#and i hate that everything i used to love is just recycled into 'how can i make money off of this'

[picklechains]

work fucking SUUUUCKS ALL THE TIIIIME UGHHHHHHHHH

[mostlysignssomeportents]

You should be using an RSS reader

On OCTOBER 23 at 7PM, I'll be in DECATUR, GEORGIA, presenting my novel THE BEZZLE at EAGLE EYE BOOKS.

No matter how hard we all wish it were otherwise, the sad fact is that there aren't really individual solutions to systemic problems. For example: your personal diligence in recycling will have no meaningful impact on the climate emergency.

I get it. People write to me all the time, they say, "What can I change about my life to fight enshittification, or, at the very least, to reduce the amount of enshittification that I, personally, experience?"

It's frustrating, but my general answer is, "Join a movement. Get involved with a union, with EFF, with the FSF. Tell your Congressional candidate to defend Lina Khan from billionaire Dem donors who want her fired. Do something systemic."

There's very little you can do as a consumer. You're not going to shop your way out of monopoly capitalism. Now that Amazon has destroyed most of the brick-and-mortar and digital stores out of business, boycotting Amazon often just means doing without. The collective action problem of leaving Twitter or Facebook is so insurmountable that you end up stuck there, with a bunch of people you love and rely on, who all love each other, all hate the platform, but can't agree on a day and time to leave or a destination to leave for and so end up stuck there.

I've been experiencing some challenging stuff in my personal life lately and yesterday, I just found myself unable to deal with my usual podcast fare so I tuned into the videos from the very last XOXO, in search of uplifting fare:

https://www.youtube.com/@xoxofest

I found it. Talks by Dan Olson, Cabel Sasser, Ed Yong and many others, especially Molly White:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTaeVVAvk-c

Molly's talk was so, so good, but when I got to her call to action, I found myself pulling a bit of a face:

But the platforms do not exist without the people, and there are a lot more of us than there are of them. The platforms have installed themselves in a position of power, but they are also vulnerable…

Are the platforms really that vulnerable? The collective action problem is so hard, the switching costs are so high – maybe the fact that "there's a lot more of us than there are of them" is a bug, not a feature. The more of us there are, the thornier our collective action problem and the higher the switching costs, after all.

And then I had a realization: the conduit through which I experience Molly's excellent work is totally enshittification-proof, and the more I use it, the easier it is for everyone to be less enshittified.

This conduit is anti-lock-in, it works for nearly the whole internet. It is surveillance-resistant, far more accessible than the web or any mobile app interface. It is my secret super-power.

It's RSS.

RSS (one of those ancient internet acronyms with multiple definitions, including, but not limited to, "Really Simple Syndication") is an invisible, automatic way for internet-connected systems to public "feeds." For example, rather than reloading the Wired homepage every day and trying to figure out which stories are new (their layout makes this very hard to do!), you can just sign up for Wired's RSS feed, and use an RSS reader to monitor the site and preview new stories the moment they're published. Wired pushes about 600 words from each article into that feed, stripped of the usual stuff that makes Wired nearly impossible to read: no 20-second delay subscription pop-up, text in a font and size of your choosing. You can follow Wired's feed without any cookies, and Wired gets no information about which of its stories you read. Wired doesn't even get to know that you're monitoring its feed.

I don't mean to pick on Wired here. This goes for every news source I follow – from CNN to the New York Times. But RSS isn't just good for the news! It's good for everything. Your friends' blogs? Every blogging platform emits an RSS feed by default. You can follow every one of them in your reader.

Not just blogs. Do you follow a bunch of substackers or other newsletters? They've all got RSS feeds. You can read those newsletters without ever registering in the analytics of the platforms that host them. The text shows up in black and white (not the sadistic, 8-point, 80% grey-on-white type these things all default to). It is always delivered, without any risk of your email provider misclassifying an update as spam:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/10/dead-letters/

Did you know that, by default, your email sends information to mailing list platforms about your reading activity? The platform gets to know if you opened the message, and often how far along you've read in it. On top of that, they get all the private information your browser or app leaks about you, including your location. This is unbelievably gross, and you get to bypass all of it, just by reading in RSS.

Are your friends too pithy for a newsletter, preferring to quip on social media? Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to get an RSS feed from Insta/FB/Twitter, but all those new ones that have popped up? They all have feeds. You can follow any Mastodon account (which means you can follow any Threads account) via RSS. Same for Bluesky. That also goes for older platforms, like Tumblr and Medium. There's RSS for Hacker News, and there's a sub-feed for the comments on every story. You can get RSS feeds for the Fedex, UPS and USPS parcels you're awaiting, too.

Your local politician's website probably has an RSS feed. Ditto your state and national reps. There's an RSS feed for each federal agency (the FCC has a great blog!).

Your RSS reader lets you put all these feeds into folders if you want. You can even create automatic folders, based on keywords, or even things like "infrequently updated sites" (I follow a bunch of people via RSS who only update a couple times per year – cough, Danny O'Brien, cough – and never miss a post).

Your RSS reader doesn't (necessarily) have an algorithm. By default, you'll get everything as it appears, in reverse-chronological order.

Does that remind you of anything? Right: this is how social media used to work, before it was enshittified. You can single-handedly disenshittify your experience of virtually the entire web, just by switching to RSS, traveling back in time to the days when Facebook and Twitter were more interested in showing you the things you asked to see, rather than the ads and boosted content someone else would pay to cram into your eyeballs.

Now, you sign up to so many feeds that you're feeling overwhelmed and you want an algorithm to prioritize posts – or recommend content. Lots of RSS readers have some kind of algorithm and recommendation system (I use News, which offers both, though I don't use them – I like the glorious higgeldy-piggeldy of the undifferentiated firehose feed).

But you control the algorithm, you control the recommendations. And if a new RSS reader pops up with an algorithm you're dying to try, you can export all the feeds you follow with a single click, which will generate an OPML file. Then, with one click, you can import that OPML file into any other RSS reader in existence and all your feeds will be seamlessly migrated there. You can delete your old account, or you can even use different readers for different purposes.

You can access RSS in a browser or in an app on your phone (most RSS readers have an app), and they'll sync up, so a story you mark to read later on your phone will be waiting for you the next time you load up your reader in a browser tab, and you won't see the same stories twice (unless you want to, in which case you can mark them as unread).

RSS basically works like social media should work. Using RSS is a chance to visit a utopian future in which the platforms have no power, and all power is vested in publishers, who get to decide what to publish, and in readers, who have total control over what they read and how, without leaking any personal information through the simple act of reading.

And here's the best part: every time you use RSS, you bring that world closer into being! The collective action problem that the publishers and friends and politicians and businesses you care about is caused by the fact that everyone they want to reach is on a platform, so if they leave the platform, they'll lose that community. But the more people who use RSS to follow them, the less they'll depend on the platform.

Unlike those largely useless, performative boycotts of widely used platforms, switching to RSS doesn't require that you give anything up. Not only does switching to RSS let you continue to follow all the newsletters, webpages and social media accounts you're following now, it makes doing so better: more private, more accessible, and less enshittified.

Switching to RSS lets you experience just the good parts of the enshitternet, but that experience is delivered in manner that the new, good internet we're all dying for.

My own newsletter is delivered in fulltext via RSS. If you're reading this as a Mastodon or Twitter thread, on Tumblr or on Medium, or via email, you can get it by RSS instead:

https://pluralistic.net/feed/

Don't worry about which RSS reader you start with. It literally doesn't matter. Remember, you can switch readers with two clicks and take all the feeds you've subscribed to with you! If you want a recommendation, I have nothing but praise for Newsblur, which I've been paying $2/month for since 2011 (!):

https://newsblur.com/

Subscribing to feeds is super-easy, too: the links for RSS feeds are invisibly embedded in web-pages. Just paste the URL of a web-page into your RSS reader's "add feed" box and it'll automagically figure out where the feed lives and add it to your subscriptions.

It's still true that the new, good internet will require a movement to overcome the collective action problems and the legal barriers to disenshittifying things. Almost nothing you do as an individual is going to make a difference.

But using RSS will! Using RSS to follow the stuff that matters to you will have an immediate, profoundly beneficial impact on your own digital life – and it will appreciably, irreversibly nudge the whole internet towards a better state.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#read-receipts-are-you-kidding-me-seriously-fuck-that-noise

[bi-writes]

whats wrong with ai?? genuinely curious <3

okay let's break it down. i'm an engineer, so i'm going to come at you from a perspective that may be different than someone else's.

i don't hate ai in every aspect. in theory, there are a lot of instances where, in fact, ai can help us do things a lot better without. here's a few examples:

ai detecting cancer

ai sorting recycling

some practical housekeeping that gemini (google ai) can do

all of the above examples are ways in which ai works with humans to do things in parallel with us. it's not overstepping--it's sorting, using pixels at a micro-level to detect abnormalities that we as humans can not, fixing a list. these are all really small, helpful ways that ai can work with us.

everything else about ai works against us. in general, ai is a huge consumer of natural resources. every prompt that you put into character.ai, chatgpt? this wastes water + energy. it's not free. a machine somewhere in the world has to swallow your prompt, call on a model to feed data into it and process more data, and then has to generate an answer for you all in a relatively short amount of time.

that is crazy expensive. someone is paying for that, and if it isn't you with your own money, it's the strain on the power grid, the water that cools the computers, the A/C that cools the data centers. and you aren't the only person using ai. chatgpt alone gets millions of users every single day, with probably thousands of prompts per second, so multiply your personal consumption by millions, and you can start to see how the picture is becoming overwhelming.

that is energy consumption alone. we haven't even talked about how problematic ai is ethically. there is currently no regulation in the united states about how ai should be developed, deployed, or used.

what does this mean for you?

it means that anything you post online is subject to data mining by an ai model (because why would they need to ask if there's no laws to stop them? wtf does it matter what it means to you to some idiot software engineer in the back room of an office making 3x your salary?). oh, that little fic you posted to wattpad that got a lot of attention? well now it's being used to teach ai how to write. oh, that sketch you made using adobe that you want to sell? adobe didn't tell you that anything you save to the cloud is now subject to being used for their ai models, so now your art is being replicated to generate ai images in photoshop, without crediting you (they have since said they don't do this...but privacy policies were never made to be human-readable, and i can't imagine they are the only company to sneakily try this). oh, your apartment just installed a new system that will use facial recognition to let their residents inside? oh, they didn't train their model with anyone but white people, so now all the black people living in that apartment building can't get into their homes. oh, you want to apply for a new job? the ai model that scans resumes learned from historical data that more men work that role than women (so the model basically thinks men are better than women), so now your resume is getting thrown out because you're a woman.

ai learns from data. and data is flawed. data is human. and as humans, we are racist, homophobic, misogynistic, transphobic, divided. so the ai models we train will learn from this. ai learns from people's creative works--their personal and artistic property. and now it's scrambling them all up to spit out generated images and written works that no one would ever want to read (because it's no longer a labor of love), and they're using that to make money. they're profiting off of people, and there's no one to stop them. they're also using generated images as marketing tools, to trick idiots on facebook, to make it so hard to be media literate that we have to question every single thing we see because now we don't know what's real and what's not.

the problem with ai is that it's doing more harm than good. and we as a society aren't doing our due diligence to understand the unintended consequences of it all. we aren't angry enough. we're too scared of stifling innovation that we're letting it regulate itself (aka letting companies decide), which has never been a good idea. we see it do one cool thing, and somehow that makes up for all the rest of the bullshit?

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

girls just wanna have fun 5

Warnings: this fic will include elements, some dark, such as age gap, manipulation, blackmail, noncon/dubcon, coercion, and other untagged triggers. Please take this into account before proceeding. It is up to curate your online consumption safely.

Summary: your struggle to push back against your controlling father result in a misguided crush. (Silverfox AU)

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson

Author’s Note: Please feel free to leave some feedback, reblog, and jump into my asks. I’m always happy to discuss with you and riff on idea. As always, you are cherished and adored! Stay safe, be kind, and treat yourself.

Shelby leaves and you deflate. You’re bored. You’re going to be bored forever. Your dad bitches at you until you do the dishes and vacuum but that only makes you more restless. 

As you decide to read on the porch, more a cover for your peeping behaviour, your dad appears with his golf bag and clears his throat. You sit up on the bench and take your feet off the little table. He hates when you do that. 

“Going to play a few rounds. Try not to make a mess.” 

“Yes, sir,” you say dryly. 

“I mean it,” he sniffs. 

“Alright. Jeez. Not like I'm doing much to make a mess.” 

“Oh yeah? Definitely not,” he mutters. “I didn’t find an empty bottle in the recycling...” 

“What?” You bat your lashes innocently. “I swear, it’s not mine.” 

“Sure, whatever. One won’t kill you but I don’t want it in my house,” he points at you. 

“Fine,” you huff. 

He leaves without much fanfare. No see yas, no I love yous, he’s never been that kind of dad. Only the type to point out everything you’ve done wrong.  

You wait for him to drive away as you plot behind your book. You can’t use your own friend to get your way. That made you feel too rotten. The answer is obvious but not one you relish. There is someone you can use but you don’t know if it’s worth it. 

As you mull over the failure of last night and hide behind the book, the low whir of an engine approaches. A car door brings your gaze above the pages and the very man on your mind appears. For once, it isn’t Bucky. 

Hm. Your mouth slants as you weigh the choice. Sam gets out of the car and bends to check his reflection in the side mirror, taking off his sunglasses as he winks at himself. God, he’s so annoying but he said he could help. Everything you’re doing is exactly wrong. 

You close the book and drop it on the table. You skip down the steps in your crop top and cut-offs and come around the white picket. He stops as he sees you and smirks at your advance. You stop before him, your chest bouncing shamelessly. 

“Well, hello ladies,” he makes no effort to hide his leering. You scoff. 

“Sam,” you say pointedly and fold your arms over your chest. “How?” 

“How what?” He tilts his head as he eyes you, bring up the arm of his glasses to chew on the tip. 

“How can you help me get to Bucky?” You ask. 

“Ha,” he laughs, “you’re really serious about that? You ran away last night.” 

“That was for my friend. She was scared.” 

“I don’t know, you looked pretty freaked out yourself.” 

“I’m not afraid,” you insist. “Maybe you are. Maybe you lied. Talk a big game. I shoulda known. You’re just like all the boys I know--” 

“Now hold up, I’m no boy. This right here, that’s grade A man. American meat,” he declares, “you want Buck, I get it. He’s got the whole angry old man thing the girls drool for. But I want something first.” 

“You’ll get it but how exactly can you help me get what I want?” You barter. 

His cheek dimples and he sucks his teeth, “well, I know my guy. Trust. And I know what he wants.” 

“Which is?” You narrow your eyes. 

“Now, now, I can’t just give away the good right away.” 

“Tell me, please,” you plead as you clutch your hands together.  

He huffs and looks towards the house, “are you sure you wanna go down this road?” 

His doubt stokes your own. Why wouldn’t you? It’s harmless. Just sex, right? It’s what adults do! You’re twenty years old and you don’t want to go back to campus a virgin. 

“Please,” you whimper. 

He chuckles again, “you’re exactly his type. He’s playing hard to get.” 

“Hm?” You perk up, “really?” 

“Yeah, I hate to admit it but he’s into you.” 

“He is?” 

“Calm down, sweetheart, we have a deal. You wanna get to him, you go through me. Which ironically, is what he’s into.” 

“Uh, what?” Your voice crackles. 

“Yeah, he loves to watch.” 

You laugh nervously, “you’re messing with me. I knew it.” 

“I’m not,” he’s more serious than you’ve ever seen him. “One day, when you’re older, more experienced, you’ll realise the freakiest freaks walk around like they have a stick up their ass. Hell, sometimes they do.” 

“So, what does that mean? What do I do?” You lower your voice, shaky as you realise what you’re asking. 

“Well, pretty kitty,” he boops your nose, “you look real good in those shorts, but you got anything sexier?” 

“Um, sure, I have some thongs.” 

“Good start, Lace?” 

“Probably,” you shrug.  

“Right, why don’t you show me? You need an expert.” 

“Really?” 

“You asked for my help. I’m helping.” 

“Ugh, you better not be fucking with me.” 

“Not right but hopefully soon,” he snickers. 

“Whatever, come on.” 

You turn and stomp back up the sidewalk. He follows casually and you peer around. You hope no one sees and tattles to your dad. Maybe you can make something up about a clogged pipe. Doesn’t matter right now. You doubt he even cares. 

Sam pulls the door shut behind him as you reach the stairs. You make a swift ascent and he comes up a few steps back. You enter your room and rush over to the dresser. You sift through and pull out your sexiest pairs. You can hear him tinkering around with your shit. 

“What are you doing?" You snap over your shoulder. 

“Just looking,” he comes up next to you and reaches into the drawer. He pulls out the vibe and rolls it between his fingers, “Mmm, this will be handy too.” 

“So?” You ignore him and spread out several pairs across the wood. “Which ones?” 

“Now, baby, I can’t decide if you don’t try ‘em on. I need the whole effect.” 

You huff. He keeps delaying. And it feels like he’s playing with you. 

“Promise you’re not lying.” 

“I swear,” he shows his palms and backs up. “I’ll close my eyes. The black lace.” 

He sits on the foot of the bed and slaps his hands down on his thighs. His pants are taught across his bulge. Oh god. He closes his eyes and you turn back. You pull of your shorts and switch out your panties for the black lace thong. 

“There? How is it?” You stand before him. 

He opens his eyes and grins, “turn around?” 

You cringe but obey. He lets out a long breath and tuts, “damn, that is a fine ass.” 

“Sounds like a yes,” you face him again, “so, it’ll work?” 

“Oh, you think it’s just the thong? No, baby, no,” he scoffs, “this is how it’s going to go down. I’m gonna tell Bucky I found a real fun girl. It’s been a while, he needs it, and you’re going to be waiting, in just that,” he reaches forward to touch the lace, “and you’re going to let me fuck your mouth, you can fuck mine too. That’ll get him nice and worked up.” 

“What?” You bluster, “you’re fucking with me. Oh my god. I can’t believe--” 

“I’m really not. We share all time. Or used to. Been a while, not gonna lie. Like I said, he is in need.” 

You step back and stare at him. You were prepared for Bucky. Prepared for just one guy at a time, but both. You’re not so sure. You put your hand to your neck and turn as you think. 

“I don’t know... maybe it’s stu--” 

You hear the digital shutter of a lens and face Sam as he holds his phone up. 

“What the fuck? Did you take a picture?” 

“Collateral,” he shrugs as he stands, “can’t have you flaking.” 

“Delete it.” 

“No.” 

“Delete--” you try to snatch his phone and he holds you at arm’s length. 

“Your dad would hate to see this, wouldn’t he?” He taunts. “You want help, you got it. You bring your fine ass and I’ll bring Bucky.” 

[losfacedevil]

Beautiful Things // DRW

a/n~ So this beautiful piece has been in the works for well over a year now and I just couldn’t get it to flow the way I wanted to, until now. Join us on the journey of Danny and Sugar (who has yet to be named) and a moment in time where they realized exactly who they are to each other. Word Count 5.3k

Her body was tense as she leaned up against the kitchen counter, her eyes dancing over the party that was well underway in her yard. She almost wished she hadn’t agreed to it, wanted nothing more than to just sit in her yard with her nose stuck in her latest read feeling the breeze dance across her skin; but she had cracked under the big brown doe eyes and butterfly lashes her best friend had played her with when he asked to use her yard to celebrate Sam’s birthday. 

“It’ll just be us and it’s only gonna be a few hours, please? You have the best grill and fire pit. And you know Sam loves the tire swing.” Danny had pleaded, looking up at her through his thick lashes as his head rested in her lap. A move he knew made her weak in the knees. 

A groan slipped past her lips as she let her head fall against the back of the couch. She hated being the party house but knew full well the boys felt comfortable here. She rested her hand on Danny’s chin, pushing his cheeks together to make his lips pucker. A chuckle bubbled out of his chest as his large hand wrapped around her petite wrist, pulling her hand away from his face. 

“I know how much you want to kiss me, sugar face, but it’s not happening.” He sing songed, watching as she screwed her eyes shut as she lifted her head. 

“Gross. How about this, you can use my yard for a few hours if you stick around after to help me clean up.” Danny nodded enthusiastically, reaching up to tap her on the tip of her nose. 

“You know full well I’ll help clean up, when have we ever left a mess in your yard?” He quipped, letting his hand rest on her cheek. 

“Well there was that one time you got so shit faced you puked all over my deck and left it for me to hose down.” She giggled. Danny pursed his lips, rolling his eyes before shooting her a look. 

“I was inebriated. That doesn’t count!” 

A voice in the distance shook her from her thoughts, eyes focusing back on the crew outside as Danny waved them off, the boys exiting through the side gate to their respective cars. She cocked her head to the side as she watched them leave, her eyes snapping to the clock on her stove. 

7:15pm

She quickly busied herself with washing the dishes in the sink, all of the plates and utensils Jake had used to grill up his famous burgers and chicken left for her to clean. Danny took the deck stairs two at a time, sneaking his way into the kitchen. 

“Behind you.” He mumbled, resting his hands on her hips as he stepped around her; using them to push her gently to the side as he bent down to pull a trash bag out from under her sink. A soft sigh slipped through her nose as she rinsed off the tongs she held under the stream of water. Danny stood, stopping in his tracks as his eyes landed on her side profile. 

“Thank you for today. I’m gonna clean up outside and then I’ll be in to help.” He mumbled, placing his hand on her shoulder with a reassuring squeeze before slipping past her and ducking out the patio door. 

She let her mind wander again, holding her hands under the warm running water to keep her grounded. She looked out the window again, watching as Danny tossed empty beer bottles over the railing into the waiting recycling bin below, the sound of breaking glass filing the otherwise serene silence. 

“You don’t even have to mingle with us if it makes you uncomfortable in the moment, you can stay inside.” 

She had rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. Danny was preparing everything Jake would need to take over her grill, mixing their famous marinade for the chicken and stocking the cooler that would inevitably live in her backyard for the next week. 

“So what I’m hearing is I’m not invited and to keep myself hidden.” She shrugged, the joke rolling off of her tongue a little harsher than she had intended it to. 

Danny’s movements stilled as he stood to his full height, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his shorts. His eyes trained on her side profile as she began placing plates and utensils into a basket to set on her patio table. His shoulders slumped, his gaze falling to the floor. 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” He folded his toes under his foot, leaning forward as the sickening crack of the joints caused her head to snap in his direction. 

“It was a joke. I’ll probably stay in here and clean up as you guys putter around anyway, I know how you guys get.” She shrugged her shoulders as she scooped up the basket, turning on her heel and walking out through her patio door. 

Danny watched as she set the basket down on the table, moving around the deck as she set out some of the camping chairs she owned; knowing the boys preferred the comfort of the fabric chairs to the metal patio ones. 

Her eyes remained trained on the warm water running over her fingers as she refocused, wiggling her fingers as the water started to run cool. Her gaze found the window once more, eyes dancing across the yard before landing on him. His eyes bore into hers, watching the emotions that played over her face as she was lost in thought. A soft smile spread across her face as she waved at him before turning back to what she was originally doing. 

Danny rocked on his feet, reciprocating her wave as his thoughts wandered. He stepped towards the staircase, peering over to make sure there wasn’t any stray trash left in the yard below. His heart was heavy in his chest, as their conversation earlier played out in his head. She knew better than to ever think she wasn’t allowed to be involved in something at her own house. He reached up and pulled a hand through his now frizzy curls, knew that the small argument they had earlier shouldn’t have been weighing on him like it was. 

He made his way back inside, the trash bag he had filled left at the patio door to be brought down to the bins later on. She still stood at the sink, her hands resting against the counter as she watched the birds flying around the yard. He walked up behind her, placing his hands next to hers as to keep her in place. 

She pulled a deep breath in through her nose, letting her eyes flutter shut as he hooked his chin over her shoulder, hot breath fanning out over her ear. She hoped he didn’t notice the shiver that danced down her spine at the sudden contact. 

“Anything else you need help with, sugar face?” He murmured, spacing his feet out as he leaned his body closer to hers; his chest hovering dangerously close to her back. She shook her head lightly, not fully trusting her speaking voice. 

Sugar face - it was a name he had come out with one night as they sat at a picnic bench in the middle of a carnival passing around a cone of cotton candy. She’d been the brave one to bite into it rather than rip off pieces like the boys, causing bits to stick to her lips eliciting giggles all around. 

“What happened there, sugar face? I think your lips are turning blue! She may need CPR - stat!” 

The name had been one that stuck, the only person allowed to use it being Danny. She knew there was nothing but innocence behind it, he didn’t look at her in that way. But she couldn’t deny the heat that crept up her neck and the butterflies that erupted in her stomach every time the pet name slipped past his lips. 

Her mind wandered as his scent enveloped her, this wasn’t an unusual place to find herself. Danny’s primary love language being physical touch meant there were many hugs, head rubs, cheek caresses and fleeting touches. Though one of his favorites had to be trapping her between himself and wherever she stood, having the upper hand but never acting on his own feelings. She couldn’t deny how he had started making her feel, the urge to press herself fully into his body always present. 

“Hey.” His voice shook her from her thoughts, thumb dancing over the side of her hand as he brought her mind back to Earth. 

“Hmm?” Was all she could muster as she fought herself internally, the urge to turn around and place a chaste kiss to his cheek overwhelming her senses. 

“Is there anything else you need help with?” He cooed, tilting his head softly to the left as he rested against her. A sigh escaped her as she wracked her brain for something he could help her with; knowing as soon as she said everything was all set he’d slip on his shoes and make his way towards the door. She raised her shoulders in a shrug, one side of her mouth turning down in a pout. 

“No, I don’t think so. You guys weren’t rowdy tonight.” She chuckled, her breath catching in her throat as he pushed off of the counter before wrapping his arms securely around her shoulders. 

“Thank you again for letting us take over your yard. I’m gonna jet if you’re all set though. I have a feeling I’ll be getting a ‘meet us here’ text in the next few hours.” 

Danny chuckled as he pulled away from her, making his way into her living room to collect his things. She turned on her heels, arms crossing over her chest as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. After a second of thought she pushed off of the counter, scurrying towards the living room just as he stood from the couch. 

“Danny?” His name squeaked out of her, eyes focused on her front door. His gaze landed on her side profile once more as he collected his belonging off of the coffee table. 

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” He teased, expecting her usual farewell to bubble from her chest. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, picking at the skin on the side of her thumb nail. 

“Are you okay?” Danny muttered, taking a few steps towards her. She shook her head, eyes snapping to him as she pulled a deep breath in through her nose. 

“Can you stay?” The question rushed out of her before she could second guess it. He cocked his head to the side, bending down to place his belongings back onto the coffee table. 

“Can I stay? Of course I can stay. What’s wrong?” She shook her head again, reaching up to thread her fingers through her hair as her eyes fluttered shut. 

“Just for tonight, please? I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts.” She sighed, a soft nervous giggle emanating from her chest as he made his way over to her; hooking his index finger under her chin. 

“Hey.” His voice was soft as he gently tilted her head back, reaching up to brush stray strands of hair away from her face. She let her eyes flutter shut as his fingers continued to dance across her cheek. 

“I’m okay, I promise. They’re just stupid thoughts and I know if I’m alone they’re gonna eat me alive.” She reassured, dropping her gaze to her feet as pressed his hand to her cheek, thumb caressing her cheek bone. 

“What’s going on in there?” His voice was smooth as he tapped her temple, soft encouragement to open up to him. She shook her head, eyes meeting his big brown doe eyes before speaking. 

“It’s just stupid anxious thoughts, it doesn’t even matter. You can go it’s fine.” Her shoulders fell in defeat, couldn’t understand why she felt the way she did. Butterflies erupted in her stomach as her heart cracked; turning on her heel and walking towards her patio door. 

She slipped out into the cool night air, eyes fluttering shut as she wrapped her arms around her middle. He watched from the living room, bottom lip pulled between his teeth as he weighed his options. He knew if he left she’d be calling him at some point, lost in an anxiety attack she needed help to resurface from. Knew that if he stayed she’d want to curl up into his side, hiding her face in the crook of his neck as she willed the thoughts away. He wasn’t sure which the lesser of the two evils would be. 

He took a tentative step towards her, slipping his hands into the back pockets of his jeans as his eyes danced over her figure. Tilting his head backwards, his eyes fluttered shut, pulling a deep breath in through his nose before making his way over to her. She kept her back turned, swaying to whatever tune played in her head.  

“Hey Shug.” His voice was soft, not wanting to startle her as she was fully lost in her own mind. Her body stiffened as she turned her head, pointing her ear slightly in his direction. He took another tentative step towards her, gently resting his hands on her shoulders. She took a deep breath, willing the tears that were prickling the backs of her eyes away as she reveled in the feeling of his hands rubbing soothing circles into her shoulders. 

“I said… it doesn’t matter. You can go. I’m sure the boys are waiting for you.” Danny shook his head lightly and let his hands dance forward, pressing them firmly against her chest and pulled he back into his embrace. She pulled another deep breath in through her nose and let her body relax as he wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders. 

“I’ll stay for as long as you need. You don’t have to tell me what’s going on in your head. Just knowing you need me is enough.”  Danny mumbled, resting his chin against the crown of her head and she reached up, wrapping her petite hands around his arm. She tried to steady her breathing, knowing that if she opened her mouth before she got it under control she would lose all sense of her cool. 

“I just… you don’t hate me, right?” Danny couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he shook his head and tightened his grip on her. This was a song and dance he was all too familiar with. 

“I don’t hate you, how could I hate you? You let me use your yard whenever I want to, how could I hate you?” A loud sigh slipped past her lips and she shook her head, knowing this was the same course of action he always took to help ground her. 

“Right, right, cause I have the cool yard with the best grill and fire pit and the tire swing Sammy loves. Sometimes I think you just use me for my yard.” A chuckle escaped Danny as he unraveled himself from her and began to run his hands over her bare arms, creating warmth he knew she craved in the cool night air.

“Not my fault you inherited the house with the cool yard.” He chuckled and stepped out from behind her. His gaze landed on her side profile and he could see the tears that were cascading down her cheeks. Taking a deep breath, he reached out and wrapped an arm securely around her shoulders, pulling her against his side. Turning on his heel he wrapped his other arm tightly around her and snaked a hand up to cup the back of her head. 

She melted into his embrace and let the tears she had been fighting soak through his shirt, the constant stream not letting up as she lost herself in her thoughts. She found comfort in Danny’s embrace, pulling in a deep breath through her nose and reveled in the scent that was just him. Danny knew the routine and fell into it comfortably, beginning to run his fingers along her scalp and swayed their bodies gently from side to side. 

“Why do we have such big feelings tonight? What’s going on?” Danny knew she probably wouldn’t tell him, more than likely wasn’t even sure herself what had her upset, but he would always make sure to ask. She shrugged her shoulders and pressed up onto her toes, giving her the extra boost to be able to nuzzle her face right into the crook of his neck. 

“If it’s what I said earlier, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you anxious I just wanted to you know you didn’t have to be outside with us if you weren’t up to it. Sammy found you in the end.” She nodded lightly and let her head loll to the side. 

“He always does because he thinks his hugs are magic and will fix all the big feelings.” She giggled and wrapped her arms around Danny’s midsection, pulling her body closer to his. Danny never stopped the soft swaying of their bodies, knowing the continuous motion helped in keeping her grounded. 

“Well if he thinks his hugs are magic then mine must hold the highest power.” Danny chuckled and tightened his grip on her. 

“And why’s that?” She quipped, knowing full well that her tears had finally ceased and her breathing was back to normal and it was all a work of art by Danny and the soft palm he kept pressed against the back of her head. 

“Because all it took was my arms around you and my hand on your head to bring you right back to me.” A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips and she leaned her head back to rest her chin gently against his sternum. Tipping his head downwards his eyes found hers and he smiled softly at her. She let her eyes flutter shut and shrugged her shoulders, scrunching her nose up at him. 

“I don’t know what you’re on about, I was fine before you hugged me.” She kept her voice soft, not wanting her tone to give her away. Danny chuckled and squeezed her tighter as he slowly began to walk backwards towards the patio door. 

“It’s getting chilly, we should go inside before we freeze. Unless we’re setting up a fire.” Danny said. His eyes danced down to the fire pit in the middle of the yard. She rocked her head from side to side, weighing her options and nodded before trying to unravel herself from him. 

“You try and start it and I’ll go get some blankets and maybe a beer or two.” She giggled, pulling her hands forward and rested them on his hips as he pulled his arms off of her and freed her from his embrace. Danny watched the way her hips moved as she slowly made her way inside. A soft sigh escaped him as he turned on his heel and jogged down the stairs to the yard below. 

Danny made quick work of getting the fire started, not letting her see the bottle of lighter fluid he had tucked away next to the fire pit. A soft smile played across her face as she jogged down to where he stood and she threw a blanket over his shoulders. Reaching up he wrapped his fingers tightly around the fabric to keep it in place around his shoulders and away from the fire he poked at in front of him. 

She made her way over to the lawn swing that was set perpendicular to the fire pit and took a seat, wrapping the blanket she held around her shoulders. With a satisfied nod, Danny dropped the poker he was using and made his way over to the swing to take a seat next to her. She reached out and instinctively placed a hand against his knee, giving it a reassuring squeeze before pulling her hands back to her own lap and tipped her head in the direction of the beer cans nestled between them.

“Did you guys have fun?” She giggled, knowing that they had been causing a ruckus in her backyard only a few hours beforehand. Danny couldn’t help the laugh that slipped past his lips and he nodded, pulling his attention off of the fire and turned it to her. 

“Yeah we did. Sam acted surprised even though I’m sure Josh mentioned something about it to him earlier this week without even thinking about what he was saying. But I would have enjoyed it more if you had joined us.” His voice trailed off as he spoke, as if she wasn’t meant to hear the thought escape his mind. She raised a brow and turned her full attention on him. 

“What was it you said? ‘You don’t even have to mingle with us if it makes you uncomfortable in the moment, you can stay inside.’ Or something like that? I figured that was your way of telling me I wasn’t invited because I get anxious around the twins.” She spoke in a soft voice, not wanting her tone to give her away. 

“You know I didn’t mean it like that. You could have joined us, I just… I didn’t want you to feel obligated to because I know Josh and Jake have a tendency to make you nervous.” He shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, holding the blanket he had draped over him firmly in place. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and shrugged her shoulders. 

“I can handle them when you’re around. You…you quiet my loud mind to a point I don’t have to worry about what’s going on I can just focus on the here and now.” She kept her voice light, and a sigh escaped her as she scooted closer to where Danny sat. 

“Next time just join the party. Don’t let stupid things I say stop you, it is your house after all.” He chuckled and reached out, wrapping his arm gently around her shoulders. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face as she melted into his side and pressed her cheek firmly against his chest. 

He hoped she couldn’t hear the way his heart had began to hammer in his chest. He couldn’t explain the nervous feeling that sat low in his gut, something he hadn’t felt in her presence before. He pulled a deep breath in through his nose and exhaled slowly as she reached over and slipped her hand gently between his arm and side, dancing her fingers gently over his side. 

“I’m glad you guys had a good time today though, even if I wasn’t invited.” She giggled at the long, drawn out sigh that escaped Danny and tilted her head so she could see the expression on his face. With a gentle squeeze of his hand against her shoulder and a roll of his eyes, he slid down in his seat and made himself more comfortable against the thin cushions. 

She watched as a range of emotions danced subtly across his face and could feel the way his heart began to speed up once more. He was nervous and she needed to know why. Bringing his now open can of beer to his lips, he took a long swig and let the flavor encapsulate his taste buds before swallowing the liquid. She knew the move all too well. There was something on his mind and he wasn’t sure if he should spill it. 

“What are you thinking of, my love?” She cooed, bringing her hand up to rest against his chest. The pounding of his heart against his ribcage and her hand playing a telling symphony of his feelings. 

Danny took a deep breath and turned his attention to the can in his hand, placing it down gently on the small table to his left. Pulling his hand back around, he cupped her cheek with it and earned him the play of a soft smile on her lips. She ate up any drop of affection he sprinkled her way, knowing full well he didn’t feel the same way she did. Or so she thought. 

“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” Danny mumbled, rubbing his thumb along the apple of her cheek. Her smile broadened and she nodded, recalling a few times the word had drunkenly slipped past his lips. 

“You have once or twice, but I thought that was for sure the tequila talking.” Danny couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him and he pulled her tighter against his side. 

“They say drunk minds speak sober thoughts don’t they?” She quipped, resting her chin gently against his chest. Danny shrugged a shoulder and leaned down to press his forehead against hers. She let her eyes flutter shut and her breath caught in her throat, unsure of what his next move would be. 

Pulling a deep breath in through his nose he held still for a moment before leaning forward and closing the short distance between them. He captured her lips with his in a soft and tentative kiss, one he wasn’t sure how she was going to react to. Her breath caught in her throat and she slowly melted into Danny’s side, following his lead as he deepened the kiss. 

She couldn’t help the giggles that slipped past her lips as he pulled back and broke the kiss, pulling a deep breath into his burning lungs. Danny’s eyes remained shut as he caught his breath and leaned back against the cushion of the swing. Her eyes danced slowly down the length of his body and back up, coming to rest on the rosy blush that was kissing his cheeks. 

“Daniel, what was that for?” She asked, her voice light and airy as she tried to find her bearings. Danny swallowed hard and pried open his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the darkness of the night before turning his attention to her. 

“Well… um…I mean… do you not make moves on people you like?” Danny kept his voice soft and barely audible above the crackle of the dying fire. Her jaw dropped slightly and a nervous chuckled slipped past her parted lips. 

“What… me? You… you like me?” She stumbled over her words. The pure shock of his confession was enough to render her almost speechless. Danny’s cheeks began to redden even more and she reached out to cup his cheek against her palm, feeling the warmth of his skin against her cool hand. 

“I uh… I gotta stop listening to Sam. I’m sorry.” An exasperated sigh slipped past Danny’s lips. He tried to pull away from her grasp and his face was quickly sandwiched between her hands. 

“You’re sorry? No I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel like… Danny… my love, have you not noticed? I just thought… I thought you didn’t reciprocate the feelings. You make my heart skip a beat and my stomach feel all weird. I don’t just gravitate towards you because you’re my best friend. I like you too you goofball.” She giggled, pressing gently against his cheeks and caused his lips to pucker. Leaning forward she pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss, one that caused his cheeks to warm even further. 

“What?” Danny’s eyes grew wide and he reached up to cup his hands over hers. She giggled softly and shrugged her shoulders.

“What? Can’t a girl tell someone she’s got a crush on them? Or do I have to make a move too?” Danny’s brows furrowed and he opened and closed his mouth as if to say something but the words were glued to the tip of his tongue. 

“I… you… excuse me?” She couldn’t help the giggles that escaped her as she nuzzled back against his side, letting her hand fall to rest against his chest. Danny sat forward, pushing her body into a more seated position and slipped his hand down to rest against the small of her back. 

“You can’t just drop a bomb on me like that and go right back to cuddling, that’s his how this works. You.. like.. me? Of all people… not Sam, me?” Her brows furrowed together and she leaned forward to press her forehead gently against his. 

“You don’t get to plant a kiss on me and not expect me to tell you how I really feel. But Sam? Why would you think I like Sam? Danny I call you my love, I seek you out when I’m distressed, when I need to vent, need a hug, just want to be loved on. I look to Sammy to hang with sure but it’s nothing like when I hang with you.” Danny pulled a deep breath in through his nose and closed the short distance between them, stealing another kiss from her. 

“I don’t know… it’s almost always Sam, girls flock to him not me.” She rubbed the tip of her nose gently against his and caused a shiver to dance up his spine. 

“I love Sammy but he’s a pain in my ass. Besides, you’re the most beautiful thing that I’ve got. No one makes me feel as special as you do. I just never thought you’d ever feel the same way. I’m not exactly your type.” Danny scrunched up his nose and pulled back slightly, finding her gaze with his. 

“What do you mean you’re not my type? I don’t have a type.” Danny chuckled. Reaching forward he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and let his fingers linger a little, sending a shiver up her spine. 

“Well, for starters. I’m not Sammy.” She chuckled and reached up to press her fingers against the underside of his jaw, pushing his fallen jaw back into its proper position. 

“I’m sorry, I had to!” She was quick to counter and lifted her arms to try and cover her face as he leaned forward and began to press playful kisses wherever he could reach. She reached forward and cupped his cheeks in her hands once more, stilling his attack on her. 

“Danny, my love, I think we’ve come full circle - and we’ve lost the heat of the fire.” She nodded her head towards the now smoldering embers of tree limbs in the fire pit. A soft sigh escaped Danny as he turned his attention to the fire pit and he pushed his bottom lip out in a pout. 

“I worked so hard on that fire too!” He chuckled, reaching out his foot to kick against the leg of the pit. She shrugged her shoulders and giggled at his reaction. 

“It’s okay, we should be getting inside anyway, I’m sure it’s late by now.” She mumbled and pushed herself to stand. Reaching out she held her hand in his direction and wiggled her fingers, a silent request to slip his hand into hers. 

“I still have to make up my couch bed too. Last time was so uncomfortable without the addition of the extra comforter.” Danny chuckled and pulled himself up to stand, slipping his hand gently against hers and intertwined their fingers together. She raised a brow at him and turned on her heel to slowly start making their way back inside. 

“Who said you were sleeping on the couch tonight?” She mumbled, waiting for him to catch on as she slowly led the way back into the house. 

“I’m sorry?” His voice was soft as if he didn’t want the thought to be spoken into existence. 

“My beds big enough for two.” She winked and leaned up onto her toes, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek before she slipped her hand out of his and made her way to the bathroom to get changed into comfy clothes. Danny took a deep breath and tipped his head backwards, training his eyes on the ceiling as his mind reeled and he tried to compose himself before following closely on her heels. 

Danny Babes Taglist: @vanfleeter @gracev0609 @readyforthegarden @joshsindigostreak @runwayblues @lipstickitty @the-wicked-gnome @stardustvanfleet @allieisacrybaby @ascendingtostardust @wideminded-dreamer @lipstickitty

[annoyinglovetyrant]

150 years. 150 years since she died. Since you died. You were angry, cruel, the complete opposite of your beloved father, the King. How did I ever love you? You hurt me, deformed me, transformed me into something unrecognizable. Yet, even still, when you died, I did as well.

Now, you’re back. Well, it’s not really you anymore, is it? A human, that’s what you are now. Crash landing here when your ships shielding equipment malfunctioned, leaving you as the only survivor. You were born again, your soul recycled into a new life in hopes it could grow. And it seems it has; I’ve been watching you, observing you as you navigate through a planet you don’t recollect, with beings you don’t know, who, subconsciously or not, hate you. However, you seem to be handling this with grace and tact. You seem kind

It has to be for a reason, that’s what your father says anyways, or rather the King. He isn’t your father in this life, I suppose, though he doesn’t seem to care about that. His baby girl came back, and seems to be free of the inner turmoil you just couldn’t seem to overcome, that’s all he acknowledges. It’s harder for me, how can I be happy you’re back? Before you died, we were to be wed, a princess and her guard. It seemed like fate had a beautiful life in store for us, despite that, I couldn’t handle your violence anymore. You treated me and my heart as a toy, something to play with for your benefit, and once I decided I couldn’t handle it anymore… you cursed me.

I’m a monster now, because of you. An experiment you made me: botched skin with sharp fangs overlapping where my mouth is, spiked bones littering my shoulders and arms, even the nails on my fingers are now claws. A beast that haunt children’s dreams is what I am now, because of you. I can never show my face again, I’ve worn this mask everyday for over a century and a half. I’ve forgotten what I used to look like, I still can’t bring myself to look at old paintings of me, of us. I haven’t spoken in almost just as long; you had decided you didn’t want to be in the room when you tortured me, I wonder what went through your head that night. Did you rejoice? Were you happy that you were destroying me? Or, had the guilt already set in?

You took your life that next night. Your father said you were inconsolable once you saw me, realizing the severity of what you’d done, and by the time I had woken up, you were gone. Leaving me alone, leaving me to deal with your actions without you here. I hated you so much. Now, you’re everything I ever wanted for you: loving, gentle, compassionate. I hate you. I hate everything about you. I hate that it’s difficult to hate you. This whole time, my hatred for you has kept me going, it was the only thing that allowed me to slumber, that kept the nightmares away. At present, I have nothing. I see your face everyday, the face that has haunted me for countless years, it’s driving me insane.

You are driving me insane

[azucarmorena97]

Money Ties (Jungkook Love Story || Pt.1)

Pt.2 ||

Your parents have worked hard to get to the top and have made sure to teach you everything you need to know to be successful in this business: from tough but lucrative financial decisions, down to the right ball gown for any given banquet. A promising and extravagant future awaits you- that is, if you agree to one teensy detail...

Son of Mr.Jeon Sr. and heir to June Company, Jeon Jungkook is an immature playboy with nothing to offer a woman but good looks and a crap ton of money, and he stands to inherit much MUCH more, so long as you both enter into the arranged marriage contract that was drawn up before the pair of you were even born.

You're more than willing to try, but you're not sure you'll be able to stand each other long enough to inherit a single penny...

Series Warnings: There will be smut in the near future and I will label those chapters as such. As I say before most of my pieces- I do not endorse any themes, ideas, or behaviors in this series. This is all purely fiction/fantasy! Feel free to inbox me suggestions/ideas/what you'd like to see in this series and I'll see what I can do! Enjoy <3

"How are you feeling? Have you got everything? Check your seat, make sure you didn't leave anything behind-" Your mom rambles, not letting you get a word in. Meanwhile, you're sandwiching your phone between your ear and shoulder as you struggle to get your bag down from the overhead compartment. "Yeah, mom- you know the way questions work is, you ask one and then let the other person answer." "Ugh, Sorry- I'm just so worried...and excited! I mean, we've only been dreaming about this day since-" "Before I was born. Yeah, I know," You sigh, finally letting your suitcase drop gently onto the floor of the plain and grabbing ahold of the handle to drag it out behind you. "Hey mom, I hate to interrupt you but is dad there? I wanna go over my itinerary while I'm here, I have like no time to myself on this schedule. I kinda wanted to do some sightseeing, being as how I'm almost never in Seoul-" "Oh, no I'm sorry honey. He had to rush off to the office but he told me to tell you that he's very proud of you and that he'll be there to get you when you come back." Your face falls flat and, since no one important is there to reprimand you for it, you roll your eyes and shake your head, "Alright." "Baby, you know he really is doing his best. He's been working nonstop to make sure this agreement comes to fruition and-" "Yeah, listen mom, I gotta go okay? I love you. I'll call you tonight to let you know how the meeting went, alright?" "Oh- okay. I love you!" "Love you too, mom." Without another word, you hang up the phone. You hate to be short with her, but today's supposed to be an important day leading up to...THE important day, and you really could've used more guidance on the matter. You could've...really used your dad today.

Oh well. No use in crying over spilled milk, right? You continue walking down the long terminal, a long line of people behind you in their own little worlds, having their own conversations, going on about their own lives; how interesting it would be to switch places with someone else...anyone else. Just for one day. You wonder if maybe your day would be a lot better then. You rifle through your bag with one hand while the other pulls your luggage along. "Aha," You say, pulling out your air pod case. You need to drown out any and all thoughts and distractions from the task at hand. Right now, it's just you, your anxiety about the meeting later, and "Rhiannon" by Fleetwod Mac.

When you finally get out of the terminal and into the waiting area, you give a sigh of relief; the plane ride had been long and suffocating, and now you're just glad to be breathing non-recycled air. It had been a long time since you'd flown into the Seoul airport, and it's much more extravagant than you remember; more ornate and, in the best way possible, hospitalesque. In the middle of your appreciation, you're shoved forward by someone behind you, causing your ear phones to fall out and everything. "What the fuck," You hiss, having been caught by complete surprise. You turn around and see a small crowd of people, all huddled in tight around someone, though you can't quite make the person's features out from behind the people. "Excuse you," You say loudly, hoping to get someone's attention, though you're not even sure who pushed you. "I said, excuse you!" You yell. Suddenly, everyone turns to look at you, and slowly, like parting the Red Sea down the middle, they divide to reveal the person in the midst of them.

"I'm sorry, I know my friends can get a little...rowdy," The person apologizes, though he has an annoyingly smug look on his face. He's tall, maybe 5'11" or so, with broad shoulders and a slim build (yet muscular, as you can see through his very tight turtle neck and slim fitting pants). His face is quite handsome, dark hair accentuating his features nicely. But you're still pissed off. "Well tell your 'friends' to please watch where the hell they're going. I almost fell over." "Hey I mean, no one told you to stand in the middle of one of the busiest airports in the world, staring at the ceiling like some catatonic zombie," He says, shrugging his shoulders. A few people from his group laugh in response, and he absolutely eats it up. "Excuse me?" You furrow your brows, incredulous to the arrogance in his tone. Are you missing something? You are the one who should be offended right now, right? "Alrighty, you're excused," He says before turning around. Again, the group adds in their little two cents in the form of 'oh's and laughter. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" You say, letting go of your suitcase and crossing you arms across your chest. The crowd goes dead silent, everyone darting their eyes at him. He turns around though this time, his expression is that of complete annoyance, "You're still here? Here, here's two hundred. Get yourself some new air pods or go kick rocks or whatever," He takes his wallet out of his pocket and reaches out to grab your hand. He turns it face up and slaps two bills into your palm, shooing you away immediately after. You can feel your blood practically boiling within you, and before you can really think about it, you're covering the five foot distance between you and slapping him cold on the left cheek, bills still in hand. "Don't spend it all in one place," You smirk before promptly picking up your suitcase and walking away in the direction of the front entrance. You feel sorry for any girl that might end up with that total loser.

You stare at yourself in the mirror of the hotel bathroom in the lobby. You'd spent hours getting ready; a fresh wax (leg and mustache... you've never been able to say no whenever the lady suggests it), new press-ons, fresh blowout, and a killer (yet modest) outfit. However, even with all that work, you still can't help but feel...completely ill-prepared. You bite you bottom lip, "I can do this. I can do this. I..." You quickly go to your purse on the sink counter in front of you and take out your phone, punching in your dad's number into the keypad. "Come on, come on. Pick up." It rings once, twice, three times, and then goes to voicemail. You try again, and then once more before tossing the phone aggressively back into your purse. "Dammit..." You lean forward onto the counter and let your face fall into your hands. Fuck the makeup. Fuck the blowout. You might just pass out right here and now. You notice your phone light up from inside your purse and scramble to get it; it's a text, though not from your dad. You open it and realize it's from Mr.Jeon Sr. 𝙼𝚛.𝙹𝚎𝚘𝚗: 𝚈/𝚗, 𝚠𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢; 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐! 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝙹𝚎𝚘𝚗.

"Shit," You hiss, looking back up at the mirror to make sure you didn't mess anything up. Luckily, you're just as put together as you were when you stepped out of your room. You check your messages once more, just to make sure your dad hasn't tried reaching you. Radio silence. "Fuck it," You sigh, grabbing your purse and typing out your response.

𝚈/𝙽: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎, 𝚂𝚒𝚛. 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎.

You shove your phone into your purse and then walk out of the lobby, through the front entrance, and out to the sidewalk to wait for the car. Get your game face on, Y/n. It'll be over before you know it.

Your family has money; they've spent decades building together, both metaphorically and literally. They began working odd jobs before you were even born, scraping by with whatever money they could get, and slowly, began investing in different companies and start-ups that became very successful in a rather short amount of time. Then they began doing land development, which was how they came to know the Jeon's. They developed and prepared properties for the Jeon's to build their hotels and restaurants, which only worked to stabilize your family's economical status.

The Jeon's, however, have had money for upwards of three generations. While you're not sure how exactly their empire began, what you do know is that hotel and restaurant management has greatly increased the wealth they already had, and now all they need is to secure an heir; well, more like prepare the heir they already have, as their son, Jungkook, is the sole inheritor to the entire Jeon fortune. As they say, 'No pressure'.

You're meeting the Jeon family at one of their more successful restaurants, one that received three Michelin stars within the first three years of opening. You brought some gifts with you, which your mom so thoughtfully wrapped up for you and put in a pretty gift bag; she refused to let you embarrass her by bringing such expensive gifts in whatever random plastic Target bag. You take a moment to breathe deeply, shoving your dad, mom, the plane ride, and the asshole at the airport out of your mind. This is about your future. You're gonna do great.

The restaurant is full, but you somehow easily spot the Jeons at a table at the far end of the restaurant. "Do you have a reservation?" Asks the host at the podium. "Yes, I'm with the Jeons. Ms.L/n." "Ah yes, please follow me to your party." You follow him to the far end where you'd initially seen them, "Mr. and Mrs.Jeon, your guest has arrived." "Oh, Y/n!" Mrs.Jeon says cheerfully. You bow to them, "Mr. and Mrs.Jeon, it is truly a pleasure to see the both of you again after all this time." "Please, please- take a seat," Mr.Jeon says. The host pulls out your chair for you and waits for you to sit to be able to push it in for you. "Thank you," You say, giving him a small bow as well, to which he returns the gesture. "I've taken the liberty of ordering all of our best dishes for you to try. I hope you're hungry," Mrs.Jeon says, "Please, have some tea." "Oh thank you," You say, grabbing the teapot and carefully pouring some into their cups before pouring your own. "Should I pour into this one?" You ask, motioning to the empty place next to you. Mr.Jeon sighs, "No, that's okay. You'll have to excuse my son's tardiness. He should be here shortly." "Don't worry; I'm sure he has a good reason," You reassure. They exchange a peculiar glance at each other, though you don't think much of it.

"You know, we were worried that our agreement would fall through before this day would come." "Oh?" "Yes, we thought maybe there was a chance you'd refuse and we'd end up having to put up with someone we knew nothing about. With you, we know your family, we know you come from a good home with strong morals and family values similar to ours. It's not every day that parents find in-laws they get along with so well," Mr.Jeon says, sipping on his tea. "Well, you don't have to worry about that. I'm all in. This could be something that helps all of us and I'd do anything for my parents." You feel a tinge of sadness as you think of your dad. You haven't really seen him in the last three months, what with all his meetings and clients- you're hoping this will relieve some of the stress off his shoulders.

"That's what we love to hear," Mrs.Jeon chimes in, "We did bring the contract here with us for you to sign- whenever you have the time to read over it, of course." "That sounds great," You say cheerfully. This is going surprisingly well. You're not even sure what you were so nervous about initially. "There he is," Mr.Jeon calls out, looking past you at the door way, "There's Jungkook." You turn to look behind you, squinting your eyes to try to block out some of the glare so you can get a good look at your soon-to-be-fiancé. His silhouette is oddly familiar. Of course, you've met before but it's been at least fifteen or twenty years; he couldn't possibly look the same from then 'til now. No, you recognize him from something more recent...Where is he from? It isn't until he's a good seven feet away that you realize... SHIT.

"Sorry, I'm late everyone," He says, his familiar voice ringing in your ears like a pesky mosquito- that is, if a mosquito could singlehandedly make or break your entire future. "What took you so long, son?" Mrs.Jeon asked, her eyes darting at you momentarily. "Well, I'd just flown in from Paris when some crazy bitch attacked me at the airport. Broad daylight, completely unprovoked. Can you believe it? And then I had to go to Jimin's house for- for some thing and then we all got caught up at...a different place where some...other shit went down-" "Son, please mind your language. As you can see, Ms.L/n has been waiting to meet you." You slowly look over to face Jungkook, wishing you could morph into someone else- anyone else, for only a moment so as to not have to explain to this boys parents that you slapped their son in the face with two hundred dollars.

It's as though everything is happening in slow motion; torturously absorbing every ounce of energy in your body for such a simple action as turning your head. When you finally look up at him, you see his expression turn from slight irritation, to full blown anger. "YOU." The venom in his tone is palpable. You smile sheepishly, looking from his parents, to him, to his parents, and then back to him, "H-hey, you." This is gonna be the longest dinner of your life.

[sadisthetic]

hi. this is my dnd character for toonkind dnd that i first made 7 years ago that ive recycled twice now because i wanted to finally play an ongoing campaign with him. for his third life, not only did i give him a design update, hes also has undergone a MAJOR overhaul in terms of personality and backstory tho i kept some bare basics the same (human ranger with urchin background who LOVES swords and knifes A LOT. and that he has an ambiguous age) the overhaul includes the isekai. and that hes a cunt now. but hes funnier now too lol.

im adding some more details and trivia about him under the readmore

so like if it isnt obvious the double isekai is meant to mirror the fact that i fucking played with him in 3 separate campaigns now. its part of him metatextually now lol. he was such a different guy tho. an EXTREMELY LOYAL guy. now hes significantly more selfish. and rude as hell. but hes not that to be mean or malicious. hes actually a pretty nice guy hes just extremely inconsiderate bc he prioritizes his own wellbeing most of the time. its how he had to grow up

copy pasting this tweet i wrote about him "blade at 15 was a guy that shouldve been playing halo while drinking monster but instead hes a guy stealing apples and eating mushrooms off tree bark. miraculously few instances of poisoning all things considered"

he wouldve been a fucking gamer otaku fr. he got isekaied in the mid 2000s and as a kid he fucking LOVED watching dragonball on saturday mornings. if he got to be a teen on earth, he would eventually found the anime and gaming subcommunities online BUT ALAS. he grew up trying to catch fish with his bare hands. or at least he did until he gave up quick and ate weeds.

also. despite the hardships. hes like. fine? somethings wrong with him. but its not trauma. he didnt mourn his parents much although its not like he couldve done anything with their freshly isekaied corpses when immediately hes being chased by fucking beasts. its okay they were like b-tier parents. (hes definitely not a normal person.)

he wandered the woods trying his best to survive alone and in spite of everything trying to kill him (including the shit he ate...) he ended up in a nearby(?) town and things got a bit easier after that. because he could fucking steal to eat real food now. he stayed in the woods on the outskirts of town bc no one showed grace to a thief and just dropped in every so often to swipe shit. steadily he learned forage (through sheer trial and error)

he was highkey a menace. but eventually in his late teens, a traveling party gave him an idea to like fucking. get a job. as something. he managed to make it work as a ranger/guide for hire

he fucking loves booze. he absolutely underage drank. when he could steal it. and later pay for it. and also even though he could pay for things as an adult, he still steals shit if he thinks he can get away w it (he has an absurdly (or at least pretty) high sleight of hand stat)

before he got isekai'd a second time, went through a CATASTROPHIC DIVORCE with an elf woman who he met in an expedition party who became enamored with him after he saved her life. the uh. fallout happened bc blade didnt realize (and still hasnt realized) that hes kinda aro (fundamentally did not understand her romantic intentions and thought she was just a friend wanted to hang out w him a lot. those were dates.) and his ex didnt realize how onesided it was bc she was so love with him. geez.

also. he was from arizona. hes half white half mexican. but with all the time spent not speaking spanish in a different fucking world, it made any spanish speaking skills he had atrophy to hell. it happens and it was bound to happen bc he was so young and had like no reason or opportunity to practice.

also he chose his name. he hated his lame ass name so much he was like "wait. i dont have to use it anymore." but he was 13 fucking years old. anyways he thought blade sounded cool for a name. knifedad happened later when he got his first knife. he still had a bad naming sense. he was 14.

also although his ethics are kinda wack, whats important to note is that he ultimately doesnt want anyone to like. die. its like his policy. save people that he can while trying his best to not die himself

he also has a soft spot for kids. whether hed bc a good dad is debatable but like. i think hed be a nice one

most important note: his longsword is named Darla, his dagger is named Samantha, the knife in his pack is named Nicky, and his newly acquired strange glowy sword is named lucia, and he wants a cool greatsword very very very fucking bad

i drew him in his under clothing also so that i could have a better sense for his body type when i designed his new outfit im adding it here too. he has a shitton of scars bc hes the type that pisses ppl off that they wanna shank him and also he routinely eats shit a lot. a lot of the scars in this sketch are pretty random except for one specific injury for a certain backstory event i have in mind

[mislamicpearl]

Thoughts and favorite moments from LMK season 5, eps 8-10 (finale):

Spoilers galore below:

"Control yourself" OMGOOODDD JUST HOW COLD AND CALMLY NEZHA SAID THAT WAS SO COOL!!

Somehow Nezha calling MK a child is so cute X3

Glad his dad isn't a full on bad guy, though I think he turned around a little fast. Granted we don't want to waste too much time on this.

The Pigsy huggg!😭😭😭

And the mastermind is... a Serpentine! Seriously, my sisters and I made up whole (unserious) theories on the spot there about this guy either coming from or pre-dating Ninjago. My favorite is that the cave he was talking about was the one the Anacondrai were trapped in - he managed to escape to the Ninjago realm before Pythor cannibalized the whole tribe.😆

"Wow, I'm very used to all of our enemies just being like, recycled your old enemies?" "Or like your ex-best friend." Hahaha

Hmm so this guy knew Wukong before, interesting...I just find it kind of funny that this guy (sorry I just couldn't catch his name) that his whole evil motivation is that he wants to just.. eff off.😆

Macaque trying so hard to stop MK sacrificing himself, again I can't believe how far their relationship has come since his first appearance. 😭

"That power. Who gave that to you? Who'd you make a deal with?" "A deal..?" I'M FROTHING AT THE MOUTH, ARE WE ACTUALLY GOING TO GET MORE ABOUT MACAQUE'S POWERS IN THE FUTURE??

Mei trying to straight up bite the snake guy XD

Macaque looking back at Wukong for a moment and seeing how desperate he is to save the kid before breaking them out of their bonds again😫

What did he do to Serpentine guy though??? Seriously give us the Macaque lore already!!!

So usually I HATE the trope of the hero insisting that there's no other way to save the day except to sacrifice themselves and pushing away their friends' efforts to save them... but here I'm kind of on MK's side with this one. They didn't exactly have a lot of time to figure out another way to stop the world from literally breaking apart.

That whole MK and Wukong fight put me in mind of Clint and Natasha from Avengers End Game trying to stop each other from killing themselves, which unfortunately means it was a little comical on top of being emotional.

But let's talk about how Wukong loves MK so much that even though he's so scared of death, to the point of making himself immortal, he still decided to take his place instead.😭

OMG WHAAAT MK ACTIVATED THE PAIN CIRCLET!?

Man... Wukong's guttural screams... cartoons rarely let characters show this much raw primal emotion, probably so as not to upset kids too much, so whenever you do see it you know things have gotten serious.

The fact that Macaque said Wukong's name instead of MK's tells me that he KNEW he would sacrifice himself in MK's place😭

Speaking of raw emotion, man... MK choking up with relief that his friends would be okay was just heart breaking.

So, not that I would've WANTED the "cycle" to renew itself or whatever, but... and this is most definitely just the religious side of me speaking here, I don't know that anyone else will agree with me... but I'm getting a little tired of shows letting the main characters decide the fate of the world based on what THEY want. Like, messages about standing up for your freedom, that's all well and good when it's in terms of rebelling against corruption and oppression, things that humans do to each other. But defying the very way your world is made, messing with the natural order of things because you personally don't like it... that's just arrogant and selfish. People in reality already think they can push the boundary of life and nature however they like; if some things weren't literally impossible, like coming back from the dead, humans would definitely do everything and anything they wanted and excuse themselves on the basis of wanting absolute freedom. That's why there ARE limits, and personally, I'm not a fan of seeing them being challenged as a good thing so often in almost every modern story ever. Wanting things your own way no matter what rules you break is a villain mindset (pretty much what the Serpentine guy's motivation was). I can kind of excuse MK here for the fact that the cycle wasn't supposed to start this early and what he's doing is just putting things back on the right track... whatever, guess I just wanted to get that off my chest, rant over.

Back to fluffy wholesome moments - Wukong crying and saying "I got you" to MK after catching him!!😭😭😭

And more group hugs🥹 This is probably like the third or fourth of this season??

Toy Story 3 moment of everyone holding hands and accepting their fate...

AND WE FINALLY GET THE SCENE FROM THE TRAILER...WUKONG AND MACAQUE ABOUT TO FORGIVE EACH OTHER UGGHH! FART YOU SERPENTINE DUDE FOR INTERRUPTING THEM!!

Yes I DID pay attention to which stone lights went to which characters... and that Mei's went to Red Son, and Pigsy's went to Chang'e, AND WUKONG'S WENT TO MACAQUE!!

Oh yeah nope, we just CAN'T end the season without giving MK something to worry and feel guilty about for next time!

Wukong tearing up saying "I don't want to lose you" MY HEART😭

YO WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MACAQUE'S SHADOW POWER??? AND IT'S ON MK'S STAFF!!! MACAQUE SPECIAL MACAQUE SPECIAL MACAQUE SPECIAL OH PLEEEEASE!!!

Bro, this show... every season has been peak so far.

[samijey]

disjointed mega rant about how im very into the Bloodline vs Everyone developments from last night

im rarely that positive about main roster wwe but the more i think about the opener + main event from last night the more i like it. i was legit so into the drama of seth and sami that when drews ass hit the claymore i was like WHO IS THAT like a fucking idiot because i was so focused on that killer line from seth of "i love your heart but you need to start using your head" and sami's facial reaction to it because its such a perfect line that conveys right and wrong on multiple levels

YES seth completely has a point, he was sassy about it but he DID somewhat repent for his role in roman's descent into villain status by being cody's (literal) shield at mania and getting the poison that was the title off of roman.... but did he not also prey on roman's trauma (WHICH HE CAUSED) to bait him into hitting that chair shot?

i can see both arguments and it's fair to think seth really believes everything he says right now... but is he going about it the right way? recycling the "you're not family" shot against sami when we JUST established that yes - he IS family was low and even the crowd immediately called him out by chanting 'sami uso' to the point where he had to pivot and acted flustered by adding that he loves 'sami uso' (so then what's the point youre trying to make, man?) but he still IS right in questioning sami's decision to ally back with the bloodline

because seth's correct on one thing - roman hasnt apologized - he hasnt shown real regret for his actions the past couple of years... but he also told jey they were all proud of him, he saved sami from a solo spike, he nodded a silent thank you to sami when he first did the same for him the week prior, he asked the crowd to acknowledge jimmy and offered solo a hug at wargames, before hugging all the others as if he truly loves them... so theres an argument to be made on how he might be incapable of using his words to apologize at the moment and is instead slowly trying to do it with his actions? then again, hasnt he accepted the very people he hurt and pushed away in the first place back because he needed their help? or isn't - as cliché as it sounds - that what family should be? to help you if you hit rock bottom (hehe) and forgive and forget past mistakes as long as you show repentance in either words or actions?

idk once again theres multiple positive/negative arguments you can make for roman too so which is the babyface and which is the heel which of them is right? if you listen to crowd reactions, they both are! even though they are hardcore dunking on each other from a distance while mutually avoiding the other in a way i can narratively dig into for hours but funnily conjures the image of doctor frankenstein being able to turn the monster back into a regular human after 10yrs and now things are super weird between them because yeah you fixed me but you're also the one who fucked me up in the first place so uhh i kinda hate you still; while the doctor is like yea i fucked up but it felt right at the time so idk how sorry i really am about it and also you did do some messed up stuff so uhh AND THEY'RE BOTH AS RIGHT AS THEY ARE WRONG

meanwhile sami is clearly still ridding the buzz of being accepted back into the bloodline and into the family once again - in front of a super supportive crowd and by the man whose acceptance he had to work the hardest to get. it was a perfect echo of the moment jey stepped up to defend him at the tribal court - raw 30 vs post-crown jewel '24 - so OF COURSE hes protective of jey. they have built such a meaningful bond that they got pops for months for simply greeting each other for 10secs backstage for no reason other than to show theyre still in touch... HOWEVER, for someone meant to be an understanding, emotionally mature babyface, brandishing a chair while threatening a fellow babyface SCREAMING at him to admit he attacked jey.... was pretty wild - objectively speaking that wasnt very babyface of him and YET it was understandable and justifiable to the point where the crowd gasped and cheered when he got the chair instead of booing, so yeah he had (not many) reasons to think seth might be responsible but should've taken his own usual advice and thought things through before acting (all heart, like seth said) so there's another whole debate to happen here.

i know the brand split doesnt mean much these days, but even what little of it we get bums me out because having cody and kevin more directly into this mix would elevate it even more because at the moment, kevin and seth have very similar opinions on the roman issue - from a heel and babyface perspective ofc (...for now???) and seth's silence on cody teaming with roman at bad blood has been DEAFENING but thats a whole other topic and im trying to be positive.

i havent even mentioned drew coming back (who has done nothing wrong ever except for all the atrocities <3 and also has common ground with seth and KO rn) and cm punk who's in the wings being a menace and dangling that heyman favour over the narrative's head but yea yea that opener and main event were good stuff - it will probably go to shit eventually because it's wwe main roster but last night had moments of greatness and i will cling to and overanalyse those until my eyeballs start peeling off thank you

[skyedancer-rae]

TGAA 2 Spoilers

In which I recycle 2 jokes I've used previously because I am still amused by the idea of Ryunosuke accidentally confessing to Kazuma & Barok.

Image description after cut:

A 3 images are 2-panel comics, read horizontally. In all 3 comics, Ryunosuke is drawn in shades of blue (except for the armband, which is red), Kazuma is red, and Barok is violet (except for his badge, which is red). The gold accents on their outfits are also colored in gold.

Panel 1-1 shows Ryunosuke glancing at a mini Kazuma floating over his right shoulder (the manifestation of his love for Kazuma). The mini Kazuma says, "But Kazuma is your best friend, right? So why would he suddenly hate you just because you confessed to him?" Ryunosuke, expression slightly worried, says, "Well, you're right, but I still..."

Panel 1-2 shows that a mini Barok has appeared to float over Ryunosuke's left shoulder. Mini Barok says, "And Lord van Zieks has said that he trusts and respects you. At worst, he'd let you down very gently." Ryunosuke, still wearing the same expression as the previous panel says, "Well, yes..." Ryunosuke is drawn in monochrome shades of blue, except for his armband, which is red with gold accents. The mini Kazuma is in shades of red and the mini Barok is in shades of violet.

Panel 2-1 shows Ryunosuke is the left background talking to his shoulder, the mini Kazuma and Barok no longer visible, as he says, "But if they don't like me back, things would still be awkward after I confessed. I don't want to put either of them in a difficult position." Barok stands in the right foreground, gesturing toward Ryunosuke. His expression is incredibly flustered, a deep blush stretched across his face, and a small speech bubble with a scribble in it indicates that he is making a wordless, flustered noise.

Panel 2-2: A speech bubble gives Ryunosuke's dialogue as: "And things are still awkward between them. If one of them liked me back, it would be fine. But if they both liked me, I might still have to choose between them." Beneath this speech bubble, Kazuma can be seen, covering his face with his hand. Though his face is hidden from view, the side of his cheek and ear are a deep red, indicating that he is blushing. Kazuma says, "He likes to think out loud."

Panel 3-1 shows Ryunosuke is the background saying, "I don't want to break either of their hearts." A moment later, adding, "I mean, yes, they do both have nice chests, but how does that..." Barok & Kazuma stand in the foreground, incredibly flustered by the last comment. Kazuma can be seen from behind, covering his face with a hand. Barok stands to his right, deeply blushing, one hand braced against his chest.

Panel 3-2 shows Kazuma, hands cupped around his mouth in the foreground, yells, "RYUNOSUKE, YOU KNOW WE CAN HEAR EVERY WORD YOU'RE THINKING, RIGHT?" Ryunosuke, in the background, screams, "WHAT?!!!" His entire body jolts at the realization he has been talking aloud, deeply blushing. Beside Kazuma in the foreground, Barok hunches forward, a cartoon ghost falling from his breath to show how flustered he is by everything.

[reverie-starlight]

I need to get some blood work done and I hate the experience so much, so to make me feel better, here’s some kuroo fluff. I don’t wanna hear anything about how soft this is. I don’t respond well to tough love or logic at all when I'm anxious, I need the softness.

gn!reader, no physical description. tw: blood, needles, hospital/drs office setting. slight anxiety/panic. very fluffy, maybe a little bit TOO fluffy tbh. extremely self indulgent, but what else is new on this blog? lowercase intentional. @emmyrosee I recycled a couple ideas from that one kuroo ask I sent you a while back, I hope that's okay :')

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I can take the day off of work, I don’t mind.”

you sighed into your mug, one that the man sitting on the other side of the table had gifted you. it was halloween themed, and (very ironically, considering your current situation) had vampire fang designs all over it, many with blood dripping from them.

“I appreciate that, but I would never ask you to.”

kuroo slightly frowned. “you don’t have to ask me, baby, I’m offering.”

he watched as your own brow furrowed, resisting the urge to lean over and smooth it out with his thumb. he tried again. “I know how much you hate blood work. I don’t want you to have to deal with it alone.”

a feeling of guilt started bubbling in your stomach. “tetsu, that’s exactly it, though. I don’t like it, but I’m old enough now to be able to do it alone…” you paused and shook your head before editing your sentence. “I should be able to do it alone by now without spiraling.”

he sighed and gave you a sympathetic look. “baby, there’s no expiration date on fear, or a set age that you’re supposed to get over something by,” he took your hand and rubbed his thumb over it. “you’re scared, and that’s okay. as your fiancé, I’m not going to let you suffer through that alone.”

you took your bottom lip in between your teeth and mulled it over. he tried to hide a fond smile as he watched the wheels in your pretty head turn.

truthfully, he already booked that day off work. you didn’t know yet, but as soon as you had told him the date of your appointment, he had reserved that as a personal day on his schedule.

he’d never call you predictable, but when it came to things relating to your fears, he knew you needed some emotional support- whether you voiced it or not.

finally you looked up at him again with a hesitant, slightly guilty expression. “you really don’t mind taking time off work for this?”

he brought your hand up to his lips and kissed your knuckles. “for you, my love? never.”

and a week later, on the day of your appointment, he did everything he could to prove it to you further.

your appointment wasn’t until noon, so he made sure to spend the entire morning pampering you, distracting you enough so that you didn’t even have time to let the anxiety build up.

any time he noticed a faraway look in your eyes, he’d lean over and kiss your face until you laughed, really making sure to exaggerate the noises to embarrass you a bit.

and you recognized his efforts to keep you in good spirits, trying to meet him halfway. usually when you had a big nerve wracking event approaching, you were used to isolating yourself and trying to calm down alone. pushing through and wishing you could stay in control of your anxieties long enough to get through it and beating yourself up when you couldn’t.

however, since meeting kuroo, you didn’t have to do that anymore. when you first got together, you rejected any help he tried to give you. but once he realized that you just weren’t used to people giving you the emotional support you needed… that you were used to the opposite- being shamed for those feelings, he was able to navigate things better.

and along the way you realized that letting someone in was much healthier for you. so in an effort to keep that up, you let him take the wheel, figuratively and literally.

on the way to the doctor’s office, he played music and purposefully sang along badly, all in an attempt to make your life a little easier.

and it worked, because your brain had completely rejected any thoughts of worrying about the bloodwork.

until you had to sit in the waiting room, that is.

he could feel the anxiety rolling off of you as you waited to be called, and despite everything, he couldn’t help but feel a bit useless. all he ever wanted to do for you at any given time was make sure that you were happy and stress-free. he felt his heart break a bit as he watched you try to keep a composed demeanor.

so he pressed gentle kisses to your temple and let you play with his fingers. he even clogged up his storage and downloaded a ton of games for you to play if you asked (he knew how fast games drained your phone’s battery, so he gladly sacrificed his).

but he could tell from your crumbling expression and bouncing leg that the nervous butterflies in your stomach were turning into something much bigger.

he noticed a nurse walking down the hall towards the waiting room and quickly whispered something in your ear.

you looked up at him with wide eyes, surprised at his words, which pulled a shocked laugh out of your mouth. “tetsu!” you whisper-yelled at him, not wanting to disrupt the other patients.

he just gave you a charmingly boyish grin in response, squeezing your hand when the nurse called your name.

she lead you both into a small room, and you started shaking a bit.

“please take your sweater off or roll up your sleeve.”

you did what she asked and kuroo settled beside you on the opposite side of the nurse, tracing the palm of your hand.

“oh my- you’re shaking! are you alright?” asked the nurse and you felt hot embarrassment shoot through your body on top of the anxiety.

“um, yeah, I’m okay,” you said quietly, obviously nervous. she seemed to understand and thankfully didn’t make a big deal about it, rather making conversation about other things as she cleaned your arm.

“is this your fiancé? I love your rings, and it’s so sweet that he came with you today… I wish my girlfriend was able to come with me to my appointments.”

you smiled politely at her, and tried not to watch too intently as she got her equipment ready. you didn’t notice the look she gave kuroo, or the nod he returned to her, understanding her secret message. distract them.

that was his plan all along- even if the nurse hadn’t told him to, he would have done everything in his power to get you to focus on him instead of the test.

once he felt you squeeze his hand out of fear and noticed the tears forming in your eyes as the nurse was talking to you about finding a vein, he gently cupped your cheek and prompted your face away.

“hi, pretty, just look at me okay?”

your lower lip wobbled as you nodded, wincing and screwing your eyes shut as you felt the nurse feeling your arm. “make a fist for me, please.”

your hand cooperated and you let out a small noise of discomfort as she got to work.

kuroo stroked your cheek comfortingly and smiled at you when you opened your eyes again. “have I told you that you look absolutely stunning today, baby? just jaw-dropping. incredibly gorgeous. so blinded by your beauty that I should actually be wearing sunglasses right now.”

if it were under any other circumstance, you would have scolded him for flirting with you in front of someone else so unabashedly, but in that moment you were honestly thankful for it. so you shook your head a little.

he gasped. “I haven’t? how awful of me, I’ll make sure to fix that right away.”

and so as the nurse continued to draw blood, with a small smile on her face as she listened to the near one sided conversation, your boyfriend made it his mission to throw every compliment under the sun at you.

"going back to our conversation last night, reason number three hundred and twenty six why I love you: you're so sweet, even if you're not trying to be. you're just a good person through and through, babe."

though it was mildly embarrassing to need a distraction of this intensity, listening to him talk was definitely having the desired effect on you. your eyes were still a bit teary, and your heart was beating fast, but the expression on your face told him that you weren't as focused on the test anymore.

the soft look in his eyes as he tried everything he could to help you was captivating.

he leaned over to give you a quick kiss on the cheek and you huffed in disapproval. he laughed. "don't get shy now, there's still six hundred and seventy four reasons left to get through. I can space them out if you need me to, though. wouldn't want to send your heart into overdrive or anything. I can feel your pulse, don't even try to deny it!"

you were about to respond with what was no doubt going to be an attempt at a snarky comeback, but then the nurse pulled the needle out and pressed a cotton ball over the puncture site. "you're all done! great job."

you blinked at the nurse in surprise and she just smiled in amusement before placing a band-aid on your arm and walking out of the room with the vial of blood.

as soon as she was gone, kuroo tilted your chin up to look at him again. he gave you a big, wide grin and you weren't sure if the lightheaded, dizziness you were experiencing was because of blood loss or affection for your fiancé.

and once you finally made it out of the doctor's office, back into the car, he immediately leaned over the console and pressed yet another flurry of kisses all over your face and neck.

you giggled at him and tried to shove his face away, but he didn't let you, and instead grabbed your hands in his. he slowed down just enough to leave a few lingering kisses on your lips, rubbing his thumbs over your knuckles.

once he was done, he smiled fondly and stared into your eyes as you tried to catch your breath. his expression was as soft as his voice. "I'm so proud of you, baby, that went so well."

you smiled at him in return. "thank you, tetsu, you really helped me today... I'm glad you came with me."

he shook his head. "I told you, it's no problem at all. I'm happy I was able to make things a bit easier for you. Now..." he straightened up in the driver's seat and started the car, but not before giving you one last kiss. "let's get some food in you, and maybe a bit of orange juice, too. I read it's good after getting blood work done."

you nodded and stole one of his hands away from the wheel to hold in your lap. you placed your cheek against his now extended arm and sighed contently.

thinking about the day and how hard he tried to keep you happy and safe... how he did his absolute best to take care of you throughout your panic... there was never a time you couldn't feel the soft, gentle love radiating off of kuroo tetsurou. everything he did was with good intentions, all for you.

after a few minutes of comfortable silence, he felt a pair of eyes on him. at the next red light, he glanced down to see you craning your neck and staring at him with an unreadable expression.

he sent you a sly grin once he deciphered it. "...and maybe tonight, if you're feeling up for it, we can do what I mentioned in the waiting room."

you were one hundred percent certain that the dizziness from earlier wasn't from blood loss now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm not so sure how I feel abt his characterization or dialogue in this one :/

kuroo usually comes easy for me (...that's what she said) (I'm so sorry, I'll leave) but idk, the writing feels a bit off with this one, so I might do some major edits over time... I don't hate it enough to not post though, so I hope you enjoyed!!!!

[mistydeyes]

Some very American (and asshole) things about Graves

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summary: Phillip Graves is 1. an asshole and 2. very American so here's some headcanons about him.

pairing: Phillip Graves x himself (fucking narcissist)

warnings: SWEARING

a/n: lol I have a love hate relationship with Graves so this was fun to write (like I wanna kiss him but also punch him in his stupid pretty face)

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He was on the Homecoming and Prom Court in high school and he ATE THAT SHIT UP

He also was voted “Most Handsome” in his yearbook

Joined the Army purely because of the glory he saw in Top Gun (he picked a different branch because he couldn’t handle the Navy training)

Was pissed when he saw Glen Powell in Top Gun: Maverick

For weeks his Shadows heard him complain that they based the character off of him

Loves pickle back shots (whiskey followed immediately with pickle juice)—something Price finds revolting

One time, made his Shadows get him Chik-Fil-A because he was craving it abroad

Speaking of which, he’s such a pussy when trying new foods—any spice will immediately put this man on the toliet

Always smothers his food in ranch dressing

Cool ranch Doritos? RANCH. Pizza? EXTRA RANCH. Mac and cheese? RANCH MIXED IN!

“Happy Independence day, you colonizing fuckers!” he exclaims whenever he works with soldiers over the seas (and it just happens to be the 4th of July)

If he’s at home, just know he’ll be chilling in an American flag tank top from Walmart and drinking a Natty Light

Plus he’ll be launching fireworks all night long so hide your dogs

His home? You might ask. Well, picture a mansion tucked away in either Texas or Wyoming with that Western Cowboy aesthetic

Even though he’s very Mr. Americana, he secretly buys French perfumes and Italian suits (but will always stand by a “Made in America” tag)

Just looks like he has a good face routine but DOES NOT moisturize his body (if he does it’s because he’s getting laid and is ashy)

He heats up hot water in the microwave and uses one of those Lipton tea bags Ghost almost shoots him

Definitely competed in one of those “All you can eat hot dog” contests

Also proudly shows off his award winning “Wet T-Shirt contest” photos

“Sweet Home Alabama” can never be played for the 141, they get war flashbacks of Grave’s playing it prior to the Dark Water mission

Confident that he could’ve played a better Ken than Chris Evan’s in the new Barbie movie

Got one of those terrible barbed wire tattoos when he was fresh out of bootcamp to look cool to his new army brothers

Also just know if he wasn’t in the Army, he’d be going to the University of South Carolina and be in one of their top frats

But while in the Army, he used the fact that he would be deployed oversees to bring women (and his Tinder dates) in

Reusable bags? HAHA never for Graves, he doesn’t get why he has to bring one in or buy one for ¢15

Will either buy the stupid bag or carry everything in his arms like an idiot

I also just KNOW this man doesn’t recycle

When he goes to New England, he makes a big fuss on how they can’t make sweet tea

Finally, he just RADIATES Ford F-150 or a Jeep with no doors energy

[mothxmoons]

One enthralling night

> Hug him!

You rushed forward and wrapped your arms around Wesker’s middle, your bag falling to your feet. You were tired, physically and emotionally, and covered in blood and sweat. His arms immediately held you tight, pressing a kiss to your head before pulling back and wiping off the grime from your face. He smiled at you, his thumb cleaning off some of the blood coating your face.

“Oh, my dear. I’m so sorry I left you here.” He said softly, cradling your face in his hands gently. Your reflection in his glasses, you could see the tears in your eyes. You held his hand tightly in your own, closing your eyes and leaning into his touch, just like old times.

“Come on, let’s go.” He picked up your bag, leading you on to the train, sitting next to you, your bag on his lap, letting you lean against him. He didn’t care that you were getting blood on him, you were too tired to care.

You looked so tired and emotionally exhausted, covered in blood that wasn’t your’s, mud caked up to your neck, sweat on every inch of your face. Wesker wanted nothing more than to throttle Chris for even thinking of leaving you there, he knew how dangerous Raccoon city could be. Never mind the Umbrella company, the people there themselves were selfish assholes that Jill loved to complain about. He couldn’t blame her either, Raccoon City had a bunch of assholes walking around. He sighed, clearing his thoughts, looking down to the bag you had the entire night.

This was Chris’ bag that he’d take on missions, good to see that it saved you in a pinch. He hummed though, Chris left you here, he didn’t deserve to be in your life. Wesker started to sort through the bag, there was ammo and healing items, a couple of vests for protection and some knives. Typical things for a mission, and you used them pretty well. He was quite impressed. His STARS team was a test of how humans could do against zombies. While it seems as though most of them disappointed him in the results and those results rang true for most of Raccoon City, you got out fine. Emotionally not so much, but you didn’t get hurt. You didn’t even have a gun for a while and nothing happened to you.

Wesker paused, staring over to you. You never had any kind of formal training, you seemed to hate guns, and yet you picked up a magnum and used it like it was an old friend. Maybe it was just a natural talent you had? But how did you perform better in a real situation than his former subordinates did in the mansion? He had many questions but let you sleep. You had impressed him, and he had to think of what to do next. It would have to be up to you, he supposed. His hands fiddle with everything in the bag, deciding what was worth keeping and what wasn’t. The knives and the ammo wouldn’t be needed anymore as you wouldn’t need to protect yourself with a knife, and you didn’t have a handgun anymore. The healing items he could keep, and the vests could be recycled into better ones. The bag with Chris’ name stitched into it had to go, you didn’t need Chris in your life, in any shape or form.

He threw the bag aside, putting the healing items away into his own bag, the vests he can just get someone to carry them out. Wesker had one thing on his mind afterwards, he would need to secure a place for you and him. Umbrella was going under, that much was true, and he had to leave before they took him with them. He thought back to Ada, being a mercenary paid well, and he knew Umbrella and their research. He can pay off a nice home for the both of you and more with that information alone, even further his own research into a project, then he could use his skills to get more money and- Wesker stopped his thoughts for a moment. He was dreaming of building a life with you again, just like he did when he first met you, when you came up to him and said hello. He felt just like he did when you two spent the whole night just talking to each other, you looked stunning in your outfit. He couldn’t help but wonder what you’d look like in wedding attire that night. He felt you curl into him more, shaking his thoughts from that night.

Right…first things first. You needed to be washed up, put into clean clothes and put into a bed. You needed all the rest you could get, he thought, wrapping his arm around you holding you close.

You had a restful sleep, although when you woke up in a room that definitely wasn’t your’s, you were a little worried. Until Wesker came into the room and was very happy you were awake. Coming over and sitting on the bed, smiling gently. His eyes were…orange, almost red. Two slits stared at you. His beautiful ocean blue eyes were now this fire of emotion.

“I had to clean you and change your clothes, sorry..dear.” He spoke quietly, pink dusting his cheeks, holding your hand.

You didn’t even notice you were in new clothes or that the dirt and blood was cleaned off. Rubbing your cheek with your free hand almost in disbelief and turning pink as well, you had clean clothes. He undressed you.

“Listen…” He started, gaining your attention. “I know you have a lot of questions for me, and I don’t know if I can answer them and I know you don’t trust me like you used to.”

He seemed a little nervous, looking away from your face, your eyes.

“And I know I shouldn’t ask this of you but…”

“Would you stay with me? Please?”

[i-literally-cant-with-this]

A/N ::: @katkitkats and I talked about this about a week ago. I'm sorry this took me so long, Kat. I know it's a lot shorter than what I was anticipating. Ha, isn't that some shit. I DIDN'T write something freakishly long. Jesus. How weird. Anyway, I hope you like it, Kat. <3 As always, thanks for discussing your ideas with me

C/W ::: Timeskip Hanma x depressed F.reader, talk of feeling worthless, mention of leaving - I don't mean suicide, I just mean like, literally going away/leaving.

Hanma is uncharacteristically sweet and compassionate in this piece. Do I think he could ever be capable of such feelings? Honestly? I can see it happening but he's got a lot of growing up to do first.

WC ::: 1,284

Cry Until You Laugh

For Kat

The light from outside was an assault on your eyes that you would not soon forget. Or forgive, for that matter. Hanma pulled back the blackout curtains in favor of the light yellow embroidered sheers to filter the world from your sensitive disposition.

"It looks like it's going to be a warm day. What do you think about going for a rid-" You met his question with a loud groan and rolled over, pulling his pillow over your face. "Ok. So no ride along the coast. Noted. But you know you should at least-" He started again.

"Try to get outside. Yes, Shuji. I know. Thank you." You said softly, despite interrupting him. You knew that he was only trying to do his best for you. For the both of you. "But I think I'd like to stay in. You know how I feel about that fiery fucking thing in the sky. I hate it."

That drew a soft laugh from him. "Hana, what am I going to do with you." You knew what he meant but you just couldn't help yourself.

"It's recycling day, is it not? Just put something decent on me and sit me at the curb. Let the city handle the rest."

"Han- hana. Don't talk like that. Please? I'm never going to ... to do whatever the fuck you're talking about. Now come please. I have to get you up and running and then we’re going out. What sounds good for breakfast?"

You pulled the pillow the rest of the way from your face and flipped it behind your head, sitting at a comfortable incline. The look on Hanma's face was absolutely heartbreaking. He shouldn't have to be dealing with this shit. With you. It made you feel bad, knowing you were such a burden on everyone that has stuck by you up to this point.

Normally, you'd make some offhand comment about how a bowl of shredded glass and bleach would be all you'd need for the morning. But there was a noticeable sadness that was almost heavier in Hanma's eyes than in your own. It made you want to cry. But then that would only make him feel bad. And that was just one more thing you never wanted for him. You were sad enough for the both of you.

"Hana ... please? I know you feel like there are better things to do, but it's important to take care of yourself, baby. Don't you want to show the world how beautiful you are." He chuckles as he says the last part. "Eh, I know you don't care. I know you don't."

Hanma helps you up off of the bed and helps you walk to the bathroom. He lifts you up and sets you on top of the counter and pulls out the brush to run it through your hair. It's been hard for him, this experience with you. He loves you with every piece of himself. But sometimes he doesn't know how to act around you. You're a loose canon sometimes and if he says or does something that can set you off, there's no telling how long you'll be on that downward spiral.

"Hey... Look at me. It's going to be okay. We'll take some time just for us today." He tips your face up so you're looking at him. His amber eyes are glowing in the morning sunlight.

How, you wonder, can one person be everything when you are nothing.

He manages to take care of things and makes sure you do the bare minimum on top of everything else. It's so fucking exhausting being you.

Sometimes you play the "If I just left" game. But you would never leave him like that. You don't think, anyway.

"Look at me." His tone shifted from soft to commanding. "I mornings are hard for you. I know this morning is hard for you." As he notices you're not responding, he brings his face close, and caresses your cheeks, to make you see him as he stares at you sharply. 

His reassurances are your downfall. You can tell him no over and over again. Tell him to fuck off until you're blue in the face. But he'd only tell you that blue looks really pretty on you.

"I love you." You break down in tears.

He holds you tightly, shushing you softly. "I'm here. I'm here, baby. I'm not leaving. I promise. I'll stay as long as you want me to stay. I'm not going anywhere." He whispers softly to you as he gently runs his fingers through your hair. "It's going to be okay."

You feel so stupid and vulnerable right now. You just want to crawl in a hole and disappear. But Hanma won't let that happen.

He helps you get ready for the day and takes you to the kitchen for breakfast. You hate it when he cooks for you. It makes you feel like a child. But he insists and you're just too fucking tired to argue.

After you eat, he helps you put on your shoes and a light jacket before grabbing his keys and wallet. He opens the front door and lets you walk out first before following behind you.

The sunlight was damn near blinding. You hadn't been outside in weeks and the fresh air felt foreign.

Hanma takes your hand and leads you to his car. You can already feel the anxiety starting to shake loose in your chest. It's been so long since you've been out in public. You just hope that no one you know sees you.

The ride to the park is a quiet one. You're still upset and you're trying not to cry again.

When you finally reach the park, Hanma parks the car and comes around to open your door. He offers his hand and you take it.

You walk in silence through the park. The only sound is the crunch of the leaves beneath your feet.

As you're walking, you notice Hanma taking pictures of you. You don't like it but you don't say anything. You know he's just trying to make you feel better.

You both stop at a bench and sit down. Hanma wraps his arm around your shoulder and pulls you close. "How are you feeling, hana? It's been some time since you've been out like this." He says softly.

"I'm alright." You respond quietly.

"You don't have to pretend with me, baby." He says as he caresses your cheek. "It's okay to not be okay."

"I just... I just don't know what to do anymore. I can't stand how I feel like this. I hate that I'm not able to be normal anymore." You sigh as you lean into his touch.

"You're doing the best you can, sweetheart. You're so brave and so beautiful." He presses a soft kiss to your temple.

"You don't have to keep doing this, you know." You say quietly. "You don't have to keep putting up with me. You can leave if you want."

"I'm not going anywhere, hana. I'm here for you. I love you and I'm not leaving you."

You lean against him as tears start to well up in your eyes. "I don't deserve you."

He stretched his arms above his head. "I know." He whispers as he gently strokes your hair. "Everything in the world, hana. You're worth it. I'll never leave you."

You sniffle as you try to hold back the tears. "I just want to be normal again."

Hanma sighs softly. "I know, hana. But what's the fun in that?"

He looks down and smiles at you.

And for the first time in a long time, you smile.

Really smile.

Taglist ::: @darkstarlight82 @viburnt @arlerts-angel @kazutora-kurokawa

[im-out-of-it]

a review of season 2, episode 12

ALEC HOW THE FUCK DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT WAS THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE?????????

Alec literally knew something was not right with “Magnus” and jace says: oh you know he’s ten steps ahead of us, just trust me. Alec, absolutely on no circumstances ever trust this dude. I think Matt hated doing this episode and I can see why. Alec would never!!!!!!

my heart breaks for Magnus having to go through that trauma again. it’s not Alec’s fault but he should’ve figured it out sooner. this is one storyline of Malec that I cannot get behind. because how the fuck did Alec not recognize it sooner and put a stop to it? he notices Magnus not himself, and all the things valentine said like you’d think but no 😭

I really wish they would have recycled the whole “herondales are royalty and you’re going to get everything you deserve.” I have sympathy for someone who dealt with childhood trauma but never jace. he hardly ever faces his consequences and goes around doing whatever he wants. in the next episode, Maia calls him out and reminds him of the soul sword cause once again, this dude only feels bad for a second about it

the whole making jace head of the institute is a migraine. he only got the job because of his tie to the inquisitor and “good looks”. (I don’t find him attractive) I’m so over the whole “Jace and clary are superior beings” when they’re the ones who need the rescuing. it’s such a migraine because now they they aren’t “related”, they’re going back to one another and poor Simon. basically clary settled for him and broke his heart in the process ☹️

I love how Alec is the only one who sees something wrong with Sebastian lmao

let me add, Azazel is fucking amazing and I would have loved to see more of his powers. I’m not okay with him switching Magnus and valentine but the whole rock throwing thing was cool to see. reminds me of Elijah from TVD. warlock powers are wonderful to see ✨

and give credit where it’s due. Harry and Alan did amazing work acting as the other!!!! that was some beautiful acting and poor Alec when he realizes 🥹