#both to the highest caliber

[dragonpyre]

Jason Todd: If you don't murder this man right now, then you don't love me

Bruce Wayne: dude...

[thepixelblender]

excellent artwork with an audience of maybe 3 people

[dove-rebloobs]

I still adore this Auburn, it makes me cackle!

Hi Auburn! Been thinking about the 1.8K event, and finally, after days of pondering; I have come to a conclusion.

For the Harveston Sledathon event, I think it would have been really cute if MC built a massive snow fort and absolutely SMACKED a sled boi of your choice in the face with snowballs. Just more fun winter hijinks and MC gets to start it. It can be platonic or romantic; whatever feels best/natural to you!

*aka it's hot here and I feel like Jack in the Tamashina event*

IDIA DESERVES TO GET SMACKED.

also i feel about its sooooo fucking hto in my room right nwo im so MAD.

its romantic bc i think it would be funny if idia crushed really hard on someone that just teased him constantly LMAO

once again if you see any typos NO YOU DONT

IDIA "WET CAT" SHROUD GETS PELTED WITH FROZEN WATER (1.8k details)

A cold shock smacks Idia right on the back of the neck, and he shrieks when snow falls into his warm coat. He hears you cackling from behind him, and as he whips around to face you, he comes face-to-face with another snowball.

Jade chuckles beside him at your antics, and Epel says something to the effect of “you’re on” as Sebek screeches, but all Idia can look at is you as you throw your head back and laugh at him. It shouldn’t be so attractive to him that you’re so competitive and start stupid competitions like this, but he can’t bring himself to yell at you like he would anyone else.

“Aren’t you going to join them? They seem to have singled you out.” Jade hums, staring at Idia with glittering eyes that scream danger.

Does Jade know? Or is he just pretending to know?! What would Azul do with the information that Idia has a pathetic little crush on the Prefect that enjoys teasing him relentlessly about the silliest of things?

“They just like picking on me, that’s all.” Idia shakes his head and huffs, trying to hide his hair under his hat (which is rapidly turning pink as he speaks), “You...You know, like normies do. I knew I never should have left my room, this whole trip was a bad idea.”

“Oh? Are you certain?” Jade hums, tilting his head to the side as he smiles his unnerving smile, “I was under the impression that their boldness and confidence had you enamored. Was I perhaps...incorrect?”

“Yes!” Idia yelps, a response that comes far too soon for it to be the truth.

Satisfied, Jade steps away.

“Well then. It would be a shame if the Prefect were to hear about you hating them.” Jade sighs mournfully, “If only your feelings were the opposite.”

Idia knows what he’s doing.

He knows what game Jade is playing.

And yet as the mereel walks away, he makes a noise that sounds like a strangled cough and runs to talk to you before Jade can.

[lxvvie]

A relationship with Phillip Graves would consist of the following:

You wondering how in the hell you managed to get into a relationship with him in the first place.

The rest of Shadow Company knowing it's serious when he introduces you to the boys.

Also witnessing the duality of man in both Phillip and yourself. He's a father to his men, an end-justifies-the-means kinda guy, and slicker than a can of fucking oil. Conversely, he's incredibly affectionate, charming, and downright lecherous when it comes to you. And you, for the most part, don't know whether you want to choke him or kiss him breathless.

Graves making you his personal blanket. It's not uncommon to find him lying down, you situated comfortably between his legs, your head either resting on his thighs or on his lower stomach.

Finding out that he's a fuckin' connoisseur of barbecue, darlin', and would've loved to become a pitmaster if he hadn't joined the military.

Melting whenever Graves croons darlin' into your ear, oh so softly. Just because. Bonus points because he'll usually come up from behind you and wrap his arms around your waist.

He'll also kiss the skin behind your ear or your neck afterward, too.

Graves being in the doghouse more often than not because he's a fuckin' smartass of the highest caliber.

Aggravating each other as an expression of love. He does it because you're hot when you're pissed. You do it because you love to call him Phil in retaliation which earns you the most disgusted side-eye lmao.

Jokingly calling him Zoolander because he tends to make that signature face when he's either thinking, disgusted, caught off guard, or... all three. He doesn't believe you until you show him a picture of himself. Magnum all the way, baby. You also made said picture your phone wallpaper.

Claiming his button-downs as your own.

Him dreading Halloween because of the corny fuckin' puns you make about his last name.

Finding out he loves to watch Hallmark movies during the holidays. Like... A LOT. Family tradition he says.

[hippopotamusdreamer]

The 8 Times Stray Kids Protected/Cared for You

genre. A (semi-heavy), F , C

warnings. death threat (?), mention of you should die, loneliness, allergic reactions, stalking, being followed, belittling, skin picking, feeling like you don't belong

additional notes. Female! Reader | You/Your pronouns, reader is aged between Hyunjin and Han, includes all members of Stray Kids, Reader is allergic, Lee Know as Minho in some parts

pairing. OT8 x 9th member

w.c. 13.4K

synopsis. A few separate instances that Y/N remembers within her time with Stray Kids

Kpop Masterlist

Fandom Masterlist

This in no way reflects the actual persons involved/based in this fic, nor their actual character. This is purely fiction.

Chan had always been very particular with how his members were treated. Whether it be by the staff or by fans. He’d always kept an eye out for them. A protector of the highest caliber. Always keeping his children in line and away from harm to the best of his abilities.

Of course, when you joined Stray Kids, at the behest of one Park Jin Young, it was a little rocky to say the least. He was kind to you, they all were, but there was that underlying unease when it came to having a new FEMALE member. Not like you faulted them for it either.

On the contrary, you understood completely why they kept their distance for a while after officially meeting you. There were still some hardcore stans out there that always had that weird stigma with their idols and how they interacted with the opposite sex.

You just hoped your group could get passed that speedbump. To some degree, anyways.

Going public with everyone was a hard thing for your group to do at the beginning of your personal debut. Especially since it came months and months after the whole group was already established.

The backlash was insane.

You knew it was going to be a bad situation regardless. You weren’t stupid enough to believe it wouldn’t be. Even KARD went through something similar and they started off as a co-ed group. Message trucks were sent to JYPE and around Seoul calling for your departure from Stray Kids. Flower arrangements were placed at the front of the building itself with hurtful messages on each one.

There were even a few comments on SNS and other media outlets that still stuck with you to this day years down the line.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

It came to a head at the first fan meet and greet after the company stated that the group was now officially OT9. This was maybe 3 months in as a whole group, so everyone was pretty cordial with you. Still keeping a distance but at least they would acknowledge you even at the extent of a superficial conversation…

Being a girl, you obviously wouldn’t be able to get dressed and ready with the guys so there now had to be a designated dressing room solely for you. Your stylist and makeup artist had already finished your touch ups and so had left you to your own devices as they went to check on the others in the room next door.

It was lonely.

From your seat, you could hear the ruckus coming from the other room where the members were. The high-pitched giggles of Changbin, the yelling voices of both I.N and Felix. You could even hear the dulcet tones of Hyunjin getting onto someone.

It just made the silence in your room more poignant.

You wanted to join them, but you were scared of overstepping their boundaries. You could just feel their disdain for you whenever you stood near them. And you couldn’t help but emphasize that you GET. IT.

You did!

You weren’t there at the beginning of it all. You didn’t share in the hardships that they went through. Of when Felix and Minho were eliminated on Stray Kids Survival only for Chan to bring them back. You weren’t handpicked by the leader of the group. You don’t have that BOND.

But God did you wish you did. Instead you were chosen by the one guy that they like least of all. You were the pimple on an otherwise blemish free face.

So you sat, picking at your nails as your phone lit up on the counter in front of you. Grabbing the phone, you read the notifications that pop up on the screen.

@/LEEbitsgranma: Y/N should jst leave the grp alrdy, they don’t need her!!

@/LvrGirlSkZie: it’s all just for clout right?? Y/N is just using the boys when will JYP take action??

@/HyunsBbygrillll: I’m not saying Y/N should just d**, but,,,¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Your phone was getting hounded with notifications like these daily since, basically, the beginning of your introduction. You never replied to anything that was said and you never mentioned anything to the boys. Of course they had to have seen the signs in front of the building, but they never said anything to you. You didn’t want to cause them additional stress with your problems so you just endured it yourself.

Looking around you, you could just get a sense of loneliness inside your dressing room. Everything was still neat and in its designated place. There was a single standing rack with not even a third used for your clothes for the day. There were no pile of jackets and shoes in a corner, no trash from empty wrappers or drinks. No commotion as you just sat there in your chair quietly. It didn’t have that feeling that someone’s been there, it all just felt cold to you.

With a sigh, you closed your eyes and you tossed your phone back on to the counter to step out of the room. As you closed the door, you turn and made eye contact with I.N as he was about to step into his own dressing room, arms loaded with snacks. You go to greet him and possibly help him out with the door when he hurriedly continued on his way inside. He cried out in pain as his shoulder checked the frame.

The heavy door closed in your face.

You’re left to stand in the empty hallway, mouth frozen with a greeting stuck in your throat.

You pick at your nails unconsciously as you stood there, not sure where to look. You could feel the inside of your chest hurting at the blatant rejection from the youngest member of the group. Your mental health had really declined since this all started. And there were times when you’d just second guess yourself and thought about if this was the right thing to be a part of or not. But the legal fees alone would be a nightmare to deal with if you so much as tried to break your contract.

An unknown amount of time had passed since you stepped out of your room. The hallway empty in all that time you were out there, one of your fingers stung from how long you picked at the skin around your nail. Your dissociative state being disrupted as the same door I.N walked in through had Chan stepping out of it instead.

“Oh, Y/N, ” he greeted. “I was just coming to get you. Are you alright?”

“Huh?”

He just points at your hand. Seemed you picked yourself enough to make the skin around your nail to bleed a bit.

“Oh! Um…,” you hid your hand behind your back. “Yeah, I just came out to find a Band-Aid.”

“The stylists usually have some in their box for emergencies. The guys are all done changing so you can come get one from them.”

He turned to have you follow him but you shout to stop him.

‘THIS IS A BOUNDARY.’

Your mind yelled at you. You could not step into their space no matter what. You will not bother them in their safe space.

“It’s fine. It- um, I don’t even need one really, see?” you made a show of wiping the few drops of blood on your dark pants, willing no more blood to appear. When none did, you wiggled your fingers at him, forced smile on your face to urge him to believe you. “Look see, all better.”

He glanced at your hand before looking up at your face. He stared few minutes longer before slowly nodding his head in acceptance.

“Ok. I came out to come get you anyways.”

“Me?” You swear if you had any type of animal ears, they would have perked up at being looked for.

“Yeah, the meet and greet is about to begin. We’re about to start heading down to the area right now.”

“…Oh, right. Ok.” If Chan saw the disappointment on your face, he didn’t say anything about it.

At that, the boys started filing out of the room from behind him.

“Let’s go best leader!” I.N said, trying his best to speak in English. The coos following from every one of the guys was immediate. You smile at how well they were with each other, the pang in your heart slight at their connection.

You go to follow when you pat down your pants looking for the missing weight of your phone. Quickly, you remembered that you had left it in your room. Spinning around, you almost collided with Chan as he was following right behind everyone.

“What’s wrong?” He asks looking over you to make sure you were ok.

“I left my phone on the counter, I was gonna go grab it.”

“I got it,” he waved you off. “Go on with the others, I’ll be right behind you.”

“…You sure?”

He just nodded and gently motioned for you to go on. After a few seconds of hesitation on your part, you thanked him and trail after the boys who were way ahead of the two of you.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

You were standing off to the side of everyone as you all waited for the go ahead from the staff members in charge. It was a small location, probably 350 people max allowed inside. They had decided to downscale this fan meeting “just in case”.

They never out right stated what the “in case” part was but everyone knew.

Chan came back not long after, face unreadable as he handed you your phone back. Thanking him again, you tucked it into your back pocket, not waiting to see what other messages you could have gotten while it was out of your sight. He goes off to talk to one of the managers and you’re left alone again, the boys interacting within themselves.

You begin to pick at your skin again.

“Y/N-ah,” Chan called out to you as he went back to your group by the door. Turning to him you give him a questioning look.

“You’re going to sit next to me today ok?”

Normally for fan meetings, idols were placed however they wanted. Since you were new, typically you had been at the end of the line as to not break apart any STAYs’ member pairings. A majority may not have liked you right now, but a few of them weren’t so bad so you hadn’t wanted to get on their bad side. You were told before that Chan was going to be at the edge this time around so it wasn’t really much of a difference to you.

Nodding, you both heard STAYS beginning to yell as someone on the microphone was heard introducing Stray Kids. The doors open and you fix a smile on your face as you all make your way out waving hello to the STAYs waiting.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

You don’t know what you had expected as you sat there staring down at the table before you. Chan had decided that the both of you were going to sit in the middle, him to your left and Minho to your right. On one hand, what surprised you was having your very own fan cam. It was kind of fun to see it following you like a little puppy. On the other hand, the amount of times, people just straight up skipped you in line was both humiliating and disheartening.

You’d tried to sit on your hands to keep from picking at them but subconsciously it just happened after the 5th time being skipped over. In your own little mental bubble, you didn’t notice the worried glances the older members shot each other when they noticed what was going on the first time.

A few STAYs did stop at you though. It wasn’t all rough. The first STAY you met that day would always be a fond memory for you.

“Hi, Y/N, nice to meet you!”

“Hi! Nice to meet you, too,” You, and everyone else around you, could feel yourself brighten up at the STAY in front of you as you gave them a tender smile.

“I’m nervous,” she goes on to say. “This is my first fan sign.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” You say as you scoot a little closer in your seat. She leans in a little closer. “It’s my first fan sign, too.”

The both of you giggle at each other’s nervousness. The ice broken now that someone was willing to actually sit with you.

“I brought you a gift, it’s not much since I couldn’t afford anything after buying the ticket to come here. I just wanted to say that you’re doing an amazing job! Don’t listen to what people are saying online. They’re not real fans, I hope everything goes well for you this comeback and the ones after ok?”

You tried not to cry at the heartfelt words of the fan in front of you as she pulled out a little teddy bear from her bag. It was decorated with a little t-shirt that said “Bear-y Cool” on it. It had you immediately on your feet and leaning over the table to give her a hug.

The bear stayed with you throughout the rest of the meet and greet. Even when the staff would occasionally come by to clear the table of gifts that other STAYs had given the members, your bear was with you the entire time.

As time flew by it was now the ending lament and Chan didn’t hesitate to take the microphone.

“Hey guys,” his happy leader mode present as usual when sending STAY off.

“First of I just wanted to say that I’m so happy to have been able to meet and talk to so many of our fans today.” Everyone cheered and clapped, the flashing of cameras going off every now and then. “We had a great time with you all. This is the first time that we’re out meeting fans together as nine members. I do have to say though,”

The tension in the room shifted as Chan stared out into the audience. Him turning serious, watching the switch up was crazy from how happy-go-lucky he was a few seconds ago.

“I’m disappointed at how some STAYs having been acting online. What I saw today too, it really hurts my heart,” he said while grabbing at his chest. “Do you know what I hate the most? When people think that they’re trying to help but they’re actually not.

I know there are diehard fans out there that will say Stray Kids is eight members, but we’re nine now. And as long as Y/N-ah is here, we will always be nine. I know you guys are concerned about us, I understand that and we’re so grateful to you all, but you have to believe in us and what we’re doing. There’s no need to complain to the company or online, there’s no need to hate anyone for that matter. Stray Kids is nine members.”

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

News of Chan defending you spread quickly the days following the meet and greet. The online bullying dropped significantly as a result. Trucks and flowers trickled until eventually they stopped showing up altogether. A few online messages still made it through but other fans quickly put a stop to it. And an official company statement was made addressing all the atrocious behaviors done to your person and the legal actions that would proceed going forward should more were happen.

Your nailbeds were looking a lot healthier nowadays, too.

Yes, Chan was definitely protective of his members. No matter who it was that was targeting them, he would stick up for them in a heartbeat. And if you or anyone else ever noticed that he usually called you Y/N-ah now, well no one’s going to bat an eye about it.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

I.N was a verbal protector. Fierce in his own right, especially for being the youngest of the group.

Months following The Fan Meeting™, as everyone now called it, the boys really tried to open up to you more and vice versa. You’d learned that I.N wasn’t disregarding you on purpose that day, he was just nervous to have a one-on-one conversation with you. With you being half foreigner, he wasn’t all that confident in speaking with you yet even though you told him you could understand Korean. Not well but certainly enough to get by. Then you had brought up the fact that both Chan and Felix were also foreigners.

He apologized promptly afterwards.

After that conversation, the maknae decided to have mini studying sessions when the both of you weren’t busy with practice or recording vocals. To help you understand the language better and for him to get better at speaking English in general. The two of you would sit near the corner of the practice room and just have a notebooks and flashcards spread out all on the floor. A few of the members would also stop by to check on you two as well.

“아침은 뭐 먹었어요?” you said as you practice your pronunciation. I.N would then correct your infliction at the end. You would repeat it three times to get it down before redoing your sentence. Him nodding as you did it right.

“Morning what I eat?” I.N in turn, to practice, his English.

Smiling slightly, you lightly shook your head no. “Very close, English and Korean switch subject, verbs, and objects around. Try it again.”

He paused to let the information sink into his brain. He concentrated for a few seconds before saying, “What did I eat for breakfast?”

You clap and grin brightly at him and as he got it down quickly. He reflected your smile as you praise him. “Yes! That was perfect!”

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

It would continue like that until everyone was called back to continue practicing or it was time to leave. For weeks this went on, and the both of you got better with speaking and with each other. You still weren’t comfortable with interviews and usually you could get by without speaking too much.

It was about a month after the fan meet event when it all happened. There was this one interviewer who was just so invasive with his questions that he had directed towards you.

“Y/N-ssi,” you did not like the gleam in his eyes the entire time you all were there. Since the beginning of the interview, he just gave you a bad feeling. You were grateful you were sat in the second row behind I.N and Channie.

“Yes?”

“You’re from America, yes?” The interviewer started.

“That’s correct.”

“Are both your parents Korean?”

“…No, they’re not. My dad is though.” You were unsure where he was going with this. It wasn’t part of the usual line of questions interviewers would ask and guessing by the slightly confused faces of everyone in the room, they most likely weren’t vetted to be asked that day either.

“Ah, what a shame. Maybe that’s why you’re not as popular as your other members.”

That one took you aback. Processing was a hassle since he started to talk faster. As if making sure to trip you up.

“Uh—.”

He cuts you off.

“Does it make you angry? 당신은 STAYs에게 더 많은 attention 원합니까? Do you 그들을 원망합니까?”

He was speaking too fast for you to process his sentences at once. Though you knew enough to know he was basically talking down to you. All you could do was flounder in your seat as you had trouble mentally translating everything this man was saying to you. Basically spit firing everything so you couldn’t even get a word in even if you wanted to.

It was I.N who grabbed the microphone from Chan before the leader could step in on your behalf.

“Interviewer-nim, those are questions that are neither appreciated nor appropriate at any time. Your actions regarding one of my members is really disgraceful and rude. This is something that our managers will talk to your higher ups about. ”

“That’s—” Just as he did to you, I.N cuts him off mid-sentence.

“We expect an apology from you and your company for my noona within the next few days. This interview is now over.”

And with that he dropped the microphone onto the floor before grabbing your hand and walking out. Chan nodded his head in agreement, angry tick in his jaw, as the others follow behind the two of you, also voicing their grievances with the interviewer.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Back in your designated dressing room, I.N was pacing back and forth fuming. You sat there, waiting for him to calm down on his own.

“He had no right to talk to you that way noona! He was being rude and hurtful and for what!?”

You couldn’t help but give a small smile at his little tirade. This was now the second time he’s called you noona and you won’t lie, it kind of makes you giddy for being honored in such a way by the maknae.

“He was,” you agreed from your seat on the couch. “And he most likely won’t be the last one to be rude to me or any of the others.”

He pulled a disgruntled face because he knew you were right.

“But,” you continued, I.N finally plopping down on the seat next to you. “I’m glad we’ll always have you there to have our backs like that. I deeply appreciate you standing up for me.”

You hesitated for a split second before you brought your hand up to pat his head softly. Delighted when he didn’t push you off.

There was a knock on your door before Chan popped his head in. Seeing both you and I.N inside, he fully stepped in.

“Hey, just wanted to check on the two of you.”

Looking at Chan then back to I.N you respond, “We’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, after he apologizes,” I.N grumbled as he crossed his arms across his chest, managing to make both you and Chan chuckle at him.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Suffice it to say, that interview never saw the light of day. You and your team also never worked with that interviewer afterwards either. And just as I.N wanted; an official letter of apology was sent to the company addressed to “Y/L/N Y/N of Stray Kids”. It sat framed in the dorm room to this day.

I.N being the one that had picked out the frame. It was there as a constant reminder of not letting anyone try to belittle you and continued to be with you for every moving day you’d had to make since then.

Yeah, you felt it in your entire being that I.N was fiercely protective of his members. And as his noona, you were just as fiercely protective of him too.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

If I.N was fierce, Changbin was silently reliable as a protector. For how loud he could be, he also knew when to just be there for you.

Though it was becoming less and less rocky with the group as time went on, you still felt like you could be in the way at times. Nothing crazy, but you did decide that to give them some space away from you at the dorm, you would either stay late in the practice room or go to the gym at night. It wasn’t for a long time, just an hour or two of extra time for yourself and that way the guys could have space to be “men” without the fear of you walking around.

It was going fine for the most part. You could arrange a Kakao taxi to drop you off at the apartment from the JYPE building if you stayed later than everyone. Or, if you happened to be at the gym you frequented, it was essentially located about 20 minutes from the shared dorm by walking.

You just had to count it as an extra form of cardio for your workout.

Chan and I.N would do a check-in if they felt you were out later than usual and you would respond back quickly as to not let them worry. Then you’d pack it up and head home.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

“Y/N-ah, are you gonna be in the practice room tonight?” Chan asked, everyone else wrapping things up for the night. He was sat in his studio chair, mixer spread behind him, lights flashing every now and then. You had no idea what any of them did.

“Not tonight Channie, it’s leg day. Gonna head for the gym.”

He nodded and told you to be careful before turning back to his abundance of buttons and dials. He was also staying late tonight.

You managed to make it outside when you got a text form I.N.

Little Maknae <3: u sure u don’t want to join gamerz night with me n Felix?

Smiling down at the screen you respond with an emoji declining his offer and told him good luck on their games.

Little Maknae <3: Noona, I’m playing w/Felix, I  need all the help I can get ㅋㅋㅋ

You rolled your eyes with a fond smile before sticking your phone away in your pocket. A sense of unease happened to wash over you though and you couldn’t help but look around to see if you spotted anything out of the ordinary. The sun was already starting to set on the day and the area looked clear for the most part.

Looking around one more time you brushed it off as your taxi arrived in front of you. Hopping inside you greeted the driver before confirming your location drop off. You hoped the feeling disappeared as he took off from the building.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

You were an hour and half into your set and that weird feeling just would not go away. The feeling in your gut caused you to bite at your lip in worry as you decided that you were done for the day. Calling it a night, you were mid-packing of your stuff when a guy you’ve never met before came up to you from seemingly out of nowhere.

Startled, you almost dropped your water bottle. An alarm bell began ringing in your head as you blinked at him. Something was not right and your instincts were screaming at you to get out of there.

“Hi,” he started, giving you a onceover. You were thankful that the leg press was between the both of you. “I’m not sure if you noticed but I’ve been working out next to you a couple of times now and I just wanna say you have such a good form.”

Sirens? Blaring. Heart? Pumping. And it wasn’t not due to the endorphins of a good workout.

“You’re so flexible when you stretch, too. I always tried to go as low as you do but I just can’t seem to manage. You make it look so easy.”

“Thank…you?” You’re not sure what to do. You know you should tell the staff about this dude’s creepy behavior but as of right now they were on the first floor and you were currently on the second. There was no one else around so you had to be even more careful because who knew just what he was capable of. You were both the same height but that could only take you so far.

“Um…well I have to go now,” reaching down to grab your bag, he put his hand over yours to stop you. Boy do you stop, practically frozen in your spot.

“Wait, you’re going now? Your sets usually last for a little bit longer don’t they?”

“Yeah but uh, I…have an early day tomorrow so I have to leave,” managing to pry yourself away from him, you took a step back.

He stared at you without blinking before he broke out into a smile. “Right, you’re probably busy tomorrow. It was so great to finally talk to you. I remember when you first started to come here, you had no idea what you were doing.” He laughed as if you two were just the best of friends sharing an inside joke. “Alright well I’ll let you head out, I’ll catch you in two days for your next session, ok?”

Before you can respond, he left with a wave and you’re finally alone. Hastily, you head downstairs to talk to one of the staff members in charge. The guy was already gone by the time you had made it to the front desk. They couldn’t do much since the guy didn’t actually assault you but they took down your statement and his description to warn the other team members to keep an eye out for him.

You didn’t feel comfortable leaving the gym immediately only because you weren’t sure if he was waiting outside for you or not. Instead, you stayed in the locker room for an extra 35 minutes, procrastinating with the sauna and a shower. Anything to keep you inside for a bit longer.

You’d tried calling Chan and I.N yet neither picked up. You knew it was a long shot with both of them being busy tonight, but you had to try either way.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

By the time you felt okay enough to leave the safety of the building, it was nearing 11 pm and you were hungry. There was a CU that you would pass by somewhere along the halfway point when you walked home, you would probably stop there for a snack to go. Surely, the guy wouldn’t still be hanging around right?

You didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary like earlier so you went on with your routinely walk home. The familiar purple and green lights of the convenience store came into your view and you released a breath you weren’t aware of holding. Heading inside, the bell alerted anyone inside that someone came into the store. Greeting the tired looking university girl behind the counter, you head to the back towards the refrigerator section that had all the kimbap varieties.

You were stuck choosing between a tuna bacon mayo and a spicy pork one when the overhead bell dinged again and that uneasy feeling came back to you with a vengeance. Slowly, you glanced to the corner security mirror and in the reflection you could make out the same guy from the gym was now there. Your hands shook as you placed both snacks back down.

The guy headed down into the next aisle over from you and you swiftly walked to the clerk up at the front. You could only hope that what you were about to do worked because your options were already slim. Taking out your phone, you typed a message and presented it to the girl while asking her a question.

“Excuse me, is there a restroom that I can use here?”

There is a man following me, could you hide me somewhere?

She looked as if to deny you before looking confused after reading the message on your phone. The desperation in your face probably helped convince her that you needed help because she started nodding and motioning for you to come behind the counter. All the while keeping an eye out for the man in case he turned the corner.

“Yes, you can come this way.”

You sent her a thankful look as you followed her. She told you to remain in there and she’d let you know if he left or not.

You took out your phone again and clicked on a random name in your contact list. Hoping beyond hope that someone would pick up this late. It rang three times before someone answers.

“Hello?”

Seo Changbin.

Finally allowing yourself to be scared, your voice was quiet and shaky as you addressed him, “C-Changbin?”

“Y/N? What’s wrong?” His concern is palpable even through the receiver.

“There’s a creepy guy that followed me from the gym. I tried calling Chan and Innie but they weren’t answering their phones. A-and I didn’t know what to do or who else to call…”

He cursed quietly and then you heard the rustling of keys on his end. “Where are you? Are you safe? Share your location with me and I’ll be there soon alright.”

“I’m safe for now, I’m in the employee office of the CU that’s 13 minutes from the dorm,” you do as he says and shared your location with him.

“Good, don’t move from there until I get you ok? I’m on my way.”

“Binnie…I’m scared…”

He was silent for a moment before his serious and reassuring tone could be heard over the line, “I know you are, but I promise he’s not going to do a thing to you you hear me?”

You nodded into your phone and waited for him to come to you. He didn’t allow you to hang up, wanting to be in constant contact with you while he shortened the distance between you two.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Just as he promised, Changbin made it to your location in record time. By the time he arrived the guy had already left when he realized you weren’t in the store anymore. From what the worker explained to the both of you, the guy had come up to her asking if she had seen his girlfriend, aka you.

That made you visibly uncomfortable and Changbin put his arm around you in comfort. Changbin made sure to get the worker’s information and a recording from the store’s CCTV of when you entered the CU to when the guy left sent to his manager’s email. Then he reached out to your gym to get their CCTV recording, as well as a copy of your written statement against the man. He was going to make sure that this guy would not be allowed anywhere near you.

On the short drive home, he kept looking over at you to make sure you were ok.

“Why do you go to the gym so far from the dorm? The one I go to is a lot closer.”

“…I didn’t want to invade into your space.”

“My…? Huh!? Y/N-ah, from now on just come to the gym with me ok. It’s better than going at night by yourself. Safer too.”

“But—”

“Y/N-ah, you don’t know how worried I was when you called me. I don’t ever want to feel like that if I can help it. I never liked the fact that you went out at night but I wanted you to have time for yourself too. So, if that means I can now take you with me in the mornings, I’m all for it, this way I know for sure that you’re safe.”

All you can do is give a watery smile, his words making you feel warm inside after the mess of the night had been. You agreed, not because he didn’t give you much of a choice, but because the sincerity of his words really hit home.

“Also, I want to enroll you in some self-defense classes. As long as I’m around, I’ll have your back but this is for just in case purposes ok?”

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Chan and I.N managed to call you back soon after arriving back at the dorm with Changbin. Both nearly had a heart attack when he explained what had happened to you. They both calmed down slightly when Changbin explained all that he was planning to do with the information he received.

He immediately made a note to cancel your gym membership and put you on his gym family plan in the morning. He doesn’t force you to go with him but you can tell he would get excited when you do decide to join him. He always asked how your class were as he would usually be waiting outside the door for you when you get done, not wanting to interrupt your session. You never did see that guy again after that, you just hoped he wasn’t doing the same thing to some other poor girl.

Changbin also started taking up the habit of walking with you after that incident, that way you never had to do it alone. Even if it was just a quick trip to the convenience store, he would be the first to get up to go with you. And you never once stopped sharing your locations with each other after that night.

Of course, that’s just how reliably protective your Changbinnie was.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Seungmin was one of the more quieter members of the group. Not in the bad why mind you, he just brought a sort of calm to the family function that you really enjoyed. He was also the more silent of the group when it came to protecting the others. Caring in the way that he observed rather than spoke. He was subtle in his actions. Didn’t outright say anything.

Just like everyone else, you came to learn that acts of service was definitely one of his love languages. The amount of times you’d caught him being kind to the members really made your heart melt. For all that he portrayed that he didn’t get along with the members of Stray Kids, you knew it was the complete opposite.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

It was awkward at first, as you sat across from Seungmin on the little couch that the staff provided. Both of you were shooting ‘Two Kids Room’. Neither of you were used to being the only two filmed together and not with the whole group. Yet, always the gentleman, as soon as you had sat down, Seungmin handed you a pillow for your lap and a blanket for your legs since you had been wearing shorts.

The staff had provided a few tubes of pringles to snack on and he read the tube and then immediately offered you the first chip of his newly opened can. Most likely checking if your allergen was present in the food.

As you kindly accepted his offer, it caused you to smile.

“Did you know I was scared of you all when I first joined,” you started out, popping the whole chip into your mouth.

“Oh, yeah?” he smiled as he ate one and then gave you another, probably thinking you were joking. Taking the snack, you nodded your head yes.

“Yeah, I felt like I was overstepping a lot by coming into the group so late.”

“Do you still feel like that?” A cute look of concern passed over his face, realizing this was something you were serious about. Subconsciously though, he continued to give you chips alternating with himself as he took one after you.

“Mmm, not as much as I used to,” you relay, nodding to yourself as you tried to get your thoughts in order. He waited patiently for you to continue speaking, not wanting to interrupt you.

“You actually helped me feel better about being here.”

“Huh, me?” He questioned surprisingly. You couldn’t help but giggle at his stunned face. The cuteness aggression he brought out of you was so real.

“How do I put this?” you pursed your lips in thought. “Your actions speak louder than words Seungminnie. Though you may not have realized it, they really do matter to us.”

His face flushed slightly at being addressed endearingly as such.

“Do you remember mmm,” you continued on, not acknowledging his reddened face lest he get more embarrassed. “I forgot what it was for, but we had to film all day while walking around Seoul. So we were constantly on the sidewalks when they weren’t driving us to the different locations.”

He made a noise of affirmation, still handing you food.

“Of course, you know there were times when I would be walking with someone else that day, but there were also a lot of times when I would be walking next to you. You always made sure that I was walking on the opposite side of where the road was. No matter what, it was like clockwork, if I had somehow found my way next to the busy road and you were nearby; you made sure to move me to the other side of you and away from traffic.”

“Really?” He said, surprised to hear what he did.

“Yeah, and you still do it to this day,” this particular chip being extra crunchy made the end of your sentence more prominent. You couldn’t help but giggle out the next sentence to see the reaction of your second youngest member. “I always thought that that was very manly of you.”

“Noona!”

That got a laugh out of you as he scoffed in embarrassment, pouting.

“I’m serious though,” you said, once again turning thoughtful. “You take care of us in quiet ways, Seungminnie.

It’s like when we get together to eat and somehow Channie always ends up cooking at some point or another? You always make sure him and I eat a few pieces first before eating yourself because you know that we would let the others eat before we do. Which, again, stemmed from me not feeling like I fit in with the group and is just so leader of one certain Bang Chan but ugghh,” you couldn’t help as your eyes got glossy at the memories that came to mind of how Kim Seungmin took care of you all silently. “It can be so frustrating because we want Chan to take care of himself, but he’s so steadfast in putting others before himself. Which isn’t a bad thing at all!

But you make sure to look out for Channie and every one of us all the time. Just like today, you made sure that I was comfortable before we even started filming this. You even gave me the first bite of your snacks. The amount of times you’ve made sure I wouldn’t fall when I had to wear new heels for a stage, I have no words to describe how that makes me feel. All I can say is thank you Seungmin, from the bottom of my heart, for taking care of us in the way you do. I see you; we see you. And we treasure you for everything you’ve done, what you haven’t done and for what you continue to do.”

By this point he was avoiding eye contact with you and staring up at the ceiling. He was quiet for a moment before he blew air out of his mouth, taking the occasional deep breath to calm himself.

Clearing his throat twice before starting his sentence, “I think about that kind of thought always, am I doing enough for my members? Am I helpful enough. All my members are precious to me, so I want to do well for you all. I’m always…,”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as he began to cry. You brought him in for a hug and pat his head lovingly as you rocked the both of you from side to side.

“You will always be enough for Stray Kids, Seungminnie. And for Stays, too, understand?”

“You too, noona. You’re enough for Stray Kids and Stays too,” he got out around a sniffle.

You hugged him tighter after that.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

When your episode of ‘Two Kids Room’ dropped, it had become one of the most watched episodes of the entire season. The other members immediately ganging up on the two of you with hugs that you each tried to run from. There was definitely a shift for the better in the group after that.

Since then, Seungmin had made an effort to seek you out when in a group setting. Making sure you were comfortable, safe, and not alone (unless you wanted to be). His subtle ways of protecting you and the others not changing but you wouldn’t want him to be any other way but himself.

It was like that one saying went.

If Kim Seungmin had a million fans, then you were one of them. If Kim Seungmin had ten fans, then you were one of them. If Kim Seungmin had only one fan then that was you. If Kim Seungmin had no fans, then that meant you were no longer on earth. If the world was against Kim Seungmin, then you were against the world.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Just like Seungmin, Minho was an observer. He paid attention to everyone in his little makeshift family. What they liked and what they didn’t. He was member who you would categorize as a combination of subtle and dramatic when taking care of others.

He was the type to pick something up and lock it away mentally until it was time to use that information again. You weren’t sure if that was just the dance leader in him or if he was just Like That™. Most likely both if you were being honest.

It was surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly, him who looked out for you first when you joined. It wasn’t how most would think either. It honestly took you off guard when it happened.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

All throughout your life you had been allergic to peanuts and walnuts. It wasn’t that much of a problem since you would simply avoid them whenever possible. Like those with a severe allergy, your skin would break out into hives and your throat would tighten up. If left untreated you could go into anaphylaxis shock and die.

Thankfully, after you first encounter as a child, you and your family were pretty vigilant about what contained the little devil nuts and what didn’t.

It was pretty traumatic for your parents when it had first happened. Imagine, little Y/N bumbling into the kitchen for a snack of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A brand new treat for you to try, except the peanut butter tried to exact some kind of unknown revenge and kill you right after the first couple of bites?? Rude.

Suffice it to say, that new jar of peanut butter was thrown out as soon as you all made it home from the hospital.

It wasn’t something you advertised, just made sure restaurants understood whenever you went to eat somewhere new. You had your main spots you frequented so much, so they were already aware of your allergies. Those were your safe restaurants to eat back home in America.

But when you had left your home country to live with your grandparents and then moved to Seoul to pursue your dream career, it was a little touch and go in the new cities. Korea didn’t take nut allergies as seriously as they should since it wasn’t as common as it was in the west.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

The first thing JYPE did when you joined was take you to meet your new group who were all out for a meal that the company had set up. You had thought that when you accepted a position as a new vocal, you’d be put into an up-and-coming girl group. When you arrived at the restaurant though, only to see an established boy group, you hadn’t known what to think. The silence in the air was deafening in the loud restaurant.

“Introduce yourself,” your personal manager, Heejin, prompted.

“Yes, hello, I’m Y/L/N Y/N, 00’ line. I’m a vocal singer, nice to meet you,” you started partly in English with a bow. The managers had wanted you to sit in the middle of the table to break the ice, but you insisted that you were fine sitting at the end. When none of the guys had made a move to introduce themselves back, the managers did it for them. As one could imagine, it was awkward at best and unbearable at worst. The food hadn’t even arrived yet as you sat and fiddled with the chopsticks for your designated seat.

You were sat next to Minho and across from Seungmin, the quieter end of the table. Not that the rest was any better with no one knowing what to say. Most avoided looking at you, more than likely pissed at your presence altogether.

‘And with good reason,’ you thought to yourself.

While staring down at your hands to avoid their possible angry gazes, you noticed a hangnail on your index finger and you begin to pick at it. You jumped as a waitress began to place the side dishes on the table. The table thanked her and this caused everyone to finally stir slightly, now having small conversations with each other.

“We don’t mean to be rude Y/N-ssi. We just didn’t expect the company to pull this kind of thing on us,” Bang Chan said from his position at the other end of the table. The first to actually talk to you.

“Oh no, it’s ok. I understand, I didn’t know it was going to be like this either...”

Kimchi and myeolchi bokkeum were placed in front of you and you had to do a double take at the stir-fried anchovy and peanut dish. You could just feel your throat wanting to close by just looking at it. Subtly, you tried to push the dish away from you as far as possible without alerting anyone.

Minho must have noticed at one point because he moved the little side dish to his right and replaced it with the gaji-namul. Egg plant was a far better dish than peanuts. The meat finally came and everyone became livelier. Once ready, you waited for the others to get their pieces of meat first, not wanting to fight them for a portion immediately after being introduced. If you were back home, nothing would have stopped you from being one of the first to reach in that grill.

You sat picking at your rice bowl and sides as you watch Seungmin take a piece from your side of the grill to Bang Chan to try. Smiling at the sweet gesture, you couldn’t help but feel guilty by watching the tender moment between members. As if it was something you weren’t supposed to see. When Seungmin returned, most of the meat on your grill was gone and you decided to wait for the next round instead. You were picking up a piece of eggplant when a piece of meat was placed on your plate, looking up at Seungmin, he didn’t make eye contact as he continued to make a ssam for himself.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

That same night, after dinner, the group decided they wanted dessert and that a food truck was the best place to get it since it was already mid-November. You kept to yourself as you followed behind them. Upon arriving at the desired destination, you noticed that there were two vendors side by side. One was selling a few items such as eomuk tang, the delicious little fish cake soup, and hotteok. The other was just selling bungeo-ppang, your favorite little fish bread with no fish inside.

The smell alone at the first stall was enough to cause an irritant in your throat, one you tried to clear quietly. Moving upwind from the smoke, you waited patently as the others began to tell Changbin what they wanted. Him yelling back how they only liked him for his money.

You smiled at the scene once more from your little corner, happy that they could still goof around with each other with you around. Jeongin came up to you then and placed a cup containing a hotteok in your hands.

“You, eat,” he said in broken English, gesturing you to eat up before turning around to the others again. The warmth is great for your fingers but the walnut powder they used for this dessert would surely kill you. You had your epi-pen with you always but you didn’t want to use it if you could help it. You were unsure of what to do as you bit your lip in contemplation. There was a trash can next to the stall but everyone was around it and you didn’t want to be outright rude.

You were brought out of your thoughts when Minho cleared his throat next to you. “You want switchie? This choux cream.”

He held out the fresh fish bread to you. Smiling brightly, you thanked him as you nod vigorously and switch your cup with his wrapper. You munched happily on the little fish-pastry as he looked at you for a second longer than normal, just observing, though you put it out of your mind rather quickly.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

There were more instances like that as time went on yet somehow Minho was always there to help you out. No one else being none the wiser. Until he eventually came to talk to you about it and made it 100% clear how bad it could be if you were to consume peanut/walnut based dishes. You also explained how you didn’t mind not telling anyone about it, Lee Know just nodded, patted you on the head and walked away.

But maybe you should have.

A week later, at the dorm was when everything snowballed. It was slightly awkward, just like everything else at first, when you all had found out that you were moving in. Someone even had to switch rooms so that you could have a room to yourself.

Of course, you felt bad for that happening.

So there you were, in the kitchen with Lee Know and Felix, sitting at the table as they were preparing lunch. Lee Know was stirring something on the stove when Felix stopped chopping vegetables to open a small yellow sleeve of an unknown treat.

“Y/N-ssi, do you want to try a kook hee biscuit?”

“Cookie biscuit?”

“Yeah a kook hee buscuit,” he pulled out a little a little sandwich cookie for you try. As you reached for it, Lee Know appeared from where he once was and snatched it from Felix’s open palm only to then shove it into his mouth. The two of you looking at him perplexed at his actions.

“Hyung…?”

He didn’t say anything as he stared the both of you down. Stared you down. But you didn’t understand. Felix went to give you another one when Lee Know smacked that one on to the floor instead.

“What are you doing?” Felix says, getting a little fed up. He tossed another one to you only for Lee Know to miss catching it in air. You cheered as you grabbed it midair and shoved it into your mouth. You chewed the cookie in your mouth as Lee Know began to panic, he gestured for you to spit it out but you and Felix looked at him in confusion.

And then you realized your mistake as your mouth started to tingle. Lee Know grabbed the yellow wrapper from Felix and thrusted it in your face. It was enough for you to read that it was a peanut cookie. You sat shell shocked; your breathing coming out faster until Lee Know took your face in his hand and squeezed your cheeks for you to spit it out into his other hand. You do as he instructed but you could already feel your skin becoming itchy and your throat constricting.

“119,” you manage out.

“Huh?” Felix said now starting to worry at the scene before him.

“Call 119!” Lee Know yelled, following behind you as you ran to your room. You slip and stumbled into the living room catching the attention of Han and Jeongin, as they were the only two inside the apartment besides the three of you. Both of them looked confused as they saw you and Lee Know running, shortly followed by Felix who was on the phone. It took them a split second to decide to go after you all.

You were wheezing and coughing as time went on. You had kept your epi-pen safely secured in your bag in case of emergencies. Shaky were your hands as you took out the familiar yellow tube. Lee Know saw and took it from you as you laid against the bed, you could just vaguely hear Felix and Han on the phone with the paramedics as Lee Know and Jeongin struggled to read the pen.

You grabbed Lee Know’s hand and mimed a stabbing motion into your leg, he noticed how weak your grasp was. Understanding, yet horrified, he took the cap off and immediately stabbed the orange side down into your thigh through the pajama pants you had on. The click and instant relief in your throat letting you know it worked.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Lee Know stayed with you in the hospital after the paramedics arrived to take you there. The other members found out from a freaked out Felix, Han and Innie and immediately tried to visit you. Lee Know stopped them from coming, wanting you to rest and not be bombarded with everyone at once. He knew it wasn’t possible but he always double checked that the food the hospital nurses brought in for you contained no traces of peanuts or walnuts.

It would be years later during a random SKZ CODE involving food that Lee Know would go ballistic because a staff member would fill the snack table with Gilim brand honey butter peanut snacks. You hadn’t even checked yet what was available to eat when he stormed onto the set and took all the snacks out of the room and into the men’s restroom to throw away just to make sure you wouldn’t go anywhere near them.

Yes, Lee Know was quiet when he wanted to be, but when he was making sure you were safe and alive, he could get fiercely protective.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

One would think Han would be loud with his actions when it came to caring for others. Probably yelling or laughing in some shape or form. But that’s not usually the case, he was more quiet in a sense.

Jisung was not one to draw attention to himself, his anxiety didn’t allow him to do that. Not one to take credit where credit was due for those instances. Slyly as he did it, like it was just second nature for him to do.

Knowing him, it probably was, too.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

You first found out about one of the little habits the young rapper had when at a different fan sign than your first. This time you were seated at the front of the line, the first to greet STAYs and Han happily sat between you and Chan.

You’d been fiddling with a sharpie in your hand from the nerves, since they never really went away no matter how many times you’d done this, so much that it had ended up slipping from your grasp and dropping onto the floor. When you had bent down to get it and back up, the crowd of fans were awing loudly. Turning to Han to figure out what had happened, you found he was in a deep conversation with Channie.

The fan meet started soon after that so you never had the opportunity to ask what happened.

When the fan cams got uploaded later on that night, it was then when you remembered what you had wanted to ask. Pulling up the feed, you quickly found the reason why STAYs were going crazy. You couldn’t help but smile at the scene on the screen.

While mid conversation with Channie, Jisung had reached over to your corner of the table and blocked the edge for you to not hit yourself. Only to then remove it as soon as the top of your head cleared the table.

Never once did he look in your direction. Just naturally moved his hand in place and back out again. It made you giddy enough to rewatch it three times afterwards.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

The next time his protective/gentlemanly nature popped out was after a MAMA performance. The stylists had decided to put you in a skirt with new heels to dance in which made you uncomfortable to do the choreography in. Somehow though, you’d managed to give a decent performance and as you were coming down from the stage, flashes from a variety of media outlets were going off everywhere.

Hyunjin had made sure to hold your hand and arm for stability when coming down the glossy steps. Jisung was very cool as he took off his coat and stepped down in front of the two of you. In one smooth motion, he turned around and opened the cloth to block the view of your legs from the cameras gazes. It was only a few steps downward but it meant a lot. Even when on floor level, he made sure to wrap his jack around you, not that it would fit completely, Mr. 70 cm waist and all, but it was the thought that counted.

“Thank you Ji,” you chuckle out.

But as always, he didn’t say anything about his actions, just smiled brightly, eyes disappearing behind his cheeks, and continued on to your table where Seungmin stood waiting for you to give you a blanket he acquired from somewhere.

Jisung insisted you keep his coat for the remainder of the night if you happened to feel cold at some point. You never did with the blanket on your lap, but you still kept it close by.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

It was on a trip to an early morning location shoot that something happened again. Instead of separate vehicles, everyone had been piled into a big van together. You had the fortune to sit by the window with Jisung to your left by the aisle.

As you were dozing in and out of consciousness, a few of the others were talking quietly amongst themselves. You had tried to join them at one point mid-conversation but your words were slurred and they giggled at your groggy state, urging you to go back to sleep.

You were the process of shifting in your seat to lay your head on Jisung’s shoulder when the driver called back to the group. Your auditory processors were not working well to understand what was being said since you were so out of it, but in the next moment Jisung had thrown his arm over your chest to prevent you from going forward as the van came to quick halt.

You jolted awake as you all pitched forward in your seats. Stopping only because of the seatbelts.

“Ji?” you cried out, scared at the sudden disruption to your less than perfect slumber. Grabbing ahold of his arm in a panic, he quickly turned to calm you down.

“No, it’s ok, you’re ok.”

“Is everyone else ok?”

“Yeah, everyone’s fine, you’re fine.”

Obviously, you couldn’t go back to sleep after that, no matter how much Jisung tried to reassure you. Stopping like that would happen one more time on that trip, something to do with bad breaks, you weren’t too sure. It may not have been as rough as the first time, but Jisung made sure to hold you back with his arm once again.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Han Jisung was the type of man to block the sharp corner of the cabinet so you wouldn’t bump your head and act like he didn’t do it. The type of man to use his jacket to block your lower body when in a dress at an award show. And the type of man that, if you were sitting next to him in a car, he’d stick his arm out in front of you to protect you.

Jisung was the type of protector that would want no praise nor commotion for anything he’d done. Because it was just natural for him.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Hyunjin was funny in a way. For all the times he’s claimed he didn’t like skinship, mans was sure clingy. The amount of times he would pull a disgusted face whenever anyone was near him only to be all over them not even ten minutes later was hilarious to you.

Yet there were times, though, when he needed to grab on to you, not for skinship, but to make sure you were in his line of sight at all times. Even surrounded by bodyguards it wasn’t as safe as you thought it could be.

An incident in the past had led Hyunjin to be more aware of where you were in an airport, wanting to be on the more cautious side than anything. Hyunjin became your official unofficial airport buddy after that.

And he took his new role in your life very seriously.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

When you and the boys arrived back in Korea from visiting Chan and Felix’s families in Australia, the crowd that awaited you was not something the group was prepared for.

Later on you would all learn that someone had leaked your flight information online. Which in itself was already a scary thing to think about, but the amount of people that had been waiting for you all had just been overwhelming.

By this point in time, you had grown closer to them all, a far cry from how it was when you had first joined that was for sure. Enough to be able to fight them for a piece of meat on the first round.

Typically, when arriving at Incheon airport, you’d end up walking in the back with Chan and Hyunjin. That was just how it naturally occurred. Yet with the amount of people surrounding you, you had lost sight of them easily. You could vaguely spot the blond hair that belonged to Felix but he was too far away to reach, and no amount of yelling would do you any good since the crowd had that covered.

Looking back and forth, you were on the verge of panicking since you didn’t even see your own guard near you, another casualty to the swarm of people. When a sudden tug on your hoodie pulled at you to the right. Scared, you were about to fight for your life. Your arm was already pulled back, ready to swing at whoever tried to grab at you. Those self-defense classes Binnie had you in was about to come out. Cause baby, you were not the one.

Only, you noticed Hyunjin’s shaggy hair just in time.

He stared at you for a second, eyes going wide above the face mask that he wore, at what you were about to do.

“…Come on, let’s go,” he said eventually, incredulously shaking his head at you. You tried not to giggle at his reaction but it was just so hard not to. “Everyone’s already ahead of us.”

“Really?” you asked, now worried about what could have happened as you lagged behind. Agreeing quickly, you took a step forward until he tugged you back again. With a questioning look, you turned back to him.

“It’s this way pabo,” the amusement in his voice was clear throughout all the yelling in the area. He threw his arm over your head in a headlock and dragged you toward the direction you needed to go.

“Hyunjinnie~,” you groaned out, your head tilted at an awkward angle.

“This is for your own protection. We don’t need you getting lost right now.”

“I get lost at an airport one (1) time and everyone holds it over my head for the rest of my life.”

All he could do is cackle.

Eventually he did let go of your head once the both of you made it back with the group. The guards finally doing their job in securing a circle around you all.

“Did she go and get lost again?” Seungmin joked while trying to hide a smile.

“She was about to,” Hyun replied, making sure he still held onto a part of your hoodie.

“I was not,” you said while giving Hyunjin his own signature look of disgust.

“Aigoo, if you keep making that face, it’s gonna get stuck like that,” he teased while pinching your cheek. You swatted his hand away from your face, soothing over where he pinched, him and Seungmin laughed in response.

Following along with everyone, you could still feel his light grip on your clothing. As if he was afraid that you’d somehow disappear if he were to let go. In all honesty, his actions did bring you some form of comfort while in the throng of people. Like your own personal grounding anchor.

He continued to hold onto you until you made it out of the airport. With all the media around, you all were forced to do an impromptu press conference welcoming you back in the parking lot. Hyunjin made sure that you were next to him and that your clothes weren’t a total mess after the long ten hour flight.

“STEP OUT! ANNYEONGHASEYO STRAY KIDS-IMNIDA!,” you all shouted out and bowed to the crowd before you. The fans behind the paparazzies went wild. You all did the appropriate amount of waving and smiling but you just wanted to go home and collapse into bed already.

When a tug on your sleeve caught your attention, Hyunjin gestured that it was time to go once again. He’d pulled his face mask down to take pictures so you could tell he was really smiling this time. Pulling you along, he was sure to put you in the middle of the group so that there was no possible way of you getting lost.

And if he still felt he needed to be connected to you in some way, well who were you to deny the ferret? He was just looking out for his member, that was all. They were prone to getting lost, it had happened before, he just didn’t want to deal with the aftermath like that again.

It wasn’t good for his heart. Don’t do it again, please.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Yeah, you just didn’t understand how people could say that Hyun liked skinship and physical touch. He’s just not that type of person and there have surely been no instances whatsoever in your life as an idol where he had proved you wrong about it.

Absolutely none, and whoever said so was indeed a liar.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Being around Felix was very easy. When it was just the two of you it was a nice and cozy feeling. Nothing ever felt rushed or like you had to try too hard to be near each other, maybe it was because you were both foreigners experiencing the idol life together.

Who knows.

But when you threw in your other members, all the cozy feelings went out of the window and it was like a chaotic mess was left in its place.

And when he had to essentially play a modified version of keep away with you as the main item, well then of course all hell would break loose.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

“Noona, we have to run!” Felix yelled as he ran back towards you, giant grin on his face. You could just make out his cameraman behind him trying to catch up with the energetic sunshine boy and behind him your other members chased Felix down.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Just like BTS did, Lotte Duty Free allowed Stray Kids to use a floor for the location of the next SKZ CODE. The premise was that while all nine of you were there, only the boys were supposed to find various items that were hidden around the entire floor to recreate the names of their songs.

Once it got presented to the manager-nim in charge of the game or specific staff members, the others could no longer use that same item. You, on the other hand, were supposed to be Ghost, a wild card that made up one song entirely. Technically you could be whatever song you wanted but the points were just doubled if they had you on their roster at the end of the 3 hour mark. Just like the staff members playing, you also were to run around except your goal was to not get caught. Because of that, you had to be turned in last.

Each guy had been given specific color cloths to tie around your wrist to “claim” you as their point. Only one person could claim you at a time and stealing items from each other had been allowed. So, say you got caught by someone with a black cloth, if you had a green one on when they did, they could remove it and put their color on instead. The only rule to claim you as a point was that you had to be brought to the main manager at the end when time was called to count.

Each of your cameramen had been given a walkie-talkie so that everyone could know if and when their cloths were removed or the time remaining. You had been given a 15 minute head start to run around and hide, your own cameraman following behind you.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Time had been close to being called, about ten minutes left you had heard on the radio. You’d been caught a few times only to be able to escape not long afterwards. Changbin had found you first, securing a cute pink cloth around your wrist. Lee Know found you afterwards, purple cloth replacing the pink. It would be a long time until Innie’s white cloth replaced Lee Know’s.

Hyunjin and Chan had found you together but you managed to escape both of them before either could swap your color out. While running from them, you had made eye contact with Seungmin but were able to evade him when you ran into a darkened area. That was where you subsequently ran into Felix and scared the absolute shit out of each other.

Now the two of you listened on as your cameraman, Seoyul, announced that you now adorned the yellow team cloth. All four of you walked calmly to where the manager-nim was.

“I’m getting nervous Lix,” you said, trying to contain your energy, adrenaline kicked in your system as the game was coming to an end.

“Why?” the same giddy energy flowed out of him since he was close to winning.

“It’s quiet, too quiet. You don’t think something could go wrong?”

“Why would you jinx it!?” he shouted in exasperation, not realizing how loud he actually was. All of you paused in motion, listening to figure out if any of the others heard you. Your eyes the only thing rapidly moving to scan your surroundings as the both of you stood frozen. When nothing happened, you two continued on until you reached where the manager was supposed to be waiting.

But if video games had taught either of you a thing or two, it was what a trap would feel like.

“Ok, you wait here, and I’m gonna go check if the coast is clear. I promise, I won’t let them come near you got it?,” he whispered as you nod along to what he said.

He snuck on ahead, his cameraman trailing behind him as you stood there, waiting for his return. Not even five seconds later he came bounding round the corner at full speed, laughing maniacally.

“Noona, we have to run!” Felix yelled as he ran back towards you, giant grin on his face. You could just make out his cameraman behind him trying to catch up with the energetic boy and behind him your other members chased Felix down.

He didn’t stop as he grabbed your hand in his and took off in the opposite direction. You could just make out the others yelling for the both of you over yours and Felix’s laughter.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Felix had made sure that he kept a steady grip on your hand while running away. Never once pulling you too hard or running too fast for you to keep up. If both of you were hiding, he’d urge you forward first gently and then covered you so you couldn’t be seen.

“Noona, get down here,” he said as he made his way to hide in a department store behind a rack of clothing near the entrance. Huddling close, he gestured with his finger to keep quiet. You do as he said, grin still in place as you looked at each other, the pounding footsteps of the others not that far behind.

“They turned in here,” I.N could be heard saying close to where you were hidden.

“No, they went this way,” Changbin argued a distance away.

“I think Innie is right,” Seungmin put his two cents in.

“Let’s just split up,” Chan butted in democratically. “Half go in here with I.N and the others can follow Binnie. We don’t have a lot of time left.”

Miraculously, they all agreed and you could hear them split off.

“You sure they went this way?” you heard Chan ask.

“Like 75%...?” I.N responded.

“75%??” Seungmin shouted in response.

Felix grabbed your attention by taking a hold of your hand and gestured with his head to follow him. Quietly, the two of you scooted around the rack just as the group of boys walked by. When it seemed like the right time, you and Felix took off, his foot kicking something and alerted the others of your fleeing forms.

“Let’s go, Noona!”

“There they go!”

“After them!”

“See, I told you they came in here!”

The excitement and elation was clear in their tone of voice. You and Felix ran and screamed hand in hand to the safe zone. At one point, he had to let go to let you run by yourself so he could distract the others. Just as you made it, out of breath, Felix toppled in and crashed into you. Stummbling forward into the room, Felix could be heard yelling loudly, “I did it! I brought her in! I win!”

Groans from behind you was the response. You couldn’t help the cheesy grin on your face or the boisterous laugh that escaped you.

⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

It’s true being with Felix was easy.

But when he’s trying to protect you from the others he’s lively and was contagious for everyone involved. That’s just how your little jellybean was.

a/n. © hippopotamusdreamer, est 2024. all rights reserved.

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@elizalabs3

[noxiatoxia]

I don't know if this is common knowledge, but Komaeda's talent in Japanese is not "Ultimate Lucky Student". It is "Ultimate Good Fortune" (or good luck).

I know the word "lucky" has connotations with being good luck, but "luck" itself seems neutral to me at least.

I think the fact Komaeda is praised for, and has his talent be centered on, his good fortune is a very important nuance. People only see the good that happens to him. People keep telling him what happens to him is "good luck". His parents dying and getting kidnapped end up being called "good luck" in the end. I think this reinforces his pattern of thought more than people just saying he has extraordinary luck (good and bad). It's a minor difference, but it adds a lot. I have been thinking about this for a little bit now.

Because of the fact it is good luck specifically, I wanted to find parts where Komaeda specifically talks about bad luck. Lines such as "my awful luck/dreadful luck..." doesn't make much sense in the context of his Japanese talent. It made me wonder if those English lines even existed or if it was a "Luke, I am your father" situation. I don't have either the English or Japanese script memorized.

I checked the Freetime Events because of this, and found an interesting thing. There's a number of mistranslations, or simply translation choices I don't really agree with.

The freetime events heavily misrepresent how often Komaeda uses the word "luck". He uses both 不幸 and 不運 an equal amount I'd say. Maybe the former more. The former means "misery" "sorrow" or "misfortune". The latter means "bad luck" or "ill-fortune".

Likewise, 幸運 means good luck, but it also means good fortune. It's the word used in his talent as I described above.

Now, that's not to say I think Komaeda's "talent" should not be referred to as luck, nor am I saying he should never use the word luck. I think good and bad luck is a perfectly apt English word to describe his experiences. I just think the English translation overuses it. It wouldn't have killed them to make him say "isn't that just awful" or "what a tragedy, right?" instead of "isn't that such bad luck?" every conceivable moment. Maybe I'm just nit picky.

Now, onto the free time events. I want to talk about them.

I'll be talking about them in order as they appear. Also, I am only going to talk about the 3rd event onward, after Komaeda's chapter 1 reveal.

Freetime event 3

A minor nitpick, but "friends" is not the word I'd use here. It's true you can translate it that way, but considering everything else about Komaeda, at this point in the game, he wouldn't readily call Hinata his friend. Especially considering the connotations that holds for him.

That's precisely likely why he, in fact, doesn't say "friend" in the Japanese text. He uses 仲間 which like I said, while can and does translate as friend when used in that way, it just means people of a common thread. Like, a group, I guess.

My TL:

Because we both share the common goal of seeking out hope!

Freetime event 4

This is a really bad translation IMO. Hope is never said once in the original dialogue. I don't know why they put it there.

My TL:

Hinata: It's pretty ironic that you got wrapped up in this shitshow considering your "Ultimate Good Luck". Komaeda: It's not ironic at all! This is no doubt just the beginning of the good things to come my way! Komaeda: Um, let's just say the "good luck" I was born with is a little less straightforward [than the name would suggest]... Komaeda: once this is all over, I'll be rewarded with good fortune of the highest caliber.

And though this next one isn't much of a "mistranslation", I want to offer an alternative translation that highlights my criticism of "overusing the words good/bad luck".

My TL:

Komaeda: The greater the misfortune I experience before hand...the greater the good that comes my way afterwards! It completely cancels out everything before it!

Freetime event 5

I sadly cannot find in-game pictures of this since it's one of the wrong dialogue choices, so here's the script file text for it instead (sorry)

I remembered this line in English specifically because I always thought it sounded weird for Komaeda to say - "It's rare to hear you give such a half-assed answer".

While not a mistranslation totally, I think the tone is a bit off.

I would write it more as, "Ah ha ha! That's quite the answer, Hinata-kun!"

It literally translates as "for Hinata-kun, that is a very suitable answer!" but it's clearly supposed to be teasing/sarcastic. So he means to say "oh, wow, Hinata-kun, you're answering with that?" but in a lighthearted tone.

Freetime event 6

Almost didn't include this because it's the mistranslation we all know and hate, but it's worth mentioning in case people don't know.

My TL:

Please, just one last thing...don't ever forget...that from the bottom of my heart, I love y...I love your hope that sleep dormant inside you.

Though he does just say "please, don't forget", he uses どうか which is a pretty polite turn of phrase for Komaeda. It also is a way to emphasize a request, as in please do this to the benefit of me.

He backtracks pretty heavily. The verb comes at the end in Japanese sentences, so giving an exact one-to-one would be hard, but I'll try to explain it.

ボクはキミを... キミの中に眠る希望を心から愛していると。

Boku wa Kimi wo... Kimi no naka ni nemuru kibou wo koko kara aishiteiru to.

の/no = possessive. Such as, "Lucy's cat" "David's car".

を/wo = verb particle. There's no real English equivalent but you use it to signify some verb is being done onto something. Such as, "I kicked the ball" ("ball wo kick") or "I pet the cat" ("cat wo pet").

は/wa = topic particle. Commonly translates as "is/am" but that is NOT what it means. It just signifies everything that comes after it relates back to what comes before it. It's most accurate to think it as "as for the topic of..." Such as, "my damaged car wa had to go into the repair shop." After wa, "had to go into the repair shop", you ask, "what had to go into the repair shop?" you can find the answer in the topic, which is before wa: my damaged car. (or... me no damaged car.)

So, with this knowledge, let's break down the sentence.

Boku = I/me.

Kimi = you.

So this would make Boku wa Kimi wo in it's most literal form: as for the topic of me (aka, speaking for me), I, onto you...

Then he trails off. wo becomes no.

I, onto your hope sleeping inside of you...

and then we return to wo:

from the bottom of (one's) heart, love [the hope sleeping inside of you].

One could easily see it as Komaeda quickly changing the wo to no to add extra steps to not make the confession so head-on. Because if we remove everything after no and just continue where the wo leaves off, we get:

Boku wa Kimi wo koko kara aishiteiru to.

As for me, I, from the bottom of my heart, love you.

Now...one could also read it as him not backtracking, but adding. Saying I love you and the hope that lies dormant within you. Both are equally plausible. Listening to the audio it can go either way, but the way he quickly and softly drops off when he gets to the first wo makes me feel like it's a backtrack. Or maybe the background music is just too loud haha.

Well, that's all I got for now.

[starwrighter]

Dude, get a restraining order

(Masterpost) (Ao3 link) (Previous) (Next)

(Chappy #4)

The incompetence he bore witness to today rivaled that of which you’d see at an underfunded public school. This is a private school funded to the highest caliber! Damian hadn’t missed the dramatic increase in budget around the time Father enrolled him in the school. He’d been there when the press hounded him about it! The point was, that he knew for a fact that the school had the resources to accommodate a single transfer student!

With how poorly Daniel had been equipped to traverse the halls, one could only question if it were intentional. There was sure to be the inevitable mix-up with a student actually showing up for the transfer program. Usually, all they got was an announcement over the PA that all the potential transfers had not so politely declined the invitation. No rational parent would send their child to Gotham alone unless they were truly desperate, ignorant, or neglectful. 

Nothing could ever excuse what he’d seen today. You don’t hand a half-blind student a schedule with braille so radically different from the actual print by accident. It was a bat burger menu for gods sake! Someone had to have noticed when they handed it to him. In lieu of a recent spike of impairments involving vision and or hearing, every schedule had braille on it! Both sign language and braille had become their own optional after-school courses that upon completion, awarded a more than generous amount of extra credit. One didn’t even have to complete the course, all you had to do was pass multiple fluency tests, and then you were finished.

Most teachers knew either Braille or some form of sign language, and they all damn well would’ve known that the map was outdated! Fifty years outdated, you’d have to be a moron to hand that out by mistake. Though with what he was seeing now, he’s not quite sure the facility wasn’t primarily composed of scrambling idiots.

Mr. Rivers, ever the annoyance, had taken to only approaching Daniel from his blind side. It became more and more infuriating as class ticked by. The teacher shoved his body between the two of them, violating any semblance of personal space for the sole purpose of inconveniencing Daniel. Every time Mr. Rivers encroached on their personal space, Damian sharpened his pencil. Every time he made the other boy flinch, the idea of launching the pencil like one of his throwing knives became more and more appealing. No harm would’ve come to the teacher, the sight of a wooden pencil embedding itself in the wall mere inches away from his left eye would be more than enough to frighten the man. 

He’d face detention or possibly even suspension, but he’d take the punishment with pride. A smirk played on his lips as he tapped his pencil against his desk.

His smirk soon shifted into a scowl as yet another work packet was piled onto his desk. It was irritating, everything about this class was irritating. Daniel let out a dramatic groan beside him, the other boy slumping back in his chair. Worksheets were piled high on the boy's desk, some completed while most remained unfinished.

A ruler snapped down onto Daniel’s desk, a loud thwack! Startling the boy into sitting up straight.

“I guess I deserved that one,” Daniel shrugged.

“No you didn’t,” Damian replied flatly, but Daniel just shrugged it off. Most of the school facility were what most Gothamites would consider normal. Mr. River just had a generally detestable personality.

The man hated teenagers, often spewing complaints of their “rowdy behavior” and “lack of dedication,”. Damian might’ve agreed with those statements if it weren’t for the blatant lies in every word the man said. His classmates were…noisy and rather unpleasant for him to mingle with, but they were far from the “Lazy entitled brats” Mr. Rivers had painted them as. It’d be hypocritical for him of all people to judge the teacher based on being “mean” but the two of them couldn’t be farther apart.

 Damian was a hostile presence in the classroom, but he didn’t go out of his way to target and harass people for things they couldn’t control. People could choose to stay out of his personal space, and they could choose to not say dumb shit to his face. A mental or physical condition wasn’t something they could change, nor were they things that verbal and physical abuse would fix. This should've been common sense to anyone with two brain cells to strike together, but apparently, Darwinism had failed once again.

Mr. Rivers targeted Daniel based on his visual impairment. Every question was targeted at Daniel regardless if his had been raised or not. The man punctuated each sentence with a loud headache-inducing smack to his desk. He always struck on the boy’s blindside, never where he could see the ruler come down. Aside from the occasional flinch, Daniel took the abhorrent behavior in stride.

Concerning… It was one word he could use to describe Daniel's indifference. Completely unbothered, like this was just a typical Monday in class for him. Maybe his previous statement rang true, and he soulfully had experienced worse. That in itself was a concerning statement but made sense considering the context to that worse was engraved on his face. Everything the teacher did just seemed to roll off the other boy’s shoulders like water off a swan's back. A muttered comment of “his school counselor being worse than this teacher ever could be,” only serving to exasperate his concerns.

It was distracting… Every time Daniel gave him a reassuring smile, his heart pounded like hummingbird wings. Blood rushed to his cheeks, warming them like he’d just sat in front of a fireplace. As big of a deal as his siblings made of his apparent social ineptitude, Damian wasn’t an idiot.

How was he supposed to read people if he didn’t understand the emotions that drove their behavior? He’s a vigilante! He couldn’t be walking around uninformed about the basic spectrum of human emotion!

This was obviously what people would call a crush.

Grayson had been the one to attempt explaining crushes and relationships to him. It was a painfully awkward conversation to sit through. His brother spoke of love like a romcom, both cheesy and highly unrealistic. It was by sheer dumb luck Grayson had entered any form of relationship before, and a miracle any of them had lasted more than a week. Anyone with a dash of common sense could tell Grayson’s advice wasn’t a viable source of information. The number of times he’d been pulled aside by someone within earshot of conversation was enough for him to conclude his brother's brain was diluted by hallmark specials and fairytales.

Regardless of his elder brother's delusion, the conversation itself had been unnecessary. Romantic feelings had been explained to him from a very young age. From learning how these emotions could affect one's behavior to understanding not all people felt those feelings, and that was normal too. It was crucial for detective work to recognize the entire range of human emotions. 

Damian didn’t believe in love at first sight. He believed one could feel physical attraction for a person minutes or merely seconds after meeting, but love? How could you love someone you’ve only spent a minute with. Rushing in with that mindset was how you ended up courting someone you’d despise in the end. Outward appearances could tell you plenty about a person, but it wasn’t often you could read out someone’s entire character by reading their shirt. It could happen, but this wasn’t one of those cases.

He hadn’t even had a proper conversation with his seatmate yet. Rushing in at the first sign of attraction was an idiotic way to hurt himself emotionally. He’d need to tread through this carefully, learn more about Daniel, and proceed accordingly with the information he received. 

Glancing up at the clock, he scowled. Students discreetly packed their bags, fidgeting in their seats as they waited for the bell. Nobody liked being in Mr. Rivers's class. He was the type of teacher to pile a month's worth of homework onto any student unfortunate enough to have gotten their work done in a timely matter. Needless to say, Damian found himself with a thick stack of worksheets on his desk every class. Maybe if he were a little less spiteful, he would slack and draw out the original worksheet like everyone else did, but that would imply Mr. Rivers had gotten under his skin. 

Daniel tapped a thick stack of papers on his desk. His name scrawled shakily in graphite on each sheet. Much to his surprise, Daniel had completed every single worksheet their teacher had thrown at him. How he’d managed to do so in such a short amount of time was a mystery, but Damian was delighted nonetheless. 

The boy grinned, pride and a dash of spite written clear on his face. Damian had watched, enraptured at the subtle wilting of Mr.River’s face with every sheet he completed. The teacher had been far too dull to print out random worksheets for Daniel like he had with Damian. No, every single one of those pages was a part of the required curriculum assigned to transfer students. Work required to be graded and submitted no more than a week after submission. 

“Impressive,” Damian commented.

Daniel beamed, foxlike and giddy as he neatened the pile of paper. 

“If all that doesn’t go in the grade book, I’m starting a riot,” Daniel muttered. Damian didn’t doubt him. Tomorrow, Daniel would likely be piled with the same worksheets Damian was stuck with, papers that weren’t graded outside the original worksheet. 

“I’ll join you,” Planning a riot together would be the perfect activity for him to get to know Daniel more. One's true self tended to be clearer in times of war. 

“Hell yeah! Nothing like a less than peaceful protest to bring people together,” Daniel laughed, the bell rang and Daniel’s expression shifted to one of dread.

“I can walk you to your next class if you’d like,” He offered.

"That would be helpful,” A nervous but exasperated smile had wormed it’s way onto Daniel’s face, the other boy subconsciously running a hand through locks of black hair. "I don't think my map would've been all that helpful," He laughed.

Damian inspected their schedules. They shared lunch and a fourth-hour history class, but that was it. Daniel had earth science third hour while he had an art class. A disappointment, but an expected one. 

“Since you don’t have a valid map, I’ll come to pick you up around lunchtime,” He proclaimed as they rounded the corner.

“Sounds good,” With that they parted ways, Daniel giving him a quick wave paired with a smile that made his heart thrum before he stepped into the classroom.

With a sigh, Damian headed down to the first floor. Vibrant paintings and impossibly detailed pencil drawings lined the halls surrounding the art rooms. A giant mural around twelve feet across was the art students' prized project. Massive mountains and towering trees for everyone to see. An outdoor landscape painted with warm colors shifted to the cold colors of city skyscrapers and roads dimly illuminated by street lights. The mural itself took up almost the entire hallway. Not an inch of the remaining space remained bare. Overall, the first floor had more color than all the other floors combined.

Stepping into class, the smell of paint filled his nostrils. Watercolor stained the wooden tables, cracking paint and charcoal smears scattered across the workspace. Conversations from the previous classes were scrawled onto tables. A collaborative drawing between several students having been scribbled over with a conglomerate of charcoal and colored pencils.

The seats were the only part of the table that was mostly bare. Only a few pencil scribbles and scratches. Too many students' uniforms had been stained with dusty patches of charcoal and paint before drawing on the chairs was prohibited, and tarps were placed over them. 

Art was the one class students were mostly left to their own devices. Given full access to the entire range of supplies, with a vague instruction of showing off their progress at the end of class. A giant bookshelf was set up next to a metal wire shelf carrying baskets of various types of paper. The bookshelf was filled to the brim with any and all books art-related. From beginner to expert, sculpting to painting, realism to cartoonism, a book was there to teach you about it. It was against the rules to draw inside any of the books, but post-it notes were stuck to every page of every book. 

Students filtered in like blood slowly oozing from a paper cut. Quiet chatter filled the room, their teacher sitting calmly at his desk. Damian sat with his new sketchbook, staring daggers at the plethora of empty pages. Sounds of cabinets opening and paintbrushes clinking against glass mugs were his background noise. Pencils scratched against paper, soft searching lines filling a blank page, slowly shaping Daniels's features.

From his sharpened canines to the dimples on his cheeks. To the messy way he swept his hair to the side to the light freckles dusted across his face. Drawing Daniel’s scarring proved to be quite difficult. Intricate branches of scar tissue never seemed to look right when he had them on paper, and it frustrated him to no end. When he finally got it right, he could’ve collapsed right there. It was far from the perfection he was aiming for, but he’d have a reference photo by the end of the day to solve that plight. 

This drawing would be more than enough if Daniel turned out to be an… unpleasant individual.

[brucewaynehater101]

Imperial delegation dedicated to taking care of their emperor and his consorts while they're on earth love pie. Each member of the delegation has different opinions regarding various types of pie but the consensus is generally positive. One of the reasons each member of the delegation was chosen was because of their ability to digest earth based food and handle earth's atmosphere. Only one of them needs to have a regular supply of supplements for trace elements that earth isn't able to provide naturally. The imperial chef has joined the baking beef between Martha Kent and Alfred Pennyworth as a new opponent for both bakers. The imperial chef secretly believes that if they can outbake or outcook both Martha Kent and Alfred Pennyworth then their emperor and his consorts will have to come home to the empire so they can keep getting the best food!

The caretaker of the imperial wardrobe is very huffy about every single uniform/costumes of the JL except Dick's discowing costume and Signal's whole look. They find Wonder Woman's outfit tolerable but think it needs feathers. They have strong opinions about popped collars and rhinestones. They've also brought a fabric with them that is impervious to the highest caliber bullets on earth but maintains the general feel and movement of the finest silk. It doesn't do much against the physical impact of the bullet but basically bullets cannot penetrate the fabric at all. The fabric can also only be cut or punctured by scissors that have been treated with a special chemical and needles treated with the same chemical and have to have the process reapplied regularly or it won't work, which means that regular knives, swords, and other cutting or puncturing implements are not getting through this silk. It's also capable of temperature regulation at extreme temperatures and comes only in hot pink, neon green, and sky blue.

Arthur is a sovereign of a singular nation, not an empire which contains numerous nations, and would probably think about the imperial delegation about as much as he would a delegate from the UN, not very much unless they mess with the oceans and if they do then he's messing them up.

Diana is a princess, not the actual ruler, but also in some versions a diplomat with the UN. She'd probably get assigned to try to figure out who is part of the imperial family and what is the political situation in the empire, should earth support this family to reclaim power? but if she's not attached to the UN then she'd probably just want to learn about the empire because one of her big things about leaving Themyscira is to learn about the "world of man".

I would like to think that Tim has figured out some sort of way to block or discourage J'onn from getting into his head and shared those methods with the C4 but if not then J'onn is generally polite enough not to dig into peoples' minds for no reason or casually. He would have no real reason to suspect Tim or the C4. As to Mars relationship with the empire, they're probably not going to be asking to join anytime soon.

Starfire and Tamaran are in another area far away from the empire and she's got a lot of political mess to deal with but possibly Starfire might be tempted to petition Tamaran join the empire but it's unlikely since she probably couldn't and wouldn't get the majority of her people to agree to such a thing. At most they'd probably be trade partners at some point when it becomes acceptable for both sides.

Thank you for including the perspective of Arthur, Diana, J'onn, and Starfire. I was curious about their respective thoughts or viewpoints on an alien empire given their own experiences (not necessarily ruling, but being a part of a non-human government/nation/whatever, dealing with Earth/human policies, and all that).

As for Starfire specifically, that makes perfect sense. This AU hasn't gone into the specifics on why these planets ask Tim to rule them, but it would make sense that Tamaran doesn't meet that desperation/requirements for it. They may or may not establish trade. I'm not too sure on all of the history/lore of that planet, but we can assume they are perfectly content with their own systems in this AU. At most, some advisors may meet up with one of Tim's advisors to discuss the differences in their systems for improvement sake (like maybe Tamaran does better at managing their past history/consequences of previous actions while Tim's planets are testing out modern supply technology for efficiency).

I've mentioned it before, but didn't quite tie the concept that the protection delegation would need to be able to handle Earth's atmosphere. In that same breath, I wonder if there's planets Tim can't visit (or can't visit long term) due to his human biology not vibing with their enviornment/atmosphere. That planet would probably be very sad :(

I want the imperial wardrobe person to just subtly roast or wrinkle their nose at other hero costumes. They are obviously chill with Signal and Nightwing (specifically discowing), but the others get a look of disdain. In all honesty, they really really care about Tim and his loved ones. They want Tim and the others to appear as their best selves and not be ridiculed by others. It's from a place of care that they roll their eyes at most hero costumes.

The fabric is super cool as well! Maybe another stipulation (besides the time required to make clothes out of it being high due to everything needed to be made by hand) is that the material is tedious to acquire.

[tokiwarcube]

May i suggest an nsfw charles x afab!reader fic where the reader is shy and sweet in general but a loud/vocal desperate sub during sex? Maybe w some elements of humiliation n roughness??🤞🤞 honestly take this anywhere i luv ur writing sm i have faith u would do this justice 🫡 ☆♡☆♡☆♡☆

WAAAAA, thank you so much!! Faith of this caliber is truly the highest compliment 🦇🖤🦇

Partially inspired by this post, talks of silk rope shibari/bondage. Might expand this into something more someday? I could have gone harder with the humiliation and subsequent drop into desperation, me thinks, especially if there are. others. who fall into the same camp as me in that regard🖤🖤🖤

Either way, 1k drabble below the cut! Enjoy!

Too much, and not enough — it’s a contradiction of course, but in the moment you don’t have time to think about the inconsistency of your wanting. Not when the soft rope tugs so pleasantly at your skin, keeping you anchored both to the moment and to your position of complete and utter submission. You feel like a doll, the way you’re put on display — on your knees with your arms behind your back, expertly tied knots accentuating every curve of your body — and it doesn’t help that the man behind you refuses, refuses to indulge you further.

He taps a rhythm against your throat as you lean back onto him — your only support in this precarious position — as his clothed cock presses gently at your dripping cunt. You want so desperately to rock back into him, to gain some sort of stimulation, but you can’t — not when you’re bound like this.

His free hand roams slowly across the expanse of your body, taking its time in the re-exploration of all that is you, but notably missing all of the places you want it most. Blunt nails on ribcages, on thighs, grasping at your chest — it’s a patient kind of torture, made purely to drive you mad.

You can’t be sure how long you’ve been pleading for — it feels like its hours, dizzy as you are off of lust — but you know well enough by now that he doesn’t need that much time to reduce you to this. Hell, the simple act of tying you was enough to leave you fuzzy in the head. Strong hands pulling you this way and that as he knotted the silk rope imparted a heat in your core, sparking where his hands first touched before washing over your body in waves — the tying could have lasted hours with his patience… or perhaps only minutes, with his efficiency. It doesn’t truly matter to you, now — all that matters is Charles, and how badly you want his hands on you.

“Charles,” you beg, breathless with equal parts want and exertion, “please, please touch me?”

“I am touching you.” He taps his fingers against your throat once more, collected as ever.

“Fucking, God—”

His fingers flex around your throat in warning — no true pressure applied, but the message comes through clear enough: Behave. You bite back another swear at the motion, breath shaky beneath his palm. A pause as he tests your submission, your recall of his unspoken commands, before rubbing his thumb over your pulse fondly. It’s then that he takes his hand from your throat, instead grasping your jaw in his hands to force you to meet his eyes.

“Look at me,” he says, “and tell me what you want. Clearly, now.”

You swallow, willing your voice to stay steady in spite of your growing fervor.

“Please, fuck me?”

His lips upturn subtly, and finally, finally, the hand pressing against your hip eases you further unto his clothed cock. Your face flushes as he presses more insistently at you, spreading your wetness as the pressure becomes more pleasurable, closer to what you need.

“Good, good,” he says, as casually as he might speak during a damnable business deal, “Is this what it takes, to get you to use your words?” A well-timed buck of his hips has your mouth parting in a keen, and he presses on. “Wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep you tied up, now would it?”

The mental image has you shuddering — bound beneath your clothes, paraded around in secret. And with all things, he catches your interest as it blooms.

“Pretty little thing. Is that want you want, hm?”

Words mix in your head, syllables crashing into eachother in velvet waves of lust — it’s nearly impossible to pull together any form of a sentence, and so distracting is your sudden incompetence that you hardly notice when he peels his boxers down. What you do notice, however, is when the head of his cock comes to press at your entrance. The “yes” that falls from your mouth is desperate, pitching higher as he runs himself through your dripping folds, and warps into an unintelligible cry as he slides into you.

Everything is so electric, every micromovement sparking a new wave of euphoria, and each sensation is only doubled when you’re given a glimpse of your lover. He’s a vision, with his normally well-kept hair now mussed, stray strands plastered slick to his face without his glasses to impede them. And those pretty green eyes you’ve come to love are dark, devouring each little reaction you give — entirely on display, and unable to shy away.

Tied up as you are, the pace is left entirely to Charles — and somewhere in the back of your mind that still has some semblance of coherent thought you surmise that all of the teasing must have affected him too, with how he bounces your body against his cock. Mocking words fall from his lips, rumbling against your back and going straight to your core, and you can’t help the needy agreement that comes from you in turn. You’re like a toy in his strong hold, hips meeting again and again with a fervor and desperation so unlike his usual demeanor.

It’s not long before your walls are clamping down on him, trembling in his arms with a garbled cry and some semblance of “thank you.” And you’re content to let him take further from your body as you ride out your orgasm, especially when his voice drops, swearing hoarsely into the skin of your throat. His grip tightens, fingers flexing against your hips before he bucks into you with a particularly deep thrust, pulling you flush against him as he cums with a cry of his own.

Too much and not enough. Shy but vocal. Collected but desperate. It’s contradiction after contradiction, but as you pant against one another in the afterglow, you can’t find it in you to care.

[jakeowen]

pls talk about homeschooling (genuinely interested)

so ok here’s the thing. i was a montessori kid who went on to receive a private progressive education through college. i think progressive education is wonderful and important. my dad was a montessori teacher and i spent four years working in education access inside an under-resourced high school (including pandemic years). the reason i mention this is that i do believe that mainstream education (both public and private schools) is failing kids and ultimately society. i have a lot of sympathy for parents who want a higher-caliber education for their kids and don’t know where to get it besides at home. one of my best friends was homeschooled because his parents (both professors) couldn’t find a school they were comfortable sending him to, and he turned out very intelligent and perfectly ok, if weird. i’ve also seen other positive examples of homeschooling, including a homeschool program at a nature preserve i worked at and homeschool that incorporates the occasional class at a local high school or community college or what have you. all this to say, i don’t think all motives for homeschooling are evil and i don’t think every single child who’s been homeschooled has been mistreated or denied positive social opportunities or whatever. however, all that said, even the best, highest-quality homeschooling should not be fucking legal.

after i was done working at a school, i went on to work at an organization serving unhoused youth and also teens in dcf custody, so i’ve seen a lot of shit, way more than enough to make me firmly believe that children are a uniquely vulnerable and marginalized population who are at high risk for exploitation. and the vast vast majority of exploitation and abuse happens inside the home. frankly you only need to meet one kid whose “homeschooling” was religious indoctrination designed to teach them to submit to their father raping them every night to be ready to burn the entire practice down. children are safest when they are part of the community, when they have access to multiple and varied points of view and responsible, caring adults representing those points of view. no child should ever be wholly at the mercy of their parents or any other single entity. it is simply not safe, and even if it were, it’s not healthy for a child’s cognitive development to only be exposed to one ideology, no matter how much or how little i agree with the particular ideology. part of healthy growth and development is the ability to integrate or discern different perspectives��it’s how you develop a bullshit detector, it’s how you learn to form your own opinions, and if you don’t build that skill in youth you are more susceptible to exploitation and indoctrination as an adult.

not all homeschool parents are fundamentalists who limit the perspectives their children can be exposed to. but the practice of homeschooling allows for this. the practice of homeschooling allows for abusive parents to lock their kids in cages and starve them and get away with it because there’s nobody to notice. any practice that provides a safe cover for the worst kind of abuse and exploitation is not a practice worth keeping, even if it does have the potential to work out well for a few kids.

the good news is that we actually already invented a way for children to get educated: it’s called school, and it exists free of charge in every community in the country. if you’re worried about the quality of your kids’ education, you can get involved! you can run for school board or join the pta/pto. you can also seek out or provide educational enrichment opportunities for your child that incorporate whatever you think they’re not getting at school. sunday school is a classic example of religious education supplementing school. my parents discussed current events with me, asked my opinion on things, shared theirs, and honestly answered my questions about other approaches/beliefs, and i learned a lot from that. even better than laying out enrichment opportunities for your kid, ask what THEY want to learn or feel like they’re not getting at school, and honor their autonomy by finding that for them or helping them find it. education does not begin and end at school, but it does not and cannot begin and end with parents either.

[baratiddyappreciator]

hiii girl! Can i get huh, like a list of HC about Chiharu's and Hanayama's friendship, stupid shit they'd get themselves into or fights they'd have..Like they try both to ride the same motorbike and that shit begins breaking down through the way until they've both fallen into the side of the road and all that's left from their vehicle is dust..

Soooo I may have lied when I said I was off hiatus but I'm slowly working my way back to doing this stuff. I may or may not have like 8 blankets to crochet before Christmas and that's taking up most of my attention-span hahaha- ANYWAYS LOOK A POST!!!

Dumbasses of the highest caliber, but to different degrees. Hanayama is the quiet kind of dumb, where you'd assume he's incredibly smart until he opens his mouth and asks what the fuck a multiplication is, and Chiharu is ADHD dumb. He's really smart when it comes to some things, but he doesn't know a lot about other things. Ask him to name motorcycle parts and he'll name each component, but ask him if a carrot is a vegetable or a root, and he'll self destruct.

Put them in a room together and watch them actively lose braincells. They start talking about pride month and neither knows what it is.

"Pride month is when you are proud of someone. For a whole month. I'm proud of my boys, they work hard."

"DUMBASS! THAT'S NOT WHAT IT MEANS!! Pride month is when you're proud of yourself! So I'm proud of my hair, because it's still healthy despite all of the hairspray!"

There's a reason Baki likes the both of them, and that is because all three of them are actually so dumb. The average IQ in a room with all three of them drops by at least 50%.

They know they can't ride the same motorcycle, not because it'll break, no Chiharu's bike is sturdier than that, but because Hanayama is very much Not Fond of being on a motorcycle. You would have to trick him into sitting on one, and even then, it's not gonna go anywhere, his legs are too long, his shoes would get eaten up by the pavement and he'd probably break the bike with how hard he'd be holding onto it. He would rather a car, thank you.

Chiharu is the polar opposite, he will happily jump onto a random motorcycle as long as it's shiny and looks in good shape. It's like trying to get a cat into a bath when Hanayama tries to get him into a car though. He full on grabs the doorframe and plants his feet, he is NOT getting in there, he HATES the car! Actively claws at the door to get out Hanayama is so embarrassed, get that clown OUT of here, he just wants a nice calm ride.

They go through a LOT of clothes. Like, it's insane. Chiharu's get ruined because of grease and blood and whatnot, but Hayanama just rips his off whenever he's gonna take someone seriously?? Anyways, they go clothes shopping together just to buy fifteen of the same outfit.

Chiharu tried pink once and Hanayama gave him the most disgusted look ever and bro just sorta accepted that it Wasn't The Look and hasn't done it since. That being said, he keeps trying to get Hanayama to wear a light blue or a grey. He has good fashion taste for other people, but not himself.

[cerastes]

Does Chongyue rate on the Just Some Guy spectrum at all, considering how much work he’s put into not being Sui-related?

Chongyue doesn’t exist in the Just Some Guy spectrum in a way we’ve discussed yet, even though he has some overlap, because ultimately his essence conflicts with Some Guyhood on a fundamental level (of what has been discussed in Just Some Guy academia so far at least).

Just Some Guys all have the desire, and sometimes the expertise, to actually come across as Some Guys. Chongyue is a centuries old famed invincible general, title of Grandmaster, whose upcoming retirement is great news among leaders and figures of the highest authority and caliber. Chongyue is basically a celebrity and national hero. Chongyue is Mister Satan from Dragon Ball Z if Mister Satan had those Goku dukes and was actually able to throw hands with the biggest, meanest threats, and also a whole deal more humble, but the point is, man’s beyond notorious. Chongyue is A Guy, not Just Some Guy.

I understand where this sentiment comes from! He’s sealed the Sui consciousness and his true name into his sword, and this isn’t public knowledge, plus, he insists he only knows a little Kung Fu. The thing is, he is technically not wrong about his statement and he truly means it. He’s not trying to obfuscate, and this is a key part of Some Guyhood, he puts it in very laconic but pristine terms to Ling: He considers himself pretty average comparatively, considering the sheer amount of years he’s had to practice and master the martial arts, and confidently says that, were others to have the same set of tools he had, such as natural power and longevity, then anyone could achieve the level he’s at. He’s truly humble and honest about it in a way that is simply outside the scale of most other creatures in Terra to be able to relate to. Of course, this doesn’t mean he’s any less of a one man triple army able to decimate pretty much any quality or quantity of enemies with his martial prowess, but he’s not really underplaying it as much as he’s saying “no yeah but if you had the amount of time I had to grind out these sick spinkicks, you’d also be able to do this”. He’s the Soul Level 846 Chosen Undead that one-shots Kalameet three times over with one R2, and then doesn’t tell you “Oh, no no, it was an accident, haha! Oops!” the way Mr. Nothing would, Chongyue would instead say “Ok you might have found that impressive, but if YOU were Soul Level 846, you could very much do this as well! :)” and he means it! Just because Chongyue can 1cc Super Monkey Ball 2 doesn’t mean he’s particularly exceptional in his eyes, it simply means that it’s the only game he’s ever had for the last 400 years and, if you also played SMB2 for 400 years, you too could land the selfsame sick bounces into goals.

Now, you might be thinking, “wait, that could make him a Jaye of some sort, right?” Not quite! Jaye is truly convinced he’s unexceptional, hell, being exceptional in any way has not even crossed his mind, Jaye lives day to day acutely unaware that he has direct ties to both men you could consider the leaders of Lungmen. Chongyue is well aware that he’s a Sui fragment, and this, he hides, though less with the sundering desperation of someone who REALLY doesn’t want to be found out (like Nothing), and more like someone who’s got responsibilities to uphold, but if it ends up spilling out that he’s a Sui fragment, simply goes “Oh, it seems you know, alright,” and then take the appropriate action depending on what’s the most sensible road to take. Mr. Nothing and Sesa go out of their way to act like buffoons and charlatans for the express purpose of obfuscating their respective masteries, Chongyue has no qualms publicly showing his immense power and physical abilities to onlookers. 

If we had to put Chongyue in the Just Some Guy spectrum, he’d had to be on his own little space as A Guy That Thinks You Too Can Be A Guy. He’s not Just Some Guy, he’s definitely A Guy and makes no secret about it (without revealing ALL that makes him A Guy), but he also believes that you, with enough effort, time, and support, can also become A Guy of his caliber, and that he’s nothing special, he just has 6521 hours in TF2 and that’s why he can rocket surf and land air shots with the Direct Hit with 100% accuracy, not because he’s exceptional necessarily.

[paigegonerogue]

TLOU s2: Behind the Camera

One of the most anticipated shows of 2025, The Last of Us (my favorite show of all time), is likely getting an official teaser trailer this month for the absolutely stacked season 2! If you’ve been keeping up with the news around it, you’ll know the incredible new actors added like Kaitlyn Dever, Isabella Merced, Jeffrey Wright, Katherine O’Hara, and Young Mazino, but they’re not the only rockstars stepping onto the set.

(Super long post)

Directors:

Aside from the amazing returning directors, TLOU has added four prestige legends to the lineup. Thank you for your service, Ali Abassi, if you’re past work directing stories about blonde sex-offenders is any indication, your Trump biopic will be fantastic.

The four directors added to the lineup are Stephen Williams, Kate Herron, Nina Lopez-Corrado, and the legend himself, Mark Mylod.

Stephen Williams, the director who’s known for constantly directing episodes with an 8.7 score on IMDB (that’s not what he’s actually known for). He’s directed episodes of Westworld (one in s1 and one in s2, both with an 8.7 score) and Lost (in which he has two more 8.7s, and I believe over 10 other episodes in the range of .2 points of 8.7), so he’s pretty good with time-skips and flashbacks. He’s also worked on Persons of Interest in which he directed another, you guessed it, 8.7 episode, as well as two more win the .2 range of it. Recently he’s broken out of the “almost nine” range with HBO’s Watchmen, in which he directed episodes 3 and 6. (He’s directed 9s before, but this was the first time where they weren’t surrounded by 8.7s). His work with time shenanigans, and the fact that TLOU is rated 8.7 on IMDB, make this a fantastic match.

Kate Herron is next up, known best for her work on Loki. She directed the entirety of season 1, which includes my favorite episode of the show ‘The Variant’, in which Loki and Mobius go to the location of a disaster in the near future to find a sinister variant. It’s practically a demo real for TLOU, since a lot of it takes place in a supermarket filled with people waiting out a disaster that none of them survive, showing she’s got the skill to pull of apocalyptic. She also delivered us the absolute gold of the salad scene. Other than that, she directed multiple episodes of Sex Education back when it was still beloved and acclaimed.

Third we have Nina Lopez-Corrado. While she hasn’t directed shows quite as high-caliber as some of the other directors, she’s proven she’s good at found family through her work on Agents of Shield, in which she delivered one of the highest rated, and roughest episodes of the show ‘Devil Complex’, in which our favorite characters get put through absolute hell (so she’ll be perfect for TLOU s2!). She’s also shown that she can get Tumblr obsessed with queer ships with her work on Supernatural…

Last and certainly not least is the most well known and acclaimed of the new directors, Mark Mylod. I believe he will be directing the most episodes of this list, but I’m not entirely certain. Mylod is probably best known for his amazing work on Succession, which he won an Emmy for. He’s directed all of my favorite episodes except Panic Room and America Decides. While he’s worked on other projects like Game of Thrones, Entourage, and The Menu, it’s his directing for Succession that gets me most excited for his work on TLOU. He’s proven he can elevate emotional scenes, and his directing is consistently incredible across all spectrums of human feeling. His thematic work with grief, trauma, and the cycle of violence will very much carry over into TLOU, and I can’t wait to see the absolute emotional brutality and heartbreak of his direction paired with Bella’s acting. Actually I can wait because holy shit I’m not going to make it… He directed Kendall’s traumatizing car crash in the s1 finale, Shiv’s self-destructive decisions in Ternhaven, Kendall’s breakdown in s3 when he admits to Roman and Shiv what he did, Roman’s grief and self-harming behaviors at the funeral, the bittersweet bonding in the finale of the show, and obviously Connor’s Wedding. If you’ve seen Succession or know the plot of TLOU part 2 you’ll know exactly how that might carry over…

You thought this was the end? Hell no! Directors aren’t the only ones behind the camera!

Writers:

Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann wrote season one. Their brilliant writing elevated the show and led to some truly unforgettable moments, and this season they’ve brought in some more incredible writers to help!

Halley Gross co-wrote The Last of Us part 2 alongside Neil Druckmann. No one was particularly surprised by this news, but it’s still great nonetheless. It’s clear how much Mazin respects the source material, and I love how TLOU brings in the people who wrote the games to help adapt it for television. She also wrote episodes for Westworld s1.

The other writer is more unexpected. Bo Shim joined the writers room of TLOU s2, but we don’t know much about him. He currently has no official writing credits, which either means it’s a pseudonym (which I doubt), or, more likely, they found a young, talented writer who hasn’t made it big yet and decided to give him his big break and use his skills for TLOU. If you’re looking, Craig, I know a film student who’d love to join the writing room for TLOU…. She’ll do it for free… she’ll pay you… please??

Cinematographers:

Cinematographers work with directors to create the look of the show, the shots, the lighting, etc.

Ksenia Sereda, who did the cinematography for TLOU episodes 1, 2, and 7 will be returning along newcomer Catherine Goldschmidt who worked on the always-gorgeous House of the Dragon.

Some of her amazing HotD shots:

Finally, Emily Mendez and Timothy A. Good are returning as editors. Set designers Austin Chuqiao Wang, Kyle White, and Shannon McArthur are returning as well.

There are wild amounts of other crew members who work on everything from lighting to costumes to vfx to storyboards. If I mentioned all of them this post would be as long as the credits, but every single one of them is important to the show and helps make it as incredible as it is!

I can’t wait for season 2!

[analviel]

Idea: Batman, and by that I mean the Cowl, is what gives Bruce the ability to Batman. Like of course he went through all the training and all, it's what made him eligible for the new Cryptid status in the first place, but there's also something about that cowl that crosses Bruce from hypercompetent badass of the highest caliber, to hypercompetent bastard who's probably from the ether. Yes, this is another Cryptid Bat thing.

That cowl had picked up a lot of things and got dunked in one too many mysterious liquid of the Gotham variety and at first Bruce was just impressed at how it was able to survive certain attacks unscathed and then it was just downright absurd that it wouldn't be damaged by ANYTHING, like the Venom or maybe blue beetle suit but the sentience is all Bruce, and the cowl eventually starts shifting into itself so it can meld into Bruce's shadows and he could transform immediately. Abilities include but are not limited to an infinite pocket space in the shadow of the cape, white lenses- or what used to be white lenses that appear and perform like actual white eyes, the cowl moves with every shift of his face muscles, it's not just a carved angry mask, shadow travel, Blob-ivism -he's a boneless boi-, physical attacks and even some magical could be dodged by creating a hole in the middle of him, heightened hearing maybe, etc. Add as you will.

Again, the Cowl is not sentient. But, like any single cell thing it can't be there if there's not a specific environment or feature that it could feed on.

Bruce greets Commisioner Gordon and cross paths with young Barbara. There's a circus and something tries to grab at Dick. Kate tried to eat it back when she thought it was trying to devour her.

Tim spends several months with a tiny shadow pet thing.

Jason reads to his little guy he's come to calling Horatio (ahem).

Idk, it's the best of both worlds of Cryptid Batfam who's just dick-ing around, and Actually Cryptid Batfam who's definitely plays it all up.

No one who doesn't have a Cowl themselves knows the truth (does Alfred have one? He certainly doesn't use it to dress up in a ridiculous animal suit).

Which means we look forward to Damian's introduction in the family -Bruce was still human when he trained with them but something happened to the man after he left that turned him to a Thing from what the Al Ghuls had observed in their later encounters.

[scorchieart]

People-watching

Genre: Angst

Characters: Chevalier Michel, Queen Michel, the King of Rhodolite

Wordcount: ~2500

Summary: There is no such thing as a blank slate to young Chevalier. Determined to fill in the blanks, he reaches out to the people he should know best, and should know him better.

A/N: A little fic for little Chev for his BIG sequel. Don't take this story too seriously, it's mostly an experiment in writing irony, but I still hope it offers some entertainment.

Content Warnings: Child neglect.

Prince Chevalier did not enjoy people-watching. Why follow a person around when one look sufficed to permanently etch every detail of their form into his mind? It seemed a waste of time as well as brainspace, and Chevalier could not comprehend how anyone with half a brain could be content filling the rest of it with such absurdity as repeat information. That time and effort would be better spent researching the target through other more productive means, like first-hand accounts from acquaintances or records on family lineage. And yet he could not stop himself from watching one woman in particular, despite his best efforts to convince himself it was futile.

On the surface, Queen Michel was cut from the same cloth as her son. At Chevalier’s birth, Marquis Michel described the pair as similar as macarons and macaroons, but to anyone who knew them their similarities were never quite so confectionary. Above all, Chevalier found the Queen to be very reserved in her manner and speech, a tighter nut to crack than most. And since he was inclined to a similar disposition, he never initiated any conversation to learn more.

According to castle folk who knew her before he was born, the Queen was an animated young woman beloved by all and rejected by none, and it was her marriage to the King that transformed her from lively lass to monotone monarch. Chevalier could relate to the burden of royalty, and his early years were filled with perplexity at how the roles manifested so differently in his parents’ demeanors. While her husband wilted in melancholy upon his throne, the Queen maintained an air of irresolute jitters that permeated any room she entered and only seemed to grow with each passing year. It was understandable then how the King could not tolerate sitting by her for very long, Chevalier reasoned. Yet as her first and only son, the expectation of familial escort fell to him and naturally Chevalier grew inclined to learn more about this person society deemed he must know most expertly after he knew himself. 

Her presence was unlike that of any other woman who frequented the palace. While this was to be expected from her position, it was an unchanging fact both out in court and behind closed doors. From his perch at her right, Chevalier observed nobles and servants alike straighten their backs and tighten their jaws as though her very name promoted decorum of the highest caliber. In the descriptions he heard of the Queen in her youth there was never any mention of her being a martinet, and she certainly never displayed such fusspot attitudes when they were alone. 

Then what was it that made her so unapproachable? It couldn’t be because she birthed a prince. It was no secret how Clavis and the twins’ eyes lit up the moment their mothers entered view, nor how a similar expression was never found upon Jin or Yves’s faces. 

Such was the destiny of a child with a mother, Chevalier thought. Constantly looking up to her and forming ideas of the world under the safety and guide of her experience. But what was curious was how it seemed the Queen had none of her own to offer him.

Seasons came and went, and Chevalier watched them as passively as he did the people in the palace all from his unchanging position by the Queen. It seemed to him the only variance was his vantage point as each year he grew more accustomed to his role as an observer, both literally and figuratively. It was around the time the unruliest tips of his hair reached her shoulders—the time he first began to calculate when he would surpass her height—when she announced a change to their ritual: a visit to her father’s. Alone.

The days leading up to her departure were uneventful, yet Chevalier clung to those final moments together with more scrupulosity than he ever offered before. As she carried out her routines, he studiously tracked her words, movements, facial expressions. The way she flinched when her quill slipped from her hand. Her continuously quieting voice. The sheen of sweat pooling in her brow. 

Did he detect a growing anxiety? She never conveyed fear of carriage-travel in the past. Perhaps she had a recent falling-out with the Marquis and was dreading the visit? Or a sudden illness overcame her that threatened the journey? Or she worried about parting from her son for so long for the first time?

None of those explanations seemed valid or in character. And with the Queen’s typical tight-lippedness towards him, just this once Chevalier permitted to expand his circle of attention to her acquaintances in hopes of gleaning more insight on this peculiar trip. 

This approach yielded similarly unconstructive results. The knights in her employ regarded her with the same impassive servility as they relayed details of the upcoming journey. The King’s attention and speech were just as clipped as they always had been, though it appeared some of her anxiety may have passed onto him as he nearly tripped over the steps in his hurry to return to the palace once he’d kissed her goodbye. And her lady-in-waiting held onto her left arm in an identical comforting fashion Chevalier had observed since his infancy. The women exchanged brief whispers, concealed by their coats and their hair, before Lady Leticia detached herself to hug her own son. Chevalier turned towards the Queen, craning his neck to see past the coat plumage and golden locks, wondering if this would be the last time he looked up to her. And whether she was wondering something similar.

She did not absolve him of his curiosity. Nor did she offer any parting words or kisses or embraces. With a look as brief as her husband had given her, she smoothed Chevalier’s fringe, bent down to pinch Clavis’s lip-marked cheek, then stepped up into the carriage.

It took less than an afternoon for Clavis to grow completely fed up with him.

Chevalier settled deeper into his chair as his brother stormed out of his personal library, taking note of how it took Clavis double the time it usually would to lose his temper. A new fact he aptly stored away in his brainspace. 

As he hoped, the day continued uninterrupted. Chevalier spent the hours increasing the dent in his romance shelf in silence. When the sun set and he could no longer make out the words on the page, he lifted his head to near-total darkness. A pained grumble from his gut broke the stillness. The maid who usually came to fetch him for dinner was egregiously late. The straw-haired one who always wore a pink bracelet on her right wrist and a blue one on her left.

Closing his book and sliding off his chair, Chevalier took swift strides to the door. It creaked open and he peered out to find the main library just as dark and deserted. Footsteps always alert him, and Chevalier determined no one had passed through the place since Clavis’s dramatic exit hours prior. Not even the mousey-looking serving boy whose job it was to light the candles of this part of the castle every night. 

Guided by his mental map, Chevalier traversed the darkened corridors until at last he reached a lighted area. The grumble in his stomach had evolved into a roar by this point, and he allowed his nose to lead him down the final twists and turns. But by the time he reached the dining room, nobles were already filing out the doors, contentedly patting their bellies and bidding one another goodnight.

Never having attended a formal dinner where the guests appeared so amiable before, Chevalier hid behind a nearby pillar and watched diners fan out to their rooms and rows of servants carry away emptied dishes and bowls. Clavis was among the last to leave, followed closely by Licht and Nokto, all giggling their little heads off about squashes and gourds and moldy cheeseboards. As the young princes chattered, Clavis spotted Chevalier’s hiding place, stuck his tongue out at him, then grabbed each twin by the hand and ran off.

Later that night in the palace kitchens, Chevalier endured cold pumpkin soup, Yves’s pitiful tears, and Jin’s endless gabble.

The next day onward, Chevalier forced himself out of bed at sunrise. Though despite his newfound independence, he struggled to fill his days with variety past choosing an outfit and would end up in his library alone reading from breakfast until dinnertime.

When the second day in a row passed without any servants approaching him, Chevalier elected to prepare and eat his meals solo. It proved no inconvenience to him where his food came from, and considering he later found both the bracelet-maid and the candle-boy performing their duties on the opposite end of the palace, neither did it seem to bother anyone else.

By the end of the first week, Chevalier had completed all the unread books in his possession. He considered venturing into town to procure new ones when a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

“Prince Chevalier, are you in there?”

It was Sariel. 

Chevalier opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was a silent exhale.

How odd.

He cleared his throat and tried again, this time only managing a raspy croak. An empty water pitcher sat bone dry on the mantelpiece, and by the time Chevalier gargled up enough saliva to make out legible speech Sariel had already left.

It was then that he realized he hadn’t spoken in days.

He shelved the trip to town and went to bed early without dinner.

The next morning, he rose before the sun with a sandpaper mouth. Without changing his clothes, he slipped into his shoes and carried the pitcher down to the cellar. Water barrels lined the walls when he entered, and he took no time ripping the lid of the closest one and scooping out as much as his pitcher could catch in one swing. Then he guzzled the lot in a single gulp. 

He repeated this several times more, with more reservation each time, but the scratchiness never fully disappeared. At least he could speak again. He carefully topped the pitcher once more and made his way back up the stairs, reciting the K-entries from the dictionary as he went. 

In atypical Michel fashion, he raised his voice and garbled his words—an oropharyngeal medical textbook he read claimed stretching the muscles in the mouth could accelerate pharynx recovery—but all that seemed to accomplish was scattering postmen and laundry-maids and any early-risers from the halls. He couldn’t blame them; he sounded like a rabid jester. He steered his stroll towards the less-frequented parts of the castle.

By the time he finished the Ls he was in front of the throne room. It was still too early for much of the palace to be up, so Chevalier pushed through the doors and shut them tight behind him. 

He had frequented this room on many formal occasions in the past, but this was the first time he entered alone and in his nightclothes. Perhaps it was because he had seen it so many times before or he was so used to at least one of his parents’ presences alongside him in there, but his gaze ignored the throne and instead glued to the portraits along the far wall. 

Generations of kings staring down at him, their minds long gone yet still decipherable to Chevalier. He crossed to the center of the room and carefully set the pitcher down before lying on his back and spreading his arms and legs. His mouth picked up from where it left off with the Ms while his eyes roamed across the canvases, giving each king his proper lookover to learn everything he was thinking on the day he was painted. Some were confident in their position, some terrified of the future. One young king boasted a cocky grin and bloodied sword while his aging neighbor looked positively bored with his life. Century-links of ancestors captured and unraveled in just a few brushstrokes, so why was his shortest link the most difficult to decode?

The door slamming shut and hurried footsteps interrupted his staring. 

“What happened?” the King asked, breathless.

“Nothing has happened,” Chevalier answered. Throat now sore from reaching the Vs, he kept his response short and refused to let his eyes stray. “Not a single thing. All day long.”

“Oh. I… I see,” said the King. A few moments passed where he caught his breath before he asked, “What are you doing here?”

“People-watching.”

“And for how long?”

“All day long.”

“All day?” the King repeated. Chevalier wished he would just be silent like his portrait.

“Yesss,” he hissed, growing ever more peeved with each question. If there lingered any doubts as to whether Clavis was his son, this was the final nail in the coffin.

“And how many days have you been people-watching?” the King asked.

Chevalier shrugged his shoulders as emphatically as he could against the marble floor. This gave the opposite impression he was hoping as the King’s footsteps gradually approached him.

“So, when your mother returns, you will tell her you have been neglecting your lessons and studies because you were too busy socializing?” said the King.

Chevalier turned to look at him in spite of himself. Unlike his portrait, the current King had worry lines stretching horizontally across his face that completely betrayed the threat in his voice. Coupled with the way his hands shook as he sheathed his sword, it was a mystery how the previous Belle could spot any trace of kingliness in the man. Like his wife, he may have been exemplary in his youth, but such was a person wholly unrecognizable to Chevalier.

“On the contrary,” Chevalier said, “you are the first person I have spoken to since the Queen’s departure.”

“Then where have you been all this time?”

Chevalier shrugged again. “Where has everyone assigned to me been?”

At last, the King exhausted his follow-up questions. Chevalier watched him pant in defeat, thinking him utterly pitiful. Another Clavis sign. He reached over to nudge the pitcher towards him then turned back to the portraits. The King picked up the pitcher but sat a few paces away before he drank.

“A letter arrived this morning from Michel manor,” he said after wiping his mouth. “Would… would you like to read it together?”

Again with the questions. “Who is it addressed to?” Chevalier said.

“Ah, only my name is written on the envelope.”

“Then it was not meant for my eyes.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said the King. He returned the pitcher to its exact spot then stood to leave. “Will you be joining us for dinner tonight?”

“Who is ‘us’?”

“Ah… Never mind. Do as you like.”

And he left the room quicker than Chevalier had ever seen him escape the Queen.

Some things I learned while writing this fic:

Cold pumpkin soup is quite good, if you prepare it correctly.

Oropharyngeal medicine is very interesting and involved.

K is one of the throatiest letters in the English language.

[pumpkinrootbeer]

On the subject of Mikko contact extension because y'all are stressing me out! It's unlikely to be done anytime soon for several reasons:

first, Mikko's agent just got Draisaitl a huge contract extension that's makes him the highest paid player in 2026. he's going to want to get Mikko the same kind of caliber deal, especially with how Mikko has been playing this season.

second, most NHL contracts these days are negotiated on cap percentages and not exact sums. Meaning if Nate is currently getting paid 15% of the current salary cap than Mikko's agent might make the case for 14% of the new cap or so, which would put Mikko at around 13 million (depending on how much the cap is raised)— more than Nate is getting paid now. Even if it's not necessarily overpaying mikko, right now he has about 15 percent of the teams points and 18 percent of the teams goals not to mention the two hat tricks and is on pace for another 100 points season, they're just not going to want to pay him that much.

third, the Avs are not going to want to pay Mikko more than Nate. Just as a non starter. Nate's the MVP, so he's going to be the benchmark for how much to pay anyone. If Mikko's team is arguing for more than Nate (even IF they're technically putting him below Nate in cap%) it's going to be a very, very long contract negotiation just inherently.

fourth, there's cap issues in colorado. trying to find a way to fit every player in has been a struggle and why we see Ivan Ivan getting ricocheted back and forth between the avs and the eagles every game. They're trying to conserve their salary cap, and with Gabe potentially returning sometime next year it's only going to get harder to balance every player. Meaning Mikko's contract is just going to be a bit of an issue no matter what.

fifth, Mikko is not the only one who was set to become a free agent. Georgie's contract is also set to expire, and LOC just got his resigning done. Not to mention all the injuries and Val's suspension at the beginning of the season. It's been a chaotic time.

Now! Does this mean I'm worried? Yeah, a little bit inherently. But really, genuinely afraid they're going to trade Mikko? No. Obviously, for numerous reasons, the Avs are not going to want to hand over a player of Mikko's caliber. It's not the move a team trying to stay in the cup window does. Mikko already has that natural chemistry with Nate making them one of the most successful duos in the NHL, not to mention how he plays with Cale and everyone else. Mikko has the most goals scored in a season for an Avalanche, one of the fastest to reach 50 goals, the third most goals for a finn, one of four players *this century* to have 40 goals 50 assists and 13 pp goals in consecutive seasons... I mean I don't need to tell you guys he's a great player! They're not going to want to lose him!

And I genuinely don't think Mikko is going to want to leave. Yes, he's said he wants to stay in Colorado but obviously you can take that for a grain of salt. What an athlete says and what they actually do are going to be two very different things. But from everything we've seen, heard, and read about him I don't think he's the type of guy to just up and leave this team for a couple more million dollars. Gabe has talked about how much he's a team player and how he's the last guy who would ever jeopardize the team for his own interests the last time we were in Mikko contact hell. I think he's going to get resigned, because neither side wants to leave. They both want this to work out, but both sides have things they're not going to be willing to cave on. But both sides have also said they're not worried about it and they're going to let things play out. It's just going to take time.

in conclusion:

^front office preparing for contract negotiations