#at least I’m assuming this is what you’re referencing

[thorkyriebabes]

*me trying to think of something normal to say to you*: um um um dragons make me think of you

😭😭❤️❤️😁😁😚🤪😜😎🙏🏻🐉🦖🗻🏔️⛰️

[shegotheruby]

Make Him Jealous

“If i’m being honest..” Chan continues. “I always had this fantasy that she would see me with another girl and immediately feel jealous. I’d dream at night that I had this gorgeous date on my arm and she’d see me and take me back after that shockwave hit.”

You nod and make eye contact with him. “I’m quite familiar with that dream.”

“So let’s make it come true for both of us” He shrugs. “I’ll help you make this guy jealous like I never got the chance to. Maybe it won’t help, maybe he won’t care, but at the very least can I give you a ride home?”

OR

Running into your cheating EX at a party was not on your bucket list for the night... But a surprise encounter with Lee Chan changes things around. What starts as making Mingyu jealous might end in something more...

WC: 11.3k

TW: SMUT. 18+ MDNI. implied/referenced cheating, alcohol, speed dating, fluff, college au, fluff, again.. smut.

“Jun! Hao!” You yelled over the sound of the party. “Where did Soonyoung go?”

“Not sure” Minghao replied in a daze, obviously focused on the sports match on TV.

“I think he’s with Chan” Jun replied, eyes also glued to the screen.

Not helpful. Firstly, you have no idea who Chan is, and Secondly, this house is massive. Without some help, it would take forever to find your best friend (and your sober driver, because let’s be honest, you’re tipsy). You wandered into the kitchen, weaving in and out of the couples slobbering all over each other in drunken makeouts. It made your heart hurt, seeing all of the happy people. Unfortunately for you, your Ex is here, and you’d rather escape before he tries to -god forbid- speak to you. So you continue on, making your way into the dining room and down the stairs.

You search the entire basement with no luck. He’s not in the main room playing beer pong, he’s not in the cinema room, and he’s definitely not in the bedroom (sorry Vernon…you definitely did not mean to walk in on a hookup). You wander back up to the main level, deciding to check the second story next. You check (more carefully this time) through the different bedrooms and bathrooms with no luck. You call out his name, but your friend is nowhere to be seen. You could go back downstairs, but what if you ran into Mingyu? He broke your heart and you’re not ready to see him with a new girl attached at the hip.

You swear under your breath before leaving the last bedroom, wandering over to an open window. You pop your head out and suck in a deep breath, the cold winter air biting at your nose. At least it didn’t smell like weed out here. A rogue tear escaped, rolling down your cheek, and you looked at your phone again, still no response to your texts. The window opens to a pretty flat roof, and against your better judgement, you decide to step out on it. More tears start to fall, and you realize that you’re not just teary, you’re full on crying. Images of Mingyu the day you broke up continue flashing through your mind, and all you want is to just get out of here. But your stupid friend is missing and your stupid roommate is out of town and you failed your stupid exam today and you didn’t want to come to this stupid party anyway and life just sucks.

You stumble a little in your buzzed state, but the ledge of the roof is feet away. You’re fine. You wander towards it, just hoping to get a good look at the party happening in the backyard. Maybe you’ll be able to spot Soonyoung from above! Genius! You wipe at your tears and step after step walk towards the edge.

But you don’t quite make it, because a strong pair of arms wraps around you and pulls you back against the wall of the house. “Don’t jump!” his voice says, a bit frantic. “There’s always another option!”

“what the fuck” you snap, shoving the stranger off of you. “I wasn’t going to jump!”

“Ok, sorry” he replies, putting his hands up in defense.

You take a moment to stare at each other in silence. You wipe another tear away and feel immediately awkward.

“I didn’t mean to assume…” He speaks slowly, “I just saw a crying girl approaching the edge of a roof…thought I should intervene.”

Reality hits you and you slump your shoulders.You slide down the wall, resting your head in your hands with a huff. “Oh my god.” you mutter. “I am actually a walking disaster.”

You rub at your temples as he stands next to you, looking a little shy. “Um…Are you okay?” he asks, Craning his neck so he’s in your line of vision.

You look over at him, embarrassed because you realize he’s like…really cute. He seems close to your age with shaggy blonde hair, a bit longer in the back. A style you like. He’s wearing an oversized jacket and blue ripped jeans.

“I’m fine. I just can’t find my ride home.”

He sits down next to you and lightly wraps his arms around bent knees.

“When did you see them last?”

“Honestly it’s been like a good hour or two.” you admit. “He wandered away when I was talking to an old friend and I haven’t seen him since. He won’t answer his phone either.”

You check your notifications again to see if Soonyoung has responded, and visibly slump more when there’s nothing.

“I can give you a ride if you want?” he offers, “I’m not drinking tonight.”

You furrow your eyebrows. “Thanks but… I don’t know you…strange roof man.”

He chuckles. “Fair enough, strange roof girl. Lee Chan at your service.” He extends his hand forward in introduction.

Your eyes widen at the name. “You’re Chan!?” You ask, brain fog slowly clearing. “Someone said Soonyoung was with you earlier?”

He nods, surprised that you’ve heard his name before. “Uh yeah. He’s one of my buddies from Chem lab.”

“Do you know where he went?” You ask, suddenly hopeful that you can get out of here before Mingyu sees you.

“Unfortunately…If he’s your ride…I think he’s a bit indisposed at the moment…” his voice trails off.

“Damn it��� you huff, beating your head against the wall behind you. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“If you think it means he’s half naked with two blondes in the pool-house right now” he gestures towards the building in the distance, “You’d be right.”

“two?” you furrow your brows again “asshole.” you mutter.

Chan’s eyes snap open and his voice raises in volume as he asks, “Shit, please tell me you’re not his date tonight?”

You nearly choke on a laugh “Oh my dear God, no.” you wipe away the last of your tears, thankful for the distraction from your pity party. “We’ve been friends since I was six. He’s like…my older brother.”

“Older?” Chan asks

“Yeah. I was born in 1999.”

“Me too!” He smiles. “I kind of assumed Hosh was my same age though.”

“No he’s just a dumbass who neglected to take his general science credits until Senior year.”

“Hmm” chan mumbles in thought. “The more you know…”

You can’t help but notice his side profile. (Not that it’s a good time to be thinking about that..but it’s nice. He’s got an attractive jawline…)

“Anyways” he changes the subject turning his body fully towards you. “What’s your name?”

“Y/N.” you sigh. “and i promise that i’m usually pretty put together and you caught me on a bad night.”

“Wanna talk about it?” He offers. “My rooftop lounge is open for therapy reservations.”

“Your rooftop lounge?”

“Yeah. This is my spot during every party. You wouldn’t believe how much fraternity hazing i’ve avoided by hiding out up here.”

You stifle a laugh..he’s kind of charming.

“It’s a good spot.” You survey the view.

He nods. “What brings you to it?”

“If you must know” you start, straightening out the wrinkles in your jeans. “My Ex is downstairs..and I haven’t seen him since I dumped him for cheating.”

“Ooooh”

You don’t have to look to see that he’s making one of those ‘yikes, i’m really sorry for you’ faces. So you don’t. You stare at your shoes.

“If it makes you feel any better…” He says, tapping your shoulder. “You look really good tonight so he’s probably regretting his decisions and feeling like a loser.”

Your cheeks blush rosy pink at the compliment.

“I actually don’t think he saw me at all” you sigh, pursing your lips. “I got one glance of him with a new girl and bolted to find Soonyoung.”

Out of the corner of your eye you see his face light up a bit. Like he has an idea.

“Well in that case you’ve got the upper hand.” He says nonchalantly.

“Huh?”

“Well if he didn’t see you…” he says, in a singsong voice “he doesn’t know you’re here without a date of your own.”

“But I am here without a date of my own…”

“What’s this guy’s name” he asks

“Mingyu…” You reply, still not following what he’s getting at.

He grins with heart-stopping charisma

“Great news! I’ve never met him. He’s never met me. Complete strangers. Want to be my date tonight?”

You scoff. “Chan, that’s really nice but…”

“Look.” He cuts you off. “Before you say no…”

You close your mouth and stare at him.

“To make a long story short: I got dumped a year ago. The girl cheated on me.”

“And she still was the one to dump you?” You question

“At the time I thought we were in love. I was infatuated and when I found out, I tried to fight for her anyways… she rejected me and chose the other guy.”

“What a bitch…”

“The sad thing is, even now, I wouldn’t say that.” he sighs. “it sucked. Like really, really bad. and I want to hate her. But they seem happier together than she ever seemed with me…so who am I to hold her back from that?”

you raise your eyebrows, surprised that this stranger is being so vulnerable with you. Maybe it’s just the roof vibes…?

“Rambling aside…It still hurt me really bad and you seem like a good girl who doesn’t deserve to go through that same feeling.”

“You don’t really know me.”

“I know Soonyoung. And anyone who has retained a friendship with him for a long period of time probably rocks.” He laughs, looking over at the poorhouse where your childhood best friend is probably doing filthy things.

You purse your lips.

“If i’m being honest..” Chan continues. “I always had this fantasy that she would see me with another girl and immediately feel jealous. I’d dream at night that I had this gorgeous date on my arm and she’d see me and take me back after that shockwave hit.”

You nod and make eye contact with him. “I’m quite familiar with that dream.”

“So let’s make it come true for both of us” He shrugs. “I’ll help you make this guy jealous like I never got the chance to. Maybe it won’t help, maybe he won’t care, but at the very least can I give you a ride home?”

He stands up, brushing his hands on his jeans before offering his hand out to you.

And what the hell. You take it.

***

After climbing back through the window, you pull him into one of the open bedrooms.

“OK. If we’re going on a fake date.”

“Real date” He interrupts. “I asked you to be my date and I plan on being very good to you.”

You chuckle. “Ok Mr. Chivalry. If we’re going on a date” (you emphasize that last word with a shake of your head), “I’d like to know more about you…speed dating with Chan.” You offer, sitting on the bed.

“I like this plan” he answers, sitting next to you. “Ask me anything. Rapid fire.”

“Okay. Major?”

“Dance.”

“Minor?”

“Two. Audio Production and Music Theory.”

You’re impressed.

“Favorite Song?”

“Beat It by Michael Jackson.”

“Astrological Sign?”

“Aquarius”

“MBTI?”

“ESTJ.”

“What’s your type?”

“You.”

“Ok so you’re a flirt. noted.”

He chuckles and brushes his shoulder against yours. “I never said that.”

“I’m good at making logical conclusions” you report.

“Whatever.” he laughs. “What’s your type then?”

“Cute guys who save me from jumping off the roof.” You smirk, avoiding the real answer which might also be…. him.

“Aww” he touches his heart “You think I’m a hero, and you think i’m cute!?”

You copy his comeback “I never said that.” (except he’s totally your hero right now…and yes…he’s totally cute).

He shakes his head. “Next question. Favorite drink.”

“Let’s answer on three” you offer.

“Deal.”

“1…2…3… Strawberry Soju”

“Strawberry Soju specifically out of a BTS themed shot glass that I got for my 21st birthday!”

You actually buckle over in laughter. “Oh my god, Chan you’re a charmer.” You push his shoulder, standing up from the bed. “Where have you been all my life.”

“In your dreams, sweetheart.” He answers, putting his arm around your shoulder. “Speed Date officially concluded. Ready to go find this Ex?”

You nod and open the bedroom door, for the first time this evening, feeling pretty confident.

The stairs are crowded, and Chan keeps his arm around you as you squeeze around the people trying to come up or down. After almost falling over he slides it down so it’s around your waist instead of your shoulders, keeping you upright. You throw a thankful glance over your shoulder and continue down until you reach the main party. He keeps his hand securely planted, lightly brushing your skin where your shirt is cropped. More than a couple of guys greet Chan as you pass by and you realize that he’s actually pretty popular. He seems to know everyone. (except for Mingyu, thank god), and everyone seems to like his presence.

At one point you find yourself in the backyard, dancing to some music by the pool. Chan is talking lightly with some other people, one of them introduced himself but you already forgot his name. You’re just enjoying the moment, swaying to the music with your eyes closed, Chan’s arm holding you up. Somehow, you don’t even notice the reason you’re doing this (Mingyu) on the other end of the yard, but he noticed you.

You don’t notice the jealous look on his face, the way his fists ball up at his sides. You completely miss the affect you clearly still have on him, because you’re wrapped up in your own little world. You miss the way he spills beer down his shirt, mumbling a few curse words before turning away, retreating inside to get away from you.

Some things you DO notice: Chan has an award winning smile. He’s charismatic with the groups of people passing by, and has a “secret handshake” with one of his frat brothers. Despite the fact that you just met, he looks at you like he knows you. He includes you in the conversation when he can and never leaves your side. He dances with you when the music grows in volume, and he’s good at it.

You notice that his neutral face has soft lips that slightly curl into a smile even when he’s not trying. He has an infectious laugh and you don’t really care about making Mingyu jealous anymore. In fact, you don’t really care about Mingyu at all. Or Soonyoung, for that matter. You find yourself feeling grateful that you stumbled into this guy and pray he’s not a drunken hallucination.

At one point the host of the party, Seungkwan, greets Chan with a hug and thanks him for coming. He introduces himself to you and asks if you guys want something to drink. Chan declines, saying that he’s your ride home, but asks for him to grab you some Strawberry Soju.

you glance up at him with a smile “aww, you know me so well.”

“Well we had a very informative first date, I’ve got to start remembering these things.”

“You’re dating?” Seungkwan asks

“Long and complicated story.” You click your tongue. “But we are on a date at the moment, yes.”

You roll your eyes, turning towards Seungkwan. “This is really random…but do you happen to have any special shot glasses?”

Seungkwan’s face lights up in surprise. “Dino. Dude. You told a girl about frat glass?”

“I did not!” He defends. “OK I kind of did…but not like that. It kind of just slipped out.”

“Well now I have questions” you giggle, “Starting with Dino and ending with…frat glass?” your eyebrow raises at that last part.

“If anyone asks I did not tell you about this.” Seungkwan says, side eyeing you with pursed lips

“My lips are sealed” you promise, miming yourself zipping up your lips.

“Ok.” Seungkwan starts, looking around to make sure nobody is eavesdropping. “SVT…SIGMA VETA THETA…Is an honorable fraternity.” He puts his hand over his heart, and you realize he has a flare for dramatics. (You choose to ignore the fact that ‘Veta’ is not a letter in the greek alphabet).

“and that remains true aside from some old weird shit.” Chan adds.

“we all have a matching shot glass.” Seungkwan butts back in. “Everyone gets it on their 21st birthday… and It does happen to have BTS on it.”

“Why is that a secret?” you ask. “Are you secretly ashamed to be a group full of little Kpop fanboys?” you giggle, pinching Chan in the side. He squirms playfully but doesn’t pull away from you.

“Oh I am quite loud and proud about the fact that I would fuck Hobi if given the chance!” Seungkwan states matter-of-factly.

Seungkwan is funny and you could now definitely see yourself attending another one of his parties.

“Ok so if not that, why?” You ask a bit more seriously.

“Well…” they both look at each other a bit awkwardly. “There’s… a weird tradition or like… lore with it that started way before any of us were actually here…” Seungkwan explains.

“It’s giving fraternity cult shit.” you determine. “I get it. spit it out.”

“Okay….” Chan concedes. “I want to clarify that I actually do like the glass and I did not mean to tell you about it or have you bring it up to Seungkwan.”

You just look at him with a lot of confusion.

“Basically, If a brother gives a girl a shot out of the glass around other brothers, it’s a signal that he’s trying to have sex with her. So it’s kind of a nonverbal sign for them to play wingman or whatever.” Chan rushes it out, seemingly a bit embarrassed of the whole idea.

“Additionally, if a girl talks about frat glass, it’s like a signal to all of the other brothers that she’s down to get laid.” Seungkwan finishes. “So like…maybe don’t talk about it to anyone unless you’re trying to fuck.”

You look up at chan and see a “deer in headlights” expression on his face.

“I urge to to forget you heard this and drink a nice calming shot of soju.” He mumbles.

“Oh I won’t be forgetting.” You announce rather boldly. “And I think I want my drink out of frat glass.” This earns a choked laugh from Seungkwan and Chan just gapes at you for a moment.

“You want frat glass?” He chokes out. “Like you wanna drink out of a bts shot glass because it’s silly? or you want … FRAT glass…” He asks, obviously trying to understand what you’re hinting at without actually ASKING.

“Well..” you tap your chin in a thinking pose and raise your eyes to the sky. “How about this. I want a drink out of frat glass, but my interest in it’s so called “lore” (you make air quotes) is yet to be discovered.”

Both boys laugh and Chan, hand still on your waist, guides you to the kitchen. You don’t see Mingyu on the way, but somehow it still feels right to have Chan’s arm around you, fingers occasionally playing with the hem of your shirt. You know it’s kind of mindless, but it sends little tingles through your skin. (What you were too nervous to say a moment ago was that if given the chance, you would so totally jump his bones).

Once you reach the kitchen, Seungkwan opens up a cabinet and finds the glass. He opens a cooler and finds some strawberry soju, quickly pouring you a shot.

“Y/N” he announces, handing it over with both hands, “You are now a trusted confidante of frat glass.”

you raise it above your head. “To my fantastic bias SUGA!” you down the drink with a cheer and seungkwan pours himself one too. “To Hobi!” He laughs, drinking the liquid. He pours you one more and you take it before leading Chan away into the sea of dancing people. You walk for a while, waiting until you see your ex, but you never do.

“What does this guy look like?” Chan asks, eyes scanning the crowd.

“He’s tall, brown hair, probably attached to a skinny little brunette.”

He scoffs, “sounds like half of the guys in here.”

“I never said I was creative.” you joke, continuing forwards.

“Y/N ” he hesitates, “I wasn’t kidding when I said you looked nice earlier. He’s an idiot.”

Your face flushes a little and you feel the alcohol loosening your lips. “He IS an idiot. I was a good girlfriend.”

“Was he a good boyfriend…before the end?” He asks, nervous to be crossing a line.

You lift your gaze to the ceiling in thought. “Yeah. for almost a year. I think I knew it was ending a while before it happened but I was in denial about it. I tried to pretend I was imagining things. Avoiding the inevitable.

“I did the same things.” He pouts.

“Were you a good boyfriend?” You ask, trying to lift the mood a bit.

“I was a fantastic boyfriend. Flowers. Dinners. Mind blowing Sex.”

You laugh, appreciating his ability to release some of the weight from your thoughts.

“I tried everything I could to be what she wanted me to be. I still don’t know what changed.”

“Maybe the problem..for both of us” you motioned between your bodies, “wasn’t that we weren’t good enough…but maybe we were living a facade. We were trying to predict what they wanted us to be instead of just being ourselves.”

He nodded in contemplation.

“I think I’m glad I met you.”

You grin at him, falling into a comfortable silence for a few moments.

“You know” you finally speak up, “I still want to know why Seungkwan called you Dino.”

He blushes and stops walking, leaning his back against a hallway wall and pulling you towards him. His hands are now placed on either side of your hips. “It’s a stage name amongst the dance majors. I came up with it as a kid and it kind of stuck.”

You notice that his ears are a bit red, a sure sign of embarrassment. “Why did you choose it.”

“Because” he leans forward, “I wanted to dominate the stage like a dinosaur.”

“So you’re dominant… noted” you joke, nodding to your earlier conversation upstairs.

“I never said that” he smirks.

You can’t help but look at his lips now that you’re close to them. He notices and feels some of his own confidence resurfacing.

“but there is one way to test your theory.”

your heart is beating a million miles a minute as he pulls you a little closer, eyes dipping towards your mouth, hands non-moving from their place at your waist.

“I’m open to some experimenting.”

He smiles as you lean the last few inches forward, connecting your lips in a slow, lazy kiss. It’s deep and has your hands gripping at his shirt for some proof that this is real. He kisses you like he has all the time in the world, like he could do this all day, hands moving further onto the small your back until you’re being pulled flush against his body. He slowly trails them up your back -sparks following everywhere he touches- until they’re at your neck, where he wraps them around to that comfortable spot right under your ears, where your neck connects with your head. His hands fit perfectly, keeping your head stable while your tongues dance with each other. Your eyes are closed and you’re savoring the moment, ears ringing, drowning out the sounds of anyone else in the building. Right now, it’s just you and your new crush suspended in time.

You’re not completely sure what comes over you, but your hands slide under his shirt, appreciating the rippling abdominal muscles you’ve never seen but surely feel. You feel him shiver underneath your touch and it makes you smile, releasing a soft, breathy giggle into his mouth. He returns with one of his own and you both open your eyes, grinning at each other like kids in a candy store. Your eyes feel a little hazy, not from the alcohol, but from the bliss this man has somehow brought you in the span of two measly hours.

“Are you enjoying yourself” he bites his bottom lip, eyes flashing to where you’re not-so-subtly feeling him up.

“Oh yes. I just found out my date is kind of shredded.”

He laughs again, a sweet sound as his head falls backwards, eyes squinting shut.

You slide your hands back into your own space, only briefly before linking one with his and continuing down the rest of the hallway. “You can’t laugh about it because it’s true. My date is hot as fuck.” You’re practically dragging his dead weight (still laughing) as you round the corner, bumping directly into Soonyoung.

He steps back at the collision and raises his eyebrows when he sees you. “date?” he questions, eyes shifting to where you’re holding Chan’s hand. “Woah! You two know each other?”

“We didn’t, and now we do. Thanks for not answering your phone by the way.” You fold your arms and raise your eyebrows. You may be younger, but you two have a SASS heavy relationship and you can’t let him get off that easy after abandoning you.

“I was just coming to find you! Swear!”

You make an “mhm” noise that sounds anything like you believe him.

“I’m serious! I’ve got my keys, We can go now!”

“I actually think I’ll stay a little longer.” You reply, looking back towards Chan.

“I can take her home” he assures with a tight lipped smile.

“You sure?” Soonyoung hesitates. “I don’t think you want to go that way…” He throws a thumb over his shoulder, nonverbally indicating that’s probably where Mingyu is.

You look at Chan again, questioning him with your eyes. He nods and you look back towards your childhood friend.

“I’m done hiding from him.”

You pull your date past Soonyoung shouting a rushed “See you tomorrow” behind you as you stomp towards the stairs.

You enter the basement and quickly spot Mingyu in the corner, whispering to a girl…THE girl. You spin around so your back is facing him.

“See the guy directly behind me?” You ask and he subtly flicks his gaze towards where you’re directing him.

“Matches your description pretty well.” He bites the side of his cheek. “You weren’t kidding about tall.”

You shrug your shoulders. You were always kind of short for him anyway, never comfortably reaching his shoulders when you tried to dance at a party or pull him into a kiss.

“I guess so.” You dare to peek behind you once more before whispering “I didn’t really think this far ahead. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do now.”

“I do” he replies, pulling you into a hug and swaying to the music playing over the stereo. “We could always continue where we left off” he whispers into your ear, sending shivers down your spine. “but only if you want to.”

You feel your lips curling upwards at the proposition and raise on your tip toes so you can whisper back. “You really want me to feel you up in front of all of these people?” you fall back to your normal height with a glimmer in your eye and he notices it.

“Oh you are tricky” he laughs, pulling you so that his back is against the wall like before. “Maybe just the first part though.” He whispers again, “We can save the other stuff for later.”

Your knees buckle at the insinuation and you wrap your right arm around his neck, left hand curling into his hair as you kiss him again. This kiss is a little bit more passionate. Lips chasing after each other as you arch your back ever so slightly, his strong arms keep you balanced for the 50th time this evening, and this time you notice his cologne. Some sort of Pine and Sandalwood blend. You let it fill your nose, all of your senses on overdrive. Your eyes are closed, and there’s a hint of strawberry flavor still lingering from your shots earlier. You allow yourself to appreciate the softness of his hair, the smooth strands sliding through your fingers with ease. You admire how soft his skin feels, and how respectfully he’s touching you. His hands roam freely but lightly, eventually finding purchase in your own hair. You’re grateful that you washed it today and added some leave in conditioner.

You’re not sure how long you kiss for, maybe a few minutes, could be hours. You really don’t care anymore. You feel like you could kiss Chan forever. He does eventually pull back though, brushing some hair out of your face and looking into your eyes. “You’re so pretty” he smiles, briefly glancing over your shoulder, “and not to make you nervous” he mumbles, “but that dude…. is definitely staring.”

Your heart flutters at the fact that he called you pretty…but your stomach has butterflies at the confirmed knowledge Mingyu is watching. Chan doesn’t really give you a chance to be worried though, because he pinches you in the side, a spot where you’re incredibly ticklish, and you squeal, slapping his hand away. He tries again on the other side but you’re quick enough to grab his wrist, twisting it until you’ve switched positions, your back against the wall with him caging you in. His palms are flat against either side of your head, and his body is perfectly blocking your view of anything (or anyone) else. It’s the perfect position for him to lean forward and continue kissing you.

You tilt your head upwards and he bites on your bottom lip softly, eliciting a sigh from you. Two can play that game, and you bite his lip right back, tongue immediately following to soothe the spot you nipped. He smiles, but doesn’t break away, he just kisses you with a grin. His hands slide into your back pockets and yours grip his shoulders, lightly squeezing at the muscles. Anyone with eyes could see that he had them. You’re sure you could feel more if he wasn’t wearing an oversized jacket, but making him take it off right now would feel a little TOO PDA for your liking. (You know…on top of the fact that you’re making out in a room full of people). The music is booming almost loud enough to bust the speaker but all you hear is white noise. You’re so infatuated with Chan.

You reach up to his neck and tilt his head just enough so you can whisper in his ear again. “Do you think he’s effectively jealous?” You pull back enough to look him in the eyes, still fighting the permanent smile on your face.

“I don’t know, should we go ask?” he teases, taking one step backwards.

“Over my dead body” you laugh, trying to keep him next to the wall.

“How about this.” He offers. Let’s go upstairs and see if he follows.

“Perfect plan. I’m ready for another drink anyways. You smile, backing towards the stairs and gasp when he picks you up bridal style. He carries you up and only sets you down when you’re back in the hallway.

“What a big, strong man you are, Chan.” you tease, grabbing his hand in yours.

“I have to admit” he replies, “That guy has muscles. I had to show off just a little.” He puts two fingers in front of your face mimicking the size of a penny.

“Oh my god you’re having fun right now” you pull him along, feeling a rush of adrenaline yourself.

“Like you aren’t” he counters, “Who wouldn’t want to make out with a hot dancer in front of their Ex. You’re like, super duper lucky to have found me.”

“You know what I would like even more?” You flirt, suddenly feeling brave.

“What’s that?”

“Making out with a hot dancer when we’re alone.”

He doesn’t even give you a second to react before his lips are meeting yours again. You feel like a high schooler all over again, sneaking around under the bleachers to kiss your first boyfriend…always wanting to be attached in some way. This time, you’re not in front of anyone so you do pull off his jacket, pulling away with a smirk on your face to put it on your own body.

“I couldn’t feel your muscles through this thing” you say, grabbing onto his shoulders again. His ears turn red again as he continues kissing you, arms flexing completely intentionally. You roll your eyes at the motion, but of course you don’t really mind. You kind of like it. A few minutes pass before you do actually need a breath, so you pull away and guide him through the hallway again.

“I vote one more drink, and then my apartment” you wink, noticing how his eyes scan your body wearing something of his.

He agrees in a nanosecond and follows you back into the main room by the couch. Jun and Minghao are still there, standing up as the game they were watching seemingly finished.

“Hey Y/N” Jun calls. “Did you find Soonyoung?”

“I found Chan” you say, motioning to him.

“I see” minghao bites his lips, noticing your flushed faces. “I assume you’re not leaving anymore?”

“Oh I am” you answer. “I just wanted another drink first.”

Your two friends give each other a knowing look before stepping to either side of Chan. Jun loops his arm around his shoulder and pokes him in the side. “Wanna tell us what this is all about” he prods, obviously teasing.

You fold your arms. “Minghao, can you pull your stinky ass brother off of my date?”

“A date you say?” He asks, looping his arm over your shoulder, mimicking Jun and messing up your hair, “My little friends finally met each other.”

You regret allowing Soonyoung to leave the party without dragging these two home with him.

“How come everyone at this party knew Chan other than me?” you gape, scrambling out of Minghao’s grasp.

“Probably because you live under a rock, my dear friend.” Jun quips.

“Whatever. I’ll be right back.” You shake your head side to side, chuckling as you leave the three boys behind, Chan being interrogated.

The kitchen is surprisingly empty, so you intend to quickly grab the soju and head back to your friends. Unfortunately you bump into a human wall in the door way.

The person you were looking for all night, but didn’t really want to see.

“Y/N” Mingyu blinks, “I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”

You freeze on the spot, not sure what to say, not sure what to do. You just kind of stare at him, unmoving. You’re not sure how long you sat there, blinking like an idiot. (in reality it was probably like three seconds, but your brain completely short circuited the second you locked eyes with your previous lover).

“Here I am” you answer, voice cold. Your gaze shifts to the girl next to him. The girl he cheated with.

“You must be Ji-ah” you ask, tilting your head, feeling some of your brain cells rebooting.

She glares at you, but doesn’t confirm.

“I didn’t know you were coming either.” You admit, crossing your arms. “How have you been?”

You’re not sure why you asked that. You don’t really want to know…but that’s a normal thing to say when you haven’t seen someone in a while…so it just kind of came out.

“I’m fine. I miss you”

“Yeah. That’s unfortunate. “ you scoff. “Almost like I missed you when you went on a weekend golf trip..… oh wait!!! I think he was actually at your house.”

You point at Ji-ah, smiling a devilish grin. You feel some of the original anger bubbling up inside you in waves. It makes you feel a little better to see the look on her face when he admitted to missing you. Once a cheater, always a cheater.

Being alone with the two of them reminds you of all the hurt over the past few months. Reminds you of all the times you heard your friends telling you that you deserved better. Reminds you of the countless hours you spent in the gym or doing extra skincare because you just didn’t feel pretty enough. You finally realize, in this moment, that he just wasn’t worth any of it. You’re good enough, he just didn’t see it.

“But it doesn’t really matter anymore. I don’t miss you anymore.” You finally verbalize.

“Come on, that’s not fair…” Mingyu starts, and you hear Chan’s voice cutting him off.

“I think it is fair. Coming from someone who was in her same situation.” You turn to see him walking into the kitchen, hands in his pockets. Jun and Hao are following on his heels. They must have noticed Mingyu heading in this direction.

“Who the fuck are you” Mingyu questions, eyes narrowing in on where you instinctively grab his hand.

“None of your business anymore.” You answer, stepping backwards. “Come to think of it,” you sigh, looking at Chan, “I’ve had enough to drink.” You set the soju on the counter. “Can you still drive me.”

Chan nods, allowing you to pull him away.

“Did you really move on that fast?” Mingyu calls after you, stopping you dead in your tracks.

You whip around, feeling flames in your eyes. “It’s been three months Mingyu. You’re the one who moved on BEFORE THE RELATIONSHIP WAS EVEN OVER. What kind of fucking audacity do you have to say something like that!?”

You release your grip on Chan’s hand so you can stomp back, shoving Mingyu in the chest. Last time you saw each other, you didn’t get to say any of this. You were a crying, blubbering mess, begging him to explain. This time, you were just mad - And you were going to speak your mind.

“What did you want me to do? Did you want me to cry in the middle of the grocery store? Check. Did you want me to drink myself to sleep for two weeks straight? Congratulations. Were you hoping I’d obsessively stalk her instagram and compare our bodies?! Another winner. “ You gesture towards Ji-Ah.

You watch as his he clenches his jaw, clearly uncomfortable hearing how you handled the breakup.

“Did you want me to sit around and mope? I’m done with that. Of course I moved on.”

“I wasn’t implying you should stay sad..” He mumbles

“Sad is an understatement.” You point at Ji-ah again. “and I don’t know what you’re still doing with him.”

“Can we talk outside?” Mingyu asks, trying to grab your wrist.

You jerk away. “No. I’m sorry, is this embarrassing for you?” You motion to the 3 guys in the doorway. “is it a little awkward that they know you cheated?”

“Y/N. Calm down.”

“I’m calm. For the first time in a while, I don’t feel confused. I feel completely clear. I see that this relationship is long over, and I have no more intention to pine after it or repair it. I’ll see you around.”

You turn away, ready to be done with the conversation for real. You grab Chan’s hand again and he squeezes it in silent support as you head towards the front door.

You can’t really focus on much as you exit the house. Your heart is pounding really hard and you hear it beating in your ears. Your vision is blurred and You’re not sure if it’s the alcohol, or the realization hitting that you just went off on KIM MINGYU, President of the most popular frat (thankfully not Chan’s frat) in university, in front of several people. Maybe it’s a mixture of both. You don’t say anything else as Chan leads you down the long driveway and to his Black Porsche. At a different time, you might admire the fact that he has a Porsche, but right now you’re just ready to get out of here.

He opens the door for you, and you slide in, the cool leather causing you to shiver. You pull his jacket tighter around you and watch as he walks around to the driver’s side.

He slides in and turns the car on, but he doesn’t start driving. He just turns to you with a soft expression. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I think so. Maybe.” You link your hands together, fidgeting with them. “I’m sorry that I dragged you into all of this.”

“Technically”, he corrects “I put myself right into the middle of this.”

“You rub your hands through your hair, and finally allow yourself to exhale. “Thank you. I’m not sure what I expected out of tonight, but I definitely didn’t mean to scream at my Ex boyfriend in front of you.”

He reaches over and pulls your hand out of your hair, holding it on the center console.

“I thought it was kind of hot.”

You bite your tongue in surprise. “Are you kidding? I actually sounded like a woman scorned.”

“Y/N” he tilts his head with a ‘come on, listen to what i’m saying’ expression. “I went through the same thing. All of those feelings you have…I had them too.”

You blink at him silently.

“Put it this way” He explains. “You know that moment when you’re reading a book or watching a movie and you know the story is building up to a blowout? You’re waiting for your favorite character to stand up for themselves and put the antagonist in their place?”

You nod, understanding his words with a bit of pride.

“That’s how your conversation felt to me. I felt proud of you for realizing your own worth and taking the power he holds over you away.”

“Thanks” you mutter.

He squeezes your hand again.

“And while I’m being honest” he adds, ‘Can I admit something?”

You nod

He stares at you with his deep brown eyes for a second before continuing.

“I know we just met. and I know it’s been a crazy night…but it’s actually been kind of the best date ever.”

You can’t help but hide your face in your hands and blush.

“Can I be honest too?” You peek back at him

“Please.”

“I really want you to come home with me.”

You see him smile with his eyes.

“Done.”

***

The drive home is quick, and kind of a blur. His hand finds its way to your thigh and you’re trying to give him directions but really all you can think about is the way his hair falls into his eyes in the dim lighting and what it might look like falling into his eyes over the top of you. A right turn here, a left turn there, a quick kiss at the red light. (you blushing after said kiss).

It’s hot how easily he parallel parks on the street and hot when he makes you wait for him to open your door. It makes you drool when he makes it a point to open his trunk, pulling out a pair of sweats that Seungkwan had returned to him earlier, saying “I’m sleeping over, right?” You obviously say yes and lead him towards your apartment.

You unlock the door and practically drag him inside, starting to feel impatient. You want to jump his bones immediately, but he’s a little more level headed. He takes off his shoes and looks around, taking in your space. Luckily you cleaned up today. He makes a basic comment about how girls decorate way better than guys and then (finally) after what feels like ages (it was like 30 seconds) he asks where your room is. You grab his hand and walk backwards, dragging him through your door and closing it behind you, despite the fact that you know you’re home alone.

You keep walking backwards until your knees hit the bed and you fall backwards onto the plush mattress. Chan follows, not letting go of your hands. He captures your lips with his before you’re even flat on your back and lifts your hands up near your head, linking your fingers together. His thumb draws little circles along your hand and you relish in the sweet touch compared with the weight. He’s basically pinning you to the comforter since he’s holding his own weight up with your clasped hands. Your kiss is just as deep and passionate as it was in that hallway. His lips are warm, and yours are burning with the lust. Both of you are breathing hot breaths into each other but you can’t be bothered to break away.

You kiss and kiss and kiss until his hands leave yours to roam elsewhere. He reaches inside his jacket (that you might just steal) to grasp your slender waist, a place he’s grown very fond of over the course of the evening. It’s fast, he knows, but he feels like he could hold onto your hips forever. He really likes the way you melt into him and the way you arch upwards when his hands plant there. He likes the way one of his knees is in between your legs, and the way you look down at it with a devilish smile. The way you not-so subtly rut into his thigh with your core….and wow he loves the way you bite back a little sigh of relief.

It’s amazing to you how much you’re enjoying just the little touches. The way you’re moving slowly but it still has your head spinning like a top. The way he tickles your waist just a bit and the way he playfully bites your lip. You’ve had plenty of hookups, plenty of sex that went from zero to one-hundred in two minutes tops. Chan is different. He’s appreciating you in the most modest way first. Working you up. He’s worshiping your lips and appreciating you with your clothes on. He’s in no rush, and you have a feeling he could keep you up all night.

“I like you in my jacket” he smiles, licking his lips “maybe you should keep it”

“I was already planning on it” you giggle, sitting upwards to slide it off. “better not ruin it.”

“Oh i didn’t finish” he grins, pulling your shirt up and over your head. “I think you should keep it on.” he leans down to whisper in your ear “but i think you should keep just the jacket on.”

You visibly shudder at the words. and at the feeling of his hot breath against your neck. He starts to kiss there, leaving a string of burning marks along your neck, working his way to your collarbone, dressed only in the thin strap of your bra at this point. His big hands reach up to unclasp the lacy material, pulling away for a short second to confirm “can i?”

“Please” you whimper, wanting his lips back on your skin immediately.

He unclasps the bra and slides it off of your shoulders…painfully slowly. He throws it over his shoulder, in the same direction as your shirt before admiring your bare chest. He looks at you like you’re the best dessert he’s ever ordered, and you feel your skin shiver at the way he looks up through his blonde bangs, locking eyes with you.

“You” he starts, pulling you upwards and forwards until you’re both facing each other on your knees, “are going to be the death of me.”

You wrap your arms around his neck, keeping them straight so your elbows are resting on his shoulders and your chest is pulled tight against his clothed one.

“If you really feel that way” you nuzzle into his neck “you might as well die naked.”

His body reacts to your taunting faster than his brain does, and it’s merely a second until his shirt is discarded as well, abs glistening in the low lamplight of your room. You capture him in another kiss, appreciating how toned he is pressed against you. You allow your arms to curl into his hair for a while before rubbing them down his back, feeling his muscles twitch at the grazing of your touch. When they reach his waistband you allow them to move to his front, rubbing up the strong lines of his stomach. This flusters him just enough for you to flip your position, laying him flat against your pillows/headboard and straddling his lap.

You take a moment to pull away from the kiss, raising your hands up above your head in a stretch, teasing him a little. Chan’s jaw drops open as he gets a front row seat of your nipples, hard and perky right in front of him. He also notices the small tattoo on your ribcage of a diamond and reaches forward to touch it. You allow your head to fall back as he wraps his hands around your ribs, thumb staying over the tattoo. He leans forward and takes one nipple into his mouth, sucking and kissing it with so much desire.

“Chan” you sigh towards the ceiling, gripping at his hair again. “yes.”

You feel him harden underneath you at the gasp of his name, and you can’t help but rub against him. “you like it when I say your name, huh?”

He pulls away to appreciate your other nipple, mumbling a “so much” as he does so.

You continue looking upwards, eyes falling shut as he worships your sensitive nubs. You rut against him again and he bites the nipple, earning a little shriek from your lips.

“If you want my dick that badly, just ask, baby.” he says, tongue darting out to soothe your flesh.

Your hands tug at the ends of his hair where they connect with his neck, forcing him to look upwards and you lean over, mouth hovering just over his. “Ok, Dino.” you emphasize the nickname. “I want your dick. I want your dick so far up my pussy that it remembers the shape tomorrow.”

He bucks up into you, laughing as you involuntarily moan at the friction. “You can have it.”

He pulls at your jeans and you lift up, helping him slide them off. You have to sit back on his shins for a split second to get them over your ankles before you’re straddling him in only underwear.

He rolls you again so you are underneath him and he shucks off his jeans and underwear together in record speed. You’re expecting him to rip off your underwear and wreck you senseless, but instead he reaches his hands into your lacy covering and rubs in tight circles, kissing the spot in between your boobs as he does so. Your eyes roll back at the stimulation and you breath a soft “ oh god” to the sky.

“You can have it……” he repeats “later”

that’s all the warning you have before he’s plunging his middle finger into you. Your breathing picks up as he pumps it into you, still rubbing your clit with his thumb. Your body morphs into his, arching and girating against his single digit. you grab at your boobs to have something to hold onto, and bite your bottom lip. He curls his finger to just the right angle, snapping his wrist up, up, up.

“fuck” you moan “another chan, give me another.”

He pulls out just long enough to pull your underwear off, shoving it back in within seconds.

“good girl” he smirks, adding a second finger and leaning into your neck, sucking hard enough to form a hickey.

your mouth falls open and your breaths are loud, steady and mostly airy with a hint of moaning.

“Do you want to come more than once” he asks, trailing his kisses from your neck and up to the sensitive spot behind your ear. “I could eat you out. edge you. fuck you into the wall. what do you want baby?”

“so…ohhhhh” you moan loudly when a third finger enters your vagina, “so generous fuckkkk”

he relishes in the fact that his fingers feel so good you can’t even answer his question. He continues plunging in and out, the loud squelch of your wetness making him harder each second.

“Wall Channie. Dick. wall. standing up, oh god.” you groan. “but after. I want this longer.” Your hips jerk upward in confirmation that you want him just like this.

“Anything for you, princess.” he shifts his body down, settling his head in between your legs. You’re already close with the three digits working you, but it’s borderline euphoric when he licks a stripe up your folds, moaning with intense vibrations against your cunt. His second hand takes over rubbing circles against your clitoris and his tongue starts go dip into your hole alongside the fingers, stiffened and quick. You can’t help but clench your teeth, realizing that this is the best head you’ve ever had. You’re mumbling absolute nonsense like “god, oh god keep going” and “just like that, just like that.” You’re pathetic for him. A writhing whimpering mess. His lips latch around your clit and he sucks on it, sending mind numbing shockwaves through your entire pussy and up your back.

“So good” he mumbles into you, picking up the pace even quicker. How that’s even possible, you’re not sure. You’re too incoherent to notice how he’s humping the bed in time with the pace you’re humping his face. He’s so turned on by you - the sounds you’re making, that he’s feeling desperate for some sort of release. He needs you to finish so he can take a moment to cool himself down.

He continues working you with his hands, lifting his face to your neck. he bites at your flesh and nibbles on your ear. “come for me.” he moans directly into you, hot breath sending shivers through your body. You feel a burning, bubbling sensation in your gut and know you’re close.

“yes sir” you choke out as the orgasm hits you. hard. You’re seeing white. Seeing stars and reaching out to grab his shoulder, something to steady you while you float into oblivion. Your legs are shaking and he keeps his fingers inside, working you through it, feeling the way you pulse around him…wishing it was already his dick being squeezed and milked. Wishes he could fill you up and test how your pussy reacts.

You’re moaning his name. Chanting it like a prayer. He feels dizzy just hearing it. “Chan, oh my god Chan.” He loves it. You slowly start to feel the world come back and you squeeze your legs shut, pinning his hand. You’re reaching overstimulation territory and he understands, using his knee to push yours open just enough to pull his fingers out of you, sucking them into his mouth, licking your juices off of them. He then grabs onto your side again, leaning forward for another kiss. You taste yourself on his lips and smile when he shares, voice gravely, “I could hear you moan my name every day.”

“Chan” you whimper into his mouth “Chan with magic fingers.”

He shivers against you and you pull him into a hug, closing your eyes. You feel his hard-on against your stomach and smile. “give me 60 seconds” you instruct “and then I expect you to rail me against the wall.”

He slides his hand upwards, cupping the side of your breast, wordlessly agreeing with another kiss to your neck. You lay there, appreciating the way he’s still exploring your body while you rest. The little tickles along your skin feel like fireworks despite the fact you just orgasmed harder than any man’s fingers or face have ever made you come.

“On one condition” he finally says (after a bit longer than the 60 seconds).

“hmm” you mumble, eyes still closed.

He flips you onto your stomach wordlessly, surprising you with his warm hands pressing you down. He rubs his cock through your wet folds from above you and groans, both hands rubbing along your back. “such a pretty back” he notes, touching your second tattoo of a flower. He leans down to kiss it before mumbling. “Too bad i’ll need to cover this up.” You’re only confused for a moment before he’s leaning across the bed to his jacket, sliding it on your otherwise naked form. You weakly move your arms, helping him slide it on with a smile. “I told you I wanted to fuck you in this” he says, getting off of you so he can pull you to a standing position next to the bed.

You turn to face him with rosy cheeks and grin at his puffy lips and messed up hair. You’re sure that you probably look twice as fucked out, and can’t help but glance to the mirror in the corner to check. He steps around you, hands wrapping around in a back hug, staring into the mirror too. “Do you see how sexy it is?” He asks, pulling it open enough so your tits are exposed. You lean back into him, sliding your hands up so they’re circling your nipples. You smirk at him through the reflection, licking your lips and tilting your head.

“I could get used to this.”

He kisses behind your ear, sliding his hand down into your…his pocket, coming out with a condom in his hand. You giggle. “has that been in there all night?”

“No. I stole it from a bowl in Seungkwan’s entryway on our way out the door. I slipped it in the pocket without you noticing.” he laughs bringing the package up to his teeth. You stop him before he can rip it open. “We don’t need it…as long as you’re clean…” you look up shyly.

His eyes widen…and darken at the same time. “You’re sure?” he confirms.

You nod, pulling the wrapper from his hand and sliding it back into the jacket pocket. “IUD…I want to feel you..completely.”

He pulls you backwards with a grin until he’s leaning against the wall, kissing you again for a few moments before trailing two fingers down your body. Starting at your neck and wandering across your collarbone, in between your breasts and down your abdomen. You’re sensitive to his touch but don’t want him to stop. You sigh as his fingers reach your nub, rubbing small circles before slipping back inside you, scissoring to stretch you out. Fingers still inside, he turns you so your back is the one against the wall, and he lifts your leg around his hip. He pulls his fingers out after deciding you’re thoroughly sloppy and wet and stretched from before. You don’t really need more prep, and if you’re honest, you don’t want any more. You just want him. Inside you. Now.

You pull his hair and tilt his head so you’re cheek to cheek, arching your chest into his again. “Please, Channie. I’m ready.”

He gets the hint, and he’s feeling pretty insatiable himself, so he lines himself up with your hole and slides home, slowly. His dick is the perfect size. It’s big and long, but slender enough to feel good and not painful. He gives you a second to nod once he bottoms out and then he’s moving. He pulls about 3/4 of the way out before ramming into you again, hitting your G-Spot with extreme accuracy. You almost choke on the realization. One thrust and he’s found your perfect angle.

“right there” you almost scream. “holy fuck.”

He picks up the pace, setting a rhythm and gripping you for balance. He’s holding your left leg up around his hip and grasping your waist with the other. You have one hand on his shoulder to steady you and the other reaches behind you, above your head, bent elbow and palm flat to the wall. You match his pace with your own hips, rolling into him each time he pushes inwards.

in, out, in out, he’s pounding hard. almost completely leaving you before ramming in, again, again, again.

You look sideways, catching a perfect view of your position in the mirror. You admire the way his thigh muscles tense as he pushes forwards and enjoy the feeling of his hot breath on your neck. You’ve always appreciated a vocal partner, but something about just the sounds of his hitched breathing is more than enough. You know you’re getting close again, which is just not acceptable. You want this…no…you NEED this to last longer. You can feel his thrusts becoming more erratic too and know he must be getting close as well. “fuck chan” you moan, trying to gather your thoughts amidst the ecstasy. “hitting my spot way too good”

“yeah?” he groans into your neck, “you like it baby?”

“I like it so much” you pinch into the skin of his shoulder, leaving nail marks. “Please, please.. god… oh my god.. let me ride you” you get out, brain hazy and sentence choppy.

you feel him twitch at the request and he slows down his pounding so that he can lift your other leg up, you instinctively wrap it around his other hip in a koala hug. He carries you back to the bed and pulls out, eliciting a pout from you. He lets out a low, sexy chuckle at the whine. “You’re the one who wanted to switch positions.”

He’s not wrong.

You reach forward to touch him and he surprises you by giving you his dick instead of his full body. You wrap your fingers around it, just barely unable to close around the thickness. You stroke him and watch as his head dips forward, mouth hanging open. You would love it in your mouth, can feel yourself salivating over the thought but you just had him inside you up against a wall and you can’t go backwards from that feeling. You need him back inside you asap. He seems to agree because he’s soon kneeling over you, straddling you and thrusting his hard cock into your grip. “You can help me finish like this” he groans, basically using your hand as a fuck toy. “or you can bounce on it. But either way I’m not gonna last much longer.”

You release your grip and push him to the side. He rolls onto his back and scoots upwards on the bed, freeing up room for you to kneel over him, mimicking his straddle from before. You line up again and drop your body weight onto his throbbing member, feeling immediately deeper than before. Even better. His hands reach their favorite spot of the evening - your hips - and yours are on his chest, pushing him deep enough to leave an imprint on your mattress. Not that you’d mind. his hips are wildly jerking up into you and you eat up the way his skin is bumping against your clit.

His skin underneath you is hot, and his eyes are burning into the spot where your intimate parts meet. He’s in heaven. His hands move from their place to rest on top of yours on his chest. He links your fingers together and lifts his arms above his head, pulling you forward to hit a different angle. you squeak at the surprise fall and he smiles at how your lips are now close enough to kiss. He can’t really kiss you with how close he is though. He more so just breathes into your open mouth, an occasional grunt coming out.

“Where do you want it” he finally asks, as your bouncing becomes faster and his hips thrust even harder. “You have like 3 seconds to decide.”

You nonverbally answer for him when you pull off of his dick and shove it into your mouth, just in time for his release. His eyes grow wide as he realizes what you’re doing. You stroke his cock through the orgasm, choking slightly on the white strings of cum shooting down your throat. But you take it like a champ. You swallow all you can and pull off with a loud popping sound, wiping at the mess on your chin. He looks more surprised than any man before when you’ve done this and you smile, Moving back up to sit on his thighs.

“that” he starts, mouth wide “was the hottest fucking thing anyone has ever done.”

You just smile at him and crawl back up to collapse by his side. You expected that to be the end of things but Chan is observant enough to realize that through his mind blowing orgasm, you still didn’t finish again. and Chan ALWAYS makes sure his girl comes more than once.

His fingers are inside of you again without another word and you’re still so worked up that he starts with three at once. You’re laying on your side next to him, slowly turning onto your back with each flick of his wrist so that he can properly help you finish.

You moan as he nips at your nipple, grinding into his hand faster. “I’m almost there” you breathe, arching your back. “keep going, keep going, faster.” He listens and speeds up just enough for you to feel that bubbly, euphoric explosion inside.

Your legs pinch closed as he helps you ride out the orgasm, and he has to nudge one again with his elbow in order to get his hand out, licking his fingers once he does so.

You lay there for a moment, curling up into his side as if you were always meant to be there. Your bodies fit so perfectly together, like the pieces of a puzzle made by fate. How else were you to end up in this situation? You can’t help but contemplate in the afterglow about how lucky you were to run into him tonight. About how this evening could have gone so disastrously wrong, but he made sure it went so right.

—

The clean up process was cute. Domestic. Chan carried you to the bathroom on his back and warmed up the shower before stepping in with you, rubbing soap up and down your body in a soothing way. He didn’t try to initiate anything else for the night, he just softly kissed your shoulder once or twice, massaged out a knot in your neck and admired how your body reacted to his soft touches.

After deciding you were both properly clean, and after changing the sheets, you’re cuddled up in bed with sleep on the horizon. You’re on your sides, your back tucked into his chest and his arms wrapped around you. He’s lazily drawing circles on one of your arms when he speaks up.

“Y/N?” his voice is gravely and tired, somewhere in a halfway state between awake and asleep.

“Yes?” you mumble, eyes still closed.

“Will you go on another date with me tomorrow?’

You smile and nuzzle further back into him. “I would love that.”

“Good.” he shares. “and I’m going to make you breakfast.”

“Does that count as another date? Or is it part of this one?” you counter.

“That’s part of this one.” He concludes. “The other date is a surprise.”

You blush a little. It’s sweet that he’s already making plans to spend more time with you.

His hand moves from your arm to your hand and he rests his fingers over yours.

“you really are so pretty..”

and that’s the last thing you really remember before a comfortable sleep overtakes both of you. And you dream about all of the possibilities tomorrow entails.

And in your sleep you realize that maybe running away from Mingyu at that frat party was the best thing that ever happened to you….

****

[sophies-junkyard]

While he’s still trending, this is your sign to explore Kendrick’s discography. He’s so much bigger than this beef with Drake (and the “beef�� is so much bigger than “he hates Drake!” but I’m hoping we all know that by now). Here’s some ideas on where to start:

The GNX album has incredible range . From hype tracks like “Tv off” to the introspection of “reincarnated”. It’s a 10/10 (literally). If you only have the energy for one album, this is a solid pick. It’s a good way to sample what he’s about and see where he’s heading.

After that… I mean for me it’s gotta be Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. How do I even explain this? People who were surprised by “Meet The Grahams” had CLEARLY never heard “Mother I Sober”. This album will leave you staring at the void in stunned silence. It’ll make you feel empty inside but like… in an addicting way. It’s a masterpiece. If you’re intimidated by the number of songs, I would AT LEAST hear “United in Grief” and “mother I sober”. (Drake directly referenced “mother I sober” in his track “family matters”. He aimed low while ALSO misinterpreting the story like a fucking clown. Embarrassing af lol.)

2015-To Pimp a Butterfly. Depending on who you ask, this is Kendrick’s best work, and uh… yeah it’s hard to disagree. This is Kendrick in his element. A brutally honest examination of racism and violence wrapped in some of his most aggressive vocals to date (and I mean he LITERALLY uses so much growl on these tracks). But the MUSIC is…. chill? It’s also varied as hell. It’s an evening of slam poetry backed by smooth jazz. Then he’ll hit you with a slick guitar riff and some panicked breathing into the mic. The album is crucial to understanding Kendrick as an artist. Picking standouts on this one feels stupid (and everybody has a different opinion) but “Alright” and “King Kunta” are classics. “I”, “How much a dollar cost”, “you ain’t gotta lie”, “the blacker the berry”…. I’m just gonna end up listing every song. I’m also a fan of the“for free-interlude” lol. Oh and “Mortal Man”. I honestly don’t think there are any skippable tracks on this one. Just let it flow.

His 2017 album DAMN was a major success, and was how I got into Kendrick. If high school parking lots came with an OST, “HUMBLE” would’ve been our Green Hill Zone. Idk if that made any sense. Point is, it was popular as fuck. “DNA” was another huge hit. The album sounds edgy and hyped, but the lyrics are an invitation for the audience to like… choose his fate. It’s all about judgement day. Growth, reconciliation, criticism of fame. It’s a shame that it got reduced to “omg humble is a banger!!”. The fact that Uncle Sam shouted at Kendrick to “TIGHTEN UP!” And he performed HUMBLE in response... Damn.

2011- good kid, m.A.A.d city. “Money trees” is a classic with a super chill beat. And the metaphor of “planting money trees” has become a huge part of his identity. Representing his literal desire to share the wealth with his community, and his desire to stay true to his roots. It was ALSO something Drake dissed him for “failing” to do (though his record of philanthropy says otherwise). The titular songs “good kid” and “m.A.A.d city” are iconic. “Swimming Pools” is often cited as his first big hit. Side note: The album cover featured a van (I think it was a Chrysler?) that became a symbol of Kendrick’s career. and Drake fucking destroyed it in one of his music videos. Bitch.

There’s so much. He also has a series of 6 songs called “the heart” that usually drop before a new album. He has a ton of other albums that I didn’t even mention because this post is way too long. I know I skipped a lot of bangers so please let me know about them. Also this post 100% assumes everyone has heard “6:16 in LA”, “Euphoria”, “meet the grahams” and “not like us” because… I mean come on. Ok that’s all. happy listening!

[kentosbabes]

Nepo baby Gojo

Smutty af (mdi)

You’ve been working with Gojo’s father for about a year and a half without meeting the infamous son. He goes through women and money faster than the companies stock rises. But his father has pushed him into a role at the company to learn the ropes before he passes to keep the business in the family.

The annual gala is announced and his father mentions that you both should go together since you don’t have dates yet. You awkwardly nod, trying desperately not to make eye contact with him. The meeting ends relatively quickly and start to make your way out of the room only to be stoped by the infamous man himself.

“So I’ll pick you up at 6 sharp? Do you know what you’re wearing yet?” You feel affronted, he hasn’t even asked if you were saying yes to him, he just assumed you would go with him.

You sigh and roll your eyes, “I’ll text you my address and I’m going to wear black.”

He nods his head and nonchalantly says, “well that’s hot.” You feel mortified. You warm up with a little embarrassment as everyone is looking at you and him and quickly speed walk make your way to your office.

You don’t really get dressed up, it’s not that you dress frumpy, but you wear suits and blouses instead of pretty dresses. You don’t really get the chance to wear makeup and go out as much because the job is time consuming. You just felt a little nervous about getting all dolled up for this event because massive shareholders are going to be there and you need to put you best foot forward if you want a job the following day.

The day finishes and you leave a little early to pick up your dress, you say goodbye to the rest of the staff and head out. Gojo making a quip about needing extra time to get prettier. Gojo was a dick. There’s no sugarcoating it. He’s just a dick, but what can you do about any of that? You’re just an employee of his father.

You pick up the dress and dinner on the way to your house which was a short distance, swiping through Pinterest to think of a makeup look to match the dramatic dress and heels you bought. Too late to be a pussy!

You get ready to Megan and Bey, humming to the beat and moving your hips around while applying lipliner. You finally are done and wait for him, music still playing while you respond to emails, no rest for the wicked.

The music only getting more explicit the further down you go on your Spotify playlist. Finally, you hear a knock on the door and you open up the door. “Wow.” Gojo says, and nothing else. You look him up and down, god if he wasn’t your bosses bratty man-child you would’ve fucked him already. To be fair you probably look like you are, what with your eyes undressing him and all.

He snaps out of it earlier than you, “like what you see?” He says leeringly. Yes lord, “ugh, no.” You look him over, and nod.

Going over to pause your music and turning off the light, “So,” the man had a permanent smirk on his face, “imma be your freak anytime or place?” Referencing the music playing, you shut it off.

“It’s Megan. Problem?”

He sighed, “nope, ready when you are.”

You roll your eyes and step out, locking the door behind him. He opened the door up for you, ignoring the cautionary butterflies in in your stomach. “Do that often for your girlfriends?”

“Why jealous?”

You tut, an unfamiliar angry or something else started coil in your lower stomach.

He opened the door for you and his car was expensive to say the least. A black Benz that smells like Dior and money. Art deco by Lana was playing at a low volume. He smiled, “impressed?”

Your upper lip quirked a little, “just get on with it.” He drives off and you get there on time. It was beautiful, the lights decorating the ballroom were opulent.

Immediately getting called over by your colleagues to look over a contract that’s being signed tonight. You look up at him somewhat apoplectically, “sorry!”

As you mingled with the crowd, you found yourself talking to a charming man, he tells you that he’s a shareholder. Your conversation flowed effortlessly, and you couldn’t tell if he was flirting with you or you were delusional or horny.

Gojo, the man you had gone to the gala with, couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. He didn’t feel upset at you leaving him to talk shop with your colleagues but something about this was different. He felt sidelined.

He came up with a drink in his hand for you, “So, Eric huh?” He paused to look at you, “him of all people? You could stand to do better.”

You could stand to do better? How dare he, he had no place in your life. The atmosphere between you guys became tense as Gojo struggled to hide his unease.

"What, are you jealous?" You tilts your head and gaze at him with wide innocent eyes as you echoes his words from the car. "Do you wish it had been you?"

Gojo takes a very slow, purposeful inhale through his nose, before mirroring your head tilt with a challenging grin. "At least I could make you come, princess. You think he would even be able to find your little clit? He'd probably last two pumps and then cry into your shoulder about how much he loves you."

“Oh yeah, like you can do better.” you don’t know where this confidence is coming from and you know he’ll do anything to prove a point. You roll your eyes and look out the window, knees facing the door.

“I’ll show you.” He grits, manhandling your thighs to face him, “my house or yours?”

You look up at him through your furrowed brows and whisper, “this is a bad idea.”

“Did I ask if it was a bad idea or whose house I’m fucking you at?”

You roll your eyes. “Yours.”

“Roll your eyes again I’ll fuck you so hard they’ll be permanently up there.”

He leads you into his lavish apartment kissing you and whispering promises of what he’ll do you. The familiar coil is back in your lower tummy. He tells you to take off your clothes, biting your lower lip as he mutters sweet nothings about how delicious you’ll look on his cock.

Kissing his way down your neck, you felt his hand fiddling with the zip of your black dress and before you knew it, he was tugging it down your thighs, pulling your black seamless thong down with them as he went. He brings you over to the end of his bed and worked a finger in. Pumping in and out rhythmically, you start lifting your hips to thrust with his movements but he pulls you back down.

You tilted your head back and moaned, clamping your eyes shut. If you opened them, you would face his infuriating smirk.

“Good?” Gojo teased, dragging his finger against your walls as he moved in and out.

You gasp into his mouth, unconsciously raising your leg up to wrap around his waist as he supports you with his arm, your fingernails clawing at his shoulders as you feel yourself reach your high.

“Fuck. Fuck. I’m so close. Don’t—Don’t stop.” You felt dizzy; the pleasure seemingly unreal, but the solid feel of his hair in your hands grounded you.

He shuts you up as you watch him lick your release, not sparing a single drop. Once he licks his fingers dry, his hand pressing you back down onto his bed, but he did not stop.

His voice was ragged, “what do you need from me?”

“Please. I-“

He stopped moving, “use your words darling.”

“I need you,” you plead, “now.”

He pulled her down onto his hard cock until she was filled up. He slammed into you from behind, holding your hips with his large hands hard enough to promise bruising in the morning.

The slightly change in the angle he was entering you made your toes curl in pleasure, and a desperate cry left your lips when he hit a different spot inside of you, making your whole body tremble in complete bliss.

Instead of kissing you again, though, he shoved two large fingers into your mouth. You sucked on them like you would his cock. “Who do you think is better?” He gritted.

“Youyouyouyouyouyou- please, just you. God only you.” Incoherently babbling with tears streaming down your face.

“You know I like hearing you,” Gojo murmured, and you shakily nodded. You rose up again and sank back down, the muscles of his stomach clenching, another moan escaping through your slack lips.

His dick twitched. You could feel the mounting pressure building inside of you.  Throwing your hips against his and felt his dick pressing against your cervix.

He bit into your shoulder as he came inside of you, drawing just enough blood to make him moan into your back as his hands swept up your stomach towards your tits. Another circle of his thumb, and your back arches with a deep moan, squeezing him so tight his own climax closely follows.

[kkami-writes]

waiting for us ― chapter twenty five. opening up cw. implied/referenced self-harm, homophobia, neglectful parents, kinda getting outted (tl;dr at the end) wc. 1.9k

Jisung is already sitting at one of the tables near the back, two drinks in front of him. When you slide into the seat in front of him, he slides one of the coffees to you with a smile. 

“I asked Ryujin what your usual was, hope it’s ok,” You move to take a sip through the straw before nodding happily. “You’re just like lixie, you know? He has to have his coffee incredibly sweet,” “At least I’m better than Hyunjin, who downs three americanos in one sitting,” 

“Touche” 

It’s silent for a few seconds and you squirm a little in your seat, anxious energy rolling off of you in waves. Jisung can tell, he knows the signs of anxiety like the back of his hand. 

“Yn” He calls out softly and your head flies up at the sound of your name. Your real name. It makes you flush involuntarily, it’s something you’re not used to, not having heard it in quite awhile. Minghao had refused to call you Mio, but he always called you by a nickname instead. He knew you didn’t want to be referred to as yn. 

“...Jisung,” It happens again. That all encompassing shudder running through every inch of your body. You shiver on reflex. Jisung has a similar stupid grin on his face like Jeongin had when you had confirmed your soulmate connection. 

“So um. You wanted to talk about something?” You try to get straight to the point, your anxiety hitting a boiling point. 

“Right! Um, so! We, as in the guys, talked a bit about how we were going to go about this and I just wanted to let you know what we came up with. If you don’t like anything please let me know and we’ll figure out another solution,” You nod your head, showing Jisung that you were listening. “We all would like to take you on a date, each of us individually first before anyone gets a second date or even group dates. I assume group dates would be too overwhelming for you right now,” Again your head nods. You do not even want to THINK about a group date with all eight of them. The amount of chaos that would bring is unimaginable.  

“If you’re free today and only if you want to, I was wondering if um. You’d like to do our date today? Nothing fancy or crazy, just maybe ordering takeout and watching some movies? I know it’s kinda simple but I wanted to keep it casual because I know some of the others might go all out because that’s just who they are and they wanna impress you. Something to kind of? Ease you in, nothing too overwhelming,” 

You can tell Jisung is as nervous as you are with how he fiddles with his hands as he asks you out. It’s endearing and you feel a lot more reassured that you’re not the only one feeling like this. 

“Yeah, that sounds great sung, I’d love to,” The nickname makes him flush but it doesn’t stop him from smiling. You found yourself definitely falling in love with that cute heart shaped grin of his.

“Um, was that all?” You ask because it seems like there was something else on his mind. You tilt your head slightly. “Yeah,” He swallowed thickly. “Um, so Jeongin let everyone know about your…issue,” You blink, nodding your head slowly, unsure where Jisung was going with this. “But I wanted to tell you that I have known since we started texting,” At this your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. You’re not mad, but you’re curious as to why. 

“He let me know because I’ve struggled with anxiety for awhile, and he was hoping that maybe we would get close and I could help you with different coping strategies. But that was not the only reason why,” He hesitates for a second, as if contemplating what to say next. Instead of words, he slides the sleeves of his hoodie up and places his arms on the table, forearms up. You can’t help the gasp that falls from your lips. Staring back up at your are all too familiar scars. Though these ones have healed, they are still very much visible. 

When you look back up at Jisung his smile has morphed into a sad one. He pulls his arms back, letting his sleeves fall back down over his hands. You frown. How is it that this sunshine boy, someone you don’t think you’ve even seen sad or upset since you met him, struggled with something like this? He seemed so happy. It’s then you realize your blatant naivety. You should know better, that you really can never know what someone is going through. The fact that you had just assumed they all had perfect lives pissed you off for a second. 

“When we said it wasn’t easy in the beginning we really weren’t kidding. I was…rather difficult to deal with at the start. I had been friends with Chan and Changbin hyung since middle school. We were practically inseparable even though we were different ages. Even before I got my soulmark I knew I was starting to have feelings for my friends. I struggled a lot with my sexuality, my parents having instilled the idea that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. So that left me really confused and scared. When I did turn 16, imagine my shock when I had 8 whole soulmates, 7 of them being men. My soulmark basically outed me to my parents,” 

“They were…not pleased to say the least. They had even tried to get me to sever the soulmate bond, only wanting me to keep yours but I had refused. Before this my parents were rarely around, both of them workaholics and now with a ‘gay’ son they stayed away more often. I often slept over at Chan’s house, his parents becoming more like my own. Due to being neglected by my parents, I didn’t really know how to ask for affection and I lashed out a lot. I even threw my wallet at Seungmin once,” He chuckles at his, but it’s rather devoid of any real feelings. “I didn’t know how to cope with my feelings and so I turned to hurting myself, because I  thought I was to blame for all my problems and therefore should punish myself. But the worst was when we met Hyunjin. We did not get along, and I admit a lot of it was my fault. If I’m honest I was incredibly jealous of him. He was gorgeous, rich and had a pair of parents who supported him,” 

“I really thought he hated me too, we’d get into arguments over the smallest things. We often had lots of sleepovers together. But during one of the first ones we had with all of us, minus you of course, I had felt out of place, like I didn’t belong there. That I didn’t deserve to be there with them, that I was the one who was ruining things and making it hard on everyone. I had excused myself to the bathroom but I had gone to cut. I guess I had been in there too long because it was Hyunjin who came to find me. He walked in while I was washing off the blood and I thought that he was gonna laugh at me, or worse, use it against me in one of our arguments. But he didn’t. He practically tackled me to the ground. He was crying and holding me close, begging me to not hurt myself anymore. It was then I realized that by hurting myself, I was also hurting my soulmates even more. You know how loud Hyunjin is so it didn’t take long for everyone else to come upstairs,” 

“We had a pretty serious talk that day but it was for the best. I had promised to stop and that I’d reach out if I needed help, that I’d learn to ask for affection that I was so desperately craving. Of course, it wasn’t easy. It’s hard to unlearn habits and just because I didn’t cut didn’t mean I didn’t stop feeling bad. But we managed and the guys never let me stew in my feelings for too long. I relapsed once during senior year but besides that, I am proud to say that I am two years sober,” 

You’ve been silent during his whole story, tears stinging at your eyes. Your fingers dig into your thighs, trying to find the right words to say but nothing feels enough. 

“Hey. It’s ok. I didn’t tell you my story to get you to tell me yours. I wanted to tell you so you know that you’re not alone in how you feel. That I would never judge you and neither would the others. But we do want to help you, if you’ll let us. I won’t lie to you and tell you it’ll be easy. Even now I still get the urge, the itch to just feel that sting. But I'm really lucky to have the others,”

You have your bottom lip between your teeth, biting hard that you’re sure you can taste the coppery tang of blood. Still, you nod your head, it’s barely visible but Jisung still notices. 

“Yeah? You’ll let us help you?” You nod more firmly this time, still unable to find your voice yet. “I’m glad,” And even though you’re not looking at him, you can practically hear the smile on his face. “Then there is one last thing. It’s a rather big step and you can tell me to fuck off if you want. Do you happen to have what you use to cut on you?” Again you nod. “Would you be comfortable giving it to me? I can keep it safe for you, yeah?” 

Hesitation is written all over your face so Jisung waits, and he’s nothing but patient as you all but struggle with a couple of inner demons. You’re not sure how long you two have been sitting there but you finally move to dig through your bag, pulling out the small pocket knife. Jisung holds out this hand for you and with shaky fingers you place it in his palm, pulling away quickly before you can take it back. The smile on his face is soft as he pockets it. 

“Hey. This is a big step. I’m so proud of you. Thank you so much for trusting me,” It's these words that finally break you, tears falling down your face. How sad is it that you can’t even remember the last time someone had told you that, if ever? 

Jisung can feel his heart break and there’s nothing more he wants to do then slide next to you and hold you close. He doesn’t know how you’d react to that so he just sits, letting you take the moment for yourself. 

Thankfully it’s just a few tears, wiping them away and sniffling softly. “ ‘m sorry,” You murmur under your breath andJisung almost doesn’t hear it. 

“Hey, it’s ok. You’re fine, I don’t mind. Are you ok now?” You nod, trying to pull yourself together and Jisung gives you a soft reassuring smile. “Ok, enough sad talk. Are you still down for watching some movies? I’d understand if you weren’t,” 

“No, I’d still like that a lot,” Jisung’s smile gets even bigger if possible. 

“Ok, lets go. Oh uh- sorry in advance, the apartment might be a little messy. It’s hard living with two gym bros and a painter who thinks any white surface is the perfect canvas,” 

“Am I going to your apartment, or a mancave? Be honest,”

“Yes,” TL;DR !!! jisung opens up about his own struggle with self-harm. Having come from a very conservative family, he was outted as bisexual from his soulmark and his parents were not happy. They neglected him and jisung didn't know how to ask for affection from his soulmates and lashed out a lot. He turned to self-harm because he couldn't deal with his feelings. he is currently two years sober and asks yn if she'll agree to let them help her. in the end, yn hands over her pocket knife to jisung for safe keeping and then they go back to sung's appartment for their movie date. previous | masterlist | next waiting for us taglist (50/50) send an ask or sign up here!: @abbiestearsricochet @boo-ven9eance @adorawritesalot @melleus @inlovewithallmusic @alnex05 @borahae-reads @zonked-times @yoonrimin @slay-and-gay @loverlixie @katsukis1wife @realrintaro @0325tiny @adestayskz @minhwa @littleaprilcherryblossom @soobery @lillithathecat @ilychee08 @everglowdaisies @boi-bi-ahaha @yandere-stories @orchid-mantis-petals @minhoie @popcatx0 @tara-drabbles @super-btstrash-posts @gemi-moon @skz-streamer @jaiuneamesolitaiire @bozotwt @enchantedgrunge @corrodedthorn @143lix @ashitshowforalot @xrvrqs @lynlyndoll @txtandroll @kawennote09 @liknws @ritzy-dream-boy @hannieslove @hello-2-u-from-me @vampcharxter @jisuperboard @surefornext @puppy-minnie @freckleboilix @imwithurmother

[tacharie]

Thoughts for The Montkraken Episode

so, I just finished the chapter and… wow I have a lot to say. I took screen shots for every part I wanted to talk about and I think this rant will be SUPERRRR long so bear with me. Tumblr won’t let me add screenshots so when I have better service I’ll edit the post to add them. These paragraphs are theories and side notes that I wrote after reading a certain section so you’re gonna see my thought process throughout the story. As always, spoilers ahead so I recommend skipping this if you haven’t read it already.

Alright so I was once a hater of this ship BUT… the Shobaru shippers may have a point in this guys ��. LIKE.. I HAVE THE SCREENSHOT OF SUBARU BLUSHING UHHH. That is not a heterosexual stare feller 🤨…

AHHHHHHH THE FROSTHEIM DUO ARE BACKKKKK!!! I missed them so so much they’re so silly and deserve the best. Honestly the only two I trust in this school cause I CANT. I literally suspect anyone but them, but Imma be so disappointed if either of them are hiding something. I’ll be sad, but like I’ll help 🙄. I was actually so sad when the MC mentioned being the reason they could be in danger like GIRLLLLL DONT SAY THAT PLEASEEEEE. ITS LIKE THE ANGST WITH ADEUCE AND YUU LIKE STAWPOPP. Also when the Vagastorm kids were like “aw yeah Mido wouldn’t lie like that” it makes me happy that people can at least trust him enough to be honest and idk I found that kinda sweet :3. We’re also getting a bit of a timeline, like the One-Eyed Sleeping Beauty Murder being BEFORE the clash (sorry if this was already mentioned I don’t really remember stuff from the past chapters) which could’ve been a trigger.

Also, I feel like they’re trying to tell us that Jiro is Zenji’s brother because when he had that little laugh about the MC being scared of bodies, he said too. When you click the “too?” option, he just says that he isn’t the one afraid. It’s not Yuri as well cause he’s literally a doctor that is in the same room when autopsies are in session. Whatever the case, I assume he was referencing to Zenji, though it being a blurry memory. Little theory tho.

OK SO THIS IS JUST SO FUNNY TO ME. In Chapter 9’s title it says, “Girl Learns Shocking Truth About Monster”. I like to think the shocking truth was the fact he didn’t shower for 3 days 😭. CAUSE THATS THE PART SHE SOUNDS MOST SHOCKED. Idk that part was silly to me. THEY’RE OUTFITS FOR THEIR DORM IS SOOOOOO PRETTY. They ate I fear, a bit more than the other dorms. Also side note, they dropped A LOT of info with just how they word things. For example, Yuri saying “Jiro, you are well aware that I will not be associated with those germs AGAIN.” Soooo Yuri was in Frostheim? I don’t doubt it bc there’s another line that says “I’d rather not recall how bitterly cold that place is” which can MEAN TWO THINGS. I’m super sure that they’re implying that yeah, he was, but then something happened blah blah blah.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH HYDE AND DANTE??? Like ok bitches, spill your shot to us too don’t be shy. So, confirmed by them, Dante and Hyde used to go to school in Darkwick (which I assume the rest of the teachers are too). That explains their back and forth. WHAT REALLY CAUGHT MY EYE WERE THESE LINES.

Hyde: “…You really are a softie, Dan-Dan.” (Haha Dan- Dan)

Dante: “It would seem that way to someone as cold as you.” (???) “…There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed, Hyde.”

Hyde: “…I’ll keep that in mind.”

WHATTTTT. WHAT ARE THE LINES. GO IN DETAIL ARGHHHHH. This gives us more info on the character individually too. Dante describes Hyde as cold… DANTE. So, it was obvious that this whole happy go lucky attitude was fake, but I expected to be more like Haru’s kind of attitude not like that yk?? now I know how much of a cash grab this game is, but I really hope they aren’t going to stretch the story out too long to the point where you have to P2W cause I haven’t paid a cent and I don’t plan to. I still want to learn more about them and stuff so :(. On the topic of Dante, there was a small flashback where I missed a word in the sentence that Dante said while talking with Alan. “I’m the man you supposedly killed.” Supposedly?? Now, I didn’t my catch this in my first run, but now it’s like wdym supposedly?? Shouldn’t you know? This is giving hella Jiro vibes and honestly, I’m getting sick and tired of these characters having a bad memory.

SPEAKING OF JIRO- he seems to have problems remembering things and they come back to him in the very weird moments (honestly a kin moment). I would like the think that he’s just suffering from the damages he had to go through from the clash. His relationship with Yuri is so… sad to me. Yuri seems to doubt him a little bit and I feel like he sees him as just a specimen, not much of a friend. Meanwhile, Jiro smiles a lot to Yuri and listens to him like a master, like that’s what he’s supposed to do. NOT AGAINST HIS OWN WILL DONT GET ME WRONG. He’s just so neutral about it it makes me a bit like awwww :(. They’re cute tho idrc.

Ok moving on to Haku and Tohma. (Ok at this point I’m getting nervous cause why are we seeing so many characters now. That’s probably just a coincidence). OK THESE TWO HAVE GOT IT GOING. Like there’s tension when you get their chat in the campus but this is like woahhhh… Also I don’t like how Tohma says “our wheelhouse? I see..” it makes me think he’s like implying “so you think you’re a part of them now?” IDK THATS JUST MY LITTLE STRETCH. Also poor Zenji, he’s like “aw yeah I died in vain lol” LIKE OUCH.

Nicholas. I DO NOT LIKE HIM. I REPEAT. I DO NOT LIKE HIM FOR A MINUTE OF A SECOND. The only staff I like are the cats, the grocer guy, and MAYBE Dante. LIKE HES SO… NORMAL?? LIKE THERE’S SOMETHING WEIRD GOING ON IK THERE IS. When MC says “I can’t believe Professor Nicolas would do something like that” I DO 😡🙋‍♀️. I am in full support of Yuri finding crimes against this guy.

Also, little other side note, I just realized that Yuri and Jiro have matching earring in opposite ears. It’s so cute.

Ok I might have to go back to the beginning and see what the “goat like anomaly” Jiro is talking about when he mentions the prophecy, cause I said “… the chancellor is a goat??” BUT ANYWAYS. Speaking of the prophecy, I’ll jot it down.

“The whisper of the new moon shall lead the champion to the academy on the solitary island. So long as the champion resides there, the world shall be sheltered from profound tragedy.”

Stating the obvious here, but this is most likely referencing to the last cutscenes we get when we choose our characters. I’ve checked the cutscenes again and there’s no visible moon, meaning it could correlate to the “new moon” portion. (Search up new moon to see what I mean). Assuming Solitary island means death, that would also help with the theory. So, whoever we chose in the beginning might just be the person who won the Laurel Crown.Honestly, this is just a silly little Drabble for a theory and VERY vague. Maybe the champion resides in the events of the past that we still don’t know about but this kinda helps?? Idk I’m just putting what I think at the moment. I’ll probably reread the game so I can get a better timeline. Also, Yuri’s rant about demon particles… doesn’t exactly sit right with me. Were they chosen to be resilient or was it just a birth thing?? Idk but I feel like a lot is missing from his theory. I mean, we’re using human logic to a supernatural cause so I don’t think pacts acting as allergies would work. If they’re not chosen, could it be that the ghouls can make pacts with more than one demon? I wanna see what happens if that was the case. Please comment if I missed something 😭.

Ok Towa appeared. (Why are we seeing so many characters I don’t like this) and we went back to that tree… WHAT IS THAT TREE?? And what the hell do you mean the fruit grew? What is that fruit supposed to be? An anomaly going to birth?? Is it supposed to represent the houses?? Motivation?? It seems so weird to me cause we just got introduced to that tree last episode. Sighs.

OK REN AND RITSU. WHAT IS GOING ON. I GUESS SINCE THIS IS THE LADT CHAPTER FOR INTRODUCING CHARACTERS BUT LIKE … STOP. I feel like something is going to happen with the MC pls 😭. Anyway, those two talking about ramen is so cute please don’t ever change you virgin and lizard looking freak 🫶( with love of course). GROCER GUYYYYYYY. YIPPEE :3!! I love that the cat is the owner and not the human lmao.

Also I will always be a MC defender cause she is so relatable. “Why are hospitals so creepy at night?” GIRL IKKKKKK. Idc what y’all say, the fact that she’s normal is keeping me sane from these freaky deaky events. ILOVE NORMAL CHARACTERS! LIKE MATSUDA FROM DEATH NOTE OR THAT ONE GUY FROM MASHELE. Anyways, I love her little comments and everything she’s so silly. Idrc if she doesn’t have much of a backbone cause honestly, she’s surrounded by danger so the best she should do is listen to the people that are constantly surrounded by it.

ALSO NEW THING. (Well idk if it’s new but yeah).

mention of a Dionysia Breakout. <—— Idk what that is, but it sounds like a little more. I love little details and slip ups thanks characters <3!!

HA! HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA! I WIN NICOLAS 😈!!! YOU DO HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE. AND I WILL FIND IT TRUST YOU WILL BE DELT WITH. I WILL KNOW THE PRIOR PAST >:(!! Also, Moby is being soooo annoying tbh. More character descriptions to add: competitive as a teacher. NO ONE WILL MAKE YOU HATE YOU JIRO ‼️‼️‼️ HES SO SWEET He literally asks if we’re scared and says we can hang back awwww. Though he doesn’t understand much, he can use logic and he can at least understand how we feel. It’s a nice sentiment :)!

I can’t take the transformation seriously I’m sorry. I’m still impressed by Yuri’s deductive skills and the transformation just sounded like he was constipated.

THE WHOLE BATTLE SCENE WAS EPIC!! MC HESITATING BECAUSE OF LEOS WORDS BUT STILL PUSHING FORWARD. YURI GETTING FLUSTERED. JIRO SMILING AND TRUSTING YURI’S ORDERS. THE FUNNY EXCHANGE ABOUT MUSCLE WHEN THEY WERE CARRYING THE POD. Those annoying ass pussy sticks we call Darkwick students 😡. JIRO LOOKING BADASS AFTER THE SHOT. URGHHHH I LOVE THIS CHAPTER.

HARU AND PEEKABOOOOO!! AHHHHH IM SO HAPPY I SEE THEM AGAIN!! I’m so glad he’s going to Hyde too cause I’m not ready. Also… the mermaid thing is so weird. For the Montkraken Mermaid, they seem to refer to it as “it” or “that mermaid”, but when they speak of the second mermaid, they use personal pronouns like “he /him”. Haru’s expression as well when he heard someone was abusing mermaid flesh… it’s a new one with a little crease under his eye. It’s such a sad face like, did he know this mermaid personally or was this fear?? Either way, I wanna meet him cause the other one was so pretty.

…You guys know the “I see who you are… you are my enemy” sound that’s on TikTok or reels or wtv? YEAH THATS SONG WAS PLAYING IN MY HEAD WHEN HYDE SAID WE HAD TO DO A SPEECH. HYDE IM IN YOUR WALLS. URGHHHH I HATE HIMMMMM. Call to action my ass IK either Taiga or Leo are gonna get their asses out of the door after the speech. OR BOTH. I’m starting to tweak.

NOOOOO THE SPEECH IS THE NEXT CHAPTER?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I feel so bad for Zenji… like I’m so deadass. Dude he sounds so sad about how he’s dead it’s so.. URGHHHH. ALSO I CALLED IT. THEY ARE BROTHERS. AHAHHAHA!! Well it was kinda obvious cause everyone thought it too but WOMP WOMP. Also I love his real name, Taro Kirisaki. It’s pretty :)!! But these lines killed me

“and though I have taken my final blow, my brotherly heart can’t help but worry for my kin. … Not that he has any idea I’m still around.” YEOUCH?? I DIDNT COME TO CRY BRO…

I’m tweaking out because of this speech bro. I’m gonna choose the corniest stuff and hope for the best. “I feel bad please stop for me 🥺” headass.

Taiga is officially my enemy as well. I called that shit about him leaving URGH. WHAT A FLIBBERTYJIBBET!! His outfit eats tho so it balances out. LIKE DAMNNNN. HE LOOKS SO GOOD.

DOUBLE?? TRIPLE??? QUINTUPLE???? HELL I MIGHT BECOME A GHOUL TO GET THAT MONEY GOLLY 😍😍😍!! CAUSE IN THIS ECONOMY??Also thanks Jin you a real one twin. Bouta split this cash with my wife and I’ll send you a wedding invite.

EDWARD. ED PLEASE. STOP PUTTING ME IN THE SPOTLIGHT… well it’s out now so woopy!! I really wonder what the others have to say about that cause they just gave really vague surprised reactions. Well, Ritsu documented it. I love that little guy please don’t ever change you silly.

NUMBER ONE CORNELIUS HATER IDC. Unless I know your intentions I DONT CAREEEEE. YOU ARE AN OPP IT IS ON SIGHT WITH YOU. SAME WITH YOU NICOLAS!! “I didn’t know whether to tell you or not I’m sowwy 🥺” CHUPA MI PITO HOE 😡.

… you’re telling me I didn’t have to do that awful speech because DANTE AGREED?? IM DONE. IM WHOOPING EVERYONE IN THE ROOM AND AURING THE PLACE OUT. FIRST ONES OUT ARE HYDE FOR NOT TELLING ME, NICOLAS, AND CORNELIUS. ARGHHHHHHH. Also, dude, who is that Janitor guy like seriously.

ROMEO??? AND HYDE???? WHAT IS THIS ABOUT BUTTERCUP?? Wdym worked for him?? What is going on… SPECIAL MISSION??? SHO??? OH NAW. I CANT TRUST NOBODY ANYMORE 😭

Towa crying :(. What does the fruit shrinking have to do with it now?? I’m so confused.

ALRIGHT IF YOU MADE IT TO THE END WOW YOU HAVE DEDICATION. Yeah this is my personal yap session to this chapter and it’s so URGH. I’m so excited to see the next chapter and I hope we get to see more and more. Now with the Gala in place, we can finally start WORKING. Based on the timeline, we have about … 8 months left?? So hopefully, for MC’s sake, she gets cured. BYE BYE UNTIL NEXT EPISODE!!

[kinardsevan]

melbell's theory on "is it a swerve":

I have been saying for about two days that I would write out a whole through-line of my theory of what shenanigans might be happening in the writers room for 911. 

I should specify first that this theory goes based on the idea that what’s being served to us currently is an entire swerve, and that they’re following the formula they’ve done before (ala Madney, Tarlos, etc.). 

My theory ties into 807 as well. It has us not losing Tommy, but him actually being in the episode. Given that we know that it’s been said that recurring cast members will film in batches and not necessarily by week, that opens up the option for Lou to be in (at least) 807, if not more. 

I know some of what has come out in social media in the past few days references that there was a certain lineup for the way B/T was viewed through 8a, and how it would culminate in the discussion of moving in together, referencing lore to Tommy’s past, possibly his father, etc. 

My thing is that, at the end of the day as a creative, all I’m trying to do is follow the breadcrumbs we’ve been fed for the past 12 episodes of this show. Because of that, the points of note within those breadcrumbs are: 

7x09: “Tommy’s good people. He’s good for you.” 

7x10: “My dad and I don’t really talk…Having Gerrard was like having the father I already had.” 

8x05: “people are what make life worth living”; “my boyfriend”; “It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? having a crew like this behind you, even when things go wrong” "especially when things go wrong"

8x06: “Do you love him” (entire speech) 

Now obviously, coming out of season 7, this show knew they wanted Lou back, but they didn’t know what his schedule was going to look like or whether the character would pan out, how the general audience would continue to tune in, etc. However, they did lay down enough crumbs that they could pick up and continue to move forward with. They gave themselves the ability to tell a story with Tommy’s lore around his father, along with what they ultimately chose to do with Abby (which a lot of fans were talking about early on in the summer as it was). 

Now, we’ve learned things since I first formulated this theory. We know that there’s a discussion about Buck having a “pendulum” reaction to the breakup and how to deal with it. We know that he’s going to throw himself into other things to cope. We know that there’s mention of “cracks starting to show” in reference to how he deals with the breakup. we also have mention in one of the articles about the possibility of them working a scene (as in accident, fire, etc) and things being awkward. 

based on all of that prior information, (along with Josh’s speech in 806), when I saw the preview for 807, I was very quickly one of the people who was like “this is being done for angst. this is not the end of BuckTommy”. 

My theory actually ties into (if we loved each other once) could we love each other twice, my latest fic. We don’t have any close-up shots of the person on the crane in the episode. We have the PA (or whoever he is) telling Bobby “there was an incident during filming, he fell and passed out”. Within the confines of me feeling like what’s happening is all a swerve on us, that line might not be entirely complete.  I’ve theorized that the 217 is already on scene, and Tommy is the man hanging on the crane. 

Why, you ask? 

When is the last time we saw someone hanging from a crane? (Buck, lightning strike, if you’re playing the long game, kids). Why bring that back if it’s not intended to be paralleled in some way, the very way they have been doing with this couple from the jump? 

We also have the voiceover of who we (aka as me and the two people I’ve actually written this all out for) assume is Oliver/Buck yelling “no no no no no!” in a panicked tone. For me, when I follow that line of logic (through 806 forward), things feel really clear. 

Now I hadn’t considered the idea that they might actually kill Tommy off until today, but let’s go with the idea that they’re not. Everything that we’ve been given from 710 on starts fill in a really beautiful plot going into the midseason finale for these two. 

Tommy is hurt. If the lightning strike is mirrored as I assume it is, the scene in reference will happen right about the end of 807. 808 will likely be some kind of other story (on purpose). I don’t think at this rate, we’ll actually ever get a Tommy Begins, but the title of Sob Stories really feels compelling to me on how they could do a version of this. Or a version of Tommy seeing what Buck’s life would be like without him, or any other version you want to think up. 

You suddenly get all of these breadcrumbs lined up really nicely into these episode. 

-Tommy’s dad can be presented to us. This also presents an opportunity to explain why Tommy feels unworthy/scared/etc of moving forward with Buck. 

-“people make life worth living”; “especially when things go wrong”. This would be something going very wrong. this would present them with an opportunity to give the payoff that we’ve wanted to see Tommy receive since 710, being accepted into the family he has always felt outside of. 

-“do you love him”. I think part of the break-up storywise being important for Buck is that it requires him to really dignify how he feels about Tommy. Another thing that this theory does is put them in a positon to really face the issue of remembering that life is not permanent. They can very much so end up without one another. And yes, shit already sucks being apart because Tommy broke up with him. But this brings to light the idea that, not only could they just be broken up, but that one of them could die and not have had whatever time they have left (especially given their career of choice) with one another. I think if you really lean into the parallel of the coma dream for Buck, it gives Tommy prime opportunity to learn why he’s afraid. Whether this is done in the form of a coma dream like buck, or like TK’s was with his mom (that feels more accurate for me with Tommy, meeting his mom, etc). 

—I’ll also include the aside of Gerrard being around could also be an interesting addition to the story. 

I can even see this feeding into whatever issue Buck runs into with Eddie in the coming weeks, whether it’s him still being upset with Tommy over the break up and Eddie saying Buck doesn’t have the full story, or Eddie thinking that Buck is giving in too easily after seeing him hurt. (Or that could be none of all of this). 

As for the interviews that are concerning, I do have somewhat of an answer to that too. 

I feel like on some level, Lou had to know that the fangirlish one was with someone who is fully behind Buddie and knew about the crap he’d been through. That interview didn’t have clear cut answers quite yet, and that one has me with this answer: nothing of what he said would necessarily be a lie.

He’s working on SWAT right now. Actors always have opportunities in front of them. He may have things that could affect how 8b goes, regardless. I have questioned whether he went into that interview with the discussion with the powers that be basically being like “don’t lie. but you can have fun with it, too.” 

In terms of the others, I haven’t read every single article out there, but I know we hold a general lack of understanding about the fact that the “exit interviews” just feel weirdly un-exit like. I’ve read millions of them at this point due to Greys Anatomy. And as it’s been said, you never see people asked about coming back; in fact you usually get a lot of "what's next" instead. We don’t get a whole lot of clarity of what’s happening with Buck next, beyond “new hobbies” “family time” “dealing”. 

That all said… I don’t know. I know the theory has legs, even though it takes shots from the articles we’ve been given. I started out with a lot of hope weighing into this theory. Now I’m not as certain. But I am someone who holding out hope that some version of a swerve is happening and it was just written really fucking poorly (and at the worst possible time known to queer men and women).

You’re welcome to share with me your thoughts. I’m open to polite discourse. 

[lcvehee]

lost and found (smau)

#16. the nerds are fighting

꩜ .ᐟ wc: 0.8k + screenshots

it was the beginning of exam season, and the library was buzzing with activity. you were hunched over your ipad, eyebags sitting under your eyes. you stretched your arms over your head, trying to relieve some tension in your back. try, at least. over the three years you’ve spent in college, you’ve developed an awful sitting posture, and you just can’t seem to sit properly now. you take a sip from your coffee, wrinkling your nose, and set it down immediately.

sohee took your thermos, smelling the liquid inside. “is it that bad?” he glanced at you, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

“very much so,” you whispered, sticking your tongue at him.

he clutched his heart, fake sobbing. “i’m never making you coffee again.”

"good,” you murmur teasingly, looking down again at your ipad.

just like the coffee you drank, the conversation with your brother a few days ago left a bittersweet aftertaste in your mouth. 

you’ve changed.

you still don’t know how to process that information. at first, you brushed it off. changed? you? no way. you’re still the same person, still focused on your studies, still trying to keep your life on track. but then it stuck with you, the words replaying in your head.  

and... maybe he’s right.  

you never noticed it before, but now that you think about it, it’s true. you used to keep everyone at arm’s length. well, maybe except giselle, anton, and yeri. it was safer that way—less risk, less effort, just you and your goals. but now... you’ve let more people in. 

sohee. somehow, he slipped past the walls you didn’t even realize you’d built so high. he’s just there, and it feels so natural, so easy.

that’s all it is, though. you made a deal with him to ward off your nosy friends about your love life, and you ended up genuinely enjoying his presence. he’s a good guy. even though you started on the wrong foot, he's a great friend. the kind who makes things lighter, who just gets you without making a big deal about it. it’s nice having someone like that around. it doesn’t mean anything more.

there’s nothing more to it. there can’t be.

“y/n? you good?”

the sound of his voice cut straight through your thoughts. you blinked and lifted your head, only to find him already looking at you, 

“oh, uh—yeah,” you muttered quickly, your heart doing something weird you refuse to acknowledge. “just... thinking.”

he nodded, as if that was a perfectly reasonable answer. “just wondering how you coded this program?” he turned his laptop towards you. “i can't seem to get my code to compile and it's driving me nuts.”

you squint, analyzing the file he wrote. 

“you forgot a semi-colon here, here, and… here,” you pointed out each line. “you don't need to define this function to this extent, it's already in your header file, i assume.”

he groaned, covering his face with his hands. 

“you also referenced the wrong type multiple times, it's a pointer to an integer value,” you whispered.

he sighed deeply.

“i'm dropping out."

you snorted. “sohee, you said that yesterday.”

“i'm being for real, y/n. auditioning at agencies sounds so tempting right now.”

you can't take his tone seriously, a small giggle escaping your mouth. “your parents would kill you.”

he sighed once again. “they totally would, i know.”

you patted his shoulder as a weak attempt to reassure him. “let's stop studying for today, we've been here since 8am.”

as you said those words, he immediately perked up, quickly putting away his belongings.

“i'm gonna have the best nap of my life after this," he whispered to you, making you giggle.

while sohee was in his room, napping, you found yourself in a peculiar position. the two of you were chatting side by side at foot of his bed, but he soon fell asleep, his shoulder leaning on yours. you're now stuck because you don't want to risk waking him.

you could feel your heartbeat hammering in your chest. what in the kdrama is happening?

“sohee?” seunghan muttered, coming from the hallway.

you hummed in response, looking up from your phone. act normal. act normal. act normal. act normal—

“you guys look cute.”

you rolled your eyes, putting your index finger in front of your mouth to shush him.

"okay, fine, fine." he held his hands in surrender. "let me ask you something though."

you nodded absentmindedly.

"what's up with you and wonbin?"

for a moment, you froze, the question hanging in the air. what could you possibly say? the truth lingered on the tip of your tongue—you were working on a surprise for sohee, arranging a recording session at a professional studio. wonbin was the perfect guy as he knew all the right people for the task. from everything you've gathered during your time spent at his apartment, music clearly meant everything to sohee, and you wanted to give him the opportunity to properly record his own creations.

but how could you explain that? simple. be as vague as possible. that's it.

“we're working on a surprise for sohee.” 

"and why not me? i'm his best friend." he raised his eyebrows, intrigued. “and what for? his birthday's in a long time.”

"wonbin seems to know what he's doing, unlike someone else."

he gasped. "rude."

you shrugged, putting on a nonchalant air. “i can't reveal anything, that would defeat the purpose of a surprise." you paused. "knowing you, you'd probably end up telling sohee at some point.. "

seunghan grinned cheekily. "by the way, you'll be stuck here for a long time," he said. "his naps are usually pretty long, so make yourself comfortable."

you made a face. oh no.

prev | next

꩜ .ᐟ a/n: more writing!! idk if u guys prefer more screenshots or more written parts. lmk!! this is something im more used to tbh. i grew up reading more "traditional" written fics, as smaus are relatively new. also poor y/n... imagine having sohee sleep on ur shoulder like that for hours lol. what is gonna happen when he wakes up ?? stay tuned for the next chapter😭

© lcvehee | taglist is open: @secretiny @totheseok @renjuneoo @molensworld @wccycc @onlyhyunjin @mystarsohee @llearlert @nujeskz @yoursyuno @minkkumaz @rikisluv @xcosmi @zularen @vixensss @sftsohee

[freyholland]

Until Dawn Movie Review

This started as a shitpost and then got suuuper long, lmao.

tl;dr the Until Dawn movie was absolutely insane and ridiculous and definitely doesn't need to exist. but I actually liked it more than I thought I would lol

Full review (SPOILER WARNING) under the cut:

Let me start by saying that I’m someone who was fixated on Until Dawn for about a year when it first came out. I don’t consider myself one of its “biggest fans ever”, but I have published over 100k words of fanfiction about it, in addition to countless hours spent crafting edits, metas, playlists, etc - so I think that gives my opinion on the franchise at least Some weight.

Until Dawn is a game that’s basically a movie already. My opinion right along has been that a direct adaptation of UD would have been completely redundant. When this movie was announced, I felt that way. Then we learned that the plot would be different - and suddenly, I was interested. They weren’t taking the easiest and most obvious route. They were trying something new. For better or worse, I was intrigued.

As a writer, changing ANYTHING in a story creates a huge fucking, well, butterfly effect, so naturally things in the movie turn out very different. And yes, I do question some of the decisions, like taking it out of the snowy mountain setting. I assume that was done to differentiate the two stories but then there are so many similarities that it’s impossible not to compare the plots, lol. I do applaud their attempt at creativity instead of mindless translation, even though I don’t think all of it worked. The end product is, at the very least, entertaining, which is really all you can ask of a B-movie horror flick shot on a $15m budget.

The original game, on paper, is cluttered as FUCK. When I first played it back in 2015, I recall turning to my brother at one point and saying “So you’re telling me there just so happens to be a cabin in the woods next to an abandoned mineshaft next to a fucking sanitarium?!” The fact that the movie managed to weave in SO many of these things from that crowded-ass setting while still producing something new and different was really impressive to me. Yes, not all of it was done well - some (like “the masked murderer”) felt like they were just there to tick a box. But a time loop plot allowed for a lot of exploration of these multitudes of different things. And there are so many tiny references! It was fun to spot them all.

I didn’t expect them to work in stuff from the other Supermassive games (notably Little Hope and The Quarry). Oh my god, the way the theater ERUPTED [negative] during the fucking. The fucking. SPONTANEOUS EXPLOSION scenes. I THINK THEY WERE REFERENCING THE QUARRY TRANSFORMATIONS SINCE THEY SHOWED WEREWOLF SKETCHES SHORTLY BEFORE…. BUT LIKE. OF ALL THE THINGS TO USE FROM THAT GAME MFJDKDKDA

And the bear trap with chain thing was from Little Hope, wasn’t it? Or was that from The Quarry, too? I know I remember it from one of the games. Anyway, I was surprised to see that stuff sneak in. Also, them making Dr. Hill the villain was…an interesting choice. Not sure how I feel about it tbh - especially since he seemed like a totally normal guy outside of Josh’s hallucinations (and his explanation for what was happening in the film made no gd sense lmao - how was he able to keep bringing people back to life like that…he outright says it’s real and not in Clover’s mind, so…wtf, is Dr. Hill a necromancer or something). Peter Stormare did an excellent job, though, and he’s probably the closest UD has to a “mascot” character, so I’m willing to be a bit lenient with his inclusion.

I’ll be honest, my working theory prior to seeing the film was that they were making so many changes because they were getting rid of the you-know-whats, or at least changing them into Generic Nameless Creatures, since they look so little like you-know-whats to begin with. Was very disappointed that they not only used the name, but went even farther in stripping them of any cultural connection or significance. The game belly flopped with their handling of Indigenous folklore, but at least they acknowledged it was Indigenous folklore. This was just pure “they’re movie monsters”. Did not like, the movie lost probably a whole grade in my book for pulling that.

Other notes: Loved the use of practical effects! The acting was also solid and I felt like most of the jokes landed. The majority of the humor came from the banter between a bunch of stupid teenagers (?), like in the game, and while the characters themselves weren't as memorable (to be expected in a movie that's about 1/5th the length of the game), I did like them well enough. I actually liked Nina a lot and wish we could have learned more about her. A canon bicon in my adaptation of an oppressively heterosexual game? More likely than you think, apparently

Changing the “final girl” to be the surviving twin also added some juicy emotional stuff we never got in the game, since we don’t get to see much of Josh processing what happened to Hannah. Reminds me of those “Beth lives” fics people used to write, where she’d help take Hannah down. I also enjoyed that they (purposely?) cast a girl who looks like Ella Lentini. (And her actress name is actually Ella, too! Ella Rubin). I liked that choice a lot.

So in the ongoing debate of “Should this film have been given the Until Dawn name?”, I’m honestly torn. Yes, parts of it do feel like they were recycled from other scripts that probably couldn’t get greenlit on their own. But there is SO much UD DNA woven throughout, it’s pretty undeniably An Until Dawn Movie. When I was discussing it with my brother afterward, his opinion was that he would have called it “Until Dawn: [some subtitle]” to differentiate it, and I found myself agreeing with that. Calling it something like Until Dawn: 13 Nights (or anything like that) might have alleviated some fan outrage - though that would have come with the tradeoff of casual horror viewers thinking it was a sequel and possibly skipping it…so I’m not sure what would have truly been the best move here. I think it was kind of a lose-lose either way, which is a risk you always run with these sorts of adaptations.

Ultimately, did Until Dawn (2025) need to exist? No. Is it better than the game? No. Is it a fun time for fans of the game who are curious about its subject matter being explored in a different way? Yeah, definitely. It's not going to win any awards, but I don't regret seeing it.

Rating: 6/10

[talenlee]

How To Be: Marisa Rosetti (in 4e D&D)

In How To Be we’re going to look at a variety of characters from Not D&D and conceptualise how you might go about making a version of that character in the form of D&D that matters on this blog, D&D 4th Edition. Our guidelines are as follows:

This is going to be a brief rundown of ways to make a character that ‘feels’ like the source character

This isn’t meant to be comprehensive or authoritative but as a creative exercise

While not every character can work immediately out of the box, the aim is to make sure they have a character ‘feel’ as soon as possible

The character has to have the ‘feeling’ of the character by at least midway through Heroic

When building characters in 4th Edition it’s worth remembering that there are a lot of different ways to do the same basic thing. This isn’t going to be comprehensive, or even particularly fleshed out, and instead give you some places to start when you want to make something.

Another thing to remember is that 4e characters tend to be more about collected interactions of groups of things – it’s not that you get a build with specific rules about what you have to take, and when, and why, like you’re lockpicking your way through a design in the hopes of getting an overlap eventually. Character building is about packages, not programs, and we’ll talk about some packages and reference them going forwards.

In my ongoing effort to not just work my way through the entire cast of Ranma 1/2 for February How To Be challenges, spurred in part by not wanting to cover Shampoo since people would get pissy about me pointing out she’s kinda boring and a bit dumb, I have instead decided to reach out to some other source material, seeking an interesting example of a character defined by their ability to fight things, but also wanting something simple enough that I wouldn’t have to do a ton of research, and hopefully from a source material that could afford to be big on personality and a bit stupid.

Ah, Street Fighter, perfect.

Examining Marisa Rossetti

Marisa Rosetti is a character from the Street Fighter universe, introduced in Street Fighter 6. I assume. I’m sure some truly nerdy Street Fighter lore dork will be able to tell me that actually, she was referenced in Street Fighter V Sidestreet Alpha Overlourded, and don’t I look stupid now, everyone is laughing. At a glance, she is a tall muscular Italian lady who, ostensibly, has a day job as a jewelry designer. As a fighter, she uses a hybrid of what you’d see as boxing and wrestling, known as pankration, a martial art about which I know literally nothing. I could read to you from the wiki if you want, but really, we’ve covered the important things.

Marisa also continues the Street Fighter tradition of being a character informed by knowing about one and a half things about a country and then turning the personality slider either all the way up (Zangief) or all the way down (everyone else but especially Ryu). She’s meant to mix together some ideas of Greek and Roman mythology and history in a character who can be best described as a very muscular Asterix comic, complete with the way that she, a woman, looks like a different species to those around her. The character is very much a ‘romantic’ in that she wants to marry everyone who excites her, man and woman, and blurs together Latin and Greek words in her moves. When she’s done beating her opponent up, she m’ladies them off the screen in a polite display, and the character projects this selfserious air of command, where sure, she beat you up, but also, now she may be marrying you. Or something like that.

And look, I know I’m talking some smack here but just because I have nothing but overwhelming disdain for the borderline racist character design philosophy of Street Fighter, I bear no ill will to Marisa here. She is a delightfully exaggerated superhuman, a goofy half-drawn sketch of a design made by someone who had the bravery, the courage to say ‘I don’t really know much about this subject, but damnit, I’m not going to let that stop me, nor am I going to let it spur me on to doing any research.’ Marisa is not defined by her story, in the broad ‘here is how it starts, develops, and ends’ way, but rather the way she bops from encounter to encounter within the violent comedy sitcom of Street Fighter 6‘s b-plots. She’s finding people she wants to fight, because she loves to fight, and she loves the people she can fight with, men, women and even… you.

Glossary Note: Conventionally, the term used in D&D for this mechanical package is race. This is the typical term, and in most conversations about this game system, the term you’re going to wind up using is race. For backwards compatibility and searchability, I am including this passage here. The term I use for this player option is heritage.

The Basics

Overwhelmingly, Marisa is going to be using the multiclass feat Master of the Fist to get access to the Monk unarmed combatant feature, proficient in ki focuses. This is how you can guarantee you’ll be a punchy fighty tall lady. What heritage you pick is going to be flexible around the ability scores you want and what ability scores you want?

Well uh

Strength, probably.

I mean uh.

You know what, let’s talk about Multi Attribute Dependencies.

Fighting games are games that want to represent a character in a tiny window of what they can do. Any given character is cooked down to a small handful of rules about how they move and a few optional abilities. It’s not even ‘how is this character at fighting’ but rather ‘how is this character at fighting in this particular dimension in a learnable way.’ If nothing else, there are some fight game characters who can’t use a gun, which is something pretty important to modern ways of fighting. To this end, you can throw everything you want in the parts of a character’s life that has nothing to do with fighting and it doesn’t change anything. Ryu is a homeless person with combat autism and M Bison owns a multinational corporation and crime syndicate, and those two characters can meet on the battlefield without any discrepancy because all that matters is how well they punch each other with the buttons.

What that means is that when you take these kinds of characters and consider them in the context of an open, complex-interaction world like Dungeons & Dragons (4th edition), in a system that’s meant to deliberately constrain what characters can do in order to ask players to think in terms of parties and specialisations. Turns out you can’t just start out with an international crime syndicate in your back pocket. And this runs down to the ability scores, where a character has six scores that they need to consider in terms of their value to expressing that character.

The thing is, if you look at Marisa as a character in the original text you can make a great case for the fact she should be good at, basically, everything. Sure, she’s not as nimble or dextrous as she is tough or strong, and she might not be a genius, but she has a deeply insightful view of life and relationships, and a personal charisma that lets her roll into people’s lives and express herself immensely. Basically, the only thing she’s not openly good at is book smarts, and even that’s pushing it because this is a woman with a knowledge of art history and historical metalcraft, which are things you don’t just get for free in cereal boxes.

There are plenty of ways to handle this, by the way. Ability scores, ostensibly, are not to necessarily represent what you can do but rather how the person you are expresses itself in ways the games recognise. It’s possible to have a deep awareness of a specific history with training in a skill, and for the rest of your ‘intelligence’ to be wrapped up in that one specific field of study. It’s possible to even diminish an ability like ‘strength’ in the name of increasing something like constitution because in many fights, the ability to push through a hit and score hits is just as likely as being strong enough to push your fists through people’s guards.

This is what we call multiple attribute dependency. Coined a hojillion years ago to discuss the psionics of 3rd edition, it was meant to be an example of a fundamental problem with the class design, where to make a character capable of using the spells, you needed high stats not in an ability, but all of them. This was bad and it sucked. It’s less of a problem here, though, because you don’t need high stats in everything, but you do need to make a choice about what part of Marisa appeals to you the most.

Build 1 — The Brawler Fighter

Probably heritage here is the Goliath, because the ability scores you value are Strength and Wisdom.

I try to always start these things with an as simple as possible pop-the-box-open and go for it character build. To that end, you get an immediately easy build with a level 1 Goliath Fighter who values Strength and Wisdom, and then just picks up fighter abilities that work with that. Take powers that move your opponents, and spend your time grabbing, punching and throwing people. You use an unarmed attack which means you’re getting the full bonus from your Unarmed Combatant feature, and you’re always keeping a hand empty.

Build 2 — The Proud Cavalier

Heritage represents a modest problem here, in that if you go this route, you probably want Strength and Charisma, and that means you probably want either Vryloka (not much support worth having that fits the theme) or Dragonborn (which look like dragons). You can negotiate which of those two options appeals less. If you’re not that concerned about boosting both your important ability scores, you could take the Tiefling route, and, if that’s interesting to you, you can get a little weird with it and take the feat Wrath of the Crimson Legion. At that point, you’re a Charisma-attacking fist-fighter tank whose power riders care about your Charisma, which collapses all the multi-attribute dependency, but also, if you look at a picture of Marisa and think ‘oh, I can junk my strength stat now’ I think you probably don’t actually want what Marisa is bringing to the party. Mechanically, this is cool. Thematically it isn’t on the same planet as her.

Cavaliers are weird. They’re weird because, thanks to drawing on the pool of powers and feats available to the Paladin, they’re quite strong despite being Essentials classes. Plus, they have a lot of power bound up in the mounted companion element, which if you take it, could be something you use to play into the legionnaire element of Marisa. It adds supernaturalism to it, it drives a charismatic edge to the character, and, just, paladins have more stuff to work with. If you want a build that gives you a lot of interesting tools that each are applicable in different ways, Cavaliers are really good.

But it is going to involve coming up with an explanation for how these elements fit together for your Marisa. Basically, if the thing you think that’s most important about Marisa is charismatic brawler, this is where you start, but then you have to answer a bunch of questions afterwards.

Build 3 — The Zippy Battlemind

Heritage here wants Constitution and either Wisdom or Charisma, depending on if you want to play a more debuffing or tough battlemind. Wisdom for toughness, Charisma if you want to debuff. Both Half-Elves and Muls are perfect choices, though I’d suggest the Mul has more of the ‘big and tough’ vibe. Plus they can pick up Dwarf feats, which include some cute tricks in Paragon.

This is the option to go for if what you like about Marisa the most is her insightful wisdom coupled with her super armours that let you walk through attacks. The Battlemind is a class that maximises other people’s turns; after level 7, as a Battlemind, you almost certainly will never be spending your turn doing things only on your own turn. It can have the energy of a character exploiting openings, a fight game character who is really good at seeing windows of opportunity and punching you to ruin your plans.

Junk Drawer

All three of these builds assume you want a Marisa who is a powerful melee defender, because that’s the vibe I get out of this character. I can’t imagine a way to make a leader out of her that doesn’t feel like it’s missing something, and a controller is also at odds with her vibes. But if you want to play a non-defender Marisa, you could go for the Monk itself, and the Ranger can ‘twin strike’ with two punches just as readily as with two swords.

Conclusion

Fighting games are able to represent characters in a particular way. Marisa has a complexity to her that makes her an interesting character to think about and underneath that there’s a ridiculousness that doesn’t need explaining. In this write-up I focused on trying to cover a vibe of a character that didn’t violate the things about her we see, while recognising a complexity in opportunity.

The thing is, Marisa is also just a big chunky lady with silly hair and a tiny head. You can just take her look and use it for anything you find satisfying. There’s nothing saying that to play a character, to play your way of Marisa-ness, you have to do what I’m suggesting here. Remember: This is about showing options in a play space in a game that’s renowned for being limited in its distinctive options.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[undistinguishedfishwifemouse]

furthermore 2

so @distinguishedfoxllama

You ask why minors are looking at that stuff to begin with. It's simple albeit highly unfortunate. Unrestricted internet access is something that fucks this whole generation up completely. I don't like the idea that minors look at this stuff nor do I condone it, however I cannot control them as I am not their primary caregiver. To them, I am a stranger on the internet.

You ask this; I’m sorry, are you in any developmental classes? This isn’t logical and you’re just stretching it. You saw Yui and her friends had good art and traced over it. Trying to change the original drawings intention instant justifying anything. Why is warringwarrioridiot stalking Yui and Lizzie instead of ignoring them?

Because sometimes its hard for people to ignore stuff like this. You really shouldn't assume everyone is able to ignore something as easily as the next person.

quoted from your post; "@warringwarrioridiot, if you’re a minor like you say you are, STOP INTERACTING WITH NSFW AND AMPUTEE FETISH ARTS. PERIOD.

Warringwarrioridiot even traced over gloomychu’s and sugiloaf ‘s art. What did Sugiloaf and gloomychu ever do to you? I find it ironic that @undistinguishedfishwifemouse purposely left this out. Sugi and Gloomychu aren’t p€d0s as far as I’m currently away, and at the very least Sugi apologized for her past actions. Again, why did you cover these traced artworks? And I know the timelapse drawing was faked, don’t even try to lie to me. Even if you said it’s “heavily referenced”, why didn’t you credit the original artist the? Have some shame. Why do you still have traced art up? Why don’t you delete it?"

Sugi is notably in a controversy due to what she created in the past although you're right when saying she's apologized. However, Sugi seems to be highly immature and isn't the best at handling certain situations in more preferable ways such as the Shin drama from mid-last year.

Gloomychu isn't someone I'm familiar with at all so I won't say anything on it.

The Response you gave: When did I ever care about Yui Sakurada or Lizzie. The reason I brought them up was because YOU, @warringwarrioridiot , traced over art and is actively viewing R-18 work while being underaged. I see you’re trying to use Lizzie and Yui instead of bringing up the hawnkoi issue. If you’re really warringwarrioridiot’s friend, then have some more common sense. Let’s talk about hawnkoi only. Hawnkoi doesn’t draw p€d0 sh!t. She doesn’t draw weird fetishes or any r@p€ content. She never said anything racist either, so what’s with the hate boner and actively insulting her after warringwarrioridiot put her on blast FIRST, accused her of things she did NOT do, accused her of being friends with Lizzie without any research, warringwarrioridiot had her followers call her a racist pig and told her a THREAT to die. And then, now this is the funny part, warringwarrioridiot said that hawnkoi should have reached out privately. Seriously? After warringwarrioridiot public ally insulted and harassed her? Tell me truthfully, do you support this? Because I sure as hell don’t support anyone getting threatened, no matter what.

You sure could have fooled me. You seem to care quite a bit about Yui and Lizzie, going far enough to call their art good even though the two actively sexualize minors?

I have zero clue who this hawnkoi is so again, I won't say anything.

With the question of whether or not I support threats, the answer is no. I don't condone threatening anybody as that is extremely wrong.

"Yap, yap,yap. And Taiga couldn’t say this for herself? Is she scared? Yui’s oc is her own self insert (not I DO NOT support Yui). As I do my own research, and if you use a bit of brain power, Yui’s oc’s ages with her. Meaning, Yui’s oc is the same age as herself, making Yui Sakurada somewhere in her early 20s. And even if Yui is still 16, did you forget Yui was born and raised in China? Everything she leaned was in China and she still lives in China. God fuck I hate talking about Yui, can we stop bringing her up because she’s not the point of the issue. Why are you so in love with Yui?"

If you want to break Hime's boundaries by continuously bringing her into this, then I get full permission to bring Yui into this as she is much more major than Hime in this whole shitshow.

Yui's OC is obvious fucking lolibait. The OC is literally built like a child and such, but is apparently legal? That's lolibait. Plain and simple.

Yes, I'm aware Yui herself is Chinese but does that really excuse the idea that children and adults engaging in that behaviour? No. That happens to just be normalized and glamourized over there.

"Using your logic, I can call you a pedophile too. Why? Let’s say, for example, I live in a place where 18 is still a minor while 30 is the age of consent. Since I grew up believing 30 is the age of consent, does that mean I can call you pedo if you ship your 20 year old oc with a 5,000 year old demon?"

You seem to be one of those people who watched the KNY series through YT shorts because there is NO WAY YOU ARE BEING FR...

It was directly stated in both the manga and anime that demons do not age when they get turned into demons. For example, Daki was 13 years old when turned into a demon which makes her still 13 years old both mentally and physically. Only through chronological age is she over 100. Her physical age is very difficult to pinpoint due to demons notably having the ability to change their physical appearance. Douma having stated to be 20 years old when he was turned makes him 20. 133+ is chronological which only refers to the time he's been in the world that KNY is set in.

"When did I ever say being a minor is an excuse? You, @warringwariroridiot, used “I’m a minor! 🥺” as an excuse so I was using your argument against you. Learn how to read. Why are you, a MINOR, looking at Yui’s r-18 account?"

again, me and Taiga are two separate people.

I am a trans man while she's a female. We have differing art styles and speech patterns which shouldn't be something hard to mix up with one another.

"Yes, @warringwarrioridiot IS RACIST. She literally made an alt Twitter account called Ch***igga hater."

In reference to the images you've supplied, it isn't racism. It's true. The notion that Asian individuals can be racist due to what we know through how non-japanese people would be executed or the skin tone beauty standard is actually true.

Taiga never once implied that other races cant be racist at all through those screenshots. She never said anything about a white person who happened to be islamophobic and said slurs they cant say because it wasn't the topic of the conversation.

"Are you blind? I gave both sides, you moron.

I could care less about Yui Sakurada. The issue is you spread false allegations that Hawnkoi was being racist when she wasn’t. You refuse to take back your statements, and you continue to cyber bully her fist. So you can hop off your alt account and talk like a real woman, @warringwarrioridiot"

There's reason for everything although I am not Taiga so I cannot give official statements on the whole thing with this hawnkoi individual.

Again...I am not Taiga. I am a seperate individual entirely who seriously is getting tired of talking to your ass since its like talking to a brick wall.

If you have anything you'd like to talk to me about, reach out to me on my main, thanks. I'll tag it here.

@madoooookaaaaaaaa

sincerely, someone who isn't a friend to you; Cody

[bucketsofmonsters]

Where the Light Enters - Part 14

Cole/Female Inquisitor

cw: unreliable narrator, hurt/comfort, slow burn, enemies to lovers, referenced noncon, happy ending, masturbation, oral sex, hand jobs

word count: 3k

ao3 link

Masterlist

Rosemary was quickly beginning to realize that Cole had never bathed. 

It hadn’t been an issue before, back when he’d been a full spirit. She assumed that with his on and off incorporeal nature, the dirt never really had a chance to build up.

This was no longer true and, as Varric had kindly pointed out to him on their return trip, he had begun to stink. 

She was ready to put up a fight with him, like she’d had to in regards to eating, but he didn’t seem to mind the idea. 

She dragged him over to her room the first chance she got. She typically preferred the attic but the attic did not have what this room did, a bathtub. 

Getting water to it was a bit of an issue. Bull spoke to most of the servants fairly regularly and none of the mages were really trustworthy enough to ask for a hand. 

She ended up hauling the water up herself. She was incredibly slow but the tub was enchanted to warm water so at least they didn’t have to worry about that. 

After about six trips hauling buckets of water up to the bath remained not entirely full, but it was close enough and she waved at him to get in. 

He disrobed, needing a little help to struggle his way out of the tightly bound bandages, and sunk into the water as she folded his clothes up, gingerly setting his hat on top of the pile. 

She eyed his wound as she returned, distorted by the surface of the water. It was healing quickly, though she imagined it would likely scar. She hoped it wouldn’t, hoped she could escape the reminder of how she’d hurt him, though it was a deeply selfish instinct. 

“Maybe you should do it,” he said carefully as he laid back in the tub, cutting through her thoughts. “I’ve never had a bath before.”

She saw the mischief in his eyes, the ghost of a smirk hiding somewhere behind a carefully neutral expression. 

She rolled her eyes in a fond annoyance, picking up the rag at the side of the tub. “You’re lucky I like you,” she said. “You’re in a very vulnerable position right now.”

He preened under the attention, completely unconcerned with any vague threats being leveled in his direction. 

She didn’t start washing him right away, opting instead to run her hands lightly over his shoulder. 

He looked up at her longingly and she swept the hair out of his face. He hadn’t let her cut much so it had already begun hanging down into his eyes again.

“If you cut less,” he said, slowly and carefully. “I get to let you do it more.”

She smiled, cupping water to drip over his head before beginning to lather up his hair. “So what, you’re trying to get more rewards out of me when you let me do it?”

His nose wrinkled as he took in what she was saying. “No. I like when you’re close to me, when you take care.”

“Then you’ll love bathing.”

“Maybe,” he said, words still coming slower and with more thought than they typically did. “Maybe you should come in and show me.”

She laughed. “You rascal, you absolute curr. What do you take me for? I can show you just fine from out here, thank you very much. You’re lucky I’m helping you at all, I could leave you to fend for yourself in here.”

He looked up at her with big eyes, sliding slowly beneath the surface of the water so his nose was submersed. 

And then he came bursting out, coughing up water as he did. 

Her brows furrowed as she watched him, patting at his back as he hacked up liquid back into the bath.

“Lesson number one,” she said. “Water is not for breathing.”

“My body thinks it knows but it knows wrong.”

“Well, you won’t make that mistake again.”

His nose crinkled a little as he thought back to it. “No, never. No more water.”

“Not quite, almost there. Certainly no more breathing water.”

He huffed. “I knew that. Just didn’t realize I had to tell me to stop breathing.”

“Happens to the best of us.”

As she thought back on it, she realized that the timing of the incident was certainly suspect. Part of her couldn’t help but wonder if his drowning scare had been a demonstration of just how much he needed an example of how to bathe. 

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t trick you. And I wouldn’t do that for anything.”

She laughed, brows raised. “Not for anything?”

He shook his head. “It was a half-truth, where they know it’s a lie but you say it anyway, just to talk. I would do it for some things.”

“But not to get me in the bath?”

He shook his head. “For that, I would just ask.”

She shrugged, hands rising to scrub at his hair again. “Well, better luck next time. Now lean your head back, let’s finish this so you can get out of here before you drown.”

He ducked his head back incredibly carefully, letting her guide his movements. After that he just laid back as she scrubbed at him, moving tentatively around his injury. 

They somehow managed to survive the bath. 

She set him to dry off as she grabbed a roll of fresh bandages and the salves Solas had given Cole, alongside strict instruction on how to use them. Cole seemed irritatingly lax about treating his injury now that the immediate pain had ceased, but she was militant about it. 

“I’m fine now,” he said, stepping up to her and dropping the towel, clearly deciding he was dry enough. 

She picked it back up and ruffled his still sopping wet hair with it. “I don’t care, I’m doing everything we should until you are a hundred percent healed. I will not stop any sooner and I can’t be convinced otherwise.”

He paused for a moment, towel draping over half his face, and he looked deep in thought. After a moment he declared, “No, you can’t,” and leaned his head to the side to deposit the towel onto the floor once more. 

She moved towards him, taking that as a concession. He winced as she pulled the bandages taut around him, not as tight as they had to be when he was actively bleeding, but still rather tight. He squirmed less this time so the process was far easier. The lack of fear and stress and blood also probably helped. 

She could feel his eyes on her as she bandaged him, fingers running along the cold skin above his ribs. He shivered under her warm touch.

“Cold?” she asked, her lips pulling back into a teasing grin.

He shook his head. “You know I’m not.”

She did. 

He was still nude from the bath, except for the bandages she was pulling around him, tying them up with a light kiss right above the wound, barely enough to put any pressure on it. 

Still, even as she finished, she did not draw away from him, fingers lingering against his damp skin, tracing little lines alongside the bone white of the bandages. 

She could see him getting hard as she touched him, his dick sometimes twitching under her ministrations. She continued on, not doing anything other than run her fingers along his stomach. He seemed utterly entranced by the movement, just watching her fingers as they moved over the planes of him. 

Eventually, the teasing seemed to grow too much and his hips twitched forwards, begging for any sort of friction. 

”Cole!” she said with a laugh, as if she had only just noticed the state of him instead of how she’d coaxed it out of him, slowly and gently. “You’re going to get all dirty again. You'll have to take another bath. I will not be with someone who reeks.”

He watched her for a moment and then nodded and said, “You would.”

Before she could retort he kissed her. 

He’d gotten good at kissing. She supposed all of their practice was paying off. 

Her hands cupped his cheeks, kissing him back hard before pulling away. 

His eyes were glazed over, though not like they were when he plucked things from the minds of unsuspecting people. It was a quiet, desperate sort of thing, like he just wanted to fall back into sensation. She had no intention of letting him. 

“Can I touch you?” she asked. 

She remembered vividly how this went before, how their first attempt to do anything sexual had ended before it had even really began. 

She had a feeling that would not happen again. She was determined this time. 

“Yes,” he said, hand raising to stroke her hair. “If it feels bad I will stop you.”

“If it feels bad for you or for me?”

“Either.”

She nodded, resisting the urge to crack a joke or say something nasty. She knew to him, this was not a joking matter. 

Her hand snuck down, across his ribs and stomach down to his dick, now almost painfully hard despite not having been touched yet. 

“Do you touch yourself here?” she asked, hand stroking lightly down the side of his cock. 

His face went bright red at the contact, hips twitching into her. He was asking for more as he moved, pleading for it

She did not give it to him. 

“No,” he said with a gasp. “I wanted to but it felt wrong. I kept seeing you.”

“Aw,” she cooed. “You can touch yourself if you want, I promise I don’t mind.”

His hand immediately fell to his dick, wrapping around it alongside hers, moving slowly at first as he figured out what felt good. 

She pulled away and allowed him to explore, quiet whimpers escaping him as he did. 

The more he touched himself, the louder he got. When her hand snaked down once agin, this time just drawing a little circle over the head of his dick, he let out a loud cry. 

She clamped a hand over his mouth, desperately trying to stop the noises from echoing through the castle. 

“I don’t think you could be any louder if you tried,” she said with a laugh. 

He said something that was muffled behind her palm and she removed her hand. 

“I feel so good it almost hurts,” he said between ragged breaths, choking in air like he was drowning. 

She leaned back, content to just watch him take his pleasure for now. “That’s good, I want you to feel good. Keep going, do whatever feels right.”

He tried to move towards her and she tsked. “I can’t let you move around too much,” she insisted. “Don’t want you to agitate your wound.” 

“You like being in control,” he hissed out, his hand wrapping around his dick as he thrusted up, ungracefully and without rhythm. “If you set the rules you can’t get hurt. Oh!”

His moans were incredibly loud, at this point closer to screams than anything. It would be a miracle if no one came running in to check if everything was alright. 

It was so painfully endearing, the way he seemed to have no control over any of it, just giving in to his wants and to the sensations, the way he kept fighting the urge to shut his eyes, staring at her with naked adoration. The way he had no shame, would do anything she asked, admit anything to her. 

She leaned over and licked a long stripe up his dick and with what could only be described as a scream, he came, hips jerking as he came entirely undone. 

She pulled back and watched, giving up on any attempt to keep him even remotely quiet. Ropes of cum spilled out of him, painting his stomach and, irritatingly enough, his bandages.

He collapsed at soon as he was done, exhausted by the activities. She pulled herself beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. “You feel okay?” she asked, taking his hand and tracing some of the lines on it with her finger.

He nodded. “I feel warm.”

“Well, you just got out of the bath.”

“Not from that. From this. From you.”

“Good, I’m glad. You can do that wherever you want,” she said with a smile. “You have full permission to think of me if you’d like.”

He shook his head, slowly catching his breath. “I like it better when you’re here. You make it feel safe and right, make my heart warm. You make me feel good.”

“I can see that,” she said with a laugh, looking down at the cum that was now soaking into his bandages. “Now, this is definitely not sterile. You clean up in the bath, I have to go beg for more bandages from Solas. You’d better hope he doesn’t ask too many questions.”

He laughed. “He’d think you’ve corrupted me.”

She shrugged. “Maybe I have.”

“If this is corruption, I’d take it gladly.”

She left to find Solas before she could dwell on his words too much. 

When she got back with the new bandages, Cole was curled up on her bed, still naked minus the bandages and reading her little book. 

She snatched it out of his hand, moving to rebandage him once more, set on doing it less sensually this time. 

“I was reading that,” he said with a frown. 

“Why?” she asked. “You already know everything in it.”

“I wanted to see it. To know the words how you see them.”

“You can’t,” she insisted. “I have memories tied to all this, I know exactly how I learned all of it. Now just drop it, you can already see inside my head, can you at least leave me this?”

“Me seeing it bothers you,” he said, almost like it was a question.

Of course it did, she wanted to scream. It was a sign of every wretched thing inside her, every evil instinct. The worst, most scared part of herself wrote those pages and she hated it but she needed it. Without them she had nothing, could do nothing for herself. 

And she didn’t want him to see it, didn’t want him to know that part of her. 

And he could see all of it, rip it right out of her, so she didn’t have to say anything. 

All she could bring herself to say was, “It’s hard for me to remember everything sometimes, and a mix up of information can be life or death.”

“Even here?” he asked, still staring at where she’d placed it on the table. 

She nodded, snatching the book up and hiding it back under the floorboards. “Even here. Thinking that somewhere is safe is exactly how you get yourself killed. Knowing everywhere is dangerous keeps you alive.”

“You’re safe here,” he said, and she knew he wasn’t talking about Skyhold. He was talking about here, in this room, with him. 

But she wasn’t, and she never would be. Everywhere felt safe until something went wrong and by then it was too late. 

She couldn’t summon the nerve to say that, a coward even now, so instead she just gave him a weak, “maybe,” and hoped he’d let her be done. 

He allowed her the lie, a silence falling over the two of them as he stared at the floorboards like he could see right through to her book.

[viccyfics]

For a sleepy prompt: "Are you afraid to fall asleep because of nightmares?"

Perhaps some CB/Turnov?

I'm new to the stex fandom, but I found Still on the tracks a few days ago and I'm in love with it. Obviously the prompt doesn't have to be for it specifically unless you want it to be.

Thank you :]

Thank you for the prompt!

(prompt list)

and I'm so glad you're enjoying the fic it means a lot to me, I'm trying to get back into posting either once a week like before or every two weeks so the wait between chapters isn't too long :)

READ BELOW THE CUT

TW: nightmares, referenced sexual assault

They never seemed to bother him much before, not more than CB assumed they bothered other people, but for the past week he’d been waking up multiple times through the night with nightmares. 

And Turnov’s body next to him was doing nothing to help settle his mind like it normally did, nothing was helping, not even Dinah’s tea she’d made for him. Every night without fail he’d have at least three different nightmares. 

But the thing that made them worse was that they were real, these weren’t just any nightmares, with monsters, clowns, sharks or things like that, these were memories, memories he had sworn he’d gotten over and dealt with, or he’d pushed back to the point of almost forgetting them. 

But there they were, playing back in his mind like it was happening all over again, and even though he knew he was safe in bed with Turnov, he couldn’t help waking up in a cold sweat every time it happened, trembling with tears sliding down his cheeks like it was real, it was getting the point he wasn’t sure what was real anymore when he closed his eyes. 

It was like his mind was trying to destroy him, trying to rip him apart, and he could do nothing to stop it. 

He didn’t want to sleep anymore because he knew it would happen again, but if he didn’t sleep, Turnov would know something was wrong and he would worry. 

And that’s why he hadn’t told Turnov yet, he couldn't bare to burden him with more of his problems, Turnov had enough on his plate as it was without CB constantly adding to it. 

And thankfully with no races coming up anytime soon, and CB was back at the Union Pacific yard, this time with Turnov in tow, the engine had been letting himself relax more, even lying in most mornings, giving CB enough time to calm himself down and shower before Turnov woke up and kissed him goodbye before his shift.

Turnov would only be staying three more days, hopefully the nightmares would end before then…but if not, at least it would be easier to deal with than making sure he didn’t wake Turnov up by screaming, the feeling of hands he knew weren’t real anymore still lingering on his skin as he silently cried night after night. 

So as CB stared up at the ceiling, watching the moonlight casting shadows from the light above his head, he focused on keeping his eyes open. 

He couldn’t hear those things being screamed at him again, or the touch he never wanted, or the splattered blood on his wheels. 

“Can’t sleep?” Turnov asked, rolling over, making CB jump. 

“You’re awake…”

“Have been for awhile,” Turnov frowned, noticing how tired CB looked, “What about you?”

“I don’t remember,” CB admitted, turning his head to look at the Russian, tears forming in his eyes. “I don’t remember when I last slept…I’m scared.”

“Are you scared to fall asleep because of nightmares?” Turnov asked, already knowing the answer but CB nodded rubbing at his eyes. 

“They won’t stop.”

Turnov reached out, his hand warm against CB’s cheek as he brushed away a tear with his thumb. “You should’ve told me.”

“I thought i’d be fine, I have nightmares all the time.”

“So why can’t you sleep?”

CB sighed rolling so he could tuck himself into Turnov’s chest, “Because they’re real, even when I wake up they still happened so it’s like I’m there again.”

Turnov cradled CB’s head against his chest, “How can I help?

“I don’t know…”

“What normally helps?” Turnov asked, almost begging, he hated to see CB hurting, and he would do whatever he could to help. 

“This is helping,” CB whispered after a moment, “You touching me instead.”

Turnov smiled slightly, at least he was helping CB a little, but he could still feel CB’s tears soaking into the shirt he was wearing, “Good.” 

“Tighter,” CB mumbled, feeling his eyes start to droop, thankfully Turnov immediately tightened his hold. 

“Go to sleep Ceebs, I’ve got you, I’ll keep you safe.” Turnov whispered, placing a kiss to the crown of CB’s head, “I’ll always keep you safe.”

And for the first time in a week, CB slept through the night, staying completely still against Turnov’s frame, his breathing level and steady, and his dreams filled with images of his future with Turnov rather than torments from his past. 

Turnov was right, he kept CB safe, even from his own mind.

[grayscale-sparks]

here’s a little Dollins fic I wrote for @theivorybilledwoodpecker based on this post. This was my whole morning I hope yall enjoy they’re very cute

Charlie Dowd was glad to be home. He’d worked late every day this week- and today was exceptionally bad. Too many cases, too many people asking questions, too much paperwork. He unlocked his apartment with a heavy sigh, and was immediately hit with the smell of bleach.

Charlie didn’t fight the urge to roll his eyes. He closed and locked his door before calling out.

“Collins?”

“In here, sunshine.”

Charlie shook his head and followed the voice to his living room. “You know I hate it when you shower here after a job.”

Collins was lounging on the couch, a book open across his chest, shirt half undone in a frank approximation of lasciviousness.

“Where was I supposed to go?” Collins asked. “They were tailing me, I had nowhere else.”

Charlie glared at him. “Are you serious?”

Collins laughed. “No, dove. Do you really think anyone saw me? I’m better at my job than that. ‘Sides, if anyone did I have you and the chief to bail me out again.”

“There’s only so many times that can happen before Verne starts asking questions.” Charlie muttered. “Whatever. Who’d you kill this time?”

Collins tapped the book on his chest. “The bookshop owner a couple blocks away.”

“The- what?”

“No one will no until the morning unless they try to break in and rob the place.” Collins reported. He froze when he saw Charlie’s bewildered expression. “What? He deserved it.”

“Den, I love that bookshop!” Charlie protested.

“I killed the owner, not the whole damn company.” Collins said dryly. “Besides, he deserved it. He called you a queer.”

“Not untrue.” Charlie pointed out.

“Yes, but you know how much reputations matter. All's well, though. His son is taking over the business. I assume, anyway.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” Charlie asked. 

The Butcher’s grin was downright wolfish. “He’s queer too! Handsome as well. With the amount you're stopping by, there’s no doubt he’ll keep you company while I'm away.”

Charlie had to laugh at that. “Shut up, Collins.”

He pushed himself off the doorframe and joined Collins on the couch, shoving his legs away so he could sit.

“So, what are you reading?” Charlie asked.

Collins tilted the book up so Charlie could catch the title. Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Charlie bit back a smile.

It was only a couple days ago. Collins had been home for a week, cooped up in their apartment with nothing better to do.

“Why does it smell like bleach? Did you kill someone in my house?”

The Butcher had looked at him with faux innocence. “What? Never.”

“Collins.”

“I cleaned your bathroom.”

“…what?”

Collins had argued that Charlie never took care of himself, so he cleaned the whole apartment with a concerning amount of bleach. They had to sleep with the windows open for days. He’d also stocked the kitchen, which Charlie kept supposedly “fuck nothing” in.

“Your affinity for draining gallons of bleach is concerning.”

“It gets the job done.”

Charlie rolled his eyes. “You are a crude, crude, animal, albatross.”

Collins hadn’t known what that meant, so Charlie waved it off. Onto better things.

And here he was now, the reference in full opened on his chest.

“What?” Collins asked.

Charlie shook his head. “It’s just that.. you’re reading it.”

“I… am known to read.” Collins said slowly.

“No, no.” Charlie said. “You’re reading the book I referenced.”

“Did you?”

“The albatross. That’s from this poem.”

Collins cast a disinterested stare at his book. “Is it? It was the first thing off the shelf when I was leaving the shop. I needed something to keep me busy while I was away.”

“Away?”

Collins finally sat up. “Yeah. It’s why I’m here. I have a job- sending me out west, some rich aristocrat or whatever- but I’ll be gone for… a few weeks at least.”

“O-oh.” Charlie said quietly. 

Collins watched his expression for a heartbeat more. “I have to leave early tomorrow, before you wake up. I just wanted to see you before then.”

Charlie ducked his head. “Thank you.”

The Butcher was quiet for a count of ten. “It’ll be a long train ride. D’you have any other books to recommend, sunshine?”

Charlie smiled. “Yeah I do.”

As he got up to go to his shelf, Collins grabbed his wrist, pulling him down into a sweet kiss. For a man so brutal, Charlie was always surprised at how gentle he was.

Charlie didn’t end up recommending books before Collins left, but when he woke up he saw some of his favorites missing from the shelf.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Bigger egg project mayhem: Floyd and Riddle as partners or Malleus and Leona as partners (whichever is more fun to write about)

[Referencing this post!]

Ehhh, may as well do both 😂 I don’t intend for these egg asks (assuming I get more) to get too lengthy. I’m just talking off the cuff here~

Riddle and Floyd:

Riddle takes the project SUPER seriously. He borrows books on how to raise eggs from the library, researches online, baby proofs Heartslabyul, asks Trey (and the flamingos) for advice, etc. He’s intent on acing this assignment!!

Floyd���s interest in the egg is on-and-off. Sometimes he’s keen but is only intent on chucking the egg at buildings or people for the laughs (which Riddle quickly halts; Floyd complains, “Whaaat? I was just takin’ Junior here on a joyride!”). Other times Floyd rolls his eyes and slinks off to do his own thing, completely ignoring the egg (which is honestly what Riddle prefers). What irks Riddle the most is when Floyd holds the egg high up over his head and dares him to “take it back” in spite of his “short” temper.

Riddle assumes his Karen form (he takes after his mother) and aggressively nags Floyd for his lack of action. “At least stay out of my way if you’re not going to contribute!!” If he was wearing a bathrobe, fuzzy slippers, and hair curlers, it would be easy to mistake Riddle for a disgruntled spouse telling off his husband for staying out late drinking or gambling instead of being present for their family.

Leona and Malleus:

Leona gives zero fucks about spending quality time with egg. He wants to do the bare minimum. Since he knows it’ll inevitably get crushed when he rolls over in bed, Leona tells Malleus to stick it in the fridge and then fuck off to let him nap. Malleus then proceeds to somehow break the fridge with his fae strength (whether physical or magical). Leona has to get off his ass to show him how it’s done, and he isn’t happy about it.

Maybe it’s his dragonic instincts kicking in, but Malleus is extremely fond and protective of the egg. He forms a little bubble for it and tends to it as though it were his own offspring, even introducing it to Diasomnia (Sebek wept actual tears of joy) and to Gao-Gao Dragon-kun (whom Malleus dubs the egg’s “big brother”.

Leona’s relieved that Malleus is assuming the responsibilities while he reaps the benefits of a good grade. As the old adage goes, work smarter, not harder. He thought it would be smooth sailing for the weekend, but he’s annoyed whenever Malleus magically pops up for help operating some piece of technology he needs to “appease the child”. “Dammit, lizard!! I’m not your handyman!!”

… As expected, they end up bickering and getting on each other’s nerves like crazy.

[riant-draws]

You're so big brain yes yes yes moon and younger pebbles thoughts yes I'm eating up your art

First, thank you!! Sorry I took so long to respond ;-; been pretty tired lately and had to give this a lot of thought… perhaps too much… eheheh buckle up, anon, you’re in for an essay~ (also, I know you asked about Moon and younger Pebbles but this is like, 90% an analysis about Pebbles, oops-)

^ excuse me what happened here

also please keep in mind that these are just my headcanons (although some of them are very closely tied to canon, which is why I’ll be referencing some pearls) sooo uhh yeah! rambles under the cut!

To talk about Pebbles as a “kid” (in quotes because I don’t believe iterators have a childhood or developmental period that can effectively be compared to humans), I first have to talk about his construction—mostly because it was so unique.

When reading the pale green pearl (exterior) to Artificer, Pebbles mentions that his construction was very controversial among the council. And, when given to Moon, one of the white pearls reads:

“‘We, of the Five-hundred-and-ninety-second High Convocation of the True Anointed Citadel, do hereby demand, with full force of Law and Religious doctrine, an Immediate end to construction of the Apostate Superstructure Abomination. To place shadow upon the Divine Body of the True Anointed Citadel is outrageous blasphemy and cannot be tolerated, no matter the circumstances...’ Clearly this was ignored.”

As we can see in the game, Pebbles was built mostly on top of what’s now Shaded Citadel—which really pissed off the monks and religious leaders of the True Anointed Citadel, a very holy site. While talking to Artificer, he speaks casually and plainly, so you can assume that he didn’t mind their disdain for him. Granted, by the time of Arti’s campaign, all his citizens are long gone, so perhaps he just doesn’t care about their opinions anymore (if he ever did to begin with). But. When he was still brand new, he would have had to listen to so much hate directed at him, all for simply existing. While I did say earlier that I don’t think iterators have developmental stages like humans do, they definitely still mature and develop. Just because you’re created with an adult brain doesn’t mean that you’re automatically mature and experienced. Even Pebbles reflects on how he’s changed while reading the viridian pearl (garbage wastes):

“[…] much of my early work was encrypted before storage. Though my younger self has done a very poor job. […] now I can just see all of the holes in it. Created from a youthful and reticent mentality.”

So, clearly, iterators do learn and grow. But getting back on topic, I imagine that especially since Pebbles was very young when all that hate was piled on him, it would’ve been traumatic. Additionally, it’s implied (again, mainly in the pale green pearl) that he’s not exclusively hated. The pearl’s author clearly doesn’t want to piss Pebbles off, and they also state that one problematic House “[has] less than forty members on the Council, but still Tilt the spiritual Discourse with Our Iterator in a direction that most obviously Displeases him, and is hardly High Held by anyone in the Community either! We can not Risk this!”

(Of course, the pearl’s author is probably biased so who knows if they’re a reliable source of info or not, but there’s no way to verify that and hey it’s in the game after all so I’m just gonna roll with it.) This means that there are citizens (possibly even the majority) who actually like him, or at least want to remain in his good graces. With him. Y’know. Being responsible for their livelihoods and all. And you might think: great! Pebbles isn’t being universally hated! Well. The outpourings of both love and hate from his creators would create such a toxic environment and cause a lot of cognitive dissonance in him: he’s adored, even worshiped, a proud iterator revered as a godlike figure. But on the other hand, he’s despised, called horrible things like “Apostate Superstructure Abomination,” generally told he has no right to exist, etc etc. And this probably went on for years and years (or whatever the in-universe equivalent is). That would wear down anybody’s self-esteem. Which, in canon, you can see echoes of those thought patterns when the storyline takes place, who knows how long later. This stuff has affected him deeply.

All of this to say, I think his arrogance and god complex (that he displays in canon) are coping mechanisms—whether he’s aware of it or not. He tells himself that he’s “godlike in comparison” to everything that walks this forsaken world, that he’s so much better. In doing so, he runs from his mistakes and doesn’t process his emotions and traumas, generally making a bigger mess of himself. Because to admit the truth would be to admit that he’s broken, that he’s lonely, that he hates himself, I could go on but this isn’t getting any shorter aha…

Moooooving on, not to state the obvious, but it’s heavily implied throughout various pearls and bits of dialogue that Pebbles was one of the last iterators ever built. Given that he was constructed far closer (relatively speaking) to the time of public mass ascension and the fact that Moon was struggling to care for them, his creators would’ve likely been desperate (and perhaps a bit sloppy) while building him. As a result, the parts of him responsible for regulating his emotions and decision-making (his equivalent of a prefrontal cortex) are stunted, as that would’ve been one of the last things to develop. All of this just contributes to his, well, susceptibility to mental health issues/instability. Yaaaay.

side note: I also headcanon that iterator cans are more grown than built. When reading the light pink pearl (outskirts), Moon mentions that structures are infused with microbes that initiate healing cycles that gradually heal and waterproof broken structures. While she’s likely referring to structures on the ground, it would make sense that at least all parts of an iterator below the rain layer would be made in the same fashion. And if you take the bronze pearl (Metropolis), for instance, Moon tells the player that “It’s a blueprint for a type of large immobile purposed organism. This one seems to be specifically for the cities built on top of our structures. […] newer designs began to use a mass-produced cellular build called living blocks,” she’s basically saying that the buildings on top of Pebbles and other newer iterators are primarily organic. So why not grow large parts of their superstructures as well? We already know that iterators are partly biological, and also, growing them certainly would make a lot of the construction process at least semi-autonomous. And this way, the ancients wouldn’t have to risk their lives to go below the rain layer and work on his legs, underhang, etc.

Time for one of my favorite headcanons! And one that’s much more headcanon-y than the others lol, that is, Pebbles’ puppet being child-sized. Big head, big eyes, sorta stubby limbs, rounder features (except his antennae, those are triangles for some reason ffs lol idk what I’m doing) etc. First (and more boring) reason is that if Moore’s law applies in some form in-universe (not an all-important Law of Science or anything, just an observed trend meaning that as time goes on and developments improve, tech gets both smaller/more space-efficient and better), that means Pebbles shouldbe both one of the most powerful iterators and one of the smallest. But if the whole reason e was built was to provide a home to Moon’s citizens because she couldn’t care for them very well anymore (deep green pearl, Metropolis—this is Moon’s reading, but Pebbles’ is interesting, too), why would they make his can smaller? Simple: they didn’t. Instead, his can has more empty space inside it as components are smaller, and his puppet is tiny. Like. Waist-high on an ancient.

Another reason he was designed to look childlike was to try to make him look as appealing & likeable to the public as possible. With how controversial his construction was, his creators and whatever equivalent of a marketing team they employed would’ve hoped to sway the monks and everybody who strongly opposed his construction, like, “look! he’s just a little guy! look at those pink cheeks! you wouldn’t hate a ‘kid’, would you?!?” (spoiler alert: they would)

But as consequence, his image was very marketable soooooooo

yeah idk man pebbles plushie canon

On the more angsty side of things, unfortunately for Pebbles, many ancients and even other iterators (looking at you, Sig and Suns) didn’t take him very seriously since he permanently looks like a kid. This just added fuel to the fire, making him even more frustrated and feeling unheard. Just. All of it is such a bad situation.

Moon, of course, sees how he’s being treated by his citizens (who used to be hers, and she wasn’t fond of them anyway) and her own peers, she knows it’s so harmful to him, but what can she do? She may be the local group senior and his administrator, but he strikes me as having such an independent personality (yay more stuff caused by trauma) that he feels like he’s caught in her shadow, perhaps. “Looks to the Moon’s little brother.” So he probably isn’t… very receptive to her attempts to build him up, but man, she still tries. And it’s worth mentioning that he’s also a workaholic, so he always thinks that he has “better things to do” than, say, spending time with his sister.

I bet she’d still try to play games with Pebbles (and he’d probably indulge her on occasion), show him cool things, engage him in conversation, try to get him to talk about his interests, etc., all to bond with him and get to know him better. And he’s a stubborn little piece of work, sure, but he genuinely does care for her (it’s in canon and shows up in several places).

I could say more but this has gone on long enough, but I do wanna clarify that while I don’t support his decisions or actions, his motivations are understandable. my guy is a dude who was put into a horrible situation and screwed over from the beginning. sure, all the stuff he’s been through doesn’t excuse his garbage, sometimes immature behavior in canon, but it certainly explains it. (good lord, I could write an essay on how he’s changed by the time of Rivulet’s campaign alone) uh anyway he’s a fascinating character who I spend too much time thinking about thank you for reading if you made it this far lol

(also, gotta say that a lot of these apply to my fic, too, shameless plug and some of them have already been mentioned or alluded to in it—it’s a time-travel fix-it that starts waaay back in the past so if that’s your thing, hey XD)