#ahhh so excited also cause they are all true stories

[beachyserasims]

I'm finally happy with where I am in my GIL story that starting tomorrow, I'm going to be working on my haunted house Halloween series!!!!!

[wonuwrites]

hiii, if it's not a problem, can I request seventeen's reaction to their s/o being adored by cats? like, every time they go on a walk, there's at least one kitty that comes to them and wants to be petted

love your work!!! 😊

Ahhh not a problem at all! This sounds SO freaking cute I'm so excited to write it <33

Warnings: it's gonna be cute af, cats lmao

p.s: bc im writing about cats I wanna show off my babies ~ the Tuxedo is Shadow and White Cat is Stewie.

ღ S Coups:

omg Seungcheol would get heart eyes everytime a stray cat came up to you and rubbed up against you. You both would be doing your daily late night walk and an orange tabby would run straight to you you would drop Seungcheol's hand just to give the tabby some attention. Even though Seungcheol would fake pout everytime you chose a cat over his hand, he found it so precious how soft you were with cats and vice versa.

ღ Jeonghan:

When you first told Jeonghan cats loved you, he thought you were all talk. He didn't realize how true it was until one came up to you after one of your dates and just rubbed up on you. He jokingly called you a Disney Princess and it honestly was the best and most real compliment you have ever received. Whenever a cat ever came up to you, he would laugh in disbelief but he would love the fact that animals loved you just as much as he did.

ღ Joshua:

The majority of Jisoo's camera roll was with you and cats. You often would joke with each other that if you had to choose between cats vs him, you would choose cats. While that was not true in the slightest, Jisoo still would "respect" his place. There would be times where he would have to be voice of reason when you would want to take a new kitten or cat home which would be bittersweet but you would know he was right.

ღ Jun:

As a cat as well, Jun would completely understand why cats loved you. You were so calm and cute so it just makes sense. When cats would walk up to you, he swore he fell in love with you even more especially as you would crouch down and coo at them. He found it to be such a green flag that you were so good with animals.

ღ Hoshi:

Tell me why he'd be jealous of a cat? Not actually "jealous jealous" but would be like "yah, get your own partner. (y/n) is mine." He found it amusing whenever it happened because not only was the cats completely enamored by you but you also were. You would coo and would make up "back stories" about each cat that came up to you. If you ever saw the same cat twice, Soonyoung would be like "Oh yeah, it's Frederick the Third who really loves mischief and belly rubs" which would make you laugh because he remembered the back story. He would never admit it, but finding cats on your evening walks was the highlight of his day.

ღ Wonwoo:

tbh, the cats would be coming up to BOTH of you constantly. Something about Wonwoo and you just radiated such peace that cats just knew. You both found it a bit comical but also super wholesome that it happened as often as it did. If it ever happened when you weren't together, you both would either take a picture or FaceTime the other. Honestly, it would always make you both talk about adopting a cat together one day. Both of you would always get excited about the thoughts of making future plans like that together <3

ღ Woozi:

Similarly to Jeonghan, Jihoon would have some doubts about your claims of being a "cat magnet." He knocked the first few times as a "coincidence" but after awhile, he realized you were right. He found it so precious and would smirk when he would see an adorable four legged friend stretch before running up to both of you. He'd find it precious seeing you smile wide as you stared at a skittish cat that got nervous when Jihoon crouched down next to you too look at the kitten that decided to walk up to you. You would softly tell the kitten that Jihoon's muscles were all for show and he was a softie which would cause him to scoff and make mental note to show you how much "for show" they were later on.

ღ DK:

Seokmin would find it hilarious when you would just be walking and a cat would just be following close behind you begging for your attention with 'meows' and purrs. You would just give him a look of "I told you so," before playing with the kitten that so desperately wanted your attention. He found it so precious that he would film it and send it to both the 97 group chat and Seventeen group chats. His friends would be so jealous at your talents with cats and would ask you constantly for tips on how to get random cats to love you which would just make Seokmin feel so proud lol.

ღ Mingyu:

Mingyu was shocked when he realized it was not just cats and him that were obsessed with you. Whenever you both went on a walk together animals would ALWAYS come up to you. It could be cats, dogs, or even a crow. You would always mimic the noises of the animals and the animals would just act so happy that you were communicating with them. Honestly, it made him fall more in love with you.

ღ Minghao:

You know his infamous giggle? The bestest giggle in this whole wide world? Well it would star when you both would hear meows from behind you and noticed your charms worked on a grey long haired cutie. You would coo at the kitty and Minghao would coo at you. He found this sight to be the cutest thing EVER. He would take pictures and would even name the cats with you. For instance, this gray kitty y'all just found was named "Jinkies."

ღ Seungkwan:

Seungkwan would be flabbergasted that his partner was some character from a Disney movie. He would find it absolutely precious when he would see cats run up and look at you when you went on walks with each other. He often would find it funny because half the time you would get 'tired' of this talent you had. Sometimes you wanted to just enjoy time with him and when a cat came up, you just had to pet the kitty and ignore your busy man. It would make you feel guilty but he would always reassure you that it was okay.

ღ Vernon:

The first time it happened, he thought it was a freak occurrence. As did you. In fact, it was with Hansol when you realized you were the cat whisperer. It would be weird if a cat did NOT come up to you when you both on your nights. He would laugh if you got sulky because you didn't see an four legged friend on your walk. He would tease you that you were "losing your touch" which would cause you to roll your eyes and playfully push him.

ღ Dino:

Chan swore you had catnip or tuna in your pockets because there was just no way. So before your went on a walk, you emptied both of your pockets to prove him wrong. When he was satisfied you both left and ironically three damn cats showed up on your walk. He would be so flabbergasted and would laugh his infamous laugh. You would tell him it's a sign and you both should get a furbaby child soon which he would agree.

[ghouldtime]

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT YOUR CERBERUS GHOST SERIES I'M EATING THAT SHIT UPPPPPPP

I do have a question tho, and feel free to not indulge me if you don't have an answer or don't wanna spoil or whatever else! But why didn't Johnny go in the building himself? I'm guessing he knows that's where Simon was last seen but he didn't know until now that Simon's still (somewhat) alive. Maybe the building itself brings back terrible memories and it physically stops Johnny from entering, hmmm I'm intrigued 👀👀

I'M EXCITED TO SEE OUR BABYGIRL AGAIN!!! BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS AS WE SPEAK, I NEED TO HUG HIM KISS HIM LOVE HIM HE'LL NEVER BE LONELY AGAIN OH MY GOD THAT "don't..... go....." FUCKING DESTROYED MEEEEE

Sorry for the yap fest, hope you have a wonderful day/night! 🖤

- Biscuits 🌺

💚💚💚💚💚💚

AHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT!!

I honestly wasn't expecting many people to like it when I first posted my silly little idea 😭 but the support has been overwhelming and I'm so so grateful

Funny you should ask that- cause reader is going to ask the exact same thing in Chapter three. Of course, Johnny is going to give them a different answer than what's fully true

That is part of the reason (the full scope will be unveiled as the story goes on). That building is where Johnny last saw Ghost alive and he can't bring himself to go there out of sheer, overwhelming guilt and terrible memories associated there. That's also the same place where he lost his arm. Even thinking about entering there again has him sweating bullets and his stomach churning

But, at the same time, it's all he has (or had) left of Ghost aside from about 4 pictures (Ghost never was a fan of cameras). So he's stuck between a mental wall of his own limitations and what he needs to have, at this point, to keep himself somewhat sane. It's a work in progress

Now that he knows Ghost or part of him is alive though - he has a lot more motivation to go. How long that will take or if he will even manage to do it? That's up for debate and will eventually be answered in the chapters ahead

Our favorite guy will be back soon enough! I'm just about there as far as saying hi to his cute little face(s) in the writing progress for chapter three. 💚💚💚 And this time I PROMISE it will be much happier

AND NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR TALKING! I'm a certified yapper myself and will always wanna chat :3 . Asks are always open and I'm happy to write little blurbs and drabbles between chapters (hope you all are having wonderful days/nights/evenings wherever you might be!)

💚💚💚 I've had so much fun with this so far and y'all have been so super sweet!!! Thank you all so so much I'm so happy have liked it so far and I'm honored there's such interest in it 😭

[buffyfan145]

so i read quite a few of your posts and spammed you with likes, i hope you don't mind too much but you are perhaps the most informed person on trop tea i have came across and your speculations make me more excited for s2 😅

so from what i understand, there has been a very little info on galadriel's storyline compared to other characters? all we know is that she is with adar and elrond is trying to save her, then she fights sauron. and as for sauron, he spends most of the season with celebrimbor (can i ask what's that horrible fate of his? i havent read the books).

tbh, my delulu ass hopes that the fact that gal's storyline is so under-the-wraps means that it's going to be smtng special and spicy (instead of her having a reduced screen-time), and the actors being more open about haladriel stuff is bc that "surprise" storyline has to do with them. has it been conformed that they will use their mental bond in the season?

ahhh, anyways, your theory about galadriel going with sauron after being alienated by other elfs is *chief's kiss*. i will personally go and kiss the ring of the writers if that's true! i have also been seeing speculations about sauron chasing galadriel but not sure what's that based on (saw it on twt but then decided to avoid the twt space bc im afraid of possible ship wars ruining my experience for s2 since i saw a couple of sauron and celebrimbor shippers say they will have sexual tension or smtng. totally fine with shippers being shippers but i have had such a bad experience with ship wars that i want to just altogether avoid even witnessing them).

sorry for a long ask/rant! thanks for all your posts, they are really interesting! ❤

That's no problem and thanks so much!!! 😀 Yeah, I keep up with all the spoilers and news now as this show has become one of my major fandoms now and I get like this and those who followed for over the years know when I get into a show or movie series. LOL I'm going to post most of this behind a cut since it's got major spoilers for the season but will say Morfydd has talked a lot about Galadriel's storylines and her getting Nenya is huge part of this too, and her, Charlie, and the writers did talk about her and Sauron's mental bond and that it will be a huge part too. Morfydd did film "Starve Arce", a horror movie which is out now, while s2 was filming but I don't think it impacted production that much since the cast is so large and s2 was filmed over 9 months. Also this season has been confirmed to be Sauron centric so it's more centered around him as the lead, but she's still listed by Amazon as the female lead and has second billing under Charlie. So now to the spoilery parts.

So again Galadriel's main storylines from interviews and the trailers are receiving Nenya and learning how to use it, the mental bond she has with Sauron (which they also confirmed will be a huge part of the show till it ends with season 5) and some sort of creepy vision early on in the season, being outcasted by the other elves and even causing issues with Elrond, she has scenes with Cridan and Gil Galad too as her fellow elven ringbearers, the fight with the barrow wights with a team of other elves, getting captured by Adar, learning from Adar more about Sauron, forming an alliance with Adar including what seems like to use her as bait to lure Sauron out, and then as we saw in the final trailer the big confrontation she has with Sauron and showing him Nenya. Plus, they could still be hiding things from us too as these trailers are only mins and we have 8 episodes total and if like in season 1 they likely are all over an hour long.

Celebrimbor's story is so tragic too. He actually gets killed by the orcs and dies in a horrible manner, which is also likely why the show's rating increased as it's even more violent than season 2. I don't want to spoil it too much, but he will die in the season finale and Sauron does horrible things before that to him both physically and verbally. It's very much like an abusive relationship which is why I don't ship them. I understand that others do but their scenes are going to be so hard to watch. Both Charlies and the writers have called it a friendship or bromance, but those terms seem to suggest they aren't going for it to be romantic either but a friendship that turns violent and more into Sauron/Annatar being master. But this does show Sauron treats Galadriel differently to everyone else.

But yeah I'm hoping there won't be a ship war but I doubt it'll be in this case. Celebrimbor also in the books wanted to marry Galadriel himself in the 1st Age but she fell in love with Celeborn and married him instead. I posted before how that could bond Celebrimbor and Sauron as they'll both end up losing her to Celeborn. If any ship war happens it'll actually be whenever Celeborn comes back as we all know from the books and movies Galadriel ends up with him and they still have to have their daughter as they can't change too much and still have to make sure the LOTR books/movies play out the way they do when this show ends.

I'm still thinking, like others now too, that it is possible she does go with Sauron at the end of season 2. Especially if she fully is cast out after working with Adar, using Nenya, and then all those that die in the battle including Celebrimbor. Sauron still hasn't given out the 9 rings to the men or created the One Ring by the end of s2 so he has to get to that in season 3, and her s3 storyline is a mystery too. It seems like a possibility like others and I have pointed out that they could leave together, whether she's in charge for now thanks to Nenya and her new powers, or not. She will find her own kingdom of Lothlorien and be queen there so we might see that play out but eventually if Sauron's with her it will still end in tragedy as he keeps falling deeper into his dark ways and will go back to Numenor, and her husband Celeborn will be back. We'll get more info as the episodes air but I can see something like that happening.

[moonjxsung]

Lmaooo it actually happened on July 1st 😂 I’m just a few months behind tellin ya 😔😅

He bought the ring in February / March. He custom made it and I was with him to pick it up cause neither of us knew my ring size so we guessed and thank god we guessed right cause it fits great 😂😂

I originally thought he was going to propose on the family vacation we had planned back in September, and that was his original plan until he was hanging out with my parents one day and they suggested to him that he does it on a random day so I’m surprised and not expecting it. So he asked me on a date ❤️ took me right after work and I looked like an egg 😂 but yeah! We went to our favorite pub in the city we live in, had dinner and some beers. Asked me randomly in the middle of dinner around what time of year I’d like to get married and i told him probably around November since the fall in GA is so nice and then he pulled out the box from his pocket and said “we might need to take the next step first.” And asked me to marry him. Didn’t get down on one knee or anything which I’m so thankful for 😂 I’m such an anxious person and i think i would have shit myself if we had all that attention on us.

I think I asked him about 30 times if he was for real. Just in true shock cause I was NOT expecting it. I had suspicions cause the pants he had on were super tight and I saw the outline of the box and to confirm I felt up his leg but he said it was his vape and that had me thinking “oh okay this is a regular date”

But yeah! That’s our proposal story. Very lowkey, very cute. Everything we would have wanted. Now we’re getting married Nov 2025! Venue is booked and that’s all we have so far 😂 I’ll keep you updated on anything else exciting happening for the wedding. I’ll put you and Jisung down for the invites! 😂❤️

-♎️

OHHHH MY GOSHHHHHH I AM CRYINGNGNFJDJE that is toooooo cute !!!! I’m so glad he knows you well enough not to get down on one knee and make a whole thing out of it! My parents were the EXACT same way bc they’re both introverts on the shyer side who hate having attention drawn on them, so my dad also popped the question pretty privately out at dinner and my mom always says she was super grateful for it 😭 It’s so lovely when people find partners who match their energy and know them so well 🥹

COUNTING DOWNNNN TO NOVEMBER 2025 I can’t wait to hear allllll about it!!! I just know everything’s going to go smoothly and I hope the wedding planning process is stress-free and SO much fun ❤️ ahhh I just LOVE witnessing people in love 🥹 me & my followers anticipate all the details when the wedding happens OFCCCC also YES me n Jisung wouldn’t miss it for the world 🙂‍↕️💕 I LOVE YOU BBY AHYYHHHHHHDHDJ IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU !!!! You deserve this so so much 🥹 CONGRATSSSS AGAIN 🍾🎊💍💍

[doctorweebmd]

Emoji asks! ✨️⛔️💖💌 And don't worry about talking too much--I love hearing about process, so the longer the better, tbh!

👀 ahhh anjum i hope you don't regret those words this I...uh.... listen this got away from me but also. THANK YOU. it was a blast. sincerely. and also i'm sorry ahead of time.

✨️ - Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Uh. 😳 Wow this question made me realize how much easier it is to criticize your own writing than it is to compliment it. Thank you for this question my self-critical ass needs it lmao

I'm definitely a more character-driven writer, so my focus is on making their emotions as real as possible. I want it to feel like you can see through their eyes, like you can feel their pain, or their excitement, or their fear. I want people to feel really connected to characters through they very human emotions. So I tend to focus a lot on that - on character self-reflection and detailed descriptions of everything and anything that come with certain emotions. its one of the reasons i'm fond of writing pretty detailed and emotional porn. i dont want it to feel like a 'fade to black' scene from a movie, you know? or a scripted porno. i want to portray that nervousness, the embarrassment, the jitters and thrills of first times - something that doesn't have to look 'perfect' but still be beautiful. i think that's kind of the strong-point of my writing.

for that same reason, i take a lot of pride in trying to keep characters as 'in character' as possible. keep their personalities consistent and consider what they would do or how they would react IF that still stays true to them. i really try not sand them down or take away their sharp edges to fit a story, rather make the story fit around the characters. does that make sense?

i think my humor is pretty solid. and the storylines are engaging; some even pretty unique, although nothing world-changing. also, low key, i'm probably one of the best writers in the sskk fandom right now. and YET. these bitches are sleeping on me. smh

⛔️ - Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

Ooh, yeah, a couple! Most notably:

Fools Gold. Yikes. I really do hate leaving fics unfinished but I have minimal interest in continuing it. If you wanna know how it ends... (spoilers for a fic that may never be written) The tape recorder data gets accidentally 'erased.' Shinsou gives a different code to Katsuki and Kirishima, and by them having different dates on their secret codes and a planned sabotage going wrong, we know that one of them is the traitor. There's a lot of dissent but Izuku believes its a mistake. We find out that Katsuki was always jealous of Izuku's life - he hated modeling, and actually took one of his online classes not that long ago. They get closer, more marathon sex, real feelings, etc. Izuku confesses to Katsuki, but Katsuki's like - no, I have to be with your dad, I'm so close to my goal, and Izuku is shitty, making an ultimatum. Katsuki still leaves him. Kirishima to the rescue, he asks him on a date, they kiss, Katsuki is livid. As Kirishima and Izuku get closer, Kirishima confesses that he's the traitor, and that Izuku needs to stop what he's doing. Izuku doesn't, gets framed for everything, stock prices of the company go into the TANK. But. You see. Mei actually buys like all the stocks and they end up majority company owners, then they release all the proof GATHERED BY KATSUKI that his dad is guilty. Izuku gets all his money, dad goes to jail, Izuku and Katsuki travel the world on a sail-boat, they invest in all their friend's businesses and everyone's happy except Hisashi cause fuck him. The end.

A character study internal monologue of Katsuki's death (lol.) 400 words of eh.

Intersecting Lines Sequel - 500 words of also eh. Five years after Izuku defeats Sovereign, he gets a distress call from Cosmix saying that Leviathan was undercover and has since gone missing. Izuku and Katsuki travel to America and ALSO go undercover, uncovering a huge conspiracy and temporarily being pitted against one another. This is 100% never gonna happen.

Uh... I forgot I even started writing this one? 2.3k words. Quirkless!Izuku Shiketsu AU who is the #4 hero, Izuku is an asshole to Katsuki and he's into it, they start hooking up in an unhealthy and violent way and play mind-games with each other by dating each other's friends and just being awful. i actually think this was my first iteration of zero-sum.

Those are the only ones i've scrapped!

💖 - What made you start writing?

I all started the day I was born, 199 -

Just kidding. I think my story is much like other people's stories on here. I was kinda a lonely kid. I'd spend all my free time making up stories by myself, reading books, drawing. I got super into anime as a preteen and would visit roleplaying chats (i think it was yahoo chats... anyone remember that?) and play Sailor Senshi with my friends and created OCs and started writing my own manga (lol) The first actual 'story' I think I came up with was age 12-14ish? It was an self-insert OC in a Sailor Moon x Dragon Ball Z crossover universe. I posted it somewhere maybe on livejournal? And one person really liked it and we became penpals (no stranger danger just my 12 year old unsupervised ass giving out my address to randos online) and we sent each other letters and I sent her updates and we talked about the story and it was so much fun!

Actually this made me break out my memory box, a couple of USBs and my external harddrive to see what I still had saved and WOW. Its just. I found one of the letters she sent a picture FROM 2004!!! YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME LISTEN TO THIS LETTER:

Dear Anna, Hi! Greetings from Connecticut. Hope you like my drawing. It is a drawing of how i think Sailor Eternity might look like using your description of her. Hope you like the drawing..... I love your story. I am dying to know what happens when Queen Serenity goes and sees Serena and Siera. And whats more interesting, when Neo-Queen Raye sees Sabrina.... AND SHE CALLED US BEST FRIENDS?! Betmarie if you're out there...

But you see when you're a teenager, anime becomes lame so you hide it to fit in. Around this same time, my 'dream' of being a 'writer' was getting actively discouraged. It was cute when you're 12. Less so when you're 16 and looking at colleges. So i stopped drawing and watching anime and got 'adult interests' like depression, underage sex, dying my hair, hating my home town, obsessing over emo music, and overall being a self-destructive nuisance.

Anyway, the earliest 'original' fiction I can find is from 2008, and around this time things started to get really really dark. Everything I can find from around this time is... just so damn depressing. I'll spare you the details, but at a certain point I just... stopped.

And you know? I missed it like a limb. I hated that I couldn't write anymore. It felt like something was missing. But there's college, and med school, and dating and life just kinda... happened.

And then. I move across the country, alone, to start residency. I start consistently taking antidepressants. The work is hard but the time I have is my own. The sun is shining. The ocean is at my door.

And. The words come. Just sometimes. In spurts. But it feels so good, because I honestly thought I lost it. That I could never get it back. I actually wrote a blog post about it in 2019:

But for this past week I’ve been writing. Listening to music. I told Kevin about feeling so good, almost like I’m manic. But I’m not - I’m just happy. Holy shit. This is what happy feels like. My job and my self-hatred truly made me blind to it.  Sitting alone in my 1 bedroom apartment away from everyone I’ve ever known. This is what that Anna always wanted. This is the dream. Not the checkmark accomplishments that I can put on my resume. This is it.  Maybe I’ll finally take those voice lessons. Maybe I’ll buy an electric piano and try to learn. I have only one life and I just got so off track.  I can still be that person. 

So! Anna is re-exploring her interests from the before-times. Cringe is dead and joy is within reach. You know what she loved? Anime. Wow, I sure hope one of the biggest animes in 2019 isn't My Hero Academia. Oh wow, I REALLY like it. Haha. Did you see Deku vs Kacchan part 2? Hooboy. Hey did you know that there's a second my hero academia movie called Heroes Rising? We should see it in theaters! Yay fun nerdy anime time. Oh my GOD. what a movie. i have stars in my eyes. I love these kids. It would sure be a shame... if I started writing.... about them...

One month later the pandemic hit. Obviously I worked during all of it while inpatient because of my job, but otherwise, we were stuck indoors a lot. Cue Intersecting Lines. Day in and day out, for two months straight, I would write it. You see, like pretty much everybody else, i HATED unfinished fic. I promised - swore, even! - to never post something unfinished. So in May, I drop Intersecting Lines on ao3 all together. 130k of just... whatever the fuck. It was a perfect storm of everyone being online at the time, the fandom being smaller, and probably the fact that it was finished, but, for ME, it felt like it 'exploded.' Like. People were reading it. Commenting. Enjoying the OCs. Even making fanart?! I started chatting with a couple other people and reading other writers works and commenting and it became such an enthusiastic and supportive community and I've been running off that high ever since!

Intersecting Lines to My Brothers Keeper to Battle of the Bands and it was just more and more fun! Then Izuku Midoriya dropped the fuck out of UA and I'm like "!!!! HOLY SHIT. WHAT IF KATSUKI GOES CRAZY TRYING TO FIND HIM." I had essentially finished 3 very long fics, i had super supportive friends and a tiny bit of a reader base, and even though I was scared shitless about it I'm like 'bet' and Zero-Sum Game was born. I was scared to dig into those old feelings, pry open those old scars. It was terrifying. It was catharctic. It was everything.

Following it, I felt... free, in a way? Like I didn't have to be scared of writing anything anymore. Like I could do whatever the hell I wanted because I really was a 'writer.'

So here I am. Still writing whatever. I have no goals or ambitions or plans for the writing itself. I just wanna tell stories and I hope that they resonate with some people. I hope I can do this shit forever I'm so serious.

.....anyway that's my entire life story. wow. i am SO sorry lmao that was too much. i took such a detour to find all this stuff.

💌 - How do you feel about comments and feedback?

oof. just like everyone else i love them so so so much. 🥺 i actually reread them relatively frequently and LOVE it when people engage with the story itself, like the PLOT! and the THEMES! and the MOTIFS! i LOVE it when people make me think about my own work. or ask about things that i straight up forgot about. or point out a plot hole that i sheepishly have to admit i forgot about!

or that it makes people feel things! making people cry is probably the biggest compliment you can get as a fic writer. but also laughter! but also staying up until ass-o'clock reading!

even if its just a keysmash it just makes a switch flip in the brain that this is a real human being, who is reading this story, who is reaching out to me and i'm reaching out to them from words and feelings across oceans and years and experience. just seeing the 'numbers' depersonalizes it a lot, you know?

for feedback, i probably echo most other people. if i ask for it, particularly from writing friends who are qualified to give feedback, then i really appreciate it. if its unsolicited, its kinda shitty. its anime porn on a fanfiction archive - not a creative writing course or the new york bestseller list. its not that deep. i'm doing this for funsies and for free, so if my stuff isn't to someone's liking, i would kindly invite them to read something else. there is. so much. other. stuff. come on now.

okay at the end of the day, no one owes me anything. i spent years and years being a lurker and even now, having written an embarrassing quantity of fanfic, i STILL don't do a great job of leaving comments. its okay. no one should feel pressured to. its nice but not necessary.

but ALSO. i need my EGO STROKED PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE

who said that

ANYWAY. wow. this is so embarrassing I worked on this for WAYYYYYY too much time. with a huge detour to tear apart my closet for my memory box and USBs. but it was so so fun. gosh i wish i still had a copy of that sailor moon x dragon ball z crossover fic. i'm sure it was horribly cringe but YEAH, what DID happen when Neo-Queen Raye sees Sabrina?

I guess we'll never know............

[lovelyelbowleech]

HELLO!! HAIR ANON HERE!!! I’m SO SORRY this was delayed but I have been crazy busy. Mostly with good things (like graduating and getting my MA [🎉], and working out the details of starting my next MA program!!), but most recently with covid LOL. BUT THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS OF WAR GAMES HAVE BEEN KEEPING ME SANE. Or causing me to lose what’s left of my sanity (that last chapter especially). Honestly probably both at the same time 😂

Bc OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH my GOD that last chapter. I feel VINDICATED. I feel FEVERED (and not just because of the covid lmaooo). I feel YRIEIFOWHFOWHDOWUDOWHDUD. I don’t even know how to describe how I’m feeling other than CHAOTIC and OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE. My brain is fuzzy but I needed you to know this was the most hyped up I’ve been about something fandom related in over a decade. I’m glad my gf wasn’t home bc I’m not sure I would want to explain the multiple screams I let out, or the multiple honest-to-god flails that happened.

IN HONOR OF THAT some of my favorite lines:

“Zuko’s eyes were bright, even in the dim light. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to be normal. So I went with it.’” GOD. GOD. GOD. GOD. THE IMAGE THIS PAINTS. LIGHTING SOMETHING ON FIRE RN

“No, that wasn’t true. He had plenty in his head. Things like the fact that perhaps, just between him and himself, he could admit that maybe there was an attraction that he had been trying to convince himself was something else, like envy or admiration. He did maybe stare at Zuko’s muscles a little too much, and find the blushing and the way his hair was starting to flop very charming. Cute, even.” THIS…. INVENTED ROMANCE?? THE NOISE I MADE WHEN I READ THIS WAS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN A SQUEAL AND A WAIL

"’The Avatar is not a baby,’ Zuko said faintly, his eyes a little wide. ‘Not all babies are bald.’ He looked like maybe his brain had stopped working.” THIS MADE ME GIGGLE SO HARD SJDKSJDIWID ALSO THE WHOLE SCENE WHERE THEY WERE FIXING THE TENT!!! Toph, Katara, and Zuko had me in HYSTERICS, also I’m SO PROUD of Zuko’s angry stitching, good job, buddy

ALSO!!! Tu’s section was so sad and so good and so beautifully written??? I’m so worried about what’s going to happen to him and the freedom fighters. But as someone who loves your writing I’m also VERY EXCITED to see what happens with them. 😂 And omg YAY SUKI AND SHEN SURVIVING! And Shen *GETTING SOME*! I think I actually said, “YEAH, GET SOME” out loud when Shen rediscovered his dick. Good for him, man. He fucking deserves it (pun only half intended). Now I’m just desperately curious about what Azula is going to be up to in the next chapter, and which of the four groups we’re following are going to meet first 👀 I’M SO EXCITED TO FIND OUT AHHH

Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU as always for sharing your amazing writing and story with us!! I am having the time of my life reading this and I am so grateful that I get to. I’m so excited and am waiting very patiently for the next chapter. I hope you’re feeling better, and thank you so much for sharing, again!!! 💖💖💖💖💖💖

Well done for graduation and getting your MA! Sorry about the covid though, that sucks. I hope you are feeling a bit better!

Glad you enjoyed the chapter 😂😬

"also I’m SO PROUD of Zuko’s angry stitching" > I have such a strong image of what those stitches looked like, and all the rage and frustration that went into them. I might have been projecting a bit 😂

Poor Tu is really going through it, his sections are very short at the moment, but I always pack a lot of suffering into them (like Katara's were before she met back up with Sokka, lol)

Shen's been though a lot, he deserves a treat. Good thing Suki is also there to keep ragging on him and making sure he doesn't get ahead of himself 😂

Thank you once again for the amazing comment! I am glad you are still reading and enjoying! And I hope you are on the mend from the plague! ❤️❤️❤️

[allylikethecat]

my dear ally!!!!

friday’s ATKH update was so so wonderful & on a friday was equally as heartbreaking / exciting i must talk about it!!!!!

okay i am LIVING for hot & cocky fictional!george & his ability to make our sweet fictional!matty blush it is so cute and so fun lmao

the flowers???!! he brought him flowers??!!! and he was all flustered omg i could cry

also the Pop cameo??! super cute. I know absolutely nothing about horses but i love reading this fic so much bc your love and passion for horses comes through so beautifully especially with fictional!george and fictional!matty and it just makes the fic that much more genuine and enjoyable.

this chapter was so so adorable & i LOVE this insight into super cool fictional!george i just hope he keeps his romeo act up and doesn’t emotionally destroy our fictional!matty too much.

now i must dissect on a friday because OH MY GOD. I was so excited for this update it did NOT disappoint

the way you depict fictional!mattys discomfort and pain is so heartbreaking but so so good

the way this man only wants fictional!george like HELLO DUH he is the only one for you and we must make this happen!!

no but the way this genre is something i have avoided for many years & somehow i am so fully invested in this fic & this dynamic it is insane ally u are a genius and i am beyond obsessed

and fictional!george to the rescue!!!!!! i fear things r about to really kick off and i am very very excited.

you, my wonderful ally are a literary genius and you write gatty fic like no other & i thank u terribly for ur service.

also! to make this ask even more of an essay — I saw ur book discussion and just wanted to say i LOVE leigh bardugo & the ninth house/hell bent were so good - i haven’t got to the familiar yet but if you say its good i’ll have to bump it up my tbr list!!!

yours,

- 💌

AHH Hello My Dear Letter Anon! I hope you are well! I am about to write you an essay in return so buckle up!

I'm so happy that you enjoyed the new chapter of All the King's Horses! Writing a strictly happy / fluffy chapter was a new thing for me and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! The calm before the storm lol ATKH Fictional!George knows he is hot shit and has the advantage right now- plus making Fictional!Matty blush is so much fun! He's so cute all pink. Listen, no one has ever brought Fictional!Matty flowers before it was very unexpected and a lot for him to process lol Pop tried so hard to become the main character in this chapter lol I cut so much that was basically just him being cute, I was like sir this is not your story 😂 All I can say is... even if Fictional!George were to cause some hurt Fictional!Matty is tough, he's made it through worse already and unfortunately almost expects it at this point, things are starting to feel too good to be true to him at the moment...

YAY! Thank you so much for reading the new chapter of On a Friday as well! I know that ~things~ have happened and the ball is now ROLLING! Thank you so much I feel like that is the biggest compliment omg I am so happy that you're enjoying my writing style and the pain that Fictional!Matty is feeling, he wants Fictional!George SO MUCH and is so conflicted over this fact. Also thank you SO MUCH for giving it a chance, especially if it's not something that you usually read oh my gosh, I am even more honored that you're enjoying it! Hehe yes Fictional!George is on his way...

AHHH YES NINTH HOUSE FANS RISE UP I had the worst book hangover after I finished Hell Bent I was like WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE THIRD ONE ISNT OUT YET. I literally lay in bed at thinking about those books and I finished them in January lol SO GOOD Alex is like my current favorite book MC she is so fucked up and flawed but also so strong and badass? I love her and her gentleman demon. I'm about 100 pages into The Familiar so far- I'm doing a buddy read with my cousin which is fun! So far I think I am enjoying it, I'm not usually a huge Historical Fiction person but the fantasy aspect of it is interesting and I like Leigh Bardugo- I will report back once I have read more!

Thank you SO MUCH for sending me this wonderful multipart ask! I smiled so wide when I saw it! Also thank you so much for like reading my fics in the first place? You are incredible and I am so grateful! I hope your Tuesday was spectacular and that you have a wonderful rest of your week!

❤️Ally

[might-be-tiny-gt]

@tinyundercover

Ahhh I love Pepper and Felix so much and I want to throw my hat into the ring. Also thx so much cause this motivated me to update my girl’s reference sheet. Lynn is the main character of a story I’m work shopping so this reference will describe her at series start.

Age: 19

Pronouns: She/Her (Trans Fem)

Likes: Reading, Fencing, Sweets

Dislikes: Cold Temperatures, Nosy Humans, Loud Noises

Background: Lynn was born and raised as an indoor borrower with her immigrant mother and her previously outdoor father. Lynn took an interest in reading at a very young age as one of the humans in the household she lived in is an English professor. She used to sneak out while her parents went borrowing to read the books in the human’s study. She continued doing this for years and as a result educated herself in human studies. Her strongest and favorite subject is literature and critical analysis there of but she also taught herself basics in math (Up to Algebra 1), science (Middle School Level of understanding with her strongest area being Earth Science), and history (Basic understanding of world history with a stronger emphasis on American history) When she was old enough her parents started teaching her how to borrow and from that point on she would consistently join her parents on borrowing trips.

At 19, Lynn felt confident enough in her skills to leave home. Her parents sent her off and after sneaking into the human’s car, found herself at a K-12 school. Once there she settled into the walls of the school’s library. Initially keeping to herself, she noticed a human child, the same one that lives in her old house, struggling with their classwork. Wanting to help but not wanting to be seen she began to tutor him under the guise of the library ghost. She would push books off shelves, leaving sticky notes with important pages and notes to remember all without being seen. Her actions did not go unnoticed as more and more students became interested in the school’s resident ghost. Now she finds herself balancing her ghost act and tutoring several kids while also keeping her true identity a secret from more nosy humans.

Personality: The best way to describe Lynn is as a person who thinks and tries to act like they are purely logical and rule abiding, but she lets her heart and her natural curiosity justify being more lenient about said rules. Lynn prides herself on being a skilled borrower with a human’s education, the best of both worlds.The borrower code has been hammered into her brain and she will stick to it to the best of her abilities, or at least initially appear that way to others. For example, Lynn may come off as defensive and cold at first, as she has been taught to be very cautious around strangers, but spend a bit of time with her and you’ll see her for the book nerd she is. Being raised as an only child and currently living alone, Lynn would insist that she’s self sufficient and doesn’t need or care to have anyone around. Despite that in the event she encounters another borrower (after determining they are safe of course) she genuinely gets excited. Give her an excuse and she will ramble on about her favorite things over tea and whatever cookies she got from the vending machine.

In terms of borrowing Lynn has disciplined herself to be organized and practical. In her space, there is a place for everything and everything has a place. She inventories all her rations and supplies so that when she needs to borrow she has a clear list. Her primary focus will be getting her essentials as determined by her list. Anything extra or additional she deems as a want will be saved for it there is time and when it is safe. This system has given Lynn plenty in free time between borrowing and tutoring. In her free time her go to pass time is read which she will do for herself out in the open but only when the school is closed. If she has time to kill during the day you’ll probably find her sewing in her den or taking a walk to familiarize herself with the walls.

Her views towards humans are a bit odd. She still sticks to the golden rule to not actively seek out, be seen, or speak directly to humans, but she finds human fascinating nonetheless, especially their things like books and computers and tools. She’s more inclined to exploring an open space or entering a space where humans are currently but will take extra measures in those instances to remain hidden. In addition she’s not opposed to human interaction as long as it doesn’t result in being caught. (Leaving notes, making anonymous phone calls, etc)

Other Fun Stuff I Couldn’t Fit Earlier:

- She befriends the science class pet mouse shortly after moving into the school. Lynn calls him Despereaux (She doesn’t know what the humans named him) and she will free him so he can join her on borrowing trips. On weekends she’ll let him sleep in her den which he seems to enjoy.

- Her mother, Makoto, immigrated from Japan and has taught Lynn Japanese and bit about Japanese culture. Lynn’s father, Jakob, and his side of the family are of Colombian decent but it’s been so many generations that none of her living relatives really know they’re Colombian specifically. Jakob taught Lynn Spanish but their understanding of Spanish isn’t as familiar as Makoto’s understanding of Japanese.

- Jakob’s side of the family live in an outdoor colony in a park about a day’s trip away from the house Lynn was raised in. While living in the house her family would make consistent trips to the colony and see her relatives. Her grandfather is the colony leader and an apothecary. He taught Lynn basics in making medicines and and gave her a special medicine she took during her transition. (Basically my justification for Lynn to have taken borrower feminizing hormone therapy. Wooo)

- Lynn has two pins that hold her hair up that she also uses for self defense. She got certain moves from reading manga (She’s definitely a fan of Yor Forger) She also has a longer sewing needle that she will take on longer borrowing trips that she wields like a fencing sword.

I think this includes all the details :) have fun! and reach out to me if you have any questions!

[mugi-chan]

hi! I like your "vice dorm head : who are you talking to?" headcanon. may I request for the same content but with the dorm leaders Instead? thank you🖤

ლ  Tea order: Dorm heads: Who are you talking to? 

ლ  Warnings: None!

ლ Tea shop notes: I actually really love doing the vice dorm leader one, and I was actually do a dorm head one as well but you beat me to it! I decided to make it more fluffy then angst since i’m not in the mood to make angst.  I also wanted to try something new with the headcanons. I hope you like it!

Rules this rule that so much rules! Sometimes you wonder how can people from heartslabyul survive with this! Riddle isn’t so strict with rules ever since his overblot, but there are some tiny rules he’ll throw a fit about. And that’s what happened

You broke the tiniest of rules you had no idea about, Heck not even Trey or Cater knew about! Riddle was lecturing you about how “rules are important” and “we need to follow the rules” 

Yada yada all so boring 

But there was this one thing, this one thing Riddle said that to him he didn’t think would hurt you…butt it did It really hurt you

He was mid lecture when you just got up and left. Trey and Cater were surprised by this, no had ever had the guts to just get up and leave mid lecture! This made Riddle mad, he was yelling out your name and demanding you to come back But did you? nope , what riddle said was horrible and you took it really personally 

The next day Riddle was not mad but confused, what did he say to make you just leave? Was it the rule? Or was it something else? Riddle wanted to confront you about this

He saw you and Trey talking to each other, happy as a bee. When he got there he asked you a simple question “(y/n) my dear why did you leave?” No response, trey was waiting for your response but nothing, nothing at all 

Riddle asked the question one more time but still no response, “Uh (y/n) Riddle is trying to talk to you” Trey said. “Hm? What do you mean Trey-senpai there is no one here” You waved your hand around trying to prove Trey your point, and at that point Riddle just…  left 

You two will give each the other silent treatment as you are both stubborn people. It will take Trey and Cater to convince both of you to come talk to each other. Even then it would be just you two sitting there not looking at each other. Eventually you two will speak after so much convincing from Trey. 

When you two finally do talk you explained to Riddle why you were so angry at him and how it really hurt you. Riddle will apologize after realizing his mistakes, along with you as what you did was probably pretty childish

Leona can have a big mouth sometimes. He’ll say something without even thinking about it, and sometimes those words can hurt people. 

That’s what happened, you failed a test and it was really bringing you down. Jack tried to cheer you up but it was no use. You went to Leona for cuddles since normally he wouldn’t care. When you walked in you saw Leona looking out the window looking distressed. “Leona, what’s the matter?” Leona looked over his shoulder seeing you make home in his room. “Stuff, you seem pretty distressed, what’s wrong my princess?” 

You didn’t respond and just rolled around his bed, Leona just sighed and joined you on the bed. 

You eventually told him what happened about the test and all, and Leona’s response was to laugh. Laugh and belittle you for worrying so much about it. Did Leona think you would take it seriously? No, but did you? Yes 

When Leona was laughing you just got up and left almost in tears, you knew this was going to happen! Leona never really cared about school but he should at least understand your feelings about it! 

Leona didn’t think much about this for weeks. When you started to ignore him just brushed it past him. But when you didn’t come for daily cuddles now that’s the problem. He confronts you about this but gets completely donowall by you. When someone mentions that THE Savanaclaw dorm headis talking to you, you would just respond with “huh who’s that?” 

Well two can play this game. Leona ignores you as well, it was so antagonizing seeing you two not talking to each other. It takes a lot of convincing from Ruggie to even get you two in the same room. When you do get in the same room though it’s a different story. Leona would have to think about everything he said and once he pinpoint about him laughing about your test score he would apologize. Once he does you would apologize as well for ignoring him. I mean you can admit that you miss you two’s cuddle session since those were also really nice. 

But all in all you two would make up with cuddle sessions and kisses everywhere. You can explore what happens next.

Ahh yes Mr.Smartypants, he knows everything. Well at least he thought he knew everything. When you were talking about something Azul mentioned something that you told him you didn’t like talking about. When those words came out of Azul’s mouth you were shocked and angry by this. You told him you didn’t want to talk about it and yet he brought it up! 

The twins were watching the whole situation go down. Seeing your aura go from a nice happy to yeah i’m out. Which that’s what you did, you got up and left the mostro lounge. Azul called after you wondering why his wonderful (s/o) is leaving him be? But there was no time for him to think about that as more customers were coming and needed to sit and serve. He’ll just ask about this tomorrow

Well tomorrow comes and you completely ignore him. His insecurities skyrocketed, some many thoughts and questions ran through his head. What did he do? Did he say something? Did you want some privacy? What did he do wrong? But having to keep that calm and cool persona he would play along with you. A simple good morning and that’s it nothing else. It did hurt him to be so cold to you but if you're not going to communicate so will he. 

This all changes though when he waits by your class to walk with you, you didn’t even look at him and just walk right past him with your friends. Azul was even more confused and tried to catch up. He asked you a question but you completely donowall him, your friends mention that your boyfriend was trying to talk to you. Your response was simply “hm? I didn’t hear anything.” and continue walking leaving Azul alone in shock. 

Overthinking everything he came to the conclusion that you hated him, and that completely broke him. Jade mentioned why not go apologize, he may not know what he did but he can win your heart again right? 

I mean I guess it worked?? He came to your house with your favorite flowers and chocolate. When you opened the door you were about to close it but Azul quickly stopped you and apologized for everything.  He was really sincere with his apologies that you accepted it with a warm hug. 

Ahhh thank goodness was all Azul said while almost on the brink of tears hugged you back. Making sure not to crush those pretty flowers.

This poor baby boy, he accidentally talked about something you didn’t like talking about it! You mentioned to him in the beginning of the relationship what you did and did not like to talk about since it can be sensitive to you. But this poor boy was too excited to talk to you. He forgot about it and accidentally said it. The shock and horror on your face when you left the room was something that confused Kalim. Was it something he said? 

Yes yes it was, was all Jamil said when asked about it. Clearly Jamil and you talk about this as well since sometimes Kalim can forget about what you said and it’s up to Jamil to put him in his place. Once Jamil explained to Kalim what he did wrong Kalim would immediately go find you and try to apologize. 

Well you weren’t ready to see Kalim and again so when he appeared at your window with his magic carpet you just shut your curtains and went to bed. What you didn’t know is that Kalim was still waiting for you to answer. He waited like a patient puppy but had to be dragged away by Jamil. 

Next day wasn’t that good either. You were completely ignoring Kalim and Kalim was like a lost puppy following you anywhere you go. Kalim would try to talk to you and apologize for everything but you just gave him the gold shoulder. 

It took every strength in you to stay mad at him. He’s so cute and adorable. How can you be mad at him? Plus it was an honest mistake and Kalim was trying to apologize. 

Eventually you cracked and accepted his apology. A strict “please don’t say that again” is all Kalim needed before smothering you with kisses and cuddles like always.

Vil is an influencer and has to keep up his appearance. We all know that, and being Vil’s s/o you need to be either up to his standards or keep the relationship hidden. It’s hard sometimes, sometimes you just want to cuddle and love Vil. Today you just wanted to relax with Vil but sadly Vil’s busy schedule does not allow him to rest. Vil’s busy schedule stressed him out. 

You were not so confident in your appearance as much as Vil calls you beautiful and pretty it still doesn’t feel enough. Your semi self conscious and Vil stressed out cause a fume to happen. Vil nit picked you on your appearance even though you were just relaxing and not going anywhere. You even say that but Vil keeps complaining about your appearance, soon you just got too tired to fight back and left. Straight up left Vil mid rant, Vil probably didn’t even know you left until he stopped. 

Vil was offended that you would just leave him there without saying anything. The gull! He didn’t think anything wrong in what he had said, everything was true. It was just a criticism of your beauty, nothing wrong with that. At least that’s what he thought, but it had the exact opposite effect. The next day Vil acts like nothing happened which makes you really mad. You thought he didn’t care about your feelings and deeply hurted you. Now it wasn’t just about the comment he made about your appearance it’s the belief he didn’t care about you! 

Vil approached you and started a normal conversation with you not giving him the slightest attention. A cold shoulder, dono wall, whatever you want to call ignoring someone completely. Rook who is always by Vil’s side was telling you “Roi de Poison” is trying to talk to you, you just brushed him off and mumbled you had to go do something. Now this let an audible gasp from Rook as Vil looked even more offended. Fine if you want to ignore him like this so will he. Although he does that most of the time…

You two may not talk to each other for almost months until it’s just useless to stay mad at Vil forever. You just have to do what couples do, talk to each other. When you do, Vil would expect an apology from you before he ever apologized to you.  Buttt if you explain it real nicely to Vil why you were so angry about what he said he will apologize first and will actually understand sometimes. Hey most of these dorm heads are really stubborn and sometimes won’t admit their own faults. 

But Vil still love you, he may never admit it but he really does. When you ignored him the first time that really did hurt him. 

Being a Shroud is hard enough the pressure to be the perfect “heir”, some people don't even want to be near him because of his family’s name, and the meaning behind the Shroud name always looms over Idia. 

It’s so stressful but not at the same time, being an introvert means that he doesn't have to meet said people who don’t even want to be near him and can stay in his own room where he can control the setting. But recently his family has been pressuring him to start getting more serious with the family business since he is a third year and will have to decide what internship he will do as a fourth year. This started to stress him out and wearing his patience thin. 

Sadly you were there at the wrong time when Idia lost his temper, you tried to calm him down and tell him everything will be okay but that didn’t help Idia at all. He would be ranting pacing back and forth, his hair bright red in flames. You kept telling him everything is fine and that he has you. At that moment Idia snapped, spilling every single thing that he had a problem with you and how it really is annoying. 

You know he was angry and not in the right of mind but hurt, it really did. So you just quietly walked out of his room not saying a word. Idia never noticed you left until he finished ranting. He quickly realized his mistake and wanted to apologize, but reading all the mangas and playing all those rpg games he knows that you may need some time. What he didn’t know was that this time by yourself would take weeks, and those were some agonizing weeks. 

Eventually Idia worked up the courage to go apologize to you, he got his apology idea from a certain manga series was reading. As corny as it was, it was really sweet and touching but he didn’t address the situation at hand. The awful words that he said about you during his rant. So you completely ignore his apology. Ortho would ask if you're okay since Idia was trying to talk to you, but all you said was “hm? Ortho what do you mean we’re the only ones here” that shattered Idia and he sulked away all courage he had was now gone. 

Now more agonizing weeks for Idia to plan the perfect way to apologize to you. He was scanning through all his shoujo manga to find the “perfect apology” and he did! Now time to practice and put it into action. 

After some practicing he felt confident enough to do it. He saw you walking in a very empty hallway. Great! Alone time and no one will for sure interrupt you two. You walked quietly back to your dorm and when suddenly BAM and hand stopped right in front of your face. Turning to face who just slammed their hand on the wall you were met with the shy eyes of Idia. You just sighed and duck underneath his arm walking away, but you were stopped by a soft grip on your wrist. You turn to face to Idia, you were about to rip your hand out of his grip until you saw how soft and shy his face was. So you gave him a chance and Idia spilled out a heartfelt apology and explained his wrong doings and asked for your forgiveness. It was really sweet that how can you not accept his apology! He apologized for what he said and complimented you so much that it was sweet. Although you were still mad you decided to accept him back and he immediately asked if you wanted a cuddle, because he was so socially drained.

Being in a relationship is scary. Especially being with someone who is not exactly like you. That’s the problem Malleus was facing right now, he wants you to be happy and safe around him and that means he may mess up every once in a while. That’s what happened recently. Malleus was talking about something and then a topic popped up that you were uncomfortable with. 

You being shy you didn’t want to agner the prince so you quietly just left confusing Malleus. Sebek was yelling at you on how rude you were for just leaving the prince like that! But you just quietly walked away. Things didn’t escalate quickly until the next day. You were completely ignoring and avoiding Malleus every chance you got. You even started to avoid Lilia and Silver who are in fact the most reasonable ones in Diosmina. 

This action hurted Malleus feelings, he felt betrayed and was saddened by your action. He would try to talk to you or even get your attention but the avoidance by yours is making it really hard. The gaul of you to ignore THE Prince of Valley of Thorns as Sebek puts it. 

One day Sebek was really angered by this and confronted you right in front of Malleus. But all of you said was “Who’s Malleus?”. That caused a lot of reaction, everyone around you gave an audible gasp, Sebek was being held back by Silver while covering his mouth, Lilia was lowkey stifling a laugh, while Malleus looked shocked and offended. 

Malleus sulked for a little bit not knowing what to do and what he did wrong. Lilia told him about this really cheesy way to apologize he saw once in a romantic movie. Malleus practiced this for a little while and when he felt confident about he put it to action. 

He couldn’t wait for the next day and put it into action immediately. He teleported to your location which happens to be in your own bathroom. Brushing your teeth enjoying the silence, then BOOM your body was trapped between a towering figure. You looked up seeing Malleus with his shy face. “Malleus what’s wrong?” The way you said his name made him so happy. But that wasn’t the point, he lay it down on you and apologize for everything and he may not know what he did wrong and he is also growing and learning new things 

You accepted his apology and understand that he is still learning what is going on present day. You ended the day back in Malleus' rooms and cuddled with him making sure your safe and sound in his arms.

Would you like to order something? Look at our Tea shop rules first!

[caroldantops]

horny thoughts aside, how did demon!nat fall in love with r? 🧐

ahhh i’ve been saving this ask all day because i was really excited for it!!

warnings: vague mentions of homophobia (natasha takes care of it.), mild violence

demon!nat has always been a wanderer. she just moves around from place to place, spreads some bad influence, then leaves for her next destination. she doesn’t really have any huge motives, just wants to cause some chaos in her wake, whether that be a burnt down building or a trail of broken hearts. 

and you were just supposed to be one of those. she’s always liked small towns, especially small, religious towns, because there’s always, always a pretty little human who’s deeply repressed and in need of some corrupting. 

insert the contents of this post. you were only supposed to be a quick fling, a toy for her to bat around until she inevitably got bored. 

(read more bc it got long!)

but, nat doesn’t get bored. whatever, though. just because you look incredibly cute when you’re making breakfast for the two of you while wearing her clothes doesn’t mean anything. 

nat def goes through some deep deep inner conflict about the whole thing. she can’t fall in love, she’s a basically-immortal being who’s fucked her way through multiple continents since the mid-1900s (nat’s fairly young as far as demons go). she can’t fall in l*ve with this cute human who cries when they see a cute kitten! what the fuck!! 

she tries to push you away, but you’re just clearly so in love with her and you’re much less afraid of showing it. she can’t bring herself to just cut ties completely and fuck off to the next city. 

nat is also really scared, because you’ve never seen her true form. you’ve seen that she’s a demon, with horns and claws of course. but she knows that it’s inevitable that if you stick around, it’ll come out at some point.

it happens much sooner than she expected though, when the two of you are hanging out in the woods. nat is very focused on creating the perfect campfire (”it’s an art.”) and you just laugh and watch her, occasionally pulling her down for a kiss. 

much to the surprise of both of you, you hear male voices coming from nearby, and suddenly there’s a small group of drunk men from town and they catch the two of you. they’re the ones you always see glaring at you when you’re out together, and nat always just flips them off. but this time, they’re uninhibited by both the alcohol and the privacy of the woods. 

long story short, one of them throws a beer can at you, and that’s all it takes to set nat off. you’re not even sure what’s happening until it’s already done, and you just smell burning flesh and see a huge hulking beast, blood dripping from its claws where your girlfriend once was. 

“I...i’m sorry,” the beast’s voice rattles deep in your chest. it’s deeper, raspier, almost otherworldly. but it’s your nat. 

“for what?” you say when you finally find your voice. “protecting me?” 

“no,” nat shakes her giant horned head. “never that. i’m sorry you had to see me like this.” 

but you just shake your head and approach her. you don’t know what exactly she did, but the men are gone and you can see blood flecking her features. you press your forehead to her own and you can practically hear her purr at the contact. 

“you’re not scared?” you can feel the hesitance in her voice. 

“maybe a little bit,” you admit. “but i’ve always been a little scared of you. in a good way.” 

“is this still a good way?” nat puts her hand out towards you, and you audibly gasp at how big it is, touching her fingers carefully with your own. 

“yes,” you whisper. “definitely a good way.” 

[softyoongiionly]

Portraits of a Tiger || 04

Legends of a great and equally terrifying warrior nicknamed the Tiger have been emerging from your fellow villagers for quite sometime. Stories of his skill, his stealth and his supposed wickedness have been passed around to the point where he is more prophecy than person. You have lived your life with a strong sense of conviction, rarely letting gossip influence your opinion. However, you would be lying if you said that his legacy didn’t intrigue you. When the Tiger and his infamous army arrive in your village to refuel, you come face to face with the man behind the myth.

And no amount of marketplace gossip would ever be enough to capture the true complexity of his nature.

Pairing: Merchant! Reader x Warrior! Yoongi

Genre: Adventure, Romance, Smut (later), Fluff, Angst

Word Count: 8k

Warnings: language, depictions of violence both verbal and physical however they are fairly mild, mentions of war and power dynamics, there will be smut in future parts so, (18+ only please).

A/N: ahhh yes romance is in the air lads. I hope you like this new part!!! I’m having so much fun writing this series for you guys :) LOVE YOUUUUU

As always, a HUGE shoutout to my beautiful friend Rachel @bulletproofbirdy​ for her assistance with this fic. I love you sm and I hope you especially like what I’ve done with the place >:)

It’s been a few days.

Nothing of substance has happened since the night you kissed Yoongi by the river other than a clear shift in your relationship with him.  

He doesn’t treat you differently in front of the patrons at the market nor does he spare more than a glance your way when you’re delivering bread.

But every night, without fail: you meet by the river.

You speak about things that seem too heavy for the daylight: war, peace, hope, loss...

He listens to your thoughts and offers many of his own but the night always ends with his lips on yours.  

His hands moving across your body as if he’s trying to learn every inch of you.

Whilst you’d happily have him against a tree or down on the mushy floor of the riverbed, Yoongi always stops things before they go to far.

He whispers promises of a night without boundaries in a place you both can call your own.

He tells you that when the time is right, he will give you everything you deserve and more.  

You agree with him despite the desire that rages in your body.

You know it’s best to wait until things are more concrete between the two of you.  

So you part ways every time and spend the rest of the night longing for one another until sleep finally offers you momentary peace.

Until the dreams begin...

Today however, you are concerned with someone else’s dreams.

Namely, your dear friend, your original confident, the smartest gal in the world: Rachel.

After your first rendezvous with Yoongi, you had rushed over to her home and spent the better half of the night gushing about the kiss.

Of course, she had been over the moon for you and the two of you had jumped around her living room like a bunch of excited schoolgirls.  

However, towards the end of the conversation, particularly when Jungkook’s name was brought up she had grown slightly somber.

Although their interaction had been brief, the chemistry was palpable and as much you had faith in your friend’s abilities, you didn’t foresee her making a move on him.  

So- you have decided to take matters into your own hands.  

With a basket full of fresh bread, you walk down the dirt path towards their camp to begin the initial phase of your plan.  

It was unlike the members to be absent from the fields surrounding their tents but, you presume it’s because training had concluded for the day.

You expected to see Namjoon out on their bench cribbling in his journal but, there is no one to be found.

There is a bit of anxiety that comes over you as thoughts creep in of the day that this area truly is abandoned.

The day Yoongi and his battalion move on.

Deep in your gut, dread begins to grow but you force yourself to take a deep breath and focus on the objective at hand.  

You tug the bell to signal your arrival expecting Seokjin’s boisterous presence to greet you but, instead you hear a bit of shuffling before a hand slips out between the cloth to tug open the entrance.

Immediately, your heart ignites in a fit within your chest at the sight before you.

Yoongi stands there, body completely rid of his normal attire, with only a pair of tight-fitting long johns adorning his figure.

His hair is out of his usual updo and pushed away from his face, long platinum tendrils cascading down his strong chest.

“Oh- hi...” You cough as the tone of your voice is audibly strained.

He smirks, his eyes lighting up as he sees you, “Good evening. Delivery?”

A jagged nod comes from you as you extend the basket towards him, “Yes. Here you go, I added some-”

Yoongi’s lips are on yours then, interrupting your sentence, one of his hands taking the basket whilst his other hand settles on your cheek.

As usual, his lips eliminate any thought in your head unrelated to him, your body going slightly limp beneath his touch.

He lingers for a moment before pulling away, his brown eyes sparkling with satisfaction.  

“This color is beautiful on you.” He murmurs nodding to your dress and pecking your lips once more, “did you make this?”

You smile, licking the taste of him off your lips, “Thank you. My mom made it for me last spring.”

He grins, “She’s very talented.” He lifts the basket, “This is a wonderful thing to wake up to, my men are going to destroy it.”

You giggle, raising your brows, “Late night?”

“Very. We were out until sunrise.” He explains, “Much of our training is nocturnal and the forests around here allowed us to teach the new recruits some important skills; we all slept a little later than I anticipated...” He chuckles sheepishly, glancing behind him before his eyes fall upon you once more, “It’s nice seeing you in the daylight.”

You giggle, “Is it? That’s a relief, I feared that maybe the moonlight and the beauty of the river was what kept you coming back every night...”

Yoongi’s lips twitch as he adjusts the basket on his arm, “I think you know very well what keeps me coming back.”

Before you can offer another flirtatious quip, a ball of fluffy black hair shoves its way through the opening of the tent.  

It’s Jungkook and he looks as though he hasn’t been awake for more than 30 seconds.

“Hyung- is the bread...” He mumbles sleepily before his eyes widen as they spot you, “Oh- I’m sorry...” He bows his head, “I didn’t mean to interrupt. Good uh...” He squints up at the sky, his lips pouted slightly, “Good evening Y/N.”

You bow your head, offering a smile, “Good evening. You didn’t interrupt at all, I was actually looking to speak with you when you have time. I know you’ve just woken up so, I can come back later...”

Jungkook’s cheeks heat up involuntarily as he steps behind Yoongi a little more, “Alone?”

Yoongi eyes you curiously, “What do you want with the boy?”

He chuckles at his younger brother who looks both intrigued and frightened all at once.

“We don't have to be alone.” You assure him, a bit of laughter leaving your lips, “It’s about my friend-”

“Rachel?” He assumes, wide-eyed, “Is she ok?”

You smirk knowingly, “She is. I was actually going to inquire whether or not you were interested in her but, I think I have my answer.”

“Ah- “ Yoongi interjects, looking at you pointedly, “You’re here to play matchmaker for my little brother?” He looks amused, his deep gaze boring into your own as he speaks again, “Don’t you have your hands full with another endeavor?”

The depth in his tone sends a bit of electricity up your spine and, you’re thankful that Jungkook doesn’t pick up on the bit of suggestion in his voice.  

He’s hung up on your reply and aching to know more.

So timidly he says, “Is she- maybe...interested in me?”

Averting your gaze away from Yoongi, you nod towards Jungkook, “I have a feeling she’s more than interested. However, she is incredibly stubborn and refuses to acknowledge the way you look at her. So naturally-” You gesture to yourself fluidly, “I decided to come here and ask you myself.”

“Naturally.” Yoongi agrees, his lips twitching, “Well, I don’t want to intrude on your plan so-”

As he tries to retreat back into the tent, you stop him with a raised hand, “Actually. I need your help after I speak with Jungkook so, don’t go far.”

Yoongi chuckles, shaking his head, “You’re aware that I oversee a battalion of 20,000 men, correct?”

With a shrug, you gesture for Jungkook to come closer before throwing an incredulous look Yoongi’s way, “Romance waits for no one...”

“Neither does war.” He retorts with a smirk.

"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” You remind him, quoting a famous war strategist, “It won’t take long anyhow, plenty of time to return to your post, General.”

Jungkook, who has been zoning out for the last minute or so raises his brows at your tone, his lips parting in curiosity and glancing towards Yoongi.  

He doesn’t hear people quarrel with Yoongi often, even if they are joking so, hearing you speak so candidly to him causes him to wonder just how close the two of you have gotten.

If Yoongi is impressed by your knowledge, he doesn’t show it. But what he does do is raise his brows whilst his teeth secure themselves to his bottom lip.

“Make it quick.” He insists sharply despite the excitement dancing through his gaze.

Before you have the opportunity to respond, he disappears behind the curtain, leaving you alone with Jungkook.

“Hyung must really like you...” He observes softly, pursing his lips, “He isn’t the type to joke around with new people.”

Stifling a smirk, you shrug and gesture to the bench in front of their tent, “That’s a shame. Your hyung has quite the sense of humor. Now- I know you don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll make this quick.” You begin as the two of you sit, “Normally I’d like to approach a situation like this with a bit more class but to be frank, you won’t be in town long and after the way I saw you looking at Rachel, I don’t think you’ll mind my intervention.”

Jungkook blushes, his fingers coming up to tuck a piece of hair behind his ear, “Ke-Keep your voice down, I don’t want my hyungs to hear about this...” He pleads, “They’ll tease me relentlessly.”

You allow yourself the grin now, admiring how shy he is but you concede not wanting to embarrass him.

“Do you not want them to know you’re courting someone?”

He shakes his head, “No I just don’t want them to know until I speak with her first. I know you say she’s interested but- I'd still like to hear it from her.  My hyungs will pester me about it constantly and if she ends up rejecting me, I don’t really want to be reminded about it.”

“I understand.” You concede, “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I’m sure I’ve never seen her behave this way around a man before. It’s unlikely she will reject you...”

“Still-” He insists, the color on his cheeks deepening, “it's possible. I never assume people’s opinions of me.”

It’s very odd, you think, here is this fine specimen before you: handsome, experienced, talented, respected and yet- he doesn’t seem to see himself that way.

Sounds a lot like someone else you know...

“That’s probably best.” You smile, warming up to him rather quickly, “You are interested in her though, aren’t you?”

He bites his bottom lip in thought before nodding, a bit of shyness in his eyes, “I am yes. Though I’m not totally sure how you figured it out based on our limited interaction. I’ve only spoken to her once- and I made a fool of myself.”

You giggle, “Yes but, you saw her for the first time in the plaza, didn’t you? She stopped you right in your tracks.”

His toffee orbs widen, “How did you-?"

A smirk comes over your mouth as you once again shrug at his question, “My job requires me to be very observant.” You reply, “People often say more with their movements than their words.”

“Hey!” He grins, showing off his perfect teeth, “I think that too! Well- that's something Yoongi-hyung taught me. I’m trying to get better at it but, I find it harder to observe people I don’t know. Strangers make me nervous...”

His sudden warmth makes you happy as you didn’t really expect him to be this bubbly but, you’re happy he’s comfortable with you given your intentions behind this conversation.  

If he’s courting your friend, he’s courting you too.

“You could have fooled me.” You retort, “I saw the way you handled the clan leader...when I came by your tent, I was anticipating on meeting someone very different.”

Jungkook chuckles, “I get that a lot. I rarely live up to people’s expectations of me- I think that’s one of my strong suits. Aside from my brute strength obviously.”  

“Yes of course, we mustn't forget about that...” You concede, laughing lightly along with him, “So back to Rachel then- you plan on courting her yes?”

He shifts on the bench, his tan fingers coming up to adjust his peasant blouse, shyness returning to his features, “I would love to. She-” He pauses, looking away from you, his eyes deepening in thought, “Aish...she really is something isn't she?”

At his question, you smirk and allow warmth to fill your chest, “Now where have I heard that before.” You muse allowed, “I could facilitate a meeting between the two of you? Although- I will likely have to tell a teensy white lie because, if I warn her that you wish to meet with her- she would probably combust on the spot. Also, I doubt she would believe me...”

He smirks fondly, nibbling on the inside of his cheek before his brows furrow, “Why wouldn’t she believe you? She must know how desirable she is right?”  

“Certainly not. She has no idea. Which is why I finally decided to take matters into my own hands.” You explain, propping your chin on the palm of your hand, “Rachel is a brilliant woman. She could easily run a small country if the opportunity was presented to her but, she has no concept of how wonderful she is.”

Jungkook pouts his lips, “I was certain she knew. How could someone that beautiful not understand their own beauty?”

You raise your brows, “Do you recognize yourself as desirable?”

He snickers, “Don’t be silly. I might be a suitable partner because of my status as a warrior but, I don’t think there is much else I have to offer. That’s what has me so worried...what if you’re wrong about her desire for me?”

With an incredulous look, you shake your head in disbelief, “The two of you amaze me. You’re so brilliant and yet- so foolish at the same time. I assure you; you have plenty to offer. The women in this village nearly faint every time you pass- quite frankly, you are incredibly handsome with an unusual amount of talent and-”

Jungkook is smirking, pleased with your response as he interrupts you, “I thought you were interested in my hyung Y/N-” He teases and snickers as you roll your eyes.

“That is neither here nor there.” You insist, “The point is, the courtship is worth pursuing because I believe it will go well. So I came here to suggest a plan...”

“What is your plan dear matchmaker?” He chuckles, folding his hands and resting them on the table.

“My plannnn is-” You draw out the word before leaning in closely and divulging your ideas.

You are elated when he agrees and feel slightly giddy at the thought of your dear friend meeting up with the potential love of her life.

Romance certainly is in the air.  

The plan is set in motion after a few more moments of talking and the conversation ends with Jungkook eagerly rushing back to his tent to prepare.

Feeling satisfied with your healthy dose of meddling, you brush your dress off and start towards the exit of the camp.  

However, the deep voice of your suitor stops you in your tracks, sending butterflies directly into your stomach.

“Leaving without a goodbye?” Yoongi calls softly, departing from his tent.

You turn with a smile on your face to see him fully dressed in his training attire: fitted black pants and a matching tunic, his sword strapped faithfully to his hip.

“I figured I caused enough havoc amongst your battalion today. Besides, I wasn’t sure if you’d be dressed and I didn’t want to disturb you.” You explain, your hands sliding down to play with the fabric of your dress.

“If havoc is putting a ridiculous smile on my brothers face than please feel free to wreak havoc anytime you wish. I have dreaded the day where I’d have to convince him to go after his potential partner and you’ve gone and lifted that responsibility from me.” He explains, stepping towards you a bit more “He says his meeting with her tomorrow evening?”

“If all goes well.” You reply, your face heating up in light of his presence, “My plans usually play out successfully.”

“I have no doubts about that.” He chuckles, his feline gaze glancing behind you momentarily before returning back to your face, “Will I be seeing you tonight?”

Pretending to toy with the idea, you narrow your eyes and place a finger on your chin, “I suppose its possible, if you aren’t too busy with your duties here...”

“My duties?” He places a hand on his chest, stepping closer to you once again, “If anyone were to be tied up with their duties, I imagine it would be you. Being a full-time apothecary is enough but, now you’ve gone and taken up matchmaking as well.” Yoongi’s eyes glint as he stares at you, “You never have to concern yourself with whether or not I’ll have time for you...”

You resist the urge to throw yourself at him, frustrated by the effect he has on you.

“Then I suppose you will see me then.”

He grins, “Good.”

For a few seconds, the two of you stew in silence before the need to kiss him becomes too much to bear and you take the steps necessary to wrap your arms behind his neck and place your lips against him.

You can hear his sharp intake of breath as you do, his hands securing themselves at the base of your back.  

The movements of the kiss escalate quickly, and you find yourself forgetting that you’re stood in the middle of a military camp, where anyone could walk out and see you both canoodling in the courtyard.

Yoongi seems to realize this too as he pulls away with heavy breath and hesitation all over his face.

“My my my...” He murmurs, shaking his head, “You really have no regard for my well-being do you?”

His light scolding causes you to giggle which in turn breaks the disapproving expression on his face.

“I’m trying to improve your well-being actually.” You insist, your fingers toying with the tendrils of hair at the back of his head, a dreamy smile on your mouth.

He raises his brows, “Oh? How do you figure that?”

Before you can reply, the rustling coming from behind Yoongi pulls you out of your conversation.

The rest of his battalion have seemingly woken up and are beginning to flock to the courtyard in preparation for their training.  

Glancing behind him, Yoongi sighs before turning back to you reluctantly, “Tonight?”

You offer him a smile and step back out of his grip, “Tonight.”

He takes your hand and brings it to his lips, placing a kiss on the back of it before heading off to his men.

Tonight now seemed a century away despite the fact that the sun was already heading off towards the horizon.  

-The next day-

Your night with Yoongi followed the similar structure that it usually does.  

Deeping meaningful conversation, playful banter, difficult questions and well, a healthy dose of unresolved lust.  

He asserts the end to your displays of affection every time, offering the same words of comfort.

You’re fine with this of course.

You’d never want him to do anything he didn’t want to do, and you’d certainly want the first time you were intimate to be special.

However, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t feeling dejected.

It’s not because Yoongi says it’s not the right time or that he doesn’t think the two of you were ready.

You respect him and his choices completely and would never attempt to coerce him beyond his initial responses but...

You are beginning to feel alone in your desire for him.  

For you, there has never been another to ignite such a powerful response within you.

You’ve never wanted anyone so badly.

It makes you feel insane and yet, here he is, so calm in his demeanor and easily able to refuse any opportunity to sate your hunger for one another.  

It’s very silly, you think, he is clearly interested in you.

He makes that very obvious.

And yet, you can’t help but feel confusion.  

He wouldn’t be in your village for much longer and soon enough you’d have to say goodbye for a length of time you’d rather not assign numerical value you to.

You wish you understood his intentions more and at the same time, you wish you were able to quell your desire for him.  

You did feel alone in that way.

Yoongi was an incredible, multi-faceted man with seemingly thousands of years’ worth of knowledge behind his eyes. He was open and yet so secretive all at once and because of that, you couldn’t understand why he behaved this way.

The two of you would intentionally rile each other up only for him to put a stop to things every time.

But it’s almost as if this was part of his plans with you all along.  

And you just couldn’t understand why.

So naturally, you end up running to the person who always keeps you grounded for advice: Rachel.

Although, after your conversation with Jungkook yesterday, you have multiple reasons for paying your friend a visit.

“He stopped things again before they went too far and-“ You sigh, looking down at her hands that secure a warm mug of tea, “I feel a little strange about it. I’m starting to feel like maybe he doesn’t desire me the way I desire him...”

Rachel is sat across from you on her sofa as she usually is, her legs tucked up on the cushion.  

She takes a sip of her tea before her brows furrow in disagreement as she shakes her head, “I sincerely doubt that. He was very, um...excited wasn’t he?”

He was, you think, and he usually is but that only adds to your confusion.

“I don’t know...” You groan, “...he says he is but- he keeps saying it’s not the right time. I’m worried I may be too lustful towards him; I’m wondering if it’s off putting.”

“He does not seem the type to play games. If he says it’s not the right time...he must have a right time in mind?” She suggests before looking at you pointedly, “And I don’t believe you are being lustful. Even if you were, what’s wrong with that”

Nothing.

Nothing is wrong with being lustful as long as you are being respectful which you can honestly say you are but, the insecurity you’re feeling is contributing to a bit of shame within you.

“I’ve never wanted anyone this way, I feel like I’m going mad. He seems so calm and collected and yet- here I am, flustered and confused. I’m used to having a handle on my emotions I guess and I wish I knew how he was able to keep himself so composed.” You ponder the end of her question, “There is nothing wrong with being lustful. I just don’t know if he feels the same if it’s so easy for him to control himself around me...”

Rachel nods along, her bright eyes listening intently before she pauses to think, “You know, you have to remember he is a ten-year veteran and the leader of the most elite military force in our country. He has so much control and discipline applied to himself in all areas, I can’t imagine he would be able to easily relinquish that control. Especially with someone he has so much affection for. I am certain it is not easy, merely well-practiced”

She has a point but then again, she usually does.  

You bite your lip, turning your attention to the fabric of the chair, picking at it, “You’re right. I suppose I’m being a little immature about this...I should just be more patient.”

It’s decided in your mind that you should move on to the other reason you came to visit her this evening: a deceitful conversation with a much happier ending.

“By the way, what are you doing this evening?”

She’s stood up now and striding over to the kitchen, rubbing your arm as she passes you, “You are not immature at all! I’m confident your general is worth the patience.” She assures you with a wink before she thinks to herself once again, “I don’t have anything in particular planned, why do you ask?”

You giggle at her wink and follow her with your eyes as she heads over to make herself another cup of tea, “I have a favor to ask you- that goes beyond our mutual agreement to keep each other sane.”

Rachel snickers and shakes her head, “I don’t know if there is much hope for our sanity but what do you need?”

You smile but it doesn’t totally reach your eyes, your mind annoyingly still occupied elsewhere, “You make a good point.” You concede before brightening your expression intentionally, “I had a customer today that inquired about the type of material the village school covers for children ages 3-5. They are considering enrolling their child this year and wanted to speak with a teacher. I was hoping you would be able to meet with them? I told them to stop by the school and speak with someone but I was hoping that someone could be you because you’re so experienced.”

Rachel brightens at the mention of a new student “Oh really? I would be happy to meet with them! At that it’s primarily playing games, reading stories and singing songs but I have a lovely little bunch of students that age already!” She cheers, clapping in front of her chest, excitedly.

Her joy is infectious, and you can’t help but grin despite your knowledge that she would certainly not be receiving a new student; you almost wish that she was though.  

“Great! Well they should be around right before sundown. I gave them your classroom number and a bit of background on you and the school.”

“Oh my goodness! That’s not far off...well I have to bring in the dried flowers for tomorrow’s art lesson anyway...oh and where did I put the new wax pencils. Did you see where I put them?” Rachel abandons her cup of tea on the counter and begins puttering around in the baskets on her kitchen table, completely distracted.  

You spot what she’s looking for and hold up set of pencils setting on the end table, “They’re right here..” You call, turning in the chair to hand them to her, “I would wear that blue dress of yours too, it’s very complimentary.” With this suggestion, you can’t help the glint in your eyes that shines through the bit of sadness still present there, “Well- thank you for your words of wisdom. I’m probably going to take a break from the river tonight, so I’ll be home if you need me for anything. I have no doubt that tonight will go wonderfully though...”

“Oh there they are!” She chirps, taking them from you before looking down at her current outfit, “I suppose I should change, I certainly look a bit of a mess...” She pauses then to look you, noticing the glimpse of sadness in your eyes. “Don’t hold yourself back from love, Y/N. Your general is certainly just as passionate about you. I would bet all the gold in the kingdom on it!”

The excitement and certainty in her tone is almost enough to pull you out of your funk but, the stubborn naysayer in your head has different plans.  

“No you don’t, you look wonderful! I just love the blue one on you.” You insist, before crossing your arms and slumping back against the chair, “I am not holding back, I’m just- trying to be reasonable I suppose. His passion is clearly controlled, and I guess I should work on controlling mine as well...” You explain matter of factly with a pout on your lips.

Rachel matches your pose as she steps around the chair to look directly at you, unconvinced, “Mmhmm. Perfectly reasonable.” She drawls sarcastically before chuckling when you attempt to kick your foot at her.  

“I am!” You assert, trying to hold back a smile, “I’m just some silly little girl fawning over the man of my dreams while he gets to CALMLY walk away like us canoodling against a tree doesn’t affect him- and I feel foolish for desiring him so much when he’s able to do so.”

Rachel lets out a cackle your display of frustration. “You are NOT a silly little girl. A silly grown woman? Maybe," She giggles, “but I am CERTAIN he wouldn’t have to address this “right time” so often if he didn’t desire you. Do what makes you feel powerful! But don’t play games with the poor Tiger’s heart needlessly...from what you have said he is a much gentler man than we’ve given him credit for. “Though,” She tilts her head, her hand coming up to fuss with her hair,  “you certainly shouldn’t seek advice from me. I spent the day with paste in my hair without realizing.”

Your pout deepens, “I would never play with his heart... I’m going insane with desire over here and he gets to be all collected like ‘when the right time comes- I promise you it will be worth the wait’ and oh look at me, I’m extremely handsome and I can just kiss passionately for minutes on end without going further...” You grumble haphazardly before you hesitate slightly, “Well I’m not sure what him being handsome has to do with it but you get my point.” A smile threatens your features even more when she mentions her hair, “Paste is all the rage darling, you are simply fashion forward. Besides- I have a feeling this uh- new student of yours will look out for you.”  

Rachel hugs herself as she laughs at your little outburst, “It has EVERYTHING to do with it! You know it does-” She accuses playfully, “I do get your point though. I’m certain you will meet again...and say what’s on your mind! You are much better at that than I am anyway.” Rachel’s face is full of hesitation then, shaking her head, “Most of my students “look out for me” by piling dandelions on my desk and leaving goopy handprints on my clothes...I hope this new student is sweet.”

A smirk plays on your lips then, dropping your other topic of conversation, “I’m sure they will be, their parents seemed nice enough...”

”Oh really?!? Do you know anything about them? Should I bring anything along? Are you sure they want to see me? Should I get going?!” She babbles excitedly, glancing towards her front door.

Her eagerness serves as your cue to head out, your stomach brewing with hunger, nerves and excitement.

You couldn’t wait to hear how tonight will go for her.

“It is almost sundown so I suppose I should get going...” You concedes with a sigh before offering her a genuine smile, patting her shoulder as you head towards the door, “Just bring your lovely self, they are very eager to meet you.”

“Okay, if you’re certain!” Rachel smiles, gathering a collection of dried flowers into a basket before heading for the door with you, “If you change your mind and go to the river after all YOU HAD BETTER TELL ME!”

“You look amazing-” You promise as you step past her through the doorway, “I have a feeling you’ll have more to tell me the next time we meet but I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

Rachel looks confused for a moment before merely shrugging it off, leaning in to press a kiss to your cheek, “Okay then, I’m off! I love you ok? Hang in there...”

You embrace her shortly unable to help the growth in your smile, “I love you too. I wanna hear about the meeting tomorrow ok?”

She agrees happily, already bounding off towards the schoolhouse, a basket of flowers in her hand.

Despite the uncertainty you may feel about your own romantic life, you are filled with joy at the thought of your dear friend starting a fairytale of her own.  

Even though she has absolutely no idea...

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

Rachel arrives at the schoolhouse just before sundown, using her master key to unlock the heavy oak door of the main entrance before heading off to her classroom.  

The windows surrounding the exterior of the schoolyard allow for the different hues of the sunset to stream in thorough the glass, providing a beautiful stroll down the hallway.

Rachel feels optimistic as she opens up the door, immediately setting the basket of flowers on a nearby desk and lighting the various lanterns around the room.  

The sun would be up for another half an hour or so but, Rachel was unsure as to how long this meeting would go so a little extra light wouldn’t hurt.

Since she doesn’t have a concrete time of arrival, she decides to busy herself with a bit of prep work and light cleaning for the next school day. She figures that if a parent were to walk in on her likes this, it might add to their overall impression of the school.  

A teacher’s work is never done.

After roughly 40 minutes or so, Rachel is beginning to worry that this parent potentially changed their mind. That is until, a light knock sounds on the outside of her door.

“Come in!” She calls brightly, standing up from behind her desk.

She has no expectations for what her visitor might look like as she honestly hadn’t even considered it since you asked her this favor. However, the man who walks in through her door most certainly is not who she would have ever expected.

Because the man who just walked in, is Jungkook.

Tall, strong, doe-eyed, shaggy haired, WARRIOR Jungkook...

The terror cub himself has now found his way inside her classroom.  

And she is both terribly confused and terribly excited all at once.

“Good evening,” She chokes out, smoothing her hands down the front of her dress, “Forgive me but- you're not the person I’m meant to meet with are you? Did you see any folks outside, looking a bit lost perhaps?”

Jungkook looks terrified but he steps inside nonetheless, one of his hands positioned awkwardly behind his back.

“Uh- Hi, I mean- Good evening mam...” He bows before her, “Um...” He shuffles forward a bit, his eyes scanning the room for a moment, “Heretheseareforyou.” Jungkook rushes out, shoving a bouquet of fresh daisies onto one of the empty desks, his eyes averting Rachel’s very confused expression, “I am the person you’re meant to meet actually...”

Rachel gasps to herself as she spots the daisies, her heart immediately picking up in her chest, “Oh! Oh goodness thank you, that’s very kind of you...” She smiles, her hands seemingly frozen in place at the front of her dress, “I’m- I’m so confused I apologize. Do you have children?”

He shakes his head, his floppy black hair following the motions. He is dressed in a pair of tan linen pants and a rather tight-fitting white peasant blouse, the golden expanse of his chest on full display, his feet tucked into a pair of leather boots. Rachel does her best to ignore how good he looks but, he makes it very difficult.

“No I don’t.” He answers, cringing slightly at the juvenile nature of this situation, “You know Y/N right?”

Rachel giggles, the sound a little higher pitched than usual, “I do yes. We’ve been friends since we were children...”

“Heh yeah, sorry I knew that but uh- so Y/N...” He begins, his hands coming up to assist in his explanation, “She paid me a visit earlier and suggested that...welll- She suggested that I pay you a visit.”

“Oh well- is everything alright? Are you in need of my assistance?” She inquires softly, her face decorated with concern.

Jungkook’s chest is filled with warmth at the sight of her unease, feeling very lucky to be the object of her concern.

“Everything’s ok I just- I wasn’t sure how to go about speaking with you.” He hesitates, feeling a bit of discomfort as he tries to find a way to explain his presence here, “I know you’re a very busy woman and I wasn’t even sure if you’d even want to speak with me which- by the way, if you’re uncomfortable with my presence, please let me know. I don’t want to be a bother...”

Rachel shakes her head instantly, her hands coming up to stop him from continuing that train of thought, “No- no not all! I mean-” She clears her throat, “You aren't a bother at all, I would love to speak with you. Although, forgive me- I'm a little confused as to what you’d like to speak about. Is it the school? Are you interested in meeting with the students?”

Jungkook grins softly and shakes his head, “No mam. I mean- I wouldn’t be opposed to meeting with them but, I am more interested in meeting with you...”

She gulps, her eyes widening a bit as she places a hand to her chest, “Me?”

He bites his lip and Rachel swears she sees a sparkle in his eyes as he steps closer to her.

“Yes mam. I uh-” His throat bobs with his own uncomfortable swallow as he shoves his hand in the pocket of his pants, pulling out a piece of crumbled parchment, “ I have travelled many miles. I have seen the mountains, the ocean and the forest. I have seen the sun in east and the moon in the west. I have seen the royal palace and all the riches it contains. I have seen all a man would need to see in his lifetime and yet, I have never felt complete until my eyes fell upon your face.”  

Comically, Rachel’s mouth has fallen open, her face colored with shock.  

Her heart seemingly freezes in her chest as Jungkook’s nervous gaze leaves the parchment and gazes up towards her.

“I wrote this when I was 17.” He begins sheepishly, “I promised myself that I would read it for the woman who captured my heart...”

Rachel inhales shakily, a slight sting in her eyes as emotion overcomes her.

“But you just read it to me...”

He chuckles warmly, his hand tucking a bit of hair behind his ear, “I did.”

“Am I-?” She begins but Jungkook cuts her off, stepping towards her a bit more.

“I know it’s a bit much isn’t it? I’ve never been very good with subtly and with my departure looming in the background, I couldn’t help but confess to you while I still had time. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and your existence makes me warm. I haven’t felt warmth like this before and I- I guess I just wanted to see if I had a chance at courting you...”

Rachel finally closes her mouth for a moment only to cover it with her hand.  

She’s in complete disbelief that this is happening, but she responds nevertheless as best as she can.

“You- you have more than chance, you have a million chances I- oh wow, I feel a little faint goodness gracious...” She sighs, fanning herself as she leans against her desk, “I don’t understand...”

He rushes over to her then, a look of concern on his face, “Are you alright? Do you need some water or something?”

She shakes her head, letting out a shaky breath at the close proximity between them, immediately noticing the way he smells like amber and rosemary.

It warm, just like he is.

“I’m ok, I just-” She looks up at him, “I honestly cannot believe you feel this way about me. I’m just a schoolteacher, I probably have paste in my hair...and you’re a warrior I- I'm confused.”

Jungkook snickers, tilting his head to the side as he spots the bit of paste still clinging to the end of her hair. With gentle fingers, he reaches out and extracts the bit of dried gunk from her hair, discarding it on the desk, “You are not ‘just’ anything. You are bright and warm. Your duty lies with educating the children and I believe that to be far nobler than what I do. Please don’t sell yourself short, especially not on my account.”

Subconsciously, they seem to lean into one another, Rachel’s nerves dissipating slightly, “So then, you said you wish to court me yes? How- how do you intend we do this?”

He purses his lips, “Well,” He tilts his head to the side, “I would love to have dinner with you. I know that there aren’t many eateries in the village but-”

“I can cook for us!” She chirps happily cause his grin to broaden, “I know a spot we can eat, it’s really beautiful and it’s private for the most part.”

Jungkook is bursting with fondness, nodding eagerly at her suggestion before turning around to grab the flowers, “That sounds wonderful. Are you available tomorrow, same time?”

“Yes! I mean-” She clears her throat as the volume of her voice escapes her, “Yes, yes I’m free. I can meet you at the plaza?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll meet you anywhere you’d like...” He nods and haphazardly pushes the flowers in her direction, “Here, I picked these for you. I’ll pick more tomorrow as well- do you have a favorite? I hope daisies were alright...I’m not familiar with the flora around here.”

She smiles brightly, accepting the flowers graciously, securing them to your chest, “These are perfect! I love wildflowers, really anything that grows along the east part of the river...” She muses thoughtfully, “Daisies are some of my favorites as well. I’m sure Y/N told you that though...” She giggles but Jungkook shakes his head.

“She didn’t actually. I suppose it was just a lucky guess.” He smiles before stepping back slightly, fiddling with his hands now that they are empty, “So tomorrow then?”

With another rapid nod she responds, “Yes, tomorrow.”

“Great! Well uh-” He hesitates, glancing longingly towards her lips before extending his hand, “May I?”

With a harsh swallow and a shaky hand, she obliges, sticking her hand out towards his.

As if she were made of glass, Jungkook carefully raises her hand to his lips before placing a chaste kiss over the ridges of her knuckles, “Until tomorrow...”

“Until tomorrow.” She squeaks, covering her mouth once more.

He bows his head, offering another devastating grin before leaving the classroom.

With a hefty sigh, Rachel stares at the door in disbelief.

“It seems as though my dear friend isn’t an apothecary but a criminal mastermind...” She muses to herself, her cheeks on fire as she giggles to herself, “Huh, you think you know people.”

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

You decided shortly after your meeting with Rachel that you would in fact be going to the river because, regardless of your uncertainty: you still wanted to see Yoongi.  

“Something is troubling you...” He notes the moment he steps out from behind the trees, dressed down in a pair of black pants and a longer gray linen robe to ward of the slight chill in the air.

“What makes you say that?” You challenge with a grin, your heart fluttering as soon as you see him, “I’m just hoping my plan is playing out as I’d hoped...”

“Ah-” He lifts a finger, “I recall you saying that your plans play out relatively well. Also, you and I both know that my brother and your friend are smitten over one another so- I find it hard to believe your thinking so hard about a clear victory.”

You bite your lip, unsure of what to say next as Yoongi has so clearly seen right through you.  

“We don’t get much time together; it would be a waste to spend it discussing the internal monologue going on inside my head.” You joke, stepping towards him.

He clicks his tongue, “Now see- that is where you’re wrong. It was your internal monologue and your resulting opinions that drew me to visit you in the first place. The other talents your lips have are merely a bonus.” He smirks but his eyes hold some degree of concern, “I want to know what’s on your mind Y/N...no matter how insignificant you may find it.”

Yoongi’s sincerity draws you out of your shell, your heart picking up slightly at the thought of discussing your feelings.

“It’s silly...” You warn him causing him to chuckle.

“Good, I could use a bit of silliness after today.” He promises with a grin but his laughter dissipates as he notices even the slightest bit of distress on your face, “Your thoughts aren’t silly Y/N, at least not to me. I’d really like to hear what you’re thinking.”

Gnawing on your bottom lip, you take a deep breath and muster up the courage to be honest with him, “What are your intentions with me?”

He tilts his head, stepping closer to you after your question, face decorated with curiosity, “Which intentions are you referring to?”

You feel yourself growing nervous under his gaze but, you stay strong anyway and push through, “All of them- I suppose. It’s just that, I’m having difficulty...I’m-”

The hesitation in your features concerns Yoongi and he can’t help but quell the distance between you, taking your hands gently in his own.

“My girl- what's troubling you like this? Have I upset you?”

He’s tilting his head, trying to find your gaze as you look down at where your hands are connected.

His question causes you to look up at him, lips parted as you shake your head.

“No, no of course not.” You assure him, entwining your fingers with his, “I just- oh I promise you it’s going to sound silly...”

Yoongi chuckles incredulously, gently shaking your hands in his grip, “Y/N, darling please tell me what’s on your mind. I promise you I won’t find think it’s silly.”

Your heart sings at the pet name he gives you, taking a momentary break from it’s uneven rhythm, “I’ve just been wondering why you haven’t...well, why we haven’t- why we haven’t been intimate.”

Yoongi’s chest tightens with realization, his grip on your hands tightening ever so slightly before taking a deep breath, “There is nothing silly about that at all.” He assures you with a gentle smile, his eyes shifting from your hands to your face and back again whilst he tries to come up with a response, “It’s a perfectly normal thing to be curious about, especially considering how often we kiss. To be quite honest, my reasoning is probably what will end up sounding silly to you...”

“I don’t think it will, I just want to understand where your head is at because,” You sigh, looking into his eyes, “sometimes I feel alone in how much I desire you and I thought maybe if I got an idea where your head is at, I could understand why you always stop things before they go too far.”

At this, Yoongi raises his brows, “You think you’re alone in the desire to take me to bed?” He confirms, his voice deepening, a ghost of a smirk on his lips, “And here I thought you were clever...”

With a pout to your lips, you playfully tug your hands out of his grip causing him to chuckle before capturing them once again, “I am clever! Clever people get confused all the time, besides you just said this was a perfectly normal thing to be curious about.”

He laughs still and nods, guiding your hands up to his shoulders, “Yes I did. However, I was referring to you wondering why we haven’t gone to bed together yet, not you wondering whether or not I wanted to take you to bed. That IS silly...”

“It’s not though...” You insist, a shiver running down your spine as he slides his freed hands around your waist, “You always seem so composed. We’ll have been kissing for what feels like forever and then- you stop us. Which is ok of course but, I just don’t fully understand why.”

He hums thoughtfully with a smirk still on his lips as he pulls you closer to him, “My composure is an illusion Y/N. My job requires me to have complete control all of the time, especially in the face of an enemy...”

Scoffing, your pout deepens at the end of his sentence, “Oh so I'm your enemy now? Gee Yoongi, I’m so glad I decided to share this with you- I feel much better now.”

Yoongi laughs heartily at your sarcasm before leaning in and pressing a kiss to your forehead, “You are an enemy to my composure darling- you are just refusing to realize that.”

His kiss causes your heart to sing with satisfaction, despite the fact that you are trying very hard to focus on pouting.

“Even if that were true...I still feel silly for how much I desire you.”

He quells the playfulness between the two of you then, one of his hands coming up to cup your cheek, “You are not silly, and you are not alone. My entire world has shifted because of you. I think you’d be shocked if you knew how much you occupied my thoughts.” He assures you, placing another kiss on your forehead, “However, that isn’t the answer to your question is it? You’re wondering why we haven’t gone to bed together despite how much we desire each other.”  

“Yes.” You murmur, leaning against his hand, “If you have any insight on this general, please provide a briefing...”

He smirks fondly, brushing his thumb over your cheek, “You really have no idea how much I want you. I don’t think I could possibly explain it. Because of that, I want to wait until I can give you everything I have. Right now I- I simply can’t.” He admits, a bit of sadness now in his tone, “I want to wait until I have a proper villa, until I don’t have to worry about leaving at dawn to continue training, until I can stay underneath the sheets with you, until I can spend hours pleasing you- without the threat of war in the back of my mind. You deserve a man with no distractions, right now- I'm just not that man yet.”

His explanation makes perfect sense and you feel a bit of guilt for ever wondering how he felt about you in the first place but before you’re able to comment on his words, he speaks again.

“But please- please don’t think that means I don’t desire you.” He whispers, smiling softly whilst he places yet another kiss to your forehead. Letting his lips linger there, he sighs hopelessly, “One day, when I am finally free of my duties- I will spend days memorizing your skin with my lips...” He begins kissing his way down the bridge of your nose, puckering his lips gently as he does. He bypasses your lips however and uses his hand to tilt your head to the side, give him access to your neck, “I will memorize every bump,” He kisses your skin, “every curve,” Kiss “every line,” Kiss “every scar,” Kiss “every spot that gives you pleasure.” He inhales softly through his nose when he hears you gasp, your hands tightening on his shoulders, “Will you wait for me darling? Will you wait until I can give you my soul? My heart is already yours, I just need a little bit longer....”

You’re already nodding, certain with your response despite how much his presence is currently affecting you, “I’d wait for you forever, General Min.”

You can feel him grin against your neck, “I only need six months...” He chuckles, his laughter increasing as you playfully smack his back. “Then I’m yours forever.”

At his amendment, you smile and kiss the side of his head, “Forever sounds nice.”

Yoongi sighs, sliding his hands across your back to pull you into his embrace, “Forever it is then.”  

[na-ta-sh-aa]

AHHH everything was so perfect!! The necklace, Natasha and Mickey, her discovering that her father was a pirate, Bradley knowing it, Jake calling her Guppy and he had always been aware of her true identity. I need to catch my breath because it's all been so exciting!

“There’s nothing more important to a sailor than the north star herself. Every man worth his salt knows that much. No, the gem holds an ancient magic. A magic to calm the sea and guide men to what it is they need most.”

I really liked this part, I loved the detailed way you wrote the story behind the necklace. And the fact that Jake has it now makes me think of so many things!

“Bradley,” you hissed at him. Bradley swallowed thickly. “She’s a woman.” “Yeah”

Bradley seemed a little absent here. Is it because he was surprised that she was a woman or maybe something else?😏

“But Jake doesn’t really care who is crew is made up of as long as they carry their own weight and don’t cause any problems.”

The presentation of Natasha and Mickey was truly beautiful. I really appreciated this detail about Jake, who is not superstitious like the others, he doesn't care if there is a woman on board as long as she is worthy.

“It’s not every day you meet the kid of one of the greatest pirates known to man.”

Poor Guppy, at that moment she must have felt as if she were dying inside. Finding out something so important about her father couldn't have been easy at all.

“You knew, and you didn’t tell me.””He didn’t want you to know.”

Ooh and Bradley knew it. I think she feels even more betrayed not only by Bradley but also by her father that he told Bradley and not her. But I think both Maverick and Bradley acted in good faith and did so to protect her. But now I wonder how long it will take Guppy to forgive Bradley, I hope she does it soon.

The whole part where Jake and Guppy were together on the main deck my heart was pounding, it was so intense!

“How much did you have to drink down there tonight, Guppy?”

My suspicions were correct, Jake knew it all along! The thing I really liked was that he remembered her nickname🥹

“Since you walked up to the ship behind Rooster, sweet girl. You think I’d just forget a pretty face like yours?”

In fact, from how he seemed to have already noticed her beauty and been completely fascinated by her the night before, I doubt that a hat and trousers could fool Jake. But at least Bradley and Guppy tried. He was too attentive and interested not to notice it, but I liked the fact that he didn't say anything and let them believe that he had been tricked😂

“Now I gotta worry ‘bout you ‘round some of these men.”

Protective Jake🥹 ooh now she finally no longer has to hide and fear that her identity will be discovered!

“Darlin’, everyone knew the moment you set foot on the ship. That brother of yours needs to work on his disguises.”

Bradley tried😂

“C’mon. You can bunk with Natasha from here on out.”

Yes!! she will stay in the bunk with Nat, love it, I hope they can form a strong bond with each other! I also liked that Jake wasn't angry that she tried to cheat on him, but rather made fun of it.

Now that the truth has been revealed and she can walk around as a woman, I can't wait to see how everyone will approach her, but especially Jake! Beautiful chapter and beautiful story, I can't stop thinking about it💌✨

Fool's Fare: Chapter Three

Fool's Fare: Chapter Three

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Summary: Captain Jake "Hangman" Seresin had come close to swinging from the gallows more times than he would care to admit. He's stolen, cheated, even killed. The worst thing he's ever done? Broken the heart of a woman. Having broken the heart of the woman whom Davy Jones himself had fallen for six years ago, Jake is now cursed to live as something not dead, but not alive. He's doomed to live a half-life for the rest of his existence unless he manages to obtain the treasure Davy Jones deems most valuable. The problem? He has no idea what it is, and he only had seven years to obtain it.

Triggers: Language, Excessive alcohol consumption, Talks of the supernatural. Think that's it.

Word Count: 3.4k

A/N: Here is Chapter Three! I hope you all enjoy! I'm hoping to start working out the timeline for the DPU again so I can post an update for Outrun the Devil here soon, but I might update Meet Me at the Sea again before I do. As always, reblogs, comments, and likes are greatly appreciated! 18+ ONLY!! You can also find me on AO3 under sailor_aviator where I post my updates as well!

Series Masterlist

The town of Port Royal was crowded with men of different ilk the likes of which you had never seen. The Hangman had docked in the early hours of the morning, and once you had finished helping Bob prepare and serve breakfast, you had dragged the young man down the gangway and onto the street, heart hammering away with excitement.

“We can’t be gone too long,” Bob said, grinning at your clear excitement. “We have to be back in time to prepare supper.”

“What’s the point of traveling if we can’t even see the sights?” you scowled, pushing your way through the heavy throng of people around you. A few men gave you dirty looks as you did, but you paid them no mind. Men were rarely able to back up their bark with enough bite, in your experience, but you pressed onward without so much as a second glance at them.

“Pete, we are seeing the sights,” Bob chuckled behind you.

You turned to fix him with a scowl. “We’re seeing, but we aren’t appreciating. How can we when we only have a few hours?”

“I think you’re overestimating how much there is for us to do around here,” he laughed. You paid him no mind as you neared the market of the old pirate hub. Men bargained with each other at several of the different stalls, and groups of women were scattered along the streets looking for paying customers to share their bed for the evening.

“Ahoy, handsome,” a pretty redhead grinned at you as she leaned over the railing of the brothel. “You look like you’ve hardly reached manhood, and I don’t suppose you have much experience under your belt. Can I interest you in some lessons?”

“I, uh,” you stammered, blinking up at her nervously. “No, thank you, miss.”

“Shame,” she smirked, eyes looking behind you. “And what about you, sailor?”

You turned to see Bob looking as red as a tomato as he glanced nervously at you. “No, I’m fine.”

“Well, I’ll be here if either of you change your mind,” she grinned, tossing her long curls back to show off her ample cleavage. “Just ask for Lucy when you come back.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” you blushed, hurrying to move forward with Bob hot on your tail. The two of you continued on a little farther until a glint of light caught your eye. You walked slowly up to the stall, several men grousing at you as you crossed right in front of their paths, but you paid them no mind. Your eyes were locked on a beautiful necklace that lay on top of a small wooden chest at one of the stalls. The golden chain held a six-pointed star, tiny diamonds encircling a burning opal. You had never seen something so beautiful before.

“I see you’ve found the soul of Polaris.”

You jumped, looking up to see an older man with a salt and pepper beard staring down at you. His accent was foreign, and if you had to guess, you’d say the man was from somewhere in Scotland.

“Is that what this is?” you asked him, looking back down at the jewel.

“Aye,” he continued, folding his arms. “They say a sea witch fell madly in love with a sailor long ago. When the two finally met face to face, the witch proclaimed her love for the man, but what she didn’t know is that the man was disgusted by her form. You see, the sea witch was also a mermaid, a siren of the sea. For while the witch was fair of face, the sailor knew what monster lay beneath the surface. So, he told her that he would only accept her love if she offered him something valuable.”

“And that was the gem?” you asked him, eyes wide. The old man chuckled with a shake of his head.

“No, lad. Wasn’t the gem,” he explained. “Was what the gem holds. There’s nothing more important to a sailor than the north star herself. Every man worth his salt knows that much. No, the gem holds an ancient magic. A magic to calm the sea and guide men to what it is they need most.”

“Which is what?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “It’s different for every man.”

“Why are you selling it if it’s so valuable?” Bob chimed in, eyes narrowed at the man.

“Because it showed me that it’s time to pass it along, and I’m nothing if not a man who loves a proper sale,” he grinned. “Are ye interested?”

Before you could answer, Bob grabbed your elbow, pulling you away.

“No, we’re not,” he huffed out. You let out a cry of protest as he dragged you through the crowd. It wasn’t until the merchant faded from view that he finally slowed down, and you jerked your arm out of his hand.

“What was that about?” you griped, glaring up at him. He looked around the crowd wearily before shaking his head.

“Just didn’t like the look of him, is all.”

“Oh, that’s all?” You scoffed, crossing your arms. “What if I wanted to buy it?”

“Yeah?” Bob bit out a sharp laugh. “With what money?”

You were silent for a moment, and he nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

“You don’t have to be such an ass, you know,” you muttered, looking away dejectedly. You heard Bob sigh before he placed a hand gently on your shoulder.

“Look,” he began, “I’m sorry. I just don’t like anything having to do with magic or witches or anything of the sort.”

“Why’s that?” you asked him.

Bob didn’t answer you, instead looking somewhere off in the distance before grinning down at you.

“C’mon,” he said, once again pulling you through the crowd. “There’s something I want you to see.”

You allowed him to tug you along, the crowd thinning as the two of you moved closer to the edge of town. Finally, the cobblestone streets gave way to white sands and the stunning blue of the ocean. You felt your breath catch in your throat as you looked out onto the horizon. How you hadn’t noticed it when you departed the ship earlier, you didn’t know, but now your gaze was transfixed by it. This blue was so different from the blue you grew up seeing every day. Where your home’s waters were usually a dark, stormy blue, Port Royal’s water shined like topaz.

“I didn’t know the sea could look like this,” you breathed out.

“I knew you’d like it,” Bob smiled, turning his focus to the water before you. The two of you stood there in silence for a few moments before Bob turned to you once more. “C’mon, we best get back to the ship.”

“What’s all the commotion up there?” you asked Bob, hearing the stampede of footsteps above you on the main deck. Bob glanced up, a smile crawling onto his face.

“Sounds like they’re back aboard,” he grinned, rushing towards the door.

“Who is ‘they?’” you called after him, but he was already gone. You sighed, eyeing the ingredients for dinner before making your way after him. A crowd had gathered by the gangway, and you stopped at the edge where Bradley stood.

“What’s going on?” you asked him.

He shrugged. “Guess we’re here to pick up two other crew members from what I’ve gathered.”

You hummed, craning your neck to try and peer over the horde of men. You managed to catch a glimpse of two figures on the other side of the crowd; one man and one woman.

“Natasha!” You heard Bob cry. You saw the head of sandy hair bounce up to the woman who smiled at him. “How was it? How did it go?”

“Bob!” Natasha hollered as she pulled the young man in for a tight hug. “It’s good to see you. It was great!” She gestured to the man beside her. “You should have seen Mickey haggling with that old codfish! Thought we might get away without payin’ a cent there for a second. And then just when we had him, the codger backed out.”

She grimaced at the memory. “Couldn’t for the life of us figure out why he would back out at the last second. Just as we were headed back here though, he stopped us and offered another deal, one too good to pass up.”

“And so you took the deal.”

Everyone turned to see Jake, having just come from his quarters, at the edge of the crowd. He strutted towards the pair with a cocky smirk.

“You bet your ass we took that deal,” grinned the man, Mickey, as the captain approached. “We were leaving with it one way or another.”

“Lucky for the old man, he came to his senses,” smirked Natasha, arms crossing in front of her. Jake hummed as he stopped in front of them.

“And where is our little treasure?” he asked them. Mickey rifled through his pockets before pulling something out. The chain dropped to reveal a six-pointed star with tiny diamonds surrounding a burning opal. You gasped as Mickey handed the necklace over to Jake, who quickly pocketed it. He turned back to the rest of the crew.

“Alright, you lot. Show’s over. Get back to work! We set sail in an hour.”

The crew clambered to prepare the ship for launch, but you continued to stare at the small group on the other side of the ship.

“I’m going to freshen up in my quarters,” Natasha told the two with a smile, already making her way to where the cabins were housed. You gaped before looking over at Bradley.

“Bradley,” you hissed at him. Bradley swallowed thickly.

“She’s a woman.”

“Yeah.”

“She’s got a cabin on the ship.”

“Yeah.”

“She’s a member of the crew.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah.”

Before you could say more, Bob had come bounding up to you. “Are you ready to get back to cooking?”

You shot one last glare at Bradley, who looked everywhere but back at you. That idiot.

“Yeah,” you grumbled, turning to head back into the hull. “I’m ready.”

“Why is that woman a member of the crew?” you asked Bob as you scrubbed at the pot in your hands. “I thought woman weren’t allowed on ships?”

“On most ships, yes,” he told you as he finished dishing out portions for the crew. “But Jake doesn’t really care who is crew is made up of as long as they carry their own weight and don’t cause any problems.”

You hummed. “So anyone can just join, huh?”

“I suppose,” he mused. “Jake doesn’t let anyone join the crew unless he thinks their worthy and have something to offer. A lot of men were skeptical when Nat first joined, but she quickly made a name for herself as the Phoenix.”

“The Phoenix?” you questioned, pausing your scrubbing to look at him. He nodded with wide, excited eyes.

“Yeah! Whenever we come upon a ship to plunder, she does this thing where she’ll light the ends of her coat on fire. It smolders, giving her this terrifying look like she just rose out of the flames. That’s why, ya know…”

“The Phoenix,” you finished for him, turning back to your work. “Do you all have nicknames like that?”

“Some of us, sure,” he replied. “But our names work just fine. Now help me pass these out to the crew.”

You moved to help him and the two of you began taking the dishes out to where the crew had gathered around the massive tables.

“Cabin boy!”

You turned to see Natasha waving at you with a mug of ale.

“Come join us,” she grinned. You glanced at Bob who nodded.

“Go, I can get the rest,” he smiled. You nodded back at him and made your way over to where Natasha sat with Reuben and Mickey.

“Take a seat, cabin boy,” Natasha grinned, taking a sip of her ale. You did as she commanded, eyes darting between the three sailors as they stared at you.

“Is it true?” she asked you with a raised eyebrow.

“Is what true?”

“That your dad is Maverick Mitchell!” Mickey grinned, leaning in closer to you. A large figure slid in beside Reuben.

“What are we talking about?” Bradley asked, glancing between you and the other three.

“We were just starting to ask the cabin boy here about his father, Rooster” Reuben told him, taking a bite of his food. Bradley’s mouth set in a firm line as the three turned their attention back to you.

“What was he like?” Mickey asked you, practically bouncing in his seat. You shrugged noncommittally as you took a bite off your own plate.

“I don’t really know what you're expecting me to say.”

“Well, was he just as daring as the stories say? Did he take you out on his trips? Did you help him plunder? Did he ever find the treasure he was looking for?”

“Alright,” Natasha groaned, setting a calming hand down on his shoulder to stop him. Bob chose that moment to join the lot of you, sliding in next to her on the opposite side of the table. “Settle down, fanboy.”

“I can’t help it!” He hollered. “It’s not every day you meet the kid of one of the greatest pirates known to man.”

You stilled, seeing Bradley tense up on the other side of Reuben.

“What?” You whispered, eyes wide as you stared at Mickey who stared at you uncertainly.

“Pete Mitchell was your father,” Mickey said slowly, glancing around the table. “Right?”

“Yes, he was,” you said firmly.

“Pete Mitchell, better known as Maverick,” Reuben rattled off, “was a world renowned pirate of the highest order. His very name struck fear into the hearts of many a ship’s captain and crew. He was respected both far and wide by civilians and sailors alike.”

“Until one day he just disappeared,” Natasha added, studying you curiously. “Said his life’s mission was to find the greatest treasure the world could offer, and he plundered and stole for decades before dropping off the face of the earth.”

You felt like you were going to be sick. You didn’t know this man they were talking about. You knew the man who told you stories before bed, who showed you the proper ways to tie different knots, who always treated you kindly and had a smile at the ready for you, who never once raised his voice in anger at you or your mother. The man they were talking about was a stranger.

Without thinking, you grabbed the nearest cup to you, Natasha’s, and downed it. The ale did little to ease your comfort, and you grabbed Reuben’s next and did the same.

“Woah there, cabin boy,” Reuben called out as you reached for Mickey’s. “Slow down there.”

You didn’t want to slow down. You wanted to forget. You downed Mickey’s cup and searched for more. The men to your right had watched the scene unfold, and one of them let out a low chuckle before pushing his cup towards you.

“There ya go, cabin boy!” He laughed. “Drink up!”

You happily obliged him, downing the nearly full mug in only a couple of gulps. You stood, head already beginning to feel both light and heavy all at the same time. You had never had more than one cup of ale before, but you weren’t worried about that fact in that moment. You stumbled on your feet as you made to move towards the barrel that had been opened for that night’s dinner.

“No,” Bradley said from behind you, having gotten up when you did. “You’ve had enough.”

You whirled around to face him, nearly falling on your face in the process. “I’ll decide when I’ve had enough,” you hissed up at him, trying and failing to push past him as he gripped your arms.

“That’s enough,” he growled down at you, but you continued to push at him until he gave you a gentle shake. “I know you’re upset, but this is not how you should be handling it.”

You stared up at him, studying him. Why was he being so calm about this revelation that had just been dropped into your lap?

“You knew,” you breathed, tears pooling in the corners of your eyes. “You knew, and you didn’t tell me.”

Bradley stiffened, hands tightening ever so slightly on your shoulders. He looked defeated as he let out a sigh. “He didn’t want you to know.”

“Bastard!” you screamed at him, your struggle renewing with a vengeance.

“What’s going on here?”

All of you stopped and turned. Javy stood at the end of the stairs, eyes scanning the room and the scene before him. He frowned when he saw the state you were in.

“Cabin boy,” he said slowly, eyes always studying you. “Go get some air.”

You took a breath before pushing at Bradley who stumbled back half a step. You staggered toward the stairs, hearing Javy address the crew. You didn’t hear what he said, too focused on making it up to the main deck.

The air had grown cool as the sun began to set, and you staggered towards the edge of the boat. You grasped onto one of the ropes, feeling your resolve start to break. The tears started to fall and you let out a shaky sob into the wind.

“Rough night, cabin boy?”

You turned, vision hazy from the ale, to see Jake standing a few feet away from you.

“What do you care?” You muttered, frowning at him. He let out a low chuckle before walking over to lean against the side of the ship next to you. The two of you stared at one another for a few moments, but said nothing.

“He was a pirate,” you whispered, almost inaudibly, the tears still flowing down your cheek. Jake nodded.

“Aye,” he said. “He was.”

“But he was a good man,” you frowned, more of a question than a statement. Jake cocked an eyebrow at you.

“Can’t a man be both?”

You shrugged, head starting to feel even heavier. “I suppose so.”

Jake let out another chuckle, leaning into you a little more. “You suppose so?” he teased.

“Yeah,” you nodded sleepily. “S’pose so.”

Jake reached up to cup your cheek as he watched you. “How much did you have to drink down there tonight, Guppy?”

“D’unno,” you muttered, subconsciously nuzzling into the palm of his hand. “More than I’ve ever ha’ before.”

The two of you stood in silence for a moment before your eyes shot open, staring at him. What did he just call you?

Jake watched you with a knowing smirk as you struggled to form a coherent thought through the alcohol induced haze.

“You catchin’ up there alright, Guppy?” he asked you, a grin breaking out over his face.

“How long have you-?”

“Since you walked up to the ship behind Rooster, sweet girl. You think I’d just forget a pretty face like yours?” he laughed as you scowled up at him.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” you snapped.

He shrugged. “Figured things would be much more interesting this way. Besides, you looked so cute thinkin’ you had fooled me into thinkin’ you were a boy. Wanted to see how long you’d play into it.”

“So why bother saying anything?” You grumbled. His grin dropped as he stared at you with a stern expression.

“Cause you went and did a stupid thing like gettin’ too drunk. Now I gotta worry ‘bout you ‘round some of these men.”

“You don’t trust your own men?” You asked him, eyebrow raised. He chuckled lowly, placing a large, warm hand to the small of your back.

“While I believe they aren’t stupid enough to try anything with me or your brother on board the ship, I’d sleep much better tonight havin’ not taken the chance.”

“Wait,” you said, his words catching up with you. “They know?”

Jake laughed at that. “Darlin’, everyone knew the moment you set foot on the ship. That brother of yours needs to work on his disguises.”

You scowled up at him as he helped you towards the cabins. He beamed down at you, eyes twinkling, and you could have sworn you saw a blue mist twirl in his pupils as he stared down at you.

“C’mon. You can bunk with Natasha from here on out.”

[5283]

Aw I'm glad you didn't think it was too long haha.

I heard SLUMP quite early on purely by chance loll it was just what the YouTube algorithm recommended!

Ooh 42 is such a hard hitting song, 3racha didn't hold back! Honestly words can't do it justice but yeah 💯💯

ODDINARY title track....... I have no idea 😂 there's just zero hints 😭 I absolutely love skz's noise concept and would 100 percent be open to another banger BUT I'm curious to see if they would go for a different genre title track. Though looking at the trailer I feel like an energetic song will portray that... Definitely could be wrong though i mean when have they ever been predictable 😂😂

What do u think? Also, speaking of the trailer... Please tell me what you think is going on in the skz universe (if u have a theory at all!) I'm soo confused with all the different plots and elements ahhh I hope they give us some clarification

the youtube algorithm doing justice??? that's impressive ngl ✨✨🥲

the fact that skz and div1 literally do not give us ANYTHING that could be a hint to what the title track sounds like.. is frustrating.. and at the same time what's beyond exciting about comebacks, cause???? which genres are they mixing and matching together this time?? what's the oddinary's double meaning all about ??

OR they are giving us some very obvious spoilers that we're just brushing off because they seem too obvious to be true😭 still can't process the boldness of the "back door" spoiler in god's menu mv 😭 lately skz suspiciously keep talking about time and its meaning too.. specifically chan 😭 at this point my theory is that everything he says is a spoiler but we just can't grasp it yet🥲🥲

about the universe..... i used to be very invested in understanding it, and had like something-thousand words written in my notes app of what i think is going on........ but then i think someone on twt pointed it out how skz universe is basically a video game and they just keep ascending levels, sometimes having the boss fights, and other times we just get backstories of the characters that play the game.... and then it clicked for me that rather than analyzing skzverse purely as a separated story, it's meant to be a journey they're taking you on - just like when you're playing an interactive video game and get immersed in its universe ..

no but that aside, it's the first time the accent color of a comeback seems to be green (we had plenty of red ones, yellow and blue ones) and it's funny how i tried predicting the noeasy comeback and said it could be green accented cause they kept using the color a lot in the kingdom stages and then lee know's and chan's drive had green at the end of the mv, which was a release right before the comeback lmao i was a little too early haha

yeah so and the context of where green was already used before was with things like wolves, night time, night vision (kingdom miroh stage + easy mv), changbin's rap in easy is also mentioning things like "i cast magic spells in a magic castle", "i'm nocturnal", "i let out my enchanting voice", and also TIME too??? i just realized???? in the tortoise and the hare unveil video!!!!!!!!!!!!! ohmygod!!! it keeps interchanging with red too... just like this comeback is green but hyunjin's red hair also seems to be not of lesser importance symbolically.. i haven't read the "frankenstein" novel sadly but looking at the wikipedia page it also seems to have the vibe of the things i mentioned previously...

yeah..... so i know that i don't know a thing 😭😭 but one thing for sure is that colors in skz universe are very important and used as symbols.. but symbols for WHAT exactly???? 🥲 ahhhh

[merakimousumi]

The Great Blackhole - My own Eulogy

I found it fascinating a decade ago. I read a book where the author asked to write one's own eulogy. It is a piece which is seen from the last point of your life. Even my current teacher says " Make your end vision the start point of your life and conduct your life with that view"

"यथा दृष्टि तथा सृष्टि" so here I am reviewing my life by writing my own eulogy. What I share here is a small trailer and not the complete story.

The afterlife has been a subject of great interest whosoever have ever been born on earth. The continuous intruding curiosity on the subject can be drawn parallel to that of the blackhole in the Universe. The logical scientific world has been trying to break this down for a century now. Science requires evidence of the theory, seeing(physically) is only believing. Since 1915 Einstein mentioned this space ( remember there was no great telescope or any modern gadgets technology that was present in those days) he shared the theory of Black Hole. He mentioned everything gets drawn to that space never returns back, the gravitational pull is so strong. In 2021 , the evolved Science is still grappling to get more details what happens after it enters that space, where does it go , does it enter another dimension , innumerous questions !! The scientist studying the sound captured the vibrations of the star just before it was entering the blackhole, it sounded like a drum of dance and after a moment there was a complete silence. This image of the blackhole was the first real image by a group of scientists who took a decade of preparation and another year to assimilate the images captured across the world at the same time from different angles. When I looked at it , I thought it was a Sufi who is Swirling engrossed in Love of what he would perceive as GOD or Universe. In spiritual and religious teaching this space is called "SHUNYA", described thousands of years ago. This makes me wonder about the level of consciousness of the great Sages and teachers. I was neither a sage nor a great master , being simple I understood that space through a simple lifecycle of a dragonfly.( That is a story for another day)

What gets revealed is the one seen in presence of light and what is Unseen is the eternity ,it is not dark it is just the absence of light. The great mystery and let it be a mystery only !!

As a lover of Science and of Spirituality I am named by Eulogy as " The Great Blackhole". The swirls that my life did before entering this space which I call " SHIVA".

EULOGY - Seeing from the light :

Finally , I am heading Home. The great journey on Earth just got concluded . As I review the life I hear a music - " What a fantastic journey, intertwined by so many stories, lived so many life in one life". I am leaving filled myself with joyfulness and love the only things I came with. The dream of dreams in the dream.

Instead of giving the complete details of the eulogy, let me give you the trailers of my life on only two aspects - Relationships and Wealth.

Seeing the Relationships aspect - The birth of the dreams in the eyes died very early because I dreamt very small. I was meant to dream big, bigger than I could imagine. I believed that love is filled by others and I compliment them. My love was for small circle because I never knew the world. As I opened myself my own love dried like desert water. This was the beginning of breaking the illusions of my life. I kept digging deep within till I found my own fountain and slowly filled myself with the water of love, over the period it became a big flowing lake, pristine in colour as clear as crystals . My love was so fresh and pure it attracted everyone( all beings including the invisible one) from all walks of life , few sat for a while, few stayed forever and few flowed away and came again and again. I was meant to give and receive love from multiple beings this life when I thought my love is for only very few !! Ahhh!! , thank God my dream of childhood did not come true. My teacher in the lifetime would always quote " If it happens as you wished it is good, if it does not happen it is just a master stroke of miracle".

Indeed !! I nod my head.

Seeing the truth behind the Vitamin M - Oh money or Oh Money , appears to be the center of the Universe of mankind. Human being was born with one monkey which was the mind and soon we dropped the "K" thinking we have evolved and thus came the money !!! I use to call it Vitamin M. Vitamin is taken in small quantity , it acts as catalyst in our body to function better and fulfill the deficiencies if any , it does not have an independent function on its own. When taken without limit, it becomes poison. This exactly was my situation. The secret is to keep that Vitamin M as catalyst and focus on the Grand Overall Design of life. Thinking about Money does not make money. Plus , beyond money is something called wealth and money is only an aspect in it. Since I took zillions of photographs( there is a great website of my best photo shoots collection) I can share, we miss the picture when we we focus only on one object, everything becomes blurs around !!

After the realization (shared by my teachers in the lifetime, I did not get it many times) , I started looking into the walls that I had built within me which actually stopped the creator's creation to enter. I became RIGPA , the open space where there is nothing that can obstruct the wealth.

I created so much wealth in every form possible in my lifetime that not once I had to look or think for an iota of seconds before writing a cheque for a cause which was close to my heart. The flow of income and wealth came from sources I never knew it was available. I do not quantify my Vit M with labels of millionaire or billionaire or zillionaire, I always had enough and more. I had the access to the fountain of creation which was endless, creating from the point of Love. I leave this information also as legacy to you all.

I am now about to ring the grand bell of the door of my Home, I could hear the excitement inside already , ready to celebrate my home coming, I am leaving you all with my trademark big smile and twinkling eyes saying - Thank you, I love you . We shall meet again.

- Mousumi

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Episode 23 - The worst album in the world rated highly by Kurt (Cobain) and (Frank) Zappa.

K: Hi this is Dir en grey's Kaoru, starting this episode of The Freedom of Expression. Joe san, Tasai san, welcome. Hows it going recently?

J: I've just had my wisdom tooth out, I'm still quite swollen.

T, K: Oh yeh, you are!

J: Its really tough getting your wisdom teeth out at 52 years old.

K: Its quite late to have it done, right?

J: Yeh, Im doing it late. What about you, Kaoru?

K: I don't have any left.

J: All four?

K: Yeh.

J: You had this hell already taken out?

K: Oh, it was awful with me! 

J: When you had them out?

K: When I first had one of the bottom ones removed, it took about an hour and a half.

J: One hour...thats awful.

K: It was growing like this (*places fist horizontally against vertical palm)

J: Ahh, if its not growing like this..(*indicates vertical growth angle with hands). This type (*horizontal) hurts.

K: Then in the end, the anesthetic wore off. I had been given anesthetic, but it wore off.

J: Eughh!

K: Then after the tooth was out, my head hurt, my whole face hurt for about two weeks..I couldn't eat anything..It was hell.

J: You didn't have live shows did you?

K: No, not at all.

J: So, you had it done in your time off? Ahh, that sounds so painful. What about you, Tasai?

T: I still have mine.

J: Oh, you have them?

T: But after hearing this, I don't want to have them out anymore.

J: Hahaha

K: Are yours like this? (*growing horizontally?)

T: No, I think they are pretty straight.

K: Well, in that case, you don't really need to have them out.

T: Yeh, but yours sounds like it was painful, Kaoru.

J: For a hour and a half...that must hurt.

K: Yeh

J: Mine was out in ten mins, and Im still this swollen. I still have my lower left one remaining, Im gonna have to get that one out too...(*Kaoru smiles) Look at him! That face! Seriously!

Um, about Hanshin...

K: Hahaha

J: Didn't you say they would win by a mile, Kaoru?

T: He did.

K: They are...in last place by a mile. (*On screen note: 'The rank at the time of filming').

T: But they did win before now, so..

J: They did win before now?? He said they were gonna win by a mile!

K: Well, at the moment they've had two consecutive wins..then yesterday was raining, so that fell through, but..I think they are onto a good winning style now.

J: I see. From now on...

K: Mm, they finally got to the starting line.

J: Hahaha.

T: Starting with five in debt, right? haha.

J: This won't make them lose heart.

K: Well, cause they've only just started.

J,T: Well, yeh.

K: Everyone has ups and downs.

J: Thats true. Still, Hanshin are strong in the summer, aren't they?

T: Thats when they get consecutive wins, right?

K: Well, I mean, its always like this, last year was the same, but in the last month or so, they suddenly get good, its like 'Weren't you losing?' As soon as you realise, its like 'Eh?!, How'd you get that good already?'...kinda.

J: How come they can never get off to a good start?

K: Hmm, probably a lack of coordination, haha.

J: Hahaha.

T: Yeah, but at the start thier pitcher did catch corona and stuff, so they couldn't practice properly from the beginning.

K: Thats only an excuse.

J: Well, its tough, as expected. But, you know, I have zero interest in pro baseball, but this year..

T: You're watching it a lot!

J:...whether or not we'll have this event depends on it, so im putting my all into showing support. Still, it may be empty support, everytime I check the results I'm like, 'Whaaat?'

K: Oh, theres still a lot more to come.

J: Like, what was with those words you said with big subtitles, 'win by a mile'?

K: That was my desire. At the time this is broadcast, they'll be doing well.

J: I see

T: Right.

K: This will be broadcast in how many days? (*Works it out) Ah, maybe not by then.

J, T: Hahaha

J: Your attitude gets weaker and weaker.

K: Ok, lets have today's story please.

T: Ok, well this has been creating a bit of a buzz at Tokyo Sports, a really terrible band has been discovered to be in a list of Kurt Cobain's (of Nirvana) Top 50 albums. People who are into music might know this already, but the band is 'The Shaggs'. They are really terrible. I've also had a listen to them on Youtube, and you could say they sound like beginners, but I did think...Huh? Hang on a sec.

J: Hahaha. Like 'whats going on here?'　

T: Yeah. But somehow ???*1, and since this has come out in the news, its become quite a talking point.

J: I see.

T: Like people are saying, 'In reality, they're really good', or 'On no, they really are bad', and stuff. Joe, do you know of them?

J: I do, yeh. I've played them on the radio before, and whenever I do, there is a big response. When people hear this novice-like performance, they really respond. There must be something more to this. The sound quality of the recording is quite high, so whenever I play it, people think 'Woah, this is so interesting! ...'. What do you think of it, Kaoru? Have you listened to it?

K: Yeh, I have. Well, I mean, its a type of expression, right? I doesn't matter whether they are skilled or not. I thought it was interesting. It leaves a lasting impression .

J: Conversely, right?

K: ???*2

J: But if you had to say if they were skilled or not, you would say not, right?

K: Well, if they are seriously trying, then they are bad.

J, T: Hahah

J: If this is thier best, then they're bad?

K: Yeh, cause this is thier recorded sound. In that case, they're bad. But someone other than the performers has actually recorded this, and said, 'yes, lets go with this'.

J: Yes

T: I see

J: No one tried fix it.

K: Yeh, they didn't try to do a re-take or anything. They wanted to make the record.

J: This is the completed version, right?

K: Yeh, so maybe it was meant to be like this *3

T: So, if you look into this story a bit more, by the time of thier second album, their performance technique had improved a bit, and conversely, they lost their uniqueness. It erased what was special about them.

J: Ahhh, thats tough. But growing up in the 80s, back then all the pop idols were really untalented, weren't they?

T: Haha

J: But they made a lasting impression. Its not really a case of whether or not they were skilled. But, on the other hand...who was that guy?... *sings* 'Watashi no ohaka no mae ni...'...Akiyama something-or-other (*On screen text: Akikawa Masafumi*), I played some of his  more rocky stuff on my show, but it didn't resonate because he's just too good.

T: Ehh.

J: The songs require a certain kind of atmosphere.. and singing really well like..(*imitates a tenor's voice*), it didn't work at all. It was interesting.

T: Yeh, so there's something more to it, other than just skill.

J: I think so.

K: Well, it also comes down to who it is making the songs.

J: Yeh, that may have something to do with it.

T: I see

K: I mean, I don't know if these people (The Shaggs) wrote the songs themselves, but the songs are unique precisely because this band is playing them. This is how they do it.

J: But surely, if the songs were played properly, they wouldn't be that impressive, right?

K: Right! Haha.

J: Thier uniqueness comes from thier lack of skill.

T: Joe, can you understand how Kurt Cobain and Frank Zappa would appreciate this kinda thing?

J: I think so yeh. Like, Kurt Cobain, even in his appearance, he was grungy, like, appearing in public wearing pajamas and stuff. And in the 80s, slightly before his time, there was also that computerised music, like ???*4. Frank Zappa was also mentioned, and he was an artist with really experimental aspects, so I guess they would like this kinda of thing, the type of thing where there nothing else like it. I can really understand that.

K: Yeh, people who know nothing about music might listen to some super technical and progressive music, and then listen to this, and they might think they sound the same. One of them might sound a bit off, but the other might sound way off to some people. They might just look at them the same.

J: Ah, that may be, yeh. Well, to put it simply...its not your average music, is it?

T: Yeh.

J: Its quite interesting. Its like you said Kaoru, if the progressive stuff is too advanced, it will be written off, and in this case, this band may be regarded in a similar way for doing nothing special. Still, is it possible? Whenever novices like me do Karaoke, you have to do something, don't you? Like, impersonating the singer, or getting a bit excited..if you don't, it would be a  kinda chilly performance. So, with this band doing nothing like that...are they not cooperating or something?

T: Well, its hard.

J: Maybe they are professionals *laughing*

Kami: Its interesting how thier Dad forced them into it, right?

J: Oh yeh.

Kami: Its like, why does he know this stuff. They were forced..Didn't they say that in an interview or something? Thats quite interesting.

T: So, from what I've heard, thier Dad was on a mission to strike it rich, in a kind of swindler fashion.

J: Oh, that was it.

K: Ah, I see.

T: And made his daughters...

Kami: Ah, he was an imposter?

J: He tried to be

Kami: So he was witness to the recording and gave it the OK then?

T: Hmm, probably.

J: He was after something.

Kami: They had no money to record, so he just said, 'yeh, this'll do', kinda.

K: The Dad didn't have any talent either.

J, T: Hahaha

K: Or maybe he did?

J: Which is it?!

K: I don't know.

J: Right...But even if it was a ramen shop or something, if it said, 'The Worlds Worst Ramen', you'd want to try it just once, right? Its maybe the same kind of pattern.

K: But it does stay in your head, this band.

J: It does, surprisingly.

Kami: When you listen to it, there is some kind of message, right?

T: I see.

J: Well, Punk had to contend with a lack of skill, didn't it?..in that respect. 70s punk didn't use very complicated chords at all. But when it became more advanced, it kinda faded out.

K: Yeh, people from that generation ????  *5 There's quite a difference, isn't there?

J: There is, there is. What is that all about? Its like, why all the irregularity? Well, they are seeking something different, for sure...Well, we are getting carried away, but if you search for this band, you'll find it. If you search for 'The Shaggs', you'll be able to find them. The name of the album is 'Philosophy of the World'.

K: Ok, let's finish here. Please subscribe.

J: Yes, please do.

K: Thank you very much.

T: Thank you.

*1, 2, 4 Couldn't catch

*3 Could't catch explicitly, but I think thats what he means

*5 I can hear what he's saying, but I just couldn't put together what he means. Feedback always welcome btw!