#anyway good luck I know it's a pain to get through lessons

[misc-obeyme]

hellooo!!! may i ask about your cards to reach lesson 48? 👀 like what kind of cards do you have in terms of rarity and at which level are they??

Hi there, anon!

I will tell you the quick answer to this question, but I feel the need to preface by saying that I pay for the VIP subscription and occasional additional devil points (this is rare, the sub is usually enough for me to get what I want lol).

Fast answer: For demon cards, I have three UR+ cards for each sin, all of which are somewhere between level 90 and 105. For memory cards, I have three UR cards for each sin, levels between 80 and 90. I unlock as much of the devil's tree as I can, but if I only have two skill levels, then I only do that much.

This allows me to skip the lesson battles if I use the strongest version of Ruri's shovel thing. I can't remember what it's called at the moment adklfjf but you know, it's the little shovel item? If I use one of those, I can clear the battle at rank A which means I can skip. I think this is a VIP thing, too, but I don't remember for sure.

That means I'm not entirely sure exactly how high the levels of your cards need to be to pass in general. Because I spent so much time between lessons in OG trying to level everything up enough to pass battles, I have been meticulously building my cards ever since NB was released. I just didn't want to have to wait MONTHS between lessons lol.

That being said, my lovely mutual created an amazing tool to help you level up your cards! You can find it here! I highly recommend using it, especially if you're an f2p player!

I know getting through the levels can be difficult if you're not spending money on the app. And even though I try to spend as little as I can, I'm still using real money which gives me extra resources to get all those cards and level them up. I just happen to be lucky enough to have a little extra to use on silly things like this.

I hope this helps a little, but if you (or anyone else!) have any other questions, please feel free to ask me!

[ariespetal]

i heard you wish to be talked to about komahina. my time has arrived. i’m going to use this as an excuse to dump postgame headcanons on you :)

i think they take care of each other in a lot of really subtle ways. hajime for sure overworks himself a lot so nagito will trick him into taking breaks by asking him for help with little unimportant things like crosswords or choosing which book he should read next- then once he’s got hajime’s attention he gets him to sit down and chat and bam now he’s taken a break. he’s also like the only one who can get hajime to go to bed when he’s up way too late working on something. along a similar vein hajime will make sure nagito is eating enough by bringing him fruits and nuts and such :) he for sure gets lectured about drinking enough water especially since he still insists on wearing a jacket on a tropical island

they’re both migraine sufferers but nagito in particular is prone to getting auras with his migraines. they are very used to keeping their cottage dark and quiet when someone’s feeling under the weather and they go through painkillers faster than anyone else on the island (which is almost concerning bc they are far from the only ones on the island who deal with chronic pain)

hajime naturally runs warm and nagito naturally runs cold. as a result hajime sleeps in just his boxers whereas nagito has a whole pajama set he changes into each night. hajime will sprawl out in his sleep and nagito clings onto him like a koala. it’s actually a very efficient system for them they regulate each others’ temperatures

they help each other through their rough days and are better equipped than any of their peers to help each other. it’s the mutual understanding and seeing themselves in each other. when hajime’s dissociating or feeling especially guilty nagito’s able to help remind him of who he is and all the people he’s been able to help since getting out of the nwp. when nagito’s doomspiraling or feeling especially worthless hajime’s the only one who can reliably snap him out of it and remind him that he’s loved and safe. they’re not perfect and they both still struggle but they’re able to bring each other comfort

their arguments can be NASTY (especially at first when they’re still just starting to recover) but they’re bad at apologizing with words so they find other ways to make it up to each other- usually acts of service or little gifts. when hajime feels bad he’ll bring nagito his favorite snacks or recommend him new books or try to find ways to upgrade the spaces on the island he knows nagito likes to use. when nagito feels bad he’ll clean and organize spaces meticulously and try to use his luck to find something important hajime would be able to use in a project. eventually when they start learning to communicate with each other a little better they start doing silent apologies with little acts of physical affection- they’ll sit down next to each other and gently lean against each other or place their hand over the other’s and squeeze, etc. they never get good at saying “i’m sorry” but they get good at showing and understanding it

nagito once tried to make hajime a cake for his birthday. it was a miracle he didn’t burn anything down and the end result was inedible but hajime really appreciated the sentiment anyways. nagito was banned from being in kitchens unsupervised after this, which he agreed was reasonable. hajime (and teruteru probs) has since tried to give him cooking lessons but he just. he isn’t good at it. he’s trying his best but dear god is it bad

when they’re lounging nagito will just. drape himself over hajime like a cat. it is very common to find nagito resting his head on hajime’s chest in a lounge chair or laying across his lap reading a book on a sofa. it embarrasses hajime a little bit when nagito does this in public but they’re both so touch starved that he doesn’t say shit bc he knows they both need the affection. (and if he not-so-secretly enjoys running his hands through nagito’s hair and feeling him relax, well, who can blame him?)

ok this is getting rambly i’m gonna stop here. i love talking about komahina and i love postgame komahina especially so thank you for enabling me there. hope this helps satisfy the itch in your brain as well. it’s all about the learning to heal and love and grow happy together to me. waaaaaauuuughh they’ve been through so much they deserve to be able to do nothing together <333 komahina,,,,, yeagh

YESSSS these are all so good I live for post-game komahina 🥺

They’re so wonderful for each other, I love the idea of them getting over their disagreements and taking care of one another, literally soulmates dude :’)

Anyways I’m rotating all of these headcanons around in my brain thank you for this 🙏🫡 (and I just had to draw out koala-komaeda, I’m glad everyone agrees this is how they sleep)

[tealfling]

RolanWeek

Day 3: Fight or Forgiveness

Both? It's Act 2 y'all. Coren did not have a good time.

“Thank you,” Cal’s gentle voice once again interjected his siblings arguing. “For saving me. And these two idiots.”

Coren turned to him. Trying to give him a side smile even though her every muscle screamed. They were safe in Last Light. And that’s all that mattered. “There's no need to thank me, Cal. It was the least I could do after–”

“And humble, too?” Lia interrupted. Coren hugged her arms tighter around her shoulders. No. She was glad they seemed to be in such high spirits after just being released from the Moonrise dungeon. But she couldn’t say her mood reflected theirs. Her head pounded. Feeling light-headed and nauseous. And her neck…

“She has no cause to be humble,” Rolan announced. The sound of his voice cut through her making her recoil. They hadn’t spoken to each other since her party stumbled upon him in the midst of the Shadow Cursed Lands. “She’s brought us back together,” Rolan professed, “a task I failed miserably at.” Coren sunk into herself more, guilt sitting uneasy in her stomach. “You went out of your way to help us, it’s only right you get something in return.” Rolan reached into his side pouch. When Coren dared to look up, to her utter disgust, saw a coin purse in Rolan’s hand. “Here,” he said thankfully, “I hope it helps.”

Bile churned within Coren. “I don't want your coin, Rolan,” she sighed. Her voice raspy and with no energy to argue with Rolan anymore. “You'll need it in Baldur's Gate anyway. Good luck with your apprenticeship. Sorry for all the trouble,” she added, turning away defeated.

“Hey, soldier,” Karlach called. As Coren’s head turned back to look over her shoulder, her hair slipped back revealing an angry purple bruise in the perfect shape of a hand around her throat. Rolan's jaw clenched. “I’ve got Halsin,” Karlach continued, “let him take a look at you.”

Coren turned to face her two approaching companions fully, leaving the siblings to stare at her back and exchange worried glances. “I'm fine, really, Karlach. There's no need to waste your spells on me, Halsin. I'll just sleep it off.”

Halsin’s brow knit with concern. “No doubt you know how to weather the worst storms, little Lightning Bug, but you are looking worse for wear. If you don’t mind my saying.” Coren nodded, she knew she looked like shit.  “I think we would all feel a little better if you allowed someone to assess your injuries. At least allow me to alleviate the pain.” His large hand tenderly swept back more of her navy hair further revealing the deep bruise on her throat. Even Halsin's gentlest touch made Coren hiss in pain. 

Rolan was struck with guilt, but something else knotted inside him when the large druid ran his thumb along the sorceress’ jaw.

“Serves me right for picking a fight with the Warden in her office. Turns out, I've been letting myself get rusty at close quarters combat.” Coren shrugged, waving Halsin off dismissively. “Lesson learned. Next time I feel like being choked out and tossed around by a big, angry tiefling woman, I'll ask Karlach to do it,” she forced a laugh looking up at her fiery friend. “Can I go sleep off my shame now?”

Karlach shuffled closer, “Come on, soldier, don't be like. She cracked your head on the dungeon wall. I’m surprised you're not down to one horn like me. Come on, let Halsin make sure you aren't any more scrambled than the worm has us.”

Beside Rolan, both Cal and Lia tensed. Cal leaned over to Lia, “I thought that sound was the gnome’s hammer.”

“Astarion gave me a potion. I'll live. It's fine,” Coren said flippantly, “I just really want a bath and some sleep now.” 

“As you wish,” Halsin lamented. “But I would prefer you spend the night here. In one of the room’s Jahira offered while I tend to Art’s wounds.”

Coren sighed. “Fine.” She pushed past her companions as the two of them and the tiefling siblings watched her ascend to the second floor of the inn.

There was almost no wind here. No comforting up draft. Only darkness and despair. The wood of the railing of Last Light Inn’s balcony creaked beneath Coren’s feet. A second healing potion and bath had helped her body feel better, but sleep still eluded her. 

Rolan was right. All of this was her fault. If she hadn’t said anything. If she had traveled with the refugees. Her people. If she hadn’t gone to the creche. If she had been with them instead of cowering away from the Shadow Curse by playing around in the Underdark. How many lives would have been spared? This was all her fault. Their deaths. Their blood, was on her hands. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Coren might have saved the few from Moonrise, but that would never–

“Zurgan!”

A hand warm gripped Coren’s wrist, jerking her off the balcony. She couldn’t catch herself and landed face first in someone’s chest wrapped in their arms.

“What in the damned Hells do you think you're doing?” Rolan gripped her shoulder’s angrily, shaking her.

Coren hissed in pain causing Rolan to release her, but not drop the accusing glare from his face.

“Nothing!” she bit.

“That didn’t look like nothing! People do not stand on balconies to do nothing!”

Coren stood there flabbergasted. “What? Did you think I would jump? Seriously? I’m not sure if I’m more offended that you thought I would jump off a shitty two story balcony or that I would be injured from a fall from a shitty two story balcony! I can Fly you dumbass,” she spat.

“Well-I,” he stammered.

Coren realized her hands were still supporting her on his chest and quickly shoved herself off him. “What the fuck do you even care? You hate me.” That probably wasn’t true and she knew it But she was so angry. And so hurt. And she could never hate him. But maybe her heart would hurt less he hated her.

“What?! No- I,” Rolan started.

“What? Like it isn’t true?” she scoffed.

“It’s not!” Rolan shot.

“Yeah, okay. You don’t have to pretend-”

Rolan growled, then threw his hands up in frustration. “You infuriating little witch! Would you just allow me to speak?”

“Why!?” Coren snapped. “What more could you possibly have to say to me, Rolan? You were right. This is all my fault. Cal and Lia were captured because of me! The other’s died! Because of ME!” She exploded. Distant sounds of thunder echoed overhead. “So you don’t have to say anything. I-” her eyes stung as she tried to hold back the tears.

For a moment, neither said anything. Rolan closed the gap between them again, slowly reaching to take her hand in his.

“But I do have something to say,” he said gently, “Something very important, you need to hear.” “Coren, please look at me,” Rolan tugged her hand up so she turned. “Firstly, I’m sorry. So sorry. I’ve lashed out at you, drunkenly and otherwise, and you helped us anyway. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Rolan,” Coren began to protest.

“No, you went out of your way to help us. I have Cal and Lia back because of you, Coren. For that, I am truly grateful.” He cupped her smaller hand in both of his. “And if my attempt at monetary thanks offended you, I meant no disrespect,” Rolan insisted. “Please forgive my earlier behavior. It -uh- it seems to have given you the impression that I hate you, and that is not the case. You are, however, insufferable.” 

Coren rolled her eyes. “Well, when you put it that way,” she teased. “How could I refuse your apology?”

[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

Um so at this point I think I’m Gauche’s self proclaimed wife- so it’s me the anon that requested the gauche x jealous that’s strong and has self image issues reader and that so can I get another Gauche x reader but the reader is kinda like Yor Forger? You don’t have to you can just make it a normal reader if you can’t do Yor thanks again I loved the other one! -🪞anon

Hiya! ^^

I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the fic! Admittedly I haven't read or watched Spy X Family, but I have seen some gifs and snippets so... I tried to make reader a bit like Yor? I'm not sure if I succeeded though XD Anyways, I hope you like it~

Pairing: Gauche x reader (implied fem reader) Genre: General/fluff (?) Fanfic type: Oneshot Length: ~0.7k Contains: references to Gauche's past on the run, bread turned into a flying projectile, Magna makes an appearance and gets hit with a door (by Luck), reader throws the bread to protect Gauche, I tried to make it funny, Gauche is just happy to see his spouse again, "protective gf" thematic

That was such a pain… Gauche grimaced internally while rubbing the back of his head. Not only did that mission take a week longer than it was supposed to, but we ended up running around like headless chickens. I thought that I gave the knights a good runnin’ back when I was on the run, but damn this guy… He sighed to himself, not sure if he should’ve been impressed or not.

Probably not.

But it didn’t mean that he wasn’t, because outrunning someone who has only been a knight can be a feat. But outrunning an ex con, who now is a knight, and knows how to run from knights, is a completely other thing. So, yeah, he was impressed.

Never would have admitted it out loud though. Especially granted how much trouble it brought him.

Hopefully there wouldn’t be another mission too soon… or at least that it’d be pushed onto someone else.

I swear if he tries to send me right back onto another as soon as I step through that door… he glared at the front door of the hideout, as if it had been the door itself that had done injustice to him. Almost seemed like he wished to kick it open.

But didn’t.

Instead, he just placed his hand onto the handle and pushed it open, ready to dodge whatever spell might be flying his way.

You never knew with the Bulls.

One of the lessons one learns the hard way around, most of the time. ‘Always duck before entering the hideout’. And still enter with care. Or suspicion.

However, the suspicion was quickly washed away, as he saw only you in the common room.

“Oh hey, welcome back,” you smiled to him while holding a cup of tea in your hand. “How was it?”

And he… he stepped in with a sigh, and kicked the door closed behind him.

“Weren’t you with the other?”

“Yeah,” he uttered. “They can open the door on their way in. It’s cool out.” There was strain in his tone, which was enough to tell that there had been… something, during the mission. A source of irritation that he would rather not have taken out on you.

But still. He had needed to kick the door shut.

“Would you like a cup as well?” You inquired, to move thoughts onto something else for a moment, and then perhaps talk about the mission somewhere else.

“Yeah,” he uttered with a nod while taking a few more steps into the room.

“GUESS WHAT WE SAW-?” Magna screamed while slamming the door open on his way in.

But didn’t manage more, as you had, with expert precision, thrown a bun from a basket on the dining table into his mouth.

“Iw a hghwhhahh,” he continued; half choaked. But seemed to be in good enough of a condition to try and keep talking.

Meanwhile Gauche… Gauche stared.

And laughed.

While you glared at Magna from the other side of the room. As if to prove a point. No one ought to give your loved one hard time. At least if it was up to you, no harm would befall on your near and dear.

“Come on,” you told him while taking him by the hand. “We’ll get you a cup of tea and rest for the evening,” your tone was near a song. Something soft and light, but not quite.

But it did make the wide grin on his face settle into a much softer smile as he let you take him by the hand, and lead him further into the hideout.

Somewhere behind you, you could hear someone else coming through the door, the motion most likely having caused the door to swing against Magna’s back by the sound of it.

It was Luck. Of course.

Not that you minded anymore. Now your attention was elsewhere.

The same as his.

All worries having flowed away. Just like that.

[sanniedaysmarsnights]

Dark and Twisted Threads of Fate | Series 5 - Mafia!ATEEZ x reader Part 8

Masterlist

First chapter

Previous chapter (chapter 7)

A/N: Omg I was so stuck on this bit for ages but thanks to @haet-sal I finally managed to make my way through!! Boy let me tell you are we up for some feels after this. Good luck reading <3 <3

Tagging: @baekmond @whyme11 @atiny-99 @twilightwei @lovelyaegyo @hongjoongs-rightpinky @nervousbasementtimemachine @jjangsaebyuk @diyanamira @soytrash

Word count: About 2,5K :)

Warnings: Brief non-con (not to reader), some murder and torture, a nice bucket of trauma, stockholm syndrome and then some fluff. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK- THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION; I DO NOT CONDONE *ANY* OF IT

Anyway, enjoy!

Life continued on as always, the seasons shifting gradually towards autumn. The trees on the estate gradually turned their leaves to orange in preparation to let them fall. The cooling temperatures didn't seem to have any effect on the proceedings of ATEEZ, the mansion always buzzing like a bees nest. You had always wondered if Hongjoong was truly so busy that he would rarely make an appearance in his own living quarters, or if he was simply avoiding you. But as hopeful you were to see more of him after the recent events, that didn't change either.

Hongjoong's absence made you question things. It was one thing to confide in his most trusted members, but to put your faith into the lead man himself like that? What were you thinking?

You told yourself that they must have once been very much like yourself, backed into a corner with little choice but to lash out. But now they so clearly thrived, even basked in the gore and glory. Another sting in your gut. Perhaps it was not so much that they might have been like you, but that you were starting to become like them instead. 'They must have a good motivation behind what they do.' you told yourself.

You had learned a lesson about snooping around the house, but these days you were becoming so bored you decided to look for company of the boys in the interrogation basement. It wasn't a big deal. You had joined the boys down there several times before to either watch them interrogate somebody, San looked incredibly sexy when he revelled in some torture here and there to get the information out of the enemy, and had even tried your own hand at some hands on interrogating before. Your hands were getting used to being covered in blood too, you realised.

You had tried your hardest to cling to denial, pretending that this situation had somehow been different. But different how? Hongjoong was an even bigger, more powerful mafioso than those little street rats who had bothered you in the past. Why would you decide to trust a man who you knew damn well must have dozens of gallons of blood on his hands, and that was not even counting all the indirect kills he must be responsible for. You knew damn well what kind of people you were living with, after all. Were you becoming one of them? Numb to the pain of others, numb to the sting of guilt in the back of your conscience? You knew very well how addicted you were to the rush of adrenaline, the feeling of power. How beautiful the world could seem when you pushed your body to its limits, executing a perfect kill. Rather than asking yourself what you were becoming, perhaps you should ask yourself what you already became. You didn't want to know.

Nobody would declare you sane if they ever found out you felt safe in their company, Hongjoong's company. People knew Hongjoong as the manic and irrational, terrifying boss of ATEEZ. They didn't back down from the toughest challenges, and pulled off tactics nobody could predict. Everyone thought Hongjoong was simply the power at the top of the organisation and that Seonghwa was the one to come up with all of these plans by himself, but you had learned that it was very much a two man job. Together, they ruled the most powerful partition of the underworld for almost a decade now. And you were living right under their roof.

But then suddenly all of that safety and respect you had for Hongjoong was gone.

It took you a while to mentally process exactly what had gone on in that basement.

Walking in on Hongjoong fucking one of their hostages down the throat harshly. You stand in the door opening, frozen in place, petrified by the monstrous exhibit before you.

Even when his neck turns you are unable to shy away and hide yourself. You knew you should be afraid, fear what this monster might do to you for finding out, for seeing forbidden things.

You felt disgusted, stomach twisting at the visions of when you had pleased him. You had been pleasing a ruthless monster. You had always had your rational suspicions that, being leaders of a widely feared gang, they had committed heinous crimes. But to you what you saw in front of you, was the worst crime of them all. You had known all too well what it was like to be the victim of such savagery.

It had felt like hours had passed as you felt Hongjoong stare into your soul, not a trace of malignancy in his eyes. His gaze was only briefly broken as sweat that was dripping from his hair which was plastered to his forehead, forced him to blink the foreign fluids from his eyes. The sole thing that presented that, in actuality, only a split second had passed, was Hongjoong's breathing. It was rapid and laboured. Two, three breaths you had counted now.

Then, a smile graced Hongjoong's lips. You couldn't tell if it ever reached his eyes as he had finally turned his gaze back to his victim. With one swift- seemingly almost too trained and effortless- motion he retracted his hips from where his hilt had still been deeply burrowed in the man's face, and snapped his neck. The eerily loud 'crack' that reverberated across the thick stone walls was revolting.

 "Now now, don't be afraid sweetheart. They had it well and truly coming." Your mind stuttered.  "They?" you had barely whispered the question, still processing Hongjoong's words. Then, as you finally unfroze enough to look around, you saw that the floor was littered with several other corpses. Two males and three females, you counted. The brick in your throat was so painful it prevented you from breathing. You desperately tried to swallow the brick- tried to swallow the whole scenario. Without realising it you had begun taking several steps backwards. You had no idea where you were going or what you were going to do, but you simply had to get out of there.

You were almost sent to the floor when your back collided with a strong chest, its arms quickly coming up to catch you.

 "Careful now," you heard the gruff voice from behind you speak, Yunho. You were not quite certain if you should be thankful for his presence or frightened. But your dazed mind had no answer, it was too busy fighting to stay conscious in the first place. A part of you believed that this was all just a bad nightmare, finally relaxing into Yunho's arms as they wrapped around your body snugly.

You don't remember much after that point. Yunho had picked you up in a bridal style and walked you out of their basement, through their mansion. This room had woken up in was probably somewhere in their home. You did not recall seeing it before, but then again their house was so enormous you doubted you could find every little room in it even after a year. Old mansions like this were also bound to have secret rooms- or basements.

Dread coiled back into your stomach as you recalled what you saw in the basement that night. It couldn't have been real. Right?

You were being kept captive in that room for a long time, as they visited you regularly. They had explained what you saw and that they could now no longer let you go. You knew too much. Most of them seemed so sad, they really did not want to harm you. They hated seeing you like this, feeling physically pained by the sight of them. Eventually your eyes didn't even seem to recognise them anymore.

You eventually forgot why they were visiting you, or who they were. It became too much for Wooyoung to continue to visit you, to see you falling apart until so little was left over. It was eventually Yeosang who convinced him to return, telling him about how his absence would only make you suffer more. And he really didn't want that. They all hoped that if they continued to keep you company, one day you would remember their names.

After that, Wooyoung made it a point to visit you every week, and eventually every day when he could. He would bring board and card games among other entertaining things to do and would do his best to cheer you up. But he could tell that you were not the person that they had known before. It was merely an empty shell that you had left behind.

Eventually you could feel his pain. You were not sure why he was always there to spend time with you or why he was so sad, but it hurt to see him like this. It tortured you to such an extent that you begun acting happier for him too, no matter how exhausting. You played along with his little games, and when the spring came he even got to take you out for some walks in the courtyard outside of your windows.

Months must have passed by then, and you knew that even when you got to go out, there was not a single way to leave. For whatever reason you were kept here, you were not going to find a way out.

In their sick, twisted ways they cared for you, and slowly you began to care for them too, living in your doll house. Especially San, Yunho, Wooyoung and Yeosang had a special place inside your heart. You also cared for Mingi, but as he was very busy you got to see him significantly less. Seonghwa mostly just came on visits to share the fancy teas that he brought from outside, along with tasty and exotic treats. Occasionally he would also gift you jewellery, insisting that you should wear it for him sometime. The thing that set him apart from the others, was how his smile seemed genuine, gentle.

He was often distant, but some part of his care towards you, touched you. You knew that he was trying to be respectful of your space, not wanting you to feel a captive of your own 'home' as they called it. Eventually you had to admit that you were even looking forward to Seonghwa's visits. You knew that his care for you was heartfelt, and he had a unique gentleness to him.

One time you fell ill, and despite Yeosang monitoring, and taking care of your health, Seonghwa had refused to leave your side for almost two entire weeks. Every day he would be called away for a couple of hours to address his most pressing duties, but you always awoke to the sight of him either sitting reading reports, or slumped over sleeping by your bedside.

You gently caressed the side of Seonghwa's cheek, admiring how soft and defenceless the grown man could look when he was asleep. A pang of regret bubbled from your insides, wishing you wouldn't worry him so. You could see how the crease lines had started to deepen in his forehead ever since you had fallen ill, and you knew how exhausted he must be.

You decided to both thank the man and reprieve him, in your own way, once you were feeling a little better. You didn't dare to be upfront with it, unfamiliar with who these men really were, but deep inside you felt like the kindness they had shown you without fail, deserved to be repaid in some way.

The closer you grew to them, the more you felt as if you had already known them before, as if from a previous lifetime. You felt deep down how much you could trust them, knowing that they would never dare let any harm befall you. You wondered if that was why they kept you in here. They all adamantly respected your space and privacy, never making any moves on you. In a way that even saddened you. You began to feel that perhaps they were the ones upholding the barriers to a more personal connection, rather than you. It seemed as if some of them were too afraid to be too close to you. The thought was gnawing at you, but perhaps it was just the confinement playing tricks on your mind. Maybe you were really nothing more than a duty to them.

The guilt was a strange feeling. The sensation first pained you whenever they visited you, in turn dejecting your visitors. Then when you overheard Yeosang whispering to Yunho about how concerned they were for your wellbeing, fearing that you were falling back into a depression as when they had first confined you, that you changed your mind. Even if you were guilty, burdening them further was only going to make matters worse for everyone.

You ought to repay them for their kindness, not make them suffer for it.

From that day, the boys began to notice a change in you. Slowly, you had begun opening yourself more to them again. Most of them had reacted with shock and disbelief when you had let your fingers gently, by so called accident, graze against theirs. It was as if they were holding their breaths, squaring themselves for the blow that your fright would bring them, but that moment never came. Instead they wondered if their eyes had betrayed them, or if you had actually blushed softly after it.

Seonghwa had been rather taken aback when you had taken the initiative in a spur of a moment, insisting on pouring the tea for him. Since he was the expert on tea, he had always been the one to serve you. It was an oddly endearing sensation to him, though he tried his best not to make any assumptions. After all, it might just have been an insignificant gesture in your mind. Shortly after though, his hopes promptly grew further.

He had been admiring how you had laughed softly "I am sorry I cannot pour the tea as properly and elegantly as you do Seonghwa" your eyes met his, and your compliment made his heart flutter. You wondered if you had caught the man off guard, if that was even possible for men like him, before Seonghwa finally smiled and replied.

 "Don't worry about that my dove, having you pouring tea for me like this already does me a great honour." Your heart fluttered unexpectedly at his new pet name for you, as you had to admit you kind of liked it.

 "Then perhaps," You hesitated, suddenly feeling shy under his heady gaze "would you teach me art of tea?"

 "I would love nothing more." Seonghwa was captivated by you, he realised, in a different way than ever before. You, neither he, were sure what he was truly talking about, the tea or you.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading, nothing makes me happier than to interact with you guys, so please don’t hesitate to pop anything into the comments! Lots of love <3 Reblogs are very berry welcome too~ <3

Masterlist

Next chapter (part 9)

[rafor]

Chapter 51 - Poison - The Glitch

A gentle nibble on my arm roused me from my slumber. I groaned and muttered, “Oh, please, let me rest, I’m still tired.” But Freya was persistent. “You’ve been sleeping for a whole day, little adventurer,” she said in a teasing voice. I pulled my arm back into the hammock and buried myself under the blanket. “Please, it’s been a rough day,” I pleaded.

She softened her tone and said, ��Erebus said that he wants to teach you a new element with the help of Siveth.” I sighed and said, “Please tell them that I will later.” She paused for a moment and then said, with a sincere and grateful voice, “Thank you for saving me.” I felt a pang of guilt and said, “You’re welcome. I couldn’t just let you go. I’m sorry for bringing you on this mission.” She shook her head and said, “Hey, I chose to follow you. I made it clear enough.” She sounded cheerful, but I could sense a hint of pain in her voice.

“Did they tell you what happened?” I asked. She chuckled and said, “Yeah, you’ve been beaten quite badly. Hahaha.” I frowned and said, “It’s not funny. It was terrible. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up. I think some of their poison got into my throat.” She laughed again and said, “Hahaha, hey, I’ve been bitten too, not like that, but I didn’t even get a chance to fight back.” I said, “Freya, they bit me multiple times, one of them right under my throat, with both teeth and fangs. It’s awful. You were bitten almost on your shoulder. It’s different.” She shrugged and said, “Alright, fine. Anyway, now that you’re awake, are you going to join Erebus and Siveth?” I said, “No thanks.” She pouted and said, “Not even if I ask you nicely?” I gave in and said, “Ok, fine.” I left the hammock and the tent. Outside, the rain had stopped.

She led me to a clearing in the jungle, where Erebus was waiting for us. Beside him stood the same female dragon with the massive fangs and the deadly skills. He greeted me with a smirk. “So, are you ready to resume your lessons, little prophecy kid?” I frowned. “Please don’t call me that. We’re just passing through. We can’t stay here for long.” He raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? And where are you headed?” I decided to tell him our mission: “We’re looking for Akira and Fyrenthos.” He snorted, unaware that they had returned. “Oh, they’re probably somewhere in the unknown world after years of wandering. Good luck finding them.” I corrected him. “They came back about a month ago. They were on a mission in the lands of the Hidden Shadows. You know the place, don’t you?” He looked puzzled. “What? They came back? How?” I explained briefly. “They came back with some new discoveries. Weapons, technologies. Akira and Fyrenthos are an amazing team, and they call themselves ‘SunFlares’ now.” He shook his head. “Okay, you’ll have to explain that better later, but for now, how about we get started? What do you say?” I asked him nervously. “Get started with what? Freya mentioned a new element.” He clarified. “It’s not exactly an element, but more of an ability. You can shapeshift, right?” I nodded, wondering what he was getting at. “Yes, why?” He grinned wickedly. “You might want to add something to your arsenal.” I tilted my head. “What do you mean? Sorry, I don’t get it.” He said it bluntly. “You need to grow fangs and use them to poison your enemies.” I gasped. “What? No, I’m not going to bite like a savage, no way.” Siveth, who had been listening, chimed in sarcastically. “So biting is savage for you, huh?” I defended myself. “Well, yes, I have other ways of fighting.” She retorted. “Yeah, we saw that, and how did that work out for you?” She had a point. It didn’t work out well at all, and maybe if I had bitten them with a venomous bite, I would have escaped sooner. But I wasn’t sure if they would have been affected by the poison anyway.

I gave a curt answer. “Not good.” She raised her scaly like eyebrows and said, “Good, then how about we teach you that?” I sighed and asked, “Fine, but how do I summon these fangs?” Erebus explained, “Well, I think it’s like shapeshifting, but instead of a whole new body, you just add something.” I frowned and said, “I don’t even know what those fangs look like, honestly. I only saw the damage they did.” Erebus gestured to Siveth and said, “Show him your fangs, please.” She grinned and said, “Oh sure.” She opened her mouth wide and displayed her sharp teeth. She ran her tongue over them to show how big they were. I shuddered at the sight, and the idea that I had to learn how to use them as part of my arsenal was as bizarre as everything else here. Erebus urged me, “Touch them. She won’t bite.” I shook my head and said, “No way, I’m not touching someone else’s deadly saliva-covered fangs. No thanks.” He persisted, saying, “If you want to get a better sense of them, you should.” I retorted, “I think I have a good enough sense of them. I felt them when they pierced my skin.” He coaxed me: “Come on, don’t leave her hanging. She’s doing this for you, and they’re probably dry by now.” I asked nervously, “What if she bites me?” He reassured me, “She won’t, and besides, you know it won’t kill you.” Freya was watching the whole scene and trying not to laugh out loud. I noticed her and said, “What’s so funny now?” She replied sheepishly, “Oh nothing, I’m just amused to see you so scared of this. Come on, just do it already.”

I said hesitantly, “Please, if you aren’t afraid, do it too.” She took my words as a challenge and turned to Erebus. “Can I?” she asked him. He nodded. “Go on.” She approached Siveth and said, “It’s me, just setting an example for my husband.” She touched the fangs fearlessly, exploring every inch of them as if they were specimens to be examined. Then, to show off, she ran her fingers over each tooth of that monstrous maw, and Siveth seemed to enjoy it too. I said, “Please stop. Fine, I’ll touch the fangs.” She backed away from Siveth. I said nervously, “Please don’t bite.” She hissed just to make me more anxious. Then, as I was trying to touch her fangs too, she made weird noises to intimidate me further, so I said, “Please don’t. You’re not helping.” She chuckled. The fangs felt like bones, but thinner, hollower, and lethal. While doing so, I must have touched a sensitive spot near the gums, and she started spitting venom everywhere. I jumped back in horror and shouted, “Eww, what the hell, it’s on me too.” The venom burned my scales. She closed her mouth and said apologetically, “Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose. Anyway, you’ve had that stuff inside you multiple times yesterday.” I replied disgustedly, “Don’t remind me. How much venom is that?” She replied casually, “Oh, I don’t know, enough to kill a dragon, but this is not even half of the amount I usually use, like when I tried to finish you off, eheh.” I replied indignantly, “Please, you sound like you enjoy saying this.” She replied teasingly, “It’s so fun seeing you like a scared prey that I could catch and kill in seconds. Even if you are actually invulnerable.”

Erebus heard that but said nothing. I turned to him for some support and asked, “Can you please say something about this?” He only echoed her words: “She’s right. You’ve got to be ready to face such an opponent and not be intimidated by it.” I cursed him inwardly for his sage advice. And if you think this was the most bizarre part, wait until you hear what happened next.

I had been trying to change the colors of my claws, just as an experiment to personalize something about myself that wasn’t a mark. After some time of scratching myself, they glowed and turned red, as I had intended. Then I reverted them to their original color. Erebus suggested, “Great, you should do the same thing for the fangs.” I objected, “I just changed the color. I didn’t add anything.” He countered, “Then add something, like spikes, for example.” That sounded like a good idea, so I attempted to add a spike to my knee, using the same technique of touching the spot where I wanted it and imagining how it would look. Two spikes shone on both of my knees and then materialized. Since I didn’t want to keep them, I removed them in the same way. I announced, “Ok, I’m ready.” Siveth replied, “Oh, I can’t wait.”.

I attempted summoning fangs until I felt a strange itch in my gums, where I longed to have teeth like Siveth’s. Her fangs seemed so useful and powerful, unlike my dull ones. I scratched the spot with my tongue, hoping to stimulate some growth. After a while, I noticed two tiny bumps emerging from the flesh. They were barely visible, but they were there. I showed them to Siveth, expecting her to be proud of me.

She looked at them and burst into laughter. “Hahaha, they look like baby teeth!” she exclaimed, pointing at my mouth. I felt embarrassed and defensive. “Hey, it’s something,” I said, trying to sound confident. As I spoke, I felt a surge of energy in my gums. They swelled and throbbed, and the bumps grew into sharp points. I opened my mouth again to check, and I saw two enormous fangs protruding from my upper jaw. They were so long that I could feel their tips with my tongue even when not exposed. Siveth stopped laughing and stared at me in awe. “Wow, now we’re talking,” she said, admiring my new fangs. “Congrats, those are some nice fangs.” I smiled awkwardly, feeling the weight of them in my mouth. “Thank you, but how do I use them? They’re just…there.” She grinned and said, “Open your mouth as wide as you can.” I obeyed, stretching my lips as far as they would go. “Like this?” I asked. She shook her head. “More, much more.” I strained, but I couldn’t open any wider. “I can’t do more than this,” I said. She looked annoyed and said, “Again, open your mouth.” I did as she told me, and she quickly grabbed my jaws with her hands. She forced them open even wider with a strength that surprised me. I felt a sharp pain in my bones, as if they were cracking under the pressure. But then something changed in my jaw structure. It became more flexible and elastic, allowing me to open my mouth even wider than before.

She pushed my jaws forward until they matched hers and said, “Ok, hold it like that.” She released her grip on me, and I managed to keep my mouth wide open, mirroring her. She nodded and said, “Ok, now wait, let me check your fangs.” She examined them with her fingers—well, claws—just like Freya had done with hers. I hated the sensation, and it made me squirm. I felt invaded. Then she touched the gums where I had accidentally poked her, and instantly poison dripped from the fangs and splashed on the ground in front of me.

I was about to close my mouth when she placed one of her hands in the gap and warned me, “Close it and you’ll bite my hand, then I’ll bite you back.” I didn’t want to risk that, so I complied with her demand. She pressed on my gums and remarked, “Look how much deadly poison you can produce.” She continued this for several seconds, then her voice turned anxious. “Wait, when does it stop? This is not normal.” But she didn’t stop either, and neither did the poison. It flowed out of my mouth for a whole minute until she forced me to shut it. The fangs retracted, and I avoided biting myself with them. On the ground, there was a pool of venom. She exclaimed, “No, this is not normal at all. What do you think, Erebus?” He replied, “I told you he was special.” She nodded. “I see that, but something like this could be used to fill an entire tank. It’s incredible.” I struggled to speak. My mouth was sore after being open for so long, and after undergoing so many changes, moving it felt very different. I asked, “What now? Are we done?” Erebus answered, “Not quite. Siveth, proceed to step two, please.” Siveth then explained, “Now you need to learn how to bite with your new fangs.” I said, “I hope not on someone.” She glanced at Freya and suggested, “If you want...” I said, “No, I don’t.” Freya teased me, "Oh, come on, bite me.” I said, “Are you kidding me?” Siveth chuckled and said, “Of course we are. We’ll start with this: a fruit.” She held up a huge fruit with a thick peel. She said, “This is not the same as biting a dragon, but it will do for a first attempt. Try biting it as you normally would. Just bite.” I didn’t really know how to bite like she instructed, but I gave it a try anyway. I opened my mouth wide and clamped it down on the fruit. Juice squirted out of it all over my hands, followed by venom. My own venom burned my skin, and I withdrew my fangs quickly. They still dripped some drops of venom that landed in my mouth, but they didn’t affect me there. Something was preventing me from feeling it. It just tasted salty. She said, “Good job. Let me see that.” She took the fruit from my hand, careful not to touch the venom. Then she said, “That’s a good bite mark, and I think your fangs are as big as mine. We should measure them later.”

Erebus spoke up. “Do you want to take a break before step three, or do we move on?” Everyone waited for my reply, so I said “Let’s do it once and for all.”. I regretted my decision later, as step three was not as pleasant as step two. It was a mock duel to see who could bite first, between me and Siveth.

She explained the rules. “So, let’s say I’m your opponent, trying to bite you, and after that, you lose. Whoever bites first wins, and that’s it. Be quick and try to avoid my attacks.” I hesitated. “Ehm, are you sure about this? What if I bite you first? I don’t like to poison someone.” She shrugged. “I saw you heal your queen. You can do the same for me.” I shook my head. “I wouldn’t take that as a guarantee if I were you.” She grinned. “Then I’ll do my best to bite you first.” I gulped, afraid. I knew how it felt.

Erebus said, “So, Freya, do you want to kick off?” She nodded. “With pleasure,” then added, “Ready?” I protested. “Wait, I’m not in position.” I was still inches away from Siveth. But she ignored me. “Oh, well, good luck. The match starts now!”

I took the opportunity when she said that to run away and gain distance from my opponent. The ground wasn’t like an arena. It was slippery, and every step was hard for me. Siveth was fast and menacingly quick. She was already on me, trying to bite me with her jaws wide open. I dodged her in the first five seconds and then tried to bite her from behind, but she hit me with her tail and sent me flying. Now that she was again trying to catch me, this time without her jaws wide open, she had other plans. I tried keeping my distance, but the space wasn’t really enough, and with her tail, she grabbed me from one of my backlegs and made me fall to the ground, then lifted me up in the air. She said, “I got you, ahaha.”

I didn’t reply. Instead, I reached for her tail using my wings, and I bit it. She let go of the grip and shouted, “Agh, well, that doesn’t count as a bite.” The poison, anyway, was quickly doing its effect on her tail, and all around where I bit her was turning dark. I replied, “Damnit, I bit you, but you still fight.” She said, “I won’t stop at your first bite, newbie.”

I didn’t reply, and this time I was attacking first while she was making fun of me. I tried to aim for her neck, and as she tried to bite me while I was staring at her, I turned into a shadow. Immediately, Freya shouted, “No, that’s against the rules. Don’t use your elements.”

I got back to my form and said, “Oh, come on, but that’s what I’m good at.” Erebus replied, “She’s right. You should avoid using your elements now to improve.”

I didn’t reply, but Siveth did. “You’re a fast little dragon.”

I replied, “And you are much stronger and bigger than me. How can we put it?”

She chuckled and then said, “We’ll talk bit by bit."

I felt myself getting too immersed in the thrill of the duel. I launched another attack, darting behind her, but she whipped her tail at me, trying to ensnare me. It was wounded and weak, however, and I easily slipped out of its grasp. She spun around in a flash and snapped her jaws at me, but missed. She was as swift as a viper. She repeated this maneuver while I retreated, dodging her strikes, until I found myself backed into a corner. Then I used the one advantage that she lacked. She had no proper wings to fly. I soared into the air and took a new position. She snarled, “Stop running away and face me!” I retorted, “With pleasure,” and swooped down towards her. She reached for me with her tail again, but failed. I smacked her with one wing as a diversion. She bit into my wing, but I had already aimed for her neck. I clamped down hard with my fangs, injecting my venom into her flesh. She let out a horrible hiss as she tried to shake me off, but it was too late. I released her and flew away, then said, “Done. It’s your call now, Siveth.” She tried to say something but couldn’t. Then she staggered and collapsed on the ground. I felt a pang of pain in my wing too, but the venom was not enough to harm me. She lay unconscious, and Freya said, “Step 3 completed successfully?” Erebus replied, “Yeah, but you should heal her if you can. She did all this to help you.” I said, “Fine, I was going to do that anyway.” I approached the serpentine dragon and examined the wound on her neck, blackened by the poison. Her breathing was faint. I placed my hand on the injury and healed her. She didn’t wake up right away, and after a few minutes of waiting, I asked, “Sorry, what do we do now? Do we take her back or something?” Erebus said, “Yeah, take her back, please,” then headed back to the village. I called after him, “A little help, maybe? She’s huge. I can’t carry her by myself.” He didn’t answer, but Freya came to my aid and said, “Come on, let’s take her back together.” I thanked her and added, “Little judge of the duels.” She smiled at that and chuckled. We lifted the massive dragon by her stubby wings and dragged her back to the village. She was very heavy, and when we finally laid her down in a tent on the ground because we couldn’t reach one of the hammocks, we were exhausted. I was so tired that I didn’t have the energy to scold Erebus for his lack of help.

Freya and I exchanged a glance. “Back to the hammock?” I suggested. She nodded and smiled. “There’s one for two, you know?” she said, taking my hand. “Oh, really, where?” I asked, curious. She led me to another tent, marked with the same symbols as the previous one. Inside, there was a huge hammock, big enough for both of us. We climbed into it and snuggled under the cozy blankets. I felt my eyelids drooping and soon drifted into sleep. Freya did the same.

We were unaware of the world outside until we heard Siveth’s heavy footsteps approaching. She must have been tired too, because she didn’t bother to check who was in the hammock before jumping in and landing on top of us. We woke up with a start and groaned. “Aaah, get off us, please!” we protested. She looked down at us and blinked. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know you were there.” She didn’t move, though. She just shifted us to the sides and squashed us against the hammock’s edges. Then she added, “Nox, or Raphael, whatever you prefer to be called, you did great!” She sounded exhausted and closed her eyes. For some reason, we were too tired to argue or escape. We just accepted our fate and fell asleep again. We ended up sleeping on another dragon.

[macchiatosdumptruck]

god if terry had been in kk1 he would he ruined sweet, innocent little daniel and it would have been so hot to watch. there’s not way terry would look at this fawn and just let him go. and terry would have gotten away with it too, probably psychologically damaging danny in the process.

That is a concept for an au fic that is highly interesting to me. I love the idea of dark!cobra! Daniel done well.

(and, I do have a long sat on wip that employs this concept, but it is largely a framework for nasty, angsty, smut.

Picture Daniel, new in town and bothered by a group of guys that just won't leave him alone. He walks into a dojo one day and who does he see? Those very boys, and they're being led by some GI Joe looking guy. He rolls his eyes and blames his sore luck. Then he turns around and there's another sensie there. He's even bigger than the other guy, and seems a bit younger. He's tall. (Tall as hell) and handsome, and very ... Serious looking . He looks at Daniel like he's trying to see right through his bones.

Meanwhile, Terry sees Daniel Ike and he instantly perceives the well hidden anger. The injustice. The spite. What Miyagi taught Daniel to overcome Terry would teach Daniel to mine it and use it.

I can see Terry pitting the other cobras against Daniel. To make Daniel dependent on him. Terry would teach Daniel to bite and snap at anyone who wasn't himself. And then with Terry, Daniel would melt.

Surely Terry was doing all this for a good reason? It was because he cared. He was the only person to care since Daniel came to this god forsaken town.

For every bit of pain that Terry put him through there was a lesson. And when Daniel finally got something? Terry was elated. So proud of Daniel and his accomplishments.

He wants the boy but he's smart enough to know to play it smart. Everything about this has to feel like Daniel's own decision. Daniel is nearly 18 anyway. And, really, Terry would argue that it was all Daniel's decision. He just turned Daniel in the right direction. Gave him options. And let the boy make up his mind for himself.

Soon enough Daniel has turned 18, then he has graduated. His apartment complex closes down and his uncle Louie is sick, and his Ma has to go take care of him, and he has nowhere to go,so Terry offers for him to stay in the dojo. He's buying Kreese out of his contract, (what contract? You should've had a mind for business John) and offers Daniel a position as a teacher.

Terry just keeps getting closer and closer to Daniel, all along pretending that these are all normal things for a teacher and friend to do. No, they weren't oddly close. Those people were just jealous.

He lets Daniel come to him until one day Daniel lets something out that can't be taken back. And when he tried to run away Terry grabs him.

"There's no running away from this Danny boy. You're mine now"

(insert the sound of wet slapping and moans etc etc)

[lostacelonnie]

Thank you! I kinda just. Realized i pay for all my own stuff & have for years so whats stopping me y'know. Oh we love to hear about the fall of far right leadership i hope that turns out well & you can get your eventual hrt as well. Oh yeah i never wear swimsuits to the beach typically. Always been with people i dont like or too many strangers for my liking. But i like to find seashells & stuff. Oh? English is such a weird language having a partner to learn from who's fluent is like. Required almost. So im glad you had one. I appreciate when people are chill as long as you try its nice & leaves room for mistakes that'll happen inevitably. Got confused for a moment & the concept of having a birthname you dont have listed in your bio lost me like. What do ya mean you had any different name what. Both mine are easy so i dont have that as a first name problem. Where is tromso? I wish you luck in that fall/winter trips are so nice. I especially love to go camping in them because less people so more space. Oh she just gets all the counters wow. Gonna have to focus on her a bit for sure. I dont know if i have enough for guaranteed kafka but i will probably try. Just to see what happens. If nothing else i hope bronya or welt come home for you. Fontaine is one of the regions im most interested in so ill stick through for it but i might squeeze a break in towards natlan honestly. Chasm was. A pain anyways i do not blame you for skipping it honestly. Thats an average day in warsaw? Wild. Ohhh that sounds like it was a blast please pass belated birthday wishes to avery for me. Hair dye is such a fun thing to do congrats on the red! I wanna dye mine again soon. Eyeliner is a thing i wanna teach myself to do too ive just been. Forgetting a lot

yeah thats very understandable!!! and thank you!! after a long time i finally feel at least a little hopeful ab this countrys future but well see. yeah i have the exact same thing but at the same time drying a lot of clothes is Annoying [esp on camps since thats the main place i actually go into the water on] so i often just put regular clothes over a swimsuit. win-win situation. seashells ARE fun to find but i always forget to bring sth to carry them sjdjflksjf plus its pretty hard to find actually nice ones, over here at least. YEAH god plus the way english is taught in polish schools does NOT help so honestly if i didnt have additional lessons i probably wouldnt have learned anything despite studying for a looooong time. and yeah its that way with almost anything isnt it. AH I DO THAT EXACT THING SO OFTEN i genuinely forget that people Have birthnames. or even names in general i just treat usernames as first names a lot of the time. tromso is the place in norway i was in!! pretty far up north but very charming. thank you!! ahhh i almost never go camping but perhaps One Day..... yeah clara has been my best friend ever since i got her. shes so fun to use. thankies and good luck to both of us!!! already got 106 pulls ready + the 9 more from the login event + 20 days left to grind so while i defo wont get enough for guarantee i think it might be possible for me to get her. honestly the region im most excited for is snezhnaya and thats gonna be the last one released iirc so. still a while until that happens. but at least when/if i come back im gonna have a lot of stuff to check out so thats fun. i unfortunately suffer from having to see everything thats new Immediately so i often speedrun new versions in 3 days and them im like....... What Now........ until the next update and then the cycle repeats. ah i should play more games that arent released this way. but yeah while the chasm was quite pretty imo and the story was. well. it wasnt STUNNING but it was fun. but the exploration aspect SUCKED good lord i hated how i could never quite tell if im in the region displayed on the map or below it. agh. glad thats over. and well yknow how it is with big cities, at least i live in a fairly peaceful part so we dont really have big stuff like that often. i will!! and thanks!! i agree hair dye IS very fun but unfortunately my hair texture makes it really hard for dye to stick so it washes off quickly :'] but alas. and yeah fair jdjfklg i have the same thing PLUS. its annoying i can never get it even

[earlgreydream]

indecency.

| loki x reader | smut | fluff |

cw: dark!loki -> soft!loki, spanking, edging, slight degradation, angry!loki

You knew better.

You knew there was no way you were going to get away with it. You knew there would be consequences to your actions, but you were so pent up with need, you had fooled yourself into thinking you could get away with breaking one of Loki’s rules, and benefiting from it. 

Loki was strict, and had little patience for indecency and insubordination. He demanded obedience, and enforced it with punishment.

It was incredibly dangerous to test Loki. Loki was a lot of things, but merciful was not one of them. Any infraction required discipline, often severe. 

One of Loki’s rules was that you were his, and his alone. All pleasure had to come from him, touching yourself without permission was strictly forbidden in his castle. He wanted to be the one to inflict all of your ecstasy, everything to come from him. Occasionally, he would give you permission, often so he could watch. Aside from that, it infuriated him when you touched yourself secretly.

You knew this, and yet you’d chosen to defy him anyway. There was no way it would be worth it in the long run, but you were desperate and in need. Loki had been neglectful of you over the last few days, busy and overwhelmed with royal duties. You spent the week a ball of pent-up sexual frustration, and if you didn’t take care of yourself, you were going to explode. 

Loki’s anger burned through him like wildfire.

He’d returned to your chambers after an incredibly stressful morning, his only desire to rest with you. Asgard was demanding, and he was tired from ruling, craving the feeling of sleeping with you in his arms. Instead, when he had entered, he found you on the bed, your small fingers sliding in and out of your cunt. You were writhing on the bedsheets, moans mixing with the lewd noises of your fingers. Your head was thrown back and your spine arched, pushing your breasts out as you fucked yourself.

Loki stood utterly still for a moment, unnoticed by you. He couldn’t deny that the sight was incredibly arousing, but it was overshadowed by the anger toward your disobedience. He strode toward you, fed up with your misbehavior.

Your startled scream echoed off of the arching ceilings as Loki’s hand gripped your jaw. Your eyes snapped open, and you were met with sadistic green eyes that were filled with irritation.

“You believe you can pleasure yourself better than I? Or are you just an insolent brat?” Loki snarled, and you were too frightened to answer. Your eyes were wide, and you immediately pulled your fingers out of yourself. Your thighs twitched at the sudden loss of stimulation, and you sank into the mattress, failing to put distance between you and Loki.

Regret washed over you, fear prickling through your naked body. Loki was seething, and terror seized your veins. The fear and his anger added to the heat in your belly, upping your arousal. You loved to see Loki mad, even when it scared you. 

“Since you’re so comfortable being indecent, you’ll take your punishment on the throne!”

“No!” You shrieked, making the god’s fury spike. You’d said it just to be a brat, unable to resist to dig yourself in deeper with his patience. You immediately wanted to take it back, realizing you made it much worse by objecting. You struggled to breathe under Loki’s threatening gaze, both of your wrists gripped together in one of his hands.

“If you dare to disobey me again, I’ll let the entire realm watch me beat your ass raw,” Loki’s threat was not an empty one, and you closed your mouth. A shudder rolled through your spine, and Loki rolled his eyes, slapping your ass as he dragged you up. 

You nearly tripped over your feet as Loki hauled you from the bed, parading you through the halls and throne room, naked for the entire castle to see. Tears obstructed your vision, but you knew any more disobedience would result in far more catastrophic punishment.

You were red with embarrassment, nauseated by the knowledge he hadn’t truly begun to punish you yet. You were tripping up the golden steps to the raised throne, feeling like you were on a stage. Loki dragged you over his lap on the throne, his entire royal guard and Valkyrie present to witness the consequences of your behavior. You were fully exposed and on display for everyone, left with no chance of concealing yourself.

“I’m sorry!” You cried out as he struck you. Servants winced as the noise echoed off of the golden walls, thankful they weren’t in your position. 

It wasn’t the first time this had happened, and they didn’t understand why you kept doing things to get you in this position. Nobody wanted to be at the mercy of Loki’s wrath, and they couldn’t imagine the motivation behind your actions that you knew resulted with these consequences. They were blushing for you as you got spanked in front of everyone, choked tears blinding your vision and making it hard to breathe.

Loki knew you secretly loved it. 

“You will be,” Loki’s voice was like ice, and he had you sobbing within minutes. You were burning with shame, struggling on his lap from the pain of his assault on your ass. He’d conjured some kind of leather strap that bit into your tender skin, leaving red welts in its wake. Your cries and squeals of pain echoed off of the high ceilings, and the court couldn’t look away from you. 

Your skin was stinging from Loki’s unforgiving blows, the leather a deep green against your red skin. He got twisted pleasure from watching bruises blossom to the surface of your skin and running his fingers along the raised welts he was creating. Your body jerked forward and you yelped in pain as he slapped you with his hand, irritating your backside further.

“Loki, please!” you shrieked, begging for reprieve. The leather cracked against your skin before it vanished, and he dragged you to sit up and straddle him, your skin burning as it rubbed against the fabric of his armor. Your face was streaked with tears, and he raised an eyebrow at you. He cupped your sex, making another wave of heat wash over you.

“Why are you crying when I can feel how soaked it made you?” Loki mocked you, squeezing your throat as a broken moan escaped you.

“Answer me.”

“Because I’m a slut,” you whispered, knowing what he wanted. You were done pushing your luck, and you wanted to be good, not wanting him to inflict any more painful punishment. A smirk pulled at his lips, and he kissed you roughly. Your hands carefully wrapped around his forearm, stabilizing yourself. He held back a smile at the action. It made you seem innocent, and Loki loved your midgardian fragility. He loved the way you gripped onto him, even when he’d just tore your ass up, only making you more clingy and needy for him.

“Do you intend to obey your king now?” Loki asked, bouncing his knee and making you gasp from the friction on your clit, your small hands squeezing him at the sensation. 

“Yes, I’ll be good!” you insisted, pouting your lips for a kiss. Even when Loki was furious, he wasn’t one to deny you of affection. Familiar with what it felt like to be unloved, he never wanted you to feel the same.

Loki’s clothes disappeared with magic, and he grabbed the backs of your thighs, pulling your legs around his waist. You winced at the pressure on your tender skin, and pushed against his chest.

“Knock it off, or I’ll turn you to face the court.” 

You shook your head vehemently, wanting to hide in him. You knew he was going easy on you now, and you didn’t want to ruin it. You hid your face in his neck, leaning into his chest. You knelt above him, and you felt his tip brushing through your soaked folds, jumping as he came into contact with your nerves.

Loki sank you down into him, holding your hips and guiding your movements. Your head rested on his chest and he bounced you on him with rough thrusts. You whined into his shoulder as he rubbed your nerves, building pressure in your abdomen. You dragged your nails down his back, your body tensing and heat started to spark through you. 

You were close to your orgasm, but Loki had other plans for you, none of which included letting you come. He was proud of how well you’d taken the punishment up to this point, but he wasn’t finished with making you learn a lesson.

Loki pulled his hand from in between you, thrusting all the way into you and holding you still on him. You squealed and writhed on him, trying to get some friction. He didn’t have it, and you were forced to hold still with his thick cock buried deep inside of your throbbing heat.

“Be good!” Loki snapped, and you yelped as he slapped the side of your thigh in warning. You realized he hadn’t gone easy on you, and was now going to edge you on the throne while everyone watched.

Once the burning in your nerves subsided, he rocked you against him again, building the pressure back up. Every time you made a noise you were rewarded with a red handprint on your thigh, the pain sending shocks through you and pushing you further toward the edge.

“I’m going to absolutely ravage you,” Loki growled into your neck, making your eyes roll back and a grin pull at your lips.

You had gotten exactly what you wanted, but now you were desperate for the release you craved. 

“Loki, please let me-” you were cut off by a particularly rough thrust upward, making him smirk.

“Let you what, darling?” He teased, slamming into you every time you tried to speak. He edged you for nearly an hour before he finally decided you’d had enough. You had been good, taking it without complaint, other than pathetic whimpers that echoed off the golden ceilings. 

You were aching and throbbing, every small touch making you writhe at his fingertips. Loki knew your limits, and he was pushing them, watching your eyes turn glassy. He’d sank into your mind, filling it with images, memories, of him railing you and making you come a thousand times over. His sick use of magic only made you melt more, completely pliant to all of his demands, letting him do whatever he wanted to you.

You were unable to sit up off of him or speak, only making soft breathy pleads. Your body shuddered from the stimulation, and you sobbed weakly when he finally let you orgasm. You involuntarily jolted in his arms, a low whine humming through your chest. Waves of exhausting ecstasy crashed over you, the hour of edging turning into a powerful release.

Loki let you catch your breath for a minute before sliding out of you, easing you to rest on his lap. The subjects in the throne room looked away, knowing better than to continue watching when Loki was finished punishing you.

He wrapped you in his emerald cloak, concealing your exhausted body. He scooped you up in his arms, carrying you out and back to his chambers. The silky fabric was cool and smooth against your abused skin, and you relaxed into his arms.

“Are you still mad?” You whispered into his chest, your cheek resting against his cool skin. Your head was cloudy, and your thoughts were unclear, needing Loki to reassure you that it was over.

“No, my darling. Never with you,” he kissed you lightly, bumping his nose against yours. You tightened the green silk around you, and he smiled into your hair as he sat down with you curled up in his lap.

“Was that all just to get my attention?”

You nodded shyly, embarrassed that he saw right through you.

“If you want pleasure, you need only ask me, I will be more than happy to give it to you.” 

Loki was no longer teasing or mocking you, and he gently tilted your chin up so you were looking into his deep green eyes. You nodded, and he kissed your rosy cheeks. 

[soramei]

From Resentment (hhj)

Pairing: Hyunjin x Reader (she/her)

Summary: After a fated meeting involving a cute and fluffy puppy, you found yourself drawn to Hwang Hyunjin: the school prince. Everybody in high school loved him. It was hard not to. Not only was he rich, smart, and athletic, but he was also incredibly kind-hearted.

However, one day seemingly out of the blue, everything that you thought Hyunjin was came crashing down.

Now a freshman in university, you were excited to live out your dreams. That was, until Hyunjin came hurtling back into your life like an uncontrolled meteor. His presence threw a curveball on all your plans, and would eventually change your perspective on everything that you thought you knew.

Genre: studentl!hyunjin au, angst, enemies to lovers

Warnings: cursing, tw puking

Word Count: 8.8k

Masterlist

A/N: Not an Intentional update but a hyunjin oneshot!! disclaimer: no aspect of hyunjins personality here was drawn from real life — irl hyunjin is a ray of sunshine <3

You looked at your math homework, proud that you got all the answers correct. Since it was a slow afternoon at your job today, you had extra time to focus on your homework. The boss at the convenience store you worked at allowed you to have your homework out, as long as it was hidden behind the cash register.

As you stared at the rest of your homework, you started to feel the weight of tenth grade pile up on you. Because it was your first year of high school, you were still trying to adjust to everything; your grades, your teachers, and all the new students walking around the halls.

You stuffed the rest of your homework in your backpack. It was the end of your shift, and you wanted to go home as soon as possible to start with the rest of your studying. Crap. No matter how hard you tried to zip up your backpack, it wouldn’t close. After trying one more time, the zipper tore from your backpack.

You cursed under your breath. You couldn’t afford to buy a new backpack right now.

You had just been able to afford your new school uniform by taking up extra shifts at the convenience store, and you still needed money for your grandmother’s prescriptions. You sighed, annoyed to have another monetary stressor weighing on your shoulders.

Walking outside with your now torn backpack, your eyes widened at the group of boys in front of you. You immediately recognized them from behind.

The school princes. These three seniors were all known for three things: being extremely smart, handsome, and talented.

On the left was Seungmin, and from what you’ve heard, he was the smart and quiet one. He was always helping the teachers, being the class president and all. Any time a girl or a boy needed academic help, Seungmin was there and happy to assist.

The person on the right was Jisung. With his charming and charismatic personality, he had dated tens upon tens of girls in his grade. Just in the last year. It helped that he was really good looking — and also stinkin’ rich. His father was a notorious restaurateur, and with him being the first son, he was basically given unlimited spending rights.

The only person richer than Jisung was the boy in the center of them both: Hwang Hyunjin. This boy was the school prince. The prince of princes. He somehow managed to participate in music clubs, engage in study groups, and captain the soccer team all the while keeping up excellent grades. Every girl that Jisung had dated was said to have been rejected by Hyunjin first. That was his only flaw: he was notoriously cold to any and all romantic confessions.

You followed behind the three princes, staring at your torn up sneakers. You knew you didn’t exist in their world, but even being near three handsome and rich teenage boys made you nervous.

Suddenly, you heard a whimper coming from behind a bush to the left of you. It sounded like a hurt animal.

Worried and curious, you walked over to the bush to see what it was.

It was a puppy. Small and fluffy, it looked up at you with it’s beady black eyes and cried out. His paw was bleeding.

You panicked. Having never seen a hurt puppy before, you had no idea what to do. You called out for help.

“Help!” you cried, hoping that somebody had heard your call for help. You desperately wanted to help this hurt puppy, but you hesitated to touch it, afraid that you would hurt the animal even more.

The puppy howled in pain, making your panic rise. You were about to call out for help again, when you heard somebody running up behind you.

“What is it?” The voice asked.

“I-I don’t know. I just saw this dog here, and-and his paw is bleeding,” you anxiously stuttered.

“Here, let me take a look.”

You heard the voice behind you, so you shuffled over to make room.

It was Hwang Hyunjin. The person that responded to your cry for help was the most popular and well-liked person in the school. You were shocked, a bit intimidated actually, so you silently moved to the side for him. His black hair shone in the sunlight as he bent down to examine the dog.

“Come here, boy,” he chirped. The puppy listened, and started limping to him. “Something hurt you, didn’t it.”

He stood up, picking the puppy up along with him.

“C’mon,” he gestured with his head, “my vet isn’t too far from here actually. We can make it by walking.”

You silently nodded and followed him.

He was right. The walk to the veterinarian clinic, though very awkward, wasn’t too far. The clinic was empty at this time of day, with the receptionist being the only person in the room.

“Hyunjin! Always a pleasure,” the receptionist beamed. It seemed like Hyunjin’s likeability wasn’t only confined to your school. “My, what do we have here?”

“There’s something wrong with his paw,” Hyunjin tried to show the receptionist where the blood was coming from, “is the doctor free right now?”

“As a matter of fact, he is,” the receptionist said whilst checking the schedule. “I’ll take this little boy to the back where he can get prepped for the veterinarian.”

Hyunjin handed the puppy carefully to the receptionist. The receptionist took out a crate for the dog, put him in, and then disappeared through the back door. The two of you were now left alone in the waiting room.

“Uhm,” you coughed, “thank you. I know you probably want to get back to your friends, so you can leave now.”

“No, I’ll stay,” he looked at you and smiled, “those idiots are just playing LOL at the PC room anyways. Plus, I want to see how this little boy turns out.”

You smiled back at him, nodding your head. A few moments of awkward silence passed.

“I’m Hyunjin by the way,” he said.

“I know. I’m Y/n.”

“You’re in your first year, right?” he said, looking at the colour of your uniform.

“Yeah, it’s so hard to get used to though. I’m trying my best with my homework, but I think this school stuff just doesn’t click with me,” you rambled.

“Oh?”

“I want to go into dance. I’ve never been able to afford professional lessons, but I’ve always wanted to go to university for dance. My grandparents said they would let me if my school grades were high.” You didn’t know why you were giving your life story to Hyunjin. He just had this natural charisma that made you want to spill everything to him. It was the way he looked at you with those cat-like eyes.

“I know what you mean. It took me forever to convince my parents for me to major in dance. I got in by early admittance, but I’m sure they still have their reservations about my major.”

“You’re majoring in dance?” you asked, eyes wide.

He smiled. “I’ve loved dancing ever since I could remember. It’s my passion, and truthfully, the only thing I’ve got going for me.”

You were shocked. At school, Hyunjin was known for so many things other than dancing. Hell, you didn’t even know he enjoyed dancing and you thought you’d heard everything about him already.

The two of you chatted for a while longer before the vet came out with the now happy looking dog.

“It seemed like this little guy got into a fight with something, and he got a pretty large gash on his paw. Luckily, it wasn’t bleeding too much so I just gave him some anaesthetic and stitched it right up.”

You sighed in relief. “Thank god he isn’t too hurt.”

“Yes, it’s good that it wasn’t too bad,” the veterinarian agreed. “I’m assuming this is your dog? As soon as you finish with the bill, I can release this little guy and the both of you are ready to go.”

Oh yeah. The bill.

Although you knew you couldn’t afford to pay the vet bill, you didn’t know where this little dog would go if you couldn’t take him home. You did the mental calculations, and if you worked some extra shifts, you could probably be able to pick up the bill today. Buying a new backpack could be saved for another day.

“Sure, where can I pay?” you asked.

“Just over by the receptionist.” The veterinarian pointed.

You walked over to the receptionist, and she handed the bill over to you.

You almost fainted.

Just the anaesthetic and the stitches alone cost over two hundred dollars. This was extremely over your budget, and probably even more than the amount in your savings. You felt uneasy.

“Uhm, actually, I don’t think I can-”

“Do you take cash?”

Hyunjin had interrupted you, walked up to the receptionist, and pulled out his wallet. He peaked over your shoulder and took out a huge wad of cash to hand to the receptionist.

“Hyunjin, you don’t have to,” you begged. You felt bad that this guy you didn’t even know had just offered to cover you for over two hundred dollars.

“Think of it as a good luck gift from a fellow dancer.” He smiled.

That was when it clicked. You didn’t know what clicked, but it just did. It was his smile. It was the way the corners of his eyes crinkled up and how the corners of his lips pinched at the end. You now understood why all the girls at school were in love with him. He was quite literally perfect.

You thanked him profusely, even after the two of you had left the clinic. With the dog in your hand, you walked side by side with Hyunjin.

“So,” he started, “have you thought of a name for this guy yet?”

Oh yeah — he was your dog now. “Hmm, I don’t know yet.”

“What about Coco?”

“Coco?”

“Yeah, let’s see if he likes it.” Hyunjin leaned in and cooed at the little puppy. “Hi, little Coco!”

The puppy’s eyes lit up, and with his tongue stretched out, he started panting.

“I guess he likes it,” Hyunjin smiled. God, his smile could melt all of Antarctica.

“Coco it is.” You poked at Coco’s nose.

Hyunjin was about to say something back to you when his phone buzzed. He took a peak, rolled his eyes, then smiled. “My friends are god awful at games. I swear, they can’t even win one round without me. You’re okay with going home alone?”

He was going to walk you home? Could he be any more perfect?

You nodded your head. “Thank you, Hyunjin. I’ll pay you back for the bill one day.”

“No need,” he winked. “Like I said, it’s a good luck gift. Oh, and you can ask me if you need help with any school work. Anything to help a fellow dancer.”

He waved goodbye, then went running off in the other direction. You held Coco close to you, heart pounding. Although you didn’t want to be like all the other girls who fell for him, you felt like you were already falling for Hyunjin.

-

The next day, you had planned to go shopping for dog supplies after school. After a really long and arduous debate with yourself, you decided to sacrifice all of your savings in order to buy everything that Coco needed. You knew Hyunjin owned a dog himself, so throughout the whole day, you worked up the nerve to ask Hyunjin to come with you.

At the end of last period, you gathered all your stuff from your desk and headed to the soccer field where you knew Hyunjin and his friends would be. Whilst you crossed the field, you noticed Jisung staring at you. You found his stare intimidating, but you tried to brush it off. He then whispered something in Hyunjin’s ear.

“Hi, Hyunjin,” you said anxiously, biting your lip. “Umm, do you want to come with me to shop for Coco?”

He stared at you for a couple seconds, then, a look of disgust appeared on his face. “Why? So you can use my wallet again?”

You stared back at him, wide eyed. Who was this person? It wasn’t the Hyunjin that so graciously helped you out yesterday.

“W-what? No!” you exclaimed. “I-I just wanted your opinion…”

“Sure,” Hyunjin smirked coldly, “opinion my ass.”

“Hyunjin,” tears were pooling in your eyes, “I don’t understand.”

“If you need money so much, here.” He reached in his pocket and turned up a wad of cash, throwing it at your feet. “Just don’t come to me next time. And buy yourself a new pair of shoes while you’re at it.”

You looked down at the money, trying to hold back your tears. Why was Hyunjin being like this? You didn’t understand. His two jockeys beside him didn’t even bother to stop him. As you tried to stop yourself from crying, you felt your sadness turn into rage.

“I don’t need your stupid money,” you said, kicking the cash back to him. “Maybe you can use your daddy’s money to buy yourself a new personality.”

Hyunjin’s two friends tried to hold back their snickers at your words. Hyunjin heard, turned around, and gave them both death stares.

You didn’t bother to listen to whatever he was going to say next and simply stomped away, rage burning inside you. Everything about him was a lie. His charming and charismatic personality, his generosity, his kindness. They were all lies. He really was nothing but a rich, spoiled boy living with his father’s money.

There was rage behind every step you took. Wiping away your tears, you headed to your locker. You didn’t need him anyways; it was better to realize his true personality earlier rather than later. Hands shaking from anger, you dialed the combination to your locker.

“Hey, sorry about what happened earlier.” A voice came from behind you. “He can be a real jerk sometimes.”

It was Jisung. You rolled your eyes. You didn’t want to see him either.

“Why didn’t you do anything about it then?” Your voice came out shaky. It was obvious that you had cried.

“Once he starts, there’s no stopping him. It’s usually better to let him finish uninterrupted, or else he will get more mad.”

“Oh,” you said. Your hatred for Hyunjin grew even more.

“I could come with you, though. I don’t know much about dogs, but I can help you carry your bags.”

“I don’t know…”

“C’mon, no way you can carry everything by yourself.”

You hesitated. “Okay, I guess.”

And so, you left for the pet store with Jisung, still confused about everything that had happened. It was strange with him. He was nice and cracked a joke every now and then, but it was just different from being with Hyunjin. At least he was nice, you thought.

Your trip went well. You managed to buy everything you needed for Coco. In a turn of events, Jisung had actually come in handy as he offered to carry the huge bag of dog food you bought. He even offered to buy you a coffee.

“Thanks for all your help, Jisung.” You stood outside the door of your apartment, smiling at him.

“No problem, gives me an excuse to work out my guns.” He pretended to flex his arms.

You choked back a laugh.

“You should get going now. It’s late,” you said.

“Alright,” he started to leave. “Hey, if you see me in the halls, feel free to say hi.”

You nodded and waved to him as he turned and walked away, remembering his words. Every time you saw Jisung in the school hallways, you gave him a small wave in which he happily returned. However, whenever you saw him walking with Hyunjin, you made sure to purposely avoid them. You didn’t want any negativity in your life.

You kept up the waves, and soon, waves turned to small conversations which soon turned to flirting. By the end of the semester, you and Jisung somehow ended up as a couple. Jisung was polite and sweet, unlike a certain person. With every free moment you had, you hung out with Jisung — all the while avoiding Hyunjin.

The two of you stayed a couple for the rest of Jisung’s senior year. Somehow, the two of you had even kept up your relationship throughout your whole high school experience. It was hard at times as he went to university, but with a lot of effort, you had made your relationship work out. You barely had time to talk with him, but you enjoyed the little time that you did have. Jisung had never even once mentioned Hyunjin when you were together, and with time, you had totally forgotten about that jerk. You weren’t even sure if they were still friends.

You worked hard in school and reaped all the benefits. Your rank had consistently been in the top twenties amongst all the other students, and you even had time to practice your dancing. You remembered the day that you received your acceptance letter from university. Hands shaking, you had barely managed to open the letter all the way before you screamed. You had gotten into university with your dream major: dance.

Because of your excellent grades, you were able to pay a lot of your tuition with scholarship money alone. You hesitantly decided to quit your job at the convenience store to focus on university. Although quitting meant that your bank account would take a big hit, you decided that it would be best in the long run. There was a lot in your savings, and you even had a little extra to buy a new outfit for your first day of school.

Jisung had been busy on the first day of university. He had previously promised to show you around campus, but with him being a no-show, you wandered around by yourself to try to find your classes. You had trouble with the campus map at first, but after walking around for a bit, you were able to find all your classes with ease.

Your first few classes were a snore. Because they were all theory, you had to down two cups of coffee in order to stay awake. Somehow, you managed to take coherent notes despite being bored out of your mind. You just wanted to dance.

The good thing was, after sitting through many classes, your time to dance finally came. Your last class of the day was an introduction to dance course, and you couldn’t wait to go. You wanted to know your teacher, your peers, and most importantly, express yourself.

The dance class was in a studio in the university’s fitness center. It was huge, way bigger than the tiny gym in your high school. Upon entering the studio, you were immediately met with the sight of students, exactly like you, already stretching. You chose a spot in the room and started stretching as well, making good use of your time before the instructor comes in.

After some time, most of the students — including you — had finished stretching and were sitting in silence waiting for the instructor. The door swung open, breaking the silence. The instructor had come in.

“Hello new students,” he said, “welcome to Dance 100. Today, I will go through the curriculum with you as well as introduce your final project.”

The instructor whipped out a projection of the curriculum and started explaining the purpose of the course, what you would be graded on, and how you would be graded. He then read through his class expectations before moving to your final project.

“This final project will act in place of a final exam,” he explained. “You will be required to create a dance that includes everything we’ve learned in class and write an essay explaining all the elements in your dance. It will be worth half your grade.”

The class gasped in surprise. Not only did this project sound extremely difficult for a first year course, but the fact that it was worth half your grade made it borderline unfair.

“I know it might seem difficult, but worry not, you won’t be doing this alone. Every year, the first year dance students get mentored by the third year dance students for the final project. Each student has already been assigned a random mentor which will be introduced this class.”

The whole class murmured, talking amongst themselves and expressing their opinions on this project. It was definitely an interesting project. You hoped that you would be paired with a good mentor that would actually care about how well you did.

There was a knock on the door.

“Ah, this must be them.” Your instructor opened the door and a wave of third years came flooding in. Each one of them had a name tag pinned on their shirts. “Class, these are the third year students.”

You all politely greeted them.

“Now,” the instructor continued, “I will put the class list on the projector, and each of your names will correspond to a third year mentor.”

The instructor put out the list for display. You scanned down the list of names, eventually finding yours. Following the dots to your corresponding mentor, you almost choked on air when you saw yours.

It was Hwang Hyunjin.

You were at a loss for words. Just when you thought he was out of your life forever, the man that was so incredibly mean to you — the man you hated with your whole soul — was now your mentor. Just the thought of being in the same room as him filled you with disgust.

You scanned the sea of third year students, and your eyes immediately found him. He was staring back at you with the same shocked expression that you had on.

He looked different. Not only had he grown taller, but he had lost all his baby fat as well. His hair was different too. It was bleached blond and it almost hit his shoulders. What was the same, however, was his intense stare and his plump lips.

You walked over to him.

“You look different.” His eyes scanned up and down.

“So do you.” You clenched your jaw and sighed. “I guess we have to work together.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he said flatly.

“Listen,” you copied his tone, “I’m not excited about this either, but I want to get a good grade for this class. If you don’t wanna help me, just say so and I’ll just work alone on this.”

“Don’t be stupid,” he rolled his eyes, “this is part of my grade too. I can’t let you fuck this up for the both of us.”

You rolled your eyes back at him and pressed your lips in a thin line. Ignoring what he said, you asked, “where do we start?”

“Let’s find a time to meet every week.” He pulled out the newest iPad model from his bag. Of course he would have the newest iPad. “I’m busy every day except Saturday, so let’s meet then.”

Way to consider your opinion. He was lucky that you weren’t busy on the weekends.

As Hyunjin worked on sorting his schedule, you took your time to look at how he had changed. With his hair blonde, he looked like a completely different person. You didn’t understand why he kept his hair long though. It kept falling in his eyes.

“Stop staring at me. It’s freaking me out.” He narrowed his eyes at you.

“I wasn’t.” You crossed your arms, defending yourself.

“Whatever.” He tucked his hair behind his ear and put his iPad back in his bag. “Don’t be late on Saturday.”

And with that, he left. You looked around the class. Most of the other students were still with their mentors, presumably getting to know each other and discussing the project. You almost wanted to ask your instructor to switch with somebody else, but that would mean passing on the nightmare known as Hwang Hyunjin onto a perfectly innocent person. You had your moments, but you weren’t evil.

The interaction with Hyunjin had left you in a sour mood for the rest of the day. You tried to study, but you were too distracted by the thought of having to work with that monstrosity for a whole semester. It was worth so much of your grade, too. You had just hoped that Hyunjin was as good at dance as he previously told you. You remembered him saying how dance was his passion in life. That was when you still liked him. Who knows, maybe he only said that so he could play you like every other girl he played with.

For the rest of the week, whenever you thought of the dance project, you were filled with dread. You tried to ignore it, and sometimes it worked, but most of the time it kept reappearing in your mind like a virus. The way Hyunjin had infected your mind bothered you to no end.

Time passed fast though, and before you knew it, Saturday had already come. Searching through your closet, you picked out a simple outfit for practice today. You slid on your tattered old sneakers and headed off to the studio that Hyunjin had told you to go to.

Entering the dance studio, you noticed that you were right on time. However, Hyunjin was not. Great… He made such a big deal over you being on time that he himself forgot to be punctual. You sat on the wood floors and started to do some stretches to warm up.

Eventually, after you finished your stretching, he entered the studio. With a girl. Holding a textbook, Hyunjin handed it to the girl and put on his signature deceitful smile. His ugly, perfect smile. The girl batted her eyes and waved her fingers goodbye before strolling out the door. You rolled your eyes at this, feeling bad for the girl. Hyunjin was playing her right in front of her own eyes and she didn’t even realize it.

“Were you really late because of a girl?” you sneered.

“Why do you care?” he retorted, flinging his bag to the corner of the room.

“I don’t.”

“Sure you don’t.”

Not wanting to waste time with that childish banter, you decided to end the conversation then and there. “Okay, well anyways, I’ll show you what I learned in class this week.”

Hooking up your phone to the speaker, you chose the song that you’ve been practicing with for the whole week. As the song progressed, you found it hard to not get lost in the music. Just dancing was the easy part; incorporating everything learned in class was another story. Although it was fairly difficult, you thought you executed everything very well as the song came to an end. Finishing up, you panted from exhaustion and looked at Hyunjin for his comments.

He stood, with his arms crossed across his torso, leaning against the speaker. There was a blank expression on his face.

“Not bad.” He started to walk up to you.

“But?”

“But you’re too stiff. You’re too focused on perfectly executing the technical moves that you forget to just move your body. Do what you did half-way through the song again.”

You turned the music on, trying to do the dance with Hyunjin’s criticisms in mind. Looking in the mirror, you did your best to show as much emotion as possible, all the while moving more fluidly. The room was filled with heavy bass and the squeaks from your sneakers.

Suddenly, the music was abruptly cut off.

Hyunjin had stopped the music and was making his way over, face still unreadable.

“You’re still trying too hard and it shows.” Hyunjin shook his head.

Clenching your jaw, you did your best to hold back your anger. Were you just not supposed to try? This annoyed you. Just because he didn’t need to try to be good at anything didn’t mean you couldn’t.

“Well,” you tried to say calmly, “how can I do this then?”

“You have to relax.” He put one hand on your hip and started to guide you. “Don’t focus on each individual aspect, but try to imagine everything as a whole. Then, things will come naturally.”

You followed his hand, allowing Hyunjin to guide you to his own rhythm. After a while, every movement felt so fluid and you didn’t even notice that your face started to match your movements. Glancing at your reflection, you gasped, noticing how different your dancing looked. You whipped your head to face Hyunjin, the two of your inches apart and breathing heavily.

“See,” he mumbled, looking down at you. “Once you stop thinking, everything just comes naturally.”

You looked back at the person inches away from you. It almost felt as if he was being kind. But you knew the type of person he was. You weren’t going to let this happen again. Snapping out of what weird trance you were in, you pushed him away in an act of self perseverance.

He didn’t say anything.

“I’ll try again,” you said.

Hyunjin strolled over to the speaker and turned on the music. This time, you didn’t think about anything you learned in class or Hyunjin’s criticisms. You just trusted in your body. Everything else was blank.

Taking a step forward while still in your trance, your shoe lost its grip on the floor, causing you to fall right on your knee. You cried in pain, holding on to your knee.

“Fuck,” Hyunjin hissed. He ran over and bent down to your level. “Can you move it?”

“I think so.” You tried to straighten your knee. It hurt, but you were still able to do it. There would most likely be a nasty bruise there the next morning.

“You’re still wearing those scraps that you call shoes? They’re literally coming apart at the seams. This is going to happen again if you don’t get new ones.”

You blushed in embarrassment from his remarks. “I’m not going to spend money on things that I don’t need.”

“Well, you need shoes. Just go buy a new pair later.”

Was he being serious? Or was he just spoiled?

“Hyunjin, not everybody can just go spend money whenever they want,” you loudly sighed. “Unlike you, I need to consider my budget for most things.”

“Well, why can’t you ask your boyfriend to buy it?” he sneered. “Seems like you’re good at doing that.”

How did he know you were still dating Jisung? What did he mean by ‘good at doing that’?

“What?” You crossed your eyebrows. “Do you think I’m with him just for his money? Do I really look like that kind of person to you?”

“You used me for my money,” he mumbled under his breath.

“What?” You couldn’t hear him right.

“Nevermind, rehearsal's over.” He stomped off, leaving you alone in the practice room holding on to your injured knee.

-

You busied yourself with everything and anything you could do over the weekend in order to forget what happened during rehearsal. However, no matter how hard you tried to forget, Hyunjin’s comments on your shoes stuck in your mind like glue.

During your shift at your job, you couldn’t help but keep staring at your worn sneakers. You never paid attention to your shoes before until now. They did the job, so why would you need to buy a new pair? Still, you unconsciously paid attention to every step you took.

On Monday’s dance class, you decided to go early. It was always nice to warm up in a room with other try-hards. They felt less judgemental than the others.

The studio barely had anybody in it this early before class. Everybody was either stretching or had already started going over what was taught last week. Shuffling your way over to your locker, you couldn’t help but compare everybody else’s shoes to your own. You’ve never cared about trivial matters such as shoes, but you couldn’t help but feel a little self conscious as your worn-in sneakers squeaked its way over to the lockers.

Opening your locker, your eyes widened, shocked at what you saw. Inside was a box containing a brand new pair of sneakers. It was an expensive brand as well, a brand that you never thought you would be touching in your life. You turned your head around, scanning the room. Everybody seemed to have been busy with their own thing.

Did somebody put these in your locker by mistake?

Taking the shoes out, you noticed a small slip of paper fly out. You picked up the note.

Keep these. I was a jerk.

You knew who had sent this. It was Hyunjin. You didn’t know what game he was trying to play at, but you weren’t going to fall for it like you did that day in high school. Gingerly putting the shoes back in your locker, you decided to return these back to Hyunjin at your next practice.

-

“No, I gave them to you as a gift.” Hyunjin turned his nose up at you, refusing to take back the shoes.

“Why would you give these to me if you think that I only use people for their money?”

“Because,” he rolled his eyes, “if you’re unable to dance then my grade is screwed as well.”

He made a good point, but you were stubborn. “Still…”

“You know what? Keep it, give it away, sell it, I don’t care. Let’s just start practice.”

After that dance practice, you threw your old shoes in the trash.

-

It was midterm season a month into school. You thought you had gone to hell and back with high school, but this was even worse. Each day consisted of waking up, studying, and going back to sleep. You lived on coffee and toast. It wasn’t much, but it gave you the energy to sit at the library for hours to study.

You didn’t see anybody during the midterm season, Instead, you chose to hermit yourself up at the library for days on end. This meant that, at least for a couple of weeks, your dance practice with Hyunjin was put on hiatus. Not that he minded, of course. He happily deleted the practices from his schedule.

You also didn’t see much of your boyfriend, Jisung. Ever since school started, he seemed to always be missing in action. He would almost never have time to be with you, and with the few moments that he was, it seemed like he was always so apathetic towards you. You brushed this off as stress though, as you finally knew what it was like to experience university exams.

It was a clear and sunny day on the morning you finished your last midterm. Leaving the exam room, you looked up to the sky, basking in the sun. Today was going to be a good day. Not only were you now stress free, but you were also invited to an end-of-midterm party for your dance class tonight. You had never gone to a university party before, so when a classmate asked if you wanted to go, you eagerly accepted.

Wrapping up your dance class, you stood at your locker, gathering the rest of your stuff.

“Hey.” An arm wrapped around you.

“Hey, Jisung.” You smiled, turning around to face him.

“You’re done all your midterms?”

“Yup.” You nodded happily.

He took a look at your shoes.

“New shoes?”

You hesitated in answering his question, not knowing where Jisung was with Hyunjin in terms of friendship. It was better to be truthful now rather than apologizing later.

“Hyunjin gave it to me.” You looked down, fiddling with your fingers. Why were you afraid of Jisung’s response?

“Wait, what? Hwang Hyunjin? Like from high school? Y/n, I thought you hated him.”

“I did! And I do,” you tried to explain, “but he had a reason to give me this.”

“Bullshit, Y/n. You’re really gonna believe any reason he pulls out of his ass? I thought you actually matured from high school.”

“Well, you would understand if you were around more often!” you yelled. You knew it was wrong to address other problems and blow this out of proportion, but you couldn’t think straight. Your mind was clouded with anger.

“What does this have to do with anything?” Jisung barked back. “What we’re talking about is how you, no matter how shitty of a person Hyunjin is, keep going back to him! Y/n, all that man does is take. He takes from you and he sure as hell takes everything from me. I won’t let that happen this time.”

When had he taken anything from you? All he had done was give.

“Jisung, let’s end this.”

“You’re right. Let’s cool down and talk later tonight.”

“No,” you shook your head, “I mean, let's end us.”

Jisung looked at you in disgust. “It’s Hyunjin, isn’t it?”

“No,” you vehemently denied, “Jisung, you never have time for me, and the little time we do have together you act like a different person. And now you’re being all possessive just because Hyunjin gave me a gift? I’m sorry, I just don’t see us recovering from this.”

“Fine, whatever.” Jisung turned around. “We’re done. But Y/n, don’t come running back to me when Hyunjin screws you over like he does with everybody.”

After Jisung left, you stomped your foot on the ground, tears pooling in your eyes. It was for the best — breaking up with him. For the past month, you hadn’t been happy with where your relationship was going, but this wasn’t the way you wanted to end an almost three year relationship.

Wiping away your tears, you tried to compose yourself before heading over to the pub. Jisung wasn’t worth the tears.

The walk to the pub wasn’t far as every establishment catered to students was a short walking distance from campus. For your entire walk over, you kept your head down so as to not receive looks from others. The headache from your cries and a blush of anger still lingered with you. Hopefully you’ll look somewhat normal by the time you reach the bar.

Checking your reflection once more in your phone camera, you fixed your hair a bit before going inside.

The bar was filled.

With students from both your dance class and the third year class, there was not an empty corner in sight. The music was loud, but the sounds of chatter coming from the students were louder. The place was dark, with the only source of light coming from very dim, bright blue LEDs.

It was surprising to see everybody in a different setting. You were used to the sight of your classmates being only in sweats and workout clothes, but now that they actually had time to get ready, everybody seemed like a completely different person.

You saw a few of your classmates wave at you, beckoning you over to where they were sitting. As soon as your butt landed on the chair, they spared no time to push a shot glass filled with clear liquor in front of you. You gladly took the drink, wanting to just let go and forget about everything that happened today. Holding back a cough, you scrunched your face as you felt the alcohol burn in your throat. It had been so long since the last time you drank.

After five you stopped counting. Partly because you knew you were going to drink more, but mostly because your head couldn’t even count to five anymore. Scrunching your eyes, you tried to focus on the blurry figure of your classmate complaining about her professor. Bored out of your mind as her mindless babble went on forever, your eyes started roaming around the bar. As your eyes wandered, you noticed somebody behind your classmate staring at you.

Hwang Hyunjin.

Even in your inebriated state of mind, you knew that it was Hyunjin. What other university student had the balls to bleach their whole head blonde? Your eyes met, and he ran a hand through his golden locks. Why do the most beautiful people harbour the most wretched personalities?

You tried to ignore his staring by focusing your attention back on your classmate, but eventually, you couldn’t help but glance back at him. He was still looking at you.

You saw a girl come up to him. She was the same girl that showed up with him on your first ever practice session. Because of the dimly lit bar and your drunken vision impairment, you had to really squint to make out what was going on. The girl, all smiley and giggly, put her hand on his shoulder, making Hyunjin break his eye contact with you. He smiled at the girl, mouthing words that were drowned out by the music. For some reason, this made you furious. Why was he so nice to everybody else but you? What had you ever done to him to make him hate you so much?

You kept your eyes on the girl, knowing full well that you shouldn’t have. You hated that — even on your night off, even when you had just broken up with your boyfriend — Hyunjin was still in your mind like an unkillable parasite. You hated the way he tucked his hair behind his ears. You hated how the corners of his eyes crinkled up when he smiled at her. You hated him.

You watched as she leaned in and whispered something in his ear, causing him to laugh. That was the last straw. In a drunken haze, you took your phone and bolted out the door, ignoring the concerns of all your classmates. Maybe it had been a mistake breaking up with Jisung. Maybe he really did know what was best for you.

Stumbling out onto the street, you tried to dial Jisung’s phone number. It proved to be too difficult of a task, however, as your drunken fingers could only tap on random numbers on the screen. You cried out of frustration.

“Y/n.”

The voice coming from behind you startled you, causing you to lose your grip on the phone. It dropped on the cement with a loud crack. Tears welled up in your eyes as you bent down to pick up your phone. There was a huge crack right down the middle of the screen.

“You cracked my phone,” you said, trying to keep your composure.

“So? It’s not like it’s worth much anyways. Just ask your boyfriend to buy you one.” Hyunjin’s evil eyes squinted down at you.

“Why are you still on about this? Hyunjin, I’ve never used anybody for money and I never will!” You couldn’t control the tears flowing down your face. “Plus, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I broke up with Jisung today.”

You didn’t know why you were spilling your guts to the last man in the world you would trust. Surely, it was the alcohol.

“Y/n.” His tone had completely changed. He almost looked — concerned?

“Whatever, Hyunjin,” you slurred. “Just leave me alone. You can go back to that girl and have your fun with her.”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t care.”

“Y/n, why do you care?” His tone got louder.

“I don’t!” you yelled at him. Your tears made everything even more blurry.

“Y/n! Tell me, why do you care?!” He spat back at you with just as much fury.

“Fuck you, Hyunjin. News flash, not everything in the world revolves around you and your rich and prestigious life. Maybe you wouldn’t be so toxic if you would just understand that.” You screamed at him through your sobs. “Also, I don’t know where you got this stupid story of my being a cash whore from, but I will say this one last time: I have worked for everything in my life and I have never and will never use anybody for their money.”

Hyunjin looked back at you, shocked. You stared back at him in disgust. Not wanting to waste anymore time on him, you stumbled down the street to look for a taxi. However, as you wobbled down the pavement, everything became even blurrier than before. You felt nauseous. You couldn’t control it anymore.

You threw up. All over the sidewalk. You couldn’t stop. Every time you thought that it was over, more and more came out. Your throat burned, and it wasn’t just the alcohol.

As you hurled out all the remains of today’s lunch, your hair was held back.

“Get away from me, Hyunjin,” you groaned. You didn’t want him to see you this weak.

“Who else is gonna take care of your drunk ass, idiot,” he mumbled.

That was the last thing you heard before everything went black.

-

It was a blinding white light that woke you up. You groaned, trying to block the light with your forearm. Cracking your neck, you tried to holster yourself up.

You were on a leather couch. Squinting, you surveyed the room you were in. It was clean, spacious. The floor was a white marble — there wasn’t a single speck of dust to be seen. Across from you was an incredibly wide TV with many game consoles scattered around it. You looked behind you. There was a large kitchen island illuminated by warm pendant lights. Sitting at the island, on his laptop, was Hyunjin.

“Wh-what happened to me?”

“You’re the worst fucking drinker I’ve ever seen, that’s what happened.”

You rolled your eyes.

Hyunjin ignored you, standing up and leaving for another room. Less than a minute later, he reappeared with a toothbrush and a roll of toothpaste.

“Go clean up. You look disgusting.”

You snatched the toothbrush from his hands. He pointed over to the bathroom and you trudged your way over. His bathroom was huge, almost bigger than your bedroom at home. You felt as if you were in a hotel.

“Your bathroom is huge.” After washing up, you felt not only cleaner, but more awake. “You’re really living the life with your family’s money, huh.”

Hyunjin sighed, slamming his laptop shut causing you to flinch. “Why, after everything, do you think I’m this rich, pretentious fuck?”

You rolled your eyes. Not this again. “Well, why do you still think I’m this money hungry monster?”

“You really wanna know why, Y/n? It’s because Jisung told me so. He was the one who told me that all those years ago.”

You were shocked. Jisung was the one who told him that? Your ex-boyfriend that you had loved and dated for almost three years? You didn’t want to believe it, you really didn’t, but there was this tiny whisper in the back of your mind telling you that it was true. He had a reason to — Jisung was always going on about how Hyunjin always took from him.

“But Y/n, I-” He stopped mid-sentence.

“You what, Hyunjin?”

He pressed his lips to yours, caressing the back of your head. You were shocked, but almost autonomously, your lips parted feeling the heat of his breath against yours. He pressed his body to yours, running his hand down your waist. His lips, the same lips responsible for his perfect smile, felt so soft against your own. You heard the thuds of his heartbeat as he held you closer.

You broke apart, gasping for breath. The realization of what you had done just hit you.

In a panic, you used your whole strength to push his body away from you. “I-I have to go.”

“Y/n, wait!” Hyunjin called.

You paid him no attention. Instead, you ran across the marble floors, hoisted the front door open, and sprinted out. Hoping that Hyunjin wasn’t following you, found your way outside and took a taxi home.

You sat in silence, trying to process what had just happened. You had just kissed Hyunjin. You had just kissed Hyunjin. Hands shaking, you grasped at the ends of your hair, trying to calm yourself down. Did that just happen?

You were more mad at yourself than at him. How could you have just kissed Hyunjin? You hated him. He was nothing but rude to you, never smiling and always accusing you of things that were clearly lies. He made you feel self conscious, nervous, and everything in between. You hated him.

But he was so sweet on that fateful day in high school. He gave you a new pair of shoes when you had slipped during practice, and he held your hair for you when you were drunk. His hair glistened in the sunlight, his smile made your heart race, and his lips ignited sparks of every colour in the rainbow in your chest.

You hated Hwang Hyunjin. You hated how fast you became infatuated with him on that day in high school, and no matter how much you tried to deny it, you hated that your feelings haven’t changed ever since. You hated Hwang Hyunjin. You hated that you loved him.

Curling up in your bed, there was no stopping the tears flowing down your face. You cried and cried upon this realization, and you remained this way for the rest of the day. The effect Hyunjin had on you was bigger than you ever expected, and you hated it.

-

At school, you tried to avoid as many people as possible. The kiss you had shared with Hyunjin was plaguing your mind, distracting you and igniting the fire that was your inner turmoil. Even the thought of Hyunjin put a strain in your heart. It was the way his breath fanned over your nose, gently tickling it like a bird’s feather and the soft silk of his blonde locks brushing up against your cheeks.

You shook your head, trying to erase any and every thought of that man. Walking to your locker, you were stopped in your tracks, the dam in your eyes starting to crack. You couldn’t do this today. You turned around to go somewhere else — anywhere else.

“Y/n, wait.”

You sniffed, wiped stray tears from your eyes, and picked up your pace.

“Y/n.” He grabbed your shoulder, turning you around to face him.

“Hyunjin, please, I can’t do this today.”

“Are you… Are you crying?” He touched your face, wiping your tears with his thumb. “Y/n, why are you crying?”

You shook your head. You were scared of what would happen if you opened your stupid mouth.

“Y/n, please.” Hyunjin begged. His voice was shaking. “Tell me why.”

You shook your head again.

“Y/n, please.” His voice cracked.

“Hyunjin,” you paused, taking a shaky breath, “it’s because I love you. I’ve loved you ever since the first moment you smiled at my pathetic ass. Even when you hurt me more than anyone has hurt me before… I never had a choice, Hyunjin. It’s always been you.”

You tore yourself away from Hyunjin, embarrassed to your core. That was the most humiliating thing you’ve ever done, but at least you had closure now.

“Y/n…”

“No, Hyunjin. You’ve torn me down and humiliated me enough already. What more could you possibly want?” You demanded, aware that everybody around you was staring.

“Y/n,” Hyunjin rasped, “It’s only ever been you. I’ve spent the last three years miserable knowing that you were with someone else. I’ve-I’ve never even been with another girl in the past three years. I know you have no reason to believe me because I was such an ass. I am such an ass. Y/n, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for projecting my insecurities on you, I’m sorry for accusing you of things I know you’ve never done, and I’m sorry for anything else I might have fucking done. Y/n, I love you. Please, I don’t fucking deserve it, but is there any way you could forgive me?”

You stared at Hyunjin’s bloodshot eyes, tears freely flowing down your cheeks, and before you could even think, you found yourself pressed against his lips. Your eyes closed, savouring the feeling of his soft lips touching your own. His wet cheek pressed against your own, and with a nudge of the nose, Hyunjin deepend the kiss with a raw passion in which you’ve never felt before.

You cradled his head, relishing in his silken blonde hair as you brushed your fingers through his locks. He sighed in response, his breath tickling against your cheek. You were fully aware that everyone on campus had seen both your messy confessions of love, but you didn’t care. All you could do was replay the moment that Hyunjin had said those words — those three tiny words — over and over in your head as you ran your fingers through his hair and kissed his soft, honey lips.

[merakiui]

hii could we get an angsty scenario/hcs of xiao and scaramouche/any characters you prefer! who are basically head over heels for someone but that person keeps getting with the wrong people and constantly getting their heart broken? Preferably with a good/fluffy ending but it’s up to you!

cw: angst + heartbreak  note - decided to go for scenarios! (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

[Xiao] 

One Call Away—

The sudden shout of his name had brought him out into the open, where he finds you sitting in a field of wildflowers, your head hung and quiet sobs racking your hunched form.

“You called?” The gruffness in his voice startles you and your head snaps up. He notices your pained expression and the tears that refuse to cease, and it gives birth to a strange feeling within his chest. “What happened? Surely I am not too late.” And then he shakes his head. “No, I’m never late.”

“Ah... I’m sorry.” You sniffle, pitifully rubbing at your eyes. “I guess your name slipped out. I didn’t mean to bother you. I just didn’t mean to call for you either.”

Xiao raises a brow and then surveys the surrounding area. “Well, it doesn’t look like you’re in any mortal peril. In that case, I’ll leave you to—”

“No!”

Your sudden shout startles the both of you, with you drawing back and Xiao’s eyes widening ever so slightly. He wonders why you’re crying when beautiful scenery surrounds you. Are you truly that pathetic? Are mortals usually this weak-hearted? Xiao can’t wrap his head around the idea of grief; he’s an immortal who has seen plenty of hazardous scenarios worth grieving over. Yet with the passage of time he has learned to let such emotions drift away on a wind current. Emotions are useless to an adeptus.

But now he’s stuck with them.

“No?”

“D-Don’t go...” Your voice wobbles and you wipe at your reddened eyes. “I don’t want to bother you, but could you stay here with me? For a little while, at least. It’s all I’ll ask...”

He feels like he should decline your desperate plea before it spreads its perplexing roots throughout his system. The words are practically on the tip of his tongue and he struggles to verbalize them. If he could, he’d shake his head and vanish from your sight. There’s something about your expression that forces him to stay, and he truly detests the way his emotions run wild at the prospect of something he can’t quite comprehend.

“Fine.”

And so Xiao listens to you. It’s something he does best; his eyes and ears are open as he gives you his full, undivided attention. Half of him observes your reactions as you explain what happened and the other half zeros in on the way your subtle hand motions. While he might not be anywhere near a cupid—and he would never be caught giving out relationship advice to mortals, which is something he couldn’t do even if he tried—he is still a being of immense power. From what he’s able to understand from your explanation, your loved one decided to part from you because they believed it just wasn’t working. And you, having been struck with an immense sadness, failed to call out to them to clear up any misunderstandings.

Eventually, after internally wrestling with his own thoughts and feelings, he asks, “Do you want me to teach them a lesson? Should you need them to feel the same amount of despair you’re feeling—”

“Oh, no! No. No. They don’t deserve to be punished for that. I understand now that our feelings weren’t the same. We really weren’t working and that’s okay. It just...hurts.”

Xiao tilts his head, an innocently childish show of confusion. “Where?”

“It’s not a physical pain, Xiao. I mean, it could be. But...this is more emotional.” Your hand reaches out, fingers wrapping around his wrist. He stares down at your hand and he almost pulls away. Before he can even consider what’s happening, you’re guiding his hand to where your heart is. “In here. It hurts now, but I’ll overcome it eventually. I’m used to it anyways...”

The straight-faced adeptus remains still as he feels the fast-paced beat of your heart. Mortals have always been weak in his eyes: feeble beings who break at the slightest inconvenience. Although you don’t seem close to shattering and that confuses him more than he’d like to admit. Perhaps you are one of the more resilient humans he’s come across in recent years. It’s strange when he feels your heartbeat, so very certain and alive with the sour feelings a heartbreak brings. He’s never understood that either. Heartbreaks and relationships. The differences between friendship and romance. Both can be seen through to the very end, if fostered healthily.

So then why are you so sad?

Truthfully, you’ve always seemed sad to Xiao. As an adeptus, he’s never been able to fully grasp the meaning behind human emotions. They’re insignificant in his eyes, mere flashes of feeling that can hurt and blind. They’re troublesome and useless—certainly not something he would ever want to experience. But those emotions can heal and bring cheer. They’re not all entirely bad, nor are they as evil as he seems to think they are.

Xiao realizes his hand has been on your chest for a while now and he’s been staring at you so much that you’ve begun to shrink away, partially embarrassed to have him analyze you with so much scrutiny.

“Is...something wrong?”

He shakes his head slowly at first before retracting his arm. And then he notices you’ve stopped crying. He’s not sure when this happened, but he’s oddly relieved to see your neutral expression. Somehow your crying face is painful and it wounds him in a way he never would have imagined.

“Thank you for listening to my rant. I know this is probably meaningless to you, since you’re an adeptus and all, but it really means a lot. So I’m glad I was able to get these things off my chest. I feel a lot lighter now.”

“You’re not sad?”

“Ah. Well...” Your gaze flickers, eyes darting to and fro while you struggle to look at him. “I’m still sad, but I’ll get over it! Don’t worry! I’m resilient!”

Xiao’s brow furrows in confusion. As he has thought plenty of times before, mortals are far too complex. Eventually he sighs and says, “It’s okay to cry. Don’t keep that inside, okay? You’ll just hurt yourself even more.” Now he’s avoiding your gaze and there’s a barely noticeable tinge of pink dusting his pale cheeks. He’s really not good at consoling humans.

“Oh, Xiao.” You pull him in for a hug and he stiffens, trying to squeeze out of your arms like a cat near water. But then he feels your fingers digging into his arm and he realizes that you might actually need this hug. Despite the fact that he’s not used to freely giving out hugs—or even cheering up mortals, for that matter—he is definitely out of his element. “Really, thank you. I promise to make you an Almond Tofu as thanks.”

“There’s no need for that.” Hesitantly, as if he’s worried he’ll break you, he wraps his arms around your form. “I’m just helping you because you called my name. That’s all.”

But that’s not the full truth. Hidden in those words is the real reason why he even bothered to stay despite the false alarm. And it worries Xiao when he thinks about the implications. He really does like you and this admiration has surpassed platonic love. As long as you’re okay, though, he’ll swallow his feelings in favor of making sure you’re always happy. It’s one of his duties as your friend.

Friend. A word Xiao never thought he’d ever use, but it feels nice. He likes it.

Yet The Distance Remains Harrowing.

[Scaramouche] 

To Mend a Broken Heart—

You’re spilling your emotional guts in front of the Sixth of the Fatui Harbingers, tears freely running down your cheeks like two faulty water faucets. It’s a pathetic sight, really. Scaramouche witnessed this exact show just a few weeks ago when you were so certain that that fisher was the one. Now, after meeting and getting together with someone else for a short time, you’ve come out of yet another relationship, unhappy and unsatisfied.

He’s jealous. There’s no denying the envy he feels when you talk so highly of these people and then wail about them a few days later. It’s a vicious cycle of mending a fragile heart and then breaking it into pieces all over again. With no end in sight, you fall victim to your own demise in the pursuit of love. He wonders if you’ll ever learn to choose your next partner carefully rather than settling for anything with a pulse.

“This is exactly what I said would happen, was it not?” he says with a sigh. “Oh, woe is you. If you were smarter, this last relationship might have lasted longer.”

“That’s rich coming from you. I’ve never seen you in a relationship before,” you mutter, wiping angrily at your eyes. His eyelid twitches at the not-so-subtle jab. “Ugh!I hate being so unlucky! This is the worst.”

“Rather than your foul luck, I think the problem lies within you and your taste in partners.”

Sniffling, you lower your head onto the table, hoping to just melt into the crafted wood before you end up making even more of a fool out of yourself. It’s rare to be in the company of Scaramouche, considering how often he’s assigned missions that require swift travel and a covert profile. But whenever you do find yourself sitting across from him, indulging in light snacks and tea, it’s always because you’ve lost your latest lover; and your own sadness requires the nullifying effects of Scaramouche’s cynicism.

“They’re good people! I just don’t know why it never works out. We’re happy and we both like each other—it doesn’t make any sense. Am I missing something? Is it my fault? They probably got tired of me because I’m not a good person.“

“Perhaps.” He takes a moment to sip his tea and you muster a weak glare. Only Scaramouche can delight in his beverage while you’re holding back another onslaught of tears. “Your crocodile tears are hardly flattering and your apparent need for consistent affection might come off as clingy. And you have a tendency to find flaws within yourself whenever something doesn’t go your way. Adding onto that, you doubt yourself a lot and you’re always quick to take the blame for things that are out of your control. In a way you are partially—”

“I get it. I’m not a good person.”

“I never said anything of that sort. Now you’re just asking for pity.”

Oh, how close you are to punching that smirk off of his face.

“Then since you seem to know everything, my oh so helpful friend, why don’t you tell me what I’m missing?”

“With pleasure.” His cup finds the surface of the table as he ponders your demand for a moment. “You’re missing someone who meshes well with your personality.”

“That’s not true. Everyone I’ve been with so far—“ His skeptical look makes you stop short. “Okay. Maybe we forced it because we thought it was love. But that’s besides the point! There was still an attraction! I think...” You huff and bury your face in your arms, nearly almost sprawling on the table. You’re too depressed to even consider how impolite your actions look, and Scaramouche scoffs at your poor display of manners. “Where am I even going to find someone who ‘meshes well with my personality,’ hm?”

“I’m sure you’ve already found them.” He clears his throat, tracing a finger along a sanded knot in the wooden table. “You’re sitting across from him.”

Whether he intended for you to hear that whispered part, you can’t say for sure. But your head perks up and you fix him with a lopsided grin. “You’re kidding.”

“Hm?”

“Me and you, a couple?” A small giggle escapes your lips and you swipe the remaining tears out of your eyes. “Don’t joke about that. I’m trying to be sad here!”

It wasn’t a joke, he almost says and he catches himself, suddenly self-conscious.

“I don’t think we’d work out,” you continue, motioning between you and him. “We’d hardly see each other and you don’t seem like the type for romance. Besides, I’m not attracted to you in that way. You feel the same, right?”

Scaramouche stares into his cup before he meets your gaze, a tight smile gracing his expression. “Of course. Your inability to settle isn’t all that attractive.”

Your eyes roll and you finally pick up your own cup to take a large gulp of lukewarm tea. The bitter Harbinger observes your actions with narrowed eyes. There’s a distinct pain that taps at his hardened soul, splitting it apart as your words echo within his spinning head. I don’t think we’d work out. I’m not attracted to you in that way. Why is he suddenly feeling...upset? He’s not one for pitiful emotions; he’s a Harbinger, not a lovesick fool! He ought to glare at you and storm off, demanding the two of you never speak again. But he won’t say that because he doesn’t want to hurt you. Because he cares for you. Because he loves you.

You feel the same, right?

No, that’s not right. This is the love he’s been wallowing in since he first got acquainted with you. It’s strange when he remembers every event that has led up to the blossoming feelings that reside deep in the epicenter of his heart, but it’s even more strange that he can’t find the courage to voice his own opinion.

“We wouldn’t mix,” he reaffirms your statement with a cold tone. There is no warmth in his eyes. “After all, your taste in tea is as bad as your taste in partners.”

And even though he wishes you could see through his walls—just this once he’ll allow you to tear them down for the sake of a half-baked confession—you just sit there and grin, no longer teary-eyed and forlorn. How odd. His heart feels far heavier than it’s ever been before. And you’re already scanning your surroundings, hungry for a love that will never keep you sated. Perhaps you weren’t even sad in the first place.

Upon realizing this, Scaramouche wants nothing more than to disappear into the wood like a feeble worm and never come back out.

You Must Break Another.

[honeyabyss]

When Mc gets sick

Lucifer:

will scold the hell out of you

"didn't I tell you to take care of yourself?"

you can have only a slight cold and he will insist on you staying in bed for the rest of the week

humans are weak and die easily, and you're apparently stupid on top of that for getting sick even after his warning

will constantly sigh, scold and act like it's a huge nuisance taking care of you

says he doesn't care

actually cares a lot

keeps his brothers away from you, so you have peace and silence to recover

if your condition worsens he will grow panicked, he doesn't want to lose you!

will take you to a human world doctor so you can get the right treatment

after your recovery, he will be so paranoid and overprotective for the first few weeks, will wrap you up in blankets, constantly makes sure you drink and eat enough, will put his coat over your shoulders if he even just gets the idea you might find it cold

Mammon:

"that's your own fault!"

someone like the great Mammon would never get sick

leaves the room only to come back half an hour later panting and packed with bags full of medicine and other stuff you might need

he didn't know what you need so he got one of all

there isn't the right thing among it? oh well no worries he'll get you whatever you say

after all he cares a lot for his human, even though he denies it

he will keep you company and try to distract you from your pain through telling you about his new money making schemes, or try to get you to laugh through telling you about stories where he failed and received Lucifers punishment

he doesn't like that you  have to go through this so he tries to help you however he can

if you'll ask for some quiet time, he will struggle, it's not like he doesn't want you to have some rest to recover, it's just he is so worried and confused, he feels more at ease when you talk to him or laugh about his stories, if you answer that is prove you're still alive and breathing

once you've recovered everything goes back to normal, Mammon will be confident in his ability to take care of you...for now that is, it's probably diffrent once you're actually sick again

Leviathan:

stupid normie! An otaku like him doesn't get sick, because he never leaves his room and avoids interactions with others

he, of course, secretly cares though

"Mc? I brought you these anime that we can watch together to pass the time"

"oh and in case you want to rather read something in silence, I brought you some manga recommendations, but please don't sneeze all over them..."

does the online RAD lessons with you as he stays at home almost everyday anyway, so he can show you how they work and help you

he will awkwardly sit next to you on the bed, trying to keep a small distance between the two of you A) because he is shy and nervous and B) because he can't get sick, he would miss all his in-game raids

will ask if you want to play games as well, but soon realizes that you two won't be making much progress with your current reaction time, so he chooses an easy and fun game for you

he wouldn't admit it but he might have set the game to the easiest settings and he himself plays slower for you

he is actually kind of disappointed when you recover so quick, he will miss you now that you visit RAD again instead of doing the online lessons with him, but he is glad you're feeling better again...maybe you could stay home more often with him though?

Satan:

he will buy and read every single human medicine book so he can find the best solution to your illness

will obviously read them in your room, because he can't leave you alone in this state

makes sure to keep you warm and makes you herbal tea depending on your symptoms

will skip school in favour for your well-being, especially keeps this behaviour up when Lucifer gets mad about it

will yell at everyone who dares to try and enter your room while your still sick, how dare they disturb your rest

will get embarassed about yelling and actually being the disturbance to you himself, will apologize and leave your room to keep reading somewhere else, still checks up on you occasionally and brings you light novels to read so you don't get bored

will come in stumbling into your room with the perfect medicine to cure you, only to find that you're already feeling better

gets embarassed yet again, but says it was worth reading all these books as he can now react faster the next time you get sick

will keep a check on your health and make sure you're always taking care of yourself

Asmodeus:

keep your snotty face away from him, but also come cuddle

he is very conflicted, because getting sick is not good for his skin, but he also wants to make you feel better with his hugs

will wear a mask so he doesn't get infected that easily

Asmo doesn't know much about medicine but he knows that certain herbs are good for your health, so he'll make you a nice herbal bath to boost your healing

also will take over your skin care routine and adjust it while your sick so your skin doesn't get worse, says he will only buy a refreshing face mask, comes back with more stuff though... I mean what did you expect from him?

will stay in bed with you and constantly cuddle so you don't feel lonely

he will most definetly whine if you ask him for some space or alone time, but does comply...fo at most half an hour, look this is hard on him too! His darling is sick and he can't do anything but be a moral support for you

if you thought he stops to cling to you once you've recovered, then you're mistaken, he will give you so many kisses and hugs having missed being able to do that

Beelzebub:

"Will food make you feel better?"

"You don't feel like eating?"

the poor boy is so confused, you're going to die if you don't eat! He will ask Satan what humans need when they're sick

will make yoou the perfect meal based on your symptoms, he'll even hold back on eating from it

he has a huge smile on his face while he watches you eat what he prepared, he is so proud that you like what he made you

eat as much as you can, Beel will eat everything you can't, all this boy wants for you to eat at least a bit so you have enough strength to recover

you get cold? cuddle time!

there is no way Beel will leave your side for as long as you're sick, he'll hold you close and share all his warmth and food with you

is so happy when you're better again. Will celebrate it with inviting you to a restaurant

Belphegor:

being sick is like being sleepy right?

he will just go back to sleep next to you as if nothing happend

wakes up because of your coughs and pretends to be annoyed, but is actually worried

will leave the comfort of the bed to get you some medicine, before wrapping you up into a blanket burrito and cuddling into you

don't expect to be getting up any time soon, he wants to sleep...you better not have to go to the bathroom

sleeping is best medicine but Belphie takes this a bit to literally, you two will almost only sleep

once you're better he will still want to sleep using you as a pillow, good luck getting out of that situation

Diavolo:

"Are you dying Mc?"

"Barbatos turn back the time before Mc got sick! -Wait you're going to be okay?"

Don't scare him like that! He is always ready to save you from death!

He will let you live at the castle for the time being and appoints the best doctor to take care of you, because he still isn't completly convinced you're going to make it

Does his work in your room, so he can keep a check on you

will not do much work much to Barbatos dismay, Dia is just so worried about you and will constantly ask if you need anything

his breaks consist of hugging you gently and drinking some tea with you

he will literally cry and almost crush you in his hug, when you're finally healthy again. This man was so anxious about losing you, even thugh he could've commanded Barb to just turn back time

Barbatos:

*smiles*

he knew you were going to get sick, so he's prepared

knocks on your door in the house of lamentation, before you're even able to tell anyone that you're sick

made himself a very strict schedule for everything so he can help you and still attend to his duties as a butler

gives the brothers various tasks so they can indivdually take care of you in the time he isn't able to be there for you

he will get back to you in the evening after having finished all his work for the day

will make you a light dinner and sit next to your bed

stays with you until you fall asleep stroking you hair and holding one of your hands, when you wake up the next morning Barb await you with a small breakfast, if he stayed over night or left and came back in the morning will stay a secret of his

is relieved and at the same time sad when you've recovered, will miss coming over and seeing you, maybe you can return the favor and visit him at the castle sometimes...

Solomon:

is a human so he knows what to do...

but magic is quicker!

he tries to heal you with a spell, but he just end up making it worse

"Oh no Mc I'm so sorry! Let me make it up by taking care of you!"

undefined matter soup a la Solomon, "eat this", he said, "You'll feel better", he said ...you don't feel better...

the brothers will get so angry and throw him out of the house, he is only allowed to come back once you've recovered, actually scratch that he's not setting foot anywhere near you again if it were for the demons

but Solomon finds his way into your room through your window...will stay over the night, cuddling you and constantly apologizing

will laugh about the whole ordeal once you've recovered

Simeon:

he is so calm, like yeah? Humans get sick, but they recover soon if taking care of correctly

Simeon is just the best!

he knows the right food to make for you, will give you the best medicine and make sure you're taking it at the right time

will make sure you're always comfortable

bored?  "let me get you a book!"

tired?  "let me fluff your pillow so you can sleep better!"

he will sit next to you the whole time looking so calm and confident

he will pray for you to get better quick so you don't have to suffer too long

promises you to take care of you again if you get sick in the future, this man just wants to be there for you

Luke:

"Are you dying Mc?" Version 2.0

no seriously are you? Will you become an  angel? We can live together in the celestial realm and bake desserts for Micheal!

Mc why are you so angry? No you misunderstood I don't actually want you to die!

Is so sorry he couldn't protect you from getting sick, he will feel so helpless

Simeon and you will cheer him up and tell him there wasn't anything he could have done to prevent it

Luke will bake you light desserts so you can eat some sweets while recovering

will visit you daily with Simeon after school and tell you about the day

crushes you in a big hug once you're healthy again

[astrologyandlife]

jupiter and saturn together in the natal chart

i have noticed that, in many of my readings, people have both jupiter and saturn sitting in the same house of their natal chart. this makes sense because a conjunction between the two occurs every 20 years. and to me, this signals an important theme: the need to overcome struggle to unlock the opportunities of that house.

first house - there's difficulty expressing yourself fully. it's like you want to be optimistic and have faith in yourself, but something is holding you back from that. you are almost afraid of being let down. as a result, you carry around this fear and caution about everything. you doubt yourself. when people first meet you, these struggles can be visible to them. the important thing here is that you are the cultivator of your experience, and when you can work through your feelings about yourself and your environment, you will notice that you attract good luck and opportunity. you have the power to consciously change how you approach the world around you through a smile, a little bit of faith, and a more positive attitude. second house - growing up, you lacked some form of security in your life. this could have been in the form of coming from a poorer background, or having a parent(s) that did not consistently care for you in some way. and because you were not valued by those in your early environment, you struggle to ascribe value to yourself. you may develop habits of holding onto things out of fear that you will never have them again. the lesson from this placement is to understand your own worth, and to know that you are entitled to a comfortable, happy, satisfying life. using this framework you will attract wealth and opportunity. third house - the hardest part about this placement is that you feel as though you are somehow "stupid" or your ideas aren't worthwhile. you could have struggled in your early school years for various reasons ranging from not understanding the material to being in an environment that refused to accommodate your needs. you rarely share your own ideas, and you fear being rejected, wrong, or made fun of by others. you must let go of this hesitation and remind yourself that you have valuable ideas to share with the world. you have the power to persuade, to motivate, and to invigorate. in fact, once you stop second-guessing yourself, you will notice that your genius shines proudly. fourth house - your early childhood experiences were, and still are, challenging for you. you could have experienced hardship as a result of being treated poorly by your parents or even going through some trauma in the home, especially if saturn makes aspects to mars or pluto. you have fears stemming from your childhood that hold you back. what is going to be important for you is building a home for yourself that is safe, secure, and stable. in doing so, your chosen family will grow and provide you with the support you need to flourish. fifth house - you have artistic and creative talents, but it is possible that when you were younger, you received heavy messaging that these talents were in some way invaluable or unimportant. As a result, relaxation and self-expression on a creative level is severely restricted. you feel like you always have to justify the things you love. however, you are allowed to simply exist and enjoy things for their sake. once you allow yourself to be creative to the extent you are capable, you will find that it will bring opportunity and happiness to you. sixth house - i definitely get the sense that you have had to be responsible from a very young age, taking care of the chores around the house, watching over yourself, etc. perhaps your parents were particularly strict with you and imposed a lot of restrictions on your daily life. these lessons instilled within you have lead you to desire routine and organization, because you fear chaos. you also tend to put too much on yourself, leading to burnout and extreme stress. here you must unlearn any negative habits or routines you have created for yourself, including overworking yourself. in doing so, you will feel much more calm and collected, which will help you physically and mentally. seventh house - there is a lot of stress and anxiety that comes from long-term relationships. the biggest fear here is the fear that you will never find someone who can fully love and commit to you. though you have a lot to offer, you feel completely

inexperienced or as though you are nothing special. there can be a tendency to downplay your own gifts and strengths. as a result, you feel very lonely in your early life and may be distrustful of love. you are afraid of opening yourself up to rejection and pain, so you avoid forming strong attachments or giving too much of yourself. having faith in yourself and what you have to offer, as well as being confident, will attract people who have an abundance of love and affection to give to you. eighth house - this placement can be heavily indicative of one or more life-changing, traumatic experiences, namely when pluto is involved. this experience has transformed you in some major way, likely inducing a fear of change or the unknown within you. you hold on to these memories and this pain in your heart, which stunts your growth as a person. the second half of the healing must be a conscious act by you, wherein you decide that you have what it takes to continue surviving. there is definitely a need for complete rebirth here. once you have come out on the other side, the magic of life itself will be revealed to yourself. you will become resilient in ways you could never imagine, and you will have the strength to overcome anything. ninth house - i have the feeling that your early life was extremely narrow and did not allow you to explore the world around you properly. perhaps your parents were extremely overprotective of you, or overbearing in sharing their opinions with you, and this was a very suffocating feeling. your own opinions and ideas were not welcome by the people in your life, and often they were even shut down. so you must start anew with your independence. remain open and take time to immerse yourself in anything you can, especially ideas radically different from your own. by opening your mind, jupiter will reward you with a wealth of knowledge and experience from which you can draw. tenth house - early on in your life, ideas of what it means to be successful, accomplished, and a productive member of society were heavily pushed on you by the people in your life. you almost feel as though you aren't meant to have agency in your own future, because you are trying to do what you are "supposed" to do. your parents could have been a bit overbearing in trying to prepare you for the future. trusting yourself and forming your own ideas of success and fulfillment will lead to you experiencing much more opportunity within your career. you must overcome a fear of failure here. eleventh house - on a deep level, you feel completely alone in the world. you feel as though it is impossible for anyone to truly understand you, or that they would even want to try. you are a deeply lonely person at times. i could see this placement as indicating that you were a social outcast or somehow distanced from others in your youth, leading to you believing there is something fundamentally wrong with you that prevents you from forming meaningful relationships. you doubt yourself, thinking, am i boring? am i too plain? am i unlikeable? here, you must cast these thoughts away and put forth effort anyways. twelfth house - the biggest struggle with this is that you feel unable to let go of the past and to forgive yourself. the biggest obstacle here is yourself. you have these feelings like you have done too much bad, or something you have done in the past is irredeemable. you may find that, in times of particular stress, you have nightmares or trouble sleeping. the twelfth house challenges you to let go of all of these things, to forgive yourself. you have to look at your pain and grief and allow yourself to feel it, then to let it go. in some way, you have to completely allow yourself to dissolve. after you do these things, you will find that your life as a whole improves, and you can handle anything much better.

some notes as well:

the closer to conjunction the two are, the more intensely this is felt by the native

if they aspect the sun, moon, or angles, these lessons will come up in the individual's day-to-day life

if jupiter is closer to the beginning of the house, it can lessen the impact of saturn

[sokkastyles]

hi :) u up 2 talk about Azula? i wonder what kind of help she could get. what do u think? also - names to mental stuf in a pre-dx world?

Hi! Happy V Day <3

First of all, I've said before that I don't like diagnosing fictional characters with mental illnesses at the best of times. In a pre-DSM world, it's almost impossible. I've also said before that I don't consider Azula to be mentally ill, especially not in the series proper (the comics don't exist, shhh.) Unless you mean in the sense of having CPTSD due to prolonged abuse, but like, Zuko has that, too.

One main difference between Zuko and Azula is that Zuko actually recognized that he needed help. Even when he didn't know it himself. Everything he did was a cry for help, even (especially) when he was like NO I DEFINITELY DO NOT NEED TO CALM DOWN WHY WOULD YOU SUGGEST THAT I AM PERFECTLY FINE!!!!!

That's the whole thing about Zuko's speech where he talks about Azula being "born lucky" versus his "lucky to be born." I love that speech so much, as you can probably tell if you have been following my blog because I talk about it all the time. If you've been with me on my personal you probably know that speech was the moment I started to love Zuko as a character. And people who talk about Azula and Zuko's relationship talk about that line a lot, but rarely focus on what Zuko says after:

I don't need luck, though. I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am.

This is the thing. This is what makes Zuko redeemable. The way Dante Basco delivers these lines is so good. There's a lot of false bravado, but also a lot of pain. Building an identity around having to constantly struggle caused Zuko a lot of pain but it also prevented him from falling into the mindset Azula was in, and ultimately the lessons he learned about picking himself up helped him to rebuild himself in the end and become a better person. Azula built her identity around being "born lucky" so that was always something she had to maintain, and the idea that she was superior by nature was fed by her father and her country's violent fascist ideologies. We do see that she struggles to maintain this mask of perfection even from the moment she is introduced to us, but what she doesn't ever do is admit that she struggles to maintain it.

That attitude is also seen in her speech to Long Feng about being a born leader. To her, it's a zero sum game; if she isn't born to win, then she loses.

I think help for Azula would need to involve first and foremost admitting that she needed help, and she really isn't in that place until she hits rock bottom. And she is in that place by the end of the series, but not before.

Think about all the steps Zuko had to go through to get redemption. Leaving the Fire Nation, humbling himself to the gaang, admitting that he'd lost his firebending. Can you imagine Azula doing any of those things? Zuko jokes about how Azula would just threaten them, which actually she wouldn't, she would manipulate, but anyway, the point is that she could never sincerely bring herself to that point because she has to WANT to do that, and more importantly she never learned how to. Zuko is able to humble himself enough to change partly because of being forcibly humbled throughout his life. Zuko knows what it feels like to hit rock bottom, and thus learned how to build himself up again, even if it took him a while to do it right.

Now, I'm also not saying that redemption necessitates suffering. That was also something Zuko internalized that was an obstacle for him to overcome, but it was because he learned how to grow from suffering that he was able to build himself back up. Azula has definitely suffered, but I don't think she would have considered any of the crap Ozai put her through as hurting her (even though it did) because she also believed the lie about her own superiority. That's why she built a fake wall around herself and who she was. Zuko talks about who he is; Azula says that she's a monster. Azula has no real idea who she is. That's what she needs to find out in order to get help, and she has to want it.

If it weren't for Aang and co., though, Azula would have still considered herself lucky. That's another difference between her and Zuko. Zuko would have denied that he was hurting like he did in the beginning of the series, but he would still know that he was. I don't think Azula even knows that she was hurt. At the end of the series, to her, the source of her suffering is something she blames on everyone else except 1) Ozai, and 2) her own toxic worldview. Remember when Zuko also had to admit that he was angry at himself? Azula would need to do something similar. Not to sound trite, but the first step to getting help is admitting that you have a problem, and as hard as that was for Zuko, it would be even harder for Azula because she was fed her whole life on a steady diet of her own superiority.

[laceymorganwrites]

you already simp for him so do whatever you want with this statement:

Hisoka waking you up at 3am

Word count: 1,670

Warnings: smut, swearing

A/N: I wanted to write reader just domming the shit out of him but halfway through insecurities hit and I was like: I give up

Being in a relationship with Hisoka Morow was exhausting in every single way.

He had mood swings, not that that was a bad thing, not at all, after all they were never as bad as that you couldn´t handle them.

Of course time was a big factor as well, with his line of work he´d just disappear randomly, sometimes for months only to show up again like nothing ever happened.

Sure, you knew that from the start but you were just human, it was only natural to feel sad and disappointed from time to time because of it.

He always made up for the lost time when he was there though, he always made sure to spend a lot of time with you before he had to leave again.

Still, this time it´s been four months without him. It was rough.

You couldn´t really sleep that well and distracting yourself only got you so far…

This night was just like any other, going to bed alone, being unable to fall asleep, when you finally did it was restless.

Of course Hisoka had to wake you up in the five minutes of peaceful sleep you got. “Did you miss me?” he grinned when he sensed your nen, it was so immaculate, he loved the sensations he got from just it alone.

“Why the fuck did you wake me?” you growled, not even bothering to turn around and look at him, he should know how pissed you were at him right now.

“I´m horny, babe… it´s been so long” he whined, a suppressed moan slipping from his lips as he started rubbing himself against you.

“And why the fuck should that be my problem? Just take care of it yourself” you tightly hugged your blanket and turned away from him in hopes of catching at least a bit more sleep.

“It´s your duty as my girlfriend, it´s been way too long”

But he still wouldn´t give up, Hisoka really was insufferable. Such a pain. The audacity made you turn around again just to glare at him.

“My duty? I don´t have to do shit, just let me fucking sleep” you growled, gritting your teeth, if looks could kill… though you both knew that´d just get him off even more. “Come on! We both know you can´t resist me~” he purred in your ear, trailing his fingers over your spine, a smirk decorating his lips.

“Fuck you, because of you I´m awake now” you hissed at him, abruptly sitting up in bed, arms crossed and looking mighty pissed. Just what he wanted. And you knew it. You hated how right he was about not being able to resist him. But you just couldn´t help it, he was such a brat. Who else was going to teach him a lesson?

“I´ll do everything to make up for it, my queen~”

You scoffed. Of course he was. Because he knew better than to disobey you in that state, to be honest Hisoka has never seen you go all out in a fight, he´s never once seen your full power. And that intrigued him, it made him so curious, leading him to testing all your limits. He was well aware how stupid that was but nobody did it quite like you.

Your whole relationship was like a fight to him, exciting. It never got boring, he wondered why himself all the time. After all everything else got boring to him, he liked to stir things up, not even being loyal to his friends.

But he was always loyal to you. Not because he had to but because he wanted to.

He wanted to be yours and you to be only his. There was nothing better he could ever imagine.

Oh and when you were pissed at him just like you were now, to a point where you just couldn´t control yourself, where your nen was so overpowering… he got excited just thinking about it.

Of course Hisoka could have returned earlier, in fact he could have made enough fuck time before you went to sleep. But that wouldn´t have been so rewarding.

Neither to him nor you, he thought. After all not only did he love nothing more than getting punished by you but he knew just how much you loved putting him in his place.

“You fucking better…. You know how shitty I sleep when you´re not there, next time you´ll let me sleep and wake me up in the morning” you grumbled before pulling him close for a rough kiss. You bit his bottom lip before gently tracing your tongue around your bite marks and then slowly making out with him, forcefully keeping the pace slow and gentle.

You made your anger known, now it was time for him to serve you, to make up for everything.

Hisoka moaned into the kiss shamelessly, trying his luck in grabbing your ass but you just flicked his hand away. He wasn´t allowed to touch you just yet.

You had to admit it was quite cute how impatient he was, you weren´t going to be too rough with him, it would be such a bother to get the ropes and leash, you just wanted to fuck and then sleep.

Too tired to think, working on just instincts and how much you indeed missed him, but you were just too stubborn to admit it, especially now. Why would you give him the satisfaction he wanted to hear when he was the one who woke you up so rudely?

Still, before you knew it your hand was angrily pulling at Hisoka´s shirt. He grinned at you before he quickly discarded it, his lips on yours again before you could admire his toned body.

You didn´t care, you could look at it later, screw order and doing things patiently, you have been patient long enough.

Your hands raked through his hair, pulling and tugging at it roughly, making him moan even more, your tongues playing with each other, rougher than it needed to be, but who needed air anyway?

Hisoka slowly put his hands under your shirt as well, rubbing his thumbs over your hardened nipples and massaging the sweet flesh of your tits.

You sighed contently, pushing him away again to quickly discard your clothes as well, now being fully displayed for him. At the same time Hisoka also took off his pants, now hovering above you, a sly grin on his face.

You both knew you were too impatient to punish him properly tonight, but you both also knew that now wasn´t the time for roles, it wasn´t about who would dom who, who would sub, who would be obedient and what a brat needed to be tamed.

No, none of that mattered now, all that mattered was the sex itself. The pure and utter ecstasy and lust you both built up over the course of the last four months. It was hell. And finally you could relieve yourselves.

Hisoka´s hair long since fell in your face as his hands wandered down to your hips, your leg was hooked around his waist as you just pushed yourself closer and closer to him.

Oh, how you missed your skin touching his… this familiar warmth, his body was like a map only you could follow, after all you were the one that drew it, the one who knew every little secret spot and what he liked the most.

Hisoka was your proudest work yet.

His lips moved to your neck as one of his fingers easily slipped into your wet cunt, moving immediately. You made him more space on your neck, his teeth grazing over your skin, his hot breath against your throat and your hitched breath.

It didn´t take long until Hisoka could enter a second finger, moving them deeper inside, curling them just the right way to make sure to hit your spot, the pad of his thumb was rubbing circles on your clit.

Your whimpers didn´t only grow louder but also more impatient as you squeezed your leg tighter against him, feeling his hard cock against your inner thigh. Your eyes were hazily looking up at him with a hunger that only he could instill in you.

“Stop teasing me already” you whined, pulling him down towards you, resting your hands on his chest and digging your nails in.

Hisoka moaned obscenely and immediately slipped his fingers out of you, sucking them dry himself, he grinned at you, his teeth still glistening with your juices.

“My, my, how impatient you are… not that I can blame you though, I´ve been waiting for so long to finally be inside you again” he husked, grazing his teeth along your neck, you could just feel the excitement radiating from him.

You laid back a bit, spreading your legs for him already. At this point both of you were starving, you just needed to be one right now in this moment, the other stuff could wait.

It didn´t take long for Hisoka to capture your lips again, his hands holding up your legs as he slowly inserted his cock, starting to move immediately. His moans were loud as he cried out your name, why would he hold back when you felt like heaven?

You clung onto him, hooking your legs and arms around him as good as you could, letting him ravish you and relishing in the feeling yourself.

This.

You missed this so much, all those things you wanted to tell him, those emotions that built up over the months, none of that mattered, none of that needed to be said in words. Sex was your form of expressing it and for him it was the same.

Hisoka wouldn´t shut up during sex, curses would fall from his lips like air and he wouldn´t stop praising you. That´s how you knew he was close, he could tell you were too by the way you clamped down on him, tightening up for him just right.

Fuck, how did he miss you!

[wri0thesley]

A Well Rounded Education (1): First Day of School (Introduction, 1.2k)

You are a teacher’s aid to teacher Gojo Satoru, training to be able to take over your own class next year by shadowing and helping him out. Gojo does not make things easy for anybody.

Introduction - SFW, no warnings, no pairings. AFAB reader, fem pronouns.

(a well rounded education m.list and navigation)

There are lots of things you love about your job. You love the kids; you love watching their eyes light up when some answer to a problem reveals itself, when they find out that they’ve gotten a higher grade on the surprise test than they were expecting, when they sit up straighter, fair bursting with pride at a compliment. This is a tricky age for them, you think; you don’t really look back on your own junior high experiences with fondness. They’re going through a lot – even without the extra pile on of schoolwork! So you figure assisting them in class and helping with the academic side of things is the least you can do, if you can’t soothe the aches and worries of puberty and growing up and properly finding yourself.

Well, you can’t soothe it any more than occasionally giving them a sympathetic smile and saying; ‘yes, I remember how it was for me. It just seems to get harder, huh?’. You can’t soothe it any more than doing your best to exist, and show them all that sometimes adults end up just fine.

Not every adult ends up like their class teacher.

It’s not that you don’t like Satoru Gojo. It’s just that, for all of your time when you were training to be a teacher, you’d never met another one quite like him. It stands to reason – just your luck – that whilst you were completing the mandatory year of working as a teacher’s aid before you could qualify to have your own class proper, you’d end up underneath a guy like that.

He doesn’t do anything the way that you were taught to do it in classes. You always knew that it would be different when you actually got in a classroom – but you didn’t realise it would be this different! He doesn’t follow any approved syllabuses that you can work out (you have a copy of the one he’s supposed to be following, given to you by him on the first day you’d been assigned his class. He’d shrugged as he’d given you it. “Can’t see what use it’ll be,” he’d said, all cheerfulness, “but I’m supposed to let you have it anyway.”). His quizzes come at random times, his ideas for lessons just seeming to come to him in flashes of inspiration so you never know what you’re going to end up doing on a day to day basis. Somehow, still, though, he’s working here and getting good results from almost all of the students.

Nobody else seems to like him! They all roll their eyes when they see him in the staffroom, eating some kind of sugary treat that he brought from home. You know the dark sunglasses he wears all of the time are against your dress code (you’d pored over that, too, not wanting to make a bad impression). But still, he’s there! You never even see him get into trouble!

His class seem to have a complicated relationship with him. There’s a grudging respect, you think – but there’s also a frustration that he’s so . . . whimsical. You suppose that’s why a certain cohort of the students you’ve been assigned to aid seem to prefer your help to his, waiting until he’s occupied doing something else to shoot you an agitated look across the room until you come to try and make sense of Gojo’s instructions for them.

There’s a certain kind of camaraderie, that in a way you’re all under Gojo’s tutelage and you’re all simply duty-bound to his unconventional fancies.

You have a couple of favourite students. You can’t help it! Some of them need your help more than others, some of them just seem to need to know someone is around for them. You’re fond of Megumi Fushigiro; a quiet, intense boy who is almost always top of the class but who hardly ever smiles. He stares at Gojo whilst the teacher attempts to explain the lesson, and then later on calls you over when he’s finished. You’re fond of Yuji Itadori; that boy does seem to adore Gojo, but he’s also the kind of puppy-dog pre-teen who likes anybody who gives him a smile. He’s all boundless energy and he always brightens up any room that he enters. You’re pretty fond of Mimiko and Nanako Suguru, two fashionable twins in your class who often giggle about Gojo behind their hands, although the two of them have been missing a lot of school this term. Somehow, this class has two sets of twin girls – Maki and Mai Zen’in are here as well, though the two of them are fiercely independent and do not require much interruption on your part. You rather admire their steadiness and self-possession – you certainly did not have that at twelve years old. And Yoshino Junpei, too, you try to help when you can – he’s a quiet, nervous presence in the back of the classroom, always shooting looks at the other boys and biting his lip as if he’s afraid they’re going to hurt him. You think that there’s something going on there, but you haven’t yet managed to earn his trust enough for him to tell you. You’re working on it! You have a whole school year to do that! For now, though, you merely try and keep an eye on him when he isn’t looking and try to make sure that nothing untoward happens during your lessons.

Yes. There are a lot of things you’re learning absolutely every day, about your job and about the career that you’ve chosen to go into. Some of those things are helped by Gojo’s presence as your mentor; the majority of them are hindered. When you complain one day, about how he always leaves his paperwork crumpled and half-finished, he raises one eyebrow at you and the corner of his lip raises in a smirk that seems to say he’s three steps ahead of you.

“It’d be much too easy for you if I did everything perfectly, right?” He says, all annoying sparkle. There’s a charisma about him that’s hard to deny. “I’m just trying to make sure you’re prepared for anything this great profession throws at you!”

From Gojo – or rather, because of Gojo’s almost negligent approach to teaching – you learn to deal with things like kids who don’t do their homework, the bureaucratic paperwork that schools seem to be snowed under with, the look of disappointment when one of your favourite students seems to become possessed by a demon for a few weeks and is all back-chat and sulking, the painful emotions that students who suffer things like bereavements and ill parents go through (Even Gojo knows he is not quite tactful enough for those ones).

One thing that Gojo does not help with, though, is teaching you how to handle the parents and guardians of the students. He leaves you to do that one on your own, when he can’t be bothered to deal with people getting angry at him for suspending their darling students or doling out punishments or not grading them highly enough--

After a few meetings with said parents, guardians, and figures of authority in the lives of your students, though . . . you begin to wonder if maybe Gojo leaving them to you was a good thing.