#I'm going to tag my first two because they're not going to surprise anyone

[wolfofcelestia]

I did the tourabu sorter with strictly no ties. My tastes changed a little bit since 6ish? years ago, but I think I still gravitate to the same swords

There were some tough match ups but I eventually started picking swords by thinking about who I'd like to hang out with more. Some swords I like were pushed down because of that but I think my ranking would also change from day to day

Anyway, here's my top 15 because I get really meh about them after that

15: Chougi

Yeah I really don't have much to say about him except that I appreciate his outfit lmao. A little funny that I like the sus Osafune better than some of the actual Osafunes.

14: Hasebe

I have a soft spot for him but he's really dropped in rank over the years because... I just don't think he'd be very fun to hang out with lol

Like yeah, in a life or death situation, of course you'd want him around. He is a huge ego boost for anyone he calls his master. He'd massacre thousands for you and ask who you want him to kill next. He'd burn down entire cities just to keep you safe (or just to impress you).

He is a good sword, a good servant, and a good killer. But if you want a friend? Is he capable of being just a friend? Or would even just thinking about being on the same level as you be too much for him?

13+11: Chigane and Chiyogane

I'm grouping these two together because they both grew on me during the seaside regiment event, the event I came back to tourabu for because of Jikkyuu. They both have very chill vibes and soothing voices and I appreciate them both. I'm surprised they're this high up though

12: Tonbokiri

Yaris aren't my thing but I can appreciate Tonbo's personality and voice. A big teddy bear. Yeah.

10: Kousetsu

If his personality wasn't so depressing, he'd easily be in my top 5 purely because his voice. Because. Fuck. FUCK.

The only other time I've ever heard Satou use such a breathy, whispering, purring voice for one character so frequently is---

9: Kanesan

Honestly he's in my top 10 because of gameplay. He is my strongest uchi because tourabu decided to barely improve the 2-slot uchis after kiwame. And Kanesan is the only 3-slot uchi I like. He's really the only uchi I use now tbh

I had a brief stint in the Hakuouki fandom so him being tied to Hijikata makes him kinda familiar to me but I'm honestly not attached to him as some of the others in my top 10.

8: Kogi

Who doesn't want to be princess carried by a huge fox guy? His voice is very soothing and that feral switch is also a huge bonus. No real attachments to him but I think he's neat.

7: Sadachan

A little mini Shoku but with more energy all around. If I were a saniwa, he would probably be the only tantou I would actually like hanging out with ngl

6: Kikkou

Honestly, I like his pre-kiwame outfit better than his kiwame outfit. The hexagon pattern on his cape makes him look futuristic. I'm sad he lost that and also his black shirt in his kiwame awakening pose. As for his personality, I think he'd be fun to hang out with. A little much, but fun. So like, I could hang out with him for 15 minute intervals maybe. When push comes to shove, I appreciate that he can be really earnest too.

5: Akashi

If I had to pick the most relatable sword, it would be him. He would be the ultimate literal netflix and chill partner, no funny business because... that sounds like a lot of work. I bet he'd enjoy watching you on his lap tho. I like his design too, all except for those weird random straps over his chest? What's that about?

4: Fuku

Honestly, he's been 3rd for a while. All up until like 2 weeks ago but we'll get to that.

When Fuku was released, I lost my shit. Shoku finally got a brother after all these years and it was fucking Belial. I Lost. My Shit. Pretty sure I hadn't touched the game in about 3 years when Fuku came out and I came back for the event... and left right after. I may have stopped playing but I wasn't going to let Shoku's only brother get away from me.

His voice being almost identical to Belial is a double-edged sword for me though. Objectively, I do like it, I do appreciate it, and I do find it hot. On the other hand, I can't unhear Belial and it's hard for me to separate their personalities.

I'm still not over this. Belial ruins everything (affectionate) even when he's not in this universe.

As for Fuku personality? Honestly, I'm still trying to pin down my headcanon Fuku's personality but it's been hard for me beCAUSE OF A CERTAIN FALLEN ANGEL. My image of him right now oscillates between comic relief and someone who's pretty serious. But I feel like it would be fun to tease him because he would blush pretty easily, similar to Shoku.

His association with Nihongou isn't really my thing (see Tonbo's entry) and his former master isn't someone I'm really familiar with, but he's from the Sengoku period so he's still in my range of familiarity.

Out of the three Mitsutadas, Fuku definitely doesn't click as well with me as the others. But I would choose him over most other swords without a second thought.

Nah fuck this dude.

He was never really a top favourite for me before. I only saw him as the one waki in an adult body, someone who says sussy things, and has a ghost girlfriend. Then one day after Jikkyuu pulled me back into the game, I picked Nikkari's name out of a hat to include in my story. And then he goes and takes over the story and fucks my very first saniwa oc three times. Really. My first born child. FUcking RUDE.

Him vs Fuku was probably the hardest matchup in the sorter and he would probably share the 3rd spot with Fuku if I had allowed ties. And maybe Fuku would win out over him on some days. But this is where they both are atm

Honestly, I'm surprised it took 8 years for me to see Nikkari as one of my favourites because he checks a lot of my boxes. First and foremost, this guy fits into a horror story like no one else. He comes equipped with his own ghost! Where the hell was I looking? (oh right, at that guy at #1)

The fact that he drops innuendos like candy is usually something I go for too but it's only taken me until now to appreciate him. Sometimes I think his voice is just pretty normal, but then I hear him say something a certain way and it just short-circuits my brain

I think the main thing I never really got into is his outfit tbh. I like the ghost robe cape thing but the rest of his outfit is kinda plain. I do like his pre-kiwame outfit better than his kiwame outfit though. Still, considering he's up against the Mitsutada brothers, he's doing pretty good being so high on my list lol

A bab.y

You know how I lost my shit when Fuku was released? Multiply that by 500 and you got my reaction just seeing Jikkyuu's teaser. There was absolutely no mistaking that a new Mitsutada was here. Him sharing the same artist as Shoku was clear from the start. And even before I knew anything about Jikkyuu, I knew I didn’t stand a chance

Jikkyuu, an Oda Mitsutada. No, THE Oda Mitsutada. Fuck me

And the best part? His personality is so fucking cute??

His outfit is on fucking point. Absolutely perfect outfit. Fucking love it. I can’t pick out a single thing I don’t like about it. Holy moly, have you seen this guy? The veins on his arms though jesus chRIST. I don’t know what that extra black band below his glove is but fuck I could gnaw on his forearm for hours. And his rolled up sleeves?? Call me a fucking ambulance. It’s like the tourabu character designers did research on Shoku fans and took the best parts of his design and gave them to Jikkyuu. And it fucking worked because they got me ON. SIGHT.

He’s gentle, he's kind, he's serene, he’s babby. But oh fuck get him on the battlefield, push him enough, and the next thing you’ll see is hell staring down at you

He is so similar yet so different to Shoku, and this was an easy way in to make me instantly like him before learning to like him for who he is. His memory is shit but he hopes you like him? DON'T WORRY MY MEMORY IS ALSO ABSOLUTE GARBAGE

Jikkyuu ticks all my cute, hot, and horror boxes. The fact that the very first line the world heard from him was something that sent all swordsani fans into space??? We're getting a new Mitsutada who's this hot and also has flirtatious tendencies??? This guy took over my brain for at least a month straight after that, resulting in me coming back to both tourabu and writing... and accidentally writing myself into a rabbit hole that I am currently stuck in

The only thing that keeps me from putting him at like rank 1.5 is his voice. It really isn’t my usual type but I was definitely surprised his seiyuu could suddenly pull out Jikkyuu’s horsekeeping lines. Those nearly fucking killed me. His scouting line is so dreamy, I melt every time I hear it. I want him to read me a bedtime story every night. But the sounds he makes when he's injured?? ohhHHHH BOYYYY

As of right now, Jikkyuu firmly holds the number 2 rank. The only other sword that could possibly knock him down a rank would be a future Mitsutada. But that future Mitsutada would have to be aiming at several of my weak points for me to like him more than Jikkyuu. Even if they’re not for me, I still want to see more of them. Give me all the Mitsutadas you can throw at me, tourabu

Damn. Who's that hot guy?

What to say about him? He's lived in my head rent-free for 8 years, was the reason why I moved to Japan for a year, changed the way I think about a lot of things, and is just overall The Main Husbando. Out of all the favourite characters in all the fandoms I've invested time in, Shoku would stand out way up high on top of that list

He's usually so calm and collected but his personality switches to this loud, chaotic, fun-loving guy when he's on the battlefield. Look at him out there, cutting down enemy after enemy with a smile on his face. Boy's having the time of his life chopping off a head here, an arm there. Let him have his fun :)

He's caring and doesn't let you forget about keeping up good habits. He may seem vain at first but his kiwame death line? That line? The first and only time he ever calls you aruji? That fucking line. After everything else he's ever said just shows how much you really meant to him. FucK

I could talk more about his voice but I would need about 20 more pages to do so. I could fucking live in his mouth, let's put it that way. He could go from hot and tempting to so fucking soft and caring I'm gansldfkasjdfa dlnjgsf HHHHHHH

Even though he is the little brother in his family, he will always be the big brother of the citadel. You know he's the one everyone turns to for all sorts of situations

He'd be the person you'd want with you everywhere because he could help you with everything. Chores around the house? Absolutely. Cooking together would so fucking cute. Seeing him in his element, completely immersed in it and having fun. Have you heard his laugh? Baby angels would weep tears of pure joy.

Shopping for clothes? You bet your ass you'd want him with you. With his help, you'd come out looking like a star. Grocery shopping? Working together to get all the ingredients for tonight's dinner!! Getting his opinion on which tomatoes to get??? asldkfajsdflkn

Some loser bothering you while walking down the street? Get ready to fall in love again because he'd handle it so smoothly. And if things get physical, he'd shut that down instantly. He doesn't have the highest attack stat out of all the tachis for no reason.

Hanging out? What a fucking soothing cuddle buddy. Get too close? He'd enjoy teasing you and seeing your reactions because he knows your weak spots ("Whatever defenses you have are useless!"), but turn the tables on him and you might end up with a blushy mess on your hands if you catch him off guard. In the bedroom? I am stopping here.

I A M STOPP ING HER E.

[thewritingrowlet]

The Outing Trip pt. 1, ft. tripleS Xinyu

tags: daddy kink, anal teasing, creampie, praise kink (just a bit), rough

tw: violence (OC takes a punch in the face, nothing crazy I promise)

word count: 12k+

author's note: this is the first part of a small series (4 parts max.) inspired by an anon's idea of a university outing trip (minus the "stranded in an island due to a storm with a bunch of girls" part) featuring a handful of tripleS members. This part also mentions Yooyeon, Nakyoung, Dahyun, and Chaeyeon as I consider them to be candidates to be featured in future parts.

p.s. after I finish writing part 2 of this series, I'm gonna stop writing about tripleS members for one or two fics. Let me know if you think there's anyone (who is over the age of 18 in May 2024) that needs attention (be it bcs they're from a less-popular group, or bcs they only debuted recently and you're a fan, etc).

-

It is now September. The hot summer days are starting to go and be replaced by the chiller and refreshing days of shorter daylight that autumn usually has in its bag. September is also the month where every single student organization in the university goes on outings to welcome their new members. That includes the student council that you’re the president of. You’re having a meeting with a bunch of council staffs and governors—the term your university uses to refer to council leaders on the faculty level because the university wants to replicate real-world governmental structure—in about 10 minutes to talk about details about the outing itself. Everyone will be wearing their uniform, which is a sight you find to be cute.

“President-oppa!”, you hear a girl’s voice behind you as you’re walking to the meeting place, so you turn around to see who it is. You see Xinyu, the council’s vice president who also happens to be your lovely girlfriend, walking like a supermodel towards you. “Hey, princess”, you greet her before taking her hand and pecking it. Xinyu loves it when you do those two things (call her “princess” and kiss her hand), blushing every time she sees you do it. You, on the other hand, don’t really care if her fondness of praises is a sign of narcissism because no one can tell you she doesn't deserve such treatment. You also don’t really care about displaying affection in public—why wouldn’t you want to show affection to your perfect-in-every-aspect girlfriend all the time? It also serves as an announcement that both you and Xinyu are off-limits since the relationship is not a secret.

“O-oppa”, she looks down at her shoes to hide the red hue on her cheeks, “you always do these sweet things to me”. You wrap an arm around her waist, “because you deserve it, sweetie”. She twiddles her index fingers in shyness, “but my heart can only take so much of it in a day, oppa”. “Skill issue, baby”, you chuckle—how adorable is it that you’ve been dating her for over a year and living together in an apartment for almost as long and she still gets overwhelmed with your sweet gestures and words?

“Xinyu-yah”, you throw a lifebuoy to save her from drowning in her own thoughts, “we need to get to get there fast, baby; there’s only a few minutes left and we’re the last people who get to be late”. You take her hand and start running, making Xinyu yell in surprise and possibly turn some people’s heads. You stop running when you’re in front of the elevator and press the button to go up. It’s nice that the elevator doesn’t have a CCTV in it, because you can share a bit of intimacy with Xinyu by pecking her on the lips and forcing a blush once again—her poor heart is guaranteed to give out by the end of the day. “Oppa, I really can’t take much of this anymore”, Xinyu complains. “Of course you can, what are you talking about?”, you laugh. You and Xinyu need to put on a serious face soon, though, as the elevator doors are opening, and you’ll be met with people outside.

“I thought you two were going to be late, not gonna lie”, Nakyoung, Xinyu’s best friend and fellow council member, greets you at the doors of the auditorium. “Do you really think that low of us, Nakyoung-ah?”, Xinyu protests. Nakyoung laughs, “not really, no—just thought maybe you ran off on a date or something”. Xinyu pinches Nakyoung’s cheeks in annoyance, making a small scene in front of a bunch of council members. You shake your head in amusement, “alright, that’s enough, kids. Is everyone here, Nakyoung-ah?”. “Almost; the Faculty of Medicine’s governor will be late. She’s still assisting in a lab and said you can start without her”, Nakyoung explains before taking you and Xinyu’s hands and pulling the both of you into the auditorium. You look at the clock hanging on the wall and see that you’re perfectly on time—perfectly calculated, if you say so yourself.

“Good afternoon, governors. Thank you for taking the time for today’s little meeting”, you take the center spot on the stage. You sometimes wonder why you talk and act like this in front of fellow students but since the university wants this to be as authentic of an experience as possible, you can’t help but play along. “This is September, and you guys know what it means: we need to welcome the new members of our councils on both the university and faculty level. Would someone kindly kick us off and report their preparation progress?”, you see the Faculty of Science’s governor, Kim Yooyeon, raise her hand so you step to the side and let her take your spot on the stage.

She starts presenting the things she and her members have done to prepare, such as consulting with the dean, surveying the area she wants to go to, and calculating the cost of the entire thing. You admire her thoroughness and ability to think ahead—the girl students call the goddess isn’t just known for her looks, but also sharpness of mind. Just one thing, though: she doesn’t like attention, as shown by the way she jogs back to her seat while partially covering her face after she’s done talking. “Thank you, Yooyeon-ah—oh, hello, Jiwoo-yah!”, you greet Son Jiwoo, the aforementioned governor from the Faculty of Medicine who just entered the room. “Hi, hello”, she rushes to her seat, “sorry for being late, I was needed in the lab”. “No, you’re fine, sweetie. Let’s continue, though”, your over-friendliness spills out and Xinyu glares at you from her seat, but you miss it since you don’t have eyes on the back of your head.

One governor after the other takes turns to present their plans; some have come up with elaborate plans, while others have simpler ideas as to how to welcome their new members. Once everyone is done presenting their plans, you wrap up the meeting (not without expressing appreciation to everyone) and let them go so that they can go about the rest of their day. Yooyeon stays behind, probably because she has some things to discuss with the three of you. “Hey, guys”, she approaches slowly, “I want to talk about something, but can we get out of here first? This auditorium keeps reminding me of some of my hardest days”. “Yeah, sure. Lead the way, unnie”, Nakyoung says before suggesting another idea, “are you guys free, by the way? We can talk over some food if you are—oppa will pay since he’s the richest among us”.

Nakyoung and Yooyeon walk side-by-side while holding hands, while you and Xinyu walk behind them with your hands intertwined. Xinyu then slows down her steps, creating a decent gap between Nakyoung and Yooyeon. “Oppa”, she tugs your hand, a hint of sadness in her voice, “you.. you’re not interested in Jiwoo-unnie, are you?”. Her question catches you off guard, “Jiwoo-unnie? Son Jiwoo? No, of course not. Why?”. “You, um, were a little too friendly with her earlier—I mean, she is pretty, so I understand”, she sulks. You try to recount what happened during the meeting, and you realize that you called her “sweetie”—that pet name is supposed to be reserved for Xinyu only. You instantly feel a huge wave of guilt at the realization, “I’m so sorry, baby. I promise you it was nothing but a slip up”. She lets go of your hand and hugs the clipboard she’s holding with both arms, “please don’t do that again. I-I didn’t like it”, she says.

She refuses to hold your hand for the rest of the walk, and that’s a hint the size of a mountain that you’ve fucked up and you’ll need to make it up to your princess. You finally arrive at the student-favorite noodle spot after a few minutes of walking. It’s not too packed since most students are in class, considering what time it is. Nakyoung joins your group after ordering for everyone. Yooyeon sits across Nakyoung, so that leaves Xinyu no option but to sit across you. Only when she sits down can you see her teary eyes, “you fucked up and now you’re in trouble, son”, your heart says. “Okay, unnie, we’re here. So, what was it you wanted to talk about?”, Nakyoung says. Yooyeon scratches the back of her head, “oh, um, I actually just wanted to hang out with you guys. You seem to be a fun trio to be around”. You chuckle, “yeah, that’s fine, we were getting food regardless. Welcome to the fold, I guess”. You arrange your words more carefully this time because you don’t want to fuck things up even further.

-

You’re now standing at the bus stop after the meal, still surrounded by your friends. “So, what now?”, you ask. Nakyoung, oblivious to your situation with Xinyu, throws her idea into the ring, “let’s go to your place, oppa. I really wanna lay down on that gloriously soft and fluffy sofa of yours”. You glance at Xinyu, who doesn’t seem to hate the idea, and nod in agreement to the idea, “yeah, we can do that. What about you, Yooyeon-ah? You have other classes after this?”. “N-no, ca-can I join you again? I-I don’t have many friends, you see”, Yooyeon hides her face behind her hands after saying that—you never knew a goddess could be so shy around people and have so few friends, but here you are. “Alright, let’s get on that bus so that we don’t have to walk to the parking lot”, you point to the approaching yellow campus bus—the off-site parking lot is not too far but you just can’t be assed to walk at the moment.

Doesn’t take long for the bus to arrive and take the four of you to the parking lot. You lead them to your car and Yooyeon makes a comment when she sees it, “nice car, Jisung-ah”. “I’m telling you, Jisung-oppa is rich, unnie. Daddy and mommy’s money, right, oppa?”, Nakyoung chimes in to tease you—this mischievous cat never runs out of ideas to tease her friends. “Well, when you put it like that”, you say. You’re never one to brag about your wealth, so you simply thank Yooyeon for the compliment and unlock the car so that your friends can get in. Xinyu gets in the front passenger seat like usual while the other two sit in the middle row.

You’re now out of the parking lot and on the way back to your apartment. “I need to stop at a convenience store, sorry. I need to buy something”, you say to your friends. “I bet he’s buying condoms”, Nakyoung chirps. Xinyu is probably not too entertained with what Nakyoung is suggesting, but they tease each other like that all the time. “I promise you I’m not”, you say as you pull into the driveway of the convenience store. “You guys do it raw, Xinyu-yah?”, Nakyoung lets out a fake surprise gasp at the end. “Kim Nakyoung, I promise I will throw you out the window of our apartment if you keep teasing me”, Xinyu says. “Look at them, unnie; they live together and have unprotected sex all the time”, Nakyoung turns to Yooyeon, who hides her face behind her palms again. You roll your eyes and get out of the car—you just want to get Xinyu’s favorite chocolate and snacks, it is not supposed to be this difficult, ever.

-

You finally arrive at your building after a short drive from the university. You hop off the car and walk in front, and would you look at that: Xinyu is wrapping a hand around your arm and leaning her head against your shoulder; “glad you’re feeling better, baby. I’m so sorry for being an ass”, you whisper to her. “I can’t stay mad at you for long, oppa, you know this”, Xinyu whispers back. Nakyoung is used to seeing your public display of affection, but Yooyeon, who is hanging out with your bunch for the first time, is not; she’s probably looking away so that she doesn't have to see this. You walk to the elevator and continue to your unit followed by the three girls, until you finally arrive at the door. Xinyu does the honors and unlocks the door before running into the bedroom. “Welcome to our little apartment, girls. Please make yourself at home”, you stand to the side and let them in. Nakyoung, as she has promised earlier, runs straight to your sofa and lies down on it, “Little apartment, my ass—oh my God, it’s so comfortable; this thing must be mad expensive. Unnie, come here, what are you doing?”, she invites Yooyeon who’s standing awkwardly in the doorway. “You can go with her, Yooyeon-ah. Please, make yourself comfortable”, you encourage her.

You then make your way to the bedroom to follow Xinyu and close the door behind you, you see that she has ditched her shirt for a white sleeveless tee that fits her perfect body like a bespoke glove. “I know you bought me snacks. Show me where they are or I will, I will—what’s a good one—not kiss you for the rest of the day”, she knows she can’t threaten you to save her life, so she must improvise to make herself sound scary. You chuckle and fish a bar of chocolate and a bunch of chips out of the bag, “for you, princess”. “Oh my God, chocolate too?! Thank you, oppa, you’re the best!”, she happily accepts your tribute and rips open a bag of chips. You peck the girl who’s munching so enthusiastically on the forehead, “anything for you, love. My world is dark without you”. Xinyu blushes at your words, “I can say the same about you, oppa. You know that right?”. You open your mouth to answer her, but that’s when you hear a knock on the door. “Oppa, Xinyu­-yah, are you guys done having sex? Yooyeon-unnie wants to talk”, Nakyoung says from the other side of the door.

Xinyu rushes out of the bedroom and flicks Nakyoung’s forehead, “we were not having sex, God damn it!”. You follow Xinyu out of the bedroom and head to the dining table, “play nice, girls. Come, we can talk here”, you call out to your friends. Yooyeon joins you on the table, followed by Xinyu and Nakyoung who have broken their little scuffle. “Before we start”, you poke Xinyu on the shoulder, “order some pizza for us, sweetie. We can get your favorite”. Xinyu runs back to the bedroom to get her phone and order her favorite pizza—food is truly the bullet train to her heart (and pants but we’ll save that for later). She high-steps her way to the table to join you, seemingly excited at the prospect of having her favorite pizza. She stops next to you and pecks you on the cheek, “I love you”, she says. “I love you more, sweetie. Sit, please”, you pull a chair for her. Nakyoung sighs, “I know you just joined us, unnie, but I guarantee that you’ll get tired of seeing these two act like this very soon”. “Oh, uh, I personally find it cute, actually. I’m happy for them; I hope I can experience that myself one day”, Yooyeon confesses before looking away.

-

“It’s nothing crazy, really”, Yooyeon starts, “I was just curious about your council’s plans to welcome the new members of your own. I-I was thinking maybe I discuss it if that’s okay with you guys”. Xinyu gets excited hearing those words, “of course, unnie. We would love that”. “Can you tell me a summary first?”, Yooyeon says. You tell her how you and Xinyu plan to do a 3-day trip to the nearby island that also happens to be a famous tourism destination. Nakyoung helps explain the schedule and agendas that she and another council member have come up with. Lastly, Xinyu explains other details such as logistics, methods of transportation, and accommodation; “we are prohibiting alcohol for this trip, by the way. The last thing we need is some drunk freshmen fucking things up”, she adds. “How do you plan to do that, exactly?”, Yooyeon inquires. “Well, I called the manager of the accomodation and specifically and precisely asked them to not sell anyone from our group alcohol and to notify ask should someone try”, Xinyu explains.

Yooyeon gets up from her seat and asks for your permission to get water, so you tell her to get some from the dispenser in the kitchen. She then gets back in her seat and starts talking again. “So, president, vice president, and—what are you again?”, Yooyeon turns to Nakyoung, who lets out a frustrated grunt, “Oh, God damn it—I’m the secretary and the third wheel to the president and vice president. Remember that, please”. “Right, sorry”, Yooyeon clears her throat, “The reason I wanted to talk to you guys is because I have some potential candidates that might be able to join you guys in the council at the university level”. “Okay, go on”, you encourage her to keep talking. “They initially wanted to join us at the faculty, but we couldn’t accept them simply because we were full. I was thinking that maybe these two can thrive under your flag instead”. “Names, unnie?”, Nakyoung asks as she pulls out her phone to write their names. “Seo Dahyun, born in ‘03, and Kim Chaeyeon, born in ‘04”, Yooyeon says, “Dahyun had to retake the SAT for the second time; that’s why it took her a bit longer to get here, but that fact doesn’t take anything away from her, I assure you”.

Yooyeon obviously knows these people better than anyone in the room, since she knows them and has interviewed them personally, so the three of you decide to trust her perception of them. Xinyu arranges an interview for each of them tomorrow at noon—no precise time yet since you’ll need to confirm their schedules with each of them. Yooyeon gives Nakyoung their numbers and she starts hitting them up on CocoaSpeak. “One more thing, Jisung-ah”, she looks at you, “I want to be in the room where it happens”. “Sure, you can be there with us for the interview”, you say to her. “Won’t that be too intimidating?”, Xinyu utters her concern. Yooyeon shakes her head in disagreement, “these two don’t get intimidated easily, they’ll be fine”.

You hear a buzz from the door, so you ask Xinyu to get the pizza from the delivery guy. You make sure to pay attention to the exchange because Xinyu has had a bad experience with a degenerate delivery guy who thought that she was attractive and decided to take his 1-in-a-billion chance. You understand that you can take the pizza yourself but letting her do it helps Xinyu overcome her trauma as she knows that you have her back. Xinyu slams the door a bit too roughly and runs back towards the dining table. “I present to you, the Zhou Xinyu Special!”, she opens the box and puts it down on the table. Yooyeon keeps staring at the large pizza on the table in confusion, until Nakyoung notices and pokes her in the arm to get her attention, “it’s a pizza with ground beef, pepperoni, mushroom, and extra cheese, unnie—they use a lot of cheese, hence the pie-like visual”. “Ah, I see”, Yooyeon nods after hearing the explanation.

You take a slice from the box and start eating, followed by the three girls. “I’ve eaten this pizza so often, but it still amazes me every time. You really know your way around food, don’t you, Xinyu-yah?”, Nakyoung remarks. “Of course, food is the second thing I love the most in this world after oppa”, Xinyu says before exclaiming at the taste of her favorite pizza. “I love you too”, you wipe your mouth with a napkin before pecking Xinyu on the cheek. Xinyu blushes after hearing your words and receiving a peck, as she tries to hide her face behind the slice of pizza in her hand. “You two are so cute”, Yooyeon comments, not helping Xinyu overcome the heat on her cheeks.

The four of you start talking about a bunch of topics, from how Yooyeon initially wanted to join the university’s council but got rejected, how Nakyoung met Yooyeon for the first time and thought that she was a cold and scary person, and, at Yooyeon’s request, how you and Xinyu started dating. You explain that you had known Xinyu for a while as a fellow member of the council during freshman year but only admired her from afar. The two of you were then placed in the same group for a community service project the president at the time had come up with. “Xinyu was crying alone after the first day because of how exhausting and hard it was, so I mustered up the courage to approach her and offered to take her to dinner because I always hate seeing a girl cry, no matter what reason she might have. I actually was so scared that she would push me away instead of taking my offer”, you explain to the small crowd in front of you. It’s now Xinyu’s time to tell her side of the story; “I saw how kind oppa really is behind his rich guy façade; he was super helpful and attentive to everyone that day and there was no way I would’ve pushed him away—I wanted him for myself”. Xinyu leans against your shoulder before continuing her speech, “After our first time having sex, he revealed that I was his first and all I could think about was how I hoped he had been my first as well—I’m so sorry, oppa”. You squeeze her hand, “there’s nothing to be sorry for, love. You’re here with me now”.

-

Everyone has dispersed from the dining table and is now in their own worlds. Yooyeon is looking at notes on her tablet, Nakyoung is lying on the sofa with her eyes closed, Xinyu is chilling in the bedroom, and you’re sitting on the toilet with your phone in hand. You’re mindlessly scrolling through social media until you see a notification from Xinyu. It’s a picture of her lying in bed in her pajamas with one of the dolls you bought for her. “How cute”, you think to yourself. She sees that you’re not replying to her, so she expresses her unhappiness, “>: say something already”. “I’m busy, bby”, you reply to her before flushing the toilet and cleaning your ass. You’re on your way to the bathroom door as it swings open seemingly on its own. Xinyu barges into the bathroom and locks the door behind her. She puts her hands on your chest and pushes you to the wall, “if you won’t give me the attention I want, I’ll get it myself”. She pulls your shorts and boxers down together as she kneels in front of you, making your cock spring out of its restraints instantly.

“We could’ve done so much more had you given me the attention I wanted”, she’s doing her best to instill regret and guilt in your heart. Her hand is wrapped around your cock tightly and you don’t want to make her mad even more because you don’t want her to break your cock. “P-princess, they’re still here. We can do this later”, you persuade her. “I don’t care, they can go suck cock if they want”, she says before taking you in her mouth. The wetness and warmth of Xinyu’s mouth sends shivers down your spine. You dare hold her hair in your hand as she bobs her head up and down your shaft while gagging every now and then. “P-princess”, you mutter before moaning, “you’re so good, baby”. She instantly removes you from her mouth and squeezes your cock, “stay quiet if you want to make it out of this alive”. “Oh, fuck—I’m-I’m sorry, please don’t break my penis”, you say to the angry-but-horny girl kneeling in front of you.

She accepts your apology for now and gets back to stuffing her face with your cock. You don’t want to upset her considering how vulnerable you are at the moment, so you do nothing but moan. She removes your cock from her mouth once again when she feels it twitch in her mouth, “I’ll let you cum if you ask nicely”. You take a deep breath before ‘asking nicely’, “please let me cum, princess”. “Not good enough, but I’ll take it for now”, she says before letting you in her mouth once again. It doesn’t take long until your cum is accumulated on the tip of your cock. Xinyu knows this, so she goes deeper until she reaches the base of your cock. “I’m cum-ming”, you say with heavy breaths, “princess, please”. Your cock blows a load as soon as you say that, and Xinyu tries her best to not let a drop leak out of her mouth.

You lean back against the wall to catch your breath, feeling drained—quite literally—by Xinyu’s little stunt. You look down at Xinyu who is still on her knees, and you see her gulp down your load into her stomach. “Xinyu, baby”, you say with heavy pants, “thank you, that was really good”. “Of course, oppa. I love you—I’ll drain your soul the next time you ignore me, though”, she rises to her feet and wipes her mouth before pecking your cheek. “Now how do we get out of this place?”, you ask her for ideas. “Just walk out, we’re adults”, she shrugs. You do as she suggested and walk out of the bathroom as casually as possible. Yooyeon sees the two of you walking out together and covers her face with some papers. You see Xinyu give her a wink and gesture to her to stay quiet.

Xinyu then walks to the sofa and poke Nakyoung in the arm, “Naky-yah, are you staying the night or what?”. Nakyoung wakes up slowly from her peaceful nap on your sofa, “hngh, what time is it?”. You look at the clock above the TV, “about 7.30 pm”, you tell the sleepy cat. Nakyoung rises and walks to the fridge like a zombie, “I’m tempted to stay but I imagine you two want some private time”, she says. You can tell that her playfulness hasn’t returned to her entirely, as shown by how she hasn’t bantered or teased anyone yet. She takes a few gulps of fridge-cold water out of her bottle—she visits your apartment a lot so a few months ago she decided to leave a bottle in your fridge so that she wouldn’t drink from one of yours—and turns to you, “did you guys have fun when I was asleep?”. Xinyu answers her right away with confidence, “I did—I don’t know about oppa, though”, she says, hinting at sex. Nakyoung smirks as she walks back to the sofa, “if you had fun, then so did oppa, most likely”.

Nakyoung spends another 30 minutes lying on your sofa while on her phone, while Yooyeon is still busy with studying. “Unnie, I think we should leave soon”, she says to the studying goddess as she gets up. “Hm? Oh, yeah, sure”, Yooyeon says as she starts tidying up her papers and tablet. Nakyoung takes Yooyeon’s hand and walks to the door with her. “Thank you for the hospitality, you two”, Yooyeon bows slightly and waves at you and Xinyu. “You should hang out with us more, Yooyeon-ah. See you at the interview— byeee”, you say as they exit the door and close it behind them.

Seeing that the coast is now clear, Xinyu runs to you and jumps at you, so you catch her with both arms. “I’m tired, oppa. Take me to bed, please”, she says with a cute whiny voice. You peck her temple and carry her to the bed as requested. You set Xinyu on the bed with you on top of her body, and she immediately wraps her long limbs around your body. “Stay, please”, she says, acting cute to convince you to do what she wants, “I can feel you poking me down there, by the way”. It’s not that you’re horny, it’s just that you’re long—almost too long, “I’m sorry, sweetie”. “I’m horny and tired at the same time, which one do I choose, oppa?”, she pinches your cheek playfully. “I suggest sleeping, love. I don’t know if I have another load for you and I would hate to disappoint”, you kiss her forehead apologetically. “Hmph you’re no fun, oppa, but I love you so I’ll listen to you”, Xinyu pouts and lets you go from her strangling limbs.

-

It is now Friday. You and the usual suspects will be interviewing the candidates that Yooyeon told you about a few days ago. Nakyoung gave each candidate freedom to choose the place of the interview, and they both chose the multipurpose meeting room in the library building, so now you and Xinyu make your way to the appointed place—one problem, though: there’s quite a commotion in front of the meeting room. “You’re holding an interview, aren’t you? I know you are. Why aren’t you letting me in?”, the guy is shouting at Nakyoung who’s holding the line at the door. You see that Nakyoung is in deep distress, but you want to observe the situation a little bit more before jumping in. That is when you see the guy lay his hands on Nakyoung, which you’re not a fan of—Xinyu’s friends are your friends, and you’re not letting harm come their way. “Listen to her and just leave, man. We’ll pretend this never happened”, you say with a serious voice and grab him by the shoulder.

Surprisingly, the guy thinks that it’s a good idea to get violent and punches you in the face as he turns around, “SHUT THE FUCK UP”, he yells out. Nothing could’ve prepared you for a punch in the face, so you took a few steps back in surprise. Xinyu rushes to your aid in panic while screaming, “oh my God, oppa! Oppa, are you okay? Somebody, get security!”. “Holy shit, you’re so fucked”, Nakyoung says to the guy, who only now figured out who he just punched, “out of all the people present, you chose to punch the president—absolutely incredible. You still expect us to accept you after seeing you act like this? We will make your life miserable for this, by the way; we don’t forget”. The guy approaches you slowly in fear, “I-I’m so sorry, sunbaenim, I don’t know what got into me. Are you okay?”. You sigh in disappointment, not because you just took a punch in the face, but because someone thought it was okay to be violent, especially on campus grounds. “I suggest finding a lawyer”, you say, angriness obvious in your voice. He kneels and bows in front of you to beg for forgiveness, “no, no, please. I’m so sorry. I’ve learned my lesson, sunbaenim, please”. You hear the boots of the security guards approaching, so you say your last piece to the brat, “you have not, but you will soon”.

Once you see that the security guards have control of the situation, you leave the scene and forcefully drag Xinyu and Nakyoung by their wrists into the room. “Op-oppa, you’re hurting me; please let go”, Nakyoung tries to pry your fingers off her wrist. You didn’t realize that you were holding their hands so tightly, so you let them go and apologize. “Thank you for saving me, guys”, Nakyoung sobs as she hugs Xinyu for comfort, “he-he was so adamant, and I got so scared”. “I’m glad he decided to punch me and not one of you”, you sigh, “where is Yooyeon, by the way?”. “I’m here”, Yooyeon says as she closes the door behind her, “what just happened? Why are there security guards?”. “Someone thought it was a good idea to punch Jisung-oppa”, Xinyu explains to the confused girl. Yooyeon shakes her head and sighs, “are you okay, Jisung-ah?”. You rub the spot where the punch landed and reply to her, “I’ll be fine—it hurts, though”.

You take a few minutes to catch your breath and process everything that just happened while Xinyu, Yooyeon, and Nakyoung brief each other about the upcoming interview. You soon hear some knocks on the door and a girl peeks into the room, “excuse me, we’re here for the interview”. “Oh, hello, you guys must be Dahyun and Chaeyeon”, Nakyoung greets them and lets them in. Dahyun gasps in surprise when she sees your face, “oh God, what happened to you, sunbaenim? Why is there a bruise on your face?”. “We can talk about that as we go. Please, have a seat and stop calling me and everyone else in this room ‘sunbaenim’. We’ll interview you guys at the same time, I hope that’s okay”, you gesture to the empty chairs on the round table, and they take a seat in them. “So, there’s something I need to explain before we start”, you start the conversation, “you guys are here because Governor Kim over here recommended that you be considered to be recruited into the university council because her faculty council is full”. They turn to Yooyeon and express their appreciation to her, which makes Yooyeon smile in shyness.

You take the first turn to ask them a bunch of questions, from what makes them interested in joining the council, what they think the council should be for students and the surrounding community, and if they’ll interested in becoming the president in the future. They answer each question with some of the best answers you’ve ever heard in your term as president, and you can tell that everyone in the room is impressed and is starting to like them. Xinyu and Nakyoung then take turns asking them questions of their own while Yooyeon opts to observe and listen in silence.

Once they’re done asking questions and getting answers, it’s the recruits’ turn to ask questions. Dahyun kicks off the session by asking you about your wound, “can I ask what happened to your face, oppa?”. “You can, Dahyun-ah”, you sigh, “someone punched me in the face after screaming at Nakyoung-ie because she didn’t let him join the interview—disappointing behavior, if you ask me”. Xinyu moves to you in her chair and grabs your hand, “are you actually pressing charges, oppa? I would love it if you did—no one gets to punch my boyfriend like that”. “He’s your boyfriend, unnie?”, Chaeyeon asks the vice president. Xinyu brings a palm to her forehead, “oh, right, I forgot that you’re not in our circle yet—yes, he is, and I love him and I hate seeing him get hurt. We’ll go get some ointment after this, oppa, okay?”. “The president and vice president are dating, unnie. Are we in a drama right now?”, Chaeyeon turns to Dahyun, who lets out a giggle.

The six of you spend more time getting to know each other better as individuals, and you can tell again that everyone is really interested in having them join the council and this small circle of yours. Nakyoung explicitly tells them about it; “I know we only met today but I know that everyone here likes the two of you, so I sincerely ask you to consider joining our little friend group once you’re formally accepted as members of the council. Your cute little governor here is also with us, by the way”, she says—the way she’s saying it makes it sound like it’s a circle of nepotism with leading figures of the council and a bunch of new recruits. Dahyun shyly accepts the invitation, “we would love that, unnie. Thank you for being so kind to juniors like us”.

-

The interview is now done, and you find yourself surrounded by 5 girls outside the library. “Oppa, I’m hungry. Can we get lunch?”, Xinyu tugs your hand. “We can, sweetie. Wanna invite the others as well?”, you reply to her. Xinyu turns to the others, “guys, we’re gonna go get lunch, wanna join us?”. Nakyoung and Yooyeon obviously nod in agreement, but Dahyun and Chaeyeon are hesitant. “You two can join us as well, no need to be shy. We’re your friends, just a bit older in age”, you say to them. Chaeyeon answers for herself and Dahyun, “we would love that, oppa, if that’s okay with you”. Nakyoung pinches Chaeyeon’s cheeks playfully, “we’re friends, God damn it. Start acting accordingly, will you?”. You lead them to your car that’s parked in the campus’ parking lot—the parking lot is not as packed on Fridays since the professors are usually doing other stuff off campus, and you managed to find one because you arrived early. Chaeyeon makes a comment when she sees your car, “OF COURSE HE’S RICH—oh my God, I’m so sorry, oppa”. You chuckle at her comment, “it’s okay, I’ve heard that a lot before. Come on, let’s get in”.

You find yourself sailing the slow sea of Friday afternoon traffic, thankfully it’s not as bad as usual. “Does anyone have any idea where we should go?”, you ask the crowd in your car. Dahyun raises her hands after mustering up as much confidence as she can, “can we go get burgers, oppa? There’s a good burger shop nearby—if-if everyone else agrees, that is”. Xinyu is the most excited one at the prospect, “we sure can, I looove burgers. Drive faster, oppa!”. You laugh at her words, “just admit that you love everything, sweetie”.

Dahyun wasn’t lying when she said it was near, as you are now parked in front of an alleyway where the burger shop is. “We’ve been students for so long, but we’ve never heard about this shop once”, you remark. Dahyun shyly confesses to the group, “Th-this place is my parents’, oppa. I-I wanted to promote my parents’ business since they only opened recently, I’m sorry”. Xinyu rushes to hug Dahyun from the side, “awww, how cute. You’re such a good daughter, Dahyun-ah”. Dahyun hides her face behind her palms before replying to Xinyu, “you’re so kind, unnie”. “Now you know why people fall for her, Dahyun-ah”, you say, bragging about your lovely girlfriend to your new friend.

Dahyun leads you into the shop and runs towards the cashier to hug the lady attending it. “Everyone, this is my mom, you can call her Mrs. Seo—duh. Mom, this the council’s president, vice president, secretary, and governor—obviously you know Chaeyeon already. We just became friends today”, she introduces everyone to her mom by pointing at you one by one. “Aigoo, you brought your friends, Dahyun-ah? Welcome, kids—oh my God, what happened to your face? Also, you don’t need to pay today since you’re Dahyun’s friends”, Dahyun’s mom says to your group. You don’t want to not pay, considering how much your friends eat and the fact that your friend’s parents own the place; “It’s a bit of a long story, madam. We would hate to not pay; we eat a lot, you see”, you try to convince her mom. “Okay but promise us you’ll come back. Now what can I get for you?”, Mrs. Seo asks you. You turn to Dahyun, who most likely knows what’s best here, “you have any recommendations, Dahyun-ah?”. “I mean, I think everything is good but I’m very biased”, she giggles.

Since this is your first time here, you decide to choose whatever catches your fancy, which happens to be a double cheeseburger with portobella mushroom and beef bacon. Everyone else then takes turns to order before leaving to find a place to sit together. Mrs. Seo tells you to join two tables together since they only have 4 chairs each, so you do as she says. While you wait, you decide to talk with your friends—you know, like friends do.

It takes about 20 minutes for the food to come out, not bad at all considering how big of an order it was. Mrs. Seo calls out to Dahyun to help carry the food to your table, so she stands up and heads to the kitchen to help. You see the visuals of each thing on the trays, and you can’t help but drool at the sight. “Holy sh—excuse my language—that looks so good!”, Nakyoung shows her enthusiasm to the food. You see that Yooyeon, who usually shows little emotions, has an excited face as well, and it brings joy to Mrs. Seo. “You are such sweet kids. I’m glad Dahyun can be friends with you”, she says. “The pleasure is ours, madam. Dahyun is such a sweet girl as well”, Xinyu says.

Dahyun and her mom set the trays on the table, and everyone jumps to get their stuff right away. Nakyoung is the first to take a bite, and she exclaims in excitement immediately, “oh my God, this is incredible—Mrs. Seo, this is amazing!”. “Omo, I’m so glad you like it”, she says before putting a big squeeze bottle on the table, “try this with the fries, will you? We’ve been developing a sauce recipe and would love to hear some feedback—Chaeyeon-ie has tried this before so she knows already”. Xinyu squeezes the sauce on a piece of fry and shoves it in her mouth, “oh my, that is glorious. What sauce is this, Mrs. Seo? Oppa, try this, quick!”. You take the bottle from Xinyu’s hands and do the same thing she did, and you instantly let out a satisfied groan thanks to the taste. “it’s minced garlic, chives, and white pepper mixed with mayonnaise and a little bit of my husband’s hot sauce—you know, you two look so cute together; have you considered dating?”, she explains. “They are indeed dating, madam”, Nakyoung answers for you with a laugh like the spokesperson that she often is. Mrs. Seo gasps, “oh, that’s so cute. Alright, I’m gonna stop bothering you guys—enjoy!”.

No one says anything for the rest of the meal as they savor every glorious bite of their food, letting out excited yelps and satisfied groans at the incredible taste. “Dahyun-ah”, you say after swallowing a bite, “would your parents be interested in getting some investment?”. “Look at him, flexing his wealth in front of his junior”, Nakyoung says. Dahyun’s eyes widen at your unexpected question, “I-I’ll need to ask my parents”, she says. “Can you please ask now? I’m curious what they’d say”, you push further. Dahyun sips her drink before running to the cashier and dragging his mom back to the table. “Mom, mom, president-oppa wants to invest in us!”, Dahyun excitedly says to her mom. Mrs. Seo’s turns her head to you in surprise, “do you actually?”. “I do, madam”, you say, as humble sounding as possible, “I think you can do great things with this business, hence my interest”. “I, I”, you see tears gathering in Mrs. Seo’s eyes, “thank you for the kind words, son. Yes, we would love to get an investment—what are the terms, though?”. “My family’s treasurer will reach out to your family in less than 7 business days, madam. You can discuss the terms with her—I’ll make sure it’s more favorable to you than me”, you say to her. “Please stand up, son”, Mrs. Seo says to you, so you do as she says. She hugs you warmly as she’s shedding (you hope) happy tears, “thank you so much, son; it means a lot to our family. How rich are you that your family has a treasurer, though?”. You answer her question with the answer your parents have taught you since you were a kid, “we are comfortable, madam”. She lets go of the hug and wipes her eyes, “I gotta call my husband; this is crazy! Dahyun-ah, isn’t this crazy?”. Dahyun bows to you, “thank you so much, oppa. We won’t forget your kindness”. You’re surprised to see her bow to you, so you grab her shoulders and make her straighten her back, “oh, c’mon, there’s no need to act like that”.

You excuse yourself and head to the back alley behind the shop to call your family’s treasurer, Mrs. Kwon Yuri. She picks up immediately after one ring, “Good afternoon, Mr. Jung. Can I help you?”. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Kwon”, you greet her, “I’m planning to make an investment in a burger shop owned by my friend’s family. Can you please handle it for me? I’ll send you their number after this”. Mrs. Kwon stays silent for a few seconds, but you hear her keyboard clacking over the phone, “I can, Mr. Jung; I will reach out to them in two days”. You feel a wave of relief in your heart, “sounds great, Mrs. Kwon. Be sure to make it favorable for them, please—5 or 10 percent is fine. Thanks for the help”. You send her their number after hanging up and with it, your investment will soon be confirmed, and they’ll get a small boost to grow their business.

Unbeknownst to you, Xinyu has been hiding around the corner waiting for you to end the call. She runs to you when she hears you hang up the phone and hugs you tightly. “My God, that is so sexy, oppa”, she says. “What is, baby?”, you say, unsure about what she’s referring to. “The fact that you’re willing to use your money to help someone else. I know it’s probably spare change for you but it’s still meaningful”, she looks at you straight in the eyes as her hands are on each side of your head. ”I was just trying to help, it’s not like they don’t deserve it—I mean, you know how good their stuff is”, you tell her. “Oh, I know, but you know what else is good?”, she smiles at you. “No?”, you say, oblivious. “My boyfriend’s lips on mine”, she says before pressing her lips against yours. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t like kissing Xinyu but kissing her in broad daylight in a back alley feels scandalous. You let your lips stay pressed against Xinyu’s for what feels like a few seconds before you push her away. “Baby, we can’t afford to get caught”, you bargain. “You’re right”, she sighs, “we’ll continue this later”.

You take her hand and enter the shop again. You see Dahyun and her mom crying while a man, who you assume is Mr. Seo, tries to calm them down. Dahyun then points a finger to you and the man walks up to you and reaches his hand out to shake yours. “You must be Jung Jisung”, the man says, “I’m Dahyun’s dad. Thank you so much for your help, son. It means a lot to us”. You’re surprised by how Dahyun’s family is reacting to your little feat, “I-I just wanted to help, sir. My friends and I really like the products your family is selling here”. Mr. Seo pulls you into a hug and you see that Nakyoung and Chaeyeon are leaning against Yooyeon’s shoulders on each side while sobbing. “What is happening, man?”, you think to yourself. Mr. Seo lets you go after a few seconds and shakes your hand one more time; “I need to go; I have two ladies to attend to”, he says, referring to his wife and daughter who are still weeping.

You sit down at the table again and ask your friends about what happened when you were away for that short a time. “They-they told us how hard it was to start this business, oppa”, Nakyoung holds back a sob before continuing, “they-they had to take a bunch of loans and barely had customers at the start—our tab today is one of the biggest ones they’ve had so far. Dahyun even had to do several part-time jobs to help her family’s economy”. Chaeyeon is making it obvious that she’s the most sensitive person in the friend group, as she cries even more after hearing Nakyoung’s summary of what has just happened. “They were over the moon when you said you were going to invest, and now the emotions have finally caught up to them”, Yooyeon says before wiping her eyes with a napkin. You realize that this is what your parents have been preaching for your whole life: to be able to help someone with what you have—especially money—no matter how big or small it is. You silently praise your parents and pray to whatever celestial being is up there for their health and safety.

You wait until everyone has calmed down before walking to the cashier to pick up the tab. “Ji-Jisung-ah”, Mrs. Seo’s emotions are still high as she keeps sobbing after all this time, “are you 100% sure you’re going to invest in us?”. “I am sure, madam. I’ve called the treasurer; she’ll reach out in two days. It’s the least I can do to help, madam”. Mrs. Seo opens her arms and hugs you, “thank you, son; thank you so much”. You close your eyes and savor the genuine emotions she’s showing you, “the pleasure is mine, madam; believe me”. She lets go and fiddles with the computer in front of her, “since you insisted on paying, everything will be ₩50.000 and I’m giving you a 10% discount—so what is that, then?”. Your eyes widen in surprise when you hear her words, “wait, no, no, no. Please, there’s no need for that”. You argue back and forth with Mrs. Seo until she agrees not to give you a discount. You hand her two ₩50.000 banknotes and tell her to keep the rest, which makes her bawl her eyes out again. You’re starting to feel terrible for making these people cry so much today, so you awkwardly walk back to the table so that you can get your friends to leave with you.

Everyone stands up when they’re finally ready to leave and file out of the door one by one except for Dahyun. Before it’s your turn to leave, Mr. Seo pulls you to the side and hugs you one more time. “Thank you for everything, Jisung-ah”, Mr. Seo says to your ear, “I would offer you my Dahyun but I was told that you have a girlfriend already”. Your eyes widen in shock, “That won’t be necessary ever, Mr. Seo. I don’t even know if Dahyun likes me like that—also she’s not anyone’s property, respectfully”, you whisper in his ear. He lets go of you and shakes your hand softly, so you reciprocate his gesture and do the same. “Oppa”, Dahyun calls out to you, “thank you so much for everything, seriously. I promise I’ll do my best in the council; I’ll do whatever you guys ask me to”. You smile at her, “I know you will, Dahyun-ah. I can tell that you’re a hardworking person as well”. Dahyun looks at the door and makes sure that the coast is clear before hugging you. “I know you have Xinyu-unnie but please let me have this for now”, she then gets on her tippy toes and pecks your cheek, which makes the two of you blush at the same time. “Thank you, Dahyun-ah. I wish you and everyone health and safety. See you soon, okay?”, you make to leave the restaurant and catch up with your friends.

You get back in the car and start driving again; everyone except Xinyu (obviously) asks you to take them back to campus, so you do as they ask and take them back there. They get off at the campus gate and wave at you as you leave, and now you’re left alone with Xinyu. “Let’s go home, oppa”, she says before reaching over and palming your cock, “I’m so fucking horny, oppa—if you hadn’t stopped me back in the alley, I would’ve got on my knees and sucked your cock”. You can feel your cock getting hard and your patience running thin, so you take a deep breath before replying to Xinyu, “patience, princess; we’ll get home before you know it”. You hope that your words were good enough to convince her to be patient, but they apparently weren’t, as she keeps palming your cock the rest of the way home.

-

You make it back to the parking lot of your building again. You stand next to the car and wait for Xinyu to get off. Instead of taking her hand and walk side by side, you lift her by her thighs and carry her to your destination. “You’re not getting away with being such a brat—you wanna palm my cock because you’re horny? Fine, I’ll show you horny”, you whisper aggressively in her ear. “You’re gonna make me pay, daddy?”, she whispers back, her voice laced with lust. You rush to your apartment and enter the bedroom straight away. Your lust-controlled brain doesn’t want to play nice, as it makes you drop Xinyu on the bed not-too-softly. Xinyu bites her bottom lip; “I like it when you’re rough”, she says, trying to rile you up more. You want to talk dirty with her, but you’re given another idea instead; “let’s make a deal: if you can make it through this session without cumming, I’ll buy you whatever you want—including Dahyun’s restaurant. Now pick a fucking safe word”. You take off everything you have on your body in front of her, and she bites her lip again, “Oh please, just who exactly do you think I am? Just come and punish me, daddy; use me, stretch me, choke me, cum in me—do whatever pleases you and I’ll take it like a good girl, because I am one”.

You pull her off the bed and onto her feet; “strip”, you command. “Yes, daddy” is her reply; short, but laden with obedience. She takes her sweet time to take off each thing and tries putting on a show for you, but since you’re now thinking with your cock and not your brain, you’re getting impatient; “I told you to strip, princess, not to take off your clothes”, you say as you palm her neck and squeeze it slightly while glaring right into her eyes—she’s taller than most people but you still tower over her (shoutout to dad for his genes). You see that she’s starting to get intimidated but still has her strong girl façade on, “hngh—patience, daddy, plea-please”. You let her neck go and she takes the rest of her clothes seemingly nervously, as seen by how her hands shake as she’s doing it. Xinyu gets back in bed when nothing is on her body, now ready to start the session. As much as you’re horny and rough, you’re never one to act without consent, so you ask the seemingly scared girl in your bed, “are you okay? Was I too mean? Do you want to keep going?”. “N-no, you’re okay—I’m okay”, she takes a deep breath and welcomes you to bed.

You get on top of her and start sucking and nibbling her neck, marking it with your lips as she moans and sighs at the contact. “You love marking me, right, daddy?”, she eggs you on, “you like showing people who I belong to, don’t you?”. You leave her neck when you see that it has a red spot on the side, knowing that it will turn into a decently sized hickey tomorrow, “Uh-huh; they’ll know if they haven’t already”, you say to her, “if you cover it with makeup, I will make you sleep on the sofa for a month”. She pleas her case, “but what if my professors see it?”. You shrug, “we’re adults—your words, not mine. Now stay still, I have things to do”.

You move to her breasts, putting one in your mouth while fondling the other. Xinyu has always been sensitive there, so you know it’ll be plenty of stimulation for her. “Daddy”, she sighs, “why do you like my breasts so much?”. You lift your mouth off so you can reply to her; “because they fit in my hands so well”, you palm a breast; a perfect handful in your hand, “can you feel how perfect it is in my hand?”. Xinyu nods to your question, “ye-yes, daddy; they’re perfect for you, just like the rest of my body”. “Good answer, princess—you should be able to feel this as well”, you pinch a nipple and tug, making Xinyu scream instantly, “oh, fuck, fuck—the-they’re sensitive, daddy”. You chuckle, “I know they are, but you’re mine to play with”.

You play with her tits a bit more before moving on. You opt to skip her tummy (no matter how firm and soft it looks) and go straight to her pussy. “Open your legs, princess”, you command her, and she instantly spread her long legs enough for you to fit your head between them. “I-I hope you like what you see”, she says with a blush on her cheeks. Honestly, how can you not like the sight despite having seen it a lot—her perfectly pink and glistening pussy is making you drool, literally. You dive into her pussy right away; your tongue is pressed against her entrance, threatening to invade it while your index finger is on her nub. Xinyu starts moaning and squirming around as you start licking her pussy, so you hold down her thighs so that you don’t miss your target. “Remember to hold your cum”, you remind the moaning girl. Her heavy breathing makes it hard for her to verbally answer you, so she just nods to your say.

“Op-oppa”, she calls out with heavy pants, “you-you’re gonna make me cum if you keep doing that”. You lift your face off her crotch and look at her in disbelief, “is that supposed to be a threat? You dare threat me, you slut? That’s the wrong name too, by the way”. Xinyu panics, “no-no, daddy; I would never—oh, fuck—I would never threaten you, I swear”. You plunge two fingers into her pussy, “that’s what I thought”. “Oh, fuck—daddy, please”, she lets out whiny moans. You know that she’s doing her best to hold off her orgasm, and you praise her for her efforts; even good girls have their limits, and hers is very close. You keep fucking her with your fingers until you feel her pussy squeeze them, indicating that she’s having her orgasm soon. True enough, she screams from the top of her lungs after a few seconds, “I’M-I’M CUMMING, FUCK!”. You pull your fingers out as she squirts her juices out and stroke her thighs to help her calm down. It takes a few minutes of moaning and whining until her mind is cleared and her high is dissipated. “You came”, you say with a fake disappointed voice. Realization of what just happened slaps her in the face, “I’m so sorry, daddy; please don’t punish me, I beg you. I-I’ll give you my mouth, I’ll give you my asshole—anything you want. Just don’t punish me, please”. “There’s no way she’s offering you her ass”, your brain says, “she’s never trained for it, has she? She’ll never be able to take your cock there—don’t take it, son”.

You decide to keep her in the dark and not tell her that you’re not getting in her ass because you’re naughty like that. “On your stomach, princess”, you command her, and you see that she’s nervous because she’s clueless as to what you have in mind. “I’m so dead; we’ve never trained my ass before and he’s getting in there—this is why you don’t run your mouth, Zhou Xinyu”, Xinyu thinks to herself. She gets even more scared when you lift her ass but not the rest of her body. You make her think that you’re going in her ass by asking her to spread her cheeks. Xinyu’s fear peaks when you put your thumb on her asshole and slather spit on it—she even sheds a tear because she’s that scared. “Look at it”, you say, “that must be so tight and snug”. “I guess this is how I die”, she thinks as more tears are released from her eyes, “he’s going in there dry, too—fuck, this will hurt like a bitch”. You remove your thumb and announce to her that you’re going in, so she closes her eyes and braces for the pain. To her surprise, you decide to plunge into her pussy instead, so Xinyu lets out a loud moan immediately; “oh, God, daddy, yes, yes—I’m your good girl, daddy”. A wave of relief washes over Xinyu; “he’s not getting in my ass!”, she thinks to herself.

You lean forward and whisper in Xinyu’s ear, “you thought I was gonna take your ass, didn’t you, princess?”. She moans before answering you, “ye-yes, daddy. I-I was so scared”. You laugh at her; you’d think she would know by now that you’d never do anything without her explicit and clear consent, but here she is, scared shitless at the prospect of losing her anal virginity to you. “I might not be taking your ass today, but I’m taking your pussy”, you say before pulling her gloriously thick jet-black hair. “It’s yours, daddy—I’m yours; take me anytime you want—oh, fuck, that’s so fucking deep”, she replies. You press Xinyu’s head into the pillow, “I’m cumming in your pussy and I want you to keep it in”. You feel her nod against your hand, and you pick up the pace of your thrusts.

You keep pumping her pussy deep and fast, just like how you like it. Xinyu is holding the pillow under her head with all her might, her knuckles turning white thanks to how hard she’s gripping it. You feel your lust peaking, so you give her rougher thrusts as your crotch makes clapping sounds when it hits Xinyu’s cheeks. Xinyu is moaning and screaming your name away, as she feels the rough thrusts you’re giving her; “I’m gonna feel this tomorrow”, she says in her head. You can feel your orgasm approaching, so you get in a squatting position without pulling out and keep thrusting into her pussy with all your strength. Xinyu knows this as well, so she eggs you on, “keep stretching me like that, daddy—oh, fuck, you’re in my belly”.

You start feeling tired from fucking her in such position. Thankfully for you, you’re so close to cumming as well. “Princess”, you say with heavy breathing, “I’m so close”. She turns her head to see you over her shoulder, “yes, daddy; I’m so close as well—oh, fuck—please let me cum with you”. You’re reminded of her words a few days ago when you said you were close, and you decide to use it against her, “I’ll let you cum if you ask nicely”. She takes a deep breath so that she can ‘ask nicely’, “daddy, please, let me cum with you—I’m-I’m begging you, daddy”. Satisfied with her answer, you pet her head; “good job, princess”. To make sure that she indeed cums with you, you reach around her waist and rub her clit as you’re fucking her.

Your orgasm finally hits after some more thrusts. You plug your cock deep into her and start shooting your cum deep into Xinyu’s pussy; at the same time, Xinyu’s legs quiver thanks to her second orgasm—no squirting this time, unfortunately. You stand up on the bed after all your cum is released into her; “if you let it leak out, I’m taking your ass”, you threaten her falsely. You know that Xinyu lacks training, so unless she trains her ass, you’re not getting in there—unless she decides to act like a brat again. Xinyu doesn’t know that it was a fake threat, so she keeps her ass up to prevent your cum from leaking out while she tries her best to catch her breath.

You jump off the bed and leave to get water and towel, “be right back, princess”. When you return, she still has her ass up because at heart, she is very obedient and just wants to please her boyfriend as much as she can. “Daddy”, she calls out with teary eyes, “can-can I put my ass down now? I’m s-starting to get tired”. You feel a rush of guilt in your heart because she actually fell for the false threat; “you can, princess. Just relax, okay?”, you say as you guide her waist down by pressing down on the small of her back until she’s flat on the bed. “I’m gonna wipe your body with this towel, okay, princess?”. You see her nod, so you start wiping her body from her nape down to her legs, making sure not to miss a spot as you go. You roll her over onto her back to clean the other side of her body and that’s when you see the messy makeup on her face—solid proof that tears were running down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, princess”, you stroke her cheeks softly with your thumb, “I was so rough on you, wasn’t I?”. She sniffles before answering you, “you-you were, but it’s okay; nothing I’m not used to”. “Can I clean that makeup for you, or do you want to do it yourself?”, you ask her. She reaches out to grab the towel from your hands and wipe her face with it, “this should be enough”. She then returns the towel to you so you can clean the rest of her body.

“Honey”, you call out to her, “wanna shower or no?”. She sighs in exhaustion, “no, too tired—you can shower if you want”. You jump back in bed and lie next to her; “no, too tired”, you return her words. She gathers all her might and scoots over so that she can cuddle you; “I hope that was satisfactory”, she says. You peck her head, “of course it was. Thank you very much, love”. “I was so scared that you were going to fuck me in the ass, daddy”, she hasn’t dropped the name yet, “you know I’ve never trained my ass so I thought you were gonna take my anal virginity raw and dry—I mean sure, it’s only right that I give you that but I was super scared”. You stroke the back of her head softly, “we can talk about that later, sweetie—just know this: I would never do anything to you without your clear and explicit consent, so until I hear that you’re ready to take me in your ass, I’m not fucking you in the ass. I promise you that”.

She hums in understanding—you can tell that she’s grateful too—but is then reminded about the deal from earlier, “so I guess you’re not buying me whatever I want since I came?”. You let out a chuckle, “what do you want to get, sweetie?”. She blushes when she realizes that she didn’t lose the deal because of how sweet and kind you really are behind all those façades, “oh-oh, um, I-I wa-want burgers and fries from Dahyun’s place again, oppa”. You nod to her, “sure, love. We can go after this if you want”.

-

You and Xinyu get back in the car after regaining energy and showering, as you two are now on your way to Dahyun’s restaurant for the second time today. When you arrive, you see that Dahyun’s attending the cashier this time. She sees you two in front of the door and rushes to open it for you, “oppa, unnie, welcome back!”. “Hey, baby. Nice to see you again”, Xinyu hugs the girl in front of her. “We promised we would return so here we are”, you say to her. “Where are the others, though?”, Dahyun asks. “No idea; we just had sex at home and came here after cuddling and showering”, Xinyu utters oh-so-brazenly. “OH MY GOD! UNNIE!”, Dahyun covers her ears and runs away from the two of you. You palm your face, “I’m so sorry, Dahyun-ah; you didn’t need to hear all that”. Dahyun fans her cheeks with her hands to fight her blush, “oh my, how could you say that so casually—wh-what can I get for you guys this time?”. You pinch Xinyu’s cheek for her little shenanigan before turning to Dahyun and repeat your order from this afternoon; “oh, can we get 2 more fries and that sauce again? So 4 fries in total and the sauce”, you ask her. “Of course you can, oppa. Please wait at the table for your food”.

Dahyun brings a tray of food to you after about 15 minutes. She thinks that she can waltz away after that, so you call out to her, “where on God’s green earth do you think you’re going, Dahyun-ah?”. Surprised to hear you call her that way, she walks back to you your table awkwardly, “I-I’m sorry?”. “Why do you think we ordered 4 burgers?”, you point at the empty seat next to Xinyu, “have a seat with us. We can have a little chit-chat—you can get back to work if there’s another customer coming”. “Uwuwu, my baby”, Xinyu peppers Dahyun’s face with pecks. “I’m sorry, oppa, but is unnie always like this?”, Dahyun asks you. “No, only to people she likes”, you say with a smile, indicating to her that she’s one of those people.

No other customer ends up coming, so you have the entire restaurant to yourselves. “Dahyun-ah, would you be able to cater for the entire council? I would love to introduce your products to our staffs”, you say before shoving another piece of fry coated in sauce, “holy shit, that is glorious—you know what, we’ll pay for this bottle of sauce since we’re probably finishing this”. “Oppa”, she says with a soft voice, “you.. are you serious?”. You’re not sure what she’s talking about, “pardon?”. “Are you serious about asking us to cater for the council? That’d be, like, our biggest sales so far”, she says, tears threatening to burst out of her eyes for the second time today. “Let’s ask Xinyu what she thinks”, you point to the girl sitting next to Dahyun. “I agwee wif offa”, she says with a full mouth before swallowing her food, “ehm, excuse me—yes, I agree with oppa’s idea; we should introduce this to everyone. We’ll need the sauce as well, by the way”.

Dahyun sits in silence before covering her face to hide her tears; “oppa, unnie, why are you guys so kind to us? First it was the investment and now this?”, she says with trembling voice. Xinyu hugs the crying girl, “because we love you and we love your food, baby”. If Xinyu was calling another guy “baby”, you would flip out, but you don’t mind since it’s Dahyun. “I know that we sound like a broken record, but we genuinely love the food here. Can you give me an estimation as to when you think you’ll be able to do it?”, the way you say it makes you sound like your dad right now. Dahyun sniffles and gathers her mind to think of an answer, “um, probably in a few weeks; I need to talk with my parents, though”. “Very cool”, you clap your hands once, “we’ll be having a meeting with everyone in the council at the end of September. We’ll tell them to come with an empty stomach”.

-

You’re now ready to leave the restaurant after finishing your burgers, fries, and a whole bottle of sauce. “We’re gonna need to hit the gym this weekend”, you think to yourself. You’re standing in front of the cashier with Dahyun and Xinyu, and that’s when Xinyu excuses herself and runs to the toilet. Dahyun keeps her eyes on Xinyu until she disappears behind the toilet door and walks up to you slowly. You’re not too sure what she’s trying to do, so you opt to let things run their course for now. She wraps her arms around your nape and pulls you down for a kiss. As she’s kissing you, you can’t help but notice how soft her lips are. Dahyun then pulls away from the kiss after a few seconds; “I swear I’ll find a way to repay you, just wait—also, don’t think that I didn’t see your mark on unnie’s neck; sex with you must be amazing, oppa”, she says before taking a few steps back to avoid Xinyu’s suspicion. “You’re saying a lot of nonsense right now, darling”, you say in a quiet voice—that’s another pet name spilling out of your lips and Dahyun catches it right away. “Darling, hm? I like the sound of that, darling”, she winks at you and walks away. Perfect timing, really, because you see that Xinyu is opening the toilet door and about to walk out.

You close your eyes and put a palm on your forehead; “what is happening right now, man?”. Life is throwing another girl at you, and you’re not sure why because you already have a girlfriend—a lovely one at that. You take a deep breath before holding your girlfriend’s hand and leading her out of the door. You take a glance at Dahyun over your shoulder, and you see her wink at you once again. “I’m so fucking cooked”, you think to yourself.

[dearhargrove]

Reassurance

summary You comfort Evan after he has to deal with his parents over the course of four days.

word count 730

tags fluff, just someone being there for my bb buck, short and sweet

a/n So basically I was watching the Buck Begins episode and died every minute where his parents neglected him and generally every second of that episode :( so expect some more Buck fics to come (Eddie too tho !!)

masterlist

You didn't know but you were probably the sole reason Buck wasn't completely breaking down every day he wakes up and has to deal with the two people that call themselves his parents.

After the first dinner he had felt bad, but he'd felt like he usually does with them. Alone, unwanted and never enough. That day he'd come home to you, quiet and dull.

You hadn't made him talk about it when he didn't start explaining himself, instead you simply wrapped your arms around him and held him close. That's when he'd felt loved. That night he waited until you had fallen asleep before letting himself cry.

What did he expect? For some reason he had hoped they'd changed. Or at least that they would be proud of him. After all, he'd saved a lot of people and does so every day. Instead he is reminded that they hadn't bothered to check on him when he almost died twice - first by being crushed and second because of the blood clots - and then laid in the hospital.

Those were the people supposed to love him no matter what and all he got was constant criticism.

That night you had woken up not long after him because of his missing warmth. With a worried expression you'd found him and once again, held him close. He had melted into your arms, tears starting to fall again as he clutched you close as if scared to lose you.

After reassurance you would gladly give any day you had gone back to bed, your hand on his cheek and caressing his birthmark.

Today you hadn't even known Buck would see them or be confronted by their doings. The last time you'd heard about them was when he explained that he had a brother. That he was only conceived to be a match for a bone marrow transplant.

That night had been harder than the one before. You're quite sure no matter how much you tried to show him that he wasn't just a failed way to save someone you don't think it got completely through to him. And you didn't blame him; you couldn't imagine living with something like that weighing you down.

You're in his kitchen trying one of Bobby's recipes when the door opens and Buck comes in. You could read him like a book; there wasn't a moment you weren't able to tell what he was feeling. But now? You genuinely didn't know.

He was frowning but there's a smile resting on his face and his eyes are red.

“Buck?”

He looks up, seeing you there in his sweater with a knife in your hand as you chop vegetables for a recipe from Bobby he loved, and he breaks. But instead of simply crying he chuckles, too.

“Buck, what's going on?” Your voice is worried and he just shakes his head as he wraps his arms around your waist and presses his forehead to yours. You put the knife down and reach up to cup his face and your index finger soothes over his birthmark, something you'd made a habit over the year of being with him.

“I think they're finally accepting me for.. me.” He only says and you sigh but nod. He notices your slight apprehension and quickly adds on, “But I don't want them to. I don't need their acceptance. They don't decide how much I'm worth.”

Your mouth forms an ‘o’ in surprise but you laugh breathlessly and nod, “Exactly. You're saving lives on the daily, you don't need anyone to tell you how good you are. Not your parents, not your friends, not me.”

He nods along until the last part where he cocks his head and looks at you with his signature half smirk. “I do need you to tell me how good I am, actually.” That makes you smile as well and you sigh, “That's not what I meant and you know it.”

He just shrugs and unlike when he first came in you can see pure happiness and love on his face.

“God, I love you so much, Evan Buckley.”

He grins and surges forward to kiss you passionately, his hands gripping your hips as if you'd slip through his fingers any moment.

[charlottesbookclub]

easy love (eddie munson x f!reader) 🖤🖤

for my dear @theold-ultraviolence because you deserve a nice day with eddie 🥰🥰

Summary: you and eddie attend the county fair near hawkins

Warnings/Tags: femme!reader (terms like "my lady" are used, but there are no physical descriptors); absolute pure tooth-rotting fluff; I think that's it, but as always, let me know if I've missed anything! ☺️

Words: 2857

Recommended Listening: Easy Love – Parris Mitchell

Helpful Info:

Beholder – a monster from dungeons and dragons that looks like a giant floating eye

Funnel Cake – a sweet fried dessert that is a staple at US fairs (I'm sure they're eaten elsewhere as well, but to me they're very much associated with the fair ☺️)

Author’s Note: eddie isn't a character that I've written a lot for, so I hope this feels in-character for him 🥰💕 I've mostly written this for a dear friend who deserves a little treat (ily irma 🥰🖤), but I hope it can find anyone who might need a fluffy little pick-me-up ☺️🥰 also it is a complete coincidence that the "easy love" lyric video features a ferris wheel – I had never watched the video until I was finding the link to put here after I'd already finished the fic and was prepping the post 🤯🤯 guess it just proves that this was meant to be 😌💖 as always, I hope y'all enjoy! ☺️💕

            The scent hit you the instant you popped open the passenger side door of Eddie’s van and prepared to jump out: dust and sugar and animals and fried food and sweat. A unique combination of smells that heralded your arrival at the county fair. Before you could push yourself off the worn leather seat, Eddie came sprinting around the front of the van.

            “Hold up waitwaitwaitwait,” he ushered you back into your seat. “This is a date, right? I’m supposed to get the door for you.”

            “Oh, I didn’t know I was being courted by such a chivalrous gentleman,” you laughed. “Please, Sir Eddie, continue,” you invited as you pulled the door closed again. The next second, he opened it once more with a dramatic flourish and deep bow.

            “My Lady, your humble suitor awaits the honor of your hand,” Eddie said in a terrible posh accent before offering his hand for you to take. You couldn’t help but laugh at his theatrics as you maneuvered yourself out of the van, using his hand for stability as your feet hit the dusty ground of the lot. He shoved the door closed with a practiced kick, but did not release your hand as the two of you began walking toward the fair entrance.

            “Munson, was this whole thing a ploy so you could hold my hand?” you asked in teasing accusation, holding up your still-linked hands as proof of your claim. Eddie’s deep brown eyes widened in mock surprise as though seeing your intertwined fingers for the first time.

            “You would accuse me – your loyal and devoted knight – of beguiling you?” he gasped in exaggerated shock.

            “Oh I just might,” you giggled, knocking your shoulder against his as he tried to dodge the movement – a difficult endeavor considering that he still refused to let go of your hand. He then pulled himself back toward you, pressing his mouth close to your ear, his dark curls tickling your skin.

            “And you might be correct,” he whispered, an edge of barely-contained laughter in his voice, “but don’t tell anyone else my secret – I have a reputation to maintain, you know.” You nodded with mock seriousness and mimed zipping your lips and throwing away the key. 

            “Your secrets are safe with me—oh look: cows!” you interrupted your own sentence as you passed a small round barn and caught a glimpse of the animals within. Switching direction, you pulled Eddie toward the entrance. 

            It was cooler in the barn, shielded from the sun and with huge box fans blowing from the rafters. The sweet smell of hay and dusty scent of the cows lingered in the air as the two of you made your way down one of the rows of animals. 

            You stopped at the stall of a particularly sweet looking cow, her mostly cream-colored face flecked with brown as she slowly chewed some hay. You reached your free hand out gently and touched the soft patch of fuzz on her forehead. Seeming to like the gesture, she nuzzled her wet nose against your palm, and you giggled. Her expressive, soft, deep brown eyes reminded you of something, and it only took you a second to realize what.

            “Look Eds, you’ve got the same eyes!”

            Eddie rolled his own chocolatey eyes, but stepped closer to the cow nonetheless. He reached out a tentative hand to stroke her head like you had, and when his hand met her fur, he let out a noise of surprise.

            “Oh – it’s really soft!” he exclaimed. Almost as though in response, the cow let out a low moo and pushed her nose against Eddie’s outstretched hand just as she had to yours. He pulled his hand back abruptly, wiping it down the front of his shirt. “Ewww – it’s wet!”

            “The great knight Eddie, laid low by the wet nose of a cow,” you lamented in feigned sorrow, shaking your head mournfully.

            “Hey! How was I supposed to know it would feel like that?” he retorted, unable to keep the light sparkle of a laugh out of his voice. “You’re right though – about the eyes. I thought you were joking, but I take it as a great compliment to share eyes with this noble beast.”

            “Of course I meant it as a compliment, silly” you knocked your shoulder against his again, much more gently this time, “you know I couldn’t resist either of you, looking at me with those sun-warmed melted-chocolate eyes. Practically got me in a trance.”

            “Then you wouldn’t argue if I suggested we go try some games?”

            “I wouldn’t have argued anyway, but now I’m going to need some convincing – show me what those big brown eyes can do.”

            With a great deal of theatricality, Eddie brushed his curls back and bent slightly to make sure he could look up at you properly. He drew his mouth into a little pout and widened his eyes, ribbons of gold and deeper brown visible in the warm sea of his milk chocolate irises, even in the dim light of the barn.

            “Please?” he begged in the most pathetic voice he could manage without breaking into laughter.

            “Of course!” you responded, laughing, and Eddie instantly snapped back to his full height, joining in your giggles. The cow mooed again and rocked her head to the side, almost as though telling you two to get out of the barn and enjoy the rest of the fair.

            “See?” Eddie pointed to the cow, “she thinks so too!” He popped a small salute at the cow as you rolled your eyes and pulled him back out of the barn. From there, he led the way as you wound through gaggles of sticky children, packs of sweaty teens, and pairs of exhausted parents. Your hand was growing incredibly warm in Eddie’s firm grip, but you didn’t mind at all. You were happy to let him guide you through the crowd to whatever game he had his heart set on.

            He finally came to a stop outside one of the many colorful tents that populated the fair. Under this one was a large table, covered from edge to edge in glass bowls, some of which had goldfish in them.

            “You’re not serious?” 

            “On the contrary, I’m the most serious. Other guys are winning their girlfriends weird stuffed bears and lame plastic roses. I want to get you something cool!”

            “Eds, that is so sweet, but you know this game is so rigged, right? One of my friends spent all their tickets on it last year and never got a fish.”

            “Well, lucky for me, I’m different, and I’m going to win my girlfriend a fish,” he huffed with exaggerated bravado and another theatrical bow. You laughed despite yourself and shook your head with bemused affection as you stepped back and watched him exchange a couple tickets for a handful of rings.

            He lined up each throw carefully, holding the little plastic rings lightly in his hand as he flexed his wrist back and forth, preparing for the toss. The first few landed well, but on the exterior bowls that were filled with decorative rocks and crumples of colorful paper. The points could be added up for smaller prizes, but he rejected those, opting to pay a few more tickets for another set of rings. You could see him hitting his stride, these rings landing closer to the center, some even bouncing off the edges of the bowls with real fish in them. With each near-miss you noticed him leaning forward in anticipation and then deflating a little as the ring failed to find its mark. You were about to walk back up to him and pull him gently away, tell him that you really didn’t need a fish; you couldn’t bear to see him disappointed.

            Before you could though, he handed a couple more tickets to the attendant in return for another set of rings. The first couple landed so close that you found yourself holding your breath a little, waiting to see if they would come to rest over a fishbowl. By the time he was down to his last one, you were determined not to let him waste any more tickets, and had begun to move towards him when he released the final ring with a measured flick of his wrist. The little circle of orange plastic sailed through the air and came to a perfect landing around the centermost glass bowl on the table – the one with the biggest fish. You stopped in your tracks, looking on in shock for a moment as the attendant went to remove the ring and transfer the fish to a little plastic bag. You snapped yourself out of your stupor and rushed the last few steps to Eddie, wrapping your arms around him in a tight hug.

            “You actually did it!”

            “Of course I did – I promised you I would, didn’t I?” He struck a heroic pose, but underneath his exaggerated confidence, you could see relief, and perhaps even a little bit of surprise.

            The attendant handed the bag with the fish to Eddie, which he took with the utmost care. He then turned and presented it to you with a flurry of flourishing hand gestures and a series of deep and dramatic bows.

            “My Lady, in your name I have slayed the great Dragon of the Rings, and I present to you its great treasure!”

            “Sir Eddie!” you echoed his theatrics with an elaborate curtsy of your own, “I am honored and flattered by this great gift!” 

            You held out your hands with great seriousness, ready to receive the fish, and his placed the bag carefully into your waiting hands with a final bow. Picking up the top of the bag, you studied the little creature within. It was a shimmery golden-orange with feathery fins that trailed a little in the water and huge, bulging eyes that projected from either side of its head.

            “Hmmmm… now to think of a name for this little guy,” you murmured. Then an idea came to mind:

            “Beholder!” you exclaimed at the exact same moment as Eddie. A beat of surprised silence passed before you both broke into peals of laughter.

            “It’s the eyes, isn’t it?” you wheezed.

            “Yeah – it’s the eyes,” Eddie agreed in gasping breaths between laughs.

            “Shall we take our new son Beholder to see the rest of the fair?” you asked when you had both recovered a bit.

            “After you, my lady,” Eddie gestured for you to lead the way.

            Your first stop was the fun house where Eddie had to guide you through the spinning tunnel painted with black and white spirals since you kept losing your balance. Despite the dizzying swirls that kept causing you to trip, you relished the casual closeness of Eddie behind you, his arms pressed against yours as you held Beholder to your chest, gently directing you through the tunnel. At the end you held Beholder up to the series of distorted mirrors, both of you dying of laughter when the warped surfaces made his buggy eyes even bigger than they already were. 

            Next up was a food cart selling funnel cakes. Your comment that the pile of fried dough resembled guts resulted in you and Eddie pretending to be orcs consuming the entrails of a slain enemy. The little container of raspberry jam that accompanied the funnel cake made this all the more convincing, as it proved to be a sticky but delicious fake blood that Eddie slathered over the fried treat. Beholder watched from his bag on the old wooden picnic table, eyes wide as you both took turns dramatically ripping pieces from the cake with your fingers and dipping them in even more jam.

            Satisfied with your meal of the viscera of your enemy, you both returned to the games, taking turns holding Beholder while the other played. You won a little bear while picking ducks and Eddie got a small plastic sword at the dart toss. You only had a couple tickets left as the sun was beginning to sink toward the horizon and the heat of the day was fading to a more comfortable evening.

            “Wanna spend our last tickets on the ferris wheel?” Eddie asked.

            “Sure! If you don’t think it will make the baby too sick…” you replied with feigned seriousness, stroking Beholder’s bag protectively. You couldn’t keep up the act long though, and both of you devolved into laughter as you made your way toward the large circular structure at the back of the fair.

            When you were both settled in your seat and the creaking metal frame lurched to life, you watched as the little carriage slowly lifted from the loading area and into the air. Glancing over at Eddie, you found him looking anxious, his long fingers fidgeting with the rings on his hands.

            “Hey Eds, you good?”

            “Can I tell you a secret?” he dodged your question, answering with one of his own instead.

            “Of course,” you pressed yourself closer to him on the metal seat. “You can tell me anything.” He smiled a small, nervous smile, turning his eyes back to his hands and letting his dark curls fall over his face.

            “I uh—I practiced at the ring toss for weeks to get it right. Wayne has all these old mugs and uh… well… I would set them out on the table and make little rings out of tinfoil. I think the weight was a little off from the real thing, but…” he looked up at you finally, his big brown eyes rimmed with gold as they caught the glowing light of the setting sun, “I really wanted to get it right for you.”

            You were speechless. A thousand sentences started to form in your mind, all of which screamed I love you I love you I love you. But you couldn’t get any of them out. You opted for wrapping your hands around his, hoping the way your fingers intertwined with his said the words that you weren’t able to force from your mouth. They must have, because he just squeezed your hands like he understood and rested his head on top of yours as you tucked yourself against him.

            “This is… easy, y’know,” he said after a long moment as the carriage continued to climb toward the top of the wheel. He pulled back to look at you as he stumbled over his words: “Like… I thought it might be awkward or like weird or something, or that I wouldn’t feel like myself. But it just feels normal. Or right. Just easy I guess.”

            “Eddie Munson, are you calling me easy?” you clutched at your invisible pearls in mock horror.

            “Nononononono – that’s not what I meant at all I—” you cut off his stammering apology with a gentle finger to his lips.

            “I know, Eds. I was just teasing,” you assured him. “But I feel the same way. It’s just… nice. You’re right – it just feels easy to be with you like this.” You took a deep breath, closing your eyes for a moment before speaking again: “Now can I tell you a secret?”

            “Of course,” he repeated your words from earlier, beaming at you, “you can tell me anything.” You leaned in closely then, your noses almost touching, your quavering voice barely above a whisper.

            “I’d really like to kiss you right now.”

            You were so close you could hear the breath catch in his throat at your words. His heart had to be racing as fast as yours was, but now your blood was rushing in your ears and all you could hear was the sound of your own fevered heartbeat. You closed your eyes then, afraid you might start seeing spots if you kept them open. Leaning in, you sensed him doing the same. You could feel the warmth radiating from his skin. And then his lips were on yours. Soft. Tentative. Warm. Gentle. And so utterly overwhelming in best way possible. You couldn’t focus on anything but the feeling of his skin against yours, your mind a mess of color and sound – fireworks ignited by the touch of his lips against your own.

            Then the whole world lurched, and you snapped back into reality. The carriage had finally made its way to the top of the ferris wheel and had jolted as it reached the highest point. The fairgrounds spread out below you, strings of lights flickering to life as the evening sky faded to a welcoming lavender. The chiming music of the carousel floated up on a slight breeze as you watched the fair light itself up in sparkling bursts of green, blue, yellow, and red. High above the dust and heat and noise, it almost looked like something out of a fairytale.

            “Wow, you can see everything from up here,” you breathed, squeezing Eddie’s hands in yours.

            “Yeah, you really can,” he agreed. But when you turned back, he wasn’t looking at the scene below – his eyes were only for you. Almost without thinking, you pulled him back in to finish the kiss.

[snootlestheangel]

More of the YouTuber AU random bits

Just thinking of this thing as I'm working on the drabbles

There's compilation videos of all the times Gaz kinda blushes/smiles softly when Alex calls him a pet name. There's compilations literally titled "Alex for SIMP President" and it's just all the times he's being Alex and in love with Gaz. The Among Us video fuels these like gasoline lol

There's "Soap Being Scottish" compilations.

There's "Times They Forgot Alex is an Amputee" compilations

There's compilations of Gaz's side eyes to his camera every time one of them says something really wild/insults him directly

Once he and Alex move in together there's compilations of "Times Alex Interrupted Gaz's Stream Just For CuddlesTM" and it's all the times where Alex just walks into Gaz's office and sits on his lap

There's "Times Gaz Had Beef With A Weird Russian Dude" compilations, but they're just every time anyone, especially Gaz, brings up his misfortunes with helicopters, especially when Nik is the pilot.

There's Ghost compilations that always comment on his dark humor/edgy humor; there's compilations on all the times he's referenced 'death' in his life (like how in some games his tag is "LegallyDead")

From @eaveplzzz 's tags during a reblog of the OG post, there's so many theory videos on what happened to Alex's leg; why do they always say "Classic Soap" or "Soap NO" when he has a bomb/sets off an explosion; Who Is Ghost? theory videos are a big hit, especially the ones about if he's actually "legally dead" or not; the theories about what happened between Gaz and Nik

Gaz eventually being convinced to do vlogs.

His first one is "Moving In Together" and it's literally just a cute/funny video taken from highlights of his stream where he and Alex unpack a bunch of boxes while answering questions from his chat. (the compilation videos go hard after this stream/video goes live) *there's one question during this where someone asks Alex if he's missing his leg because he sold it to help Gaz's career and he just beams at the joke while Gaz screams into his hands*

This stream/video was so popular Alex suggests they make an entire channel dedicated to doing streams like that again/playing games just the two of them/a day in the life type super duper cute shit *there's one clip where they start slow-dancing cause they're listening to a playlist put together by the chat and a slow song comes up. There's so many music video-esque compilations where there's a love song/dedicated-to-this-one-person-for-the-rest-of-my-life songs play to a bunch of their cute moments with the slow dancing in the kitchen being the refrain*

He does eventually post a vlog style video but it's just random bits of things he recorded while at a big gathering over the Christmas holidays with everyone. There's a few ways viewers piece together who is who: Soap because he's the only Scot, and they're always yelling his name in some fashion, Dylan (Gaz's friend) is also easily picked out, Nik once again due to his accent, and eventually everyone catches on with Price *comments go crazy spamming the time signature Price first appears with "Daddy??"*

What surprises everyone the most is when Ghost finally makes an on-camera appearance. It's a brief video, where he's smiling at Soap and Gaz doing something silly. It's just Simon in that moment: no mask, no black around the eyes, his hair is recently cut and styled, and he's happy

*bout to make it sad for a second y'all*

There's a stream once where Gaz makes it clear everything he makes during it go to a Veteran's Help program. It's before the holidays, a very vulnerable time for all veterans, and it's just a quiet stream where he plays a relaxing game and answer questions from chat. He talks about Task Force 141 (briefly and in as little detail as possible), he talks about the helicopter incidents, how he met all the guys he plays with, he talks about he and Soap getting up to no good together, he talks about some of the struggles he had adjusting to civilian life since he didn't know anything else, how much of a help his friends and Alex had been.

It's later revealed the reason he did the stream is for Simon. Because even though it's been years since the incident with his family, it's still something that can hurt badly to this day. How he and Soap were shopping for gifts for Soap's several nieces and nephews. How there was a little toy plane that made the exact same sound Simon's nephew's once did. They even looked the same. How a little blonde boy begged his mum for it. The child looked so familiar it broke one of Simon's barriers.

PTSD isn't curable, it doesn't just disappear over time. There's ways to trigger really bad episodes, and this was just one of those times. It was hard for everyone to see Ghost have such a big setback, but for Gaz? The way they all found ways to help Ghost during it. The way he and the rest of the team, their friends and loved ones, helped reach out to pull Simon back onto his feet. And Gaz wanted other veterans to have that support, especially during the holidays.

He and the 141 (Price, Soap, and Ghost) eventually start doing charity streams just for veterans and the many existing resources for them. They're always wacky, sometimes they're gaming, sometimes they're all in-person doing a fake game show with some of their friends. There's one where they all travel to Mexico to host one with their Las Almas friends to benefit North American veterans' benefits charities.

I don't know, I'm just having so many thoughts about this AU I might just write an entire GazAlex fic based on their lives involving Gaz becoming a big creator.

There's so many thoughts about this AU HOLY SHIT

[sapphoshands]

I’d be curious about your Agatha thoughts (gives you a corn chip) because I too have feelingsTM about the “discourse” but I just wanted to say thanks for being a fun person to follow who has also been consumed by AAA brainrot but in a FUN way…like can we just enjoy fun things? Oy.

ONE CORN CHIP, you have poked the bear successfully (and thank you for saying nice things; i am glad my breakdown is enjoyable all around hahaha)

okay a couple people have actually poked me about this soooo. snark activated. rant unlocked. disclaimer, i have mostly been avoiding the tags so i'm sure this has been litigated elsewhere, but a few things annoying ME:

people saying the show last night is the wrong kind of queer. because. look. we are all just queer, okay. the show is queer. the show is SO MANY kinds of queer!

also did we accidentally erase the first five episodes because i don't know what show you [generic you] were watching but there has been intense lesbian activity on my screen since 'agnes' first sat down on her couch.

i also will be v sad if agatha and rio don't get at least one smooch, but we have three eps left? a third of the show? so i'm not exactly throwing a fit yet!

even if they don't smooch, their relationship has been such a joy to watch on screen and is so intense and involved and complex and fully-realised. like, we might not get a kiss, because i sure don't think we're heading for a happy ending, but... it's not like a kiss is what legitimises the whole thing, you know? IT'S THERE.

agreed that it's unfortunate we had a short ep last week and a long one this week, but i don't understand people who are saying we were short-changed last week specifically in agatha's trial. because. it is agatha's show. this whoooole thing. it is about agatha. all of it. all along. and it's not like a) she doesn't get the spotlight in everyone else's trial, or b) we didn't get enough character development for many many fanfics.

plus we got a long ep this week specifically so we could get more agnes and more agatha. i'm surprised they got away with putting so much agnes in the ep but oh my god i loved every second of it. kathryn hahn the manspreader dykespreader that you are.

fan hat off, notes hat on, i don't know what i would've cut out of the billy section. maybe a couple minutes of hospital time? couple minutes of bohner? not a lot of fat there! lots of stuff that's almost certainly going to have meaning to agatha's story!

some people will say cut the boring boyfriend but look. look. i am genuinely emotional about the interrelational queerness in this show now. i think this is a spectacular example of how stories that are overdone in pop culture generally can get a whole new life and vibe when they are seen through a diverse lens. this commentary on witchiness, queerness, otherness, coven as found family... it's saying some things, and it's not beating us over the head with them. we needed the queer billy backstory to make those work. plus, we're unlocking all new agatha feelings through billy and so the show has to give us some billy so we know why agatha has those feelings!

maybe i sound like too much of an apologist, and let's be real, i'm certainly not going to be rewatching the first two-thirds of that ep anywhere near as much as the entire rest of the season (so far). i'm not telling anyone they had to love it. i will also say, i've seen some reviewers talking about how this was the best ep so far and i REALLY side-eye that (and now i trust them much less). but i enjoyed the ep, way, way more than i expected. i almost kind of give a shit about billy now, and i absolutely give a shit about agatha's feelings about billy.

that said, it's not an attack to not have rio in the ep (when jac schaeffer has literally said they were rationing her). and neither rio nor billy are the most important parts of agatha's story. but they're both building towards it, in my opinion. we haven't lost anything by getting a little billy; we've immensely deepened the world of the show and agatha's character.

so there is one corn chip worth of thoughts! and now, back to writing fic.

[eteisvalssi]

gig report london 11.4.2024

now that i'm back home and stuck inside for a couple of days bc of bovid, i can finally finish my gig report from london! it's gonna be a long one 😅

i won't be getting too much into how i traveled to london bc the story is long, but let's just say that i would arrange it differently now that i experienced it

in london i met up with @joyuntold, who was my roommate for the two nights! kiitos for letting me tag along with you <3 we had so much fun just yapping the night before the concert that i almost forgot how tired i was at that point 😂

i hadn't slept in well over 24 hours so i went to sleep at 8pm local time and had a good night's sleep before going queueing so that i could stay there for the whole day after i'd gotten my number

the queue had already started the day before because of a misunderstanding and it being posted on social media, which caused the word to spread and suddenly everyone was getting their numbers and just going away for several hours. can we please just not do this?

i did have a fun time in the queue though! there were a lot of familiar faces but i just got really shy with my english for some reason and felt very awkward not talking, so i hung out with my finns a lot during the day

but everyone i talked to that day like overall was just super nice once again! i met and talked to a few mutuals too!

the first band member we saw was jure, he walked past the queue and we all just said hi to him

jan and nace came to the venue together shortly after. i waved at them and nace waved back :)

i didn't see the other band members come to the venue but we did see the family guštin walk by a couple of times

the ee line worked so well, we formed the number queue ourselves and the crowd management worked really well for us. there were multiple lines formed for every type of ticket, but i heard that the ga line was not as successful

i had already lost my hope for barricade on jan and nace's side with how many people there were in the queue before me, but i literally got the perfect spot on the barricade and didn't even have to run for it!

when we got inside i had already completely forgotten about the soundcheck so i was actually surprised when they came on stage 😅 they played astp and proti toku

roots & wings were fun, they were just trying really hard and that was kinda adorable :)

elle coves was amazing! hadn't listened to her songs at all beforehand but i really enjoyed it!

they played the gola setlist and i do get why it's their favorite one

kris especially was on fire during the gig!! idk if it was because his family was there but he gave his everything on stage

we got the demoni scream!!!

also idk what was in padam that night but bojan was really living it and i really felt it and got literal goosebumps

i remember there being a moment when i was like the jance shippers are gonna eat this one up, but i'm too feverish to remember what it was rn

we had a surprise guest on stage! louie starkey, grandson of ringo starr, came on stage during umazane misli and did his own solo.

a finnish translation of umazane misli was also sung that night by yours truly <3 i have no memory from that moment but i just saw a video of it and bojan showed a thumbs up to the band when i started singing 😂 btw if anyone else has any footage from that moment, i would love to see more!

we were like there's no way they're not gonna play ssol and were kinda shocked that it was not on the setlist, but of course they came to play it as an extra encore

after the gig i stayed at the barricade and kiki came over to give the setlists and i got one <3 that was the first time i'd even tried to get one so i was kinda surprised to get it, but it's now on the wall next to my photos i got printed :)

when we went outside there were a lot of people waiting and bojan did come to greet us quickly and take the picture he posted on instagram

i waited for a while but my feet were hurting so much from standing all day that i called it a day just a bit too early and just went to the hotel

the next day i found out that if i'd literally walked back towards the venue with the others instead of leaving to the hotel i would've met some of them 😅

my next two days were spent exploring london, we went to camden town with a friend i'd met before at a gig but we only got to know each other in london! and on saturday i was on a bus on my way to london and it was a sunny day and suddenly sunny side of london started playing from my playlist and that felt so good

overall it was a very fun experience! i got to meet so many cool people, i saw my favorite band yet again, i sung in finnish at fucking shepherd's bush empire, i basically traveled solo for the first time and it went very well. i'm really glad i decided to go :)

also i joked about getting bovid from the gig when i was feeling kinda stuffy and tired yesterday and today i tested positive with covid 🤠

[tallymonster]

Memories of Us Chapter 2 || Masterlist

Literally posting the first two parts and then passing out lol, same tags as last time, same inspiration from this art by @cheesy-cryptid , same everything basically.

Summary: Octavia goes to a place in the Upper City to meet her boss. Turns out it's extremely secretive.

Oh one thing I forgot to mention. The chapter titles are based on the song "I Caught Fire" by The Used.

Thanks again to my babe @micropoe10 for being my beta reader and best friend ❤️

also tagging @satanicspinosaurus because they're the first person to ask to be tagged (!!!!) Thanks for the support guys, it means A LOT.

Chapter 2

Could stay a while

Gale gave Octavia the very secret directions to the restaurant she was due to meet her boss in. It was a fancy place in the Upper City, secluded enough for only those who knew where it was could find it. Looking down at the piece of paper with the code to enter, she knocks on the door. A voice comes out of nowhere, loudly asking, "PASSWORD?" Nervously she speaks the phrase on the paper, instantly the door opens and the piece of paper is gone. "Wow, they really don't want people to know about this place huh?" "I would assume not, some of us do pay quite a bit of gold for the exclusivity." A haughty voice speaks out from behind her, a blush quickly develops on her cheeks as the realization crosses that she was not alone.

She quickly stammers "Oh it's my first time here, I was more surprised than anything." She chuckles at her own expense. The man behind her is cloaked in the light of a street lantern directly behind them. "Well, I hope you enjoy it, they say the first time is incredibly memorable..." The last word spills out with a sultry drawl, he walks past her and into the hallway, eventually fading into the darkness of the restaurant. The blush on her cheeks has definitely covered her entire face now.

Octavia takes a few breaths. Then steps into the dark restaurant. The interior of the establishment is lowly lit, almost completely dark, save for the candles on the tables and sconces on the walls. She looks around to the other patrons, all impeccably dressed in clothes that look like they would cost at least 5 months pay.

"This way, miss." Octavia is led to a private room towards the back, the waitress knocks on the red wooden door in front of them, a voice that sounds like Gale's calls out "I think she's here, let me go greet her!"

Gale comes out in a much nicer suit than his usual one, slightly fitted for a guy who you only see in cardigans and loose sweaters. "Okay, now I definitely feel underdressed, is there a dress code here that someone forgot to inform me about?" Octavia jokes, "Because if I had a reason to go buy a new wardrobe with my graduation money, it would've been good to know."

Gale looks at her slightly confused until he notices her wearing practically the same outfit she wore to work, the only exception was her blazer, it wasn't the one he accidentally spilled ink on when they were restoring some letters together earlier in the day.

He sucks his teeth and apologizes "I absolutely did, and I'm not sure how to make up for it yet, but I promise you look wonderful. You have your talents and expertise to speak for themselves! No amount of lavish clothing can eclipse that. Besides, Mr. Ancunin trusts me much more than anyone else. He and I have talked at great lengths about your impressive knowledge of the Heroes of Baldur's Gate. He's made remarks about it, seeming like you've been there yourself!" He laughs as he leads her into the room, would this be the time to tell him her family history?

As she approaches the table, a shadow becomes clear and his form begins to take shape. His hands are the first thing she sees come out from behind the cloak around his shoulders; slender fingers with a spider like length, lustrous skin like pearls, one reaches out and takes hers in a handshake. "My my..Made your way over from outside, darling?" That voice sounded like the man from outside."How was the walk over? Not too far in the back are we? I wanted to make sure our meeting was nice and private."

The waitress who led her down to this room lights a few more candles, replacing some that had apparently gone out. The barely lit room fills with warm yellow light and her boss becomes more illuminated by each one.

Octavia notices his hair first, a mop of silver and white styled into a messy tousle of curls. His ears were pointed, the few rings of hair that fell on them perfectly encircled around as if on purpose. She noticed something particular though, he was wearing sunglasses inside? In this dark place?

Before she even knew, she asked "Why are you wearing sunglasses inside at night?" Taken aback, her boss laughs loudly as he looks towards Gale, "You were right, cheeky little pup, isn't she?"

His grin grows mischievously. Gale shrugs and pulls the chair out in front of him, he motions Octavia to sit. She makes her way over and takes her spot, Gale sitting to her right. "Miss Octavia, I would be honored to finally introduce you to our esteemed head curator of the Baldur's Gate Museum of History, Mr. Astarion Ancunin."

Gale flourishes the last bit by extending his arm out to his right, Astarion dips his head in a small bow. "I do apologize for the last minute absence, my dear" he sips his wine and places the glass down.

"I believe you're both reaping the benefits of that excursion in the hard work you've been doing. Which is the cause of this little outing I've set up for the three of us. Obviously, I wanted to meet you beforehand, Octavia, but some things have to be sacrificed for the good of preservation. I take this work very seriously, I want to ensure these priceless artifacts don't get lost to time, as some things have before." He takes a slow sip of his wine, "I believe Gale has told you about his little interest in our Szarr art collection?"

Astarion playfully asks Octavia, as he turns to Gale, a devilish smile on his face, sipping more wine. "He has, actually, but I asked." she answers "Really? And what do you make of this mystery subject? You must have a theory, yes?" He places a hand under his chin, turning to look at her behind those dark lenses.

Octavia feels the same chill she felt when she first looked at the painting on the wall. She gulps,"Uh not yet, but I'm curious as well...the subject looks like a male elf, maybe about 40? No more than 100 it seems..."

She trails off a little, looking down at the table. "Whomever they were, they seem important somehow, like they were a favorite or something? A favored consort, possibly? I'm hoping that after Gale and I are done with this project, we may be able to find out?" She fidgets with her fingers a little under the table, hearing a pleased hum she straightens up and looks to Gale. He has a giant smile on his face, and gives her a reassuring nod.

A silence falls on the table as they turn to look at Astarion, his eyebrows come together.. he seems angry, perhaps annoyed, was he upset at her speculation? Her heart was in her throat, where was the waitress? She needed water and quick- "Why do you think that?" Astarion asks pointedly, taking a more prominent drink of his wine. "Why do you think that one is favored?"

Octavia feels a lump at her throat, she swallows and answers "They're in a lot of paintings in the gallery...I noticed them in at least a dozen...in the forefront of four, the background of 6...the main subject of two..it's quite a lot for someone who doesn't matter.." She hears a soft huff, not annoyed this time. "Interesting. Most people say that he's pretty or gorgeous or go on about his beautiful body, but you focused on the importance of the subject. I admire your insight, Octavia. I see why Gale tipped the scales for you."

[coleblackblood]

Hello darlings!

We're doing Kinktober 2024 a bit differently this year. I'll put the details below the read more for anyone interested. For those who want to just read the first two days that have already been posted, here's the link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59411074/chapters/151512874

Thank you @dreamlandcreations for the amazing prompt list, which I have used this year!

So here's the major changes:

Instead of posting the ficlets all at once, I'm going to be posting one each day, in the more traditional fashion.

This year's prompts are going to be focused on one particular character: Seer (aka Beautiful) from @castleaudios 's Glenwood series.

Yes, I'm serious: Seer is getting passed around this year, purely because a few friends and I decided they had good enough vibes to get with anyone in Glenwood. (And also it sounded fun)

Since I'm updating every day, that means the chosen pairings and prompts will be a surprise, until they are posted. I can promise one thing though: there is very, very few repeat pairings. I am making somewhat of a liar of myself, because Beth keeps inserting herself into my ideas. So gonna instead say it is MOSTLY unique pairings lol

Don't worry: no tags or prompts will be added to the fic's list on AO3 until they're actually posted. No fake outs here!

Thank you for reading this, and I hope that even though I'm changing things up, you all still enjoy what I have to offer. <3

[anamoon63]

OC Deep Dive Questionnaire Tag

A set of 20 questions to get to know your OC!

For this one I chose Anika, she was born in game, but she's the daughter of Allan Wilson, my most important Sims 4 OC, (if not the only one, lol), so I consider her an OC as well.

I was tagged by @matchalovertrait. Thank you very much for thinking of me. 🤗💗

Anika Wilson

What uncommon/common fear do they have?

Anika's greatest fear is losing her parents, especially Allan, with whom she's very close.

Do they have any pet peeves?

She hates school, mostly doing homework, lol.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

Her phone, her computer, and her diary (all three indispensable to her).

What do they notice first in a person?

The way they look, and whether they're kind or not.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance?

If it is physical pain, maybe a 5, if it is emotional, due to her difficult childhood and her parents' problems, she has developed some tolerance, so it would probably be an 8.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure?

It depends on the situation, if there are many people around, it is almost always flight mode.

Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?

Anika's family (The Wilsons) is rather large, six in total. She's definitely a family person and loves her own.

What animal represents them best?

Probably a cat, because she is a bit spoiled, requires a lot of attention, and sometimes isn't very sociable.

What is a smell that they dislike?

She hates the smell of alcoholic drinks, as they bring back very bad memories.

Have they broken any bones?

No, and let's hope it never happens to her.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

Daddy's girl, a little spoiled, shy, cute and smart.

Are they a night owl or a morning bird?

A morning bird, mostly.

What is a flavor they hate and a flavor they love?

She loves everything sweet and dislikes bitter flavors.

Do they have any hobbies?

Yes, she likes to read, write and paint.

Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprises?

Anika is rather shy and not very sociable, so she doesn't enjoy parties much, let alone surprises. She hates awkward or embarrassing situations, so she prefers to know what is going to happen at every moment.

Do they like to wear jewelry?

Not really, just her earrings and occasionally a watch, but Anika focuses more on clothing than accessories.

Do they have neat or messy handwriting?

More like messy. Although she loves to write and, as a child, her greatest dream was to become a writer.

What are two emotions they feel the most?

Energized and Flirty. (In game emotions)

Do they have a favorite fabric?

None in particular, but she likes fabrics that are pretty and comfortable.

What kind of accent do they have?

Wow, I really don't know, but I imagine living in Del Sol Valley must be something like living in Hollywood, California, so a California accent, maybe? 🤔

And that would be all, note that some of my answers came more out of how I imagine my character, rather than what you can actually see in game.

Bonus: Two more pictures of Anika, with her siblings at high school prom, and with her beloved Alexander.

Thank you so much again @matchalovertrait for tagging me, this was a lot of fun! 🥰

I'm tagging @expirisims, @changingplumbob, @berrycactus, @bool-prop, @dandylion240, @kimmiessimmies , @nocturnalazure, @sweetpyxels, @treason-and-plot , @miss-may-i , @sharona-sims and anyone else who wants to do this. ☺️

[itsclydebitches]

Have you seen the posts going around saying shit like "If a mutual likes Hazbin Hotel I will block them"?? It's genuinely upsetting me tbh, not just the idea that people don't like the show, but that they despise it so much they can't even stand the thought of someone they know liking the show. It reminds me of the Steven Universe hate train only worse. They also say shit like "the show is just someone saying swear words and expecting you to laugh", and if for a second we put aside the fact that that is blatantly not true, what's wrong with that? I'm allowed to like something that's a bit trash, right? I've already seen two different people I follow reblog posts to that effect (and worse, someone saying all a character boils down to is "i love being sexually abused <3" and i don't know how they ever came to that conclusion) and it's driving me mad. And somehow I just know that they don't actually give a shit about any "controversies" surrounding vivziepop, that's just a convenient excuse for most of them. I don't even care if Vivzie is a bad person, that's none of my business. just live and let live, you know?

Sorry for ranting, you're literally the only blog i follow who posts Hazbin fan content

Rant away, friend! Luckily for me I haven't come across any of those posts yet. Plenty of discourse surrounding whether fans are allowed to make romantic and/or sexual content for Alastor, the expected shipping wars, and - as you say - vague references to Vivzie controversies (which I'm too new a fan to even be aware of yet)... but nothing that's a complete rejection of the show itself. That's probably because I've only engaged with blogs posting a lot of Hazbin content though.

I'm a big fan of old school Internet rules which includes an emphasis on cultivating your own online space. You know, the thing tumblr is explicitly designed for. So in theory I applaud anyone blocking users/tags for a show they're not a fan of. Performatively posting about it more as a way to guilt others for liking Hazbin at all... not so much. If you want to block something just block it. If you're mutuals with someone you both presumably like each others' content. Not all of it necessarily, but enough to have followed in the first place, and often being mutuals for long enough leads to friendship because you're both getting interacting with one another a lot. All of which isn't to say that people don't unfollow mutuals, or that you can't drop a mutual because they've started posting something you dislike. Obviously both situations do happen, but it feels like an extreme enough response that these posters probably aren't actually doing this very often. Most people will wait the mutual out until their interest gets hooked on something new, or block the Hazbin tag and keep the friend, or just block without making a big announcement about it. So posts like that feel more like a way to show off how much you dislike the show and guilt others for their enjoyment which yeah, can be upsetting to see. Especially when, as you say, it costs nothing to just let people like things.

Which might sound hypocritical on my part given my RWBY interests, but I think there's a big difference between critically examining a show while supporting others who genuinely love it, and simplistically blasting it. I COMPLETELY get why Hazbin wouldn't be to everyone's tastes and, like with the SU example, anything that gets popular enough is going to develop its haters (especially cartoons trying to tackle non-childish subjects. That's always going to be a fandom landmine). But if you're going to make claims about a show, at least watch it to ensure you can back up your stance? And if your takeaway is still, "This is the worst fucking thing I've ever watched"... cool. Go forth and write about that on your own, personal blog. But no one should be surprised when they're also blocked for bragging about how many Hazbin fans they've blocked.

[blorbologist]

Tag Game

Tagged by @sharkodactyl !!! had to post a fic first >:3c manipulating my stats /s

Rules: Go to your (current/main) AO3 account and find the following:

What ratings do you write most of your fics under?

OOUGH THIS IS SO SATISFYING... Good numbers for brain... Anyways there's a lot of Gen stuff, then some fics bumped up due to swearing/Violence

What are your top three fandoms?

OK so it's these two, followed by a tie by like Everything Else at one work. I think Warriors - Erin Hunter technically wins out, though, because I know I have two fics but one ain't showing up? And they're fics of a fics so. Nebulous.

What is the top character you write about?

~Lady Vex'ahlia de Rolo, Baroness of the First House of Whitestone, Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt and Coinmistress of the Tal'Dorei Council~ at uh 34 fics. Then it goes Percy -----> Laudna -> Keyleth -> Cass

What are your top three pairings?

Little surprise - the uh OTP that consumes my stats, Fucked Up Girls, and also Siblings Siblings Siblings

What are the top three additional tags?

hey. hey why is there so much fluff. I think I'm not tagging my angst fics as angst enough because 99% of the time I'm writing with a little >:D expression about Inflicting pain.

Does any of this surprise you?

The fluff number? Yeah! The weird thing with the Warriors fics too. NGL I was expecting twins relationship to beat out the toxic lesbians (affectionate), I haven't thought of/written Imodna in a while vs constantly being obsessed with the codependent twins.

Tagging:

@katia-dreamer @rightpastnowhere @burr-ell @elle-thereafter @chaseyesterdays @nilesdaughter !!!! and anyone else who wants to give it a go!

[justabigoldnerd]

Thank you so much @cha-melodius for the tag!!!!

So because where I'm at in TFSTTTWLTWIA is......spicy..... I'll give you a snippet from one of two Library AU fics I plan to write, both based on things that have actually happened at my job 😆 Shout out to @yallwildinrn for throwing ideas back and forth with me for the second one, and to the fic "Scenes From Bay Ridge Public Library" by @too-young-to-fall-in-love (StuckIn85 on Ao3) for showing me that there is indeed a way to shove my blorbos into a library setting LMAO

"Never Fall In Love With A Stranger"

His brow is knit in concentration and he is bent over the desk, carefully applying a protective adhesive cover to a paperback. The barely-blue button up he wears is rolled up to his elbows, and as he shifts his weight to readjust, Illya's eyes are drawn down across his broad shoulders to where the shirt dips at the small of his back. The dark navy slacks he's wearing hug his form, and good lord, does he have the ass and thighs of a Greek God. He's tall, too; towering over his coworkers like Illya does. His hair, styled out of the natural curl Illya can see hints of, is black as ink, and a silken lock has fallen free into his eyes. Illya finds that he wants to gently tuck that strand back into place and that terrifies him. What terrifies him more is when Joanna returns and directs the stranger's attention to Illya. Illya's heart drops into his stomach. The stranger flashes him a smile that nearly knocks Illya off his feet, then approaches the computer closest to him. “Hey there, what can I help you with today?” he rattles off a clearly rehearsed script. “Uhm,” Illya swallows down the lump in his suddenly dry throat, “I am going to heritage department. Don't need help.” The stranger's eyes widen almost imperceptibly at Illya's voice, no doubt surprised by his still-thick accent. They're a deep shade of blue, like the Baltic Sea, but in that imperceptible widening, Illya thinks he could see an imperfection in one. The pupil a size larger, maybe. It's hidden away again too fast for him to make it out. “Well,” the new face drawls in a tone that says that Illya has been quiet for far too long, “Let me know if that changes.”

I want you all to know that I got this particular idea while at work and didn't have my phone so I had to scribble it down on a piece of scratch paper and hide it in my pocket 😆

Transcription: "Library AU: Solo = Library Reference Assistant / 5 + 1 Times Illya sees him bend over / First is putting cover on book"

No pressure tagging @yallwildinrn @huggiebird @pippinoftheshire @nicijones @heytheredeann and anyone else who wants to join!!!

[thasorns-moved]

tag game ✨

I got tagged a long time ago by a mutual who went private... it's friday night and look at that I HAVE some time to do it :)

1. why did you choose your url?

just look at Emi and then we can talk again. Have you seen her? <3

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them.

juhotonin - is a kpop blog (even though I neglected it a bit)

alexreggies - yes, sometimes I reblog different things on this (thasorns) blog but this one is specifically for western things

kaiosmichiru - anime

I have another one where I only post gifs but never told anyone about it

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

probably since 2009. I used to have another blog but moved to my current one in 2012

4. do you have a queue tag?

used to have # queue to my life, # queueing things bc its quarantine things but now I'm just using q. bc I’ve become lazy

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

before this blog I was a dedicated fanblog about marko marin and sideblog was very multifandom and then I moved and stayed multifandom 

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

buttercup is THE mvp

7. why did you choose your header?

a tale of thousand stars do I need to say more (if you didn't watched it, THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE)

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

this, mind that I was a beginner in gif making and you can see that in this 

9. how many mutuals do you have?

maybe I forgot one or two but the last count was 79 love you all 💕

10. how many followers do you have?

 more than i would expect and deserve but I appreciate every each one of you 🥰

11. how many people do you follow?

I'm surprised that after 12 years I don't follow more but I also go on a unfollow spree sometime anyway it's 372 people

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

no. don't think so. I used to say a lot about shows I watch. does this count as a shitpost? Idk

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

is that really a question? like? every day

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

no i'm staying in my bubble and be happy

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts

i dont do it to be oppositional 

16. do you like tag games?

even though I try to participate as much as I can and not forgot about it I'll do it because they're fun and it's nice to see other perspectives or opinions on things

17. do you like ask games?

I rarely do it because I think no one would send me asks

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

the first which comes to mind is sabrina @moonkhao

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

what does crush even mean?

claire @clairedaring @poomphuripan is such a cutie. The way she does so much for the msi community but at the same time highlights other lakorns and find the strength and time to gif it, so other ppl on here could watch it. always so nice and patient ❤️

an honorable mention: cata @kittychicha because I would've never thought that we would become friends and talk on a regular basis about everything and it is fun and lovely to talk with you and get to know you 🧡

Another honorable mention would be vish @morkofday because have you met her? Her mind is already enough. The way she thinks and sees things in perspectives - a reason to fall in love. Not even joking. Our dead friend forever days were precious for me 💕

20. tags?

@morkofday @itsallaboutbl @clairedaring @pondsphuwin @patchanons @milkpansa @kittychicha @jimmysea @loveisactivated

[lilmaemae]

tagged by the lovely lovely @thestrangeillusion !! you're so cool actually, and i'm glad to have learnt more about you on your own edition, ehe <33 im a few days late but here are my answers !!

do you tidy your bed

no, because i'm going to lie in it in a few hours lmao. it feels more cosy in its nest state

what's your favourite number

15! or 5? as my birthday dates, they're precious to me

what is your job

i used to work as a veterinary nurse (for the past 2 years) but i just quit!

if you could go back to school would you

... i'm going back to school in september (college lmao), for vet school, so uh,,, yes? 😂

can you parallel park

not at the moment, but in the near future i hope so!

a job you had that would surprise people

i used to sell cured meat at a branch in the airport. or the time i helped my mom's friend with her candle making workshops?

do you think aliens are real

i think that there are many things different from human-likeness that can exist. whether or not they have "intelligence" in the definition relative to humans, however.,,, i think chances are slim. i think they'd be smart in their own ways.

can you drive a manual car

close! i'm learning how to drive right now, have been learning the the month or two!

what's your guilty pleasure

reading ao3 on my light tabs. i don't use incognito because it keeps logging me out of shit, and it's way easier to keep track of the fics im reading.

tattoos

none atm, but i do wish to get either an animal/astronomy related one eventually !

favourite colour

greeeeeen and pink!

favourite type of music

i like pop/r&b? music that sounds melancholic. like day6, d.o (kyung soo), jeff satur

do you like puzzles

i've never had the space for physical ones but brain games are pretty intriguing!

any phobias

hate the fucking cockroaches 👎👎👎👎👎 genuinely, the occurance of those shits randomly in my bathroom gives me so much anxiety that i stopped washing my hair in the specific toilet

favourite childhood sport

,,, i've never exaclty done sports ngl, but i do have a brown belt in taekwondo?

do you talk to yourself

yes. it's the ✨anxiety

though on good days it's a silly narrator in my head that makes life a little more fun!

what movie(s) do you adore

ngl i'm not a huge movie girl but tangled and more recently nimona!! tangled's soundtrack is just, amazing, i adore mandy moore'a voice so much. and nimona is such a treat, especially with all the shape shifting and the gay dads.

coffee or tea?

tea! matcha lattes are so good. and green tea, hojicha, chrysanthemum tea, fruit teas, bruhh the list could go oN. for coffee, i only like mochas that are so sweet they'd make a religious coffee drinker puke. not to mention they either give me headaches or cause me to vibrate so intensely that i might as well be the flash trying to phase through solid objects.

first thing you wanted to be growing up?

a zookeeper! i always knew i wanted to do something animal related, and im glad i'll be able to learn more soon.

tagging @emberfaye @mousydentist @venagrey @jez-bez @chaeul @fairlylokai @the-cookie-of-doom @awiderangeofgreen @ella-norah and anyone who wants to do this challenge!!!

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tag @melpomene-grey!

OC Deep Dive Tag

I feel like giving Elsind some love :)

Phobias and Other Fears: They don't have any true phobias, but they aren't fond of tight spaces, and the idea of confinement in any respect makes them queasy. She also gets nervous around substances that affect her self-control, like alcohol or drugs.

Pet Peeves: People who dog ear books! Also, when people call him 'changeling' rather than, I don't know, his name?

3 Items You Can Find in Their Bedroom: A diary, lots of lacy nightgowns and frilly pillows, and the fantasy equivalent of fairy lights.

First Thing They Notice in a Person: Their face. Elsind is enchanted by people's faces. She thinks every face, no matter how unsightly, is a work of art, and she revels in even the smallest details. She honestly doesn't understand the concept of physical ugliness because of this.

On a Scale of 1-10, How High is Their Pain Tolerance?: Higher than you might think. Elsind is tough as nails beneath their soft exterior. I'll put her at a solid seven.

Do They Go Into Fight or Flight Mode When Under Pressure?: I'd say flight, or maybe fawn.

Do They Come From a Big Family/are They a Family Person?: Elsind's family is pretty much just her mom. Her dad was never in the picture and she has no siblings. She hasn't seen her mom since being kidnapped by Marquis Sunflight, but she misses her a lot and hopes to find her way back someday.

What Animal Represents Them Best?: Definitely a cuttlefish, both because of the changeling vibe and because of how adorable cuttlefish are.

What is a Smell That They Dislike?: Alcohol. It brings back unfortunate memories.

Have They Broken Any Bones?: He has ✨️no bones✨️

How Would a Stranger Likely Describe Them?: It depends on what face they're wearing. If they're in their true form though, probably something along the lines of "OH GODS WHAT IS THAT THING!"

Are They a Night Owl or Morning Bird?: I'm gonna go with night owl. She likes to stay up late reading.

What is a Flavor They Hate and a Flavor They Love?: Elsind loves a good cup of spiced tea, the sort that warms you up on the inside. She hates the taste of snow root. It's the staple crop of Skysheer and it tastes like water that touched a potato once.

Do They Have Any Hobbies?: Elsind loves to read. They prefer romance, but will venture out into sci-fi and mysteries on occasion. The more sordid, the better. They would absolutely adore soap operas if those existed on Illaros.

Boom, Surprise Birthday Party! How Do They React to Surprises?: Tears of joy. She'd be startled, but the idea of someone caring enough to celebrate her birthday would make her so happy.

Do They Like to Wear Jewelry?: Yes, he just can't afford much.

Do They Have Neat or Messy Handwriting?: Very messy and very swirly.

What Are the Two Emotions They Feel the Most?: Nauseating levels of anxiety and love transformed into conviction.

Do They Have a Favourite Fabric?: Probably something soft, like cashmere.

What Kind of Accent Do They Have?: I hear her as vaguely Midwestern in my head, but I'm sorry to say, the French accent is closer to canon.

I'll tag @katenewmanwrites @melodicwriter @daily-haley @writingamongther0ses and anyone else who wants in :)