#a flashback where she’s a teen! damn

[dejwritesarchived]

heard the teen wolf movie trash and that’s what they get for not paying arden cho her rightful coins!

[shit-talker]

I'm really curious about how much the girls ACTUALLY know about how the boys died. While the audience is privy to flashbacks that explain it, the girls aren't - unless, the Night Nurse is somrhow able to show them Charles' memories, which I doubt because I think A, we'd have seen a bigger reaction from Crystal and Niko, and B, I think they all would have been much more understanding of the visceral and emotional reaction Charles has after to the Night Nurse goading and mocking him while forcing him to relive those big traumas.

The only thing they (Really, just Crystal) gets is when Edwin says that his death was an "act of God" and Charles' was "covered up" by the school. Which isn't exactly descriptive. I feel like Crystal and Niko don't fully grasp that the boys are genuinely ghosts who genuinely died and are, as such, super fucking trauamatised because of it. And, I think it'd be super intreasting to see how the girls react to finding out these things about them, especially with the fact that Crystal seemed to have been quite the bully in the past (and both boys were killed by bullies) and Niko mentions having gone to a boarding school where she left because she felt alone and outcasted (mainly due to her fathers death, but come on, I'll be damn shocked if there wasn't some sort of teen bullying there) the compsrisons and paralelles are really interesting to me and I want it explored more.

[lex-loudestwoman]

The Whole Story

Before we begin, a disclaimer: I believe that Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss are in a romantic relationship together. I've come to this conclusion carefully by reading all the signs Taylor has given us through her lyrics, media presence, clothing & jewelry choices, marketing, visuals, and interviews. This is all a theory of what I think has gone down between Karlie and Taylor since 2013.

2013 & Earlier - The Beginning

VS Fashion Show 2013: The first official meeting of Karlie & Taylor was at the 2013 VS Fashion Show.

This may not have been their true first encounter (s/o @sophietv for her amazing work about this, she outlines all the times Kaylor interacted prior to the fashion show in 2013!).

According to a Teen Vogue interview in 2014, Taylor and Karlie were introduced to each other at the same time that Taylor met Emma Stone by Andrew Bevan of Teen Vogue. That was in 2008 at the Young Hollywood Awards.

After that first meeting in 2008, Taylor attended a number of fashion shows that Karlie walked in: Tommy Hilfiger Spring Show (9/16/2009); Rodarte Spring 2012 show in NYC (9/13/2011); Jean-Paul Gauthier in Paris (9/30/2012), Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2013 Show (10/3/2012).

Karlie & Taylor also both attended Roberto Cavalli's 40th Anniversary Party (9/30/2010) and the Met Gala in 2011. Teen Vogue included a quote from Karlie about the Met: "Taylor Swift. I was introduced to her at the Met Gala, and we joked about having a baking date!"

January 17th, 2012: The iconic Twitter interaction between Kaylor finally happens! Taylor's cover story with Vogue includes a quote about Karlie: "I love Karlie Kloss, I want to bake cookies with her!" Karlie tweets at her the same day the cover releases.

2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

By the time the 2013 VS Show rolled around, I think they were already dating in some capacity, and the fashion show was a PR move. If Taylor & Karlie were going to become "close friends" in the public eye, they needed a high-profile, highly documented story about how they met to avoid questions about the nature of their close relationship.

Taylor performed I Knew You Were Trouble (Red) for the show, and she danced with Karlie on stage while 'snow' fell.

"So it goes, you two are dancing in a snow globe round and round." - You Are in Love, 1989

Karlie later revealed in an interview that she had gotten a dramatic haircut during a Vogue shoot just before the VS Fashion Show began. This haircut was a big deal- she changed her look completely without talking to anyone about it, and Vogue asked her to keep it a secret until the shoot dropped. So she showed the VS Fashion Show like "surprise! New hair!" which drew up quite a buzz. Taylor's hair was pretty blonde and long at the time, not fully bleached but certainly lightened up in comparison to her natural hair color.

"flashback when you met me, your buzz cut & my hair bleached" - Dress, reputation

Karlie posted a ton of pictures from this event (most of which were of her and Taylor) on her Instagram. She also starts posting really sappy Instagram posts about being in love.

I think that the November 14th, 2013 post about receiving your favorite flowers from the person you love is about Taylor Swift, but who's to say!

Then, on Friday, December 13th, 2013 (Taylor's 21st birthday, which I think she references in an interview sometime when she's talking about why she loves the number 13) Karlie posts two sugarplum fairy-related photos, capturing the scene in The Nutcracker where snow falls from the sky as delicate performers dressed in white dance along the stage. This is super Taylor-coded, giving YAIL, dancing in the damn snowglobe again.

Interesting caption there, Kar. "#flashbackfriday to the good old days as a sugarplum fairy myself (aka the day I peaked)"

On December 14th, Karlie posts a solo shot on instagram and tags Josh with photo credit (this is hilarious that we let them just tell us whoever took their picture with absolutely no questioning whether they might be lying???). For some reason, I get the feeling that Taylor took this photo for Karlie the morning after her birthday when they were still together from celebrating the night before.

2014 - You're My Best Friend

Taylor buys her massive Tribeca, NY Penthouse apartment in April 2014. The home was actually TWO penthouse apartments next door to each other, and then she bought a third townhouse unit next door in 2017, and in 2018 she bought an additional 3-bedroom unit in the same building. Go off NYC Real Estate Queen! Taylor moved into her iconic Cornelia Street apartment during a round of renovations at her Tribeca home in 2016.

Big Sur Trip

VS Fashion Show 2014

Vogue Cover

BEST Best Friends

1989 - October 27, 2014

"The inspiration that I found in that [New York] city is kind of hard to describe and hard to compare to any other force of inspiration I've ever experienced in my life." - Taylor Swift, discussing the importance of NYC in an interview with ABC News given on 10/20/2014 ahead of a 1989 promo single release for Welcome to New York (1989). That quote actually reminds me of a lyric from 1989: you understand now why they lost their minds & fought the wars, and why I've spent my whole life trying to put it into words (You Are in Love, 1989).

2015 - Hiding in Plain Sight

1989 era so many public appearances blah blah blah they were girlfriends in public kissgate gay whatever, everyone agrees that Karlie & Taylor were dating in 2015 during 1989 World Tour etc

2016 - Beards or Bust

Politics and Jared Kushner

The unfortunate reality of 2016 was that Donald Trump really did get elected president, and then he really did take office and become the President of the United States from January 2017 - January 2021. (Sadly, none of it was a nightmare or even a collective hallucination, all of this actually happened in the good old U.S. of A., yeehaw!!) The sociopolitical climate in the US is charged, fraught, uncertain, and divided. Even worse for Taylor & Karlie is their closeness to Jared Kushner, Josh's older brother who is married to Ivanka Trump. Jared served as a senior advisor to Donnie Boy for his entire term, and he did such a good job being Don's accomplice in negligent, ethnocentric, homophobic, misogynistic leadership from the White House that he was made the Director of the Office of American Innovation (this entire office was created by Trump in March 2017 and dissolved by Biden in January 2021).

I think (and this is JUST speculating, I have no real evidence compiled yet to back this up, but I'll look for it eventually) Jared Kushner & Ivanka Trump are also in a queer-bearding relationship contract. I'm not going too far into it now, but there's stuff out there for both Jared and Ivanka, like former Trump staffer Noel Casler's allegations that Jared is gay and in an "arranged marriage" with Ivanka, who doesn't care about his sexuality due to her own sexual opportunism and likely queer identity.

If Jared and Ivanka really are queer and in a non-monogamous, mutually beneficial public relationship that allows them to co-parent their three children, then their involvement in the Trump administration makes things pretty damn unsafe if they ever were found out. So, I think that when Trump was elected, the entire Kushner family had to be super locked down to keep both Jared & Ivanka AND Josh & Karlie (and Mikey and Taylor) safe from any unwanted allegations.

Since the Kushner and Hess families hold international influence, wealth, and power, if all these billionaire men were suddenly outed as gay there could be serious economic and political consequences across the globe.

Not so coincidentally, Karlie and Taylor's last public event together was Lorde's birthday on Monday, November 7th, 2016. The 2016 Presidential Election took place on Tuesday, November 8th, 2016, which sealed the fate of the Kushner name to be attached to Donald Trump's Presidency. I believe that if Trump had not won (which no one expected him to do) Karlie & Taylor would not have started this Love Blackout.

This photo is the end of Kaylor's public friendship, and the start of their Love Blackout (shout out to @sophietv again for being the BEST!!)

Joe Alwyn - A Perfectly Palatable Person

I'm sure when the team realized Trump might actually win the election, they started looking for an acceptable beard. Joe really was a great choice for Taylor's life: he had features similar to Karlie's (light eyes, tall, blonde hair), he didn't have much going on with his own reputation, he had a sparkling clean dating history - because Taylor was his first ever girlfriend, he was a fellow artist and was already media trained, and he was gay, too!

Met at the Met - May 2016

red herring lyric (tied to VS 2013 show)

First Reports - May 16, 2017

The Sun broke the news of Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn dating on May 16, 2017. According to Tree Paine a source, they had been secretly dating for months. It's later assumed that they started dating a few months before January 1, 2017, (revealed in a Lover journal released in 2019). Some sleuthing swifties connect a lyrical swap in the acoustic cover of "September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire as performed by our girl Taylor (Friday, April 13, 2018) to the diary entry and determine their anniversary was probably September 28, 2016.

Supportive Boyfriend Award? - December 8, 2017

Joe does something of heroic power. He goes to a concert with his popstar girlfriend. He apparently attended Taylor's performance in the iHeartRadio JingleBall in NYC and "stayed for the whole show and they later left together as well." lmao wut, okay, lots of people stayed for the whole show, this is such a boring relationship roll out, especially for Miss Extra!! (lovingly)

Toe is Officially Official - May 8th, 2018

Joe finally takes his instagram off private mode and posts a picture of himself, alone, next to a big cactus. Taylor also posts a picture of herself, alone, near the same big cactus. Alright, I guess that *technically* counts as giving the public some confirmation that you two know each other, but I bet Tree was mad as hell when that was their "official instagram announcement."

Then, Joe joins Taylor at the opening night of the Reputation Stadium tour in Glendale, AZ. He wore a baseball cap low to cover his face and "stay incognito" (Joe, babe, no one knows who you are...but like okay i guess, be weird about your fame that you literally wanted and signed up for). But during the song Gorgeous apparently Taylor pointed at Joe in the VIP tent, while he proudly filmed her.

Taylor travels around the country for the Reputation Stadium Tour from May-November 2018. The Rep tour is SO, SO GAY, like Jesus Christ Lesbian Jesus save us from all the rainbow and bisexual flagging!! Check my twitter thread for a full analysis of how gay the Dress performance is.

Reputation Promo:

Taylor Swift socials

Karlie Kloss socials

Reputation, The Album

Reputation was released on November 10, 2017.I consider Reputation to be Taylor & Karlie's "I'm so in love that I might stop breathing" album. This is the honeymoon, this is the up all night, can't stop, won't stop, I need you more than air kind of love.

This album is all about the pining and desperately waiting, hiding their anticipation, hands shaking from holding back from touching each other where anyone might see them. Much like Taylor's own media presence & public interactions in the Reputation era, Kaylor had gone dark, nobody heard from them for months, but they're doing better than they ever were.

2018 - Desperate Measures

The honeymoon phase ends in 2018 as shit in America gets worse for queer folks. The sociopolitical climate is getting more dangerous now, and Trump's constant attacks on LGBTQIA+ rights & safety is making matters much worse. Jared Kushner & Ivanka Trump are in the media a lot now, which means all eyes are on Josh, too.

Toe is Officially Official - May 8, 2018

Joe finally takes his instagram off private mode and posts a picture of himself, alone, next to a big cactus. Taylor also posts a picture of herself, alone, near the same big cactus. Alright, I guess that *technically* counts as giving the public some confirmation that you two know each other, but I bet Tree was mad as hell when that was their "official instagram announcement."

Then, Joe joins Taylor at the opening night of the Reputation Stadium tour in Glendale, AZ. He wore a baseball cap low to cover his face and "stay incognito" (Joe, babe, no one knows who you are...but like okay i guess, be weird about your fame that you literally wanted and signed up for). But during the song Gorgeous apparently Taylor pointed at Joe in the VIP tent, while he proudly filmed her.

Taylor travels around the country for the Reputation Stadium Tour from May-November 2018. The Rep tour is SO, SO GAY, like Jesus Christ Lesbian Jesus save us from all the rainbow and bisexual flagging!! Check my twitter thread for a full analysis of how gay the Dress performance is.

Instead of hosting her usual big 4th of July Party at the Holiday House in RI, Toe goes on vacation to Turks & Caicos to celebrate the holiday. They call Backgrid to take a few pictures of them "frolicking" at the beach together. I'm so convinced, they're in LOVE!! Can't get enough of each other!! They totally hold hands all the time, this feels so natural and not weird at all!

Karlie posts a few photos in a row about the 4th of July this year. First, she's in her Anti-Hero colored pajamas with her left eye closed in a wink, sitting on a few suitcases, captioned "Kissin Paris Goodbye. *kissy face emoji*"

Then, another post on the 4th itself is of a WMAG stylized photoshoot where Karlie is a cowboy, for the Wild West with Cowboy Karlie campaign. It's captioned "Going into the 4th like *cowboy emoji* @/wmag" EXCUSE ME. "You're a cowboy like me, perched in the dark, telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear like it could be love I could be the way forward only if they pay for it"

The implications of a Cowboy Like Me reference and this photo's timing has on their engagement story has me dead. I'll do a whole lyrical analysis and tie in of it soon.

And then she posts this pic of her swimming in an unidentifiable body of water. Could it be Turks & Caicos? Maybe!

Joshlie announces their engagement on July 24, 2018 while the two are on a vacation in XYZ? People Magazine reports that the proposal "took place a few weeks ago during a romantic weekend together in upstate New York." So they got engaged sometime in the beginning of July, right?

On July 10th, she posts a video of herself voguing down the runway with "This Kiki is Marvelous" playing in the background during Paris Fashion Week in September 2013. Her performance was considered one of the highlights of Paris Fashion Week. She captioned the video: Mood. @/jpgaultierofficial.

Quick question for Karlie, why do you feel the same way you felt before you went on stage for a make or break performance out of your comfort zone? You performed incredibly but it could have easily turned out very differently. Why would you be feeling like that right around the time of your engagement to Josh Kushner?

Karlie's instagram post on July 16, 2018 captioned "bestest of weekends with my bestest of friends" included group photos and a video of her & four girlfriends from her childhood.

So she got engaged and then spent a weekend with her friends, who then commented on instagram pictures from the weekend saying "remember, there's nothing better than old friends!" Why the heck are they talking about friends so much!? She literally just got engaged to Jo- ohhh.... Oh, right, he's gay, and she's gay. Old friends. Ahhhh.

Taylor responds to the engagement news breaking by having special guest, Haley Kiyoko aka Lesbian Jesus, join her for the Rep show at Gillette Stadium on July 27, 2018. Taylor specifically requests to sing Curious with Haley, which is a song about a lesbian woman singing to her ex-lover who is now dating a man, asking her ex if she lets him touch her the way she used to. So gay, so timely, Taylor is a petty bitch & I love her.

Do the girls back home touch you like I do? Delicate (Reputation)

The Wedding, October 18, 2018

Karlie wears her custom Dior gown and very amicably marries Joshua in someone's backyard, it looks like. Things seem perfectly pleasant, almost like watching a wedding scene featuring two actors with no sexual chemistry whatsoever.

2019 - Every Time I Don't, I Almost Do

Lover Promo is all very gay, very loud, very comingoutlor.

ME! out now! on Lesbian visibility day, April 26, 2019.

YNTCD music video out on June 16, 2019.

The Wedding, Part Two: Cowboy Karlie and Her Cowboy, Her Man

Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner celebrate their wedding again with a private group of friends from June 20-23rd, 2019 in Wyoming. It's cowboy themed, for whatever reason.

This wedding into a honeymoon in Africa would have been a wonderful strategy to keep the spotlight off of Karlie in Taylor Swift's immediately impending plan to come out on June 30th, 2019. Go read @sophietv's incredible post that details the failed coming out (fuck Scooter Braun).

<timeline jump>

2020: The Great War

January:

February: Karlie is in Paris, Taylor is advertising The Man MV (out February 27).

March: Quarantine begins March 16th & Taylor starts writing folklore almost immediately, which means that the events in folklore have already happened before COVID begins.

MORE ON THE WAY! I've got:

What happens when Karlie gets back to the US?

How does the Lover era go?

Lover social media & marketing presence

8.24.2019 - Blue

9.9.2019 - Lover in Paris performance

10.7.2019 - Sad Girl SNL

10.11.2019 - Sad Girl TinyDesk (& ring)

Continued sus social media from TSwift

Miss Americana

2020: The Great War (3.16.2020, Quarantine begins)

Lonely Millennial Woman Covered in Cat Hair

folklore

evermore

Karlie's Pregnancy

2022: Go Viral (Midnights, Red TV)

2023: Midnights, Eras, Speak Now TV, Broken Toe, 1989 TV, Kaylor Renaissance

My Predictions

[jazzyblusnowflake]

OMG hi…I really like your art and was wondering if you wanna be mutuals??????????? Also tell me about your MD ships :3c

honey we are dating- .....okay yknow what- HI PRETTY & TALENTED LADY- yess i will absolutely love toooo 🙈💕💕💕💕💕

also lets see uhhh okay this is an excuse for me to just... expload-

keep in mind not every ship is meant for all of you so dont badger me about stuff that ISNT CANON or YOU DONT SHIP. contrary to whatever you believe, when somone posts about THEIR ships, nobody wants to hear about you NOT shipping it on THAT EXACT post.

hang in there, this gon be a long one >:p

First off we are starting strong with Nuzi- Biscuitbites obviously thats a given- these two just have too much to be said about why and how they make eachother the best version of eachother, whether they ever became canon or not- they fit like puzzle pieces- they lessen eachothers negative traits by being their for eachother.

next is Vuzi- Violentviolet, they are my favorite kind of enemies to lovers 😔 but its also tragic smh. kinda pissed off at how V always does something good in Uzis favor only when she is LITERALLY PASSED OUT- either in the camp ep on the bus or in Alices lab. like damn ofFUCKINGcourse Uzi wouldnt know she cares about her 😭😭😭

envuzi- Violentbitingbiscuits, i love these goobers with all my heart- they deserve the best 😔💕💕💕💕

envy - [does this poor ship just NOT have an exclusive FINDABLE tag name??? im calling them GoldenMemories...], i like to think that if they were in the manor still, and nothing bad had ever happened, these two would be comforting eachother in the healthiest way possible. V needs someone like N and N is just adorable like that uwu

Next we have JxTessa/Jessa- [calling them Fancyblades cuz why not-] J deserves some closure for the shit shes gone through smhhh 😔, its a tragic yuri of J loving and wanting something she probably already accepted she couldnt have, and even then she gotta deal with Ns ass being the favorite one regardless of how hard she tries to be perfect... sighhh i wanna imagine them in a future where Tessa was spared as the only human and J could save her 😭😭😭😭 Tessa might have loved doing mechanical stuff or wore black to hide grease/oil stains on her clothes from her parents and wore gloves to hide her oily stained hands- i want her to have a scene of wiring drones back to life and saving them and saying something like "hey there, you made it! dont worry, ill take care of you, youre my friend now :3" or something //dies//, also before anyone says it- even if Tessa was a teen in the flashbacks- romance is not exclusive to ADULTS, teens can love eachother without having sexual stuff involved. no she was not their MOTHER figure, she was their FRIEND who liked to fix robots for herself to not be alone in a house where her own parents literally chain her up as punishment. i dont even know why im arguing about this, people headcanon or make aus about characters NOT being dead all the time and if Tessa was alive for as long as J thought she was, Tessa would have been a perfectly fine adult either way. so counting this, yes shes canonically considered an adult when Cyn tries to imitate an adult humans body 🙄 makes as much sense as everything else i guess-

next ones i got is NorixYeva/Neva- Solverlilies- i just think theyre neat 😭😭😭 and once again, like everything else in this franchise- they are tragic yuris 😔 damn liam im finding a pattern over here 🤨 anyway, i like to think they either got closer in the lab experimentations or were already close when they were working as WDs in the campsite area for the humans. obviously canonically they were probably straight or just not into eachother romantically- [Nori either u have the worst taste men or Khan just fucking lost it after you died-] but also on the other handddd.... they have 2 hands and they are robots, i want them to kiss like two barbie dolls and im gonna make them do just that-

DollxLizzy/Dizzy- Bloodypink, wost fucking ship names ever, i cant find shit on them with these tags and it makes me angry >:/ at this point 2/3s of my ships are just tragic yuris smh, Doll did not deserve any of the things handed to her, even if she went about doing some things the wrong way i wish Lizzy didnt just abandon her- but then again, Doll did kinda abuse Lizzys trust and Lizzy got scared of being close to a serial murderer so.... morality calls this a draw? 😭 im crying... i wish someone was there to help Doll... sigh... i like to think Lizzy would have waited for Doll to just come back at some point... oh well, thats why AUs exist :"3 //sobs in the corner//

DollxUzi/Dollzi- Bloodybats, this ship is so underrated to me... they could have been... so much more. but why weren't they? did Yeva abandon ever getting close to Uzi when she was a kid after Nori died? did Uzi and Doll just never play around together as kids when their mothers were so close? were they ever close and something went wrong as they grew older? at worst they could have been like sisters together, and at best maybe more than friends. i just dont know what happened here, like Yeva could have tried to keep an eye on Uzi, maybe Uzi could have found Dolls powers so cool before having them too- i dont know theres literally tons of possibilities- but if Doll deserved to be saved or cared for by anyone, at least one of them should have been Uzi... sigh.

ThadxV- Killingblonde, yall this is... the cutest shit... ever???? like from here on out we kinda go into the more or less crackship territory but these two are adorable- Dumbass yet wholesome jock boy that just wants to keep his queen happy 😔👌👌👌 He and Uzi would have so much to talk about on "crushing on literal murder bots that stabbed and almost ate us" its literally love at first stab smhhh 😫💕

ThadxSam- Smokyjock ???? for some fucking reason??? i dont know what my brain did here man- i just like the trope of someone getting under Thads skin- like pair up the healthy sports loving gym boy with the lazy but wholesome dumbass that does drugs or is always just sleep deprived and Thad is always trying to just... take care of his ass and make him take care of himself but he just WONT SMHHH-

okay some more or less crack ships down here:

ThadxN: it speaks for itself. its too adorable and youll go blind from the light of wholesomeness-

ThadxNxUzi: Uzi will die here from the overwhelming wholesomeness... oh bonus if its just a 4s polycule of ThadxNxUzixV i mean i know im pushing my luck but.... random crackships go brr- V and Uzi will complain but love their dumbass golden puppy partners-

ThadxUzi: i think they could have been close and Thad caring about her as a childhood friend turned crush sounds just too cute for me 😔

LizzyxUzi: another random ass rivals to lovers or some shit idk what this is, Lizzy would pay Uzi to kiss the fuck out of her i dont make the rules-

ThadxLizzy: in some cases where they are NOT headcanoned as siblings or cousins, i think they have a good energy of wholesome jock bf and girly queen cheerleader lol, Thad is just a good bf eitherway-

DollxUzixLizzy: the gals would not leave a single second of silence for the small gremlin i swear to God- [Uzi is gay as FUCK for her gfs, absolute girloser unit with her gorgeous but crazy gfs]

okay for the end i have some characters that arent ships but i wish they could have become closer as friends or work out their issues...

J and N- too much abuse and toxicity here, i wish they could talk together more and see they have a lot of things in common- maybe a full line of dialogue from J without threatning N in every sense of the manner would be nice for a change =_=

Doll and V- again, a bit morally ambiguous to ship a character with the murderer of your family, esp when said murderer hasnt expressed regret lmao, but i wish they could at least be friends... Dolls disdain for the murder drones pushed her to end up the way she did. maybe if she didnt do it alone she would have been alive by now. so i like to think what would have happened if she and V could have made up- not necessarily Doll forgiving her- but at least having the space to grow and understand why they did they things that happened.

Cyn and literally ANYONE- i want the solver to be SEPARATE from Cyn- i wish Cyn would have still existed somewhere down there and was savable- i wish this poor child AI had a happy ending to her by connecting with the others as ACTUAL siblings... goddamnit 😔

aaaand thats it for this fine ass day 🫡 yall are welcome to ask about any of these- boy the tags are gonna be.... a lot.

[jevilowo]

Not sure if ive already done this. But.

Predictions for COMIC 7

CHARLES DARLING WILL BE THE FINAL ENEMY besides Helen. Trust me on this one I swear they wouldn't have brought him in if they didn't have plans. ALSO the mother of the Mann triplets (Bette Mann neé Darling) was RELATED TO HIM HE'S RELEVANT. I'm so convinced he's the one Helen made a deal with and he's going to make a grab for Mann Co.

We'll get to see Bilious Hale in a flashback and find out what happened to him. Bilious Hale, oh guy who punched coal out of mines and sat on John Wilkes Booth while other people shot at him, my beloved. I hope they don't reveal he was a bad father or anything.

A woman is nice to Ms Pauling for once and she gets a smooch. She deserves it. Hopefully it won't be a smooch from Helen (DAMN YOU 4CHAN LEAKS), the old lady's had her hired since Pauling was in her mid teens.

WE GET HORSEMANN LORE! this is just wishful thinking on my part the Horsemann makes me insane. Shout out to Silas Mann fr. If he doesn't show up, I hope they at least acknowledge or reference him. I swear they had plans for him back in 2010. Which they then immediately abandoned in favour of developing Mann vs Machine.

Spydad reveal. Pretty much a given. No need to elaborate. I hope Scout’s mother shows up I love her.

Demo gets something important to do! He's only been there for comedic bits so far really, so I think he deserves some Serious Plot Stuff.

Build up to and cop out on Pyro face reveal. The whole thing of Pyro's character is the mystery, so I think the funniest way to go about a face reveal would be for us to only see the team's reactions and have them all react very differently e.g. Scout vomits, Demo gives them the thumbs up, Spy starts taking horrified notes, Engie looks vaguely lovestruck, Saxton Hale expresses annoyance that they aren't actually *insert obsucure species of something here* like he thought.

CONAGHER LORE!! By which I mean Engie shows up and has a chat with Fred about Radigan and immortality and whatnot. Fred has to have been spared from the bloodshed for a reason, right?

Classic Medic shows up! Or they confirm he is dead. Or they confirm he is Pyro which is a funny theory I read once but sincerely doubt. Maybe they'll pull a Bea and have him have been a girl the whole time.

I have a crackpot theory that Helen/Elizabeth is actually Bette Mann (again, mother of the Mann triplets), and while it's unlikely to be true, it would genuinely be so funny if I'm right so WATCH THIS SPACE. My main reasoning is Helen started her Australium search the year the triplets were born, aka the year Bette DIED, and also Bette is a nickname for Elizabeth. Also also it adds to my theory that she will team up with Charles Darling, who is, as I've already said, related to Bette.

Olivia gets to do something important also. Saying this bc she's mostly been a prop so far. I'm manifesting a sideplot where she summons the Horsemann to beat up Charles Darling for her.

Merasmus returns! Last we saw he was arrested, but Jay Pinkerton really likes his Soldier/Merasmus interactions so chances of him coming back are high.

There will be a joke like "geez it feels like it's been seven years since we beat grey mann" and a panel where everyone just lets that process before going back to plot stuff

Chances are, a new comic after so many years means there will be new writers, and the fandom has changed quite a bit since the last one. There will be SUBLIMINAL SPEEDING BULLET SHIPPING. There will be MORE FOCUS THAN IS REALLY NECESSARY on Scout. SOMEONE WILL THEY/THEM PYRO which sounds great actually you know what I forgot where I was going with this godspeed.

ZHANNASOLDIER WEDDING FINALE!!!

[ghastlyfilters]

BETRAYAL !

— “AND I HELD YOUR HAND THROUGH ALL OF THESE YEARS, BUT YOU STILL HAVE.. ALL OF ME.”

pairing; billy loomis x fem!reader

summary; what if your biggest betrayal was by someone you’d held the hand of for so many years? billy loomis was supposed to be a pleasant never ending dream, not a soon to be distant memory turned into your one, true nightmare. (reader is replacing the role of sidney)

author’s note: HI. (i was half asleep whilst writing this and found it in my drafts. fuck knows where i was going with it. after reading it, i’m gonna guess it’s something about the whole ‘betrayal’ thing and the reader not knowing the darker truth behind billy’s motive if he is actually the killer? little does she know lmao. but anyway, take this whilst i go finish some requests and write other content. more reqs are open as always. even when i’m busy, i like writing requests here and there. or i’ll leave them for a bit and come back to em! enjoy this fic that i honestly don’t know why my half asleep self wrote💀)

PLEASE DON’T READ IF MENTIONS OF BETRAYAL, DEATH, OR ANYTHING HORROR RELATED AFFECTS YOU!!

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

A shiver ran down your spine as flashbacks of hearing about the deaths of Casey Becker and Steve Orth came creeping back into your head. Had the killer intended for you to be next? Or were you just another random teen fit into this psycho’s cruel joke.

Everything was happening all too fast. Yes, you were now sat in Woodsboro police station after being taken in for your own safety. But did you truly feel safe?

No.

“Y/n?” A voice called out.

“Y/n??”

You quickly snapped out of your unpleasant thoughts, looking up to see Deputy Riley standing over you, holding out a small cup of water.

“Thanks, Dewey.” You whispered with a weak smile, accepting the water and placing it down beside you.

Dewey let out a small sigh as he put a hand on your shoulder. “Try not to overthink things, hm? We’ll have this all sorted out soon enough.”

You ran a hand through your hair, wincing at the sickly feeling you had in the pit of your stomach. You’d been incredibly nauseous ever since you arrived at the station. No wonder. You were probably still in shock after the events of tonight.

“Y/n, please. If you stress you’ll just make yourself even more shaken up than you clearly already are. Do you want me to get the nurse to check you over again?” Dewey asked.

“No, it’s alright. I’ll be fine.”

Dewey gave you a small pat on the back as he cleared his throat, slowly beginning to walk away.

“I’ll take you and Tatum home soon, kay?” He said, turning around one last time before heading back over to Sheriff Burk.

You resumed to wandering back into deep thought. Yeah, you were shaken up from the whole ‘killer’ part of tonight, but that wasn’t what hurt most.

Billy.

His name was beginning to feel like a distant memory, waiting for you to finally let go of.

‘Expect the unexpected,’ Most would say. But had you really imagined the one whom you thought you could trust the most would dare to hurt you?

Never.

After fighting for your life as the suspected killer tried to make it come to a brutal and bloody ending, Billy came out of nowhere, sneakily checking up on you every night as he had done for the past two years.

His timing was off. Way, WAY too off.

But the minute that damn phone fell out his pocket, you felt your heart stop immediately.

One hour ago, 34 Elm Street:

He was after you.

He was after YOU.

You yelped as Woodboro’s newly, anonymous killer made his move on you. He viciously kicked you to the floor with his large black boots, ready to gut you any second now.

Struggling, you desperately tried to pick yourself up, but it was no use. The killer grabbed a fistful of your hair, bashing your head against the laminate.

All you could think about was your upcoming cruel ending. How you were not going to see the ones you loved ever so dearly again. Tatum would never get to have late night movie sleepovers with you, Stu wouldn’t be able to make you giggle with his constant cheesiness, Randy and his little sister couldn’t ever see that bright smile of yours again whenever you’d go over to their house, and Billy, oh, Billy..

Your Billy.

You’d never get the chance to hear that soft voice of his ever again, almost as light as feathers themselves. The feeling of his undying love would soon be nothing. All the blissful memories you once shared were about to be over. Forever.

Finally, the monster behind the mask raised his sharp blade above you, ready to finish you off once and for all.

You quickly pushed him off you, sending the killer flying to the wall. Adrenaline had began to kick in. You couldn’t just be so defenceless and let him end you like that! You HAD to see your loved ones again. And you made sure this fucker wouldn’t prevent you from doing that anytime soon.

Quickly scrambling to the front door, you rattled the chain only to find it locked. Fuck. He could easily get back up in time whilst you tried to fix the lock. It wasn’t worth it.

Without hesitation, the killer got back up once again, launching himself at you. You ducked under him as he had clumsily managed to get his Buck 120 knife stuck in the door.

You headed for the stairs but knew he was hot on your heels. It didn’t take long for you to reach your bedroom, running over to the phone beside your bed desperately trying to dial 911.

“Shit!” You cursed. That bastard was still on the other end of the line.

Your only option was to contact them through the shitty computer you’d had for years now. The thing was slow, but you hoped it would be fast enough for you to alarm the police in time.

You whipped your head around only to see that the masked murderer was.. gone?

Before you could even stop and think for a moment, Billy rushed up to your window, climbing into the room. Oh dear god, it was like your prayers had finally been answered.

“Billy!” You breathed deeply, rushing towards him as if you were a small, frightened animal looking for your mother.

“I heard screaming,” Billy panicked. “The door’s locked. You alright?”

He watched you struggle to breathe properly out of pure fear. Fast, uneasy breaths. You clung to him, not letting go. Your sharp nails digging into his back. Not that he was bothered, that is.

“The killer’s here. He’s in the house! He’s in the house, he’s got a knife!” You cried, breathing in Billy’s cologne and masculine scent.

“He’s gone.” Billy said with a faint whisper, shushing you as you whimpered in his ear. “He’s gone, it’s alright.”

You were safe. You were in Billy’s arms for crying out loud! Everything was going to be fine.

A crash was heard as something had fallen out of your lover’s pocket, heading straight to the floor. You slowly turned your head around, staring directly at the item that had fell.

The phone.

You felt your throat close as it gave you that sickening, nauseating tingle you’d always hated. Your heartbeat became slower and slower. All you could do was stay in Billy’s arms, frozen out of fear before realisation truly hit.

Billy could feel the difference in your bodily functions, and cocked his head as you looked at him in horror, backing away.

“What?” He asked, his tone concerned.

You stared at your lover with pure disgust. Watching as he grew more and more confused. Your mind and mouth did not respond to his series of questions, demanding to know what was wrong and why you were looking at him with such terror.

Everything appeared to soon be ignored as you were only focused on one thing and one thing only.

Betrayal.

Your heart rate finally picked back up again, causing you to run out of the room. Billy followed behind, but you didn’t care. It wasn’t now until he realised you weren’t just running away, you were running away from HIM.

“Whoa, whoa, wait, wait! Wait, Y/n, wait!” Billy yelled, now full on going after you to get his answer.

You managed to get halfway down the stairs before he stopped chasing you, you could hear him screaming for you at the top of the staircase, leaning heavily onto the banister.

“Wait, wait, wait, WAIT! What’s going on?”

Your heart was in your throat whilst you could not believe what was happening right now. Too much, too soon.

“Y/n, come back!” He shrieked.

“Y/N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Now, Woodsboro Police Station:

Tears welled up in your eyes as those dark memories of tonight replayed, ones that would never quite leave your head.

“Y/n!” The same voice from your flashback called.

You looked up, slightly wincing at who you saw through the window of Sheriff Burk’s office.

Him.

Billy stared intensely at you from afar through the glass, his eyes filled with nothing but anger and never ending thoughts of confusion.

Yet, something else hid behind those eyes. A dark type of mystery you weren’t ready to know yet.

It was as if your lover felt the same feeling of betrayal you were experiencing yourself. But not betrayal because you’d suspected it was him trying to kill you, something else that was far different. Something worse.

I mean, you hadn’t did anything, right? It was Billy who had made himself look as guilty as he did. Far too suspicious for anyone to believe for the time being. Yet, his aura practically told you he showed no signs of guilt..

You began to sweat nervously as he continued to stare. What if, it truly had nothing to do with Billy? Had timing been your saviour tonight? Was he innocent enough to prove he had only arrived to your house to see you again?

A darker truth lay untold for now. The feeling of betrayal was mutual, but something else just told one a devious message about the other.

Something was coming.

Something, bad.

Something that in reality, was already here..

B

E

T

R

A

Y

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L.

[judysxnd]

Hi love

Can you write a jealous pedro for us? Maybe one when they run into reader's ex

Hiii, thanks for your request!

Before I start, I just want to say something. I’ve been receiving more requests, and I’m so happy and thankful for that!! But it also gives me a lot of anxiety as I pressure myself to write as fast as possible so that you won’t wait too long. Also, as I rarely like what I write, I’m also scared, and it makes me more anxious to write about the requests (it is very challenging).

I used to take requests when I was writing on Wattpad about teen wolf, and it got very overwhelming and eventually I had to stop writing, because it was really too much for me. As I don’t want to do the same thing here, I am going to take it slow. I will write all the requests I have, but, I will take my time, and I will write first the ones that inspires me the most, and not in the order I received them. I hope you will understand. I really really appreciate all your comments, the requests you make, you have very good ideas. I am truly thankful, you don’t even know how happy it makes me. But, I already struggle a lot in my everyday life, so I’m trying to take it easy on the only hobby I have, because this is the only one that I have left (and I don’t want to lose this one). I really appreciate you, thank you!!

Okay let’s get to the good part now!

(Y/e/n) = your ex’s name

Well well well, guess who doesn’t like what I just wrote? Yep, it’s me. I like the ending but not the rest of it. I struggled a little with that one. I actually struggle writing about jealousy, I don’t really know why! Hope you like it either way!

——————————————————————————————

Flashback

Music blasting, drinking beers, randomly singing and sometimes dancing, you both ended up talking on the couch around midnight. As you’re both very comfortable with each other and after drinking at least three beers, you can talk about everything. You were talking about all the great things that happened this year after the terrible year you had just before.

“What do you think our exes would say if they were seeing us right now?” You asked laughing.

“Oh- they would be so maaad” he laughed

“Right? Like I think he would be so jealous because I managed to get my shit together without him”

“Hell yeah, I think she would be jealous of our relationship”

“Oh yeah! Like we both have different interests in our careers but it doesn’t interfere with our relationship, like we don’t have to break up for that” you said sarcastically

“Agreed” you high-five and laugh “I remember she didn’t like that I was putting myself and my career first” he paused “but we both do it now so shame on her” you both burst out laughing

“I’m legitimately curious to know where they are at right now, like, did karma take care of them?” You both laughed again

“Yeah no, it’s too much drama I’d say”

“Agreed, breaking up when everything is fine can only bring him drama”

“Wait” he looked at you

“Yep, we were in love but he wanted to break up because he wanted to work in this big firm at the other end of the country and I may add that he didn’t even want to try here”

“What do you mean here?”

“I don’t remember the name of the firm but it’s here too. But he wanted to go in New-York, not even talking about it to me, not even asking me if I wanted to go with him, nothing”

“Damn”

“I’m glad we broke up”

“Cheers to that”

You spent the rest of the night talking about random stuff, imagining what your life would be if you were not actors, trying to create a fictional world, making a list of your favorite movies and songs, really doing random things.

End of flashback

“Pedro come on we’re going to be late for the movie!”

“We’re so not” he said arriving next to you

“It’s starts at nine and it’s.. eight thirty”

“and.. we have at least to drive twenty minutes”

“I’m good to go” he laughed

“Okay, I put my shoes on and let’s go”

“And who’s not ready right now?” You both laughed

“Don’t you dare” you pointed at him, laughing

After almost twenty minutes, you arrived at the theater.

“See? We’re on time” Pedro teased as you both entered. He put his hand on your shoulder as he let you come inside first, holding the door for you.

“You got lucky”

“Sure sure”

“Should we buy some popcorns?” You asked

“Oh yeah!”

“You buy the tickets and I buy the popcorns, deal?”

“Deal. And take two, don’t want you eating everything” you pretended to be offended.

You were waiting in line to buy popcorn when you heard a voice calling you.

“Y/n?” You turned around to see the infamous (y/e/n). You were surprised, and not happily surprised.

“(Y/e/n)? What are you doing here?”

“Going to watch a movie, I think that’s what we all are doing here” he joked. It didn’t make you laugh.

“No- I meant, what are you doing here in LA?”

“Oh yeah, well I came back a year ago, it didn’t really work in New York so they transferred me here” you couldn’t believe what you just heard. He threw your relationship away for literally nothing.

“Oh”

“And what about you?”

“Well, I finally made it in my acting career”

“Oh that’s great, congrats” he said. He seemed surprised, like it wasn’t true.

“Thanks”

“and.. do you have anyone.. right now?” You stared at him for a few seconds.

“Yes”

“Oh.. that’s good, that’s good” there was a brief moment of silence. “You’ve been together for-”

“None of your business” he stared at you, confused

“Well.. I’m glad to see you you know, it’s been a while.” He smiled, getting a little closer to you. You couldn’t believe what he was doing. “Maybe we could go grab a drink sometime? To catch up?” He said holding your hand. You were staring at his movements, not believing what was happening.

You didn’t see Pedro arriving next to you. He got really confused when he saw the scene happening in front of him. Jealousy was forming with a little bit of anger.

“What’s going on?” He asked, looking at the both of you. You immediately removed your hand. Yes finally, you thought to yourself.

“Hm.. Do you remember my ex we talked about a few times? Well there he is..” you said faking your happiness.

“Hi. You are?” Your ex asked to Pedro which made him laughed. He obviously knew him, but decided to go on that road and pretend not to.

“I’m her boyfriend” Pedro said angrily, putting his arm around your shoulders.

“Oh so you’re the one okay. How long have you been together?” He asked, only looking at you.

“More than a year now” Pedro answered making your ex looking at him

“Wow okay” he was shocked

“Well I wish I could say it was good to meet you, but we have to go” Pedro quickly said before you ex had the chance to say something else. Standing in front of him made Pedro feel so angry. He knew the story, what happened between the two of you, and the fact that he had the balls to try again after almost two years was unacceptable. How could he think that he had a chance again?

“Hm can I talk to you for a second before you go?” He asked to you, grabbing your arm, trying to pull you away from Pedro.

“Nope, I’m sorry, I can’t let you touch her” Pedro said, removing your ex’s arm from yours

“Who do you think you are?” You had to stop Pedro from slapping him. He was about to take him down.

“Okay I’m both stopping you right here” you said. “Pedro, he is not worth it.” You said, putting your hand on his stomach, trying to calm him down and to prevent him for making a mistake. “As for you” you said turning to face your ex. “I cannot believe you have the balls to ask me out again. No no. I cannot believe you have the balls to even talk to me again! After what you’ve done! You really think I want to do anything with you?” Your ex tried to talk, but you stopped him. “I don’t want to hear anything. Just stay away from me” you grabbed Pedro’s hand and left, going to actually watch the movie you came for.

You entered the room, sat down in the back, in the middle. There were not that many people with you. Your heart was racing, and Pedro saw that. He put his hand on your thigh.

“You okay?” He asked you

“Yeah, yeah.. didn’t expect that for sure” you joked

“Yeah me neither. I can’t believe that” he said now looking at the screen. You were looking at Pedro very thoroughly. You saw the anger on his face, how he was trying to contain himself not to get up and slap your ex.

“You’re jealous”

“Hm?” He now looked at you. “What?”

“Don’t pretend you’re not” you smiled

“No- I didn’t hear what you said”

“You’re jealous” he was confused

“What like that’s suppose to be surprising?” You didn’t expect his reaction, it made you laugh. “I come back to you to see your ex, standing in front of you, actually touching you and trying to get back with you! Like I shouldn’t be jealous!”

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing” you joked, grabbing his hand “that’s actually pretty hot” he smirked. “But.. can we forget about that and enjoy our movie?”

“Yes please” he said, getting comfortable in his chair. You got as closer as you could to him, still holding his hand and putting your head on his shoulder.

[welldonekhushi]

Till We Meet Again

Timeline: OG!Modern Warfare (this is a flashback of when Scarlet and Soap were young before they met together in the army again)

Pairing: John "Soap" MacTavish x Samantha "Scarlet" Wright (OC)

Note: A short snippet I made when Soap and Scarlet were separated. Yes, it's sure a bit angsty but heartwarming at the same time! So, I hope you like it *sniff*

"Will you come back?" Scarlet looked at the teen, with worried eyes. John turned around, clenching his bag tighter and looked at his parents packing his stuff in the cab, not sure if he could answer Scarlet's question, but only responded with a hopeful smile, wishing he'd find a chance to see her again. He turned back and walks towards the girl, caressing her face.

"I can't be sure when, lass.. but when it's the time. The day, and the moment. Maybe.. you might see me, and I'll see you."

"But I hate waiting." Scarlet furrowed her eyebrows, casting her head down. "And without you, it feels empty.. I don't think my life would ever be the same again." She sniffed.

"I don't want you to be thinking about me all the time.. you know currently your studies are necessary, right? And besides, all the teachers have utmost hope in you. Also, you have your dream to fulfill, ain't it?"

Scarlet nodded. "Have you decided your regiment yet?"

"Hmm, not yet. Maybe once I go through military school, I'll absolutely clarify where I belong."

".. ah, I see. Well, whatever you'd pick, I know it's one of the best of them all." She smiled, weakly.

John smiled, and looked at Scarlet for a while. Damn, who said he also wasn't going to miss her too? For all the years they've spent together as kids from now proper teens, now separating from each other to pursue what they want. Despite Scarlet wanting to go into the defense as well, she was still behind from Soap so she needed more time to finish her education and then enroll herself in the military as well, undecided what regiment to choose further as well.

"So.. is this.. a goodbye?" Scarlet asks weakly, and hears the cab's horn.

"John! You're going to be late!" His father called him.

John looked back at Scarlet, giving a heartwarming smile, as he gently grabbed her hand, rubbing it. "I guess it is."

The two stared at each other for a while, and instantly, Scarlet came to give John a tight hug, as if she didn't want to let him go.

She tried not to cry much, and John hugged her back, also trying not to shed tears as well. He pulled back from Scarly, and then began to walk away from her, leaving the grip on her hand slowly. The hopelessness on Scarlet's face, seeing her best friend (really, Scarlet? bestie?) was now leaving for the military, not even sure when he'd come back. John waved her a "bye" and began to leave, but Scarlet suddenly stopped him right there.

"Wait!" She cried out, and John raised an eyebrow, and Scarlet ran inside her house, quickly grabbing something before going back to him. John was confused, but then Scarlet came back, with something behind her hand. Scarlet smiled as if this gift was something special not just to him but for her as well.

"If you ever miss me.. then always keep this with you." She gave a blanket to John, making his eyes widen a bit. It was the blanket, which the two always used to cuddle and warm themselves with, and John gently carried it like a souvenir. He looked at Scarlet, with a hearty smile.

"Thank ya, Scarly. This.. was really needed."

Scarlet smiled, and slapped his shoulder, and so did he, and they laughed and chuckled like idiots. When it was now time to leave, John ran inside the cab, and opened the door, looking at Scarlet one last time, and winked, leaving for school. Scarlet just stood there, watching John slowly leave her eyes, and he peeked out of the window, screaming out: "To infinity and beyond!"

Scarlet couldn't do anything but laugh, as John left, and her smile died down. She shook her head, and saw her mother, who sees her daughter looking upset at her friend leaving. The option now was to head back home, as Scarlet did.

[buckybarnesss]

I would love to hear your take on how Stiles organized the trip to Mexico and got everyone on board with saving Derek between S3 and S4.

so here's the thing. they show a flashback in the dark moon as to what occurred. i think it's important to remember that derek is kidnapped in the direct aftermath of stiles being processed and allison dying. so needless to say people have things go on.

it's scott that realizes something is amiss. he and stiles have this exchange:

stiles: "okay. so how long has it been?" scott: "weeks. he hasn't gotten back to any of my texts." stiles: "has derek ever returned your texts?" scott: "once. definitely once."

the derek and scott dynamic is unhinged. you know bastard man derek hale leaves scott on read constantly and that one time he answered was probably "k" or some shit.

love how stiles specifically says "your" texts. not any or our but your. derek totally responds to stiles. scott goes on to say it felt different and he went to the loft where he found the alarm still on and everything seemed okay but he found the shell casings left behind by the calaveras.

i actually assume it felt different to scott because by this time scott is an alpha now. while i don't think he and derek and necessarily pack he and derek do have a complicated connection that might've allowed him to sense something was off.

scott explains that he contacted deaton who informed him that the casings belong to the calaveras out of mexico.

he brought lydia to see if she could get anything off the shell casings. she feels like something isn't right and is seemingly sensing derek's state of suspension being unable to truly tell if he's alive or dead.

scott is the one who decides mexico is where they look after stiles asks how they find the calaveras.

what's interesting in this flashback in regards to stiles is that he asks twice if derek's dead. he is anxious mcanxious person. he sounds upset when he asks lydia if derek's dead. he is also the one that insists scott go on ahead with braeden to go find derek and he's the own who recognizes teen derek.

the attachment is real.

i think the plan to get derek was a scott-n-stiles plan. it has all the hallmarks of both their cleverness and also their recklessness. going directly into the calaveras stronghold? insane.

the money is from the events of silverfinger from the japanese mafia that was used by void stiles to set derek and chris argent up for murder. araya says as much.

i don't think it'd take much for them to convince anyone to go. derek's theirs even if they're not best friends he's their local cryptid damn it. kira hung out with derek the pervious season. malia may have been indifferent but came along anyway because she was asked by her new friends. lydia is devoted to scott and stiles by this point and reasonably is concerned about derek because she's a normal person.

scott and derek have a complicated relationship that is layered but under it all all is a firm belief on both sides that they are the only person allowed to annoy, torment and kick each other's asses.

stiles is just unhinged about derek hale. news at 11.

tl;dr the dumbass duo goes to rescue the dumbass that completes them.

[aloneinthehellfire]

Chapter 10: In The Deep

Season One | Season Two | Season Three | Season Four

Raining Hellfire: Season Four

Word Count: 2835 words

Warnings: swearing, mentions of death, trauma flashback, illusions to drowning, canon-typical violence

[A/N: i also hate water, anyone else?]

In The Deep

Night fell once you finally reached the end point, the compass leading you through Dustin’s over-excited little body.

You push past the last of the leaves in time to watch Eddie pull Dustin away from one more step straight into the lake.

“You gotta be shitting me.” Steve sighed and you shake your head slowly, stepping forward.

You felt drawn to the lake for some reason, the closeness to the gate prickling at your skin.

“Lover’s Lake.” Robin announces and you shiver. Vecna’s last victim died here.

“This is confounding.” Dustin comments and you shake your head.

“So the compass led us straight to where Vecna last attacked.” You say, pursing your lips, “This makes me feel so much better.”

“You and me both.” Max mutters.

“Whenever the Demogorgon attacked,” Nancy speaks, “It always left an opening. Right?”

She looked at you before her face fell, remembering the events of that night. It burned your scar to even think of it.

A long arm reached out and wrapped around your leg. It pulled you through so fast, you couldn’t react in time. The last thing you heard was Nancy calling out to you in a whisper.

You were clawing at the ground as soon as you realised what was happening. You could feel the slippery surface pull at your clothes, the air getting colder. You thought that this was the end.

“Vecna doesn’t work like that.” You say quietly, shifting on your leg. “He doesn’t attack in person. But… maybe his power causes a rift to open. It has to take a lot of power for him to do what he did to those teens.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Steve says, stepping forward and noticing something further up. “And we’re gonna need a boat.”

Finding a boat wasn’t hard when people lived near the lake, leaving out their items for anyone to stumble across. Getting the boat in the water wasn’t as easy. Neither was deciding who should go.

“Okay, well, you two need to stay here.” Steve looks to you and Max, causing the exchange of looks between sisters.

“While I can see why you’d say that…” Max starts, staring up at him, “Y/n should go with you.”

“No, no way-”

“The easy or the hard way, Harrington.” You sigh and he tightens his lips, looking between you both with aggravation.

“Why?” He challenges, “Why can’t you just stay on land. Where it’s safe.”

“Firstly,” You say as you watch Eddie steady the boat on the water, “Nowhere is safe for us right now. And secondly-”

“The gate is like a homing beacon for Y/n.” Max explains and you nod along, “She’s connected to the Upside Down and if anything goes wrong, you’re gonna need her.”

Steve lets out a sigh of frustration before Nancy speaks up behind him.

“Y/n comes with us.” She says, looking at Max, “At least then there’s enough people to handle the situation if anything happens.”

And by that, she meant if Vecna attacked one of you again.

“Fine.” Steve raises his hands before walking over to help Eddie with the boat.

You look back at Max, pulling her into a hug, “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“You better.” She smiles, tapping your headphones, “Just… keep them on when you’re near the gate. Who knows if Vecna is watching.”

“Stay safe.” You kiss her forehead before exchanging a nod with Lucas who shuffles up to stand beside Max.

Robin and Nancy are already in the boat when Eddie steps in, looking to you with an extended hand. Dustin beats you to it.

“Hey, hey, hey, you tryna sink us?” Eddie pushes him away and Dustin goes to object, “This thing holds four people tops, okay?”

“It’s better this way.” Nancy tries, “You guys stay here with Max. And keep an eye out for trouble.”

“You keep an eye out.” Dustin retorts, pulling a face when Nancy looks surprised, “It’s my god damn theory.”

“You heard Nance.” Robin raises her chin.

“Who put her in charge?” Dustin complains.

“I did.” You and Robin say at the same time but Dustin simply raises his eyebrow.

You step forward and Dustin swings his head to meet your eyes.

“Okay I’ll stay.” Dustin sighs and when everyone exchanges confused looks, he shakes his head and points at you, “I’d rather skip the whole conversation where I try to pretend like I’m not intimidated by Y/n, which will lead her to looking at me with that look – yes, that look – only to end up with me looking like a fool and staying anyway.”

“Good choice.” You pat his shoulder, leaning in to whisper, “Look after her for me?”

“Of course.” Dustin nods, patting your hand.

One glance back at Max and you walk to the boat, accepting Eddie’s hand as he helps you onto the floating boards. You stumble slightly and he quickly holds you in place.

“Thanks.” You murmur before Robin and Nancy help you down to sit with them.

You had to admit, you hated boats. And water. The community pool was something you could handle, because you could see what lay beneath the surface. This lake was as dark as it could be. You were gonna do great with this voyage.

“Compass.” Nancy orders to Dustin and he unwillingly hands over the metal device.

Dustin makes his way back to the other two before Steve calls out.

“Hey.” He says, throwing a bag at him, “There you go.”

Steve pushes the boat away from shore and climbs in with it, leaving Dustin with his mouth hanging open.

“You said four!”

He yells and you send an apologetic look with Steve’s small ‘sorry’.

Eddie and Robin took to paddle the boat, hands gripping tightly on the oars as you sat between Nancy and Steve, eyes closed.

Tick, tick, tick, tick.

You had been hearing the clock the whole ride, causing you to slip your headphones on. It doesn’t go unnoticed by Steve, his hand gently resting on top of yours to bring any kind of comfort.

It became louder the further you travelled into the lake, the music barely loud enough to drown it out.

When a loud chime echoes through your mind, you tug the headphones down with a gasp.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Nancy suddenly shakes her head, “Slow down, slow down, guys.”

Eddie and Robin halt their movements, Eddie’s eyes drifting over to you.

“Hey, you good?” He asks and you whip your head up, his eyes widening. “Your nose.”

Bringing your fingertips to your top lip, black blood stains your skin and you breathe slowly.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Dustin’s voice cuts through the radio.

“Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ‘ahh!’.” Robin replies before her eyes set on you, “And now Y/n is bleeding.”

“The gate’s below us.” You say and Steve looks at you before suddenly removing his shoes.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy notices with a frown.

“Somebody’s gotta go down there and check this out.” He sighs, focused on removing his socks, “Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain… and a certified lifeguard for three years, then…”

“Um, Y/n is a lifeguard.” Robin points out and you shrug.

“I’m not letting her down there when she’s obviously having a reaction to the gate.” Steve states, “It’s gotta be me. No complaints, all right?”

Steve stands up, rocking the boat slightly and you wipe away the blood from your face.

“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Eddie remarks, “I do not wanna go down there.”

“I actually have many complaints but I know you’re gonna dive down anyway, so…” You look up at him with a concerned frown, “You better be as great at swimming like you claim you are.”

“Are you doubting my abilities, Mayfield?” Steve raises an eyebrow and you shake your head.

“I just have a really bad feeling about this lake.”

Eddie looks down at the water, eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah, man. You’re not gonna be able to see shit down there.”

“Then I won’t stay for very long.” Steve mumbles as he pulls off his yellow jumper, throwing it aimlessly. It ends up landing in your lap and you pick it up with raised eyebrows.

“Excuse me, sir, but I think you lost your shirt.”

Steve grins at your joke, “Yeah, just don’t lose it, alright? It’s my favourite shirt.”

“I shall protect it with my life.” You hold up your hand with the other over your heart, earning an eye roll. You quickly tie the jumper around your waist, true to your word.

“Hey.” Eddie interrupts, holding out a flashlight wrapped in a plastic bag to Steve. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Steve breathes out, taking it gladly.

You’ve noticed the hesitancy they had towards eachother, sometimes small glares that are replaced with shrugs. They were far from being the best of friends, you knew that, but you didn’t expect them to still have a small feud over what happened two years ago.

“Steve?” Nancy stops him just before he jumps. “Be careful.”

They share a look for much longer than you felt comfortable, shaking away that feeling in the pit of your stomach. You and Steve were friends. Just friends.

With a rock of the boat, Steve drives into the water and you watch as the light fades deeper into the lake, your heart hammering in your chest.

“I hate this.” You mutter and Nancy nods her head beside you.

“Is it wrong part of me hopes he doesn’t find it?” Robin asks, noticing the looks given to her, “Not that I don’t want us to be able to find Vecna and stab him to death or whatever, but I would prefer if the gate was on land, you know?”

“Nothing’s ever that easy.” You sigh, slumping into the boat.

Behind you, you thought you heard a drop of water. You turn, looking around at the lake but you see nothing.

“Where we at, Wheeler?” Robin speaks up and Nancy checks her watch.

“Closing in on a minute.” She replies and Robin lets out a shaky breath.

A sudden chill shoots down your spine and you let out a little yelp, Eddie’s head whipping to yours.

“Woah, what happened?” He shakes his head, arm held out towards you.

“I don’t know.” You panic, goosebumps prickling at your skin, “Something… something feels wrong.”

In that moment, Steve bursts through the water and everyone yells out.

“Oh Christ!” Eddie shouts as you take a breath.

“Fucking heart attack.” You murmur, clutching your chest.

“Talk about wrong timing.” Robin adds and Steve shakes his head, beads of water dropping from the ends.

“I found it.” He gasps, swimming over to the boat.

“Dustin, you are a god damn Einstein.” Robin speaks into the radio, Eddie smiling at you. “Steve found the gate.”

Eddie was sat beside you now, Nancy closer to the edge to welcome Steve back. You bumped his shoulder in silent rejoice.

“It’s pretty wild.” Steve nods, holding on to the edge as he bobbed in the water, “It’s more a snack-size gate than the mama gate, but still, it’s pretty damn big.”

As everyone listens intently, you hear something behind you.

Placing a hand on the side of the boat, you peer over the edge. You notice a disturbed part of the water, frowning.

“Uh, guys?” You turn to them and they all look back at you. “I think there’s something-”

You barely felt the vine wrap around your wrist until it was too late.

The boat rocked as you were tugged over-board, splashing into the water with a scream. Cries from your friends faded away as you were pulled deeper down into the water, your lungs fighting for air. You saw the outline of another vine shooting up and dragging Steve down with it, but you couldn’t swim against the force tugging you further towards the faint red light.

Being dragged through the gate wasn’t something you had ever experienced before. Just when you ran out of breath, air filled your lungs once again as you were flipped in the air, landing upside down. At least, that��s how it felt. Like you had just defied gravity.

The vine continued to drag you by your wrist, pulling you towards the trees. In a fast attempt of release, you dug your nails into the vine and came to a crashing stop, surely covered in bruises. The vine slipped away from you with a screech as you pant, stumbling into a stand to stare at the world around you. Faint blue and red tones covered the eerie landscape, white specs of dust floating in the air around you.

You hadn’t been in the Upside Down for three years.

Suddenly, you hear a loud grunt from behind you, something thrown out of the gate, just like you had been. As you step forward, you immediately recognise Steve being dragged across the cold hard floor.

“Steve!” You yell, running towards him and you stamp down on the vine gripping him with enough force for it to let go.

Steve crashes into a pile of muck with heavy breaths, groaning as he rolls to his feet. With a gasp you realise that the pile was actually a boat, complete with oars.

Lightning strikes through the air and you both turn, a distant sound coming into earshot.

“What is that?” You whisper out, walking closer to Steve.

“I don’t wanna know.” He breaths, looking to you with a scared frown. “Are you okay? Did it hurt you?”

“I’m-”

A loud high-pitched roar echoed from behind you both.

Spinning around, you both stare up at the red flashes of clouds, swarming with little black dots.

“Steve…” You warn, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We need to-”

You fly backwards, something wrapped around your neck and restricting your breathing.

“Y/N!” Steve screams after you as you land on the ground, air knocked from your lungs.

Vine after vine began covering your body, pinning you to the ground. Vecna knew you were here.

Squawks filled the air around you as Steve grabbed an oar from the pile of vines, swinging as he ran to your side.

A bite into your stomach caused you to scream, anger pulsing through your body. The effort immobilised the vines somehow, allowing you to escape from your restraints.

The creature currently attacking, vicious flutters of razor sharp wings, suddenly got caught in a cord, trying to fly away. And, before you can stop it wrapping around your throat, the wire of your headphones is tugged upwards, choking you.

As Steve takes down the enemy, you scramble to release the headphones around your neck, kneeling once the bat released its clutch on you. Irony strikes you; these were things meant to be saving you.

The Walkman slips out of its grip on your belt, clattering to the ground and taking the headphones with it. You immediately turn to reach down and grab it before your action is interrupted.

“Shit! Watch out!” Steve yells and you instinctively duck, his oar swinging just over your head and knocking something to the ground.

Focusing on the chaos around you, you see the creatures Steve is fighting, the teeth that had broken your skin. Some kind of bats, deadly and determined to make you their prey.

Another swoops down and Steve handles it. But another brings another and you can’t protect yourself. You’re knocked to the ground again, a bat piercing pain into your abdomen.

Steve can’t hold them off either, a bat tugging him to the ground with a tail wrapped around his throat.

You squirm, grabbing the bat and throwing it off you before crawling to Steve. His hand is held out to you and you try and reach him, thunder roaring through your mind. But you don’t make it.

More vines wrap around your legs and drag you backwards, away from Steve, as bats circle the air above you.

“Bring her to me”

The voice echoes through the air, Steve’s eyes widening with shock when he hears Vecna for the first time.

The vines stop and you make a run for it just as Steve screams out in pain. You had no weapon, your only choice to use the power that had possessed you, regardless of the consequences.

Readying yourself, you hold your hands out and watch as three bats screech in agony, squirming away from your friend. It was working.

“Y/N! NO!” Steve yells and you don’t understand why until bat tails grip onto your arms and lift you off the ground.

They carry you away from the scene as you cry out in pain and fear, watching as more and more bats attack Steve, ripping into his sides.

But you couldn’t save him.

The last thing you remember was the sting of leaves whipping at your face, and a distant scream from the boy you left behind.

Chapter 11: Déjà Vu ->

taglist: @gnnnne / @beepisbeep / @paintballkid711 / @eddiesbirdie / @livasaurasrex / @darktimelegends / @jackierose902109 / @mvrylee / @chervbs / @eternallyvenus / @nervouscatsuit / @f1nn-wolfhard / @hereiamhereigo / @ladybug0095 / @fangirling-4-ever / @astrolockley / @mothmanatemycat / @sheisjoeschateau / @champagnejoker / @umidktbh / @fallinginlovewithqueue

[laufire]

may reading meme!

BOOKS

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle. This one introduces Mary. I wish she'd gotten the treasure and become a rich heiress 😢

Inheritance by Devin Grayson. Loved it. I'm definitely gonna track down her other prose novels. I made a good guess on who [redacted] from very early in the book, practically from the first, and it was still quite gripping. The funniest thing, however, is how unequal each of the former sidekicks' sections are lol. Was she just going through the motions with Garth? Although, by virtue of being the one I know the least about, it did make me want to read his comics. Roy's and Dick's were more even, both with incredibly poignant, poetic flashbacks I adored, but you can tell DickAndBruce is where her heart is and their dynamic was showcased beautifully imo. Her characterization of Ollie is... surely controversial, and doesn't quite match how I see the guy, but it didn't bother me.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. This one is a reread, though it's been a decade since I read it for the first time. I've read it even more slowly than the first time around, pondering over practically every passage. Nabokov's prose is simply sublime, and Dolores's character is one of those that stays with you for how much you read into her.

COMICS

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. The first issue enchanted me, and the last one was a very apt ending for the story. The journey to get there let me down.

FCBD 2024: Barda Special Edition. This is a preview for an upcoming story. A young Barda is charged to break the prisoner Scott Free, as the beginning of their romance. Theirs is a ship I've been curious about for a while, and I really dig the premise, so I can't wait to read it.

Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper. A short, gritty origin story that builds on the Selina we see in Batman: Year One, written by the same author as Lois Lane (1986). I really wish her sister was more present in Catwoman's story in general, tbh. She was featured in Selina's Knight Terror mini, which I might end up rereading.

The Bat-Man: First Knight. Three-part run set in the 40s, the original Batman setting. A tale of monsters, human experimentation, and the effects of the second world war. I enjoyed it, though not wildly, but it confirms I'd enjoy more historical settings in my comics.

War Games. Oh boy. OH BOY. My kill list grew with each page I read. The missed shot at a proper story with robin!Steph, the incredibly uncharitable way she's written... all to end in the grossest example of character assassination I've ever seen with Dr Leslie Thompkins, all to relieve Bruce of his guilt for his part in Steph's demise. I wanted to read the arc because I thought it was important for some Steph-focused storylines I want to write that build up on it (mostly by subverting or contradict him), but with few exceptions (SOME of Steph's Robin arc, the school plot, Tarantula's appearances, and the parts touching on Dick's downward spiral, for example) it was all so hateful and mean-spirited. Even the prelude to the proper arc, starting with Bruce and Cass's visit to Jason grave to use him as a cautionary tale against Steph, or that storyline about the teen mothers... death. Death to Dan DiDio for one thousand years.

Outsiders (2003). I'm including the Teen Titans crossover arcs (including both Secret Files and Origins issues, both GREAT), and the Outsiders: Five of a Kind arc where Batman is a shit xD (it also did make me wanna read the continuation in the next Batman and the Outsiders run). The art was... Mixed, by which I mean that sometimes it was fuck-ugly lol, but I loved the run. Winick gets me. I have a special place in my heart for Jason's little arc, OBVIOUSLY, but my favourite parts are, second, Dick's arc, and first, ANISSA AND GRACE. I as a lesbian owe Winick much for that one. They're the main attraction for the continuation, ngl. I also loved Shift and Indigo, btw. So damn tragic 🥲

[donutwatches]

MHA 2.7 - Victory or Defeat - part 4

This is my first time watching MHA, and I decided to share all my brain farts on tumblr while watching, pls no spoilers. 

Oh, so OFA is even more like ATLA than I thought. Will Deku have an Avatar state? All Might just handed him this quirk (that seemed to be like a strength enhancer?), but it looks like there is more mystery to the power. Hmmm. 

I know, right? Spooky wooky shit, but All Might, you are not supposed to have the same reaction as me, lol. How is OFA a mystery to him when it is his quirk?

The mystery thickens. What does it mean? Since the “traces” look like the ghosts of previous wielders, will we get a flashback where we learn about who some of them were? I WANT! 

DOES THIS MEAN ALL MIGHT IS DYING? THIS BETTER NOT BE DEATH FORESHADOWING. I AM SCARED. 

If you want to encourage Toadyrocks to use his fire power, belittling him into it is not a great strategy. Even without the family baggage, I feel like anyone would refuse out of regular teen-spite. You’re not the boss of me, Dad!

He’s a Momma’s boy for sure.

I do not totally understand the dynamic going on yet, so I am a bit confused. Flame Face is obviously an asshat, but why does Todoroki have no issue with his Mom when she gave him his scar? I need to learn more! 

Not with that attitude you won’t. 

Total tangent here. Can this guy never wear long sleeves? Or would it have to be an over-sized baggy situation to get his elbows to fit in anything. Now that I’m thinking about it, I want to go to a clothing store in MHA. 

OH SHIT! Peppermint is extra frosty today. These three are seeing their lives flash before their eyes, damn! 

You think? Boy was pissed and Scotch McTape just happened to be there to take the rage blow. It is kind of cute the way he apologized. 

The absolute humiliation. Spiderman-lite is out here getting pity cheered. I would die. 

Episode 8 is here

[jazzyblusnowflake]

I wanted to talk about a topic that is interesting to me at the moment-

when me and my partner @/keebokuun bring up the subject about J x Tessa for murder drones- alot of people bring up the dynamics that may need to improve- to which we say yeah- we dont ship them in the context of the show. Tessa is still very much biased and treating drones as her slaves that dont have rights as her since shes a human. whether its cuz of her culture, her trauma or whatever else. but in the context of a human au where they all grew up together- yeah that doesnt exist, or at least we have room to improve. and people have been polite enough about this and sharing their opinions and im greatful of that. yall are really cool and gave me ideas to improve my stories on 👌

but then some OTHER people come and say "but Tessa was a minor in the FLASHBACKS- oh AND- was also their MOM"

😐

to which... i say.... um.... So.... Tessa is a mom? [to a bajillion of those maid and butler drones that were not working at the begining of ep5] AND a minor? AAAND she asked her- CHILD DRONE- to pretend to be a RIPPING ROYAL STUD for her to practice flirting or talking with.... to yknow... HAVE A HUMAN RELATIONSHIP WITH-? [cuz correct me if im wrong- girls dont go looking for "ripping royal studs" just to stare at them autistcally right? they wanna talk and do human communication stuff with them right??] and uh... IM the one whos saying weird stuff here? hELLO???

once again. me and keebo will personally remove ANY INAPPROPRIATE content we have online if the creators come up and say "oh yeah that character is a minor"- i promise you all that. we are not degenerates- but first of all- yeah the thing i just said about Tessa being at least a late teen in the flashbacks for the whole stud thing- and also- she had toys in her room- for CYN! as we saw her playing with them- and she was referred to as a "robo child" ? i mean go back and watch the EP again and really look at Tessa, J and N and SAY they are at an age to play with a rocking horse and barbie/ken dolls [damn cyn was making those two naked ken dolls smooch fr]- look at me in the eyes and say a girl that big is at any age to play with those things. NO?? also- if yall actually LOOK at tessa- she has a very pronounced body/ heigh/ chest size even/ etc in the flashbacks. thats not a design youd give a MINOR. and by that logic then N and V having crushes on eachother should be incest because oh damn Tessa is the minor/teen mom to ALL those erroring drones and N and V are siblings omggg 😱!

if anything by this logic Tessa's first choice of going to J to pretend to be a hot stud for her [which probably works in my favor btw lmao] is def concerning jesus.

companies nowadays make it a point to make all characters above the age of 18 as much as they could to avoid these sorts of issues- lest i remind you all again of the fact that every classmate of Uzi in episode 3 has their age above 18 on their missing posters. companies wouldnt include shots like that unless they WANT people to know they are in the clear.

also.... being in a relationship doesnt always translate to "they are having SEX"????? you can be a kid and still hold hands and have crushes and hug and kiss-

not every couple french kiss or suck eachother off oh my God.

anyway thankyou for coming to my Ted talk- im willing to hear anyones opinions on this below cuz im genuinely curious 🤔

[paceypeternathanslawyer]

I seriously saw someone on Twitter say that Nathan and Haley only "got married to have sex"

Fuck off bitch I think you need to rewatch OTH and actually pay attention next time!!!

1. Haley was about to have sex with Nathan before he proposed to her. Haley even asks after he proposes if it's because in the past she hasn't been ready to have sex and Nathan says "No, I can see you caving on that anyways"

2. There's a flashback to after they get married and Haley is about to jump his bones and he says that they don't have to do anything if she doesn't want to because... quote un quote that's not why he married her.

3. Additionally there is a deleted scene on Youtube and the DVDs that shows Nathan getting Haley's dad's blessing and Nathan says "your relationship with Haley means as much to me as mine does. I love your daughter and I wanna marry but her if you tell me I have to wait till the end of time then I will." Does that sound like a guy who thinking with his dick instead of his heart. It most certainly does not.

Like I don't need everyone to approve of their young marriage. At the end of the day it's just a TV show and I promise you that there are no teenagers out there watching OTH thinking "oh, Nathan and Haley got married at 16 so I should as well." One Tree Hill also did not depict teen marriage as something that was easy or completely idyllic. It was tough and Nathan and Haley loved each other enough to work on it and make it through the adversity. I think there's a lot that young people can learn from Naley. Like talk through your issues, be open with each other, and go to therapy if you have issues that can't be easily dealt with. Naley's marriage always worked best when they followed those principles and they followed them most of the time. So I don't get why some people get their undies in such a bundle. OTH really did something unique with Naley and I appreciate that. Again not everyone needs to approve but I also don't want people out there making up lies about Naley where people who haven't seen OTH will see those posts and not only be spoiled about the big plot twist but also get the wrong idea about one of the greatest TV couples ever... the greatest in my opinion!

I really need some bitch asses on Twitter to keep Naley out of their damn mouths!

[thewhumpcaretaker]

⚜ 𝓑𝓮𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓭 𝓙𝓾𝓭𝓰𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 - 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒳𝐼𝐼𝐼: 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝓎 ⚜

TW: PTSD flashback, interrogation, held at gunpoint

Summary: Can John persuade the head of the New Jersey Bowery to spare Vincent's life?

Bellwood Mall, an atrociously ugly concrete building in the suburbs of Jersey City, had been abandoned just a few years after its opening. An abnormal number of pigeons patrolled the sidewalk leading up to its still-functional revolving doors, and scattered up in a flurry of wings as John Wick marched through their congregation, his steps perfectly even. His eyes never wavered from the security camera above the door, until he had passed it. Somewhere on the roof, there would be a sniper to accompany it, and the fact that he was not yet dead meant he had a chance. They wanted to talk.

Inside, a cavernous, eerie, deathly quiet space welcomed him into its jaws. Without electricity, the kitschy chandeliers spaced along the walkways hung useless. The streams of afternoon sunlight piercing the atrium were the only illumination, and left the storefronts mostly in shadow. But as he glanced left and right, John realized one was lit, on the upper level. Using an immobile escalator as a staircase, he made his way up.

In the hollowed-out body of a GameStop, a woman waited in a comfortable leather swivel chair with her back to the door, facing a wall of TV screens displaying surveillance footage. There was the entrance he’d just passed. The food court. The parking garage.

Two bodyguards flanked the woman, and a whisper of smoke from her cigarette reached him before her voice did. “My, my. John Wick.” She spun to face him, revealing a face at once full of curves and angles, framed by a head of red braids that ended in fluffy, fiery puffs above a baggy T-shirt. She was young, not even 40, but the way she gripped the gold-encrusted pistol in her other hand spoke of deep familiarity with the weapon.

“Belle of the Bowery.” John inclined his head in a sincere and gentlemanly bow. He’d heard good things about Belle. That she hated the Table, mainly. That she had succeeded in running away from them as a teen where he had failed. And that she was a wild card. That had better be true, for his sake and Vincent’s alike.

“Where’s your date, John?” She tilted up her chin in a challenge and puffed a ribbon of smoke in his direction.

He fought not to blush, and not to confirm or deny that very loaded statement. She probably meant it as a joke. Words failed him, so he just gave a kind of pained squint. Belle laughed, but finally snuffed out her smoke. Time for business. “You shouldn’t be here. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten what happened to the King. I’ve let my curiosity get the best of me, and we all know what kills the cat. So you’d better have a damn entertaining explanation as to what you’re getting up to with the Marquis these days. And if it is a date…I promise you that’s not good enough.”

“How about a plot to bring down the Elder?”

“Again?” She raised an eyebrow. “Now, that is entertaining.”

“They can only have so many clear heirs.”

A smile crept slowly onto her face. “And then the line of succession breaks down. An unprepared ruler. Chaos. Succession wars…”

“Yeah. And all I need - “

“Here it comes…”

“Transportation. And a few supplies.”

“Where you headed?”

“I’ll tell the pilot when we’re onboard.” The tension in the room went up a notch, but it couldn’t be helped. The Elder’s location might be the only reason she was keeping him alive.

She just looked at him for a long moment. “How many tickets, John? One, or two?”

“…Two.”

“Then I’ll ask again. Where is Vincent Bisset de Gramont?”

“Does your hospitality extend to him too?”

“Let’s be very clear. This is not hospitality. You have a tendency to let things turn sentimental. It’s cute but it’s gonna get you killed. I have no such tendency. This is me watching the High Table unravel and noticing I have a chance at a front row seat. I have no interest in playing the dutiful host to you and your pet mass murderer. I know what he wants. He wants to take the Elder’s place. And even you can’t possibly want that kind of bloodbath.” She waited for confirmation.

“No,” he said honestly. “I don’t.”

 “So you’d better give me one good reason why he needs to be alive for the Elder to end up dead.”

“Either he comes with me, or I don’t go at all.”

“‘Because I said so,’ that’s really your answer?”

But John’s eyes were glued to one of the televisions behind her. She turned to see two small figures advancing through the parking garage, prying open trunks.

On of the bodyguards reached for a walkie-talkie. “Should I - “

“No. Johnnie here looks invested. Let’s not cut to commercial just yet.”

There was their car. Belle gasped softly but triumphantly as Vincent slid out of it and crawled underneath.

John’s heart was doing things it wasn’t supposed to do. They were lifting up Dog. “Please.”

She hesitated, but Vincent didn’t. John saw him drenched to the wrist in blood, kicking, firing, standing over the body. All for the sake of someone other than himself. He was so damn proud.

But it wasn’t over yet. Seeing Vincent had emerged victorious, Belle nodded to the bodyguard. “Bring him in.”

“Alive or dead?” John’s diaphragm was locked in place, unwilling to move until she answered.

She waited, contemplating. Then, “Alive. Let’s have a chat.”

Within a few minutes, a ring of Bowery guards marched Vincent into the surveillance room, with his hands tied behind his back and Dog at his heels. Covered in blood and oil, he was sporting a look that was somewhere between a walking corpse and the thing that killed it. His eyes flickered to John in a moment of relief before going stony and impassable again. Good. It was important that the rest of the world not know how easily they could be used as hostages against one another. It would be wise to play the part of mere colleagues, uneasy ones at that, and Vincent seemed to understand this perfectly.

Dog ran over to him immediately, and John bent down long enough to pet him before doing anything else. He seemed a bit shaken up, but okay. Belle cleared her throat, drawing his attention to back to Vincent. John would have liked to tell her to untie him, but they were lucky he was alive at all. The best he could do was try to get this interaction off on the right foot. “Marquis, this is Belle. Belle, the Marquis.”

Belle approached slowly. “Vin-cent. Bi-sset. De. Gramont.” She savored each syllable, sing-song, looked him up and down. His expression didn’t change but John could see his nostrils flare slightly in unexpressed indignation.

“The very same,” Vincent responded coldly. John could already tell this wouldn’t go well.

Belle grinned and began to circle him slowly. “Wick wants you alive? Okay, you’re alive. But I WILL enjoy this. Do you know what the Bowery King means to me, Vincent? The man your precious High Table maimed seven times?” Vincent feigned interest with a mocking smile. “He took me in when I ran from the Table at eighteen. Brought me into the soup kitchen, made sure I was fed and clothed and had the chance to make my life into what I wanted it to be, never forced me to kill anyone I didn’t want to kill, which amounts to tearing out your own soul. It’s still a fucked up world we live in, and no mistake. But I’m free. I can leave any time I want, I could walk away and work behind a register for a living and the King would probably still call to see how I’m doing every now and then. You can’t even imagine that, can’t even imagine the value of treating people as something other than tools. And YOU want to take that away from people like me to melt it down into fucking gold bars. FUCK you.”

John cleared his throat, “I thought this wasn’t personal.”

“Oh this isn’t personal. It’s political. It’s social. It’s communal. It’s about justice. And you…” she turned back to Vincent, “…deserve every ounce of pain that you’ve brought down on your own head. You threaten an organization, a peaceful world that you can’t even appreciate.”

Vincent didn’t seem as bothered as John might have expected – perhaps even amused. His mouth drew into a thin line that happened to be upturned but did not express friendliness at all. “Very good. You see the scope of my vision. I ought to thank you. You truly know how to make me feel special.”

Belle chuckled, nodding, and seemed about to turn away. Instead, she spat in his face. John tensed reflexively but forced himself not to move. Vincent couldn’t help flinching, followed by an affronted glare, his mouth hanging half open in shock.

“Where is the Elder?” she demanded.

“Where we’re going,” he answered, voice laced with vitriol. “With your help. You will do as I say. It’s what the Bowery - ”

Her gun struck the back of his knees, dropping him into a kneel, then cocked against his head as she circled in front of him again.

John took a step forward and two guards each took him by an arm. He could flip them to the ground, an elbow back into one of them and then – but Belle glanced over at him and waved her gun in Vincent’s direction. “You interfere, he dies.” And then John was frozen. She turned back to her captive. “If you speak, it’s to answer my questions clearly. You no longer get to prattle endlessly to a room full of yes-men. Understood?”

But Vincent was struggling to answer. John could see his eyes widen with terror, going into a flashback again. It would be a long time before he could handle being held at gunpoint. “Y-yes.” His face was locked up into a mask, but his chest was heaving with hyperventilation.

“Good. Let’s try again. Where is the Elder?”

Vincent laughed, a nervous, humorless sound between gasps. “So, what, I tell you and then you shoot me? You’ll need a bit more incenti-”

Her punch across Vincent’s jaw drew blood from his lip and he leaned forward for a moment, swaying as it trickled out of his mouth. John saw red. “Stop!”

Belle ignored him. “Where is the Elder?”

Vincent’s mouth opened and closed as he tried to think of a response that wouldn’t lead to being struck a second time, or to becoming disposable. He looked to John in desperation. John flattened his expression into something steady and soft despite the way his heart hammered all through him, trying to project calmness.

Belle lost patience and fired a warning shot into the ground. Vincent scrambled backwards, letting out a strangled noise. He was now shaking visibly.

“I have no qualms about killing you.”

He just shook harder. “Putain, s'il te plaît, je suis - [Fuck, please, I’m -] I mean, I’m sorry. Please. I can’t tell you. I’ll get to him for you.”

“You mean John Wick will kill him for you.”

“I – “ He scoffed, frustrated. “Yes, if necessary.”

Something registered on her face. “Even you must know you don’t become Elder just by killing the Elder, right? There are heirs.”

“Yes, obviously! I don’t - ”

“So why do you want him dead?”

“I want…” Damn it. Vincent hadn’t been briefed on this part and he was stuttering in confusion. “I-I don’t. I want to hold him hostage until he restores my position. Or until…”

Belle turned to John. “Care to explain?”

“…” He stared down at Vincent, precious, broken Vincent, who met his gaze with bewilderment and fear, hunched over on his knees, blood still trailing off his lips. “…The Elder will never agree. So I’ll kill him.” He tried to paint an apology across his face. He would much rather Vincent thought he had strong confidence in the plan. He had some confidence…

Vincent rolled his eyes and then closed them, tilting his head back towards the ceiling, retreating into himself at the betrayal. “Alors tu me fais juste plaisir... [So you’re just humoring me…]” he muttered under his breath.

“And if he does agree?”

“…Marquis, what will you do for the Bowery as a High Table member?”

Vincent didn’t open his eyes, but the corners of his mouth twitched. He seemed to be struggling with rage, on top of the fear. “…We’ll drop all pursuit of The King. I think that’s very generous.”

“Promises, promises,” said Belle. “If you’re going to make empty promises, you can make them more lavish than that.”

He smiled sardonically, as if it just figured. “What more would you ask?”

“The Bowery operates completely independently, outside of High Table regulation. Zero interference.”

“No one exists outside the Table. All are above it, or under it.”

“Then carve out a space. In blood, if you have to.”

For a second, there was only his rapid breathing. “I…I can’t.”

“Oh. Well. I guess you aren’t as big of an egotist as I thought. Don’t really value your own life.” She pressed her gun directly to his skin again.

“Alright! Alright.” Belle lowered her weapon in satisfaction.

“Very good. And if you don’t follow through, Mr. Wick will kill you for us. Isn’t that right, John?”

John tore the word slowly out of his throat. “…Yeah.”

He hated that he wasn’t sure he was lying.

“Good. We’re done here.” She waved to the guards, who unbound Vincent’s hands. He looked like he might faint from sheer relief. “You have a deal, Wick. Your flight leaves tomorrow. Keep this clown in check and go shop for those supplies. But don’t forget that the Bowery sees all. If he mistreats my staff, I will know.”

“He won’t.” John glared at her as Vincent stumbled towards the exit.

“Stay behind a minute,” she told John. Vincent stopped, so she added, “Not you. Out.” A few of the guards closed between him and John, ushering him out into the mezzanine.

Once he was out of earshot, Belle spoke.

“Why are you doing this? You don’t care whether the Elder lives or dies.”

“…I’d rather he died. That’s all.”

“There’s only one problem with that theory.” Her gaze held on him, steady and triumphant. “You risked your life walking in here. But you didn’t risk the Marquis’.” So much for maintaining secrecy about his feelings. “I don’t know why, but you want to save him. And it won’t work, he’ll just drag you both down together when he falls. No one wants to see you do this tragic shit anymore John, even those of us who only know you by reputation. Leave him to his fate. He is condemned.”

“That…sounds like a problem for the people who’ve condemned him.” And he followed Vincent out.

◃ Back ⚜ Next ▹(coming soon)

[smolwritingchick]

The Bangtan Gal Chapter 34- Let's Name It Iron Man

Chapter Summary: Jen and Angelina get into a dispute with Amity on Instagram due to false rumors, while Jen deals with Anti fan hate comments. Jungkook gives Jennie the cutest gift for Christmas.

Warning: Language?? And a little bit of angst due to hate comments for Jennie and regarding her skin color.

I tried to make this as fluffy as possible too. A for effort. Flashbacks are in italics.

Genre: JenKook fluff! Namjoon Fluff! NamJen!

Words: 8,000+

------

Vexation wasn't even the word to describe how Jen felt as she sat on a lounge chair with her knees up to her chest. Sitting outside, at the poolside, the cool air caused goosebumps to rise on her skin. She was chilled but was too stubborn to go back inside.

What was the big deal?

The guy was nice. She thought he was cute and friendly. The guys were just overreacting, as usual, dimming her mood.

"I've been looking everywhere for you."

She heard a deep voice, causing her to exhale through her nose. He just had to follow her, didn't he?

"Well, you didn't need to. I'd like to be alone, can you leave?" She grumbled at Namjoon, looking straight ahead at the pool.

"No. I want to talk to you." He demanded.

"Well, I don't want to talk to you." She got off the chair, turning to face him.

"I wasn't done talking back there, now calm down and let me finish what I have to say."

"I don't want to hear it. It's the same stuff over and over again. If it's not you, it'll be Jin. Let me get to know people."

"And giving out your number to just anyone?" He scolded with irritation in his voice. She crossed her arms, turning her head to the side, stubbornly. "I would advise you to give them your Instagram or something, message on that. Not your phone. I don't want to risk it. And we wouldn't be having this conversation if you would just stop being so damn stubborn."

"Do you even understand where I'm coming from?" She argued. "I'd like to get to know people-"

"Do you understand where I am coming from?" He cut her off in English. If he was speaking in full English to her during a dispute, she knew he was upset and serious about the situation. "My point makes better sense than yours. I know you want to talk to more people and have new friends but that guy seems sketchy."

"He's not sketchy!" She exasperated 

Namjoon let out another sigh of frustration, running a hand through his hair. He had to remember that she was still a teenager and teens, well, they want to explore and live their lives to the fullest.

"He's just a sound engineer. He's nice." He heard her claim.

"That's what they all say..." He grumbled.

Scoffing at his statement, Jen shook her head in disbelief. "Wow, Joon, thanks."

"Look I am trying to-"

"No. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm done with this."

"Jennifer Walker, don't you walk away from me." He sternly called her out. If he had to go into full father mode to protect her, he'd do it.

She stopped in her tracks, taken aback at the sound of her full name. Her dad would say that if she would be disobedient or if he was serious. The sudden thought began to make her ponder about her father.

-------

"Jennifer Walker, don't you walk away from me!"

The sound of her father's stern voice made her stop walking before she could make it up the steps. It was a Friday evening and Jen stood in front of her dad and sisters. Her sisters gave her looks of disapproval while her father said with authority, "Apologize to your sisters,"

"I didn't do anything!" She snapped.

"You broke our TV. There's legit a crack in the middle of it! We told you to stay out of our room!" Vienna argued.

"How do you even know it was me? You can buy another one!" Jen fussed. 

Okay, so maybe she was playing with a volleyball and accidentally smashed it against the TV and it fell off the table.

"Jennifer apologize." Her father ordered.

Sighing with annoyance, she murmured a "Sorry."

"Louder and say it like you mean it."

"I'm sorry I broke your TV..."

"This is coming out of your allowance." Her father informed as he walked back to the kitchen.

After hearing his statement, Jen dropped her jaw in disbelief, instantly rushing after him, ignoring her sisters' laughs. "W-wait a minute! Come on! Dad! Please don't do this!"

-------

Although that argument was stupid and she was acting like a stubborn baby sister at the time, the flashback made her smile softly. She missed her dad. But for some reason, Namjoon would remind her of him and the sadness of missing her father would fade away. As she thought about it, she began to feel bad for acting this way towards him. 

Namjoon was right.

She turned around, bumping into his chest as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in for a tight hug. She felt his other arm wrap around her waist.

"You are so stubborn. Just listen to me," he went back to Korean. "I just want to protect you. I'm trying my best here. I couldn't take it if anything bad happened to you. Mentally or physically. I don't want you to deal with any scandals. I want your time here in BTS and in Korea to be a fun one, with no problems. That's all I want, as we continue to work as a team."

Wrapping her arms around him, she returned the hug. "I understand...I'm sorry, Namjoon."

"Don't worry about it. Just promise me you'll be careful. And if there are any problems, I'm a phone call away."

Back in the hotel, Jen went to Tae's room as she watched him play on his phone on the bed. The others were around doing other activities and Yoongi was using the shower in the room she shared with him, Jin and Namjoon.

Taehyung instantly smiled, "Hey! You're here! Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, things are fine. I understand where he's coming from. Anyway, you need to use the bathroom? I'm about to shower. Yoongi is using ours at the moment."

Setting his phone down, Tae got off the bed, too excitedly. "Shower? Can I shower with you?"

With his question catching her off guard, Jen whipped her head to him, baffled. "E-excuse me?"

"Can we shower together?" He repeated innocently like it was no big deal.

"Uh, no Tae, what the heck?" She stared at him, raising an eyebrow.

"What? Why not, Ennie?" He whined. "I just want to shower with my friend."

"Tae, I'm a girl!"

"Girls shower and so do guys. And they can shower together. We can save water! We can help the environment."

"Lord have mercy on my soul." She murmured, walking into the bathroom.

"Wait, so is that a yes?" He asked as he took off his shirt. He stumbled into the bathroom as he began to undo his pants. Turning around, she widened her eyes, alarmed by his unpredictability.

"H-hey! No-no-no-no-no-no." She placed her hands on his chest to stop him. "Nice tummy by the way." She laughed when he giggled after she poked it. "But anyway, we cannot shower together, it'll be weird. I mean, with you and the guys it's kind of different. But I'm a girl, y'know? You never know when your weenie will appear."

"Hehehe, weenie." He giggled.

"So, I'ma need you to go back into the bedroom until I'm done showering, my good friend." She turned him around and lightly pushed him out of the room.

"Okay, maybe next time? Or the next time after that? Please? I want to shower with all my members!" He called out as she shut the door. "Jennie? Please? Give me an answer!" He whined

"40% chance." She decided to answer and turned on the shower.

"Okay! I can live with that!" Still disappointed he couldn't shower with her like he would with his hyungs. Tae went back to the bed to relax, putting back on his shirt.

Moments later, Jungkook and Jimin arrived with snacks in their hands. "Is Jennie back?" Jimin asked.

"Yeah, she's in the bathroom showering since Yoongi was using theirs in their room. I'm bummed, she wouldn't let me shower with her." Tae sighed. Before he could explain the situation, he was cut off by a loud "YAH!" from Jungkook as a pillow connected to his face. "Oof!"

"What do you mean you wanted to shower with her!?" The Maknae shouted, smothering him with a pillow.

"Do you wanna die!?" Jimin shouted, jumping on top of Taehyung. He grabbed another pillow, striking him multiple times as yells, battle cries and screams filled the room.

"The heck?" Jen murmured as she rinsed herself off. "What is going on out there!?" She shouted loud enough for them to hear.

"NOTHING!"

She heard a loud yell in response. Hearing Tae groan dramatically, caused her to wonder if they were just play fighting, figuring that Jungkook and Jimin were back in the room.

After drying herself off, blow drying and moisturizing her hair, Jen walked out in her pajamas, witnessing the interesting sight. There were Jungkook and Jimin on top of Tae, in a compromising position.

"Oh, dear..." She said awkwardly, causing the three of them to stop fighting and turn their attention to her.

"Oh. Jennie, how nice of you to join us." Jimin smiled sheepishly.

"Uh, you know what, I uh, I'm gonna...go hang with Yoongi instead, so um, you guys uh...finish what you're doing." She awkwardly responded and prepared to leave the room.

"W-wait a minute, no, it's not what it looks like!" Jimin shouted over Jungkook and Tae's protests.

------

Back in Korea, Jen met up with Hayoon at a local coffee shop. Since Jen arrived first, she ordered herself and Hayoon large cups of hot chocolate and made herself comfortable at a booth to get started on her chemistry homework. After five minutes passed, Hayoon arrived.

Jen's mouth quirked up as she pulled her in for a big hug. "Hey, girl! Long time no see!! You dyed your hair! I like it!"

"Thanks! Preparing for that debut next year, hehe." Hayoon beamed. Her hair was previously brown and now it was dyed black. Things were coming up for her and Jen couldn't be any happier. "It has been so long! How was the MAMA Awards and Hong Kong?" She asked as she sat across from Jennie.

"Girl! Hong Kong was lit! The whole MAMA Awards was lit. It was so amazing to be on that stage and perform with Block B."

"So proud! I hope GFriend makes it there, too."

"You will. How's the debut preparation coming along?"

"Swimmingly. I believe this will be a great debut. I'll make sure to teach you our dances."

"Oh dear, isn't it a cute dance? I can't do cute dances. I like aegyo but I look awkward doing it. I'm more into the powerful, badass concepts. Like Danger."

"But you can do sexy concepts. War of Hormone was a hit."

Jen felt her face heat up at the memories of grinding against her best friend for the choreography. But the memories made her crack a smile as she took a sip of her hot chocolate, avoiding eye contact.

"I feel shy doing those sexy moves," Jen spoke, meeting her stare.

"Well, not when you're on that stage with Jungkook~." She teased with a fit of giggles.

"Oh, hush!" She laughed with her. She had to admit, that he made her feel extremely comfortable when they performed War of Hormone despite Jin going bonkers over the constant skinship. "I'm grateful my stage charisma has gotten better. I need to work on my fierce expressions but I'm satisfied at how much I've improved."

"And as for the cute dances?"

"I'm a lost cause."

"Hehehe. I could teach you our dances, one day. You up for that?"

"Get ready for me being an awkward bean. Because I just cannot. It's so hard. What did I miss in Chemistry?"

"We have a test coming up."

"Of course, we do," Jen murmured with disappointment. "Chapter 6?"

"Yes, chapter 6. Hey, is that someone's number?" Her attention peered to Jen's cup.

"Number...?" Turning her cup around, she saw a phone number, most likely written by the male barista she ordered the hot chocolates from. "Smooth."

"Are you gonna call him? Or talk to him?"

"Eh, nah. I'm flattered but I'm gonna be more cautious around stuff like this."

"Good idea. Especially with how the phone numbers of idols have been released to the public these days. It's scary."

As they began to work on the homework together, Jen felt her phone buzz. Taking it out of her bag, she stared at the notification from Angelina.

Angelina: BITCH! Did you see Amity's recent interview!? [11:00 AM]

Confused, she opened the message and saw a link to a YouTube video from the Wendy Williams YouTube channel. "Oh, here we go." She murmured as she put one earbud in, connecting it to her phone. Reading the caption, 'Amity members keep it real about working with Angelina and Jennie', Jen already knew there were going to be problems. 

And if Angelina texted her, there would be even more problems.

'Real, eh? Let's see how many lies come out of their mouths.' She thought bitterly, pressing play.

There were Hailey, Trinity and Layla sitting on the couch with Wendy as the crowd applauded.

"Okay, so I got to ask, you three recently came to Angelina's album reveal party, correct?" Wendy had asked.

"That is correct." Layla smiled.

"Were you invited?" Wendy raised a brow.

"Well, she wasn't too thrilled." Hailey shrugged.

"Yes, we're all aware of the fight between you two." Wendy pointed out.

"Yeah, but I thought as a good leader of Amity, we should come and support her. Let bygones be bygones."

Shaking her head at the stupidity coming out of Hailey's mouth, Jen thought to herself with annoyance, 'Bitch, you went there to reveal your world tour. You weren't there to support her at all. Stop trying to act like a good person. Angelina kicked your ass and you expect her to be buddy-buddy with you afterward?'

"So, you went there and saw Angelina and Jennie, two former members of Amity. So, is there any tension between you three with the two of them, since they left?" Wendy questioned.

"Oh, you already know it was. I'll be the first to say that Amity is now stronger and better than ever now that the two of them aren't a part of the group anymore." Trinity answered as the crowd, mostly filled with ladies, oohed at the sudden gossip while Wendy sipped her tea, gaining laughs from the crowd.

As she watched, Jen couldn't help but roll her eyes. Of course, they would say something like that.

"Angelina and Jennie were horrible to work with." Layla shook her head.

'How?' Jen questioned their BS. They were always lying, trying to make themselves look better.

"Yeah, they were so difficult. Angelina and her anger issues. Jennie acting like a spoiled brat. She went on a rampage when she didn't get a solo like the rest of us. She even ranted that she should've gotten it first because her singing skills were better than ours. She complained a lot." Hailey went on as the crowd disapproved.

'What the hell? I wasn't that upset. Yeah, I was bummed but I waited patiently despite not getting a solo like the rest of them. I never acted like a spoiled brat or complained, I was humbled by the opportunity of even being in the damn group. Do you understand how many girls auditioned to be a part of Amity? Don't take it for granted. Why would you lie?' Jen thought in disbelief.

First Hailey decided to learn Korean just to get back at her, and now this? But the sad thing is, people will do things or say anything to get on top these days. Jen guessed that this is how the world works now. She wouldn't be surprised if they did anything intimate behind the scenes to get what they wanted, better yet the lying. It was sad and it frustrated her.

"But honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Jennie is only doing K-Pop to try to further her career and then if she's popular enough, which I doubt, leave them and go solo. And with Angelina, she gets around. We've seen how she was when she was back in Amity. She's crazy. I'm still surprised she got Drake on her album. I dunno about that, something seems up." Layla shrugged

Jen scoffed and shook her head. Angelina worked her ass off on her first solo album and it wasn't easy getting Drake on the album. Not to mention how much money it costs to get big rappers featured on songs.

How dare they?

They're digging themselves a grave, now.

"These fucking punk ass bitches." Jen growled and slammed her fist against the table. Hayoon flinched at the sudden sound and glanced at her with concern.

"Are you okay?" Hayoon questioned nervously.

"Amity bullcrap."

"What happened now?"

After filling her in, Jen went directly on Instagram to Hailey's page, to her recent photo of Amity posing with Wendy Williams. Scrolling down the comment section, she spotted Angelina's comment.

ItzAngelina- Lying through your teeth again I see. Got something better to do? You got A LOT of nerve to say that I of all people get around. First of all, bitch, I did NOT sleep with anybody to get where I am at today, so don't you dare try to start shit you don't know anything about. I'm NOT you.

Jen laughed at the comment, agreeing with everything she said. She knew she would probably get some heat for doing this, and exposure on K-Pop news sites but at this point, she needed to set the three of them straight.

JJennie_JW- ItzAngelina FOR REAL! Enough is enough! This isn't cute!

ItzAngelina- JJennie_JW bitch, I'm pressed! They got me fucked up! I'm not happy.

JJennie_JW- ItzAngelina you and me both, I'm tired of this.

TrinTrin- ItzAngelina JJennie_JW JEALOUS!!

JJennie_JW- TrinTrin OF WHO!? You!? April Fools was months ago!

ItzAngelina- TrinTrin You are THE LAST person I should be jealous of.

JJennie_JW- TrinTrin I highly advise you to shut your mouth because you damn sure would not even dare to say it to my face or Angelina's.

Laytastic- That moment when our careers are better than those two, and they gotta rant on social media to be relevant lol. JJennie_JW ItzAngelina

JJennie_JW- Laytastic the only thing relevant about you is the fact that you have no edges what so ever and everyone keeps making memes about it on the internet...exit stage left and take several seats...

ItzAngelina- JJennie_JW HAHAHAHA I'm deceased! Laytastic sit down before we embarrass you even more. And if I remember correctly I was blessed to have my album in the top 3 on Billboard. Where oh where is Amity's new album??

Laytastic- ItzAngelina We're working on it and it'll be #1 on billboard. Just watch!

ItzAngelina- JJennie_JW HA! I LOVE how she replies to me and not you, lol.

JJennie_JW- ItzAngelina right!!

AllHailHailey- Oh, look who is on my page...how I'm not surprised. Go bitch somewhere else.

JJennie_JW- You are the worst of all. AllHailHailey stop lying to the media. First you crash Angie's album party to reveal Amity's world tour and THEN you wanna rub your Korean skills in my face when you damn well know you said you hated it and it was a waste of time. How low can you go?

AllHailHailey- JJennie_JW blah blah blah, complain, complain. Are you done whining? If so, get the hell off my page.

ItzAngelina- AllHailHailey No, you treated the both of us like shit. We don't regret leaving and we're better off without your asses. If you do this rumor publicity stunt again for the media, you better watch your back. I am not the one

JJennie_JW- AllHailHailey TrinTrin Laytastic yeah, so shut the fuck up and choke on a dick.

"Oh, my...that got intense." Hayoon looked on at the comments.

"Been hanging around Yoongi too much." Jen shrugged with no remorse.

"I'm sure he'll be proud."

The fans in the comment section were eating it up and laughing at the comment written with laughing emojis and skulls, explaining that they were dead by the comment.

ItzAngelina- Hahahahaha JJennie_JW Finally she's awakened! I missed this side of you! And don't you feel bad about it! #ProudFriend

Putting her phone away after no one else was replying, Jen sighed in contentment. "That felt good."

"So, who is Hailey? Is she an African American such as yourself?" Hayoon asked with interest.

"She's this Hispanic girl that used to be my leader in my old group in America. I swear, she'll put herself on top before the group. The others are just too stupid to realize. She used to be nice when we all first started but then the fame got into her head. And now she is learning Korean. Mind you, she went on a full rant about how pointless it was and how stupid K-Pop is. And now I feel like she learned it to get back at me and to try to get close to BTS. I'm not having that. I don't want her around my boys. I just get bad vibes about it."

"Go with your gut. So why does she hate you and Angelina so much?"

"Sometimes people just hate on others because they're bitter. Unfortunately, people want to see others fail and want everything for themselves. It's a lot of people like that in this world...it's sad. Why can't we all just be happy and supportive of one another? Why does one have to try to sabotage someone else's success to benefit themselves?"

"Wow." She paused. "What a bitch."

Jennie choked on her drink and started laughing. She was not expecting sweet, innocent and shy Hayoon to say something like that.

Puzzled at the sudden laughing, Hayoon raised a brow. "What?"

"You just cursed."

"Oh. I guess I did. Aigo." She looked down shyly.

Going back to the YouTube video to read the comments was a mistake for Jennie as she started to get bummed out at the negative comments about her.

'I never liked Jennie in the first place. They made a mistake putting her in a K-Pop group.'

'I know, right? It's KOREAN POP for a reason. Why is an American in the group? What was Bang PD thinking?'

'Okay, but what's the problem? She knows Korean, and can sing in Korean, what's the difference? Is it her skin color? If so, that's a dumbass reason. And other nonkoreans are in K-Pop.'

'She's kind of pretty for a black girl. But we don't have to worry about her dating any of the members. They're into pale girls. We're fine!'

'Yeah, she's nowhere near their ideal type, so we still have a chance.'

'And why are fans shipping her with the members? Like no.'

'It doesn't matter if she's in BTS because the guys all like PALE girls. So, she doesn't stand a chance. No one wants to date someone with dirty skin.'

"Ouch..." Jen cringed at the comments as she felt her emotions run high. "Did you really have to say it like that?"

Yes, everyone has their preference on who they want to date and how they want their special someone to look. But did you have to call her skin dirty? There was nothing dirty about her colored skin.

'I just feel as tho it was easy for her to get there since she's American and had less training time. It's a slap in the face to see people like her be in a group where other trainees worked harder and had way more time to train. She doesn't deserve it.'

'So, what if she had less training time? Bang PD believed she was ready than the other girls who auditioned, despite them being there a little longer than her. So, complain to him. He knows damn well what he's doing, and I'm supporting Jennie no matter what. She performed way before the guys had when she was in her old group. She has the experience.'

'Okay but she doesn't even LOOK like a K-Pop idol. Visuals are everything in K-Pop. Yeah, she sings great and all but you gotta have the looks too. She's not the full package. Big Hit is wasting their time. She should go back to America while she can.'

Jen felt herself getting irate. She wasn't aware there was a certain way you had to look in this industry, the way this person commented. Yeah, she wasn't looking like Taeyeon or Beyonce but she still believed she was beautiful. She wanted to be known for her talents, not her looks or skin color.

'She doesn't even call the boys oppa. Like, why? How rude is that? She's being so disrespectful to the members for not calling them oppa. Doesn't she know the culture?'

Jen rolled her eyes. She was always respectful towards those older than her. She found it ridiculous that antis found the littlest things to complain about. She wasn't used to the word. She didn't think it was a big deal. They guys seemed perfectly fine with it, and she even called them by nicknames. They don't care if she didn't want to call them oppa. Sure they'd like to hear it when she was ready but they wouldn't pressure her.

'Her skin is just, so noticeable from the other members. Her skin looks so dirty. Why is it like that? Did she forget to shower?'

Again, with the dirty skin comments. It hurt as she felt tears of frustration appear in her eyes. What was the problem?

'Just waiting until the day she leaves. She already left one group, it should be obvious that she'll leave this one pretty soon.'

'I believe what Hailey said. I think she's just there for publicity and then once she gets popular she'll leave BTS to start solo.'

As she went on Instagram, she saw a photo of her, before and after. It was the same screenshot of her at the red-carpet event for the MAMA Awards. But the after photo had her looking lighter instead, and she looked white washed as she read the caption, 'The after photo makes her look so much prettier.'

"Damn, they really want me to leave BTS, huh?" She asked sadly. "If I was lighter or Asian or something, would they complain? Would they say these things? Will they finally look at me for what I do instead of how I look? My skin color?" She murmured. "Is this how Michelle Lee felt? Talented but faced discrimination since she's colored and Black-Korean? I hate this. It frustrates me to no end. I didn't come here to be whitewashed. I didn't come here to be judged like this because of my skin. That is friggin' disrespectful. I came here because I love this, doing this, performing with BTS, performing a genre that I love. And this is what I must deal with? I've ignored it once but now this is getting too much..."

She never knew the dislike would be this bad.

Hayoon's heart began to ache for her friend as she placed a hand on hers, smiling sympathetically.

"Please don't let it get to you. I know the comments are hurtful but please don't get discouraged. Antis are nasty people. Those aren't your fans. There's a lot of fans that love you for you. Don't forget that."

"I'll be fine, don't worry. Thanks, Hayoon."

But damn, everyone is so fixated with visuals, they forget about the talent. Why?

-----

On December 9th, Jennie finally arrived back at the dorm after school, eagerly rushing to her room, and shutting the door.

"What's her problem?" Yoongi asked from the couch.

"J-Cole's album. It came out today." Namjoon answered.

Today was a great day for Jennie for just the simple fact that J.Cole's recently released album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive was there in her room to listen to. It had been torturous to wait until school was over but now, she could jam out in peace.

For the past few minutes, she blasted the music from her room, as Namjoon laughed. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you. She's in her chill vibe. Let her enjoy the album. I don't want her cussing anyone out for ruining her groove." He warned Jimin and Tae who were about to knock.

'J.Cole, huh?' Yoongi thought as he turned his music off his headphones to listen to the music blasting in Jen's room.

Meanwhile, Jennie, who sat on her bed, doing homework, rapped along fluently to Wet Dreamz, nodding her head back and forth.

Oh, you a pro, homie? Well, I want you to show me

My mama gone for the weekend

So Saturday, baby, we can get to freakin'"

That's when my heart start racin' and my body start sweatin'

As she tried her best to do her homework, she started to get distracted and began dancing around her room to G.O.M.D rapping along. Outside her room, Yoongi's interest sparked as he listened closely, hearing her rapping. Although he didn't understand all the English, he noticed the speed of the lyrics and heard her match it proficiently, as a smirk came across his lips.

As the next song came on, Yoongi raised a brow at the sudden bass of the instrumental from No Role Modelz. It intrigued him so much, he took his headphones off and headed to her room. There she was, with her back to him, rapping loud and proud. He glanced at the books on her bed. Shouldn't she be doing her work?

First things first: Rest in peace Uncle Phil!

For real!

You the only father that I ever knew

I get my bitch pregnant, I'mma be a better you

Prophecies that I made way back in the Ville, fulfilled

"Listen even back-OH! WHOA! Hi!" She jumped in surprise, finally noticing Yoongi by the door, watching with amusement. She quickly turned the music down and laughed nervously. "Hey, Yoongi, how are ya?"

"Huh. So, this is how you rap when you're not in the studio with me?" He teased, crossing his arms.

"Well I mean...it's J. Cole." She shrugged.

"Come meet me at the studio when you're done. We'll have a short session." He left before she could respond.

Arriving at the Big Hit building, an hour later, Jen headed right inside the studio to see Yoongi working on the computer.

"What's on the agenda, today?" She dropped down on the couch.

"Heh, you're eager."

"Well, your music infires me." She smirked and raised a brow to tease him. Yoongi rolled his eyes but couldn't help but reveal his gummy smile, chuckling at the inside joke. "Ah ha! Made you smile! You owe me smarties."

"PSSH. No, the fuck I don't..." He grumbled.

"Language!"

"I want you to rap my verse in Tomorrow. And as you advance, rap Namjoon's and Hobi's."

His sudden request caught her off guard as she declared, "Yoongi, you know damn well I can't rap nowhere near like you, Namjoon or Hobi."

"Yeah. I know."

"Then why are you letting me do this?"

"I know you can't rap nowhere near our level. Not yet anyway. You can't rap like us because you have your own rapping style. Just try." He tossed her a notebook and she caught it with ease. He waited for her to look over the lyrics before he put on the instrumental of Tomorrow.

When it was finally the cue to rap, she started shakily, "Gateun nal-"

Before she could go any further, Yoongi shut the music off, mentioning, "Jennie, rap like you know it."

"I-I am!"

"No, you're not. I hear the hesitation already and you're rapping too low. Rap out loud and with emotion, I can hear the monotone. You know this. Don't be uncertain. It's just me and you in here. Do it again."

Starting again, she rapped with more confidence and a steady tone. Not as hard as Yoongi but it was effective.

Gateun nal, gateun dal

24/7 maebeon banbokdoeneun mae sungan

eojungganhan nae sarm

20daeui baeksuneun naeiri duryeowo cham

utgiji eoril ttaen mwodeun ganeunghalgeora mideosseonneunde

harureul beoreo harureul saneun

ge ppadeutadan geol neukkyeosseul ttae

naenae gibuneun keonteurol biteu,

gyesokhaeseo daundoene

maeilmaeiri Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V banbokdoene

"Good. Again."

After replaying the song around ten times for her to rap his verse, they proceed to the next rap.

"Try Namjoon's." Yoongi suggested.

"He's too damn fast!"

"Did I stutter? Try it." He gestured as she sighed.

"Just don't laugh at me."

Waiting for the chorus to end, she got tongue-tied right after stuttering out, "uriga geutorok gidarin naeildo eoneusae." And threw her arms up in the air, giving up. "Hey! You said you wouldn't laugh!" She called him out as he laughed at her struggling.

"We'll get there. You'll be ready for it, one day. Your homework is to practice the three rap verses of Tomorrow. I'll let you know a few days before when our next meet up is. If you do well, you'll get smarties. If not, no smarties."

"Deal! I really appreciate you doing this for me. Thanks for being patient."

"Don't mention it. Now, onto another topic. When are you gonna DJ for me? I have a set right here. Make something. Use the other computer." He pointed out all the equipment.

She exhaled. "You always ask me!"

"Because I'm eager to see what music you can make."

"I dunno when." She shrugged.

"Why are you so nervous to show me?" He stared at her. 

She had potential. He wanted to make music with her and in the future, let her work with the rap line. Although she wasn't golden like Jungkook as a maknae, she learned quickly. It wouldn't be long before she spits fire. She had nothing to be afraid of.

"I just don't think it's a big deal, Yoongi. I feel like you'll be disappointed. You're gassing me up for nothing. I'm not a professional like you."

"Don't assume nonsense. You never know what the future may hold for your skills. Heck, maybe we could use it for a concert in a few years."

"Ha, like that'll ever happen." She shook her head. "I mean, I do want to contribute more. Singing is great but I'd like to do stuff behind the scenes."

Yoongi nodded and made a mental note of her statement. "How about this, when you're finally ready to show me, and it better be soon, I'll help you and teach you some tricks."

Smiling at his offer, she nodded in approval. "I'd like that."

"Good, I wasn't taking no for an answer."

"Blah, blah." She rolled her eyes playfully.

-----

A week before Christmas, Jen prepared to get ready to do some last minute holiday shopping with the rest of the Maknae line. During the entire week, they finally put up the tree. Putting the tree up was a hassle. From the members getting tangled up with the lights to difficulties putting decorations around the tree to make it look organized, to Jennie arguing with the Maknae line on who should put up the star until Jin decided to put a photo of Jungkook's derp face on top of the tree, they all had fun and enjoyed a nice nap afterward.

In her room, she waited for the boys to get ready as she scrolled through her Instagram. Her timeline began to blow up as she noticed various fans screenshotting her followers list. Curious, she tapped on one of the photos to see the caption, 'OMG CHANYEOL FOLLOWED AND LIKED ONE OF JENNIE'S PHOTOS!!'

Fan comments consisted of a series of 'OMGs', 'No ways', and about a future EXO and BTS collab.

"No way, there can't be no way." She went to her notifications, scrolling to the bottom to see...

@baekhyunee_exo has now followed you

@real__pcy has now followed you

"B-bae-AHHHHHHHHH!" A high-pitched scream escaped her lips as she fell on the floor, throwing her phone up in the air.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" Hobi and Jin barged in with brooms in their hands, while the rest of the members rushed in to see what the commotion was. 

Alarmed, Hobi kneeled on the floor to help Jen sit up. "Munchkin! Are you okay?"

"The hell is going on?" Namjoon looked around.

She grabbed onto Hobi's shirt, shaking him back and forth forcefully. "My bias just followed me and another EXO member followed me! LIFE IS GREAT! THIS IS GREAT! I'M DEAD! I'M ALIVE! I CAN DIE HAPPY!"

"I woke up for this?" Yoongi grumbled and headed back to nap, while the rest of the members were relieved it wasn't anything bad going on.

"Don't yell like that, jeesh, it's just a follow back on Instagram." Jimin sighed.

"JUST a follow back? Did you just say it's JUST a follow back? My bias and another EXO member are NOT just a follow back, Jimin." She stared at him blankly.

If looks could kill...

"Uh...I'll be in the car. We're ready to go." He awkwardly left the room.

As soon as they got in the car, Jennie had to create an Instagram video about the events that just occurred.

"So, um...Chanyeol and Baekhyun just followed your bulletproof girl...THIS-IS NOT-A DRILL! I am so happy, thank you! Please don't unfollow me after this video, I promise I'm not crazy!"

"She's lying!" Jimin shouted

"Shut up, Jimin!" She shouted while the boys giggled in the background. 

After posting the video, she's flooded with likes and comments. The comment that stood out to her was Taeil's which said,

2taeil2- How come you weren't this excited when I followed you? I'm sad.

JJennie_JW- 2taeil2 You know you'll always have a special place in my heart!! Hehe

2taeil2- Lies...all lies!

Arriving at a local Macy's, the four of them decide to split into two. Jimin and Jungkook walk off, leaving Tae and Jennie. After they were a distance away from them, Jimin couldn't hold back his eager questions.

"So...did you get it!?"

Jungkook felt him nudge him with a cheeky grin on his face. He smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah, I got it."

"Well, where is it?"

"Safe."

"Oh, come on, tell me the details!"

"Sometimes I wonder if I should've told you." The Maknae murmured as they explored the store with their masks on their faces.

"You gotta tell Chim Chim these things. So, how much do you think she's going to freak?"

"Uh...not sure. I just hope she likes it."

Jungkook was nervous about giving his gift to Jennie. He knew how much she wanted this gift and hoped that it was everything she hoped for.

"She will. Don't worry about that." He smiled. "It'll be cute."

Back to Jennie with Tae, they come across the perfume section. 

"This place stinks with all those combined perfume smells. That's not good." She covered her nose, walking through the displays of various perfumes.

She spotted Tae checking out the cologne that was over $100. "Ooh, I like this." He checked out one of the Gucci colognes. He stuck out his hand to grab one of them but yelped when Jen smacked his hand.

"Taehyung, you do not need to spend all that money on cologne. And half of this stuff doesn't even smell that good. Spend wisely. Now let's go search somewhere else." She grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away.

"Ow! Ow! Okay! That hurts!" He whined.

Jimin and Jungkook accidentally found themselves in the lingerie section for women. "Ooh, look at all this nice lingerie, what do you think Jungkookie?" Jimin teased as Jungkook coughed and speed walked ahead, feeling awkward.

"Hahaha! That was too easy. Hm...I wonder if a certain someone would look nice in th-"

Grabbing him in a tight headlock, Jungkook applied pressure, ignoring Jimin's strained pleas while tapping out. "What was that? Huh? Huh? Sorry, hyung, I couldn't quite get that. What?"

At the same time, Jennie happily went through the shoe section. "Oh snap, my Nikes!" She checked out the various designs of the shoes. "I dunno which ones I should get. I gotta treat myself."

"No-no-no-no-no-la-la-la-la-la, that's too expensive! You are not spending this much money on shoes." He playfully mocked her for doing the same to him. Suddenly he grabbed her by the ear and dragged her away from the shoes.

"Ow! Hey! That only applies to you! Tae, get off my ear, that hurts! Tae friggin hyung!"

-----

Christmas Day, consisted of Jen helping Jin cook the dinner. After the food was cooked, the members finally opened their gifts. Jen was more of a giver and decided to buy a WII U and more PlayStation games, while the rest of the members randomly picked gifts under the tree, various gifts consisting of snacks, boxers, headphones and cologne.

"You brought the cologne!?" Jen shouted at Tae, staring at the Gucci cologne in Yoongi's hands.

"Hehehe, I told Jimin to pick it up for me." Tae giggled as she playfully rolled her eyes.

"Man...I wanted my Nikes." She murmured.

"Well, I'm happy to announce that your Nikes are right here, milady." Jimin happily presented the box to her. Her eyes lit up as a gasp escaped her lips.

"No way."

"Yes, way."

"Hell yeah! Thank you!" She pulled him in for a tight hug. "Get in here too." She grabbed onto Tae, squeezing them both tightly.

Pulling away, she gestured for Jungkook to come over as she grabbed a small black box from under the tree.

"Merry Christmas! Hope you like it. Consider it an add on to our friendship rings." She beamed

"I wonder what it is." He smiled with anticipation as he opened the box. It was revealed to be a chain small chain necklace with a white bunny, having JK engraved on it. "Wow. For me? It's cute."

"I'm wearing mine. See?" She revealed her necklace which was a brown bunny with JW on it. "I was like, let me buy something bunny related. We can be bunnies in crime or something. I had bunnies on my mind for a while."

"It's amazing...thank you." He pulled her in for a tight hug. "Thanks, Jennie. This really means a lot."

After the presents, they got ready for dinner. As they all sat together, Jen spoke up before they could dig in. "Can we pray for our food first?" She gained the attention of the members. "As a tradition in my house, we usually pray for our food. If it's all right with you guys. It'll be short and sweet."

"Yeah, let's do it." Jin nodded with the rest of the boys.

"Really? Okay. Let's join hands." She grabbed Jin and Jungkook's hands. Closing her eyes, she began to speak, "Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today to live another day. I'm thrilled to still be here with these seven awesome guys as we rejoice on this special day. Let this food that Jin and I prepared nourish the body and I hope for more precious memories as a member of BTS. Thank you, and amen."

"AMEN!" She heard them shout as she let out a soft giggle at their enthusiasm.

Christmas dinner was filled with laughter and goofiness like usual when they spent time together.

Afterward, Jen watched with amusement as the guys broke into the new WII U, taking random Twitter videos to post on the BTS account. 

Meanwhile, Jungkook had broken away from the group to gather up the gift he'd been waiting to give Jennie as he set it on her bed. "Babygirl?"

"Yes?" She answered immediately, looking up to Jungkook by her doorway. 

The rest of the members stopped what they were doing as they noticed the new nickname, while Jimin smiled knowingly.

"Can we talk in your room for a sec? I have something for you." He smiled softly.

"Yeah, sure." She got up from the couch.

"What is this baby girl you speak of?" Jin spoke up, narrowing his eyes.

"Heeerrreeee we go..." Yoongi groaned while Hobi giggled.

"This better not be a War of Hormone 2.0!" Jin ranted on. "Is there something we should know!?"

"Jin, relax!" Taehyung responded with a laugh.

"Talk in the living room, not alone in the bedroom! No funny business!" Jin shouted in mother mode.

"Relax, hyung, everything is OK." Jimin tried to calm him down.

"They are teenagers. Hormonal-" Before he could go on, Jimin had covered his mouth as Jen snickered and headed into the bedroom with Jungkook.

Snatching Jimin's hand away from his mouth, Jin shouted, "Leave the door OPEN!" but got ignored as Jungkook shut the door, behind him. "What the-I said to keep the door open!" He stood up but got set back down by Jimin and Tae.

"Oh, that's a big box. What'd you get me?" She sat next to the medium sized red box on the bed, while Jungkook sat on the other side of the box.

"Gotta open it and find out. Merry Christmas." He smiled with anticipation as his heart began to race. Hoping that she liked this gift was the only thought on his mind.

Taking off the top of the box, her right hand instantly covers her mouth, covering the gasp escaping from her lips. She promptly looked up in astonishment while he grinned triumphantly at her reaction. It was adorable to see her eyes light up, like that.

She looked back down at the box to watch the tiny Jack Russell Terrier puppy sleeping soundly before it started to wake up, yawning cutely. The puppy stretched and looked at the two of them with wonder, before cutely barking.

Jungkook picked it up from the box and handed it to her. "You like him?" He asked as it started to lick her face and nuzzle against her.

"I..." She trailed off. She couldn't speak as she held the puppy against her. Overwhelmed with happiness, she began to feel her chest tighten.

"H-hey, don't cry." He whispered softly as he wiped the tears that ran down her face with his thumb. She set the puppy down while it walked around the bed, acting hyper as the smile never left her face. "It's a boy. I named him Ironman." He teased.

"Are you kidding me?" She deadpanned until they both shared a laugh.

"What? I thought it'd be a cool name." He said, proud of the name choice.

"Nah...We should name it Captain America. Now that is a cool name."

"No." He deadpanned as she smirked.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Nope."

"Yep."

"Nope."

"Yep."

"Uh, uh."

"Uh huh."

"Uh, uh."

"Uh huh."

"Never in a million years. How dare you?"

"How dare you? Ironman? No. Captain America, Kookie."

"There is no way we are naming him Captain America."

"Uh huh. We'll see about that, Golden Bunny." She challenged.

"We shall Miss Bangtan."

A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she turned her attention back to the puppy. "This is so special. How'd you know I wanted a puppy?"

"Well, you did say that you wanted one on Twitter." He reminded her.

"You remember that?" She stared at him in disbelief.

"Things you say don't just go in one ear and out the other. It sticks." He shrugged. "You don't know how much you're appreciated, do you?" He blurted out before looking down, embarrassed. 'Why did I have to say that? That was too much.' He mentally scolded himself.

Before he could think of something else to say, she pulled him in for a tight hug, wrapping her arms around her neck as he instantly wrapped his arms around her waist. "Thank you, Jungkook. I love this. Best gift ever."

"That makes me very happy to hear you say that. Hey uh, can I...stay in here, tonight?"

"You don't have to ask. So, do you want to stay because of me or the puppy?" She teased.

"Both."

"Both?"

"Yeah. I just want to relax with you and the puppy."

"Okay. Fine by me."

As they both lay down on their sides, facing each other on her bed, petting and playing around with the puppy as it moved around the bed, Jen spoke up. "So, when did you get him?"

"A week after your tweet. I did some research and found a place. Told them to hold it for me after I brought him. Took him to the dorm the day before Christmas. It was a chore hiding him from the others. Only Jimin knew about it."

"You did all of that for me? I dunno how I can repay you for this. This is so sweet of you."

"I like seeing you happy. So just keep smiling for me. That's more than enough."

"You got yourself a deal."

"So, I heard about your discourse."

"What discourse?"

"Shut the fuck up and choke on a dick." He mocked her in a girly voice as she grabbed a pillow and buried her face in embarrassment.

"Oh God...why!?" She whined over his laughs. She wasn't expecting him to say all that in English. He took the pillow from her as she faced him, "I'm a bad influence...let me guess, I was in an article on AllKPOP wasn't I?"

"Mm hm~." He teased. "Miss Bangtan goes at it on Instagram with former group members. Some interesting comments you've written."

"L-look, I was emotional and Angelina wasn't any better, if she's hyped, I'm hyped."

"Hey, I'm not judging you. We all lash out and have our breaking points. To me, it looked like you needed it. Yoongi was laughing as he read your comments. He was so proud. So that's Amity?"

"Yeah."

"That's cold of them to start false rumors. You're nothing like that. And although I haven't met your friend, I'm sure she isn't like that either."

"Hailey and her nonsense..."

"Is she pretty?" He suddenly asked.

Jen let out a sigh. "Yeah...all of them are."

She wasn't going to lie, they were all pretty. She wasn't going to call them ugly when they weren't. The only thing ugly about them was their personalities.

"Well, if you think they're pretty, then you're just as pretty. Most likely even more." He murmured as a smile came across her face. "So, Amity is having a World Tour? They're coming to Korea?"

"Yeah. I'm not thrilled."

"Why is that?" He asked as the puppy began to lay on his chest when he turned on his back with Jennie.

"I just don't feel right. I feel as though Hailey learned Korea to try to get to you guys. I'm worried, honestly."

"Should I keep my guard up?"

"That would be swell, bunny."

"I trust your judgment."

Suddenly, the puppy jumped right on Jen's face, and she shrieked in response to the sudden movement. Jungkook laughed wholeheartedly, as he watched her take the puppy off her face. 

"Not funny!" She laughed with him. 

His laugh was one of the purest things in the world.

After talking all night about various topics, Jen fell asleep with the puppy snuggled up against her, sleeping in the middle of her and Jungkook. Jungkook briefly watched her sleep with a smile before dozing off himself.

During the night, around 3AM, Jen woke up, feeling colder than usual. 

'Who the heck turned the heat off...?' She thought as she turned to see Jungkook sleeping soundly, watching his chest slowly rising up and down. 

'You know, Jungkook...I envy how cute and comfortable you look while you sleep. I'm freezing.' She thought as she resisted the urge to run a hand through his disheveled hair. She shook away the sudden thoughts as she felt confused as to why she pondered it in the first place. 'That came out of nowhere...'

Goosebumps were all over her skin from the cold as she contemplated getting another blanket despite being under the covers with Jungkook. Turning to the other side, she saw the puppy sleeping on her other side as she went to pet it gently.

She sighed and laid back down. She didn't feel like getting out of bed. She didn't feel like going through the closet to find a blanket or walking on the cold floor to turn up to heat, in the living room. Her motivation to move was not high. She'll just suffer for a few more hours. She turned her back against Jungkook, shivering again.

At the same time, Jungkook had woken up, feeling her move around, noticing her shivering every now and then.

'Is she cold?' He pondered. After watching her shiver again, his thoughts were answered. 'Should I...?' he looked at the distance between them. 

Maybe he could warm her up by spooning. But would she get upset? Take it the wrong way? Negative outcomes weighed against his positive thoughts as he worried about what her reaction might be. He didn't want her to freeze, so after thinking, he went with his gut, draping his arm around her stomach.

Jen felt his warm arm wrap around her waist and pull her back against his chest. His body heat radiated against her as a sigh of contentment escaped her lips. How was he so warm? He was like a personal heater.

Taking her sigh as a good sign, he murmured with his voice still filled with sleep, "Better?"

"Tremendously better."