#but pudding based that was the idea

[saccharinevampy]

First attempt at a gif for Maria over on twitter!

I designed this little pudding monster for her so she has a buddy during streams~

[eatclean-bewhole]

Dessert for breakfast!🍫 This also makes a delicious, healthy snack or dessert. I appreciate the omega-3s, protein, and fiber the chia seeds offer.

DARK CHOCOLATE CHIA PUDDING:

• 1 cup almond or coconut milk

• 1/4 cup chia seeds

• 1/4 cup cacao powder or dark chocolate cocoa powder

• 2 Tbsp maple syrup

• 1/2 tsp vanilla

#chia #chiaseeds #chiapudding #health #vegan #veganfoods #veganrecipes #veganmeals #plantbased #healthtips #healthyrecipe #healthyfood #healthylifestyle #healthy #healthyeating #healthyrecipes #food #foodie #recipe #healthybreakfast #healthyliving #nutrition #health #weightloss #easyrecipe #healthyfoodideas #healthymeals #easyrecipes #recipes #cleaneating

[rafesslxt]

✧.* 𝑳𝑨𝑻𝑬 𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 𝑺𝑵𝑨𝑪𝑲 | 𝒕. 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒕

summary: you thought you would be alone when sneaking into the school kitchen late at night - you were, until someone joined you. - based on this request.

warnings: smut, Hufflepuff reader, fingering, orgasm denial (once), dirty talk, protected p in v, cursing

words: 2,8k

It's almost 2am and I couldn't stop myself but sneak into the kitchen when my stomach literally screamed at me to eat. Well I couldn't take it personal, wasn't my best idea to ditch dinner to study.

And to be honest, it wasn't the first time also, sneaking into the kitchen because I ditched dinner and got hungry at night. Since I already knew my way to the school kitchen without getting caught, I grabbed the coat I borrowed from Harry yesterday and walked through the dark halls of school.

When I arrived I quickly got in and closed the doors behind me. I smiled to myself when I looked through the shelves and fridges. Jackpot, a cake. With some cookies from the cupboard and cake in other hand I walked over to the kitchen island and started eating the cookies. I quietly moaned at the taste, doing a little happy dance at the taste. „Damn these are good.“ I say to myself, then looking at the cake. It wasn’t much left but would definitely be enough for me. I took a piece and licked off the icing, when out of nowhere:

„Wow..“ I turned my head to the second voice with wide eyes, seeing four boys in front of me. I sighed in relief when I noticed who they are and had to hide a smile at their looks when they saw my outfit. I didn’t thought too much about it when I stayed in my underwear and a top. „Like what you see?“ I asked them, smug smirk on my face.

The only one who didn’t looked impressed was Draco, pushing through the boys and walking over next to me, taking a piece of the cake and shoving it into his mouth. „ My girlfriend’s hotter.“ He says with a full mouth, making me grin. „I know Draco, me and Pansy are friends.“ I always loved the way he stayed loyal to her, wishing to be in her shoes sometimes. But not to be with Draco, but to have someone who only has eyes for me like he does for her.

I then glance over to the other three boys, still staring at me. "I definitely like what I see." Mattheo comments with a grin to it. I notice Theo shoving his elbow into his rib before pushing past him and walking over to me. "How are you, principessa?" he asked, tilting his head a little to the side and stared down at me with his puppy brown eyes. God his eyes.

" 'm good, what about you?" I stated innocently then biting off a piece of the cake slice in my hand. He ignored my question, his hands finding their way to each side of me on the kitchen isle. He caged me in between his body and the isle, smirking a little when he see's the realization in my eyes.

That wasn't a new game between us. It's also not the first time that we met here or on the astronomy tower at night. But it was always coincidence.

"Haven't seen you in a while at the astronomy tower." he whispers to me, lowering his head a little. So he was hoping to see me? "What? Did you miss me?" "What If I did?" he asked.

I hadn't had an answer to that right away so I looked over his shoulder to Mattheo and Enzo, still staring at my choice of clothing. He follows my gaze and glares at both of them. "Get the fuck out." he growls at them in an annoyed tone to which they just smirked knowingly and grabbed Draco eating some pudding he had found.

While walking outside Mattheo said "Don't destroy the kitchen." Draco finished it with: "Oh and use protection, kids." he started laughing and walked out with Mattheo and Enzo, leaving silence behind them.

I glanced back up at Theo, who's eyes were already on me. "So, what If I missed you? Did you miss me too?" I ignored his question and turned around in his grip which meant my back was now pressed against his since he pushed against me. I grabbed a strawberry from the cake grinning when I turned back and bit off a piece, making sure my lips wrapped around it just right while my eyes hit his.

I could see his jaw clenching and the muscles in his arm moving when he grabbed the isle a little harder. "Why do you keep teasing me all the time hm? Am I just one of your little victims?"

I had to chuckle a little. It was a rumor about me – well, a rumor that was kind of true. It was about how I'm the biggest tease and would always choose a new boy to tease to no end but never doing anything about it. That's true. But the number's of boy's going around weren't. Theo's the third to be exact but this time it wasn't on propose. I just really liked teasing him and seeing him clenching his jaw or his eyes wandering over my body, my lips.

I shake my head slowly and hold the rest of the strawberry in front of his mouth. "You're not." He grins before biting into the strawberry, never losing eye contact with me. He chews and swallows it down before answering. "What am I then?"

'What am I then?' I wish I knew. It's complicated. And somehow not. We just met like I said by complete coincidence, sometimes we talked, sometimes we just sat there at the astronomy tower and enjoyed each other's company while he smoked and I read a book.

"I don't know Teddy, just know that I like your company." I answered honestly. I think I saw a little bit of relief in his eyes when I told him. "So you're not just teasing me?" I giggle a little and shrug with my shoulder's. "Oh I definitely do and I enjoy it but -" "But what?" he asks, looking at me intensely. I gulp and lick over my bottom lip, my cheeks suddenly getting a little red.

"Perhaps, you chose that outfit of your's on propose?" he asked cheekily. I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head. "I didn't thought you would come with friends. And I have Harry's cloak with me so no one would have seen me but you."

"So you did choose it with a purpose?" I put the stem in my hand away and tried not to blush again. "Yes." He pushed himself even closer to me now, his face now beside my ear. He whispered "And what were you hoping would happen, amore?" my heart always melted when he spoke Italian, his voice sounded so good while speaking his language, I could listen to him talking to me in it all day long.

I swallowed down all my pride and the rest of my shyness before I answered. "That you finally would get the hint, maybe. Or ask me out." he started grinning, giving my earshell a soft kiss. " Oh I'm getting the hint." Abruptly he grabbed my hips with both of his hands and sat me down on the kitchen isle, him now standing between my legs. "Do you know what you do to me?" he lowers his voice and lets go of my right to push back my hair so my shoulders were free. I shook my head, pretending to not know what he means.

"Don't act all shy now. I know you're not. I see the way you always look a me. Never thought a little Hufflepuff like you would be like that."

„Well, many underestimate us.“ I whispered, smirking. Then he lowers his head a bit more and puts a feathery light kiss on my shoulder, sending shivers down my spine. I stop breathing for a second and take a short glimpse of his angelic face. Even his light touch already set me on fire inside.

He continued when he noticed that I didn't push him away or stopped him in any kind of way. The next kiss is tender, not as light as the first one. The third one is longing. The fourth starts to get heated. "Theo.." I murmur, closing my eyes.

"Hm?" he muttered against my skin, covering it in kisses. "I want you." He stops and scans my face to make sure If I'm playing with him or If I'm being serious. I grab the cords of his sweatpants, pulling him closer. "I want you." I repeat, to make sure he got it.

Then out of no where, his lips crash against mine in a heated kiss with his lips so soft and full. I let my hand roam over his chest, grabbing the soft shirt in a desperate way. "I want you too." he breathed out against my lips when he pulled away from mine for a moment. I grabbed him by the neck and pulled him in again, smiling against his lips.

His hands found their way to my thighs, massaging them carefully while working their way up to my underwear. In the meantime my hands had already slid under his shirt, feeling his abs under my fingers.

One hand of his pushed me back so I laid down with my back on the kitchen isle. He grabbed my legs again and pulled my middle closer to his crotch until I could feel him hard through his pants.

I bit down on my lip when his hands slowly slid over my exposed stomach, up to my chest. I stare at him, nervous what he's going to do. "I've waited so fucking long for this." he growls, slowly pulling down my top. A smile formed on his lips when he saw I didn't wear a bra beneath it.

My nipples instantly got hard 'cause of the cold air. "Then why didn't you try anything sooner?" I asked. "Don't know.." His fingers slowly brushed over my nipples now, teasing them. ".. I enjoyed the tension between us. Didn't want to overstep too." he replied.

I chuckled at him and joked "Yeah right, fucking someone on a kitchen isle in school is not overstepping." "Who say's I'm gonna fuck you?" he teases, playing with my nipples now.

I gulped and glimpse up at him. "Theo please.." I buck my hips up, grinding against him. "Shit, you're already begging, principessa? Can't wait to see how wet you are." I quietly whimpered at his words, grinding harder against him to feel some kind of friction on my aching pussy.

He leans down and starts sucking on my nipple while he continued playing with the other with his fingers. His second hand slid down over my stomach again, leaving a warm feeling behind. It stopped at my panties, playing with it a little. "Please.. please touch me Teddy." He groaned at the nickname. It was something only I called him.

He dipped his fingers inside my underwear, feeling my wetness. "Fuck you're not wet you're fucking soaked. It's gonna be so easy to just.." he starts, his finger slipping over my clit at first and teasing it for a moment with brushing over it ever so slightly and then going further to my opening, slipping two fingers inside without a problem.

He groaned and rolled his eyes. "You feel so tight baby. Fuck you're gonna milk me dry.." I whined at his words and the feeling of him inside me. He started moving them in and out, pumping my pussy and rubbing my clit with his thumb.

I grabbed the edges of the isle and closed my eyes, back arching upwards. "Feels so good." I moaned, pressing my lips together trying to be quiet.

"Hmm that‘s right, just imagine how good my cock will feel." he responded with a smug look, moving his fingers inside me faster and putting more pressure on my clit. I took in a sharp breath, biting down on my lip hard.

I started clenching around him, feeling a fire pooling low in my abdonen but before I could let go he pulled his hand away from me, smiling at me devilish. "That‘s for all the teasing, baby."

He pulled down his sweatpants and boxershorts together, revealing his hard cock. I noticed the red tip already leaking pre cum. "You wanna get fucked amore?" he growls with his thick accent while grabbing his hard on and sliding the tip through my puffy folds.

"Theodore please, don‘t be a tease." I complained. He chuckles when he sees the desperate look in my eyes. "I‘m gonna fuck you so hard you never will think about someone else.“ he promised, pushing his cock into me with a single go until he was completely inside me.

"Oh cazzo.." he cursed and closed his eyes when he felt my walls sucking him right in. I felt him everywhere in me and I was sure I could see him in my stomach If I had the power to look down at me.

I heard him laughing quietly so I opened my eyes and looked at him questioning. "You‘re so tight I can‘t think straight." he chuckled and let out a deep breath before moving his hips after making sure I‘m ready.

I arched my back when his hips met mine and my mouth fell open letting out a silent scream. "Oh merda.. feel me in your stomach huh?" he grunts, throwing my legs over his shoulder.

I let out a high pitched moan at the new angle, feeling him so much deeper now. My nails found his arms, leaving marks on them. His hips moved faster against mine, he leaned down and took my lips into a heated kiss again. The kiss was fiercy and it felt like he was starving or needed me for air. I've never been kissed like that and I felt so alive after such a long time again.

"Fuck Theodore.." I whine against his lips, capturing them right after again. I feel him grinning against my lips and moving his hips more brutal against mine, squeezing my thigh with his hand while the other found its way around my neck. "You're mine, cara mia. Mine. Do you understand that?" he groans, letting go of my mouth.

I squeeze my eyes shut when he pushed down on my stomach." I said: Do thrust You thrust under thrust stand thrust me?" "Fuck yes Theo, yes!" "Say it!" I whimper and open my eyes again, giving him what he wanted. "I'm yours, only yours." he started smiling satisfied with my answer.

"That's right, baby. Only this cock will fill you up." He rocked his hips against mine in an unnatural pace, making me see stars and babbling some words.

"Such a little slut for me." he added. My legs slowly got tired, not used to the stretch. I gasped when he hit my cervix, a broken sob left my mouth. "Oh - right there. Please fuck me right there." It was like every brain cell left my head when I felt that fire in my abdomen again.

He slightly squeezed his hand around my throat, making my head feel dizzy only adding to the aching feeling inside me. "Beg me, fucking beg me to come around my cock... fuck." he lets out a moan when he feels my warm walls clenching around him so perfectly.

"Hmm please Theo please fuck me, please. I need to come so bad." I cried out, little sobs leaving my lips. He grins devilish and adds his thumb to my clit, moving it in circles.

Then again I have that rippling feeling in my abdomen, leaving me trembling beneath me. "Hm, come for me baby, fucking come around me, please." he groans in a desperate voice, feeling the need to feel me milking him like I did around his fingers earlier.

My orgasm hit me like an explosion would have. I didn't hear anything around me for a few seconds, my head dizzy and my mouth dry.

His hands find my hips and dug their fingernails into my flesh. I heard him cussing again, his thrusts getting sloppier and his head fell back. "Oh fucking hell I'm gonna come - should I - should I pull out?" I shook my head with a little smirk."I'm using-" "Thank Merlin - ugh fuck." I hear him gasping for air when he ruts his hips against mine, holding still when he shoots his load inside me. His fucked out state turned me on again in an instant. Nothing better than a vocal man.

When he slowly comes down from his high, he grabs my face and kisses me messy but lovingly. "You felt so fucking good." he groans against my lips, slowly pulling out. I let out a quiet whimper at the emptiness I felt again. I looked up at him a smirked. "What?" he asked me when he saw my smirk. "That's it?" I asked him daring, knowing it would provoke him.

He chuckles darkly at me and turned my on my stomach in an instant. "I'm gonna fuck you the whole night, until all the cooks come into the kitchen for breakfast and they see you begging for my cock."

Fuck yeah.

Thank u got reading, hope you enjoyed. 💛 Not my best smut to be honest whoops.

Taglist: @justarandomcanadiantransdude @sofa-couch26 @helendeath @thatonepansexual2000 @imabee-oralizard @itsarajr @hisparentsgallerryy @mixvchelle @azalea3leaza @ummmmmmm-username @atadoddinnit @auxcordlawd @helena-1105 @belle-blue @izriddle @distinctalien 🤍🤍

My masterlist if u wanna read more.

xoxo sarah <3

[i23kazu]

GENSHIN MEN AND YOU BURYING YOUR FACE IN HIS MANTIDDIES .

characters. xiao zhongli kaeya diluc childe alhaitham kaveh x reader genre. romantic fluff... crack fic! also kind of suggestive, based on how you look at it an. i am losing my mind. is it obvious (part 2!) & thank u @haliyamori for the idea| please reblog!! im getting back into writing and reblogs with tags and comments will make me want to write more :D

xiao

"y/n, please control your urges-" no. SMOOSH your face into his tiddy window you coward. do not heed his warning. that sign can't stop me, bc i can't read! -> well, you can. but no. but yes. but no. tiddie

zhongli

stands there with you at his chest and goes ???????? again. why do you always make him confused dude. why. how. what is your issue. what is your problem. can you kiss him. can he lift your chin up and tilt your head towards his and kiss you

kaeya

happily lets it happen. when you pull away he runs back into your face because you're at the perfect height for when he runs into you your face gets pressed right there. he thinks he needs help but why get professional help when you can do this for FREE

diluc

sighs. wtf yn, he says for the 87544u5u485459459th time that day. he just watches you bury his face into it. eventually asks if you're okay and tells you to pull away because you need oxygen and he can see that you're literally turning blue wtf yn get your face out of there

childe

whines for you not to do it in front of his family then pulls you into his bedroom to do it privately. have all the tiddieburying you want before his mom calls you for dinner and you have to leave the warm nest that is his tits. he actually really likes this wtf childe (<- same)

alhaitham

pushes you away at first and you have to beg him so that you can do it again.... crazy. why should you have to beg for this. its free. this mfer clearly enjoys you having to wait to bury your face into his tiddie window. please get out of there you're gna have death by titty

kaveh

lets it happen. wishes he could do that too and asks you how it feels. this is so concerning. he eventually buys one realistic body pillow of himself so that he can try. yup, thats you, and your boyfriend, and your boyfriend's realistic body pillow of himself.

taglist: @tiredsleep @loptido @raincxtter @chichikoi @ladyadii @soulsanta @sheiiy @genshinparty @eowinthetraveler @moonbyunniee @lemonswriting @legitnoi @lemontum @manager-of-the-pudding-bank @yzeniko @starz222 @ilyuu @cherry-colored-petals @mondaymelon @tartaglia-apologist @soleillunne @softcosmixs (send ask to be added to taglist)

[chechula]

So my comic made it into French translation. I have no idea how they translated it since it is based on a crossover of two weird Czech fairy tales...and on semolina pudding/porridge which is so common child food here but mostly unknown to non-slavic countries.

[yuyinesque]

everyone stfu rn — black!inumaki headcanons, right? now imagine him communicating in soul food instead of japanese cuisine. i have a new list for him. us niggas must follow said list.

greens — okay/or his way of agreeing or affirming.

canned greens — its like “okaaay…” but more disappointing; it gives “ight nigga…”

okra — no/or his way of disagreeing or disapproving.

macaroni — him expressing uncertainty; the tone and context varies.

banana pudding — this depends on context. it could express excitement or apprehension. either way he may or may not be attempting to quickly grab someone’s attention.

sweet potato — him expressing genuine satisfaction; this is less in an excitable way and more-so content.

chitlins — sorta like a curse word; aahhh CHITLINS (like shit or fuck; normally expresses defeat, shock, or annoyance, but could be humorous on some occasions).

chicken — look out/keep an eye out; this could mean in a literal sense or simply “stay safe” or “walk good”, but in that context he would likely utilize “fried chicken”.

potato salad — are you alright/you good? … usually in a concerned tone.

candy, yams? — “nigga, what?” (LMFAOOOOOO).

watermelon — i’m fond of you/i love you. if he says “watermelon seed”, he’s likely expressing it in a more romantic sense rather an a casual, platonic sense.

& fufu — fufu is a LAUGH! like fufuufufufuu; it’s how he giggles!

i’m still coming up with more; y’all come help me. feel free to reblog/comment ideas, or perhaps make your own hcs based on your own cultural foods <3.

[jymwahuwu]

Imagine reader's child with yan!tighnari turning out like their dad

Like imagine reader hinting to their children that they weren't happy with the marriage by telling stories but their children snitched on them and told yan!tighnari Abt it bc they saw it as their mother trying to leave them

IT WOULD BE SO FUN TO SEE DJJEJS

tw: yandere, non-con, implied kidnapping, spanking, orgasm control, breeding, knotting

yandere Tighnari breeding reader that rejects them part 1

part 2

this is amazing... who doesn't like being punished by Tighnari - with the fox babies it's much harder for you to leave🤭💕

With Tighnari and the fox cubs, life in the forest is peaceful. Fox cubs love to snuggle up to you, mutter "mama" in soft voices, bury their heads in your arms, and the fur on their ears always tickles your chest - and your heart too. You brush and clean the tails of the Tighnari and the babies and apply plant-based waterproofing oil. You like to pet their tails and ears. Every time you do this, the fox cubs involuntarily purr but then deny this.

Tighnari has produced some learning materials for children and you are responsible for teaching them to read, one of the ways is to tell bedtime stories.

"What did you dream about last night?"

"In the past, people in this country could not dream, but now when the God of Wisdom enters the dream, all of us weave dreams…"

One of the cubs said they dreamed of inexhaustible padisarah pudding on the table, you smile. Unfortunately, you find out that all the storybooks have been read. They have inherited the wisdom of their father - they never forget a story they have heard once. You must have new stories to lull them to sleep…

You have an idea, speaking with metaphor.

"In the kingdom of forests and deserts, there lived a bird.

They have wonderful singing voices, and their goal is to become the lead singer among the thousands of birds, offering songs to the sky and stars. However, this is too difficult. They lived with songs, and in the woods there were larks, nightingales, canaries… some of them were mean, but some were kind, and their songs were said to be the best.

They thought they were one of them.

But one day, they found out that they were just ordinary finch, bouncing around the ground, sharing food, singing with other companions - that's their usual life.

They still don't give up, dreaming that they too can achieve their goals.

At this time a fox told them: Do you want to live with me? The life of a bird is too ordinary. Life is more than singing.

They refused.

What they don't know is that the fox has a big cage ready for them. At night, the fox sneaked into the forest quietly. He found them resting on the tree, and the cage covered their bodies. Their singing has since disappeared into the woods.

Living in a fox cabin, they don't need to compete with other birds, there is enough food, gifts and beds, but they kind of miss the sky and the smell of rain. That's what they lost.

One day, they escaped from the fox's house and took to the sky while the fox was not looking. They flapped their wings and sang in the sky, attracting the attention of other birds - they were surprised to find that one of them had such a melodious song.

However, they no longer care about other people's evaluation - they left the forest where they lived, flew over towns, mountains, and fields, leaving sweet songs everywhere for everyone. "

After hearing this story, the fox cubs pouted, a little sullen. "mama, why is the fox in this story a bad guy?"

"That's just a coincidence. The little lion was the villain last time." You smiled and kissed their little foreheads. "Good night, my babies."

The next day, Tighnari returned to the forest from the seminar, and the fox cubs jumped into his arms, yelling "papa!". He hugged them and gave them presents - some new toys. Under study, they are already smarter than many children of the same age at this time.

"Papa, are foxes bad?? Does mama want to leave us?" one of the cubs asked. The cubs recount last night's story to Tighnari - though they don't quite understand parts of the story, they have a vague sense that you want to leave the forest.

"Oh, there's such a thing." Tighnari raised his eyebrows, and there was unknowingly meanness in his tone, but then disappeared, comforting the babies gently. "It's okay, mama is just telling you stories, and won't leave us."

For you it's another attitude - he's away for two days and you're signaling to the kids that you want to leave? Does this mean you already have a plan? unacceptable. Entering the house, Tighnari greets you and casually asks what story you told the babies last night. He notices you avoiding his gaze - "You really don't have anything to confess to me?"

"Wait, my- my story doesn't mean that!" You panicked in denial.

Tighnari does not accept excuses of any kind - punishment is a necessary part of your education since you are so stubborn, chasing your unrealistic dreams.

He orders you to bend over, slips a vibrator into your wet inner wall, and rubs his thumb along the edge of your glistening flesh. The little machinery buzzes and vibrates deep within you. You whimper and beg him to stop. "Please- please- Tighnari I'm sorry- I won't do this again…" You try to keep your balance in the shock, but the ruler appears and smacks your ass hard. The slapping lands on both of your ass cheeks, and it's never in the same rhythm - when you think your left ass is about to get spanked, Tighnari smacks three times on your right.

Tighnari rubs between your legs after a round until orgasm is imminent, then starts a new round, leaving you in deep despair. You can't remember exactly how many times you took it, basically a mess of tears, legs shaking and a stooped posture. "I- I'm so sorry…!!" he asks you in a mean, veiled, sinister voice. "Do you still want to leave? Is there anything more comfortable than getting my cock? Hmm?"

"No- no! I just need you - Tighnari-" you gasp, unable to choose your words. You just desperately want to be released, to be filled.

"Okay," he muttered, sinking his already swollen long cock deep inside you, pounding you hard, rubbing his fingers on your clit. You scream, tears and juice splattering the table, pleasure flowing through your body, your walls contracting.

"Maybe I should give you some other babies." Tighnari announced as knotted inside you. "You won't have time to leave."

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Drabble Roulette: You get what you give

For this round, drabbles are written based on a random choice of character and image from this pinterest board. Pls feel free to keep adding to it.

Character: Andy Barber

Prompt

Warnings: this drabble includes elements such as mentions of alcoholism and cheating. Please mind these warnings and take care.

Explicit, 18+. Please reblog and leave some feedback.

Andy Barber.

You'd know him anywhere but you didn't expect him there. The tight-ass, straight-laced family man in a place like this. His department store suit stands out on the dingy bar. So does the woman grinding in his lap. She's not his wife. 

He has one hand on a pint of foamy beer and his other on her ass. He encourages her with a growl as she nips at the air before him. The tension is palpable. 

Your hand rests on your phone as you hide on the gloom at the other end of the bar. Your vodka tonic is forgotten as quickly as the shitty day you hoped to drown in it. Your thumb hovers above Laurie's name, hesitant, calculating. 

Andy fucking Barber. 

That jackass with the side eye. You're not stupid. You heard what he said about you. He didn't realise you were in his bathroom, that you were witness to yet another row with his long tortured wife. 

Well, you might be a goddamn drunk but you're not a fucking cheater. The only man in your life is the bartender.  

You flick away your contact list. Instead, you tap the camera icon and swipe into recording mode. You carefully angle the lens up to catch the screen. Yoi watch through the screen as the woman straddles him, grazing her fingers through his beard as she draws him into a sloppy kiss.

Oh yes, it's very messy indeed. 

🍺

You expect chaos when you hit send. It isn’t thoughtless or spiteful. The truth is the truth. As he always says, honesty is the greatest virtue of all. You always roll your eyes when he goes on his exhaustive lectures; often treating Laurie no different than their son. 

‘Sorry, Laurie. I didn’t think you’d believe me but proof is in the pudding.’ 

Maybe there is a bit of spite left in you. You hope she’s happy now. Andy may have been right about you but you were just as on point about him. Let it burn, you might just smell some of the ashes as they settle. 

Days pass. No response. You don’t expect one. You were surprised she didn’t block your number when she cut you off. You wouldn’t have blamed her either. But you can still hate them all. 

It’s not Laurie, it’s him. He shows up at your office. You sit behind reception where you always do and tuck away the flask you keep in your bottom drawer. Shit. 

“Hello, sir, how can I help--” 

“Don’t fucking do that,” he points over the top of the square desk and grips the edge, “you know why I’m here.” 

You can’t help a smirk. You wiggle a pen and innocently tap your bottom lip, “I’m sorry, did you have a meeting with one of our agents?” 

“You are fucking low,” he snarls. 

“Ah, yes, but seems like we frequent the same gutters,” you sneer back. “She looked young. Did you check her ID? You might not just be a creep, you could be a criminal, Mr. ADA.” 

“Fuck you,” he bends over the higher shelf of the desk, “do you have any idea what the fuck you’ve done?” 

“Mr. Barber,” you reach for the phone, resting your hand on the receiver, “if you don’t calm down, I’ll have to call security.” 

He quakes with rage as his face turns red, “you’re a fucking bitch.” 

“Might be, but at least I’m not a cheater--” 

“Alcoholic slut,” he sneers. 

You lift the receiver and hit speed dial. You stare him down as you do, “hi, Joey, yes, I have a client here who’s a bit... aggressive, do you mind coming up here? Thank you.” 

You wink at Andy and put the phone down as you sit back. He glares back at you and stands straight. He puffs through his nose like raging bull. 

“Just you fucking wait,” he threatens as he retreats, “you ruined my fucking life. I’m gonna burn yours to the ground.” 

[astraariel]

scarlett love

pairing: sanji x fem!reader

summary: you forgot him, chose to let Sanji go, but was that enough? would the universe leave you alone and let you live in peace?

word count: 4.1K

warnings: cursing; spoilers (?) just mention of a character from the whole cake island arc, it’s a modern!au so I don't mention anything about the actual arc!

tags: angst; fluff; hanahaki disease; modern!au; reconciliation; second chances; unrequited turned requited; slight self-hate; happy endings

author’s note: okkkkay here it is. so many of you guys asked for it so here’s pt 2 to eternal snow! I initially wanted to post the mihawk fic first that i'm working on but I can’t finish writing it for the life of me so I decided to work on this one instead lol.

like I mentioned before, this is part 2 to this fic so obvi read that before you read this one!

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

They say people who have the surgery are doomed for life.

How could they choose to never love again; how could they deliberately go through with the surgery knowing they would never have those emotions again?

But in actuality, it was the choice of forgetting about that love. 

People don’t know the grievances and the strength it takes to choose to forget the love of your life. They don’t know the despair of being in love with someone wholeheartedly knowing they don’t love you back.

That you would never remember those emotions for whom you loved. 

You saw it as this: if you couldn’t live to love your person, you wouldn’t bear to love at all.

So in that way, you won.

You gained the power to no longer grieve for your love because you simply couldn’t remember him.

Since hanahaki disease was rare, there weren’t too many recovery patients to base knowledge on since many of the victims chose to die rather than to be saved. 

So you were honestly going in blind.

Nami would sometimes ask you if you could remember anything, a nervous look on her face, you knew she remembered your past love, but the doctor had told her to not mention anything to you in your recovery period. You think she asked out of curiosity.

Or maybe fear?

But every time you’d just tell her that you couldn’t, your head would hurt if you thought too hard and too long about who you had lost.

If you could remember specific memories, they weren't fully visualized, they were static, like when an old TV was out of range from the signal and would struggle to picture the channel.

All you could remember was his silhouette, his figure blurry and his name was always on the tip of your tongue but you could never place your finger on it. 

You remember during your first check-up, the doctor had asked you if you could describe your past love, 

“I'm not sure.” 

Your voice had been wobbly like you were on the verge of crying. Tears had pricked your eyes, along with the feeling of not being able to breathe even though those damn flowers were gone. 

Not being able to understand why?

That feeling went away a week later.

You laugh at yourself now, chiding yourself for being ridiculous back then. 

At what point could you have allowed yourself to be so deeply in love with someone that it was killing you? You could never understand. 

It was an absurd, abysmal idea that you had ever gotten to that point.

While the doctor said the following months would be difficult getting used to your new life of having one less emotion, you were fine.

It had helped that Nami had stayed by your side, and when she couldn’t Sanji would.

Sanji was an angel. 

He tended to your every need, always made sure you didn’t lift a finger even after you told him multiple times you could do it yourself. 

But he always reassured you he didn’t mind.

You were sad to hear that he stopped seeing Pudding. It was honestly too bad because she was good for him, he deserves someone who can love and care for him just as much as he cares for others.

Nevertheless, you were glad he was here for you. 

The sound of music playing softly in the background comforts you as you shuffle through your kitchen making dinner. 

You and Sanji have recently started having weekly dinners with each other, an idea he came up with.

“We can update each other about our lives, good ole fashion face-to-face interaction.” 

“I don’t think my life is going to change too much in the week we don’t see each other, Sanji”

The sound of the door ringing pulls you from your thoughts, drying your hands with a towel, you walk over to the front door.

The cool November breeze greets you as soon as you open the door, Sanji’s figure fills your view. 

The coat he’s wearing to protect himself from the wind encapsulates him in a way that makes you smile instinctively, you can see his red ears peeking from under his blond hair.

“Come in, come in, I was just finishing up dinner.”

“Oh, can I help you with anything else?” he offers while shrugging off his jacket and hanging it on the coat rack beside the front door. “Or are you not allowing me into your kitchen again?” he smirks toward you.

You roll your eyes and scoff, “It’s my turn to make dinner, you cook for a living, it's my time to shine now, dude.” He chuckles and begins to set the table for the two of you. 

The warm food fills the plate in your hand, placing it on the counter, you grab another plate. “So, how’s work?”

Sanji grabs both of the plates and brings them to the table, setting them down, he looks back at you. “Ah, the old man’s got me working late most days.”

You smile softly at the scene; since you can remember you and Sanji have been able to work in tandem. Back when Nami first introduced you, it was like a pull connecting the two of you, also guiding and leading the two of you in perfect harmony.

It was nice.

Finishing your dinner, Sanji grabs his cup, “That was delicious, thank you.” 

“Well I did have a decent teacher,” you say into the glass smiling, gulping down the liquid you set it back down and look at Sanji.

He goes to say something before he’s interrupted by a cough.

Sanji turns his head and coughs into a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket, he quickly wipes his mouth before looking back at you, “Sorry ‘bout that.”

Shaking your head in acknowledgement you begin cleaning up the dinner table. 

“Oh I forgot, I bought flowers, they’re in the living room let me grab them real quick.” Sanji stands quickly.

Turning, you watch him walk away, not catching the lone petal falling out of his pocket.

♡‧₊˚

Vinsmoke Sanji has done a lot of things.

Some of which he regrets, but others he stands by, but there was one that met both criteria.

And that was you.

He was glad he met you, that he was able to spend time being with you, loving you, and knowing that you loved him back.

But he regrets hurting you. He regrets letting himself be temporarily infatuated with Pudding. Sanji had laughed in the face of fate, and in return, he got what he deserved.

His impending end.

The petals had shown up the day you went into the hospital.

While you were given a second chance at life, Sanji had just signed his away. 

He remembers the memory of Nami telling him what had happened. He had it permanently seared into his brain, never allowing himself to forget the moment. 

Her eyes were red, face hot with anger when she pulled up to his house.

“You absolute idiot.” He hadn’t even fully opened the door before she was swearing at him, cursing him to the ends of the earth over what he had done. “You did this. You caused that pain…if I hadn't found her…,” her hands had started punching his chest. 

“She would have been gone, all because of you.”

A part of Sanji died that day. 

So when he got the same disease you had, he knew he deserved it.

Wasn’t it only right that he got the same death sentence that almost took you away?

It was slow at first, from what Nami had told him about your situation, Sanji knew this was how it started. 

The first few weeks were bearable, he could go about his daily life without causing any suspicion. No one would ask if he was okay or anything, just simply being able to cough into a tissue and discard it quickly.

Then the blossoms came.

After one terrible night of constantly coughing up blood and flower blossoms, Sanji did some research. He knew the full blooms were next along with the finishing blow of the roots. It had only been a month since you had your surgery, and yet his hanahaki was a lot more accelerated in comparison to yours.

A month since he had realized he was deathly in love with you.

But he could bear this burden. Who was he to complain about his death trickling closer than it normally should? 

Sanji remembered the moment he realized his disease would finish him more swiftly, that he was faster along than he typically should be; whether it was because the universe knew you could never love him back or it was simply his punishment for what he did.

Probably both.

Even though he knew he could easily fix the problem, he didn't have the right to get a second chance.

How could he? 

How long did you spend hiding your condition away, not even when he had broken things off, before then? How long were you hurting because you knew he was lying when he said he loved you?

The gall he would have to have to go through with the surgery? 

Absolutely not.

But deep in his heart, he also couldn’t bring himself to forget you. He’d rather be a coward and a liar than choose a life undeserving of him.

He would rather die than forget you, to never be able to love you again would be death itself.

He hated himself for what he did to you. The insolence he had to hurt someone as caring as you, why did he take advantage of that?

He himself every day.

If he had to live with constantly coughing up blood and bending over the toilet puking up flower petals just for you to live your life? Yeah, he could do that. He could live with the pain of knowing that you would never love him back.

That you could never love him back.

It quite literally was in human nature that he would never be saved unless he did the surgery, since you couldn’t even love anyone anymore.

Sanji’s hand lifts his handkerchief up to his mouth, his body heaving with a hard cough of petals.

He sighs.

♡‧₊˚

The TV light shines on both you and Sanji’s forms as the movie comes to an end, the ending credits miniaturizing as the screen recommends a shitty Christmas movie that has the both of you turning to the other.

“That was an unnecessarily long movie.” Sanji’s comment makes you laugh.

“Right? God, it was dragging on for a really long time.” Shaking his head he stands up to place the popcorn bucket on the kitchen counter. 

You follow him holding the cups that held lemonade two hours ago. “It’s getting late, I should probably go.”

“Yeah, probably, oh wait-I bought something for you, meant to give it to you when we had dinner at your place but I forgot.” Sanji’s voice trails as he goes off to his bedroom. 

You stand there for a couple of minutes before checking the time, “Yo, Sanji, did’ya get lost?” laughing to yourself, you walk over into the bedroom. Your eyes immediately meet Sanji’s form hunched over on the ground.

A gasp falls from your lips as you rush over to him. “Sanji, oh god, are you okay what’s wrong-”

You cut yourself off when you bend down to look at him, there you see a pool of blood on the hardwood floor, petals scattered around the scene with a full flower bloom sitting in his hands. 

“What?” you can’t breathe.

Sanji says your name but you don’t hear him, your brows knit together as you look up at him. “I don’t understand why are you coughing up petals?”

No? This couldn’t be happening.

Your heart breaks.

Who did Sanji love so dearly that he was cursed with the same disease that had you in its chokehold not long ago? 

You would never wish this on anyone, no one deserved to live through the hurt of having unrequited love.

“You weren’t,” he wipes his mouth, “you weren’t supposed to find out.”

“I don’t-why wouldn't you want to tell me? If anything, I’d be the only person able to understand. Sanji, who is it?” your eyes scan his face. 

Sanji’s ragged breathing fills the air between the two of you. “I can’t.”

You furrow your brows even more, shaking your head. “Please just tell me so I can help-”

“You can’t.”

“What do you mean, I can’t? You’re not making sense.”

Sanji closes his eyes. “It’s you.”

You stop breathing, the figure in your memory rushes to the forefront of your brain like a tsunami. 

In the past the figure was always blurry, never in frame in your mind, only being able to trace his silhouette, but now it was different. 

It was like he was right in front of you like you could smell him, feel his hands in yours, his warmth. Feel his lips against your lips when he-

“It was you.” your voice was quiet, “You were the one I loved.” 

His eyes snap at yours, a gasp falling from his lips.

“The person I loved so deeply… that it caused me so much pain.”

And there it was, the fog had been lifted.

“How could I have forgotten?” How ironic the entire thing was.

“Why would I ever forget about my love for you, Sanji?” you look at him, “What grief did you cause me?”

A tidal wave of emotions, affections, all poured out of your soul and into your memories. The months of coughing up petal after petal till they turned to full flower blooms. The fear that a root would pop up once you pulled your tissue from your face. 

The pain and the hurt that Sanji had caused you. 

The pain of knowing that he didn't love you anymore.

It all came rushing back.

“Why would you keep this from me?” you were getting angry, but was it for the right reason?

Hadn’t you done the same with him? Hadn’t you kept it from all the people you loved as well?

“You know why I went through with the surgery? It wasn’t Nami who made me, well not partially, but why I allowed myself to let her drive me to the hospital was because I didn't want you to suffer.” your eyes were burning, the tears threatening to fall.

“I don't understand?” Of course, he wouldn’t.

“You were obviously unhappy, Sanji. If I removed myself from the equation, it would solve everything and at…at first I thought dying was the solution I really did.” your eyes drop, “And maybe Nami finding me was a saving grace but, I originally wasn't gonna do anything.” 

“Week after week, Sanji, I was drowning. I wanted to yell at anyone who would listen and ask why I couldn't have anything, why couldn’t I be happy? That the universe had some sort of fucking vendetta against me.”

“So I decided to let you go, to choose to live a life of unknown heartache, and when I finally thought I had accomplished that. The universe just spits in my face by cursing you.”

“Don’t you see it? We don’t belong together, Sanji.” The anger was gone now, all that was left was emptiness.“We have the signs, we need to heed them and move on.”

Sanji says your name with a plea, but you ignore him. “Just get the surgery, stop hurting the both of us.” 

“It does us no good if you're dead.” And with that, you walk out of the bedroom and out the front door.

♡‧₊˚

The quiet murmurs of the newscaster talking about the weather for the week could barely be heard from the running water you were using to wash the dishes. 

You haven't seen Sanji in a couple of weeks, not since he announced that you were the one whom he was in love with. 

And definitely not since you remembered he was the one whom you had loved before.

And while at first, you were angry. Angry at him for lying and keeping such vital information from you.

It later turned to guilt. 

Guilt for getting angry at him. Guilt for causing him pain.

But it wasn’t your fault, it’s not like you chose not to love him, you physically couldn’t anymore. You signed that ability off months ago.

But you also missed him. Since you weren’t talking to him, you weren’t having your weekly dinners or your impromptu movie nights anymore.

You missed just talking to him. You missed the lame jokes he’d tell in hopes of hearing your laugh, that smile he’d get whenever he spoke about a new recipe.

You missed him.

But you were also confused.

After he had revealed that he loved you and you had remembered that your past love was him, it became too much for you to handle.

Glancing at the moon, you dry your hands on a towel and walk into the living room. The weatherman was currently informing you of a chance of rain tomorrow during the already cold late January weather.

Sighing you go to sit down before something catches your eyes. A picture frame that hangs on your wall glints as you walk toward it.

It was a photo of you and Sanji looking at the camera with wide smiles on display from Sanji’s birthday two years prior. On top of your heads sat a birthday hat colored blue for the sea theme your friends had thrown together as a joke for the blonde that year.

You remember how you felt that day, the anxiety of wanting to get Sanji the perfect gift and when he finally opened it, he had hugged you which had you blushing like crazy while you swatted his “thank yous” away.

God, where did this deja vu come from?

It was weird, you weren't sure what it was.

It felt like your entire being was full. Full of intense and overwhelming emotions, an emotion you shouldn't feel. An emotion that was eradicated from your life when you stepped out of that hospital.

But here it was, rearing its big ugly face once again.

For Sanji.

You stumble back as if you had been shocked with electricity. 

Looking around your apartment you close your eyes.

How could this happen? Why were you still being punished again?

You had endured the pain, chose to get rid of it and now you’ve been having to live with knowing that Sanji also was experiencing the exact same pain.

Sanji.

How could you have been so cold? Telling him to do the surgery? What was wrong with you?

You missed him. You missed your love for him. The feelings you’d get when he’d look your way. Sanji was your ambrosia and you needed him to survive.

But you didn’t miss how you felt when he chose another over you. Those feelings you wished you hadn’t remembered.

You weren't sure how you were still able to feel Sanji's love. But here you were.

An anomaly that you were. 

Guess that shows how deep your love truly was rooted.

How could you have allowed yourself to forget?

The drive to Sanji’s apartment was quiet, opting to not play music or turn the radio on so that you could think clearly with your new (re) developed emotions.

Pulling up to the driveway, you step out of your car. The jacket you have on trapping your heat from the cold winds of the night. 

The few steps to the front door felt like a lifetime. The moonlight provided a little comfort to your restless self.

Exhaling, you bring your hand to knock at the door, a small part of you hoping Sanji wasn’t home so you could go home and pretend like nothing happened.

The door swings open revealing Sanji. His eyes were wide like he couldn’t believe you were standing in front of him.

“Hey…can I come in?” you look up at him expectantly.

“Yeah, yeah come in.” Sending him a quick smile you walk past him and into the living room. 

He shuts the door and faces you, you turn and finally get a good look at him in the light. 

He looked worse for wear, his eyes had bags under them, a sign he hadn’t been sleeping if at all. Whether that was because of your argument or his condition, you didn't know. One hand was in his pocket and the other was fiddling with his handkerchief. 

“How are you…” signaling your hand at him, “I mean physically, how are you? What stage?”

He looks away, “well…I’m still living,” he chuckles quietly.

You sigh. 

God the two of you were truly messed up.

“It all came back.” 

“What?” he questions.

Your eyes begin to glaze over, “My memories, everything.” you wet your lips, “All of it, Sanji.”

“It just-all came back…on top of our argument, of you telling me you loved me.” Tears fell down your cheeks. “Of how I felt when you were-when you were with Pudding.”

He says your name.

“And I hated it, I hated remembering how I felt, Sanji. I remember pitying myself, wondering what I had done wrong, why you hadn’t loved me anymore,” he says your name again, “but I also remembered how I felt loving you.” you look up at him with your tear-streaked face.

“And I will never regret loving you, not then, definitely not now. I also don’t regret forgetting, because I understand why I did it. I loved you enough to be able to let you go. To be able to know you’ll live your life happily, whether that’s with me or someone else. I didn’t care. Just that you were happy.” 

“But I wasn’t-”

You cut him off, “I knew you didn't love me how I loved you, but I still knew you cared. So if I had died, even from death, I would have hated myself for hurting you. So I chose to forget.” you wipe your cheek, “I just wish you had never gotten that godforsaken thing as well.”

“Sanji I…I love you wholeheartedly. You encompass my entire existence. I live for you. Even now, when I didn't remember how I felt for you. It was there. My love for you was still inside. And it always will be. I think even if you hadn’t told me you loved me now, I would have remembered anyway. Simply because that’s who I am, I am my love for you, you consume my entire soul.” You probably looked like a mess.

“You look beautiful.” Did you say that out loud?

You smile softly, “So when you admitted that you loved me, that I was inadvertently hurting you, I couldn’t take it. I had been the monster I sought to eliminate. So I pushed you away.” you sigh, “I pushed you away because I didn't want to go through the same pain again. I was selfish if you had just done the surgery, I'd be able to forget about this again and you wouldn't even remember.” you walk toward Sanji. “I’ve learned that I can’t run away from you anymore. And I’ve realized that I don’t want to lose you again.” 

“So let me save you.”

Sanji’s face was red, his eyes were blurry with tears, his fist clenching his handkerchief filled with petals and blooms.

“I’m so sorry.” Sanji’s voice trembles, “I am so sorry, I caused you so much pain, if I could take it back I would. And I don’t even deserve you, I’m not worthy of your love, but if you allow me, let me make it up.” 

You close the gap between the two of you and pull his lips toward your own. They’re slightly chapped and both of your guy’s faces are wet but you don’t care. You feel his fingers carding through your hair, pulling you deeper. 

This kiss was different from any others before, this one was filled with desire and want but it was also filled with joy and love.

You were finally happy.

You pull away first, breathing heavily and your face flushed, “You already are.” 

“I love you so much, please never forget.” you wipe a stray tear, cradling his face. 

You want to commit this memory in your brain. No more forgetting, no more letting go. To make sure that for the night, no cough was to be heard, no petal was to be hidden, 

just two lovers finally with one another, forever.

[utilitycaster]

I’ve previously covered the issue of people making false accusations that the fandom’s opinions are based in bigotry. Let’s talk about a related issue: the impossible-to-prove hypothetical.

The statement that the fandom would support the statement that the strong will survive and the weak will be remade if the Wildmother said it is an example of this. She didn’t say that, and Ka’Mort did, so even if she were to say it in the future I think most people would recognize that the problem is the message, not the person delivering it. I don’t think the claim the fandom would blindly support the Wildmother if she said something with such a fascist tinge is true, though I certainly can't confirm it (which again, may be the goal of those who make this sort of unprovable claim). More importantly, it attempts, poorly, to sidestep the actual critique: that saying the strong will survive a cataclysmic change and the weak will be "remade" is extremely in line with real world far-right groups talk about ethnic cleansing, and that Ashton seems to have no issue with vast power differentials and immortal beings who have previously aligned themselves with the gods and intended the destruction of mortals (and from EXU Calamity we know this is not merely a history written by the victors) as long as it's the power he can access. This isn't about breaking thrones: it's a coup, not a revolution.

This sort of...I can't call it an argument, because it's not one, but I suppose it is an attempt at one - often goes unchallenged because there’s no way to debunk it, even though it's ultimately a "what if the world were made of pudding." If canon were different, it sure would be different. Is the problem that the statement "If they're strong, they will. If not, they'll be remade into something stronger" in response to the question of whether mortals will survive a massive upheaval is one with concerning implications? If so, then why endorse it when Ka'Mort says it? If not, then why would it be a problem if the Wildmother had said it instead? Notice how the person making this "argument" actually does exactly what they're accusing the fandom of doing. They are clearly basing their judgment not on whether or not this is a problematic statement, but rather either the source of said statement, or the person to whom it's being said.

The "look at Ashton’s shoelaces" argument is the same exact problem - it doesn’t address the actual issue of "Ashton seems to be receptive to the idea of the elimination of 'weak' mortals." Indeed, it strengthens the counterargument, that many punks are more concerned with aesthetics and appearance than actual support, and that the fans invoking the fact that Ashton is a punk, or disabled, or nonbinary are focusing only on what they are (with an unstated assumption that these identities automatically lend them validity, which they do not) and not what they do or believe.

The problem is what they are doing and believing. Who they are is not important; what they are doing is. I don't want to make a call re: stupidity or malice here, but if the former, if you cannot understand the point of contention, you are not qualified to engage in this discussion, and if the latter, well, no use listening to a bad faith argument.

[hollowtones]

first yiik impressions?

Hi. Thanks for your message. I've been thinking about this for days. I wrote paragraphs. Here you go!

Everyone talks up how the game is bad, but I've never looked into it much myself, so I went in with an expectation along the lines of "people whose opinions I often agree with think it was an awful mess, I'll likely think something similar". Expectations were low. Even then I wasn't really ready.

"YIIK" is a game of tedium. I don't think it's a game about tedium, that's something different (though it could be, if it was a different video game altogether; "what if the world was made of pudding" etc). To some degree I think the tedium is by design but I'm not really sure what it's in service of.

I don't think tedium in a video game is a bad thing. "Morrowind" and "Breath of the Wild" are two video games I like very much, and some of my favourite memories of those games are of slowly wandering through empty expanses, or having to suddenly deal with equipment degrading or supplies dwindling because I forgot to prepare. Moments like that feel thoughtful! They're interesting moments of reprieve or of tension that feel thoughtfully and intentionally designed! "YIIK" feels like trudging through chest-deep molasses so it can shout "hey did you know you're stuck in my molasses right now? that's weird, why are you stuck in my molasses right now? did you notice?" directly into your ear.

You'll notice this is a pattern.

Combat is turn-based and involves completing little minigames, timing button prompts or hitting targets or some such. It's a cute idea that wears out its welcome when you start realizing how long every single one takes to resolve, especially when you have multiple party members, and sometimes multiple enemies (I'm told this part specifically gets more egregious as the game goes on). I don't think it's awful or unsalvageable but I'm not super into it as of the point we're at.

This is a pattern.

Leveling up is a manual process that you have to unlock, and it involves going to a save point (any save point? we didn't check), to enter the Mind Dungeon, to enter the actual Mind Dungeon, to walk down a set of stairs and enter individual doors one-by-one, so that you can choose how you want to allocate stat increases, so that you can walk down a different set of stairs to commit your choices and spend your banked experience to level up. I think "you can only power up at specific points / times / locations" and the granularity of stat growth are interesting ideas, and the environment they made for it are a charming idea, and I don't think it needed to be a "Hotel Mario" level that you had to slowly walk through. It could have been a menu. They could have used the resources for a nice background or backdrop for a menu that accomplishes the same thing.

This is a pattern.

I haven't really mentioned anything about the story or writing yet. The protagonist's name is Alex and he's a very self-important nerdy misanthropic dickhead white man (a very specific kind of guy that I've definitely met at least once or twice) who is obsessed with a paranormal message board populated by people like him and desperate to find out more about the disappearance of a woman he witnessed. (The woman & her disappearance are based on the real life death of Elisa Lam & aren't handled with a whole lot of tact, IMO, but other people have put this into better words than I can right now. It sucks. It keeps coming up and it makes me bristle every time.) Alex is a bad person. I know he is. You know he is. The game knows he is. I've seen some reviews say a negative point of the game is "the main characters aren't likeable", which I don't really get, because that's the point of the characters, as far as I can tell. The issue, then, is how much time the game takes to exposit at you how bad the characters are. It's exhausting. Every time Alex has a monologue, it feels like it sums up to 10 minutes of "I am a bad person. I am a bad person. Alex is a bad person. This character is a bad person. Do you get it? He's a bad person. Alex is a bad person. Do you understand yet, player? Alex is a bad person. You should know that he's a bad person. Do you get it?"

This is a pattern.

(I don't know how interested I am in bringing up the game's lead writer right now, if at all, but there's a well-known anecdote where he talks about wanting to write a story about a bad person who is forced to grapple with himself and do better, and how the reason why his game wasn't well-received was because people who play video games didn't get it & weren't ready for a story like that. I dunno. I can understand being upset about negative reception to something you poured time and sweat into, and saying something hasty because of it. "Final Fantasy 4" is a beloved RPG classic, though, and "Disco Elysium" came out the same year to overwhelming praise. I haven't played either of these yet, though, so I'll admit maybe I'm off the mark here.)

The characters we've met so far (i.e. the ones that aren't unnamed NPCs) are… well. There's a smarmy younger kid who idolizes(?) Alex & also made the aforementioned paranormal website. So far it seems like he mostly exists to go "hey fuck you Alex, you dickhead" and immediately say something even more insensitive. There's the insensitive based-on-a-real=ass-dead-woman elevator woman, who immediately disappeared from the narrative while still being an essential part of the narrative. There was a dead(?) robot in a bedroom, who had a choir of ominous hooded people monologue about how weird and sad and strange and uncanny the scene is. What the!? There's a woman who works at the arcade and has Powers. Her design's cute. (I feel like, generally, the game's visuals are Fine. The audio, too. That all ranges from Just Fine to Surprisingly Neat. I don't really have much issue with those aspects of the game, but I don't have much to say about them either.) Alex and Kid Whose Name I Didn't Care To Remember are constantly very uncomfortable to her, because she's a woman and because she isn't white, in the 15 or so minutes we've seen her on-screen, and she gets to tell them off, but then immediately kind of goes "well whatever I can smile and put up with this and hang out with you". It feels misogynistic. I know to some degree Alex is misogynistic on purpose, because the game is bludgeoning your skull in and yelling "ALEX IS SHITTY TO WOMEN! AND PEOPLE OF COLOUR! DO YOU GET IT? HE'S SELF ABSORBED IN A SHITTY WAY! DO YOU GET IT, PLAYER? YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ALEX SUCKS ASS YET? MAYBE 10 MORE MINUTES OF THIS WILL MAKE IT CLICK?" But for a woman of colour (the only one we've seen so far who isn't Probably Just Dead) to finally tell him off for being a shithead, only to turn around and go "well it's ok, you're cool now, let's hang out now because it's narratively convenient and you're the protagonist" is pretty damn egregious!

This is a pattern.

Writing in general feels stilted and long-winded. Most of the main characters feel like they don't talk like people do. Alex gets to feel like a person but that's mostly because he gets to talk to himself so damn much. Most of his monologues feel like overly flowery prose, like someone padded it out with identical adjectives to meet a school essay word count. There's an interesting idea or premise or setpiece every now and then. There's a spark. A glint of something compelling. Every single time this has happened so far I find it immediately snuffed out by an over-blown "oh my god!!!!!!! how weird!!!!!!', or a very long plot dump, or a Joss Whedon-ass quip. There can be no small moment of joy. No story element or visual element can stand on its own legs. There can be no room for ideas to breathe. No space for the player to wonder, to dream, to play in the space. The narrative is compelled to suffocate iself on itself, to take up all space, to swallow itself whole in its making. One very minor (so far?) side character has some interesting dialogue in this one dream world, and I think "oh that's neat", and then I learn they're lines taken wholesale from a book (and I think that's fine, reference is fine, but I have a bit of a chuckle over the fact that this character is the reason why the game has a giant REFERENCES option in the main menu). The literal first minute of the game is a bird telling you "oh my god, the title of this game, right? why'd they spell it like that? so fucking dumb, am I right!" It feels insecure. It reads like the writing has no confidence in itself. It has to make a comment about how silly and video-gamey it is, roll its eyes at itself, mock itself for the thing it's doing while continuing to do it without addressing it or discussing it or doing anything with it.

This is a pattern.

There's a specific part of "YIIK", at this early point in the game (we're only around the start[?] of chapter 2), that feels emblematic of the thing as a whole up to this point. Alex is getting phone calls from a stranger. They're confusing and weird and sound a little like something you might hear in a dream. They make references to some shared past, some childhood, some understanding of Alex, or maybe of you, the player. They've come up a few times. Every single time, I'm left thinking about what it could mean, how it fits in with everything we've seen so far & what the game seems to be talking about, with regards to connecting to other people and to yourself. It's a neat little thing. It's a neat idea. I'm charmed by it. As much as my thoughts on this game are largely negative, I still try to look at it fairly, to understand it, to talk about it, to let myself be surprised by it. As soon as I find myself thinking about this, my thoughts are immediately drowned out by Alex telling me how weird the phone call is, how random and uncanny and dumb this is, and how he's rolling his proverbial eyes about it, in spite of all the other paranormal happenings around him, for another period of Just Too Long. And I am sapped of all strength and I crumble to dust.

I'm genuinely transfixed. I'm transfixed! Maybe the fact that I wrote Paragraphs about the 4-or-5 hours I've seen of the game can tell you as much, even if you skip everything I wrote in them.

I can't wait to see more.

This, too, is a pattern.

[danaewrites]

you with the dark curls (you with the watercolor eyes)

part i: and while you were asleep, i was surely awake

james potter x reader // read it on AO3

word count: 2.8k

summary: “Falling in love with your best friend was never a good idea, but you’d managed to do the idiot thing anyway, carrying a torch for a boy who would never look past Lily’s emerald eyes to see the watercolor ones that had always been by his side.”

tags: best friends to lovers, angst with a happy ending, based on the song "dear arkansas daughter" by lady lamb, fem!reader

author's notes: hii y'all, sorry for not posting in a year :P my only excuse is that i didn't feel like taking the energy to actually write out my story ideas. also perfectionism. anyway i somehow wrote this in two hours while procrastinating my college app essays and have plans to make this a multi-chapter fic despite intending to write an angsty oneshot request for a completely different fandom (i see you, beloved anons, and i raise you this completely unrelated fic <3)… the brain of a writer works in mysterious ways.

read it all here: part i, part ii, part iii (coming soon!)

You were in love with James Potter.

It was a fact of life, just like how the sky was blue, or that his favorite dessert was treacle tart, or that you were the only person he’d ever let see him cry besides his mother. You’d loved him from the moment you met him on the train to Hogwarts as a shy, anxious muggleborn unsure of the new world of magic and prejudice you’d been thrown into without so much as a warning. He hadn’t cared at all about your blood status- didn’t even think to ask about it. He had launched himself into your compartment and began talking at you a mile a minute, beaming with every tooth showing once he found out you were hoping to get into Gryffindor, his hazel eyes alight with the joy of making a new friend. And friends indeed you had become; you were proud to remember that you’d known him before Sirius or Remus or Peter did, though it took only an instant after the Sorting for him to become best mates with the rest of them, too.

You and James were inseparable from that moment on, giggling at Professor Binns’ failure to notice Sirius’ antics in the back of class and reassuring each other when home seemed too far away for comfort. He stole sweets from the Slytherin table for you at meals, and you covered for him when the teachers almost caught him pranking Snape– after all, who would believe that sweet, innocent Y/n would ever be involved in such shenanigans? The soft-spoken demeanor and love of everything pastel you’d thought would eventually oust you from the close-knit Gryffindor boys’ group proved to be quite the useful asset when affirming their ‘innocence’.

Not that they only wanted you around because you were helpful, of course. You had quite the talent for exaggerating stories until even Sirius fell off his seat laughing in disbelief, and your creative mind made for some glorious pranks and entertaining mistakes. Peter would blush for an hour straight if anyone mentioned The Great Plum Pudding Incident of Christmas 1974, all thanks to your clever meddling. And Remus– well, he was eternally grateful for your mother-henning during the worst of his moon cycles. You’d been the first to figure out his “furry little problem”, and upon learning that enjoying chocolate was his favorite method of escapism, showed up every month without fail with an armful of Honeydukes sweets. The little ways in which you loved each Marauder meant the world to them. They would do anything to protect you and make sure you were okay, James most of all. You often teased James that he was more bodyguard than friend, with his deep glares at too-forward Hufflepuff boys masking the big softie you knew he was underneath. You remembered fondly the summer days he spent chasing you around your house, scaring your mother half to death with his colander-and-pot ‘armor’ as he declared that as a chivalrous knight, he was meant to save Princess Y/n from the terrible Acromantula King. Privately, you thought James had a few too many Arthurian legends for bedtime stories as a child, but what could you do?

Even now, as sixth years, the bond between you and James never changed, your love for him ever-growing. Your heart melted every time you glanced over your shoulder in the hallway, only to find him chatting softly with a sniffling first-year and guiding them to Professor Sprout’s office for a hot cuppa and a biscuit. You cheered at his Quidditch victories and were euphorically lifted up onto his broad shoulders afterward, whooping as he galavanted through the common room in celebration. You were there when he needed a shoulder to cry on when his grandfather died, softly stroking his hair as he fell asleep in your lap with tear tracks still running down his face. And he adored you in return– braiding your hair while you worked on Herbology essays, racing you on his beloved broom when you stayed with him during the summer, distracting you from your rants about Slughorn’s unfair grading with a trip to the kitchens and a blissfully soft blanket.

James was your lifeline and you his– and nothing in the world could change that.

Except, perhaps, one tiny little complication. A complication with vibrant red hair, sparkling green eyes, and a natural affinity for Potions. A complication that had sparked your jealousy since the first time you noticed James glancing dreamily at Lily Evans in second year Transfiguration, jealousy that had only gotten worse with his grand declarations of love every week. He’d begun to announce his affection for the muggleborn to anyone who would listen in third year, and it didn’t stop there. No, when James Potter loved someone, he loved hard, and that meant that you had to watch as beautiful bouquets appeared on Lily’s nightstand nightly while the rest of the girls in your dorm whispered and swooned. You were a wallflower when he sighed about how lovely her skin was and how bloody talented she was at everything she did during one of your late-night chats in the common room, curling in on yourself with every word he spoke. When he asked her to Hogsmeade the first time (and the second, and the third, and the fiftieth), you observed as she rolled her eyes and shoved past him, despite the small smile on her face.

It wasn’t that Lily wasn’t smart or pretty or talented– far from it. She deserved every good Potions grade she got, and even the pureblood Slytherins begrudgingly noted how she was the darling of Hogwarts society. But you thought that the way she treated your best friend, refusing his advances quite harshly but sending him flirtatious glances and making a show of wearing his flowers in her hair, was rather unkind and misleading. She had James wrapped around her little finger and didn’t seem to want to let go of his attention anytime soon, despite Snape’s protests about how much time he was spending with her. You disliked Severus, but didn’t think he deserved Lily’s bad treatment either. Sometimes you’d see him staring at James and Lily deep in conversation, and shoot him a glance of communal disappointment– before realizing who you were sharing the moment with and resuming an expression of disgust, at least.

At first, you ignored your growing angst about his new obsession, chalking it up to sleep deprivation, stress over your upcoming exams, and even your monthly. But when you started to run out of excuses for the despair slowly overtaking your heart and flashes of his dark curls began to appear in your sweetest dreams, you were forced to admit that your feelings for James ran much deeper than a platonic friendship. From the way he spun you around in the snow to the way he snorted at Remus’ awful puns, you were head-over-heels smitten with your best friend.

The way he’d filled out since the end of fourth year hadn’t escaped your notice, either; you were pretty sure that his pecs should be considered a traffic hazard, with the way you’d fallen flat on your face after seeing him shirtless after a match. He’d rushed over to clean up every one of your injuries, of course, with a touch so gentle it released a whole menagerie of butterflies in your stomach. You’d barely managed to mumble a coherent thank-you before sprinting to take a very cold shower and scream into your pillow with embarrassment. How on earth did Lily Evans even think around him?!

Alas, you’d read your fair share of romance novels, and you knew how this story would end. Falling in love with your best friend was never a good idea, but you’d managed to do the idiot thing anyway, carrying a torch for a boy who would never look past Lily’s emerald eyes to see the watercolor ones that had always been by his side.

That was the state Sirius found you in, broody and lost in thought in a quiet corner of the library. He grinned rakishly, planting a well-polished boot on a nearby chair and leaning over to tap your forehead. “Lots going on in there today, huh?”

You snapped out of your daze and smiled sheepishly up at him. “Sorry, Siri, didn’t mean to ignore you. Just, er, thinking about my Potions essay, do you know how many uses there are for mandelwort? Quite fascinating plants, hones–”

Sirius winced and slid back far across the table. “Oh, no, you are not discussing horrid Potions work with me today when there are so many other wonderful topics.” He gestured to a table of swooning fifth-years gazing dreamily at his backside. “For example, those lovely ladies,” he crooned, sending an exaggerated wink towards them and smirking when they sighed.

You wrinkled your nose and scoffed. “Oh, please, as if I haven’t heard enough about your conquests already. I’m already scarred for life from your stories about that Belgium Veela, let alone the muggle sailor you nearly broke the Statute of Secrecy for.”

He waved a hand, dismissing your allegations of the mental injury caused by his excruciating attention to sordid detail when slightly tipsy in the common room. You made a mental note to charm his shampoo to turn his hair bright lavender for the next week for that little snub. Although, being Sirius, he’d probably just use it as an excuse to sway the rest of the Hogwarts population into going to Hogsmeade with him. “Ah, but darling Y/n, that’s what I’m here for!” He furrowed his brow and stroked his chin in mock consideration. “However, I can’t seem to recall a time when you–” here he poked you in the cheek for emphasis– “confessed to a little tete-a-tete in the hallway. Ever. Which means we have a problem,” he grinned.

You felt rather like prey being hunted for sport. “That would be because I’m not interested in anyone, you dolt!” Crossing your arms, you turned your face back towards your homework. Maybe if you denied romantic interest for long enough, Sirius would leave you alone and go flounce off to flirt with the noisy table of fourth years. “Anyway, I heard Marlene’s been circling Dorcas like a lovesick pigeon lately, so perhaps you should be putting your matchmaking efforts to her benefit instead.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “C’mon doll, I know you weren’t actually thinking about Potions when I arrived. Who’s the lead actor in those fantasies, mm?” He snatched up your favorite pink gel pen, twirling around his fingers as he looked at you expectantly.

Drat. He wouldn’t be so easily distracted with the latest gossip. You opened your mouth to protest yet again when you caught a flash of red over Sirius’ artfully tousled locks. You watched as James strode up to the alcove where Lily and her friends were studying, transfigured a sheet of parchment into a butterfly clip and held it out to her with a grin. Her laughter pealed out through the library as she let him lean over her shoulder to place it in her hair. He seemed oblivious to the titters of the girls around him while he gazed at Lily adoringly. You felt your heart clench as you recognized the expression on his face; you’d seen it on your own in the mirror after spending time with James, after all. And it seemed like maybe Lily was finally starting to be swayed into accepting his starry-eyed proposals, if the pretty blush on her cheeks was anything to go by.

Sirius tracked your despairing gaze to the couple and immediately paled in realization. “Oh, shit.”

Shit, indeed. Your face turned bright red as you scrambled to pack your bag and leave the area as fast as you possibly could, not sure how you could face Sirius knowing your deepest secret now. The boy had no self-control, fueling the Hogwarts gossip mill with the wild stories he overheard, and he had even less discretion when confessing things to his friends around the common room fire. It’s no wonder he wound up in Gryffindor, you thought miserably. There’s no way he’d be able to keep a secret like the rest of the Slytherins, and definitely not from James. It would only be a matter of time before he let it slip about your feelings to the rest of the Marauders, and— well, you’d just have to face losing your best friend for good once he heard.

Sirius broke your train of thought by wrapping his hands around yours, looking up at you with concern. “Hey, doll, wait— I didn’t know—“

You sniffed and wiped the tears threatening to fall from your eyes away fiercely. “That’s exactly it, Sirius, you didn’t know because you won’t be able to keep it from James.”

He looked guiltily down at the table. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a bit of a git with keeping things private lately, yeah?”

You nodded, covering your face with your hands. Sirius reached out, placing them back down on the table, and softly said, “Listen, I shouldn’t have pried so hard. You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.” He broke off, pausing to scramble for a handkerchief from his bag to wipe off your rapidly disintegrating mascara. “And I promise not to breathe a word of this to James,” he finished.

You looked up at him, startled. “Are you serious?” At his answering grin, you groaned. “Don’t answer that. But really, are you sure that you’ll be able to resist telling him everything?” You fiddled with the now-soiled handkerchief and whispered, “You two are so close, I don’t want to drive you apart. If James thought you were hiding something important from him, it would destroy him,” you sniffed.

He frowned. “Doll, you know you’re just as important as James is to me, right?” At your answering slump, his jaw clenched and he continued on with more intensity. “You’re like my sister, Y/n, there’s nothing you could do to make me care for you less. Especially not asking for your privacy. Clearly, I haven’t been treating you as well as you deserve if you doubt that.”

He walked around and took a seat in the armchair next to you, pulling you in to lean on his shoulder. “And I can be discreet, you know. I might not show it often, but growing up in a family of the most intensely secretive purebloods ever to exist taught me a few things.” You glanced at him doubtfully, the tiny quirk of your mouth the only sign that you were joking. “Hey, I’m being serious!” He laughed, then quieted suddenly. “This thing with James— you really love him, don’t you?”

You gave him an exasperated look out of the corner of your eye. Sirius released a breath and gazed deeply into the space in front of him. “Hey, we’ll figure this out together, okay?” He poked you in the side. “If he’s too focused on the smell of Evans’ hair or whatever to see that he already has the perfect girl in front of him, he’s not as smart as you think he is.” You giggled slightly, his words warming you. Sirius smiled, happy to see you cheering up a bit.

“Why don’t we go raid the kitchens? The coolest person I know once told me that elf-crafted mint chocolate chip ice cream is the best way to heal a broken heart,” he teased. You groaned, remembering how you’d told him that as a last resort to get him to stop complaining about how he missed his sailor ex-boyfriend every time you two went to Hogsmeade. At least your random advice wound up benefiting you now, you thought as you collected the last of your stationery and exited the library.

Neither you nor Sirius saw how James watched you smile up at Sirius as you walked away, holding his arm and laughing loudly at something he muttered. Anna Dumotier, a Hufflepuff fifth-year and one of Lily’s friends, would remember later that night how he seemed to tune out Lily’s voice for a moment and stared at the doors to the library with a strange expression on his face. His brows were furrowed like he was trying to decipher the answer to an unfamiliar puzzle, his eyes widened with confusion and a glint of something she could only identify as jealousy before Lily brought him back to the conversation with a graceful flip of her hair. But no— she shook her head— that couldn’t be right. What could James possibly be jealous of when he finally had the girl of his dreams in his arms?

taglist: @magpiencrow @that-kid143 @lilly-aliyah @itmustbegreattobecalledtheitgirl

comment if you'd like to be tagged for any of my works/fandoms in the future! :)

read on: part ii

[hwashotcheeto]

𝑩𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅'𝒔 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 (9)

Best Friend's Mother Masterlist

Chapter: Nine

Milf!Park Seonghwa X gn!reader

Summary: The Christmas party is finally here, and you get to meet the family. The good and the bad.

WC: 8k (I'm so sorry 😭)

CW: Fluff, party antics, all of the Ateez members are here, mentions of eating a lot of food, alcohol consumption (not done by the reader), angst, arguing, screaming, crying, comfort, hugs, kisses

AN: I knew this would be long but not THIS long, I'm so sorry about that, and I'm sorry this took so long, but it's finally here. 🥰

Disclaimer: The bio mom in this story is NOT based on anyone irl. Her character is made up and her name was chosen at random.

With that said, this might be a triggering chapter for some of you who have dealt with abusive parents, but that content is towards the end of the chapter. Please keep that in mind as you read.

With that being said, most of the chapter is still fun and fluffy, and as always, I hope you enjoy. 💜

Tag List: @hyunjinsjeans @malldreamprincess @unlikelysublimekryptonite @becauseilovedyou @kittkat44 @babyxhoiz @asleepylilcat @mxnsxngie @rxnexxi @mommahwa1117 @acciocriativity @anxiousskylar @h3arteyes4mingi @jus2passtime @asjkdk @soso59love-blog @i-love-ateez @cb97s-laptop

Wooyoung came to your side at the decorative table that Seonghwa had by the Christmas tree, carrying a plastic bag of assorted candies. Some of them were the usual Christmas themed ones, like Christmas Hershey kisses and M&Ms. But there were a few you didn’t recognize. 

You pulled out a box that had a small tray of what looked like Neapolitan ice cream on it. Next to it was a kid with a green hat eating some of it. The word “Duvalin” was written in big yellow letters above the candy and the kid.

“What’s this?” You asked, looking over the box again. Wooyoung looked up from where he was laying out the other candy in fancy glass plates and bowls. 

“Oh, Duvalin. It’s kinda like pudding, but thicker.” He took the box from you and opened it, offering one to you. “Here, try it.” 

You took the small tray from him and peeled off the plastic. Like the box, it had the three flavors of “pudding” laid next to each other. You were about to dive in when Wooyoung offered you a small stick. 

“If Eomma sees you eat it like that, he’ll have a heart attack.” 

You looked over Wooyoung’s shoulder, seeing Seonghwa in the kitchen working on setting the food up in the kitchen. He paid no mind to either of you, he was busy making sure everything was set up for when people would be arriving. 

(Even though they wouldn’t be here for another hour)

You still took the spoon from Wooyoung and scooped up a generous portion of the three flavors before you took a bite. And it tasted like Neopalitan ice cream, as you expected. But it was sweeter, and the chocolate tasted more like Nutella. 

Wooyoung went back to his chore when he saw you nod and continue to happily eat the candy. “My friend introduced me to that, and a few others.” 

“Do I know this friend?” You asked, going back for another scoop. 

“No, she’s from high school. She went to another college, so you’ve never met her.” 

“Is she coming to the party?” 

“I asked her.” Wooyoung poured the Christmas M&Ms into an intricate glass bowl before he put the lid on top. “But apparently she’s with her own family right now, and she said that they probably would let her leave.” 

You were befuddled at the idea of an adult visiting their family would suddenly have their rights revoked like that. But then you realized that your parents probably would’ve done the same to them if you still talked to them. 

“I’ll introduce you someday.” Wooyoung looked up at you and smiled. “You’d like her.” 

“Wooyoung!” Seonghwa called from the kitchen. “Please come here, I can’t hold all these things at once!” 

Wooyoung quickly ran off to help Seonghwa, and you were left there by the front door with your cup of Duvalin. You were surprised when you felt a little hurt that you weren’t asked to help. 

As you stood there slightly stunned, there was a knock at the door. 

You stared at the door like a deer in headlights for a few moments before you finally shook yourself. Just answer the door, you thought, but you couldn’t. You were stopped by questions you didn’t have answers to. Questions that needed to be answered. 

How did you introduce yourself? You and Seonghwa hadn’t discussed if you were going to tell his family that you were “together.” 

But if you didn’t tell them now, and just introduced yourself as Wooyoung’s friend, when would Seonghwa tell the others? How would they take it after knowing they’d been sold a lie? 

How would they accept the relationship at all? Would they? Would any of them approve of a relationship between someone much older and younger? 

What if- 

“Why are you frozen?” Wooyoung asked, walking past you to the door. You shook yourself out of your thoughts as he went to open the door. You did your best to swallow back the anxiety and put on your best fake smile. 

Then you remembered your cup of Duvalin, and you quickly put it aside on the candy table. 

Wooyoung pulled open the door, and his eyes lit up with stars. “Hongjoong!” He threw his arms around the man standing there, who returned the hug with one arm, a warm smile on his lips. 

“Hi Young-ah,” he said, and his voice was higher than you expected, but he sounded safe. Even just from that, you knew this man was safe. 

Wooyoung pulled back and led Hongjoong into the house, where he stopped and smiled at you. Now you got a better look at the older man, who wasn’t much taller than Wooyoung. 

He wore a flowy white shirt and black dress pants underneath a brown fur coat. The top of his shirt left open to show off a little bit of his chest. His blond hair was combed back away from his face, but there were a few strands left out to frame his face. 

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t blush a little. 

“I’ve never seen you before,” Hongjoong said as he slipped his shoes off, looking at you as he spoke. Anxiety pumped inside you as you tried to figure out the correct words to introduce yourself. 

“Oh, I’m Wooyoung’s friend,” you said simply, adding your name afterwards, flashing the best smile you could. Hongjoong nodded as he slid the coat off his shoulders, a warm smile still on his face. His comfort and ease made you relax a little. 

“I’m Hongjoong.”He bowed to you, which left you a little confused before you remembered to return the gesture. Hongjoong came back up and smiled at you. “We’ll talk more in a moment, I just need to talk to Seonghwa first.” He turned to Wooyoung the next second. “Is he in the kitchen?” 

“Yeah, he’s dealing with the food.” Wooyoung was holding onto Hongjoong’s coat, looking for the moment he could yank it away. You bit your lip to keep the laughter in. 

Hongjoong caught it too and smiled, pulling away the coat. “Thank you, I’ll go talk to him.” Wooyoung pouted as he watched Hongjoong hang his coat up in the closet before he went to the kitchen. 

“I wanted to do that,” he whined, and you finally laughed. 

“It’s a jacket, Woo.” 

“And I wanna steal it.” 

“Good luck with that!” Hongjoong called from the kitchen. Both you and Wooyoung burst into laughter at that. 

Not long later, you and Wooyoung were setting out appetizers on the dining table when there was another knock on the door. Wooyoung ran over to open the door again, and there were two men instead of one this time. 

The blond one was only slightly taller than the brown haired one. They were dressed similarly to Hongjoong, but they wore knitted sweaters instead. The blond’s was cream colored, and the brown haired one’s was black. 

They both looked up at you and smiled. “Wooyoung, who’s this?” The blond one asked, motioning to you. Wooyoung looked over his shoulder and waved you over, to which you smiled back as you walked over. Wooyoung put his hand on your shoulder as you stood next to him. 

“This is my friend, they came with me this year.” 

“You’re not spending Christmas with your family?” The brown haired one asked, sliding his coat off. The blond haired one took it and started putting both their coats away, but not without a disapproving look. Wooyoung’s hand tightened on your shoulder. 

You panicked for a moment, because you expected this question, but you weren’t sure how to answer it. You didn’t need to tell all Seonghwa’s friends all the reasons why you didn’t talk with your parents, but you knew some people would still press for answers. 

But what came out was simple and to the point: 

“No, I’ve been with Wooyoung and Seonghwa since Winter Break started.” 

The brown haired one looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but the blond grabbed his hand and squeezed, giving you a sweet smile. “Well, we’re glad to have you.” You smiled back and nodded in thanks. “I’m Yunho, this is Mingi.” 

Mingi smiled now and nodded too. “Or you can just call us “uncle”, since that’s what Wooyoung calls us.” 

Looking at the two men, they looked nothing like Seonghwa, and Wooyoung looked nothing like them. You deduced that they were uncles in the “friends with your parents” way. You just nodded, knowing you very well might forget their names. 

Your eyes drifted down and you noticed a band of gold on Mingi’s left hand. Your eyes flicked back to the men’s joined hands and saw a matching one on Yunho’s finger. 

To be honest, you could sense it from the moment you saw them. 

“Eomma’s in the kitchen,” Wooyoung blurted, breaking the short silence. 

“Alright, we’ll go see him,” Yunho said as he smiled at Wooyoung, ruffling his dark hair. He added a short sentence in Korean as he and Mingi made their way to the kitchen, which made Wooyoung shoot something back as he laughed. 

“What was that?” You asked as Wooyoung turned back to you. 

“He told me to behave and not drive Eomma crazy.” 

“And you said?” 

“I said no promises.” 

“I don’t expect any less from you.” 

You both burst into laughter all over again. The four men in the kitchen couldn’t help but smile at the lovely sound. 

“Wooyoung’s never brought a friend home for this long,” Mingi said as he leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms. “Are you sure they’re “just a friend”, or are they more?” 

Seonghwa bit the inside of his cheek, knowing the obvious answer, but he wasn’t ready to tell his friends he was involved with someone about half his age. Even though Wooyoung was okay with it, the relationship itself was still looked down on. 

His friends hadn’t judged his relationships, his lifestyle, the way he dressed, or his job. His friends had been incredibly supportive of him, and Wooyoung too. 

But he wasn’t ready to tell people yet. 

“No, those two aren’t together,” Seonghwa said, leaning on the kitchen island on his arms. 

“How are you so sure?” 

“Because Wooyoung wouldn’t be able to keep it hidden.” 

The four men laughed to themselves. But with that revelation, anxiety prickled across Seonghwa’s skin. Hopefully Wooyoung wouldn’t accidentally let anything slip about you and him. 

“He can’t keep secrets to save his life,” Hongjoong added, leaning back on the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. “Once when we were still dating, I told Wooyoung I had a surprise for Seonghwa, and we hardly made it five minutes before Wooyoung said something.”  

“Did he outright say it?” Yunho asked, leaning against the counter next to the sink. Mingi was next to him, his arm around the other’s waist. 

“No, he didn’t directly tell him, but it was obvious enough that Seonghwa figured it out.” 

Seonghwa smiled as he thought about it. Hongjoong had surprised him with a date night, where they’d go to a restaurant and then the newest Star Wars movie at the time. 

Wooyoung, who was coming with, couldn’t stop talking about the movie for the rest of the time between when he got home with Hongjoong and the time Seonghwa got his surprise. 

Hongjoong stopped telling Wooyoung his plans for surprises after that. 

“I still enjoyed it,” Seonghwa smiled at Hongjoong, to which Hongjoong returned it. 

Sometimes, Seonghwa considered trying again. Opening the door back up and seeing if they could make it work one more time. 

But Hongjoong had found a girlfriend a year prior. And now Seonghwa had you. 

The four looked towards the living room when they heard Wooyoung’s voice again, along with a few new ones. Seonghwa stood up and excused himself to go see Wooyoung’s friends, two of whom he knew already. 

But as Seonghwa reached the front door, he met the one he was unfamiliar with. He was taller than Wooyoung by a few inches, with broad shoulders and massive arms. He stretched out the material of his dress shirt thin when he put his arms around Wooyoung to hug him. 

He had dark, slicked back hair, with sharp facial features, and eyes that could kill. 

Honestly, he was incredibly intimidating. 

But then he watched you and Wooyoung take turns hugging him, and all the intimidation melted away. He spoke brightly, with his dark eyes turning to little slits when he smiled, and little dimples on his cheeks. 

“Wooyoung, who’s this?” Seonghwa asked as he walked up to his son. 

You looked up and ducked out to talk to Yeosang and Jongho as they were putting away their coats, but all of you were watching the three of them out of the corner of your eye. 

“Do you think he knows?” Jongho whispered, in reference to Seonghwa knowing about Wooyoung and San. 

“How could he not?” Yeosang whispered back, side eyeing the two boys. “It’s not like they’re very good at keeping the ‘secret’.” 

You and Yeosang tried to stifle the giggle that threatened to come out by covering your mouths, but Wooyoung heard it, and shot you both a dirty glare before he turned back to Seonghwa with a smile.

“Eomma, this is San. San, this is my mom, Seonghwa.” San smiled brightly at Seonghwa, his eyes turning to slits again before he gave a small bow. Seonghwa returned it, as he began to see his son’s taste more and more. 

And he was approving of the man he chose. 

“Thank you for letting us come to the party,” San said as he came back up. 

“Of course, you’re always welcome here.” Seonghwa put his hand on San’s shoulder, and that was the moment that San realized that Seonghwa knew. 

As if Seonghwa couldn’t tell from how San’s arm was still around Wooyoung’s waist, or how Wooyoung had his arm on San’s shoulder. The way Wooyoung looked at San with stars in his eyes and the sweetest smile. 

“I trust you with my son,” he said softly before he pulled back. 

Wooyoung’s eyes went wide before his face turned tomato red. San’s cheeks began to turn red and he looked away, his arm tightening around Wooyoung. Seonghwa still just smiled as you were giggling with Yeosang and Jongho by the door. 

The tension in the air disappeared. It was warm instead, as it should be on Christmas. 

And then Wooyoung interrupted. 

“How did you know?!” 

All of you burst into laughter. The three men in the kitchen were laughing too. 

With all the joy and laughter, with the happy arrival of your friends, with meeting the uncles, you managed to relax. In the comfort of your friends, everything seemed bright and happy. 

So much so that you almost forgot that the night was far from over. 

Seonghwa had excused himself to change into something more fitting for the party. And when he came back, you nearly fell to your knees. 

He wore a strapless, floor length, red velvet dress. The bodice was similar to a corset, with jewels over where the boning would be, and all over the waist line and top of the dress. The skirt was form fitting, hugging his body just right and showing off everything. 

He’d done his hair and makeup too, letting the dramatic looks out for once. He’d curled his hair, but put half of it into a ponytail, letting the rest fall free.

He’d worn red sparkly eyeshadow with large eyeliner wings, with glossy red lips to match and a little bit of pink on his cheeks. 

He looked at you with his eyes half closed and smiled softly before he went to greet some of the guests that had arrived when he was gone. 

You could’ve shattered the glass of the drink you were holding. 

You wanted nothing more than to grab him and hold him so tight, to kiss his stupid shiny lips and tear the gorgeous dress off his body. Wooyoung was giggling beside you as you loosened your death drip on your glass. 

“What are you laughing at?” you spat, looking at him instead. 

“You, idiot. You look like you’re about to explode.” 

You smacked his shoulder, which only made him giggle more. “Maybe I am,” you mumbled before you took a sip of your drink, 

Wooyoung had changed too, but he just wore a big blue and white striped sweater with nice pants. You were wearing something similar, valuing comfort over fashion tonight. Seeing Seonghwa’s outfit now, it felt like you both were underdressed. 

The party had been amazing otherwise. Wooyoung had introduced you to the other aunts, uncles, and cousins that had come to the party. Thankfully, most of them didn’t ask why you weren’t with your own family. 

Wooyoung dragged you along to talk to Hongjoong, Yunho, and Mingi as well, which you were hoping to do anyway. 

You hung onto Hongjoong’s every word as he talked about the many artists he’d worked with, the songs he produced, and he even let you and Wooyoung hear sneak peeks of some unreleased projects. 

Yunho and Mingi were both lawyers at the same firm, but they both insisted that they’d rather talk about anything else than their job on Christmas. So you talked about a great deal of things, and even eventually asked how they met each other. 

The two gave each other a smile before they looked back at you. “We were on opposite sides of one case,” Yunho began, with a storyteller type tone, far off and dreamy. “We ended up meeting each other after it was settled, and the rest is history.” 

“Who won the case?” Wooyoung asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to hear the answer again anyway. 

Yunho sighed as Mingi smiled proudly. “Mingi did.” 

Mingi reached over and squeezed his hand. “It wasn’t an easy win.” 

“Of course not, I worked my ass off for that case!” 

You and Wooyoung couldn’t help but devolve into giggles like little kids. 

But for most of the time, you stayed with San, Yeosang, and Jongho. You all naturally gravitated back towards each other when you were pulled away, so you all ended up sticking together. Laughing, yelling, messing with all of Wooyoung’s family, stealing the food. 

Then Seonghwa came back and nearly turned you into a puddle in front of everyone. 

You were trying to clear the redness from your face, Wooyoung still giggling beside you, when you heard a knock at the door. 

The part you’d forgotten about. The catch to everything. The rain for the parade. 

You almost didn’t hear it over the chatter of the party, but Wooyoung definitely heard it. His face instantly fell and body went rigid. 

You put your drink down and grabbed Wooyoung’s hand. He shook himself out of his frozen state to look at you, and you saw that scared little boy again. The same one from those weeks ago when he opened up to you about the villain who was on the other side of the door. 

You’d promised him many weeks ago that he wouldn’t be alone. You’d be by his side, you wouldn’t let him go through it alone. Especially not now. 

“I’ll go with you,” you said softly, squeezing his hand. Wooyoung squeezed your hand back. 

“Okay,” he mumbled, staring at the floor, his shoulders drooping, his hands growing slick. 

You knew this feeling all too well. This internal battle. This anxiety that threatened to consume you completely. You began to feel your heart pounding against your ribs. You were hoping you’d have more time before you had to confront something like this again. 

But you’d do it for Wooyoung. You’d shove your fear aside to support Wooyoung. 

You walked with him to the front door. You kept your fingers laced with his as he hesitated to open the door. You squeezed his hand again, and he squeezed back. 

You could hear your heartbeat in your head now. Breathing was growing more difficult. 

You both took a deep, long breath. And then the door was open. 

At first glance, she didn’t look like much. She was shorter then Wooyoung, about your height, with long dark hair done in a braid down her shoulder, with a dark green knee length dress. 

But everyone knows this song and dance: Looks can be deceiving. 

“Wooyoung!” The woman squealed, throwing her arms out to hug him tightly. Wooyoung used his free arm to hug her back, still keeping his hand locked with yours. “Oh, I’ve missed you so much! It’s been months!” 

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” Wooyoung said flatly, patting her back. 

The woman hugged him a few seconds too long before she finally pulled back and came inside the house. “Oh, who’s this?” She asked, her tone teasing, clearly hinting at more as she saw your joined hands. Instinctively, you wanted to pull your hand back and tell her it’s not what she thought. 

But you shoved that aside as you just smiled and squeezed his hand. “I’m his friend. I wanted to spend Christmas with him this year.” 

“Not with your own family?” She cocked an eyebrow as she looked at Wooyoung, as if he’d somehow have the answer. He just looked at you. 

You could’ve said a lot. You were already thinking of venomous retorts you could throw at her. Her, who you knew despite her pretty face and sweet voice, was exactly like the people you’d escaped years before. 

But all you said was: “Nope.” 

Wooyoung’s mother blinked in confusion, expecting more, but when she realized you weren’t going to say anything else, she forced a smile. “Alright, well, I hope you’ve had a good time with him.” 

“I have,” you said simply, giving her the same fake smile she gave you. 

You were already growing exhausted of this facade. Your heart was pounding so hard, you could hear it in your head. Your hands were slowly growing slick. 

She simply nodded before she bowed only her head. You returned the gesture. “My name is Hajoon. Yours?” 

You gave her your name. Begrudgingly. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Hajoon said dismissively before she turned back to Wooyoung. But you stayed beside Wooyoung, holding his hand that was tightly gripping yours. 

“Woo, honey,” she cooed, reaching up to hold Wooyoung’s cheek. It took everything in him to not flinch and not move away from her hand. “You haven’t answered me in months. Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he said. He shifted his weight around and swallowed, his throat bobbing. “I’ve just been busy this semester.” 

“Aww, my poor baby.” Hajoon pouted. “You can always ask me if you need help, you know.” 

“I know, but I have help already.” Wooyoung raised his hand which was joined with yours. “If I didn’t have their help, I would’ve been kicked out a long time ago.” 

Hajoon looked at you as you looked away, a blush creeping into your cheeks. He was giving you a little too much credit, but it wasn’t a complete lie. He did need your help sometimes, and you were willing to help. 

“Isn’t that sweet?” Hajoon gushed with a big smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m glad you have help, baby, but I’ll still be here if you need it.” 

Wooyoung nodded once. “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” 

Hajoon stayed silent for a moment, but when she realized Wooyoung had nothing else to say, she just nodded too. 

She hugged him again, and like before, Wooyoung just patted her back with one hand. She pulled back and pressed a kiss to his cheek before she let go. “I’ll go say hi to everyone else, and then we’ll talk more, okay?” 

Wooyoung mumbled an “okay” as she walked away. As soon as she was far enough away, he rubbed his cheek with the sleeve of his sweater. 

You let out a huge sigh of relief as you finally let go of Wooyoung’s hand. You both wiped your hands off on your clothes before you turned to each other. 

“That was exhausting,” you said as you watched Hajoon make her way through the people with that goddamn fake smile. 

“Exactly.” Wooyoung took a deep breath before he hung his head. “I just hope she doesn’t start anything.” 

“I’ll be here.” You rubbed his shoulder. “You’re not alone.” He still didn’t look up at you, but he nodded. 

She took everything out of him. It was only a little over a minute, but Hajoon just being here exhausted Wooyoung. You felt it too. The exhaustion from just being stressed that this person might do something, from keeping up the mask that you tolerate this person. 

Your heart ached when you saw it. But it was a different ache. It was painful. It hurt so badly. 

You pulled Wooyoung into a hug and held him tight. He hugged you back instantly, leaning his head on your shoulder. 

“You’re not alone,” you said softly, rubbing his back. Wooyoung nodded again. You couldn’t see it, but he was fighting tears. 

You’d say it until you couldn’t anymore. You’d be there for him. You’d be at his side tonight. 

He wasn’t alone. And he never would be. 

Seonghwa saw the two of you locked in the hug and went over, putting his hand on Wooyoung’s back. Wooyoung pulled back and looked up, wiping his eyes. 

“If she says anything to you, I’ll take care of her,” Seonghwa said softly. Wooyoung nodded, blinking back the rest of the tears. You reached up and rubbed his arm, leaning your head on his shoulder. 

Seonghwa leaned in and pressed a kiss to Wooyoung’s forehead. Wooyoung returned the kiss with one on his cheek before Seonghwa pulled back. “You know, Hongjoong was telling me he had some artists you’d probably like to meet before you go back to college.” 

Wooyoung’s face lit up and his smile melted away any of the tension that was there. “Really? Where is he?” 

“He’s on the couch, I told him I’d go get you.”

Wooyoung took off running for the couch, leaving you and Seonghwa alone by the door. He looked at you, and you looked at him. 

As badly as you wanted to hug him and kiss his Christmas red lips, you’d have to restrain yourself until the party was over. 

“Are you enjoying the party otherwise, dear?” Seonghwa asked, his mother voice coming in thickly. You gave him a small smile as you nodded. 

“Yeah, I’ve been having fun.” 

Seonghwa smiled back. “Good. I hope it stays that way,” he added, trailing off. You could only nod in answer, hoping for the same. 

If only you knew. 

It’d been only an hour after Hajoon arrived, and everyone already wanted her gone. 

Not because she was fighting with anyone, but because everyone knew her “rot your teeth sweetness” was a bald-faced lie. 

She stayed close to Wooyoung most of the time, being touchy and huggy, talking about herself more than talking with him about anything else. 

You were with Wooyoung through it all, and you were both bored to tears hearing about her jobs, her friends, her latest ex boyfriend. It’s like she was gossiping like a teenager, but she was in her forties. 

It didn’t help that Hajoon was the biggest drinker there. She was already halfway to hammered by the time the first hour was over. 

Her conversation topics started becoming more nonsensical and inappropriate. Most of the time, neither you nor Wooyoung had any clue what she was trying to say. 

It was mostly tame until Seonghwa came up behind you two. You were sitting on the couch, and Hajoon was sitting in one of the chairs. She scowled as he put his hands on Wooyoung’s shoulders, but he ignored the look, focusing on you two. 

“You can eat dinner now if you’re hungry,” Seonghwa said, looking between the two of you. “Some people have already gotten theirs, so it’s not as crowded.” 

“Thanks Eomma-” Wooyoung started, then instantly shut his mouth before he spoke again. “Dad.” 

But Hajoon heard it. 

Wooyoung tried to cover it up and flash a sweet little smile, but his death grip on your hand told you otherwise. 

“He’s not your eomma,” Hajoon slurred, her words barely discernible from each other. “You never call me eomma, Wooyoung.” She was trying to be serious, but the slurred speech just made her sound ridiculous. 

“Hajoon, go eat something, you’re drunk,” Seonghwa spat, more forcefully than you or Wooyoung expected. 

And that was the moment you both realized that it was time. The event you were both mentally preparing for, this was it. 

You both braced for Hajoon to spit back at him, but she just stared. But if looked could kill, Seonghwa would’ve been dead and buried. 

She kept up that stare for a few seconds before she got up and stormed into the kitchen. 

You and Wooyoung looked at each other in bewilderment. Even Seonghwa was stunned. 

“Take it and don’t say anything,” you whispered. Wooyoung and Seonghwa both nodded in agreement. Don’t push her, don’t say anything else that might piss her off. 

She was already a bomb with the fuse lit. But the length of said fuse wasn’t anything the three of you knew. 

“Why don’t you two wait a minute, then go get food, okay?” Seonghwa offered. You and Wooyoung nodded, to which Seonghwa nodded back before he walked away. 

The two of you sat in silence the minute you waited to go get food, your hands still interlocked. Why hadn’t Hajoon said anything? It was the perfect excuse for her to go off, but she didn’t. Why? Did she think it wasn’t worth it? 

Wooyoung knew her far better than you did (obviously), and he knew that in all Seonghwa and Hajoon’s years of being broken up, she’d always take a chance to start a fight or say something to him that she didn’t need to. 

She wasn’t always the instigator though. Sometimes, Seonghwa would start it. If Wooyoung happened to overhear or be present, he’d apologize for it. But the point of the matter is that the two had countless spats over the years. 

So why Hajoon stayed silent was a mystery to him and Seonghwa, and you by extension. 

You didn’t need to know their history to know that an abusive narcissist loved to fight, especially if they thought they were correct. Especially when she was drunk, no less. 

Whatever the reason, it made you both tense for whenever she would actually start something. 

You both tried not to think about it as you went to grab food. By that point, you were the last two besides Seonghwa who had to eat. Thankfully, because of Seonghwa’s wonderful planning, there was still plenty of food for you to grab. 

You loaded your plates up with as much food as you could, as you both hadn’t eaten for hours. Wooyoung especially was stacking food on top of itself. 

“Are you sure you’re gonna eat all that?” You teased. Wooyoung just gave you a sly smirk and said nothing. 

You were both ready to make your way back to the couch, but as you were ready to leave the kitchen, San, Yeosang, and Jongho were already at the dining table, calling you both over. 

Wooyoung happily went to sit with them, and you were about to follow, but Seonghwa gently grabbed onto your arm. You didn’t even realize he’d come into the kitchen. 

You looked up as he pulled you back a little, smiling warmly at you with half closed eyes. “Stay back with me for a second, please? I need some help with something.” 

You knew by the look in his eyes that he didn’t actually need anything. 

Except for you. 

You set your plate on the kitchen counter and let him lead you to the back of the kitchen, to a walk-in pantry, of which Seonghwa pulled you into and closed the door behind him. 

“We’re not going to-” You started, but Seonghwa was already shaking his head as he pulled you into his arms. 

“No, not now,” he murmured against your hair, holding you tight against his chest. “I just wanted to hold you.” You gladly melted into his arms and hugged him back. 

You’d been waiting for a moment where you could sneak off with Seonghwa and be with him for just a few minutes. To be in his arms, to just be you two again away from everyone else. Being around other people and pretending he wasn’t anything to you was torture. 

But now you two were alone, and now you were wrapped up in his arms, just like you always wanted to be. 

“You look gorgeous,” you said softly. Seonghwa couldn’t help but smile as heat rushed to his cheeks. 

“Thank you, jagiya. You look adorable.” You smiled bigger and nuzzled into his chest. His velvet dress felt wonderful against your skin, so soft, just as you imagined it would feel. 

You both needed this. Just a couple minutes alone, relaxing in each other's warmth. 

You knew you were going to be back in Seonghwa’s bed by the end of the night, but you couldn’t wait that long to hug him again. 

You wished you could’ve been by Seonghwa’s side all night. His arm around you while you were pressed against him, leaning on his shoulder. Your gorgeous boyfriend, keeping you with him, showing you off as his cute little partner. 

Maybe someday, you’d get there. 

You pulled back and looked up at Seonghwa, giving him your own half closed, loving gaze, similar to the one he always gave you. He held you even tighter as he came up to hold the back of your neck to pull you into a soft kiss. 

His gloss tasted like cherries. 

It was meant to be a soft and quick kiss, but one kiss turned to two, three, four needy ones before you knew it. 

Four turned into who knows how many, with you both gripping onto each other desperately, Seonghwa’s tongue pushing it’s way past your lips to deepen the kiss. You were addicted to his soft moans and heavy breaths, the way they were swallowed up by your kisses. You ran your hand down his body to keep them going- 

“What the fuck?!” 

You both jumped away from each other at the screech, You whipped your head to the door and your heart sunk to your feet. 

It was Hajoon. 

Seonghwa quickly stepped in front of you and held his arm out to keep you back. “Hajoon, this is none of your-”

But she cut him off, screeching like a wild animal. “You’re disgusting! Forcing yourself on someone your son’s age!” 

“He wasn’t forcing-” You tried to interject, but Seonghwa pushed you back a little more as Hajoon continued. 

“You couldn’t find anyone else our age to tolerate you, so you’re going after our son’s friends?! Were you just gonna go down the line and take your pick?!” 

You reached out and held onto Seonghwa’s hand. It was hard to get air in, like your lungs had shrunk. Your heart felt like it was about to explode. Your clothes were clinging to your body with sweat. 

“Hajoon, enough.” Seonghwa’s voice had dropped lower and his head was tilted down, staring at her through his brows. “You don’t know everything-” 

“I don’t need to know anything, I can see it all right here!” 

“Hajoon-” 

“Pretending to be a woman wasn’t enough for you, now you’re a predator?!” 

Just like that, the fear disappeared, and white hot anger washed over you. 

But as you opened your mouth to tear her to shreds, another voice popped up. 

“You do NOT get to call him that.” 

Wooyoung stormed up to Hajoon and stood in front of her, staring her down, his eyes dark and devoid of anything else but pure rage. 

But she just stared at him with the same anger she had for Seonghwa. 

“Oh, so you’re defending this?” She spat, motioning to you and Seonghwa as the this. “You’re okay with your father forcing himself on your friend?!” 

Wooyoung’s hands were clenched into fists at his sides, shaking a little. His jaw was clenched tight like a vice. 

You’d never seen him more infuriated. 

“He’s not forcing himself on anyone,” Wooyoung all but growled out. “You don’t know anything about this, Mom.” 

“Why would I need to?! This is wrong! What if I started dating one of your friends, would it still be okay then?” Despite being shorter than Wooyoung, Hajoon still seemed like she was larger. Like an unstoppable force, an immovable object. 

Wooyoung stared at her for a few moments, turning the words over in his head before he finally spit them back out at her. 

“No, because I wouldn’t want my friends to date someone as bitchy and abusive as you.” 

There it was, the spark that finally set off the bomb. 

“How dare you?!” Hajoon screamed, then began to sob. Your hands shook with anger as memories came up again. “It’s not true, but you keep saying it! What did I do that was so cruel to you, what made me so abusive?!” 

But despite her crying, her begging, her drunken, wild craze, Wooyoung didn’t flinch. There was no sympathy in his eyes. There was nothing. 

“Do you really want a list?” He asked flatly. Hajoon wailed again. 

“You’re such a liar!” She cried, wiping away some of the crocodile tears off her cheeks. “What made you like this?” She started to reach out to hold his face again. “What happened to my sweet Wooyou-” 

He stepped away before she could touch him. Hajoon doubled over as if she’d been punched in the stomach, and she let out a painful sob with it. 

You and Seonghwa finally stepped out of the pantry now that you had space to. Everyone was standing in or just outside the kitchen, thanks to Hajoon. Shame washed over you and Seonghwa, but everyone was more focused on Wooyoung and Hajoon. 

“You did,” Wooyoung ground out. “YOU happened to me, Mom.” His voice cracked as his eyes filled with tears. “You taught me that screaming at people was a good way to get them to listen, you taught me that apologies don’t matter, you taught me EVERYTHING YOU NEVER want to admit to!”

The tears spilled down his cheeks the more he spoke, until all his words were just sobs and gasps. The scared little Wooyoung was back. 

The scared little boy who just wanted to be loved. 

But Hajoon didn’t see it. “Wooyoung, I have never-” 

“Hajoon,” Seonghwa interrupted, his own voice now shaky. “Leave my house.” 

She looked up at him in bewilderment, hoping he wasn’t serious. But he was giving her a similar cold look to the one Wooyoung gave her. But Seonghwa’s was more desperate. More tired. 

“Seonghwa-” 

“Don’t ever come back.” 

You squeezed Seonghwa’s hand. He finally squeezed back. 

With one final cry, Hajoon stormed out of the house, pushing past everyone else to grab her things and slam the front door behind her. 

No one said a word. The house was filled with a tension so thick, it was suffocating, like it was invading your lungs and forcing out the air. 

There was a lot that needed to be said. Looking at everyone’s confused and worried faces, there was an imminent and long conversation that needed to be started, but you didn’t know what to say. 

But you looked over at Wooyoung, who’d pulled himself back against the wall with his face covered, trying to stop crying, and you couldn’t stop the tears from spilling over yourself. 

You pulled away from Seonghwa and nearly ran to Wooyoung, throwing your arms around him and pulling him into a tight hug. He hugged you back instantly, and you both cried in each other’s arms. 

“You did good,” you whispered, not being able to speak any louder. 

Wooyoung tightened his arms around you. “I’m a mess.” 

“That doesn’t matter.” Your throat closed up and another sob shot from your lips. “You did good, Wooyoung.” 

You didn’t know it at the time, but your words meant more to him than you knew. Wooyoung’s heart swelled hearing the words, and thankfully, he believed you. Even if he did look like a mess, he believed you when you said he did good. 

Because he did. From the way they spoke, it sounded like Wooyoung had tried to confront Hajoon, or make her see how she hurt him. 

But he properly stood up to her this time. Even if she didn’t take a single word of his and think about it, he got it off his chest. 

Wooyoung did it for himself. 

Hongjoong stepped through the crowd of people and walked over to Seonghwa, and his hands began to tremble. 

Seonghwa fully expected criticism from everyone. From not being told up front to how disgusting his current relationship was. Countless lectures and people talking down to him, telling him how wrong he was to pursue someone his son’s age. 

But Hongjoong’s eyes were sympathetic, and his body was relaxed. Seonghwa looked behind him, and Yunho and Mingi were at the front of the small crowd, with the same sympathetic look. 

San, Yeosang, and Jongho were right behind them. San was looking at Wooyoung, his face contorted into pain like he was being stabbed. 

“Do you want to tell us the truth, and not what Hajoon said?” Hongjoong asked, his voice soft. Seonghwa took a shaky breath before he nodded. 

“Yes, I’m in a…relationship of sorts with them,” he started, his eyes falling to the floor. “It’s been going on for a few weeks. I didn’t force them into this, everything, I made sure they consented.” Seonghwa’s vision grew blurry as his throat closed up, cutting off his words. 

Even as he spoke, he couldn’t get the thoughts out of his head. He couldn’t stop hearing Hajoon’s voice. Predator. 

It’d been his fear since the beginning. Isn’t that what he was? An older man pursuing someone much younger? A predator? 

“I believe you,” Hongjoong said softly, putting his hand on Seonghwa’s arm, sliding down to hold his hand. “Did you initiate this because they’re younger?” 

“No,” Seonghwa instantly spit out. “No, never.” His eyes drifted over to you. “At first, it’s because I found them attractive. But they’re sweet, and funny, helpful, respectful, patient, understanding...” He trailed off and looked back at the ground. “And they didn’t want me as just a perverted sex doll.” 

A whimper left his lips as he finished his sentence, his hand coming up to try to keep the rest of the tears inside. Hongjoong’s eyes grew heavier as he held Seonghwa’s hand tighter. 

“Then you’re not a predator, Seonghwa. I know you’re not. Please believe me when I say you’re not.” 

Seonghwa didn’t want to think he was. He didn’t want to believe he was. 

But hearing himself talk about you, and never bring up your age once made him realize it. 

He didn’t want you because you were younger. He wanted you for you. 

You pulled away from Wooyoung as your crying tapered off. You both wiped your faces off with the sleeves of your sweaters as you turned to Seonghwa. 

Neither you nor Wooyoung hesitated to hug him. The tears turned into full blown sobs as he hugged you two back. It was his turn now. 

And just like you’d known the night before, you three were together. You were still together. 

The ache in your heart was back, all over you, in every part of you. It made you squeeze Seonghwa tighter as you pressed your face back into his velvet gown. 

Unbeknownst to you, Seonghwa was feeling it too. But so was Wooyoung. 

That moment solidified to you that you really had found a family. A family who cared. A family who would protect you. 

A family who loved you. 

Seonghwa closed the door as he said good night to Hongjoong, then turned back to you. 

Thankfully, everyone else was mostly accepting of the revelation that you and Seonghwa were in a relationship, but it killed the mood of the party, so everyone instead finished their food, exchanged their gifts, and agreed to call it a night. 

A lot of them agreed to help clean up, those being Hongjoong, Yunho, and Mingi, mostly helping clean up the kitchen. You and Wooyoung worked with San, Yeosang, and Jongho to freshen up the living room and dining room. 

“You two are really dating?” Yeosang had asked. You just nodded. He looked at Jongho, who looked back at him, and then at you. 

“How do you even start that?” Jongho added. 

Wooyoung piped up then when he grabbed your shoulder. “When you can’t stop drooling over the other.” 

The boys started laughing as you tried to smack Wooyoung, your face burning up remembering your first night. You were grateful that they were accepting too, but now that meant you’d get teased about it endlessly. 

But you’d rather take that over no friends at all. 

Because it was late by that point, the boys decided to stay the night (and definitely wasn’t because Wooyoung convinced San to stay first), so after clean up was done, Wooyoung took them upstairs to show them to their rooms. 

So here you were, alone again with Seonghwa. 

“I should’ve been more careful,” Seonghwa said softly. “It wasn’t a very good spot to hide.” 

“Don't beat yourself up.” You walked over to him and slipped your arms around his waist to hug him. He hugged you back, holding you tight. “You didn’t know she was going to follow us.” 

“I still regret it.” 

You knew you wouldn’t be able to convince him otherwise, so you didn’t try. You just squeezed him instead before you looked up at him. 

“Let’s go to bed,” you offered. Seonghwa nodded, and held your hand as he led you back down the familiar route to his bedroom. 

You quickly changed into an oversized t-shirt and shorts, like you usually did, and were going to wait in bed for Seonghwa to be done. 

But you still wanted to be with him. So you went to the bathroom, where he’d already changed out of his gown and into a small pink robe, and was preparing to wash his makeup off. 

“I wanna help,” you said softly as you grabbed onto his arm. Seonghwa looked at you and couldn’t help but smile. That might’ve been the most adorable thing you’d done since you’d gotten here. 

He sat down on the toilet, and guided you through how to take off his makeup and wash his face before bed. You were gentle in everything you did, going over his face like he was made of glass. 

He gratefully leaned against your hand when you held his cheek, smiling in a tired little daze as he thought about how lucky he was to have you. 

You, who was so gentle and sweet to him, who wanted to spend so much time with him, who helped him unasked because you wanted to. You wanted to help him. 

It’d taken so many years for him to find someone again who actually wanted more from him than sex. And he found it in the most unexpected way. 

Once you were done, you both went back to bed and curled up under the covers, holding each other like you had every night before. 

You didn’t know how you were going to sleep without his steady heartbeat anymore. Without his arms holding you tight. 

You didn't want to think about it, especially as your eyes were falling closed from exhaustion. You were spent, and you were finally willing to listen and give in to the tiredness. 

Seonghwa pressed a kiss to your head as he slowly rubbed your back. “Good night, jagiya,” he whispered, closing his eyes. 

“Good night, Mommy,” you whispered back, finally succumbing to sleep in Seonghwa’s arms.

Thank you for reading! Please reblog if you enjoyed! 💜

This is a work of fiction written by me. This does not represent the idol(s) in any way. Any re-upload is not allowed and will be reported.

[mariamakeslemons]

Spooktober 2024: Day 8 Folk Horror

Warning: Inhuman x human relationship (both parties are sentient and can consent), mild anti-military work mentioned (helping soldiers abandon their post), too many ovens for a kitchen...

The idea behind König is based on @ghouljams Fae AU.

You moved out to the woods for inspiration, health, and to escape a piece of shit ex who refuses to admit that they fucked up by cheating on you. Two of those three goals are being met, but your ex is insistent, throwing around their parent’s money to constantly find ways around the blocks you put up. The only upside, you muse while sipping on your morning cup and watching the rain fall in the woods, is that your ex is “nature averse”. As if technology hasn’t advanced far enough to find work arounds even in the densely packed woods.

As a combination of more protection from your ex and honoring your grandfather, you signed up for a soldier housing project. Should a mission occur within a certain distance of your house, the soldiers can use your home as a safe house. Most of the time, you just acted as a host and sent the soldiers on their way when it’s time for them to leave. Sometimes, however, you make your grandfather proud by helping the soldiers that didn’t have an option leave the military.

With all this, you also got a boyfriend. He’s a soldier, and you hold his leash to his delight. Usually, when you house other soldiers, he stays elsewhere, but still close. Which makes his insistence that he be at the house during this housing confusing.

“Thank you again for housing my boys and I,” Captain Price repeats, tilting his boonie hat at you politely.

“As long as you guys aren’t going to be assholes, I see no reason not to house you,” you wave off with a smile, already heading into the kitchen to prep the rabbit your boyfriend hunted earlier. Braised rabbit with some bowtie pasta for the entrée, some roasted potatoes and broccoli for veg, and your gran’s special chocolate-strawberry bread pudding. A bit time consuming, but it will make more than enough food for the four men in your house, yourself, and your boyfriend when he returned from whatever the ‘wild hunt’ is.

“You need help in here, love?” Sergeant Gaz asks, peeking into your kitchen. You offer him a smile and shake your head.

“No, I’ve got it,” you assure him, pulling out the dead rabbits. You hear the Sergeant choke as you start to work off the skin and fur from the poor things. It always takes a bit more time than you want, but at the end, you still have completely cleaned rabbits, just needing to be broken down for cooking.

“Those clean?” a deep voice rumbles from behind you, causing you to nearly knick yourself with the knife. Looking over your shoulder, you see the masked man, almost the same size as your boyfriend and staring at the rabbits.

“Yes, Lieutenant,” you chirp, beaming as Lieutenant Ghost shifts. Just like your boyfriend, the man’s a bit awkward. But, unlike your boyfriend, he plows onward with what he was going to do or say.

“Y’ wan’ some help?” he offers, nodding at the meat still attached to the bones.

“Only if you can properly butcher them,” you reply.

“Was a butcher’s ‘prentice f’r while,” he huffs, walking into the kitchen and taking the knife from you, already moving the rabbit around to start cutting the joints. You hum in reply, before grabbing the vegetables. You work in silence with the Lieutenant, eventually getting the rabbits into the oven to braise. Shooing him out of the kitchen once the meat’s cooking, you move on to prep the potatoes and broccoli, as well as the strawberries and stale bread for the pudding. Your boyfriend had pointed out how much you bake and insisted you get an extra oven and a storable oven as well.

“Looks like I’m using all of them,” you chuckle to yourself.

“All o’ whit?” an accented voice asks, drawing your attention to the door once again. Sergeant Soap peers in curiously with Sergeant Gaz at his shoulder.

“The ovens,” you chirp, lifting up the mini oven up with a huff and dropping it on your available counterspace.

“Steamin’ Jesus!” the Scot yelps while Sergeant Gaz lets out a whistle.

“Didn’t know you had three of those,” he mumbles as you start to heat up the mini oven.

“Yeah,” you laugh, “I rely heavily on baking with a lot of my cooking, so three ovens.” Sergeant Gaz chuckles as Sergeant Soap practically beams in delight. However, before you could make a joke that delights your boyfriend when he hears it, a loud noise outside draws your attention to the back yard.

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

Price knows about the Austrian merc that’s been on base with them a few times. The giant that shies away from anything social, often seen staring at people with eyes that seem to glow. Here and now, König towers over all of them, strange spines coming out of somewhere. His eyes are glowing, a bright blue that stares down at Price and Ghost, while an inhuman growl rumbles from him. His bare hands are dyed bloody brown-red with fucking claws.

“Oh, that’s what it was!” you chirp, the sweet thing that opened their home to Price and his boys.

“Fuck,” he hisses, looking back as Ghost shifts to block you from sight. He calls to you, “Go back inside! It’s not safe!”

“What are you talking about?” you ask, stepping out of the house and around Gaz and Soap’s grasping hands. You slip past Ghost and Price and stand in front of the beast that isn’t a man despite its shape. Then, you pat what was its wrist twice while scolding, “And shrink down, you goober. You’re scaring them.”

“Good,” König rumbles, but he still listens to you, shrinking down into the form they’re far more used to. You huff and roll your eyes, but rise up on your toes to slip under König’s hood to press what sounds like a kiss to what might be his face. Slipping back out, you smile up at him.

“I’m making braised rabbit and pasta for dinner,” you tell him, as if the 141 isn’t between you and the house, as if these armed men don’t have a hand on their guns. The behemoth perks up.

“The ones I brought you?” he asks, leaning over you.

“Yep!” you chirp, so fucking sweet. König purrs, sounding just as animalistic as he had earlier, before scooping you into his arms and stomping into the house, ignoring the 141. The Taskforce watch as the house darkens, twigs pressing out of the wood the house is built with. The woods around them is no longer serene, but foreboding, waiting for possible prey.

“Yeh think ‘ll behave?” Soap asks nervously.

“…If they ask,” Price finally offers upon hearing you scolding König for something, causing the Austrian to whine.

“Gun’s loaded and at ready,” Ghost intones, not even taking a chance.

[dreamersdreamdreams]

I had this idea based off the Devilgram story Enchanted Pudding. What if when MC makes a pact with one of the brothers their scent permanently changes and to control themselves the brothers have to have their way with MC…

╔═══════☆♡☆═══════╗

content type: smut, minors do not interact

warnings: afab, choking, face fucking, unprotected sex (please have safe sex), crying, markings, names for lucifer: sir, master, names for MC: love, baby, overstimulation, fingering, fisting

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* lucifer ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

After making a pact with Lucifer, you kiss him. As you pull away, he grabs you and pulls you closer, resting his head in between your neck and your shoulder. You can feel his breath on your neck and him breathing in.

“Lucifer, is something wrong?”

“Your scent is so strong, I need to claim you Y/N”

Before you can speak you are suddenly in Lucifer’s room. He grabs you by the back of your neck and pulls you closer. Lucifer kisses you deeply, sucking and biting your lip. He continues across your jaw, down to your neck.

You whimper, “Lucifer, I need you.”

He grabs you by the chin roughly, “Yeah, you need me? Why don’t you show me how much you need me?”

He pushes your head down bringing you to your knees. You unbutton his pants and pull out his cock. You give it a few small licks before licking a long strip up his dick. You bring his head into your mouth but struggle to take him any further. You take the rest of his cock in your hand. You start jerking off the rest of his cock. Lucifer grabs you by your hair and pushes you down further. You gag trying to adjust to his size but before you can he begins thrusting into your mouth. You can hear him groaning deeply above you as he face fucks you. Tears form and fall from your eyes as you choke on his cock. You tap twice on his thigh signaling that you can’t take anymore.

“Are you okay Y/N,” he asks as he wipes away your tears.

“Yes, sir.”

Lucifer grins at the title. He picks your tiny body up and throws you onto the bed.

“You are so beautiful Y/N, I am ready to destroy you.”

He crawls on top of you and begins stripping your clothes from you. He leans down to catch you in a kiss. You grab his top and pull him closer as he takes control. He kisses and bites his way down to your chest, leaving marks behind. A symbol that you are his. As he takes your breast in his mouth, he drags a hand down to your thigh, squeezing it. You remove his shirt, feeling his muscles. He gives your other breast attention, taking it in his mouth and dragging his tongue and teeth along it. He inserts a finger and watches your face with a smirk as you moan out. As he speeds up he continues adding fingers. Eventually he fits his whole fist inside you. At that you come undone. You shake uncontrollably as Lucifer fists you through your orgasm. You slump down in the bed as your orgasm ends. Your eyes begin to close after such an intense orgasm.

“Aww how cute, you think we are done, not yet, love,” Lucifer says mockingly.

You open your eyes in shock, already feeling like you are at your limit. Lucifer deeply chuckles at your expression.

“Are you ready, I know you can take it, baby.”

“I’m ready, master.”

At that he grabs his cock and starts to insert it only for you to scream out.

“ ‘s too much!” you say as tears stream down your face at the pain of him splitting you open.

He grabs you by the chin and sternly states, “You can take it. Be good.”

He finally fits his cock inside and he deeply groans as you moan out, “Fuck! Ahhh- Lucifer!”

You squeeze around him due to the pain and pleasure and grab at his back with your nails. He picks up his pace once you ease up. He starts slamming into you, the sound of skin slapping bouncing off the walls.

“Ahhh- ah- ah-.” you moan in sync with his thrusts, every time he hits that sweet spot inside you. You feel your insides tighten and everything around you goes blurry.

“Sir, I- I am going to come!”

“Go ahead, come for me, show everyone who owns you,” he growls out.

And just as he says that, you are coming. You scream out his name, with tears streaming down your face once again, this time due to pleasure. He continues to fuck you through your orgasm and just as you think he is going to stop, he continues.

“Master I- l can’t take anymore, t- too much,” you cry out.

“Take it,” he says sternly while softly wiping away your tears.

The overstimulation messes with your head, making you dizzy. You feel yourself falling from reality, only to come back at Lucifer’s hand around your throat.

“You’re mine,” he groans, looking into your eyes, while coming.

He stares you in the eyes while choking you, picking up his pace if even possible. His dick twitches inside you as he releases white inside you, painting your walls. At that he collapses next to you. His cock is still inside you, keeping his cum from leaking out.

“I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you too, Lucifer.”

[powerpcinside]

Sims 2 Mew Ichigo Set

This project stretched my rudimentary meshing skills... anyway it's not perfect but overall I'm satisfied with it.

Anyway. It's an outfit, hair, and accessories for Ichigo Momomiya/Mew Ichigo from Tokyo Mew Mew. (No, I totally haven't been watching the remake, why do you ask?) I'm hoping to create stuff for the rest of the gang but it might take a while (and I have a feeling Pudding might be the last...) First I want to list what I pilfered each of the mesh pieces from:

The top is from the base game, using the texture for Bella's outfit.

The skirt, garters, choker, and tail are from f-louri's Mew Ichigo MikuMikuDance (MMD) model, found here.

The ears... I have no idea where they're from. I took them from a Mew Ichigo MMD model I made in like 2013, but since it's been over a decade and I've been out of the MMD scene for nearly that long, I don't remember where I got them.

The boots are Jacci boots.

Now for the separate pieces:

Outfit: TF-AF, all morphs, comes in the single swatch. Includes dress, boots, garters, and choker (didn't feel like separating them into BV jewelry). Categorized as everyday, formal, gym, and outerwear.

Tail: TF-AF, found in accessories, shows up on everyday/formal/gym/outerwear. *While it looked fine in CAS and when I created it, the bow likes to slip under the tail in Live Mode. I don't know how to fix that.

Ears: PU-EU, found in accessories, shows up on everyday/formal/gym/outerwear. Is around 10k poly, so on the high side for accessories. The ears are on the large side, mostly so I can cover the human ears (a pet peeve of mine is catgirls with two sets of ears). I recommend using a voluminous hair with these.

Peggy Fh080129: PF-EF, comes in three shades of pink (Pooklet's Tetryl, Thorium, and Pentolite) with Afterglow textures and red ribbons. (This is supposed to be her 'civilian' hair). I didn't do the naturals since Katsurin has already done them here. Mesh is included.

Newsea The Moment: PF-EF. I used io's mesh edit and age conversion for this one. I also did the Afterglow naturals as well as the three shades of pink. This is the hair pictured in the preview.

Now for downloads (separate since some of them are more multipurpose than others...)

Download Mew Ichigo Outfit

Download Mew Ichigo Tail

Download Cat Ears

Download Peggy Fh080129 in pink

Download Newsea The Moment

I will likely do more natural recolors of the cat ears at some point on the future (probably Pooklet naturals).