#but since they both aired the same year and production was taking place at the same time i count them as both having credit)

[pr]

i love bryan cranston bc he was in not one but two shows that were influential and important in television history, like he is the epitome of He Has The Range Darling

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

Since MXTX said HuaLian live until the modern times, have some random headcanons:

Hua Cheng keeps being an interior decorating king so of course his and Xie Lian's home is tastefully decorated for every season and holiday. However, that doesn't stop Xie Lian from occasionally adding the fugliest item ever because he got emotionally attached to it in the store. "It was all by itself, San Lang, nobody wanted it... i know what that feels like better than anyone..." and now they're both sniffling holding an ugly styrofoam pumpkin in the middle of the fall decor isle of Ikea.

The stray animals food budget is off the charts but it's nobody's fault all strays are immediately drawn to Xie Lian and he has to feed them cause he "knows what it's like to be hungry". This does not just include cats and dogs but also rats, raccoons, several bird species and at least one coyote.

Speaking of budgets, the financial control authorities are lowkey on Hua Cheng's case because he is still stinking rich but nobody knows where the cash is coming from. They think Ghost City is the name of some shady mafia establishment and are trying to find dirt on Hua Cheng but there is literally nothing there and it eats the government alive.

Xie Lian occasionally dumpster dives in places where he knows they throw perfectly salvageable things. Hua Cheng cries every time it happens but he stands watch so the police doesn't arrest his husband for it.

In the same vein, Xie Lian insists on recycling literally everything. They have those different colored trash bins and everything, and every time Hua Cheng places an item in the wrong bin, Xie Lian gives him a disapproving look that has the ghost king crumble.

They have so many house plants. It's like a little jungle in their living room but the air is so crisp.

They keep several scrapbooks of paintings, pictures, letters etc from all the people they met to remember them even hundreds or thousands of years after those people have passed away. Even if they now have access to phones and other media for storage, they keep up the tradition of using scrapbooks and notebooks anyway.

Xie Lian is actually up to date with memes and internet slang but has embraced being a cringe Facebook grandpa and is now committed to the persona. Hua Cheng finds this hilarious (he runs a very well maintained beauty channel and a side channel on swords where Xie Lian features in every video and geeks out about their sword collection. They have a golden button and a very large following).

Hua Cheng has a 25 step skincare routine and only uses the fanciest brands of products for literally everything. Xie Lian still swears by 8 in 1 shampoo and somehow has clearer skin. Hua Cheng is both enamored and scandalized about it.

Hua Cheng is a very big fan of acryllics and lets Xie Lian pick the base color every time. Xie Lian takes this task very, very seriously and tries to coordinate it with any activities/events they have planned so Hua Cheng stays being stylish.

Hua Cheng has a portable Dyson Airwrap with him at all times because one time a kid said his hair looks like a wet dog.

Xie Lian is not allowed to get a job because every time he tried to along the decades he became a cautionary tale somehow.

[lovebunnie]

“it’s not about canon fucking capital!” nandor spits in the air between them. guillermos jaw drops a bit, and it all starts to feel like a bit of a sick joke to nandor. its never easy, not with guillermo.

he shifts and narrows his eyes. “being a janitor had its good moments,” nandor admits. “i liked being the barrier between the cleanliness of productivity and the filth of failure. also those paper towels were very powerful, they didnt even leave any streakies!

“but…” nandor lets his shoulders drop and he suddenly cant look at guillermo. “being around humans all day is kind of shitty.”

guillermo huffs. “trust me, hanging around vampires all the time isnt all its cracked up to be either. ya know, i spent so many years cleaning up shit and say what you will about panera but atleast cleaning toilets there got me a free pastry-“

“why do you always leave me?”

it shocks them both into silence. guillermos jaw clicks shut while nandor hunches his shoulders, as though he could curl away from his own confession. he was literally commanding an army, but here was where words failed him.

guillermo swallows. “leave you? im right here.”

“no you are not,” nandor hisses. “you are with celeste and then you are with derrick and then it is freddie and laszlo and now you are with jordan.” he steps forward, which makes guilermo step back. conquering lands, even here and now.

“why must you always leave? why do you want to leave, and why do i want you to stay? it was not like this with other familiars, ill have you know!”

nandor thinks about all the snide comments made by laszlo and nadja over the years. their familiars were always easy come, easy go. but guillermo was always there. he would misplace an ugly sock or leave his toothbrush in the open.

guillermo has always been different. guillermo has always been the exception.

it makes all the leaving he does very painful. nandor doesnt know why.

“other familiars don’t pledge almost half their lives to one master,” guillermo counters. “other familiars wouldve left a long fucking time ago.”

it takes everything in nandor not to shudder at being referred to as master by guillermo. “i dont give a shit about other familiars. not even my own old familiars. they were just… blips in the radar.”

“and me?” guillermo whispers, finally reclaiming the ground covered by nandor and placing them almost chest to chest. “fifteen years for a vampire doesnt seem like much of anything.”

“you were my purpose, guillermo,” he says. “to make you into a fucking cool vampire. and then you decided it wasnt actually what you wanted and after that annoying ceremony that i put a lot of hard work into, you wanted to leave again. so now i have no familiar, no purpose because you are not a vampire. i have nothing.”

guillermo stays quiet for many seconds and nandor can see his eyebrows twitching in thought. it had been so long since nandor has stood this close to guillermo so if nothing else, the proximity was a nice touch

“my purpose was to be turned into a vampire, by you,” guillermo says. “and then i realized it would never happen unless i did something, so i did. but it doesnt change the fact that i spent so many years knowing that i…” he swallows and to nandors delight, his cheeks turn crimson under shitty lighting. “i was meant to be yours, turned by you.”

“you are driving me crazy,” nandor says quietly. “i do not know why you keep leaving me and why i care so much. you really hurt me, you know! every time you leave it hurts!”

“i know why i keep leaving,” guillermo says. “and i think i know why you want me to stay so bad. the reasons are pretty similar, if i had to guess.”

“tell me,” nandor growls, his hands coming up to grip guillermos biceps so that he cannot flee, not again. “tell me.”

with the same drive behind the words that would compel weaker men, guillermo looks up at him, and before nandor can even think about speaking again, guillermo surges up and crashes their lips together with his hands tangled in nandors hair and knocking the head piece off in the process.

before it can even begin, guillermo pulls away. he is panting and then pulling a vibrating telephone out of his pocket. nandor watches with blazing eyes

“its jordan…” he trails off, looking thoughtful while nandor feels murderous.

a small smile creeps onto his face as the still vibrating phone goes back into his pocket. “but I’ve got better things to do.”

guillermo smiles at nandor and for once, he looks settled, not ready to bolt. nandor knows the same expression is reflecting on his face as well.

as he makes his move towards a willing guillermo, he hopes the camera crew is more engrossed with whatever antics nadja and laszlo and colin robinson have gotten into.

[pshbites]

LOVE ON AiR: 9. YNXOXO VLOG: night out w/ won & riki

WARNiNGS » profanity, manipulation, underage drinking (DONT!!), mentions of drugs & drinking, angry ynhoon

wc: 4k, if there’s typos IGNORE PLS 😞🙏🏼

video description: welcome back to my bubble! in todays video i started off with a cute quick grwm then vlogged my night out. unfortunately the video ended off on a bad note but tysm for watching! hope u come back ^.^

you prop the camera up on your vanity and smile. you wave, “hi guys! welcome back to my little bubble!” you spin your rotating shelf of products and reach for your primer. “today, i’m getting ready for a night out. won and riki said they’re 10 minutes away.” you look into the mirror, behind the camera and begin applying your primer.

“i’ve already changed into my outfit and done my hair as you can see. just need to do my makeup.” you smiled softly at the camera and reached for your foundation, showing it in the frame like a true beauty influencer. “i was talking with kat and giselle the other night and we came up with like a whole list of videos i should do” you began blending your foundation, taking to the camera simultaneously.

you had started vlogging around the same time the podcast started. at first it was just short vlogs but since the podcast started taking off you had gotten more comfortable around the camera so the vlogs started consisting of what you ate in a day, a typical recording day, day in your life and much more. soon enough your vlogging channel started taking off as well because people enjoyed the way you spoke to the camera as if it was one of your friends.

“oh my god i didn’t even say what we were doing tonight sorry guys” you laughed a little, blending out your concealer you had put on. “i’m sure you guys remember yeonjun, he was in my new years vlog” you paused, blending the area on your chin then spoke again. “well he’s having a party tonight so me won and riki are going. well me forcefully. sunoo giselle and kat couldn’t join because they’re doing other things. bummer right?” you pouted softly to the camera and looked back in the mirror, moving to the next step of your routine.

“kat and sunoo said they would meet us afterwards and im hoping so because riki was a mess to take home after the new year’s party” you shuddered at the sheer memory of new year’s eve and how much riki bothered you that night. “honestly im glad we’re going out because i haven’t seen won or riki aside from recording days.” you glanced once more at the camera, smiling. “between us, i think they missed me too” you giggled softly, looking back in the mirror.

“you know since we hit 600,000 subscribers a couple days ago, should i make a special video?” you furrow your brows, looking at your reflection then back at the camera. “you guys should let me know, if i should post that list of video ideas we came up with, some of them are pretty fun” you began setting your face, the translucent powder locking everything in place.

just as you were going to do your eyes, the doorbell rang then a series of knocks followed it. you looked at the camera and a smile grew on your face. “they’re here!” you picked up the camera, walking through the apartment and to the front door. you opened it and turned the camera to face jungwon and riki. “oh you’re filming already?” jungwon smiled and waved to the camera. “yep!” you peeked your head out from behind the camera and riki began laughing.

“you look so weird without your makeup fully done” riki blurted out, trying to conceal his laughter but failed miserably. you squinted your eyes and moved to the side so they could both come in. once riki walked past you, you slapped the back of his head making jungwon laugh. “hey!!” he shouted, rubbing the spot. you smiled at the camera once again, ignoring riki groaning in the back. “sorry guys, let’s get back to the routine!”

the three of you walked down to your room, you sitting at your vanity and jungwon and riki plopping on your bed. “yn how much longer is it gonna take” jungwon opened his phone, scrolling on it. “just about 5 minutes. guys did i give you guys a life update?” you looked to the camera, smiling as you put on your eyeshadow. “well, incase i didn’t basically i got this new hairdryer, no it’s not a dyson or a shark but it gives me the best blowout look”

you brought some of your hair to the front, showing off the curls. riki picked his head up, his interest piqued. “wait really? i’ve been needing a new hairdryer” you looked at him through the mirror and nodded “it’s in the bathroom” you mumbled, setting your face with setting spray.

“guys please invest in good setting spray because my makeup used to melt off when i didn’t have a good one and once i changed to this one it literally stays” you showed the setting spray in frame, once again like a beauty influencer. “i feel like i also got so many compliments on my makeup once i started using it” you mumbled, closing one eye to put on eyeliner and focused so you wouldn’t mess up. “i don’t know why but anytime i have like noise in the background i can focus on my eyeliner better, maybe i'm just weird but it really does help” you chuckle lightly at the sound of the hairdryer turning on in the bathroom.

“i think i say like way too much. kat also suggested a video where i count the amount of times i say like or something like that.” you paused and looked at jungwon through the mirror and the two of you start laughing. “you said like 4 times in that sentence!” he shouts out, laughing so hard his face turned red. “it’s such a bad habit!” you replied, trying to control your laughter so you could put on mascara.

riki emerged from the bathroom, now with voluminous hair and soft curls. “that hairdryer is amazing” he admired himself in your vanity mirror making you laugh. he spotted the eyeliner and picked it up, inspecting it like a curious cat. “you think i should put some eyeliner on?” he looks to you as you fix your hair, makeup now done. “i think the viewers would love if you and won put eyeliner on” you smiled at the camera, picking it up to record both riki and jungwon. “come on won get up!” riki slapped jungwons butt, making him groan and stand up to go to the bathroom.

you brought a makeup brush to mimic the eyeliner. “just shut one eye and glide smoothly, rub it out a bit so it gives that cool smokey eye look” you demonstrate with the makeup brush. both boys watching carefully. you record riki, him putting the eyeliner on with ease and rubbing it out, then doing it to the other. he looked at himself in the mirror and smiled as if proud of himself. “wait that looks so sick. riki do mine like that” jungwon gasped, now finally putting his phone down and his face in front of riki. “i just have to do everything around here” riki sighed jokingly and did jungwons eyeliner.

“riki i think you should be an mua instead of a twitch streamer.” you giggled behind the camera making riki glare at you. “i literally streamed one time and you guys can’t let it go” he sighed out, moving away from jungwon so he could look at himself in the mirror. jungwon smiled, ruffling his hair lightly. “don’t we all look good” you mumbled, behind the camera, looking at yourself in the mirror as well. the camera captured all three of you in the mirror. “i say we coordinated pretty well.” riki spoke up, you analyzing each of your outfits.

you wore a simple black minidress with detailing around the corset. riki wore a pair of grey baggy jeans as well as black shirt and a black leather jacket to go with it. jungwon brought in a pop of color with a red and black racer jacket with a black sleeveless top under, with a pair of black jeans. “we did didnt we?” jungwon smiled, looking to the two of you then fishing his keys out of his pocket. “shall we?” riki nods, the three of you walking out of the bathroom.

you flip the camera back to you. “luckily the drive from my apartment to yeonjuns house isn’t insanely far, so i don’t have to go yet guys.” you point to the camera, smiling. “i probably wouldn’t have shut the camera anyways” you laugh out, shutting the front door behind, locking it and matching your pace with riki. “yeah the camera is glued to your hand” “but you guys love it!” “.. yeah”

“you see guys riki acts like a menace on the internet but in real life he’s actually a really nice person. he’s taking best friend applications right now!” you angle the camera towards him and he laughs. “i am actually not. won and sunoo are my best friends” “not for long..” jungwon mumbled back, making you laugh and riki stare at him.

in the midst of your rambling and joking the three of you made it to the car. riki and jungwon in the front and you in the back. “you know everytime we go anywhere it’s war to get the aux” you flip the camera to show jungwon and riki slapping each others hands to get the aux cord. “you literally got it on the way here!” riki groaned out and jungwon snatched the cord from him, plugging it in his phone. “yeah well it’s my car. learn how to drive and maybe you can play travis scott” riki gasps, as if offended and you burst out laughing, flipping the camera back to you.

“no one really talks about it but sitting in the back is actually fun. because while those two are having their own conversations, i can sit back here and just mind my own business with my cute little camera.” ‘u got it’ by frank ocean starts playing in the car as jungwon begins driving. riki rolls his eyes at jungwon playing frank ocean once again but smiles softly. he loves it too. you look at yourself in the camera, fixing a hair out of place. “did i tell you guys about my apartment floor drama” you look to the screen and pause, as if an actual audience would respond.

“it’s kinda crazy because my apartment floor has this couple living on it and they have argued like every single day out of this week, like i see the girl burst out crying when she walks out. i feel so bad because they’re a lot older than me so i can’t really reach out or try and befriend her. it sucks though” you pouted softly at the camera. “besides that, the old lady on my floor is getting mad at some dude again. as always, living in apartments is not really that fun honestly. i still love my place though!” you sigh and smile at the camera, riki laughing a little at the way you talked.

“who wants to place a bet on who’s gonna get the most fucked up tonight” riki spoke up, you furrowed your brows. “is yeonjun in on this bet? because if so i think he would be” the two boys start laughing and jungwon shakes his head. “i think riki will” “woah? rude!!” he exclaimed, putting his hands up. “don’t get me started on new years..” you mumble and look the camera, as if communicating with the watchers. “i think won will” you spoke up. jungwon furrowed his brows.

“i’ll throw a wild one, yn!” riki pointed at you and you laughed right in his face. “absolutely not” you scoffed and riki laughed. “yeah we’ll see” you glared at him, wanting to slap the back of his head again but refrained yourself. “well one of us is gonna have to be a little sober to drive home” “we could always crash” you shrugged making jungwon scrunch his nose. “yeah.. sure” he replied, making you giggle at his tone of voice.

“whoever blacks out first owes the other two a hundred bucks?” riki suggests looking the two of you and you ponder on it for a bit. “each?” jungwon asks, side eyeing riki as he nods. “fine, deal” you say, sitting back in your seat once more. you look the camera and widen your eyes a little. “guys the bet is between me and won, riki doesn’t drink” “you were recording?!” “sorry!” you yelled back, making jungwon burst out laughing as he pulled up to the house.

the three of you got out of the car and you looked at yourself in the camera once more fixing your hair. “well guys we’re gonna head in so i’ll pick up the camera a little later! see ya!” riki and jungwon wave at the camera with you and you turn it off. “don’t worry i’ll end it once we’re a bit too drunk” you looked to both of them and riki sighed as if in relief. “thank god i didn’t need a new years recap. you were evil for that you know?” you laughed next to him as the three of you walked closer to the front lawn.

after what seemed like the longest car ride ever sunghoon jake jay and heeseung arrived at yeonjuns house. “god finally.” jay mumbled, shutting the door and glaring at jake as he got out of the drivers seat. “hey if you didn’t want me to drive you should’ve said something” jake exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “not like you would’ve listened” jay replied, walking ahead of jake and jake looked at sunghoon, mouth wide open.

“cmon jake, he’s just moody” sunghoon shook his head, putting his arm around jake’s shoulder as the two of them walked to the front door. sunghoon didn’t want to be here. he would much rather be at the rink or watching a movie with gaeul. jake rambled on about something next to him but he wasn’t really listening. well he was but not entirely. he just wasn’t in any sort of mood tonight. as they entered the house his nose scrunched at the sudden smell of sweaty bodies, weed, and alcohol. what a great fragrance choice, sunghoon thought.

“heeseung! guys it’s been so long!” yeonjun approached them, dapping up heeseung. sunghoon smiled softly and nodded, all fake though. he didn’t really like yeonjun or his friends. they weren’t weird just a tad bit much. then again sunghoon didn’t have room to speak, he hung out with the same three people all the time.

“so when can i be a special guest on the podcast?!” yeonjun laughed, throwing his hands up. sunghoon and jake eyed each other then sighing and smiling. this was going to be a long night.

you turned on the camera and fixed your appearance a little. “hey guys! so we’ve been here for about an hour, no one’s blacked out thank god. right now we’re playing uno with soobin and beomgyu!” you turned the camera around to soobin and beomgyu who smiled and waved. “annnnd right now riki is winning! here i’ll prop up the camera” you smiled and set the camera down, propping it up so everyone was in frame.

as of now you had only 3 cards left and 2 drinks in your system. “yns gonna use the camera to cheat!” jungwon pointed at you accusingly and you scoffed, almost laughing. “am not!” you shook your head and looked at the camera. “i would never do that!” “that sounds like someone who would” riki laughed next to you and you pinched his arm, making him yelp.

“it’s your turn soobin hurry up” beomgyu complained next to him making soobin side eye him. “you know just because you said that” soobin placed down a +4 and looked to jungwon who only smiled and placed down another. they had planned this. “yn please say you have a +4” jungwon looked to you, making you pout. “ugh i don’t.. oh wait.. what’s this..” you fake confusion as you set down another +4 card. beomgyu gasped and looked at riki with worried eyes. the four of you stared at riki as he set down his last card, in anticipation and it just so happened to be a +4, resulting in beomgyu picking up 16 cards and riki winning the game.

“ughh fuck! you let him win!” beomgyu yelled at soobin making him laugh as riki cheered. “yeah but what matters is that you have 16 cards so i think we all won” you and jungwon kept laughing as soobin and beomgyu continued arguing, neither of them stopping for a breath. you picked the camera back up, trying to contain your laughter. “as you can see beomgyu lost tremendously compared to riki, speaking of how do you feel?” you pointed the camera towards riki who was still cheering.

he looked down at the camera and smiled. “i feel like life is finally worth living.. like i finally have a meaning. the haters tried tearing me down but it didn’t work. we are so back” “the haters should’ve tried harder!” jungwon yelled in response making you burst out laughing at how riki glared at him. just as riki was about to say something the three of your phones buzzed at the same time, most likely the group chat.

ONE NEW NOTIFCATION.

kat: where are you guysss, im in the backyard

you looked up and looked around to spot kat. you beamed once you did find her and the three of you started yelling her name. “finally” you shouted as she got closer, hugging you. “told ya i was gonna come” she let go of you and smiled at the camera, waving. “hi vlog!!” making you giggle. “riki just kicked beomgyu ass at uno” jungwon said as kat took a seat next to him, passing her a drink. “for the last time i was set up!!” beomgyu yelled back, groaning. “fine let’s deal the cards and play again!” she smiled, collecting the cards up from the table.

sunghoon watched jake’s poor attempts at flirting with some girl from the couch. he had to stifle a chuckle everytime the girl rolled his eyes as he rambled. “i don’t know why he does this to himself” jay spoke next to him, shaking his head. “it’s actually pretty amusing” sunghoon smiled, leaning back on the couch, swishing whatever drink was in his cup. “you’ve been off tonight. what is it?” he looked to jay and pursed his lips, as if hesitating to speak.

sunghoon was like that, he didn’t confide in people easily. for some reason he always found himself in this situation with jay, a hefty load on his shoulders. jay looked at him with anticipation because he had already known something was in fact bothering sunghoon, he just didn’t know what. sunghoon huffed out a breath and pulled out his phone. opening a certain chat and passing it to jay. “don’t get on me for replying” sunghoon mumbled, making jay furrow his brows as he read.

sunghoon watched jays expression as he kept reading, his eyebrows stuck in that same angry position. “what the fuck? why didn’t you say anything?” jay looked at sunghoon, placing his phone down on the couch. sunghoon shrugged, sighing as he threw his head back. “hoon don’t listen to her, she’s just trying to rekindle something that wasn’t there.” jays face turned to worry as he saw sunghoon just sitting there silently.

“yeah but what if she’s right. what if i am unlovable” sunghoon turned his head, finally facing jay. jay only looked at him. “you’re not, sunghoon she’s just trying to mess with your head. don’t let her” jay watched his friends face, how it changed to frustration after he said that. he knew after that breakup it was a dark place for sunghoon.

“yeah, you’re right. it’s just been on my mind i don’t know why. i’m sorry if im killing the mood” sunghoon sighed out, now suddenly feeling guilty for pouring his feelings out on jay, a common feeling for him. “it’s normal hoon, don’t apologize. now get up, im taking you home” jay stood up, patting sunghoons knee. sunghoon shook his head, “no i won’t ruin your night” “my night was ruined when i saw jake flirt with that poor girl. now get up man” sunghoon laughed slightly, getting up and standing next to jay.

“let’s atleast tell hee we’re leaving, i think he’s outside” sunghoon muttered to jay who only nodded, leading the way. sunghoon read the texts again, lagging behind jay. the words were etched in his head ‘you’re unlovable’ maybe he should change something. maybe he was doing something wrong.

just before he could look up, he collided with someone, spilling whatever liquid was left in his cup. “oh shit i’m sorry-“ sunghoon looked up from his phone to see you, drenched in said liquid. your friends stood behind you, just as shocked as you were. “i..” “you did that on purpose you dick!” you shouted out, trying to wipe away the alcohol on your hands.

“on purpose?! i literally didn’t even know you were here” sunghoon shouted back, eyebrows now furrowed in irritation. “yeah sure” you scoffed, shaking your head in disbelief. “are you stupid. i said i didn’t know” he replied, the same irritation in his voice. jay placed a hand on sunghoons shoulder, gripping it lightly. “okay hoon, just apologize”, he murmured in his ear.

“yeah for some reason that doesn’t seem believable, look just apologize” you crossed your arms, still glaring up at him. sunghoon almost wanted to laugh in your face. “apologize? you were in MY way!” “you were in my way! you probably did it on purpose too!” you shouted back, sunghoon groaning.

“the world doesn’t fucking revolve around you!” sunghoon shouted, a little louder now. loud enough for jungwon to step in between you two, you stepped back, quiet now. “there’s no need to yell man, now go.” jungwon glared at him, almost sizing him up. there was a notable size difference between the two. sunghoon scoffed, “fine” he walked past jungwon, shoulder checking him and leaving jay standing there.

jay laughed nervously as the group glared him down, scratching the back of his neck. “sorry.. he had a rough night. girl problems” jungwon gave him a half ass smile as if to say ‘okay.. go away now’ “yeah he didn’t have to be a dick about it. now can you move?” jays eyes widened at the boys bluntness and stepped to the side, letting the four of you walk away.

“you okay?” kat rubbed your arm as you guys walked towards the front door. “yeah just annoyed, ugh that guy is a dick” you grumbled, wiping away at your dress. “let’s hope we don’t have to see him again” jungwon mumbled in front of you, also quite annoyed by the encounter.

you weren’t as bothered as jungwon was, just a bit shocked. you didn’t like it when people raised their voice at you. it made you feel small, belittled almost. you didn’t like feeling that, jungwon knew that, all of them did. which is why he stepped in. he did that often for everyone, it was just his thing, protecting his friends.

the four of you reached the car, getting in. kat had ubered here so she was riding back with you guys. luckily everyone was pretty sober so going home wasn’t a problem. you sat in the front next to jungwon now, kat and riki in the back.

the car ride was pretty quiet, riki and kat in their own world and you and jungwon way too annoyed to even bother to talk. jungwon and riki dropped kat off first since her apartment came first then they reached your complex. you said your goodbyes (riki flicked your forehead) and went up, entering your apartment.

you pulled out your camera, realizing you hadn’t ended the vlog properly yet. you turned it around and fixed your expression, then hit record. “sorry i forgot to record in the car but that was pretty much it for tonight’s vlog! i’m just gonna take off my makeup, change then sleep. thanks for joining me today and be sure to like, comment, share and subscribe! till next time!!” you waved to the camera as you did your outro and blew a kiss.

previous masterlist next

AUTHORS NOTE » soooooo ummmm 😅 maybe ynhoon WONT happen as expected. anyways this is when the smau srsly starts taking off so u guys r in for some DRAMAAA. pls like n reblog luvs 💟

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[breannasfluff]

Safety and Frogs

AO3 Link

Malon hums to herself, combing her fingers through fluffy brown hair. The screen door to the house swings open; squeaking on the hinges. She should oil it later.

“Got room for one more?”

“For you Fairy Boy? Always.” She smiles up at her husband as he settles onto the wide porch swing on her free side.

“How’s Hyrule?”

“Ran out of energy helping with the fairies. Now we’re both enjoying a nice break.” At her side, the traveler is fast asleep against her shoulder. She’s eased Link to sleep with the same gesture many a time.

“Well, I think I could do with some rest myself.”

“Finished with the horses?”

“The boys are still moving grain. Wild is…helping.” Causing chaos, comes the subtext.

“And Wind?”

“…hm.”

So, instigating said chaos. Well, as long as they don’t set the barn on fire. Link sets the porch swing rocking with a foot and she leans into his side. Even after 10 years of marriage, her favorite place is next to him. They’ve been together long enough that they can be apart, but it will never be her choice.

Link is…different, the more time he spends with the boys. Oh, sure, he’s changed a lot from the young boy who wandered out of the forest. Even more so since they started dating or got married. Those were drastic changes, borne out of struggles and pain.

Now, he changes subtly each time he comes home. Link grows comfortable in his role as the temporary leader of the group. He knows when to keep the boys out of trouble and when to let them learn their own lessons. With so many diverse backgrounds and ages, he deals with all sorts of oddities.

Malon can’t help but look at him with the boys and imagine little ones of their own. Her fairy boy would be a wonderful dad because he already fills that role for eight others.

At her side, Hyrule shifts slightly and she resumes combing through his hair. He settles with a little sigh. Glancing at Link shows a fond smile at the motion.

“How are they doing?” she asks.

Link turns his attention back across the ranch, eyebrows furrowing slightly at the racket in the barn. “It’s good. Everyone’s grown more comfortable with each other and their role in the group. Friendships are still being made but…there’s a lot more trust than when we started.”

He presses a kiss to Malon’s hair. “I love them. Even when they drive me up the wall. All I want to do is see them go home safe.”

“You’re doing that already.”

“But…I feel like I should do more.”

Malon knows this mindset; they’ve battled it for years already. It’s a product of the hero’s spirit; the insatiable need to help. “Link. You are already doing that. Do you let Wild blow up everything he sees?”

“No.”

“Did you let Wind steal Warriors scarf and dye it?”

That gets a snort; one of the funnier stories he shared with her. “No.”

“Do you let Hyrule wander off and get lost?”

“I think that’s impossible to stop, but I send Wolfie after him.”

“What about traveling all night? Not checking for dangers? Eating unknown foods?”

“Okay! Okay!” Link holds up his hands, waving her off. “I get it, I do a lot.”

She smirks and kisses his shoulder. “You do a good job, fairy boy. You’ll get them all home safe. I promise.”

“How do you know?”

“Because with you? There is no other option.” Link will do everything in his power to protect the boys. She’s made her peace with it, even if it raises his chance of injury. He wouldn’t be the man she loved if he was different.

The racket in the barn dies down, and there’s little sound but the odd whinny of a horse and the creak of the swing. Malon lets her eyes close as she leans on Link, taking a deep breath of the warm summer air.

“I can kill 16 bokoblins with thunder.”

Her eyes pop open and she glances over at Hyrule. He’s blinking sleepily up at her.

“…what?”

He just nods and yawns, showing white teeth. “Chu chus are edible if you are desperate enough.”

Well, that’s…worrying. Malon glances at Link, hoping for some help.

“Go back to sleep, traveler.”

Hyrule yawns again. “Legend’s got a pair of red underwear he stole from Wild…” and then he settles back on Malon���s shoulder and falls asleep again.

Malon presses her lips together, trying to stop the laughter from shaking her shoulders. Link rolls his eyes. “Hyrule says the weirdest things mid-nap. He gives me a run for my rupees; I’ve got no idea if what he says is true half the time.”

She arches an eyebrow. “And the underwear?”

“You’re welcome to ask.”

The silence stretches, and then they both break into quiet giggles. The gentle motion of the swing lulls her into a doze. She should go inside and start on dinner. Maybe bake some rolls? What would the boys like that she can make in a kitchen? Wild deserves a break from cooking, especially over a campfire.

Perhaps…she can make… ~

Malon wakes to whispering. She doesn’t move at first, although her ear flicks as she listens.

“Take the picture,” someone hisses. Legend.

“I did! Look, they’re all conked out.” There’s Wild.

A pause. Then Four asks, “Hey, what if I tickle the old man’s ear with a feather.”

“Don’t do that!” A light slap and some shuffling.

“Hey—”

“Shh!”

Someone else has joined the trio and Malon works to feign sleep.

“Why are we whispering?”

“They are asleep. Hey, whatcha got, Sky?”

“A frog! Look, it’s a small one.”

“Can I hold it?” Wild asks.

“Sure, here you go.”

Silence. Suspicious silence. It’s a silence that points to a prank in action.

“Hello, boys.” Link’s voice has Malon opening her eyes to take in the situation. Wild stands directly in front of Link, hands cupped around the frog. There’s a slight look of panic.

“Have a nice nap, old man?”

He ignores the question. “You weren’t going to put that frog on me, were you?”

“O-of course not! I would never!” Wild glances back at the other boys, looking for backup. Four edges away. Sky is confused, and Legend has a highly insincere smile on his face.

Next to her, Hyrule wakes up and blinks, looking around. “What’s going on?”

“Wild has a frog.”

“Cool, can I see?”

Wild passes the frog over, relieved at the distraction. Hyrule examines the frog and then pops it in his mouth.

Did he just…eat…a frog? Is that something these boys do? Goddesses, is she not feeding them enough?

“Hyrule.” Link’s voice is cool and he’s making use of his disappointed face. “Spit it out.”

The traveler does; the frog none the worse for its sudden journey into a mouth. Sky swoops in and saves it before anyone else decides they want a snack. Hyrule gives her a sunny smile. “Frog legs are excellent cooked.”

She manages a faint smile. “I’m sure they are.”

No, her fairy boy will have no trouble with children in the future.

[fairybinie]

KISS, DON’T TELL — 29: BREAKING IN.

synopsis: popular and menacingly wicked choi beomgyu has the entire senior class wrapped around his finger. the high school drama club has cherished y/n as their veteran for four years. to fulfill beomgyu’s graduation requirements, he must join y/n’s drama club despite his grudges. unbeknownst to everyone else, y/n and beomgyu have their history. they’ve kissed before (or more like y/n has bitten his lip to bleed) and beomgyu hasn’t lived it down ever since. y/n cannot stand this guy. they can make it through the entire year as the leads in their play, right?

taglist: @iyeonjuni @odxrilove @iuwon @ijhyo @cherr-y-eji @ameliesaysshoo @enhacolor @cherrybeomgyu @wccycc @hyukabean @strawberri-uyu @hyuntaena @feyregels @boba-beom @luvnhwa @jmin-s @ashxxgyu @bibinnieposts @laylasbunbunny @robinsluva @shiguresohmas @h00nerz @beomsbeanie @stepout-09-15 @ox1-lovesick @soobsdior @ifwtyun @peachy-yabbay @sunlightwoo @ttyunz @rikijackson04 @miyawwn @aintgeluh @baekhyunstruly @wxderingthoughts @moontyuns @soobpricity @hyeinszn @txtbrainrot @phenomenalgirl9 @fatoompie @stellz581 @bluebearybeom @extriella @1-800-ryujin @galaxyhalloes @tae-ology @dekusgirl @xavi-in-kpopland @run2seob @obeymeharemowner @bailies-me @aestheticsluut

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a/n: smau + written (2.9k). one pet name, profanity, gay jokes don’t take it srs!! mentions of kissing/blood, mentions of alcohol, just angst everywhere. the moment is finally here sorry for the wait y’all are about to get real mad 😔

y/n wasn’t entirely wrong. as soon as the group arrived in front of the school (courtesy of beomgyu’s driving; thankfully they managed to snatch shotgun before anyone else could) taehyun and eliana were hand in hand and eager to head in together. y/n could say that they were the most unexpected pair to come out from these few weeks, but that place has already been taken.

dinner was weird. why exactly was isa here? she’s never interacted with the rest of them that often and she seems to have her own crew. at this point, y/n is for certain isa still likes beomgyu. tagging along with yeonjun, one of his best friends, just seems like a coy to be closer with him. y/n and beomgyu haven’t even been together for that long and they’re already jealous.

at the same time, y/n tries to fight it off. technically they won this battle, right? beomgyu is dating them not her. beomgyu sees them all the time in class, outside of class, they hang out with each other’s friends. surely, it would be too late for beomgyu to have any last minute realizations to change his mind.

snap out of it y/n, own up to your slayness, as kai would tell them.

it’s prom. this is supposed to be the one special night where they all could let loose and forget their worries, put their future on hold, and just enjoy the present while they still can. put rehearsals and the production on the back burner while they act on for their own lives.

it shouldn’t be too hard for y/n to act like these overbearing thoughts aren't on their mind and they don’t know anything. this is just like any other role.

“alright guys, let’s make beomgyu’s tweet come true,” yeonjun announces to the group with a clap of his hands to capture their attention.

right on cue, they all chant a night to remember with their hands in the air. y/n barely manages to regain their composure as they attempt to join this hurrah, but they missed out just by a few seconds.

taehyun and eliana don’t hesitate to scurry inside the school to see what tonight has in store for them. soobin and kai (both dateless) start walking ahead and yeonjun goes up to the person in charge for valet parking to store his car away. y/n stays behind to wait for beomgyu so they could go in together, only to see him and isa are standing together in a distance. y/n’s eyebrows furrow in place as they fold their hands together, unsure what to do with them.

“um, i'll be right in,” beomgyu coughs, but still sounds somewhat assuring. “we just need to talk for a minute.”

the boy has his hands in his pant pockets and appears to be stiff. he’s not closing the distance between him and isa, as she stands a few inches away to his right. y/n has been thrown off enough tonight, but they weren’t exactly expecting this. they glance at beomgyu one more time with caution and beomgyu responds with a quick head nod for confirmation. y/n catches isa return a closed mouth smile and y/n can’t help but do the same, as they feel it forced upon.

y/n gives a nod themselves as they slowly turn around and make their way up the steps and inside the school. they manage to catch up to soobin and kai and they squeeze in the middle as they interlock arms with theirs. the boys are both caught off guard, as they expected y/n to go in with beomgyu, and exchange some confused looks with one another. y/n does their best to keep their gaze straight, not wanting to look back. they can’t look back. thankfully, soobin does it for them.

“hm?” soobin says when he sees y/n with them. he looks at them and then stretches his neck to look behind him. it becomes apparent to him and he understands. he encloses his arm with y/n’s a bit tighter and continues to walk ahead.

…

eighteen minutes. that’s how long y/n has been standing in the corner right near the fruit punch. eliana and taehyun offered to stay with them until beomgyu came back, but y/n declined their offer. they shouldn’t have to sacrifice their night just for them. miraculously, a fellow drama classmate came up to kai and asked to dance, to which y/n practically forced him to take the chance. opportunities don’t come for him this often. soobin had to go to his locker in search of wet wipes as an underclassmen has already spilled their beverage on his shirt.

y/n observes the scene with their arms crossed, leaning against the wall behind them. of course, everyone is having the time of their life. the theme turned out better than they expected, and the decor isn't too shabby. some are lined up for photos, including taehyun and eliana. others are out on the dance floor eating up whatever the DJ is throwing at them. though they appear distressed, y/n at least finds kai’s attempt at dancing amusing.

their eyes trail onto a group of students who pour juice into those classic red cups as one of them brings out a bottle of alcohol and adds it into each other’s cups. y/n stares blankly as they recall the last time they ever drank, which was that night. considering how that ended up, they haven’t since then.

once that group leaves, y/n catches yeonjun in the far corner making conversation with a few other party goers. he seems to have no care in the world, just genuinely enjoying this good time.

that makes one of them.

why did y/n care so much? yeonjun clearly didn’t, maybe they were making a bigger deal out of this than they needed to. it’s not like isa is horrible either. she was always sweet to them whenever they interacted. however, being in this space right now has led y/n to believe that those two may have more going on than they suspected.

this is ridiculous, they thought. what could they be talking about for this long?

on that thought, y/n heads over to the window that shows a view of the front of the school, right where they were in the start. they feel bad that they were assuming something bad could be happening right now, as if they didn’t trust beomgyu, but they can’t help it. they’ve seen this kind of story before.

only…beomgyu and isa aren’t there anymore. maybe that is better? perhaps they were done and beomgyu was on his way to the hall. with nerves, y/n pulls out their cell phone. they would be lying if they said they didn’t debate on whether to call or text him. that’s the point they’ve reached to.

please stand up.

ultimately, they start a text conversation.

y/n longingly stares down at their phone in pure confusion and distaste. not only was it just revealed that isa did indeed like their boyfriend, but throughout this conversation they’ve noticed a few glances and side eyes being thrown their way. it’s like they’re all in on what just happened.

as y/n waits for beomgyu to walk inside the hall, the stares don’t stop. there’s even some whispers and chit chats being heard. not that they’re conceited, but this has to be about them, right?

y/n appears to be a deer in headlights until one of their classmates from drama class approaches them. her face reeks of pity as she whispers in their ear.

“check twitter.”

she walks away as y/n remains still in their place. their phone barely balances on their suddenly shaky hands. they can feel their forehead form a crease with their knitted brows as their fingers hurriedly open the mentioned app. it didn’t have to take much digging because it’s the first thing they see. something they never thought would ever be exposed.

everyone here knows that they’re dating beomgyu, and what was now formally their secret incident.

y/n can barely think straight. many thoughts begin to race in their mind, but the one question that takes center spotlight is who the hell is moanews? how did they know all that?

seeing all the rapid scrolls take place in this hall leads y/n to grow more anxious. everything’s out. they shake their head in disbelief and soon make way out through the door and into the hallway. yeonjun, eliana, taehyun, and kai follow right behind them when they realize what’s going on.

y/n could’ve sworn that the world was on pause. it wasn’t until they rushed out of there hearing the music blare through the speakers that they realized this is very much real time. they need to think.

the hallway surprisingly is quite empty and the music tunes out a little. y/n feels less overwhelmed, but their heart picks up its pace when they see beomgyu come out from the men’s restroom.

“y/n!” beomgyu calls out as he hurries over to them, his breath staggering with each step.

“beomgyu, what the hell happened out there?” y/n wastes no time to question. their words come out as a hushed command.

“i- she just confessed to me out of nowhere,” beomgyu’s words spill out, almost with no structure. “she says the feelings are still there even though she doesn’t want them to be. i had to tell her we were dating, y/n.”

beomgyu can tell y/n is trying to follow along, but the urgency in their eyes tells him they’re not doing very well. he steps closer to y/n and gently reaches to hold their hand. it’s stone cold.

“she made me realize a lot of things,” he admits with a sigh, like it’s the first time he’s being real with himself.

y/n shakes their head in denial as their frown deepens. “beomgyu, i don’t care that she likes you. i want to know who the fuck aired our business out like that and why.”

“w-what do you mean?” beomgyu’s eyes soften as his expression is replaced with concern.

just on time, the rest of the gang follows up with them in a hurry. yeonjun hands beomgyu his phone and the rest stay standing for what’s next. y/n sees soobin jogging up to the group as he came back from the opposite side of the hallway from his locker.

“dude,” yeonjun lets out a whisper. everyone watches as beomgyu’s eyes read all over the place, growing apprehensive with each word.

“okay, when did this happen?” beomgyu questions with the phone in his hand. yeonjun snatches it back and rereads everything for himself.

“that’s what i'm trying to ask you,” y/n brings the attention back onto him.

“i didn’t know about this-”

“yeah, neither did we,” eliana speaks up after observing enough. y/n shifts their gaze onto her and the rest of their friends. they appear hurt. “when were you going to tell us, y/n?”

“were you even going to tell us at all?” kai adds on. his voice becomes small and y/n can’t help but feel their heart break a little.

they were so focused on talking to beomgyu that they didn’t realize what else becomes of this mess. the fact that their friends didn’t know and were kept in the dark, and this is how they find out. it’s not looking good for anyone.

“y/n,” beomgyu speaks again, waiting to hear a response with solemn eyes.

and that’s when it all circles back for y/n. the thread said they are not what they think. isa likes beomgyu. beomgyu just said that she made him realize things. sure, he might’ve told her that they were dating but maybe his feelings have changed now? these two did have their on and off again relationship, maybe those feelings never left. perhaps that’s why beomgyu was so slow on making things official with y/n, because he didn’t want to. he didn’t do it until y/n literally had to ask. beomgyu was the only one to know their secret. maybe he never really changed.

they said they needed to think, but they never said they were rational.

“you…” is all y/n could stutter out, letting go of beomgyu’s grip.

beomgyu only blinks a few times to understand, but once he does, his soft expression turns into slight betrayal.

“you seriously… you think i did this?” beomgyu accuses, his tone going an octave higher.

“jeez, i don’t know!” y/n exclaims with their hands in the air. they’re aware their friends are watching at this point but it’s all out anyway. “you were the only one who knew, beomgyu.”

beomgyu scoffs as he can’t believe this current predicament. “and i told you i didn’t tell anyone. i wouldn’t do that to you.”

“yeah, well i don’t know what to believe anymore,” y/n mumbles with a cross of their arms, their eyes brink with tears. “right now i’m starting to feel like i can’t really trust you.”

“apparently you can’t trust us either,” a voice speaks up. y/n faces eliana, and her anger is unmatched. “we’re supposed to be your best friends, y/n. after four years you couldn’t tell us? seriously? we had to find out through a fucking thread.”

“this literally isn’t about you, el!” y/n’s instinct is to retaliate with a higher voice. “this is our own problem, or mine i guess.”

eliana takes the comeback as she swallows down any other harsh words she can think of. her tears begin to look similar to y/n’s.

“well i guess he’s not the only one who’s changed,” eliana replies lowly, with no life left to her tone. she recalls back to what y/n has said about beomgyu, about how he’s become a new and better person than what he was years ago. that’s a new level of low.

having enough of the conversation, eliana heads back to the hall with frustrated movements. kai glances at y/n for a second, feeling disappointed as well before he follows right behind eliana, probably in hopes that she’s okay. taehyun faces the boys beside him, visibly asking what to do. beomgyu and yeonjun give a shrug to their left indicating that he’s allowed to go after her too, to which he does.

“maybe i was stupid for thinking you were different,” y/n comes to the dull conclusion.

“i really can’t believe you’re saying this right now,” beomgyu responds with hurt in his voice.

“you literally said you weren’t innocent either,” y/n traces back to their texts that left them confused.

“not for this reason!” beomgyu argues in defense. not that he really has one anyway, even he can admit all this leads back to him.

y/n shrugs with hard shoulders, emotionally tired to keep this conversation going. they walk a few steps back before beomgyu calls out their name again, refusing to believe they’re going to end things like this.

“maybe you can write a song about your past biting you in the ass,” y/n spits out the harshest thing they could come up with, even if it wasn’t intended. “since your lips weren't enough, apparently.”

y/n rolls their eyes and soon begins to hurry out of this (what feels enclosed) building, back to the outside of the front of the school. they pause in their steps to wait to see if beomgyu follows them out, but he doesn’t. they can only hear yeonjun barge him with a bunch of questions.

y/n sits down on the steps after calling an uber to take them back home. they smooth out their outfit and exhale a much needed breath that they’ve been holding in.

so much for a night to remember.

technically, all this didn’t matter. it’s high school, people focus on one piece of drama and then they soon forget about it. they were all about to graduate anyway, go their separate ways. yet, it still hurt. y/n can’t forget about this, it’s not like they’re not going to see beomgyu after this. they still have rehearsals, graduation, hell, even college. they’ve confided in him with everything. now, he’s lost his only supporter.

their friends were mad at them, beomgyu broke their heart, they didn’t even get to enjoy prom for what it was. no pictures, no dances, no….kisses. what were they here for if it was only going to end up like this? did they even break up?

y/n hated beomgyu, y/n hated isa, y/n hated themselves.

the production was surely going to face severe damage after what just happened. they’re mentally apologizing on behalf of the entire drama department.

y/n feels a tear streak fall down their cheek, almost forgetting they were on the verge of crying. they quickly wipe it away, refusing to break down like this in public. they just wanted their uber to get here so they could go home, get undressed from their emotions, and watch home videos of their dad. they almost want to question him asking why they ever thought they could trust choi beomgyu. how could he ever change?

in the midst of all this, y/n hears footsteps follow behind them until ultimately a body sits right beside them. they’re too ashamed to look up, but they recognize those lean legs anywhere.

soobin, of all people. wasn’t he upset too? if anything, he was the one who hated beomgyu just as much as they did. he should be having his ‘i told you so’ moment. he should be yelling at them that they shouldn’t have been involved with a guy like him.

“…wanted to make sure you got home safe.”

and with this, y/n squeezes their eyes closed in hopes this will all go away. at least they weren’t alone, though. but come to think of it, it’s quite funny.

you have one guy with a visible stain on his heart, and someone who has an emotional stain on their heart.

please do not translate, modify or repost on other platforms.

© fairybinie

[sage-lights]

if i could i'd freeze this moment

for @baflegacy’s smosh girlies week day 8 prompt: free day! word count: 1510 title from: "anaheim" by niki (this fic has literally been plaguing me for weeks. i've been running into writer's block after writer's block trying to finish it and it's literally past midnight where i am and i'm still not completely happy with it, but at least i finished it!)

It's getting dark out, the last glimmers of sunlight disappearing behind endless rows of snow-covered trees. The ground is pristinely powdered, not a single footprint marring the even surface. Everything is still out here.

Angela leans against the wooden railing of the back deck, admiring the landscape. Behind her is the sliding glass door that leads back into the cabin, cracked open enough for her to hear the loud "Come on’s!" and "Hell yeah’s!" of her friends.

She turn around for a brief second, observing how rowdy everyone is. Most of the Smosh cast and crew are squished together on the couch or floor. They’ve gathered around the TV and placed bets on the (very serious) Super Smash Bros tournament. A few are scattered throughout the open kitchen, chatting, laughing, and paying attention to the game with one ear.

The scene inside the cabin is bathed in the golden lamp light, cozy and familiar. But right now, that warmth is suffocating.

Angela’s glad that Ian and Anthony were able to finally pull this off. There had been whispers of bringing back Smosh Summer Games since the beginning of the year. But with the summer already packed full of different programming, the difficulties of finding a sponsor, and the sheer amount of pre-production required for a shoot of this scale, they ultimately decided it wouldn’t be feasible. Instead, they pivoted their efforts towards a revamped Smosh Winter Games, giving them more time to plan and elevate the event to the same caliber as Summer Games.

Based on the few days they've had already, Angela understands why Summer and Winter Games are so beloved by everyone. The games are insane, the rivalries are already forming, and every day, the stakes climb higher and higher.

Though, as much as Angela enjoys the constant excitement buzzing in the air, a lingering anxiety courses through her. She has yet to tell anyone the big news. At first, she convinced herself not to mention it yet because everyone was busy preparing for Winter Games. And now that they’re here in Big Bear, she’s created a new excuse to rationalize keeping this secret for even longer—she doesn’t want to detract from everyone relaxing and enjoying all their hard work by making herself the center of attention.

However, it’s been eating away at her. These days, the confession sits at the tip of her tongue, on the verge of slipping out anytime she has a conversation with someone.

She's snapped out of her thoughts when she hears the door squeakily roll open, forcing her back to the present moment. It's Amanda, with a drink in one hand and waving at her with the other. As she shuts the door, a cool breeze cuts through and Angela shivers a little.

Amanda notices. She picks up the throw blanket from the deck chair as she walks towards Angela, setting her mug down on the railing and wrapping the blanket around Angela's shoulders.

"Whatcha doing out here?" Amanda asks.

"Wondering how long it would take Shayne to find his way home if we blindfolded and dropped him off in the middle of the forest."

"What the hell?"

"He's a fan of Alone," Angela shrugs playfully.

"You're crazy," Amanda laughs.

Angela motions to the drink, "Hot cocoa?"

"With Baileys," she winks, "Tommy's making them."

Angela, still a little lost in thought, doesn’t respond, opting instead to envelop them in a comfortable silence. They both gaze out at the snowy landscape and stars twinkling up above. Angela can never see them from her apartment in Los Angeles; the light pollution always clouds her view. But out here, with Amanda standing next to her, everything is clear.

Whenever Amanda's by her side, something seems to shift in Angela. It's like Amanda's got this knack for quieting the chaos in her head. Everything, even the most tangled of thoughts, fall into place. She desperately wants to cling onto this peace, onto Amanda.

She wonders if she loves Amanda.

The idea shocks her a moment before she scoffs at it mentally. Of course she loves Amanda—she loves all her friends. She tells Arasha “I love you” when she hugs her before leaving the office, Chanse when he’s got her back, Courtney when they bring her food, and teases Shayne for chuckling uncomfortably when she tells him.

Yet, the longer she thinks about it, the more unsure she gets about grouping Amanda in with the rest of her friends. The more she realizes it’s different with Amanda. She doesn’t quite have the words to describe it, but she just knows. With every fit of uncontrollable laughter that’s got her falling into Amanda’s side, every glance exchanged while filming, and every burning touch, she just knows.

And then it clicks for Angela. It’s the thought of letting Smosh go, of letting Amanda go, that’s been scaring the living crap out of her.

Stunned by this sudden realization, she watches intently as Amanda sips her cocoa, who catches her staring and offers her a drink as well.

"Angela?"

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking."

"About what?"

"Just stuff. Life stuff, you know?"

Amanda raises an eyebrow, concerned. "You seem a little off. Something on your mind?"

Angela hesitates. Once again, she can feel the words threatening to spill out of her. But this time, she doesn’t fight the urge. She wants to tell Amanda, wants her to tell her everything is going to be okay. That they’re going to be okay. She feels the alcohol start warm her system and takes a deep breath in, then out.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Of course, baby.”

"No one else knows this yet, but I…booked a movie," she glances down at her hands, fidgeting with her fingers.

Amanda gasps, her eyes widening in surprise and excitement. She nudges Angela with her shoulder, "Oh, my god! Congratulations, angel!"

"Thanks, Amanda."

"Am I allowed to know what project it is, or is it a Marvel-level secret?"

Angela still doesn't meet Amanda's eyes, "Um, it's, uh, an indie film that A24’s looking to produce."

"Holy. Shit. That's fucking insane! This is huge, Angela. I'm so proud of you!" Amanda wraps an arm around her friend to pull her in closer, but pauses when she feels her stiffen in her embrace.

"Alright, something’s up,” Amanda faces her and, with a bit more seriousness and concern, asks, “Is there something in the script that makes you uncomfortable? Because if so, you should go and talk to-.”

Angela cuts her off, “No, there’s not. Don’t worry.”

Amanda’s relieved, though she sees Angela still has a strange faraway look on her face, “Then why do you not seem happy about this role?”

"No, I'm…I'm happy about it," Angela sighs heavily and finally looks up, only to be met with Amanda's unconvinced expression, "I swear I am. It's just that…I'm leaving Smosh soon."

"I get it, you hate working with us," Amanda jokes.

Immediately backtracking, Angela quickly mutters, "No! It's not like that, I didn't mean it like that."

"Chill, Ang. I'm just messing with you," Amanda laughs at Angela smacking her arm.

“Shut up, I’m trying to be vulnerable right now.”

Amanda gestures for her to continue, her face softening in apology.

"There's a tiny part of me who wants to turn down the role, but that would be such a stupid move—I know I would regret it instantly. But every time I think about doing this movie, a wave of panic washes over me and I become paralyzed with dread.”

Amanda places her hand on Angela's back, rubbing huge circles to help soothe her, "It's okay to be scared. Change is just one of those experiences that never gets easier."

"No, it’s not that. It’s just-,” her voice gets smaller, “Amanda, promise me we'll stay in touch."

"Duh, Ang. It’s not like you'll never see us again. You'll probably get upgraded to Mari and Sarah status, always welcome to drop by and say 'hello.' Maybe even join us in a video or two if your busy new schedule will allow it."

“Things it won't be the same."

Amanda acquiesces, "No, it won't. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing."

"I mean it, Amanda. I don’t want us to become those friends who never speak to each other after they stop working together. I don’t want to see your life through Instagram posts. You mean the world to me," Angela's voice cracks slightly, the tone of it so raw that it breaks Amanda’s heart.

Amanda reaches out and pulls Angela into a tight hug, "I promise you, Angela. Even when you’re super famous and walking down the Oscars red carpet, I’ll break in and chase you down just to tell you fart joke.

“You’re dumb,” Angela rolls her eyes, but sinks into her embrace and smiles.

“But I mean it. I love you endlessly, and I will always be here with you.”

Maybe this is what love truly is. Letting go when you want to hold on. Knowing that it’ll always return.

[puffmais]

I Feel You Linger In The Air (Rant)

I really needed to make this because I've finally discovered why so many bls fans (not everyone) keep ignoring this story in particular, which, in my opinion, holds the place for #1 bl of the year.

People are really not ready to watch great acting, great plot, great cinematography, great ost, great everything. You really have a period bl drama right in front of your eyes, but apparently one of the main excuses is that the relationship "goes really slow", and some people on Twitter and Reddit even said that Jom never shows his feelings just like in the novel, and that is always Khun Yai the one who gives affection. Let's go for the first one: first of all, are we watching the same show? Because we, as an audience, are fully aware that Jom was cheated on by his boyfriend in the present time, then he travels to the past and encounters this man (whom he has previously seen) and of course, he's shocked (both of them are since Khun Yai dreamed about Jom). You just can't expect a relationship to happen in the very first episode, that's not realistic, that never happens. This actually reminded me when Step By Step was airing and everyone kept complaining that "nothing" happened between the two mains, and the plot was slow, and people just stopped watching it. You really need to understand how relationships work: it takes time, and we need to follow the development, we need to feel those moments between the characters. The problem here is those really cringy, bad bl series with zero plot, terrible acting, and obviously having explicit s*x scenes in every episode, that made people forget about enjoying a great story and just consume any garbage content just for the sake of it, and I'm not going to make a list about those bad bls or those terrible actors because you all know who they are. The second one, do you really think Jom never showed his feelings towards Khun Yai? Once again, this is a character that has just been cheated on and got his heart broken by his long-time boyfriend. And let's not forget that this is an adaptation from a novel (yes, I read it), and every time a written work gets adapted into a series (or film) there are always going to be changes and situations in which all the production team has to work to make it as close as possible to the novel, but not the same in its entirety. Someone on Reddit said that they were happy because even though some scenes were changed from the novel, the dialogues were all the exact same and they were faithful in that sense, and I completely agree. Now, if you are saying that Jom doesn't show any emotion, you are coming for Nonkul's acting and I won't tolerate that. This drama has cast two of the best Thai actors in the industry. Both actors even said that they read the novel, and did plenty of research and preparation for their characters. So, no... you are not going to come for these two boys, because they are the best you will ever see.

And now, let's see some examples in which we can see Jom (slowly) growing feelings for Khun Yai: This already happens in EP2. Khun Yai looking so worried, asks Jom if he's feeling unwell and touches him so gently. Just look at Jom's face... I bet his heart made a jump because I know my heart would stop at that moment.

And what about the very next moment? Khun Yai: "It's like you've lost your blessing. Please, let me bring it back for you." (The softness in his voice...)

And Jom looks dazzled the whole time because he has this gorgeous gentleman talking to him like this, caring for him... Anyways, let's go to EP3. The scene in which Khun Yai tells Jom that he's buying clothes for him and Jom is surprised by this. And then, Khun Yai goes: "Do you like it?" (referring to the shirt)

And I bet Jom's brain was like: "Are we talking about the shirt... or you?". He just stares at Khun Yai like he's hypnotized (like more than 5 seconds, I'm not kidding). And what about this whole scene? Khun Yai: "If remembering makes you sad, just forget about it completely."

Here we have Khun Yai once again talking in his ever-soft voice (Bright's voice is just beautiful) and comforting Jom, knowing that he's suffering and having hard times, and Jom just takes and absorbs all this care and affection coming from the other.

When they come back, Jom thanks Khun Yai, he's grateful for everything, you can see it in his smile, and his eyes, and he exudes gratefulness. And then we see him looking at the bracelet that Khun Yai gave to him, and thinking about him... like come on, at this point we all know that Khun Yai is blooming in Jom's heart.

Right, let's jump to EP4. Jom becomes Khun Yai's majordomo and we have the scene in which Khun Yai shows Jom his new room. Khun Yai: "So now we're living under the same roof, Jom."

Look at him! He looks nervous and shy, taking in the fact that he's going to live with his crush and be with him 24/7, like imagine being as lucky as Jom... the boy is internally screaming.

The next scene, when Khun Yai is helping Jom with the typewriter, and Jom makes a mistake.

Khun Yai stops him by touching him and Jom's brain just stops working. My boy is gone, he just stares and stares.

And then, we have the scene in which Jom is helping dress Khun Yai. Jom: "So, why did you have to help me that much?" Khun Yai: "As I said earlier, I just want to choose what I want, and go by my wish sometimes."

LOOK AT HIM! HE'S GONE! WE LOST HIM! And besides he understands what Khun Yai is trying to say, Jom is no fool.

Khun Yai leaves and we see Jom like this: he's touching his face (an indicator that his face is probably burning) and he's internally screaming, please at this point we can feel Jom's sincere feelings.

Let's go to EP5. In the beginning scene, Jom sees things from the present time, and he starts screaming. Khun Yai makes his appearance, he's worried and he knows Jom is having a hard time once again. I want to emphasize how Khun Yai is in a drunk state in this scene, but that doesn't stop him from being the same gentleman, and comfort Jom in every possible way.

Khun Yai: "Jom, you're here with me. Just think of this as another home." (I screamed)

The entire scene is chef's kiss. Khun Yai's soft and caring voice, massaging Jom's forehead in an attempt to make Jom feel better and get rid of any negative feelings and thoughts. Caressing his face and then hugging him ever so softly, patting his head, every single gesture is just perfection, so full of affection. The silence in the scene, no need of dialogues, just them loving each other, and Jom being completely gone. He's completely aware that he likes Khun Yai.

Okay, EP6. We have a (very) jealous Khun Yai avoiding Jom and treating him kind of indifferently. In this scene, Jom looks hurt and worried that Khun Yai may be angry at him, and he basically makes Khun Yai explode.

Khun Yai: "Don't you know how I feel about you? Did my actions not reach your heart at all? Or should I write you a long poem? Or in what way should I tell you so that you can understand how I feel about you?".

Imagine your crush advancing to you like this... saying all those words... Jom was speechless, breathless.

Moving forward, Khun Yai finally directly confesses to Jom and asks him if he wants to be with him, and Jom agrees. I loved how Jom didn't reject him but explained to him that he was scared and worried about them becoming lovers and making Khun Yai's life difficult because of his family and society in general. Let's not forget that Jom comes from the present time in which until today LGBTQ people are still chased and k*lled, rejected, and seen as abnormal (I personally felt his speech because I'm bisexual and I know it's hard). And Thailand is still a conservative country in which gay marriage is not allowed, so like I said before: Jom is no fool and he's aware of the whole situation. But... love is stronger and our boys become a couple, and if after all this people still think that Jom has zero emotions or doesn't express himself... just go watch your empty bls in which the characters "fall in love" in the first five minutes like the most unrealistic thing ever.

I want to say that Khun Yai is the greenest flag ever, and Bright & Nonkul's chemistry is out of this world. I hope they work together again in the future because they are the perfect duo. Anyways, to all IFYLITA fans keep spreading the love and enjoying the best bl of the year, we can't wait to see these boys taking all the awards.

[miyuhpapayuh]

seven.

“You spent the night in his bed??” Nique screams into the phone, making Zora sigh heavily.

“I was on his couch, Nique.”

“Mmhm, you ain't gotta lie to me, girl!”

“I'm not! I'll hang up on you. You know I'll do it.” She idly threatens.

“Okay, okay. Put the guns down, chile. So tell me, did he sleep on this comfy sofa with you?” She asks, twirling her hair like Zora can see her.

Zora gives another sigh, this time dreamy. “We mighta cuddled until I fell asleep.”

“Ew, how cute! Girl, if you don't make that man your boyfriend already!”

“I just might have to, Nique. He's so so.”

“I know. You better climb his long ass before somebody else do!”

“Yeah, and they'll end up like Cory. Jerked the fuck up.”

Nique let's out the ugliest cackle, ultimately making Zora join in and offer a snicker of her own, since she was at work.

“You stupid, man.”

“I woulda loved to have seen that, man! I just know his stupid ass was tryna save face, still.”

“It's like you were here, cause he really tried to keep that cracked ass face together. He knew better than to tell Linda, too.”

“He better stay hidden or boyfriend gon kick that ass! He's such a lame ass wigga.” Nique says without missing a beat, making Zora choke on air.

“What did you just call him?!”

“A wigga! He's like B-rad without the game— ya know, the little bit he had, that is. I mean, it got him Shondra!”

“It did. She loved his goofy ass.”

“Put his hands all in that good hair of hers! I woulda broke them knuckles!”

“Chile!”

“So, what do the lovebirds got goin’ on this evening?”

“Well, he's meeting me here again, even though he desperately wanted to pick me up, but I had to run home and shower and stuff. Uh, we'll probably grab some food on the way back to his place, I'm not sure yet.”

“All this hanging out! I'm jealous! Where's my boo at??”

“He only got a sister, babe. Not sure if she swings that way.”

“Zora, if I swing through this phone.”

“I'm playing! Gosh, put the guns down.” She mocks, knowing Nique’s far from amused.

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

“How was your day?” Zora asks Leon, picking the pepperoni off her slice of pizza.

“It was better. We squashed our shit, so work ran smoothly like it needed to.”

“Good! I know that's weight off your shoulders.”

“Absolutely. I hate being at odds with my people. But how was your day?”

“It was good. The restaurant was pretty dead today, so I took an hour for lunch and chopped it up with Nique. She said “hey”, like always.”

He smiles. “She's a good friend to you, I can tell.”

“The bestest ever.” She smiles back, biting into her slice.

“So, where's your best friend at?”

“We haven't talked in years. Stopped seeing eye to eye once I stopped runnin’ with him and taking the fall for both of us.”

“Oh, that's not fair.”

“Yeah, we had that conversation too, but it is what it is. I had to grow up and I always pray that he's done the same.”

“That's sweet of you. I know how tough friendship breakups can be.”

“Sounds so funny, when you say it out loud. Like we were in a relationship.” He snorts, making her do the same.

“Well, it is a relationship! A platonic one. I mean, unless y'all had it like that, too.” She raises a brow, to which he waves her off.

“Zora, please.”

“I'm just kidding,” she laughs, finishing off her slice.

“So, is there a romantic relationship in the cards for you and me?” Leon asks, staring at her smiling face.

“I think you already know the answer to that.”

“Yeah, but I wanna be correct. Leave no room for what I think.”

“Yeah, it's in the cards. A couple cards away, but it's there.”

“Good to know.” He says, sitting back against the cushions and patting the space beside him.

She obliges, dusting her hands off on her sweats and crawls into his side, smiling to herself as he wraps his arm around her.

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

A little more prepared for their sleepover this go round, she'd packed her toothbrush, along with every other hygiene product she'd need once she'd woken up.

The first time, she woke up alone cause she didn't wanna change his routine, just cause she was sleeping over. But, this morning, she was definitely still wrapped up in his arms.

Not having to work another eight hour shift, she was also able to indulge in the breakfast he'd promised her.

And man, was it delicious.

“Mm! I might just keep you around.” She jokes, making him chuckle and pour another line of syrup on her waffles.

“Would you like some coffee, beautiful?” He asks.

“Yes, please. Light on the sugar.”

“You're sweet enough, huh?” He quips, making her nose wrinkle up.

“That was so corny, but so cute.” She giggles as he shakes his head, beginning to move around his kitchen.

“Cream?”

“Just a splash.” She answers, digging back into her fluffy eggs. Also eyeing the way his back muscles were flexing underneath his dark t-shirt.

Her gaze raises up to his handsome face once he turns back around with a mug in his hand to sit in front of her. She graciously thanks him.

“I haven't brushed my teeth yet, stop trying to kiss me.” She snorts, watching him slyly lean onto the counter for the third time.

“I don't care about your morning breath, girl. Gimme them syrupy lips.” He says, leaning a little further in than he had.

Rolling her eyes, she meets the rest of the way for a couple sweet kisses, pulling away once she feels herself starting to slip.

“See? Trouble.”

“I'm the good kind, though.”

“Yeah, I'll be the judge of that.”

“Alright.” He leans up from the counter. “Spend the day with me.”

“I thought you had to work.”

“I just took off.” He shrugs.

“You can't just do that.”

“You let me worry about that.”

“Leon…” she eyes him, still eating her food.

“Come on, you know you love my company just as much as I love yours. We can go on another picnic or something.”

She sighs, as if she's really trying to put up a fight.

“Come on…” he pleads again with puppy eyes, reeling her all the way in.

“Okay, okay. I'll spend the day with you.”

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

Finding a perfect patch of grass behind a big oak tree, the pair spread the green blanket out and placed the wooden picnic basket in the center, before sitting down.

“Do you like picnics because I like them?”

“Yes and no,” he smiles. “My mama used to take me and Eryn on ‘em all the time. We'd feed the ducks the food we'd have left over. We'd play til the sun fell from the sky. For a single mama, it was a great way to tire us out.”

She laughs at the last part, relating heavily. “Okay, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't dragging you out here and you secretly hated it or something.”

“Nah, no worries. I'm a nature boy, sometimes.” He says, handing her the strawberry soda she'd asked him to pick up, when he ran into the convenience store on the way here.

“Sometimes,” she repeats, popping open the container that holds a double decker with bacon that he'd also taken the time to make for them to indulge in.

“Mm, this looks so good!”

“My world famous sandwich, girl. It is good.” He firms, making her raise a brow and take a bite, immediately agreeing with him.

Handing her a napkin, he smiles and bites into his own sandwich, mumbling that he told her so.

Letting him have his moment, she looks out at the scenery before them, falling in tune with the sounds of the birds chirping high up in the trees above their heads.

All the while, Leon took the time to marvel at the beauty that Zora is, again.

As always, if someone gave him the chance, he'd convince them that she was otherworldly.

Even dressed down in another one of his t-shirts and her own shorts, with her hair tied up, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

As soon as she turned to look at him, he dropped his gaze back to his food, but she'd already caught him.

“Usually, I'd tell you that staring isn't polite, but…”

“But, what?”

She sighs, chewing on her lip. “I like the way you look at me.”

Another raised brow from him makes her drop her gaze too, as they both laugh.

“You're a goddess, Zora. One can't help but look at you.” He says, making her heart skip a beat.

A goddess?!

The smile that creeps across her face is one he'd never seen before.

“You are so sweet, Leon.”

✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ ... ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿

Zora talked him into coming back to her place after a sudden downpour cut their picnic short.

“You wanna smoke?” She asks.

His animated gasp makes her squint in his direction.

“What??”

“You're a hoodlum, too! I'm ashamed.” He taunts.

She scoffs. “I am not a hoodlum!”

“Yes you are!” He says with a laugh, even reaching out to push her a little.

She swats him away, laughing, herself. “Okay, fine. I'll keep my mary jane to myself.”

“Now, now… I didn't decline your offer.” He says, earning an eye roll.

“I told you, ima kick you out.” She faux warns, getting up from the couch to retrieve her stash.

“I was just playin’, Zora-Jean!” He calls after her, reveling in the giggle she tried her damndest to hide.

Returning with a bright orange box, she plops back down beside him and pops it open.

“Ooh, official!” He teases some more, making her playfully shake her head.

Rolling a blunt in record timing and earning another whistle from Leon, she sparks it, takes a puff or two and passes it to him.

“Your landlord cool with you smoking?” He asks, taking a puff anyway.

“Yeah, he might be in love with me too,” she shrugs, catching the scrunch in his brows.

“Damn, girl. What you be doin’ to these men??”

She laughs, shrugging again. “Nothing. My mama said my aura is red and it draws people near. Whether I want them to be near or not, apparently.”

“Red is sensuality, right?”

“Mmhm.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” He nods, puffing again before passing it back to her.

“Do tell.” She says, pulling a little harder.

“Sensuality is like your middle name. You're fiery as hell, fine as hell. I'm sure these men are out their minds over you. Hell you drive me outta my mind, too.”

She cheeses, before she can stop herself.

“Do I, now?”

“We've spent the last three days together on a whim, Zora. Yes, you have been driving me crazy and I like it. I like you. A lot.”

“I like you too, Leon. A lot.”

The haze in their smiles grows as they continue to pass the blunt back and forth, til it turns to ashes in her equally bright ashtray.

“So, I know you're not as innocent as you say you are.”

“Wha– why you say that?”

“Cause, every man has their secrets. What else did you and Candy get into, way back when?”

He chuckles, rubbing a hand down his face. “You sure?”

“Is it that bad??”

“I'll let you be the judge of that.” He mocks her earlier words.

“Lord have mercy. Go ahead.”

“Well, Candy was what you call an exhibitionist. So we'd find ourselves in places we shouldn't have been, doing things we shouldn't have been doing. If you catch my drift.”

Zora was actually shocked, note the way her jaw partially dropped. Leon just smiles and shakes his head.

“Y'all had sex in public places? What a slut!” She cracks, making him laugh.

“Wow, I've never been called that before. But, yes we did. We got caught a couple times too. I'm still banned from the autozone down the block.”

That makes her fully crack up.

“What??”

“Poor man was just tryna change the oil and Candy decided it was a good idea to give me head near the side of the building. That man's eyes ‘bout popped out of his head.”

“That is ridiculous!”

“Yeah, that was us. Ridiculous!”

“What else??”

“Let's see… amusement parks, clean public bathrooms, we did in an elevator once… hotel balconies with a small audience. A stairwell, you name it.”

“I knew you were a freak.”

“Hey, I just tried to keep her happy.”

“Sounds like it! Did she make you happy too, or did you just go along with everything?”

“Uh, a mixture of both maybe?” He shrugs. “I don't know, it got tiring after a while, and exploring other things about our relationship wasn't as fun for her. I'm guessing that's why she left me.”

“I'll refrain from calling her what I want to… but you deserved better, anyway. Sex isn't the only fun aspect of a relationship.”

“Yeah, but we were also in college and nobody cared about building foundations and shit. It was all party this and party that. Fuck here, fuck there.” He shrugs, letting his long arm rest along the back of the couch.

“Well, at least it was fun while it lasted right?”

“Yeah, while it lasted.”

“I can relate.”

“You was butt naked in a stairwell, too??”

“No, that was just y'all.” She laughs. “But, before my ex decided to start his “I hate Zora” campaign, we had fun too.”

“Sucks when people turn, huh?”

“Boy, does it. But, maybe they weren't the right people.”

“You becomin’ a believer over there, huh?”

“Shut up,” she drags out, allowing him to pull her closer to his warm body.

The rain is still coming down.

“Was I too far away?”

“Yeah, it's like you be runnin’ from me or sumn.”

“No running,” she shakes her head, falling right back into those lethal kisses of his.

“I make you nervous?” He asks, still pecking her lips.

“The good kind,” she answers, rubbing the scruff of his beard.

“Butterflies?”

“Angry bees,” she corrects, making them both laugh.

“Be my girlfriend, Zora-Jean.”

“Okay.”

“Really?” He asks, the smile on his face making those angry bees swarm mad in her belly.

“Yeah,” she leans back in to kiss him. “Really.”

A triumphant laugh leaves him as he hugs her closer, their hazy kisses resume.

Wait, wait,” she pulls away to meet his confused expression.

“What?”

“I'm the girlfriend that keeps clothes.” She pulls on the collar of her shirt.

“Aw, this is my favorite shirt, though!”

“Ohh, that's too bad!”

Ch 8

@blowmymbackout @soufcakmistress @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @thegifstories @blackerthings @twistedcharismaaa @nayaxwrites @abeautifulmindexposed @cecereads209 @harmshake

[taomubiji]

Random DMBJ Trivia

Before airing, Ultimate Note was originally thought by fans to be fan fiction based on DMBJ.

Instead of having Wu Xie internally monologuing in The Lost Tomb, High Shao was created so Wu Xie had someone to talk to.

In the novels, Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling met on February 1, 2003. It has been a little over 20 years since they met.

The Lost Tomb was supposed to be the first of eight seasons with Li Yifeng set to star as Wu Xie in all of them, however, this ultimately fell through.

The Mystic Nine television series takes place in an earlier time period than the novel due to production constraints.

The Lost Tomb 2.5 was filmed in the same year as The Lost Tomb 2.

Zhu Yilong is the one that suggested Wu Xie should have a neck scar in Reunion. The scene where Wu Xie gets the scar is written out of Tomb of the Sea.

Wang Pangzi's real name is Wang Yueban. Yueban (月半) is made up of the characters from Pang (胖) in Pangzi (胖子). Wang Pangzi's real name in an early manhua was originally Wang Baqiu (王霸秋).

Both Zhang Haixing and Zhang Haike, characters introduced in Tibetan Sea Flower, were set to appear in the Tomb of the Sea but their scenes never aired. Zhang Haixing can be seen in Episode 51 among the group of people who arrive at the temple when Wu Xie wakes up. In the photo above, she is behind Wang Meng on the right. Zhang Haixing was portrayed by a male actor.

In 2018/2019, NPSS' company had big plans, including airing Mystic Nine 2, Southern Archives, Tomb of the Sea 2, Tibetan Sea Opera, and Tibetan Sea Flowers in 2020.

List of references are here: https://www.tumblr.com/taomubiji/719508645916917760/references-below-the-cut

[fiercynn]

As it usually happens on here, we become fans of things by osmosis if we didn't seek it out for ourselves. So I've been following you for a bit and I have finally crossed the threshold from "this person I follow really loves this media and I love seeing their love for it on my dash, so glad they're having fun" over to "I wanna have fun, too." And that's all thanx to @thatgothsamurai's photobooth art.

So, I hope you can guide me on where I should start with patpran and inkpa, and the rest. Like, are they on separate shows that crossover? A spinoff? Like, what's going on, where do I start, how do I watch. Like you, I'm in the US. Any suggestions are appreciated.

AAAAAAAH THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY and thank u @thatgothsamurai for the amazing fanart as always (the photobooth fanart in question, a classic in the fandom)

okay so both patpran and inkpa are canon pairings from the thai bl bad buddy and its related special episodes! all are produced by the thai production company gmmtv.

the show and all related episodes are available to watch on youtube with english subtitles - i'll link to relevant playlists.

THE MAIN SHOW: BAD BUDDY THE SERIES

directed by "aof" noppharnach chaiyahwimhon (who is gay himself), and starring "nanon" korapat kirdpan as pran, and "ohm" pawat chittsawangdee as pat. the original show is twelve episodes, which aired from october 2021 to january 2022. i watched it for the first time in february 2022 and have not known peace every since

the premise is that pat and pran, who have lived next door to each other since birth, have been rivals all their lives because their families hate each other. after pran's sent off to boarding school for three years, they are unexpectedly reunited at university - where they find that their friend groups are also enemies, so they have to keep up the pretense of hating each other. but of course they fall in love instead!

the main story is about patpran, but inkpa is a canon side pairing featuring "love" pattranite limpatiyakorn as pa, pat's younger sister, and "milk" pansa vosbein as ink, a classmate of pat and pran's. though they get less screentime, i still think they have a delightful romantic arc themselves!

SPECIAL EPISODES

zero photography: an inkpa special episode that is set after the main show. directed by "tee" bundit sintanaparadee, whom i don't know much about, and aired in august 2022

our skyy x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars: so our skyy 2 was an anthology of special episodes released between april and june 2023 for a bunch of different gmmtv bls. each show was supposed to have two special eps for their characters, but since two shows directed by p'aof were getting special eps (the other one being a tale of thousand stars, also a delightful show), he decided to use four episodes as a crossover of the two shows. in the bad buddy timeline, these eps take place during a timeskip that happens in the original show between episodes 11 and 12, and features patpran but has a few great inkpa appearances too. you don't really need to have seen atots to understand the eps, i don't think? but they probably are more enjoyable if you have haha

EXTRAS

"just friend" music video: nanon sings two songs on the bad buddy soundtrack, and ohm sings one for our skyy 2, all of which have music videos, but i'm linking to this song of nanon's particularly because the music video its own story unrelated to the show at all! it's very cute and is basically an au where they are employees at the same hotel (and in love of course)

23.5 degrees the series: this is not technically related to bad buddy, but milk and love are going to be starring in gmmtv's first full-length gl, 23.5 degrees, which will be directed by "fon" kanittha kwunyoo (who i believe is a lesbian)! thai gls are just starting to get attention and backing by the major tv studios, and milklove's known chemistry from playing inkpa, as well as an exciting supporting cast and director, are making everyone super excited for this

there are also TONS of behind-the-scenes and making-of extras if you get into the show but i figured this was enough to start with :D

let me know if you have questions about any of this! i'm not sure how familiar you are with thai media or fandoms, so definitely happy to share/explain more as would be helpful! <3

[bunnylouisegrimes]

Trouble (American Psycho Song Drabble)

A/N: I wrote this drabble a long ass time ago, back when I first watched the movie and got into Patrick three whole years ago (back when I first left this hellsite, yet here I am, ironically publishing this XD).

I was inspired by the Daniel Ash song that plays in the end credits. It's a fluffy post-sex scene where my self insert is reflective with Patrick about their relationship. I hope you all enjoy and I highly encourage listening/re-listening to the amazing song ;)

The two of us lied in bed together, completely naked. The thin blankets provided us extra warmth our bodies couldn’t. We smelled each other and buried ourselves within each other’s chests. My beige bra was resting near my head, and my frilly pink panties with the flowers on them rested underneath his chin, as he was occasionally sniffing them to embrace my scent. His white Perry Ellis briefs were underneath my own chin as I would snuggle with them and smell them every so often. The room, as well as the rest of the apartment, was still and dark, with only the music from his surround sound system in the living room giving us background noise. The windows were our only light source, and they were aglow with a thousand city lights.

Nuzzling against him, he did the same with his chin on my forehead. A few moments before, he was in my chest, but had separated from my thick breasts to catch some air. We both smiled. We felt as if the urban jungle just outside had become a real jungle. All the metal would be covered by Mother Nature’s green, and the buildings would erode into equally tall trees taking their place. We were the Adam and Eve of the modern age; instead of being the first of humanity, we felt we were the last of it. We were Winston and Julia; in an Orwellian world where humanity was killing what made it human, we were the last two true humans.

Our hearts lightly thudded against each other and our breath was timed in equal rhythm. All the while, Daniel Ash was serenading to us his musings over what worries girls had and what trouble boys had.

But my kind of trouble... is you.

It was true that I had a good many worrries, that my mind and soul were tormented and disconnected from the present world many times... but still, my greatest trouble at this moment was him, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It was a kind of trouble to embrace and enjoy working through, to give a deeper sense of production and love. Interestingly, since being with him, my worries seemed to increase in ways never before met due to our questionable attempts to defend the innocent, but all at once, I had never felt more at ease. I was alive, I was in the present moment. It was a trade off I needed: torment in my mind and soul to worry about whether or not we would get away with our actions, but with him, I could feel at ease and know I was the only one he would ever truly love and protect. Think about yesterday, think about tomorrow... but live in the moment and embrace all, both positive and negative.

It was true the other boys, including him, needed their precious money and had nothing to live for all at once... but with me, he was free from such aspects. They were disillusioned by what heartache was: true heartache was human, they were not human. He felt heartache at the emptiness of society, but I filled that heartache until it became something positive.

Despite these truths and positive changes in us, and despite that fact we were protecting the innocent instead of hurting them (something he was about to act on had I not shown up to stop him), there was a darkness to all murder you could never escape from. Our black angel always came for us, sang for us... and I couldn’t help but feel it was there to protect us throughout all our trials and tribulations.

“My kind of trouble... is you...” he whispered into my ear.

“My kind of trouble... is you...” I whispered back.

It was the best kind of trouble.

[breakerwhiskey]

246 - TWO HUNDRED FORTY SIX

Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.

Transcript under the cut. For more episodes, click here.

[click, static]

Okay, Birdie, we’ve gone North. We’ve gone so far North that we’re quite literally at the Canadian border. I’ve never been to Canada. Well, I guess I have now—the moment we got to the sign, I stopped the car and Harry and I both jumped out and ran for the other side of the border. One of those moments where we both had the exact same idea at the exact same time.

I missed that. The way that we can be in perfect sync. Sometimes on a job, we could communicate with just a look. The whole crew had that ability to some extent, but it always felt…you know. Better. With Harry.

Things have been…better. With Harry. I demanded she tell me anything else she’d left out about Pete and her snitching and…I think I know everything now. Even if I have no idea what to do with it. But it’s cleared the air some. Made me understand her a little more. Even if I’m still furious so much of the time…that fury is not aimed solely at her anymore.

It’s her birthday today. June 30th. She didn’t mention anything to me—it’s not like we’ve got a wall calendar hanging off the rearview mirror or anything, so it was only when I was doing my usual marking of my atlas that I realized.

I didn’t get her a gift, obviously. A trip to Canada, I guess. When I wished her a happy birthday, she just sort of…quietly said thank you and that was that.

We’re both a year older and not any wiser for it. We know more now, about the world, about each other. It doesn’t feel like—I’m not sure what other secrets we possibly would have to reveal to each other. And yet, I don’t feel like I actually understand anything. I’m still just…out to sea.

I don’t know. I miss Donnie. I wish I could talk to him about this stuff, I wish—I wish I could talk to him about Pete. I wish I could have someone else’s perspective on her. On us. And the real problem is that, despite everything, I still—

The look on her face when she got to the other side of the border. We were both out of breath and red faced, like kids who had raced to the front door. And she smiled so big and she looked at me and said “Didn’t I tell you once that I’d take you to another country someday?”

I honestly couldn’t believe that she remembered that. She said it one time, years ago. I remembered it of course, because at that time I was looking for any kind of scrap that she…

We were at a new exhibit at the Morgan Library—rare manuscripts, I think from the renaissance, I can’t really remember. Pete—(voice cracking) uh, Pete, um, loved—loved stealing manuscripts. They were hard to steal, because they had to be so delicately handled, but Harry knew how to do it, which gave Pete an advantage that most thieves didn’t have. With big exhibits of them, we could steal just one, not a whole collection, and still get a really good deal for them. Especially since there is always a wealthy person out there who wants to own one just for the sake of having something rare and won’t fuss too much about where it came from.

Anyway, we were casing the place, her and I, because Harry could spend hours looking at every corner of an exhibit and make it seem totally natural, like she was just looking at the art. She usually went alone, just to get the layout of the exhibits, but we’d never tried robbing the Morgan Library before, so I went with her to get a sense for the whole building’s security. And we…

We had a good time. We had a really good time. We laughed at all the weird margin drawings that the monks would leave in the books of hours, or whatever they were, and Harry would tell me about the history of when and where these things had been written and, if she’d been to the place herself, she’d talk a little bit about what it was like now. I’ve never been…anywhere. And when I told her that, she said, “I’ll take you someday. Everyone should leave the country at least once”.

Actually, I think she said “continent”. That’s…obviously not possible now. Well, I guess we could go to South America but…I’m just happy she remembers that conversation at all. I thought about it for weeks afterwards. What she meant by it. The implication that she would be with me if I traveled. That she’d be the one to take me.

You know, I could get her a rare manuscript for her next birthday—I could walk into any museum in this country and walk right out with one, just like I did with that painting in Santa Fe.

"Her next birthday”…guess I am thinking that we’ll still be, well, that we’ll still be alive and that we’ll still be together a year from now. But I really don’t know that for certain, do I?

Anyway, should we keep going North or…do you want to give us a little direction here? Literal direction, in this case.

[click, static]

[beeps]

[asksuccubussides]

What if you were an asexual succubus, wouldn't that be fucked up or what Chapter 5

Masterpost of the chapters

"Ho-Ho-Holy shit Jannie, Look at this! Some cannibal shit" Virgil turned to show Janus his phone before hesitating "Shit, I didn't interrupt your studious study time right?"

Janus looked up from his computer and glanced at the clock before shrugging "Eh. You only interrupted me from disabling this bomb that's going to kill us both now but it was about time for a floor break anyway"

It was about 4 am in the middle of the night and the only light in the college library was the lamp on the table the two men were sitting by. After not being able to get a single word written down for weeks Janus had suddenly and inexplicable been hit with a ray of productivity and he'd been hyperfocused on writing for nearly 5 hours now. Virgil was laying stretched out across the table like a bored cat and was mindleesly scrolling on his phone because he probably wouldn't have slept either way.

What Janus considered a 'floor break' was him taking off his scoliosis brace and lying on his back on the floor for a while so his spine could rest. His friend rolled down from the table and laid down beside him.

"So Florida mans been at it again" Virgil started.

"Ah yes, my favorite mythical creature"

"Right so this just got in. Brand new news dude-"

"Is it from an actual source or just cryptid social media accounts?"

"An actual newspaper. Your coinfidence in my reading ability is so bloody low it's insulting"

All Janus did was nod in agreement.

"So...Dramatic pause.....This bloke got his entire arm eaten dude!"

Janus tilted his head while squinting "....Really"

"Well more like lower arm but yeah. By another human. In florida. A few hours ago. Look there's pictures"

"Dear I could go on a whole tirade about the ethics of looking at those photos but...." Virgil sent him a smirk "Alright hand it over"

The photo was of a lower arm where several chunks of skin and meat were completely missing to the point that the bone could seen at a spot. Deep bite marks had been left behind, they were so deep it hardly looked like it had been done by a human. Blood had dried all over the arm making the skin look almost rusty.

"Are you sure this was a human? Not some feral dog? They have bears in America-"

"In florida?" Virgil tapped his fingers against Janus' shoulder like creepy crawlie "What if it was a werewolf. Or a new serial killer. They do say trends come back after around 50 years and it's like 50 years since the 70's" His expression suddenly dropped and he got the anxiety eyes of doom "Oh god the cannibal guy is still out there. What if they get us?"

"We're in England Virge. The first place the mythical cannibal florida man decides to come is definitely over here" he let up into a slight smile "But it would certaintly be fun if it was a werewolf"

Virgil laughed in the quiet almost inaudible way he always did "I know right!"

--

The night air was cold enough that Remus' breathe was visible as he panted. There was still blood on his lips, on his teeth, his hands. Everywhere. There was still blood all over him from the human.

Remus had ripped and feasted on the human's arm until he'd heard people come running and even someone dialing the police. He'd been running away from there before he had even fully realized it. Sirens had blared and the blue lights of the ambulance had passed him by as he'd ran. Until he'd gotten so far away he couldn't hear any of it anymore.

He'd gotten to the train central and immediately locked himself into a bathroom and hidden there sense. The hours had wasted away under the harsh fluorescent lighting. Cleaning off the blood would probably have been the smartest thing to do but Remus had been frozen to the spot on the grimey floor. His legs had numbed from not moving for so long.

His last hope had been that eating the flesh of a human would feed him in the same way that lust did....But it had only made him heavy.

It gave the exact same effect as him eating any other food in that it only filled his stomach making him feel full for a while without giving him any energy. There weren't any tears in his eyes or anger bursting inside of him. All he felt was the loss of hope and that wasn't an emotion he could convey physically. It was like a grief he'd been holding off on for all of his life.

And if the manager found out he would be sent to heaven.

"...How much time....do I have left" He whispered out to no one but himself.

Finally he got up on his feet and almost immediately fell over because his left foot had completely fallen asleep. The sink was one of those stupid ones where the water only got turned on for about 30 seconds so he had to wave his hand around under the motion sensor over and over as he began to clean the blood off. Flesh was still stuck between his teeth, in response he dug his nails between his teeth until his gums were red and ached.

Out of paranoia he cut off parts of his hair at random without any true reason his mind could come up with aside from panicked shouts. He looked himself in the mirror before deciding to leave his bloodstained shirt behind on the toilet seat. He clutched his stomach as he looked once more. The human flesh was still inside of him. Maybe if eating the flesh hadn't come about in....in the circumstances it did he might have thought it was fun.

"They can't send Roman to heaven as well" The words slipped out of him "He hasn't broken any rules. They can't.....Well I won't fucking let them!"

Remus put his hand against the doorknob and spoke the phrase needed. It swung open and the light from the bright white hallways of the succubi quarters nearly blinded him.

He kept his head down and his walk fast as he hurried to his sleeping quarters. Somewhere at the back of his mind he tried to feel if Roman was near but all he felt was the absence of him.

The sleeping barack was nearly empty when he got there. It made sense, it was the early morning on a saturday. most succubi were probably feeding or doing the walk of shame home right now. The only two he could see were Emile and Remy laying close together in Remy's bed.

Emile was reading a book while his hand playfully stroked his lover's hair. Remy's eyelids were drooping, close to shutting, as they laid with their head against his chest. Their peace and quiet was unraveled in an instant as Emile abruptly sat up as soon as he saw Remus.

"Rem-bem! You're back! Are you alright? Your sight hasn't gone bad again has it?"

"My eyes are fine. Has Oran- The manager been here?"

'Girl why the hell would he have been here?' Remy asked while Emile pulled Remus into a tight hug.

"I don't fucking know! To take away more of my sense!? I bet he's having a spa day down where wherever the Dominion demons live!"

"They like totally have a lava pool" Remy said with hatred in their voice.

"And a fancy library aww" Emile stared out dreamily for a moment before shaking his head and continuing "Don't worry about the manager Rembem! We'll protect you no matter what!"

'Yeah. Like that kid with the blue forehead tattoo'

"Indeed!" Emile took Remy's hand in his and smiled "We'll protect you like Aang!"

Remus could feel something sour building up at the back of his throat "....Sure. I'll-"

"Roman regretted what she said as soon as she left!" Emile interrupted "Just so you know! She seemed really apologetic. I'm not implying you don't get to be mad, I simply wanted to give you all the information available. Anger is a very valid emotion to feel so don't f-"

"I already got all the mad out by...tearing into a....tree...Many trees...Like I fucked up an entire forest.........So. I'mma just go sleep now"

He could feel Remy's gaze staring holes into his back as he went to his bed. He rolled his eyes before turning around to see them signing to him.

'Did something happen?'

'Yeah. My brother said I was a parasite made for incest and nothing else' Remus snarked back.

'Girl you know I mean on earth. You're all-'

'I fed. I always get grumpy after I feed'

'Not like this' Remy got close to him so Remus took a step back 'What happened?'

Remus let up into a snarl "I don't know. Do you want to tell me why your boytoy don't have a tail or wings like the rests of us! Wanna say what kind of demon he is!?"

Emile tried to step in between them "Maybe we should all just calm down and respect each other's bounda-"

"What happened?" Remy asked once more without letting go off Remus' gaze.

"Why's your hair white? What did you get Punished for?!"

"I never got Punished"

Remus laughed "WE ALL KNOW YOU WERE PUNISHED FOR SOMETHING REMY! We all just pretend we don't to be fucking nice!" Remy averted their eyes "Not to nice to be asked that shit huh. Fuck off and go choke on your own sunglasses!"

With that Remus turned around and hid himself away under the blanket of his bed. He could hear the faint sounds of the lovers stirring somewhere close by before leaving eventually. He fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

---

There was a dead bird in Janus' dorm. He wasn't sure when or how it had gotten there but when he'd woken up it had been laying there on the floor. His whole body felt weighed down into the sheets as if it had been filled with lead but he knew he had to move the carcass or else it would start smelling.

Brainfog was making all his thoughts move slowly and out of order to the point that he nearly forgot to put on gloves before carefully picking up the bird and holding it close to his chest. He didn't even remember to put on shoes or his back brace before dragging himself out of the dorm. The only thing he grabbed was a small shovel while hoping not to many people were in the hallways.

Luckily enough his dorm laid close to an exit that lead out into the space beyond the college's borders. The finely machine cut grass changed into unkept weedlings and moss with tree roots sticking out. Eventually he found a spot shaded by a large tree and sat down under it.

"I'm sorry dear little bird. I wish I could tell your kind to keep away from me" Janus said as he dug a small hole in the ground "Death can't seem to get enough of me"

He simply sat by the grave for a few minutes after filling it up with dirt. Once he moved to stand he could swear he saw a nearly identical bird sitting in the tree above him but every bird looked sort of the same to him. The only animals he had any sort of knowledge on were snakes and humans.

It was only on the short walk back to the dorm that he realized he was missing his shoes, brace and he hadn't even taken off his night bonnet before leaving the dorm. He closed the blinds to shut the midday light out before taking off the bonnet and braiding his dreadlocks into a thick braid so none of it got in the way for his skin routine. He and Virgil had bought a mirror just so Janus could do his routine without having to stand in the grubby shared bathrooms honestly. That and Virgil's eyeliner.

He put on some jazz, pulled out all his different creams, set up the mirror and made himself comfortable by the desk. The scar taking up most of the space on the right side of his face went between hues of red and purple. Even after all these years it still stuck out jagged and uneven from the rest of his face.

Something wet dropped down onto his finger as he put a cream on his cheek. Even though he was staring at himself in the mirror it still took him a few dumbfounded seconds until he was able to process what it was.

There was blood dripping down like tears from his right eye. It was coming out the tear duct even.

Janus wiped it away but the blood just kept coming. He tried to stay calm as he grabbed his phone and called bascially the only number he ever called.

"Virge?"

"Jannie I was about to call you anyway. Are we still buying oat milk or did we agree to go back to whole milk?" Virgil replied.

"There is blood coming out of my eye"

"Dude I can't decipher what level of sarcasm that is nor how that is supposed to tell me which milk to buy"

"There is literally blood coming out of my eye"

"For real??" He could hear Virgil's breathing immediately getting faster.

"It's coming from my tear duct. I haven't cut it open by accident, don't worry"

"Don't worry?! What if you have a brain tumor!? Or what if it's a sign of sudden extreme stroke! Or locked in disease! Don't fall asleep! Wait I'm looking it up on google-"

"Virge-"

"Google says it's a symptom of like So many diseases. Jannie you can't die on me here!"

"Virge-"

"Did you take your meds??"

"They're antidepressants! Oh! Of course! the very famous side effect of forgetting anti depressants for a day is eye bleeding! Can you just come over here before I have to be the one to calm you down?"

"Oh. Oh right. Yeah. Yeah I'm on my way. I'm just gonna- Yeah. Yeah I'm coming. Uhhh don't die please"

"I'll try my best" Janus snarked.

Five minutes later Virgil came running into their dorm with his breathe caught in his throat. Janus had been holding a cotton ball against his eye to try and stop the bloodflow but he stood up when he saw his friend come in.

"Are you okay? Anything changed?" Virgil spat out between heavy breathes.

"Still the same"

Virgil cupped Janus' cheeks and tilted his head back. Jan moved his hands onto his friend's waist.

"And your eyesights alright?"

"Mostly. A bit pinker than usual"

"Close your eyes" Virgil carefully trailed his hand up along Janus' face and wiped his finger across his closed eyelid "Feeling any better now?"

Janus blinked a few times before looking in the mirror and wiping away the remaining blood. None more came to which he sighed a breathe of relief.

"Of course! I had to lean my head back" Janus exclaimed "Makes sense. My veins must have been mixed up somehow, like when you swallow water into the wrong part of your throat"

Virgil's hands had stayed mid air where Janus' face just had been. His fingers began to fiddle with the end of one his friend's dreadlocks "Did you braid it yourself?"

"What?" Janus was still focused on the whole eye thing "Oh. My hair? No a hairdresser broke into our dorm and did it while I slept. Of course it was me. You've seen me like this before"

"It looks good"

"I'm aware. There was another dead bird here when I woke up. I buried it"

"It must be some fucker throwing it in through the window" Virgil said while going to fill up a glass of water "Don't forget the meds by the way"

He did a little nod while taking the glass before shuffling around in the drawer for his antidepressants "The window has a lock though"

"Everyones got that one friend who's really good at picking locks nowadays" Virgil sat down crosslegged on top of the desk and continued to fiddle with one of Jan's dreadlocks.

"Maybe there's some smell in our room that makes the animals want to come here. You don't happen to have any horrible stenches lying around?"

"Or we're haunted!"

"You shouldn't say that so happily"

---

Remus' bed was weightened down as someone sat down beside him. He ignored it to keep feeling sorry for himself in the little blanket cocoon he'd rolled himself into.

"Dukey?" It was Roman's voice.

It made Remus at least peep his head up from the blanket. His brother held out a deck of cards to him while trying to muster an apologetic smile. Her nose was still bruised and slightly crooked from their fight.

"Want to play uno?" An attempt at forgiveness in the most sibling way possible "If you win I'll let you eat the cards and everything"

Remus took the deck of cards in his hands and looked at it in silence. The taste of human flesh filled his mouth as he gulped "You didn't show up"

"I was upset...I was tired of having to take care of you after every time you fed...I wanted to make a point I guess.."

"Yeah well you didn't fucking show up!" Remus threw the cards at him before yelling "You can go shove those cards up your ass!!"

Roman didn't even try to argue back. He picked up the cards in silence before leaving. Remus could feel something disappearing in his chest as his brother went back to earth.

The taste of flesh filled his entire throat as he hid under the blankets once more. There was no way for him to survive without seducing humans. It kept repeating in his mind along with the threat of heaven fast approching. Every time someone walked by he jumped at the chance of it being the manager.

He was so sure that if the manager saw Roman close to him she would get Punished as well.

---

The same day Remy climbed into Remus' bed and laid down next to the blanket cocoon that was him. They didn't say anything, not even for hours, they just laid there next to him.

Some of the other succubi returned home for the day and the room became filled with chatter. Groups of gossip, music playing from speakers and dialogue from tv shows. A new hit show had apparently come from the greed circle. An argument broke out between those who prefered shows made by pride demons against greed demon fans.

The night continued and the slight warmth of Remy's body still didn't move away. The room turned a bit quieter for the sake of the succubi who liked sleeping. A few of the succubi let up into whistles and teasing as a succubi couple sneaked away to the corner where they'd hung up a curtain for private time.

It nearly took until morning until Remus let his hand wander outside the blanket and moved to press his pinkie against Remy's. They gently took his hand in theirs and squeezed tight.

He held up the blanket to let Remy inside while holding his finger over his mouth 'I gotta tell you something' He signed 'No one can see us right?'

'Girl we're literally under a blanket. Demons don't have see through vision stupid' They replied.

Remus held up his hands, ready to sign, but hesitated on what to say. Or how to start rather.

'I attacked a human'

Remy took a deep breathe and he could practically see as they thought through the implications 'How bad?'

'I ripped into their arm dude. An ambulance came'

They parsed their lips as if to speak before closing their mouth again 'Why is like a totally dumb question aint it'

But Remus still responded since he hadn't been able to talk to anyone about it 'I fed on like 6 people I think. I wanted to- I was mad- I wanted to punch Romans mind out- the manager- I- I dunno'

'6? Girl no. Thats a lot even like for normal succubi'

'I dunno. And- And Roman didnt come get me. He always does! And and then this human came and I wanted to go home. I just wanted to go home Remy. Yknow? I didnt- I thought maybe I could sustain myself on humans and the human was- I tried to get away at first I did but then- I thought I could feed in my own way- But it didnt work. I didnt fed I just ripped and-'

Remy grabbed ahold of his shoulders "Hey" They whispered "Me and Emile said we were gonna protect you. We weren't lying" They switched back to signing 'No one will know. If you say so not even Emile will know'

Remus leant his forehead against the nape of their neck and took a few long shaking breathes before looking into their eyes 'Do you think I could survive heaven?'

'Dont- Girl dont even-'

'I mean I could slaughter my way out right? I know all about violence! I could get out right? If Patton could-'

'We dont even know if Patton is real!'

'Of course he is! If he survived heaven- If he made it back so can I! Youre older than me! You should know if Patton is real or not! Youve never not said hes real!'

'How am I supposed to fucking know! Everyones been telling us bout him since before I was even fucking made!'

'I could survive it!'

'What would you get back to?! The manager would just send you to heaven again!'

'I run away! I- I find a place on earth!'

'You hate earth'

'Yeah well I would hate being dead more!'

Remy abruptly stopped the conversation by hugging him tightly. So tight their fingers dug into his skin. Remus held them just as tight.

'Roman wont get Punished as well? Right?.....Right?'

'...Of course...Of course not...'

Remus' hands shook ever so slightly as he signed 'Roman would miss me...right?'

Remy grabbed his hands and whispered "Don't talk like that. We won't let it happen! You're not going to heaven! You're staying right fucking here! You hear me!?"

"You didn't answer the question"

"Of fucking course Roman's gonna miss you! We're all gonna miss you!"

"I'm the reason our squadron's in the shit"

"And!? That don't matter! You're not leaving us!"

They hugged him again and buried their face against his shoulder so he wouldn't see the tears in their eyes.

"You're not leaving us"

[ronqueesha]

WIP Wednesday

Holy hell I actually have something to post today!

I was tagged by @persephotea, thank you! And I've also been tagged in the recent past by @gaeadene, @lookbluesoup and @halkuonn, so thank you too!

I'm working on something I actually promised to write a year ago. But work has been so stressful and life so unforgiving that I haven't had the energy or motivation until now.

It's yet another smut fic, this time starring my and @halkuonn's Cyberpunk 2077 OC's, Zoe Iwasaki and Dante Alkan respectively. Since they're both corpo characters, we have a not-really-serious headcanon that they both exist in the same world, but the main story of Cyberpunk 2077 kicks off with whoever Jenkins picks for the fateful hit job. But before that happens, they were co-workers who hated each other's guts.

What better scenario for some fun hate-fucking, impact play and other naughtiness than putting these two hateful, egotistical douchebags in a tiny, sweltering motel room with nothing but a little bit of alcohol to ease tension?

The only thing that convinced Dante to use his corpo account on this rat-infested motel room was the sign in front of the building that advertised “air conditioned rooms”. The sun had gone down hours ago, and yet the day's intense heat still clung to his skin. Sweat ran like rivers down his back and pooled into uncomfortable places as he swung the rotting door open. He would have kicked it to spare himself the grime of having to touch it with his hand, but he doubted the door would have survived the blow. Besides, he dared not risk losing his balance against a shoddy door frame while his left hand contained the only cold thing in a hundred meters. Two beers, ice cold and fresh from the vending machine two corridors down. “Why'd it take so long to get a couple beers? Did you suck off some junkies on your way back?” The room's other occupant, and Dante's supposed business partner for this assignment asked from the single bed that occupied the tiny space. Rather than dignify her with a response, he just huffed a deep breath as the only warning before tossing one of the two beers in her direction. A gentle toss, though, not hard enough to cause any real damage to her or the crumbling walls. To his dismay, his companion caught the bottle without even looking away from whatever held her attention. Zoe Iwasaki, the bitch hired on almost the exact same day as him, who worked in the same fucking department, and whose entire life seemed dedicated to making him miserable. At the very least, Dante could take a small comfort in knowing that her delicate hair, nails and makeup, no doubt more expensive than the shabby cars filling the filthy streets outside, clung damp to her head and had started to streak under the intense heat and her constant sweating. So much for air conditioning Dante huffed to himself as he took in the first breath of the tiny room he had spent far too much money on. The stench of mold, cheap cleaning products, and the remains of something disturbingly organic overtook him, enough for Dante to gag and crack open his bottle as fast as his reflexes allowed. He gulped half the bottle just to fill his senses with something other than the smell.

[reasoningdaily]

The Rift Valley tells the entire human story from the start | Aeon Essays

We are restless even in death. Entombed in stone, our most distant ancestors still travel along Earth’s subterranean passageways. One of them, a man in his 20s, began his journey around 230,000 years ago after collapsing into marshland on the lush edge of a river delta feeding a vast lake in East Africa’s Rift Valley. He became the earth in which he lay as nutrients leached from his body and his bone mineralised into fossil. Buried in the sediment of the Rift, he moved as the earth moved: gradually, inexorably.

Millions of years before he died, tectonic processes began pushing the Rift Valley up and apart, like a mighty inhalation inflating the ribcage of the African continent. The force of it peeled apart a 4,000-mile fissure in Earth’s crust. As geological movements continued, and the rift grew, the land became pallbearer, lifting and carrying our ancestor away to Omo-Kibish in southern Ethiopia where, in 1967, a team of Kenyan archaeologists led by Richard Leakey disinterred his shattered remains from an eroding rock bank.

Lifted from the ground, the man became the earliest anatomically modern human, and the start of a new branch – Homo sapiens – on the tangled family tree of humanity that first sprouted 4 million years ago. Unearthed, he emerged into the same air and the same sunlight, the same crested larks greeting the same rising sun, the same swifts darting through the same acacia trees. But it was a different world, too: the nearby lake had retreated hundreds of miles, the delta had long since narrowed to a river, the spreading wetland had become parched scrub. His partial skull, named Omo 1, now resides in a recessed display case at Kenya’s national museum in Nairobi, near the edge of that immense fault line.

I don’t remember exactly when I first learned about the Rift Valley. I recall knowing almost nothing of it when I opened an atlas one day and saw, spread across two colourful pages, a large topographical map of the African continent. Toward the eastern edge of the landmass, a line of mountains, valleys and lakes – the products of the Rift – drew my eye and drove my imagination, more surely than either the yellow expanse of the Sahara or the green immensity of the Congo. Rainforests and deserts appeared uncomplicated, placid swathes of land in comparison with the fragmenting, shattering fissures of the Rift.

On a map, you can trace the valley’s path from the tropical coastal lowlands of Mozambique to the Red Sea shores of the Arabian Peninsula. It heads due north, up the length of Lake Malawi, before splitting. The western branch takes a left turn, carving a scythe-shaped crescent of deep lake-filled valleys – Tanganyika, Kivu, Edward – that form natural borders between the Democratic Republic of Congo and a succession of eastern neighbours: Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda. But the western branch peters out, becoming the broad shallow valley of the White Nile before dissipating in the Sudd, a vast swamp in South Sudan.

The eastern branch is more determined in its northward march. A hanging valley between steep ridges, it runs through the centre of Tanzania, weaving its way across Kenya and into Ethiopia where, in the northern Afar region, it splits again at what geologists call a ‘triple junction’, the point where three tectonic plates meet or, in this case, bid farewell. The Nubian and Somalian plates are pulling apart and both are pulling away from the Arabian plate to their north, deepening and widening the Rift Valley as they unzip the African continent. Here in the Rift, our origins and that of the land are uniquely entwined. Understanding this connection demands more than a bird’s-eye view of the continent.

The Rift Valley is the only place where human history can be seen in its entirety

Looking out across a landscape such as East Africa’s Rift Valley reveals a view of beauty and scale. But this way of seeing, however breath-taking, will only ever be a snapshot of the present, a static moment in time. Another way of looking comes from tipping your perspective 90 degrees, from the horizontal plane to the vertical axis, a shift from space to time, from geography to stratigraphy, which allows us to see the Rift in all its dizzying, vertiginous complexity. Here, among seemingly unending geological strata, we can gaze into what the natural philosopher John Playfair called ‘the abyss of time’, a description he made after he, James Hall and James Hutton in 1788 observed layered geological aeons in the rocky outcrops of Scotland’s Siccar Point – a revelation that would eventually lead Hutton to become the founder of modern geology. In the Rift Valley, this vertical, tilted way of seeing is all the more powerful because the story of the Rift is the story of all of us, our past, our present, and our future. It’s a landscape that offers a diachronous view of humanity that is essential to make sense of the Anthropocene, the putative geological epoch in which humans are understood to be a planetary force with Promethean powers of world-making and transformation.

The Rift Valley humbles us. It punctures the transcendent grandiosity of human exceptionalism by returning us to a specific time and a particular place: to the birth of our species. Here, we are confronted with a kind of homecoming as we discern our origins among rock, bones and dust. The Rift Valley is the only place where human history can be seen in its entirety, the only place we have perpetually inhabited, from our first faltering bipedal steps to the present day, when the planetary impacts of climatic changes and population growth can be keenly felt in the equatorial heat, in drought and floods, and in the chaotic urbanisation of fast-growing nations. The Rift is one of many frontiers in the climate crisis where we can witness a tangling of causes and effects.

But locating ourselves here, within Earth’s processes, and understanding ourselves as part of them, is more than just a way of seeing. It is a way of challenging the kind of short-term, atemporal, election-cycle thinking that is failing to deliver us from the climate and biodiversity crises. It allows us to conceive of our current moment not as an endpoint but as the culmination of millions of years of prior events, the fleeting staging point for what will come next, and echo for millennia to come. We exist on a continuum: a sliver in a sediment core bored out of the earth, a plot point in an unfolding narrative, of which we are both author and character. It brings the impact of what we do now into focus, allowing facts about atmospheric carbon or sea level rises to resolve as our present responsibilities.

The Rift is a place, but ‘rift’ is also a word. It’s a noun for splits in things or relationships, a geological term for the result of a process in which Earth shifts, and it’s a verb apt to describe our current connection to the planet: alienation, separation, breakdown. The Rift offers us another way of thinking.

That we come from the earth and return to it is not a burial metaphor but a fact. Geological processes create particular landforms that generate particular environments and support particular kinds of life. In a literal sense, the earth made us. The hominin fossils scattered through the Rift Valley are anthropological evidence but also confronting artefacts. Made of rock not bone, they are familiar yet unexpected, turning up in strange places, emerging from the dirt weirdly heavy, as if burdened with the physical weight of time. They are caught up in our ‘origin stories and endgames’, writes the geographer Kathryn Yusoff, as simultaneous manifestations of mortality and immortality. They embody both the vanishing brevity of an individual life and the near-eternity of a mineralised ‘geologic life’, once – as the philosopher Manuel DeLanda puts it in A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History (1997) – bodies and bones cross ‘the threshold back into the world of rocks’. There is fear in this, but hope too, because we can neither measure, contend with, nor understand the Anthropocene without embedding ourselves in different timescales and grounding ourselves in the earth. Hominin fossils are a path to both.

The rain, wind and tectonics summon long-buried bones, skulls and teeth from the earth

Those species that cannot adapt, die. Humans, it turns out – fortunately for us, less so for the planet – are expert adapters. We had to be, because the Rift Valley in which we were born is a complex, fragmented, shifting place, so diverse in habitats that it seems to contain the world. It is as varied as it is immense, so broad that on all but the clearest of days its edges are lost in haze. From high on its eastern shoulder, successive hills descend thousands of feet to the plains below, like ridges of shoreward ocean swell. Here, the valley floor is hard-baked dirt, the hot air summoning dust devils to dance among whistling thorns, camphor and silver-leafed myrrh. Dormant volcanoes puncture the land, their ragged, uneven craters stark against the sky. Fissures snake across the earth. Valley basins are filled with vast lakes, or dried out and clogged with sand and sediment. An ice-capped mountain stands sentinel, its razor ridges of black basalt rearing out of cloud forest. Elsewhere, patches of woodland cluster on sky islands, or carpet hills and plateaus. In some of the world’s least hospitable lands, the rain, wind and tectonics summon long-buried bones, skulls and teeth from the earth. This is restless territory, a landscape of tumult and movement, and the birthplace of us all.

My forays into this territory over the past dozen years have only scratched at the surface of its immense variety. I have travelled to blistering basalt hillsides, damp old-growth forests, ancient volcanoes with razor rims, smoking geothermal vents, hardened fields of lava, eroding sandstone landscapes that spill fossils, lakes with water that is salty and warm, desert dunes with dizzying escarpments, gently wooded savannah, and rivers as clear as gin. Here, you can travel through ecosystems and landscapes, but also through time

I used to live beside the Rift. For many years, my Nairobi home was 30 kilometres from the clenched knuckles of the Valley’s Ngong Hills, which slope downwards to meet a broad, flat ridge. Here, the road out of the city makes a sharp turn to the right, pitching over the escarpment’s edge before weaving its way, thousands of feet downwards over dozens of kilometres, through patchy pasture and whistling thorns. The weather is always unsettled here and, at 6,500 feet can be cold even on the clearest and brightest of days.

One particularly chilly bend in the road has been given the name ‘Corner Baridi’, cold corner. Occasionally, I would sit here, on scrubby grass by the crumbling edge of a ribbon of old tarmac, and look westwards across a transect of the Rift Valley as young herders wandered past, bells jangling at their goats’ necks. The view was always spectacular, never tired: a giant’s staircase of descending bluffs, steep, rocky and wooded, volcanic peaks and ridges, the sheen of Lake Magadi, a smudge of smoke above Ol Doinyo Lengai’s active caldera, the mirrored surface of Lake Natron, the undulating expanse of the valley floor.

And the feeling the scene conjured was always the same: awe, and nostalgia, in its original sense of a longing for home, a knowledge rooted in bone not books. This is where Homo sapiens are from. This is fundamental terrane, where all our stories begin. Sitting, I would picture the landscape as a time-lapse film, changing over millions of years with spectral life drifting across its shifting surface like smoke.

Humankind was forged in the tectonic crucible of the Rift Valley. The physical and cognitive advances that led to Homo sapiens were driven by changes of topography and climate right here, as Earth tipped on its axis and its surface roiled with volcanism, creating a complex, fragmented environment that demanded a creative, problem-solving creature.

Much of what we know of human evolution in the Rift Valley builds on the fossil finds and theoretical thinking of Richard Leakey, the renowned Kenyan palaeoanthropologist. Over the years I lived in Nairobi, we met and talked on various occasions and, one day in 2021, I visited him at his home, a few miles from Corner Baridi.

Millennia from now, the Rift Valley will have torn the landmass apart and become the floor of a new sea

It was a damp, chilly morning and, when I arrived, Leakey was finishing some toast with jam. Halved red grapefruit and a pot of stovetop espresso coffee sat on the Lazy Susan, a clutch bag stuffed with pills and tubes of Deep Heat and arthritis gel lay on the table among the breakfast debris, a walking stick hung from the doorknob behind him, and from the cuffs of his safari shorts extended two metal prosthetic legs, ending in a pair of brown leather shoes.

Afterwards, I drove out to the spot where Leakey envisioned his museum being built: a dramatic basalt outcropping amid knee-high grass and claw-branched acacias, perched at the end of a ridge, the land falling precipitously away on three sides. It felt like an immense pulpit or perhaps, given Leakey’s paternal, didactic style, atheist beliefs, and academic rigour, a lectern.

A little way north of Leakey’s home, beyond Corner Baridi, a new railway tunnel burrows through the Ngong Hills to the foot of the escarpment where there is a town of low-slung concrete, and unfinished roofs punctured by reinforced steel bars. For most hours of most days, lorries rumble by, nose to tail, belching smoke and leaking oil. They ferry goods back and forth across the valley plains. The new railway will do the same, moving more stuff, more quickly. The railway, like the road, is indifferent to its surroundings, its berms, bridges, cuttings and tunnels defy topography, mock geography.

Running perpendicular to these transport arteries, pylons stride across the landscape, bringing electricity in high voltage lines from a wind farm in the far north to a new relay station at the foot of a dormant volcano. The promise of all this infrastructure increases the land’s value and, where once there were open plains, now there are fences, For Sale signs, and quarter-acre plots sold in their hundreds. Occasionally, geology intervenes, as it did early one March morning in 2018 when Eliud Njoroge Mbugua’s home disappeared.

It began with a feathering crack scurrying across his cement floor, which widened as the hours passed. Then the crack became a fissure, and eventually split his cinderblock shack apart, hauling its tin-roofed remnants into the depths. Close by, the highway was also torn in two. The next day, journalists launched drones into the sky capturing footage that revealed a lightning-bolt crack in the earth stretching hundreds of metres across the flat valley floor. Breathless news reports followed, mangling the science and making out that an apocalyptic splitting of the African continent was underway. They were half-right.

Ten thousand millennia from now, the Rift Valley will have torn the landmass apart and become the floor of a new sea. Where the reports were wrong, however, was in failing to recognise that Mbugua’s home had fallen victim to old tectonics, not new ones: heavy rains had washed away the compacted sediment on which his home had been built, revealing a fault line hidden below the surface. Sometimes, the changes here can point us forward in time, toward our endings. But more often, they point backwards.

Just a few years earlier, when I first moved to Nairobi, the railway line and pylons did not exist. Such is the velocity of change that, a generation ago, the nearby hardscrabble truck stop town of Mai Mahiu also did not exist. If we go four generations back, there were neither trucks nor the roads to carry them, neither fence posts nor brick homes. The land may look empty in this imagined past, but is not: pastoralist herders graze their cows, moving in search of grass and water for their cattle, sharing the valley with herds of elephant, giraffe and antelope, and the lions that stalk them.

Thousands of years earlier still, and the herders are gone, too. Their forebears are more than 1,000 miles to the northwest, grazing their herds on pastures that will become the Sahara as temperatures rise in the millennia following the end of the ice age, the great northern glaciers retreat and humidity falls, parching the African land. Instead, the valley is home to hunter-gatherers and fishermen who tread the land with a lighter foot.

Go further. At the dawn of the Holocene – the warm interglacial period that began 12,000 years ago and may be coming to a close – the Rift is different, filled with forests of cedar, yellowwood and olive, sedge in the understory. The temperature is cooler, the climate wetter. Dispersed communities of human hunter-gatherers, semi-nomads, live together, surviving on berries, grasses and meat, cooking with fire, hunting with sharpened stone. Others of us have already left during the preceding 40,000 years, moving north up the Rift to colonise what will come to be called the Middle East, Europe, Asia, the Americas.

As geology remakes the land, climate makes its power felt too, swinging between humidity and aridity

Some 200,000 years ago, the Rift is inhabited by the earliest creature that is undoubtedly us: the first Homo sapiens, like our ancestor found in Ethiopia. Scrubbed and dressed, he would not turn heads on the streets of modern-day Nairobi, London or New York. At this time, our ancestors are here, and only here: in the Rift.

Two million years ago, we are not alone. There are at least two species of our Homo genus sharing the Rift with the more ape-like, thicker-skulled and less dexterous members of the hominin family: Australopithecus and Paranthropus. A million years earlier, a small, ape-like Australopithecus (whom archaeologists will one day name ‘Lucy’) lopes about on two legs through a mid-Pliocene world that is even less recognisable, full of megafauna, forests and vast lakes.

Further still – rewinding into the deep time of geology and tectonics, through the Pliocene and Miocene – there is nothing we could call ‘us’ anymore. The landscape has shifted and changed. As geology remakes the land, climate makes its power felt too, swinging between humidity and aridity. Earth wobbles on its axis and spins through its orbit, bringing millennia-long periods of oscillation between wetness and dryness. The acute climate sensitivity of the equatorial valley means basin lakes become deserts, and salt pans fill with water.

On higher ground, trees and grasses engage in an endless waltz, ceding and gaining ground, as atmospheric carbon levels rise and fall, favouring one family of plant, then the other. Eventually, the Rift Valley itself is gone, closing up as Earth’s crust slumps back towards sea level and the magma beneath calms and subsides. A continent-spanning tropical forest, exuberant in its humidity, covers Africa from coast to coast. High in the branches of an immense tree sits a small ape, the common ancestor of human and chimpanzee before tectonics, celestial mechanics and climate conspire to draw us apart, beginning the long, slow process of splitting, separating, fissuring, that leads to today, tens of millions of years later, but perhaps at the same latitude and longitude of that immense tree: a degree and a half south, 36.5 degrees west, on a patch of scrubby grass at the edge of the Rift.