#and it's not like they even needed to include it on the world select screen in bbs because it's not a world you can even visit on your own

[dreaming-medium]

Watch Your Six

Stray Kids Kinktober Masterlist

Sensory Deprivation - Han Jisung

Pairing: Han Jisung x Reader

Word Count: 14.8k

Summary: After training for years, you finally become a full fledged agent for KDOI, the Korean Division of Intelligence. Over time, each and every agent becomes something like a family member, including the high-tech nerd who has managed to put a smile on your face since day one. What happens when he's sent with you on his first field mission?

Warnings: Violence, smut (18+) MDNI

A/N: Kinktober is a state of mind. I know its January idc lol I will finish the list of prompts even if it kills me

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Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. 

The sound your sneakers make on the treadmill reverberates through the gym. The expensive, high tech plastic mask strapped to your face fogs up with each exhale and clears with each inhale. 

To your right, a man holds a clipboard, glasses covered eyes watching your vitals displayed on the monitor hooked up to the mask and other various wires clipped to your body. 

You’ve been running for about an hour straight, but your breathing is still even; and just by glancing down at the screen, your heart rate looks the same. 

For months, you’ve been training with the federal agency to be one of their field agents. Countless nights were spent pushing yourself to the limit, physically and mentally. 

Today was your final evaluation before becoming a full-fledged agent. You were selected out of the hundreds of trainees to test to move on. 

It was a great honor, all your hard work was finally paying off. 

Maybe you’ll get your first mission after this! 

If you pass. 

A small bead of sweat drops down the side of your face. 

Bored, your eyes wander over to the man studying your every heartbeat. 

The thick rimmed glasses that sat on his face have slid down his nose a bit. His lips seem to sit in a constant pout thanks to those pudgy cheeks of his. 

Choppy, fluffy brown hair sits on his head like a mop. You can tell he’s run his fingers through it more than a handful of times to get it out of his eyes. 

A crisp white lab coat rests over a hoodie and khaki pants. A few different pens and instruments sit in the pocket under an embroidered ‘J’ .

You’ve seen him around the trainees once or twice in the years you’ve been here. From what you’ve gathered, he was one of the technical experts, providing countless gadgets and gizmos for the field agents to use. 

The guy that would give the secret agent a lipstick taser before embarking on their world class espionage mission. 

He’s pretty and smart— what a lethal combination. 

When the man looks back up at the treadmill, your eyes flick back to dead ahead of you. 

Reaching forward, he hits the stop button on the treadmill and jots down a few notes on his clipboard, a tiny smile pulls at his handsome face. 

The treadmill comes to a gradual stop and so do your legs. One hour exactly sits on the clock. 

Nervously, you look down at the screens, to his monitor, looking at anything you can. 

“You did extremely well, 586.” There’s a happy tilt to his tone while he scribbles down some more notes, flipping the page, then writing some more. “You can take the mask off now.”

Nodding, you gently take the mask off your face and drape it over the top of the treadmill. 

“I have one more examination for you.” He clicks a few buttons on the computer to the side.

Patiently, you stand there waiting for instruction. 

He looks up at you with amusement glinting in his big, brown eyes. “You don’t need to be so stiff with me, 586, that’s not part of the tests.”

Your shoulders relax and sag forward a bit. “Sorry, I’m just a bit nervous.”

“Understandable.” He grabs a hold of the cart with the machines on it and rolls it to the side. “Most, if not all, trainees are during their examination. I can’t remember a trainee that wasn’t nervous— well, maybe M, but he’s a special case.”

“Are you J?” you ask, looking down at his lab coat. 

“I am,” he answers and steps closer to the treadmill.

He reaches forward and unsnaps the wires hooked onto the leads on your chest. The sticker part stays on, but the wires are removed. Which means you’ll probably be hooked up to another machine soon. 

“I’ve seen you around before,” you say to him, studying his face up close. 

“I’m always around everywhere,” he jokes, unhooking more wires. “I don’t think there’s a square inch of this agency I haven’t seen.”

“Are you a field agent?”

He scoffs. “No, not me. I could never handle that.”

“But you’re an agent.”

He moves his head side to side. “Of sorts, yeah. B needed a tech guy, so technically I’m an agent. But if you were to send me on a mission, I might cry. I leave those sorts of things up to C or S, or any one of the other agents. Just not me.”

You nod with a small smile of your own. 

“Follow me.”

Following his orders, you step off the treadmill and follow after him out of the gym. 

“Is there only one of each letter?” you ask.

J laughs. “Actually, yeah.” He leads you towards a side room, it looks like an interrogation room with a large contraption on the center of the table. “It’s easier that way.”

He motions for you to take a seat across the table. 

“And unless you fail this psych evaluation, I believe we’re going to be back to 26 again.” J starts fiddling with the machine, pulling wires and leads off the top. 

A happy pang goes through your heart. Thank god he hasn’t hooked up the heart monitor yet, he would’ve seen it skyrocket. 

“You think?” Nervously, you shift around in the chair. 

J chuckles. “I do. I haven’t seen a perfect exam like this in a while. Plus, we saw all the extra training you were putting in.”

Your mouth opens a bit in shock. J looks over at you, holding the wires ready to snap to the leads on your chest. 

“We have eyes everywhere, 586. Did you really think we didn’t see that?”

An embarrassed flush crawls on your neck and turns your ears red. “Of course, I know that.” 

Again, he chuckles and snaps all the wires to the leads. His fingers are warm in contrast with the cold air of the exam room. Each time his knuckles brush against your skin the feeling lingers. 

He places a strap around your head that has two metal leads pressing into your forehead. Even more wires from that strap lead down to the detector. 

J looks down at the wires and then turns on the machine. It whirrs to life and a needle starts scribbling out your heart rate on the top. 

It’s a lie detector. Of sorts. It looks like more than that. 

You’re not going to pretend to understand anything, though. That’s his job. 

His eyes watch the needle, he then reaches forward and clips a small cuff on your finger— a steady beeping follows it. 

“There we go,” he mutters to himself and takes a seat across from you. 

J shuffles papers around on the clipboard to rearrange them. 

A large mirror sat on the wall behind him. There’s no way that’s not one way glass. Is there anyone on the other side watching your evaluation? Or is it just the two of you? Is there another higherup keeping track of your answers? Maybe it’s B? Or maybe other agents are spectating to see how you are. 

You would be working closely with them, after all. If the roles were reversed, you’re sure you would watch. 

“Ready?” J’s voice interrupts your thoughts. 

Your eyes snap to him and you nod. 

“Is your name Y/N L/N?” he asks, looking down at the clipboard. 

It’s been so long since you’ve heard your real name. Two years? Yeah, two years. You’ve only been referred to as 586 since you joined. 

“Yes.” 

J looks at the contraption for a few seconds, taking note of the way it moves. He makes a small tick on the paper. 

“Can you verify your date of birth for me?”

You do as he says, saying it like second nature. Again, he repeats the same motion of watching your heart rate and making a small tick. 

The questions start out simple. Where were you born? What are your parent’s names? Do you have any siblings? All questions that you would make a security question for your bank. 

“Now, let’s get to the real questions. Just answer honestly and you have nothing to worry about, okay, 586?” J’s voice is calm and smooth. 

Something about this guy makes you want to tell him everything regardless of if you’re hooked up to several machines. 

“Have you ever been contacted by an external government agency prior to enlisting in KDOI?”

KDOI: The Korean Division of Intelligence. Your dream job since you were a young girl. 

“No.”

After your answer, J watches your heart rate for even longer than before. He makes a tick on the clipboard. 

“Have you ever been contacted by an external government agency after enlisting in KDOI?”

“No.”

Another tick. 

“Have you ever participated in an organized event that openly opposed KDOI?”

“No.”

Tick. 

“Have you ever had malicious thoughts about KDOI or the agents working within it?”

“No, quite the opposite. I admire KDOI.” You add the last part with a sheepish smile. 

J grins when he makes the next tick on the paper. 

“Next section…” he murmurs. “Have you recently had thoughts of suicide?”

“No.”

Tick. 

Question after question comes from his mouth. You answer honestly to each of them, not even hesitating to let the reply leave your lips. 

“Did you have thoughts of suicide prior to enlisting in KDOI?”

“No.”

Tick. 

“Do you ever have thoughts of harming others?”

“No.”

Tick. 

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“N- what?” Your eyes widen and you stare at him incredulously. There’s no way that’s on the evaluation. 

J feigns ignorance and points down to the clipboard. In exaggerated movements, he motions down to it and shrugs, puffing air in his cheeks and just making a meal out of this fake performance. 

“I can’t believe it either but there it is. ‘Do you have a boyfriend?’” 

You tongue your cheek and smirk a bit. “No, J, I do not.”

J nods and scribbles down more than just a tick while looking at the heart monitor. “Interesting…” 

He makes a few last notes before his eyes widen and he looks up at you, pointing his pen in your direction. “No girlfriend either, right?”

You roll your eyes, “No, no girlfriend either.”

Isn’t this an official evaluation? For a government official secret organization that grants people a license to kill? 

He asked you if you were single immediately after asking if you’ve had thoughts of suicide. Is this guy for real?

You slow blink at him while he finishes up the form on his end. 

“Well!” he exclaims happily, hitting the clipboard on the metal table. You don’t even flinch. “I believe we’re all finished here.”

Your heart squeezes with nerves. 

J stands up from the table and rounds the table towards you. 

So badly you want to ask for the results of your exam. Are you in? Did you pass? Are you an agent?

“B needs to sign off on all the paperwork,” J trails off, his hands reaching forward to unhook all the wires from the leads stuck to your skin. “But… I don’t think there’s any issue with me welcoming you to the agency. Officially.”

Since the heart monitor was still hooked up, you can hear the needle suddenly spike and scribble large peaks on the paper. 

J turns his head to look at it. An amused smirk crosses his face and a chuckle huffs through his chest. “Funny,” he says to himself and then turns back to you. 

Sheepishly, you look away from him. 

“That’s what gets your heart rate to spike?” J sits on the corner of the table and folds his arms across his chest. 

You bite your cheek and avoid his eyes. “Well, this has been my dream job since I was a young girl; so, yes, you alluding to me becoming an official agent would raise my heart rate.”

J scoffs. His warm fingers suddenly grab your face, thumb on one cheek and his middle and pointer finger on the other. He turns your head to face him.

When your gaze snaps to his face, you see that there’s a cocky smirk on his face but his eyes are focused down on the heart monitor. The needle stays steady much to his obvious distaste. 

He sucks teeth in disbelief. “Really?”

“Is this another test?” your voice comes out muffled due to him holding your cheeks. 

J rolls his eyes with a frown. “Yeah, let’s go with that.” He releases your face and slides the strap off your head.

The leads on your chest are soon to come off after that. J is careful not to rip the sticky pads off your skin too fast so that it doesn’t sting. He rubs the site with a bit of rubbing alcohol afterwards to get rid of the residue. 

“How long have you been at the agency?” you ask. You’re curious about him. 

He defeats all the ‘Secret Agent’ stereotypes. He’s personable and warm— and a bit flirtatious. He’s not at all the cold, all-business type you were used to. That’s how more than half the trainees were. 

It’s not that you were cold, no. You just kept to yourself and worked hard. 

And you made sure your personality didn’t fade during that time either. 

J’s nose crinkles up while he thinks. His hands slow down in the process. “Hmm,” he hums. “Maybe four years now? Yeah, sounds about right.”

Your eyes widen. “Four years? How old are you?”

He smirks. “Don’t you know never to ask a young man his age.”

“I guess if you’re not going to tell me…” you trail off. “I’ll just say twenty eight then.”

“Twenty ei—!” he stammers and takes the last lead off your chest. “I’m twenty two!”

“Wasn’t so hard was it?”

J grumbles and turns around to finish putting the machine away. But there’s an amused tilt to the corner of his puffy lips and a playful glint in his eye. 

“So you started when you were eighteen?”

“Yep.”

“Child prodigy?”

“Taken right from high school.”

“Impressive.”

J laughs under his breath. “Everyone seems to think so.”

“You don’t?”

“Eh.” He shrugs. “Everyone here is a prodigy of some sort. It’s easy to blend in and somehow appear mediocre when surrounded by Korea’s most elite minds and bodies.”

“I don’t think you’re mediocre.”

“You haven’t met everyone else yet.”

He doesn’t give you a chance to answer again. J grabs your clipboard and takes the papers off it, handing them to you. 

“Bring these to B, he has to sign off on the final enlistment.” You take the stack from him. “The guard outside the door will bring you up to his office.”

You look down at the papers, your heart rate picking up faster and faster the more you think about it.

J puts his hand on your lower back and ushers you towards the door. It tingles at the base of your spine. He reaches in front of you and opens the door, motioning for you to exit first. The hand on your lower back twitches and it feels like he almost scratches it twice before urging you forward and dropping it. 

It’s weirdly comforting. 

It doesn’t feel weird at all. 

You turn back to look at him, “Thank you, J.”

He smiles. Those round cheeks get even bigger when it happens. 

“Welcome to KDOI, X .”

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Two years goes by in the blink of an eye when working with a government agency. Especially when a majority of your assignments can take anywhere from a week to two months at a time. 

The agents you work with are the only constant in your life. Other faces flitter in and out of your life like leaves falling off trees. You don’t grow attached to anyone outside of this organization, you can’t afford to. 

You’re not complaining, not at all. You love the life you have now. It’s everything you ever wanted. 

Everyone at KDOI is a family, you’re all each other has. It’s an unspoken, special bond. 

When you first started, you were welcomed in with open arms. Obviously, some agents were warmer than others at first— or maybe it’s just that some were better at first impressions than others. 

Maybe other people would have been upset with M’s standoffishness when you first introduced yourself. But, after a hot coffee appeared on your desk not even five minutes after complaining about being cold to him and only him, you knew he wasn’t detached and icy at all. 

Other agents, like F, have been nothing but a ball of sunshine. He was the one you ate lunch with every single day while you were at the agency. Whilst sitting by yourself in the cafeteria on day one, he took it upon himself to plop himself in the seat right across from you. 

H is your favorite agent to go on long assignments with. He never fails to be a constant source of entertainment and intelligent conversation— with the occasional stupid ass comment that makes you question where the man you were just talking to went. 

Slowly but surely, you’ve also started learning their real names. Learning someone’s real name was apparently the equivalent of leaving you in their will around here. 

There was a time and place to refer to them as their real name. It was a line you tiptoed constantly. 

Surprisingly, it was M who told you his name first: Minho. It was completely unprompted too. It was in the jet returning from a three week mission where you had saved him from at least five different gunshot wounds by tackling him to the ground. 

The others trickled in afterwards. 

Y, or Jeongin, was shocked when you didn’t know his name. And immediately told you afterwards with a cute, wide smile on his face. 

Even though every single agent has become a part of you, one particular agent seems to have captured a larger part of your soul than the others. 

“J,” you say casually, slipping behind him to stand on the other side of his cluttered workbench. 

Jisung. He had told you his name when you had lingered in his workshop late one night, not wanting to go back to your dorm quite yet. 

“Hello, X,” he grins without looking up at you. The glasses on his nose have fallen forward.

His laptop is his primary focus, several wires are running from the computer to a tiny little gadget that looks no bigger than a cell phone. It has a small LED screen with different colored pixels bouncing around it. 

Jisung’s workshop was one of your favorite places in the agency. There was always music playing, a computer always had some sort of TV on silent with the subtitles on, and there were always snacks everywhere. 

You consider it a second dorm, really. As soon as you’re done training for the day, you usually find yourself here.

“When did you get back?” he asks, clicking a few keys and looking over at the gadget, then back to his computer. 

“Maybe two hours ago?”

“And it took you this long to come say hi?”

“I had to shower.”

“ And you didn’t invite me?” his cheeky smile gets bigger. 

You smack the back of his head, the glasses fall even more. You’re surprised they don’t tumble off his face.

If one thing has remained constant since your exam day, it’s the relentless flirting. The guy can’t go more than five minutes without saying some sort of teasing comment. 

It should bother you. 

But it doesn’t. 

At this point, you’ve gotten quite used to it. If he ever stopped, then you might be a bit concerned. You might even miss it. 

But you would never tell him that. 

Jisung makes a tiny ‘gah’ noise and rubs the back of his head in fake pain. He pushes his glasses up his nose and looks over at you. 

“I missed you so much and the first thing you do is hurt me,” he whines. 

“I wasn’t gone that long.”

“Two long months without my girlfriend.”

“ Not your girlfriend.”

He clutched his chest through his baggy black hoodie. “Another wound.”

You cross your arms and giggle a bit. “Well get used to me not being here. B is sending me on another assignment tomorrow.”

Jisung frowns. “I know, he asked me to be at your debrief tomorrow morning.” He lets out a whine. “You just got back! Usually you’re around for at least two weeks in between missions.”

Shrugging, you look around the room. The digital clock on the wall read 10:29 PM. He’s usually the only one in here past 5:30, he tends to lose track of time easily when working on projects. 

“It’s part of the job,” you say casually. 

Jisung grumbles again, looking down at his laptop once more. “Yeah, well it sucks. Everyone’s always coming and going. Meanwhile I’m stuck here all day every day.”

“I thought you didn’t do field work.”

“I don’t . I just also hate that I’m trapped here while everyone gets to travel with one another.”

You narrow your eyes. “You do know we’re not sightseeing, right?”

Jisung balks. “Of course I know that.” He pauses. “But I did see that picture that you and Changbin took at Buckingham Palace.”

You bite your lip to stop the smile. “Not my fault it just so happened to be by our hotel.”

“Bang said if we had a Christmas card he would use that picture.”

The smile you’re fighting gets even bigger. You hesitate before speaking up again. “It’s a good picture.”

Jisung’s head drops and he places both of his hands on the table. “See what I mean?” he groans. 

“Just tell Bang that you want field work.”

Jisung’s head shoots up and he stares at you with wide eyes. “I would die in the field!”

“You would not. One of us would be there to save your hide. You really think Minho would let you die?”

“I think he would load the gun himself.”

A laugh bubbles up in your chest. Uncrossing your arms, you turn around and lean against the table. 

“Ji, we would make sure you were safe if you were to come out in the field with us. It’s our job.”

“Your job is to carry out the mission.”

“I wouldn’t give a damn about the mission if your life was on the line.”

Jisung’s mouth snaps shut. His eyebrows fly up his forehead. 

The two of you stare at each other for a long moment. Out of the corner of your eye, you see his knuckles turn white from gripping the counter so hard. 

His Adam’s Apple bobs with a gulp. 

You shouldn’t have said something like that, shouldn’t you? Your job is to carry out government missions. Personal feelings should never be put first, you know that. 

So why did you say that?

Fuck, you shouldn’t have said that. 

The shock on Jisung’s face quickly morphs into a cocky smirk. It’s a mask. You can see in his eyes he’s still a bit shocked. 

“I knew you were in love with me.”

Groaning, you roll your eyes and push off the table. “I’m going back to my dorm to sleep. Goodnight, J.”

Your hand slides to his lower back and you scratch twice over his lab coat and hoodie. 

Ever since your exam day, the two of you do this small gesture to each other all the time. It could be when he passes behind you in the cafe line or comes up behind you in the training room. It’s such a tiny, personal gesture. 

Sometimes on the coldest nights in the field, you’ll find yourself aching for that small touch.

“You’re so head over heels in love with me, X!” he calls after you, again, clutching at his heart and overacting like he’s swooning. 

“I’m leaving!”

“You just got here!” he whines. 

“Bye.”

“I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you walk away, X!”

“Night!” you repeat, letting the door shut after you. 

You walk down the hallway of the agency with a goofy smile on your face. 

“Idiot,” you mumble to yourself. 

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B’s office was at the very top of the large building, the windows overlooked the entirety of Seoul. Everything inside the office exuded money and power. The wood of the bookshelves was black and sleek and always dust free. 

Inside the office was so large there was an entire sitting area with two sofas and two loveseats around a coffee table. 

There was always a bergamot candle burning on a side table there. 

It was just about 10 AM when you stepped inside. 

“Ah, X, thank you so much for coming in.” B stands up from his large desk chair to welcome you in. 

Bang Chan, the leader of KDOI, and the most unassuming man you’ve ever met. When you brought him your final exam paperwork that fateful day you thought you were in the wrong office. 

This whole time you were expecting a wrinkly old man, not a twenty-something with dimples. 

But, at this point, you’ve learned to not be surprised by anything anymore. 

Maybe you were surprised at the fact that the other man in the room made no move to even look at you. 

Jisung sat in the other chair in front of the desk, his face sheet white. Both of his hands are gripped in tight fists on top of his pants. 

Your warm smile fades from your face as you take in his ghastly expression. 

“What’s going on?” you ask. 

Chan’s lips form a tight line as he motions to the chair for you to sit in. “I was going over your next assignment with J before you got here.”

“Apologies, am I late?”

“No, not at all. I had J come in a little early to talk to him one on one.”

You glance over at Jisung who looks like he hasn’t even blinked. Alarm bells are going off inside your head. Not even a nod in your direction?

“What’s this assignment about, B?” You look back to your boss. 

He slides a manilla envelope across the desk to you, you take it without a second thought. Chan picks up a tiny remote off his desk and presses a button. Shades slowly come down over the window, bathing the room in darkness. Another beep on the remote and a holographic screen projects from the floor next to the desk. 

Both you and Chan turn your chairs to go over the debrief, Jisung stays still. Part of you wants to snap your fingers in front of his face to see if he’s still alive or not. 

Instead, you focus on your job. 

“I know you’re used to more recoup time, but I’m afraid this assignment is pretty urgent.” Chan clicks the remote. A grainy CCTV picture is displayed on the screen. “The international gang you’ve been dealing with lately, the Ice Crows, have shown their face again.”

Chan zooms in on the image. Several higher ups of the gang are getting out of a black SUV. They’re all dressed in fancy suits smoking cigars. 

The last time you dealt with them was about five months ago when their trail had gone cold over in Canada. 

“When and where was this taken?” you ask. 

“Yesterday. Paris. Where you and J will be headed after this.”

Your head snaps over to look at Chan. 

With Jisung? No wonder the guy looked like he was eight inches from death!

Your eyes slide to the engineer, he’s still staring forward. A cold sweat on his brow. 

“J is coming with me?”

Chan points your attention back to the debrief. “Allow me to continue.”

You spare one last look Jisung. The poor guy is shaking in his boots. Your hands itch to reach out and comfort him, but you have to remain professional. 

That’s for after the debrief. 

“There’s an auction being held at the Palais des Congrès. Several large and important pieces are being shown there. Including…” Bang switches the slides and displays an expensive painting. “The Refuge, which was stolen no more than two months ago by the Ice Crows. They’re putting it up for auction when it belongs back in Korea.”

Your eyes narrow. “This seems like a pretty rookie cut and dry assignment, B. You need me to get the painting back. I don’t understand why J has to come with me, he doesn’t do field work.”

The conversation the two of you had the previous night echoes in your mind. 

B nods. “I know. Let me get there, X.” He switches the slide to display the floor plan of the museum. “This convention center is rather high tech, as you can see. It’s equipped with blockers that don’t allow any outside waves to make it past their walls. Any and all technical communication has to come within the building.”

“So, you’re sending J with me because he’s the only one that can operate field equipment? S can operate simple transmitters and trackers.”

“It’s more than that, X. The painting will be behind several different firewalls and security systems that not even S can hack through. J needs to be with you and he needs to be in that building.”

You take a deep breath and look over at Jisung. His hundred yard stare has moved from the window and is now focused down on his lap. 

“He’ll be in your hotel room the entire time. You’ll be doing the recon and walking through the convention center to get where you need to be.”

Jisung pulls his lips between his teeth. His body finally came back to life. “I won’t need to leave the room?” His voice is hoarse. 

“No,” Chan answers quickly. “Not until you’re leaving to come back home.”

Jisung shifts on his chair, unfurling his fists and swallowing thickly. 

“I understand your apprehension, J, I do. But I need you on this.”

Jisung watches him closely and then offers a weak nod. He glanced over at you. 

“I wouldn’t put you with X unless I was sure that she would watch your six.”

You nod and steel your expression. “I won’t let anything happen to you, J.”

Color returns to J’s cheeks at your words. He gulps and takes a deep breath, his shoulders rolling back and remaining stiff.

“Okay,” he says softly. “Okay, I’ll do it.” He’s more confident the second time. 

“Good.” Chan clasps his hands together. “Stay safe, agents. Amusez vouis bien!”

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

You and Jisung were the only ones inside the cabin of the agency’s private jet. It took off the runway only about four minutes ago. 

The brunette sat across from you, his eyes focused out the window at the clouds below. His posture is anything but relaxed. He’s sitting ramrod straight in the large cushioned chair. 

You don’t think his muscles have released since you both were in Chan’s office. Even through the thick layers of his comfortable traveling clothes you can clearly read his uneasy body language. 

“You okay?” you ask gently.

“No,” he mutters back. Duh.

You bite the inside of your cheek, completely unsure of what to do or say. This was never a part of your training. Maybe you should’ve picked up a copy of ‘ Comforting Friends for Dummies ’ when you had the chance. 

Killing targets? Easy! 

Provide detailed surveillance on a suspicious person? Done! 

Soothe an anxious friend? Not so simple. 

Jisung’s cheeks seem even puffier than usual, lips pursed in a pout. There’s no sparkle to his eyes like you’re used to. 

Taking a deep breath, you lean back in your seat and look around the plane. You crack your knuckles, displaying your own nerves. 

“Do you know the best part of staying at hotels during missions?” you ask him to break the silence.

Jisung hums in acknowledgement, he continues to watch the clouds below. 

“You get to order all the room service you want— it comes out of the agency’s card.” You smirk. 

He shifts around in his seat. His hands that were tightly gripping the armrests relax a bit. 

“Last assignment I was on with Hyunjin, we were in a seaport town, the hotel made these bacon wrapped scallops… man… I ate so many I thought I was going to explode.” You pat your stomach. 

Jisung finally looks at you. “Bacon wrapped scallops?”

You nod and smile at him. “You’ll be in the room the entire time. Think of all the room service you’ll get to order.”

“I’ve never had bacon wrapped scallops.”

“It’s Paris, who knows what they’ll offer there. And it all goes on Bang’s card.”

Jisung finally smiles. It wavers for a second, like he’s sheepish to do it. It’s paired with a breathy chuckle. He looks down at his lap and lets his body fall forward a bit, elbows resting on his knees. 

His knee bounces anxiously and the exhales he lets out are shaky. 

“God, Y/N,” he sighs, rubbing his face. “I can’t help but freak out.”

“Understandable.”

“It’s my first time out in the field.” 

“I know.”

“What if something happens?”

You roll your eyes. “I would be more surprised if something didn’t happen, Jisung.”

His head shoots up. The color drains from his face. His pouty lips part a few times like he’s trying to find the right words to say. 

“But I’m prepared for it, Jisung.” You lean forward, mirroring his posture and take his hands between yours. “I’m prepared to take care of whatever pops up to keep you safe, okay?”

His jaw clenches and he stares deeply into his eyes. The hands in yours are so warm in stark contrast to your always-cold ones. 

“And if anything terrible happens then I’ll do whatever it takes to get you out of it. Trust in me, okay? I have to take care of KDOI’s resident nerd, after all.”

“Resident nerd…” he scoffs.

You bite the inside of your cheek. “Did I ever tell you what happened on my first mission with Minho?”

Jisung shakes his head. 

“It was supposed to be easy! The intel that KDOI had gotten was that there was going to be a large drug exchange somewhere in the States, Minho was sent with me. And my lord, our intel was off.”

Thinking about the memory makes you giggle to this day. 

“It was an international, high profile cartel that Bang has been trying to nail down for years. Well, during a small scout, I got my ass captured. I wasn’t watching my six like I should’ve.”

Jisung’s eyes widen. Obviously, he wasn’t told about this. It’s not like you enjoy flaunting the story around. 

“I had a gun to the back of my head, the leader of the cartel was screaming for Minho to come out from where he was hiding or he’d kill me. God, I’ve never been so afraid in my life. My first assignment and I already had a gun to my skull.

“Minho, being the amazing agent he is, found the right vantage point and took the guy out. I was able to evade the crossfire after that, but honestly those bullets weren’t what scared me, it was the idea that Minho was disappointed in me.”

He was the agent you looked up to the most after all. He was the one that all these great stories and tales were all about. Minho was the harrowing hero of KDOI who was able to ace every mission handed to him. 

“But he didn’t even say anything about it. Even when I apologized over and over again, he just shrugged and said it was part of the job. And I get it now. It is just part of the job. So don’t worry, okay?”

Jisung swallows once, chin dipping down with a stiff nod. He turns his hands around in yours to grasp your fingers. 

A playful smirk creeps up on his face. “I can’t believe it…”

Your head cocks to the side and you watch him closely. He’s studying your manicured nails, his thumbs swipe over the digits softly. It’s a tender movement. 

“What?” you ask. 

“I can’t believe how in love with me you are.”

You rip your hands out of his and swat forward just as fast. 

With a barking laugh, he moves out of the way of your slap. You swing again and again, each time his laughter gets louder and louder. 

“First last night, now this? Are you going to propose to me next?”

You know this is just his way of evading thinking about how scared he is, but if that’s what it takes to make him feel better, you’ll allow it. If a distraction is what he needs, then you’ll give it to him. 

“Love hurts!” he cries out when you land a solid smack on his arm. “They were right!”

“It’s going to kill you, that’s what it’s going to do.”

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

By the time you and Jisung get to the convention center and check into the hotel it’s nearing seven at night. The gala isn’t being held until tomorrow, so you both have some time to relax and settle in. 

It leaves Jisung plenty of time to set up everything he needs inside your hotel room.

You both checked in without a hitch, getting your keys and practically falling into the room. Jet Lag is pulling your eyelids shut and weighing down on your chest like an elephant.

Flicking the lights on, you blink your bleary eyes a few times, staring down at the large bed sitting in the middle of your hotel room. 

One king sized bed.

You’d love to say this hasn’t happened before but you never know what to expect on missions. There have been places where there’s been one bed, two beds, bunk beds , and even separate bedrooms once or twice. 

On one occasion Hyunjin slept on the floor since you were only given one twin sized bed and you were not about to share that tiny space with the man who likes to spread out all of his limbs and hog the blanket at the same time.

So, at this point, you don’t even care if there’s only one bed.

You shrug it off and plop your bag next to the dresser and let your body fall back onto the plush mattress with an ‘oof!’

Jisung, on the other hand, hovers around the doorway, both hands still gripping the two rolling suitcases full of his equipment. “I can sleep on the pull out couch,” he says thickly.

“Ji, it’s fine, we can share a bed, we’re both adults here,” you tease him. “As long as you don’t put your cold feet on me, I don’t care.”

“I don’t have cold feet,” he grumbles and wheels his suitcases towards the small table on the other side of the room. 

You let your eyes slide shut on the bed. The gentle hum of the air conditioner already lulling your brain to sleep. With how exhausted you are, it wouldn’t take much for you to give into the pull anyway. 

Jisung opens up the suitcases and starts unloading every piece of technology that he has brought with him. Various wires and computer parts thud against the wood of the table. 

He stops for a second.

“And how would you know if I did have cold feet?”

A laugh is punched from your chest at the abrupt question. It’s a deep belly laugh. “Let’s just say there is a loose lipped agent among us.”

Jisung pauses. “Minho said he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“He wasn’t going to until I started teasing him about his purchase of fuzzy socks.”

“You were with him when he bought those?”

“I helped him choose between two different pairs.” You crack one eye open to look at him. “The purple pair was my idea.”

Jisung groans and slides his laptop open, the typing on his keys is a lot more aggressive. You giggle again at his outward display of frustration.  

You let your eyes close again, listening to him shuffle his things around the wooden table muttering in between movements about how his feet aren’t that cold, they’re just colder than the rest of his body. 

An easy smile finds its way on your face and you listen to his quiet ramblings until sleep finally washes over your tired mind. 

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

“You were right,” Jisungs voice says in your earpiece. “Room service is fucking awesome.”

A waiter with a tray full of champagne flutes passes by, you grab one as he strides by your side. 

“I told you,” you say quietly while bringing the glass up to your lips to take a sip. “What did you order?”

“I think the better question is what didn’t I order.” His mouth sounds full when he answers you. 

He’s up on the 14th floor of the convention hall while you’re downstairs at the gala in a sleek, red silk dress. Your hair and makeup done exquisitely well, beautiful silver heels match the diamond jewelry adorning your skin. 

You blend right in to everyone around you. 

“I heard that their oysters are fantastic.”

“I think that’s part of what I ordered.” You can hear several dishes being pushed around. “Yep, right here. Although, they don’t look as appetizing as I thought.”

“They’re not really a lounge snack.”

“For rich people they are.”

The mission started about an hour ago when you made your way into the main event hall. The auction for the painting is going to begin in about another hour. 

Your first task of the night is to locate the painting before the auction and place a minuscule tracking device on it to locate later once it’s sold. 

There was only one way you knew to get close enough to The Refuge. 

“Oh. Three tables back to your 8 is your first target of the night, X.”

Paternino ‘Pink Panther’ Cardi. One of the Ice Crows inner circle members. He can’t resist swiping whatever paintings he can get his grimy fingers on; but, he also can’t resist bragging to an attractive woman. 

You turn nonchalantly to find him already eyeing you up with dark eyes. 

He’s your typical mafia member. In fact, if you had to draw a cartoon of a mobster, it would look like Paternino. 

You hold his searing eye contact while taking another sip from your champagne. The mobster lowers his chin and lets his tongue dart out to lick his lips. 

At first, seduction wasn’t a part of the job you particularly excelled at. But after doing it for so long, it comes naturally. 

Batting your lashes, you smirk at him and then turn to walk towards his table, your hips swaying in the process. Maybe you exaggerate your movements a bit, but it has the exact effect you need on Paternino. 

He’s sitting at a large round booth all by himself, legs spread wide in a show-of-power manner. A large swig of whiskey is taken out of his glass before you get to him. 

“Don’t you know that a beautiful woman such as yourself deserves a better drink than the venue provided champagne?” He motions to the booth seat next to him. 

You place your glass on the table and slide gracefully next to him. The effort you put into this is going to need to be quick, you don’t have long to locate the painting. 

“And I suppose a handsome man like yourself knows just what to order a woman like me?” Your voice is coy and seductively low. 

In your ear, you hear Jisung take a tiny, shaky breath. Does he know the intercom is still activated on his end?

Paternino slides towards you a bit more so now you can smell the expensive cologne wafting off him. It’s almost too overpowering. 

“A woman like you, hm?” He rests his arm on the booth behind your shoulders, lifting one hand to signal a waiter to come by. “Look into my eyes, let me see if I can guess your drink of choice.”

You rest your chin on top of your folded hands, your elbows resting on the table. His eye contact is intense and vivid, it makes your skin crawl. 

Paternino hums again. “A sapphire martini.”

“Nope,” Jisung says with a chuckle. 

You give a tiny, fake gasp. “How did you know?”

“I know a woman with taste when I see her.” He takes another swig of his whiskey while staring at you. “A sapphire martini for the lady.”

There must have been a waiter next to the table. You fight the urge to turn and look, instead opting to look at Paternino through your lashes. 

“Your turn, Beautiful. Why don’t you make an assumption about me?”

“I assume you’re an asshole with a tiny dick.”

Humming, you scoot even closer to Paternino, your fingers come up and walk up his chest to come around his tie. 

“I think,” you whisper lowly, coming closer to his own face, forcing your eyes to look down at his lips for a split second then back up at his eyes. “That you’re a powerful man around here, and that you don’t take no for an answer.”

His lips curl up in a cocky smirk. The arm that was previously on the booth, comes around your shoulders. His fingers feel clammy on your exposed skin. 

“Very observant, my lady. Anything else?”

The sound of a glass being delicately placed reaches your ears. You reach out and grab the martini glass without looking, bringing it closer to you.

“No, no, it’s your turn.”

He smiles. You’re so close to his face you can hear his exhales, smell the whiskey on his breath. 

You sip your own martini. God, it’s awful. You hate martinis. 

Paternino slides a finger underneath the spaghetti strap of your dress. “I think you would look gorgeous without this in the way.” He tugs on the strap. 

“Zero out of ten. Horrible pick up line. Try again.”

Jisung’s snarky words in your ear are oddly calming to your racing heart. He keeps bringing you down to Earth.

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing about your clothes.” You tug his tie. “The auction doesn’t start for some time. How about you show me somewhere private we can go and we can see if both of us are right.”

“Uuuuggghhhhhhh…”  

“I like that idea, I know just the place, Beautiful.” Paternino slides out of the booth and holds out his hand, which you grab a hold of gingerly to stand up and be led away from the main gala floor. 

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

It takes five minutes for Paternino to lead you to the room where The Refuge is being stored. It only takes you ten seconds to knock him out cold with one solid hit to the back of the head. 

His body hits the ground like a sack of potatoes in the dark storage room. 

“Fucking finally,” Jisung groans in your ear. 

“Sorry, it was the only way I knew to get back here.”

“That was torture, X. I’m never doing this again.”

You roll your eyes and pick up Paternino’s ragdolling body under the arms, dragging him across the room and stuffing him inside a storage closet with his arms and legs tied together and duct tape over his mouth. 

“Now, which one is The Refuge?” you mutter looking around at all the art around the room. There’s sculptures, painting, glass blown pieces, everything you would see in a museum. 

“I wonder if The Refuge is the only stolen thing in here?” 

Sighing, you walk around the room, trying to recognize anything. “Probably not. But it’s the only one we know about.”

You find the painting eventually sitting at the very back of the room covered by a large sheet. When you walk up to it, you take your earring out of your ear and slide the back off— which is where you were keeping the tracker. 

You tuck the tracker in the back of the painting between the canvas in the wood. It wouldn’t slip out nor would anyone notice. 

“Perfect.”

“I can see it on the map still, you’re all good. Now get out of there.”

“Anyone coming on the cams?”

“No, you’re clear.”

You take your other earring out and throw it in the garbage can by the door. They were fake anyway and you don’t feel like looking like a freak with one in. 

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

When you returned to the event hall, people were taking their seats for the auction, so you followed suit. Grabbing another drink from the bar before you sat down. 

“Vodka tonic?”

“Always,” you say under your breath. 

You watch the bartender make your drink with close eyes. 

Now you just needed to wait until the auction was over to get the painting back. Your job was half over. 

Through the earpiece, you can hear knocks on Jisung’s hotel room door. 

“More room service?”

“I… I didn’t order anything.”

Alarm bells go off in your mind. “Don’t answer it.”

Jisung stays silent for a few moments. You’re no longer watching the bartender, you’re focusing intently on what you can hear in your ear. 

“J.” You state, trying to get an update from him. 

“I think they’re gone.”

Before you can even think about being relaxed there’s a loud bang on the other side of the intercom and Jisung shrieks from surprise. 

“X! X, they’re in the room! X!” His voice shouts into your ear. 

You’re already running out of the event hall, your dress hiked up in your hands.

“J, there’s a gun strapped to the bottom of the table, use it!”

You can hear gruff voices screaming at Jisung not to move, that they’d kill him if he even twitched a muscle. 

“X, there’s five of them.” He whispers quietly. 

“J, listen to me, stay calm, I’ll be there in five minutes.” You burst through the stairwell and start climbing two at a time, even in your heels. The elevator would’ve taken too long. “Do what you need to stay alive, fuck the assignment. Stay alive.”

“X.” It’s a whimper and it stabs you through the heart. The yelling gets louder and louder. 

Jisung begs for mercy. You can hear the desperation in his voice, it pushes your legs to move faster and faster up the stairs. 

“Si—“

The earpiece goes dead after a gunshot. 

Your knees wobble and you lose your momentum. 

Oh my god, no, fuck, please. 

Reaching out, you grab the railing to keep your balance on one of the landings. 

“J?” you scream. “J, can you hear me?”

Nothing. Not a single voice comes through. Not even static.

Maybe they just shot the equipment. That has to be it. They didn’t shoot him. They wouldn’t. Right?

You steel your nerves and launch yourself up the remaining steps. By the time you reach the 14th floor, you’re not even winded. 

The long hallway is colder than the stairwell. You take off sprinting towards your room, sharply rounding the few corners that you come across. Right before your own stretch of hallway, you slow down to a walk. It kills you but you have to do it. 

In the distance, right in front of your room, you see two large men in black suits standing guard. They take notice of you immediately. 

“What are you doing up here, ma’am?” One asks as you walk closer. 

“My room is up here, honey.” 

He looks to his partner and then back at you. “Turn around and walk the other way.”

“Why?” you ask, only about ten feet away. 

“Just do it, sweet cheeks.”

Your eyebrow cocks and before he can react, you walk up and throw a sharp right hook into his jaw. The bone in his face cracks and he stumbles down onto the ground. 

His partner yells in surprise and starts fumbling for his gun. When his hand raises to shoot you, you grab his arm and aim his weapon down so when he discharges it, it shoots right into his partner. 

Then, you pull his arm so he falls forward into you. You swing the heel of your palm upwards right into his nose. With your free hand, you reach down and grab the tiny pistol that was strapped to your thigh. 

Before the second goon could recover, you shoot him right in the head. 

The sound of gunshots obviously alerted the remaining three gang members in the room. Two of them come barreling out into the hallway with their weapons drawn. 

Immediately, you shoot the first one in the head, he hits the ground before he even knows what hit him. The other gang member yelps in shock before you shoot him too. 

Within two minutes there are four bodies in the hallway.

Carefully, you walk into your hotel room, keeping your back against the wall and your gun cocked.

“Shut the fuck up,” a gruff voice says roughly. 

Jisung said there were five of them. The fifth must be the one holding him hostage.

Quietly, you inch closer and closer to the corner of the wall. Once you turn around, he’ll be right in front of you. 

You gulp and take one deep breath before coming around the corner, gun pointed forward. 

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” That same deep voice calls out. 

Your heart drops. 

Another typical looking crook is pointing his gun at the closed wardrobe doors in the corner of the room. 

Where is Jisung? Where is he? Is he in the wardrobe? He has to be inside the wardrobe. 

“Why don’t you drop the gun, sweetie.” The mobster says darkly. 

You stay still with the gun pointed at him despite his words. The trigger seems to burn your finger. It's aching to be pulled. 

Is Jisung in the wardrobe? Is he in there and you can’t see him?

Or is this guy trying to pull a fast one on you to get you to drop your weapon? 

Fuck, is Jisung in the wardrobe?

“I said drop the fucking gun.” He moves to pull the hammer back of his own pistol and you don’t hesitate even for a second. 

You pull your own trigger. 

He drops to the ground with a bullet wound directly in his head. 

You sprint across the room and rip open the wardrobe doors. 

Empty. 

It’s empty. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you repeat under your breath frantically. You blink your eyes over and over again hoping that he would suddenly appear. 

You even go so far as to open and close the wardrobe door three more times, each time more frantic. 

“Fuck!”

Where the fuck is he if he’s not inside this room? 

The equipment on the table has a bullet hole through Jisung’s main laptop but no blood anywhere near it. But his glasses are. They’re lying on the floor with a crack through one of the lenses. 

Did they move him to another location? He doesn’t have a tracker on him like you do.

With a yell of anguish, you turn and kick the dead mobster at your feet. His limp body rolls over and his jacket pocket falls open. 

A hotel room key tucked inside the pocket catches your attention. You crouch down and pick it up.

‘1833’ is written on the back of the key.

It’s not a great lead, but your legs are running out of your hotel room before you even think twice. Obviously they moved him somewhere else to lead you into their trap and it didn’t work. Not with how well you were trained. 

You burst through the door leading to the 18th floor, heeled shoes sprinting down the hallway towards where room 1833 would be.

As soon as you’re in front of the door, you click the hammer back of your gun and hold it out in front of you, swiping the key in the handle with your free hand.

The lock clicks open and you push the handle down slowly, trying to cause the least amount of noise as possible. All of the lights are off inside of the hotel room, save for one lamp. The yellow glow radiates on the wall.

There’s no noise.

Everything is completely silent save for the quiet hum of the air conditioning pumping through the room.

Until you hear a sniffle, a huff, and then another sniffle. 

Inching across the floor, you slide your back against the wall like you did previously, listening for any more key sounds that would alert you that there are more people inside the room.

Taking one last deep breath, you round the corner and point your gun forward.

Even in the dark you know exactly what you’re seeing. 

In the middle of the room stood Han Jisung; his hands tied together with a rope coming from the ceiling, a blindfold around his eyes and earplugs shoved into his ears. From here you can see the wetness from his tears being absorbed by the blindfold. There’s a gag tied around his mouth muffling tiny sobs.

You don’t allow yourself to fall victim to false security, you look around the room closely, making sure no one else is lying in wait for you to fall into yet another trap. 

No other soul is inside this hotel room with you.

Dropping the gun onto the bed, you cross the room towards Jisung as quickly as possible.

He must sense another presence in front of him, his entire body stiffens and another louder sob is swallowed by the gag. He backs up away from you as much as his restraints allowed– which was next to nothing.

“Jisung,” you say in relief. “Oh god.”

Without thinking twice about it, you reach around and brush your hand on his lower back, scratching twice. 

Jisung’s chest heaves with another sob, even through the gag in his mouth, you can hear him whimper your name. His entire body relaxes and he falls towards you, the ties on his hands tugging even more. 

You reach up and yank the gag out of his mouth. 

“X,” he rasps with a dry tongue. “Oh my god please say it’s you. I-I can’t hear anything— fuck, Jesus. Thank god you’re alive, oh god.”

You scratch his lower back again, looking at the restraints. How the fuck were you going to untie that knot? 

Jisung’s tongue darts out to lick at his dry lips. His weight leans into you as much as he can. It must’ve been horrifying to be tied up like this, he couldn't hear or see or scream for help. 

Gingerly, you reach up and cup both of his cheeks so as not to startle him. Even with how gentle you were, he still jumps in shock. 

“Everything happened so fast,” he rambled. “They shot out the laptop so the communicator was fried. Next thing I knew I had a bag over my head and I was being tied up.”

Using your fingers, you push the blindfold up his face to rest around his forehead. 

Jisung’s big, brown eyes blink and squint a bit before focusing on you. He searches all over your face, taking in every detail as if you’re a glass of water and he’s been crawling through the desert. 

His eyebrows pinch together and he gulps. 

“God, I’m always glad to see you, but now I’m really glad.”

You laugh under your breath, the stress from just the last thirty minutes alone lifting off your shoulders. 

He’s okay. 

Jisung is okay. 

Using your hands, you wipe the tear tracks off his puffy cheeks. God, he must’ve been horrified. 

He’s probably never going to go out into the field again. You look up at the restraints, analyzing the knot closely. You’re going to have to cut him down, there’s no way you’re untying that. He’s secured to a pipe that runs across the entirety of the ceiling. 

“You know,” Jisung starts. His voice already has that teasing tilt to it. “If you wanted me tied up this badly, all you had to do was ask, baby.”

Your eyebrows twitches. Mr. Humor-Is-My-Coping-Mechanism decides to show his face now of all times, huh? 

Slowly, you look down from his restrained wrists to his dark eyes. A smirk is already plastered on his face, his lips still wet from licking them.

“You must want me so bad, hm?”

With your own crooked smile, you tongue your cheek and make a ‘huh’ noise, it puffs through your chest. That’s how he wants to be, huh?

He can stay tied up for a little longer then. It’s not like anyone’s coming into this room nor do you have anything to do until after the auction. 

Really, you have nothing but time to kill!

You take a step backwards away from him and cross your arms over your chest.

His eyes widen when you distance yourself from him. “Wh…” His cheeks puff a bit as his lips purse in confusion. Jisung tugs on the rope still around his wrists. 

You cock your head to the side and stare at him with one lifted brow. 

The bed behind you dips down under your weight as you sit down on the edge. It gives you a perfect vantage point to watch Jisung grow more and more confused as to why you’re not cutting him down yet. 

Slowly, his ears start turning red, the flush crawls across his face and down his neck, disappearing into his black hoodie. 

“X,” he says hoarsely. “Aren’t you going to cut me down?”

You shrug, knowing no matter what you say, he’s not going to hear you. If he wants to tease you, you can tease right back. 

The gun on the bed beside you is picked up in your hand. You nonchalantly click the safety on and toss it to the side again.

He tugs even harder, the ropes chafing his wrists a bit. You watch as JIsung’s Adam’s Apple bobs with a gulp. The blindfold is pushing his bangs up in wild directions.

The helpless look on his face shouldn’t be making your blood pump this way. Excitement shouldn’t be tingling at the base of your spine from the power trip you’re getting from this. This is only teasing between two best friends, nothing more. 

It’s just teasing, right?

Right?

You cross one leg over the other, leaning back on your hands. The plush blanket underneath your fingertips feels cool and soft. It’s a complete contrast to the way your skin is heating up under Jisung’s desperate gaze.

“Aren’t you going to…” he trails off. Several times his eyes flick from yours down to your exposed leg. When you had crossed them, due to the slit up your dress, the entirety of your leg was exposed to the cool hotel room air.

“Going to what?” you ask him, exaggerating the movements of your mouth for him to understand. 

Jisung gulps again while watching your lips. He squints his eyes closed and tries to take a steadying breath in through his nose, his chin tilts back a bit.

You allow your gaze to wander down his body a bit. He’s always in relaxed clothing, including now. An oversized black hoodie draped over his shoulders with gray sweatpants on his bottom half.

Gray sweatpants that you now notice seem a little… tight .

Oh.

It seems as though you’re not the only one whose thoughts seem to be a bit… derailed. 

When you look back up at Jisung, he’s staring at you with slightly glassy eyes and a heaving chest. Nervously, his tongue comes out to lick his drying lips again. 

A tight band of tension stretches between the two of you; you can practically feel it connecting your bodies together. The hair on the back of your neck stands up.

Is he thinking the same thing you are? Is he allowing his mind to wander the way that yours is?

Slowly, you uncross your legs and stand up from the edge of the bed. 

Big brown eyes flick down to watch the movement absentmindedly, his lips part and a shaky exhale leaves them. 

Your hips sway from side to side with each slow step you take towards Jisung. 

The eye contact he makes with you is sharp; his thoughts being conveyed through them. He wants you, and he wants you bad. It’s like he’s practically begging for it with those brown puppy dog eyes. 

And you’ll be damned because you want it just as bad. 

There’s only so much of his teasing that you can take. Only so much desire the dam within your heart can take before it bursts. And right now, with how high your adrenaline has spiked, nothing is stopping you.

The last two years of nonstop flirting is taking its toll on your self control.

Licking your own lips, you look up at Jisung, a shaky breath coming out afterwards.

Your fingers come up and grab the blindfold that’s still around his forehead and tug it back down over his eyes.

“ Fuck, ” Jisung murmurs. Your face is so close to his you can physically feel the words splay out onto your own lips. 

With the gentleness of a butterfly landing on a flower, you brush your lips against his. Jisung immediately brings his face closer to yours, smashing your mouths together even more. 

A sensation you can’t quite describe washes over you. It has the same level of completeness that you had felt when you became a full-fledged agent; like you just did something that the universe has been waiting for you to do.

His pouty lips start moving against yours faster and faster with more urgency, like he can’t get enough of you, like he’s experiencing the same emotions that you are. Were you the piece he always needed too?

Both of your hands begin to explore. You cup his cheek with one while the other grabs at the front of his hoodie. He’s leaning into you so much that the ropes holding his wrists squeak as they tighten and rub.

With a teasing smirk against his mouth, you take a tiny step back. This way he wasn’t able to reach your lips but could still feel the heat from your body in front of him. 

A tiny whine leaves his throat as soon as you pull away. You watch as his lips chase after you just to be stopped by the ropes.

“Y/N,” he whispers, pleading. You lightly tap his cheek twice.

Pulling the collar of his hoodie to the side, you let your mouth hover over his neck. 

Since he doesn’t have sight or hearing, all of his other senses are on high alert. Jisung feels your warm exhales so close to his skin and squirms around, little noises leaving the back of his throat. 

You tease him more and more by letting your deep breaths fan over his flushed skin but never actually letting your lips actually meet with his neck.

Jisung pulls and pulls on the restraints, each exhale driving him insane. 

When your lips finally meet his neck, a long mewl exits his own wet mouth. His head tilts to the side to give you more access. Greedily, you let your mouth explore his soft skin. 

His hips buck forward into yours, his hard length grinding into your hip to bring himself some relief. Jisung whines again at the sensation.

At the same time, you open your mouth and suck down where his shoulder meets his neck. His body tenses up and his head tilts back in pleasure.

“Jesus, fuck,” he curses, grinding into your hip once again. “Oh, god. Shit– please, fuck, Y/N.” His incoherent babbling only increases in pitch and frequency the more you run your tongue up and down his neck, never going lower than the collar of his hoodie would pull or higher than his jawline. 

You let your free hand travel up to thread in his soft, chocolate brown locks of hair. You scratch at his scalp a few times, letting your nails drag along his head. A low moan emanates deep within Jisung’s chest, it almost sounds like a purr. His head leans back into your touch. 

“Oh my god,” he murmurs. Every noise that comes out of his mouth is louder than you expect thanks to the earplugs. “Y/N, please– oh fuck , kiss me again, please, oh my god, please, Y/N.”

Pulling away from his neck, you capture his lips in the middle of his babbling. The rest of his words are swallowed by your own mouth. His tongue darts out from his mouth to lick at your lips and coax yours forward.

Your own moans slip between kisses, Jisung can feel the vibrations against his mouth and they drive him absolutely wild. His hands ball up into fists; he wants to touch you so bad. 

“Y/N,” he says your name in between kisses. “Please, c-cut me down.” Your kisses travel down to his jawline. “I want to– Fu-huh-huck! ” You bite down on his neck harshly, sucking a bright purple hickey underneath it. 

Jisung rolls his hips into yours. You can feel how absolutely rock hard his cock is through his sweats. 

“N-Need to touch you. Hah! I’m going insane, Y/N.”

Begs sound so good coming from his lips. 

You run your hands down his chest to tease at the hem of his hoodie before sliding them underneath the fabric and up his bare chest. The muscle that greets you underneath it is a pleasant surprise.

The hard lines of his abs and chest run along the pads of your fingertips. He flexes and tenses under your touch.

Jisung throws his head back with a groan, his weight shifts around on his feet. It feels so fucking good . Every single touch to his body is heaven sent. 

At the top of his chest, you curl your fingers and rake your nails down his skin.

The wail that tears from his throat makes your heart rate pick up ten fold. It sends a lightning bolt of pleasure through your body. 

“Oh my god, please do that again! ” Jisung begs, his mouth hanging open as he pants over and over again. It seems like he can’t catch his breath. 

Who were you to deny him?

With a featherlight touch, you let your fingers trail up, up, up his body. The closer you got to the top, the faster Jisung’s breathing picks up. 

Right before you curled your fingers again, you smash your lips together in another searing kiss. When you claw down his quickly reddening skin, his cry is swallowed up by your own mouth.

You don’t stop your fingers on their downward descent, you tease the waistband of his sweats, letting your fingers curl around the top of the band and touching the taut skin underneath.

“Ah, hah.” Jisung pants into your mouth. He leans forward and sucks on your bottom lip, pulling it back for it to snap against your teeth. “I want to touch you so bad, Y/N, please .”

“Be patient,” you say against his lips. He doesn’t hear it, but he feels it. A pathetic whine responds to your words. 

You kiss his lips a few more times before dropping down to your knees in front of him. 

“Holy shit,” he breathes out. “Oh god, oh my god.”

You grab his legs with both of your hands starting at the knees and run them up his thighs, taking your time on your ascent. 

“Fuck, fuck , this is really happening.” Jisung gulps. He pulls harder and harder on the ropes. 

When your hands reach the top of his thighs, you run one closer and palm his erection over the top of his sweats. A deep, guttural moan is Jisung’s only response. Even through his sweats you can feel how his cock twitches in your grasp.

His hips buck into your hand when you squeeze him. “F-Fuck, I– Oh god– This is really happening and I can’t even fucking see it .”

You smirk. Maybe you should show him a small bit of mercy. Just a small amount. 

Leaning forward, you kiss his cock over his sweatpants. Jisung gasps and twitches again.

You stand up quickly, coming nose to nose with him. Your hands come up to cup his cheeks, they’re so warm from his flushed face.

“Y-Y/N,” he gasps. You peck his lips, letting them linger on his while your hands come up to his ears to take the plugs out. “Y/N,” he repeats on your lips.

“Hi, Jisung,” you breathe against his mouth before kissing him again, letting the earplugs drop to the ground.

You don’t linger for too long, you kiss down his face, down his neck, and then you fall to your knees once more.

“Jesus, Y/N.” 

You don’t tease him too much this time, you grab the waistband of his pants and tug them down, his rock hard cock finally coming out. His tip is red and angry. God, how can a dick look so pretty? 

Just as quickly as you got his cock out of his pants, you wrap your hand around him, pumping your hand up and down slowly. 

“Ohhhh my goood,” Jisung mewls. His thighs tense up and flex each time you stroke up and down. “Fuck yeah, Y/N. God, your hands are so fucking soft.”

You tighten your grip and Jisung whines. 

“Yeah? Does that feel good, baby?”

His cock twitches in your hand at the nickname at the same time a tiny whine escapes his throat.

“Does it?”

“Y-Yes,” he answers shyly.

“Louder, Jisung.”

“Yes, it feels good!”

“Good boy.” Without warning, you lean forward and take the entirety of him inside your mouth.

You can feel his knees buckle and if it wasn’t for the restraints keeping him suspended from the ceiling, he probably would’ve fallen to the ground. 

“Oh, oh m-my, f-fuck, Y/N!”

You’re relentless. You bob your head back and forth on his dick, letting your tongue swirl around the tip when you come up just to go back down and swallow him completely. Jisung’s hands are balled into such tight fists that his knuckles are turning white.

So many different pitches of whines, moans, and groans fall so easily from his lips. Compliments come out in between each one. 

“So good,” he cries. “I can’t fucking– holy shit.”

In some part of your mind, you always knew he would be vocal during sex– but never this vocal. He hasn’t shut up once. Not that you’re complaining, quite the opposite really. You fucking love every single noise that he makes. Each one sends a shock down between your legs. 

Too often you’ve been with partners that conceal how you’re making them feel, but not anymore. Jisung is making sure you know exactly how well you’re doing. 

“Such a perfect mouth, oh god. So fucking warm.”

You let your hand travel up his hoodie again, his abs are clenching and releasing over and over again with how hard he’s panting, you can feel each one under your hands. 

“Yes, yes, yes,” he pants as your hand goes up. “Fucking hurt me, yeah, please, scratch me, Y/N.”

God, the way he’s talking to you is fucking sinful. It’s perfect .

You scratch down his chest just as harshly as you did twice previously. 

Again, Jisung lets out a wail, his hips bucking and fucking his cock down your throat. You gag around him but keep him down your throat regardless.

“I-I-I’m gunna, holy shit, Y/N, I’m g’na– g’na—”

Now, you can’t have that yet, can you?

Quickly, you pull off his cock, letting yourself take a gulp of air. 

Jisung cries out from his ruined orgasm. “No! Shit! Fuck! Why?”

You look around the room while he throws his mini temper tantrum. There’s a small kitchen off to the side of the suite. 

As if you have nothing better to do, you meander over to it, looking around. 

“Y/N?” Jisung asks, hearing you walk away.

“Hm?” you respond.

“W-Where did you go?”

“Still here, baby, why?”

He shifts around, pulling on the ropes. The red color on his ears is getting deeper and deeper. “Just um– Why did you leave?”

You giggle. “Looking for something.”

You open one of the drawers, close it, then open another until you find what you’re looking for. It glints and catches your eye in the third drawer you check. You pick up the knife that was inside the drawer.

You’re walking back in his direction with the knife in your hand.

“D-Did you find what you needed?”

“Yep.”

With frightening grace, you reach up and slice the ropes holding his wrists in the air.

He almost drops to the ground, but you grab a hold of him before he has a chance to fall into the carpet. 

Jisung wastes no time, he grabs at your waist with both of his hands. Through the silk fabric of your dress, you feel the heat of his touch. It scorches into your skin and you wish he would brand his very handprints there.

His lips are already on yours again, feverishly kissing you as if you would disappear if he stopped even for a moment. He takes one second to rip the blindfold off his eyes and then he’s back on your mouth.

The hands on your waist don’t stay there long. They run all along your figure, up in your hair, over your neck, grabbing your ass, gripping your hips, he’s everywhere. 

You back up a bit, pulling Jisung with you until the back of your legs are about to hit the bed. Quickly, you spin the two of you around, pushing his chest so that he falls back onto the bed. 

When Jisung finally blinks the confusion from his eyes, his breath catches in his throat at the sight of you at the foot of the bed. 

You’re looking at him like you’re about to devour his very soul. Your hair is frizzy and tousled, the straps of your dress falling off your shoulders, your lipstick smudged over your puffy, kiss swollen lips.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he murmurs. His fingers curl into the blanket.

You straddle his legs and crawl onto the bed, hiking the skirt of your dress up enough for Jisung to see the strong muscle of your thighs. 

“There’s no way I’m awake right now,” he whispers, hands grabbing at your bare legs and running them up to push your dress further up your body. “I must have been shot. I’m in Heaven right now.”

With a sultry chuckle, you cup his cheek and let your thumb swipe over his lips. “I’m real, baby.”

“Oh my god.”

You reach down and take a hold of his cock, pumping him up and down a few more times. Jisung moans and fights for his eyes to stay open, he can’t get enough of the sight of your hand wrapped around him.

With your other hand, you reach down and pull your panties to the side, revealing your dripping cunt. 

“Holy fuck, you’re so wet,” Jisung whines. His fingers run up your folds, collecting your wetness on his digits and bringing them up to his mouth. He moans around his own fingers at your taste, his eyes rolling back in his skull. “Please, I need to–”

You cut him off by squeezing his cock. “Next time. I need you now .”

“Yes, ma’am,” he squeaks out. 

As if he would ever complain.

You line his cock up with your entrance, Jisung grabs your hips with both of his hands, his thumbs pressing against the bone so hard. His breathing is getting faster and faster with each passing second.

Slowly, you sink down on his cock.

Both of you moan out in unison. The stretch feels fucking marvelous inside of you. Jisung’s eyes roll back in his head once more. 

His moans dissolve into silence as his mouth stretches open in an ‘O’. He throbs inside you right before you lift your hips just to drop them again. 

“Oh god,” you moan. “Jisung, you feel so fucking good.”

“Move, please ,” he begs and you bounce up and down again and again. Each time you drop down, it shoots pleasure down through your thighs and into your toes.

You grab his face and smash his lips with yours once more. His tongue immediately finds yours. 

Jisung’s hands wander from your hips all the way around your body to grip your ass while you ride him, his fingers dig into the flesh, kneading it with each bounce. 

“Fuck, fuck,” he murmurs into your mouth. “Pussy so fucking tight.”

“Just for you.”

“O-Oh, fuck yeah . Just like that, baby.”

Jisung pulls away from your lips to kiss down your neck the way you did to him earlier. He takes his hands off your ass to pull the straps of your dress down your arms for your breasts to fall out of the top.

“Shit, baby,” he whines before taking a nipple in his mouth.

Moaning, you pull his hair tighter, keeping his face buried in your chest– not that he seems to mind. His eyebrows pinch together, moans vibrating against your chest as he licks and sucks at your nipple.

His other hand comes up to pinch and pull at the other. Each tweak and flick of his tongue makes your walls clamp down on his cock.

“Your cock feels so good, Jisung,” you moan, clenching on him again. “Stretching me so good, so fucking big.”

He moans, sucking a hickey on the underside of one of your tits. 

The pitch of both of your moans begin to get higher and higher the closer you get to your peaks. Jisung’s heels dig into the carpet and he starts fucking up into you.

“Fuck!” you cry out, holding him tighter. His thrusts are so much wilder than your bounces were. Each one fucks right into your g-spot. “Ji– Jisung, oh god!”

“Yeah?” He pulls away from your chest and looks up at you with half lidded eyes. “Does that feel good? Am I making you feel good?”

“Yes, yes! Keep going, Ji!”

Every single thrust is driving you wild. Everything about him makes you feel crazy, everything down to the sweat beading on his forehead.

He reaches down and presses his thumb against your clit, making you cry out. He rubs circles in the same tempo as his thrusts. 

Closer and closer you approach your own climax, his touch feels too good.

Jisung looks down, watching where his cock disappears inside you over and over again. The very sight of it makes his mouth go dry. 

He groans and falls into your chest. 

“Say it for me, Y/N, say it,” he pants into your neck. “Say you’re close. I-I’m going to fucking bust, say you’re close, I need you to cum on my cock. Need it s-so bad.”

“I am, I am,” you repeat like a mantra. Your own pleasure is making you feel inside, his cock is abusing your walls just right, his thumb on your clit adding an extra level of insanity. 

You pull more at his hair.

Close, close, close. It’s all you can think of. Jisung is enveloping all of your senses. He’s everything in your mind and body and even your soul.

“Gunna cum!” you cry out. “Cumming, cu– cumming!”

With just three more thrusts, your walls clamp down on Jisung’s cock, triggering his own release.

“Jisung, fuck!”

He bites down on your neck, crying out and grabbing you tightly with his free hand. He clings onto you like he would die if he let go.

Hot, sticky cum drips over your walls, leaking out around his cock.

Both of you are panting heavily, unable to move and detangle yourselves from one another. 

Slowly, you release your death grip on his hair, letting your nails drag along his scalp like you did earlier. He hums against your neck, his hands finding your hips again, thumbs massaging you over your dress.

The gentleness of his touch makes you clench around him, your cunt still going through the aftershock of your orgasm.

“Jeeesus…” Jisung moans out, a bit overstimulated. You giggle and pull back to look down at your best friend. He looks up at you with a delighted smile across his face.

You giggle and continue to comb through his hair. 

His eyes fall closed happily and he leans into your touch.

This should feel awkward. You should be having some sort of ‘post-nut clarity’ where you freak out for sleeping with your best friend, but you’re not. 

Right here, right now, you feel safe and content. And your relationship with Jisung feels the same– if not better.

“I knew it,” he hums.

You cock your head to the side. “Knew what?”

“You’re obsessed with me.”

Laughing, you lean forward and press a long kiss to his lips. “Yeah.” You kiss him again. “Maybe I am.”

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

“So J was captured and tied up in another room in the convention center?” Chan asks.

You and Jisung had safely returned to Korea with The Refuge about two hours ago. And, per protocol, you both immediately went to Chan’s office for a debrief.

“Affirmative,” you answer. 

“And you got him back, obviously. No problems after that?”

“No, sir.”

Jisung shifts on his chair next to you.

“Uneventful beyond that one hiccup?”

You tongue your cheek. “Yes, sir.”

Chan eyes the two of you curiously from the other side of his desk. But, the mission was complete and everything was done. There was nothing he needed to be wary of. For now.

“Understood. I’ll read about the mission more in your reports. You’re both dismissed.”

The two of you are leaving Chan’s office with thinly veiled smirks on your faces. Just as you’re about to close the door behind you, he calls out.

“Might want to cover the hickeys next time!”

[minh907]

Maybe for Jingwoo you could do an angst story ( I’m alway here for angst ).

Another idea is maybe making a friends to lovers story where in the beginning Y/N (or reader) was with Jingwoo in the double dungeon and was the only one who stayed behind for him. So they both got beaten up pretty badly, if you want to make it more interesting maybe they both become players. But I was thinking when they land on the “alter” Y/N (or reader) proclaims their love for Jingwoo, and what he assumes to be his last words, says it back to them. But they wake up in the hospital and from there you can use your imagination :) just some ideas

Farewell.

Sung Jinwoo x Isekai!Reader. Angst, Open or maybe Sad Ending.

This finished earlier than I expect. And I think this is the longest oneshort I've ever write.

Sorry for the long waiting again. Hope you like this. I love you all 💗.

_________________________

[Hello, L/n Y/n] [Congratulations, you have been selected as the first person to experience our isekai system. You have received an invitation to the world of Solo Leveling Note: You cannot return to this world if you press Accept [Do you want to go?] [Accept   |  Decline]

One night, while you were sleeping, you suddenly dreamed that you entered a majestic and magnificent space, covered with blue stones whose names you did not know.

You found yourself standing on a large platform, before your eyes was a strange screen.

The air was thick with silence, the soft hum of energy surrounding you as you stood before the strangely glowing screen.

The invitation, still fresh in your mind, had come to you in a dream. An offer to leave this world for a new one, a world you were only familiar with through the pages of your favorite manhwa, Solo Leveling.

You accepted without hesitation. Of course, who would miss this opportunity. Then the world spin brings you into complete darkness before you even know what happened.

Opening your eyes reveals a totally unfamiliar setting.

__________________________

It was raining that day, you stood in the middle of the park, barefoot on the cold cement floor, your eyes still not used to the image of this world. The rain fell heavily, splashing cold drops of water on your face, and your body shivered from hunger, and confusion.

"Welcome, special player," the system's voice rang in your head for the third time, cold and emotionless, as if everything was a pre-determined program. "Congratulations on successfully entering the world of Solo Leveling, hope you will have fun here. I'll be your assistant, please call me when you need."

Your body shivered as you held yourself tightly while your clothes remained wet. Your forehead was covered in wet hair while your feet remained cold from the frozen state. The world around you remained blurred like a distant memory from your dream state.

You shivered slightly, hugging your drenched body with both hands. Your hair was sticking to you. "System...?" you muttered, your voice trembling.

"Yes, I am here," the system replied, its voice as flat as an emotionless recording. "You are a special player. Your privileges include: a unique skill system, an ability to grow beyond limits, and an undisclosed mission. Time to adapt to the new world: 72 hours."

This world was truly Solo Leveling. You told yourself, trying to calm yourself as cold drops of rain continued to fall on your face. Where were you? What point in the story? A cold wind blew past you, causing you to collapse. No suitable clothes, no food, no shelter. You groaned. 'Why did the system bring me here without giving me any identity!!?'

At that moment, footsteps rang out from afar. You turned around, reflexively.

A woman and a boy were walking through the park. He stopped when he saw you, his eyes wide with surprise. He pulled his mother's shirt and pointed at you.

You recognize the boy.

Sung Jinwoo.

...But he's so small. You realize you have transformed into a child of 8 or 10 years old during that moment.

Kyung-hye leads Jinwoo by the hand while she greets "Hello, who are you?" with a gentle smile. "Where are your parents? Why are you standing in the rain like this?"

You're still so shocked that you unconsciously shake your head. Kyung-hye thinks that means you don't have any relatives (although that's true at the moment.)

Jinwoo remains beside his mother while staring at you with his eyes. Jinwoo extends his hand to his mother as he asks her permission to bring you home. "Can she go home with us?"

The unexpected offer from her son made Kyung-hye turn her attention toward him. Heavy drops from the continuous rain kept falling onto the uneven pavement. You remained motionless like a forsaken kitten while your body trembled from the cold.

"...Do you want to help her?" Kyung-hye asked, gently, while brushing your wet hair aside to get a better look at your face.

Jinwoo nodded, his eyes unusually determined. "She's cold. We can't leave her here."

Your eyes met briefly before Kyung-hye returned a smile. "Yeah, you're right. I must not ignore this child." She lowered herself to the ground while extending her hand. "You want to visit my house today? At least to change and eat something?"

You looked at those gentle eyes, and then looked at Jinwoo. A genuine smile from the boy appeared so natural and kind that you automatically returned it.

You found comfort in a soft towel while sitting at the table with a hot bowl of porridge in your presence. Kyung-hye was worriedly stroking your hair, while Jinwoo sat across from you, eating while secretly watching you.

You tried to adapt to this small body, with shorter hair, more slender hands. The system in your head was still silent, not mentioning any mission or goal. Only a line of text appeared faintly.

[World positioning complete. Identity synchronization: complete. Temporary: living as a normal child.]

A new life had begun.

________________________________

Years passed...

You grew up next to Sung Jinwoo like it was the most natural habit in the world.

From the moment Jinwoo asked his mother to take you home, the two of you became an inseparable couple.

You and Jinwoo used to share the lunch box your mother made together, even though sometimes it was just a boiled egg or a few small pieces of ham. On days when you got bad grades, you two would sneak into the warehouse behind the school together, trembling and worried but still trying to smile to comfort each other. The times you both got punished for being naughty in class - drawing on the blackboard, imitating the teacher's voice, or secretly hiding candy in your desk - all became unforgettable memories.

You used to run away with Jinwoo from the big kids who bullied the weaker students. Jinwoo wasn't good at fighting, but he always pulled you ahead, panting but still turning back, asking softly, "Are you okay?"

And after all those times, Kyung-hye's mother would appear at the school gate, smiling gently when she saw the two of them, dirty and scruffy, still holding hands.

Time passed so peacefully that you almost forgot that this world would become chaotic in a few years.

Only your feelings for Jinwoo were always there. From the time you knew him through the pages of a comic book, until the time you actually met him.

Those feelings grew over the years.

You started off with a crush on a character before your feelings evolved into an innocent friendship. This connection required no special cause similar to the way sunlight illuminates mornings or cicadas fill summer air with their songs. Then gradually, you realized that your heart started to skip a beat every time Jinwoo smiled. A warm feeling rose when he held your hand as you crossed the street, even though he was grown up and no longer needed you.

You liked Jinwoo.

That love was not noisy, not dramatic. It crept in like the spring rains silently watering the fields of memories. But then, over time, that feeling also began to hurt you.

You still paid attention to the plot. You knew that Jinwoo would meet his destined person in the future. You were just a character added by accident. But you still couldn't help but like him.

Everyone knew you liked Jinwoo.

Even Jinah, his younger sister, when she grew up, used to look at you with both curiosity and certainty. One summer afternoon, when the three of them were peeling fruit in the living room, Jinah suddenly asked in a nonchalant voice.

"You like my oppa, right?"

You were stunned. Just for a second. But it was enough for your face to turn red. You smiled, changing the subject by shoving a piece of apple into Jinah's hand, saying, "Eat it, or the apple will turn brown."

Only Jinwoo didn't know.

He only sees you as a friend, a sister, nothing more, nothing less.

You don't blame him.

It's just that sometimes you wish Jinwoo would look back at you a little more. Not with the eyes of a close friend, but with a softer, deeper gaze, like you've always looked at him all these years.

______________________

And then the incident came like a flood, without warning, without mercy.

The peaceful world began to crack when the first dungeon gates appeared. Strange, violent creatures beyond imagination began to pour out of nowhere, spreading panic and destruction everywhere. Ordinary people were no longer strong enough to fight back. But then - along with the danger - people with supernatural powers also awakened one by one. They were called Hunters.

In that chaos, the Sung family could not escape the vortex of fate.

Sung Il-Hwan, the calm and responsible father, was one of the first to awaken the power of a hunter. With a rare ability, he joined the raiding team with the desire to protect humanity from the threats of the dungeon. But during a high-level raid, the gate slammed shut - and he never returned.

The name Sung Il-Hwan became a silent mark in the missing person records. No body, no clues. Only a void remained, deeply embedded in Jinwoo's heart and the whole family's.

The pain had not yet subsided when another disaster struck.

Mrs. Kyung-hye, Jinwoo's mother, could not adapt to the environment that was gradually being eroded by mana. Her normal human body could not withstand the waves of mana emitted by the hunters. One morning, she collapsed without warning. The doctor called it Eternal Slumber - a deep coma that current medicine could not explain or cure.

She was still there, lying motionless in the cold hospital room, as if she were sleeping a long, endless sleep.

And so, the Sung family - once warm and filled with laughter in the small house - now had only three people left.

Jinah, Jinwoo's little sister, tried to be strong every day, hiding her tears behind her strong eyes so as not to become a burden to her brother.

Jinwoo, awakened with only E-rank power, now has to shoulder the whole family, amidst the life-and-death battles and the loneliness that gnaws at his mind.

And you - who is by their side like a remaining piece of peace, a friend who accidentally gets caught up in the story of people who shoulder a fate beyond the ordinary.

So the story has officially begun.

At the same time, the Isekai System - which you once considered an echo from an old dream, a part of a distant memory after long days of living as a normal human - suddenly reappeared.

After many years of silence, it reappeared with a mission for you.

[System mission has been activated.] [Main mission: Support the protagonist until he achieves Shadow Power.] [Note: When you complete it, you can choose your own path, as long as it does not affect the story.]

It was just a simple command, but it was like a cold knife cutting through your heart. You stood there, looking at the message that appeared before your eyes, unable to do anything but accept it. Because you knew this was not a dream. And from now on, things would never be the same again.

The Double Dungeon event occurred. A seemingly normal raid turned into hell. Blood spilled, people fell. Lives were crushed without mercy. And in the middle of that boundary between life and death, Jinwoo opened his eyes to a System of his own. A System as powerful, mysterious, and cruel as his own fate.

He began to change. With each passing day, his body grew taller, stronger, his eyes sharper. Old wounds healed, pain disappeared.

But in the process, you also gradually realized that it was not only his body that changed - but the world around him was shifting.

The story began to roll.

Jinwoo was no longer the clumsy, gentle Jinwoo of the past. He was now the center of an approaching storm. Big names began to notice him. Fierce battles, life-or-death choices, and pre-arranged fate.

You knew - the time would come when he would meet Cha Hae-in. That girl, that gaze, that position in the script was predetermined from the beginning. Even though you've never met her, you know that no one can replace her in Jinwoo's destined role.

And you?

You're just a supporter. A good friend who always stands behind, takes care of every wound, takes care of every meal, wipes the blood off his hands without asking where he came from. An outsider, witnessing the love story forming from afar, in silence. And someone who secretly likes him.

But you have to close it. Lock it tightly. Because you understand the rules of the game. You're not allowed to love. You're not allowed to interfere with a pre-written storyline.

You're a variable. And variables never have a happy ending.

________________________________

He met her.

Cha Hae-in.

The girl with eyes like a calm lake, always reflecting calmness and kindness - a beauty so pure that it seemed like it could wash away all the ruins in the person's soul. An S-rank Hunter, but gentler than anyone you've ever known.

You stood there silently behind. When Jinwoo's eyes met hers, you saw light.

The light that had appeared in Jinwoo's eyes when he woke up after the Double Dungeon incident, realized that he was still alive, realized that he still had a chance to fix everything, realized that he could still see his family, see you. But now, that light was no longer directed towards you.

In that moment, the world seemed to stop.

You, a person who had gone through countless scenes in this story, suddenly understood. That it wasn't that you weren't good enough. It's just that you're not the one destined to be in this story.

You're an outsider. A sideline. A nameless shadow.

Time passed.

Jinwoo grew stronger, taller, colder. He became an icon. The one who holds the darkness. The one who breaks all limits. At the same time, your mission was completed, but you did not choose to leave, you still wanted to stay by Jinwoo's side a little longer.

And then Jinwoo successfully created the Holy Water of Life.

His mother - Kyung-hye - woke up.

You stood outside the hospital room's glass window. Inside, Jinwoo burst into tears. Those tears were unlike any you had ever seen on his face, not tears of loss, or hatred, or victory. But tears of life.

Jinwoo also became an S-rank hunter, successfully making a name for himself. He also quickly became powerful, then got the attention of the whole world, created his own guild.

You were the one who observed all of that process, observed his growth. Your heart warms, then quickly cools. That's when you realize.

The most important things in Jinwoo's life don't need you anymore.

Not because you're not important. It's because your role in the story has ended.

_______________

The first time he talked about her was after a meeting at the Association, when the two of you left the building together. The afternoon sunlight fell gently on your shoulders, and you - as usual - walked beside Jinwoo in silence.

Jinwoo suddenly spoke, his voice low, as if he was thinking about something far away. "She's different."

You turned around, frowning slightly. "Who?"

"Cha Hae-in."

You paused briefly before switching your voice to inquire "What exactly do you mean by difference?"

A relaxed smile appeared on Jinwoo's face as he shook his head while recalling something pleasant. "I don't typically trust hunches or gut feelings. But when I'm near her, the mana in my body is no longer chaotic. It's peaceful, as if - as if I can breathe."

You smiled. A smile so beautiful that even Jinwoo glanced at you. But you just looked forward, nodding, "It sounds like you found a place where your heart doesn't have to fight anymore."

Jinwoo didn't say anything. Maybe he thought you were misunderstanding.

As for you, you knew you were right.

Another time, after the two of them had just returned from a dungeon, it was raining lightly. The two of them took shelter under the awning of a small restaurant, their clothes still wet from the cold dew in the dungeon. Jinwoo wiped the raindrops from his forehead, then suddenly asked.

"Do you think someone who always fights and always kills is worthy of love?"

You were stunned, your heart filled with unease. "..Why do you ask?"

Jinwoo looked out at the rain, his eyes as deep as the night.

"Because I'm afraid. Hae-in once came to join Ahjin, she admitted that she liked me. I'm afraid that if Hae-in really liked me, she would suffer too much pain. I'm not an ordinary person. I live in blood and darkness. And she's too pure."

You were silent.

In that moment, you just wanted to hug Jinwoo, to tell him that you weren't afraid of his darkness, that you'd lived with him for so long and never found him hateful. But instead, you just smiled.

"If she chose you, then she have discovered qualities you never knew you possessed."

"So you think I'm worthy?"

You nodded slightly. "Yes. Very worthy."

Because otherwise, why would I have loved you for so many years?

________

Jinwoo released a deep sigh as both of you sat on a rooftop watching the Seoul skyline during a late evening.

"I often yearn to experience life as ordinary people do. No system, no monsters, no war. I could do something simple. Have someone waiting for me to come home. And if I'm lucky, maybe..."

He was silent. "...Maybe get married. Have a family."

You didn't reply.

You just clenched the hot cup of tea in your hand, your eyes silently looking down at the traffic below. Your heart silently broke once again - not because Jinwoo loved someone else, but because you realized you were never his choice in the first place.

Everything seemed to be going in the right direction.

Except for your heart.

"Do you think I'm suited to a normal life?" Jinwoo suddenly asked, his eyes following the clouds drifting by.

You looked up at him, smiling slightly. "Depends on your definition of 'normal'."

Jinwoo nodded slightly, then was silent for a long while.

Then, he turned to you, his gaze very gentle. As if he was thinking about something very beautiful, very gentle. "I was thinking about asking Hae-in out. You know, the government built a park at the gate where my father went missing. The only friend I could think of to join me at that place was her."

Your face showed a pleasant expression while your heart endured the pain of his words. 'What about me? Am I not your friend?'  You didn't say anything.

He smiled, a rare smile, not of victory or power. But a smile that came from the desire to live, the desire to be happy. "I want to take her there. Simple. Walk, eat ice cream, play games."

You looked at him.Time appeared frozen at that instant. His gentle voice carried through the room without being either too high or too low yet every word he spoke left a deep impression.

You remembered the day Jinwoo was still an E-rank, awkward, scared, and silent. The one who used to sit huddled in the corner of the hospital. Now he had become a strong person.

You had been with him all that way.

And it seemed like at this moment, you had made a decision for yourself.

____________

"Unnie, do you really have to go?"

Jinah looked at you with sad eyes. Kyung-hye standing next to you also looked at you with pity.

More than anyone, they were the ones who understood your feelings for Jinwoo the most. More than anyone, they knew how much you had sacrificed for Jinwoo. To make the decision to leave, you must have torn your heart to pieces.

With trembling voice Kyung-hye held your hand before she spoke. "I'm sorry I can't help you."

You smiled as you shook your head. "I don't need anything. I am satisfied by his happiness alone. He's found happiness in his life. I think it's time for me to let go and truly live for myself."

Jinah hugged you, unable to hold back her tears. "Unnie, you can stay...you still have us."

You bit your lip, gently touching your head to Jinah's forehead. You just smiled. Gently. Quietly. Then promise. "Someday, I'll come back to see everyone."

It's a lie, a lie only you know.

They don't stop you. Because they understand, there are things that can't be kept - no matter how much love.

You left before Jinwoo returned. No message. No goodbye.

The flight took off.

You sat by the window, your hand on the system screen.

[Request: Erase all your memories related to the Solo Leveling storyline.] [Sub-request: Completely erase memories of Y/n from the memory systems of all individuals who have ever come into contact with you.] [Do you want to confirm?] [Yes/No]

You looked out the plane window, taking in the land of Korea one last time, all your memories since the day you came to this world playing back like a movie. A tear fell down your cheek. You smiled. "Yes"

[Processing...] [Success. From now on, you will not remember anything about the plot. We will not appear again. Wish you a peaceful life.]

Then you fell asleep.

______________________

At the park which used to be a high-level dungeon now served as a lively promenade, where children played while sunlight bathed everything in golden light.

The stone path guided Jinwoo and Hae-in through the park while the wind made the trees' branches dance and let fresh leaves fall from the branches. HHae-in softly held Jinwoo's hand as wind blew through her golden hair.

A girl sprinted by as her mother followed behind her with a pleasant expression. That laughter - unintentionally - struck Jinwoo's ears, like a strange yet painfully familiar bell.

He paused.

His head turned slightly as his gaze focused on an empty area in front of him. A fresh breeze brought forth the fragrances of new grass and damp earth together with another distinct smell.  Something he couldn't name.

He automatically reached his right hand toward his chest.

There. His heart.

It was like something was quietly throbbing. Not clear, not intense, but persistent like a whisper in a dream. He frowned. It felt empty. Like a forgotten silence in a song he once knew.

"...What's wrong?" Hae-in approached him with soft words while squeezing his hand gently as she watched him with worry.

A friendly smile appeared on Jinwoo's face but his expression in his eyes remained blank. "I'm fine. Something important seems to be missing from my mind right now."

Hae-in tilted her head slightly, then smiled. "Then... when you remember, can you tell me?"

Jinwoo looked at her before gently squeezing her hand while smiling. He gave his word to share the information.

Jinwoo experienced a brief emotional twinge as he continued walking under the tree canopy.

There's something still missing. A name has been erased. A look, a laugh, a habit that was once so familiar, now only a pale image deep in his mind. And even though there are no more memories, his heart still carries a nameless emptiness.

No one can fill it. No one can replace it.

Farewell, Jinwoo, my love...

______________

Why oh why tell me why not me 😔

Why oh why we were mean to be...

[rad-roche]

Pulp Covers And How To Paint Them

With the rise of cheap printing in the early twentieth century, mass-marked paperbacks swept the world, each offering lurid thrills for obscenely low prices. Sex, sadism, and incredible violence for as little as ten cents. An easy purchase to slot in between fifty cigarettes a day and enough bourbon slugs to kill a small garden.

Pulp fiction is where some of the greats of American literature cut their teeth, including the big three, Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald and Dashiell Hammett. The contents of these stories, both the dizzyingly good and astoundingly terrible, have been absorbed and digested and remixed and regurgitated in nearly every permutation imaginable, fuelling pop culture some one hundred years on. This isn't an essay on that. Nobody likes to open a tutorial and be greeted with a wall of text. The history is for another time.

But it is about how to paint it.

Don't let the pre-amble intimidate you, it's not as hard as it sounds. You will need:

Painting software with some image editing capabilities. You don't need all the bells and whistles of Photoshop, but I wouldn't recommend something like MSPaint, at least not to start with. I'm using Clip Studio Paint.

A really beat-up paper texture. The grungier, the better.

A lightly-textured brush. Here are the specific brushes I use, 99% of which is the well-named rough brush. Try and avoid anything with any impasto elements.

Go to your colour-picking tool and use the 'select from layer' option. Doing all the painting on a single layer is going to make your life easier.

A complete willingness to make mistakes and, instead of erasing, painting over them. It generates much more colour variation and interest! Keep your finger off the E key.

Good reference! That painting is a master copy of Mitchel Hooks' art for Day of the Ram. Find a style you really love and want to learn? Have no clue where to begin? Do direct studies!

Let's not worry about whatever is happening in the background. It's probably fine. Let's get started! Pulp magazine art is a lot more varied than you might first think, so don't agonize over having a style that 'fits' or not. I'm also specifically aiming for something you'd see on the cover after printing, not the initial painting they would use for printing. The stuff I'll show here is a pretty narrow band of it, but here are some general commonalities. This is a painting by Tom Lovell.

Let's dig into this.

The colours are very bright and saturated, but the actual values, the relative lightness and darkness of them, are actually grouped very simply! You can check this by filling a layer full of black, putting it on top and setting its mode to colour. If the value of a painting looks good, you actually get a lot of leeway with colour. But here's what I think is the most important thing to keep in mind.

The darks aren't that dark, and the lights aren't all that light! Covers are paintings reproduced on cheap paper. Anything you wouldn't want to happen in the printing process, you lean into. Value wash-outs, lower contrast, colours getting a weird wash to them, really gritty texturing. So let's get painting! Here's my typical setup.

That bottom folder is the painting itself. The screen layer is the grungy paper texture. To get the effect you want, put it down, invert its colour, then set it to screen. That washes out your painting far, far too much, so to compensate, I put a contrast layer up on top. Fiddle around with the settings, but this is where mine ended up sitting.

Note I'm saying this before even starting the painting: you want to do this as early as possible. This is where the 'select from layer' colour picker comes in handy. You can paint without worrying about the screen or contrast layer. Something not looking right? Enable your value check layer and keep painting. When you turn it off, it'll still be in colour. Here's a timelapse so you can see what that looks like.

And when you check the values...

They're pretty simple! This isn't a be all and end all, but I hope it serves as a decent primer. I want thirty dames on my desk by Monday!

[descendant-of-truth]

On principle I don't really like the idea of Sonic being sent after Shadow at the request of G.U.N for two reasons:

It robs us of the god-tier cold open of the original game where Sonic busts out of a helicopter to escape arrest

I always loved the setup where Sonic and Shadow meeting was pretty incidental - neither of them had any idea who the other was, but Sonic thought Shadow was impersonating him on purpose while Shadow just thought he seemed fun to mess with

But depending on what the surrounding context is, I can see how the movie could make this plot point interesting in a completely different way that still complements these versions of the characters, even if I don't prefer it to the original.

So, some ideas:

G.U.N has been the villain of the last two movies, so in order for Sonic to be working with them, they must have a pretty good deal for him. My guess is that they promised to leave him and his family alone - no more schemes, no more kidnapping, nothing of the sort - on the one condition that "Team Sonic" helps them deal with Shadow.

This would already function as a narrative parallel to Sonic enlisting Robotnik's help later for the same thing. The name of the game becomes "we don't like each other, we're enemies, but we need to work together to deal with this guy because he's too powerful," which becomes a triple threat if the whole cast including Shadow gets to team up at the very end to save the world

I think it would also be very fun if Sonic is trying so hard to talk things out with Shadow in large part because he heard that there was another hedgehog on the loose, and wants so badly to be friends with someone like him that it takes at least one full-blown beating before he gives up on that idea

(The other reason he keeps trying is "it worked on Knuckles" of course)

Now, this puts Sonic in a fascinating position, particularly when using the game as a frame of reference. SA2 was very straightforward with how it presented its conflict at first: you have a Hero Story and a Dark Story, and as such you're primed to think of everyone on both sides as either being good or bad.

And most people, I think, were inclined to play the Hero Story first; it's the one with Sonic in it, and the select screen hovers over it by default, too. It tells a very simple story of Sonic and friends stopping Eggman's (admittedly very threatening) evil plan, developing some new rivalries along the way.

It's already a little bit of a twist for Sonic and Knuckles to have formed a respectful relationship with Shadow and Rouge by the end, since you see them as villains initially, but they still remain antagonists. Rouge returns the Master Emerald pieces, but she's still working with Robotnik. Shadow thinks Sonic is pretty impressive, but he still tries to kill him to stop him from saving the world.

But then you get to the Dark Story, and then the Final Story, and you think, oh. It's really not that simple.

For starters, you get to see more of Rouge's bond with Shadow. There's some conflict inherent to their relationship because Rouge is a spy and is only here to get information on Shadow, but after he saves her life, there's a definite shift to their dynamic. There's something genuine there, even if it doesn't get a lot of screentime dedicated to it.

But most important to the story is what we learn about who Shadow is, in part through his interactions with Rouge.

Shadow is cunning and ruthless - heck, his goal is to literally blow up the world. But whether out of compassion or survivor's guilt or both, he can't let Rouge die, so he saves her and then lies about his motivations for it to seem colder than he is.

And even though the things he's doing are definitely bad, his motivations are famously sympathetic; he wants revenge for his best friend, a young girl who was killed by the G.U.N military during a raid.

(It was implied that there was some sort of brainwashing done on him by Gerald after Maria died as well but that part of the story is incredibly vague)

By the end of the game, Shadow comes into his own as a hero and helps save the world instead of destroying it. And suddenly it makes sense why the stories weren't called Hero and Villain, because neither Shadow nor Rouge are especially villainous characters; Rouge is selfish, and Shadow is driven by grief and hatred, but they're ultimately kind at the end of the day. Both of them find people to care about - each other, as well as Knuckles and Sonic respectively.

But y'know, there wasn't a lot of ambiguity about who the heroes were in the Hero Story itself. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are pretty clearly The Good Guys, and nothing they do is really questioned because they're always fighting The Bad Guys.

So what I'm seeing here is an opportunity for Team Sonic to not be totally in the right for once. Yes, it's good to stop Shadow from going on a rampage and destroying the world, but look at who they're keeping for company here. G.U.N? Robotnik and Agent Stone? As if either of those groups are trustworthy enough to not stab them in the backs as soon as it's convenient. As if they're not going to find some way to exploit Sonic for their benefit.

And frankly, Shadow is totally in the right to hate G.U.N, and Team Sonic for working with them. Given that his backstory seems to be largely unchanged, it's kind of impossible not to be on board with him fighting the protagonists at least a little bit.

Besides, I don't think it's a coincidence that Shadow is doing the wrong thing for the right reason, while Sonic is doing the right thing with the wrong people (and maybe also for the wrong reason). That has the potential to be very clever if executed well.

I can only imagine the dawning horror on Sonic's face as he realizes just how much he's not on the right side of this conflict; when he learns about what happened to Maria and everyone else on the Ark. Especially if Tom's family was involved in it, like the current popular theory going around.

Also, last-second realization: what if there's something more to that line from Tom, "it wasn't always easy, but you didn't change who you are in here"? Most likely it's going to be used as a way to show how Shadow is different from Sonic, because he did change who he was in response to trauma and it'll be really poetic when he "finds himself" again

But also, consider: maybe Sonic does end up changing throughout the movie. Maybe he does something that goes against his core principles in order to get an advantage in some way, and they kind of play around with the idea that Sonic is similar to Shadow in ways that aren't always flattering to either of them. I want those hedgehogs to make each other worse before they get better

In any case, there's a lot of potential here, and I'm very curious to see what they ended up going with

[m1ndbrand]

"all it took was..." — The new President

WARNINGS: Coriolanus Snow is it's own warning(Snow after the 10thGames, 2 years after to be precise); Mentions of death and corpse(small description, nothing big).

SUMMARY: The 12th Hunger Games winner unfortunately fortunately gets the attention of President Snow.

WORDS: 1.384

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the franchise The Hunger Games characters nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the images used nor do I claim to own them. I do claim what I wrote and only that.

A/N: If you know the tragedy of Coriolanus by William Shakespeare some names will be recognizable...Also I'm sorry but this chapter won't be the continuation of their little...encounter— but I promise, it's going to happen!

TAG-LIST: @sorry-mrs-jacobs; @phoward89;

MASTERLIST

He was never someone who believed in the stars and whatever they might mean to some people.

It seemed completely idiotic and beneath someone from the level of education, you would get from the Capitol to have this belief that in his humble opinion, of course — was archaic and beneath him.

Fate and stories written on the stars were all but a way of fairy tales being made, a topic on some and even a very important one at that "merging" some characters together like the universe itself deemed them a pair, one in two.

Star-crossed lovers.

How he hated that idea, he couldn't believe he even fed it to—

Let's not dwell on that topic, he had better things to do, like arrange a new Games Maker for the 12th Hunger Games.

Doctor Volumnia Gaul is no more, some freak accident with one or more than one mutt; it wasn't clear, the body was far too mutilated to be recognised by anyone at all if not for the DNA tests and well...the place of the accident, a place only a few people were able to enter and of course Doctor Gaul was one of those people, him included in the small pool.

It was slightly weird however how the mulls were able to break free, the reporters debated it for the first days the case broke daylight, but the theory was quickly suppressed.

After all, mulls were still in being tested and we're highly volatile, their behaviour unstable and unpredictable. And of course, accidents happen.

But the world continues to go around and so shall the Capitol, he needed to find someone and fast. 

He should have looked more into it, the selection that is. But he had more important things in his place, strength the security in the several points of entry on all distractions, the training of the peacekeepers and the change of the uniform like he so petitioned for just to name a few.

The new and young president had more important things to worry about than some person who would probably be soon replaced if so needed.

The theme he chose ,he didn't even try to remember the man's name, was an advanced-looking arena; a sign of the year the Capitol got a new President. Coriolanus liked the idea. It painted his future reign as one that would lead them into the future, lead them into a better time.

It painted him as a good leader.

The reaping ceremony passed without a problem. Some students clearly didn't like something— their tribute lack of attributes to make them win or the idea of having to participate in such 'twisted games' as the rebel-like-youth liked to name his games. He honestly couldn't care less, blue-ice-like eyes looking straight at the screens with a fake polite smile when the camera twists at him, showing his all too polished self composed with a deep red suit and thick coat that made his figure even more imposing than it normally is.

He would soon return to his manor and actually work, the two hours of the opening ceremony put his work ethic behind schedule more than he liked to admit.

There was much to be done to make the Capitol and the Districts into the way he saw fit and Coriolanus shouldn't waste more time than he already has.

Not even a day later he would have the files of everyone who chose to review. For some reason the late president did this— the threat of the Rebels was still very much a problem and he was of course scared shitless by them so all 'useful' information was of course turned into two paper pages that it was his duty to read through.

Coriolanus was just about to skim through them all but the very first file caught his attention, District One female tribute.

Not the girl's image he didn't even look at it properly, he already saw every tribute face on the reaping ceremony... all looked underfed and clearly not fit for an entertaining games in terms of pure brutal strength, the mentors would need to sell them well to the Capitol. No it was her name. Her last name rang a bell.

A big warning bell was inside his head and it made his eyebrows furrow, hand picked up the two-page long file and flipped through the description of her family. Something was amiss, he could feel it in his bones. Something was wrong. 

Coriolanus could almost feel the hunger tearing at his stomach, his small sweaty hand tightly gripping his equally moist cousin's hand as they received the news of his father's death.

His other small hand gripping the files of several names of supposed rebels that could be the reason behind his father's death. Blond hair falls against his sweaty forehead as at that time he didn't understand why he had to read the names of random men.

Brutus.

His hand grips the file on his hand, veins popping up as his eyes skim through the contents of the file, once and then twice. He didn't even sit down, reading in silence for 10 minutes over and over again to look out for another word, sentence, or anything more.

Only two people are still alive from her family— grandmother and little brother, Valeria Brutus and Menenius Brutus, then they got the last name from her grandfather. His hand moves the paper right and left, trying to see if her grandfather's first name was there. But it wasn't. It probably wasn't deemed to be useful information since he is dead. Putting the papers down he turns with a sigh to his window, chin rising as he looks to see all the perfectly arranged garden of pure white roses in the front of his mansion.

No this shouldn't matter. It didn't matter, not now. He got what he wanted he won, the victor. He was still standing with or without his father.

The nostalgic feeling of feeling hungry regrows once again and it makes him nauseous, sharp eyes turning to the face of the girl on the page. She looked like every other girl he reminds himself as he starts a little too long at her face. Eighteen, one more year and she should have been safe from the reaping.

A smile creeps on his lips. Amusement dancing in his eyes like he had just read a good enough joke.

He couldn't sleep.

Coriolanus hated to be in need of something even if it was just a simple pill to go to sleep. He was better than that, he could sleep alone thank you very much.

Couldn't he just get the information he wanted? He could, he had the resources, and he had the needs to if he so pleases, so why not?

No.

No, he wouldn't lose to this...whatever this is, curiosity, need— want to know. Closure.

Maybe that was it. Know the person or people that did this to him. To his family. The people that made him starve and struggle. Envy and step on people that he knew were living better than him, growing to bring them down so he could feel himself high above them all. Know the people that in a way, made him the way he is now.

Rising he presses the inside of his palms to his eyes.

For fucks sake— Shut the fuck up! 

His mouth was open. Eyes shot open and hands grabbing tightly the silk covers, knuckles turning white. Did he shout those words? Wasn't it all in his head? His hands were shaking, face was slightly flushed red from anger.

It's one of those episodes.

Rising he curses under his breath, feet carrying him to one of the small tables with some pills on them. Deep eyes thin as he tried to look into the colours of the various drugs that looked like they were thrown there and he picked a deep purple one in the midst of the rainbow and quickly gulped it down without water.

His attention is caught by the silver-like glow of the moonlight slipping through his windows, blue tired-looking eyes looking up at the sky, they find the stars instead of the moon that sings for attention. Wishing to catch a stray star amidst the ones that stay. Maybe he could catch it as it falls.

With those thoughts, sleep would soon catch him.

Previous

[thesimstree]

✨ Step-by-step guide to taking screenshots in The Sims 4 📸 (part 2) ✨

READ PART 1

Stage 7: Posing the sims

Now for the most exciting part!

First, it’s very important to teleport all your sims into the same spot – this part is crucial!

You can do this using the familiar Knight Statue method:

1. Place the right number of statues in one spot.

2. Teleport each sim to their own statue.

Alternatively, you can teleport all the sims directly to one sim using MCCC:

Sim commands – Teleport commands – Teleport multiple Sims to this Sim – Teleport worlds Sims to this Sim – Teleport Sim now!

Either way, you’ll end up with a pile of sims literally standing inside each other. If the sims next to each other are supposed to have separate poses, you don’t need to stack them in the same spot, just place them side by side.

Now, let’s move on to actually posing them.

There are two main tools for posing: Andrew's Pose Player and Wicked Whims by Turbodriver.

Wicked Whims

Wicked Whims is much more convenient, but it only works for teens and older, you can’t pose kids or pets with it.

Here’s how to pose using Wicked Whims:

Click on the sim – Wicked – Pose

You’ll either see the last pose pack you used or a list of all installed pose packs. Find the specific pose you want to use.

If you have a large pose collection, we recommend using @twistedmexi’s mod that lets you search poses by name.

Choose the desired pack – Select the specific numbered pose from the pack

For multi-sim poses, you’ll see several versions labeled F (female), M (male), T (toddler), etc. Be sure to choose the correct letter for each sim so they snap into place correctly.

If something feels off (like sims floating or clipping), you can reposition them using Wicked Whims’ built-in positioning feature:

Click on the sim – Wicked – Actions – Enable Positioning

This brings up directional arrows you can use to move the sim around, rotate them, raise/lower them.

You can even move sims off-screen if they aren’t needed for a particular shot.

These arrows are also perfect for adjusting height differences, like if one sim looks unnaturally short or tall in a pose.

Absolute must-have feature!

Another great thing about Wicked Whims is that you can change outfits directly after posing, in case you have a last-minute wardrobe change.

Pose Player

Unfortunately, Pose Player isn’t as convenient, but you’ll still need it sometimes.

Drawbacks:

– No handy positioning arrows like WickedWhims

– If you enter Build Mode during a shoot, all poses reset

– Works best when combined with @twistedmexi’s TOOL mod

When to use Pose Player:

– Photoshoots with kids or pets

– Older poses that aren’t compatible with Wicked Whims

After teleporting the sims into position:

Click on the sim – Pose by Pack – Choose pack and pose

Pose Player also works with TwistedMexi’s pose search mod.

Choose the pack – Select the specific numbered pose

For multi-sim poses, pick the correct letter version (F, M, T, etc.) for each sim.

For large group shots, Pose Player can be annoying because it always opens with the full list of all your poses – you have to manually scroll to find the right pack every time. Wicked Whims remembers the last used pack, which speeds things up a lot.

With Pose Player, you can queue up several poses for each sim and switch between them by canceling actions in the action queue (lower left corner).

Pose Player works much better if you use it together with the TOOL mod. This helps offset the lack of positioning arrows.

With TOOL, you can move posed sims (including kids and pets) anywhere you want, and you can move them all at once.

If you need to shift the whole group a little to the right/left or closer to the camera:

Click the sim – TOOL – Active Sim – Hold Alt and drag with the mouse

Sims can move horizontally, vertically, rotate – the whole deal, but TOOL uses coordinates, so it takes a little practice.

Combination of Pose Player and Wicked Whims

Pose the parents with Wicked Whims and the kids/pets with Pose Player. You can even mix poses from different packs: then use Wicked Whims positioning to scoot everyone into place until the composition looks perfect.

This hybrid method gives you endless creative freedom.

A few tips for posing sims:

1. If your sim needs to be sitting in the pose, here’s a little life hack. First, click on a chair (or whatever surface they’ll sit on), select the “Sit” action, then open Wicked Whims’ pose menu and select the pose. Unpause the game, and the sim will sit exactly where you need them.

2. If you’re using a multi-sim pose where two or more sims are sitting or lying down together, the Knight Statue trick works best. Place the exact number of statues directly in the center of the furniture (like a couch or bed). Then teleport the sims to these statues and assign the poses as usual.

3. We already mentioned how important it is to teleport all sims to the exact same spot when using group poses. Here’s what happens if you skip this step :) 

4. For a cleaner frame during the photoshoot, it’s logical to remove the plumbob. We explained exactly how to do this in a separate article – check it out if you need help.

Stage 8: Time of day and weather

It would look strange if a student rave happened right in the middle of the day. The time of day and weather should match the story you’re trying to tell.

You can set the exact time using MCCC. Click on the mailbox and choose the desired time. You can do the same for the weather.

MC Cheats – Change world time

MC Cheats – Season cheats – Change weather

Or you can use UI Cheats by weerbesu: this mod allows you to simply click on the time or weather icons in the game’s interface and change them instantly.

And don’t forget: when shooting outdoors, always turn your sims to face the sun (if the time of day allows). This will give you the best lighting and make your screenshots much prettier.

Stage 9: What to use for taking screenshots?

Again, there are several options, it all depends on your goals and the mods you use.

If you have GShade or ReShade enabled, then always take screenshots directly through GShade/ReShade. If you just press "C" in-game, you’ll get a plain screenshot without any of the beautiful filters applied. Obviously, we don’t want that.

And second. If you want not only personal screenshots, but also in-game photos your sims can hang on the wall, gift to someone, or keep as memories, then you’ll have to work with the in-game camera.

In this case, we highly recommend downloading the ISO Love Photo’ camera by @ravasheencc. This camera gives you much better control over framing, and your final photos will never have random gnomes or fingers sticking into the frame. Plus, they’ll always be high quality. Another bonus: unlike the regular in-game camera, this one lets you take up to 25 pictures at once!

After downloading, unzip the archive and place the files into your Mods folder.

Documents – Electronic Arts – The Sims 4 – Mods

In Build Mode, you can place the camera on any surface. You can also use your keyboard to adjust the camera’s height if necessary (9 – up, 0 – down).

Photos taken with this camera will be saved both in the sim’s inventory (the one who took the pictures) and in the game’s regular screenshots folder on your computer.

Some general tips:

1. You don’t have to take pictures only "in the wild", you can build yourself a dedicated photo studio. For this, a professional green screen backdrop will come in handy (for example, check out the one by @helgatisha).

2. One incredibly useful mod for photoshoots is Steady Sit & Seat Any Sim by @amellce. With this mod, sims will stay put until you manually cancel their action.

There’s also a great sit on the floor mod by @mercuryfoam – perfect for casual picnic shots.

3. We already mentioned using clubs to gather sims and control their actions for group shots. This can be improved further by downloading Rex’s expanded club activities mod, which gives you more actions to assign to club gatherings.

4. Another great trick is installing default overrides for group animations. For example, replacing the default dance animations. That way, when all your sims start dancing, they’ll look much cooler and more stylish in the frame.

🌱 TheSimsTree

❓ Support 🌸 Our Blog

[beardedmrbean]

Amy Gleason, a former emergency room nurse-turned-health care technologist, was scared. It was 2010 and no doctor could figure out what was behind her daughter Morgan’s strange constellation of symptoms, including rashes and muscle weakness so severe that she could no longer walk upstairs.

When Morgan was finally diagnosed with a rare and potentially life-threatening autoimmune disorder after more than a year, Gleason became determined to empower other patients so they didn’t face similar delays in diagnosis.

“If a doctor had seen all of these visits and activity on one single screen put together, they probably would have wondered why this 10- or 11-year-old is going to the doctor all the time,” Gleason said in a 2020 TEDx talk. “And maybe that would have sparked a faster diagnosis.”

Until recently, Gleason, 53, had been a relatively low-profile health care data cruncher with a passion for simplifying access to electronic medical records.

Then, at the end of February, the White House announced Gleason had been named the acting administrator for the Department of Government Efficiency, elevating her to a prominent position in the Trump administration.

Gleason previously worked on projects related to health data at the U.S. Digital Service, DOGE’s predecessor, overlapping with Trump’s first term and the Biden administration.

However, the White House has not provided details about why, exactly, it selected Gleason to lead DOGE — a task force unit at the center of the administration’s efforts to streamline the federal government. 

The move has led many to question whether Gleason is truly in charge or whether the power resides with Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a special government employee who has been the face of DOGE.

For weeks, the administration evaded questions about who was actually at the helm; the White House said Gleason was the acting administrator only after administration lawyers were unable to answer who was in charge of the agency when questioned in court. Gleason does not appear to have made any public comments since the White House announced that she was DOGE's top official.

The administration has also revealed very little about who else works for DOGE and what they do, despite Musk’s claims of transparency.

Even with Gleason’s title, Musk still seems to hold sway. As recently as Tuesday, Trump referred to DOGE as “headed by Elon Musk,” setting off fresh legal questions about the group’s operations. The working relationship between Musk and Gleason is unclear, and a DOGE spokesperson did not respond Friday to questions about Gleason’s job responsibilities.

Gleason also did not respond to a request for comment for this articles. In interviews, former colleagues described her as highly intelligent and the most valuable asset wherever she works.

“It’s exactly the kind of person you need in a role like this,” said Dr. Gregg Alexander, a pediatrician in London, Ohio, who has known her for about 20 years. “She’s always tried to do the right thing.”

Still, some former colleagues worry that in her DOGE role, Gleason will be inadvertently complicit in cuts to programs that have personal significance to her — including research for rare disease funding. DOGE has threatened dramatic budget cuts to federal health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

The condition that Gleason’s daughter, who is now in her mid-20s, was diagnosed with is called juvenile dermatomyositis. The extremely rare disease is a form of juvenile myositis, in which a child’s immune system attacks its own cells and tissues.

Therapies discovered over the years thanks to partnerships with NIH have improved the prognosis for juvenile myositis, said James Minow, executive director at the advocacy organization Cure JM Foundation, where Gleason served as a board member and vice president for research from 2014 to 2018, according to her LinkedIn profile.

But with the Trump administration trying to cut NIH grant funding, Minow said he worried that DOGE could hamper the rare disease research that Gleason’s family and so many others depend on.

“Amy is a very thorough thinker, and I think that she’ll be one who will make very solid, reasoned recommendations to the president as he looks at fulfilling what he sees as his mission to reduce the size of government,” Minow said. “Obviously, Cure JM is wanting to do everything we can to protect NIH’s investment.”

Gleason’s friends and former colleagues describe her as apolitical. From 2018 to 2021, she worked for the U.S. Digital Service, an agency created by the Obama administration after its chaotic rollout of HealthCare.gov. Much of her stint was dedicated to partnering with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to improve patient access to health care records, she said in her 2020 TEDx Talk.

During the latter part of her time there, she worked on the data team for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, creating databases from hospitals and labs that governors and the public relied on to track the virus. Her LinkedIn profile says she rejoined the U.S. Digital Service in January of this year as a senior adviser, though The New York Times reported she was reintroduced at the agency in late December, ahead of Trump’s inauguration.

A long history in the private sector

Gleason has also worked in the private sector at various health care management companies and startups. She held vice president positions at Allscripts, which provided software for electronic medical records, and worked from 2011 to 2018 at CareSync, a Florida-based medical technology startup that she co-founded, according to LinkedIn.

Her LinkedIn profile adds that from 2021 to 2024, she was vice president of product at Main Street Health, which provides care for people in rural areas, and at Russell Street Ventures, a firm dedicated to launching innovative health care.

Both Main Street Health and Russell Street Ventures were founded by entrepreneur Brad Smith, an early senior DOGE member who was previously named as head of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation in 2020 during Trump’s first administration.

Smith did not respond to a request for comment; according to anonymous sources who spoke to The New York Times, Smith began advising on Musk’s cost-cutting moves late last year and brought Gleason in on the talks. NBC News has not confirmed the report.

Tom Cooke, a retired health care executive who worked closely with Gleason more than 15 years ago, said her position at DOGE was “kind of a curveball.”

“I’ll put my politics on my sleeve: I don’t trust Elon Musk at all in this role. I trust her completely,” he said. “I am confident that she will use her voice strongly and that she’s a straight shooter, whether it’s news that people above her want to hear or not.”

Cooke described Gleason as having an effervescent personality and an unflappable work mentality.

“Professionally, I put a lot on her plate to get done in a very short period of time, and was amazed by her ability to achieve that,” he said.

And on a personal level, “I’ve seen her be really thoughtful with folks that she may have had just a little bit of interaction with,” he said. “She just has a way with people.”

Others were also surprised by her DOGE title. One former health care IT colleague said via a LinkedIn message that “it did seem to come out of nowhere.”

“I was shocked to hear of her appointment to DOGE, having been a fierce and committed patient advocate,” wrote the former colleague, who has known Gleason for 15 years and spoke on condition of anonymity because she was concerned speaking out against the Trump administration could have career repercussions. “To go from such a position of kindness to a position that eliminates jobs for thousands of working parents seems like such a dichotomy in values.”

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Gleason is an avid football fan who likes to needle friends who root for anyone other than the Tennessee Volunteers, said Alexander, the pediatrician. He added that she has a “tremendous sense of humor” and loves to travel.

Gleason’s interest in streamlined medical records and other improvements for patients dates back decades. In 2021, she told the “Tell Me Where IT Hurts” podcast, which examines the intersection between health care and technology, that she started out as an emergency room nurse and “quickly realized how powerful health care technology could be.”

Gleason has said the best career advice she has received was from her parents. She told another health care podcast in 2023 that her dad taught her mistakes are a learning opportunity, and her mom encouraged her to follow her dreams.

“I’ve had a pretty great career trying a lot of new things and following my passions as I develop new ones as well,” she told the podcast.

[marlinspirkhall]

I watched the unaired Selection pilots so you don't have to

But, if you want to, you can do so here, and here (password: “selection”), credit to Media Garage on YouTube

Edit: links no longer active

The Selection (2012)

Strong Hunger Games vibes throughout, the plain-text opening screen isn't helping

Stock-footage of rolling hills gets replayed way too much

ETHAN PECK?

Unlike in the books, America only finds out she's been entered into The Selection after she gets selected, so the plot point about the photoshoot & her radiant smile being the thing which gets her selected no longer applies, I guess

Everyone in the YouTube comments was saying that Aspen and Maxon were miscast & the actors' roles should have been swapped (... No comment. I believe in you, Mr Peck)

This castle is looks too small to fit 24 TV show contestants in it

Fiona, unprompted: “Can you keep a secret, America?”

America: “I have been known to”

Fiona: “I play the violin”

Okay? (This is actually a very sweet moment and, again, Fiona may be the best actress in this)

This episode covered a significant portion of the first book, out of order, which makes me wonder if the intention was to cover all 3 books in one series.

This almost feels like half of a film, making me wonder if someone adapted a film spec script into a tv show spec script

Apparently, Fiona has a secret child and Celeste knows about it, causing Fiona to drop out on day one and tearfully warn America to “trust no one, there's no such thing as friends here”- which is a fucking wild thing to say when she's probably the only contestant who's been nice to America so far & Celeste didn't even need to get to know her to know her secrets because she has spies anyway 😭

It's worth reminding you that they have been at the palace for one entire day total

You think Queen Amberly is being fleshed out in this version but... Hmm

Amberly appears to be the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes (she confronts Celeste about extorting Fiona, tells her "she would have gone home in due time" and to "leave America to me. Anything we do to try and separate them [her and Maxom] will only make him want her more")

Again: IT HAS BEEN A DAY

America sees her servant gathering all her dresses (none of which she has used yet, bar the yellow and green ones) including the iconic blue one from the book cover. America asks what's happening and the servant replies: “Prince Maxom's orders”

Cut to America's family. They open a box with a glittering pair of high heels inside. I guess this is supposed to mirror the part of the book where Maxom cuts off the stipend for 2's and 3's who are in the selection?

If you think this version feels unfaithful to the book, just wait until you see The CW's pilot

IT HAS BEEN ONE DAY

Runtime: one day 45 minutes

Final rating: 5/10, kinda long and stiff in places and the set design was all over the place. Felt like a Hallmark movie (the set design didn't help). Probably would watch another episode of this if it was a full series or a limited series of 3-6 episodes. A little script-doctoring and a better set would work wonders.

The Selection (2013)

I cannot stress enough: this version begins with a sex scene between Maxom and a servant

Okay, I got ahead of myself; it actually begins with another hunger-games-esque black screen with text on it, text which reads “Someday, in the future”, which is read aloud by a woman's voice.

We zoom in on a much roomier-looking castle on a hill, as a random whip sound effect plays (leading into the sex scene, in which no whips are present)

All the female servants in the palace are dressed in sexy maid costumes and I wish I was kidding

The world map explaining the history of Illea is CONFUSING AS HELL, but maybe they hadn't nailed down all the details yet. I'm genuinely not sure

ANTONY HEAD?

Aspen is introduced tied to a St Andrew's cross and being watched over by a guard. America asks the guard to free him, he chases her through the streets, she circles back and cuts Aspen down

America's selection is similar to the 2012 pilot, except Aspen is present. America asks her mom why she'd enter her into the selection when “You know I'm with Aspen”, so uh, I guess they're not keeping it a secret here.

There's also no mention of Aspen being of a lower caste than her, nor of America having a job other than the vague title of "laboring class" which hangs over them all, vaguely

This is a masterclass in editing and pacing. The dialogue is okay, but the added geopolitics make no sense. Any issues with this are smoothed over by the fact that the plot keeps moving forwards at a breakneck pace to keep you distracted.

The lack of breathing room would probably be too confusing for an audience who wasn't already familiar with The Selection

The set here is absolutely beautiful but unfortunately it gives me Merlin vibes, and casting Antony Head as the king does not help with this.

Maxon attempts to pull a Mr Darcy. He then tells America that if she runs away with Aspen, the guards will beat him to a pulp and they'll both spend the rest of their lives in prison. America suggests that she make the monarchy look good so the working class don't side with the rebels. Looks like we're going full Hunger Games.

Celeste's handmaiden seems way too devoted to her; they turn out to be lovers

Just when you think Maxon might start redeeming himself, we see the palace guards swarm Aspen and kicking him. Maxom stands nearby on his horse overseeing this so there's no question of whether he did it or not

Final rating: 6/10, I would absolutely watch another episode of this. It was an absolute mess, but I've seen teen wolf, so I'm not gonna pretend I'm above it.

This feels like the kind of pilot which would get greenlit just to attract hateviewers.

Summary:

Neither protagonist had red hair and neither adaptation was trying particularly hard to give it to her (2012: dark red box dye. 2013: blonde!)

These actors are doing their best and some of them even seem to be having fun (good for them)

In the 2013 pilot, the writers lampshade America running around “like an action hero”, but she promptly forgets how to do that by the midpoint of the episode, so w/e

It feels like the 2013 pilot was a reworking of the 2012 pilot, because there were too many similarities carried over from one script to another which weren't present in the original book, like Fiona having a secret relationship.

I forgot to mention that Aspen has a brother in the 2013 pilot. He seems to be adapted from the palace guard who has a relationship with one of the contestants in a later book.

I can't get over how fucking weird of a decision it is to make the kind and likeable love interest into a power-corrupt despot, but it does feel more true to an actual monarchy. I assume they were trying to give Maxon a bad-boy vibe, which doesn't make much sense because that's supposed to be Aspen's whole deal.

There was a whole subplot in both pilots where an advisor character is revealed to be working with the rebels at the end of the episode

Extremely funny to me that the 2012 pilot makes a point of mentioning that sex before marriage is illegal and the 2013 pilot opens with premarital sex with the prince regent

[puckpocketed]

UPON FURTHER RESEARCH i may have found the unluckiest girl in the world, Canadiens edition. this is old news to a lot of people but its news to ME!!!!! David Reinbacher uou have been throuhg the trenches hello take my fin GET BEHIND ME

drafted in Bedards draft year but also the next 3 guys are Carlsson-Fantilli-Smith . and everyone and their mother was wondering who was gonna get Michkov. what an act to follow RIP

CAREY PRICE BLUE SCREENED WHILE CALLING OUT HIS NAME. CAN'T MAKE THIS UP!! "Bonsoir, Les Canadiens de Montreal are proud to select, David….........." HELPPPPPP???

to make things worse people sent him thousands of awful messages. AS THOUGH IT WAS HIS FAULT HE GOT DRAFTED INSTEAD OF THE OTHER KID. the messages included death threats and comparisons to hitler (he is austrian. and me. well. I am lighting them all on fire ! <3 )

so the Habs send him back to the NL to let him develop without the pressure of this accursed fucking market right. that should be fine. right.

BOOM !INJURY!!! TWO INJURIES!! im wailing... sobbing... when will it end

His team, Kloten, acquired a new GM the year before. whats the worst that could happen?

THREE DIFFERENT COACHES! AT ONE POINT THE GM IS COACHING??

Kloten were sort of average the year before but this year its flop city. 17-29-6 ahaha <3

god . their system is. not good. per this article -> "Gerry Fleming, named this summer and who was coaching at the opening of the season, is responsible for turning a fairly interesting 22-23 team into a very bad one, including making them defend man on man all over the defensive zone."

and reinbacher saw the most use of all the defensemen in rotation for yet another season. helo .

most difficult match ups. second worst team in the league. so of course he sees a regression in production from his draft year, and during what was supposed to be a season for development this is.Not Good!!!

gonna just. leave some of thee most devastating/endearing quotes from this article below:

like even the nicest fans are sort of holding their noses about him at the time. like oh. him? not an exciting pick at all, according to many. not what the Habs need, in a draft year stacked with offensive talent. not flashy. unsexy, well-rounded hockey. consensus best defenseman on draft day but that's still not good enough !!

weight of the world type beat…gotta prove you're worth that high draft pick. gotta show them they shouldn't have sent you back. they saw there was a mote of excellence in you once and surely if you try to do everything on your own they'll see it again right? <3 ahahahaha.... !

and finally their season ends and the habs reassign him to the AHL. christ alive!!!!!!

he makes his AHL debut with the Laval Rocket and does pretty well!! scores his first goal !!

here's something that made me scream. what are u doing to him, montreal...................

Anyway. the boys in Laval call him Rhino (alt spelling: Reino?) and thats ADORABLE and hes going right beside all the other dmen in my heart .tucking him in carefully!!!!

whatever the hell is goin on with him and Lane Hutson.... i love when two players are bonded cats at the shelter. cosmically fated to be each other's d-pair? hello <3

what if we were prospects and everyone thought we fit together perfectly. what then.

feeling very hinged and regular. hello. unluckiest girl in the world David Reinbacher . <3

[whiteraven87]

Driven by Love: Rebirth from the Ashes - 9. Oh My God

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

The Unstoppable Series

Part 3: Driven by Love. Rebirth from the Ashes

Prologue

Nightmares

For Her, I'd Do Anything

Shared Nights

I Thought It Was the End

Scars

Say it again

Pleasant Views

Oh My God

Together

A Shared Trip

The Boss's Girl

I'm Back

She's mine

The Fight Continues

I Bloomed

Something's Going On

No Brakes

City of Sin

Title Defense

FIA Gala

Home and Christmas

Just Us

A Dream I Don't Want to Wake Up From

Return to Scotland

The Woman Who Blossoms

Return to the Paddock

Media Circus

Total Domination

Marathon

The Limits of Restraint

The Unexpected Guest

Fear of Loss

The Truth I Didn't Want to Say

I Won't Let You Go

A Promise I Couldn't Keep

The Truth I Couldn't Tell Her

The Last Evening

The Darkest Day of my life

Epilogue

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

Warnings: slow burn, age gap (23 years), woman racing in F1, boss/driver relationship, sex scenes,

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

✒️ Author’s Note

For everyone who, like the author, has a hopeless weakness for Toto Wolff:

This one's for you. We are seen. We are valid. And we are so right.

With love and a touch of blush,

WhiteRaven87🖤

9. Oh My God

POV Miriell

Almost two weeks had passed since the accident. My body was recovering quickly. Every now and then, someone from our team, drivers from other teams, or friendly journalists would call and ask how I was feeling after the crash and when—or if—I would race again. I reassured everyone that I would be getting into the car for the next race and winning. Of course, few believed it. But there were a select few, including Lewis, who had always believed in me.

The screen of my laptop lit up with a familiar Teams call. Lewis.

"Hey, superstar," he greeted me with a wide smile as soon as I answered. "How are you feeling?"

"Hey, Lewis. Better. Much better."

"Is Toto taking good care of you? Because if not, I need to have a serious talk with him.

I laughed, shaking my head.

"He is. More than I should probably allow."

"Good." Lewis leaned back more comfortably in his chair, and in the background, I could see recording equipment and scattered sheet music on his desk. "Sorry I haven't been in touch much, but you know how it is. New project, new music, no life outside the studio."

"You don't even have to explain. I know how it is."

"Yeah, but still... I miss our talks."

"I do too, Lewis." I smiled warmly, and he raised an eyebrow, looking at me curiously.

"You look... different."

"Different?"

"Yeah." He tilted his head, studying me carefully. "You look... happy."

I could feel my smile widening. Lewis was silent for a moment before he sighed, shaking his head with amusement.

"So, it finally happened, huh?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, though I already knew what he was getting at.

"Miriell, I know you. And I know him. One look at you is enough."

Before I could reply, Lewis chuckled and added,

"You don't have to say anything. I'm just... happy for you."

"Thank you, Lewis."

"Of course, if he ever hurts you..."

"I know, I know—you'll find a way to take him down."

"Exactly... And on another note, I'm still waiting for that album, Miriell."

"Lewis..."

"No excuses."

I sighed in mock defeat, but the smile never left my face.

At that moment, Toto walked into the living room, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel.

"Hey, Lewis," he greeted casually, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

Lewis stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Okay, Toto, this might be the first time I've seen you in such a... domestic version."

"Be grateful you don't have the full view," Toto smirked slightly and sat next to me on the couch.

"I don't need it. Just this picture is enough to know that the world is truly changing."

Toto rolled his eyes, and I looked at both of them, feeling something I couldn't quite put into words.

I was happy. And I had people around me who wanted me to be.

***

After my morning workout in the home gym, I was drenched in sweat, and my muscles burned from exertion. I needed a shower. I ran a hand through my damp hair and headed upstairs to the bathroom, not expecting that I was about to face... well, a real challenge for my self-control.

The door was slightly ajar, and no steam was coming from inside, so I assumed it was empty. Without thinking much, I stepped inside. And then I saw him.

Toto was just stepping out of the shower, reaching for a towel. He was completely naked. Water droplets were trickling down his shoulders, chest, abdomen... lower.

Oh. My. God.

His body was perfectly sculpted—strong, masculine, every muscle sharply defined beneath his skin. But that wasn't what completely stunned me.

Toto was a big man. In every possible way.

My eyes widened, and my face instantly flushed with heat. I hadn't been living under a rock—I knew how men were built—but this... This was something else.

"Oh my God," I choked out, immediately looking away and rushing to leave.

"Miriell?" His voice reached me—deep, surprised, but also... amused?

No. I couldn't stay here.

"Shit! Sorry!" I blurted and practically ran out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.

My heart was pounding like I had just finished a qualifying lap on tires completely worn from an entire race. I threw myself into the kitchen, desperate to do something—anything—to keep my mind off what I had just seen.

I felt heat creeping up my neck and chest. As quickly as I could, I hurried downstairs and hid in the kitchen, trying to steady my breathing. I pressed my hands against the counter and closed my eyes.

There was nothing strange about seeing a naked man. It was just anatomy. Biology. Something natural... but it was Toto.

And I had just seen... everything.

"Miriell?"

I jumped as his voice came from right behind me.

I turned around hesitantly, and there he was—already dressed in sweatpants and a loose T-shirt, but with damp hair, which only brought back the image from minutes ago.

I blushed again.

"Uh... hi."

"I just wanted to make sure you were still alive, because you ran out of there like you'd seen a ghost." He raised an eyebrow, watching me with amusement.

"That... wasn't a ghost," I muttered, lowering my gaze.

Toto sighed and stepped closer, leaning his hip against the counter.

"Liebling, it's just a body."

"I know!" I squeaked, making him grin.

"Then what has you so flustered?"

I opened my mouth, then closed it again. No. There was no way I was going to tell him. There was no force in this world that would make me admit that... well...

He was really impressive.

"I just... didn't expect you to be there," I mumbled awkwardly.

"Miriell, we live together. It was only a matter of time before this happened."

"Y-yeah, but..."

I struggled not to glance downward.

Toto studied me for a moment, and then suddenly, his lips curved into a smirk.

"Oh."

I froze.

"Oh... what?"

"Now I understand."

"No, you don't!" I shot back quickly, but he let out a low chuckle.

"Liebling, your face says everything."

"Stop!" I groaned, covering my face with my hands.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a completely natural reaction."

Natural or not, I wanted to disappear into the ground. I felt his fingers gently brush against my forearm.

"Hey." His voice softened. "You don't have to feel embarrassed around me."

I sighed quietly and finally looked at him. There was no mockery or discomfort in his eyes. Just warmth.

"It's a normal thing, Miriell. Sooner or later, you would have seen me... in full."

"Toto!" I groaned, covering my face with my hands again, feeling my cheeks burn with embarrassment.

He let out a low chuckle.

"You're adorable when you blush."

I shot him a glare from under my lashes, still feeling the heat simmering inside me.

"You know I can get back at you for this, right?"

"And I'm counting on it" he replied, winking at me.

Only he could turn my absolute disaster into something that sounded almost like flirting. But at that moment, I was too flustered to play along.

"I'm going to take a shower... alone."

"Well... now you know the shower is free."

I threw him one last warning look before turning on my heel and disappearing down the hallway, his quiet laughter echoing in my ears.

I might have been embarrassed, but still... Toto was right. It was natural.

And most of all, it was him. My Toto.

With him, I could always be myself. But the sight of his naked body... it stirred my imagination way too much.

A few hours later, in the evening

Even in the evening, I couldn't shake what had happened in the morning. Or rather... what I had seen.

I tried to focus on something else—on my book, the sounds of the forest outside, even the scent of the tea Toto had made for me—but the images and thoughts kept coming back.

It wasn't just the fact that I had seen him naked. I wasn't a child; I knew what a man's body looked like. But this was his body. Toto was, to me, the embodiment of masculinity, strength, and charisma. And this morning, I had seen that masculinity in its most literal form.

What I felt was something new. A touch of embarrassment, but also... admiration. And something else. Something that stirred deep inside me and, at the same time, scared me a little.

Toto was sitting next to me on the couch, wearing loose trousers and an unbuttoned shirt. After his evening workout and shower, he hadn't fully dried his hair, so a few strands still fell over his forehead. He was looking at the lake outside the window, while I was looking at him.

"Something wrong?" he asked, noticing my gaze.

I hesitated, but then, almost unconsciously, I reached out and gently touched his chest.

I felt his muscles tense slightly beneath my fingers. His skin was warm, firm, taut, and beneath it lay the strength I knew so well.

Toto looked at me curiously but said nothing, letting me continue.

I pressed my lips together lightly and slid my fingers lower, tracing the defined muscles of his abdomen. I felt every detail under my fingertips—the warmth of his skin, his breath, which had become slightly slower.

"Miriell..." he murmured.

I lifted my gaze. There was something in his eyes that sent a shiver through me.

"I'm sorry" I whispered, withdrawing my hand and looking away.

Toto caught my hand and placed it back on his chest.

"Don't apologize" he said gently. "I like it when you touch me."

I felt warmth spread through my body.

"I've never..." I trailed off, unsure how to put it into words.

"I know" he replied.

His gaze was tender but also intense, as if he could see more in me than I wanted to reveal.

"You are ideal..." the words slipped out before I could stop them.

Toto raised an eyebrow slightly, then chuckled softly.

"So, you are not the only one who thinks so" he said with amusement.

I frowned, not fully understanding what he meant.

"You mean all those women?"

"Exactly."

I sighed. During fan meetings, I had often caught glimpses of women of all ages—from squealing teenagers to mature ladies—looking at Toto with pure adoration.

"I've seen their looks," I admitted. "Some of them are practically drooling."

Toto laughed louder.

"Aren't you exaggerating?"

"Not at all." I rolled my eyes. "Just be glad I haven't had to intervene."

"And what would you do?"

"I don't know... maybe throw myself at you to mark my territory?"

Toto snorted with laughter but then fell silent, watching me closely.

"Funny," he said softly. "Because when I was a teenager, girls weren't interested in me at all."

I looked at him, surprised.

"You're joking."

"No. I was too tall, too lanky, awkward... I had no idea how to talk to girls."

"I can't imagine that."

"And yet, it's true." He smiled nostalgically. "That only changed with time."

I gazed at him, slowly running my fingers along his shoulder, warmth spreading through me.

"And now you have me, Darling..." I whispered.

Toto cupped my face in his hands and looked into my eyes.

"And I wouldn't trade it for anything."

He kissed me gently, and I closed my eyes, surrendering to the feeling. I knew this was only the beginning of something growing between us. Something that both terrified and mesmerized me.

✒️ Author’s Note

Ah, Toto Wolff…

This chapter is my humble tribute to a man whose strength, intelligence, and utterly devastating charisma deserve their own volume in the story of not just Formula 1 — but in the hearts of those of us who know that some men are simply built different.

This isn’t just a scene about flirty banter, secondhand embarrassment, or accidentally walking in at the wrong moment — this is the beginning of something deeper for Miriell. For the first time, she begins to see herself through the eyes of a man who doesn’t just love her despite her scars — but because of everything that makes her who she is.

And let’s be honest: this chapter also unapologetically appreciates Toto’s external assets. I mean… that photo Susie recently shared on social media? The thirst trap of all thirst traps. The fandom hasn’t recovered. Neither has the author. And I’m not sorry!

Because sometimes, physical attraction is what pulls us in — but it’s the soul, the loyalty, the way he looks at her, that makes us stay.

Toto sees Miriell. All of her. And he loves her with a kind of quiet, unshakable devotion that makes the world around them disappear.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you for feeling every heartbeat with them.

Because this love — rooted in trust, acceptance, and courage — is finally beginning to bloom.

With love and a touch of blush,

WhiteRaven87 🖤

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

NEXT -> 10. Together

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

"I put my armor on, show you how strong I am."

Read the story here:

AO3 Unstoppable Series

Wattpad: Part1 I Part 2 I Part 3

🇵🇱 Dla Polskich czytelników [for Polish readers] [PL]:

Seria Niepowstrzymana AO3

Wattpad PL: Part1 I Part 2 I Part 3

[newsatsix1986]

Today's post is dedicated to the incredible Anna Torv, and her onscreen and off-screen gifts that I'll treasure forever 💖

.

.

The Newsreader wouldn't be the brilliant story it is without the co-lead of Helen Norville, played so brilliantly and energetically by the incredible Anna Torv.

Helen has come a long way since we first met her in Season One. I have always found this woman's strength to keep going despite the struggles she battles both in her brain and in her physical world to be so inspiring. Her story concluded on such a beautiful note; hosting her very own current affairs programme, with the team she loves that she had the power to hand select, and having received the mental health diagnosis and support that she has been needing for decades. She got all she ever wanted and needed in 1989.

Although I did not get to meet Anna Torv on my set visit day, I know that she loves what I do at News At Six 1986, and between her and Michael Lucas, they organised a present of gratitude for me. Just before I was gifted Michelle's card, Michael handed me a big black folder. Reading the cover page, I could barely contain my excitement. It was the script for The Newsreader's S01E01 - Three Two One! As I've flicked through it multiple times since, it is jam packed with details, including missing scenes and lines that were cut from the episode!

But what makes this gift even more precious is the message on the front. "Erin, Thank you for your support. It means so much. I hope you enjoy News At Six!" It is signed by none other than Anna Torv herself!

Newsreader fans will notice that I'm dressed in a blouse that is just like the outfit Helen wore when we first meet her in S01E01. I first put together this outfit in 2023, but had no idea that one day I would wear it whilst cuddling a signed script of the episode close to me, from Helen Norville's actress. My journey as The Superfan of The Newsreader couldn't have been any wilder than that!

To Ms Anna Torv, I want to say a big thank you to you for thinking of me and taking the time to organise this incredibly special present for me! It has pride and joy standing on display on my desk, and I will cherish it and your beautiful Helen forever! I cannot wait to see you again on my screens someday soon! So much gratitude and love to you! 💖👸🏻🌟📺

[adachimoe]

Persona 4 Pachinko Hell

I have (finally) registered for Sega Sammy's 777 Town online service which lets you play from their catalog of digital pachislot and pachinko machines. Persona 4 is one of the available machines.

When you start the game, you can select a character to use as an avatar (there's the IT + human Teddie + Nanako to pick from), and that character will also become the machine's voice over.

Then you start "playing" and a billion silver balls rain down from the top and go into the holes on bottom. If a ball lands in the correct hole, then you get to spin the slot machine, which looks like this:

The objective, more or less, is to match 3 numbers on the slot machine, but the machine throws a billion animations, probability events, etc, that make it way less straightforward than playing a regular slot machine with reels. The blue Persona cards on the bottom of the screen here represent how many pulls I have at the slot machine.

Gasp there's even animations and character art of Funky Student and Ms Sofue:

The player randomly travels around the Inaba world map like in-game. These animations of the map and the protagonist walking around a location on the map play while you are rolling balls and collecting slot machine pulls:

When you're at the Dojima house, the slot changes to Nanako and she dresses up as everyone:

When you get 2 of the same number on the left / right reels, then the game enters "reach" mode, aka "Almost Jackpot" cause you're 1 number away from winning a jackpot:

And what happens then is an animation will play where the number you need is dangled in front of you and the RNG determines whether you get it or not. And of course, you never fucking get it because fuck this game!!!

Some of the events and animations that play when you hit the Almost Jackpot include:

The crossdressing contest where Yu winning = number you need and Teddie winning = wrong number.

A character fighting a Shadow where they use an attack to "fight" the number you don't need, then they usually fail to defeat the number cause yeah fuck RNG.

Kanji trying to knit a stuffed animal, and he botches it entirely so you get the wrong number.

Etc.

I triggered a "hidden" game mode twice, which led to Amenosagiri coming out and filling the town with fog:

During fog mode, the background changes to a remix of The Fog that goes pretty hard, and the slot reel characters change to everyone's Shadow (except Narukami; he just puts his glasses on cause lmao there's fog out).

ANYWAY, I met Adachi's NPC randomly at the Central Shopping District!

I've never played pachinko before but this game pisses me off because I very quickly understood that the unique animations and "everything is fully voice acted" is definitely part of the appeal (it works on me, I'm pathetic). Also I'm salty that there's a remix of The Fog is LOCKED TO A RANDOM PROBABILITY EVENT IN A FUCKING PACHINKO MACHINE SDJSDFJLSJKF.

If you'd like to see some clips of Adachi in pachinko, check out these videos on YouTube cause there's no fucking way in hell I am getting lucky enough to see either of these events lol.

[magical-regical]

Y'all okay,

I started playing 'What in Hell is Bad', it's basically an 18+ version of 'Obey Me' and yea this game is spicy.

Anyway, big surprise, out of all the sexy demons I've interacted with so far, two of them I've done the sideways tango with, my favorite character is this guy

Who's not even a demon. He's the childhood best friend character.

But plot wise he takes care of the MC before the whole demon thing, knows how to cook, and I'm pretty sure was ready to search through the entire world to find them when they had to take and extended visit to Hell.

What more could you want in a man? A decent dic— according to MC he has that too so check mate.

More thoughts about the game itself under the cut if you're interested.

I just finished chapter one, and can I just say this game is hard, in every sense of the word.

It's a new game by a smaller developer so it's full of bugs but I've heard the devs do try their best to patch them ASAP so I don't hold that against them. Aside from my boy Satan not hitting water enemies, even though devs said they patched that a few updates ago, it's mostly QoL improvements that can be made to make the game just overall more enjoyable including but not limited to:

A pity system? Maybe? I don't know if this game has pity or not on their gacha machines and if they do I'd like to know how screwed I am because I have no self-control and have been doing single pulls on the hot boy gacha instead of saving up and doing 10-pulls so I wanna know if it's better to do 10-pulls or if it literally makes no difference because I just go until I hit pity like in arknights.

Skipping the cut scene that plays when you gacha because I swear that's one of the main reasons you can't play this game in public no matter how discreet you try to be lmao

Opening multiple chests at once and levelling up multiple times in one go because as far as I know, right now you need to click one by one for both of these.

Maybe a thing where it just takes you to the part of the story you're currently in instead of making you click through chapter select and scrolling to it.

A shortcut button to the gacha screen, secret club, and dark sanctuary (resource grind stages). They're core aspects of the game yet you can't get to them without going through the home screen.

Auto deploy and auto play for the resource grinding stages

Setting an L-rank character (side note, it's really funny that the highest rank of cards is rank 'L') as your homescreen boi is really awkward because it always ends up zoomed in on one part so you can't actually see the full boi.

This last one I feel like is just a personal thing but why is it three red keys per single pull for the hot boy gacha? Three just feels like such a random number lmao. Ig they mostly want you to use the red gems, which are grind-able to some extent, to buy the keys from the store.

Overall tho, I enjoy it. I like the tower defense like combat system and being able to move units around is actually pretty fun. So yea give it a try, see if it's your cup of tea.

[prepperjournal]

Bugging out has always been a core principle in the prepping world. I have written about this in the past with articles on when to bug out and when to stay home. I’ve even argued if bugging out was really ever a good idea. When I started prepping around 2008, the concept was designed to get you out of a bad spot fast. Many people (me included) had some form of pre-prepared bag that was intended to be thrown on in seconds that contained all the supplies you needed to live off the land. This seems like a great idea but add kids or elderly relatives into the mix and it gets more complicated. Let’s say you do bug out, then what? You will never be able to carry enough food to last you more than a few days and you should banish any notion that you're going to be living off the land or scavenging for food and supplies. Bugging out has always been a last-ditch option in my mind, but worthy of consideration for a lot of us. But, Preppers should constantly be reevaluating their priorities and plans. In 2025, the playbook has changed. If you haven’t revisited your bug-out plan since 2020, you’re working off outdated intel. The last five years have brought pandemics, civil unrest, supply chain meltdowns, rising digital surveillance, and a culture increasingly suspicious of “preppers.” So, let’s take a hard look at how the concept of bugging out needs to evolve—and how to get your plan up to speed for today’s reality. Rule #1: Bugging Out Is No Longer “Cool” There was a time when bugging out was borderline fun to think about—gear testing in the woods, fantasy scenarios with your go-bag slung over your shoulder. In 2025, looking like that guy gets you followed, flagged, or worse. Modern bug-outs are low profile. No camo. No mall-ninja body armor. You need to look like someone who’s trying to get home, not someone who’s loaded for bear. Tip: Rethink every piece of your gear with the question: "Will this make me a target?" If the answer is yes, rethink it again. Rule #2: Digital Footprints Can Get You Caught You’re not sneaking through the woods unnoticed anymore. Your phone is tracking you. Your car is pinging towers. There are more cameras than ever, and you better believe AI is watching. Bugging out in 2025 means dropping off the digital map. That burner phone isn’t a paranoid option anymore—it’s baseline smart. You also need paper maps and the ability to navigate without a screen. And don’t forget cash—nobody’s scanning Venmo in a blackout. Sale Tracfone | Motorola Moto g Play 2024 | Locked | 64GB | 5000mAh Battery | 50MP Quad Pixel Camera | 6.5-in. HD+ 90Hz Display | Sapphire Blue - 6.5" HD+ 90Hz Display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. / Snapdragon 680 processor. - 50MP sensor with Quad Pixel Photo Night Vision. / Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio. - 5,000mAh battery for up to 46 hours of battery life. / 64GB of storage + 1TB more with microSD card. / 4GB RAM, expandable up to 6GB with RAM Boost. - Carrier: This phone is locked to Tracfone, which means this device can only be used on the Tracfone wireless network. A Tracfone plan is required to activate this device. Activating is easy, upon receipt go to Tracfone Website and select “Activate” and follow the prompts. - Compatible with our no-contract Unlimited Talk & Text plus Data plans starting as low as $20/month plus taxes and fees. To find the Tracfone Plans available to purchase, please go to our TF - Amazon Brand Page linked below the product title. $34.99 Buy on Amazon Related: The Great Reset – Are You Ready for a Technocratic Future? Rule #3: Gasoline Is a Liability If you think you’re hopping in the truck and cruising to a secluded bug-out cabin 300 miles away, I’ve got bad news. You’re not Mad Max, and gas isn’t unlimited. In a real crisis, stations are dry, roads are blocked, and armed checkpoints are not fiction. Pre-position fuel if you can. Know alternate routes. Have a Plan B. And maybe a Plan C that doesn’t involve wheels at all. (And no, I’m not saying bug out on a solar scooter. Let's keep it real.) Related: Survival Gear List – The Essentials You Shouldn’t Leave Without Rule #4: Local Is the New Distant Preppers used to talk about bug-out locations like real estate agents: the more remote, the better. But in reality, most people won't make it 100 miles, let alone 300. Roads clog. Fuel runs out. Bodies give out. A good local fallback beats a great fantasy retreat. A friend across town with a basement is more useful than 40 acres in another state you’ll never reach. Tip: Build a network where you are. Scout local fallback points. Train your family to move in stages, not in epic, cinematic dashes. Rule #5: Group Plans Beat Lone Wolf Fantasies The lone wolf idea was always part ego, part entertainment. In a real bug-out, going solo means you have no one to pull security when you're asleep. No backup when you're hurt. No margin for error. You need a team. Even if it’s just a buddy and a plan, that’s ten times stronger than being alone. Include: - Code words and comms plans - Shared supply checklists - Trusted people who won’t fold under pressure Prepping alone is better than not prepping—but planning together is better than both. Rule #6: Your Bug-Out Bag Needs a Reality Check You know what goes in the bag. Fire, water, shelter, security. But the sexy new trend is loading your pack with digital gadgets. Let me be clear: If it doesn’t keep you alive or give you an edge in a real-world scenario, it’s dead weight. Yes, solar chargers are cool—but I’d rather have ammo and batteries. And if you’re carrying digital copies of documents, make sure they’re actually secured, and not just floating around on a thumb drive with your name on it. Sale Energizer AA Batteries, Alkaline Power Double A Battery Alkaline, 32 Count - 32-pack of Energizer Alkaline Power AA Batteries, Double A Alkaline Batteries - Long lasting batteries provide dependable power for everyday use and emergency situations - Count on these AA batteries to power a wireless mouse, game controllers, flashlights, thermometers, smart home devices, VR controllers and more - Lasts up to 10 years in storage for alkaline AA batteries that provide peace of mind in everything from emergency situations to playtime - Includes recycled materials *Steel up to 10% Recycled, excluding 9V $15.10 Buy on Amazon Related: Home Fortification Tips – Securing What You Can’t Leave Rule #7: Don’t Bug Out… Unless You Absolutely Have To I’ll say it again: bugging out is a last resort. Leaving your home, your supplies, and your base of operations puts you at a serious disadvantage. If you’re not already using a decision matrix, here’s mine: - Is it safer to stay where I am? - Can I get where I’m going without risking more than I gain? - Am I leaving because I have to—not because I feel like I should? Bugging out isn’t about running. It’s about getting to safety—and sometimes, that means staying put and locking down. Final Thoughts: Burn the Old Plan, Write a New One If your bug-out strategy still looks like it did five years ago, you’re not prepared—you’re nostalgic. The world changed, and so should your game plan. What to do right now: - Strip down your go-bag and rebuild it with brutal honesty - Reassess routes and fallback locations - Get eyes on your local escape options - Talk to your people—make sure they’re squared away We don’t prep because we’re paranoid. We prep because reality changes—and we’re smart enough not to be caught flat-footed. Bugging out isn’t gone. It’s just grown up. Read the full article

[refractstudios]

Distance Launches on PS4 & PS5 July 19th!

Today I have a very exciting announcement for everyone...

Distance: Console Edition has a release date for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5! You can get it July 19th on the PlayStation Store. Wishlist to get notified when it goes live!

Watch the exciting trailer with brand new music here:

Here's a quick overview of what you can expect in Distance: Console Edition:

Melding the intensity of arcade racing with the agility of parkour, Distance catapults you into a neon-soaked world shrouded in mystery. Adapt quickly using your car’s abilities to jump, flip, and fly to overcome deadly hazards and survive.

Campaigns: Dive into the Adventure campaign, an immersive single-player story that takes you into the heart of darkness. Afterward, return to Nitronic City in Lost to Echoes and take on a brutal challenge. Finally, visit the mysterious flying islands of Nexus (a short companion to the Adventure campaign).

Arcade Modes: Earn medals to unlock over 150 diverse tracks in modes like Sprint, Challenge, and Stunt.

Leaderboards: Race ghost replays to take on the leaderboards' best (both online and local).

Endless Tracks: With Trackmogrify, enjoy never-ending challenges with randomly generated tracks using advanced seed modifiers.

Couch Multiplayer: Challenge up to 4 opponents in high-stakes split-screen races, or try unique arena-based modes like Reverse Tag and Stunt.

Unlockable Cheats: Earning PlayStation trophies unlocks cheats like motorcycle mode, bubble car, and many more.

And a bunch of other cool features including…

Customizable controls

Level playlists

Multiple unlockable cars

Car paint job customization

Main menu level selection

And more!

What's new on PlayStation?

There are a handful of exciting new additions exclusive to PlayStation:

Haptic Feedback: The PS5 version features a completely new haptics integration. It allows you to feel the details of each impact, scrape, skid, and the abilities themselves in a whole new way. Since the haptics are largely audio driven I had a ton of fun working on this and it’s easily one of my favorite aspects of playing on PS5.

Activity Features: Easily track campaign progress from the control center, jump into a mode directly from the home screen, and see in-game help on campaign levels if needed.

Controller Lighting: On both PS4 and PS5 the controller lights with the glow color of your car. This helps to see overheat status as well as identify controllers during split-screen.

Regarding performance, Distance targets 60 fps across all single player content. On PS4 the game utilizes 1080p, and on PS5 it runs at 4K resolution. The PS4 Pro and PS5 version have both been enhanced with higher graphics quality and smoother performance. While there are dips here and there on the PS4, overall I think it runs pretty well, and it's even better on PS5 despite running at 4K.

Differences between PC and consoles

For those of you who’ve been enjoying Distance on PC, you’ll find that the core gameplay experience and overall features are extremely similar on PlayStation. There are of course some differences so I’d like to discuss them here.

I’ve talked previously about the technical limitations regarding Steam Workshop and the level editor, so at this time those aren’t available in Distance: Console Edition. Instead, we decided to officially include our favorite community-created levels directly into the base game for everyone to play. For example, our recent Kinetic Update (v1.5) on PC included 15 incredible new levels from the community and these will also be available on PlayStation!

Regarding online multiplayer, I completely understand that for some it might come as a shock to see it not included on consoles. While we have collectively spent a ton of time working on online multiplayer for PlayStation consoles, a series of unfortunate technical hurdles have led to it not being feasible for release at this time. Split-screen multiplayer is included however and allows for couch multiplayer in Arcade modes. For those curious about the behind-the-scenes technical info, please see below for a more detailed breakdown explanation.

With all that in mind, Distance: Console Edition is at a reduced price of $19.99 / €19.99. While it is possible that future updates will enable more content and features, please purchase with the assumption that the base game will not massively change in the future.

Getting into the technical details

If you’ve been following Distance for a while you’re probably aware that the PlayStation version has had a fairly long and tumultuous development. It was our first time developing anything for a console, and it’s been an incredible learning experience throughout.

Many years ago around the v1.0 launch we had a version of Distance using Unity 5 working somewhat reasonably on PS4 with several multiplayer features functional (though certainly not finished). After launching v1.1 I spent a lot of time implementing all of the various technical certification requirements for online play on PS4. This included things like parental chat restrictions, online ID consistency, etc.

As I was preparing to send a new build to Sony, I came to realize that to pass certification Distance needed to update to a much newer PS4 SDK version required by Sony. Unfortunately, this version of Unity 5.5 we used to develop Distance for years was locked to a very old PS4 SDK version, and the only option was to port Distance (yet again) to a much newer version of Unity. To comply with Sony's requirements, we needed to upgrade Unity from version 5.5 to Unity 2020. This unfortunately wasn’t negotiable and, as you might imagine, it took months to repair the various graphics and physics issues that came along with it.

The biggest hurdle was that our multiplayer system was completely dependent on the old Unity 5.5 version. The newer versions of Unity had fully abandoned their old multiplayer integration, meaning I basically had to start from scratch. One possibility was to attempt to replicate the custom RakNet backend we had relied on, but Unity’s version made several changes under the hood and without source code access it was challenging to emulate it. The other possibility was to simply rewrite everything from scratch and utilize an entirely new multiplayer system.

In short, I attempted both routes. After spending quite some time attempting to essentially rewrite all of Jason’s multiplayer tech, I realized doing this on my own will take an incredibly long time to get fully functional and properly tested. Between this issue, complications due to COVID, and my own personal issues with recovering from burnout, this was honestly a really frustrating time and one of the big reasons I decided to take a break from Distance development. As I mentioned in my September 2023 blog post I decided to go on a short hiatus to work on Project 2, and of course I enjoyed working on Project 2 so much that my short break soon became much longer.

Upon returning to Distance last year with a fresh perspective I made the incredibly tough call to disable online multiplayer for now. I would then focus on wrapping up all of the other features and content we have and get it into players’ hands as soon as possible. Of course it still took significantly longer than I expected to wrap up that last 1%, but at long long last we’re finally here.

Looking ahead

I really can’t say enough how much I’ve appreciated everyone’s patience and support during these challenging times. I’ve truly been blown away by the enthusiastic response to the Kinetic Update, and I’m so excited to keep creating and sharing stuff with you all.

To all of our new PlayStation players, welcome to the Distance community! I can’t wait to see which players take the top times on the new leaderboards. Please note that the best way to connect with other players is on the Distance Discord server.

You also might have noticed that there is a new remix of Isolation in the PlayStation release trailer. I’ve been developing a lot of new music for Project 2 and intend to release some songs officially soon, so please be on the lookout for more information about that. I’ll also be posting here and on social media when updates are released for PC and PlayStation.

Thank you all again!

Jordan

[kmlaney]

WIP questionnaire

tagged by @coffeewritesfiction and I am so sorry to take this long on a reply. Thanks for the tag!

Tagging @fallenscintilla (if you want! No pressure!) and @waywardwizzard and anyone who wants to!

1. What is the first part of your WIP that you created?

The very first line was: “D’ya think I care how it tastes?” I posted an edited version here. There's a snip of the original here.

For the record, it started as a character background for a TTRPG. In fact, it wasn’t even going to be the character I was going to play. Harrowed (undead/revenant) gunfighter? *eyeroll* Too cliché. I even made a homebrew archetype to play: a “spiritualist” in the late 1800’s sense. But that first line kept bugging me so I figured, okay. Fine. I’ll write this one scene and then work on my spiritualist. 

Yeah. No. I never played the spiritualist.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

I did all the fan stuff for Phil and Skyfallen, like playlists, faceclaims, all of that. I never did that before. I selected music for the theoretical TV show: main theme, a rotating list of outro/credits roll music, pieces for certain kinds of scenes. So if Skyfallen were a TV series, this would be the theme:

3. What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?

That’s like asking which of my pets was my favorite. I love them all. I guess I loved Phil enough to make them the viewpoint character. They’re a more-mature version of the kind of character I wrote when I was a kid, now with serious problems I can explore as an adult. I like Phil’s father, whom I was determined to fridge in the beginning because fridging is usually a female character. Ha Ha! Then I went and gave him a character arc that could only end in his death so he’s not fridged after all. 

I like Travelling Sam for being a conniving, money-grubbing jerk, but he’s fun to write. I like Eva as Carnival Mom; Maury for being a flamboyant, fun-to-be-around person hiding a serious drinking problem that everyone knows about. I like Doc Butcher for his name, for actually being trained as a vet but caring about everyone, and trying to do his best when he’s in over his head because he can’t do nothing. 

I like Maker Lewis for his change of heart, though he was already on the fence and just needed a shove. And I like Miss Warren for being a nosy reporter whom Phil doesn’t want to like but ends up liking anyway. She also lets me play at muckraking reporter. Choosing words to specifically slant a piece is a load of fun.

4. What other pieces of media do you think your fan base would share?

Skyfallen has its roots in Westerns, so people who like cinematic westerns are a potential fanbase. I include horror, steampunk, and gothic elements, so if your venn diagram of interests includes those things then it might be for you. 

Things I like that influenced or feel like this story: Silverado, The Magnificent Seven, RIPD 2 Rise of the Damned (movies. I hate to admit that last one but it was fun). Deadlands (TTRPG game. I created Phil for this setting). The Dark Tower novels--primarily Wizard and Glass but any of the parts dealing with Roland’s world. 

There is zero romance. Phil’s ace, there is no main love interest, and anyone who gets together does so very off-screen. 

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

When writing the draft, the individual scenes flew out of my brain. I could hardly write them fast enough. In deep editing, though, it’s the big-picture stuff I find challenging. Which themes do I want to emphasize and which are less important? Do I really need all this buildup or should I start later? I need to show certain things so the later ones make sense, but that makes it even longer. It’s already very long; shouldn’t I be cutting things down? Argh. It's frustrating.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

There are animals. Most are utilitarian: Horses, dogs, cats, chickens, cows. There are monsters also (for certain values of “monster”) all along the continuum from “non-sapient animal” through to “self-aware human intelligence.” 

The way they figure into the story is more interesting. In life, Phil liked animals in general and had a special fondness for horses and mules. After dying and coming back reanimated, animals can’t stand to be around them. Phil doesn’t figure it out right away, and it hurts when they do.

7. How do your characters get around? (Ex. Trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

For the area the characters are in for the bulk of the story, most people walk, ride horses, or ride in wagons, carts, or coaches pulled by horses or teams of horses. There are a couple of trains but they are rare. In other areas, trains are common, as are ferries and lake boats. Airships exist; they are novelties and considered simultaneously luxurious and dangerous. In larger cities, along with the horse-drawn vehicles, people have bicycles, rickshaws, pedal-powered rickshaws, and palanquins. Automatons in a variety of configurations may be subbed in for horses or people in any of those conveyances. 

8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

I’ve identified some specific foreshadowing that needs to happen. So I need to add that in. There are a few names that aren’t consistent; they’re flagged so I can fix them. I need to put in a few encounters so later ones make sense. It’s not exactly foreshadowing so much as worldbuilding. So editing stuff.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe) of your WIP do you think will draw people in?

I have a hard time identifying tropes in my work, probably because I’m in the trees, so to speak, and can’t see the forest. Or groves, to push the metaphor. Having said that, here’s an attempt:

Portal/isekai

Found family

Unlikely group of heroes

Humans can be evil; monsters can be sympathetic

Religion, Magic, and cults 

Monsters dwelling among humans

Enemies to not-friends (don’t push your luck)

Things get worse

Everyone has secrets

Lost memories, memory tampering

Weird West

Steampunk and Gothic Horror

Gunslinger/trick shot

Noble Demon/antihero

Good is not nice

I did come up with one of those taglines that you might see on the bottom of the cover of a book: 

“Every Skyfallen has something they want to forget. And everyone in the Mistlands is Skyfallen.”

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

Originally I was hoping for traditional publishing. I might still try to go that way. I’m also looking into self-pub, and websites that host serial stories. I think this story fits better into a serial format than a traditional book format. I need to make it more coherent (hence editing phase)