#again this isn’t a personal attack against those who like the other things

[fullmetalpotterhead]

I think there is a cruelty in expecting your idea of a happy ending is the one a person wants for themself and I think it’s an idea we see within tgcf AND within the fandom treatment of the characters.

(Warning below cut for novel spoilers and also the fact some of you may get defensive. Absolutely enjoy fandom the way you want I just think narratively and analytically it feels hollow).

FX and MQ struggle with who XL has become because they believe they understand who he is supposed to be. They believe they know best the happy ending he is supposed to want. Their idea of a happy ending for him does not include scrap collecting or ghost husbands. It does not include roaming around the mortal realm. And so it is hard for them to fully face who XL is and the fact he can be happy in a way that is different from this preplanned scenario for him. (One that admittedly a younger him would agree with! Their belief is well founded, it’s just misguided.)

And mostly, I see fans understand this. That XL’s happy ending is the soft epilogue of a quiet life not caring much about heaven or important events but doing what he wants to spread kindness and enjoy love. But sometimes still I see fans who talk about how perfect he’d be as the new heavenly emperor and I wonder “don’t you get it? Don’t you see that he doesn’t want that?” The responsibility of that. The burden of managing heaven like that. It’s not what XL has ever really striven for even when he was more “ambitious”. He’s the kind who likes to go down and get his hands on things, not sit back and take this mantle of ultimate authority that ties him up in buerocratic red tape. He’s never wanted to manage the gods, that’s not the kind of power he sits happiest in. He could be happy in spite of being given such a role, but when I see fans give him this they pose it like a gift. Like an honor. It is neither of those things to a man who genuinely does not even care anymore about being seen as a god by anyone but his husband.

And then I see Xuan Ji. A ghost who lingers in obsessive, crazed love-hatred. And when she fades, it is because she has finally let go of her attachment to PM. She’s at peace. She can rest. Her reason for lingering isn’t like HC’s, it was never a happy thing. She lingered in traditional ghostly fashion as a sick twist against nature and when at last she was settled she could finally move on to let her soul continue to her next life instead of being trapped within her crazed grief. So it’s important she fades. It’s important she finally gives up and rests. To linger any longer isn’t her happy ending. To let go is to move forward for her. It’s not that her happy ending was dying— she was already long dead. All that remained was unwell. It’s not the same as killing her off, she’s not human. MXTX is giving her a chance at rebirth by letting her fade.

The one I see the most is SQX. I see many fans want SQX to ascend again. Many fans write and talk as if in a few years SQX could ascend on their own merit and return to heaven with grace and that would be their glorious happy end. But such an end… it really feels against the spirit of SQX’s own wishes. SQX lives as a beggar with other beggars in repetenance for what his brother did. He finds new friends and new joy among his fellow beggars. He is resolved and ready to eventually die a mortal death. His brother, his closest family, is now gone and he himself has lived centuries of a very good life. Lived far beyond the years of the average happy mortal. (SWD, in trying to bait HX points it out: they’ve already won. They lived worshipped and comfortable for centuries as gods.)

To ascend again is, for one, not something SQX was ever capable of himself which is part of the point, but second of all… to what end would he ascend for? To what purpose would he desire immortality? His family is gone. His worldview is drastically changed by what he’s gone through. Could he happily return to a frivolous life in heaven? Should he go through the gossip that would no doubt follow him in heaven regarding the circumstances of his first ascension and fall forever? Why? What does heaven and immortality give him that he is lacking in his end now? It doesn’t offer any more family or stability than he’s already found for himself. He’s carved out his happy ending with a family of beggars and he’ll carry the weight of what his brother did and one day he’ll die a mortal death. As we all will. That’s not a bad thing. That’s not an unhappy ending.

XL’s happy ending was not found in heaven, but heaven will forever be part of his reality. Many fans seem to understand this. So I don’t understand why that logic doesn’t follow SQX. To return to heaven doesn’t feel like properly facing his character arc to me. It feels like the same thing FX is trying to do in believing XL’s happiest ending is fixed to the picture perfect ideal. Happy endings are personal things that should suit the one who earned them. And this is the one SQX has crafted. I think he’s done a rather beautiful job.

[joannechocolat]

Two Boxers Walk Into the Ring...

No-one can have missed the absolute scenes on social media, both before and after the boxing match between Imane Khelife and Angela Carini, from which Carini withdrew after just 46 seconds, having received a blow to the face.

Social media had already been abuzz with unfounded claims that Khelife was a man, largely based on her athletic (and to Westerners, “masculine”) body type. (The same rumours had also been spread about Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting; also a woman, assigned female at birth, who got into boxing to protect her mother from domestic violence.) From this explosion of misinformation came increasingly wild claims from all the usual suspects: that she was trans (in spite of coming from a Muslim country where transitioning isn’t allowed); that she had “self-identified” as a woman in order to win (again, not possible in Algeria) plus some quite ghoulish speculation about her sex organs, her medical history and the type of puberty she might have undergone.

But here’s the thing.

Khelife is not trans. There is one trans boxer at the Olympics, a trans man called Hergie Bacyadan, who for some reason has gone almost unnoticed in this desperate attempt to prove a conspiracy that just isn’t happening. Imane Khelife was assigned female at birth, has a passport confirming it, and has spent her life as a woman, fighting against her country’s patriarchal ideas of what women are supposed to do. Not only this, but she is an ambassador for women and girls, who originally took up boxing to protect herself from those who disapproved of her interest in sports.

She was disqualified from the 2023 women’s world championships because (according to a Russian source that becomes less and less trustworthy the more you look into it) tests apparently showed some kind of unspecified anomaly, which may have been either elevated testosterone (quite possible in a woman) or the presence of XY chromosomes, once more��altogether possible for a cis woman.

Nor does her condition (if she even has one) mean she is automatically likely to win against her opponents. In 2020, she made it to the quarter-finals of the Olympics, where she was defeated by Kellie Harrington, and she has been boxing on the international circuit for years without any of her wins or defeats gaining much attention.

Until now.

But her fight against Angela Carini on Thursday made her a magnet for some truly disgusting hate, largely, it seems, from the kind of men who enjoy threatening women, whatever the reason or excuse. In fact, there were distinct parallels with this and the recent anti-Muslim riots in Southport after the murderer of three little girls was falsely rumoured by agents of the far-right to be a Muslim immigrant.

Let’s be clear. Even if the attacker had been a Muslim immigrant, this violence would have been completely unacceptable. But the mob just wanted the opportunity to scapegoat and attack a community, in exactly the same way that the people attacking, threatening and objectifying Imane Khelife wanted the chance to attack a woman for not conforming to their idea of what a woman should be like.

In this context, it’s hard to see the rage and violence levelled against her for this victory as anything other than misogynistic - and racist.

It’s also hard to understand why in a sport like boxing – where the whole point is to hit your opponent – a person should be criticized for following the rules of the sport. It’s almost as if excellence is allowed in men’s sports, but in women’s sports, it’s automatically viewed as suspicious. And Imane Khelife isn’t the only athlete of colour accused of “being a man” because she defeated a white woman. Serena Williams has spent her career fending off accusations that she “was born a man” both because of her muscular physique and her excellence in her field. Caster Semenya, who has naturally elevated levels of testosterone, has been likewise demonized. It’s almost as if the people driving this toxic narrative believe that only men can excel in sport.   

And as for the argument that claims that elevated natural testosterone levels in a woman is “an unfair advantage,” don’t all elite athletes have some kind of physical advantage? Do we dismiss basketball players for being unusually tall, or weight-lifters for being unusually muscular, or runners for being lean and light? Why do we celebrate Michael Phelps for his genetic advantage, but penalize Caster Semenya for hers? Women have fought so very hard for the chance to participate in sports that were once seen as the sole province of men. Now, when they dare to excel in them, they are accused of secretly being men, or of not being “proper women.”

This isn’t any kind of feminism I recognize. The feminism I believe in is about breaking down barriers, not setting them. I personally dislike boxing (both for men and for women), but I respect any individual’s choice to compete. And attacking a woman boxer for winning a boxing match is as misogynistic as claiming to “defend” her opponent by painting her as a victim. Both athletes chose to compete. Both accepted the risks. Both have had their Olympic moment ruined by people who don’t care about sports, or the facts, or even women. This isn’t feminism. This is the worst and most patronizing kind of prejudice, and it actively hurts women – all women, but especially women of colour and those who do not conform to traditional ideas of what a woman should look like, what sports she should enjoy, or how she should behave.

Women fought for years for the right to make their own choices, to have their own identities outside of the stereotypes set by the patriarchy. Questioning those choices - those identities - isn’t progress.

 Supporting women doesn’t mean protecting them from themselves.

It means not setting limits on who a woman wants to be.

[confused-gender]

Monsters 2.5

Summary: You survived for so long. The yautja came to clear out the xenomorphs and to find you.

Months passed after I moved all my stuff back into Du’sa’s house again. We’re currently on a hunting trip which leads me to now. I have no fucking clue where I am. “How th-.” Something buzzed by me and straight into the tree next to me. I turn to look to see a makeshift spear in the tree next to me. What could have made that? Du’sa said we’re just hunting animals. Did he forget to mention other life to me? I heard a twig snap and I quickly turn in the direction. I listened carefully and could hear footsteps coming towards me. I pull my weapon out and also get ready to press my location device just in case I need Du’sa to find me. I get into a fighting stance but lower my guard when I see a man coming at me only to stop in his tracks. “Wait you’re not one of them?” He asked me confused. “What are you talking about?” I ask. I stare at him confused. “Them! The huge aliens that hunt us for sport!” The man yells at me. I look even more confused. “Huge aliens?” As far as I’m aware the only… No he didn’t.. “Can you describe those aliens?” I ask kindly. If this is what I think is I’m gonna be pissed. Before he could answer clicking could be heard. I was so caught off by the clicking i didn’t realize the guy grabbed my arm and started pulling me with him. “Come on!” He yells. I begin to run with him. “Where are we going?” I ask him. “Some where safe.” He said. Finally we come to a stop in a clearing. “This isn’t a safe spot there’s to many places for them to hide.” I tell him lowly. I go to touch my location device and it gone. I pat my body down in a panic to see if maybe I slipped somewhere. “No.. no…” I say quietly to myself. That’s when I hear a twig snap. I immediately grab my weapon pulling it out and pushed the man behind me as I look to where the twig has snapped. “We gotta move and we gotta move now.” I tell him. I begin to move backwards with him. “Run!” I push him further away from me as I’m tackled and feel a shooting pain in my leg. I manage to get my attacker on their back and I quickly grab my staff. I bring it back over my head before bringing it down on the arm of my attacker. Clicking fills my ears but i didn’t care. “Oman-di..” I froze. No it can be him. He wouldn’t have attacked me. I quickly put my weapon down and go to pull the mask of the person I’m on top of. As soon as the mask comes off I sigh as I see it’s not Du’sa. I’m soon thrown on my back with a roar. I roll out of the way before they could slam their foot down on my head. I quickly get back on my feet and wince as I put pressure on my left leg. “A challenge? A puny human like you challenging me?” The yautja said. I smirk and nod. Before I know it I’m falling into perfect step with this yautja. I dodge his fist and hear woosh past me. I back up from him and spit the blood out of my mouth. “You hit like a Youngblood.” I laugh dryly. He charges at me and I take notice that the arm the I impaled is just dangling a bit. I sweep his legs out before taking the moment he falls to grab his already hurt arm and pull it tightly behind me. “Oman-di!” I hear again. I don’t let my guard down before I feel myself get pulled off. On instinct i pull my knife out and stab one the hands on me. They instantly let me go. Clicking once again fills my ears. “Two against one isn’t fair. Yet again who said you were. You’re hunting pray that are pathetic compared to the other things your kind hunts.” I say angrily through gritted teeth.

Tag list: @sophiaj650 @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @yondus-girl @vintage-bumblebee

[spacelazarwolf]

taking a risk posting this on main since the antisemites are out in full force tonight and i’m sure this’ll get screenshotted but this is my blog and i want to post abt my life in hopes that others can relate.

the past month has been extremely rough. i’m a survivor of domestic abuse, and one of the tactics that has left me with the most trauma was gaslighting. he told me that i was stupid, embarrassing, that when i tried to talk about being a woman (which is how i identified at the time) or being queer and the oppression that came along with that i was just “making excuses.” when i tried to tell him i didn’t like how he treated me, he told me i was crazy. he told me he never did or said any of those things. he told me i was “playing the victim.” i have been hearing his voice in my head a lot this month.

so i am thinking about all the jews and palestinians who are also abuse survivors who are watching people say that violence against us isn’t happening or doesn’t matter or is good. it is happening. it does matter. and it is not good. we are two populations with extremely high rates of trauma as it is, so this constant gaslighting and being old that the very real violence we are personally witnessing against our people, both in palestine and in the diaspora, has undoubtably been even more traumatizing for those of us who are also abuse victims. we deserve to be safe. we deserve to celebrate who we are and not be afraid of backlash. we deserve to live freely, and not under the boot of far right governments. may the attacks in the diaspora stop. may the bombs stop. may communities be rebuilt and may people be granted freedom in their homeland again. may people start seeing us as human beings worthy of dignity.

[darkcomets]

God I was not ready for that 😭

MAJOR SPOILERS LOL

BAKUGO’S DEATH HAD NO RIGHT BEING THAT GOOD, GOD DAMMIT-

Boy don’t I love seeing my favourite character die

I love his character and development, and while I know that he’s coming back, I’m still crying over this. Well done MHA, you’ve officially broken me for life

Bakugo started off as an absolute asshole of a kid, a product of society. Because of his quirk, he was always complimented and encouraged by his classmates, which helped inflate his ego. He was bratty and aggressive, mainly thinking of himself, constantly trying to beat down Midoriya because of his own insecurities.

But because of the newer environment at UA and all of the villain attacks and events that forces high schoolers into situations they shouldn’t have to handle yet, Bakugo has been forced to see that he isn’t the strongest person around, and that he isn’t the centre of the world. A fact that he eventually has to accept. And we can see that it works. Bakugo and Midoriya’s relationship throughout the series is one of the most important ones (in my opinion) for both of their characters and perhaps the storyline too. It starts off with a bully and victim, two people who have been stuck with each other for basically their entire lives. Bakugo bullied and abused Midoriya for his quirkless mess to make himself feel superior, and once they got into UA, the bullying died down because of the new environment they’re in that won’t enable Bakugo’s behaviour, but their relationship was still strained. After being forced to work together time after time again, they eventually start to learn to work together. Then Camino happened and Bakugo basically broke down in front of Midoriya, expressing his frustrations and anger at his weakness and Midoriya’s newfound strength, and the two of them fought. The fight ended pretty quickly (I think), but by the end of it, the two seemed to have gained a better understanding of each other.

In the movie, Heroes Rising, we can see the two now being able to work together. Izuku is at a point where he is able to trust Bakugo with giving him One For All, and Bakugo asks him ‘What about your dream?’ He is literally thinking about Izuku in this moment, and his future, and sounds like he is almost worried. While he doesn’t remember anything afterwards, it was a hell of a fight, and their relationship has continued to evolve.

In Season 6, during the first war, Bakugo literally sacrifices himself for Midoriya. His body ‘moved without thinking’ so it was an instinct to protect Midoriya, someone he used to despise and constantly shit on. And during Deku’s vigilante arc, he not only stood in front of Class 1A and somewhat led them in the search for him, he apologises to Midoriya for everything he had done. Of course, an apology can’t undo everything that he had done to Deku in middle school and before that, but it is a huge development in his character. Because the Bakugo that we started off with would never have ever apologised once. Bakugo is calm throughout the entire apology, and not an inch of anger or aggression is shown in his expression, this is pure and genuine emotion. He admits his weaknesses and his reasons for his actions towards Midoriya, acknowledging them as something he should not have done. He knows that an apology doesn’t change what he has done, but Bakugo is willing to change. He is starting this change by calling Midoriya ‘Izuku’ instead of Deku. Bakugo using his first name shows how their relationship has grown immensely and that they really have gotten closer. It’s a huge moment for the two of them, and what ultimately causes Izuku to finally relent and falls into Bakugo’s arms. And now in Season 7, during the battle against Shigaraki, Bakugo reflects on things with Shigaraki’s words. And most of those thoughts is Izuku. And right as he’s walking up to Shigaraki, ready to fight again, he is thinking of Izuku. He thinks about All Might, and admits himself that he was ‘kind of a brat’ when they first met (slight understatement, but still). And right as his body falls onto the ground, the All Might card he opened with Izuku falls next to him. He kept it, after all those years. Something he opened with Midoriya. Personally, I see it as some kind of significance that it’s Izuku losing a key part of him. They started this journey together, and now one of them has fallen, and two has become one. I am not ready to see his reaction oh my god-

That’s just how I see things. I might be a bit biased as a bkdk shipper, and I probably got some things wrong since I haven’t watched the anime in a short while, but that’s my view on this. Bakugo isn’t a saint for apologising and calling Izuku by his actual name, but I think that’s the whole point of his character development. Going from an absolute asshole who looks down on everybody around him and thinks himself better than those around him, to someone who knows that he was wrong for his previous actions and has started to learn to work with the people around him. Someone who still has his flaws but is learning to get over them, acknowledging his own weaknesses. Bakugo isn’t an amazingly kind person like Izuku, but he has still made amazing development in character. And that’s what makes him one of my favourite

Damn this is long 😭

Tell me if I got anything wrong or missed anything out

[boundless11]

Yes! The entire apology scene made Sam’s actions seem more harmful than Tory’s. And that’s the problem!

I completely agree with this and absolutely hated that apology scene. It unfairly painted Sam as the aggressor while making Tory look like the victim, despite Tory being the one who had done all the instigating from the start. Tory had already made up her mind about Sam when Aisha invited her to the country club and when they met, Tory said, ‘Oh, the Sam,’ with obvious disdain. Then, when Tory boasted about stealing the liquor, Sam calmly warned her that she could get into big trouble—just being a decent person. But instead of taking the advice, Tory rudely snapped back with, ‘What are you, a nun?’ Sam didn’t escalate and let it go.

Later, I get why Sam accused Tory of stealing Amanda’s purse—Tory practically bragged about being able to steal anything. If Tory hadn’t run her mouth, Sam wouldn’t have suspected her in the first place. Sure, Sam grabbing for Tory’s bag might have been too much, but Tory shoved Sam into the food table, escalating the situation again.

At the roller rink, Sam was actually polite. When she realised Tory worked there and Tory made a snide comment, Sam even apologised, saying, ‘I’m sorry, I just want to order drinks.’ But Tory instigated once more. when she saw Sam talking to Miguel and later deliberately tripping her. When Sam retaliated, both she and Robby were kicked out and the smug look on Tory’s face said it all. She clearly enjoyed causing trouble.

At Moon’s party, Tory started things again, goading Sam with a snide remark like, ‘Oh, I bet drinking isn’t your thing—more like tea parties, princess.’ Sam finally took the bait, but when Tory lost the drinking game, she couldn’t handle it. She fell off the stool, humiliated, and stormed off. Then she started a massive fight at school over Sam kissing Miguel, even though Miguel kissed Sam back. Tory’s behaviour shows she was looking for any excuse to target Sam. She even told Miguel to date other girls to make Sam jealous, proving her relationship with him was more about antagonising Sam than anything else.

How does that make Tory the victim? I don’t care about her home life or her sick mother—those circumstances don’t excuse her actions. If her home life was so overwhelming, how did she even have time to get involved in all this karate drama? Tory cut Sam’s arm, attacked her multiple time and showed no remorse, yet Sam is the one being forced to apologise? The only physical harm Sam ever caused Tory was kicking her ass when Tory deserved it.

Tory has consistently been the instigator and it’s frustrating to see her actions downplayed. The narrative unfairly favours her while making Sam seem like the bad guy, which makes absolutely no sense. Tory has never been the victim here—she’s always been the one looking for a fight.

Tory fans—and Sam haters in general—always seem to forget these facts. They cherry-pick moments to make Tory look like a victim while ignoring her repeated, harmful actions. It’s frustrating because the narrative and fandom bias against Sam is completely unwarranted. Tory has never been the victim here—she’s always been the one instigating the fights.

[thedovesaredying]

Hi I'm hyperfixated over your zombie! Ghost and I've been reading it every hour since it was up, it's the idea of him only acting upon his own primal urges get me going 🤤 i don't know if your zombie! Ghost is a dead person who became zombie or just an infected living human but either way I'm so down!!

I thought about what if reader leaves the muzzle on him all the time and do the usual stuff, pull him by it when they walk about looking for food and medicine, loosen it a bit when he tries to eat whatever is in his zombies menu and of course tugging it backwards as you ride him 🩵

- 🌋

Anon! Your brain!! 

I’m glad I’m not the only one weak for our Zombie lad. I actually have a bunch more I want to write about him, so feel free to request more for him at any point uwu 

A little snippet for you below the cut <3 

Words: 780

Rating: NSFW

Warnings: Teratophilia, PnV, Unprotected Sex, Muzzles.

Reminder, this is an 18+ account!

Ghost has been in quite a huff with you recently or, at least, you think he is. It’s a little difficult to tell given his difficulty stringing full sentences together after the infection ravaged his brain. He’s still cognisant and able to get his thoughts across to you (even if most of those thoughts involve being hungry or wanting to fulfil certain urges).  

However, his attention span isn’t the greatest and he’s constantly getting distracted by things in your surroundings. Wandering off like a toddler at every new sound, checking to see if there’s food or a potential threat hiding around every corner. No matter how many times you ask him to try and focus, he’ll inevitably end up finding trouble.  

The other zombies aren’t much of a problem since he can chase them off with a few well-placed swipes and growls to remind them of their place. It’s the other survivors you’re worried about. It’s a lawless land out here and anyone that’s survived this long knows to shoot first and ask questions later. This doesn’t bode well for your zombified partner. He’s an enemy and when he has his sights on a potential meal there’s little you can do to deter him from attacking.  

Hence, it’s easier to simply keep him at your side. The muzzle works wonders for when you need to gently steer him away from distractions, even if he occasionally gets a little grumpy at having to be pulled around by his face. He can’t nose his face up against you properly when it’s in place which often makes him grumble and sigh a tad overdramatically.  

You take it off when you go to sleep, after all, it wouldn't do you any good to have your guard dog unable to use his best weapons. Ghost doesn’t require sleep anymore, so he makes an excellent protector for when you’re in your most vulnerable state.  

He stays with you all throughout the night, his body pressed up against your back and his arms caging you to his chest. His lips are dry and completely missing in some parts, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to lave every inch of you with kisses. A soft rumbling sound always accompanies his affections, almost a purr.  

But the uses of a muzzle don’t stop at simply helping to direct your companion whenever he starts to drift away. It’s particularly useful for manipulating his face to exactly where you want it, be it away from something he wants or toward the places you require his attention.  

Riding him is only more intense when you’re able to grip at the thick leather straps keeping his muzzle in place. He tries to press his mouth to your throat, but you hold him back, forcing his milky white eyes to stare directly into your own as you slowly sink down on his cock. It’s beautiful, the way his eyelids flutter and a frankly sinful groan escapes him.  

“Good boy,” you coo, earning yourself a rough jerk of Ghost’s hips. He starts rocking his body up and into your warmth, his gloved hands raising to grip at your waist.  

He pulls you down and onto him over and over again in time with his rapid thrusts, snarling and growling all the while. Ghost might not be able to shift his gaze from your blissed out expression, but that doesn’t mean he’s any less in control. The pace he sets is downright brutal, bullying his entire length into your sopping cunt until it nudges at your cervix.  

Even when you gasp at the sensation and one of your hands grips at his hair he doesn’t faulter. Your noises seem only to urge him on, his panting breath heavy as he endeavours to draw out at many sounds from your lips as physically possible. His intense gaze from where you hold his face only heightens the experience, his eyes scrutinising each and every expression you offer.  

You grow close to orgasm almost embarrassingly fast, but all it takes is a raspy, possessive, “mine,” snarled at you to have your pussy clamping down around Ghost’s cock.  

With your body growing weak from coming so hard, Ghost takes full advantage of your distraction, pushing you down and onto your back without missing a single beat in his current rhythm. He keeps going all through your orgasm, the slick from your tender hole only helping to easy his way. He doesn’t let up with his desperate chanting of, “mine, mine, mine,” right up until he spills deep inside you.  

Your attempts to dominate him hadn’t exactly gone to plan. Perhaps next time you should use some handcuffs as well.  

[channieskies]

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖁𝕴: 𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙

Pairing: Bang Chan x Reader, Jeong(Jung) Jaehyun x Reader (Fem/AFAB/Curvy/Plus sized)

Genre: Smut (eventual), Angst, Supernatural Romance, Urban Fantasy

AU: Supernatural AU, Vampire Au, Werewolf AU, Witch AU

Word count: 7627 [Reading time: 32 minutes]

Networks: @neverendingdreams-net & @mirohs-aurora-society

Synopsis: You deal with the aftermath of your sleepless night and Dr. Jay's. Chris and the boys find out who attacked Jeongin and Seungmin.

He was frozen in place, physically unable to run after you. The hold on his body only let up when the screen door slammed. His heart ached. He never meant to hurt you, but his fear made him incapable of doing anything more than a few kisses. What if he hurt you for real, or worse? He’d just have to carry the burden of hurting your feelings like this, over trying to go further and not being able to control himself. His body moved on autopilot from then on. He didn’t realize he had gotten in his truck and drove off in the direction of his shared home. His drive back home was filled with silence. He would usually ride with the windows down, blasting his favorite tunes, but there was nothing that could possibly match the mood he was in right now. 

A.N: Please reblog and leave a comment to let me know how you feel. I'd love a little feedback. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. Special thanks to @palindrome969 and @therhythmafterthesummer for reading over this for me. I could never thank you enough. Dividers by @saradika-graphics

Disclaimer: This story does not reflect the real lives or personalities of Stray Kids or NCT. I do not know them personally. This is purely a work of fiction.

Warnings: MINORS DNI! This post contains nsfw material. Please do not interact with it if you are under the age of 18. Do not translate or repost here or on other sites. This chapter contains use of explicit language.

You didn’t sleep for long. Your body seemed like it was decidedly against you getting any amount of sleep that would actually amount to you being rested. You were situated against your headboard, crust still in your eyes as Christopher stares you down. “If you have something to say, say it. Because this staring thing is making me anxious.” You motioned for him to go on. You were awake enough to at least pay a little bit of attention to whatever it was that was so important. Your mom had left for her shift a few minutes ago, leaving you here with your friend.

“Did he touch you?” He growled. Those were the first words out of his mouth since he’d come and sat on your bed. You scoffed, defensively crossing your arms over your chest.

“No. And why the heck would you even ask me that?” You were down right annoyed by the question, but you couldn’t figure out why. Well- besides whatever beef the two of them have.

“Because, Y/n. I need to know if I need to kill him or not.” Your eyes widened at the serious tone your friend took with you. Has he lost his mind? His jaw was clenched once again, stance ridgid, he really meant that.

“Ki-kill him? The fuck Christopher?” You honestly didn’t know what his problem was, but you needed him to calm down. Nothing good ever came from him being mad. As rare of an occasion as that was. “He saved my life and was honestly a more generous host than I could have asked for.” 

His brow twitched, “Saved your life? From what, Y/n?” 

Your eyes widened like saucers. You hadn’t intended to let that slip. Now you had to explain to your overprotective bestie that part of his hate was justified. Some vampires were down right foul beings that deserved his pointed hatred. “I… um…” He shifted in his seat, brows knitting together with more ferocity. “I was attacked..” His jaw ticked, your words stoking his anger. “A vampire cornered me.. But Jaehyun stepped in and ran him away.” His mouth opened to say something but you quickly cut him off, “Please, Chris, just trust me on this. He isn’t a bad guy.” You reached out for him, taking his hand in yours, trying your best to be for him what he always was for you. Comfort. “Why are you so worried? Huh? Tell me what's on your mind.” He sighed, rubbing his face with his free hand.

“His kind…” He said that with every bit of disdain he could have mustered. “They have killed indiscriminately for thousands of years. Using their powers to lure innocents into their death dens, draining them of their life and then tossing them like trash. Trust me, he isn’t any different than the rest of those filthy demons.” Never in your ten years of knowing him, have you ever heard him spew such hate. Not towards anyone, not even Vaiden, his rival. For him to say it with his chest like that, meant he really deeply meant every word. “Humans have their issues, we all do. But to kill someone that you know can’t fight back…” You put a hand up. You didn’t want to have more of  this conversation. While you were sure there were plenty of bad vampires and werewolves, you didn’t want to think of Chris or Jaehyun in that light.

“I don’t think he’s like that. He’s big on consent.” You nodded as if you had irrefutable proof that Dr. Jay said to you was true. For all you knew, everything he said could have been a life. But you chose to trust him. Why? Because everyone deserves a bit of kindness. He didn’t have to help you. He didn’t have to let you stay the night or buy you things to make sure your stay was comfortable. He was kind enough to be considerate towards you. That was enough for you to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Chris laughed, but there was no humor behind it. “Big… on consent. Right. Y/n, don't tell me you are gullible enough to believe that. He's a predator, just like the rest of his kind. He's probably trying to soften you up before he takes advantage of your kindness.” His words struck a chord with you and the note sounded sour and flat in your ears.

“Chris, I know you have your issues with vampires, but have you considered not all of them are the same?” You stood, too vexed to remain seated. “I’m sure there are preconceived notions about werewolves that aren’t true. Like-like you all being aggressive.” You stood in front of him, grabbing his face, slightly smushing his cheeks with your hands. “You are the kindest person I’ve ever met. Who is kinder than my Chris?” He pursed his lips as if he was going to speak, “And before you start, my mom doesn’t count. She made me, I didn’t meet her.” You chuckled. You kissed his forehead, missing the slight blush that covered his cheeks. “Two things can be true at once. Vampires can be vile creatures that prey on the innocent. But Jaehyun can also be a good one. Him being a vampire doesn’t automatically disqualify him from being kind, babe. Trust me on this, okay?” He looked up at you, wanting to say more but deciding against it. There was no use in arguing, he knew how stubborn you could be when you felt strongly about something. But he wasn’t going to let this go, he didn’t like the guy and he had to know why.

He didn’t know why, but you were still holding his cheeks. He looked up at you as you pursed your lips, producing a small pout. “What?” His hands moved to your hips on their own, like that was where they belonged. If you asked him, it was their rightful place. He belonged next to you, with you. But he could wait, for as long as you needed. After the kiss you shared the other day, all the feelings that he had successfully packed away and pushed to the back of his mind, all came flooding back in an instant. 

You shook your head, biting back a smile. “You look cute like this.” You did a few quick squeezes before he shook his head away from your grip. “Oh come on, let me have my way with you.” His brows shot up at your choice of words. Words that didn’t even seem to register with you. “Please, Chris?” He was running in circles in his mind, literally chasing his tail, trying his best to not think of your words in a more obscene content. “Like, I haven’t had the chance to appreciate this new physique you have, yet.” You raked your fingers through his hair, the feeling of your nails scratching over his scalp caused him to let out a breathy sigh. “Was it your transition that caused all this…” You tilted your head, looking for the right words to say as he sat there trying not to pop a boner because of you. “Bulk? Not saying that you weren’t big before.. You certainly were, it’s just.. You look different. In a good way.” You had no idea what you were doing to him. His eyes were still closed even when your hands moved to feel his arms. “It seriously looks like you could toss my car with me in it.” You chuckled.

“It wasn’t… the transition, I was born..like this. Lycanthropy is a hereditary trait. My first time shifting…that happened during puberty…” He finally mumbled out the words, “I.. needed to bulk to protect the people I love from threats. Plus, Changbin is a great motivator.” His eyes fluttered open as your hands moved from his arms to his chest. There was awe written all over your face. “Are you just going to feel me up in the middle of your bedroom, Y/n?” You chuckled again, head tilting back as your hands froze, gripping his pecks.

“I mean… are you against me feeling you up? Mr. I still have my hands on your hips?” He hadn’t even noticed his hands were still in place on your hips, right over your shorts, like they had been glued there.

“Want me to move them?” He asked, hoping your answer would be no. He found comfort in holding you, probably more than you could ever know.

“No.” You said it so matter-of-factly that it surprised him a little. “I like being in your arms.” His heart almost stopped at your confession. Maybe it was because of his long standing crush on you, but those words made him feel a little delusional. That maybe there was a possibility that the two of you could become more one day. “It makes me feel safe, loved.” You sighed wistfully, gazing up at the stars on your ceiling. “You don’t know how many times I just wanted to leave and run back to you. How many times I had to talk myself out of it… because if I didn’t, then everything my ex said about me would be true.” 

He instinctively pulled you into him, burying his face into your stomach. Just the mention of your ex, any of them, made his blood boil. Your taste was certainly questionable, especially when it came to anyone besides your chosen friends. “Like, I don’t know why I stayed so long. I knew there wasn’t any love there. He was mean and vindictive, and he never treated me like he even remotely cared. He treated me like shit and I stayed like an idiot. Thinking that maybe if I continued to try, he’d eventually love me back. Even if I knew it would never be.” Your fingers were back in his hair as he hugged you tightly. He could stay like this forever. Nothing else mattered when he was with you.

“Anyways.” He could hear the sadness in your voice, but he didn’t speak about it. He knew you wouldn’t want him to. “I feel like besides knowing about you howling at the full moon and shit, we haven’t really caught up.” He sighed against your stomach. He didn’t want to let you go, but he pulled back, looking up at you with loving eyes. “How has your life been, Chris?” Without you? Almost meaningless. His mind answered for him, but he couldn’t just admit his feelings to you like that. It wasn’t that he didn’t want you to know, he just didn’t think the timing was right. But maybe that was the problem. That was his problem. The timing was never right.

He smiled up at you, pulling you with him as he laid back on the bed. “I’ve had my ups and downs, but I'm happy. I found some really good friends, they are a great support system.” He loved the feeling of you on top of him, but his inner wolf was about to make this situation very hard and awkward for him. He turned you both to the side and as if it was instinct, your hands flew to his hair. He had one arm under your head, while the other rested on your hip. “I’ve been lucky to find them, really. Your mom has been great as well. She’s taken them in like family, and I honestly couldn’t begin to express my gratitude towards her.” You smiled at that. Maybe it was the way you looked almost longingly at him that made his heart soar.

“Well, she does think you are her son.” She laughed, and he couldn’t help but chuckle as well. “I think if she could do an even exchange, she’d still end up paying your mom to take me, just so she could call you her son.” He shook his head at that. He talked about you all the time to his parents. Even the times they had come to visit, which wasn’t often due to the cost and the time it took to travel, they immediately took to you. You were as much a part of his family as he was yours.

“Can you blame her? I’m a fucking awesome son, if I do say so myself. Plus, I’m both our mom’s favorite, they’ll just have to fight or share.” You rolled your eyes, but you knew he was right. Moms just loved this man.

“You are ridiculous.” You tried to fight your smile, playfully pushing his shoulder, just for him not to budge. “Oh, come on! You’re like a fucking rock.” You pushed again, a little forcefully, but again, he didn’t move. He boxed his lips so he wouldn’t laugh at your attempt to push him. You attempted to do it again, but he caught your wrist, bringing your palm to his lips. He pressed a soft kiss to your skin, your fingers curled to cup his cheek without thinking. “No fair..” Your words almost came out as a whisper.

“Who said I wanted to play fair?” He spoke against your palm, his warm breath tickling your skin. Each purse of his lips with every word, pressing more kisses to your skin. “Maybe… I want to be selfish for once..” His lips moved to your wrist. He pressed a kiss there, then drug his nose over your skin. “Can’t I be?” His eyes were closed as he took in your scent. The scent that always drove him wild. He was in an internal fight. He wanted you in every way imaginable. Mind. Body. Soul. Heart. He’d give you all of him in return, if you let him. But he knew he shouldn’t act on any of it.

Chris didn’t know anyone personally who had fallen for a human like he had. A human mate? Sounded laughable to him, it certainly would have been laughable to his old pack back home. Intermingling was frowned upon, even if the person was another supernatural being. Though he took issue with a lot of the views they had, he didn’t leave the pack for that. No, he left home because there was something.. Someone out there that called him. Something told him to apply to universities in the states, and he followed through with that. He was accepted to most of the universities he applied to, but there was one that stuck out more than the rest. Tulane University, in New Orleans, Louisiana. As soon as he laid eyes on you, he knew it was fate. Fate sent him here. Fate sent him to you. 

But even fate couldn't stop the persistent little voice in the back of his head that told him things could never be between the two of you. There was another voice, that sounded an awful like his old pack leader, that constantly reminded him that humans were weak, pathetic beings that wouldn’t be able to deal with the fact that all the monsters they grew up reading about were real. Then there was the fact that if he told you the truth, all of it, you might cut ties with him completely, and honestly he wouldn’t be able to handle that. His constant, nagging fear of rejection always put an end to his pining. But that fear had been blanketed by his delusions of you wanting to be with him too. He pulled you in closer, your body now flush to his. His nose was once again rubbing against your skin, this time in the junction between your neck and shoulder. He could hear your heart beating wildly in your chest, the shaky breaths you inhaled and exhaled. He could almost taste the way you were becoming aroused.

He needed to get a grip on himself, but at the same time, he wanted this. No- he needed this. He needed you. His hand moved back to your hip, gripping it tightly over your shorts. He pressed his lips to your neck, dragging them upwards until they met your jaw. You whimpered as his teeth nipped at the skin there. The sound clouded his mind even more than it already was. It was getting harder for him to pull away, but he knows he needs to. It’s just.. The warmth of your body pressed to his, the smell of you, all of you was much too alluring to stop whatever was happening. “Kiss me..” He almost thought he dreamed of you saying the words he wanted to hear. His eyes fluttered open to find yours, something in them was burning just below the surface. “Please.. Chris..” You barely got the words out before his lips were on yours. He kissed you feverishly. One hand laced into your hair as the other slowly moved from its place on your hip to rest in a firm grip of your ass. He had been thinking of this, dreaming of it, since the both of you shared your first kiss. His lips were in constant need of yours. He licked the seam of your mouth and you eagerly parted your lips for him. He slid his tongue into your mouth, deepening the kiss.

The oxygen in the room suddenly seemed thicker. Any coolness from the blasting air conditioning was negated by the heat the two of you were producing. He was already hot when it came to body temperature, but the way you were making him feel added to that exponentially. You rubbed your leg against his, slowly dragging it up to hook over his hip. He desperately pulled you closer, growling when he got a whiff of your arousal. “You.. you aren’t wearing panties.. Are you?” He could smell it too clearly, like there was no barrier between your shorts and your growing wetness. He pulled back to see your face. Your pupils were dilated, skin warm to the touch, lips kiss bitten from your short make out session. You shook your head, out of breath and dazed. You were killing him. To him, you’d never looked more beautiful. He needed to put a stop to this before his inner wolf took over. His hand on your ass slid to the back of your thigh, his blunt nails raking over your skin, making you shiver. His chest rumbled with a low growl. He needed you, spiritually, carnally, wholly. But he knew if he didn’t stop now, he wouldn’t be able to contain his urges. “Fuck…” He pulled back completely, practically launching himself off your bed. “If I don’t go now…” He started to pace, cursing under his breath.

“Wha- why?” You would never be able to understand what was going on in his head. He could only glance at you. Your disheveled look, kiss bitten lips, the pure desperation in your eyes. You needed him like he needed you, at least for the moment. That much was clear. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get away from the smell of your arousal that permeated the air. He needed to rid himself of the sounds of your wimpers that he knew would forever plague his memories. He didn’t want to admit that he needed to get away from you, but he feared he’d act on something that he wouldn’t be able to control. He opened his mouth to speak, only to shut it and rush out of the room. He could hear your footfalls hot on his trail. “Christopher, what the entire fuck? Are you serious right now?” He was glad your mother never closed the real door, she always left the screen closed when someone was there. He pushed it open, not even doing the gentlemanly job of making sure he held it for you. 

No, he had to get the fuck out of there before he defiled his friendship with you. Even if you hated him for a while after this, he needed to leave before whatever friendship you had was completely ruined.  He stopped on the sidewalk right outside the line of your fence. “If.. if I don’t leave now, I’ll do something I regret.” You let out a sound that sounded like the wind was knocked out of your chest. 

“Something… you’ll regret?” You laughed, but there wasn’t an ounce of amusement behind it. “So, you’ll regret being with me?” Tears welled up in your eyes. “Does it sound that bad to you? I thought- You-” You were dejected and even a little confused, that much was clear from the sound of your voice.

He turned on his heels hearing the hurt in your voice. He internally reprimanded himself for hurting you. That was and never would be his intention, not when he lov- “I didn’t mean-”

You cut him off, anger now biting at your emotions and not sadness. “You didn’t mean to? Be so fucking for real right now, Chris. You didn’t mean to what? Kiss me again? You didn’t mean to leave me hanging? You didn’t mean to run out of my house without saying a damn thing?” You shook your head. He reached his hand out to you, just for you to smack his hand away. “Don’t fucking touch me. Not after that. You- you don’t get to do this to me, Chris. I never would have expected this out of you of all people. I can’t believe you’d break-” You stopped, holding back the tears of anger that started to blur your eyes. “Leave.” You turned your back to him. Heading back into your house.

He was frozen in place, physically unable to run after you. The hold on his body only let up when the screen door slammed. His heart ached. He never meant to hurt you, but his fear made him incapable of doing anything more than a few kisses. What if he hurt you for real, or worse? He’d just have to carry the burden of hurting your feelings like this, over trying to go further and not being able to control himself. His body moved on autopilot from then on. He didn’t realize he had gotten in his truck and drove off in the direction of his shared home. His drive back home was filled with silence. He would usually ride with the windows down, blasting his favorite tunes, but there was nothing that could possibly match the mood he was in right now. 

He was a few interactions away from the house when his phone rang through the car speakers. He kept his eyes on the road as he pressed the answer button, “Yeah?” Even his voice reflected the melancholic mood he had been in the last hour or so.

“He- Oh, hyung, you alright?” Changbin asked through the speaker. Chris didn’t know why he didn’t try harder to mask his feelings, guess it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference anyway.

“I’m fine.” Chris gruffed out, then sighed, “What's up?”

“We found the guys who did this to Jeongin and Seungmin. But…” He could hear a few of them arguing in the background. 

“Just tell him the truth, Changbin hyung.” Felix urged in the background.

Changbin let out a long sigh then paused before speaking again, “It’s… Vaiden and his crew.” Christopher slammed on the brakes in the middle of an intersection, the car behind him narrowly avoiding rear ending him.

“The fuck did you just say to me?” The anger didn’t even have the chance to bubble up, it just erupted. 

“V-Vaiden and his crew… I overheard some guys talking about the attack when I went to the gym downtown. They did a few targeted attacks on a few different packs. According to them, Vaiden hoped it was you who was beat…” Christopher sped off in the direction of the house, anger pouring off him like a steady rain.

“I’ll fucking kill him.” Was the last thing the boys at home heard before the line went dead. Changbin held the phone away from his body and looked around at everyone else.

“Well, Vaiden’s fucked.”

Chris didn’t let his truck fully come to a stop before he was hoping out. He couldn’t see anything but red. His sour mood from hurting you had morphed into pure rage. He slammed his car door and did the same to the side door that led into the house from the garage, so hard the frame and surrounding windows shook. The boys all looked up at him as he entered the house, none bold enough to speak up, except Minho, “First, calm down. We can’t get this settled if you fly off the handle and attack before we have a plan.” He knew he was right, but the anger that he felt towards the person who had continually wronged him was fueling his every thought at the moment. “Second, we have already found their hideout, we pressed one of their guys-”

“Not very hard, he folded like laundry when Bin hyung hopped out the car.” Felix interrupted before apologizing because of the death glare Minho gave him.

“Like I was saying, we pressed one of their guys and he gave us every bit of information that we needed. We are just waiting for the go ahead from you.”  They all looked at him, waiting for his approval. He knew this was a score they needed to settle, hopefully putting a permanent end to all the bullshit the Vaiden pulled. But with what just went down between you and him, how was he to expect if something happened or if someone got hurt, that you would help? Even if it was a part of your family's curse, he couldn’t expect that of you.

“Let me contact Ms. Jenny to make sure she knows we may need her tonight, then we can get going.” Seugmin opened his mouth to say something, but had a hand clamped over his mouth before the words could form. Chris walked away to call your mother, knowing if she answered, he’d have to answer her questions about you.

“Chris? Is everything alright?” She answered only after a few rings.

“For now, yes.” He cleared his throat, “We found the guys who did this… so we are going to take care of that. I just wanted to know where we should take the boys if things go sideways…” She chuckled as if he asked the silliest question.

“To the house, like always. Y/n should be there, it’s not like she has any other friends in town besides you.” She chuckled, “Plus, with her healing Jeongin, it’s her burden to bear now. But I should be off in a few hours to check her work, okay?” He chewed on the inside of his cheek, he couldn’t tell her what happened. What if she thought ill of him because of it? He couldn’t have you and your mother hating his guts because he couldn't control himself. 

“Yeah, see you in a few hours.” He headed back into the living room and was once again the center of attention. “What is it now? Why are you looking at me like that?” They all shared a look, trying to see who was going to say it first.

“Is there a reason that your heartbeat is so unsteady?”

“Hyung you only get like that when you lie.”

“Should we be concerned about being healed if something goes left?”

“Hyung what… what happened between you and Y/n?”

“Is there a reason you are looking for Nurse Jenny when you just left Y/n?”

“Y/n helped us last night, why can’t she help again?”

The questions came all at once, but because of his impeccable hearing, he heard every single last word from his pack. He heaved a frustrated sigh, running his fingers through his already disheveled hair. “Look, it's complicated, alright? Leave it at that. No more talk about Y/n.” He put his proverbial foot down. “We have stuff to fucking handle, so that can go on the back burner.” They all settled down at his words, now more concerned with the task they had at hand. “Now let's go take care of business.”

You felt like the sky had come falling down on you, crushing you with its weight. Never in a million years did you think that your puppy like best friend would be capable of breaking your heart like this. You felt like you’d been shattered into billions of tiny little shards. Not even break ups with your exes hurt as bad as this. He kissed you just to tell you he’d regret being with you. Were you that bad? All the memories of what your ex told you came flashing back. 

“You fucking whore! I know you’re sleeping with him. Whenever I come around he always has his hands on you. Like he can’t help but touch you, to claim that you are his and his only. You are mine. You are my girlfriend and he needs to be put in his fucking place!”

“Just be real and say what you mean with your chest. You love him and you want to be with him and not me. Why else would you try to leave me and go running back to him? You can’t even answer that, can you? Because you know what I’m saying is the truth!”

“You can’t even stay away from him can you. You changed his contact name in your phone so that I don’t know who is texting and calling you, right? You fucking  backstabbing whore!”

He always tried to make you feel bad for the love you had for your best friend. But you later found out it was all just him projecting his shortcomings on you. Actively cheating on you with people you thought were friends, sleeping with random girls, then gaslighting you to make it seem like none of that was true, even when you caught him in the act. You were absolutely miserable towards the end of your relationship and wanted nothing more than to crawl back into the arms of your best friend. Knowing there was a chance he wouldn’t accept you back. Your timid heart soared when he showed up that day with open arms. You could feel the tears welling up in your eyes once again. He was just your friend, you didn’t understand why his sudden rejection was tearing you up the way that it was. Maybe it was because deep down inside you felt more than just fond friendly feelings for your bestie. You would willingly admit that you loved him, but you would never confess to it, possibly being more than just platonic feelings.

You hadn’t noticed that the day had faded into night. Not even your stomach growling at you ferociously snapped you out of the sadness induced haze you seemed to be trapped in. No, it took your house phone blasting the generic ringer for you to snap out of it. You answered without thinking, not even bothering to look and see if the number was at least local.

“Hello?” Your voice was strained and cragley from all the crying you’d done.

“I’m honestly surprised you picked up. Especially with you being all heartbroken over that….. Boy.” Your brows knit together as you recognized the smooth baritone voice coming through the speakers. “Get up, get dressed, and meet me outside.” With that he hung up, leaving you to look at the blindingly bright screen in confusion. What he fuck did he want? Hadn’t you spent enough time together over the last day? You were hoping after this morning's awkward exit, you’d see him again in neverary. But here you were, doing exactly what he asked. 

You got up, took a quick shower. You nearly left this plane of existence when you caught a glimpse of your face in the mirror. Hours of crying did nothing for the already deep bags under your eyes. You tried your best to look like a healthy adult woman, but boy was that concealer putting in overtime. It took an extra fifteen to make sure you looked presentable, even though you didn’t know why you were putting in the effort. Dr. Jay was cool, but you couldn’t classify yourself as anything more than just acquaintances, even if he saved your life. So you had no idea why the thought of him seeing you the way you looked forty minutes ago made your skin crawl. You locked up the house and headed out the fence, closing it behind you. You were greeted by a super casual looking Jaehyun, leaning against his car with his hands in his pockets. “I was beginning to get a little worried you weren’t coming out.” He smiled, with those oh so charmingly deep dimples on display.

“I’m sure you knew exactly what I was thinking, you can read my thoughts.” You rolled your eyes at him, stepping right in front of his frame.

“I can. But where is the fun in that?” He opened the door for you, gesturing for you to get in. “How about I let you in on a little secret,” He spoke as you slid into the passenger seat. “I like a good challenge. Things that come easy, bore me.” His voice sent a chill down your spine, but you shook it off, attributing it to the nice breeze that was blowing. He made quick work of closing your door and getting in himself. He belted up and headed out. “So, do you want to talk about why you’ve been crying on and off for the last ten hours?” He asked as if it was nothing, his eyes set on the road.

“I’d rather not talk about it.” You looked down at your hands, fingers picking at the chipped polish on your nails. “Is that why you called me out? Can’t deal with a girl shedding a few tears?” 

He huffed into a laugh, “That’s not it at all. I love for a woman to shed a few tears, especially from overstimulation.” He chuckled at his own joke and you shook your head, “But, I also believe that you should try your best not to make women cry. I had to see my mother cry way too many times and was helpless to do anything to help her. I vowed to never be that guy. I refuse to be like my father.” It was like you had already forgotten about his story. How his mother struggled in love with his father. How she didn’t find happiness of her own outside of raising her son, only for him to go off to war and die. You can’t imagine what type of turmoil she went through after that. She urged him not to go, but his stubbornness made him leave. You can’t imagine what she went through finding out the one thing she loved above all else was gone. “It took years for me to find out what happened to my mother.” He said suddenly. “I went back home after leaving Japan. I wanted to see it one more time before I left for Europe.” He gripped the wheel tightly, keeping his eyes straight ahead. But even if you couldn’t look him in the eyes you could tell he was still hurting from whatever happened to her.

“She took her own life…” He swallowed hard, jaw tensing. “These were all second hand accounts of what people think happened. There were only a few surviving family members left and none of them lived in town… But I think I’ve pieced it together. My father had no intention of being with her, besides the occasional booty call. He did have multiple royal concubines, my mother just was never made one. That at least would have made their relationship official in the eyes of the court, even if she was reduced to a royal side piece. When she should have been queen. Then.. I wasn’t there to protect her… Besides my grandfather, her life was full of heartbreak.” He sighed heavily, blinking away the wetness that was dotting his waterline.

“It was about three or four months after the old me died in battle.” He spared you the details of her tragic passing, thankfully. Your heart ached for her. You were also unlucky in love, so you knew a little bit about that. You couldn’t find a man to love you to save your life, sadly. “I guess it was for the best. She didn’t have to deal with the fight for the throne that happened after my father passed.” He sighed, “I probably wouldn’t have been included in it anyways, since I wasn’t on the family tree then. Historians have since then added my mothers name to his list of concubines, saying that she was his first. I mean, it isn’t accurate, but at least she is recognized now.”

“Are you?” You asked softly. You didn’t want to upset him with your question.

“Sort of. They know that she had a child, a son, they just don’t know if that son was the child of the kings or not. Some have put me down as Prince Yunho, posthumously. Others are still doing research into my background. One person even pieced together that I died in the attack during the Imjin war. Research is still continuing into my background and I’m thankful that my mother will at least get the credit for producing an heir to the throne, even if I wasn’t looked at as such during the time.” You couldn’t imagine being in his shoes. He and his mother made many sacrifices just to be pushed out of history. It was honestly a little sad. You were glad that they were both starting to be recognized, but at the same time, you wished he could come forward and piece together all of the missing spaces in him and his mothers history. But you knew why he couldn’t. All that information would have to be fact checked, then that meant they would have to find out how he knew and how, was the issue. He could always lie and say he was a descendant.. You thought. “I have no record of children. Like my mother, I was unmarried at the time of my death.”

For some strange reason, him hearing your thoughts was starting to become normal to you. You were somehow becoming used to it, you didn’t mind it at all. “What about love? I saw in your past that you’ve been in love.. At least twice, right?” He shifted uncomfortably, sitting up straighter behind the wheel. It didn’t take a rocket scientist, or even someone to be able to read his thoughts to know that made him uneasy. “If you feel some type of way of talking about it, you don’t have to. It's not like I’m going to force you or something.”

“It’s not-” He sighed, “I was engaged. Twice.” He nodded. His body was far more rigid than you’d seen it before. “I fell in love right after I completed my schooling. She.. she was beautiful, but it wasn’t about that. Her laugh is what pulled me into her. Her smile was brighter than a million suns. I- I couldn’t help myself. She was the light in the darkest times of my life and even as I laid on the battlefield dying all I hoped was that she and my mother would be okay.” He let out a shaky sigh, “It took years for her to get over my passing. Her parents urged her to move on, saying that no one would marry someone her age. She eventually married, but she died during childbirth.”

This man had been through so much over his long life. Though he was young for a vampire, his life was considerably long in comparison to a humans. You can’t imagine all that he has been through, all of the heartache he has endured. How traumatic it must have been to watch all of your loved ones and friends perish one by one, knowing there is nothing you can do to help prolong their life. Unless you do the selfish thing of inflicting the same kind of pain you have to endure on them. Having to carry the weight of your decisions for four hundred years. “Don’t look so sad.” He finally looked over at you, “It took me a very long time to sort my feelings, but I have. Took me even longer to consider falling in love again, but I did.” He paused as he turned down a dark road, the city landscape was left behind the two of you a whole ten minutes ago, you were officially out of town. “Before you ask about the second time, I have a question for you. Do you believe in reincarnation?” Your brows knit together. What kind of question was that? “Come on, Y/n, it's a yes or no question.” He chuckled lightly.

“I guess. I mean, considering all this shit with vampires, witches, werewolves and all that other fucked up supernatural bullshit, why not, right?”

He smirked, but didn’t say another word. You couldn’t see much further past the front of his car. You didn’t realize how creepy this was until this very moment. Once again you were alone with a man you didn’t know. Now, in some unrecognizable forested area. You looked at your phone, of course there was no reception all the way out here. If he wanted to drain you dry, he honestly could. It wasn’t like you told anyone where you were going, you didn’t have the chance too. Even if you did, who would you tell? Your mom was at work and your best friend was currently being an asshat. You sighed, accepting your fate. If the handsome doctor decided he wanted to kill you all the way out here in this remote area, then so be it. “You really have to stop thinking the worst of me, Y/n.” His laughter filled the space, making the atmosphere a little less tense. Just a little bit though. The thick foliage around the trail started to taper off, revealing the moon high in the sky. The light fog and silver gleam were the backdrop to the large mansion at the end of the road. It looked like it was straight out of every stereotypical horror movie. You know, the ones where all the warning signs were on the gate saying, beware, danger, keep out, and all that jazz. You must have missed them while you were busy listening and looking at your late night car ride companion.

You passed a fountain in the middle of the circular driveway. The water was so dark it almost resembled blood. But you knew that couldn’t possibly be what it was… right? You were so deep in your thoughts that you hadn’t noticed he had gotten out and made his way to your side of the car until you felt him reach across you to undo your seatbelt. Pulling back he extended a hand to help you out. Once again you found yourself taking it, almost like you couldn’t say no to this man even if you wanted to. This antebellum style home gave you the creeps. The tall pillars, multiple floors with its wrap around porches. It screamed slavery, loudly. You gripped his hand tighter, realizing then that he was still holding yours. The closer you got to the door the more dread you started to feel. It was like trudging through quicksand in an attempt to escape it, it was pulling you in deeper. He pushed the large wooden door open, the creak of it echoing off the walls of the entryway.  It was dark and dusty and felt like it was pulled right out of the haunted mansion ride at disney. You honestly were expecting a ghost to pop out at any moment. But nothing popped out. He pulled you deeper into the house, passing the left side of the staircase. You passed a few doors before you entered one, a ballroom. There was a large fireplace with a portrait that looked to be at least nine feet tall hanging over it.

“I have been in love twice. Once with my beloved Eunha. Then again on my voyage to America from Spain.” He let your hand go and moved closer to the fireplace. He reached into the mantle and pulled something off that you couldn’t see, but as soon as the match lit you knew what it was. The fire roared to life, lighting up the space, including that portrait above it. The light flickered over the two figures in it, one you immediately recognized as Jaehyun. You could feel the blood drain from your face as the portrait became clearer. The smile, the eyes, even the nose were the same. “I believe that you only have one true love in life. One soul that you are tethered to. One person you are meant to be with above all else.” He tossed the matchbox back on the mantle, pushing his hands into his pockets as he turned to you. “I believe in reincarnation of the spirit. If it wasn’t possible, how would I have met you?”

Lightning flashed outside the window. The bright light makes the portrait even clearer to you. It was you standing next to Jaehyun. Your hand over his heart as you started at his face lovingly. How the fuck was this even possible? You stumbled backwards as you tried to gather yourself. This had to be the worst week of your life. First you're a witch and now you are the reincarnation of some vampire's lost love? “What the actual fuck?”

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© ✐Channieskies 『MINORS DNI! This post contains nsfw material. Please do not interact with it if you are under the age of 18. Do not translate or repost here or on other sites. Please leave a like , comment, and reblog if you enjoyed this story.♥』

[cherr-22]

TNGDH 28

“Goblins! Stay away from the cliffs to avoid the falling rocks!”

Before we knew it, we were surrounded by a horde of demonic beasts.

They hid themselves behind boulders, up in the tree branches, and in the crevices of the cliffs, sneering eerily. Even at first glance, they were high in numbers.

The knights muttered in agitated voices.

“There seems to be a lot of them?”

“There are and it’s strange……. They aren’t the type to come this close or threaten us with no reason.”

“Is this not a common occurrence, Knight Commander?”

I nervously inspected my surroundings.

Dozens of goblins were crouching down as if they were about to jump out at any moment.

Goblin.

The small, deep blue skinned demonic beast sniffed into the air with its hooked nose. Its pitch black eyes resembled a devil’s.

‘I’ve only seen them in movies and novels, and never thought I would see one personally…….’

[(⊙﹏⊙);;;!]

This isn’t the time to be staying still, shaking. We have to overcome this some way or another.

The knights began to gather in a new formation. They surrounded the non-combatants in order to protect them.

“Cover the researchers! Stick closer to each other!”

“You there! You’ll get hit by the arrows standing there. Go back further!”

“……Yes!”

“Those who are afraid get out of the way!”

The battle began without any signals. The knights drew their swords, and the goblins charged as they roared.

Everywhere was the sound of blades clashing, the cries of the beasts, and the rise of the dust from the battle.

In the midst of the commotion, I looked at Kyle’s back.

[Kyle did the work of ten, no twenty knights alone. A single swing of his sword sprayed the black blood of the goblin like rain all over him, and bodies piled up around him so he had no room to take even a single step forward.]

It was exactly as the novel described. It could not describe the scene any simpler.

Kyle moved as if he was doing a slow dance. His body sometimes flew into the air as if defying gravity, sometimes lightly spun around against a cliff, and in other times stood firmly in place and horizontally slashed with his sword.

The sense of reality disappeared as if it were a painting or a movie.

It was incredible. He had the atmosphere of a completely different person.

A strange feeling also arose. How did such a strong man die at Serena’s hands. Nobody should’ve been able to kill him.

[With only a single sword in hand, he conquered the North with his indomitable fighting spirit and overwhelming strength. He named the barren wasteland ‘Blake’ and created a home for those who lost their homes to the demonic beasts.]

Kyle’s deeds and accomplishments were so many that they were difficult to explain in just a few lines. That strong back that withstood all hardships and struggles seemed unlikely to collapse.

The goblins’ attack was resolved sooner than expected. A few researchers looted from the corpses into a sack, and the knights got back on their horses.

Then, the canyon was quiet once more. The people felt relieved by the silence and began to exchange a few words amongst themselves again.

It was only me who felt anxious about the silence.

‘……This doesn’t seem right.’

Following the contents of <Winter’s Heart>, Kyle’s injury was caused not by an attack by demonic beasts, but a group of unknown soldiers hiding in the region.

‘……Then is the real attack after this? When will it be?’

There are limits to a person vaguely recalling the original plot. Please tell me so that I could know more precisely about what happened.

[(ㅠ×ㅠ )=( ㅠ×ㅠ)]

It seems telling the story also had its limits.

Among the things the system mentioned the other day, there was one particular message regarding this. Mentioning the story in detail could tradeoff with the conditions for receiving compensation, making them more difficult to achieve. Whatever the case, it seemed to be a balance issue.

Alright, alright. I just have to be careful.

“Please be careful.”

I said to Kyle who got back on his horse. He questioned while brushing off the blood and dust from the hem of his clothes.

“If you’re talking about the goblins, they have all been eradicated.”

“Not the goblins. What can be truly scary are people, right?”

Someone who killed you, who could withstand thousands of demonic beasts at once.

He pressed his index finger between my brows.

“Okay.”

“…….”

“I said I will be careful.”

Push. He pressed between my brows again. Only then did I realize I was frowning and relaxed my expression a little.

Right. Since I’m here, it should be fine.

‘It should be fine.’

No, it will be fine.

*

And then three hours passed.

In that time, I bought and ate three acorn cookies. After the third one, Kyle couldn’t help but ask if I was eating some hidden acorns or something.

……Well, it was something similar. How quick-witted..

[Current Miracle Value 22.0%]

After circling around where we met the goblins and climbed up the canyon, we got off our horses to start walking. The road was steep and could easily lead to an accident if the horse got startled or lost its footing.

“Shall we go back now?”

“Yes, Your Highness. The new knights must’ve learned a lot through this expedition. Let us return before the sun sets.”

Among all that was said today, this was the most welcoming to the ears. Yes, let’s go home now. I checked the time anxiously.

[‘Summon’ will be canceled in 30 minutes.]

Since there was the time required to go back, I assumed I would have to eat one or two more cookies. After arriving at a safe place, I should say that I have some business and head to a place where there are few people. As long as I hide my clothes well, it should be fine.

There was still no attack on Kyle. Although we encountered a few demonic beasts like a separated mutant wyvern or a bear, they were quickly disposed of.

My relationship with the other people improved particularly after I informed them that the thorns on the left wing of the mutant wyvern were poisonous as written in the ‘Encyclopedia of Demonic Beasts’.

‘More importantly, it’s about time for the attack to come.’

……Or will it not happen at all? But it’s not like anything changed greatly from the original plot? Did I change anything in particular…….?

‘The chandelier.’

Belial did not get hit by the chandelier. That is why the relationship between the two are not too bad.

Which is why Belial has no reason to kill Kyle at the moment. As Kyle mentioned before, Belial disliked Kyle but there was no need to get rid of him.

‘So, his life expectancy has increased?’

I looked at Kyle expectantly.

[Kyle Jane Meinhardt. Approximately 15 days left from the expected time of death.]

As always, he had little time left.

‘There is no attack, so why…….’

Thud.

The ground shook with the sound and the horses cried anxiously. The knights drew their swords once again and took their stance.

[o((⊙﹏⊙))o!]

[□ □□ □□ occurred! The crack □□ □□ □□□□□]

[Irregular anomaly]

[Danger]

As if it were natural, Kyle stepped in front of me with his raised sword. The four system windows that popped up sent a chill down by spine.

“That…… what is that?”

“This, what…….”

The faces of the knights turned pale and they retreated back hesitantly.

It was a demonic beast that had never been seen in the North before.

The beast had a massive horn and resembled a goat or a sheep. It had an abnormally long snout and was covered in fur, but firmly gripped the ground with its sharp claws.

It made a thunderous roar and stood on its two legs.

“……I-I’ve never seen something like that before.”

“It’s not something from the North…….”

I was surprised but for a different reason from the knights.

“This is crazy.”

Why is that here?

There was no way I wouldn’t know. It was something that shouldn’t be in the North. It was a beast that lived deep in the forest, drinking from swamps, and was known to bring disaster to its surrounding area due to its warlike nature.

The swamp goat.

People called it that.

Well, my work colleagues in my previous life did…….

‘Hey, system. Mind explaining what’s going on? Why is a monster from the game I developed coming out here!’

[Confusion]

[Temporarily reducing the ability to intervene in the world.]

[If further intervened □ the power of □□]

The system blinked for a moment and disappeared.

Just where exactly did it disappear to?

I was completely dumbfounded. I think that those blanks in the system words referred to ‘swamp goat’. Could this possibly be the price of me using the system to interfere with this world?

I clicked my tongue and put back the Demonic Beast Encyclopedia back into my inventory. This beast wasn’t from this world anyway, so the book wouldn’t be of any use.

However, I had information in my head.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what it is.”

Kyle extended his sword in front of him. I couldn’t see his face, but I knew it was a face of resolve.

No matter if it was an unknown beast or if it was stronger than any monster he encountered so far, Kyle would never hesitate to stand in front of it.

Kyle did not back down. If he did, it meant that he would be giving up on this land.

“All troops, step back!”

The two then clashed. Kyle jumped up and swung his sword with both hands.

He swung at the demonic beast as if he were trying to cut through both the heaven and earth. Bang. A noise louder than a falling boulder hitting the ground was heard and dust flew everywhere.

“……No way.”

Black blood dripped from the cut on the beast, but it disappeared and grew a new arm.

The enraged swamp goat raised its upper body and swung its arms wildly. A strong wind rose as sharp claws cut through the tree as if it were paper.

While the knights clicked their tongue, Kyle did not look surprised. He silently adjusted his sword in his hands and charged again.

The red sword flew diagonally, leaving a scar on the back of the beast’s neck. Kyle flew over the beast and landed on the other side.

The swamp goat stretched its arm back and tried to grab Kyle. While it its round eyes were clearly looking towards this way, it acted as if it could see behind it too.

“……eye!”

I remembered and shouted.

“Your Highness! Its eyes! Please stab its forehead! The bulging area a bit above the eyebrows!”

The swamp goat had three eyes. The magical eye hidden in the forehead could see beyond what was normally seen, so the goat was a difficult opponent that had no blind spots in its vision.

“Shoot the arrows!”

One of the sharpshooters of the Blake’s knights shouted. The knight who aimed with his breath held still, pierced right into the beast’s forehead.

A sharp cry shook the canyon. It swung its arm in this direction as it went berserk.

“Your opponent is me.”

Before I could realize what was happening, Kyle jumped in front of me and cut off its outstretched arm. Black blood flowed onto the ground. If only it didn’t smell so bad would I have felt relieved at Kyle’s appearance.

The arm recovered just like before. However, at that moment, I saw a small sparkle on its shoulder.

“The shoulder!”

“What did you say?”

I ran closer to Kyle and grabbed his chin to turn it slightly to the right.

“Please look over there. A little further to the left on the side where blood is spilling. There is a very small, glowing green dot above it. If you look closely, it will have the shape of a fish scale. ”

“…….”

“Do you see it?”

That scale was actually a special item that could only be broken under certain conditions. It was an expensive item that could be used to make weapons and shields.

The department meetings decided that it would be fun to implement such a feature for the gamers, and the developers suffered to make it into the game.

To think I’d be using this kind of information of my past here…….

“You must use your magic power to destroy it. Are you able to use weapons such as spears?”

Kyle let out a low chuckle. It was a voice mixed with admiration towards me and his competitive spirit.

“As if there are any weapons I cannot wield.”

He borrowed a spear from a nearby knight and inserted his magic into it.

The tip of the spear turned bright red and then turned redder and redder until it turned black.

The spear was thrown and flew through the air like an arrow, grazing the swamp goat’s shoulder. It screamed as if it was effective.

Unfortunately, the spear could not go reach the scale in one shot. Kyle didn’t give up, however. On the contrary, he rushed forward even more fiercely. If he were swept across his feet and sent back flying, he stood back up, and if his back was hit by a boulder, he let out a cough and raised his sword once more.

Kyle Jane Meinhardt swung his sword. He threw his shield. When his cloak became heavy with blood, he tossed it away and continued to stand ground, fly, land again, roll on the floor……

It wasn’t anything spectacular or cool like how I had imagined when I read it in the novel.

All he was doing was throwing himself in struggle to survive. It was a desperate, bloody battle in which he risked everything he had.

Seeing such earnestness and dedication, I could not say anything. He, who spent his entire life living like that, seemed so dazzling and heroic.

“Kyle.”

[Interfering now is dangerous,]

I ignored the system and opened the shop.

It has to be right now. I just knew instinctively.

[Panting Almond Financier ｜Miracle Points 3% consumption｜Increases running speed.]

You can’t change what has already happened, but you can change what hasn’t happened yet. And that is what I was brought here to this world for.

However, fate is like inertia. It may initially seem as if a change has effected the future, but fate will always try to go back to the original flow it had set for itself.

Like right now.

“Ha, seriously…… I’m making a tough decision to use up 3 percent for you.”

The 3 percent Miracle Points obtained from the hidden quest, ‘Collective Destiny’. I have no regrets giving back the points I obtained as a price for walking into your life to share your fate.

I stuffed the financier into my mouth and roughly chewed it before swallowing. The sensation of the lumps of flour scratching my throat was unpleasant.

There was no time to soothe my throat. I ran to him in an instant.

The swamp goat was crouching down with one arm cut off and lunged at Kyle, who was driven to the edge of a cliff. It seemed like it were planning to send him flying off the cliff.

I would never let that happen.

I quickly intercepted the goat. The rushing goat lost its sense of direction and fell down the cliff.

We couldn’t avoid the impact and was sent rolling on the floor. Kyle reflexively tried to cover me, but he missed as I slipped on the ground.

Then, my body fell off the cliff, just barely hanging onto the cliff.

“Shu!”

Kyle quickly stretched out his right hand and grabbed my wrist. His hand was damp from the blood from his injuries.

“Don’t worry. It won’t be long before I pull you up.”

The sound of knights approaching behind Kyle was heard. At the same time, the cliff he and I were on started to shake violently.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Kyle shouted to the back. It seemed that the ground grew weak due to the effects of the battle.

‘I’m really put on the edge.’

I breathed in and turned to him.

It wasn’t easy to pull up a hanging person. And it went without saying when Kyle was injured. Still, the injury must not be too bad considering how long he had been holding me this long.

What a relief. He won’t be dying a helpless death at the very least.

“I’ll be alright so please let go.”

“Don’t say ridiculous things like that.”

“Be stubborn and both of us will die here.”

I could survive. All I had to do was cancel ‘Summon’ mid-fall.

However, that was not the same for Kyle. There was no way to save Kyle once he fell. I thought about using items, but using them in front of him with no prior explanation was not a good idea. It would take up a lot of Miracle Points too.

While I was busy calculating what would be the best choice, Kyle’s arm started to shake. It seemed he had no intention of letting me go first.

I spoke in a friendly tone of voice, as if I were greeting him on a typical day.

“I’ll return, so don’t worry about it.”

“……How?”

“With the power of miracles.”

I smiled confidently and counted to three in my head. The moment Kyle began to open his mouth to speak, I let go of his hand.

My body fell down. As I watched him grow smaller and smaller, I eventually stopped smiling.

Kyle watched me fall without even retracting his outstretched hand. His pale face made my heart sink down to my stomach.

Snow began to fall from the sky one by one.

A fog obscured my vision and a pure, white light enveloped my body.

[‘Summon’ will be canceled!]

Don’t make that kind of face, Kyle.

I will return.

--------------------------------------------------------

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

[my-catsface]

When Minecraft first added horses, my brother and I dropped everything we were doing to play it.

We booted up the Xbox, opened a new world, and I waited diligently for his controller to pair for split screen. When it finally did, we set to work building the shittiest, ugliest, most lopsided stable ever. We didn’t add beds, because it wasn’t a house. It was a stable, we knew that. But we added stalls for the horses and an outside area, because of course, the horses should have sunlight.

When we found out they could jump over blocks and run faster than other horses, we set out to make the most elaborate obstacle course we could imagine. We raced against each other over and over again, using different horses and different rules until we were finally bored, hours later.

This post is going to be exactly what you’d expect. I am generally not a person who devotes lots of time to stuff like this. Other people have said better things about the quality of the Minecraft movie trailer (why is everyone backlit?), or how it doesn’t make sense (why are all those piglins normal in the overworld? Why are they even attacking?), and others have already shared their personal thoughts like I’m about to do.

But I have memories and experiences that belong to me, and I want to put them somewhere. I’m aware this won’t reach very far, it won’t change anyone’s mind, and it isn’t exactly full of revolutionary takes. But it’s mine, and I need to say it. And here seems as fine a place as any.

The only game my brother and I ever really played with each other was Minecraft. We’re about as different as you can imagine, with different interests and different ideas. But when we were both much much younger, we loved to play Minecraft together. Of course, that makes sense! Being young kids, we didn’t exactly have an allowance to spend, so our gaming options were in the hands of our parents. They didn’t agree on much, but each of them knew what Minecraft was. They knew it was safe, and they knew it was something we could share (IE: they didn’t have to buy twice), and so it was added to our collection.

And because we had no one else to play with but one another, and nothing else we could really play together, it was always Minecraft we turned to. Different as we were (to the point there are jests between us about being swapped for someone else at the hospital (my money’s on him)) we could find common ground on the same game. I liked to play creative and build houses, but he liked to mine and thought creative was cheating. To compromise, we turned keep inventory on and he would collect materials so I could build our house. We didn’t even know there was a wither. We didn’t even know there was an ender dragon. When we finally finished a house, the game was over for us.

But we would always come back to it. Always build a new house, maybe in the desert or underground. Always rush to our Xbox to play a new update until we were properly bored again.

Eventually, we learned there were worlds built FOR us. It started simple; we found a Christmas map with a giant tree and a massive workshop, and marveled at how beautiful the world was. But of course, there was already a giant house built, so what was there for us to do? We couldn’t built one here, it might ruin all the other houses. Ah, of course! We’ll just live in this one, we thought. So we mob proofed as much as we could, and explored a place we couldn’t even begin to comprehend was made in Minecraft of all places.

Eventually, when we explored it all, we wondered what to do again. We couldn’t just exit and start a new world, we’d just be going back to the exact same place. So we made a story.

He was supposed to be an elf. But he had a frog skin so he couldn’t be an elf. He had to be a winter frog. It made no sense, but it didn’t have to. I was supposed to protect all the “reindeer” because otherwise the winter frog (who we decided was very mischievous) would release them. Naturally, I, armed with a blaze rod (the only thing that could melt the winter frog), would search up and down the place as he would jealously hide his part of the screen, and when I found him, I would hit him. When he made it to the roof of our giant house, he would declare he had won, set off as much tnt as he could, and then we would have to load a new world to play it all again.

I look back on that story, and I think it’s stupid. I think it’s probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done, and as a self-acclaimed writer, I should be ashamed. I’m not. It’s stupid, and it’s childish, and I was a stupid child when I played it. But more importantly I was a stupid child having fun with my stupid brother in our stupid game. And we loved every minute of it. I’m not ashamed of it because it’s nostalgic, because it’s a memory of joy that I hold as close to my heart as I can.

Only a few years later, when my brother and I could finally play on separate systems, we discovered the ender dragon and the wither. Maybe we knew about them before, but we had never beaten any kind of boss before and we were under the impression that those sorts of things were much too hard for us.

So when my brother came to me with a radical idea to beat those bosses, I was doubtful and so… excited. What if we DID beat them? What if we beat a DRAGON? I was instantly in. He had a plan, but he wanted backup, and of course we were each other’s number one choice. Thick and thin. Still are, I suppose, but back then we didn’t realize we could stand up without always making sure the other wasn’t actively falling down.

He agreed we needed creative mode for this. He said it would be hard, but he knew what to do, so for the first time we should use creative mode to get all the items we would need. Nobody ever wants to work something up in their head and then have it all fail in the end, so we made sure it wouldn’t.

I manually enchanted our sets of armor, our diamond swords, our bows. I stacked our gear neatly away with as many “super gold apples” that could feasibly fit in a chest, and declared us ready. We each took our gear, and set off towards… the nether. We could get blaze rods from the inventory easily, we knew that, but we were excited to test out our new gear. We never had a reason to enchant before, so how exciting would it be to test everything out? I discovered my favorite enchantment in the entire game was fire aspect.

When we got our rods (and our pearls) we put them together and shot an eye of ender into the air. We diligently followed the trail we were making on foot (because that was just how you did these sorts of things), and when night fell we didn’t just sleep or skip it. We pulled out wool, made some honestly really ugly tents, and put our beds under those. When we woke up, we left our tents there and kept moving.

The thought was that anyone else who had this world after us would find the tents and be able to use them. We had a pretty rudimentary (and quite incorrect) idea of how Minecraft world seeds worked at the time.

Eventually, we got to the spot where all the eyes stopped. My brother dug down. I jumped in the hole he was digging, but he made it pretty clear that I had to stand in the corner of the space or he’d hit me with his enchanted pickaxe and not be sorry about it.

The fortress was a maze. It was dark and there were mobs everywhere and it looked like a glitch of a structure. But we never gave up. We knew what was waiting for us at the end (pun quite intended). When I found the library, I walked right through it and kept moving (for what use are books to a soon-to-be-dragonslayer), and when I found the portal, I called my brother’s name over the shittiest microphone the world had ever produced, and teleported him over.

He set to work on filling the portal, and I set to work on dealing with the annoying silverfish. A spawner destroyed and a gate created, we readied ourselves. We didn’t place beds down because we didn’t expect to lose, and we didn’t jump in right away, because we didn’t expect to win. Eventually, one of us worked up the nerve.

The end, as many of you know, is an odd place. It is light stone and it is dark skies. It is filled with pillars that aren’t buildings and there is an alter of a stone that cannot (ordinarily) be broken. We knew what the end looked like. We thought it was something new to be there.

I remember staring off into the distance. I remember mentioning how small the end was, considering we had treked at least twenty times its size in the nether and the overworld combined just to get there. I also remember how panicked my brother was at the realization there were endermen LITTERING the place that you were absolutely not allowed to look at.

After dealing with the endermen my brother looked at, we were finally ready for the real fight. We heard the dragon when we got there, we could see it fly in and out, we were very aware of its healthbar looming ominously at the top of the screen. But we knew the dragon had to wait, too.

We aimed, missed, then aimed again at countless pillars until we saw the satisfying explosion signal our first few victories in the war. We knew the ones in cages had to be handled differently, though. We had to march up there and take them out ourselves. The only issue? I forgot to pack blocks. We had stacks of golden apples and tons of junk picked up on the way, but we had thrown most of what we got away in the lava under the portal to clean our inventories.

So, mid fight, we mined. Tunneling underground to avoid the wrath of the dragon, we mined until we each had a stack of end stone (because that would surely be enough), and then climbed. Once we reached the top of an obsidian pillar, we hacked away at the iron bars until the floating core was exposed to us. Without any hesitation, we would strike at one. As end crystals do, it would explode, and then it would throw us off of our platform.

Seeing as neither of us were particularly good at water bucket clutches (at the time we weren’t even aware that had a name), we simply fell to the ground, and let our enchantments eat the damage. It felt powerful. The same blow and the same height that would easily kill us before were nothing to us now.

When all of the crystals were gone, we turned to the dragon. It had seemed almost passively disinterested in us as we struck at its crystals, but we were sure it would be mad once we took out the final one. Instead, I thought it was scared. It ran away constantly and never stayed in one place for too long. That made sense to me. That was good game design. Of course it was scared, there was no chance it could beat us. There were two of us, one of it, (hundreds of useless endermen minions) and no way back.

I don’t remember who got the final hit. I guess it didn’t matter. It’s not like there was an achievement to tell us with all of the creative we had slipped in and out of (but never for the final fight). What mattered was we had done it. We won. An achievement that’s so lackluster today it means almost nothing. But to two kids with terrible headsets and elementary school the next day, it was everything we had hoped for. The dragon went down easily. Not because the boss fight was easy, no, it went down easily because we were that skilled at it. It wasn’t a bad fight, it was exhilarating.

We looked up how to collect the egg. We knew you could do it, we just didn’t know how. My brother clicked on it a few times, and it teleported enough for us to realize we were doing it wrong. With the fight over, we agreed creative was fair game again. I dug a big underneath the egg as my brother supervised up top to make sure it wouldn’t teleport away if we didn’t both look at it. I placed a red stone torch two blocks underneath the egg, and then mined up.

It fell with grace. The moment it landed on the torch, it popped away and slid into my inventory. Excitedly, I flew up and dropped it to him, then pulled a NEW egg out of the creative inventory for me. One for him and one for me. We both got one, because we both did the fight. Not our fault the game only tried to give us one.

We jumped into the portal after. At the same time, just like how we entered the strange realm in the first place. That was my first experience with the ending story. The message from two strangers to me, the player. Me, who explored this world, sure, but countless other worlds like it. Me who knew all the crafting recipes by heart and knew rotten flesh would always give you hunger but raw chicken would only give it sometimes.

I love story games. I did then, and I do now. I love when something makes me feel some way, when something carves its place into me and establishes itself as important. I think Minecraft did that long before I experienced its “end,” but I think that was the moment I realized I loved this game. It felt like everything I had done meant something, every action culminated into where I was there and then. I also thought, when it concluded, that my brother—who preferred action and fighting to stories (yet another difference between us)—would have skipped the ending of the game for being cheesy.

He didn’t.

When my brother and I could buy (with permission) a world from the Minecraft store, we would have to agree on what it was. The first one we bought was the Greek mashup pack, because he loved the hydra skin and I loved the harpy one (it added WINGS, what wasn’t to love about wings in Minecraft?) and we both loved greek mythology. Not that we were well versed in it, of course. When we loaded that world up, we experienced that Christmas one all over again. Years on, and it was the same feeling. There was a beautiful new world for us to explore, there was beautiful MUSIC we had never heard before, and there were countless hidden secrets we could find.

But we eventually ran into the same problem. We couldn’t build a house, there were already houses here! We couldn’t fight the enderdragon, it would mean leaving this place behind and that would just be pointless. Besides, we had done that already.

So, eventually, we made another story.

I won’t go into detail about this one, but you can imagine it was about the same as before. We made up something dumb, and played our hearts away following it.

I am not a kid anymore. I am not easily blown away by the ocean monument or amazed that the moon changes form in game. I don’t laugh aloud when a villager “hrrs” or burst into tears when I lose all of my stuff in a cave.

I dont think the stories I made with my brother over Minecraft are anything important. But that’s not what my point is. None of this is really what my point is.

My stories weren’t good, but that doesn’t mean Minecraft can’t have a good story. In the early days of maps and pumpkin headed men and signs that told you where to go, there were countless wonderful stories. Hell, even now there are countless wonderful SMPs made by communities, and most of them are created for the express purpose of telling. A. Story.

And they’re beautiful. Some SMPs are only between friends (and perhaps they’re short lived sometimes), some SMPs are beloved by hundreds or thousands (or perhaps millions) of people.

Most SMPs inspire artists and animators and everything beyond and between to make things. Beautiful things, from the soul and the heart and the nostalgia of creating. They’re things made with love, for love. The Minecraft movie is made of money, for money.

The biggest argument FOR the Minecraft movie is that it’s meant for kids. I understand. I understand I am not its target audience, and if I am, then something has gone horribly wrong in the nostalgia bait department. But honestly? I don’t even think it’s marketed to kids. Kids arguably love a good story. I would know, I very much was one. I think it’s marketed to parents much like mine, who know the name Minecraft and know it’s safe and figure it’s a fun thing to take their kids to.

And I think that sucks. Because there could have been something better.

Minecraft is not a story game. It’s a sandbox. And the best part about a sandbox is that it can be anything you make of it—which means that, ironically enough, you can turn it into a story game. I think modders probably display that the best (the create mod would’ve blown my mind back then).

But that’s unrelated. The point is that Minecraft can be anything. But to make it into anything good, you have to really love it. You have to spend time developing what you want, be it your story, your resource pack, your mod, your challenge, your lovely world, your book(s), it doesn’t matter. You have to love whatever it is a lot, and you have to want to spend time on it to make it. Like I said before, the Minecraft movie was not made with love in mind. It was made with money there instead. I understand why. I understand every action that was taken for it, and I understand that it is not going to be a detective pikachu, a sonic, a Mario, or even a fnaf movie.

It’s just going to be another stereotypical “bad videogame” movie. And I think that’s a shame, because there could have been something beautiful there. There could have been something that makes someone sit in the theater with their brother and remember a horse race or a Christmas game or a valiant fight. There could have been something that reminded me a lot of when I had nothing to do but waste time with my favorite person in the world and build the ugliest house imaginable.

But there’s not. That’s okay. I understand. But I don’t want to see it. I love stories, and I love Minecraft, and I love the feeling of being a kid.

That movie will have none of that for me.

[multifandomthoughts]

“I don’t love you anymore.”

“You what?”

Kid’s eyes were nearly bulging from his sockets in anger and disbelief. His fists were clenched, fuming. He doesn’t understand why you would say such a thing, and doesn’t like it one bit. Not the type of man to cry, he could feel his eyes well up with tears.

“Why not? You’ve fucking always loved me, haven’t you? If this is about the comment I’m sorry, and I truly mean it! I’m just trying to make sure that my reputation as one of the worst generation stays the same. If anyone finds out that I’m lovey dovey behind closed doors, they won’t fear me!

And there it was. You had loved him, truly. But lately he had been an asshole towards you and towards his crewmates. Kid could be in a bad mood sometimes, but this just isn’t like him. Constantly making underhanded comments to others that he’s the toughest and even attacking other ships in the means of conquering them.

The two of you had been in a relationship for a long time; you had grown used to his antics. His dirty comments, his light teasing towards his crew mates and even rough housing was usually expected from him. But when the lighthearted horse play started to turn into secretive jabs towards you, ones that actually stung, you knew it was time to move on.

Kid wasn’t going to stand for it, not one bit. Everytime he knew you were going to be somewhere, he’d try to apologize and attempt to make up for what he’d done. And always days later he’d be back to his old ways. The next time he approach you, you’d escape his clutches to truly prove you’ve moved on without him.

Coming up from the hold, you can see him trying to corner you, most likely trying to plead for your forgiveness and coax you back to him. Stepping back, you run and jump up the steps, sliding underneath him. You make a bee-line for killer, who you’ve been confiding in a lot recently.

“He’s doing it again Killer, trying to convince me that he’ll change. He can barely change his own underwear, let alone aspects of his personality.” Killer grows silent, clearly struggling to hold back his hated laugh. Clearing his throat, he speaks softly. “If you continue to show him you’re not interested, he’ll get the point. And if he doesn’t, I’ll make sure that he has to deal with me. Nodding, you can feel a faint blush begin to rise to your cheeks. Kid had never offered to protect you before.

Weeks go by, and you find yourself spending more and more time with Killer. You find yourself appreciating his more quiet and timid nature as opposed to Kid’s loud and oppressive one. You learn more about him, finding out that with those blades, he makes a fantastic cook. After you spend enough time with him, you get to hear his unique laugh.

You can definitely see that he has a softer and sweeter side than you knew a guy with spinning blades at his wrists could. A few weeks go by, and you’re closer than ever. You spend almost every waking moment together, attached at the hip. Never before have you felt so safe, so comfortable, so respected around another person. You have a gut feeling that this is going to blossom into a beautiful relationship.

So you wait. And wait. And wait. At this point, you’re fed up. You could’ve sworn that he would’ve confessed to you by now. He tells you everything that’s on his mind, surely this is something that’s bothering him. You figure you might as well confront him, and see what his reaction is.

Heading up to the bow of the ship, your feet clatter against the wooden boards. It was your designated spot that you met up in, and sure enough, there he is, sitting quietly. Gruffly, you speak. “Hey Killer. We need to talk.” Squatting down next to him, you sigh as you lean your head against the railing. “Of course, what’s bothering you?” You take a moment to ponder your next words carefully, as it could make or break this.

“We’ve been spending lots of time together, and I was just wondering…if you maybe like me in a romantic sense.” Before you can even finish your sentence, you hear Killer’s quiet signature laugh. You think that you know the answer, now.

“Yes, I do like you. Very much.” Stunned beyond belief, all you can do is stare. Why did he laugh then? Sputtering, you try to speak up, but no words come out. You keep trying until you finally get the words out. “But why didn’t you confess to me earlier? I would’ve thought if you liked me that much you would’ve tried to start a relationship earlier.…”

Killer nods, reaching out and holding your hand in a soft grip. “That is true, but I wanted you to be comfortable enough to make the first move. I want you to have as much agency in this relationship as I do.” Falling from your squat to a seated position you lean against his shoulder as his thumb rubs your palm softly. “Well, in that case…I really like you too, Killer. Will you go out with me?”

“Of course. May I have a kiss then?” You nod aggressively, tentatively lifting his helmet. “I would like nothing more.” Leaning his head towards yours, your lips meet in a supple yet gentle kiss. The kiss feels like forever, yet you pull away only after about a minute.

“I love you Killer.”

On the other side of the ship, silent eyes have been watching, unbeknownst to you. Kid has caught every second of your new romantic encounter, and he’s not pleased. His ex-girlfriend and his first mate? There’s a couple ways that this could end, and very few of them are pleasant.

[moonmeg]

A little addition to "Curious"

“D’aw and yet here ye are unable to live wi’out me”

Robyn rolled his eyes as a smile began tugging on the corners of his mouth. There was some truth to it. Micah was his best friend, the person he’d trust with his life and imagining a life without those red curls, trilled Rs and filthy tongue was impossible. At the very least, Robyn thought, it would be a rather unhappy life without Micah.

As he stared at the ceiling of the barn the thoughts came rushing back. Endless trains of thoughts pulling him from one question to the next. That was nothing new. His mind was always restless and always made it difficult for him to concentrate on something fully for a longer amount of time. It’s been this way since his childhood but this train of thoughts was different somehow. Vivan’s words didn’t let him go. Who was his “somebody else”? What does Vivian know that he doesn’t? And instead of sitting and thinking of who it is, all his thoughts could be stilled with a little glimpse into a crystal ball. The solution is right there. And Robyn certainly didn’t care much for rules. He could ask someone else to take a look but…

Micah was right. Oracle magic is not to be underestimated and knowing your future may be more dangerous than one might think at first. And what if he does suddenly know who he’s going to be with? Wouldn’t it feel forced? Like it didn’t naturally develop but because “it must happen”. That would affect the whole relationship, no? Isn’t that the nice part about romance? That you yourself don’t know what will happen. That your unknowing will make the little things and the firsts of a relationship so much more meaningful? Even the kiss with Vivian has a meaning now that it wouldn’t have had in a case of knowing how she felt and that she will kiss him.

A bunch of hay suddenly poking his face ripped him out of his deep thoughts.

“Ey!”, he exclaimed disgusted. “Ew, Mike, what the heck?!”

“Oh, sorry, was that not the wheelbarrow? Oopsies.”, Micah grinned.

“You bastard-”, Robyn started grinning himself and stood up from the hay seat, gently pushing Eilidh’s (the unicorn) head off his laps, “-I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“Come and try, Shorty.”

“Alright that’s it!”

Robyn picked up small piles of hay and threw them at Micah, who dodged them without throwing anything back. Laughing and with another pile in his hands, Robyn approached Micah. The freckled boy however, held out the pitchfork to his attacker.

“Put the pitchfork down.”, Robyn halted smiling.

“Put the hay down.”, Micah replied, “Then we’ll talk ‘bouta pitchfork.”

“You’re a very unfair opponent, good Sir. You attacked me first! Now you’re using weapons I don’t have. Make it fair. Hay against hay.”

“Only if there’s ceasefire while I put it away.”

“You have my word.”

A moment of delay. Nothing happened as they both smirked at each other. Micah placed the tool on the ground and kicked it behind him, never once breaking the eye contact with the brunet.

“Good.”, Robyn tried to suppress his smile and be fully in the role of a dueling opponent, who would ensure to be on the winning side, “Now eat hay!”.

Micah dodged the hay attacks once again, still not throwing anything back. He instead attempted to flee, running around in the barn with Robyn right behind him. Both laughing heartily in this game of chase. Robyn chased after Micah for a good minute until Micah’s reflexes were too slow and gave Robyn the opportunity to pin him to the wooden wall by the shoulders.

“Where to now, Freckles?”, he smirked up at Micah.

Micah smiled, panting and catching his breath, trying to still his heart beat along with it.

“Alright, alright!”, he laughed, “I surrender.”.

Robyn didn’t give a response. He tried to catch his own breath and only managed to stare at Micah. Stare at his face as if he’s never seen the light brown freckles all over it or the reddish brown of his eyebrows and eyelashes. As if he looked at those golden eyes for the first time and as if he first notices the chunks of red hair falling into that pale face. As if this was the first time he noticed how beautiful all those traits were together. His breath calmed.

“Rob? Ye- uh… ye can let me go now.”.

Robyn blinked rapidly a few times and pulled himself out of his thoughts.

“Oh, yes, right. Sorry.”, he let go of Micah’s shoulders and backed away, “I uh.. I spaced out for a little there.”.

Micah chuckled. “I noticed. It’s alright.”.

The redhead looked around the hay-covered barn with a long uttered “Well”.

“We better get this cleaned up again before ma dad notices.”, he rubbed his neck.

“Yeeeaah”, Robyn chuckled, “Sorry about that too.”.

“Nonsense, I got myself into this literal mess. It was fun though.”, Micah turned and smiled at Robyn.

“It was.”.

Robyn picked up a broom from the corner of the barn. He better forget about whatever that intense stare of him just was. He wasn’t staring in that sense.

Right?

Micah was attractive to him. But that’s nothing new.

There wasn’t more to it.

…

Right?

[twoidiotwriters1]

How OP men would react in a situation where you get anxious (Straw hats men! x fem! reader)

A/N: Just working... bye -Val

Characters: Sanji, Luffy and Zoro

Words: 1,612

Warnings: Mentions of anxiety and panic attacks

Sanji:

Storm 

You wake up as another lighting strikes the peaceful silence in the Going Merry. Your body’s covered in sweat, your heartbeat pounding on your chest and the tears dripping down your cheeks. “Shit, shit, stop!” You say at loud as you cover your ears. “Please,” you sob. 

You always wanted to be like those people who enjoy the sound of the rain and are fascinated by lighting, but no... 

“Fuck! Stop!” You leave your bed, feeling frustrated and exit your room. 

The storm makes the ship lurch dangerously sideways, making you tremble in the corridors. The place you reach without thinking is the kitchen, and you fall inside immediately and crawl behind the counter. 

“Y/N?” You hear a voice, but your trembling body won't let you react to it “Sweetheart, are you okay?” Sanji kneels in front of you. 

Another lighting strike makes you squeal before you can say anything. 

Sanji frowns. “The storm?” He asks. 

You feel his strong arms move you to his lap and hug you against his chest. 

“It’s gonna be okay, sweets,” he coos as he caresses your back. You clutch your hand on his shirt like your life depends on it, his body heat and tender touches try to calm you. “I got you, baby. Nothing’s gonna happen to you, I promise.” 

He keeps saying sweet reassuring things to you as if the storm isn’t out there. 

“You’re so brave, Y/N,” The storm is fading little by little. “So strong and smart. Don’t worry about anything, you can trust me. Oh! You know what this reminds me?” He doesn’t wait for an answer, “When we made that complicated cake,” he chuckles. “I was scared and anxious, but you reassured and trusted me. You helped me in the kitchen, and we made a total disaster all over the place.”  

You remember too. You raise your head to watch him.  

“We burned the mix three times!” He exclaims laughing. “And the flour was more in your face than in the cake,” You giggle at that, so he lowers his head and smiles softly at you. “We did it at the end, didn’t we?” You nod. “But you never gave up on me,” he leans and kisses your forehead. “Are you feeling better, love?” 

You nod again. “Thank you, Sanji.” 

“There’s nothing to thank, darling. It's a pleasure to have you in my arms. You know what I’m thinking?” 

“What? 

He moves his arms to hold you tighter. “I’m starting to think my arms are made for holding you.” 

You smile. “I think so too,” You lean to kiss his cheek. 

Luffy

Being in the spotlight 

“So, is it true that you’re the only one without a devil’s fruit?” A girl interrupts your walk. 

“Uh?”  

“Who’s the stronger Straw-hat?” Asks another boy. 

“How did you defeat that super strong man?” The people surround you and ask you many questions. 

 “Are you dating someone?” 

“Is it true that you’re the future pirate queen?” 

Your body starts to shake, it’s hard to breathe and your hands are covered in sweat. “Please, just back off. I don’t know—” 

“Are you having a family with Monkey D. Luffy?” 

“Who’s more handsome?” 

Meanwhile, Luffy’s enjoying food at the corner when he hears his name. He turns to look for the person, but he stops startled as he sees all the people reunited on the other side of the room. 

“Nami,” she’s by his side. “What’s going on there?” He points. 

“I don’t know.” 

“Guys!” Usopp arrives taking off his binoculars “They’re surrounding Y/N!” 

“What?” 

Luffy stretches his neck, and he finds you in distress. “Usopp,” he pokes his arm. “I have an idea.” 

** 

The lights turn off and then, just one reflects to the other side of the room. “Ladies, and gentlemen,” Usopp appears. “May I have your full attention, please? I want to show you something. I’m sure you’ve never seen before!” He moves dramatically. “And for that, I need everybody to walk closer to me!” The crowd move slowly, curious about the new show. 

Out of nowhere, you feel a grip on your waist and are pulled until you crash into a body. You open your mouth to protest but Luffy makes a sign to be quiet. He lifts you, so your legs hug his low waist, and you hold him by the neck. Luffy jumps and runs out the window and through the big house’s roof to finally land in a flat part. 

When he makes sure you can stand, he lets you go. 

“Holy shit!” You’re heavy breathing and put a hand on your chest as you sit down. 

“Are you okay?” Luffy asks. 

“No, Luffy. I’m not okay. A million people cornered me, asking me stupid questions and they demanded answers, then being treated like a fucking ragdoll and fly to the damn roof!” You yell at him exhaling all the frustration. 

He moves awkwardly, not knowing what to do. “So, how do you feel now?” He smiles. 

You frown standing up. “Why do you ask me that? How blind are you? I'm annoyed, overwhelmed, and exhausted. They don’t know about us; they don’t know me. I mean, how dare they ask me all that bullshit and treated me like I’m the weak one of the group? Shit! Someone asked if I’m having children with you! We saved them two minutes ago and they want our gossip? Why?” 

“You should scream!” He raises his arms. 

“What?” 

“Scream! Like this!” He screams like an animal as he jumps many times. “C’mon! Your turn!” 

You’re so confused by now, but your body’s shaking still so you obey him. Both of you scream so loud that your throats hurt. Somehow, that helps and makes you feel lighter. After a while, you look at Luffy and he smiles wide. You hug him tight. 

“Thank you, Lu.” 

He giggles. “You’re welcome!” He hugs you back. “Now, I’ll go for more food for us,” he says ending the hug. 

Zoro:

Crowd 

The city’s downtown is crowded, and it’s the stupid festival's fault, Zoro thinks. 

You two must find Luffy before the Marines do, but the people and all the distractions make it difficult. At some point, Zoro feels your small hand grabbing his wrist and he turns to see you out of breath and trying not to get lost, the people are moving and crashing into your body like you aren’t there. 

“Shit,” he murmurs. Zoro quickly takes your hand and leans at your height. “Y/N, hey. Breathe, breathe for me, c´mon,” You look at his eyes with fear. 

“I can’t—I have to... Zoro, help,” you try to say. 

He nods ignoring his lack of orientation and he takes all his focus on getting you safely out of there. He pulls you closer to his body, then he remembers Nami’s words ‘If you need to return to the ship, follow where the big fish statue is, and you’ll see the Merry—Zoro, wake the hell up!’ He shakes his head. 

“The big fish!” He yells and points at the other side of the fountain in the middle. “Let’s go, I got you,” he tells you as he puts an arm around you and starts to push people away. He can feel your tense body and he checks your status every few minutes. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there.” 

The second he says that a loud bang is heard, causing panic among the people. They run and scream everywhere. 

“Zoro!” You yell. 

“Fuck!” He thinks fast as he kneels near you. “Hop up!” He points at his back. 

You jump, hold his neck and place your legs around his waist, hiding your face on his shoulder. Zoro makes sure you’re okay and run as fast as he can. Although some people push him, he continues his way without stopping. 

You close your eyes as the tears fall without control. You can’t think of anything else but to hold Zoro. 

“Y/N, hey,” Zoro whispers. You open your eyes slowly and realize that you are back on the ship. 

You sit down, back against the wood handrail and Zoro kneels in front of you. “There you go,” he smirks looking at your eyes and grabbing your face. “How do you feel?” 

You analyze yourself, checking if your body is complete; your heart isn’t rising anymore. You’re… fine. “I’m okay,” you smile. “Thanks to you”. 

He nods caressing your cheek. “Are you sure? Do you need anything?” 

“Just… just you, please,” He moves to your side, and he lifts you to his lap as he holds you to his chest. “I was so scared,” you mumble. You feel his kiss on your forehead. 

“It’s okay, it’s over now.” 

“Have I ruined everything?”  

“Usopp found Luffy, and the others are coming, you don’t have to worry.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t say crap like that, everybody’s scared of something.” 

“You aren’t,” You lean back to look at him. 

“I was scared too,” he looks away. “Don’t tell anyone.” 

“About what?” 

“Let’s just— uh,” he groans, “just let me hold you before someone sees us.” He pulls you back again. 

“But what scared you?” 

“Forget it.” 

“But I want to help you, what if it happens again?” 

“It won’t, I’ll make sure of it.” 

“But—” 

“Lose you, okay!? Scared the shit out of me, damn it!” 

“Oh.” 

After a minute of silence, you hug him again. 

“You’re my hero, baby,” You smile hearing his scoff. 

“Shut up,” you giggle and you’re sure he’s smiling too. 

“My knight in shiny armor.” 

He puts a hand over your mouth. 

[beanghostprincess]

Sorry I really didn’t mean I’m attacking you or your ship. I also don’t think it’s a red flag, most gay men I saw don’t really like shuggy either. I mean, probably the entire world prefers any other shanks ships? On almost every site, con or store there’s always tons of mishanks and Bennshanks and never shuggy. I get it’s also about dynamic and connection those two pairs have, like with the parallels to other ships the base for them is extremely strong. But the minimal shuggy does speak volumes. I genuinely wonder about this. Shuggy is unpopular and again while I do agree there’s strong connection between “rival ships” I don’t think that’s the only reason… and like…. Buggy is ugly, isn’t he? He doesn’t have cool style, doesn’t look cool, makes ugly faces all the time, also is a coward. I like him as comedy character and shanks brother though!

I understand where you're coming from when you say Shuggy is unpopular amongst some people (actually, before anyone says anything. It IS an extremely popular ship in Japan but I have seen A LOT of hatred towards it in this side of the fandom, so that's what I'm talking about when I say it's unpopular). I have talked about this before. And I have said a lot of times that the reason why is often because people only focus on looks and Buggy is not conventionally attractive for the fangirly twinkified sexualized gaze numerous sides of the fandom and the general audience seek. Like, I am not forcing people to ship them, but I have had people admitting the only reason they don't is because of the looks, and I personally believe that is a very (despite valid, of course) dull way of seeing ships. And respectfully, I don't care that other gay dudes or all the people in the world agree with you. It's not a red flag to not like Shuggy, what it is a red flag, though, is to come into people's inboxes to do what you're doing!

I know you don't mean to attack me or anybody who ships them but your tone does wonders showing otherwise. Your perception of shipping is just based on looks and the fact that you came here, to a blog that explicitly ships these characters and is fond of Buggy, talking shit about one of the characters' looks... Is just straight-up mean and not following the social etiquette this site should follow, which is "let people do whatever the fuck they want".

So with all due respect, what makes you think I won't find your questions offensive in any way? Because you keep talking bad about a character I like in my inbox for literally no reason. Do you expect me to admit that the ship is unpopular because Buggy is ugly and boring? Well, I do admit people view him as ugly and only a comedy relief, but I don't. Expecting others to find beautiful and interesting the same things you do is having a very close-minded vision that One Piece's plot itself is against.

By the way, you're showing that you clearly don't like Buggy in the slightest because you're only talking about the traits that you find negative about him. But of course, you like him as comedy relief. Of course, you like him as a character in Shanks' story and not as a character himself. Despite Buggy having lots of depth. Your perception of these characters seems, in my opinion, extremely empty and, as I said, only based on looks. And you're free of shipping whatever you want however you want! But please, please, don't do this anymore. This is just petty high school mean girl behavior. Even Regina George would word this in a more polite way.

So, as a little advice for you, let people ship whatever they want without questioning their favorite characters! I am sure you will live a more peaceful life!

[wolfliving]

It starts with him

What was once a promise of technology to allow us to automate and analyze the environments in our physical spaces is now a heap of broken ideas and broken products. Technology products have been deployed en masse, our personal data collected and sold without our consent, and then abandoned as soon as companies strip mined all the profit they thought they could wring out. And why not? They already have our money.

The Philips Hue, poster child of the smart home, used to work entirely on your local network. After all, do you really need to connect to the Internet to control the lights in your own house?  Well you do now!Philips has announced it will require cloud accounts for all users—including users who had already purchased the hardware thinking they wouldn’t need an account (and the inevitable security breaches that come with it) to use their lights.

Will you really trust any promises from a company that unilaterally forces a change like this on you? Does the user actually benefit from any of this?

Matter in its current version … doesn’t really help resolve the key issue of the smart home, namely that most companies view smart homes as a way to sell more individual devices and generate recurring revenue.

It keeps happening. Stuff you bought isn’t yours because the company you bought it from can take away features and force you to do things you don’t want or need to do—ultimately because they want to make more money off of you. It’s frustrating, it’s exhausting, and it’s discouraging.

And it has stopped IoT for the rest of us in its tracks. Industrial IoT is doing great—data collection is the point for the customer. But the consumer electronics business model does not mesh with the expected lifespan of home products, and so enshittification began as soon as those first warranties ran out.

How can we reset the expectations we have of connected devices, so that they are again worthy of our trust and money? Before we can bring the promise back, we must deweaponize the technology.

Guidelines for the hardware producer

What we can do as engineers and business owners is make sure the stuff we’re building can’t be wielded as a lever against our own customers, and to show consumers how things could be. These are things we want consumers to expect and demand of manufacturers.

Control

Think local

Decouple

Open interfaces

Be a good citizen

1) Control over firmware updates.

You scream, “What about security updates!” But a company taking away a feature you use or requiring personal data for no reason is arguably a security flaw. 

We were once outraged when intangible software products went from something that remained unchanging on your computer, to a cloud service, with all the ephemerality that term promises. Now they’re coming for our tangible possessions.

No one should be able to do this with hardware that you own. Breaking functionality is entirely what security updates are supposed to prevent! A better checklist for firmware updates:

Allow users to control when and what updates they want to apply. 

Be thorough and clear as to what the update does and provide the ability to downgrade if needed. 

Separate security updates from feature additions or changes. 

Never force an update unless you are sure you want to accept (financial) responsibility for whatever you inadvertently break. 

Consider that you are sending software updates to other people’s hardware. Ask them for permission (which includes respecting “no”) before touching their stuff!

2) Do less on the Internet.

A large part of the security issues with IoT products stem from the Internet connectivity itself. Any server in the cloud has an attack surface, and now that means your physical devices do.

The solution here is “do less”. All functionality should be local-only unless it has a really good reason to use the Internet. Remotely controlling your lights while in your own house does not require the cloud and certainly does not require an account with your personal information attached to it. Limit the use of the cloud to only the functions that cannot work without it.

As a bonus, less networked functionality means fewer maintenance costs for you.

3) Decouple products and services.

It’s fine to need a cloud service. But making a product that requires a specific cloud service is a guarantee that it can be enshittified at any point later on, with no alternative for the user owner. 

Design products to be able to interact with other servers. You have sold someone hardware and now they own it, not you. They have a right to keep using it even if you shut down or break your servers. Allow them the ability to point their devices to another service. If you want them to use your service, make it worthwhile enough for them to choose you.

Finally, if your product has a heavy reliance on the cloud to work, consider enabling your users to self-host their own cloud tooling if they so desire. A lot of people are perfectly capable of doing this on their own and can help others do the same.

4) Use open and standard protocols and interfaces.

Most networked devices have no reason to use proprietary protocols, interfaces, and data formats. There are open standards with communities and software available for almost anything you could want to do. Re-inventing the wheel just wastes resources and makes it harder for users to keep using their stuff after you’re long gone. We did this with Twine, creating an encrypted protocol that minimized chatter, because we needed to squeeze battery life out of WiFi back when there weren’t good options.

If you do have a need for a proprietary protocol (and there are valid reasons to do so):

Document it. 

If possible, have a fallback option that uses an open standard. 

Provide tooling and software to interact with your custom protocols, at the very least enough for open source developers to be able to work with it. This goes for physical interfaces as much as it does for cloud protocols.

If the interface requires a custom-made, expensive, and/or hard-to-find tool to use, then consider using something else that is commonly available and off the shelf instead.

5) Be a good citizen.

Breaking paid-for functionality on other people’s stuff is inherently unethical. Consider not doing this! Enshittification is not a technical problem, it is a behavioral one. Offer better products that are designed to resist enshittification, and resist it yourself in everything you do.

Nothing forced Philips to do what they are doing: a human made a decision to do it. They could have just as easily chosen not to. With Twine’s server lock-in, at least we chose to keep it running, for 12 years now. Consider that you can still make a decent living by being honest and ethical towards the people who are, by purchasing your products, paying for your lifestyle. 

We didn’t get here by accident. Humans made choices that brought us to this point, and we can’t blame anyone for being turned off by it. But we can choose to do better. We can design better stuff. And we can choose not to mess things up after the fact.

We’re putting this into practice with Pickup. (We also think that part of an IoT reset is giving users the creative freedom of a general-purpose device.) If you’re looking for something better and our product can fill a need you have, consider backing us. We cannot claim to be perfect or have all of the answers, but we are absolutely going to try. The status quo sucks. Let’s do something about it.

Published October 15, 2023 By Jeremy Billheimer

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 37

hello and welcome to fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

1. Fade to Black by @yokohogawa

Things between Keith and Lance are changing but Keith is restless, especially with Shiro still weak, and ends up taking a bad decision: he leaves Lance alone in the Castle with a Lion he cannot pilot. Unable to form Voltron without the newly appointed Red Paladin, the four Paladins left struggle against the sudden attack of a Galra ship and later on take damage from the explosion of a star in close proximity. Lance, on the other end, is left to defend the Castle by himself and has little time to succeed: without energy, the Lions have only 6 hours of breathable air. Beyond that point, his friends will be dead.

okay yes technically this series is unfinished. HOWEVER the first two works ARE finished, and they are amazing showstopping incredible etc. tbh im not much of a black paladin lance fan, i genuinely think solo leadership is not what he is suited for, but this fic made me way more open to it. the way he handled severe crises was as fear stricken as it was awe inspiring highly recommend

2. once again i am a child by @lilaclavenders

“You’re not a spare tyre,” Adam interjects.  “I know that,” Lance says, too unsure to sound completely defensive.   “That almost sounded like a question.” “No... it didn’t,” Lance says.

Lance and Adam talk.

i have always been a fan of lance and adam even tho its the most evidence lacking fanon thing in this fandom. its truly just so interesting. and to have lance as a young cadet getting slammed so badly just in so many different directions being given at least one grownup in his corner...its a good read.

3. Lance the language man by @irish-vampire-blog

Lance didn't really try to learn a language. He just, kind of, picks up the basics and then works from there. Its usually unintentional. Ish.

He isn't stupid though. He isn't an idiot. He just isn't the same kind of smart as his friends are.

this kind of smart for lance is so REAL bc no he cannot do like quantum physics or whatever probably but the way he seems to have a pretty innate ability to successfully do many things that he tries. he just can u know?? thats the autism with the gay audacity i would imagine but i love seeing fics like this

4. my boyfriend's back (and you're gonna get in trouble) by teacupfulofbrains

hey la, hey la, my boyfriend's back

Keith Kogane has never heard of Vine. Lance McClain takes personal offense to this, and makes it his personal mission to teach his boyfriend to meme. Keith is confused, mostly.

(OR: several instances of Keith not getting the meme™ and two times he did)

I LOVE THIS FIC SO BAD I CANT BELIEVE I HAVENT RECCED IT BEFORE. yes i am a cringe zillenial who still finds vine funny and quotes it on the internet but truly idc idc. this fic is funny. this fic is cute. established klance my love and light. also keith comparing lances eyes to the star of bombay is some of the gayest shit ever and also the only time i will entertain blue eyed lance

5. The Most Dangerous Thing is to Love by running_downn

Last time something like this happened to Lance, Keith wasn’t there. He’d thought he would have been able to do something if he had been there, or at least if he was, the guilt wouldn’t be so heavy on his chest. But this time he was there. He was right fucking there and he decided that it was infinitly worse.

~

Basically there's a new threat after the Galra and it almost kills Lance. Desperate making out ensues, but it's okay to recognize when it's not the right time for it. Keith cries a lot cause he's older and grizzled and therefore not as emotionally stunted.

green sock reality? team still out fighting as adults and lance isn’t a fucking farmer while the rest of the team isn’t? keith’s abandonment issues treated with respect and dignity and also the acknowledgement that he’s older and therefore mature enough to handle those issues in a way that doesn’t risk a relationship that is important to him? lance understanding all this and using the supportive nature he is known for??? yes yes yes. stellar fic that should have way more hits than it does

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!