#EVEN THOUGH I LOVE MY OCS AND THE BACKSTORIES AND EVERYTHING
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outguilt · 1 year ago
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do y'all ever get anxious about your oc
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demaparbat-hp · 28 days ago
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“Zuko?” Ming searched for the Prince in his silence. He was staring intently out of the window, mouth blown wide open, eyes distant and awed and sincere. Oh. His whisper was a fragile, breathless thing.
“We're here.”
Ming’s doubts and concerns are hers alone, but that doesn't mean the rest of the Crew doesn't share them. This sudden mission, Zuko's change in attitude, his obsession with the Water Tribes...
Ming tries to discover the root of it all in For the Spirits Chapter VIII: Make You Stay, but will Zuko let her in?
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skunkes · 1 year ago
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might sound weird to say as a person with a couple ocs who have Big Horrible Event(s) in their backstories or as a person who has like 3 ocs total bc he sucks at writing and as a person who hopes their ocs arent too Boring with [the thing im about to mention] but the thing about writing [characters] and [people] is that like.
any little thing a person experiences can take up their whole existence... its actually something "fun" to experience as i meet new ppl and do more things. My friend had something happen that she'll be talking about forever. I had several things happen last year that ill never stop talking about, some of which other ppl think werent that bad actually. In the same way I'll forever remember about the way my sister accidentally insulted me almost 10 years ago, it's really interesting and Fun to find and assign smaller things like that to characters...its really Real. some people's dealbreakers are other people's solvable problems etc etc
#(as well as the opposite: Big Event that maybe shocks everyone around em but they genuinely werent shaken by)#though this one is more common and leads to those ''ohh i didnt know that was normal oops'' moments#talkys#inspired by recent me and friend events#and also recent events where i told sum ppl more stuff about Thing and they responded as if it wasnt a big deal. but it was to me.#and also how i thought a part of al's childhood backstory was kind of maybe dumb and not realistically as impactful as id expect#but i saw someone on reddit almost word for word write that as their experience and how its shaped em as a person#and thats it like... the small things are boring and hard to keep track of sometimes#its not like you'll include every single little event your oc was shaped by in their bio#but idk. its like Fun to piece together for fun. to mold a human being#ykwim? wld be silly to tell everyone ''oh my oc struggles with self image due to many instances like... when their sister called em ugly''#or write it anywhere but it is fun to Know and have in your head. and its real !#just like if a friend told you about something that happened to em#long post#delete later#sorry i keep saying stupid obvious shit lately ive always been bad at oc making AND socializing so im learning everything late#but anyway yes. idk even as i keep making ocs that are ''similar'' its like. every person so different#people can react to anything in any way for any reason. i love people#this is why i struggle a bit with keeping ocs to archetypes i guess bc like. what is ooc for an oc. people contain contradictions all the#time. you can change yourself at any time.#ok nobody will read this far so ill go to the real insane rambling#part of this has been a part of my chats with talon while trying to get him to share more info#like. yeah ok you're 400+ years old the things that happened to you were such a comparatively small part of your life#but humans dont live as long and think about small things until they die. i dont think time would heal all wounds actually. not all of em#some thoughts just always come to gnaw at your brain. its ok to not be over things. i feel ill never be over some things#and also complainerism can be fun but thats something else entirely wee hee ^_^
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louisoffline · 2 months ago
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FINALLY FINISHED THE REF SHEET PLUS OTHER DRAWINGS YAAYYY okay so i had the ref sheet done basically two days ago BUT i wanted to draw some more because my ref sheets look so......just stand there kinda scary so MORE ART !!! also skip if you are seeing this when i say our mcs twin bro......we are so mind connected with the skeleton sweaters my lord when i logged on and saw that both step 2 designs had them..........my goodness..i think we might just be the same person....
I want to try and flesh out relationships and dynamics more i think thats something i kind of struggle with with ocs so..that is what the rest of this post will be backstory, character traits, etc etc if you chose to read i will love you forever
Step 1: Gosh...I love making characters really reeaaallllyyy awkward and that's exactly what Lenae is. Her awkwardness is really just stemming from anxiety or nervousness. Qiu and her's dynamic is so sweet to me I love characters being to nervous to say things and then another saysit for them omg im weak yeah thats so them. Lenae and Tam on the other hand....it's not like Lenae doesn't liker her she knows she means well and is extremely sweet but Lenae just can't understand why she is so loud and energetic all the time, she finds it hard to keep up. She IS the sweetest kid you would ever come across though, she will do anything to see you smile. Her earmuffs are a constant, everyone else may think it's just a comfort thing but it is in fact a noise thing we just don't know that yet guys(undiagnosed autism is craayyy)
Step 2: Still being that same shy, sweet kid while looking emo AND TRANSGENDER?? not for the weak. Still shy and reserved maybe even more so but no one really expects anything else. I think meek is a very good descriptor, they get freaked so so easily like has never had a peaceful day in their life. However, Halloween IS their favorite time of the year, it's an aesthetics thing i guess. If you pass by Lenae in the halls you would probably think that they were on their last few threads of patience by the sour look on their face but no, they could be having the best day of their life with that face on. They found it tiring to keep that placid smile on their face all the time when it wasn't always real. In this stage Lenae has definitely started expierimenting with different art mediums like dabbling in painting, poetry, music, you name it. Qiu and Lenae are still the bestest friends ever(bestest crushes ever???) and it's actually kind of nice to have someone by your side who knows what you're going through with your gender identity struggle and everything. Lenae for sure feels bad for how they treated Tam just because they thought she was a little much, I mean it was kind of hypocritical, so they've been trying to make it up to her by being kind of everyly nice?? oh boy oh boy
Step 3: I really don't know a lot of what I could write for step 3 since like nothing of it is out in the actual game SO were just gonna go like personality kind of wise y'know? I think they've definitely mellowed out AT LEAST A LITTLE...like omg guys they can sometimes order for themselves at restaurants!! They're very opinionated and has a strong stance on what they believe but like not in a mean way they just don't understand why others would think differently. Building on their creative abilities, they probably have plans to go to a college for art or fashion. Or maybe they'll start their own business who knows! It's okay to not have everything planned out anymore, some spontaneity is welcome in their life. Now that they've finally been able to be more open, mainly around friends, they'll say something a little too...unsettling or freaky??? to be normal, it's a little weird to get used to oopsies
AND THATS ALL if you read all of this i appreciate you becasue this has been drafted up on my computer screen for multiple days I just did not know what to say siigghhh yeah i love this kid and I hope you guys do too teehee
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plumadot · 3 months ago
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Your art style has such a mochi texture to it I love it so much
Do you have any OCs you can show and maybe info dump about?
hi hi aaaa thank you and yes i'd love to talk about some of my children even though i actually suck at backstories and sometimes don't bother with them at all so i hope that's ok gkfjdkgjfd
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this is my baby rune they're lovely and round and they have many friends but their favourite friend is arden mmmmmmm rune is a little wizard who works hard but is a little bit dumb,,, they try to be very responsible but they're also naive and oblivious,,, which is why they have arden to help out because arden is the most protective and frankly untrusting person gkfdjkg like who hurt you. she's a cool ranger gal with a cool tattoo who lives in the woods and teaches rune about adventuring and fighting monsters and stuff. until she realizes that rune is not just a silly cutie but also really powerful and cool and she develops a big crush
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and i'm sorry to bring up my dnd character once more BUT I LOVE HER SHE'S MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER,,,,,, her name is roselle fayanna mistweaver and she's a proper little lady from a wealthy upper class family who was taught to be proper and good and skilled and quiet and happy all the time and- she's not that,,,,, her older sisters are good at everything and she's just... not. her parents weren't around much and she could feel their disappointment so much that she desperately looked for ways to prove herself,,,, and she found a dryad's magic and made a pact with her... elri gave her a way to make her drawings come to life with magic and roselle became a bard!!!!!! :D (not a warlock hehe. unless????) the magic is very weird and freaky though and sometimes weird shit happens. roselle ended up running away from home and she's now lost with an adventuring party in vampires and werewolves land. which SUCKS but!!!!! she can maybe find a way to be cool and useful for her new friends????? maybe????
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and and and idk if this counts but my sona has lore??? sorta??????? i'm slowly building/revealing it on my mc server gkfjkg and i hope it's not lame but. i might show some of the stuff i put into the world here if anyone's interested? :O for now all you gotta know is that they're mostly moss. and they don't know many things. but they have a lot of robot friends... just not many... living ones... until the other ant cats arrived on the server!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i don't do a lot of oc stuff anymore but i'm very passionate about the children i do have!!!!!! i'm sorry the backstories are so next to nothing but i hope this was at least a little interesting!!!!!!! :D <3
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catholicfacade · 4 days ago
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WIP PREVIEW
pairing: joost klein x f! reader, joost klein x f! OC
word count: 3,572
synopsis: Joost Klein accidentally meets the love of his life through a tik tok. Valentine. She’s his complete opposite; quiet, reserved, and a bit cold, whereas Joost is bright, bubbly, and extremely outgoing, almost obnoxiously so. But opposites attract and the art of balance is delicate. Getting to know each other without interference proves difficult at first, but the minute Joost and Valentine realize their pining is mutual it’s full speed ahead for the two of them. Like puzzle pieces, they become inseparable, fitted together like it’s always meant to be. Everyone around them is convinced no two people in the world love each other as much as Joost and Valentine do. But Joost’s growing fame sends him down an unexpected spiral, one Valentine is desperate to pull him out of. It changes everything. The two who were once attached at the hip learn to no longer even speak each others names, desperately still in love, but the damage is unbearable. If only the puzzle pieces can come together again to realize just how perfect they are for each other.
authors note: tagging this as both x reader and x OC because this is written in 3rd person POV, i find writing 2nd person difficult for me because i just tend to write “reader” as self-insert, and i know i am a VERY specific type of person 😅 soooooo lowkey self-ship??? but i think it’s best to just make reader an OC and you can simply swap out her name, pronouns, and traits for your own when it’s necessary. and so i would say Valentine [who i named after my own last name, this is just the name i use for ALL my protagonists in my writing actually😅], she’s implied to be autistic/neurodivergent and generally just socially awkward, quiet, introverted. again, self-insert. she is also goth. i always write protagonists with really heavy, angsty, traumatic backstories so i think that’s also why i turn readers into OC’s because i don’t want to force a traumatic past upon you as reader 😭 there is also “April”, who is a second OC i made for this series, she is Valentines best friend who owns her own alternative clothing company and is very important to the story along the way:))
content: RPF, awkwardness, slow burn, pining, yearning, hint of angst, mention alcohol consumption, masturbation, kissing, fantasizing
!!18+ & RPF, DO NOT REPOST OR INTERACT IF RPF MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE!!
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how it started:
At 12pm on the dot, two people walk in, Valentine greets them smiling, “Hallo! Hoe gaat het?” [Hello! How are you?] Her Dutch is limited but she tries her best.
“Hallo, is April hier?” [Hello, is April here?] The girl with dark curly hair asks as she approaches, she’s followed by what Valentine assumes to be her boyfriend.
“Nee, maar kan ik jullie helpen?” [No, but can I help you?] Val offers them a gentle smile, unsure if her Dutch is even grammatically correct or not.
“Oh-“ The girls eyebrows shoot up, “You’re Valentine, right?” She suddenly switches to English, Valentine is simultaneously embarrassed but also thankful for the switch.
A blush rises on her cheeks as she nods, “Yeah that’s me, sorry about my Dutch.” She waves her hand apologetically.
“I’m Alanis, and this is Apson.” Alanis smiles and holds her hand out and so does Apson. Val shakes their hands, “Nice to meet you guys, you wanted to film in the store right?”
“Ja, just a little skit about being emo. I wanna seem like a guy who is a total poser and then run out of the store crying when I get called out.” Apson said, maybe blushing a little from having to explain his stupid bit.
It made Valentine chuckle though, “Do whatever you gotta do, man! April told me you have permission from her already so you’re good to do your thing.”
“Thanks,” Apson and Alanis said in unison, which made them giggle at each other.
“Can I borrow some clothes?” Apson said looking around.
“Sure,” Val nodded, “Let me open the changing room for you.” She grabbed the keys and unlocked the changing room at the back of the store as Appie and Alanis brainstormed what the character should be wearing. They ended up picking out a stereotypical e-boy outfit, a black and white striped long-sleeve shirt, a Metallica t-shirt to go on top, some fingerless skeleton gloves, baggy Tripp pants, and a studded belt.
Appie went into the changing room a few minutes later to get ready, leaving Valentine and Alanis outside together.
“How long have you worked here? It feels weird we haven’t seen you around yet, we’re in here all the time it feels like.” Alanis asked, tilting her head slightly to examine Valentine.
“Not long, only a month now. I think we must’ve just narrowly avoided each other this whole time.” Valentine chuckles and Alanis nods in agreement.
“How long have you known April then?” Valentine asks Alanis.
“I got one piece of jewelry here like a year ago,” Alanis shows Val her gemstone necklace, “And now I get all my jewelry from here, look!” Alanis smiles, showing a few silver rings on her fingers and a beaded bracelet.
“Oh, is that moonstone?” Valentine asks excitedly.
“Yeah! Isn’t it so pretty?” Alanis moves the beads around so they flash their colors brightly in Valentines eyes.
“I love it, and it goes perfectly with your outfit!” She said and Alanis thanks her, “My favorite gemstone is—“
“Done!” Apson calls out suddenly, making both of the girls turn, he looks a bit ridiculous, but that’s the point. The pants are definitely a size too big and the belt definitely isn’t helping because they are practically hanging off of his body.
“Let me put some eyeshadow on you.” Alanis mumbles as she approaches Appie, she looks through her bag until she finds the small compact, taking it out to apply the black shadow loosely around Apson’s eyes. He ends up just looking more tired than emo, but again, it must be what works for the skit.
Val just watches from afar with an amused smile on her face, she likes them, Appie and Alanis, they seem like good people. There’s some footsteps behind her and she turns to see a few customers coming in, “Goedendag!” [Good day!] She greets them, they say it back before looking around at some of the shelves at the front of the store. Valentine returns to her earlier work, stitching by hand some stars onto the corner of a skirt.
“Okay, like this—“ Appie talks Alanis through the scene first, he’s speaking Dutch again so Val can’t pick up most of what he’s saying, he’s just gesturing for how and where Alanis should hold the camera when they go to film. He’s quietly rehearsing the lines with her when he perks up a bit, “Wait…Valentine?”
Val looks over at Appie, “Do you mind saying a line for the tik tok? Just the one about me being a poser?”
She grows a bit nervous, “Oh uhhh…I’m probably not very good at acting… I don’t really post on tik tok like that…” She rubs the back of her neck and looks between Apson and Alanis awkwardly.
“Don’t worry, you just gotta go like ‘ew, fucking poser’ and that’s it!” Apson gives the line a little scoff and a little attitude to it. He grins at her, clearly enthused with his new idea.
“Okay…” Val agrees weakly, coming around the counter to stand by Alanis’ side.
“Okay so like this,” Apson says, rerunning through his lines once more while Alanis practices getting the best angles for the tik tok, “And then camera turns, and you say…?”
Alanis turns the camera on Valentine, who scoffs while looking at Appie, “Such a fucking poser…” She says with all the vitriol she can muster.
“Perfect!” Appie shoots her two thumbs up as Alanis turns the camera back on him, “Then, I’ll begin to cry like this, wahhhh!” Appie cries exaggeratedly, then turns and takes a few steps towards the door. “Then I’ll run outside and that’s it, got it?”
“Got it.” Val and Alanis both say.
The three of them get into position, Appie with his back to the door, standing amongst all the clothes, Alanis starting the recording on her phone, and Valentine just off to side, waiting to deliver her line.
“Aaaaaand action!” Apson claps loudly. Alanis zooms in quickly to Appies face, he’s slouching, neck bent at an awkward angle to seem more depressed, the face he’s making makes him look dead inside, it’s exaggerated by the deep black makeup Alanis brushed around his eyes.
“Ik ben zooooo emo….” [I am soooo emo] Apson delivered the line as flatly as he could, adding a bit of a vocal fry to the ‘zoooo’. Alanis snaps the camera back to show his full outfit before zooming in on his face again for the next line, “Ik ben zoooooo depressief…” [I am sooo depressed]
Valentine held back her laughter, perhaps it wasn’t exactly her type of humor, but it was fun to watch!
Apson gave a big eyeroll to the camera, then looked into it, “Niemand zal mij ooit begrijpen…” [No one will ever understand me]
He suddenly grunts loudly, his expression growing more angry, “Ik zit de hele dag op mijn kamer naar muziek te luisteren, niemand begrijpt het!” [I sit in my room and listen to music all day, no one understands!] He yells.
The camera whips around to Valentine, she puts a disgusted look on her face and scoffs like she did the first time, “Such a fucking poser.” She shakes her head lightly.
Alanis whips the camera back around to Apson, he looks like he’s about to scream, “NEEEE!” He bursts into faux tears, and suddenly he turns to run out of the store. Alanis follows, and they pass the customers Valentine had completely forgotten were even in here! They seem completely and utterly confused and Val feels a little bad for them.
As Appie and Alanis cross the threshold onto the street, still filming, Appie still making wailing noises, he trips on his baggy pants and falls. Valentine gasps, Alanis keeps filming, and someone nearly hits Apson on the ground with their bike.
“Ik ben geen poser!” [I am not a poser!] Apson yells his final line, sobbing crying, clutching his elbow, and Alanis stops recording. She helps him up, they’re laughing as they walk back inside but it seems Appie actually got hurt.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” Valentine comes up to them, slightly stunned but also laughing.
“I’m okay,” Appie nods, then turns to the people at the front of the store who are just frozen in shock, “I’m okay!” He waves at them, and they slowly return to what they were looking at in abject horror.
“You’re bleeding a little,” Val frowns when she sees Apsons elbow, “Here, I’ve got a bandaid in my purse.” She moves over to the counter again, opening her bag and pulling out a bandaid for him.
Alanis takes it from her and opens it, “Thanks Valentine.” Appie says warmly.
“You’re welcome.” She smiles.
“I think I should pay for the shirt,” He says while wincing as Alanis applies the bandage to his broken skin, “Pretty sure I got blood on it.”
“Probably a good idea,” Valentine agrees, “April said you could film in the store, not bleed all over her products.”
“Want anything while we’re here, babe?” Apson asks Alanis, who brightens up immediately at the idea of getting herself a little something. “I’ll go get changed while you pick something out.” He says and walks into the changing room to get back into his clothes.
“Can I see your rings, please?” Alanis asks Valentine brightly.
“Of course!” She unlocks the jewelry case behind the counter and pulls out the rack of rings for Alanis to inspect. She picks up one and tries it on, examining her hand afterwards.
“So when will that video get posted?” Val asks.
“I think Appie will post it on Friday.” She studies the ring on her finger before putting it back and picking up another one. “We should be mutuals!”
“I’d like that,” Valentine grins at Alanis and pulls out her phone, opening tik tok and handing her phone to her. Alanis lets her follow both her and Apsons accounts, Val asks to be mutuals on instagram too.
“There!” Alanis says while handing Val’s phone back to her, “You can message me whenever you want to.”
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how it’s going:
The sun shines bright outside of Joosts window, he stirs back and forth for a few minutes before finally opening his eyes. The first thing he sees is his Stitch plushie sitting on the other side of the bed, staring at him. He reaches out and grabs it, bringing it to his chest and squeezes it in a bear hug.
“Goedenmorgen.” Joost grumbles while stretching, his head hurts slightly from a long night of drinking but mostly from the way the sun won’t leave his face.
He rolls over onto his back, picking up Stitch again, he stares at the plush toy for a while with his tired eyes, wondering if he’s weird for talking to it or cuddling with it every night. Wondering if that even matters at all. Wondering if it secretly means something about how lonely he is.
But Joost would do anything not to think about that subject, so he tosses Stitch aside and grabs his phone from the nightstand. It’s already passed 2pm and he’s missed at least 15 text messages between his friends.
Stuntje: “You coming out tonight again?” Stuntje: “Bro? U good?”
Tantu: “Beat coming along nicely👍” *1 image attatched*
Apson: “Made a banger post on tik tok! 😂” Apson: “Please leave me a like boys, I bled for this one! 💀” -tap to see more notifications-
Joost sighs through his nose, opening the tik tok app, his therapist has been trying to get him to stay off tik tok first thing in morning but he can’t help it, especially not when his best friend just posted. It’s also not technically morning anymore.
He watches the funny dog video that pops up on his FYP first, liking it and scrolling to the next video. It’s some level 99 brain-rot meme about skibbity rizz in Ohio, he chuckles and leaves a like before scrolling. The next video is an ad and he instantly scrolls. Apsons video finally pops up:
@ apsonarmy posted 1hr. tagged: @ v4lent1ne @ aprilsclosetNL
emos be like 😂💔💀🤘 #emo #poser 10k likes
202 comments
1k shares
There’s big text on the top of the screen that says “EMOS BE LIKE 🧛”, and there’s Apson, fully looking like an e-boy, pretending to be moody and mysterious.
“Ik ben zooooo emo….”
Joost smiles, immediately liking the post. He watches his friend act on screen as the video plays, chuckling as his friends line delivery keeps getting more and more over-the-top with each sentence. And then the camera pans and he sees this girl on screen, she’s wearing tight, leather, flared pants, a grommet belt with a silver star belt buckle, a cute little cropped graphic tee that shows off her midriff, and some silver chains hanging around her neck.
“Such a fucking poser.” She sneers, her voice ablaze with attitude.
Joosts eyebrows shoot up, she has the most beautifully sharp eyes he’s ever seen, and this head full of thick, fiery hair, glossy lips, and gorgeous makeup. She was undeniable, whoever she was. The type of beauty that would end up in every magazines “Top 100 Most Beautiful Women Of All Time” list—No, Top 50, maybe even Top 10. And yet as soon as she was on screen, she was off. The camera points back at Apson’s dramatic reaction. Joost watches as the chaos unfolds when Apson begins running, trips, falls, nearly gets hit by a bike, screams “no” while lying on the streets of Amsterdam, and clutches his bleeding arm.
The video loops…and Joost watches it again. And again. And again. He’s actually not sure how many times he lets it play before the low battery notification snaps him out of his daze. He quickly taps it away, using his thumb to scroll back to the part where the girl calls Appie a poser. He pauses the video when her face is fully in frame and clears the tik tok display. She was breathtaking—literally, Joost was unintentionally holding his breath. He sat there enamored for a while, then brought the display back, checking the “tagged” portion of the caption to see her there, @ v4lent1ne.
Joost clicks on her profile so fast, just to be severely let down when he sees she only has one video available on her profile. He reads her bio;
“Valentine, 27, Designer, Amsterdam.”
221 32 101 Following Followers Likes
Followed by a link to the April’s Closet website. She hadn’t bothered to link her instagram to her tik tok. He clicks on the video, it’s just a cute little tik tok of her lip syncing to Korn in a nice outfit and beautiful trad-goth makeup, the date says it’s almost a year old. She doesn’t seem to have as much of that spark within her as she did in Appies video, maybe it’s because she was just acting for that, but she looked thinner in this old tik tok, maybe more tired somehow. He scrolled away once it looped.
“Valentine…” Joost sighed out loud, letting the name roll off his tongue while admiring her in her tiny profile picture. He went back to Appie’s video and opened up the comments, typing out “I agree, bros not emo, bros a POSER 🤣😂👍🔥” He immediately liked his own comment upon sending it.
Joost realized it was suddenly stiflingly hot under his blanket and that damn sun was still shining brightly on his face. He tossed the blanket off of him, letting the cool air of his room hit his skin, he looked down and saw he was half hard. “Shit…” Joost groaned.
He hopped out of bed and headed into the bathroom, he caught his own gaze in the mirror, messy bedhead, stubble growing in, dirty blonde roots showing through his bleached hair. A mess. But nothing a good shave and shower couldn’t fix.
Joost turned the faucet on in the shower, letting the water run for a minute while stepping out of yesterday’s boxers. His cock sprung free, hanging somewhere between half limp and nearly hard. His pink tip was blushing at him, begging him to give it a little attention. It’s been a week since he last jerked off anyway, might as well take care of it, Joost thought as stepped under the warm water.
He let the water run down his body, rinsing away yesterday’s sweat from the bar, yesterday’s arguments with festival bookings, yesterday’s dull thoughts that kept him numb and unhappy. All that mattered right now was his pretty dick perking up under the warmth of the water and what he was going to do with it.
Joost ran his fingers through his pubic hair, scratching lighting at the forest of hair there, slowly moving down to squeeze it at the base. He had no intentions of teasing himself today, but he couldn’t think of anything worth fantasizing about just yet. Perhaps a familiar pair of lips came to mind but he quickly stubbed out that thought. Too fresh. It was one video. He shouldn’t.
But as Joost slowly pumped his fist around his length, his mind kept wandering back to those same features, he couldn’t help but picture her—Valentine, apparently—gazing at him, watching him jerk off. Her eyes squinted at him, watching him jerk his cock faster now at the thought of her, she’d sneer at him the same way she did in Appie’s video.
“What a loser…jerking off to some random girl you just found on the internet? Pathetic.” He pictured her saying.
Joost wondered what her skin would feel like, what her skin would smell like—he stopped touching himself and pumped some body wash into his hand and lathered it on his cock, careful not to get any inside. The smell was obviously familiar to him, masculine and clean and filled the steam around him with its scent. It would do for now. He could picture Valentine smelling like this as he closed his eyes. He pictured himself standing in front of her, nude, while she was in that same outfit from Appie’s tik tok. He approached her, towering over her, though he couldn’t possibly know how tall she is, he looked down at her and her eyes flicked to his lips.
It’s barely even a lewd fantasy but Joost is stroking himself so fucking fast to it, the soap forming slippery suds under his hand with every long pump he takes. He wants to lean in and kiss her neck, right against her pulse, fuck—he can feel his own pulse in his cock right now. Valentine’s would match his. He cups her jaw and sticks his thumb in her mouth, she gladly suckles on it, it makes him moan out loud, “Fuuuck-“
Valentine sinks, slowly, so slowly, to her knees and looks into Joosts eyes. Joost is massaging the head of his dick now, he’s so close to cumming, just needs a little more. In his mind she takes him into her soft hand, enjoying the weight and warmth of him in her palm. And finally, she leans in to capture his tip between her gorgeous lips. Those fucking lips. With that, Joost is moaning and stroking himself so fast he is coming undone. His white ropes hit the bottom of the shower and get slowly washed away into the drain. He fucks into his fist, mind erratically imagining Valentine in a number of situations as Joost cums. Rapid flashing of doggy style, cowgirl, her tits covered in his cum, she’s just as breathless and red in the face as he is!
He uses his other hand to prop himself up against the wall, panting as the last beads of cum roll down his reddened tip. Breathlessly, Joost returns to reality, he drops his cock from his hand and lets the water beat against body. He’s less tense that’s for sure, but there’s a weird sense of guilt about it, Joost promises himself to never fantasize about her again. And he doesn’t. At least not while jerking off.
The first few days after Appie posted the tik tok, Joost would sometimes go back and watch it, but after a week, he became too busy. He forced Valentine out of his head. The weird, unfinished picture of her he created would still materialize from time to time, but she altogether slipped from his mind as the weeks and even months had gone by.
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how its going to go:
“Fuck,” Joost pants looking down at V, her lips are swollen and wet with their combined spit as Joost had all but swallowed her whole, the flavor of her grape lip gloss coating his tongue. Joost’s cock twitches in his boxers, “You know, the first time I saw you in Appie’s video you gave me a boner?”
Val lets out a strained laugh from her breathlessness, “Really?” Her fingers reach up to trace his mustache, the pads of her fingers barely grazing the skin of his lips. It feels like the touch of an angel.
“Ja.” Joost nods, still staring, kissing at her fingertips.
A low, erotic hum emanates from her chest, “I guess it was meant to be then.”
Something flashes in Joosts eyes when she says that, something so deep, it was like watching his brain chemistry change in real time. “You were made for me…” He whispers before dipping his head into the crook of V’s neck and teething a hard bite into her soft skin.
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[more coming soon ◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜] -ego⋆♱✮
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i-drop-level-one-loot · 11 months ago
Note
Howdy, going through a phase with COD men (König my 6'10 BBG) and they would make such good Yandere husbands, would it be okay to request a Yandere military man who's completely delusional about a hostage he rescued? knife play and being stepped on with a tactical boot would be a bonus <3
btw the way you write dark content scratches such a specific itch and makes me want to wail, the yandere pirate story was *chef Kissssssss*
Honestly, the only thing I know about COD is that I kick ass at zombies lol so this is definitely just an oc
Yandere!Military Man x Hostage!Reader
CW: non-con, mention of death, assault, delusional ideation, dehumanizing language, dead dove
"Esteemed journalist (Reader L/N) has gone missing while covering the.."
The radio was drowned out by the vehicle hitting a rock, earning an aggravated groan from one of the men. Angrily, he slammed his fist on the dash board, as though he could intimidate the radio into working better. A couple of his brothers chuckled while the rookie squirmed nervously in his seat.
"Fucking, shit ass-" Adrian "Clank" Muigg muttered, quietly releasing a stream of curses in a very thick accent towards the machine.
(Most nicknames in the military were neither cool, nor had a badass backstory, most had fairly humorous or demeaning origins; Muigg, fresh out of boot camp, murdered an innocent television set in an attempt to fix it, which changed his name from "Big Bastard" to "Clank".)
The youngest man there prayed he wasn't visibly sweating. "Is everything alright, sir?"
Boston, the bushy browed man at the wheel, laughed with his entire chest. "That radio lady's talking 'bout the love of Clank's life!"
Clank felt the back of his neck heat up, and had to redirect his anger into tapping his foot to prevent himself from whacking Boston.
"I didn't know you had a partner?"
"He don't! HA! It's a one-sided, puppy love!" Boston joyfully mocked his best mate. "He's got that reporter-person's picture 'bove his bed, and has every article they've ever written. It's very sweet!"
Bright blue eyes warned Boston of the danger he was playing with, but Boston payed him no mind, causing more anxiety in the new recruit.
It was true, however, that Clank had a star struck crush on the journalist. They were brave in a way Clank hadn't seen before, the kind of bravery that made an unarmed civilian put their life in danger to expose the world to the horrors of war. This wasn't the first warzone (Reader) had willingly gone into, but it was the first time their mission overlapped with Clank's.
They were covering the battle Clank was involved in.
And it enraged him.
While their bravery is what initially drew him to them and their work, the longer he followed (Reader) the harder it got for him to read about the danger they got into. Weren't they fearful for their own life?? Why didn't they care for themselves as much as he cared for them??
The nearly six foot eight man had fantasized many times about what he would say and do if he got the opportunity to meet (Reader). He had an entire monologue prepared that exemplified his adoration for their work without ousting himself as a borderline obsessive fanboy.
However, that entire speech was forgotten when Clank burst into the room three hostages were being held in after killing the hostiles within the building, and found himself face to face with (Reader) in the flesh.
They stood defiantly, arms outstretched to protect the two other reporters behind them, not even wearing a bullet proof vest, ready to sacrifice themselves to save their coworkers.
Clank lowered his weapon, numbed by the sudden influx of confusing, and conflicting, emotions.
He was hurt, because he finally got to meet (Reader), and they were prepared for him to kill them.
He was enamored, because even with dirt clogging their pores, hair matted with sweat and drying blood, skin bruising and swollen, they were still the single most radiant being he had ever laid eyes upon.
And he was angry. Why wasn't (Reader) cowering like a good little civilian? Didn't they know that they could die? Why didn't they care about their life?
"I'm here to rescue you." Clank's voice was robotic, and unattached. It didn't feel like he was the one saying it, as the three frightened adults relaxed, scrambling over to his side. "Follow me."
He watched his object of affection as they obliviously helped lead the other two hostages down the stairs to the military vehicle. Their right eye was nearly swollen shut, but they were supporting a grown ass man with a slight limp. Clank imagined blowing the man's brains out.
As they made it down to where the group could see Clank's team, (Reader) released their friend and attempted to go back up the stairs. Still experiencing his out of body conundrum, Clank grabbed their arm forcefully, hard enough to earn a yelp from his favorite celebrity.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" He seethed, hissing the question between his clenched teeth to prevent himself from screaming it. The other two greedily ran outside to Boston's embrace, leaving them alone in the building.
"My footage, they kept it upstairs." Professional as always, the diligent champion of justice kept calm despite the feeling as though their arm would snap in Clank's fist.
"That is not important!"
"You don't know what I saw! It is, and I need the evidence, the proof, of what I saw!"
"Clank, where are you?" Boston's voice on Clank's radio distracted him enough for (Reader) to snake out of his grasp, bolting back up into the building.
"Shit-!" He pulled out his walkie as he ran up behind the surprisingly quick journalist. "Everything's good, I'll be down in a few minutes, start taking the others back."
"Uh, no? Excuse me-"
"That's an order."
"Clank-"
"I said; that's an order."
The violently pissed off man holstered his radio as he charged up the stairs three steps at a time.
His precious (Reader) had taken it too far this time.
Even if they didn't care about their own life, he cared. He loved them, adored them, worshipped them, so how fucking dare they continuously put their life in danger like this?
If they were to be wed one day, their life would be his. And that was downright disrespectful.
(Reader) could be heard rifling through cabinets and cupboards through the door of the first room on the floor above the one they were held prisoner on. Clank attempted to cool his rage before entering, wishing to not scare his future spouse again.
Glancing up only briefly, the adult of smaller stature offered a meak smile before going back to searching. "I'm sorry for that.. I don't mean to make your job difficult, but this is really important. We almost died for this footage; hell, LeDoux had his knee cracked open by one of those- his knee must be killing him."
-almost died-
-almost died-
Their words repeating in Clank's eardrums played over the exclamation of (Reader) finding their equipment. (Reader) almost died, for what? Nothing was more important than their life.
"I'm sorry?" Bloodshot eyes stared wide with confusion from under pursed eyebrows.
Without realizing it, Clank had spoken his thoughts out loud. But, perhaps this was for the best. They would have to learn the truth sooner or later. "Nothing is worth your life." He doubled down as he slowly approached (Reader).
It took a lot more energy forcing himself to smile than he wanted. Clank had never been so stressed or angry or conflicted in his entire life.
"That isn't for you to say." Sharp words responded with a huff, thrusting the camera into a duffel bag.
Clank released a humorless laugh. "You are like a small dog, aren't you, my dear?" His muscles were tensing under his uniform, and although (Reader) couldn't see it, they could feel the dangerous shift in his mannerisms. "You do not know of the danger you are in, so you bark loudly."
Although a pit of fear weighed down their stomach, the much weaker of the two hid it well, scoffing, and moving to stroll past Clank, praying that he was bluffing.
A harsh slap to their cheek confirmed that he was being serious, sending the already injured (Reader) to the floor.
Before they could scramble to their feet, a heavy, steel toed boot was placed firmly on their chest, pressing the air out of their lungs.
(Reader) could feel the blood rush to their head as they struggled to breath.
Clawing at Clank's shin and calf didn't move him.
"It is not your fault, that you are such a little dog. But, like all little dogs, you must be trained. Yes?"
Not a single word could be uttered. Black spots bounced around (Reader's) vision.
Clank eased up on the pressure just enough for oxygen to fill his love's deprived lungs. Between coughs and sputters, (Reader) only got out "Stop-" before his heel was digging into their sternum again.
"Tsk tsk tsk.. Now, I don't want to do this, but I have to. For us. So you must obey me, little puppy. Now, what do dogs say?"
(Reader) glared up at him in pain and hatred, sneering as angry tears welled up in their puffy eyes.
"Woof.." The pitiful bark was spat out.
"Ah ah ah." He wagged a finger at them in a chastising fashion. "Be nice, little puppy." His weight increased warningly, squeezing out a pained cry.
".. Woof."
Seeing the person Clank had loved for the past four years under his boot, writhing, flushed in the face, glistening eyes staring up at him and only him.. Clank could feel himself stiffening, and it disturbed him. Why did seeing his beloved cry in pain give him a hard on?
No, it is not because they are crying in pain.
Clank smiled, warping the situation to rationalize his hard cock pressing against his zipper. It was that they were being obedient for him.
Another cry rang out, louder this time, as Clank accidentally put too much weight on (Reader's) ribcage, lost in thought while admiring their pathetic face.
He got off, kneeling down so (Reader) wouldn't think about trying to get up. They got the message, and continued lying, grasping their chest and breathing raggedly.
"Good dog." Clank ran a hand through their hair. "You will listen to what I say, won't you?"
"Ye- ...woof." Their words quivered in shame.
"Good. Now, get on your knees."
(Reader) bit their tongue with how quickly their mouth clamped shut. It was humiliating, but their chest hurt so badly.. They rolled over, propping themselves up onto their hands and knees.
Their resolve to do as Clank said to avoid more pain was immediately forgotten when they felt his large hands tug at their pants.
"What are you doing?" They yelled in fright, whipping their head back to look at him before having their skull smashed into the floor, holding them down.
"Training, remember? For someone known for their intelligence, you sure are a moron. Bark, bitch."
Tears mixed in with snot, as (Reader) snarled "Fuck you!"
Clank removed his hand from their soft hair to firmly grasp their hips with both of his hands, pulling (Reader) onto his dick. "Incorrect."
"No!" (Reader) screamed, feeling Clank's bare member as it entered them painfully all in one thrust without lubrication. As they cried out, a slap to their ass rang out through the nearly empty room.
"What do dogs say?"
"Fuck you!" Another painful slap left a welt that would certainly bruise.
"You want to act like a bitch, putting your life in danger as though it doesn't matter, you're going to be treated like a bitch!" Clank raised his voice, terrifying his victim. "Now, what do dogs say?"
Slap!
"Woof.."
Slap!
"Woof! Woof! Bark!" They barked between viciously sobbing, heaving as he ravaged them from behind, fucking them so hard that their entire body rocked forward dangerously. The only reason why they hadn't fallen face first into the cement flooring was Clank's right hand digging painfully into their pelvis.
Whereas for (Reader) this was a nightmare, joy was already melting away Clank's anger.
"See, this will be better, for both of us. When we get back, you'll quit your job, and I can finally take care of you."
His thrusting became more passionate, and (Reader) could feel his precum as he began to slide in and out more easily. "I've dreamt of this for so long, and now I will finally be yours: whether as your husband or as your owner."
That triggered (Reader's) fight or fight response, realizing what Clank was implying. They attempted to throw themselves forward, to scramble away while he was still inside of them.
A strong arm caught (Reader) easily. Their spine was bent backwards, holding the attempted escapee in a head lock with a knife pressed to their throat as Clank continued stretching out their hole.
Despite their desperate pleas, their new fiance held (Reader) still on his cock as he released inside of them, going drunk on the way their walls felt clenching him as they milked him dry.
Eyes hazy with lust, he kissed their jaw, still keeping the knife held firmly against their neck just in case.
"Good dog."
A/N: I'm sorry it took so long! Thank you so much for your patience, I hope you like it ❤️
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wintaerbaer · 2 years ago
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things we don’t say: part 1 (kth)
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banner credit goes to the absolutely incredible @itaeewon
summary: Three years after graduating college, everything seems to be falling into place for you: stable job, cozy apartment, and a long-term boyfriend with a ring box hidden in his desk drawer. But when a mutual friend makes a remark that your best friend of nearly two decades is clearly in love with you, you realize that life may not be as simple as it seems.
pairing: Taehyung x Reader (with some VERY brief Seokjin x Reader and Yoongi x Reader)
rating: 18+ (minors dni)
genres: best friends to lovers, idiots to lovers (they’re so, SO stupid), slooooow burn, angst, fluff
word count: 8.4k
series warnings: swearing, sexual themes, one instance of mild violence, alcohol use, infidelity, brief mentions of neglectful parents and alcoholism
chapter warnings: potty mouths, oc teasingly threatens her friends, art world inaccuracies (probably, idk how art shows work), fns music festival dynamite performance taehyung (BLESSED), friends who can’t mind their own business, quick backstory on the aforementioned shitty parenting, oc needs (and has) a drink
a/n: so here is my first foray back into writing after being out of the game for several years! big shout outs to @itaeewon​ / @jeonqkooks​ for the banner and encouragement as well as @taegularities​ for giving me writing advice and letting me cry in her inbox every time i got frustrated with this. they’re also both INCREDIBLE writers so go show them some love once you’re done here!
 SERIES MASTERLIST // MASTERLIST
Read on ao3
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“She was checking you out.”
“She was not checking me out.”
“Kim Taehyung, she was so checking you out!”
“No.”
“She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave you the ‘come hither’ head tilt.”
Taehyung makes a face. “No one says that anymore, and that’s a perfectly normal gesture to make in everyday conversation.”
“When you want to get someone’s pants off.”
He shushes you, eyes flicking over to the nearby tables in the mostly-empty dining room with all of its dim lights and dark wood paneling. The bar had been a go-to for you and your friends in college, boasting a wide variety of burgers, sandwiches, and wraps that could even satisfy Jungkook and his bottomless appetite. Though your visits have become fewer and farther in between after graduation, nostalgia occasionally drags you back for a lunch or round of late-night drinks, which is how you’ve wound up here on a bright Saturday afternoon.
“You should ask for her number.”
“I am not asking her for her num—!”
“Can I get you anything?”
Taehyung’s face turns bright red as the waitress materializes at the side of your table as if on cue. It’s subtle, but she bats her eyelashes at him, body angled in his direction as if you’re not even there. You raise an eyebrow at him from across the table. See?
“I think we’re ready to order,” you say, mostly to put Taehyung out of his misery as he wordlessly stammers at the blonde.
You’d think he’s never seen a girl before in his life.
The waitress jots your orders down before strolling away in the direction of the kitchen, and you’d swear she’s swinging her hips a little more dramatically than before. You turn towards Taehyung.
“Told you.”
“I said no,” he says sheepishly, cheeks still brushed with pink. “Besides, she looks like she’s probably still in college.”
“You look like you’re probably still in college.” Taehyung rolls his eyes. “And we’re not that old, Tae. You could date a college student.”
“Pass.”
You sigh, leaning back in your seat. “Fine, but we still need to find you a date to the wedding. Can’t let those youthful good looks go to waste.”
Taehyung huffs in faux annoyance, but his lips quirk up at the compliment. “I’m not bringing a date.”
“So you say, but I’m going to change your mind.”
His smile widens. “Oh, really?”
“Really.” You hold out a pinky, and he only hesitates a moment before linking his with yours.
“Okay, we’ll see.”
You fall into one of your usual conversation patterns as you ask about how his job is going. He tells you about the upcoming art show at the gallery where he works as a curator, doing some freelance photography as a side gig. He’d managed to snag Maya, one of the aforementioned friends, a spot in it, and he smiles as he gushes over how great her pieces turned out, cheeks lightly flushed with what you interpret as pride. The two of them met freshman year as photography majors and quickly developed into friends and partners, challenging each other artistically and now occasionally teaming up to shoot larger weddings and events.
It makes pride warm your own belly, seeing him flourish and succeed in the field he had always dreamed of. Photography had been an outlet for him throughout high school, a vital reprieve from the insulated struggles of your shared childhood. Taehyung has never been a negative person, never weighed down in spite of the home life which would have given him every justifiable reason to become jaded. Still, you’d watched a new light bloom in him after he discovered photography as if the camera lens truly gave him a fresh way of seeing the world.
And you’ve always loved seeing happiness spill from your best friend.
Your food is just being brought to the table when Jimin comes shuffling up in a zombie-like trance, eyes wide and mouth slack.
"Finally made i—woah, are you alright?"
Jimin drops into a seat, glazed eyes fixated on the window overlooking the street.
"Maya and Kook are hooking up."
Taehyung chokes on his drink, water spraying onto his plate, while your jaw hits the floor.
"They're what?!"
"What the fuck?!"
Jimin works his jaw before wiping his hands over his face, "Yup."
You and Taehyung gape at him.
"What in the name of God would make you say that?" you ask emphatically, just as Taehyung says, "They hate each other."
"I don't know. Probably because I just caught her straddling him on our couch half-naked. But it’s just a feeling."
"Oh my God, we don't need to know that!"
"Our couch?!"
Jimin scrubs a hand over his face again as if he could wipe the image from his brain. “Yeah, I…can’t say I’m entirely surprised, but, Jesus, I did not need to see that with my own two eyes.”
“Okay, wait, wait,” you say, blinking rapidly in a futile attempt to clear your thoughts. “You’re sure it was Maya—not another one of his random hook-ups?”
“You think I don’t know what she looks like?” Jimin asks, pulling a face. “Look, she stopped by to grab some camera equipment Tae left for her and said she was going to hang around for a minute to wait for an Uber. I was already late for here so I left, but I forgot my wallet. When I went back they were…compromised. And I didn’t exactly stick around to interrogate them.” He frowns again, turning to Taehyung. “Speaking of, can you cover me for lunch?”
“This is unreal. Fucking unreal,” you fume. “I’m going to kill them.”
“Is it really all that surprising?” Jimin asks. “Somewhere in all of their bickering and nagging and constant frowning at each other was always some thinly-veiled sexual tension.” When you glare at him, he adds, “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t sleep with her.”
“That’s not the problem, Chim. You know how this shit goes.” You rub a thumb between your eyes, trying to ease the sudden tension there. “They already fight all the time, and sex only ever complicates things. How long until this blows up and we’re forced to choose sides?”
And that’s the crux of your worry—a disaster seems inevitable. Maya and Jungkook have always been clear about their bare tolerance of each other, seeing it as a necessary evil for the benefit of the rest of your friendships. And while their arguments and bickering have been relatively muted in recent years after you, Taehyung, and Jimin had put down a collective foot and told them you were tired of hearing their shit, you are not eager to see them test the fragile thread that links all of you.
You’ve dealt with enough instability regarding the people in your life; the last thing you need is more.
The waitress comes up to take Jimin’s order while Taehyung studies you as you press the heels of your palms to your eyes.
“Hey,” he says as the waitress walks off again, a hand sliding across the table in your direction but not quite making it there. “No one is getting divorced or anything. Just talk to Maya first. We really don’t even know what’s going on here.”
Jimin lets out a puff of air. “I do. He had his hand up her—” He shuts his mouth as both you and Taehyung shoot daggers at him.
After a moment, your fingers tap absent-mindedly over your phone. “Yeah, I guess I’ll talk to her tonight. We’re supposed to go dress shopping for the art show.”
“Gotta get something nice for Jace?” Jimin asks, wiggling an eyebrow. You smirk back at him.
“No, he can’t make it. Work has him putting in overtime like crazy for their annual convention in a few weeks.”
“How is he doing—Jace?” Taehyung asks. His tone is light, but as Jimin turns to look at him, he notices his hand on the table had closed into a fist.
“He’s good,” you say, the tension finally melting out of your face as your eyes light up. “He’s been incredibly upbeat lately, actually—more romantic even.” There’s a pause as you hesitate. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was going to…you know.” You wave faintly with your left hand.
Jimin’s eyes go wide. “You think he’s planning to pro—” You quickly press a finger over your lips, and Jimin slaps a hand to his thigh. “Fuck yes! About damn time. Hey,” he settles his face in his palm and stares off dreamily. “Can I be your maid of honor?” Then, when you giggle, “Don’t laugh. I would look great in a dress.”
“I’ll put you on the short list,” you say, turning towards your food as Jimin pumps a fist. “But no more talk about that. I’ve waited damn long enough and do not want to jinx it.”
Taehyung’s knuckles had gone white.
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“It’s really none of your business,” Maya says, picking up a bright purple, thigh-length dress off the rack and holding it up to her shoulders. “How about this one?”
“Too short.” She puts it back. “And I beg to differ. When something stands to get between two of my best friends who I care about deeply, I think that makes it my business.” When Maya doesn’t say anything, still nonchalantly flipping through dresses, you press on. “You know this can’t end well, right? You’re adding sex to an already volatile relationship, and I don’t like the idea of the friend group having to split if and when the two of you implode.”
“First of all, we’re not your damn parents. Kook may be a walking man child, but the rest of us are mature adults. We’d figure it out,” Maya says. She holds up a green gown, frowns, and returns it. Turning towards you, she quirks an eyebrow. “Second of all, who says that this morning was the first time?”
Your jaw drops. As you stand speechless, Maya resumes her dress perusal.
“Wha—how long?” you finally choke out.
“Ooh, this is pretty.” Maya pulls out a deep red cocktail dress, silver roses adorning the fabric. Catching the look on your face, she says, “Two years, give or take.”
“Two—!” you squeak before shaking your head. “No. No fucking way. You two can barely be in the same room for two minutes let alone sleep together for two years.”
Maya smirks. “Turns out he can do much better things with his mouth when he’s not using it to talk out of his ass.”
“Maya, oh my God!”
“What? You wanted to make it your business, right?”
You take a breath to steady yourself. “Look, I am just worried about you guys, okay? That’s it. You’re two of my best friends, and I don’t want to see anyone get hurt. And I certainly don’t want to be put into a situation where I have to choose between you.”
“That won’t happen,” Maya says, trailing off towards a dressing room. “For someone to get hurt, there’d have to be actual feelings involved, and the only feeling he gives me is a migraine.” She slips into a changing stall while you lean against the wall, still trying to wrap your head around what you’re hearing.
“Besides,” Maya’s voice sounded from behind the curtain, “Jimin only found out because of his stupid wallet, and he notices everything. If we could fool him for that long with no problems…” She pulls the curtain back. The red fabric of the dress hugs her hips, her dark hair draped over one shoulder. “How do I look?”
“Gorgeous, as usual,” you say. And then, because you can’t help it, “I’m sure Kook will love it.”
Maya rolls her eyes. “Oh, please.” She steps back into the stall and yanks the curtain closed again. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“I’m sorry. It’s just…weird.”
“It’s only weird if you make it weird,” Maya says over the shuffling of clothes. “Nothing changed during the two years when you guys didn’t know and nothing has to change now.”
Maybe she’s right, you think to yourself, resting your head back and closing your eyes to the bright fluorescents above you. Maybe everything would be fine. Jungkook, in spite of his cocky playboy persona, may be a big teddy bear at heart, but you’ve never known him to mix emotions with pleasure. And Maya is certainly capable of handling herself.
Still, the whole thing just reeks of disaster waiting to happen.
The sun has just started its descent when the two of you step out of the shop, Maya now carrying a long white bag along with her. You pause for a moment, taking a slow inhale of the soft spring air. This is probably your favorite time of day, when the whole city is tinted gold, the push of the foot traffic slowing to a lazier pace as college students and businessmen alike meander their way to dinners and evening plans.
“Do you want to do dinner at my place?” Maya asks, starting to move in the direction of her apartment as you trail at her side. “I was planning on trying this new pot roast recipe, and I’d rather not get stuck with too many leftovers.”
“Ooh, that sounds good,” you say. “I’m in.”
“You just have to promise to stop looking so constipated.”
You let out a puff of a laugh. “I’m sorry—I really don’t mean to meddle.” You purse your lips. “I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“I know, you said that already,” Maya sighs. “But we’re all grown-ups, Y/N. I know you mean well, but you’ve gotta loosen up the reins a little bit.”
“Whatever. As long as I don’t have to walk in on you guys like Jimin did.” You chew the inside of your cheek. “And just…be careful.”
Maya rolls her eyes for what feels like the hundredth time that day. She knows your heart is in a good place—the stereotypical “mom friend” just looking out for everyone—but your own blind spot drives her crazy.
You insist that you don’t truly mean to meddle. Maya, however, has no such qualms.
“You know,” she says, smirking at you with a sideways glance. “If you’re really worried about someone getting their heart broken, you should spend less time worrying about me and Kook and more time worrying about Tae.”
Your steps slow, frown lines gradually forming on your face. “Tae? What about Tae?” You pause. “He and Luna broke up months ago. He said he was over her.”
They were barely together a year, but the relationship had been the longest of Taehyung’s life. He’d spent the two weeks following the breakup locked in his room while you juggled both making sure he was alright and moving into a new apartment.
Maya gestures to the bag in her hands. “Don’t stop walking. This thing is a bitch to carry.”
As you jog a few steps to catch up, you ask, “Why? Did he say something to you?”
“Oh, please.” Another eyeroll. “He was never into Luna. It’s a wonder they even lasted as long as he did.”
“Then who?”
“C’mon, Y/N.”
“Maya, I genuinely have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.”
It’s Maya’s turn to stop in her tracks this time, passerby giving the two of you dirty looks as they swerve around you. She pins you with a pointed expression that has you blinking back at her. “What?”
Maya only continues to stare, tilting her head and biting her tongue until you finally put the pieces together. Your eyes going wide before you shake your head vigorously.
“No. No. You’re wrong.”
Maya scoffs and continues walking. “Uh-huh.”
“I’ve told you this before. We’re just comfortable with each other. He’s my—”
“Best friend who has made heart eyes at you the entire time I’ve known you two.”
“He does not. He looks at me like he’s always looked at me.”
“Exactly.”
“I—need I remind you that I’m in a committed relationship?”
“So? That doesn’t affect his feelings.”
“Tae has dated plenty of girls.”
“And with much success, obviously.”
You hesitate. “It’s not his fault that they all—”
“See how he looks at you and decide not to waste their time?”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Sure it is.”
“You’re misreading it. It’s just that we have history.”
“And chemistry. And while we’re rattling off school subjects the two of you share, I’m sure he’d be willing to help you with your physical education.”
“Maya.”
“I’m just saying!” She adjusts the bag, the plastic rustling the air. “I just got this sense that something, I don’t know, broke after Luna. I figured he finally realized how hung up on you he is or something, and that’s why he hasn’t dated since.”
The idea of a broken Taehyung squeezes your heart as your frown impossibly deepens. “That’s not…no. That’s definitely not what it was. He’s fine. We’re fine. Everything is fine.”
“Okay. Fine. If you say so.”
The two of you fall into silence, the light crackle of Maya’s bag hanging delicately between you. The sun is starting to dip behind buildings now, stretching long shadows onto the ground in front of you as you turn onto her block. You inhale a long, shaky breath.
Yes, it’s been a while since Taehyung has dated, and yes, this is a little peculiar. He may be your best friend,  but part of that means you’ve watched him grow from awkward kid to gangly teenager to one of the most handsome men you’ve ever laid eyes on. You’re not blind—you’ve seen how it’s unsurprisingly garnered him a good deal of female attention throughout the years (Saturday afternoon was not the first time he’s been hit on by a waitress). And while he’s never been anywhere near Jungkook’s level of playboy, he’s definitely been on his fair share of dates.
You don’t doubt that Maya’s noticed something of a shift in him—after you, she’s probably the person who knows him best. But both you and Taehyung have always insisted that your platonic relationship is, well, entirely platonic. So even if something changed for him, she has to be off base as to the why.
Right?
“Maya—”
“Look, I’m not telling you to sleep with him or leave Jace or anything like that. Just…” Maya purses her lips together, blowing air out of her nose. “Step back and look at what you’re doing to him before you lecture the rest of us. The guy is crazy about you, and you’re the only one who doesn’t see it.”
Well.
Shit.
She climbs the steps to her front door, slipping in the key and opening it before turning back to where you remain at the bottom of the stoop fiddling with your purse strap.
“You coming?”
“Um,” you hesitate. Your eyes drift off down the street, mind suddenly racing . “I don’t know. I’m not really hungry anymore.”
Maya’s expression softens. “I didn’t mean to upset you…”
“No, no,” you say with another shake of your head.  “I’m not mad. I just think I want to go home, maybe take a bath.”
“Okay,” Maya slowly responds. “I’ll see you at the show Friday night?”
You smile. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
Perhaps, Maya muses as she watches you saunter down the sidewalk, calling you out was not the right move. But the thought only lingers for a moment before she turns with a shrug and goes inside.
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It’s Sunday night when you find yourself at the guys’ apartment for your and Taehyung’s weekly meal prep tradition. The ritual is the evolution of several years of having to care for yourselves—a need to eat turned into a sacred bonding activity for two people who had learned to rely on each other.
You and Taehyung met when you were eight-years-old after your teacher had fatefully situated your desks next to each other on the first day of school. A compliment from Taehyung on the color of your pencil case (a bright and bold turquoise) turned into a fast friendship that rapidly deepened as you realized just how similar you were: both only children living in homes with parents who were neglectful in their own ways.
In spite of growing up in a lavish, sparkling house with more rooms than you could count, your childhood was a struggle as your endlessly-busy, high-powered-lawyer parents virtually ignored your existence and left you to your own devices, working late hours every day and oftentimes not even ensuring that you had been properly fed. The mansion had felt like a prison, long hallways and tall ceilings devoid of life, filled with nothing but a terrible sense of loneliness.
That was, at least, until Taehyung showed up.
When either of you had a bad day (which was, admittedly, most days), he would slip away from the tiny, one-bedroom house on the poorer side of town, where his mother had abandoned him to an alcoholic father, and you'd sneak him in the back door (your parents either never noticed or simply didn't care). The two of you would raid the kitchen cabinets for snacks and lug your loot up to your bedroom, where you'd throw together a giant fort made of pillows and blankets with your prized possession at the center—a small globe light with tiny cut-out stars.
You never really talked about your respective situations—there was never really a need to. He saw your non-relationship with your parents firsthand, and you had heard the rumors about his family—whispers at school about the boy with secondhand clothes and a dad who often had to be dragged out of the local bars. The outside world may have been cruel, passing judgment on the both of you (and Taehyung especially) for circumstances outside of your control, but in the comfort of your room, even that fostered your kinship. It was like your own minuscule universe, belonging only to the two of you, and as you munched on your popcorn and watched the soft stars dance across the propped-up fabric, you'd talk and tell each other stories. Stories about anything from kings and queens to pirates to cowboys to astronauts. The only rule was that every tale had to have a happy ending.
As you got older, you traded your storytelling nights for evenings experimenting in the kitchen, sick of gorging yourselves on chips, pretzels, and sodas. Occasionally, once Taehyung purchased his first camera from a secondhand shop with money he saved delivering newspapers, he'd drag you around town for a photoshoot. You’d wander the streets together, helping him to scout out areas for inspiration, and he’d use you as his model to practice portraits and photographing human subjects. This tradition, too, had faded once the two of you escaped your hometown to go to college (you're not sure your parents even realized you had left), as Taehyung began working on class projects with Maya and you started spending more time with Jace. Only your weekly meal prep had persisted.
Your cooking had been a staple during college, you and Taehyung hosting “family dinners” for you and your friends on weekends (usually followed by a good few rounds of drinks), eventually shifting into you making batch meals on Sundays once you’d all graduated and begun working. That was when it had been you who’d lived in this apartment, back before you’d moved in with Jace and Jungkook had taken your place here. Still, even as lifestyles and living arrangements changed, you always wound up cooking with Taehyung on Sunday nights.
“What are mom and dad making tonight?” Jimin trills, reaching over the counter to take a swipe at a baby carrot. You shoo his hand away.
“Nothing, if you keep stealing our ingredients. Aren’t you supposed to be going to the gym?”
“I am, but someone,” he turns to yell over his shoulder, “is taking their sweet ass time getting ready!”
A door clicks open down the hall before Jungkook’s voice yells out, “Calm down, asshole, I’m almost done!” The door slams shut again.
“Such a diva,” Jimin huffs, gaining an edge to pop a carrot into his mouth. You let out a cry of protest.
“Chim, cut it out!” You turn to Taehyung who is at the opposite counter with his back to you, chopping more vegetables. “Tae, stop him.”
Taehyung snorts, not turning around. “That’s my job?”
“You have a knife.”
“Sorry, I’ve taken a vow of nonviolence.”
“Unbelievable,” you mutter as Jimin tries to reach around you again. “Hands off, Park, or I swear to God I will kick you in the balls, and you will not see it coming.”
“Guy’s gotta get some action somehow, am I right?” Jungkook comes striding down the hallway in a tank top and shorts, looking more like he’s ready for a magazine cover shoot than a gym visit as he bounds up to where you and Jimin stand in the kitchen.
“Hey, I get plenty of action!”
“You were literally whining this morning that it’s been three months.”
Jimin flushes. “That’s because I don’t sleep with my friends.”
“Neither do I,” Jungkook says, throwing a wink in your direction as you roll your eyes back at him.
“You’re disgusting. It’s a wonder Maya puts up with you.”
“It’s definitely more of a puts out situation.” He taps his chin thoughtfully. “And not really up? Contrary to what you might expect, she’s usually under—“
“Jeon Jungkook.” Then, when he makes a move to grab a carrot, you turn to Taehyung and snap, “Tae, give me a knife, I’ll stab them myself.”
Barely looking up, he reaches over to grab a knife out of the block, twisting it in his hands to hold it delicately by the blade and offer it to you handle-first. You grip it, only to slam the knife down firmly on its side in front of you, staring down Jimin and Jungkook in a silent challenge. But Jimin merely quirks an eyebrow in silent laughter, while Jungkook lets out a teasing, “Hot.”
You glare and raise the knife to chest level, pointing it at his sternum and trying to muster as much threatening energy as you possibly can in the face of a guy who could bench press you in his sleep. And while his facial expression remains one of passive amusement, he raises his hands in mock surrender and says, "Fine, fine, we're going."
With a sweep of their gym bags, they make their way out, and there's one last, "Save some for us!" from Jimin before the door swings shut behind them.
You sigh. "Idiots."
"But they're our idiots," Taehyung says, and a glance over your shoulder tells you that he's laughing at your frustration, a smile brightening his features and warming your chest.
"Remind me why we adopted them again?"
"You instantly fell for Jimin's puppy dog eyes when he was wandering around lost at orientation, and Kook..." He trails off. "Why did we adopt Kook?"
"School administration made you dorm with him, and we haven't been able to get rid of him since?"
"Oh yeah, that's right."
You fall into a comfortable silence, the only sound being that of your respective knives hitting the cutting board before Taehyung speaks up again.
"Speaking of Kook, you never told me how your conversation with Maya went."
You're thankful you have your back to him because you immediately feel yourself flush, heat shooting up your neck like an erupting volcano. You want to say, Yeah, it went great. She told me that you're desperately in love with me, and I'm the reason why none of your relationships have worked out. But that's ridiculous, right? Right?!
Instead, you do your best to mask your expression into one of relative impassivity and say, “Well, according to her, this isn’t new. They’ve been doing this for two years.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish.”
Taehyung ignores that. “How did none of us ever notice?”
“That’s what I can’t figure out. You’d think we would’ve noticed a change or something, right?”
He’s quiet, and you glance over to see him staring at a distant point out the window, lost in thought, the heel of the knife absentmindedly tapping a beat against the board. Taehyung’s always been introspective—content to sit in contemplation as he slowly works an idea through his mind. He’s thoughtful like that, ever the deliberator and rarely one to act on impulse. You balance each other out in this regard, with you having always been more inclined to break rules as you see fit and Taehyung being there to reel you in as needed.
“Maybe it works for them,” he finally says, and you feel your eyebrows shoot halfway up your forehead.
“You can’t seriously think this is a good idea.”
He shrugs, attention drawn back to the vegetables in front of him. “It hasn’t caused a problem yet, right?”
“The operative word there being yet.”
He shrugs again, brows tilting together. “I’m just saying that they’re both consenting adults, and if it’s gone this long without any catastrophes, maybe it really is a good arrangement for both of them.”
“It’s Maya and Kook. They’re always a catastrophe.”
“Exactly. They’d probably have an eventual falling out even if they weren’t sleeping together, so who knows? Maybe it actually helps them work some of that tension off.”
“That’s a terrible idea.”
“I didn’t say it was healthy.” He finishes chopping his last onion and sets his knife down, crossing the kitchen to check your own progress. Reaching over you, he grabs a piece of carrot and slips it into his mouth, grinning when you frown at him. “Really, Y/N, what can you do?”
“I know, but they’re…they’re the closest thing to family that we have. You know that.”
“Families can be dysfunctional. We both know that.” He munches on another carrot. “I’d still take them over my biological family any day.”
When that still doesn’t seem to entirely placate you, he reaches out to squeeze your shoulder, the tips of his fingers brushing the base of your neck and raising goosebumps there, before he slides his hand down to loop your pinkies together. “What will happen will happen. Don’t let it worry you unnecessarily.” Then he’s off heating up oil on the stove.
Normally, the brief touch would have barely registered in your mind—a simple gesture you had gotten into the habit of using when you were kids to provide reassurance. But it’s like your conversation with Maya has been inked under your skin, recoloring your perspective on the single-most steadfast relationship you’ve ever had in your life.
You hate it.
The oil begins to bubble on the stove, but Taehyung is distracted, rummaging around the refrigerator for something, so you take over, dumping in the beef that will help form the base for the soup. You throw in some seasoning, poking at the meat with a spoon and willing it to brown.
“So you’re really not interested in dating again?”
The words slip out, and the contents of the pot pop angrily at you.
Yeah, you might regret this later.
“Hmm?” Taehyung closes the fridge, cracking open the beer that’s now in his hand.
You curse your loose tongue under your breath. “Just…the other day at lunch. You were so against asking that waitress for her number.”
“She wasn’t my type.”
“And you don’t want to bring a date to the wedding.”
“I’d only bring a long-term girlfriend to a wedding. Less of a chance we’d have to edit her out of pictures later.”
“And how many dates have you been on since Luna? It’s been what, almost a full year?”
His brow scrunches, and the way he’s studying you makes you blush. “Why the sudden interest in my love life?”
You stare determinedly into the soup pot, trying to look nonchalant. “You’re my best friend, and I want to see you happy. Of course I’m interested.”
He props his hip against the counter in thought and takes a long drag of beer before he answers you. “I thought after Luna that it would be best if I take some time to focus on myself before diving back in. That’s all.”
“She really did a number on you, huh?”
“Something like that.”
You poke at the beginnings of your soup, memories of an absolutely miserable Taehyung surfacing in your mind. “It sucked, you know.”
“What?”
“Seeing your heart break.”
“Ah.” He takes another drink. “Right.”
“I swear, if I saw her again, I’d be tempted to kick her ass.”
He chuckles at that, and it rumbles his entire chest.
It might stir something in yours, too.
“I mean it, Tae.”
“Oh, trust me, I know you do.”
“Could be anywhere: club, grocery store. I’m not afraid to throw hands.”
He gives a tilt of his head. “She was a third degree black belt.”
“Well I kicked that Kenji kid in the groin during recess after he stole your backpack, and he cried for like twenty minutes. Remember that? He was practically six feet tall in the fifth grade, and that didn’t stop me. First degree black belt my ass.”
“Third degree.”
“Whatever.”
“Well as much as I appreciate your determined defense of my pride, I can assure you any emotional distress I suffered was minimal—“
“You haven’t dated since!”
“—and is definitely not worth putting yourself in the hospital over.”
“You don’t miss it though? What about like…” You trail off, cursing your stupid mouth getting ahead of your brain. You’ve never really talked about this before. Relationships, sure, but when it comes to the physical, along with your families, it’s one of the few subjects you avoid.
As your pause stretches on, he raises his eyebrows in question, and you decide to just come out with it.
“What about sex?”
Taehyung, to his credit, is unfazed by your sudden mention of the taboo. “I still have two hands, and they haven’t failed me so far.”
“Oh, Tae, ew.”
He grins devilishly at you, mischief brightening his eyes. It’s a look that he used to wear all the time when you were kids but which became rarer once he mellowed out with adulthood.
Seeing it on him now makes your heart jump.
“Point taken, forget I asked,” you say, and he laughs.
“Really, I’m fine with taking a break from dating for now. Isn’t that what that band you love is always preaching? Self-love and all that.”
You huff out a breath, nodding at his hands. “You don’t say.”
He laughs again, grinning down at you, and the uncertainty you’ve been feeling bubbles up again, your nerves sparking in time with a particularly loud crackle from the pot on the stove.
“Ah, geez, don’t let it burn,” he says, nudging you out of the way to take over. You take the opportunity to wander over to the fridge for a water bottle, feeling the need to cool yourself down. Honestly, what is wrong with you?
Taehyung, in sync with your moods by now, reads you like a book. “I feel like I should be asking you if you’re okay.” He says as he sets the meat aside and begins simmering the mirepoix in the fat. “You seem distracted.”
The conversation has become too much for you to wrestle with at this point, and you feel the need to shut it down before it gets out of control entirely. So you swallow down your anxieties like a pill without water and deflect.
“There’s just…a lot going on right now.”
It’s almost imperceptible, possibly a trick of the light, but his back stiffens ever so slightly. “Hmm, I’m sure.” He looks up at you from the stove, eyes pinning you where you stand. “But you’d tell me if there were something?”
You swallow. “Of course. You?”
“Of course.”
And that has to be enough for now.
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The glow of the sunset creeps into your room as you put the finishing touches on your make-up for the night. You're running later than anticipated as you had hoped to catch Jace before you left—you know he has a virtual client meeting scheduled in fifteen minutes that he had planned to attend from home, but he texted you a half-hour ago saying that he got caught up at the office and might just take it there.
With your make-up done, you can't justify lingering any longer and decide to just leave him a note letting him know when you'll be back. Jace's desk is an absolute mess, but you're thankfully able to locate a notepad easily. A pen, however, is a different matter, and it's not long before you're rummaging through the drawers trying to find anything to write with. For a man who keeps his appearance so well-groomed, he has a true affinity for clutter, and you roll your eyes at the junk you have to sift through in search of a simple writing utensil: a hammer, old movie tickets, a broken picture frame, a ring box...
A ring box?
You pause, fingers hovering over the black velvet. Surely, you shouldn't look, right? You already feel like you're crossing some line by discovering the small box—you should preserve some element of surprise for both of your sakes.
Still, the devil on your shoulder whispers to sneak a peek...
Your decision is made for you as you hear the front door click open and shut, and you hastily close the drawer and try to school your features into something casual.
"Hey, gorgeous."
Jace leans in the doorway grinning, not a single sandy brown hair out of place and his impeccably-ironed dress shirt pulled tight across his toned chest. In a fraction of a second, you see his eyes flick from his desk drawer to where you stand stiffly in front of it.
"Hey!" The word comes out a little too loudly, and you rush to cover up the blunder. "I thought I wouldn't see you."
"Wanted to surprise my girl," he says, smile brightening as he swings a hand from behind his back to offer you a single red rose. You feel your cheeks heating up as you take it from him, marveling at how—even four years down the line—he can still manage to charm you.
He presses a kiss to your mouth, hands trailing down the back of your dress to palm your ass with a groan. "Fuck. Can't believe I have this work meeting when you look like this."
"And unfortunately, I need to get going, too, or Maya will have my head." You lean in for another quick peck. "Rain check for later?"
He chuckles, letting you go with one final squeeze. "I'll hold you to that."
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"Look who finally showed up!" is what you're greeted with when you locate your friends in the gallery atrium, dodging the other patrons milling about.
"Sorry, got caught up with Jace," you say, shrugging at Maya's teasing glare.
Jungkook winks at you. "I'm sure you did."
"Yah, Kook, don't be gross," Jimin complains, slapping him on the arm.
"What?! She looks great! Right, Tae? Tell her she looks great."
You meet Taehyung's eyes for the first time since you walked up, and he shifts on his feet, gaze darting down to the accentuated curve of your hips. Clearing his throat, he smiles and says, "You look beautiful."
Cheeks hot, you murmur a quiet, "Thanks," so distracted by the awkwardness of the moment that you don't notice the look exchanged by Jimin and Maya between you.
Friends can call friends beautiful and not have it mean anything beyond that, right? You told Maya she looked gorgeous when she bought her dress with you last weekend, and you’d definitely be willing to admit that Taehyung looks incredible tonight. His navy blue suit hugs the lines of his body perfectly—highlighting his tall, lithe form—while his hair is combed up and off his forehead in a style that projects both professionalism and approachability. Combine that with the easy smile he keeps on his face, and he’s basically in male model territory.
You’ll be stunned if he doesn’t get hit on again tonight.
You make some idle small talk with your friends for a few minutes (Jungkook is trying to convince the others to head over to the bar where he works after the reception) before Maya gently nudges you with an elbow.
"Go and have a look around. Mine are back there," she declares, nodding her head towards the right hand corner of the exhibit, "but you should really check out all of the work—there's some good stuff. Hoseok and Sunny are around somewhere too."
You nod, welcoming the chance to see what it is your friends have been working so hard on, and excuse yourself to peruse the gallery. You may not be much of a creative mind yourself, but years of friendship with Taehyung and his infectious enthusiasm have at least helped you develop an appreciation for art. Weaving between the walls of frames and canvases, you stop here and there as a piece catches your eye: dark bars slashed across a messy outline of a heart titled Fake Love; a small boy offering up a waffle cone that holds a rose instead of ice cream—For You.
However, you find yourself slowing down entirely when you get to Maya's collection of photographs. They're mostly black and white candids of strangers. A woman shopping in an outdoor market. A girl chasing a dog in a park. Your friends pop up occasionally, and you smile at one of the memories you recognize: Jungkook pushing Jimin into the pool during your friendcation last year, bunny smile stretched wide across his face.
And suddenly you're frozen by a photo that's in full color.
It's Taehyung's face in close-up, his head turned to the side as he looks at something out of frame. His jaw strikes a downward line, mouth ever so slightly dipped open in something akin to wonder and tan cheeks curving with subtle delight. It's his eyes you can't look away from, though, opened wide enough to soak in whatever he's looking at that they reflect the golden lights around him, tiny galaxies swimming in his irises.
"Enjoying the view?" a deep voice teases at your shoulder, the man himself coming to stand at your side.
"That's an incredible picture of you," you tell him, still taking it in.
He hums in agreement. "I told you, she did a good job."
"Was that last summer?"
"Yeah." He nods his head at the picture of Jimin and Jungkook. "Same night as that, I think."
"What were you looking at?"
Taehyung is quiet as he thinks, scratching lightly at his nose. "I can't say I remember. Probably Hoseok walking out with that plate of pork belly. That was mouth-watering."
You laugh, and he smiles back at you before gesturing at the rows of artwork. "Can I show you some of my favorites?"
"I'd love that."
You let him drag you away, but not before glancing back to read the title card delicately placed next to Taehyung's image.
Your eyes tell.
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Taehyung navigates you around the exhibit for a while, describing his role in organizing the gallery and stopping to gush about his favorite pieces. You've always loved hearing him talk about art, his passion for the subject illuminating his face as he enthuses about light and shadows and colors.
He's explaining the rule of thirds to you when Maya interrupts, telling Taehyung she has a potential client for him that she wants him to meet. He promises to find you later as she whisks him away, and, alone again, you decide to head to the adjoining reception area in search of your other friends.
You’re only a few steps into the room when you hear a voice call out your name, Jimin flagging you down from where he stands at a table with Jungkook, Hoseok, and Sunny, and you quickly slide up to hug the latter two.
“You guys made it! We’ve missed you. How’s wedding planning going?”
Hoseok groans into his champagne. “Please do not remind me,” he grumbles. “It makes med school feel like a cakewalk.”
“What my wonderful fiancé meant to say,” Sunny says, playfully elbowing Hoseok in the side and making him sputter on his drink, “is that it’s going fantastically, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you all.”
“Rumor is that it’s the can’t-miss event of the year,” Jimin singsongs. “And Kook and I are bringing the party!” He reaches over so he and Jungkook can share a short but excessively elaborate handshake.
Sunny looks on, amused. “Speaking of, do you two know if you’re bringing dates? We don’t have to finalize headcount quite yet, but knowing sooner rather than later would be appreciated.”
“I will definitely be going stag, but I think Kook might have one, yeah?” Jimin’s voice is teasing, but Jungkook doesn’t catch on, throwing him a quizzical look and causing Jimin to clarify with a smirk. “Maya.”
Jungkook scoffs, muttering, “Not a chance,” while Hoseok’s and Sunny’s eyebrows shoot up in sync.
“You and Maya are dating now?” Sunny asks, eyes wide.
Jungkook tosses Jimin a glare. “No, he’s being an ass.”
When Sunny and Hoseok continue to look confused, glancing back and forth between Jungkook and Jimin, Jimin explains, "We found out recently—and unpleasantly for me, might I add—that Maya and Kook here have been engaging in some activities with, ah, no strings?"
Hoseok's eyebrows go impossibly higher, threatening to meld with his hairline, as his mouth pops open in surprise. "Uhh...congrats?"
Jungkook shakes his head, bottom lip jutting out like a child. "Chim's just jealous because he's in a drought."
"Hey!"
"I, for one, don't see an issue," Sunny says, hopping in to play peacemaker before Jimin and Jungkook devolve into one of their notorious bickering sessions. "You're both adults. And don't sweat it, Jimin, any girl would be lucky to have you."
"What's that supposed to mea—" Hoseok starts to ask before Sunny shuts him up with a finger to his lips, subtly nodding her head at the clearly placated men.
"I just can't believe you two are finally getting married." You change the subject, snatching up a flute of champagne off a tray as a waiter walks by. "Been a long time coming."
Sunny hums. "To be honest, I'm surprised we're beating you and Jace to the alter," she says, and now it's your turn to cough on your drink. "When is that happening?"
"Oh, I, um—" you stutter, as you weigh how much you should say. You should keep what you saw earlier a secret, right? After all, what if you're wrong and you come out looking like a fool?
But four pairs of eyes are now fixed on you expectantly, and these are your friends so you cave.
"Okay, I am swearing all of you to secrecy," you say, making deliberate eye contact with each of them in turn to emphasize your point, "but I literally found a ring box in his desk earlier when I was getting ready to come here."
The table erupts in your friends' squeals and cheers, Jimin and Jungkook coming around to playfully shake your shoulders.
"Oh my gosh, I knew it!"
"That's amazing news!"
"I want to be man of honor!"
"I already called dibs!"
"What are we calling dibs on?"
Your heart skips as Taehyung joins your table, smiling at the five of you but obviously perplexed as to what the ruckus is about. And maybe you're imagining it, but your friends all seem to quiet down at his appearance as well, causing Maya's words to once again echo in your mind. The guy is crazy about you, and you're the only one who doesn't see it.
An awkward silence drapes itself over the table, Jimin being the one to pipe up when Taehyung's expression begins to morph from curious to concerned. "Y/N, tell him the good news!"
At that, Taehyung's brown eyes settle on you, and so you take a deep breath and spill. "I found a ring box in Jace's desk."
You're looking at him intently, and it's only the tiniest sliver of a second, but you see it. Unmistakably.
His face drops.
If Maya's photo captured stars in his eyes, you watch each go out one-by-one, his lips pressing together like he's trying not to be sick. A heaviness hits his shoulders that has his chest curling inwards and you almost reaching out to him...
And just like that—all at once—he's gathered his features into a smile and beams at you.
"That's fantastic, Y/N. I'm so incredibly happy for you."
His voice sounds genuine, dripping in the baritone honey that is so warm and so him, but you know what you saw—you're sure of it—and it has your mind spinning.
Shit, shit, shit, she was right.
You down your champagne in one gulp, oblivious to the shocked faces around you as you throw it back and thump the glass harshly on the table. "I'm going for a drink. Anyone want anything?"
You barely give them time to shake their heads before you're scurrying away to the bar and ordering a cosmopolitan—strong. Thoughts whirring, you try to make sense of Taehyung’s crestfallen expression as the bartender mixes your drink. There surely must be an alternate explanation, right? Until now, Taehyung has never, ever given any indication that he has feelings for you. This must be a mistake; you must be seeing things…
But just as the bartender slides your glass across the countertop, you glance back at the table, blood running cold as you find Taehyung already looking at you. He gives you a tight-lipped smile that doesn’t quite make it to his eyes before turning back to listen to whatever Jimin is currently saying.
You quickly down your second drink of the night and order a third.
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NEXT
a/n: and we’re off! likes, reblogs, comments, asks, feedback, constructive criticism, and carrier pigeons are all appreciated! this started off as a story with all OCs, and the first drafts of some of these scenes were originally written in third person omniscient so please forgive me if the POVs are a little all over the place in this chapter. it’ll be rectified moving forward!
taglist open: just message or reply 😊
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rindragon-from-twewy · 2 months ago
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Swap au character intros part 4!!!
Spoilers for specifically Raincode Chapter 0 ahead!
Let's start with Zilch! In this au his forte becomes Audial Aptitude - thanks in part to his animal ears. If you've seen my art of Zilch before, you'll probably have noticed I like drawing him with his animal ears as his actual ears and not on top of his hat. It's cuz I generally just hate the ambiguity of it. Are the animal ears real? Are they just on his hat? Why do they move? Why does he have 4 ears? So I just like making his animal ears his only set of ears. That being said, apparently they're fox ears??? I always assumed wolf??? But I digress- His uniform has been changed up to be reminiscent of an orchestra conductor cuz hahah audio. His face tattoos are meant to be those spotify code scanners - the right cheek leading to It's All So Incredibly Loud by Glass Animals and We Own The Night by Chandler Kinney on the left (cuz I think it's funny!) As for his last name change, "Allegro" in musical terms means "to be played very quickly" which I thought would suit him quite well as someone who can solve cases really fast. His personality is basically the same, the only alteration being that he carries around a notepad and pen in order to help keep track of all the hundreds of things he's constantly hearing all the time.
Next is Pucci. She's received Spectal Projection from Melami and if you thought being good at hearing made her existential then BOY HOWDY does being able to use her body as a vessel for spirits fuck her up even more! Originally I was going for a classic "fortune teller" look for her but I instead went with a cute seamstress-y sort of look instead cuz I couldn't really get what I had in mind initially to look good. She wears a tape measure like a scarf and a thimble as a necklace charm. Her eyes, while cute, have a sort of dead look in them that make others wonder if she's even alive at all. Her last name has been changed from Lavmin to Lavender because in flower language, they're representive of purity, serenity, grace and calmness - all traits she seems to exhibit until she actually starts talking and you realise she's just sort of awkward and shy. She finds it easier to talk to ghosts/spirits then living creatures and honestly probably gets along reeeaaally well with this AU's version of Vivia.
Now, you may be looking at Aphex and going "Rindude! You changed fuck all about him!" And yeah, you're right... The only major changes I made was switching out his coat, boots and like doubling his muscle mass. He's strong. He could beat you up, no questions asked and it definitely shows! His forte is now Thoughtography but he's just as angry as ever - originating from the "front lines" that canon Zange mentioned in his own backstory. For that reason, his coat is inspired by WW2 trenchcoats and while my art doesn't show it very well, everything he's wearing looks and smells like he's crawled straight out of a dumpster. Originally I was going to change his last name to Harkness as an homage to Captain Jack Harkness, a WW2 soldier inspired character from (surprise, surprise) Doctor Who but considering the fact I did that exact same thing with an oc of mine for my A levels earlier this year... I instead went with Tyler; an homage to another Doctor Who character called Rose Tyler who is also a badass blonde <3
And that's all the details I'm sharing for now! It's a little strange considering I've written the Storm Cypher fanfic about half way through its chapter 0 already so I have a lot more to say about the train gang then I did anyone else - since they've already had stuff actually written for them. Melami and Zange's swap au designs will drop like... as soon as I figure out how to draw elderly people. So soon, hopefully! But yeah, I'm cooking super good atm I just can't really share much due to the nature of writing lol. I've been loving getting asks about it though! Deadass, it makes me kick my legs and giggle to know people are crazy enough to care about this AU- >w<
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sunrise-imagines · 1 year ago
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hi hello!!! can i request any general relationship hcs (or really anything) for scarab? ^_^ thank you if you choose to do this and no worries if not!
I’d love to! Also I went with he/they pronouns for Scarab, idk why it just fit to me. Enjoy!
The Scarab x Reader Relationship Headcanons
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• Hard on the outside, harder on the inside
• It takes a lot to break through their walls, as before you they’ve never been in a relationship, way too caught up with their job to think about romance.
• Once you do however, they are a very passionate if a little confused lover
• He has really bad anxiety so whenever you go on a date, he will spend hours before hand deciding what to wear and practicing pick up lines in the mirror.
• He can’t exactly kiss you in his true form, as his sharp teeth and mandibles will definitely get in the way, so he turns human to be able to kiss you and go out in public if your universe doesn’t have magic.
• You’re the only one that he doesn’t mind calling him “Scrabby”, he thinks it sounds much cuter when you say it
• They are a lot less (s)crabby at work now that they’re in a relationship, which is a relief to Orbo, Prismo all the other cosmic deities, who are genuinely glad that Scarab is so happy now.
• He doesn’t really live anywhere, as he usually just went from job to job without any breaks, so if you ask him to move in with you he will be very grateful to have a place to rest.
• Rarely sleeps, but when he does he buries himself in a blanket cocoon and makes a soft clicking sound like a cicada
• Loves shopping with you, although he doesn’t get paid for his work as he was just kinda…created to do it? If that makes sense? His favorite are clothes stores, he thinks human fashion is fascinating.
• They also don’t need to eat, so needless to say they are very bad at cooking. They will happily try any of your cooking though, turns out they have a huge sweet tooth so they also love baked goods.
• Hates visiting Fionna and Cake’s universe, he’s still salty about everything that happened but if you insist he will begrudgingly take you there. (You even manage to make him apologize to everyone for almost destroying their universe)
• Oh my god please introduce them to Dungeons and Dragons, they love to make OCs and will spend hours talking to you about each one’s tragic backstory and all their cool powers and weapons.
• Would never ever cheat on you, they are extremely loyal and you are the only one who has ever dedicated so much time to them, they could never betray your trust like that.
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1-800-fuccthisshit · 3 months ago
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college classes start tomorrow so we’re starting off strong with my favorite teacher.
✦✦
【𝘔𝘐𝘓𝘋 𝘚𝘗𝘖𝘐𝘓𝘌𝘙𝘚 | 𝘙𝘌𝘈𝘋 𝘈𝘛 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘖𝘞𝘕 𝘋𝘐𝘚𝘊𝘙𝘌𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕】
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𝘚𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘌 𝘗𝘈𝘙𝘌𝘕𝘛!𝘚𝘏𝘖𝘜𝘛𝘈 𝘈𝘐𝘡𝘈𝘞𝘈 𝘟 𝘋𝘖𝘊𝘛𝘖𝘙!𝘔𝘊
𝘞𝘊 : 1,746
✦✦
gonna dive into shouta’s backstory before i introduce the mc.
for starters, he adopted his daughter (her name is kyoko in my drafts) when she was a few months old (her mom was murdered and her dad was on his way to serving a life sentence).
kyoko inherited a cat mutation quirk from her mom (the cuteness aggression somewhat influenced the hastily adoption) and a teleportation quirk from her father. at the ripe age of four, she’s shown up to shouta’s classroom more times than he’d like.
the first time she asked abt her mama, shouta told her she went to go be with the stars.
she a little on the smaller side (preemie baby) and she’s a curious little sweetheart.
she loves coloring and going outside.
she loves her uncle zashi and aunt nemi.
she loves her big brother hito and her best friend kacchan.
and don’t even get me started on her papa, she looks at him like he hung the stars just for her.
insert mc (my oc’s name is suki). she’s the youngest of four. she came along much later so the rest of her family feels somewhat burdened by her.
thankfully her adolescence wasn’t too terrible with her cousin, emi fukukado (✨for the plot ✨), by her side.
suki’s quirk, heal, heals flesh wounds and broken bones. as long as she’s holding a conversation with the injured person, their wounds should heal quite nicely.
after realizing she couldn’t legally use her quirk to help people, suki enrolled in the hero course of a small high school to get her hero license before going to med school.
shouta and suki meet during a night shift at the hospital just a few weeks before the Entrance Exam. he’s injured and frantic and he doesn’t wanna talk, he wants to get out this damn bed and go home.
who is suki to stop him?
(just kidding she threatened to sedate him if he didn’t calm down)
they see each other again at a cat café. suki is reading a new book when shouta walks in with kyoko im his arms. besides a half assed apology from shouta, they don’t interact much.
the next time they see each other is after the USJ incident. shouta’s cooperative and suki does what she can, but the damage is so extensive that shouta still ends up in a full body cast.
at some point after the UA Sports Festival, the two begin spending time together that doesn’t have to do with shouta being hurt.
they don’t really cross the line separating friendship from romance until after he returns from the Forest Training Camp. shouta is set to speak at a press conference and - even though he’s really expressing it - he’s on edge. they’re not together but they are.
shortly after his class takes their Provisional Hero License Exams, shouta meets suki’s cousin at her apartment. imagine his surprise (and anguish) when he sees emi sitting at the dinner table.
shouta ghosts suki for a bit after the Shie Hassaikai raid, but she’s sure his reasoning is good enough. about a week later, he shows up at her apartment unannounced and tells her everything that transpired. her heart breaks for sir nighteye, but it shatters for eri.
shortly after the UA School Festival, suki meets shouta’s closest friends, nemuri kayama and hizashi yamada. that’s a story for another time, though.
shouta broaches the idea of introducing suki to his girls. his friends suggest inviting her over for christmas. when shouta asks her about it, suki immediately bombards him with questions about the dress code and what to get the girls for christmas.
back at home with kyoko and eri, shouta asks about what they want for the upcoming holiday. eri isn’t sure what she wants (she feels bad about asking for stuff). kyoko, though? the one thing she wants is a mommy.
shouta tells his girlfriend suki to get them crafting supplies.
christmas day rolls around. shouta drinks a cup of coffee in the short lived silence before kyoko’s small voice rang out.
“wake up, eri née-chan! it’s christmas! gotta open your presents!”
suki arrives later than anticipated.
eri looks up from the couch and kyoko comes around the corner when she gets there. both are expecting to meet papa’s new friend. however, “new friend” goes completely out the window when kyoko sees the pretty woman taking her shoes off at the door looking just like-
“A MOMMY!”
eri is confused and the color drains straight from shouta’s face.
it only takes a few days for the girls to form a bond with suki (kyoko develops really bad separation anxiety) and by the time the new year comes around, shouta officially has a girlfriend.
suki knows next to nothing about the Paranormal Liberation War, so when one of her coworkers finds her in the break room and tells her about what they heard over the radio, her heart drops. not even an hour later are people (heroes, students, and civilians alike) being rushed in the hospital.
most of the people needing suki’s help are civilians that either got caught in the wreckage or hurt themselves while trying to get away from said wreckage. though she knows it was wishful thinking, suki feels herself getting worked up every time she pulls back a curtain or opens a door and sees someone who isn’t her lover waiting for her.
it’s a few days later that she’s finally able to track down shouta. she’s relieved knowing he’s not in someone’s morgue, but she feels like crying seeing him sat in the hospital bed, bandages wrapped around his face and the bedsheet flat below his right knee.
suki takes it upon herself to tell the girls about aunt nemi. though her heart aches from the loss of her (albeit new) friend, she doesn’t want hizashi and shouta to have to deal with the grief of two little girls on top of their own.
upon shouta’s request, suki moves into the small apartment while he’s still in the hospital. he claims it’s because he doesn’t want his cats to starve, but suki’s almost positive it’s for something else.
kyoko and eri take her around campus and she ends up meeting shouta’s class and and shinsou.
“and mommy, this is my hito onii-chan! papa says he’s not really my onii-chan, but onii-chan says it’s okay! does that mean you’re gonna be onii-chan’s mommy too?”
and that’s how the class (or those who weren’t already aware) found out about their sensei’s relationship.
a bond is quickly formed between suki and the students, especially since some of them are still vulnerable after midnight-sensei’s death.
everyone is on edge leading up to the Final War. with work at the hospital and acting as a makeshift counselor, suki tries to spends as much time with shouta and their his girls as she can.
during the fight, suki is tucked away with the heroes, kyoko sat on her hip and eri stuck to her leg. there’s so much going on, what with (in no particular order) the todoroki family showdown, shouta and hizashi disappearing from the playing field, all might and stain teaming up, and all the students putting their lives on the line.
after what feels like an eternity, there’s an eerie calm before suki gives both little girls kisses on their foreheads and rushes out to help in whatever way she can.
when suki and shouta reunite, she’s too busy fussing over him to notice him looking at her with the softest look he could pull off.
“shouta! oh my god, are you okay? let me look at you. you guys just - turn your head, please - just disappeared! i’m so glad - follow my finger please - so glad you guys are- hey! you aren’t paying attention to anything i’m saying to you right now! you realize- wait you didn’t hit your head, did you? can you hear what i’m saying right now?”
a beat and then-
“i love you so damn much.”
hizashi turns away just in time for shouta to grab suki by the waist and pull her in for a kiss.
✦ Epilogue Arc ✦
eight years later, shouta is still teaching at ua high. suki’s making her way up the charts at the hospital.
shouta’s old students have a tendency to seak her out specifically whenever they show up injured. they fully expect the lecture they get every time.
“eijirou, i keep telling you, you can’t give everyone the benefit of the doubt!”
“katsuki, you can not talk to people that way! that’s how you end up in situations like this!”
“denki! how did you even-!”
she’ll claim she doesn’t have a favorite but everyone knows it’s-
“shoto what happened to you? oh, you poor thing, come here so i can get that taken care of.”
shortly after their wedding, shouta and suki moved their family out of the small apartment on campus and into a comfortable sized house not too far from their respective places of work.
hitoshi tries to come by at least once a week for dinner per kyoko’s request. the young man confides in his mentor how he’d come over had the young girl never asked in the first place.
“it’s like a second home.”
shouta keeps it to himself.
eri thrives as a ua hero course student. she comes home everyday and tells her mom about how her day went.
“OH! and mama! i had practice against one of my classmates! she’s really big, and she beat me, but i think i’ll get her next time!”
kyoko is planning to follow in her big sister’s footsteps and go to ua after junior high.
“mommy, i can’t wait to go to ua! i’m so excited, i’m gonna explode!”
suki has a tendency to bring shouta lunch on her off days.
“shouta, there you are! you’re never where you’re supposed to be!”
“i’m sorry, my love. i had to get something taken care of. hey, where are-”
two small toddlers are always a few steps behind her.
“PAPA!”
eiji, loud and rambunctious, comes around the corner at full speed and slams into shouta’s left leg. his older brother, kei, much more quiet and restrained, walks into the room and grabs shouta’s right pants leg.
twenty years prior, shouta never would have thought he’d have happiness in the form of a loving wife and four (five) beautiful children. now though, he thanks anyone out there that he does.
✦✦
𝘰𝘰𝘧, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 •_•. 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵! 𝘪 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸! 𝘪'𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵! 𝘪 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 🙏🏽 𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘣𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪 (*^ წ^*)
— 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘺𝘢
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glitchyko · 10 months ago
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I’ve decided to just go wild and start showing off my ocs and stories here that I’ve had in my brain and have made art for, even if they make absolutely no sense, starting with my oc that arguably makes the least amount of sense, but I still love her despite that, Xiǎodàn
To explain what’s up with Xiǎodàn, she kind of started as a sort of silly what if thought I had that went something along the lines of, “What would happen if someone was like, born in the scroll?” I’m not sure how to explain it, but before I knew it I was just running with the idea and Xiǎodàn is the result of that-
I’m still working out some of the details of Xiǎodàns story, but I have a sort of general idea of her backstory and her family’s to an extent
So this story starts with Xiǎodàn’s mother, Xīcai, who was a celestial maiden, though she was only a servant/attendant, nothing too grand or special. But she was forced into assisting in a crime (this is one of the things I’m still thinking on) and was caught and sentenced to be imprisoned in the memory scroll, however her punishment was reduced to be only temporary since it came out that she wasn’t helping of her own free will
But when Xīcai was eventually released from said scroll, two things were different about her now, one being her divinity was taken away from her (this was part of her punishment) and she was pregnant-
To explain that Xīcǎi, falls in love with a man who is a apart of the ink scroll (he’s the memory of someone else, I don’t really know how to explain it, ink scroll stuff is hard to explain, but basically he’s not the actual guy, but a memory of him) and stuff happens from there that leads to Xīcai to be expecting when she’s freed from the scroll
So now that she’s a mortal woman, and soon to be a mother, Xīcai works her ass off building a life, getting a home and job and integrating into the mortal realm and raising her daughter, who she named Xiǎodàn, and her daughter looks and acts completely like any mortal human kid would
That changes after Xiǎodàn’s 13th birthday
One day, Xiǎodàn noticed on the very tip of her middle finger, was a small black mark, that no matter how much she scrubbed and wiped it, wouldn’t go away. And with each day that passed, that black stain quickly got bigger and bigger and more appeared as well, and within a month or two, she was basically an ink person, though unlike the ink demons shown in s4, her body has more physicality, she’s got flesh, bones, etc, and her body doesn’t stain everything it touches
So while Xīcai is trying to figure out what to do about her daughters transformation and who she can go to for help, Xiǎodàn stays home and in her room most of the time, since she can’t go outside with her current appearance, cause of this, she’s grown incredibly lonely since she can’t see or talk to her friends in person now, the only person she can talk to face to face is her mom. One day at some point she’s just curled up in her room, and she mutters how she just wants someone else to talk to, before pressing her face into her knees, unaware of drips of ink on the floor slowly coming together and forming a small puddle, until a figure starts coming out of said puddle
It turns out Xiǎodàn can summon Inky (that’s what she calls the protective curse/ink MK) and de summon him whenever she pleases-
In a way Xiǎodàn is kind of like a walking scroll, she can create/summon ink people, but she can’t imprison people in the scroll (maybe she could if she had a piece of the scroll but I’m still deciding on this)
Xiǎodàn is not super eager to trust this ink monkey person who appeared in her room, and Inky isn’t super keen on trusting her either, though they are very curious about what exactly Xiǎodàn is and what she could be capable of, since she was able to bring them out of the scroll without a having a piece of it, and Xiǎodàn summoning inky and talking to them does make her wonder what exactly can she do (inky helps spark her curiosity) but she doesn’t tell Xīcai about this because she doesn’t want her mother to worry or freak out, and Inky advised her not to. So Xiǎodàn sort has Inky as a secret friend, summoning when she just wants someone to talk to about whatever.
One day inky is summoned by Xiǎodàn, and inky notices some bags are being packed and asks what are those for, and Xiǎodàn explains that her mom says they’re going to go to a city called Megaopolis to meet someone Xīcǎi says might be able help her, and when inky asks who, Xiǎodàn says he’s called the monkie kid and Inky just quietly says with a smile, “Interesting…”
And that’s all I’m gonna share for right now, I know this oc and this story don’t really make sense when you think about it, and there’s things I still need to decide on, but I wanted to share these here cause why not
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askbensolo · 24 days ago
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Happy Halloween, my dudes!
Meet Paige and Rose, my mom's usual go-to sitters for Rey.
"'Sitters?'" I laughed. "What are you—a loth-cat?"
"Well, they can't be my babysitters, because I'm not a baby!" Rey huffed.
...Anyway. Paige is my age. Rose is eighteen...and also? Weirdly obsessed with me.
"You're Ben Solo!" Rose said when she first laid eyes on me. "The Ben Solo!"
I get that often enough that I kinda like to milk it, just a little bit. I struck a cocky stance. "Yeah, that's me—son of Alderaan's last princess, nephew of the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker—"
"—and author of Ask Ben Solo. I've read your entire blog. Four times."
Ooh. Oooooh.
Cringe.
Rose spent the entire night glued to my side, asking me questions about things that had happened in my teenage years that even I don't remember—but, hey! I finally found someone who wanted to listen to all 15,000 words of my KOR OC's tragic backstory!
Also—hi, Rose. Since I know now that you're probably reading this.
"Drop the lost Ask Ben Solo files, Ben! Please!"
"The—the what?"
"Your college memoirs! Your fans deserve to know everything that happened in those mysterious five years of silence!" Rose lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Me. I'm 'your fans.'"
"Uhh...I'll consider it," I chuckled.
...I wonder how many of my anons were literally just Rose Tico.
Paige is much less social than her sister. I tried talking to her a couple of times, and it didn't really go anywhere—you ask Paige something, and she'll answer you with like five words and go silent again. She kinda has the quietness of someone who's been through hell...and, maybe, hasn't quite made it out yet.
Seems nice, though. And like a good big sister. She kept Rey (and Rose) (okay, fine, AND me) from running into traffic like, ten times.
Paige didn't wear a costume. Rose dressed up as Senator Jar-Jar Binks (and now that I'm a Nabooian citizen, I found that sort of...distasteful, but I chose not to comment on it).
I dressed up as my KOR character, Kylo Ren. He has a super-cool scar on his face that is totally not the result of a slippery-bathtub-shaving-accident. Also—he? And the Dark Lady Revan? Are so totally married and in love or whatever.
Not because I’m into that sap, of course. Just because I want Revan and Kylo to have insanely-overpowered evil Sith babies together. (REVLO FOREVER, I will not tolerate anti-Revlo hate on this blog, BYE.)
Rey, as promised, dressed up as Emperor Palpatine, and had a Force-lightning prop she had made out of cellu-board. "Goooood, gooooooood!" she cackled whenever someone filled her bucket with candy. Despite being a wiry little thirteen-year-old girl, the Palpatine character seemed to come really...naturally to her. Weird.
Well, Happy Halloween!! Rey and I are about to have a candy-eating contest—and I have to prove to her that I ain't boring now just because I got old.
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borrowedtimeandspace · 6 months ago
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A Reader's Guide to the Multiverse
Hello! Welcome to my sandbox!
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Artwork by the lovely @abookishweasel
Though I still write long-form stories collaboratively with @neonthewrite [ Ao3 | DA ] and @nightmares06 [ Ao3 | DA ], my own writing has become more short-form and sporadic. This can make things a bit confusing for the blog, since there isn't an easy way to organize everything. That's what I use Ao3 for (user The_Raconteur_24601). And even there, it can be a bit complicated.
Under the cut is a guide to the stories you'll find featured on this blog; my attempt at organizing them here, and links to their counterparts on Ao3. My asks are always open for any questions this post doesn't answer!
Borrowed Time (and Space)
A Doctor Who/The Borrowers Crossover
[Ao3 Series] | Meet the OCs
Doctor Who belongs to the BBC, The Borrowers belongs to Mary Norton, and Zepheera and other borrower OCs belong to me.
It's the name of the blog, the OG, the one that started it all. The primary premise for this series is: The Doctor (usually Ten) takes on a four and a half inch tall borrower named Zepheera as a companion. It's all a bit wibbly-wobbly, but let me set things straight.
Common tags for the stories (and various posts) are #doctor who gt or #doctor who g/t (which stands for giant/tiny and indicates the involvement of drastic size difference, for the uninitiated) and #BTaS AU
Episode 1 | Minisode | Episode 2 | Episode 3
Originally there were ambitions to try and make the series episodic, like your typical season of Doctor Who but with a borrower tossed in. As such, the first three stories in the series are titled as 'Episodes'. These were among the first long-form stories I'd ever written and posted, so they predate the blog. That, and my writing style and ideas for the canon of the series have changed drastically since then. See this post for more details on that, and this one if you're not worried about spoilers.
The tl;dr of it is: These Episodes are the basis for the AU, but I don't consider them canon enough to impact any other stories in a meaningful way unless I say so.
Zepheera's Origins - In which I started cracking down on my borrower companion's characterization and backstory, compiling a number of prompts set during the time before she met the Doctor.
Zepheera-Visions - These were a fun writing exercise for me during this blog's early years! I would come up with shorts based on Doctor Who gifs that feature some low or high angle shot, imagining Zepheera as the point of perspective in them. If I were at all good at making gifs myself, I might have kept it up. A lot of the AU that ultimately came about branched off from these gimmicks, and still feature them in their stories. Here, they can be viewed under the #Zepheera-Vision tag.
Tales from the Vortex - A compilation of various prompts and shorts that take places in the BTaS-Verse, but don't have any major stories attached to them. These span different Doctors other than Ten, and feature a few other companions in some of them. Sometimes, enough stories accumulate with a similar theme to expand into their own AU, which leads me to...
Borrowed Time and Space AU
The Donna Trilogy - This was originally called the Donna AU, and the original shorts were tagged with #DonnaAU or #Donna AU. Nowadays, I've started to give AU their own titles and tagging them on blog posts. And recent events in Doctor Who have inspired this to span more than one story, making this the first multipart BTaS AU!
Part 1 - A Patient, and Time. [tag] [Ao3]
Part 2 - If I Could Turn Back Time [tag] [Ao3]
Part 3 - TBD...
To The Nines - One of the first AU created in which Zepheera is companion to a Doctor other than Ten! Despite titling the story later on, I must have had the idea for it earlier because a lot of the early shorts are tagged #To the Nines AU. Other tags include #nine AU and #To the Nines.
Time After Time - This AU, while it is NOT a sequel to any existing story, assumes that Zepheera and the Tenth Doctor went on their adventures in the past, and got separated at some point. Then Zepheera manages to find the Twelfth Doctor while he's at St. Luke's and meets Bill Potts. This was one AU that developed slowly over time once I realized I could get a story arc out of it, so a good chunk of the shorts are in the tag #Time After Time.
Borrowed Magic - co-written with neonthewrite
The first and so far only BTaS crossover! The wonderful neon lent me her boi Bowman from her story "Bowman of Wellwood" ( Paperback EBook Amazon ) to join my little TARDIS crew.
Lost in Flight - The inaugural story to introduce a tiny winged guy raised in the woods to all of time and space. It's so far the only complete story we've written, but we're absolutely open to prompts and suggestions for shenanigans for the crew to get into!
Brothers Apart AU - co-written with nightmares06
A SuperLock/Borrowers Crossover
Brothers Apart Ao3 | Meet the OCs
Supernatural belongs to the CW, Sherlock to the BBC, Brothers Apart to nighmares06, and listed OCs to me.
Brothers Apart is a borrower AU of Supernatural written by the inimitable nightmares06. We have collaborated on a few of the various AU based on that story, in which I bring the BBC Sherlock angle.
I don't post nearly as much here about BAU (Brothers Apart AU) since most questions about it are fielded at the dedicated blog @brothersapart; most of what can be found here are miscellaneous prompts and character tidbits. Brothers Apart AU posts made here get filed under #BAU.
More AU exist than listed below, and will be added as they're posted.
Brothers Consulted - Cursed Winchesters end up in London and join forces with the Baker Street crew to solve mysteries, as they do. #Brothers Consulted
Brothers Chosen - Canon Winchesters find a borrower during a hunt and have to figure out what to do with him.
A Tale of Two Sizes - Part of an unannounced BAU, featuring Stan and his family in a universe where Stan is a size-shifter. Finally compiled these into one collection. #size shifter Stan
Misc. Tumblr Prompts - A less clever name for a similar compilation of prompts that don't (or don't yet) have their own story, that have nothing to do with BTaS and/or have to do with my cowritten works.
Miscellaneous
The Brave Little Baker - In which I toss Stan and Nate into a fantasy world of giants and giant slayers! Also based on a series of prompts, revised and compiled into their own story once I had enough of them.
GT July
These prompt challenges have done wonders to keep me writing and inspired!
2022 Masterpost | 2023 Masterpost
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desultory-novice · 2 months ago
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personally i've been totally obsessed with man on the internet's morpho knight! the femme-leaning voice is so cool (and scratches the silly fangirl corner of my brain)! and the lyrics go so hard >_< usually i'm not one for videogames songs with lyrics but some of this vocalizing gives me literal chills
Oh yes! Sooo true! That one is extremely good as well!!
Fanon or no (though I like femme Morpho >w<) I completely love the choice to go with a female vocalist for Morpho, and Emily Go went SO HARD on that song! A total brain-scratch! (Plus we in this corner love a good mythology bonus, fufufu~)
The only reason I didn't list it with the others is simply because...I have a complicated relationship with Morpho Knight as a character?
Not a bad one! I just feel like as a fandom, folks have moved kinda fast with them?? I get it though! They're super cool and their appearance in Star Allies and then AGAIN in Forgotten Land were "throw your controller and scream" moments! It's not like we have significantly less info about them than we do any other Kirby character people have built up a lot of lore and HC around!
I just feel so many have rebuilt their entire Kirby cosmologies and mythologies around Morpho Knight, when we really do know SO little about them? XD (With the corollary that I feel strongly we WILL find out more. Kumazaki even teased more in that interview about RtDL, so I guess because he’s “in the middle of cooking something, I’m waiting to let him “cook”) As for Morpho being in everything, this last part is meant entirely playfully, but...take the Kirby OC Tournament cast. How many OCs include Morpho Knight somewhere in their backstory?/lh
Considering we're liable to see them again (assuming Chaos Elfilis didn't do any permanent damage) I personally prefer to hold off on making any definite statements or strong HCs of my own about Morpho Knight. And while the song's lyrics did the same, leaning toward the vague and verifiable, I still have a slight preference for the songs that told a complete narrative or are for characters who are otherwise "complete" in the game they debuted in.
....That said, what they pulled off was total FIRE though!! (Fufu... Get it? Cause Morpho's...?)
Anyway, this month has been such a feast of songs I found myself imagining what a version of "Prayer Song to God" or "Hyness Unhooded" or "The Star-Conquering Traveler" would sound like!
(Not that anyone from either song team is reading MY silly little blog, but I would love to see a version of The Star-Conquering Traveler that gives a short lyrical "part" to all the Dream Friends, similar to how that one official (?) recap video they made shows Kirby fighting together with the different Waves for the different phases!)
Dess just try writing your own lyrics if you feel this strongly about this stuff
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physalian · 24 days ago
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On Tragic Backstories (or, giving your character “one bad night”)
There’s a video essay out there by music nerd, Sideways, about how superhero theme music works, and most of the video is about how and why the original Superman theme song sounds the way it does. He then compares it to Batman’s theme song (the Danny Eflman one) and says that Batman’s theme breaks all the established rules of American superheroes.
Where the likes of Superman are heavy on the horns and brass, the “sound of America”, Batman’s theme is warped, jaded, and dangerous, almost as if it was Superman’s theme, if Supe’s theme had “one bad night”.
I mentioned in another post about giving characters agency in their backstories helps a lot in showing the audience who they really are when they’re put in a corner.
Baby Bats didn’t have much of a choice the night his parents got murdered, though he blames himself plenty.
What I mean, though, is situations where your character is unambiguously the person at fault for where they are today, as either the hero or the villain.
So I’m gonna spoil myself here and talk about my deuteragonist in Eternal Night: Dorian.
I’ve already said that he’s based on another OC of mine (about to make his debut in Little Red Dot on AO3!) but in many ways they are very different. They come from different social classes, different family makeups, different motives for why they do what they do, and different relationships with the protagonist and their love interests.
If you ever read both, you’ll see what traits they share.
Dorian’s backstory takes a while to deliver in ENNS, more than half the book. He drops hints here and there, like his actual age, that he’s not of noble birth, and a little bit about his family from when he was mortal.
Other characters also spill a little through their own biases sprinkled through the chapters so by the time Dorian has the chance to monologue his backstory to Elias, the protagonist, it’s an exposition dump you should be hungry for as the reader.
Personally, I think expository monologues are something I’m amazing at, so I won’t spoil the full experience.
What’s important for this post is that Dorian’s backstory is defined by three choices he had to make:
Why he left home
Why he became a vampire
Why he joined the ‘good guy’ coven
Dorian didn’t have much of a choice for leaving home—vampires were not going to take no for an answer—but he had control over who those vampires were abducting. He made sure they only took him. Who he is as a person and what he stands for is concentrated in that one choice: He is a self-sacrificial character who will do anything to save those he loves.
Why he turned defines another aspect of his character: He has unwavering conviction in his beliefs and will do anything to see them through, even if that means he doesn’t survive the process.
And why did he join the good guys? He represents that ‘vampire’ isn’t synonymous with ‘monster’. Or, in other words, “It’s not what you are, it’s what you do that defines you” and at his core, he is kindness.
Dorian’s backstory would have been a lot different if I’d written him as somebody kidnapped in the dead of night, turned by force, and run from his old coven for being too noble.
Still tragic, absolutely, and I’m not hating on characters who are tragic in their passivity and inability to take action in their lives. Not every character can save themselves, or damn themselves.
I love writing characters who did not expect to have to live with the consequences of their actions and Dorian, and his foundational character, pretty much say those exact words in both their books.
Good consequences or bad, one single choice either from necessity, selfishness, desire, impatience, or the best of intentions, can have a cascading effect on a story that tends to read as more realistic than everything going according to plan.
If I’d written Dorian’s backstory as “I surrendered to this evil coven already plotting how I’d take my revenge and become the vampire I am today, and it all worked flawlessly” I don’t think it would make him as sympathetic.
Not to say I hate plotters, either, he’s just not a plotter. Another character in that same book, Gregori, did pretty much exactly that for his own backstory.
But “I surrendered to this coven and had no idea what I signed up for, then saw an opportunity and jumped on it and could not take that choice back” is fitting of who he is as a person. He was someone too soft and simple for this political world he found himself in, who had to adapt or die.
You can cover a lot of ground, particularly in dreaded “exposition monologues” without throwing it into your audience’s faces that you’re “telling” a bunch of information. I didn’t need Dorian to say “these are the three tentpole traits of my character”.
But I do think that if you give characters that kind of agency, you’re giving them the chance to prove who they are when no one’s looking. For Dorian, who had no guarantee his plan would work or that he’d survive its execution, who he was when no one was looking is a man who’d give his all to keep a promise.
If you’d like to check out Dorian’s story, check out Eternal Night of the Northern Sky below.
And if you’d like to see the foundational characters that were the basis of my entire writing journey, check out Little Red Dot.
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