#and she’s like ‘wtf are you talking about’ then a beat passes and she’s like ‘ohhh i got it’

[hoe4hotchner]

So what do you think about hotch and reader being neighbors, and they ended up being very close to each other, reader watches jack for him during a case, bake him some goodies, they have each other's house keys for emergencies, etc.

I was thinking about every time the team can, one of them hosts a little game night for them. And it was hotch's turn as a host. I was imagining they go to his house right after a paper work day, for some reason the team enters his house before than him, and they caught reader red handed on his wine rack choosing a bottle to take home for a night (to be fair she was searching for the cheapest one so she could buy and replace it) and she’s like “wtf do I do???”

I want to see what you can do with this 😅

A/N: This was so much fun to write!!!! I love this ❤️

Link to my inbox

After a long day at work, you stopped by Aaron's house to “borrow” a bottle of wine, planning to replace it later. You were in your favorite pajamas, feeling completely comfortable in his home as you looked through his wine rack, trying to pick the cheapest bottle.

Just as you reached for a bottle that looked suitably modest, you heard the sound of voices and footsteps. You froze, heart pounding. Peeking around the corner, you realized it wasn't just Hotch—it was his entire team. They arrived together, earlier than you expected. Hotch had mentioned the game night to you in passing, but you'd forgotten it was today. Panic rose in you as you realized you were about to be caught red-handed in your pajamas, holding one of his wine bottles. This was certainly not the first impression and meeting you’d like to give or have with his team.

Before you could make a graceful exit through the backdoor, Hotch and his team walked into the kitchen. They all stopped a few steps short of you, clearly not expecting to find you there. The sudden attention made your cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“Uh… hi?” you said awkwardly, shifting the bottle in your hands. You had never met his team before, and the situation felt more than a little awkward.

There was a beat of silence, and then Garcia, stepped forward, her eyes sparkling with curiosity and delight. Hotch had told you about everyone on the team before, but Penelope's colorful attire made you instantly recognize her. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise! You must be the neighbor Hotch is always talking about!” she exclaimed, her warm smile instantly putting you somewhat at ease. “Why don’t you join us for game night? We’d love to have you!”

You blinked, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sudden invitation. You glanced over at Hotch, hoping for some guidance, but his expression was unreadable. He stepped forward, his gaze softening as he took in your nervousness.

“It’s okay, she doesn’t have to,” he said gently as if sensing your hesitation and not wanting you to feel pressured. But there was a tone to his voice, almost like he wouldn’t mind if you stayed.

You hesitated, looking at the group of strangers who seemed so close-knit, then back at Hotch, whose presence always made you feel safe. Finally, you nodded, offering a small smile. “I guess I could stick around for a bit,” you said, trying to sound more confident than you felt.

Garcia beamed and waved you over. You reluctantly let her lead you into the living room where the rest of the team had already gathered as you made your decision. You still felt a bit out of place, especially since everyone else seemed to know each other so well, but as the night went on, the team’s friendliness started to chip away at your discomfort.

Hotch stayed close to you all night, subtly making sure you were comfortable, and before long, you were exchanging light banter with him, the ease between you two gradually returned. It was obvious to everyone that there was something more than friendship in the air with the way you interacted, though neither of you seemed fully aware of it.

The night unfolded with laughter, games, and plenty of wine. The team, though unfamiliar at first, quickly became more welcoming, especially as the alcohol loosened everyone up.

It was well past midnight, and the living room was filled with the sound of laughter, slurred words, and the occasional clink of glasses. That was when Emily, clearly more intoxicated than the rest, suddenly pointed at Hotch, her eyes half-lidded but sharp with a drunken clarity.

“Oh come on, Hotch!” she slurred, her words loud and stumbling. “Just admit it—you like her!”

Her outburst cut through the chatter, and the room fell silent, everyone turning to look at you and Hotch. You felt your heart race, your cheeks flushed with a mix of embarrassment and something else. You glanced at Hotch, who looked equally taken aback, his usual composed expression slipping as he processed what Emily had just said.

The silence stretched for a moment too long, making the whole team burst into loud laughter, the drunken energy in the room amplified the teasing. Garcia practically doubled over, and Morgan was grinning from ear to ear as he nudged Hotch with a playful elbow.

Hotch, still caught off guard, managed a half-smile, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes as he met your gaze—a question, maybe, or a realization neither of you had fully acknowledged until now. As the night wound down, the tension from Emily’s outburst lingered, leaving you both wondering if there was more to your relationship than just being neighbors. Only time would tell.

Consider linking or reblogging if you enjoy my work.... I will kiss you on the forehead as a thanks ;)

[rubywithecat]

Tokyo revengers boys when you ignore them after one night stand (pt.1)

Mikey

-he almost doesnt recognize you

-when he senses the familiar scent when you passed through him, he couldnt help but turned his head

-"Hey wait" he called out. "do i know you?"

-U frozed. "I dont know you..." u lied. He walked to face you and looked you carefully. U broke the eye contact and excused yourself.

-he grabbed your hand which made your body gravitated toward his chest

-"your a bad liar" his lips nearly toucing yours. "plz dont ignore me. ive been searching u everywhere"

Ran Haitani

-He thought he would just forget you as like he does for many women who he had slept with

-But something about u made him craving u more, maybe cuz of ur innocence (u were a virgin)

- U were going to ur class when u heard a smiliar voice, u quickly hide when u caught a glimpse of him

-he was on his phone and he seemed to like noticed that u hide, he smirked

-"Rindou, I will call u back" he closed his phone and walked toward where u were

-ur heart was beating so fast and u just prayed he would passed through and closed ur eyes

-"Found ya" he whispered, loud enough for u to hear. "U who snaked away from me after i gave u ur first best night ever. Don’t u think it’s a lil bit unfair to me?” he grabbed ur waist as if he could read ur mind about escaping

-"u cant run away from me second time, Miss"

Chifuyu Matsuno

-He tried to forget about what happened that night and didnt even think he could meet u again

-when he saw u at the mall, he was about to call u out but he saw u with a kid, he thought its ur kid

-he didnt try to talk with u anymore cuz he doesnt wanna be a threat to ur marriage or smth

-u also saw him but u were too nervous to go and talk cuz u liked that guy so much “what if he doesn’t remember me? I would just embarrass myself” u whispered to urself

-as u guys parted, u were sad and hopeless

-"hey (kid name), i need to use toilet. dont go anywhere before i come back,okay?' u bent down to the kids height and smiled.

-"Yes” he replied cutely. "Good boy." u told him and go to toilet quickly.

-just a hen u come back, u saw him talking to a guy so u rushed quickly.

-"how old r u?" u could hear slightly. "i am 8" ur nephew answered.

-"what did i tell u (kid name)?Dont talk to random--' u scolded him before realizing that guy

-"he just saved me from some bad guys who tried to steal our shopping bags" ur nephew answered.

"Oh god" u sighed and turned back to him, but dont dare to look at him. "Umm... thank u for saving my nephew..." u said awkwardly.

-He was stunned but he felt relieved and glad that he wasn’t ur son

-U were about to walk away when he started to talk, "Im sure we met before, right?"

-U looked back at him and he was smiling at u and it was not a question. He remembered u and will not let u go anymore

Hanma Shuji

-From the moment he saw u, he couldn’t lie to himself that he fell in love with u

-Whenever he fcks someone he always think about u

-He was pissed that u left him after s*x without even leaving ur number

-He tried his best to forget u

-u didnt expect to meet a one night stand u met last year at the club u work

-Ur not like a stripper or anything like that. U work as a waitress there as u have no choice to pay for ur collage

-U quickly covered ur face as he walked passed through

-"maybe he wont even remember me at all. It was long time ago" u relieved. But then he stopped.

-"Hey" he called u. "Wtf- plz don’t remember me" u mumbled. U dont wanna invlove in gang things so its best to stay away

-"Do u know where are vip rooms?" he asked u

-"Uh— it’s at ur left, sir" U didnt dare to look back and just answered nervously, hoping he doesn’t see ur face

-U stared at u from behind for a sec and then walked away, smoking.

-“U see that girl over there? Bring her to my room” he ordered the waiter

-“Sir, I’m afraid she’s just a waitress and doesn’t do that kind of thing ya know…” the waiter answered, afraid “I- could suggest u the best beautiful stripper in our club. I’m sure u will be satis—“ before he could finish his word, he was punched to the ground.

-“Useless shits” he mumbled as he looked down and wiped the blood strain on his ring “Bring her to me” he said and left as he threw sone cash to the waiter face.

-U entered the dim light room, written “VIP” cuz ur coworker begged u so u empathized him

-“Were u searching for me?” U said impatiently and faked to be confident when u were trembling inside. “Look, just to be clear, im not interested in sleeping with u. I just come to tell u that so plz leave me alone and my coworkers, sir”

-Hanma just laughed helplessly as he finds that cute and as u were about to leave, he tightly hugged u from behind and kissed ur neck, leaving a mark

-“Who said I care whether ur intreated or not?” he smirked. “U were already mine. Don’t u dare run away from me… please?” His voice changed. It was the first time he begged for someone and u also feel that part of u just can’t resist him

—

A/N: Hi! Welcome back y’all! <3 So, I have been disappearing for a long time cuz of final exam and now it’s over so I can finally write back and have a lot of ideas that I wanna share with u guys. <3

Sorry for not being able to respond the requests but now that I’m free, I will be open to ur requests again! :*

And I hope u guys like this one and any supports are very much appreciated, loves <33

—

[fandomobbsessedb]

Your Favorite Players Favorite Player.

Young-Il/ Frontman / In-Ho/ Player 001 x Gi-Hun's Sister Reader)

Chapter 3 : Childs Play

Warnings: Guns, Blood, Swearing, Violence, Some up close and personal moments.

Words that look like this are inner thoughts.

Opening the small container they gave us for lunch, I found an egg, rice, some kimchi, and other vegetables. It looked a lot like the lunches Gi-hun mom use to make for me. It didn’t look exactly the same but it was strikingly similar. After taking a bite I set it down to look at how others were fairing with their lunches. Gi-hun wasn’t eating, instead a whole bunch of O’s were surrounding him, and he had this desolate look on his face. With a sigh of annoyance I picked up my food and made my way towards them all. I came around the back and sat in the middle of the stairs so I was a comfortable distance from Gi-hun, but close enough that anything I said was still relevant.

“We had to pick out one of the four shapes.” He sort of half mumbled.

“So of those, which one was the easiest to do?” Jung-Bae spat, with a mouth full of food.

“Triangle” my brother answered.

“And the hardest?” He asked again.

“OH MY GOD don’t you people have better things to do, I’m trying to eat in peace over here. Everyone wants to fucking win so bad but they chose to stay-“ I mumbled at the end of my exclamation.

Turning around Gi-hun gazed at his sister, wondering how long she had been sitting there and trying to eat. He looked down at his half eaten egg and cup of rice and decided he couldn’t eat anymore, just thinking about his future inside the building and his sisters, and passed her the rest of his meal. She looked down at it before grabbing the box, nodding at his subtle gesture. A silent understanding seeming to have grown between them since their argument the previous day. She returned to her curled up position near the top of the stairs and continued to eat.

After finishing her tin, and the leftover of her brothers she finally tuned back into the conversation.

“You were in the marines?” Jung-Bae asked inspecting Dae-Ho’s sleeve.

Jung-Bae simply chuckled and called at ease. As the two of them slapped and yelled around you noticed your brother turning to look at you with a “wtf” face. You matched it shrugging and went back to tuning them out.

“What are you doing over here?” I asked, resting my head on one arm and looking at 001.

“I had some questions for 456 here.” He said slightly gesturing to Gi-hun as he went back to watching the two marines.

“What about you?” He turned to meet your gaze again. “I thought your bed was on the other side?” He questioned. Weird he knows where your bed is.

“I just came over because-“ you caught yourself mid sentence not really sure what to say, you didn’t want to out loud admit why, but you also didn’t have a good knack for lying. “I wanted to… wanted to see the commotion and shit.” Gi-hun listened in, you may be here to play games, but he’s not.

“Is that really why or did you need something jamae?” He said with a stern yet soft tone. You looked back at him from 001 and rolled your eyes.

“Ugh nothing, again why are you always in. My. Business.” You punctuated. Angrily slamming your trays down, and starting to walk away, when a fight on the other side, near your bed, caught your attention. Two guys beating up player 333. It captured your attention and paused your angry leave. As you were stuck watching you felt a gentle hand on your shoulder, lead you backwards to stand farther away from the danger. Shifting your gaze you saw 001 walking towards them.

“Hey, kids. What makes you think you can behave like that? Especially while people are eating. And in front of your elders and ladies too. It's bad manners, not to mention it's two against one. Shame on you guys.” He said loudly grabbing the rooms attention.

You sat and watched as the two started talking to him. They went to pounce when effortlessly, he grabbed Thanos by the neck. As the other one was coming up he simply shot his leg out kicking him down. You watched him turn Thanos onto the ground in anger.

Woah that… is really hot, whaaaaat the hell.

Just watching that I felt my heart beat pick up, my face feels kinda warm too. I applauded with the rest of the room but found him walking back making direct eye contact with me. When he got back the group started questioning him as I just sat and examined him like some scientist observing an animal, now that I noticed him closer I saw where his sweat suit clung tighter to his muscles, and I realized I could now see his face. His dark brown eyes holding a darkness behind them, like a dingy basement, and I wanna go down the stairs.

————

Lights out will begin in 10 minutes.

As I settled into my bed, I took my shoes and jacket off and set them next to my mattress, I heard footsteps coming my way and looking up I saw Gi-hun standing near my bed, just a step down.

“What do you want?” I tiredly mumbled.

“Come and sleep on my side of the room, it’s not safe to be alone at night.” He said with a more airy tone, like he asked it as a question but meant it as a statement.

“What would I need to be safe from?” I responded. He took a look around the room and at other of my bunk mates.

“Just, in case someone tries something, we’re in a room full of strangers, who knows what any of them could do.” He whispered now close to me. I look back at him like he was a crazy man.

“Gi-hun I’m fine, nobody has anything against me in here, the only girl who did is currently dead. I’ll be fine right here.” He looked around me and with a curled lip he nodded.

“Alright, I’m right across the room if you need anything.” He nodded and started walking back, with an exaggerated sigh I stopped him.

The lights had shut off and the only thing we had was a giant piggy bank for a nightlight, and the glowing symbols on the floor.

“Gi-hun.” I waited till he looked back at me, “goodnight.” I nodded, he nodded and wished me sweet dreams as well, as sweet as they could be in a place like this. He stopped once more before descending the rest of the stairs.

“I love you (y/n)” he finished walking the rest of the way down.

Under my breath I whispered my response hoping he heard enough of it.

“I love you too”

————

Gi-hun stood in the front of the triangle line, (Y/N) right behind him, and 001 behind her. He took his metal tin and turned, going to show his sister the shape first then the rest.

When he opened the tin, he was met with an insanely complex triangle with no lines, just corners. A wave of nervousness flushed over him.

“What is it?” (Y/N) said, tilting the tin for her to see the shape. “Gi-hun what the hell?” She said looking back at him, his eyes met hers worry sewn into his features. 001 gently took her shoulders and moved her behind him shielding her from his gaze, he looked at the cookie then peered at Gi-hun through his eyelids.

“Wait, wait, wait, what? What the hell kinda shape is that? Even an ex-Marine couldn't get that out!” Jung-bae exclaimed.

“Really? This one's the easiest to get out?”

“You said you won! You said you’ve done it!”

“What are you going to do, take responsibility for this?”

“Do something!”

“We’re all gonna die and it’s this guys fault.”

“It’s your fault!”

Taking a breath and feeling all the air come back to his lungs, Gi-hun woke with a start. Running a hand down his face he took another deep breath trying to control his breathing. He sat up and looked around the room until he spotted his sister, still laying sound asleep in her spot. Her blanket curled up to her chin and her eye brow twitching every now and again.

————

Attention, please. The second game will begin momentarily.Please follow the instructions from our staff.

Sitting up I stretched and began putting my shoes and jacket on. I looked down at Se-mi waking up as well.

“How can this game be right after we wake up?” She asked looking at me.

“I have no clue girl, better wake up though because I can’t see “sleepiness” boding well in the games.” Walking down the steps, I saw 001 reaching the ground at the same time I did. I felt my face start to warm at seeing his stiff body move around and wake up.

“Hi” I shyly said, feigning being extra tired. He smiled back. “Hello, how did you sleep?” He softly asked back. I shrugged and looked around us to see what other people were doing.

“I was a little cold I think, I woke up clutching my blanket like a new born.�� I chuckled, I was about to ask how he slept when I saw Gi-hun coming down the stairs. I didn’t want him babysitting me in whatever game was next so I quickly excused myself and hid in the crowd.

————

In-ho, had a new understanding of Gi-hun and this other player’s relationship, decided it would be better to simply watch rather than try and include himself….. of course listening to his conscious didn’t get him where he was today. Listening to his conscious wouldn’t get him to Gi-hun. He knew… NOT listening to his conscious, would get him closer to her, and through her, Gi-Hun.

————

“Welcome to your second game.This game will be played in teams. Please divide into teams of five in the next ten minutes.”

I had entered the room before my brother did, I was pushed by the group way over to the wall. I saw player 120 walking around trying to join groups. I took a deep breath hoping she wouldn’t mind if we partner, and went to talk to her.

“Do you want to partner?” Se-mi cut me off, grabbing my arm and stopping my path. With a quick glance at 120 I saw her talking to someone, figuring she had joined someone I turned back.

“Sure” I smiled.

“Great” she smiled back, “now we just need three more pep-“

“Señorita’s excuse me.” Thanos spoke from behind me. I turned to see him and stood shoulder to shoulder with Se-mi. “Let’s play the game together.”

“Well, why should we?” Se-mi asked.

“Don’t you know who he is? He’s Thanos, the rapper. ‘I’m gonna kill half of humanity With my raps’”256 explained. With a sneer I looked to the other two taking the attention away from that one.

“Does that pickup actually work for you?” I asked sarcastically.

“Hang on, girls? We don’t know what the game is.” 124 interrupted.

“I, Thanos the great, will protect you.” Thanos explained.

“Right, Thanos. So have you got all the Infinity Stones?” Se-mi asked jokingly.

“Of course.” He responded flicking his hand out. “I’m going to destroy anyone who gets in my way! Just stick with me, and you’ll be safe. Okay?”

I looked to the right of me seeing this little guy sort of wandering around, I beckoned him over with my hand. I looked to the left of me and saw player 120 now paired up with three other people. That team looks way more stable than this one.

“What’s your name?” I asked the other player who walked up to me.

“I’m Park Min-su” he responded shakily.

“Cool, I’m Seong (y/n) wanna take my spot on this team?” I asked with a smile, he looked confused but before he could answer I stuck him where I was standing and just said “great.”

When Se-mi turned to ask me something I shoved him in my spot.

“Ladies this is Park Min-su, he is me now, I’m going somewhere else.” I rushed out to give them no time for questions. Se-mi looked at me weirdly. I just pat her shoulder and walked towards my desired team.

Approaching the team I noticed there was a much smaller girl, an older woman and a man.

“Excuse me.” I spoke up, causing them to turn to me. “Could I possibly join your guys team?” I asked looking at all of them, hoping my charm was enough for them to let me in. The old lady looked at the others before nodding her head.

“Yes, yes of course.” She smiled. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Dae-ho had followed me for a second.

“Excuse me Miss, would you join our team, we need one more?” He asked politely.

“Oh sorry I already have a team.” I replied taking a step back to be more in group with my team.

Time for team selection is up. The game you will be playing is SixLegged Pentathlon.

You will start with your legs tied together. Each member will take turns playing a minigame at every tenmeter mark, and if you win, the team can move on to the next one. Here are the minigames.

Number one, the Ddakji.

Number two, Flying Stone.

Number three, Gonggi.

Number four, Spinning Top.

Number five, Jegi.

Well none of those are dallgona…

Your goal is to win all the minigames and cross the finish line in five minutes. Please decide players for each minigame.

As my team decided it finally came to my turn to choose.

“I’ll do spinning top, I was pretty good when I was little.” I shrugged turning to the next person.

As we all sat and watched the teams go we occasionally started cheering as players passed, until their time ended.

Your time is up.

The ring of the gunshots so close shook me on the inside. They were right in front of us too. 5 minutes… the end of our lives is five minutes long… the whole group was begining to get shaky. Hyun-ju gave us a motivational speech and we felt a little better. I learned everyone’s names and decided that if I were to die today, these would be my new best friends, there where certainly worse people I could die with.

As I stood there getting my ankles locked up, and not in a way I’d like, I looked around the room, hoping to see my brother’s face once more before I possibly died, our eyes found eachother as I nervously exhaled. He looked back at me and mouthed you can do this. I nodded back facing forward again, but not before locking eyes with 001. Seeing his unrelenting look I felt my stomach settle in a bit more. Only to shake up again when I noticed how long he was looking at me.

As they shot the starting gun, Hyun-ju kept us walking with a basic pattern.

One, two, one, two, One, two, one, two, One, two, one, two.

We got through the first three games, it was kinda weird when Geum-ja pictured the gonggi like hair, remind me to never get on her bad side.

One, two, one, two, One, two, one, two, One, two, one, two.

In the moment, as I wrapped the top, I kept failing, even with all the cheering going on around us, I couldn’t focus. Some of my sweat fell onto the top, making it even harder to wrap. Hyun-ju grabbed the top, wipped it on her jacket, and handed it back to me.

“Don’t worry don’t look at the clock, you still have plenty of time.” She encouraged, lightly patting my back.

The tension was so thick you couldn’t even shoot through it with one of those guns the guards had, I had sweat dripping down my face, and my hands shaking like an earth quake. Tears were beginning to fall down my face the more times I failed at wrapping it. The crowd was trying to help encourage us along but the shaman lady was… man she was really distracting.

“Give up now! The gods have abandoned you, your fate is sealed here. It was as I said, decided when you were born. You will die here!” She shouted from standing right next to Hyun-ju. Hyun-ju turned away from me and grabbed that bitch’s shoulders.

Smack

Smack

I looked over to see the woman’s face beet red.

“Stop distracting her! It’s okay you can do it, just take a deep breath.” She guided me. I looked from her to the shaman whose nose was bleeding from how hard Hyun-ju smacked her, my gaze scanned the room, looking at everyone around us who was watching me.

Their all gonna watch me die

My eyes met 001’s. If I was gonna die I was gonna die looking at something attractive. He made a deep breath motion with his hands and his chest. Something about it snapped me out of it as I nodded my head back. I copied his actions and suddenly felt strength in my weakened hands. I took a breath and wound up the top. I threw my hands in front anxious to see if it would go. Watching the top spin in the bloody puddle in front of us I stared at the disgustingly poetic moment. My team started marching even though I wasn’t mentally there. All I could do was march along with them.

We got to Jegi and all stared at Hyun-ju waiting to watch her play. I held my breath waiting to hear the pass from the PA. You could hear a pin drop it became so quiet in the room. The shiny tassels of the Jegi swishing around, I counted under my breath the taps from Hyun-ju’s foot.

1…2…3…4…5…

When Hyun-jun cheered we turned back around to see the guard holding his arms up in an O, we all happily cheered and quickly stepped towards the finish line, as we crossed the finish line I couldn’t help but sink to my knees in relief. We were all so caught up in our victory we didn’t take notice of the opposite team.

Fail

I looked over to the other side of the room, they were still on the spinning top game and everything felt slow motion.

Your time is up

I looked as they pleaded for longer, to only be denied by bullet. The gunshots echoed the room as the bodies fell to the ground. I closed my eyes just in time, as I felt the blood splatter onto my face. Reaching my hands up I wiped my eyelids down, seeing the blood smear my hands. My group had mostly been hit in their clothes, but Geum-ja noticed my face.

“Oh, oh dear, come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” She said, helping my stand. I looked down and noticed our ankles had been unlocked, but I was still coming off the high from the top. My hearing felt fuzzy, I couldn’t focus on anything going on around me. I got tunnel vision, needing Hyun-ju to help me walk. As they escorted us out of the room, I looked over my shoulder to see the crowd going back to their business, only Gi-hun and 001 where watching me as I left. I kept staring at them before we turned the corner and left the room.

————

I remained quiet the rest of the game time. We were back in “our” room and I couldn’t help but distance myself. The rest of our group sat at the bottom of the stairs while I resided at the top. Watching more and more players come in, I hadn’t seen my brother or 001 come in yet. My stomach turned sickeningly. I bit at my fingers as my eyes darted around the room, checking and rechecking to make sure I hadn’t missed him.

“Hey, (Y/N) are you okay?” Young-mi asked, placing her hand on my shoulder. I simply nodded my head remaining silent. Geum-ja climbed the stairs to meet us near the top.

“Why don’t you come to the restroom with me, we’ll wipe that blood off your pretty face.” She said swiping at my cheek with her thumb. I simply nodded at her as I felt a tug on my elbow.

“Cmon, I’ve got you.” Hyun-ju mumbled, helping me to my feet.

————

I felt Geum-ja using a piece of toilet paper to wipe me off. The cold startled me out of my daze a little. She softly smiled at me and apologized for the temperature.

“No no it’s okay, it feels good.” I told her bringing the paper back up to my face. She wiped the dripping water off my chin and walked us out of the bathroom.

————

“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have made the last kick.” Gi-hun said to 001, before seeing him turn to 222.

“Are you feeling alright?” He asked her, she nodded her head and went to reply when a running sound caught their attention. Gi-hun looked up to see his sister running at them like she had 10 seconds left in “Red Light Green Light.” He stood from his spot and met her at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as she got close enough she jumped into a hug. Mostly holding herself up but Gi-hun held her at her waist to help. A shaky breath left her chest as she clung tightly to her brother.

“I thought- I thought you, you didn’t make it past the- the game.” She sniffled, holding tightly to Gi-hun.

“It’s alright, I’m okay, we’re okay. Everyone on our team made it.” The small group was now watching the interaction with interest. Gi-hun wiped the few tears that had escaped her away and looked up to see Geum-ja and Young-sik watching them as well. When she sniffled he looked back down at her. “I’m ready to go home now Oppa.” Her lip wobbled. He nodded and looked back.

“I’ll be right back, I’m not going far.” He told her. Gently helping her sit on the step right below 001, as he left to speak with the mother son duo. The small group went back to talking about their win, but 001 place a light hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” He asked slightly nudging her to look at him. With a swipe on her cheek, she replied, and took another shaky breath.

“That top game really got to you.” He said, lightly rubbing her back now, she nodded and nervously twisted her hands around. “I got stuck there too.” He admitted

Looking at him with wide eyes, (Y/N) blinked away the rest of her worry. “You did?” She asked. He nodded and sighed.

“I kept throwing it without enough force to get a spin going, I got really upset at myself but then I remembered how you threw it and just copied the way you did it.”

With confusion she asked him, “how I did it?” She repeated. He nodded and used his hands to copy what she had done. “You’re the one who helped me do that.” She softly smiled looking at him in disbelief. He let out an amused huff before looking down again. Gi-hun had come back from thanking the other two for their care of his sister, and sat down right next to her, taking her attention away from 001.

Gi-hun wrapped his arm around (Y/N) holding her close to him as she wrapped herself in her arms.

“Listen. Perhaps we should learn each other’s names. I still don’t know your names, gentlemen. Or yours, Misses.” Dae-Ho announced, looking at the group. “I’ll start. I’m Kang Daeho.“Dae” means “big,” “ho” means “tiger.””

“Wow. “Big tiger.” Cool name. My name is Park Jung-bae.” Righteous” and “twice.” My parents wanted me to be twice as righteous.” Jung-bae shared, lightly laughing to himself. The group turned their attention to the first female.

“My name is Kim Jun-hee.I don’t know what it means though.” She shrugged.

“Jun-hee, when you get out of here, go see a doctor right away. You’ve been under a lot of stress. You need to get yourself checked out.” In-ho suggested, causing the siblings to look at her and nod in agreement. She nodded back in affirmation.

“I’m Oh Young-il.” 001 shared, pointing to his number on his jacket.

“Young-il?” Jung-bae asked curiously.

“Yes. “Young-il” sounds like “zero one,” and that’s my number. Easy to remember.” He smiled. (Y/N) tentatively reached a hand up and felt his jacket number.

“Young-il, it suits you.” She smiled at him. “Your number 1.”

“Oh, that’s true! Your name is your number.” Dae-ho exclaimed, he turned to Gi-hun. “ Oh, Gihun. What’s your last name?”

“My name is Seong Gihun.” He said “This is my younger sister. Seong (Y/N).” The girl looked up from playing with her O patch, she nodded and went back to what she had been doing. The trill of the money filling the piggy bank drew her attention back to the room around them. As she watched the bank fill with the money of the now passed on players she couldn’t help her shaking hands.

One of those 100,000,000 could be me next, it could’ve been me.

She unconsciously grasped Gi-Huns arm tighter, not even realizing she held it in the first place. Gi-hun looked at his sister who now had tears shining in the corner of her eyes again. She softly cried, she clung tighter to him as they watched people become enraged.

In-ho looked at the girl from where he was, watching her sobs. They dripped down her face and shined like stars in the sky. The golden light from the piggy bank illuminated her face, making the salty wetness glimmer. He wasn’t sure what sort of feeling he was having, spite, anger, nay… jealousy? Didn’t matter. He was going to get to Gi-hun, and if he had to rip her apart with his bare hands and re build her in his own image, that’s what he would do…

————

“This time, the vote will begin with Player 001. Player 001, please cast your vote.” The guards spoke, you all watched as he walked down the aisle to press the big red X button. Looking back at your group he made a thumbs up and went to stand on the X. As more and more people voted you watched the sides slowly fill up, when more O’s started being pressed than X’s.

“Are you all out of your minds?You still want to keep going after watching all those people die? Who’s to say you won’t die in the next game? We have to stop. We’ll all die if we keep going! Come to your senses, and leave with that money.” Your attention hooked onto Young-il watching his brave statement. Someone from the O side shouted even louder.

“What do you think we can do with a mere 70 million?”

The old man spoke up. “I don’t know how much you owe, but for most people here, that doesn’t even cover 10% of their debt. If we play one more game, the prize will be at least 240 million!” With everyone shouting at once your currently very fragile mental state couldn’t take much more of it as you started letting small sobs out. Your own crying got interrupted by Young-mi who started begging to vote to leave, that she didn’t want to die in that awful place. You watched her from where you stood, unaware of another pair of eyes in turn watch you.

“These games aren’t actually hard, they’re just kids games, you’re iver thinking it.” Someone shouted, that did give you a bit of false hope, till you saw Young-mi crying again and snapped out of your own worry.

“Just kids games, not that hard? How about we bring in the bodies of the already two hundred plus dead players and you tell them that yourself, that they were simply failures at kids games?” You huffed, seeing Young-il nod at you from the corner of your eye. Around you people started cheering for one more game as if what you said didn’t even matter, that they weren’t thinking about the already dead players.

When your turn finally came around, people started chanting again, only to be met with the sound of a barrage of guns cocking. The square gaurd spoke.

“Let me repeat yesterday’s statement, we will not allow disruptive processes to the voting process.” You stared at them in confusion as they hadn’t stopped the rioting earlier, but now did? You took a deep breath and made your way down the walk, you didn’t even hesitate to press the X button, and ripped off your patch, knowing your vote wouldn’t make a difference in the almost twenty extra vote split. You walked over to the X side as you watched your brother take his vote.

“You cast your vote and that’s what matters.” Someone whispered in your ear. You jumped a little bit, startled. “sorry” Young-il whispered putting a hand on your back.

“Oh, yeah I guess so.” I shivered. I wasn’t chilly for long though, feeling Young-il’s hand on the lower of my back sent warm, electric chills up my spine. I turned to look at him hoping he would move his hand away at the motion but didn’t, he held strong. With a curled lip I faced him, “I’m… I’m really scared.” I confided, something about him just made me feel safe, warm, happy.

“It’ll be okay.” He whispered back, reaching around you to give you a gentle hug. You reciprocated it, feeling like a tiny doll, loved and cared for by a little girl held safely in someone’s arms. Of course, you where one once, but now your a woman with… other feelings. His hand on your back now felt like a red hot iron, heating you up, churning your liquid insides.

Even though you’d be there for about two or three days now, and none of you were in the least bit clean, he smelled divine. His natural man musk doing something to you. He was just embalmed with this smell like he hadn’t been running and sweating with the rest of you. You couldn’t name it but it filled you. Your legs itched to press yourself closer to him, feeling the rest of the world melt away. As though you were the only two in the whole room.

————

In-ho felt the mood of the hug shift… intentionally… he went from a simple hug to something much more. He moved his arm from your back slowly lower and lower. His hand resting just above your behind. Using the palm of his hand he pressed you closer to him still. His other hand up near your neck, gently brushed the hair away as he thumbed at the back of your neck.

The voting had ended as everyone dispersed, Young-il kept his hand in your lower back as you snapped out of it. With a shy smile, you looked away from him as he led you away.

Gi-hun, upset at the vote results, went to find you to comfort you, only to be met with the sight of you walking away from him… with Young-il.

————

You sat down, in front of your brother and Young-il. As everyone was eating the small amount of food they had been given you shouldn’t help but blush thinking about what happened. Jung-bae was trying to justify his earlier decision of choosing O, and scooted over to where you and Jun-hee sat.

“Jun-hee, (Y/N). I’ll make sure we survive the next game.” As you went to snip back at him Gi-hun did it for you.

“The next game”? In the next game, we might have to kill each other.” At his answer you got startled, your hands squeezed at your milk carton causing a bit to splash out.

“ Gihun, that’s a bit much. There’s nothing we can do now, so let’s try to stay positive.” Young-il said, leaning in front to hand you a handkerchief to wipe off with. “We should eat, pull ourselves together, and try our best again. Here, Y/N. You can have my milk. Hang in there until the next game.” Looking over your shoulder you were met with his soft face handing you a milk.

“Oh no it’s okay, I didn’t spill that much.” I said looking into my lap.

“Take it, I don’t drink plain milk, if you don’t I’ll just give it to Jun-hee.” He said nodding his head towards her. You shook your head again as you lifted up a second carton of milk.

“I’m already covered for seconds, thank you though.” You nodded in return. Passing the milk to Jun-hee she looked at your milk in curiosity.

“Gi-hun can’t have plain milk either, it gives him a tummy ache.” You said in a condescending voice, switching to baby voice at the end as you reached over to pat his stomach while he finished his piece of bread. With a huff he tried to push your hand away.

Jung- bae offered his bread to Jun-hee who happily accepted, right as Dae-ho asked if his milk was on the table too. You chuckled and finished the little bit you wanted from your brothers container, you passed it to him stating that you where full. You stood taking your trash to one container they had sitting in the middle of the room. You walked past you the group you played the six legged game with.

“Unnie your beautiful” you heard Young-mi say as you walked up.

“I don’t know if I could say “beautiful,” but I’ve spent some time with you now, and I think you look fine.” Geum-ja said in addition. Young-sik felt the need to add on, “You said she was unsightly?”

His mother flipped his cup up while she was laughing, you giggled from the stairs as you came up, Young-sik and Hyun-jun looked at you with ashamed looks.

“I’m not upset.” You admitted. They looked at you in confusion. “We all need money for things, it’s essential to living in todays world, I’m just sorry that you both are under so much stress from it that you feel you need to be in a life or death situation for things to be right again.” You started with Hyun-ju, leaning down to give her a hug. You wrapped her in your arms and tried to push your acceptance through your fingertips. Then you went to Young-sik who didn’t look like he wanted a hug, so you gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek. That got his lips wobbly. You said your goodnight and went on your way back to your beds.

————

Lights out in ten minutes. Please prepare for bedtime.

The lullaby that played gave you some comfort. You looked around the room to see some people already asleep, and some pretending to be. As you were mentally drifting off you lost attention to the world around you and screamed as you felt a pair of arms lift you up.

“AHHH OH MY GOD” from behind you Dae-ho chuckled and set you on your mattress. Young-il picked up the back end of the mattress as Dae-ho took the front.

“Allow us to escort you to safety milady.” Dae-ho joked, jostling the mattress around a bit. As you sat above they started rocking the mattress side to side. In between your laughs and little screams you managed to get out what you were saying.

“Don’t you- AH- don’t you dare drop me.” You laughed out the fake threat. As Dae-ho grabbed your pillow he started hitting you on the head with it.

“AH! AHHHH oh my gosh, stop I can’t see.” You giggled out, turning into a chortle kind of laughter. Of course your brother just had to ruin the light hearted mood.

“Once it’s lights out, we need to take turns keeping watch. I’ll take the first watch. You should decide the order for the rest.” He remarked, setting his pillow and blanket into place. Young-il look at you and you simply shrugged at his gaze. As you heard the countdown start you couldn’t help but become a bit nervous at the ominous sound.

About midway through the night, you heard Jun-hee shifting in the bed next to you, she slowly sat up causing the bed to creek, in turn waking you.

“Mr. Seong.I need to use the bathroom.” You heard her whisper.

“It’s too dangerous to go by yourself.” He hushed, he looked around to wake someone to help her when you hopped off your bed.

“I’ll go, now that she mentioned it I really have to pee.” You said quickly slipping on your shoes to go. He shook his head and looked for someone else, not trusting you two alone.

“We can go together!” Geum-ja whispered excitedly. You nodded at your brother who in turn gave you both the go ahead.

As the two of them pestered the triangle guard to let you go, you stepped up from the shadows to try your hand at negotiation. The guard shut the window again then re opened it asking for your player number.

“Uhh, I’m 432?” You replied confused, you looked at the other two who just shrugged. The window closed and the door opened almost instantaneously. “Maybe it’s some kinda number lottery?” You suggested walking through.

“Can I come too?” Hyun-ju popped up from behind you. You jumped in shock and grabbed the arm of the nearest gaurd, who let you steady yourself before escorting your group to the bathroom.

When you got in you didn’t even have time to register what the others were doing as you raced to the toilet. They let you go after games but that milk thought right now would be a great time to make a reprise. After you finished you walked out to see Geum-ja and Hyun-ju comforting Jun-hee.

“Uhh did I miss something?” You inquire. Jun-hee sniffled at you and told you she was okay. You smiled back as your group finished washing their hands and leaving.

————

Looking around you where quietly swearing at the predicament you where now in. Jung-bae was currently on watch. Gi-hun was asleep under the bed on the left, Young-il was asleep under the right, an empty bed space on the right sat wide open but the space between there and the two bodies resting around it would require you to wake someone up. To get into that corner. Deciding you would rather wake Young-il up over poor pregnant Jun-hee, you took your chance and started slowly crawling around him.

You were almost under the bed and in your spot when your foot slipped on a loose edge of his blanket. With a hiss down you went.

————

He didn’t know how he got to wake up to this… but he did…

(Y/N)’s chest directly in his face… or should I say ON his face. Her stomach pressed against his chest, in his hands he could feel the softness of her skin from under her shirt.

Again…

He doesn’t know HOW he woke up to that but…

He’s not complaining.

————

Feeling Young-il’s breath on my boobs made me want to curl in on myself in embarrassment. Especially now that he was awake, and… really really warm. His forehead resting on my clavicle felt like lava.

“Oh Jesus, sorry, lemme just-“ I whispered trying to get my way off him.

“here let me help you get unstuck.” He whispered trying to guide my hips over and down so I was on the floor and could easily roll.

“hold on if i can just.” I whisper shouted back, slipping on the blanket as I tried to regain my balance and my legs got entangled with his. Feeling my knee against a hard surface I pushed up trying to shove myself forward when Young-il grabbed my ribs, holding me impossibly still. I heard him quietly suck in a breath and pulled my torso down till he could tilt his head back and reach my ear.

“Do. Not. Move.” He groaned, he started with my legs, he grabbed my thighs with a vice grip, and lifted me over the left of his body. As he picked up my leg, I felt it meet with his inner thigh. Wait… was I pressing on the floor or on his-

He grabbed my hips, which, his thumbs somehow got under my shirt… and… I think I died a little inside. Effortlessly like I weighed nothing to him, he positioned my hips to the side of his body.

Do it again

He made a move for my ribs around my breast. With a much gentler touch he moved me down to the left side, gently pushing my shoulders down so that I now laid next to him.

With a stern look in his eye he addressed me.

“what where you doing?” He asked. His hands still resting on my shoulders.

“uhhm, sorry, I was trying to climb into the bed and I slipped on your blanket.” I admitted, bringing my hands up to try and hide my cheeks.

“no no, none of that.” He said gripping my wrists now, keeping my hands down. “ you’re going to answer me. my way. Why didn’t you just wake me up?” He asked. With a deep breath I felt like a bomb just went off in my chest.

“I, I didn’t want to… wake you…” it felt silly saying this as we were now in this position. He sighed out and let go of my wrists. He titled his head up then looked at me again.

“my turn to watch starts in a little bit, and trying to get back there looks really uncomfy. Why don’t you just stay here?” He asked moving over.

“oh I don’t want to take your spot, it’s okay really.” I insisted reaching up for my blanket, his arm beat me to it though and pulled it down.

“Please, I insist.” He repeated, handing me his pillow and settling me in. I abashedly accepted and sighed out feeling the sleepiness over come me.

“hmmmm, thanks young-il” I whispered, drifting off into sleep.

I quietly heard him reply but couldn’t make out what he said.

.

.

.

.

.

But Gi-Hun heard him…. He heard it all…

AN: AHHHHH RABBLE RABBLE sorry this took so long, this is the longest chapter I think. I’ve read and re-read this so many times to try and make it perfect for ya’ll. ENJOY!!! The mingle scene is next and it is…… actually pretty tame so far, but WORRY NOT, I SHALL DELIVER US TO A HIGHER PLACE, LIKE WHEREVER THANOS WAS THE WHOLE SHOW.

Yours truly

~FandomObbsessedB

Me when I spend three days on a chapter and finally post.

TAGLIST: @blacksnape123 @newtsniffles @missmollya @watasinekoru @justaproudslytherpuff @jamiewritesfanfiction-blog @tinylawyerbluebird @connorsandroids @foulbreadpaenut



[saebyeokbliss]

JUST MEET ME AT THE APT.— K. SAE-BYEOK

CHAPTER NINE

synopsis: managing a rising rock band is already chaotic enough, but when you're stuck touring with four reckless musicians, things get even messier. between late-night facetime calls, teasing that feels a little too knowing, and a certain guitarist who might just be your biggest problem, keeping things professional is getting harder by the second. but hey, no one said the music industry was easy.

warnings: mutual pining, intense eye contact, teasing that borders on flirting (or maybe it is flirting), friends who refuse to mind their business, secondhand embarrassment, slow burn that burns, emotional whiplash, online scandals

playlist: spotify

It started with a tweet.

A blurry, low-quality video posted by some fan who had managed to sneak backstage. The caption was cryptic but damning:

"WTF did Jisoo do to make Kang Sae-Byeok this mad???"

And underneath it—

A video of Sae-Byeok pinning Jisoo against the wall.

The audio was grainy, muffled by the distance and the hum of post-show chaos, but some words were crystal-clear.

"I don’t want to see you near her or the girls ever again."

"You don’t get to come in here and make her feel like nothing."

The internet exploded.

At first, there was confusion. Speculation. Wild theories about why HOT DIVISION’s lead guitarist was this close to throwing hands with an influencer-turned-socialite like Jisoo.

Then came the sides.

Some people immediately took Sae-Byeok’s, praising her for standing up for whoever she was talking about. Others rushed to defend Jisoo, twisting the narrative into something uglier—something about how aggressive Sae-Byeok had looked, how scary her temper seemed, how it was unprofessional for an artist of her status to act like that.

And then, of course, the worst theory took hold.

That it was about you.

Screenshots of old photos resurfaced—pictures of you with the band, of you standing next to Sae-Byeok at award shows, of you in the background of HOT DIVISION’s biggest moments. Someone even found a picture from that night, showing you leaving the backstage area just moments before the video took place.

And suddenly, you weren’t just the band’s manager anymore.

You were the reason for the fight.

The narrative twisted: Sae-Byeok was in love with you. Jisoo had done something to you. You were caught in the middle of some messy, behind-the-scenes drama that no one was supposed to know about.

It spiraled fast.

By the next morning, articles were being written. Think pieces dissecting Sae-Byeok’s reputation, questioning her professionalism, debating whether or not HOT DIVISION’s label would make a statement.

And through it all—

You stayed quiet.

Because you knew exactly how this worked.

Scandals like this didn’t just pass. They grew until someone stopped them.

And that someone had to be you.

You found Jisoo before anyone else did.

She had been avoiding the internet, dodging calls, probably waiting for it all to blow over before she made her next move. But you weren’t going to give her that luxury.

You cornered her in the back of a café, where she had been sipping an overpriced latte like her name wasn’t being dragged online.

She barely had time to react before you sat down across from her, fixing her with a look that made it clear you weren’t here to play games.

"Fix it," you said, voice steady.

Jisoo blinked. "Excuse me?"

You leaned forward. "You fix it. You clear it up. You tell everyone exactly what the fuck happened before this gets worse."

She scoffed, setting her cup down. "I don’t owe anyone anything."

Your patience snapped. "Are you serious? You owe Sae-Byeok everything right now. Because you’re sitting here, drinking your stupid fucking latte, while she’s getting torn apart for something that wasn’t even her fault."

Jisoo frowned, finally looking uncomfortable. "I didn’t mean for any of this to happen."

"But it did," you said sharply. "And I’m not letting you be the coward who lets her take the fall for it."

A beat of silence.

Jisoo looked away, jaw tightening. "I didn’t think she actually cared that much."

You exhaled through your nose, forcing yourself to stay calm. "That’s the problem. You never thought about what you were doing. You never thought about how it made me feel—how it made her feel."

She swallowed. "I just… I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong."

You shook your head. "Exactly."

Jisoo sighed, rubbing a hand down her face. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Tell the fucking truth," you said. "Make a statement. A video. A post. I don’t care. Just fix it."

She hesitated.

Then, finally, she pulled out her phone.

And for the first time since this entire mess started—

She actually did something right.

Jisoo’s video went up within the hour.

It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t some grand, emotional apology.

But it was enough.

She admitted that she had been careless, that she hadn’t realized how much she was excluding you, that she had walked into HOT DIVISION’s space without thinking about how it might have made you feel.

And most importantly—

She cleared Sae-Byeok’s name.

She explained that the argument wasn’t about anything romantic, that there was no secret drama or jealousy, that Sae-Byeok had only been angry because she had stood up for you.

The backlash didn’t disappear overnight. But it shifted.

Now, instead of attacking Sae-Byeok, people were applauding her.

And you— You finally let yourself breathe. But the damage had already been done.

And you weren’t sure if things could ever go back to the way they were before.

Dinner was quieter than usual.

Not because there was tension—no, after everything that had happened, the tension had finally cracked, leaving something raw and unspoken between all of you.

The girls had chosen a small restaurant, tucked away from prying eyes and the chaos of the internet, somewhere they could just be without worrying about cameras or fans or another scandal brewing.

And tonight, for the first time in a long time, they weren’t just HOT DIVISION.

They were just friends trying to make things right.

Ji-Yeong was the first to break the silence, setting her chopsticks down. "Alright, let’s just say it."

Se-Mi exhaled. "Yeah, we fucked up."

No-Eul nodded. "Big time."

Sae-Byeok, sitting across from you, was unusually quiet, arms crossed, her gaze flickering between you and the others.

Ji-Yeong leaned forward. "Look, we got caught up in our own shit, and we didn’t notice how much we were leaving you out. That’s on us. Completely on us."

Se-Mi sighed. "We should’ve realized sooner. We should’ve—" She hesitated, then met your eyes. "We should’ve been better friends to you."

You swallowed, feeling the weight of their words, the sincerity behind them.

And then No-Eul, ever direct, said, "We’re sorry."

Your chest tightened, but this time, it wasn’t from pain.

It was relief.

You let out a small, shaky breath, nodding. "Thank you."

Ji-Yeong gave you a hesitant smile. "Does this mean you forgive us?"

You huffed a quiet laugh. "I mean… yeah. But you guys owe me. Big time."

Se-Mi grinned. "Obviously. We’ll buy you so much coffee to make up for it."

No-Eul smirked. "Or we could just kick Jisoo’s ass next time we see her."

That made you laugh—really laugh, for the first time in days.

And just like that, things started to feel okay again.

After dinner, you stepped outside for some air.

The night was cool, the city lights flickering in the distance, and for the first time in what felt like forever, you actually felt lighter.

But you weren’t alone for long.

No-Eul appeared beside you, hands in her jacket pockets, her usual calm, unreadable expression on her face.

"You doing okay?" she asked, her voice softer than usual.

You hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Better than before."

No-Eul tilted her head, studying you in that way she always did—like she could see right through you. "You sure?"

You sighed, leaning against the railing. "I mean… I still feel kinda stupid for letting it get to me so much."

No-Eul frowned. "Why?"

You shrugged. "Because it’s not like they meant to hurt me. And I knew that. But it still—" You exhaled. "It still sucked."

No-Eul was quiet for a moment, then said, "You don’t have to justify feeling hurt."

You glanced at her, surprised.

She met your gaze, something unreadable in her eyes. "You deserved better from us. And you were right to be upset."

The way she said it—so steady, so certain—made warmth bloom in your chest.

You smiled, small but genuine. "Thanks, No-Eul."

She nodded, her gaze lingering on you.

And for a moment—just a moment—something shifted.

The space between you felt smaller.

The air heavier.

Her eyes flickered to your lips, just for a second, and you felt your breath catch.

Was she—?

Were you—?

Before anything could happen, a voice cut through the air.

"Time to go," Sae-Byeok’s voice rang out, firm but unreadable.

You both jolted slightly, stepping back as if the moment had never happened.

When you turned to look at her, Sae-Byeok’s face was blank, but her eyes—her eyes—were sharp, flickering between you and No-Eul with something you couldn’t quite place.

You cleared your throat. "Right. Yeah. Let’s go."

No-Eul didn’t say anything—just shoved her hands back into her pockets and followed after you.

And as you walked ahead, you could feel Sae-Byeok’s gaze lingering on you.

Like she had seen everything.

Like she was thinking about something.

But she didn’t say a word.

Not yet.

taglist: @everly-summers-solace @knfthxv @madebysae @knfthxv @katieschry1 @imlackingsleep @lyzem @stellssxo @wiltingconquest @peelover25@monroesturnns @laurenkens @yenyu1s @idontliketoread2137 @bitchybananaflower @lyuuw

[fruitbasketball]

Twitter was talking about how mean Hopkins Paige was and wtf did Geno do and hopefully Hopkins P will finally make a comeback this year and I just don’t understand what they’re talking about. Can you explain, please?

yo hopkins p was a different beast like there’s a reason they were undefeated and beating teams by margins of 30 for two seasons straight

still a pass first type of player but absolutely no remorse

she used to talk shit to other teams’ COACHES bro

one time she was straight up like “they cannot guard me, so they’re gonna hold me”

hopkins p used to get techs for getting on officials dude

i remember she once put a girl on SKATES, hit an absolutely FILTHY middy IN HER FACE, and then ran backwards on d and pulled the kobe silencing celly

man she was just foul i miss HER like THAT girl was a national champion

[katyawriteswhump]

love and other catastrophes at the omega cafe (5.2/8) 🐈‍⬛

Here's the rest of today's chapter. I hope you enjoy 💚 

Summary: Steve is a runaway Omega who gets a job at an Omega café, where he’s basically paid to curl up and purr in Alphas’ laps. It’s legal, and he earns a living, rents his own place. He’s getting along fine for a packless Omega. Then Alpha rockstar Eddie Munson turns up for an hour of ‘kitty’ petting, and shatters Steve’s fragile little world…

Rating: E; CW: reference to past drug use; Tags: omega steve, alpha eddie, a/b/o dynamics, fluff and angst, sexual content 💚 

Chapter 1 on tumblr (also index post) Chapter 2 on tumblr Chapter 3.1 Chapter 3.2 Chapter 4.1 Chapter 4.2 Chapter 5.1

Chapter 5.2

Eddie placed Steve back on his feet. A cool wind cleaved between them, and Steve wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. Before Eddie could do anything about it, Robin stomped toward them. “Get inside, Steve, before you catch your death!”

“Seriously?” Steve rolled his eyes and retreated into the apartment. Eddie disappeared behind the screen to get changed, acutely aware that Robin remained, waiting on the other side.

“You do realise how far you’ve gone?” she hissed. “If you drop him now, he’ll get rejection sickness.”

 “I’m deadly serious about this, Ma’am. That’s why we’re courting.”

“Is that what you say to all of them? Huh? Huh? How many Omegas have you been with this year? This month?”

“Listen, since I arrived in this city, I’ve honestly towed the line as your bonafide rockstar monk. Even at ‘Kitties’, I only ever wanted Steve.”

“Before that?”

For a moment, Eddie considered dropping his tone below an Omega’s hearing range. In case Steve was listening. Then he felt an asshat for it and spoke in his normal voice. “Look, I’ve never courted anyone before. Yeah, I’ve had plenty of sex—Betas, Alpha on Alpha, you freakin’ name it, sister. And I’ve helped more than a few willing Omegas through their heats. Ya know, one-heat stands and then swapsies to help me through my ruts, plus a bunch of one-night stands.”

He cringed. Truth was, he had few regrets. He didn’t even believe he’d left too long a trail of broken hearts. Everything had been so casual, beginning to end. When the sex got out of hand—like the nasty white powder he’d snorted before every concert a year or so back—he’d worked hard to kick the habit. With the help of his friends.

He still wished he’d saved himself for Steve. Wtf? WTF?

“I’m not so different from most Alphas.” He dragged on his pants, which proved an effort what with his lingering dampness and other jutting obstacles. “We are known for spreading our wild oats.”

“Yeah, but you’re more an industrial seed spreader. How do I know you’re not gonna kick Steve like he’s another bad habit and leave him to rot?”

She was slashing him open, right here in his own apartment. His instinct was to chew her head off. Instead, as he emerged from behind the screen, he’d gotten his hands clasped imploringly.

“I swear, I could never hurt him. I’ve never felt like this before. I’d literally die to protect him. Please, if you’d just trust me?”

A beat passed. He grew aware that Steve was drawing close again. His peachy-floral-vanilla scent spiralled up Eddie’s nostrils. It made him crazy-happy, even under Robin’s withering glare.

“I’m watching you,” she said. Then her lips twisted into a smirk. “I’m watching you both. You’re ridiculously cute together. Don’t ruin it.”

The meal passed smoothly enough. Robin had thawed, and Eddie talked fairly openly about rehab—the time he went in for his coke addiction, at any rate. Robin and Wayne got along famously, as did Wayne and Steve, who started chatting about hockey. The topic always bored the crap out of Eddie. His brain still raced ahead to some magical evening when they’d watch a game together, and he could piss them off yelling for the ‘wrong’ side.

Steve, meanwhile, relaxed into a cute, playful mood that Eddie found totally infectious.

Yeah, they giggled and played footsie. Yeah, Eddie squeezed Steve’s knee every time he got the faintest chance. When Steve complained he was stuffed, Eddie slid his hand up and under Steve’s now untucked shirt to feel the faint swell of that glorious little tummy.

And… yes, yes, oh fuck, YES, BABY!

Steve’s fingers wandered tentatively across Eddie’s thigh more than once, darting back before he’d gotten his hand over Eddie’s dick.

“Looking for something?” whispered Eddie eventually, voice tight, because he’d gotten more-than-a-semi throbbing away again.

When Steve answered with a gasp of mock innocence, Eddie grabbed his hand and shoved it there. “See what you’re doing to me, Omega.”

Steve’s giggles grew so excited he hiccupped loudly, distracting the Betas from their animated conversation. “So, Eddie,” said Robin, with a terrifying smile, “when exactly were you gonna tell Steve you’ve gotten several gigs coming up, like, on the other side of the continent?”

“It’s hardly a state secret,” answered Eddie, breezily enough. “The world and their mother can look up Corroded Coffin’s schedule online.” Guilt clanged, all the same. He honestly hadn’t wanted to think about it, let alone talk about it. To be brutal, since he’d met Steve, all of his former priorities, including touring and recording their new album, had felt trivial.  “I’ll be gone for less than a fortnight,” he said to Steve, dead earnest now. “It won’t get in the way of our courting.”

“When do you go?” asked Steve.

“In three days.” Steve’s shoulders slumped a little, and Eddie grimaced. Those days would be packed with rehearsals, unless he really blew the guys off on this. “Sorry.”

“I’m cool,” said Steve, then, with a sniff, “you better call.”

I don’t want to call you. I want you to come with me.

The words teetered on the tip of Eddie’s tongue. Then Robin leaped up, causing her chair to clatter behind her and nearly topple. “It’s nearly midnight. Steve, we gotta go.”

They parted with hugs and smiles, although Steve seemed slightly subdued.

Once they’d gone, Eddie wanted to slap himself, and only just drew back from kicking a hole in the wall.

He’d fucked up. Steve was gone. Despite all his burning desire to protect the Omega, he was the one who’d wound up hurting him.

He was gonna have to think about the gigs. He was gonna have to be all fucking adult and responsible and think everything through. Because the idea of being without Steve, even for a day or so, was a freakin’ miserable one.

On the other hand, Corroded Coffin gigs were noisy and chaotic, a melting pot of aggressive Alpha scents. They were hardly a great hang-out for any Omega. Certainly not one who reacted so strongly to music.

And specifically, to Eddie’s music.

Wayne headed to bed as soon as they’d finished clearing up. Eddie had way too much restless energy to sleep. He changed into his slouchiest sweatpants and headed out onto the veranda, clutching a bourbon.

Which he placed, untouched, beside a swing sculpted to look like an enormous coconut. Gazing out across the twinkling lights of the city, he tried to focus, to think stuff through.

It was darn impossible. His need for the Omega was visceral, an agony that twisted in his heart, his mind… and, yeeeeeah, his dick.

The distant ding of the elevator cut through the quiet. A fresh wisp of Steve’s scent reached Eddie’s accelerating breaths, and those torturously tight knots inside him began to release.

He rushed forward to greet his Omega. Steve kinda tripped through the veranda doors and tumbled into Eddie’s opened arms: “What the heck are you doing here, Steve? Where’s Robin?”

“I ditched her,” said Steve. “She thinks I’m home in bed. Love her to bits, but she was… cramping my style. We need to talk. Like, properly talk.”

Eddie agreed, but his mind was veering farther than ever from clarity. His hands slid up around Steve’s face. Their bodies notched together so perfectly, and Steve was literally melting into him.

With an effort, Eddie eked out words that weren’t entirely dictated by physical needs. “What do you want to know, Baby? Whatever it is, just ask.”

“Well, I kinda wanted to talk about me, not just you, and…um…" Steve trailed off, fretting his lower lip. Eddie let rip instead, words tumbling from him, barely coherent, before he could stop himself:

“You’re safe with me, Steve. You’ll always be safe with me. When you offered yourself at the café, all the mindfulness, tranqs, all the months of therapy… It flew straight outta the window. I wanted you… It was agony… but I couldn’t hurt you. I never want to hurt you.”

“Woah! That’s a lot.” Steve was smiling. Eddie’s lust-addled brain took it as a win. “All of it good. I trust you, Eddie, which is why…” He winced slightly, trailing off.

Eddie glided one of his hands to Steve’s nape. “What is it, Baby?”

“You know what part of your music really flipped me out? It was the lyric ‘home.’ From your lips. Honestly, in that moment, you could’ve done anything with me. I was ready to roll over, offer all I got. I guess… we weren’t ready.”

Eddie wracked his brain. Home. Something about ‘the death-knell dialling home?’

He’d almost forgotten that lyric, which seemed throwaway and unimportant now. Though he was damn sure Steve was the one who’d gotten those creative juices flowing again, and…

…Steve wanted a home. With Eddie. After less than a week knowing each other.

Eddie was fiiiine with that.

Yeah, it was quick. Wayne and Robin would both have plenty to say about it. Right now, Eddie couldn’t give a rat’s ass. Steve perfumed the cool night air like a counter at Macy’s, and Eddie was releasing a cloud of aroma you could probably smell on that near-full moon.

His blood thundering in his ears, he tuned back into Steve’s quiet voice.

“Look, I’m not asking you to offer me that home, not without knowing me better. There’s stuff I need to tell you, serious stuff, and… Oh!”

Animal instincts kicked in. Eddie swept Steve up into his arms, like earlier. Steve reacted instantly, reclining bonelessly. His head flopped backward, and he offered up his pale throat, unsullied by any mating bite, to Eddie.

Eddie’s gaze drilled through layers of suddenly translucent skin and into Steve’s pulsing veins. His lips peeled back, and… HOLY FUCK, NO MUNCHIES YET, MUNSON! Steve, fortunately, lifted his head back up: “Alpha,” he murmured, eyes glazed and spacey. “I-I’m ready for that kiss Robin interrupted.”

Eddie knew his smile remained savage. “I’d say I’m ready too, Omega.”

Steve inhaled sharply and closed his eyes. Eddie closed in.

At the featherlight touch of lips, relief and excitement raced through Eddie in equal measures. He moved his mouth caressingly, savoring the pure, perfect flavor of his Omega, inhaling Steve’s sweet sigh. Steve slid fingers up into Eddie’s hair, tangled, tugged and clung, urging Eddie on.

Finally, Eddie slid his tongue between those butter-soft lips, claiming a kiss that he was damn sure he’d craved his entire life.

Chapter 6.1

Chapter 6 on AO3

Thank you so very much for reading. If you enjoyed, every little like and reblog or comment means a lot to me so thank you💚

I am always happy to tag, pls let me know, or you can follow the tag #steddie omega cat cafe 💚

tags 💚🐈‍⬛💚 @disrespectedgoatman 💚 @bumblebeecuttlefishes

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On AO3

[thecountesstribe]

HOTD Ep 2x7 Spoilers and review.

So this was one of my favorite episodes this season and also one of the coolest imo.

Seasmoke being protective of Addam and looking proud he terrorized Addam into being his rider was too funny. I love that dragon 😂. Come through Addam the Loyal, all Rhaenyra had to say was she's queen and he immediately acknowledged her and bent the knee, I loved that. He's really about to become my other favorite boy.

Corlys being shook and acting like he doesn't know Addam, like sir if you don't tell the truth already. He's never gonna beat the deadbeat allegations. Although when he told him “Well done” I did whoop a little. I would've kicked his ass had I been Addam though.

Oscar Tully! That's it. That's the fuckin post. He gagged Daemon and stood on business. I love to see young kids bullying arrogant adults, he reminded me of the OG lil boss Lyanna Mormont. That's my lil nephew now.

Daemon didn't take the crown. We saw him hallucinating again, this time with the sick version of Viserys and Viserys holding the crown which he didn't take. I mean anybody with a brain could summarize that he never wanted the crown, we didn't need to spend so much time in his delusions in Harrenhal to tell us that. We certainly didn't need a scene of him feasting on his mom to tell us that, yuck. For all his faults he really was about his family. He went about it the wrong way but that's Daemon for you. His stupid self destructive ass.

We had an unnecessary scene of Alicent running about the woods after leaving King's Landing. Chile anyways. Larys is totally protecting Aegon now and he's essentially crippled atp. I fear for Baela's storyline.

Rhaena is looking for Sheepstealer. Her and Jeyne are still tussling but they waited until the final 2 episodes to give her something, Baela had no lines besides looking pretty and staring at Jace. I fuckin hate it here. Could we bully HBO AND THE WRITERS SOME MORE. WTF!!

Vermithor and SilverWing looked so cool. What did that old bum feed Vermithor though? He's big asf. SilverWing just might be the coolest looking dragon. I can't rank them anymore cause I like them all 😭. Literally my favorite thing about the episode. Like the directors cooked. The dragons are funny asf 😂😭😭😭. There were a lot of parentage reveals, I don't believe for a second Saera sired that ugly man but anyways. RhaeRhae led those people to their deaths. Rhaenyra deadass gave this big ass pep talk, she reminded me of Erwin before he led the scouts out on what would be their suicide mission except she didn't stay to see the outcome or participate in it. Vermithor saw an opportunity for a buffet and took it, Hugh claimed him. Fuckin cinema. Still gonna hate his bitchass but I can't lie that was badass. SilverWing was bullying Ulf. Why do people I hate always win sometimes?! Ulf literally failed upwards. Can't be mad at it. I mean if I was a dragon I would've done the same shit. How dare mediocre specimens come before me who is essentially the next best thing after the Gods!

We got Rhaenyra speaking High Valyrian. She had her dragon squad quit on her though and gave her a warning (foreshadowing). Her also being able to calm Vermithor, that's the Dragon Queen of her era y'all. We saw a little movement with her and her protective spoiled cat Syrax too 😍.

Not people hating on Jace now. Listen that argument has been brewing since season 1. He just finally let it out of his brooding body. I don't think many people understand the implications that argument meant. He sounded classist and maybe he was, highly doubt he is but he's being realistic and in the future he was proven right (unless they scrap the book canon). Rhaenyra paralleled Viserys in that entire scene. She really is her father's child in some ways. She did to Jace what Viserys essentially did to her. The one thing that could've upheld his ascension to the throne was him having a dragon and she essentially gave a free pass to anybody to do the same, the same thing was done to Rhaenyra when Viserys decided to marry Alicent and sire more children when he knew damn well that if he had a son, her claim to the throne would've been compromised. Jace knows he's a “bastard”, a legitimate one but a “bastard” ntl (I'm not calling him a bastard in a derogatory sense either, he isn't. Laenor claimed them as his sons and that's the end of it to me) , it shouldn't matter considering the throne is not passing from his father's side but his mother's. Sure his last name would've changed the minute he was named heir and ascended as stated by Viserys but what weight does that hold now? They briefly touched on it when he spoke to Baela about his fathers but he had always been insecure about his parentage. No he didn't call his mother a whore, he's been fighting that battle all his life, she just made it worse. In the dire situation they're in, the sacrifice had to be made but I could understand why he's angry and hurt over it again. She literally just made him illegitimate in the eyes of the realm. His anger is valid. Was his tone harsh yes, try dealing with the whispers and the jeers and everything else for the past 16 years of your entire life and seeing the same proof of what everybody else sees everyday and tell me that you wouldn't hold some kind of resentment towards it. I liked how Rhaenyra was patient with him though, just wished it wasn't as rushed as the scene felt.

The last shot of the episode was fuckin brilliant. Aemond turning his bitchass around knowing he can't handle that kinda pressure. Also Vhagar and Aemond's bond may not be as strong as it should be. She clearly does not listen to him sometimes. He's still responsible for Lucerys death IDC what y'all got to say. The episode got a 4/5 stars from me just for the dragons. I'm here for Jace, Baela, Addam and the Dragons!

Until next week guys for the finale. We're going to see Tessarion and Sheepstealer next week. I'm so excited.

[givehimthemedicine]

El traded herself for Max in the void: a timeline switch crack concept

I'm not saying "theory" because I'm not 100% serious but hear me out anyway because there is something here, I'm just not sure what. if nothing else I get to inflict an angsty scenario on you

so you know how Two Days Later El's behavior irt Max is just so weird?

after everything that happened, you'd expect El to already be screaming "IS MAX OKAY?" as the van door is sliding open. instead, she doesn't ask about her at all.

even when Dustin says Lucas is at the hospital, El goes "is he hurt?" as if Max isn't crossing her mind at all as a reason for him to be at the hospital.

Will's casual inquiry of "where's Lucas" is weird in of itself. Will was there when El hatched the whole "Protect Max" plot and literally spoke to El while she was in Max's memories/the void. he knew Max being in danger was the whole thing. he definitely would've asked about Max before he asked about Lucas.

then Lucas says how it was a miracle that Max's heart started beating again, and Mike and Will give El this look. the obvious interpretation being that they assume El is somehow responsible but didn't say a word about it. (classic El behavior)

call me crazy, but doesn't it kinda fit to say that Two Days Later El does not have Void El's memories?

the El who arrives in Hawkins is NOT acting AT ALL like someone who watched her best friend die, brought her back, and ended the interaction with her in a dubiously-alive-critically-injured state.

this El is behaving like one who succeeded in rescuing Max and therefore isn't especially worried about her current status. maybe even a version where Lucas never got beaten up, the tape never got broken, the plan worked. who never told the boys she revived Max, because she didn't.

there's just something about El being all dirty and bloody during Max's death scene and then visiting Max two days later still wearing the same outfit except a still-clean version of it. like none of that happened to this El.

there's just something about Dustin's "oh God, you don't know." maybe this El doesn't! she looks lost af.

there's just something about Mike's "we came as soon as we heard." El was there and saw it all, but you just now heard it from Dustin? I know El is tight lipped but you're really saying she got out of the pizza freezer and into a TWO DAY LONG van ride and the conversation never got around to, like... how the mission went?

yet as of the cabin end scene, suddenly Mike and Will both know stuff that only El could've told them. so.. she did talk in the van? but didn't mention the Max stuff? that's even weirder.

let's talk about Vecna's 4th gate

so gates open on the exact spot of Vecna's victims' bodies, right?

here's where the Max gate starts to open in the UD attic, corresponding to exactly where Max is lying dead in the RU attic.

except that absolutely cannot be.

because they showed us what instantly happens if even a small part of the gate crack passes beneath a person. it looks like this:

so if that gate originated exactly under Max's body, Lucas would not have any warning. the only way he would've found out about it is by seeing at least a section of Max's corpse suddenly get vaporized Jason-style. (if not also his own body!)

instead, Lucas has time to see it starting to form and pull Max to safety. which means it couldn't have started forming exactly under Max.

the forming gate that Lucas is looking at as he drags Max away is actually sorta between Max and the spider shrine.

now look where El was sitting.

what if the 4th sacrifice was El, not Max?

we never actually saw the results of whatever El did when she put her hand over Max's heart. the easiest assumption is she just did magic cpr and started Max's heart again. but what if she was doing something to trade places with Max?

"but wtf are you talking about, because El continues being alive for the rest of the episode?"

for this concept I'm borrowing an idea from @heroesbyler that's had me clawing the walls of my cell lately - in case you missed her recent big brain posts, she pointed out some weird discrepancies in actual vs void versions of scenes throughout the show, suggesting that when El visits the void, she could actually be looking into different timelines. I'd definitely submit the Creel attic as another example.

so when I say what if El traded herself for Max, I'm talking Void El and Void Max.

I'm talking something about Max's death, or revival, or the opening of the gates, throwing some kind of trolley dilemma train tracks switch between timelines. idk there are too many details to iron out before I pitch this in seriousness but idk I just. I swear to you Two Days Later El and Void El aren't lining up.

some discrepancies in the real vs void Creel attic (not all. this could be a whole post itself)

void vs UD:

according to the UD shot, the origin point of the death gate is perfectly centered relative to the rug, and, say, a foot away. here's my hasty approximation of where I'd expect it:

this is why I'm not taking the L about how honestly El's location doesn't perfectly align with the UD origin point - because neither does Max's.

void vs RU:

IRL, Lucas is cradling Max across his lap. his legs are more or less parallel to the spider shrine while Max is angled at, very roughly, 45 degrees to it. the bug lamp is centered on it.

in the void version, the bug light is far towards one end of the table. while Lucas and Max's positions feel fairly consistent, their placement relative to the SS is not.

if you follow the lines of the floorboards in the IRL shot, his butt is aligned nearly with the far right edge of the SS. but here, don't they all seem decidedly further towards the left of it?:

as soon as Max dies, things get differenter. now they're further right again, only Lucas and Max's positions are more spoony, pointed the same direction. she's nearly parallel with the SS now. her feet also seem jacked up at more severe angles.

overhead shot also makes that bug light's off-centeredness very clear.

also you notice how we don't see El hearing Max in the void? I mean, she must have, otherwise she wouldn't reply "No, you're not going", but it's just odd how WE don't see that.

I've talked before about how Max says both "I don't want to die" and "I don't want to go," which are two different concepts in ST universe, and that Lucas and El each get to respond to one of them. so why not show us El hearing the one that's hers?

IRL Max is begging for her life, but when we switch to the void, she's abruptly silent and much more still. El only hears Lucas. back to IRL, Max is still more actively struggling and vocalizing a little before she dies. the energy doesn't match super well.

other bits

on the subject of El's "No. You're not going." if you really wanted to, you could interpret that in a "- because I'm going instead" way. I know, she didn't especially say it with that inflection. but it does have me thinking about how incredibly in character it is for El to be willing to trade herself like that.

it made me think of this moment:

yeah we've all demanded to know what was the reason for having Owens assume Max was a boy. but has anyone talked about how El, in her reply to that very line ("no, do not send your men. send me.") does the same thing? Owens just said "people". El assumes they are men.

there's just something about El saying "do not send your men[?], send me" immediately after Owens referring to Max as a him[?]. it gives kind of a "don't take Max, take me" flavor.

there's also something about how Max wasn't supposed to be the 4th sacrifice anyway.

and by this point El has heard the monologue about how all this time, it's all been about getting to her. so she's definitely feeling that Max is dead in the crossfire because of her. you don't think that if she only could, she would take Max's place and face Vecna directly, whatever that entails? whether it's death or some ambiguous awful fate?

can you tell me this kid

wouldn't trade herself for Max?

also just curious that the very first time they played Running Up That Hill, it actually began on a shot of a distraught El walking down her school hallway before it transitioned to Max walking the opposite way down her school hallway. with the song edited to skip straight from the opening to the chorus about swapping places.

don't worry I'm sure there's no way that means anything 👍

finally, El is distraught not to be able to find Max in the void when she goes looking for her. but it's weird because El has located corpses, flayed people, and inanimate objects in the void before. there's no reason she shouldn't be able to locate Max due to her being in a coma/"trapped".

what if it's not Max who's offline? what if El can't see into that timeline anymore because she's dead in it?

[doueverwonder]

Do you have any Calilliyork HCs?? :]

anon the way I started vibrating when I saw this ask:

they’re the only ones allowed to use ‘city nicknames’ with each other. Particularly NY calling Illi “Chi” (said shy) and Cali “Angel”

u know the “are you trying to seduce me into healthy sleeping patterns??” incorrect quote? Yeah that’s Illi & Cali at NY literally everyday.

California: who needs ac when u can sandwich yourself between your cold bfs

Illinois & New York: who needs heating when u can cuddle your hot (in both ways) partner

idk why but I think when they go on dates they purposefully avoid going to NYC, LA or Chicago.

IlliYork was together for a long time before they started dating Cali too, and sometimes they'll talk about dates they had before and whenever California thinks one sounds particularly cool or romantic they're both like "write that down, write that down-" and will do their darndest to recreate them in the name of "all the times you should have been there"

very headcanony but i'm a transfem nb Cali truther (she/it/they bc projecting), and they were already dating when it had her Great Gender Panic(TM).

The way Illi & York found out is one of them said smth along the lines of "love you forever" just like in passing and California randomly broke into tears like "really??? you'll love me forever?? no matter what??? you're sure?????" and they both obviously were like "?? yes ofc??? is something wrong??? wtf???"

bc NY is decently older than California and Illinois there are running jokes that he's their sugar daddy and it isn't completely* untrue.

(*only not completely true bc California is technically the richest of the three lmao)

speaking of tho; everyone assumes NY is like the least affectionate/committed to their relationship bc he's so cold and 'i don't like anyone' around everyone else. but they just miss that this man spends every waking moment not fighting with the rest of the Northeast making heart eyes at them <3

& he just loves to spoil them both rotten, like genuinely they both have to be so careful about mentioning wanting anything around him bc he WILL get it for them.

also for example they're all theatre nerds but he'll take them to any play, musical, ballet, or opera they express even mild interest in. Best seats in the house, and we might as well go to dinner beforehand, and NY just loves seeing them both all dressed up so we need to go somewhere nice for dinner. It just snowballs and he is not beating the sugar daddy allegations.

He's not doing it on purpose he just likes seeing them both happy and buying them things and taking them places is the best way he can figure it out 😭

NY: I'm this close to fighting Gov so he'll let me marry both of you. Illi & Cali: ? your fingers are touching. NY: I know.

90% of their communication problems can actually be traced back to Illinois. this man is a Midwesterner at heart and thus will never speak his mind on the fear that it might upset them even if its over like.... what pizza toppings they should get. They're working on it but oh boy.

(whole lot of "Illi what do you want," "oh y'know I'm fine with whatever--" "No, we can tell you're not. What do you want?")

Illinois speaks French, and California speaks Spanish, and NY is weak.

this got long so i'll leave it there. if anyone wants elaboration on any of these feel free to ask 👀

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV Musings - Justice for Claudia (she deserved better) ❤️👸🏼👸🏽👸🏾❤️ - S2

Everything that's ever happened to Claudia in her whole life is unfair and effed up, because my daughter's suffered more than Christ in the books, film, and tv show. 😩 This is not about seeing things in bad faith, it's about seeing things from CLAUDIA'S perspective, how SHE FEELS about her place in life, based on the way she's been treated and the things she's gone through & things she's seen happen to herself & the people she loves.

1) leaves NOLA/America for eastern Europe in the hopes of her & Louis starting "the adventure of our lives" looking for vampires overseas...only to be constantly disappointed every time they find nothing but empty castles & long-dead vampires.

2) They've arrived in Europe in the middle of WW2, so the entire continent's an active warzone--they can't even rest without having to run from air raids. They sleep in military foxholes in battlefields, and feed off the wounded & dying soldiers. Louis thinks "the blood is bad here," blaming the blood for how cold & sad HE feels. But meanwhile Claudia's just been getting stronger drinking the same exact blood, starting to learn the Cloud Gift all on her own--so much for Lestat/Loustat's BS about it being "not something you can teach"/learn. 🙄😒 (Ofc, she doesn't know the ins/outs of how the Dark Gifts get passed down.) She's still feeding Louis, sharing her kills with him to make sure he stays energized & can keep up with her; rather than the other way around, "you slow us down!" (TBF he warned her that he would in 1x6, but still, pull your friggin weight, Louis.)

3) Claudia quickly starts teaching herself German/Russian/Romanian/etc, telling everyone that Louis (who sucks with foreign languages) is just her "dumb/mute brother" only good for manual labor. She's the brains & he's the brawn; it's all he's good for; still pining over Lestat 4-5 years later. Claudia starts giving him the cold shoulder, icing him out & refusing to talk to him if every word out of his mouth's just gonna be about how he just wants to go home--"Home? could there be a more offensive question? Run back to New Orleans; pry up his bones, why don't you!? Louis de Pointe du Lac: dead weight." Claudia's been having really bad nightmares, but tries to keep a stiff upper lip and play it off as if she never dreams at all, rather than talk to Louis about any of her troubles.

4) She quickly catches on that Louis' thirsting for male company, slowing them down cuz he'd rather hang around & chat/flirt with Morgan ("giving him your real name") than help her investigate the Revenant she finally finds ("if he can't take you ballroom dancing and tell you you're pretty, hell with him, is that it?!"). This idiot really thinks there's baboons in Romania, and not an actual vampire they could get to know. 🤦🤦 Lou's been acting more & more like Lestat, doubting her at every turn, insulting her intelligence ("your books are bullsh*t!"), cuz he's not at all interested in vampires--there's only 1 vamp he's interested in, "I forgave you for messing up my plan; I did not forgive you for bringing him with you" in his mind & heart.

5) 40+ years old by now, Claudia's still being treated like a little kid; but uses it to her advantage to learn from the Romanian kids about "Anna." While lightskinned!Lou's busy being flattered & buttered up as a "man with good looks" by the adults, the kids are far more honest & direct with darkskinned!Claudia, touching her face without her permission calling her a "cioara" (Rom. "crow"), Romania's N-word. From the frying pan into the fire, Claudia's gone from the American Jim Crow to being called a literal crow by European racist brats, wtf.

6) The Revenant is also a effing jerk, beating the crap out of Claudia & Louis. Daciana gets the jump on them, and has the nerve to yell at Claudia for blinding her "child" (a grown frikkin man btw), when Daciana's the one who bashed his skull in--how was Claudia supposed to know he was too weak to heal?! He attacked her first, not the other way around, but she gets blamed?! 🙄😒 Daciana lets them talk about America and the blood and blahblah, tryna convince her to form a coven with them, and then completely sikes them out when she makes it seem like she's cool with joining them, only to then yeet herself into the fire in front of them; she'd rather die than make a coven with them, wow.

7) Claudia is deeply depressed after losing the chance to join the Revenant & Daciana, the first vampires they'd ever met since coming to Europe. Louis promises her that he won't do what Daciana did if things get tough ("taste the fire"); and tries to cheer her up ("you and me, me and you") by suggesting that they leave Eastern Europe & go to Paris instead. Claudia takes hope that he's sincere about finally choosing her over Lestat (but little does she know that he's still hallucinating DreamStat right next to her, OOF). But her mood doesn't pick up in Paris at all ("New Orleans, unhappy! Vampire homeland, unhappy! Paris, unhappy!"). The post-war city's broke as a joke, and they're stuck pick-pocketing just to get by, when what she wants is "francs and diamonds, and heaven to open up and rain down mink stoles" and to stop living like a bum already. She pays for a blunt AF dressmaker who calls her French "ugly" to tailor more adult clothes for her with the bloodstained jewellery she ripped off her victims. Louis' toxic positivity visibly grates on her nerves--"the male hunted to please her, the girl suffered philosophical conversation to please him," and she's tired of the burden of being his emotional support "throw-pillow" tryna seem cheerful just to keep Louis happy, when really she's "afraid my joylessness will take away his happiness and maybe I don't want his feelings to depend on mine anymore. Maybe I want to be joyfully joyless." 😔💔

8) Louis finally does something right and gets approached by Armand, nabbing them invites to the Theatre des Vampires--"the first time in Paris I had seen a smile or a laugh come out of her that wasn't for my benefit" ("come the coven, you're beaming like the whole world went technicolor!"). She LOVES their sadistic plays/snuff films, and Santiago especially, and wants to be an actress in their coven/Theatre. But trust Louis to be a Negative Nancy raining on her parade with his doom & gloom about how much danger they're in, just cuz the coven built a shrine to Lestat--who just so happened to have founded the Theatre 1 billion years ago & never told them ("I want to be with my own! Don't ruin this for me, Louis. I need this!").

9) When asked who their Maker was, Claudia finds herself finally forced to speak up about Bruce, a name she'd never spoken out loud; using him as a cover in order to not let it slip that she & Louis already offed Lestat. In order to get their lie/story straight, Claudia divulges all the deets about Bruce to Louis, from him being affiliated with Copenhagen (his Maker), to how many moles he had on his crotch as he raped her, "I remember what I remember!," to how many times he told her he loved her as he kept her pinned under the floorboards.

10) The coven hazes Claudia for weeks, but she "takes the abuse in stride" to prove her sincerity and value to the coven she's eager to join, "a flea no more!" Only to learn to her absolute horror that the "grand plans" they had for her was her being stuck "for the next 50 years" in the humiliating role of Baby LouLou (Louis' Baby), a child locked away by her abusive family, who goes crazy and kills herself when she realizes that death is the only way to ever be free. The novelty of being an actress swiftly wears off, and after 500 plays/18 months Claudia finally speaks up about how sick & tired she is of playing the role & being insulted & triggered & "reminded of it every night of my existence...while the mortals laugh and point. I relive every condescending look or f**king comment I have ever had to suffer!" Maitre Armand refuses to lose his cash cow, Blaxploitation in full effect as his Theatre's never been so successful until she showed up, pimping her out to stroke his ego & make his Theatre rich by having her walk the streets in her costume & racket up an even bigger audience for her shows. She looks to Louis for help, but Louis does eff all & just shrugs at her--she pledged herself to the coven/cult/gang, now she's stuck ("go sit in your choice, Sister!"). (Ofc she doesn't know Louis DID tell Armand off about it later on, cuz it did eff all to help.)

11) The ONE person she feels is in her corner is that same blunt AF dressmaker, Madeleine, who still says her French is ugly, but that the dress & songs are even worse and "they should kill whoever wrote it" (*cough* Sam! *cough*). Claudia starts giving Madz rides home from the Theatre, as they bond over how badly Claudia's being treated by the coven ("Are you their hostage?" "More like they're my family?"), and how badly Madz is being treated by the Parisians for being a Nazi collaborator who had the worst taste in men. Claudia sums up the story of her life: "Mom died. Dad ran off. Aunt didn't want me. A fire. Adopted. One of them was bad trouble. Ran away. One dark thing after another.... Even in between the dark things, there's something broken in me. A collision in me, like I wanna go BANG!" Madz encourages her to be her authentic self and go Bang, and Claudia realizes that Madz is maybe really seeing her.

12) Armand picks the right/wrong time to confront Claudia about breaking their rules & spending time with humans. She goes Bang! and reads him for filth, "I missed a chore and made a friend. And before you tell me to make friends with the coven, I can't, because they've turned inward too long ago and you know it! Which is why you run to Louis!" For her honest candor, Armand commences with Chokehold #5, threatening to kill her like "you treated your Maker" if she doesn't stop doing the "bare minimum" to follow his hypocritical AF rules the coven breaks all the time anyway (Santiago having sex in brothels with "half the working girls at Le Chanabais," and Gustave running down the streets drunk AF hollering "I am a vampire!").

13) Claudia confronts Louis for blabbing to Armand about Lestat, only to be shocked when Louis admits that Armand knew the very first time they showed up to the Theatre that they were lying about "Bruce" with his Mind Gift. She tells Lou that Armand threatened to kill her, only for Louis to show & prove how naive & d**kmatized he is, "That doesn't sound like him." Claudia is effing GOBSMACKED, and reads him for fiiiiiiilth, "Oh, I forgot! Love makes you STUPID! Makes you fickle and weak and blind! Let me guess, he's your companion finally? Well, good for f**king you! You and him! Him and you! You and f**king him! PICKED ANOTHER ONE, OVER ME!"

14) Having already moved out of the flat to live with the coven ("wtf's gone on without me here!?"), Claudia ditches her diaries behind with Louis. Her final entry says "Diaries are friends of last resort. I have found one not made of paper and glue. F**k these vampires." She's bonded with Madz, closer than ever after Madz is almost gang-raped by the anti-Nazi patriots & Claudia kills them all, revealing her vampiric nature to save Madz. Louis busts them together, and Claudia asks him to ask Armand to Turn Madz. Louis tries to appeal to Armand relishing not having to compete with "the burden of her" to be with Louis, and she's visibly hurt, but he's just confirming for her what she's already feared, that he'll always pick the man he's sleeping with over her--but it'll all be worth it if she gets her own companion, too. 🤞 But Armand says NO.

15) Meanwhile, Claudia had had no choice but to continue serving the coven, "always a yes, Maitre~!," having no effing clue that Santiago'd broken into Louis' flat & stolen all of her diaries, as part of a Trial the coven was devising right under her nose to sentence her & Louis to death for "killing" Lestat. Louis Turns Madz into a vampire after Armand refuses, and Claudeleine runs away from the coven & leaves Paris together. ✌️ That is the last straw for Armand (who's moved into HER apartment and is sleeping in HER effing coffin, btw). When Loumand invites Claudeleine for a family outing (barely even a few weeks later, if the timeline's any indication), Armand uses it as the opportunity to have Claudia, Louis, and Madeleine all abducted, dragged kicking & screaming back to the Theatre to be put on Trial and publicly executed for their "crimes" against the coven. 💀

16) Claudia is stuffed in the Rat Box to be chewed on by feral flesh-eating rodents, Louis is beat unconscious when he tries to fight the coven off and help her, and Madz is Mind Fogged by ONLY Santiago to STFU & not interfere with any of the proceedings. They're exhibited on stage with all of their ankles slashed thru the bones, hamstrung like runaway slaves to guarantee that they can't escape. Santiago flaunts her stolen diaries for the audience, letting them violate her privacy and read everything she ever wrote, "We have your words here, in all their chilling premeditation!," even reading them out loud in a mocking voice ("and that's when the black angel came~!"). Any time Claudia & Louis try to speak up & defend themselves & set the record straight, the ENTIRE coven collectively Mind Fogged them to make them STFU, hitting them so bad her nose bleeds & Louis' eye hemorrhages.

17) The cherry on top, friggin Lestat waltzes on the stage, and nearly every word out of his effing mouth is a damning testimony against Louis & Claudia in particular. He'd painted his star-crossed history with Louis as a "story of love," but has no such romantic purple prose for Claudia. His account of her Turning constantly emphasized how much he didn't want to make her, how she'd be "miserable" & "a cripple... defective... pain and anxiety as her only birthright;" and that following the coven's oh-so-Great Laws was more important than saving her life, "we didn't know any laws!" OTOH Les made it seem like he cared about her well-being, BOTOH Claudia points out that if Les cared so much he'd've refused regardless, but didn't, cuz he's just as d**kmatized as Louis, "Good luck on how that f**ker didn't ask. Gave me no say, made me more of a vampire than anyone up here!" And Lestat goes off-script to own up to breaking the law to make her, but Santiago quickly handwaves it cuz "you were manipulated into it" & babytrapped by Louis. Les then brags about how she was the "consummate killer" cuz HE "gifted her a predator's upbringing," despite Louis always tryna CODDLE & defang her vampiric potential. Like...? 🤔 Claudia just laughs in Lestat's face; all his love/pride's still not gonna stop her from getting killed.

18) Lestat decontextualizes her struggles in NOLA, diminishing everything down to how her "defect caught up with her [as her] moods worsened" as she started burning herself. He conveniently doesn't mention how Claudia at first only burned herself just to childishly experiment with vampire sunburning/healing; and that her moods only worsened AFTER she'd accidentally killed Charlie--cuz Lerstat hadn't told her about the Little Drink--who's not mentioned in the Trial AT ALL, and whom Les then forced Claudia to watch burn, which deeply traumatized her. Instead, Les mocks her grief AGAIN a la 1x5, weaponizing it against her by saying she only burned herself "for attention" not as the cry for HELP it was. It had nothing to do with her being"defective," and everything to do with Lestat not teaching/treating her right.

19) Claudia is then depicted as a raving monster during the segment about her killing sprees, again having her grief and "penchant for human souvenirs" decontexualized--it's not mentioned how she's collecting ADULT body parts--including adult female breasts she'd never be able to grow ("your chest…you don't have more than you did two years ago"). Instead, she's just a defect acting with no moral compass whatsoever, and is thus punishable by death for being a monster--(even though Santiago uses the same argument to excuse Les Dropping Lou a few minutes later cuz "I ask you to set aside your mortal biases and remember that we are monsters~!" 🙄😒)

20) Claudia is so infuriated & offended by Lestat's White Tears that she goes BANG!, and gets to her feet to cuss him out to his face, despite how much pain she's in as she struggles to hobble over to him on her gashed feet oozing blood all over the stage. Lestat can be forgiven for beating the dog snot of of Louis & dropping him "like an egg from an airplane;" but she can't be forgiven for being born "defective," and made that way BY Lestat?! "CAN I CRY AND SAY THAT I'M SORRY, TOO!?" Hayul to the naw, and she calls this kangaroo court exactly what it is: "it's not a Trial, it's a stoning!"

21) She's done arguing, cuz she knows Lestat DGAF about her, he's just there for wax poetic about Louis and whine about his hurt feelings; without a single apology to HER for how he treated her and WHY she wanted him dead, "it's never been about me!" She feels like a "roof shingle" that flew off of Loustat's house during the "stormy romance of YOU TWO!," sick to dangit death of her parents not GAF about putting her first, so wrapped up in their own mess. But MADELEINE stood 10 toes deep for Claudia, even in the face of imminent death, and announced "MY COVEN IS CLAUDIA." Her dads raised her for 20+ years, but Madz only knew her for less than 5, and STILL put Claudia first and martyred herself for love, incredible.

22) Claudia is sentenced to death next, and Lestat does her ONE effing favor by making Santiago let Claudia have her final request. Like the BAMF she is, Claudia goes BANG! and puts a whole hex on the audience, promising to come back from the dead and kill every last one of them, come Hell or high water! 😈👻🙏 It's the LEAST Lestat can effing do for his daughter before she's burned alive at the stake. Meanwhile, Louis is fighting tooth & nail to not be torn from his daughter when the coven drags him downstairs to be buried alive--the man who has NO Maker/Fledgling Vampire Bond connection with her whatsoever, but who leapt through fire into a burning building to save her, and who crossed an ocean to wander through the European war-theater to make her happy, and who gave her MADELEINE as a companion when he knew his company was inadequate. book!Claudia died hating Louis' guts, but AMC!Claudia died loving Louis (even though he drove her nuts), and the last words Louis ever heard Claudia say was her screaming his name, as she watched him struggling to stay by her side. Meanwhile, Lestat stood on that stage and heard her sing that wretched song, sobbing in pain as she held onto the ashes of her companion Madeleine, before succumbing to the sunlight too. She turns to Lestat for HELP in her last dying moments, "the last thing she saw on Earth was him," watching her burn to nothing but ash and doing eff all to help her, feeling unwanted & unloved by her Blood Father (ofc not knowing that Les had drained himself saving Louis with Banishment, and COULDN'T help her).

23) And Claudeleine wasn't even left alone after death, cuz that dirty mofo Santiago took their ashes and desecrated them, "We used her as eye shadow for the next month's performances. We put them in the pepper shaker for the popcorn we sold in the aisles. And some nights, Louis, I put a pinch of them in my fist before I closed my coffin at night. I would spit in them and I'd use her hot, wet ashes to pleasure myself!" 🤢🤮

TL;DR: Claudia didn't get to kill nearly enough people. 😔

[mynameisnot-carl]

WDJSKOWKW😭😭😭😭 (thoughts about one piece episodes 233-234)

Dude I'm not even done with episode 234 but I'm stimming sm rn I just had to talk abt this

So to set the scene: Nami, Ussop, and Luffy are all in water 7 hoping to get the merry fixed with the money they got from skypeia, and ussop is the one holding the money. The Franky family kidnaps ussop and takes the money, which leaves nami and luffy to split up and nami to find ussop.

Yk how you don't really notice someone getting taller if you see them everyday, but if you go look at old pictures or haven't seen them in a while it's like "woaahhh dude you got so big!!"

That's how I feel about one piece character development. Maybe it's bc of the pacing and length of the show or maybe bc it's done more subtly then modern shows but like

There was an anime filler arc abt some mf who steals memories and the gang got reverted to their prior selves before going on their adventure and it was really cool to see the dynamics of the crew like that

Nami being untrusting and focused on money was expected bc she's basically still like that but with luffy and her crew as the exception to the rule. And even down to the way the characters talked there was some fun call backs like luffy calling his hat his treasure which to my knowledge he hadn't said since back in orange town when the episode numbers were still in the 2 digits (cries)

Ussop was fsr more annoying then normal however, mostly bc of his excessive lying. I didn't like him at first, but over time he just sort of got better and I could quite figure out why. Until in this arc when I realized that ussop lies less over time. I mean yes lying is still a big part of his character yk but like he only rlly does it when nessisary/its a fitting moment now which makes him a lot more sympathetic. I wish he had a worse origin then having a deadbeat dad and dead mom tho lol

Anyway all this to say he is still a coward (but now much more reasonably so and does put up a fight when he has too) and still a liar but slowly over time it gets less so and he becomes more responsible and even becomes a temporary shipright of sorts like how vivi was a sort of doctor before chopper (MY GOAT)

So we see ussop beat up and bloody after the Franky family takes the skypeia money and nami rushes to him asking him to wake up, asking if the Franky family did this

Her face seems really concerned and frustrated that someone did this to him, emotions we pretty much haven't seen from her in the series up until now, ussop let's out a few shakey breaths before awnsering "yeah. because I'm weak. They- they took all the money..."

He begins to cry and the voice acting is seriously superb at showing these emotions and he continues "Nami, how will I face the others?! We were about to have the merry reparied!! I'm so ashamed.. damnit!"

Heartbreaking scene but also it really shows the level of character development ussop has gone through. He's always one of the most shameless characters in this show, I mean half his character is lying and cowardice you can't get much more shameless then that. And to see him be ashamed like that is so like holy shit wtf sjsosjdjdir

AND THEN

Nami reassures him that it's okay and she understands him and that they'll get the money back. And I'm just fucking blown away at how far they've come. Her whole thing in the east blue is money and her own skin over everyone and everything else, and for her to be so much more concerned with ussops safety and health then the money is so fucking sick dude. She's actually come so far dude from pirate theif to pirate im going to cry 😭😭😭😭

Oh also in skypeia Enel basically gave her the same opertunity arlong did of sticking with a super powerful evil dude until the time comes when she can leave/double cross him but she actively chose to fight even without knowing sanji and ussop were coming to save her, showing how she's moved passed that tattoo on her shoulder that represents survival as her number one priority and how she's part of something bigger then herself now and all of this without even MENTIONING Arlong like say I'm reading into it too much but I'm telling you the subtle subtext goes FUCKING CRAZY IN THIS GODAMN SHOW ABOUT PIRATES AAAAAAAAAJEKDJROEJDJD 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭ITS SO PEAK

[lovelyladyabsinthewrites]

Little scenario of soldier boy, after he finally wake up and ended up with Butcher and Hughie in motel (ya know that part) , because before all that happened.

When he woke up and wonder around like 'wtf happed to the word when I was kidnapped??' (and after he did a little oops boom on the city) , and when the boys finally found him they tried to talk out at first but he didn't want to but then when Butcher mentioned he personally (literally) knows his daughter and she wants to see him , at first he didn't believe in him but if it's mean finally see his own daughter then yes Soldier boy did follow Butcher and the boys (plus if Butcher did lie Soldier boy could just beat the sh*t out of him and his gang).

So that's how Soldier boy, Butcher and Hughie is on the motel and all waiting, while waiting after soldier boy shaved and all , he was getting nervous and anxious or impatient (idk it's soldier boy we're talking about it, plus if you watched the episode you know what i am talking about).

When soldier boy was about to shout at Hughie at how long are they gonna wait he hear a door opening and reveal a woman accompanied with Butcher, it didn't take a second to know who was this woman was, she is definitely is his own daughter.

"Dad?....."

She asks, and in this instance Soldier boy was almost wanted to cry ......... :3

(I need to take out of my chest this scenario

;3333)

Bruh stop reading my mind 😭😭😂 I was JUST about to write something about SB and mc’s reunion 😂😂

Soldier Boy just restlessly passing back and forth with poor Hughie sitting there almost feeling like a hostage while Billy went to go fetch you.

It was the only way to coax Soldier Boy to follow them back to their rundown motel room: the promise of seeing his baby girl again.

Oh how he'd dreamed of you when he was stuck in Russia between boughts of nightmares. Once in a while, he was blessed with soft visions of you and Homelander as children. He wasn't stupid to think you'd stay that little girl. Decades have passed since he was taken by the Russians and betrayed by his team. You must be a young woman now.

That didn't matter. If there was a chance, he'd take it.

But Butcher was taking way too damn long.

The agitation that radiated off of Soldier Boy made Hughie nervous. Soldier Boy could literally blow up at any minute. Since there was no Temp V in his system at the moment, Hughie would be fucked. Soldier Boy had both booze and drugs in his system that fueled his rage.

Hughie is constantly checking his phone for any reply to his dozens of messages he's sent Butcher. They'd started to teeter on the verge of hysterical. Who would blame him when Soldier Boy was screaming at him and threatening all sorts of torture if Butcher didn't get there soon.

Then by the grace of whatever blessful deity is watching over him, then, the motel door clicks open and is slowly pushed in.

Soldier Boy pauses then straightens from his previous yelling position and holds his breath.

You're hesitant following Butcher inside the room. When he told you your dad was alive. . .

"'Luv." Butcher whispers, his body blocking anyone's view from inside. "'Is alright." You've come to love how fucking gentle and patient he is with you. Really the opposite of how he portrays himself. He's treating you like your someone who would break easily, though he knows you're far from breakable. It was nice though. You hadn't felt treasured like that since you and Homelander were kids.

Your dad hadn't aged at all since the last time you saw him. But it's him. Alive and staring wide eyed at you.

You're scared to say anything. Soldier Boy appeared rougher around the edges, possibly due to his time in Russia or killing Countess just a little while ago. . .

"Dad?"

Blue eyes gloss with tender pink and tears that you knew he'd never let fall in front of anyone. He pushes Butcher out of the way and gathers you in his arms.

Even when he was alive, Soldier Boy NEVER showed signs of affection. Especially hugs!

Against your body, you felt his frame actually tremble. His embrace is almost crushing, Soldier Boy refusing to let you go. What if he was still back in Russia and this was just an incredibly fucked up dream?

"Holy fuck." Soldier Boy mumbles against your hair. "This is fucking real, isn't it? Y-You're real." He pulls away to really look at your face. Eyes red and frantic. "My baby girl. It's really you."

For all of your childhood your relationship with Soldier Boy was complicated at best. You loved him. You hated him. With him right in front of you though after so many years, you can't help but break. You return his hug fiercely.

"Y-Y-you fucking asshole!" You blubber. "You-You- its your fault we-"

"I know, I know." He replies back, burying his face in your shoulder.

You don't notice when Butcher and Hughie leave the room to give you privacy.

"You're home."

"I'm home. I'm finally fucking home." He whispers. And you swear you feel a few of his tears fall against your shoulder.

[winifred-stormborne]

Babe, wake up, new Genshin ship just dropped

Okay guys hear me out

Tartaglia x Emilie

OKAY NO BUT HEAR ME OUT

Tartaglia goes to Fontaine. No introduction there, we all know the weird shit happening in Fontaine by the time he gets there.

Of course, with Emilie being a forensic scientist, she's on the missing persons' case that's been plaguing Fontaine for years now.

Tartaglia is of course immediately under suspect because IT'S TARTAGLIA DUH and naturally Emilie's like "Wtf no???" and comes to his aid with all her research on the case. We love the girl coming to a man in distress, honestly. More male damsels, please ;v;

The Oratrice finds him guilty and he tries squaring up with Neuvilette. Emphasis on "tries". Sorry Tartaglia, I love you, but you got laid the absolute fuck out by him. And then of course, he goes missing in Meropide. Poof.

And since Emilie works with Wriothesley, she gets into Meropide pretty easily to figure out what the heck is happening. That's when she meets our favorite twins, Lyney and Lynette, who are also working the case to look for their Fatui friend. Emilie finds Tartaglia's Hydro Vision left behind and BOOM she knows about the Primordial Sea and where he is.

Great, now she's wrapped up in the whole thing about Furina :D

Okay okay fast forward through Furina's trial when the Narwhal and Tartaglia show up running hands with each other. Emilie's in so deep that she FOLLOWS HIM INTO THE ABYSS with Neuvillette.

Anyway, Neuvillette, Emilie, and best boy beat the hell out of the Narwhal. I imagine Emilie doesn't get to know much about Abyss stuff and gets ejected out like Tartaglia when Skirk shows up. Tartaglia winds up back in Snezhnaya and Emilie gets dropped back into Fontaine.

Time passes, things return to semi-normal after Furina steps down as Archon. Emilie's been cleaning up some final paperwork regarding the cases she's been a part of recently. And that's when a letter arrives from Snezhnaya.

It's from Tartaglia! He's thanking her for coming to his aid and helping to clear his name, even though they were pretty much strangers to one another the whole time. He expresses interest in getting to know her better so he can properly thank you for all her help. That help might have been alluding to violence against other people, but that's neither here nor there hehe

So not only does Emilie write him back, she sends him a care package with his Vision that he lost and an array of custom perfumes/colognes she thinks Tartaglia would enjoy, all themed around the ocean!

I'm talking sweet beachy sandalwood scents, perhaps one with a crisp, saltier scent like ocean water, and definitely something with a bit of a woodsy smell to it, like a clean, oceanside pine forest.

Oh boy, Tartaglia thinks he may be head over heels at this point 👀

That's it, he's going back to Fontaine for a visit! Cute shenanigans ensue! They're adorable AAAAA

Brb I have fanfiction to write now sjgstjsjgjgdst

[get-caitjinxed]

Passed your page like 7 times bc I didn't know you changed your profile

Anyway came to ask what do you think the characters smell like? I'm trying to write and I suck with imagery/writing in general so you know trying to add to it. Smell is one of the senses I hadn't written but wtf does Caitlyn Kirramen smell like????? like flowers? Clean????? Bit of sweat???? I can't 😭

Also if you have writing tips you'd share please do 🙏

hehe sorry about that lol! i was getting tired of the other one, i'll try not to change it again 🙇‍♂️

this is the part where i have to admit that i'm terminally single and i don't have a great understanding of what other people smell like 😭 i don't think i'd even be good at describing how i smell? but in caitlyn's case i def think she would wear some kind of subtle perfume - nothing too extreme or too sweet, but just enough that you would be like "oh shit, she smells good". possibly smthn floral? 🤔 and then depending on the situation, you could go for some kind of fresh laundry smell bc i assume she keeps her uniform (and the rest of her clothes) as clean as possible. but also gunpowder! if she's been shooting, ofc. and if she's been running around in a fight, sure, sweat, maybe a little blood, etc. if you're going for the hextech rifle, i feel like i see a lot of people describe the scent from that as being a sort of ozone-y smell that lingers after a burst of energy

and if you're writing her with jinx, maybe she carries around a bit of residual grease/oil/paint/metallic smell 😏

my overall tip for this would probably be to go do some research on perfurmes ig? this is some advice i should also take myself. gotta become a real jeremy fragrance type

AS FOR OTHER WRITING TIPS... i'll just rapid fire off a few:

when you're writing dialogue, try saying it to yourself out loud if it feels weird. your own voice might not match the character you're writing, but this is mostly to check and see if it sounds natural at all (sometimes i will literally talk to myself out loud and do voices if i'm thinking up a scene)

don't be afraid to interrupt dialogue (even mid sentence) to describe what a character is doing as they speak (or even how another character is reacting to something)! em dashes and ellipses are your friends

if you've written out something and it's just not working, don't be afraid to delete several paragraphs and dial it back. there are so many times were i get balls deep into a scene and go "this is NOT it" and delete everything i just wrote

less of a writing tip and more for brainstorming: when i'm stuck and i can't think of where to take a story next, or how to write out a specific plot beat, i just go for a walk and listen to music! this has been my brainstorming process since i was like 10 years old lmao and it's always worked well for me. sometimes you gotta step away from the word document and do something else for a while

your writing is always better than you think it is! i will post stuff and be like "wow this is garbage" and then have folks come along and tell me it's the best thing they've ever seen. you are your own biggest critic, so try not to be too hard on yourself!

also to anyone who is newer to writing or just starting out, write whatever the fuck you want! actually this applies to any experienced writers as well. don't feel like you need to write fics for other people! 90% of what i write is extremely self-indulgent and the other 10% is for my friends bc i know they'll like it. if you try to pander to your audience, you'll just make yourself miserable and you won't enjoy what you're doing. i'm churning out so much fic bc i genuinely just love writing caitjinx 🥺 everything i do is for me first

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

Do you bleed? aka The Rage of Dragons thoughts

Tau

my baby angel boi

my sad angry boi (mostly angry)

my dedicated boi

and the friends we made along the way

and the bloodshed

The audiobook narrator is GOATED; he can simultaneously make a character sound coldblooded and make other characters sound so warm it's so GOOD 11/10 recommend

I finished this book in 2.5 days, that's WILD

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT BITCH

Ok so I think when it comes to characters, I connect with characters who have lost parents (not to beat the horse with a stick but I lost my mom to cancer in 2022 so I get REALLY emotional when characters lose their parents because I can summon that grief in a moment and recall that feeling of her being gone)

So when Tau's dad is brutally killed and Tau holds him in his arms and vows revenge on everyone involved I'm like

go off king, i support you 10,000,000,000,000,001%

But him also being claustrophobic? relatable

I also really loved how devoted he was. I'm someone who's all in or not at all and his obsessive devotion to becoming a weapon was so overwhelming and relatable.

DUAL WEILD BITCH shink shink shink shink shink

(Im always dual wielding daggers in video games if I can so when he starts fighting with two blades i SCREAMMMMEDDD)

UDUAK

I loved him. For a character who doesn't talk a whole lot, I really found him to be a moving character. Why? I think I like protector/defender characters. AND the narrator made his voice so sweet and deep and warm. When he said "Well met, Tau Solarin" and it SOUNDED like he was smiling warmly and they embraced?

PFFFFFfff bitch my lower lip trembled

And at the end when Zuri was nuked off the world (jfc I didn't think she was going to die what a TWIST!!!! ESP AFTER SHE JACKED HIM OFF LIKE A DOMINATRIX IN THE TUB AND THEY FUCKED BRO!!!! I thought she would be like, his reason to live and fight when it got bad in later books but nope Mr. Winter said YEEET) Tau was wailing his grief and Uduak was holding him and shushing him and I was like OOF this right here is a great character. I love Uduak. He's my favorite side character along with Themba, a man with situational awareness on 100% and also -100%.

Jiyaad was cool but...*smiles but cries*

Kellen is fine because he doesn't REALLY want to kill and be a dick and I think I see MAYBE what the author is trying to do. Either he and Tau will be a characters that have grudging respect for each other and even eventually protect one another one day or they'll be like best friends.

I also have a weird tingly feeling about Kana, the hedeni warlord's (what was that guy's name...? Achak I think) son. He seemed intrigued by Tau the moment he met him so either that will be a great dynamic or Tau will be miserable more miserable.

It's on fucking sight with Abasi Odili like WTF bro. Peace was actually going to happen but because ThE OdEHi doN'T SuRRenDeR now we're gunna be at a war and our entire people wiped out, ok ok ok cool cool just so I understand properly

ALSOOOOOO the African inspired cultural aspect was so so GOOD. I've rarely seen it in the fantasy genre and it was AMAZING. The characters and the terminology and how they spoke was just

The concept of Isihogo is INSANE. It's like...a spiritual world...? But if you don't pull power from it, even if the demons rip you apart you're fine irl but you may become demon-haunted. Which Tau...kind of is but just like, ignores it despite being terrified. Because my man does not QUIT. He literally is like "I'm gunna go ahead and train in this realm because I need to be better than I am with my swords and time passes slower and it'll help me with feeling pain as I get torn to shreds and with fear as I face immortal demons" and I'm like

Why do I also have a feeling that one huge spiky one is like....a demon king or something...? Tau was like "lol I'm here now so you gunna kill me bro?" after he took in power so Zuri wouldn't be killed and the demon was like !!!!!!! before Tsiora came and expunged him out of the realm. And Spiky!Demon was like SCReeeeeeeeecCH

Ou ou ou ou the twin guardian blades he got at the end PERIODTTTTT Tau is Champion, beetch

I want the Nobles to be so irate about it like "WUT WE CANT LET A LOW COMMON BE A CHAMPION GROSS" and the Tau be like

"Yeah cool no worries whoever has a problem can challenge me in single combat and if i lose (lol) then I'll step down as Champion" and then everyone be like

Such a good book, I really really loved it.

I'm kinda glad (I know how bad this sounds) that Zuri died because she was a good character with a decent arc that went out knowing she was probably going to die and I want Tau to be like, borderline EVIL with his revenge

His character is so interesting because he's so single minded and now that his one beacon of light is gone, he's gunna be INSANNEEEEEEEE

*content sigh*

ok thats all I feel I think

[ishika-star]

spoilers for ava 11

Ig im putting my thoughts in the most incoherent way possible

I got to watch it with my brother :D except i later found out that he knew NOTHING about ava (he only watched avm) so we went on ava binge watching. He’s favorite is…Chosen I think????? idk but that was fun

Moving on to the actual ep, the animation was soooo good. I know sooo surprising but seriously when i saw ava 1 reanimated my jaw dropped. It was just so cool seeing the video that kickstarted the entire series in the new 3D animation. And the little watercolor scenes xkjsianeidnsoendks

Mitsi was also awesome to see. I really don’t want to add on to the negativity but i was a little disappointed by her death (also by the lack of role for the shepred. Justice for Shepherd and Silly Steve). Not surprised (like what that one post said, ava and avm is NOT passing the bechdel test 💀), but still. But i’m really glad to see she wasn’t just there to kick off victims revenge and actually left a huge impact on victim and rocket corp as a whole. She was also the CEO which was awesome omg i’m so happy about that. I might draw some doodles of her in a suit and stuff bc wow. If she’s going to die I hope she get ayano tateyama-ed and continues to haunt the narrative ❤️

Also

PURPLE?????? I remember seeing the two lies one truth thing in the newsletter and when i read the purples origin part i was like “yeah right. They’re just trying to hype us up”. How wrong i was 💀and ofc Navy cannot be on screen without being a complete asshole. The entire website is being blown up by godlike figures and your ditching your family. wtf

Talking about godlike figures (awesome transition), Chosen!

(i totally have to redraw this scene bc this is fire pun intended)

The way i screamed when i saw that tco killed Mitsi omg that permanently changed my brain chemistry. And honestly this explains soooo much like why victim was beating him up, not TSC. I saw that a lot of people felt conflicted about TCO or trying to come up with ways to defend him and honestly, i don’t really get why? no offense of course, i understand how seeing your favorite as a murderer might change some things but for me, it didn’t really change my perspective on tco much. Like we knew he blew up websites and was kinda implied to have hurt a lot of people, now we just got to see it firsthand. I always thought of him as kinda morally gray anyways like. Even if you’re good now, if you literally spend the first years of your life free as a cyberterrorist your moral compass probably isn’t really that strong. Anyways i’m liking the more nuanced TCO who might not completely regret his actions, he might actually be becoming one of my faves now

(also their little high five bc that was cute. TDL is kinda back wooooo. Also TCO kinda hesitating?)

Me when the cycle starts cycling. Oughhhh i love the whole victim and abuser thing that’s going on here. Noogai turning TCO and victim into victims, then TCO becoming the oppressor and ruining victims life again after he finally moved on. And then victim with his kinda sorta victim complex and never moving on from his past. And now victim becomes the oppressor by torturing TCO like. It’s all coming full circle. I love how this series has consequences for everyone’s actions. Even the smallest details or events can snowball into something major. Honestly i dont even know if that was comprehensible but whatever. The Cycle™️ honorable mention of victim being stuck in the cycle of being creating, tortured, and dying for a year

On that note, victim was there for a year? That means that TCO and victim was on the same computer for a year and never noticed ig. victim was brought whenever noogai felt on it and only got to exist for a few minutes at a time (im guessing???) and TCO was stuck as an ad blocker so. I saw some people said that TCO might have been created after victim left but I like the thought that they lived on the computer at the same time. Also i saw someone say that this might be how TCO knew about the outernet wifi portal and i like that theory.

On a completely unrelated note, i was NOT expecting victim to be hallucinating cursors and might have PTSD(?????) (honestly idk i don’t know enough about ptsd to make the claim). And him moving on thanks to Mitsi was so sweet ❤️ actually the whole farm village was so nice man if it only stayed that way. Also honorable mentions of my new favorite background character (other than corn dog guy)

THE TINY ONE🔥🔥🔥 TUMBLR PLEASE STOP CROPPING MY SCREENSHOTS

IM TOTALLY DRAWING THIS LITTLE GUY AND TCO POSING THEY SHOULD BE BESTIES

AND

THIS. OMG THIS LITERALLY CHANGED MY PERSPECTIVE ON TCO JSNDOANSOWNSISNSK THE ANGEL OF DEATH ARE YOU KIDDING ME. MORE RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM I LOVE RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM AHHHHHHHHHHH

anyways i think those are my thoughts. I probably have more but this is what i remember. in conclusion: I am soooo normal about this ep. Yep i will totally not be talking about this for the next month straight