#apartment investing mentor

[cherifmadwar]

https://www.cherifmedawar.com/

[rahuratna]

Suited up

More fatherly goodness from the gentleman sorcerer, Nanami Kento. This time, featuring Ino!

Ino was excited. Not in the usual sense, when he had a mission with Nanami lined up. Today was different. Today would be the day he nailed that sweet, sweet grade one sorcerer recommendation from his mentor, the sorcerer he admired the most.

Ino had been watching, you see. He couldn't do without his own signature ski mask, as that was completely necessary for the functioning of his unique cursed technique. There were other things he had taken note of, however, that might be worth a change.

For starters, the suit. No matter where the mission, whether in the sparkling heart of Tokyo or in the depths of the most squalid sewer, Nanami would always appear in his impeccable and tasteful suit. Tailored to perfection, sitting perfectly at the wrist and ankles, comfort and flexibility reserved at no expense to the clean, fitted outline on the powerful frame they enclosed, Nanami's suits were a thing of beauty.

Then, the handkerchief. Nanami never went without. There was always a clean square of linen, folded in a perfect square, in one of his pockets. Nanami had used his handkerchief to help Ino mop blood off his face once, and, although the cloth had been ruined, Ino knew that the threadcount on that little square made it more valuable than the entirety of his baggy shirt and trousers.

Of course, there were the shoes. Nanami's sturdy leather brogues, hand sewn and always polished to high shine, saw a lot of wear. Of course they would, considering the speed and power of the sorcerer who wore them. But no matter how soiled and worn they were by the end of the mission, the care invested in their restoration was evident. Nanami would show up the next day with his shoes back in such good condition you could see your reflection in them.

Then, there was the way he wore his tie, the way he combed his hair, the coveted wristwatch. But there would be time enough to speculate on those things later. For now, Ino would be satisfied to see Nanami's reaction to his own get up.

The mission was straightforward. They had been assigned to clear out an old warehouse on the docks near the harbour. A curse infestation had been reported in the area, probably triggered by the recent wage protests the dock workers had engaged in due to cutbacks. Of course, Ino's affinity for crowd control would come in handy, and so, he had been dispatched with Nanami as a two-man team.

As he stood on the sidewalk not far from his apartment, Ino shifted from one foot to the other, still growing accustomed to the outfit he had on. As a grade two sorcerer, he earned a fair salary. He'd saved up for a month or two to splurge out on these clothes.

He had invested in a good tailor and had a dark grey suit made to fit. He wore a black polo shirt beneath and the best leather belt he could find. His socks were polyester, but comfortable enough and wouldn't slip or bunch inside his new black leather shoes. Ino had neatly combed and parted his hair, using a high hold pomade that gave a shine he wasn't sure he liked. It would prevent his hair from going haywire when he had to use his ski mask, though. And he had a handkerchief, of course. Bought cheaply in a pack of five because he'd been in a rush, but who would be looking that closely, anyway?

A dark sedan pulled up to the kerb where he waited and Ino felt a clench of nervous anticipation in his stomach. Would Nanami approve of his new look? Had he gone overboard? Did he look like some kind of copycat freakshow now? Steeling himself, Ino opened the rear door and slid inside, sending a tense greeting to the experienced sorcerer who sat beside him.

Nanami greeted him back and then stopped short. Sweating slightly, Ino kept his gaze straight ahead as Nanami's eyes travelled from his perfectly combed hair down to his new shoes. Ino coughed slightly and fidgeted with his belt.

"So ... any ideas on how we should tackle the warehouse?"

Nanami regarded him in silence for a moment, before pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and tapping his fingers on his knee, as he sometimes did when he was thinking deeply about something.

"We'll approach as we usually do. I'll go in and guage the strength of the spirits before making a tactical retreat. We perform a second sweep, with you flanking me. Then we use your targeted attacks to hone in on any remaining curses that may be concealing themselves."

"Got it."

There was a short spell of silence.

"That's a fine suit you have on."

"You think so?"

Ino released a breath he had been holding, elation swelling in his chest.

"It is." Nanami paused. "Having said that, there are a few pointers I'd like to give you, as you've chosen to dress in this manner today."

"You will?"

Ino could barely contain his excitement now. Nanami nodded and folded his arms.

"Yes. For starters, have you worn those shoes before today?"

"Uh, no. Didn't want them to ... you know. Get all dusty and stuff before the mission."

"Place your feet against the seat in front of you right now and bend your toes."

"Huh?"

"Like this."

Nanami demonstrated, and Ino followed suit, slower due to his confusion.

"Leather always needs to be broken in. I've been wearing these shoes for close to a year now. And I alternate between pairs, so that I minimize wear and tear and allow the leather to rest, especially if I've been out in wet weather. If you go in as you are, the new leather will not have had time to take on the shape of your feet. You'll be in some discomfort a few hours in."

"For real?"

Balancing in his seat, the younger sorcerer hurriedly began to rock his feet back and forth against the seat in front of him, wondering how he couldn't have noticed how stiff the leather was. He could thank his lucky stars that Nanami had forewarned him.

"There's more, Ino."

"There is?"

"That pomade you have on your hair ... it's going to form stiff peaks as you perspire inside the ski mask. Next time, opt for a softer styling wax."

"Ohhh, damn. I didn't know that."

Nanami now reached across and ran his fingers along the hem of Ino's jacket, then grabbed one of his sleeves and tugged.

"Oh dang, what is it?"

"I'd also advise you to lose the jacket when you go into combat. I ask my tailor to perform a specific type of stitching that allows for more freedom of movement. You're going to need to remove the jacket if you want to move freely and effectively."

Ino's bubble of excitement was rapidly deflating. He'd wanted so badly to impress Nanami today, but all he'd succeeded in doing was showing off his inexperience and making himself look like some kind of desperate wannabe. He cleared his throat and straightened his posture, giving Nanami his signature bright smile and thumbs up. He hoped that he had somehow concealed how embarrassed he was feeling.

"Thanks Nanami. I promise I won't let you down today!"

By the end of the day, Ino was feeling a lot less chipper. Scratch that, he was feeling downright miserable.

The mission had started off promisingly. They'd found the warehouse infested with cursed spirits, some of them rather powerful. After drawing the bulk of the spirits out into the open, Nanami had retreated as planned, so that Ino could use his Reiki to shield himself from attacks and move swiftly between the raging curses.

This was where Ino's problems had started.

Due to the huge amount of cursed energy he burned through, and the highly physical nature of his technique, Ino perspired a lot in combat. His baggy clothing normally allowed ample air circulation around his body, letting him cool down faster, but the polo shirt and the thicker material of his new trousers did no such thing. 

As sweat poured down to sting his eyes, Ino was hyper aware of how the soaking material clung uncomfortably to his chest and back, how his legs felt like they were encased in a damp, restricting vice.

The leather shoes had started out comfortable enough thanks to the stretching Nanami had had him perform, but even they lost elasticity over time. Sore red ridges had been rubbed into his ankles and the area around his toes felt as if it had been chafed raw.

To add insult to injury, a vat of putrid fluid, that had been lying stagnant for God knew how long, had been upended all over Ino by one of the cursed spirits, ruining any chance he'd had of salvaging some dignity and completely ruining his outfit. Somehow, Nanami had dodged the spray of fluid and darted towards the offending spirit, ending it with a deadly, but elegant stroke of his blade. 

Ino had given it his all, of course. He'd fought with every ounce of determination he possessed, and they'd eventually decimated the spirits that infested the warehouse. At great cost to his body and dignity, of course. His muscles were screaming because of the unnatural strain he'd put them through, and his shoulder throbbed where a spirit had grabbed him and damn near dislocated it.

By the time they left the warehouse, Nanami was striding along at his usual pace, suit spotless, collar open, cufflinks gleaming, hair stylishly dishevelled, while something that looked like a veritable swamp monster hobbled along at his side, emitting feeble groans now and then.

"Ino."

"Y - Yeah?"

"Take off those shoes now."

"But - "

"Do as I say."

The shoes came off with a very distinct and soggy noise. Undaunted, Nanami reached for them and scooped them up so that they hung from the fingers of one hand. He then went down on one knee, facing away from Ino.

"Get on."

" ... what?"

"Climb on. Your can't make it all the way to the car in this condition."

"But - but I'm filthy, Nanami! I'll get this smelly shit all over your clothes!"

"Don't worry about that. The dry cleaners I frequent are excellent and ... accustomed to my requests by now."

With a great deal of reluctance, the young sorcerer climbed onto his senior's back, head flopping forward in sudden exhaustion when Nanami lifted him in piggy-back fashion. They made their way back to where the car awaited them.

"Nanami?"

"Yes?"

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"How do you manage to look like ... you know. Like you can do anything you put your mind to. And why in a suit, of all things?"

The strong shoulders beneath Ino's chin jerked in a small huff of amusement.

"I'm not sure what you mean, but I suppose experience is the best teacher. I've been on my fair share of missions. I know what to expect and plan accordingly. As to why I wear a suit, well ... "

His voice trailed off, but Ino remained silent, aware that if he stayed like this he might probably hear something that would give him greater insight into the man he admired above all others.

"Hmm. I suppose, it was something I learned when I worked as a salaryman. In society, the clothes you wear define who you are. They speak to others of your personality, your preferences, the way you want to be perceived and your standing in a certain social setting. I chose my clothes so that I would blend in. I wanted ... an ordinary life. A life that would let me pursue ordinary goals and let me retire in comfort."

"But you came back. Back to being a sorcerer, I mean."

"It wasn't that I missed this life. It wasn't that I wanted to be a sorcerer either. But my talent for working efficiently, and working hard, was best put to good use in a manner where I could help others."

"But you still kept the suit?"

"Indeed. The suit reminds me of who I am, at heart. I've never wanted more than a regular life. I never will want more. If I have to exorcise spirits looking like I used to as a salaryman, then so be it. Let the spirits experience my effort, my work ethic, my real and very ordinary self."

There was a long silence, broken only by the sound of Nanami's footsteps on the damp paving stones that led to the car park. Ino gave a weak chuckle.

"Ordinary? You know, I think I can get behind that."

"You can?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty much a regular guy too. But you know, Nanami ... "

The younger man's voice trailed off, and for a moment, Nanami thought he had drifted off into an exhausted sleep. Then Ino spoke again.

"I don't think you give yourself enough credit. There's a reason I wanna be like you, more than other sorcerers. If being a run-of-the-mill guy means always choosing to put other people first, if it means choosing to do what you feel is right, and if it means ... that when you're gone, someday in the future, people will always remember the things you taught them and miss you like hell, then you wouldn't call yourself that ordinary, would you?"

Nanami was quiet for a long time after that.

Ino had never felt greater relief than when he was able to shower at Jujutsu Tech later that night, sling on a clean tracksuit and receive some treatment from Ieiri for his bruised and twisted shoulder. Feeling far more human, he made his way down to the foyer, wondering what he could have for a late-night snack.

To his surprise, Nanami was waiting for him.

"You're still here? I thought you'd have left already."

Namami held up a small bag.

"You left your jacket behind in the car."

"Ah." Ino scratched the back of his head. "Thanks. But I don't think I'll be wearing that again."

"Understandable. But, if you like, I can take you to my tailor to make some ... additions to your regular work clothes. You can still look your best, even while comfortable, you know."

Ino brightened considerably at this.

"Oh? I never thought of that."

"And I suppose you're hungry after the mission. We can go and get fried chicken and beer."

Whooping slightly, the younger sorcerer loped happily out the front doors, before stopping and glancing back at Nanami sheepishly.

"Uh, I'm kinda broke right now after splashing out on that suit ... "

"I'm paying."

"Now we're talking!"

[onlyjaeyun]

𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 – 𝟐𝟒

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑: 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞

⤥ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

⤥ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬!𝐀𝐔

⤥ 𝐰𝐜: 𝟗.𝟕𝐤

⤥ 𝐜𝐰: 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝟑𝐱, 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 (𝐟.𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠), 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡�� 𝐝𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲, 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭 (𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡), 𝐜𝐡𝟎𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 (𝟏) 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐞

⤥ 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: 𝐀 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐀 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤.

You can’t actually remember the last time an outing with your friends didn’t end with a visit to your apartment. No matter where or when, they somehow always find their way back to your home and since you and Riki had decided to move into the same apartment complex as your boys, your flat has become the ultimate hangout spot.

Usually Sunghoon’s the first one to say his farewells and leave, simply because he doesn’t want to spend too much time with you, but also because he’d rather have his best friends have a good time than enjoy it with them.

However, this night is different.

For some weird reason, a lot of things didn’t go the way they usually have and as his eyes almost anxiously roam the interior of your hallway, Sunghoon feels this weird sense of comfort hit his nerves.

He’s only been to your new apartment once ever since you moved in almost six months ago, and the reason for that was your brother’s constant nagging about his best friend and mentor needing to meet their new cats.

All those weeks ago, Sunghoon had refused to stay longer than an hour, despite his knowledge of the fact that you wouldn’t be home for a few more hours. Being in your home didn’t feel right. Not without you walking around in it.

Sunghoon lets out a deep sigh in hopes of getting rid of some of the tension in his muscles because he’s currently dealing with the consequences of his own decisions, yet the urge to turn around and just walk back to his own apartment becomes overwhelming.

Riki knows that no matter how much they hate each other, neither you or your archenemy would ever deny him any request, so when the young hockey prodigy had asked whether you and your best friend could join in on the night out, Sunghoon simply didn’t know how to say no.

So that’s how the young man found himself at a random barbecue restaurant, paying for not only his friends but your drinks as well, wondering if you finally feel better or not all while munching on something his friends had put on his plate.

Throughout the whole dinner, Sunghoon remained silent. There was just nothing he deemed important enough to bring up, so he sat back and listened to the rest of you.

With every single one of your giggles and smiles, the sight of your new set of nails and lashes, this heaviness on his chest had started to subdue and before he could even realise it, Sunghoon caught himself listening to one of your girls’ night stories and being genuinely invested.

Asking if you ended up beating that random girl up had started burning on the tip of his tongue but after he had unintentionally chuckled at a few of your jokes, Sunghoon forced himself to keep it down.

He still hates you. However, he’s not some weird empathy lacking monster the way you love to portray him as and even if a whole week had passed since the last time you had been together, Hoon just couldn’t get over the sight of your tears and sound of your sobs.

He hates how much he’s been thinking about your emotional wellbeing. Whatever’s going on between the two of you was supposed to be physical, a way to get rid of his tension and frustration, something to take his mind off of things; an easy way out of his daily routine, nothing else.

So why did it make him so..uncomfortable to see your tears and listen to your painful sobs? Why was he so stressed when you had refused to let him turn you onto your back and why did he feel genuinely upset when you told him to fuck off after he had gone out of his way to ask if you’re okay?

Sunghoon has yet to find the answer to all of these questions and after almost a week of forcing himself to forget about your existence, he’s now stuck in a situation he could have easily prevented if he only knew how to say no.

To his luck, you had made sure none of the boys stayed too long since you still had to pack for your flight the next day, making him feel relieved as he takes off his leather jacket, casually revealing his toned arms and letting out another soft sigh when he notices something tiny and dark in the corner of his eye.

As soon his gaze falls to the floor and meets the sight of one of your newly adopted little kittens, Sunghoon forgets about the chaos in his head for a few minutes and before he can scan his surroundings to make sure you’re not around, he scrounges down and holds his hand out with a big smile on his plump lips.

It takes you a full blown moment to process the current scenario unfolding right in front of you, as Kawa, the shier and more hesitant one of your twins casually nuzzles his tiny face against Sunghoon’s palm after giving it the shortest sniff you’ve ever seen him do.

For some reason you can’t help but be surprised because this is only the second time the kitten has been around the faux blonde, yet doesn’t seem to feel anywhere as scared or uncomfortable as he normally does around strangers.

You attentively watch Sunghoon petting Kawa, his little purrs echoing in your empty hallways as the other ones have made their way into the living room already, leaving the two of you alone.

And as your eyes slowly roam his veiny hands before they find their way to his strong arms, you actually catch yourself craving the feeling of his skin underneath your fingertips.

You hate admitting how much you want him to make you feel good again, despite the fact he hasn’t actually hit you up again since your mid-fuck mental breakdown and the fact you’re not even denying your hunger has definitely taken its toll on your ego.

You’ve tried your very best to ignore how much your lack of physical intimacy with Sunghoon these past few days, especially since you’re quite sure he won’t bother to hit you up ever again after witnessing such secondhand embarrassment.

No matter how much you despise him as a person, you can’t and won’t deny just how good of a lover he actually is. Sunghoon just knows exactly what to do and how to touch you to make you feel good and after getting so used to his touch, you’re definitely not too proud to admit how much you’ll think about how good he’s made you feel. None of your previous intimacy partners or boyfriends had ever managed to make you cum as effortlessly and easily as Park Sunghoon, of all people.

But at the end of the day you’ve accepted your fate and know there’s no point in grieving something you were never destined to have, maybe that’s why it felt as good as it did.

“Can I pick him up?”

The sudden sound of Sunghoon’s voice brutally pulls you back into reality and with jolts of embarrassment rushing through your system, you force yourself to look up at him and actually meet his gaze.

“Sure”, is the only thing you say before you finally make your way into the living room and get comfortable on the floor right in between your brother and your best friend.

It doesn’t take Sunghoon longer than a minute to follow you, his sudden presence in combination with your little kitten on his arm pulling the whole group’s attention on himself, allowing you to sneak a few more quick glances.

There’s just something about Park Sunghoon that makes your whole body heat up in the worst, yet most satisfying way possible. His strong, toned arms on full display because of his sleeveless shirt, a choice you’d usually question especially considering the current season and weather situation, but as someone who basically grew up on the ice rink, you’re not surprised about his immunity to the cold.

With a soft sigh your eyes slowly fall to his plump lips, his little fangs peeking out as soon as one of the boys make him laugh and before you can even realise it, Tsuki rams her elbow into your side and stares at you in disbelief.

“Did you just smile because he started laughing?”

Her words leave you completely speechless because yes, you actually did what she has just accused you of.

“It’s official”, you whisper and turn your whole body away from the young coach, “I’m losing my mind.”

“Over some dick? It can’t be that good, my love, be honest with me”, your best friend’s words are honest and true, yet also quite slurred as the three bottles of soju have finally spread in her system and therefore turning her into unhinged and very loud company.

To your luck all of the boys are too mesmerized by the kittens and too drunk to pay any attention to your little meltdown, except for Sunghoon.

He can’t explain it, yet whenever you’re staring at him, it’s like he can feel it in the pit of his stomach and as he watches the way you bury your face in your best friend’s neck as you both burst into a row of high pitched giggles, a mixture of annoyance and anger starts boiling in his blood when he realises how he actually doesn’t mind seeing you so happy and careless.

Without wasting any more time and energ on these new emotions, Sunghoon simply shifts his attention back to the boys and to his luck, he manages to engage in their random conversations rather quickly.

The following two hours are filled with little games and lots of laughter, silly jokes and rather interesting discussions, mostly between the triplets who have slowly started becoming more and more irritated as the lack of sleep caught up on them.

By the time you come back with your third glass of wine of the night, you’ve successfully put the younger boys to bed, making sure they’re firmly tucked in and even giving them all a forehead kiss knowing you probably won’t get the chance again for the next two weeks.

As you get comfortable next to Jaeyun, you’re sat right across from your favorite person (not) and the urge to stare at him has become absolutely unbearable. This time however, you’re adamant about blaming it on the little alcohol in your system. The way you’ve been doing every single time you’ve found yourself in a situation like this with him, of all people.

“Let’s play truth or dare”, Jongseong suddenly shout-whispers, his enthusiasm not matched as you all collectively decide to just shoot him a side glance and ignore his suggestion.

“You guys are so fucking lame”, he pouts and throws himself back on the couch before he jumps on his feet in the same second and goes to look for a bottle to spin.

For some reason none of you actually bother to protest when your best friend comes back with the very much needed item, casually placing it in the middle of your little coffee table and quickly spinning it.

“This is so boring, Jong”, Heeseung complains and pulls his girlfriend closer against his body, loving the new found freedom of being so openly affectionate agter having to be subtle about it for so long.

“Shut the fuck up”, Jaeyun suddenly says and sits up, his srm still firmly thrown over your shoulders as he pulls you with him and with a quick roll of your eyes you accept your fate yet again.

Despite your initial lack of enthusiasm, you all end up having much more fun that you could have expected as the boys casually force each other to admit some of their secrets.

To your luck, the bottle has yet to point in your dorection and as your friends become less hinged with their requests and questions, you can’t help but get a little anxious at the thought of the possible things they could request or ask about.

You’ve definitely noticed the burning gaze in your side this past hour but for your own sanity’s sake you’ve decided to just ignore him. There’s no point in getting worked up about something that won't happen and doesn’t matter anyway.

You don’t actually want Sunghoon, per se, you want to cum without having to do anything for it and since he’s been the only guy to achieve just that, you basically want that ability of his, not him as a person. And you definitely, absolutely do not want him to kiss you again because his lips and the feeling of his tongue exploring your mouth have never once left your mind for the past week.

“Y/N, babe”, Jong says and nudges your thigh with his knuckles, pulling you out of your forbidden daydream and as soon as your gaze meets his, he nods towards the bottle to let you know it’s actually your turn now.

“Truth or dare, pretty girl?” Heeseung chuckles and takes a sip from his bear, his hand firmly placed on your best friend’s thigh as he waits for your answer and with a soft sigh you mumble a quick ‘dare’, not ready to answer any intimate questions in the presence of your archenemy.

“Oh? We’re starting off strong, hm?” Jaeyun smirks, all three boys looking at each other with shit eating grins on their faces and that’s the exact moment you realise you fucked ul.

They’re going to make you do something awful and knowing them, they will get what they want, no matter what.

“I want you to sit on Sunghoon’s lap until the bottle points at you again”, Heeseung then says and starts laughing as soon as he watches both your and Sunghoon’s jaw hit the floor

“No fucking way”, the faux blonde is quick to protest, his hands balled into fist as he shifts uncomfortably in his seat and with your eyebrows arched in shock you simply shake your head.

“You have no speech right, Sir”, Jong spits back at his best friend, all eyes remaining on you and before you can stop yourself, you turn to look at Sunghoon, too overwhelmed by a request so bold.

“What if I don’t want to do it? Because I’d rather shit in my hands and start clapping for an hour, if I’m being honest”, you say and chug down the remaining wine in your glass, jolts of excitement and heat rushing through your veins and as soon as you give them their names, you furrow your brow in utter confusion. Why the fuck are you excited about the possibility of sitting in his lap?

“If you don’t want to do it you can also choose to tell us the reason behind your fall out ten years ago”, Jaeyun says and looks at you with raised eyebrows, all three boys knowing you’d never drop a bomb that big at such a random moment and before you can even overthink anything, you simply get on your feet and make your way to Sunghoon, who has yet to understand what the fuck is happening.

“You can’t be fucking serious”, he spits and looks up at you with flushed cheeks and bir swollen lips, a sight you’ve grown so used to because of the uncountable amount of hours he’s spent with his face buried between your legs.

“Stop being a whiny bitch and lean back”, you hiss and push him to lean against the back of your couch before you get yourself comfortable on his lap, purposely turning your back on him and skillfully ignoring the heat pooling in the deepest pits of your stomach.

“She actually fucking did it”, Jongseong says in utter shock, “you really don’t want us to know.”

“Go get fucked, Jay”, you say and raise your middle finger in the direction of the other two boys who have yet to stop staring at the weird sight of you so close to the one man you’ve avoided to even look at for years.

“I can’t lie, y’all actually are very visually pleasing together”, Heeseung comments and shoots you a cheeky smile, only for his girlfriend to slap his arm with a pout on her pretty lips.

“Stop teasing them, you’re being mean”, Tsuki scolds not only Seung but also the other two boys and before anyone can say anything else, you move your body forward to reach for the bottle.

It’s then that you take notice of the slight bulge underneath you and with your eyes slightly widened you quickly pull your bottom lip between your teeth and desperately try to hold back a whimper from escaping your throat.

The urge to just grind against him slowly becoming unbearable but luckily the boys don’t give you the opportunity to lose yourself in those urges ss they start cheering when the tip of the bottle points to Jongseong for the nth time within the past hour.

For the next few minutes, Sunghoon remains completely silent. Overwhelmed by feeling of your body so close against his and the warmth of your cunt so unbearably close to where he’s been needing you the most and if it wasn’t for his well established self control, he would have bent you over the coffee table and fucked your brains out twice already.

It doesn’t matter how much he denies it, because at the end of the day his own words have finally bitten him in the ass as he realizes that his body will forever betray him.

Because here he is in a room with his best friends, forcing himself to ignore his raging boner and the hypnotizing scent of your perfume in his nose.

Your constant squirming and accidental touches against his thighs just seem to make everything worse and when you obviously refuse to stop moving for no reason, Sunghoon subconsciously reaches for your thighs and makes sure you know not to fuck with him.

He’s unhinged and he doesn’t actually give enough fucks to keep what’s been going on between the two of you a secret and you know it: he will fuck you in front of your friends if you don’t stop playing with his patience.

“Fucking finally”, you suddenly say and jump off of his lap, the unexpected lack of skinship eliciting a deep grunt from his throat but to Hoon’s luck his best friends are already too wasted to notice.

“What a shame, you two looked so cute”, Jaeyun faux pouts and blows you both a kiss when you turn into a choir to tell him to shut the fuck up.

“Park Sunghoon”, Jay cooes and reaches for his best friend's chin, “truth or dare?”

Before he can actually process what’s currently going on, Hoon shoots back with a quick ‘truth’ followed by the feeling of instant regret.

“Tell us the real reason why you beat up Jaemin”, Jay says and chuckles, no realising the weight his question comes with and for a moment you find yourself staring at your best friend with furrowed brow and confusion written all over your face.

“What the fuck are you talking about, Jongseong?” Sunghoon presses through gritted teeth, his body so tense you can see every single one of his veins popping up underneath his fair skin.

His reaction just irritates you even more because there’s absolutely no way this can be true.

Why the fuck would Sunghoon, of all people, beat up your ex boyfriend?

You knew it had to be one of your boys and to your defense, you never gave it another thought, simply because you didn’t want to torture yourself.

“Oh fuck”, Jay suddenly says when he finally realizes what he’s just said, his eyes quickly meeting yours but after years of knowing each other, you’ve become a pro at reading your friends’ facial expression and the longer your gaze jumps from one boy to the other, the more you feel approved in your gut feeling.

Jay wasn’t lying or joking.

Sunghoon really did beat up Jaemin. With a bat. Not only did he beat him up, he actually broke several of his ribs and his wrist, all while making sure you received an actual apology and scaring the young analyst enough for him to not file a report against him.

“What the fuck is he talking about?”

This time, you don’t even bother looking for the answers in your best friends’ faces as your eyes meet the gaze of your archenemy.

A mixture of anger and annoyance gleaming in the brown of Sunghoon’s eyes, yet again giving you an answer without using any words.

“Stop looking at me like that, you stupid fuck”, you suddenly spit and get up from your spot on the floor, a weird mixture of anger and satisfaction filling your chest at the thought of finally knowing who got your revenge, but forcing yourself to focus on the actual person rather than his actions.

“Explain yourself. Right fucking now.”

“Get the fuck out of my face”, Sunghoon grunts and imitates your reaction, easily hovering over you and you hate how good he looks with his messy fringe falling into his flushed face.

Is he flustered?

“I don’t owe you shit”, he proceeds and attempts to move away from you and towards the door, but you’re definitely not going to let him run away the way he loves to when it comes to taking responsibility for his actions.

It just doesn’t make sense as to why he, of all people, would go out of his way to do something..for you?

“Don’t you dare to fuck off right now”, you say and look up at him with glossy eyes, furrowed brows and your pretty lips pressed into a thin line, the sight so tempting, Sunghoon has to physically hold himself back from actually kissing you again.

He hates you. He doesn’t give a fuck about you or the things you want. All he wants is to finally bury his face in your cunt again, that’s it.

Sunghoon doesn’t owe you or in fact, nobody an explanation and he won't give in just because of his best friend’s big mouth.

At this point Hoon’s skillyfully ignoring the fact that he actually doesn't know why he did what he did but he’s aware that there might be more behind his casual urge to put people into their place. But there’s no way he’s going to give you the satisfaction of hearing him say those thoughts out loud.

“Back the fuck off, Snowflake”, Sunghoon says firmly and that’s when you realise just how close you are to him, the tension thick and heavy in the silence lingering in your living room.

You can feel the boys’ and tsuki’s gazes boring into your side, but for the first time in over a decade, you’re determined to keep your attention on nobody but Park Sunghoon.

“Just once”, you suddenly say, reminding him of the words he had said to you on Jaeyun’s birthday, unsure whether or not he’ll actually be decent enough to give you the answers you’re demanding, “be fucking honest with me for once. Did you beat up Jaemin?”

When the roles were reversed, Sunghoon had wondered how easy it was for him to convince you to speak up but as his eyes nervously roam your soft features, he physically can’t stop himself from nodding in response to your question; pushing himself into your position from a few weeks ago.

“What the fuck?”

Your voice is laced in genuine confusion but the gentle gleam of satisfaction and excitement in your eyes claim the opposite.

When Sunghoon had listened in on his friends’ conversation about your ex boyfriend and the things he’s apparently texted you, he somehow felt the urge to just give him a piece of his mind and before he could actually overthink it again, he found himself outside of Jaemin’s work building, patiently waiting for the young analyst to make his way home.

To his luck, he never actually recognized him, but Hoon had to make sure that gutless fucker kept his name out of this whole shitshow and focus on the task on hand. He never meant to go as hard as he did but the more he thought about the things your ex-boyfriend had said to you, the angrier he became and after getting too invested, Sunghoon had decided to just take a step back because there’s absolutely no reason for him to be so mad and angry at Jaemin.

He doesn’t give a fuck about you, never has with any of your previous wannabe lovers and never will, but this time he let his instincts take over rather than his rational thinking. Sunghoon isn’t quite sure as to why exactly he did it but he knows for sure it wasn’t because of any emotional reaction.

“I did it because I wanted to, don’t read anything into this”, Hoon suddenly says and rolls his eyes at you, yet adamantly refuses to look into your eyes, “it’s been weeks now, so please don’t make a big deal about it.”

“A big deal – are you fucking mental? You beat up my boyfriend, broke his wrist and his ribs!”

Maybe it’s the sexual frustration or lack of satisfaction, but for some reason you physically can’t stop yourself from pushing Sunghoon’s buttons. Usually you don’t think too much about the things he says, just snap back and turn him off whenever he starts annoying you, but this time is different.

You want him to react to your words.

“He’s your ex-boyfriend, you stupid fuck and big news! I even used a hockey bat”, he suddenly spits back at you, the tip of his ears tinted in a deep shade of red as the anger you had aimed at starts spreading in his system.

There’s just something about Park Sunghoon and his anger which never fails to turn your panties into a soaked mess.

Tomorrow morning you’re definitely going to hate yourself for all these thoughts but right now the only thing you genuinely care about is how good Sunghoon looks with his brows furrowed and his plump

lips pressed into a thin line.

“Okay, guys, how about we talk about this when we’re all sober to make sure nothing happens”, Jaeyun suddenly says and it’s then that you realise just how long the two of you have just been staring at each other.

With a scoff you turn away, annoyed because of your body’s reaction, annoyed at the fact your friends knew about Sunghoon’s actions and confused because regardless of it all, you physically can’t get yourself to stop thinking about fucking him. The worst part about it being how your brain constantly creates the mental image of him underneath you, a position the two of you have vehemently refused to try simply because you’re not ready to give him the satisfaction it comes with.

You still remember how Hoon had asked you to ride him multiple times, only for you to refuse him every single time. There’s just something so intimate about having someone underneath you and from quite a few conversations with your best friends you know this might be a rather unique opinion, you’ve always waited until you actually felt wanted and desired by your partners until you had decided to give them the experience of giving their control to you.

After so many years and several sexual encounters, you’ve now found yourself in the dilemma of whether or not to just pull him to the side and tell him to meet you at his car later tonight or just drop the whole thing and not waste another minute thinking about it.

“I’m out”, Sunghoon suddenly hisses and shoots you a quick glance of distaste and annoyance, “see you guys around.”

“Yeah, fuck off, you coward”, you reply almost instinctively, receiving nothing but a middle finger in response and with your bottom lip firmly pulled between your teeth, you just turn around and basically run to the balcony in hopes of drowning your arousal in nicotine to finally get rid of it.

Once you’ve finally said your last farewells to the boys, Tsuki giving you a tight hug and a huge kiss on your forehead on her way out, you find yourself recklessly tossing and turning around in your bed.

Thoughts and mental images of Sunghoon, his moans, his words and his voice, his touches and the way he never fails to push you to the edge with just a few flicks of his tongue have basically engraved themselves into your brain and after finding out about his relation to the whole shitshow with your abusive ex boyfriend, you can’t help but feel the actual to show him your gratitude.

Never in a million years could you have prepared yourself for thoughts like this. You don’t even like the guy, so why the fuck would you ever bother making sure he knows you’re grateful for what he’s done. Especially when the reason for his decisions and actions probably has nothing but selfish intentions.

Every now and then you find yourself on his chat, contemplating whether or not to just text him but with all three boys soundly asleep down the hallway, you know he would never come up to actually see you.

On top of that, you’re pretty sure he’s firm on his decision to not get involved with you again, regardless of his body’s reaction to you just a few hours prior.

As the clock strikes three, you give up and decide to take matters into your own hands. After your little breakdown, you didn’t even hesitate to order yourself a new vibrator because you knew you’d be back to taking care of your little problems yourself, so with a soft sigh you reach into the bottom drawer of your nightstand and pull out the little silicone toy.

However, as if destiny had just waited for this particular moment, Sunghoon’s contact name suddenly pops up on your phone screen and with your brows furrowed in confusion, you pick up his call way too fast.

“Don’t even bother yapping”, he says calmly, his voice hoarse and raspy, “just get your ass to my place. Jaeyun went over to stay at Jay’s place because they wanted to play games. Don’t make me wait, Snowflake.”

Sunghoon doesn't give you the opportunity to reply as he hangs up and throws his phone to the other side of his bed, jumping up to make himself look presentable – a thought he has yet to accept but as he washes his face and actually brushes his teeth, he simply can’t get himself to actually care about it.

The past two hours felt agitating. After you’ve successfully managed to make him hard with just a single touch, he’s been trying everything in his book to just cum only to fail miserably every single time.

He’s always wondered why other guys struggled to make you cum, labeled it as a women problem and went on with his day because never in his life has he experienced something like this. The fact he’s only ever crossed the finish line with your pictures on his phone screen or the little voice note you had sent him a few weeks ago during one of your steamy texting sessions has slowly turned into his biggest nightmare.

He’s a fucking man, for god’s sake. There’s absolutely no reason why he should struggle as much as he does yet here he is, patiently waiting for you to actually take him up on his offer.

When he had finally made the decision to give you a call, Sunghoon wasn't sure if you were even going to pick up because even if you didn’t seem as bothered and angered by his actions as he had expected you to be, he couldn’t help but doubt his ability to read your body language.

However, you picked up his call and didn’t try to contact him afterwards, which is his only indication of a possible night with you.

The mere thought of your sweet juices coating his tongue have him reaching for something to stabilize himself; he hates how much he actually likes your little pussy but he’s never been one to discredit what makes him feel good.

As the minutes pass and feel like hours, Sunghoon can’t help but wonder if he actually misread your body language, a wave of shame and embarrassment quickly overwhelming him and as he realises that he’s literally waiting for you, he struggles to recognize himself.

To his luck, destiny and life have finally come together to save him from self hatred and the torture it comes with as a soft knock on his front door sends shivers of actual anticipation run doen his back.

Subghoon waits exactly half a minute before he swings the door open and finally lays his eyes on your pretty frame. The fact he doesn’t even worry about hiding how much he wants you as his gaze hungrily roams your body, makes your skin heat up and if it wasn’t for your lack of clothes, you would have probably started sweating.

For a moment, neither one of you dares to say a word. The tension is thick and heavy, even worse than a few hours ago because now it’s just the two of you and the unbearable lust that’s been driving you both into insanity.

Sunghoon attentively watches the way you nervously scratch your neck and your reaction to his presence makes it impossible for him to suppress the little smirk sneaking up on his lips.

“It’s only been a week, snowflake”, he suddenly snickers and steps to the side to let you in, the sight of you in his hallway something he’s more used to, feels more comfortable with since it’s rather common for you to be at his shared apartment with Jaeyun, yet this seems to feel different.

“Shut the fuck up”, you say and roll your eyes, you don’t even bother to look back if he’s following you as you make your way to his room, skillfully ignoring the heat pooling in between your legs at the thought of what’s about to happen.

Sunghoon doesn’t immediately respond, mostly because he’s too focused on the way you’re swaying your hips with every step, the tiny camisole you’re wearing is not enough fabric to cover anything and giving him exactly what he’s been daydreaming about for the past week.

However, the second he locks the door to his room, you feel his strong chest pressing into your back, the prominent bulge in his grey sweats firmly nuzzled against your ass as he pushes you against the wall.

“You’re always so quick to bite, Snowflake”, Hoon whispers into your ear and wraps his big hand around your delicate throat, tilting your head back to get a proper look at your pretty face, a sight he has yet to get used to so up close, “I guess it’s time I fuck that little bitch attitude out if you again, hm?”

A soft whimper escapes your throat in response to his other hand finding home between your legs, gently caressing your clothed cunt but still firmly enough to give your clit the relief it’s been craving for way too long.

Your brain is quick to shut off, something you’ve noticed about yourself ever since you’ve started to sleep with Sunghoon. Of all people in this world, your archenemy has turned out to be the only one to make you forget about everything that’s currently going on in your life.

Maybe that’s why you don’t really hesitate to move your hips against his touch or actually allow yourself to moan his name. No amount of hatred and anger you feel towards him will ever be enough to overpower the deep, flaming lust in the deepest pits of your soul.

“Look at you”, Sunghoon suddenly chuckles and pulls your soaked panties to the side, “all because you sat on my lap for a little. Really? Are you that pathetic, snowflake?” His voice is filled with mockery and faux empathy, something you should have gotten used to by now but every time Hoon talks to you, it’s like he’s singing lullabies.

All you can do is nod desperately. You’ve been too tense, too stressed and frustrated to fight back, and he knows it.

So without an ounce of hesitation, he pulls away and leaves you longing for his touch, desperately, shamelessly. “You fucking bitch”, you hiss and turn around to meet gis gaze, only for the sight of his exposed torso to leave you speechless.

“Oh, no”, Sunghoon cooes and shoots you a shit eating grin, “an I being a big ol’ meanie? Not giving you what you want, hm? Come on, Baby, show me what you’ve got, I don’t want you to hold back with me. Tell me how much you hate me.”

He’s provoking and just as usual he’s doing it way too easily, a reminder of just how much he actually triggers you.

The longer your eyes roam his face, the needier you become and you know it’s because you actually are as easy for him as he loves to claim in front of you, but in no universe are you ready to admit that to him.

“Stop wasting my fucking time, Cunty”, you spit back and approach him with little steps, coming to a halt only an inch away from his strong body, “I want to ride your face and then your cock. You have a minute or I’m gonna go home and fuck myself with my new toy, I really have no patience for your little games tonight.”

Maybe it’s the sound of your vice or your intoxicating scent, but regardless of the reasoning, Sunghoon needs a whole minute to actually process your words.

In the month the two of you have been fucking each other, you’ve always remained very stubborn about your decision when it comes to any type of riding and since he wasn’t going to push you to do something you don’t want, Sunghoon had just accepted your rules and went with it.

However, this doesn’t mean he’s ever stopped fantasizing about you on top of him, riding his cock, his thigh, his face – the mental image of getting the best view of your perfect body has been engraved into his brain in a way he simply can’t explain.

“Hold the fuck up”, he says, his thick brows furrowed in confusion, the prettiest shades of pink covering his cheeks all the way down to his throat, “you want to ride me?”

“You and your face”, you shrug and pretend like it’s the most normal thing of you to ask, when in reality you’re about to lose your mind just thinking about it.

“Stop being so fucking casual about it”, Sunghoon grunts and gently but firmly grabs your face to pull you closer against his body, “the last time you let me do something you had refused to do before you broke down.”

The second you understand the night he’s referring to, you feel shivers run down your spine and with your bottom lip firmly tugged between your teeth, you look up at him.

You expect to be met with an expression of annoyance and indifference, only to realise Sunghoon seems genuinely concerned. You’re familiar with this particular softness in his eyes since you’ve seen it whenever any of your mutual best friends are talking to him, yet he actually hasn’t looked at you like this in over a decade.

“Look, I’m not trying to throw this into your face but that shit actually scared me”, I don’t want you to know how much it worried me, “so, just speak the fuck up for once and tell me what you actually want me to do”, so I never have to see you like that again.

For a short moment, you genuinely consider telling Sunghoon the truth behind your behavior but before you can go too deep, you remember all the times you gave him the benefit of the doubt.

So, with a soft sigh you wrap your fingers around his delicate wrist and never once shift your gaze from his as you speak: “I want to ride your face and I want it now.”

The internal battle of his emotions leave him in a state of confusion because no matter how badly he wants to do exactly what you’ve just asked for, he simply can’t shake off this weird feeling in his gut.

“That night I wanted to feel used so I let you hit it from the back”, you admit quietly, not quite sure why you’ve suddenly decided to change your mind but now it’s too late anyway, so why worry too much about it, right?

“But why?”

Are you guys really having a civil conversation about your feelings right before you’re about to ride his face or is all of this just one of his very vivid dreams about you?

“Because of the whole situation with Fuma and my brother”, you reply, still not really confident about the reason behind your unexpected urge to be brutally honest with Sunghoon, of all people.

However, the following reaction is definitely not what you’ve expected; though you’re generally not really sure what exactly you had expected of him in the first place.

Sunghoon lets out a loud scoff before he guides you to the edge of his bed, the side directly across his big wall mirror, just to drop to his knees and make sure you have no time to protest.

“That was a whole fucking shitshow”, he grunts and hooks his thumb underneath the band of your panties, quickly pulling them down your legs and spreading them apart to reveal your drenched cunt to his hungry eyes, “and you shouldn’t waste another minute thinking about it.”

You’re…confused.

What the fuck is he trying to do?

“Desperate virgins like that little fucker love to shoot against women who are confident in their sexuality because they know they could never, ever handle it”, Sunghoon says against the warm skin of your inner thighs, the feeling of his hot breath fanning against your sensitive cunt sending shivers down body and before you can actually understand what’s going on, you find yourself entering the familiar comfort of pleasure only he’s been able to provide you with.

“The only reason why I – or anybody gets to touch you is because you want it. Don’t let nobodies like that bitch take this away from you”, Hoon is confident as he flattens his tongue and licks a stripe over the length of your soaking wet cunt, humming softly when your sweet juices finally coat his taste buds again, “grow a fucking spine and stand behind the things you want for once in your life, Snowflake.”

This time you can actually hear the slight anger in his deep voice but of course Sunghoon isn’t going to give you the opportunity to respond and just as expected your words die in your throat as he wraps those pretty lips around your sensitive clit and starts sucking the nub into his mouth.

Every single time you let him go down on you, Hoon makes it seem like he’s basically on the verge of starvation. Loud slurping, obnoxious sucking and a row of deep grunts and moans the only noises to fill your ears as you tone out your own whimpers.

It doesn’t take much for your brain to fog up, the skillful flicks of his tongue casually push you deeper and deeper into the sensual haze of your pleasure.

“Don’t fuck with me”, Hoon suddenly grunts and pulls away but makes sure to rub gentle circles into your needy clit to keep you on the edge, “keep your eyes on your reflection. I want you to see what you’re letting me do to you.”

It’s then that you realized he’s probably been talking to you for who knows how long, yet you were way too busy losing yourself in the sweetness of your upcoming relief.

Hoon doesn’t wait for your answer because he knows you’re going to obey to his demand; too fucked out and close to protest.

Every now and then he manages to shift his focus away from the sweetest cunt he’s ever tasted to make sure your eyes remain on your reflection and when you struggled to keep it up at first, Sunghoon is quick to notice the shift in your expression when you seem to understand his intention.

And as he continues to thrust his tongue inside of your tightening hole, you can’t get yourself to look away, the image of your legs firmly dangling over his shoulders, face buried in your pussy and nothing but lust and arousal lingering in your body’s reactions, you actually feel all of those doubts and concerns about your own sexuality vanishing.

This isn’t about him using you. No matter how much Sunghoon eats pussy for his own pleasure, at the end of the night you’re the one who receives the satisfaction because you want it.

This particular epiphany in combination with Sunghoon’s tongue greedily lapping up every single drop of your juices has your head spinning. For the first time in your life you’re actually and genuinely aware who you’re doing this for and you feel a wave of anger wash over you when you remember who, of all people, happens to be the one to push you into this whole thought process.

“There we go”, Sunghoon suddenly chuckles when he pulls away just enough to breathe but still close enough to inhale the intoxicating scent of your ruined pussy, “was that so difficult, Snowflake? Now come on, show me what only I can do to you and cum for me. I wanna see how much you hate me, don’t disappoint me now.”

“No”, you suddenly whimper, your hand finally finding home in his thick hair as you pull on the strands to make him look at you and yet again the sight of Sunghoon with his flushed cheeks, hooded eyes and swollen lips overwhelms you all over again no matter how many times you’ve seen him like this already. The way not only the soft flesh of his lips but als the tip of his nose and the entirety of his chin are coated in your juices remind you of how he’s never, ever exaggerated about his love for oral sex.

“I wanna cum on your cock”, you whisper and brush his bottom lip with your thumb, mesmerized by just how pretty he looks when he’s quiet and ready to do whatever it takes to pleasure you, “and I want you to watch me ride you.”

“Oh? Think you’re smart when you use my own tricks on me?”, he chuckles lazily, his tongue darts out one last time to clean up the mess he’s made before he comes to stand right in between your legs, his own arousal evident in the form of a wet patch on the light fabric of his sweats.

You don’t hesitate to reach for his bulge, loving the way he gently thrusts himself into your fist and as soon as you look up at him with those glossy, needy eyes, Sunghoon knows what you’re thinking.

“Not now, little one”, he grunts and grazes your bottom lip with his thumb before he pushes the digit into your mouth, a soft hiss escaping his throat in response to the wet heat, “let me fuck this one out of my system and then I’m gonna let you choke on my cock for as long as my needy little whore wants, yeah?”

You don't even realize the agreeing movement of your head, too lost in the anticipation of being filled to the brim again but as soon as your ears recognize the gentle mockery in his voice, you bite down on his thumb with furrowed brows.

“Fuck you, Sunghoon”, you hiss and gasp when the only thing he does in response to your little brattiness is to firmly wrap his hand around your throat and pull you closer to his body.

“Oh, you’re about to, Snowflake”, he hisses and you can tell how tense he is just from the way his eyes are burning into yours, “now open that big mouth and stick your tongue out. I want you to cum with my taste on your tongue just how I’m gonna do with yours.”

Without an ounce of hesitation, you follow his instruction and before your brain can actually process it, the warm feeling of Sunghoon’s spit hitting the back of your tongue is the first thing to pull you back into reality.

It’s then that his patience has finally reached its limits and with a few swift motions Sunghoon is quick to take off not only his own sweats but also the flimsy little fabric you dare to call a pajama right after he’s made you straddle his lap.

“Condom”, you whisper against the warm skin of his neck when you desperately start humping his bare cock, your pussy basically accustomed to it after all the nights and even days, mornings you had spent with each other.

“Fuck, you’re right”, Sunghoon hisses annoyed and reaches for the drawer of his nightstand, when all of a sudden you reach for his arm and look up at him.

Now, you’ve definitely done questionable things these past few weeks, fucking your archenemy on a regular basis being one of the weirdest of them, yet for some reason you can’t seem to be having enough of testing your own limits.

You know nothing has changed between the two of you. At the end of the day you still hate him with the darkest and coldest parts of your heart and soul, confident it’s based on a mutual feeling of loathing and anger.

But at this point, after the things he’s just said and the things he’s made you do in the past few minutes, you can’t deny the slight shift in energy between the two of you.

But you’re rather doubtful that just that tiny shift is enough of a reason for you to actually make your next suggestion.

“I want you to raw me”, you breathe and never once shift your gaze away from his, “I’m on the pill and I haven’t fucked anyone besides you, I swear.”

Why would he ever trust you, though? Park Sunghoon has shown you countless times that he doesn't care about you or whatever you have to say, so why should that be different now?

“F-Fuck”, Sunghoon suddenly grunts and is now the one to bury his face in your tits, a nervous habit you’ve taken notice of throughout the past few times you two were intimate.

“Don’t fuck with me, you grumpy loser”, his voice is strained and filled with hesitation but he doesn’t even try to stop you from reaching between your bodies to grab ahold of his thick, throbbing cock, “I’m gonna ruin your life if you give me an STD.”

A soft but genuine chuckle escapes your lips as you shake your head and line the tip of his cock up with your soaking entrance, desperate to finally feel him inside of you.

“Wait, oh – my fucking God”, Sunghoon’s protest surprises you and with your head slightly tilted to the side you wait for him to look at you.

“Hm? What happened, ice prince? Cat got that little tongue of yours?”

“Shut the fuck up”, he bites back and digs his fingers further into the soft flesh of your waist, “I might not last as long because I – never actually fucked anyone without a condom before.”

His confession makes your cunt clench around the tip of his cock and before you can even think about suppressing it, a soft moan rolls off of your tongue, easing some of the heaviness on his chest he wasn’t quite aware of.

Sunghoon hates being vulnerable in general but with you, of all people, it feels like an actual punishment for all the morally gray things he’s done in his life.

“Let’s see just how fast I can make you cum then, hm? I need something to rub into your face after all, don’t I?”

Sunghoon’s brows furrow in response to your mocking comment, a wave of resentment overwhelming his senses but you don’t give him the chance to verbally respond as you slowly lower yourself onto his bare cock.

You attentively watch the way his usually so stoic and sharp features soften, his annoyingly perfect features contorting in pleasure as his eyes roll into the back of his head and his chin slowly falls just enough to leave his lips in the perfect ‘O’ shape.

To keep it short and simple, you’re mesmerized by this new visual and actually regret not opting for this position earlier.

Not only are you in full control but it also gives you the perfect view on him and watching Park Sunghoon, of all people, fall apart underneath you is something you never knew you needed as badly as you did until now.

“E-Easy”, he gasps and throws his head back, every single fiber in his body overwhelmed by the sensation of your hot walls embracing his sensitive cock like they were made for him and him only.

With every single inch, Sunghoon feels his head spinning a little faster, the blood busy rushing in his ears as he loses himself in a feeling so sweet, so good, so relieving, he’s determined to make this moment last forever.

However, you have other plans.

“So big”, you whisper and subconsciously nudge your nose against his, rolling your hips once you’ve finally taken the entirety of his length and feel the last few breaths getting stuck in your dry throat, “I think I’m gonna c-cum.”

“Don’t you fucking dare”, Sunghoon responds quickly because he knows he’s going to lose the last of his dignity if you tighten around him just a little more; he simply won’t last.

“Fuck off”, you shoot back and ignore his pathetic attempts of keeping your hips in place, only for you to move faster and harder on his cock, too needy and desperate to actually care about what he wants.

“N-No, please”, this time Hoon’s voice is laced in desperation, high pitched and breathy, “I don’t want this to end yet.”

What the actual fuck did he just say?

“It won’t”, you whisper against his lips and push your hand away from your hip to finally move the way you need to, skillfully riding him in a proper and steady rhythm, making sure the tip of his sensitive cock hits your sweetest spots with every single one of your movements, “if you beg how i like it I’ll let you fuck and fill me up all night, how does that sound, pretty face?”

Sunghoon knows you’re teasing him. he’s very well aware of the shit eating grin on your lips but he physically and mentally can’t get himself to give a fuck.

The only thing on his mind is how good your hot pussy feels and and badly he wants to stuff you to the brim with his cum. If getting what he wants means to endure some of your stupid comments, he’s more than just willing to take it.

“Fine, fuck”, he grunts and against your lips, “just shut the fuck up and cum with me.”

It’s then that Sunghoon has had enough of your little game as he starts thrusting into your form underneath and without getting the chance to somehow prepare yourself for it, you feel the coil in your lower stomach snap and the first waves of your orgasm drown you in the sweet feeling of relief and pleasure.

Your brain has finally called it quits, hence your body being the one to make the decisions and just when Sunghoon’s thrusts slowly become sloppier, less coordinated and steady, you take his pretty face into your hands and pull him into a needy kiss.

The second your lips meet his, he’s a goner. The taste of your saliva coats the muscle of his tongue at the same moment the constant clenching of your cunt becomes too much, pushing him over the edge.

You don’t even hesitate to swallow every single one of hsi deep grunts and soft whimpers, enjoying the feeling of his mouth sloppily exploring yours a little too much as Sunghoon cums inside of you with three thick spurts of cum, coating the walls of your sensitive cunt in several shades of white.

But he doesn’t stop kissing you. In fact, Sunghoon pulls your face even closer and chases your lips like a man gone mad, desperate and fucked out in a way he’s never, ever felt before.

The sound of your heavy breathing, sloppy kisses and gentle whimpers the only thing to fill Hoon’s room for the next few minutes, but neither one of you actually minds.

“What the fuck”, he breathes and throws himself back onto the bed, his hands caressing your bare thighs as he looks up to you.

“Give me a few minutes and then I’ll get you a towel and something proper to wear”, Sunghoon’s words surprise yet comfort you, the fear of him abandoning you without another word yet again lingering in the back of your mind.

“Or do you wanna take a shower with me? I would love to take you up on that blowjob offer from earlier.”

After almost three hours filled with orgasm after orgasm, moans and high pitched whimpers, way too many profanities and actual decent conversation, Sunghoon watches you leave his apartment with your camisole in your hand, his hoodie covering most of your body and your messy hair falling into your sleepy face.

And in that moment he can’t help but question his feelings for you because there’s no way the person he claims to hate so much is supposed to make him feel as good as you do.

← 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 — 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 — 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 →

(A/N: and here she is! the longest ive ever written for CH and ngl i’m actually a little proud. it’s deffo a little different to the previous smut chaps BUT i think still quite CH!hooyn! thank you guys so, so much for your patience and support, love and appreciation. i can’t even put into words how grateful i am. i love and appreciate you all so, so much. 🥺)

TAGLIST: @soonigiri @en-happiness @lhsvibez @dammit-jjk @heerinnie @primroselover @jungwon-xo @szkstay @lostwonderwall @hoonieluv @certifiedmoa @doodlelibrary @ikeuizm @kpoprhia @sleeping-demons @jongszn @imtoanonymousforyou @lalalovejay @ineedsomezzz @xrr-s4sha @ariadores @viagumi @electrobutterfly @mimikittysblog @blurryriki @heelcvr @wonkifangirl @joonzseoulmate @kwiwin @hoondiors @seuomo @zerasari @love-you-twice @aloverga @marz-mars @velvtcherie @niniissus @abrazosolorcereza @ddazed-lhs @acphengene @skz-streamer @kshoshi @tya0 @yizhoutv @jebetwo @myheelody @seokgyuu @blockbusterhee @luvkpopp @heeslut4life

[teardrop-scales]

Hi I have a request! How about a love potion one shot or head canon with lmk Wukong and fem (s/o)? Please and thank u 🙏🏻

Love potion: Sun Wukong x reader headcannons 🧪

A.N: I decided to do this in a headcannon format, but more story-driven one, and I actually changed your request a bit so Wukong and reader aren't a couple yet in this. Hope that's okay!

You were having a peaceful afternoon after your early morning shift at work when MK called you.

You were surprised at this; you knew he was supposed to be training with your friend/crush Wukong and usually that made him quite busy and unreachable. So you knew that something must've happened.

When you picked up the phone , it turned out that The Monkey King himself somehow accidentally drank a love potion that he had in his stash of artifacts and other useless things.

MK wasn't exactly sure how the potion worked; on the bottle it was only written that, thankfully, the effects last only for a day or so, and the poor kid couldn't exactly ask his mentor about it right now. Besides, you were sure that Wukong wouldn't know even in the right/normal state of mind.

According to MK, the monkey acted somewhat normal for a few minutes, until he saw you in the photo he had of you two stashed somewhere. Then the potion truly started to kick in. At least that's what you think happened, provided you understood MK's frantic explanation correctly.

And to summarize, the boy wanted you to take care of Wukong for a bit until the potion stopped working, since the monkey was apparently constantly bugging him about wanting to see you. You could even hear Monkey King gushing about you and cutting in through MK's phone "to say hi".

You kinda feared what it would be like. You just hoped he wouldn't be too overbearing and that you won't explode from flusteredness, given you had a crush on Monkey King and thanks to the potion, he was in love with YOU of all people.

But you knew that MK had to go to his afternoon shift at Pigsy's, and Wukong couldn't be left alone in this state, so of course you agreed.

So in a short amount of time MK was standing in front of your apartment door with the Monkey King behind him. The boy thanked you once again and then he was gone. Leaving you alone with your lovesick crush.

His eyes were much wider than normal, and there was a slight pink gleam in them. He also had a wide smile on his face, his tail swishing behind him. Basically all the signs that he was happy.

"Peaches, I'm so glad to see you!"

He exclaimed in a much more higher pitched and cheerful voice than normally before crushing you in a hug.

"Yeah, good to see you too, Wukong" You replied and awkwardly reciprocated the hug, while Sun buried his face in the crook of your neck and inhaled your scent.

Overall Wukong was much more cheerful, talkative and emotional than normal under the effect of the potion.

After the hug he started asking you a ton of questions, like, how was your day? How are you feeling today? No demon tried to attack you since he last saw you, right? Etc.

You also noticed that he called you 'Peaches' a lot. Of course, sometimes he did call you that before the potion, but only sometimes and he always acted like that was a slip up. He usually calls you by your name or similarly to MK, 'bud'/'buddy', maybe 'pal' sometimes.

To be honest, you weren't sure what to do with Wukong and how to keep him busy and not bored until the potion stopped working. So you suggested watching a movie.

And of course, probably 'cause of his lovesick state, he chose a romantic comedy...

It's not like you've never watched that kind of movie with him before, you actually did - you both liked to make fun of the characters and point out the corny and cringy aspects of the movies, but this time Wukong was really invested in a way he never was before.

The second you both sat on your couch, the monkey clung to you, hugging and cuddling you like a teddy bear. He was so close it was impossible for him to be any closer to you. Wukong pressed his furred cheek against yours and curled up to your side, his tail curling around your ankle.

Meanwhile you just sat there, inwardly screaming and having a panic attack at how close and intimate he was right now, and how much you liked it and secretly wished he wouldn't let go. And he didn't for the whole movie, being too invested in it to notice or care about you blushing.

This time he also made comments during the movie (that's just the way he is, sometimes he just can't keep completely quiet for that long), but not snarky/mocking ones. Instead he kept staring at the screen with sparkles in his eyes each time the characters did something which could be considered "romantic" and saying something along the lines of "Ooh, that is so romantic! Wouldn't it be nice if we did something like that, Peaches?" Or change his mood completely and ask with a smug expression "Soo, what did you think? What would YOU think if SOMEONE did something like this for YOU?"

Summarizing, he was VERY subtle...

You tried to answer both honestly and nice enough not to hurt his feelings. But, truth be told, you lied a few times so he wouldn't feel bad/hurt. You felt slightly guilty about lying to your friend/crush, even about such stupid things. Oh well, if you're lucky, Wukong won't remember any of this.

To be honest, you were thankful that this whole love potion experience took a pretty lovey-dovey route and not... Y'know, the more suggestive and lustful one? Because when it comes to Wukong it sometimes could be both. It probably also depended on the potion itself.

So yeah, you were grateful that the most he did was throw a more suggestive comment with this smug face of his here and there.

After the movie ended, you figured it was a good time for dinner.

Right after you started getting off the couch and out of Wukong's grasp, he asked with a pouty tone where were you going.

"I'm just going to the kitchen to make pancakes for dinner. With peaches~" You added in a sing-songy voice. You knew how much your monkey friend loved those fruits, so you always made sure to have some at your house just in case.

"Oh!" Wukong's face lit up slightly at the mention of his favorite fruits. "You don't have to get up though! I can make the pancakes with no problem, you don't have to do anything, in fact, you don't even have to get off the couch! I'll do everything for you, no biggie. You must be so tired after your morning shift today, Peaches! Besides, I'm a pro at cooking!"

You barely managed to hide a snort after his last sentence. It was endearing that he wanted to spoil you and do things so you wouldn't have to but he definitely wasn't a pro at cooking. You taught him some basics and thanks to that The Monkey King was able to cook simple dishes so they were actually edible. But not much more than that.

However, you agreed for two reasons: one, so you wouldn't hurt his feelings (it was so cute how his eyes and entire face shined and how bright his smile was when you said "okay"), and two; you were quite curious how this would turn out.

"Okay, but call me if you need help."

"You're so sweet, Peaches! But that won't be necessary."

After that Wukong went to the kitchen.

In short, it turned out that Sun mistook powdered sugar for flour, so the pancakes were... Quite a disaster, honestly.

You had to console the poor Monkey for a few minutes, because he felt like he failed and disappointed you. He was practically close to tears (that potion really did make him much more emotional, huh?)

He only cheered up after you suggested ordering something from Pigsy's. And of course, being the gentleman he suddenly became thanks to the potion, he insisted he should be the one to make the call. You could imagine that the pig wasn't very happy to hear him, but nonetheless after some time your order arrived with MK to your door.

"So, how is he?" Asked the teen. "I hope he was... Umm... Well behaved?"

"He was actually. It's just that he's much more cheerful and emotional than normal." You chuckled.

After that you invited MK inside, since he just ended his shift while bringing your and Wukong's order.

You and your crush ate your dishes and MK ate some chips you had in the kitchen. Meanwhile Wukong kept gushing about you to the teen, making you very flustered and flattered at the same time.

"I just love you Peaches so much!" Happily exclaimed Wukong at one moment.

Then a small, quiet gasp escaped your lips. Oh, how much you wished he truly meant those words. But you knew that this was just the potion talking, sadly.

After that MK suggested he should take Wukong back to the Flower Fruit Mountain since he ended his shift now.

Unfortunately, Sun heard that and he wasn't pleased. He immediately embraced you and squished you tightly against himself and kept saying how he needed to stay to protect you from demons or burglars breaking into your house. And also claiming that he doesn't want to be alone and that he had such a good time with you, so he didn't want it to end. Wukong was pretty much like an emotional child thanks to the potion at that moment. MK tried to pry him off you, but to no avail.

You had to promise Wukong that he could come over the next day in order for him to let you go and calm down.

Finally Sun agreed to go with MK, but not before hugging you tightly once more, kissing your cheek and saying "Love you, Peaches!".

You couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when Monkey King left with his successor. This was an interesting experience, but it was quite tiring too. You also had many complicated emotions after this and needed a lot of time to process them. All of this just made you realize how hopeless you were in your crush on Monkey King himself and, how badly you wanted him to truly love you.

Later, in the evening, you suddenly grew curious about the love potion which your friend drank. So you decided to call Tang to check if he knew something about it; after all, who else could have such knowledge if not him?

"A love potion you say? Hmm... Well I do recall hearing some myth about some deity or someone who wanted to invent a potion which could make people fall in love. They kind of succeeded, but actually later it turned out that the potion didn't create those feelings from scratch."

"What do you mean?" You had a feeling where this was going, but you needed a clear confirmation.

"In order for the potion to work, the person who drank it had to already have some feelings for someone. The potion just caused those feelings to grow abnormally stronger and made the drinker more emotional, confident and bold about their feelings. Umm, but why are you asking?"

You were flabbergasted. Could it be...? "Oh, it's nothing, I was just curious. Thanks Tang, I have to go now, bye!" After that you ended the call, not even letting the scholar say goodbye.

That meant that Sun Wukong, aka The Monkey King himself had a crush on YOU. A REAL CRUSH. SINCE WHEN?! How long was he hiding it? Either you were really dense and oblivious or he was really good at hiding his true feelings. Honestly, it was hard to determine which was true in that situation.

For a solid minute you just sat there with your mouth open. Your mind literally screamed "error". Then you suddenly squealed like a teenage girl, jumped in the air and said "YES!"

Well. It seemed like you needed to have a little chat with Wukong.

[fanfic-wonderland]

Not Just Friends {Coriolanus Snow} - Part 2

Synopsis: After avoiding him for some time, you suspect that Coryo's feelings towards you have vanished. However, after a turn of life-threatening events, you finally decide to talk to him.

Pairing: Coriolanus Snow x Fem!Reader

Word count: 3.6k

Read part one here.

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

Things between the both of you change drastically after you last spoke the night at the Winter’s Ball. Coryo doesn't want to admit that he might’ve ruined your friendship, but he cannot help feeling responsible because you've been avoiding him. Even though you try to act normal, he can tell that something’s off. Every time he approaches you at the Academy you tense up, you cut your conversations short by saying you have to leave, and you haven't stopped by his house in nearly a month when the problem used to be keeping you out of it. Part of him resents Tigris for convincing him to tell you the truth; the other part resents himself for listening to her. He can tell that she feels bad once she notices how you both are drifting apart, but he cannot find it in him to look past it. At least not yet.

The approach of the 10th Hunger Games helps as a distraction for Coryo. He’s chosen as one of the District 12 mentors, much to his dislike, but he’ll take it as an opportunity to prove himself as a top student again. You’re chosen to mentor one of the District 9 tributes alongside Gaius Breen, which means that he probably won’t have the opportunity to interact with you as much. The thought pains him but he tries to focus on winning the prize, instead, and when he meets his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, he’s certain that he has a high chance of doing so. He cannot let any distractions get in the way of his victory.

So, he tries his best to appeal to the entirety of Panem, and if that means jumping into a monkey enclosure at the Capital Zoo with all of the tributes in it, then he’ll do it.

***

 You’ve been meaning to talk to Coryo for the longest time.

After your conversation at the Winter’s Ball, you admit that you’ve felt nervous and you’ve forgotten how to act around him, even if It’s only been a few weeks. You’re pretty sure that he’s noticed your odd behavior already but has said nothing about it. You feel guilty avoiding him, but his words had a bigger impact on you than you thought. You think about that night every single day—him showing up even when he didn't want to, the both of you dancing together, the way he defended you against Felix, his “confession” under Panem’s night sky… it all makes your heart flutter in a way you’ve never felt before.

You’ve never felt like that toward Coryo— or maybe you’ve just never noticed.

When you’re both chosen as mentors for the 10th Hunger Games, things take a downfall. It’s like you barely know each other, both in the same room but focused on different things and different people. And when you try to get his attention on multiple occasions, you’re met with nothing. He does not look at you anymore.

Now that you think about it, he used to always look at you, and now that he doesn’t, something feels… wrong.

Your mind drifts to him as you’re sitting in the classroom, watching the tributes being exhibited at the Capital Zoo —Sheaf, your tribute, is obviously among them. You’re not interested in watching a group of people being treated like animals for entertainment and you cannot stop wondering why Coryo hasn’t shown up to class yet. It’s not like him to miss class, seeing how he always likes to be one step ahead of everyone else, so it must be something urgent if he’s not showing up. You start getting worried but you try your best not to show it. Anyway, It’s not like anyone would care, seeing how they’re all so invested in what’s happening on the screen.

All of a sudden, a few people in the room gasp in unison. When you snap out of your thoughts, you realize that there is someone else in that cage and your heart leaps. “What is he doing?” Gaius questions next to you.

“He’s trying to get himself killed,” Someone else mutters from the back of the room.

But you keep your attention on Coryo. To you, he’s never looked more beautiful, more powerful. You’re not exactly sure how he did it, and yes, the fact that he managed to sneak in with the tributes is insane but you are more impressed by how far he can go to win. No wonder you’ve always admired him so much.

While Coryo and Lucy Gray Baird are answering questions from Lucky Flickerman, you notice how he holds her hand and how he looks down at her while she speaks into the microphone, and something stirs in you. You don’t know what it is but it makes you sick to your stomach and you have to look away from the screen for a moment. “Quite the boyfriend you have there, (Y/L/N),” You hear Arachne say from her spot. You don’t turn to look at her but you’re certain that she’s smirking. “At least Felix had the decency to go behind your back.”

A few people snicker while some turn to look at you with amused looks on their faces. You try, you really do, to dismiss her words, but you don’t feel like taking any of her shit anymore. So you stand up and walk toward her, right at the other side of the room, and then you pull at her hair. You try to connect your knuckles to any inch of her face after she screams and tries to push you away, but you do not let go of her. You don’t let go of her even when people try to pull you away, and when you finally do you manage to pull out a clump of her hair to keep as a trophy. “You bitch!” She shouts at you while you hold up her hair triumphantly in your hand as two other students drag you as far away from her as possible.

Mr. Highbottom orders the students who are holding you to take you outside until you’ve come back to your senses. You most likely ruined your chance at being a mentor but at the moment you don’t care. All you can think about is his hand touching hers.

They take you to the hallway and only then do you realize that It’s Gaius and Sejanus Plinth who had held you back. Gaius quickly goes back into the room but Sejanus stays for a bit longer. “You shouldn’t let her get to you.” 

“I know that,” You snap. He looks a bit taken aback by your tone and you sigh. “Sorry. I just… I hate her. So much. And I hate the fact that now I look like even more of an idiot in front of everyone else. This just all makes me so mad.”

He observes you for a moment. “Are you sure that you’re not mad about something else?”

“About what?”

“Well,” Sejanus says. “Coryo did seem to be getting well acquainted with his tribute…”

You open your mouth to protest but close it once you realize that you have no way of defending yourself. Maybe he’s right. Maybe Arachne is not the main issue here. Maybe It’s the way that Coryo was looking at Lucy, or holding her hand, or that he was willing to jump into a cage to be by her side.

Maybe… most certainly.

***

A few days later, the mentors and their tributes all enter the arena for a tour. Coryo tries to focus strictly on his surroundings but he finds himself glancing at you from time to time. He had heard about your and Arachne’s fight through Clemensia Dovecote, who told him right after he came back to the Academy. He hasn’t had the chance to talk to you about it but he’s glad that at least Highbottom had some bit of sense left in him to let you stay in the mentor program. There is no doubt in his mind that Arachne had initiated it somehow. 

You walk several feet beside him and he fights the urge to look at you again, but then Lucy’s arm links with his and he’s brought back to reality. “You’re awfully distracted today,” She points out, her eyes looking forward. 

Coryo stiffens. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You were so attentive and focused when we first met and now you just… I don’t know, you feel far away.” Lucy explains.

He remains quiet. At the same time, his eyes fail to stray from you as they find your figure yet again. You’re walking alongside your tribute and talking to her while you point at certain spots in the arena. From what he’s seen, you seem to get along with your tribute fairly well. He’s seen you bring sandwiches to her a few times at the enclosure and the tribute, while she is quiet with other people, seems to find it easy to open up to you. He didn’t doubt for a second that she would. You’re very likable when you want to be.

“Is it because of that mentor you’re always staring at?”

Coryo still does not give Lucy an answer but his face turns to finally face her. She is already staring at him with a knowing smile. “I knew it,” She says. “Let’s face it: you’re here putting on a show with me but you’re thinking about her. It’s okay, you know. I’ve been in love before and I’ve suffered because of it; I know what It’s like.”

In love. Coryo has never thought himself to be “in love” with you. His feelings are strong, yes, but he has never given them a name, let alone a name like love. It’s a dangerous word to be throwing around like that. “Is there any history between the two of you?” Lucy asks.

Coryo knows there’s no use in ignoring her, so he says, “No. We’re just friends.”

Lucy does not look convinced. “Doesn’t look like it.”

“Listen, we’re not here to talk about me,” He says. “Nor her. I want you to stay focused on what really matters.”

Lucy shrugs. “Just trying to get to know my mentor,” He rolls his eyes. “But, just so you know, she’s also been staring at you. A lot.”

His breath hitches before he can stop himself and he knows that Lucy notices. She chuckles, glad that she at least got a reaction out of him, but again he stays silent. And when he does go to say something, there’s an explosion. Both of them are thrown back by the impact, his back hits the ground and he lies there for a few seconds, unable to process what just happened. 

When he opens his eyes once again his vision is a cloudy gray. He hears screaming and shouting all around him while a few more bombs go off, but he seems to be frozen on the spot. He sees Lucy standing up and urging him to stand up as well, but he can barely hear her. She finally grabs his arm and helps him lift himself. “We have to run,” She says.

Coryo nods and they start heading toward the direction they came from, when all of a sudden he remembers that you’re also somewhere in the room and that you might be hurt, and he stops. Lucy looks back at him with wide eyes. “You go,” He tells her. “I need to find someone first.”

She immediately knows who he’s talking about, so she nods and tells him, “You come back alive, alright?”

He nods back and then she runs out of his sight. 

Coryo begins to blindly run through the smoke, passing by and almost running into his classmates and the other tributes, who are all either running around and screaming in panic or lying motionless on the ground. None of them are you and it makes him all the more nervous.

When he finally finds you, you're crouched next to a girl. It takes him a moment to recognize her as your tribute while she’s lying there, covered in debris and blood. You’re practically screaming at her to get up but Coryo thinks she’s already long gone, so he grabs you and tries to pull you away from her. “(Y/N),” he calls your name as you struggle to get out of his grip. He grabs your face so you can look at him. “We have to go—” Another bomb goes off in the distance. “Now!”

You’re still in a state of shock but you try to listen to his words and you stand up with his help. He’s still holding you when the both of you run towards the exit. Another bomb goes off behind you, this time close enough to send you both flying off. Your ears are ringing as you lie there on the ground, the impact making you land on your side, hard. You wince in pain and you try to sit up but it proves to be a challenge. You might’ve dislocated your shoulder, you’re not completely sure, but the pain makes it obvious.

No more explosions go out, and everyone who is not dead seems to have already evacuated the place. You turn to Coryo. His eyes are closed, a line of blood falling down the side of his face. “Coryo?” you try to shake him awake but he remains unresponsive. “Coryo!” You suddenly feel nauseous. He can’t be… no, not him. No no no no no no no no no no…

You lean down to press your ear against his chest and you breathe out a sigh of relief when you realize he’s still breathing. He’s alive, You think as you stay there, your head against his chest while you listen to his soothing heartbeat. You hear the faint sound of Peacekeepers coming back and shouting something and a few tears run down your face. He’s going to make it.

***

The first thing you do after you’re checked out from the hospital is visit Coriolanus Snow.

You know he was released earlier and you haven’t had the chance to talk to him. To thank him for saving your life. For coming back to you when he could’ve just run outside and waited until the Peacekeepers found your corpse. But he didn’t.

You knock on the door and are immediately by Tigris, who beams once she sees It’s you. “(Y/N)!” she pulls you in for an embrace but is careful with the sling that you’ll have to wear for a while. “Oh, (Y/N), I’m so glad to see you, and I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so worried about you after that incident at the arena.”

“I know. I’m glad to see you, too,” Tigris’ eyes are watery when you pull away. “It’s been a while, huh?”

“Yes, it has,” She says in a soft voice. “I assume you’re here to see Coryo?” You nod and her grin broadens. “He’s in his room. You can go on ahead.”

You thank Tirgris as she moves aside to let you in. You say your greetings to his grandmother, who is listening to her little radio in the living room, and quickly make your way to Coryo’s bedroom door. You knock softly a few times. It’s silent for a moment, and then you hear the click of the door unlocking and then it opens. Coryo stands there —without a shirt— and you have to force your eyes to stay on his face. My God. “(Y/N),”

“Hi,” You gulp. For some reason, your mouth is watering. “Can we talk?”

Coryo stares at you briefly. “Yeah. Just give me a second.”

You nod and he closes the door. A few minutes later, he opens it again, and this time he’s wearing a loose grey shirt over his white shorts. “Come in,” he says, and so you do.

You take a seat on his bed, taking in the familiar walls. It feels like it's been so long since you’ve last been here and you’ve missed it. More than you thought.

He goes to sit next to you and you scoot over. His eyes go down to your arm. “Is it hurting?”

You shrug. “A little. It used to feel worse. Having to wear this all the time is uncomfortable, though.”

Coryo gives you a toothless smile. “I can imagine.”

You smile back at him. A short silence follows but, contrary to what you were expecting, it feels comfortable. You cannot help but get lost in his eyes. “Coryo,” you say before you can forget why you’re here in the first place. “How will I ever be able to thank you for coming back for me?”

He shakes his head. “I’m sure you would’ve done the same for me—”

“But I didn’t,” You say. “I was in shock by Sheaf dying. I couldn’t stomach the fact that she was gone, just like that. Someone whom I had known for a few days, but I had so much hope for. I was so hopeful that she would win, and then she died before the games even began. It was just…”

Coryo doesn’t wait for you to finish. “She’s in a better place now,” He tells you while brushing a few strands of your hair behind your ear. “She’s not hurting anymore.”

You nod because you truly want to believe him. You shake the awful memories of the bombing out of your head and focus on him, instead. Your brain still cannot seem to fathom the idea of you being here with him. “I missed you,” you blurt out.

He smiles at you. “Did you?”

“Yes,” You’re pretty sure you’re blushing, with the way he’s looking at you and how his face is so close. “A lot.”

“Does that mean we can go back to the way we were?” He asks.

You shake your head. “I don’t want it to be like that anymore.”

A flash of hurt crosses his face, and that’s the last thing you see before you lean in to kiss him. It’s very short because you pull away before he has a chance to respond. That is not what you had in mind when you came into his house, but something took over you as soon as you stepped into his room. Maybe it was the image of him shirtless that made you lose your focus too much. You blink a few times at him and wait for a reaction. It’s hard to read what he’s thinking just by the look on his face, and you begin to think that maybe you shouldn’t have done that.

And then he leans in and his lips are back on yours, and you’re the one who’s frozen now. Your heart feels like It’s about to leap out of your chest and you think you might collapse at any second. Regardless, you respond once you come back to your senses. Coryo deepens the kiss, coaxing your tongue with his as he pulls you closer. You take a handful of his curls and he lets out a low groan against your mouth; It’s the hottest thing you’ve ever heard.

He pulls you into his lap and your body is pressed against his, but a sharp pain shoots through your arm from the sudden movement. You wince in pain and, although It’s nothing you can’t handle, he immediately looks worried. “Sorry,” he scans your face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” You assure him while you run your fingers along his cheek. “Really.”

Coryo leans his face down to plant a fluttery kiss on your shoulder, and then his lips move along until they reach your neck, jawline, and cheek, and finally, they reconnect with yours. Once he’s sure that you’re good, he kisses you like he’s desperate to take all of you in, and it makes your head spin. It’s hard to resist him when you’ve already started to lose yourself in him, in the taste of his lips, in his scent, and the warmth of his touch. His hands go down to your lower back, sneaking in under your shirt. The feeling of his hands against your bare skin sends shivers down your spine and you know he’d probably go further if it wasn’t for the knock on the door. You quickly get off him and take your seat back on his bed, both of you trying to look like you weren’t just devouring each other a few seconds ago. “Come in,” he says.

The door opens and Tigris peeks her head in. “Dinner’s ready. (Y/N), Would you like to join us?”

“Oh, uh,” you hesitate. “I’m not sure honestly, I think I have to get going soon. My parents are expecting me.”

“Of course,” She says. “But if you change your mind you’re more than welcome to stay.”

You thank her and she closes the door. Coryo stands up first and then offers you his hand to help you up. Once you’re out of the bed he pulls you close to him and holds your face, kissing you again. You smile against his lips. “Stay for dinner,” He tells you. “Please?”

You almost melt at the softness of his voice. “I already told you,” you giggle as he buries his face in your neck. “My parents are expecting me.”

“They’ll be fine. They know you’re with me, don’t they?” He says. “And if anything happens, I’ll talk to them for you.”

You grin. How can you ever say no to him?

[desecrated-guacamole]

I know I’m *checks watch* twelve years late coming to this realization, and two years late to talking about it when it would’ve been at all relevant, but godDAMN

Young Justice wastes NO time being good after season 1. The producers really just said “hey, y’know all the characters and relationships you’ve loved seeing develop for the past 26 episodes? Well actually, fuck that, fuck them, and fuck you! Everything’s different now, everyone’s developed in new ways that you won’t get to see, but not even in a way that makes sense for a FIVE YEAR TIME-JUMP!”

Take Robin for example; in the five years that take place offscreen, Dick becomes Nightwing, Batman recruits Jason Todd as the new Robin, Jason Todd gets killed, and Batman recruits Tim Drake as the new-new Robin (oh and also Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl). I love the Batfamily, but I can barely call it the Batfamily when we don’t ever actually see them becoming a fucking family! We don’t get to see Dick struggle with his mentor’s legacy, we don’t see Jason struggle to live up to the Robin that came before, or Barbara picking up crime fighting despite what Bruce tells her to do because fuck that guy. We don’t get to see any of them grieve Jason, we don’t get to see Bruce go off the deep-end, only to be brought back by a young Tim Drake, who shows him what makes Batman, well, Batman; helping those in need, saving people.

INSTEAD, we’re introduced to two characters we knew that are now wildly different with ZERO explanation as to why, and one that we’ve never seen before and is (so far in my watch) severely underwritten, but because they’re the characters we love from the comics we’re supposed to love them here. It’s using the iconography of the characters to get us invested without putting in any of the actual work DEVELOPING them as people. It’d be one thing if this was the first time we met any of them, but we’ve already been introduced to Barbara, and we’ve spent an entire season with Dick, but now both of them have undergone massive development we aren’t made privy to.

I read an interview with Greg Weisman talking about the time jump, and he says this;

“We wanted a big time jump between the first two seasons to truly illustrate what our series was about, i.e. GROWING UP. After that, honestly, it’s more about what feels right. There are always things we want to skip, so that they become reveals.”

Man, I wonder if maybe allowing the audience to actually watch the characters grow and change might illustrate that growing up thing better than just skipping ahead so you can make it a reveal??? Imagine a show where we get to see these characters grow up together, maybe even grow apart, some leave, some stay, some are replaced, some come back. Like, imagine getting to see Dick reckon with the fact that Batman REPLACED HIM, only to watch that replacement die! Imagine getting to see Tim Drake come to Dick for advice, instead of just skipping ahead to the point that they’re already an established team. Imagine getting to see M’gann help Gar learn to use his powers for the first time. Imagine the team throwing a goodbye party for Wally and Artemis! Imagine seeing Wally and Artemis continue to develop their relationship instead of just jumping to them being fully moved in and together! WE WERE ROBBED!!

Like I’m still gonna watch it (not in the least because my roommate’s already seen it) but I need everyone to know I’m doing it under duress. I love these characters, and they did not deserve this lazy bullshit. I do not understand how Greg Weisman made Spectacular Spider-Man because HOLY SHIT the writing decisions made on this show are pissing me off, and don’t even get me STARTED ON CONNOR AND M’GANN BECAUSE WHAT THE FU

[gofancyninjaworld]

No one is born knowing how to communicate

A: And that's okay...

Dr Kuseno made it look so easy. He just swanned into Saitama's apartment, proferred him a gift of beef and the hero's hostility melted away.

Fubuki felt positively foolish, and yet encouraged.

Since then, however, she's found that the only thing meat bribes pull in are dogs. Literal dogs:

And even dogs need more than meat to be loyal.

What gives? Well, it's obvious that Fubuki mistook Dr Kuseno's gift for a bribe: more on that later. Probably. And yeah, it's funny, but it's more interesting than that.

Learning how to communicate is complex. There are a ludicrous number of unspoken conventions and rules in every human society, so much so that we don't fully learn how to smile socially until we're in our forties. Dr Kuseno carefully judged his gift: he had a legitimate reason to offer Saitama a gift in the first place, out of gratitude for Saitama going out of his way to mentor Genos. Then he chose a gift Saitama would be sure to appreciate and presented it at a time when Saitama would be thinking about dinner. The worst that could have happened is that Saitama took the gift but insisted on the doctor going home (and taking Genos with him) -- it would still have left the desired positive impression. And things went really well. Kuseno made it look effortless.

Fubuki is only in her early twenties and her experience to date has been far from typical. She's learned that either she can intimidate people or she can flatter them into doing what she wants. With Saitama (and later Bang, Bomb, and Kuseno), she has to learn how to talk to more powerful people whom she cannot overpower, over whom she has no leverage, and who are unimpressed by her looks, simpering, or flattery.

Fortunately, Fubuki is nothing if not astute. She's worked out that she needs to develop complementary skills if she's to make herself useful to the S-Class heroes she wants to hang with. How to talk to them to get the help and cooperation she desires? Ah, that's a work in progress.

B: ...Unless it's not

Let's move onto another miscommunication.

Something that I hadn't before was that, unlike the webcomic version where Saitama only thinks to himself that Genos seems depressed, in the manga, Saitama out and out asks him if this is the case. He wants to know.

It mirrors King asking Saitama that very same question and getting Saitama to open up and be vulnerable for the first time (ever, in any version of the story). So it is very appropriate to see Saitama trying to do the same for Genos, particularly as he is openly fond of the guy.

However, it goes wrong. Saitama feels himself under pressure to say something wise to make it better. So he puts on his best 'confident' face and inadvertently makes everything much worse. Oh dear. What makes this particularly painful in the manga is that Saitama is much more invested in trying to reach Genos, and it's made Genos think that Saitama saying that he doesn't see what he's doing must mean that earlier times when he's praised him must have been just Saitama being nice. For sure, Genos could have pushed back and made Saitama clarify what he meant, but he's even worse at communicating: and Saitama's glib remark about being bright struck him square in the insecurities.

I'm going to come to something that I only realised once I started typing this up. Even though I've pointed out their abilities to communicate, neither King nor Kuseno have the perfect words to say. Kuseno started out by first committing a faux pas in bringing his great big outside boots into Saitama's flat, then nearly boring Saitama to death with a long-winded explanation. King started out by trying to guess what was bothering Saitama. Both, however, did the most important thing about effective communication: they picked up on their going wrong and changed tack.

It's not about saying the right thing: it's about responding to the person you're talking to.

The thing that King did that Saitama was trying to do for Genos was to ask Saitama open questions, and shut up in the interim, letting Saitama talk to fill in the silence. He'd only speak to ask more open questions when Saitama ran out of things to say, and through that, gently started to challenge Saitama's thinking.

But doing so means being comfortable with several seconds of silence. And that is excruciating. It is almost irresistible to jump in and say something, anything. And it would have been a longish wait, for Genos to slowly sit down and decide to start speaking, which might well have started being about something only tangentially related to his worry. King did that for Saitama: Saitama started out talking about what was bothering him on the surface -- being too strong -- before eventually coming to what was really bothering him, feeling lonely and profoundly isolated from everyone around him. Saitama does not yet know how to wait a person out.

It's a problem in this case because it's introduced a big barrier between those two, not an insurmountable one for sure, but one that could easily compound later.

Ah well, no one is born a communicator. We just have to wait and see if they work out a way to open up and be honest with each other. So it goes! There's more ways to introduce conflicts than to have a monster trample Tokyo, after all!

And so help me, the struggle to learn how to communicate is 1000% worthwhile.

[writingquestionsanswered]

How can I go from the protagonist being crazy in love with one woman at the beginning (and the object of desire - protagonist's want/desire) then gradually falling in love with a new love (mentor woman) - 1. Without looking like a jerk? 2 - While getting the reader to fall in love with and cheer for the new woman? Thank you in advance.

Moving Affection from One Love Interest to Another

There are a few things you can do to help pull this off seamlessly:

1 - Show the "Cracks" Immediately - Problems in relationships--and even infatuations--start like fine cracks in a tea cup that spread out and get bigger over time until the tea cup breaks. Even when people are "crazy in love," those fine cracks can be there, completely unnoticed or noticed and ignored. What qualifies as a "fine crack" versus a bigger one depends on the characters and situation, but think of them as small red flags or obstacles that aren't immediately important. For example, maybe the love interest is bad about respecting your character's boundaries, which at the beginning is just things like your character wanting to stay home rather than go out, and the love interest saying, "Nope, you're not staying home. I'm coming to get you!" That may seem unimportant at first, but it can blow up into a bigger problem if it happens consistently or happens in relation to bigger boundaries. By starting the relationship off in the story with some small cracks already in place, you give the reader permission to invest in the relationship cautiously. They'll be on board if things develop in a positive direction, but if they develop in a negative direction, they're prepared for it.

2 - Make a "Slow Introduction" to the New Love Interest - If you've ever brought home a new pet when you already have one at home, you probably know the importance of gradual introductions. This lets the animals get used to each other in a non-threatening way. If you drop a new character into the story and immediately make them a love interest--or even if you have an existing character who suddenly becomes the new love interest--the reader is automatically not going to like them. Even if they're somewhat on the fence with the existing relationship, they don't want the whiplash of a sudden transfer of interest and affection. That said, you want to introduce this character in a somewhat mundane way. Don't go for a "meet cute," or at least not an obvious one. Then, gradually ramp up the interactions, and along with them, gradually ramp up their mutual interest.

3 - Ramp Down the Other Relationship at the Same Time - At the same time as things are * very subtly * ramping up with the new potential love interest, have them * very obviously * ramping down with the current love interest. This is where you can blow those fine line cracks up into bigger ones, have more red flags or bigger red flags, and create more obstacles to the characters' romantic happiness/compatibility.

4 - Create a "Deal Breaker" Obstacle - Finally, create an obstacle for the couple that can't be overcome. It could be a major red flag that your character isn't willing to ignore, or something like the characters wanting two completely different things that are non-negotiable. For example, maybe the love interest gets a job transfer to another country and wants your character to go, but since your character can see things are falling apart and they don't want to go anyway, this is a deal breaker obstacle. They have no choice but go their separate ways.

5 - Give the Reader Permission to Let Go - It's a good idea to give the reader permission to let go of the old love interest by either making them fully onboard with the split (for example, if the prior love interest did something bad, there's an insurmountable obstacle, or it's abundantly clear they're not compatible) or by making it clear it's what's best and that the other character will be fine (for example, making the prior love interest the one who breaks things off... because it's what's best for them, or hinting that the other love interest may have their own new potential love interest waiting in the wings.)

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[anxiousnerdwritings]

(Based off of something I mentioned in this ask)

Oh Deary,

I’m so sorry. So so so very sorry. I hadn’t ever meant any harm when I signed that god forsaken petition but when Arthur had come home one day from work and mentioned that there was word of an obscurus going around I panicked. Not only that but that the obscurus was going to be brought in to take a position at Hogwarts, among our children. A flurry of fear, worry and outrage was going around regarding the whole situation but Arthur wasn’t worried about it. He had trust in Albus and if Albus was invested in it then it couldn’t be nearly as awful as everyone was making it seem. And I should have shared that same trust but I couldn’t. Not when my children were involved. I had let fear and anxiety regarding the topic consume me and I took action against Arthur’s reassurance. And I took action against you without even knowing.

My main concern had been for my children and their safety. That was all I could think of. And honestly, I had felt so much relief after I signed that petition that I hadn’t thought twice about it again. I had taken action and with knowing that I did something for the sake of my children, I felt content.

When the new school year started, one of he first things Percy did was notify us that there was indeed an obscurus at Hogwarts and made part of the staff, assisting the groundskeeper with bits and bobs. And also about how Fred and George had taken to befriending the said obscurus. I had immediately been plagued with that same feeling of worry and anxiety all over again. Of course, Fred and George would do something like that! But as I continued to read Percy’s letter he spoke so positively about the obscurus, about you.

You were nothing like anyone had presumed you to be or made you seem, you were someone just surviving and living with what they had been dealt with. Given what all Percy was saying, I felt all the overwhelming and intense emotions fleeting away. I was glad he could shine some light on this situation and give us some ease to know that all our children were going to be safe and sound.

It wasn’t too long after we received Percy’s letter that we had gotten Fred and George’s letters as well. And their letters certainly made a whole lot of difference to me. They spoke so adoringly of you. It was obvious just how much the two had taken to you and that they were clinging on to you as much as they could. I could feel my own joy bubbling up inside me as I continued to read through their words. But it wasn’t until I saw the pictures that the twins had sent along with their letters that I felt my heart clench. There were a few different pictures of the twins, Ron, Harry, Lee Jordan, and a few others, but it was the ones that had my boys and a new face that garnered my attention.

Reading the back of the photographs I learned that this new face was you. That’s when I learned that you weren’t even all that much older than my own children, you looked to be around Bill and Charlie’s age. I couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling that washed over me in that moment. You were still a child yourself, it didn’t matter how self sufficient you were or that you were taking on an adult role as a staff member at Hogwarts. You were a child.

The obscurus everyone had been so fearful and worried about, the same obscurus I had been so terrified to have my children around, was only a child themself. I took part to get rid of you at Hogwarts. I took action in trying to rip apart the only piece of acceptance or belonging you would ever experience. I had a hand in taking everything away from you; a home, a livelihood, friends, mentors, a family. I couldn’t believe I took part in something that would have such a drastic impact on you when you were only trying to exist.

I had sobbed all night after coming to realize what exactly my taking part in that petition would come to mean. I know Albus had put a stop to it pretty early on but who knew what the repercussions of it would mean if you or anyone else came across it. Every part of me wanted to apologize to you right then and there after coming to realize everything but I didn’t know how. So, all I could muster myself to do was tell Fred and George to invite you to join us for the next upcoming year’s holiday break. I would welcome you into our home, into our family with warm open arms.

When the holiday break came rolling around and the fated day you would be arriving was growing nearer and nearer, I was running around trying to make everything perfect. It wasn’t though, nothing ever really was perfect in our home but I tried and when you got here you were an absolute delight. You didn’t mind anything and were more than happily content with our home and what it had to offer. You had just been so excited to be invited over at all and that made me want to envelope you in all the love I had to give.

I had decided from that moment that you were completely and utterly, irrevocably a part of our lives. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Fred, George, Ron, Harry, Ginny, Arthur and even Percy all adored you to no end. And I couldn’t help but to do the same. In such a short amount of time you became something truly special to us all.

…Only for it to all come crashing down…

I’m not even sure if you will bother reading this but I just want you to know how truly sorry I am, (Name). I don’t know how that petition got to you or where it came from given that Albus had gone to great lengths to erase any trace of it, but I am so sorry you had to see it. I can’t ever forgive myself for my actions and the fact that they have caused you so much hurt. I don’t expect you to forgive me either but please don’t hold anything against the kids. They are all so worried about you since you left Hogwarts. The other teachers at the school have also shared their overwhelming concern for you given that you haven’t answered anyone’s letters. Even, Albus hasn’t heard from you for awhile, it’s even been rumored that you up and left the place he had made a home just for you and that has him noticeably anxious. Not to mention, Hagrid isn’t holding up all too well either.

Please, I know I’m not one to ask anything of you especially not now, but would you please let someone, anyone know that you are okay. And if you’re not then please tell us. We just want to know what’s going on and that you’re safe. Please.

With love,

Molly

[dazeddoodles]

I was wondering, do you have any headcannons on the BATTs?(Derwin/Katya/Amber)

They’re my favorite characters and yet they don’t really say anything and they look dumb but I love them

I headcanon they're all in their early 20's and Amber is the youngest

They're all former students of Raine which is how they became part of their crew in the first place.

Katya immediately started shipping Raeda after seeing their first interaction when reuniting in Eda's Requiem, and could tell there's history there 👀

Before that Katya kinda saw Raine as a Prudish Proffesor (Raine presents themselves a certain way around the BATTs) so when she found out Raine and Eda have history, she was thinking "Woah the OWL LADY? There's more to you than I thought Raine 😏"

(This is SO specific but if you've ever watched Good Omens, Nina's line in this scene, "You're a dark horse Mr Fell 😏". Is the same vibe I'm thinking of)

Amber thinks Katya's a weirdo for doing that. Both her and Katya got the feeling that Eda was Raine's ex. But unlike Katya, Amber immediately assumed Eda was the one to break Raine's heart. I mean this IS the infamous Owl Lady after all, who's constantly dating around 🤨

Amber sees Raine as like a pure, wholesome, parental figure, who can do no wrong in her eyes. (Again, Raine presents themselves a certain way around the BATTs). So she's protective of Raine and was originally suspicious of Eda

After she got to know Eda though she started shipping Raeda alongside Katya too. Derwin has no one idea the girlies are shipping them. He didn't even assume Eda and Raine had romantic history (he was asleep when they were flirting)

Derwin genuinely looks up to Raine as a mentor and admires their professionalism (Raine presents themselves a certain way yada yada)

Amber and Katya are more chotic while Derwin is the more calm straight man of the group

Katya's always trying (forcing) to get Raine to go out their comfort zone, like when she made them read that corny speech. (If not for Eda she probably would have tried to convince them to join a dating app to "find some hot milfs in their area")

Meanwhile Raine just hypes up any attempts Raine makes, like when she was encouraging them during their speech.

Amber is that one girl that's really into cute core stuff like Sanrio that's actually super scary in real life. She's like Abby from Turning Red.

They have a BATTs group chat. Raine initially agreed to it to send messages for any missions, but the BATTs end up using it to have regular conversations and send memes that Raine doesn't understand

Sometime Raine unintentionally becomes that one teacher talks to much about their personal life. But the the BATTs are genuinely invested.

Katya specifically is always trying to get more info on their life out them. Asking seemingly innocent questions about Raine's past relationships that gets Raine to go on rants before realizing and getting embarrassed.

Despite joining to be apart of a rebellion, the BATTs end up seeing each other as family. Much to Raine's guilt knowing the risk of what could happen to any of them.

The BATTs stay friends after Belos is defeated and they become friends with Steve as well

[moonpoolcat]

Epoch Looks to the Moon

It's about dam time I finished this. Welcome to the start of my own au. It's been a long time coming since I bought rainworld and I got invested in the fandom soon after. It's Moon with tits, I don't care who says it's weird, my drawing, my rules now hold this L.

Quick Backstory (Short version)

Lttm is a gen 1 iterator an current senior to the Twilight local group. After the death of SOS, Moon was left feeling compelled to pick up where she left off the best she could. In this timeline Moon would not collapse like in game but instead be saved by an iterator who's can that is the first of it's kind was mobile. Along with NSH and Hunter. She could forgive Pebbles desire to escape, but she could never forgive his act of purposely ignoring her please for mercy, therefore Pebbles was exiled from the local group till further notice for not only attempted murder but the infection of the rot towards himself but her apprentice Unparalleled Innocence was affected as well. Later on she was secretly relieved the both of them had been cured by SRS an was happy to find out her brother was being looked after by Chasing Winds. This event forever tarnish, destroying everything she had ever believed in her entire life.

With a new perspective LTTM began to suspect her local group members were working against her? At first she didn't want to believe such accusations were true until NSH had hacked into their private group chat revealing they were part of the anti sliverists orchestrated by an unknown admin. Someone had premeditated this... In retaliation Moon would gather up these traitors an behead them in front of thousands of iterators during gathering, setting an example for anyone else who dared to harm her again. But the admins were not safe either for it was also discovered they to had planned her downfall so they had met the same fate essentially turning this even into the blood moon genocide.

As if it couldn't get any worse. Her UI had been the one responsible for Pebbles rot. For that, she was beheaded as well then was forced to carry out the rest of Pebbles sentence as punishment. With the weight of being admin, her lover gone, her brother traumatized, and anti- sliverists at war with each other- Something within Moon snapped! She became forever cold, merciless, relentless, and vengeful showing no remorse for anyone. Not even her own local group is safe from this iterators eternal wrath. Those below an only loyal to Moon shall not have to fear the queens endless quest for vengeance. The only goal this Moon has is to be rid the planet of anti sliverists that threaten everything she an Sliver worked so hard to create vowing to hunt down her killer if it's the last thing she'll do. Even if it means hurting the ones she cares about. For the ones that tread on stained waters will be the first to drown.

Explanation behind the design:

Look I like pogo legs but I needed this au to make sense if I'm going to be able to explain everything else. There were exactly 3 redraws of her dress as I attempted to go for a regal look but it had failed so I went for an egyptian look instead to set myself apart from the other Moons. Someone said she looked like a genie so I just rolled with it. The antlers were my attempt at matriarchy as I felt that it fit her since she is the oldest of iterators.

Relations

Five Pebbles: Cares very much for him. He is recovering from cycles of isolation. Is slightly traumatized from Moon beheading UI. Has forgiven SRS.

SRS: Moon has little to no trust in Suns, she denied him admin role because of their poor mental health after exiling their abusive mentor. To her he is merely used as a means of brute force during situations where she does not want to spill blood. But on the inside she cares deeply for them nonethless worried whenever they have an explosive episode or any form of metal psychosis.

NSH: They use to be lovers before she half collapsed. Annoying as he may be Sig is the only iterator who she had given admin privileges to. However does not accept him as her equal because of memory loss. His speed is useful in keeping tabs on all the territories so nothing goes unnoticed. His two face nature and super speed makes it perfect to infiltrate places an come out unscathed.

Chasing Winds: He was the apprentice to SOS. He left the group after she died. Moon doesn't get along with him because he does not enjoy her violent tendacies creating fear setting a bad influence on the younger group members.

UI: Moon wants nothing to do with her. A lost cause and a waste of time thinking she could ever raise an iterator to one day take her role as admin.

Enlightened overturned silk: Wants dead immediately. (Keep an eye on this guy he's important)

Other local groups

Oasis local group: Allies

Zodius local group: Allies

Jaded local group: Not on good terms. Moon would rather see them dead.

Stormfall local group: Neutral due to Chasing Winds being Admin Moon wants no conflict with them.

Sliverist group: The only group she trusts to protect Slivers can. She took it upon herself to train them personally into the most lethal local group in the area an heads to Moons calls as they trust her enough to obey orders only because she was with Sliver the longest.

Anti-Sliverists: Wanta dead at all cost. Anyone who spots one are to kill them on site with no hesitation. Failure to report an a siting or incident are to be reported to Moon immediately.

Extra

The colored pearls on her antlers are her way of keeping up with who's in her local group, they're personal keepsakes that she forbids anyone from touching.

Neuron flies will forever circle her when she is wearing clothing. Otherwise they vanish when taken off. She keeps them around in case something happens an it is a means of a last resort of staying alive. They can be used an shaped into a projectile and will take one minute to reproduce a new one.

Weapon of choice: Scythe; It carries the weight of 100 leviathans. Only SOS, SRS an NSH have been the only ones known to be able to lift it off the ground.

Moon ironically can camouflage when it's dark, the downside being the ability is most weak during the day.

Morph form: Should have been obvious it's a deer.

Moon has a sister named Illuminated diamond Twilight, they're cycles older than Pebbles. Funny that her local group was named after her. Not on good terms when mentioned though.

Her antlers can retract at will, although she has to take every pearl off which is time consuming but worth it since it's just used as presentation.

If angered for to long Moon will enter a wendigo like state an will not stop until whatever had angered is either dead or has fled the area. It is recommended to not annoy her at all.

Moons lore is out go read it.

[atthebell]

practical advice about college you say?

[the weird spaces between some paragraphs are because i hit the character limit on content blocks which i didnt really know existed until now, fascinating!]

Don't buy too much shit. There will be a lot of things that people tell you are useful— buy things that seem like necessities, then figure out what you need from there. My grandma tried to buy me all kinds of crap and some of it was utterly useless, whereas other random stuff was super helpful (like towels, you should own at LEAST two towels, more if you reallyyyyy don’t want to do laundry).

Decor and things to make your dorm room (if applicable, also relevant for apartments etc.) feel more lived in are excluded from the above; if you want to have a million pieces of art on your walls, absolutely go for it. In fact, other people will think you're cool and want to hang out with you, I'm not even joking. Maybe invest in a bean bag, those are also a good seating thing for small rooms. I had a regular bean bag and then a giant one and it was a great way to have fun seating in my room (I hosted a lot of hangouts/let people just chill in my room a lot, so your personal mileage may vary).

Go find free food. There is more free food than you could even imagine on college campuses, go find it and don't be afraid to bundle some up in a napkin or some Tupperware and take it home. This is genuinely grad student 101 (grad students often don't have meal plans like undergrads) but is very relevant to all elements of college. I was notorious amongst friends and acquaintances for going to all kinds of events and bringing food home, and it was awesome. I could swipe some bagels from a student org social and the next morning I wouldn't have to worry about waking up early enough to grab breakfast from the dining hall or, heaven forbid, cooking.

Along similar lines, keep a decent amount of snacks/food in your room. Do you love trader Joe's chocolate covered almonds? Goldfish? Wasabi peas? Keep a stash in your room at all times. Future you will thank past you, especially when you're feeling down or studying or both. If you have a mini fridge or anything like that, keep a few cold things in there, like Gatorade or energy drinks for late nights or even cream cheese for the previously mentioned free bagels.

Join some student orgs! I assure you that while I have always been an over involved maniac of a human being, I am not anything even close to a social butterfly. You don't have to be, but having a few connections, especially with people in similar circumstances to you (first in your family to go to college, low income, women in stem, queer, latine, whatever your background and/or situation may be). You might not meet people you click perfectly with, but you'll at least be able to connect with people who get your experiences on some level. I truly do not know what I would've done without my college’s first gen/low income program or the Jewish community I found going to various events.

Professors are way more chill than you think. I say this as someone who asked for extensions every single semester/quarter of university i was in and again went to several incredibly prestigious colleges. Many professors are way less hardass than you may think, and some are the kind of people who will invite you over for shabbes dinner and become incredibly important mentor figures for you. The latter are harder to find, but there are plenty of extremely cool professors and TFs and lecturers who are always down to talk about course content or any number of topics. Everyone always says this but go to office hours! It really helps and it's just a great way to connect better with people passionate about the same things you are.

Grades are stupid and bad. This is not specific to college; the focus on grades in all levels of education is ridiculous and counterproductive to learning. This is important for you to know and remember, even when grades DO matter; for transcripts, for grad school, for getting jobs and scholarships and other opportunities. Trust me, I understand that grades matter, but I want you to know that they shouldn't, and you aren't stupid or worthless if you struggle with academics, or if you feel like your grades don't reflect your effort. Grades are a way to standardize (retch) measurement of learning, but they don't show the full or accurate picture. You are so much more than your grades or where or what you're studying.

Take fun classes! I know a lot of STEM majors make it incredibly difficult to dip out of course tracks, but if you can, try to take some fun and diverse classes. Take a gender studies class, take a theater class, learn photography, take a wacky science class, take a language course (this one I want to specifically highlight!!!! learn a new language while you're in a setting that's way easier (for many people) to learn one in!), find a beloved professor from another field and dip your toes in. I took all kinds of wild classes (religious studies is not a major where they fill up your schedule with required classes, at least not at my university) and had a blast, and it's good to have some familiarity with different fields and possibly how they connect with your own. Also it's just fun! You can meet new people and learn a lot from studying something you haven't before.

Be very nice to your custodial staff but know that they are probably deeply underpaid and understaffed. And get to know your housing staff too so you know more about who to call in certain situations. Also get a tool set so you can fix minor stuff yourself.

Don't be afraid to party, but also don't feel pressured. I spent most of my college years in a group of friends who played board games every week instead of drinking, and I personally did not drink until I was 21 for various personal reasons. If people make fun of you, don't hang out with those people. If they pressure you, stay the fuck away. If people are judgy about your drinking/partying/hookup choices? They can go fuck themselves. Find people who respect your decisions, either way, no matter what they are, and anyone else can fuck off.

I didn't really date or hook up in college but I did get hit on by a lot of beautiful bisexual women. If a very hot girl that you want to hang out with in a sexual or romantic context asks you to teach her to play pool, just say yes. Do not shoot yourself in the foot. If someone sets you up on a date with a friend of theirs and you guys vibe better as friends, never let this person go. I'm joking but that's how I met my best friend who I adore perhaps more than anyone else in this world so you never know what the universe will hand you.

Get more sleep. Whatever amount of sleep you're getting, try to sleep more. Sometimes homework or frat parties or boyfriends matter a lot less than just getting a few more hours of sleep, and you will retain information better and feel less like shit. Please get more sleep and maybe drink less caffeine.

Befriend some grad students! I'm completely unbiased (<3) but grad students have a lot of insight about college and life as a young adult, and they're often very cool. They might invite you over to smoke weed and talk about Kant— I cannot stress enough that you never have to do something you don't want, but say yes to this if it's at all appealing. Definitely not another personal anecdote.

Connect with your first gen/low income and/or financial aid office(s). They will have incredibly helpful info, including about getting jobs or scholarships or even just the experience of being low income at college. Also, if you're attending a California Community College, apply for the CCPG (previously known as the BOGW)! It waives all enrollment and tuition fees if you meet eligibility and qualification requirements. I would add more resources but I am a Californian so that's what I have at the moment.

Kind of related, if you're leaving university right now with student loans and you're low income, apply for the SAVE plan to make smaller (or no) payments and less (or no) interest. It's been saving my ass for a while now and it could be helpful for you.

Drink more water. If you need it cold, get a brita pitcher thing and put it in your minifridge if you have one. If not, ice from the dining hall + a decently insulated water bottle. You should be drinking on average 8oz every two hours, or every one hour when it's really hot.

Have a craft or a hobby or a video game or a show or a book or a movie or something that you can do like. At least once a week as Chill Time. Personally I would have some Chill Time at least once a day, but if you are busy to the max, Chill Time once a week is mandatory. Doesn’t have to be the same time every time, but if it is, clear your schedule. That is the only thing happening then. No one gets to interrupt Chill Time. Not to be confused with hanging out with friends, which is still a good activity you should do many times a week. This is Chill Alone Time, where you just sit with yourself and do something you like to do alone. Get a coloring book, learn how to cross stitch, read a book on native birds, whatever suits your fancy.

If you are anything like the hot mess express that I was, you will go to class in pajamas/sweats. This is fine. There are probably some people out there who care about this, but you should ignore them. Similarly, if you, for instance, wake up at 1pm for your 1:30pm class, feel only the amount of shame necessary to make you able to be on time to class (if the prof cares) and nothing more. I stayed up til 4:30am every single night my freshman year of college it is a miracle I was ever awake during the day and the fact that I managed to do my coursework and still have a social life continues to be a mystery to me today. Anyway, your fashion choices in college but especially your first year should never be judged to any significant standard. If you’re wearing clothes at all, that’s commendable.

If you’re on a biking campus, wear a helmet. This is not optional, wear a fucking helmet. Also for the love of fuck have a bike light and use it at night you do not want to be smushed by a car at 3am biking back from wherever you’ve been.

If you do not know how to do laundry, ask someone. Please do not just go into the laundry room with full confidence and dump 16 loads worth of detergent into a washing machine and fuck it up for everyone. Also not a single dorm dryer will ever work correctly. Know this, and invest in a drying rack or be content to fry the shit out of your clothes at 90 minutes of high heat.

Communicate with your roommate(s). You do not have to be friends, you don’t even have to like each other, but you should be on the same page about stuff. Especially re: sexiling, taking the trash out, volume levels, friends over, etc. etc. You don’t want to get to the end of the year and then realize your roommate fucking hates you because you never asked if she was cool with whatever thing you’ve been doing that’s been annoying her.

This is just general young adult life advice but: You will fuck up. Like, probably more than you think. But you will be okay, and you should know that everyone does that. You’re learning how to do stuff on your own, you’re possibly leaving a bad situation or even a great situation into something you don’t know enough about to possibly be prepared. It’s hard! It’s going to be hard for a bit! But you are not the only person who’s done this, and there are a lot of people out there you can talk to and find support from. The worst thing you could possibly do is isolate yourself, so please don’t do that. Find some good people, eat some good food, and for the love of fuck get more sleep.

[lorata]

Dexter & Callista, 57

for @transrevolutions on your natal day, here is uhhh some ... dark ....... conversations about death and mentoring, anger and violence and tributes who don't usually get a lot of attention? (skye & jasper)

SORRY I TRIED TO WRITE CREED but this happened instead

warnings for: canon-typical violence (arena and otherwise), mentions of offscreen victor prostitution

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

Skye crumples to the ground, his chest a bloody ruin, and Two’s newest mentor brings home her first victor without even trying. Dexter had played nice with her because why not, kid had been terrified and heartsick like all of them their first time in the ring and soon she’d know the ugly stench of loss like everyone else, that sick little bonding ritual that brought them all together. Joke’s on him, though, looks like she didn’t need his condescension.

“Good game,” Dexter grinds out dully as he pushes himself to his feet, mostly because Phillips made such a fucking scene about it when his died and it feels like there’s a point to prove somewhere. Not that anybody notices, it’s endgame now so there are morgues to visit and families to call and consolation speeches to choke out for the losers. Starting tonight, sponsors will be looking to cash in their failed investments, but he can’t — not right now, not yet.

For the winners — well, Dexter wouldn’t know. He’s never brought one back alive.

The corridors bustle with activity, Avoxes and runners hustling and upstart nepotism-gifted junior Gamemakers barking out orders to make themselves feel important with their bosses busy upstairs. Someone slams hard into Dexter, knocking him fully sideways, but he keeps walking, ignoring the babbled apology.

Cannot go to the One floor, with its perfumed showers and apologetic escort and list of assignments likely already waiting. Not the mentor common floor, either, with the pity-party raging and where they will not welcome the almost-rans who murdered all the early losers. The roof, then — not the penthouse garden above the tribute apartments, home of District 12’s fresh meat, but like much of the Capitol there’s the glitzy, glittery parts for show and then there’s everything else. A few slipped pills to an Avox and Dexter’s in an access elevator to a square of rooftop nestled halfway up the complex between two spires.

He expects the gritty concrete and traffic grime, the blare of distant celebrations and occasional blaze of a travelling strobe light; he does not expect a goddess in athleisure with her feet propped up against the wall, smoking a noxious-smelling cigarette. “New girl won,” Dexter says, to give himself some time.

Callista exhales a long plume of smoke. After waiting a while for her reply, Dexter decides that must be it and lowers himself down across from her. “You know those things will kill you,” he says, out of some stupid compulsion. He can’t look at carbohydrates without feeling an itch to stuff his fingers down his throat and the only euphoria he’s ever experienced came in tablet form passed via Callista’s tongue, but his minders would have whipped him for that.

“I,” Callista says with grave reverence, “am microdosing on mortality.”

“What, all this isn’t enough for you?” He waves an arm behind them, where a condominium complex has projected the faces of all the tributes. As he watches, Skye and Camphor switch from full colour to black and white.

But at the same time, he knows what she means. They don’t make a drug mean enough for what he wants, they don’t make drugs that fill your lungs with tar and ash, that scrape your throat and make you rasp and cough. He failed, again. A beautiful, hopeful, stupid, cocky child has died, again. Sparkly club drugs and golden thrumming in his veins won’t help him now.

Callista hands it over. Dexter inhales deep — oh, big mistake, his lungs immediately protest — he chokes, spluttering, passes the cigarette back as his head spins and his stomach turns over. He closes his eyes and rests his head against the wall. “We were so close. So close.”

She hums. “You had a sweet one this year. How would he have fared, your boy? When they got their claws in him.”

Skye — was sweet, for One. He and Camphor had made themselves a killer pair. They’d known how to work it, too, rinsing each other off by the lake, curling up at night, teasing the audience without ever taking real advantage of each other. If it had been the two of them in the end, Dexter has no doubts they would have fought it out without hard feelings, true professionals, no hidden barbs and buried hatred coming out to play.

And when he won, it would be Dexter’s job to remind him of the cost. To sit him down, give him the list of names, and tell him exactly how they liked it, exactly as his mentor had done with him.

Anger flares, better than any drug. Dexter clings to it even as it slips through his fingers, like blood-slick intestine. “Is this you trying to make me feel better? Better he’s dead than have to suffer my life?”

Calista stares at him, incomprehending, and he could do it now, could throw himself at her and wrap his arms around her throat, bash his fists into her skull and leave her face a bloody pulp, shove her over the edge and let the sidewalk take her, every single awful, ugly urge that bubbles up when he’s on his knees but he isn’t in some plush bedroom now, is he, and she has no power over him —

“I apologize,” Callista says, and Dexter nearly screams no, don’t, I need to feel this, don’t you say you’re sorry to me but it’s too late, it all deflates. “I am furious. I want to kill. I want to feel the blood again, I want to hurt — I want to hurt.” She says it one more time, reverent, like a litany. “I wanted to hurt.”

“How can you say it like that.” Dexter almost laughs, except it’s not funny, he just — can’t make the pieces fit together. “You say these things and you’re just … sitting there, smoking. You sound like you’re ordering caviar at dinner.”

“This is how I always sound.” Callista bares her teeth in a smile that sets his skin crawling. “Ladies do not raise their voice. Ladies are elegant. Ladies —“

“Kill the guy they’re having sex with on live television and scar impressionable young boys? Come on.”

Callista huffs a sound somewhere between a snort and a snicker. “Not all of them, clearly.”

Everything is fucked, Dexter thinks, Skye should be alive and he should not be in a complicated mutilation-and-orgasms situationship with a rival mentor, but here they are. “That was still a shitty thing to say.”

Out in the streets the victory fanfare plays on tinny loop from a dessert truck. Callista closes her eyes. “I thought the Arena would make it stop,” she says. “I want to hurt — everything, everyone, all the time. I practice control with things that matter but give me an excuse and I will tear your throat out. You were wounded and I knew I could hurt you. You may take a free shot, if you’d like.”

Well, that gave him something to chew on when his brain isn’t stuffed with Skye’s death stare — Callista’s mouth on his, hand sliding between his legs, crammed into a back alley with an unconscious man’s blood pooling at their feet; the time he asked her to make him hurt and she took him close, but not quite, to using the safe word she’d taught him, and he’d cried in her arms in the comedown and they’d never talked about it, I practice control with things that matter what the fuck —

“Is that why you pick the villains?” Dexter blurted out instead, like he’s nineteen and suicidal all over again.

She exhaled through her nose. The cigarette had long burned out, and she glanced down at it, clicked her tongue, and flicked the butt away. “Never let me accuse you of being soft. Villains, really.”

“You have to know.” This year especially, Dexter has a steel stomach and even he didn’t relish those hours of watching Callista’s boy fillet the little one from Twelve. They’d all been grateful when Four took care of it. “Outliers are the underdog or the dark horse, but we’re either a hero or, well.”

Dexter, more fool him, usually went for heroes, despite the hell that waited for them. District 1 had enough angry mentors who went for the nasty ones, he could afford to try. In the end they all bled out the same.

“I hate that word.” Callista clips the words with icy precision. “They are children. Children who give the audience exactly what they want, a bloodbath. Children with no artifice, children who cannot pretty up their kills with talk of loyalty or pride or wanting to see their precious little homesteads again. The people drink up the spectacle each year and demand more, bigger, flashier. These Games teach us it is our nature to do whatever it takes to survive. My children are villains because they don’t come with equal amounts of remorse to make it palatable.”

“Sure, but this one tortured a kid,” Dexter says. Sometimes Twos really are a whole other level. “Don’t you think you’d have it easier if you picked kids who … didn’t do that? As soon as he started skinning you know they would have offed him, whether the Pack did him in or not.”

Now Callista’s eyes blaze, and for a second he thinks she’ll actually hurt him, not just throw bladed words, but the only thing that escapes her is a low hiss. “So he died regardless, knowing that he made me proud. He deserves that much. His time of glory and a mentor who loves him, even only for a month. They all deserve that. I am not in this for the safe sells, obedient little quarry sons and daughters with patriotic sponsors lined up out the door. Anyone can love those. I am here for the ones nobody else will.”

In spite of himself, Dexter’s throat feels thick. Did his mentor talk to anyone like that about him? Or does that kind of unfettered, passionate protectiveness burn out the first time you hand your victor off to the pawing crowd? He feels ancient and naked at the same time. “Well,” he says, uselessly, “here’s to dead kids who deserve better.”

Callista presses the toe of her shoe against his calf and lets her eyes fall shut. They stay outside, awake but silent, until nightfall.

[thesirencult]

BRINGING DOWN OTHERS IS LOW VALUE

Today I had the joy of getting a message from a nice young lady who wanted to thank me for my advice and sweetly asked me if I wanted to be friends with her ❤️

This made me understand that having a platform may be a way to share our individual opinions but we should have in mind that, especially on Tumblr, many people come across our content and we have responsibility to correctly and ethically influence them by adding value to their lives.

So, I want to thank every single one of you for following me and sending sweet messages. All 1,205 of you. We are a small corner on the internet and I don't care about appearing "mysterious" and "unapproachable" to my digital friends.

If you have a question/a content suggestion or just want to say "Hi!" don't be shy and use my AMA or private messages. I'll try to answer to all of you.

Also, thank you for being patient with me as I'm finishing up with this exam season and have not posted anything in the past few days. A few of you reached out for tarot readings and a birth chart analysis and we got even closer, so thank you for trusting me with your time, money, hopes and wishes!

I asked the young lady if she wanted me to write a post about something specific or if she had any content suggestions. She told me that she wanted my opinion on "pick-me" girls who bring other women down. She added that it would be interesting to "know how do this girls think". Your wish is my command young lady!

Shall we start ?

After you queens... 👑

Have you noticed something? People who are high value and successful are always eager to extend their hand to other people full of passion and ambition. They become mentors and leaders for other women and men. They set the standard by example. Usually these people are kind hearted, yet know how and when to set boundaries.

All in all, they don't bring other people down, they build them up.

This women and men build ladders for others to climb at the top with them but they know, they have to protect themselves and their loved ones from vultures, because someone can bring you down even if you are thousand meters above them. They just have to pull the rug underneath your feet.

Someone who is high, won't try to lower someone else's value. Someone who is low is not accustomed to the loneliness of the top. They want to surround themselves with other low value individuals to feel powerful. That's the pack mentality and that's why mean girls/boys hang in crowds.

We all had that "friend". She was insecure but always downplayed. She was always jealous of other people and you could see it but you never thought she was jealous of you. Why would she be? When you talked about your crush/business idea/ambitions it was always : "Ew he is ugly.", "Who are you Elon Musk?", "A law degree? You don't even know how to think critically.".

That friend and you fell apart when you started investing in yourself, and that's when the veil fell off and you saw other girls like that.

The pick-me girls.

A couple days ago, I had a "History Of Economic Thought" exam (It's a very interesting topic to research and if a similar class is available to you, I suggest that you take it!). It was the last one I had to take in person.

I felt awful, anxious and tired. Two weeks of hard work, studying everyday, staying up till light came through the blinds and commuting two hours back and forth to and from school had made me emotionally and mentally tired. I needed some loving from my cat Mr. Mau and a toffee nut latte.

I did my 10k steps by the sea and decided to open up Pinterest and make myself feel a bit better. I searched up "fall aesthetic", "studying aesthetic", "toffee nut latte from Starbucks" etc.

Under a pin there was this comment by a girl calling all women who are "obsessed" with fall, Starbucks and cute photos of pumpkins, "silly a** basic white b*tches".

I then went on TikTok and came across a video of a woman who was being shamed for having a 35k engagement ring (you know which one I'm talking about, the one her man, an amazing king ate the interviewer up and left no crumbs). A woman had commented "she is a gold digger and when he cheats on her with a good woman she'll get what she deserves".

Excuse me what ? So a good woman is one who tries to please others by accepting less than she deserves. I'm not one who would want a 35k engagement ring, buy me a 3k one and 32k of gold for investment purposes, but if her men believed she deserved that, then so be it.

Why are you trying to get picked? Do you think men marry the good girl? Do you think any man who will only see you as an innocent, precious lovely angel will be able to take all of you?

These women are playing a dangerous game. They so badly want to get picked and mostly they get picked but for all the wrong reasons. They love how guys on podcasts praise them online for being "feminine". They love the attention of boys who find them cool.

Sweetheart, you need a man who will find your rage and your sweetness sacred.

You need parents who will understand that you have your own dreams, needs and that you are not just an extension of their egos.

These women and the so-called "good guys" (uhh don't let me get started on those") are sad inside. They would love to have your own wildness and freedom. They feel jealous that you are still that magical bitch holding your pumpkin spice latte with a fresh new set and while doing kick boxing on Wednesday afternoon.

Girls, watch some Legally Blonde. It's the literal blueprint 😉 It made me come to terms with my girly nature as a girl who grew up a tomboy.

You don't have to be just bubbly and feminine. You don't have to be just a dark feminine, femme fatale. You can be all of those things because we are multilayered beings. Lastly, we have the gift of metamorphosis. Don't be afraid to transform and break the mold.