#I was so happy to get this ask because it have me the perfect segue to show these two being silly together

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

you cannot tease wei wuxian and hua cheng hunting for funsies and not show that to us??? it has to go one of two ways right? either an absolute visious blood bath where everyone cowers in fear or the equivalent of a teenage girl's slumber party. both??? both.

Hunting each other for sport is the keystone to a fun slumber party

[fantastic-nonsense]

I wouldn't mind the heavy focus on warrior Amazons so much if they were allowed to be competent instead of just being used as red shirt cannon fodder. But it seems DC only hypes up the Amazons as deadly fighters so other characters can look more impressive when they take them down.

Oh and Happy New Year.

Happy New Year! Forgive me if I use your ask to talk about a piece of the Wonder Woman mythos I've wanted to discuss for some time, because your complaints offered me the perfect segue to write a nice, in-depth meta on it and I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Honestly, I think a lot of people (both creatives and readers) either don't know, forget, or fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the Amazons' warrior status. So they often get reduced to "deadly warriors who strike first," "supposedly deadly but generally incompetent warriors when outside of their own books," or "militant man-haters" by a lot of people. None of which are true.

The Amazons are incredibly competent warriors and have been since Marston's first portrayal of them in the 1940s, so I don't inherently mind them being shown as such. However, where people get bogged down is insisting that they be shown as deadly and trigger-happy offensive fighters who are happy to strike first and hard, which fundamentally goes against the philosophy and thematic messaging built into Amazonian lore.

DC's Amazonia, lore-wise, is traditionally framed as an Aphrodite vs. Ares "peace and love vs. violence and war" story. In Marston's original rendition of the Amazon's backstory Aphrodite is not only their patron goddess but also their sole creator; it was only after Crisis on Infinite Earths and George Perez's long-overdue lore expansions that the rest of the goddesses became co-creators and co-patrons of the Amazons. Regardless, Ares and his domain are consistently invoked as what the Amazons don't want to be like or engage in. That behavior is the antithesis of what Amazons are supposed to be. This lore informs literally everything about how the Amazons view both their combat abilities and their duty to the goddesses.

The contemporary Amazons are, for the most part, women who died in terrible and traumatic ways at the hands of men (usually through domestic violence, murder, or as conquests of war). When the goddesses created the Amazons by reincarnating these women via the Well of Souls, they specifically charged them to become their champions. And what did these goddesses want? They explicitly wanted justice and protection for women in a violently patriarchial world. The Amazons being warriors is thus specifically tied to an understanding of necessary self-defense and protection (both of themselves and other women), not offense.

Which of course is what lands the Amazons on Themyscira in the first place: invoking the goddesses' ire by not obeying these commands after their rebellion against their enslavement by Heracles and his men crosses the line from the necessary battle to achieve their liberation into wanton violence and revenge:

"The battered Hippolyta prayed to her goddesses and found the courage and inspiration to free herself. Athena had reminded Hippolyta of the Amazons' purpose and mission—but not all of the Amazons remembered. Or cared. They yearned for vengeance. For retribution against those who violated them...and under Antiope, many found it." -Wonder Woman: Our Worlds at War (2001)

And as Hippolyta and Menalippe tell Antiope:

"No, Antiope. Never vengeance; never again!" /// "That is Ares' way, Antiope. We achieve no glory by embracing the Dark God's power!" -Wonder Woman (1987) #1

The Amazon way is promoting a society based on love, equality, truth, and peaceful conflict resolution, not vengeance and violent combat. It's a philosophy that defines Diana's mission in Man's World as an ambassador, teacher, and living example of her peoples' way of life:

Enraptured, they listen to her dissertation on equality between the sexes, tolerance, peaceful coexistence. Social Philosophy 101, Amazon Style. -Wonder Woman (1987) #170

Diana's gods-given mission was to spread the Amazonian ideals of conciliation—to give those living in the World of Man the proper tools to peacefully coexist with each other. It was her life's purpose to teach the possibilities of respect and love by being a living example of an upbringing founded in those ideals.

Truth-seeking, diplomacy, and peace are the Amazonian way of dealing with conflict, not violence. And when you are forced to engage in combat (and you should be prepared for that eventuality because sometimes it will happen), your goal should be self-defense and de-escalation, not offense and prolonging the conflict longer than necessary.

This is also, as an aside, why Diana (and specifically Diana in her capacity as Wonder Woman) does not usually carry offensive weapons like a sword and why her primary "weapons" are the Lasso of Truth and protective bracelets. She's the official representative of her peoples' culture and personally deeply believes in that cultural philosophy. Other Amazons have different views on the matter, including her mother, but Diana grew up completely separated from the World of Man and fully immersed in that belief system, which deeply informs how she views her mission as Wonder Woman.

Personally, I think many (but not all) of the problems re: depicting the Amazons in the modern era come from various writers attempting to solve contradictions that don't exist. They see "kickass trained warriors living peacefully on an island" and see that as a contradiction they have to solve: why do they train if they're pacifists? Why do they fight if they're peaceful? In reality, it's not a contradiction: their status as warriors and champions is specifically tied to self-defense and protection (both of themselves and others), but given the choice they don't want to have to take up arms to protect people because that goes against their fundamental cultural philosophy. Outsiders and meddlesome gods are the ones who force them to do that! What they want is for everyone to be treated with love, respect, and understanding so they don't have to!

And there's a lot of problematic elements built into the concept's execution, but this is the core thesis behind the split between Hippolyta's Themyscirans and Antiope's Bana-Mighdall. The Themysciran Amazons have had their fill of violence and war; they just want to live in peace. But a) they were specifically tasked with guarding Doom's Doorway when they were taken to the island, a duty which necessitates perfect combat readiness, and b) their history is littered with examples of people refusing to leave them alone. So they train, in case someone decides to take shots at them, but otherwise live in peaceful isolation. Meanwhile, the Banas looked at that same shared history and went "we need to take the fight to the outside world. Offense is the best defense, and the only way to protect ourselves and the other women of the world is to actively seek vengeance for the violence women face." So they chose to actively intervene in Man's World, fighting constant battles and exacting revenge for any women mistreated at the hands of men.

...which is also why Artemis was such a necessary and interesting addition to the Wonder Woman mythos (even if she's often handled...poorly), because she and Diana represent two diametrically opposed views of how to protect and represent both their cultures and the women of Man's World, but that's a rant for a different time.

Anyway, the Themysciran Amazons' martial pacifism as a cultural value isn't a contradiction; it's one way of looking at a history filled with violence and victimization and saying "no more." And it's a pretty subversive way of doing so, which (well-written) comics tend to note!

So yes, the "Amazons are warriors" mentality has always been there and has been solidly emphasized at various points throughout Wonder Woman's history, and it should be acknowledged and shown that they're all incredibly competent in battle when they're forced to engage in it. But the way in which it gets emphasized is what defines whether a writer has a solid understanding of the history and baggage that comes with depicting the Amazonian struggle and the socio-political issues embedded in their lore. And unfortunately...many writers just don't seem to get it.

[spectralsleuth]

Now that we're entering into 2024, I'm asking some artists and writers that I follow:

1) What is the one piece you're most proud of from this past year?

2) What are some pieces that you would have liked more people to see? If you can include links, I'd love to go check them out!

3) What were your top three favorite pieces (art, comics, fics, etc) that someone else has made this past year?

(As always, no pressure to respond! Feel free to just ignore, or let me know if you'd rather I not send you these kinds of asks in the future.)

This is such a sweet and fun ask!! Thanks so much! I enjoyed seeing other authors answering this it’s so hype to get it myself.

1. This is hard to answer, because this year I tried to do something different with every fic I posted. When I got a concept I very pointedly didn’t shy away from it because it seemed difficult, or I thought I might be bad at it, so there’s something that makes me proud with each one. IF I HAD TO CHOOSE THOUGH I’m going to cheat and pick two.

What it Will Be I’m proud of this because it fell out of me SO EASY. I felt like the process of writing it was a testament to how hard I’ve been working at improving all year, and it came together very quickly and very well. I’m also proud because I incorporated @heckitall ‘s comic page to base it off of, and I’d never tried writing fic for a visual media like that. It was super fun!

On the OTHER end of the spectrum is Case of the Hidden City vs Lou Jitsu because it is VERY technically and narratively complicated and is by far the most ambitious thing I’ve ever written. It’s very hard, but I am VERY proud because I haven’t QUIT it. It’s not complete yet, but it is a good amount of the way there and I’m excited to finish it. Probably once I’ve recovered from surgery lol.

2. This sounds insincere maybe, but I really am happy with the engagement I get on my fic. I really do write my fic for me, and while I love to make sure as many people who want to read it can find it, at the end of the day I don’t like assigning people homework! I went through my whole works list and scratched my head and really tried to think of there was anything I wanted to plug, and I don’t think there is!

I guess I’ll post my lowest viewed, my Swanatello fic! @tangledinink ‘s AU I’m sure everyone’s familiar with lol. I knew that one would be lower when I posted it, if only because it has prior required reading (Swanatello). But I wrote it mainly because the AU was starting to reach a critical point and I REALLY wanted to write fanfiction of how I fantasized an ending might be, so I could go back and read it for comfort. I love Odette and the lore Kayson made for his AU, so I’ll plug this only because I think some people may have missed it!

3. Three works!! JUST THREE?? AUGH.

little kid with a big death wish

By @remedyturtles ! This made me leak tears the whole way through, so huge CW’s obviously. Not only was it one of the best fics I’ve ever read, but I got the privilege of seeing how talented Rem is behind the scenes a little and saw how they write and work and I really want to emulate them going forward. One of many all timer fics for me, for sure, I’d love to read any original fiction they put out.

The Whispering Forest and Other Tales

By @sroloc--elbisivni and @kithnkin ! I love love LOVE the feudal Japan fusion, the research, and the perfect blend of Usagi Yojimbo’s universe with what the Riseverse would have been like in this era. Even the little segues into what they’re wearing and eating is endlessly fascinating to me. Every single character is written to be the best and most interesting version of that character I could imagine. Theres Leosagi, there’s a PB&J murder mystery, there’s spookiness- AND Raphael Hamato gets wifed up!! WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT? I love people that write a fully fleshed story that could be a standalone universe, without losing ANY of the flavor or humor or narrative of the original source material.

And last is I’m Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now

@tangledinink has such a good grasp of family and writing, and realistic portrayals of what would HONESTLY HAPPEN if you discovered literally any aspect of the ROTTMNT narrative. Not even taking into ACCOUNT the turtle nonsense, how do you unpack a family that’s been devoted to destroying a magic monster and sacrificing themselves, or a Dad that fought in a death match battle royale for over a decade, or a RIVAL CLAN OF NINJA? All the characters are written SO WELL, and Kayson does a fantastic job of never letting the characters or story fall into cliche tropes. Their characters are always super detailed, to the point where I really feel it if they’re hungry or hurt or itchy. Which is a weird thing to point out but they make sure you really FEEL the situation. Also like, turtles in highschool? Body dysphoria? My CO-CEO of Hamato Yoshi???

What a great year!! I had so much fun in fandom this year and made a lot of friends.

[maraudersarecanon]

fic rec/rant

So I just finished cadence of part-time poets today and that fic was a ROLLERCOASTER. I don’t normally read non-magical aus but it was a recommendation from a friend and I’m so so glad I read it. I have lots to say on this fic. WOLFSTAR. DJFHDJSJSK. They are the absolute cutest and it’s the slowest of slow burns but the pay off is fantastic. Also plenty of Jily with just the perfect character dynamics I mean what more could we ask for? Also (mild spoiler) lots of Regulus that made me very happy. It’s not all couples overall I just felt like the characterisation was perfect of everyone, not just the marauders but also the girls too with a few OCs that just slot right into that world. Main character is Remus and of course he’s given a bit of a tragic backstory and this fic succeeded where atyd failed because we still get delinquent Remus but it’s actually in a canon compliant way (as canon compliant as you can get in an au). The band itself is a really great premise but I really like how it’s introduced slowly because we just start off with your usual marauders shenanigans at school and it just naturally segues into a band fic. The author’s also clearly done a lot of research and put a lot of effort into this fic because the detail is mind-blowing not just in the 70s stuff but also in the characterisation of desi James and his family so kudos to @motswolo. I could probably go on but I think I’m going to wrap it up there and just say thank you so much for this fic @motswolo and it is an absolute masterpiece.

[igbylicious]

IGBYYYY!!! you've truly outdone yourself I've been emotionally compromised by the latest whichever way chapter,,, I don't think I am going to make it to the final chapter rip :(´ཀ`」 ∠):

Nah like seriously I think you just went into my head plucked all of my favorite things and wrote them down SO WELL. From the playful banter in the supermarket to the love confession in the kitchen I was kicking my feet and squealing!!!!

Mrs. yoon aka neighbor of the year and my favorite lady <3 I was got mortified for the guys but I genuinely enjoyed her little appearance so much. Especially since it perfectly segued into them having a talk about their relationship I love everyone being so emotionally mature. What a chill lady wish her the very best in her fictional little world~

JOONGIE MENTIONED!!! I was looking forward to this and I am so glad we got a little peak of topaz in your universe. what a treat thank you <3 <3

You know what else I love? the fact that you've wrote their dynamic developing SO WELL that even WE feel secure in their relationship that the labels talk or even the jealousy talk didn't feel distressing for even a second. Truly a comfort fic <3 really loved wooyoung's retelling of their fight over moving. san being upset at the idea of moving away from reader nooo I can see the pouting it's so precious pls.

Speaking of our precious san. YOU GAVE US WHINEY SUBBY TIED UP SAN I LOVE YOU! but also the way you wrote it again YOUR MIND!! the way reader was checking on san so gently slowly letting him get used to the idea letting him know it's okay to ask to be taken care of like that oh my sappy heart couldn't take it. idk how you've done it but even reading about reader tying up san was relaxing to me up until it wasn't 👀aksdlas.

you know whiny san is my actual weakness and you truly unleashed him on my poor unsuspecting mind. the desperate begging??? the chest harness??? and he's such a sensitive boy the TEARS!!!! dacryphilia go brrr loved the soft tummy appreciation too. everything was just perfect!

reader was right woo went FERAL at them both! and I can't even blame him because I was cheering him on. love how everyone was on the big tiddie appreciation committee too. I really just keep going on how you hit every note perfectly the smut was simply delectable.

again just wanna say how much I love wooyoung's emotional maturity and reader's character development. you did so so well. I am proud of them AND you! The way they communicate is such a comfort <3

Thank you for sharing I knew it was a bit of a struggle but as I say every time you make it so worth the wait <3 I hope you're feeling better and everything is working out well with you!

Oh and I had a bit of a random question but like did you used to write for other fandoms before ateez? your writing style seems so polished honestly it made wonder ^^ and apologies for super incoherent ask it is embarrassingly late once again XD

lol oh yeah to answer the question first; i started writing fanfic when i was like 10 years old and never stopped*! ^^ so i have a decent few years of practice under my belt hehe ♡(>ᴗ•)

(* = ok ‘never stopped’ is actually a lie; i did dip into original fic for a while but drifted back to fanfic bc it’s just more fun and satisfying to me :3 esp au’s, that’s kinda like the best of both worlds!)

OFC THERE IS TOPAZ IN THIS AU (♡°▽°♡) i just love them so so so much asdsjkadskjasdk (≧◡≦)

ahhh i’m happy those moments weren’t distressing; i’m trying to hit a happy middle ground where we don’t go too big on the angst, but the trio also doesn’t just magically fall into a healthy dynamic w/out putting any work into it either! and yeah Woosan will be Woosaning lol, ofc they do their harmless bickering from time to time hehe <3

ASDKJDASKJ YAYYYY I’M SO GLAD YOU ENJOYED SUBBY WHINY SAN he is a joy to write, such a good boy uwu. and i mean is it really an Igby fic if there isn’t at least a lil dacryphilia in there? 👀 i just can never resist temptation lol it’s so easy to sprinkle over the smut for flavour (╹ڡ╹ ) and i’m happy you appreciated the soft tummy appreciation! i wasn’t sure if anyone other than me would be alright w/ San ab erasure asdjkdsjksd xD

Woo’s brain short-circuited at what he saw and who can blame him <3 it might not have been a big secret fantasy of him to dom San like this by himself, but gosh he’s more than happy to play together when reader’s there to give him that lil nudge hehe ♡

and ahhh yeah i love writing Wooyoung’s mature side ;; he gets to be both emotionally mature AND a bratty menace in this fic lol this man contains multitudes (⌒▽⌒)♡

thankyouuu it’s really been one thing after the other, i hope things quiet down so i can just write my comfort fic in peace and get the next part to you asap asdjkdaskj <3

and PLS apologising for making me kick my feet & giggle & blush every time i read this ask??? yes how DARE you! ( `ε´ )

[supermacaquecool]

Ik Odd pair won the poll, but I re-read Simple dreams today instead, so I wrote about it first lol

I have been wanting to write one of those cheesy "4 times x, 1 time y" kinda fics, so I was trying to workshop an idea through writing Saki-Aoi interactions... I wanted to show some kind of evolution to their dynamic so I wrote two different drafts with two different scenarios that became two different ficlets lol This is one of them. For this one, I started with the idea of jokes since I always end up laughing pretty hard at Aoi's reaction to them in-game (she's very endearing to me bc of it lmao), and Saki has a pechant for using humor to test people or take the edge off the bombs she drops. And yes, I was naturally having fun with the girl best friends dynamic lol

So, it was about Saki's playful behavior,,, but I didn't really know what to do with it for the longest time. I kept rewriting the first paragraph trying to settle my thoughts into a rhythm. It didn't come together until I found myself writing "If she'd only ask, Saki would tell her" (and I no longer remember where this sprung from, I'm intrigued now). It's such a perfect sentence for Saki’s contradictions. She isn't direct about wanting others to pay attention to her, she gets upset about being prodded.. Yet she still wants Aoi to show interest. That's what the fic boils down to. She's trying to find a way to get to know what Aoi likes to do and then segue into "then we should totally do x or y back home!" It's all so she can wring the promise out of her that they'll still be friends back home... Put simply, all her behavior in this fic is because she wants to be reassured about their bond. It really took me a long while to come up with a way to portray Saki's hemming and hawing and the underlying current to the way she interacts with others. She tends to test others and knows how to push their buttons and has all these emotions she refuses to really acknowledge but that still color her impulses, so it was tough to think about how to portray the way she spins conversations. But very fun. I'm very happy with how it turned out. I really love how her affinity dialogues are in-game when they have this kind of quality to them.

I wrote in the notes of the fic that I wanted to make Aoi as puzzled as Takuma can feel when talking to Saki, so that was also something else that was really amusing lol From start, she's uncomfortable with the topic of conversation lol She finds it embarrassing, doubly so bc she can't say she has gone to dates or that she's been invited. But she's also trying to keep under wraps the fact she doesn't like her classmates nor the fact she's so busy she hardly has time for fun LMAO Overall, she's pretty displeased with the questions since they touch on sore spots and it shows in the way her smiles falters lol I had fun writing her killing the mood with her avoidant answers or straight up "I don't have time for it", which was the last thing Saki wanted to hear lol I really want to write them running into their emotional walls more.

Of course, at the core of Saki's insecurity is her loneliness due her chronic illness, so I thought very hard how to include that aspect. I'm always thinking about my disabled pals when writing Saki. I write her in a way that they can relate or appreciate that aspect, so... It made happy that my friends picked on the discomfort around sickness Saki's remark about her own cuteness was meant to bring to the forefront. I didn't have much space to explore this aspect outside her intense fear about becoming isolated once again and her wistfulness about her "simple dreams", but it came out nicely imo.

As usual, Labramon was very useful to push the scenario forward where Aoi's shyness would have made it sink awkwardly lol I got to write her meddlesome side embarrassing Aoi, which I treasure 😂 I want to write Labramon putting her in evidence more, thusly embarrassing her.

I tend to wrap up these kinda fics with some fluff (it's mostly bc it's digimon lol I'd likely feel less inclined to be wholesome in other contexts lol), so I ended up resolving the conflict with Aoi unwittingly telling her what Saki wants to hear in no uncertain terms: that her pressence is treasured and appreciated. It still worked since Saki still had to cross that bridge and ask for what she wanted, so it wrapped up the ideas pretty nicely lol But I think it could be fun to write a more extended conflict between them (if I ever come up with any).

This one was really fun to write, I must say it again. Specially bc of Saki's body language, it was fun to come up with ways to make her move. I'm very happy with being able to write Saki crowding Aoi and then nestling her head in the crook of her neck in such a simple way lol When I started writing, trying to write this sort of action would had had me wracking my brains for months lol I'm glad I can do it now.

"I'm happy I met you, too!" Labramon happily, simple-mindedly, wags her tail. It's almost enviable.

Highlighting this segment because it's so mean and charged LMAO

[btsgotjams27]

This review is going to be half in real time and half after I finished reading.

Damn that first meeting in the bar started out so awkward! LOL They were just skirting around the elephant in the room with all this small talk. They can't ask the questions they really want to ask. But let's be real, how can you ask the "important" questions to your ex without seeming like you're still hung up on them? Once they started to joke about the drinking it felt a bit more natural. And even their goodbye felt a little less awkward.

I love these lines: "The real question was—did he want to be with you again after all this time? The answer was yes—it has always been yes. You’re it. You’ve ruined him—it will always be you." It's totally believable for JK. He spent his youth pining for her. And then he had her. And then he lost her. So how can he possibly ever get over her when he's spent the majority of his life loving her?

Ugh, that executive was a pig! I feel bad that her business trip was a bust. She stirred up all these feelings for JK again for nothing. Plus now without that job, what will she do when she goes back to Korea for work?

Even them going back to his place was a bit awkward. I think you nailed that aspect of them seeing each other again. It had to be awkward at first, but then as they remember how to be comfortable around each other again, that's when it should get more natural. You segued into that comfort sweet spot really well in both scenes.

Ohhh!!!!! And there it is! “No girlfriend or anything?” She decided to break the ice! I definitely like that you had her do it. I mean, she's the one who broke up with him, she should be the one to initiate the line of hard questions.

“Yeah, I had to stay in, just in case an old lady needed me.” LOL So he purposely stayed home in hopes that she'd call him. I love that! That's adorable. He would have been crushed all over again if she didn't call him.

"Should you just be completely honest and bare your soul? You were halfway there. Maybe it was time to grow up and just say what the fuck you wanted." Yes!!! Finally!! An actual honest conversation between the two of them.

I loved everything about how they reunited. Their conversation was perfect! I'm so happy she was finally honest with him about her feelings. I loved the ring scene because it gave him the opportunity to express his feelings to her too. The kiss scene was hot too. I liked how they started slow, but then she'd had enough with the teasing. I'm happy that she took the initiative on the important things. She really needed to prove how much she wanted him. If she let him take the initiative, there wouldn't have been much growth from her. It had to come from her.

I love what you did with my word pick! It was perfect, and it had a bit of humor in it too! Exactly what I needed out of this chapter. And I'm pretty sure if you look at your word list, you can figure out which word I picked. I mentioned it a few times to you, and it was really the main thing I needed to see in this chapter.

Erica, you know this already, but I *always* look forward to your reviews/thoughts 💖

Let's be real - JK is a 'boy with luv' and no one will ever compare to his first love.

😭 the entertainment industry is filled with sharks, and I just know amurica must be swimming with them. Do you think she'd let JK be her sugar daddy? 😂 He might get a kick out of it.

HAHA--it *had* to be awkward!! they couldn't just pick up right where they left off, not that quickly anyway. they had to ease their way into it. It's always the initial convo that is weird, and I hoped I played into it well w/ their dialogue.

The question of having a significant other was definitely the first thing on their minds! oc didn't want to cross boundaries if he was seeing anyone--so she had to be the first one to say it lol.

I think JK really meant it as a joke since he's not really a party kinda guy. It's not mentioned anywhere, but he's a homebody (and maybe secretly wanted oc to call).

Ah, I'm so glad you liked it! I was so nervous bc I had written/read over it so many times that I almost wanted to scrap it and start over, but I'm glad I stuck with what I had.

There definitely needed to be some light-hearted moments with all the heavy conversations going on 😂

As always, thank you for reading, and now we head toward more happy chapters. 💖

[jikookiekosmos]

Use My Best Colors For Your Portrait || jjk

➥Pairing: best friend!jungkook/reader, boyfriend!jungkook/reader, artist!jungkook

➥Summary: After surprising Jungkook with his own studio room for his paintings, he couldn’t be any more over the moon. All’s well and good until he’s struggling to find inspiration...which you happily provide him with. He’s ecstatic to find his muse in you, and painting your portrait brings him so much joy. Things take a turn however, when he suddenly realizes what else he wants to paint.

➥Genre: established relationship, tiny bit of angst if you squint, fluff, smut

➥Rating: 18+

➥Words: ~7.9k (small drabbles don’t exist for me apparently, oops)

➥Content warnings: most of this at the beginning is just cute fluff domestic times (finally not much angst!), blonde jungkook, jk ties his hair up at some point (my weakness), jk puts paints on the reader, making out, slight hair pulling, cursing, shower sex times, jungkook has a big dick, oral (m. receiving), very slight mouth fucking, dirty talk, fingering (very brief), unprotected sex (safe sex is great sex), biting, cumming inside, cute times in the shower, jungkook is actually the sweetest, reader and jk are so in love with each other it hurts, also jk saying ‘only for you’ is a thing i started and can’t stop now oops

A/N: hello! This is part of my Only for You (OFY) Drabble series, but it can be read as a stand-alone! Their relationship will make a lot more sense though if you’ve read OFY beforehand. This fic takes place roughly around six months after the events of OFY (so in between that and the dream drabble I also posted).

Once again, thank you to @dntaewithluv​ for her endless support and always giving me feedback, I forever appreciate you and your friendship is more than I could ever ask for 💜

I’ve written a few other drabbles and will list them below, along with a general timeline:

When I Dream of You - ~1 year after OFY

Stay With Me - a few months after the dream drabble

Also, I hope that if you read this, you enjoy it~

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

➥Series Masterlist

➥All Works Masterlist

taglist: @inlovewiththemoonn​

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

You would do absolutely anything in the world for Jeon Jungkook.

Seeing him happy had to be at the top of your list of favorite things in the world, as it had been for many years as his best friend, and now in the several months since the two of you started dating. Some things just never changed, you guessed.

Which is why you took it upon yourself to change one of the spare rooms in the house you two were renting into a space where he could thrive as the artist he was. Initially, the two of you thought it would be nice to use that space as a work area for you, since your job required you to sometimes do work from home. And for a little while, that’s exactly what you did.

But ever since you found out Jungkook liked to paint – scratch that, he loved to paint, and had been doing so for longer than you thought – the gears started turning in your head.

The current space he was using to create his art was definitely less than ideal. The house had a decent sized garage area, so there was enough room for him to store his supplies and be able to paint without it being too much of an issue. The downside, though, was it was cramped and even though Jungkook said he didn’t mind it, you still couldn’t help the frown from masking your features whenever you saw him huddled up so close to his easel.

For the last few weeks, and with lots of help from internet searches, you’d been slowly converting your space into something like a studio. You didn’t have to worry about Jungkook finding out, either, since he very rarely went into that room seeing as he had no reason to. He respected your privacy the same as you respected his, so this made everything infinitely easier for you in the long run.

The day had finally arrived where you would show the new space to Jungkook. Everything was set up as perfect as you could manage it – at least you hoped so – and you were dying of excitement to show him as soon as possible.

You were also, however, incredibly nervous at the same time. What if he didn’t like it? Even worse, what if he hated it?

Of course, you knew deep down that there was no way Jungkook could hate anything you ever did, unless it was something horrible, but you worried about everything because that’s just how you were. So, when the two of you were sitting at the dinner table one night, you tried hard to swallow the lump in your throat as you listened to Jungkook talk about his newest work.

“I really think you’re gonna like how this one turns out, angel.” Jungkook was offering you a sweet smile as he went to grab another bite of food from his plate. You managed to smile back, despite the hammering of your heart against your chest. He was basically handing you the perfect opening for you to segue the conversation!

“I know I’ll love it, Koo.” You watched as his small smile turned into a full grin, his nose scrunching up in that adorable way that had you falling in love with him all over again every time you saw it.

“Speaking of your paintings,” you started off, clearing your throat while he swallowed down his food. He looked at you with his undivided attention and it made your heart skip a beat.

Ok let’s be real, every damn thing this man did made your heart skip a beat.

“Yeah? What about them?” He twirled more of the noodles around his fork while he waited on your answer.

You gulped. “Wouldn’t you like it if you had more space?”

Jungkook chuckled and placed his fork down, shaking his head as he placed on hand on top of yours that was still resting by your plate. You’d barely touched your food and he noticed.

“Baby,” he started, “as much as I would love to have a bigger space, what I have now is just fine. I know you think it’s stifling my creativity in there, but I’m still creating things and am comfortable.” He squeezed you hand gently before returning to his food.

“I get that you think the garage is fine but what if I told you that- that you could have a bigger workspace.” You finally picked up your fork and were poking around at your own food now, avoiding his gaze. You could feel his stare boring into you regardless, though.

“I mean – yeah, hypothetically I could have more space, but it’s not in the cards for us right now and that’s ok, too. Maybe one day.”

The way he always was optimistic about your future together made you feel warm all over. Jungkook liked to look on the bright side of every situation, and it’s been enough to help you keep your own wits about yourself numerous times now.

But this time you wanted to show him that the future could be closer than he realized.

“Koo, can you come with me real quick? I have something I want to show you.”

You didn’t miss the confused look that flashed across his face for a second before his calm demeanor took over again.

“Of course.” He hopped up from the table, that smile you adored now plastered on his face. “Lead the way.”

“Ok but I also need you to close your eyes.” You reached out to take his hand and were rewarded with an eyebrow raise.

He hummed thoughtfully but did as you asked, closing his eyes and grasping your hand tighter so you could lead him wherever you planned to.

You walked through the house pulling him behind you, feeling your heartbeat quicken with every step to where its pace was almost concerning. Whether or not it was mostly from excitement or nervousness, you weren’t sure.

You finally reached your destination and let go of his hand so you could open the door.

“Keep your eyes closed, ok,” you asked. Jungkook simply nodded and you saw a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He had no idea what you were about to show him, but knowing you and how much he loved pretty much anything you did, he was sure it’d probably make him happy.

And he couldn’t have been more correct in his assumption.

At the quiet sound of you telling him he could open his eyes he did so, slowly at first, blinking to adjust to the light the now flooded over the both of you. It took him several seconds to register exactly what he was seeing, and when he did he couldn’t speak. All he could do was stare around the room, mouth agape.

Decorating the walls were the paintings he had given you, beautiful works of various sizes and themes. Alongside the far wall was a tall shelf that housed all his supplies (how had you managed to get them past him without him noticing?), and even some new things like paints he’d been eyeing for a while and other tools he hadn’t had a chance to get himself yet.

But in the middle of the room stood his easel and chair, set up in the similar fashion as it had been in the garage. His apron was draped across the back of the chair, and there was even tarp laid out underneath the workspace. You research had paid off because everything was set up in such a way that it created the perfect atmosphere for Jungkook’s creativity to shine through in ways it hadn’t been able to before.

You weren’t aware of this yet, however, because you were still watching Jungkook’s reaction. He still hadn’t said anything, and as you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, you started to wonder if this was the right call-

Strong arms were pulling you up from the ground and spinning you around before you could process it, making you squeal with delight as Jungkook twirled you before bringing you back down to pepper kisses all over you face.

“Angel, I can’t believe this, you did all this for me?” He was still holding onto your hips tightly, beaming as he looked down at you. Your nod and giggle was all the confirmation he needed before he pulled you into another kiss, this one slightly more heated than the ones before.

“Do you like it,” you questioned when the both of you pulled away to breathe. Jungkook laughed before taking your face in his hands and brushing his nose along yours.

“Do I like it? Baby, I love it. It’s perfect! Thank you so much.” Another kiss. “I love it and I love you, I love you so fucking much.”

His happiness made your heart soar and you definitely knew that you’d do something like this an infinite amount of times if it meant he’d keep that smile on his face.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

A few weeks passed by and Jungkook had been using his new studio nearly everyday at this point. His creations had been increasing in numbers and he was starting to receive commissions from others thanks to his small online shop he’d set up with your help. He still worked at the bar as his primary job, but he was also grateful to have a hobby on the side that could potentially yield something lucrative.

Of course, Jungkook’s increase in his time spent on his art still didn’t take away from his time with you. If anything, it gave the both of you another way to spend time together, since now there was enough space for you to sit in and observe him paint when you couldn’t before. You often sat quietly and either did some of your own work or engaged in your own hobbies while he painted, and it was always peaceful.

There came a day, though, that you never thought you’d experience: Jungkook had run out of inspiration. He’d hit his first real artist’s block and it was taking a bigger toll on him than he would’ve liked.

You rubbed his shoulders as he sat in front of his easel one night, groaning in frustration about his current work. “It’s not turning out at all like I want it to. I’ve been struggling with finding new inspiration and it clearly shows in whatever this is.” He vaguely gestured to the canvas, prompting you to place a kiss on his cheek as you ran your hand through his pretty blonde hair. You knew that always helped to calm him down and this case was no exception.

Jungkook sighed heavily, turning to place a kiss on your palm that was still lingering around his face. “Sorry, I don’t mean to get worked up. It just sucks, you know? I’d been on this really good streak of creating things and now I just…can’t. It’s weird and I don’t like it.” He pouted slightly and the sight made you giggle.

“I know, baby, but you’ll figure something out. You always do.” You placed a kiss on top of his head before you walked around to sit on his lap. You wrapped your arms around his neck and one of his hands cradled your waist to steady you.

He was humming thoughtfully as he looked you up and down, your hands now playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

“What are you thinking about?”

He smiled slyly. “You.”

You rolled you eyes before returning the smile. “Ok, what about me? I’m curious.”

His hand was rubbing up and down your side. “Nothing in particular, just usually looking at you can help me with inspiration.”

His confession made you gasp. “Really?”

He nodded and smiled wider. “Really. You inspire me a lot.” He placed a chaste kiss on your lips before sighing again. “This time though it’s not really working like I’d hoped.”

You watched his eyes close and his brows furrow before an idea popped into your head. “Hey,” you reached down to tilt his chin up so he’d look at you, “It might be a long shot, but: have you ever considered painting portraits?”

He pursed his lips as he thought about it. The simple act made you want to kiss him but now wasn’t the time.

“Honestly…no. I’ve never thought about it before because I usually prefer to paint scenery.”

You searched his eyes as you asked your next question. “Well, if you want to try, maybe you could paint me? Even if it doesn’t go anywhere, maybe it can help spark a new idea or something?”

You watched as his eyes slowly lit up at your suggestion, his face morphing into a smile that you mirrored.

“That’s a great idea! It’s something new and it also includes you, so I already love it.” You chuckled in his lap as he hugged you closer, placing a small kiss on your neck. “Thank you.”

You ran your hands through his hair again before leaning back. “Anything for you. Do you want to start now?”

He thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, we can do that. Is there, uh – was there something specific you wanted to wear for it?”

You wiggled your eyebrows suggestively. “Are you suggesting you want to paint a nude portrait?”

Even though Jungkook knew your body better than you did at this point, your words still managed to make him blush as he groaned. “No, I wasn’t thinking that- not that I’d mind of course just you know, whatever makes you comfortable-”

You laughed at his flustered nature before hopping off his lap. “You’re so cute. I’ll go find something to change into, it shouldn’t take long.”

“R-right,” he stuttered, still clearly somewhat affected by what you had said. You shook your head with amusement as you went to your bedroom to find something to wear. You settled for a purple dress that you knew Jungkook loved, and considering a lot of his paintings involved shades of purple and blue, you figured it would be perfect.

You knew you made the right choice when you stepped back into the room and saw Jungkook’s face when his eyes fell on you. He looked like he’d never seen someone so beautiful (he looked at you like that a lot and it always did something to you) and your lips curled upwards into a smile before you could realize it.

You stopped in the doorway and twirled, giving him a full view of the dress. “Is this ok?”

You already knew the answer, but it was always nice to hear him say it.

He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, it’s perfect. You can, uh, you can take a seat whenever you’re ready.”

While you were changing, Jungkook had pulled one of the loveseats from the living room into the space so you’d have somewhere to sit or lay while he painted you. The loveseat was a dark blue color and it contrasted beautifully against the color of your dress. You decided to lay on it in a comfortable pose, and you couldn’t help the small giggle you let out at Jungkook’s reaction to your choice.

You had laid an arm behind your head, turning your face so you were looking at him while the rest of your body was sprawled out on the loveseat. One of your legs dangled over the side, making the skirt of your dress hike up somewhat. You were very comfortable, and Jungkook was very happy with your pose.

“Make it pretty, ok,” you joked with him. He smirked at your comment.

“You know I will. I’ll use my best colors, just for you.”

“Wow, I feel special,” you quipped back. You were rewarded with the sound of his beautiful laughter as it echoed off the walls.

“You’re the most special,” he admitted honestly. You gave him a brilliant smile and he felt his heart stutter.

With the way you were looking at him, Jungkook thought that if he didn’t start painting, he may never start. So, he forced himself to tear his eyes away from you so he could find the paints he needed to get started. He tied up his hair, a few of the blonde strands escaped and framed his face but he didn’t seem to mind it too much as he got to work.

Thankfully, since you’d chosen a good position, the process was easier than you thought it would be. You just had to lie there and watch him work, which you happily did. You enjoyed watching his face scrunch up in concentration before relaxing again as he brushed stroke after stroke onto the canvas.

You were so beyond proud of him that it made your heart swell inside your chest.

Jungkook had been painting for a little over half an hour before he announced it was time to take a break. He could paint for hours on end without stopping, but that was when he didn’t have a live subject he was working with. He walked over to you with a bottle of water so you could sip from it without having to disturb your position too much.

You sat up slightly so you could drink, and while you did so, one of your dress straps started falling down your arm. Jungkook immediately went to move it back into place, but as he did, he couldn’t help but stare at the dark contrast of the purple satin against your skin. He thought it was so pretty, and his mind started wandering to how the paint itself might look-

He shook his head to rid himself of the thought. He may have been covered in paint himself, but that didn’t mean he needed to go putting paint on you.

When you were re-situated on the loveseat once more, Jungkook strolled back over to this easel. Unfortunately, since that thought of you covered in paint first took up residence inside his head, he now found it hard to focus on anything else. While he stared at you to try and resume your portrait, he just kept picturing you with painted streaks covering your skin instead.

You must have noticed he was distracted because soon you were calling over to him. “Kook? Is something wrong?”

He gulped and shook his head. “No, nothing’s wrong! You’re doing great, baby.”

“Do you need me some other way?”

Such a simple statement and yet it was stirring something inside of him. Asking him if he needed you a certain way ignited that desire to once again paint you and he found himself unable to hold back from asking anymore.

“Yeah, I uh, I wanted to try something.” You were confused when he got up and started walking toward you, only carrying his paint supplies. At first you thought maybe he just wanted to get closer, but he didn’t bring the easel with him.

“What are you wanting to try,” your voice was laced with curiosity. He gave you a shy smile.

“I was just thinking about how pretty it would be,” he looked down at the floor then back up at your face before he continued, “if I used you as a canvas instead.”

You felt your breath hitch in your throat at the request. Jungkook was asking to paint you, not paint you on a portrait, but to paint you. The suggestion intrigued you a lot more than you thought it would, which is ultimately what led to you nodding your agreement. “I think I’d like to try that, too.”

Jungkook’s face broke into such a dazzling smile that excited you to no end. You watched as he pulled his chair close to you, as well as some tarp to place around the area. When he was situated where he wanted to be, he dipped his brush into some of the purple paint on his palette and gently lifted your arm. The feeling of the paint as it brushed along your arm was foreign but not unwelcome. There was something about it that was almost calming.

You were now also recalling all the times you’d told Jungkook how pretty he looked even covered in paint. The pretty colors contrasting with his beautiful, golden skin tone never failed to take your breath away no matter how many times you saw it. You wondered briefly if this is what he was experiencing now as he took his time painting your skin.

He was focusing on your with such intensity and taking great care to only get the paint where he wanted it, so as to not stain certain parts of you or your dress. The sight of his caution made that familiar warmth bloom in your chest again.

He took his time painting beautiful designs along your arm before moving down to paint on your thighs and legs. He was alternating between purple and blue hues now, and the swirling patterns reminded you a lot of his tattoos that you adored. You had spent many nights lying next to him in bed, tracing the lines of his tattoos until you were too sleepy to keep it up. Seeing the patterns against your own skin briefly made you think about if you would ever want to get a tattoo. Before you put too much thought into it, your attention was pulled back to Jungkook who was sitting up now and admiring his work.

The time had passed by much quicker than you anticipated, and it was starting to get dark outside as the light was no longer filtering in through the windows of the room.

He seemed satisfied as he nodded and smiled. “Wait here, I’ll be right back. Stay just like this,” he placed a gentle kiss on your forehead before leaving the room. When he returned, he had his coveted polaroid camera in his hands. Jungkook was also big into photography, and every one of his hobbies suited him perfectly in some way.

“Is it ok if I take a photo of you, baby?”

You grinned and nodded, being careful not to move too much from your current position. He snapped the photo and the polaroid was printing immediately after. When he pulled it from the camera, he laid it down on the table next to his easel so it could develop properly.

Jungkook wiped his hands off on his apron before taking it off and drawing his attention back to you. He could stare at you like this all day, but he knew it would probably be best to get you both cleaned up and paint-free.

He offered a hand for you so he could help pull you off the loveseat. When you were up fully, he wrapped his arms around you, careful to not get any of his exposed, paint-covered skin on your dress.

“You look so beautiful like this,” he murmured softly, brushing some of your hair out of your face as his eyes scanned up and down your body to admire his creation. “And as much as I love seeing it, we should probably get this paint off soon. When it dries too much, it can be a bitch to scrub off, and I don’t want that for you.”

You chuckled at that and simply nodded your head. You’d been lying there for nearly 2 hours at this point, so you were pretty tired and ready to just relax for the night.

The two of you hopped into the shower shortly after, helping each other rid your bodies of the remnants of paint covering you both. You always loved taking showers with Jungkook, because whether or not it was a short, regular shower, or one shared after a night of intimacy, these moments were some that you cherished the most and wouldn’t change for the world.

You got lost in the feeling of Jungkook scrubbing shampoo into your hair, letting out soft noises as your eyes slipped closed.

Your noises always threatened to drive Jungkook crazy, and this time was no exception. He couldn’t deny the stirring of his cock as he listened to the little moans slipping from your mouth at such a simple action.

Of course, since he was so close to you, there was no way you didn’t feel him. His cock was hardening against your thigh, and the fact that you were turning him on by not doing much turned you on.

You could feel the wetness start to slip past your folds, but you decided to not make any moves yet, wondering how far you could take this before either of you snapped. You knew that teasing him was one of the quickest ways to get Jungkook riled up.

“Feels so good, Koo,” you shamelessly moaned out as he kept massaging the shampoo into your hair. You heard him let out a small grunt at your deliberate words, feeling him twitch against your thigh as he got harder.

You leaned your head back to give him a better view of your neck, since you knew he loved to mark you up there. His hands were starting to tangle in your hair, but he took care to not pull too hard as he brought his attention back to the task(s) at hand.

He was currently focusing on two things: 1) getting the rest of the shampoo out of your hair, and 2) not fucking you up against the shower wall. Doing the first thing was currently keeping him from acting on the second, but you certainly weren’t helping with that.

Your head lolled around on your neck, your eyes still closed as your sounds got louder. He knew you were messing with him now, so as retaliation he pulled on your hair a little tighter, making you gasp.

“You’re doing this on purpose, angel,” you could hear the dark tone of his voice over the waterfall in the shower clearly, and it just made you more aroused. You chanced opening your eyes to look at him, and the sight you were met with made you moan louder, this time without trying.

Jungkook was staring at you, mouth slightly parted as he let out pants of his own, his blonde, soaked tresses falling in his face and covering his eyes. His tongue darted out to lick his lips as he tugged on your hair again, making you reach out to place your hands on his chest.

“You’re teasing me to get me worked up, hm?” All you could do was nod, his husky voice and the feeling of his hand wrapped in your hair making you wetter by the second. There was no use in playing coy any longer. You wanted him, and he wanted you.

The question now was: who would make the first move?

You realized that you wanted to be the one to make the first move, so you did.

“So, what if I am,” you asked sweetly, wrapping your hand around his length and pumping him slowly. His eyes closed and he leaned his forehead against your shoulder, fingers now digging into your waist.

“You know what happens when you do that,” Jungkook warned. You absolutely knew what happened, and you definitely wanted it to happen.

“Hmm, I don’t know, maybe you should enlighten me.” You teased him as you gently nibbled on his earlobe, increasing your pace as you continued to stroke him. You heard him let out a soft moan against your shoulder as he placed a kiss there.

With no more hesitation, you turned him slightly and sank down to your knees in front of him, delighted by how his cock jerked in your hold when you steadied it with your hand.

Jungkook stared at you wide-eyed as you started moving your hand around his shaft before placing a gentle kiss on his tip, the prettiest groan falling from his lips. “Fuck, Y/N, are you sure you want to do this?”

You peeked up at him as you fluttered your eyelashes, knowing that seeing you like this always aroused him beyond belief. You continued moving your hand in slow, languid strokes, and he was almost fully hard now.

He let his head hit the wall behind him, soft curses and praises for you tumbling from his mouth. 

Seeing him like this had to be near the top of the list of your favorite sights to ever witness. And right then is when you figured it’d be the perfect time to surprise him. Without a warning you opened your mouth and took all of him in that you could reach.

Jungkook’s reaction was immediate.

“Hey wait what are y- oh my God, fuck.” His loud moan echoed off the walls of the room, causing a fresh wave of arousal to pool between your thighs. You sucked harder as you hollowed out your cheeks, ignoring the way your throat constricted around him.

“Y/N, shit, you feel so good, your mouth- fuck, angel, I don’t want to hurt you,” Jungkook was panting hard above you, eyes shut and brows furrowed, jaw slack as he unabashedly continued to moan at your actions. He was reaching behind him to try and hold something, but the smooth wall had nothing to offer him. His fingers were slipping against the tile, so he gave up and instead settled for clenching and unclenching his fists.

You pulled off him with a pop, a string of saliva left in your wake. You smiled up at him as you kept stroking him, not wanting his pleasure to disappear in the slightest.

“You won’t hurt me, Koo,” you reassured him, earning another groan from the man falling apart under your touch. He twitched in your hold, and you stuck your tongue out again to run it along the underside of his length. 

Jungkook chanced looking down at you, only to look up at the ceiling a moment later while he muttered a strained “holy shit.” 

“C’mon baby, don’t you want to look at me,” you taunted him as your tongue played with the head of his cock, swirling around him. The low groans coming from above you let you know that he enjoyed that a lot.

“Fuck, angel, I-” Jungkook’s sentence died as a moan ripped itself from his throat when you surged back down to take all of him in again. This time you continued moving, feeling the tears in the corners of your eyes but not stopping.

It wasn’t like you’d never sucked him off like this before, seeing as it was one of your favorite activities, after all. But it was a rare occasion where Jungkook would let you take all of him in one go for fear of hurting you. So, you took these chances whenever they presented themselves, and the reward was always, always worth it.

Tears along with the water droplets from the shower were coating your face but you didn’t care. All of your focus was on Jungkook and how he was trying so hard to restrain himself above you. You watched his fists clench and unclench and you could feel himself struggle to keep his hips from moving forward so he didn’t fuck your mouth.

Yeah, you weren’t having that. You wanted him to let go, wanted him to know that it was ok, that you wanted this. You reached out to grab one of his hands and placed it in your hair, relishing in the way his fingers immediately tangled themselves into the wet strands. You pulled your mouth off of him again, but not before letting your tongue drag slowly across every inch of him.

You looked up at him again as you pumped him leisurely, waiting until he brought his gaze down to stare at you, only for him to quickly close his eyes again.

“God, I can’t look at you, like I want to, fuck do I want to, but you look so fucking good like this, I’m not gonna last-”

You always found his stammering to be cute and you didn’t want to torture him too much longer. Deciding that you’d teased him enough, you took all of him into your mouth again, intertwining your fingers with his unoccupied hand and giving it a squeeze. The intimacy of this particular action was always enough to get both of you going, and it had Jungkook’s hips stuttering as you sucked hard.

“Fuck, baby, always take me so good like this. Always so good for me, I love you, fuck,” he was groaning as his head hit the wall behind him again, his hold in your hair tightening the same moment you felt him buck his hips like you’d been wanting all this time.

Unfortunately, for you, whenever Jungkook would fuck your mouth, no matter how much you wanted to sit there and take it without issue, his size always proved to be too big for you to handle and it had you coughing around his length in no time. Which, of course, always made Jungkook stop what he was doing before either of you had the chance to enjoy it much.

“Fuck, baby, I’m so sorry, are you ok?” Jungkook pulled you up while you kept coughing, brushing the wet strands of hair out of your face and looking at you with worry. You nodded and tried to reassure him, wanting to get back on your knees for him, but he held you in place.

“You don’t want me to continue,” you asked, your voice a little more hoarse than usual thanks to what your throat had just endured.

Jungkook shook his head. “No, angel, it’s not that. If you do keep going, I’ll cum in no time.” He brushed some of the water away from under your eyes, not knowing if it was tears or from the shower. He bent down to place a rough kiss on your lips, such a contrast from how his hands caressed your face.

“I want to be inside of you when that happens,” he murmured against you, gently biting down on your bottom lip and pulling a whine from you, in turn causing more wetness to gush between your legs. “If you’ll let me, of course.”

You almost laughed. “Koo, you know I’ll let you do anything at this point.”

He chuckled. “That’s a dangerous admission, baby. You sure about that?”

You nodded, wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him closer. “Of course I’m sure. I’d let you do anything you want because I trust you. Because I love you,” it was your turn to kiss him this time, and it was filled with so much passion it nearly made him dizzy. Jungkook could never get tired of the feeling of your lips against his, of hearing you say that you loved him, of feeling your skin pressed against each other during times like these.

Jungkook was hooked on you and he never wanted to go back to a time where he wasn’t.

You pulled him out of his thoughts as you tugged on some of his hair, earning a delicious sounding grunt from him. You whispered your next snarky comment right by his ear.

“You gonna fuck me now, baby?”

Your bluntness had his cock quickly stirring back to life after it had softened some during your coughing incident. He growled low and dark as he started placing love bites on your collarbone.

“Sure you don’t want me to return the favor first, angel?” He was marking up your skin while he asked this, so you almost didn’t realize what he was asking specifically but then it dawned on you.

“As much I love seeing you with your head between my legs,” you responded, tugging on his hair again, “I’d rather have you fuck me up against this wall.”

He moaned against your collarbone, the action vibrating your skin. He pulled off of you and brought your lips to his in a filthy kiss. “Your wish is my command.”

Jungkook lifted you up then by placing his hands under your ass and you got the message, wrapping your legs around him as he held you up. He turned so your back was against the wall, the only things now holding you up being his strong arms and the smooth tile behind you.

He first plunged two fingers inside you without a warning, making you let out a silent scream. He smirked at the way you clenched around his fingers, scissoring them before pulling them out again. You whined at the loss and he shushed you with a gentle kiss on your nose.

“Had to make sure you’re ready, baby.” He had one arm wrapped around your waist, trapped in between your back and the shower wall. With his now free hand, he lined himself up with your entrance, moaning when the tip of his cock was sucked in by your velvety walls.

“Fuck, you already feel so good and I’m barely in yet,” he clenched his jaw as he sank further into you inch by inch. When he finally bottomed out and was filling you up in the best way possible, you clenched around him to tease him further, making him curse.

“Watch it, angel,” he growled. “You’re gonna make it very hard for me to not blow it if you keep doing that, and I want you there with me when I do.”

“Then I guess you’d better start moving,” you teased, wrapping your arms more tightly around his neck. You knew what was coming next; Jungkook would put you exactly in your place, just like you wanted. And for that you needed to hold on tight for dear life because that man could rock you like nothing ever had before.

Jungkook grabbed your hips firmly in his hold as he fucked up into you, making sure you were held against the wall and weren’t in danger of falling down as he did so. Despite this, each thrust had you sliding more up the wall until he would bring you back down again. When he found a pace that was he was sure he could resume without either of you getting hurt, he finally let go.

To say you saw stars would be an understatement. Jungkook was fucking you with so much vigor that you weren’t just seeing stars, you were sure you were seeing entire galaxies. Your sounds kept dying out on your tongue because the feeling was so overwhelming and it had your trembling around him in no time.

“Can’t make any sounds when I’m fucking you this good, angel?” Jungkook was taunting you now and quite frankly, he was right, he was fucking you so good that you were finding it hard to say anything. And the mixture of his dirty words with the sweet pet name you adored had you clenching even tighter around him, causing him to groan loudly and grip your waist tighter.

You eventually found your voice again when Jungkook hit a certain spot inside of you, pulling an embarrassingly loud whine from your throat. You buried your face in the crook of his neck, tears almost brimming in your eyes once again at how good he felt.

“Fuck, Jungkook, feels so good, oh my God-” your praises made him twitch inside you as he moved his hands now from your waist to hold you up by cupping your ass, squeezing tightly in time with his thrusts. He was bouncing you up and down on his cock now with his strength alone, and the thought of it made your orgasm start to approach at an alarmingly fast rate.

“I love feeling you so close like this, I love you, so fucking much, shit-” Jungkook cut himself off as threw his head back to get his hair out of his face, careful not to let his balance falter or his grip slip on you. He had to do it though because his hair was keeping him from seeing your face now that you were leaning your head back against the wall, and he couldn’t have that.

“I love you, Jungkook, I’m close, fuck,” you were breathing hard as you couldn’t control your moans any longer, eyes squeezed shut and tears falling from just how much pleasure you were receiving and also how much you loved this man. Jungkook was the man you’d loved for so many years before you were finally able to call him yours. He always took care of you in every aspect of life, and you reciprocated it as best you could. And it was because of this kind of love you two had for each other that made these intimate times all the more meaningful. You were sitting here, back up against a shower wall in the arms of the man you loved while he rearranged your guts, and it was such an emotional experience alongside being a pleasurable one that the tears actually made sense.

Jungkook bit down on your shoulder and pulled you out of your reverie, making you cry out as he muffled his own sounds against your skin. You could tell by his thrusts that he was getting close now, his grunts happening more frequently and louder, echoing off the tiled shower walls. The water had already started to get cold but neither of you cared. Nothing outside of the two of you existed in this moment, and that was exactly how you liked it.

“Touch yourself for me, baby, I’m close, want you to be there with me,” Jungkook breathed out, his grip on your ass harsher now and you were sure there’d be marks tomorrow. You loved it when he marked you up, and even though he always felt slightly bad about it, you knew Jungkook loved seeing the marks, too.

You obeyed his command and reached down to rub your clit, nearly shrieking at the new wave of pleasure that washed over you. The sensations on your clit, his cock hitting that perfect spot inside of you, the way he was holding you, and all the things he was saying to you was enough to finally push you over the edge.

“Jungkook, I’m cumming, fuck-” you barely had time to utter out your warning before you were cumming hard around his length, your body spasming as he held you through it.

He sped up then, chasing his own high now, the feeling of your walls clenching around him making his eyes roll back. “Fuck, I can feel you, always so perfect for me, I’m close-”

His eyes were closed now so he didn’t see you reach for him. You pulled him closer so you could kiss him, hoping to help him along this way, swallowing down every beautiful sound he was making. “C’mon Koo, cum for me, wanna feel you fill me up.”

“Fuuuuck,” he moaned out, loud and long as that was the last thing he needed to get him there. His hips stuttered a few more times before you felt him twitch and fill you up, just like you wanted. Because gravity was working against you due to your current position, you could feel some of it dripping out of you despite Jungkook still being inside of you. The feeling made you scrunch up your nose, and the action made Jungkook laugh and mumble out ‘cute’ as he placed a kiss on the tip of your nose.

He pulled out of you carefully before moving you away from the wall so he could set you down on your feet. Your legs were a little wobbly, so he let you brace yourself against him as he helped you clean up.

The water was nearing a very uncomfortable cold temperature, but the both of you would rather endure that than leave the shower without cleaning off completely. After the workout you both had, there was nothing more you wanted than to curl up with each other in the bed.

After helping each other get clean again, and stealing quite a few kisses while doing so, Jungkook helped you out of the shower since you still didn’t trust your legs and dried you off before taking care of himself. Your heart swelled at the sight of him as it always did when he would take care of you like this.

You just hoped that you were taking care of him in all the ways he needed as well. You were certainly trying your best and would continue to do so for the rest of your life.

Once you were both snuggled into bed, him with an arm under you and you with your face nuzzling against his chest, you broke the silence first.

“If that’s what happens when I let you put paint on me, we should do that more often.”

Jungkook, who was tracing invisible patterns on your back in between your shoulder blades, laughed so hard you shook along with him. When he finally calmed down, he was able to answer you. “I totally agree. Although, I don’t think that happened because I painted you. It happened because you-” he booped you on the nose “-teased me, knowing full well what happens when you do.”

You shrugged as best you could with his arms around you. “You love it, though.”

Jungkook chuckled. “Indeed I do.” He placed a kiss on the top of your head and resumed his earlier soothing tracing of patterns on your skin. You rested your cheek against his chest and could hear his heartbeat, slow and steady. The combined actions of his hands and the steady thrum of his heartbeat was enough to have slumber calling your name in a matter of minutes.

Jungkook had something more to say, however.

“Hey,” he called gently, making you look up at him with groggy eyes. He smiled at the sight. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For helping me. For being my muse. I’ve got more ideas now about what else to create, and I don’t think I could’ve gotten there without your help.”

You smiled at him before you placed your head down again and shut your eyes once more, breathing deeply. “You would’ve eventually. That’s just how you are. Maybe I sped up the process, but you would’ve done fine.”

“Perhaps,” he sighed and looked at the ceiling. His glance travelled down to look at your nearly sleeping form, laying on him calm and unbothered. Moments like these topped his list of favorite things, and he wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.

“Goodnight, angel,” he murmured softly, not sure if you were asleep or not yet. You muttered something unintelligible back, but he knew you were telling him goodnight all the same, and it brought a smile to his face.

Jungkook wanted to tackle life with you, the good, the bad, all of it; he wanted to do it with you by his side. He wanted to make sure every day of your life from here on out was filled with happiness and love and everything you deserved in the world, just as you wanted to do the same for him. He knew you’d do anything for him, and he’d do anything for you.

Only for you.

[savevsfacemelt]

Post-game Musings - Scum & Villainy

Hi, yes, I know it's been like a year since our last entry. Life is... complex these days. Nobody trusts anybody now, and we're all very tired.

But a lack of blog entries doesn't mean I haven't been running games; it just means I've stopped writing and reporting on session writeups that no-one bothered to read. It's a new paradigm, people - evolve or die.

And speaking of dying, let's look at the Scum & Villainy game I've been running all year! No-one died, that was a lie to support a segue, I have no regrets.

What's Scum & Villainy? It's a science-fiction game based on Blades in the Dark, in which the characters are freelance criminals (or at least crime-adjacent-independent-contractors) flying their spaceship around a setting that's a bit Star Wars, a bit Firefly, a bit many other media properties and doing heists & odd jobs.

What do I have to say about Scum & Villainy after 9 months of play? A few things, actually.

--

Scum & Villainy is a pretty good RPG. Not perfect, but pretty good! It takes the Blades in the Dark formula and mechanics and does a solid job of translating them to the sci-fi genre. The best bit of new design is adding a floating pool of extra dice ('gambits') for improving rolls, along with unique ways for different playbooks to use them. The weakest parts are that the spaceship-improvement minigame isn't as engaging or useful as the turf-claiming minigame in Blades, and that the Heat mechanic becomes a bit toothless when the party can just fly to another star system where they aren't wanted. But those qualms aside, the setting is fun and full of things to do, the rules work well and everyone had a good time.

It can take some getting used to, though. Some of my players weren't that conversant with non-D&D/trad-style games, and it took a little time to adjust to how S&V allocates narrative control vs mechanics. Downtime tends to be loose and narrative in trad games, but it's codified and mechanised in S&V; meanwhile, S&V uses equipment mostly as fictional positioning rather than giving it mechanical heft like in D&D. The biggest adjustment might be just the approach to dice-rolling & action, though. Modern D&D play tends to involve lots of low-stakes, low-impact dice rolls, little moments for players to grab attention when success and failure are both fun and largely meaningless. In S&V, almost every roll has the potential to break bad in some way, so you only want to roll when necessary, and to find those spotlight moments some other way. It's also an adjustment as a GM - learning when to call for a roll, rather than just say yes/no to things, is a key skill and one I'm still honing.

Pacing is as pacing does. Both Blades and S&V try to minimise player planning and push fast-paced play. My group would have none of it. They absolutely wanted to spend time (even complete sessions) talking about plans and contingencies, and to take their time before, after and during jobs. At first I felt the urge to push back against this, and ask them to keep things moving, but it was quickly obvious that they enjoyed the planning process, even if it wasn't really necessary, and preferred a slower pace overall. And that's fine! That's fun! That's a sign that the game needed to adapt to the players, not the other way around! So I leaned into it by fleshing out interactions with NPCs, and setting downtime scenes that moved slowly but had plenty of texture/flavour, and everyone seemed happy with that.

Telling smaller stories still takes work. I'm trying to move away from big campaign arcs (like in 13th Age) and towards more episodic, player-directed games and plots. S&V's play style promotes self-contained missions, and has tables for generating them, and those let me create multiple missions and let players choose between them. But these small stories sometimes needed more work to flesh out and bring to life than bigger stories, not despite but because of their self-contained nature. The prepared elements for a large arc (situations, NPCs, images etc.) can often be used multiple times as that arc returns to those points, while small stories each have their own bespoke set. A small story may only need half the elements of an arc - but if you run 5 of them, that's 2.5 the amount of overall prep needed for the big story! I could have made this easier by not doing things like finding images for all the factions, locations, spaceships I might potentially use, but of course I didn't do that. Maybe in the next game. (But probably not.)

I miss rolling dice. Like Monster of the Week before it, Scum & Villainy is a game where GMs use their own judgement within a structured framework to decide on outcomes and consequences. And that's good! That's fun! But after a couple of years of such play, I miss the unpredictability and mechanical engagement that comes from playing my own half of the game, you know? The messy uncertainty of mechanics can keep GMs invested in play outcomes in a way that clean-but-predictable diceless decision-making doesn't. Well, for me at least anyway. Time to try something different.

--

We wrapped up Scum & Villainy with what felt like a satisfying end to a season; we may come back to it later, we may not. Time will tell.

What's on the cards for 2023? Right now I'm trying to assemble a group to play Lancer, which has all the GM-facing-mechanical goodness I've been craving, and I'm also running a (slightly intermittent) game of Heart, which lets me put mechanical weight on GMing decisions even if I'm not the one engaging with them. Plus it's weird and ridiculous and I love it.

I've also been thinking of running some of the many quickstarts and game demos I've collected over the years. They'll certainly help with refocusing onto episodic play and smaller stories, if only due to changing story and game every couple of weeks.

Let's find out in 2023. Here's hoping we make it there.

[silverwhittlingknife]

urban legends <3

OKAY I like so much about this comic but in particular there is a very small writing detail which I love and am OBSESSING about:

The comic starts with "my...um...Bruce" and ends with "you're my son."

Why do I love this, let me count the ways...

We start the comic with Tim talking to Bernard:

Tim: Things have been weird with my... um...Bruce. Tim: Remember I told you about Dick? He's...he's like my older brother.

So we start with a hesitation and a decision NOT to call Bruce his father. And another hesitation before deciding what to call Dick, and then going with "he's like my brother" instead of "he is my brother." Which shows us Tim's feeling kinda insecure about his connection to the family. (A classic Tim worry!)

(And even though Bernard doesn't bug him about it, the thing that hangs over this whole comic is that Tim hasn't come out yet. It's been over a month! They're dating! And he's avoided telling his family. And the comic doesn't tell you "he's not sure how they'll react," but it doesn't have to. Instead we get "it's been over a month and he still hasn't said anything and he's hesitating over what to call them," draw your own conclusions.)

(And other little low-key moments: Tim didn't call Dick because he wanted to talk to him in person, not over the phone, and he's hesitating asking Bruce to spend time together: "Do you want...um, do you want to investigate with me?" And ostensibly it's worry about Bruce, because that's what Tim's distracting himself with, but also you've got all these little threads of anxiety everywhere because every conversation is a potential opportunity to come out if he could only find the right opportunity, so every moment is charged with that uncertainty both for the reader and for Tim.)

AND THEN

At the end Tim finally confesses and Bruce isn't reacting badly but he's not being especially effusive either - he's staring off into the distance speaking in monosyllables.

So Tim segues to "By the way, I have a gift for you!"

And although Tim's always trying to help, we know that right now he's being especially tryhard. Because Tim tells us that they don't normally exchange gifts. But he felt the need to get one this Christmas. Just like he felt the need to hang around trying to help Bruce.

And THIS is the moment when it finally dawns on Bruce that Tim isn't just trying to help, he's also trying to get reassurance

AND THEN THIS EXCHANGE

Tim: Thanks... Batman? I know we don't do gifts...but I made this for you. It's to help if you get hurt and none of us are there to help stitch you up. Bruce: You don't have to try to make me happy, Tim. I am happy because you're my son.

1) Tim calls Bruce "Batman" (impersonal!) and oh, here's an awkward gift.

2) Bruce responds by calling him "Tim" (personal!), and saying, you don't need to prove yourself to me, my love is unconditional, I love you for who you are NOT what you do for me, and "you're my son."

And one of the reasons that line hits so hard?

Because this is exactly the phrasing that Tim was hedging around at the start of the issue.

So implicitly, we've got Bruce sensing something of Tim's insecurity and responding to it. So he's not responding just to the offered gift but to the underlying motivations and they don't talk about it but ahhhhhh

And then they go back to the codenames but now it's an affirmation <3

Perfect coming-out Christmas story. <333

[outrunningthedark]

After 5x01 how sure are we that we are getting EddieAna break up no later than 5x03? I was wondering your thoughts. I feel like its definitely the only direction now going forward.

I have to say I'm feeling pretty good about our prediction! During the hiatus, we were “jokingly” predicting that Ana would stick around no more than three weeks simply because the third episode of the past two seasons has given us Buckley-Diaz content, right? Eddie breaking up with his girlfriend would be a perfect segue into following his heart back to Christopher and Buck. And then...the premiere arrived. Eddie has been with his girlfriend for several months, not several weeks, and he has yet to meet any of her family? IMO, asking Eddie to attend the christening is a test on Ana's part. If he agrees to go - and bring his son along! - that gives Ana hope that Eddie just needs more time. We can tell from her behavior with Eddie in the suit store (convincing him to buy a new suit when they were only supposed to be there for Christopher, suggesting he should use a tie to complete the look) that she has visions in her head of what she wants their future to look like - two polished, successful adults raising a boy that is impossible not to love. She, much like Eddie, seems to be trying to create her idea of the "perfect family", one her own would approve of. So, Eddie tells Ana that he and Christopher would be happy to attend (Eddie, my guy, I think if you actually asked your son how he felt you might be surprised by his answer...), but he never considered the fallout, how it would look from an outside POV. Being your gf's plus-one to a family gathering is ALWAYS going to raise eyebrows, especially if Eddie is the first one she's brought around in quite some time.  Eddie started dating Ana because he felt it was time to heal from the emotional scars Shannon left behind. After awhile, he convinced himself it was the right decision because their dynamic is much easier to deal with compared to how incompatible Eddie and his wife were on every level except physically. More importantly, Christopher appears to get along great with her, and we all know Eddie prioritizes what he thinks Christopher needs over what either of them want.  Eddie doesn’t want a future with Ana. Even if he was contemplating it before the season four finale, we know by the premiere that the shooting didn’t bring them any closer together. Four months removed from nearly losing his life and he becomes confused and slightly agitated when his coworkers question how serious things are getting with the woman who sat at his bedside in the hospital and would have (most likely) been part of the recovery process? What? Oh, but it’s not just Eddie second-guessing himself. Ana doesn’t know where she fits, if she fits. Logically speaking, there was no real reason for her to specify that she’s just a friend when the male employee mistakenly referred to her as Christopher’s mom (and therefore Eddie’s wife). But if you look at the situation from her perspective, whatever’s happened between them since the shooting has made her feel like she doesn’t have the right to claim a permanent place in Eddie and Christopher’s lives. Ana still doesn’t feel like she belongs with them. The post-panic attack scene, for me, was the biggest indicator that things are coming to a head very soon. It’s one thing for Eddie to pretend like there’s no stress in his life and everything’s just peachy, but Ana offered up no words of support.  “It’s been great, right?” *camera cuts to Ana*  *silence* Ana doesn’t want to answer that because if she says yes she knows she’s lying to herself, and if she suggests otherwise she can no longer hide from the truth.  Going back to my original point about the christening being a test of Eddie’s commitment, remember that we’ve gone back a week in the timeline, and Eddie specifically says it’s happening “next Sunday”. This is purely a guess, but I think whatever Eddie goes through during the helicopter rescue and blackout is going to drive a bigger wedge between them (I’m trying to figure out what she could be doing in next week’s episode and all I’ve come up with is attempting to have a conversation, but it’s not a good time) and then as the christening gets closer they realize it’s best not to give her family the wrong impression. Now, where it could get REALLY interesting (and tbh, I want this on my screen!), is if the breakup is mutual, rather than Eddie letting Ana down gently. I still want Eddie following his heart, admitting out loud that their relationship was never built to last, but...   IMAGINE Ana telling Eddie she figured that out a long time ago. IMAGINE Ana saying she hoped things would have worked out between them, but it’s obvious she isn’t what he’s looking for.  IMAGINE Eddie being surprised that she called him out, but also realizing he can’t play pretend for much longer.  We just saw that the directors actually do know how to use her as more than a prop when it benefits the plot. She didn’t need to say much to make us feel her hesitance and discomfort. If Ana’s gonna bow out on a good note (and lbr, that’s the only way this was ever gonna go given her personality), end it in a way that closes one door and opens another.  (okay, bye! i’m done)

[sio-writes]

My first bit of writing for this blog, based off this post:

The Cruise

*****

The massive cruise ship cut through the waves like a hot knife through butter, all power and majesty rolled into one massive metal hull. You watch the sunset, a mixture of yellow, red, and the slightest hint of purple as it lit up the sky and turned the water into liquid gold.

It would be gorgeous if you didn't feel like a trash fire.

Really, this was your own fault. You should've seen it coming. Your fiancee--ex-fiancee--didn't even have any vows prepared. He'd waited until you finished the poem that you spent three months perfecting, then just said "ditto." That was Red Flag #387.

So now you're here. Alone. Surrounded by nothing but couples because this was a Couple's Honeymoon Cruise that your stupid ex-finacee booked and you couldn't get the deposit back.

You're torn out of your skulking by a loud pair behind you, laughing at a joke as they walk by. And maybe you're just bitter, but their happiness makes you want to throw up. All day you've been bombarded with couples; laughing, talking, bickering, smooching, the whole nine yards. You can't tell if you want to throw yourself overboard or cry or both.

Your watch beeps a reminder and you double check the time. Yep, 6:30. You have a reservation for two at tonight's dinner show, and you want to get there early. Besides, who did you have to wait on? Yourself? You try to ignore everyone as you head to the lower decks of the ship, but with such narrow corridors, it's a tough feat. You pass a couple necking in the stairway and you simultaneously cringe and feel a twist in your heart at the sight. That should be you getting lucky, instead all you have is your hand and the cruise's shitty wifi.

You make it to the show room without incident, but in a worse mood than before. You're pissed off, really sad, and also kind of horny, a weird combination to say the least. You already forgot what the menu for tonight is going to be, but you don't have much of an appetite anyway. You probably won't even make it through the appetizer. At least the drinks were paid for, and you can have as many of those as you want.

The lights dim and just as you hear the orchestra warming up, someone gently clears their throat behind you.

"Is this seat taken?"

It's probably someone who wants to take the chair, so without looking you wave them off and think nothing of it. But you hear scuffling and the sound of the chair scraping across the floor. You turn in your seat and see a large moth, sitting right behind you.

"Is this okay?" He's large in stature but very soft spoken. "I can move if--"

"No no, you're okay," you say. "No one's sitting here."

His large, feathered eyebrows pull down into a frown. "You're by yourself?"

"Not by choice," you say. You give him the Sparknotes version of your predicament, glossing over minor details.

Mystery Moth tilts his head sympathetically. "I'm so sorry that happened to you."

You shrug. "I guess I'm glad it happened early and not, you know, three years into our marriage."

"Forgive me for saying this, but whoever gave you up is a huge jerk."

You bark out a laugh, earning you several stares, but he smiles at you so it's worth it.

He extends his hand. "My name is Aidan."

"Pleasure to meet you," you say with a hearty shake. You expect his hand to be rough, but it's actually quite soft.

You want to ask Aiden if he's here with anyone, but would that be too forward? This is a Couples Cruise, so chances are he has someone. Either way, you could always use a friend. Yeah, you're totally fine with that.

"What about you, Aiden, are you here with anyone?" Perfect segue, very smooth.

He shakes his head and you ignore the small bubbles of hope that pop under your skin.

"I was supposed to meet a friend here but they cancelled at the last minute."

You frown. "That's kinda shitty."

He shrugs. "It was a family emergency."

Oops. "Ah, less shitty."

"We forgot to reserve a table for tonight's show, and you were the first person I asked."

"Oh?" You try not to smile at that. Could moths see in the dark? Didn't they have, like, night vision or something? You hide your grin behind your hand just in case.

"Mhm," he continues. "I'm glad I ran into you."

You want to talk to Aiden more, but the band starts the opening number. This show is one you've been wanting to catch, all the crew members on the boat say it's The Best.

The curtain opens and you're instantly lost in the theatrics. They have everything: fire, water, gymnastics, people in the air, people bending in ways you didn't think a person could bend. You hardly notice the waiters bringing out your meal until Aiden leans forward to whisper in your ear.

"Is it alright if I eat this jerk's dinner?"

You laugh again in spite of yourself. "Go for it."

Your stomach growls at the mention of food, and you rip your eyes away from the show in order to scarf down a few bites. It's not the most elegant you've ever been, but no one is here to judge you.

At intermission, the lights go up and it's acceptable to talk again.

"What're you doing tomorrow?" You ask incredibly casually.

"I have no particular plans," he says, and despite you glaring down at your food you hear the smile in his voice.

"I was gonna check out the water slides tomorrow if you wanna come."

"That sounds perfect."

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

🧥 & 🍎 for October themes asks pls ❤️

🧥 warm coat: share a happy or fuzzy scene from your wip!

Here's a scene in Seventh Virtue where Foster & Harrison "break in" to a library after-hours. This library is very fancy! Also, Harrison slanders my one true love, poetry, in this excerpt. I'm as shocked as anyone else! Also, the range of Feeding Habits Harrison to Seventh Virtue Harrison astounds me.

Funnily enough, Foster does find drinks. Not far from the army of chaise lounges is a small beverage cart armed with a kettle and dozens of flavoured tea and hot chocolates, some too ridiculous for Harrison to imagine tasting like Peach Cheesecake and Pinecone.

“What in the fuck is pinecone tea?” he asks as Foster passes him a boring cup of earl grey.

“I don’t want to know.” Foster stretches out on one of the chairs across from Harrison, balancing a stack of books in one hand and his own mug of tea in the next.

“What’ve you got there, Einstein?”

“Rooibos. Rich in antioxidants, great for inflammation, low in caffeine—”

“No, genius,” Harrison says, and points to the stack of multicoloured books. “Your summer reading list over there.”

Foster rests his cup on the table between the clump of chairs and sits up. First, he holds up an older looking volume, the green cover worn and bilgy. “Encyclopedia of Herbs, Trees, and Flowers,” he says, and Harrison groans. “What’s the issue? We could be here for a while—maybe I want to help the Petersons garden.”

“I don’t think they need your help,” Harrison says, recalling the garden he’d noticed rimming the library. Blooms he’s only ever seen in pictures overwhelmed the building’s red brick.

Foster rests the encyclopedia onto the table and holds up the next one. “The Essential Neruda. For when I want to laugh, cry, and pine at the same time.”

“Poets disgust me,” Harrison says, already bored.

“Harrison.”

“What? Nothing against this Neruda dude, but who gives a shit about pretty words? Get to the point.”

*raise your hand if you give a shit about pretty words*

🍎 apple: let’s talk about friendship in your wip. do you have any favorite friend/platonic dynamics? any friendships gone sour?

This is the perfect segue! Foster and Harrison are so hilarious to write, but something I love about them in SV is that I actually get to write them again. For several years, Foster wasn’t really part of the series anymore, and was a character I couldn’t even remember to write because the series had gotten so serious and he didn’t really have a place (except when he’s very briefly mentioned in Feeding Habits, where their relationship has funnily enough, gone sour). They’ve been best friends since forever, and love each other very, very deeply. They also make fun of each other, as noted above!

Another dynamic I LOVE is Reeve and Harrison. Reeve and Harrison together are just an absolute disaster. I love it. Literally zero critical thinking skills! Literally no care for consequence! Together, they destruct, and it’s kind of amazing. They also deeply understand each other in a way that is kind of otherworldly. They’ve always been my favourite pairing because of how fiercely protective they are over each other! My faves <3

[spitdrunken]

It's Soft! And good golly miss Molly do I have words for you to read.

First, don't worry about taking too long to answer asks, especially from me. It's your blog and you can post on it at your leisure! I'm sure my fellow anonymous perverts agree! Time spent on words is between you and your commissioners.

Speaking of! No need to worry that I wouldn't like "someone to hold", I LOVED it! Oh spitdrunken it was just lovely. Emmet was the perfect amount of ornery and rude: not so much as to make him unlikable but just enough of a little shit because that is HIS brother and how dare Emmet be expected to share?! But also, he's clearly hurting from all the time traveling/amnesia nonsense because it was hard on him! It would be hard on anyone.

And the date! Reader-kun and Emmet in the cramped amusement park train is comedy gold. And we get to see Emmet's sweet side too, he may be mad at Reader-kun right now, but he won't let them get hurt or sick. Safety first! The two of them talking things out in the ferris wheel was great, it's nice and sweet and is a wonderful foundation for Emmet allowing Reader-kun to fuck his brains out.

Which segues wonderfully into the next section of my review: the smut! Fuck yeah, the porn was fantastic! I completely and utterly LOVED Ingo recounting his and Emmet's second first time to Reader-kun, in great detail. Imagining how shaky and aroused Ingo's voice must have been doing all that, all while being so submissive and desperate *swoons* I am weak. I also really like how Reader-kun is willing to fuck Emmet at this point in their relationship because, well, same. He may be being a brat, but he's hot and I want to make him the filling in a Subway Boss sandwich! I want those twinks obliterated!

Ahem. Anyway, the main event! Threeway on the couch! I love it all so much, how it's all coming full circle with the previous tension on the couch but now the tension is being resolved, Emmet's nervous little confession because he doesn't want Reader-kun involved if he only likes Ingo, "Make me listen" god what I wouldn't give to do that!, and Emmet now wanting Reader-kun's attention too! Ingo describing Emmet's face! And then Emmet being a horny beast who demands more! It's all so good, it's perfect! And then the ending, LOL. You snooze you lose boys!

All in all, I thought it was a fantastic fic. Well worth the wait! I'll wait until you post this ask to send in my additional thoughts on my scenario, just to keep myself from spamming you and to give others the space in your inbox that they deserve. I hope you have a lovely rest of your day!

hiiii soft!!!!!! i saw the absolute wall of text you left me and got so happy <333!!! and thank you for being so understanding, i really appreciate it <33!!

I'm so glad that Emmet was the perfect amount of rude :D!! One of the things that worried me the most was making Emmet just 'mean' enough that it shows how Reader could've been bothered, but not actually enough that no one can root for him LMAO And I'm glad it worked for you!! He was definitely just really hurt by his brother leaving.

The train scene was HONESTLY one of my favourite parts to write HAHA I came up with it after seeing a very ugly children's train online and just had to add it in. I also felt the ferris wheel scene was just necessary for them to kind of built a bridge between each other, so, exactly!!

'i want those twin(k)s obliterated'!!!!! LITERALLY ME. Soft we have the same brain because Ingo was sooo desperate and nervous telling all of that and it's soso good!!!!

The nervous little confession was something I just HAD to add in because I wanted there to be a moment where Emmet was finally more vulnerable and honest with himself <33 And Emmet just being slightly jealous for Reader's attention as well is just,, the icing on top of that HAHA

I'm sooo happy with all of your praise, thank you very much!!!! I'm not sure I'm expressing it well but I genuinely appreciate it <3

[bestworstcase]

I like your thoughts on how Rapunzel was handling things wrong in “Rapunzel: Day One.” The episode tries to imply that Cassandra is wrong for not sharing her feelings with Rapunzel, but is a Rapunzel really the person Cassandra should be opening up to? Rapunzel never respects Cassandra’s boundaries. Cassandra’s a private person. Rapunzel doesn’t respect that. And just because Cassandra doesn’t want to open up to everyone doesn’t mean that she’s bottling things up.

ok so this is gonna be a long one bc tbh i like. fundamentally disagree that RDO, the narrative of RDO, in any way positions cassandra as the one at fault for the emotional conflict between her and raps.

to digress a bit - while tts is not immune to Aesop Episodes (e.g. rapunzel's enemy or you're kidding me) wherein the characters close out the story by talking about What They've Learned, ultimately i don't think tts can or should be read as a morality play. it's a story where sometimes characters just... fuck up and the narrative doesn't waste its time on hand-holding or spoon-feeding us the moral.

anyway, i submit that RDO is what i'll call a False Aesop Episode. it follows the basic structure of an Aesop Episode (protagonist acts badly -> protagonist learns a lesson) but the lesson rapunzel learns is a bad one. it's like if you took... say, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" as an aesop, the False Aesop here is rapunzel confidently eating a rotten apple and then being blindsided a few months later when the doctor who kept begging her not to eat food with maggots in it steals the moonstone from under her nose and runs off into the night with her new demon pal--

and that metaphor got away from me a little bit but you get the idea.

#1: constructing the conflict

the episode opens with cassandra. she's training; we see the sword fly out of her injured hand; lance suggests she take a break, and she answers, "thanks to rapunzel's little trick at the great tree, i have to relearn everything using this hand, so breaks aren't really an option."

she isn't harsh about it. her demeanor isn't all that different from her normal self—she even segues into a very typical concern (that the woods are dangerous and they should all be on their guard) and banters with lance a bit.

what this communicates, immediately and succinctly, is that:

1. cassandra's injury is severe. it's disabling. she's either in immense pain or she's lost all the strength in that hand or both.

2. cass is really upset about this, and not happy with rapunzel.

3. nevertheless cass is keeping her feelings more or less in check; the worst anyone could say about her is she's being a bit more curt than normal.

which is to say, she's acting quite reasonable. she's not taking out her hurt feelings on anyone else or being mean or lashing out, and she's not hiding her injury either. the most concerning thing about her behavior here is actually that she's focused on training so she can do her job instead of on healing or resting or taking care of herself.

then there's a pan over to rapunzel, who is angrily watching this play out while venting to pascal. "i get why cass is mad at me," she says. "she told me—" huge disdainful rolling of eyes here "—not to use the decay spell back and the tree, and i did, and she hurt her hand. but if she had just listened to me and stayed out of it, this all could have been avoided! and i feel like we could work things out, but she refuses to talk about it!!"

line this up against cassandra's behavior and spot the differences.

cass is focused on her injured hand. cass is upset because rapunzel accidentally mutilated her in the great tree. that's what this conflict is about for cass; her injury, and how she feels about being injured.

by contrast, rapunzel thinks the conflict is about them not listening to each other. she does acknowledge that cass was injured, but 1. she puts the blame on cass, and 2. has shoved the fact of the injury to the periphery of the conflict. it's not important, it's just a natural consequence of the real conflict, which is cass being mad and petty and refusing to talk to her about how she's unfairly blaming rapunzel for something that wasn't rapunzel's fault.

[i will add here that this behavior from rapunzel is 100% not knowing how to handle guilt and externalizing it as anger, and this thread of rapunzel burying her guilt gets picked up again in rapunzeltopia; it isn't that rapunzel doesn't care that cass is hurt, so much as she's just not emotionally equipped to process these feelings in a healthy way so it mutates into...this.]

and where cass handles her feelings in a pretty reasonable way, rapunzel rants and raves and draws cass as a literal monster with fangs and claws—she's stewing in her out of control emotions and concludes that she just has to find a way to force cass talk to her, which she does shortly thereafter by ordering—not asking—cass to come with her to search for parts to fix the caravan.

#2: the breakdown of communication

i've said it before but it bears repeating: cassandra might not be perfect, but she's a good communicator. in s1 and the front half of s2, she shares her feelings with rapunzel readily and frequently. when she tries to set boundaries with rapunzel, she's able to be clear and specific about what she needs. when she expresses frustration with eugene or her dad or rapunzel, she's very articulate about exactly what she's frustrated about. she can recognize when politer, softer refusals are being ignored and become blunter and more specific to ensure the message is getting across.

the moments when cass struggles to communicate are noteworthy because they're not normal. they signal that she's in acute crisis. think of how her unhinged rant about adira in RATGT heralded a complete emotional breakdown. she clams up in RDO because it's the only thing she can do to protect herself. because rapunzel is an inexperienced nineteen year old who learned all her social "skills" from a manipulative, egotistical abuser and nowhere in the series does that show more than in RDO.

rapunzel knows cass doesn't want to talk about the great tree, so she isolates cass from the rest of the group with the intention of forcing her to talk about it anyway. she's passive aggressive at first: chattering about inanities and trying to bait cass into 'opening up,' and acting vexed and guilt-trippy when she finds out cass brought owl along. she broaches the subject by going "too bad there's not an open-up-to-your-best-friend-about-the-thing-you-guys-are-fighting-about wand, huh?"

then she leads with "i know you're mad at me, but i did the right thing. i didn't have a choice," which... what can cass even say to that? she acknowledged cassandra's anger in one breath and followed up with "but you're wrong tho" in the next. that statement makes cassandra's feelings about her debilitating injury into an argument about Who Was Right.

this is a game that cass tries very hard not to play. "look, if you feel that way, then it's fine. we're good," she says, which is a statement that is not true at all on its face but - what it means is that if rapunzel wants to turn this into a debate about Who Was Right, cass will concede because that's not an argument she's invested in. cass does not want to put her feelings on trial so rapunzel can pick them apart and decide whether she deserves to have them or not.

so she disengages. the sun sets. they camp. rapunzel pokes her again, this time with a more direct approach: "cass, i need to talk about what we both know is going on between us."

and that's when cass throws up a WALL. prior to RDO, when cass is pressed on her feelings, she either: 1. opens up and explains to the extent that she's able (e.g. under raps or RATGT), or 2. flatly shuts the conversation down (e.g. cassandra vs eugene). but in RDO?

"there's nothing to talk about."

"i never said i was upset."

"what makes you so sure that you know how i'm feeling?"

this is cass falling off the end of her rope. this is a cass who spent the last year and a half with rapunzel running roughshod over every boundary cass exhausted herself trying to set. this is cass maybe a few weeks out from rapunzel screaming at her in front of all their mutual friends and then telling her "i am going to make decisions you don't agree with and i need you to be okay with that" when cass tried to open up about her deepest insecurities. this is cass spiraling into despair because she's seen that her best friend cares more about assuaging her own guilt and exerting her authority as a princess than she does about cassandra's feelings.

this is the moment when the friendship dies.

#3: the memory wipe, cassandra's apology, and the false aesop

the details of the tangled-but-cass shenanigans are not super important for the purposes of this discussion. suffice it to say that cassandra lashes out in the heat of the moment, seriously harms rapunzel by mistake, and spends the rest of the episode trying to repair the damage, then apologizes to rapunzel for hurting her. this is, obviously, the correct thing to do when you hurt someone, even if it was an accident.

you see the parallel here, yeah?

rapunzel hurt cass with magic by accident, and then made cass's hurt feelings all about her, blamed cass for the injury, twisted the facts to justify her own indignation, picked a fight about Who Was Right and invalidated cassandra's feelings, and pushed and pushed and pushed until cass blew up and lashed out at her.

cassandra also hurt rapunzel with magic by accident, and then she set aside her own hurt feelings from the argument they were having before to focus one hundred percent of her energy on brewing a cure and keeping amnesiac rapunzel safe, readily admitted her fault, and offered an earnest apology for losing her temper as soon as she could reasonably do so.

if RDO were a true Aesop Episode, this would be the lesson, and rapunzel would of course learn from cassandra's good example and reciprocate by apologizing for the accident in the great tree and her abysmal behavior afterwards—and in a reflection of how cass shared how bottling up her anger allowed it to erupt in a catastrophic way, rapunzel would probably confess that her demanding, selfish behavior came from a place of feeling awful about what happened and terrified that it would ruin their friendship.

but RDO is a False Aesop Episode. rapunzel isn't emotionally equipped to handle the intensity of her guilt, and she lacks the social insight and empathy to draw comparisons between what she did to cass and what cass did to her, so she can't connect the two situations in her head to understand what she's doing wrong. the true aesop flies right over her head, and instead what she learns is this:

1. she was right about cass being upset

2. backing cass into a corner fixed the problem

3. friends really do "just know"

4. being pushy and forceful was the right thing to do.

because the thing is, when cass apologizes for the accidental memory wipe, she truthfully explains why she acted the way she did—she's furious and she didn't want to talk about it, so she held it in as long as she could and then exploded when the pressure became too much—and for rapunzel, i think the explanation and the actual apology get conflated. meaning, cass says "i'm sorry for what i did out of anger" and what rapunzel hears is "i'm sorry for being angry."

and because of that misunderstanding, from rapunzel's perspective her own indignation has been validated and her behavior justified, because she was right all along and cass shouldn't have been angry with her in the first place and now everything is fine--

but it's not fine.

we're not supposed to share rapunzel's perspective here, because she's flat out wrong. nothing is really better and nothing has really changed, except that rapunzel got the talk she wanted and stops putting this intense pressure on cass. so as we enter the house of yesterday's tomorrow, rapunzel is taking it for granted that things are fine with cass, and meanwhile cass is still injured, still angry, still as aloof as she can be without getting rapunzel breathing down her neck again... and then she meets zhan tiri, who gives her everything she needed and couldn't get from rapunzel.

like, to my mind, this is the entire point of RDO, that rapunzel makes this catastrophic mess of trying to patch things up after RATGT and comes out of that mess wrongly thinking she succeeded. the episode is presented through the lens of rapunzel's perspective, but the lines are very wide and i absolutely think the intention is for the audience to read between them and understand the reality that rapunzel has sort of blinded herself to.

[longeyelashedtragedy]

all or nothing episode 5: stream of consciousness comments

-oh boy...NOT READY

-edu and the january transfer window...how we all feel lol

-that side of me that loves...legal proceedings and shit (when reading “true crime” stuff in the past my fav part was always the trial) finds this stuff about the auba dilemma really interesting

-y’all work with mikel why can’t you say his name right omg

-edu being like WARNING: talking to mikel about this issue will be Dangerous Proceed With Caution 

-man this all is just. Uncomfortable to watch

-mikel arteta eyebrows queen of north london

-mikel drops his first “fucking” of the episode

-granit staring at him so Intently whenever he talks 🥺

-eddie nketiah episode??? omg fuck yes i love this for us

-oh gosh nottingham forest....here comes the dressing room....wait shit granit wasn’t even there bc of covid so we’ll never get to see how he reacted to that (in person)

-FFF I FORGOT THIS IS WHEN NUNO COMES OFF IN THE 1ST HALF

-omg “if i lose a duel i get upset”...at one point he just straight up shrieked i swear what demon lives inside of this man

-charlie patino is like what did i get myself into

-god i just wanna hug all of them....i Love them so much

-LMAO emile going to nando’s bc his mom isn’t home ajkdf;akldf

-the way every scene mikel and this tim lewis guy have together is like an evil mastermind scene...and he sucks up to mikel so much “my relationship with mikel isn’t transactional” yeah ok sure

-OMG just got a clip of mikel saying his own name that kind of thing is Important (*it sounds really cute when he says it lmao)

-wait what is this a granit episode all of a sudden?

-granit laughing happily: “i’m one of the oldest already!  and i’m still 28!”

-i SWEAR when granit smiles and laughs the world is literally ok again!!! he is a GIFT!

- “people think i’m very aggressive, because of my game”

-jfc whenever i see him mouthing “fuck off” in that clip i get [redacted]

-OMG GRANIT TELLING THESE FANS HARASSING HIM TO SHUT UP JADKFLKADF;AKF god why didn’t u make me granit

-”not one of us as kids start football because of the money.  you start football because you love it”

-beautiful shots of granit omg ffffff god i wish amazon let you fuckin screenshot

-ah, and this segues right into liverpool lol

-granit being mini manager in the dressing room

-let’s stop and reflect on how PERFECT xhakarteta is as a couple they were made for each other tyvm i’m having sO many emotions and Feelings

-granit sad and alone and upset in the dressing room after kicking diogo jota...oh my whole heart i love one man. i know we saw this in the trailer but y’all it’s beautiful and heartbreaking

-laca and baby gabi coming off the pitch holding hands...my HEART

-oh oh oh they show mikel going over to hug sad granit before he leaves the dressing room....hgjskgjsjsg it was G rated but it says it all

-mikel asking the staff how to pronounce “goosebumps” lmao

-his nice dressing room talks are so sweet and heartfelt

-ayo i don’t need these fans’ shitty opinions on granit...keep it to Yourselves

-kt and rob coming into the canteen all hyped up!!!!!  i love them!!! i hope someone takes a video of them dancing pls

-ben white and aaron content!...omg seeing that gabon scored....sigh

-this scene of everyone teasing granit about his card....his bde in this is INSANE and it’s also kinda serving deki vibes for me god i’m having such like Envy and Feelings

-OMG WAIT ARE WE GOING TO HIS HOUSE NOW OMG

-OMG HE JUST SAID SHPIRTI IM TO AYANA I AM DYING AND SCREAMING

-his kids are so cute and happy the family life vibes are SOLID

-yo we get to hear leonita speak?!! she has a really nice voice (vanja vibes) and i like what she’s saying about granit

-THIS WAS AMAZING IT’S EVERYTHING I’M DYING AJDKF;LAKDFDF

-back to auba drama...sigh

-SIR put your fucking eyelashes AWAY sos 911

-DUBAI TIME

- “in spain they call it casa pepe...it means pepe’s house he can do whatever he fucking wants.” ...mikel there’s no way that’s a thing but can we all just start saying “casa pepe” now

-mikel praising granit :’))) whose Slutty Dubai Arms are in all their glory

-mikel Yelling at granit on the pitch omggggg...

-he’s losing his voice again and the dude goes “your voice is fucking terrible” jakd;akdlfdf drag him

-LMAO barca dicking around is anyone surprised

-they literally got the deal done ONE MINUTE before the deadline??? i’d say “that was fake for tv” but this is arsenal football club after all

-wow that episode was...wow

-the last one left to watch is going to be a WHOPPER cause it has us going to mikel’s house? it’s shorter than the others but like. do i have the ability to process that rn

-damn guys just w Ow this episode was doing the most