#don’t mind me guys I’m just redoing my entire profile

[valleyfthdolls]

GGY is bullshit: an essay which has escaped my drafts thanks to @thatoneautisticfnaffan (why I don’t think Gregory is patient 46)

Trigger warning: discussion of harm to children, trauma, mentions of ableism, and other potentially upsetting horror-typical discussions.

Content warning: long

I’d like to preface this with the fact that it has not been confirmed that Gregory is patient 46. I looked into it, and no, despite what people have said Scott has not outright stated Gregory is patient 46- not in Tales From the Pizzaplex and not in Security Breach. Got that noted? Alright. Because if we bear in mind that not every new theory turns out to be pivotal to canon or even true, I think I can decisively conclude that there is no way Patient 46 is Gregory- something I first argued in a Google Doc I didn’t do anything with in January of 2022. Since I’m stupid and did that on my now deleted school district account having switched districts (I checked, it’s disabled,) I’ll redo it here in the same manner I did it then- breaking down each part of Patient 46’s mannerisms, personality, past and behavior that makes her a far cry from a perfect match for Gregory.

Derailing Immediately- FNAF AR

That being said, I’d like to start with one… weird piece of evidence I found on the fnaf subreddit. A man named “Greg A.” listed in FNAF AR as connected to the company and on the birthday list.

…A birthday list that proclaims this Greg, the third or even fourth known “Greg” in the franchise (if you consider SB and TFTP Gregory two different characters being two variants of the same one) to be forty-four years old.

That one disproves itself, moving on.

Completely Different Personas- CD 2

We are introducing to patient 46 in the second therapy CD, which, by the way, has to be violating these guys’ rights. Regardless, when we meet patient 46, she- as referred to in other languages- is sitting silently in the office, upset about how bright it is. The therapist tells her that when the window is blocked it feels like a cubby hole or cave, indicating that to be the reason patient 46 likes it. Patient 46 doesn’t confirm or deny this, and the therapist is unsatisfied with her lack of a response, and asks if she’s not talking “again.”

Now here’s something you’ll hear me say later in an entire section dedicated to it.

Gregory cannot shut his fucking mouth.

This is not an insult, it’s a statement of fact with an extra swear word added to be haha funny. Gregory speaks faster than he thinks sometimes. Even when it’s to his detriment, he doesn’t have a lot of restraint on what he says.

If he’d stayed quiet at the beginning, he would have been able to simply hide and wait it out. He wasn’t being spoken to, even, but still responded. In fact, when he’s with Freddy, he talks a lot, and expresses any source of distress with seriousness. Gregory is always actively reaching out to him for help, guidance, and support, which tells me he’s never really had any person to provide that given just how heavily he relies on Freddy, and that calls into question him being a therapy patient who’s been to over seventy documented sessions.

But even when Gregory is completely alone, he still talks a lot. He expresses any immediate thought. He talks himself through the whole parts and service section, for one.

The therapist then tells patient 46 that everyone associated with this company gets performance reviews. A, if the therapist is his school counselor like in GGY, she wouldn’t call the school “this company.” B, the wording of this implied patient 46 knows she is getting performance reviews, but not the therapist.

Patient 46 is associated with Fazbear Entertainment in some capacity, seemingly working for them given she gets performance reviews from the company and is familiar with them.

You know who isn’t associated with it in any capacity?

Mr. “Your guest profile is unknown to me, who are you” Gregory.

Logistically, Patient 46 isn’t a Child- CD 4

In the fourth CD, a second therapist has replaced the first, but patient 46 is unbothered by this. The new therapist gets to talking and asks her two things that stand out: not if she considers herself a hacker, but if she knows what the words hacker and phenom mean.

Now, one would suspect from this that patient 46 is a child. However, I did a bit of math. And this is entirely not necessary to prove my point, but I grew up watching 2010s matpat. I’m thorough.

At this point, she has been to 73 days of therapy. If she’s been going daily, this means it’s been just under three months. However, you don’t usually go to therapy sessions daily unless it’s an extreme case, in which case the therapists would not be half as lenient as they are. Usually they’re biweekly. There are 52 weeks in one year, meaning 26 of those weeks she attends therapy. She has been attending therapy for about three years to have racked up 73 logged sessions. Which is possible for a child, under one particular circumstance: they have some sort of early onset mental illness or have undergone a traumatic event. While that can be argued for Gregory, it can’t for patient 46, and it undermines itself. A perfectly healthy and happy child wouldn’t be attending biweekly therapy for three years. An adult who’s displayed concerning manipulative tendencies and claims to have untreated trauma, however? That’s more likely.

The reason, then, that patient 46 is being treated like a child is up in the air, but my speculation makes it a bit of a tragic thing that indicates these therapists are, uh, failures.

Patient 46 may have autism.

The evidence is minor and my reasoning is anecdotal, but hear me out. Patient 46 seems to be nonverbal. She doesn’t speak, ever, and it’s pointed out by her therapists as a constant and recurring pattern. She doesn’t talk at all, and it seems to be that the office’s environment is the reason. The one that stood out from the beginning was that she nonverbally indicates to her therapist that the reason she isn’t speaking one day is that the flowers are too fragrant. This is sensory overload. Being autistic, her brain can’t filter out sensory input and when the flowers smell too strong, it overwhelms her, and she goes nonverbal in response.

Unfortunately, if she is autistic, especially if it’s more prevalent (like being frequently nonverbal), she is more likely to be treated like a child, even in adulthood. Ask any autistic person, or ask me, I have a story of it happening in therapy.

One of my symptoms of BPD is stress induced psychotic symptoms. They first appeared in middle school, and I believed I must have been schizophrenic. After months of fighting to get a psych eval, it came back that I wasn’t schizophrenic, but I was autistic, which I had also suspected. My therapist hadn’t believed me that I was autistic, and while I had previously been “so mature” in her eyes, as soon as the confirmation came that I had autism, she told me my near-psychotic symptoms were just my “overactive, childish imagination.” That was used to describe my symptoms for years, by every adult in my life- my OSDD symptoms, derealization, the return of my stress induced paranoia, it was just my childish imagination, which had never been brought up before. Because I was now autistic, I was no longer mature beyond my years, or even mature enough to understand anything about my own brain. I was a child with an overactive imagination and no crayons. I was a child.

And my autism went undetected for 12 years. In the case of someone whose autism had a clearly visible impact on their life from the outside, they would be treated even more childish. Disabled and mature do not coexist in the eyes of others, not even in the eyes of fucking psychologists. Back to patient 46, having “lower functioning” symptoms, she would be seen as inherently less mature than others her age.

Also worth noting is that it’s not likely at all that patient 46 is in for her potential autism. She is undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy, which is used for conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, etc. It’s the traditional “therapy” people think of, but it’s not all that there is to therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy is not often used to help with autism because it’s not effective unless the patient is experiencing a mood disorder or something similar- especially anxiety. Therefore, patient 46 being a child doesn’t add up from a logistic standpoint- the only reason a happy child without any mental health issues or trauma would be in therapy for years would be for the autism discussed above, but she wouldn’t even be in CBT like we see her in.

The more likely scenario is that her therapists simply don’t see her as mature, likely as a result of a listed diagnosis or disability like autism, even though she is an adult.

Canonically, Patient 46 isn’t a Child. (Gregory Most Certainly is, and a Traumatized One at That)- CD 6 & 8

In the next CD, the therapist decides she would like to talk about patient 46’s childhood trauma without giving her a say in it, something she also does to Vanessa- she just sucks bad as a therapist. Although the story sounds possibly reminiscent of Gregory’s backstory- “what happened to your parents, and you, was tragic-” I don’t think she’s talking to Gregory at all, not only for reasons that will come up later as I try to stay focused on a linear progression of evidence, but also for two other reasons.

Firstly, she refers to the whole situation as though it’s all over and done. Both here and later on she refers to patient 46’s childhood as a thing of the past. Patient 46 no longer is a child, and everything that happened when she was a child is history. Gregory, however, is a child, actively affected by his situation, and it would be unproductive and outright incorrect to talk about his childhood that he’s still living and trauma that is still a prevalent and completely unresolved part of his life this way.

Secondly, she claims that patient 46 spends a lot of time by herself- which, Gregory may too, being that he’s fucking homeless and legally nonexistent, I know- but also that she’s good at self talk. This is… not what self talk means. That refers to your internal monologue, good self talk means giving yourself kind and positive messages. You’d think a therapist would know this. What the therapist means is patient 46 is an introspective person, who’s good at looking inside herself and making sense of her thoughts and feelings.

This is absolutely not Gregory, ok? First of all, Gregory is like, eleven? Maybe? He’s a kid, and a kid whose brain is developing and whose emotions are beyond his understanding because he’s… a kid. Kids at that age aren’t going to be able to sort out their feelings, especially not about a major life-altering trauma. It would be, again, unproductive and completely incompetent of a therapist to expect a kid who lost his whole life to be able to do that.

Furthermore, I have reason to believe Gregory specifically isn’t good at making sense of his emotions. He tends to react to things like he’s angry when he’s really scared- he complains, gets frustrated about irrelevant problems, and even outright yells at Freddy. This happens as a result of anxiety triggering anger as a self defense response, and is a big reason people act angry when they’re afraid. However, he doesn’t seem to know that he’s scared, which to me indicates he doesn’t have a close understanding of his own feelings.

Roughly two weeks after this session, the therapist wants to know if patient 46 has written down what made her feel the way she did about what happened in her youth, and we are given the information that she said she felt “sad and scared.”

First of all, a stereotypical answer, and one that hints that she isn’t telling the truth. Second of all, Gregory is not going to easily be able to admit he feels sad and scared about anything. He never even admits he’s scared through the six hours he’s being tracked down by a serial child murderer. And if he’s sad- that’s a whole other issue. There are signs through the game, the way he doesn't want to let go of Freddy, the way he runs away crying in the ending where he leaves the Pizzaplex even though nothing is chasing him. The way he becomes more vulnerable over time around Freddy. The way that any time he is sad or hurt is because he has lost Freddy, and he is alone. It all reads as a deep loneliness that adds up with him being an orphan. Not addressing sadness or fear like this allows him to be defensive, to protect himself, and that’s what he does. He wouldn’t be able to get an easy answer that he was sad and scared about the source of 90% of this fear because he holds back those feelings and doesn’t even recognize them. He never addresses or really even feels his fear. The one exception is the disassembled ending, and that’s when he’s literally cornered by the murderer trying to put his face on a missing poster and has absolutely zero means of self protection.

Patient 46 is Desensitized- CD 13

After a few weeks where patient 46 seemed to be skipping therapy, she returns to meet a fourth therapist. This therapist informs her she’s been told to discuss the disappearances of two of her previous therapists, and the confirmed death of the third.

It doesn’t seem as though they suspect patient 46 did anything- not yet, at least, given how quickly the therapist stops discussing it. But while the therapist does say she “has to” tell patient 46 one of her previous therapists was found dead and doesn’t want to upset her, when patient 46 isn’t upset by the “news,” the therapist decides it’s fine to go right on ahead and tell her that her corpse was horribly mangled by what appeared to have been machinery.

These are not things you tell a child, and again, Gregory is a child.

However, patient 46 is also notably unbothered, neither the news nor the description of the body upsets her, and her therapist calls that out. Most likely, patient 46 saw it happen or at least caused it, and was probably unbothered then too. It’s heavily suggested, after all, that she is the cause of the deaths.

Compare this again to Gregory, who sees the exact same thing happen to Vanny.

Gregory does have one line that always struck me as something a kid shouldn’t say so comfortably- “okay, but you’d better be careful moving around. I don’t want to be crushed and twisted into a meat pretzel.” While the people I was playing with were amused by this line, I found myself… a little horrified. Gregory spoke so casually about such a gruesome fate, it made me think that he was from an environment where his wellbeing, safety or even life was at risk to the point he’d grown desensitized to the idea, the thought always on his mind.

What he isn’t desensitized to, however, is harm to others. He’s upset by the idea of the disappearances that are happening and specifically that they won’t stop. He’s worried for Freddy- an animatronic- when he’s in a weakened state. And when Vanny is attacked?

If he even knew Vanny was a human, I don’t think he thought through what it meant to call for the STAFF bots to disassemble her. It was a spur of the moment reaction paralleling what she’d said to turn the bots on Freddy, and one that Freddy had suggested. The realization seems to set in when they corner Vanny. He covers his face to avoid seeing it, and runs away in horror. It’s a horrific thing to bear witness to, something you can’t unsee. And Gregory’s obvious fear shows that. Bear in mind: if Gregory was really secretly an evil murderer, he has no reason be hiding it right now. He could stand contently and watch her get dismembered alive, the only witness to his behavior is about to die, but he doesn’t. This is a consistent issue with this theory. If Gregory is lying to further some malicious plan, he keeps up the “act” when he has no one to fool. When he’s alone with his own thoughts, he drops no facade, no different side is revealed- it isn’t a facade, it’s his real life and feelings.

Gregory’s Utter Technological Mediocrity- CD 14

If there’s one thing GGY and patient 46 have in common aside from fucking everything, it’s that they’re both unusually good with computers. They can both hack into the pizzaplex’s systems, patient 46 does it multiple times and GGY can’t even be traced. Damning evidence that Gregory is GGY and patient 46?

No.

Gregory isn’t that good with technology. He’s worried to use the maintenance thing at first because it “looks complicated” even though it’s essentially simon says with spoken instructions. The only real hacking we see from him is putting a magnet on an ATM with a big red sticker saying not to put magnets on it that he can even find a message telling him to put a magnet on to mess it up. He’s far from a tech wizard, and really it’s about as much skill as you’d expect from a kid his age.

Plus, you’d think he’d be able to dismantle the enemy animatronics for good, or at least more efficiently, if he was some master of technology. Or get them to stop attacking him by hacking them. Or even do something GGY does and hack his entry pass to turn it into a security badge to allow him to get wherever he needs instead of endangering his life running around for the individual passes for hours. But nope.

Moving on.

Gregory Can’t Even Lie, Let Alone Manipulate Several Adults- CD 15 & 16

These last two sound like I’m just roasting Gregory. I’m not, I’m dead serious about this.

As revealed in the last two tapes, patient 46 has been manipulating someone else through encoded messages- if I had to guess, it’s Vanessa, who absolutely is not distressed when around Gregory- and has been lying about her trauma from the beginning.

As I covered earlier, if Gregory’s homelessness was a lie, it’s far too convincing, and he keeps it up way too long, literally causing his own death in the bad ending. It also doesn’t account for the clear emotional distress he experiences related to these supposedly fake traumas.

Furthermore, there’s one specific thing that can ONLY be explained by Gregory being homeless for real.

Throughout the game, Gregory hides from the animatronics in lockers, trash bins, carts, strollers, and Freddy. Thing is, he could really only feasibly fit into three of those. Strollers are made for babies, and Freddy’s stomach hatch is not big enough for a normal kid, it’s literally for cake and piñatas. The only way Gregory could fit in there is either if he’s used to cramping in spots like that for safety, or if he’s underweight and probably short for his age, both of which become possible and even likely explanations when you consider that Gregory has been homeless for god knows how long and is probably malnourished.

Not to mention, we meet a major plot hole here. The last therapist finds out about patient 46’s lies by checking her records. Gregory, lying or not, is legally nonexistent. What fucking records are being checked? All she would have is what he’s said.

However, more importantly, to be that successfully manipulative requires a lot, well, skill, in lying and tricking others. Knowing what buttons to push, how to twist the truth. Gregory doesn’t know this.

I don’t know if it’s inexperience, lack of skill or a mental block against lying, but he cannot. We’ve finally come back around to it:

Gregory can’t keep his mouth shut.

Through Security Breach, Gregory can upgrade Freddy with three parts- Chica’s voice box, Monty’s claws, and Roxy’s eyes. The only one Freddy suspects to be from his friends is Chica’s, which he knows immediately. But when he asks Gregory to tell him what happened, Gregory gives him a nondescript, obviously falsified half-truth. He speaks slowly, thinking through every word, deliberately and obviously leaving out any trace of his involvement, and even pretends to not know the word for “trash compactor” when relaying the story- an obvious indicator of a lie, trying to pretend you know as little as possible. When asked if she’s okay, he doesn’t even lie either. It would literally be easier to blatantly lie and say “yeah, she’s fine” than to give any semblance of the truth. Instead, he offers a half-reassuring answer: “she’s… still functional.”

When Freddy gets Roxy’s eyes, thing is, Gregory had a perfect cover up and way out. Even though Freddy knew that he had just been at the raceway where Roxy was, and you’ve already stolen one part, he doesn’t even THINK to suspect these may have come from an.. illicit source. If Gregory simply had thought through his words for a second, and not said anything, Freddy never would have known. Instead, he basically told Freddy outright that he took them from Roxanne. He doesn’t try to back down, either, and instead draws another half-truth. “There was an.. accident in the raceway.” And technically it WAS an accident. Roxy jumped onto the track and Gregory swerved. And just like he says, “nothing seems to stop her.”

While the realization isn’t entirely there with Monty, this is the one time Gregory doesn’t stick his foot in his mouth and give away the truth for no reason. But even so, he hints at it- when Freddy says he can break through gates just like Monty does, Gregory responds “exactly like he did.”

Gregory, for whatever reason, struggles with lying. He’s terrible at it. But patient 46 can lie and manipulate multiple psychologists for three years without any issue.

I Hate These Books- GGY Wiki Summary Lightning Round

You’re gonna have a hard time convincing me Gregory is 12. It can probably be done, but. As I mentioned he can fit into strollers made for babies and hatches made for cake. This one is minor I just needed to say it.

There’s a weird incongruence between GGY and game!Gregory, in personality, skill sets, actions and motivations. GGY just feels like a weird mesh of Gregory and patient 46.

I know the last therapist tells Vanessa that she works with a lot of places, including schools, but… school counselors don’t do that. They work at schools. Therapists will work with schools when they have a patient at that school, but that is a totally different situation from a school counselor. It absolutely does not make sense for the therapists to all just be school counselors. School counselors don’t even do regular therapy- Cawthon, you are thinking of a therapist.

If Tony knew Greg’s real name why wasn’t he the immediate suspect for GGY? This plot feels inherently flawed.

Why the hell were the school counselors meeting with the students alone in the middle of the night? This plot feels inherently flawed.

GGY has a known presence in the Pizzaplex, has records, and owns a guest pass. Guess who doesn’t? Gregory.

No fucking way is this how they’d make a big reveal like this. That’s bullshit. Absolute bullshit.

Everything this Kid Does is a Fucking Fear Response- the Part Where I Psychoanalyze FNAF Characters

OHH I’ve been ACHING to talk about this. Gregory is a character so defined by his fear, driven by a survival instinct and the fact that he is a child who doesn’t want to die.

As I’ve covered, Gregory shows signs of both anger displacement and anxiety manifesting as anger for self defense. The reason anger issues are common in PTSD is because it stems from fear and anxiety. Gregory seems so grumpy because he's scared, and looking for the pattern in when he shows serious frustration, annoyance or anger this becomes very apparent.

However, fear seeps into everything else Gregory does. When he begins to doubt he can even make it to the exit alone once Freddy isn't there to help. The shouting, genuinely upset tone he says he hates the map bot in. Him trying to reach out to Freddy every time he feels he's in crisis. The anger thinly veiling distress and terror at the constant threats to his life. The way he stutters a bit when he talks to himself. The gasping, heavy breaths you can hear from him whenever he's hiding, uneven and shaking, sometimes even sniffling. The genuine panic with which he addresses every threat, whether anyone is around or not- solidifying it is not an act- and the way he tries desperately not to let it overtake him. The fact that you can hear him stifling a scream as Chica drags him into the dump. He may be no crying child, but the constant sense of "I am going to die" he carries is absolutely a deep, life-threatening fear, and it follows him everywhere. And when we see all of that, so clearly, I'm going to have a real hard time believing he was secretly the villain all along.

[theshyspy]

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[gukyi]

the coffee shop contract | jjk

summary: apparently, having an instagram profile with a different girl in every picture is reason enough for your friends to strike up a deal where they’ll pay you to have a relationship. well, jeon jungkook’s no good at relationships, but a fake relationship isn’t a real relationship. is it?

{fake dating!au, college!au}

pairing: jungkook x female reader genre: just fluff because i have a one-genre mindset word count: 18k warnings: alcohol consumption but no main character is overly drunk, dumb college antics, i know this is a fic but please don’t do these things in college actually a/n: yes, this story is actually based on a real instagram account my friend showed me in college. oh yeah, college? that’s a thing. i’m sorry for taking so long with this fic, i’m trying my best but college is hard. please wait patiently for me and enjoy this plotless piece of garbage!

Jeon Jungkook thinks that his college experience is overwhelmingly standard. He goes to his classes (most of the time), goes to parties on the weekends (sometimes), goofs off with his friends when he’s supposed to be studying (all of the time), and eats like shit. 

(The plus side to his eating-like-shit habits is that he’s a gym junkie, which means that in theory, every time he exercises he burns off all of the shit and just leaves the energy behind. In theory.)

He operates under the assumption that he leads a very normal college life. He is but a typical student with a very small budget who detests the fact that he has to buy brand new versions of his textbooks just so he can get the online access code. He thinks he’s nothing but average. 

His friends think differently. 

“It’s not that weird, guys,” Jungkook insists in a group study room one day, where neither he nor his friends happen to be studying. In fact, Jungkook’s laptop is dead. He forgot his charger in his bedroom. He has no idea what he thought he would be doing when Taehyung texted and asked if he wanted to come and study with them. 

They are doing anything but studying. 

Taehyung has been on his phone the entire time, and the same topic of conversation that circles their friend group every now and then is at hand. “Yes it is, Jungkook,” he insists. He holds his phone up to both Jungkook and Jimin to prove a point. “Think about it. Okay, I’m scrolling back and forth on Tinder—”

“You just swiped right on some random dude,” Jungkook points out monotonously, a single eyebrow raised. Next to him, Jimin bursts into the laughter he was doing a poor job of holding in. “Why do you even have Tinder? You’re dating someone, and he’s sitting right next to you.”

“Fuck,” Taehyung mutters in exclamation, quickly pulling his phone back to try and rectify his carelessness. “Wait, never mind, he’s cute.” Jungkook shakes his head to himself. “Stop trying to distract me! I’m trying to explain something to you!”

Taehyung resumes. 

“Anyway, think about it. I’m scrolling back and forth on Tinder and I see this cute guy who goes to my school named Jungkook. His pictures feature some pretty decent selfies, no workout or shirtless pics, and an awful shot of him with two hot dogs shoved into his mouth at once, courtesy of his best friend,” Taehyung explains, beaming. He even makes a point to pull up the aforementioned hot dog picture. It’s not pretty, but it’s a good conversation starter. “His bio is pretty standard, likes adventuring, hates doing required readings for class, lives off of coffee. I like the look of him.”

“Get to the point, Tae,” Jungkook says with a sigh, tossing his head back in exasperation. It’s not as if he’s in any sort of rush to move on from the conversation because he has something better to do, because he doesn’t. He just doesn’t need to be grilled like this. 

“I go to look him up on Instagram, because maybe he’s the kind of guy to have his profile public for the viewing of others.” Taehyung pulls up Jungkook’s Instagram. He had forgotten about how good his aesthetic was. “Lo and behold, his profile is public! Hurrah! I can stalk him happily just to see if he really is my type. But, wait, what’s this?”

Jungkook facepalms. 

Taehyung keeps going, scrolling further and further down Jungkook’s page. “It looks like every single Instagram post is with a different girl. Wait! Maybe they’re the same one—nope, they just did their hair similarly. Huh. That’s strange. Every picture features a different girl, no repeats. Now I really don’t think I want to swipe right anymore. So I go back to Tinder, and I avoid the guy by the name of Jungkook at all costs.”

Jungkook thinks that maybe he shouldn’t have come to the group study room at all. Maybe, if he leaves now under the excuse that he forgot his laptop charger, he just won’t have to come back. Ever. For the rest of his educational career. 

Taehyung puts his phone down on the table with a smack, staring at Jungkook with an extremely unimpressed look on his face. 

“Are you going to do this every time I tell you I went on a date and I don’t think I want to go on another one?” Jungkook frowns. Maybe he needs new friends. Maybe that would be a better solution. 

“Yes, because you’re a stand-up guy who’s funny and smart and got a hot ‘bod and you can’t seem to tie down anybody for more than a couple of months, max,” Taehyung tells him pointedly. He’s always been extremely good at backhanded compliments. “Aside from us, your best friends.”

“I’m rethinking the ‘best friends’ part,” Jungkook says. He can’t believe it, but he thinks he would rather be studying. 

“You wouldn’t do that to the man who paid for new Airpods for you!” Taehyung cries out, loud enough for someone in the main study room to turn around and glare at the three of them. 

“You’re the one who broke them! You dropped them on the street and let some biker ride right over them!” Jungkook reminds him, eyes wide. He remembers the image vividly, Taehyung snatching his earphones out of his hands as they walked towards their favorite Korean place, watching them tumble right out of his slippery fingers and onto the pavement, and a bicyclist with those flashing red lights attached their handles coming speeding down, right over the case. It was the most tragic thing that Jungkook has ever witnessed. 

“And I bought you brand new ones that were engraved with your name like a good, rich best friend would.” He may be an eclectic international student majoring in economics like half of the campus, but at least Taehyung’s self aware. 

“Well, it’s not like Jungkook’s going to redo his entire Instagram feed or anything,” Jimin adds callously. Someone gets it. “He’s got this whole muted, neutral-toned aesthetic going on. He also doesn’t seem to mind the lack of commitment.”

Taehyung tuts, shaking his head. He’s still on page one of his fifty-page reading on Economic Disparities in the Post-Cold War Global Stage. He has not even picked up his highlighter. “That’s where you’re wrong, sweet Jiminie.”

“I know you guys are dating, but please never say the phrase ‘Sweet Jiminie’ in front of me ever again,” Jungkook pleads. 

“I’m willing to wager that with the right incentive, Jungkook will actually make an attempt at maintaining a real, long-term, committed relationship with someone he’s genuinely interested in,” Taehyung says, a devilish glint lacing his dark brown eyes. 

Jungkook hates that look. It’s the same look he had when he suggested they roll their office chairs down the hall of the dorm at three in the morning freshman year. Same look he had when he had Jungkook take sensual nudes of him to send to Jimin pre-relationship because Jungkook apparently had the photography skills of Photous, the photography god (that Taehyung is convinced exists in Greek mythology). Same look he had right before he downed five Monster drinks consecutively, which had the opposite of the intended effect and caused him to pass out in the group study room. 

“No favor you could do for me would make me even consider accepting this wager,” Jungkook tells him immediately. He loves his best friend, but multiple times Taehyung has said he’d do Jungkook’s laundry and ended up turning all of his white belongings pink—his bedsheets, towels, and a couple of his favorite shirts are now all cotton candy-tinged. 

Taehyung shakes his head. “I’m not talking about favors, young padawan. I am talking cash, the cold, hard kind that you can feel clenched between your closed fist.”

Taehyung comes from a family with money to burn but never does he spend it so recklessly. Except maybe when he bought five Monster drinks with the intention to drink them all like vodka shots. He shuffles around his backpack (work still forgotten) before pulling out his wallet, slapping two hundred dollars onto the table in front of them. 

Jungkook, the money-starved college student he is, immediately reaches out for the stack of bills, but Taehyung nabs it from him before he can regain any semblance of personal dignity. 

“Ah ah ah,” he tuts condescendingly. Jungkook shrinks back into his wheely chair as he reminds himself that while taking Taehyung’s money may have short-term benefits, he will feel long-term guilt. “Not yet, Jungkookie. First, you need to accept and complete the wager.”

Jungkook huffs. This feels like a drug deal. “Specifications,” he coughs out. 

“If you actually find yourself in a committed, loving, uplifting, and completely real relationship with someone that you are mutually attracted to for longer than three months, with at least three Instagram posts of them on your page, I will give you money,” Taehyung says. This immediately crosses out Jungkook’s plan to coerce his favorite music production major (and other best friend), Min Yoongi, into helping him.

Jungkook narrows his eyes. “How much money?”

Taehyung ponders the question for a moment, checking his wallet one more time just to make sure the same amount that was in there two minutes ago is still there now. “I’ll be generous,” he says with a shrug. “Four hundred.”

Jungkook’s eyes nearly pop out of his head. Sure, he’s well aware that his best friend is one-hundred percent loaded, but four hundred dollars could finance his textbooks for the next two semesters, probably. It could buy him a new computer program and matching equipment for his average mixtape-making skills. He could send it home to his parents and they could go on a wholesale store shopping spree. They could buy him all the granola bars and multigrain crackers he could ever dream of. 

“Are you serious?” Jungkook asks, gobsmacked. 

Taehyung nods nonchalantly. “Yeah, why not? If you didn’t use the money, then I’d just buy some dumbass shit like more energy drinks. I’d say it’s a pretty good use of my cash.”

Jimin’s looking at Jungkook like he’d be a fool not to accept the deal. Jungkook wonders what the harm is. He succeeds, and not only does he get four hundred dollars, he also gets to be in a genuinely enjoyable relationship with someone he actually cares about. He’s in college, too, which means that it’s the perfect time to make some possibly-regrettable and extremely stupid decisions. And maybe, for once in his life, Taehyung’s right. Maybe having an Instagram feed with a different girl in each picture gives off fuckboy-let’s hook up and then I’ll never speak to you ever again vibes. Maybe he should really rethink his Instagram aesthetic. 

“Choose quickly, Jungkookie, or I might come to my senses and go buy one hundred Chicken McNuggets with the money instead,” Taehyung advises. 

Taehyung’s hand makes to put the two hundred dollars clenched between his fingers back in his wallet, and that’s when Jungkook impulsively shouts, “Yes! I’ll do it. Fine. Whatever.”

Taehyung cackles like the Wicked Witch of the West. Jungkook wonders if there’s a downside to this. 

But to his clouded, 1AM mind, surrounded by friends that make him lose even more brain cells, it seems like the perfect decision. 

“You do realize that Taehyung is basically paying you to court someone, right?” Yoongi asks over coffee the next day. It’s four in the afternoon, Jungkook’s finished with classes, Yoongi hasn’t started his homework, the both of them have ordered the most caffeinated drinks possible. 

“So?” Jungkook asks as he takes another sip, shivers as he feels it run through his blood. 

“So, any person you actually try and date for the next three months will find out about the deal one way or another and then feel used, and you’ll feel shitty. If you do somehow manage to date someone for the next three months successfully, they’ll find out about the money and dump your dumb ass,” Yoongi explains callously. He downs half of his coffee in a single go. 

Jungkook grins. “I’m really loving the confidence that all of my friends have in me when it comes to maintaining long-term relationships. It makes me feel so great.”

Yoongi rolls his eyes. “You know that I’m right, Jungkook. You can’t just accept this deal and expect the person you end up dating, if you even end up dating someone, not to find out. That’s unrealistic and basically grounds for a terrible breakup rom-com.”

“I already told him that I’d do it. I want the money because I am a broke college student. It seemed like a no-brainer at the time,” Jungkook says, exasperated. He sighs into his coffee and the foam wobbles. “What am I supposed to do? Tell Taehyung that the deal’s off and let him make fun of me for the rest of recorded human history?” Jungkook whines. 

“I don’t think he’ll do that.”

He definitely will. Taehyung’s gravestone will say Don’t Forget to Find Jeon Jungkook’s Grave and Laugh At Him For Me. Jungkook will spend the rest of eternity buried six feet under with random strangers laughing at him until the sun absorbs the Earth and wipes out life on the planet entirely. 

“Yes he will,” says Jungkook, pouting. “What other option do I have?”

A chair screeches on the wooden floor next to him and Yoongi and suddenly, someone speaks. 

“Sorry, I wasn’t eavesdropping even though I definitely was, and I couldn’t help but notice that you seem to be in some sort of monetary predicament,” you say, looking at Jungkook with wide eyes. You look familiar, but Jungkook can’t place where from. Maybe one of his classes?

“Can I help you?” Jungkook asks, taken aback by your sudden brazenness. The last time Jungkook came face to face with someone so shameless was the first time he met Seokjin while at a house party in Namjoon’s apartment. Seokjin walked through the front doors blasting Who Let the Dogs Out from his iPhone and immediately declared himself king of the household before Namjoon could even say hello. 

You shrug, shoulders nonchalant and unbothered. “I think I’m the one who should be asking you that question.”

Jungkook’s flabbergasted. He turns to Yoongi, who, like he does with most things that don’t directly involve him, seems to have already assumed a hands-off position. Like it’s not his problem that his best friend has just been approached by a random stranger in a coffeeshop who looks to be promising a solution to his problems. Like the Shadow Man from Disney’s Princess and the Frog. Like a mafia boss. 

With a non-comforting pat on Jungkook’s back, Yoongi stands up, finishes the rest of his coffee in a single gulp, and says, “Looks like this one’s on you, ‘Kook.” He doesn’t say anything else and, five seconds later, he’s gone. 

“Jungkook, right?” You ask the moment Yoongi’s out the door. You’ve fully shifted your chair to face Jungkook, and Jungkook doesn’t know where to look when your eyes are staring right at him. 

“How do you know my na—”

“I’m Y/N. I hope you don’t mind me barging in on your conversation like this,” you say, not at all deterred by Jungkook’s very obvious bewilderment. 

“Um—”

“See, I was just drinking my hot chocolate even though it’s still warm outside, and I overheard that you were in quite the dilemma,” you say. Even though you technically aren’t invading any of his actual personal space—you’re not touching the table, accidentally brushing your foot against his leg, leaning in aggressively close—Jungkook feels like you couldn’t be any nearer to him. Like all this overwhelming forwardness and confidence is rendering him speechless and keenly cognizant of his personal bubble. “And I’m here to propose a solution.”

“Do you go here?” Jungkook somehow manages to get out. 

“Me? Yeah, I’m majoring in communications,” you tell him casually. Jungkook wonders why he’s not surprised to hear that. 

“Okay…” Jungkook still doesn’t know what to say. 

“In any case, in the past five minutes I’ve spent listening to you talk about how your friends said they’d pay you if you managed to date someone for more than three months, I’ve devised a foolproof solution that benefits all parties involved,” you tell him like you’re trying to get him to sign onto a business deal. Jungkook swears that there must be fine print somewhere. He just can’t tell where. 

Jungkook raises his eyebrows. He’s interested. “Which is…?”

“Date me.”

If Jungkook’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when Taehyung pulled out that fat stack of cash in the group study room, they must jump right out and roll onto the wooden floor at this.

“I’m sorry, w-what?” Jungkook sputters, like he hadn’t heard you correctly even though he definitely had. He was expecting something maybe more in the realm of counselor, like tell your friends you don’t want to do the deal, if they’re really your friends they’ll honor your wishes, or maybe even on the opposite side of the spectrum, like if you run away to Norway now and change your identity they’ll never be able to find you, here I know a guy. Not date me. 

Certainly not Date Me. 

“Date me,” you repeat. It’s the simplest phrase. And yet, it befuddles Jungkook more than his theoretical computer science class does. “Maybe I should rephrase it. Fake date me. How’s that sound?”

Jungkook lets out something between a cough, a chuckle, and the noise a dying Canadian goose would make. 

“Basically, what I’m thinking, what my vision is, is that you and I agree to fake date for two weeks past the designated period—in your case, three months. This prevents your friends from thinking that the whole relationship was all for show and so you can preserve your dignity. I, as your honorable and true girlfriend, will do any and all things necessary to make your friends believe that you are genuinely committed to our relationship. Then, your friends pay you after the three months is up, and because it takes two to tango, I get half. Sound good?” You propose. You seem to have thought of everything. 

The first problem is that Jungkook doesn’t know how he’s going to maintain the facade of a real relationship with someone he 1) barely knows and 2) barely knows. The reason he doesn’t commit to anything isn’t because he’s afraid of commitment (okay, maybe he is) but because all of the dates he ever goes on are Tinder dates or hookups-post-one-night-stand. He doesn’t date people he’s already familiar with, and then it never goes further. Even if he didn’t meet you on Tinder or sleep with you after a shitty frat party, he doesn’t see how this scenario is much different. 

The second problem is that, true to his college student nature, Jungkook is starved for cash. When Taehyung promised him four hundred dollars, he immediately began thinking of ways to spend each and every cent. But the prospect of him losing half of that money to someone he barely knows has him more than hesitant. How will his parents go on their wholesale store shopping spree without four hundred in cash to blow? If Jungkook wants those four hundred dollars so badly, why not put in the effort?

The third problem is that Jungkook is a phenomenally terrible actor. When he was in grade school and everybody had to participate in the class play on why smoking is bad for you, Jungkook’s role was Kid In The Background Sitting On A Chair Reading A Book. He was on stage for a total of two minutes as the main character was peer pressured into smoking, and he never set foot on it again. 

So, if Jungkook were to arrange this into a five-paragraph essay with Times New Roman size twelve font, he’d have a pretty good argument for why your proposal is probably not a good idea. 

But then, Jungkook is reminded of a few key things that keep him from declining right off the bat. 

First, he’s already said yes. Which means that, if he wants those four hundred dollars, he’s going to have to go through with Taehyung’s deal. 

Second, going through with Taehyung’s deal and keeping the four hundred dollars all to himself will require lots of effort on his part. He will have to keep going on dates until he finds someone he clicks with, and then he will have to keep going on dates with that specific person for the next three months and develop a meaningful relationship. 

Third, Yoongi’s right, as he usually is. Even if Jungkook establishes a relationship, the deal will always be in the back of his mind, and the truth will eventually come out. This may lead to Jungkook’s first genuine heartbreak—if he’s committed to the relationship—and Jungkook isn’t mentally prepared for that either. 

And somehow, as Jungkook makes it through the labyrinth that is his mind, he comes to the overarching conclusion that maybe accepting your proposal isn’t such a bad idea after all. If you already know about the money, you’re willing to help him dupe his friends, and you don’t really care about splitting up in three and a half months, then the only thing that Jungkook is losing is two hundred dollars. And while that may be a lot, he’ll still have two hundred of his own to console him. 

Despite the lack of communication between the two of you, surrounded by the white noise of the ambient coffee shop, you don’t appear at all deterred by Jungkook’s radio silence. You’ve put the deal down on the table and are waiting for Jungkook to either pick it up or push it off. 

“You get half?” He asks, just for clarification. It’s difficult to miss the fact that you are, essentially, halving the benefits he’s reaping from accepting Taehyung’s deal. 

You nod. “Yup. But in return, any dates we go on I will pay for my share, so you don’t have to worry about that. I will also be a loving and doting girlfriend you gets you coffee, croissants, and Dunkin’ whenever you ask, and even sometimes when you don’t. So I think that it evens out.”

“You’re sure about this?” Jungkook asks. 

You laugh, cracking a smile that shows off your teeth and fills out your cheeks. Jungkook looks right at you, and maybe he doesn’t feel anything right now, but he thinks he might be able to find a friend in this along the way. “I’m the one who suggested it, aren’t I?”

Jungkook sits resolutely. He just prays that neither Taehyung nor Jimin ever find out about this. If they do, he really will have to escape to Norway and change his identity. 

“Okay,” Jungkook says, his eyes staring firmly into yours. “I’m in.”

Seeing as the both of you are college students with the most updated technology at your fingertips, you pull out your laptop and situate it between the both of you. You’ve shifted tables so now that you can face your future fake-boyfriend, and Jungkook feels more and more like he’s signing up for some shady website in the hope that it’ll give him the answers to his problem set. Immediately, you share a Google Doc with him. 

“What should we call it?” You ask, cursor hovering over the Untitled document. 

“The contract?” Jungkook suggests weakly. He was never good at titles. 

“The Coffee Shop Contract,” you add on, typing it dutifully into the bar. “Sounds official.”

“It’s official because there’s money involved,” Jungkook points out. You wouldn’t be writing up this formal contract if you weren’t reaping any financial benefits so long as you both honor it. 

“Maybe it’s just because we don’t know each other yet, but you seem like the type of guy to swindle me out of promised cash,” you observe, albeit somewhat inaccurately. 

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? I’m untrustworthy?” Jungkook asks, only a little offended. 

You purse your lips into a thin smile. “My friends make fun of you because you’ve got a different girl in every single one of your Instagram posts. Can you blame me?”

Jungkook tosses his head back, exasperated. “It’s not that weird!” He exclaims. 

“It’s kinda weird.”

You type up a brief outline of the requirements. It looks like this: 

The Coffee Shop Contract

Signatories Jungkook and Y/N.

This contract entails a fake relationship between the signatories of Jungkook and Y/N.

This fake relationship shall last no less than three months and one week and no longer than three months and two weeks. 

Both parties involved shall do any and all things possible to ensure that this fake relationship appears as realistic as possible. 

Both parties will pay for their share of any and all outings made together. 

Three Instagram posts on Jungkook’s account must be made throughout the duration of the relationship. 

Should this fake relationship be successful, Jungkook shall give half of his payment to Y/N as compensation for her efforts. 

No falling in love with each other.

No one can know. 

Signatures: _______________________ and __________________________

“What was the reason you needed to type up a whole contract? I thought we had already discussed all of this,” Jungkook asks when you’re finished, eyeing the document on the screen. It looks much too official for his liking. Jungkook, if he could, would probably write his essays on a series of Post-It Notes—specifically the accordion-style ones, because those bring more joy into Jungkook’s life than he cares to admit. 

“This solidifies it,” you inform him sternly, fingertips moving quickly across your keyboard. “So that way if either of us breaks the rules, the deal’s off.”

Jungkook frowns slightly, tilting his head. “What if we both break the rules?”

“Well then,” you tell him firmly, resolutely, putting your hand on top of his. Jungkook jumps slightly at the touch, but your palm is warm and it wraps around his with determination. “I suppose that we go down together, or we don’t go down at all.”

When Jungkook’s alarm goes off at ten o’clock that Sunday, the first person to say anything is Taehyung. He comes stumbling out of his bedroom in their two-bed one-bath off-campus apartment, hair disheveled and still wrapped up in the hoodie he’s been wearing for the past forty-eight hours. 

“Jungkook?” He asks hazily, voice muffled and thick from sleep and the retainers still in his mouth. “What are you doing up?”

Jungkook looks up from where he was mid-washing his mouth out post-teeth brush, and stares at Taehyung’s reflection in the mirror. The fluorescent light of their bathroom illuminates his undereye bags and the hickey he seems to have acquired in the past 12 hours extremely well. 

“Huh?” He asks, mouth only slightly full. 

“What are you doing up? Didn’t you get back at like, four last night?” Taehyung asks. He must faintly recall the door slamming shut as Jungkook stumbled back, the alcohol from whatever parties he ended up slowly making its way out of his system. Jungkook does not over-drink… but he also doesn’t under-drink. He was with Jimin the whole time, though, who was flat out hammered, and when Jungkook wrapped an arm around his waist and insisted he drop him back off at his apartment across the street from his and Taehyung’s, Jimin told Jungkook that he was very nice and attractive but that he had a boyfriend. 

Jungkook wonders if Jimin’s going to wake up before three this afternoon. 

“Yeah,” Jungkook says. He splashes his face for good measure before slapping on some of the lotion they have on the edge of the sink that he always mistakes for soap. His mother told him that furiously smacking skincare into your face wakes you up and depuffs your eyes. So he does it. “I’m meeting someone for brunch.”

Taehyung slaps himself in the face. 

“Don’t tell me Jeon Jungkook is awake at ten in the morning to meet someone for brunch,” Taehyung says, even though that’s exactly what Jungkook is telling him. 

“I am,” says Jungkook. 

“Who?” Taehyung demands to know, leaning against the doorframe. While his body may be falling asleep, his mind sure still runs a mile a minute. 

“Uh, some girl,” Jungkook says, trying to make it sound as nonchalant as possible. Jungkook accepted Taehyung’s deal a week ago, and you had told him to only start mentioning ‘a girl’ after time had passed to keep Taehyung less suspicious. So you had texted him last night while he was four vodka shots into the night, saying that you should meet up for brunch the next day, and Jungkook, the dumbass he is, said yes without realizing the time you had suggested. 

And now he is paying the price in bags. 

Eye bags. 

“A girl?” Taehyung asks, immediately more awake. “Did you meet her last night?”

“Uh, yeah,” Jungkook lies. 

Taehyung scoffs. “Did she give you that?” He points to Jungkook’s neck. 

“Yeah,” Jungkook lies again.

“Wow, what a ladies’ man, huh?” Taehyung asks, giving Jungkook a good punch in the shoulder before he pulls his hoodie right over his head, tugs on the drawstrings for the South Park effect, and trots back to bed. 

Jungkook runs a hand through his hair before his eyes focus back on the hickey on his neck. He can’t remember a damn thing about who gave it to him. For all he knows, it could have been Jimin. Jimin has, for the record, mistaken Jungkook for Taehyung quite a few times when drunk, though clearly he was able to distinguish between the two of them last night. He grabs Taehyung’s concealer (which is two shades darker than his skin tone) from the cabinet behind the mirror, tries his best to hide it, and prays that you won’t make fun of him when you meet up. 

“The fuck is on your neck?” is the first thing that comes out of your mouth when Jungkook appears at the corner table of the brunch place. He was late, as per usual, but only because Jimin came knocking on the door and Jungkook had to direct him to Taehyung’s room before he collapsed face-first on their couch and stayed there for the next two days. 

“Uh,” Jungkook says. 

“Is that a hickey? Are you attempting to conceal a hickey with concealer that is literally two shades darker than you?” You ask, squinting as you lean in. 

“Uh,” Jungkook says again. He sits down, because he doesn’t know what else to do. 

“I ordered us orange juice already,” you tell him. “But it seems like you had a lot of fun last night. Care to tell me anything about it?”

Jungkook picks up the menu to keep his hands busy and give himself an excuse not to meet your eyes. The french toast looks good, and is less expensive than the avocado toast for some strange reason. Classic brunch problems. “I mean, it’s not really that important—”

“Hey,” you say, leaning over and snapping your fingers in front of his face to get his attention. “I’m your fake girlfriend now. I’m obligated to be interested in what activities you get up to when I’m not with you. So, what did you do last night?”

Jungkook figures that since he walked in here five minutes late with mismatched concealer poorly hiding a hickey, you have a right to know what the hell happened last night. If he even remembers what happened last night. 

“I went out around ten with my roommate’s boyfriend,” Jungkook begins, because that part he knows happened. 

“Wait, your roommate’s boyfriend? Why not your roommate, too?” You interrupt, though it’s a valid question. 

“Well, Taehyung’s not really a partier. I mean, he met his boyfriend, Jimin, at a party, but he doesn’t really like going out and getting drunk that much, and he’s also a damn lightweight so you really can’t take him anywhere unless you want hin clinging to your side the whole night,” Jungkook explains. 

“How did they meet?” You ask, not out of obligation but because you’re genuinely interested. Which is nice, Jungkook realizes, that you actually want to keep listening to him talk instead of disregarding him in favor of the menu. Jungkook can’t really think of many dates where both he and the person he was with weren’t asking questions just for the sake of asking questions. But you seem to have a different approach. “If he’s not a partier.”

“That’s actually a funny story,” Jungkook begins, already laughing. “Taehyung hates parties but that night he was determined to go to one because this cute boy he saw on Tinder was going to be there. And so he dragged me out to this party at eleven at night to try and find this boy, but then gets roped into a game of beer pong with said boy, so, mission accomplished. Except, because Taehyung’s a lightweight and a terrible shot, he misses entirely and bonks the shorter kid next to the cute boy on the head.”

“Let me guess,” you finish. “That was Jimin?”

Jungkook nods. “Only Taehyung would end up falling in love with the best friend of the boy he thirsted over on Tinder.”

“Can I ask who the cute boy is?” You raise your eyebrows. 

“Oh, that’s Hoseok. We’re actually all really good friends now,” Jungkook says, because that’s just how the cookie crumbles. “His boyfriend is a really close friend of mine.”

“Wait, are you talking about Jung Hoseok?” You ask, eyes wide. Jungkook nods. “My friend’s in the dance group he leads. He’s dating this guy named Yoongi, right? She says they’re super cute together, and that he drops into practice all the time to say hello, and Hoseok makes him dance with them.”

Jungkook nearly bursts into laughter in the middle of this crowded restaurant at the image of Yoongi trying to hip-hop choreography that Hoseok creates. He loves Yoongi, but he’s got the coordination of a baby giraffe and two left feet. Which is exactly why he sticks to music production, the less physical of two musical evils. “Yeah, he was with me in the coffee place when we first started talking.”

“That was him? No way,” you say, shocked. 

Jungkook has to say that he’s equally as surprised. You seemed familiar, but Jungkook assumed that it was because you had the same class or something. What he wasn’t expecting was this labyrinth of mutual acquaintanceships that draws a path between you and him. 

“I guess we’re closer than you think,” Jungkook says with a shrug. The waiter comes over to ask for their orders, and Jungkook, because he’s reckless and you’re grinning at him with a smile wider than the sun, orders the avocado toast. 

You nod, handing your menu to the waiter before he whizzes off. “Isn’t it funny how that works?”

After the second time you go out to a restaurant—this one a relatively nice but not upscale pizza place—Taehyung wants to meet you. 

It’s not so much wants. 

It’s more like demands. 

“Two dates, Jungkook!” Taehyung screeches at the same time the first kernel in their microwave popcorn bag pops, making Jungkook wince. “You’ve been on two entirely separate dates with the same person, and I haven’t met them yet!”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Jungkook says awkwardly, avoiding Taehyung’s gaze so as not to watch him go bug-eyed right in front of Jungkook’s nonexistent salad as he slowly waits for their microwave to implode and burn their entire apartment complex down. “it’s just two dates.”

“Which is two more than you normally go on,” Taehyung insists, holding up two fingers just in case Jungkook was unsure as to what number he’s been saying repeatedly as the popcorn pops. “Perspective, Jungkook! This is a big deal for you!”

“You act like I’ve never been on a date before when I, in fact, have,” Jungkook deadpans with a frown. He tries not to flinch when the popcorn surprises him with the last few kernels. 

“Yeah,” Taehyung says like a white girl in a Netflix original movie, opening up their shoddy microwave to a steaming (and slightly overcooked) bag of dollar store popcorn. “But when was the last time you went on two dates with the same person?”

Jungkook opens his mouth to respond when he realizes he can’t give an answer without incriminating himself. It’s definitely been a while.

Taehyung picks up on the nanosecond of silence and Jungkook’s fish gape immediately, cackling as he tears open the popcorn and a quarter of the pieces go flying across their tiny counter island, still sticky in some places where Taehyung forgot to wipe up the juice from the watermelon he was cutting (sans cutting board) last night at two in the morning. 

“Perspective! Matters!” Taehyung says, interjecting each word with a piece of popcorn in his mouth. Jungkook reaches over to take some for himself, just happy knowing that the microwave hasn’t caused his tragic demise and he can put off death-by-microwave for another day. 

“You’re an Economics and Fine Arts double major, perspective is all you care about,” Jungkook says, cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk preparing for winter. “I think you’re being dramatic.”

“I think that two dates is a record,” Taehyung tells him pointedly. 

“How noncommittal do you think I am?” Jungkook asks, shocked. He’s been in committed, long-term relationships. In high school. And nowadays in college, the definition of long-term has become so distant from what it used to be that three weeks is pretty much long-term at this point. 

“Very,” Taehyung says. He tilts the popcorn bag into his mouth and finishes it, and Jungkook is both horrified and impressed, because the bag was still a quarter-full when Taehyung decided it would be a good time to chug carbohydrates covered in butter. “I gotta meet them, Jungkook. I’m your best friend. I have to!”

Jungkook narrows his eyes. “You do not have to meet her. In fact, you shouldn’t even be involved in my existent or nonexistent dating life at all. You have a boyfriend.” 

“Excuse me, I am still your best friend despite already having met the man I’m going to marry and adopt three dogs and a giant iguana with, and therefore I’m allowed to want to meet her. We should do something fun,” Taehyung says, before his eyes light up in the same way they did before Taehyung once suggested they take an extremely pricey Uber out into the suburbs just so they could go to the biggest wholesale store in the area and buy as many sixty-brownie packs as possible. 

The same way they did before Taehyung thought it was a good idea to pay Jungkook money to get himself into a committed relationship, and the same way they did when Jungkook agreed. 

“Oh my God, we should go play laser tag! That’s so much fun!” Taehyung begins to jump up and down in the middle of their apartment like an eight-year-old boy at an amusement park for his birthday, and Jungkook has reason to be worried he’ll fall right through the floorboards and into the apartment below. 

Jungkook couldn’t think of a worse group outing for you to meet his friends. While Taehyung definitely sucks at laser tag (Jungkook always wins), a furiously competitive, glow-in-the-dark, shriek-inducing, friendship-ending activity may very well be the last thing Jungkook wants to do with you while you meet his friends. He wants you to like them. He wants them to like you. Laser tag doesn’t promise either of those things. Laser tag, in fact, actively promotes immediate dislike. 

“Absolutely not. There’s no way I’m introducing you to her in a laser tag setting,” Jungkook immediately rejects Taehyung’s suggestion. Taehyung frowns, probably trying to think of some other equally as infuriating activity for the four of you to do together. Jungkook racks his brain, trying to think of something else that appeases Taehyung’s desire for physical competition while also minimizing the potential for disaster (which is very high whenever Taehyung is involved). “How about… mini golf?”

Taehyung breaks out into a devilish grin, and Jungkook wonders if mini-golf was an even worse suggestion. 

“Mini-golf?” You ask as you arrive at the mini-golf place, a little outside location far away from the hubbub of the city but close enough to not require an overpriced Uber. 

“It was this or laser tag,” Jungkook says, whipping his head around to see if Taehyung and Jimin have arrived yet. He can’t seem to see Taehyung’s faded teal hair nor Jimin’s pink, which would otherwise be easy to spot because whenever they walk anywhere, Gen Z’ers stop them on the street to remind them that they look like Cosmo and Wanda from The Fairly OddParents. 

“Laser tag!” You exclaim, punching Jungkook in the shoulder for emphasis. “That would have been such a good idea! Mini-golf is so overdone, I would have loved to go to laser tag.”

Jungkook pouts. He can’t believe he already royally fucked up the first meeting between his fake girlfriend and his best friend (and his best friend’s equally-as-chaotic just not-as-loud boyfriend) because you and Taehyung wanted to play laser tag and Jungkook was the dumbass who thought that mini-golf would be a better idea. Maybe Jungkook should just try to get knocked in the head with a mini-golf ball going at one hundred miles an hour like it did in Avril Lavigne’s VMA-deserving music video Girlfriend, fall on the ground and roll into a Porta Potty, and then wake up with no recollection of any of the day’s events. 

You notice Jungkook’s pout immediately as you hand over eight dollars so he isn’t paying for the both of you, and pat him on the back. “But I still like mini-golf. It could be worse. We could be at a Kidz Bop concert right now.”

Jungkook supposes that there’s always a silver lining. 

The silver lining vanishes the moment he hears a preteen boy who’s on hole eight shout, “Oh my God, it’s Cosmo and Wanda!”

“That would be the other half of our party,” Jungkook says with a grimace, staring distantly into the void as Taehyung and Jimin clamber onto the course. Taehyung carelessly gives the poor teenager in the booth a twenty, does not take his change, and picks up a golf club that is nowhere near the right size for his nearly-six-feet-tall figure. Maybe if Jungkook makes eye contact with the supermassive black hole that Taehyung is convinced actually exists at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, he’ll just get sucked right in and lose all the matter in his body so he doesn’t have to deal with this shit for the next two hours. 

“I’m Taehyung,” Taehyung introduces himself aggressively, holding out an enormous hand for you to shake. You do so hesitantly but firmly, trying not to break eye contact with Taehyung, a task you will soon find to be quite difficult, as Taehyung can keep his eyes open for over five minutes straight. “And unfortunately, my charming personality and extreme good looks have already attracted a mate. This is my soon-to-be husband, Jimin.”

Jimin waves respectfully, pink hair bouncing. 

“They’re not engaged,” Jungkook says, feeling the need to elaborate because Jungkook’s known Taehyung since before freshman year of college, and sometimes even he can’t tell when he’s kidding. 

“Real shame, but I actually have my eye on the only natural-hair-colored college-aged super buff guy in the group,” you say, nudging Jungkook’s side with a wink. Jungkook thinks he might vomit at your description of him. 

“Kook’s a real looker, but he flakes on us all the time. I’m impressed you even managed to get him to come with us,” Taehyung jokes, but the comment nonetheless makes Jungkook’s mouth open in indignation. 

“I’m the only mutuality between all of us,” he re-emphasizes, “I’m the one who organized the whole thing!”

Taehyung leans in to whisper into your ear, but Taehyung’s whisper is normal people’s regular outside voice, so Jungkook can hear every word. “Truthfully, I wanted to go play laser tag.”

You nod enthusiastically. “So did I! Jungkook just mentioned it and I wish we had gone there instead. We’ll have to go sometime. Just a warning: I’ll crush you.”

“I accept your challenge,” Taehyung says with a firm nod. 

Jungkook coughs loud enough to interrupt the both of you and even attract the attention of the next family who’s come up to pay. He feels bad for them—they’re going to be stuck behind the four of you for the rest of this hellhole of a mini-golf game. 

“Are we here to play some mini-golf, or what?” Jungkook asks, tiny golf pencil and paper stuffed into his back pocket to record scores, because Jungkook came here to win, and winning is what he will do. 

Jungkook does not win. 

He actually loses by one point. A singular value. A sole divisor. 

He’s pissed, but also impressed. 

Taehyung comes in dead last, as he normally does even when he’s playing mini-golf with a club that’s actually the right size, but the gap between him and Jimin’s third place is significantly larger considering his club is meant for someone who’s about a foot shorter than he is. Even so, he seems to give no shits whatsoever about his abysmal performance, and is instead spending most of his time post-mini-golf game high-fiving the shit out of you. 

“You beat him! I can’t believe it! I don’t think Jungkook’s ever lost a game of anything in his entire life!” Taehyung exclaims, making Jungkook wince. It was down to the wire the entire game with you and Jungkook neck-and-neck, Jimin a fair few points behind the both of you, and Taehyung hardly in the same ballpark. And on the last hole, Jungkook overshot the curve and his ball jumped the hole while yours sailed in, leaving him to wallow in his second-place pity. 

“Just doing my job,” you say with a flip of the nonexistent hair next to your left shoulder. Your hair is nowhere near your hand whatsoever. “He was the one who suggested mini-golf before he knew what a pro I was.”

“It was one point,” Jungkook reminds you, fuming. “If my golf ball hadn’t skipped the hole we’d be tied,” he says, consoling himself more than anyone else. 

“But it did, and now you owe me dinner because you lost and I won,” you tease as you walk out of the mini-golf place, sipping on overpriced sodas from the generic mini-golf diner. 

“That was not part of the deal whatsoever,” Jungkook says with a frown. “I never agreed to that. We never said anything about dinner. What the fuck.”

You laugh, tilting your head back as you chuckle, Sprite fizzing in your hand. Taehyung insisted nobody get straws, and now you all have disposable open (and full) cups of soda in your hands as you make the treacherous journey back to your campus. “Fine. How about we go out to get some bubble tea after this?”

Jungkook likes the sound of that. He’s been craving some taro tea recently. 

“Deal,” he says with a nod, and the two of you shake hands to seal it. 

Jungkook finds that he’s actually really looking forward to getting bubble tea with you post-mini-golf game. He’s spent so much time with you and the rest of his friends (however many there are) that you haven’t gone out alone, just the two of you, in a while. Jungkook misses that. 

You get along so well together. 

Jimin grabs your attention with a question about Hoseok, since the two of you happen to be connected through his dance group, giving Taehyung just enough time to swoop in and wrap an arm around Jungkook’s shoulder, Dr. Pepper spilling onto the asphalt beneath them. 

“Damn, she really knows how to keep up with you,” Taehyung says, quieter than he’s ever spoken before. 

“Are you implying that I’m difficult to keep up with?” Jungkook immediately retorts. 

Taehyung rolls his eyes. “No, you dumbass. I’m saying that you’ve never been on a date with someone who meshes so well with your own personality. No wonder you guys have been on two dates.”

“I can’t believe you think I’m this one-date-wonder kind of guy.”

“You guys go really well with each other,” Taehyung says, and that sort of out-of-the-blue, genuinely complimentary statement makes Jungkook narrow his eyes in suspicion. “Seriously, I’m not just saying that. I think you guys make a cute couple.”

Jimin says something funny and you laugh again, giggles breaking out into the air as you slowly make your way towards campus. You’re not looking at Jungkook, but Jungkook is looking at you, and he thinks that maybe even if this is all just one big ploy, he might still get a really, really wonderful friend out of this. 

Taehyung pinches Jungkook’s cheek before turning his chin to face you. “I think that she’s someone you might want to hold onto.”

For once in his life, Jungkook has to agree. 

Jungkook is running late. 

This is no rare occurrence by any means, as Jungkook frequently shows up five minutes late to class with nothing but his half-charged laptop and an eraser-less mechanical pencil, which leaves fantastic impressions on both his classmates and his professors. 

But Jungkook hit snooze on his phone four times, and now he’s got ten minutes to get his shit together and get to his Metropolitan Nature class before he gets chewed out by his professor for being late three times already this month. 

He makes a few quick sacrifices. First, he’s not getting changed out of his pajamas, so this is what his Metropolitan Nature professor is getting, whether she likes it or not. Second, he doesn’t have time to use the bathroom so he’s just going to wipe his face with one of Taehyung’s makeup-removing wipes and pee after class. Third, there is no way in hell he’s making himself any sort of breakfast, not even grabbing a granola bar or anything, so he’ll just suffer until later, when he isn’t a debilitating mess of a human being and has time to stuff an apple into his mouth. 

And then, as he’s scrambling to get his backpack and make it to class on time (five minutes to go!), there’s a knock on his door. 

Jungkook almost doesn’t answer. Instead, he grabs the nearest object to him—which happens to be their television remote—and holds it out in front of him like a weapon, waiting for the burglar on the other side to bust the door down, realize that Jungkook and Taehyung’s shared apartment has absolutely nothing valuable inside of it, and turn around to rob someone else. 

There’s another knock on his door. Jungkook decides that it’s probably not a burglar, but he keeps the remote in his hand just in case and opens the door.

On the other side is, much to his surprise, you, with a steaming cup of what he assumes is coffee and a little paper bag in your hand. 

“Oh, geez, what’s up?” Jungkook says, quickly trying to fix the mop on his head known as hair, to little avail. 

“Why are you holding the TV remote?” You ask instead of greeting him back like a normal person. 

“Oh, uh, just making sure you aren’t a robber or murderer or anything,” Jungkook says. There’s too long of an awkward silence that falls between the two of you, and in that time frame, Jungkook tosses the TV remote behind him and listens as it lands with a thud on the rug by the couch. 

“O…kay…,” you say nervously. “I got you breakfast.”

Jungkook’s mouth drops open and he’s too sleep-deprived to shut it again. “Are you serious?” 

“Yeah, I told you that I would,” you remind him. “It’s a croissant and hot chocolate, because I wasn’t sure what your coffee order was. Here.” You don’t give him the chance to respond, instead shoving the cup and paper bag into his hands very ungracefully. 

“Oh, wow, I—I don’t know what to say,” Jungkook says, very obviously floored at your random generosity. He knows that this was what you discussed but he didn’t realize that it would actually be put into practice. 

“A simple ‘thank you’ would probably suffice!” Taehyung calls from his bedroom, clearly having overheard your entire conversation thus far. 

“Fuck off!” Jungkook shouts back, and he hears Taehyung cackle. 

You raise your eyebrows, leaning forward slightly. 

“Oh, yeah, thank you,” Jungkook says, still flabbergasted. “Seriously, I—I really can’t thank you enough. This was super nice of you.” God, who still uses the word super? Jungkook has to go before he embarrasses himself further. 

“No problem,” you tell him with a shrug. “Just doing the girlfriend thing.” It’s a good thing Taehyung’s in the other room, because he can’t see you wink. 

“I really appreciate it, Y/N. This was so thoughtful of you.” Jungkook doesn’t know how else to express his immense gratitude for this simple act, mostly because no one’s ever spontaneously brought him food at such an opportune time before. He missed you, is what it is. He didn’t realize it until you showed up at his door, and now he’s speechless and looks like an absolute fool, all because he missed you. 

Weird. 

“It was no big deal, really,” you tell him. “You headed to class? Let’s walk together.”

Jungkook’s already late but he decides that he would much rather walk than sprint, because that means he gets to savor the taste of blazing hot chocolate and a warm croissant, all while spending more time with you. 

When Jungkook was thirteen, a brand new go-kart arena opened up in their town. It had flashing neon lights and a giant sign and an arcade with actual prizes to be won in exchange for tickets. There was no sight more glorious to Jungkook’s freshly-teenaged self. 

His best friend at the time invited him out the day after it opened, and Jungkook was so excited that he said yes before thinking about anything else. He had never been go-karting. He couldn’t remember the last time he went to an arcade. He wanted to win ten thousand tickets to get a remote-control car. 

But he had no money because he realized that he was only getting paid for mowing his neighbor’s lawns at the end of the week, which meant that he wouldn’t be able to pay for anything. 

In desperation, Jungkook begged his older brother for some cash, promising that he would pay him back as soon as possible. Jeonghyun agreed (albeit begrudgingly) and Jungkook went on his merry way, having a grand old time at the brand new go-kart place with an arcade and winning one thousand tickets, which was enough to get him five of his favorite candy bars. 

Jungkook fully intended on giving some of them to his older brother as a thank you, but he ended up eating all of them on the way home, and then Jeonghyun doubled the amount that Jungkook owed him, and it took Jungkook a month to repay him. 

Jungkook discovered then that owing people is the worst feeling in the entire world, a sentiment he’s maintained ever since. It makes him an extremely reliable person whenever he borrows anything, which is already rare to begin with. 

Jungkook owes you more than just some hot chocolate and a croissant. You’ve saved his ass on numerous occasions, getting along well with Taehyung and Jimin and suggesting that you’re interested in him, striking up a deal that will save him from the wrath of Taehyung, giving him breakfast (free of charge!) on a day where he definitely wasn’t planning on eating anything. He feels like hot chocolate and a croissant just doesn’t cut it. 

In the end, Jungkook knocks on your door at seven in the evening with a paper bag filled with various Chinese takeout dishes. He never knows what to get whenever he gets Chinese food, so he gets a little bit of everything and, inevitably, eats all of it. He’s hoping that this is sufficient enough repayment, because you certainly deserve it. 

You open the door drowsily, mumbling something that sounds like “Who is it?” under your breath, when you see Jungkook and your eyes light up. 

“I brought Chinese food,” Jungkook supplies helpfully, holding up the bag as if the scent that’s wafting through the air isn’t proof enough. 

Your mouth drops open, just like his did. “Oh my God, you’re my hero. I was just about to make myself some shitty instant ramen for dinner, but this is so much better.”

“Just returning the favor, I guess,” Jungkook says with a shrug. “It was really nice of you to drop by this morning.”

“It was really nice of you to bring Chinese food tonight,” you respond as Jungkook hands over the paper bag. You let it sit on your palms, too heavy to be held by the top of it. “You just saved me from my fourth instant ramen dinner of the week.”

Jungkook laughs. He and Taehyung were like that during their freshman year, boiling water in their kettle at four in the morning to burn the insides of their mouths out with the fire noodles. Fond memories. You grin at him, Chinese takeout resting securely in your palms, and gaze at each other for a few more seconds before Jungkook coughs to end the silence. 

“Aren’t you coming inside?” You ask, stepping away from the door to usher him in. 

“Oh, no, the takeout was just a thank you for this morning,” Jungkook says, shaking his head and his hand as he takes a step away from the door. His stomach grumbles. 

Exposed. 

“Don’t think I can’t hear the whale coming from your belly,” you say, eyes narrowing as you point at his torso. “Come on, you paid for this thing, you might as well get your fair share. There’s no way I’ll be able to eat all of this myself.”

“No, it’s alright, seriously—” His stomach growls at him, like it’s personally offended that Jungkook’s rejecting the Chinese food. 

You frown at him, raising a single, unimpressed eyebrow. “Come on, you dumbass. It’s getting cold.”

Jungkook relents, though it probably wouldn’t have taken much more to wear him down anyway, and walks inside your apartment. He slips off his sneakers and joins you as you set the food down on the coffee table in front of your couch, fabric worn and pillows sunken in. It looks delightfully comfortable. 

“Sorry it’s kind of a mess in here,” you say as you grab plates from your kitchenette. “You caught me off guard—I just got out of the shower, too.”

Your apartment is cleaner than his and Taehyung’s looks on days where they actually try to tidy up. Jungkook wishes he had those capabilities, but when he’s presented with the options of cleaning up or taking a nap, he will invariably choose the latter. And the clothes you’re wearing, even if you insist that they’re your nasty lounge clothes from high school, Jungkook couldn’t care less about. You look nice. 

You always look nice. 

Once you’re all settled, you tear open the stapled paper bag to reveal the glory hidden inside. Jungkook gets one whiff of the scent and nearly passes out, huffing it in like an Expo marker. He was a little worried that he hadn’t gotten enough, but as you begin to take each box of rice and biodegradable container of noodles and vegetables and soup and everything in between, he realizes he had nothing to stress over.

“Oh my God, we’re gonna have so many leftovers,” you say excitedly, eyeing all of the dishes as you break apart your wooden chopsticks. Every smell imaginable fills your apartment, and it makes Jungkook’s mouth water and his stomach rumble. “This cost way more than the hot chocolate and croissant, definitely. Let me Venmo you back half.”

Jungkook shakes his head defiantly, taking the rice out of your reach as punishment. “Absolutely not. I won’t let you pay me back a single cent.”

“What? That’s not in the contract,” you say with a frown, making to pull it up on your phone just as proof. 

“Who cares about the contract?” Jungkook says, snatching your phone right from your slippery fingers and placing it on the end table next to him. “I’m just doing the boyfriend thing.” 

You attack the mountain of food in front of you like an all-you-can-eat buffet, taking a handful of noodles here and a couple pieces of broccoli there, a few dumplings and a bit of soy sauce, a spoonful of rice, some of the wonton soup. Your plates are filled to the brim with helpings from every single container, too excited to save any one dish for another day. 

“God, this is just what I needed,” you say with a pleased sigh, tossing your head back. 

“Long day?” Jungkook asks before he puts a chopstick-ful of rice in his mouth. 

“The longest. I don’t know if I told you this, but my Communications 316 professor is absolutely incompetent. He has no idea what he’s talking about, confuses himself half the time, and doesn’t listen to the TA. It’s ridiculous. I might as well teach the damn class,” you say, clearly exasperated. 

“Sounds awful,” Jungkook comments with a wince. If he ever had a professor like that he would just drop the class and change majors, but you don’t seem to be taking as dramatic an approach. Maybe Jungkook’s just a chronic over-reactor.

“It is. Never take Comm 316, you’ll actually want to jump into a black hole. What are you majoring in, again?”

“Physics,” Jungkook tells you over a mouthful of food. 

“Wow, that’s amazing,” you say, and for once in his lifetime, Jungkook knows that there’s someone out there genuinely impressed by his choice of study. Normally he gets much more sarcastic comments, or the person he’s chatting with will just say “Flex” before changing the topic. “Do you wanna do engineering, astrophysics, or theoretical stuff?”

“Not sure yet,” he tells you, “but I’m thinking more astrophysics. I think space is really cool.”

“Astrophysics, holy shit! That’s like, the coolest thing you could probably ever major in. Meanwhile, I’m probably gonna end up being the personal assistant to some Instagram-famous fifteen-year-old.”

Jungkook refuses to let you put down your major. He’s a shitty conversationalist and an even worse public speaker. Jungkook thinks anybody who pursues an avenue like Communication could probably debate his ass into next month. “Hey, those fifteen-year-olds make bank, so I see no issue with that.” 

You laugh, nodding. Jungkook leans over the table to help himself to another couple of dumplings, looking back at you as you smile at him, a single grain of rice stuck on the corner of your lips. In the warm evening light of your apartment, the soothing noises of ambulances and honking cars below you, Jungkook decides to remember this moment. Save it forever. 

“Let’s take a photo,” Jungkook suggests, even though he’s already taking his phone out of his back pocket. “This is too good not to remember.”

“Right now?” You ask, caught off-guard. “I just stuffed my face with Chinese food, I’m wearing a t-shirt I got when I was in tenth grade, and we’re in my grody apartment. Are you sure?”

Jungkook’s already setting up the phone stand, stacking empty biodegradable Chinese takeout boxes to create the optimal angle. “I gotta get three Instagram posts in, remember?” He says. Because that’s obviously the only reason he wants to take a photo of the two of you, right here, right now. 

Obviously. 

You’re still hesitant, but Jungkook sets up the self-timer on his phone and leans back into the couch, pulling you in next to him. “Just relax,” he tells you. “You look wonderful.”

The first few pictures are classics—back straight, head up, chin down, hair fixed. Jungkook lets his phone click like a photobooth, making sure the camera gets every one of his angles. Then, the two of you start to get a bit more playful, coming up with creative (or uncreative) poses—peace signs, finger guns, winking faces. You drape your body over his legs and get a few of you looking like perpendicular line segments, a couple of you cuddling, one of you squishing his cheeks. 

“Okay, last one,” Jungkook says, setting his phone up. He expects it to just be a relatively normal one, your bodies close to each other but not aggressively so, but a second before the camera shutter clicks you plant your lips on his cheek, making him smile as he gasps. His phone snaps the last photo, and it takes everything in Jungkook’s power not to immediately look at the final shot.

“What was that for?” Jungkook asks, fingers tracing over where your lips pressed against his cheek. 

“Just ‘cause,” you say nonchalantly, beginning to gather up your leftovers. “I didn’t know you had a scar on your cheek.”

“I got it when I was little,” Jungkook says, finger lingering on top of it. 

“It’s cute,” you tell him, standing up to pack away the leftovers in your fridge and toss out anything you completely devoured. “You’re cute sometimes, you know that, Jungkook?”

Jungkook’s speechless. He stands in the middle of your apartment like a fish out of water, eyes wide as they watch you flitter around your kitchenette. He doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t know if there is anything to say. 

“This was a lot of fun,” you tell him when you bid your goodbyes, leaning against the doorframe of your apartment. “Thanks for bringing me Chinese.”

“Thanks for inviting me in to eat it with you,” Jungkook says back. “We should do this again sometime.”

“You mean like a date?” You ask, eyebrows raised. “What do you think we are, boyfriend and girlfriend?”

Jungkook laughs. “My mistake. We can have a friend dinner, if you want.”

You grin. “Hmm, I think I like boyfriend and girlfriend better, don’t you think?” You ask. 

Jungkook pretends to ponder the question, like he doesn’t already know the answer. “Me too.”

The entire way home, Jungkook’s cheek tingles. 

Jungkook (10:18AM): hey what r u doing rn??

You (10:18AM): i’m about to go to this volunteering thing at the animal shelter !!!

Jungkook (10:18AM): wow really?? that sounds like fun

You (10:18AM): yeah i’m really excited !!  You (10:19AM): are you an animal person jungkook

Jungkook stares at his phone distantly. He was secretly hoping you’d be free, because it’s a Saturday and he’s got nothing planned the entire day. He could do work, sure, but that’s a Sunday problem. And he just wanted to do something with you. Sue him. 

Jungkook (10:19AM): yeah i love animals Jungkook (10:19AM): except iguanas fuck those guys

You: (10:20AM): do i wanna know????

Jungkook (10:20AM): in high school my brother got an iguana and it ate my school id so i couldn’t buy lunch for the whole year

You (10:20AM): i’ll ask later You (10:20AM): but my volunteering thing isn’t until 10:30 do you wanna come?

It’s not that Jungkook’s heart skips a beat, but it skips half of one.

Jungkook (10:21AM): are you sure?? i don’t want to be a bother

You (10:21AM): no come !!! it’ll be so much fun !!! we’re just holding an outdoor adoption fair for the day so we get to spend time with animals and encourage people to adopt them it’ll be lots of fun!! You (10:22AM): please come i’ll be so lonely without you :(

You don’t need to say another word. In fact, you pretty much had Jungkook sold the moment you told him what you were doing. He’s already halfway out the door of his apartment by the time he texts you back. 

Jungkook (10:23AM): i’m on my way!!

He gets to your apartment in record time, too excited to spend time with you to be ashamed of the desperation that’s radiating off of him. Jungkook’s not socially starved, nor does he not have other friends he could pass the time with. But he’s been friends with Taehyung, Jimin, and Yoongi ever since he set foot on campus for the first time, which means that he’s spent more time with them the past few years than he has in the past couple of months with you, because that is how math works. And Jungkook hates math, but he knows that he would much rather spend the day with you than anybody else. 

He knocks on your door, only slightly out of breath, to find that you haven’t even put on your shoes yet. 

“You got here quick,” you comment. “Did you run?”

“I didn’t work out this morning,” Jungkook lies like a liar. It’s by no means a good excuse, he just didn’t want you to think he ran all the way just to be with you. He wants to retain some shred of dignity, especially after losing most of it when he agreed to a deal where he would date someone for three months in exchange for money. 

“Sure thing, Batman,” you say. “I’m almost ready, just give me a second.”

Jungkook waits patiently in your doorway, catching his breath and trying to wipe away the sweat that’s slowly beginning to collect on his forehead in a futile attempt to make him seem as cool and natural and not-at-all-excited as possible. It doesn’t seem to be working very well. 

Whatever. Jungkook supposes that there are much worse things than having you think he just wants to spend time with you this afternoon. After all, he really does. 

On the way there, you tell Jungkook all about the cat that your family had when you were growing up. His name was Pickle and he frequently brought your family stolen flowers from neighbors’ gardens, which was both extremely endearing and also rage-inducing. He also exclusively ate cat food that was the combination of meat and vegetables, which made you believe for a solid three years that all mammals were omnivores. They were, in fact, not. 

“I haven’t had a cat since he died when I was thirteen, holy shit I want one so bad,” you say as you arrive at the park right by the shelter, where the adoption fair is being held. “Thanks for coming, by the way. You didn’t have to. You probably have lots of Physics work to do.”

“I wanted to,” Jungkook says instantly, refusing to let you believe otherwise. “I did. That’s why I texted you.”

“To come to the adoption fair?” You ask, waving hello to another one of the volunteers. You must be here often. 

“No,” Jungkook says, faltering slightly. “To, uh, well—to hang out with you, actually.” God, he sounds like he’s twelve. Hang out? To hang out with you? The same way that preteens do because they’re too old for the word playdate? For God’s sake. You’re college students, friends (hopefully, because if not then Jungkook has completely misread this situation), and fake lovers. And Jungkook chooses the phrase hang out to describe time spent with you. 

“Oh,” you say, more to yourself than to him. Your brows furrow slightly, like you’re pondering something too insignificant to say aloud. Jungkook knows that feeling. “Well, I’m glad you texted me, then.”

Jungkook’s glad, too. 

The animal shelter staff, despite his unannounced arrival, are absolutely thrilled that Jungkook’s volunteered to help alongside you. They tell him that he’s got an extremely friendly and marketable face, and will be good for talking to prospective adopters because he’s, by default, extremely charming. 

“I can vouch for that,” you mutter into his ear before another worker asks you to help out with some of the dogs. Jungkook stands there, your words ringing in his ears, as the instructions the shelter coordinator tells him fly right over his ear. Charming, huh?

Realistically, there are plenty of ways that Jungkook could be spending his free Saturday that would be appealing to most, if not all, college students. He could be lazing around in bed, sleeping in until two in the afternoon, and never getting out from under the covers. He could be marathoning his favorite TV show or a new K-drama that Taehyung’s obsessed with, finishing the whole series in a single day. He could go out for brunch like any good college student would, go to an overpriced café and take aesthetically pleasing photos to post online, spend the whole day online shopping. 

But instead, he’s standing in the sun surrounded by prospective owners and a whole bunch of pets, watching as you play with a few of the puppies in the pen as people ask you questions, and Jungkook decides that there’s really nothing else that he would rather be doing than this. 

Here’s the thing: animals are cute, but you with animals is cuter. 

Jungkook comes to this conclusion relatively early in the day, after staring at you unabashedly as you play with the puppies, pick up cats for people to hold, and encourage prospective owners to consider older animals in the shelter because they give just as much love and joy as the babies. He is, admittedly, not doing the thing he came here to do (volunteer), but hardly anyone is paying attention to him and he is, in turn, paying attention to you. And you’re doing your work, so does it really matter if he’s not doing his?

In the end, Jungkook actually does begin to contribute something of substance to the event, but only because the coordinator assigned him to the animal registration table for people adopting pets, which means he doesn’t get a free pass to watch you play with puppies for the rest of the day. 

Jungkook volunteers, he swears, but he doesn’t do it that often, which makes participating in this even feel that much better. He can’t help but smile and congratulate the brand new owners on their new best friend(s), happily filling in the official papers and watching as each animal goes to their forever home. It’s humbling, and it makes him happy, and Jungkook doesn’t think he could get that sort of feeling if he just stayed at home watching Netflix. 

The day ends up being a success. At least, that’s what the coordinator tells him, because over half of the pets available got adopted in that single afternoon, which seems to be quite the accomplishment. The good news is that even though Jungkook was objectively less than helpful, the coordinator isn’t shouting at him because everything turned out well anyway. So that’s always a plus. 

“We’re gonna start packing up, folks,” the coordinator says into her megaphone as the day winds down. “Animals first, equipment second!”

“Jungkook, come over here! Quick!” 

For a second, Jungkook thinks you’re in pain, but it’s enough of a second for him to turn to the sound of your voice and dash over, responsibilities (as per usual) forgotten. 

And then it turns out that you’re nowhere near injured, or hurt, or anything even resembling endangerment of your wellbeing. 

Instead, what he sees is this:

You, waiting in the middle of the park, grass tickling your ankles. You, grinning as you meet his eyes from where he stands a few feet away from you. You, with your t-shirt from the rescue center and plain jeans on. 

You, with a kitten in your arms, mewling softly as you stroke its back. 

“Are we allowed to adopt now that the fair is over?” Jungkook jokes as he comes over to you. It’s when he’s right by your side that he notices something different about the cat, at the exact same time you point it out—

“She’s only got three-legs!” You say, overwhelmed with affection and completely endeared. “Look at her! She’s only got three legs,” you say, motioning for Jungkook to come closer. 

“Do you know what happened?” Jungkook asks, leaning down to hold his fingers out for the kitten to sniff. She does so dutifully, pressing her little pink nose up against Jungkook’s fingertips before deeming him a satisfactory human being. Instinctively, Jungkook begins to rub at her cheek.

“No, only that they found her with something on her leg and it had to be amputated when they brought her to the shelter,” you say, bottom lip coming out in a pout as you look down at her. 

Jungkook grins. “What’s her name?”

“Miracle,” you tell him. 

Fitting name. 

“Isn’t she adorable?” You ask, holding Miracle close to you as she clings to your chest. It’s clear that the both of you have already latched on to each other. 

Jungkook nods, because how could he ever disagree? You’re standing in the middle of the local park as the afternoon draws to a close and the evening light sets in. It’s a little chillier now that the sun is going down, but it casts a hazy glow over your surroundings. And you’re just waiting there, a kitten in your hands and a smile on your face, and Jungkook can’t resist. 

He can’t resist the way you look, how you could possibly look like this. He can’t resist as he pulls out his phone, not-so-subtly pulling up the camera so he can snap a few quick shots. Because pictures like this deserve to be remembered forever. 

You don’t notice until the fifth picture in, when Miracle begins to meow, drawing your attention away from her and up to Jungkook. 

“Oh my God, hey!” You shout softly, trying not to frighten Miracle or attract the attention of any of the other volunteers who are very obviously doing more work than you two at the current moment. “How could you snipe me like that? I’ve got cat fur and dog slobber all over me, I probably look like trash.”

“You don’t,” Jungkook insists, but he pulls his phone out of your reach anyway. Just in case. “You look fine.”

“Fine does not equate to picture-worthy,” you hiss, but you’re laughing. 

“I’m a photographer, Y/N,” Jungkook says, patting himself on the back. “If I need a work a little magic, then I will.”

You scoff. “Sorry that my sweaty ass isn’t up to par with your Instagram standards,” you joke, making Jungkook chuckle. You put Miracle back into the pen she was waiting in throughout the fair, beginning to wrap up. “But at least you finally have two pictures of the same girl on your Instagram page.”

Jungkook chuckles again, but this one isn’t as real.

He had forgotten about Instagram entirely. 

“Jungkook, your fucking phone alarm keeps going off!” 

Jungkook’s in the bathroom, halfway through the latest John Mulaney Netflix comedy special, doing his goddamn business. 

“It’s for my laundry!” He shouts back. He needs to go and pick it up at the laundromat around the corner before someone steals one sock from every pair and leaves him, hypothetically, sock-less. “Can you just turn it off?”

“Fine!”

Jungkook thinks that’s the end of the conversation, so he unpauses the comedy special and laughs as John Mulaney tells anecdotes about his youth. And then, two seconds later, there’s banging on the bathroom door. 

“Jeon Jungkook!” Taehyung shrieks, accompanying every syllable with an equally as impactful thump on the door. “Open this door!”

“I’m on the goddamn toilet!” Jungkook shouts back. What does a locked bathroom door mean to Taehyung? Doesn’t he know what the hell Jungkook’s doing in here? “Give me a second!”

“We have to talk, right now!” Taehyung yells. Their neighbors are probably calling down noise complaints at this very moment. 

“What the fuck,” Jungkook mutters, closing out of the Netflix app on his phone and hurrying himself up. He finishes up his goddamn business, laments the cutting short of the comedy special, washes his hands, and opens the door. 

The moment it cracks open even a sliver, Taehyung is crashing into the bathroom, holding up Jungkook’s phone like it just murdered his entire nuclear and extended family. Jungkook nearly stumbles back into the shower at the force of everything, before Taehyung dangles his own goddamn phone right in front of his face. 

“What the fuck is this?”

“Uh…” Jungkook says, a little frightened and a lot confused, “the time?”

“Not that, you dumbass!” Taehyung says. “Your lockscreen!”

“What about it?” Jungkook asks, desperately trying to scramble for his phone back. And while Taehyung may have the upper hand and the element of surprise, Jungkook is swole and swift, and he manages to rip it out of Taehyung’s grasp before long. 

“It’s of Y/N! Are you serious!” In hindsight, maybe Jungkook shouldn’t have taken his phone out of Taehyung’s hands, because now both of them are smacking Jungkook’s shoulders repeatedly like the worst cuckoo clock ever. 

Jungkook pushes Taehyung off of him and gains his bearings. “So? We’re dating.”

Fake dating. Minor detail. 

“Yeah,” Taehyung says like a popular white girl in a teenage movie. “But you’ve never set a photo of someone as your lockscreen before! Or ever!”

“She’s cute, what do you mean?” Jungkook says defensively. Taehyung is reading way too into this. 

Taehyung frowns. “I’ve known you since before we started college, and in that time not once have I ever seen your phone background be of a picture of a girl, or anybody, you were romantically interested in. Ever. I’m pretty sure you’d set your lockscreen as Hyuna before you’d set it to a picture of a girl you like. Let alone one with a three-legged kitten!”

“First of all, I love Hyuna, so fuck you,” Jungkook says pointedly. He’d die for her, full stop. If Hyuna told Jungkook to abandon his twenty-first century life and live as a hermit for the rest of his life, he’d do it without question. “Second of all, is it really that big of a deal? We’re just dating. It seemed like a natural segue.”

“Wow,” Taehyung says, taking another step back from Jungkook. He looks him up and down like a doctor inspecting the body for wounds, hands on his hips. Then he says, “I can’t believe you’re actually starting to fall for somebody.”

Jungkook opens his mouth to tell Taehyung he’s being overdramatic and ridiculous (as he usually is), but something stops him. There’s no way he could be falling for you. Absolutely not. You’re just friends, and after these three months are over you’re just going to go back to being friends. Friends who are, collectively, four hundred dollars wealthier. It seems like a good deal. It’s also fake in every sense of the word. 

There’s no way that the feeling are real. 

How could they be?

Min Yoongi does not want to make a big deal out of his and Hoseok’s first anniversary. Jung Hoseok wants to hire a plane to write JHS ♡ MYG in the sky. 

Naturally, they have a house party. 

It’s half an excuse to celebrate the first of what Jungkook is probably correct to assume is many, many more anniversaries, and half an excuse to throw a party that involves alcohol but does not involve frat boys. Which are two criteria that Jungkook heavily considers when figuring out plans for the night. 

Because it goes without saying, Jungkook invites you as his plus one. If he didn’t, Taehyung would probably accuse Jungkook of trying to fake date for money (which he obviously isn’t already doing), and then steal his manga collection and sell it on the streets, in that order. These are things that Jungkook definitely does not want. Also, you know Hoseok, which means that by the transitive property in Jungkook’s eighth grade geometry class, you know Yoongi. And that basically rounds out Jungkook’s friend group. 

By the time you and Jungkook arrive at Hoseok’s apartment just a couple of blocks off of campus, he can already hear the bass thumping through the floorboards outside. Hoseok and Yoongi have good music taste, for sure, but there is no way either of them would willingly set the volume that high. Which means that—

“Jungkook!” Taehyung shouts, already buzzed, as the two of you step inside Hoseok’s apartment. He wraps an arm around Jungkook’s shoulder, nursing a nearly-empty glass of red wine. Jungkook is right to assume this is definitely not his first glass. Taehyung waves hello to you as well, doing his rounds as per usual, before fluttering off to cling onto someone else. 

Hoseok’s house party looks less like a party and more like a house. The lights are dim (courtesy of Yoongi), hors d'oeuvres are set out on the counter island (courtesy of Seokjin), and only their closest friends (plus guests) are here (courtesy of Hoseok). The only thing that might elicit any sort of party vibe is the booming bass that rings throughout the room as music plays from their television (courtesy of, you guessed it, Taehyung). 

“Hey, Jungkook!” Hoseok shouts from where he’s lingering around the kitchen island, popping an olive into his mouth. He waves the both of you over to where he and Yoongi are standing, drinking their tasteful wine and eating their tasteful tapas. “You’re the girlfriend, right?” Hoseok asks, pointing to you with a smile. 

“That’s me,” you say, nodding. “Hoseok and Yoongi, right? I recognize you from—” 

“From the pictures,” Jungkook interjects. You look to Jungkook with a puzzled expression, and he raises his eyebrows and widens his eyes unhelpfully. “I showed some to you, remember?” He says, trying to be natural. 

“Oh, yeah,” you say, catching on. Changing the topic, you turn to Hoseok and say, “You direct a dance group, right Hoseok?” 

“Yeah! You’ve heard of it?” Hoseok says, eyes lighting up. He’s always happy to talk about the things he loves (dance, chemistry, and Yoongi). 

“My friend is in it,” you tell him. “Do you know Chungha?”

“Oh my God, yes!” Hoseok exclaims excitedly. “I think that when I graduate, I’m gonna make her the leader. She’s so talented.”

“Learned from the best,” Yoongi adds in softly, blushing. Hoseok responds by pressing a kiss to Yoongi’s cheek, grabbing another olive to go as he heads off to greet other guests. 

With Hoseok out of the picture, Yoongi’s disposition morphs almost instantly. In the blink of an eye, he goes from humbled, in-love boyfriend, to jaded, suspicious college student. 

Jungkook opens his mouth to explain to Yoongi before his friend reads him like a board book, but Yoongi beats him to it. 

“Let me guess,” Yoongi says, eyes narrowed as he stares the both of you down. Unlike Jungkook, who’s already caving into himself under the weight of Yoongi’s gaze, you’re holding onto his arm firmly, looking at Yoongi with a stern glare. “You asked her to pose as your girlfriend so you can get the cash?”

“Well,” Jungkook says, because technically Yoongi’s wrong. He didn’t ask. You did. And you’re splitting the cash, so that solves that issue. “Not really,” he says, like a kid trying to get out of punishment for something he very clearly did. 

Yoongi frowns. He turns to you. “Please tell me that you’re getting compensated for hanging out with my dumbass friend.”

“Hey!” Jungkook cries indignantly. 

“Yes,” you assure Yoongi. “I am. But thanks for the concern.” Just then, Hoseok calls you over to introduce you to a couple of his friends from his dance group, and you wave goodbye to Jungkook and Yoongi before scurrying off. 

Yoongi looks at Jungkook, and Jungkook feels fucking transparent under his sharp gaze. He grimaces. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?

“Yes,” Jungkook insists, taking some offense to what Yoongi’s insinuating. He’s got everything under control, thank you very much. The guidelines to your arrangement were laid out very clearly in a Google Doc, electronically signed by the both of you. You’re getting along well. Jungkook hopes that you’ll be still friends after all of this is over, because he likes spending time with you. Go figure. “I’m fine, Yoongi. You don’t need to worry.”

Yoongi looks skeptical, but he drops the subject anyway. “If you say so,” he says. “I just don’t want you to expect something you aren’t getting.”

“What do you mean?”

Jimin finds Jungkook, in that instant, and drags him to participate in karaoke with you, him, and Taehyung. As he’s getting pulled away from the conversation. Jungkook looks at Yoongi desperately for a response. Yoongi doesn’t answer. 

Two rounds of early 2000’s karaoke and several voice cracks later, you end up next to Jungkook’s side as the party rages around you. Well, not necessarily rages. More like continues. 

“What did Yoongi say to you?” You ask, leaning in to whisper into Jungkook’s ear. 

“Oh, he was just making sure that I knew what I was doing,” Jungkook says. It’s not not the truth. 

“And do you?” You ask, eyebrows raised as you look up at him. 

Jungkook falters. 

He thinks he does. 

“Taehyung, did you drink this whole bottle—god damnit,” Seokjin’s voice echoes throughout the apartment as Taehyung happily bounces out of the kitchen, even more tipsy than he was when he slung his arm around Jungkook as he and you walked into Hoseok’s apartment. He’s not flat out intoxicated yet, but he’s certainly getting there. Hopefully, Jimin has the sense to keep more alcohol out of his hands. 

“Jungkook,” Taehyung coos happily as he peppers platonic kisses all over Jungkook’s cheek. This is natural. “Don’t forget about the deal, alright? I still have the four hundred dollars if you manage to date for that long.” He singsongs his words. In Taehyung’s stupor, he seems to have forgotten that you are still standing right next to Jungkook, watching as his best friend plops wet smooches on the side of Jungkook’s face 1) like it’s nobody’s business and 2) like he doesn’t already have a boyfriend he does this regularly with anyway. 

Jungkook turns to you, eyes wide, but you pat his shoulder and calm him down. 

It’s fine, you mouth to him. I already know. 

Obviously, Jungkook’s mind supplies unhelpfully. That’s why you’re here. Because you already know about the deal. And the money. Obviously. 

“You know what,” Taehyung says, finger pointed. “I’ve never seen you kiss Y/N,” he continues, and Jungkook already doesn’t like the direction Taehyung’s headed in. “You guys should do it.”

“Should we, though?” Jungkook say, looking hesitant.

“I know you, Jungkook,” Taehyung says accusingly, “I know that you would start fake dating something just so you could get the cash. Prove that you aren’t.”

Jungkook frowns. “You know you actually have no power or right to make us kiss, so—”

Before Jungkook can continue, you flip him around to face you and pull him in close, hands on his neck as you plant your lips on his. Jungkook nearly stumbles back from the shock of it all, but you keep your grip tight and slowly, his hands find his way to to your waist. Distantly, he can register Taehyung (and probably everyone else in the room) shouting, but all he feels is your lips on his and his heart on fire. It’s by no means a super majestic, romantic, movie-worthy kiss, but Jungkook’s breath catches in his throat and he instantly relaxes at your touch, and that’s never happened to him before. 

When you part, it feels like Jungkook’s heart is about to beat right out of his chest. 

Taehyung seems perfectly satisfied, and has already moved on to pressing up against Jimin in an effort to upstage the both of you. He will definitely succeed in his endeavors, mostly because Taehyung and Jimin are a thing, and Jungkook and you, well. 

You turn to Jungkook, cheeks warm from both the rush and the embarrassment, and you grin. Jungkook takes one look at you, and his heart starts to race. He maybe wants to do that again. Actually, he knows that he wants to do that again. 

Fuck.

You (3:23PM): hey are you busy rn?

Jungkook (3:23PM): no Jungkook (3:23PM): what’s up?

You (3:23PM): do you wanna go out and get acai bowls? You (3:23PM): i feel like we gotta talk about some stuff

Jungkook (3:24PM): yeah Jungkook (3:24PM): right now?

You (3:24PM): sure You (3:24PM): meet in 15?

Jungkook (3:25PM): okay!

Jungkook is nervous. 

Granted, Jungkook gets nervous when he’s spontaneously offered a baby to be held and he doesn’t know what to do because he doesn’t frequently hold babies, but still. He’s nervous. 

He’s sitting in the acai bowl place with his hands in his pockets, palms sweating. Logically, he should take his hands out of his pockets to remedy this, but if he does that then he’s just going to rub his sweaty hands through his obnoxiously long hair until you get there, and he doesn’t want to pour his heart out to you with sweaty hair. 

So he sits on the high stools by the counters against the windows with sweaty hands and a nervous blink, watching to see when you’ll walk in. 

It occurs to him then that if all goes well, you might actually end up holding hands after all of this is over, and for God’s sake he cannot have sweaty hands, so he gets up and grabs about fifteen napkins from the dispenser to the suspicious glare of the underpaid teenage worker behind the cash register, rubbing his palms profusely on them. 

It is then, as Jungkook stands looking simultaneously like a fish in water and like he just walked out of middle school PE, that the bell above the door rings and you walk in, hands in the pockets of your hoodie and your backpack resting on your shoulders. 

“Hey,” you say softly, standing next to him as you stare up at the menu board. Jungkook’s come here before with you, and he’s already memorized your order. 

“Hey,” Jungkook replies, weirdly out of breath. 

“What are you getting?” You ask. Jungkook hates how neither of you know how to start the conversation. 

“Oh, just, uh, my usual, I guess,” Jungkook says with a shrug. He has been here a total of one other time (with you), and he didn’t really like what he got last time, but now it’s been established as his ‘usual’ and he’s in too deep to change it now. 

You end up back where Jungkook was sitting before, next to the giant glass window that overlooks the busy street. Jungkook sets his acai bowl down on the counter, turns to face you, and takes a deep breath. It’s now or never. 

“I—”

“I think I like you,” you blurt out first, words tumbling out of your mouth like an avalanche. You’re staring at Jungkook, biting down on your lip nervously, and Jungkook sputters. “I’m just gonna tell you up front. I think I have a crush on you. No, I know that I do.”

“I—” Jungkook says again, floundering. “I don’t—” 

“I’m really sorry,” you say, turning back to look at the strawberries in your bowl. “I think it’s been building up slowly for a while, but ever since that night at Hoseok’s house I just… I realized, you know?”

Jungkook’s silent. 

“And I knew that I had to tell you because we’ve been really clear about all of the terms of this… agreement and I wasn’t going to hide this from you either,” you’re rambling now, words practically bouncing on top of each other. “I’m really sorry, Jungkook. It’s okay if you’re angry or something, I know that this wasn’t part of the contract because you kind of have to find a new partner since we both made it clear that this relationship wasn’t inherently romantic even though I made it into one anyway. Just say the word and we can call this thing off. I’m sorry.”

You stare down into your acai bowl like it just set the curve for your least favorite class. Jungkook sits there, acai bowl untouched, words processing. 

“Do you… want to say anything?” You ask, nervous again. 

“Don’t apologize,” Jungkook says. His hands are all sweaty again, but he barely pays them any attention. “I don’t care. Fuck the contract, honestly. It’s a Google Docs.” You’re gazing at him with wide-eyes, shocked that he’s even opened his mouth. “I’m really glad that you and I are doing this together. I probably would have never even met you if it weren’t for you interrupting me and Yoongi at the coffee place.”

You grin. 

Jungkook realizes, then, that he’s been waiting too long to do this. 

“Honestly, I—” He says before chuckling, sweaty hand scratching at the nape of his neck, “I was gonna tell you something too. But you beat me to it.”

“Hmm?” You ask, looking at him. 

“I think I like you, too,” Jungkook says, and his heart seems to finally settle. “No, I know I do. You’re right—it’s been a long time coming, but the party at Hoseok’s just… I realized. I needed you to know that, too. You deserved to know that this is reciprocated.” Jungkook gets a burst of confidence (probably from the cool air that rushes through the room whenever someone opens the door), and takes your hands in his own. They’re sweaty, and Jungkook feels like he just ran a marathon, but it feels almost like they belong. Like this moment was meant to be. 

“We may have started this thing because of my dumbass friends, but I want to continue it with you,” Jungkook says. He’s six lectures behind in his differential equations class, he hasn’t done the readings for his Korean-American history course since the beginning of the semester, his diet has mostly consisted of midnight ramen and chocolate chip granola bars, but he has never felt lighter. “I like you a lot, Y/N.”

“Oh, thank God,” you say dramatically, heaving a sigh. “Because I like you a lot, too.”

Naturally, it’s smooth sailing from there. At least one aspect of Jungkook’s life is working out for him. His differential equations lectures, history readings, and diet are still works in progress. 

“So, can I delete the Google Drive document?” You ask, pulling out your phone. “I don’t think we need it anymore, do we?”

“Unless you still want to reference it for instructions on how to be a good significant other,” Jungkook jokes. He still hasn’t touched his acai bowl. He definitely needs to come clean and order something else next time. “My standards are pretty high.”

“Hey! I exceed all of those standards on a regular basis, don’t I? I bought you hot chocolate and a croissant that one day. And I’m good with your friends. Isn’t that, like, what all guys want in a relationship?”

Jungkook pouts. It kind of is, but truth be told you exceed his standards just by existing. “No,” he insists. “Sometimes they just want to be little spoon but everybody makes fun of them.”

“Aw, do you want to be little spoon?” You ask, totally endeared. You press a kiss to his cheek and it makes his skin turn cherry red. “You can be little spoon. I think that I’m a great cuddler.”

“We’ll have to test that theory,” Jungkook says with an eyebrow raise. 

“Hmm, I like the sound of that,” you say, leaning into him. Jungkook lets his body be enveloped by your warmth, basking in it, before you jump up, something else popping into your head. “Oh! We should probably tell your friends to call off the deal, don’t you think?” You say. “This isn’t really about the money anymore, is it. I’d feel bad.”

Jungkook has half a mind to tell you that Taehyung would probably bathe in one hundred dollar bills if their apartment had a bath, so four hundred dollars is practically pocket change in his eyes, but you’re right. As usual, you’re right. Curse you and your good-hearted nature. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Jungkook concedes easily. You could probably tell him to change his major to English and he would listen to you. “I’ll tell them tomorrow.”

“Oh God, they’re gonna roast us so hard for making a deal,” you say, face-palming. This is true, but Jungkook’s friends will get over it. Jimin’s a hopeless romantic and Taehyung will just be overwhelmingly thrilled that Jungkook actually managed to hold down a relationship. 

“They’ll get over it,” Jungkook says. He presses a kiss to your forehead and lets his heart flutter. 

“You think anything’s gonna change?” You ask, resting your head on his shoulder. 

Jungkook pauses for a second. Wonders if there’s something to fear. And he decides that he couldn’t care less about that. “Even if it does, I don’t care. As long as we’re together.”

“We’ve been summoned,” Taehyung says as he and Jimin arrive at the group study room Jungkook booked specifically for this occasion. 

“By who?” Jungkook asks, scrunching up his nose in disgust. “Because it wasn’t me.”

“No, you’re right,” Taehyung says, collapsing on the chair across from Jungkook. “It was this angry gremlin with hair that looks like a wet mop. Let’s see… what what his name again?”

If there wasn’t a massive table separating them, Jungkook would throw hands at this very instant. 

“The fact that you called both of us here frightens me greatly,” Jimin says as he takes a seat next to Taehyung, their hands interlacing almost instantly. “Either you’re about to tell us you’re dropping out or that Taehyung’s cheating on me with you.”

Jungkook frowns. “Why the fuck would I ever date Taehyung?”

Taehyung gasps. “What do you mean? I’m a catch. Admit it, Jungkookie, you’d date me in a heartbeat.”

“I would literally rather have Jimin vomit into my own mouth,” Jungkook deadpans. Jimin nearly actually pukes at the mention of such an action, and Jungkook decides that even the pure thought of that makes him want to cannonball into a volcano. “But I’m not cheating on either one of you with the other one, and I’m not about to drop out.”

“Oh, thank God,” Taehyung says dramatically, like he says everything else. “I thought that we would lose our resident Buff Boy who eats all of my leftovers at meals. I was worried there for a second.”

“I hate you,” Jungkook tells Taehyung genuinely. 

“If you’re not dropping out, then why did you call us here?” Jimin asks curiously. “To study? Taehyung doesn’t even know where his backpack is.”

“You lost your backpack?” Jungkook says, in awe. He knew Taehyung was careless, but he didn’t think he was that careless. Maybe he really has lost all fucks. Which does not bode well for him, considering he has to write a thesis in order to graduate. 

“I just don’t know where it is right now, alright?” Taehyung says, ashamed. He very well should be. What kind of college student loses their backpack? “Why did you ask us here?” He changes the topic so as not to be subject to any more shaming. 

“Uh, to talk about the whole deal thing,” Jungkook says awkwardly. He has no idea how he’s going to go about this. He walked into this group study room about as prepared as Taehyung is when he walks into his first round of midterms. 

“Ah, yes,” Taehyung nods sneakily. “Honestly, Jungkook, I’m impressed that you and Y/N have even been going on for this long. Does she know about it?”

Jimin smacks Taehyung in the side. “Obviously not, otherwise they wouldn’t still be dating. Have some faith in our Jungkookie for not betraying this deal to her.”

“Actually—”

“Oh, yeah,” Taehyung says with a laugh. “If she knew about this, she’d absolutely break up with you.”

“I’m. Aware.” Jungkook says stiffly. 

“You’ve exceeded all expectations, Jungkook,” Taehyung says happily. “You got a girlfriend and you managed to maintain a relationship for nearly three months all without mentioning the deal to her.”

“Your faith in me is overwhelming.” Jungkook frowns. 

“We’re very impressed with you, you know? She seems really nice, too. I thought you’d, like, resort to Tinder dates just so you could get the money,” Jimin adds on. 

“Oh, speaking of money, since Jungkook’s doing such a good job, how about we…” Taehyung pauses for dramatic effect, which is something he does so frequently that it just makes every one of his sentences overdramatic, “raise the stakes?” Taehyung wiggles his eyebrows just as an add-on to the proposition. 

“Seriously, Tae? Don’t waste your money on something like this—”

“But you’re doing so well! Why wouldn’t you want more money?”

The nagging college student part of his brain tells him to just cave and accept the money, because a higher payment means more money for the both of you, which is… tempting. Jungkook is, still at heart, a desperate and money-starved college student.

But he knows he can’t. Not because it would be a waste of Taehyung’s resources, but because neither of you need the money anymore. What for? You’re already dating. 

“Because—”

“Even I would accept it, and I’m an international student,” Taehyung says with a laugh. “Y/N doesn’t even need to know!”

Something in Jungkook snaps. 

“You know what, you guys?” Jungkook says, standing up from his seat angrily, hands slamming onto the table. “No. I don’t want your money, and I don’t want you guys to raise the stakes or whatever. This isn’t right. I shouldn’t be paid to date someone.”

“But what does it matter if she doesn’t know?” Taehyung asks, a single eyebrow raised in confusion. 

“It matters because I care about her! For fuck’s sake, that’s why it matters,” Jungkook says, running a hand through his hair out of exasperation. “It matters because it’s about the principle. I care about her, and I don’t need any sort of incentive to date her. I just want to.”

“But—” Taehyung says again. 

“She knows, you dumbass!” Jungkook shouts. “She’s well aware that there was money on the line. We started dating because we came up with this—this agreement to split the money once the three months were over. But then we both realized we actually wanted to date each other for, you know, an actual relationship, and we decided to get rid of the deal. Which is why I called you guys over here. To tell you that I don’t wanna do it anymore. I’m out.”

“Seriously, Jungkook?” Jimin says. “You started fake-dating someone for money and then you fell for her?”

“She is really nice,” Jungkook insists. “You said it yourself, Jimin. I care about her.”

“Wow,” Taehyung says, speechless, for once in his life. “I never knew you actually went through with all of this. I didn’t even think you’d manage to do it at all. You had me fooled.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook says with a sigh. “Me too. The fact that you guys even thought this deal was a good idea at the time is just… it’s ridiculous. I was dumb, too, for accepting it. But I don’t wanna do it anymore.”

“Okay,” Taehyung says with a simple nod. He’s holding Jimin’s hand, which means all this talk about romance and dating is making him sappy. “We don’t have to do it anymore. I’m sorry for being so obnoxious about it. We’ll call it off.”

Jimin raises his hand, almost like he’s scared to say something. “I know we’re calling this off, but since Y/N knows about this whole deal in the first place, I feel like we should do something to make it up to her. You know, because she got roped into this thing.”

“I think that’ll be nice. Something meaningful, too. Not just money,” Taehyung adds. 

Jungkook grins. He knows exactly what to get.

When Jungkook knocks on your door the next afternoon, he can barely hold his grin in.

“Jungkook?” You say when you open the door to see him, holding a nicely-wrapped but suspicious-looking box in both of his hands. 

“Hi, Y/N,” Jungkook says happily. 

“I don’t like that look on your face,” you immediately say as you usher him inside. “You’re scaring me. You text me are you at your place rn? and when I say yes, I receive no further information.”

Jungkook just smiles. “I have a present for you.”

“I can see that. Can I ask why?”

“Because you’re my girlfriend.”

You squint your eyes. “Is that a good enough reason?”

“I think so. It’s also from Taehyung and Jimin, but don’t give them most of the credit. It’s mine. I got this for you. Because you are my girlfriend and I am your boyfriend.”

“O...kay,” you say hesitantly, hands held out as Jungkook places the box in your palms. You sink under its weight, clearly surprised at how heavy it is for a simple box. “If this is a prank, I’m breaking up with you.”

“Please don’t break up with me. I think I might love you,” Jungkook says, smile so wide it’s beginning to hurt his cheeks. 

You pause, hand on the top of the box about to open it, and look up at him. Your face is impossibly soft, and Jungkook wishes that you could stay like that for longer, just so he can etch it into his memory. Remember it when he’s sad. “You think you might love me?”

“I think so,” Jungkook says honestly, because it’s true. He’s not sure yet, but he knows he’s on his way. “I think I do.”

“I—” You say, soft grin lacing your features. “I think so, too.”

“Open it!” Jungkook insists, giving your wrist a squeeze as encouragement. “I promise it’s not a prank. But even if it was, please don’t break up with me.”

“You are never this happy, which makes me exceedingly stressed,” you say, hands tentatively beginning to take the lid off of the box. “Why are there holes in the side of this thing? Is something about to squirt out at me?”

“No,” Jungkook says. “It’s nice, I swear.”

You narrow your eyes at him. 

“You’re my girlfriend,” Jungkook says. “You deserve it. You wanted it, too. I got exactly what you wanted.”

Before you even have the lid off of the box, you hear a sound.

Meow.  

↳ links are broken, but don’t forget to message me with any thoughts or feedback!

[benedictscanvas]

all the wrong places [1/7] - spencer reid x reader

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: 1.8k

Summary: It only takes a moment for Spencer to realise that he doesn’t just want to marry you someday, he wants to marry you as soon as he possibly can. But since he can’t come up with a solid plan, he turns to his BAU family for help in planning the most important day of his life so far. Is that a mistake? Most definitely.

Warnings: Series probably aren’t meant to be exclusively fluffy, but this one practically is! I need some fluff in my life, damn it! There may be some mention of regular Criminal Minds things, some language but mostly just good ol’ Spence lovin’

a chapter every day for seven days! (20-26th July 2020) so please drop an ask if you’d like to be tagged <3

---

Chapter One - The Element of Surprise

The Monday morning was entirely normal in every way, apart from the fact that Spencer had been impromptu ring shopping the day before, alone, and had bought what he believed to be the perfect ring. It was in his satchel, because if there was one thing you would never mess with, it was his satchel. There was nowhere safer, but his palms were sweating as the two of you took the elevator up to your floor anyway and he had to wipe them on his cardigan twice.

So perhaps it wasn’t a normal Monday morning.

“Good morning, lovebirds!” Derek called as you both walked through the glass doors and greeted him with smiles, “Have a nice weekend?”

Oh, shit. In all his planning and scheming and panicking, he had forgotten the excuse he had used on Sunday to go ring shopping without any questioning.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Spencer said, slipping on his shoes, “If you’d rather I cancelled, stayed home with you, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Spence, it’s fine! Go have your special BFF lunch with Derek, I’ve got plenty to be getting on with here,” you said seriously, getting up from your chair to meet him at the door, “Love you.”

You kissed him, lingering a little too long, or not long enough maybe, before shooing him out of the door with a loving smile.

But there had been no BFF lunch, no lunch at all, in fact, because he had forgotten to eat entirely as he went from shop to shop in desperation. And now he had to think on his feet before Derek ruined everything.

“Would’ve had a nicer weekend if you hadn’t taken this one away from me most of Sunday,” you said playfully, leaning into Spencer with a hand on his chest and he wrapped an arm around your waist despite his internal turmoil, because it was the most natural thing in the world.

Derek’s brow furrowed, but Spencer’s eyes widened as he stared at Derek over the top of your head. He just stared, wide-eyed, until their gazes met and Spencer made the best face he could to tell him what he needed to know.

Go with it. Just fucking go with it!

“Well, you know me,” Derek chuckled and though Spencer thought it sounded awkward he was really hoping you didn’t, “Can’t be kept from my pretty boy for long! In fact, I need to talk to him now.”

“Again?” you rolled your eyes but you were already pushing away from Spencer and he already missed you, “You two boys and your guy talk. I’ll leave you to it.”

You squeezed Spencer’s forearm before you left, a silent declaration, and soon you were sitting on Emily’s desk and chatting away like nothing weird had just happened. You didn’t look shifty or like you were talking about him. He sighed in relief. He was safe for now.

“You mind telling me-”

“Not here,” Spencer hissed, eyes darting around the bullpen, “Come on!”

And with that, he lead Derek to the coffee room even though he looked decidedly less than impressed by what he’d been dragged into. When they got there, Spencer shut the door behind them and turned to Derek, whose arms were folded across his chest.

“What in the hell are you playing at, Reid? Why are you using me to lie to Y/N?”

“Woah woah, lie is not the right word. Well, it is the right word but it doesn’t sound right. I’m not lying to Y/N, I would never lie to her, I love her Derek, you know that and actually that’s part of why this is happening because I lov-”

“Pretty boy. Slow down. Explain it to me in as few words as you can manage.”

Spencer finally took in a breath and let it out slowly. He fought to find his words, and luckily Derek stayed quiet while he tried to find them.

“I told Y/N you invited me to lunch because I needed to go ring shopping,” he eventually said, all matter of fact, despite the fact that Derek’s eyes were bugging out of his head, “I needed an excuse to go out. Sorry for dragging you into this.”

Did Derek have tears in his eyes? He definitely had tears in his eyes.

“My man!” he exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder after a few moments of processing, “I’m so proud of you, Reid. You could’ve invited me to come with you, you know.”

“If I was inviting anyone, it would’ve been JJ,” Spencer said without hesitation, and Derek scoffed goodnaturedly, “But I didn’t even invite her. I don’t know, I-I like to think I know Y/N better than...better than anyone.”

His voice got quiet towards the end. He knew that a lot of people didn’t go ring shopping on their own, but he just felt like he knew what you would like. Understated, with a flash of sparkle that you could grin at under the low lights of the jet on the way back from a case. It was exactly what he’d found, four hours in.

“You do, kid,” Derek reassured him, before his eyes glinted with something mischievous, “Now, are you gonna show me the ring or what?”

Spencer chuckled, but he couldn’t stop smiling now that his best friend knew of his plans, so he took the box out of his satchel and opened it. Derek bit his lip.

“You think she’ll like it?”

Derek just nodded, opening his arms and bringing him in for a rare hug. Spencer could tell it was a ‘proud’ hug. It only made him grin more. When they pulled away from each other, Derek started on making the two of them coffee, since returning from the room without one would make them look suspicious. Spencer made sure to get out a third mug so he could take you one as well.

“So when are you doing it? You’ve brought it with you today, have you got something planned?”

“No!” he replied, almost too loudly, “No, no. I have...literally nothing planned. I don’t know how or when or where to do any of it. It has to be perfect, you know?”

“However you do it will be perfect to her, because she loves you,” Derek said seriously, even though he was still focused on the coffee, “But you want my advice?”

Spencer didn’t say anything, because Derek was going to give his advice anyway.

“Element of surprise. That’s what’s gonna work with Y/N. You wait too long and she’ll start to get an idea that you’re gonna do it. She’s a damn good profiler. You want to do it soon to make sure she never sees it coming.”

That was...not bad advice from Derek. He’d given him much worse advice before. Especially when it came to women. Whilst Spencer liked to think he was well past the point where he needed Derek’s advice on the female mind, perhaps in this case it wasn’t the worst advice he could take.

“Thanks, Derek. I’ll think on it.”

“Just don’t think too long!” Derek announced happily, grabbing his mug and letting Spencer grab his own and yours. But there was so much to think about, it was bound to take him awhile. He re-entered the bullpen, pace slow as he concentrated on not spilling a drop, finding you had settled down at your desk for a day of paperwork that would most likely be interrupted by an incoming case at any moment. It was a miracle he’d even had time for his chat with Derek, really.

He placed the mug on your desk without a word and you startled a little at the action.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly but you shook your head.

“I really need to get less jumpy,” you laughed, “Thanks for the coffee, babe.”

“No worries,” he said easily, but his hand was toying with the tiny box over the leather of his satchel. Could he just…? No surely not...but maybe…? Spontaneity was important right? And this was where you met, all those years ago. Where you became best friends in a matter of months. Where you fell in love in the late hours of the evening when almost everyone else had vanished.

“Y/N…”

He began to kneel down, but you didn’t even turn to face him. Instead, you scoffed. You scoffed.

“You need me to teach you how to do your laces again, Reid?” you asked jokingly, as he knelt on the floor beside your chair, looking up at you dumbfounded, “How you’ve never tripped over yourself on a case, I do not know.”

It clicked. You thought he was redoing his laces. His face fell, but you weren’t even watching, so it didn’t matter. There was no way he was going through with this stupid, spontaneous plan now. How had he ever thought this was a good idea? Somehow, he had managed to surprise himself so much with his actions that you hadn’t even realised what was happening.

“Actually, I have tripped on a case before,” he managed to get out after a few moments, “Before you joined the team.”

And this time, you turned to him, just as he pretended to finish redoing his laces and stood up. He was a good bit taller than you standing, so he towered above you when you sat down. You looked up at him playfully and reached out to play with the end of his cardigan. He blushed despite himself.

“Now that is a story I just have to-”

“Conference room, now.”

Hotch’s voice cut through the exchange and you sat back and away from Spencer in an instant. You were both used to being professional when it came to cases, letting your chemistry seemingly disappear when it was necessary before sparking it back up on the jet back home. So you stood without touching him again and tilted your head towards Hotch.

“Better listen to the boss,” you said with a sigh, packing up your desk. Spencer hadn’t even started work yet, it felt like. He’d been just a little preoccupied, “But you’ll tell me that story later, right?”

“I will,” he confirmed and you gave him that look. You could communicate very well through looks. This one told him that you would definitely have kissed him if you weren’t at work. He didn’t even realise he was smirking.

You just nudged him with your elbow on your way past and he followed you as you hopped up the steps to where the rest of the team were headed. There was a joke exchanged between you and Dave on the way, and your laugh floated backwards to him.

He really needed to come up with a plan. A decent one.

---

series tags! (ily all <3)

@mrs-dr-reid @soda610 @alexxcorona113 @thupidalethea @may-beforejune-afterapril @ilovesupersoldiers @hurricanejjareau​

[keeroo92]

Tumblr Tips You Probably Already Know

So I don’t know about you guys, but for me learning how tumblr works was a pain in the ass. I thought it might be handy to share a few tricks I’ve picked up the last few months for anyone who needs them. Bear in mind I’m still extremely new at this, and not all blogs would benefit from my amateur advice. I’m posting this just in case one of you guys are as frustrated and annoyed as I was at the beginning.

First - Adding a “Keep Reading” divider

Why to do it -  If you post a lot of longer stories, viewers will be forced to scroll through the entire post to see anything further on their feed. While this might seem like a good way to get people to read your work, it can become a hindrance if people don’t have the time to read and are forced to either suck it up and scroll, or unfollow you.

How to do it -

When you are preparing to post (Text post) just hit “Enter”. You should see a few icons on the right of where you’re currently typing, like this.

The icon on the far right will insert a divider that can be dragged to anywhere you like, and when you post it will create one of these -

Readers will need to click to view the full post. I don’t know if there’s a way to create these with any other type of post, but it’s something I learned after an Anon asked me to please use the tool. (Thank you Anon!!!)

My personal preference is to also list the word count above the cut off, so that my readers have a rough idea how much time they might need to finish reading. If you aren’t sure what your word count is, you can paste your work here and find out - https://wordcounter.net/

Some programs have something like this built in as well.

Timing your post

Why to do it - Like any site, tumblr has peaks and valleys of activity. I did a little bit of poking around and found that the most active time of day is between 4pm and 10pm Eastern. If you are trying to maximize the number of people who see your post, it may help to post during this window.

How to do it - I’m pretty terrible about dong this, but when you’re preparing a  post, you can schedule when it appears by clicking the drop down menu on the post button, here.

A small menu should open, like this.

The schedule can be annoying to work with, since it requires a specific format of date. Again, I suck at this, but I’ve noticed if it doesn’t like what I put in the post only refuses to submit.

The post will not even minimize, so you won’t lose your work. (I still recommend keeping a copy elsewhere just in case!!!) Here’s what it looks like -

This menu will also appear when you reblog a previous post, so you can schedule your reblogs with ease.

Opinions vary on whether reblogs actually do any good, but that’s for you to decide for yourselves. Both these scheduling features can be extremely helpful if you won’t be able to post for a few days (vacation, illness, etc.) but you don’t want your blog to stagnate.

Creating a Masterlist

Why to do it - Once you have a few pieces of writing posted, you want people to be able to find them, right? A Masterlist puts links to all your work in one place, like a Table of Contents. Someone just finding your blog can go through everything you’ve written to date and binge it all at once, or just a few to decide if they really want to follow you.

How to do it - Here’s a link to an in-depth tutorial. I’ll summarize below as well.

Start with a new text post. You’ll want to have an idea of how to organize your stuff in advance. I chose to do mine based off of the main pairing, but I’ve seen others go by the date of the post or type of post. You can do it however you like.

Next, list out everything you can think of. It’s fine if you don’t have a full list, you can always go back and add more later. Make sure you put everything in the right category.

Now the annoying part - linking! Every post you make has its own page, and you’ll need to copy the full URL. There’s a million ways to do it, but I just scrolled through my post history with a tag filter on and opened/copied each one in turn. It can be time consuming if you have a lot of posts, though.

Once you have the URL copied, find the line on your masterlist you want to use and highlight it.. Here’s an example.

Now, click on the little figure eight thing I circled. It’ll open a spot for you to paste the URL, like so.

Once it’s in there, click “Done” on the right side of the bubble to save the link. It’ll add a blue line under the text to show where people can click to follow the link. Repeat this until you’ve got each item linked up!

Go ahead and post it, and grab the URL for the masterlist itself. Navigate to your profile and click the little painter’s palette to edit your blog’s appearance. Mine is in the upper right corner, I don’t know if that’s standard.

On the left side of your screen, a new window should open where you can change all kinds of settings. Scroll down to find the custom link section. I’m not sure if every theme has this feature, so you may need to pick a new one to do this. Here’s what mine looks like.

Make whatever changes you like, but make sure you hit “Save” at the top of the window. You might want to check your profile to make sure it looks the way you want it to, but that should be all you need! Be sure to update your masterlist regularly. If you ever discover a line is missing the blue line underneath to show it’s a link, that likely means the link is broken. Generally, you can fix this by redoing the URL paste step above.

A few handy sites -

https://fanlore.org/wiki/Main_Page

If you feel a bit overwhelmed by the number of fannish words you aren’t familiar with, you can find most here. Great way to deepen your understanding and also make sure you’re tagging the right genre’s!

https://prowritingaid.com/en/Analysis/WebEditor/Go

This site is amazing. They have all kinds of editing tools, too many to list in one post. The main idea here is if you want to analyze your writing, this site does it for free. There’s a 500 word limit unless you want to spend a little money, but IMO it’s worth trying out. However, it can’t tell you your style or identify deliberate grammatical errors. Take it’s advice with a grain of salt, and don��t blindly do everything it says. You will lose what makes your writing unique if you do.

https://write-it-motherfuckers.tumblr.com/

HOLY PROMPTS, BATMAN!!! Seriously, this blog has so many amazing ideas it’s ridiculous. If you want to find a new plot or crazy AU, this WILL give you ideas!

https://writeordie.com/

A great tool for breaking through writer’s block! This site allows you to set a timer and word count, and program sounds to make should you reach/miss your goal. Not for everyone, but I like it for when I have tons of ideas but just can’t settle on one. Best part is it doesn’t delete your work after the time runs out, so you can copy it anywhere you like!

https://ao3commentoftheday.tumblr.com/

This blog is fantastic for any random questions you might have regarding fanfic. They answer things from how to write a chat fic, to how to write an ASL character, to where to find references on how to write a car chase. Truly amazing stuff!

And last lil thing - HAVE FUN!!!!

(Also, sorry if this whole post reads unkindly or in a condescending tone, that is NOT how I mean any of this! I’m not perfect and still have so much to learn, honestly just wanted to share on the off chance it’s useful to someone else.)

[okimargarvez]

HURT- open wounds - 22

Original title: Hurt.

Prompt: Luke’s dark thought, destiny, contrasted love.

Warnings: sexual content, dark thoughts.

Genre: angst, drama, romantic, smut, dark, mistery, frienship.

Characters: Penelope Garcia, Luke Alvez, BAU team, O.C.

Pairing: Garvez.

Note: multichapter.

Legend: 💏😘😈🔦🐶❗🎈👻.

Song mentioned: La tua vita intera, Tiziano Ferro.

Hurt- Masterlist

GARVEZ STORIES

Note: this is the last chapter. This story is ended!

Chapter 22-

-This story will end today, in some way. It's clear by now.- Penelope stands up and approaches him, without touching him. Luke can see her shiny eyes, but also the stubborn expression.

-I know. That's why I'm afraid.- the voice trembles, but refuses to give up. He hugs her, caresses her back and whispers sweet and comforting words.

-Hun, darling, look at me.- he takes her face in his hands. -I'm afraid, we are all afraid. But I can't promise you anything other than that I'll do my best, I'll be careful, because nothing will happen to me. Because I don't want to lose you, I don't want to lose the opportunity to stay with you and now we have to take care not only of Roxy, but also of Twisty...- he smiles, even a few tears fall from his eyes. -It's a great responsibility.- the last word is cut from her lips.

-Yes, it is. So be sure to bring your ass back home tonight, otherwise I'll go out with that man of the billiards that always flirts with me...- Luke laughs and grabs her by the wrists, bringing her closer to him again.

-Oh yes?- he knows he still has only a few seconds. They have to go and save Diana. They kiss again, then get out of the bunker. He must concentrate on the mission, he can’t think of Penelope in a fixed way, because this could distract him and make him commit some imprudence.

The blonde woman now feels powerless, because she can only wait for the facts to unfold, there is no information that can be useful to him, she has no way of preventing things from going as they should, but she has a terrible, dark premonition that digs in her bowels. She feels the desire to vomit, scream, cry. She hasn't had a chance to tell him how much she really loves him. Now, thinking back to the first months, how she behaved, trying to keep him at a distance, then realizing that she fell in love with him, all too soon... she is not being able to do without him. Now, she feels like an idiot. It started in such an absurd way, it is absurd even that Luke can really love her... yet he does. Please, Lord, let everything work out for the best. I know I ask You too many favors, but in that house there are so many good people who don’t deserve to die, including one in particular, and... and I promise You that I will be able to clearly demonstrate to him what I feel for him, if You let him come back in one piece.

 Lindsey poses the detonator and he handcuffs her and takes her outside. He feels less the burden on his heart. The helicopter trip goes by very quickly. As soon as it comes down, he runs into Garcia's room, nobody notices, but even in that case, he doesn't care. Maybe she heard his footsteps, because she waits for him on her feet. She hugs him hard, doesn't want to let him go. -Love, it's ok. It's over. I told you it would be over. Spencer won. We won. Lindsey is in our hands, Cat is in prison and Diana is safe. Do you want to see him? Soon Reid and JJ will arrive too.- he raises her chin, she puts her lips on his, but in a moment the kiss becomes more ravenous.

-I... I need it... it's so wrong, isn't it?- he doesn't let her replicate, he shakes his head and leaves the room, followed by her. A great promise lies on her head, yet here again she can’t find the courage to keep it. Then she sees all the others, already waiting, including Reid's mother and decides to postpone it later. She wants to enjoy this moment, because as JJ said many years before, they have so few good memories in these rooms. They see so many horrible things, the darkest points that the human mind can reach... so it is also good for the atmosphere of the building to be charged with positive energy. The elevator doors open, here is Spencer; Emily sends Diana forward, they exchange a few jokes in a low voice, then the hug. How much she misses her parents right now. She has never yet spoken to Luke about them, or rather not about their death and her feelings of guilt about it. She hasn’t yet told him a lot of things, all those that she didn’t want to say. Things must change. She had made a promise to him (apart from that to the Almighty): that once the story of Reid was resolved, they would have told the team about their relationship. That they are together. And now she will have to keep it.

She's thinking about this when she gets a text from Emily. She just says to go to hers bunker and so she hurries. But inside there is... Derek. There really is Derek Morgan, beautiful as always, even if that long beard makes him strange, he still remains the most attractive male specimen of the entire universe, her chocolate thunder, her statue of a god carved in... sorry, Luke.

She strives to regain control of her mind, then he comes out with his -Hey babygirl.- and that smile. It's too long since she heard that voice, that nickname, then she melts, sending to hell any effort to look like a normal person. Not with him, although there is Prentiss to watch the scene.

-Oh my God, oh my God, it's you!- she hops around in his arms. -It’s really you! You smell...- she closes her eyes to better enjoy the moment -…like… you smell like hope and happiness! It’s really you.- then they separate, but keep holding on to his arm.

-Yes, it's me, it's me, but listen.- he takes her face in his hands. -You gotta focus, ok?- Penelope knows he is perfectly right, so she tries to listen to him.

-Yeah. Anything. Anything.- she nods. -Focus... focus on what?- Emily lifts a cell phone and shows it to her.

-This text.- it says that Reid got out of prison and wants to see Derek, and that he must write to her if he wants to get the address of the security house where his mother was put. But it is signed with her name.

-Oh crap.- the blonde's heart leaps and she thinks exactly what her colleagues had already suggested. A trap. In fact, when she saw Luke enter her bunker shortly before, something, like a little voice, told her No, it's not over yet, but she didn't want to be right. The bad guys were in prison and the good guys were safe. What could happen? Now the answer is there, before her eyes. They move back to the meeting room.

 -I know we are all tired, but we might have a new load on Mr. Scratch.- that damn bastard is one of the criminals he has to thank for letting him know Penelope and true love, at more than forty years old. It is the asshole that led him to combine his path with that of the BAU, finally accepting to become a full-time profiler. He didn't believe he would make it, but now here he is. He faced so many different cases, most of it had nothing to do with Scratch or his modus operandi, yet he did it brilliantly, he managed to make his own contribution... in these people gathered here, plus Spencer who is not present because he is enjoying his new-found mother, he has earned a family. They aren’t just colleagues, but this is not something that happens everywhere, unfortunately. For example, it didn't happen with the members of the task forces, except with Phil... And you saw the result of having a friend in the middle. Friendship and love make you vulnerable to attacks. But looking at the blonde woman next to the chief of the unit, he consciously accepts to risk again, to mix the work with personal facts. But this time it will be different. There will be no ghosts of women to torment him and ask him why you had to send my husband, among all those who were available. Phil didn't even have the qualification to work on such a mission. What happened to him is your fault. Your fault.

-Somebody did a bang-up job of cloning my cell phone to send Morgan a fake text luring him to a non-existent safe house. And whoever that somebody is has mad skills.- but he is not the only one who is staring intently at Penelope. In fact, even that other man, the only one who doesn't know in person, the elusive ex-special agent Derek Morgan, is watching her carefully. Luke doesn't want to be jealous anymore, he doesn't want to repeat what he did when he saw a guy flirts with her at the bar or he saw her talking to Sam, her ex. He doesn't want to redo those mistakes. He trusts her, knows she doesn't love Morgan anymore, he's just her best friend and he has to be able to accept it.

-The kind of skills Scratch has.- Walker says.

In any case, he can't stand it. He has to get in the way, shooting even a useless question, but he must ask it, provoke her, remind her who is her boyfriend in this room. -Were you able to trace where the hack came from?- immediately he sees the expression of his woman stiffen. She looks up at the sky, assumes a very theatrical pose. She is reciting this part hopefully for the last time.

-Do you see what I have to put up with?- she asks to Morgan, but pointing towards Luke. The former agent frees his crossed arms.

-Alvez- he says. It's a strange thing, to be called by that one, who until he saw him was just another ghost, a fading creature, just a name, not a real person and now he is too much. -You always get a location, with this one.- and he puts his hand on Penelope's shoulder, literally squeezes it , while he looks at Latin in a... malicious way. As if, despite having been the last to see them, so he shouldn't know anything about them, instead he has understood everything. And in this case the situation is serious, because it means that the love he feels is printed directly on his face. Or that the blonde had talked to him, about the two of them, well before they officially got together. He will ask her as soon as he can. But right now he can't help but feel jealousy, pure jealousy, or rather the extreme intense desire to go there and take those fingers off his woman's body, to be able to pretend he is more at a distance, shouting, not just to Morgan, to others too, how things really are. But of course, he can't. He confines himself to a slightly mentioned smile, which blends perfectly with those of the others, next to him. And to put just a hand on the gun. Not that he is going to use it, but... it reassures him. -You guys are all good to go.- he adds, finally returning with folded arms.

-Obviously Morgan can’t come with us. He is a civilian now.- too bad, in case there will be ever a terrible accident... But no! He is married, with a small child. Luke, take control of your mind again. Penelope now loves him. But she hasn't said it yet. But she made it clear. It's enough? No, but it must be.

-We will miss you out there.- JJ says. Even Derek doesn't seem very happy.

-I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it out there in the field with you guys. I think about it every day. But between my old friends and my new friends- he clearly points towards Luke -you guys are gonna go out there, you're gonna handle your business, you're gonna make people feel safe, and then you're gonna come home. And that's all that matters.- he is forced to admit that he is right. It's the only thing they have to do. But once this Scratch story is solved, they will have to give them at least a mini vacation; he will take Penelope to the mountains, where his grandparents had a chalet, they will stay there with Roxy and Twisty, they will enjoy walks and dinners by candlelight and after dinner under the stars...

-Let's saddle up.- the leader says, bringing him back down to earth. It's not over yet, but it will be soon. They all come out except the two best friends, he can't help but throw a last look at the blonde and in that look there is both the renewal of her promise (I'll come back home alive) and a slight warning (Don't forget who is the man you will wait with open arms).

Penelope asks Derek to accompany her to her den, even if for a moment she is tempted to tell him everything, about her and Luke, because she needs to let off steam with someone, to let her terror out. Scratch is a terrible adversary, he has almost destroyed Hotch's life, forced him to hide for Jack's sake, made him relive Hailey's murder, kidnapped and tortured Tara's brother, he knew perfectly well that Agent Alvez had joined their team... he knew too much about them, with too much warning. There was certainly a mole in the Bureau and their next mission would be to find out who it was. But right now she could only sit there, greet her best friend and then, in her bunker, listen to conversations among her colleagues. Limit herself to this.

Listening to Morgan talking about his baby, about the fact that he started walking... she has an extreme desire to cry, but this time with emotion. She had never thought of him as a father, but clearly he is perfect in this role. She should have known when he insisted on taking the baby Henry in his arms. And she can't help but wonder if Luke would be a good father too... a useless thought, since she is out of time, but they have Twisty and Roxy, and they are such a wonderful family too.

-I'm so proud of you.- he says, stroking her cheek. -I love you, always.- but then he changes his tone. -But do you think you can try to be a little friendlier, with Alvez?- bigger fear responds in her place, making her raise her eyes to the sky.

-Oh my God.- she really thinks If you would know what is the truth, and how really friendlier I’m with Alvez, you wouldn't reproach me. She has nothing to laugh about it.

-Hey, hey, hey. Look at me. He seems like a pretty all right kid.- and he smiles. You knew how much it is! He's like you, but he doesn't just play with double meanings... he makes them become concrete. He is intelligent, insightful, clever, mischievous. Sexy, jealous. Sweet, insecure, he has so many shadows that follow him, as you, but I think he has a little less of your willpower to overcome them. That is why I am there, and I will help him.

-He… I... it's complicated. I'll try. I make no promises.- already, enough promises, because so much fails to respect them. Suddenly the thought that they are already out hits her, they are in danger and that something horrible could happen at any moment. It doesn’t abandon her even while she greets his chocolate thunder, receives his kiss in the air and sends a bigger one back to him, remains to stare at the area until she realizes that he has really gone (again). And then she walks towards the bunker and connects with the others. -All right, Boltron, sound off.- a joke, to play down. She listens to someone's voices up to her. Ok. So far so good, they are still all alive and... She doesn't have time to finish thinking. Suddenly she hears a skid, braking noises, and doesn't understand what's going on.

Then she hears Emily ask -Is everyone ok?- and the others answer in the affirmative. Not even ten seconds pass. An even louder sound destroys her ears, so much so that she is forced to take off her earphones. She tries to contact them, but no one shows signs of life. So she sends a team of ambulances to the crash site and only then, she allows herself to faint for a moment.

 But this is a luxury that she can’t afford too long. The phone rings, she replies, is one of the paramedics. -Mrs. Garcia, we're bringing them to the...- but besides the address, he doesn't want to say more, about for example the conditions of her colleagues. So she drives up to there, passing every second from the most absolute discomfort to the optimism that characterizes her. She also calls Derek, to warn him of what happened and Spencer. Both said they will reach them as soon as possible. But she doesn't have time to wait for them. Then she parks, enters, asks the reception, all automatically, trying not to think. If she would did, she would stand motionless, too afraid to feel something she wouldn’t be able to overcome. They tell her the floor where they are hospitalized. The first she sees is Rossi. He wears a neck brace, but otherwise he is standing and seems to be fine.

-Penelope...- as soon as he hugs her, her armor collapses miserably. -Quiet, we're all fine, it's all right...- and yet something in his tone doesn't convince her. And the suspicion becomes atrocious after she enters their rooms and sees everyone except Luke. Why isn't he with others? Yet she doesn’t have the courage to ask anyone. She sets foot in the last and here is the answer. The body lying on that bed is completely covered with a white sheet. Dead. He can't be gone. He can't have abandoned her. She approaches a few steps but doesn’t dare to lift it. Not yet. -Why, Lord, did You have to put him in the middle?- she doesn’t notice at all that someone else has entered and remains on the threshold to listen to her. -It was my mistake, a lack of mine. I'm the one who doesn't have the courage to tell him how much I love him, how much I can't be without him and now... I'll have to try, but I don't think I'm able to do it. No. I know You have heard it said so many times, that they say that time helps, that what doesn’t kill you strengthens, makes you fat...- she doesn’t hear a slight chuckle behind her. -But I am very sure: I will not be able to recover. So, don't send me another handsome man to replace him, because I realized that no one replaces anyone. Derek is Derek and Luke is... he was...- she can't finish the sentence. -In short, I won't fall for a third time. I will always remain faithful to him, for what still remains for me to live... my only priorities will be Roxy and Twisty. I will never find another man so handsome, so interested in me, and above all...- huge male hands appear on her hips. She doesn't scream, because she seems to have recognized the scent that wrapped her. She is afraid to look down, but she forces herself to do so. She can no longer let her fears dominate her life. And she recognizes those hands. But it can't be...

-Hello.- he just tells her. Exactly the same word he had said to her the first time he saw her. -Hello, I'm Luke Alvez, from the task forces. I’ll collaborate with you in the case of Cullen...- she had ignored the hand he held out to her and merely glancing at him and raising her eyebrows, she had claimed -Penelope Garcia, computer technician. Now excuse me, but I'm very busy...- and she was gone, walking away on her vertiginous heels. -Penelope, love... are you okay?- it is not a hallucination, but this doesn't make less painful what she has felt. But she must be sure. She walks away and lifts the white sheet. Crumpled and wrinkled skin, different stitches... she lets it fall back down. It is an elderly person.

-Luke, I thought you were... dead.- the man makes a sign that he knows, he wraps his arms around her body to keep her closer. He too had the same terror. -It would have been my fault, because I can't tell you... show you.- it's ridiculous, she called thousands of people like that, she said that word to many people. She lifts on her toes and takes him by the face. He believes she wants to kiss him, but her intentions are different. -I love you.- she finally says. -I love you.- she repeats, as if the fact that she had worked so hard to pronounce it had opened the dam of her fears. -I love you and I understood, after all these years, that those two words are often not enough, that all that is between us is more important, that you were right: to stay awake waiting for your love to come back, is the biggest I love you that you can say.- she smiles, absorbs Luke's smile and now yes, he finally lays his lips on hers. Then she takes his hand and they leave the room.

-Pen, it's risky, the others are around here. They could see us.- he wants so much to get rid of this secret, but he will always and always put what she wants and what she needs, in the first place. Penelope sighs, increasing her grip.

-I know, but I'm not afraid anymore.-

_________________________________

TAG LIST: @shyladystudentfan  @norge-the-great @avengerquake123 @reidskitty13 @eclipseflower123 @lovebennycolon @pegasus-scifichick @theshamelessmanatee  @beana83 @ilovegarvez @martinab26 @hideourscars @ gracieeelizabeth27 @iliketomakecreampie @hepensadocosaspeores @arses21434 @sillygirlspy @mymidnightnightmare @teyamarra @mydreampenelope @lilises-blog @cosmicmelaninflower @thinitta @extremeobsessions101 @agentbishop @hellodawnwrightfan @kiki-krakatoa @amieatingevidence @ leftlamphumanfestival @ella1239me @flufflehufflepuffle @the-ellen-stuff I tagged just who liked at least a chapter of this story. Tell me if you want to be removed from the tag list ^^

[jimin-jungshook-over-literalbae]

BTS Jin Soulmate AU

Hey guys! I’ve been working on redoing my master lists on here and getting them up for you guys but Tumblr messed up earlier and I lost a lot of progress. When stuff like that happens, it makes me really unmotivated. I’ll work on it at some other point but I decided to just write this for now. I actually really liked it and it came out so much better than I thought it would I really hope that you like it. As always, if there’s anything that you want to see, please feel free to send me a request! I love writing what you guys want to see! Let’s get into this, shall we?

Soulmate AU Set Up: Here

Profiles: Here

You spread out your blanket, settling down with a book and some snacks to enjoy the warm afternoon. You rarely feel inspired to spend time outside but the day is so pretty that you just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Work had been stressing you out and you couldn’t seem to wrap your head around the idea of relaxation at this point. This is your first day off in weeks.

A loud group of boys make their way onto a different section of the grass, the five of them settling into a very intense game of catch. They’re yelling and laughing, seeming excited and entertained by their game. You tune them out, slipping your headphones into your ears. Everything seems to be going smoothly until a large, figure overs yours. You can’t help but let out a shocked cry. You’re about to let out an annoyed sound when a soothing feeling takes over, the sound of wind wrapping around you.

The tall man climbs off of you, his lips mouthing words you can’t hear. The rest of the boys seem to have surrounded the two of you, varying looks of concern on their face. The tall man is still touching you, his large hand resting on your shoulder. His thumb falls against your collarbone but it doesn’t feel uncomfortable. He helps you climb to your feet as you remove your headphones. The sounds around you rush in all at once, almost becoming overwhelming. You try not to question why you don’t mind his touch.

“Are you okay?” The large man asks softly,” We tried to warn you but you didn’t seem to hear us.”

Only then, do you notice the baseball that has found its’ way to the end of your blanket. The large, unnamed man must have been protecting you from getting hit. You give him a grateful smile, running your fingers through your hair.

“I’m okay. Thank you,” The man seems to come to himself in that moment and removes his hand. The breeze that had been so obvious and calming seems to disappear. For some unknown reason, that stress you had felt just moments ago has all faded. The man turns his gaze to the ones standing behind him.

“Taehyung, you should be apologizing to her. You really need to pay attention sometimes,” The man says, stepping back so that the other boy can apologize to you.

“I really am sorry,” Taehyung says, his expression sincerely apologetic. Where you would normally be irritated, you find that that emotion has diminished itself for some unknown reason.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad. Promise,” A large smile lights up his face, reminding you of a puppy.

“You guys go ahead and continue the game. I’m going to sit out for a bit,” The large man shooes away the rest of the boys and turns to you,” I apologize for being so forward earlier. I wasn’t sure what else to do.”

“It really is okay. I probably prefer that over getting hit,” You chuckle, tucking your hair behind your ear. Something about this man is very attractive, almost alluring to you. You’re not quite sure how you feel about that yet.

“My name is Kim Seokjin,” The man smiles at you, his beautiful face nearly stunning you into silence,” But I go by Jin.”

“Y/N,” You say shyly. He offers you his hand and you take it. Once again that peace washes over you, the sound of wind finding its’ way to you again. Your nerves have faded, quickly replaced by a sense of confidence. You look up to see Jin staring at your hand in his, a shocked look in his eyes.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” He gains a gentle expression. At first, you’re not sure what he means but it quickly becomes clear. The sudden absence of your stress and negative emotions along with the sound of wind that continues to soothe you despite the curious absence of wind today can only mean one thing. He’s your soulmate.

“I think so,” You slowly let go of his hand, almost as if testing the very obvious reality. The sound of wind fades quickly. Curiously, the negative emotions don’t come rushing in. It’s as if his touch has made them irrelevant. A bright smile lights up his face.

“Let me give you my number. I can’t leave the children unattended much longer but I definitely need to take you on a proper date at a later date. I have a shoot for the rest of the week so it may be at the beginning of next week, if that’s okay?” He’s very polite in the way that he speaks. It’s very clear and concise. When he says the word ‘shoot’ your mind starts reeling. You realize that you have actually seen him before. He was an actor in a movie you had gone to see in theaters with a friend. You let him put his number in your phone. When you get it back, you see that he has placed a heart emoji next to his name. For some reason, it makes you want to giggle. It just feels cute, much cuter than you were expecting.

He seems almost disappointed when he has to leave you. He waves goodbye and runs back to his friends. They welcome him back warmly, which makes you smile. You decided to pack up for the day and get a few errands taken care off since you’re already out and about.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although today is the first time you are going out with Jin, you can’t help but feel like you already know him. He has made sure to text or call you every single day. You’ve learned a lot about him already. He doesn’t mind wearing the color pink, he really likes Mario, he absolutely loves food, and he’s been interested in acting since he was young as he was complimented on his looks a lot. He’s quite confident in his looks but it’s not a turn off, surprisingly. You can’t be entirely sure if that’s just because he’s your soulmate though.

When he picks you up, you’re not surprised that his car is on the more expensive side. He’s dressed nicely but casually, his talk form wrapped in a sweater and a pair of nice jeans. Although he’s not touching you, his presence manages to bring you some comfort. He has a loud laugh and a very rambunctious personality. He’s quite mischievous as well.

For your date adventure, you decided to go to a few restaurants and order desserts to go. You find yourself sitting in front of your tv with a table full of desserts. A movie plays as background noise as the two of you chat and eat your desserts. Jin lets out an excited noise as the first bite touches his tongue. You giggle and quickly try to hide it, ducking your head. He tips up your chin and offers you a bite of his dessert. You take it and savor the taste.

“Don’t hide your laugh. I’ve always wanted someone who laughs with me and I definitely wouldn’t want you to hide it,” He makes a silly expression at your and you giggle again, covering your mouth.

Once you’ve had your fill the two of you cuddle on your couch to watch a different movie. His hand rubs up and down your bare arm soothingly. The wind wraps around you once more, almost feeling tangible at this point. His cheek rests on the top of your head. Eventually, you shift yourselves to a more comfortable position. Your back is pressed to his chest as he holds you close. You both doze off at some point.

In the early hours, you feel Jin shifting around, doing his best to slide himself out from behind you without waking you. He cleans up a little before leaning down to press the gentlest of kisses to your lips. It doesn’t last long but it wakes up every cell in your body. When he finally pulls away, your lips are a breathe apart.

“You don’t have to leave,” You whisper. He lets out a soft chuckle.

“It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to stay,” His lips brush yours once more before brushing across your forehead,” I will always come back, Princess.”

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to send me any requests you might have!

[johnchiarello]

Acts 25

ACTS 25

Acts 25:19 But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

Acts 25- https://youtu.be/GO_EbKzNSpk

http://ccoutreach87.com/10-10-17-acts-25/

http://ccoutreach87.com/10-10-17-acts-25-2/

https://vimeo.com/238060868

ON VIDEO-

.Paul’s appeals

.The new governor comes in

.festus replaces Felix

.The local court out of Jerusalem still had the plot!

.From Ceasarea to Jerusalem was about 60 miles- a 2 day trip back then

https://www.britannica.com/place/Caesarea

.Paul appeals- to Nero!

.Why?

.Seneca the Stoic

.King Agrippa the 2nd- and Bernice the queen

.Wait- aren’t they brother ans sister?

.Bernice is the oldest daughter of Agrippa the 1st- and Agrippa the 2nd is his son

.How they they be King and Queen?

.Can you solve this riddle?

.Homer- Iliad- Odyssey

  NEW- Just a few notes- these past few chapters are simply covering Paul’s appeals thru the local court system [Sanhedrin] and going up the ladder to the top court of the land- Caesar of Rome.

 The caesar at this time- is Nero- http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/nero

Nero was one of the worst persecutors of the early church- yet Paul took his case to him.

Why?

 At this stage Nero was not ‘as bad’ as we know him to be later on.

He actually will martyr both Paul and Peter later on.

Yet at this stage of the game he was influenced by Seneca- a Stoic philosopher- https://dailystoic.com/seneca/

 Though the Stoics were not considered Christians- they did indeed have moral elements to their teaching.

Self denial- stuff like that.

 So it would not be strange for Paul to take his case to him.

Another point-

Paul has been sitting in the ‘county jail’ for 2 years by now.

Governor Felix left office- and festus took his place.

 So the case is reviewed by the new governor-

And after 2 years- the high priest at Jerusalem [the top judge in the county] still wants to kill Paul!

We see a lot of corruption in the system- and how those who hold seats of authority- positions the public should be able to respect- yet these same people are some of the most corrupt of the day.

 Yet- we also see Festus- and in his dealings with Paul- he does what is right.

The local court out of Jerusalem wants Festus to bring Paul to them- so they could carry out the plot to kill Paul.

 Paul is aware of the plot- for 2 years now.

And he appeals his case to Rome- and Festus takes the appeal.

I’ll add my past teaching below- but wanted to simply give this update-

John.

 NOTE- The regular PAST POSTS and VERSES section is still below- but I made this short post [below] last night- thinking I might do a daily ‘roll out’- But didn’t want to waist an entire post just for this- so I stuck it here- [More below] I also talked about a strange experience I had- it involved a person who was put to death last night in Texas [2 nights ago now] I talked about it on an upcoming teaching post- KINGS 13- but here’s the news link- http://www.kztv10.com/story/36586596/inmate-executed-for-beeville-prison-guards-death

His sister asked me to pray for him a few years ago- I did- Then she asked me to pray for her brother again- because he was on death row- again? Well it will be explained on the KINGS 13 post- I thought maybe his sister was wrong- she wasn’t. Most of my Bluff friends would know his sister- but I won’t mention her name here [If I do a roll out- I might mention it before the kings 13 post- there are a few issues I might want to talk about as well]

 ILLEGAL COP STOP- CAUGHT ON CAMERA

COP STOP- https://youtu.be/jfdKqg_e8FU

https://vimeo.com/238111606

 I pulled out of a gas station- as the cop was pulling in- we were right next to each-other.

You can see my sticker easily from the highway.

He saw it too- but he decided to turn around from the gas station he was pulling into- and followed me for a short distance.

 Notice- he already had in his mind what to say- it was basically an excuse to pull me over-

Why?

I’m wearing sunglasses- have the long hair- and I’m not from his town [Mathis].

 Cops profile like this- thought it is illegal.

As he came up to me from behind- before even seeing the sticker- he saw my fire dept retirement badges and union sticker on my back window.

 That's when he realized it was not what he was looking for- possibly some drug dealer or whatever.

But at least today you get to see it on video.

Why make a big thing out of it?

 Honestly- this stop was no big deal- but others are.

Many unjustified stops have lead to the deaths of people later on- Sandra Bland being one of them.

I’m sure they mean well when they profile- but it is illegal.

 They did it to the top lawyer from Florida a few weeks ago- I talked about that case.

[She is a Black woman- driving an expensive car]

 You also see a crime-

Huh?

Not only is it a crime to profile- but it is also a crime to lie-

Howbeit a small one-

 But these ‘small ones ‘have lead to the deaths of people in the past-

It would be better if they avoided all crimes.

Oh I forgot officer- smile- you are indeed on Candid Camera.

 One small note- he is a cop from Mathis- where I have caught them before doing wrong- and exposed it.

So maybe he knew who I was after all?

 Note- I’ll post the picture of the sticker to Facebook- he supposedly couldn’t see it because of the bible on my dashboard.

As I uploaded this video to Youtube- once again- someone changed the settings to PRIVATE- This only seems to happen when I talk about cops?

  PAST POSTS-

https://ccoutreach87.com/overview-of-philosophy/

ACTS-

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/18/acts-1/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/26/acts-2/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/02/acts-3/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/09/acts-4/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/23/acts-5/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/31/acts-6/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/06/acts-7/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/14/acts-8/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/18/acts-9/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/07/acts-10/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/16/acts-11/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/22/acts-12/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/01/acts-13/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/14/acts-14/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/03/acts-15/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/07/acts-16/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/27/acts-17/

http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/2017/08/acts-18-acts-1828-for-he-mightily.html

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/09/acts-19/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/20/acts-20/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/09/04/acts-21/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/09/20/acts-22-2/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/10/04/redo-acts-23-2/

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/10/08/acts-24-2/

(765) ACT 25- Festus hears the Jews at Jerusalem, they want him to bring Paul to Jerusalem. Festus goes back to Caesarea and asks Paul ‘why don’t you go back with me’? Paul appeals to Caesar! Of course going to Rome was part of the plan. Now King Agrippa [another one of the many ruling authorities that Rome had over the people!] comes to Caesarea and Festus tells him about Paul. Agrippa will get a strong word in the next chapter. Also the Jews come down from Jerusalem and accuse Paul of many things. I want to make a note here. In the area of apologetics, which we do a lot of, you need to be careful that you don’t jump on the bandwagon of unfounded accusations. There are and have been real doctrinal heresies that needed to be dealt with, but some of the apologists really get personal. Even calling family members degrading names! In Paul’s case he had accusations that were not true. He does defend himself against the false ones, but also admitted that he believes in Christ’s resurrection and that this is considered heresy among certain Jews. Paul’s main message was Christ and the resurrection! As we get ready to close our study in a few more days, I want to recap the importance of seeing Jesus and his fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets as the main message of the Apostles. This early teaching by the Apostles needs to be the ‘tradition’ if you will, once again. We [believers] have a tendency to delve deeply into all sorts of stuff. Paul will warn his spiritual sons ‘don’t get lost in endless genealogies and debates about the law’ and Hebrews says ‘it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats [legalistic doctrines] which have been unprofitable to those who have gone that route’. Now, you guys know I believe in correct doctrine, and Paul wasn’t advocating ‘no doctrine’. But it is easy to get lost in endless debates that lead to nowhere. Ultimately our goal is to present every man perfect in Christ. Paul will stick with this message all the way to Rome!

MY OLD POSTS-

The Iliad and Odyssey [Homer]

I want to cover some of the classics of Western Literature- when I do the philosophy and science stuff- the purpose is to show how God- and ‘religion’ are an inescapable thread that we see all thru out history- and in fact- the rise of what we call ‘intellectualism’ did indeed come from the Judaic/Christian tradition [for instance- the modern day university system did come from the Church].

 Ok- lets start with what most believe to be the greatest work from antiquity- outside of the bible.

 These are 2 poems by Homer- the Iliad and Odyssey.

 These poems were written in the 8th century BCE- and cover the Trojan war- which most believe was a real war- that took place in the 12th-13th century BCE.

 In Homers works we read about this epic battle.

 The war starts with- once again- a ‘woman’ issue.

 Prince Paris of Troy steals Helen of Greece- from her husband King Menelaus [king of Sparta].

 The Greeks- led by Achilles- lay siege to Troy.

 In Homers telling of the event- the Greeks are actually defending the honor of marriage- and are carrying out a just retribution against an unjust act.

Sort of the same themes we read in scripture- when the sons of Jacob defended the honor of their sister Dinah- when she was treated unjustly by the pagan nation that took her- forcefully- to be the wife of a kings son.

 The brothers meted out justice- by tricking these pagans to get circumcised- then- while recovering ‘from surgery’- the sons went in and wiped out the city- to their fathers dismay!

 In the story- Achilles is a warrior- who displays extreme violence- and also the human traits of a man who acts out of selfish motives.

 At one point in the war- he removes himself from battle- because he feels his honor was betrayed.

 The only thing that brings him back is the killing of his close friend Patroclus- by Hector.

Achilles leads the Greeks to victory- and reflects the struggle between living a long life- or dying young- yet dying for a just cause.

One of the more famous quotes form Homer’s Poems- attributed to Achilles- is ‘I carry 2 sorts of destiny to the day of my death. Either, if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans, my return home is gone, but my glory shall be everlasting; but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers, the excellence of my glory is gone, but there will be a long life- left for me, and my end in death will not come to me quickly.’

 There has been some debate over the historicity of the war itself.

 Some scholars believe it was Myth [I’ll get to this in a moment].

That is- they believe the war itself was not true- but a sort of Oral Tradition- that encompasses the reality of the human condition- and that Homers Poems are simply mythological ways to reveal the true condition of man.

 Yet- much like the debate that took place in the 19th century German universities- over the ‘Myth’ of the bible- later on- the rise of what we now call Archaeology [because of the Industrial revolution- a new field arose- men started digging up the ground- for the primary purpose of extracting materials from the earth- and at this time we also discovered ‘lost worlds’- that is we could actually trace cities and lands that were once deemed fake].

 So- as with Homers Troy- and bible lands- these archaeologists did indeed find Cities that matched the stories.

 In 1870 the German Archaeologist Schliemann discovered remains that seemed to find the city of Troy- the area is known today as modern day Turkey.

 This same thing happened with the bible- we did indeed find historical evidence that seemed to back up the historicity of the stories we find in the bible.

 As a matter of fact- a famous doubter of the bible embarked on a search- to prove the bible was ‘myth’ yet- after researching carefully the historical names and places we read about in the book of Acts- he came to believe that the book of Acts- written by both an historian and doctor [Luke] was the most historically accurate writing that came from the first century [Acts has lots of names of political figures- court proceedings- stuff like that- and when doing research like this- it is quite easy to debunk the historical reality of a fake work- but- when these names and places were researched- from actual historical records dating back to the first century- it was amazing how the pieces fit].

 The Trojan War is found in many works of Greek literature- and art.

 But the most comprehensive account comes from Homer’s 2 poems.

 Now- in Homer’s poems there are obvious references to Mythology- Goddesses- Golden apples- the Greek gods intervening in the affairs of men.

 So yeah- we see that there are obvious mythological aspects to the work.

Yet- the ancient Geeks did indeed believe the war itself was a real war that took place at around the 12th century BCE.

 Some believe that Homer never actually wrote the poems- but that he told the stories- like Oral Tradition- and they were later written down by others.

 Sort of like the classic- Paradise Lost- by John Milton. Milton was blind- and told the story to his daughters [oral tradition] and the actual work was penned by those who heard it.

 Jesus himself used this method- he never wrote a book- or letter in the New Testament- yet the gospels were compiled by his men after his death.

 We read about this when Luke [who I mentioned above] gives the reason for his documenting stuff in the book of Acts [read Acts chapter one].

 Luke also wrote his gospel a few years after the death and resurrection of Christ.

 So- some believe the same thing happened with Homer- those who heard him tell the story multiple times- simply put it together later on.

 Most scholars believe that Homer did indeed write the poems- and that the famous Trojan War was a real historical event.

 Last year- when in North Bergen- my atheist friend Daniel said he watched a PBS show- and he said ‘even a priest said the bible was Myth’.

 I explained to Daniel that when the more liberal scholars use this term [like in the writings of Bultman] that they do not mean ‘fake’- like Greek Mythology.

 But they mean that some of the stories in the gospels might be a compilation of the many Oral teachings of Jesus- and they were put together as one story [some think the Sermon on the Mount was actually multiple teachings Jesus did- and they were compiled into one event].

 Now- when I explained this to Daniel- he said ‘see- even you believe it was Myth’.

 I told Daniel that no- I do not hold to this theory [not 100%] but that I was simply telling him that even those who use the term Myth- when talking about Theology- they do not mean Myth- as in fake.

 So- I find it interesting that both the New testament- and Homers poems- got the same scrutiny.

 In these poems we do indeed see the condition of man- which Homer depicts as one of constant war- not peace.

 The letter of James in the New Testament says- James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

James 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

  Homers poems are considered by some to be the beginning of the great works of Western literature- of which there are many.

 The great writer C.S. Lewis- who rejected Christianity for many years- later became a believer.

 He attributed his conversion to the fact that he could not escape the reality of the Church- or Christian themes- found in all the fields of study.

 Whether it was the classics- or history- philosophy.

 He said every were he read- studied- he could not escape this scarlet thread that ran thru out all the fields of knowledge.

 Yeah- in the end- his thirst for knowledge- his intellectual search- led him to the Cross.

 Jesus- in a way- was a 1st century Achilles- he battled the forces of darkness- for the honor of a woman- the Bride- the church.

 He- Like Achilles- chose a just death- for a just cause.

 There’s a prophecy in the Old Testament- it speaks of Christ ‘the zeal of thine house has eaten me up’.

 Jesus was a righteous warrior- a prophet, priest and king- and he had a zeal for the church- that far exceeded anything we find in Homers poems.

[parts]

The Epicureans and the Stoics.

 The Epicureans were an early form of what we call Hedonism today- the idea that pleasure is the principle purpose of man.

 The Stoics believed in ‘stoicism’ that man should have no emotional response to pain or pleasure- that’s why we call people today ‘Stoics’- when they seem to not be moved by anything.

 Ok- that’s it for now- might make some comments tonight- but I’m getting ready to fly out soon- and trying to wind down before I leave.

If I don’t write tonight- I’ll talk again when in North Bergen- God bless you all.

[parts]

  HERACLITUS- Ok- lets pick up on my philosophy stuff.

Heraclitus lived in the 6th/5th century BC. - He was from Ephesus and his key thought was Ever Present Change.

 That is he saw everything as being in a state of continual flux- one of his famous sayings was ‘No man ever steps into the same river twice’.

 He is called the Weeping Philosopher- sort of like the prophet Jeremiah in the bible- also called the Weeping Prophet.

 Heraclitus is known for his concept of the Logos- the Word- or thought/reason.

 Now- this aspect of his thought plays a role in the development of the Christian understanding of Christ himself- in our New Testaments [written in Greek] Jesus is indeed referred to as the Logos- or Word of God.

 The Greek philosophers understanding of the Logos was not the same as the Christian view- mainly expressed thru the writings of John [The gospel- the 3 epistles- and Revelation].

But- some see the Greek view as a precursor to Christ.

 In the work of one of the early church fathers- Hippolytus ‘The Refutation of all Heresies’ he attacks Heraclitus view of the Logos as an early form of heresy.

 The apologist Justin Martyr is more gracious- he [Like Ulrich Zwingli- the great Swiss reformer of the 16th century] viewed the early Geek thinkers as ‘pre- Christian’ or ‘Christians before Christ’.

 Though many reject this view- yet there is some scripture to back it up.

The apostle Paul said in his letter to the Romans that if the Gentiles [non-Jews] do by nature the things contained in the law- then they are justified in God’s sight.

 Of course these things are debatable- but I add this to show you that some great Christian thinkers did indeed view the early Greek thinkers- who did live by a moral code- as being right in God’s eyes.

 And the bible does teach a theme that we will be judged according to the amount of light [understanding] that we had at the time.

 I should note that Plato [one of the 3 titans that arose after Heraclitus- from the city/state of Athens] disagreed with Heraclitus on all things being in a state of constant change.

 When [if?] we get to Socrates- Plato and Aristotle- I’ll try and cover the ways they advanced- built upon- the thought of the pre Socratic thinkers.

 As a side note- the most famous student of Aristotle- who was the most famous student of Plato- who was the most famous student of Socrates- was Alexander the Great.

 This goes to show you how great an influence Greek philosophy had on the ancient world.

 A few nuggets from Heraclitus- ‘all things come to pass in accordance with this Logos’ ‘follow the common’ ‘not having their own judgment’.

 Recently I covered Acts chapter 2- and we see some of these ideas in the early Christian movement.

The first Christians did ‘follow the common’ they sold their goods- and had ‘all things common’ [communal lifestyle].

 The apostle Paul teaches the early church to all ‘speak the same thing- that there be no divisions among you’.

And the New Testament also says the scripture should not be given to Private Interpretation- meaning- ‘not having your own personal judgment’.

 All in all- we do indeed see a sort of pre Christian thought in the pre Socratic thinkers- they did indeed speak of the Divine- God- though there understanding of him was not the same as the Christian church.

 In a sense- Heraclitus idea that in life- the only ‘constant’ is the fact that there is no constant- that life itself is made up of an ongoing journey- we live day by day- not ever knowing what ‘the next day will bring forth’- Jesus.

 Yeah- the man had some good points- the later Stoics would consider Heraclitus as the father of their movement.

And in the study of Philosophy- the Stoics- who had a good run from a few years before the Common Era- were overtaken in the 4th century [as the main influential philosophy of the time] by some new and lasting philosophy- started by a man named Jesus Christ- who his followers claimed rose from the dead.

Yeah- this New Way was called Christianity- and this philosophy has endured now for over 2 thousand years.

     VERSES-

Acts 25:1 Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem.

Acts 25:2 Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him,

Acts 25:3 And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.

Acts 25:4 But Festus answered, that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither.

Acts 25:5 Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him.

Acts 25:6 And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought.

Acts 25:7 And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.

Acts 25:8 While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all.

Acts 25:9 But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?

Acts 25:10 Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest.

Acts 25:11 For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.

Acts 25:12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go.

Acts 25:13 And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus.

Acts 25:14 And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix:

Acts 25:15 About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.

Acts 25:16 To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.

Acts 25:17 Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth.

Acts 25:18 Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed:

Acts 25:19 But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

Acts 25:20 And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.

Acts 25:21 But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.

Acts 25:22 Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.

Acts 25:23 And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus' commandment Paul was brought forth.

Acts 25:24 And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.

Acts 25:25 But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him.

Acts 25:26 Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write.

Acts 25:27 For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

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 Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Thanks- John.#

[ginnyzero]

GW2, Dev Firings, and Being a Female Content Creator

(Originally Posted in July of 2018)

Apparently, when I’m sick, there are times things just blow up around me. My neighbor’s pipes, the GW2 ArenaNet Dev firing…

I covered this a little bit on twitter in a vaguey-vague sort of way and discussing how it is to be a female in just about any industry. So, for those of you not into computer gaming around July 3rd, GW2 Game Devs and Narrative Designers (aka writers) held a Reddit AMA about doing story work in GW2. One of the devs came out of that AMA and decided to talk a bit on her personal twitter about how in a linear narrative MMO like GW2 that it’s really difficult to make characters with compelling personalities because there are a lot of players who are projecting a personality onto that NPC and you don’t want to contradict their thoughts. It was, for me as a fledgling narrative designer myself, an interesting thread to read.

And that was all well and good.

Then people wanted to comment on said tweet thread because this dev works for GW2, she has a lot of followers and one of those followers or someone who saw the tweet thread who also happens to be a very popular content partner affiliate youtuber twitch livestreamer (aka youtuber content creator who also happens to get kickbacks from GW2) decided to comment.

And that was all well and good. Because yes, social media, discussion.

Here is the sticky bit.

He did it A) on a Federal Holiday while she wasn’t at work. And B) once you strip the nicey nice language off of it, it was one of those “you’re talking about topic A, but I want to talk about topic B that is tangentially related to topic A, even though topic B is not how GW2 is coded or how the game works and thus this discussion is really more suited for a different game entirely.

Now this female game dev has a bit of a reputation for being prickly. The entire community knows this and in fact, most of the community despises her. (Or so it seems.) She’s even upfront about it on twitter. Having that information to hand, even the most innocent “your thoughts are great but what about this, insert completely unworkable suggestion” is like sticking your unprotected hand into a wasp’s nest and asking “Why are they stinging me!”

Because um, that’s what the game dev did. She lashed out and stung him. She called him out on his behavior. Because this wasn’t the first time it had happened, or the second or even the 100th. Not from him personally, but other males just like him.  It was a federal holiday and she didn’t want to deal with yet another person telling her how to do her job no matter how well intentioned.

And things exploded. People started calling her names for being “mean” to them. Another game dev stepped in, a male veteran of GW2 for over 10 years, and tried to defend her.

Things got more explodey. It traveled off twitter and into reddit. It reached the BOSS of ArenaNet.

So, on July 5th, both game devs, the one who exploded and the one who defended her, lost their jobs and the content creator is still a partner with GW2. (As far as we know.) And that's not precisely fair is it because he or his followers could be construed as instigating an attack on a dev they didn't like in order to get her fired.

Lines have been drawn. Sides have been taken. Tweets and Reddit posts are being used as justification. Youtube comments and reddit are filled with “she was representing the company, called us rando asshats and she deserved to be fired and if she didn’t have ArenaNet on her profile or had ignored him this wouldn’t have happened so she deserved it. She celebrated the death of Another Popular Youtube Content Creator. Bitch.” They’re demanding a public apology from the female game dev in all commentary. They aren’t going to be satisfied until she never works in games again.

And other game devs are either going “This is bullshit, she didn’t deserve to lose her job,” pointing out ArenaNet pays the least of all gaming companies in Seattle, or are quietly deleting their twitter accounts. This is bad for the gaming community as a whole and bad for game devs who are trying to network.

The game dev had three options, 1) she could have engaged this youtube partner and played tug of war to get the conversation back to Topic A and away from Topic B. It was a Federal Holiday. She wasn’t at work. Any sort of reasoning or justification for her having to do this only exists in the minds of males who don’t have to deal with this type of behavior. 2) She could have ignored him. Ignoring said behavior doesn’t make it go away. Ignoring is the same as walking away in this instance. She ended up going with option 3) she lashed out and called him out on being an entitled male.

The sad thing is that he doesn’t see how his wording made him an entitled male. He genuinely seems to believe that his wording was polite and he was hoping to start a discussion.

On a FEDERAL HOLIDAY.

On a personal twitter.

I don’t care that she had ArenaNet on her profile. Guess what. That means nothing. She didn’t do this on ArenaNet’s or GW2’s official twitter or in an official AMA. She was on her own personal account talking about her work. Sure. It’s public. It’s public because she wants to connect to other game devs. Twitter is the space for gaming developers to connect to each other.

This demand by the consumers of games and movies and even novels. (Because authors get this too, “why didn’t you do the end of such and such already published book differently?” “Uh, because that’s not the ending I had in mind. It’s published. No take backseys, go write fanfiction.”) That we be there, being nice, and being in public relations mode 24/7 to answer their questions and consider their unasked for ideas as if we’re open for discussion every minute is entitled, rude and our jobs shouldn’t hinge on this. They don’t pay our bills. They don’t. The company pays the bills. And the company shouldn’t give a shit what an employee does on their off hours on a federal holiday while they’re in the equivalent of “at the grocery store.”

Think if this youtuber came up to this dev in a grocery store and she was talking to someone in public like, oh, a friend say male game dev that defended her, about this very topic. And youtuber tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Hey, really great thoughts, I like gaming too, have you considered X.” The perfectly acceptable response is “Thanks, I’m a game dev and know my job.” Which was what her response essentially was, she didn’t trot out rando asshats until later after the deluge started. That’s when he goes, “Oh, I know.”

She’s in a grocery store. She can’t really get away unless she completely leaves. And you’re going, “she could have exited twitter.” But see, it’s a grocery store. She doesn’t have to leave. He needs to check his privilege and wonder why in hell he thinks that changing the fundamental game dialogue options of GW2 (a thing that would cost a lot of money in reprogramming the game and redoing the story from the ground up) is really going to “fix” the really non-existent problem. And why it’s so important to him that he sees this game dev of his favorite game out getting groceries and talking about work to her co-worker and feels this urge to interrupt to show off his knowledge of game development jargon.

But you see, he wasn’t alone either. He had a bunch of people come in after him who are his friends and admire him. So after she blew him off. His friends come over and start “you’re mean. You need to engage. You’re being rude. He's a popular dude you know. We pay your salary!”

And she’s going “I’m here to pick up groceries. Leave me alone.” Because she's a female out in public and she gets this all the time. "You're saying this became I'm a female game dev. Bug off."

“No. Apologize.” Say the friends of the youtuber.

And the person she’s with and fellow dev who is male is going “Dudes, dudes, she didn’t ask for his advice. We were just talking. If we'd been two males, he wouldn't have interrupted."

And first guy is like “whoa, I’m sorry. Got over excited. Love your work. I’ll go now.”

But the other guys aren’t backing down because they don’t see why first guy should be sorry at all. They think that if she'd been male, the youtuber still would have interrupted and used the same words in his suggestion. They start cussing her out. Because, hey, she’s in a public place and all she’s doing is buying tomatoes. How is that important versus their buddy’s very important question?

So someone gets out their phone and is recording this and suddenly the female game dev explodes, calls them all random asshats, gives up on groceries and stomps away.

Her boss sees the video. Calls them in the next day, doesn’t let them explain that hey, they were just getting groceries on their time off and weren’t even in uniform. The boss tells them that they weren’t being proper ambassadors of the company to the game’s fans and fires them on the spot.

Would this be an okay scenario?

I don't think so.

Because twitter has blurred this line between public and private discourse and when there are good times to engage and when there aren’t. Basically, what they are saying is that she should have gotten off the Reddit AMA and then shut up if she didn’t want someone to come in and offer a suggestion. On the justification that “we pay your salary bitch.”

She doesn’t have to do that. She isn’t the customer’s employee. No one should have to do that. That is the life of a female in just about any field. You go to a personal account of any employee of any company, you need to be prepared to deal with them as a person and not as an employee. And yes, that means you might get bitched at because that’s the joy of dealing with people!

And that maybe, maybe instead of you, random content creator of youtube, jumping in with a question, another game dev might have jumped in with a thoughtful comment about how they deal with it and then you’d learn something for realsies.

Because twitter isn’t just about you the gamer and the dev. It’s professionals talking with other professionals in the same field and sharing stories and commiserating. Just be quiet sometimes and let the professionals have the conversation!

Men don’t always get this. People don’t always get this.

ArenaNet could have stood behind her and the other dev. They could have handled this internally and dealt with whatever training or discipline that way. They could have called up the partner on Skype or had him come in or something and talked to him too about how to approach employees or at least when to approach employees. (A major problem is that most the responses from males do not see how the response could be read as rude and condescending and telling her how to do her job.) They could have distanced themselves and gone “she’s not speaking for the company on her personal twitter. You deal with her on her personal twitter. You’re dealing with her, not ArenaNet. We’re not part of this dispute.”

Instead, they folded to the “customers” who are entirely way too entitled anyways. (The how to make a video game better hashtag was pretty sickening.) The white, cishet, male that plays FPS and hardcore PvP MMOs truly believes that they are the core demographic of the gaming community. We went over this four years ago that they aren’t. They still haven’t gotten the message.

I’m glad there are other companies that go “you do you” and stand by it to their game devs.

We creators are people to who are struggling with keeping a roof over our head and paying taxes and pets and children and so on.

The sad thing for me, and a good thing all at the same time, is that I truly was thinking about pushing aside my aversion for combat MMOs (I’m just tired of dealing with it) and downloading GW2 to play through some of the free portions to see what had changed from Guild Wars 1. I wanted to see how their graphics stood up outside of screencaps and how well the engine worked and if the optimization was any good because ArenaNet was one of my ideas for a game company maybe to work on the Horse MMO. (Their mount system looked pretty impressive.)

Now I know that they don’t pay their devs well. They won’t stand behind their employees if something happens on social media. I think I’m going to pass.

[myupdatestudio-blog]

New Post has been published on Myupdatestudio

New Post has been published on https://myupdatestudio.com/will-taylor-a-design-blogger-whos-now-not-terrified-of-color/

Will Taylor, a Design Blogger Who’s Now not Terrified of Color

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                                           Design Blogger 

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[johnchiarello]

Acts 25

ACTS 25 Acts 25:19 But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. Acts 25- https://youtu.be/GO_EbKzNSpk https://ccoutreach87.com/10-10-17-acts-25/ https://ccoutreach87.com/10-10-17-acts-25-2/

ON VIDEO- .Paul’s appeals .The new governor comes in .festus replaces Felix .The local court out of Jerusalem still had the plot! .From Ceasarea to Jerusalem was about 60 miles- a 2 day trip back then https://www.britannica.com/place/Caesarea .Paul appeals- to Nero! .Why? .Seneca the Stoic .King Agrippa the 2nd- and Bernice the queen .Wait- aren’t they brother ans sister? .Bernice is the oldest daughter of Agrippa the 1st- and Agrippa the 2nd is his son .How they they be King and Queen? .Can you solve this riddle? .Homer- Iliad- Odyssey

NEW- Just a few notes- these past few chapters are simply covering Paul’s appeals thru the local court system [Sanhedrin] and going up the ladder to the top court of the land- Caesar of Rome.

The caesar at this time- is Nero- http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/nero Nero was one of the worst persecutors of the early church- yet Paul took his case to him. Why?

At this stage Nero was not ‘as bad’ as we know him to be later on. He actually will martyr both Paul and Peter later on. Yet at this stage of the game he was influenced by Seneca- a Stoic philosopher- https://dailystoic.com/seneca/

Though the Stoics were not considered Christians- they did indeed have moral elements to their teaching. Self denial- stuff like that.

So it would not be strange for Paul to take his case to him. Another point- Paul has been sitting in the ‘county jail’ for 2 years by now. Governor Felix left office- and festus took his place.

So the case is reviewed by the new governor- And after 2 years- the high priest at Jerusalem [the top judge in the county] still wants to kill Paul! We see a lot of corruption in the system- and how those who hold seats of authority- positions the public should be able to respect- yet these same people are some of the most corrupt of the day.

Yet- we also see Festus- and in his dealings with Paul- he does what is right. The local court out of Jerusalem wants Festus to bring Paul to them- so they could carry out the plot to kill Paul.

Paul is aware of the plot- for 2 years now. And he appeals his case to Rome- and Festus takes the appeal. I’ll add my past teaching below- but wanted to simply give this update- John.

NOTE- The regular PAST POSTS and VERSES section is still below- but I made this short post [below] last night- thinking I might do a daily ‘roll out’- But didn’t want to waist an entire post just for this- so I stuck it here- [More below] I also talked about a strange experience I had- it involved a person who was put to death last night in Texas [2 nights ago now] I talked about it on an upcoming teaching post- KINGS 13- but here’s the news link- http://www.kztv10.com/story/36586596/inmate-executed-for-beeville-prison-guards-death His sister asked me to pray for him a few years ago- I did- Then she asked me to pray for her brother again- because he was on death row- again? Well it will be explained on the KINGS 13 post- I thought maybe his sister was wrong- she wasn’t. Most of my Bluff friends would know his sister- but I won’t mention her name here [If I do a roll out- I might mention it before the kings 13 post- there are a few issues I might want to talk about as well]

ILLEGAL COP STOP- CAUGHT ON CAMERA COP STOP- https://youtu.be/jfdKqg_e8FU

I pulled out of a gas station- as the cop was pulling in- we were right next to each-other. You can see my sticker easily from the highway. He saw it too- but he decided to turn around from the gas station he was pulling into- and followed me for a short distance.

Notice- he already had in his mind what to say- it was basically an excuse to pull me over- Why? I’m wearing sunglasses- have the long hair- and I’m not from his town [Mathis].

Cops profile like this- thought it is illegal. As he came up to me from behind- before even seeing the sticker- he saw my fire dept retirement badges and union sticker on my back window.

That’s when he realized it was not what he was looking for- possibly some drug dealer or whatever. But at least today you get to see it on video. Why make a big thing out of it?

Honestly- this stop was no big deal- but others are. Many unjustified stops have lead to the deaths of people later on- Sandra Bland being one of them. I’m sure they mean well when they profile- but it is illegal.

They did it to the top lawyer from Florida a few weeks ago- I talked about that case. [She is a Black woman- driving an expensive car]

You also see a crime- Huh? Not only is it a crime to profile- but it is also a crime to lie- Howbeit a small one-

But these ‘small ones ‘have lead to the deaths of people in the past- It would be better if they avoided all crimes. Oh I forgot officer- smile- you are indeed on Candid Camera.

One small note- he is a cop from Mathis- where I have caught them before doing wrong- and exposed it. So maybe he knew who I was after all?

Note- I’ll post the picture of the sticker to Facebook- he supposedly couldn’t see it because of the bible on my dashboard. As I uploaded this video to Youtube- once again- someone changed the settings to PRIVATE- This only seems to happen when I talk about cops?

PAST POSTS- https://ccoutreach87.com/overview-of-philosophy/ ACTS- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/18/acts-1/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/01/26/acts-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/02/acts-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/02/09/acts-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/23/acts-5/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/31/acts-6/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/06/acts-7/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/14/acts-8/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/18/acts-9/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/07/acts-10/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/16/acts-11/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/22/acts-12/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/01/acts-13/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/14/acts-14/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/03/acts-15/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/07/acts-16/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/27/acts-17/ http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/2017/08/acts-18-acts-1828-for-he-mightily.html https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/09/acts-19/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/20/acts-20/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/09/04/acts-21/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/09/20/acts-22-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/10/04/redo-acts-23-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/10/08/acts-24-2/ (765)ACT 25- Festus hears the Jews at Jerusalem, they want him to bring Paul to Jerusalem. Festus goes back to Caesarea and asks Paul ‘why don’t you go back with me’? Paul appeals to Caesar! Of course going to Rome was part of the plan. Now King Agrippa [another one of the many ruling authorities that Rome had over the people!] comes to Caesarea and Festus tells him about Paul. Agrippa will get a strong word in the next chapter. Also the Jews come down from Jerusalem and accuse Paul of many things. I want to make a note here. In the area of apologetics, which we do a lot of, you need to be careful that you don’t jump on the bandwagon of unfounded accusations. There are and have been real doctrinal heresies that needed to be dealt with, but some of the apologists really get personal. Even calling family members degrading names! In Paul’s case he had accusations that were not true. He does defend himself against the false ones, but also admitted that he believes in Christ’s resurrection and that this is considered heresy among certain Jews. Paul’s main message was Christ and the resurrection! As we get ready to close our study in a few more days, I want to recap the importance of seeing Jesus and his fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets as the main message of the Apostles. This early teaching by the Apostles needs to be the ‘tradition’ if you will, once again. We [believers] have a tendency to delve deeply into all sorts of stuff. Paul will warn his spiritual sons ‘don’t get lost in endless genealogies and debates about the law’ and Hebrews says ‘it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats [legalistic doctrines] which have been unprofitable to those who have gone that route’. Now, you guys know I believe in correct doctrine, and Paul wasn’t advocating ‘no doctrine’. But it is easy to get lost in endless debates that lead to nowhere. Ultimately our goal is to present every man perfect in Christ. Paul will stick with this message all the way to Rome! MY OLD POSTS- The Iliad and Odyssey [Homer] I want to cover some of the classics of Western Literature- when I do the philosophy and science stuff- the purpose is to show how God- and ‘religion’ are an inescapable thread that we see all thru out history- and in fact- the rise of what we call ‘intellectualism’ did indeed come from the Judaic/Christian tradition [for instance- the modern day university system did come from the Church].

Ok- lets start with what most believe to be the greatest work from antiquity- outside of the bible.

These are 2 poems by Homer- the Iliad and Odyssey.

These poems were written in the 8th century BCE- and cover the Trojan war- which most believe was a real war- that took place in the 12th-13th century BCE.

In Homers works we read about this epic battle.

The war starts with- once again- a ‘woman’ issue.

Prince Paris of Troy steals Helen of Greece- from her husband King Menelaus [king of Sparta].

The Greeks- led by Achilles- lay siege to Troy.

In Homers telling of the event- the Greeks are actually defending the honor of marriage- and are carrying out a just retribution against an unjust act. Sort of the same themes we read in scripture- when the sons of Jacob defended the honor of their sister Dinah- when she was treated unjustly by the pagan nation that took her- forcefully- to be the wife of a kings son.

The brothers meted out justice- by tricking these pagans to get circumcised- then- while recovering ‘from surgery’- the sons went in and wiped out the city- to their fathers dismay!

In the story- Achilles is a warrior- who displays extreme violence- and also the human traits of a man who acts out of selfish motives.

At one point in the war- he removes himself from battle- because he feels his honor was betrayed.

The only thing that brings him back is the killing of his close friend Patroclus- by Hector. Achilles leads the Greeks to victory- and reflects the struggle between living a long life- or dying young- yet dying for a just cause. One of the more famous quotes form Homer’s Poems- attributed to Achilles- is ‘I carry 2 sorts of destiny to the day of my death. Either, if I stay here and fight beside the city of the Trojans, my return home is gone, but my glory shall be everlasting; but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers, the excellence of my glory is gone, but there will be a long life- left for me, and my end in death will not come to me quickly.’

There has been some debate over the historicity of the war itself.

Some scholars believe it was Myth [I’ll get to this in a moment]. That is- they believe the war itself was not true- but a sort of Oral Tradition- that encompasses the reality of the human condition- and that Homers Poems are simply mythological ways to reveal the true condition of man.

Yet- much like the debate that took place in the 19th century German universities- over the ‘Myth’ of the bible- later on- the rise of what we now call Archaeology [because of the Industrial revolution- a new field arose- men started digging up the ground- for the primary purpose of extracting materials from the earth- and at this time we also discovered ‘lost worlds’- that is we could actually trace cities and lands that were once deemed fake].

So- as with Homers Troy- and bible lands- these archaeologists did indeed find Cities that matched the stories.

In 1870 the German Archaeologist Schliemann discovered remains that seemed to find the city of Troy- the area is known today as modern day Turkey.

This same thing happened with the bible- we did indeed find historical evidence that seemed to back up the historicity of the stories we find in the bible.

As a matter of fact- a famous doubter of the bible embarked on a search- to prove the bible was ‘myth’ yet- after researching carefully the historical names and places we read about in the book of Acts- he came to believe that the book of Acts- written by both an historian and doctor [Luke] was the most historically accurate writing that came from the first century [Acts has lots of names of political figures- court proceedings- stuff like that- and when doing research like this- it is quite easy to debunk the historical reality of a fake work- but- when these names and places were researched- from actual historical records dating back to the first century- it was amazing how the pieces fit].

The Trojan War is found in many works of Greek literature- and art.

But the most comprehensive account comes from Homer’s 2 poems.

Now- in Homer’s poems there are obvious references to Mythology- Goddesses- Golden apples- the Greek gods intervening in the affairs of men.

So yeah- we see that there are obvious mythological aspects to the work. Yet- the ancient Geeks did indeed believe the war itself was a real war that took place at around the 12th century BCE.

Some believe that Homer never actually wrote the poems- but that he told the stories- like Oral Tradition- and they were later written down by others.

Sort of like the classic- Paradise Lost- by John Milton. Milton was blind- and told the story to his daughters [oral tradition] and the actual work was penned by those who heard it.

Jesus himself used this method- he never wrote a book- or letter in the New Testament- yet the gospels were compiled by his men after his death.

We read about this when Luke [who I mentioned above] gives the reason for his documenting stuff in the book of Acts [read Acts chapter one].

Luke also wrote his gospel a few years after the death and resurrection of Christ.

So- some believe the same thing happened with Homer- those who heard him tell the story multiple times- simply put it together later on.

Most scholars believe that Homer did indeed write the poems- and that the famous Trojan War was a real historical event.

Last year- when in North Bergen- my atheist friend Daniel said he watched a PBS show- and he said ‘even a priest said the bible was Myth’.

I explained to Daniel that when the more liberal scholars use this term [like in the writings of Bultman] that they do not mean ‘fake’- like Greek Mythology.

But they mean that some of the stories in the gospels might be a compilation of the many Oral teachings of Jesus- and they were put together as one story [some think the Sermon on the Mount was actually multiple teachings Jesus did- and they were compiled into one event].

Now- when I explained this to Daniel- he said ‘see- even you believe it was Myth’.

I told Daniel that no- I do not hold to this theory [not 100%] but that I was simply telling him that even those who use the term Myth- when talking about Theology- they do not mean Myth- as in fake.

So- I find it interesting that both the New testament- and Homers poems- got the same scrutiny.

In these poems we do indeed see the condition of man- which Homer depicts as one of constant war- not peace.

The letter of James in the New Testament says- James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? James 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Homers poems are considered by some to be the beginning of the great works of Western literature- of which there are many.

The great writer C.S. Lewis- who rejected Christianity for many years- later became a believer.

He attributed his conversion to the fact that he could not escape the reality of the Church- or Christian themes- found in all the fields of study.

Whether it was the classics- or history- philosophy.

He said every were he read- studied- he could not escape this scarlet thread that ran thru out all the fields of knowledge.

Yeah- in the end- his thirst for knowledge- his intellectual search- led him to the Cross.

Jesus- in a way- was a 1st century Achilles- he battled the forces of darkness- for the honor of a woman- the Bride- the church.

He- Like Achilles- chose a just death- for a just cause.

There’s a prophecy in the Old Testament- it speaks of Christ ‘the zeal of thine house has eaten me up’.

Jesus was a righteous warrior- a prophet, priest and king- and he had a zeal for the church- that far exceeded anything we find in Homers poems. [parts] The Epicureans and the Stoics.

The Epicureans were an early form of what we call Hedonism today- the idea that pleasure is the principle purpose of man.

The Stoics believed in ‘stoicism’ that man should have no emotional response to pain or pleasure- that’s why we call people today ‘Stoics’- when they seem to not be moved by anything.

Ok- that’s it for now- might make some comments tonight- but I’m getting ready to fly out soon- and trying to wind down before I leave. If I don’t write tonight- I’ll talk again when in North Bergen- God bless you all. [parts]

HERACLITUS- Ok- lets pick up on my philosophy stuff. Heraclitus lived in the 6th/5th century BC. – He was from Ephesus and his key thought was Ever Present Change.

That is he saw everything as being in a state of continual flux- one of his famous sayings was ‘No man ever steps into the same river twice’.

He is called the Weeping Philosopher- sort of like the prophet Jeremiah in the bible- also called the Weeping Prophet.

Heraclitus is known for his concept of the Logos- the Word- or thought/reason.

Now- this aspect of his thought plays a role in the development of the Christian understanding of Christ himself- in our New Testaments [written in Greek] Jesus is indeed referred to as the Logos- or Word of God.

The Greek philosophers understanding of the Logos was not the same as the Christian view- mainly expressed thru the writings of John [The gospel- the 3 epistles- and Revelation]. But- some see the Greek view as a precursor to Christ.

In the work of one of the early church fathers- Hippolytus ‘The Refutation of all Heresies’ he attacks Heraclitus view of the Logos as an early form of heresy.

The apologist Justin Martyr is more gracious- he [Like Ulrich Zwingli- the great Swiss reformer of the 16th century] viewed the early Geek thinkers as ‘pre- Christian’ or ‘Christians before Christ’.

Though many reject this view- yet there is some scripture to back it up. The apostle Paul said in his letter to the Romans that if the Gentiles [non-Jews] do by nature the things contained in the law- then they are justified in God’s sight.

Of course these things are debatable- but I add this to show you that some great Christian thinkers did indeed view the early Greek thinkers- who did live by a moral code- as being right in God’s eyes.

And the bible does teach a theme that we will be judged according to the amount of light [understanding] that we had at the time.

I should note that Plato [one of the 3 titans that arose after Heraclitus- from the city/state of Athens] disagreed with Heraclitus on all things being in a state of constant change.

When [if?] we get to Socrates- Plato and Aristotle- I’ll try and cover the ways they advanced- built upon- the thought of the pre Socratic thinkers.

As a side note- the most famous student of Aristotle- who was the most famous student of Plato- who was the most famous student of Socrates- was Alexander the Great.

This goes to show you how great an influence Greek philosophy had on the ancient world.

A few nuggets from Heraclitus- ‘all things come to pass in accordance with this Logos’ ‘follow the common’ ‘not having their own judgment’.

Recently I covered Acts chapter 2- and we see some of these ideas in the early Christian movement. The first Christians did ‘follow the common’ they sold their goods- and had ‘all things common’ [communal lifestyle].

The apostle Paul teaches the early church to all ‘speak the same thing- that there be no divisions among you’. And the New Testament also says the scripture should not be given to Private Interpretation- meaning- ‘not having your own personal judgment’.

All in all- we do indeed see a sort of pre Christian thought in the pre Socratic thinkers- they did indeed speak of the Divine- God- though there understanding of him was not the same as the Christian church.

In a sense- Heraclitus idea that in life- the only ‘constant’ is the fact that there is no constant- that life itself is made up of an ongoing journey- we live day by day- not ever knowing what ‘the next day will bring forth’- Jesus.

Yeah- the man had some good points- the later Stoics would consider Heraclitus as the father of their movement. And in the study of Philosophy- the Stoics- who had a good run from a few years before the Common Era- were overtaken in the 4th century [as the main influential philosophy of the time] by some new and lasting philosophy- started by a man named Jesus Christ- who his followers claimed rose from the dead. Yeah- this New Way was called Christianity- and this philosophy has endured now for over 2 thousand years.

VERSES- Acts 25:1 Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Acts 25:2 Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him, Acts 25:3 And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him. Acts 25:4 But Festus answered, that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither. Acts 25:5 Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him. Acts 25:6 And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought. Acts 25:7 And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove. Acts 25:8 While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all. Acts 25:9 But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me? Acts 25:10 Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. Acts 25:11 For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. Acts 25:12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go. Acts 25:13 And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus. Acts 25:14 And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix: Acts 25:15 About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him. Acts 25:16 To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him. Acts 25:17 Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth. Acts 25:18 Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed: Acts 25:19 But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. Acts 25:20 And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters. Acts 25:21 But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. Acts 25:22 Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him. Acts 25:23 And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth. Acts 25:24 And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer. Acts 25:25 But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him. Acts 25:26 Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write. Acts 25:27 For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

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