#and before anyone says they’re just not good written WE HAVE HAD GOOD WRITTEN FEMALE CHARACTERS

[comradekarin]

Decided to be controversial on main today: The rapid popularization of a lot of left-field m|m ships (and the consequential vilification and degradation of female characters that used to be a apart of the main popular ship) within certain fandoms have all quite literally resulted from misogyny and the fetishization of gay relationships, and I don’t think we talk about this enough 🧍

[leportraitducadavre]

You know there’s a weird connection between the fandom’s perceived idea of “good writing” and their personal feelings about specific characters. “I like this character, therefore, they’re well written” and viceversa, “I dislike this character, therefore, they’re badly written” –I’ve seen this in many fandoms and with different characters, but there’s no fandom where this is more noticeable than in the “anti Sakura” portion of the audience.

Before we start, let me be clear on something: I don’t personally like Sakura, I don’t consider myself a fan of hers (or her stans, which are just as annoying as Hinata’s), nor I believe she’s the “heroine” of a story that has no room for a character with such status (I’ve said this before, Naruto is the hero and Sasuke is the antagonist -there’s no necessity nor space for anyone else as Sakura is merely the female character with most panel time, yet she doesn’t move the plot forward and she isn’t relevant to the development of other key characters, as most of them completely ignore her existence).

“Likeability” isn’t a determining factor when it comes to labelling a character “well” or “badly” written, such notion relies on subjective factors which makes it impossible to objectively determine the overall value of a character inside a story.

The most important factor to label a character “goodly written” has more to do with how well they represent their theological narrative. For instance, Danzo -who I genuinely despise, is amazingly written, as he spot on tackles the subject of extreme-nationalistic world view, while Itachi -on the other hand, is sort-of all over the place as he subscribes to Danzo’s ideology and defends it with the same actions, yet Kishimoto desperately wanted to keep him inside the “good guys” group, which ultimately failed and took down anything Itachi might have had going for him (besides other inconsistencies as he’s presented as a genius who made nothing but mistake after mistake). There’s a reason why the antagonists are often the ones with the best characterizations, as they aren’t tied to been “morally correct” or “likeable” in order to reflect their thematic plot, which is why the better characters in Naruto happen to be Uchiha (Sasuke, Obito, Madara).

Sakura has no weight inside the plot, as she is mostly used for support of either Naruto and (to a lesser extent) Sasuke, she stands narratively in the same spectrum as most “good” characters of the show, so she’s thematically not much more relevant than the rest of K-11; yet she’s given more depth than many other characters, as she’s a layered character of whom we see both her strengths and flaws, something we can’t say for other characters, such as Hinata.

In the Hyüga princess™’s case, her personality is mostly one dimensional as she is a thematic piece used to deepen Neji’s character. In case you haven’t noticed, she was constructed in opposition to him: She needs to be shy in order for Naruto to take pity on her when Neji insults her (as Neji is mostly arrogant and outspoken), she’s comically bad because Neji is a prodigy, she’s “a freak” (said by Naruto himself) because Neji isn't, she’s a slave owner because Neji is her slave, and so on –the only thing she has that wasn’t built in order to oppose her cousin was her infatuation with Naruto, something she makes a priority.

Everything we “know” about Hinata was mostly fandom-made, Hinata is shy and soft spoken, why is she considered “nice”? We never saw her worrying about anyone but Naruto: She was glad Kiba lost his match and offered Naruto the ointment to treat his wounds, she diminished her cousin’s trauma and endorsed the oppressive system of her clan, we never see her visiting Kiba after he returned from his mission to bring Sasuke back to Konoha (something we see Ino and Sakura do with their respective teammates, and while Hinata was recovering from Neji’s attack, she had enough strength to train and go see the Chünin Exams final stage, at no point is mentioned she was bed-ridden, as Sasuke had enough time to recover from Gaara’s attack before escaping the village), she thought about Naruto’s warm hand seconds after her cousin died and she was the only character not shown to be glad about Shikamaru being alive as we saw her pouting and thinking about how much she wanted to be beside Naruto. Furthermore, is there any scene in which she appears where she’s not thinking or talking about Naruto or where he is not the main focus?

How come a character designed to be nothing more than support (for Neji and Naruto, as her infatuation with him was built in order to have some oppositional force to the idea of “nobody likes him”, as Naruto has an unrequited love for Sakura during the whole duration of the manga) is “better written” than Sakura, who despite herself being also support she has far more thematically ground to move around (Kishimoto explores through her different themes, even if they aren’t relevant to the plot itself, such as romantical obsession, low self-esteem and the decisions/characteristics that are driven by it, female friendship, and few others).

Honest question: It’s her sad background reason enough to like Hinata? Do you truly need a “compelling” backstory in order to claim a character is “better written” than others? Sakura was bullied because she was shy, Hinata -being the Hyüga heir, wasn’t shown to suffer the same fate at the hands of her classmates. Think about it this way, while Sakura was being bullied and had to be helped by Ino, Hinata was being trained by her father and witnessing Hiashi torture her uncle while Neji cried, helpless! –and just a few years later, she used that exact knowledge to insult him! So she’s not really that nice after all!

What is it with the obsession of both fandoms with the idea of “potential” and how, apparently, they were “robbed of it” (what “potential”? When did Hinata even hint at improving her fighting techniques? She was defeated every single time! When did Sakura, who canonically has a smaller chakra pool than both Sasuke and Naruto, have the possibility of surpass literally Ashura and Indra’s reincarnations? Them having more panel time will mean absolutely nothing as we’ll see them doing the exact same thing we already see them do only twice as much. “Potential” is about exploring a latent ability of them, Hinata has none and Sakura’s chakra flux control was properly exploited!).

There’s more to say about this, but I’m honestly tired at this point…

[klaprisun]

One Sunny Day

(Stardew Valley)(Haley x Female Farmer)

Chapter 33: Back to Danny's POV

“I assume you guys will be going to the saloon tonight?” Emily says, giving us a smirk.

I don’t know how she knew so fast what had happened between Haley and I. When we walked in Emily immediately shouted in shock. She hasn’t stopped evilly grinning either, I don’t know what’s up with that.

“Yeah…I’d say so…” I give Emily a skeptical look then turn to look at Haley. Haley just shrugs at me.

“Good because everyone will want to know. I heard them make bets the other day, so they’ll be happy to know they were right,” Emily replies in a matter of fact tone. That makes me cringe since Haley did not know that everyone had thought we’d have sex in less than a week. I sheepishly turn to give Haley a weary smile. She just raises her eyebrow and crosses her arms.

“I’m not gonna tell them anything. That ain’t their business.”

“Oh honey, it’s written all over your faces,” Emily gestures a finger in a circle at Haley and I. “They’re gonna know.”

“I doubt it,” I reply while rocking a kitchen chair back and forth. It suddenly loses its balance and tumbles out of my hand. The three of us flinch at the loud bang of it hitting the floor.

“You’re right. They’ll have absolutely no idea,” Emily retorts sarcastically.

“Danny, dear, don’t you have chickens to feed?” Haley takes me by the shoulder and leads me to the front door. As soon as we are out of view from Emily, Haley leans in to whisper to me.

“Emily is right. They’re gonna know. I don’t care if anyone knows at this point though, it was bound to happen. They’d find out eventually,” she whispers as she opens the front door.

“How will they know?” I demand, “I don’t get it!”

“You better get home to your chickens,” Haley kisses me on the cheek. I don’t take that so casually because I decide to go for a kiss on the lips as well. I brace one hand against the door frame and wrap my other hand around her waist, pulling her closer. We remain there for a good minute, basically making out until someone shouts our way from outside.

“YO!” Sam bounces excitedly while holding his skateboard under his arm. Haley pokes around me to look at him, while I just turn my head around.

“Are you creaming your pants over this or something?” Haley sasses. That causes me to turn my head away and stifle a laugh.

“I’m not, but you guys sure seem like you are about to,” Sam tosses his skateboard onto the ground and steps onto it. He winds up for a second, then does a simple kickflip.

“At least Danny can make that happen. Might want to talk to Sebastian if you are resorting to watching two girls kiss,” Haley tosses her hand on her hip, stepping her way around me. My jaw is on the floor.

“Boooo,” Sam yells back. “Not my fault you guys are standing in your doorway and I happened to walk by. Take it inside or something. And for your information, I’m just an always happy person.” He gives us an accusing point of his finger and frowns. After that, he does another little jump on his skateboard and speeds away. We watch as he tries to trick jump onto the side of a planter with the skateboard, but he falls. Poor guy.

“No shit they’ll know if you keep talking like that,” I point out, taking her by the waist and pulling her back in front of me.

“They’ll know before I even get to say anything. Trust me.”

“If you say so. I’ll hold you up on that tonight then.”

“Do you mind saving me a seat when you get to the saloon? I’ll be running late. I have lots of stuff to-...” Haley begins. She soon stops when she realizes what I was doing.

After Haley had said the first sentence, I started pointing my finger at my face and giving her a smirk. She started blushing intensely and had to turn away.

“I set myself up for that…” she mumbles.

“You sure did. I’ll save two seats for you, how ‘bout that?”

“You need to leave before I bring you back to my room,” Haley gives me a playful nudge.

“Is that supposed to be a punishment?” I begin to take a few steps back from the door to leave.

“You might want to do up the 3 buttons left undone on your flannel…” Haley smirks and leans against the door frame. Sure enough, there were 3 buttons I had missed when doing up my shirt this morning.

“I was distracted…”

Haley pats my arm and goes to close the door. She blows me a quick kiss just before the door fully shuts. I stand there, swooning like an idiot, for a quick moment. Sam has managed to kickflip his way back my way.

“Love birds,” Sam mutters as he scoots past me on his skateboard. “We all knew you guys would get together.”

“The ladies dig me, Sam. What can I say?” I obnoxiously flex my arms, showing off.

“If I was a girl. I would dig you. I see where Haley is coming from. But I am a boy and into Sebastian.”

My face contorts into a face of confusion, unsure of what to think of Sam’s comment. “Um… thank you?”

“No prob,” Sam flashes me a peace sign and zooms off once again, singing some kind of song I’ve never heard of.

Guess I’ll have to start thinking of what to say tonight at the saloon…

[vodika-vibes]

Congratulations on 650! I have no doubt that number will double very soon.

So, It’s me again with a Darman request.

I’m from Texas so obviously a western AU. I heard Blurred Lines today and cannot get it out of my head. The PG version with “You’re the hottest girl in this place” Darman saying it in a saloon of course. She rolls her eyes and asks if any female really fall for that crap. He stumbles and says that his brothers pressured him into it because he’s really awkward with women.

Any way you want to take it but only if you’re feeling it. If not that’s ok. I love everything you’ve written for me regarding Darman. 💕

Love, Me

Summary: Moving from the city to a small town in the middle of ranching country was not your idea of a good time. If you had your way, you would still be living in the city. But your father said that the change would be good for the family. Now you work at a saloon, getting hit on by drunk men for eight hours a day. At least you have a thick skin.

Pairing: Darman Skirata x F!Reader

Word Count: 1067

Prompt: Western AU

Warnings: None

Tagging: @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: So there's a song attached to this story, and I'm going to give you a spotify link, because it's a really nice, and also old, song. But I'm sorry that it took so long, and if this isn't what you wanted. The song is called Love, Me

It’s not often that the Skirata boys come to the town, maybe about once every couple of months. But when they do, it’s always an affair.

You know that it’s because they’re all bachelors, and that the ladies in town are watching them with diamond rings in their eyes. 

Not you, though.

Oh, sure. The Skirata boys are handsome enough, and when they come to town they’re polite and kind to everyone, but there are only so many of them, and there are a lot of women who have their eyes on them.

So even if you did, the chances of one of them picking you is slim.

In truth, you don’t mind. You have things you need to do, after all.

You must work hard to make as much money as you can to send back to your mother. You just don’t have time for silly things like dating or courting or whatever it’s called.

Maybe if you repeat it enough times, you’ll start to believe it.

“You have no idea how grateful I am,” Your boss says as he wrings his hands, “All of the other girls called out sick.”

“Of course they did.” You reply with a roll of your eyes, “The Skirata boys are in town.”

He bobs his head once, in agreement, “In any event, I’m paying you double today, and you’re going to be permitted to keep all of the tips you make.”

That makes you pause, “Really?”

“Really.” He says with a smile that’s more of a grimace, “Just, do your best and come to me if anyone gives you any problems.”

“I will.” You reassure. Your boss is a good man, he treats his girls like his own daughters and is the only saloon that you know of that has bouncers to toss out men who get too disrespectful to his girls.

It’s why you stayed working here.

You watch as he vanishes back into his office, and then you grab your tray and push out of the kitchen, into the main part of the saloon.

It’s already packed.

You can see the Skirata boys sitting at one of the large tables in the back, though their horde of screaming banshees hasn’t arrived yet, so you still have time before you lose your eardrums.

Well, silver linings, you can’t help but think.

And then you push everything to the back of your mind, and you head to the bar. You hand your tray to the bartender, an older man who’s worked at the saloon for the majority of his life, and take the notepad so you’re able to go around taking orders.

“Are you ready for today to suck?” He asks in a low voice.

“Be grateful that the banshees haven’t arrived yet.” You counter with a quirk of your lips.

He blinks at you placidly, “I’m going to take my hearing aids out.”

“You asshole.”

He chuckles, and hands you a new pen, “We have Jacques playing bouncer today, and you know he doesn’t play around with your safety.”

“Good.” You flip the notebook open to a clean page, “Time to get to work, I suppose.”

“I’ll be here if you need me.”

You flash a small smile and then go to work, ducking and weaving through the crowd of men and women to reach the first table, a polite smile plastered on your face. 

It’s about three hours later when the feel of the saloon starts to change, a change brought around due to the arrival of the pianist and the singer. When the music starts to play, the patrons start to get louder, and you can’t help but roll your eyes as the dance floor fills with men and women.

Not everyone, thankfully, but enough that you have to walk around the edges of the room.

And, in truth, you’re not surprised when a man comes over to you.

You are surprised to see that it’s Darman Skirata, though. Handsome and charming, with a crooked smile and an easy laugh, Darman has been the subject of more than one of your daydreams.

Though, so far as you’re aware, he doesn’t know you exist.

“Did you need something?” You ask, running through a list of things that you might have forgotten to bring to his table.

Darman flashes his most charming smile, which is enough to make your face heat and your stomach flip, “I just wanted you to know,” He says, “That you’re the hottest girl in this place.”

You blink at him, twice, and then you fold your arms, “Does that line ever actually work for you?”

His grin becomes slightly sheepish and he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, “Not yet,” Darman admits, “my brothers say that I’m a bit nervous around women, so they gave me that line.”

At that, you smile at him, “Would you like to try again?”

“Yes, please.” He reaches out and takes your hand, bringing it to his lips and pressing a light kiss to your knuckles, “I’ve been trying to work up the courage to talk to you the last four times we’ve come to town.” Darman says, his gaze locked with yours, “You’re gorgeous, and you're so confident. And you’re so…insanely attractive.”

Your face heats, a small giggle falling from your lips, “You think so?”

“I know so,”

“Thank you,” You say to him, a blinding smile on your face.

“Would you like to dance?”

“I’m working,”

“I can wait until you’re done,” Darman says his gaze intent.

“You’ll be waiting for a while.” You warn him, “I’ve only been here for three hours.”

“I’m patient.”

At that, you smile, “Alright. When my shift is over, then.”

Darman kisses your knuckles one more time, and then releases you to allow you to go back to work. He tosses you a wink, “Between now and then until I see you again, I’ll be loving you.”

Your face flames, and you turn away from him, “You’re impossible.”

He grins at you one more time, and then weaves back to the table his brothers claimed, and you have to fight your flustered embarrassment so you’re able to go back to work. 

But, there’s no hiding the pleased smile on your lips, or the extra bounce in your step.

You’re already looking forward to the end of your shift, though for a very different reason than you originally were.

[antigone-ks]

Spoils of the Avvar

Summary:

After visiting the Avvar, Quiz shyly admits to Cullen that she'd like to see him in nothing but his furry mantle and a loincloth. He opts to surprise her with a full-throttle, bride-stealing Avvar roleplay one night.

Originally written for dragonage_kink, 2015

Warnings: consensual dub-con roleplay

Tags: Cullen Rutherford/Female Trevelyan; Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford; 

Roleplay; Sexual Roleplay; Virginity Roleplay; Explicit Sexual Content; Established Relationship; Avvar Cullen; Sexual Fantasy; Roleplaying dubious consent;  But not actual dubious consent; Furry Mantle fetish; Cullen is game for anything apparently; really cliched speech; sex is better with barbarians; Oral Sex; some people are better at roleplaying than others; dominant cullen; 

Chapter One

“They’ve read his books?” Josephine looked delighted.

“Well, one of them has,” Evelyn said, grinning. “He only mentioned Hard in Hightown, though. Nothing about . . . the others.”

“They’d hardly need something like Swords and Shields, though, would they?” Josephine asked. “Somehow the Avvar have always seemed so, so naturally bodice-ripping.” The women ignored the sotto voce “Maker’s breath . . .” from the other side of the war table.

“There is more to romance than tearing off one’s clothes,” Cassandra objected. “And they wear so much fur, it cannot be easily done.”

“Oh, the Avvar understand romance, Cassandra,” Leliana replied, a little smile dancing at the corners of her mouth. “There may be less bodice-ripping, but there’s enough dashing warriors and swooning maidens and bride-stealing in any good Avvar tale to satisfy even you.”

Cassandra made a disgusted noise.

“I can picture the dashing warriors,” Evelyn said, thoughtful, “they’re all very tall, and their weapons are massive; I – “ she broke off at a choked sound from the final advisor.

“Can we decide on a strategy for this issue, or should we table the discussion?” Cullen asked, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck as he refused to meet anyone’s eyes.

Leliana turned to the door. “Some scouts have recently returned; I’ll see if they have new information. Josie, find out if we have anything useful to trade. They do enjoy Orlesian spices; it could open another door for us.”

Evelyn leaned against the war table as the three women filed out, Cullen fiddling with one of the map-markers. He looked up suddenly as the door shut. “Massive weapons?” he grinned. “How did you see any of their weapons?”

“Well, they wear them right out in the open. Big hammers. Swords made for just the right sheath.” She smirked at him. “Your ears are red.”

“You’ve been gone for two bloody weeks, and before you even say hello you’re talking about hammers and, and bodices. And ripping bodices.” His arm snaked around her as he bent his head. “I never knew you had such a filthy mind,” he whispered, lowering his mouth to hers.

“I missed you,” she whispered against his lips, when at last they parted.

“Surrounded by dashing Avvar warriors, and you thought of me?” His lips traced a path down her neck as he slid a steadying arm around her waist.

“I thought of you a lot,” she confessed, sighing against his cheek. “Especially you in your furry mantle. Sometimes in nothing else.”

His warm breath huffed against her neck as he chuckled. “What, really?” She made an affirmative sound and he straightened, looking into her eyes. “Just the coat?”

“And maybe a loincloth. Sometimes paint.”

“I only wear loincloths on very special occasions.”

“We could go to my chambers and see how special today is . . .”

The blare of a horn signaled the return of Bull’s Chargers from their latest task. Evelyn sighed. They would want to debrief as soon as possible and move on to their celebratory drinking. “I think we’ll need to make it special very quickly.”

Chapter Two

The water hit her aching muscles, almost too hot to bear but instantly relaxing her. The scent of crushed embrium filled the steamy air, and Evelyn leaned back against the tub. Another long journey, nearly a month this time. A month of cold splashing baths and no tea and no Cullen.

Still no Cullen. He’d stood beside her at the war table as she gave her report, his fingers brushing against hers (quite brazenly, she’d thought, which was unlike him when he was on-duty), and hadn’t done more than murmur “that sounds like a good idea” when she’d mentioned going to the baths. She’d rather hoped he’d join her, but she was turning red and wrinkly and there was still no sign of him. Sighing, she wrapped a robe around herself and headed toward her chambers, hoping it was late enough to shortcut across the Great Hall without being noticed.

The Hall was utterly empty; not even Varric sat by the fire. Evelyn stared down the length of the room, a tense feeling creeping over her. Even in the evenings Vivienne would often be up researching and crafting, usually – if it wasn’t too late – with a young courtier dancing attendance on her. But all was still, as if the world held its breath.

Unsettled, she pushed open the door to her corridor and closed it decidedly behind her. A prickling feeling at the back of her neck made her spin around, peering into the shadows. Her heart pounded painfully as she heard a breath, a movement, a –

“Cullen?” She collapsed against the door, pressing a hand to her chest. “Andraste’s flaming hairy damned . . . things, why are you lurking in the dark?”

“I was waiting for you, lady.” His voice was different, deeper, darker, with an edge and an accent not his own.

Evelyn pulled her robe tighter and tried to look indignant. “I . . . I waited for you, in the baths.”

“Your men might have seen me, lady. I couldn’t let myself be thwarted beforetimes.”

“Um.” He stepped out of the shadows, the pale light from the windows shining on his hair, twinkling off the hilt of the sword strapped to his back. Strapped to his back? He wore it at his side. She’d made him choke on a frilly cake once, running her fingers over the pommel during an endless meeting with nobles. But now he had it – the sheath was – her cheeks flamed almost painfully as she realized that his sheath was missing because his trousers were missing because he wasn’t wearing trousers because he was naked – blessed Andraste, was that a loincloth? – under his mantle. His furry. His mantle. The mantle with the fur. The furry mantle she wanted to see him in and nothing but a loincloth and

“Paint?” she asked tentatively.

The light struck the side of his face and she saw swirling kohl markings down his cheek, around his eye. He looked wild, and dangerous, and somehow bigger than usual and oh, Maker, he moved like a prowling lion as he approached. If she pressed any closer to the door she’d leave an Inquisitor-shaped hole in it, and anyway this was Cullen, and she’d asked for this. Something like this, anyway.

His breath whispered across her face, his eyes hooded as she looked up at him. “Is this for me?” she murmured.

“I would do anything for you, lady.” His body pressed against hers, his hands sliding to her waist. “Let me claim you. Let me have you.” Her breath hitched as his lips traced the shell of her ear. “Submit to me, my pretty lowland maid.”

Evelyn felt giggles, unbidden, threatened to erupt from her throat. It wasn’t funny, she wasn’t amused, she was – she was nervous, just as if this were real. Well, two could play at this game.

Wriggling ineffectively, she threw her head back (a bit too hard, it bonked against the door and Cullen winced for her) and exclaimed “owOh, oh no ser, no! I must not!”

Even in the dimness, she could see his grin. His hold tightened. “Don’t fight me, lass. You shall be mine.”

“Unhand me, you barbarian!” His mouth twitched, then he swooped down and claimed hers. His lips, usually so soft, were hard against hers, demanding. He pulled her body tight against his, his muscled thigh slipping between hers. She mewled against his mouth as he rocked them together.

“Barbarian, am I?” he growled, tangling his hand in her hair. “A barbarian would take you here, against this wall, and let your people hear you scream. Let the men who want you hear your pleasure and know that a barbarian has given it to you.” Stooping, he swept her up into his arms. “I am no barbarian, lady. You will beg me lay claim to you.”

He started toward her chambers, stopping at the first flight of steps to rearrange her weight while she tapped her fists against his chest, protesting quietly. “No, you mustn’t! Let me go! Put me down – No, really, Cullen, put me down, these stairs are tricky.”

Setting her down, he looked momentarily stymied, then – “Will you walk to your fate, lass, or must I force you?”

“I needn’t be carried like a babe, ser. But, but you will not have me, brute!” she flung at him, marching up the stairs. As he followed, Evelyn was certain she heard him snickering.

Chapter Three

The fire was blazing, furs were piled into a nest before the hearth, and Evelyn took a moment to appreciate how much effort Cullen had put into this night. She gazed at him warmly as he approached, skin golden in the firelight. He smiled lopsidedly and reached for her, brushing the hair from her face and gently pressing his lips to hers.

“All that I have is yours, lady.” Cullen leaned his forehead against hers, eyes softening for an instant, before turning predatory. “If I may have all that is yours.”

“I have nothing, ser,” Evelyn said, looking down modestly.

He pulled her closer, provoking a gasp as his hardness pressed against her stomach. “No, lass, you have everything I desire.” One finger traced the line of her throat down, down, following the edge of her robe and dipping between her breasts. Evelyn squeaked and pushed at him, drawing a grin as he held her tight.

“I warned you not to fight.” Cullen’s smile turned hungry. Evelyn had only a moment to brace herself before his leg swept behind hers and he bore her to the ground atop the furs. His body radiated heat, and the scent of him, the warmth of the mantle cocooning them, made her feel as if the world had disappeared and there was nothing left but the two of them. She craved the caress of his naked skin against hers, the slick of their sweat as they moved together. Her legs parted, cradling him in the center of her being. His eyes glazed as the heat of her brushed his still-covered cock.

Pinning her wrists in one large, calloused hand, Cullen raised himself enough to force open the robe. “Conquering you will be so sweet,” he murmured, cupping her breast with his free hand. She arched beneath him as he flicked his thumb against her nipple, her cry swallowed by a punishing kiss. Trapped beneath him, she could do no more than gasp when his mouth followed his hand, suckling at her, nipping and teasing. Pleasure arced through her veins and she struggled against him, needing to touch him, to stroke him, to pleasure him as well as he did her.

“Please . . . please, Cullen-“ she gasped, and he released her, lifting her enough to pull the robe from her body. Evelyn wrapped her arms around him, fingers running through the fur at his neck and up into his hair. Her lips sought his, and she felt him tremble and for a moment thought the games were over and he would take her then, hard and needful.

Instead he nuzzled at her neck, seeking that sensitive spot below her ear, murmuring softly as he unwound her arms and laid her back into the nest. The fur beneath her was soft, smooth against her bare skin. She wanted to writhe against it, against the fur and against him, trapped between them until she could feel nothing else. She reached for him as he leaned over her and he caught her hand, brought it to his mouth.

“Lowlander,” he whispered, her pulse jumping as his lips brushed over her wrist. “Open yourself to me.” He kissed the tip of each finger, then guided her hand down his chest and lower, lower to the straining hardness still hidden in the loincloth. “You see that I need you. Let me give us both pleasure, my sweet maiden.”

“Ser, I cannot.” Evelyn gazed at him through her lashes, schooling her face into what she hoped was a wide-eyed innocence (but feared was just simple-minded). She pressed her lips together to keep from giggling. “Please, ser. My maidenhead is all that I have, and it belongs to my husband.”

She wasn’t sure how he would react – was it too much? – but she got her answer when Cullen ground against her, eyes black with desire. He was so hard, and he knew exactly where she was most needy. She gasped and arched beneath him as he thrust again, then loomed over her.

“Your maidenhead,” he scoffed. “You writhe like a cat in heat, lass; you’re ready to be taken. You need it. And,” he lowered himself until his weight pressed her into the furs, his lips against her ear, “when I’m inside you, you’ll call me husband.”

How could something so staid and . . . and socially acceptable sound so unimaginably filthy? Evelyn whimpered and bucked helplessly against him as he sucked and bit at her neck, his hands leaving trails of fire as they roamed her skin, cupping her breast gently, then giving a bold squeeze. He swallowed her gasp, stole her breath with his kiss, and descended lower. He stroked the tender flesh of her thigh, watching her face with heavy-lidded eyes. As his fingers brushed through her curls, Evelyn gasped and reached for him.

At once, he gripped her wrist. “Be still, lass,” he whispered. “Let me please you.” She pulled against his grip, twisting against his strength, needing to touch him, to stroke his hair, to show him how very much he did please, but she could not break free. “I said lie still,” he said, his voice harsh. “Else I will bind you, and you will be at my mercy. Do you want that?”

“Oh Maker, yes,” she whispered. “But not now.”

“Not now,” he agreed. “Later, I’m going to fuck the air from your lungs. But for now,” he kissed the back of her hand, “be my good girl and let me love you.”

“Yes, ser,” she breathed, as he dropped her hand and slid both of his along the crease of her thighs, cupping her mound between them. He pressed a kiss, almost chastely, to her plump mons, then his thumbs parted her lips and he gently kissed her hooded pearl. Evelyn held her breath, held herself still, as his breath ghosted over her, his thumbs stroking along her lips. If she’d thought herself wet before, it was nothing compared to the moisture gathering as he toyed with her. He kissed her again, and she sobbed in need.

“Like a cat,” he whispered against her, so softly she didn’t hear it, couldn’t hear it, but she felt it crawl inside her skin, sparking against her nerves and setting her aflame.

“Please. Please, ser.”

“Please what, darling?” He kissed her again, just a touch of his lips to her, and her thighs quivered.

“Please kiss me there,” she whimpered, lifting her hips to show him.

Cullen chuckled. “I am kissing you there. Do you want more?” Before she could respond, he licked a long line up the seam of her lips, dipping deeper to flick against her clit, and she wailed.

“Yes, yes, Maker, yes please pleasepleaseCullen!”

He buried his face between her thighs and devoured her. His lips closed around her clit and he sucked, hard, as his long fingers teased her entrance, opening her gently. The contrast made her writhe. Evelyn covered her face with her hands as he stroked her slowly, invading her patiently, inexorably.

Cullen pulled his mouth from her with a gasp. “Maker’s breath, you’re so wet,” he said, sounding awed. “You’re dripping.” His finger curled inside her, and she mewled as he added another, sliding in a little more quickly, curling to match the other. His thumb pressed against her nub, the tips of his fingers found that perfect spot, and as he lowered his mouth to her again Evelyn sent up a prayer of thanks for this man and his hands. And his mouth. And his – and his – his hand thrust harder, his tongue flicked against her, and suddenly she was bucking and shaking, sounds like a trapped animal coming from her mouth. Cullen pushed her through it, not stopping until she twisted away and closed her legs. He chuckled as her thighs trapped his hand; he cupped her gently and let her ride him until the final throes dissipated.

Chapter Four

A warm drowsiness spread through her, limbs too heavy to move. Her eyes blinked slowly at the shadows on the ceiling, hazy and sinuous. Cullen gathered her into his arms, nuzzling her ear, his lips moving slowly along her neck. She could easily fall into sleep in this moment. She might, actually. It would take huge incentive to keep her awake. She shifted against Cullen.

Ah, there it was.

Evelyn cuddled close and rocked her hips, smiling lazily at his hiss. “Oh, ser, what have you done to me? I have thrown away all modesty for the sake of a few kisses!”

She felt his lips press against her temple. “Sweet maid,” he murmured, voice achingly low, “how can modesty stand against such delights of the flesh?” He seized her thigh, pulling it up over his hip, rocking hard against her. A bolt of pleasure shot down to her toes, and she gasped. His thumb caressed her lower lip. “And now you shall show me the same delights.”

Evelyn gasped theatrically, as heat spread through her body. “I cannot!”

Cullen smirked at her. “You don’t fight like an outraged maiden any longer, lass. Do not speak like one.”

Evelyn jerked out of his grasp and sat up, drawing a fur close around her body. “How dare you! It’s not my fault that a barbarian has kidnapped me and ravished me – “

“I haven’t ravished you yet.”

“ – threatened to ravish me, and made me feel such unmaidenly things – “

“And squeal such unmaidenly things.” Cullen was grinning outright, his grin, not his Avvar-predator smirk. Evelyn leaned forward, pecked her lips against his scar, and gave him a shove. It was like pushing a boulder.

“You beast!”

She surged upward, almost reaching the stairs before he caught her in his unyielding arms, pulling her tight against his chest. “Unhand me, or I will call the guards!”

“Do you want them to see your shame, lass?” He tugged the fur loose, baring her to the cool night air. Her nipples hardened, her skin flushed. “I will have you. I do not care who sees.”

“I could have you here where we stand,” he whispered, his hands moving down her body. He thrust against her, his heart thumping unsteadily against her back. “Would you like that, sweet? Do you want me to mount you, here, like a stallion covers a mare?”

Oh, Maker’s fucking breath yes.

Maker, he was still clothed. Well, still loinclothed. And furred.

His hand slipped between her legs, through the dampness that lingered, and parted her folds with an obscene sound. “That is no way for a maiden to be claimed, but I will do it unless you yield to me.”

Evelyn shook her head, gasping as his fingers drew circles around her bud. His other hand pressed against her back, gently but inexorably bearing her down against the railing. She rested her cheek on the cool stone and rocked against him, against his hand and against the thick weight that thrust against her core. He could almost push into her, just enough to make her thighs tremble and head swirl, and her breath caught on a sob when he removed his hand from her and pulled away.

“Cullen. Cullen, please,” she whispered as he caressed her back. “I need you. Maker, please fuck me.”

A rustle of cloth, and his cock slipped between her folds. Evelyn braced herself to push back against him, to take him deep, but he held her in place with more control than she’d known he possessed.

“Sweetheart, if you do what you’re thinking our evening will be over far too soon for my pride to bear.”

Her answering chuckle turned into a groan as he thrust so very slowly into her, shallowly as he would a true maiden. He was so careful with her, so gentle she felt overwhelmed with it, overwhelmed with the fullness of him moving inside her and with the fullness in her heart. He stroked her tenderly, running his fingers through her hair, whispering soothingly to her, until at last he was buried completely inside her. Bending over her, Cullen kissed her shoulders, her back, the hair at the base of her neck.

“Cull . . .” her voice choked off, unable to squeeze past the feeling of her heart lodged in her throat.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured, his own voice thick. “Darling. Evelyn.”

At last he moved, pulling back until he lay just within her, thrusting forward slowly until the tip of him touched her womb, repeating until she writhed beneath him. She felt him smile against her shoulder.

“Lass, are you ready?”

“Oh yes . . . yes.” Evelyn braced herself as he straightened and began to move in earnest, his hips beating out a quick rhythm against her buttocks that matched the pulsing in her blood. She began to arch against him, and his hands pressed her down again, against the railing, holding her a still vessel for his lust.

“That’s it, sweet, take me deep, let me fill you, let me – ah – let me have you,” his voice broke and he gasped, hips stuttering. Evelyn gripped the railing and pushed back, forcing him deeper, to the barest instant of pain. Her breath came in sharp staccato moans, her cunt aching with need. She was so close, Maker, give her only a moment more and she’d –

She jumped as his hand swatted across her backside, then squealed in outrage as he withdrew from her.

“I did warn you,” Cullen said, more teasing than reproachful.

“You absolute bastard,” she hissed, turning on him. He laughed and caught her hands, pulling her against him and capturing her mouth with his.

He spun them toward the bench that rested by the railing and sat, pulling her into his lap, guiding her legs to cradle him, his cock nudging her entrance. “I need you like his,” he whispered against her lips. “Need to hold you.” She shifted against him and took him inside, took him fully as he took her mouth again. “Need to see your face as you come apart on my cock.”

His hands fell to her hips and lifted her, guided her, settled her into a rhythm that had them both crying out. His hot breath ghosted across her breasts, his mouth suckling her until she arched back, running her hands through his golden curls to hold him against her. She had no words now, only mindless mewls that fell from her lips with every thrust of his hips. One arm wrapped around her hips, moving her quickly; the other hand slipped between them. At the press of his thumb against her bud, Evelyn hissed and Cullen raised his head to look in her eyes.

“Look at me,” he ordered, pulling her hips down hard. “Look. At. Me. I need – “

Her body quaked.

She saw only his amber eyes,

felt her cunt clench,

heard an animal moan,

(is it me? Is that me?)

felt warmth filling her,

bathing her core.

When at last she returned to her body, her own body, the body on Thedas and not in some desire demon-wracked corner of the fade, her head lay against Cullen’s chest, his heart pounding in her ears.

She smiled and cuddled closer. “That was the nicest welcome-home-from-a-bog gift anyone has ever given me.”

“I certainly hope so.” His voice was rough and breathless, his lips soft as they grazed her forehead. “I’ll carry you to bed in a moment. Or, no, we need to. Um.”

Maker’s breath, that he could blush after what he’d just done to her.

“We need to clean the barbarian seed from my freshly-ravished thighs?” Cullen made a noise, half-laughing, half-choking.

“Just so, my pretty lowland maid.”

[everybody-loves-purdy]

I know the arc hasn't ended yet so it may be too early to say this + there are still criticisms which can b made, but as an evil woman enjoyer I like the new evil women we've gotten this arc. I feel like part of the reason there have been so many differing portrayals of Mapleshade (some where she's just evil, others where she's more sympathetic) is bc we were sort of starved for choice (if that makes sense). Now though? I love Curlfeather's (so far) complex & even sympathetic motivations which also don't justify her actions, and I love my girl Berryheart who is just so so hilariously terrible (world's worst girlboss, her empire is crumbling)

The only villainous women warrior cats had before this was

Mapleshade

Sleekwhisker (glorified henchman barely anyone would bat an eye at if she were a guy but the fandom has been starved of female villains so)

Sparrowfeather (Dark Forest background cat)

Fury (I legit forgot she existed)

Warrior cats fans have been so starved of female villains it’s insane.

I am very much enjoying the antagonistic women we’re getting in asc. They’re legitimately good characters and threats. I love both Curlfeather and Berryheart (I think for the same reasons you do.) I think (so far) both are very well written and I hope this isn’t ruined in this upcoming final third of the arc. Please Erins stick the landing on these ladies you’re so close.

[lewisvinga]

There was massive discourse yesterday because a guy had entered all of the f1 x reader tags bacalao demanding that woman write for m!readers and basically guilt tripping at the end. It asked asks then said it male men fell short when no one writes for them. Then, a few seconds later, he answered one of his ask and said he’s not comfortable with writing for anyone except for men and ftm which is fine. Everyone has their preference.

But we got everyone upset is the fact that he’s saying that it’s not fair that women are only writing for women when men in the fanfiction community barely get representation. And then he turns around and says he’s not comfortable writing for women. Can you see the hypocrisy?

And then, a few hours later, he decided to address women as “females” and one of his ask that he also put in all of the F1 X reader tags. And said that “females act like they’re the only ones in the world and act, like only females, read fanfiction”

First of all, referring to women, as females is kind of gross. Even if that’s what they are, it’s gross, referring to people as males and females. I don’t know why, but it feels so gross.

Second of all, someone, another m!reader writer, came out of the woodwork saying that everyone was being dramatic and he wasn’t being misogynistic or asking anyone to write for m!readers. He said that they were just complaining, and everybody in the comments decided to go tell them to write it themselves.

Everyone in the comments was telling them that women might not feel comfortable writing for anyone outside of their gender and if they really want something then they have to write it themselves because they aren’t gonna get it by complaining

Bro, it was a whole entire thing. And then the one who decided to jump in all of us sudden said that it wasn’t that serious, but he and the other guy were the ones who made it so serious 😭

I’m pretty sure all the stuff is still there if you really wanna see it. You’re probably gonna have to scroll for a bit in the tags now, but the ones I recommend using is f1 smau, I think. That or f1 x reader.

No one was being rude, everyone was just trying to tell them that, just like he doesn’t like writing for women, some women don’t like writing for men. We were also trying to tell them that when women tend to write for men, men come into their ask, and Berate them for doing so, so they want to refrain from doing that so they won’t get hate sent their way

It was a whole thing and honestly so entitled of the m!readers. Here’s the thing, you’re allowed to be upset that there’s a lack of stuff representing you and your community, but to come into the tag, where people want to write and say, “I request for some people to write for m!reader because it’s not fair, we don’t get enough representation and I can’t do it myself because I don’t want to, and I’m not good at writing”

Let me just tell you, that man has written before, and seemed absolutely fine with it. He also had the goal to say that men don’t get Much representation on social media at all. Especially the fanfiction community. Which is blatantly wrong. There is a huge community of people just for male readers on this app. On Wattpad. On archive of our own. I just don’t think he wants to look for it, or be a part of it.

The person that randomly said that he meant that he’s just sick of seeing people right for male reader, and then women come and say, “can we get that but in Female reader” that’s exactly what they’re doing to us.

I just wanted to catch you up on the all the drama if you didn’t know. It’s over now, I think. But it was wild. His post reeked of entitlement, so people rightfully called him out for it, and then somebody act like we were attacking him is basically the td;or

omg i saw that and felt SO MANY THINGS ABT IT🙃🙃

like i kinda understand where he’s coming from😕, like sometimes i wish there was more latina rep on this app, but yall don’t see me putting the blame on non latino writers ???? i write that stuff myself and don’t guilt trip others 💀

and women aren’t entitled to write for male readers just because they’re underrepresented. just like non latinos don’t have to write for latina reader etc etc.

i know that i, as a woman, don’t feel comfortable at all writing for male reader because guess what? i’m simply not a man! i don’t feel comfortable writing for male/masculine aligning reader ( but that’s just me, perhaps other women are fine w it 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️)

but it’s very hypocritical to come at women for not writing for male reader just to turn around and say you don’t feel comfortable writing for fem reader when the same applies to a lot of female writers like myself 😕😕

i already write all my fics for free because i like to write and this app lets me have a way to let my creativity go. i’m not going to spend my free time writing something i don’t feel comfortable with. 😕😕😕

i understand they’re frustrated but they can’t put the blame on other female writers, esp if they criticize the ones that do write male readers 🤷‍♀️

but so many of us are doing this for free and we’re doing it for fun, and it’s fanfiction! of course we’re gonna write about what we relate to the most! 😩 and sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands if you wanna see more representation, 🙁 like how i’ll write latina reader bc simply i want more latina rep and i don’t mind taking matters into my own hands !

( also, men referring to women as ‘females’ is SO icky. yeah it’s the scientific name or whatvr but whenever i see a man use the term ‘females’ it’s always followed by something misogynistic so it just always feels icky and gross )

[crystalelemental]

Unit Viability Speculation - July 2023

DeNA: Establishes right away that Summer is for female protagonists.  First Lyra, then Gloria, then Hilda.

DeNA: Creates Variety Scouts for all the less popular characters, killing any hope of alts for all but the most popular of options.

DeNA: Introduces Master Fair reruns, each signaling the next batch of new characters they’re about to drop.  SS Lusamine predicts Alola VA, SSR Cynthia predicts Hisui, and now Archie predicts Hoenn.

Literally everyone: “Okay so it’s May.  There’s a May alt.  It is definitely May.”

Tate and Liza.

DeNA, I hope whoever pitched this idea is running the company now, because not only is this the best long con I’ve seen, this is also the funniest way to build this up I’ve ever seen.

Summer Tate They gave Jirachi to Tate.  After all this talk of May, Wally, and Lisia, they gave it.  To Tate.  I am in love with this decision.  Sincerely, outside of the nichest of fans of these two, is anyone actually happy here?  Is it just me and @megazardx2?  Well too bad, fuck y’all, my boy is thriving.

Tate not only got Jirachi, but avoided what I thought was the guaranteed pain of Doom Desire as a two-turn move.  No.  It turns out that’s a passive now.  Every other attack he throws out gets another stack of damage.  While we don’t know how much, the way it’s written sounds like NY!Dawn and Oricorio, so I am fully expecting 100%.  When this bonus damage activates, a random stat among the seven gets boosted by 2 stages, and the opponent’s special defense drops by 2.  It’s a slow process, but special defense debuffers have my life, so I’m happy.  Flash Cannon is okay damage, Thunder Wave is optimal Gauntlet shenanigans, and Charm is...present.  Trainer move is a classic +4 Sp Atk/+3 crit, and sync requires lowered attack.  So already his kit is wonky.  Charm is sync setup, but then you’re not debuffing with Doom Desire, which takes time on its own, and you just know there’s paralysis multipliers in the grid so there’s that angle too.

Thankfully, his grid provides a form of Overwhelm 9 that I assume takes Doom Desire into account as well given how it’s listed as a P-Move?  That or it’s only active on P-Move.  Either really good or really bad, but it specifies attack so no -3 Atk Charm.  Brainteaser’s nice, Rising Tide is fantastic, Fortuitous and another +1 on P-Moves is nice, Static Shock 5 is predictable, apparently another +1 to a random stat when he uses a status move, Natural Remedy and Quick Cure, Hit and Heal on trainer move, Ramp Up on Charm.

Tate is...interesting.  I’m not sure what else to say about the lad.  I think the kit is ultimately acceptable, but there are some oddities in his self setup.  Oddities that Lucian completely solves.  Sincerely, Lucian covers his DPS, his sync condition, and even assists Rising Tide.  Will Lucian ever stop winning?  But moreover, Tate is Steel-type, and raises the question...is this better than what’s currently available?  Base Gloria’s expansion is to die for, Palentine’s Marnie and her Zone don’t really work well wit him given his special focus (first among the Steels to be bad with her, by the way), and we also have Rose this month, who...well I’ll get to that one.  Tate just has competition, and I think the tradeoff is going to be one of utility.  Tate will be better in Gauntlet than CS, no question.  But I think Lucian does mean he has a home in CS.

Summer Liza I had to look this up, but apparently Celesteela does have comparable attack and special attack.  I always assumed it was special dominant.  Complaint redacted, this is all upside.  That said, two Celesteela before a single Nihilego.  I’m not mad, I’m furious.

Summer Liza and Celesteela come in as a Flying type Striker.  After P!Elesa, this may raise some concerns.  Be at peace, my child.  Flying Shift Giga Impact be upon you.  This is a double-edged sword.  4-bar spam Normal with 90 accuracy means big DPS numbers, but the tradeoff is she’s slow as hell, and has no other damage aside from sync.  Iron Defense and Protect are defensive tools, very unusual for a Striker.  Her trainer move raises accuracy +1, crit +3, then raises attack by how much defense is raised.  Okay, so she uses Iron Defense, then trainer move, then she can spam.  That’s slow.  Oh, except she gets Free Moves Next and +2 defense for each status move used.  So she sets up defense +4, boosts with trainer move, then throws out a free Giga Impact.  Any +2 to defense off a defensive ally like, oh I dunno, Skyla, suddenly gets her to cap.  That’s respectable.

Grid offers Super Victory (I love this stupid move on high DPS pairs), Tough Cookie (free money), MGR9 (Ghetsis strats), Towering Force and Team Sentry Entry for perfect self-sufficiency, HP Advantage 4 which is odd, Protect Physical Boost Up 3 for +3 physical moves up next AND Status P-Moves Up 2 for another +2 off either status move, which means Protect is a goddamn +5 physical moves up next stack on its own, Tough Sync 3, Piercing Gaze for some reason, and got dang Vigilance.

Liza.  You fucking did it, girl.  You actually did high Flying-type DPS without a dumb gimmick.  I legitimately didn’t think we’d ever see the day.  Sure, the gauges are a problem, but it’s nothing that can’t be solved by speed boosting, and Skyla is literally right there.  On physical stages, that’s a free win.  Masked Royal also fixes all her issues, doubles down on survival against physical stages, and debuffs defense for her.  Guys, Liza’s really good.  We actually got a really good Flying type Stiker who isn’t just good for sync.  And it’s Celesteela.  This is my daughter now.

Rose Steel Striker, okay.  Good luck competing with Gloria for...oh holy shit.

Iron Head, High Horsepower, Stone Edge, Hit the Gas 5, Max Moves, and his main passive makes all of his moves and Max Moves AoE.  Fucking suck it, Victor.  It doesn’t even let moves suffer a DPS drop, he just does that.  As an added bonus, how about we pull in some SS Giovanni, and make his Steel moves stronger while also making them never miss?  Bro, Rose, what the fuck, man?  Keep in mind that Iron Head is a goddamned 30% flinch rate, and it’s AoE now.  His only flaw is that, despite his trainer move being Eusine-esque in its immediate capping of offense, it drops speed by 2.  He was already painfully slow, and with Hit the Gas 5, Rose is looking to end a match really fast, or die trying.  Which...hey, massive points for thematically appropriate sets.

For Grid, Rose is a Pokefair, and I need to talk about the 5/5 Grid first.  He gets Free Moves Next on every hit while the field is a Steel Damage Zone at 5/5.  This is, by far, the most lifechanging skill I’ve seen on a 5/5.  Rose wants to buff, pop Max Move, then hopefully not deal with anything past that point.  This lets him continue past that point.  This is the off-type node.  It’s that good.  But, it’s also on a timer.  Once it leaves, it never comes back.  So I don’t think it’s all that worth it.  Defense Crush 9 on AoE is hilarious though.  Impervious is...fine.  The speed drop being blocked is nice but eh.  And extra power on his Max Move is...fine.  I don’t think it’s necessary, and frankly it being at 4/5 kinda invalidates his 5/5 tools by clearing faster.

The rest of his grid is Double Down 2, Interference Immunity, Haymaker and Furious Brawn, Iron Head MGR9, MAX Super Preparation which is obscene for on-type, Double Down 2 and a 50% sync bonus when the Steel damage field is up, Sync Freebie, Max Countdown 1, and some Sandstorm stuff including Surging Sand 3 and Sands of Time 2.

Rose is...really fucking good, man.  As much as I shit on Victor constantly, his AoE Max Move does put in a ton of work, and is a major selling point.  Rose copies that entirely.  While his base attack is lower than Victor’s, and his speed is a major issue, Rose makes up for it with much more efficient self-setup and frankly much better multipliers.  Rose is free, Victor needs support.  And I think Steel is a type in much greater need than Grass, while the backup of Rock and Ground, two types fairly notorious for a weaker presence, makes Rose particularly valuable as an offensive pick.  But he’s very SS Giovanni-esque, in that if supported correctly, he’ll clear just fine.  But if he’s not...he’s going to fail.  Badly.  Like, I don’t even want to think about how bad this guy has it in Gauntlet.

Oleana Hey kids, did you get Emma?  No?  Okay, here’s a do-over.  Oleana and GMax Garbodor come in with Gunk Shot, a tremendously powerful Poison-type move.  Love me some good Poison DPS.  Move Gauge Boost is a choice, Venom Drench is interesting, and her trainer move is +4 Atk/+3 crit/+2 accuracy, and a -1 sync cooldown.  Which is good because you want her Max Move early, as it applies Poison to all foes.  Sorry, Toxic.  Yeah, her passive bumps up her Poison status to Toxic, my bad.  Oh and she hits the foe with Rebuff after the Max Move, by the way.  And that Venom Drench?  Yeah, any stat debuff from a status move on a Poisoned target is tripled.  Two turns to max debuffs, and she’s an offense debuffer; I know several people about to go ballistic over this one.  Statistically, she’s relatively slow and could be better on attack, 350s isn’t great for a starting point in this day and age, but it’s Poison so like take what you can get, girl.

4/5 gives Ruthless Toxin to randomly debuff the foe by 2 (not affected by passive), and Max Move Team Defense Down 2 (again, not affected) 5/5 gives Soften Up, and Venom Drench Twofer for free moves. Regular grid has Toxic Power 2 and 3, Virulent Toxin 2 and 5, Ramming Speed (???), Move Gauge Boost: Pep Rally 2 (aaah), Hit and Heal and Berserker 2 on trainer move, Potent Toxin for more Toxic damage, MAX Shielding for defense, Staggering 1, Posthaste 2, and Power Play.  That last one is real nice.

Oleana is very good.  Is she as good as Emma, though?  In CS, I’m going to say no.  It is very hard to compete with “I can perform a denial on turn 2 with hilarious consistency.”  I don’t suspect Oleana will be able to do that, but who knows, maybe she will with Max Move.  I think Oleana’s definitely top 2 contender for Poison damage, though.  This feels well above H!Iris.  And the debuffing is very nice, very efficient, and works well with some of my favorites.  So I’m...admittedly very tempted here.

Variety Mallow Ugh.  Variety Scouts.  They’re not even Elite Four, so there goes consistency in that regard.  And it’s Mallow.  I’ll be honest, I don’t like Alola’s cast much, and don’t really like Mallow.  To make it worse, they gave her Shiinotic.  I mean...props for picking one of my least favorite Pokemon ever.  At least Lurantis is still free to be on a good sync pair.

Grass support.  Giga Drain, Stun Spore, X Sp Def All, trainer move is 1MP, +4 Sp Atk/+2 Crit/+1 Accuracy for the team.  She debuffs attack when hitting with her Giga Drain, restores more HP when the foe is paralyzed, and has Status Immunity.  Statistically, she is fine, with bulk hovering around the 300 mark.  Grid gives Master Healer, MGR9 on Giga Drain, Shielded 1 on X Sp Def All, Endurance, Revenge Boost, debuffing special attack from a healing move, Pep Rally on trainer move (1MP, that’ll help), Team Sharp Entry, Stalwart, Quick Cure, Synchro Healing, and a 50/50 to heal again when hitting a paralyzed opponent.

Listen, how do you feel about Variety Agatha?  That’s your litmus test for Mallow, because they’re functionally identical.  Both are rapid buff bots with 1MP trainer move, both want status to heal themselves but can’t heal allies almost at all, both have some means of debuffing as desired.  Personally, while I love Sp Atk/Crit buffers, I feel like Mallow kinda sucks.  I say this knowing full well she’s going to be a Gauntlet solo aficionado with these tools.  But I don’t like Mallow, and I hate Shiinotic, and the kit is not doing anything new.  Easiest skip of my life.

Variety Kiawe Kiawe brought his dog.  Apparently, following Crobat, the second Pokemon to three forms is...Arcanine.  DeNA, come on.

Ember, Will-o-Wisp, Fire Spin, trainer move gives +4 Sp Atk/+2 crit and accuracy.  Tech nuke is based on burn, instantly gimping his Gauntlet career.  He is CS focused, and to emphasize this, he gets Extend Range to have moves apply to all foes.  In addition, if the foe is burned, he debuffs special attack by 1, and if trapped, special defense by 1.  ...hey yo Bede, how you doin?

Bede, laughing: “He needs two different statuses for -1?!  PEASANT”

Grid debuffs attack of a burned foe, lowering speed of a trapped foe, Power Play and Interference Sync 5, MGR9 broadly for some reason, Terrify 2, Stationary Target 3, Scorcher 2 and Pokey Trap 5 for passive damage, Team Sync Regen, Propulsion 9 on trainer move.

In summation, Variety Kiawe is a statistically average Fire-type tech with slow-acting debuffs requiring two distinct forms of status condition and status change, impacting his point totals wildly in CS and having poor choices for Gauntlet as well, all while debuffing far slower than Bede.  Did I miss anything?  No?  Garbage.  NEXT!

Lodge Irida Lodge Irida comes in as a...Tech?  She’s a Tech?  I was fully expecting Support.  Well, Fire type, so that doesn’t bode well.

Fire Fang, X Atk, Flare Blitz (oh no, it’s just like the main series), trainer move is Sp Def +1/Crit +2 and gradual healing.  Sync multiplier is burn.  Oh no.  Standfast 9 (whew), Aggravation 2, and Hostile Environment 2.  Girl, you locked your sync on a 30%, why?

Grid has First Aid 4, Aggravation 2, Double Down 3 (OH NO) and Scorching Sync 5 (OH NO), Hostile Environment 2, Superduper Effective 2, Burn Synergy 3, and a Standfast 5.

Okay.  I don’t really know what I expected.  But Lodge Irida’s not exactly good.  High BP moves with recoil can work, we’ve seen what Lodge Gloria does, but Flare Blitz has the misfortune of positive conditions that hinder total DPS in exchange for a slight burn rate.  I’m sorry, even at your best it’s a 50%, that’s not reliable.  The issue with Fire Fang is that Staggering caps to 50%, but it can only activate one condition at a time, so you can’t use it for disruption and setting up her burn.  In Gauntlet, Burn is bad by default, while in CS, unless I’m misremembering, the only spread Burn is from H!Morty.  “And the new Kiawe!”  I am not pulling for that clown.

Yeah, this is gonna be messy.  Irida’s going to live and die by her DPS.  Sync’s condition is too difficult to achieve, and frankly, her multipliers are pretty atrocious too for a Tech, being a measly 80% and partially locked to on-type.  I’m really unimpressed.

Blue (Grid Expansion) I’m gonna be honest, Blue got basically everything he ever wanted.  Ramp Up 2 on trainer move, and a full 150% sync multiplier.  Granted, hit with the same Sync Power Flux bat as Caitlin, but at least it’s not a locked to on-type situation.  His DPS was always respectable, albeit post-sync, so this works.  If there’s any particular flaw, it’s that self-setup still requires three turns.  Ethan had a lot of trouble with this, effectively needing sync to perform a denial and thus not working so well with Support EX.  Blue has similar concerns, but the mega evolution made that mandatory anyway, so it’s not like he misses out on much.  Without a good sense for his new damage output, I’m tentatively going to say this rules.  Karen only got the Sync Power Flux, and she’s frankly insane.  Then again, her DPS was directly tied to a high flinch rate, so I kinda feel like she got it a bit better than Blue just by design.  But this seems wholly respectable.  I don’t have Blue at EX, which is a shame because that’s really what you want here, but I imagine his fans will be pleased.

Dojo Gloria (Grid Expansion) What do you offer a sync pair that’s this powerful?  Apparently miscellaneous tools.  Interference Immunity and Impervious are cute but wholly unnecessary.  Restoring Strike is good for solos, but CS doesn’t really help much.  The big victory is the 5/5 Head Start 1.  Gloria is a fast-ramp all by herself now.  If you care.  I don’t.  3/5 is perfectly sufficient, everything in her expanded grid is like...okay.  There wasn’t much room left to improve though, if we’re being honest.  Would’ve liked to see Ripple Effect 4, but it’s fine.

Clair (EX) Oh my god, thank you.  I love Clair, I’m so glad she got something.  Unfortunately it sucks.  All of Clair’s damage is in DPS.  Her only multipliers are the 100% bonus damage to her Draco Meteor for Rain and Paralysis.  Her sync is borderline negligible.  It doesn’t exactly help that her favorite partner, SS Kris, needs first sync for MP Burst, so she’ll rarely see use from this.  It’s nice, but it’s the kind of occurrence that’s like listen, DeNA, just do a windfall of the story pairs getting EX.  There’s no reason to hold off.  Most of them can’t even do anything with it.

[knighteclipsed]

meta 02. valter’s steeds

Preface: This document is from March of last year with some additions added on in the months that followed. I would’ve just placed this in headcanons raw, but the length of the document I’m adapting alongside the extra notes struck me more as a dashboard post in the making. Thus:

Pre-Exile

Idis

F – Horse (Courser) Name Origin: German Mythology; a divine female being. “well-respected and dignified woman” A quiet horse who doesn’t say much; Valter’s steed prior to exile. While timid at first, she was trained to be fearless and is now a silent horse instead. Was passed to Selena (and possibly renamed) after Valter was exiled.

I am fascinated by the promotional comic having Glen and Valter riding horses during the invasion of Renais—because both of them are wyvern riders (or, if we’re concerned with semantics: Glen is a dragon rider, but that’s whatever). And of course, within the game, whenever they travel long distances, they use their flying mounts, but I can see the practicality of also having a horse—just to provide options, you know? Thus, I do have a horse for Valter pre- and post-exile.

There would also be a wyvern here, but I’m placing her in the following section, since… well, I don’t know if anyone could reasonably use her (as opposed to one being able to reassign a very normal horse, if that makes sense). Valter wasn’t very attached to Idis anyway.

Before Death

Hermódr

M - Horse (Courser) Name Origin: Old Norse; Hermóðr (but I can’t reasonably expect people to write that every time), aka Hermod the Swift. “messenger of the gods” One of the fastest warhorses Grado had to offer. When seeking a method alternative to the skies, this was the horse Valter turned to for travel. A bit feisty, sure, but otherwise a good partner in battle.

(In reference to the promotional comic, this would be the horse Valter was riding, by the way.) Funnily enough, this is the only guy I have written down for Valter, so feminism win, I suppose?

Sigyn

F – Wyvern (War Steed) Name Origin: Old Norse; a deity in Norse mythology. “(woman) friend of victory” Valter's preferred wyvern of the post-exile era. A particularly ferocious animal that would gladly eat the corpses of his enemies. Lost to him upon his “death” in the Jehanna Desert.

I’ve actually mentioned Sigyn in prose before (including his interview, fun fact)! Though often, I do not believe it was explicitly stated that she was an old mount of his. Regardless, her temperament comes from those particular lines in Ephraim Route, Chapter 10 where it’s implied that if any of his subordinates piss him off, they’re going in the chomper!

Also, I will admit I didn’t know FE already had a Cigyun when I named her, but this is very funny to me. Hello Deirdre of Valter Doesn’t Like You fame, did you know his old wyvern shares your mom’s name (sort of)?

TOA (including the Future)

Frigg

F – Pegasus (War Steed) Name Origin: Norse Mythology; wife of Odin. “beloved” Valter's first pegasus and mount of the TOA Era. Given to him upon his training to be a pegasus knight, she's mostly ignorant to his hostility to others. Not fondly looked upon for her perceived stupidity, but still respected as a mount nonetheless.

Frigg was actually the reason I made the source doc to begin with! She was named around the time of last year’s BOEL since I have an endearment to muns naming their muse’s steeds, but she was his mount during Keras Kai Elephas as well! Since Valter prefers wyverns to pegasi in general, I thought it’d be funny if, alongside not having a wyvern for class access reasons, he also had a mount that was so not like him. So we have Frigg! I like her very much; she is very beloved.

Vár

F – Wyvern (War Steed) Name Origin: Norse Mythology; a goddess associated with oaths and agreements. “pledge” or “beloved” Valter's personal wyvern post-death. Similar to Sigyn, she's a ferocious creature, but she's a tad more tame than her predecessor. Sometimes hunts on her own, which can baffle the Moonstone on occasion.

Vár doesn’t exist yet! But I named her in advance since I was already naming everything else—whenever Valter admits Frigg’s name in an IC interaction, then he’ll start acquiring the final two axe points necessary to unlock a wyvern of his own. (And yes, I am soft-locking him from this.) Help a Valter today by talking to him about mounts!

And that’s the full list! It’s been a long while since I made it and I didn’t actually include the name origin section so I had to find that manually to answer the other half of the prompt haha.

OOC, I chose them for a few reasons: there is Fire Emblem’s tendency towards mythologies as name sources (hence all the Norse ones; just look at the FEH OCs), and then there is my tendency towards names with meanings (and my HC that Valter is nicer to animals than actual real people haha). IC, Valter isn’t going to choose a name that he thinks is stupid (so like, no joke names unfortunately), but names with soft meanings? Not off the table, my friends.

Anyways, to close: there is an alternate timeline where I left the spelling of Hermódr’s name as Hermóðr. The pronunciation doesn’t change, but I visit that world sometimes and dwell on what could’ve been.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I normally have a strong and probably unfair bias against anyone who gets described with the word “YouTuber”, but I like the Contrapoints channel, and I just watched her new video. It’s very good, really worth watching if you want an educated and nuanced and just good take on the hellfire that is the current “cultural debate”. Seriously, go watch that video, says lot of things that are much more worth saying than anything I have ever written down.

That video made a brief allusion to the “transphobes are just protecting women’s sports from evil trans women” argument, which reminded me of how much I fucking hate that argument, and that reminded me that I’d been meaning for a while to a post about culture war-related questions that I’ve been asked repeatedly in my ten-ish years of coaching and twenty-ish years of being involved in a sport. These are questions that I get asked a lot by people who aren’t involved in sports, who don’t know what it’s like from firsthand experience, but who have heard about issues in sports via public discourse, and wants to know how that lines up with reality. Sometimes this discourse is overtly political, sometimes it doesn’t seem to be political at all. Sometimes people ask these questions in good faith and out of genuine curiosity, sometimes they use curiosity to disingenuously disguise their hope that I’ll validate their shitty beliefs. Every question in this post is one I’ve been asked multiple times, by multiple people, so as a PSA, here are my answers:

[Note: Most of this post will have nothing to do with the Contrapoints video or anything about it, I only mentioned it because that’s what reminded me that I wanted to write this post, and because I want to tell people to watch it, it’s very good.]

Is it weird to be a woman who coaches male athletes? [For context, my team, like almost every team in this sport, is co-ed, but has more male athletes than female ones just because there are more boys in this sport than girls overall – male and female athletes train together in the practice room and go to the same tournaments, but those tournaments have separate male and female divisions so they don’t compete against each other.]

One time in 2013 I had an athlete go into the change room to cry after he lost a match, but his next match was up pretty soon so I really needed to get on with the process of comfort crying athlete/get them back in the right headspace to fight again before the next match, and I ended up having to do that process through a change room door. I’m pretty proud of that one, because I had to talk him out of his decision to forfeit the whole tournament because he was so upset about losing, and then motivate him to go warm up again, and I did it all with a door between us.

So that one time, being a woman who coaches male athletes was a problem. Other than that it’s fine.

Question I got a lot around 2016: I hear Canada has a massive influx of Syrian refugees and they’re taking over everything, has that affected you guys?

It has, actually, since it’s a popular sport in Syria so we got a lot of new athletes and one new coach who came over as refugees. They were, in their own separate and varied ways, all great additions to the team.

By far the biggest issue with that was the language barrier, because a lot of the Syrians spoke almost no English when they first got here. But that wasn’t a big problem, because we already had a bunch of athletes who spoke Arabic and could translate. We quickly learned that different dialects of Arabic are very different from each other, and in some cases the kids who spoke Arabic from other countries spoke almost a different language from the Syrian kids, but there was enough crossover so they could manage to understand each other. Also, the Syrian kids picked up English once they’d been here for a while; now a few of the Syrians who started with us in 2016 with only a few words of English are still on the team and communicate fluently.

Incidentally, this year we’ve again had a few new athletes all join the team around the same time because they recently arrived here as refugees, but they’re white and they speak Ukrainian. One of them speaks English as well, and he translates for the others, who don’t speak English at all. When he’s not around, we just sort of gesture at each other and it works basically fine.

Surely there were other problems with them fitting in, though. Did they cost the club money?

As it happens, most of them did not come over here with enough money to spend on non-essentials like sports fees, due to their country blowing up. But their fucking country blew up; by comparison I don’t consider it a huge sacrifice for the club to waive some membership fees and cover some tournament costs. It’s not a big deal.

Did you have difficulty integrating them socially into the team?

No.

But wasn’t there also an issue with them not fitting in culturally, like coming in with backwards social values and not understanding basic aspects of civilization?

No, you fucking racist.

With the rise of all these new-fangled diagnoses in youth, have you had any kids with autism on the team? How does that work in a sport with physical contact? Aren’t they unable to do that?

We haven’t any autistic young kids on the team that I know of, but we’ve had a few autistic teenagers, none of whom liked being called “people with autism”. One of them absolutely loved physical contact, he was a large – as in tall with big muscles and athletic looking – 17-year-old boy who’s one of the cuddliest people I’ve ever met. He gave giant hugs to anyone would let him, any time he wasn’t actively trying to beat someone up on the mat, he was sitting on the sidelines with his arms and legs wrapped around whatever teammate he could find. When he won the provincial championships, he came back to his corner, lifted me into the air, squeezed me so tightly that it was like a hug wasn’t close enough and he could only get enough physical contact by breaking my ribs, and my neck got wet with his tears of happiness. So it turns out that autism works differently for every person, and some autistic people love physical contact and emotional expression.

Another teenage autistic athlete I worked with hated most physical contact, but it was never a problem in the sport. On the mat, he did all the moves and had no problem with the contact, but off the mat he’d flinch if anyone touched him. I quickly learned to adapt to that as a coach, never shaking his hand or patting him on the back or anything like that that I’d do with other athletes, but if we were on the mat and I was showing him a move, I’d touch him with no problem. It’s something about context. He was able to accept physical contact in the context of the sport, to compartmentalize and not process it the same way that he did in other contexts.

He lived outside the city limits, so was the only athlete on our team to go to the provincial qualifiers for the rural areas, instead of for our city. I went out there with him, just him and me and his mother as the only people there from our team. It was a great day, he performed really well and won all five of his matches to get a gold medal and a spot at the provincial championships. He and I really bonded throughout that day, I think he benefitted from getting one-on-one attention from the coach since I had no other athletes there, and that may have affected his strong performance. After he won his last match, he came back to the corner and surprised me by throwing his arms around me in a tight hug. I later found his mother with tears in her eyes, telling me she’d accepted that her son didn’t like physical affection and never tried to push it on him, but she still loved that the sport had made him so comfortable in his body that he'd started actually seeking physical contact out. So that was a fucking good day.

I’m sure there are many autistic people in the world who hate physical contact so much that it would be a problem if they did a contact sport, and many autistic people who will never want to hug anyone no matter how many gold medals they’ve just won. That is absolutely fine and does not make them broken or whatever. They just don’t do contact sports, which is fine. There are also many autistic people who are neutral about physical contact, or who love it, or who are fine with it in the right context. Including, for that matter, me. Everyone’s different.

Is it weird that boys and girls train with each other in a sport with close physical contact?

Honestly, not at all. I see why you’d think it would be, why you’d think it would at least be weird at first when they’re maybe not used to it, but it really, really isn’t. As soon as you’re on the mat you just stop thinking that way. When I was in high school, I had a massive crush on this one girl for three years, if her hand brushed against my arm in class I’d get all those exciting butterfly-like feelings that occur with high school crushes. But then she joined our school team, and I worked with her at times during practice, and I didn’t feel anything like that when I touched her while we were on the mat. It’s like the autism thing, I guess – it’s contextual. Physical contact in that context doesn’t feel the same as it does in other contexts, it’s honestly not weird at all to put boys and girls together for that reason.

Sometimes having a co-ed team is an issue outside of the actual practice room, when athletes date and/or just sleep together and the ensuing drama creates problems. Some teams have actual rules against athletes dating their teammates; our team has never created a rule like that because it just leads to them doing it in secret, but we do try to discourage it. When it happens, we deal with it. Try to keep certain athletes apart in the interest of team cohesion.

I once had to spend several months very carefully watching every time two training partners did a match together, because one had recently started sleeping with the other’s ex-girlfriend (she was also an athlete on the team), and they’d started pretty much trying to tear each other’s heads off any chance they got. They were only allowed to do matches with close supervision, so the supervising coach could instantly step in and separate them if they started actually hurting each other. So, you know, that wasn’t fun. But that’s life. Drama like that will happen anywhere.

Is it a problem that you have so many Muslims and immigrants on the team? [for context, our sport in general and our team in particular has a lot of Muslim athletes, for a bunch of reasons, including it being a popular sport in Muslim countries, and it being a very low-cost sport]

I mean, it does affect things in various ways, but I’ve been asked this question in various ways by various well-meaning people, and I’ve never heard it phrased in a way that doesn’t sound racist.

The actual answer to the racist question is obviously it’s fine, people being Muslim or immigrants is not inherently a problem. It does make them statistically more likely to not have much money, obviously not in every case, but they are a statistical majority of the athletes for whom we waive fees and cover costs. Those statistics work out that way for a variety of reasons, some of which involve their countries of origin getting blown up, and none of which involve them being inherently less good at making money than white people. It’s fine, we budget to cover for low-income athletes, we’re able to do it.

The truth is that yes, we have, across many years, had one or two problems with Muslim athletes bringing in sexist attitudes (none of those problems were from any of the Syrian refugees). We have also, many times, had problems with non-Muslim athletes bringing in sexist attitudes. The biggest problem we’ve had was a male Muslim athlete who refused to work with female athletes, but I’ve also seen him drink alcohol and try to pick up a waitress when we went to a bar together (he’s in his twenties, I wasn’t out at a bar with a teenage athlete). He blamed his sexism on religion, but it wasn’t about that, because he broke religious tenants when doing so suited him. He just had some misogynist views and religion was a convenient excuse to not treat his female teammates as equals.

I’ve coached a huge number of male Muslim athletes over the years, and from very nearly all of them – all but a couple – this was never an issue. They took direction from me as a female coach with no problem, they worked with their female teammates with no problem, it’s fine. Some of their parents took issue with it. One time a teenage male Muslim athlete won a tournament, and a picture of me hugging him went up on social media, and his parents saw it and he got in trouble with them for touching a woman. His mother came into practice one day the next month, and he told us that none of the girls were allowed to touch him during that practice, or he’d get in trouble. So that was a bit awkward, but by the next day he was back to helping out his female teammates and training with me, and it was fine.

Six months later, a different Muslim athlete had his mother come in to watch practice. He didn’t ask to be treated any differently that night, so I didn’t treat him differently, though I was a bit paranoid about getting him in trouble. I did a match with him at the end of practice, and I kept looking over at his mother, paranoid that she’d be upset. She wore a full Niquab, so I couldn’t see her expression, I could only see her eyes and see that she was watching us very closely and intensely. I was scared that she’d be angry at me for touching her son.

That night, the athlete messaged the coaches to say his mom wanted us to know she’d really enjoyed watching practice and appreciates what we do for her son. I asked him if she was okay with our match at the end, and he said she loved watching it, and “roasted [him] all the way home” for how he got beaten up by his female coach. Which is problematic in its own way, but I’ll accept it. So that’s what I get for assuming something about one Muslim parent based on another, instead of keeping in mind that all Muslim parents are different, just like all Muslim teenagers are.

I’ve coached a few female Muslim athletes as well, and the biggest issues that’s ever created are making sure they get a sport-specific hijab that won’t fall off while they’re training, and getting them accommodation so they can compete in tournaments in modest dress. This is only for a couple of them; I’ve also coached female Muslim athletes who don’t wear hijabs and have no problem wearing the regular outfits. They are, in fact, also all different from each other.

But surely a team that’s mixed Muslims and non-Muslims would have cultural issues, even if they’re not all the misogynists I’ve learned about in stereotypes? [I really have had this as a follow-up question after I explain the other stuff, some people cannot believe that it’s not a big deal.]

If we’re having a team party or hanging out in the hotel at a tournament or something, and we order pizza, we have to make sure that half the pizzas don’t have any pork toppings on them. During Ramadan, half the team gets really sluggish because they haven’t eaten since sunrise and can’t eat until the sun sets, which is usually not until after practice. A couple of them disappear to spend five minutes praying in the back of the room when the sun sets during practice; the other Muslim athletes either don’t do the five-a-day prayers, or don’t feel the need to stick to the schedule perfectly. And those are genuinely all the issues it causes. It’s fucking fine.

Do you have problems with sexism and racism in a sport that’s co-ed and has a mix of races?

Yes, sometimes, obviously. Not most of the time, but sometimes. This sport also has problems with predatory coaches who try to fuck their athletes, creepy referees who harass younger coaches, casual racism and misogyny, athletes who listen to too much Joe Rogan/Jordan Peterson and it starts showing in their fucked up attitudes, and all kinds systemic physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. Just like every other aspect of life. Every problem that exists in the real world exists here too. We deal with it on a case-by-case basis while also trying for whatever systemic change we can manage.

Is it true that hotels at tournaments are a hotbed of athletes having sex with each other? [Not exactly a political question, but it’s one I get asked weirdly often, especially around the Olympics when there are all those news stories about everyone fucking the Olympic village, and people want to know if it applies on smaller scales too]

Yep. It’s a good system. It’s hard to date if you’re seriously involved in a sport, because that sport becomes your whole life, and dating someone who’s not part of that sport is difficult when they don’t share something that takes up so much of your time and emotional investment. Dating, or even just sleeping with someone from your own team is a great way to ruin your team. Doesn’t mean people don’t do it, but everyone at least knows they shouldn’t.

But you know what’s great? Sleeping with people from other teams. Once every week or two, you’re in the same city for some tournament or other, you can kick your roommate out of the hotel room for a few hours and hook up. And then they’re gone again so it doesn’t need to interfere with the rest of your life, or have someone be upset that you spend all your time training and don’t have time for them, because they’re not even in your city and they’re also very busy training. It happens frequently.

I’m making myself sound way cooler than I actually am by telling this story, as I never hooked up with people from other teams at tournaments. Back when I was competing in high school and then in university, however, I was sometimes the roommate who sat in the hotel lobby playing Pokemon on my Nintendo DS while waiting for my roommate to be done fucking a guy from a rival team. A service I was happy to provide in the name of making sure she didn’t start fucking guys on our own team, inevitably causing the team to implode.

Most male coaches and referees who are married to people outside the sport cheat on their wives at tournaments. This is a well-known open secret. I know several referees who pretty much only do the job because it gives them an excuse to travel every weekend and cheat on their wives in hotels.

What do female athletes do if they have their period during a tournament?

Complain about how annoying it is, especially if they have to cut weight because it messes that right up. But otherwise, deal with it. It’s not that big a deal. Not as big a deal as some people who’ve asked me that question seem to think it is.

I hear weight cutting is a big problem in sports like this, that separate people by weight classes. Is that true?

Yep, massive. However bad you’ve heard it is, the reality’s probably worse. The stuff I did to cut weight as a teenager has left me with a messed up relationship with food to this day, and some of my teammates did worse than what I did. I know some people who are shorter than they should be, having stunted their growth from cutting weight when they were young. As a coach, I discourage significant weight cuts, and very closely monitor any cutting that does happen to make sure it’s done safely. Sometimes athletes do stupid things to cut weight anyway, and lie to hide it from me. I’ve gotten better, over the years, and spotting signs of that and stopping it.

So what about this massive influx of trans people everywhere, and how all the youth are trans these days and trans women are taking over women’s sports and ruining them?

That is not happening, and none of the people who say it is give one fuck about women’s sports. I say this as someone who has been fighting for more than half my life, in one way or another, for the betterment of women’s sports. I have seen what type of people are ruining women’s sports and what types of people are fighting to make them better, and the sorts of people who become transphobic assholes are not my fucking allies.

Come on, it’s never come up at all?

We have one trans kid on our team, at first we were a bit concerned about the gendered divisions at tournaments and where to put them, but we solved that by having one conversation with them. Another athlete I used to coach has recently come out as trans and will be starting testosterone soon, is a bit sad that this means they won’t be able to compete for their university team anymore, but overall they decided it was worth that sacrifice. In a couple of years, once their body has fully adjusted to testosterone, they might compete in the men’s division, if they decide they still want to.

Those are literally the only two trans athletes I’ve ever met. Even if the existence of trans athletes were inherently a problem, which it fucking isn’t, there would not be enough of them to be “taking over” sports and ruining them. There are so few of them, and the rhetoric is so overblown by comparison to their actual numbers. And even if there were more of them, that would also be fine. We would have some more conversations, put them in the division that makes sense according to where they’re at physically, and figure it out. It’s fucking fine.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve noticed about the way this generation of teenagers differs from previous generations of teenagers, as someone who sees a lot of teenagers?

1) They’re all on fucking Tik-Tok, and 2) We’re having a lot more issues than we had pre-COVID with casually sexist and other bad attitudes from boys, often quoting Joe Rogan and/or Jordan Peterson almost word for word. I genuinely think everyone being locked in their houses and listening to Joe Rogan for a couple of years has fucked up a generation more than most people realize.

That’s the real plague that’s taking over the youths right now. Do you know what’s threatening women’s sports? The myriad cultural factors that mean girls have returned to sports at far lower rates than boys after lockdowns ended, causing normally co-ed sports rooms to be much more male-dominated than they were a few years ago (this applies to my own team, but I’ve talked to people from a lot of other teams and have heard it’s the same story everywhere). When girls enter a sport room, they aren’t faced with a plague of transgenders taking over their space. They’re faced with a toxic environment created by boys who used the lockdown time to get on the Joe-Rogan-to-Andrew-Tate pipeline, which makes those girls less likely to come back, and that makes the culture harder to change. And if you have never said one word about that sweeping issue, much less tried to do anything to counter it, then you have no fucking right to pretend to give a shit about female athletes when it’s an excuse to use them to hate a different vulnerable minority.

[hawkinshighdropout]

The Strays.

Pairing: Eddie Munson x (female) Reader *Platonic Only*

Summary: You and Eddie had been on good terms, you were one of the few students in Hawkins High that respected him and befriended him, one day Jason says something a little too far, and you have to intervene. Drama ensues.

Warnings: There is verbal bullying included in this story, Jason being a complete asshole and a few counts of physical bullying. A knife is involved (there is no gore or actual violence, just a threat of it.) If these are sensitive subjects the proceed with caution, okay? <3 Unless you count a couple of curse words as needing a warning? Idk, I haven’t written fanfics in like 8 years so I’m a little rusty…

Note/Request: Requested by @red-queen-bebe. "Eddie x gn or f reader (whichever you feel comfortable writing) where Eddie and Reader know each other, they don't consider themselves friends w/each other but they could hold a convo in the hallway and Eddie has always seen Reader as a pretty chill person but one day someone says just the wrong thing to Eddie in front of Reader and Eddie has to hold Reader back from punching said person and getting suspended/expelled. Bonus: Eddie never realized how much Reader Actually cared about him and we see his internal conflict/insecurity thinking no one would actually care about him enough to stand up for him. Again, sorry if this is to long or something And if you do write it thank you 😁😁❣️❣️)”

Word Count: 1.7k

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You saw the way that everyone looked at Eddie. As if he was some kind of freak show that they could prod and pester for their own sick entertainment, but if you looked past the long hair and tattoos, you’d know he was a total sweetheart.

He wanted the best for everyone, always making those around him smile and feel at home, apart from the times that him and Dustin would bicker like an old married couple. He was just a happy-go-lucky kid that had a tough childhood and now went out of his way to ensure that no one had to struggle the way that he did, he was selfless, and you were proud to be his friend.

Everyone seemed to have a problem with seeing others happy, and seeing others just live their lives without a care for what people thought about them, it was something you admired about him, you admired how he was so proud to be himself.

“I don’t know why you even care about what they think, if you wanna wear your Vans to graduation, wear them? You don’t have to wear heels to impress anyone,” Eddie grumbled, you could tell he was about one complaint away from another one of his ‘forced conformity’ speeches.

“I just don’t want to wear a really pretty dress and then sneakers and look back at the photo in thirty years and hate my past self for making an ugly choice,” you whine, offering the biggest pouty lip in his direction.

“They’re shoes. Just shoes. Who cares?” he asks, folding his arms across his chest as he truly couldn’t understand why you cared so much about an article of clothing, one fashion choice wasn’t anything worth losing sleep over.

“It’s not ‘just shoes’, Ed! It’s a big choice to make!” you sigh, running your hands through your hair as you try and get him to give any sort of useful input to aid your decision making.

“You’re gonna leave as soon as you can anyway so who cares what kind of—” he starts, getting interrupted by a snide looking Jason and his two henchmen.

“Leave soon just like your Daddy did, freak?” Jason snorts, causing the two jocks to laugh in unison.

Spinning in your spot to narrow your eyes at the blonde, feeling Eddie tuck in on himself slightly as if he wanted to just disappear at even the mention of his deadbeat father. You slam your locker shut before looking the assholes up and down whilst you attempt to calm your breathing.

“Fuck off, Jason. If you’re having a bad day, go home and put your mom’s tits back in your mouth, we don’t wanna hear your shit today, okay?” you roll your eyes, surprised at how his jock friends snort a laugh before coughing to cover it up quickly.

“What did you just say to me?!” Jason steps up to you, towering over you but you didn’t even blink or feel any form of fear, he was just a pathetic man child, and your words could do more damage than his fists ever could.

“I believe you heard me, or maybe your ears are still a little damaged from the number of nights you’ve had to spend with music blasting through your speakers to cover the sound of your mother getting railed on the other side of the wall, hm?” you smirk, shrugging your shoulders.

Jason was red in the face, shoving you against the wall for a second before he turns to walk away, deciding to call it there as he really didn’t feel like hitting a girl today. You just let out an amused laugh at how quickly he backed down, he surely did love to run his mouth but do nothing about it, it was typical.

“Whatever, man. At least my mom is still around,” he scoffs as he turns to walk off.

That was the final straw for you, you snapped. It was bad enough having anyone talk inconsiderately about Eddie’s father who had been a terrible man, but rubbing it in his face that his mother also wasn’t around? That was too far, you had to put that prick back in his place.

“You fucking ASSHOLE!” you scream, taking the couple of steps towards him to close the distance, grabbing him by the collar and tugging him against the lockers so he’s hitting the back of his head with a loud thud. You didn’t care that everyone was looking your way, you were seeing red, and your only goal was to hurt Jason the way he was hurting Eddie.

Reaching into your pocket, you grab out one of your self-defence tools, uncapping the end of the ‘pen’ so it revealed a small blade, holding the tip of that up against Jason’s throat as you are growling at him under your breath.

He had his hands up in defence, suddenly backing down and doing all that he could to appear defenceless and prove that he did not want to take this any further. You didn’t care that you were half his size, and neither did he, your rage carried you with the confidence and strength of a full-grown man.

You let the very tip of the blade press against him, not drawing any blood, it was more like a warning for Jason to drop the act and apologise to Eddie. Everyone around you were stunned, the jocks and Eddie both unsure if they should intervene as no one could predict your next move when you had gone as rogue as this without warning.

“Apologise… Now…” you snarl, looking Jason dead in the eye.

“Y/N… Stop this, you don’t wanna get suspended, think of the graduation dress that you’ve already spent a bunch of money on, put the weapon down..” Eddie’s voice was soft next to you, it was almost enough to make you cave, but not quite.

Nothing was going to make you back down right away, not when he had been so vile to such a loveable and sweet person.

“If he apologises, I’ll drop it.” Your voice soaked in a faux innocent tone.

“I’m sorry..” Jason mumbles, looking at the ground.

“LOUDER!” you scream, threatening him once again with the knife.

“I’m sorry!” Jason whines, looking over at Eddie, “Will you get this bitch off of me?!”

“Y/N, he’s apologised, let’s just go?” Eddie asks softly, reaching out for you.

Your attention drops from Jason’s sick face before looking at Eddie, his warm puppy dog eyes having an effect on you, making your stance falter slightly as you try and not cave and let Jason go, you weren’t done punishing him yet.

“C’mon, love. Let’s go…” he says again once you’re locking eyes, you eventually take a small step back from Jason and he makes an immediate jump away from you and towards his friends, the three of them calling you both freaks in the process before they run away in fear.

You cap the knife once more and slide it back into your pocket, letting out an angry sigh as Eddie was stood at his locker with a confused look on his face. He was clearly sad about the nasty things that were said, but he was also in pure shock and awe at the display of protecting his honour that had just occurred.

“You didn’t have to do that..” Eddie offers, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“I did. I’m not having some asshole talk about sensitive shit like that. What I said to him was just a joke to piss him off, he was actually trying to hurt your feelings and bring up traumatic things for you, not fly with me at all.” You explain, shrugging your shoulders.

“Yeah, but the whole knife thing? You really held the most popular dude against your locker with a knife to his throat, am I really worth all that?” he was confused as to why anyone would want to stand up for him or have his back.

“Ed, they disrespected you and hurt you, there’s no way in hell I’m letting anyone talk to you that way, over my dead body is that gonna happen.” You smile slightly to reassure him.

“No one has ever done that for me before…” he fiddles with his fingers anxiously, avoiding eye contact in favour of staring at the ground and kicking an invisible rock with his shoes.

“Well, get used to it. You spend all your life protecting these kids and defending them that you don’t even have a second left to care for yourself. You need someone around who’s more than willing to move heaven and earth to clear your name and prove that you’re not alone!” you just smile proudly at him, moving a little closer towards him.

You wrap your arms tightly around his midsection, cuddling up to him for a couple of seconds as you feel him physically deflate in your arms, clearly at peace with your energy.

Before today, you had seen each other in the halls, crossed paths and had a few conversations here and there, you got on well just didn’t seem to consider one another best friends. But after the way that you defended him? Eddie was smitten with you. Not romantically, he was just so in awe of your confidence and your attitude and the way you carry yourself so tall for someone so small, he respected and trusted you.

You made a mental note to make more of an effort to hang with Eddie, making sure he felt loved and cared for at all times, showing him that he is more than deserving of things than the universe gives him credit for. You didn’t want today to be a one-time thing, you wanted to keep Eddie close and form a little pact to keep an eye out for one another at all times.

Pulling away from the hug, you then lightly nudge his chest with your elbow, trying to lighten the mood from the wild contrast of emotions that had been displayed in such a short amount of time.

“Wanna go get pretzels and soda?” you ask, to which he nods with a soft smile.

“You’re damn right, I do!” Eddie chuckles, leading the way to the vending machine nearby.

[dsmutp]

Your c!slimecicle smut was so good I just have to ask for another one. Could you do a c!slimecicle x male reader that’s also a hybrid of something? Like maybe a hybrid like badboyhalo but only half demon. The reader is the only one willing to teach Charlie stuff and be patient with him.

If your not comfortable with male readers then you can change it to female ^^

yeah no probs dude - i myself am genderfluid so switching genders aint a problem

Old Slime, New Tricks (C!Slimecicle X Reader)

Las Nevadas was an odd bunch.

It seemed like Quackity had gone out of his way to collect the most eccentric of characters from around the SMP - a half creeper who happened to also be the warden of the prison, a little alien boy who hated everything and everyone, the fox son of the ex-president of L'Manburg, a literal god... the list went on.

Las Nevadas may have been an odd bunch, but as a half demon yourself, you fit right in.

In a constantly changing land plagued with wars, Las Nevadas was a welcome break from the constant battlefield anywhere else. Here, you could settle down, catch your breath - you even had time to get back to some of the hobbies you had enjoyed before everyone had started killing each other.

Hell, you had a real job here - and it was the easiest job you'd ever had.

When you'd first moved into the area, Quackity had all but shoved Charlie at you, assigning you both his babysitter and teacher. You had been a bit disgruntled at the responsibility at first, but even grudgingly you admitted it made sense. If anyone was going to be teaching someone how to be human, having someone that had had to learn human tendencies themselves was probably a good idea.

If you'd taught yourself how to be lean into your human side, you could teach a sentient slime man how to do it.

It helped that Charlie was eager to learn - his endless enthusiasm made the job kind of fun, actually. He was a ray of sunshine even on your bad days, and over time as you showed him the ropes of humanity, you had actually come to really like him.

Maybe too much, but that was a different story.

He had made great leaps and bounds as a student - he had learned basic interactions in almost no time, and he had stopped slipping up with motor functions so much anymore (it had been at least two weeks since the last time he'd forgotten how joints worked and bent his knees the wrong way).

Now, you were working on reading. You were sprawled out on one of the leather couches in the casino, reading over Charlie's shoulder as he read aloud.

"...voice low enough that it was more of a groll? Grawl? What does this one say?"

Were you teaching Charlie to read using pulpy erotica? Perhaps. It was really Quackity's fault though - it was all he had laying around the casino.

"Growl." You supplied.

Charlie blinked down at the page before looking over at you. "He's growling at her? Like an animal?"

You shrugged. "It's supposed to be sexy."

Charlie nodded slowly - confusion written plain on his face. "Right."

You shook your head, amused. "Charlie, do you get whats happening in the book right now?"

Charlie looked down at the open pages in his lap before he glanced back up to you, nodding. "He's going to kill her."

You laughed, pulling the book from him and holding it. "No, they're going to have sex."

"So he's not going to kill her?"

"Literally the opposite." You said, thumbing down the corner of the page you were on. "Do you remember how in the beginning of the book, she was saying how she was drawn to him?"

"Yup!"

"It's because she's attracted to him." You explained. "And since meeting him, she's gotten to know him some more now, and she thinks she loves him, right?"

"I remember that part, it was in chapter 11!" Charlie chimed in.

"So when two people love each other, they have sex." You said. "It's just something you do with someone you love a lot to make them feel really good."

"I see." Charlie said, a pensive look coming over his face. "Can we have sex then?"

You choked on air, eyes snapping over to him and away from the book. "Sorry?"

"You said people do it when they love each other." Charlie said with all seriousness. "And I love you very much, so can we have sex."

You blinked at him, taking in the genuinely questioning expression on his face. He was serious. He actually wanted to do this. And even though you knew you probably shouldn't, since you were basically a babysitter for him, you knew what you were going to say.

"Yeah, sure."

---

"Okay, so it's going to work a little differently then how it did in the book." You said, stripping your pants off so that you were fully naked.

Your clothes joined Charlie's on the floor, and you sat on the edge of the bed next to him, scanning over his skin. He was just as comfortable without his clothes as he was in them, and seemed plenty eager to get on with the actual activity.

"Since you and I are both in possession of dicks," You said, sliding a hand over Charlie's thigh to take him in your hand. "Obviously it's going to be a different arrangement."

In your hand, Charlie's slime rippled with excitement.

"Oh that's fucking weird."

"Sorry." Charlie said. "I didn't mean-"

"Didn't say it wasn't hot though." You finished, moving your hand to Charlie's chest to push him back onto the bed. Leaning down close to his ear, you whispered, "Do you mind if I do the fucking? I've been wanting to for a while now."

This time, Charlie's whole body rippled. "Yes please."

You took the opportunity to press downward, letting your hipbones meet his as you nosed along his neck, enjoying the way his skin actually moved to meet you. He gasped as you sank your teeth into his neck, leaving a love bite right on the slightly slimy skin. At this rate, he would be a puddle of slime by the time you were done.

Propping yourself up so that you hovered over him with one hand, you used the other to travel down his side, feeling as his skin moved and gave with the touch of a hand. "I probably won't even have to stretch you out..." You mused. "I could just slid right in if I wanted to..."

"Go for it man." Charlie said, the end of his sentence getting lost in a whimper as you lined yourself up and pushed in in one go.

As expected, there was no resistance - the slime only giving way and perfectly molding around you. You let out a shaky exhale as the feeling of it all rushed over you, tucking your face into Charlie's shoulder for a moment.

"This feels weird." Charlie said.

"Bad weird?"

"No?" Charlie replied. "It's kind of... nice."

You smiled, pressing a quick kiss over the mark you had left earlier. "You're going to love this next bit then."

You began to roll your hips, thrusting in and out of Charlie, listening to the squelch of the slime as it continued to mold around you even as you moved. It was perfect - squeezing around you without being too constricting, but dragging across every patch of skin as you moved, lighting up all your nerves.

You had only just started, and Charlie was already the best lay you'd ever had.

"Wow." Charlie gasped, fisting his hands into the sheets. "You were right- ah-"

He broke off into a soft moan as you picked up the pace, savoring the grind of your hips together. Moving from where you had your face pressed into his shoulder, you locked your lips together with his, silencing the moan halfway through with a kiss.

If the sweet drag against your cock kept up, you weren't going to last much longer. And judging by the way Charlie's skin was beginning to ripple under your touch again, neither was he.

You pounded into him for the last few thrusts until he was coming, his entire body giving into a fit of shudders as his skin rippled. It was the strangest sensation, feeling the rippling as he was wrapped around you, but it was what pushed you over the edge. You came with a groan, slumping forward to lay on Charlie's chest.

For a moment, it was quiet.

"So?" You asked.

"I would like to have sex again please."

[corrodedcoffinstan]

serotonin like a loaded gun / eddie munson imagine

A/N: Can’t stop thinking about this so here you guys go. The idea came to me while I was listening to Hailstorm and Spiritbox so..you will probably see how this is going. Title comes from Blessed Be by Spiritbox.

Summary: Y/N is the singer of a band competing in a battle of the bands competition. Corroded Coffin just so happens to be competing too.

You and your band were pacing around backstage, nerves kicking in. You had built up a small following in your local area for your concerts in local punk bars, but this was new - you were out of your comfort zone. You weren’t even sure if you would have any supporters here - or if anyone would even like your style of music. Let alone a female doing it. 

You had been on vocal rest all day, not wanting to fuck your voice up before your crowning performance. This was the finals - in a bar just outside of some town called Hawkins. Mick, your bassist had driven you all here in a small van with all your gear, each of them desperate to try and get you to break your vocal rest, but you refused. 

The announcer yells for another finalist, Corroded Coffin to begin playing. You hear the screech of their guitar start and then metal kick in, followed by some growling vocals. You immediately light up. “Oh so, we’re not the only ones doing that style.” You breathe a sigh of relief, causing the rest of the band to just laugh at you. 

You hadn’t seen this band before, so you were intrigued to see what they looked like, they sounded experienced - maybe they were a slightly older band - which if they were was extremely unfair. It was supposed to be upcoming young bands, not middle aged metalhead trying to cling onto some form of relevance. 

You sigh, beginning to warm your voice up. Trying to not let the nerves consume you - if they did you’d have to take a shot of something. And you didn’t particularly want to try dutch courage. “Hey hey - calm it. We’ll smash it. These guys are good but we’re amazing.” Ryan - your drummer - says, rubbing the small of your back. You nod and go to stand near the door leading to the stage, trying to take a peek at the band. 

“They’re like…our age.” Mick speaks up, coming to stand beside you. “They’re from around here. Attends the high school.” He smiles. “Might be worth trying to form an alliance with them - get some more gigs around here.” 

You just nod in response, going over to the walls where bands had written their names, spying Corroded Coffin scrawled up there with the date. You can’t help but laugh a little, grabbing a marker pen off the side and scrawling Ouija - your band’s name and the date RIGHT above theirs. 

They finish their song and immediately come rushing off the stage, into the little room where you guys all were. You stare at them with intrigue as they all walk in, your eyes catching with one in particular. You smile at them, “Congratulations guys, that sounded really good.” You say with a smile. “I’m Y/N, the frontman of Ouija.” You say, extending your hand towards Corroded Coffin’s general direction. 

“NEXT UP, OUIJA FROM FORT WAYNE. GIVE IT UP FOR OUIJA EVERYBODY!” The event host yells into the microphone. You all rush forward towards the door, you let all your bandmates go ahead giving them time to set up. You eventually walk onto the stage, gripping the mic. “Hey guys! We’re Ouija - I’m sure you all know where our name is from. We believe in the supernatural and all things weird and wonderful… And this is our song Blessed Be.” You yell, grinning as you turn to face the rest of your band, bopping your head along as the intro begins.  “Oh shit this goes HARD!” You hear someone yell from the audience at the guitar riff and bass lick. 

I say my blessings all for you

I feel it fade from the inside

I open up to adore you but everything

Was just a crutch to preserve life

Serotonin like a loaded gun

I am a coward, you pull me up

Into a place where there's nothing that left for me

But insecurity

As soon as the chorus begins in your song, the crowd immediately go wild, jumping up and down, you sensually sway from side to side as you sing, your eyes closing as you become one with the music. 

And if I lose myself

Blessed be, I could survive in these chemicals for you

A lonely fool above

Just out of reach

I could survive in these chemicals only for you

I say my blessings all for you

You say blessed be the fool who

Plucks out the eyes just to listen in frequency

It's just a crutch to ignore you

Serotonin like a loaded gun

I am a coward, you pull me up

Into a place where there's nothing that left for me

But insecurity

And if I lose myself

Blessed be, I could survive in these chemicals for you

A lonely fool above

Just out of reach

I could survive in these chemicals for you

Entombed to die

In catacombs of restless bones

Consumed alive

This is my home, I'm waiting here for you

The whole way through the song you’re interacting with the audience, a huge grin across your lips. 

Suddenly the song dips right down, with just your voice, repeating the phrase over and over…

I say these blessings all for you

You had been growling for a few years and your throat could cope with the immense tension that you require to be able to hold. You crouch right down, being face level with the crowd, scrunching your face up as you growl the breakdown part of your song. You glance up and notice that you guys have managed to get a moshpit going. 

Offer me

I have the heart of a coward

Offer me

I have the heart of a coward

So open up my sternum

The only constant is a crutch

The only blessing that I know

Then, you go back to singing your heart out, the entire crowd jumping up and down and collectively losing their shit to your bands’ song.

And if I lose myself

Blessed be, I could survive in these chemicals for you

A lonely fool above

Just out of reach

I could survive in these chemicals for you

Entombed to die

In catacombs of restless bones

Consumed alive

This is my home, I'm waiting here for you

As the song finishes, everyone erupts into a loud cheer. You are immediately joined on stage by the host of the event and Corroded Coffin, who had come from standing in the crowd. You quickly place the microphone back into the stand and go and stand near them, being awkwardly shoved right next to that one member of the opposing band you couldn’t tear your eyes away from. You just smile awkwardly at him. 

The event host lets out a load roar. “So! Who do you guys think should win? It’s a tough call, both bands were crazy good!” He yells into the microphone. “And if you guys wanna meet the bands after you can, I’m sure they have brought along t-shirts or some of their music which they’ll sell from their vans.” Both bands nod. “So, raise your hand and make some noise if you want Corroded Coffin to win!” He yells. The crowd erupts into a loud cluster of noises, hands being raised here, there and everywhere. 

You glance at the member of Corroded Coffin who just smiles, leaning down to whisper in your ear. “You were absolutely amazing.” He breathes into your ear, his hot breath tickling your neck. 

You just blush and smile at him. “So were you guys. I’d definitely like a t-shirt.” You say, flashing a grin at him. 

“RIGHT! And what about Ouija!? Who thought they were so dope they deserve to win?!” He yells, punching his hands up in the air. The crowd goes absolutely wild, a load more noise being made for you guys compared to Corroded Coffin. “Well…I think that settles it! The 1988 Indiana State Battle of the Bands winners are Ouija from Fort Wayne! Do you wanna say a few words!?” He asks, before shoving the microphone into your hands. You laugh awkwardly and look out into the crowd. 

“We took a giant leap coming out here today and doing this - we had no idea if you guys would actually like us enough to allow us to win. We breezed through the other stages - we almost lost the semi finals..but you guys seemed to love us enough and we can’t thank you enough. We have a few fans from back home that we’d like to shout out - my mom being one of them. She comes to every single show we have done since we formed the band but she couldn’t make it today due to work. I love you mom. And then we have a group of fans who follow us to each gig we do, and we hope they’re here today. Pete, Stu and Vicky. If you three are in the crowd, we couldn’t have made it this far without your support.” You smile, your voice wobbling little as you start to become overcome with emotion. You hear three cheers from the crowd, hands waving in the air as well as a scarf they had made. You hand the microphone back to the event host, who now has a large voucher and an envelope.

“Here is your prize, $1,000 worth of time in a recording studio in Indianapolis thanks to our sponsor from the studio. As well as $750 cash.” He states, handing them both to you. You grin and jump up and down, hugging your bandmates.

-

A short while later, both bands are sat on the back of their vans with their merchandise and music, selling them to whoever wanted them, as well as signing some posters. 

“So, Y/N..” Someone states, you glance up to be met by the member of Corroded Coffin you were infatuated by. “I’m Eddie.” He smiles. “Can I buy some of your stuff?”

You can’t help but laugh at his slight awkwardness, nodding in response. “Sure. What size shirt? Medium?” You ask, grabbing a shirt out and a cassette. 

“Yeah, medium please.” He mutters, grabbing some cash from his wallet, handing it over to you. 

You shake your head in response. “Don’t give me cash. Buy me a drink?” You breathe out, smiling up at him.

He laughs awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. “Uh, I’m not 21 so they won’t serve me in here. I can go get a bottle of something from a gas station? I think there’s one not far from here? If you want to come? We’re, uh, in a motel not far.” You smile. “I’m not 21 either. And I won’t be able to get anything from a gas station.” You say with a laugh, your cheeks going red. “That would be cool though - I think we’re in a motel too. Happy Stay?” You ask, looking at him, a grin spreading across your lips as he nods. “Awesome. When we all finish up here we can head back and get drunk.”

-

A little while passes, you had grabbed a few shirts from Corroded Coffin too for yourself as well as one of their tapes.

The event host walks out and heads over to the vans. “Right guys, that’s the last of ‘em from inside. Can I grab a t-shirt from each of you?” He asks, blinking in disbelief as you hand him a pile of two shirts and cassettes as well as a signed poster which had been signed by all of you. “Oh wow, thank you guys!” He exclaims. “If you ever wanna play here again, just give us a call and we’ll sort something out!” He grins, heading towards his car.

You all watch him speed off, getting into your vans and heading to the motel. 

When you reach the motel, you stand around awkwardly as your bandmates all head up to their rooms as you wait for Eddie to turn up. Ten minutes pass and you honestly can’t help but feel stupid for waiting around for him - maybe they weren’t staying here after all.

Before you knew it, their minivan comes screeching into the carpark for the motel, Eddie leaping out of the side door with a bag full of alcohol. He just grins at you, his chocolate brown eyes full of excitement. “I got us some drinks.” He says with a grin. “Wanna head back to your room or mine?” He asks, causing you to go bright red. 

[hpimaginesandblurbs]

Ok but can u also do this but with ron + the twins, I love ur smuts !!!!!!!

pairing: reader x ron weasley x fred weasley x george weasley 

warning(s): 18+, unprotected sex, foursome, double penetration, oral (female and male receiving), face fucking, fingering

word count: 4.2k 

a/n: soooo this is the longest thing i’ve ever written on this account but if anyone deserves it its the damn weasleys. i tried to make this as non sweet home alabama as possible and that’s probably why it’s so long. anyways, enjoy this ungodly amount of smut while i decompress. 

You had been spending a majority of your summer at The Burrow, where you boyfriend Ron lived. You spent day in and day out with him, practically on top of one another whenever you could be, but that didn’t stop you from spending time with his family. His mother was incredible, albeit a little scary at times, his father was charming, and Ginny was becoming a fast friend. But you couldn’t help the particular draw you felt towards the twins, Fred and George. 

You couldn't deny they were attractive, the genes were strong in the Weasley family. And you often did a poor job at hiding your attraction. 

You didn’t think any of them had noticed your subtle glances or blushes. Little did you know, all three of them had noticed over the few weeks you had been there. They were just waiting you out. 

~~~

Tonight you were all cozied around the fire pit, drinking some firewhiskey, taking advantage of the fact that Molly and Arthur had gone to visit Ron’s oldest brother Bill and his wife, Fluer, for the weekend. You weren’t drunk by any means, but you were certainly feeling good. 

You were cuddled up to Ron’s side, his arm slung around your shoulders, a knitted blanket draped over your laps. You were so wrapped up in your boyfriend that you had barely noticed that Fred had taken the spot on your other side until his leg brushed against yours, making you still. 

“Do you need another drink, sweetheart?” Fred asked when you finally looked his way, his face far too close to yours in the situation to be normal. 

You blushed at his proximity, but nodded. “Um, yes, thank you,” you added bashfully. 

Fred dashed a charming smile at you and placed a soft kiss to your cheek before dashing off to get you another glass of whiskey, your blush only intensifying when you felt his lips on your skin. You prayed no one could see it through the light of the fire. 

Ron tugged you back into his side and dropped his lips to your ear. “Whatever you think you’re doing, stop,” he said lowly, clearly not pleased by the situation. 

“He kissed me,” you argued softly, your head turning to press a kiss against his neck. He pulled back and shot a look down at you, his brow raised. A look you couldn’t exactly argue with. You got caught and you knew it. 

You stayed quiet, trying to keep your eyes anywhere except the two men that currently had your stomach in knots. But that effort was broken when Fred made his way back over to you, plopping down beside you. He passed you your new drink and you thanked him for it, sitting up straight to take a sip. 

You were caught off guard when you were pulled into his body and away from Ron, Fred’s strong arm now wrapped around your shoulders. 

“Have you been enjoying your summer here so far?” He asked quietly, making sure only you could hear him. 

Your eyes flitted cautiously over the group around the fire, making sure no one was noticing the strange behavior. You paused when you met George’s eyes, his own trained on the interaction between you and Fred, but you tried your best to ignore it. 

“Um, yes. You’ve all been quite lovely. I like it here,” you told him genuinely. You had been enjoying your summer despite tonights most recent turn of events. 

“Mm, good,” Fred mused, shooting another smile down at you. You couldn’t help but notice the little mischievous glint in his eyes that he got every time he was thinking something that was likely to either end brilliantly or disastourly. “I saw we play a little game. Are you in?” He asked. 

You swallowed nervously, knowing this could end very poorly. “And what is this game?” You questioned. 

“Let’s see how jealous we can get Ron,” he whispered, the smile never leaving his face. 

“I- I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” you argued, knowing fully well Ron had already told you to stop… doing whatever you were doing. 

“Oh, c’mon Y/N. Live a little. Anyhow, you already know how this is going to end,” he told you. 

“And how will this end?” You asked, raising your eyebrow at him. 

He moved closer to you, so close you could feel his breath on your face. Your whole body was hot and the blush was creeping back onto your face and you knew he could see it. 

“Judging by the noises I hear coming from his room almost every night, he’ll fuck you stupid. And I get to hear those pretty noises again,” he told you shamelessly, pulling you into him closer. 

You shot a nervous glance at Ron, only to find that he was already looking at you over the rim of his own cup, fire in his eyes. He raised a brow at you and you could see the way the corners of his lips were tugging up into a smirk, practically daring you to continue on. As if he knew exactly what you and Fred were talking about. 

“By the looks of it, he doesn’t seem to mind,” Fred added from behind you, making you whip your head around back to him. 

“Of course he’d mind. You’re his brother,” you argued incredulously, still not believing this conversation was even truly happening. 

“You think he doesn’t see the way you look at me and Georgie? You look at us like you want us to devour you,” he told you. 

You snuck a glance at George only to find that he was still looking at you. You could feel Ron’s eyes still on the back of your head. You gulped nervously, your brain short circuiting for a half a second. Did they… did they plan this? 

“I - I haven’t been -,” you went to argue, but Fred cut you off. 

“Don’t play coy with me. Maybe if you beg him nicely like I hear you do so well, he might let us join you tonight,” Fred teased, causing your core to pulse and drip with arousal at the thought. 

You could only stare back at him, his breath fanning your face as you took in his words. He knew he planted a seed in you that wouldn’t go away until it was satisfied. The smug look on his face only proved it. You didn’t get the chance to reply before you could hear Ron getting up from his place on the bench. 

“Bunny, come with me,” he said innocently enough to the ears of everyone else in the group, but you could hear the edge in his voice. 

You detangled yourself from Fred and rose up from your spot, taking Ron’s hand as he silently led you back into the house. Once you had passed through the threshold into the kitchen and away from the eyes of everyone else, he spun around to face you. 

“And what was all that about?” He asked, stepping right into your space so you had no other choice but to look up at him. 

“N-nothing. We were just having a chat,” you stuttered out, trying to not seem intimidated. 

“Wasn’t what it looked like to me. Spill it,” he said roughly, continuing to back you up until your back hit the counter, leaving you nowhere to go when his hands were placed on either side of your body. 

“Promise you won’t get mad,” you half heartedly requested. 

“Just tell me.” 

“He- he said, um, he said that we should try to make you jealous,” you told him. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it was only a half truth at best. 

“That’s not what has you blushing like a virgin though, is it? What did he say to you?” He pressed, the fire in his eyes growing larger by the second. 

You swallowed and took a deep breath before you even opened your mouth, knowing this could only go one of two ways. He’d either blow up entirely, or you’d have a night you’d never forget. “He said that if I begged you you’d let him and George join us,” you said quickly, all in one breath. 

You shut your eyes, waiting for his response. But when a chuckle fell from his lips your eyes shot back open in shock. 

“Is that what you want, bunny? Do you want them to join us?” He asked, his eyes now more playful than they had been just seconds prior. 

“Are you serious?” You asked after a moment, you head spinning that he was just offering this to you on a silver platter. You expected yelling, anger, the whole fit. You didn’t expect a cheeky smirk and twinkling eyes. 

“Do I look like I’m joking?”  

“They’re your brothers,” you argued. Why you were even arguing this, you weren’t sure. You wanted this and he knew it and they knew it. You just couldn’t understand why he was letting it happen. 

“It’s not like I’ll be fucking them,” he said with a laugh. “So, tell me what you want.” 

“If it’s okay with you…,” you started, trailing off. You looked up at him nervously, hoping your eyes conveyed enough of a plea that he would continue agreeing with you. 

“So beg,” he said, his voice dropping low as he continued to stare down at you. 

“I’ll be good, I promise. Just this once. I just - I - please,” you said, launching right into it but quickly running out of words as you watched the smirk grow on his face. 

“Go to my room. Strip. I’ll be up in a minute,” he told you, placing a kiss on your forehead before heading back outside. You watched his figure walk away for a moment, letting your mind race until you booked it up the stairs not wanting to wait any longer for the night to truly begin. 

~~~

You were waiting in your position on the bed for what felt like hours, but you knew it had only been a few minutes before you heard multiple sets of footsteps coming up the stairs. You moved to cover your chest when you heard the doorknob turn, unsure if you should be exposed or not right away. 

Ron came in first but left the door open just enough so your guests could hear. “Last chance, bun. Do you want this?” He asked, slowly coming over to rest his hands on the bed, leaning over slightly so his tall form was eye level with you. 

You knew it wasn’t your last chance to say no, but it was your last chance before the twins waltzed in. 

You took a shaky breath and nodded your head, saying “Yes,” loud enough so Fred and George could hear. 

The door was opening once more, the twins walking through, both pairs of eyes immediately on you. When the door shut, you stared up at them, unsure what to do or say, but their matching smirk told you they already had plans. 

Ron walked around the bed until he crawled on to it behind you, his legs bracketing your hips as you knelt between his spread thighs. 

“Let them see you,” he coaxed gently, hands coming around you to grip your forearms. 

He only put a light pressure on your skin, letting you move on your own as you exposed your chest to them. They took you in with hungry eyes but they didn’t move from where they both stood before you, waiting. 

“All of you,” Ron spoke again, his hands trailing down to your thighs, gently prying them apart. 

You leaned back and hid your face in his neck as he repositioned you, unable to look the two men in the eyes as your entire body got exposed to them. You knew you were a dripping mess over the situation and the embarrassment of it being so obvious made you squirm. 

“Fuck, Y/N, you’re more perfect than I imaged,” you heard George say, the bed dipping down infront of you. 

Your eyes snapped to him, watching him as he looked down at your glistening sex. His eyes were hungry when they met yours, desperate. Probably the exact mirror of your own. 

“Can I touch you?” George asked, his fingers twitching against the sheets, waiting. 

“Please,” you begged, wanting nothing more than for one of them to do anything right now. 

George wasted no time in bringing his fingers directly to your cunt, trailing one long finger through your slit while his thumb trailed soft circles onto your clit. You couldn’t hold back the moan that fell from your lips when he pushed his finger in, immediately searching for you g-spot. 

As if your noises were a cue for Fred, the bed dipped on your other side and without a word, he was kissing down your chest. Soon enough, he was attacking your nipples when George was working your from the inside out. Your back was arching and your hips were moving at their own volition, unable to stop yourself under their ministrations.

“Does that feel good?” George asked you softly, placing kisses on your shoulder. 

When you only nodded, Ron grabbed your chin and forced you to look directly at George. “I won’t remind you again, bunny. Use yours words,” he said sweetly, but you knew there was danger laced in his words. You knew better than anyone else what he could do to you if he reminded you one more time. 

“Yes. Feels so good. Please don’t stop,” you told George, already breathless from the three men surrounding you. 

You felt Fred chuckle against your skin and you knew the smirk George was wearing was only mimicked by Ron’s behind you. They knew exactly what they were doing to you. 

You couldn’t stop the whine that left you when George removed his hand, but your eyes lit up when you saw him go to kneel at the edge of the bed. He pulled up his to the edge, draped your legs over his shoulder, and started trailing kitten licks all along your slit until his tongue was swirling around your clit. 

You held fell back against Ron’s shoulder, a moan falling from your lips as Fred moved to your other side to attack your opposite nipple. 

“Having fun?” Ron asked, beaming down at you. 

You nodded breathlessly, your eyes rolling back in your head with a flushed smile on your face. “Want you too,” you told him. 

“Of course you do, my greedy girl,” Ron mused, his finger coming to tilt your lips back and locking your lips in a kiss. 

Your body was overwhelmed with just their lips. You weren’t sure how you would handle it when their pants came off. 

Your hips were grinding down onto George’s face without you sparing it a second thought and you kept pushing your chest into Fred’s lips, your entire body grinding back on Ron’s body. 

“She tastes like fucking heaven,” George said, finally coming up for a breath. His entire chin was soaked in his own saliva and your juices and his eyes were blown with lust. 

Ron made a noise of agreement that was swallowed up by your lips, but you were ripped away from your boyfriend by George’s grip on your neck. He pulled you into a kiss with him, tasting yourself on his tongue, as Fred trailed kisses down your body until he was getting a taste of you for himself. 

Fred quickly brought you your orgasm, his tongue so deep inside of you that your toes were curling. Your hands had a monster grip on Ron’s thighs and every noise you made got swallowed by George, his lips hot on yours. 

You finally relaxed your body against Ron’s, his chest being the perfect place to settle against, as your body calmed down. 

“Think you can handle all three of us?” Fred asked cheekily, looking up at you from his place on the floor. 

You gave a shaky nod, but in your head you were unsure how this would even work. You never thought you’t get this far to even have considered it. 

That line of thought was abruptly cut off when Ron grabbed your hair and yanked back so you were looking up at him again. “What did I say about using your words?” He asked darkly.

“Yes, I want to. I can,” you got out breathlessly, still basking in the sting of your scalp. 

“Good,” Ron said, now satiated with your words. “Get on your hands and knees for us, bunny.” 

He gave you one last searing kiss before releasing you, letting you adjust your own shaky limbs on the bed until you were in the position he instructed you to be in. As you did that, the boys began stripping themselves of their clothes, Fred and George both strategically in your line of sight depending on which way you turned your head. 

You watched as they both ripped their shirts over their heads, a sight you were accustomed to thanks to many sweaty afternoons in the yard playing Quidditch. But you didn’t know where to look as they peeled down their jeans and briefs, relieving both of their impressive lengths. They were both around the same length, but Ron was thicker than both of them. No matter what, you knew you’d be sore in the morning. 

“This is how it’s gonna work, bunny,” Ron said, finally rounding the bed so he could see you. “I’m gonna fuck this pretty little cunt,” he told you, adding emphasis of his possession when he bent over and easily hooked two fingers inside of you, pressing directly on your g-spot. You jumped at the abrupt action, but you never broke your eye contact with him.

“Fred’s going to fuck that tight ass,” he continued, and you watched as Fred rounded the bed until he was behind you. 

“And George is gonna fuck that cute face,” Ron finished, George coming up on the other side of you to grip your face to force you to look at him. 

“Does that sound good, sweetheart?” George asked, looking down at you fondly. 

“Yes, fuck. Please,” you said, your hips beginning to move against nothing now that Ron had removed his fingers, searching for any ounce of friction you can get. 

They moved in almost perfect sync. Ron maneuvered his way underneath you swiftly, George pulled your head off to the side so your mouth was lined up with the tip of his cock, and you could feel Fred’s lube covered fingers breach the entrance of your tightest hole all at once. You were overwhelmed in the best way, unsure what to do with yourself but totally just along for whatever ride they were about to bring you on. 

When Ron fucked up into you roughly, George immediately pushed your head down to feel the full effects of your moan of his cock, causing a shiver to run through his body. They were practically fucking your mouth and core in tandem, one pulling out while the other brutally thrust in. 

You felt as if you were splitting open for them already, but when Fred’s cock finally lined up with your entrance and began pushing in, you practically saw stars. 

George let you pull away from him for a moment so you could breath through the new pressure inside of you, your head now buried in Ron’s neck as you panted and moaned. Ron had slowed down his thrusts to match with Fred, balancing you on the precipice of pain and pleasure. 

“You’re doing so fucking good for us, Y/N. Just give it a minute and it’ll feel so good. You’re gonna be so pretty when you cum for us,” Ron mused quietly in your ear, knowing that you’d latch on to his voice to get you through the intensity. 

Finally, your hips starting moving against theirs, a silent signal you were ready for them to fuck you, all three of them truly went wild with you body. 

George dragged your face back over to him, letting you do your own thing but keeping a steady hand in your hair in case you tried to pull away. Ron and Fred were fucking into you in perfect sync, pulling out and fucking into you at the same time. 

It was so intense you were shaking, only being held up by three strong pairs of hands at this point. But you couldn’t hide how good it was making you feel. Even as deep as George’s cock was down your throat, it was barely muffling the screams of pleasure you were giving them. You just hoped someone remembered to cast a silencing charm. 

You could hear them talking around you, a mix of praises directed at you and words shared between themselves. “Fuck, you feel so good” and “Just like that” mixed with “She feels like fucking heaven” and “Her mouth is a dream”. You could barely hear them over the blood pumping through you, but you knew you’d remember it later with a blush and a smile. 

“Fuck, you’re gonna make me cum. Swallow it all for me,” George told you, bruising your hair out of your sweaty face. You felt the unmistakable twitch of his cock just before he spilled his cum inside of your mouth and fucked it down your throat, giving you no choice but to follow his request. He came with one of the prettiest noises you had ever heard, and you knew you’d want to hear it again someday if you were lucky enough. 

You pulled away from George panting, finally able to have a minute to catch your breath as Fred and Ron continued to pound furiously into you, your body jolting with every deliberate thrust. 

“Ron, please I’m so close,” you begged, for what you weren’t entirely sure, but you knew he’d know what to do. All you could focus on was how close you were, how tightly you were gripping both of your cocks, and trying your best to balance on shaky arms so you didn’t collapse. 

Without missing a beat, Ron turned his head to George. “Touch her clit,” he told him, finally sounding breathless from all the work he was putting in. 

Fred’s arms came around you to pull you up until your back was against his chest, giving George full access to your most sensitive spot. 

“Cum for us. Show us how much you loved this and cum for us,” Fred said low in your ear. 

Your eyes never left Ron’s as all three of them worked you closer and closer to the edge. As much as the twins were turning you on, this orgasm was for you boyfriend. Everyone you had was. He was the one that let this happen. Let them take you like this. And he was the one currently fucking your g-spot with every thrust it made your head spin. 

“Cum for me” was all Ron had to say, seeing and feeling just how close you were, for you to explode. 

Your vision went white and your whole body shook, the only thing keeping you grounded was Fred’s warm chest pressed against you. You knew the scream you were hearing was your own, but you couldn’t keep it quiet no matter how hard you tried. You pulsed around their cocks, milking them of their own orgasms as you were going through yours. You felt their cum fill you completely, another moan leaving your mouth at how erotic it felt. 

When you finally felt as though you had come back down to real life, you were settled against Ron’s chest, his cock still in you, while the twins were busying themselves with getting dressed. They were talking quietly while Ron ran his hand up and down along your back, just waiting until you were finally back in the present. 

George was the first one to notice your eyes had opened again when he finally got his pants back on. He walked over to the bed and knelt down so he was almost eye level with you. 

“That was wonderful, darling. You were perfect,” he told you, placing a quick kiss to your forehead before righting himself only for Fred to take his place. 

“What he said,” Fred told you with a smirk and mimicking his twin's kiss to your forehead. “We’ll see you two lovebirds in the morning,” he added with a wink. 

They both made their way out of the room, the door clicking behind them, leaving you and Ron in a blissed out silence. 

“Did you have fun?” He finally asked, tilting his neck so he was looking down at you. 

“I did. Thank you,” you said with a soft smile. 

“My girl always gets what she wants. You just have to ask, bunny,” He said, placing a kiss on your nose. 

When you moved your lips up to move against his, he stopped you with a chuckle. “No offense but my brother did just cum in your mouth. So let’s go get you cleaned up so I can kiss you properly, yeah?” He asked, wrapping a blanket around you so he could get you down the hallway and into the bathroom. 

“I thought you weren’t going to be weird about it,” you grumbled under your breath as he adjusted you in his arms, carrying you bridal style. 

“That’s different and you know it,” he said defensively as he made his way for the door, making you giggle.

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

Lapis Love [Ch. 1]

NobilityAU; Fantasy AU

TW: Language, Implications of an Abusive Household, Gaslighting, Manipulation, Descriptions of a Panic Attack

CW: Arranged/Political Marriage, Politcial Turmoil

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Fantasy

Pairing: Mercenary!Liu Yangyang x Noblity!Reader

Y/N Pronouns: Female (She/Her)

Summary: When hit with the sudden news that you'd be married you freaked out and with the help of your brother you ran away to avoid becoming embroiled in a political war. However, your betrothed was just as freaked out as you were and sent a mercenary after you. When you're two paths cross unknowingly, suddenly your month journey to refuge becomes that much more interesting.

(1/?) [Previous] | [Next]

[NCT Masterlist] | [Other Groups Masterlist] | [Lapis Love Masterlist]

Word Count: 4.9K

Notes: I hope you all enjoy! I really loved writing this fic <3

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.

Feedback is greatly appreciated!! Thank you for reading &lt;3

“Marriage?!” Your voice seemed to echo across the hall and your attending servants outside shivered. Your parents only sighed in front of you. Your brother glanced to the side awkwardly, it seems like they’d been talking about it with him longer than with you. Shocking, your brother had been traveling for the past year, to think this is how a reunion would be established.

“(Y/N), my dear,” your father tries to console you. “It is what is best for our territory. The Huang domain has many resources that we both lack and desperately need. Likewise, we have resources for them that they are also in need of, I’m sure you understand,” he explains.

Of course, you understand. You knew your family’s predicament quite well, you’d always been hovering between a state of poverty and a state of riches since you’d been born. House Moon has been on a steady decline for years now, it would only make sense for your parents to consolidate power with another noble house. It didn’t help that House Moon was essentially a self isolated noble house, choosing to stay out of imperial politics to stay in full control of a unique power that its descendants possess. But, as a direct consequence of that, hardly anyone knew of the family at all and hardly the family knew anything of the surrounding nobles until recently, when the eldest two of the four children attended academia and the next went traveling.

Assholes, all of them. Leaving you behind to get the brunt of learning how to run an entire region. If you weren’t so close to them you’d resent them for sure.

“I understand,” you answered, but you couldn’t hide your annoyance, “but, father, of all the houses to betroth me to why on earth did you choose House Huang?!” You argued. “Surely, there are better houses to be wed to! House Jung, House Suh, House Choi, hell, I’d even take House Qian, however strange that marriage would be—”

“They’re the only house who agreed to wed!” Your mother interrupted. You fell silent. Were you that unworthy a candidate? “(Y/N), we raised you in a way that you could choose who to be. You know us, we’re not active in politics and we’re not interested in the crown, but because of that… I’m sorry, we may have contributed to the downfall of your marriage prospects,” she says.

Brash, unruly, and bratty. That’s what you’d heard many people call you before, or at least, that’s what all the rumors said. With no chance to defend yourself, what with being isolated in your region for so long, you weren’t aware of the full extent of them until now. You could’ve been like one of those prim and proper noble girls who probably to make fun of you, but good god why would you ever want to be in their circle? Your territory was much too far away from theirs anyway to make proper friends. Friends. You scoffed, not only did your parents unrelenting support of however you acted ruin your marriage prospects, it seemed to have put a dent on your ability to befriend others as well. The only person coming to mind was the noble boy living in Stardenn of House Qian, and even then, he was more of an older brother to you than anything, he was Taeil’s friend before he was yours, after all.

“What… what does Taeil have to say about this?” You asked. Your parents looked to each other. Your eldest brother tended to be the more reasonable one of the four, anyway, if he heard something as outrageous as marriage to House Huang, you were certain that he’d intervene.

“Taeil was the one who recommended the idea to us,” your mother responds. Well, forget that. Your brother, who has been absent for the past two years because of military academy, for some reason thought that he had a say in your marriage. You almost laughed again. You would’ve resented his words but… he had a point. Your noble house is wavering in power, you needed this marriage of convenience to keep whatever favor you had left with the imperial family.

“And Byulyi?” Your older sister, of course. She was away in academy as well, studying politics in the capitol. 

“We haven’t heard back from her yet.” You weren’t talking about her approval. But, then again, Byulyi would never be considered a marriage candidate for the family, not when she’s been accomplished enough to stand on her own. Not to mention, she was oddly close to the crown prince. You shook your head.

“House Huang…” you muttered. Many people would call them the disgrace of the noble vassals, their sons were always up to no good, according to what you’d heard here and there. But, their territory was vast and happened to be right next to yours. With or without marriage, they would’ve likely encroached onto your vast territory of Evercairn anyway. “Of which of the brothers am I to be married to, then?” You asked. You weren’t necessarily giving in, but at the same time, know your enemy.

“Their youngest, Renjun.”

Renjun. He’s the scholarly one, to your knowledge, proficient in the mystic arts and well read, a stark difference compared to his siblings. One of military prowess and another of social ability. What Renjun lacked in physical ability he made up for in mental capacity. But, according to what you’ve heard, he could be rather arrogant. This marriage was beginning to sound more like a chore than that of a political agreement.

“Do I at least get to meet him?” You probe.

“A week before the wedding, yes,” your mother says. A week. Hardly enough time to get to know a man you were to spend the rest of your life with. Even your brother, who had remained silent this whole time, was shocked at her words. Your mother, sensing your unease, speaks up again. “(Y/N), dear, you don’t need to like him, you know? The marriage is really more for the papers.”

“Did you think that way with father?” You asked.

“Goodness, no, your father and I are a special case,” she says. Their marriage was one out of love and, likely, the reason why your family has been in decline. Your father fell in love with the sweet village florist who captivated his heart the moment she spilled a few dozen roses. It was straight out of a fairy tale, and one that you used to swoon over every night with your siblings. Taeil kept his head in the clouds when it came to romance, Byulyi agreed to only marry for love, your idiot brother in front of you agreed to stay a bachelor his whole life, and you… you understood that love… is an unknown and dangerous frontier.

Yes, this is true, this is how you earned the apparently popular moniker of the Winter Noble while Taeil was known as the Spring Noble, complete opposites the two of you were. Your older sister, of course, was the Fall Noble and your other brother was the Summer Noble. This, naturally, was one of the only reasons why your noble house had some sway despite its decline. Although it was each siblings’ demeanor that granted these titles, it was only a coincidence that they matched each of their birthright abilities. Your attitudes that were famous across the vast empire. Your brothers, for example, were so easily swayed by the people around them that you ended up growing up faster to be sure that they wouldn’t get into trouble and dig your family into further trouble. Sure, they’d matured enough now, but before he would’ve fallen for the most obvious of scams without you. One of you had to be the smart sibling, and that ended up being you.

“Why… why couldn’t you have just betrothed Kevin?!” You shouted. Kevin jumped up in his seat. “Of course! Choose the deadbeat of the family to marry off, why don’t you, what else am I good for? That’s what you’re all thinking, isn’t it?!” You argued.

“(Y/N)! Calm down!” You didn’t even realize that Kevin was on his feet until he was holding your wrists. You looked down at them, the ice that covered them slowly melting away. You pulled your hands from him and Kevin backed away.

“Kevin is a far better marriage candidate than I am! People actually like him. No one likes me! Hell, most of the other nobles forgot about me!” You continued to shout. “Who’s going to run Evercairn when I’m off playing housewife in Bleakgate?! Kevin just barely learned basic arithmetic!”

“Hey!”

“Silence! Byulyi is off trying to enter politics and Taeil’s about to be knighted! I’m the only one who knows how to run anything around here while you’re gone! Seriously, marriage, and to think that all three of you had the gall to bring it up to me in such a fashion—”

“Don’t you think we tried?” Your father suddenly snapped and you backed down immediately. This wasn’t something you were used to, your father was always the more patient one, he had to be with four children. Kevin, again, looks down at his hands.

“I… I really didn’t want this to happen to you, (Y/N),” Kevin says. You staggered back.

“That’s why you were gone so long, wasn’t it?” You muttered. Kevin could only nod. “How… how could no one have chosen you, Kev? You’re the best one of us all,” you looked down at the marbled floors.

“Please, (Y/N), you are our last hope,” your mother pleads. “I know, I know we raised you saying you could choose your partner, we know that, but, (Y/N), we are so desperate,” your mother stands up and holds your hands in hers. You’d never seen her beg this way. If your father was mellow then your mother held the family’s pride. She had to. She wasn’t of noble upbringing. You wondered how much that changed her, being entered into a society of high class without having any prior knowledge to it. To see her beg like this… she really was serious.

“O… Okay,” you nodded your head and answered with a shaky breath.

~

But, if you were anxious about this wedding, your soon to be husband was in a worse state.

“I can’t marry the Winter Noble! Have you lost your minds?!” Renjun’s hands dug into his hair and his parents frowned in front of him. He didn’t even know you. Now, Renjun was no one to be privy to rumors, but they’re all he had of this Winter Noble. And, to say the least, it sounded more like his parents were punishing him rather than using him.

“You can, and you must,” his father growls. “I’ve already had another one of my sons fail me, will you do the same, Renjun?” He looks down on him. Renjun flinches, looking down at his twiddling thumbs instead.

“But… of all the nobles… why… why her?” He asks. Even the Fall Noble would’ve been more suitable, they’d met in academy despite him being her junior. She even had more power in the royal court than any of her siblings.

“I thought you were supposed to be the smart one, Renjun,” his mother chides. “We need the abilities of House Moon if we’re going to take over the imperial family,” she says with a strict voice. Insurrection. Was this his fate? This was all he was good for, wasn’t it? Just a tool in his parents’ arsenal to be used against the crown. It only made sense, of course they’d want the supernatural abilities of House Moon, it was the only way for them to gain power over the imperial family, House Lee. Not to mention there was a certain compatibility factor in the lineage of House Moon, given that he’d always been gifted in magic… it’s no wonder his parents sentenced him to this rather than Hendery.

Now, House Huang wasn’t one to be trifled with either. They were known for their military prowess, after all. The Huang family was descendant of the first great general who aided the first emperor in unifying the whole nation. Military capability was nearly genetic. Even his sister, Xingqiao, showed incredible abilities in strategy that he could only dream of. Renjun, despite his lack in physical strength, made up for it in his capabilities in magic, something which House Huang was regretfully new to, and something his mother had a hard time explaining to his father. After all, until him, no Huang has had the ability to conjure magic.

Renjun thought that was the end of it. After it became proven that he wasn’t his father’s son, his father wanted nothing to do with him. He lived a significantly freer life than his siblings, and he was okay with that. But thanks to Hendery’s fuck up… now he’s his father’s new target.

Gods, if only Hendery hadn’t deserted the front lines.

As soon as Renjun finds him, surely, he won’t hold back his rage. Renjun shook his head.

“But… they would never agree to such a thing… their abilities are the whole reason why they’ve locked themselves away from the empire,” Renjun says.

“Bold of you to say that, considering it was them who came to us,” his mother grins with a proud disposition. “It seems that they are in a similar boat to us, their power is dwindling.”

“But—”

“Shut up and listen, would you, Renjun? Be smart,” his mother snaps “They need power, and so do we. You will marry the Winter Noble and we are expecting your first child to have one of four of the abilities, any will work,” she says. Renjun swallows harshly.

“Are House Moon aware of your intentions?” He asks.

“Don’t be stupid, Renjun. Of course they aren’t, all they think is that we’re in dire need of their farmland,” his father says. “Renjun, be a good boy, do you understand? You do know what would happen if anyone in House Moon were to find out of our intentions, right?” He asks. Renjun remained silent.

“The… you would repeat the duckling incident… right?” He asks. His parents nod, almost too casually given the weight of what they did to him. Ducklings. Renjun didn’t have many friends growing up, and so he’d spend time in the gardens instead, feeding the ducks in the pond and the other animals around him. Around that time, the duck eggs had all hatched into adorable baby ducklings, something which Renjun excitedly told the maids when he walked into the kitchen to pick up the usual duck feed.

Then, around that time as well, Renjun had made a friend in military academy. A very important friend, Lee Jeno. One of the many princes of the Lee family in line for the throne. Renjun had made a hasty mistake of warning Jeno against his family, stating that he had reason to believe that his parents weren’t fond of him. Needless to say, his father overheard their conversation. 

The next day, all the ducklings in the pond had been slaughtered.

Of course, Renjun knew who it was. This was a warning not to make a mistake again, or else the consequences would be more grave.

“Good, so you do still remember,” his father has a sadistic grin. “You will meet your betrothed soon, fear not. The wedding is two weeks from now, she will arrive in a week.” Renjun’s shoulders slumped.

“Okay…” he nods his head.

“Good, now leave, Renjun,” his mother shoos him away and Renjun could only nod, walking out with his tail between his legs. Marriage. He doesn’t want this, he never thought it would be him to marry, he was just a half son, after all, the laughing stock amongst other nobles, why would it be him who needed to get married?

He didn’t know when he got to his room, but when he did, he felt the sudden weight of every emotion pile up on him. He couldn’t even make it to his bed, he just collapsed on the floor right there, holding his hands to his chest. Was this his fate? To be betrothed to the Winter Noble, known for her cruel behavior and even colder attitude? Renjun could feel his entire body tremble, he didn’t want this. Would she be as cold as his parents? He thought that since he was just a half son, that he could get by without ever having to deal with such a thing as this, but he was wrong, he was so wrong.

“I… I don’t want this,” Renjun mumbles, trying to console himself. He heard rapid knocks behind him and he knew who it was immediately as soon as the door swung open and shut without him even saying anything. Only one person would be insolent enough to do that.

“Hey, high, ho, groom to be!” Yangyang laughs. Renjun lets out a shaky breath. “Renjun?” An uncharacteristic concern laces the mercenary’s voice, and in no time at all, Yangyang was crouching in front of him. “Hey, hold on, man, take steady breaths now. Do it with me, okay? Breathe in, and breathe out,” he spoke steadily. This wasn’t the first time he had walked him through a panic attack. “Good, one more time, okay? In, then out,” he says. Renjun, although still worried, was noticeably calmer now. “What the hell happened in there, Renjun?”

“I’m… I’m getting married,” he looks at Yangyang. “To the Winter Noble.”

“Winter… from House Moon?” Yangyang asks. Renjun nods. Even commoners know of the four Moon children, after all.

“Yes,” was all Renjun could muster out. It was clear that Yangyang was working out all the details in his head, he was bright like that. If only Yangyang had been born into a noble family, Renjun was certain, he would’ve been the most successful of all these snobby houses. Yangyang is Renjun’s best friend, they had always been close growing up, they were each other’s confidant. They knew everything about each other, Renjun knew about how hard things had been for Yangyang growing up in the orphanage, and Yangyang knew all about the abuse coming from the heads of House Huang. But marriage was a prospect neither of them thought they’d ever be talking about.

“Hey, it can’t be all that bad, Renjun, you don’t have to like her. This marriage is just for the papers, right?” He asks.

“I wish it was, Yangyang, it would’ve been so much easier if it was just that,” Renjun shook his head. The one thing Yangyang didn’t know, however, was his parents’ plan to usurp the throne. A plan that required him to have an heir with the woman from House Moon, in hopes their first child will inherit one of four abilities. And, if they didn’t, he’s certain that his father would make whatever fate fell upon that child look like an accident. Renjun shivered, feeling his vision blacking at the edges.

“Renjun, calm down, it’s okay, we have a week, we can figure something out in a week,” he says. Renjun nods.

“One week… one week… one week…” he kept repeating to himself. Could he escape within a week? But, if he doesn’t take the fall… his breathing stuttered, how could he leave you with the repercussions? His father was a cruel man, and his mother even worse. If he ran, certainly, they’d take it out on you instead. He could only wonder how you were taking this news.

~

One week. One week of freedom. You sprawled yourself over the bed, pulling your pillow over your face and shrieking into it. You hated this. Your family was never into politics before, how could they set you up with one of the most political houses of the entire damn kingdom?

“Miss, did you call for me?” Your maid pokes her head into your room and you handed her a letter from your spot in bed.

“Have this sent to the Qian Duchy as soon as possible, please,” you said.

“I will be sure it arrives safely,” she curtseys before leaving. The Qian Duchy, home to the one man you could call your friend. Stardenn was quite a ways from Evercairn even with an express path, taking about three days on express and nearly a week without, hopefully, you’d hear back from him soon, you’d at least want to hear his opinion on the matter, maybe some words of consolation. You hated throwing yourself a pity party but… who else could you confide in? There was another knock at your door.

“It’s open,” you rolled over so your back would be towards the door. You felt your bed dip down and a quiet sigh.

“Been awhile since I’ve been in here,” Kevin says. You rolled your eyes, scooting away from him. “(Y/N), don’t be like that,” he says. You didn’t answer. “(Y/N), I’m sorry, I really am,” he says. “I really tried hard, I didn’t want you to be the family’s scapegoat but… I didn’t win anyone over in the end, I’m sorry, (Y/N),” he keeps apologizing.

“Quit saying that you’re sorry,” you bit back. “There’s nothing you could do anyway, if none of those pretentious women like you then they’re all good for nothing, they couldn’t see someone who was genuine if he was right in front of them, and you were,” you said. Kevin, of all the nobles you had the displeasure of meeting, had to be one of the only good ones to exist. He was known as the Summer Noble, sunny in disposition, kind, likable, genuine, he was friends with everyone and yet with no one at the same time. Sometimes you were certain that only you could see it, the loneliness in his eyes. This must’ve been as big as a blow to his pride as it was to yours. Yet, despite those lonely eyes, he still seemed to smile at you.

“Look at you though, about to get married. Didn’t think it’d be you,” he says.

“Maybe if Byulyi wasn’t so picky, it would’ve been her,” you mumbled.

“Or if Taeil wasn’t so busy,” Kevin laughed. “Hey, (Y/N)…” he pulls you so that you could look at him. He hands you a letter. “I… I need to tell you something important,” he stands up briefly and puts his hand on the door. The area beneath it glows with a warm light and, immediately, his expression darkens. “House Huang cannot be trusted,” he says, approaching you again. You sat up quickly now.

“What… what do you mean?” Of course they couldn’t, who agrees to a sudden marriage? And in two weeks? They had to be mad.

“I have reason to believe that they agreed to the engagement with malevolent intent,” he says. “See, (Y/N), I wasn’t just out looking for a wife,” he says. “I work for the crown now,” he pulls out a badge for proof.

“You… you’re part of the Crownsguard?” You asked with wide eyes.

“His imperial majesty Taeyong approached me himself in academy and asked me to join. They desperately needed the power of House Moon.”

“Does mother—”

“They don’t know, I haven’t told them. And no one knows I’m part of the Crownsguard either,” he says while adjusting the gloves around his hands. “It would be breaking House Moon’s century of neutrality, but… I owed the crown prince a favor, this is how I’m paying for it,” he says. “I’ve known that mother and father have had their eyes set on House Huang for a while now, so, while I was in the capitol, I did some digging,” he says.

“Go on,” you moved so you could sit next to him.

“I think… I think they want to gain control of our abilities,” he says. “And in order to do that, they need one of their children to marry one of us,” he says. “Do you understand what I’m saying, (Y/N)?”

“They just want one of the seasons,” you confirmed. Kevin nods.

“They do, obviously, Xingqiao is caught up in a military campaign in the east, so neither me nor Taeil would be candidates. Byulyi is said to be consorting the crown prince, so she’s off the table too. That leaves you, (Y/N). And, considering the other children of House Huang, your likely groom would be Renjun,” he says.

“You’re telling me things I already know, Kevin.”

“That’s the thing, I figured it out before you were made aware, mom and dad told me about it as soon as I got home last night,” he says. He hands you the letter again. “So… I decided to pay Kun a visit.”

“You…” you hesitated.

“Read that letter first, and really really think about it. Because… if you accept those terms, you would have to go alone,” he says.

“What, what do you mean?” Kevin stands up.

“I trust you, (Y/N). If you decide to marry into the Huang family, I’m coming with you. Because like hell I’d leave you with those monsters. Dad will have to drag me out half dead if he has a problem with it. If not… this is the safest alternative,” he says. He walks towards the door. “Think about it carefully.”

“I will,” and with that, Kevin left. You opened the letter as soon as the door shut.

(Y/N),

I heard the news. I’m sure Kevin will have given this to you after you found out, so I will be presumptuous and congratulate you on your engagement. Although, I know you well enough to know that you won’t take this sitting down. House Huang is on the Anti-Imperial faction, as I’m sure you’re aware. Marrying into that house would break House Moon’s century of neutrality. I’m not sure of the details, Kevin only told me so much, but I know you’re anxious right now. As Duke of Stardenn, I would like to offer you refuge within these borders. House Qian has long been neutral, staying here would both maintain neutrality and keep you from House Huang’s clutches. As long as you are a resident of Stardenn, you’d be under House Qian’s security, of course. It shouldn’t raise too many concerns, our families have been friends for decades. I am also willing to provide some financial support to House Moon, actually, I’ve been trying to send aid, but due to distance it hasn’t been the easiest and, as I’m sure you know, your mother is a proud woman. I had to decline your parents’ initial offer for marriage, most out of respect to you and partially due to the minor power struggle we had just gone through, but things have since settled down, you needn’t worry. Please, take my offer into consideration. I need not a reply, I’m aware that time is of the essence. I will instead await your arrival within the month, once that has past, I will assume your decision was in favor of House Huang, and no ill born feelings will arise from it. Be safe, (Y/N), and I will see you soon.

Qian Kun

Leave it to Kevin to be ahead of the game. Sure, Byulyi was heralded as the smartest of the four, but Kevin was the cleverest. It was no wonder he was scouted for the Crownsguard. You looked to the door. If you accepted Kun’s help, then that means that you’d have to leave for Stardenn on your own. And if you declined then… you could very well be turned into a pawn used by House Huang to usurp the throne. Although, you’d be lying if you didn’t feel awkward yourself walking into the Qian Duchy, now armed with the knowledge that he was one of many nobles your parents tried to marry you off to. Kun was a close friend of Taeil’s growing up, he was someone you knew well enough to trust, and he was someone Kevin went to for help. It may not seem like it, but of the siblings, the one with the best judge of character was Kevin, there were many times when he’d been able to snuff out insurrections before they had a chance, which is yet another reason why the emperor was so keen on adding him to the Crownsguard. You swallowed harshly.

Your choice was obvious.

~

“Your grace! Your grace, it’s an emergency!” A soldier barged into the dining hall.

“What now?” Master Huang bites back.

“Her highness… The Winter Noble has gone missing!” The messenger shrieks. The fork in Renjun’s hands falls and clatters onto the plate beneath him just as two pairs of angry eyes turn to him. Him, oh god, why him? Why does this have to happen to him?

“You… what did you do?” His mother seethes. Renjun shakes his head.

“Nothing, mother, I didn’t do anything, I swear,” he swallows dryly.

“Find her, find that noble if it’s the last thing you do. We need the power of House Moon!” The master shouts and Renjun could feel his heart drop. He had to find you, he had to find you or else he’d be the one to pay for it.

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[streetlight11]

Till I Met You Again

Summary: Everyone is born with a life already planned out for them. Including their soulmates. Except, every person walking this earth has been given a specific soulmate marking that was similar to a tattoo to match their soulmate’s. The ink is invisible when one is born. To activate the soulmate marking, one has to be at least in a 20 feet radius to their designated soulmate. But of course, they wouldn’t know it until they start to notice the ink slowly appearing on their skin.

Theme: soulmate au, university au, enemies to lovers

Genre: angst, fluff

Warning: mild cursing

WC: 10k

Pairing: Soulmate!Yoongi x Fem!Reader

a/n: Hello! I kinda got too carried away in writing this one the other day, hence the word count for this is... woah. Hehe. But anyways, here's a soulmate au for you Min Yoongi lovers <3

Every person who was born into this earth has their life journey already written out for them in which it unfortunately remains a secret from them. And these living souls have been entitled to a soulmate that would potentially cross their path in the near future. Everyone is made for someone and the tattoo on their skin otherwise known as a ‘soulmate marking’ determines it for them.

The soulmate marking is nothing far from a tattoo as it imprints on your skin for eternity.

However, these markings will already be on you the minute you were born. Except, the ink will be invisible to the human eye.

But it’s definitely there. The only way to activate the marking is when one happens to be of 20 foot radius with their designated soulmate. This will cause the ink to start slowly appearing on one’s skin. Even so, these markings will start only when one has reached the age of 14. Only then will the ink start to be visible to one’s eye.

Unfortunately, until now when you’re already past 20 years of age, not a single tinge of ink was displayed on your skin. You’ve checked everywhere on your body. From your fingertips to your toes.

Nothing.

You weren’t really one who purely believed in this whole soulmate thing simply because you felt that there’s no such thing as a fixed soulmate. You should be free to choose who you want as your partner purely through interactions and chemistry you shared with the other, not by some marking on your skin. Your parents had a matching mark on their right wrists which was a simple rose in a glass jar.

No doubt you admired their love story and how they met, but you couldn’t see it for yourself. You really don’t want to fully depend on this supposed marking. Even when you went off to college, you’ve made it a point to try and go on dates no matter what their soulmate markings would be.

But it all turned out with the same ending. Either the guy dumps you for not having the same mark or they ghost you after the first date, saying you’re too good for them. All these never led to a heartbreak on your end because you were never in love to begin with.

You were simply trying your luck, trying to see if you’d find a single soul who was just as sceptical as you on this whole soulmate thing.

And so far, you’ve met none.

It was the start of university life for you as you’ve managed to enrol yourself for a Computer Science major in Hangang University. You took the same course during college, having interest in web design and computer technologies. You could only hope that the study load this time would give you a mental break every once in a while despite knowing the content is definitely heavier than college content.

But you still told yourself to persevere and never leave your knowledge hanging while you’re still young. With this mentality, you brought yourself to campus today for day one of university classes.

Taking a deep breath, you pushed the door to the specific lecture room for the first lesson.

Immediately, you were greeted by a room that had the majority of the students’ gender being males. But it wasn’t a surprise to you because CS majors tend to lean more towards males instead of females. This doesn’t bother you since you were here solely to study and perhaps make friends along the way.

You found an empty seat in the top last few rows. With careful steps, you climbed the stairs to make your way to the spot you had your eyes locked on. After you’ve settled down, you noted how the room was fairly quiet.

Probably because it was the first day of classes and nobody really knows each other yet. That was all pushed to the back of your mind when you heard chatting coming from the front door and you saw 2 friends walk in. It was pretty obvious they knew each other considering how they were laughing and talking freely to one another.

As you kept your curious gaze on them discreetly, you could only realise how good looking they were.

The taller one sported beautiful dark brown locks that were long enough to cover his eyes, his smile so charming you were sure anyone who crossed his path would fall for his smile in less than a second. And then there was the other one who sported a more edgy look with his shorter dark purple, undercut hair that was parted near the centre to show his forehead, a right eyebrow piercing to compliment his face.

You quickly diverted your gaze to your laptop screen, not wanting them to think you’re a creep. You were busy searching for the e-books for this lesson in your online school portal when you heard a gentle voice calling to you from your right.

“Hey, are these seats taken?”

You looked up to see the one with the eyebrow piercing staring at you with the softest smile on his face.

In response to his question, you simply mimicked his facial expression and shook your head at him. He thanked you quietly before the 2 of them settled down beside you down the row. They resumed their conversation for the next 3 minutes before the lecturer walked in to start the class.

Two hours later, you don’t even know how you managed to absorb the things your lecturer said but you did. You were typing out the notes he shared on the projector screen when you heard his voice through the speakers.

“I will let you go for your lunch break. Be back by 1pm, here. You can leave your bags behind since I will be locking the room once everyone leaves.”

With that, your classmates replied with a series of yes before they got up one by one ready to head for lunch. You were just typing out the last of your notes when the boy beside you spoke up. At first you thought he was talking to his friend. You completely missed the way he was turned to you.

Until he gently taps onto your forearm to tell you that his question was directed to you. With a turn of your head, you locked eyes with him for the second time that day. “H-Huh?” You stuttered, earning a stifled chuckle from him.

“I was saying, do you wanna join me and my friends for lunch? We’re already sharing classes, might as well get to know each other to prepare for future projects or assignments.” He kindly repeated himself for you, making you whisper a soft ‘oh’ under your breath.

It wasn’t like you to approach someone first when it comes to striking a conversation with a complete stranger. So when he did it for you, it surprised you that he even thought of letting you tag along with them to lunch. For this alone, you decided to accept his offer knowing he does have a point for that last statement.

With that being said, the three of you left the lecture room after bringing your wallets with you. You quietly followed beside the brown haired one as they immediately opened a topic for their conversation.

You were just checking your phone for the texts sent from your mom in your family group chat when a voice spoke up, addressing you directly.

“What’s your name?” You glance up to catch the one who asked the question was the brown haired one, as the purple haired one was already looking at you but it wasn’t intimidating in any way. So you found it easy to reply to them.

“Y/N.” You said as they all nodded only for the boy beside you to speak up. “Nice to meet you Y/N. I’m Taehyung. This is Jungkook.”

And so you know.

After almost 10 minutes of walking, you finally arrived at the cafeteria located on the other side of campus from where you originally were. The cafeteria was filled with hungry students and occupied tables. This wasn’t something new but at times like these, you’d rather bring your own food and sit somewhere that’s less crowded and bustling.

Just when you were about to excuse yourself and get a take out instead, Taehyung’s voice sounded from beside you, “Hyung said he found a table for us. They’re at the side near the drink stall.” He addressed it to the Jungkook in particular.

Hyung? Found a table? Did their other friends go to this same campus too?

You thought to yourself as Taehyung soon led the three of you around the cafeteria with you following behind them like a lost puppy.

You were busy looking at the available food stalls around when you were stopped by the voices that called out to the 2 boys’ names. Curious eyes wandered over their figures to see just who their other friends were and you were met with a table filled with relatively handsome guys.

There were 3 guys seated at that table, happily welcoming Taehyung and Jungkook. Just when you thought they had forgotten you, Jungkook turns around to show you to his friends.

“If you guys don’t mind, we made a new friend this morning and we invited her to join us for lunch. Her name is Y/N.” Jungkook announced as the three boys smiled at you warmly.

“Hey Y/N. I’m Namjoon, this is Seokjin and Hoseok. It’s nice to meet you.” Namjoon said as he stretched his hand out for you to shake in which you obliged. You definitely didn’t miss the intricate design of a floral arrow lining his inner forearm. That must’ve been his soulmate marking. You soon found yourself seated next to Hoseok and Jungkook after buying your meal.

You were chewing your noodles when Taehyung spoke up to catch everyone at that table’s attention, “Where are they? Shouldn’t their class be over already?”

“Apparently they just ended 5 minutes ago. Minie told me they’re on their way now.” Seokjin replied.

Who were the ‘they’ Taehyung was referring to?

Were there more of their friends?

Oh great.

You refocused on your food, taking a bite out of the chicken meat as you listened to their ‘first day of university’ story. You found out that Namjoon was a Psychology major, Hoseok was a Dance major and Seokjin was a Culinary major.

You were currently staring at the pile of vegetables that Taehyung so kindly transfers into your bowl, after he asked around on who wants the boiled carrots and broccoli to which you said yes.

Taehyung was passing you every last bit of vegetable to your bowl when a sweet voice spoke up from the end of the table nearest to Namjoon and Seokjin.

“Finally! I thought you’d never make it for lunch.” Namjoon laughed as you heard a much raspier voice speak up from the same spot.

“I wouldn’t miss lunch for the world.” You heard the others laugh when Taehyung finally finished clearing his plate off the vegetables before turning to the newcomers to say his hellos.

“Oh, by the way, we have a new addition to our circle. She’s in Taehyung and Jungkook’s class so they tagged her along for lunch.” Seokjin announced as he reached his arm behind Taehyung to place a soft hand on the top of your right shoulder. You finally looked up from your bowl to see who the newcomers were.

The first guy you locked eyes with had cute puffy cheeks, sporting a pretty dark blue hair colour as his bangs framed his face nicely.

“Oh hello. I’m Jimin.”

You smiled shyly at him before your eyes naturally travelled to the other individual standing right beside Jimin and that’s when you frowned.

Unsurprisingly, the male did too.

His hair was an ash grey colour that parted at the side to show his forehead instead of letting it cover his eyebrows like Hoseok’s did. He had a few piercings on each ear. If his physique was unrecognizable to you, at least his face was. You knew exactly who he was without having to ask him for confirmation.

“Yoongi?” His name rolled off your tongue effortlessly in a whisper, stirring reactions from the rest of them.

“Wait, you know each other?” Jimin asked in confusion as his eyes travelled back and forth between you and Yoongi. That’s when you heard the other scoff before locking his eyes with you.

“Never thought I’d see you again after all these years.” His expression was dry and almost unwelcoming unlike the smiles his other friends gave you upon your first meeting. “Never wished for this day to come either but here we are…” You said sarcastically.

The tension was so thick, you were sure you would have to cut it with a knife instead of a scissors.

You broke the gaze by standing up, claiming you’ve lost your appetite.

“I’ll see you guys in class.” You said, directing your words to your classmates before you snatched your phone and wallet off the table top along with your tray of food to return. With a quick glance to Yoongi, you ignored his burning glare as you shoved past him by the shoulders causing him to stumble back a little.

The table fell quiet as Seokjin was the first to break the awkward silence, “Well, that was unexpected.” Yoongi scoffed as he left the table to go buy his food, not bothering to wait for Jimin as his mind was clouded with the thought of you being in his circle of friends.

The history of you two goes way back when you were in both pre and high school. Your first ever dispute with him was in preschool, all because you were both fighting over the crayon box. And then gradually, more fights would happen over silly little things. It came to a point where your teacher would have to separate you from each other.

Your disputes continued after you found out that he just so happened to join the same high school as you, let alone the same class. It only made things worse. You two would bicker and fight almost everyday like a married couple.

Your friends teased you often with him for the amount of fights you got into with him. They’ve even grown accustomed to the harsh comments you had thrown to each other on a daily basis.

Not a day goes by without either him stepping on your tail or you having a payback for all the pranks he did on you to get you worked up. And yet, just when you thought you were free from seeing the devil himself again, life has its way with you and it bothers you to the core at this very instant.

Your lecturer arrived back at the lecture room 15 minutes before 1pm and it seemed like everyone else was still having lunch. All except you. “You’re here early? Have you had your lunch?” He asked as he proceeded to unlock the room while you lingered behind him, standing up after you saw him approaching from afar.

“Yeah, I did.” You smiled, stepping back into the room after he pushed the door open. You climbed the stairs again to where your belongings were, taking out your air pods to bury yourself in music.

Shutting out the world around as you rested your head in your arms on the table. You didn’t notice the people strolling into the lecture room, too busy drowning yourself in your own little bubble. All of it soon came crumbling when you felt a soft tap on your shoulder.

That’s when you look up to see the 2 of them back in their seats.

You glanced ahead to see that the lecturer had already flashed the new slides onto the projector screen which indicates the start of class again. So you took out your air pods and kept them in its case before tossing it into your bag.

Class resumed and your messy thoughts were shoved to the back of your mind, far away from your main focus right now which was your class.

After a dreadful 4 hours of lessons, your lecturer finally calls it a day. He reminded all of you to be punctual for class tomorrow, saying that he has some group discussions for the topic he would be teaching. Once everyone was dismissed, you kept your stuff back into your bag quietly.

You could tell the two boys were waiting for you since they hadn't moved a muscle from beside you despite already standing up and were just leaning against the table while they chatted. The minute you stood up, they pushed themselves off the table and only then did they start walking down the steps.

The three of you made it to ground level thanks to the operating lift, making your way to the parking lot that was right beside the campus entrance.

You were just talking to Jungkook about your hobbies when you noticed a group of 5 guys gathered at the steps of the campus grounds through your peripheral vision. You could only guess it was their friends due to the voice that calls out to those walking with you. They led you towards the bunch as you glanced over to everyone but him.

“Hey Y/N, how did you come here this morning?” Namjoon asked, his voice nothing but sincere.

“Public transport.” You said simply with a smile directed towards him, only for Seokjin to speak up, “Do you need a ride home? I can drive you?”

With that being said, you kindly shook your head with a smile, not wanting to offend him in any way for turning his offer down. “It’s fine, I can manage on my own. Thanks for the offer though. Maybe next time.” You said as you bid the rest of them goodbye, not bothering to look at the very person you’ve held your grudge on for years.

They watched as you turned in your heels and left, deadpanning your way to the front gates. Jimin sighed lightly before turning to Yoongi and asked for answers on why you and him weren’t on good terms.

But the latter only brushed Jimin off, saying he would explain some other time.

The rest of them soon dispersed to their own vehicles to head home after a long and tiring first day of university.

As more days began to pass, you were sometimes dragged by either one of your 2 classmates to hang out with their friends and girlfriends. If you weren’t mistaken, half of them already found their soulmates and were currently in a relationship with them. While the remaining half were still finding for theirs because it was either their soulmate markings had appeared on their skin but very faintly, or there was none at all.

But the amount of times you’ve recalled hanging out with them during the past three months were countable with your fingers. You avoided having lunch with them often ever since you found out Yoongi was in their circle. You didn’t want to seem petty but it seems like he too hated having you around.

Which means that the feelings were mutual on both ends.

It was a pretty warm day so right after you arrived back at your apartment, you headed straight for the showers. Slipping into the shower stream the minute your clothes were discarded.

The cold stream coating your shoulder down with it’s nice, cooling temperature to ease out the warmth in your body.

After you finished your shower, you took your towel from the rack and proceeded to wipe yourself dry. Stepping out of the cubicle, you walked over to the sink counter where your large mirror was glued onto the wall. As you were ruffling your hair with the towel to rid the excess water, you noticed something on your left rib through the reflection.

Is that…?

You glanced down at your skin to see a very faint outline of something on your skin. You blinked twice, not believing this.

When did it start showing?

Your mind was going feral at the thought of seeing your soulmate marking finally make its appearance onto your skin. Who was the cause of this? Why did it only appear now after all these years? If that’s the case then it means that your soulmate is someone from school.

“What am I thinking? This is all a load of crap. I can date whoever I want no matter what marking they have.” You said to no one in particular as you changed into your home attire.

A few days later, you were just in class alone in the morning. Taehyung and Jungkook had yet to arrive when a sudden voice from beside you made you jump. A soft curse emitted from your throat as you clutched to your chest from the minor heart attack. You turned to find one of your classmates whom you recalled his name to be Hanbin, towering over you to your left.

“Hey, I’m Hanbin.” He smiled at you, feeling your stomach get warm upon seeing him up close for the first time.

“Hey… I’m Y/N.”

“I don’t mean to be creepy or weird, but I’ve kind of noticed you going for lunch alone these days instead of with your friends?” He asked as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. You somehow knew where this was going.

“Right… Well, that is true I suppose.” You chuckled awkwardly, looking away from him briefly before turning your attention back to him.

“I see. Well, if you’re looking for company, you can go for lunch with me?” He said it more like a statement instead of a question and that in itself made you smile. You had just accepted his kind offer when you heard familiar voices approaching to where you were seated.

Hanbin’s eyes glanced past your shoulder only to flicker back to you, setting a reminder before he left.

“Lunch with me later, yeah?”

You gave him a soft nod as a smile crept onto your lips. At the same time, you felt the soft nudge to your right elbow. You already knew who’s the culprit. “Wasn’t that Hanbin? What did he say to you?” Taehyung asked as he took a seat beside you.

“He asked me to go for lunch with him.”

“So you agreed?”

“Mhm.”

“You wanna go for lunch with him but not us?” Taehyung asked with a pout, only for Jungkook to lean over and ask what was going on. You could only roll your eyes at them, not actually annoyed or anything. Just a reflex whenever someone tried to get your sympathy over something stupid.

“Give me a break. I’m not sharing a table with ‘you know who’. Wouldn’t wanna accidentally break the table with our arguments.” You flashed him a sarcastic smile that made him click his tongue at you in disbelief.

It has been two months since you first went to lunch with Hanbin and you have been doing that ever since. You noticed that his demeanour was starting to change too around you, maybe there was a mutual feeling settling in between the two of you after all.

It was a Saturday afternoon and you already made plans with Hanbin a week prior. He wanted to bring you out on a date to the amusement park and then maybe grab some supper before heading home. He picked you up at your apartment that evening in his jeep, looking quite handsome if you say so yourself.

The two of you spent the evening together, adrenaline rushing through you thanks to the rides you took. After enjoying yourselves at the amusement park, you were both tired from having fun so he offered to stop by and grab supper with you before sending you home.

You ended up getting fast food at the diner downtown. You were happy. You were grateful that he was nothing but sweet to you. But for some reason, deep down there was that voice in you that was screaming, “He’s not the one” and you hated it. You didn’t want to rely on the marking to determine your happiness.

What if you belonged to someone who has a different marking than you?

That’s possible right?

So when he finally parked right outside your apartment complex, he turned off the engine leaving his key in the ignition. The car fell silent for a moment before you decided to be brave and spoke up.

“Do you… wanna come up for a bit? We can talk for a while longer?”

With that, Hanbin frowned as he wondered if he should. He didn’t want to ruin a first date and he most definitely did not want you to have a bad impression on him.

“Are… Are you sure?” He asked quietly, to which you nodded.

When you didn’t get a proper response, you simply let out a soft giggle followed by, “come on” before you opened his jeep door to board off the vehicle. You left him no choice but to follow after you. Once you’ve made it to your apartment, you unlocked your front door and stepped inside allowing him to enter.

It took him a while as his eyes travelled all over your cosy apartment, admiring the minimalist interior. You told him to take a seat while you went to get him a drink.

A few minutes passed and you were both just talking freely on your couch when you noticed how his eyes always flickered down to your lips constantly as you spoke. This made you stifle a giggle and he caught on. He apologized for it but you brushed it off.

Just then, the room felt quiet all of a sudden as it was your turn to glance down to his lips.

Hanbin softly smiled as he began to lean closer.

Your heart was pounding in your chest as you could feel his warmth radiating off his body from how close he was to you.

Right when you felt your head get dizzy from the close proximity, you unconsciously whispered against his lips something that you would never normally do.

“Kiss me.”

With that being said, he pressed his plump lips on yours.

Immediately intoxicating you with how sweet he tasted. The kiss slowly got heated as he carefully guided your body back to lay on the couch while he hovered over you. His hands slid past the hem of your shirt, resting on your waist as he caressed your skin.

You slide your hands up his chest, wrapping them around his neck. He slowly pushed your shirt up using his wrists. Right when he’d just pulled away for a breather, his eyes travelled down to your bare torso beneath him.

His gaze seemed stuck on whatever he was looking at. When you realized he stopped and was staring at something on your body, you knew exactly what he saw.

“Is that…?” His voice was soft, almost sounding as though he was upset.

“Yeap…”

With this confession, he slowly pulled away from you, tugging your shirt back down and bringing you to a sitting position.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t…” He began but you were quick to hush him.

“It’s okay… Besides, I should be the one saying sorry. I already saw your marking the other day when you wore a tank top to class. I just thought you’d be okay with dating someone who doesn’t share the same mark as you. I guess I was being selfish…” You said.

Hanbin remained quiet as he listened to your reasoning. Suddenly feeling bad for stopping whatever you two were sharing, so abruptly like that. With that, he reached out to hold your hand, telling him that he was still sorry for reacting that way and for hurting your feelings by doing so.

But he told you he didn’t regret taking you out on a date today, that he genuinely had a good time with you and that he would love to still be friends with you if you allowed him.

You smiled at him before turning your attention to the flower pot sitting on your coffee table only for him to continue, “I just hope that you’ll find someone who will love you for who you are, doesn’t matter the mark.” For that, you smiled again. Thanking him for being sweet and thoughtful.

After he left, you couldn’t help but sigh. This was already the umpteenth time this happened to you.

But you couldn’t stay mad at Hanbin for turning you down simply because he didn’t reject you the way your other ex dates did. That was the reason why you let him go without holding a grudge.

The next few weeks, you’ve gone to lunch on an alternate basis between Hanbin and the guys. And every time you went with the guys, you could only prepare yourself for the constant bickering with the one and only, Min Yoongi and today was no different.

You were sitting next to Namjoon at the end of the table with the only space left empty being beside you. And it was as though luck wasn’t on your side, the only human left to arrive for lunch was none other than Yoongi himself.

You were just sipping your green tea when you heard his voice approaching towards your side of the table.

“Sorry hyung, that’s the only seat left.” Jungkook smiled sympathetically to the elder as you made it a point to not spare a glance over to him. You could hear his grunt of disapproval but nonetheless plopped his bag down on the chair before disappearing to buy his food.

When he did come back, you had just gotten a whole chunk of chocolate fudge cake shoved into your mouth by Taehyung who was seated opposite you.

You were unable to pull the dangling piece of cake into your mouth so you tilted your head back. But instead of the cake entering your mouth, it ended up falling into your hands when you felt your head crash into something behind you.

And the hiss just told you who it was.

“Watch it before I spill hot soup on you.” Yoongi said as he placed the bowl of steaming noodle soup on the table top beside your tray.

“Don’t worry because I’ll make sure it spills on you too.” You challenged him back, earning a glare from him.

You heard a few sighs coming from some of the guys but you couldn’t care less. You busied yourself by scrolling through your social media in hopes that the time would just pass by quicker so that you can be away from him after lunch ends.

A few days later, you had just finished your shower when you noticed your mark slowly growing more and more opaque. To which you could finally see the design of it.

It was a dream catcher.

A pretty one at that. You softly traced your finger over the outline of the detail, keeping your eye on the reflection. Just then, a soft sigh left your lips.

This means that your designated soulmate has supposedly crossed your path more than once. But seeing how the ink is getting darker with each passing day, could only mean that if not often, this person is near you at least more than 3 times a week.

A week went by and Jungkook had invited you to his birthday slash pool party that weekend. He invited only the guys and some of their girlfriends. You’ve met the girlfriends a few times and they’ve all been pretty sweet to you so far. All of them are so down to earth. You told Jungkook you’ll be there, earning a happy soft clap from him when you said so.

On the day of the party, you had just finished your shower when you noticed the water droplets underneath you weren’t clear. You looked harder only to realize those weren’t water.

It was blood.

“Great… Thanks mother nature…” You huffed as you went to get your feminine item from your cupboard. After successfully changing into the attire you chose for the day, you tied your hair into a messy ponytail before leaving your bathroom.

You wore simple denim shorts and a loose shirt tucked into your jeans.

When you actually made it to Jungkook’s house, you were surprised to know that he was living in a one story house with a built-in pool ready when he moved in.

Apparently his parents were pretty wealthy people so they bought this house for him, saying it would give him the opportunity to take responsibility in keeping the house clean and tidy rather than his mother having to do it for him all the time.

You called Jungkook’s phone only for him to pick up on the second ring. You told him you were at his front gate so he hung up the call and rushed over to you.

Once you were inside his beautiful compound, he brought you towards the back through his side garden. Distinct voices gradually get louder the nearer you get to them. The minute you turned round the corner, you instantly saw more than half of them in the pool including the ladies.

Seokjin and Taehyung were over at the barbeque grill, cooking the meat for everyone. There was a table filled with all kinds of snacks and sweet drinks. It was a full on pool party.

Just then, a familiar voice rings in your ear already knowing it belonged to Hoseok.

“Y/N! You made it! Come join us!”

You stopped at one of the chairs only to put your sling bag down and apologized to him, “Sorry to burn the mood, but I can’t. Monthly calls.” You could hear some whines and sad pouts forming on some of their faces right after.

“Aww man, that’s a total bummer.” Jimin said, making you shrug.

However, you noticed a figure leaning against the wall on the other side of the pool just blankly staring at you. That’s when you glanced over to see Yoongi. You held your stare for a moment before you turned away. Missing the way he was still staring at you even when you were making your way to Seokjin and Taehyung.

A few minutes later, you were just talking to Jiyeon who was taking a break from being in the pool. You sat facing each other but from where you were seated, your back was facing the grilling pit.

Jiyeon was just talking to you about baking when you noticed someone swimming to the side that was aligned with where you were sitting.

Only to realize it was Yoongi.

He placed his hands on the edge of the pool and soon pushed himself upwards. You watched as water flowed down his body effortlessly. Cursing yourself for even staring at his shirtless form. He pushed his wet hair out of his face, resulting in him having sort of a slick back hairstyle.

He was too busy talking to Hoseok and Jungkook who were still in the pool, his head completely turned away from you.

Right when you were about to look away, your eyes caught sight of the imprinted ink on his left rib. You didn’t think much of it as you turned away from him. But then something in your brain ticked you off like a time bomb. So you carefully turned back to him just a few feet away from you.

That’s when you saw it.

The dream catcher on his left rib is so prominent and bold against his milky skin. Not to mention his toned abs. A soft gasp left your lips as he walked past you without sparing a single glance at you.

But you didn’t mind it. You were glad he didn’t see how shocked you were because if it did, he would have said something about it.

So instead, you just got up and left, entering Jungkook’s home through the glass doors frantically. You rushed in and went straight to the said destination. Once inside, you took a moment to steady your breathing as you brought your gaze up to the long mirror that laid upon you on the wall landscape.

You carefully pulled your shirt up to expose the ink on your own skin. You could only stare at it through the reflection before looking down at your own torso and gently tracing your finger over the outer rim of the dream catcher’s hoop.

You didn’t know how long you were gone for. It wasn’t until a voice broke your train of thoughts.

“Was it really necessary to rush into someone’s house like-”

However, his speech got stuck in his throat when his eyes flickered over to the reflection in the mirror. No it wasn’t your face he was staring at. It wasn’t the soap bottles lining Jungkook’s sink.

It was your mark on your left rib.

You swiftly pulled your shirt down to hide it from him from seeing any more details of it. With quick hasty steps, you turned to leave the bathroom and had barely taken a step out into the hallway when he grabbed your wrist and pulled you back to face him.

“Show me.” He said firmly.

“Show you what?”

“Don’t play dumb, you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“I- I don’t know what you mean-”

Without warning, Yoongi used his free hand to lift your shirt up to stop right below your bra line as his hands naturally cupped your sides to keep your shirt there. He finally caught a clear look of the inked design on you, seeing how familiar it looked to him.

You could’ve sworn you saw his eyes flicked wider for just a millisecond before it went back to its original state.

For some reason, your lung felt restricted and your heart dropped upon seeing the same mark on his skin at the same exact spot as yourself. You wanted to run away. All you wanted to do now was to be as far away from him as you can.

So you slapped his hands away, making him lose his grip on you before you turned around to leave.

He grabbed your wrist again but this time, you mustered whatever strength you had left to yank your arm from him. Tears stinging your eyes as it threatens to fall, yet you don’t fully understand why.

“Don’t! J-Just… leave me alone… please.” Your voice falls into a whisper as you rush to the backyard, ignoring their worried calls as you simply told them you weren’t feeling well because of your monthly calls. When Yoongi did come back to the backyard, he was questioned as to what happened back in the house and why you looked like you were about to cry.

Yoongi couldn’t help but stare at your descending back just in time before you turned the corner and disappeared fully from sight. Only for him to lie to them despite knowing exactly why you left.

“She wasn’t feeling well.”

The week went by and you have been avoiding coming relatively close to the rest other than the 2 who were obviously unavoidable. But it’s not like you had anything against them. You just wanted to avoid Yoongi at all costs for now. It was a Friday and you had just finished your classes for the day when the two boys exchanged glances to each another before Jungkook spoke up.

“Hey, do you wanna grab something to eat with us after this?” You knew he was being nice. You knew he wasn’t to blame for Yoongi having the same exact soulmate mark as you. So for that, you chose not to lash out at him.

“It’s fine. I’ll pass.” You smiled half heartedly and they could tell. But thankfully, they chose not to question further.

The three of you were walking towards the main entrance as usual when you saw the rest of the group seeming to wait for you three. You glanced up to Jungkook beside you who gestured a small wave to the others, only for you to accidentally look over.

And the first thing you saw was Yoongi already looking at you.

Great.

Before you could get to close, you bid your goodbyes to your friends as you separated from them to head towards the gates. Nobody has yet to know why you were acting this way other than Yoongi himself. You were just halfway through the parking lot when a firm grip on your wrist made you turn after being tugged back gently.

You nearly crashed into the figure whom you weren’t surprised when you saw it was him.

“Stop acting like a child.” He said, his tone held something much more than just firmness. He sounded like he’s… hurt almost.

“So what? This marking thing is a load of bullshit. Why does it determine who we should be with? That’s unfair! I’ve seen couples who have different marks and yet they’re still happy together?!” You said, clearly letting your emotions take over your mind.

“If you think it’s bullshit then why are you ignoring me like I’ve just killed your pet?!” He asked, his voice now a tad louder than it was before.

“Because all the guys I’ve tried dating care too much about these marks! Every single one of them ditched me when they found out I didn’t have the same mark! And what are the odds that the one person who has the same exact mark as me, happens to be the one person that has been nothing but a daily source of fight with me?” You paused as his grip on you loosened, his glare suddenly softened.

“Of course I couldn’t believe it… I didn’t want to believe that of all people, it’s you… That’s why I ignore you.” Your voice grew soft as you saw the way his eyes flickered back and forth on your own brown pupils.

“So you’re saying you hate me? Is that it?” His question was simple but it held a thousand meanings and you knew it.

“I don’t even know anymore, Yoongi…” You whispered as you slowly pulled your hand out of his grip and quickly left before he could say anything else. Yoongi stood there trying to process everything. Still not entirely sure of what just happened. Just then, a gentle hand on his shoulder made him return back to reality.

“Hey man, you okay?” Namjoon’s calm voice spoke from beside Yoongi as the latter could only nod.

“We heard your conversation… Well, we didn’t intend to anyways… But, is it true? That you both have the same mark?” Namjoon continued.

He could hear the soft, quiet curse leaving Yoongi’s lips during his exhale before he spoke up, “Yeah… That was actually the reason why she abruptly left during Jungkook’s pool party.” Yoongi explained and it all began to fall into place for Namjoon. The younger could only nod as he finally put the pieces together.

“Mmm, and so I’m guessing she’s too overwhelmed with the fact that you have the mark out of a billion people to walk this planet?” Namjoon said.

“Bingo.” Yoongi sighed as the two began to walk back to their friends who were still gathered at the entrance despite hearing the commotion earlier. If space is what you need, then space is what he shall give. But of course, you can’t run from him forever.

It has been two weeks since your outburst with Yoongi and you have been keeping your distance from him again. The guys also didn’t try to tag you along knowing fully well that you needed space from Yoongi. For that, you silently thanked them. It was a Saturday night and you had made it a point to go for a quick grocery run to stock up your refrigerator with edible food.

After getting all the items you needed, you went to the queue. The lady at the counter scanned every item on the conveyor belt and went ahead to put it in the plastic bag before telling you the total cost.

You were about to reach into your jeans pocket when you noticed them being flat.

You felt around the pockets of your jeans and it was in fact empty. With that being said, you mentally cursed yourself for not bringing your wallet with you. Not only that, this store was the only one nearest to your apartment and it was closing in 10 minutes.

You wouldn’t make it back in time if you went home now to retrieve your wallet.

So you apologized to the lady who looked equally done with her job as you left the store empty handed. You were just walking down the partially empty street when you felt something drop onto your cheek. You stopped walking to feel what it was. Before you could touch your cheek, another drop hits the top of your head. And then another. And another.

“Fuck my life…”

You whispered to yourself as the sky suddenly began to downpour on you. Watching as some people ran across the road for shelter, some whips out their umbrella to shield them from the rain, some simply stayed indoors to avoid being caught in the rain.

However, you were too tired to even care about seeking shelter. Feeling as if today was the worst day of your life.

You continued to stroll down the street completely soaked under the rain.

You wrapped your arms around yourself in attempts to keep yourself warm but it clearly did no shit for you. Absent minded to notice your surroundings, you didn’t hear the calls for your name until the vehicle came to a gradual slow speed beside you on the street.

“Y/N!”

It was Yoongi.

“Leave me alone…”

“Y/N, why in the world are you walking in the heavy rain? You might fall sick, you dummy.”

“Who c-cares?” Your lips were starting to quiver from the cold.

“I do.”

You could’ve sworn your heart just skipped a beat at that response.

“Look, let me take you to my place and get you dry clothes while waiting for the rain to stop. I’ll send you home after.” He said.

“I d-don’t need your… h-help, Yoongi.”

He let out a soft groan in annoyance with your stubbornness, only to drive a little further down before bringing the car to a complete stop. You were about to carry on walking but your feet just came to a halt when you saw him running out of his car and coming to you.

“Come on and stop whining like a little kid.” Yoongi said as he grabbed your wrist and began jogging back to his car, pulling you into the passenger side before going back to the driver seat.

Once safely inside, he drove off into the night and made a left turn at the junction while your apartment building was to the right and probably about a 20 minutes walk. The car ride was quiet as neither of you said anything. You simply let him do what he said he would. When he finally brought the car to a park, he turned off the engine and soon climbed out of the vehicle.

You followed suit as he had already come over to your side to hold the door for you. After he’d locked the car, he led you to his apartment complex as you followed behind him. You took in the interior of his apartment complex, it looked slightly older than yours but still well maintained.

Apparently, he lived on the 14th floor unlike you who lived on the 5th floor.

He soon pulls out his house key and proceeds to unlock his front door. He opens the door for you, letting you step inside first. Once he had closed the door behind him, he told you to wait there as he excused himself to go get you a clean towel and new dry clothes for you to change into.

You took in the minimalist setting of his apartment, quite similar to yours except your walls are white and his is grey.

Yoongi came back with a handful, telling you where the bathroom was.

You followed his directions and soon closed the bathroom door once you’ve stepped inside. In the meantime, Yoongi had gone to change out of his own wet clothes into a clean pair of his sweatpants and a hoodie. He was boiling hot water to make hot chocolate for the two of you when you cleared your throat behind him.

He turned around at the sound, only for him to scheme through your outfit in which he had so specifically chosen for you. He had lent you one of his sleeping shorts and an oversized black hoodie that looked a little too big on you.

But for some reason, you looked good in them.

He almost had to pinch himself for staring too long before he finally spoke up, “Uhh, my dryer’s in the laundry room. Second door to the left.”

You nodded as you disappeared back down the hall, only for him to mentally curse himself for losing his composure. After 2 minutes or so, you came back having managed to turn the dryer on.

He handed you the cup of hot chocolate, not forgetting to thank him for it.

There was a short moment of peaceful silence before he gestured over to his living room. The both of you went over to the couch as you sat on either ends of the furniture. He turned his tv on and was busying himself with searching through Netflix when you mustered up the courage to ask him what was on your mind for the past half an hour.

“Why did you help me?”

Yoongi turned to you briefly, unsure if he should answer the question truthfully.

“As much as we fight, I’m not entirely heartless.”

Your eyes bore into him as you soon found yourself looking down at your hands when he turned to look at you. If it wasn’t for the tv, you knew for a fact that he could’ve heard the thumping of your heart. Silence fell over you two again but he broke it as soon as it started.

“Why were you walking in the rain?”

“I was on a grocery run.”

“But I don’t recall seeing you carry any bags of groceries?”

“That’s because I couldn’t pay for it without my wallet…”

He raised his eyebrows at you in disbelief, finding it ridiculous that you only realized it when you were checking out of the store.

“Shut up. This kind of stuff happens okay…” You scoffed, earning a quiet chuckle coming from him followed by an, “Okay, okay.” The room fell silent again and you were just playing with the strings of your hoodie.

Silently wishing for time to pass quicker but it seems like the rain only got heavier.

“Look, I think we should just forget about the whole marking thing and just… start over?” He said, causing you to look at him but he seemed like he was diligently avoiding your gaze.

“Start… over?” You dragged your words to show that you wanted a slightly more detailed explanation.

“What I mean is… let’s stop ignoring each other and stop fighting over the smallest little issues like we did when we were young. Back then we were still young and immature. But we’re not anymore, are we?” He ended with a question, making you huff.

You know he has a point but your ego is still higher than ever.

“Are you only saying this because I’m your soulmate?”

“No. I really am tired of fighting with you.”

“Why now? Why only want to call truce after you’ve seen my mark? Doesn’t that say a lot?” You were stubborn and he knows it. And yet, he still answers you to clear all your doubts.

Surprisingly patient with you.

“I know it might look like what you think, but it’s really not. I don’t care about the marking much like you. But after thinking about it, I feel like it’s actually childish to hold a grudge on each other for the things we’ve done years ago, don’t you think?” He explained, hoping it’ll get past that rock solid head of yours.

Your heart knows he’s right but your mind forces you to say otherwise.

With that, you huffed as you got up and excused yourself to go check on your clothes. Before you could make it past the first door on the left, he grabbed your wrist and tugged you back.

He pressed you against the wall with his other hand beside your head to trap you.

Your free hand hovered in between both yours and his chest as he was less than 4 inches away. Your faces were so close you could feel his breath hitting your lips. You would’ve slapped him if he did this years ago.

But now?

“Why are you so stubborn?”

He asked, his voice low as you kept your heated gaze on his eyes even though you saw the way his eyes flickered back and forth between your eyes and lips.

Rising heat from both anger and his body temperature radiated off him, engulfing you like a cocoon. You could’ve sworn you saw his pupils dilate a few times now that he was this close to you. It was quiet in the hallway as he frowned, still waiting for an answer from you. But instead, you gently pressed your hand on his warm chest that was in between your bodies.

This was enough to make him flinch slightly. His crammed face relaxed for a moment when he looked down at your hand on his chest before looking back at you.

Even more confusion struck him.

Your heart was racing rapidly in your chest, and you were so sure he could hear it. You couldn’t bear to look at him any longer so you looked down at your hand as you slid it up towards the necklace he was wearing. Playing with the pendant in between your fingers.

You didn’t realise this but his grip on your wrist was long gone and was now slowly snaking that arm around your waist.

Yoongi leaned in very subtly to let his lips brush against yours just to see your reaction. He closed his eyes, taking in the feeling of having you this close for the first time. You did the same as your other hand rested on his left bicep. Before you knew it, he closed whatever remaining gaps in between only to kiss you.

Your heart exploded in your chest as he used the hand beside your head to cup your cheek. You leaned into his touch while you reciprocated the kiss. Yoongi’s grip on your waist tightened as he pulled you against him.

He felt both your hands now just holding onto his biceps for support, his lips tugging upwards against your mouth.

You could feel his muscles flexing under your fingertips as he pulled away from your mouth and was now trailing soft kisses down your neck. A soft sigh left your lips, feeling him give some love to the part that joins your neck and shoulder blade together.

“Yoongi…” Your voice came out as a mere whisper.

Just when you wanted to say something, your breath hitched in your throat when you felt his hands slip past your shirt only to rest them on your sides when your mark was.

His touch was gentle but it definitely did something to your poor heart.

“Answer me truthfully… Are you okay with… this?” Yoongi asked, gesturing between you and him. “With us? Because you can say no if you’re really against this. I would never force you.”

You stared at him for a while, rethinking your answer. You’ve been so firm about not caring who has the same soulmate mark as you because you thought it was all bullshit. But now, standing in front of him and knowing that he has the mark, not only that but he seemed like he really genuinely likes you is making it twice harder for you to say no.

But your silence was too long for him as he counted to 3 in his mind. When you didn’t respond, he slowly nodded. Pulling himself away to leave a space between you.

“It’s okay, I understand… I think your clothes are dry. Go change, I’ll wait outside.” His voice was quiet as if he’s too upset, he can’t even look you in the eye. You felt bad. You never wanted him to feel this way. So when he turned in his heels to walk away, you yearned for him to come back.

Yoongi was halfway down his living room when he felt a smaller hand slide into his right one. His step came to a halt as he kept his back to you.

He was about to ask if there's something wrong but all he got was a soft apology.

“I’m sorry…”

You watched as he remained still, his back still facing you. Doing nothing to turn and look at you. Yoongi wasn’t sure what he wanted to do at the moment so he kept quiet.

Just then, you used your other hand to cup his that you were already holding. He would be lying if he said he didn’t like this. But he definitely wasn’t prepared for what you were about to do next. You weren’t sure if you trust your voice so instead, you took a few steps closer before wrapping your arms around his waist.

Pressing your cheek against his back. You stayed like that for a few seconds, basking in the sweet vanilla scent of his.

You could feel him tense up when you first hugged him but he soon relaxed in your arms.

You didn’t dare to do anything else, all until you felt him softly caress your arms only to lock his fingers with yours over top of your hands. You only nuzzled your face deeper into his back, afraid to look at him.

But when you feel him slowly move around in your arms, that’s when you let him face you.

The minute he sees your face, he immediately cups your cheeks and wasted no time in kissing you ever so sweetly. The butterflies in your stomach erupted as you snaked your arms around his shoulders, feeling him pull you closer to him by your waist.

He held you securely against him all the while never leaving your lips. You were the first to pull away, keeping the distance small between you and him.

Your eyes were still closed so you depended on your senses.

That wasn’t until you felt him cup your face again, caressing your cheek with his thumbs. The room fell silent as he brushed his soft lips against yours and whispered to you quietly, “Can we start over?”

You opted for just a nod, unsure if you could trust your voice. You opened your eyes to see him staring at you so softly with his doe round eyes.

Yoongi smiled, whispering an ‘okay’ before he kissed you again. He wrapped his arms around your waist as you melted against his lips. He took his time with you, making sure you were comfortable and that you really wanted this. He never wanted to hurt you in any way. He kept asking for your permission before he did anything and you appreciated it.

You woke up the next morning to a warm feeling engulfing you from behind. You stirred in your sleep, trying to see what it was. But the squeeze around your waist made you look down to see the familiar arm draped over your waist, tucking his hands underneath you. The silver bracelet around his right wrist could never be mistaken for someone else.

Just when you were about to snuggle deeper into the warmth of his body, you felt him kiss the back of your head. Your heart pounded in your chest, stomach flipped in your belly.

“Mmm, good morning.” He whispered, his morning voice low and raspy.

You sighed in content as you turned around to face him, only to find that he still had his eyes closed but there was a smile that crept on his lips.

With that, you smiled as you planted a soft kiss on his lips. You could feel him smirk against your lips, earning a soft giggle from you. His arm that was supporting your head, bent at the elbows as he began to play with your soft hair.

The next day, you came to school feeling a little down in the weather. Maybe it was a late reaction to when you got drenched in the rain. You were sniffling in your seat when Taehyung and Jungkook immediately caught the sight of your red nose.

“Hey, are you sick? Your nose is red.” Jungkook said, his voice laced with full concern. You simply shook him off saying it was just light flu.

The other two weren’t buying it, they said they would go get medicine for you after class and you all but rejected them. The last thing you’d wanna do was to burden them.

So after your morning class has ended and you have been dismissed for lunch, the three of you made it to the cafeteria only to find the rest of the guys already seated. But you and Yoongi still haven’t told them about your resolve yet. So they thought you two were still ignoring each other.

“Hey guys! Y/N? Are you okay? You look kind of pale…” Namjoon asked, making you smile.

“It’s just a little flu, that’s all.” You said, completely missing the way Yoongi was staring at you with pure concern.

“Do you wanna go home and rest?” Hoseok asked in which you shook your head, before a squeaky sneeze left your lips not forgetting to cover your mouth while you did. “Sorry…” You whispered an apology, earning a few laughs from them. Just then, Yoongi got up without a word, leaving the table.

You watched as he disappeared down the aisle towards the drink stall. You wondered what he was doing but nevertheless shrugged, going to the empty seats beside him and Jimin.

You took a seat beside Yoongi’s empty chair, not really having the appetite to eat.

You were just rejecting Jimin’s offer to feed you some of his food when Yoongi came back with a glass of hot tea, a bottle of water and a strip of two panadol flu tablets. The rest of them watched quietly as he sat down beside you and handed you the drinks.

“Here, take this.” He said softly, pulling your hand up to push the two tablets out of the strip onto your open palms.

“Oh? Since when are you guys on good terms?” Taehyung asked in utter confusion.

“We’re not. We’re just acting.” Yoongi replied sarcastically before twisting the bottle cap open for you. He waited for you to throw your head back and let the tablets fall into your mouth before gulping down the water.

After you were done, you thanked him quietly. You didn’t miss the little smirk on his face.

“Okay…” Seokjin said as he gently slammed his hands onto the table top, making some of you flinch.

“What’s going on? Last week you were both ignoring each other and now you’re taking care of her like she means the world to you?” He asked as you turned to Yoongi for help.

“Don’t you know the saying ‘People change’?” Yoongi said.

“Of course, but it’s almost too drastic. Just over the weekend too.” Seokjin said in disbelief.

“Well, I guess it happens.” Yoongi shrugged as Jungkook directed his question to you.

“So I’m guessing you too?”

“No. I still hate him.” You lied.

“Is that so? Then why are you holding his pinkie?” Hoseok smirked, pointing to your intertwined pinkie on the table. With that, you quickly removed your hands from Yoongi.

“Hey... Why did you let go? I was about to play with your fingers.”

Yoongi said with a small pout, making you blush. Just then, Yoongi reached back over to lace his fingers with yours, resting your hands on his lap only to steal a quick kiss to your cheek.

This stirred a few dramatic gasps from your other friends. “Did you guys see that?! That was- omg!” Seokjin’s voice was too loud, making Jimin cover his mouth with his hands.

“Oh hush your pie hole dust. Just let me be happy for once.” Yoongi smirked as you felt him caress the back of your hand. He’s definitely going to be a handful but you’re more than happy to entertain his crap.

~~~