, standing by the door, jacket on, looking at you like a deer caught in the headlights. 

“Huh, he doesn’t usually come to these,” Mingyu observes, tugging idly at the bottom of your shirt. “I wonder why he’s here.”

You think you know why he’s here, though. Earlier, back upstairs, you had excused yourself to the bathroom to take a quick breather. Through an alcohol and weed induced haze, you had belatedly realized that it’s Friday night, and you’re late.

you: cn you come pick me u you: at sigma wonu: are you ok? i’ll be there in a few you: sry im drunk you: wanna go home w u

Now, staring Wonwoo dead in the eyes, you realize with a jolt that you had never told him why you asked him to pick you up. You peel yourself off your fake boyfriend and stumble, clumsily, towards Wonwoo, trying your best to ignore the way the room spins around you.

“Wonu,” you whine reaching out to him.

He frowns. “Are you okay? What’s happening?”

“I’m drunk,” you tell him.

“I know.” He extends his arm and lets you cling on to him as you stumble into his torso.

“And it’s Friday night,” you look up at him.

“Yes.”

“We’re supposed to be playing Overwatch together.” You give him the best puppy eyes you can muster, and he blinks at you, looking flustered.

“Huh?”

“Overwatch,” you insist, tugging him towards the door. “Friday night. It’s Wonwoo and Y/N night.”

“Is… is this what you called me over here for?”

You nod and begin dragging Wonwoo out by the wrist. 

The cool air outside hits your flushed skin like a wave, like you’re jumping into a pool. Wonwoo is silent and lets you continue to cling onto him as he walks you to where he had parked on the side of the street, directly under a streetlight.

You slide into the passenger seat. Wonwoo hands you a bottle of water, cap already removed for you. “Hydrate,” he orders. 

“Sorry,” you whimper, somewhat pathetically.

He frowns. “Why are you apologizing?”

“I must be so annoying,” you mumble, feeling tears welling up in your eyes.

“No,” Wonwoo reaches out and takes your hand over the center console. “You’re not annoying.”

You watch him as he drives. He’s so handsome, your alcohol-addled mind supplies. 

“You don’t think I’m annoying?”

“Never.”

Wonwoo says it like a promise.

Silence falls over the two of you as he drives through campus, all the way back to the student housing unit that both of you live in. He turns off the engine, leaving a silence that feels even more all-encompassing. He looks over at you, face half hidden in the shadows and half illuminated by the orange lamplight outside. “Is Minghao home?”

“N…no, he’s back at the party.”

“Okay, we’re going back to my apartment, then,” he decides.

You blink. “Huh?” But you’re already stumbling out of his car and spilling onto the sidewalk, all wobbly legs and loose limbs. 

“I’m taking you back to my place,” Wonwoo repeats. “You need someone to watch you and make sure you don’t wander off and get lost in the city,” he explains drily.

“‘M okay,” you whine futilely. It’s especially unconvincing, since you’re still stumbling over your own feet and leaning against him. 

Wonwoo lets you rest your cheek on his shoulder and cling onto him as he lets you into his apartment, gets you a glass of water, and digs up a pack of makeup wipes from out of nowhere and sits you on his bed and starts to get to work. 

A small (very drunk) part of you bristles at the appearance of the makeup wipes, and you try to scowl, even as Wonwoo gently wipes at your smudged eyeliner. “Whose are these? Do you have a lot of girls over here or something?”

“They’re Junhui’s, he uses them,” Wonwoo explains. He dabs at one last spot in the corner of your right eye, then announces, “there, you’re all done.”

You open your eyes to see Wonwoo grinning dopily at you. “You’re cute,” you poke at his cheek, and he laughs quietly. Seokmin used to be afraid of him, he had confessed to you, and you wonder why, because the Wonwoo you know is so soft, so loveable, so goofy and cute. 

The Wonwoo you know is shy and awkward and doesn’t quite know how to fit himself into social situations. He’s clumsy and absentminded and needs someone to take care of him, to dote on him and give him attention.

The Wonwoo that you know, you’ve known since you were in second grade, standing over the boy you had knocked over with a rubber kickball, staring at him as he sniffled on the woodchips and glared at you through big watery eyes. That day, you decided right then and there that this boy would be yours, and now…

“Wonwoo,” you blurt out without thinking, “I’m in love with you.”

His breath catches. Wonwoo pauses, digesting your clumsily delivered confession, and then he makes the most awful expression you have ever seen on him.

It’s raw hurt, sharp, painful. His mouth twists and his brows furrow and he looks at you like you’re something to be afraid of. You hate it. You hate that you’re the cause of it, that he’s feeling this, whatever it is, because of you, even though you’re not sure why.

“Really,” you insist. You reach out to grab his hand, but he pulls away from you. “It’s true. I’m in love with you.”

You hear a sharp intake of breath. “You’re not,” he says. “You’re in love with Mingyu. You’re happy with him.”

“I’m not… I’m not in love with him,” you try to explain, but your liquor-numbed lips are clumsy and you trip over your words. You lean towards him, slanting your face up, because you want to kiss him so badly it’s all you can think of. Wonwoo shoves you back, hard. 

“Don’t,” he bites, voice sharp and tense.

“I’m in love with you,” you repeat, reaching out to him, but he pushes your hand back and steps away. Like he’s afraid of you.

“Don’t do it. You’re drunk.” His voice wavers slightly. “Don’t do something you’ll regret tomorrow.”

You shake your head, but Wonwoo looks at you with so much hurt and confusion in his eyes, you can’t bring yourself to argue. “Wonu,” you whisper, reaching out to rest your fingertips on his wrist, “please don’t cry.”

He takes a long, shuddering breath, eyes closed, and then when he exhales and opens his eyes again, his expression is impassive. Unreadable.

“Go to sleep,” he says flatly. “Tomorrow you’ll wake up and go back to your boyfriend, and you’ll be happy that nothing happened tonight.”

He closes the door to his bedroom, leaving you in the darkness.

(Wonwoo is cold.

He’s always a little cold, but in his haste to escape earlier, he hadn’t gotten a blanket or even changed into sweats before closing the door behind him, and now Wonwoo lays on the couch, his feet hanging over the armrest, staring at the ceiling. 

I’m in love with you, your voice rings in his head. Wonwoo’s cheek still burns where you had gently rested your hand earlier. If he hadn’t known any better, Wonwoo might have believed you and given in to his most guilty, far-off fantasy, the one where you love him back.

But Wonwoo does know better. He saw the way you were draped all over Mingyu at the party, the way you giggled into his neck when Mingyu slipped his fingertips under the him of your shirt. Mingyu is good for you, Wonwoo decides. Like you, Mingyu is bright and out-going, popular, well-liked, good at receiving love and gives it readily in return. 

Wonwoo closes his eyes, tries to push away the memory of your body curled into his, and wills his mind into silence so that maybe he can get some sleep tonight.)

You wake up, nauseous and hung over and feeling not at all rested, in Wonwoo’s bed.

Groaning, you swipe at your face, expecting to see a gloopy mess on your fingers, but your makeup has already been removed. You squint at the dim sunlight streaming in through the closed blinds, and you reach around blindly until your fingers close around your phone. 

There’s a smattering of random social media notifications and updates from group chats, but one notification in particular catches your eye.

wonu: i’m outside wonu: where are you? are you ok? wonu: i’m gonna head inside to look for you

You feel your cheeks flush as the memories come trickling back– your drunk texts, insisting that your best friend picks you up, kissing Mingyu, leaving the party with Wonwoo, clinging on to him like a koala…

Gathering your courage and steeling your woozy stomach, you stumble out of bed and throw open the door, poking your head out. Wonwoo is sprawled across the couch, undoubtedly playing some kind of mobile game, when he looks up at you. His hair is sticking up in every possible direction and his shirt is crumpled. “Hi,” he says, expression impossibly neutral.

“Hi,” you grin, waving lamely. “I feel like shit. I didn’t say anything weird or embarrassing last night, did I?”

He raises an eyebrow at you. “You don’t remember?”

You shake your head. “I remember you picking me up from the frat, I think.”

For a split second, he looks relieved. Then, he puts his phone down and laughs at you. “You didn’t do anything embarrassing,” he grins, “except for abandoning your boyfriend at the party because you wanted to play Overwatch with me. C’mon, do you want to get brunch?”

You press your palms against your throbbing forehead. Your brain hurts, and you’re almost sure you half-remember telling Wonwoo that you’re in love with him, but Wonwoo is looking at you expectantly and you’d like nothing more than some french toast and a hot coffee right now, so you shrug. “Sure, lemme wash up and get changed in my apartment first.”

.

.

.

“Dear Cherry, my friend is hopelessly in love with his childhood best friend, who is currently dating a hot frat dude. Should he just give up? The moping is starting to bum me out and I’m worried my hair is going to fall out. Love, Wen Junhui.”

You wrinkle your nose at the message. “And has anybody ever told Junhui that the whole point of anonymous submissions is defeated when he signs his messages with his full name?”

Minghao looks up from the canvas he’s busy splattering paint on. It’s his semester final project, and you had promised to accompany him in the basement of the fine arts building as he works.

Instead of answering, he looks at you like you’re the densest human he’s ever had the misfortune of meeting. “Maybe he’s not trying to be anonymous. Maybe he’s trying to complain about someone we know.”

You squint at your laptop screen. “Who is this supposed to be about, anyways?”

This time, Minghao actually rolls his eyes at you. “Whatever. Have you broken up with Mingyu yet?”

“Yeah, we broke up two days ago. It was mutual, because Mingyu was genuinely afraid that Jeonghan would kick his ass if we said we broke up with me.”

The two of you had made a whole show of deleting all your carefully staged couple photos off your social media accounts, and then unfollowing and refollowing each other within the span of two days, because as the story goes, you and Mingyu had talked it over and are better as friends than as a couple.

“That’s nice,” Minghao says. He unscrews a jar of turpentine and starts to clean off his brushes. “Maybe you should respond to Junhui’s advice submission.”

You groan. “I’ll just tell him to tell his friend to get over it,” you scowl.

“By the way, what’s wrong with Wonwoo?”

“What do you mean?” You look up. Minghao is now attacking the canvas with a palette knife, carving some dramatic impasto into the paint.

“The last two times all of us hung out together, he’s been all…weird.” Minghao wrinkles his nose. “It’s like he’s some kind of guilty dog. He stares at you when you’re not looking, and then he looks away when you are.”

You chew on your lip, work now long forgotten on your idle laptop. Minghao is right. Wonwoo has been different, but not… different. He’s as unwaveringly weird as always, and he’s been texting you links to youtube cat videos and starting arguments on video game theories as always, but it feels like Wonwoo has been aggressively normal. Like how best friends are supposed to be. Light and easy.

“I don’t know. I feel like he’s been acting weird these days too, but I can’t figure out how.”

“You should talk to him,” Minghao says, like talking to Wonwoo about his feelings is easy or something. Or like talking about your own feelings is easy.  

“Or maybe I shouldn’t,” you sigh. Whatever is going on with Wonwoo, you’re just glad he still wants to hang out with you. You’re not entirely sure what you even did wrong, but you’d be willing to beg on your hands and knees for him to forgive you and to stick by your side. “Whatever. We’re gaming together this Friday, I’ll think about it then, I guess.”

.

.

.

“Wonu, I’m scared,” you whine into the mic. It’s another Friday night and the two of you are playing PUBG again. You’re in the endgame now– the original 100 has been whittled down to just 5 players remaining, including you but not including Wonwoo, who had been killed earlier and is now spectating you in-game like some sort of ghost. 

“Just sit tight,” he instructs. In your mind’s eye, he’s leaning back in his gaming chair, arms crossed as he observes your gameplay. 

“There’s gunshots,” you complain, “North? I think they’re hiding by those rocks. It sounds like they’ve got a good sniper rifle, too.”

“They don’t know you’re there. Just let the other teams fight it out. You have enough ammo?”

You huff. “I have like, twelve shotgun shells.”

“And you have the location advantage. Just sit and wait for now.”

You sigh, aimlessly panning the camera back and forth in your anxiety. “Fine,” you agree, because despite it all, Wonwoo is still better at this game than you are, and because you trust him. 

Seconds pass. The audio of distant gunfire in crisp surround sound keeps you on edge and tense, so that when you hear Soonyoung, one of Wonwoo’s roommates, you nearly jump out of your skin. 

“Hey, are you busy?”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo replies. His voice is tinny and quiet, but still clear, like he’s slipped his headset off and mic is pushed away. “I’m gaming with Y/N. I’m muted, don’t worry.”

You’re about to shout and let him know that he’s not actually muted, but your curiosity gets the better of you when you hear Soonyoung’s next words:

“Right, speaking of Y/N, that reminds me. Did you hear that Y/N and Mingyu broke up?”

“Oh.” There’s a pause, and then you hear Wonwoo ask, “why?”

“Dunno. Mingyu wouldn’t give me any details. He said something lame, like that they’re better off as friends, or something.”

“Oh. When did this happen?”

“I think on Wednesday? At least that’s what Seungkwan told me.”

“Hm.”

“Anyways, isn’t that great? You can finally shoot your shot!”

“Are you insane, Soonyoung? It’s been less than a week!”

“Well, okay, fair. But next week? She didn’t seem too sad about it in class today.”

“That’s because she was in class. And anyways, this doesn’t change anything between us, so I’m not going to do anything either.”

“Are you kidding me? So you’re just going to keep it a secret forever?”

“Yeah. I’ll die before I tell Y/N that I’m in love with her.”

Oh.

You sit at your desk, staring at your monitor but not seeing anything. Very quietly, you press your fingers against your lips, as hard as you can, and feel the blood rushing past your ears. 

“I’m not going to ruin our friendship over nothing,” Wonwoo continues.

“It’s not nothing,” Soonyoung replies with a pout in his voice. “You’ve been in love with her for years. Since high school, at least.”

“She just sees me as a friend, that’s all,” Wonwoo sighs. 

Since high school. He’s loved you since high school.

You remember the way he looked at you after prom when he was dropping you back off at home. You had gone with him because the boy you wanted to ask you, some boring soccer player, had asked your friend instead, and Jaehyun had already asked (and been rejected by you) twice, and nobody else had asked you to be their prom date. And Wonwoo, awkward and quiet as he was, had fully expected to skip prom completely, but three days before you had shown up at his locker after school, desperate because you already had a dress and a group to go with and tickets but no date, practically begging him to go to prom with you. And without even thinking, Wonwoo had agreed.

That night, when he drive you home, you leaned your head against the car door with the windows rolled down and felt the wind on your face. At the end, when he parked his car on the side of the street in front of your childhood home, you looked over at him and told him. “I’m so glad we’re going to college together, Wonwoo. I want to be with you forever.”

And he had watched you as you said it, quiet, like he was breathless. Like you had said something terrible and incredible at the same time. 

It’s always been Wonwoo beside you, lazy summers spent playing video games, late night phone calls where you’d talk and he’d listen, after class in his car listening to the radio and eating junk food. Had he loved you then? With ketchup on your shirt and acne across your face and poorly box-dyed hair? And had you loved him then too? Before you even knew what love is?

The weight of it is heavy, settling in your stomach like a hot stone. It almost hurts, how much you feel.

You’re interrupted by a very loud spate of gunfire piercing your eardrums and making you jump,  shrieking loudly as you’re killed in-game. Onscreen, your bloodied character rolls limply down the hill as “Better luck next time! #2/48” flashes on top of your game stats.

“Aw, second place, so close,” you hear Wonwoo say. Then he pauses. “Wait. Was I not muted just now?”

“Wonwoo, I’m going downstairs,” you tell him.

“Wait–” his voice is tight and panicked, but you’re already tugging your headset off and grabbing your keys.

You nearly avoid tripping over your feet as you run to the stairwell at the end of the hall and fly down the two flights of stairs, to where Wonwoo is. By the time you’re banging at their door, you’re out of breath and flushed. You’re not sure if the pounding of your heart is from the exertion or if it’s from something else. Anxiety, maybe. Fear. Exhilaration.

Wonwoo answers the door. He looks exactly like you’d expect, with his rumpled tee shirt and sweatpants and bare feet, his glasses on and his bangs pushed back with the bunny shower headband you bought for him last year.

“Hi,” you grin breathlessly at him.

“Hi,” he replies.

“Can I come in?”

He takes a deep breath, like he’s steeling his nerves. “Yeah.” He opens the door wider and steps aside to let you in, and you follow Wonwoo to his room.

It’s dimly lit with the rainbow glow of his gaming setup and the ready screen for PUBG still up on one of his monitors. Wonwoo flicks on the overhead light, which throws the room into sharp relief. The sudden brightness makes everything feel more real, somehow. 

You sit on the edge of Wonwoo’s bed and pat the spot net to you, which he takes. “Wonwoo,” you say.

Wonwoo purses his lips. “How much of that did you hear earlier?”

“All of it,” you chew the inside of your cheek, drumming your fingers against the bedspread. 

“I’m sorry,” he blurts out. “You can pretend I didn’t say any of that.”

“Did you mean it?”

“Huh?” He stares at you with wide eyes.

“What you said earlier.” You pick at a loose thread poking from the hem of your shirt. “Did you mean it when you said you’re in love with me?”

He hesitates, frowning as a conflicted expression briefly flashes across his face, eyebrows drawing together. 

“Wonwoo?” You call his name gently to get his attention. “I’m in love with you too, Wonwoo.”

“I–what?” Wonwoo looks at you like you’ve brown another head. “But, you...  Mingyu?”

You furrow your brows at him. “Mingyu? Didn’t I tell you? We were just faking so he could win that Greek God competition and get free parking next semester.”

“Wait,” he sputters, “so all of that was fake? You were just pretending to be in a relationship?”

“Yeah. I don’t care about Mingyu, I have feelings for you, Wonwoo.”

“You.” Wonwoo takes a deep breath. “You didn’t tell me.”

“I did!” You widen your eyes, adamant. “At karaoke back in October. You, me, Minghao, and Junhui?” It had been after a particularly grueling set of midterms, and the four of you had gone out for some korean barbeque, followed by boba and an extended noraebang session. While Junhui was crooning to an old Cantonese ballad, you were squished on a couch with Minghao and Wonwoo, and the three of you were talking idly about Junhui’s most recent date.

It’s funny, you remember turning and mumbling to Wonwoo, did I ever tell you that Mingyu and I are faking our whole relationship for clout? But Wonwoo hadn’t responded, so you assumed that he didn’t care. Now, it’s looking more like he didn’t even hear you.

“I was asleep,” Wonwoo states in flat disbelief.

“You were asleep,” you repeat slowly.

“It was dark and I was tired. You didn’t notice that I passed out as soon as we dimmed the lights?” He raises his eyebrows as he defends himself, and you bury your face in your hands.

Click. The pieces are all falling in place.

“Wonwoo. I’m so dumb,” you moan. “I run the Ask Cherry column. All those messages from Junhui and Soonyoung. They were about you, weren’t they?”

“Messages? There were more after the first one?!”

“And they were about you being in love with me,” you recall. “This whole time, I thought you liked someone else. Someone who isn’t me.”

There’s a pause. You can hear the sound of Wonwoo’s PC whirring in the background. And then, Wonwoo starts laughing, choked and quiet at first, and then loud, incredulous, almost.

“God,” he gasps between laughs, “we’re both so, so stupid.” And then you’re laughing too.

In retrospect, it’s all ridiculous, this entire situation. You collapse back onto Wonwoo’s bed and laugh until your ribs hurt, and when you turn your head to the side, there’s Wonwoo laying beside you, glasses askew, grinning.

You giggle and reach out to straighten his glasses. “Hi,” you say to him.

“Hi,” he says back, getting up to lean on one elbow. “I’m in love with you, Y/N.”

You feel your smile widen so much, your cheeks hurt. “I’m in love with you, Jeon Wonwoo.”

He looks at you with so much fondness, it takes your breath away. It’s the way he’s always looked at you, you realize, since the two of you weren’t much more than a pair of kids.

“So, now what?”

“Hmm.” You pretend to think. “Can you kiss me about it, then?”

Wonwoo nods, and his hair flops over the bunny headband as he moves his head. “Yeah,” he says, “I think I can do that.”

.

.

.

(Afterwards, a lot less changes with your relationship with Wonwoo than you thought. After all, he was your best friend for much, much longer than he’s been your boyfriend. He still sends you cat videos at strange hours of the night, and he still sticks sullenly by your side during social outings. Friday nights are still game nights, of course, but now it’s mostly spent on your shared Stardew Valley co-op or cuddling in bed while playing Pokemon together. 

But one thing that changes is the kisses. You kiss Wonwoo whenever you can, because you have so much love to give him and not enough time in the day to tell him all the ways you love him. You try, though, to tell him every moment you can that he’s the cutest, smartest, sweetest, kindest, funniest boy in the world, and that he’s the best friend and boyfriend you could ever ask for.

Wonwoo has a harder time with his feelings, but you know, even without saying. It’s in the way that his fingers linger over your hand when he drops you off in front of your classroom, and the way he gives you first pick on all the best loot when you’re gaming together. And when it’s really late at night and the two of you are huddled under the blankets together, listening to the way your heartbeats collide, he whispers it too. “I love you.”

And, Minghao finally admits it. “Fine,” he grumbles reluctantly while the two of you are preparing the upcoming edition of Ask Cherry, “maybe you’re qualified to give love advice after all.”)

[trofysisters]

Чего хотят мужчины? Алене этого не понять, ведь она - умная, красивая, романтичная, а партнер всё ещё чем-то недоволен. (What do men want? Alena can't understand this, because she is smart, beautiful, romantic, and her partner is still dissatisfied with something)

Когда ей поступило предложение вступить в спортивный клуб, Алена восприняла это как знак судьбы. Она изменит себя ради любимого! (When she received an offer to join a sports club, Alena took it as a sign of fate. She will change herself for the sake of her beloved!)

Вот только нужен ли ей тот, кто ее не ценит? А рядом столько симпатичных свободных парней! (But does she need someone who doesn't appreciate her? And there are so many nice single guys around!)

Но и конкуренция высокая. На фоне подкачанных красоток она смотрится серой мышкой. (But the competition is also high. Against the background of pumped-up beauties, she looks like a gray mouse)

Свои чары Алена решила направить на милого застенчивого юношу по имени Итен. Не стоило это делать на беговой дорожке. (Alena decided to direct her charms at a cute, shy young man named Ethan. She shouldn't have done it on the treadmill)

Разбитый нос девушки юношу не смутил и на следующий день он пригласил Алену на фестиваль романтики. (The girl's broken nose did not bother the young man and the next day he invited Alena to a romance festival)

Ей казалось, что они оба испытывают удовлетворенность отношениями, но спросить совета у гуру любви было не лишним. Или лишним. Что значит: "Ваше время еще не вышло. Пока..."? Это намек? Я всё ловлю на лету, но не понятно, что конкретно она имела в виду. (It seemed to her that they were both satisfied with the relationship, but it was not a bad idea to ask the love guru for advice. Or bad idea. What does "Your time hasn't run out yet. Until…" mean? Is that a hint? I catch everything on the fly, but it's not clear what exactly she meant)

Алена в этот раз решила не форсировать отношения, чтобы ничего не испортить, но Итан сам проявил инициативу, пригласив ее на свидание. Однако выбор места был странным. Магазин одежды? Серьезно? Это намек? (Alena decided not to force the relationship this time, so as not to spoil anything, but Ethan himself took the initiative, inviting her on a date. However, the choice of location was strange. A clothing store? Seriously? Is this a hint?)

Звонок бывшего возлюбленного о том, что ему нравится другая, всё решил. Девушка отбросила все сомнения и отдалась чувствам. (A call from her ex-lover about how he liked someone else decided everything. The girl cast aside all doubts and gave in to her feelings)

Когда везет в любви, то не везет в чем-то другом. Короткое замыкание в квартире и попытка починить технику привели к осознанию, что не женское это дело, и жизнь коротка. (When you're lucky in love, you're unlucky in something else. A short circuit in the apartment and an attempt to fix the equipment led to the realization that this is not a woman's business, and life is short)

[the-badger-mole]

If you could talk to Aang what would you tell him? What advice would you give him?

Don't date until you've seen a therapist...or gone back to Guru Pathik I guess. Everyone grieves differently, but if the only way you know how to deal with grief...or anger...or jealousy is to go into a superpowered rage out, that's not healthy. Not for you. Not for any potential romantic partner.

Also, calling Katara sweetie all the time is really gross, and I want to hit you. I wouldn't, though...because I've done the work in therapy so my anger doesn't lead to superpowered violence.

[daphnedauphinoise]

I just don't even think 20 something year olds can ever be 'femme fatale', that confidence girls try to achieve doesn't come through a winged eyeliner, that's experience and age. I have never looked at any 20 and most certainly a teenager and thought 'yeah you are a femme fatale'. It is not a title you give yourself, it is a legacy that you earn. You can't get it from positioning your body in a certain way in a certain black dress in a certain eyeliner in a cloud of Posion by Dior. If you sit back and look through all the femme fatales through history, they were mature by the time they got the title. So it is funny all these bullshit that people contionusly perpetuate and for what, I don't even know. It is even more baffling that there is this whole 'aesthetic' attached when the femme fatales of real life come in everything and anything. I finally understood this year that what poeple are selling is just insecurity and frankly, I don't want to listen to life or levelling advice from people who will be a caricature of anything over being themselves.

A big realisation for me has been that I can't do that aloof and deatched attitude; and I don't think it is ever meant to be sustained either. Sure, I can look the part but the bit where these 'grurus' talk about being this cold hearted bitch to everyone, I just can't do. Not that I am this walking talking ray of sushine but why would I go out my way to rude to everyone ? Like being a crass witch to people doesn't really get you anywhere so why are these 'gurus' promoting this? Reputation is hard to build and easy to crumble, you are just holding a cocked gun to your head when you are class a bitch to everyone. People can see right through your dark psychology 101 tactics on them and they don't appreciate that. I know girls who hold that 'men are trash and they deserve the worst' mentality throughout everything and well, the men they get are the type of men I would not even consider dating let alone marrying. That sort of misery is not for me.

[rainstormess]

Rex tries to communicate with Zach, and Ben is helping his lost child (bros)

In Rex's mind: Zach has such a beautiful hairstyle, I want to touch his hair... (He screams inside himself) I wish I had your fucking confidence. (Doesn't really listen to Ben)

Ben (Relationship guru in Rex's eyes) Just get Zack's number, ask him out on a date, give him a compliment (Generally insecure when it comes to confessing love, but gives advice)

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Empath Reader who can't turn it off and is 100% with all the teen relationship drama but is sadly forced to know all of it.

They are constantly sleeping cause it's the only time they don't have everyone's emotions hitting them at once. They aren't grouchy about it, just eepy. So very eepy.

At school, Reader gets a reputation as the greatest advice giver and, more importantly, match-maker. You come to them with a problem in any relationship, and they will already know about it and have a plan to fix it.

Every couple they put together are still together and everyone wants to be matched by them. Just don't ask for someone specific if ur not prepared for complete honesty on why that it wouldn't work. If the cute girl in English don't like you, she don't like you and it isn't Reader's fault they have to tell you that.

One couple offered to set them up with someone as a thank you, and Reader looked like they just sneezed in their face. They only accept cash or snacks.

They heavily disapprove of Jean and Duncan's relationship and expressed this when they first started dating. They have felt Duncan's possessiveness, anger, greed, and disgusting lust for Jean, but never love or even just like for her. They have also felt only neutrality on Jean's end, so they can't understand why she stays with him. They don't lecture or hound Jean about it, but she does get disapproving stares whenever she leaves for a date. ( When they break up, Reader gets her a "congrats on not being a trophy girlfriend" cake and starts trying to set up her and Scott.)

Contrary wise, Reader supports Kitty and Lance together. Lance regularly gets the crap scared out of him because Reader keeps jumpscaring him when he's alone to give him advice, like what to get her for her birthday when he was brooding on if he should get her anything at all.

It's not just romantic relationships Reader helps with. They were with Rogue and Kurt every step of the way when dealing with feelings on their mom. Peter and Wanda have talked to them about their dad. They have explained to the New Mutants why Logan is so angry with them when they do something stupid. X-23 finds a comforting shoulder to cry on one day with no judgment. They even give advice to Gambit or Piotr mid-battle. ( Most of the villains are reluctant to fight Reader at this point. It feels like punching their therapist.)

Reader does feel the yans' overprotective feelings and strong familial love for them, but since they can't read exact thoughts, they are not aware of just how dark and deep these feelings go. The yans are luckily in this cause if Reader did, they would be running for the hills. Now they are just happy that everyone cares about them so much and considers them family. They know their mutation isn't useful in a fight, so it's sweet how worried they all get. ( They call Charles "Grandpa" and Storm "Mom," and suddenly, everyone is crying. They have a family. They never had a family.)

If Reader had an empath mutation, everyone, and I mean everyone, comes to them for advice. The school sees them as some relationship or romance guru, the X-Teens and Brotherhood teens come to them with their woes and problems, amd Reader is able to genuinely say what the problem is, how to try and fix it, or I'd it just won't work out. It's scary, how accurate they are, but everyone wants to know how to find love or improve their familial or friendly or romantic relations, and Reader is willing to offer a helping hand.

When Jean and Duncan are together, Reader looks like they just saw someone take a cr*p on their rug, and they always look to be in disgust or one step away from either throwing up or tackling Duncan down the stairs. When Jean finally breaks up with him, Reader throws her a party, complete with a "Good for you! Glad you dumped his *ss!" cake, a few party games like "beat the ex-shaped pinata", "relationship goals bingo", and "affirmations that you're great" guessing game! (The cake tastes great, and in a week or two Scott and Jean are together, and Reader then throws a "about time y'all did this!" party).

They help Pietro and Wanda talk about their emotions and their feelings about their dad. Reader let's them know it's healthy to get it all out, it's good to be honest with yourself, and if their dad doesn't start trying to parent them more and be more involved, Reader will start asking Xavier to pine over some other villainous guy. Reader even has a five minute talk with Magneto on the fact his kids did want him in their lives, they did love him, but if he doesn't start trying to be there for them now, they won't for much longer. They say it's not easy to be so worried for everyone, but he should be there for the ones who are his family, his kids (and Charles, hint hint, just make up already, please, it'll save everyone so much trouble-).

When Kurt and Rogue discover they're siblings, Reader holds daily sessions with both of them to try and figure out how to process their newfound familial emotions, how to bond and grow closer, and that their mother does love them, but it's not their fault she has made mistakes and it's not their job to fix it. Readrler bakes them cookies, they set up small coffee or movie dates (platonic), and push them toward talking with Scott about siblings (yes, Scott can be a big brother or a really good friend for them, Reader thinks it's good for them all).

Reader gives Lance date advice, and walks him through what not to do as well. Give Kitty a heart shaped rock, he loves rocks and Kitty will appreciate the sweet, genuine gesture. Go take her to a cafe, there's a new one she wanted to go and he likes sweets, so that place is perfect. Don't try and drop a building on your crush, that's a no-no. Don't force her to do anything, it will scare her and it will make everything rotten. Compliment her, her clothes or her hair or her eyes or her choice of reading, make sure to be honest, too. Reader let's Kitty know Lance is trying his hardest, but if he starts acting like an idiot, she can and should walk out if it gets to be bad or becomes dangerous. (Lance leaves a whole box full of heart-shaped rocks for Kitty, some painted, some plain, and a few that are glittery or shiny, and next thing you know, they're going on a movie date-).

When Laura shows up, Reader does their best to guide her through her anger and frustration and sorrow, telling her she's allowed to feel that way, she deserved so much better, it's not her fault it was never her fault, yes Logan loves her, very much so, no one wants her to leave- (Laura gets hugged by them, given a stuffed animal, and given a piece of candy. She likes them).

The Brotherhood and Acolytes don't really want to fight Reader or kidnap them or knock them out, because- well, Reader is like, their therapists, or emotional support person, or their intuitive friend. It would be like punching an emotional support animal or a life counselor, which is, well, kinda bad if they're on your side! Gambit loves hearing their ideas on how to show his genuine interest in Rogue, Piotr enjoys hearing them say he isn't bad, he's being very caring for his family, and Pyro and Sabretooth tend to leave them alone (it wouldn't do to get rid of their favorite emotional support child, look at them, they're nice, and haven't been scared off quite yet).

Reader wants to help everyone they can, they try to, but even they know not everyone wants their help or will take it seriously. They struggle with their own emotions sometimes, trying not to force anyone to feel their own fear or worry or anxiety or anger, wanting to appear put together and unshaken... But it's so hard, when they feel everyone's emotions every waking moment, no matter where or who it's coming from, and it's exhausting and a bit intense. Reader sleeps so much because their powers don't really shut off, ever, and they're constant feeling what others feel and holding back so no one feels what they feel. They love their friends, and they know they love them back. They just don't know how deep it truly goes... And Reader is so glad to have a family, even if they won't say it in fear it isn't true...

(Woo! This was fun, @sugar-soda ! Which possible mutation did you want to explore next! Imagine if some of the yans get heart eyes around empath Reader! That would be cute!)

[universallydestinytaco]

NAME A BITCH BADDER THAN PIM PIMLING ✨💋👑❤️‍🔥💫👠 (AU Sneak Peek!)

I figured that I’d quit being so stingy and give you all a taste of one of the next fanfics I’ve been cooking up! ✨

Drag Queen!Pim aka Serenity Amalthea just-so happens to be one of the most popular and beloved creators online, alongside his fellow creators Let’s Player!Charlie (who has NO idea Pim is Serenity), Movie Critic!Alan, Indie Animator!Glep (plus his gorgeous wife, VA!Marge), his UFO buddies and his content house roommates Beauty Guru!Zoey and Let’s Player/Cosplayer!Jennifer.

Things take a turn for the messy one night when Pim (as Serenity) is hired to perform at his sister Amy’s wedding, taking place at a luxurious hotel. Amy eventually finds out her favorite influencer is her twerpy baby brother who SOMEHOW got way more popular than she has and angrily confronts him over it. Pim, during a nervous breakdown, has too many drinks and makes a newsworthy spectacle out of himself to the point where the cops (+ the paparazzi) find him swinging on a chandelier and causing a laugh riot amongst guests. Naturally the event becomes a meme (“The Drag Queen Who Went Rogue”) and Charlie ruthlessly mocks the event on his stream….this unfortunately fuels a flame war between their respective fanbases to the point where the two creators start getting harassed on a daily basis, Not helping matters is Zoey just started dating Charlie and she finds half of her fan base begging her to dump him already (plus Pim is super jealous because he harbors a crush on peep man).

Amy uses this as an opportunity to blackmail Pim into revealing his identity as Serenity unless she gets to join his content house, where she stirs up drama between everyone (and then some), by spreading enough vicious rumors to start a tabloid site! One of which torpedoes Charlie’s reputation and causes almost everyone, including Zoey, to be alienated from him to which Pim/Serenity’s fans have a field day.

Naturally Pim is feeling super vulnerable with all the never ending drama AND feeling a little guilty/selfish being closer to a Charlie than ever before during the latter’s downward spiral, so he gets advice from a beloved motivational lifestyle influencer who goes by Brittany (totally not a demon here!…?), who gives Pim the courage to take control and stand up for himself…as well as some freaky new powers like telekinesis, mind reading, flight and an insatiable taste for dishing out some ice-cold justice/revenge for the man he loves.

Buckle up, you basic bitches, there’s a new sheriff in town! 👑 All hail Serenity Amalthea. ✨

[simslegacy5083]

NSB (Straud Legacy) Gen 9 Ep 99: A Little Love Day Assist

Luigi was still anxiously awaiting Peachy’s call the day before the Love Day that he had promised Noemi would be especially memorable.

He was starting to consider what kind of amateur romantic proposal he could whip up himself at the last minute when his father finally let him know that everything was ready for them in Oasis Springs. He’d really expected someplace more like Tartosa, well known for its romantic atmosphere, but he trusted whatever love guru his dad had consulted and gratefully agreed to bring Noemi there after classes the following day.

Usually this close to a big game Luigi wouldn’t miss practice with his team, but his fiery co-captain had pushed him to take the night off.

“Your highness has an heir on the way! You need to stock up on fun times and goodwill with your lady now, while you have the time and energy!”

Luigi smiled. “Is that the wisdom of a new father, or a cry for help? I’m happy to cover so you can have a night off with Bruce and Brianne sometime.”

Beau laughed in response. “Yes, yes, and yes! But right now, let’s talk early morning Love Day gift strategy.” His advice helped Luigi be ready with a novel to give Noemi after she surprised him with a beautiful card the next morning, starting their grand holiday adventure off right.

When the couple got to Oasis Springs that evening, they found Peachy and his “twin” waiting for them.

Luigi gave his dad a big hug as a thank you for helping him out while Noemi reintroduced herself to August. With a sly smile Peachy told him “I’m not the only one you’re going to need to thank son” before directing him to talk to his uncle to receive the couples first gift of the evening.

August’s contribution turned out to be a batch of Plentiful Needs potions, to help the pair enjoy the truly epic night to come without fatigue. There were four in total, and August suggested they set the extras aside for some later date when they needed the pick me up to deal with the baby.

Their first romantic stop of the evening was a couple's massage courtesy of the secret mastermind of this Love Day extravaganza, Grandpa Steven, and his twin, Luigi’s Great Uncle Spencer. Death had not dulled the brothers' skills in the slightest and their charges were feeling fantastic in no time.

Noemi opted for a foot massage to soothe feet swollen and sore from carrying their “big boy” with her everywhere while Luigi went with a hand massage to work out the kinks caused by long evenings on the SimScuffle “playing field”.

The couple thanked their caring elders before they moved on towards a horse and carriage just peeking through the trees at the edge of the park.

As they approached, they found Noemi’s parents waiting for them. Luigi was a bit worried after their last encounter with her mother, but Shannon seemed to be in a much better mood this time around. “I’ll be your chauffeur for the evening” she told him as Noemi hugged her dad hello.

Before Luigi and Gilbert helped the mom-to-be into the carriage she went over to greet their faithful steed. “Look at you! Not such a little guy anymore huh?” she murmured to Cheyenne, who had apparently been just a foal when she’d left home for university. Luigi had never seen her around horses prior to this, but it was obvious she had a big soft spot for the massive beasts, or at least this one.

Filing this new knowledge away for later the men got their lady safely settled in her chariot, where she snuggled into Luigi’s open arms with a contented sigh as her mother flicked the reins and started them on their way up into the hills.

By the time they arrived at their destination the sun was setting. They found another glowing ghost waiting for them at the entrance of a small cave.

Great-Grandma Daisy was a loner and didn’t come around to visit the homestead much, but like most of the family ghosts she had always liked Steven.

When she’d signed on to assist with his little plan, she had actually been the one to suggest the location for the outing. It was a good fit for both Luigi’s love of warm climates and Noemi’s anxiety when faced with crowds of unfamiliar sims (a struggle to which she could relate).

She introduced herself to the pair and explained that their final destination was a very special grotto she’d discovered as a young sim hundreds of years ago. After warning them to “be careful making any wishes at the well” she said their journey’s end awaited just inside.

Luigi was the first to step carefully into the dimly lit crystal cavern, reflecting on how lucky he was to have so many kind and supportive sims in his life. This date had far surpassed his expectations already and apparently it was only just beginning!

He had no idea what awaited them on the other side of the cave mouth, but something told him it would be truly magical.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[gurugirl]

The Man Next Door - A Sneak Peek

Note: I don't know when I'll be posting this short series but I do keep getting asks about it. This was an idea sent to me by @jdfan4life and while I do intend to finish it, I clearly have a bunch of other stuff I'm currently writing so it's not a priority. BUT I WILL FINISH IT! So, to tide you over here is a bit of a sneak peek below the pic. Enjoy! xoxo

Summary: Harry's your father's friend but he's also your best friend's dad so things are complicated.

Sorry guys, I don't even know if this is good. I wasn't sure what to pull for a sneak peek but this seems to tell a bit of the story without giving too much away. And as I've said before, I've only written about 10k words of the whole series so there's not a lot to share. Your feedback is welcome as always.

"Stop the elderly abuse. I'm fragile," Harry scoffs, his dimples making an appearance.

You both laugh as Harry keeps his hand over your wrist, holding your arm down by your side. Soon, your laughter dies down and you're both just sitting and staring at one another. This has happened before with you two but it's only happened a handful of times. And like every other time it's happened, you are interrupted.

"Morning..." you hear Robby's voice as he enters the kitchen. Harry releases your hand immediately and stands up to get a mug from the cupboard for his son.

Robby looks at you with squinty eyes and then at his dad. You shrug and continue to eat the last bit off your plate. Robby saw you two. He knew something was happening. He saw how you two were facing one another in silence. He saw how Harry was holding your arm down. He'd heard laughter as he left his bedroom so he knew that just before he saw the scene that there was something to laugh about. But by the time he got to you, you were both silent and staring at one another.

"How'd you sleep?" Harry asked Robby as he started the stove back up to make eggs for Robby.

"Fine. I'm not the one who drank too much last night. Surprised you're already awake in fact." Robby looked at you and sat down on the stool on the other side of you.

"I fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed. You on the other hand were up late flirting with Raul through text message." You laughed as you spoke.

Robby rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Just because you're not getting any doesn't mean you need to be jealous of me. I think we're gonna go out tonight actually."

You and Harry both stopped what you were doing and looked at Robby, speaking nearly simultaneously, "Really!?"

Robby looked at you and then at his dad with a furrowed brow, "What's with you two? I just saw you flirting and now you're speaking in synch with one another? Yes. I'm going on a date."

You looked at Harry and he gazed at you for a moment before clearing his throat, "Think you're seeing things, kid. I'm glad you're going on a date, though. It's good for you."

Robby sipped his coffee and shook his head, "I know. You should probably think about going on a date too, dad. You too." He looked at you and raised his brows.

"Why do I need to go on a date?" Harry turned around and brought a plate of eggs to Robby.

Robby sighed and looked at you before looking at his dad, "Cause I've literally never seen you go on a date, Dad. Her neither to be honest. You both should get out there, and find someone."

You breathe a laugh through your nose, "Oh, now you get one date, that you haven’t even gone on might I add, and you suddenly are the guru on love and relationships?"

"So?! Yeah, I haven't gone on the date yet, but it's still not bad advice, for you to go on a date. You and my dad should probably go together. It's obvious you both have the hots for each other. At least I know you like my dad and you’re fun to be around."

Tags: @michellekstyles @ssaama @sombrioinvernoemveneza @golden-hoax @a-strange-familiar @reveriehs @yousunshineyoutempter @the-gardener-31 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @swiftmendeshoran @luvonstyles @dancinsunflowerkiwi @tiaamberxx @lukesaprince @harrys-foxy @dirtytissuebox @closureesny @lhharrylilpumpkin @evelynlarue @chaptersleftunwritten @justlemmeadoreyou @harrysmimi @itsgigikay @angelbabyyy99 @lllukulele @lanadelharry @novasblogofstuff @gills-lounge @damnasstyles @malwtilda @theroosterswife24 @0oolookitsme

[maritessa]

I've been writing a lot of Persona 2 so I want to explain some of the character dynamics I have in my AU. I post my stories on my AO3 acc.

General:

AU where everyone met when they were kids but they were normal and no interference from any canon deity

Jun's parents never divorced so he's Jun Kashihara

Katsuya is still a cop

Jun and Tatsuya are dating

Maya and Katsuya are dating

Maya and Ulala are ex girlfriends but on good terms (wlw amirite//lh)

Eikichi and Miyabi are dating

Lisa is a lesbian (she doesn't know yet)

Chikarin has a thing for Lisa but she has no idea

Jun is close with all of the members of Gas Chamber

More info under the cut

TatsuJun

Dumbass couple. They're head over heels for each other but they're also teenagers. They get into a lot of petty fights. Their parents gave them their blessing but they have to consistently get good grades!

Jun and Eikichi

They run Kasugayama High! People don't really expect it but they're best friends. They're ALWAYS together and I'm pretty sure they share one braincell but the braincell is cut in half.

Jun's parents are actually Eikichi's biggest supporters and Eikichi's parents approve of Jun because of his grades. They sleep over at each other's places often.

KatsuMaya

Everyone's (love) gurus! Almost everyone asks them for advice and by them I mean Maya. Katsuya is also honestly as confused as everyone else but he's always down to help! He may get aggressive when it comes to Tatsuya though....

Maya is also there as the queer dictionary as she is bi. If you're questioning your sexuality, come see Maya-neesan! But only when she's at the Suou's house because her room probably has an undiscovered virus in there somewhere....

Jun and Lisa

They are the closest friends! Lisa's lesbian closet is so closed, she's not even aware she's in a closet. She recently got over Tatsuya and is very supportive of Jun. Jun is trying to help Lisa realize her sexuality but she's still trapped by the comphet. Maybe one day....

Tatsuya and Eikichi

They are rivals in almost everything but most importantly, Jun's attention! Eikichi is straight but he's Jun's best friend first before Tatsuya was even thinking about dating Jun! They get into silly competitions but it's mostly Eikichi competing (Jun fans the flames cause he thinks it's funny).

They're very close and the whole rivalry thing is a bit. Tatsuya gives Miyabi a ride on his bike when Eikichi isn't around to send her home.

[local-philocalist]

More posts!!!!

Hypergamy! Hypergamy! Let's talk about it

Hypergamy, noun: the action of marrying or forming a sexual relationship with a person of a superior sociological or educational background.

With the rise of relationship gurus and the decline of chivalry, hypergamy is making a comeback in modern dating in the West. Hypergamy was and is still a big part of many cultures, including my own. Despite being the oldest dating technique, hypergamy is mainly prominent within sex work nowadays, and many hypergamy advice and tactics you'll come across are from sex workers.

Dating and marrying for love is a more recent and progressive ideology. For thousands of years, marriage for women has been about stability, but society continues to show that it is still about stability. Women's standing in society is still not as equal as many would like to believe. Men still hold the majority of power and receive better financial opportunities despite how far we've come over the decades.

So, if you've found yourself down the rabbit hole of hypergamyblr and generally the hypergamy subculture, welcome! And if you're interested in partaking, I only have one piece of advice for you, get your self-worth and self-esteem up. Dating men of a higher standing than yourself, especially financially, opens the door to financial abuse and other mistreatment if you do not respect or hold yourself in high regard.

High self-esteem does a lot; it allows you to have better standards for yourself, which results in a higher chance of a healthier relationship and securing a good partner. If you still find yourself in a vulnerable place and very insecure, I advise you to take time to date yourself rather than others and focus on building your self-image and confidence.

That's all for now! I may make a part two to give tips and advice on hypergamous dating.

- Sol

[venusianc0mplex]

Children of Dionysus

Children of Dionysus are lovers of all enjoyments in life, they love to enjoy an amazing meal with their friends and family and indulge themselves in all types of festivities. They are hedonistic, friendly, and kind by nature. However, just like their spiritual dad, there’s a dualistic nature to their essence. As fast as they are able to show you love and generosity, that can also be taken away after one wrong sentence was uttered in front of them. Their inner anger tends to scale with the amount of kindness they show people. Children of Dionysus are incredibly good friends to others and in turn, they are also extremely well-liked by people around them. 

Below are the gifts and challenges in the life of a child of Dionysus.

Gifts

1. Very friendly people who go with the flow and will get along with anyone

2. Incredibly giving friends, huge gift-givers and they gift without any expectations 

3. Very wise people who can gauge out the nature of a person very well

4. They value their family a LOT and they are very committed partners

5. They generally give out really good and very practical advice

6. Very smart businessmen, smart in the sense of they make you want to work with them

7. The gift of social popularity

8. They naturally know how to make someone feel seen and heard

9. They always know what to say and what not to say

10. Good tastes in food and art

11. Blessed with good looks

12. They tend to be very lucky career-wise

13. People grow loyal to them very fast

14. They can almost do almost anything career-wise and become successful in it

15. They are blessed with natural charisma

16. They are usually blessed with a supportive biological family, even if there are challenges within the family overall they still receive good support from them

17. Spiritually gifted 

18. They tend to have very good intuition when it comes to people 

19. Tons of romantic and physical rizzzz, rizz for daysssssss

20. Very good at gauging out social boundaries

21. They usually have some kind of very obvious privilege in life, whether its nepotism or pretty privilege

22. Funny as FUCK, and can take a good joke

23. Very gifted psychologists

Common Themes in the Life of a Child of Dionysus

1. Extremely sapiosexual

2. They tend to stick to one partner for a very long time

3. They are extremely generous providers

4. They only speak their true opinion on people to those that are closest to them

5. They always know their boundaries

6. They love being the advisor/guru in any kind of relationship (friendship/romantic/etc)

7. They tend to be very materialistic but not in an icky way

8. They love the finer things in life

9. They usually have a good work-life balance

10. They really know how to enjoy life 

11. They love pretty people

12. They are usually huge foodies and have expensive tastes in food

13. They are not the hardest workers they prefer to socially climb to have an easier life

14. They usually have prominent sidereal Jupiter sign or Nakshatras in their chart (Vedic astrology)

15. Extremely Jupiterian by nature

16. They don’t like it when people dismiss their advice or made to feel like their advice ain’t needed

17. They LOVE traveling and learning about foreign cultures

18. Very likely to date foreigners and indulge in foreign cultures

19. Either spiritual or very knowledgeable when it comes to spirituality and religion

20. Very philosophical people

21. They know how to soothe people very well

22. They see through the root of the issue very easily

23. They will always walk away from something unfair

24. They are not likely to make up with someone after a really bad argument

25. They will walk away from someone if they heard something they don’t like to hear

26. Judgmental but it’s not always bad

27. They find some kind of food/people/hobby they like and stick to it for a very long time

Challenges of a Dionysian Child

1. Quick to shut someone off if they didn’t leave a good first impression

2. Can sound too harsh to the wrong people or at the wrong time and in-turn their relationship sour even if the Dionysian kid had good intentions

3. Sometimes they are too stubborn about their opinions 

4. They lowkey get very angry if someone talks back while they are giving a piece of advice, or if they feel like their wisdom is not valued

5. They can go overboard with surrounding themselves with yes-men

6. They are pretty unforgiving if you had a fight with them and they established some negative opinion about you

7. They don’t realize how unfair their opinion of someone is 

8. Not very sympathetic or understanding of the hardships of underprivileged people face

9. Sometimes they care too much about their status 

10. They are not very open to making up with someone even if they were the ones at fault

11. Overly generous to their own detriment

12. Too prideful when it comes to what’s “right” and what’s “wrong”

13. They tend to have a hard time spotting and/or admitting their own problems

14. They can be too headstrong to see perspectives outside of their own

15. They usually need a pointer from someone who can talk really nicely to them, like protect their ego while pointing them to the truth

16. They can be very particular 

17. They are prone to bringing problems they have in their personal lives into their workplace because they don’t want to express their negative feelings to their partner

18. They can be bad at communication when it comes to their interpersonal relationships, they don’t want to tell their partners all the trouble they are having and they don’t want to spill too much of their negative emotions to their partner

19. Prone to being too critical to people that don’t deserve to be talked to in such a manner

20. Their anger can go from 0 to a thousand in the snap of a finger 

21. Not the most understanding bosses

22. Can be lowkey too bossy

Above is a rough description of the children of Dionysus in the modern days, feel free to ask me any questions whether it's about spirituality, religion, tarot, or astrology!

Disclaimer: Everything written above stemmed from my own observations, I'm not claiming to be 100% accurate on everything