#and my link to make it dumber cause more dumb links is always good

[noomyz]

Shit

Au where everything is the same, but the missing links not present in LU have been trapped in a cage by dink and are on their 100075589th game of poker and using pebbles as poker chips

The Chain finds them the one time they decide to play strip poker

[sepublic]

The Ignition Trilogy’s Morality

(What follows is a tangent that transitions into an analysis on my main issue with the Ignition Trilogy; Specifically in that it fails to provide a proper rebuttal to the cynicism and cruelty introduced with characters like the Piraka or Order of Mata Nui, who basically exist to mock the Toa’s idealism and tell them to ‘grow up’. Which in turn, causes the story’s attempts to be more nuanced to backfire, and instead become even more edgily black-and-white, with one-dimensional villains whom we are supposed to accept as having always been pure evil, unlike our noble heroes who are good and thus could never become bad.)

      Is anyone else miffed that the Piraka defeated the Toa Nuva? I think with characters like the Rahkshi or even the Bohrok-Kal, it didn’t really bother me because… Yeah, the Toa Nuva usually have their initial loss, their harsh learning curve- But the idea is that eventually, they learn to overcome this and win anyway, because that’s what heroes do, against all odds.

      But they never defeat the Piraka- Instead, the Toa Nuva are helplessly shackled with no agency, and provide no bearing on the plot whatsoever, needing to be rescued by others. Sure, I can live with the idea that it was more Brutaka powered up by Makuta that defeated the Toa Nuva, but our heroes never did get their proper rematch with the Piraka.

      In fact, none of our heroes did- Every time there was a full fight between the Toa and Piraka, it was always the Piraka who won, or kind of weaseled their way to victory because of dumb luck. And it really bothers me, because while I have professed to find the Piraka pretty hilarious… They’re my least favorite villains for a reason, and it’s because those obnoxious jerks never got properly put into their place by an actual team of Toa heroes.

      The thing with the Piraka is that they basically kept bragging about how they were better than these goody two-shoes heroes, who were naïve to believe in heroism and whatnot. They were edgy and mean-spirited, constantly talking up how they always beat Toa, because Evil is actually smarter and better… And then the narrative doesn’t really disprove them much, because the Piraka keep winning against the Toa anyway, making our protagonists look like fools of themselves because good guys are apparently dumber, reactive, and naïve.

      It felt like a mockery of our beloved tropes by twisting them around on their heads to be dark- The six-element island is evil, the ‘Toa’ are evil… And the worst part is that 2006 just generally had this vibe of ‘cynicism is more realistic’ that it never quite refuted, just sort of left behind in favor of the more tame and frankly less overbearing 2007. With 2006, there was this idea that heroes were a bunch of dumb and silly idiots, just pitiful fairytales- Our classic Toa Nuva are defeated to make way for more aesthetically-edgy heroes like the Toa Inika, because 2006 really was the angst teenage phase, hence its chain-link aesthetic and THAT rap.

      All of it culminates when the Toa Inika fight the Piraka for one last time… And then the battle is anti-climatically ended because Kongu messes up, because heroes are silly idealistic, pompous, self-righteous fools who are caught up in bold maneuvers and aren’t really smart or practical. The Piraka are never shown their place by proper heroes, in the end they have to be defeated by themselves, and Vezon- Also a villain, derived from one of their number no less! And it was really dissatisfying- Because I guess I was just waiting for some proper heroes to show up and actually defeat them, once and for all.

      I wanted to see heroes show the Piraka that Good and Kindness ISN’T weak, it isn’t dumb- It’s actually far stronger than any of their selfish backstabbing and cynicism. That should’ve been how 2006 ended, to balance out the darkness by reminding us that it IS worth it in the end- I mean, Axonn says as much! And while I do appreciate Axonn’s quote, the way the Piraka are just sort of forgotten and written out of the story, without a proper conclusion… Their mutation felt anticlimactic, after so much talk from Zaktan about how these Piraka were fugitives from the Dark Hunters, only for the Dark Hunters to never show up in their lives, ever again.

      I honestly think the Piraka should’ve been captured by the Dark Hunters, and dragged back to Odina for some horrible, unseen punishment- Something vague yet final enough that it COULD be an ending, but if Greg wanted, he could still bring the Piraka back. I think it’d bring more closure to the constant fear Zaktan felt, the apprehension and paranoia, of their past catching up to them.

      It’d show that for all of their cruelty and boasting, they really were just puny pawns, trying to play at things far bigger than them- Unlike the Toa, who they sneered and ridiculed in a manner almost jealous. And it’d just make The Shadowed One all the more terrifying and imposing as a villain… I think being dragged back to the Dark Hunters would’ve been a poetic end to the Piraka- After being thrashed by the Toa.

      …Instead, we get the Piraka defeating the Toa Mahri yet again, and their defeat by Axonn is largely off-screen. The thing with delightfully nasty villains like the Piraka is that for all of their horridness, it’s supposed to make it all the more cathartic when karma DOES catch up to them… But it never really feels like it does. I mean, technically it does- But the execution leaves something to be desired, in that it’s done by more nebulous, unrelated outside agents, like the pit mutagen, or the Piraka themselves, rather than a hero showing them that for all their boasting, their evil and cynicism isn’t ‘realistic’, it’s transient and will never last in the face of good virtue. I think cheesy heroics like that at the end of 2006 would serve as a proper palate cleanser.

      In the end, the Piraka are whisked off by Axonn, who… While generally heroic as I’ve mentioned earlier, is also kind of emblematic of the Order of Mata Nui- Who themselves represent a rather cynical take on heroism. I guess Greg was trying to go for something more ‘nuanced’ by having anti-heroes, but in practice, it actually felt more black and white, where it was okay for the protagonists to kill or lock up their enemies without a second thought, because their enemies were one-dimensional, evil for the sake of it, villains. Hence Dekar-Hydraxon, who is a cop who commits police brutality against Matoro no less- And it never feels like he, or the rest of the order, is properly called out for it.

      Maybe the OoMN eventually would’ve been, had the serials not been cancelled- But so far, it really does feel like Greg trying to shift Bionicle away from its ‘embarrassing’ and ‘childish’ idealism, insisting the heroes and audience have to grow up and be ‘realistic’ and just kill their enemies- Hence that scene where the Visorak are completely wiped out, with the Toa Mahri duped into commiting genocide, and all Jaller can do is essentially shrug helplessly and decide “Okay I guess that’s how the world really works.” Maybe it’s just me, but I felt these darker tones were never properly countered with the necessary kindness, and the Order of Mata Nui bugged me a lot because they felt like the Matoran Universe’s CIA. There was a lot of horrible things they did that was never called out, like their murder of people who knew the location of Artakha- I’d have liked to see someone confront Tobduk over that.

      And, I guess one could say that the OoMN had that similar problem that the Piraka did- As stand-ins for the author to cynically dismiss the fairy tale idealism of the heroes, who were too kind and thus weak and spineless to do the right thing and just kill their enemies; They had to toughen up and be ‘real’ heroes. And again, that ends up feeling less nuanced as a result, more black-and-white… Which, maybe was intentional since it’s canon that Botar has a black-and-white view of things.

      That isn’t to say our protagonists couldn’t have benefitted from dispelling some naivete- That they didn’t need to learn that they weren’t automatically good and right. But in the end, this didn’t feel like a real and meaningful deconstruction of these Good VS Evil narratives, or else we would’ve had tropes like the Evil Race, in species like the Vortixx and Skakdi, challenged. No, it felt more like what adult TV shows mistake as ‘deconstruction’, when really it’s just making things more cynical and violent and hopeless. Mistaking darkness for maturity and cleverness.

      In the end, we didn’t get our protagonists being forced to stop and question, and critically analyze their own actions- We didn’t see our heroes ask what puts them in the right, and focusing on that to do the right thing. We didn’t see our heroes realize they were acting presumptuously, and instead shift gears to be kinder and more open-minded, which would’ve been the perfect answer to cynicism. Instead, our protagonists are told that they should just kill the villains anyway, because the villains are conveniently more scummy and one-dimensional than past antagonists.

      Our heroes weren’t forced to examine their enemies as more than just baddies, to critically ask why their antagonists became evil, what compelled them to do so- They didn’t deconstruct any power structures or narrative assumptions, like the Matoran are the Good and Default of the universe, and all other species are less important (How other species felt about this could’ve been explored through Ehlek’s vendetta against the Matoran). They didn’t stop to examine how every villain thinks they’re the hero too, that just thinking of yourself as a hero can be a slippery slope to extremism, because being a Hero isn’t how you label yourself- It’s what you do.

      That would then justify the Toa acting more sneaky and using less heroic abilities, not acting in the open because Toa are expected to not hide themselves. It’d be a proper balance between less ‘honorable’ methods, but still with obvious well-meaning intent- And again, masks like the Tryna would be the perfect example of protagonists deconstructing what makes certain powers ‘evil’, to get to the root of what Good really is, beyond a palatable aesthetic. How ‘dark’ things can be redeemed, if they were ever really bad to begin with, that feels like real deconstruction imo.

      But instead, we are introduced to the idea of immoral mask powers in the first place, without meaningfully examining why they’re immoral, and even going by arbitrary reasons- Like a Kanohi deemed evil simply because Makuta used it. And to add to what I said about questioning narratives about the enemy as just pure evil, having our own Makuta species humanized into a race of individuals, with motives behind their fall from grace.

      That could’ve been a neat way of exploring how good people can turn dark, taking further what Krika provides. It could’ve been an educational moment for teens growing up and yearning to see the world in a more nuanced manner, after realizing life is so much more complex than they thought- And wanting reconciliation with stuff that seemingly disproves their assumptions of Good, hence the darkness ultimately being outdone by the persisting triumph of the heroic spirit.

      It could help audiences realize that dehumanizing and reducing your enemy to just plain evil is such a horrible ideology that justifies all manner of terrible genocides, as well as imprisonment without a trial or due process. In the end, it feels like Greg wanted the conflict to feel more gray by having the heroes do darker things… But in the end, it just felt MORE black-and-white, which leads to the Order of Mata Nui’s actions not truly being critically examined, and thus having the narrative lowkey border on copaganda at times, especially with that whole mess that was the Pit and Hydraxon.

      With Hydraxon especially, it feels like the story had a lot of fun with the aesthetic of a Bad Cop, without bothering to examine or analyze what a Bad Cop stands for, misunderstanding what a Bad Cop is about, and the social critique that trope started off as. Yes Hydraxon is a bit of an extremist, but only because he’s going after our heroes, who are obviously good because they’re not actual criminals… Which of course then assumes that if someone was convicted and imprisoned, then this must confirm they are of course evil and deserve it.

      That just leads to questionable stuff like Nocturn, who is portrayed with far less sympathy than I think he deserved- All because he was an actual convicted prisoner, so obviously that means he’s absolutely guilty. Which, compared to the pre-Ignition year of 2004, which had our heroes fighting the evil law enforcement, being wrongly accused, branded criminals… It doesn’t sit right with me. It definitely hits even closer to home in more recent times…

      And stuff like the Toa Empire, it feels more like a paltry attempt that is never applied to the main universe, and also problematic in that it reduces Toa we know and love to just faceless evil. Same with the Shadow Takanuva’s, because they’re antagonists and not OUR heroes and thus less important. It doesn’t really stop to examine how our Toa became evil, they just are now, and Tuyet as an example of extremism is never examined properly- Instead, it’s more about the subversive shock value of evil Toa.

      We don’t compare the Toa becoming villains to the process that the Makuta went through- And thus we don’t humanize these villains by realizing they were just like our heroes, because according to Greg the Makuta were always arrogant and ambitious and only did good to avoid punishment. Not unlike our naturally noble heroes who never have any darkness to overcome, whose alternate actions in a timeline are never considered. Greg will sometimes hint at this type of actual deconstruction, dip his toes in briefly, but then never follow through with it with the full exploration and depth it deserves.

      And this lack of self-examination is a shame, because someone like Brutaka could’ve been a compelling avenue, as a heroic scholar who critically analyzed the situation, and thus went down a dark path- A disillusioned warrior who shows our protagonists the flaws of the system, of the narrative’s assumptions of Good and Evil, and how that broke him… How the Order of Mata Nui’s zealotry broke him. How it convinced him that Good is just a sham and excuse to justify horrid atrocities, so Brutaka just gives up… But then Axonn and the Toa show that no, Good and Heroism IS real- It is meaningful. He can still be kind. Axonn doesn’t care that much about the OoMN himself, either.

      The OoMN doesn’t reflect what a hero is- And Brutaka was right to think of them as wrong. This wasn’t proof that he needed to give up, but proof that he needed to keep fighting even harder for what’s right- Because it’s only the lost causes that are worth fighting for, right? Brutaka can define for himself what is Good and work with that, instead of blindly following Helryx’s black-and-white thinking; I think that would provide more grounds for a compelling redemption, and better transition Brutaka back to the side of good, while also providing more sympathetic context as to his disillusionment.

      So in combination with my issues with the Pit, we could’ve had the heroes begrudgingly go along with the OoMN as necessary, to awaken Mata Nui… While also deliberately working to undermine their other actions. Critically examining the prisoners of the Pit, if they really deserve this just because they did something wrong. Realizing they’re being tasked with the genocide of the Visorak, and foiling that- And in Axonn and Brutaka’s case, willingly choosing not to kill off the Makuta species, by destroying their only means of creation.

      Instead, they work with the Antidermis, and Miserix, in the belief of redemption for the Makuta- Because why wouldn’t Brutaka believe in redemption himself? Maybe the Federation of Fear is partly done because he believes, or hopes, that he can offer redemption to these other villains. In the end it doesn’t work out and they all remain evil, but Brutaka nevertheless affirms that it WAS worth a shot regardless- And it’s always worth it to try and hope anyway. So we have his renewed hope tested after it’s regained, and thus strengthened with further resolve.

      And we could have a neat moment of Lariska, who does feel like an actual gray character, remarking this to Brutaka- And maybe observing how they at least gave a new chance to Miserix, who had been condemned to die. That has to mean something, and it eventually does, because a Makuta is given the chance to prove his species isn’t evil, as someone who never betrayed Mata Nui. The heroes giving Miserix this chance pays off for them and shows that kindness does help- And this outcome perhaps motivates Brutaka to spare the Antidermis instead of destroying it.

      But yeah, those are my thoughts. I definitely got carried away from my intial point about wishing the Piraka got a proper defeat by the heroes- And then started talking about the Order of Mata Nui as well. And I guess the uniting thesis is that the Ignition Trilogy, for all of its strengths, often veered too much into the ‘cynicism is realism’ territory, itself a defeatist assumption that isn’t anymore mature than blind optimism. Our beloved heroes are just fools and puppets playing into the hands of our villain, who is smarter than everyone else, because Good is Dumb and Reactive, while Evil is Smart and Proactive- Because being evil and cruel is cooler, I guess.

      It’s an undertone that felt sneering, and while Mata Nui does help to rectify that, especially with the Glatorian setting feeling a lot closer to that nuanced deconstruction I was talking about –how most aren’t good or bad, just trying to survive in life- it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth… Because our idealistic heroes who are duped never get to triumph themselves, and personally prove that cynicism wrong.

      Tahu and Takanuva help in the final battle, but they’re just kinda there, and we don’t have our protagonists in the Matoran Universe, the ones outmaneuvered by Makuta, showing how Good can still be just as clever, while still kind. We needed to be shown the triumph of the heroic spirit in spite of all these dark odds that insisted otherwise, through the actual characters who embodied that spirit they were mocked with.

[7-wonders]

In Which You're Worried That Michael Might Actually Eat You

To say it had been a long week would be an understatement. No, it had been the week to end all weeks, a long week packed with terrible, horrible, no good, very bad things. After Dumb and Dumber (or Jeff and Mutt, depending on who you asked) having left their lab a ticking time bomb for you to discover, your vampiric boss rescuing you after you were trapped under burning debris and, as you later learned from Michael creepily telling you, suffering from internal bleeding would have been enough to call the week a wash. But no, you just had to have some weird link with said vampire now that his blood was stuck in you after he just had to keep you from dying. And of course, you had nobody to talk to about this, since any sane person would have you locked up after hearing what you had gone through.

So when Friday night rolls around and your friends ask you if you want to hit up the bars downtown with them, you're certainly not going to turn them down like you usually do. Now, after a few shots, a couple of mixed drinks, two games of pool, some dancing, and lots of bad singing with your friends, it's last call and bars are emptying out for the night. You lean against one of your friends as the group tries to figure out the price of an Uber for everybody to share.

"I should be fine to walk home, actually, I'm only a couple of blocks away from my place," you realize.

"Are you sure? It's late, and you were drinking," your friend frowns.

"I'm only a little buzzed! And I have this." You grab your keys out of your bag, complete with pepper spray and a shank that honestly makes a really cute accessory (and it's in your favorite color!).

"Okay," he says, not convinced. "Text the group chat when you make it home, though."

"Of course I will." After hugs and goodbyes, you turn to walk.

"Hey!" You look back in confusion. "Let me see that you're prepared for anything." Wordlessly, you hold up the shank between your fingers, thumb on the pepper spray trigger. "That's a bad bitch if I've ever seen one."

The buzz from the alcohol still lingers as you begin your quick trip home, but the fresh air is already doing wonders to sober you up the rest of the way. The sky is clear tonight, and you wish you weren't in the city so you could see the stars. Maybe it's this desire that's keeping your head up and not ahead of you, or the buzz making your balance just a little bit off. Whatever the reason, you trip over nothing but the sidewalk.

You pout when you look down at your knee, seeing that the fall tore your jeans and skinned your knee. It always seems to be the smallest injuries that bleed the most, and this is no different. You use the ripped fabric to try and dab up enough blood that it won't look like you're an extra from a horror movie. Once you're satisfied enough, you haul yourself back to your feet and look to see your building just a few yards away.

Even without the added hindrances, it would have been impossible for you to hear the inaudible growl coming from above you. The point of a vampire having enhanced abilities is so that their prey isn't alerted. By the time you feel a gust of wind behind you and are yanked backwards, it's been maybe 30 seconds since you tripped.

Whatever force has you in their grasp makes you fall to the ground yet again, their grip around your ankle as they drag you backwards into the alley. Your hands scramble across the sidewalk, trying desperately to find purchase in anything that's acting as an edge, but nothing sticks. Your ankle is free for just a moment, long enough for you to shove yourself to your feet and fumble for the pepper spray on the keychain wrapped around your list. You point it towards the general outline of your attacker, spraying it around until you're sure you've hit their eyes.

Unfortunately, that doesn't work. The growls get louder, and you're slammed up against the stone wall. You thrust the shank forward, hoping to find skin, but a hand wraps around your wrist and pins it next to your head.

"Just when I thought my pursuit of a meal was futile tonight, you just happened to stumble into my path. I'd consider that fate."

Your blood runs cold when you realize that you know this voice. Fumbling for your phone, you manage to turn the flashlight on before it's knocked out of your hand. The light is enough to illuminate what's in front of you though, and to confirm your suspicions. Michael looks absolutely feral right now, panting as if he hasn't eaten in days. By the faraway look in his blood-red eyes, he probably hasn't. You can tell that he's not even looking at you, not even realizing that it's you who stands in front of him.

"Michael," you mutter, feeling actual fear now as he starts to get closer to your neck. "Michael, please, it's me."

"Mmm, I'm going to make you say my name with your dying breath."

"Michael! You said you couldn't kill me, remember? That you can feel my emotions now that your blood is in me? You have to feel how scared I am right now."

He can't even hear what you're saying right now, the sound of your blood pumping overpowering any other sound in his vicinity. He's completely lost in the scent and the sound of your blood, so captivating to him in a way that's never happened before. You yelp when his fangs pierce your neck, tears beginning to fall.

"No, no, no!" In one last, fleeting attempt before you're drained, you knee him right in the groin. If there's one thing that affects all men, regardless of their supernatural status, it's being hit in the dick.

Michael releases you from between his jaws, stumbling back as he groans in pain. You slap your hand over your neck, a sob ripping from your chest when he looks at you, his eyes a crystal blue once more.

"(Y/N)," Michael says in disbelief, "(Y/N), I didn't know it was you."

"I was saying your name and telling you to stop!" you cry out.

"I-I don't, I didn't hear...didn't see...I've never lost control like that."

You don't stick around to hear the rest of his explanation, barely waiting until you can grab all of your belongings before you're running to your apartment. Michael wants to run after you, but he knows that he's already scared you enough for one night. Plus, he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't also a little frightened by what transpired. Never has anything like that happened to him. Being consumed by anger or hate, that's familiar to him. But the scent of one human's blood causing him to lose himself? He's not sure how that happened, especially with his blood running through you.

He'll give you some time to calm down before he comes knocking on your door, if only to make sure that you don't die of fright tonight. For now, he'll wait. Even if he won't admit it, he truly doesn't want to see you scared. Even though that did make your blood gush deliciously into his mouth...Michael licks his lips, moaning as the taste of you hits his tongue.

//

bby tag list: @michaellangdon @hecohansen31 @xavierplympton @blakescoven @guiltyfiend @mrslandgonn

[klm-zoflorr]

Issues with the Tyzula ship that Tyzula shippers/fics typically avoid

Stereotypical Tyzula Ty Lee: “Azula-san, I completely forgive you for everything you ever did to me or my best friend and have always loved you unconditionally. I will help you become better if it means risking the quality of my life, my other relationships, my sanity, and even my life. I will magically be able to help you deal with your myriad of mental issues as if you always only needed love/affection instead of real medical help. I will always love you even if you don’t really change your behavior or worse, remain the same power hungry bitch you grew up to be. I love you ‘Zula.”

Look, I am not opposed to Tyzula for I actually think that they had a real friendship, even if there was a massive power imbalance, that got fucked up by Ozai’s abusive teachings and Azula trying to act as her sovereign and friend at the same time. But there is a tendency among Tyzula shippers/fics to make Ty Lee forgive Azula way too easily, make Azula not deal with her flaws or make (proper) amends to Ty Lee and Mai, retcon Azula into a soft baby who didn’t do anything wrong other than get abused, and/or gloss over the issues between the two.

For example, If Tyzula occurred pre-Boiling Rock like some fics imply, do you think it would have been consensual? Especially considering that there has been a massive power imbalance (Azula is Ty Lee’s Sovereign) since their childhood that Azula took advantage of even then; Azula forced Ty Lee to join her squad at firepoint; and Ty Lee is deathly scared of Azula? And if it happened post-Boiling Rock there is a massive power imbalance in favor of Ty Lee since the moment Azula “acts up” (it doesn’t have to be a big thing since Ty Lee is scarred shitless of Azula) Ty Lee can either call Zuko to jail her and/or have Aang de-bend her. There are some Tyzula fics that properly deal with, imo, the pre- and post-Boiling Rock power imbalances but most of them just gloss over them.  Not helping is the fact that comics imply that the two never had a real relationship at all and that Ty Lee is still deathly afraid of Azula, willing to chi-block Azula the moment she is anything other than docile. 

Also, how come most Tyzula shippers/fics don’t touch about LOK’s Turf Wars said about Sozin outlawing homosexuality and the implications it has for a lesbian/bisexual Azula? If Azula, who tries to be the model princess in a post-Sozin Fire Nation, can’t even realize that using fear is not a good way to maintain relationships, how would she deal with the fact that she has feelings for girls? Most of the Tyzula fics or headcanons I have read don’t seriously deal with the fact that either Azula is deep in the closet and/or suffering from serious internalized homophobia and would not likely express her sexual preferences in public unless she was in an extraordinary situation or got serious therapy plus years of self-reflection/character growth. Not to mention the fact she would be one of the leading perpetrators of homophobia by virtue of being Ozai’s right hand general/advisor.

So, do I have a valid point about how Tyzula shippers and fics often engage in abuse and/or toxic friendship/relationship apologism? Or I am just being too harsh on a group of shippers that have been vocally condemned by the greater ATLA community and most likely will never see their ship be canonized? And yes, some of my own fanfic works do contain Tyzula so feel free to call me out if I am being a hypocrite and holding people to standards that I can’t uphold.

-----------

This was a very interesting submission, Anon, and I don't think you're "in the wrong" here, even if I don't necessarily agree with you. At least you're polite, so I won't swear at you xD I'll sum up your points for clarity's sake

"Tyzula shippers make Ty Lee dumber and ready to do anything for Azula. They write stories without depth and without adressing the imbalances in their relationship"

Here's my personnal opinion on that: this kind of drama/angst is hard to write, and I don't want to waste my time for 10 chapters while they're angstying over whether or not to love each other. Mental health issues are hard to write too, and I want azula to be happy, so I can just make them dissapear. I completely acknowledge it isn't the most realistic kind of writing, but I don't care, I just want to have fun. I wouldn't pretend it's canon either.

Now, some Azula fans are just biased towards her, and like to pretend her canon character did nothing wrong and is purely a victim and is owed Ty Lee's love. I'm not gonna shit on them, in the grand scheme of things it's quite inconsequencial, but I don't think that's accurate.

"Tyzula shippers make it happen even if Azula is still a "villain" and hasn't redeemed herself for her sins"

I can link this to my first point a little, and erase all moral complexity for the funzies while acknowledging it isn't canon. But there's also the fact in ATLA, Ty Lee has little to no redemption arc herself. She just betrays azula, and then the good guys accept her and mai with no problem? We could interpret that as "she was always supporting Aang's cause and hated azula secretly since forever" but I don't think that's very correct, because Ty Lee never shows any sign of it, never talks treason, never helps the good guys while azula isn't looking (unlike mai!). The only thing that could possibly make her betray Azula, in my point of view, is seeing her other best friend almost die to her hands. And even then, it isn't a moral choice. I firmly believe Ty Lee was just as indoctrinated in the Fire Nation's ways as everyone else there. And that she actually supported her nation and obeyed Azula as her commander not only because they were friends, not only because she had to, but because she was loyal to her nation. And the only reason I can see her go to the good guys' side at the end of atla was simply because of self preservation with a side of unbrainwashing from FN propaganda

So, in conclusion, I don't think Ty Lee is a completely good character, and I don't think she has a problem with Azula's crimes.

"There is a power imbalance"

I'm not going to deny that. But who told you all relationships with a power imbalance are inherently bad? They're more likely to be toxic, but they won't always be. If the person with the upper hand is respectuous and nice, everything works out perfectly. It's more of an advice towards people who don't have the upper hand in their unbalanced relationship, and who could get taken advantage of. But Ty Lee is smarter than she looks, and I believe she would know to stay away from that.

Pre-boilling rock, there is indeed problems with them getting together, but they're not due to one of them being toxic. Azula is Ty Lee's princess, and it isn't her fault. She was literally raised to lead. And Ty Lee was raised to follow. We see that despite that, Azula still considers Ty Lee as her friend and gets her in her team in a nice way. But it isn't her fault she was raised in the middle of a war and sees the will of the fire nation as more important than anything.

Additionally, I don't think Ty Lee hated Azula, for the reasons I mentionned before.

Post-boilling rock, I just don't think Ty Lee would be scared, or cruel enough, to jail or unbend Azula for no reason. Because, again, I don't think she hates her.

"The fire nation is homophobic"

As is usual with me, I loathe the comics and don't consider this as canon. It doesn't even make sense, apart from saying "fire nation's evil, they're homophobic now too" to be honest, if anyone's gonna be homophobic it's gonna be everyone, cause there was no gay representation in atla.

Oh, and f*ck this, I hate homophobia, I don't want my fictionnal worlds to have it too. It's dumb as shit and everyone is gay in the Fire Nation. There.

"So, do I have a valid point about how Tyzula shippers and fics often engage in abuse and/or toxic friendship/relationship apologism? Or I am just being too harsh on a group of shippers that have been vocally condemned by the greater ATLA community and most likely will never see their ship be canonized?"

You do have a valid point that some tyzula shippers have the same problem as some azula stans, as in that they put her on a pedestral and say she did nothing wrong. But some also just don't want to bother with that and just want to write fluff, and that's fine. There are way worse things they could be doing.

It is true that Tyzula is kind of a controversial ship, and for this reason I don't think you should care too much about it. Bullying people never help anyone, and criticising tyzula shippers will only push them back in their fandom spaces and make them unable to tell apart genuine, objective criticism and mean bullying.

I don't want Tyzula to be canon, btw. Well. For me canon kinda stopped at the end of atla, so everything is possible after this point lol. Not that I even care much about canon.

You are not an hypocrite for liking tyzula and criticizing it. You can call out the behavior of people in your own community, it's perfectly fine and should be encouraged. I'd pay more attention to your opinion too, because I know you don't just dislike the ship and want to find any reason for it to be "problematic"

I'm gonna put that submission in the Tyzula tag, if anyone in there feels offended by that do let me know. I don't intend to shit on this ship at all. Also, if anyone wants to add points or give me perspectives I didn't think about go ahead!

[wordsinwinters]

Then Again, Part 26 (Peter Parker x Reader)

Masterlist (with AO3 links)

Total word count: 50,293

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25,

Summary: After an intense argument and a forced-to-share-the-bed situation during their junior year decathlon trip, Peter and the Reader examine their faults and failings. As they attempt to fix their mistakes and improve their friendship, that friendship quickly begins to evolve into something else.

Slow burn fic in which all characters are included and their dynamics explored; multiple character POVs.

Betas: @girl-tips-from-satan and @fanboyswhereare-you

A/N: This isn’t my favorite chapter, but it’s been sitting in my drafts for over a year and I figured if I don’t post it now, I’ll never move on to the next. Additionally, as always, I live for feedback. 😉

Without further ado,

Then Again Part 26:

(Words: 2,825)

The bus ride will probably get boring soon, or at least as long as the girls stay asleep, but even as quiet as it is, it’s almost a perfect morning. Being early (around 6:00, I think?), there’s barely any light except street lamps and car lights, but some of the clouds on the right have caught a pretty bluish purple tinge. It reminds me of that Rainbow Fish book Aunt May used to read to me as a kid. To make it better, the morning air is chilly enough that the driver turned the heaters on low so it’s wrapped-in-a-blanket-while-it-snows warm in here. Although that also might be why, apart from general dirt and old gum, the strongest smell on the bus is salty grease— since the nearest heater is under the seat Flash spilled french fries and chicken nuggets in yesterday. It could be worse, though. I mean, it’s not necessarily a bad smell and the traffic isn’t horrible. It’s not the best, but it could definitely be louder and a lot slower. The field of flowing red tail lights ahead of us is oddly comforting, like a snail-slow pasture of mechanical color. 

All in all, it’s a pretty cozy start for a dreaded five hour bus ride. It’s giving me quiet time to think. So that’s where I’m at. Or should be. I got some stuff organized in my head last night even if I keep getting distracted now. Well, it was more like a couple hours ago, since I wasn’t able to get to sleep for so long after we said goodnight. But anyway, I’m trying to focus. It’s just hard, even with both of them sleeping.

From my and Ned’s spot behind them, watching the girls’ heads gently shake and bump against each other as the bus shudders through potholes is kind of calming. They seem so peaceful from this angle, like two people who’ve never pranked me and Ned to the point we were nearly suspended, or kept us awake and annoyed by asking paradoxical hypothetical questions because they know how Ned and I will argue for days if we don’t agree on an answer, or anything else like that. It’s like finding two mischievous cats sleeping, curled up on a chair. It’s easier to appreciate them when they aren’t causing chaos. But it’s not that hard to appreciate them when they are anyway.

Though Ned and I won’t admit it when they’re fully awake, seeing their heads smack into the seat in front of them each time the bus lurched to a halt at stoplights (during the first ten minutes after they’d fallen asleep) was funnier than it should’ve been. Even knowing then that we wouldn’t mention it later didn’t stop us from exchanging silent laughs when they leaned back up, muttering unintelligible complaints before settling their heads back onto one another. For the last couple stoplights before the highway, at least, we decided to be better friends. We both stood up with one leg on the floor and one knee on our own seat so we could easily hold their foreheads back each time it happened. Again, I wouldn’t admit this out loud, even to Ned, but it’s a little bit funny that Ned was a split second slower than me, so while I kept catching MJ’s head before the stop, he half-smacked Y/N’s forehead, like a really-close-to-the-floor basketball dribble, and made a wincing face each time. A lot of times. But it did stop her from colliding with the seat, and she didn’t wake up or complain. 

As nice as it is with them and almost everyone else sleeping through the dark, quiet first hour of the bus trek back to New York, I am excited for her and MJ to wake up. Whenever that is. I’ve missed them. 

But anyway, I really need to focus. God. I’m not doing a great job of that this morning. Apparently. So I’m focusing now. It’s like Ned said. I need to be honest with myself. 

Okay. 

Alright. 

No distractions. 

I’m going to set myself straight now, before we get back, so I can make a game plan and be more decisive and make less mistakes. Fewer? Yeah, fewer mistakes. She’s told me that half a dozen times this since she read that grammar book last summer. But that’s not important.

If I’m being honest... I think I’ve avoided the real possibility that things could work out between us because it felt too risky. And I make some dumb, impulsive choices. So that’s saying a lot. If she said no, what’s the worst that could happen? May and Ned have been asking me that for months, and it’s been so frustrating. The answer should be obvious. The worst thing wouldn’t be the rejection, it’d be if it made her uncomfortable and she broke off our friendship. Or, even if she stuck around, if our friendship changed and I had to watch her get more and more distant, knowing it was my fault and nothing would ever go back to normal. 

Those were the worst — and, I thought, most probable — possibilities. For months I’ve been certain that if anything changed, everything would, and it’d all go to shit. So I kept dodging it. And dodging her before the trip. But, then, things did change this weekend. Things are changing. We fought, and it was super shitty and awful and a total nightmare fiasco, but we made up. And she seemed almost as relieved as me when we did. Now we even have this pact about spending more time together. I know it’s officially only in the name of friendship, but something’s… different. I feel it, and I think she does too. And it doesn’t seem bad. That’s the craziest part. I mean, she even kissed me last night. On the cheek, but still. “Keep it.” Maybe May’s not ridiculous: she really might feel the same way. 

I’ve been texting her this morning, actually. Aunt May. I had to admit that I’m happy she forced me to do the forehead kiss thing last night. As annoyed as I was that she and Ned ganged up on me like that, I can’t dispute the results. She kissed me! Kind of. (To be fair, she did hit my mouth a little bit even if it was an accident.) At first it made me wonder if she heard any of Ned’s shout-comments before I could turn the t.v. up to cover what he was saying. But I doubt it. Even if she felt the same way, I know her too well to think she wouldn’t freak out more and enough that it’d be noticable. Yeah, no, I’d definitely have been able to tell if she’d heard him saying things like, “Nobody’s saying you have to tell her that you googled the probability of high school sweethearts getting married that time she saved your ass on that Bronte essay, but yeah, Aunt May’s right! Just ask her to come over and either talk to her or do the hair/forehead thing!” Anyway, May’s on board with her coming over a lot this week and next week and giving us some space. So are Ned and MJ. Ned said they agreed on giving us two weeks (starting tomorrow) without them hanging out after school. And who knows, if the dance goes really well, maybe it’ll be normal for us to hang out, just us, without the whole group. Because… well, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. 

I’ll admit, they’re the best friends I could ever have. All three of them. 

And it’s nice to have them all here now, Ned to my left and the girls in front of us. It’s even nicer to be outside of class or the city or crazy study sessions and have had a short breather from all that (despite the shitshow before we smoothed things over and could enjoy it). To be somewhere chill together. Yesterday and today probably feel even better because the last few days, or even weeks… no— months, if I’m being honest— have had me in a kind of less than happy place. But that’s over now. We’re all here and things are finally good. I just wish the girls would wake up, especially since Ned’s back on his phone. Again. 

Yesterday, everybody hung out for most of the afternoon, but being in the whole decathlon group isn’t the same as just being the four of us. Or two. 

Speaking of two— Ned being away during this next week or two is going to make everything so… unfiltered. New. Without his interference and being able to talk to him as often as normal, it’ll mostly just be her and me. Nobody to distract attention or blame stuff on or help me out when I’m doing something dumb (which is often). Like, for example, last night when I maybe let my excitement get the better of me and I might’ve jumped on the bed and thrown a pillow that accidentally broke the lamp on the nightstand. While I don’t really think writing that “Bill Mr. Harrington” note with the school’s address was Ned’s best idea, it helped me not care too much, enough that I didn’t do something dumber like actually tell Mr. Harrington. It might come back to bite us, though. Still, he was genuinely helpful this morning when Flash showed up too. 

While we were hanging out in the girls’ room waiting for them to finish packing, there was a knock on the door. I figured it was Mr. Harrington about to yell at me and Ned for the broken lamp, so I motioned to Ned to shut up and move closer to the head of the bed we were already sitting on where, courtesy of the wall between the bedroom and bathroom, he wouldn’t be able to see us as long as he stayed by the doorway. MJ gave us an odd glance before she got up to answer it. Her annoyed, “What are you doing here?” didn’t immediately disqualify Mr. Harrington, but the sound of Flash’s voice saying, “I, uh, brought you guys some muffins,” made me tense at the first syllable.

“The free muffins they give us for breakfast?”

MJ’s dripping sarcasm nearly made me laugh even though I couldn’t see her, but Y/N turning from her suitcase and walking over to join them killed it still in my throat. 

“Nope,” he said. “They’re fancy muffins from a bakery a few miles away.”

I wanted to roll my eyes out of my skull.

She may not like him, but that doesn’t mean I was wrong about him being into her. What a dumb way to impress someone. “Fancy muffins.”

“Expensive?” MJ asked. Even without seeing her face, I could tell she was giving him the squint death stare. It’s scary to have to respond to that face if you don’t know what the right answer is.

“Yes, especially with the delivery fee,” he said, sounding prepared for the question, “but they’re from a small local place, not a chain, which I figured you guys would appreciate. Actually, I think you’d like the woman who owns it, she was super grouchy and hard to convince.”

“Convince?”

“They don’t normally deliver at 5 in the morning.”

“Oh, so you thought you could just—”

“What kind did you get?” 

That’s one of the things I like about Y/N. She knows how to manage tempers and when to jump in; she has Flash and MJ down to a science. In that moment, though, I wanted MJ to fire her most confrontational questions at him with no mercy.

“Well, they’re all apology muffins—” I heard MJ scoff. Exactly. She gets it. “But I got blueberry, chocolate, obviously, coffee, cranberry orange, maple, I think that one has chicken in it or something, and banana nut.”

Ned and I turned towards each other with silent smirks at the last one. It’s a dumb joke, but under normal circumstances we’d never resist—

“Cool. Since you’ve brought so many, you can come in.”

Sometimes MJ drives me up the wall. This was one of those times. 

I mentally took back my agreement with her scoff.

The three of them came into the room, and for a couple seconds, Flash didn’t see us. The girls were closer to the window than they were to the wall and the bed Ned and I were sitting on, and he didn’t look behind him. Until MJ pointed us out directly.

“You can give them some too,” she said, her expression bordering on smug. “Apology muffins, right?”

Flash froze for a second. I straightened my back. Neither Ned or I said anything.

“Yeah, yeah,” he nodded. “Of course.”

Surprisingly, he shook his shoulders like a bug just buzzed by his head and walked over, opening a giant rectangle of a box up to us. 

“Take however many you guys want.”

I stared at him, not moving. Nobody flinched. Then I realized he was tapping the side of the box with his thumb. Not in an asshole come on, hurry up way, but in an anxious way. Just as I started to reach toward the box, Y/N asked:

“Why’d you get so many of the coffee ones?”

Flash looked away at just the right second. 

Did I technically cave first by reaching into the box? Yes. But did anyone see? No.

Although, I guess he technically caved by offering us the muffins in the first place. Ha. All the same, I took a blueberry one. 

“They’re my dad’s favorite. I wanted to surprise him, you know? But I can’t even get a hold of.... Um, are your guys’ parents going to pick you up when we get there, or are you actually staying for school?”

“Staying.”

“All of you?” 

He looked around to ask all of us, even me and Ned. We all nodded. When he looked at me, though, his eyes twitched. It’s a face I’ve gotten a lot before. He realized he said parents. 

“You said these are orange cranberry?” Ned asked, pointing. 

Flash nodded. 

“They’re solid, though the banana nut ones are probably the best.”

As I said, under normal circumstances, like if one of the girls had said it, I would’ve laughed right then, but I’m not used to laughing around Flash. Ned, who usually follows that same rule, shook his head and grinned, if a little bit... nervously?

“Hell no!” he said, pretending to be mildly outraged. “I’m not eating banana-bust-a-nut muffins.”

A second surprise: Flash tilted his head and paused, clearly as stunned to be told a joke by Ned as the rest of us were to witness it— and laughed. So did everyone else. It was only for a few seconds, like literally three quick seconds, but for the first time for as long as I can remember, all of us were laughing with Flash. It stopped almost as soon as it started. 

Tension crept back in soon so he left pretty quickly after that with an awkward, “See you guys in a few.” Thank god. 

The girls finished tidying their room and going over the homework that’s due today (which we did last week since we knew we’d never get it done on the trip), before forcing me and Ned into the hallway so Mr. Harrington wouldn’t need to check our room for us and potentially find the broken lamp. 

And then, pretty soon, we ended up on the warm bus, loaded in with everyone else. It seemed like everybody but Ned and I were too quiet and sleepy and squinty to be able to talk much before dozing off or staring blankly out the window or scrolling social media on their phones, the latter two options leading to the first in most cases. At this point, I think Ned, Flash, and I are the only ones still awake. 

I’m going to work at tolerating him. As long as he doesn’t cross any lines with anybody from now on, I won’t bait him either. (Admittedly, I’ve been guilty of that, especially recently.) I mean, his comment about his dad was hard to miss. And even when he said it, it wasn’t a shock. Everyone in our grade at some point has had to listen to Flash’s rambling excuses for his parents ignoring or forgetting to show up for school events. Maybe being a dick is just hereditary for him. Or a family tradition. 

I don’t remember how I got so off track. Where was I before? Oh yeah. Risk. Possibilities. The almost-worst case scenario that turned out not so bad. It’s been a messy weekend with plenty of re-evaluating, but the point is simple: I think I’ve got to give a few new things a try, and I’m excited to have a chance over the next couple weeks.

Next update: God only knows.

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[bibbykins]

Thrills Found On Solid Ground (M)

A/N: I snagged a work at home job! (yay!) Less hours though, which is bittersweet. I will be a little strapped for cash, so I will link my ko-fi below and anything helps, really. I am considering opening up comisions, if anyone would like that, let me know! Less hours means way more time to write so color me a happy camper. As way to celebrate positive changes, and in honor of me putting in my two weeks at my current job, enjoy the next installment in the Soft Yandere BTS fics! Let me know how you feel about it, and I hope you enjoy. 

Genre: Fluff, smut, angst if you squint a bit

Word Count: 9.4k

Pairing: Soft Yandere! Namjoon x Reader

Warnings: yandere tendencies, toxic traits, obsessive and posessive male, subtly unhealthy relationship, vaginal sex, cunnilingus

Summary: You had always been an idiot, you mistook this as being a risk-taker, a wild adrenaline junkie. As a result, you found yourself on some dating app, then on a bad date, then on a skywalk 1,000 ft above ground. Looking down, you felt impending doom, clutching to anything, or anyone, you could. You couldn’t have known the stanger you clutched onto, in the middle of two skyscrapers, too high above solid ground, had no plans to let you go.

The sky was clear, the wind combed through your scalp gently, and you watched the world below go about their daily routine. It was a cool day with an overcast, especially for summer, and you would have much rather stayed inside to witness it. 

The sky was an ocean to drown in, the air was unbelievably thin, and the people below just looked like little ants to squash with your body hurling to the concrete. 

What the fuck were you doing up here?! 

You never take risks like this. The harness was choking you out and all you wanted to do was lay down in bed, but here you were: 2,000 ft above your comfort zone and shaking in the middle of log suspended in the sky, the next step looking farther and farther. 

It was a dumb idea to put adrenaline junkie in you online dating profile. It was even dumber of you to try and live up to it.

Namjoon, on the other hand, was making his merry way along the gapped bridge. He was in black slacks and a gray button-up, feeling a bit silly with the harnas as well as he walked along in his Oxfords. It was the perks of being a PR head, enjoying the more wild attractions sponsored by the company he was executive for. However, this time, he was to see if this was worthwhile to put the company's name on. Ever the stickler, he only ever trusted his opinion on the matter and not a subordinate's. 

He hopped along each log with a small smile, dimples prominent. Yes, he was enjoying himself, but he did feel quite ludicrous in his work clothes hopping along the city skyline. He was still having a good experience, it was serene yet daring, he could see the prospective hype. He felt almost like-

“I'm gonna die!” Namjoon jumped at the pure panic less than five feet behind him, causing him to turn around and bear witness to the scene you hadn't intended to make.

There you were, lip quivering, knees shaking, body quaking entirely as your hands searched desperately for something to hold you steady, “I'm the biggest fucking idiot!” You wailed as staff members began to strap themselves in to retrieve you. However, when the bridge shook with one of their jumps onto the bridged, you begged them to stop, the tears pouring from your face in a way Namjoon had never seen, or bothered to look at before.

It was a pitiful sight, really. You were a pretty girl, and judging by your presentation, only did this as a way to boost confidence. In his study of you, Namjoon hadn't noticed the way you hopped onto his log the moment he was about to turn around. You grasped his hand and he could feel the gravity of your fear.

“Hey, hey.” Your eyes were screwed shut on the log as you held this strangers hand, his voice trying to bring you back to reality, “You… alright?” You shook your head.

For the first time in his life, Namjoon had no knowledge of what to do. A girl was shaking violently and looking to him, of all people, to soothe her. At work, most people avoided his eyes in fear of being reprimanded. He was domineering and had a demanding presence, but here you were, demanding some comfort from him.

“I'm stupid.” You mumbled as you pushed your head into his chest, making a blush of shock and embarrassment bloom on his cheeks. He wasn’t used to such skinship, let alone from a woman. This was more intimate than his run-of-the-mill tussle in the sheets with one-night stands. He should be shoving you away, but you were so, so, soft.  “This is why I never leave my house.” 

There was something endearing about the odd scenario that Namjoon fought down. He had been through such a song and dance. He's been the love at first sight guy and it never went well. He was not a boy anymore, he was a businessman, one of the most intimidating executives, and yet, you clung to him like a ledge keeping you upright.

Namjoon didn't know what else to do but comfort you as he embraced you shaking form in his arms, “I doubt it,” He spoke softly, “What's your name?” He didn't know what he was doing, but this felt right enough.

“Y/n, you?” You jumped when you felt the bridge move, squeezing the stranger before you a little harder, making yourself cringe at how unsightly you were being, sighing out in a labored cry, “I’m so annoying.” You whimpered.

In reality, Namjoon should let the workers come retrieve you. The logical part of him knew this much. This was more than likely not an uncommon occurrence and they were trained to do this sort of rescue mission. Even so, he wasn't ready to relinquish his rights as safe haven to someone who carelessly shook the bridge and you to the very core.

Namjoon glared to the worker, gesturing to the sign that demanded only two people on the bridge at a time, to which the worker retracted, “Namjoon.” He felt a wave of inexplicable panic crash through him when he felt your grip loosen from his shirt, “Are you ready to walk-”

You shook your head, “I'm an idiot for even getting up here.” Evidently, you couldn't think straight.

“You certainly don't seem like an idiot.” His deep voice soothed your racing thoughts, “Maybe a little naive but-”

“Tell me about it.” You breathed a shaky laugh, “Would you believe me if I told you I was on a date?” 

His jaw tightened. Who in their right mind would consider this a good date idea for a recluse? He scanned the area only to see an irritated guy shaking his head before proceeding to the exit. Good. He would only get in the way. 

“First one too, so I don't see a second one happening.” You chuckled a bit, enjoying the feeling of the mystery man rubbing your back, “Considering I look more like yours.”

Mine. Mine. Mine. It didn't have a bad ring to it. Maybe the isolation kept his sanity at bay as the smell of your hair grew more and more intoxicating.

“And especially since you've found a new date during it.” You could hear the smirk in his voice and the flirting distracted you from the way he picked you up ever so slightly and took a step towards the next log. His legs were long enough to walk over the gap of sky you so feared.

“What a terrible date you're on then.” You giggled a bit, eyes simply closed as opposed to slammed shut.

“I beg to differ.” He took another step as you were none the wiser, “I've known you for less than an hour and I'm already thinking of where our next one will be.” Now the only thing keeping your eyes closed was the embarrassment of the effect his deep voice had on you.

“H-Hopefully not stranded in the middle of two skyscrapers.” You offered a chuckle as Namjoon made it across to the last step.

“Who's stranded?” His smug voice prompted you to look down only to see concrete. Sweet, sweet concrete.

The shriek of joy you let out when you noticed the stable ground under you was reward enough for Namjoon. When you wrapped your arms around his neck to engulf him in your form, it was bliss, “You're a magician!” You gushed, “I didn't even notice! I barely even felt it! I can't believe I'm alive!” Never in his life had Namjoon seen someone so expressive and fearlessly full of emotion. You went as far as kissing his check, “My fucking hero right here!” You squealed.

Namjoon's body almost seized when he felt your soft lips on his face. You were indeed naive, however, he quite enjoyed what it meant for him. The feeling of your body against his and lips on his face was addicting. He didn't want to let you go. Ever. You were a feeling he had been chasing for what feels like years and he didn't even know it. You were a missing chunk to a fulfilling life he thought he had. He could not let you walk to ground level without a promise to see you again, and again, and again, and-

“Holy moly!” Your gasp snapped Namjoon back to the present. Your eyes were wide as you scanned his face, “You're so pretty!” Your hands cupped his face, “You're like straight out of a romance novel.” You mused mindlessly, you evidently had no filter or sense of personal space. He wondered if you grew up deprived of personal touch or with it all along. Namjoon lost himself in the wonder you held in your eyes. You had a certain innocence that he couldn't quite understand, so trusting. It was in his starlorn gaze that you shook yourself back to reality, “Oh my, I am making a terrible first impression.” You murmured, hands beginning to robotically retract only to have Namjoon hold them in place, “Just touching on you like that, so creepy.” You scolded yourself.

“I beg to differ.” He mused and you realized how well his voice fit his adonis-like face. His smile was warm, making you forget the chill of being up so high. His thumb stroked the back of your hand, “You're hands are… soft.” It was a warm smile with two of the cutest dimples you've seen to accompany it.

“I'm a sculptor-artist-uh-person.” You fumbled through the sentence, not wanting to seem like you're bragging or assigning a title to yourself, “Hence the touching, your facial proportions are really pleasing to the eye and-”

“So are yours.” The giggle that left your mouth was embarrassing to say the least. Never had you been this blatantly flirted with. Never had you liked flirting this much.

“You’re trying to make me swoon right off this roof, huh?” You smiled as you wiped the dried tears around your eyes, trying to salvage whatever makeup was left.

“If there’s anything I've proven today,” He leaned down to look you in the eyes, “It’s that the only way I’m letting you fall,” He brought his mouth to your ear and you shivered, “is if it’s for me.”

“You’re silly.” You broke out into a contagious smile.

----

“And just like that, he enchanted me.” You sighed willfully, “He’s really such a prince.” You mused, eyes closing to envision him, “We've been kinda seeing each other for a little over three months, and it’s been great, so I’m trying to surprise him today with a cute coffee break at work, but I’ve never seen him in action in the serious business world, so I’m nervous.”

The barista at the counter gave you an uneasy smile, “That’s nice, ma’am, so uh… would that be with cream and sugar?” 

Your eyes snapped open, “Sorry, right, coffee,” You smacked your cheeks lightly.

“You’re holding up the line!” A man groaned behind you as the other two people behind him avoided eye contact.

“Like yelling at me is gonna make me go faster!” You retorted before turning to the barista, “Yes, please, sorry.” You smiled and he returned it before handing you your tray with two coffee cups and a scone accompanied by a chocolate croissant, “Thank you!” You called as you walked out of the shop, throwing a glare to the man, “Have a great day.” You quipped to him before making your way into the main floor of the skyscraper.

The secretary seemed to assume you were Namjoon’s assistant and informed you that he was on floor 27 and in meeting room 2. You didn’t bother to correct her, instead, you sent her a bright smile as you made your plight to the 27th floor. Your stomach was churning and you couldn’t tell if it was because of the climb or the impromptu date you were trying to have. What if he was embarrassed by you? He was evidently out of your league, even if he never made you feel like that was the case. He was the most gentle and kind man you had ever encountered, but he did say he was different at work. Would he not want you here? Were you being too clingy? He did say he missed you this morning, but he also could have been just saying that. It had only been a couple weeks since you have been dating and he hadn't even kissed your lips yet. Maybe he saw you as more of a friend instead of what you wanted. Maybe you should just go home.

The ding of the elevator told you it was too late to turn back now. 

You put on a brave face as you turned a couple of corners to find meeting room 2. You opted to wait until the meeting was over prior to going on. At least that was the plan, until the door swung open to hit your head reveal a string of stiff men and women all leading up to a very straight-faced Namjoon. The man who opened the door seemed to be sweating with a fearful look in his eyes as you rubbed your head.

 “Ow, sorry.” You murmured, “Definitely my fault for standing so close-”

“Hwang, what is the matter now…” Namjoon's stern voice quickly trailed off as he met your eyes. The hardness in his eyes immediately softened, only to harshen when he noticed one hand rubbing your head and a look of pain crossing your face, “Meeting is adjourned, we will continue after lunch.” Namjoon spoke up to the bewildered room as he strode to your side, replacing your hand with his as he swiftly took the carrier from your other hand, “Maybe then you will have something worthy of my time to show me.” He quipped as he walked you wordlessly to his office. You took note of the shiver that ran down each of the employee's spines, none of them even taking note of your experience with their heads down in shame or fear, or both.

Namjoon's office was spacious to say the least, most likely half of your apartment. He was so silent you had wondered if you made him angry too. However, as soon as the door shut, he placed the tray on a coffee table and pulled you into a hug, placing a kiss on your head, “Joonie-”

“Are you alright?” He mumbled on the small bump you were developing. You were bewildered at the sudden affection. It was a definite switch from the scary businessman you encountered earlier, “Sweet pea?”

You snapped out of your thoughts with a small jolt, “Yeah, it's just a little dink.” You smiled softly against his chest, “Nothing to fret over.” You sighed softly in his embrace as a smirk grew on your face, “Sweet pea, huh?”

His chest vibrated with a small chuckle as he loosened his grip to look at you properly. His hands cradled your face as he stared at you with a genuine smile, the one you knew and loved, “Sweet pea indeed.” He hummed, “I find it suits you well.” You felt your face heat at this and your face told Namjoon the situation on its own as his smile grew more smug, “So, what has you gifting me with your presence today?”

Namjoon was always happy to see you. Admittedly, too happy. He felt himself falling into a certain love for you that he found to be timed way too soon. He felt his emotions begin to scare him, and he felt a strong need to fire the idiot that hit you with the door. However, when you were with him, everything was okay, just like you said it was. You were the master to his emotions and it terrified him.

“I wanted to surprise you with a small coffee date.” You chirped, “Surprise?” You presented the coffee on the table with a small smile.

Namjoon sat the both of you down on the white leather couch he had in his office, “Thank you.” He was the first to break the silence and you returned it with a quaint smile, “However, I can't help but feel like you're muting yourself.”

You were stiff as a board when he said that. Initially, it was a surprise date, but the elevator ride gave you time to doubt everything. Ideally, you wanted to get clarification on what Namjoon wanted from you, but the words were like a lump of clay in the back of your throat. If you said one, they would all come out.

“Well, it's stupid, really.” You nervously let out a small chuckle, “Childish, possibly?” Your eyes were transfixed on the leather below you.

His hand went to grip your chin and pull your eyes back go him. Your gaze was a drug, “Give me your thoughts, sweet pea.” 

You shivered as you looked into his eyes, “I just want to know if… you like me, like I like you.” You forced out, only to try to turn your head away in vain due to his grip, “Oh, I feel silly.” You struggled for a moment, only to huff, "What do you think about me?"

Namjoon fought the urge to clench his jaw. The truthful answer to your question wasn't healthy. He needed more time to work through his intense emotions for you prior to acting on them. He wanted nothing more than to kiss you roughly, pin you to this couch, and have you feel what he thought about after each of your dates. However, he should not, by any means, feel the need to do such. And yet, he did. The way you made him feel so needed and the way he craved you so intensely in return was intoxicating. 

He, instead, gave you a polite smile as he took a sip of his coffee, "I think you're adorable." Not technically a lie, but not the full truth you wanted.

Namjoon looked down at the scone, missing your dejected face. What the hell did that mean? Did he not see you as a woman? Were you just his cute friend? Had you been that childish, pining after a man who did not feel the same? You quickly shook the thoughts when Namjoon looked at you and you returned the smile. He noticed how it wasn't nearly as bright as usual and your eyes didn't hold its usual sparkle. Had he done something wrong?

The date, you were less and less sure whether or not to even call it such, went on just as all your others had. 

"So how is your exhibition coming along?" He asked as he sipped the coffee.

You smiled and melted at the dimples that came when he returned it, "It's a process," You droned, "Being an artist is all fun and games until you have to pick which snack table won't clash with your work, and don’t even get me started about the business-y things, so boring." You rolled your eyes, "I know what I’m doing, and I know I’m good at it but I almost wish I had a manager, but isolation has become a part of my aesthetic at this rate." 

"Well, you always have me," Your heart tugged, "I could help you, always, even just picking a snack table." 

You shook your head politely, "I wouldn't wish that on you, Joon." You joked, "You'd think doing the art would be the hardest part of an exhibit, but the stuffy details are agonizing." You droned on, you always felt so comfortable with Namjoon, even if his unofficial rejection weighed in the back of your mind, "Like, who cares about the champagne or dress code, just buy or enjoy my art." You huffed, "I understand I'm lucky to have a career, but sometimes my passion can feel like such a...job." You sighed, "I sound like a spoiled brat."

Namjoon placed his hand on your head delicately, "As someone around stuffy people, and a stuffy person, I understand it's exhausting." He gave you a reassuring smile, "You're not a brat, you're an artist." He placed a hand on your knee, "You put so much whimsy into the world and deserve to experience that in return." 

You giggled at this, "Thank you, but you're not stuffy, Joon," You hesitated for a moment, "Heck, you're the coolest guy I know." You offered in favor of your thoughts swarming around. The pain getting harder and harder to ignore.

You made Namjoon laugh, he made you laugh. You both talked about work, but you chose not to comment on his work persona, less and less confident about what to even say anymore. You said goodbye to Namjoon with a small hug, as you always did, and left wordlessly.

Namjoon couldn't help but have a bad feeling as he watched you step into the elevator. Your lip quivered right before the doors shut. Something happened during your date, and for the first time, he had no idea. He surely had to be blinded by his own feelings for you to properly read you. Suppressing these feelings were evidently affecting him, but it was what he had to do to play the long game. 

You began to cry when the elevator doors closed, eyes screwed shut as your shoulders shook with your sobs. Namjoon showed you that you wanted a relationship, and yet, it didn't seem like he wanted one, let alone with you. 

"H-Hey, don't cry," A hesitant voice caused you to jump, face detaching from your hands as you turned to face the man from this morning.

"You're that...meanie." You sniffled, evidently confused.

He smiled awkwardly, "I'm sorry I was such a prick earlier." He looked uneasy, hand scratching the back of his neck.

You sniffled again, "No, it's not you, I just…" You choked on a sob.

"I doubted it was, but I also doubt I made your day any easier." He spoke softly, "I was visiting my sister at work and she's a nightmare, so I was just taking it out on other people."

"Nobody's perfect." You smiled a bit, before it quickly fell, "Especially me." You whined before sobbing again. 

Your sobs were cut off when the man put a hand on your shoulder, "Bad breakup?" You shrugged and he sighed sympathetically, "I know this cry, I do have a sister, ya know?" You lifted your head a bit and his hands wiped the tears that nearly dried on your cheeks, "I can just tell you're a good person." He smiled a bit and you mirrored it, "Any other person would have smacked me sideways earlier, I would've." You breathed a small chuckle that only grew when he grabbed your wrist to make your hand hit his face, "Here, ow." He only ceased when the elevator doors opened to a busy lobby, eyes all on him.

You broke out into full laughter as you both stepped out of the elevator, "Sorry." You giggled to the people in the lobby.

"Nothing to see here." He smiled awkwardly as you both made a bee-line for the exit. When you breached the building you let out a hearty laugh.

"You're funny." You couldn't suppress your laughter.

"Yes, but I'm also Seunghyun, actually." He bowed dramatically.

Your laughter finally died down into a smile, "I'm y/n." You curtsied in response with a chuckle, "Thanks for making me forget about my morning." 

"Why don't I give you a better afternoon?" He offered slyly and you paused for a moment. You were more than ready to say no. You had Namjoon after all, right? "I can take you to a nice lunch place and you can take as long as you want to order, I promise." You looked back at the skyscraper. Namjoon was always above you, wasn't he? "I may even pay."

You smiled graciously at Seunghyun, "Of course you will, you owe me." You playfully said, skipping ahead of the stuttering man.

Namjoon sat at his desk, back facing the window where his worst nightmare would be in clear view. Instead, he scrolled lovingly through the texts you both shared. He carefully thought about how to bring up dinner for tonight. Despite not even asking yet, he had already fantasized about what you would wear. Maybe tonight would be the night he would get a kiss from your lips. He sent the text in the midst of his fantasies. Would you wear lipstick-

You said no.

You rejected him.

You said you had a date.

Namjoon stood promptly to avoid crushing his phone with his bare hands. Never in his life had a woman rejected him, and when the one he craved so desperately did, he did not react gracefully. Not that anything he had done upon meeting you had been graceful. Even so, they were merely fail-safes, and he had failed. 

He sprung into action immediately, opening his personal laptop to scroll through the contents of your phone. His company owning your phone provider did wonders for your accessibility levels. Even so, you hadn't received any texts. There had been no one else added to your contacts. How did you have a date? Did you lie to him?

Why would you be with someone else? What did he do? He groaned in frustration he didn't understand your more zany emotions.

He lifted his head up in realization. That's it! He needed to understand your emotions. You were one of a kind, but he was as much of a disaster as Yoongi, and Yoongi has a girlfriend. 

Namjoon quickly dialed Yoongi's number. The older male answered with a bored, "What?"

"I need to talk to your girlfriend." Namjoon spoke with urgency evident in his voice, time was running out.

"No-"

"Min Yoongi!" The aforementioned female's voice could be heard in the background.

"Sunshine, he doesn't need to hear your voice- hey!" 

There was an evident scuffle, "I'll put him on speaker, you big baby." She quipped before taking a breath, "How can I be of assistance?" 

Namjoon sighed out, unsure of where to begin, "I have this girl I really, really like, but I know I shouldn't like her this much, so I'm trying to take it slow." He frowned, "But today, I don't know what I said wrong, and now she has a date with someone else."

There was a long sigh, "You guys are terrible with being honest." Namjoon could tell she was glaring at Yoongi, "You evidently said something dumb, did she ask you anything?"

Ask him anything? You asked him about his day. You asked him if he liked the coffee. What else is there to ask? Until it dawned on him.

"She asked what I thought about her and I said she was adorable." Namjoon explained, "I don't see what's wrong there, she is-"

"Yoongs, hold the phone, I might just smash it." The female was rolling her eyes evidently.

"What's wrong, Sunshine?" Yoongi spoke, "I don't get it, he complimented her."

"Ugh, of course you don't." She retorted, "Why did you think I almost went out the night we...got together? You weren't," She put her mouth close to the speaker to prove a point making Namjoon miss when she was still timid around him with the frown he deepened, "Being honest with me." She accentuated each word, "Poor girl can't read your mind, she doesn't want to waste her time pining after someone who doesn't pine back properly." The female sighed again, "Seriously, the seven of you are nuts, I know, but come on," She groaned in frustration, "You all have the looks and the status, maybe use your brain while you're at it."

Namjoon slumped in his chair. Yoongi's girlfriend had a point. Namjoon should have made it painfully clear you were his. Not just to you, but everyone else. Maybe he was crazy, but that didn't change the validity of his emotions for you. You were all he could think about anymore. He just wanted to have unrestricted access to you, but he took it slow, and now he's falling behind. You were trying to leave him. He couldn't let it happen. 

He wouldn't.

This was a bad idea. You slumped against your seat as you twirled your straw. You were unamused and Seunghyun was becoming less and less funny and even less charming as time ticked by.

This date was going terribly. Seunghyun was undoubtedly obnoxious. You were agonizingly bored as you sat in the dimly lit restaurant which you were ill-dressed for. It was far too fancy for lunch, and you could not read the french on the menu, so you ordered a sandwich and a water. You watched Seunghyun with a tired face. He really thought you took long to order this morning? It had been 10 minutes of him asking about the wine menu. Namjoon always knew-

No, no, none of that. Seunghyun was a nice guy, everyone had their quirks.

You gave the waiter a sympathetic smile as he stalked off, "So," You drawled, catching Seunghyun's attention from his phone, "What do you do for a living?" 

"I am a pharmaceutical rep." He stated, all too proudly, "I go to medical offices and get the doctors to prescribe the meds I'm in charge of, making a pretty hefty commission over some phony drops with a fancy label." Your jaw clenched at this. You had your time as a receptionist. Some were nice but most of the reps were pushy assholes with name brand and expensive meds.

Be nice. You chided yourself, "Shouldn't doctors prescribe what is best, not what is sold to them?" So much for that. You really didn't know how to shut your mouth, "Pharmaceuticals are a very controversial field." You pondered aloud.

Seunghyun seemed to pay you minimal mind, eyes already geared to his phone, he wasn't listening, "And what do you do?" He was on autopilot.

"I'm an artist." You spoke politely, “I do mixed media, but my favorite thing is to sculpt with clay.”

This made his head snap up, "Oh, and here I was going to see if you want to split the check, but I guess not." He laughed a little too hard and you blanched.

Okay, he's an asshole. 

No, maybe you're misunderstanding.

"Why not?" You offered him a shovel to dig his way out through clenched teeth.

"Well, you know," He suddenly was a lot less cute, "You're an 'artist'," You wanted to bite the finger quotes off his hands, "Unless you, ya know, dance, then maybe you can pay for the meal." He dug himself deeper, and yet you felt stuck.

Nope, definitely an asshole.

You ate in silence, and you wondered how such a crappy sandwich could cost so much. Namjoon always took you to a variety of places with great food.

Namjoon. You missed him. You missed his soft touches and kisses on the forehead. You missed the way he made your heart flutter. You missed how he spoke to you, how he would profusely apologize if he had to take a phone call. You missed the way he was as equally interested in what you had to say as you were with him. 

You felt dejected at the very thought of his name. God, you really were naive to think someone like him would just come to you. You needed to confess properly and move on if he rejects you. You would move on, but, your eyes flicked to Seunghyun as you watched him stare at his phone as he ate, you would be more mindful of who. This date was a waste of time and money on both parts.

When the check came, Seunghyun paid it in the most obnoxious way as he joked with the very uncomfortable waiter. Before leaving, you took out cash for a good tip, doubting Seunghyun had the decency to leave one.

Namjoon drove to your house and used your spare key to get in. He was not thinking as clearly as he should as he set up candles and dinner for you. You were his, though. He had to make it up to you for not proving it sooner. He could only hope you would be back from this date soon. He was beginning to get antsy, not even entertaining the thought of you not coming home. Never in his life had Namjoon felt such a sense of urgency. 

After setting up the dining room, Namjoon sat in the living room, facing the door on your frilly sofa. He had been to your place several times. It was nice, and coincidentally, one of the complexes he bought when he was into property acquisition. However, he could hardly wait for your lease to end and you could live with him. Surely you would want to? His place had more space for your art and it was a more convenient area. He could give you the world if you just gave him another chance.

Namjoon jerked when he heard a key unlocking the door. All he could do now was hope you were alone. He had no idea what he would do to any man you brought home.

You closed the door with a defeated thud as you leaned your head against the door, back to the rest of the apartment. You heaved a sigh before removing your shoes. You shook your head at today's events. You should've just stayed home.

You rolled your shoulders back before turning to put your purse away… only to scream upon seeing a male figure on the couch, "What-I… Joon?" You cocked your head as he stood, making his way to you, "What are you doing here?!"

He gave you a small smile, walking closer to you, "Apologizing." He stopped a hair short of being pressed against you as he towered over your form.

"F-For scaring the shit out of me?" You gasped when he ran his nose along your neck, inhaling your scent, thankful to find no one else's, "Joon, what has gotten into you?" You spoke shakily as you took a step back only for his strong arms to wrap around your waist, pressing you against him.

"I don't just think you're adorable." He breathed as you shuddered at his voice in your ear, "I'm so absolutely smitten, I was too cowardly to say anything." Your eyes would've shot open had his lips not fanned over your neck, making them close in bliss, "But I can't stand by and watch someone else try to take you from me." His voice came out as a growl and you felt yourself tingle at his sudden dominance.

"Take me away?" Realization dawned on you as you recalled your last message to him, "The date was a mistake." You blurted out and Namjoon pulled away from you ever so slightly, "He was super boring, annoying, patronizing, but what mattered most to me," Your hands locked behind his neck, "He wasn't you." You mused, and Namjoon leant down to catch your lips between his own without missing a beat.

You immediately responded mirroring his desperation as you clung closer to him. The kiss was soft at first as he massaged your lips with his plump ones. You gasped when he nibbled on your lower lip, giving his tongue one of the openings he craved to feel. His tongue entered your mouth with a delighted groan on his end that made your knees week. 

Namjoon was high on the feeling of your mouth as he explored every crevice. He groaned upon stroking your tastebuds, his own picking up how sweet you felt for him. You moaned out when he sucked on your tongue and you felt his teeth graze the pink muscle as he let out a short grunt.

Never in your life had you been kissed like this. He was soft yet rough and you craved him. You took the initiative to take his tongue into your mouth and return the favor, suckling on the muscle only to have his hands grip your hips harder while he grunted. You understood why he did it to you first, it felt good. It was oddly erotic, and the feeling only furthered as your lips were against his. The hand gripping your hip squeezed and you let out a small groan, the anticipation between your legs only growing as you felt you knees buckle, thighs clenching.

Your sounds were putting him in a nearly hypnotized state as his hand went to stroke your thigh and you shuddered with anticipation. He let his fingertips drag across the skin while both of your mouths melded to one another. You whined when his hand teasingly dipped towards your core only to quickly move to the back of your thigh. 

Namjoon couldn't help the smile that grew on his mouth at your brattiness. You wanted him. You wanted him so bad. He was the center of your desires and the feeling was the only aphrodisiac he needed. He held the key to everything you want. He was in control.

"Joon, I want you." You breathed, air dripping with lust.

"Whatever you want, baby," He dipped his tongue into your mouth for just a moment, "Just say the word, and I'll give it to you." One of your hands trailed down his toned body as your eyes were hooded, head clouded with lust.

You glanced up at him just as you hand made contact with his prominent bulge through his undoubtedly Armani suit pants. You watched, tongue peeking out of your mouth, as his head lolled back a rumble in his chest as he grunted when you squeezed the outline of his base, "Give it to me," You gave another squeeze, reveling in his deep moan, "Please." You nearly moaned the magic word before breaking from his hold to prance ahead of him to the bedroom.

Namjoon couldn't suppress the laugh that left him as he watched your ass while you plopped on the bed. With an extra pep in his step, he followed you to the bed, loosening his tie as he made his way to you.

He was in control, but you knew just how to bend him to your will.

The gravity of the situation hit you like a train as Namjoon unbuttoned his blazer, eye contact unwavering as he tossed it on the couch. The white dress shirt outlined his sculpted body ever so slightly and you let out a shaky breath, letting you head hit the bed as you leaned back, panties mindlessly showing from beneath your sundress. 

This wasn't a fantasy or a dream, it was your life. This man was about to fuck you into oblivion and you had no idea how to make him feel good. Your previous experience did not prepare you for this at all. Your previous lovers had all been both ugly inside and out idiots who could barely get themselves off, let alone you. Not that you were a sex god yourself. You never sucked their dick before, nor did you have any idea how to effectively. Not that they ever went down on you. Oh shit, did you shave? Does he care? How does your breath smell? How could you not have considered-

"Fuck!" Your back arched as Namjoon pulled your underwear to the side, tongue licking a stripe up you bare slit.

Namjoon hummed in delight of your taste, dark eyes making contact with yours. He was warning you. He was telling you not to wander away from him. While he loved your overactive mind, he required your full attention. He needed you 100% with him in this moment, "You taste divine." His voice was heavy, "More." It was almost primal the way he slipped your panties down your legs, enjoying the way the dainty dress looked framing the bare sex. He elected to keep the dress on for now as he pushed the flowy fabric up to your hips which he leaned into your pussy.

Your eyes rolled back at the sensation of his tongue licking a deeper stripe, parting your lips with the muscle as he gather your juices on his taste buds blissfully. Your body shuddered at your own pleasure, "J-Joon." Was all you could manage as each short lick went deeper making you squirm.

"You're so fucking sensitive, fuck." He grunted, the dress fabric he held at your hips wrinkling under his closed fists as he went to work on your clit, sending your over the edge as you came quickly and with minimal effort on Namjoon's part. 

However, instead of stopping him, the flow of juices only further spurred his as his mouth went to pay more attention to the very hold he couldn't wait to have for his out as his tongue lapped up the liquid, the lewdness and oversensitivity making your body jerk in vain. Namjoon had your hips held firmly in place as he enjoyed his meal. His tongue entered you and he let out a moan against you at how tight you felt just from his tongue fucking you.

"Too much- it- I came already- shit!" You attempted to roll your hips against his mouth as he overstimulated the brain function out of you. His tongue fucked you better than anyone in your past had as his nose nudged against your clit. When he pushed his tongue as deep as he could he could feel you squeezing. With this encouragement, he began to move his tongue ever so slightly, sending you over the edge again as your back rose from the bed, chest to the heavens, "Joon!" You moaned wantonly before deflating as Namjoon slowly withdrew his mouth from you, "Fuck me." You were breathless, fingers weak as he watched you attempt to unbutton your dress. He hesitated, but nevertheless assisted you as your dress was now spread, your body nearly bare until you unhooked your bra, "You'll give me what I want, right?" You pouted as you gossed the bra off your body and he felt his mouth water as he soaked in your body.

"I'll always give you what you want, my love, but you should rest a bit-"

"But I don't just want it." You struggled to catch you breath in the lusty atmosphere, "I need you, Sir." 

Never in Namjoon's life had he stripped himself bare so quickly. Your words sent him into a frenzy until he was just as bare as you. You outstretched your arms and he leaned down so you could run your hands over his toned chest and stomach. He guided in and he hissed as your nails scratched his muscular body at the stretch. Despite this, you were nearly drooling at the pain, Never had being stretched felt good, but you couldn't get enough. You wanted to be full.

You shifted your body down and both you and Namjoon moaned out in harmony as you were now wrapped around his entire length. He cursed, "Fuck you're so tight for me, sweet pea." His moans were low as he moved ever so slowly, shallow thrusts as you went wild beneath him, "Look at you, squirming, stretching, such a brat." He thrusted hard and you squeaked, "You can never have enough, huh?" 

Another hard thrust shook your bed as Namjoon leaned over you, his forearms on either side of your head as your arms clawed at his muscular back, "Never enough of you, Sir." You could hardly consider your words, but they struck Namjoon as he caught your mouth in sloppy kiss as he sped up. You made him alive as the pleasure only added to the high. The ruthless pace shook the bed even harder, much to your delight.

"I love you, baby." He was beyond fucked out as he chased his climax inside of you.

You were even more fucked out as you felt another orgasm approaching, and quicky, "Fuck, fuck, I love you Joon, I-" You cut yourself off with a scream as you clenched around Namjoon's girth.

This, along with your confession, sent him over the edge as he came, deep thrusts slowing down as he painted you from the inside with warmth you enjoyed. He slowly slid out of you and groaned lowly at the suction you provided until he was fully detached from you. He let out a heavy breath as he leaned over your form, placing a kiss on your neck before burying his face in it. You welcomed his weight as you both gathered yourselves.

Ten minutes must've gone by until Namjoon broke the silence beyond bated breath, "I meant it." He murmured and your heart squeezed. 

The fear of your next words dissipated the moment pushed himself up to look at your face. He looked as though he was about to back track, but you didn't let him, "I did too." You gave him one of your signature smiles, "I love you, Sir." You teased and gasped when you felt his dick twitch ever so slightly.

"Brat." He playfully seethed before attacking your face and neck with soft kisses, making you giggle.

----

You made your plight up the skyscraper for the second time with a less nervous aura. It had been a couple months or so since Namjoon and you had sealed the deal, so to speak. Things had been going great. He was the best boyfriend you could've asked for. He was supportive, kind, attentive, and all good things between. Recently, however, he had been extremely busy, and you had been extremely bored. You were in between exhibitions and had already beat deadlines for the next one, so you were left with cancelled dates and your hand. Of course you helped him with work with your limited skills.

The tray of drinks and a bag of food occupied your hands as you took a peek at your watch. Another day of overtime for your loving boyfriend. You just about had it eating alone for these past couple weeks. He fucked your brains out and then abruptly had no time to after a short two weeks of domestic and euphoric bliss. It wasn't fair. Thus, you took matters into your own hands. He had a strategy meeting which, as he explained, would consist of him scolding his employees. Logically, you would hate to intrude, but selfishly, you wanted to see him. 

Surely he wouldn't spend over two hours overanalyzing his subordinates' work and scolding them?

Right?

"...Turn to page 13 of the report and see where I've highlighted the blatant misinformation on line 7." Namjoon's voice was sharp despite being as exhausted as his employees. Monday was a big presentation he had to entrust to the newer employees and upon reviewing the handouts to accompany a good-enough pitch, he was severely disappointed. There had been typos, incorrect graphs, and blatant lies littered throughout. To top it off, the slacking managers signed off on it prior to it reaching Namjoon. This left him no choice but to cut hours in the week to make time for this colossal scolding for lack of attention to detail, "It's beyond me how anyone expected this to be remotely acceptable to present in front of me, let alone investors. This fairy tale book was a grandiose waste of my time, and for what? To save some of you managers a couple minutes of revision?" The department heads shrunk in their seats under his razor sharp gaze. The booklet was littered with yellow and pink highlighter marks along with red pen notations, making them feel like school children. Even so, Namjoon had been known to terminate and replace entire teams in the span of time he spent revising the proposal. With this in mind, the workers were just thankful to have a job to speak on.

The atmosphere was tense, filled with anger and shame among the employees until, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, it's like the principal's office in here." Your cheery voice sliced through the tension as you clicked your tongue playfully, "Nothing like a good scolding from the boss man." 

"Sweet pea?" You flashed a smile and the employees attempted to shield their whiplash from Namjoon's suddenly cheery tone, "What are you doing here?"

You held up the food, "Being selfish." You winked at him before addressing the sweating office workers, "Hello! My name is y/n, nice to meet you!" You politely bowed and were met with wary smiles. The workers glanced to Namjoon only to see an uncharacteristic smile on his face, “I’m Namjoon’s girlfriend, and I have heard so much about you,” You beamed, “Mostly good things, believe it or not.” You winked as you nearly skipped your way to the aforementioned boss man, “Don’t mind me, dear, I can wait for you.” You smiled cheekily as you sat next to an extremely sweaty employee.

“Well, darling, I imagine they have heard quite enough of me today.” Namjoon mused as his hand went to pat your head affectionately, not caring about his stunned subordinates, “I’ll let you decide what I should do from here, because I still have some materials to go over, but I’ll make an exception in favor of your judgement.”

Hopeful eyes darted to your form. The employees studied you. You were dressed in colorful clothing, playful earrings hung from your ears as your nails shined with the glitter you gleefully painted on them. Your eyes were bright, eager, ready to take on the world it seemed. The employees couldn’t help but wonder when they used to have that shimmer. Some of them had bitterly determined you were some gold digger or mindless trust fund baby. You hadn’t been the sharp, calculated, female version of Namjoon they would’ve pictured his girlfriend to be. That, plus Namjoon was very evidently in love with you. Never had they seen him cut a meeting short for anyone, even the other directors had to wait outside the meeting room. 

You leaned your chin onto your palm, tapping your cheek in thought. Namjoon would occasionally ask for your advice, your minor in business management finally coming into use. You were definitely the good cop to Namjoon’s drill sergeant, especially when it came to this proposal, “Well, what say you all get an extra credit opportunity?”  Your voice was melodic as you stood, “I was initially coming up here to redo the proposal myself, since Joon was going to… uh…” You trailed off, unsure how to put it.

“Y/n here was the lovely pink highlighter, has been offered the position of Co-Director by the CEO herself, and she has the credentials to replace all of you.” His voice made the crowd of office workers flinch, while some of them eyed your gleeful form in shock while you gave another smile, “I had been debating whether to suspend the lot of you without pay or terminate you, but it seems y/n is your savior tonight.”

“You give me too much credit.” You lightly slapped his bicep shyly as the employees held in a gasp at someone coming in contact with the ruthless and cold director, “Why don’t you all redo the proposal, hm?” You flicked your wrist to look at your watch, “You have about three hours before it becomes alarmingly late, it’s not safe to be in garages that deep into nightfall.” You showed them actual concern, “I’ll be more than happy to look it over when you believe you're done before it gets to the big boss man, here, but I hope you all will carefully check your own work too.” You were met with thankful glances, “I’m much more forgiving than Joon here, but if I find you squander this chance, not even I can save you, okay?” Frantic nods were tossed your way and you beamed at them with an infectious smile, “Great!” You clasped your hands together, “Joon and I will be in his office eating, I brought some little snacks for you all too.” You mused placing the plastic bag you had in your purse on the table, “Good luck!” 

The moment the door shut to Namjoon’s office, you were in his arms, “Why don’t you talk sweet to me instead, baby?” He murmured against your ear, “I don’t like how they look at you when you smiled like that.”

You pulled back to place a quick kiss on his lips, “I don’t like how you don’t look at me when things like this happen.” You countered with an irresistible pout which he quickly kissed away, “Plus, they only look at me like that because you’re so spooky.” You pointed out as you sat on the plush leather couch.

"I have been pretty absent, huh?" He scratched the back of his neck as he plopped down next to you.

"We've only exchanged business emails about that dumb proposal basically." You huffed, "Then, you make me all flustered in front of the poor souls by-"

"Pointing out how amazing and capable you are?" His eyes flickered to you as he took a bite out of the meal your brought him, "I could see the way some of them looked at you, like you didn't know what you were talking about." He seethed, "Not to even mention how some of them looked at your body. It's so disrespectful, I had to let them know that if I had it my way you would be the only one in my department."

You placed a hand on the clenched fist Namjoon had. He always got extremely worked up each time you were treated as anything less than royalty. You could only thank the stars that he didn't know you while you were beginning your career as an artist, who knows what he would have done to the countless creepy property managers and haughty curators. Surely, it would be a bloodbath. Figuratively, you like to say. Namjoon would never hurt a fly, but when it came down to people who looked at you with anything he deemed an ill-intent, he would just about see red. You couldn't say you hated this trait, because an extremely selfish part of you enjoyed his undying love, and proved to reciprocate his resolve when the tables were turned. However, you were thankful you could quell the fire he stoked with rage. You were thankful he told you such emotions before they got out of hand. 

You watch as his hand relaxed, gripping yours tenderly as he smiled, "Well, as long as they know you're not just mine, but you're the most invaluable asset I could ask for." 

You chuckled at this, "You need to work on your sweet talk, it seems you're still in director mode." You placed as short kiss on his lips, "But I love you for it anyway." You giggled a little, "But if I go another stretch of time without attention again I'll be much more impulsive than a late night dinner." You couldn't call Namjoon the crazy one when his affection proved to be a drug you needed constantly, a drug you could feel the withdrawals from. Just like any addict, you could get unhinged without it.

Namjoon nodded, understanding better than anyone what you meant before bringing you in for a longer kiss. He knew better than anyone what neglect could do to the human mind, especially when the attention was so addicting. He knew what crazy meant, and he would never dream of making you feel as he does all the time. His skin pricks when your hands aren't on him, his hands tremor without your own within them, and he finds his mind wandering to darker places at the thought of all the people who look at you just as he can. He had too much power, too many resources at his disposal to be devoted to you. Maybe you knew this. Maybe you both had too much to loose if it meant losing each other. 

Maybe being with a man as potentially dangerous as he could be was the adrenaline you needed all this time. An addictive thrill. Your constant fix of dopamine and you, his continuous flow of serotonin. 

The both of you junkies for one another.

Masterlist  Ko-Fi

[artificialqueens]

On The Ground (Rosénali) - Moonshot

A/N: So… Guess who is back after a year of not writing fics? Yours truly! What can I say? Rosénali is that powerful of a ship. As always, I hope eveyone enjoys this fic. Feel free to let me know what you think… Who knows, there might be a follow up to this little fluff in the future! Little side note: this is a lesbian au where most of the s13/s12 girls appearing are cis-female, however Mik is still a trans man in the fic.

Summary: The diner girl!Denali x street singer!Rosé AU based on Blackpink’s Rosé’s solo music that nobody asked for!

ao3 link https://archiveofourown.org/works/30267687

Denali stared at the round clock above the entrance of the diner.

4:57 PM. 

Three more minutes until her shift was over.

Three more minutes until the girl who had been a fixed character in her dreams would come from around the corner, set up her guitar, greet the passersby before starting her set for the evening like she did every Wednesday.

“So, gorge, are you going to ask the champagne girl out today, or are you just going to keep on creepily staring at her from afar?”, her coworker, Kade - or as everyone called him, Mik - appeared next to her with an empty tray.

“Her name is Rosé, not champagne girl!”, Denali rebutted, “and also, for the record, I don’t just… stare. I just happen to like appreciating her set without bothering her! It’s not like she was flirting with me that one time”.

“Did I just hear our Nali denying her crush on that pink-haired singer, again?”, Olivia, who was busy running the cash register, chimed in.

“Girl, I think we should start betting against her and maybe we’ll make more money than what they can pay us here!”, Mik joked as he washed some of the dishes in the sink.

The black-haired girl rolled her eyes, ignoring her two best friends and focusing on the performer’s much-anticipated arrival.

Denali didn’t believe in love at first sight but after the first time Rosé and her guitar had shown up on the other side of the road from Tamisha’s Diner, she couldn’t think about anything else. 

There was just something about the other girl that had the Alaskan girl enamored.

The first - and so far only - time she had talked to Rosé was out of necessity as the other girl and who she assumed were her two best friends - the diner girls had dubbed them ‘Pastel Powerpuff girls’ - had decided to dine in just as Denali’s shift at the register had started.

“Hi! Did you enjoy our diner?”, the skater had put on her best smile, not quite able to meet the gaze of the taller girl as she typed out the receipt.

“Oh, sure, the skating gig is cute, the food’s great, and the service… isn’t too bad either,” Denali could see from the corner of her eye the smirk on the pink-haired girl.

“Rosie! Quit flirting with every cute girl that breathes and hurry up or Jan and I are leaving you here, the Uber is going to be here in 2 minutes!”, the blue-haired girl went on with the other girl in the friend group while ‘Rosie’ rolled her eyes at them.

“Sorry about Lagoona, she has the tact of an elephant on rollerskates,” the taller girl joked.

“O-Oh, no problem. So, your total is 20,04$, will you be paying in cash or card? Also, are you splitting the bill?”

“Since dumb and dumber over there already left, I’ll just pay everything with my card,” she replied taking out her purse and taking out her credit card, “here you go, angel”.

Denali tried her best not to blush at the sudden pet name, maintaining her on-the-clock persona as she brought out the card reader. She quickly finished up the operation and handed the pink-haired girl her card back with the receipt, “I just need a quick signature here and you’re free to go to your friends”.

‘Rosie’ scribbled down her signature - she learned her actual name was Rosé, classy yet slightly worrying - and left a tip for her. 

A 10$ tip for her.

“Gorge, she left you a 10$ tip, she was basically asking for your hand in marriage”, Mik reminded her, his eyes darting around the half-empty diner. 

He nodded his head to his left where Denali saw another one of her co-workers sharing a milkshake with her girlfriend, giggling like teenagers, “I’m just saying. If Utica managed to end up dating that self-proclaimed ebony enchantress over there, you got a chance with wine girl”, he ended with his trademark L.A vocal fry.

Denali knew Mik had a point, but as she was about to reply, she heard the familiar sound of a guitar starting a new song. Her eyes glanced back at the clock.

5:14 PM

Damn, she had missed the beginning of the set.

The Alaskan girl didn’t lose any more time as she clocked out, skates still on her feet as she zoomed out of the diner.

“Aaaaand she’s gone!”, Olivia commented, turning her head to Mik, “Do you think this time is the good one?”

“Well, if she doesn’t finally go after her, I might as well go after her myself!”

Denali reached the usual crowd that had already formed around Rosé, trying her best to blend in and not be seen by the singer while still getting a good view of the set.

“Well, aren’t you guys a lovely crowd!”, the pink-haired singer smiled as she got ready for the next song, “I’ve got one last song for today and this is going to be the first time I’ll be performing it, so, don’t hate it too much!”, she chuckled as she checked her guitar before turning her head back to the mic stand, “This is On The Ground, I’m Rosé and I hope you’ve enjoyed the set! Feel free to drop your tips in the guitar case!”

Denali couldn’t take her eyes off Rosé when she heard the guitar’s first chord paired with the honey-like vocals.

My life’s been magic seems fantastic

I used to have a hole

in the wall with a mattress

It’s funny when you want it

Suddenly you have it

You find out that your gold’s just plastic

The black-haired girl quickly pulled out her phone, opened her voice memo app, and hit record. She wanted to treasure the magic Rosé’s voice brought. 

What she failed to notice while she was so into the song was a pair of hazel eyes settling on her as the song reached its climax.

A couple of days later, Denali had just finished with her teaching job at the local ice rink when she spotted Olivia on the railings. 

“The suspicious lack of a certain pink-haired girl makes me think that you still haven’t asked her out” she heard the younger girl say as she skated her way to her.

“You’ll never let it go, won’t you, Liv?”

“Not when I see that you like her and, from what I’ve seen, she is at least interested in you. Mik tried to ask her out yesterday after your shift was over,” the other girl replied.

Denali furrowed her brows, “Wait, he was serious about asking her out? I thought he was just joking!”

“If you don’t act on your cute pink crush, you can’t expect everyone else to stop for you,” Olivia reasoned, “if it’s of any help, Mik did say that, and I quote ‘she didn’t want a piece of this fine ass’”, she finished, air quoting their co-worker.

“To be honest, the dude’s barely got an ass compared to me,” Denali muttered, but her best friend managed to catch it.

“Well, as Symone said, you do have a fat ass,” Olivia commented, causing both of them to laugh out loud.

She continued, “Point still stands though, you gotta do something or you might just end up regretting not doing anything about it”.

The dark-haired girl sighed, “I know, I’m just… scared to get hurt because she seems so cool and unreachable, and I’m just so… me?”, she confessed, resting her arms on the rails.

“Give it a chance, Nali,” Olivia replied, laying her hand on the skater’s arm and giving it a gentle squeeze, “And just in case, if she fucks you over, we’ll just unleash Kandy on her!”, she added, making Denali chuckle.

“Girl, if she knew you said that…”

“She would do absolutely nothing because she’s too busy chasing after that Joey guy”, she didn’t miss a beat with her reply, giving her a knowing look, “Almost forgot to ask, are you coming later to the club with the others?”

Denali shook her head, “No, sorry. I don’t feel like clubbing today, I’ll just skate a bit more and then go home to watch some Netflix”.

Olivia shrugged her shoulders, “You do you, girl. But think about what I said, okay?”

She gave her best friend a small smile, “Thanks, Liv. See you at work?”

The younger girl nodded and left Denali to her thought as she exited the room. The black-haired skater turned her head back to the rink, noticing that only a few people were left on the ice. 

She took a deep breath, putting her earbuds back in and looking through her phone to decide on what song to use for her last routine of the day. Her eyes fell on the voice memo app, immediately reminding herself of the recording she had taken just a few days prior. She hadn’t even listened to it since she had recorded it.

It wasn’t a clean recording, she could hear the sounds of the city and the people around her, but she closed her eyes and focused on Rosé’s voice, letting it guide her. 

The music fully took her over as she performed her usual stunts.

I’m way up in the clouds

And they say I’ve made it now

But I figured it out

Everything I need is on the ground

She found herself in the center of the rink, the bridge of the song was blasting in her ears. She smiled to herself as she started to spin, gradually picking up speed while Rosé’s high notes were all she could focus on.

Just drove by your house

So far from you now

But I figured it out

Everything I need is on the

Everything I need is on the ground

The recording stopped abruptly, she remembered how she had to bolt away, almost missing her bus home. 

Denali could hear her heavy breathing, suddenly aware again that she wasn’t alone. But she had made up her mind.

She was going to talk to Rosé the following Wednesday. 

That Wednesday the diner was busier than usual, giving Denali barely a moment to think, let alone realize she was missing Rosé’s set outside.

She glanced at the clock.

5:26 PM

Shit.

She turned her head and looked outside the diner’s big windows and saw that the pink-haired girl was starting to gather her things.

“Miss Iman just left, go to her! We’ll cover for you and we are not letting you get back in unless you got a date!”, Olivia said quietly enough for just her to hear.

Denali couldn’t help the grin spreading across her face. She grabbed some of the tips that she had made before she bolted outside, faintly hearing the cheering of her friends.

As she reached Rosé on the other side of the road, the singer’s back was facing her, she didn’t seem to have noticed Denali yet.

The black-haired girl took a deep breath, just like she had done on the ice rink, and let the tips fall into the still open guitar case.

The noise of falling change was what made Rosé turn around, a surprised look on her face as she registered Denali’s face.

“Denali?”

Gosh, she could hear the other girl say her name all day.

Wait.

“How do you know my name?”, Denali asked slightly confused.

Rosé didn’t reply but simply pointed at the waitress’s chest.

Oh, right. The nameplate on her uniform.

“That and also I tend to remember a pretty face when I see one,” she added, now her attention fully on the shorter girl.

“Oh, yeah, right”, she fidgeted awkwardly, not knowing where to look, “Uhm, I just wanted to say that you have a really beautiful voice. You can consider me your first fan when you make it big”.

Rosé smiled at her and Denali couldn’t help but notice how beautiful of a smile she had. 

The singer turned back to her stuff, shuffling things around and leaving the brunette to her thoughts. She wanted to ask the taller girl out but felt all her courage leave her body.

Way to go, Nali.

“Well, Uhm, I think I should-”, she started but she was stopped by the pink-haired girl, who had finished packing everything up.

“Here, this is for you”.

It was a jewel case cd, a picture of Rosé in a very 80s inspired attire on the cover with pink marker writing across the front.

‘To Denali

My first (and hopefully not last) fan

     Rosé xo’    

  It was signed with a small rose doodle next to Rosé’s name and, much to Denali’s surprise, a phone number along with the phrase ‘put it to good use’.

She looked up to find the other girl staring at her, her guitar case strapped on her back. She gave her a wink and started walking towards the subway.

Denali stood there for what felt like forever as she watched Rosé disappear in between the crowd of people roaming the streets. 

She looked back down at the cd, committing the number to memory. She turned around to look at the back, her eyes were drawn to the tracklist. 

She smiled when she saw On The Ground. 

Finally, she didn’t have to listen to a shitty phone recording to enjoy it. 

“Wait, what? You had recorded it all secretly and shady, mama?”

Rosé’s laugh filled the room as Denali tried to hide her face on the other girl’s bare chest.

“You’re an ass! I just wanted to use it for one of my skating routines”, she muttered, causing her girlfriend to laugh even harder.

“I find it cute that I’m not even famous and my music has already been pirated!” she commented, “I’m already halfway there to stardom, baby girl,” she added, kissing the top of Denali’s head.

The shorter girl groaned as she hid the increasing blush on her cheeks, rolling her body so that she was on top of the pink-haired girl.

“Well, miss Rosé, is it pirating if it was for personal pleasure only?”, Denali teased, running her hands upwards on the naked skin, slowly lowering herself until her face was inches away from her girlfriend’s.

She felt Rosé’s hands take a firm hold of her behind, “Oh angel, I’ll show you personal pleasure,” the singer replied, eliminating the little space left between their lips as Denali brought her hands to cup the older girl’s face.

Rethinking about those lyrics Rosé had written months prior, Denali knew she was right, she did have everything she needed on the ground.

It was to be right there with Rosé.

[starrynite7114]

Misconstrued: Part 6

A/N: FINALLY! SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. School is back in session and things you never knew has been occupying me. But here it is now! So excited to finally update! I hope you all will enjoy this one. 

Did you guys want a few more parts? See how their relationship progress? Should we move on to another series? LOL Let me know what you think!

Also, thank you again for the response I’ve been getting for this story.  I enjoy reading all of your comments!

Please check out the Masterlist! I updated it with links that hopefully work for my multi-chapter fics!

Anon:  I don’t know if this is too specific but could you do something about Angel ruining a date and later admits it because he loves them and then they have some angry smut and late night fluff

Anon, I hope you’ve enjoyed misconstrued! It wasn’t exactly how you requested it, but I still hope you enjoyed it!

Word Count: 6927

Warnings: Mild angst, Smut

Previous parts

Part 1 : Part 2 : Part 3 : Part 4 : Part 5

Masterlist

Tag list: @iambabyharry; @justahopelessssromantic : @carlaangel86 : @marvelmaree : @mrsamaroevans : @ifoundmyhappythought : @woahitslucyylu : @cind-in-real-life : @briannab1234 : @fairygardenss : @gemini0410 : @everyhowlmarksthedead : @losolvidad0s : @whyisgmora : @comasi-world : @xserenax-13 : @chibsytelford : @welovethesponge : @claytoncardenasbabymama : @jadert15 : @bigcreatorwombatdreamer : @trulysuccubus : @pananegra : @summertimesadnesswithadashofsass : @encounterthepast : @enamoured-x : @elcococruz : @samcrobae : @sadeyesgf : @briana-mishell24

Credit to the original creator of the gif!

You jolted awake, hearing the banging of cabinets in your kitchen. Looking at your phone that laid beside you, it was nearing three in the morning. You had multiple messages from EZ and Angel, frowning as to why dumb and dumber left numerous messages on your phone and called you as well. Grabbing your bat, you were hoping it was Angel that was in your kitchen, hell, maybe even EZ, but you could never be too sure. Making your way out of your room, you heard Angel cussed as he rummaged through your fridge. 

Sighing in relief, you placed your baseball bat back in your closet. Making your way out of your room, you found Angel sitting on your couch. He looked up at you and you could see the tears in his eyes. 

“Angel, what are you doing here?” 

“EZ betrayed me.” Angel uttered out, his voice thick.

“What?” You approached him, and Angel pulled you to him as soon as you were close enough, resting his head on your stomach, wrapping his arms around you. 

You ran your fingers through his hair, kissing the top of his head. You waited for him to speak, but he remained silent and just held you.

“Let’s go to bed?”

He placed his beer on the table and followed you to your bedroom. He took off his clothing, leaving him in his muscle shirt and boxers. When he found out about EZ’s betrayal, all he wanted to do was see you. He fucking missed you. It was insane how a woman could change his life so quickly. But it was hard to imagine life without you at this point. 

Angel slipped in beside you. You were facing one another. Tracing a finger on Angel’s face, you could see the sadness and anger in his eyes. He proceeded to tell you everything. From the rebels to EZ’s betrayal. You just listened as he let it all out, his frustration, concerns, anger and his sadness. You couldn’t believe EZ would do what he did, but at the same time, it made sense. EZ wouldn’t get a pass just because the cop was crooked.

“I love you, you’re a good man Angel Reyes, even though you don’t think so.” You kissed him.

Angel wrapped his arms around you, pulling you flush against him. He buried his face at the crook of your neck, your hand soothingly running up and down his back.

“I’m so fucking sorry, I don’t deserve you. You’re the only person who put me first with no hesitation. I should have respected our relationship and included you in this whole bullshit.” He held you tighter if that was possible, his tears wetting your skin. “I love you, I fuck up, but I’ll try not to, just please come back to me.”

“You’ve always had me Angel.” You felt the tears pricking your eyes as well. It was heartbreaking to hear Angel cry. “Just give me some time, and then we’ll be back together.”

He nodded his head, keeping his face buried at the crook of your neck. You felt his breathing even out as you continued to rub his back. Eventually you fell asleep as well.

The next morning, you woke up and Angel was nowhere in sight. You weren’t surprised since you’re almost certain he was needed at the clubhouse. Letting out a yawn, you contemplated if you wanted to get up yet since you didn’t have to be at work till noon. You closed your eyes and before you could go back to sleep, you felt the bed dip. You would have been alarmed if you didn’t smell Angel’s familiar scent. He pulled you against him as he laid back down, wrapping his arm around you. 

“I always feel stupid talking to you while you’re asleep, but at times, it’s better this way so I don’t become distracted of just wanting to kiss you.” You heard him chuckle. “I remember when I first saw you and how you hid behind your tio, which was comical since you’re fucking taller than him.” You smiled, wondering if Angel spoke to you in your sleep often. “I was attracted to you then, then I found myself gravitating towards you, hanging on to your every fucking word. This whole thing with Ezekiel, it fucking hurt me and I had to see you, because you’re the only thing that has made every pain go away and every insecurity I have about my brother seem like a million miles away. You’ve changed my life.” You heard him sniffle. “One day, I want to marry you, have kids with you, build a life with you. If I had to kill one of my own brothers to do so, I would. I would have buried Diego six feet under.”

Angel kissed the top of your head. “You can’t reply to me with that smart mouth of yours right now and I know you can’t hear me cause you sleep like the dead.” He chuckled. “But I love you. You’re my world and I hope one day you want to share the rest of your life with me. I fucked up with Diego, but God, just give me one more chance to prove to her that I deserve that chance.”

You had to hold yourself back from crying. Hearing Angel’s words, it made your heart swell. Sure there were things that occurred that had strained your relationship, but you could only stay away from Angel for so long, and he was so damn persistent. And you love Angel, more than you could even express. You debated on waking up or not, but you could feel his breathing evening out, most likely falling asleep again. 

You could use a few more hours, you always slept best with Angel holding you.

==============

“I hate clubhouse parties.” You said to no one in particular as you park your car beside EZ’s trailer. You got out of your car, zipping up your bomber jacket. Jeans and t-shirts were your default. Comfort trumped everything.

Walking in the gate, the party was already in full swing. Angel has been texting you the whole day, and his nagging got more persistent when he arrived at the clubhouse and you weren’t there. You were certain that if you didn’t text him that you were on your way, he would have come and picked you up. It’s been two days since you last saw Angel since the club had him busy, but he never stopped texting you, calling you whenever he could. 

“Hey bitch!” You heard Regina’s shrill voice call you. 

You groaned, turning around and was surprised by the sudden sting on your cheek.

“You fucking happy now? You got what you fucking wanted.” She spat out venomously. “Your precious Diegito came for you.”

You were still shocked that this bitch just slapped you. Before you even know what was happening, all the pent up anger and frustration, hell, all the emotions you were put through by Regina all came back. You pulled your arm back and punched Regina right on the nose. You felt everyone’s eyes on you. 

“Shit, are you okay?” You heard Diego ask you as he cupped your face, checking your cheek where Regina slapped you.

“She broke my nose Diego.” Regina cried out as she sat on the floor. She couldn’t believe Diego was checking on you when you had just punched her on the face.

“Serves you fucking right.” You heard Medina tell her as he made his way to you. “Knew those boxing lessons I gave you would come in handy. Should have done it years ago.” He slightly pushed Diego to the side and hugged you. “They’re at Templo right now, but I’m sure your boyfriend will be sad he missed you punching that bitch.”

You didn’t bother correcting Medina, you knew Angel would eventually become your boyfriend again. “My hand hurts,” you shook your hand, opening and closing it. “Not broken though.”

“Of course not, I taught you well.” Medina proudly told you. “I don’t even know why Diegito brought her here. Can you get rid of her? Send her back to Stockton.” He turned to Diego.

“You’re gonna pay for this bitch.” Regina warned you as she stood back up.

“Would love to see you try sweetheart.” Angel’s voice surprised all of you. “If I even hear that you’re breathing the same air as my girl, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in between your eyes.” Angel wrapped an arm around you from behind.

“Fuck you and this club.” Regina stood up, dusting off her clothing. “Fuck you Diego and your small dick.”

“That’s not what you were saying before.” Diego yelled out after her.

Diego and Medina laughed while Angel’s attention was fixated on you.

“Did that feel good?” Medina knew all the hell Regina put you through. You never laid hands on Regina since she was never worth your time, but this time around, it was warranted.

You were never such a fan of inflicting violence, but you weren’t going to lie, that definitely felt good. “So good.”

“Damn baby, that was hot.” He kissed the side of your head after he pulled you against him. “You should let me show you just how good you looked.”

You laughed, playfully pushing him. “So, did you get it?”

Angel smirked and waved the patch in front of your eyes. “You're looking at the new secretary.”

“Congratulations!” You jumped into his arms. “So proud of you, well deserved.”

“Can I get a congratulatory kiss?” 

“Absolutely.”

Angel kissed you, slipping his tongue inside your mouth as he did. His hands grabbed your ass, causing you to shriek.

“Angel!” 

“Sorry,” he laughed. 

His eyes connected with Diego who looked displeased by the public display of affection, but he didn’t give a fuck. Diego could kiss his ass. He was proud of that shiner on Diego’s left eye and the bruises and abrasions all over his face. 

And he still had more coming for him.

“Everything okay with Ezekiel?”

“Yes, he’s going to quit and that’s that.” Angel wrapped an arm around you and brought you towards the clubhouse. “I don’t like how he looks at you.”

“Huh?” You looked at him, confused by what he meant. “Who?”

“Diego. I know you told him it was done, but I don’t think it’s registered.” Angel wasn’t happy that Diego was still here. He knew he was leaving soon, but it made him antsy whenever he saw Diego near you. “I should fuck him up.”

“You already did, remember?” You didn’t want anymore violence. You weren’t going to lie and say it felt good to see Diego with bruises on his face. He was your best friend not too long ago, even though you thought after all of his actions he deserved at least a punch or two.

“Yeah, but someone like him needs to really have it embedded with another beating.” 

You stopped walking, turning Angel to face you. “Forget him, you have me. Just leave him be.”

“So you're done playing and you’re my girl again?” Angel smirked.

“Maybe.” You mischievously smiled at him. “Come on, I’m starving.” You pulled him towards the clubhouse so you could get some food.

“For my dick?”

“Angel!”

“You know you missed my dick, let's just skip this shit and go home.” He pulled you flushed against him, your back to his front. “I know I’ve missed the sight of your pussy, especially the taste, the feel, how fucking tight you are.” He whispered the last sentence in your ear, his hot breath against your skin. You felt a shiver go up your spine. You weren’t going to lie that his dirty mouth didn’t make you wet, but you had to at least be here for a few hours. “Come on baby, I’m the new El Secretario, you should give me congratulatory sex.”

“Behave,” you moved away from him, Angel watching as you walked in front of him.

He whistled. “God you’re fucking ass is a thing of beauty baby.”

You shook your head, laughing. Angel was too much at times, but you love him. 

You were sitting on Angel’s lap, sharing a beer with some of the members and your tio. They were busting jokes about Creepers nonexistent love life. You love hanging with the guys, they were absolutely hilarious and they always involved you in their conversations. They never held back and if they did say something out of line they always apologized.

“You having fun?” Angel checked in with you all the time. He knew too much socializing exhausted you, so he wanted to make sure you were still good.

“Yes, I’m good babe, thanks for checking.” You kissed his cheek.

Bishop looked over Angel, nodding his head towards the clubhouse. 

“Can you get me another beer baby?” Angel requested of you, understanding his gesture.

“Sure.” 

Once you were inside, Bishop leaned over to speak to Angel. “I set up dinner with Diego tomorrow. We finish this whole bullshit with my niece and him tomorrow. If he so much even looks her way, he’s done.” 

Before Templo, Bishop and Angel had a lengthy discussion about Diego and what they wanted to do with his past indiscretions. They both knew you wouldn’t exactly be happy with kicking Diego out of the club, it’s been too long. But, that doesn’t mean they couldn’t threaten him to fuck off. Angel would talk to you first, not wanting to have a misstep in your relationship again. 

“Got it prez, we both know I want this to end.” Angel sat back, taking out his cigarette and getting a stick. He lit it up and took a drag. “I don’t like it when he’s around her. He always looks at her with such fucking hope and he could go fuck himself.”

“Then make it known to him that whatever it was with her, it’s fucking done.” 

“Gladly.” 

You returned, handing him his beer. You were going to take the chair beside him, but Angel pulled you down to sit on his lap again. “Baby, you ain’t sitting anywhere else when my lap is readily available.”

“You’re so needy.”

“I got you back baby, you better get used to it. You know how I am, all about affections.” Angel kissed your cheek, before turning his attention to Creeper.

“You want to go home?” You whispered into Angel’s ear. 

His gaze turned towards you, already darkened by your suggestion.

“We’re gonna head out.” 

==============

“Fuck baby, just like that.” Angel watched as you wrapped your mouth around his cock, bobbing your head up and down. Your hair was wrapped around his hand, guiding you on how to suck his cock.

He followed you home on his bike, immediately going to your place instead of his. You took out your sewing kit to sew Angel’s patch on his kute. You sat on his lap as you did, his hands gripping your thigh. You felt him getting harder as you sewed his patch on. He looked at you, biting his lips as you concentrated to not poke his skin.

As soon as you were done, he had you on your knees and sucking his dick. You’ve been at it for a good thirty minutes and the way you were sucking his dick like a fucking pro was making him come closer to his climax. He was proud that he taught you everything you fucking know.

“Get up,” he pulled you up, putting his hands under your ass and lifting you up. You wrapped your legs around his waist, your lips meeting his. 

He walked you to your bedroom, gently placing you on the bed. Your lips were swollen, making Angel groan. He loved sharing intimate moments with you because he knew no one else has and he planned on keeping it that way. Slipping off his jeans he threw them to the side and walked over to you with a predatory gaze. You removed your shirt as you moved back towards the headboard.

Angel grabbed your ankle, pulling you back to the edge of your bed, making you laugh. He unbuttoned your jeans and pulled them off. You were only in your bra and panties, Angel’s eyes roaming your body. He smirked, licking his lips.

“You look fucking beautiful amor.” He kneeled by the edge of your bed, pulling you so that your legs were hanging on his shoulders. “I’ve missed your scent baby, it would drive any man crazy.” His fingers ran up and down your inner thigh, his touch alone made you shiver. You shifted so that he would move towards where you wanted him faster, but he was purposely making you wait. “I love you.”

“I love you.” You breathed out. “Angel, stop teasing me.”

Angel chuckled, grabbing a hold of your panties and pulling them off. He spread your lips, licking his as he saw your glistening cunt.

“I will never tire at the sight of this.” He pulled you towards him, his tongue lapping at your sensitive nub as soon as he was closed enough.

Your back arched, hands grabbing the sheets underneath them. You whimpered out his name as he began his assault, moving his tongue down to your entrance and sliding it in. 

“You’re so fucking good at this.” A pleased hum was released from your lips, your hand gripping his hair. Your hips gyrating against his tongue.

He placed a hand on your hips, holding you down. He slipped a finger inside you with his other hand, pulling his mouth away. His eyes were trained on your reaction to every move he did on you, he loved watching you, memorizing your reaction to everything he did, it was so fucking satisfying for him. 

“Look at me baby,” he commanded. 

You tried your best to open your eyes and when you did, you saw that sexy smirk on Angel’s lips, you felt your stomach tightening up, your orgasm was close. You wondered if it was always like this for other people. The intensity, how good it felt, this was driving you crazy.

“I’m cumming.” You choked out. You grabbed on Angel’s hand that was on your hip, intertwining your fingers. 

“Fuck baby, you’re drenched.” Angel lapped at your juices, causing your eyes to roll back, a loud moan escaping your lips as he did. “I fucking missed you baby, not having you in my arms was fucking torture.” He pulled away from you, instructing you to move back to the center of the bed. He crawled after you, kneeling in front of you. Coating the tip of his dick with your wetness, you whimpered at the contact. “You ready baby?” He didn’t want to overwhelm you, he wanted to always make you feel good. He knew that after an orgasm, you needed some time to adjust. Learning your quirks was his favorite thing to do. 

“Condom.” It was the only thing you could say, your mind still in a haze.

“A condom?” Angel chuckled, shaking his head. “You know you love it when I enter you bare, I haven’t been with anyone since we started everything, I told you, no one could even get me hard anymore besides you.” He ran his tip up and down your slit, slightly slipping in before pulling back out making you groan. “Come on baby, you know you love it when I enter you bare, just your warmth enveloping mine.” He sucked in that spot on your neck, making you even hotter, wetter. His hand moved up your body, settling on your breast, squeezing it. “It’s just you and me right?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you like it when I enter you bare, nothing separating us?” He slipped his tip again, and you have to agree, it did feel good, but you’ve never used a condom with Angel either. 

“Okay, just please fuck me.”

Angel let out a low chuckle, the low timber of his voice alone could make you cum. He entered you, watching as his dick slipped in, inch by inch, rubbing your clit to heightened your pleasure making it easier to slip in. “Fuck baby, I love watching how you stretch out cause of me. You like the feel baby, when I fucking stretch you out?”

You nod your head, scratching at his chest. “Harder.”

“Harder? I got you baby girl.” Angel thrusted into you harder, keeping his pace moderate to keep this going. He didn’t want this to end yet. He wanted you to cum as much as possible, penance for the way things played out with Diego. You tightened up around him, making Angel groan. “Jesus fucking Christ querida, I love how I can make you cum.” He stopped moving, keeping his cock buried inside you as he rubbed your clit, your orgasm hitting you. You gripped him tightly and he moaned along with you. 

“Does it always feel this good?”

“Only with me baby.” Angel slipped out of you, turning you on your stomach. “Stick your ass out, chest on the bed.” He slipped right back in, and he felt different for you. You two haven’t truly experimented with different positions yet, but this has to be one of your favorites.

“You feel so deep.” You grabbed the sheets again, your cheek against the mattress. “This shouldn’t feel this good.”

“But it does baby, you always take me so fucking well cause you’re fucking made for me.” Angel thrusted in and out, slow then fast, slow then fast, the alternating pace felt so good. “You ever let Diego in baby? You let that motherfucker touch what’s mine?”

You shook your head. You don’t know why, but you loved it when Angel called you his, it turned you on so much and the way he said it with such authority. You gasped as Angel drove into you harder. 

“Use your voice mi dulce, let me hear your answer.”

“No, just you.”

“I would have killed him for you. It drove me crazy knowing he was in here with you.” Angel felt a certain type of possession over you. Besides the fact that Angel was never the type of person to share someone he cherished dearly, but you love him and only him. You gave him something that you saved for the right person and he would never forget that. For the short amount of time you two knew one another, he got to know you so well as well. And how deeply he felt for you, it was suffocating at times and he couldn’t breathe till he was near you. He never knew love could this be fucking intense, but he was basking on it.

It drove him fucking insane, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“He’s nothing to me.” 

Angel pulled you up by your hair, your back against his chest. “Damn fucking right he’s nothing to you. You’re everything to me.” He told you, his voice so warm and soft.

“You are to me too.”

Angel wrapped his arm around your chest, holding you against him as he thrusted into you. He was going faster and you felt yourself tightening up again. “Keep going Angel, fuck.” Hearing his breath against your ear, grunting, it was turning to fucking on. The way he held you tightly against him, it was even better. 

“I love it when you tighten up around me, cause I know you’re about to cum.” He pulled out making you whine. “But not yet.”

“Fuck, Angel.” You whimpered out.

Angel maneuvered you on your back again wasting no time to slip back inside you. “I need to see your face when you cum.” He leaned his forehead against yours, kissing you, sucking your bottom lip into his mouth. “I love your fucking mouth.” Intertwining your hands on either side of your head, Angel’s thrust was becoming sloppier so you knew his climax was near. You loved feeling his weight on you, it made it that much more intimate. “I’m cumming baby you almost there?”

You nodded your head. “Fuck, this feels so good.” You we’re already at the brink before and now you feel it coming again. Angel thrusted a few more times, burying deep into you when he came. You arched your back, his name coming out as a chant as you felt your legs quiver. 

Angel begrudgingly pulled out, a sigh escaping both of your lips when he did. “You want to shower baby?”

You shook your head, you couldn’t even keep your eyes open. Orgasms always made you feel spent, tired, all you wanted to do was sleep. You heard Angel chuckle as he cleaned you up. You used the last of your strength to go under your covers, Angel joining you shortly after. 

“Te amo mi alma.” You heard Angel whisper into your hair. “We have dinner with Bish tomorrow, is that cool?”

“Dinner? For what?”

“Just a family gathering.”

==============

Angel helped you off his bike, taking off your helmet for you. He got you a helmet a few months back for Christmas. You weren’t sure why he got it for you, but he always told you how he wanted to give you a ride on his bike. You’ve ridden with him before and you always enjoyed it, loving the feel of the air against your skin. It was so freeing.

“Before we go in, I want to talk to you about something.” Angel placed his hands on your hips.

“What’s up?” You had your hands on his flannel under his kute, playing with the ends of his shirt.

“Diego is here.” He should have spoken to you before coming here, but he was too distracted with your mouth around his cock. 

“I saw his bike,” you nodded towards Diego’s bike.

“Okay smartass.” Angel rolled his eyes. 

You both laughed. 

“I’m guessing Diego being here for a family gathering isn’t exactly a coincidence.” You noticed Taza, Coco and Tranq’s bike next to Diego’s. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to fuck him up again.”

“No, corazon, listen, Diego needs to understand that whatever you two had way back when, it’s fucking done and it’s never coming back.” Angel explained. 

“What are you going to do?” You were afraid to ask. Again, Diego got the beating he deserved from Angel already, you knew that Angel was itching to do it again, but you didn’t think it was necessary. Whatever Diego did, it was a distant memory now, especially with you being with Angel. Diego was like a bittersweet memory that you no longer cared for. 

“Your tio wants to assure that this shit with Diego is done, that when he goes back to Stockton, he doesn’t look back hoping you’re going to come for him.” Angel assessed your reaction and was relieved that you didn’t seem to care much. You were just waiting for him to get to the point. You agreed that your chapter with Diego should be closed, but you felt that this was something that was understood. There didn’t need to be this extra meeting about it.

“This is unnecessary, I feel like this is something that was handled a week or so ago.” You reasoned. “Angel, I love you, I’m with you, is that not enough?”

“This isn’t about me. This is about all the shit that happened years ago that you let slide due to your feelings and kindness, but we’re done with that baby. You don’t want to give Diego hope that somewhere down the road there’s a chance for you and him.” Angel was hesitant to talk about the future with you since he didn’t want to scare you off. Your relationship was quite new even though you two have known each other for a few years. But you were it for him, this was it. “I love you, I have no plans of letting you go and I hope you feel the same way.” God he hoped you did.

“Of course I do, I love you Angel. But I think that I’ve moved on from this whole thing with Diego, it isn’t an issue.” Maybe you were downplaying it, but you were with Angel and you weren’t one to cheat. And you’re quite certain that there was no longer a friendship between you and Diego. There was too much hurt associated in your relationship. “What are you going to do?”

“Give Diego an ultimatum, if he wants to remain a Mayan, he can’t contact you or speak to you unless you initiate it. But if he wants to keep on trying my patience and pursue you, then he’s stripped of his patch.”

“Santo Padre isn’t his charter.”

“Yeah well El Padrino signed off on it before he left. Ramos has no choice if Diego decides to give up his patch.”

You bit your lip, moving away from Angel. You wouldn’t want them to take away Diego’s patches from him. Regardless of how much he was favored because of you, he worked hard for them. 

“Mi dulce, you don’t seem happy.” He frowned.

“This is why I didn’t want to bring this up. I don’t want him to lose his patch over me, he worked hard for those. Yeah, Diego is an asshole and what happened three years ago was painful, but it’s done. I’ve moved on, isn’t that enough for everyone else to do so?” You didn’t understand why they were so hellbent on punishing Diego. Like what your Tio Bishop said, his punishment was losing you or whatever reasoning he had given you. 

“Why are you protecting him?” Angel was starting to become irritated by your response. Did you not want Diego to stop speaking to you?

“I’m not protecting him.”

“Sure fucking seems like it.”

You sighed. “I don’t want to argue Angel.”

“What’s there to argue about, you obviously want to keep fucking talking to the prick.” Ange made his way towards the front door, leaving you by his bike. He was trying to push his temper down. You two just recently made up and now, well, you were being fucking unreasonable.

“Angel,” you groaned. “That’s not what it is. You know how much I hate drama and how I deviate away from the center of attention, I don’t fucking want this for him. He was my friend once, I’m not going to lie to you and say I don’t care about him anymore, not as much as before, but I know the club is his life.”

“That’s not the fucking point. He humiliated you years ago, you gave up so much for him just to let that bitch treat you the way she did. I’m trying to protect you here, to make sure he could never hurt you again.”

“But he can’t hurt me anymore cause I don’t care about him anymore. I’m not trying to protect him, I just don’t want someone to lose their place because of me.”

“Well he shouldn’t have fucking gotten it in the first place!” Angel didn’t mean to yell at you, but it was frustrating him how you couldn’t see why they were doing what they were doing. “Why can’t you put some value in yourself? You mean the world to so many people, I know you don’t want fighting battles for you, but this isn’t a battle. It’s removing a problem. You know Diego well, he’s not going to give up on you.”

“He told me he would.” That was a weak argument. Even though he did tell you he was going to give up, that he was going to walk away, you weren’t exactly sure how much of that was true. 

“When I realized that I love you, I knew I would never give you up. His feelings are not as intense as mine, but if his desire is as great as mine to keep you around, then he’s not going to give up just cause he claims he would. I’m sure he’s holding off that you two could become friends.” 

“You don’t know him Angel.”

“And you fucking do? Querida, why the fuck are we even discussing this? Plans already in motion, he stays the fuck away, he keeps his patch, if he doesn’t then he’s signing his death warrant.” It was simple for Angel. He didn’t care for Diego, it was just irritating him that it seemed that you did. 

“Then I’m not going inside.”

“Fine, don’t.”

You watched as Angel walked in, leaving you outside. You saw Diego by the window, looking out at you. Angel passed by him, giving you one last look before walking away from the window. You really didn’t care about Diego, but you weren’t going to let him get hurt again. He was your friend long ago, you weren’t the type of person to just stand by knowing something awful away about to happen. 

Walking to the front door, you opened it and Diego was right there to greet you. 

“Can you take me home?” You questioned, trying to keep your voice low so that none of the other members would hear.

“Yeah, sure.” He gave you an odd, confused look but took his helmet.

“Where the fuck are you going?” You heard Angel question.

“I’m going home, Diego can take me home.” 

“The fuck you are.” Angel was livid before but he was beyond it now. You wanted to go home, that’s fine, he would rather not have you hear when he fucking beat him again, but there was no fucking way Diego was taking you home. “Coco can take you home.”

“No, Diego is going to take me home. Is that okay tio?” Angel just chuckled, irritated that you would use your tio knowing he didn’t have authority over that.

Bishop knew that you wouldn’t be in agreement with their plan. He agreed to this to make up for not doing anything all those years ago and to appease Angel. He was protective over you and Bishop was glad that you found someone who cared for you as much as Angel did. This wasn’t going to blow over for Angel or Diego till Angel made it clear that you were off limits and Diego would stay away.

But at the same time, maybe it would be better for you to tell Diego to stay away. As stupid as Diego was, he knew how to follow orders. If you simply asked him to stay away, he would. And if it didn’t work then Angel could beat it in him.

“Yeah, of course sweetheart.”

“No, I can take her home.” Angel wasn’t going to let Diego take you home. 

Diego stood in front of you, further aggravating Angel.

“Get the fuck out of my way. She’s my girlfriend, if I want to bring her home, then I’ll fucking do it.” Angel got into Diego’s face. You knew that things were going to pop off soon. Angel was already pissed and Diego’s demeanor was definitely not helping. 

“Y/N, do you want Angel to take you home?”

“No, you can take me home.” You knew that was a mistake, but you were trying to save bloodshed here. Angel spoke about putting a bullet in him all the time and the last thing you wanted was another body for Angel to bury. “I just need to talk to him Angel.”

“Then talk to him outside, you’re not fucking leaving.”

You sighed. 

Compromise. 

Compromise. 

“Fine, I can do that.” 

Diego followed you outside and you both sat on the steps of your tio’s porch. You rested your arms on your knees, your foot tapping as the anxiety of talking to Diego overtook you. 

“You okay?” Diego knew what you were going to say. It didn’t escape him how suspicious it was that only certain people were here tonight, but he knew what was coming and he deserved it.

“I want you to know that you were my best friend. All the times we spent together the good, the bad, and the ugly, I cherished them because they’ve taught me plenty of things.” You purses your lips, trying your best to keep your foot from shaking up and down. “But we’ve also grown apart.” Looking at him, you knew that he knew what you were trying to say. That it wasn’t ideal, but he understood. 

“You remember when we graduated high school and we talked about what we wanted out of life?” Your eyebrows furrowed, trying to recall the memory he spoke of. You vaguely remember it since you were quite tipsy. 

“Not really. Did you record it?” You teased.

Diego chuckled. “Well, it’s cause you’re a lightweight.” He ruffled your hair. “But you talked about what you wanted for the future, that you wanted to leave Stockton, go down south. How you wanted to get married, have kids, get a decent job. And you know what you said that really stuck to me?”

“What?”

“That you wanted to be happy. And at first I thought I could make you happy, that’s not a problem whatsoever. But I realize how many times I’ve hurt you, failed to protect you. Then I tried to ruin your relationship with Angel because I thought I could finally make you happy like I wanted to do so all those years ago. To make it up to you.” Diego bitterly smiled. “Guess I’m too late right?”

Your eyes began to water. All the things you’ve wanted to hear from Diego was happening, you weren’t making it up in your head. But you missed your friendship with Diego, you two had a solid friendship before feelings were out in place. But things couldn’t be the same anymore, things were just so different now. 

“Yeah, you are.”

“It really hurts to see how happy you are with him, how much you love him.” Diego chuckled. “But I can accept that as long as you're happy cause regardless of everything, that’s all I wanted.”

“I need you to stay away from me. Our past is our past and I want to keep it that way. Maybe someday when things are better we can be friends again, but it’s better we keep our distance.” 

Diego nodded his head, standing up and making his way down the stairs. “If he ever breaks your heart, I���m here for you.”

“Don’t fucking worry, I won’t.” 

You turned around, surprised to hear Angel’s voice, but at the same time you weren’t. You didn’t exactly close the door and you knew Angel would stay close by. 

“Take care of her Reyes.” Diego hated that this was happening, he was sick to his stomach, but he meant it. All he wanted was for you to be happy. 

“Don’t need you telling me that, but I will Diegito.”

“Am I allowed to hug her?”

“That’s up to her.”

You nodded your head. He held out his hand, which you took. He wrapped his arms around you and you hugged him as well. He kissed the side of your head, whispering ‘I love you’. He let you go and took you in one last time before walking towards his bike. 

You turned towards Angel, and he was leaning against the post at the top of the stairs of the porch. You walked up, and he watched until Diego was out of sight.

“Had fun down memory lane?” Angel turned to face you.

“Angel, you know that’s not what that was. I love you, I love that you want to fight my battles for me, that you want to protect me, but Diego was always a personal thing and I wanted to be the one to tell him to stay away.”

“I heard.” Angel sighed. “You’re so fucking frustrating. All I want is to be there for you and protect you, yet you couldn’t even let me do that.”

“It’s not about that, we’re a team, but this one is really just on me.” 

“Exactly, we’re a team. Baby, you have to meet me halfway here. I love you, seeing how hurt you were when you first told me about him, how you were in distress when he first came into town, that was painful. The last thing I want is for you to be hurt.”

“But you can’t always prevent that, I have to learn things on my own too.”

Angel walked over to you, cupping your face, leaning his forehead against yours. “I know, but sometimes, it’s just hard for me.”

You wrapped your arms around Angel, resting your head on his chest. He kissed the top of your head. He was a bastard and there were parts of him who didn’t think he deserved you, but it was the one voice he could push aside. He wasn’t sure how he could live without you and he would rather not try.

“I’ll try to be better at it, I know you can fight your own battles mama’s, but I’m just overprotective over you.” Angel’s hand soothingly moves up and down your back. 

“Which I appreciate, but sometimes, all I need is to know you have my back.”

“And I fucking do, you know I do.” 

“You two lovebirds done? We’re fucking starving.” Coco interrupted their moment. Seeing their misty eyes, Coco cringed. “My bad, but I’m fucking hungry, Bish said we can’t eat till you two are inside.”

“Oh my god.” You playfully rolled your eyes.

You’re not sure how you landed this family, but you were definitely glad that they were here to stay.

[kkulmoon]

SUNSET HEARTBEAT | KTH

pairing: Taehyung x Reader (f)

genre: fantasy au, hybrid au, sci-fi (?), fluff, angst

word count: 5.1k

rating: pg

a/n: ngl i feel like the beginning portion is a bit rusty, by rusty I mean it may feel a bit slow but pls give it a chance 🥺, I struggled to write that 😭. I am also tagging two very lovely people who were excited about this, hopefully you like it uwu @blossomkoo​ @inkedxclouds​. This fic is part of Bangtan Scenery’s collab ‘April Showers Bring May Flowers’, make sure to check out everyone else’s entries!

warnings: implied sex, other than that none, except for heartbreak and slight purple patches here and there cause I was in the mood hehe

beta read by: lovely angie @scvkjin​ and amazing emi @bangtiddies​ 💕 

synopsis: The time had come for the seventh sun to rise. For the seventh and last color in line to have its cycle. As one indigo supernova signified the coming of a purple nebula, you and Taehyung spent the remaining of your last day together creating something of your own. If it comes into fruition can only be known years in the future. A decade after you found someone unlike anyone. Truly one of a kind. Someone with a destiny they couldn’t outrun. It has been 10 years since the birth of a purple sun.

☁︎ masterlist ☁︎

It was in your final year of university, twelve years ago, that you met Taehyung. That same year you decided it was time to give up on the idea of becoming an astronomer. Quite frankly, you were just too dumb. However, it did not mean that you couldn't enjoy it all while living a life where pretending that you truly understood everything was your best bet, your only bet. They all say that interest and dedication trumps natural talent, right? For that same reason you decided to still attend as many astronomy lectures as possible even though you were studying to become an English teacher. You were always quiet and attentive so either the professors didn't notice you or let you be. Either way, what mattered was that you got to be there.

The first time the two of you interacted was a random weekday in April, near finals’ season. You were sitting at the back of the room as usual. The professor had handed out some papers to be passed back. A gold tinted hand with slender fingers, on which well groomed and shiny fingernails were present, reached out to you. You could all but wave away at the paper, trying your best to dismiss it. A pouty and confused expression was what you got as he continued to jab the paper onto your palm. You kept trying to mouth 'it's okay' but he was persistent. Not much of a purple characteristic but surely a sun one, now that you think about it. Finally you settled for a verbal response.

“I don't actually take this class, so really, i'm fine.”

He retreated his hand for a second, “Huh, don't we all wish that was true,” he said as he placed the paper on the small desk in front of you instead. “You've got this! We're almost done, hold in there.” You got a thumbs up before he turned back to focus on the class.

And every week from there on, whenever he got a short moment in class while the professor was writing on the board Taehyung would pester you with motivational notes filled with sayings. One particular somber April morning where you looked more tired than usual he even went as far as offering to help you with the class and your homework. You did your best to decline and yet that same night you got an email in your inbox that told you he obviously hadn't understood.

| Kim Taehyung     Chapter 15: Helpful Resources, (hang on there, you got this!) |

While you didn't take the class and had no official obligations to learn anything, you were still interested in astronomy so you decided to have a look. The links did clear up some questions you had during the lecture. However, you didn't want him to be wasting time helping a lost cause. As much as you loved reading about astronomy and learning about it, you were slow and having him help you was more than unnecessary. The definition of futile work. You decided to send him a screenshot of the official classes you were attending from the university's student portal. You made sure to censor your grades. He truly didn't need to think that you were any dumber, all he needed was proof that you weren't taking the class.

But once again, Taehyung's sun qualities shone through. Where it would have been expected for the person to drop the subject and for the two of you to go back to your habitual behaviour, he thought otherwise. He responded, but this time instead of answers he had questions, none of which you felt like answering so you left him on read. Well, the email version of read. You opened the email, read it, thought about answering it but ultimately left the email thread to die on the read pile.

A week went by. No Taehyung and you felt relieved. At least that's how you think you felt, the sleep deprivation might have been playing tricks on you. As yet another day came, where the indigo sun let its rays shine, Taehyung thought it better for him to act as the sun. You hadn't seen him in class, but it just turned out he changed his usual spot. He tried to catch you before you left the room but your daydreaming self was quick on her feet. He had a quick talk with the professor before he hurried to you.

“Hey!” The sound of sandals echoed against the cement floor. “Hey! You there!" 

You kept on walking, as far as you knew your name wasn’t you there'.  Someone grumbled behind you only to exclaim after a short while. 

“Y/N! Y/N! Hold up, I need to talk to you.” So in that case you were 'you there' and someone was Taehyung. 

You stopped walking and turned around. You couldn’t help but cock your head at him. You had only seen Taehyung from the torso up while in class. His attire surprised you for some reason. Maybe because he was a STEM student and you had expected him to look more uptight. He looked like one of the people from the pot dorm down your hallway.  Everything he wore was oversized except for the big knitted headband he had on now that he was outside. He looked devoid of colour with his muted clothes, but his cross body bag stood out with its patterned rainbow material.

"Yeah, what is it?" The quicker you could get it over with the better. However, Taehyung didn’t seem to agree with you on that aspect. He took his sweet time to fix the misplaced headband as you were left to witness the action. As much as you would have liked to categorise the scene as boring, it would have been a lie. His grey hair strands somehow managed to sparkle in the sun. They didn’t shine the normal way hair shines when light reflects on it. His hair literally sparkled as if it had recognised something familiar within the sun rays. But at the time you just thought you were being delusional or being tricked by the elements of his beauty.

"You didn't answer my email," he asked with curious eyes and an innocent tone. Right, that happened.

"Oh, that... uhm... I just haven't gotten the time to go through my email, things have been a bit hectic," you shot him a sympathetic smile.

Taehyung seemed like a pretty understanding person but he sure wasn’t dumb. You saw the way his tongue shifted to lick his lips as his teeth found their way onto his bottom lip. He trailed his hands on the strap of his bags as a pensive lip bite made adorned his features. Taehyung could have either been nervous or so irked by the bullshit you just spat at him that his body was reacting. Either way you felt bad for your white lie, but maybe not bad enough.

"It has been two weeks though," Taehyung stretches his back to stand straighter, "Also I take a chem class with Hoseok and you're always chatting in the gmail chat so..." 

What do you say to that? You lied and the worst part of it all was that you were caught right in the same moment. Your mouth opened and closed continuously as a hot flush made itself present on your ears and neck. You made note of the fact that Taehyung seems sweet but he actually packed a punch and was definitely ready to confront you on your bullshit. Classic STEM student approach, just face things head on. Thinking back at it, that was yet another instance in which his sun characteristics took the wheel. The sun's rays don't budge for anything or anyone and they certainly don't cave in to make others feel comfortable.

"Uhmm... right. But I am here now, so ask away!" Maybe your fake enthusiasm could make up for your little lie. Taehyung gave you a wondering look as he calculated  the pros and cons of continuing this conversation, You hoped the cons would win. 

“Uhmm, alright, fair enough,” He shrugged and the pros must have won because he kept talking. “Why do you go to astronomy lessons if you don’t take the class?”

Why did he want to get into your personal business? You could have very well told him that it was none of his business, turned around and left. But that seemed a tad bit too rude for you and for some weird reason you didn't want him to think of you as any more rude that you had been.

Would you paint yourself as an overly ambitious student that just had a general love of learning or would you tell him the truth? If you were to lie again you were sure he wouldn't manage to uncover this lie.

"I just like astronomy and find the class interesting, on top of that I've got time so like why not?" You felt good about your response, so good you were happy that you had made the choice not to lie to him, again.

"Oh okay, then how come you didn't apply for the program?" Wow, this dude was really trying to uncover all of your flaws during the first real conversation you've had. He should have become a detective instead, his focused and analysing eyes made it very hard for you to lie and not feel any residual guilt. He would, without a doubt, catch you if you were to slip up again.

"Uhm... I just felt like education was the right place for me you know." You shook your head with squinted eyes in hopes that he would just get you. Which he obviously didn’t if you had to go off of the way his jaw jutted out to the side. 

"Well, to put it simply, I am not the brightest of students and while actually taking the class would have been a nightmare, just being there and listening and learning at my own slow pace just makes me feel better about my shortcomings."

Taehyung's lips parted slightly. Okay, maybe you didn't have to give such a confession but he had been pushing and you wanted it to just end.

"Ohh, I see." Not the response you expected but how else do you respond to someone who said that they were too dumb to follow their dream. "But still my offer stands, if you need help trying to understand anything, feel free to tap my shoulder in class."

"But you changed seats to sit in the front."

"Nah not really, I was just bitter that you hadn't answered and didn't want to hurt you. From now on you'll see me at my usual spot in front of you."

The squeamish movement that accompanied the words ‘hurt you’ gave rise to a wondering look on your face. Hurt you? Why would he hurt you? Taehyung looked pretty harmless so you decided to not take his weird comment at face value. He most likely meant hurting you in a verbal sense.

The rest of the semester progressed in that same weird manner that characterised your relationship with Taehyung. A constant push and pull that kept being encouraged by your closest friends– Hoseok being the top player in the game. Inevitably, the more time you spent with him the more you warmed up to him. A month down the road the two of you decided to put a label on it. Or it was more so you who needed a verbal confirmation that you had somehow managed to catch someone's interest.

It took you awhile to reset the way you thought. Your wandering mind wasn’t only filled with personal affairs anymore, another individual had found their place in your day to day thoughts. All of a sudden being affectionate wasn't something you had to actively be, it was simply default mode whenever Taehyung crossed your field of vision.

For that reason alone, finals season was filled with movie nights, whispered love confessions, enough takeaways from different cuisines that you felt you were now ready to become a food critic. But the most precious instances of that time was the afternoons where Taehyung did his best to teach you astronomy and you being too lazy to listen despite your interest. You can't help but ask yourself if you would have been more attentive had you known what astronomy actually meant to him.

You had now been with Taehyung for one entire year. One year filled with diametrically opposite feelings. The good, the bad and the ugly. But ultimately all of it was left at the door the moment the two of you decided to reconcile despite the drawbacks. You were happy. The kind of happy that you don't recognise until it's gone. That can only be acknowledged in the midst of incoming fury. You had never in your life wished for the ability to predict the future. To see what happens after sunrise before it is manifested. 

One particular day eleven years ago, you wished that astronomy was fake, that the sun wasn't real and that it never needed to rise or set, to be born or die. You wished the sun didn't exist, knowing very well that that would mean the most important person in your life wouldn't exist. But you could have dealt with that. 

Longing for something you know you could have hurts far more than craving for the unknown. In the latter situation there's at least hope, that if you search hard and long enough you could find that thing you so deeply want. In the former, you know where that thing is, it's in fact right under your nose, or more accurately right over your head, where you can feel it at least a little bit every single day. Except this time you can't have it, no matter how hard you wish for it or how long you choose to wait. The whole scenario was like a twisted marshmallow test. Made to incite cravings with no intention of ever quenching them.

This all started a year following the start of your relationship with Taehyung. At that time you took notice to how hot he would get at the most unexpected of times. A behaviour that was usually reserved for when he was irritated or angry. It wasn’t only him that was hot but he radiated the kind of heat reserved for an extremely sunny summer’s day. 

You overlooked those instances and decided not to pay them too much mind. It could just be you having the extreme hots from him. However on a particular night, you just couldn’t bring yourself to stay in bed with Taehyung. The sheets were drenched and the windows had fogged up. You had to leave and find refuge in your living room sleeping right by a fan. 

The coming morning you woke up to breakfast on the table and right beside it there was a thick pocket sized book. The Book Of Suns. That was the white title that was engraved onto the black cover. Taehyung was nowhere to be found but his belongings were still in your room so you assumed he had gone for his morning walk. 

You had to make a choice between the two. Would you read the book first or you would eat breakfast first? You knew that whatever you were about to find out would most likely curb your appetite. Your hand glided against the rough cover of the book. 

Wouldn't it be better to read it now, just in case something made you extremely sad? That way you could cry before he got back home. Whatever it was that you were about to find out was very important to him, important enough that he wanted you to form your own opinion of it in peace. He wanted in no way for his presence to taint your reaction towards the truth that he had been hiding. Or as he thought protecting you from.

You sat down by the table, knees to your chest as you brought the book onto your hands. 'The Book Of Suns' was, as you realised after reading it, just that, a book about suns, in particular Taehyung’s sun lineage. It was a story about your world’s suns, the rainbow sun family. A fact unknown to you before that very moment. You were surprised by your behaviour, you weren’t exactly known for having calm reactions. It must have been Taehyung’s scent on the sweater you wore. It tickled your nose and calmed your senses. The book served as a track record for the next person in line to become the sun. It had seven chapters. Beside each chapter title in the contents page there were small vertical lines. The first six suns had five lines while the last had four. Taehyung must be purple sun. You read silently or more so you attempted to read silently, the deep breaths you were taking in effort to digest everything couldn't be contained.

After a continuous hour of reading you got to what was perhaps the most interesting chapter. Where do the dead suns go? And most importantly what do the suns that have yet to be born stay? You were cautious about continuing your reading. What if you found out that Taehyung was in fact just the ghost of someone that didn't actually exist? Or worse what if Taehyung would cease to exist? 

Fear curbed your initiative to let your eyes continue their dance on the page. But fear also did its job in fixating your attention on the slightly faded black letters present on the off-white pages. Fear of the unknown is always worse than that of the known.

Deep in the forest, there was the garden of suns. Every time a sun died and resurrected as a human, their statue appeared in the garden, where their sun soul was kept, only to vanish on the day of their sun birth. In the middle of the pages there was a picture, at the back of it you could read Taehyung’s harsh handwriting ‘The garden of suns -15/07/39’. He had been there four days ago.

The statues of the first five suns were covered with vibrant collared moss equivalent of their sun pigment. The sixth and seventh sun’s statues were only slightly visible in the photograph. They seemed to be in an intermediary phase. Not quite gone, yet not quite there. It was hard to figure out whether they were emerging or vanishing. That’s until you remembered the previous week’s news report. A supernova was on its way and scientists believed it would most likely occur near the end of next year. 

The indigo sun is near its death, and a purple sun is nearing its ascent. 

Taehyung’s statue was the one vanishing. His sun soul was ready to find its owner and ascend to its rightful place amongst the other stars. Just as you were about to continue reading, ready to delve into how this whole sun birth situation went about, the sound of metal clashing against metal resounded in the dead silence. Clinging keys and heavy steps entered the apartment. 

No 'hello' or 'glad to see you're finally awake'. But could you blame him? It would have been weird to act as if it was like any other of your usual mornings. You wished you had mustered up the strength to get off the chair and go greet him at the entrance. In your mind you did that but in reality you stayed rooted right where you were, back squeezed into the corner between the table and chair.

Taehyung walked in to lean against the door frame that lead into the kitchen. He looked exhausted. Dark under eye bags decorated weary eyes. You thought you could hear a tentative squeak come out of his mouth. Maybe you should've said something, because he looked like he was hurting and trying to find the appropriate words to start a conversation he knew would only end with heartache and tears. You thought that talking about the small steps he made outside was a good way to segue into talking about the biggest step he would take in his life. One that he could unfortunately not walk back on. 

"How was your walk?" You managed to ask before Taehyung walked past the kitchen and into the bedroom. He stopped midway, standing in the living room, where sun rays illuminated his surroundings. You couldn't help but think that it was very fitting for him to become a sun. The rays may have been bright and hot but he was the only one able to make you feel as hot as the sun and make your smile shine brighter than the biggest star. He was already a sun. Your sun. Why did he need to leave and become everyone's sun as well?

"Pretty good, helped me wake up," he said and sat down on the bean bag present beside him. You put the book down on the dining table just to look back at him from your seat. You were just there, in the moment, sitting down and doing your best to have an internal conversation. Both of you knew that words would hurt too much. And they surely couldn't bear the complete weight of what your current predicament meant neither could they have illustrated the joint pain that was shared between two beating hearts.

Your conversation might have been dead but the emotion was very much alive. You stood up from your seat, Taehyung's knitted sweater fell back down to caress your thighs. The walk to the beanbag felt like an eternity, not because it was but because you made it so. You had felt his sour and vigilant mood and you knew that being playful at that moment was your best bet. You tiptoed back and forth all the way to the beanbag as the sweater shifted here and there to reveal skin that was highlighted blue by the sun.

He was upset but he couldn't manage to keep his mouth set. His lips would stretch and unstretch as small playful wiggles played at the tip of his mouth. Finally you had found your way to the bean bag. You stood tall as your body cast a shadow over his. You placed a foot on the bean bag as the material sunk under your weight and you found your place on his lap. 

Right there, that's the kind of pat in the back that Taehyung gave you as his arms enveloped your slouching form. You snuggled your head deep into the crook of his neck and inhaled all the way in. If he was really gonna be leaving you, you needed to make sure you could imprint the scent and feel of his flesh right onto yours.

You sat there, quiet, with synchronised breaths yet fighting thoughts. How in the heck were you supposed to manage this? Him just being gone? Sure, you had a year left before it was officially time, but a year is far from a lifetime, what he had promised you.

"You are sure you don't want to talk about it?" Long hand strokes continue to comfort your back. You move your buried head side to side, groaning in response. Alright is all he said. Things were far from alright.

While on that morning you decided not to talk further on the topic, the coming months were filled with explorative trips to the Garden of Suns, where you would spend hours listening to Taehyung tell you about the stories of him and his sun brothers. He talked about being particularly close to the blue sun.

"It's just because he literally has no filter," he said gazing longingly at the statue covered with flashy blue moss.

"Is that like, dangerous?"

"Well yeah for you, but I am a sun remember." He turned around on the grass to face your way.

"And that's probably why I orbit around you." The huge grin that found its ways to your face was uncontrollable and contagious as Taehyung couldn’t help but snicker at your corny joke.

Just like that, your months together flew by until it was finally d-day. You hoped that waking up wouldn't be a necessity but Taehyung refused to let you sleep through it. He refused to let you think that it was all a dream. Getting yourself off the bed and into the shower felt like an endless task. One that he was patient enough to help you with. In hindsight you feel bad about having put him through that on such a significant day. He was, most likely, having a harder time dealing with his destiny than you were. That day was one to remember, the most vivid of them all, the most cherished of them all yet the most sad of them all.

All of that happened in the past and you were currently in an unsure present. The indigo sun had faced its fate, to be extinguished in an equally coloured supernova that would give rise to the last one in line, a purple sun. One day they would all be back to the complete cycle. A day where you wouldn't be present.

It has been ten years since Taehyung became a sun. You could talk to him, well, not really but you could see him and most importantly feel him. It had been a decade since you asked him to leave you something to remember him by, a part of him, a living one. On the night of Taehyung’s sun birth he decided to take you up on the offer. Cuddled up, in each other’s arms that’s how the day progressed. While usually persistent yet gentle, that night Taehyung felt it was appropriate and maybe in fact vital for him let his sun like ferocity be expressed. How else could you have understood the intensity of his feelings, a muddy mix of grief and love. The remains of that one last heated night were left for you to admire and cherish.

You thought you would manage to stay up the entire night to witness the purple sun birth but Taehyung’s warmth, forehead kisses and soft singing lulled you to sleep before you could realise it. 

Nothing was felt. No heat, no cold. Nothing was seen. No light, no spark. Taehyung was gone into the void in the same effortless way he entered your life. You’ve now been waiting over a decade to know if the fruits of that night would come into fruition. Conception can only happen when eclipses take place. Eclipses happen every 126 months. It has been 10 years. Half a year is left.

That half year could not have passed at a slower pace. It was a Thursday, yet another tiring day at school. You loved kids but you were drained of energy. You couldn't wait for time to pass by so that you could leave. It was Thursday, which meant you could watch the sunset to its complete  end without being bothered. It was also Thursday, the day after you got your first ultrasound. Taehyung may have not been there but that didn't mean you couldn't share the remaining of your waking hours with him, whenever you thought it was possible. You looked out of the window from your classroom to see purple hues in the sky as the sun said goodbye to leave place to another night.

The clouds thought otherwise, for some reason they always felt the need to be there to cloud his presence. What right did they have to cover up his tint? If it weren’t for them you would have been able to bask in his purple light, let it colour you bare as your feelings went from blank to purple butterflies that made you lose sight as tears formed in your eyes.

So you did what any sensible person still in love would have done. As soon as the clock struck 4 pm you ran to catch the train that would take you from skyscraper views to wide flower fields. It took the train two hours. You did your best to enjoy the way he set along the ride. Once you arrived you were left with two entire hours to enjoy the last of him and say goodbye to Taehyung and hello to the darkness.

During that time you reached into Taehyung's patterned cross body bag. You truly hated it but it was his so you kept it. You pulled out the ultrasound picture and raised it to the little part of sun that was still left. You didn't actually think that he would, through some weird magical way, actually be able to see it. It was more so something to calm your conscience. But most importantly, it presented you with the opportunity to capture an unusual family picture. It was you, the ultrasound, your baby bump and the purple sunset all in one picture. One that had found its rightful place on your bedside table.

Years unmasked themselves to reveal the growth of your child. One that grew to inherit the intensity of her father. Every now and then you made sure to let her know about him. As young as she was she couldn't truly understand it all, but as a child your love story was something that was within imaginable grounds. So you took advantage of that and taught her all you could about him. Maybe if you started early she could manage to develop past your less refined genes with regards to learning.

You took your time to tell her all that she wished to know and all that you wished to share. Sugarcoating to the maximum, cause that’s what Taehyung would do, but still making sure to keep a coherent timeline. One specific day you are unable to answer her question.

"Wh–why did dad break the promish?"

You had to fight long and hard with your tear ducts. Never had you cried in front her and you didn't intend to do it anytime soon.

In fact in one way or the other, Taehyung hadn't lied about keeping his promise. He had omitted some important specifics but he hadn't completely been untruthful. He said a lifetime and he would give you a lifetime. It just happened to be one where he wasn't always there, present by your side. 

However he would always get up to see you rise, and always say goodbye as he sets down to give place for lonely nights. And on all of those goodbyes unlike the one where he left you for the first and last time, you could swear that in bed with your child pressed to your chest, you could feel and hear his sunset heartbeat as clear and strong as the rays of a certain purple sun, your only one. Sun rays filled with his most cherished truth: 

‘I will turn purple when i miss you and to say i love you’.

Posted: May 28, 2020

[lennydaisy]

EPIPHANY SERIES // OUTER BANKS // CHAPTER THREE.

(n.) a moment when you suddenly feel that you understand. or suddenly become conscious of something that is very important to you.

              “Care to seize the day, my friend?”

Outer Banks                                                                                                                  Season 1-                                                                                                                      FEM OC! and ?

Here’s the link to Chapter Two in case you haven’t read it already <3 Check it out!!

Babysitting isn't for everybody. And at the beginning, I didn't think I was for me either. They say every child is different and this job has proved that couldn't be more true. Call it delusion, but I thought babysitting would be the easiest job on the planet.  Getting paid to look after someone's kid for a few hours whilst they run for the hills for a sliver of free time.  Sounds easy enough right?

Wrong!

You need to have thick skin when it comes to babysitting. No matter how much the parents reassure and praise their kid for being a literal angel on earth. That said angel will call you a do-do head at least once whilst simultaneously having a tantrum because you told them no, despite how much they promised that their parents allow them to climb onto of the refrigerator.

The first time I babysat it was actually a baby I was watching. The mom wanted to get out of the house and away from the responsibility of her 6-month-old. She had graciously written up any and every scenario that could play out in the few hours she was gone. And I was feeling confident. Until I wasn't.

They wouldn't stop crying. And their special lamb, that the board told me to give to the baby when they were upset, ran out of batteries, and I couldn't find new ones anywhere.

They refused to eat, just spitting the pureed food back in my face. They also wouldn't keep their socks on and that was the last straw for my sanity. I understood now why the mom had been quick to run out the door.

I ended up calling Kie, begging for her to come and help. I don't know how she understood a word I said, I was practically hyperventilating over the line, staring at the baby who was crawling around in a fit of rage.

Kie was truly a godsend. She somehow fed the baby and managed to get them to sleep before the mom came back. It did result in me splitting my first wage with Kie, but I wasn't complaining, I was just happy that I made it out of that house with just a headache and not an external crisis. Though that did come later.

I've babysat an 8-year-old boy, who ran away from me in the park. I did find him eventually. After giving myself a hairline fracture in my right wrist from climbing the tree he got stuck in.

I've babysat animals before. That wasn't part of my non-existing contract, but the way they spoke about their pets was very humanlike. It didn't end well for me, it never does. It resulted in me holding four leashes of four overly excited Komodo Dragons. Just kidding. The refused to move and lacked any type of emotion.

'I took you guys to the beach, be grateful.'

Now, I know what you're thinking, Komodo Dragons? Aren't those Illegal to have as pets? The answer to that question is yes! But I didn't know that. Just imagine Shoupe's face when he saw me practically dragging not one, but four, exotic animals across the boneyard. It looked suspicious is all I'm going to say.

Turns out the two guys who asked me to babysit their dragons for them we're smugglers who purchased and sold exotic animals. Not good. Apparently, they were already under the police departments radar and the pair planned on legging it to the in-country hoping to change and clear their names.

That worked out well for them, I think? Nothing else was really mentioned of it after my dad collected me from the police station. They're still on the radar, I hope. If not then there are two brawny men out there that could come and kill me in my sleep for ruining their very illegal business. Look, If you are up to some suspect things, my dumbass is the last person you'd want to be involved. I will unironically get you caught.

That's how Ward Cameron had heard about my very pristine babysitting service. Noticing the little bit of trouble that always seemed to shadow me, he offered to hire me permanently as his youngest daughter's babysitter.

That was three years ago, and here I am still babysitting Wheezie.

"This is stupid," Wheezie complains, trudging behind me, pushing forward the shopping cart filled with lost items that we found on the beach.

Since there is no internet in Kookland, in other words, Wheezie's heart line is currently in critical care. I decided to venture outdoors with her for a change. Instead of just sitting around her three-storey clubhouse or in her four-acre backyard, I thought it would be nice to comb the beach of any debris that the hurricane brought along.  

There was a lot of personal items that washed up on the beach too. Wallets, bags, photographs, books, clothes, wine bottles, footballs, toys, you get the gist. Most of them were ruined, either waterlogged or just completely useless. However, somethings just needed a good clean, and that's what we are going to spend our day doing. There is no way of telling what belongs to who, so we'll just turn them into the lost and found and hope they'll check there if it was important enough to them.

Our two trollies worth didn't even make a dent in the rubble that litters the beach, but it was a start. Say hello to a summer of hard labour.

"There was a hurricane Wheezie, have some sympathy" I roll my eyes at the girl who was less than thrilled about today's plans.

"I do have sympathy," she claims defensively, "It's just pointless.  No one's gonna come looking for this junk," eyes flickering through the findings in her trolley.

What we found isn't pointless. They belong to someone. I think about it the same way I did as a kid when I wanted every single teddy bear in my bed at night so none got left out, so I didn't hurt their feelings. A ragged old soccer ball might look worse for wear, but it has a home and I going to get it back there.

"It's not junk," I object, stopping momentarily, waiting for the stroppy pre-teen to catch up. "Say you lost your phone and someone found it, and returned it too you. You wouldn't be grateful?" I theorize in terms that I know she would understand.

"My dad would just get me a new one," she shrugs nonchalantly, not missing a beat.

"Well, not everyone's fortunate that way," I remind her, blinking suddenly as the sun shines on something reflective in the cart, blinding me.

Reaching towards the sparkling object, I realise that it appears to be quite expensive. It's a glass ashtray. Rubbing the damp sand off the surface, my thumb feels an engraving. In swirly calligraphy, reads the initials:

'S.G'

"I'm sorry," Wheezie apologizes, wincing when she heard my comment, "I didn't think-"

"-It's okay," I smile at the girl. It's not like I don't understand my current life situation. It's pretty shitty, I know, but I live with it. I was born a Pogue for a reason. I wasn't supposed to be born with a silver spoon in my mouth, though that doesn't mean I hate those who are. They have it easier than me and my family, sure, but that's just how it is in the Outer Banks. Some are more fortunate than others. It does, however, leave a sour taste in my mouth that Kook parents will just throw money at there children to get them to shut up, but that's just a Pogue's opinion.

The generators haven't kicked in yet, seeing as though the Camerons security code gate is bouncing loosely against its unlocked hinges. Holding the gate open for Wheezie to push by with her cart, I catch a glimpse of their usually perfectly mowed lawn. Instead, I see plenty of fallen trees and scattered branches, broken plant pots, and ruined garden monuments. It’s not a good look, especially for the high-class Camerons.

That just goes to show, hurricane's don't show mercy on anyone, Kook or not.

As a wise man once said; 'Thanks Agatha, ya batch.'

Parking our carts beside the Cameron's private pool, away from the workers who are just trying to do their jobs. I turn to Wheezie saying, "You go get some soapy water and gloves and I'll empty the carts."

Nodding her head, she rushes into her house, leaving me slightly confused, 'Where did the sudden enthusiasm come from?'

Emptying the carts, I lay out what needs to be cleaned the most: from a bronze candlestick holder to a old, yet unique, shoe buckle, and everything in between. And of course, the ashtray. 

Holding it gently in my palms, legs crossed against the cold slabs, I couldn't help but feel hypnotised by the intricate marks that littered the tray. It truly was a lost treasure.

"I'll take that," announces a voice from behind my hunched figure, jumping when a hand snatches the tray from my grip.

Coming to my feet, I'm ready to snatch the tray back from the sudden thief, but I stop when I realise who it is. Why am I not surprised, I am on their turf.

If it isn't dumb, dumber and dumbest.

Throwing the delicate glass from hand to hand, Rafe lets out a low whistle, "Check the weight on that," he tosses it to Kelce who was standing tall behind him. Kelce nods his head in approval, of course agreeing with what Rafe has to say.

"Who did you steal that from Pogue?" Rafe smirks thinking he has me sussed out. Not wanting to give the satisfaction that him lobbing around the ashtray is causing me heart amputations, I stare him in the eye, "I didn't steal it. I found it."

"You did, did you," he utters pushing past me, his head low with a sick smile, taking in the view of the tressures that I had laid out, "And what about all this? Did you just find that too?"

I say nothing. He knows the answer to that question. I already told him. I don't need to explain myself, especially not to Rafe Cameron.

His eyes flicker over Wheezie and I's findings, taking in each and everyone with a curious eye,  before he cracked, "Bunch of junk," kicking some of the items into the pool.

All I could do was stare. Stare as someone's possessions sunk to the bottom of the marble pool, clashing and crumbling at the foot of Rafe. I fell sick.

His friend just laughs, egging him on. Kelce patting him proudly on the back, handing him back the ashtray. Rafe turns to face me, that smirk never leaving his face, but I can't look at him. I refuse to.

"-Hey Rafe, dad's looking for you," a soft voice breaks the harsh glare that Rafe was sending my way. Nodding his head at the voice, he holds the ashtray out for me to take.

It was too good to be true.

Gullible enough, I reach out for it, only to have it slip through my fingertips. Unable to hear the shattering of the glass as it hits the red slab, my brain refuses to accept fate as I stare down at the shards.

Laughing lightly, I bite my lip, nodding my head understandingly, not expecting anything less from Rafe. A sharp grip on my wrist snaps up my damp eyes, "See you later, Pogue," he hisses in my numb ear, before marching away as though nothing happened.

Sensing a presence, I meet eyes with the 3rd and final member of Rafe's crowd.

Topper.

Smiling lopsidedly at the well put together boy who hasn't moved or spoken since showing up, "Nice friends you've got there Topper," I say monotoned, watching as the boy snaps out of his trance-like state before following Rafe with a blank expression and his tail between his legs.

Shuddering out a breath, I unclip my waist bag and begin to pick up the chunks of glass. Pausing when a pair of clean, white shoes entre my line of sight, "Careful," she crounches down, picking up a shard, placing it into my bag.

A few minutes of picking up the sizable pieces, all that was left on the slabs was a glittering shimmer. Satisfied with what was salvaged, we stand back up to our full height. It was silent. Awkwardly silent.

"Thank you," I shyly say, not at all pleased that the Cameron girl had caught me in a moment of weakness, but at least she didn't mock me for it.

"Your welcome," she smiles before reaching for the tennis rackets she had thrown on the ground before coming to help me. Certain that was the end of the exchange, I turned back to the pool where pieces of metal and loose book pages float carelessly on the surface.

It was just a bunch of junk anyway.

"Hey," Sarah turns, rubbing the back of her head subconsciously, "I'm going to save mice from the birds," she says, pointing out to the bottom of her garden where the surge has blown over, waterlogging the grass.

I just blink at the girl, confused as to why she is even telling me this. Letting out a gentle huff, "I have a spare racket," she offers, holding out one of the two rackets she has in her hands.

Finally catching what she's throwing, I look anywhere but her direction, "I can't," hoping to find a legit excuse as to why I don't want to help her be a hero for mice. Then it hit me, "I'm supposed to be babysitting Wheezie."

My triumphant smile fell as fast as it came when Sarah says, "The powers back on, Wheezie will not willingly come outside again," still holding out the bat for me to take, "Also, my dad's back, so your shift ended about 20 minutes ago."

The more reasons she adds, the more difficult she is making it to say no, and she knows it as well. Her eyebrows dancing lightly as she waves the racket around like a tempting treat.

Giving in, seeing as though I have run out of excuses to give, I grudgingly accept the racket. Maybe her being the sworn enemy of my best friend would have been a good excuse, but I didn't think of that at the time. And what would I of said:

'Oh, I can't help you, even though you selflessly helped me, because my best friend hates your guts.'

What are we, middleschoolers?

I can't help but feel wrong about it though. Like I'm betraying my role as a pogue, as a best friend. But if I feel that way about just being near the kook princess, that doesn't make me any better than her brother. A judgmental prick.

Let's call it paying back a debt. She helped me, now I'll help her. Tit for tat. Anything to make my mind feel at ease.

Walking behind the women who seemed to be on a mission, I'm met by the shrieking flock of overhead seagulls, each nosediving into the burrows, hoping to catch their next meal.

"Operation ‘Save The Mice’ is a go," she announces, holding out her racket waiting for me to tap mines against hers, declaring our battle. I couldn't help but wonder aloud, "Why does this concern us?" tapping my racket unsurely against hers.

Nodding her head in confirmation, she takes her stance, eyes now set on the sky. "You have about as much compassion as a rock," she focusses her swing, untimely missing by a long shot. It was entertaining to watch, I'm not going to lie.

"Tell me something I don't know," I reply, leaping back as the girl swings her racket with vigour and fury at the diving gulls. I can't help but laugh at her attempts.

Having enough of my laughter she turns around, a challenging look flaring in her eyes, "Think you can do any better?"

I just shrug my shoulders, twirling the racket around my fingers, smirking at my trick, but Sarah just looks unimpressed. Watching as a flock of gulls take their position to dive,  I jump as high as possible hoping to swat them away.

At that moment I learned something about human capability. Humans shouldn't jump. Like ever. It's embarrassing. What do we expect? To touch the stars? It's nice to dream and imagine that when we push both legs of the ground, arms reaching high, that we are close to flying. Let's just say my non-existing dream to become an Olympic long jumper has just flushed down the toilet.

Another thing I learned is that when you swing a racket, with force, at a cluster of hungry Seagulls, you will get attacked. The only thing between them and they're next meal is me, and they didn't hesitate to remove me from the situation.

Letting out a shriek, I run away from the burrows, hands protecting my head as the birds swoop at me. Without a second thought, I run behind Sarah, using her as a shield to protect my crouching figure from the diving gulls.

After two minutes of fearing for my life, I can't help but chuckle at myself. And Sarah joins in, shoving my arm lightly, pushing me away from hiding behind her. The sudden shove causes me to stumble over my own feet, falling back on the grass. I couldn't help but laugh more, seeing stars as my stomach cramps in pain.

Sarah holds out her hand, trying her best to keep her balance from laughing, offering to help me up. I accept without a second thought, allowing her to pull me to my feet. Both smiling widely at our stupidity.

"Let's get these birds," I smirked at the girl who nodded her head in agreement. Both of us taking a battle stance, ready to defend our people. Or well Mice. They attack us, we attack them.

A cold shadow suddenly covers the setting sun that was shining against us. We let out another shriek, holding each other as we attempt to duck from the relentless gulls, running away from the burrows.

"Sarah!" I hear someone shout over our screams. Too busy protecting ourselves, we didn't even register the voice, "Mason?!" They ask in confusion.

Finally feeling safe enough from the killer birds, I look up to see Mr Cameron making his way towards us with Lana Grubbs at his side. 'Why is she here?'

"We're busy!" Sarah exclaims, picking up and tossing me the racket I had dropped when I fell, going back to swinging at the birds. She takes one side of the burrows and I take the other, waving around my racket. At this point I don't even care about the mice, those birds attacked me! So, I'm attacking them!

"What are you two doing?" Mr Cameron asks, not understanding why his daughter and his hired babysitter are running around like headless chickens.

"Saving mice," I reply, flashing my eyes over to the man, who stands with an ever so slightly amused look. "The birds are having a field day," Sarah adds, pulling me with her, chasing after the devils in the sky.

"Girls, the birds have to eat too," He implies, but we didn't hear any of it, still aimlessly swinging. "No, it's a mouse genocide out here," Sarah states breathlessly.

"It's the circle of life," Mr Cameron's patience was running thinner, "Now come on, I have a human being-" finally introducing the other presence in the garden. This pauses our attack, both looking apologetically at the lady, "-I'm so sorry. I'm Sarah."

Shaking the ladies hand, "This is Lana Grubbs, Scooter's wife," Mr Cameron introduces, "You were storm prepping with him, right?" he asks his daughter.

"Yeah," she answers, still breathless, "He helped me latch the cabin to the Druthers," nodding her head in the direction of the docked boat at the end of the pier.

'It's a nice boat,' I thought taking in the beauty of the three-story yacht, 'You can't hide money, huh.'

"Last night?"

"Yeah."

"And did he go out after that?"

"From here?"

"Yeah."

"No. Are you crazy? There was a hurricane," Sarah laughs lightly at the thought of someone willingly going out during a storm.'I could think of a few people,'  bringing my attention back to the two adults in front of me.

"Well, did he say where he was going?" Miss Lana asks, her eyes erratic, "Get a phone call or mention anything?" The desperation lacing her voice makes my heart stop with sympathy for the woman.

"He didn't say anything to me," Sarah shakes her head, her tone not hiding her pity for the lady.

"What about you Mason?" Mr Cameron asks me, "Have you seen Scooter recently?" his questions sparking Miss Lana to look my way, her eyes glistening with withering hope.

"The last I saw of him was when Pope and I delivered to your house," regret instantly hit me, as I had to be the bearer of bad news. It was true though. The last time I saw Scooter was earlier this week when he opened the door for his groceries. I've seen him at Save-A-Lot a few times, but that was months ago when I had to tell him to leave because other customers were complaining that he was bothering them for money.

"I'm sorry," I apologise to the lady who just shakes her head, looking at the ground.

"Is he okay?" Sarah asks her dad who just nods, wrapping an arm around Miss Lana, "He's absolutely fine," he reassures Sarah, before guiding the dazed woman back towards the house.

"Oh!" I hear Mr Cameron exclaim, spinning round to face me, digging through his pockets, "Thank you for watching Wheezie today," he says, placing a brown envelope in my hand.

"Thank you, sir," I smile with gratitude as he makes his leave again.

Sighing, I slap the envelope a few times in my hand, turn back to a Sarah. I go to snap her out of her daydream, but get interrupted by a distant voice, "Hey Sarah!"

At the top of the disarranged lawn stood a scornful Topper, hands in his pockets as he looks down on us, making his way over at a snail pace.

"You better go," I flick my head in the direction of her boyfriend whose eyes are slitted with distaste. Holding out the racket for her to take, she nods her head and makes her way over to Topper, not even sparing me a glance.

I get it.

"I want you to stay away from that pogue, alright?" I hear him utter not so quietly under his breath, knowing fine well that I'm still able to hear him. I pay him no mind, finding my own way out. That's what he wants. Attention. That's always been what Toppers wants. And I'm not going to give him that satisfaction. Not anymore.

Humming a gentle tune under my breath as I make my way towards the gate. I double-take when I spot a hunched figure sitting by the pool, "Wheezie?"

My sudden appearance spooking her as she ripped the earphones out from her ears, the buds projecting a catchy pop beat. The girl sat on the cold slabs, clad in yellow rubber gloves and safety goggles, surrounded my various cleaning tools: a basin of soapy water, a toothbrush, a blow torch?

"What are you doing?" I ask sceptically, making my way towards her as she stuttered over her words before giving up with a sigh.

"I heard what Rafe said," she admits, her voice low as though afraid to speak out against her brother. That's the Rafe effect. He gets off on it. Knowing that everyone around him, his family included, is too scared to tell him he's a mess with even messier opinions. "And it not true," she adds.

Wheezie walks over, holding out the shoe buckle that we found on the beach. The once rusted and unrecognisable buckle now sparkled a blinding silver, and despite its eroded corners, it was still in great condition, "Pretty, right?" she notices my expression, "That's not the best part," she claims, turning over the buckle,  holding it out of me to take.

Engraved on the silver base scribed, 'Made in Occupied Japan.'

"I couldn't save everything, like books and stuff, but I tried my best. I even made a box and everything," She rambles, rushing over to pick up the homemade box that read, "Lost and Found," painted in bold, pink lettering. In the box sat: a polished pin, the candlestick holder, a handful of leather wallets and all the other salvageable treasure that we found. And now the shoe buckle.

"It's not junk," she says, passing me the box, "They belong to someone and I hope they find them," she says, rubbing the back of her tinted red neck, finally understanding why I had her help me in the first place.

It's not junk.

I'm not great when it comes to other peoples emotions. They make me want to shrivel up and go invisible, but I can't help but admire the girls change of heart, but I'm still awkward so, I just ruffle her hair, hoping the annoying act conveys my gratitude.

Having enough of me for one day, Wheezie pushes me toward the gate, practically kicking me out. "See you next time kid," I shout over my shoulder, smiling as her face grovels at the word 'kid'.

Basking at my long journey home, I give up attempting to balance the light box in my arms. I place it on the sidewalk, unzipping my waist bag wanting to tuck the brown envelope, that I was struggling to hold, away. 

The clattering of glass pauses my actions. Reaching in, I pick out a small piece, watching as the setting sun danced across the surface, shining every colour of the rainbow onto the tarmac.

'S.G'

Chapter Three: FIN!

I really enjoyed writing this chapter, even though it’s kind of filler. Kie would be proud of Mason for beach combing, her tendencies are rubbing off on her.

I choose for Mason not to go to the motel because that’s just what I choose, I don’t really have a reason why. Well I do, but I can’t tell you yet. You’ll find out eventually, if my idea goes to plan...

So we learned about Mason very perfessional babysitting service. Also I know that Rafe is, y’know bad, but I’m excited to explore Mason’s relationship with him. It will be interesting to write!

What did you think?

I’m really excited to write the next chapter. Mason is going to get buzzed.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter <3

Also, if anyone would like to be tagged in future chapters, just let me know and I’ll for sure do that!

*TAGLIST*

@xshinytrashcanx​ @prejudic3​ @annoylinglyaries​

[thatoneitaliangirl]

Obey Me! Soulmate AU’!~ Leviathan

This one I really like! Its a bit longer than the other two. Also, I’m confirming here and now that I’m definitely making part two’s because this one is far from over! OH! And SPOILERS FOR THE GAME I just got to the part where they explain that Satan was born from Lucifer’s anger, like- wasn’t expecting that! I mean, I remember them mentioning that Satan wasn’t there when they were angles, but I never thought he was born that way. Interesting!~ Also also, I’m not sure if I wrote Satan’s character all that well. He’s next up and I’m a bit nervous about writing for him, but I’ll do my best!! 

Link to Opening Paragraph. 

Leviathan

Having spent most of the day searching for Mammon's soulmate, the seven brothers reluctantly went back to the Devildom to regain strength and think of a more efficient way of searching for the next day. And take showers, because, as Asmodeus had stated previously, the sun was HOT. Nervousness wracked Leviathan's body to the point where he couldn't even work up the nerve to play a video game.

All he could do was lay on his bed and stare at the ceiling, thinking about what his soulmate would be like. Lucifer's was a beautiful, energetic ghost hunter with a tendency to babble, Mammon's was their human exchange student, though there was no surprise there. The two of them were crushing so hard on each other, that the other brothers had almost broken a few times and shoved them in a closet together.

Or maybe that was just Levi? He'd seen it in a couple of anime before and in the end, the two lovers always end up confessing and sharing their first kiss. Was that what meeting his soulmate was gonna be like? Poor Levi barely slept a wink that night. And now, as the other brothers discuss plans for the new day, he still can't think about anything but his soulmate. What is she gonna be like? Will she like anime and manga just like him? Or will she be a boring normie like his brothers?

She is supposed to be his soulmate, so it would really suck if she didn't like Ruri-chan! What if she's never even heard of anime? Then he gets to teach her all about it! "Levi, are you even listening?" Levi jumps, not expecting to hear Lucifer's voice calling out his name. Usually, that means something bad is about to happen . . . "Uh, no, I spaced out." Lucifer sighs.

"As I was saying, Lord Diavolo has made special arrangements for us in the human world. Given his kind and generous nature, he has called in a few favors to help us navigate the human world much faster and through more secretive means. Us getting caught could mean exposure of both the Devildom and Magic and could have devastating effects." "How kind of Lord Diavolo to grant his favorite such luxuries," Satan speaks up as he takes a sip of his beverage.

"Yes. Lord Diavolo's generosity knows no bounds. Now, with that settled, we leave in an hour. I suggest you get your ducks in a row and prepare yourselves. Levi, we find your soulmate next." They leave the breakfast table one by one, all heading to their respective rooms to 'prepare', whatever that means. Levi sure doesn't know what it means.

Does he shower again? Change his clothes? Would he look more presentable in his school uniform or his normal clothes? What if she hates him . . . I mean, he is an otaku. While he takes pride in that, he's not oblivious to the negativity otaku's receive in the human world.

They're generally looked down upon, and though he can take the criticism from his brothers, from the girl that's supposed to love him . . . He doesn't know if he can handle that. Taking his handheld gaming device off its charger, Levi places it into a small bag along with extra games and a manga to read in case he gets bored. Who knows how long their gonna be in the human world this time. Should he take a change of clothes?

Deciding it best, he folds up some clothes and places them into the bag and throws it over his shoulder. He doesn't think that it's been an hour, maybe twenty minutes, but he heads out towards the dining room anyway and places his stuff down. A loud commotion in the kitchen spikes his curiosity, so he follows the noise to find his three brothers, Mammon, Satan, and Beelzebub.

"What's going on?" Satan looks up at Levi with anger in his eyes. Levi has known his brother long enough to not take it personally. The anger is not directed towards him. "What's going on is that the 'help' Lord Diavolo gave Lucifer is a portal key!" Satan sighs at Levi's confused face.

"It's a key that allows us to go anywhere in the human world we want. I've been trying to get my hands on one for years, and now I find out that Lord Diavolo has had one just laying on his desk this whole time?!" He begins to pace, a sure sign that his anger is getting out of control. It's his attempt to try and calm himself before things escalate.

"The worst part is that he didn't even know what it was until that sneaky little butler of his told him to give it to Lucifer!" Mammon, not quite understanding that this was Satan's time to rant, cuts in. "What's so special about it anyway? Sure, it gets us to where we're going, but why do you find it so important?

The only use it could ever have to me is a pretty penny at the pawnshop!" He says, laughing. Satan glares at him. "It's not because it's worth something that I want it. It's because its made with one of the purest forms of magic from the human world! Not even Soloman would be able to comprehend the intricacies it takes to make such an item.

It's the craftsmanship, the number of years a human puts into making the keys, the effort they exert! A fragile human making something so powerful and beautiful? Hardly heard of!" Levi rolls his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me! How many times have you gone off on a tangent about some video game and forced all of us to listen?" Levi scoffs.

"That's different!" "Not really . . . " The sixth brother Beelzebub speaks up, crumbs falling from his mouth. "Whatever! It doesn't matter anyway. All that does matter is that we have the key now. The faster we find our . . . Soulmates, the better." Mammon laughs obnoxiously while sitting on the counter.

"Good for you, guys! I think I'm gonna hit up a human world casino! My luck seems to be off the walls, so naturally, I'm gonna bring home some intense bacon!" "Absolutely not." The brother's pale as the stern voice of Lucifer breaks through Mammon's stupid laugh. The second-born grunts. "And why not? I found my human!"

"And so have I, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you wander around the human world by yourself. And that goes for everybody. You are all going no matter who you find, so I can keep my eyes on you at all times. Understood?" Satan tsks, and crosses his arms, still slightly ticked off about the key. But, they all agree, mostly because Mammon set loose in the human world sounds like the Biblical Apocolypse.

After the seven brothers finish up getting ready, Lucifer gathers them in the dining room. "This key was given to us by Lord Diavolo. It's true that he . . . Didn't actually know what it did . . . But none the less, we should still keep is safe to return it to him when we're done. Any questions?" The brothers shake their heads, Satan still upset but not wanting to cause another argument.

"Good. Levi, I believe it is your turn." Lucifer hands a confused Levi the shiny golden key. With a deep breath, Levi enters the key into the lock on the kitchen door (put there by Lucifer when Beel's sleep-eating was bad a few years ago) and thinks of a place. A lab of some sort . . . With white walls and lots of windows. Leviathan turns the key and opens the door, revealing crispt white walls and blue-tiled floors.

They all enter, skeptical of where exactly the key led them. "What is this place?" Mammon wonders, scrunching his nose. "It smells terrible." "Sorry, sorry! That would be the bleach!" A voice with an English accent speaks from down the hall and startles them.

"_____ and Joshua spilled a whole tub of vinegar in the main hall yesterday and bleach seems to be the only thing that gets rid of the smell." A man wearing a long white coat comes walking out of one of the rooms along the long hallway and extends his hand.

Lucifer shakes it hesitantly. The man pushes up his smart-looking glasses and smiles at the brothers. "My name is Damian, and I run this floor of Greenville Labs. What can I do for you gentleman?" Levi steps forward, slightly nervous. "We're looking for someone . . . I think you just mentioned her." "_____?" Levi nods.

"Ahh, what has she done this time?" Damian shakes his head and gestures for the men the follow him to the room he had just come out of. "Whatever it is, I'll pay for the damages. No need to get the cops involved."

Levi scratches the back fo his neck and laughs nervously. What kind of person is this girl? "Actually, she didn't do anything . . ." "Oh? Well, that's good. You're probably here about her project then?" "No-" "Yes, that's exactly why we're here." Lucifer agrees, placing his hand on Levi's shoulder.

"Good, good! Uh, disregard what I said before then hehe. They are good kids! When they want to be." The sound of a door slamming and heavy footsteps echo in the hall as Damian's eyes widen. "Oh, Be careful, I just washed the- floor . . ." A young boy comes running in and slips, falling on his backside.

"Ha! Dumbass- gah!" A girl walks in, slipping and falling in the same spot. Damian sighs. "I present to you, Dumb and Dumber." A hand reaches up from the floor and slams on the desk, pulling the girl up.

"What does that make you, Damian? Dumbest?" She pulls herself up the rest of the way and straightens out her clothes. "I mean, who washes the floor and DOESN'T put a wet floor sign!" "To be fair, the only reason it HAD to be washed was because of that rediculous stunt you and Joshua pulled!"

"I thought that was hilarious actually," Joshua says, standing up and leaning on _____. This makes Leviathan's blood boil. He can feel it in his bones; this girl is his soulmate. Who does this normie think he is, touching HIS soulmate?!

"Whatever, I've got stuff to do, levels to beat, Joshua to leave crying like a little baby after I kick his ass in Super Smash Bros. Later losers!" _____ pulls Joshua by the hand out of the lab. Lucifer sighs. This ones gonna be a handful.

[bookdragonlibrary]

Second Tuesday YJ appreciation

1-3 ; 4-6 ; 7-9 ; 10-13 ; 14-16 ; 17 ; 18 ; 19 ; 20 ; 21 ; 22 ; 23 ; 24-26

—————————— First Impression

- Is that... a Reach ship? Could it be linked to the machine? It’s fonctionning, nothing good...

- 4 days later. 

- I love how Garfield is respectful and aknowledges Kaldur and M’gann efforts despite the situation. Batman should take him as an example...

- A public Team. So is that what he had in mind in the previous episode? I’m relieved. So much clever that what I thought! But the bad guys will probably guess if there is a public Team, there also is a covert Team. Not all of them were aware of this...

- Kaldur being a protective Big Brother :)

- Lex restricted even more the JL? What does he want them to do? Charity missions and gala?

- Strikes against meta people :( Not really surprising as we have strikes against POC and queer people... Humankind really doesn’t like difference, does they? :(

- Of course bad guys would find a way to make profit of humans. We already do it with pollution,

- Gar has good points actually! My boy had mature so well!

- It’s me or Traci is drown way differently when she is in civics and hero costume? Her face seems different.

- It’s them at the end of the previous episode! And there’s a picture with Gar and Perdita. #RelationshipGoals I agree!

- “We’re gonna start a revolution! A... a small one anyway.” xD It would be a revolution in YJ verse and against the Light actually :)

- “Get on board or get out of the way!” xD And Conner is not really proud about this and probably wonders who told this to Gar xD Who bet Wally?

- “Green skin. Can’t hide.” He’s already a famous star anyway. But easily recognizable because of it.

- “Public doesn’t always get I’m a different guy.” Aw sweetie :( 

- “They already know what I have become. Now I want to show them who I have become.” So powerful :)

- “And there were no way I was gonna let this be a no girl squad.” / “Group needed a little color.” Seriously writers? Can’t they have real character motivation? Like Cassie wanting to be aknowledged as a true hero (to show her growth since her insecurities in season 2) or Virgil wanted to be known as a hero (since in the previous episode the girl didn’t know Static). This kind of comments are in the 4th wall dimension, something the fans see, not something the writers say to show they have included diversity in their characters. It’s something you show, not tell, or it doesn’t have the same impact on the fans. 

- But I like Jaime and Virgil friendship

- “Not ready. Noy yet.” That would also have been a great occasion to give them character development. Like Forager is supposed to be dead, Terra still copes with her abduction and Traci doesn’t trust her control on her powers yet (her hero insecurities) and develop why Halo isn’t ready yet. 

“Guessing we’re too old. Whoa. When did that happen?” Technically Conner is 8 so he can still be part of their Team and I would have love Artemis being with them as their Team lack of martial arts :)

- So it’s Teen Titans Tower but in Hollywood instead of San Francisco? And it’s called the Hub.

- Wait... where’s Traci? I know she’s the only one who isn’t part of the Outsiders or lives there but still!

- “This is so crash!” I agree Bart!

- “Finally! I mean: thank you!” Brion is so glad to have his own personal space again :) The bioship should have felt pretty small compared to his room in a royal palace.

- “Who’s paying for all this?” “Gretchen Goode.” xD

- “Now that what I call payback!” “This is a sympathy bump.” I love Cassie and Virgil frienship! Finally a girl and boy being BF without love involved! :D Please, writers, let’s them stay BF! :( I want Cassie to give poor flirty advice to Virgil when he meet a girl he like xD But fans, still feel free to ship them ;)

- Poor Forager :( 

- “No way 6 teenagers are gonna to live here alone and unsurpervised.” *she says while looking at Violet and Brion* “Yeah, who knows what might happen?” Those two make love (with their respective boyfriend) in the Cave, didn’t they?

- “I would be happy, honored to act as a den mother.” Helga, stop saying honored, that’s weird and suspicious... What everyone else doesn’t find it suspicious?!

- 3 days later. It feels like it’s the same day, doesn’t it?

- Nowadays teenagers reflex: record it before to go in safety...

- Does he... play against himself? Super cute!

- EyeSpasm? What kind of technology is that? Something to make livestream? I don’t like the “Spasm” on it... Look like Granny’s goggles to me...

 - So the Reach ship makes a move 6 days after?

- “Mother of God!” Brion is still so funny while he’s angry xD

- “No drill, the Reach are back!” “No, just no!” My poor babies, please no more trauma for them :( maybe we’ll have flashbacks of Bart’s past and Jaime’s while on mode?

- Kaldur is so great and... beaten to easily? I know it’s Reach tech but I thought he would manage longer as he put Blue inconscious in season 2...

- He’s DEAD? No, he’s ok! Don’t give me heart attack like that! I had enough with Forager already!

- “Chill, Aquaman!” Is that supposed to be a joke? You know, because it’s winter and/or Kaldur is Atlantean.

- *fangirl laugh* I hated that... I just hope she won’t get hurt because the fangirling makes people dumber...

- “My spectacles” Is that an old word for glasses? “Gratitude.” This girl definitely has a high rank vocabulary.

- “Stay calm, citizen, and stay inside.” Cassie feels a little unease and  in a confident character :) Not confortable yet with speaking with the population yet :)

- “Superamalgamated.” No clue of what she said...

- Love that Virgil has a techonological plateform now :) 

- Helga seems so proud of Brion :) Ok, maybe she’s not evil, but just overprotective like I thought...

- “Please, miss, you must get to cover.” Give up, Kal, she’s a teenager AND a fangirl, no way she stay out of danger...

- Wait, why Joan is at hospital? What happened to her? :(

- Aw... Ed showing the Team to his proteges :3 And Wendy is laughing!

- “Maybe it was a bad idea to do this in mid-air.” You think? Didn’t Scarab tell you about this? “This is a really bad idea, Jaime Reyes. You should...” “Don’t worry, Scarab, I’ll handle this!” By the way, why we don’t hear him? It would be interesting to have his pov since it’s the Reach in front of them!

- The scream doesn’t seem to be Jaime’s voice but Brion’s...

- Aw... Mom Arty is sad they’re leaving :( Or did they already have? Violet is crying :( “One last sleepover.” They haven’t leave yet.

- So cool Gar is introducing his team :)

- The Sheriff is funny but what kind of American accent is that? Is it cliché? I find it annoying :/ (no offense, it’s just difficult to understand)

- “We prefer protégé.” = “don’t call us sidekicks!” in season 1 xD But more diplomatic.

- Whisper A’Daire and Intergang are back! Blue already met her in season 2 with Superboy. And here are Scorpia A’Daire (her little sister I guess?) and Cairo Defrey. Is she from Egypt? Is she old or does she have metapowers with her white hair?

- Scooby Doo vibes? I mean the Team appeared in an episode, so why not? Wait, so the two girls are from Scooby Doo Team too? (Don’t know their names in English...)

- This bip doesn’t look good... The big ship is awake again! So the Reach will come? But it seems pretty empty so? Did the signal activate because of Whisper’s line? As she said they didn’t succeed?

- “Look what they’ve done to our library!” It’s just a glass sir, pretty sure it’s no big deal compared to a destroyed city... Have you seen Central City after Neutron?

- Tommi Tompkins, sound like a boy name... Wait! Is Tommi transwoman and his dad just use his dead/birth name? He’s really a jerk :( 

- He’s on Lex Luthor’s side, that’s why...

- The ship is huge! Is it the same than where the heroes and Runaways were abducted in season 2?

 “This is so moded!” “No way...” “Yes way! I mean: look at us! We’re in chackles!” They still have the same dynamic! :’)

- When the bad guys told you to call the JL, you know you’re in trouble! Except if you’re a dumb jerk...

- He called the US Air Forces. Is he dumb or... No, there’s no other explanation that stupidity (I mean a lack of knowledge, but essentially common sense...)

- And... they’re dead... Mayor, your stupidity caused two deaths (maybe 4?) of soldiers. Are you proud? Remorsed? “No, no, no!’ He’s a stubborn dumb jerk, isn’t he?

- “Mine aren’t (tied). Just handcuffled.” and they break free so easily it’s funny xD Why do you think they use collar in Belle Reve, stupid mayor?

- Tara’s flashbacks are heartbreaking :( She couldn’t see her parents again after her kidnapping :( 

- “Do you see how brave Tara and Violet are? You can be brave like them.” *Violet hides because of thunder* It was sweet and funny :) And Artemis is educating Lian to be brave like her parents and auntie :)

- Big sisters Artemis and Tara :) It’s rare to see Tara smiling, those family moments do good to her :) 

- Gar still likes to perch on people’s shoulder :) 

- “No baddies, just their bones.” Bart, the Reach are insect-base, they don’t have bones... Wait, could be the bones of the abducted teens in season 2 who didn’t have the metagene? Virgil said there were kids they never saw again and they were only 5: the Runaways plus Chimmer. Where were the other kidnapped kids? Dead. And that won’t make any sense the Reach stay on that ship to die at the end of season 2... And the Team didn’t kill anyone while saving the abductees. So yeah, it have to be the murdered abducted kids :’( 

- “bad news, there are still militaries air force.” The mayor is really stupid or the soliders didn’t get the memo their colleagues are dead in one blow?

- “Good news.” “Please no bad news, Please no bad news.” “Bad news.” “Urg!” xD

- Virgil’s sarcastis comments are back! xD

- Gar still has clever solutions :) 

- Of course, Ed is worried :) And Wendy doesn’t have the collar anymore! The Team did inspire her! :D 

- Joan :( 

- Big Bro Kaldur is so proud of them!

- “No concept of how much that thing is gonna cost to get out of my lake?” Sorry, mayor, we thought Brooklyn was a democraty, not Tompkins’ kingdom... And the taxes aren’t your money either but serve the city... --’

- “A Young Justice League” that a recall of the show title, isn’t it?

- “We are all Outsiders.” Catchy indeed!

- “Relax, your time will come.” Tara can’t wait to act, but against what? against who? Those family moments didn’t stop Tara for working with Slade :( 

- Is she looking at Lian? Why? :o :(

- So the ship was indeed empty for 2 years. Man, Jaime and Bart would be so mad at them when they’ll learn the Anti-Light thing and that they knew there were no Reach on it... 

- Lag’aan! Is still in the hero game! Only for Atlantis or he’s part of the League now?

- Oracle!

- So Kal was indeed holding back!

- Who is the second guy? He looks like Garth’s old brother. Edit: name’s Wyynde. he appeared in the tie-comics. 

- “I don’t think he’s ready for that, for this.” M’gann also talks about the lies and secrets the Anti-Light has to come up with. She doesn’t want that responsibility and burden on her brother’s shoulder. And maybe fears his reaction to this.

- What is the Anti-Light mission?

- Brucely and Wally plushie! Wait... is that text sounds? This’s Tara but where is... In Lian’s room? In her own room? Are they sleeping in the same room just like Violet and Artemis?

[sumukhcomedy]

Should We Silence Bad Comedy?

I stopped writing in this at the end of last year mostly because I was sick about writing about comedy. This is time-consuming and I had other things to work on and the criticism and opinions of comedy have started to feel far more hack than comedy itself can be. But going on the road and doing comedy this past year, a number of different comedians and audience members brought up this blog and so I figured that, when I felt like it, I’d still post in this again. As you’ll see, given the numerous links to previous essays I’ve written, I’m writing yet again about topics I’ve already written about before but it’s only because comedy, comedians, and the mostly meaningless debate over it continues to get worse.

The most recent debates conjure up what continues to be the crux of comedy’s biggest current issue with simple terms like “free speech,” “PC,” “woke,” etc. just being thrown around with little care for an in-depth analysis of what these mean and how they mean different things to different people. This rears its head yet again with the recent Netflix specials of Dave Chappelle and Bill Burr and the firing of Shane Gillis by Saturday Night Live. It’s a strange moment in which those at the top of stand-up comedy and certain comedians on the rise are being lumped together over these issues and it’s created a muddied mess. The perspective I have and that I wish others had was that we should all think deeper on this and fall somewhere in the middle.

I’m not going to get much into the Shane Gillis situation mostly because I don’t care. I didn’t read much about it and I got the gist of what happened and that’s all that’s really needed at this point in a case of creating something likely very stupid that masks itself as comedy. If you’re in comedy long enough, you understand that it’s a business like everything else. For as “unique” or “alternative” or “fearless” as your comedy may be or you perceive it to be, it still will be scrutinized by corporate interests. SNL still has to abide by the cultural phenomenon it has become and that it is part of a corporate juggernaut. All Gillis had to do was play the usual card that comes with public relations and apologize in an appropriate manner. As most stories do, this would have all blown over and been forgotten about in a week or less. He chose not to apologize appropriately. He was fired as a result. That was his choice to double down on what seems to be both his past and his present and his support of what I can only perceive to be bad, unfunny, and uncreative comedy.

Chappelle and Burr are at a different level because they’ve earned it and, unfortunately, they get a huge brunt of it because they are famous and the expectations associated with them are so high. Why Chappelle doubled down on making jokes at the expense of the trans community or why he did a hack impression of a Chinese man in his most recent Netflix special is beyond me. Why Burr chooses to rail yet again at audiences being offended by what he says is beyond me as well especially when he’s mentioned this in a previous special in a much funnier manner. It seems only like they’ve lived at the top in comedy for so long and are now irritated by unnecessary criticism. In some sense, it’s understandable. But, for the most part, it seems just as unnecessary as the poor criticism. Why create uninventive comedy based out of anger towards audiences that, for whatever reason, don’t like you anyway rather than create comedy that’s observational and hilarious and was what made you considered the best in the business? I have no clue but this is at least where part of the material in Chappelle and Burr’s recent specials are at. 

                               Sprinkle some crack on this impression.

But the types of individuals that seem to draw the ire of Chappelle and Burr and went after Gillis as well are equally bizarre to me. The fact that our culture has some sort of desire to tear down comedy or that it should fit some sort of “good” and “sensitive” mold for all is strange as well. It speaks to these individuals not actually having a knowledge of how comedy, business, and most of this country operates. Forcing someone into experiencing how comedy should be experienced and what kind of comedy they are allowed to like doesn’t change them. Making an effort to “cancel” a person simply because their comedy is in poor taste doesn’t particularly resolve anything other than to embolden those that support such bad comedy. This, to me, isn’t the way to change minds, implement diverse perspectives, or educate people in comedy. But, I’m not the loudest person in the room or a part of the masses of either side in this issue. Most sound and reasonable comedians and audience members aren’t a part of this conversation because we’re, shockingly, creating and enjoying good comedy. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Chappelle is one of the greats to me. Killin’ Them Softly was one of, if not the, most influential comedy specials on me. I still love him and thinks he’s hilarious. It doesn’t mean that I support his jokes about the trans community or find them funny. It doesn’t mean I understand why he did or talked about some of the things he talked about in his most recent special. As friend Curtis Cook put it best on Twitter, “Dave Chappelle is kinda my idol ‘cause it’s always been my goal to walk away from 50 million dollars after realizing audiences are laughing in a way that belittles the struggles of my people then return a decade later to make that money back by belittling the struggles of others.” I can’t explain why Chappelle said or does what he does on a stage now but it’s his right he’s earned and there’s certainly a lot of money involved in it.

Regardless, I also laughed hard at certain parts in his special. The stuff about R. Kelly, gun control, and Jussie Smollett were vintage Chappelle to me. Is it his best special? No. Is he becoming old and detached? Likely. Does it mean I dislike him and kick his entire comedy to the curb? (No, or at least not yet unless some horrible, illegal stuff comes out about him). The same goes for Burr.

Gillis, on the other hand, was fired for statements he said that have been around for as long as comedy has existed. Bad comedy that punches down, is uninventive, and involves slurs will persist. I can say that because I have traveled the country for over a decade doing stand-up comedy and the audiences for that are there. They are there because people’s perspectives on comedy still are mostly in that realm either because they haven’t been exposed much to quality, creative comedy, they haven’t gone out of their comfort zone in life or comedy so bad comedy is all they know, or they are, frankly, just dumb people. But, as I mentioned, I don’t think you have the potential for changing people with comedy by forcing a certain type of experience on them. You change them by providing them with a different option and hope they enjoy it and learn from it. In many cases, they do not, but when they do, it’s far more rewarding as a performer to do that than to spend time making sure some guy you don’t know who probably sucks at comedy anyway gets fired from a job.

In my approach to comedy, I want to experience as many different types of audiences as possible. That’s just me. Comedy has always been segregated because our nation is still unraveling from a history of segregation. And I can at least say, having the opportunity to perform in a variety of different places, that there are equal amounts of bad comedy in all of them. There is bad comedy in comedy clubs (most of it). There is bad comedy in small towns (most of it). There is bad comedy in corporate events (most of it). There is bad comedy in alternative rooms (most of it). There is bad “ethnic” comedy (most of it). Maybe my comedy is bad to you, too! That’s just part of it all. And as we supposedly attempt progression in society, through the Internet and this discussion and debate on comedy, we are actually segregating ourselves even more than how segregated comedy rooms already are.

Look, I’ve been shit on for my race and who I am my entire life. I’ve been told by bookers that my material will “sail over their audience’s heads.” I’ve also been booked where I watched my comedy “sail over an audience’s head” and bomb horribly. I’ve also been booked and appreciated immensely by audiences. I’ve had the opportunity to headline really great rooms and open for really great comedians that I respect and that are now friends. All of that doesn’t happen without allowing myself to experience all aspects of comedy, take some shit and unnecessary criticism in life and comedy, and be better personally for it. Whether audiences will be better for it is up to them. Whether my fellow comedians choose to do this and try to be better is up to them as well. But, right now, we’re just in a vicious circle (thanks Dane Cook!) over this topic of bad comedy and the defense of bad comedy that makes all of comedy look dumber than its audiences. From my perspective, we shouldn’t silence bad comedy. It only energizes those that love and defend it. We should actually be continuing to create better comedy than it and hope it can change others. It probably won’t but whatever. It’s better than bitching constantly about the same topics over and over again but, then again, that appears to be what we’re fighting over in comedy: the ability to tell hacky stuff in our specific comedy room of choice and defend those we don’t even know to be able to do the same thing.

Laughter is a unique thing because it’s an emotion we can all have as humans. We all can experience it in whatever way we like and we’re bonded together by it. What prompts laughter for each person is different just as what leads to our other emotions are different as well among each of us. We shouldn’t condemn people for laughing just as we shouldn’t condemn them for crying or getting angry at a moment they likely shouldn’t have. We should try to educate them or make them laugh at something better just as we try to make our other emotions like sadness or anger better in other parts of our lives. If trying to make better comedy or these types of people laugh fails, then we move on. They’re left to live in whatever hole they would like with comedy. But there are plenty of people open to being better with comedy. Unfortunately, for now, comedians and their audiences are so caught up in a defense or condemnation of comedy in its most uncreative forms that they aren’t actually looking at why they appreciate comedy to begin with.

[the-working-class-guide-to-films]

Green Book

How does a guy who has made such hits as: Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, Shallow Hal; go and make something like the Green Book. Decent films, but they’re trash. They’re good trash, but nonetheless, trash. The Green Book was such a profound film, that I’m struggling to come to terms with the fact that Peter Farrelly, who directed this, also directed Movie 43, voted one of the worst films ever made. 

Green Book is about the famous black jazz artist, Dom Shirley, who hires Tony Vallelonga an Italian to be his bodyguard/driver whilst Dom tours the deep south of America with his band. Both are very different characters, Dom being reserved and particular, Tony, loud and abrasive, and also not a fan of black people in general, especially when he is bossed around by one.  As the film continues, we see how they both help each other to become a more rounded person, and how Tony learns to become a more thoughtful...well he stops being a racist.  

I found the film very enjoyable. I thought both Viggo Mortensen as Tony and Mahershala Ali as Dom were brilliant. There chemistry on screen really made the audience connect to the characters, both fantastic. I can’t judge Adam Driver as I never saw BlacKKKlansman, but Ali from the others I have seen should win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Viggo has it tougher, although he was great, I still think Bale in Vice should win Best Actor, he was exceptional. Whilst the two actors drove the story forward and really made it enjoyable, they weren’t the only things. The story was well controlled and the pacing was just right. I’ve heard criticisms of the film saying it wasn’t hard hitting enough. I thought for the 12A rating it was dark enough to give the message without showing too much violence. It obviously easily could’ve done more in that respect, but the film wasn’t showing the effect of racism on a country-wide scale, but on the personal level between the two friends. It done enough to show that, without being too much. 

(i know this gif has absolutely nothing to do with Green Book, but man, Viggo, I love you)

I really loved everything about this movie, however it didn’t blow me away. It did feel a little bit too nice. That’s not meant to sound contradicting to my previous point, but I just felt something was missing from this film to make it really special. To give it 5 out of of 5 y’know. 

4/5 There were a lot of good things about this movie. The story was powerful and got it’s message about understanding and welcoming without ramming it down your throat. Mortensen and Ali were both fantastic however and all credit should go to them for making this movie as good as it was.

p.s I’ve been contemplating doing this p.s, I still don’t know if I will or not. But I saw this film the day after the Liam Neeson fiasco. And I just wanted to say how important it is to talk and have conversations. This isn’t the best platform, because your point will never come across as you want it to. You can’t explain it as well as you would talking about this, so bear with. What this film done well was show that Viggo had racist ideas, it showed him putting two drinking glasses in a bin because black people drunk from them. We can all agree that’s racist right. By the end of the 2 hour film, and the journey that these two completely opposite men went on, Viggo changed. He wanted more than anything to be with his new friend, a black man. He invites him to dinner, and is torn up with him not being there. He is so happy when he does show up. He’s a different man. He’s not the man now who would put drinking glasses in the bin because a black man drunk from them. He’s changed for the good.

Liam Neeson had racist thoughts. He may not be a racist man now, but he did have racist thoughts 40 years ago. What’s important is that he has changed and is ashamed of his irrational thinking. I think it is so important that these conversations are held. It offers people the chance to be educated and put to right. I’m a white straight guy. I understand racism, but I do not know racism. I don’t know what that feels like. And I’m certainly not here to say that people should forgive Liam Neeson, or hold this against him. I just believe that difficult conversations like race, like sexuality and others need to be freely held to have some understanding, so we can see a different view point. Whenever something like this pops up, which seems to be more frequent, I try to ask my black friends their opinions on the matter. I trust my own moral compass enough to have my own thoughts and feelings, most of the time, they say what I thought, but sometimes they make me see another viewpoint that I hadn’t considered, or even thought about because I, as a white guy do not see, no matter how much I try to understand. And I think that it is incredibly important that conversations like this are held. 

I think there is a problem with white people in the respect that they hear a black man they know and respect, John Barnes for example, say ‘Liam Neeson deserves a medal for having the courage to stand up and talk about this’ and then not consider that not every black person will think the same as this ONE black person. They will be annoyed and be like ‘well John is black and thought this, why don’t you?’. John Barnes is entitled to feel that way, and every black person is allowed to agree or disagree with him. It annoys me so much when I hear something like this. For the record, I don’t think Liam Neeson deserves a medal. 

I think this goes back to the whole argument about patriotism and about being English. I’m proud to be English, I’ve got my England flags flying outside my window during the World Cup, and I will loudly moan if someone is queuing up stupidly, and I will slap my hands on my knees and say ‘best be off’ when I wanted to leave 2 hours ago. But I understand why people do not like England, or more centrally, the British Empire. The British Empire committed horrific atrocities across the globe, they were murderers, rapists, the worst bunch of twats you could come across. The problem is, we aren’t taught about these things at school. We are only taught about the good things, Churchill winning the war (not the genocide he caused in India), Henry the 8th, and other stuff that is pleasant. It’s only that I took history as a subject that you start learning that Western Civilization were the bad guys, e.g Britain and America. I learned about The Troubles in Ireland, and how the Brits were at fault. I learned about Native Americans, and again how it was the Brits and the Americans who basically caused genocide to their people. But if you have a conversation with someone who doesn’t know, because they haven’t been educated, or haven’t had serious and deep conversations about the failures of a culture we have grown up believing ‘We are the good guys’ then they will think you are a nutjob. Again, education and conversation are crucially important to creating a better society. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBy0FLAAwKQ

That’s a link to Trevor Noah talking about it. A lot funnier and eloquently put than me.

I know this has gone off topic, but I wanted to say this. Did Liam Neeson have racist thoughts. He sure did. Do I think that Liam Neeson is a racist person now? I don’t think it is up to me, a white guy, to determine if someone is or isn’t racist. I don’t think that white people, or anyone for that matter should just always get free passes to make mistakes. I think in 2019 the majority of people know the difference between wrong and right, and possibly only in youth are mistakes made. But I’m not naive enough to know that there are plenty of people old enough who continue to be, dicks. I just hope that we continue to have difficult conversations, I only believe it makes us grow, individually and collectively. And if you want to talk about this, if you think I’ve missed the point, or have something to add that would benefit me, then please, drop me a message. Don’t just call me a c*** like that one guy did when I said that Venom had some scenes that was full of toxic masculinity, that benefits nobody. Or even if you wanna talk about the film, which is what this blog was about, then please do that. Anyhoo, best be off!

[waystobcwickcd]

So Many Ways To Be Wicked

Chapter Two: Moving Day Summary: With Uma and Harry at Auradon Prep, the daughter of Tinker Bell and son of Peter Pan are determined to bring them down no matter what it takes. It soon becomes clear that there are so many ways to be wicked, and not all the AKs are as good as they appear. Word Count: 2,122 Chapter Summary:  As it becomes clear there isn’t exactly room for the new arrivals, movements are made, although not everybody is happy about this arrangement.  AN: This took way too long to update but university hit me and life changed a lot for me in the last few months but it’s finally here if anybody still cares! Content Warnings: N/A  Tags: @ohcristimhookedonhavocimsodunne @hunterofartemisthefirst @descendantsmalviefan

Chapter One

 “You were meant to be flirting T! You basically just scowled at him for a couple of minutes then stormed off!” Perry wasn’t exactly getting anywhere with Tia who was just marching ahead of him in an obvious strop. “Hey what is up with you?” That just opened a can of worms as she turned around to face him, a fire in her eyes. “You left me! You left me to deal with him on my own, he was a complete jerk and literally carries a weapon around which must be against at least one of the schools policies right?” She hated when Perry laughed at her outbursts, but he could never control himself. For a girl as small as she was, she had the temper of at least five people her size. He would often tease her, claiming that a lot of her anger was probably in relation to her height. “This is not funny! If you don’t think that I won’t just leave you to do this on your own then you are sorely mistaken mister!” 

He was expecting Tia to carry on, but luckily he was spared from the ranting as something more pressing caught her attention. Evie’s voice was one that you could hear from across the campus, especially when she was angry. The little fairy’s eyes practically lit up when she saw just who she was so angry with. “Uma?! I gave you a list Ben! All these young kids who deserve the chance we’re getting and you choose her!” 

Holding her arm out to stop Perry being seen, Tia was determined to hear as much as she could before being caught listening. “She deserves just as much of a chance as you! We couldn’t accept everyone straight away, not until the new dorms get built! If we left her on the Isle all she would have done was get angrier and angrier, at least here she can change.”

The blue haired girl didn’t seem to agree with him though, and although she wasn’t shouting now, the tone still showed that she wasn’t impressed. “And where is she going to stay now? Because I know you only have one room spare after placing Dizzy and Hadie.” Tia looked at Perry, a smirk on her lips as she heard Ben being ripped into. “If you think that placing Harry and Uma in a room together won’t cause issues then you are so wrong.”

“I actually have an idea about that. I just need to talk to Tia and Perry…” The smile vanished from her face quicker than it appeared as she heard her name being brought up. Perry on the other hand was already scheming, trying to figure out what he was going to say.

Evie was well versed on all gossip in the school, which was why she scoffed at Ben’s words. “Tia Bell? God you are dumber than I thought. Last I heard she hated your guts.” The blonde wasn’t the biggest fan of the villain kids, but she had to admit that she was on Evie’s side with this one. Ready to walk away having heard enough, she had no choice but walk straight into their path as Perry gave her an almighty shove. He presumed that he was already in enough trouble at this point, so there was no harm in making it any worse. “Speak of the devil.”

Ben turned around at Evie’s mumbles, his face blanched as he realised that he was going to have to deal with the issue sooner than he actually thought. “Oh um, Tia, did you hear any of that?” Nobody but the two of them knew what caused the tension between the pair, but neither of them were exactly willing to just go blabbing about it. One day they were the power couple of the kingdom, and then the next Tia had a dartboard of his face in her room and he was going out with Audrey.  

“Any of what?” She pretended to act dumb, although everyone was aware from the smirk on her lips that she had heard it all. 

Ben sighed, making Tia think this wasn’t going to be fun for her. “Uma and Harry still don’t have a dorm and there is only one room left. For obvious reasons we don’t want them sharing so I was wondering if you would swap roommates. I mean it would be easy for Kai and Erin to share a room, and that would mean you sharing with Uma-”

“And me sharing with Hook?” Perry interjected, showing a rare hint of anger. He was often angry about stuff but it wasn’t a common occurrence that he would show it. “You may have forgotten Ben, but I have history with his family. I mean my dad is the whole reason his dad has to use a hook.” 

Ben looked desperate at this point, knowing that this was his last resort. He certainly didn’t expect the chipper voice of T to start backing him up. “You don’t need to be worried Perry. We need to give them a second chance, I mean you were only saying that earlier.” Everyone was surprised at what Tia was saying but Ben was too happy to read anything into it. “I’ll go and talk to Erin and we can get them all moved in by the day is done.” Perry clocked on to what she was doing pretty quickly, but didn’t seem too optimistic so that he didn’t draw suspicion to himself. 

“Once we get the new building up and ready, you can go back to your normal arrangements I promise. So what do you say Perry?” The boy just nodded at him, but it was enough to make the king happy. “I owe you two so much, seriously!” Ben ran off, quickly followed by Evie, who looked like she wasn’t even near finished with her argument.

Perry looked down at his friend, waiting a moment to make sure that they were out of earshot. “And what was that about?” 

“You said we needed to get close to them. So refusing to room with them wouldn’t really give off the best first impression, would it?” She didn’t always come out with the smartest things, but even Perry had to admit that she was right. “Plus rooming with them gives us a real opportunity to figure out what they are up to, even if we don’t get along. I have to admit though, out of the VK’s Evie is probably my favourite.”

Perry linked arms with her, walking together as they often would, with the glint in his eyes that meant he was about to do something that would cause her to be in a mood with him. “Really? That’s funny I thought that Jay was after the way you were looking at him at R.O.A.R the other day.”

She pushed him away, obviously not impressed at his implication. “I swear to god Pan, if you carry on like this I will sneak into your room at night, steal Harry’s hook and shove it so far up your ass nobody will ever find it again.” Even though he knew her well enough not to take it seriously, there were times that he should probably watch his back around her just in case she felt like getting revenge. “Now we should go and tell Kai and Erin, I mean they should be okay with it right?”

“What?! You’re going to be living with Uma!” Erin was clearly not as okay with it as they had both previously imagined even though Kai had already agreed with them that it wasn’t a fully bad idea. They hadn’t indulged that it was part of one of their schemes yet, they were seeing just how long they could get away with keeping that one a secret. The twins never really encouraged the mayhem Tia and Perry loved to cause, both of them being pretty straight laced in their respective ways, probably due to them having royal status that they needed to uphold. “Do you really think that’s the smartest idea?”

Tia looked at her friend knowing that if anyone could get through to her, it would be him. “We need to give them a chance, Erin, plus it’s not like they can actually do anything to us.” She didn’t really look convinced by what he was saying, although she didn’t exactly have a say in the matter. “When do we ever get in trouble?”

Unlike her brother, the redhead did not find the joke that funny, instead just rolling her eyes. “I’m only worried because I care.” Nobody really knew how to answer her, knowing that it was true. Tia just scoffed loudly; it wasn’t as if she didn’t care about them too. She just showed it in her own (probably unhealthy) way. 

There was an awkward silence that filled the air as Tia stomped around the room packing her stuff. It had taken Perry about ten minutes, and most of that time was spent by him messing around, whereas the blonde had been working on it for a good hour by this point. Kai was the first to break the tension, knowing that it was very easy to start an argument when the girls were in a mood. “I don’t know why you brought so much stuff. Your mum literally lives like ten minutes away.”

“Ah but then I don’t have to visit her.” It was pretty well known that Tia wasn’t exactly close to her mother. When two people are so similar is isn’t exactly a recipe for success, especially when they are the only two in the house. It was pretty much how Perry became friends with Tia. Due to the boy’s mother being Wendy Darling, he wasn’t Tinker Bell’s favourite person, no matter who his father was. So when Tia was told she wasn’t allowed to talk to him on her first day of school, it just cemented who was going to be her best friend. Even as a child Tia knew how to be petty. “Anyway I am just planning for the future. I have everything I need here. It’s called being prepared.”

Walking up to the case which was literally packed to the brim, he picked up a tiara, with raised eyebrows. “Yeah this looks like it will come in handy.” She just stuck her tongue out, lifting up her mattress as everybody else looked on in confusion. Pulling out a bottle she placed it in her case along with the tiara she snatched out of Kai’s hands. “And what the hell is that?”

The smirk on her lips made it abundantly clear what it was, but always being one for dramatics she didn’t hesitate elaborating. “I’m not saying that I stole a bottle of my mum’s vodka, but that is exactly what I did.” She ignored the disapproving looks from Erin, instead sitting on her case and fastening it with a great effort. It was at this moment she slightly regretted packing as much as she had done, but it was too late for her to leave anything behind at this point. “Can one of you zip it up please?” Her eyes were wide knowing that with all three of them it was her way of getting what she wanted. Her ‘puppy eyes’ made those who knew her very weak willed, and she was well aware of that fact. 

“You two fasten that for her, I need to talk alone.” Erin stood up shakily, grabbing onto one of her walking aids and grabbing Tia’s hand as she dragged her outside. “You’re not just doing this to get Ben’s favour are you? You know that he is with Mal now and I don’t think you doing one good deed is going to change that.”

It took a few moments for the blonde to process what was being said. Although like most people Erin didn’t know the deal with her hatred of Ben, but she was clever enough to see that there was something beyond the anger. “I don’t care about his favour. I just want to do something good for once okay? Can’t I do something nice without there being an ulterior motive?” 

It was clear that Erin didn’t know how to answer the question, instead just giving her a hug. “Promise you won’t do something stupid?” There was no verbal response from Tia, she just pulled her in tighter as a response.

“I’ll be back as your roomie in no time. No need to worry about me. I can handle myself.”

There was a slight quirk of a brow from the taller girl as they pulled apart. “Mmmhmmm, that’s what I worry about.”

[robininthelabyrinth]

Dragon Week 5 (coldwave) - the Pest pt 2

For @oneiriad, who wanted more of the Pest story, here's The Pest part 2, the interquel or whatever they're called when they're not before or after

Will presumably only make sense if you read The Pest pt 1 here (tumblr) or here (ao3)

Ao3 link

-

When Rip Hunter came for Heatwave, he came for a master thief.

One of the best of all time, some said. The heists he pulled were clever – almost fiendishly brilliant – and perfectly executed: timing, planning, contingencies built on contingencies, everything. They were even stylish. And then his turn towards supervillainy was nothing short of impressive in itself: to continue to operate as a thief in Central City when faced with the full might and speed of the Flash, to broker a deal with him in order to continue operations and then to maneuver that deal into a band of meta-humans who considered themselves indebted to him..! Nothing short of brilliant.

Despite the man’s somewhat unusual personal eccentricities – he was well-known to history as a pyromaniac, thus the nickname ‘Heatwave’ despite his possession of both hot and cold guns, and of course his habit of taking his pet dragon (only in Central…) with him everywhere he went was very nearly as well known – Rip was certain that Mick Rory would be a valuable addition to his team of Legends.

He wasn’t expecting him to be quite so…thuggish.

“Ouch!” Rip yelps, pulling his foot up onto his chair and glaring at the big, fat dragon that had stepped on his food while lumbering over to eat some of the food Rory had left for him. What an ungainly brute! He couldn’t understand why Rory kept it around. Someone capable of such excellent twists of timing surely had no need for a creature that spent half its days lazing around in a ungainly pile on the floor, thrashing its tail from side to side.

Honestly, Rip would swear that creature had a tendency to step on him in particular, especially when he was contemplating Rory’s many deficiencies.

Hmm. Well, at least it was well-trained.

Perhaps Mr. Palmer was correct in his suggestion that the creature served as some sort of therapy animal.

It couldn't possibly be of any real use.

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

"Who thinks -" a voice starts, then abruptly cuts off. Ray freezes where he's sitting flat on his butt in a closet. That wasn't his fault: he was heading towards the dagger when Mick's stupid dragon had headbutted him.

Suddenly, the voice is laughing. "Well, well," Savage says - 'cause that is definitely Savage, oh crap - "it seems that we have a Central City dragon, well outside of its regular haunts. What rich man thought you a prize, my sweet?"

Ray peeks out the closet door. Savage is kneeling down before the dragon, holding out a piece of meat, which the dragon takes and swallows. He has a nasty looking knife in his other hand. A knife meant for Ray.

Gulp.

The dragon purrs.

It sounds like a motorcycle engine without a proper muffler.

"Sir?" another voice says from the door.

"Cancel the alarm," Savage says, standing. "It seems was only our, ah, ‘little’ friend here. Come along, yes - come - there is food this way -"

The dragon - traitor! - waddles off after Savage, apparently quite happy to be lured to the dark side by the suggestion of food, even if it was evil food.

Though if it hadn't pushed him into the closet, Ray might've gotten caught.

Probably some good training on Mick's part; some instinct to hide humans if guards were coming. Dragons were like pigeons, right? You could train pigeons.

At least now Ray has a clear line of sight on the dagger.

Though he doesn't know how to explain to Mick that he'd lost his companion dragon, and to Savage of all people...

Turns out he doesn't have to, since the dragon comes back by the time Ray undoes the system guarding the dagger. It's draped in gold chains, the little tart. Savage has horribly gaudy taste.

The dragon tries to push him away from the box, but a simple swat on the nose takes care of that. Ray's almost done, he can't be distracted by a dragon being weirdly twitchy -

A cage drops down around them both.

The dragon lightly bonks its head against the base of the pedestal, almost like it's frustrated. Then it turns its beady little eyes on Ray.

Ray gulps.

Mick had said the dragon was totally safe. Then why did Ray feel fundamentally unsafe right now..?

Dragons are like pigeons, right? Giant, scaly pigeons.

With, uh, very long teeth...long, toxic teeth…

Ray has never been so happy to be threatened by a villain before in his life. Thanks, Savage!

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

The dragon is blisteringly mad, Jax thinks.

Sure, it's just a dumb animal, but it clearly didn't appreciate Mick having tossed the box with the thermal core to it and telling it to run.

Well, 'run' might not be the word - dragons primarily waddled - but they did have wings and it had been able to climb up the wall, thermal core box in mouth, before any of the Russians could get to him. Bullet-proof scales were helpful that way.

Still.

Jax kneels down by the dragon.

"We'll get him back," he tells it. "Doesn't matter what Rip says; Sara's got a plan. We've got this."

The dragon growls, but turns and rubs it's head on Jax's knee.

"Man, I haven't played with one of you since I was a kid," Jax says wistfully. He remembered climbing all over one; they were quite nice, really, as long as you weren’t malicious. And there wasn’t any strict cut-off point where they stopped seeing you as a kid: as long as you were nice and cheerful, they didn’t mind you at all.

"I just wish there was something I could do," Jax says.

The dragon - Mick called him Len, and sometimes Lenny, which was a bit of a weird name for a dragon, but then again dragons didn't usually have names at all - turns and closes his jaws lightly around Jax's wrist. It's nowhere near enough pressure to hurt, but Jax is Central City, born and bred: he freezes.

First rule of playing with dragons: they mean you no harm, and if you don't move, they won't do anything.

The dragon tugs lightly at Jax's wrist.

"Careful there," Jax says. "I'm breakable. Please remember that."

The dragon huffs a little, and hacks up a puff of smoke. It's barely warm enough to heat Jax's arm, even though the dragon hasn't released him.

Jax can't help but grin. "Yeah, I'm the one who's normally on fire," he says. "Can't without Stein - whoa, careful now!" he adds, because the dragon has gone back to teething on him. "If you bite me -"

He pauses.

"Hold up," he says. "Stein told me about a thing once. You bit me, he gets bit too - and they used it to pass messages!"

The dragon releases him.

"Lenny, you're a genius," Jax says, and scratches its chin before dashing off to tell the others.

As he passes through the door, he sees the dragon yawn and curl up for a nap. Must've worn itself out, worrying about Mick.

Dragons were so cute.

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

The pirates weren't anticipating a bear-size bullet-proof-scale-covered lump of blubber with sharp, toxic teeth and the ability to breath fire and ice.

They certainly weren't anticipating one coming out of the vents.

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

"I found Jax," Mick reports.

"Is he still a bird creature?" Kendra asks.

"Yep."

"...are you okay?"

"Yep."

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing.”

“Mick…”

“Lenny's sitting on him, s'all. Maybe the kid’s a little flatter now, not gonna lie..."

Kendra snickers despite herself.

"I'm going after Savage," she says.

"Take Haircut," Mick advises.

"You think I can't manage on my own either?" she asks, annoyed.

"That's dumber than I usually am," Mick says. "I don't work alone either, and I'm pretty damn good at managing by myself. That ain’t why you get yourself a partner."

"You don't?" Kendra asks, frowning. Mick always kept back to himself, though he was slowly warming up to the rest of the group. "Who do you usually work with?"

"Lenny, of course."

Kendra covers her smile. "Ah, yes," she says as solemnly as she can. "Of course. A very valuable partner to have at your back."

"Now you're getting the picture," Mick says approvingly.

"It's not quite the same thing..."

"Haircut's more like a puppy than Len is," Mick says. Kendra has to nod a little at that, even though she's still smiling; still, she's glad Mick's delusions of companionship haven't gone quite so far. "Besides, even a puppy can be useful."

"Oh?"

"Well," Mick says. "Between me and Lenny, which one of us do you think's sitting on Jax right now?"

"With you, Mick," Kendra says, now grinning outright, "I'd say it's even odds."

Mick barks a laugh.

Kendra decides that maybe it won't hurt to take Ray as back-up.

They still don’t get the dagger, but on the bright side, they manage to get back to the ship before the Time Masters’ thugs steal it away.

Imagine if they hadn’t – they might’ve been stuck in the past!

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

The dragon yawns ostentatiously by Stein's side.

Every single one of the cowboys in the tavern avert their eyes, like they want to be elsewhere.

They'd initially come around mockingly at Stein's "pet", which Mick had insisted he take with him - assuming perhaps that he was some sort of dancing bear.

To be entirely honest, Stein hadn't particularly disagreed, though he stiffly objected when they tried to make the dragon perform. This was Mr. Rory's therapy animal, after all, however unusual the species chosen; he could just imagine Clarissa's reaction he explained that it had survived supervillains and pirates but had gotten injured when it was supposedly entrusted to his care.

Then the dragon had spat out what could only be described as a hairball of ice into the gun (and hand) of the man who tried to shoot Stein, and suddenly everyone seemed to be thinking better of screwing with him.

"You're not that bad," Stein whispers to the dragon, and sneaks him some scraps from the table.

Mr. Rory had done an excellent job of training it, really.

At any rate, Stein certainly felt safer with it by its side while the others went to deal with the bandit gang.

While he...

"I don't suppose you have any views on using future medicine to save that poor boy's life," Stein says waspishly to the dragon.

The dragon just purrs unhelpfully.

"Well, I'm going to get it from the ship," Stein says. "Are you coming?"

The dragon got up on its feet, which given its bulk was no small feat.

Stein chose to take its willingness to obey as approval.

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

The dragon waddled through the door and went straight for Sara, catching her boot with his teeth and tugging.

Sara hadn't really had that much interactions with the dragon - she liked Mick well enough, even if his tendency to refer to the dragon by a human name and act like he answered questions was weird; she couldn't imagine ever doing that to any of the rats or eponymous small birds that littered Starling - but she smirks down at it regardless.

It tugs again, almost desperately.

It probably wanted something.

Where was Mick, anyway?

Oh, right, on the mission to rescue his “past self” from the Pilgrim. What a bizarre idea.

"What's wrong, Lenny?" she jokes. "Mickey's fallen down a well?"

The dragon releases her boot and looks up at her.

If she didn't know better, she'd say it was glaring.

She grins, about to make another joke when –

"No, you moron, Hunter's gonna get him shot," it says. "Now get off your ass and help him."

"Holy crap you can talk!"

The dragon bares its teeth at her.

"Which I will wonder about later because right now I'm going to help Mick," Sara says hastily.

It just watches her run off the ship with narrow eyes.

After she helps save Mick, and after that Mick helps save her own past self, and one thing after another, it's only at the Refuge that she finally gets a minute to confront him about his apparently talking dragon.

“Yeah, so?” he says.

“Why didn’t you mention it?” she hisses. That dragon was everyone on the Waverider - god only knows how much it knew about all of them -

“No point,” he says. “You ever see that old WB short they used to put in front of movies? The one with the dancing frog?”

“The…you mean ‘One Froggy Evening’?”

“S���that what it’s called?”

“The one with the frog that dances and sings when it’s alone with its owner, yeah, but when it’s in public it –” Her eyes go wide. “Oooooh.”

“Yeah,” Mick says, shaking his head. “Just like that. Lenny’s a bit of a dick.”

“I can appreciate that in a guy,” Sara says. “Or, uh, dragon. As the case may be.”

Mick just shrugs.

“You’re not worried about the Pilgrim going after him, are you?” she asks, a little anxiously. Now that she knew it was sentient, well, it made a lot of the more amusing incidents on board the Waverider look a lot less like silly pet accidents and a lot more like the workings of a brilliant, mischievous mind.

“Nah,” Mick says. “Dragons’ scales apparently repel everything, even time.”

“What does that mean?”

“I have no idea,” Mick confesses. “Lenny refused to explain, when I asked.”

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

The Oculus explosion…is.

There’s no other way to describe it. Mick couldn’t let Haircut sacrifice himself, he just couldn’t, and he knows that makes him a sentimental idiot, but he had to do it. He barely even thought about it.

He did spare a thought to hope that Jax and Sara would take care of Lenny. They were Lenny’s favorites on board.

But yeah, he did it, and he did it without thinking, and he guess that makes him a hero now.

He’s had a lot of time to think about it.

Sort of.

When the explosion happened, the Oculus – or whatever the Oculus was keeping in check – just gushed forth, and time went a little bit wonky after that.

The Oculus explosion is.

Literally.

As in, it’s the present moment.

Just, you know, forever.

There was a while there where Mick focused on the body horror of it all – his body trapped in a single moment, heart stopped between one beat and the next, and his mind still alive and ticking just as well as ever. His fingers are frozen on the Oculus device, the fire of the explosion surrounds him without ever reaching him – he was at the epicenter of the explosion, so he was the first one hit, frozen a second before he burned.

The Time Masters weren’t so lucky.

They’re going to burn forever.

Well deserved, in Mick's view.

He’s still stuck here, though. Kinda sucks.

At least he has a lot of pretty fire to look at and a brain that rather enjoys doing nothing but that, because he’s pretty sure incipient insanity is the next logical step here.

Mick’s only a few steps down that road when Lenny shows up.

At first he thinks that it’s a sign of him going nuts, imagining a big, fat, waddling dragon plunking along the entranceway to the Oculus chamber, ducking under the frozen flames with a sour look that only Lenny could ever do quite right on his face.

Mick would ask him what the hell, but he can’t move his mouth.

He’s still about 90-95% sure it’s a hallucination when Lenny gets right up close to him and pins his boot with his teeth.

Mick feels that.

Still can’t say “ouch” but he thinks it.

Then he thinks “what the hell”, followed shortly by “wait this is real?!” and “how the hell did you even get here you little fink.”

Len tugs.

Mick’s leg doesn’t move.

Len grows, then tugs again.

Mick’s foot jerks a little, right under Len’s mouth, but nowhere else.

Len licks Mick’s boot, mouthing at it all over, then tries to tug again.

This time, Mick’s foot moves.

Mick’s torn between jubilant ecstatic joy at the thought of a rescue and the realization that his very near-term future involved a lot of dragon drool.

It does.

“Was that necessary?” Mick complains once Len’s gotten the majority of his body down on the ground and has spent an unnecessarily long time licking at his face.

“Dragons aren’t really immune to time, just our scales are,” Len says. “Some small ground-up part of that gets into our saliva. Your alternatives are that I eat you or kill myself and drape my scales around you.”

“…lick away.”

“I thought you’d say that,” Len says. “Now hold still, if it dries, you’ll just get frozen again.”

Mick grumbles.

It takes what feels like but definitely isn’t forever to get out of the Oculus chamber.

“Now what?” Mick asks, looking around the frozen destruction of the Vanishing Point. The further out from the Oculus, the longer it took for things to freeze, so the aftereffects of the gigantic bomb are definitely in the air. He might be the only person ever to get a slow-motion showing of what a nuclear bomb explosion looks like from the inside of the epicenter.

“Now we go home,” Len says, waddling pointedly away.

“You know I can’t breathe in space, right?” Mick inquires, trailing after him. “And neither can you, as far as I know.”

“There’s a time pocket,” Len says. “It’s a bit small – you’ll have to crawl – but you’d better be damn pleased with it. I had to shed my whole winter coat to make it.”

“Poor Lenny,” Mick says, seeing where the shed dragon scales started to make a path that eventually led to what could only be described as a small burrow hole in existence. Like what you’d expect from a rabbit or a mole, except, you know, in spacetime. “I didn’t know you guys were a burrowing species.”

“It’s vestigial.”

“Lucky for me it’s not that vestigial.”

They crawl out into…

“This is my apartment, Lenny,” Mick says.

“I thought you’d appreciate a touch of home,” Len sniffs.

“This is my first apartment, Lenny,” Mick says, crossing his arms. “The very first one.”

Lenny looks shifty.

“Exactly what were you doing when we first met?”

“Nothing! Lounging! You know how dragons like to do that!”

“Sell that to someone who doesn’t know you,” Mick says. “Well?”

“What makes you think I was doing something?!”

“The fact that this is clearly a burrow you’ve used before,” Mick says, and waits.

Len crumbles like his favorite type of coffee cake.

“…I was stealing forks off of the Titanic.”

“Of course you were,” Mick sighs. “Why?”

“They were pointy. I dunno, I had a sudden craving.”

“Dragons,” Mick says, and goes to take a shower.