#I always feel my descriptions of him as a character are a bit lackluster and don't like.. capture the right picture

[monster-noises]

hi!! please tell me about lazarus!! i keep seeing your art and the sidebar image on your blog, i would love to know more!!

OHOHOO I thought I had passed the point where someone who followed me Wouldn't know who Lazarus is... but if you're newer I guess you probably would have missed the Hayday where there were new pictures of him every like.. two days!

but yes, absolutely, I will tell you about the Boy :3c

To start with the Context: Lazarus Bosch is my Resident Evil Village OC, brought to proverbial life about twoooo months after the game came out as a result of me falling terribly in love with Karl Heisenberg (and the general world of the game) and needing to Do something about it Lmao He changed a fair bit since his first iterations(none of which made it online), and originally I wasn't going to share him with anyone, but as I gained confidence with my fanart, and as his story kept swirling and growing in my mind, I saw other folks posting about their own OC's and I let go of the Cringe and threw him out into the world (/v-v)/ At this point in time I am working on actually Writing his and Karl's story in the form of a Fan Comic called Flesh and Hot Iron (FaHI, for short)

Now! the boy himself! Lazarus, before he is anything else, is an artist. In the old world he made inert mixed-media taxidermy Automata, in The Village he makes sculptures of living flesh using the power of the Cadou. His art was and Is his world, it is Creation before all else, up to and including his Self Preservation Instincts. Which is... how he ended up in The Village in the first place really. He's passionate, frequently obsessive, frantic and often moody, just imagine what it would look like if you took a Mad Scientist and shoved it in the skin of a Pretentious Artist and that's pretty squarely Lazarus at a glance. Elegant and Terrifying, Beautiful and Filthy, a Man with an Inhuman nature... He's not that simple as a character in the wider scope of his narrative of course, he's got Much more Going On, but we can't be here Forever and also there will be the whole Comic to get into that! (I am also Notoriously bad for expressing these sorts of things in words alone, I need to show that man in Situations to get the point across dfjkghsdg) as the impetus for his creation would imply he and Karl are Together and the story of their relationship and lives in the Village are the core of the Narrative for FaHI, Though Lazarus is the focal character we see the world through. I usually describe them as like.. the same note played at different octaves, two harmonious pieces come together to form something great and terrible and resonant, if not just straight up fucking annoying. Their story is about trying, about wanting to try, about making the best of a bad situation and fumbling your way to something Good when you don't really know what that means, about being human but also being monsters, about loving both Because and In Spite Of, about rage and fear, and of course about Nasty Old Man Sex... and that.. should theoretically give you the basics! If you want some more juicy and specific details I Did do a full-detail character-exploration post here! he also has a character playlist called; Hands in the Belly of the Divine and him and Karl have a playlist of course called Flesh and Hot Iron !!! His tag on my blog is Meat Husband, where you can find what is basically a pinterest board of things that have his Vibe, inspiration for his art, and Jokes and Meme's

[yesokaythatsfine69]

Pretty Boys (Levi Ackerman X Eren Yaegar x Jean Kirstein x Reader)

Description: Why want one when you could have them all? The boys fight over you, so in your frustration you give them an ultimatum, one they really can't refuse.

Character(s): y/n, Eren, Jean, Levi, Mikasa, Armin, Hanje

POV: 2nd person

Warning(s): fluff, angst, cursing, you're a sexy queen

A/n: hello! New year's is coming up so as a new year's gift I give you this. I couldn't decide if I wanted to do smut for this or if I wanted to do a sequel of some sort but I think unless it's requested this'll do. This will be my last work for Attack on Titan. Again, feel free to request anything abt it though.

Word count:

Song: nowhere to run by stegosaurus rex

*none of the gifs used are mine, full credit goes to the maker.

You tugged your hair back, fingers nimbly working to tie the strands of your hair back into a proper pony tail. Sweat dripped from your neck, the summer weather taking a toll on your body and your work. You fanned yourself, huffing out a sigh.

"Taking a break?" You turned, coming face to face with Jean. He had the reigns of his horse in his right hand, leading the animal to where you stood, by the training area. He smiled, seemingly unfazed by the sweltering heat.

"I should ask you the same thing. Where have you been?" You crossed your arms, getting yourself prepared for whatever lackluster answer Jean was about to provide. Jean simply handed you the reigns, gently taking your hand and pressing the reigns into your palms.

"I've been taking care of the horses, believe it or not they like to bathe too." You huffed at his answer, but looked up at him and raised the reigns questionably. "What is this?" The brown eyed boy smiled again, crossing his arms. He leaned against the animal causally, his eyes gleaming mischievously. "This is Ren. She's new and needs a rider. So, I was thinking..."

You broke out into a wide smile. During the last mission, a particularly brutal one, you'd lost your horse. You loved that animal- he'd gotten you out of serious trouble in the past. Always faithful until the end...that had nearly torn you apart, as nothing was more villainess to you than to kill an innocent animal.

Before you could stop yourself you practically tackled the blonde, pulling him into a tight hug.

You and Jean had been close since the battle for trost, the two of you working side by side after being assigned the same squad. After giving pleasantries neither of you seemed focused on maintaining a friendship beyond just surviving- that was until you'd lost him.

Jean had gone missing in the chaos, you searching roof tops and buildings until finally you found his figure, hunched over.

You remember how badly he shook, tears streaming from his brown eyes. "Jean?" He hadn't spoken a word to you, but he hadn't needed to. You took his face in your hands and forced him to look at you.

You delivered a breathing technique that you'd taught yourself when you got nightmares after the wall fell. You waited until his breathing evened out and he seemed to be in a better headspace before you hugged him, gently.

Your kindness caught him off guard- especially for someone going the scouts- but he never forgot it.

Your grip tightened around him, practically squeezing the life out of him. "Oh Jean! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" You couldn't see it but his cheeks were as red as cherries and his eyes were as wide as saucers. "Uh, yeah. No- no problem."

"Oi, what the hell are you two doing?" The sound of your captains voice rang through the field and you gently let go of your comrade. "Jean got me a new horse!" You squealed at your stone faced commander, who's eyes were narrowed at a still blushing Jean.

"That's very kind of him. Especially since I wasn't aware he was able to give away our horses." Jean straightened, his eyes still wide. "Well, no not technically, I just- the horse needed- needed an owner and since...ya know, I figured." Levi just stared at him, an eyebrow raised. "Tch, you are an bumbling idiot, but as long as y/n's happy with it?" You nodded empathically.

"Uh, thank you, sir." Jean stuttered again, and Levi rolled his eyes. "Shut up." "Right, right. I better go...clean something." Jean cast one last glance in your direction before he left, leaving the horse in your care.

Levi watched him go as you turned to Ren, softly petting her snout.

Gently a hand reached out beside you, joining in in stroking the horse. "She is very lovely, I'll give him that." You smiled at Levi's words.

"Maybe someday I'll let you ride her." You laughed, turning suddenly. You hadn't realized though how close the two of you had gotten when he reached over your shoulder to pet Ren, and suddenly the two of you were mere inches from one another's faces.

Your eyes widened at the degree of closeness, until Levi's own gaze flickered to meet yours. You smiled at him and his lips upturned the slightest. You opened your mouth to speak but once more you were interrupted with the arrival of a cadet. "Captain Levi, sir! Commander Erwin requested your presence for a meeting about-"

Levi waved him off. "Tch, save it, I'm coming." Levi turned back to you but jumped a little when the cadet spoke again, obviously having figured he'd be leaving. "Captain Levi, I was told to escort you." Levi's expression was tense, but his voice remained eerily calm. "Do you want a gold star, brat? I said I was coming." Levi began his way to the cadet, who seemed much less sure of himself.

"Oh, captain Levi!" You yelled after him, waving your right arm in the air. The two paused both turning in your direction. "Don't forget I'll see you tonight to help you finish the paperwork over the last scouting mission." Levi nodded, his face less tense.

At their leave you also turned, bringing your new horse with you and heading to the stables.

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Your clutched your tray, dodging around the people who stood and talked in the lunchroom. You searched for Eren, and found him, the boy waving his hand into the air to catch your attention in the crowded room. You smiled, making your way over and putting your tray down directly beside him.

Armin and Mikasa were already there, talking about something that happened on a recent mission. Eren grinned at you when you say down, his green eyes brightly shining in the lunchroom a light.

"How was training today, y/n?" Eren asked as he handed you his piece of bread. The two of you often shared food, and by now it had become second nature to do so.

You met when you were especially young, living only a few houses down from each other. You'd play, daydream, and defend Armin together. Although you were much more mild mannered- something Eren teased you about- you got along quite well. The two of you brought out an especially different side of one another.

But there was something the two of you shared deeply to your core and it was the need to protect. You'd both do whatever you could to protect those you cared about. It showed, but just in different ways. Armin often joked that you were the mother figure of the group and Eren the father.

You never noticed how bright Eren's cheeks turned.

"It went really well. Jean got me a new horse." You took a bite of bred, missing the way something dark passed over Eren's eyes.

Damn him.

Eren kept his smile as he leaned into you a bit, remaining his usual self. "Oh? Then you'll be back to riding with us soon." You shared his smile. "Yeah, as long as Levi approves. I'll be ready to kill some Titan's." Your enthusiasm caused Eren to blush, and he looked down at his watery soup. "Good, good."

He brought his spoon to his mouth, about to eat when Jean's voice thundered behind him. Immediately he straightened, but kept his body still for the main part. "Y/n, how are you liking Ren?"

Jean arrived behind you, tray in hand, and a sly smile on his face. Instantly you tapped the empty seat on the other side of you, wordlessly inviting him to sit down. He did so, and you turned away from Eren who noticably tensed.

"Yes! She's so lovely. I really can't thank you enough, Jean." As you spoke you placed your hand on his knee, Jean watching your movements intensely. His cheeks blushed as he met your kind eyes, an aw shucks expression on his blushing face. Meanwhile, Eren rolled his eyes on the other side of you, clearly finding this act overdone.

"Y/n," Eren caught your attention again, and you shifted from Jean back to your green eyes friend. "Since tomorrow's our day off, I was wondering if you'd like to practice some new techniques before you start going on missions again."

You opened your mouth to respond but before you could do so, Jean interjected. "You really think y/n would want to spend her day off training? Especially with a titan?" Eren answered him, but kept his eyes on you. "Spending the day training together is a great use of time, especially since she hasn't been in the field for a bit. Regardless of whether or not I'm a titan- the two of us still share the same goal-"

Jean laughed bitterly. "Oh can it, Titan boy. You just wanna spend the day alone with y/n." Now it was your turn to blush. "Uhh...guys."

Eren rolled his eyes. "Well at least I'm man enough to ask her to spend the day with me, unlike you, who'll just follow her around like a dog on a leash." Immediately the two stood up, bringing their faces inches apart. "Did you just call me a dog, Yaeger?" "You called me Titan boy."

You stood, turning to Mikasa and Armin who were watching with confusion as Jean and Eren engaged in a heated argument, in which neither were completely sure what it was about. "I'm gonna go, but if they calm down please tell them I'm open to spending my day off with both of them." "Sure thing, y/n." "Yeah, of course."

You side stepped the two boys and left the lunchroom, deciding that now was as good of a time as ever to go work with Levi to finish paperwork.

You left the lunchroom, making your way to Levi's office. You cast one last glance at Eren and Jean's figures. Biting your lip you hummed, and moved on, a dangerous new gleam in your eye.

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"Why you little-" "Hey, where did y/n go?" The two boys pulled apart, casting wide glances around them. Eren found Mikasa. "She left a little bit ago, Ereh." Jean spun around. "You scared her off!" Eren glared at the blonde. "I scared her off? You're the one who-" Mikasa continued, "She did say that she wanted the spend her day off with both you, though."

Jean frowned and Eren's brow furrowed. The two shared a new type of look- one of confusion. Then they separated, still carrying the same tense jealousy as before but now it was dulled by confusion and a strange satisfaction. "Fine by me." "Sure, whatever."

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You stopped in front of Levi's office door. Calmly, you knocked and waited for the captain to call out to you.

"tch, come in brat."

You opened the door, smiling gently at Levi's tired expression. He had stacks in front of him and it reminded you fo the first time you started helping him finish paperwork.

One night you were sent by Hanje to deliver some files to the scout leader, and you had knocked several times, none gave you an answer. Your curiosity had gotten the better of you and you let yourself in.

Levi was asleep over his desk, hair covering his face. He had to have been out cold, and it had absolutely surprised you, since you knew Levi barely ever slept let alone in the middle of doing something important. But there he was, dead asleep in front of you.

You first smiled, noticing how pretty he looked when he wasn't stressed or tense. Peaceful had been a good look on him.

You wouldn't dare wake him up as any other "brat" would've, instead your slipped some papers out from under him and began working.

You were driven by efficiency, and often if you wanted something done you wanted it done now, so it was easy to get through the paperwork- each answer meticulous and to Levi's liking.

After he woke up several hours later to you working quietly beside him, the two of you enjoyed quiet nights of paperwork, working side by side and talking in between.

Today, Levi was awake, but looked exhausted as he sat at his desk. He was illuminated by a single candle, and two cups of tea placed side by side claimed the edge of the table.

Your captain nodded to them. "Don't worry, I made the tea this time. I'm never trusting Hanje with the pot ever again." You snorted, carefully picking up a cup and sitting in front of Levi. "It wasn't that bad."

"tch, it wasn't even black." You hummed, taking a sip. He handed you stack, making sure you had enough room to work. "you, know, there's this bakery in town I think you'll really like. They have the best bread. It'd go so well with your tea."

You spoke while you worked, filling in each blank efficiently. "In town?" You nodded. Levi didn't like going out often, the thought was quite unappealing, unless... "Tomorrow's a day off, isn't it?" You hummed.

"tch, take me there tomorrow then." You looked up. "I don't know if I'll be able to, I have plans with Jean and Eren." Levi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "They'll be busy tomorrow." You frowned. "What? But tomorrow-" "They have stable duty all day tomorrow."

You stopped working and Levi looked up to meet your gaze. "What? What for?" Levi's face remained expressionless as he explained, giving you a long shpeal about them needing to learn to work together better and that the best way to do that was for them to spend that day cleaning.

Satisfied with himself Levi moved on, going back to work. You were still stunned. "Where in town is this bakery?" When you didn't reply he looked up, gently tapping your forehead. "Oi, pay attention, brat." You blinked away your confusion before rejoining in conversation with Levi.

Before long you two had switched to several different subjects and when you finally finished working the tea pot had become completely empty.

You stretched out your arms as Levi rubbed his eyes. "Well, that's all of it." Your breathed, crossing your arms over your chest. "tch," Levi laughed without humor. "For tonight." You smiled and lifted yourself up. "For tonight." You got to the door, before turning back to Levi.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" In the darkness of the room you could've sworn you saw Levi smile. "Tomorrow."

The door opened and closed softly and Levi waited until he could no longer hear the soft padding of your feet before he lifted himself up from his desk and carried his tired body to his room.

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Eren was practically stomping when he left his room. Another cadet had delivered the news of his punishment, and each step Eren took seemed angrier than the last.

Eren loved you- loved you since you two had met outside of your home, just a few doors down from his own. You seemed less edgy than he- less angry and more gentle. It shocked him, but it also lured him into your caress.

For a long time you were his best secret, and it was definitely selfish of him- but...the thought of losing you caused his fists to clench.

Losing you to titans was one thing- and losing you to Jean Kirstein was a completely different thing. Improbable, impossible, and definitely not happening.

Eren entered the stable and saw that he had beat Jean there. He grabbed a broom and immediately began sweeping, hoping to burn off some steam before the arrival of Jean and Levi.

Jean was slow in every single movement. It was his day off, goddamnit and instead of spending it with you, he was spending it with Eren. He scoffed in disgust. Captain Levi's plan to somehow teach them team work was definitely going to give someone a black eye- and Jean just knew it was going to be him.

He just wanted to spend some time with you- and maybe Eren was right- he did follow you around like a puppy, but that was because he really really really liked you. Okay he kind of loved you.

You've always been there for him, especially when Marco died. You've even met his mother before. Jean doesn't allow many people into his private life let alone share the parts of him he's buried deep under a shell of heat and anger.

But somehow you were able to worm your way in.

Jean sighed at the door of the stable. He opened it and directly in his eyeline stood Eren, who had already begun sweeping.

They stared at each other.

"Where's the mop at?"

Levi had been having a pretty fair day- which was saying a lot. He was going to met you at the front part of building but before then he'd figure he'd check up on the two brats he'd put on stable duty.

Sure, maybe the reason he sent them on stable duty was for more selfish reasons then helpful ones. But Eren and Jean's apprehension to one another annoyed the hell out of him, not to mention he enjoyed causing a little innocent chaos where his cadets were concerned.

At the root though was you. Those brats saw you day and night, 24/7. He had noticed they way they looked at you, the way Eren refused to be with any other squad or person unless you were there, the way Jean seemed to follow you around.

That also annoyed the hell out of him. Of course boys in love was something he'd seen many times before.

However he'd never experienced it himself- that was until you came.

He quickly understood that it was your nature to be caring, gentle, and protective. That wasn't what caught his attention, actually.

What caught his attention was the way you worked- your focus, attention, drive. It was all surpremely attractive to him. He'd seen gentle and caring people die too often. Their nature being the reason for it.

But you held yourself differently. You had something more calculated driving you, and you weren't just another person Levi had to worry about.

That combination of skill and personality made Levi comfortable and much less tense.

He walked into the stable, seeing the two men begrudgingly work to clean the floor.

"Oi, brats, you missed a spot."

At the sound of his voice they turned, jumping to salute him.

"I'll be back around five, so that should be enough time for this shithole to be spotless."

"Yes, sir."

"No problem, Captain Levi."

He turned.

"Wait, captain!" Eren's voice caused him to turn back around albeit a bit threateningly. "What, brat?"

"Where are you going?" Eren was well aware that Levi rarely left- if ever during a day off so the Captain's sudden departure worried him- was there a titan problem he should know about?

Levi smiled to the shock of his cadets.

"Oh, I'm going on a date."

He turned.

"With y/n."

He left, the door swinging close behind him.

Jean and Eren watched him go, frozen in place at his words.

"You've got to be kidding me."

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A/n: thanks for reading! Remember requests are open and criticism is always welcome.

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[jubberry]

oohkay let's go tua with those ship asks: fiveya, horrance and alluther.

thanks el i love you

Send me a ship and I'll answer three questions based on if I ship it or not.

fiveya obvs i ship this since this is 90% of my tua drawings lol

1. ill wait ill wait (to be the one) by georgiestauffenberg made me ship it cause holy fuck dude. I dont know if i ship them romantically when i saw them onscreen cause first of all, age difference is kinda weird lmao. Second, they dont rlly interact much outside literally the first couple of eps. But he was so soft for her, and i felt like they had so much unexplored history.

so i looked at fanfics cause i was wondering if ppl still ship it, then i liked the description of this one so i gave it a go.

Basically the premise is that vanya dates a much older man who seems to know a lot about her. And it was amazingly in character and just provided their characters some depth that u wouldnt find outside of a romantic relationship between them. (The implication of five pining while she doesnt know who he is, their missed chances when he time travelled, fives missed chances of living and having a 'normal' life bec of his own hubris, vanyas insecurity and being able to open up bec shes with someone whos known her since childhood). Its so sweet and thats how i was like, oh yep i can do so much more with these two, and what has kept me interested in drawing them etc.

2. My favourite things are the shippers cause i made some friends in the fandom who are super cool and supportive! I dont get super involved in fandoms and usually just watch from afar so finding people to talk to and muck around with in this tiny fandom is super cool 😭

Though thats not to say I havent come across some bad apples in this fandom and things that I dont like. I think thats the importance of carving out a place for yourself and ur friends in fandom tho.

Another thing I like about the ship itself, i just like the grumpy person whos soft for one person trope. Its so cute. I like all the little clues in canon on how their relationship as kids is quite warm, which is interesting cause five is basically the star student and he can be quite cold vs vanya who is the black sheep of the family.

I also like how five likes her powers even when she caused the apocalypse he spent the majority of his life in lol. Like its a popular hc that five is just a wife guy and i love that.

I see vanya as the type who has a lot of love to give, and she sometimes has unrealistic expectations of what her partner can give. Betrayal and lies really angers her, but also when her partner cannot meet her expectations of love she gets very upset bec its also an indication of how shes not good enough, or not loveable enough to be able to have this in the relationship (her insecurity means every failing always comes back to her, even if its out of her control).

I feel like five would be a level-headed person enough in the relationship to not be afraid to say 'vanya ur being stupid' (ie. the s2 confrontation lmao). Also, five's personality means she will never have to doubt his actions bec she knows hes the type who will not give u the moment of the day if hes not interested.

Not to mention they also have the whole apocalypse vs. saviour, hero/villain thing. Theres just a lot to explore!

3. I probably have several. But mostly I dont mind five being a dick to vanya bec first, even if the appeal is hes soft to her hes already kind of a dick in canon lmao. Also, vanya isnt a child. Shes grown and she can handle petty af things like five telling her shes not good at cooking lol. I also dont mind it cause I feel like people are getting too afraid to write... conflict for fear or portraying an abusive relationship or smth. Like, chill. Conflict is fine, resolving it is how u get a story. However in saying that, nobody should be obligated to write any way unless you want to! Fanfic is for comfort so if what your doing is making u happy then its good enough!

horrance which i also ship but i love the platonic and romantic relationship equally:

1. I came in tua in general not shipping anything so Im honestly not sure. I do remember someone doing a meta before s2 came out that was basically how ben acted weird when klaus summoned dave in s1 that made me go 👀 Otherwise, tua s2 rlly made me like them cause tua FED horrance shippers. Like..... the fact that klaus didnt want ben to leave him, and ben knows thats why he stayed 😢 or the fact that klaus was all over him for some reason???? Somebody also mentioned gay ben once and I resonate with that deeply. Like i get that jill exists but i resonate with gay ben deeply.

2. I love their bickering, theyre so cute together. I just like ben being angry bec hes self aware that hes got both shit and amazing taste. Shit bec he cant believes he likes Klaus (and also amazing also bec Klaus). I think the idea of them being kind of underdogs, theyre not rlly leader types and dont want to be, helps them bond together even in platonic horrance. They're both down to earth, and even tho they can annoy each other, they also know if they want a space to feel comfortable its with each other. Theyre not pressured by rivalry over leadership, or any sort of competition.

I love the idea that even tho ben is like klaus's ''conscience'', hes also down for chaos and bitchy. I feel like klaus rlly enabled that side of him, its not exactly a good thing but its p funny lol

3. I know some people think their dynamic is unhealthy but i dont care lol

alluther. So id say i dont ship this, mostly due to the fact that im not invested? Just like all tua ships so far I rlly came out not wanting anything but platonic relationships cause I feel tua doesnt do romance very well. With alluther, theyre so cute but im not super invested in either of their chars so they havent stuck for me. I appreciate seeing them and talking about them tho, and I'm def open to exploring them further.

1. I think tua canon romances are just so lackluster 😔 Idk who writes the romances but I was just like 'nice' but afterwards I dont really think about them. I love their dance scene and the message behind it! Otherwise, theyre sweet like most of the tua romances but im not super invested, same with all the non canon ships.

2. I really feel like tua needs to decide on what their relationship is. Like, just say its incest or not and stick with it 👀 Or if you wanna support it or not, just make up ur mind. I think I would've liked it better if I found the characters more interesting. Allison especially I feel like suffers from the fact that tua just doesn't want to make her ''mean''. They want to make her supportive and are less interested in making her flawed (ie. she should've had a conflict with Vanya in s2, but the writers didnt want to write the girls fighting which is stupid imo and not what that conflict is about).

In regards to Alluther, the scene where Allison gets annoyed at Luther for sleeping with someone else felt out of line. Like, how are you marrying other people and moving on but Luther isn't allowed to? But honestly, I don't mind if they actually just acknowledge it and make it a deliberate part of Allison's trait that Allison can expect a certain loyalty automatically from other people (which can tie in to her childhood being a star, and the rumour).

Luther is a big simp for Allison, which is sweet, but at the same time it would be nice to have him explore himself for a bit, and who he is outside of the academy. Then maybe they can rekindle their relationship again as new people and see where they go from there.

3. I don't hate them, but they're ok. I'm not super invested in them, just like all the tua canon romance. But I wouldn't mind making content for them if I were a bit more invested in their characters. I love their dance scene in s1 and I feel like its super a underrated portrayal of what their relationship is meant to be. I know no one talks about it but it's just such a great scene, and I'm pretty sure the choreographer was into interpretive dance? The scene had a lot of meaning that I don't see people dig around with.

Essentially I'm pretty sure the fairy lights are obviously a throwback to their childhood together, spending time outside of Reggie. So the dance scene kind of symbolized that pocket of space they made for each other in their life (even if theyre far away, or with other people, they will always have that space for each other).

The way they danced was more like playfighting than dancing, which means their relationship isn't sensual. It's more ''pure'', and romantic. Its basically two kids rekindling their love as adults. I also think this is a response to the incest, cause in s1 tua klaus literally said that 'thank god Regg is not their real father' right before Allison and Luther meet lmao. So its kinda like saying Allison x Luther isnt supposed to be 'ohh step sibling hot' but two people who experienced the same trauma as kids and finding comfort with each other (and rekindling that love after many years).

[touchmycoat]

I LOVE YOUR PORN AU!!!!! LIKE SO MUCH - and i'm just. if you don't mind me asking, how - the way you flesh out the characters, their motivations, and feelings in every scene in such an eloquent way, and just little things here and there, a habit or an activity that adds dimension to who they are, and - your prose is wonderful. you achieve this addictive, engrossing narrative space that readers just absolutely melt into, and i have to ask - how did you develop your writing style? 1/2

what books did you read that formatively shaped the way you write? or you know, what did you do to improve your writing? i'm so in awe of how you world-built and established the porn au - like lqg & hc being national taolu champions?? how do you come up with that stuff? i cannot comprehend the amount of research and effort that must've gone into porn au, and i'm just so deeply thankful that you decided to share that with us. i apologize if i'm coming on too strong, but wow. thank you 2/2

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oh my god please don't apologize, when i saw your ask i rolled on the floor giggling hysterically for a solid 15 min, bless your heart

part of the answer to your question—i've taken like, 8 years' worth of creative writing classes/workshops! there was also a transnational literary component to my degree so whenever possible, i took literature classes fksjdfksd so whatever you see and like is definitely the result of a lot of work. My writing from not even 10 years ago but like, 5? horrid, ridiculous, wild, cringe. The Porn AU itself is the second draft of a MUCH more lackluster piece.

about my writing style. gosh, you really know how to make a writer blush. "I like your writing style" is literally an instant kill LMFAO okay okay, the useful answer: my primary criteria for choosing what to write is, don't be obvious, be interesting. Fiction tells us to show, not tell, right? Poetry is about concretizing the abstract. Screenwriting says cut all useless lines. A lot of writing rules and advice—never start with the weather, avoid detailed descriptions of the characters, don't use adverbs, etc.—are all really about this exact sentiment.

I once took a seminar on writing for horror movies. The golden rule of the horror genre is Never Show the Monster, because whatever the audience is imagining is always going to be scarier than what you actually show them. There are obviously exceptions to this (to all writing rules), but in my mind, it's all the same principle.

LONG answer under the cut

So you start with building a scene. I approach it like essay-writing—I state my thesis for the motivations/main propulsion of the plot. "In this scene, LQG and SY are motivated to save Cang Qiong's porn production, so they have sex on camera." Then you build the sub-motivations: "LQG is also doing this because he's pining after SY."

I learned this "thesis-writing" from theater, specifically from writing 10-min plays. Theater is all about characters being driven by their wants and needs, and the reason I say 10-min plays in particular is because longer forms of writing will give you more leeway, but in 10-min, you pretty much need your character motivations established from their very first line. That's why you need that very clear thesis for yourself—if you don't even know what the character wants from the get-go, then you can't establish who they are, what they want, and where they're going to go in a dynamic and interesting way.

So this thesis drives EVERYTHING that happens in your scene, just like an actual thesis for an essay, just like topic sentences for your paragraphs. Once I do this, I have the emotional direction & narrative scope of how much this scene will cover, I have a sense of where it begins and ends. "Begin with the dynamics of their sex. LQG starts showing signs of his feelings. Reveal LQG backstory for exactly what those feelings are and why he isn't telling SY. The rest of the scene implies that LQG's feelings may not be so unrequited, but also sets up the fundamental problem at the heart of the whole fic—SY's inability to comprehend his own feelings." This is kind of my new thesis now. They're having sex; LQG pines; SY doesn't know he himself is pining.

Now it's time to manifest. This is the "storytelling" part, and the hardest lmfao.

Personally, my approach is largely shaped by my very cool screenwriting teacher, who hammered into us: don't fucking waste lines. The Golden Rule of screenwriting is that every line should reveal something new. I found my old writing kind of repetitive, especially on the emotional front, so this is kind of my editing mantra now—is this line either propelling the story or revealing character? If it's revealing character, is it a revelation that has to happen right now, or is it slowing the momentum of the scene?

But these aren't rhetorical questions! "Momentum" doesn't just mean tumble forward as fast as you can, it also means taking the time to draw the bowstring back further, so your next move has even more propulsion. That's why you get the little "LQG has been in love with SY..." cut scene in the middle of the fucking (at least, that's my reasoning for putting it there). Every line has to bring a fresh revelation that "proves" your thesis further.

That brings me to the details. You said you like the details I inject into the world-building, and honestly that's so gratifying to hear, because that means I'm successfully manifesting my intentions, y'know? "Every line has to bring new info" kind of sounds like a tall order, but the most effective way I've seen it done in books and onstage/onscreen is with these hyper-specific details. If you're writing a scene in which someone feels dirty, never have them just say that—have them say they want to take a shower. Show them running out of bleach again as they scrub down the stall after they wash. Begin the scene like "Steve always washes his throat first now." Then pack the scene with even more revelatory details: "Soap in hand, he heard the pipes above his head groan for a half note on adagio, and readied himself for the blast of icy water that always followed." Shitty shower, probably not rich, is likely a classical musician.

By the same token, I want to build LQG's character. The "Liu Qingge has been in love with Shen Yuan" section is the first insight we get into his background and perspective, right, so: I need to establish LQG's emotional context for filming this scene -> I can characterize him as a nut for martial arts in the same stroke -> so this takes place at a gym, beating up sandbags is a classic way of showing manly emotional distress -> so give me more details on this gym -> Puqi Gym, XL the martial god is obviously the owner -> how do I have XL & LQG a relationship beyond gym owner & client? They spar together -> I want XL & HC's position in this AU to mirror their god/ghost king statuses in TGCF canon -> how can I concretize their fighting prowesses in real-world details? -> they're martial arts champions -> what's an actual competitive martial art form that involves weaponry? -> wushu -> wikipedia Wushu, find taolu weapons sparring

(I just realized that in my songxiao daycare AU, Hualian are Olympic gold medalists by the same narrative logic laksjdnflaksjdnflsd)

So, that's the flow of logic behind my world-building lmao. It's all in the details. Leverage is one of my all-time favorite TV shows and the way they build their stories is super inspiring. If their thesis is "the rich and powerful take what they want, we steal it back for you," they manifest it in the most specific and concrete narratives: mine workers who like the work but are fighting for workplace safety vs. the money-grubbing mine owner who will blow up their livelihoods if it means a bigger payday; the little girl from Iraq with refugee status forced to be an accomplice to antique smuggling vs. international smuggler with a fetish for British royalty.

Last pieces of writing advice I've gotten: pay attention to the real world. A writing exercise we did was just sit in a public spot and make concrete observations on our surroundings. There are stories in everything!!! I learned to observe things like weird holes in the concrete (earthquake? drilling accident? bullet mark?), odd patches of moss or bird shit (look overheard: it's an AC unit dripping water for the former and nesting swallows for the latter), ladies in flipflops walking alongside ladies in high heels (excited mother walking her antsy daughter to the bus for the daughter's first job interview—the daughter's shirt collar is unfashionable and she's taking the bus, so there's a good chance the shoes were passed down, maybe from an office lady aunt. Maybe she's even overdressed for the interview, so will her outfit be an unintended source of tension once she gets to the interview? Is it a group interview, to make the comparison more stark?).

Also, write what you know. You know why SY is a video editor in porn AU? Because I'm a video editor. One of my more popular MDZS fics is set in a plant shop 'cause I worked in a plant shop. SL was First AD in Bachelor!AU 'cause I was First AD on a set once. Concrete details like the editing software having a split-screen, always answering questions about how often to water plants, and being up until 3AM editing call-sheets are the ones that will fully immerse your readers.

And if you can't do the actual things, just watch someone who is, listen to them talk, pick up lingo, and fake it. I watched like a 15-min vox video on fencing for the fencing!AU and a 45-min music theory video on the hospital pianist!AU (also I started learning piano sklfjnlsdjlfkjsd). Of course, I just finished reading a wangxian fic that had me going, "holy fucking shit, the author is literally getting their masters in a music program" so my 45-min youtube video ain't shit, but if you just need a little bit of character establishment, then it's enough to do the trick.

Anyways, tl;dr. Find the details, find the tension. Never tell outright what the tension is supposed to be, manifest it instead. Make the manifestation as interesting as possible, and if it's meant to be funny, make it funnier.

Sorry this turned into a fucking lecture lskjnflskdjnflskd but last thing, someone asked me before if I had formative authors, and this was the list I wrote at the time:

Angels in America (play) by Tony Kushner

The God of Small Things (novel) by Arundhati Roy

The Penelopiad (novel) by Margaret Atwood

“Litany in Which Certain Things are Crossed Out” (poem) by Richard Siken

Night Sky with Exit Wounds (poetry) by Ocean Vuong

Giovanni’s Room (novel) by James Baldwin (and then Go Tell it on the Mountain and then his essays)

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

And, ooh, now that I have this list I think I can even roughly sort it as such: Kushner, Atwood, Siken, and Salinger I really latched onto for their dialogue and very present narrator voice—same is true for Go Tell it on the Mountain. Roy, Vuong, and Giovanni’s Room, I think, are texts more representative of the kind of saturated figurative language I like, and emulate. Of course they all do imagery and voice and overall structure amazingly, but that’s the rough dividing line I’d draw.

But yeah James Baldwin is my fucking hero.

[imaginependergast]

Bloodless: The Hot Take

Moving is a minor hell and I’m not even done but I took time last night to read the book. I finished after 11pm so I’m writing  now. Most of my thoughts are related to one thing... Everything under the cut. Spoilers!

I think I liked it? I feel kind of conflicted and I’m trying to parse out how much of that is because of the the ending.

I felt like it dragged a bit and, as per usual, I didn’t like the B plot. I didn’t give a shit about Betts and Wellstone and their pissing contest. I only felt bad for how Daisy was treated by both. 

I feel like a lot of the characters were lackluster or just didn’t really gel for me, Frost included (more below). I did like Quincy, as brief as he was.

The relationship between Coldmoon and Pendergast seemed rougher than I remembered, but maybe it’s been too long since I read Crooked River. I guess that ending and Coldmoon being cranky about the circumstances would explain that. 

We didn’t get any  descriptions of Constance’s décolletage or repeated references to how every man wants to bone her, so that’s nice. 

I don’t know shit about physics; never took a class in my life. I am vaguely aware of the concept of alternative realities and the like so I’m not going to call out the plot as being bullshit, but I also don’t have the brain nor background to give any informed opinion on it. I don’t know if I like it in a Pendergats novel, however. It seemed a little too far out. I can believe Constance had her life prolonged via medical experimentation easier than I can that the Air Screamers from Silent Hill attacking a major American city.

On that note, what does that mean for the world at large? I don’t think there’s every been something this wild and wide ranging. A random man-child killing randos in a small rural town isn’t the same as giant fucking interdimensional monster killing a major politician. 

Frost was a character I liked at the beginning, but by the end was a bit cooler on. I can buy that she’s an eccentric recluse but the weapons? Having a bazooka??? Feels a little... shark jumpy. 

As a kid I watched a ton of true crime and forensics shows so I saw a bunch of episodes on D. B. Cooper. I feel like someone, somewhere has suggested that Cooper was a woman, so I don’t think that was something they authors pulled out of their ass. Or maybe they did and I’m wrong. I don’t hate that idea, but I do wonder how realistic that a woman in the early 70s would have been able to pass as a man. For what it’s worth this didn’t break my immersion or anything. 

So Frost and Constance. I’m not surprised that Frost picked up on Constance and figured her out. That felt organic. I’m also not surprised that Constance saw herself in Frost. Which leads me to...

Constance going back in time. Oh, boy. What is that, from the authors perspective? I wonder if this is their way of killing her off because they’ve either hit the wall with her (and/or her & Pendergast’s development) or feel that her story is complete. I was surprised, to put it mildly. And yet, I kind of understand. When it comes to her and Pendergast the most we ever get is a little crumb, usually one or two brief chapters where we get a glimpse of them together (in this chapter 41). I think the authors knew they couldn’t string us, and them, along forever and needed to do something. We know Pendergast has some hang-ups about being attracted to Constance but it seemed since Crimson Shore he got over some of them. When I first read pages 212 and 213 I thought it was a bit more optimistic (I was pretty tired) and we’d get a similarly intimate encounter later on, but reading it again now I think that’s when Constance finally confirmed for herself that Pendergast could never give himself to her. I think if she didn’t end up going back in time that she’d pull herself away and maybe even tell him as such. I can’t really blame Constance for what she did. She was always out of her element and Pendergast was the only thing tethering her to the time. I understand her reasoning that if Pendergast won’t be hers properly, then she might as well reclaim her past and build a future where she can get what she needs. 

In a weird way, I like that this kind of teaches Pendergast a lesson (to put it not eloquently at all). We saw what happened in Crimson Shore, then things seemed to be back to normal, but now it’s implied feelings weren’t being dealt with (that’s so Pendergast). Pendergast is so used to having insight and having the upper hand that I find it oddly refreshing he bungled this up. And not because I don’t like him, of course. But I think sometimes the character can veer into Mary-Sue territory- just being so perfect or superficially wrong. Sometimes it’s nice to see him fuck up, and it’s entirely believable that he wouldn’t deal with his feelings for Constance and just sort of roll with things, as emotionally constipated as they are.

It is now my scientific conclusion that Pendergat and Constance have not fucked.

If I had any doubt (I didn’t) that Constance’s son was a shitty plot device, that’s gone. 

What about Diogenes? Assuming Constance doesn’t come back, will we get a big blow up over that? 

Speaking of Diogenes, remember that newsletter story from a while back where Constance and Pendergast go into the New Orleans crypt and find the gemstones that signify Diogenes? Is that a thing that’s coming, or was it just a brief short? I want that story! Does that fit anymore, or is that now completely dropped?

Will the next book be another direct continuation where Pendergast tries to get Constance back? Will he have his wacky associated build him a time machine? Will he meditate into the past??

I sort of feel how I did when I finished Book of the Dead when it ended on Constance being pregnant. I’m really curious to know where things go next. 

I feel conflicted. I think if Constance didn’t pull a Steve Rogers I’d feel more sure about my feelings. It would be more status quo, but as curious as I am about the future I’m also a bit worried. Constance never coming back would probably blow. I liked her character and I liked the sexual tension. 

And yet, even taking the ending out of my thoughts I don’t know how much I’d like it. I feel like this book was weaker than I expected. It wasn’t bad like Wheel of Darkness and I liked it more than City of Endless Night, but I probably won’t re-read it.  

This one is heavy. I think it might be a bad thing that 90% of my thoughts are concentrated on the ending. Either way I am very curious about where this is going to go. What do you think?

[courtneystriker]

My Thoughts on the HG Prequel

I just finished reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and I got to say, my feelings are mixed. Below I have an entire review  for the story which included how I felt, the expectations, the biases I had going into the new book, and how I felt after reading. Please note there will be spoilers. Also this review isn’t meant to hurt anyone and if you absolutely love the book so far...good! Enjoy it fully! As an aspiring writer myself and someone who studied in college/loves creative writing I’m well aware that people just have different takes on writing. Glad you are enjoying it :)

Anyways, here it goes…

The Expectations

As the Hunger Games series is one of my favorites of all time, I had a strong bias to like this book. Since it was first announced, without knowing any details, I was extremely excited and optimistic. I re-read the entire Hunger Games series twice beforehand in preparation; once with my fiancé and once on my own. The only thing I really wanted, knowing that it took place during the tenth hunger games, was that the arena reflected how new the hunger games were. Then, when we learned what the series was about, people started voicing some concerns or were disappointed by the plot, instead wanting it to be something like Finnick’s arena, Haymitch’s, Mags’, etc. etc. I was not among this group. However, I understand where they were coming from, because I always thought the idea of the first Quarter Quell (the one where the districts voted for the tributes) was an extremely interesting concept. 

Yet I think these things are best left explored in fanfiction as they add nothing to the series and Suzanne Collins did an excellent job just giving us enough information to get the idea. At that point it’d just be a book on details, which could fall short or be a gimmicky, cheap way to keep people reading the series and keep her name relevant. And wasn’t that part of the message in her series, the thing Katniss so heavily criticized that gave a great irony to the books? Who would watch children killing each other for entertainment? Meanwhile, we as the reader are reading these books as a form of entertainment. Plus, Suzanne Collins so skillfully painted the illusion of knowing but not fully knowing their stories that it’s haunting, and I think that is one of the many reasons (along with the battle royale trope being naturally compelling, liking the characters, etc.) that a lot of us are more drawn towards these stories rather than (at least for me)  a book on Snow. 

That being said, I was not against the idea of a book on Snow because I find villain characters, especially grey ones, to be very interesting to read about, and I was pretty certain Suzanne was going to handle this beautifully, especially since you could already feel this atmosphere coming off of Snow in the Hunger Games series. I know some were really concerned about a Snow redemption arc, but to me it felt very obvious that it couldn’t be and it would be more of him sliding into evil.

I did have other concerns when I read the description for the first time. I could not believe they went with the whole tribute from District Twelve thing again. I loved Katniss and District Twelve, but I did not want Katniss 2.0. I said right from the beginning to my fiancé that she’d have to make the tribute from District Twelve extremely different for me to get on board (though I was holding on faith that Collins would). It just felt cheap and gimmicky to rehash the District Twelve thing, it sort of made me feel the same way I would have if she had written about one of the games I mentioned above. Sure, it’d sell, but it wouldn’t add anything to the series. I was thinking she better not hunt, sing, or have any qualities resembling Katniss really.  

Another thing I worried about was the love story they hinted at in the description. It just didn’t make sense to me. Because how was Snow going to ever support the games if from an earlier age he fell in love with a tribute and vowed to protect her? Then later he’s all like pro-hunger games? Just this itself could weaken the entire series if done poorly, because it would weaken the main antagonist’s motives for not only the prequel but also the Hunger Games series as well. I kept thinking either the girl has to die in the arena betraying Snow somehow (which is what I was hoping for), Snow will have to betray her, or perhaps he would have been faking love for her for some sort of personal gain I couldn’t imagine. Either way, I thought it weakened the story's appeal to me. Yet overall I was still excited, desperately waiting for the book’s release. 

And now that I have read it, I have to say it felt forced at a lot of parts and lackluster overall…

*Spoilers start here*

My Review:

Suszanne Collins’ writing style is one I’ve always loved and has consistently appealed to me. Even though this book is written in 3rd person (which some may like less if you don’t particularly like third person) it holds up well against the original series. So I really had no complaints in this regard besides the excessive use of songs (felt like fanfiction a bit). I think if you liked the original series and don’t mind third person you’ll feel right at home with her style.

The concerns others had about Snow’s redemption are completely dismissed in this book. Like I had predicted, she writes about his fall into evil, and although it’s not black and white evil (as I don’t like anyways) you can very much tell he’s a bad guy and that the hardships he faced in life only further pushed him towards obtaining status and power. Overall, he feels true to the character when we end up seeing him in the Hunger Games series, and his journey to power fits the images Finnick painted in Mockingjay. He is very well characterized in the book and perfectly unlikable while maintaining an intriguing internal dialogue (although it does occasionally feel tedious, but not enough to bother me; others may feel differently).

 The way he is written is very much in line with Collin’s great characterization, one of the reasons I always loved The Hunger Games. All the characters felt like real people. They all had an extreme depth to them and I felt they all resembled people I had actually met in real life. There were little to no characters that relied solely on gimmicky personalities to get by. Even very minor characters that seemed depthless and swallow at first--like Katniss’s prep team--had more to them. So I thought going into this book I had nothing to worry about in that regard. I didn’t even really spare it a thought, but boy was I wrong. 

I think Snow and Lucy Grey were the only characters that had (at least partly) the depth that the original Hunger Games cast had. I’ll discuss Lucy Grey later but first let me talk about some side characters. Where to even begin really? There’s a LOT of characters in this book. Frankly, way too many, which I think contributes heavily to the lack of depth in the characters. Honestly there’s so many that the names of characters were hard to keep track of while listening to the audiobook (my hard copy of the book was still in the mail and I didn’t want to wait). Things got a bit clustered in my mind quickly. There were twenty-four tributes, twenty-four mentors,  Snow’s family, The Dean and Drs at the university, Snow’s Peacekeeper crew, and the Covey, and those are just the groups that I can cluster together. At least, the ones I remember having names and getting introduced, but I think that’s everyone really important. There was no real time to develop or get to know them really, which made the tributes’ deaths more meaningless as I could barely recall their names. It caused impactful scenes to weaken significantly overall and it made characters serve only to characterize and amplify Snow’s fall into evil. 

Here’s what I mean by that. The head Gamemaker, Dr. Gaul, really was the character I hated the most while reading this. She was just evil without reason (one of the weakest villain types with little to no personality besides being evil). She even made creepy rhymes as if she was in some sort of horror movie, and the entire point of her character was to contribute a lot to some of the forced plot points driving Snow’s moral decline. For example, there were all her tests, which seemed contrived and all directly connected to getting Snow to think the Hunger Games was a good idea. She was seemingly supposed to be a Dr. Mengele type character, as this book has a lot of Holocaust-esqe imagery. I’m fine with irredeemably evil villains, but instead of getting the depth that a Dr. Mengele character could offer (as some may know, many children that were part of his experiments actually said he was kind and gave them candy, and I find that deeply haunting to this day.) She is a flat, one-dimensional character whose entire personality could be described with one word: sociopath. Evil people are master manipulators, which is how they get away with evil things. I think at one of the funerals she puts on a good public face, and she seems to have power, money and influence. Yet the book doesn’t show this seemingly present quality nearly enough to make her a haunting character. Instead we get nursery rhythms and clearly driven lessons towards evil at are contrived. Like “Write about what you most liked about the war” or the assignment to improve the hunger games? Like what class is this? Why are they taking it? And why are the young kids of the influential deciding this instead of the influential people themselves?

Another character I feel was just there for Snow’s development and to represent an opposite viewpoint but lacked Collin’s usual depth is Sejanus Plinth. As a District 2 citizen whose family got rich off the war and moved to the Capitol, he is the main opposing viewpoint of the book, presenting Snow with a chance to do the right thing. I’ve seen people say he’s a Peeta-like character, but I completely reject that idea. He lacks in the charm Peeta has, relishes in self-pity (although he’s completely justified in his sadness and has a right to be upset), and while he has a heart like Peeta, he ultimately doesn’t know how to use it. Instead of working within his position to get influence like Peeta so masterfully does, he’s hot-headed and continuously makes poor decisions that ultimately don’t help anyone. It’s like he wants to help but doesn’t know how as he’s driven completely by emotion without reason. He too contributes to some forced scenes, particularly my least favorite in the book; when they sneak into the arena. Overall, he just falls flat for me. Again, I feel I don’t know anything about him beyond what he contributes to Snow’s story line and he doesn’t come across as realistic. It’s like Collins just wrote how someone would normally react to the hunger games, slapped a district number on him and went on her merry way. 

I just wasn’t prepared for these sort of characters when the Hunger Games series made even the smallest of characters stand out dramatically. I feel neutral to annoyed by most characters in this novel. I could expand this portion, and maybe if people inquire I’ll elaborate on some of the other characters as I have strong opinions on them, but this post is already getting long, so I’ll move on to Lucy Grey.

Lucy Grey is by far my favorite character even though she is bordering towards being a character from a fanfiction. Not quite a Mary Sue in my opinion but there is a certain connection to fanfiction I made with her. You may have guessed some issues I had with her by reading my expectations earlier in the post, but that has not displaced my love for her. Her personality is very different from Katniss’s, or even Peeta’s or Haymitch’s. She had a different type of charm than all of them, is a natural performer, and seemed more extroverted. Also, the whole idea of the Covey and her “not really” being district was intriguing. It really highlighted the displacement that war can cause and how people can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Although I was confused on how much mobility between the districts there were….and did District Twelve have a fence or no?) It really emphasizes one of the main themes of the book, extreme prejudice against both Capitol and District. Her spot sort of in between really drives home the point that there's literally no difference except extreme poverty, and even then there was poverty in the Capitol, only better hidden. Her bright mood (and clothes), her poised attitude, and her optimism made her endearing. She was confident in her skin yet still held the fear of a sixteen year old going into the hunger games.

There were only two main things that bothered me about her, which was of course the direct connections made to Katniss (which I’ll elaborate on) and the forced “love” story between her and Snow. I suppose that has less to do with her and rather more to do with my dislike of that subplot. And I'm a sucker for some good romantic subplots, but yikes!

I think having one strong connection to Katniss was all that was really needed in this book. I really liked the idea of that connection being the Hanging Tree Song, as I can only imagine how it made Snow feel watching “The Mockingjay” sing it in the propo. Despite me not liking that fact that Lucy Grey is also an enchanting singer as that felt like directly stepping in Katniss’s territory, I did enjoy the little twist of Lucy Grey writing the song. Yet the connections between the two when the plot took us to District Twelve went too far. It felt like it took away all of Katniss’s special places and things. The lake, her katniss roots, her gift towards music, her fondness for the meadow, sneaking into the woods, etc. I think one solid connection would have solidified their bond beautifully. Having so many seemed like it was really trying to force the reader to make the connection when it was already painfully clear I guess? Plus, having Lucy stand out at her reaping ( the whole song part read like a bad, contrived fanfiction bit to me) and having people care about her in the Capitol while moral questions of the hunger games were still surfacing made me start to think...isn’t this how the rebellion for Katniss got started? At least partly. I get it’s a different time. Too close to the war. It just felt way too similar. I guess Collins was going for the idea of a lost rebellion that in a way Lucy Grey started that Katniss later revives. Yet it feels like that invalidates the specialness of what Katniss does in the original series as it’s already happened; it just got erased. I guess history repeats itself, but I really just didn’t like it. I could see the appeal to some extent, and it could be a beautiful connection, but it just wasn’t for me.

Now on to the plot, which is the last thing I’ll talk about as this post is getting ridiculously long. A lot of the plot felt very forced or contrived, which was another shocker coming from Collins because her pacing and plot was done really well in the original series. Of course, a lot of this was driven by Dr. Gaul and Sejanus Plinth as the entire plot hinged on the moral debate of the hunger games these two represent. Other plot points just hinged on what happened to establish the games. I mean the rebel bomb explosion seemingly only happened to change the terrain so Dr. Gaul can then bring up the idea of the different arena and how that made the tributes act differently, thus creating the crazy arenas we see later in the series. I do have some praise for how Collins established the disparities between the earlier hunger games and the ones we see in Katniss day. From the way they lock the tributes up, don’t feed them, the spotty coverage of the arena, etc. All of that was exceptionally well done. The only complaint I have was that so many tributes died before they even got to the arena (though not because I wanted to see them fight). I had been expecting one to escape or something to further establish that this was new territory and was waiting to see how they handled it in earlier times, but I wasn’t expecting that many to die before the arena got started. It just seemed like a huge Capitol failure that they advertised loudly. I really wasn’t expecting that level of incompetence, just an escaped tribute that threatened to embarrass or harm the fragile beginnings of post-war Panem. Instead, most of the pre-arena stuff felt disastrous. A lot of the mentors' deaths felt forced, and it was weird that the academy never really came under fire at all from all the rich and powerful parents whose children were getting killed because of the mentor experiment. Like it seemed there should have been some interaction there, but there wasn’t. Maybe some was passively mentioned but still, it could have been a whole subplot that further established the debate of the hunger games.

While the pre-arena up to the break-in to the arena felt like the most forced part of the book and certainly I felt it needed more workshopping plot wise, it also harbored some great and powerful scenes, like Arachne pulling the sandwich away from the tribute while she was starving and laughing about it. Basically, all those interactions of poverty and captivity meeting the citizens of the Capitol were done well, but nothing spectacular (unlike the scene of Katniss screaming at Buttercup at the end of Mockingjay which is heart wrenching.)

The last plot point I’ll talk about is the “love” story. I wasn’t a fan, but it was sort of what a lot of the plot hinged on and led to the great scene at the lake between Snow and Lucy Grey. How easy it was for him to betray his “love” for status. This led to some of the most interesting and evil internal monologue Snow had in the entire book. I honestly feel the ending scene, the interaction Snow had with the jabberjays and Mockingjays in District Twelve, and the lynching scenes were among the strongest and most memorable.

The love story again felt forced (sorry I’m using that word so much it’s just so accurate) into the story. This hindered the book from having a strong plot in the same way the weaker characters caused forced interactions and plot points to move things along. Yet at the same time the kind of abusive and lackluster nature of their relationship throughout the book fit perfectly with the ending. Unfortunately, it didn’t really make it very compelling for the reader. Luckily Lucy’s  personality kept my interested during these parts. I wouldn’t say their relationship was poorly written at all; in fact the way it was written makes perfect sense. I just think the plot relied too heavily on their “love”, which was gross because of the way Snow is, and the reader knew it had to inevitably end in some kind of betrayal or reveal that there was no love at all. This creates tension for the reader, but I kept wondering: if the love plot had been ditched could we have gotten a stronger plot altogether?

So overall, like I’ve said I’m really conflicted. I know I focused heavily on things I didn’t like, but honestly the book was well written in some regards, plot bouncing between really compelling and a little contrived, the two main characters being written well enough but other characters not so much. Some connections between Lucy Grey and Katniss made at the end were powerful, I loved the Covey, Collins still excelled at writing a lot of the social issues/scenes in the book, and honestly the idea of Lucy Grey being completely forgotten in the Districts that hurts my soul a little. Nothing compared to the feelings I got in any of the Hunger Games books but there’s still something there.

I really hope someone made it through this long ass post. The book was entertaining. I mean I listened to all 16 hours of the audiobook in like a day. I can’t wait until my hardcover comes so I can look through it. Maybe once I know what I’m getting into I can enjoy the book a little more than I did, because right now it’s sitting at very average for me. Maybe I went in with my expectations too high? I certainly like the Hunger Games a lot more and probably always will. Honestly, I love new content, but I’m also the type that likes firm, planned endings to stories (even though it hurts to let things end and the fandoms can suffer from lack of content). I think fans can oftentimes get caught up in what they want and pressure the writer into writing more, which ends up a disappointment since it wasn’t originally planned in the series from the beginning. While I don’t think this is by any means the case with Suzanna Collins or that Lionsgate even pressured her to write this book (I don’t like conspiracies of that sort of thing as a writer myself that plans to have a series in which a book comes out many years after the original part of the series is released), I do wonder if this is the end of the Hunger Games for good. I sure hope so, especially if she would be writing about the other victors. I love them too much and really don’t want to feel similarly about their books, and like I said at the beginning, it wouldn’t add to the series just to my guilty pleasure lol.

Hope you all have enjoyed your reading of the book more than I did :) Again sorry if I wrote anything to upset you! Please if you loved this book ENJOY IT! I’m actually kind of jealous if you did. Feels like missing out on something special.

[dudeandduchess]

Peach(es) and Cream [Tomioka Giyuu x F!Reader] Chapter 3

Rating: E! NSFW Characters: Tomioka Giyuu x F!Reader Chapters: 5/5 Summary: Wherein Giyuu is betrothed to a noble woman, and visits her with a present. Tags: Smut, Fluff, Short Series, Fingering, Creampie, Established Relationship, Arranged Marriage, Quiet Sex

***NSFW***

Even though the sun hung high in the sky, and the threat of a demon attacking her was at its lowest point, (Y/n)’s heart pounded so hard in her chest. Maybe it was the fact that it was the first time that she had ever done something so uncharacteristic, but she could feel her adrenaline coursing through her system.

The thrill of having done something so blatantly disobedient both elated and frightened her, and part of her wanted to turn back and go back home— but a bigger, and more irrational part of her wanted to see Giyuu. 

It had been four months since they had last seen each other, and the lackluster replies she received from him— merely assuring her that he was still alive— weren’t enough to tide her feelings over. 

The paltry reply of: ‘That’s good. I’m doing well.’ to each of her letters weren’t enough for her, or even for the most insensitive of people.

She wanted to see him; touch him, kiss him, do everything with him.

And so, that was how she had found herself waking up at the crack of dawn, and silently packing the necessities she knew she would need, before setting off for the not-so-distant mountains; or so she thought they weren’t too distant.

Giyuu had once told her that he lived just a few hours away from her house— up in Yabuyama. And she had, stupidly, gone on that scant description.

After all, she reckoned that there weren’t too many people living in Yabuyama.

She wasn’t wrong with that assumption, but it left her with frustrated tears in her eyes as she kept traversing through the forest. Because there were no other houses nearby to ask for directions.

It wasn’t like her to cry, but she could feel her frustrated tears pooling in the corners of her eyes— threatening to fall at any given moment.

‘I just wanted to see him. Was that too much to ask for?’ Were the thoughts running through her head at that moment.

She wanted to scream and cry out for Giyuu to save her. And she was about to, had she not seen the rock marker bearing the Kanji for Tomioka.

Abruptly, her tears cleared up and her heart skipped a beat in relief. It appeared that she wasn’t going to have to resort to such desperate means. He would be furious with her for giving her family the slip, she didn’t need to add to that by proving just how inept she was with protecting herself.

Though, in her defense, she did leave a note for her family stating her whereabouts. But she may have bent the truth a bit— or blatantly lied, rather— about Giyuu having picked her up at dawn.

Her father wouldn’t mind because she had said that she was with her betrothed, but it was her brother that she knew would go berserk when he found out.

But it wasn’t the time to dwell on that. So, with a deep sigh, she steeled her resolve and lifted up the hem of her kimono— before tackling the challenge that were the numerous stairs leading to Giyuu’s home.

(Y/n)’s breath came in short bursts, as she sat down on the low stone wall that bordered the pathway. Her feet were killing her, and her back felt like it had given out by the time she had reached the top of the stairs, so she had taken to having a breather.

If only to put down the small but weighty basket she had taken with her.

‘You should have just waited for him to visit you, baka,’ The young woman thought to herself, all while casting a furtive glance over at the goods that peeked out from the woven basket. ‘Impatient is what you are. Horny wench.’

With an evident blush on her face, the (h/c) haired woman shook her silent monologue out of her head, before setting off down the path once more.

Thankfully, the path leading towards the old Tomioka home was nothing but a leisurely stroll. The thicket of bamboo trees on either side of her made for some good shade, while still maintaining a warm brightness that (Y/n) wanted to bask in the whole day.

Briefly, it led her mind to the blush-inducing assumption that she could do it once she moved there with Giyuu; after they got married.

“(Y/n)?” The familiar voice shook the aforementioned woman out of her daydream. She blinked twice, as if to clear her vision and to make sure that the man heading towards her wasn’t a figment of her imagination.

He looked to be in good condition, with no new scars or bruises on his face from her vantage point. And try as she might to keep herself rooted to her spot, she couldn’t. Her grip on her basket loosened until it fell to the pebble-laden ground, as she launched herself forward to wrap her arms around him.

“Baka, Giyuu. Baka,” (Y/n) muttered quietly as she pressed her face into her lover’s chest. His scent enveloped her senses, and a telltale warmth spread throughout her body— stemming from her chest. “That’s good? I’m doing well? Baka!”

The Demon Slayer reckoned that it was insensitive of him to hope to satisfy her with those short replies. He wasn’t pressed for time, as he wrote his replies at night, but he merely did not know what to say to her.

He was never one to be talkative; in fact, he hated talking. And he knew that he could better express himself through actions, so he saved up all his replies for until he went to see her again: in the form of collecting small trinkets for her.

From every place he went to on missions, he would get something small and very distinct to that place. All so she would know that she was always on his mind, wherever he was.

But it appeared that she couldn’t wait until the month was through, because there she stood in his arms— clinging tightly to the back of his haori, as if he would disappear if she let go of him.

And yes, he was happy that she was there— only for the realization to dawn on him like a slap to the face. No one else was emerging from the long pathway, and he could also smell the distinct scent of a Wisteria charm tucked into his lover’s obi.

“Did you come here alone?” He questioned— his tone betraying the mild surge of panic that rushed through him. He didn’t even care that there were other Demon Slayers who were staring blatantly at them.

Giyuu was furious. (Y/n) could tell that much from his tone, and was made even more evident when he swiftly hoisted her over his shoulder.

Then, he moved to disappear into the house— slamming the door behind him as he went.

“What were you thinking?” The raven-haired man snapped at his lover, as he set her down in the middle of the modestly-sized living area. “Coming here without protection? You could have asked that handmaid of yours to go with you. Why did you even come here?”

As much as (Y/n) appreciated the way that Giyuu was being chatty, she didn’t particularly care for his tone with her. It made her feel small and weak; something so frail that it needed to be babysat at all times.

She already knew that she wasn’t as strong as some of the women that were in the Demon Slaying Corps, but he didn’t need to reiterate that fact to her.

With a glare, the young woman shot asininely, “I only wanted to see you by myself! What’s so wrong with that? I took precautions: I carried that charm you gave me, I also brought that dagger you gave me years ago. And I travelled during daytime. Is it so wrong to want to see the man who’s going to be my husband?”

That slew of answers took Giyuu aback. He expected an infuriatingly smartass remark, but he never saw an outburst coming. And, may Kami-sama help him, but he liked it; he liked seeing the fire in her eyes as she glared at him, and he loved seeing her lips twisted in a contemptuous line at him.

And before he knew it, he had cupped her face in his hands and slanted his lips over hers in an all-consuming kiss.

All of his frustrations for the past four months were also poured into the kiss; from all the times when he thought it was better to not see her again, to the tender moments when all he wanted was to hold her— he put all his feelings into his kiss.

Sturdy, battle roughened hands drifted over (Y/n)’s body— feelings every inch of flesh beneath her clothes, and leaving a blazing trail of heat in their wake. While the (L/n) heiress’s gentle hands pressed themselves against her lover’s chest, before eventually settling for cupping his cheeks.

Both parties were breathing heavily when they untangled their lips and respective tongues, before devolving into another hug.

“I’ve missed you, Giyuu.”

 ***

 “Keep your voice down,” Giyuu whispered gruffly, just before he aligned his tip to her entrance and pushed in to the hilt.

He peppered kisses along her jaw, before starting to move his hips. The sideways position they were in— beneath the futon— afforded very little room for movement, but it was the best they could do without arising too much suspicion.

And it was also the most covert position to pretend to be asleep in, in case they got caught. After all, they wouldn’t put it past an unsuspecting Slayer to come and investigate the low whimpers that came from (Y/n).

Although the couple doubted that anyone would dare to disturb the Mizu Hashira’s room.

They were all surprised to find out over dinner about who (Y/n) really was, which dampened the young woman’s mood. And, despite all of Giyuu’s subtle efforts to cheer her up, sex was the option that topped his list.

It had been months since they last did it, after all.

“Faster, Giyuu,” The (h/c) haired woman whispered, before biting down on her bottom lip to suppress the moans that bubbled from her mouth.

Wordlessly, the raven-haired Slayer slid his left hand down to his lover’s thigh, then proceeded to raise her left leg up. With the movement came the sweet increase in pace and angle that (Y/n) craved, which had her biting down on her knuckles to silence her moans.

It didn’t take long after that for (Y/n) to reach her climax, but she accidentally cried out when Giyuu pulled her closer to him and readjusted her left leg— so that her calf was propped up against his bent knee.

And, after making sure that she wouldn’t move, he wrapped his left arm back around her and proceeded to play with her clit relentlessly; while his right arm— which served as a pillow for (Y/n)— reached towards her breasts to tease her nipples.

(Y/n)’s knees shook uncontrollably, along with a heady, burning sensation from the pit of her stomach. Her senses were extremely overwhelmed, but there was nothing but Giyuu on her mind.

Her cunt’s walls were throbbing like crazy around the raven-haired man’s cock, yet he kept on thrusting to chase after his release. He had missed her body so much, that he couldn’t help but want to prolong his orgasm.

But (Y/n) was already on her second orgasm; he couldn’t put her through that much strain, even if he wanted the moment to last a bit longer. So, with one last thrust, he emptied himself within her— thick, hot ropes of his cum flooding her cunt that was the catalyst for her second orgasm.

After a few moments, Giyuu pulled himself out of his lover, then pressed a tender kiss against the back of her head. “I want another round, (Y/n).”

He waited a short while for her answer, but none came— except for the light snores which signified that she was already asleep.

A quiet chuckle left his lips, only to be cut off by her quiet murmur of his name. The simple action made his heart race in his chest; so fast and hard that he thought it was going to leap out and grace them with its presence.

And then, as softly as he could, Giyuu whispered, “I… love you.”

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

[hillywooddestiel]

Stranger Things Have Happened- Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15: Lost Along The Way

Characters: Y/N Winchester, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Sam, Dean, Mike, Lucas, Dustin

Warnings: angst, lots and lots of angst, language

Word count: 1.5k

Series description: Hawkins, Indiana, November 1983. The Winchesters got out of hunting and decided to settle down in a small town. The youngest of the three, Y/N, just wants to get on with her somewhat normal life and go to a good college. But that’s a little tricky when disappearances start occurring, including her friend Barbara Holland, and there’s reports of a mysterious new girl in town. Can she balance boyfriends, teen drama and monster hunting?

A/N: Hi 600 followers! So I’ve started uni again for my 2nd year and so I got a bit busy. Hopefully I don’t have to take another hiatus like last time, I want to try not to anyway. Other than the epilogue, this is the last chapter of this series and I’m so proud of it. My first crossover. Enjoy xx Series Masterlist  Masterlist

Story:

I pull up at the school just by the gym, Baby's engine purring to a halt right beside me. Nancy, Jonathan and Steve get out of my car and begin to just wander up like it's no big deal before Dean calls for them to stop.

“Look at the cars; somebody is already here. You can't walk in empty handed.” He points to the row of black cars and vans that weren't parked here before. Whoever is here has some kind of major operation going on to have that many vehicles. Popping the trunk open, Sam hands everyone a handgun loaded with silver bullets (just to be on the safe side), taking shotguns and a pack of bullets each for himself and Dean. So not fair. They don't even question why Nancy has her own gun but I'm not allowed anything big or remotely powerful because I'm too young. They probably think I'll shoot myself in the foot given the chance. Looking incredibly bewildered and probably frightened for their lives, everybody follows behind Sam and Dean towards the school. Then, very cautiously, we head into the gym as a group.

The lights are all flickering just like the fairy lights before the Demogorgon struck at the Byers’ house and the ground is littered with fallen men in black suits, pools of thick red blood growing around them. This is some serious James Bond evil lair type stuff. It must have been the Demogorgon. We're too late. Picking up the pace, we go deeper into the school only to find more bodies and blood with no sign of the kids anywhere- I don't know whether to take that as a good or a bad sign. There are bullet holes in the plaster of the walls as though there was a massive shootout. Clearly whoever these guys were were not armed enough to take down this monster from another dimension.

“Mike!” Nancy calls, grimacing at the stench of death in the air. And the death all around us. Dean quickly puts a stop to that though.

“You have to be quiet. We don't know who's here and whether or not they'll shoot at us.”

“Dean, calm down, let it go and let's keep moving.” I raise my brows at him, subtly trying to remind him it's not me he's talking to and Nancy looks like she might wet herself. These guys might just be scarred for life after this.

“I'm sorry.” She mumbles quietly. I feel awful for her that she's probably kicking herself inside not knowing whether her brother is okay or not.

“It's alright.” I take her hand and squeeze it, offering a lackluster smile.

“Nancy?!” A young voice echoes through the corridor to our little group.

“That's him!”

Having to sprint to keep up with Nancy, we follow her to the source of the reply- the science labs. In one of the rooms we find Mike, Dustin and Lucas huddled together on the floor, faces wet from crying.

“Mike!” Nancy dives to the floor, scooping up her little brother into a relieved hug. Dustin jumps up and wraps his arms around me. I bewilderedly hug him back, not missing the eye roll from Lucas. 

“Thanks for coming to save us.”

“You're welcome buddy.”

“Who are you?” Lucas gets up and stares warily at Sam and Dean. I guess anyone who isn't a kid is an enemy to these guys right now. Plus they don't exactly look non-threatening.

“These are my brothers, Sam and Dean.” I point to them respectively. The pair relax a little but don't go running for any more hugs from the two scary men. The guns probably aren't helping. “Where's El?” I look around the room noticing her absence.

“Gone.” Mike looks up from Nancy's shoulder, breaking their hug apart.

“You mean she-”

“The Demogorgon. She saved us.” Lucas clarifies. But she was just a child… a child who had been locked up all of her life. It shouldn't have been her. It shouldn't have been anyone. On hunts, I always thought the same- but monsters don't care about being fair. I follow Mike's gaze to the frazzled chalkboard at the front of the classroom; it's still smoking from whatever happened in here and is covered in some sort of goop. Did the monster thing explode? Oh God, did Eleven explode? I don't want to think about that. As I go over to get a better look, I hear sirens coming closer outside.

“Y/N we need to go. Now!” Dean barks, nudging his head to the door with such intensity in his eyes. We really shouldn't be leaving the kids here alone, not after all they've seen and been through. But Sam, Dean and I really can't be caught by the FBI again.

~~~~~

“Alright, pack a bag, get your things. We're leaving in thirty minutes.” Dean instructs as we come through the front door of our house. He immediately gets right to it, grabbing family photos, hidden blades from under side tables and his flannel shirts from the washing basket (I've no clue how he knows which is his if I'm being honest). Meanwhile, Sam and I remain at the door watching him in confusion.

“Dean, we're not leaving.” I state simply, furrowing my brows. I feel Sam place his hand on my shoulder as his sign of support.

“I'm sorry, did you not see what I just saw? This town is crawling with the authorities now. I apologise for not believing you about the case but we have to go!” 

“No.”

“No?” he blinks rapidly, tilting his head to the side and coming a step closer.

“You heard me Dean. We are not leaving this town just because of one incident that was not demonic. Do you see any angels or a prince of Hell knocking on our door baying for our blood right now? No. Because we're still safe.” I fold my arms, proud of the upper hand I currently have.

“Yeah, I think we should at least wait a couple of days Dean. No one is chasing us right now.” Ah Sam, ever the negotiator.

“If we wait, it'll be like shooting fish in a barrel. We need to take this head start.” 

“Who are we running from Dean? For the love of God, no one is chasing us!” I come forward to stand directly in front of him, blocking him from continuing packing.

“Y/N, move.” Dean sighs. He may be sick of my shit, well so am I with him knocking me back at every chance.

“No.” I refuse, digging my heels in. He takes a step to the side in order to get around me but I sidestep too, returning us to our original position. When he steps to the other side, I do the same again.

“Get out of my way Y/N!”

“Not until you say we're not going.”

“Move!”

“Guys…” Sam tries to but in weakly.

“We don't need to go Dean! When are you going to stop being such a stubborn asshole and see that?” I get right in his face.

“Me stubborn?! When are you going to stop whining like a baby trying to get your way?”

“I'm not whining, I'm trying to get you to see sense!”

“Guys!” 

“How does sticking around to get killed make sense?!”

“Why are you so stupid that you can't see we're safe?”

“GUYS!” Sam, unable to take any more, steps in between Dean and I and pushes us apart by our shoulders. This is probably a good thing since things looked like they were about to turn ugly. “I'm sick of you two fighting about this! Dean, this wasn't demonic so just calm down. And Y/N, when we decide something, we're doing it to protect you so stop fighting so much.”

“But we're safe here.” 

“I know Y/N/N… which is why I'm making the decision that we're going to stay here.”

“What!? Sammy you can't just-”

“I can't what, Dean? Make a decision for our family?” Sam raises his voice at our brother, causing him to stutter like a rusty engine.

“Wh-I -I never-”

“It's what you meant. We're all on each other's side so we should be making decisions as a family. We've made a good life for ourselves and we can be a real family here so I say, we stay.” Sam finishes speaking and I run in for a hug. He doesn't want to say he's fully on my side but I know he is. “Dean?” we look over to Dean who seems hesitant to join the hug.

“Ugh fine! But we're not making this a regular thing.” He steps in and wraps his arms around the two of us. “But the first sign of a monster in town, we are out of here.”

STHH Tags:

@marslovesme @bluedefundead @elenavaldez09 @mysanityisgone27 @adridedong @princess-of-erebor1992 @coffeeandwinchesters @fuckwaad@give-jack-a-lightsaber

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

(back to masterpost)

Oooh boy was this a wild chapter. but! this is also the end of this arc! So tiny!

Chapter 62: Evil (Part 2)

“Wei WuXian had clearly been a bright, high-spirited boy...Yet, this person was entirely enveloped in a cold, dark energy. He was handsome, yet pale-faced, his smile eerie.”

D:

Here it is, the transition from Wei Wuxian the first disciple of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect to the Yiling Patriarch.

“All of the flesh on his legs had been sliced off, piece by piece. And, likely… all of the flesh had been eaten by himself!”

Hey. Hey. Just in case you forgot that this novel was low-key gross and gory.

This is some great horror material. And remember when Wei Wuxian mentioned that he of all people would know about torture methods? (I forgot when he said this, but he did.) WELL. This is the source of that statement.

He was really going for both physically and mentally breaking Wen Chao here, and it succeeded big time.

Imagine how Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji watching from above must feel? It’s like Wei Wuxian is a totally different person.

“...half of Wei WuXian’s face was in the light, the other half in the dark.”

is the symbolism smacking you in the face yet

“Holding what he had fed it in its mouth, it turned around and sat down. Hugging his leg, it chewed fiercely as it glowered at Wen ZhuLiu with cold, glistening eyes.”

yikes it’s the scary baby again. why is it always scary undead babies.

uM eating Wen Chao’s fingers.

(so just how did this happen anyways...was Wen Zhuliu too far away to get to Wen Chao and Wei Wuxian tortured him during that time, or was Wen Zhuliu occupied with fighting some corpses or. It’s likely that Wei Wuxian let them run away like I mentioned last chapter. gotta employ that psychological warfare!)

“Wen ZhuLiu, “I can’t fail to repay the debt I owe their generosity.”

i mean, at this point I think it’s been paid in full what the heck did they even do for you.

“Why is it that the debt you owe has to be repaid at the expense of others!”

idk I just like this line. Also, it hits a sore spot, and he loses a bit of his composure and gets angry.

“Burned skin was naturally weak to begin with...The uneven, bald head immediately became a bloody, bald head.”

how is Wen Chao still ALIVE. being a cultivator has its downfalls, probably their bodies are a little sturdier than regular people. which is not a good thing.

Also, with Wen Chao being pitiful and wailing in fear this entire chapter, it creates some weird dissonance.

On one hand, you don’t feel pity for him, he’s a terrible person.

On the other hand, who deserves this level of torture inflicted upon them?

The more you read, the more excessive it becomes.

“The ghoul child, however, had bit out an entire chunk of the flesh on his hand and spat it out. He continued to devour the palm.”

this is a lovely image. your core melting hand can’t help you now.

“Wen ZhuLiu’s large, heavy body had been lifted up by the surging whip and was now dangling in the air.”

Ok, a lot happens in the span of these two paragraphs. I did a little cheer when Jiang Cheng managed to get ahold of this guy. He deserves more than a little catharsis after what he went through.

“At the same time, Wei WuXian’s pupils shrunk. He took out a flute from beside his waist and spun around, standing up.”

To his credit, his first reaction is to recall the ghouls/corpses so they don’t attack the wrong people.

“He looked down at Suibian and only responded after a pause, “… Thank you.”

there’s something seriously wrong here, if the torture and controlling corpses wasn’t enough of a hint. That lackluster, soulless response.

“Although the sentence itself seemed to scold him, his tone was full of joy.”

my heart kinda started breaking here. Jiang Cheng seems so happy to have him back, he is willing to ignore all the things that are wrong about this boy he grew up with. And that is not a healthy thing for anyone involved, but realistically, after what they’ve gone through would you expect any other reaction?

“A few moments later, he struck him as well, “Haha, it’s a long story, it’s a long story!”

And now Wei Wuxian tries to answer in kind, tries to act like his usual self.

“...threw me to some hell of a place to suffer.”

If you would have elaborated here...maybe it would have given them some context for what happened to you. But, Wei Wuxian is the type to conceal his suffering for one reason or another, whether it’s to protect others or just because he doesn’t need to justify himself to people. So, he won’t elaborate. It’s done and gone, what’s the point in playing the pity party when they’ve got other business to attend to?

the ghouls are really creepy though. 

“If I say that I found a mysterious cave somewhere and there was a mysterious book that a mysterious expert had left, and then when I came out I was this powerful, would you believe me?”

you troll. you tragic troll.

“Jiang Cheng murmured the words ‘as long as you’re back’ a couple of times before hitting him again, “You really are…! You live on even after being captured by Wen-dogs!”

D: this is also breaking my heart ok.

“To play around, play with them until they die. Straight up killing all of them at once would be too easy on them. Much better killing them in front of one another one by one, one slice after another.”

deefinitely getting unhinged here.

and it really is sad, when you consider who he was before all this terrible shit happened.

“He wanted to protect him, but I wanted to make him see how in his hands, Wen Chao would become more and more distorted, unlike a man but also unlike a monster.”

So the torture was Wen Chao’s punishment. The releasing them and chasing them down was Wen Zhuliu’s punishment.

it’s fitting isn’t it. after Wen Zhuliu’s hands caused so much grief, ripping people’s cores from them, in the end the person he wanted to protect also disintegrated under his touch. but, also perhaps a reflection of what happened with Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng turned into a shadow of himself due to those hands, although he was alive he was already dead inside, and Wei Wuxian couldn’t do anything to help him (until he did, but before that)

“It is not that I want to denounce him.”

This starts Lan Wangji’s really bad communication skills.

Lan Wangji might be seen as the epitome of a righteous cultivator by everyone in-story, but he’s actually quite the flawed person. This is one of his faults. If he could actually explain himself clearly, would this chapter have ended in such on such an uneasy, awkward note?

“Wei Ying, for cultivating an evil path you would eventually have to pay. Throughout time, there has not been a single exception.” “The path would not only damage your body, but your heart as well.”

This is a good example of a passage where the context of the sentence really matters.

How could Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng take this as anything but Lan Wangji criticizing him for demonic cultivation? If you just read those words, you can’t tell if Lan Wangji has another motive.

That’s what I like about this story’s narrative. Technically, you know just as much as the main character does. Really, if you didn’t know Lan Wangji was the love interest and already had a small crush on him, how would you ever interpret this differently from Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng?

“Wei WuXian, “I can pay.” “Of course I can control it.”

I love his youthful confidence and resolve. it’s so foolish, but so fitting.

“After all, on the topic of how my heart is, what could other people know about it? Why should other people care about it?”

this is sad stop ripping my heart out Wei Wuxian

1) he doesn’t think himself worthy of other people’s affections or love, platonic or not, he doesn’t think anyone would care about him

2) the question of: can we really ever know the content of another’s heart?

“Lan WangJi paused. He had suddenly been angered, “… Wei WuXian!”

I’d be kind of angry too. Even objectively, do you really think no one cares about you? the answer is, well, yes in a way. Wei Wuxian can clearly see that Jiang Cheng at least was happy to see him. Yet, in Wei Wuxian’s eyes, his status is as a servant and Jiang Cheng is the “Sect Leaer”, who doesn’t have to worry about his subordinate’s heart.

“The two knew how to continue each other’s words ever since they were young. Now, one sentence after another, the argument flowed seamlessly...”

knowing this all goes to hell later makes me sad

They used to get along so well.

“Hearing this, Lan WangJi’s expression froze. He looked up at Wei WuXian, the lump at his throat trembling, “I…”

probably a response to: “No matter whom he goes back with, it wouldn’t be you.”

but, again, bad communication skills.

“They had both showed him expressions of either despair, anguish, or deep-set hatred. However, right now, their faces above him had the same cold smile, the same cold eyes.”

the symmetry is really nice

“Wei WuXian, “Of course it’d be with a certain thing gone.”

>.>

they went there

“The eyes he looked at Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu with glistened, and his grin was both excited and cruel. Jiang Cheng had on him the same expression. Both of them had been buried within the overwhelming pleasure of revenge. Neither had the concern to deal with an outsider.”

You again get that weird mix of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. It’s disturbing, or disconcerting at least.

“The night had passed. The sun in the sky was about to rise.

And the sun on the ground was falling.”

a very simple, but impactful few sentences of description.

The real sun in the heavens is rising.

But the false sun on earth is falling.

(quotes from ExR’s translations)

← back・onward →

[scarlett-olivier]

Writing Tip #10

Character Development

(Today, we're discussing character development in general. This was originally a look at both character development,and character growth, but after writing it all out and seeing just how big the wall of text was, I decided to break it up into two posts. There Will be a little cross over between the two posts, because I kinda just cut it in half, so please bear with me.)

For a new writer, and sometimes even veteran writers, there can be some confusion when writing character development and growth. Neglecting these two tools can lead to one sided, flat, and Mary Sue-esque characters that your readers will not only NOT care about, but quickly forget.

But what does it all mean?

Well, the down and dirty of Character Development can be described as your character discovering who they really are, just as the reader is discovering who your character is. It's essentially worldbuilding, but for a single character. It's usually a very gradual, slow process that can take the whole book to reach a satisfying conclusion. Without Character development you have a lifeless flat character that is just going through the motions. Really, nothing more than a puppet for the narrator.

Now on the other hand, we have character growth. This usually refers to how a character loses or gains attributes, and how they handle the challenges the story throws at them. It can help shape the person they become by the end of the story. It can cause them to run into some serious internal conflict and reflect on how they acted in the past (Scrooge). Without growth, your characters become boring. Lackluster. It's where we run into the issues of the Paragon, or the Mary Sue.

Always remember that in your story, the characters HAVE to change. They have to be different from when the story started. They're people. As life continues to throw shit at them, they must adapt to the changes or stagnate. If your character doesn't experience growth of some nature during your story, you have a one dimensional character.

Both of these things are essential for crafting powerful and moving characters. You want your readers to feel what your character feels, and experience what your character experiences. You want your reader to be invested in your characters. Whether They're supposed to be hating them, or loving them, they should connect.

So, how does one go about doing these two things?

Character Dev;

When crafting your character (and this is for every important character in your book), you need to act as their therapist and psychologist. You need to be their best friend,and confidant. You need to know their life story. Their favorite color. Their hopes and dreams. What their favorite scent is. It goes so far beyond the physical description. You need to do research on your characters background, and figure out how that has shaped them. Take some time to research the psychological effects of their life experiences.

If your character has a drug addiction, look up cases of that drug (or a similar one) and what effects it has in both the short and long term effects on the physical and mental status of the user.

If you have a character that grew up in thw foster system, look up the effects of growing up in the system on a child's psyche. Look at actual testimonials of people who grew up in it.

Research everything. Research, research, and research some more.

For example... Let's take a look at Batman.

Bruce Wayne was a child raised in a rich family that tried to do right by their community. One night, they went to the theatre and on their way back, young Bruce had to witness his parents brutal murder over the pearl necklace his mother was wearing. He was then raised by his butler Alfred. Swearing an oath to rid the city of Gotham of the villainy that took his parents from him, he traveled the world to learn and train. A journey he first started when he was 14 years old. He trained relentlessly, leaving little time for friends or anything else a kid should have at that age. Once he grew into adulthood, he returned to Gotham and donned the mantle of the Batman. From there began an endless fight against criminal organizations. Sadly, as a direct result of his actions, he created a new breed of villain in Gotham. The supervillain.

How do you think seeing his parents murdered infront of him effected Bruce in the long run?

How do you think being raised by his butler in place of the parents he so loved effected him?

What are the long term psychological effects of the experiences and choices he's made up to now in the comics?

Bruce is a child who has seen to much, been through to much, and never really got to experience a normal childhood and adolescence. How does this all effect him?

How do you think Bruce feels knowing that his actions have led him into an endless war? That by trying to rid Gotham of bad guys, he will never know a moment of rest? That his dream is unachievable so long as he exists, but he can not hang up his mantle because the villains his actions have created can only be taken down by him?

From the comics, we know that he has trust and intimacy issues. He finds it hard to connect with others, especially when those that he eventually comes to care for keep getting ripped away from him, a la a Death in the Family, or due to the fact that Bruce has an abrasive personality and continuously pushes people away out of fear that they will leave him, only to have that fear confirmed when they eventually do (even Alfred did at one point).

This is character development. It's all his backstory and how that has effected him up to the current moment in his story. The key part to creating masterful character development is to sprinkle all of these details in, and very rarely just flat out saying them. The writers of the batman comics did a fatastic (sometimes. There are terrible issues nobody wants to mention... 29.) of showing this trauma and using it to shape the characters actions and how he handles life.

As you can see, development is literally who the character is. Honestly, most likely, you won't even use a third of all the research and work you put in to developing your character in your actual story. However, just by knowing your character so well, you can make their reactions and actions seem so much more authentic and believable. Making it so much easier to instill that suspension of disbelief that every fiction author strives for.

(This is where I cut it in half, so sorry if it's a bit abrupt. I relly didn't have a good place to cut it off at. I'll be addressing the next part, Character Growth, with the next post. So, keep an eye out if you're interested. Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I'll do my best to answer them.)

[tayegi]

New Rules Ch. 1 (m)

fratboy!Jungkook smut/angst

Word Count: 12,623

"Jeon Jungkook just friend requested me on facebook. Huh."

"What?" Your roommate snaps up in her seat, frozen for a split second, before she's rushing across the room to throw herself on your bed, "Are you serious?!"

You nod and numbly show her your laptop, where the little notification glows in the corner of your screen, "What does he want from me?"

"I have no clue," Mijoo says with genuine bewilderment, "Have you ever even spoken to him before?"

"He's in my writing seminar," you explain, "It's an 8 am class, so I see him about once every two weeks when he turns in assignments."

Mijoo's lips twitch at that description, "Typical Jeon."

"Yup. And I wouldn't have noticed either, but it's a small class, and the girls always go crazy preening themselves on the day our papers are due… I nearly suffocated in their perfume last time. Such a nuisance… Seriously, what does he want from me?"

"I really can't think of anything," Mijoo says as she scratches her head, "Have you posted a bikini photo recently?"

"Pssht. Not where my future employers can find me."

"Hmm. Maybe your profile photo has a lot of cleavage?"

"I'm wearing a raincoat!"

"Then I really don't know why he would've friended you."

The two of you frown at each other in mutual perplexity for a few seconds, before you shrug, "Oh well, who cares? I'm going to reject his friend request."

"Wait, what? ___, no!" Mijoo screeches, diving to grab your wrist before you can click the little "delete request" button.

"Huh? What's wrong?" You ask in confusion as you try to shake your hand out of her reach.

"You can't just reject Jeon Jungkook's friend request!"

"What? Why not? Should I block him too?"

"No! What's wrong with you?!" She exclaims in distress.

"What do you mean?" you ask, taken aback by her dramatic reaction.

"This is the Jeon Jungkook, ___. Aka youngest member of the varsity soccer team and the hottest guy in beta tau sigma—potentially the hottest guy in the entire Greek system. How could you possibly not accept his friend request?!"

"When have you cared about something as superficial as that?" You complain as you attempt to reach for the keypad again, "So what? Big whoop."

But Mijoo screeches like a banshee and tackles you onto the bed when you try to reject again, "I'm not joking, ___, you have to accept! What if this is your chance with him? Jungkook doesn't go around friending any old girl."

"I bet he does," you grumble, "It says here that he has over a thousand facebook friends."

"Still, this could be your chance!"

"I don't want a chance with him! I don't want to catch whatever nasty diseases he reeks of."

"___, come on!" Mijoo is practically whining at this point, "Think of all the cool beta tau sigma parties we'll be invited to!"

"When have I ever given a fuck about frat— wait… oh my god…" you gasp, eyes widening as you suddenly realize your best friend's motivation, "You're only interested because of Park Jimin!"

"Hmm? Jimin? What about him?" She coyly feigns obliviousness.

"Don't you try to lie to me. Everyone knows that Jimin and Jungkook are practically joined at the hip."

"Oh are they?" She continues to play pretend, "I didn't notice."

"Bullshit!" you cry out, "Who the fuck do you think you're kidding, woman? Can you get more obvious without tattooing 'Park Jimin' on your ass? It's obvious he owns it anyways."

Mijoo flushes at that and instantly dives across the bed to lunge for you, "Shut up!" She exclaims, trying to strangle you with her dainty hands while you roll around howling with laughter. "Ugh! You're so immature!"

"And you're about as subtle as a flying brick," you chortle, "Mijoo and Jimin sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n—"

"Oh my god!" She shrieks, jumping on you to slap a hand over your mouth, "Someone might hear you! How are you so ridiculously immature?!"

You giggle at her embarrassment, and quickly loop your arms around her neck to calm her down, "Okay, I'll accept his request."

"It's okay if you don't," Mijoo huffs, ego clearly bruised by your teasing, "I really couldn't care one way or the other."

"Too late, I already accepted!" You brightly exclaim as you hit the little button. Then your face abruptly drops, "Mijoo… Why does this kid have so many shirtless selfies?!"

Hey.

You stare at the single word on your screen for a long time, trying to make sense of the three little characters. Why would Jeon Jungkook send you this a mere ten minutes after you accepted his friend request? It's almost like he was waiting for your response…

Should you respond back? Or wait for Mijoo to get back from class? She literally just walked out the sorority's front door a minute ago. It wouldn't be too late to chase after her… But you don't want her to stress over such a little thing. She's highstrung enough as it is. No, the logical course of action is to just wait for Mijoo to come home and give you guidance.

Um… you there?

You frown in disapproval, surprised by the audacity of this practical stranger to double message you, when you realize that Jungkook can see if you've read his messages. Cold sweat slides down your spine at the thought of leaving Jimin's best friend on read. Forget waiting for Mijoo. She'll forgive you later.

Yeah, you quickly type back, what's up?

I've just seen you around my writing seminar… And I was just wondering if you knew when the poetry assignment was due?

Your brow furrows. Is he just beating around the bush right now? Or does he actually want the assignment? Oh. It's due next week.

Really? K. thanks.

You pause again as you re-read his casual response. What do you do now? How can you possibly salvage this situation and spark up a conversation that will hopefully lead to Mijoo and Jimin? But it seems hopeless at this point, unless you ask straight up and embarrass Mijoo. Sighing with disappointment, you send him a lackluster thumb's up emoji.

After a second, you see that he's read your response. Shrugging, you're about to log out of facebook and open up your homework for the night, when you suddenly see three dots pop up on the bottom of the chat box followed by a Jungkook is typing…

Pleasantly surprised, you abandon all thoughts of homework as you flop to a more comfortable position on your belly, curious to see what he might say. Clearly, he's not interested in the homework. His absence since the start of the semester was evidence enough. He's also trying to play cupid, but both of you are too awkward to say it outright.

Hey, idk about you, but this poetry assignment makes no sense to me. Wanna meet up and talk about it?

You snort at the audacity of his words. It sounds like he's asking you out. Anyone else would spend some time skirting around the issue, out of respect for you, and embarrassment about any potential rejection. But this fuckboi clearly isn't used to any woman saying no to him. You're tempted to reject his offer, just for vindictive satisfaction. But, alas, you must do this for your beloved Mijoo.

Sure. You message him back, every bit as nonchalant in tone as he is. Just tell me the time and place.

The next day, you find yourself sitting at a café by yourself, idly swirling your spoon around in your cappuccino as you glance at the clock for the hundredth time. Jeon Jungkook is late… as expected. It's your fault really for expecting the fuckboi to show up on time on a Friday morning. You'd be surprised if he showed at all. BTS is notorious for their thirsty Thursday parties after all…

You're about to resign yourself to your unfortunate fate and pack up your things for the day when a handsome, dark-haired man suddenly bursts in on the scene. Heads turn in interest at his approach in the small café, then lower again in disappointment when it becomes obvious that he's with you.

"Sorry I'm late," Jungkook greets you with a disarming smile as he slips into the seat across from you.

You moodily stir your lukewarm coffee as you try to choke back your feelings of annoyance. With that face of his, this kid probably thinks he can get away with anything. You'd love to teach him a lesson, but now is neither the time nor place for that. "It's fine," you say through gritted teeth.

"There was a huge clean-up effort at the beta tau sigma house," Jungkook explains as he flags down the waiter for an Americano, "It took us hours to get all the foam out of the living room… It was seriously wild," he laughs.

It's like this kid is a walking cliché of the world's most basic fuckboi. And of course, he doesn't seem the least bit hungover. "Hmm," you say, feigning interest as you take a sip of your coffee, "That sounds cool."

"It really was. You should've come."

"Ah, I wasn't invited."

"Really? Ok, here's me inviting you for next time."

Is this guy really so loose with his invitations that he'd freely allow a practical stranger in his house? "Thanks," you politely smile, "I might just take you up on that offer."

"Yeah, anytime. And if you have any friends who want to tag along, you're all more than welcome… You have a roommate, right?"

Ah, here it comes… "Yeah, Mijoo," you say.

"Oh right. That's her name. You should bring her as well," he smoothly says, as though he honestly thought you were too stupid to catch on.

"Right. I will."

There's a moment of awkward silence as the two of you smile stiffly at each other. Then Jungkook clears his throat loudly and busies himself with digging through his bag, "So, about that poetry assignment… Um… It's pretty easy, huh?"

You raise an eyebrow, "I thought you said you didn't get it?" You could've made this easy for him and played along with his pretenses… But you were getting a little fed up and wanted to cut this short.

"Oh… right… Er—it seems easy, but it's actually confusing…" He says, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"How is it confusing?" you ask, placing more pressure on the young man with morbid curiosity.

"You know how poetry is… With the rhyming and all that jazz."

"Jungkook… You do know the assignment is free verse rhyme, right?"

There's a beat of silence where he stares at you with wide eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights. Clearly, he's not used to people calling him out on his bluffs, and he doesn't know how to react.

So you simply roll your eyes, "Alright, cut the bullshit, Jeon. I know you didn't ask me here to talk about free verse poetry."

Jungkook gulps, "Ah… you knew?"

"You're not very subtle… But that's an issue for another day. So how are we going to get Mijoo and Jimin together?"

The handsome young man visibly relaxes at your words, all the tension immediately dissipating from his rigid posture, "Oh thank god," he sighs deeply, slumping over on the table in relief.

You laugh at his dramatic reaction, "When you messaged me so out of the blue, I thought for sure you wanted to strategize to get them together. But instead, you kept beating around the bush."

"I should've just come clean… The best friend of your best friend's crush," Jungkook wryly comments, "Guess we're partners in crime for this?"

"Yep. This timid flirting shit has been going on for too damn long. I'll blow my brains next time Mijoo stresses about one of Jimin's ambiguous texts."

"Dude. You do not even want to hear about the shit I go through whenever Mijoo decides to hug him or smile especially cutely or whatever crap at him. He goes on these long rants where he basically just argues with himself for hours. It's like a one-man filibuster."

You snort at the description, "Tell me about it. I just bought new noise-canceling headphones. Something needs to be done."

"Agreed. Do you have any ideas of what we can do?"

You stop to think for a moment. "…You got any more of those foam parties?"

The next weekend, you and Jungkook set your plan into motion. It's simple to the point of absurdity: you'll get the two of them drunk, then lock them in an enclosed space. Easy, peasey, case closed…

Except you didn't expect Mijoo to put up such a struggle.

"Pleaseee, Mijoo?" you whine, draping yourself all over her.

Your roommate simply flips a page in her book, "Not tonight," she tells you, "I'm really not in the mood."

"Oh, come on," you complain, "We didn't do anything this whole week!"

"Hmm. Wanna go catch a movie or something then?" She asks.

"No, I want to go the party! Why go to a boring old movie when we can dance and get free drinks?"

At that, Mijoo looks up in surprise, "I thought you were just kidding when you said you wanted to go to a BTS party, but you're serious?"

"Of course!" you exclaim, trying to play it cool, "It sounds fun."

"Really? A frat party sounds fun to you, miss ice queen?"

A bead of sweat rolls down your spine, "Uh… Yes…?"

At this, Mijoo slams her book down and turns to give you her full, undivided attention, "You want to go to a frat party? Wearing an uncomfortable, skintight dress with your face covered in makeup? Surrounded by gross fuckbois who'll stare at you like a piece of meat? Really?"

"… I'll wear pants."

Mijoo shakes her pretty head and laughs, "No, babe. If you're dragging me to this, I get to pick what you wear."

You consider it for a few moments. It is so tempting to call this off and delve in bed for the rest of the night. But you've got to do this for her own sake. "…Fine," you finally sigh, "But I get to do my own makeup."

"Only if you partner with me for beer pong."

Your face falls, "Kim Mijoo, you know as fucking well as I do that beer pong is just an excuse for gross little fuckbois to stroke their egos in such an inane competition and get defenseless girls drunk!"

Mijoo presses a finger to your lips to shut you up, "Shh. Just tell me right now if you'll accept my conditions… I refuse to go out with you tonight unless you wear one of my dresses and play beer bong with me."

On any other day, you would've kicked her ass for such ridiculous requests. But at that moment, your phone buzzes. You glance down at the screen and aren't surprised to find yet another text from Jungkook: Where the hell r u?

You turn back to Mijoo and choke down your dignity, "Ok, I'll do it."

Your roommate's eyes bulge at your unexpected submission, "Seriously, what has gotten into you?! Why are you acting so weird?"

"W-weird?" you stutter, palms slippery with sweat when it becomes apparent that she's catching on, "How so?"

But at that moment, your phone starts buzzing again. This time, you can't hide as quickly and Mijoo gasps out loud when she reads the name flashing across the screen. "Jungkook…? ___, why is Jeon Jungkook calling you right now?"

Fuck! How did you get found out so quickly? This is almost pathetic. "I… I can explain!" you stammer.

But Mijoo simply shakes her head, practically trembling with anger, "___, I cannot fucking believe you! I am your best friend!"

"I'm sorry!" you exclaim, rushing up to beg her for forgiveness, "I was doing this for your sake!"

"Really? How the fuck is lying to me about your relationship with Jeon Jungkook for my sake?!"

"I'm really sorry! I just—wait… what?"

"I seriously cannot believe you, bitch!" She exclaims, "How long have the two of you been fucking?"

"We… we… what?"

"You should've told me as soon as it happened," she whines, childishly slapping you in the side, "I knew he wouldn't have facebooked you for no reason!"

"I… I'm sorry, Mijoo," you awkwardly say, "I was just… embarrassed?" And that part isn't a lie.

"It's fine," she gruffly says, "I forgive you… But the next time you keep something from me, I'll kick your ass, got it?"

You hurriedly nod your head, "Yes, ma'am!"

"Good. Now let me go raid Jisoo's closet," she says, mentioning the sorority president.

"Wait, Jisoo?" you ask in surprise, "Why?"

"She went shopping last weekend and bought this incredible new leather dress… This is Jeon Jungkook we're talking about, babe. If you want more than just a one-night stand, then my silly old dresses aren't going to cut it. We're gonna need something sluttier."

You somehow stifle the urge to gag and force a smile instead, "You first, honey."

"Jungkook!" you cry out when you spot him lounging around the bar area, pouring himself a shot. He nearly spills the alcohol all over himself in surprise when you abruptly swing your arms around his neck in an uncharacteristic display of affection. "She thinks we're fucking," you hiss into his ear.

"What?" he whispers back, flinching under your rough embrace.

"Just play along!"

And then you step back with a forced laugh, "It's so good to see you again. Jungkook, this is my roommate, Mijoo. Mijoo this is my… uh… classmate, Jungkook."

"Nice to meet you," Jungkook says, politely taking her hand.

"You as well. I've heard… so much about you," Mijoo says with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Is that so?" Jungkook awkwardly scratches the back of his head, "Only good things, I hope?"

Mijoo simply smirks, "I'm sure ___ will tell you all about it later… Doesn't she look great tonight?"

"Huh? What—oh," his eyes widen when he looks down and takes in your appearance for the first time. You stiffen under his scrutiny as he suddenly rakes his eyes up and down your figure. You're wearing that ridiculous skintight leather minidress borrowed from Jisoo, and your face flushes with heat when Jungkook's eyes dip to your cleavage for a second too long. He smiles when his eyes meet yours again, "She looks incredible."

Mijoo looks like that cat that ate the canary, the way she beams at the two of you, "I'll give you two a minute to talk…"

"Wait no!" You and Jungkook both shout out at the same time.

The pretty brunette girl jumps in surprise, "Uh… What's up?"

You freeze, but luckily Jungkook comes to your rescue, "You need to take a shot!" He blurts out, "House rules."

Mijoo looks a bit baffled, but smiles, nevertheless, "Oh, ok sure."

Jungkook quickly snags the bottle off the table to pour a round of shots. You smile and clink your glass against theirs in an obligatory fashion, but your eyes are rapidly scanning the room for an excuse to keep her here. You barely taste the cheap vodka as you knock it back, and it nearly comes shooting out of your nose as you notice your salvation with a cry of excitement.

"Ah! Let's play beer pong!" you exclaim, pointing excitedly at the red solo cups stacked on a long table in the center of the room.

"That's a great idea!" Jungkook agrees, catching onto your idea, "I'll grab a couple of beers."

As soon as he's gone, you grab onto Mijoo's sleeve, holding her in place, "Play with us."

"What?" her eyes widen, "But don't you want to play with him alone?"

You shake your head, "It'd be more fun if we played with partners."

"Oh… well, okay. But I don't have a partner…"

"Just give me a minute," you say, then run into the kitchen after Jungkook. He's kneeling at the foot of the fridge, loading beer cans in his arms, and relaxes at the sight of you.

"Good thinking with the beer pong," he says as he hands you a few cans, "We've gotta keep her here, no matter what it takes."

"When is Jimin coming?"

"Our dispenser broke last week, so he's on an ice run with some guys," Jungkook says, anxiously checking his phone, "By the way… What are you wearing?"

"Ah, Mijoo bullied me into it," you say, tugging at the short hem of the leather with spite, "It was the only way I could convince her to go!"

"Well, please thank her for me."

You shoot him a dirty look, "Pervert."

"What? I'm just stating a fact. You look good." Jungkook licks his lips as his eyes peruse the length of your body again, "Really good."

"Yah, my eyes are up here," you complain, grabbing him by the chin and forcing his gaze up. "Stop getting distracted, Casanova. Where is your roommate?"

"I don't know what's taking him so long," Jungkook frowns, "He should be back any—oh thank fucking god," he curses in relief when the front door opens up, revealing a handsome blonde man struggling with a bag of ice.

Jungkook runs forward to plop the beers on the table, then grabs Jimin by the collar of the shirt to haul him forward, "There you are, bro!" He exclaims loudly, "Thank god you're back! We need a fourth player for beer pong."

"Wait, Jungkook, the ice! I need to—" But his voice trails off when he sees Mijoo standing at one end of the table. "O-oh. Mijoo. I didn't know you were going to be here. Hi."

His awkward bow has Mijoo automatically bowing back, and the gesture is so out of place at a crowded frat party that it's laughable. Jungkook seems at a loss for what to do, so you hurry over to rescue him.

"Oi, Jimin!" You greet him with over the top enthusiasm, "What a coincidence running into you! How are you?"

"Great. I'm just—"

"Here to save us in our predicament?" you answer for him, "Bless you, Jimin! We really appreciate it!"

"W-what? I didn't—"

"Awesome!" Jungkook shouts out, "Jimin, be a bro and start setting up those cups over there with Mijoo. ___ and I can take it on this side."

"Wait, don't you want to partner with me, ___?" Mijoo calls out in confusion from the other end of the table.

"Nah, you girls always do that," Jungkook shrugs her off, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible, "Why don't we mix things up?"

"That's a great idea, Jungkook!" you say with unnecessary fervor, "Since we just so happen to be standing next to each other right now, why don't we partner up?"

"Yeah, that seems convenient," he agrees, playing up your ploy, "So Jimin, do you mind partnering with Mijoo so she's not on her own?"

What kind of jerk would he look like if he refused? Jimin instantly nods his head up and down, "Yeah, that would be fine."

He hurries over to join Mijoo with another awkward bow, but even from where you stand, you can see the way his face lights up in the most radiant of smiles. And even when Mijoo turns her back to start filling the cups with beer, he continues to stare at her with an almost awestruck expression on his face.

Your heart tightens painfully in your chest. He looks so good tonight, with his honey blonde hair mused off his forehead and his navy shirt loosened a few buttons to reveal the smooth skin of his collarbones, creating a soft and effortless look. Mijoo, with her silky teal dress, matches him perfectly. She looks so unbelievably sweet and beautiful that it seems like the two of them have walked straight off the page of any fairytale storybook. They make such a beautiful couple.

A warm hand on your lower back makes you jerk back into reality. You look up to find Jungkook frowning at you, "Hey, you okay?"

You don't respond for a moment, blinking at the gorgeous pair across the table from you. But then the hand on your back crawls down lower. "Ah, Jungkook!" you screech, jumping away from him to slap his wandering hand off of your ass.

The dark-haired man looks genuinely puzzled by your reaction, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" You spit back at him, "You just grabbed my ass!"

"I thought you said you told everyone we were sleeping together," he says with a raised eyebrow, "I'm just trying to keep up the act."

His explanation does make sense… Though you highly suspect him of ulterior motives. "Fine," you reluctantly relent, "But don't squeeze it!"

"Of course not," he easily agrees, "I would never treat a work of art with such disrespect," and to emphasize his words, he slides his hand over the curve of your ass again.

You roll your eyes, "Gross." But nevertheless, you allow him to keep his hand put.

It doesn't go unnoticed by your competitors on the other side of the table. Jimin lets out a loud wolf whistle while Mijoo laughs heartily and shoots you a thumb's up, "Are you lovebirds ready?" She calls from across the table.

"Yep! Get ready to drink your heart out, roomie!" you yell back.

Jimin laughs, "What's the bet?"

You turn to whisper in Jungkook's ear, "We have to get them drunk."

"Alright. But let's make it sexy, too."

"Body shots?"

"I like the way you think, babe."

"Alright, it's settled!" you exclaim, breaking out of your impromptu huddle with Jungkook to address your competitors, "Loser has to take a body shot off their partner!"

"Wait, what?" Jimin calls back in surprise.

"___! We're already drinking a shit ton of beer!" Mijoo complains loudly.

Jungkook sticks his tongue out at them, "You scared, children?"

Jimin stiffens under the insult, "No way. You're on! But winner gets to set up the shots."

"Perfect. I'm going to stick a shot glass up her vagina for Jimin to get to," you whisper in Jungkook's ear.

He blinks once, "You are kind of disgusting… I think I like you."

"Since you lovebirds are so distracted, I guess we'll go first," Mijoo calls out with a laugh.

"Bring it on, little girl!" You yell back.

She shoots you a dirty look before tossing the pingpong ball… The splashing sound of the ball hitting the beer in the cup makes the smile slide off your face. Mijoo whoops with excitement and happily high-fives a beaming Jimin.

Your heart drops to your stomach, "Jungkook, please tell me you're good at this game…"

"I'm the undefeated champ of BTS!" He proudly exclaims, "Don't worry, babe. We've got this."

You hesitantly smile back, "Alright. If you say so…"

Less than fifteen minutes later, you're horrified to find a single cup hovering on the edge of your side of the table while half a dozen remain on Mijoo and Jimin's side.

"I thought you were a beer pong champ," you angrily hiss at Jungkook.

"Hey! I made four of the shots!"

"And missed the other seven."

He glares at you, "And how many did you make, princess?"

You scowl back, "Yeah, but I didn't claim to be a beer pong god, now did I?"

"Stop it. You're making me lose my focus," he says as he squints at the row of red solo cups, pingpong ball in hand.

"Who cares? There's no way you can get six cups in a row while they get none. It's over, kid."

"Will you just shut up?" He gripes, dropping his hand to his side as he turns to face you.

Across the table, Mijoo and Jimin heartily boo him, "Just give it up, Jeon!"

"You guys suck!"

"I don't!" Jungkook defends himself, "___ is just bringing me down!"

You glower at that, "When we lose, I'm going to make you take the shot out of my asshole."

"You know I'd only enjoy that, sweet cheeks."

Your mouth drops in indignation, "Jeon Jungkook!"

But he's already turned back to your competition with faux swagger, "Hey guys, have you ever heard of the movie The Comeback Kid?" He cockily calls out.

Jimin and Mijoo exchange a perplexed look, "The what?"

Jungkook's mouth curls into an arrogant smile as he aims for the circle of red solo cups remaining on their side of the table, "The Comeback—oh fuck!" He curses loudly as the pingpong ball hits the rim of the middle cup before bouncing away.

Jimin and Mijoo burst into laughter at his expense, "What was that?!"

The dark-haired man sheepishly rubs the back of his head, "That went more smoothly in my mind."

At his side, you bury your face in your hands and wail, "We're ruined!"

"Ok, it's my turn!" Mijoo cries out, "If I make this, then you guys lose."

"You're not going to make it," you shoot back, waving your hand back and forth in front of the remaining red solo cup on your side in an attempt to distract her, "You're going to choke, girl!"

"Choke, choke, choke!" Jungkook helpfully chants next to you.

Mijoo rolls her eyes, "You guys are so immature," and with that, she tosses the pingpong ball with a perfect flick of her wrist.

All four of you are dead silent as you watch the little white ball soar through the air in slow motion. The ball hits the rim for a moment, spinning…

Then it falls over and plops into the beer.

"I fucked up," Jungkook whispers in a small voice.

You can only groan softly in response as you pluck the pingpong ball out and down the remaining cup of beer, "You shouldn't have made her angry…"

On the other end, Mijoo and Jimin whoop with excitement and Jimin lifts your roommate straight off her feet to swing her in a wide circle in an impromptu victory celebration. Her exuberant peals of laughter echo in your mind. They both look so happy…

"Here's your lime," Jungkook interrupts your musing.

You take the slice from him with a sigh, "How did we fuck up so hard?"

"Hey, at least it seems like they're bonding."

"… Do you think they'll forget about us? I drank so much that I think my body is more beer than water at this point."

"No way. It looks like they're scheming right now," Jungkook says, pointing over to where Mijoo whispers conspiratorially into Jimin's ear while the blonde man looks at you guys and laughs.

"… We are so fucked."

And true to your prediction, minutes later, Jimin's laying his roommate out across the table while Mijoo happily sprinkles salt on his bare chest. The two of them had forcibly divested him of his shirt moments ago, while you hid behind a group of sorority sisters on the dance floor, wondering if it was too late to make your escape.

Unfortunately, before you can turn and run, Mijoo spots you squatting in the shadow of a tall blonde girl, and weaves between the bodies on the dance floor to drag you out.

"Hurry, ___," Jimin laughingly calls you over, "Jungkook's probably really uncomfortable right now."

Still, you can't help but drag your feet as you reluctantly join them, "This is ridiculous," you grumble to yourself, "We're causing a scene!"

"Don't be a sore loser," Mijoo chides you, "This was your idea!"

"Yeah, but that's because I thought we would win!"

"Oh, come on, ___. Don't be like this," Jungkook complains loudly, "You should consider yourself lucky right now," he says, emphasizing his words with a flex of his abs.

You roll your eyes and shove the slice of lime in his mouth to shut him up, "Yeah yeah, whatever, pervert. Mijoo, hand me the shot." But she simply shakes her head and giggles. Frowning at her strange behavior, you turn to Jimin instead, "Yah. Gimme the tequila already so we can get this over with."

"Of course," Jimin sweetly obliges and takes the bottle to begin pouring. But to your utmost horror, he doesn't aim for the shot glass in your hand, but instead, the tawny skin of Jungkook's stomach.

Your jaw hangs as you watch the smooth amber liquid trickle to collect at his belly button and the muscled crevices of his abs. "You motherfuckers!"

"You better drink it all up or we'll pour out another one," Mijoo sweetly informs you, "And next time, we'll be taking off his pants."

"No, no, this is fine!" You hastily wave your hands at her, "Thank you for your generosity…" And then you make your way to stand at Jungkook's side, trying to ignore the way Mijoo and Jimin giggle and whisper amongst themselves as they watch you. Mijoo's probably filled Jimin's mind with nonsense about your nonexistent relationship with Jungkook… This whole scheme is failing miserably.

"Hurry and do it," Jungkook mumbles around a mouthful of lime.

You glare at him as you shove his legs apart to stand between them. Despite your best intention, he looks incredibly good half-naked and spread out for you, and you can't help the way your mouth waters. Of course this cocky fuckboi just had to have the body of a greek god. Fucking typical.

Sighing deeply, you lean down and demurely pick up a lick of salt from his clavicle using just the tip of your tongue… But then there's the overflowing tequila to take care of. Most of it is pooled in his belly button, which you quickly suck up. But there's plenty left spilled across his abs and trickling down the sides. Fuck you, Mijoo, you curse her bitterly in your head as you begin suckling lightly at his skin, trying your best to keep from using your tongue. But it's really hard to keep your concentration when his delicious abdominal muscles keep clenching underneath your light touch… You've never been in such close proximity to such defined abs before. It's fucking unfair.

You quickly finish up, wincing at the acidic taste of tequila in your mouth, then lean down to snag the lime from Jungkook's mouth. Mijoo and Jimin cheer you on the entire time, shouting at you to kiss him. Luckily, you aren't as drunk as you had feared, and you manage to successfully sink your teeth into the fruit without brushing his lips at all.

You pull back after a second and irritably spit the lime slice into your hand, "There, all done. Are you happy?"

The two of them seem disappointed by the clinical nature of the body shot. "Wait, Jungkook still has to do his!" Mijoo suddenly pipes up, expression brightening again.

Your beer pong partner slides off the table while slowly pulling his shirt back on, "I don't think ___ would be as pleased if you stripped her bare in front of everyone," he wryly comments, "Not that I'd mind, of course."

"Don't worry," Mijoo grins as she grabs your hand to shove you against the table, "I have an idea…"

A second later, Jimin is rubbing salt against the curve of your neck while Mijoo critically examines your cleavage, looking for the best spot to put the alcohol.

"Would you be really mad at me if I poured this all over your boobs?"

"Do you want to die?" you darkly mutter.

"Try her ass instead," Jungkook oh-so-helpfully pipes up.

You turn to chew him out as well, but at that moment, Jimin strokes his fingers through your hair, trying to brush off a bit of salt that has ended up there, and your voice dies in your throat at the feeling of his gentle fingers caressing your skull.

"The salt isn't sticking," he mumbles, mostly to himself. Then, to your surprise, he licks his fingers to moisten them, and smooths them under your jaw. The sensitive skin there immediately breaks into goosebumps, and you pray that the blonde man doesn't notice when he sprinkles on the salt.

"Ok, I guess we'll just have to deal with it here," Mijoo sighs as she gives up and sticks the shot glass between your breasts.

You're still too distracted by Jimin's fingers in your hair to pay any attention to the situation until Jungkook roughly shoves the blonde man aside, "Thanks for preparing her." And then he descends upon you, lips latching onto your neck with no preamble.

You gasp softly at the feeling of his hot mouth against your hyper-aroused skin. Unlike you, he has no sense of propriety as he greedily lays open-mouthed kisses against your neck, sucking harder than necessary to pick up the small scattering of salt. A hickie will surely form by the morning as an incessant reminder of this failed night.

"What are you doing, Jeon?" you groan when his mouth drifts too high, snagging your earlobe between his teeth and gently nipping in a way that has unspeakable sensations coursing down your spine.

"Hmm?" He flicks his tongue against your thoroughly bruised neck one last time before trailing kisses down your collarbones to your cleavage instead, where the shot glass nestles between your breasts.

Embarrassment colors your face red when you realize that Mijoo and Jimin are watching with identical pervy grins on their faces. Mijoo has been trying to get you laid since Freshman year, so her behavior is as you would have expected, but not Jimin's. When you first met the blonde man in your econ project group last year, you would've never imagined the kind, sincere man to be cheering on his fuckboi roommate as he messily slurps around your cleavage. You have no right to feel this way, but still, your heart sinks to your stomach.

At that moment, Jungkook pulls away from your chest to knock back the rest of the shot. He noisily smacks his lips before focusing his eyes on the lime slice in your mouth. You recognize that hungry expression on his face all too well, and move your head away right as he attacks. As a result, his lips only brush yours in the slightest of kisses before you pull back, leaving Jungkook to suck on the sour slice of fruit in annoyance.

"I want a rematch," you demand at once.

"Are you sure, ___?" Jimin laughs, "You only made one cup last time."

"That was just the practice round," you brush him off, "This is for real now."

"Well, I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble," Mijoo says, pretending to yawn, "It's so boring if we win every time."

Your eyes narrow at her cocky attitude, "Why? You scared you'll get beat this time?"

She raises an eyebrow, "Not in the least."

"Fine. Then care to make another wager?"

"Sure. But this time, we get to pick the punishment."

"Oh, you're so on."

"But let me warn you, roomie: this time, the punishment will be twice as bad… Still care to play with us? Even though it's obvious the two of you will lose?" Mijoo asks, eyeing you and Jungkook unimpressed.

You hesitate, suddenly nervous about the ordeal. It would obviously make more sense to change the game to something you and Jungkook have a chance at winning. But before you can pitch this idea, Jungkook suddenly jumps to action.

"That's a great idea!"

Unsurprisingly, you find yourself locked in a closet with Jungkook less than half an hour later, two shots of tequila resting on the ground between you.

"This fucking sucks."

"You didn't make a single cup this time, ___... How is it possible that you got even worse?" Jungkook quips as he folds his long legs underneath himself in the cramped space.

You flinch when his legs brush yours, "I was counting on you, partner."

"Well, we definitely failed… Do you think they're at least bonding by laughing at us?"

"I never knew you were a silver linings kind of guy, Jungkook," you say with a wry smile.

"Hey, you've gotta make the best of what you have… speaking of which… since everyone thinks we're making out in here anyways… Do you think we should just—?"

"No."

"Buzzkill," Jungkook sighs before checking his phone for the time, "We still have six minutes to go. How am I supposed to kill the time then?"

"Silent reflection on all your past misdoings?" You sarcastically offer.

"Somehow I feel like making out would be a lot more fun," he says as he slowly runs his tongue over his bottom lip.

"Do you only ever think with your dick?" you groan, "You definitely weren't like this when we met up at the coffee shop. Otherwise I would've never proposed this team up! What happened to you?"

"To me? I think you mean what happened to you. You definitely were not this hot when we met up two days ago. Trust me. I would've noticed."

"Men are such simple creatures," you roll your eyes, "All it takes is a bit of makeup and cleavage, and you're drooling all over yourselves."

"What, am I supposed to lie and say that I'm seduced by your charming personality?" Jungkook snorts, "It's not like I'm asking for your hand in marriage here, sweetheart."

"Well, at least you're honest," you say with a ghost of a smile on your face, "You're a bit better than all the other fuckbois."

"I'm way better," he insists, indignant at the comparison, "I won't feed you lies and lead you on just to get in your pants. I'm upfront about what I want."

"And what exactly is that?"

He flashes you a brilliant smile that has you momentarily reeling, "To have a good time."

"Gross," you say, but you can't help but laugh.

He takes that as a good sign and pushes forward to test his luck, "I'm going to be blunt, ___. You look fucking hot in that dress and I'm incredibly attracted to you. If you wanna have a bit of fun tonight, then I promise I won't let you down."

You don't doubt his words. Jeon Jungkook is infamous, not only among his frat brothers, but across the entire campus for his alleged sexual prowess. And even if he wasn't great in bed, well, he's gorgeous. You saw how he looked shirtless, with his abs glistening from the liquid pooling across his stomach and chest. You'd be lucky to even lay your hands on this god-like man.

You shake your head with a laugh and press a shot of tequila to his hand, "Shut up and drink your shot."

Jungkook sighs deeply as he accepts the drink, "I'm disappointed, but not surprised. I'm not your type, am I?"

You watch as he knocks back the drink with a smack of his lips. He clearly has experience in drinking the harsh, astringent alcohol. "How could you tell?" You pick up your own shot glass, only to realize that there's nothing in the small supply closet to chase it down with, "Damn, do you have a chaser or something?"

But as you search around the closet, Jungkook suddenly reaches over to snatch the shot glass from your hand. Before you can question him, he slams your shot of tequila back as well. You watch his thick adam's apple bob in his throat in bewilderment, "Hey, what was that for?"

Jungkook winces as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand then tosses the empty glass aside, "You've been drinking a lot, ___. Don't want you to get too wasted."

"I'm only buzzed," you complain, "What is this sudden bout of consideration? You're not seriously trying to pretend to be a gentleman, are you?"

"Nope. I just don't want you drunk… So you'll be in the right mindset to give me consent at the end of the night," he says, emphasizing his bold statement with a smug grin.

Your jaw drops, "You cocky ass motherfucker!"

He laughs at your dramatic response, "Yeah, yeah. I know what you're going to say. It's never gonna happen because I'm not your type, huh?"

"Damn right."

"Well, since your roommate is snatching up Jimin, it looks like I'm all you have left."

Your blood runs cold at his unexpected statement, "Wait… what did you say?"

"Jimin," Jungkook repeats, cocking his head to the side as he examines your reaction, "He's your type, isn't he?"

"What would make you say that?" You ask in a subdued voice, trying your best not to reveal any emotion.

"I saw the way you were looking at him. Like you wanted to eat him up… It's the same way I look at you, probably," he laughs, "He's totally your style."

"Park Jimin is cute and extremely kind," you admit in a quiet voice, "But my best friend likes him. So it's pointless to dwell upon the impossible."

"Huh… So you like the cute type? I can be cute, too," Jungkook insists with a little pout.

The breath that you had been holding whooshes out at once. You can't help but laugh at his statement, "You don't know how to give up, do you?"

He grins back, about to offer an undoubtedly perverted response, when the door suddenly bursts open, "Surpriseee—oh wait. Mijoo, they're not fooling around."

"What?!" Your roommate bounces up to glance over Jimin's shoulder in surprise, "What the hell guys?!"

You irritably rise to your feet before pulling Jungkook along with you, "Come on, let's get out of here. I need another drink." Then you rudely brush between the two of them and haul Jungkook by the hand to the bar.

The frat party is in full swing at this point, every inch and crevice of the house jammed to the max with people, making it almost impossible to move. To conserve space, Jungkook molds himself to your backside, hands splayed on your hips to guide you. "Ugh, there's too many people here," you say in annoyance, "I bet you're all out of alcohol too."

"Yeah, probably… Wait, I know! Jimin and I have a stash in our room."

You glance over your shoulder to flash him a look of suspicion, "This isn't just an excuse to get me alone in your room, is it?"

"Of course not! How could you possibly think that of me?" Jungkook asks, clutching his chest in faux indignation, "… though if you did want to do something other than drink, I wouldn't complain…"

"Shut up, playboy, and get me a drink."

"Yes, ma'am."

Moments later, the two of you sit side by side on his bed, sipping lukewarm beers, as you try to re-strategize.

"Are you any good at card games?" You ask Jungkook.

"I have the worst luck," he says, "What about something more simple? Truth or dare?"

"I think they'd see through our ruse at once," you sigh, "What about quarters?"

"If you can't bounce a pingpong ball, I highly doubt you can bounce a quarter," Jungkook laughs.

You bristle at that, "Fine, you got any hot ideas then, beer pong champ?"

"Things are getting pretty heated on the dance floor," he says, peeking out of the half-open door, "We should get them to grind together."

"Mijoo can't dance for shit," you sigh, "We're ruined… And now the whole world is going to think that we're fucking."

"You say it like that's a bad thing," he retorts.

"It is. I don't want to be seen as easy… In fact… If anyone catches us in here, they might get the wrong idea…" and with that, you get up to close the door.

"___, wait!" Jungkook calls out, grabbing you by the wrist before you can get up.

You look down at him in confusion, "What?"

"Don't shut the door! Are you crazy?"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Wait… Do you seriously not know how these doors work?" He asks, staring at you incredulously.

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, now it's becoming clear that you're not used to the frat scene… ___, all the houses on this row were constructed in the early 1900s. Most of the infrastructure has been reinforced, but there are some parts of the houses that are completely untouched."

"Yeah. So what?"

"That means these doors are from like 1920."

"So are they messed up? Do they not work?"

"They do, but they're just weird. For the bedrooms, they lock from the outside."

"From the outside? Really?"

Jungkook nods his head, "Yeah. That's why during a large party like this, we've got to be more careful. Who knows what kind of drunk people could stumble around, messing with the door knobs? We could accidentally get locked in. It's happened more than enough times."

"Isn't there a key?"

"There's a master key with Namjoon," he says, referencing the frat president, "But it's so noisy in here, it could take hours before anyone finds out that someone's trapped."

"Ah, ok. Thanks for warning me, then. I don't know what I'd do if we were stuck here together for hours," you say with a shiver of disgust.

"Hmm. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad…" Jungkook thoughtfully muses, "We'd be so bored, we'd have no choice but to hook up…"

You glance at him warily, "Don't get any ideas in that filthy mind of yours, Jeon."

"Of course not," he sweetly replies, "But you have to admit that getting locked up here together seems like the perfect setup to any ridiculous chick flick… hey wait a minute…" he says, a frown forming on his handsome face as a new thought occurs to him.

The epiphany hits you at almost the precise same time. Your eyes widen comically and you dive forward to grab Jungkook's hand, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Fuck yeah!"

"Jimin, Mijoo, you guys have got to see this!" Jungkook exclaims, ushering them up the stairs.

"Wait what? Jungkookie, what's going on?" Jimin asks in utter bewilderment.

"No time to explain, just hurry!"

"___?" Mijoo calls your name in confusion, "What's this about?"

But you hurriedly shush her and push her forward with both hands, "Shush, I'll explain later!" And with that, you and Jungkook forcibly throw your roommates into the bedroom.

"Why are we here, Jungkook?" Jimin asks, glancing around their shared bedroom in confusion.

But Jungkook only grins devilishly at the older man. "Sorry, Mijoo!" you yell out before you slam the door shut in their faces.

The two of them burst into hysterics at once, charging at the door and fumbling with the knob, but it doesn't budge. Through the wall, you can hear their angry curses and threats, but you and Jungkook hold firm.

"Wow, that was easy," you say as you high-five the dark-haired man.

"Yeah, we should've just done that from the start."

"Good job, partner in crime!" You beam. Then you pause. "Wait. Now what?"

Jungkook blinks twice before responding, "I don't know…"

"Huh… I guess we wait?" You suggest, awkwardly lowering to the ground to make yourself comfortable.

"I guess we do," Jungkook says, plopping to the ground as well and resting his back against the door.

"Oh, she's very creative with her insults," you remark as you listen to Mijoo liken your entire family lineage to swines, up to your ancestors' ancestors.

Jungkook is receiving the same treatment right next to you, "And how is being a beefcake an insult, Park Jimin?!"

"Come on, Jungkook," you say, offering him your hand, "Let's just leave them alone."

"Wait, what?!" Mijoo's muffled scream comes from behind the door, "If you dare fucking leave me trapped in here, I swear to god I'm going to fucking—"

But you and Jungkook have already walked away.

"Do you think it's been enough time?" you ask, half an hour and another failed game of beer pong, later.

Jungkook hiccups, clearly suffering from the backlash of one too many beers, before responding, "Probably not… They have months of sexual tension to work out… Knowing those nerds, they're probably going to talk about their feelings until dawn."

"Still, we should check on them," you say, gnawing on your bottom lip with concern, "What if something's happened to them?"

"Ah, it'll defeat the purpose if we let them escape now," Jungkook protests, "And they'll probably be too embarrassed to ever talk again."

"Ok, then we won't let them out. Just let me poke my head in there and make sure they're breathing, okay?" you persuade him.

"Alright… Fine," he reluctantly agrees, "But get ready to run as soon as they see us."

"I'm quick, don't worry," you assure him as the two of you climb up the stairs to the bedroom he shares with Jimin.

"Ok… But if Mijoo escapes and kicks your ass… I won't be held accountable."

You shoot him a dirty look, "Just worry about your own ass, Jeon. Jimin's a lot stronger than Mijoo… Speaking of which… Why aren't they fighting their way out?" You ask as you stop and press your ear to the door.

"Huh?" Confused, Jungkook leans over you to listen in as well, but he's also met with silence. "What do you think's going on in there?"

"No clue… They couldn't have escaped, right?"

"No way," Jungkook vehemently shakes his head, "And if they did, we wouldn't be alive right now."

"That's true," you say, pressing your ear closer to the wood, "Then what could they be doing? Do you think they fell asleep?"

"That's possible."

"Ok, I'm going to open the door a crack. Get ready to run, Jeon."

He nods, immediately sinking into a crouching position, "Got it."

You take a deep breath for strength, then slowly twist the lock on the handle, trying to make as little noise as possible as to not set the expecting couple on the other side off. You're almost positive that they're lurking on the other side of the door, just waiting for the opportune moment to spring. You gulp, then carefully twist the door knob open.

With your heart pounding in your chest, you push the door forward a few inches—just enough to get a glimpse of what lies within. Then your heart slides to an abrupt stop.

Mijoo and Jimin are sitting side by side on the bed. Her hands are demurely folded in her lap and his are bunched up in the bedding. There's a modest space between their bodies, and at first glance, one might mistake this as a platonic encounter. But there's no misinterpreting the way Jimin's plush pink lips caress Mijoo's in the sweetest of kisses.

If feels like your heart has dropped to your feet, and you stumble back a few steps, nearly crashing into an equally as shocked Jungkook.

"Holy fuck," he whispers, "These nerds are making out!"

You quickly slap a hand over Jungkook's mouth, terrified that he might disrupt them, "Shut up," you whisper, dragging him far away from your roommates.

"I can't believe our plan actually worked!" Jungkook exclaims as soon as you remove your hand from his mouth.

"Yeah," is your quiet response.

"Damn, we should've just done this in the first place!"

"Mm maybe."

"But seriously though. I would have never imagined these squares to make out in public without a marriage contract or something," he laughs, "Do you think they're gonna be an official thing soon?"

"Most likely," you say, barely paying attention to him anymore as you pull up your phone to call an uber.

"Wait, are you going somewhere, ___?" Jungkook asks, picking up on your distraction at once.

"Yeah. It looks like Mijoo's keeping herself busy, so I'll go home alone," you say, praying that you've managed to keep the bitterness out of your tone.

"Alright. Let's go then."

That unexpected statement makes you stop in your tracks, "What are you talking about? Jungkook, what makes you think that you're invited?"

He gives you a pointed look, "Are you forgetting that Jimin and I are roommates? I have nobly sacrificed my room to get my bro laid. And now I have nowhere to go. The least you can do is let me crash in your room."

You pause for a moment, "Won't there be empty room in this house?"

"During a party?" he snorts, "Good luck not stumbling across an orgy in every crevice."

"What about a couch?"

"Are you kidding me?! Look at those nasty kids dry humping on it right now," he says, wildly gesturing across the room, "What kind of diseases will I catch?!"

"Fine," you sigh, in no mood to argue with him for a moment longer, "But you're sleeping on the floor."

His irritation instantly dissipates as he smiles widely, "Fine by me."

"Don't you dare make a sound until we're in my room," you warn him outside the sorority house as you fish for your key.

"Doesn't everyone already think that we're hooking up?" he points out, "What's the big deal?"

"It's not everyone. Only Mijoo thinks so. I don't want to be the talk of the entire sorority."

"Why would this be such a scandal?" he continues to argue, "I haven't slept with anyone in this sorority! …Well… at least I don't think I have…" he pauses to scratch his head in confusion.

"See? This is exactly why I don't want those rumors about us to spread."

"And what's wrong with those rumors? It's the twenty-first century. Your worth as a woman isn't defined by your purity or whatever bullshit. And I'm not as bad as you make me out to be!"

You ignore him, "Just stay silent," you warn him, and with that, you unlock the door and pull him inside.

It's a little past two in the morning, so unsurprisingly, the sorority house is dark and as silent as a grave. This is in stark contrast with the obnoxious frat party with the overflowing beer kegs and the neon strobe lights, and you feel like you can finally breathe again. Rolling out your sore shoulders, you tiredly lead Jungkook up the stairs and into the room you share with Mijoo.

"Do you need to shower?" you ask Jungkook as you lock the door behind you.

"Yes, please! You didn't do that body shot very well, and I still have tequila all over my stomach. I should wash it off… Unless you want to-?"

You throw a towel in his face before he can complete his undoubtedly perverted sentence, "The bathroom's through that door on the right. You're lucky my suite mates are out of town this weekend. Or else you'd give everyone a heart attack."

"You girls get your own in-suite bathroom?" he repeats in shock, "Why did I rush BTS? I would happily be a sister for this luxury."

You're too worn out to dignify that with an answer, "My shower caddy is on the nightstand."

It's not until he's gone until you finally realize how alone you are. The beta tau sigma frat house was crammed with partiers and you couldn't hear your own voice over the obnoxiously loud music. The entire time, you were too busy running around with Jungkook trying to strategize to even collect your thoughts. But now… In the silent house with all your sorority sisters dead asleep…

Your ears ring with echoes of the booming music from the party, and the bitter taste of tequila lingers on your tongue, but you suddenly feel acutely sober. And in the empty room, all pent up emotions finally spill over. You roll over to bury your face in the pillows on your bed as you try to straighten out your unstable whirlwind of feelings.

For the past month, you've been thinking up of strategies to get Mijoo and Jimin together. You had thought that you matured—that your love for your best friend was stronger than any selfish concern for yourself. You had somehow convinced yourself of your own superiority over any petty human emotions. But unfortunately, you aren't the altruistic saint you wish you could be. You suffer from the same human emotions that plague everyone. And they aren't pretty.

The feeling that stands out the most is jealousy. The boy who you have liked for the past year… slipped between your fingers like sand. Not that you stood a chance. A man like Jimin… Such a genuine, loving soul. People like you don't deserve him. He's meant for goddesses like Mijoo. Girls who command the attention of any room they walk into. Girls who inspire art and ardent love songs. It's illogical for you to even feel jealous. You weren't even a player on the field—you were a stagehand, watching the play unfold from a distance and never able to join.

Despite what the artists and poets claim, the world works in a logical way. It's a simple mathematical formula. Girls like Mijoo end up with their princes. And you remain a bitter stepsister, helpless but to watch their happily ever after from a distance. One that you'll never achieve.

Jealousy is a powerful emotion, but not nearly as strong as anguish. Because this isn't Mijoo's fault. How could she have known that you had wanted Jimin since the moment you set eyes on him? How could she have imagined that a bitter wrench like yourself could desire something so above your level? It's not her fault that you weren't good enough… You're happy for her. You really are. She's your best friend and she deserves the best… But what about you?

The feeling of helplessness bubbles up your throat, and suddenly you can't breathe. The dress you've borrowed is too tight. The excessive makeup you've plastered on your face to pretend to be someone else, someone better, feels suffocating. You grab the wipes off your dresser and immediately start scrubbing at your face, wincing when salty tears flood the fabric along with your heavy makeup.

As soon as you finish, you gasp for air, then yank at the zipper on the back of your dress. It's not until the leather pools at your feet that you can breathe again.

And that's how Jungkook finds you, decked in just your underwear gasping for breath on your bed.

"Damn," he says, taken aback by the visuals, but unable to keep from checking you out, "Is this how you usually go to bed?"

Your head snaps up at his approach. He's standing in the middle of your room, shamelessly naked except for the towel slung haphazardly across his hips.

"Are you sure you want me to sleep on the floor?" he asks, running a hand through his wet hair so that beads of water slide down his collars to his prominent abdominal muscles, "You look awfully cold in that bed all by yourself, babe."

Your skin bristles at his sexually suggestive words. You had no issue brushing off his come-ons all evening. But now… with you in such a vulnerable position…

Here is a man who actually wants you. Not you, but your body, a little voice in the back of your head reminds you. But it doesn't matter. All that matters is that someone might actually desire you… And not just anyone. This is the man that makes all the girls in your writing seminar giggle and whisper to themselves when he walks into the room. Women would kill themselves to get at him and he wants you. Not in the way you want… But at this point, you don't care.

"Jungkook," you whisper as you rise to your feet. His eyes immediately scan the exposed skin of your chest and thighs.

"Mmm?" he says with a lascivious lick of his lips.

You cross the room in three long strides, startling him with your sudden approach, "Okay," you sigh as you rest your hands on his bare stomach. You watch with interest as his muscles flex under your light touch, "Let's do it."

Jungkook's eyes bulge, "W-wait what? Are you serious?"

At that, you slip your hand under his towel and abruptly grab his dick, "Does it sound like I'm joking?"

The dark-haired man gulps at that, his adam's apple bobbing up and down in his throat, "I… ___, what's gotten into you?" He looks a bit worried, but can't help but instantly harden in your hand.

You brush off his concern as you stroke his growing length, examining the way his pupils dilate and his breathing stutters, "Go lie down on the bed."

So startled by your unexpected dominance, Jungkook instinctively obeys, irritably untying the towel from his waist and flinging it across the room before flopping onto the mattress. "This is insane," he laughs, running a hand through his damp hair as he waits for you to join him.

You pluck a condom out of the nightstand, and shimmy out of your underwear before crawling onto the bed after him.

"I can't believe this is actually happening," Jungkook marvels as he sits up to reach for you.

You grab his wrist before he can make contact, "Just lie down and wait a minute."

Confused, Jungkook slowly lies back down, but props himself up on his elbows so that he can watch you, "___... you're not some kind of weird sadist, are you?" he asks, playfully trying to make light of the situation.

But you simply shoot him another glare, "Just shut up and hold still." And with that, you grab his dick again, giving him an impromptu handjob to keep him complacent as you prepare the condom.

"Oh god," he groans, "Your hands are fucking amazing."

His compliment sparks warmth in your hollow chest. You hastily roll the condom on, then reach for the bottle of lube from your top drawer to coat him in the slick fluid. Jungkook openly moans his appreciation the entire time, clearly still buzzed from too many tequila shots and disinhibited. In the morning, he might be embarrassed about how vocal he was in bed, but for now, you will relish this treat.

Once he's lubricated from base to tip, you quickly straddle him and position his tip to your entrance. Before you can sit down, a hand grabs your wrist, stopping you in your tracks.

"Wait, ___, I haven't even touched you yet," Jungkook says in a hushed whisper, his brow furrowing in concern, "Why don't you let me go down on—oh fuck!" his words break off into a strangled cry when you abruptly drop down, taking his full length in one fell swoop.

He feels so thick inside of you that for a moment, the hole in your chest is filled. It's been so long since you've last had sex that you can't move for a few seconds, needing the extra time to adjust.

"I thought I wasn't your type, huh?" Jungkook's playful voice breaks the brief moment of silence, "What happened to that, ___?"

Your mouth twists in annoyance. Right when you were getting into it, he had to ruin things. "Shut up," you growl before lifting your hips and violently slamming down on him.

His cocky attitude dissipates at once, replaced entirely by desperation as his hands shoot out to grab your hips. Your hard pace falters at the feeling of his fingers digging into your soft skin. He tries to guide your motions, hands molding to your ass as he slows down your rapid speed and instead making your thrusts slower, deeper. His strength is otherworldly, and within seconds, he's practically doing all the work himself, raising and lowering you on his dick like you're a mere ragdoll in his hands. That won't do.

The copious amount of beer and tequila you've consumed tonight makes it difficult to think, but once you've come to your senses, you hastily slap his hands off of you. He looks confused and makes a motion as if to reach for you again, so you quickly weave your fingers between his and lock your joined hands on either side of his head. When you lean all of your weight onto your interlocked hands, you have him trapped on the mattress, and regain control of the situation.

Using his hands as leverage, you forgo the leisurely strokes he prefers and ride him with vigor, determined to get off as quickly as possible. Your pace turns shallow and rapid-fire when you find that one spot that has his dick brushing your g-spot and his pelvis grinding into your clit with every stroke.

Jungkook manages to get his moaning under control, but can't prevent the ragged, staccato quality of his breathing. His harsh pants and muffled grunts sound so sexy and he feels so delicious filling you up to the brim that if you close your eyes, you can almost imagine that he is someone else. So you squeeze your eyes shut as tightly as you can, focusing all of your attention on the feeling of complete fullness in your core.

It feels so fucking good that you never want it to stop. You wish you could cling onto this feeling forever so you'll never feel empty again.

But at that moment, Jungkook unexpectedly shifts his hips so that he slams directly into your g-spot. You pause for a moment, stunned by the explosion of pleasure that bursts across your senses. You tether on the line for a moment, fighting it back, but it's too late, and your climax washes over you like a wave.

Jungkook gasps at the feeling of you tightening around him, and before you can stop him, he pulls his hands out of your tight grip to grab your hips. With a half dozen more desperate surges forward into your heat, he groans deeply and releases into the condom.

It takes you a full minute to recover from your high. Then you roll off of him to flop lifelessly on the bed. Both of you wince when his spent length slips out of your heat. As soon as he leaves your body, the empty feeling encroaches again. You press both hands tightly to your chest, but it does nothing to fill the void.

"Wow, that was great," Jungkook says as he leisurely stretches his arms above his head before disposing of the condom.

You say nothing in response, gazing aimlessly at Mijoo's empty bed across the room.

Jungkook pauses in scavenging for his abandoned clothing to frown at you, "Are you okay?"

You cringe when he suddenly rejoins you on the bed, arms surrounding your waist to pull you against him in an unexpected hug. Somehow, this feels more intimate than sex. You would've never expected a player like Jungkook to engage in this kind of post-coital skinship.

"Ugh, please don't tell me you're a cuddler," you grumble as you twist in his embrace.

"I'm not," he denies, but the way he buries his nose in your hair says otherwise, "And don't think about asking me to stay the night, because I'm not that kind of guy."

You grimace at the very thought, "I don't even want you here right now. But I thought you needed somewhere to sleep?"

He grins at that, "I thought you knew me better than to take anything I said seriously?"

"Ugh. I should've known… All you fuckboys are the same."

He chuckles at your reaction, "Just give me a kiss and I'll leave."

You hurriedly twist your head to the side before his lips can make contact with yours, "Gross."

"We just fucked, and you think a kiss is gross?" Jungkook asks incredulously.

"Yeah. Don't kiss me," you say, irritably shoving at his shoulder to try to create distance between the two of you.

Jungkook snorts as he obediently rolls out of your bed, "I thought girls liked this kind of touchy feely bullshit. You're so weird."

"I do like it, but not from you," you shoot back.

"Ouch, babe," he says with a shake of his head as he tugs on his boxers and jeans, "What does Jimin have that I don't?"

He means it in a teasing way. He's not serious… There's no way he knows how close to home his comment hit. But still… you can't help but bristle in response, "Manners."

Jungkook bursts into laughter at the insult, "I'm really not the bad guy you make me out to be. If you'd get to know me, you'd see that."

"I don't want to get to know you," is your blunt response.

Jungkook's smile widens, "I'm glad that we're on the same page, then," he says as he slips his shirt over his head, "I won't call you."

"Good," you retort as you watch him slip his phone into his pocket and walk out the door without a second glance, "I'm blocking your number."

He lets you have the last word as he shakes his head in amusement and closes the door behind him. And then you're all alone in the empty room, left wondering what Mijoo and Jimin are doing on the other side of town.

A/N: So this chapter might be longer than any full length fic i’ve ever written... Yikes. 

As always, please don’t ask me about updates! You’ll find out more about the plot and the reason for the title in the following chapters ^^

But I definitely recommend that you listen to New Rules by Dua Lipa and download the podcast “Just Sex” by NPR Hidden Brain. They are what inspired this fic! 

[animeloveworld]

A Review on Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Note: This review is not mine.I have posted this review here because I feel it summarizes the anime Code Geass very well.

However I will be posting my reviews in the future once I get more experience.

This review is taken myanimelist from the reviewer kiriska.

Overall Rating 9

I was incredibly skeptical about Code Geass at first, but I'm very pleased to say that I was greatly surprised.

STORY - Before I saw this series, it was described to me on multiple occasions as "Death Note with mechas." After seeing it, however, I am inclined to disagree. The similarities between the two series are superficial at best, and though I can see why people would draw the comparison, I don't really think that dis/liking one means that you'll dis/like the other. But anyway, unlike Death Note, I wouldn't say that the story in Code Geass is particularly notable or unique. It's actually rather straightforward and even a little cliche, but that's exactly why this is such a well done series -- the barebones storyline is handled in a refreshing and new way that grabs the viewer's attention. There are enough twists and turns involved to keep you on the edge of your seat. The pacing is excellent and nothing feels rushed or drawn out. Indeed, the progression up to the conclusion is especially brilliant. (It's a cliffhanger "ending," but oh, it's just a fantastic cliffhanger.)

The series is also appealing in its uncanny ability to mix genres. Yes, this is a mecha series, but it really doesn't have to be. Yes, CLAMP did the character designs and there are some very shoujo elements (read: homolust), but there are very shounen rivalries and some pretty epic battle scenes too. Everybody wins! Additionally, because of the number of characters, the story allows for a number of small subplots. I was very happy with how this was handled in particular because all of the subplots relate and affect the main plot directly, whether by revealing some bit of information to both the characters and the viewer or by pushing forward interesting character development. Everything is well thought out and wonderfully executed, so despite the fact that "strong-willed person with plans to change the world receives mysterious power that helps facilitate his goals" isn't a very unique storyline... Code Geass makes it work.

Also. Code Geass utilizes the "best friends trying to kill each other" plotline, and I'm a sucker for that plotline.

CHARACTER - The characters in this series are rather varied. Some are very plain and one-dimensional, while others have an amazing complexity to them that makes them very life-like. I'll be honest. I've become somewhat infatuated with Lelouch as a character (and am rather biased as a result). To me, he is very much a human character -- he has emotions, opinions, a unique point of view, and some very serious flaws, all of which make him incredibly easy to relate to and to sympathize with. He is easily the most complex character in the series, and he feels real to me, even with his supernatural powers and his genius-level intellect. This ability to make the audience relate to him is also probably the series' greatest strength and the main reason why the story is able to remain relevant and interesting despite the fact that there aren't too many new ideas plotwise.

Suzaku would probably be second in line for complexity after Lelouch, though his sense of justice might be called cliche at first (along with Nunnally's and Euphemia's), and his hax-level physical prowess is somehow harder to accept than Lelouch's genius-level intelligence. It's harder to appreciate Suzaku's depth at first, partially because he is presented as Lelouch's main obstacle and the audience's sympathies are with Lelouch, but a great deal is revealed about his character throughout the course of the series, and he becomes an amazing foil to his rival. Their conflicting ideologies and philosophies are fascinating if you really look into it, and gay as it sounds, they really do compliment each other very well.

Much of the rest of the cast seems to fall into typical archetypes -- there's your adorable little sister, your mad scientist and his assistant, your cheerful schoolgirls, your best friend, your most loyal soldier, your second-in-command, your village idiot, your... really creepy lesbian girl? Despite the generic-sounding descriptions, most of the characters are actually pretty fun, or at the very least, interesting. C.C. provides snarky commentary. Shirley spreads innocent schoolgirl love. Nunnally is so moe you'll die. Jeremiah is a good butt of all jokes. Little bits of backstory are tossed in here and there to separate them from the crowd, but it's never enough to actually intrude, and the wide range of characters lets you settle into the world pretty well too; after all, what universe is complete without an animal mascot that shows up now and again?

ARTWORK & ANIMATION - I wasn't too impressed with CLAMP's character designs at first (noodleboys!), but as always seems to be the case, they gradually grew on me, and I remembered just how pretty X was. CLAMP just knows how to make everyone look amazingly sexy, male or female. I really loved how they did all of the facial expressions in the series though, especially for Lelouch. Seriously, that guy had some of the most awesome crazy expressions, some of the most amazingly touching sadface expressions, and of course, some of the most amusing WTF expressions. The mecha designs for the Knightmare Frames were also pretty awesome. I dig the whole rollar blade thing, and some of the technologies they come up with are neat, if a little over-the-top. The animation is fluid and smooth for the most part and very few things stood out as being bad.

MUSIC - Initially, I wasn't particularly fond of any of the OP/EDs for Code Geass except the first ending by ALI PROJECT because 1) they're awesome, and 2) Yuki Kajiura's style seemed to suit the series very well. The screaming violins both convey the high status of Britannia and the intensity of the emotions in the series. The rest of the themes seemed lackluster in comparison, but though I was never a huge fan of FLOW, "COLORS" kind of grew on me after a while. The final insert song, "Innocent Days" by Hitomi is pretty nice as well. Very thoughtful, very poignant, very fitting. The background music during the series was negligible for the most part; there is some pretty generic battle build-up type music and other appropriate, but rather typical, themes. Still, there's some neat classical/opera stuff, and the "All hail Brittania!" theme is definitely awesome.

VOICE ACTING - I've seen all of Code Geass subbed and most of it dubbed. Although I was incredibly turned off by Johnny Yong Bosch's role as Lelouch initially, it kind of grew on me, and now I think it fits well enough, though I do wish he'd change his voice a little more when Lelouch is Zero (make it a little deeper?). Suzaku's dub voice surprised me with how appropriate it was too. One of the things I really wish we could replicate in English though, is the subtle differences in manners between characters, between Lelouch and Suzaku at various stages of their lives, and between Lelouch and Zero. In Japanese, when Lelouch and Suzaku are children, they refer to themselves with "boku" and "ore" respectively. As teenagers, the pronouns are swapped, with Lelouch using "ore" (Zero uses "watashi") and Suzaku using "boku." Euphemia uses "watakushi." I'll skip the grammar lesson (go wiki "Japanese pronouns"), but suffice to say that these differences provide a lot of very interesting insight into each of the characters. It's really too bad English isn't nearly as interesting.

The rest of the voices in the dub are pretty average, perhaps the low end of average, with a stereotypically high-pitched girly voice for Nunnally that is amazingly annoying, and very forgettable voices for virtually all the female characters (Milly, Shirley, and Kallen all kind of sound the same). I was very impressed with Lloyd's dub voice though, even if nothing will ever amount to his amazing original voice, which is uh, amazing! Seriously. One of the most amusing voices I've ever heard. Jun Fukuyama's voice for Lelouch I found to be a bit too deep/old sounding initially, but that grew on me as well, and I really love the badassity of his voice for Zero. Suzaku's original voice sounds a little generic at first, but it grows with his character. There's a good bit of Engrish in the Japanese version as well, which is always fun. I don't think you can ever get tired of their "Yes, my lord(o)!" or their "All hail Britannia!"

Overall, I'd say the original is damn awesome, and the dub is pretty watchable -- always a plus, right?

OVERALL - I really love this series, and I definitely did not see that happening. Honestly, I found the first episode incredibly underwhelming: the opening sequence made it look like a series I wouldn't be interested in watching at all, and all of the expository really turned me off...but the second episode? That was so much more epic than I could have ever predicted, and I was pretty much won over after that. I'm just a sucker for chess analogies, I guess! Seriously though, good story, good characters, good animation, and good music! Mechas, politics, rivalry and comradery, strained friendships, love and hate, complex ideologies, and blowing shit up! What more could you want? :D

[builder051]

The best of what’s around, chapter 6

A collab with @anonyony1

This story features my (Laur’s) character Troy and Lux’s Ozzy and Julian.

TRIGGER WARNINGS for mentions of drug/alcohol abuse, withdrawal, past trauma, and mentions of death.

There’s a lot of illness and emeto as well.

Part 6 of 13.

_____

“I hope so,” Troy says.  He presses his stump over his mouth as he swallows hard, ensuring the water stays down for at least a few moments.  “It doesn’t seem like I was down and out for more than a couple days when I did this last time.  But...it’s hard to really remember.”  He lets out a long, slow breath and fights a hiccup.

_____

“You’re holding it together a lot better than I did,” Julian says, “So, I mean, there’s that.”  He doesn’t know if he’s very good at comforting others.  Ozzy is much more comforting than he is, he thinks.  Even though Ozzy wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere near Troy right now voluntarily.  “You should be proud you’ve made it this far,” he says.  Then he hums, “I mean, I guess you didn’t have much choice, but… maybe that’s for the best.”

“Yeah, it...it definitely is,” Troy says.  He scrubs at the grit in the corners of his eyes.  “If I were back at school…”  He shakes his head again.  “I don’t know what I’d be doing.  I was supposed to get back yesterday.  I wonder if they...wonder where I am.”  Troy realizes he hasn’t checked his phone in nearly a day.  But he can’t quite bring himself to care.  The part of his mind that wishes he was dead flares up, aided by the chemical imbalance in his cells and the wanging pain in his head.  

“I’m sure they do…” he says, measuring his words carefully, “Is there someone I can call for you?” Julian asks, glancing around the bathroom.  He’s uncertain of where Troy’s mind is or what he’s thinking.  Does he have friends? ��Should people be worried about where he is?  He can usually tell what people are thinking, but not now.  He’s not even sure if what he’s offering is useful at all.

“I, well, I don’t want my parents to  know this is happening.  Again,” Troy sighs.  Nausea builds, tightening his jaw and making him feel hot around the collar.  He swallows hard, trying to convince himself he can keep down the water he’d swallowed.  “I shouldn’t have taken my last dose so early yesterday, but, I was staying at their house, and I just...didn’t have any other choice.”  He takes a deep breath and asks, “What is it, Monday now?”

“You’re a good guesser,” Julian smirks, “it’s about 6 am now.” Julian yawns, fighting the urge to stretch. He’s very tired, but he knows that Troy is even more so. He’s surprised that Troy hasn’t passed out by now, to be fair. “How’s the water sitting?”

“Um.  Well, it kind of feels like it’s just sitting…”  Troy gestures vaguely to his throat and chest.  He feels like if he tries to drink any more, it’ll immediately come back up.  He’s not sure if what he’s managed counts much for hydration, though.  

He shifts his foggy thoughts, trying to figure whether he’s answered Julian’s last question.  Troy thinks his phone is probably in his car, tucked somewhere in the cab or in his duffle of dirty clothes.  His roommate won’t care where he is.  He’s probably too high himself.  Troy’s parents will be disappointed about the lack of check-in text messages, but his silence won’t tip off alarm bells.  They’ll assume he’s off tarnishing the family name at a rally or something.  If he’s missed a text from Frances, though…  Troy hopes he hasn’t.  His sister worries at the drop of a hat.  His heart sinks a little as he recalls their years-ago promise not to keep secrets from each other, even if they both keep some from the rest of the family.  

“I need to call my sister,” Troy says suddenly, convicted in his decision even though the anticipation of explaining himself makes his gut twist.  He shifts up onto his knees as if he’s going to stand up, but that’s as far as he makes it before the water comes tearing up his throat.  He barely has time to turn to the toilet, and most of the meager stream of sick ends up on the seat.

Julian gasps at first, caught a bit off guard by the sudden attempt at standing and the mess now covering the toilet.  It’s only a little though, although he thinks that’s a bit unfortunate as well. “You okay?” he asks Troy, who is now looking even more dazed than before.  “I’ll get the phone for you, don’t try and move right now, alright?”

Troy fights the urge to dry heave and nods weakly.  “God, I’m sorry,” he mutters.  Then, “Yeah, I, uh…”  He doesn’t feel like he can move anyway.  The dizziness is back with a vengeance.  It’s a sure sign he needs to take another swig from the water bottle, and he promises himself he’ll do it soon.  He imagines he’ll be promising Fran the same thing once he gets her on the phone.  Troy’s heart pounds, and he’s not sure whether it’s from the continuous vomiting or delayed embarrassment or apprehension of what’s to come.  It’s probably a combination of the three.  Troy stretches his stump arm out on the side of the toilet seat that’s not spattered with water and bile.  He buries his face in his elbow and wills himself to calm down.

Julian blinks, nearly out of his element.  Ozzy is better at dealing with emotions than he is, but probably just the sight of the bile would make Ozzy gag himself.  Julian wishes he were more in tune with emotions, but he’s never been before.  Nevertheless, he crouches down beside Troy and places a tentative hand on his shoulder, worried that the touch might throw Troy over the edge.  “Hey, look, it’s not a big deal, okay?  I know this is all really overwhelming, but it’s going to be okay.  I’ll clean that up in a minute.  Just breathe, alright?”

“Mm.  Ok.”  Troy feels like crying.  He knows he’s experiencing mostly the strange workings of a body and mind starved of chemicals upon which they’ve become dependent, but he can’t seem to shake the perception that somewhere in the ache in his head and stomach is the seed of a fatal flaw in his character.  He’s been so self-centered for the past few hours that he’s completely forgotten everyone else’s feelings.  He doesn’t like being that person.  Maybe this unexpected push towards getting clean is a positive after all.  He needs a wake-up call badly.

“Don’t pass out on me,” Julian says, he’s halfway lighthearted about it, but he’s verging on serious.  “Where’s your phone? Do you know?” he asks.  He senses that Troy’s emotions are raw now, and he can tell he’s on the verge of breaking down.  He doesn’t want that.  He hopes getting him on the phone with his sister will alleviate some of those feelings.

“In the car, I think.  Somewhere,” Troy says.  He realizes his answer is unhelpful at best.  “It’s, um…” He has to pause to breathe before forcing out more words.  “Either in the front, or...in my bag in the backseat.  A white iPhone?”  Apologizing for his lackluster description would be a waste of breath at this point.

Julian nods, “Okay, I’ll go look… just, um, stay here,” he says awkwardly.  Troy isn’t going anywhere even if he wanted to.  Julian hurries from the bathroom and down the stairs.  The purplish grey of morning always makes him feel more tired than he is.  

He heads out of the front door shoeless, the muggy morning air makes him feel even heavier.  He opens the car door and peeks inside, looking in the front first before checking for a bag.  He finds the bag sitting in the back seat and the phone just inside the front pocket.  He decides that it’s probably a good idea to bring the bag in; he’s certain Troy will want a change of clothes after his stomach calms down.  Julian slings the bag over his shoulder and slams the car door, heading back into the house.  He climbs back up the stairs and pulls the phone from the pocket.

“Can you do it, or should I?” He asks, announcing his return to the room.

“I’ll do it,” Troy says shakily.  He sits upright slowly and wipes his sweaty palm on his borrowed pants before reaching out to take his phone.  “Thanks.”

As soon as he gets to the lock screen, he sees a half-dozen messages, most of them from Frances, and still dotted with her signature smiling emojis even though they’re concerned in content.  Text me back as soon as you get this.  Have you made it back to campus yet?

Troy sighs and opens his contacts.  His thumb hovers over Fran’s name as he situates himself to lean against the tub.  He glances uneasily up at Julian.  “Can you, um… Can you stay?” Troy asks.  He doesn’t trust himself to be able to force out the words if he’s left alone.

Julian furrows his brow.  He can’t place how Troy seems to be feeling.  Afraid, he’d say, if he was confident in his ability to gauge emotions.  “Absolutely, I will,” he says with a nod.  He steps back over to the edge of the bathtub and sits down.  He cozies up with his back against the wall, as if to prove to Troy he’s not going anywhere.

“Thank you,” Troy says.  He keeps his stump arm folded over the clen edge of the toilet seat so he doesn’t fall backward as he moves attention to things other than just sitting up.  “I, uh…” Troy grapples with words, feeling he owes Julian an explanation.  “We just look out for each other a lot.  I, well, I really dropped the ball, letting, you know, other stuff get more important.”  He shakes his head enough to fluff his hair out of his eyes and presses the call button.

Julian nods, he wishes he were close with his brothers at all.  He’s a bit amazed at the idea of going a few days without speaking to them being a sign something is wrong.  He hasn’t spoken to his brothers in months.  “It’s okay, I’m sure she’ll understand,” he says.

Troy barely hears Julian’s response as he brings the phone to his ear and listens to it ring.  It stops after two, and Fran’s friendly drawl picks up.  “Hello?”

“Hey, Frannie,” Troy says, wishing his voice wasn’t so weak and rough.  “I’m real sorry I missed you.”

Frances doesn’t say ‘that’s ok,’ or some other platitude.  It’s not ok, they both know it.  “You don’t sound good,” she says.

“Yeah, I’m...not feeling so good,” Troy admits.  Anxiety battles with nausea in his chest.

“What happened?  Where are you?” Frances asks.

“I’m, uh…” Troy pauses and bites his lip.  “There’s some stuff I haven’t told you.  I’m sorry.”

“You’re back on the pills, aren’t you?” Frances’s voice goes hard.  “Troy, you could’ve talked to me before it got that bad.  You know that.”

“I’m taking care of it,” Troy says.  He drops his forehead back to his arm, willing himself not to cry.  “God, Fran, I’m so sorry.”

“I know,” Fran sighs, warmth coming back to her tone.  She can’t stay mad at him, not for the life of her.  She’s never been able to.  Troy knows he doesn’t deserve that kind of love and support.  “Where are you?” she asks.  “Did you make it to your dorm last night?”

“Um, well, not quite,” Troy says.  He doesn’t know where he is exactly.  The memory of stopping off with a flat tire may as well be a year old.  “I’m uh, staying with some friends?”  He half-glances at Julian, but the strain makes his eyes hurt.  “Just till I, um.  You know.  Dry out.”

“Do you want me to come get you?”  Troy can practically hear Fran picking up her keys.

“No, no, I--” He fights a hiccup.  “I don’t want you to see me like this.  I’ll be alright.  I’m gonna do better, Fran.  I promise.”

“You really don’t sound good,” Fran almost laughs.  “But I know you’re trying hard.  Call me, ok?  Call me tonight.”

“Ok,” Troy says.  “I will.  And Fran… I’m real sorry.”

“Don’t worry, ok?  Let me do that.”  She does laugh this time.  “Call me later.”

“Alright. Bye.”  Troy lowers the phone to his lap, not sure whether he wants to weep to vomit.  The feelings of guilt are stronger than before, but a new motivation to really change himself thrums in him as well.

Julian shifts on the edge of the bathtub, his bottom hurting against the hard porcelain.  He’s trying to think of how to break the silence, or if he should at all.  “You alright, Troy?” he asks after the phone is on Troy’s lap.  It sounded like it went alright, but Troy doesn’t look any better than he did a few minutes ago.  If anything, he looks worse.

“I let her down, bad,” Troy mutters.  “She’s just too nice to say it.”  He reaches for the water bottle and takes a rough swallow.  “And I just...feel bad.”  He means emotionally, but his stomach cramps, so he adds, “And sick.”

Julian doesn’t know how to help him with his sister, but he might be able to help him with the last part.  “Do you want a hot water bottle or something? I’m not, uh, I’m not so good with taking care of people… usually Ozzy does that,” Julian says.  “And you’re going to make it up to her.”

“I’m gonna try,” Troy says.  He leans over the toilet bowl and shoves his hair back with his shaking hand.  “I’ve got to kick this first.”  

[demos-cloud]

Opinions on 3rd job designs? (as many as you feel like sharing)

I’m still very sick but I dislike responding to asks late so here we are! It’s quite long so everything is under the cut.

– Elsword –

Knight Emperor isn’t particularly bad at all. His design is generic but then again, Elboy’s Imperial path has always been that of the traditional RPG knight. I like the addition of his eyes turning blue as a result of the El’s influence, but it’s not consistent with Elboy’s other two classes so… Shrugs. I find his Battle Ready passive to be a bit strong, especially with the first skill costing 20% less, but everything else seems pretty fine to me.

Rune Master looks weird. Rather, he looks and practically acts like Zelos Wilder (Tales of Symphonia) and so I can’t help but have see RuneM in that sort of similar, negative light. His stationary runes are a neat concept, but they’re stupid and kill my FPS and so I dislike him for that.

I’m not a big fan of Infinity Sword or his path in general, but I like Immortal’s design the most out of all of Elsword’s third jobs. I could do without the long hair, but I really like the slightly more casual tone in his outfit (that shirt especially, is really cool). It also feels like an intentional design to remind players that even with all his arrogance and battle-lust, Immortal is still essentially the same old Elsword. All his force change skills look pretty cool (although I’ve heard some of them are less than practical), but I would really like a change to his Master of Combat passive. That +20% damage to Conwell skills is. Really strong.

– Aisha –

Aether Sage’s new earth combo is super cool but I rarely get to see it used so that’s lame. I like her design a lot (I’m very weak to large lab-esque coats but that aside), and it feels like an appropriate advancement from Elemental Master. That being said, her backstory feels really lacking. There isn’t much detail and Aisha just seemingly gains all this power out of nowhere. Her chain skill options are… A bit odd as most of them are a combination of close-range + long-range skills, but that’s speaking as a non-Aisha player. Her passives, too, seem very underwhelming. I’m disappointed with her new hyper, Aether Immersion, as well. It. Feels like a rehash of her first hyper, Elemental Storm.

Oz Sorcerer on the other hand seems like a logical advancement from Void Princess, and her design is absolutely beautiful. I adore the consistency in her outfits throughout all her Rebellion jobs, and her hair is both fantastic both in artwork and in-game as always. Her force change skills are cool in concept, but not in practice. It feels the same for her combos but I can’t say for certain.

Metamorphy’s design is a bit iffy to me, but her new awakening is 💯💯💯💯. I’ve no qualms about her skills and I’m admittedly fond of how her new hyper is like. I feel like Metamorphy has too many stoic options, but again, I’m not an Aisha player so I can’t say much about that topic. I would’ve liked KoG to elaborate more on her backstory, however.

– Rena –

I quite like Daybreaker’s backstory, how it addresses the long-standing issue regarding Rena’s potential return, seeing as her mission has long been completed. Everything else about her though… Is a bit lackluster. I don’t understand the skin suit either. Why.

As for Anemos, I like her deeper connection with the spirits and Ventus, but everything else is not particularly appealing to me. Her design seems very nice in her promotional artwork, but the in-game model carries a very different feeling in comparison.

Twilight’s in-game model looks really poorly done. Actually her design as a whole seems a bit oddly done. What’s with the hole in the hood for her ponytail. Why a leotard? What’s with all the skin exposure? What are those rings around her ankles? Nothing makes sense and I am confusion.

– Raven –

I honestly feel like Furious Blade is one of the better third jobs released in the first wave. His design is very appealing and I like that he’s decided to utilize his Nasod arm as a means of improving his swordsmanship, rather than abandoning it completely. It’s nice that this transitions into his new Overpower passive, too, increasing the attack speed of Nasod arm combos. That being said, his passives seem very weak compared to other third jobs.

I don’t like Rage Heart’s hair. I’m also mildly bothered how Reckless Fist suddenly gained control of his Nasod arm. It doesn’t feel like a proper progression, especially given RF’s backstory and his views on his Nasod arm. Force Wild Charge is fun to watch when it bugs out though.

It’s interesting seeing Nova Imperator’s character progression, going from someone who hates Nasods, to someone who gradually opens up to their technology, to willingly merging himself with a Nasod core. There’s something about his legs that bother me, but overall his design is quite nice and solid. I do think recovering 40% HP upon death, as a result of his Last Resort passive, is a bit too much however.

– Eve –

Code Esencia’s passives are outright broken and although it pains me to say this, she really needs a huge nerf. Her force change skills are questionable, but I do like her new combos, and it’s wonderful seeing her show even more personality through her skills. I like her design, too, but there’s a few elements that bother me: what’s with the halos? Given their length, why not change her thigh high boots to just pants? What’s with the excessively large cape? Why did we go from descriptive names for her job paths to “Code: Esencia”? Code Architecture is a class who builds something (Oberon); Code Empress is an empress. Esencia means “essence” in Spanish, but what the heck is an essence?? I am confusion, America explain.

Code Ultimate is bad and I hate her so much. Her Nasod Weapon Restrengthening passive is nice to have, but why is it only spears?? What about all her guns? Those are Nasod weapons, too! Why is her Queen’s Wings passive RNG when Code Nemesis’ path is all about precision and lack of RNG??? Also what is with that b.s. backstory. There’s absolutely no relation to Code Nemesis, and there’s no character development whatsoever. All it does is create more unanswered questions. Anyhow Code Ultimate is dead to me and you can read more here if you want to.

Neophix and I were complaining talking the other day about how Code Sariel’s skill cut-in covers the entire screen. I still find her design to be very pretty though. Her Overload passive addresses her issues with long skill cooldowns as Code Battle Seraph, but her Evolution passive is flat-out useless… It makes me a little sad. Also force Giga Stream is outright broken, how did this get past quality control.

– Chung –

I feel that they went too far with Comet Crusader’s hair and crown, but I do like his overall design. It feels like a more refined variation of Iron Paladin’s armor. Both his passives need adjusting, they’re way too beneficial with little to no drawbacks.

I don’t understand Fatal Phantom’s coat things. Or the blue aura thing around his helmet in Berserker mode. His passives are stupid. Also guns do not work that way.

Centurion’s design feels pretty solid overall, but I dislike the inconsistency with the armor - true to his path line, it’s very bulky. …Except for his torso area. Don’t get me wrong - his jacket looks very nice, but it’s very noticeably out of place. The trend of Chung’s third jobs having stupidly strong passives continues.

– Ara –

“Vishnu is too masculine of a name for Ara so we’re demoting her, despite her previous job paths also having “masculine” names.”Vishnu’s passives are. Weird. It doesn’t help that the tooltips display incorrect information. Force Moonlight Slash is great except when it doesn’t drag mobs back and you end up completely whiffing your Dragon Arts. New combos are fun. Her design is definitely very pretty, too. One of the better classes from the first wave.

Brahmadeva is super pretty and her combos are also very fun. Passives are still weird. Force skills are better than Vishnu’s. She finally gets a strong magical attack modifier. Her backstory of slipping into insanity feels really half-baked (is that the right term?).

Shiva’s backstory is inconsistent with Asura’s but her design is still 💯💯💯💯💯. Passives are still weird. She kind of got scammed with her force skills lol. Also please give her something to wear under her robe, and a more practical spear. Her playstyle doesn’t change much, which is nice, but it doesn’t really feel like a job advancement either…

– Elesis –

I like Empire Sword’s design purely because it reminds me of her Savior class in Grand Chase. That being said, I don’t feel like it’s an appropriate progression from Grand Master. Her Tranquility passive is weird.

Flame Lord’s design looks weird. What’s with the skin suit that reveals just one leg? What’s with the whole “incarnation of fire” deal? Why is it not explained better? Why the awakening change? At least try to explain things better, KoG…

For a zombie, Bloody Queen is surprisingly very emotional. Also her shoes are the worst I’ve ever seen. I do like her overall design, though. Her Thirst passive is. Weird, to say the least.

– Add –

I’m lowkey crying as a result of the inconsistencies in Dominator’s backstory. It kind of makes sense, but at the same time, it doesn’t match up with MasterMind’s story. I know a lot of players are upset with his short hair, but I personally quite like it. His design is very solid.

Why does Doom Bringer not wear any socks. Why. That’s gross Add, put some socks on. I like how Doom Bringer retains the “add an extra belt-tail with each job change” that Psychic Tracer and Lunatic Psyker had. Much like Dominator, his design is very well coordinated. I was expecting him to retain some of the more classy clothing style he had as Lunatic Psyker, but I don’t mind his clothing tastes reverting back to that of a street gangster.

Mad Paradox totally ripped off of DFO’s Dimension Walker and no one can convince me otherwise. I’m salty. He doesn’t even look as nice as Dimension Walker. Also his passives are outright broken and incredibly stupid, and I’m so glad KoG realized this and proceeded to nerf their effects.

– Lu and Ciel –

Ishtar doesn’t look half bad, and it’s nice to see Lu gradually regain her true form throughout her Imperial line. Chevalier on the other hand… The fur coat is a bit excessive. I do like the retained trend of using French words (or related terms) for their class names, but I’m mostly neutral towards their designs.

I find Timoria and Abysser’s designs to be a bit on the messy side. There’s a lot of different elements in their promotional artwork, and it feels like they clash. I do like their character development and how they become two separate - but equal - entities. Their hats are dumb though.

Anular looks bad™. The jump from Demonio to Anular is very drastic, although the transition from Madness-state Demonio to Madness-state Anular is much more reasonable. Iblis’ hair is pretty but she also looks bad™. Her Madness state also looks very bad™. I find it strange how her shirt and dress eventually merge into her arms and torso, respectively, and the markings on her face seem out of place. Their backstory is also poorly written but then again, Lu/Ciel’s Transform path as a whole is pretty badly written.

– Rose –

Black Massacre’s design honestly looks pretty nice to me, though I can definitely do without the hat. I’m sick and tired of KoG trying to push F. Ranger as Rose’s “dark and evil” class, however. Her Research Target passive is flat-out broken. Why can it debuff mobs that are normally debuff-immune.

Tempest Burster is an abomination. KoG essentially took Storm Trooper’s design and turned her into the classic action girl who’s good for nothing but fanservice™. I hate her design almost as much as I hate Code Ultimate’s. Almost.

Prime Operator looks so beautiful and I am very gay. Unfortunately my heart remains loyal to MetalHeart, even through all of Drive’s attempts to sway me away. I’m a little bit sad that she doesn’t look remotely like a researcher, but hey, none of the Seven Shards members really look like researchers either. Also her in-game hair model is really ugly - it’s just a block of waves; it reminds me of uncooked instant ramen noodles…

I also like Minerva’s design, and I must admit I like what KoG did to her Nitro motors. There’s definitely more emphasis on them and they do feel like they’ve been upgraded in an “Elsword”-esque way. Her hair is also very pretty, and I like how she went back to a more uniformed look, similar to Valkyrie.

– Ain –

I really like Richter’s design! …Though his non-Spiritualism hair bothers me. I’m not sure why, but something about it really bothers me. It looks very nice in Spiritualism mode, at least. His wings in Spiritualism mode are as beautiful as ever, too. His character progression is also consistent, which is always nice.

Bluhen doesn’t look much different from Erbluhen Emotion, in my opinion. It’s not bad, but I feel like more effort could’ve been put into his design. Also his passives are too strong yo.

I miss Apostasia’s let-down hair and his eyes, but Herrscher’s hair and eyes are also very fantastic! They both look great in-game too, which is a huge bonus. Although I feel that Ain’s Transform path’s story is a big stretch (and a bit… out of character), I appreciate how consistent KoG has been with each stage. His deteriorating body is also very appealing, though I’m definitely going to miss the eye-themed wings from Apostasia’s Spiritualism mode.

...And that’s all of it! Thank you for the ask anon, this was enjoyable for me to think about and answer. It definitely helped to take my mind off of my sickness as well, haha.

[khunvegas]

Malec Fanfic Rec! 2.0

Here I am again with a list too long for those who are Malec Trash.

Since this fandom loves drama (the unnecesary one) this list contains lots of that, with tears, angst, happy endings and everything in between in these Malec writing goodies, that hopefully can appeased those who wants drama and those who really are looking for good fanfiction to bear this hiatus.

And all the love to these amazing writers that can bring everything above and more with just a few words and make you sit still until the end of the chapter and make you want more

My stalking skills are a little rusty and there’s a few authors that I could’t find their blog. So, for whoever read this and knows the author and tag them, that would be very much appreciated.

A Kind of Magic by thegaminebruise

"I'm a warlock."

"Are we roleplaying? Because you know I’m down, but I would really like some time to prepare and, like, flesh out my character, maybe write down some major story points. I don’t know if –”

---

Or, Magnus tells Alec about his magic.

A Lesson in Love by CobaltCorvus

Alec should have known he was doomed from the moment he decided to ask Magnus Bane for help.

A Tail to Tell by CobaltCorvus

Magnus dresses like a work of art, there's always something new to see every time you look, and Alec is a tad disappointed he didn't notice this little detail before.

Animal by lbrt_audrey

Based on the song Animals, by Maroon 5.

Magnus description of Alec, his touch, his body ... everything that made him feel.

As long as there's the two of us, we've got the world and all it's charms. By Taliehere

And when the world is through with us, we've got each other's arms ~

At first Alec doesn't notice, but Clary does.

Better for You by @zrdu

Magnus' and Alec's relationship comes to a sudden halt when Maryse interferes. They both try to cope without each other.

Blame The Tequila by @scarlett-ice

Alec took a sip of his coffee as he tapped on the message inbox and nearly spat it back out again at the sight that greeted him. He had to be dreaming, hallucinating, because that…that wasn’t Mark’s name at the top. Alec blinked a few times, even put down his coffee to pinch himself, but nothing changed. It still wasn’t Mark’s name.

It was Magnus’.

He’d sent the message to Magnus Bane. He’d sent a flirty shirtless picture to his boss.

Caffeinated Wolves by @softmagnusbane

“They’re really good” finally turning to face the barista Magnus feels his mouth go dry. The man behind the counter is gorgeous: pink lips, cheekbones slightly flushed, mesmerizing hazel eyes, surely a model on the side...maybe he could model Magnus’ clothes, or, model his suddenly inspired underwear collection. He’ll have to get right on that.

Coffee Shop Dalliance by @imawriteriwrite

Everyone who worked at and frequented J&L Coffee knew two things for sure. The first was that Simon under no circumstances should be allowed anywhere near the expensive coffee machines unless they wanted to destroy the coffee shop. The second was that the beautiful glittery man that sat in the front corner of the shop every day sketching and the dark-haired boy who sat in the back corner reading (and happened to be Isabelle the barista’s brother) were made for each other.

Also known as: the one where Magnus and Alec have been pining over each other across a crowded coffee shop for eight months and Isabelle is tired of it.

Devotion by @jezthemadficster

Magnus Bane is one of the most well respected and loved professors at Edom Hall University, but although he adores his students and fellow faculty, he likes to keep his private life ...private. The mystery surrounding his life intrigues everyone at the University but the intrigue picks up to another level with the arrival of flowers one day.

Differences by @theonetruenorth

Five times that Alec is taller/bigger than Magnus and one time he isn’t.

Five People That Heard Magnus' Ringtone for Alec and One Time Alec Heard It Himself (and Shared His Own) by darkangel86

The fact that it took as long as it did for Jace to hear Magnus' ringtone for Alec was surprising. After all, the blonde Shadowhunter had been living in the loft for well over a month before it finally happened.

Freud is a Dick by @sanctuaryforalluniverses

He, Alec Lightwood, had just sent his boss, Magnus Bane, a dick pic. Of someone else’s dick.

Fleeing the country would not even begin to be enough of a response to this.

Glitter and Misunderstandings by Torius Armitage (VictoriaSkyeMarsters)

He had tried. When he was nearer Clary’s age, he had not held back in his efforts to be wooed, but whenever the courtship took its turn for the serious and permanent, Magnus would retreat, realizing he felt empty inside in regards to the suitor. And he would not settle for emptiness. He yearned for genuine, overwhelming, inescapable love, like the heroines and heroes of the novels he consumed. Why sentence oneself to a life absent of magic? But Magnus was learning, after years of lackluster options, that the magic he sought, in his world anyway, was nowhere to be found.

--

In other words, Pride and Prejudice drenched in glitter.

Hard Choices by heartsdesire456

Even before arriving at the house where Clary and Alec had gone to meet the Warlock that was supposed to be bringing back their mother, Jace could tell that something was very wrong.

Note: this fic is HEAVY. The contain of it is not for everyone. First of all, it has male pregnancy, a lot of angst, torture at some point, discussion of abortion, rape not described but it’s there, I think there’s panic attacks at some point. I feel obliged to say it because anyone can see this post and feel triggered for this. I put it in here, anyway, because this fic is worth it, because the author makes it bearable and for me, the author is cautios for some topics in the fic. For those who can’t really digest this kind of fics, don’t even click it, please, just keep scrolling and find a fic that you really like, and for those who knows the author and knows the writings, I really suggest to give it a chance because it was very well written.

Hold On, We're Going Home by @unorthodoxpartofyourworld

At Esther's request, Alec begins his foray into the mundane world so he can be a believable Matthew Daddario.

He sees something he can't really unsee.

(This is a companion piece to Soul Glitch, you should probably go read that first so you generally understand what's going on. Takes place right after Chapter 3)

Honey, i'm home by Shorty

Magnus gives him a once over as he steps out of the elevator, and for a second Alec lets himself believe that it’s flirtatious.

Of course, that’s all dashed seconds later as Magnus disappears through the door to his apartment with a loud, happy, “babe, I’m home!”

...

Or, in which misunderstandings are made.

Hoodie by @alec-dark-wood 

It’s soft and fluffy and the first time Magnus sees it,he has to backtrack and take a closer look.He walks towards the grey lump slowly,hardly daring to believe what it could be.

Hopefully it's Enough by onihunter305

Magnus could tell something was wrong with Alec from the moment he touched his elbow outside of the Institute. He could feel the tremors that shook his body. He knew Alec needed someone to take care of him, and even though he was momentarily distracted by Alec’s declaration of love, he was going to make sure he took care of the man he loved.

I can do that by @softmagnusbane

Prompt: soulmate au where the first time you touch you both get a vivid mental image of the other’s biggest kink.

I Love You, Too by parabacrybaby

This takes place the morning after the morning of the battle in the winter finale of season 2A.

I'll make you (beg for mercy) by thesorrowoflizards

Magnus wears body glitter. Alec appreciates this very, very much.

Inspired by combining three one-word prompts: softly, strawberries, and glitter

It's nothing by @steakandvodka 

Alec is pretty sure someone, or something, is stalking him. He just isn't sure if it's an innocent kitten, or something a bit more malicious than that. -- In this world, Alec is the one to find their pet cat and bring it home to Magnus.

Kids in the Kitchen by @perpetual-j0urney

“It’s Alec Lightwood,” He finally said, after another moment of hesitation. Then, both sets of puppy eyes were locked on Magnus once again and waiting for his answer. “No”. More than a few customers turned to look at the outburst as both boys pulled away from Magnus and simultaneously cried, “But Papa!”

-------

Magnus Bane liked to believe he was a good father, but there were just some requests that one could not grant their kids. For instance, a good dad wouldn't let their child crawl into a lion's cage to pet the furry kitty. Alternatively, a good dad also wouldn't bring their kids to a cooking class taught by the angriest chef on the Food Network.

Kiss With A Fist by @clockworkswans

When agent Alec Lightwood is given his first kill hit, he doesn’t expect much trouble. Of course, he also doesn’t expect it to be a cheerful assassin who lands him in a whole load of trouble. Enter Magnus Bane: an assassin turned thief who reluctantly teams up with Alec - and The Clave - after he pisses off a very important and powerful crime boss, Valentine Morgenstern. In a world of violence and unjust laws, can the two put aside their differences and work together? Aka: in which Alec is sent to kill Magnus, doesn’t, and then really wishes he had. (but not really). Enemies to friends to lovers.

Never felt that type of fear before by creativitea

The risk of his heart in Magnus's hands is worth it, compared to the risk that would lie in keeping it hidden. He trusts Magnus with it more than himself, and he needs him to know; even if it's a bad idea. The risk of Magnus not knowing is worse than the risk of it being out in the open.

New Neighbor by Chrystie, kate882

Alec Lightwood isn't the most social person in the world, but his new neighbor is ridiculously attractive so he makes an effort. It's too bad Magnus seems to think that Alec is married to his best friend.

Nobody says that anymore by vomitingwords

Magnus is over 300 years old and Alec is okay with that. Sometimes more often than not

Oh darling (put your arms around me) by thesorrowoflizards

Also known as: Six times Magnus doesn't dare initiate physical affection, two times he doesn't even think about it

Pardon the Interruption by Obsessivecompulsivereadr

But one thing they could never seem to fix was how often they got interrupted whenever they did have time to spend together. It seemed as if no one in the entire shadow world could function without dragging Magnus and Alec into their problems.

So that’s what this vacation had been about, three weeks away, just the two of them.

Prettiest person in the world by @katychan666 

(A fanfic inspired by the prettiest person in the world post on tumblr)

Alec making Magnus speechless with his smugness for the first time :)

Pretty Thoughts by @rosegoldhell 

After being homeschooled all his life, and unintentionally sheltered, Magnus Bane has to navigate his way through American Highschool. He goes in thinking the worse possible scenarios, and quickly learns that not everything you see in movies is true. Sometimes the unexpected happens, and magnus soon realizes he has fallen for one of the most popular guys in school, and it might not be as one sided as he thinks.

Put the heat on if you’re cold by @ohlafraise

Alec pulled back the delicate tissue paper and looked in the box. Oh. Okay.

Or: Alec isn’t attracted to women, but that doesn’t mean he’s not attracted to femininity.

Save it by onihunter305

Magnus knew something wasn’t right the moment he heard the telltale sound of Isabelle Lightwood’s distinctive heels on Raphael’s slate floor. If she had hurt his dear Alexander, she was about to wish she had never returned to this apartment.

Secrets Told at 2am by AdorkaGabe

Alec can't stand it. He has to get out. The roof isn't far enough. He goes to Highland Park in Brooklyn and meets an interesting confidant in a glittery Warlock.

(Or what happens when Alec meets Magnus BEFORE they met at Magnus' Loft.)

Shaky Ground, Stabilized by onihunter305

Alec had once been told that he would blow up the very ground he stood on to make things right. If that was true, why did he feel as though the ground below him was disintegrating at the same rapid pace as the relationships he once held dearly.

So He Told You About That? By @bcnedrah

Magnus' face in 2x08 when talking with Jace about sleeping with Alec was a face of sex gone wrong.

Someone should kill the sun by MsEnny

“You know, Mags. Last night I had a kind of revelation.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I-… I know it’s late, but I realized, stupidly, that I never really told you how much I love you.”

Magnus didn’t talk anymore. He didn’t have to.

Stay Here Forever by @imawriteriwrite

A year before, they didn't even know each other. Then there was this hookup app, and months where they thought they could be "just fuck buddies". Things went downhill. Things went uphill.

Now, it's been months since Magnus Bane (head of Bane Co.) and Alec Lightwood (kind of officially a lawyer) finally figured their shit out and started a healthy relationship. Now it's Valentine's Day and their relationship is put in danger as they compete to out romance each other.

Based on the cheesy line "I've caught feelings. I hear it's contagious. We should both be quarantined in bed all day." Literally nothing but self-indulgent fluff.

Addicted To You Valentines Day!

The Drunk Giraffe, Alec Lightwood by just_a_winchester

Drunk Alec tries to break into Magnus's apartment.

The Kissing Booth by @hornedqueenofhell

Alec will 100% totally and completely blame this on Magnus

The Lightwood-Bane Saga by @achilleanragnor

Alec and Magnus come out by kissing each other on the ice, but the media takes it in a way they never expected. aka 3 +1 times the media got it wrong and the one time they made sure the media understood

The people that matter by @steakandvodka

“God, you two are so in love it’s disgusting,” Jace said, breaking the short silence. He and Izzy grinned as they waited for Alec to blush and stammer his way through a denial, as Alec always did when he was confronted about his feelings for the warlock.

They were stunned into silence when all Alec did was look back at where Magnus left, smile softly, and nod in agreement.

The time Magnus Bane got drunk by @katychan666

It's Alec's birthday and Magnus threw him a party, at which he drank... a lot, even more than he usually has. This ends up with him turning into an emotional and over-dramatic mess.

The Trouble with Words by Obsessivecompulsivereadr

There’s just something about Magnus Bane that makes people feel safe. Cared for. Loved.

And Alec would fight for that till his last dying breath, not just for himself, but for others, too. He just never knows how to tell Magnus that because, while he loves to read, he hates words.

The trouble with words is that they always fail him, and Magnus is too important to him to lose simply because he said something stupid.

The truth, for you by @serendipitiness

He’d meant it – he still means it, and he thinks he’ll mean it forever – but Alec never wants to have to say it like that again.

(or how Alec tells Magnus he loves him the second time, the way he really wants to)

Touch Me by wordsmithraven

When Alec starts to question why Magnus so rarely initiates contact, the powerful warlock and Alec's own siblings are put on the spot. It's a conversation a long time coming but is Magnus ready to have it? And can Alec handle the answer he receives?

Two's company, three's a whole lot of Alec Lightwood eye rolls by all_stories_are_truth_and_lies

This was just all so new, Magnus and he, Alec was nervous but excited to see where it would go. How in the hell was he ever suppose to ever get some alone time with Magnus with Jace-the-constant-mood-killer-Wayland as an unwanted houseguest? The story of how Alec Lightwood tries but doesn't always succeed in moving his and Magnus's relationship to the next step.

‘Alexander…’ Magnus whispered, his breath hot in Alec’s ear. ‘Tell me if you want me to stop.’ Stop? If Alec wasn’t so far gone he might have actually laughed at the thought. Alec gave a quick nod of understanding before pulling Magnus’s mouth back to his, pretty sure he felt the Warlock smiling against his lips.

One-shot set post episode 2.06 Malec trying to get it on with Jace cockblocking all over the shop.

Underneath by @sfjessii

“You already know everything.” Alec whispers but Magnus is alerted instantly, his eyes open, craning his neck to get a glimpse of Alec’s face.

He stays quiet, merely squeezing Alec’s hand to try and soothe him. Alec’s sigh rips right through Magnus and he wishes he could pull him into himself to protect him from any harm.

What's It Gonna Be by @lemonoclefox

Fairchild’s bakery is a second home to not just Magnus, but also to most of his found-family. As a pastry chef, he works long hours and takes great pride in his craft – so much so that he has little time or attention for much else. Least of all romance. After plenty of experience with heartbreak and disappointment, he has come to expect the worst from anything in that department, and the arrival of the wealthy Lightwoods in the neighborhood isn’t about to change that. Especially not when their eldest son might just be the most insufferable prick Magnus has ever met, no matter what anyone else has to say about the guy.

(aka the Pride & Prejudice/bakery AU no one asked for)

[sytycdrankings]

Top 7 Duet Rankings

I didn’t realize it until I ranked them, but this was a very lackluster week. Top 6 is historically also lackluster, but I’m going to go against my better judgment and hope this week is good to make up for it. 

9. No Twerk (Comfort/Mark hip-hop), Misha Gabriel

I did not like this at all. There were parts that were kinda cool, like Mark’s few moments of breaking and that part where Comfort swung her arms behind her neck really fast?? That looked really painful and she just did it out of nowhere. But besides that, I’m over this concept, and there was so much time they could have been dancing that was spent with them pretending to be “ninjas” with each other. Mark didn’t deserve this. #JusticeForMark

8. Rock Around the Clock (Marko/Koine jive), Dmitry Chaplin

Is that a bus I hear? Because I can’t figure out any other reason that some people get jazz and contemporary eight times in a row and Koine gets a jive right after a salsa. This was cute and all, but I don’t feel like it was a very good showcase of her at all. Koine is amazing at getting into character and she and Marko have perfect chemistry as always, but I’m very very VERY scared for her going into the double elimination tonight. Please, dance gods. Let this be enough to get her in the finale. 

7. Dancin’ Fool (Jenna/Kiki Broadway), Warren Carlyle

Why is this Broadway when it’s not set to a Broadway song? They weren’t even acting, so why wasn’t this just jazz? But An American in Paris was a jazz routine and not Broadway. I don’t get it. But I found the choreography here really disappointing. I feel like a whole lot of nothing was going on except for the cane catching. The cane catching was very cool, but it was kind of gimmicky tbh. That being said, this is the best Kiki has done performance wise for me outside of his style. For once, I found my eyes drawn to him instead of Jenna, and I feel like it had a lot to do with the fact that the choreography didn’t favor her for once. Finally, he showed the same presence that he does in his solos, and it was nice to see. I just wish the choreography could have been better.

6. Kabila (Allison/Logan African jazz), Sean Cheesman

Tbh, the only reason I put this above anything else on the list so far is because Logan can do very impressive things with his body and not because I actually liked this. There are some African jazz routines that I can tolerate, but the ooga booga caveman routines like this one make me roll my eyes so hard they fall out of my skull and I have to put them back in. (Then we had everyone being racist as hell afterward pretending to be “tribal”. I would have been offended, but I mostly just felt embarrassed for them.) There were too many props here. I didn’t get the purpose of the skate thingies or the big platform. I hated their fake tribal outfits. But damn, Logan, how does he do some of this stuff? Those turns with his leg outstretched? His perfect lines? Even his leg muscles are impressive. I really enjoy watching Logan in his own style (or whatever this counts as) and I’m still waiting for him to have a Big Contemporary Moment (tm) to satisfy me.

5. To Make You Feel My Love (Robert/Taylor contemporary), Mandy Moore

Maybe I’m just a hater. I don’t know. But this did nothing for me. Yeah, Taylor is a pretty dancer, but I feel like I learned nothing new about her by watching this. I know that she has gorgeous lines and is very good at putting her leg up, but that’s all I was shown once again. I saw a comment on Youtube that said “I feel like all choreographers do is throw Taylor’s legs at me” and YES. That is the perfect description. I also wasn’t really feeling their chemistry in this routine until the very end when they looked at each other, but then the routine was over. This was nice to look at, but I’m over it and I’m over the judges crying about it like they haven’t seen routines that look exactly like this for 14 seasons now. If say, Kaylee was given this routine and Taylor was given hers, I would learn something new about the both of them because we’ve never seen Taylor be forced to move in a way different than what she was used to. That’s all I’m asking for since we all know she’s going to make the finale thanks to this. 

4. DKLA (Cyrus/Kaylee contemporary), Tyce DiOrio

Tyce and his disaster routines. How many times is he gonna use this concept? I could have done without Kaylee and Cyrus literally being covered in dirt, but I did think it was a good showcase for them. Choreographers have the challenge to make routines that fit the both of them (and they’ve only gotten hip-hop once, which would solve some of the problem), but Tyce likes using dancers’ strengths instead of forcing them through their weaknesses. (I complimented Tyce. Call the national guard.) Some of it was a bit disjointed and dramatic, but I appreciated that they put their all into it and didn’t lose their connection. I just wish Kaylee would point her damn feet a little better. I don’t know what it is, but for a contemporary dancer, she seems to have trouble straightening her legs and pointing her feet. 

3. Humble (Gaby/Lex hip-hop), Luther Brown

Geez, FINALLY. I knew Lex was going to destroy a hip-hop routine, yet it took this far into the season for him to get one! This was so good! It was literally miles better than pretty much everything else last week except the group routines. I know that Lex is also a hip-hop dancer, but there are plenty of “also hip-hop dancers” that come onto the show and still have trouble getting into the groove and sitting in the floor with their moves, but he did not. He outdanced Gaby, who I thought was pretty decent in hip-hop as well. Besides the jazz with Taylor, he looked like this was the most fun he’d had thus far on the show, and I really hope everyone is done saying he’s bad at emoting because he was perfect. I can’t really pick a favorite part because I loved the entire thing so much. Possibly best hip-hop of the season?? We’ll see how I feel when I rewatch Red Mercedes from week one lmao. 

2. Strange (Kaylee, Lex, Logan contemporary), Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson

Surprised that they put Kaylee in this group. I would have assumed this was their chance to make the perfect contemporary trifecta and stick Taylor in here to further their narrative. It was very nice to see Kaylee here instead, but I kind of feel like it highlighted her weaknesses a bit. She always did fewer turns than Lex and Logan, and I don’t think she ever did a leap or anything even when the other two were in sync. Her solo also didn’t involve much more than her standing on the chair and moving her upper body while Lex and Logan got to show off all sorts of madness they can do with their bodies. Regardless, they all came together and created a very visually stunning piece for me. I really love one minute in especially when they’re all in sync. I think Logan stood out the most because his lines are better and Lex has the tendency to hunch over (the hip-hop in him, I guess lol), but Kaylee had the best performance, which I don’t think any other girl could have done. Well, except Koine, probably. Not my favorite routine by Dwight and Desmond, but still really really good. 

#1 is no surprise lol.