#and i remember very well when the finale aired and my sister and my mom and i watched it. i think we cried a little

[yoongiseesawmp3]

cupid - seungcheol (m)

summary: brother’s best friend!seungcheol. you move in with your brother joshua while you look for a new place, so you finally meet his best friend and roommate seungcheol. you’ve only heard stories, so you’re not prepared for the good looks or the charm that he constantly exudes. after a really bad date, you need someone to save you, and with joshua mia, seungcheol comes to the rescue.

word count: 9.3k

warnings: smut!!! afab reader. unprotected sex. gendered terms (pretty girl, reader referred to as sister/sis). thigh riding. a little oral (m receiving).

masterlist

“jesus, how many boxes do you have?” joshua complains as you hand him another box of books to lug into his apartment. 

“only a couple more,” you tell him. “these are all the things i couldn’t fit in storage.”

“get a bigger unit next time,” your brother grumbles as you start the walk back into his building. 

“no,” you say stubbornly, and you can almost hear him roll his eyes. “why did you park so far away?”

“why are you complaining!” he shrieks. “i’m doing something very nice for you! be grateful!” 

“i am,” you say as you rush to open the door for him, and he quietly thanks you. “seriously, you don’t know how much this is helping me, big bro. i was about to have a breakdown trying to find a place before my old lease ended.”

“i heard,” joshua laughs. “mom called me the other week and told me to check on you, she thought you were losing it.”

“yeah, well,” you sigh, “if i had to deal with those roommates any longer i was going to.”

“so you’re looking for a place by yourself?” joshua asks as the elevator dings. he lets you go in first, reminding you of what floor to press before you respond.

“yeah, i can finally afford one, so i figured it would be nice to have my own space.”

“i can understand that,” he nods.

“you happy living with your roommates?” you ask. “not ready to give up your frat boy days from college?”

“shut up,” he says. “not all of us got good jobs right after graduation. i need roommates if i wanna live in this area.”

“and remind me of their names again?” you ask, the elevator stopping on your floor. you let joshua go first, following him down the hall and trying to remember the unit number.

“well there’s seungcheol, or cheol,” josh starts. “you haven’t met him yet, he’ll be home later.” he unlocks the door and lets you in as he goes on. “and then mingyu-”

“i remember him,” you say happily, glad to know there’ll be a familiar face here.

“and i remember the little crush you used to have on him,” joshua smiles evilly. 

“i did not!”

“hm, you sure?”

“swear on your life.”

“whatever,” he laughs. “anyway, he’s got a girlfriend now, and we haven’t seen him here for longer than a couple hours since they started dating. so you can stay in his room until you find a place.”

“oh no, i couldn’t-”

“he doesn’t mind,” joshua waves you off, your box placed ungracefully on the floor. “seriously, he doesn’t even keep his stuff here anymore. it won’t be an issue.”

“if you say so,” you sigh. “ok, one more trip?”

“nope,” joshua shakes his head before laying on the couch. “you’ve used up all your favors for today.”

“what a helpful brother you are,” you deadpan. “give me the keys. i’ll go get the rest of my stuff. alone!” 

“sounds good!” josh replies, tossing his keys to you dangerously. “don’t get lost!” 

“no promises!” you shout back, locking the door behind you as you go. you thankfully don’t have much left to bring up, so you’re able to grab a majority of your things this trip. what’s left you can get later, because you’re exhausted. now that you know you have a bed and not an air mattress to sleep on, the idea of laying down is becoming more and more appealing. only problem with you grabbing so many things is now you can’t open the door on your own. thankfully, a guy who must live here too rushes over to hold it for you, nodding when you thank him for the help. he catches the elevator for you both before it closes, sticking his arm out so the doors won’t close in on you as you bring your things inside.

“what floor?” he asks, and you start to reply when you see your floor already selected.

“oh, you’ve got it already,” you tell him, and he nods. end of the conversation, it seems, until you get to the floor and start walking in the same direction. you slow down, waiting for him to maybe turn off at a different door, but, yep, he’s unlocking the door to joshua’s apartment. you stand in the hallway stunned for a moment before you go up and knock the door, not wanting to dig for the keys now that your hands are full. mystery man comes to the door, and you stutter out a greeting.

“don’t tell me you lost my keys already,” joshua calls from within the apartment, and the man, who must be seungcheol, looks between you both.

“you’re joshua’s sister?” he asks, and you nod. he steps aside, letting you in, as he says, “sorry, i didn’t realize. i’m seungcheol.”

“i pieced that together,” you smile. “nice to meet you. thanks for letting me stay here a while.”

“no problem,” he replies. “joshua didn’t really give us a choice anyway.”

“josh you said they were fine with me being here!” you whine, looking for your brother, who pops his head out of the kitchen with a smirk. 

“he’ll get used to it. you hungry, y/n?”

“starving.”

“cheol?”

“i can eat,” he shrugs, eyeing you carefully as you put your things down. josh didn’t say his sister was hot. well, that would be weird. he just didn’t say much about you other than you’re a couple years younger and in need of a place to crash, so the fact that cheol can’t take his eyes off of you is a bit conflicting for the man. he looks away before you can catch him staring, clearing his throat before he says, “um, i’m gonna go wash up.”

“oh, can you show me where the bathroom is?” you ask.

“uh, sure,” cheol says awkwardly, walking down the hall as you follow. he points to one door and says, “that’s joshua’s room, not sure if he said that already. your’s is back there,” he points to a door further down on the right, and then to the door behind you, “that’s your bathroom. you’ll share with your brother.”

“it’s like i’m a kid again,” you joke, and cheol smiles softly. “where’s your room?”

“what?” cheol sputters.

“well is there another bathroom? you said josh and i would share this one, i’m just curious,” you go on. “sorry if i’m prying.”

“no, yeah, um, i have the master suite since i found the place for us,” he explains. “the guys let me have it as a thanks for doing all the apartment hunting.”

“it’s a nice place,” you note, and he hums in agreement. 

“ok, well, um, i’m going,” he says, pointing to his room.

“right, right, sorry,” you say, waving him off. you step into the bathroom to rinse your face off, removing some of the sweat from your long day. you head back out into the kitchen to bother joshua and he looks up as you walk in.

“so how do you like the place?” he questions, and you tell him it’s nice. without looking at you he asks next, “and how do you like cheol?”

“he’s a little awkward, actually,” you reply. “you sure he’s cool with me staying here? i won’t be here long, if it bothers him.”

“he’ll be fine,” josh waves you off. “he may just be tired. looks like he was coming back from the gym so he’ll be better after his nap and a snack. he’s like a toddler.”

“noted,” you laugh. “you need help with anything?”

“nah, you can start unpacking your stuff,” josh says. “i’ll call you when the food’s ready.”

“joshua?”

“yeah?” he asks, turning to look at you. 

“thank you for letting me stay here. really.”

“anytime,” he smiles. “just remember we share a bathroom again, so no long ass showers.”

“way to ruin the moment,” you laugh. 

you end up going back to “your” room to change, putting some of your clothes away in mingyu’s empty dresser. he really must spend all his time at that girl’s place, you think. you take your toiletries into the bathroom, squatting in front of the sink so you can arrange them among joshua’s countless bottles. as you’re balancing and trying not to knock over something in an expensive glass bottle, cheol walks down the hallway in a tank top and sweats, water droplets still sticking to his chest. the sight of him booking it takes you by surprise, so you fall onto your ass and shake your head, clearing whatever strange thoughts the sight of a damp seungcheol were bringing to your mind. 

meanwhile, cheol joins joshua in the kitchen, opting to sit at the counter while josh finishes the noodles. he wants to say something about you, but isn’t sure how to bring it up without seeming weird. he also doesn’t have much time before you come out of your room, so cheol just goes for it.

“um, does y/n need help moving anything else, you think?” cheol offers, and josh looks over his shoulder nonchalantly.

“you can ask her,” he shrugs. “i’m tapped out for the night though, so i’m sure she is too.”

“ok,” cheol nods. he starts playing on his phone, not noticing you walking into the kitchen until joshua starts complaining about something.

“what, i can’t drink your water?” you whine back, frustrated that your brother won’t let you have one of the bottles in the fridge.

“because those aren’t mine!” joshua informs you. “they’re cheol’s, so at least as him before you take one.”

“seungcheol, can i please have one of your waters? i can get the next case if you want,” you say as you turn around, and it takes cheol a second to focus. you’re wearing an old concert t shirt (cheol is pretty sure he has that same one) and shorts that are barely there. cheol is distracted by the sight of your thighs on display and it takes his brain a second to catch up, so he nods before he really knows what he’s agreeing to.

“wait, what? you don’t have to buy more water,” he says, finally there. “have as much as you want. joshua’s just weird.”

“you’re telling me,” you say as you hop up onto the counter.

“i hate when you do that,” josh says, turning to you with his hand on his hip. 

“you know when you do that you look just like mom?”

“shut up.”

“you!” 

“oh my god!” cheol interjects with a laugh. “are you two going to bicker all the time?”

“no,” you say in unison. 

“most of the time though,” you add, and joshua scoffs.

“only when y/n annoys me.”

“am i gonna have to play referee for you two?” cheol asks. “my god.”

“sorry,” you apologize. “we’ll cut it out. right josh?”

“whatever,” he mumbles, pulling the pot from the stove. “y/n can you get a pot holder from that drawer under you and put it on the table for me?”

“yeah, hold on,” you say, moving with a quickness. “don’t burn yourself.”

“i’m being careful,” josh says softly, and cheol laughs to himself at how quickly you can go from bickering to caring for each other. you both join him at the counter, you struggling to get into the tall chair. 

“watch it shorty,” he teases, making you blush. 

“oh no, i can’t deal with both of you teasing me,” you scold. “so zip it. i’ve got little legs.”

“hm, it’s cute,” cheol says loud enough for you to hear but quiet enough that josh doesn’t catch it over the sound of shuffling bowls. he passes them out and starts serving you and cheol. “thanks man.”

“yeah thanks mom,” you joke, and josh mumbles an expletive before eating his food.

-

after eating, you and joshua were both so tired you just went to your rooms. cheol however stayed out in the kitchen, promising he would clean up. instead, he politely snoops through your things, trying to learn more about you through your boxes of junk. he doesn’t touch anything, just looks, so he doesn’t feel that bad about it. he takes note of the books laying on top of one box, jotting down the titles so he can try to find some of them later. he smiles when he sees a soccer jersey falling out of a duffel bag, and he’s about to break his no touching rule when he hears a loud, “HEY!” from the hallway. he jumps at the sound, bumping his elbow on one of the boxes and toppling books over. he whirls around to find you, clad in a baggy sleep shirt with tired eyes watching on in amusement.

“what the hell are you doing?” you question, and cheol tries to stammer out a response.

“i uh, i saw a bug,” he lies, and you nod. 

“hm, i thought josh would keep his house cleaner than that,” you judge. 

“i’m the pig in this relationship, it’s probably my fault,” cheol says as he follows you back into the kitchen. “couldn’t sleep?”

“no, i’m still hungry,” you grumble. “the noodles were my only meal today.”

“you need to eat more,” cheol scolds and you wave him off as you open the fridge.

“whose lunchable is this?” you ask over your shoulder.

“look at me,” cheol gestures. “do i look like i eat those?” you stare maybe a little longer and harder than you should, prompting cheol to ask, “find something else you like?”

“what? no,” you shake your head. “i should’ve known it was my brother’s. he lived off of these for a month when he was younger.”

“really?” cheol chuckles. “what was joshua like as a kid?”

“hm, angelic?” you say sarcastically, hopping back up on the counter like you were earlier. you start eating your lunchable as you keep talking. “he was the perfect one and i was the biter.”

“the biter?” 

“i bit so many kids i almost got kicked out of school,” you confirm. “sorry. don’t know why i just told you that. it’s embarrassing.”

“it’s okay,” cheol smiles. “you still like to bite people now?”

“only when provoked,” you say suspiciously. 

“i’ll remember that.”

“so you really don’t mind me staying here?” you ask with cracker crumbs on your lips. cheol finds that captivating, so he keeps his eyes on your lips as he responds.

“i really don’t mind,” he nods. “i’m just happy we could help. josh was worried about you for a while.”

“yeah, well, he never liked my roommates-”

“or the area you were in,” cheol says sternly. “he said it wasn’t safe.”

“oh it wasn’t,” you nod. “but it was cheap.”

“still, you need to be careful,” cheol tells you.

“didn’t know i was signing up for a bonus brother by staying here,” you tease.

“i’m not being a bonus brother, i’m simply a concerned citizen,” he says, hand over his heart. you fall silent while you finish eating, and cheol does his best to commit your form to memory. he wants you to be embedded in his eyelids when he lays down and closes his eyes tonight, and he only feels bad for a nanosecond that he feels this way about his friend’s baby sister. 

“ok, well, thank you for the company,” you say as you look for the trashcan. 

“under the sink,” cheol says, anticipating what you were looking for and keeping his eyes on you still. “all good?” he asks when you’ve thrown everything away, and you nod. “alright, well, good night.”

“night seungcheol,” you say with an awkward wave as you go back to your room. when you’re halfway down the hall you hear cheol call your name, so you turn to find his eyes smiling at you.

“call me cheol, i like that better.”

“oh, ok. night cheol,” you try again, and he happily nods. 

-

when you wake up the next morning, you hear someone in the kitchen and assume joshua must be up and about. you wrap a blanket around yourself, laughing at the fact that mingyu has a pink fuzzy blanket in his room. you make your way into the kitchen, ready to complain about how cold you were last night. 

“dude, are you rich or something? why’d you run the ac all-” you stop short, staring at cheol’s bare back. he looks back at you, hair ruffled, and has the audacity to smirk. “sorry. thought you were josh.”

“he’s still asleep,” cheol replies, and you consider just going back to your room to hide until you’re sure your brother is out here as a buffer. with his back to you still, he asks, “do you want eggs?”

“uh, sure?”

“are you?” cheol laughs, turning around to face you fully. you’re doing your best to keep your eyes on his face, but when he crosses his arms over that broad chest of his you falter. “i promise i won’t put anything weird in em.”

“that’s reassuring,” you say with a yawn, letting the blanket fall slightly as you cover your mouth. cheol sees your sleep shirt again, this time stretched out from your movements as you slept, and he wonders for a moment if it would look like that after he uses it to pull you closer and- “do you mind if i make coffee?”

“go for it,” cheol says, grateful for the distraction from where his mind was going. “machine’s over there.”

“thanks,” you mumble, half asleep still. you stand in front of the coffee maker for a moment, brain processing what you need to get first.

“you need me to find the instruction manual?” cheol asks, watching you the whole time you were standing there. 

“make your eggs cheol.”

you empty the coffee grounds that were still in the bucket, then take a fresh filter from the stack on the counter. you move around cheol to fill the pot with water, making sure there’s enough for you all to have a cup if you want. after pouring the water in, you notice you’re missing one crucial thing. you check the counter, nothing. you try the drawers below you, then the cabinets below those. still nothing. you move to the pantry and spend a moment frustratedly moving things around in search of coffee and you come up empty once again. as you turn around to look everywhere once again, you almost jump out of your skin seeing cheol so close, watching you with an amused look in his eyes.

“jesus, you scared me,” you gasp.

“i’ll wear a bell next time,” he jokes. “looking for something?”

“the coffee, where do you keep it? please don’t tell me you’re out,” you whine, and cheol just smiles. 

“you can find it on your own, i believe in you.”

“what? no, tell me.”

“and why should i do that?” cheol asks seriously. 

“i don’t know, because i’m cute?” you joke. 

“yeah, you are,” cheol says, holding your gaze, quirking an eyebrow to challenge you. you swear you would deck him if he wasn’t so handsome. you whirl around to look in the pantry again before you hear cheol’s deep voice just barely say “colder.”

you look at him suspiciously, and he’s back to cooking the eggs. he’s keeping one eye on you though, sneaking looks at you and trying not to smile at how ridiculously cute you are being so frustrated over this. he prompts you with a few more “cold”/”colder” clues before you whine in exasperation.

“but i already checked over here,” you complain, back in front of the machine. “i’ll just go get coffee, forget this-” 

you reach out to turn the coffee maker off, and cheol mumbles “warmer.” your ears perk up, so you move your hand around the counter to get a clue. finally you lift your hand toward the cabinet above the coffee maker, and cheol says you’re getting warmer. 

“hot,” he says as you finally open the cabinet, “hotter, hotter than you are, hottest, you’re on fire! be careful!” he continues, even though you’ve found the coffee and you can now finish the pot you were making. “well that took a while.”

“because someone was being childish,” you chastise him, and cheol smiles like he just won the lottery.

“but it was fun!”

-

“why didn’t you like that place?” joshua asks as you leave another perfectly fine apartment. 

“there’s no dog park,” you reply, and your brother groans. loudly.

“you don’t even HAVE a dog,” he complains.

“but i want one! i can’t have a dog if there’s no where for it to go!”

 “come on y/n, that place was nice!” joshua tries hyping it up for you. “there was so much space, way too many closets which is good for you and all your junk, and that view was amazing.”

“the view was really nice,” you concede, and josh bumps shoulders with you as you keep walking toward his apartment.

“plus it’s walking distance from me,” he smiles. “so you can bother me whenever you want.”

“that is a plus.”

“and it means you’re close to cheol too...”

“what?” you stop and look at him, and he laughs.

“i’m just saying. it’d be easy for you to visit. doesn’t matter who you’re visiting.”

ignoring joshua’s insinuations, you go back to discussing the apartment you just saw. if you wanted to apply you needed to move fast, but you were nervous. joshua listened intently as you aired all your worries, and like the good big brother he is he calmly countered each ridiculous thought with logic and only a few jokes. by the time you were walking down his hallway, you were convinced that you’d found your apartment. you grab your laptop from mingyu’s room and start working on the application, joshua peering over your shoulder every once in a while to help you decipher what it’s asking for. you’re thankful for the help, and you turn to ask him another question and almost jump out of your skin.

“jesus, make some noise next time,” you gasp, seeing shirtless cheol behind you again. he was leaning over the couch, close enough that his chin could almost lean on your shoulder. 

“whatcha doin?” he asks with a cheshire cat-like grin.

“applying for an apartment,” you inform him, and you’re not sure but you think his face falls just slightly. “do you ever wear shirts at home?”

“why, is that a problem for you?” he asks. you feel like a goldfish, closing and opening your mouth like an idiot trying to decide how to respond.

“y/n?” joshua laughs as he comes back from the bathroom to see you mooning over his roommate. “you good?”

“i’m being heckled,” you finally reply, and cheol laughs. 

“i asked if she needed help, sorry if that’s heckling now,” he says as he moves away from the couch.

“it is when your tits are out,” you grumble, scrolling back to the page you were working on. cheol made you mess up, but don’t tell him that.

“not like you haven’t seen them before, sweets!” cheol teases, and joshua looks between you both in amusement.

“you’ve been staring at his tits, y/n?” 

“no, he just never has clothes on apparently,” you defend yourself. “he was shirtless this morning when we had breakfast too.”

“you had breakfast together?” joshua asks, looking to just cheol now. he had told josh he slept in today and that you must have made the mess in the kitchen. why didn’t he say he ate with you?

“we were in the same room when we ate, yeah,” cheol nods. joshua leaves it at that, mostly because you start whining about something you don’t understand on your application. he rejoins you at the couch and cheol goes to his room, silently cursing himself for letting josh catch him so easily. he didn’t want your brother knowing he was catching feelings, so he’ll have to play it cool from now on. 

-

speaking of being cool, the boys keep this apartment too cold. after your first freezing night, you wore more clothes to bed thinking that would keep you warm. unfortunately, you don’t know where your hoodies are, so you had to make do. so when you wake up in the middle of the night shivering, you stomp out of your room to go bang on your brother’s door. just as you’re raising your fist to bang on his door, you hear cheol’s open down the hallway.

“you again?” you groan, not missing the fact that cheol still isn’t wearing a shirt. “how are you not freezing?”

“i am,” he replies, and you fall silent. “i was getting up to change the thermostat.” 

“oh.”

“and you were..?”

“gonna complain about it to my brother?” you say sheepishly, making cheol laugh.

“joshua is the one that keeps it so cold, he would just tell you to go back to bed,” he tells you as he walks toward the thermostat. “you know you technically live here. you can adjust this if you want.”

“i know,” you nod, watching cheol move it to an acceptable temperature. 

“so why didn’t you?” he asks.

“i uh, didn’t think about it.”

“no?”

“that, and i don’t...know..how to use it...” you mumble, hoping cheol drops it.

“you don’t know how to use a thermostat?” he teases with that perpetual smirk he seems to always wear around you.

“no, and at this point in my life i think it’s too late to learn,” you say. “thank you for fixing it tonight, hopefully i won’t wake up frozen in the morning.”

you try to turn and head back to bed, but cheol grabs you by the back of your shirt and pulls you toward his warm chest. he places an arm around you lightly, turning you so you’re staring at the thermostat, trying very hard to ignore cheol’s direct stare as he speaks again.

“it’s easy sweets, just push this notch,” he demonstrates, “then push the up and down buttons to change the temperature. this is good for when you want it to be cool, but if you want to clean out my wallet you can keep it a couple degrees cooler.” he finishes and turns his head back toward you again, and you notice just how close he is. you’re afraid of moving, of speaking, but cheol takes care of that for you. “any questions?”

“yeah, can you move your arm?” you whisper. 

“no,” he whispers back. “why are you whispering?”

“because i’m scared?” cheol looks at you confused. “i’m afraid you’re gonna put me in a headlock.”

“you want me to?” he laughs, finally stepping back to give you some space. “do you need extra blankets or anything?”

“ah, no,” you reply. “i wanted to find my box of hoodies but i have no idea where it is, so the blankets in mingyu’s room will be fine.”

“you need a hoodie?” cheol asks, and without giving you a chance to respond he disappears into his room. he comes out with a mound of blue fabric in his hands before pushing it into your arms. “use this.”

“no, i can’t-”

“take it,” he says firmly. “or i’ll be forced to keep you warm myself.” at the sound of that threat, you hastily pull the hoodie on before thanking cheol and ducking back into your room for the night. he stands out in the hallway, smiling to himself.

-

you’re busy for a few days after that, finally settled at your brother’s place and able to focus back on work and finding back up apartments if the other place falls through. you’re not home much, and by the end of the week joshua sits you down to convince you that you need to go out. 

“josh, i’ve had such a long week,” you start to justify. “i don’t wanna go out this weekend. i’m afraid i’d fall asleep at the club.”

“no, no, i didn’t mean anything like that,” he clarifies. “i think you need to go on a date.”

“why?” you ask, a little shocked. joshua never cared about your love life, mostly just judging from afar (and sometimes not so afar). you tend to keep that part of your life private anyway, so it’s not like you let joshua be a part of it outside of obligatory meet the partner nights with your family.

“i don’t know,” he shrugs, “i just think you’d enjoy it. i actually have this friend-”

“oh god, please don’t do this-” you start to complain, afraid josh is about to set you up with cheol.

“no, no, hear me out,” josh continues. “he’s your age, he’s sweet, he’s cute i guess, and i think you’d really like him.”

“so i’m guessing you have all of this planned?” you ask, and joshua smiles.

“be ready tomorrow at 8. he’s picking you up, and i’ll be at jeonghan’s if you want to bring him back-”

“don’t say that please,” you request, holding your hand up. “i’ll go on the date but i don’t wanna hear my brother insinuate i’m gonna have sex at his apartment.”

“i didn’t say anything, you’re the one that insinuated,” joshua laughs as he gets up, passing behind you and kissing the top of your head as he goes to his room. “you’re gonna have a great time, sis.”

-

despite not wanting to go on this date, you were nervous. you don’t want to make a fool of yourself in front of this guy, because he’s friends with your brother and anything embarrassing will be brought to joshua and used to ridicule you for the rest of your life. you also don’t wanna write this guy off before you meet him, because he could be nice. maybe.

that fire is quickly put out when you actually meet the guy. his name is chan, but he claims josh and all their friends call him dino. you wanted to ask why, but you were afraid of the answer. you just smiled politely and tried to lock up quickly, hoping that the faster you move the quicker this date will be over. 

at the sound of the front door closing, cheol is stirred from his nap. he didn’t have any big plans, but he had gone to the gym earlier and exhausted himself so he thought he deserved some rest. he assumed the door sound meant you or joshua was home, but after checking he realized it was just him. he wonders for a moment if he should check on you, but he decides against it. instead he takes a shower and starts working on dinner, choosing a chill night to rest since he has the place to himself. 

meanwhile, your date is going horribly. first of all, chan was super awkward walking with you to his car, and then he didn’t speak much on the ride to dinner. oh, well, he did, except that was only his road rage coming out. you heard this man say more cuss words in a fifteen minute car ride than you’ve heard from anyone else all year. he’s said fuck more times than he’s said your name, and quite frankly you’re not confident he knows what it is. 

once you get to the restaurant, chan basically leaves you in the car. you’re not a damsel in distress, you don’t need a man to open your door for you, but it would be nice if the man you’re on a date with would at least wait until you’re out of the car to head toward the restaurant. you make it to the curb and don’t know where chan has gone until he pops out of the restaurant asking an annoyed, “you coming?”

once you’re seated, things don’t get much better. the waitress is pretty, and she’s obviously more interested in chan than you are. you’ve given up on the date by this point, but you think you can get a free meal out of it, so you keep suffering. when he’s not flirting with the waitress, chan is mansplaining to you and gesturing so wildly you’re afraid he’s going to knock everything off the table. he tries asking you questions but keeps talking over you, and when he does let you speak he either looks offended or checks his phone. before your appetizers come, you’re ready to leave.

“what did i do to deserve this?” you text joshua as you half listen to chan describe the most boring thing in the most cocky way possible. you hope joshua will respond, but there’s nothing. 

“are you mad at me? is that why you tricked me into going on the worst date of my life?” you text again, and still no response. 

“hey, that’s kind of rude,” chan says, and you can feel your blood start to boil.

“weren’t you on your phone when i was talking earlier?” you ask in disbelief, and he shakes his head. 

“no, i wasn’t. because that’s rude,” he repeats. you want to groan and slam your head on the table, but you refrain. “whatever. i’m going to the restroom, text away.”

that you do. you keep texting joshua, trying to annoy him into responding, but he stands tall. whatever he’s doing is more important that your horrible night. you have an infinite list in your mind of things that you would rather be doing right now, so you understand josh’s disinterest.

speaking of disinterest, you look up to find chan and see him leaned over the bar talking to another waitress. this time she’s way into it, hand on his arm and phone out to take down his number. you watch as he types it in, then pull out a barstool and take a seat. now you do groan, and without leaving the table you call your brother, ready to beg for a ride back home. 

“come on, pick up, pick up please,” you mumble, hoping beyond hope that joshua will be your knight in shining armor. you get his voicemail and leave behind some choice words before slamming your phone down on the table, frustrated tears threatening to fall. you’re still new to this part of town, so your brother is your only lifeline right now. you don’t trust your ability to walk home without getting snatched, and you know that calling any of your friends would mean sitting here for at least an hour while they come get you. you’re about to go hide in the bathroom when you think of one other option.

seungcheol.

you don’t know where he is or what he’s doing tonight, but you find the “temporary roomies” chat that josh put you into and call cheol from there. you start the same plea, whispering pick up over and over, but cheol answers on the second ring.

“hey sweets,” you can tell he’s smiling. “what’s going on, you and josh having fun without me?”

“cheol, hi, listen,” you start, “josh set me up on a blind date and the guy is a dick and-”

“what did he do?” cheol cuts you off, and you tell him about the car ride, the attitude, and now his interest in any woman that’s not you. “fuck him. fuck your brother too. where are you? i’m on my way.”

“cheol, no, i was mostly calling to see if josh was home-”

“send me the address, y/n,” he says firmly. “i’ll be there soon.”

he wasn’t lying. it feels like only a few minutes have passed when there’s a commotion at the door and you see cheol stalking through the restaurant looking for you. you gather your things and stand, and chan sees you out of the corner of his eye. he comes rushing over just as cheol reaches you, and it’s almost comical watching this stare down as chan gets closer.

“come on, we’re leaving,” cheol tells you, pushing a helmet into your hands.

“what is this?” you ask, eyeing chan awkwardly. 

“hey, pal, we’re on a date, so she’s not going anywhere,” chan tells cheol, and he laughs in his face. 

“sorry, pal, date’s over,” he says, pushing chan back lightly. “go back to the waitress. we’re done here.” cheol doesn’t wait to hear what other bullshit chan might try to say. instead he grabs you by the wrist and guides you out of the restaurant to a motorcycle propped up outside. he looks at you smoothly and motions to the helmet. “i said put that on, doll. can’t ride without protection.”

“o-ok,” you stutter, placing the helmet over your head delicately. cheol stops you and turns you toward him, clicking the helmet into place under your chin, feeling his fingers on your neck sends a tingle down your spine, and you do your best to ignore it. 

“there you go,” he whispers, satisfied with his work. he grabs your head in both hands and playfully shakes you from side to side, smirking as he says, “quick road test, sorry.”

“cheol, you’re crazy,” you laugh, thankful for the distraction. “i didn’t know you drove a bike. this is cool.”

“glad you like it,” he says as he hops on. “now come on, let’s go home before i go beat that loser up.” 

you carefully and tentatively hold onto cheol’s shoulder as you sling your leg over the seat, sliding down accidentally so your chest is pressed firmly to his back. you grab onto his other shoulder and wait, thinking cheol will leave any second. 

“can’t hold on like that,” he seems to whisper, looking at you over his shoulder. “you’ll fall off.”

“well i don’t wanna bother you-”

“please,” you hear him scoff, and then he’s pulling your arms down to his waist. he even takes the liberty of lacing your hands together over his stomach so it’s easier for you to hold on. and suddenly you feel very warm. you can feel the outline of his muscles through his shirt, and being so close to him is getting you drunk off of whatever shampoo or cologne he’s wearing. 

“cheol,” you say before he kicks off, and he’s looking back at you again. “i’m sorry about this. thank you for coming to get me.”

“anytime,” he says sweetly, his eyes flicking to your lips briefly. “now hold on tight.”

before you know it, cheol is kicking off and zooming down the near empty street, ripping a scream of surprise and joy out of you. you thought you’d be petrified right now, but this is actually exhilarating. you’re not sure if it’s the adrenaline of the motorcycle ride or the proximity to cheol, but you almost feel lightheaded. you’re shrieking and laughing like this is a rollercoaster, and there’s a smile plastered on cheol’s face as he listens. 

when you get to a red light, cheol slows down and instructs you to keep your feet up as he places his firmly on the ground. he looks back at you as best he can and asks, “having fun?”

“this is incredible,” you smile. “do an extra lap. i don’t wanna go home yet.”

“yeah?” cheol asks happily, and you nod.

“wait, unless you had plans!” you say. “oh my god, cheol, i’m so sorry, i didn’t even consider that you might have been busy, oh god. i should’ve asked, i should’ve-”

“stop talking,” he tells you. “i’m glad you called. i’d do this for you every day of the week if you needed it.”

“thank you,” you say meekly as cheol revs the bike before carefully driving again. you ride and listen to the sound of the city get whipped by around you, watching the lights and realizing how much you’re enjoying yourself. you lay your chin on cheol’s shoulder and think about the butterflies in your stomach, noticing that they’re going more wild now than they ever have before. 

when you get back to the apartment, you’re immediately met with the smell of food. you’re about to cuss joshua out, assuming he had been home this whole time, until cheol walks ahead of you into the kitchen and asks, “did you get to eat on this horrible mistake i just saved you from?”

“hey, whoa, i was doing this because of my brother,” you say defensively. “it wasn’t my mistake, i was bamboozled.”

“you could’ve said no,” cheol shrugs as he leans against the doorway. then he holds your gaze and asks, “why didn’t you say no?”

“i-i don’t know,” you reply, turning away because cheol’s stare is too heavy for your right now. “i guess, yeah, i did it because i thought it would make josh happy since he set it up, but...i don’t know. it would be nice to have someone, i guess.”

“to have someone?” cheol smirks, taking a step or two closer to you.

“yeah, like have someone be mine,” you say shyly, looking up to find cheol closer than you expected. he stands in front of you, smirk hanging off his lips, arms loosely crossed over his broad chest. 

“you have me,” he says, moving so close to you that you can feel his breath on your lips. he holds your gaze, waiting for you to make a move. awkwardly, you lean in, lips almost brushing. you get nervous and try to back away but cheol quickly grabs you by the chin and whispers, “and i’ve got you” before connecting your lips. your hands fall to his chest, obliviously rubbing your hands over his muscles. his touch to your chin stays gentle but firm, holding you in place so he can devour your lips. you’re breathless quick, but you don’t want to pull away. the sound of keys in the front door scare you out of your daze, and you separate from cheol like you’ve been shocked. joshua walks in, unaware (or is he?) of what he just interrupted. pleased with himself, he looks from you to cheol and back to you before asking, “so...how was your night?”

-

you’ve been avoiding cheol. you can’t believe you kissed him, and you can’t believe you liked it. you liked it so much that you’re afraid of what might happen if you’re around him again, because nothing can happen. he’s your brother’s best friend! it’s like reverse bro code to date your brother’s friend. that would be...weird? and yet here you are, daydreaming about it. 

cheol knows what you’re doing. he knows you’ve been spooked, and he’s annoyed. now that he’s had a taste of you he only wants more, so you hiding from him when he’s out of his room or only leaving yours when he’s in the shower or asleep is really getting on his nerves. you can’t avoid him forever, but damn it if you’re not gonna try. 

you’re currently speedrunning all of your chores, trying to clean the bathroom while your laundry is on and in between you’re washing all of your dirty dishes. you’re doing this because you know cheol will come out of his room soon to go to the gym, so you’re hoping to be tucked away safely in your room before that happens. however, the biggest man in the apartment still manages to move like a mouse, so you turn around to put some plates away and find cheol leaning against the kitchen counter, watching you intently. 

“fuck you, stop sneaking up on me!” you shriek. “i’m serious about that bell now. wear loud shoes or something, god.”

“why, so you can hear me coming and hide?” he asks seriously, and you fall silent. you join him on the other side of the room, stretching to put the plates in the cabinet. cheol keeps watching, realizing this is the first time he’s seen you show so much skin. shorts pulled up just barely over your ass, like usual, driving him insane, like usual. but now you’re just wearing a sports bra on top, and cheol doesn’t miss the way you’re giving him the perfect view of your chest. he’s unapologetically staring, and without facing him you mumble telling him to stop. “i can stare if i want.”

“well can you stop, please?” you beg, turning and crossing your arms over your chest, just pressing your cleavage up more. 

“baby, work with me here,” he groans. “you can’t kiss me like that the other night and then hide from me. and you can’t look like that and not expect me to stare.”

“stop telling me what i can and can’t do,” you grumble, trying to remember what you were about to do. you start to walk away but cheol grabs you lightly by the wrist, and you ask nicely, “let me go.”

“you can leave,” cheol encourages. “i’m not holding on tight.”

but you stay right where you are, a few steps away from cheol. his hand slides down from your wrist to lace his fingers with yours. he squeezes your hand sweetly before tugging you back in front of him, a stupid smirk gracing his handsome face. 

“hi beautiful,” he smiles, making you blush. “so tell me. am i a bad kisser or something?”

“what?” you ask, shocked he would even think that. “n-no, why?”

“well,” he sighs, hands sliding around your waist too quick for you to object, “it’s just that we kissed, and i thought it was pretty sexy, and then you just disappeared on me. which is amazing considering we live together right now.”

“i’m good at teleporting,” you joke, and cheol pinches your hip. 

“answer me, y/n,” he tries again. “why are you hiding?”

“because you’re joshua’s friend,” you say with a face. “i can’t date you.”

“who said anything about dating?” cheol smiles. “we’ve got two beds, sweets. take your pick.”

“you can’t be serious.”

“you don’t want to?” cheol asks, seemingly dragging you closer to himself. he slots his leg between yours, leans in close and asks, “so if i check your panties right now, they wouldn’t be wet?”

“cheol, i-”

“hm?” he asks, pulling back enough to look right in your eyes. “you don’t want this, just say the word and i’m gone. but if you do, baby, please let me do this.”

“joshua can’t know,” you whisper fast before you’re grabbing cheol and kissing him again. his hands slide from their spot on your waist to cup your ass, nudging your core over his thigh. you whimper at the slight drag, and cheol tenses his thigh as he brings your hips forward again. 

“i don’t even need to put my hand down your pants to know you’re wet,” he says proudly. “you ok with soaking my thigh a little bit first, baby?” you nod, and he tsks. “you need to use your words. not gonna do anything unless i know you want it.”

“let me keep going,” you say breathlessly, and cheol easily obliges. he dives back into your lips, hands gripping your ass to keep you grinding over his thigh. you get lost in the pressure between your legs, but you don’t want to be interrupted like you were last time. you try to break from cheol’s lips but he brings a hand up to keep you in place, doing his best to memorize the shape of your lips with his. you realize you need to get his attention a different way, so you reach down to cup his cock through his shorts. he hisses at the contact, lips pulled from yours. “cheol, stop.”

“what, what’s wrong?” he asks, worried. 

“let’s go to my room,” you say with a nod, and his eyes shimmer with lust and a bit of glee. he’s dragging you down the hallway with him, doing his best not to tear your clothes off and leave a trail. once he’s in your room, you push him back lightly so you can be sure to shut the door. cheol takes this time to lay back on your pillows, patting his thigh to invite you back. you join him on the bed, ready to straddle him and go back to grinding down on his stupidly thick thigh, but he stops you. 

“shorts off,” he instructs, and you pull them off eagerly. “let me see your panties.” your legs on either side of his, you sit up and lean back, hoping cheol gets what he wants. he hums and nods when he sees the wet patch, grabbing for your waist to pull you back over his leg. “let’s get you warmed up a little more, need you ready to ride me soon.”

cheol brings your core back down to his thigh, guiding your movements as you whine on top of him. you’re not sure what to do with your hands, so you let one of them wander up to push your bra over your chest, playing with your nipple as cheol guides you agonizingly slow. you try to bounce and get more friction but that makes him hold you down tighter and your whines get louder. 

“that’s it baby, show me how pretty you are when you come and then i’ll give you my cock,” he growls out, a hand slipping down to push past the waistband of your panties. he swipes a finger down to play with your clit and he moans when he feels how wet you are. “all this for me, pretty girl?”

“yes, for you, just like that,” you moan, “make me come please, need to come.”

“you can come,” cheol coaxes. “just waiting on you.” he applies a little more pressure over your clit, and then you’re shaking above him, a soundless gasp left on your lips. as you try to blink away the spots in your eyes, you hurriedly help cheol get undressed, crawling down to his cock before he can stop you. you pull his boxers down as he takes his shirt off, and you gasp when you see his size. you grab him by the base and take a taste, kitten licking his tip and driving him crazy. he wants to wrap his hands in your hair and guide you over his cock, but an equal part wants to pull you up just so he can feel your pussy clenching around him. he lets you decide the pace though, hissing through his teeth as you keep licking him, until you’re ready to swallow his cock little by little. you get halfway down before you need to pull back, and you’re worried he won’t fit. 

“not to feed your ego or anything,” you say after popping off of his cock, “but you’re really big.”

“no that definitely feeds my ego.”

“i don’t think you’re gonna fit,” you say, worried. 

“well get in my lap and we’ll find out, sweets,” he says, reaching for you to help you up and over his legs again. he holds his cock still for you as you line him up with your entrance, and you glance at him one last time, still concerned. “take it slow. i know you can do it.”

“but-”

“baby, i’m letting you pick the pace,” he laughs. “if it were up to me i would’ve slammed you down on my cock already.”

“hmm someone’s horny,” you joke, and cheol thrusts up in retaliation. you gasp at the feeling of his tip at your entrance, and you do what he says. you take it slow, holding your breath as you feel him stretch you out with every inch. 

“how you feeling baby?”

“good,” you gasp out.

“make sure you breathe,” cheol reminds you, and you nod as you take a few deep breaths. he can feel every movement on his cock, and it’s driving him insane to not be fully inside you right now. he tries to push you down a little further, but you cry out and he stops. he gives you a moment to adjust, and you move on your own when you’re ready. you keep pushing down, taking more and more. “you’re doing so good baby.”

“it’s too big,” you gasp out, looking down to see how much you have left to go.

“no it’s not.”

“but it is,” you whine, trying to pull up completely. that’s the last straw for cheol though, because he grips your hips and slams you down over his cock, your clit even grinding over his pubic bone slightly. you shudder at the feeling, shocked speechless at the feeling of cheol’s cock so deep inside you. he helps you ride him at first, but you take over and start a steady pace. you don’t think you’ve ever felt someone this deep before, and your body feels like it’s on fire. 

“you can take it, that’s it,” he encourages, and you pick up the pace. cheol starts meeting you halfway, adjusting so he can hit your core just right. when he thrusts up and you almost fall over on top of him he knows he’s found the right spot, doing his best to keep his pace steady. he pulls you down so you’re caging him in, and he lays your head on his chest as he takes over, thrusting into you so fast you start seeing stars. you’re moaning into his chest, maybe drooling a little too, and it’s driving him insane. you feel so good around him, so warm, so tight, so wet. the sounds of your pussy are embarrassing to you and intoxicating to him, he wishes he had the patience to lay between your legs and lick you clean before fucking you again. but he’ll save that for later. for now, he needs to find a place to come. “where do you want me?”

“stomach,” you mumble into his chest, sitting back up with your hands on his pecs. “gonna come?”

“if you come first, yeah,” cheol nods. he focuses on bringing you closer, grabbing one of your hands off his chest and guiding it to your lips. you open, and he tells you to suck. after you’ve wet your middle and ring finger, cheol brings them down to your clit, leading your movements and applying pressure as he wants. it’s so sexy, letting him lead you like this, and the way he’s staring at you is making your chest tingle, and his cock is still buried deep inside you as you start getting closer. when cheol pulls you down with his free hand, connecting your lips again, you start to come, whimpering into his mouth as the waves crash over you. he works you through it, giving you only a second or two to rest before he’s pumping you again, chasing his own release. he pulls out and immediately starts stroking his cock, coming with a quiet gasp. you shudder as you feel his come land across your stomach, some even hitting your pussy lips. you lean back to let him see his masterpiece, and cheol looks pleased. 

“let me get a washcloth,” you mumble, moving to get up. once you’re off of him, cheol springs into action, guiding you to lay back down. 

“no, you’ll be sore soon, let me do it,” he says before ducking out of your room. he comes back with a wet washcloth and waters for you both, which you take graciously. he cleans you up carefully, and then he joins you back on the bed. the last thing you remember before falling asleep is cheol pushing your hair back, smiling at you softly.

-

you wake up the next morning to a knock at your door, followed by another louder knock.

“what?” you groan, rolling over to face the door just as joshua pops in. 

“morning to you too,” he yawns. “i’m getting breakfast. text me what you want.”

“mhm,” you yawn in reply. “close my door.”

josh leaves without doing what you asked, and there’s a beat of silence before you hear the front door close. you feel hands wrap around your waist, pulling you into a strong, warm, bare chest. cheol pops his chin onto your shoulder, cheesing as he asks, “you think he knew i was here?”

[iichfilwypj]

labyrinth | percy jackson

ღ percy jackson x daughter of hypnos! reader ღ warnings: none! ღ wc: 588 pt 1 - pt 2 - pt 3 - pt 4 -pt 6 - pt 7 - pt 8

Remember how I told you a certain daughter of Hypnos was terrified to meet her best friend’s family?

Yeah, well.

Emphasis on was.

After waking up, she half-expected to face an interrogation. You know, the typical ‘Who are your parents?’, ‘Where are you from?’, ‘Are you planning on turning my son into a criminal?’ and all of that.  

But instead, she was met with a plate of blue pancakes, the scent of salt air, and a pair of big green eyes filled with curiosity looking at her.

Percy was nowhere around, but both Sally and Estelle were close by,  making sure the girl was settling in well. It didn’t take long before the girl felt very comfortable, joking with Percy’s family as they prepared dinner together.

They were just like him; welcoming, funny, caring. Her smile never faded; the overwhelming sense in that home was undeniable, but it felt like a good kind of overwhelming. 

"And then he fell! Right on his face!" Sally said with a chuckle, recounting stories of her son’s childhood. The girl could only laugh along –Percy hadn’t changed much over the years. 

At their feet, Estelle was making the impossible to get their attention, handing them random toys and pulling their shirts. 

“I was so worried, I thought he’d be disfigured forever!"

“I mean…”

“Estelle!” Percy’s voice rang out suddenly from the kitchen. He was standing in the doorway, grocery bags on his shoulder. He rushed toward his sister, leaving the stuff on the floor and lifting the little one high above his head. “Mom, I found our dinner! Prepare the oven!”

All Hypno’s daughter could do was watch the familiar scene unfold before her eyes. She was well aware that Percy was good with children; at camp, everyone looked up to him, not just as an example to follow, but as someone they could trust. 

She then noticed how pretty Percy’s hair looked, even when it was messy from his sister’s tugging. The way he locked eyes with her for the smallest second, as if to make sure she was laughing even though his back was in pain. How his pretty green eyes wrinkled when he smiled at her even.

She saw a small dimple on his cheek that she had never noticed, at least not so closely. She realized that Percy had her mom’s smile.

Percy’s smile was her favorite, how could she not-? 

Uh, oh.

Her mind went completely blank.

Or, not quite; every thought that came to her was of Percy. Percy in his armor, Percy laughing with her, Percy bickering with a camper, Percy staring at her, Percy asleep, Percy talking, Percy…

Percy. Percy. Percy. Percy. Percy. Percy. Percy. Percy. Percy. Percy.

The thought hit her, out of nowhere, uninvited, all at once. Her chest tightened, and suddenly she felt a rush of emotions. Good emotions. She had always been careful, always so cautious about her feelings, scared of those that appeared like a fast rising elevator but wouldn't last.

But she remembered the way her heart skipped a beat when he did literally anything, the fluttering she had tried to ignore before. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She wasn’t supposed to feel this way. 

She felt lost in the labyrinth of her own mind; how could Percy make her feel like that?

And when the kitchen was left empty and he came closer just to hold her body and kiss her cheek, she was sure. 

I don’t just like him. 

Uh, oh. I’m falling in love.

HIII!!! i love it and at the same time i hate it ;) doesn't have a lot of interaction but our girl finally noticed something! i have plans for the next two chapetrs IM SO EXCITED I LOVE U ALL SO MUCH this is one of my favs song in the whole world!!!! love it love it love ittt

[sukunas-wife]

YOU NEED TO MAKE MORE DAD!SUKUNA😭 It’s just soo good!!!, I’m literally obsessed with Dad!sukuna🫶🏻

lol here’s a little snippet to start the day, in other words I had a domestic dream 🥺🤍

Jujutsu Teacher Sukuna AU

Somewhere in another time line Sukuna became a not so dedicated teacher at Jujutsu high school still after having turned himself into a curse, even 1000 years he landed a spot on the higher up’s board it hilarious when they try to execute someone and he completely disagrees.

They learned quickly is Sukuna disapproves of their actions agree with arrimen Sukuna. Don’t go behind his back and try to do it either. He’s not afraid to kill everyone and replace the entire board of Higher Ups

Then one year he met you, you came in from the sister school to be teacher. Usually he tried not to mess with staff they only last so long anyways. But maybe it was that time he saw you banging your head in the drink machine because you used your last bills to buy a drink and it got stuck. Or maybe it was that time Gojo and Toji surprisingly decided to team up against you and you managed to hold your own.

It was when YOU started to pursUE HIM he became really intrigued. At first he became annoyed because not to far behind the corner he could hear the snickering and “Oh she’s really doing it!” “She’s a brave woman to try and flirt with him…” “What are you idiots do- oh, this could be interesting.” “shhh, I can’t hear what he’s saying!”

You didn’t notice when he flicked his wrist, but you did hear your coworkers panic and the rushed steps. Looking back confused you were more confused when you looked back at Sukuna and he was leaning forward getting face to face with you before squishing your face in one of his hands. “You do understand you proud Jujutsu Sorcerers don’t live very long, so give me one good reason you want my attention.”

You wanted to badly to look away from those demanding red eyes, to pull away and breath the God given air, instead here you were getting dazed off his musk and cologne. Feeling his warm hand squish your face, nails lightly pressing against your skin. Smash- swallowing you had one chance to do this right. Don’t stutter, don’t fear, breath, don’t rush, don’t show him WEAKNESS.

“I J- ahem” ah.. I messed up already, “Wait let me restart- Okay I’m ready, I’m not gonna stand here and promise happiness smiles and endless love, praise and worship. I’m not gonna lie to your face and tell you everything you want to hear and pretend it’s all sunshine and rainbows. When I go on a mission I’m not gonna say I promise to always come back that would be a fools move. But at least in my last moments I’d have to privilege to remember you and all those wise words you used to tell me like. “Dumbass that’s why you keep more than two dollars in your wallet.” Or “Living to please others and dying with regrets if no helping everyone is vain, Live to please yourself at least in your final moments you’ll have some sense of fulfillment.” So like it or not I’m here to please myself if you say No and tell me to fuck off and send me on my way. I won’t regret having asking. If you say yes, well I won’t lie I wouldn’t really know what to do or say I came in expected to be rejected and humbled.” Finally your eyes left his, you were oblivious to stare he had. He wasn’t completely amused but he wasn’t bored of your words either. “Look at me.” You did, “you didn’t bore me entirely with your little … speech so I’ll give you one opportunity. Sunday, I have an early mission, meet me here at 4 in the morning and I’ll tell you with me. After I finish you can have the rest of my day or until I get bored.”

He didn’t get bored… it turned out you amused him so much more when you weren’t surrounded be suits.

And that’s how you ended up here.

“Yuji don’t say something stupid love can’t protect anyone.” Nobara rolled her eyes, “Yuh huh, your words can’t hurt me because my mom and dad’s love protects me.” He puffed his chest out crossing his arms and smiling with closed eyes, missing the book Nobara was throwing at him. A solid sound was made, Yuji was wide eyed, the all to familiar wrist holding the heavy book just in front of his face, “Careful Miss.Kugisaki it’d be a shame if you caught extra missions for disabling another student from completing his own.” Yuji smiled proudly, “See, protected.”

Sukuna rolled his eyes, “Get to class Fushiguro was on your ass last time for being late to class.” He nodded his head at Yuji who just smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, “Alright.” Of course the Trio ran past you greeting you with “Hi Mrs.Sukuna!” Good morning Mom!” “Morning Y/n Senpai.” You watched them all keep running until your husband stood next to you offering you the Coffee Cup he had been drinking. You were distracted by one thing “Why do you have our photo album?” Sukuna felt his eye twitch, “Damn brat.” Was all he mumbled tucking it under his shoulder, “Your son believes your love protects him.”

You laughed, “OUR son believes OUR love for him protects him. Considering your holding that book Im assuming Kugisaki tried to throw it at him or you were reminiscing on that time you had to save them from a Special Grade ambush and when you had to carry them all out Yuji was sniffling how he knew he could count on you to be there for him.”

He looked away, “Higher ups are lucky I only wiped out half of them.” You rested your head on his shoulder pulling the album from him. “Aaww this is Yuji’s baby album” you cooed seeing the picture of Sukuna holding Yuji next to a bouquet of “It’s a Boy!” Balloons. In the background you could see the blur of Geto smacking Gojo on the back of the head.

Sukuna is secure as a man and father 🥹

So it’s not a surprise to you when you come home late from the school and find true form Sukuna threatening to break the sofa under his weight coddling 15yo Yuji 🥹

As much of a brute people have him to be, Yuji might be his only son, and he might call him brat and roll his eyes a lot. But he’d be damned if he were truly a bad dad. In a whispered conversation he told you about everything that happened on Yuji’s mission. How the mission was purposely miss graded and they basically walked into a special grade curses domain. Sukuna had no doubt in his mind that if wouldn’t have been the one over seeing their mission the first years wouldn’t have walked back out alive.

Yuji was alright the entire ride but when he got home he broke down crying, speechless gasping for air. That’s when Sukuna pick him up carrying him over the sofa, coddling Yuji wasn’t as easy now that they were almost the same height, so he turned to his true form. And let Yuji cry, scream and hold onto him. Rubbing his back, holding his head against his shoulder, just talking to him to comfort him. “Do you remember that time we went to the park, and you wondered off to far chasing a duck.” Yuji nodded still sniffling, “Your mom was scared shitless when she couldn’t find you.” He laughed and Yuji laughed lightly, “y.. yeah I remember I jumped into the pond and then you and mom started screaming and then jumped in…” sukuna laughed louder, “Y/n was so mad but she couldn’t stay mad when she saw you with that little duck.” He patted Yuji’s back resting his chin on his head. Soon Yuji fell asleep.

It led you to find him this state. You asked him to go lay him in his bed, he did. He came to help you make some comfort food, it was hilarious when you asked if he could use dismantle on vegetables and it turned out he could. Now over the table in the wall is a sign that says “Malevolent Kitchen.”

The house that night was filled with the soft sounds of cooking, you and your husband talking about whatever came to mind. The Golden pot boiling with whatever broth you made. Sukuna was fighting the rice cooker while you tempura fried some shrimp and rolled some noodles to cook

It was well past 9 when you heard Yuji coming, both of you turning to see him walking yawning and rubbing his eyes. Bare feet padding along the kitchen floor. “Come sit down Yu you gotta be hungry.” you fixed him a large bowl of noodles with Tempura shrimp. On the side were the massive Onigiri Sukuna had made, he even tried to use the nori stamp to put little faces on them. More often than not they have 4 little crooked eyes that looked mad but it squeezed your heart how he laughed to himself saying “Yuji’s going to love these.”

He did, you watched as he bit into it rice sticking to his face. “These are good dad what did you fill them with?” “Nitamago we forgot to pack em for lunch so.. improvise I guess.” You both sat down with Yuji talking and eating. Just enjoying the free time you had together before Sukuna would go commit another crime against the higher ups 🤍🤍

Yeah 🥹

Im here 10-1 in the morning 🤍 It took all day to type this out 😭😭

Also a lot of my co workers walked out today 🥹 it was rough

Tag List: @sad-darksoul @cyder-puff @satorisgirl @bontensbabygirl @lupita97lm @queen-luna-007 @sakuxxi @mercymccann @simpforyoubitch @certainduckanchor @domainofmarie @najiiix @bakugou-katsukis-wife @amitiel-truth @souyasplushie @mylovelessnightmare

[towriteloveontheirarms]

Alicent has got it going on (modern!Alicent x younger!Reader)

synopsis: You go out for a night of fun with your friends, but while you are at the bar, the object of your desire is somewhere entirely else.

warnings: age gap (reader is of age), flirting, dirty talk & smut adjacent, afab reader

word count: 2.1k

taglist: @hopelesswritergall @urmomsgirlfriend1

(If you want to be tagged for a specific character/fandom or in general let me know in my asks, comments or DMs)

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Even after countless years of being friends with Helaena, to a point where the two of you would call each other sisters, it still feels weird to just walk into the house that your mom had to drive you to almost every day for years when you were a kid. Times had changed. You grew up and so you could make your own way to the villa and enter through the front door with a key that Helaena had gifted you some years back when the two of you entered college.

Upon entering you hear a voice in the living room which, when further investigating, you find out to be Alicent´s. Currently arguing with someone on the phone. Once she sees you, she holds the phone away from her ear and hangs up.

“Oh, I didn´t see you there.” She greets you with a rare, genuine smile.

"Sorry. I didn't realise you were on a call. I just wanted to say hi." You greet your best friend's mother. You have always found Alicent to be absolutely stunning and so you can´t hide a small blush heating up your cheeks as you give her a small wave.

Alicent turns her full attention towards you at the sound of your voice. She knew you had grown up but hadn’t seen you in quite a while. “Hello, dear. How are you?” Her eyebrows raise, awaiting your answer, not even mentioning the call.

“I've been holding up just fine. How about you? Helaena has told me you're working a lot these days." You give the older woman a small smile in return.

"Yes, dear. It's been non-stop, but that´s business." At her words you remember that she had taken over leading the firm in her husband´s stead only a short while ago when Helaena´s father became too sick to continue to do so indefinitely.

Throughout all this time, she doesn´t take her eyes off you for a single second. Those beautiful, big, brown eyes that seemed to shimmer every time you saw her in spite of or maybe because of the stress she was put under. In the end she wasn´t that much older than you. That thought gets your cheeks to burn a little brighter.

“I hope you remember to take breaks too. The company can be glad to finally be led by someone competent, but it would be a shame to see you work yourself into a burnout or something.” You shuffle your feet on the ground, making her even more aware of your painfully awkward attraction towards her.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. I've become quite used to it. Thank you for your concerns though, dear. That is very sweet.” Alicent says confidently, her tone is filled with pride and she takes your hand to let you feel her gratitude for your expression of concern.

The second the older woman´s skin touches yours, has your brain screaming so loud that you are scared anyone would be able to hear. "You know, if you ever do want a break, you should come out to our bar or something. If you don't think going out with your daughter's friend is weird or something. You would be surprised what an evening out can bring about."

The words let not only her eyes widen and eyebrows shoot up for a second, but your own as well.

Suddenly the air in the room is noticeably thicker. You feel like you don´t get enough of it into your lungs, making your head spin like a carousel and the way the older woman’s hand squeezes yours only throws you off the rails even more.

Before you know it, her hand lets go of yours, not giving any time for disappointment to settle, as they instantly settle on your waist, with her thumbs brushing over your ribs just below the swell of your breasts. In response to her pulling you closer, your hands go to tightly hold her by the waste rubbing tight circles into the soft, by lavish silk covered flesh.

Hesitantly your faces moved closer bit by bit. It felt right to be so close to her, to feel her auburn curls brush against your cheeks and make almost a curtain to shut out the rest of the world. Your noses rub against each other from the proximity and little fireworks tingle over your lips. The moment feels so magical.

The horn of Baela´s car being pressed down continuously, to alert approximately the entire neighbourhood and the muffled screams of the young woman to go along with it pull the two of you back to reality against your will.

“I have to go…” You whisper, basking in the energy of the moment a bit longer. Wishing you could stay there with Alicent for even just one more moment. A wish that is reciprocated by her. You are hyper aware of your hands that rest against her waist to keep her perfect body close when Alicent pulls away from you. And though they have never touched to begin with, your lips chase hers for a second and a whimper leaves your lungs.

"You are perfect." You whisper breathlessly when your eyes flutter back open.

Those moments with Alicent stay in your mind's forefront the entire time you sit beside your friends in the cinema. Thinking about the almost kiss rather than paying attention to whatever movie Helaena and Baela had decided on.

The three of you head to a bar afterwards to meet up with a few more friends. Each of you getting enough drinks to ensure everyone was a good bit more than just lightly buzzed. In your inebriated state you remember you still had Alicent´s number saved from something or another a few months ago. So without thinking you reach into your purse to pull out your phone to send the woman a short message. "I can't get you out of my mind. Your hands felt like pure heaven."

Normally you would have spent the time until the device pinged with a response biting at your nails to relief the nervous energy that would course through your system, but it doesn´t happen. The earlier interaction had made you feel quite confident in the attraction being requited. At the same time, back at the Targaryen-Hightower home Alicent smirked at the message as her body began tingling anew. "I miss touching you. Your body is just so irresistible." She replied, leaning back in her chair as she waited for her phone to vibrate again. If anyone would see her right now, they would probably say she looks like a giddy schoolgirl. And you didn´t look much better. Biting your lip to keep yourself from kicking your feet at the warm giddiness that spread through your body with every answer you received from her.

"Gods, I wish I could be with you right this second so I could taste your skin and worship you just the way you deserve." One of your friends that keeps you company while the others go to get more drinks eyes you suspiciously, but luckily says nothing. Counting myself lucky in that I put my phone away and try to concentrate on the conversation at hand, but feeling it vibrate once more pulls your thoughts right back to Alicent. "And what exactly would this worship entail?" Reads the message, making your mind reel and run wild with everything you wanted to do to her.

"It would entail me kissing all over your body and feeling you all over. Tracing your skin with my tongue up your thighs to your most sensitive spot and then I would spend my time between your thighs until your throat would be sore from screaming my name." You can feel your breath become shallow already even though there was no ending to the evening in sight yet and there was no chance to leave early either, but no matter how much you told yourself to calm down it is to no use. The arousal that pools between your legs and sticks your panties to your core at the thought of the older woman won´t let up. It takes longer for another answer to roll in this time, due to Alicent willing her reddened cheeks and racing heart to calm down in order to think clearly again. Only then she finds an appropriate response to type out and send with lightly trembling fingers. “You sure know how to make me feel things, don’t you?”

Despite willing herself to calm down, Alicent's body became flushed. Her breath hitched at the vivid description, and her body became flooded with a rush of pure heat. She couldn’t believe someone could speak so filthy. Her jaw hung open with a dumb expression as she read the message over and over again.

“It´s only what you deserve. You work so hard; you deserve to feel good every once in a while.” You respond almost instantly. Barely making it in time to hide the screen again as Helaena looks over your shoulder.

“The youth and their phones….” She clicks her tongue but breaks out in a giggle not even a few seconds after. “Who has you smiling like this?”

Judging by the redness spread over all over her face she is far more affected by the alcohol than the rest of you. Then again, she always was the one worst at handling her booze. Conveniently this gave you the perfect topic change.

“Maybe you should drink some water before you get another round.” You snicker at her antics.

“I´m fine, mom.” She chanted exaggeratedly, though even the sentiment can´t ruin her mood.

So, you shrug it of and decide that keeping an eye on her would be all you can do. A smart choice, as the night soon gets cut short, by her getting a little too hyper. Leading to Baela dropping you off at the house, before getting herself back to Driftmark. Bless the seven that the Velaryon stayed sober and thus could help you to basically carry her all the way from the car to her room as to not make a major commotion and wake everyone else up. Unfortunately, it is a whole different story to get her to sleep. A seemingly impossible task throughout which you have to remind yourself how much you loved your best friend repeatedly.

Once Helaena is sound asleep naturally you are wide awake. Tossing, turning and scrolling through your phone in a now much more sober state. Then you remember the texts you had sent to Alicent earlier and with your friend fast asleep, you sneak out of her room and down the hall to Alicent's. Opening and closing the door as quietly as possible, you find the woman splayed out in her bed. Clad in a short, dark green satin nightdress and illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window. The cool light makes her look even more gorgeous than the sunlight earlier, though you thought that wasn't possible. Her breasts rise and fall in deep, even breaths. It´s a sight for the gods. On your tiptoes you make your way over to the bed. Feeling the soft mattress dip underneath your weight, as you lean over her unsuspecting form. For a second you doubt what you are about to do, but when the Hightower woman shifts in her unconscious state to expose her neck more and her soft lips part for a sigh to escape, you´re done for.

Your own lips part and your head lowers to press a wet kiss to her neck. Then another and another as Alicent shifts and writhes beneath, before finally waking up with a gasp of your name.

“Shhh, yes it´s me.” You whisper to her to signal to stay quiet.

She blinks the sleep from her eyes with rapid movements and threads her fingers into your hair. “Don´t stop, please…”

She begs in a breathy, irresistible voice and who were you to deny her. With a brush of the fingers, you put a strand of auburn curls behind her ear, triggering a full body shiver when your nails scrape along the sensitive skin.

“I won´t. I promise.” You vow in return and seal it by sealing her lips with your in the kiss that should have happened hours ago. Followed by so much more that, if titled the best night of your life, would still be an understatement. Having her thighs tremble on the sides of your head as she tried to keep her body away from resting fully on your head, no matter how often you tried to nudge her down by the hips. Satisfied couldn´t even begin to capture the air around you as you lay beside each other, tightly entangled, bathed in the light of the rising sun and on the brink of sleep.

[cameronspecial]

Assisting In Deception (Part 3)

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Reader

Warnings: Swearing

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 3.3K 

Summary: Two months into the relationship, Rafe finally gets to meet her family.

Masterlist

Two months of being Rafe Cameron’s faceless girlfriend on social media has gone by faster than Y/N expected. Every time they would arrange a date, he would post a picture featuring her in some way. Her hand holding his. The back of her head faces the camera while she looks out his car window. A mirrored picture of them with her head buried into his chest. The media has been going crazy about them and has abandoned anything the contractors have said. How could Rafe possibly have multiple children when he is so in love with his girlfriend? So far, no one has figured out her identity and she is very thankful for that. 

The cool November air hits her face as she makes her way over to his car. She enters the car and looks over at him in his dress shirt and pants. He looks so hot with one hand on the wheel and his other on the back of her headrest as he backs out of the parking space. The sleeves of his shirt are folded up his forearms; she has to stop herself from drooling at the veins that are prominently showing. With all their dates over the past few months, Y/N can’t help but feel her crush on the man slowly start to find real legs to stand on. He’s still stoic and reserved, but he is starting to relax a little bit with her. She knows a few of his favourite things more than what she already knew from being his assistant and she feels as though he knows some of her favourites as well. Sometimes he does things that she never remembered telling him about, like he would buy her salads but without any dressing because she doesn’t like dressing or condiments. 

The drive is quiet for the most part until Y/N’s interest is piqued by the playlist playing. All the songs are ones that she likes and she looks over at him. ‘Is this my playlist?” she questions, reaching for the screen to look through the songs. He looks over at her with a nonchalant look, “Yeah, the one on Spotify.” She loops her hair behind her ear and anxiously twirls the bottom of the strand between her fingers. She nods her head. “I didn’t know that you found my Spotify,” she confesses. He again places his arm around her seat so that he can reverse the car into the parking spot. “I did. You always play your music out loud at the office when we are the only ones there. A few songs got stuck in my head that I didn’t know the name of.” She lets out a giggle at the thought of Mr. Serious singing “Call Me Maybe”. 

He shakes his head at her laughter and gets out of the car once it is parked. He makes his way to the passenger side of the car, holding his hand out to help her out. She whispers her thanks as they enter the restaurant. It is his turn to pick where they go out and it doesn’t surprise her that he picks a restaurant she mentioned that she wants to try in passing once. 

This date isn’t to flaunt their status on social media but to give her a chance to give him a rundown of her family before they attend Francine’s engagement party. He gives his name to the host for their reservation and they are led to a private table at the back of the room. The lights are low and the privacy creates a romantic ambiance. He pulls out the chair for her, allowing her to sit down before pushing her in. He really is taking this boyfriend title seriously, which makes sense because he treats everything like business. She guesses that their relationship technically is. They get to talking once they’ve ordered and are left in private. “So my mom’s name is Phoebe,” Y/N begins but is interrupted by Rafe. 

“She’s a kindergarten teacher and she married your stepdad, Nate, when you were ten, right?” 

Y/N looks at him surprised that he remembered what she has told him over the last three years of working for him. “Yeah, that’s right. He’s a mechanic. They had my little sister, Nancy, two years after they got married.” 

“Okay. And if I’m not mistaken, your stepdad took your mom’s last name and your sister is crazy about art. I noticed the drawing you have framed on your desk has her name written on it.” 

She nods at his questions and takes her hair into her hand. Rafe notices how she always plays with her hair whenever she is flustered and his lips turn to a slight smirk. She avoids eye contact; instead, adverting her attention to her fingers circling the rim of her glass. “It seems like you should be the one telling me about my family,” she jests, finally making eye contact with him again. He brings his hand under his nose and rubs it gently to hide his lips, “I’m sorry. Please, continue. You’ve only ever talked about your immediate family.” “Well, Francine is the cousin who is getting married. She and I are pretty close. She’s a therapist,” she continues. “Her fiancée, Gwen, is a nurse and they’ve been dating for eight years. All of my other family members you can just meet there, but I should probably warn you about Natalie. She is always trying to beat me at this competition which is all in her head. Her boyfriend is Richard and he’s just as bad as her, so you might just want to avoid them in general.”

At that moment, the waiter arrives with their food and places it in front of them. “Noted. Excuse me, could she actually get a fork please?” Rafe asks the waiter before he can leave. The waiter turns to confirm the request and scurries off once he gets the confirmation. She mutters her thanks and takes the chance to take a whiff of her ramen broth. She sways in delight at the scent. Rafe can’t help but let out an audible laugh. He takes his phone out and snaps a picture. Her face is visible in the photo, so he can’t post it just yet, but he likes the idea of it just being for him. Y/N gets her fork and immediately starts digging into her food. The quiet moan she lets out stirs something in his stomach that he doesn’t want to admit to. 

They enjoy their food with small talk that has grown to something more in-depth over the last few months. The waiter returns with a dessert menu that Rafe only has to glance at before ordering. “She’ll have the matcha cheesecake and I’ll just have a matcha latte, please. Thanks,” he orders, returning the menu. Y/N can’t keep her curiosity anymore, “How do you know so much about me? Like that I can’t use chopsticks or that I like cheesecake.”

“I’m observant. I can’t help it. Plus, it’s easy when you show your emotions on your sleeve. Whenever we go out for company dinners, you always order cheesecake and that one time we ordered Chinese when we were working late, you had to use a fork.”

“Well, we can’t all be as icy as you. But you also know so much about my family.”

“You talk about them a lot. You are very proud of your sister and you like to talk about how your mom sometimes uses her teacher's voice with you as an adult.” 

“Right. I guess I just never noticed how you were keeping all this information stored away.” 

“Not a lot of people do.”

——

Y/N lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. She can’t help but think about Rafe. The new side of him is one she’s never seen before and she feels herself falling for it. She’s scared of the possibility of what this might mean for her because, with each date they go on, her mind starts to blur the lines of what is real and fake. She has never been one for commitment and getting into a relationship is not scheduled in her planner for anytime soon. She’s still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her career, so she should focus on that. 

Also, she worries about the media’s cruelty when they find out who she is. All the names she’ll be called. All the magazine covers she might be on. It all becomes more and more real the more she thinks about it. She has to stop herself from thinking about it before she spirals. Rafe would never let her deal with all of that by herself. He’d be there for her; she hopes. Y/N lets the lull of sleep pull her into its grasp as she fights her feelings for her boss. 

——

The day before Francine’s engagement party, Y/N goes to try on her dress she just got back from the dry cleaners. She unzips the bag and immediately notices the giant tear at the top of the dress. This is the only appropriate dress she has and now she doesn’t know what to do. It’s too late for her to get a dress and she has to work tomorrow before the party. Her first instinct is to call Rafe. “Is everything alright?” he worries, she never calls him this late. She shakes her head, forgetting he can’t see her, “No, the dry cleaners ruined my dress. I have nothing to wear for the engagement party tomorrow and I don’t know what to do.” “Hey, hey. Calm down. It’s going to be okay. I’ll take care of it,” he promises before hanging up the phone. His promise does nothing to calm her because she has no idea what he could do to help her, but she trusts him. She decides she should turn it in for the night. 

The next morning she is in the kitchen getting her morning coffee when a knock hits the door. Her eyebrows come together; she isn’t expecting anyone. She opens the door to see a man dressed in a suit with a chauffeur hat. He holds out a dry cleaner bag, “Good morning, Ms. Y/L/N. This is from Mr. Cameron. Goodbye.” The man leaves just as quickly as he appeared and she has no chance to ask any questions. She heads to hang the bag in her room, opening it once it is in her closet. The dress is a dusty pink floor-length dress. There is a high-slight that complements the off-the-shoulder sleeves and the sweetheart neckline is sure to display her bosom in a flattering manner.  She tries on her dress, not understanding how he got the correct size so that it fits her perfectly. She doesn’t care how he knows, but she couldn’t be more thankful for the beautiful dress he got her. 

——

Rafe watches as Y/N readjusts her dress skirt before entering her aunt’s house, where Francine’s engagement party is being held. The gift is in his hand and he holds out his other one for her to take when she is done. He lets her cling to his arm to help her walk in her heels on the uneven path. The cars littering the streets of the New Jersey neighbourhood tell Y/N that they are one of the last ones to get here. She reaches up to knock on the door, but it opens before she can. 

“Y/N! I’m so glad you are here,” Francine excites, reaching out to give her cousin a hug. “And this must be the boyfriend, Rafe. It’s so nice to meet you.” Rafe doesn’t expect the hug he receives from the petite brunette. He awkwardly returns the hug by letting go of Y/N’s hand. “Hey, Fran. Congrats,” Y/N felicitates. Rafe follows suit, “It’s nice to meet you too. Congratulations. Thank you for letting me be a part of the joyous occasion.” “No problem! Anyone who makes Y/N/N happy is welcome to join the festivities. Come in. Food and drinks are in the kitchen. Help yourselves,” Francine replies. 

The couple makes their way inside to greet her family, which they find in the living room. They go through the general greetings before she introduces them to Rafe. “Mom, Dad, Nance. This is Rafe, my boyfriend. Rafe, this is my mom, dad and little sister.” Rafe reaches out his hand for her parents to shake but is pulled in for a hug by Phoebe. “It is nice to meet you, Mrs. and Mr. Y/L/N,” he says, still in the hug. Phoebe shakes, “Oh, please. Call us, Phoebe and Nate. We aren’t big on formalities here.” 

He nods at the statement and turns towards the younger girl. Her freckled cheeks are burnt red under his gaze and she nervously puts her hair behind her ears. A habit that Rafe guesses she models from her sister. “And you must be Nancy. I’m a big fan of your art.” Her cheeks turn even more red and she lets out a little giggle, “Uhh, y-yeah. I-I-I can m-make you s-s-something if you want.” He gives her a simper and reaches into his wallet to pull out a couple hundred dollars. “I would love to commission a piece from you. Whatever this can get me,” he charms, handing her the money. Her giggles continue and she adverts her green eyes away from him. Nate takes the money from his youngest hands and gives it back to Rafe, “She can make you something for free. Thank you for offering though.” The fourteen-year-old frowns at her father’s words but grins when she sees one of her relatives pass by with a plate full of desserts and she falls behind him to the kitchen. 

Y/N excuses herself from the conversation to head to the bathroom. As she exits the bathroom, she is corned by Natalie. “So, where is this so-called boyfriend of yours?” she smugly snides, looking around for Rafe. He spots the cousins from across the room and he isn’t sure who it is, but he is pretty sure he has a good idea who she is based on Y/N’s facial expression. He quickly swoops in to save her. He crosses the room and wraps his arm around her waist. He uses his other hand to turn her head toward him, leaning in so their lips are practically touching. He gives her the opportunity to choose if this goes further. She takes the chance and presses their lips together. Warmth builds in her belly as she moves her lips against his. His other arm finds its way around her waist like its pair and she wraps hers around his neck to deepen the kiss.

This is the first kiss they’ve shared since they started this “relationship”. They had no reason to kiss on the other fake dates because they didn’t need to put on a show for a live audience. And she can’t help but feel that this is a dangerous situation she is in. This kiss is pulling her further into the hole of her feelings for him.   

The cough that Natalie lets out causes them to pull apart. “Sorry, where are my manners? I’m Rafe Cameron. Butterfly’s boyfriend. It’s nice to meet you,” he sneers, holding out his hand for her to shake. Y/N’s heart flutters at his new nickname for her. Natalie’s lips tighten as she notices how handsome Rafe is, “Natalie. It is a pleasure to meet you too. So how did you two meet?” Wanting to get away from her cousin, Y/N quickly interrupts the pair. “Actually, I’m feeling kinda peckish. Boss, how about we go get something to eat?” she suggests, not waiting for an answer. She pulls him into the kitchen and whispers once they are out of earshot, “Thank you for saving me.” He gives her the first full-fledged smile she’s seen him give someone. She’s only ever seen him smirk outside of work, never a genuine, teeth-showing smile. “You’re welcome.” 

——

Y/N sits at her desk focusing on inputting all of Rafe’s appointments from her work planner into his online calendar. She hears the loud whispers going around the office but thinks nothing of it because of her work. “How come you didn’t tell me that you were dating Mr. Cameron?” a voice pulls her out of her work. She looks up to see Jenna standing at her desk. Y/N’s eyebrows meet at a point, “What are you talking about?” Jenna lets out an exasperated sigh and shows Y/N an anonymous thread on Reddit. In the picture, Y/N and Rafe are standing in her aunt’s living room with Rafe’s arm wrapped around her neck behind her. His head rests on top of hers and they both have serene faces. If she didn’t know any better, she would think they were actually dating.

Even with the picture being posted anonymously, she still has an inkling as to who would have taken it. Y/N takes the phone out of the other girl’s hand and examines it further. She knew this was going to have to come out eventually, but she thought she had more time. “Uh, yeah. We wanted to keep it quiet for as long as we could. You know, to give this a real chance without the pressure of other people’s expectations on us,” she uses as an excuse. Jenna’s head moves up and down, “Makes sense. It would’ve been nice to know when the contractors were sprouting out all that stuff about Rafe. We wouldn’t have needed such a long meeting.” 

“Yeah, sorry about that. But I let him soft launch our relationship to help out a little bit. Like Mr. Ward suggested.”

“Right. Well, congrats. I didn’t know you were the relationship type. You seem happy though, so I’m glad.” 

Jenna leaves her work area and Y/N can’t help but think about what Jenna said. She knew that Jenna was right, but it still stung. The last relationship she had was when she was in high school. Since then, she’s dated a few guys for a few weeks but she was always the one to call it quits after a while. She isn’t sure why she never lets a guy closer to her for more than a few weeks; all she knows is that she gets the overwhelming need to flee. She is snapped out of the spiral when she hears her name leaving the lips of someone down the hall. “I knew she must have been sleeping with him. He’s always giving her special treatment,” Roger from accounting gossips to Linda. 

“I know right, I always knew she was a slut, who would sleep her way to the top.”

So this is the start, the start of everyone having an opinion about who she is based on what they read on social media and know about her ‘relationship’ with Rafe. Her high school was filled with people from different social statuses and she knows the types of rumours that spread about dating between social statuses. Feelings could never be genuine when money was involved. Even if this relationship is fake, it still hurts her that people would say shit about her. 

Y/N inhibition takes over and she needs to get out of the office. Lucky for her, Rafe was out of the city for a business meeting and he told her to leave whenever she wanted. She grabs her bags to leave and makes her way to the elevator. She feels the judgemental eyes of the other employees and sinks in on herself. The elevator arrives, letting herself sigh in relief once she is in the safety of the metal container. This makes her think that this is a big mistake. 

Taglist: @loves0phelia @thelomlisrafecameron @wickedlovely121 @aprilrudgate @loving-and-dreaming @thepatriarchykeychain @maybankslover @abbybarnesstuff @wh0reforbucknasty @spencereidbasis @starkowswife @drewsmusee

[cheshirecatuniverse]

If Yamato's and Hyuga's little sisters snuck into Oya

Featuring: Yamato, Cobra, Hyuga, Fujio, Todoroki, Tsukasa, Jamuo, Yasushi

Notes: Post-Murayama Graduation. NOT EDITED.

Yamato's Baby Sister ->

Yamato's little sister is the toughest kid in daycare. You need someone to stomp a spider? She's on it. You need someone to pick up two chairs instead of one? She's the first one there.

So when she was having a play date with her friends from daycare, they were told that sneaking into the delinquent high school was the scariest and coolest thing other kids from daycare have been dared to do.

When Yamato's little sister learned that kids that had bragged going into Oya had only stepped foot in high school for only a couple of minutes, it was a call for a challenge.

"Excuse me," A small voice came out of thin air. Yasushi looked back and forth but saw absolutely no one. He swore he saw everyone leave the gymnasium after the fight with Kiyoshi and some other guy from the Chun-Chun faction.

Oh no. Was Jamuo actually telling the truth, that their high school was haunted-?

"Hello?" Something tugged the fabric of his pants. Yasushi was never so relieved when he looked down before reacting, he would have felt so bad for kicking the little girl in front of him.

He squatted down and looked at her for a long moment.

Yasushi scratched his head, "Um. Where did you come from?"

She blinked, "My mommy."

"That's not- Okay, never mind."

The little girl looked down at her shoes, tapping them together. "Uh.. I don' think 'm supposed to be here."

"Makes two of us." He jabbed a hand at her, "I think I should take you to someone that can help."

Yasushi took her down the hallways, and to her benefit, they didn't seem so scary anymore now that she wasn't alone!

Except she kinda got scared when a couple of guys came barreling down, not stopping for anything, and Yasushi had swiped the small child into his grasp before she got stomped on.

Finally, he found someone some-what responsible, Todoroki... as well as Fujio.

"Yasushi. Why do you have a baby on you?" Todoroki said trying not to sound startled.

"Nuh-uh not a baby, I'm turning five!" She pouted.

"Duh, Todoroki." Fujio crossed his arms and shook his head, "She's turning five."

She nodded very happily.

"She just popped out of nowhere. Y'know what? Maybe she's the ghost Jamuo saw here last month," Yasushi nudged the top of her head with the end of his finger. She looked up at him, almost like an exhuasted adult, as he treated her head like a bobble head.

Todoroki kicked him away, while Fujio crouched down to approach her.

Fujio smiled and patted her head, "Your mom must be worried sick. Do you know her phone number?"

She shook her head to all the guys' dismay, "No... and Mommy can't pick me up!"

"Why not?" Todoroki sighs.

"Mommy works. Yamato picks me up."

"Who's Yamato?" Fujio asks.

"My big brother!" She beams and pulls out a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket. The two stick figures were her and her brother, she explained and babbled. Fujio and Yasushi both try to examine the drawing, trying to see if they can recognize anything familiar from the drawing.

While the two idiots looked closely at the child drawing, she sat with Todoroki, trying to get answers that would help.

"Do you know your address?"

"No!" She said while scribbling on a new sheet of paper Todoroki found for her.

"Okay, maybe you remember signs you've seen? Stores or restaurants you go to?"

"Oh!" She nodded and started to babble again, "Itokan! Naomi makes me yummy food and and and Cobra shares shakes with me. Strawberry shakes! Cause Yamato is a meanie... He don't like to share."

Todorki put his hands in face and cursed loud enough for Yasushi and Fujio to hear. The girl just giggled in her hands, kicking her legs back and forth.

She didn't really notice the panicked whispers and possible strangling noises as she drew her little drawings on the papers on the barely standing desk.

If this was high school, then high school is weird.

Todoroki managed to get a response from Murayama via text. Cobra's number as per requested, and reluctantly, he dialed it.

While that was happening, the little girl gave Yasushi a cat drawing with really pointy teeth and Fujio a dog with a big smile on it.

"Yamato!" She ran across the classroom and jumped right into his arms.

Yamato sighed, saying her name in clear exasperation, but held onto his sister tightly.

"Cobra!" She waved over Yamato's shoulders.

Cobra was busy taking in the situation, looking at the worn-down classroom for any suspicious activity. But it seemed that Todoroki was honest on the phone. She really did wander here on her own.

"Are you okay? Do you know what I've been doing all day? Looking for you, everyone was looking-" Yamato glared and held her up to get better look at her. She was covered head to toe in dust, her shoes turned grey and even her jeans torn a little on the bottom.

"Why are you dirty- why is she dirty?" Yamato stared down at his sister's (assumed) captors. "What the hell did you do to her?"

Cobra put a hand at his shoulder, trying to prevent him from doing anything serious.

"WHAT? She was like that wh-" Todoroki jammed a fist into Yasushi stomach to make him shut up. Meanwhile, Fujio put on his best customer service smile as his brain was racking for a suitable answer.

"Yamato, Yamato," She tugged on the collar of his shirt. "I was super sneaky. I went under the fence. I'm a spy! But, But, then they found me."

In a much gentler tone, he asked, "Pipsqueak, Did they hurt you?"

"Nuh-uh." She pointed at Yasushi, "He helped me! I was a little scared. But I like it here, they like my drawings! Can we come back Yamato??"

Still lurched over, recovering from Todoroki's punch, he rasped out, "...It's true."

Exhausted, Yamato rubbed his eyes and muttered under his breath, "I swear to god, this is the third time."

Fujio tried to offer the rest of paper they found for her to take with her but Yamato crumbled it up and threw it away. Before they left Todoroki got an angry looking cat drawing from Yamato's little sister and a subtle nod of acknowledgement from Yamato.

Cobra was the only who said "Thank you" and to "Not cause too much trouble."

Cobra turned around to look at Fujio, "Murayama said you were the best choice for Oya High. You better hope he's right."

Hyuga's Little Sister ->

• Hyuga's little sister is a problem solver. Her teacher says she applies logic well but her antics were a bit much.

• She currently was going through a bit a of a stubborn phase. When Hyuga said they were having miso soup for dinner but she wanted pasta. When Hyuga said not to stay up too late, she wanted to watch a movie right before bed. When Hyuga said she wasn't allowed to have spray paint because "You have crayons like a normal child."

• But to Hyuga's little sister crayons were so last season and she wanted her poster for her school project to look cool. When they drove by Oya High one time the spray paint looked so much better than markers and crayons.

The fifth time Hyuga said 'No' made her get on a train and end up at Oya High. She snuck into an open window (it was actually just broken).

She wandered around until she found spray paint bottles hanging around. She found the jackpot in an empty room, and this room actually had a door! She took all the spray paints and went further into the school to find more.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't flinch or jump when she got caught. She was busy standing on a desk, reaching for a can of spray paint on the shelf and successfully stuffing it in her backpack.

This room didn't have a door like the previous one. She was just about to move out of the room before this blonde guy came around.

"I'm busy. Shoo Shoo," She gestured, shooing him away.

"Are you stealing?" Tsukasa said, tilting his head at the stuffed backpack.

"No..." She pouted and crossed her arms, avoiding his eyes.

Tsukasa sighed and looked at the ceiling, thinking. "Okay, how about this? You tell me what you're doing here, and I can try to help."

"Big brother didn't wanna buy me spray paint..." She huffed again. "I don't wanna use crayons for my project."

"Does your brother go to Oya?"

"No," She shook her head and sat down, "He's older."

Then she realized she didn't know how to exactly get home.

Tsukasa asks, sitting on top of the desk across from her, "Do you know where you live? Your Mom and Dad must be really worried."

She seemed to get even smaller at his words. ".. I don't have a Mommy and Daddy. Only big brother."

"Oh," Tsukasa looked a little lost. He almost apologized but cleared his throat and smiled, "That's okay. So your big brother takes care of you, right? He must want to know where you are."

"But he might get mad," She frowns, hugging her backpack. She snuck out of school early to do this. Her brother must have been going crazy when Sakyo and Ukyo came home to tell him she was gone.

"He won't get mad," Tsukasa shakes his head, "I think he'll be happy to know you're okay."

He successfully managed to get her to agree to come with her on the rooftop. Tsukasa gave her a rubix cube he found on one of the couches for her to fiddle on while he went to get Jamuo and Fujio.

Fujio greeted her warmly, but still she scooted into the corner of the couch and fidgeted with the rubix cube.

Jamuo and Tsukasa looked through her backpack for anything that could help them find her guardian, but no luck there.

Tsukasa called her name, and she lifted her head up. "What's your brother name?"

"I'm not allowed to say," She said.

"How come?" Fujio asked.

"Big brother said not to tell people his name."

"Fujio, Tsukasa," Jamuo called out, pulling out a pink folder out of her backpack. His hands were shaking.

Alaramed, they went over while she pulled stickers out of her sweater. Graffiti was everywhere, so she thought it would be fine to stick things on the beaten up desks and chairs.

Jamuo pulled out a piece of paper out of the folder. Fujio was confused at the site of elementary school math homework. But then Tsukasa's eyes widened with a small 'Fuck.'

It had the little girl's first name and last name. Hyuga.

Tsukasa ran his hands through his hair, "We're so fucked."

Thankfully, Hyuga's casinos had phone lines. Unfortunately, they were notified that Hyuga would be arriving soon.

Tsukasa pulled all the spray paint out of her backpack to her dismay.

"But.. you said you would help me," She frowned.

"Spray paint can be dangerous to inhale," Tsukasa

replied, clearly distracted, cause he was barely paying attention to her as he put the cans of spray paint away.

There was no point in arguing, so she sulked and looked at Jamuo, who was on his knees on the floor. He was mumbling to himself, clearly not doing so great.

She tugged at Fujio's shirt, "Does he always do that?"

Fujio smiled, friendly, collected, even though his mind was in a very different place. "No, he doesn't. He'll be fine, don't worry."

Fujio let her put her stickers on the door to the roof. Letting her talk his ear off about the Hello Kitty ones and the Lightning McQueen ones her big brother bought for her.

Hyuga's presence had all of them with the same expression, like a deer in front of headlights. You could hear a pin drop before she scuffled over to Hyuga, Sakyo, and Ukyo.

She had her hands behind her back, pouting with her big puppy eyes.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Check her," Hyuga glanced at her for a moment before looking at Fujio.

Jamuo had his back bent all the way down in a deep bow while Tsukasa couldn't make eye contact or he would start sweating.

Sakyo leaned down, hands on his knees, "You okay Lil' demon? Are you hurt anywhere?"

She nodded frantically and stuck her pointer finger out, "Paper cut."

Hyuga's face became colder, and Fujio thought they were all going to die because of a paper cut.

Sakyo whistled and shook his head, "Well that's no good." His twin handed him a band-aid and Sakyo put it on her.

"Hello Kitty," She smiled at her wrapped finger.

"Are those hers?" Hyuga looked at Fujio's face and shirt. Stickers were scattered across his shirt and his cheek and chin.

"Oh, yeah," Fujio wanted to laugh, but he just smiled stiffly, "She's a good kid."

Hyuga grunted and grabbed the pastel pink backpack Ukyo handed to him. He looked down at his sister, "Did they try to steal you?"

"No, I got lost," She was using her best puppy dog eyes so he wouldn't get mad, "They gave me toys!" She stuck out her hand with the rubix cube.

Hyuga looked at the Oya students for a long time, then at the twins, and then at his sister. He gave her his hand before telling her, "We're leaving."

Just as he reached the rooftop entrance, he looked at Fujio, "Just because I made the sword alliance with Murayama, doesn't mean I made it with you. Remember that."

© 2023 chesirecatuniverse all rights reserved

[linghxr]

My spring 2024 cdrama/cmovie/cvariety updates

I can't believe it's already been over 6 months since my last watching updates post! I've been watching more movies, and I'll also mention a couple variety shows, so it's not just cdramas.

Shows/series:

Some of these were mentioned as “currently watching” in my previous post.

《不良执念清除师》 Oh No! Here Comes Trouble A young man learns to use his supernatural calligraphy powers to help strange beings, with help from his frenemy and a young police officer. This show was like a breath of fresh air and very humorous. That being said, it was difficult to follow all the storylines. If you're going to watch it, I think you should binge it if possible. Content warning: Death, gore

《此时此刻》 At the Moment An anthology of quirky pandemic love stories, not all with happy endings. It's kind of like Love Actually in that the characters are connected across stories. Initially I didn't plan to watch because of the pandemic through line—I thought it would bum me out. But it didn't, actually. My favorite episode was Head of the Family. Content warning: Unhealthy relationships, sex and nudity

《隐秘的角落》 The Bad Kids Three kids accidentally film a murder and try to blackmail the killer, resulting in devastating consequences. I felt the first half of this show was more captivating than the second half—the second half went a bit overboard IMO. Apparently the original novel is way darker so…! But I still recommend it wholeheartedly. Content warning: Death and violence (but not graphic)

《沉默的真相》 The Long Night The murder of a disgraced prosecutor seems like an open-and-shut case, but his past reveals a much more complicated story. This show masterfully weaves together three different timelines. I was so confused after the first episode, but it all made sense in the end. I don't recommend binge watching it—I regretted doing so. Content warning: Violence, death, sexual assault

《双镜》 Couple of Mirrors A young woman's personal and professional lives are turned upside down, and she befriends a mysterious woman with a dark past. You have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy this show. There was a ridiculous number of car accidents! It's a GL drama, but if I hadn't know that, I don't think I would have noticed until the end. Content warning: Death, violence

Variety/reality:

《披荆斩棘的哥哥》 Call Me by Fire In the past I didn't include variety shows, but this time I thought why not? I finally finished all 3 seasons of this show, the male spinoff of 《乘风破浪的姐姐》 Sisters Who Make Waves. It's similar to an idol survival show, but instead of trainees, the contestants are established celebrities. The sets are always amazing, and I might have enjoyed this show more than 《乘风破浪》 honestly!

Movies:

《家庭简史》 Brief History of a Family The description of this movie sounded dull, but I ended up enjoying it a lot! I've seen reviews compare it to Parasite and Saltburn. There is definitely some similarity–it's about a well-off family that takes in a mysterious, quiet boy–but the takeaway of this film is very different. It leaves a lot of room for ambiguity.

《流浪地球》 The Wandering Earth After being on my watchlist for years, I finally got around to seeing this movie. I knew the basic premise: humanity bands together to move Earth away from the expanding sun. I wasn't expecting that it would focus on one family, which gave the movie a more personal feel. I enjoyed it despite not being a huge sci-fi person. Content warning: Death

《美国女孩》 American Girl A family moves back to Taiwan for their mother's cancer treatment after several years in the US, and the eldest daughter struggles to adapt. It's set during the SARS outbreak, but I don't remember that being very prominent. This movie was quite bleak and bummed me out. And I found the ending rather abrupt. It wasn't for me I think. Content warning: Illness, disease outbreak

《你好，李焕英》 Hi, Mom This movie was super popular when it came out. It's about a woman who gets transported back in time and meets her mother (who is young and childless at this point). At first I was confused about where the movie was going—it didn't seem to be building to much. But it had a heartwarming and touching ending. Content warning: Death

《周处除三害》 The Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon After seeing a lot of buzz about this movie online, I had to check it out. It follows a terminally ill hitman who learns he is the third most wanted criminal in Taiwan and decides to kill the two criminals ranking above him. Despite this, the main character is actually pretty likable. I enjoyed the movie despite the violence. Content warning: Excessive violence, death, sexual assault

Currently watching:

《火星情报局》 Mars Intelligence Agency This is a variety show. The cast consists of celebrities who take turns telling funny stories and making jokes. I started watching because my favorite singer 薛之谦 is a cast member. I was unsure about the concept at first, but honestly it's really entertaining!

《摩天大楼》 A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower I finally started this show, which has been on my watchlist for a while. I'm only 2 episodes in—so far it's mostly been about the past of the titular murder victim. I'm not yet sure what direction the show will go in, but I'm excited to find out.

Abandoning:

《你的孩子不是你的孩子》 On Children I got through 3 out of 5 episodes before abandoning this show. Each episode is the length of a movie, so they drag on. But I totally understand why episode 2, Child of the Cat, was nominated for and won so many awards. The acting was really strong.

《汉化日记》 God Troubles Me I wanted to try watching a 动画, but after a few episodes, I wasn't feeling this one. Each episode is quite short, so it's an easy watch. I think it just wasn't for me.

On my watchlist:

《漫长的季节》 The Long Season

《尘封十三载》 Thirteen Years of Dust

I'm trying to be better about content warnings. But please note, I only included them for things I finished watching, not things I'm currently watching or abandoning.

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

⭐ for the ask <3

Gonna talk about my boy Aemon & Silverwing, specifically in the chapters for his first POV (Things Fall Apart, & We Remember)

Silverwing was meant for him. Ella said so all the time, and even his princely father had mentioned it! If no one was going to take him to her before the winter snows came, then he would just have to claim her alone. Like in the stories that mandia told him about when she had claimed Vermithor.

- Things Fall Apart, Aemon 1A

So that's the whole thing there: Aemon was born to claim Silverwing. He's been excited about dragons for as long as he can remember because "well, I specificially am supposed to have Silverwing. Everyone says so!"

Aemon is 7 by the time these chapters roll around, which is about the age he's heard about his cousins (Rhaenyra & Laenor) claiming their dragons, & circumstances keep popping up that see his being brought into the mountains to claim her being delayed. His older brother gets married, his dad gets put on Runestone House Arrest for some sort of shenanigans at the wedding, his sister-in-law gets pregnant, its late autumn & they have to get ready to move out of the way of the coming snows, his cousins Willam & Yarwyck are both having weddings planned--he very much thinks everyone is forgetting about him. So naturally, this means he has to take matters into his own hands. And this taking matters into his own hands is, unfortunately, how he's in the right place at the right time to see his mom get murdered.

It can be hard to notice, especially when Aemon has been a little hater from day 1, but he's got as much of their dad in him as Ella has. His "I need to concoct an elaborate but believable lie & then run off into the mountains on my own in order to get what I want/deserve" was 100% premeditated. It wasn't a great plan & there were easier ways to do this (see: tell literally anyone his concerns & they'll bring him to go claim Silverwing), but it was premeditated. It also fully hinged on everyone being so impressed with him that they ignored him lying & being an unsupervised 7-year-old to keep him from getting in trouble. Daemon Targaryen, you are the father.

Aemon is going to be fully, 1000000% on board for his big sister's shenanigans in the current WIP chapter. Sibling Gremlin Time

“Sōvēs!” She trilled, high and clear and more at peace than the first time Aemon heard her that day, and gracefully pulled herself into the air. He yelled as he leaned so forward in the saddle that the horns dug into his chest. Aemon winced, and then sat back up. He had expected the buildup and the heavy drag from Vermithor, but now that he was up here he wouldn’t trade any part of the experience for the world. Silverwing was faster than Vermithor in every sense, and she was everything and more than what he’d dreamt about in all the years he’d been waiting for this moment. Aemon started laughing, uncontrollable and giddy.

- We Remember, Aemon 1B

At this particular point in the story, Ella has flown off on Vermithor to locals unknown & Silverwing is being emo about her missing husband. But then here comes the little boy who's loved her his whole life & comes to see her (under the supervision of dragon keepers) & whispers to her about how they're best friends (she's not gonna fight it, he's very polite) & he's doing the whole claiming song-and-dance. And even for her it's correct. Like "yes, this is my personal little boy. He is sad right now & he needs me because he said we are best friends & I haven't had one of those since Alyssane. The time for us to be a unit is now, the planets are finally in correct alignment for me to have a new rider." (What can I say, Silverwing likes them slightly pathetic)

Silverwing has known Aemon since he was a baby & he claims her when he's a mourning 7-year-old, so she's his dragon mom now. And they don't fill the hole left by the ones they're missing (his mom for Aemon & her mate for Silverwing), but the hole isn't as deep anymore. And even when Ella comes back with Vermithor & they're eventually able to be in the same place again, Silverwing is still dragon mom, because that's her boy.

[findingmelissa]

A week ago, I was reading my trauma book again - that thing is taking me forever because every time I read another 25 pages, I spiral off on another painful realization that lasts for days. Case in point:

Talking about painful events doesn't necessarily establish community-often quite the contrary. Families and organizations may reject members who air the dirty laundry; friends and family can lose patience with people who get stuck in their grief or hurt. This is one reason why trauma victims often withdraw and why their stories become rote narratives, edited into a form least likely to provoke rejection.

This made me think of my mom after Andy died. She had no patience for me talking about the grief over her death or the agony and anguish over my sister's part in it. Especially as time went by - after not even that long, it became "it's just a cat" and "you need to have a relationship with your sister when I am gone because you will only have each other."

I remember being very angry and upset and telling Steve "well, I guess I can't talk to my mom about this, I guess that's what my friends are for." In fact, I may have said that to my mom directly, but the memory there is not clear.

The takeaway here is that she let me down yet again and in the same way that she did in my childhood. I expressed my trauma and she chose to diminish it and push it away because SHE did not how to handle it. I am screaming on the inside just typing that.

This is why I am hyper-independent. And I thought all the reasons for that, and my fear of vulnerability, came from my childhood. But the situation with Andy and my sister made it reoccur and reinforced it. It's no wonder I got even worse after 2019. Worse meaning my drinking, my self-destructive behaviors, my depression and anxiety, my tendency to stuff everything down and "handle it myself." Which I did a terrible job of, obviously.

I stuffed so much down after Andy died - and still do when it comes to my family. Stuffed so much that I finally had a breakdown. So much that I had neurological issues the last couple of years (as my trauma book says in the title: the body keeps the score).

Losing Andy the way that I did was a life-altering moment. One of those moments where I have a "life before that happened" and "life after that happened." I always thought I knew all the reasons I felt that way. But it was more complex than that. Makes sense that it would be.

It's really good to have these light bulb moments, no matter how painful they may be.

[zimithrus]

10 Shows (gifs), 10 People 📺

Tagged by the lovely @isleofair, thank you so much for including me! This one looks like a super fun one! 💚💚 These aren't going to be in any particular order, just 10 shows that I liked enough to incorporate into my personality or just really really liked growing up 😆🌟

1 Inuyasha

My very first anime I watched with the actual knowledge of what anime even was. Shout-out to my big bro for getting me into it when I was 10. Helped me make one of my very best friends to this day and I have such fond memories of this anime. 💗

2 House MD

My favorite medical drama to watch! Some episodes had me thinking 'I can't believe my mom was okay with me watching this show' 😆 I still remember so many episodes vividly and I really want to re-watch it all again now that I'm an adult XD

3 Chrono Crusade

Oh lord the things this show did to my teenage brain 💗 I shit you not I would finish this series and then REWATCH IT ALL OVER AGAIN ON THE SAME DAY, I was hardcore obsessed with this show!! Permanently altered my brain chemistry, and unfortunately in the process I watched it so much I ruined it for my older brother 😂😂 To this date this show has one of the most powerful shows of intensity coupled with the most bittersweet ending I have ever seen 😭 Like literally, hmu about this show because there's no one else I know that even KNOWS what this show is and I am always down to talk about this one any time!! (This gif of Chrono was too cute not to use!!)

4 Tiger & Bunny

This show. These two. Holy shit. 💯 they've definitely altered my brain waves too XD This show has some of the most dynamic characterization, design and storytelling I've seen in a long time! I definitely got into it later in life but I'd say I got into it at just the right time. An anime about the nitty gritty of superhero life specifically made with adult audiences in mind 💚

5 Code Lyoko

I was obsessed with this show when it first launched on cartoon network! A unique blend of 2D and 3D animation with all kinds of dangers and hijinks. The 3D is definitely a little aged but I think it still holds up well for a show made in '03. Me and my brother used to quote this show all the time and giggle over the dumb jokes so much that my mom dropped the rule of needing to be excused from the dinner table for reasons I can't remember XD Shout-out to Odd for being my first introduction to a cat-like person with his 3D model 💜

6 Case Closed / Detective Conan

Murder mystery anime for the win!! Still ongoing even after 28 years of airing 💯 I'm going through and trying to complete an entire series watch!I didn't get into this one until 2011 with the 6th movie (they played it at our library's local anime club meeting) and only watched the dub until recently, but at least I have a lot to watch! 💚

7 Xiaolin Showdown

I loved this cartoon! Fun, exciting, well rounded characters and villains, amazing plots and fun times all around! I remember they even had a contest for this show to design your own weapon that would be later added into the show! Jack Spicer is a hilarious villain and shout-out to Chase Young for being my first fictional crush ever 💚

8 Pokemon

Raichu my beloved!!! 💚💚Aside from Raichu, I loved this show growing up. Ash was such a fun and likeable protagonist for me as a kid and heck this show is even the reason why I have my irl nickname in the first place. I legit teared up when Ash was finally no longer the main protagonist of the series anymore lol!

9 Avatar: The Last Airbender

Ironically, we did not have cable at the time this show was at the height of it's popularity, so I was only able to watch it when my parents took me and my brother over to our friends house. (Our parents were friends so naturally all us kids were friends too!) But we would all get super excited when this show was on, especially if the episode was new! I think we used to pretend to be the characters? XD And I remember the eldest sister of our friends came by one day with avatar fruit snacks for us all, it was awesome 💯💚 Zuko still has one of the best redemption arcs I've seen in a show 👌

10 Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles

A middle school favorite!! For months I wanted everyone in school to call me Sakura 😅 Still have my DVDs and a few manga books for this series. Loved it a ton even if the anime itself never did wrap up the story completely. The OVAs were bad-ass though, and a lot of the OST is still downloaded to my ipod 💯 (Yes I still use an ipod in 2024 lmao) (Looks familiar? The Manga artists of Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Chobits also made this one - CLAMP!)

Holy fuck this took way longer to pull together than I thought it would! I think I spent over an hour?? XD But it was super fun anyway!! I will see if these cool cats would also like to do this one! (I can't think of 10 sorry! XD)

@prismaticpichu @up-sideand-down @kazeshxni @thatrandomartistyoufound @aerislei @enide-s-dear @waifujuju @nicoroni

And of course no pressure if you aren't feeling up to it!! 💚💚

[kitasparkles]

A New Story!

Let’s try something different. I’ll make a text post instead. This is a new story I am working on. Just the first chapter ... I don’t even have a title for it yet. :et me know if you like it. If this pushes my likes up, I’ll do more on here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I woke up the first morning after the decision with a very wet diaper, but dry bed. When Mom came in my room she simply asked, “Well, are you wet?” I didn’t want to answer, but blushed. “Can’t say?  I guess I’ll have to check you like a baby then,” she said, pulling my covers back. She put a finger in the leg elastic of my diaper. “Feels wet to me, what did we say would happen if you wet in a diaper like a baby last night?” I blushed even more. “That I would get a spanking til sound like a baby too,” I answered. She sat on the bed, and pulled me over her knee, and started spanking my diaper without much lead-in. It immediately stung, but more so when she smacked the areas where the diaper met the skin on the backs of my legs. She then picked up the hairbrush left on the dresser and continued spanking in earnest, to much wiggling from me.   “Ok, time to really bring out the baby crying now,” she finally said, undoing my diaper and pulling it open in the back. I was so humiliated to be in this position at all that it would have been enough to bring tears, but not all out crying, which we both knew I needed. She brought it down hard on my bare bottom, immediately eliciting a gasp from me as I sucked in air. The second swat brought out the first, “Ahh!” and the third fourth and fifth brought three more cries, each rising more in intensity and franticness. My bottom was on fire and the coupled with my humiliation sent me into overload. In ten swats I was bawling out a steady wail, just like a two year old. She didn’t stop til 20. I was glad it was just me and Mom at home now. My sister had gone to stay with our aunt and her two daughters for a month. Of course that was also what led to my downfall. I had already been sneaking diapers to wear, but wanted to know what it felt like to be in a diaper and a dress. With my sister gone and Mom at work, I had full access to her closet, and had dressed up for three afternoons before I got too careless and forgot the time. Mom came home and caught me dressed up. It was obvious I had been enjoying myself. Mom said that if this was something I enjoyed so much that I would sneak around to do it, we would just make it more public. When she saw I wasn’t entirely horrified by that, she gathered that I actually might want to be “punished” in this way. She was going to take it all away, until I admitted to her that if she did that, I was probably going to wet the bed. Several mornings now I woke up in wet diapers, not remembering when it happened the night before. So, instead she made a decision – give me what I wanted …. Until I was certain it is not what I wanted anymore. But we weren’t done yet. I was cleaned with baby wipes and led by the hand to the Living Room. “Tell Mommy what you really need,” she instructed me.  I looked fearfully at the closet.  I knew that just inside the door was “The Stick”.  My brother and sister had it, but I never got spanked with it before. I was curious about it though. What must that feel like, a total loss of control from what I had seen from them.   They never got it barebottom.  “Tell Mommy,” she said again. “I … I…” “Try a whole confession,” she suggested. “Mommy, I was naughty by pretending I am growing up but playing baby behind everyone’s back, and then losing my potty training,” I admitted. “I untrained myself and now without diapers I wet my bed. That was naughty…” I hiccupped.  She nodded encouragement to me. “I… I know I need the biggest punishment for that, and a firm reminder of what it is like to be a baby. Please sp... give me a paddling with The Stick.” “Get it out yourself,” she said. “Satisfy your curiosity and fear of it. Look it over.”  I opened the closet and drew out the instrument of punishment.  About 2 feet long, smooth, hickory wood.  Not to heavy, not too wide, but apparently my parents thought perfect for swatting naughty bottoms.  It was hardly ever used, maybe only a couple times a year. We never watched each other get it, but the cries could be heard no matter where you were in the house. Soon that would be my cries. I ran my fingers over it and looked at my Mom, the queasy feeling in my stomach like ice. My hands trembled a little as I held the stick out to her. My bottom was already stinging a little, tempting me to rub it, but I knew that it was about to get a lot worse. Mom took me over to the back side of the loveseat. “I see you flip over this all the time.  It is the perfect height for this.” She bent me over it until my head came to the other side, and I was on my tip-toes. “What are you?” I was asked again. “A … a baby…” I said. She rubbed my back a few times. “What would be the most embarrassing punishment?” she asked. “Since that’s what you obviously are wanting.”   “The worst spanking is to be spanked with that,” I said, looking at the Stick. “The worst punishment would be getting spanked with that often, put back in diapers all the time, have to drink baby bottles, be babysat by girls from school, and …be a baby GIRL.” She considered each point as I made it. “I think we can arrange ALL of that,” she told me. “It’s going to be very embarrassing for you, isn’t it?  Is that what Mommy’s baby GIRL needs? Spankings and diapers, teasing and being embarrassed?”   I nodded. “Say it,” she said. “Yes Mommy, I need spankings and embarrassment ….. baby bottles and dresses and being babysat. I need to cry like a baby,” I said. WHAP!!! I had not prepared for that swat! “Ahhhhh!!!”  I cried out.    Two more followed in quick succession and I truly did wail and cry like a baby. She he did not stop until she reached 13 – my age. My bottom was on fire and I wondered if I would have blisters from that!  I was the only one of my siblings to get spanked with it bare bottom! Afterwards Mom put me on the floor and I was soon in a dry diaper, tightly taped on. In addition she had brought out a cute sailor dress that used to belong to my sister.  It was a little short on me, but actually cute.  She brushed out my longish hair and trimmed bangs in the front and a part in the middle, evening up the sides in a cute pixie-cut.  It was not going to be hard to pass me off as a girl. I was grabbed by the hand and led out to the car like this. I was not sure where we were going, but even though I had stated my own punishment I didn’t feel ready for it. Our neighbor lady, in her 20s, was out washing the car as my Mom led me to our car, and she did a double take as she first simply looked for a second, then turned back with wide eyes as she realized that was me in the infantile girlish outfit.  My mother called out to her. “Hi Cassie!”  Then to me, “Best we get this out of the way right now. This is going to become known by the neighbors at least; it’s not a private punishment since you said you need to be embarrassed.”  She turned back to Cassie, who was looking on with her mouth dropped open. “Someone’s been naughty,” she said, pointing to me, “And admitted HERself what punishment she needed. Didn’t you?” she addressed me. I stared at the ground, face hotter than I ever felt before, and nodded. “Tell her what you said you are!” my Mom prodded. I glanced up quickly to see that Cassie had now walked across out little street and was in the driveway, walking toward us. I immediately stared back a the driveway, finding the mary jane shoes my Mom found to buckle on my feet and my ruffled ankle socks intensely interesting. “Umm … a …  a…”   My mouth was so dry, and there was a lump in my throat.  “A… well-spanked baby girl…” “Why?”  my mother prompted. I sniffled. “I …  was curious,” I admitted my crime. “I was wearing diapers and getting in my sister’s clothes and dressing up like a baby girl. I started to wet my diapers every night, and now I can’t go without them. I lost my potty training.”  A single tear made its way down my cheek but it earned me no sympathy. “Oh my, that DOES sound naughty.  And here I thought you were a big boy. I guess really you’re just a baby! Only BABIES need DIAPERS.”  She taunted me a bit. “You should get him … I mean HER … a pacifier,” she said. “If you need a babysitter, I’d be happy to.” “Thank you,” my mother said. “I think we probably will.   She’s like this for at least a month. I am taking her all the way back to diapers and then retraining her. As for the pacifier – we are on our way to the store to get some supplies now!”   Oh, so that’s where we were going.  Where more people would get a look at me. “Bye-bye, baby girl!” Cassie waved at me. She was still laughing as I looked out the car window when we pulled out of the driveway.

[thinplacesradio]

the driver's side of a silver car from the outside, hazy, headlights illuminating the road in front of it. the lights inside the car are streaked and blurry. the hood is popped. the image is distorted by VCR static. white text reads:

[022] THE VISION. A CALLER REMEMBERS A MESSAGE. THE HOST TAKES A LOOK UNDER THE HOOD.

listen here, or anywhere you find your podcasts. transcript under cut:

[static, radio tuning]

[Traveling Sales Rep: Don’t touch that dial! We’ll be right back, after these short messages.] [static, radio tuning]

[click]

Hello and welcome to Thin Places Radio. I’m your host,

and it is the middle of the night. But don’t worry. You’re not alone.

[Thin Places theme] 

[hissing] [car door dinging]

I’m coming to you sweaty from my studio, which is what I like to call the side of this poorly paved road that my car has chosen to break down on. It’s hissing out purple smoke, which seems. Well. I don’t know. I’m not exactly the expert in what’s normal or not normal.

I’ve got the hood propped up and am looking around inside hoping that any part of this triggers something in my mind. But it’s looking like fixing cars is an area I was, and remain, totally useless in – ladies. Hey, at least that’s something I remember about myself.  

It's a clear night – a beautiful night, honestly. The stars are bright overhead, and past the heat of the car, the air is finally starting to bite with cold. I don’t know how many seasons I’ve been on the road like this, but something about fall turning to winter just feels right.

On such a clear and beautiful night, the wind should be clearing away the sea of smoke that’s hovering around the car, but it’s settling down across the road itself, now, a strange, luminescent fog obscuring the old farm that I thought I saw off in the distance.

[strange burbling gasping sound, followed by clangs]

Hm. [clang] Do we think that’s good?

So… what is Thin Places Radio? Well, you can call in about anything strange that you’ve got going on in your life - feelings, omens, premonitions, hauntings.

Are you being tested?

Is someone beyond the grave getting a message to you just in time?

Has time been pulled out of joint? 

When the veil between worlds is thin, we get closer than ever to the strange and the unexplained - but also to each other. Call in, get it off your chest. Lines are open.

[click] [voicemail:]

So this happened to my mother a long time ago, when my sister was little. She - my sister was really sick, but no one knew what was happening. And my - and so the doctors were like well, we'll just send her home for a few days. See if that goes, that goes away or something. And my mom was so tired. So exhausted. And she says that the image of my grandmother who had just recently passed came to her and said, don't you let them send my baby away. And so she didn't and they found out what was wrong with her and it was really bad, but they were able to get to it in time. To help her and save her. So, just wanted to let you know about that because that was a little weird. My name is Slay. You can use the name if you want to. Have a good day. Thank you.

[click] [searching music]

Hi, caller. I’m glad your sister is okay, first of all. It’s still scary that she was sick, even if she got better, and even if it happened a long time ago. This kind of near-miss reveals history’s many branching paths, some of the things that could have happened but didn’t. What a relief. What an act of faith and trust – to hear a message from beyond the grave and to believe it. And to deliver a message in the hope that it will be received, in perfect timing.

All communication is like this – reaching out across an uncrossable space and hoping that the thing you really mean can be understood by the person who has to understand it. But your mother listened to her mother, and her own gut. Thank goodness your sister had an advocate like that. The last thing you know how to do when you are very young and very sick is to stand up for yourself – even, or maybe especially, when you know something is wrong.

I don’t know what happens when you’re dead, and I don’t remember what it’s like to be alive, but I know a whole lot about the space in between. That’s where your sister was saved. That’s where your Grandmother found her, and said, no, please, not yet. It’s not time yet. I’m deciding that. I’m coming back for her.

[click]

Something strange, listeners. There’s something on the ground here, half buried in the gravel on the road beside my car. Hold on.

[rustling]

It’s a postcard, waterlogged and pocked but not torn. It's a picture of an old radio tower, black and white, and the light at the top is lit, I think, with a hazy bright glow. it says WISH I WAS HERE. It feels like if I found the right place, I could hold the postcard up to the horizon and the light would start blinking, full color. WISH I WAS HERE. So... where am I?

[click]  

The air is finally clearing, and the car is quiet again. Now that it's cooled and I can see under the hood, I can see that there's a cap that's come loose. [cap screws]

There. Let's give her a whirl.

[hood shuts] [door opens] [engine purrs]

There we go, baby! Where to next? I’ve been moving for God knows how long, forward and forward and forward. Maybe it's time to try to retrace my steps.

Do I have a mother, a grandmother, that cared for me the way the caller’s care for them? Who did I leave behind? Why? When? I’ve been reaching out to all of you, and you've been reaching back. Communication. A conversation. Maybe it's time I reach back to myself and see who shows up.

[car door shuts] [engine shifts to a low rumble] [turn signal clicks]

[click]

Thank you for listening, callers, and thank you for calling, listeners. I hope you feel a little bit lighter. I know I do. As always, our number is 717.382.8093. That’s 717.382.8093. Until next time. I’ll be here.

[static] [Traveling Sales Rep: visit us at the - diner just off -] [Various Garbled Voices: the - road - provides - the - road - provides -]

Thin Places Radio is a podcast written by Kristen O’Neal and produced by Kaitlin Bruder. The voice of Your Host is Kristen O’Neal.

Tonight’s voicemail was left for us by Slay. Editing and sound design are by Kaitlin Bruder, and the music tracks you heard in tonight’s episode are: the Thin Places theme, by Miles Morkri, and Umeed by RANA. If you have a question to ask, a story to tell, or a suggestion for the host, give us a call at ‪(717) 382-8093. The lines are always open.

[Thin Places Theme outro]

[iannicellis]

Hi all! I'm so thrilled to be able to bring you my first writing update. I so though this would have happened already, but trying to get any writing done during this semester has been like fighting in the trenches.

Anyway, I haven't been able to work on any of my long form wips, but I have been able to complete the first draft of a short story that will be the first in a science fiction collection. Let's talk about it!

This short story is called MY LUNGS REMEMBER AIR. Logline below:

A young girl reaches a breaking point when denied the opportunity to grieve for her deceased sister.

I wrote this story over the course of about three days for the science fiction and fantasy workshop I'm taking this semester. Getting it down on paper-- especially the second half-- was a little like pulling teeth, but it's amazing what a deadline will do for you lol.

I am very much still warming up my science fiction muscles, as it is a new genre for me (at least when it comes to writing, not so much reading), but I really felt like I started coming into my own voice for the genre with this piece. As the logline suggests, it deals with themes of grief and sisterhood, as well as autonomy and ethics (of resurrecting your daughter as an android and pretending she never died). The first two, you will find if you keep following me here, are things that I cannot stop exploring in my writing. So! I clung to the familiar territory of grief and sisterhood to navigate the waters of this new genre, and I think it went well???

My goals were twofold: I wanted to convey an off-putting vibe, and I wanted my protagonist's grief to be palpable and relatable. Based on the feedback I've gotten on this story thus far, I definitely succeeded in the first of these, but on edits I'm aiming to delve even deeper into my protagonist's grief.

I learned in writing this that sci-fi fucks actually and I had a great time. Very much looking forward to writing more short stories for this collecting that's slowly slowly starting to come together in my head.

MY LUNGS REMEMBER AIR excerpts below!

One year comes and goes without recognition. What is there to recognize, when, according to her parents, Monterey is at the dinner table every night, watching the television with dad before bed, cracking jokes with mom as they get ready for Saturday morning yoga? She wears Monterey's laugh like an ill-fitting coat. Daytona passes the day in the darkness of Quay's bedroom, demolishing a handle of whiskey between herself and Quay and Flossie. She lays her clammy head on Quay's lap and watches the two of them play video games until she sees stars behind her eyelids when she blinks. When she vomits in Quay's bathroom later that night, he rubs her back and Flossie holds up her hair and the desert heave of her sob is swallowed by the sound of the toilet flushing.

In the quiet midnight hours one night, after waking up from the routine sleepwalking, Daytona shuffles into the kitchen and cuts an apple in the darkness. She slots a slice into her mouth, and the crunch of teeth on fruit flesh is the loudest thing in the neighborhood. She runs the knife under a thin stream of sink water to rid it of the juice, and rubs slow, contemplating circles on the metal with a rag to dry it off. Moonlight shines on the blade, pulsing like a heartbeat.  It might kill her, Daytona thinks. If she plunges it in just the right place, the not-sister might stop talking with Monterey’s voice, and laughing with Monterey’s laugh, and looking at her with Monterey’s eyes. They could bury the not-girl in her sister’s place and finally, finally let free the relief and rot of grief. 

[choices-binglebonkus]

Because I’m in a daring mood today, here’s something that may or may not be a hot take: just because a twist is predictable doesn’t inherently mean it’s bad. Similarly, just because a twist was unpredictable and totally surprising doesn’t make it good.

Sooooo…spoilers below for very obvious reasons.

Examples of good but predictable twists (in my humble opinion):

-Justin being Anton Severus in TRR. I personally didn’t predict this at all but pretty much everyone else on the face of the earth did. They had Justin/Anton in the story just enough that he sort of slipped under the radar while also not completely disappearing and cropping up out of nowhere. As a writer, this is a really difficult balance to reach when you’re springing a twist villain on someone.

-Redfield not being truly defeated after the ritual. Let’s face it. Everyone knew Redfield was coming back. Your mom knew it, your dog knew it, the random person down the street who’s never even heard of Choices knew it. But Cora stumbling into homecoming on the verge of death using her dying breath to warn us that Redfield was coming, then the desperate, terrified escape, rescue mission, and final showdown with Redfield were all an impeccable buildup to the climax and eventual end of the book. When the monsters stormed homecoming, that’s when shit got real.

-Jane Marshall being Redfield in ILITW. This is another one I didn’t predict (yeah I know, I’m kind of oblivious 😭) but a lot of other people did. Looking back on it, it was really obvious, but at the time? That reveal actually made me shout out loud when I first read the book.

-Bloodbound MC being a descendent of Rheya. I remember people somehow predicted this one all the way back when book two was still being released, and yet…it just felt so strangely right. Obviously the MC had to get her psychic abilities from somewhere, she didn’t just randomly develop them when she started hanging out with the vampires. And yeah it’s cheesy as hell, but I thought the whole “blood rests in the sacred chalice” prophecy was cool as shit even though I wasn’t the hugest Bloodbound fan at the time.

-The It Lives Within MC being a Power-created human. At least, this one was predictable to me. Everyone else seemed to be totally caught off guard. I pretty much knew for most of the book that the MC was the Power. I mean, the uncontrollable surges of Power, the psychic dreams and nightmares, their whole family being killed by monsters of the Power? Not to mention the title of the book, It Lives Within. I actually thought it had already been stated that we are the Power and was surprised that people were caught off guard. Nonetheless, this was a HUGE power move (no pun intended) and a really, really well-done twist. Especially for a fan game!

Aaaand examples of unpredictable but not very good twists (also in my humble opinion):

-Any instance of some character turning out to be alive the whole time. PB is notorious for pulling deceased characters out of thin air and turning them into some kind of adversary for whatever reason. At best, they’re a minor nuisance. At worst, they’re a Big Bad. I think the three worst instances of this twist were Barthelemy Beaumont, Harry Foredale, and our sister from WTD all coming back from the dead. In our sister’s case, literally.

-Eirik. Just Eirik. Throughout TRH, he had given absolutely zero indication of any malice, cunning, or evil ambition. I truly don’t think anyone saw it coming when he revealed himself to be part of the Via Imperii in the final chapter of TRH, book 3. But frankly, the reveal was…eh. Him turning out to be evil in a secret society ended up not being that great because the Via Imperii was all bark and no bite.

-The Endless Summer MC being the missing piece of Vaanu. There were hints dropped here and there throughout book 2 and they got a little more frequent in book 3, but I think the real reason this one was pretty unpredictable was because they threw book 3 together really fast (including all three endings) and we figured it out at the tail end of the book. As much as I loved Endless Summer, this twist felt like a cop out.

-The MC being pregnant with twins in BaBu. This one really came out of left field and was pretty surprising, and yet it didn’t add anything to the story. In fact, BaBu would’ve been the exact same if she only had one baby. There’s not much else to say about this twist other than it was supposed to shock us as it was revealed at the very end of book one, but it did nothing.

-Xenocrates being the head of the Order in Bloodbound. This one was pretty unpredictable, but it unfortunately had little impact on the people who didn’t buy all the tapestry fragments. Even worse, he was barely present enough in the story to make players really feel his influence.

[bourbon-ontherocks]

so, 305. I hate that there were so many lovable things about it. like the ducks around morgane’s house (bathroom, living room) keeping up with the theme--reminded me of those pictures books where you had to find the duckling hidden on every page! (speaking of; timothée il a un peu une tête d’Où est Charlie nan ? he’s got the stripes + glasses + hair) or the fact that morgane is randomly wearing floaties at the swimming pool 😂 (… maintenant que j’y pense, elle comptait peut-être les piquer pour chloé mdrr)

et les combines de serge. céline giving up on educating morgane on procedure, ptdr. l’employée de l’ehpad qui a un vague air de mylène farmer. [gros canard] still holds the title of HPI’s mr. worldwide. daphné being daphné. ("gilles..? 🤨 euh, oui. GILLES !") gilles STILL being way too good a friend (j’espère que sa psy lui dit), but also how close he was to morgane during the investigation, that was cute!

par contre, 2 trucs qui me hantent : 1) why does [gros canard] seem mesmerized by morgane’s neck while she goes on and on about the kid’s drawing?? 2) morgane’s lack of empathy at the pool. I didn’t expect her to joke about moms murdering each other right in front of the bereft husband 😧

Oh my gosh anon, I'm just so sad that this episode was so tainted and ruined for you 😭 It breaks my heart a little, and also it makes me dread for you, knowing what's coming ahead, but... one shitty plotline at a time, amirite?

Soooooo *cracks knuckles* let's get started 😈

"I hate that there were so many lovable things about it" -> literally me after watching the finale tbh 😂😭

I must say I didn't notice the ducks thingy but thank you for pointing it out, it really is reminiscent of those child books and was a very nice touch (the way this show can switch from absolutely shitty and unsubtle to actually brilliant and clever in the bat of an eye will never cease to baffle me) 😍 The duck jokes at the crime scene were excessively funny too, and the moment Bonnemain enters the game too with a joke that's not even funny?? Peak comedy! And Adam's reaction "Mais vous allez pas vous y mettre vous aussi ?!" -> 200% Artur vibes 😂

100% agreed that Timothée is a human waldo and was intended to be lol (also on en parle de Timothée qui offre le même polo à Théa ?? Who does that? 😂 It's like he asked for her to put it in the mopping supplies... And her general passive-aggressive animosity towards him was SO entertaining!)

And OMG I didn't even notice Morgane had floaties on at the swimming pool, this is hysterical 🤣 And re her lack of compassion, I must say Morgane's relationship with empathy has been a mystery for me since day one, sometimes we get to see her really sympathizing with the victims' families (the daughter in the pilot for instance, or the mall's widow in 201, or even the actual bledigirl), but also sometimes not ("ah bah ça tombe bien puisqu'elle est morte" with the victim's sister in 201), so this scene didn't strike me as particularly ooc, but her characterization regarding this specific personality trait is unclear. I'd say perhaps she tends to lose her compassionate skills when she gets excited about figuring out some stuff?

Serge's cancer kid scam was very fun to watch ("coucou c'est la maman du petit Eliott, bon bah il est mort" 😂), and also I wouldn't have noticed the ehpad employee's similarity with Mylène Farmer but now that you're pointing it out...

Somehow it warms my heart a bit to see you calling Adam [gros canard] this episode, I guess it shows you're on your way to forgive him? But maybe it's just my own wishful thinking lol! Anyway, yes, he also speaks Russian (and not to spoil, but Mehdi Nebbou is gonna keep on bragging in later eps 👅), and remember when I told you that your dream about escaping from Putin was foreshadowing? Well I was talking about this KGB bit haha 😆

No idea why he seems to stare at Morgane's neck in the hospital, perhaps he just can't look her in the eyes nor in the boobs (in his defense, she just talked to him about nipples) so he's stuck in between lol 😅 Or maybe Mehdi just forgot he was acting for a bit and was thinking about dinner or something idk... But there is indeed room for interpretation and I'll go with the most probable option which is that he's just mesmerized by her in general, especially in that episode where he's discovering that he can't stand seeing her with someone else (let's be real, everyone saw that coming but him 😂), so he's probably just staring at her while thinking "what the fuck is wrong with me?"

Daphné and Gilles were the heart and soul of this episode I swear!! I love Daphné's completely clueless but supportive ass, Gilles being so torn between friendships he's gonna break, the fact that he kept the charade going on for TWO MONTHS, the fact that apparently he talks about Morgane to his therapist 🤣, him trying to hide Morgane's presence from Adam at David's (he's the definition of the no-questions-asked friend who'll support you no matter what, we all need a Gilles in our lives 🥰) Daphné being ready to get any disabled but homophobic employee fired (worst idea ever to give her that workplace inclusion responsibility mais je l'a-dore), and also her blind anger towards Morgane, misunderstanding of the CENTURY 🤩🤩🤩

Also, did you notice that Gilles shaved, this ep? The man is such an Adam fangirl he's now cosplaying as him istg 🤣🤣🤣

[EDIT] OMG I JUST FIGURED OUT WHY YOU CALL HIM GROS CANARD ANON YOU ARE A GENIUS IN DISGUISE OK BYYYYYE

[gon-and-killuas-mother]

y'all i had one of the best, most therapeutic dreams today

usually, when my ex-stepfather shows up in my dreams, it becomes a stress dream or nightmare, bc for some reason i always have to follow the "be polite even to someone you hate", even though it's my goddamn dream.

but this time! oh man. for whatever reason, my family and i were in a church. it was crowded, maybe a holiday event or something. my mother kept close to me the whole time.

then he arrived. he was angry, and looked pathetic and withered. he started loudly complaining about something, and i expected it to go as usual and prepared to turn around and leave.

but! everyone in the crowd actually turned on him and hurled a slew of insults and curses at him. i was so hyped about it that i finally was able to shout at him too.

"Fuck off!" I told him. "As long as I breathe you will never lay another finger on my mother again!" (along with some more curses)

and the crowd echoed the same message, as though it was full of people he'd also harmed in some way. he walked out with folks following him, making sure he knew just how hated he was.

later in the dream, i was at a Chinese restaurant with my mother, sister, and brother. i "remembered" the incident at the church and asked, "Wait, did that actually happen? Or did I dream it?" bc even my dream self is aware of how my dreams work.

Mom said it really happened, and i raised two fists in the air in victory.

obviously, it really was just a dream. i was a little disappointed upon waking up, but the dream was wonderful anyway.

because the thing is, this asshole is so manipulative and clever that he has the whole church i used to go to wrapped around his finger. that's his strength, his shield, where he draws his power. easier to get away with atrocities when you go out of your way to be "charitable" and "compassionate".

and maybe, since he's so well-liked, he actually believed he was a good person incapable of abusing his wife.

so dreaming that he was ripped apart by the very people he convinced of his goodness was so, so very satisfying. i hope it happens in real life one day.

(and it might! a side note: my mother recently talked to his son, probably the only person in that family that would believe her. she told him everything; the abuse, the rape, the gaslighting, the isolation, the financial stranglehold. it was incredibly risky on her part, potentially inviting more conflict into her life. but the son apparently believed her and told her she did the right thing. idk if he's at all interested in ruining his father's life, but ripples make waves etc etc so maybe, one day, the shitstain of a man will pay for what he did)