#To be fair I agree that it does seem like he has chemistry with so many characters

[sunfloweraroace]

recently I acquired an obsession with xmen (specifically the animated show) and what I’ve learned from spending time on Tumblr (and Pinterest) is:

Logan is in a relationship with anyone and everyone (at least in fanon)

Logan is a girl dad

scott eats soup when he’s sad

scott eats a lot of soup

[uniquepeanutcreatorfire]

Stolas being "Nice" to Blitz

There's been debates within the fandom about Stolas being considered a r*pist involving sexual coercion. Let's go over common defenses that have been used to prove he's not.

He asked Blitz if the deal was fair- So if you re-watch the scene, notice how Stolas said it in a sly, condescending tone. As if he knew Blitz would agree and not give pushback, considering the circumstances at the time. Circumstances that the fandom will ignore and insist that Blitz gave consent.

He respected Blitz's decision when he said "No"- In regards to Ozzie's, this happen outside of their arrangement. Blitz wouldn't be obligated to have sex outside of that. The fandom also loves to use those text messages as proof. However, Stolas only gave Blitz an option on whether to come over. Also, keep in mind that Stolas already got what he initially wanted from Blitz which was sex. Him being nice now doesn't negate the fact he took advantage of Blitz before in season one. People act like abusers and r*pists can't be nice to their victims sometimes (i.e. DV situations, groomers, etc.). That they have to be mean 100% of the time. This is how victims may normalize the abuse, thinking their abuser cares about them. Unfortunately, I see this happening with Blitz.

He is nice to Blitz off-screen. Look at the Instagram posts. Pay close attention to the scene when Stolas was asking Blitz about his day in Ozzie's. Blitz seems confused as if Stolas hasn't asked him something like that before and Stolas is acting nervous and awkward. You would think if they spent time together outside of sex, they would be comfortable having a causal conversation. Now you may argue that they're acting like this because it's a "first date" and that could be true to some extent. It’s just their interactions don't hint at any form of chemistry like the Instagram posts would suggest.

The deal was a mutual agreement- This is another major problem with Stolas. He doesn't fully acknowledge his power and status in the situation. In the recent trailer, he worded it as if they both came up with the terms of the deal. This is to resolve him of some of the responsibility and make it seem like he's being the morally righteous one. When in fact, he came up with the deal on his own and has had full control the whole time, even with this new offer.

Conclusion: HB has handled abuse and SA in a very surface-level manner. Some people who aren't aware of the subtlety and nuanced forms of abuse will only go off what the narrative is telling them. This does a disservice to the sensitive topic. I also understand that this wasn’t the intent for Stolas’s character, but even some abusers aren’t aware of the harm they cause.

[devirnis]

Okay, after having a few days to process, I am allowing myself one vent post to get it out of my system and then it’s back to ✨positive vibes✨ only

If I see one more goddamn smarmy post about how “the writing was on the wall the whole time” (with the undercurrent of “you were too stupid to see it, I have the only valid interpretation”) I’m going to lose it

Had we not had 8x05, the breakup still would have bummed me out, but I would have said, you know what, fair, we didn’t see a whole lot of their relationship, a lot of it was fanon and headcanons. We had a good run. But we did get 8x05, apparently some of it filmed out of order knowing a breakup was coming, and what was the point? To be cruel? It felt like a slap in the face to people who liked that relationship.

They could have laid some groundwork to show some cracks in the relationship, but no. Ignoring disingenuous interpretations from people who have been rooting for the ship to crash and burn since day one, 8x05 established Buck & Tommy as a solid couple. Tommy gets along with Eddie, the three of them had great chemistry together. Tommy takes care of Buck when he’s hurt. Tommy thinks the curse is a bunch of bs (as does Eddie) but still went with Buck to have a funeral for a mummy. It’s like I watched someone cook an elaborate, delicious dinner for me and then they immediately threw it in the trash, and other people around me made fun of me for being blindsided and upset because I should have seen that coming.

I won’t pretend the general audience is a monolith who all have the same opinions. I’m sure there are people who don’t care and just shrugged their shoulders that another relationship of Buck’s fizzled out. But I have 2 friends who watch the show and aren’t Fandom Fans, and they are always my barometer for how people who don’t have brain rot (affectionate) feel about the show. One really liked the relationship, the other was neutral to mildly negative on it, and both of them agreed that it felt like the breakup came out of nowhere and made no sense given the context of the previous episode. So please stop pretending that it’s only BT fandom fans who have their knickers in a twist about how it played out.

If this isn’t leading to buddie, then I don’t want to see another love interest for either Buck or Eddie for the rest of the show. Tommy had so much potential to break the cycle of Buck’s love interests (and interviews from last season seem to support that they were aware of this and planning on utilizing that) and throwing it away feels like such a waste.

So yeah, instead of being just bummed, I’m pissed. I do not know if there was BTS drama or if Tim got some other grand idea for Buck’s storyline this season — but given how plots are adopted and dropped at rapid fire pace this season (something I was willing to forgive last season because of the shortened production timeline and fewer episodes), I’m highly skeptical that there’s any sort of overarching plan here.

I’ve never thought buddie would actually happen on the show, but I also never thought either Buck or Eddie would ever be anything other than straight, so I’d be happy to be proven wrong. I’m just a little jaded by seeing people doing a victory lap convinced that buddie canon is imminent when I think that they are giving the writers a lot more credit than they deserve for supposedly crafting this epic love story for the last five or so years when a lot of that is also just generous fanon interpretation. I need explicit confirmation within the show by the end of this season that at least one of them has caught feelings or I’m over entertaining the possibility it will actually happen.

I know the joy will come back. But I really hope the same plot lines playing out ad nauseam for every character stops because I’m getting a little tired.

[jaemmphilia]

★ 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 ★ || b.c

★ summary: after chris and y/n share a sloppy moment in chris' office, neither of them can deny the natural chemistry between them. chris, in a moment of confidence and mild lust, asks y/n out on a date. y/n agrees, not once thinking about his ex, shinwon. so why is that loser texting him to meet up while y/n is making out with chris on the couch?

★ characters: bahng christopher, choi y/n, lee minho, seo changbin, hwang hyunjin, han jisung, lee felix, kim seungmin, yang jeongin

★ warnings: language, protected sex (they have decided to be responsible), chan being the absolute cutest, minho being a menace, seungmin being seungmin, jeongin being baby, uhh let me know if i forgot anything

★word count: ~7.4K

★binnie's thoughts: the second part to my chan fic, i felt like i needed to write something softer to balance out the filth of the first part, i hope its as good as the first part lol i also totally switched up the pov for this one, i feel like its better this way

★ disclaimer: this fic in absolutely NO way represents the stray kids members as people. this is just for fun, so don't take it to heart. just enjoy!

read part one here!

After hearing those words come out of Chris’ mouth, you are stunned, his own mouth opening and closing as if he’s trying to find the right words to say. Honestly, what does one say to such a question without coming off as desperate? You decide to just keep it casual, but not so casual that it seems like you’re brushing Chris off. 

“Oh, that sounds nice, actually.” You reply, a soft smile gracing your features as you fix the buttons on your shirt, your head turning to see Chris jumping into his slacks as he pulls them up, his ass bouncing when his feet make contact with the floor. You can’t help but stare, and before you have time to stop yourself, the palm of your hand comes in contact with the bouncy meat. 

The sound that comes out of Chris is a mix of a gasp and a shout. His head whips around to the cause of the slight stinging pain in his back side. You look up at Chris, your eyes a little wide, and your mouth opening to spout a million apologies, but a sweet, nervous laugh stops you. 

“I guess that’s payback for earlier, yeah?” Chris asks, turning his entire body to face you, his perfect teeth on display as he continues to chuckle lightly. You actually think you might explode if Chris continues to be so damn cute. 

The two of you make plans to meet at Chris’ place after you both get off work. You guys exchange contact information (although Chris technically already has your number after he begged Minho for it, Minho finally choked it up after he made Chris tell him whether Jisung was single or not), and you both settled on arriving at Chris’ at seven that night. 

Which leaves you with about four hours to get ready and invite your children over to gossip. You decide to send a simple text to the group chat (which is named knockoff power rangers, courtesy of Seungmin) and you set your phone down, heading to your bathroom to take a shower and clean yourself out. You can hear your phone absolutely blowing up and you just laugh to yourself before taking your well-deserved shower. 

When you get out of the shower, you can hear people talking in your living room, and you’re not even phased by it at this point. All four of your headache-inducing children have a key to your apartment. The spare keys were made by Jeongin, who somehow managed to steal your main house key in order to make the customized versions for the rest of them. (“What if Y/N hyung accidentally cuts his finger again? And then we have no way of getting to him before he passes out?” Jeongin had said, his lips in a pout as he clung to his oldest hyung. To be fair, Jeongin had one too many mimosas that day.)

A sharp voice rings in your ears, and you don’t even need to think about it to figure out who the voice belongs to.  “Choi Y/N you better get your ass down here and explain what the hell happened today!!” Hyunjin shouts, his pouty lips turned down in a small frown.

You quickly slip on some sweatpants and a loose shirt before making your way down the short hallway to the living room. Lo and behold, your friends are all squished on the couch, their eyes wide and transfixed on your figure. 

“Alright, alright, just shut up and let me explain every single detail,” You say, taking a seat on the chair that sits near his couch. And then you begin to tell your nosy friends all about the time you had with Chris in that office just a few hours previous to now. 

By the end of your little rencounter the four male’s jaws were damn near on the floor, shock completely taken over them. Until, Seungmin is the first to speak up: 

“So, did you finally dump that lame ass guy? What was his name? He was so boring that I don’t even remember his name. Why did you even date him?” Seungmin says, his face contorted in a scowl. Seungmin had a vendetta against Shinwon, something about how he was painfully average and not exciting. He claims that it’s a case of “one person in the relationship is way too attractive to be seen with someone who looks like that.”

(“Hyung, you deserve someone sexy and cool, someone completely opposite of you,” Seungmin told you one day, and it took everything in you not to smack the chestnut haired male.) 

“Yeah, Shinwon and I broke up this morning, actually,” You mutter, finding the bracelet on your wrist (Felix made it for you, and you cherish it more than anything in the entire world) way more interesting than looking at the expressions on your friend’s faces. “It was long overdue, I was falling out of love with him, and he kept talking about moving in together and I was getting annoyed and stressed out so I just-” You take a breath, cutting your rambles off short. Felix stands from the couch and takes a few short steps toward you, wrapping his arms around you in a comforting embrace. 

“It’s okay, hyung, you don’t have to explain yourself. If you felt that it was right to break up with Shinwon, then we all support your choice.” Felix turns to the other three with a look. “Isn’t that right, guys?” 

The three males all reply with various agreements before you find yourself sandwiched between your closest friends. At this moment, you feel loved, like you’re not alone in this cruel world. With your friends by your side, you feel like you could do anything.

The five males had all met at JYPE, Y/N being the first of the five to start working there. It wasn’t until about half a year later, he met Hyunjin. Hwang Hyunjin, with his long black hair pulled in a half-up hairstyle, his body language confident as he feels all eyes on him, male and female alike. He knew those stares all too well. Stares of want, stares of envy and need. They all saw Hyunjin as someone with a pretty face and no brain. Hyunjin approached Y/N in the break room that following week, making himself comfortable in the chair next to the barely older man. 

“I’m Hyunjin and I’m new here.” the dark haired male said, holding his perfect, soft hand to Y/N. Y/N offered a shy smile before shaking hands with Hyunjin. “You were the only one who didn’t look at me like you wanted to devour me, so I’m sticking with you, now.” That's all it took to seal his friendship with Hyunjin, the two were a dangerous duo. 

Until precious Felix showed the next year. 

Lee Felix, with his adorable freckles and sweet smile, became friendly with everyone in the graphic design department. Felix even managed to befriend a few people from the production department. His energy was contagious, when he’s smiling, you can't help but smile as well. When he has an off day, you yearn for his sweet smile. Felix met Hyunjin before he met Y/N, but the two were introduced very quickly. Hyunjin dragged Felix all the way to Y/N’s desk, desperate to introduce the two of them. When Y/N laid his eyes on Felix, he felt like he had to protect Felix from this harsh company where it's easy to be taken advantage of. From that day forward, their duo became a trio. 

Then, Satan himself showed up just a month later. Nah, just Kim Seungmin, but close enough. 

Y/N’s personal thorn in his side, the devil on his shoulder telling him that he should 100% punch the crying child in the supermarket. Seungmin could be described as a monster disguised as a sweet puppy. Seungmin has this innocent smile that shows off his perfect teeth, his eyes becoming crescents as his face crinkles up. Behind that innocent smile is a man whose default option is verbal violence. Y/N knows that Seungmin means well, he’s just a different type of person. Seungmin was the one to approach Y/N, claiming that everyone else looked too boring and lame to be seen with him. Y/N just cocked an eyebrow at Seungmin and allowed the younger male to leech himself onto him. 

Now Y/N has three little ducks that follow him around, so why not give him one more? 

About five months later, little Jeongin arrives as a fresh new face. He was the youngest person to ever get a job at JYPE, at the ripe age of 19. The poor boy still had braces lining his pearly teeth. The older people of the graphic design department chose Jeongin as their personal butler, making the boy go on numerous coffee runs, printing runs, or just stupid errands that didn’t really need to be done. Y/N watched as they ran Jeongin ragged, not once allowing him to show them why he was hired at a young age. Y/N finally had enough of watching Jeongin get mistreated, so he stood up and grabbed Jeongin by the arm gently and dragged him over to his desk. 

“You’re joining my team, I can’t sit there and let them mistreat you like that.” Y/N said with his eyebrows furrowed, his gaze not leaving Jeongin’s wide-eyed expression. “I can tell you have potential, and I want to make sure that everyone sees that.” 

Jeongin could have cried at that moment, but all he did was bow and thank the older male. Ever since then, the five of them have been attached at the hip. You would think they’ve known each other for their entire lives, rather than just knowing each other only a few short years. They truly are a family and nothing could possibly split them up.

“So, did you agree to his date offer?” Hyunjin asks you, flicking Seungmin on the side of his neck when said male puts his bare feet on Hyujin’s thigh. “If you didn’t, tell him to hit me up.” Hyunjin is the only one who fails to see the way Felix’s demeanor drops, a slight frown settling on his lips. The freckled male receives a soft pat from Jeongin, hoping to comfort him at least a little bit. 

“Of course I said yes, the man gave me the best dicking I’ve had in a long time. Do you really think I’m going to reject him after that?” You say,, giving Hyunjin a pointed look as he rolls his eyes. “We agreed to meet at his place at 7 p.m.” 

“Do you have any idea what you’re gonna wear?” Jeongin pipes up, his brain already coming up with several different outfit combinations that will make his hyung’s physique stand out and blow Chris’ socks off. 

“Not a clue. I was waiting for you four to show up and play dress up with your personal doll,” You reply with a snort as you get up and make your way to the kitchen, preparing to feed Domino, who is currently laid on Seungmin’s lap. 

“Okay, let me raid your closet and put some things together!” Jeongin jumps up quickly and makes his way down the hall to your room, Felix trailing behind him, laughing the whole way there. 

“Does this mean I’m on hair duty?” Hyunjin pipes up from his spot next to Seugnmin, his dark chocolate eyes glued to his phone, scrolling on some social media app. He turns his phone to Seungmin, showing the male whatever is on the screen. 

“I mean, it’s up to you. Do you want to mess with this mane of mine?” You question, setting your cat’s bowl down in its little holder. You noticed that your hair has gotten quite long, and you know you are due for a trim soon, but the longer look is kind of growing on you. You walk to the couch, plopping yourself down in between Hyunjin and Seungmin, propping your legs across Hyunjin’s lap, peeking over to look at the long haired male’s phone. 

“You act like I have no idea how to handle long hair,” Hyunjin tuts, rolling his eyes as he flips his fringe out of his eyes. You watch your friend with a lovingly annoyed look on your soft features. Hyunjin is the definition of a diva and he’s aware of it. Seungmin always jokes around and says Hyunjin is probably a pillow princess, and not once has Hyunjin denied it. It’s honestly becoming less of a joke and more of a reality thing. (It’s hard to miss the way Felix blushes every time Seungmin jokingly mentions Hyunjin in a sexual light, the poor boy is close to exploding every single time.)

“You’re so damn dramatic, Jinnie. Just help me tame my hair, you Barbie wannabe.” You retort, your hand coming up and flicking the blonde’s forehead. Hyunjin lets out an offended noise, turning to you and throwing his entire body on your smaller frame. Seungmin gets kicked in the side and he lets out a yelp, before he pinches the culprit’s calf. You react on instinct and end up kicking Seungmin again with a sharp cry. 

The three of you are wrestling on the couch when Jeongin and Felix come out of the bedroom. The two of them just watch as the three of you poke, pull at, and even bite each other. Jeongin and Felix share a look before Jeongin clears his throat to catch your attention. The three of you stop what you are doing and look up, all three pairs of eyes wide and focused on Jeongin. 

“Hyung, go try on the outfit Lix and I picked out!” Jeongin says, flashing you a sweet smile, his eyes crinkling in excitement. Jeongin is the one person to go for fashion advice. The sweet boy has an eye for fashion just like Hyunjin has an eye for art and photography. “I think you’ll like what we put together! It’s totally your style, hyung!” Jeongin says, his eyes sparkling under the lights of your living room. You can’t help but melt seeing the youngest male smile so brightly. Jeongin deserves the world and so much more. 

You untangle yourself from Hyunjin and Seungmin’s grips as you make your way to your bedroom, only tripping once (“That’s a new record, hyung,” you can hear Seungmin’s voice in your head, already). You take a glance at the clothes on the bed, all laid out and neat. Were all of those items in your closet? How come you don't remember purchasing them? It doesn’t matter, Jeongin and Felix did a great job at choosing your outfit. An oversized navy blue sweater with the words ‘heart stop’ on the front in cursive. A pair of pale blue, baggy jeans with tons of rips in all sorts of places, including the area right under the swell of one’s behind. Next to the sweater is a necklace, one that you haven't seen in a long time. Where did those two sneaky little brats find your mother’s necklace? You pick up the necklace oh-so-gently and examine it with a soft smile on your face. A beautiful silver chain with a charm that looks like the planet Saturn, with a stunning amethyst gem as the planet. A sad smile finds its way onto your face, and a single tear falls from your eye. You wipe it away immediately and take a breath. 

Once you slip on the outfit, you take a look at your appearance in the full length mirror that hangs on your wall. You take in the way the clothes fit on your body. The sweater hangs a little big on your body, but the color flatters your skin tone perfectly. The baggy jeans hug your waist and hips as if there were a pair of strong arms there. You turn your body, looking at the way the jeans make your ass look round and plump. The rips cup the bottom of your cheeks, showing a sliver of soft skin. You just know Chris will get a kick out of them. 

You venture out of the bedroom and into the living room where your friends are. You stand in front of the couch, catching their attention, four pairs of various shades of deep brown roaming your figure. You can’t help but feel your ears get warm as they just stare at you. Seungmin is the first to speak, and you are expecting a smartass comment. 

“Wow, hyung, you actually have stylish clothes? I never would have guessed,” the chestnut haired male lets out an unattractive snort, earning an elbow to the side from Felix. 

“Be nice to him! He looks really good!” Felix says, defending you with a cute pout on his face. Seungmin sends a glare at Felix, holding his throbbing side. 

“I am being nice! I complimented the way he’s dressed!” Seungmin retorts, turning his gaze back to his hyung. Seungmin would rather die than actually compliment you, or anybody for that matter, that’s just how your dynamic is with the younger male. 

“Innie, you and Lix did a really good job with the outfit. Where exactly did you find these clothes, though?” You ask, tilting your head to the right slightly, your hair falling in front of your face. “I don’t recall buying either of these items, if I’m honest.”

“Lix actually found them in the corner of your closet, the tags were still on them, hyung.” Jeongin says matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. You just shake your head and chuckle. Leave it to Jeongin and Felix to find something out of thin air. 

“Well, thanks you guys, I actually like this outfit a lot,” You say, a genuine smile on your face. 

“Honestly, hyung,” Hyunjin starts, holding his phone up to take a selfie, “You could leave your hair as it is, I have a feeling it’s just going to get messed up by the end of the night anyways.” He says, making a valid point. “Besides, the messy look is what drives people crazy, trust me.” 

You take Hyunjin’s words into consideration. Would you and Chris actually do anything tonight? A part of you hopes that you do, but on the other hand, you kind of feel like it’s a desperate move. As if he could read your mind, Felix speaks up. 

“Hyung, whatever you’re thinking, stop,” He starts, crossing his arms. “Whether you guys do it again or not, doesn’t matter. What matters is that Chris definitely likes you enough to ask you out on a date, instead just being fuck buddies.” 

“I guess so, I just don’t want him to think that I agreed to the date because of the sex, but it’s definitely a plus.” You say, ears warming up at your sudden confession. Talking about such intimate things with your closest friends shouldn’t be weird, because you often tell each other about your sexual endeavors, but you can’t help but get a little flustered. It’s not everyday that you guys are talking about the latest person you’ve hooked up with, but you always feel like a parent finding out their children aren’t innocent virgins. 

“It’ll all go well, hyung,” Felix says, his words making you feel a little more relaxed. Felix knows you like an open book that he’s read a million times. Felix must have a radar that goes off when he feels like his hyung is about to spiral into overdrive. “We’ll stay here during the date and if it doesn’t go well, at least you’ll have plenty of shoulders to cry on.” Felix finishes speaking, flashing you one of his bright smiles that makes his gorgeous brown eyes disappear behind his lids. 

“I hope you’re stocked up on tissues, crybaby hyung,” Seungmin pipes up from his spot on the couch, his body being squashed by Hyunjin, who is laid out on top of the male. You roll your eyes and shake your head. Although Seungmin makes you want to commit violent crimes, you know that Seungmin means well. You check your phone, looking at the time. You have plenty of time to freak out before you have to head to Chris' apartment. 

Chris is freaking out. He’s going absolutely feral. He stares at the third failed beef wellington. He lets out a heavy sigh before grabbing his phone, calling the one person who actually knows something about cooking. 

“Oh, this better be good,” Minho’s light voice comes through the speaker, a humorous tilt in his voice. “Did you end up canceling on him because he’s ‘just so pretty, Minho!!’” Minho’s laugh fills Chris’ ears, making the blonde roll his eyes. He’ll let Minho have his fun for now. 

“Very funny, you must think you’re sooo hilarious.” Chris says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He really doesn’t have time for Minho’s silly little scorpio games, he wants to impress his long time crush so desperately, and Minho is quite literally the only person who can help (he doesn’t dare ask Jisung or Changbin, that’s off the table, not even an option). 

“I actually don’t think I’m hilarious,” Minho replies, and Chris already knows what the younger male is going to say. “I know I’m hilarious.” 

“Yes, yes, you're the funniest person in the world. Now can you please help me?” Chris can’t help the warmth that crawls up his neck. He can’t help the blatant desperation in his voice. He hates asking for help of any kind, genuinely believing that he can do things on his own. This situation is different, though. He wants to make sure this date is absolutely perfect for you. 

Chris doesn’t want to look like a loser in front of the male he’s been crushing on since they both entered the company so many years ago. Sporting large glasses and your hair in a shorter style, you looked like the nerdy boy next door in a cheesy rom-com movie. Or the innocent member of an idol boy group. You didn’t really radiate the same confidence that you do now, your body language no different than an animal on edge. You often spoke in a soft tone, your voice easily getting lost in conversation. As the years went on, you became more comfortable in yourself, and you carried yourself completely differently. You ditched the chunky glasses for a pair of contacts (sometimes you  would sport thin wire glasses, and Chris swears his heart would leap out of his chest cavity every time the two of you happened to lock eyes), and you let your hair grow out. You had friends, you were smiling more. You could easily command a room by your presence alone. You went from a timid, almost invisible person, to someone who refuses to be walked all over like a doormat, and Chris falls more in love with you each time. 

“Holy shit, you sound desperate. What’s going on?” Minho pipes up from the other side of the phone, his playful tone being thrown out of the window. Minho might be the friend who jokes around too much, and is hardly ever serious, but he can always tell when something isn’t right with his friends (Jisung calls it his “Lino Sense” and Minho melts when Jisung points this out.).

“I’m making beef wellington for Y/N and it’s not going well. I’ve made it three times already, and I'm so close to losing my damn mind, Minho.” Chris says, his words jumbling together, and Minho can hear him huffing from how fast he was speaking. “I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” Chris’ voice trails off, a sad sigh leaving his lips. 

“Alright, give me, like, five minutes,” Minho says, and Chris can hear the jingle of keys in the background. Was Minho really coming over to help? Chris could kiss the heavens above him. 

“Ohmygod Min, you’re a lifesaver, I could kiss you,” Chris cries out, feeling the stress leave his body as quick as it came. 

“No thanks, Chris. We’ve done that once and we both hated it,” Minho says, shivering as he remembers the time he had kissed his best friend and how quickly he realized he was not attracted to the older male in that way. “Save the kissing for Y/N, yeah?” 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right, uh, see you soon.” Chris feels his face get warm, unable to keep his mind off the way your lips had felt on his just a few hours ago. He wants to shove his face in a pillow and scream while kicking his feet like a teenager in the 80s movies he watched with his parents. 

Just as he promised, Minho barged into Chris’ apartment, his hands carrying a bag with a logo matching the convenience store’s just down the street. Minho looks at the blonde, taking in his appearance. His clothes are covered in various ingredients, and Minho can quite literally see carrot shavings in Chris’ blonde tresses. 

“Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do, Channie,” Minho says, catching Chris’ attention at the nickname. It isn’t often that his friends use his nickname, and it catches him off guard each time. “You are gonna go and take a long, hot, shower, and I’m gonna make the beef wellington for you.” 

Chris’ eyes go wide. He just might cry right now. Minho is his savior, a real knight in shining armor. Although, this knight is wearing sweatpants and a large shirt. Close enough. Chris pulls his friend into a hug, not exactly knowing how to thank him. Minho seems to get the idea, because he pats Chris’ back with a breathy laugh. 

“Alright, loverboy, go shower. You smell like raw beef and desperation.” There’s the Lee Minho that Chris knows and loves dearly. With a laugh, Chris makes his way to his bedroom, opening his dresser drawers and taking a peek inside. 

Black, black, black, and even more black. He huffs at his lack of color wardrobe. Of course, there’s a bit of white and gray in there, but other than that, it’s just… black. He closes the drawer and goes to his closet. There has to be something a little colorful in there, right?

Chris lets out a triumphant noise after digging deep in his closet for about three minutes. He tosses the deep red shirt onto his bed, a gift from his grandmother when he went to visit her in Australia about two years ago. He really hopes it still fits. Ever since his last trip to his homeland, Chris has hit the gym with Changbin and Jisung, the three of them bulking up rather quickly. Especially Changbin. Chris grabs his best pair of skinny jeans, a pair of black (are we even surprised?) jeans with various words painted on them. Once he tosses the jeans on his bed, he steps into his bathroom to take a shower. 

As he steps out of the steamy shower, the smell of meat hits his nose. Chris swears he starts drooling at the smell. It smells ten times better than his three attempts combined. He quickly slips on his clothes and takes a look in the mirror. 

Oh. The shirt, well, certainly fits. Maybe a little too well. It’s pretty tight, the sleeves wrapping around his biceps nice and snug. The fabric stretches a little across his chest, showing the outline of his impressive pecs. He just chuckles and shakes his head, making his way to Minho. 

Minho’s eyes fall on Chris as the male enters the kitchen. He gives a whistle and an approving nod. 

“Looks like all that working out has paid off, huh?” MInho says, busy stirring some sort of sauce in a pot. “I just have a feeling Y/N will jump your bones immediately.”

“As much as I would love that, that’s not exactly my goal here,” Chris says, leaning over on the counter. “I want to actually make sure he has a good night with me, and if it gets intimate, then so be it.” 

“Wow, you’re way more whipped than I thought.” Minho says, fake gagging as he continues cooking. He acts like he hates romance but deep down, he genuinely wishes for a relationship. 

“I don’t want to hear you talk. I have dirt on you, my friend.” 

After Minho finishes cooking, he bids Chris goodbye, demanding that he gets the tea on how everything went. Left alone with his thoughts, Chris decides to tidy a little before you show up. He sprays the living room area with some light freshener, making sure to spray his couch as well. 

Just as he was done tidying up around his living room and shutting the door to his bedroom, a notification from his phone shakes him out of his cleaning spree trance. A text message from ‘Y/N <;3’ stares back at him. 

‘Hey, uh… I don’t know which apartment building is yours… I think I’m lost’

Chris can’t help but chuckle at the text. He quickly types a response and decides to stand outside his apartment to help you find the right place. He closes his eyes and feels the soft breeze of the night blow through his still-drying locs. He prays to every single god that this night goes smoothly. This is his only chance to completely swoop you off your feet. 

He hears footsteps approaching him, so he opens his eyes. He feels his breath hitch as his eyes fall on the male standing beside him. You’re standing there in all your glory, and you give him a small smile and a wave. The light makeup makes your E/C eyes pop, the black liner accentuating the shape of your eyes perfectly. And is that a soft red tint on your lips? Yeah, poor Chris isn’t going to survive the night.

Chris finally snaps out of his lovesick daze and gives you one of his dazzling smiles. “Hey, I’m glad you made it! Even if you got a little lost.” He chuckles. You give him a shy smile and a nod. 

“Yeah, I hope I’m not late, the makeup was kind of a last second decision.” 

“I think it looks really good on you. Let’s go inside, I just finished dinner.” Chris’ hand wraps around your waist from behind, guiding you into his apartment. 

The two of you finish dinner after a while and are nursing glasses of cocktails made by you just using ingredients you found in Chris’ kitchen. The two of you are laughing as soft music from Chris’ playlist plays in the background. You’re both facing each other as you tell embarrassing stories from your childhood and various college shenanigans. 

“There’s no way you swam naked in the campus’ fountain! I can’t imagine you doing anything like that!” Chris’ eyes are wide as he looks at you after you tell him about one of your many drunken moments in college. 

“Yeah, I was always down to do crazy dares, as long as I had a couple shots in me first.” You reply,, setting your now empty glass down on the coffee table in front of the couch. Your gaze falls on Chris again, your eyes flitting down to Chris’ lips for the millionth time that night. You so desperately want to feel those very lips kissing all over your body. 

“If you want me to kiss you, you have to use your words, pretty boy.”  

Your entire body warms up at the way Chris speaks to you. Firm, but not demanding, like he’s going at your pace, afraid to scare you off. You waste no time, opening your mouth to speak. 

“Chris, will you please kiss me like crazy, and never stop even if I can’t breathe anymore?” You say, your body moving to plant itself down on Chris’ lap. You wrap your arms around Chris’ neck, the two of you leaning in to connect your lips together. 

This kiss is totally different from the one you shared in Chris’ office. This kiss is softer and contains feelings that go way beyond just lust. Of course the lust is there, but it’s more of a soft lust. Your lips mold together with Chris’ as if they were made to, your noses slightly bumping together, and your tongues gliding against the other, tasting sweet alcohol. Chris’ hands slowly move from your hips all the way down to your ass. Chris is pleasantly surprised when he feels warm skin, and slips his hands inside the rips of your jeans. You jump a little, feeling Chris’ cold hands on your bare skin. 

Just as Chris pulls away to plant kisses and bites all over your neck, a phone notification makes the both of you pause and look at each other. You share a confused look before the two of you are grabbing your phones to see who got the text. You groan when you look at your screen. 

Why is your (very very recent) ex boyfriend texting you to meet up and talk things out? Did he not get the message this morning when you broke up? Before you have a chance to type a reply to Shinwon, Chris’ voice stops you. 

“Hey, what’s so important on your phone that you stopped kissing me?” There’s a cute pout on Chris’ face, and his eyes are glued to your face. He doesn’t appreciate someone interrupting this little make out session. 

“Well, it’s my… ex boyfriend,” you say nervously, not wanting to look up and see the expression on Chris’ face. Would he be upset? Disappointed? 

“Is he bothering you? I can tell him off for you. He’s kind of messing up our night, here.” Chris says, sounding completely serious, taking you by surprise. He… wasn’t upset that your ex was ruining the romantic night? 

“I mean, you don’t have to, but maybe…” you finally look up at Chris with a mischievous glint in his pools of your E/C specks and swirls. 

“Maybe what, pretty boy?” 

“Mark my neck and take a picture. I’m sure he’ll get the idea.” 

Chris does not hesitate for a second before his mouth is on your neck, his teeth biting and nibbling all over the soft flesh, while his tongue glides over the bites, softly soothing the delicious burn. The soft noises that come out of your mouth lets Chris know that he’s doing something right. The noises get louder as Chris gets closer to the spot just under your ear. This must be your most sensitive spot. Deciding to test out his theory, Chris bites down on the spot, earning a beautiful whine from you. 

Once Chris decides that he’s marked you enough, he takes the phone out of your hand and quickly snaps a picture. He sends the photo to Shinwon, and types a quick message:

‘Sorry, mate. Looks like he’s a tad bit busy right now. Maybe you shouldn’t text him again, yeah?’

Once the message is sent, he tosses your phone away after turning the ringer off, hoping the device won’t interrupt you guys for the remainder of the night. He turns his attention back to you, who is looking at him, lust clouding and swimming in your eyes. The sight makes Chris’ heart swell, knowing that those eyes are directed at him and him only. This is everything he’s ever wanted, he feels like all of his prayers have been answered. He plans on making the moment last, not wanting to waste a single moment. 

Chris suddenly stands up, his arms wrapped around you as he lifts you up. You let out a shocked noise, your legs automatically wrapping around the older man’s waist. 

“Warn me next time, Chris! You can’t just flaunt your strength by picking me up!” You slightly slap at his back, allowing yourself to be carried to what you assume is Chris’ bedroom. 

Chris just laughs as he walks to his bed until his lower thighs meet the edge. He semi-carefully tosses you onto the bed, staring down at the way your body bounces on the bed. You just pout up at Chris, offended that you were just tossed like a sack of potatoes. 

“Sorry, pretty boy, I had to move us to the bed. I don’t like when the couch gets messy.” He shrugs, speaking with such nonchalance, it kind of surprises you. 

“So, I’m not the first person you’ve wined and dined?” you know you’re not, you just want to mess with Chris a little bit. Chris isn’t the only one allowed to tease around here. 

Chris lets out a snort, and he climbs on top of the bed, hovering over your frame. He leans down and places a soft peck on your lips. “Would you believe me if I said you’re the first?” 

Now those words really catch you off guard. That’s impossible. Chris, the very definition of a god, has never brought anyone home? There’s no way. 

“I’ve only ever had one person on my mind. For many years..” Chris says, and the words linger in the back of your  mind. Chris couldn’t possibly be talking about you, right? Why would Chris like someone like you? You are known to be unapproachable, the  natural scowl on your face driving people away from you (besides your current group of friends). 

“I know what you’re thinking: you’re wondering why I like you. I’ll be honest, I’ve liked you ever since the moment we both stepped into the JYPE building all those years ago.” 

Now you feel like an idiot. You could’ve had the hottest man alive as your  boyfriend, but you felt that Chris was more into… women. You really fumbled the bag on this one. You can hear Seungmin cackling at you in your head. 

“So, you’re telling me that I could have had you all to myself but you never spoke up about it?” You cock one of your eyebrows as you stare up at the man on top of you. Chris looks amazing from this angle, his strong arms next to your head, ultimately caging you in. “I had to date other people while my mind was focused on you all this time.” 

“I’m sorry for not speaking up sooner, I really had no idea how to approach you without things getting awkward,” Chris explains, obviously referring to the time the two of you attempted to have a conversation at the company Christmas party. 

You give him a cheeky grin. “Why is that? Were you intimidated by my good looks?” You joke, tilting your head to the side as your eyes roam over Chris’ sharp facial features. 

Chris gives you a sheepish smile, his eyes flitting from side to side to avoid your gaze. “Actually, yeah,” he says, a short laugh coming from him.

Your eyes go wide in surprise. Now this is news to you. You always saw Chris as someone with confidence spewing out of every part of his entire being. 

(“Hyung, he’s a man who walks like he’s six foot tall, when he’s actually below average. How much confidence could he possibly have?” “Seungmin, disrespectfully shut the fuck up.”)

“Christopher, if you don’t kiss me and take off my clothes right now, I might go insane.”

This is too much, it feels way too good to even be real. You and Chris are both naked, and Chris is buried in between your plush thighs. Chris’ fingers are digging into your soft muscle as he holds them apart. (As much as he would love to be crushed in between those thighs, he needs to get his dick wet first.) You let out a delicious whine, your back arching as Chris’ tongue slips and slides all around your length.You’re drooling all down your chin as you shake and writhe under the intense pleasure.You’ve  already been denied an orgasm once, Chris squeezing the life out of your length tightly with a shake of his head and a pitiful look. 

Chris pulls away and looks up at you, adoring the fucked out look on your face. He wipes his mouth and moves his body flush with yours, his tongue coming out of his mouth to capture your lips in a sweet kiss. The two of you swap spit for a few minutes before Chris is pulling away, lifting his body up to rummage through his bedside drawer. He pulls out two items, placing them to his right. He sits on his heels in between your spread thighs, and he grabs your thighs, pulling your body close until your lower halves are flush against one another. 

Chris picks up the small bottle that is sitting at his side, he pops the cap open and allows an even amount of the liquid to coat his fingers. The soft smell of vanilla hits your nose and you smile to yourself. Chris brings his hands in between your cheeks, his fingers circling around your rim, before one of the slim digits pushes past your hole. You let out a soft sigh as his finger slides in and out of you. 

Soon enough, a second finger pushes past your ring of muscle, joining the first one, the digits stretching you open perfectly. You toss your head back against the pillow as Chris’ fingers rub and prod at that spot deep inside you. Once he deems you stretched enough, he slips his fingers out, wiping them on his bare chest. He grabs that familiar gold package and tears it open with his teeth, not once breaking eye contact with your lust-filled E/C eyes. He moves back just a little, rolling the rubber onto his thick length. Grabbing a pillow, he places it under your lower back, your hips being raised just a bit, also giving better access to your awaiting heat. 

He pumps his dick in his hand a few times before he’s sliding the tip into you. He lets out a shaky sigh as he slowly slides all the way in, allowing himself to bottom out. Chris looks at your face, the sight of your eyes closed tight and your mouth open, short puffs of air exiting. He smirks to himself, feeling proud that he’s the one making you feel like this. Once he feels like you have adjusted to him, he snaps his hips forward, meeting yours in the middle. 

He moves his body so he’s hovering over you once again, not once stopping his thrust, keeping at the same pace. He leans down and captures your lips, swallowing the noises coming out of your lips. After a little bit of kissing, he picks up the pace, the tip of his dick hitting that tasty spot dead on with every thrust. You’re going crazy under him, chanting his name like it’s the only thing you’ve ever known. Chris loves the way his name falls past your lips, it makes him want to tattoo the sound in his brain to be replayed over and over.

(“That sounds absolutely stupid, why are you like this, hyung?”)

“Chris,” You pant out, your chest heaving up and down as your hips start to shake from the overwhelming pleasure you’re being succumbed to. “I’m close, so close!”

Chris just chuckles, grabbing your legs and throwing them over each of his shoulders. This new angle allows him to absolutely drill into you with sharp, quick thrusts. He pounds into you, his own hips beginning to stutter and skip, chasing his own release. 

“Come on, pretty boy, show me how good I’m making you feel,” Chris pants out, his chest and neck a bright shade of red as he tosses his head back, high pitched moans falling from his lips. Chris brings his hand to your length, jerking it in time with the thrusts of his hips. It isn't much longer before Chris spills into the condom, curses leaving his lips. You end up following not long after him, the white liquid coating Chris’ hand and your stomach. The two of you stay like that for a moment, coming down from such an intense moment. You let out a breathy laugh, bringing your hand up to brush the hair sticking to your forehead. Chris lets his heavy body fall on top of you, causing you to huff. You wrap your arms around him and place tiny pecks on his bare shoulders. 

“That was so much better than this morning,” Chris says, his voice slightly muffled by your neck. You agree with him, this morning was definitely rushed and desperate.

 “So, since we’ve already gone to second base, why don’t we make this official?”

[catgirlxox]

thoughts on ester and ben? i didnt really like her and ben when i first watched omniverse but i brushed it off as me being petty cause i only really cared about benrook lol, idk why but to me it seemed like ben wasnt really that into her and was just going along. however, i see people (mostly on reddit) say she was perfect for ben and im just like, uhm- did i miss something? i do kinda feel bad for her cause i think ben should have at least made it clear he didnt want to commit to her from the get go but idk, i skipped every other scene she was in LOL

oh thank fuck someone else said it.

I HEAR THIS SHIT EVERYWHEREEE 🙄 LMAO like I get it, she's considered the better option because she's not insulting him every other second, trying to use him for something, guilt tripping him over choosing to do his job instead of giving her attention 24/7, she has alien powers and therefore fits into the fighting crime aspect of the series. I understand that. But...in that case, it's like a band aid solution? They just didn't repeat the problems the "bad" love interests had, and by process of elimination, she’s the better option out of a bunch of debatably bad options.

But besides checking all those boxes, it's kind of a boring pairing. I think that's the real thing here that wrote them into a corner and contributed to kicking her out in favor of Kai the drama starting bitch with an attitude who tries to "challenge" Ben and create some kind of fucked up chemistry. It does give them something to make a plot from.

Ben 10 isn't and never was a romance focused show, so I don't think we need to expect an amazingly crafted romance plotline from it. And if people are content with a satisfactory romance, they can be. But again, if you want MY opinion, it's boring.

No wonder it seemed like Ben wasn't really into her 😂

To be fair, I have made a (less petty) point here that I do still agree with - they're teenagers. Dating around and things not working out isn't uncommon, unrealistic or unreasonable. Yeah, the romantic subplots could have been planned out better, but the argument can be made that the teenage years are for that kind of exploration.

But also actually you know what fuck that I put together a new tag for my petty posts about the bitches cause it's my blog and I get to bitch about whatever I want. You're welcome? haha

[can-of-w0rmz]

I see people claim that we hype up Henry over Elizabeth because she's a woman and I disagree. The reasons why we're focusing on Victor's relationship with him and not his romance with Elizabeth has nothing to do with misogyny.

Oh absolutely, and for one I absolutely adore Elizabeth. The thing with Elizabeth though is,

1) She objectively gets far less “screen time” than Henry does, so it makes sense audiences would be a bit more attached to Henry than Elizabeth initially. It actually really did take reading more interpretations of her character from different people for her role in the story to actually click into place and for me to start really liking her, because a lot of her characterisation is done through subtext.

2) For the romance aspect, forgive me for not cheering on an arranged marriage between two cousins/adopted siblings who have no chemistry with joy

Although I do KIND OF agree that we should totally give Elizabeth more credit (fanartists, let’s get on it), we just don’t get as much information on her as we do Henry, and that’s intentional! Because it’s Victor telling us this story, and despite the fact I don’t doubt they do somewhat care for eachother, it does kind of seem like Victor himself doesn’t really know that much about Elizabeth compared to Henry? Which makes sense, if Henry is who Victor might’ve been if he was mentally stable and took the right path, the Creature is the embodiment of Victor’s regrets and downfalls, and Elizabeth is the consequences of Victor’s actions and how they hurt the people he’s close to.

Elizabeth is kind of a bit of a punching bag for the Frankenstein family, unfortunately, in a lot of ways – she’s brought in after she’s orphaned, betrothed to Victor as a “gift”, expected to take over as the mother figure after Caroline passes away, and is constantly brushed off and pushed to the side by Victor again and again, and no doubt that puts immeasurable strain on her. Victor’s actions effect and hurt so many people throughout the course of the narrative, but Elizabeth is representative of that hurt.

We don’t know a lot about Elizabeth because Victor avoids Elizabeth. Whether to spare her feelings, because he thinks he’s protecting her, because he doesn’t like her, whatever interpretation you have, Victor and Elizabeth are fundamentally, (even if for some reason you can get past them being, again, cousins), not a healthy couple. They don’t talk, they aren’t honest, they don’t communicate, and throughout the course of the narrative it’s just more avoidance and buildup (to the point where Elizabeth writes to Victor specifically asking if he even likes her to begin with), and it doesn’t get resolved. The resolution to Elizabeth’s growing hurt is Elizabeth‘s ultimate death, which should tell you a lot about the symbolism there.

Conversely, Victor and Henry are one of the most healthy couples in classic literature (Jonmina and clervalstein double date when?) and whether you read their relationship as romantic or as platonic, it’s unarguable that they are extremely close. And, as a result, we know a very very good deal about Henry, because Victor talks about Henry very very often. They adore eachother and support eachother unconditionally, and it’s completely natural and fair for most readers to be more attached to Henry’s relationship with Victor as a result, than Victor’s relationship to Elizabeth.

Again, I absolutely love Elizabeth, and I think she’s a very important character who deserves more of a spotlight. But her relationship to Victor isn’t healthy and not something to be idealised or promoted. She is important on her own, and despite what so many adaptations try to push, she isn’t “Frankenstein’s beloved” and her character means so much more than her engagement to Victor. She’s a very strong character who had a very good deal come her way and took it on with very little complaint, and didn’t deserve the pain she went through as a result. And personally, I find that to be far more fascinating than a character who’s only personality trait is to pine after her cousin. Although I do genuinely believe that Elizabeth definitely cared about Victor, and conversely that Victor genuinely cared about Elizabeth, personally I didn’t read either of them as being romantically interested in the other. Especially Elizabeth in Victor.

[baa-whatever]

unrelated but just wanted to throw it out here bc I know you don't like Kidscove either--

I never understood the appeal of it? It never really felt like Sun and Foxy had any chemistry, and they hardly know each other anyway.

Plus, Sun's never been a big fan of romance ever since Roxanne. it feels like he's been pretty deterred from romance since then, so even if Kidscove wasn't queerbait- I still don't think Sun would've ever gotten into another relationship.

I don't think he ever fully got over what happened with Roxanne, since he has had bigger issues since then. Y'know?

I mean I can understand if he didn't want to immediately look for another romance after...all that happened (I honestly can't blame Eclipse because she was stringing Sun along anyway). I mean plus Eclipse kept getting in the way of his love life....since he was stuck in his head and all so there was that.

There was so much happening and Foxy was definitely not helping Sun feel any better, he made it worse. While I can understand that Foxy was trying to keep everyone safe, he put Sun in a lot of pressure instead of either of them helping Sun with the computer.

Foxy has:

-Made Sun feel bad about himself to make himself feel better when he was feeling sorry about himself 'not being a good dad after abandoning FC'.

-Brought BLOODMOON to his daycare after he murdered Earth and got her kidnapped and he didn't regret it.

-Used Sun to make money off of their shipping (That might happen again). Sun agreed to it but he wasn't comfortable with it so I don't know if he felt more pressured about it over the money or not. And yes, I know it was Monty's idea but Foxy still did it and they're both to blame. They made both Sun and Puppet uncomfortable that night.

-FC doesn't even care about Sun he see's him as more of someone he can mess with (To be fair I can't blame him after Sun left him alone with Bloodmoon twice, first time was accidental but how did he lose him the second time?).

-Foxy's straight....he's got no interest in Sun at all, he clearly likes Puppet more to the point he bought her a house until she lost it and then he let her stay at his house. They both pretty much act like parents to FC and she is WAY more protective of him than Sun.

Sun does want to get into a relationship, but Foxy is NOT the partner for him. AT ALL.

I think Sun will get a partner sooner or later, but right now it seems like too much is going on for him.

For Puppet and Foxy, at least those two being together makes sense. Both of them are cute, not going to lie, I love how they talk to each other and about each other.

[magnoliapromenadegalleria]

Thottin' n' Boppin' in Bangkok Only Friends theories

THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Hear me out, don't touch the mic, hear me out:

If Sand is the one to reveal Boston and Top slept together to Mew, he's going to do it because Boston pissed him off, not Top. He dislikes Top, but him and Boston currently have no beef. I don't see him revealing anything unless Boston does something(s) that tips the scale. May have something to do with Nick, may have something to do with Ray, may have something to do with Nick AND Ray.

Sand's major issue isn't only his save-a-hoe syndrome. I think that when push comes to shove, he's got a temper on him, and that temper may make him do something irrational. Maybe not necessarily overt violence, but he f*cks something up. I didn't forget that bat.

Part of the reason Sand pulls away from Ray will stem from the past issues with his ex. Here he is in another situation that somehow involves Top but not only that, here is another person, Mew, who Ray seems to hold in a higher regard. I think it's safe to say Mew and Ray have been close friends for at least four years at this point, if not longer. If a big fallout happens with Top, it would make sense for him to lean on his friends, even Ray despite knowing how he feels about Mew. Possibly blurring the line between them to somehow hit Top where it hurts since Ray insists he and Sand aren't a thing. Ray is going to give Mew all of his attention because he thinks he's in love with Mew and owes him. Sand has experience with being "second-best", he's already told Ray to not use him as a distraction if they were going to be friends. Sand has been played before and while he's definitely caught feelings, he's not looking to be played twice. He won't be Ray's consolation prize. BUT! To be fair to Ray, they've only agreed that they're friends. The problem is there are feelings involved on both ends, so while Ray wouldn't be doing anything wrong if something did happen with Mew, neither would Sand be wrong for hooking up with anyone, they're both going to go through some pain because they are emotionally entwined, which can be worse than being physical. It's wild, they are the most communicative of the bunch, but for their own reasons, ignore that they want more from one another. The chemistry cannot be denied. Moving on!

Ray is not in love with Mew. With each passing episode I am more convinced. I think Mew is the first person to give Ray the attention, kindness, and love he's been deprived of. Ray is grateful to him, maybe does love him in a sense, but is confusing something platonic for romance.

Ray hearing that he's a burden, etc. isn't something he only internalizes from his friend group, he's hearing/heard it at home. Ray's father, if and/or when he's introduced, isn't the nicest person. When he isn't ignoring Ray, he's verbally abusive and blames him for his mother's death. Ray internalizes this. He's not even the emergency contact in Ray's phone. He doesn't want to burden anyone, but he especially wants to take up as little space as possible with his father. His mother's death isn't the only childhood trauma he's battling.

Boston might have been in love, or had/has a thing for Ray. I don't have much for this theory yet, I'll probably expand on this once next weeks episode drops, but this theory first crossed my mind in episode 2 when Boston was looking at the picture of Mew and Ray in his darkroom. It's been sitting with me since. Boston as of yet does not seem to have a reason to be so jealous of Mew. The only thing that I can think of, other than possibly being compared to Mew at every turn by his parents, is possibly being into Ray. Maybe Ray and Boston hooked up once upon a time. Then Mew and Ray kiss. Now Mew is with Top. Another guy that is more interested in Mew than him. A guy that takes Mew seriously. Mew is playing with another one of Boston's "toys" that he doesn't think about until someone else picks them up, and he doesn't like that. I don't think it's just Boston messing with his friends complicationships just because. He doesn't bother Namchueam and April. We don't get nearly enough of her, but Namchueam is a part of this group. She's in a solidified relationship, but Boston doesn't mess with that at all. If he starts f*cking with Sand, tying into my first theory, it'll probably be confirmed for me that it has something to do with Ray. OR!

Boston is still so hung up on Top, that Ray being distracted/moving on from his feelings for Mew would not bode well for Boston. He needs Ray to be the thorn in Top and Mew's relationship without getting his hands dirty, and that's not going to work if Ray is falling for Sand. He'll start planting seeds born of his manipulation that cause more chaos which, again, look at my first theory.

Ray brought Boston into the friend group. Boston genuinely cares for Ray, but Chueam and maybe Mew's families are just as, if not more so connected and prestigious. Friends connecting may mean parents connecting, and creating a connection for your father who has political aspirations? Good for optics, good for campaigning. I'm not sure they'd be friends otherwise if Boston didn't have something to gain.

Once Mew finds out about Top and Boston sleeping together, he is going to bide his time and wait until both are comfortable, or something important comes up like, I don't know, an election, and is either going to send the audio or something more incriminating to Boston's dad, or he's going to leak it online. That screws Boston, Top, and Boston's dad's political dreams, which DOUBLY screws Boston. Full scorched earth. May have some help from Nick once he's no longer under Boston's dicmatization.

Boston isn't going to take Nick seriously until he feels like he's losing or lost Nick. Maybe after Boston and Nick have that fight where Boston pushes Nick down, and I assume ends their FWB situation, that guy in the previews kisses Nick. Maybe they do more. Maybe Nick is using the guy to get Boston's attention, or he is actually trying to pull away. Whatever the case, Boston doesn't like someone else playing with his toys. No matter if the attention is unhealthy, or the manipulator becomes the manipulated, he needs to be the center of someone's orbit, why not Nick's?

The ex Sand and Top have in common got killed or left debilitated in a car crash caused by an under the influence Top who walked away from it with no repercussions because, influence and wealth. Bonus it was a family member or someone close to Mew, and he plans on messing with Top's life as revenge. He manipulates everything around him in his favor to get closer to Top so that he can ultimately destroy him. This one feels the most outlandish, but if I'm even CLOSE to being right? Listen. WERK.

Namchueam is the one holding all of the sense in her friend group. That's not really a theory, that's a fact.

Alright, that's all I got for now.

THIS DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS!

[dubacheryking]

It seems like you really like the IT book( it 1986), so do you remember Eddie Corcoran’s story from chapter 6. Because like his chapter is for real one of the most heartbreaking chapters in the whole book and he’s like so underrated for no reason. Soooo like what’s your opinions on him and other little interesting thing like that lol.

:)

oh my GOG tbh i think eddie corcoran's death is straight up the most horrifying part of the book. like if u put a gun to my head and said "what part of IT 86 do u find the most stomach churning" THATS IT RIGHT THERE. no one ever really talks abt it by 90% of the fandom on here is movie based and they dont FUCKING include it for some godawful reason (i can understand the 1990 ver not including it specifically for censorship reasons, since it was the 90s and also made for tv and ALSO cut to 3hrs lol) but like. the fact that it wasnt in the movies is criminal tbh.

but i digress.

as for opinions and such regarding the corcoran boy.... i mean, we get next to nothing abt him. what we know is a) his stepdad is an abusive piece of shit b) he had a younger brother that he seemingly cared about deeply (SOBS) c) his pos stepdad killed his baby brother (LIKE ACTUAL BABY. A 4YO???? FR????) d) his death was horrific. theres a little bit more but but but i havent reread that chapter recently so some of it is certainly escaping me. i wish there was more about him as an actual person, but i also understand that w the book already being a billion pages long there is only so much small details that could actually be included, and the history of derry and main story obvs will trump this specific smaller story--but like, fr, i want to know more abt eddie. we know he was terrified of the thing from the black lagoon (fair) and obvs holds a lot of fear and anger and guilt regarding dorsey's death, we know hes abused, we know how he dies. its a weird paradox of being very close to this character (in terms of his pov at the time, being in his head and all just like w any of the main losers) and being extremely removed (we know nothing abt his internal life beyond what his abuse brings out). which. frankly it's somewhat genius bc, yeah, abuse DOES tend to stifle the actual personality/interests of the person being abused and DOES like literally fuck w the brain chemistry and processessing of a child (source: happened to me lolololol), but its also heartbreaking that all we know him as is One of The Missing. he can never be more. its fucked.

soooo . this got away from me. sorry if it makes little to no sense ill just do a small bit on my thoughts summarized HERE:

i wholeheartedly agree that eddie corcoran's death is like. the worst part of the story. listening to it makes me legit sick to my stomach in a way NO OTHER PART OF THE BOOK DOES. LEGIT. and i think the main reason for that is while cosmic horror space clown spider thing is fake, duh, and more obviously used as a stand in for trauma and specifically for childhood trauma and the lasting effects that it has on our psyche, eddie's death is REAL. dorsey's death is REAL. we see, in grusome, up close detail, the actual consequences of abuse and how it destroys people's lives--specifically children's. we see how the complacency of those around such families (eddie's mom, the teachers, the principal, the town of derry at large) contributes to the horrific mistreatment of the most vulnerable, and how NONE OF THEM suffer any consequences for their lack of action. the section ends with eddie's mother getting access to his savings, which amount to less than 20$. to do so, she has to have him legally declared dead, EVEN THOUGH THEY DO NOT HAVE A BODY. AND THAT'S FUCKED. SHE DOESN'T EVEN WANT TO MAKE SURE HE'S FUCKING DEAD BEFORE SHE DOES THIS, DOESN'T WANT THE CLOSURE, DOESN'T WANT TO LAY HIM TO REST, DOESN'T WANT A PLACE TO VISIT. I CAN'T. like obviously we see themes of abuse and neglect in the whole book, that's the whole point, but eddie's story is different. there is no winning. there is no escape. you can't spin it into a better life.

he's a kid, just like any of the losers, but to the universe, he's not 'special,' so his death doesn't matter. he could have been swapped in with any of the other characters--fuck, he literally shares the name of one of them!! and yet he's not, and because of that, he doesn't matter. his death effects no one. the only positive is that it reopens dorsey's case, and even then, the reopening of his brother's death almost entirely sweeps eddie under the rug. the town of derry turns away, and when the truth of dorsey corcoran's death is revealed, the shrug, go so very sad, and wipe their hands of it. just another child death at the hands of an adult monster, just another day.

[theclearblue]

hmm what about chosoyuki, nobamaki, and nanago for the ask game? <3

Chosoyuki

Ship it

I started liking it before this, but really the bar flashback was what sold it for me. I think they have a fun dynamic, where they are so different but have this straight forwardness and honesty to them. But more importantly I think they both have a shared struggle of feeling/ being viewed as "inhuman" (yuki as the star plasma vessel and choso as a cursed womb) that's pretty fun to explore for both characters.

In canon, I like how they fight together against Kenjaku, it feels like they have such a seamless chemistry in a fight and they look out for each other. I also like exploring the idea of what they're time together with Tengen looked like and how they might have grown closer, there's a lot of potential for them there.

I think it's fair to say that in the actual story, Yuki does kind of just serve to further Choso's character development, which, I'm happy about! He's also a favorite of mine, but I wish it was more of a mutual push in their development, and I think it very easily could have been.

Nobamaki

Ship it

This was actually the first pair I shipped in jjk! What really sold it for me was Nobara's speech to Momo about what being a woman means to her, and just the clear appreciation, respect, and understanding she holds for Maki. They've always seemed the closest to me out of any of the Tokyo students, and such good angst potential with post-Shibuya too (...as long as we all agree...Nobara comes back around...)

Good fun dynamic between them where I think they would both kinda fangirl over each other lmao but also they both like starting shit so them play fighting/teasing each other is always something I love to see too. I think both of their storylines revolve SO much around women as well that them having their lesbian awakenings to each other makes so sense to me.

More people should like Nobamaki :( To be fair they do get a fair bit more attention compared to some other wlw ships in other fandoms, and I get that Nobara has been out of the story for awhile, but both are such well developed characters they have so much potential as a ship

Nanago

Don't ship it

There is no chemistry here lmao. This ship gives me "Oh two attractive men stood next to each other let's ship it!" Even before satosugu took off with Hidden Inventory I still didn't care for this ship like, at all. And usually I'm a fan of ships that bicker a lot (I like zosan a lot lmao) this is more so Nanami being genuinely annoyed with Gojo because Gojo is kinda an asshole towards Nanami a lot of the time. I'm also not like, suuuper invested in Nanami as a character.

Ehhh if it's a ship that bickers like this it has to be more in a mutual teasing way but there's still respect on both sides, but that changes the whole dynamic of Gojo and Nanami. The only way I'll read this ship is if it's like, a desperate rebound/one night stand, but I don't even really wanna read that either unless it's leading to satosugu down the line aksljfdlk

Again I think they have potential as like, a desperate but regrettable hookup. Or there have been some good itafushi fics where Nanami is raising Yuuji and Gojo is raising Megumi and that's not an awful concept to me that they would get together in that kind of au, it has potential to be cute. I also understand the appeal of nanago in the sense that people love a good enemies to lovers and they could provide that.

[calamity-bean]

dating woes vent post, don't reblog <3

I wish I understand what I actually want in a partner because I truly feel like I have no idea. I mean, I know my general ideal: I want a serious relationship, with someone who's not only a lover and partner but truly a best friend...... but when it gets into the specifics? I'm totally lost.

Do we have enough interests in common? Do we have too many interests in common? In the former situation we have nothing to talk about, while in the latter it feels like there's nothing to learn; I don't want to date my clone, I don't want to feel like they already know everything I could share with them, like there's nothing that makes me unique. Nor do I enjoy them always one-upping me OR always agreeing with me; the one is frustrating, the other is dull. I've been on a couple dates with someone who shares so many of my interests (and, from what I can tell so far, my values) and I want so badly to feel attracted to him but I just don't. It would be so much simpler if I did. But I don't. We keep up a conversation well but I'm just not drawn to him physically; to be honest, all I feel for him is occasional annoyance because he has a tendency to interrupt and one-up me. Anything I've done, or anything I know, he has a story that's similar (only cooler), or a picture he can dig out while I'm talking and shove in my face mid-word.

It feels like the people I have fantastic sexual chemistry with either don't have much in common with me or aren't looking for anything serious, and the people I share interests or conversational chemistry with I don't find very attractive. Am I being too picky? I don't want to be too picky. But is it really so much to ask that I feel physically attracted to my partner? What IS my type, anyway? I don't know; I don't really have one; I can never really tell from pictures whether I'll be attracted to someone, I never know till we meet face to face. And I love to chatter with people in person, but I cannot stand anyone blowing up my phone between dates — I am not a clingy person, and nothing makes me feel smothered so fast as someone I've just met texting me over and over every day.

And I want to feel that flutter again. I'm hung up on my ex and I know it; I'm still waiting for someone else to make me feel equal parts fluttery and comfortable the way he instantly did. We had so many interests in common but also plenty not in common, and I wanted to know all about his other interests. I feel myself comparing everyone to him, comparing every first date I go on to my first date with him, and I know, I know how stupid and self-sabotaging that is. I want to feel that way again. But maybe I also don't. Maybe I can't seem to feel that way again because I'm holding myself back too much. Or maybe it's because the people I meet are genuinely not the right fit. I don't know. I don't know my own mind anymore. I have this terrible fear that nothing I find will ever measure up to the rose-tinted memory of what I had with him, and that even if I settle down with someone, I'll never really feel like I've fallen in love.

I've been on a couple dates with someone who shares so many of my interests (and, from what I can tell so far, many of my values) and I want so badly to feel attracted to him but I just don't. It would be so much simpler if I did. But I don't. We keep up a conversation well but I'm just not drawn to him physically; to be honest, all I feel for him is a growing annoyance because he has a tendency to interrupt and one-up me. Anything I've done, or anything I know, he has a story that's similar (only cooler) that he has to launch into immediately, or a picture he can dig out while I'm talking and shove in my face mid-word.

Dating makes me sad, I've realized. It just plain does. I've been going on dates (from apps, mostly) and they've been fine, they've even been good, but I feel like I'm just dragging myself to them, and that's not fair to the other person and probably not healthy for me. I want to feel excited again, I want to feel open-hearted and ready to love again, but I'm just struggling. I like being alone. I have plenty of practice; I am very good at being alone. But I don't want to be alone forever. And yet I can't even imagine what life with a partner would look like for me; I can't even imagine what I want.

[chrispychanniem]

BL Title: My Secret Love

My honest opinion:

This is one of the best series I have watched so far. Not only does it have electrifying chemistry between the couples, but also the bonds between the characters seem rather genuine and beautiful. For example, the bond that Mek, Bear and Park share makes you feel as if they have genuinely known each other since the start of their university. Also, the friendship between Kimhan and his friends is really sweet. The plot is rather easy to grasp and is really enjoyable despite having a fair share of cringey and cliche moments.

The MekKim couple sure had their ups and downs but all's well that ends well right? Even though I didn't like Mek in the beginning, I eventually started growing fond of him once I realised that he was simply a fun loving teenager who didn't have bad intentions but rather just wanted to have some childish fun. To be honest, his character reminds me a lot of Xiang Hao Ting from "History 3: Make Our Days Count". As for Kim, I love how he simply accepts the situations that are beyond his control and is always up for challenges and doesn't back down easily if ever.

Next couple is Bear and Bomb. True to his name, Bear is indeed like a giant cuddly bear who has nothing but only good intentions. He is protective of his friends, caring and really compassionate. I love how he always prioritised Bomb and even when he was too busy to celebrate their anniversary, he simply apologized and tried his best to make Bomb happy once again. That's exactly how a relationship works. It's not about holding your ground, it's all about finding a common ground. As for Bomb, let's all agree that he is a cuddly teddy with clothes on and a total Daddy without them. LoL 🤣, I am cringing at my choice of words. Anyways, his character sure is rather calm and charming. And I guess that is exactly what balances out Bear's super energetic and enthusiastic aura.

The ParkLee couple is one of the only few couples in a BL series, that stuck around each other from beginning to end. There are just some couples whom you look at and simply feel like they belong together. ParkLee are clearly that couple. Them being together just makes sense. Yeah, I really don't know how else to describe it. But they are my favourite couple.

Last but not the least, we have TimMai. Unlike Third from "Theory of love" who let's his crush have his way, Mai is a rather strong personality who doesn't take shit from no one, not even his crush. He is strong, protective, attentive and really supportive. As for Tim, I feel like the writers are trying to make us realise the difference between reel and real life. In his reel life, Tim is a Mr Perfect and many aspire to be like him. While in reality, he is an idiot who doesn't understand his own feelings and only realised his mistake when it's almost too late. But in the end, he did redeem himself and ended up becoming the best version of himself.

All in all, I loved the series and I highly recommend watching it.

[chrisevansstitties]

Definitely an unpopular opinion but I agree.

I wouldn’t even call Enid a love interest. They had no interest in each other. The whole time Enid tries to set Wednesday up with Tyler and Wednesday helps Enid with Ajax. Their ship is just fandom. I’d say Xavier is barely a love interest because Wednesday doesn’t show much interest in him herself. It’s pretty one-sided. Tyler is the only one Wednesday seems to have a mutual attraction with throughout the show at least.

Again, Xavier is a non-factor. It just clings to Wednesday too much and feels he’s entitled to her attention, much to Wednesday’s annoyance. And even when Wednesday was trying to include him in her investigation in the beginning he dismissed her theory and told her it was in his head. Which he tries to lie to her in one episode and say he was always on her side since the beginning but that’s another thing.

I agree with what you’ve said about Wednesday and Enid. They’re too different for them to work romantically. I like the whole opposites attract but it has to come with some common ground. They almost didn’t even make it as friends because Wednesday was being too pushy and selfish to consider Enid’s feelings or safety. I think the healthiest thing for their relationship is to remain friends. They didn’t really have any romantic chemistry in anyway.

Now Tyler, Wednesday always seemed to have a soft spot for him. I think it started from the very beginning. Wednesday deals with other people transactionally, meaning she doesn’t unless she is getting something out of it. So for one of the first things out of Tyler’s mouth when he meets Wednesday is that he can’t be bought, that was huge for her. Then when Wednesday says she’ll make it up to him if he helps her escape at the fair and he say no charge. Not only that he brings her her dad’s file without being asked and wants nothing in return. She’s really perplexed because as she said she’s not used to people engaging with her.

I also like that Tyler rolls with the punches when it comes to Wednesday. Lie you said he always seems curious it comes to Wednesday. He doesn’t seem to judge her or be put off by some of her actions like Xavier or Enid does. When Tyler looks at Wednesday with genuine intrigue.He doesn’t say too much about her building a guillotine to decapitate her dolls as a kid besides calling it grim reaper Barbie. He doesn’t much about her saying she regularly stalks her parents. Tyler see Wednesday. So much so that he knows the perfect date for her would be in a crypt in the middle of the woods. He gets her a black rose and custom black and white popcorn baskets. And put on a movie he knows she’ll consider a horror film.

I will say the signals thing out of place. I feel like there should‘be been more scenes leading up to it. It just felt too rushed. But I did lead us to the dance where Wednesday put a halt to her investigation, the only thing she was interested in in the first place, to go out with Tyler. She liked him. That much was obvious.

I find it funny how Wednesday always seems to get with normie boy. First Joel in the 90s movie, then again in the 2010 Addams Family Broadway Musical, and now Tyler in her own show but now with a twist of him turning out to be a monster. Who knows of Tyler and Wednesday still end up together though.

dk if this might be an unpopular opinion, but i like wednesday and tyler as a couple, even if they never got to be.

there are three love interests, enid, xavier and tyler.

xavier is an idiot and the only thing he and her have in common is they met as kids, they dont have any chemistry at all and hes all over his head with bianca, wednesday and whatever else, going to the raven with bianca ans then asking her to make him forget about wednesday as if he hasn't been bringing at any chance he gets her manipulating him. in general, i think he needs to get his shit together before dating again.

enids and wednesdays friendship and bonding trope is really nice and all but i just like them as that: friends, platonic soulmates if u want. besties who are the completele opposite. i dont think theyd work as a couple for the same reason weve seen them disagree and fight on the show, theyre way too different and not very willing, especially wednesday, to see each others pov. i just dont think they have chemistry as a couple, even with all the shipping and fan arts i saw when the show was first aired, i personally, never saw it.

but with tyler, since the very beginning he seemed so curious and interested in wednesday. she helps him and as part of the deal he has to help her but then weens find her. at the fair, again, the plan cant be executed. he could've ditched her both times, but he stayed.

every time he sees her lurking around, appearing from nowhere with her glommy aura, intense staring and lifeless expression, he looks at her and grinds with curiosity, a liking one.

besides when he tells her shes been showing him these "signals", he never expects anything from her, never tells her how to act nor minds how she just is, she literally slammed the door on his face and he just started looking at pictures.

he likes her.

and she also likes him. if she didn't, she wouldn't have lied about the letter, she doesn't need him anymore to escape and im sure she would've figured how to get to other historic places from jerico and other information like that. during goo goo muck her dancing is focusing on him, not in a "look at me im so charming" way, but she could've just started dancing not giving a fuck about him and instead, her sight and movements are always back to him. and they literally kissed, which wouldn't have happened if she didn't liked him.

for me, they really had chemistry and if he wasn't the monster, they could've been an odd, but cute in their own way, couple.

[slitheringblu]

Guidelines

Basics:

Recap I RP about anything that could be brought up. From shitposting to full out violence, gore and so on. This is TF2 after all. Some more sensitive subjects might take place depending on the situation/plot, and so on.

If you are not sure about something just ask me, I hardly bite.

I will tag some things the best I can and some will be put under a readmore.

I love AUs and other things alike though if there are to be crossovers it will depend I am not too picky. Does not mean I don’t want to RP with you otherwise.

I am a ‘single’ ship blog. So when I say muse is taken, he’s taken.

Chemistry for either family, lovers or friends is a must.

When it comes to shipping I will not judge what and who you ship with. To each, their own just do not expect me to ship something you do and vice Versa.

I don’t always follow back everyone, so please take no offense I appreciate follows it just things clog my dash or your muse just might not be the type my muses would interact with but don’t feel too say to hit me up even if we are not mutuals.

As I have said I RP with just about anyone, these are multiverse muses, OCs are welcome obviously. Just please have a bit of a background history so I can understand what kind of characters they are.

I would be happy to interact with more than one version of Canon characters, Au or not and such.

I AM open to constructive criticism about my OC, I am always looking to improve and correct errors.

No nos:

Do not kill my muses without having talked about the situation, give a fair fight. You can fatally injure but NO KILLING unless there is an okay Please. It would be rather rude to flat out kill my character.

Having scuffles and fights can be spontaneous. If my character pisses yours off feel free to take a shot at him. Expect him to react the same way vice versa.

Don’t expect him to go down after one hit. Russet is literally a mass of muscle.

No Godmodding or try to OP my muses right off the bat. Unless it is a thing your muse can do as a power just give a head’s up in the tags or PM.

Do not force my muses into a relationship unless both parties agree and there is chemistry. That means just because one ships it the other mun might not. Crushes and unrequited love are just as great.

I won’t RP mature situations with minor RPers and muses below the age of at least 18 so don’t ask. It does not mean i won’t RP with you otherwise.

New rule added that if we do not interact, IC or OOC anywhere from three weeks to a full month I will unfollow, simple as that. Unless said person disappears I’ll give it a while first before it seems they are not coming back then proceeded to do so.

About Mun:

Mun is a 25+ year old female. So in case of things needing to be “legal” there you go. But I wont RP smutty things with minors. So please don’t lie about your age.

New Note that I am uncomfortable with RPing with people younger than 18-20 as I feel like a total creep otherwise.

OOC is  [ ]

As far as I have been RPing at least 9 years by now but my writing can still get hazy due to dyslexia. so excuse any grammar mistakes as I will try to make sure they are correct. Though as of late my details have been lacking due to health issues so if I sound off or does not make sense let me know and I will try to clarify.

I DO RP in the PM box, so if things seem to skip that is why. If you prefer to use one of the alternatives to RP then that is fine.

I hope I do not appear intimidating as I am actually a nervous cluster of anxiety, so i am more likely to be shyer than you and hope to make friends.

Your length is my length so it can go from short to long and detailed as i can get. But something of substance is great. One liners are mostly for crack RPs.

Mun has NO triggers save not wanting to talk politics

[crushedcookiebutter]

Why I think Destiny (TSC) has lost its way

I think everybody can agree that Destiny, at least in its conception, was an interesting idea: you get to live out your deepest fantasy, except everyone you know is gone--and there's no going back. Obviously, by nature, its premise was much darker and introspective than most comics of that art style, but I feel like the comic is going in a direction that I don't think fits the original premise.

Firstly, let's talk about the Man in the Tomb. His introduction was as something foreign and ancient, holding something deep inside him until Destiny, Mia, and Griffin showed up. He doesn't speak much, but he sometimes gives cryptic warnings about challenges the three might face, whether it's another person, like the Vessels, or an unpleasant reality that they were previously unaware of, like the People's militia led against the Southern Encampment (or the Vessels again, depending on if my theory actually holds up). He's never been anything more than an authority figure that decides when and what he's going to say, exactly when they need to hear it.

Compare that to the Man in the Tomb in issue no. 2. He's talkative, pleasant even. It doesn't match up with what we know of him at all. One could argue it's because unlike in past instances, where it was all three of them meeting him; this time it's just Destiny. So, sure, maybe Destiny is his favorite of the three, which is why he treats her better than the others. This would serve the narrative affirming Destiny of her literal Golden One status, but I'm not sure of the author's awareness of the nuance of this idea. It feels like more of something that would serve the analyzers and only confuse the people that just want to read a story.

Secondly, we need to talk about the supporting characters: Mia and Griffin. I'm sure if you are in any way familiar with the story, you probably knew I was going to bring up Griffin. Mia might have been more surprising, but I have things to say about each of them.

Griffin is, in my opinion, the least compelling of the main three. He literally showed up by accident, and it seems like he's only there to be a love interest to the girls. Worse, he doesn't really have any chemistry between either of them. Mia tolerates him, I guess, but it's probably just because of the usefulness of his ability. And aside from one of their interactions, Destiny only treats Griffin like a friend. I feel like they could be doing more with his character, like his uncharacteristic interest in the Downward Spiral, or his unexplained amnesia, but most of that is just... ignored? Like, there's a whole character arc in there, and they're just ignoring it? I don't get it.

Next is Mia. To be fair, I don't have very many problems with her as a character. Her dynamic with the other characters has always been pretty clear: she's always in Destiny's shadow, despite the fact that her ability is way cooler than the "Golden One." Come on. Which would you pick: shining really bright sometimes, or being able to cut through the fabric of reality? Yeah, exactly. I get the symbolism from Destiny's whole design and everything, but come on--why isn't Mia the main character? She should at least get a spin-off (though I did get the vibes of a spin-off or a separate narrative with the Void Vessels. That Drake guy had some secrets--like how did he get that skyscraper? If the author decides to focus more on Mia's story, that would probably be the way he does it). Basically, I just want Mia's character to be better utilized in the narrative.

I actually really like this comic, I just have some issues with the way the story is going. This problem is much bigger now that it's basically confirmed that the third issue will be one of the last, if not the very last one. It's either gonna need to have a huge twist to get it back on track, or Destiny's gonna have to do some soul searching to stop being so narcissistic all the time. Maybe both.

[jakesimfromstatefarm]

how to fake date your best friend | jake sim

✰ summary: the rules were simple -

pretend to be the boyfriend of you, his best friend who wants the attention of their crush, for a week and a week only

no kissing (bc gross cooties amirite) allowed, unless needed in times of desperate measure 

and no matter what, absolutely, most definitely, do not fall in love. 

simple, right?

well apparently not. because news flash––jake's already broken one of the rules. 

and to give you a hint, it's neither rule 1 or 2.

✰ pairing: jake sim x y/n [ft. members of enha!] 

✰ genre: fluff, comedy | fakingdating!au, highschool!au, bestfriend!au, friends to lovers

✰ warnings: cursing, high-schoolers doing dumb highschool things, underage drinking (pls don’t actually do any of this irl), jake being a certified simp, it’s LONG (i’m so sorry), cheesy kithes bc im a sucker for kithes ( ˘ ³˘)♥

✰ wc: a whopping 9.5k

✰ a/n: it’s finally finished :’)))))) it ended up being much longer than i wanted but i had so much fun writing the characters that i got carried away lolol anywaysss i hope you guys enjoy it,,,i got a little unmotivated during the process bc i didn’t know if it was good or not but here it is heh (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)♡ 

Tuesday, December 8th

Jake Sim lives a simple life. 

He likes to think he leads the normal, stereotypical life of a teenage boy. Has decent grades, plays soccer after school, skateboards around the neighborhood, has a best friend who he’s desperately in love with, and has a stable group of friends. 

Okay, maybe not so simple, because this boy would physically launch himself to the moon and drill at its surface to collect moon dust for you if you asked him to––despite his deadly fear of combusting in outer space. 

But that fear doesn’t even compare to his worst one yet: not having you in his life. 

And so, he decided to just repress any and all feelings he’s had for you ever since he discovered them in middle school, when he realized he hated seeing you go to the eighth grade dance with a date––that wasn’t him. 

He decided that he wasn’t going to risk losing a life-long friendship over some dumb, teenage boy feelings. 

They were probably powered by his testosterone anyways. Yeah, that’s totally it.

He’s totally not in love with you. 

So yes, he lives a pretty normal life. Every day is the same as the last, and tomorrow will be the same as today. But he likes it like that––he doesn’t want anything to change. 

Especially not now, when he finds himself content with every aspect of his life (okay maybe except for his history grade, god, does he hate history). 

So, it catches him off guard when you arrive at the group’s usual lunch table, located outside in your school’s courtyard, looking as excited as ever. 

Jake’s the only one at the table so far. The remaining usually showed up late––Heeseung spends his first half of lunch tutoring freshmen for community service hours (but the poor boy has no idea what he’s doing), Sunghoon is probably stuck in line in the cafeteria again (he always forgets to pack his own lunch), and Jay is...well actually, no one ever knows where Jay comes from. He’s a special one. 

It catches Jake even more off guard when you skip over any greeting a normal person would give, and start speaking at one hundred words per second. 

And that catches us up to the present.

“Y-You want me to what?” Jake’s stuttering as you stare at him with your hopeful eyes from across the lunch table. 

Despite the expression planted on your face, which screams your excitement for your “brilliant, amazing, genius, Einstein-could-never” idea (or whatever other words you used to describe it––Jake can’t exactly recall the specific terms you used, they all came out of your mouth too fast), you don’t respond to his question of bafflement. You continue to stare at him, awaiting his response. Jake could compare the look on your face right now to a puppy looking up at its owner, eagerly waiting for a treat. You know, tongue out and all. 

He swallows the lump that’s lodged in this throat (is that the sandwich he’s having, or his nerves?) and continues to give you his look of confusion laced with a nervous smile because surely, you’re joking. 

You grab what’s left of your sandwich from his hands and take your own bite. Somewhere in between you arriving at the table and now, Jake’s managed to steal the sandwich you brought today. You did make the best chicken sandwiches, in his defense. 

“Well? It’s only for the week! And I promise you, after one week, if nothing happens––if he doesn’t make a move or anything––I’ll move on from him like you’ve been telling me to.” Your words are muffled from you savoring your sandwich, or what’s left of it anyways. (Mental note to self: don’t share your lunch with Jake ever again.) 

When Jake still doesn’t respond (you’ve truly gotten this poor boy paralyzed), you find it as a sign to continue. 

“I think it’s the perfect plan. Plus, if it doesn’t work out, it’ll be like the universe is telling me to finally move on, right?” 

Wrong. 

Jake has been encouraging you to move on from your crush because well, if we’re being honest here, he selfishly wants you to himself. Even if it wasn’t romantically.

Preferably, he would kill to get to be the one who holds your hand in the hall, call you cheesy pet names, post disgustingly cute couple pics for the ‘gram––but for the sake of potentially ruining his relationship with you, he’ll just have to settle with the role of being your best friend. 

(And he’s totally fine with that! Totally. Yup.) 

But he didn’t think that you moving on would only be a mere possible outcome (that may not even happen!) from whatever this stunt is you wanna pull. 

Said stunt: Pretend to date one another and hope it catches the eye of a certain someone you have your eye on: Park Sunghoon. 

Ah yes, Park Sunghoon. The previously mentioned one who’s probably still in line waiting to get his lunch as we speak. 

Park Sunghoon, the tall, kind, intelligent, charming young boy that everyone knows. And if anyone didn’t know him, they most definitely knew of him. He wasn’t hard to miss in the halls; everything about him just radiates perfection. 

If you plucked a random high-schooler from the halls of this school and interviewed them on the Park Sunghoon, they’d say you’d be lucky enough if the quiet boy so much as sparked a conversation with you, even if it was about what last night’s chemistry homework was. 

Well if that were true, then you and the rest of the boys would be considered lottery winners. 

How that happened, how the four of you dysfunctional beings earned his friendship, the world may never know. However, Jake is fully convinced that this was the universe’s way of playing a cruel joke on him. 

For as long as Jake could remember, it’s always been just the two of you. You and Jake. Jake and you. (With the exception of Heeseung and Jay, of course, who came along in middle school) 

In fact, your earliest memory of Jake was when he peed his pants in the kindergarten during nap time. You would know, you had the privilege of sharing a sleeping mat with him that one fateful day and in result...let’s just say the smell didn’t wear off from your clothes until a week later. Five-year-old you didn’t forgive five-year-old Jake for the longest time. 

And since then, you’ve been attached by the hip. And Jake liked it like that. Jake didn’t need anyone else in his life (with the exception of Leila) if he had you. He had found his home within you, and he didn’t plan on sharing his space anytime soon. 

Nevertheless, the universe had a completely different idea for the two of you. 

Sunghoon came into the picture last year, towards the end of the school year. Despite being the new kid, he found his way into your cherished friend group and naturally, the five of you grew as close as friends could be. 

That was the problem. Jake wanted to hate Sunghoon, to despise him for being the one that you had heart eyes for, but he couldn’t. 

Not only was Sunghoon one of Jake’s closest friends, but he didn’t want to ruin the dynamic of the friend group. After you, the three chaotic boys were the next most important people in Jake’s life. 

And so, we have the typical love triangle plot that every coming-of-age movie follows. Of course, this is all unbeknownst to you––you may be intelligent and a people-person, but oh boy can you not see the heart eyes your very own best friend has for you. 

“It’ll be easier than you think, really! Look, we can even set boundaries or rules or whatever,” you propose, as if you’re trying to get him to sign a contract. 

Rules to a fake relationship? We’re not living in a Netflix romcom, are we? 

“Okay rule number 1: it’ll only be for a week and a week only, rule number 2: we don’t have to do anything too couple-ly like...” you pause to wonder for a second. 

“Like PDA or anything! You know, unless we really need to convince him,” you casually add. When he responds with radio silence and stares at you with absolute concern painted all over his face, you cough. “Jake, I’m joking.” 

Right. Of course. Obviously. 

“And of course, just try not to fall in love with me, it’ll be hard, I know,” you send a playful wink his way. 

Too late. Turns out it’s not that hard. Jake would know. 

Jake continues to stare at you in hesitation. Yeah, you’ve had your fair share of crazy ideas (that Jake always find himself agreeing to––the poor boy just can’t seem to say no to you), but fake dating you?

Jake is sure he wouldn’t be able to pull it off without slowly destroying himself. He’d just have to say no, he’s sure you can find someone else to do it for you. 

Yes, that’s it, just say no. 

Jake has to keep some of his pride in tact. 

Jake does not say no. 

He doesn’t know what went wrong. His mind said one thing, but his words said another. 

To be fair, Jake’s actions have always been influenced by his heart, not his brain, anyways. And when it comes to you, you bet it’ll be coming from his heart. 

So here he was now, under the stare of three equally shocked and confused guys across from you and him at the lunch table, your fingers intertwined with his.

Just a few seconds ago, you had spotted the rest of the lunch bunch approaching the table, and you quickly grabbed Jake’s hand and scooted in closer to him.  

Now here you were, explaining to your friends of your sudden relationship.  

Jake is too zoned out to even physically pick up your explanation. Something along the lines of "we’ve been dating for a while but didn’t want to tell you guys yet." From the feeling of your hand clutched tightly into his and your body right up next to him, his mind was short-circuiting. 

How is he supposed to last an entire week of this if he couldn't handle innocent hand holding? Hand holding? God, what are we, back in the fifth grade?  

Two minutes into this scheme and Jake's mind has already downgraded itself to a fifth grader's.  

Jake mentally scolds himself for giving in, this was not a good idea. 

It takes Jake approximately 12 hours to conclude that this stunt of yours may, actually, be a good idea. He knows this because approximately 12 hours after the events surrounding lunch, he receives a text from you: 

y/n [12:03AM]: thanks again for doing this for me jake

y/n [12:03AM]: ur actually the best

y/n [12:04AM]: ew ok that was cheesy but really i owe u a big one <333

Following your thread of texts is a really close up photo of you widely smiling into the camera. A smile so big, Jake’s convinced your face was probably in pain after taking that picture. 

Anyone else might’ve thought the photo looked borderline insane but because Jake’s Jake, aka a simp���ᵐ for you, he comes to the conclusion that it’s singlehandedly the cutest thing he’s ever seen in the entire world. 

After quickly saving the selfie into his phone, Jake tells himself that maybe this won’t be a bad thing after all. I mean, anything that makes you smile like that meant it has to be a good idea, right? 

Spoken like a true simp. 

Plus, dating you––fake dating you––is pretty much the same as it was before. He already spends most of his days with you to begin with. Now, it’s just with added displays of affection. For show, obviously. Obviously. 

And look, if Jake will never get to actually be with you, then he’ll take what he can get. And if that meant fake dating you, well, he reasons that it’s better than nothing at all. 

Wednesday, December 9th 

Jake’s playing with the rings on your right hand and you’re in the middle of dramatically telling the lunch table about the infuriating Karen you had to deal with at work the other day when Jay comes up with a grin you all know a little too well. 

“Okay that grin means one of two things: you finally grew the balls to ask out that poor girl you’ve been teasing all year or you have something planned that we won’t like,” you interrupt your story when you catch Jay’s sly expression, evoking a chuckle from Jake, who’s now found a new distraction with the bracelets perches on your wrist. 

“Excuse you, I’ll have you know that I did ask her out. It just so happens that she’s currently ‘in between boyfriends’ whatever that means. Ouch, by the way,” Jay feigns hurt from your comment by clutching the area above his heart through his shirt. Ever the drama queen. “But yes, I do have something planned. And no, it’s not a bad idea.” 

Jay squeezes his way in between Sunghoon and Heeseung from across you and begins to pull out his own lunch. Everyone’s eyes follow him as he settles in because as bad as his unknown idea may be, you’re all still curious on what this boy has to say. 

“Well are you going to elaborate or...” Heeseung speaks up for everyone after you all mentally debate one another through darting eyes on who’s going to have to bite Jay’s silent bait.

Jay then forcefully sets both hands on his table, which elicits a little jump from you as you go for a bite of your sandwich. Adorable, Jake tells himself. 

“My parents are out of town this weekend. We all know what that means...” 

Yes. We do know what that means. The four of you have seen this scenario play out many times, a little too many times for your own good. 

This meant one of Jay’s infamous house parties that he always throws whenever his parents go out of town. And because his parents are hot-shot CEOs of an important company whose name you don’t remember (it’s nothing personal, your brain can only handle so much information and this physics exam you were studying for took up 90% of your brain capacity at the moment), they’re out of town often. 

And along with Jay’s parties comes chaos. Lots of it. And that’s because...well, it’s safe to say that despite the many school-wide presentations the police officers of your school have held in the auditorium on why you shouldn’t drink underage, Jay’s parents’ liquor cabinet always seems to find itself missing many a few bottles after each party. But we don’t talk about that. Shush. 

Almost simultaneously, everyone at the table lets out a groan, much to Jay’s disappointment. 

“C’mon guys! It’s been a while since anything’s fun happened to this school, think of all the sad students in that building right now,” he extends a finger whole-ass arm and points at your school, “who are in dire need of fun and a little...” he punctuates his sentence with the hand motion of chugging down a drink, followed with a gulping sound elicited from his tongue clicking. 

You roll your eyes along with everyone else. Don’t be like Jay, kids. Listen to those police officers. 

“Jay, it’s midterm season! I have an exam on Monday and I definitely do not want to spend the nights before wasted,” you give him an apologetic look. As crazy as Jay is, you do feel bad nonetheless. The boy just wants to have fun. 

Your response is followed up with similar comments from around the table. 

“I’m helping y/n study” 

“I have an important skating performance on Sunday” 

“Uh...my hamster died?” (ok Heeseung panicked, don’t blame the guy)

Ignoring that last excuse of an excuse, Jay continues his debate nonetheless. “Just come for the sake of it! No one’s saying you have to get wasted. Pleaseeee for me?” 

Jay throws these parties so often, you’re not sure why he’s so set on making sure you’re all going to be there. Well, I guess who wouldn’t want their closest friends to be at their own party? 

That and, Jay needs to make sure his friends are there to stop him from doing anything stupid. We all know this boy has had enough embarrassing moments to last him a lifetime. 

Everyone at the table gives each other the same hesitant look. Heeseung is the first to give in, “Oh fuck it. Sure, count me in.” 

Jay’s fist pumping the air before turning to Sunghoon with the most hopeful eyes. 

Sunghoon simply sighs in return. “Alright okay, I’ll bite. But if you vomit on my shoes again, I’m out the door.” Jay’s finger is automatically drawing a cross over his heart as a promise to not ruin Sunghoon’s Nikes again. 

He then looks to you with puppy eyes. 

You, who's already staring back at Jay with a stoic look in your eyes, are stubborn and (unlike the previous weaklings) are not as easy to convince. And somehow, this began an unannounced staring contest between the two of you, a contest to see who would budge first. This isn't an uncommon occurrence between you and Jay, but the rest of the boys are still on the edges of their seats watching this duel.

Jake casually wraps an arm around your shoulder and you’re brought in close, but still undeterred from your death-stare match with the boy across from you. 

If it’s not obvious enough, Jake’s really gotten into his role of being your boyfriend, despite it only being 24 hours since he last froze at your touch. Character development, you’ll give him that. 

You almost forget he’s faking it for a quick second. And for an even quicker second, you imagine he wasn’t faking it. And you swear you feel butterflies in your stomach at that thought. 

Weird. 

You mentally shake the thought out of your head. Priorities first, aka, beating Jay in this staring contest. 

“Fuck,” you stutter when you finally blink, admitting defeat to a grinning Jay. “Okay, okay, I’ll THINK about it. I’ll let you know.” 

Not exactly the answer Jay was looking for, but he’ll take it. Better than a no. 

He turns to Jake next, knowing there’s no way Jake will turn down a party. Just like Jay, the boy loves himself a good party. 

But–

But because Jake would take your physics exam this Monday for you if you asked, because Jake would bungee jump in the Grand Canyon without a safety net below him if you asked, because Jake would fake date you to make your crush jealous for you if you asked, he doesn’t hesitate in his answer this time around: “Same as y/n, I’ll let you know.” 

Jay looks at Jake. Then back at you, who he’s still clinging onto like a koala to a tree. Then back at Jake. “You two are gross. Admittedly cute. But gross.” 

You look up at the boy next to you to see him already grinning at you. 

For the first time today, you find yourself agreeing with Jay. 

Admittedly cute. 

Thursday, December 10th 

You are having a bad day. 

You’re having the mother of bad days. 

Not only is it midterm season, but you still have all your regular weekly assignments to finish before Friday hits. So as a natural-born procrastinator does, you stayed up all last night trying to get a good amount of work done because what’s better than cramming all your work the night before it’s due? Doing it two nights before it’s due. 

Well apparently it wasn’t such a good idea. Because now, here you were, frantically throwing on whatever articles of clothing you find nearest to you because you slept through all your alarms. 

You’re lucky enough to make it through your school’s doors right as the second bell rings, even if you did look like you just walked straight out of a zombie apocalypse. 

You’re not so lucky when you find out your first class of the day, calculus, had a pop quiz. A pop quiz on the only unit you just happened to know absolutely nothing about. 

To top things off, you forgot to pack your lunch during this morning’s frenzy, meaning you’re automatically stuck sharing with Jake.

And because his mother started making him pack his own food out of a lesson of responsibility (she said something along the lines of: “Jake, you’re about to be in college and you don’t know how to pack a decent meal”), he only has a plain PB&J sandwich and a pack of Scooby-Doo gummies in his bag today (because newsflash, he still doesn’t know how to pack a decent meal). 

Not that you could care less at the moment, you were too preoccupied with catching up on your assignments to even eat. And if any of the boys noticed your zombie-like state during lunch, they did a good job of not mentioning it. They knew better than to bother an irritated y/n. 

Somehow, you make it through the entire school day and your after-school meeting for environmental club (save the trees!) in one piece. As you finally walk out of the school building, you exhale, automatically feeling lighter. At least the hard part of your day was done. 

Now you just had to wait for Jake to finish soccer practice, which usually ended around the same time as your club, and he can drive you home, where you can continue being irritated with your day in the privacy of your own space. 

You wait on the steps of the school’s entrance, waiting for a smiley Jake to come around the corner as he usually does at 5:30pm every Thursdays. 

Yes, a smiling Jake is exactly what you needed to make your day ten times better, you conclude. 

As if on cue, you hear a ding from your phone. 

Jake [5:30PM]: ugh coach is extending practice for “team bonding” 

Jake [5:30PM]: idek what team bonding is 

Jake [5:31PM]: you ok if i cant drive you today? :// 

It’s as if the universe decided to use you as its punching bag today. 

You physically let out a distorted groan, not caring if anyone who happened to hear you thought you were a creature from out of this world, as you send him a text back.

y/n [5:32PM]: it’s all good lol have fun with tEaM bOnDiNg

Things were not all good. But no matter how upset you may be, you weren’t going to project your negative vibes onto Jake’s naturally positive ones. So you get up from the stone steps and begin your dreaded walk back home. 

It’s freezing out. You should’ve known better to just throw on a hoodie and call it a day when it’s the middle of December. But then again, you figured by now you’d be in the comfort and warmth of Jake’s car and presence...not walking home in these freezing temperatures. 

You think about Jake and how he’s probably currently suffering from not only his team bonding exercises (but really though, what are team bonding exercises?), but doing them in this weather as well. The poor boy. 

You’re quickly broken out of your thoughts by the sound of a car engine from behind you. When you don’t see it pass by you and instead hear it pull over and park next to the curb of the sidewalk you’re currently on, you automatically deduce that this is it, this is my time, I’m about to get kidnapped by whoever it is behind me but y/n, you should probably turn around and check first before you drive yourself insane in this inner dialogue. 

You turn around and squint into the front window of the car. If it were a kidnapper, this is exactly what your mother told you not to do. Her exact words were: “Run, don’t look back, and scream bloody murder.” 

Good thing it wasn’t. Just an innocent Sunghoon waving his hand at you, motioning you to get in. 

“Sunghoon?” You approach his car and stop at the passenger side’s open window. 

“y/n! It’s freezing out, I’ll drive you home c’mon,” he nods his head towards the passenger side door. 

Well, how could you say no? Sunghoon owns a nice car. Like a nice car. Like car-seat-heaters-that-make-you-feel-like-you’re-physically-melting nice. Beats getting hypothermia outside, right? 

“Why are you going home from school so late?” You ask as you settle into his car, instantly melting at the touch of the aforementioned heated seats. 

“Debate club, actually. Decided I needed another personality trait other than ice skating,” he starts the engine and begins driving towards the direction of your neighborhood. 

You laugh at his comment, you didn’t peg him as a debate kind of student. Quiet Sunghoon? Debate club? If 2 plus 2 is four...

“Hey, I don’t call you the Ice Prince for nothing! Also, don’t forget your other personality trait: forgetting your lunch every day.” 

Sunghoon quickly glances over at you to send you a dirty look (because eyes on the road, kids!), which you return with a cheeky grin. “Need I remind you that was you today?” 

“Touché,” you click your tongue. 

The two of you fall into a comfortable silence, the faint sound of Sunghoon's music in the background filling in the quietness.  

You’re humming along until Sunghoon breaks the silence, “Did Jake get stuck at practice again?” 

You don’t know why, but you swear you feel your heart beat faster at the mention of Jake’s name. No, that was always there right? Because you were with Sunghoon...your crush..obviously. Obviously. 

Ignoring the feeling, you turn your attention towards the boy driving you. 

“Oh yeah, something about team bonding. How’d you know?” 

“Eh, I just figured since he wasn’t driving you home like he always does.” He turns into your neighborhood. 

You nod at his answer. 

“You two make a good couple.” 

You whip your head at him. Did you hear him correctly?

“It was about time, really. You two have been ogling at one another for so long, Heeseung, Jay, and I almost placed bets on who would be the first to make a move.” 

He keeps his eyes on the road, casually going on about how you and Jake make the cutest couple he’s ever seen. 

You're frozen, unsure of what to think, let alone say. 

You think to two days ago, when you started this entire fake relationship because of the very boy driving you home right now. The same boy who's complimenting you on your fake relationship. The same boy who's supposed to be jealous over that said relationship. The same boy you’re supposed to be crushing over.

But now...only a mere 48 hours later, you were finding yourself okay with the fact that he was happy for you. And for the life of you, you couldn’t remember why you liked Sunghoon in the first place. Not saying he isn’t one to be crushed on, I mean, look at the guy. 

Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that you didn't feel nervous or giddy or..anything at all when you got into the car with Sunghoon. At least, not until Jake's name was mentioned. That's when you felt the butterflies. At the mention of Jake.  

Jake. 

Weird. 

But before you can come to a conclusion on why you're feeling the way you do, Sunghoon interrupts your thoughts.  

"Well, we're here! Say hi to your parents for me," he pulls into your driveway as you're still collecting your thoughts.  

You give him a quick thanks and one last wave as you enter the front doors of your house.  

Seeing that your only solution towards confusing feelings meant distracting yourself, distract yourself you did.  

Even if it meant distracting yourself with your piling assignments.  

The next time you look up from your work, it's suddenly way past sundown and a heavy storm has taken over. You’re surprised it hasn’t started flooding yet with the amount of rainfall you were hearing. 

You check the time on your phone, the bright 8:16PM on the screen illuminating your dimly lit room. Seeing that neither of your parents have yet to be home from work, it looks like you were going to have to settle with some instant ramen for dinner tonight.  

As you trudge down the stairs of your home, the sound of light knocking against the front door catches your attention. It's been a long day y/n, you're probably hearing things, it's definitely just the rain.

Nope. There it is again, but much louder. Much more urgent.  

You contemplate any and all potential disasters that could happen from answering the door. Only a crazy person would be willing to go out in this hurricane-like weather to be frantically knocking on your door.  

And so, you assume it has to be some psychopath trying to get into your house. Yes, there’s definitely no other logical explanation. 

You scramble around your living room, looking for the next best weapon to defend you. Resorting to the flower vase your mother keeps on the table next to the front door, you hold it out in front of you, as if you're waiting for the door to burst open.  

The knocking continues, gradually getting louder. You mentally curse at yourself for dropping out of the taekwondo class your dad signed you up for when you were younger.  

Vase in hand, you swing open the door and brace for–

"Jake? What the fuck? Get in here, you're gonna get sick!"  

You’re suddenly aware of how stupid you look, holding a light pink vase with a couple of orchids as your only form of self-defense...for it to only be your own best friend. You immediately put it back on the table as Jake quickly rushes past you and into your humble abode.  

You close the door behind you and turn to face the soaked boy.  

“I come bearing gifts, also known as take-out and hot chocolate from that one cafe you love. Also my company, if you’ll take it. I had a feeling you weren’t having the best day today,” he’s simply standing there, holding up a large brown paper bag in one hand, and a deliciously smelling cup of hot chocolate in the other, but you’re looking at him as if he bought you the Moon. 

You stare in awe at the angel of a boy in front of you, silently thanking the stars for gifting you this amazing human being as your best friend. You don’t know what you did to deserve him. 

You give him a soft smile. “Jake, you didn’t have to. It’s practically a shitstorm out there,” you cock your head towards the window, showcasing the downpour of cats and dogs outside. Jake stays by the entrance as you go down the hall and through your house’s linen closet to find a spare towel for the drenched boy.

“Nah it’s no big deal, really. Just fulfilling my duties as your loyal boyfriend,” he grins, even though you can’t see him. He likes calling himself that. Your boyfriend.

Jake continues to shake his messy hair to get the excess rain off, giving a mental apology to whoever is going to have to mop up the puddle forming on the floor due to his unannounced visit. Probably you. 

Jake hears you laugh down the hall. “You’re really invested in your role, huh? Keep this up and you might actually trick me into believing you’re my actual boyfriend.” 

Actual boyfriend? Jake likes the sound of that. Maybe he will keep this up then.

Jake doesn’t have much experience in acting, unless you count that time he played the role of Town Villager #3 in the third grade play, so he never found it as one of his interests. But playing the role of your boyfriend was one he was willing to fulfill for the rest of life, even if it was just for show. 

Jake doesn’t respond to your comment, he’s instead self-aware of his blushing cheeks, thankful that you’re too busy rummaging through your linen closet to take notice. 

“Plus, you didn’t have lunch today and I had feeling you were going to be too caught up in your work to feed yourself anything other than instant ramen,” he sets down his gifts to you on your living room’s coffee table as you come around the corner, fresh towel and new set of clothes in hand. 

His eyes fall on the familiar looking pair of sweatpants and hoodie resting on the palms of your hands. 

Hm. A little too familiar. 

Then, it clicks in his head. 

His eyes narrow at you as you giggle at his reaction, “Oh, so it takes me getting drenched in the rain for you to finally return my clothes that I’ve been missing!?” 

“Hey! I’m not returning them, simply loaning them out to a friend who’s in dire need. You basically gifted them to me the second you left them here months ago.” 

“You’re annoying.” 

“Love you too,” you toss the clothes at him and take a seat on the floor around your coffee table, prepping the table with the boxes of Chinese food Jake supplied. 

After Jake changes into the stolen dry clothes, he takes a seat next to an already-eating you at the coffee table. 

“You. are. my lord and savior Sim Jaeyun,” you’re saying with your mouth full of fried rice. You sigh from satisfaction and rest your head against Jake’s shoulder as you continue chewing. He grins as he helps himself to his own serving of fried rice and orange chicken. 

You look up at him from your spot, “How was team bonding today?” 

Jake groans in response, clearly annoyed. “Stupid. I don’t get how doing trust falls and pyramid building is going to get us any closer. If anything, I almost FELL off that pyramid today!” 

You don’t know why, but you find yourself admiring him and his soft features as he continues to rant about one of his teammates, specifically, the one who almost dropped him. 

The way his messy hair, unkept from the rain ruining it, almost covers his eyes (but you tell yourself you like it this way, it looks more natural on him), the way the corners of his lips are always perked upwards (even when he’s ranting), the way his eyes sparkle whenever he’s truly passionate about whatever he’s talking about, the way his eyes look at you like–

“Stare much? Look, I get you can’t resist my good looks but at least be subtle about it,” he smirks at you as he takes another spoon of rice. 

You break out of his trance and scoff at him. 

“You’re cute when you rant,” you nonchalantly say as you move from your spot to mirror his actions and add more rice to your plate as well.  Jake’s stills at your sudden comment, unsure of how to respond. Lucky for him, you’re distracted by the mountain of food on your plate to even notice the blushing mess of a boy next to you. 

“You know, you’re lucky you’re cute. Or else I’d deck you right here and now for ditching me after school today.” 

Anddd there goes the moment. Leave it to you to follow up a compliment with a threat of violence. 

Jake finds it cute anyways. He always finds you cute. 

Jake narrows his eyes and lightly shoves you before an apology is written all over his face. “Sorry about that by the way. I feel awful about making you walk home when it was freezing out.” 

“Nah, it’s okay. Sunghoon gave me a ride, actually. Did you know he does debate? I guess you learn something new everyday,” you ramble, unaware of the boy next to you getting tense at the sudden mention of the other’s name. 

Up until now, Jake’s completely forgotten about Sunghoon's involvement in this entire scheme. In fact, the past 48 hours with you have felt so normal, so comfortable, he almost forgot about the deal in the first place.   “You think he has any clue?” Jake suddenly asks, referring to the plan. 

You immediately know what he’s referring to, as Jake practically worded out your very own thoughts. 

You shrug. “Not a single one. We’re practically William and Kate in his eyes. But honestly, that’s the least of my worries right now. I’m too distracted by my exams right now to care.” 

Jake feels guilty for being satisfied with your answer. He’s 100% sure that if convincing Sunghoon took you two an entire lifetime of fake dating, he’d be all too willing to do it. 

“Go to Jay’s party with me tomorrow,” he abruptly says, catching your attention as your mouth is stuffed. Cute. 

He pokes your cheek. “It’ll get your mind off of work and plus, what’s more convincing than showing up to a party with your amazing boyfriend?” he wiggles his eyebrows at you. Jake doesn’t know where he gets his sudden surge of confidence. But he does know he loves calling himself your boyfriend...even if it’s for the time being. 

Rolling your eyes and swatting his poking fingers away from your face, you ponder on his suggestion. 

“You mean my annoying boyfriend,” you stick your tongue out at him. Jake takes a mental picture and hopes it never leaves his mind. 

“But I guess you could be right. Maybe I can clear my head for the night before I study my ass off all weekend.” 

Friday, December 11th 

The party does not clear your mind. 

If anything, it gives you enough headaches to last you at least until the end of high-school. 

You come to this revelation as you and Jake approach Jay’s home, a luxurious mansion sitting at the end of a cul-de-sac, lined with similarly luxurious palaces, located in an equally luxurious neighborhood. 

You come to this revelation when you can already feel the pounding bass of music as you walk up Jay’s driveway. 

You come to this revelation when, not even two seconds after entering Jay’s front doors––

“You’re here!” A buzzed Jay shouts at the two of you, causing the both of you to contemplate your past choices that brought you here today. Jay definitely isn’t straight up drunk yet, but Jake still makes a mental note to keep an eye on him tonight. Just in case. 

The blonde-haired boy is quick to hand over two red solo cups of god knows what, to which you and Jake immediately put down on the nearest table after Jay walks away to greet the next incoming guests (you know, to not hurt his feelings). 

You and Jake are lucky enough to have been around Jay and his parties long enough to know that going all out at these parties will not be pretty the next morning.

You cringe at the memory of last year, when you had to suffer from possibly the worst hangover of all hangovers after one of Jay’s parties. Jake will never let you forget how miserable you looked the next morning. His camera roll’s album titled “y/n blackmail pics” can vouch for that.

“Remind me again to never listen to you,” you almost have to shout at Jake over the thumping music. Jake laughs at your comment and tugs at your hand as he begins entering the house.

The two of you do your rounds of greetings to the people you know...and random underclassmen who you swear you have never seen before but somehow made it to this party. You’ve always questioned how Jay’s invite list worked. Maybe there isn’t one. That would explain how it looked like someone announced Jay was giving out free Teslas and the entire school got hold of the news. 

“Thank god you guys are here,” you hear a voice come from behind the two of you as you guys leave the main room to enter the house’s smaller, but just as luxurious looking, den. You turn to see Heeseung with Sunghoon following closely behind, trying his best not to get swept away in the crowd of people. 

The den is where you usually stayed during these parties. It’s not like there are rules of where people are allowed to party, by any means, but it’s like how a high-school’s cafeteria worked. There’s a mutual silent agreement of where everyone goes, and the den is where the party host and his friends went.  

“Okay, is it just me, or is tonight’s party just a little...too..much?” Sunghoon asks as the four of you take your seats on the main couch of the room. Jake’s quick to make space for you next to him as you go to sit, but to his surprise, you find your home right on his lap. 

“You said be convincing right?” you say into his ear as you settle yourself. Right. That’s totally why. Because you had to go along with the ruse. Obviously. 

You shift a bit so you’re more facing sideways, not blocking off Jake’s line of vision as the boy himself is..well, calling him a rag doll might be excessive. 

But he’s sure he looks like one right now, having lost all senses in his limbs, leaving him frozen underneath you. 

Jake Sim is the epitome of politeness. He was raised in a family that taught him how to respectfully greet others, how to always offer food to others before eating it himself, how to properly treat a significant other. As a result, Jake grew up to be one of the sweetest, kindest, purest people to ever walk this earth. 

(Relatively speaking, the earth is large, but so is Jake’s heart.) 

But human-beings aren’t perfect, they must have a balance. A balance of pros and cons. 

Sure, he can’t pack his own lunch and sometimes forgets to water the little succulent you gifted him that’s currently seated on his window sill. Sure, sometimes he’s too sweet for his own good, you know, like willing-to-be-your-fake-boyfriend too sweet. But aside from the minor details, Jake Sim doesn’t have many cons, no. 

But he sure can be awkward. 

And so because Jake Sim is sweet, kind, pure, and awkward, he is unsure of what to do with himself when you’re seated right on top of him. 

As if you could read his befuddled mind, you take his arm that’s resting behind you to wrap around your waist as your support as you throw one of your arms around his shoulder. And throughout this entire adjustment, his widened eyes are staring right at you. 

Bless this pure, pure boy. 

Also bless the position you’re in, blocking the two other boys from directly seeing Jake’s face. Because if they were to catch glimpse of Jake’s expression right now, your cover might be blown, just like that. You’re lucky Heeseung and Sunghoon are distracted by another classmate who came up to them. 

“Relax,” you sweetly laugh, cupping his chin with your free hand and lightly squeezing his cheeks. “You’re so adorably awkward.” 

Jake pouts at you. “I am not awkward!” 

“Right, and I’m totally dating you for real,” you playfully whisper at him, eliciting a poke at your waist in response. 

Twenty minutes of people-watching-aka-“who do you think is gonna pass out first?”-from-your-spot-on-the-couch later, the four of you draw your attention to the rowdy party host you all have the honor of calling your friend––aka Jay––dancing (that is, if you call wildly swinging your limbs in all four directions dancing) in the middle of the den. 

"Oh god, look at him," Sunghoon voices from besides you.

Heeseung's already filming the moment on his phone. Ah yes, technology. The best thing to ever happen to drunk teens' friends.  

"He's so wasted," you throw your head back as you let out a laugh. “We should help the kid out.” 

Poor Jay. He's not gonna hear the end of it after tonight.

"I don't know why he thinks these parties are such a good idea when he knows how trashed he's gonna be when he wakes up," Jake says, his hand naturally squeezing your waist as you giggle at his comment. "And how trashed the house will be."  

Jay slumbers over to where the four of you are seated, and abruptly stops right in front of the couch.

"My best friends!" Jay happily cheers. “Having fun?” 

“Watching you? Always,” you say to the boy who’s squeezing into a seat between you and Sunghoon, as if the small couch wasn’t already suffocating enough (and that’s with you on Jake’s lap). 

“But for real though, you should probably lay off the drinks for now,” Heeseung insists. “For all our sakes.” 

Sunghoon nods along and grabs the cup Jay’s currently nursing and sets it down where it’s out of Jay’s reach, much to his dismay. But the disappointment quickly leaves the dazed boy’s head, as his attention is now directed towards you and Jake. 

“Well if it isn’t mom and dad,” Jay turns to face you and Jake, certainly amused by your seating arrangement. 

“You know–” Jay points a finger at the two of you. “For a couple that’s certainly close, I haven’t seen you two kiss.” 

Jake is immediately coughing, certainly not expecting that to come out of his friend’s mouth. 

“Okay and your point is?” Jake frowns at Jay. If Jay wasn’t tipsy, Jake would’ve smacked the back of his head by now. 

“I’m just saying...” the blonde responds, both hands up in the air as if Jake is accusing him of something, when in was, in fact, the opposite. “But nevermind, Jakey boy here is probably too innocent for such nonsense anyways.” 

Yes, it’s confirmed. Once Jay sobers up tomorrow, Jake is driving over to his house (even though it’s a good ten minute drive from his own) just to smack him. 

“What do you mean I’m too–” 

Jake doesn’t finish his sentence. In fact, Jake doesn’t even remember what he was going to say. 

Jake doesn’t think nor feel anything else other than your lips planted on his. 

You’re pulling him in close, your hands cupping his face as his own are twitching on your waist, his mind flustered. You move your hands from his face to his neck, to which Jake immediately relaxes at. 

Sure, you two are in the middle of a dumb high-school party, one filled with pounding music and shouting teenagers, but right now, in this moment, Jake can only feel you. And he doesn’t want the feeling to ever stop. 

When you part, Jake’s eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips, his own parted in shock. He thinks he might pass out right here and now. He thinks his heart might explode right here and now. He thinks he might lov-

“Happy?” you turn to a satisfied Jay, ignoring the looks of amusement from Heesung and Sunghoon besides him. 

“Well,” you pat Jake’s leg as you get up from your spot. “I’m gonna get us some drinks. Punch only, of course.” 

Jake’s eyes are on you as you walk away, his face tinted pink from the adrenaline of it all, his heart racing. 

Jake thinks back to three days ago, when he told himself that this idea of yours was going to be all fine. After all, it was only going to be for one week. Afterwards, he can move on with his life as if nothing happened. 

But fast forward 72 hours later, 72 hours after you and Jake started this act, 72 hours after Jake told himself it’ll be all fine, Jake knows he was poorly mistaken.

Because 72 hours later, in the middle of a party that reeked of the combined smell of alcohol and sweat, Jake knows one thing and one thing for sure.

He never wants to move on from the feeling of being with you. He never wants to move on from this.

From you. 

He’s screwed. 

Saturday, December 12th 

When Jake wakes up, much later than he intended to, on Saturday morning, the first sensation he feels are his tingling lips, still in disbelief that they graced your own last night. 

The second sensation being his pounding mind––it’s running through ten million thoughts at a time, telling him no last night wasn’t a dream. 

Third: his heart beating so fast at the thought of you, he thinks he might beat out of his chest.

And fourth, a buzzing noise. 

Jake blindly flounders his arm to the table beside him in hopes of finding the origin of the annoying sound, aka, his phone. 

After knocking down multiple miscellaneous items on his nightstand (he makes a mental note to clean his room later), he successfully retrieves the item of search. 

Jake squints at the bright screen, mind still cloudy from a mix of 1) being half-asleep, and 2) still processing what happened the night before. 

y/n [11:10AM]: r u awake yet? 

y/n [11:22AM]: imma take that as a no

y/n [11:35AM]: lemme know when ur up 

jake [11:44AM]: just woke up sorry 

jake [11:44AM]: are you okay? what’s up

y/n [11:45AM]: r u busy? 

y/n [11:45AM]: kinda wanted to talk abt smth

jake [11:45AM]: uh well no im still in bed lmao

y/n [11:46AM]: cool im outside your door 

Jake’s eyes widen as he processes your last few texts. 

Talk? Outside his door? 

Jake’s heart is nervously pounding as jumps out of bed and quickly puts on the first plaid flannel he finds. He scrambles to his mirror and gives his reflection a quick run-down. 

He’s sporting your his favorite hoodie underneath the flannel that’s long overdue a wash and his tousled hair has seen better days, but he couldn't care less. 

Before his mind can catch up to his actions, he’s rushing down the stairs, skipping two at a time and to this front door. Because he didn’t want to keep you waiting? Because he was too excited to see you? Maybe a mix of both. Definitely more of the latter, however. 

He quickly runs a hand through his hair to try to fix it up as much as he can, to no avail, before opening the door to reveal you, sitting on the steps of his front porch. 

“y/n,” he’s breathing heavily as you turn to greet him with your sweet smile he didn’t even realize he was missing. Is it possible to miss someone overnight? Jake concludes yes, it definitely is. 

“Did you run down here or something?,” you question his out-of-breath state, a teasing tone laces the tip of your tongue. 

“Or something,” Jake mutters as he closes the front door behind him to join you on the steps when you make no sign of moving. “Have you been out here all morning?” 

“Not allll morning. I had a feeling you’d sleep in so I came around the time I first texted you. Would’ve knocked but didn’t wanna bother your family,” you hum, keeping your eyes trained on the peaceful scenery around you. 

You’ve always loved Jake’s neighborhood, it brought you a sense of peace, a sense of home. 

Or was that because it reminded you of Jake? 

“You could never be a bother,” he quickly rebuttals as he takes his seat next to you on the steps. 

You respond with a soft smile before turning your attention back to anything other than the boy next to you. Your mind seems to be lost in its own thoughts, Jake can tell by the distant look in your eyes. 

The sound of birds chirping in the distance fills the silence that falls between the two of you. 

Any other day, Jake would love this. He savors every second he’s with you, even if it’s just pure silence. 

But this silence was different. It wasn’t the usual comforting, warm silence that the two of you share on a typical day. This one held tension, tension so thick that Jake doesn’t know where to begin thinking. 

But here’s the thing. Jake doesn’t think. 

Not when it comes to you. 

He takes a deep breath. Rubs his hands together. Pats them on his lap. Turns towards you. 

“Look, I-” 

“I think I might like you.” The words come out of your mouth so fast, Jake’s positive he heard you wrong the first time around. 

He whips his head to meet your eyes, your own already staring back at him, your bottom lip nervously tucked under your teeth. 

“No, I––I do. I know I do. I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you and I don’t think I’m doing a very good job right now,” the words are all of the sudden tumbling out of your mouth as if your brain flipped a switch and isn’t able to turn it off. “In hindsight, I should’ve known better to fake date my own best friend. But these past few days made me realize how much I love being with you. And not like how I’m always with you 24/7 before this entire thing started, but being with you. I even started getting that weird, bubbly feeling in my stomach every time I so much as heard your name. And then last night at the party, I realized afterwards that I wouldn’t have kissed you if some part of me didn’t see you in that way. Even if it meant Jay would’ve been on our asses all night if I didn’t. So yeah.” 

You finish with a deep breath and look up at him to meet his widened eyes. Silence.

Jake thought he was braindead during last week’s history quiz. Jake thought he was braindead when he had to cram a semester’s worth of chemistry content the night before his exam. Heck, Jake thought he was braindead when you first told him about your idea of a fake dating him. But no, this is braindead.

He’s finally hearing what he’s been dreaming of for so long, and of all times, now his brain decides to shut off.  

“Are you..uh..are you gonna say anything?” You’re nervously fumbling with your hands, desperate to distract yourself with anything else apart from his silent stare. 

"Why are you sorry?" Jake says before his mind can think of anything else. He doesn't pay attention to his thumping heart that's one look-from-you away from exploding right then and there. "You didn't do anything wrong. If anything, you took the words right out of my mouth.” 

Now you're staring at him with the wide eyes, the words processing in your mind.

Jake realizes he's waited too long to do this. A few years too long. He also realizes he shouldn't have put on that extra layer of a flannel. The nervous tension created by the two of you was suffocating enough, and being outside under the bright sun didn’t help. 

"I like you too. God y/n, I like you too so much," Jake doesn't even care if his words are all sorts of messed up right now. He just needs you to get the idea. "I have for a while now.” 

You let out a relieved sigh, ecstasy rushing through your blood. “Really? I think I have for a while too. I’m so stupid, it took me so long to realize it. It didn’t hit me until I realized how I felt around you, compared to the guy I’m supposed to actually have a crush on.” 

Jake lets out a laugh, the tension immediately dissolving. “Hey, if it wasn’t for Sunghoon, I don’t think we’d be here right now.” 

“You’re right, I’m too oblivious and you’re too awkward to actually make a move,” you wink at him. If his heart wasn’t fluttering at the sight of you, on his porch on a Saturday morning, confessing your feelings to him, Jake probably would’ve lightly shoved you away. 

Instead, he’s turning to you with the most endeared look on his face, and you’re blushing underneath his gaze.

“What? Stare much?” You giggle, quoting the boy himself as you shyly duck your head to avoid his stare. 

Jake gently grabs your chin to tilt your face towards his, and before you can process what’s happening, he suddenly meets your lips with his own, closing the gap between you two. 

Jake thinks if the ground underneath him right now decided to open up and swallow him whole, he’d die happily. 

Jake smiles against you, feeling comfort in ways he’ll never be able to achieve without you. 

Your hands instinctively find their way into his hair, as one of his rests below your ear, thumb softly caressing your cheek, the other pulling you in by the waist. He’s naturally leaning into you, gravitating towards your warmth, unable to stop the giddy feeling bubbling in his stomach. 

He doesn’t think the feeling will ever go away. 

When you pull away to catch your breath, you rest your head against the nook of his neck, basking in his presence as his arms both find their way around your waist. You sigh in pleasure. 

“Remember at the beginning of all of this, when you told me ‘Just try not to fall in love with me?’” Jake gently says. Jake feels the slight nod you give against his shoulder as you hum in response. 

Jake whispers two more words into your ear, filling you with happiness and warmth you know you won’t be able to find through anyone––or anything––else. 

“Too late.” 

✰ if you made it ‘til the end, ily :’)))))